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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:39:26 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:39:26 -0700 |
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diff --git a/12261-h/12261-h.htm b/12261-h/12261-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3287351 --- /dev/null +++ b/12261-h/12261-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,21234 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Solaris (vers 1st October 2003), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>Balder the Beautiful.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + + .note, .footnote + {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; font-size: 0.9em;} + + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + .poem + {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 5em;} + + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12261 ***</div> + +<h1>A STUDY IN MAGIC AND RELIGION</h1> +<h2><i>THIRD EDITION</i></h2> +<h2>PART VII</h2> +<h2>BALDER THE BEAUTIFUL</h2> +<h2>VOL. I</h2> +<h3>THE FIRE-FESTIVALS OF EUROPE AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE EXTERNAL +SOUL</h3> +<h2>J.G. FRAZER, D.C.L., LL.D., Litt.D.</h2> +<h3>FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL +ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL.</h3> +<h3>IN TWO VOLUMES</h3> +<h3>VOL. I</h3> +<h3>PREFACE</h3> +<p>In this concluding part of <i>The Golden Bough</i> I have +discussed the problem which gives its title to the whole work. If I +am right, the Golden Bough over which the King of the Wood, Diana's +priest at Aricia, kept watch and ward was no other than a branch of +mistletoe growing on an oak within the sacred grove; and as the +plucking of the bough was a necessary prelude to the slaughter of +the priest, I have been led to institute a parallel between the +King of the Wood at Nemi and the Norse god Balder, who was +worshipped in a sacred grove beside the beautiful Sogne fiord of +Norway and was said to have perished by a stroke of mistletoe, +which alone of all things on earth or in heaven could wound him. On +the theory here suggested both Balder and the King of the Wood +personified in a sense the sacred oak of our Aryan forefathers, and +both had deposited their lives or souls for safety in the parasite +which sometimes, though rarely, is found growing on an oak and by +the very rarity of its appearance excites the wonder and stimulates +the devotion of ignorant men. Though I am now less than ever +disposed to lay weight on the analogy between the Italian priest +and the Norse god, I have allowed it to stand because it furnishes +me with a pretext for discussing not only the general question of +the external soul in popular superstition, but also the +fire-festivals of Europe, since fire played a part both in the myth +of Balder and in the ritual of the Arician grove. Thus Balder the +Beautiful in my hands is little more than a stalking-horse to carry +two heavy pack-loads of facts. And what is true of Balder applies +equally to the priest of Nemi himself, the nominal hero of the long +tragedy of human folly and suffering which has unrolled itself +before the readers of these volumes, and on which the curtain is +now about to fall. He, too, for all the quaint garb he wears and +the gravity with which he stalks across the stage, is merely a +puppet, and it is time to unmask him before laying him up in the +box.</p> +<p>To drop metaphor, while nominally investigating a particular +problem of ancient mythology, I have really been discussing +questions of more general interest which concern the gradual +evolution of human thought from savagery to civilization. The +enquiry is beset with difficulties of many kinds, for the record of +man's mental development is even more imperfect than the record of +his physical development, and it is harder to read, not only by +reason of the incomparably more subtle and complex nature of the +subject, but because the reader's eyes are apt to be dimmed by +thick mists of passion and prejudice, which cloud in a far less +degree the fields of comparative anatomy and geology. My +contribution to the history of the human mind consists of little +more than a rough and purely provisional classification of facts +gathered almost entirely from printed sources. If there is one +general conclusion which seems to emerge from the mass of +particulars, I venture to think that it is the essential similarity +in the working of the less developed human mind among all races, +which corresponds to the essential similarity in their bodily frame +revealed by comparative anatomy. But while this general mental +similarity may, I believe, be taken as established, we must always +be on our guard against tracing to it a multitude of particular +resemblances which may be and often are due to simple diffusion, +since nothing is more certain than that the various races of men +have borrowed from each other many of their arts and crafts, their +ideas, customs, and institutions. To sift out the elements of +culture which a race has independently evolved and to distinguish +them accurately from those which it has derived from other races is +a task of extreme difficulty and delicacy, which promises to occupy +students of man for a long time to come; indeed so complex are the +facts and so imperfect in most cases is the historical record that +it may be doubted whether in regard to many of the lower races we +shall ever arrive at more than probable conjectures.</p> +<p>Since the last edition of <i>The Golden Bough</i> was published +some thirteen years ago, I have seen reason to change my views on +several matters discussed in this concluding part of the work, and +though I have called attention to these changes in the text, it may +be well for the sake of clearness to recapitulate them here.</p> +<p>In the first place, the arguments of Dr. Edward Westermarck have +satisfied me that the solar theory of the European fire-festivals, +which I accepted from W. Mannhardt, is very slightly, if at all, +supported by the evidence and is probably erroneous. The true +explanation of the festivals I now believe to be the one advocated +by Dr. Westermarck himself, namely that they are purificatory in +intention, the fire being designed not, as I formerly held, to +reinforce the sun's light and heat by sympathetic magic, but merely +to burn or repel the noxious things, whether conceived as material +or spiritual, which threaten the life of man, of animals, and of +plants. This aspect of the fire-festivals had not wholly escaped me +in former editions; I pointed it out explicitly, but, biassed +perhaps by the great authority of Mannhardt, I treated it as +secondary and subordinate instead of primary and dominant. Out of +deference to Mannhardt, for whose work I entertain the highest +respect, and because the evidence for the purificatory theory of +the fires is perhaps not quite conclusive, I have in this edition +repeated and even reinforced the arguments for the solar theory of +the festivals, so that the reader may see for himself what can be +said on both sides of the question and may draw his own conclusion; +but for my part I cannot but think that the arguments for the +purificatory theory far outweigh the arguments for the solar +theory. Dr. Westermarck based his criticisms largely on his own +observations of the Mohammedan fire-festivals of Morocco, which +present a remarkable resemblance to those of Christian Europe, +though there seems no reason to assume that herein Africa has +borrowed from Europe or Europe from Africa. So far as Europe is +concerned, the evidence tends strongly to shew that the grand evil +which the festivals aimed at combating was witchcraft, and that +they were conceived to attain their end by actually burning the +witches, whether visible or invisible, in the flames. If that was +so, the wide prevalence and the immense popularity of the +fire-festivals provides us with a measure for estimating the extent +of the hold which the belief in witchcraft had on the European mind +before the rise of Christianity or rather of rationalism; for +Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant, accepted the old belief +and enforced it in the old way by the faggot and the stake. It was +not until human reason at last awoke after the long slumber of the +Middle Ages that this dreadful obsession gradually passed away like +a dark cloud from the intellectual horizon of Europe.</p> +<p>Yet we should deceive ourselves if we imagined that the belief +in witchcraft is even now dead in the mass of the people; on the +contrary there is ample evidence to show that it only hibernates +under the chilling influence of rationalism, and that it would +start into active life if that influence were ever seriously +relaxed. The truth seems to be that to this day the peasant remains +a pagan and savage at heart; his civilization is merely a thin +veneer which the hard knocks of life soon abrade, exposing the +solid core of paganism and savagery below. The danger created by a +bottomless layer of ignorance and superstition under the crust of +civilized society is lessened, not only by the natural torpidity +and inertia of the bucolic mind, but also by the progressive +decrease of the rural as compared with the urban population in +modern states; for I believe it will be found that the artisans who +congregate in towns are far less retentive of primitive modes of +thought than their rustic brethren. In every age cities have been +the centres and as it were the lighthouses from which ideas radiate +into the surrounding darkness, kindled by the friction of mind with +mind in the crowded haunts of men; and it is natural that at these +beacons of intellectual light all should partake in some measure of +the general illumination. No doubt the mental ferment and unrest of +great cities have their dark as well as their bright side; but +among the evils to be apprehended from them the chances of a pagan +revival need hardly be reckoned.</p> +<p>Another point on which I have changed my mind is the nature of +the great Aryan god whom the Romans called Jupiter and the Greeks +Zeus. Whereas I formerly argued that he was primarily a +personification of the sacred oak and only in the second place a +personification of the thundering sky, I now invert the order of +his divine functions and believe that he was a sky-god before he +came to be associated with the oak. In fact, I revert to the +traditional view of Jupiter, recant my heresy, and am gathered like +a lost sheep into the fold of mythological orthodoxy. The good +shepherd who has brought me back is my friend Mr. W. Warde Fowler. +He has removed the stone over which I stumbled in the wilderness by +explaining in a simple and natural way how a god of the thundering +sky might easily come to be afterwards associated with the oak. The +explanation turns on the great frequency with which, as statistics +prove, the oak is struck by lightning beyond any other tree of the +wood in Europe. To our rude forefathers, who dwelt in the gloomy +depths of the primaeval forest, it might well seem that the riven +and blackened oaks must indeed be favourites of the sky-god, who so +often descended on them from the murky cloud in a flash of +lightning and a crash of thunder.</p> +<p>This change of view as to the great Aryan god necessarily +affects my interpretation of the King of the Wood, the priest of +Diana at Aricia, if I may take that discarded puppet out of the box +again for a moment. On my theory the priest represented Jupiter in +the flesh, and accordingly, if Jupiter was primarily a sky-god, his +priest cannot have been a mere incarnation of the sacred oak, but +must, like the deity whose commission he bore, have been invested +in the imagination of his worshippers with the power of overcasting +the heaven with clouds and eliciting storms of thunder and rain +from the celestial vault. The attribution of weather-making powers +to kings or priests is very common in primitive society, and is +indeed one of the principal levers by which such personages raise +themselves to a position of superiority above their fellows. There +is therefore no improbability in the supposition that as a +representative of Jupiter the priest of Diana enjoyed this +reputation, though positive evidence of it appears to be +lacking.</p> +<p>Lastly, in the present edition I have shewn some grounds for +thinking that the Golden Bough itself, or in common parlance the +mistletoe on the oak, was supposed to have dropped from the sky +upon the tree in a flash of lightning and therefore to contain +within itself the seed of celestial fire, a sort of smouldering +thunderbolt. This view of the priest and of the bough which he +guarded at the peril of his life has the advantage of accounting +for the importance which the sanctuary at Nemi acquired and the +treasure which it amassed through the offerings of the faithful; +for the shrine would seem to have been to ancient what Loreto has +been to modern Italy, a place of pilgrimage, where princes and +nobles as well as commoners poured wealth into the coffers of Diana +in her green recess among the Alban hills, just as in modern times +kings and queens vied with each other in enriching the black Virgin +who from her Holy House on the hillside at Loreto looks out on the +blue Adriatic and the purple Apennines. Such pious prodigality +becomes more intelligible if the greatest of the gods was indeed +believed to dwell in human shape with his wife among the woods of +Nemi.</p> +<p>These are the principal points on which I have altered my +opinion since the last edition of my book was published. The mere +admission of such changes may suffice to indicate the doubt and +uncertainty which attend enquiries of this nature. The whole fabric +of ancient mythology is so foreign to our modern ways of thought, +and the evidence concerning it is for the most part so fragmentary, +obscure, and conflicting that in our attempts to piece together and +interpret it we can hardly hope to reach conclusions that will +completely satisfy either ourselves or others. In this as in other +branches of study it is the fate of theories to be washed away like +children's castles of sand by the rising tide of knowledge, and I +am not so presumptuous as to expect or desire for mine an exemption +from the common lot. I hold them all very lightly and have used +them chiefly as convenient pegs on which to hang my collections of +facts. For I believe that, while theories are transitory, a record +of facts has a permanent value, and that as a chronicle of ancient +customs and beliefs my book may retain its utility when my theories +are as obsolete as the customs and beliefs themselves deserve to +be.</p> +<p>I cannot dismiss without some natural regret a task which has +occupied and amused me at intervals for many years. But the regret +is tempered by thankfulness and hope. I am thankful that I have +been able to conclude at least one chapter of the work I projected +a long time ago. I am hopeful that I may not now be taking a final +leave of my indulgent readers, but that, as I am sensible of little +abatement in my bodily strength and of none in my ardour for study, +they will bear with me yet a while if I should attempt to entertain +them with fresh subjects of laughter and tears drawn from the +comedy and the tragedy of man's endless quest after happiness and +truth.</p> +<p>J.G. FRAZER.</p> +<p>CAMBRIDGE, 17<i>th October</i> 1913.</p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<p>PREFACE, Pp. v-xii</p> +<p><a href="#chap1">CHAPTER I.—BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH, Pp. +1-21</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect1-1">§ 1. <i>Not to touch the Earth</i>, pp. +1-18</a>.—<a href="#priest">The priest of Aricia and the +Golden Bough, 1 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#sacredkings">sacred kings +and priests forbidden to touch the ground with their feet, 2-4</a>; +<a href="#certain">certain persons on certain occasions forbidden +to touch the ground with their feet, 4-6</a>; <a href= +"#sacredtabooed">sacred persons apparently thought to be charged +with a mysterious virtue which will run to waste or explode by +contact with the ground, 6 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#thingsaswell">things as well as persons charged with the +mysterious virtue of holiness or taboo and therefore kept from +contact with the ground, 7</a>; <a href="#wildmango">festival of +the wild mango, which is not allowed to touch the earth, 7-11</a>; +<a href="#sacredobjects">other sacred objects kept from contact +with the ground, 11 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#sacredfood">sacred +food not allowed to touch the earth, 13 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#magicalimplements">magical implements and remedies thought to +lose their virtue by contact with the ground, 14 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#serpentseggs">serpents' eggs or snake stones, 15 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#medicinalplants">medicinal plants, water, +etc., not allowed to touch the earth, 17 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect1-2">§ 2. <i>Not to see the Sun</i>, pp. +18-21</a>.—<a href="#sacredpersons">Sacred persons not +allowed to see the sun, 18-20</a>; <a href= +"#tabooedpersons">tabooed persons not allowed to see the sun, +20</a>; <a href="#certainpersons">certain persons forbidden to see +fire, 20 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#princesunless">the story of +Prince Sunless, 21.</a></p> +<p><a href="#chap2">CHAPTER II.—THE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT +PUBERTY, Pp. 22-100</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-1">§ 1. <i>Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in +Africa</i>, pp. 22-32</a>.—<a href="#puberty">Girls at +puberty forbidden to touch the ground and see the sun, 22</a>; +<a href="#puberty">seclusion of girls at puberty among the Zulus +and kindred tribes, 22</a>; <a href="#seclusionakamba">among the +A-Kamba of British East Africa, 23</a>; <a href= +"#seclusionbaganda">among the Baganda of Central Africa, 23 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusiontangayika">among the tribes of +the Tanganyika plateau, 24 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionbritishcentral">among the tribes of British Central +Africa, 25 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#abstinencesalt">abstinence +from salt associated with a rule of chastity in many tribes, +26-28</a>; <a href="#seclusionnyassa">seclusion of girls at puberty +among the tribes about Lake Nyassa and on the Zambesi, 28 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusionthonga">among the Thonga of +Delagoa Bay, 29 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusioncaffre">among +the Caffre tribes of South Africa, 30 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionlowercongo">among the Bavili of the Lower Congo, 31 +<i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-2">§ 2. <i>Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in +New Ireland, New Guinea, and Indonesia</i>, pp. +32-36</a>.—<a href="#seclusionnewireland">Seclusion of girls +at puberty in New Ireland, 32-34</a>; <a href= +"#seclusionnewguinea">in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram, and the +Caroline Islands, 35 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-3">§ 3. <i>Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in +the Torres Straits Islands and Northern Australia</i>, pp. +36-41</a>.—<a href="#seclusionmabuiag">Seclusion of girls at +puberty in Mabuiag, Torres Straits, 36 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionnorthernaustralia">in Northern Australia, 37-39</a>; +<a href="#seclusiontorres">in the islands of Torres Straits, +39-41.</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-4">§ 4. <i>Seclusion of Girls at Puberty +among the Indians of North America</i>, pp. +41-55</a>.—<a href="#seclusioncaliformia">Seclusion of girls +at puberty among the Indians of California, 41-43</a>; <a href= +"#seclusionwashington">among the Indians of Washington State, +43</a>; <a href="#seclusionnootka">among the Nootka Indians of +Vancouver Island, 43 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionhaida">among the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte +Islands, 44 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusiontlingit">among the +Tlingit Indians of Alaska, 45 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusiontsetsaut">among the Tsetsaut and Bella Coola Indians of +British Columbia, 46 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusiontinneh">among the Tinneh Indians of British Columbia, 47 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusiontinnehalaska">among the Tinneh +Indians of Alaska, 48 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionthompson">among the Thompson Indians of British +Columbia, 49-52</a>; <a href="#seclusionlillooet">among the +Lillooet Indians of British Columbia, 52 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionshuswap">among the Shuswap Indians of British Columbia, +53 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusiondelaware">among the Delaware +and Cheyenne Indians, 54 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionesquimaux">among the Esquimaux, 55 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-5">§ 5. <i>Seclusion of Girls at Puberty +among the Indians of South America</i>, pp. +56-68</a>.—<a href="#seclusionguaranis">Seclusion of girls at +puberty among the Guaranis, Chiriguanos, and Lengua Indians, 56 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusionyuracares">among the Yuracares +of Bolivia, 57 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusiongranchaco">among +the Indians of the Gran Chaco, 58 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#seclusionguaranis">among the Indians of Brazil, 59 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusionguiana">among the Indians of +Guiana, 60 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#seclusionguiana">beating the +girls and stinging them with ants, 61</a>; <a href="#ants">stinging +young men with ants and wasps as an initiatory rite, 61-63</a>; +<a href="#antscharacter">stinging men and women with ants to +improve their character or health or to render them invulnerable, +63 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#beatingpurification">in such cases the +beating or stinging was originally a purification, not a test of +courage and endurance, 65 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#beatingconfirmed">this explanation confirmed by the beating of +girls among the Banivas of the Orinoco to rid them of a demon, +66-68</a>; <a href="#beatingconfirmed">symptoms of puberty in a +girl regarded as wounds inflicted on her by a demon, 68.</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-6">§ 6. <i>Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in +India and Cambodia</i>, pp. 68-70</a>.—<a href= +"#seclusionhindoos">Seclusion of girls at puberty among the +Hindoos, 68</a>; <a href="#seclusionhindoos">in Southern India, +68-70</a>; <a href="#seclusioncambodia">in Cambodia, 70.</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-7">§ 7. <i>Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in +Folk-tales</i>, pp. 70-76</a>.—<a href= +"#seclusiondanish">Danish story of the girl who might not see the +sun, 70-72</a>; <a href="#seclusiontyrolese">Tyrolese story of the +girl who might not see the sun, 72</a>; <a href= +"#seclusionmoderngreek">modern Greek stories of the maid who might +not see the sun, 72 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#danae">ancient Greek +story of Danae and its parallel in a Kirghiz legend, 73 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#sunimpregnation">impregnation of women by +the sun in legends, 74 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#marriagecustoms">traces in marriage customs of the belief that +women can be impregnated by the sun, 75</a>; <a href= +"#moonimpregnation">belief in the impregnation of women by the +moon, 75 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect2-8">§ 8. <i>Reasons for the Seclusion of +Girls at Puberty</i>, pp. 76-100</a>.—<a href= +"#reasondread">The reason for the seclusion of girls at puberty is +the dread of menstruous blood, 76</a>; <a href= +"#dreadaustralia">dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the +aborigines of Australia, 76-78</a>; <a href="#dreadtorres">in +Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea, Galela, and Sumatra, 78 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#dreadsouthafrica">among the tribes of +South Africa, 79 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#dreadcentralafrica">among the tribes of Central and East Africa, +80-82</a>; <a href="#dreadwestafrica">among the tribes of West +Africa, 82</a>; <a href="#arablegend">powerful influence ascribed +to menstruous blood in Arab legend, 82 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#dreadjews">dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Jews +and in Syria, 83 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#dreadindia">in India, 84 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#dreadindia">in Annam, 85</a>; <a href= +"#dreadsouthamerica">among the Indians of Central and South +America, 85 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#dreadnorthamerica">among the +Indians of North America, 87-94</a>; <a href="#dreadcreek">among +the Creek, Choctaw, Omaha and Cheyenne Indians, 88 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#dreadbritishcolumbia">among the Indians of British +Columbia, 89 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#dreadchippeway">among the +Chippeway Indians, 90 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#dreadtinneh">among +the Tinneh or Déné Indians, 91</a>; <a href= +"#dreadcarrier">among the Carrier Indians, 91-94</a>; <a href= +"#similarrules">similar rules of seclusion enjoined on menstruous +women in ancient Hindoo, Persian, and Hebrew codes, 94-96</a>; +<a href="#superstitionsmenstrous">superstitions as to menstruous +women in ancient and modern Europe, 96 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#intentionsecluding">the intention of secluding menstruous women +is to neutralize the dangerous influences which are thought to +emanate from them in that condition, 97</a>; <a href= +"#suspensionheaven">suspension between heaven and earth, 97</a>; +<a href="#suspensionheaven">the same explanation applies to the +similar rules of seclusion observed by divine kings and priests, +97-99</a>; <a href="#storiesimmortality">stories of immortality +attained by suspension between heaven and earth, 99 +<i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#chap3">CHAPTER III.—THE MYTH OF BALDER, Pp. +101-105</a></p> +<p><a href="#balderdeath">How Balder, the good and beautiful god, +was done to death by a stroke of mistletoe, 101 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#olderedda">story of Balder in the older <i>Edda</i>, 102 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#saxogrammaticus">story of Balder as told +by Saxo Grammaticus, 103</a>; <a href="#baldernorway">Balder +worshipped in Norway, 104</a>; <a href="#balderfirdusi">legendary +death of Balder resembles the legendary death of Isfendiyar in the +epic of Firdusi, 104 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#balderceremony">the +myth of Balder perhaps acted as a magical ceremony; the two main +incidents of the myth, namely the pulling of the mistletoe and the +burning of the god, have perhaps their counterpart in popular +ritual, 105.</a></p> +<p><a href="#chap4">CHAPTER IV.—THE FIRE FESTIVALS OF EUROPE, +Pp. 106-327</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-1">§ 1. <i>The Lenten Fires</i>, pp. +106-120</a>.—<a href="#custom">European custom of kindling +bonfires on certain days of the year, dancing round them, leaping +over them, and burning effigies in the flames, 106</a>; <a href= +"#seasons">seasons of the year at which the bonfires are lit, 106 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#fireardennes">bonfires on the first +Sunday in Lent in the Belgian Ardennes, 107 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#firefrenchardennes">in the French department of the +Ardennes, 109 <i>sq.</i></a>; in +Franche-Comté, 110 <i>sq.</i>; <a href= +"#fireauvergne">in Auvergne, 111-113</a>; <a href= +"#firebrandons">French custom of carrying lighted torches +(<i>brandons</i>) about the orchards and fields to fertilize them +on the first Sunday of Lent, 113-115</a>; <a href= +"#firegermany">bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Germany and +Austria, 115 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#firegermany">"burning the +witch," 116</a>; <a href="#firegermany">burning discs thrown into +the air, 116 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#firegermany">burning wheels +rolled down hill, 117 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#firegermany">bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in Switzerland, +118 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#firediscs">burning discs thrown into +the air, 119</a>; <a href="#fireconnexion">connexion of these fires +with the custom of "carrying out Death," 119 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-2">§ 2. <i>The Easter Fires</i>, +120-146</a>.—<a href="#fireeaster">Custom in Catholic +countries of kindling a holy new fire on Easter Saturday, +marvellous properties ascribed to the embers of the fire, 121</a>; +<a href="#fireeaster">effigy of Judas burnt in the fire, 121</a>; +<a href="#firebavaria">Easter fires in Bavaria and the Abruzzi, +122</a>; <a href="#firewater">water as well as fire consecrated at +Easter in Italy, Bohemia, and Germany, 122-124</a>; <a href= +"#firecarinthia">new fire at Easter in Carinthia, 124</a>; <a href= +"#firecarinthia">Thomas Kirchmeyer's account of the consecration of +fire and water by the Catholic Church at Easter, 124 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#fireflorence">the new fire on Easter +Saturday at Florence, 126 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#firemexico">the +new fire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Mexico and +South America, 127 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#firejerusalem">the new +fire on Easter Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at +Jerusalem, 128-130</a>; <a href="#firegreece">the new fire and the +burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Greece, 130 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#firearmenia">the new fire at Candlemas in Armenia, +131</a>; <a href="#firerelics">the new fire and the burning of +Judas at Easter are probably relics of paganism, 131 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#fireincas">new fire at the summer +solstice among the Incas of Peru, 132</a>; <a href="#fireincas">new +fire among the Indians of Mexico and New Mexico, the Iroquois, and +the Esquimaux, 132-134</a>; <a href="#firewadai">new fire in Wadai, +among the Swahili, and in other parts of Africa, 134-136</a>; +<a href="#firetodas">new fires among the Todas and Nagas of India, +136</a>; <a href="#firechina">new fire in China and Japan, 137 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#firerome">new fire in ancient Greece and +Rome, 138</a>; <a href="#firecelts">new fire at Hallowe'en among +the old Celts of Ireland, 139</a>; <a href="#firecelts">new fire on +the first of September among the Russian peasants, 139</a>; +<a href="#fireheathen">the rite of the new fire probably common to +many peoples of the Mediterranean area before the rise of +Christianity, 139 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#paganeaster">the pagan +character of the Easter fire manifest from the superstitions +associated with it, such as the belief that the fire fertilizes the +fields and protects houses from conflagration and sickness, 140 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#firemunsterland">the Easter fires in +Münsterland, Oldenburg, the Harz Mountains, and the Altmark, +141-143</a>; <a href="#easterbavaria">Easter fires and the burning +of Judas or the Easter Man in Bavaria, 143 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#easterbaden">Easter fires and "thunder poles" in Baden, 145</a>; +<a href="#easterholland">Easter fires in Holland and Sweden, 145 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#easterholland">the burning of Judas in +Bohemia, 146.</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-3">§ 3. <i>The Beltane Fires</i>, pp. +146-160</a>.—<a href="#beltanehighlands">The Beltane fires on +the first of May in the Highlands of Scotland, 146-154</a>; +<a href="#beltanehighlands">John Ramsay of Ochtertyre, his +description of the Beltane fires and cakes and the Beltane carline, +146-149</a>; <a href="#beltaneperthshire">Beltane fires and cakes +in Perthshire, 150-153</a>; <a href="#beltanenescotland">Beltane +fires in the north-east of Scotland to burn the witches, 153 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#beltanehebrides">Beltane fires and cakes +in the Hebrides, 154</a>; <a href="#beltanewales">Beltane fires and +cakes in Wales, 155-157</a>; <a href="#beltaneman">in the Isle of +Man to burn the witches, 157</a>; <a href="#beltaneman">in +Nottinghamshire, 157</a>; <a href="#beltaneireland">in Ireland, +157-159</a>; <a href="#maydaysweden">fires on the Eve of May Day in +Sweden, 159</a>; <a href="#maydaysweden">in Austria and Saxony to +burn the witches, 159 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-4">§ 4. <i>The Midsummer Fires</i>, pp. +160-219</a>.—<a href="#summersolstice">The great season for +fire-festivals in Europe is Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day, which +the church has dedicated to St. John the Baptist, 160 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summersolstice">the bonfires, the +torches, and the burning wheels of the festival, 161</a>; <a href= +"#summerkirchmeyer">Thomas Kirchmeyer's description of the +Midsummer festival, 162 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summergermany">the Midsummer fires in Germany, 163-171</a>; +<a href="#summergermany">burning wheel rolled down hill at Konz on +the Moselle, 163 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerbavaria">Midsummer +fires in Bavaria, 164-166</a>; <a href="#summerswabia">in Swabia, +166 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerbaden">in Baden, 167-169</a>; +<a href="#summerbaden">in Alsace, Lorraine, the Eifel, the Harz +district, and Thuringia, 169</a>; <a href= +"#summerfriction">Midsummer fires kindled by the friction of wood, +169 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerfriction">driving away the +witches and demons, 170</a>; <a href="#summersilesia">Midsummer +fires in Silesia, scaring away the witches, 170 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#summerdenmark">Midsummer fires in Denmark and Norway, +keeping off the witches, 171</a>; <a href= +"#summerdenmark">Midsummer fires in Sweden, 172</a>; <a href= +"#summerswitzerland">Midsummer fires in Switzerland and Austria, +172 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerbohemia">in Bohemia, +173-175</a>; <a href="#summermoravia">in Moravia, Austrian Silesia, +and the district of Cracow, 175</a>; <a href="#summerslavs">among +the Slavs of Russia, 176</a>; <a href="#summerprussia">in Prussia +and Lithuania as a protection against witchcraft, thunder, hail, +and cattle disease, 176 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerprussia">in +Masuren the fire is kindled by the revolution of a wheel, 177</a>; +<a href="#summerletts">Midsummer fires among the Letts of Russia, +177 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summersouthslavs">among the South +Slavs, 178</a>; <a href="#summermagyars">among the Magyars, 178 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summeresthonians">among the Esthonians, +179 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerfinns">among the Finns and +Cheremiss of Russia, 180 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerfrance">in +France, 181-194</a>; <a href="#summerfrance">Bossuet on the +Midsummer festival, 182</a>; <a href="#summerbrittany">the +Midsummer fires in Brittany, 183-185</a>; <a href= +"#summernormandy">in Normandy, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf at +Jumièges, 185 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerpicardy">Midsummer fires in Picardy, 187 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#summerbeauce">in Beauce and Perche, 188</a>; <a href= +"#summerbeauce">the fires a protection against witchcraft, 188</a>; +<a href="#summerardennes">the Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the +Vosges, and the Jura, 188 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerardennes">in Franche-Comté, 189</a>; <a href= +"#summerardennes">in Berry and other parts of Central France, 189 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerpoitou">in Poitou, 190 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summervienne">in the departments of +Vienne and Deux-Sèvres and in the provinces of Saintonge and +Aunis, 191 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summersouthernfrance">in +Southern France, 192 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summersouthernfrance">Midsummer festival of fire and water in +Provence, 193 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerbelgium">Midsummer +fires in Belgium, 194-196</a>; <a href="#summerengland">in England, +196-200</a>; <a href="#summerengland">Stow's description of the +Midsummer fires in London, 196 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerengland">John Aubrey on the Midsummer fires, 197</a>; +<a href="#summernorthengland">Midsummer fires in Cumberland, +Northumberland, and Yorkshire, 197 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerherefordshire">in Herefordshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, +and Cornwall, 199 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerwales">in Wales +and the Isle of Man, 200 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerireland">in Ireland, 201-205</a>; <a href= +"#summerwaterireland">holy wells resorted to on Midsummer Eve in +Ireland, 205 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerscotland">Midsummer +fires in Scotland, 206 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerspain">Midsummer fires and divination in Spain and the +Azores, 208 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerspain">Midsummer fires +in Corsica and Sardinia, 209</a>; <a href="#summerabruzzi">in the +Abruzzi, 209 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summerabruzzi">in Sicily, +210</a>; <a href="#summermalta">in Malta, 210 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#summergreece">in Greece and the Greek islands, 211 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summergreece">in Macedonia and Albania, +212</a>; <a href="#summeramerica">in South America, 212 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#summermorocco">among the Mohammedans of +Morocco and Algeria, 213-216</a>; <a href="#summerwater">the +Midsummer festival in North Africa comprises rites of water as well +as fire, 216</a>; <a href="#summerwater">similar festival of fire +and water at New Year in North Africa, 217 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerberber">the duplication of the festival probably due to a +conflict between the solar calendar of the Romans and the lunar +calendar of the Arabs, 218 <i>sg.</i></a>; <a href= +"#summerberber">the Midsummer festival in Morocco apparently of +Berber origin, 219.</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-5">§ 5. <i>The Autumn Fires</i>, pp. +220-222</a>.—<a href="#autumnaugust">Festivals of fire in +August, 220</a>; <a href="#autumnaugust">"living fire" made by the +friction of wood, 220</a>; <a href="#autumnnativity">feast of the +Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth of September at Capri and +Naples, 220-222.</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-6">§ 6. <i>The Halloween Fires</i>, pp. +222-246</a>.—<a href="#halloweencelts">While the Midsummer +festival implies observation of the solstices, the Celts appear to +have divided their year, without regard to the solstices, by the +times when they drove their cattle to and from the summer pasture +on the first of May and the last of October (Hallowe'en), +222-224</a>; <a href="#halloweenbeltane">the two great Celtic +festivals of Beltane (May Day) and Hallowe'en (the last of +October), 224</a>; <a href="#halloweenbeginning">Hallowe'en seems +to have marked the beginning of the Celtic year, 224 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#halloweenbeginning">it was a season of +divination and a festival of the dead, 225 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#halloweenfairies">fairies and hobgoblins let loose at Hallowe'en, +226-228</a>; <a href="#halloweendivination">divination in Celtic +countries at Hallowe'en, 228 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#halloweenscotland">Hallowe'en bonfires in the Highlands of +Scotland, 229-232</a>; <a href="#halloweenbuchan">Hallowe'en fires +in Buchan to burn the witches, 232 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#halloweenbuchan">processions with torches at Hallowe'en in the +Braemar Highlands, 233 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#halloweenhighlands">divination at Hallowe'en in the Highlands and +Lowlands of Scotland, 234-239</a>; <a href= +"#halloweenwales">Hallowe'en fires in Wales, omens drawn from +stones cast into the fires, 239 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#halloweenwalesdivination">divination at Hallowe'en in Wales, 240 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#halloweendivinationireland">divination at +Hallowe'en in Ireland, 241-243</a>; <a href= +"#halloweenman">Hallowe'en fires and divination in the Isle of Man, +243 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#halloweenlancashire">Hallowe'en fires +and divination in Lancashire, 244 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#halloweenlancashire">marching with lighted candles to keep off +the witches, 245</a>; <a href="#halloweenlancashire">divination at +Hallowe'en in Northumberland, 245</a>; <a href= +"#halloweenlancashire">Hallowe'en fires in France, 245 +<i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-7">§ 7. <i>The Midwinter Fires</i>, pp. +246-269</a>.—<a href="#winterfire">Christmas the continuation +of an old heathen festival of the sun, 246</a>; <a href= +"#winterlog">the Yule log the Midwinter counterpart of the +Midsummer bonfire, 247</a>; <a href="#yulegermany">the Yule log in +Germany, 247-249</a>; <a href="#yulegermany">in Switzerland, +249</a>; <a href="#yulebelgium">in Belgium, 249</a>; <a href= +"#yulefrance">in France, 249-255</a>; <a href= +"#yulefrenchsuperstitions">French superstitions as to the Yule log, +250</a>; <a href="#yulemarseilles">the Yule log at Marseilles and +in Perigord, 250 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#yulemarseilles">in +Berry, 251 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#yulenormandybrittany">in +Normandy and Brittany, 252 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#yuleardennes">in the Ardennes, 253 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#yulevosges">in the Vosges, 254</a>; <a href="#yulevosges">in +Franche-Comté, 254 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#yuleengland">the Yule log and Yule candle in England, +255-258</a>; <a href="#yuleyorkshire">the Yule log in the north of +England and Yorkshire, 256 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#yuleyorkshire">in Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, and +Herefordshire, 257 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#yuleyorkshire">in +Wales, 258</a>; <a href="#yuleservia">in Servia, 258-262</a>; +<a href="#yuleslavonia">among the Servians of Slavonia, 262 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#yuledalmatia">among the Servians of +Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro, 263 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#yuledalmatia">in Albania, 264</a>; <a href="#yulefire">belief +that the Yule log protects against fire and lightning, 264 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#yulepublic">public fire-festivals at +Midwinter, 265-269</a>; <a href="#yulepublic">Christmas bonfire at +Schweina in Thuringia, 265 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#yulenormandy">Christmas bonfires in Normandy, 266</a>; <a href= +"#yuleman">bonfires on St. Thomas's Day in the Isle of Man, +266</a>; <a href="#yuleman">the "Burning of the Clavie" at Burghead +on the last day of December, 266-268</a>; <a href= +"#yulelerwick">Christmas procession with burning tar-barrels at +Lerwick, 268 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-8">§ 8. <i>The Need-fire</i>, pp. +269-300</a>.—<a href="#needfire">Need-fire kindled not at +fixed periods but on occasions of distress and calamity, 269</a>; +<a href="#needmiddleages">the need-fire in the Middle Ages and down +to the end of the sixteenth century, 270 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#needmethod">mode of kindling the need-fire by the friction of +wood, 271 <i>sq</i>.</a>; <a href="#needhildesheim">the need-fire +in Central Germany, particularly about Hildesheim, 272 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needmark">the need-fire in the Mark, +273</a>; <a href="#needmecklenburg">in Mecklenburg, 274 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needhanover">in Hanover, 275 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needharz">in the Harz Mountains, 276 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needbrunswick">in Brunswick, 277 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needsilesia">in Silesia and Bohemia, 278 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needswitzerland">in Switzerland, 279 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needsweden">in Sweden and Norway, +280</a>; <a href="#needslavonic">among the Slavonic peoples, +281-286</a>; <a href="#needrussia">in Russia and Poland, 281 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needrussia">in Slavonia, 282</a>; +<a href="#needservia">in Servia, 282-284</a>; <a href= +"#needbulgaria">in Bulgaria, 284-286</a>; <a href="#needbosnia">in +Bosnia and Herzegovina, 286</a>; <a href="#needengland">in England, +286-289</a>; <a href="#needengland">in Yorkshire, 286-288</a>; +<a href="#neednorthumberland">in Northumberland, 288 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needscotland">in Scotland, 289-297</a>; +<a href="#needscotland">Martin's account of it in the Highlands, +289</a>; <a href="#needmull">the need-fire in Mull, 289 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needcaithness">in Caithness, 290-292</a>; +<a href="#needcaithness2">W. Grant Stewart's account of the +need-fire, 292 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needcarmichael">Alexander +Carmichael's account, 293-295</a>; <a href="#needaberdeenshire">the +need-fire in Aberdeenshire, 296</a>; <a href="#needperthshire">in +Perthshire, 296 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needireland">in Ireland, +297</a>; <a href="#needrelic">the use of need-fire a relic of the +time when all fires were similarly kindled by the friction of wood, +297 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#needbelief">the belief that need-fire +cannot kindle if any other fire remains alight in the +neighbourhood, 298 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#neediroquois">the +need-fire among the Iroquois of North America, 299 +<i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect4-9">§ 9. <i>The Sacrifice of an Animal to +stay a Cattle-plague</i>, pp. 300-327</a>.—<a href= +"#sacrificeengland">The burnt sacrifice of a calf in England and +Wales, 300 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#sacrificeengland">burnt +sacrifices of animals in Scotland, 301 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#sacrificecalf">calf burnt in order to break a spell which has +been cast on the herd, 302 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#sacrificemode">mode in which the burning of a bewitched animal is +supposed to break the spell, 303-305</a>; <a href= +"#sacrificewitch">in burning the bewitched animal you burn the +witch herself, 305</a>; <a href="#sacrificeman">practice of burning +cattle and sheep as sacrifices in the Isle of Man, 305-307</a>; +<a href="#sacrificeappear">by burning a bewitched animal you compel +the witch to appear, 307</a>; <a href="#magicsympathy">magic +sympathy between the witch and the bewitched animal, 308</a>; +<a href="#parallelbelief">similar sympathy between a were-wolf and +his or her human shape, wounds inflicted on the animal are felt by +the man or woman, 308</a>; <a href="#parallelbelief">were-wolves in +Europe, 308-310</a>; <a href="#chinawerewolves">in China, 310 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#toradjaswerewolves">among the Toradjas of +Central Celebes, 311-313 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#werewolvessudan">in the Egyptian Sudan, 313 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#werewolfpetronius">the were-wolf story in Petronius, 313 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#witchesanimals">witches like were-wolves +can temporarily transform themselves into animals, and wounds +inflicted on the transformed animals appear on the persons of the +witches, 315 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#woundsinflicted">instances +of such transformations and wounds in Scotland, England, Ireland, +France, and Germany, 316-321</a>; <a href= +"#analogywerewolves">hence the reason for burning bewitched animals +is either to burn the witch herself or at all events to compel her +to appear, 321 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#bewitchedthings">the like +reason for burning bewitched things, 322 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#bewitchedthings">similarly by burning alive a person whose +likeness a witch has assumed you compel the witch to disclose +herself, 323</a>; <a href="#witchireland">woman burnt alive as a +witch in Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century, 323 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#animalsburied">bewitched animals +sometimes buried alive instead of being burned, 324-326</a>; +<a href="#calveskilled">calves killed and buried to save the rest +of the herd, 326 <i>sq</i>.</a></p> +<p><a href="#chap5">CHAPTER V.—THE INTERPRETATION OF THE +FIRE-FESTIVALS, Pp. 328-346</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect5-1">§ 1. <i>On the Fire-festivals in +general</i> pp. 328-331</a>.—<a href= +"#fireresemblance">General resemblance of the fire-festivals to +each other, 328 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#twoexplanations">two +explanations of the festivals suggested, one by W. Mannhardt that +they are sun-charms, the other by Dr. E. Westermarck that they are +purificatory, 329 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#notexclusive">the two +explanations perhaps not mutually exclusive, 330 <i>sq.</i></a></p> +<p><a href="#sect5-2">§ 2. <i>The Solar Theory of the +Fire-festivals</i>, pp. 331-341</a>.—<a href= +"#supplytheory">Theory that the fire-festivals are charms to ensure +a supply of sunshine, 331</a>; <a href= +"#solsticecoincidence">coincidence of two of the festivals with the +solstices, 331 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#bushmenattempt">attempt of +the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in midwinter by kindling +sticks, 332 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#burningimitations">the +burning wheels and discs of the fire-festivals may be direct +imitations of the sun, 334</a>; <a href="#wheelimitation">the wheel +which is sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may also be +an imitation of the sun, 334-336</a>; <a href="#fireinfluence">the +influence which the bonfires are supposed to exert on the weather +and vegetation may be thought to be due to an increase of solar +heat produced by the fires, 336-338</a>; <a href= +"#fertilizingfire">the effect which the bonfires are supposed to +have in fertilizing cattle and women may also be attributed to an +increase of solar heat produced by the fires, 338 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#carryingtorches">the carrying of lighted torches about +the country at the festivals may be explained as an attempt to +diffuse the sun's heat, 339-341.</a></p> +<p><a href="#sect5-3">§ 3. <i>The Purificatory Theory of the +Fire-festivals</i>, pp. 341-346</a>.—<a href= +"#purificatorytheory">Theory that the fires at the festivals are +purificatory, being intended to burn up all harmful things, +341</a>; <a href="#destructiveeffect">the purificatory or +destructive effect of the fires is often alleged by the people who +light them, and there is no reason to reject this explanation, 341 +<i>sq.</i></a>; <a href="#destructiveeffect">the great evil against +which the fire at the festivals appears to be directed is +witchcraft, 342</a>; <a href="#cattledisease">among the evils for +which the fire-festivals are deemed remedies the foremost is +cattle-disease, and cattle-disease is often supposed to be an +effect of witchcraft, 343 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#averthail">again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, +thunder, lightning, and various maladies, all of which are +attributed to the maleficent arts of witches, 344 <i>sq.</i></a>; +<a href="#wheelsburn">the burning wheels rolled down hill and the +burning discs thrown into the air may be intended to burn the +invisible witches, 345 <i>sq.</i></a>; <a href= +"#fertilityindirect">on this view the fertility supposed to follow +the use of fire results indirectly from breaking the spells of +witches, 346</a>; <a href="#destructiveprobable">on the whole the +theory of the purificatory or destructive intention of the +fire-festivals seems the more probable, 346.</a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page1" name="page1"></a>[pg 1]</span> +<p>[Transcriber's Note: The brief descriptions often found enclosed +in square brackets are "sidenotes", which appeared in the original +book in the margins of the paragraph following the "sidenote." +Footnotes were originally at the bottoms of the printed pages.]</p> +<h2><a id="chap1" name="chap1">CHAPTER I</a></h2> +<h3>BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH</h3> +<h4><a id="sect1-1" name="sect1-1">§ 1. <i>Not to touch the +Earth</i></a></h4> +<a id="priest" name="priest"></a> +<p>[The priest of Aricia and the Golden Bough]</p> +<p>We have travelled far since we turned our backs on Nemi and set +forth in quest of the secret of the Golden Bough. With the present +volume we enter on the last stage of our long journey. The reader +who has had the patience to follow the enquiry thus far may +remember that at the outset two questions were proposed for answer: +Why had the priest of Aricia to slay his predecessor? And why, +before doing so, had he to pluck the Golden Bough?<a id= +"footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= +"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> Of these two questions the first has +now been answered. The priest of Aricia, if I am right, was one of +those sacred kings or human divinities on whose life the welfare of +the community and even the course of nature in general are believed +to be intimately dependent. It does not appear that the subjects or +worshippers of such a spiritual potentate form to themselves any +very clear notion of the exact relationship in which they stand to +him; probably their ideas on the point are vague and fluctuating, +and we should err if we attempted to define the relationship with +logical precision. All that the people know, or rather imagine, is +that somehow they themselves, their cattle, and their crops are +mysteriously bound up with their divine king, so that according as +he is well or ill the community is healthy or sickly, the flocks +and herds thrive or languish with disease, and the fields yield an +abundant or a scanty harvest. The worst evil which they can +conceive of is the natural death of their ruler, whether he succumb +to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page2" name="page2"></a>[pg +2]</span> sickness or old age, for in the opinion of his followers +such a death would entail the most disastrous consequences on +themselves and their possessions; fatal epidemics would sweep away +man and beast, the earth would refuse her increase, nay the very +frame of nature itself might be dissolved. To guard against these +catastrophes it is necessary to put the king to death while he is +still in the full bloom of his divine manhood, in order that his +sacred life, transmitted in unabated force to his successor, may +renew its youth, and thus by successive transmissions through a +perpetual line of vigorous incarnations may remain eternally fresh +and young, a pledge and security that men and animals shall in like +manner renew their youth by a perpetual succession of generations, +and that seedtime and harvest, and summer and winter, and rain and +sunshine shall never fail. That, if my conjecture is right, was why +the priest of Aricia, the King of the Wood at Nemi, had regularly +to perish by the sword of his successor.</p> +<p>[What was the Golden Bough?]</p> +<p>But we have still to ask, What was the Golden Bough? and why had +each candidate for the Arician priesthood to pluck it before he +could slay the priest? These questions I will now try to +answer.</p> +<a id="sacredkings" name="sacredkings"></a> +<p>[Sacred kings and priests forbidden to touch the ground with +their feet.]</p> +<p>It will be well to begin by noticing two of those rules or +taboos by which, as we have seen, the life of divine kings or +priests is regulated. The first of the rules to which I desire to +call the reader's attention is that the divine personage may not +touch the ground with his foot. This rule was observed by the +supreme pontiff of the Zapotecs in Mexico; he profaned his sanctity +if he so much as touched the ground with his foot.<a id= +"footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href= +"#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> Montezuma, emperor of Mexico, never +set foot on the ground; he was always carried on the shoulders of +noblemen, and if he lighted anywhere they laid rich tapestry for +him to walk upon.<a id="footnotetag3" name= +"footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> For the +Mikado of Japan to touch the ground with his foot was a shameful +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page3" name="page3"></a>[pg 3]</span> +degradation; indeed, in the sixteenth century, it was enough to +deprive him of his office. Outside his palace he was carried on +men's shoulders; within it he walked on exquisitely wrought +mats.<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href= +"#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> The king and queen of Tahiti might +not touch the ground anywhere but within their hereditary domains; +for the ground on which they trod became sacred. In travelling from +place to place they were carried on the shoulders of sacred men. +They were always accompanied by several pairs of these sanctified +attendants; and when it became necessary to change their bearers, +the king and queen vaulted on to the shoulders of their new bearers +without letting their feet touch the ground.<a id="footnotetag5" +name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> It +was an evil omen if the king of Dosuma touched the ground, and he +had to perform an expiatory ceremony.<a id="footnotetag6" name= +"footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> Within his +palace the king of Persia walked on carpets on which no one else +might tread; outside of it he was never seen on foot but only in a +chariot or on horseback.<a id="footnotetag7" name= +"footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> In old +days the king of Siam never set foot upon the earth, but was +carried on a throne of gold from place to place.<a id= +"footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href= +"#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> Formerly neither the kings of Uganda, +nor their mothers, nor their queens might walk on foot outside of +the spacious enclosures in which they lived. Whenever they went +forth they were carried on the shoulders of men of the Buffalo +clan, several of whom accompanied any of these royal personages on +a journey and took it in turn to bear the burden. The king sat +astride the bearer's neck with a leg over each shoulder and his +feet tucked under the bearer's arms. When one of these royal +carriers grew tired he shot the king on to the shoulders of a +second man without allowing the royal feet to touch the ground. In +this way they went at a great pace and travelled long distances in +a day, when the king was on a journey. The bearers had a special +hut in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page4" name="page4"></a>[pg +4]</span> king's enclosure in order to be at hand the moment they +were wanted.<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a href= +"#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> Among the Bakuba or rather Bushongo, +a nation in the southern region of the Congo, down to a few years +ago persons of the royal blood were forbidden to touch the ground; +they must sit on a hide, a chair, or the back of a slave, who +crouched on hands and feet; their feet rested on the feet of +others. When they travelled they were carried on the backs of men; +but the king journeyed in a litter supported on shafts.<a id= +"footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a><a href= +"#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a> Among the Ibo people about Awka, in +Southern Nigeria, the priest of the Earth has to observe many +taboos; for example, he may not see a corpse, and if he meets one +on the road he must hide his eyes with his wristlet. He must +abstain from many foods, such as eggs, birds of all sorts, mutton, +dog, bush-buck, and so forth. He may neither wear nor touch a mask, +and no masked man may enter his house. If a dog enters his house, +it is killed and thrown out. As priest of the Earth he may not sit +on the bare ground, nor eat things that have fallen on the ground, +nor may earth be thrown at him.<a id="footnotetag11" name= +"footnotetag11"></a><a href="#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a> +According to ancient Brahmanic ritual a king at his inauguration +trod on a tiger's skin and a golden plate; he was shod with shoes +of boar's skin, and so long as he lived thereafter he might not +stand on the earth with his bare feet.<a id="footnotetag12" name= +"footnotetag12"></a><a href="#footnote12"><sup>12</sup></a></p> +<a id="certain" name="certain"></a> +<p>[Certain persons on certain occasions forbidden to touch the +ground with their feet.]</p> +<p>But besides persons who are permanently sacred or tabooed and +are therefore permanently forbidden to touch the ground with their +feet, there are others who enjoy the character of sanctity or taboo +only on certain occasions, and to whom accordingly the prohibition +in question only applies at the definite seasons during which they +exhale the odour of sanctity. Thus among the Kayans or Bahaus of +Central <span class="pagenum"><a id="page5" name="page5"></a>[pg +5]</span> Borneo, while the priestesses are engaged in the +performance of certain rites they may not step on the ground, and +boards are laid for them to tread on.<a id="footnotetag13" name= +"footnotetag13"></a><a href="#footnote13"><sup>13</sup></a> At a +funeral ceremony observed by night among the Michemis, a Tibetan +tribe near the northern frontier of Assam, a priest fantastically +bedecked with tiger's teeth, many-coloured plumes, bells, and +shells, executed a wild dance for the purpose of exorcising the +evil spirits; then all fires were extinguished and a new light was +struck by a man suspended by his feet from a beam in the ceiling; +"he did not touch the ground," we are told, "in order to indicate +that the light came from heaven."<a id="footnotetag14" name= +"footnotetag14"></a><a href="#footnote14"><sup>14</sup></a> Again, +newly born infants are strongly tabooed; accordingly in Loango they +are not allowed to touch the earth.<a id="footnotetag15" name= +"footnotetag15"></a><a href="#footnote15"><sup>15</sup></a> Among +the Iluvans of Malabar the bridegroom on his wedding-day is bathed +by seven young men and then carried or walks on planks from the +bathing-place to the marriage booth; he may not touch the ground +with his feet.<a id="footnotetag16" name= +"footnotetag16"></a><a href="#footnote16"><sup>16</sup></a> With +the Dyaks of Landak and Tajan, two districts of Dutch Borneo, it is +a custom that for a certain time after marriage neither bride nor +bridegroom may tread on the earth.<a id="footnotetag17" name= +"footnotetag17"></a><a href="#footnote17"><sup>17</sup></a> +Warriors, again, on the war-path are surrounded, so to say, by an +atmosphere of taboo; hence some Indians of North America might not +sit on the bare ground the whole time they were out on a warlike +expedition.<a id="footnotetag18" name="footnotetag18"></a><a href= +"#footnote18"><sup>18</sup></a> In Laos the hunting of elephants +gives rise to many taboos; one of them is that the chief hunter may +not touch the earth with his foot. Accordingly, when he alights +from his elephant, the others spread a carpet of leaves for him to +step upon.<a id="footnotetag19" name="footnotetag19"></a><a href= +"#footnote19"><sup>19</sup></a> German wiseacres recommended that +when witches were led to the block or the stake, they should not be +allowed to touch the bare <span class="pagenum"><a id="page6" name= +"page6"></a>[pg 6]</span> earth, and a reason suggested for the +rule was that if they touched the earth they might make themselves +invisible and so escape. The sagacious author of <i>The +Striped-petticoat Philosophy</i> in the eighteenth century +ridicules the idea as mere silly talk. He admits, indeed, that the +women were conveyed to the place of execution in carts; but he +denies that there is any deep significance in the cart, and he is +prepared to maintain this view by a chemical analysis of the timber +of which the cart was built. To clinch his argument he appeals to +plain matter of fact and his own personal experience. Not a single +instance, he assures us with apparent satisfaction, can be produced +of a witch who escaped the axe or the fire in this fashion. "I have +myself," says he, "in my youth seen divers witches burned, some at +Arnstadt, some at Ilmenau, some at Schwenda, a noble village +between Arnstadt and Ilmenau, and some of them were pardoned and +beheaded before being burned. They were laid on the earth in the +place of execution and beheaded like any other poor sinner; whereas +if they could have escaped by touching the earth, not one of them +would have failed to do so."<a id="footnotetag20" name= +"footnotetag20"></a><a href="#footnote20"><sup>20</sup></a></p> +<a id="sacredtabooed" name="sacredtabooed"></a> +<p>[Sacred or tabooed persons apparently thought to be charged with +a mysterious virtue like a fluid, which will run to waste or +explode if it touches the ground.]</p> +<p>Apparently holiness, magical virtue, taboo, or whatever we may +call that mysterious quality which is supposed to pervade sacred or +tabooed persons, is conceived by the primitive philosopher as a +physical substance or fluid, with which the sacred man is charged +just as a Leyden jar is charged with electricity; and exactly as +the electricity in the jar can be discharged by contact with a good +conductor, so the holiness or magical virtue in the man can be +discharged and drained away by contact with the earth, which on +this theory serves as an excellent conductor for the magical fluid. +Hence in order to preserve the charge from running to waste, the +sacred or tabooed personage must be carefully prevented from +touching the ground; in electrical language he must be insulated, +if he is not to be emptied of the precious substance or fluid with +which he, as a vial, is filled to the brim. And in many cases +apparently the insulation of the tabooed person is recommended as a +precaution not merely for his own sake but for the sake of others; +for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page7" name="page7"></a>[pg +7]</span> since the virtue of holiness or taboo is, so to say, a +powerful explosive which the smallest touch may detonate, it is +necessary in the interest of the general safety to keep it within +narrow bounds, lest breaking out it should blast, blight, and +destroy whatever it comes into contact with.</p> +<a id="thingsaswell" name="thingsaswell"></a> +<p>[Things as well as persons can be charged with the mysterious +quality of holiness or taboo; and when so charged they must be kept +from contact with the ground.]</p> +<p>But things as well as persons are often charged with the +mysterious quality of holiness or taboo; hence it frequently +becomes necessary for similar reasons to guard them also from +coming into contact with the ground, lest they should in like +manner be drained of their valuable properties and be reduced to +mere commonplace material objects, empty husks from which the good +grain has been eliminated. Thus, for example, the most sacred +object of the Arunta tribe in Central Australia is, or rather used +to be, a pole about twenty feet high, which is completely smeared +with human blood, crowned with an imitation of a human head, and +set up on the ground where the final initiatory ceremonies of young +men are performed. A young gum-tree is chosen to form the pole, and +it must be cut down and transported in such a way that it does not +touch the earth till it is erected in its place on the holy ground. +Apparently the pole represents some famous ancestor of the olden +time.<a id="footnotetag21" name="footnotetag21"></a><a href= +"#footnote21"><sup>21</sup></a></p> +<a id="wildmango" name="wildmango"></a> +<p>[Festival of the wild mango tree in British New Guinea.]</p> +<p>Again, at a great dancing festival celebrated by the natives of +Bartle Bay, in British New Guinea, a wild mango tree plays a +prominent part. The tree must be self-sown, that is, really wild +and so young that it has never flowered. It is chosen in the jungle +some five or six weeks before the festival, and a circle is cleared +round its trunk. From that time the master of the ceremonies and +some eight to twenty other men, who have aided him in choosing the +tree and in clearing the jungle, become strictly holy or tabooed. +They sleep by themselves in a house into which no one else may +intrude: they may not wash or drink water, nor even allow it +accidentally to touch their bodies: they are forbidden to eat +boiled food and the fruit of mango trees: they may drink only the +milk of a young coco-nut which has been baked, and they may eat +certain fruits and vegetables, such as paw-paws <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page8" name="page8"></a>[pg 8]</span> (<i>Carica +papaya</i>) and sugar-cane, but only on condition that they have +been baked. All refuse of their food is kept in baskets in their +sleeping-house and may not be removed from it till the festival is +over. At the time when the men begin to observe these rules of +abstinence, some six to ten women, members of the same clan as the +master of the ceremonies, enter on a like period of mortification, +avoiding the company of the other sex, and refraining from water, +all boiled food, and the fruit of the mango tree. These fasting men +and women are the principal dancers at the festival. The dancing +takes place on a special platform in a temporary village which has +been erected for the purpose. When the platform is about to be set +up, the fasting men rub the stepping posts and then suck their +hands for the purpose of extracting the ghost of any dead man that +might chance to be in the post and might be injured by the weight +of the platform pressing down on him. Having carefully extracted +these poor souls, the men carry them away tenderly and set them +free in the forest or the long grass.</p> +<p>[The wild mango tree not allowed to touch the ground.]</p> +<p>On the day before the festival one of the fasting men cuts down +the chosen mango tree in the jungle with a stone adze, which is +never afterwards put to any other use; an iron tool may not be used +for the purpose, though iron tools are now common enough in the +district. In cutting down the mango they place nets on the ground +to catch any leaves or twigs that might fall from the tree as it is +being felled and they surround the trunk with new mats to receive +the chips which fly out under the adze of the woodman; for the +chips may not drop on the earth. Once the tree is down, it is +carried to the centre of the temporary village, the greatest care +being taken to prevent it from coming into contact with the ground. +But when it is brought into the village, the houses are connected +with the top of the mango by means of long vines decorated with the +streamers. In the afternoon the fasting men and women begin to +dance, the men bedizened with gay feathers, armlets, streamers, and +anklets, the women flaunting in parti-coloured petticoats and +sprigs of croton leaves, which wave from their waistbands as they +dance. The dancing stops at sundown, and when the full moon rises +over the shoulder of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name= +"page9"></a>[pg 9]</span> eastern hill (for the date of the +festival seems to be determined with reference to the time of the +moon), two chiefs mount the gables of two houses on the eastern +side of the square, and, their dusky figures standing sharply out +against the moonlight, pray to the evil spirits to go away and not +to hurt the people. Next morning pigs are killed by being speared +as slowly as possible in order that they may squeal loud and long; +for the people believe that the mango trees hear the squealing, and +are pleased at the sound, and bear plenty of fruit, whereas if they +heard no squeals they would bear no fruit. However, the trees have +to content themselves with the squeals; the flesh of the pigs is +eaten by the people. This ends the festival.</p> +<p>[Final disposition of the wild mango tree.]</p> +<p>Next day the mango is taken down from the platform, wrapt in new +mats, and carried by the fasting men to their sleeping house, where +it is hung from the roof. But after an interval, it may be of many +months, the tree is brought forth again. As to the reason for its +reappearance in public opinions are divided; but some say that the +tree itself orders the master of the ceremonies to bring it forth, +appearing to him in his dreams and saying, "Let me smell the +smoking fat of pigs. So will your pigs be healthy and your crops +will grow." Be that as it may, out it comes, conducted by the +fasting men in their dancing costume; and with it come in the +solemn procession all the pots, spoons, cups and so forth used by +the fasting men during their period of holiness or taboo, also all +the refuse of their food which has been collected for months, and +all the fallen leaves and chips of the mango in their bundles of +mats. These holy relics are carried in front and the mango tree +itself brings up the rear of the procession. While these sacred +objects are being handed out of the house, the men who are present +rush up, wipe off the hallowed dust which has accumulated on them, +and smear it over their own bodies, no doubt in order to steep +themselves in their blessed influence. Thus the tree is carried as +before to the centre of the temporary village, care being again +taken not to let it touch the ground. Then one of the fasting men +takes from a basket a number of young green mangoes, cuts them in +pieces, and places them with his own hands in the mouths of his +fellows, the other <span class="pagenum"><a id="page10" name= +"page10"></a>[pg 10]</span> fasting men, who chew the pieces small +and turning round spit the morsels in the direction of the setting +sun, in order that "the sun should carry the mango bits over the +whole country and everyone should know." A portion of the mango +tree is then broken off and in the evening it is burnt along with +the bundles of leaves, chips, and refuse of food, which have been +stored up. What remains of the tree is taken to the house of the +master of the ceremonies and hung over the fire-place; it will be +brought out again at intervals and burned bit by bit, till all is +consumed, whereupon a new mango will be cut down and treated in +like manner. The ashes of the holy fire on each occasion are +gathered by the people and preserved in the house of the master of +the ceremonies.<a id="footnotetag22" name= +"footnotetag22"></a><a href="#footnote22"><sup>22</sup></a></p> +<p>[The ceremony apparently intended to fertilize the mango +trees.]</p> +<p>The meaning of these ceremonies is not explained by the +authorities who describe them; but we may conjecture that they are +intended to fertilize the mango trees and cause them to bear a good +crop of fruit. The central feature of the whole ritual is a wild +mango tree, so young that it has never flowered: the men who cut it +down, carry it into the village, and dance at the festival, are +forbidden to eat mangoes: pigs are killed in order that their dying +squeals may move the mango trees to bear fruit: at the end of the +ceremonies pieces of young green mangoes are solemnly placed in the +mouths of the fasting men and are by them spurted out towards the +setting sun in order that the luminary may carry the fragments to +every part of the country; and finally when after a longer or +shorter interval the tree is wholly consumed, its place is supplied +by another. All these circumstances are explained simply and +naturally by the supposition that the young mango tree is taken as +a representative of mangoes generally, that the dances are intended +to quicken it, and that it is preserved, like a May-pole of old in +England, as a sort of general fund of vegetable life, till the fund +being exhausted by the destruction of the tree it is renewed by the +importation of a fresh young tree from the forest. We can therefore +understand why, as a storehouse of vital energy, the tree should be +carefully kept from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page11" name= +"page11"></a>[pg 11]</span> contact with the ground, lest the +pent-up and concentrated energy should escape and dribbling away +into the earth be dissipated to no purpose.</p> +<a id="sacredobjects" name="sacredobjects"></a> +<p>[Sacred objects of various sorts not allowed to touch the +ground.]</p> +<p>To take other instances of what we may call the conservation of +energy in magic or religion by insulating sacred bodies from the +ground, the natives of New Britain have a secret society called the +Duk-duk, the members of which masquerade in petticoats of leaves +and tall headdresses of wickerwork shaped like candle +extinguishers, which descend to the shoulders of the wearers, +completely concealing their faces. Thus disguised they dance about +to the awe and terror, real or assumed, of the women and +uninitiated, who take, or pretend to take, them for spirits. When +lads are being initiated into the secrets of this august society, +the adepts cut down some very large and heavy bamboos, one for each +lad, and the novices carry them, carefully wrapt up in leaves, to +the sacred ground, where they arrive very tired and weary, for they +may not let the bamboos touch the ground nor the sun shine on them. +Outside the fence of the enclosure every lad deposits his bamboo on +a couple of forked sticks and covers it up with nut leaves.<a id= +"footnotetag23" name="footnotetag23"></a><a href= +"#footnote23"><sup>23</sup></a> Among the Carrier Indians of +North-Western America, who burned their dead, the ashes of a chief +used to be placed in a box and set on the top of a pole beside his +hut: the box was never allowed to touch the ground.<a id= +"footnotetag24" name="footnotetag24"></a><a href= +"#footnote24"><sup>24</sup></a> In the Omaha tribe of North +American Indians the sacred clam shell of the Elk clan was wrapt up +from sight in a mat, placed on a stand, and never suffered to come +in contact with the earth.<a id="footnotetag25" name= +"footnotetag25"></a><a href="#footnote25"><sup>25</sup></a> The +Cherokees and kindred Indian tribes of the United States used to +have certain sacred boxes or arks, which they regularly took with +them to war. Such a holy ark consisted of a square wooden box, +which contained "certain consecrated vessels made by beloved +superannuated women, and of such various antiquated forms, as would +have puzzled Adam to have given significant names to each." The +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page12" name="page12"></a>[pg +12]</span> leader of a war party and his attendant bore the ark by +turns, but they never set it on the ground nor would they +themselves sit on the bare earth while they were carrying it +against the enemy. Where stones were plentiful they rested the ark +on them; but where no stones were to be found, they deposited it on +short logs. "The Indian ark is deemed so sacred and dangerous to be +touched, either by their own sanctified warriors, or the spoiling +enemy, that they durst not touch it upon any account. It is not to +be meddled with by any, except the war chieftain and his waiter, +under the penalty of incurring great evil. Nor would the most +inveterate enemy touch it in the woods, for the very same reason." +After their return home they used to hang the ark on the leader's +red-painted war pole.<a id="footnotetag26" name= +"footnotetag26"></a><a href="#footnote26"><sup>26</sup></a> At +Sipi, near Simla, in Northern India, an annual fair is held, at +which men purchase wives. A square box with a domed top figures +prominently at the fair. It is fixed on two poles to be carried on +men's shoulders, and long heavily-plaited petticoats hang from it +nearly to the ground. Three sides of the box are adorned with the +head and shoulders of a female figure and the fourth side with a +black yak's tail. Four men bear the poles, each carrying an axe in +his right hand. They dance round, with a swinging rhythmical step, +to the music of drums and a pipe. The dance goes on for hours and +is thought to avert ill-luck from the fair. It is said that the box +is brought to Simla from a place sixty miles off by relays of men, +who may not stop nor set the box on the ground the whole way.<a id= +"footnotetag27" name="footnotetag27"></a><a href= +"#footnote27"><sup>27</sup></a> In Scotland, when water was carried +from sacred wells to sick people, the water-vessel might not touch +the earth.<a id="footnotetag28" name="footnotetag28"></a><a href= +"#footnote28"><sup>28</sup></a> In some parts of Aberdeenshire the +last bunch of standing corn, which is commonly viewed as very +sacred, being the last refuge of the corn-spirit retreating before +the reapers, is not suffered to touch the ground; the master or +"gueedman" sits down and receives each handful of corn as it is cut +on his lap.<a id="footnotetag29" name="footnotetag29"></a><a href= +"#footnote29"><sup>29</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13"></a>[pg +13]</span> <a id="sacredfood" name="sacredfood"></a> +<p>[Sacred food not allowed to touch the earth.]</p> +<p>Again, sacred food may not under certain circumstances be +brought into contact with the earth. Some of the aborigines of +Victoria used to regard the fat of the emu as sacred, believing +that it had once been the fat of the black man. In taking it from +the bird or giving it to another they handled it reverently. Any +one who threw away the fat or flesh of the emu was held accursed. +"The late Mr. Thomas observed on one occasion, at +Nerre-nerre-Warreen, a remarkable exhibition of the effects of this +superstition. An aboriginal child—one attending the +school—having eaten some part of the flesh of an emu, threw +away the skin. The skin fell to the ground, and this being observed +by his parents, they showed by their gestures every token of +horror. They looked upon their child as one utterly lost. His +desecration of the bird was regarded as a sin for which there was +no atonement."<a id="footnotetag30" name= +"footnotetag30"></a><a href="#footnote30"><sup>30</sup></a> The +Roumanians of Transylvania believe that "every fresh-baked loaf of +wheaten bread is sacred, and should a piece inadvertently fall to +the ground, it is hastily picked up, carefully wiped and kissed, +and if soiled, thrown into the fire—partly as an offering to +the dead, and partly because it were a heavy sin to throw away or +tread upon any particle of it."<a id="footnotetag31" name= +"footnotetag31"></a><a href="#footnote31"><sup>31</sup></a> At +certain festivals in south-eastern Borneo the food which is +consumed in the common house may not touch the ground; hence, a +little before the festivals take place, foot-bridges made of thin +poles are constructed from the private dwellings to the common +house.<a id="footnotetag32" name="footnotetag32"></a><a href= +"#footnote32"><sup>32</sup></a> When Hall was living with the +Esquimaux and grew tired of eating walrus, one of the women brought +the head and neck of a reindeer for him to eat. This venison had to +be completely wrapt up before it was brought into the house, and +once in the house it could only be placed on the platform which +served as a bed. "To have placed it on the floor or on the platform +behind the fire-lamp, among the walrus, musk-ox, and polar-bear +meat which occupy a goodly portion of both of these places, would +have horrified the whole town, as, according to the actual +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14"></a>[pg +14]</span> belief of the Innuits, not another walrus could be +secured this year, and there would ever be trouble in catching any +more."<a id="footnotetag33" name="footnotetag33"></a><a href= +"#footnote33"><sup>33</sup></a> But in this case the real scruple +appears to have been felt not so much at placing the venison on the +ground as at bringing it into contact with walrus meat.<a id= +"footnotetag34" name="footnotetag34"></a><a href= +"#footnote34"><sup>34</sup></a></p> +<a id="magicalimplements" name="magicalimplements"></a> +<p>[Magical implements and remedies thought to lose their virtue by +contact with the ground.]</p> +<p>Sometimes magical implements and remedies are supposed to lose +their virtue by contact with the ground, the volatile essence with +which they are impregnated being no doubt drained off into the +earth. Thus in the Boulia district of Queensland the magical bone, +which the native sorcerer points at his victim as a means of +killing him, is never by any chance allowed to touch the +earth.<a id="footnotetag35" name="footnotetag35"></a><a href= +"#footnote35"><sup>35</sup></a> The wives of rajahs in Macassar, a +district of southern Celebes, pride themselves on their luxuriant +tresses and are at great pains to oil and preserve them. Should the +hair begin to grow thin, the lady resorts to many devices to stay +the ravages of time; among other things she applies to her locks a +fat extracted from crocodiles and venomous snakes. The unguent is +believed to be very efficacious, but during its application the +woman's feet may not come into contact with the ground, or all the +benefit of the nostrum would be lost.<a id="footnotetag36" name= +"footnotetag36"></a><a href="#footnote36"><sup>36</sup></a> Some +people in antiquity believed that a woman in hard labour would be +delivered if a spear, which had been wrenched from a man's body +without touching the ground, were thrown over the house where the +sufferer lay. Again, according to certain ancient writers, arrows +which had been extracted from a body without coming into contact +with the earth and laid under sleepers, acted as a +love-charm.<a id="footnotetag37" name="footnotetag37"></a><a href= +"#footnote37"><sup>37</sup></a> Among the peasantry of the +north-east of Scotland the prehistoric <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page15" name="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span> weapons called celts went +by the name of "thunderbolts" and were coveted as the sure bringers +of success, always provided that they were not allowed to fall to +the ground.<a id="footnotetag38" name="footnotetag38"></a><a href= +"#footnote38"><sup>38</sup></a></p> +<a id="serpentseggs" name="serpentseggs"></a> +<p>[Serpents eggs or Snake Stones.]</p> +<p>In ancient Gaul certain glass or paste beads attained great +celebrity as amulets under the name of serpents' eggs; it was +believed that serpents, coiling together in a wriggling, writhing +mass, generated them from their slaver and shot them into the air +from their hissing jaws. If a man was bold and dexterous enough to +catch one of these eggs in his cloak before it touched the ground, +he rode off on horseback with it at full speed, pursued by the +whole pack of serpents, till he was saved by the interposition of a +river, which the snakes could not pass. The proof of the egg being +genuine was that if it were thrown into a stream it would float up +against the current, even though it were hooped in gold. The Druids +held these beads in high esteem; according to them, the precious +objects could only be obtained on a certain day of the moon, and +the peculiar virtue that resided in them was to secure success in +law suits and free access to kings. Pliny knew of a Gaulish knight +who was executed by the emperor Claudius for wearing one of these +amulets.<a id="footnotetag39" name="footnotetag39"></a><a href= +"#footnote39"><sup>39</sup></a> Under the name of Snake Stones +(<i>glain neidr</i>) or Adder Stones the beads are still known in +those parts of our own country where the Celtic population has +lingered, with its immemorial superstitions, down to the present or +recent times; and the old story of the origin of the beads from the +slaver of serpents was believed by the modern peasantry of +Cornwall, Wales, and Scotland as by the Druids of ancient Gaul. In +Cornwall the time when the serpents united to fashion the beads was +commonly said to be at or about Midsummer Eve; in Wales it was +usually thought to be spring, especially the Eve of May Day, and +even within recent years persons in the Principality have affirmed +that they witnessed the great <span class="pagenum"><a id="page16" +name="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span> vernal congress of the snakes and +saw the magic stone in the midst of the froth. The Welsh peasants +believe the beads to possess medicinal virtues of many sorts and to +be particularly efficacious for all maladies of the eyes. In Wales +and Ireland the beads sometimes went by the name of the Magician's +or Druid's Glass (<i>Gleini na Droedh</i> and <i>Glaine nan +Druidhe</i>). Specimens of them may be seen in museums; some have +been found in British barrows. They are of glass of various +colours, green, blue, pink, red, brown, and so forth, some plain +and some ribbed. Some are streaked with brilliant hues. The beads +are perforated, and in the Highlands of Scotland the hole is +explained by saying that when the bead has just been conflated by +the serpents jointly, one of the reptiles sticks his tail through +the still viscous glass. An Englishman who visited Scotland in 1699 +found many of these beads in use throughout the country. They were +hung from children's necks to protect them from whooping cough and +other ailments. Snake Stones were, moreover, a charm to ensure +prosperity in general and to repel evil spirits. When one of these +priceless treasures was not on active service, the owner kept it in +an iron box to guard it against fairies, who, as is well known, +cannot abide iron.<a id="footnotetag40" name= +"footnotetag40"></a><a href="#footnote40"><sup>40</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[pg +17]</span> <a id="medicinalplants" name="medicinalplants"></a> +<p>[Medicinal plants, water, are not allowed to touch the +earth.]</p> +<p>Pliny mentions several medicinal plants, which, if they were to +retain their healing virtue, ought not to be allowed to touch the +earth.<a id="footnotetag41" name="footnotetag41"></a><a href= +"#footnote41"><sup>41</sup></a> The curious medical treatise of +Marcellus, a native of Bordeaux in the fourth century of our era, +abounds with prescriptions of this sort; and we can well believe +the writer when he assures us that he borrowed many of his quaint +remedies from the lips of common folk and peasants rather than from +the books of the learned.<a id="footnotetag42" name= +"footnotetag42"></a><a href="#footnote42"><sup>42</sup></a> Thus he +tells us that certain white stones found in the stomachs of young +swallows assuage the most persistent headache, always provided that +their virtue be not impaired by contact with the ground.<a id= +"footnotetag43" name="footnotetag43"></a><a href= +"#footnote43"><sup>43</sup></a> Another of his cures for the same +malady is a wreath of fleabane placed on the head, but it must not +touch the earth.<a id="footnotetag44" name= +"footnotetag44"></a><a href="#footnote44"><sup>44</sup></a> On the +same condition a decoction of the root of elecampane in wine kills +worms; a fern, found growing on a tree, relieves the stomach-ache; +and the pastern-bone of a hare is an infallible remedy for colic, +provided, first, it be found in the dung of a wolf, second, that it +docs not touch the ground, and, third, that it is not touched by a +woman.<a id="footnotetag45" name="footnotetag45"></a><a href= +"#footnote45"><sup>45</sup></a> Another cure for colic is effected +by certain hocus-pocus with a scrap of wool from the forehead of a +first-born lamb, if only the lamb, instead of being allowed to fall +to the ground, has been caught by hand as it dropped from its +dam.<a id="footnotetag46" name="footnotetag46"></a><a href= +"#footnote46"><sup>46</sup></a> In Andjra, a district of Morocco, +the people attribute many magical virtues to rain-water which has +fallen on the twenty-seventh day of April, Old Style; accordingly +they collect it and use it for a variety of purposes. Mixed with +tar and sprinkled on the door-posts it prevents snakes and +scorpions from entering the house: sprinkled on heaps of threshed +corn it protects them from the evil eye: mixed with an egg, henna, +and seeds of cress it is an invaluable medicine for sick cows: +poured over a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name= +"page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> plate, on which a passage of the Koran +has been written, it strengthens the memory of schoolboys who drink +it; and if you mix it with cowdung and red earth and paint rings +with the mixture round the trunks of your fig-trees at sunset on +Midsummer Day, you may depend on it that the trees will bear an +excellent crop and will not shed their fruit untimely on the +ground. But in order to preserve these remarkable properties it is +absolutely essential that the water should on no account be allowed +to touch the ground; some say too that it should not be exposed to +the sun nor breathed upon by anybody.<a id="footnotetag47" name= +"footnotetag47"></a><a href="#footnote47"><sup>47</sup></a> Again, +the Moors ascribe great magical efficacy to what they call "the +sultan of the oleander," which is a stalk of oleander with a +cluster of four pairs of leaves springing from it. They think that +the magical virtue is greatest if the stalk has been cut +immediately before midsummer. But when the plant is brought into +the house, the branches may not touch the ground, lest they should +lose their marvellous qualities.<a id="footnotetag48" name= +"footnotetag48"></a><a href="#footnote48"><sup>48</sup></a> In the +olden days, before a Lithuanian or Prussian farmer went forth to +plough for the first time in spring, he called in a wizard to +perform a certain ceremony for the good of the crops. The sage +seized a mug of beer with his teeth, quaffed the liquor, and then +tossed the mug over his head. This signified that the corn in that +year should grow taller than a man. But the mug might not fall to +the ground; it had to be caught by somebody stationed at the +wizard's back, for if it fell to the ground the consequence +naturally would be that the corn also would be laid low on the +earth.<a id="footnotetag49" name="footnotetag49"></a><a href= +"#footnote49"><sup>49</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect1-2" name="sect1-2">§ 2. <i>Not to see the +Sun</i></a></h4> +<a id="sacredpersons" name="sacredpersons"></a> +<p>[Sacred persons not allowed to see the sun.]</p> +<p>The second rule to be here noted is that the sun may not shine +upon the divine person. This rule was observed <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> both by +the Mikado and by the pontiff of the Zapotecs. The latter "was +looked upon as a god whom the earth was not worthy to hold, nor the +sun to shine upon."<a id="footnotetag50" name= +"footnotetag50"></a><a href="#footnote50"><sup>50</sup></a> The +Japanese would not allow that the Mikado should expose his sacred +person to the open air, and the sun was not thought worthy to shine +on his head.<a id="footnotetag51" name="footnotetag51"></a><a href= +"#footnote51"><sup>51</sup></a> The Indians of Granada, in South +America, "kept those who were to be rulers or commanders, whether +men or women, locked up for several years when they were children, +some of them seven years, and this so close that they were not to +see the sun, for if they should happen to see it they forfeited +their lordship, eating certain sorts of food appointed; and those +who were their keepers at certain times went into their retreat or +prison and scourged them severely."<a id="footnotetag52" name= +"footnotetag52"></a><a href="#footnote52"><sup>52</sup></a> Thus, +for example, the heir to the throne of Bogota, who was not the son +but the sister's son of the king, had to undergo a rigorous +training from his infancy: he lived in complete retirement in a +temple, where he might not see the sun nor eat salt nor converse +with a woman: he was surrounded by guards who observed his conduct +and noted all his actions: if he broke a single one of the rules +laid down for him, he was deemed infamous and forfeited all his +rights to the throne.<a id="footnotetag53" name= +"footnotetag53"></a><a href="#footnote53"><sup>53</sup></a> So, +too, the heir to the kingdom of Sogamoso, before succeeding to the +crown, had to fast for seven years in the temple, being shut up in +the dark and not allowed to see the sun or light.<a id= +"footnotetag54" name="footnotetag54"></a><a href= +"#footnote54"><sup>54</sup></a> The prince who was to become Inca +of Peru had to fast for a month without seeing light.<a id= +"footnotetag55" name="footnotetag55"></a><a href= +"#footnote55"><sup>55</sup></a> On <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page20" name="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> the day when a Brahman +student of the Veda took a bath, to signify that the time of his +studentship was at an end, he entered a cow-shed before sunrise, +hung over the door a skin with the hair inside, and sat there; on +that day the sun should not shine upon him.<a id="footnotetag56" +name="footnotetag56"></a><a href= +"#footnote56"><sup>56</sup></a></p> +<a id="tabooedpersons" name="tabooedpersons"></a> <a id= +"certainpersons" name="certainpersons"></a> +<p>[Tabooed persons not allowed to see the sun; certain persons +forbidden to see fire.]</p> +<p>Again, women after childbirth and their offspring are more or +less tabooed all the world over; hence in Corea the rays of the sun +are rigidly excluded from both mother and child for a period of +twenty-one or a hundred days, according to their rank, after the +birth has taken place.<a id="footnotetag57" name= +"footnotetag57"></a><a href="#footnote57"><sup>57</sup></a> Among +some of the tribes on the north-west coast of New Guinea a woman +may not leave the house for months after childbirth. When she does +go out, she must cover her head with a hood or mat; for if the sun +were to shine upon her, it is thought that one of her male +relations would die.<a id="footnotetag58" name= +"footnotetag58"></a><a href="#footnote58"><sup>58</sup></a> Again, +mourners are everywhere taboo; accordingly in mourning the Ainos of +Japan wear peculiar caps in order that the sun may not shine upon +their heads.<a id="footnotetag59" name="footnotetag59"></a><a href= +"#footnote59"><sup>59</sup></a> During a solemn fast of three days +the Indians of Costa Rica eat no salt, speak as little as possible, +light no fires, and stay strictly indoors, or if they go out during +the day they carefully cover themselves from the light of the sun, +believing that exposure to the sun's rays would turn them +black.<a id="footnotetag60" name="footnotetag60"></a><a href= +"#footnote60"><sup>60</sup></a> On Yule Night it has been customary +in parts of Sweden from time immemorial to go on pilgrimage, +whereby people learn many secret things and know what is to happen +in the coming year. As a preparation for this pilgrimage, "some +secrete themselves for three days previously in a dark cellar, so +as to be shut out altogether from the light of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> heaven. +Others retire at an early hour of the preceding morning to some +out-of-the-way place, such as a hay-loft, where they bury +themselves in the hay, that they may neither see nor hear any +living creature; and here they remain, in silence and fasting, +until after sundown; whilst there are those who think it sufficient +if they rigidly abstain from food on the day before commencing +their wanderings. During this period of probation a man ought not +to see fire, but should this have happened, he must strike a light +with flint and steel, whereby the evil that would otherwise have +ensued will be obviated."<a id="footnotetag61" name= +"footnotetag61"></a><a href="#footnote61"><sup>61</sup></a> During +the sixteen days that a Pima Indian is undergoing purification for +killing an Apache he may not see a blazing fire.<a id= +"footnotetag62" name="footnotetag62"></a><a href= +"#footnote62"><sup>62</sup></a></p> +<a id="princesunless" name="princesunless"></a> +<p>[The story of Prince Sunless.]</p> +<p>Acarnanian peasants tell of a handsome prince called Sunless, +who would die if he saw the sun. So he lived in an underground +palace on the site of the ancient Oeniadae, but at night he came +forth and crossed the river to visit a famous enchantress who dwelt +in a castle on the further bank. She was loth to part with him +every night long before the sun was up, and as he turned a deaf ear +to all her entreaties to linger, she hit upon the device of cutting +the throats of all the cocks in the neighbourhood. So the prince, +whose ear had learned to expect the shrill clarion of the birds as +the signal of the growing light, tarried too long, and hardly had +he reached the ford when the sun rose over the Aetolian mountains, +and its fatal beams fell on him before he could regain his dark +abode.<a id="footnotetag63" name="footnotetag63"></a><a href= +"#footnote63"><sup>63</sup></a></p> +<p>Notes:</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, i. 44.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p>H.H. Bancroft, <i>Native Races of the Pacific States</i> +(London, 1875-1876), ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, <i>Histoire +des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de +l'Amérique-Centrale</i> (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 29.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p><i>Manuscrit Ramirez, Histoire de l'origine des Indiens</i>, +publié par D. Charnay (Paris, 1903), p. 108; J. de Acosta, +<i>The Natural and Moral History of the Indies</i>, bk. vii. chap. +22, vol. ii. p. 505 of E. Grimston's translation, edited by (Sir) +Clements R. Markham (Hakluyt Society, London, 1880).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p><i>Memorials of the Empire of Japon in the XVI. and XVII. +Centuries</i>, edited by T. Rundall (Hakluyt Society, London, +1850), pp. 14, 141; B. Varenius, <i>Descriptio regni Japoniae et +Siam</i> (Cambridge, 1673), p. 11; Caron, "Account of Japan," in +John Pinkerton's <i>Voyages and Travels</i> (London, 1808-1814), +vii. 613; Kaempfer, "History of Japan," in <i>id.</i> vii. 716.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>W. Ellis, <i>Polynesian Researches</i>, Second Edition (London, +1832-1836), iii. 102 <i>sq.</i>; Captain James Wilson, +<i>Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean</i> (London, +1799), p. 329.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name= +"footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p>A. Bastian, <i>Der Mensch in der Geschichte</i> (Leipsic, 1860), +iii. 81.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name= +"footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> +<p>Athenaeus, xii. 8, p. 514 c.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote8" name= +"footnote8"></a> <b>Footnote 8</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag8">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Voiages and Travels of John Struys</i> (London, 1684), p. +30.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote9" name= +"footnote9"></a> <b>Footnote 9</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag9">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, "Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the +Baganda," <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, xxxii. +(1902) pp. 62, 67; <i>id., The Baganda</i> (London, 1911), pp. 154 +<i>sq.</i> Compare L. Decle, <i>Three Years in Savage Africa</i> +(London, 1898), p. 445 note: "Before horses had been introduced +into Uganda the king and his mother never walked, but always went +about perched astride the shoulders of a slave—a most +ludicrous sight. In this way they often travelled hundreds of +miles." The use both of horses and of chariots by royal personages +may often have been intended to prevent their sacred feet from +touching the ground.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote10" name= +"footnote10"></a> <b>Footnote 10</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag10">(return)</a> +<p>E. Torday et T.A. Joyce, <i>Les Bushongo</i> (Brussels, 1910), +p. 61.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote11" name= +"footnote11"></a> <b>Footnote 11</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag11">(return)</a> +<p>Northcote W. Thomas, <i>Anthropological Report on the +Ibo-speaking Peoples of Nigeria</i> (London, 1913), i. 57 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote12" name= +"footnote12"></a> <b>Footnote 12</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag12">(return)</a> +<p><i>Satapatha Brâhmana</i>, translated by Julius Eggeling, +Part iii. (Oxford, 1894) pp. 81, 91, 92, 102, 128 <i>sq. (Sacred +Books of the East</i>, vol. xli.).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote13" name= +"footnote13"></a> <b>Footnote 13</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag13">(return)</a> +<p>A.W. Nieuwenhuis, <i>Quer durch Borneo</i> (Leyden, 1904-1907), +i. 172.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote14" name= +"footnote14"></a> <b>Footnote 14</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag14">(return)</a> +<p>Letter of Missionary Krick, in <i>Annales de la Propagation de +la Foi</i>, xxvi. (1854) pp. 86-88.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote15" name= +"footnote15"></a> <b>Footnote 15</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag15">(return)</a> +<p>Pechuel-Loesche, "Indiscretes aus Loango," <i>Zeitschrift +für Ethnologie</i>, x. (1878) pp. 29 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote16" name= +"footnote16"></a> <b>Footnote 16</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag16">(return)</a> +<p>Edgar Thurston, <i>Ethnographic Notes in Southern India</i> +(Madras, 1906), p. 70.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote17" name= +"footnote17"></a> <b>Footnote 17</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag17">(return)</a> +<p>M.C. Schadee, "Het familieleven en familierecht der Dajaks van +Landak en Tajan," <i>Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land en Volkenkunde van +Nederlandsch-Indié</i>, lxiii. (1910) p. 433.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote18" name= +"footnote18"></a> <b>Footnote 18</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag18">(return)</a> +<p>James Adair, <i>History of the American Indians</i> (London, +1775), p. 382; <i>Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John +Tanner</i> (London, 1830), p. 123. As to the taboos to which +warriors are subject see <i>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</i>, +pp. 157 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote19" name= +"footnote19"></a> <b>Footnote 19</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag19">(return)</a> +<p>Etienne Aymonier, <i>Notes sur le Laos</i> (Saigon, 1885), p. +26.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote20" name= +"footnote20"></a> <b>Footnote 20</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag20">(return)</a> +<p><i>Die gestritgelte Rockenphilosophie</i>,<sup>5</sup> +(Chemnitz, 1759), pp. 586 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote21" name= +"footnote21"></a> <b>Footnote 21</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag21">(return)</a> +<p>Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen, <i>Native Tribes of Central +Australia</i> (London, 1899), pp. 364, 370 <i>sqq.</i>, 629; +<i>id., Across Australia</i> (London, 1912), ii. 280, 285 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote22" name= +"footnote22"></a> <b>Footnote 22</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag22">(return)</a> +<p>C.G. Seligmann, M.D., <i>The Melanesians of British New +Guinea</i> (Cambridge, 1910), pp. 589-599.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote23" name= +"footnote23"></a> <b>Footnote 23</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag23">(return)</a> +<p>George Brown, D.D., <i>Melanesians and Polynesians</i> (London, +1910), pp. 60 <i>sq.</i>, 64. As to the Duk-duk society, see below, +vol. ii. pp. 246 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote24" name= +"footnote24"></a> <b>Footnote 24</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag24">(return)</a> +<p>John Keast Lord, <i>The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and +British Columbia</i> (London, 1866), ii. 237.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote25" name= +"footnote25"></a> <b>Footnote 25</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag25">(return)</a> +<p>Edwin James, <i>Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the +Rocky Mountains</i> (London, 1823), ii. 47; Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, +"Omaha Sociology," <i>Third Annual Report of the Bureau of +Ethnology</i> (Washington, 1884), p. 226.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote26" name= +"footnote26"></a> <b>Footnote 26</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag26">(return)</a> +<p>James Adair, <i>History of the American Indians</i> (London, +1775), pp. 161-163.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote27" name= +"footnote27"></a> <b>Footnote 27</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag27">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) Henry Babington Smith, in <i>Folk-lore</i>, v. (1894) p. +340.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote28" name= +"footnote28"></a> <b>Footnote 28</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag28">(return)</a> +<p>Miss C.F. Gordon Cumming, <i>In the Hebrides</i> (London, 1883), +p. 211.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote29" name= +"footnote29"></a> <b>Footnote 29</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag29">(return)</a> +<p>W. Gregor, "Quelques coutumes du Nord-est du Comté +d'Aberdeen," <i>Revue des Traditions populaires</i>, iii. (1888) p. +485 B. Compare <i>Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild</i>, i. 158 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote30" name= +"footnote30"></a> <b>Footnote 30</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag30">(return)</a> +<p>R. Brough Smyth, <i>Aborigines of Victoria</i> (Melbourne and +London, 1878), i. 450.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote31" name= +"footnote31"></a> <b>Footnote 31</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag31">(return)</a> +<p>E. Gerard, <i>The Land beyond the Forest</i> (Edinburgh and +London, 1888), ii. 7.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote32" name= +"footnote32"></a> <b>Footnote 32</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag32">(return)</a> +<p>F. Grabowsky, "Der Distrikt Dusson Timor in Südost-Borneo +und seine Bewohner," <i>Das Ausland</i>, 1884, No. 24, p. 470.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote33" name= +"footnote33"></a> <b>Footnote 33</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag33">(return)</a> +<p><i>Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition made by Charles F. +Hall</i>, edited by Prof. J.E. Nourse (Washington, 1879), pp. 110 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote34" name= +"footnote34"></a> <b>Footnote 34</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag34">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>Taboo and Perils of the Soul</i>, pp. 207 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote35" name= +"footnote35"></a> <b>Footnote 35</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag35">(return)</a> +<p>Walter E. Roth, <i>Ethnological Studies among the +North-West-Central Queensland Aborigines</i> (Brisbane and London, +1897), p. 156, § 265. The custom of killing a man by pointing +a bone or stick at him, while the sorcerer utters appropriate +curses, is common among the tribes of Central Australia; but +amongst them there seems to be no objection to place the bone or +stick on the ground; on the contrary, an Arunta wizard inserts the +bone or stick in the ground while he invokes death and destruction +on his enemy. See Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen, <i>Native Tribes +of Central Australia</i> (London, 1899), pp. 534 <i>sqq.; id., +Northern Tribes of Central Australia</i> (London, 1904), pp. 455 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote36" name= +"footnote36"></a> <b>Footnote 36</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag36">(return)</a> +<p>Hugh Low, <i>Sarawak</i> (London, 1848), pp. 145 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote37" name= +"footnote37"></a> <b>Footnote 37</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag37">(return)</a> +<p>Pliny, <i>Naturalis Historia</i> xxviii. 33 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote38" name= +"footnote38"></a> <b>Footnote 38</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag38">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East +of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), p. 184. As to the superstitions +attaching to stone arrowheads and axeheads (celts), commonly known +as "thunderbolts," in the British Islands, see W.W. Skeat, +"Snakestones and Stone Thunderbolts," <i>Folklore</i>, xxiii. +(1912) pp. 60 <i>sqq.</i>; and as to such superstitions in general, +see Chr. Blinkenberg, <i>The Thunderweapon in Religion and +Folklore</i> (Cambridge, 1911).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote39" name= +"footnote39"></a> <b>Footnote 39</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag39">(return)</a> +<p>Pliny, <i>Naturalis Historia</i>, xxix. 52-54.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote40" name= +"footnote40"></a> <b>Footnote 40</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag40">(return)</a> +<p>W. Borlase, <i>Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the +County of Cornwall</i> (London, 1769), pp. 142 <i>sq.</i>; J. +Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 322; J.G. Dalyell, <i>Darker Superstitions of +Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 140 <i>sq.</i>; Daniel Wilson, +<i>The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland</i> +(Edinburgh, 1851), pp. 303 <i>sqq.</i>; Lieut.-Col. Forbes Leslie, +<i>The Early Races of Scotland and their Monuments</i> (Edinburgh, +1866), i. 75 <i>sqq.</i>; J.G. Campbell, <i>Witchcraft and Second +Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), +pp. 84-88; Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of +Wales</i> (London, 1909), pp. 170 <i>sq.</i>; J.C. Davies, +<i>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</i> (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76. +Compare W.W. Skeat, "Snakestones and Stone Thunderbolts," +<i>Folk-lore,</i> xxiii. (1912) pp. 45 <i>sqq.</i> The superstition +is described as follows by Edward Lhwyd in a letter quoted by W. +Borlase (<i>op. cit.</i> p. 142): "In most parts of Wales, and +throughout all Scotland, and in Cornwall, we find it a common +opinion of the vulgar, that about Midsummer-Eve (though in the time +they do not all agree) it is usual for snakes to meet in companies; +and that, by joining heads together, and hissing, a kind of bubble +is formed, which the rest, by continual hissing, blow on till it +passes quite through the body, and then it immediately hardens, and +resembles a glass-ring, which whoever finds (as some old women and +children are persuaded) shall prosper in all his undertakings. The +rings thus generated, are called <i>Gleineu Nadroeth</i>; in +English, Snake-stones. They are small glass amulets, commonly about +half as wide as our finger-rings, but much thicker, of a green +colour usually, though sometimes blue, and waved with red and +white."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote41" name= +"footnote41"></a> <b>Footnote 41</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag41">(return)</a> +<p>Pliny, <i>Naturalis Historia</i> xxiv. 12 and 68, xxv. 171.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote42" name= +"footnote42"></a> <b>Footnote 42</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag42">(return)</a> +<p>Marcellus, <i>De medicamentis</i>, ed. G. Helmreich (Leipsic, +1889), preface, p. i.: "<i>Nec solum veteres medicinae artis +auctores Latino dumtaxat sermone perscriptos ... lectione scrutatus +sum, sed etiam ab agrestibus et plebeis remedia fortuita atque +simplicia, quae experimentis probaverant didici</i>." As to +Marcellus and his work, see Jacob Grimm, "Ueber Marcellus +Burdigalensis," <i>Abhandlungen der koniglichen Akademie der +Wissenschaft zu Berlin</i>, 1847, pp. 429-460; <i>id.</i>, "Ueber +die Marcellischen Formeln," <i>ibid.</i>. 1855, pp. 50-68.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote43" name= +"footnote43"></a> <b>Footnote 43</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag43">(return)</a> +<p>Marcellus, <i>De medicamentis</i>, i. 68.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote44" name= +"footnote44"></a> <b>Footnote 44</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag44">(return)</a> +<p>Marcellus, <i>op. cit.</i> i. 76.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote45" name= +"footnote45"></a> <b>Footnote 45</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag45">(return)</a> +<p>Marcellus, <i>op. cit.</i> xxviii. 28 and 71, xxix. 35.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote46" name= +"footnote46"></a> <b>Footnote 46</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag46">(return)</a> +<p>Marcellus, <i>op. cit.</i> xxix. 51.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote47" name= +"footnote47"></a> <b>Footnote 47</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag47">(return)</a> +<p>Edward Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folklore</i>, xvi. (1905) pp. 32 <i>sq.</i>; <i>id., Ceremonies +and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, certain Dates of the Solar +Year, and the Weather in Morocco</i> (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 75 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote48" name= +"footnote48"></a> <b>Footnote 48</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag48">(return)</a> +<p>E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905) p. 35 <i>id., Ceremonies and Beliefs +connected with Agriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and +the Weather in Morocco</i> (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 88 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote49" name= +"footnote49"></a> <b>Footnote 49</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag49">(return)</a> +<p>Matthäus Prätorius, <i>Deliciae Prussicae</i>, +herausgegeben von Dr. W. Pierson (Berlin, 1871), p. 54.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote50" name= +"footnote50"></a> <b>Footnote 50</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag50">(return)</a> +<p>H.H. Bancroft, <i>Native Races of the Pacific States</i> +(London, 1875-1876), ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, <i>Histoire +des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de l'Amérique +Centrale</i> (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 29.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote51" name= +"footnote51"></a> <b>Footnote 51</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag51">(return)</a> +<p>Kaempfer, "History of Japan," in J. Pinkerton's <i>Voyages and +Travels</i>, vii. 717; Caron, "Account of Japan," <i>ibid.</i> vii. +613; B. Varenius, <i>Descriptio regni Japoniae et Siam</i> +(Cambridge, 1673), p. 11: <i>"Radiis solis caput nunquam +illustrabatur: in apertum acrem non procedebat."</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote52" name= +"footnote52"></a> <b>Footnote 52</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag52">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Herrera, <i>General History of the vast Continent and +Islands of America,</i> trans, by Capt. John Stevens (London, +1725-1726), v. 88.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote53" name= +"footnote53"></a> <b>Footnote 53</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag53">(return)</a> +<p>H. Ternaux-Compans, <i>Essai sur l'ancien Cundinamarca</i> +(Paris, N.D.), p. 56; Theodor Waitz, <i>Anthropologie der +Naturvölker</i> iv. (Leipsic, 1864) p. 359.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote54" name= +"footnote54"></a> <b>Footnote 54</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag54">(return)</a> +<p>Alonzo de Zurita, "Rapport sur les differentes classes de chefs +de la Nouvelle-Espagne," p. 30, in H. Ternaux-Compans's <i>Voyages, +Relations et Mémoires originaux, pour servir à +l'Histoire de la Découvertede l'Amérique</i> (Paris, +1840); Th. Waitz, <i>l.c.</i>; A. Bastian, <i>Die Culturländer +des alten Amerika</i> (Berlin, 1878), ii. 204.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote55" name= +"footnote55"></a> <b>Footnote 55</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag55">(return)</a> +<p>Cieza de Leon, <i>Second Part of the Chronicle of Peru</i> +(Hakluyt Society, London, 1883), p. 18.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote56" name= +"footnote56"></a> <b>Footnote 56</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag56">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Grihya Sûtras</i>, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part +ii. (Oxford, 1892) pp. 165, 275 (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, +vol. xxx.). Umbrellas appear to have been sometimes used in ritual +for the purpose of preventing the sunlight from falling on sacred +persons or things. See W. Caland, <i>Altindisches Zauberritual</i> +(Amsterdam, 1900), p. 110 note 12. At an Athenian festival called +Scira the priestess of Athena, the priest of Poseidon, and the +priest of the Sun walked from the Acropolis under the shade of a +huge white umbrella which was borne over their heads by the +Eteobutads. See Harpocration and Suidas, <i>s.v.</i> [Greek: +Skiron]; Scholiast on Aristophanes, <i>Eccles.</i> 18.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote57" name= +"footnote57"></a> <b>Footnote 57</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag57">(return)</a> +<p>Mrs. Bishop, <i>Korea and her Neighbours</i> (London, 1898), ii. +248.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote58" name= +"footnote58"></a> <b>Footnote 58</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag58">(return)</a> +<p>J.L. van Hasselt, "Eenige aanteekeningen aangaande de bewoners +der N. Westkust van Nieuw Guinea," <i>Tijdschrift voor Indische +Taal-Landen Volkenkunde</i>, xxxi. (1886) p. 587.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote59" name= +"footnote59"></a> <b>Footnote 59</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag59">(return)</a> +<p>A. Bastian, <i>Die Völker des östlichen Asien</i>, v. +(Jena, 1869) p. 366.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote60" name= +"footnote60"></a> <b>Footnote 60</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag60">(return)</a> +<p>W.M. Gabb, "On the Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica," +<i>Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at +Philadelphia</i>, xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876), p. 510.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote61" name= +"footnote61"></a> <b>Footnote 61</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag61">(return)</a> +<p>L. Lloyd, <i>Peasant Life in Sweden</i> (London, 1870), p. +194.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote62" name= +"footnote62"></a> <b>Footnote 62</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag62">(return)</a> +<p>H.H. Bancroft, <i>Native Races of the Pacific States</i>, i. +553. See <i>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</i>, p. 182.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote63" name= +"footnote63"></a> <b>Footnote 63</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag63">(return)</a> +<p>L. Heuzey, <i>Le Mont Olympe et l'Acarnanie</i> (Paris, 1860), +pp. 458 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[pg +22]</span> +<h2><a id="chap2" name="chap2">CHAPTER II</a></h2> +<h3>THE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT PUBERTY</h3> +<h4><a id="sect2-1" name="sect2-1">§ 1. <i>Seclusion of Girls +at Puberty in Africa</i></a></h4> +<a id="puberty" name="puberty"></a> <a id="seclusionakamba" name= +"seclusionakamba"></a> <a id="seclusionbaganda" name= +"seclusionbaganda"></a> +<p>[Girls at puberty forbidden to touch the ground and to see the +sun; seclusion of girls at puberty among the A-Kamba; seclusion of +girls at puberty among the Baganda.]</p> +<p>Now it is remarkable that the foregoing two rules—not to +touch the ground and not to see the sun—are observed either +separately or conjointly by girls at puberty in many parts of the +world. Thus amongst the negroes of Loango girls at puberty are +confined in separate huts, and they may not touch the ground with +any part of their bare body.<a id="footnotetag64" name= +"footnotetag64"></a><a href="#footnote64"><sup>64</sup></a> Among +the Zulus and kindred tribes of South Africa, when the first signs +of puberty shew themselves "while a girl is walking, gathering +wood, or working in the field, she runs to the river and hides +herself among the reeds for the day, so as not to be seen by men. +She covers her head carefully with her blanket that the sun may not +shine on it and shrivel her up into a withered skeleton, as would +result from exposure to the sun's beams. After dark she returns to +her home and is secluded" in a hut for some time.<a id= +"footnotetag65" name="footnotetag65"></a><a href= +"#footnote65"><sup>65</sup></a> During her seclusion, which lasts +for about a fortnight, neither she nor the girls who wait upon her +may drink any milk, lest the cattle should die. And should she be +overtaken by the first flow while she is in the fields, she must, +after hiding in the bush, scrupulously avoid all pathways in +returning home.<a id="footnotetag66" name= +"footnotetag66"></a><a href="#footnote66"><sup>66</sup></a> A +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name="page23"></a>[pg +23]</span> reason for this avoidance is assigned by the A-Kamba of +British East Africa, whose girls under similar circumstances +observe the same rule. "A girl's first menstruation is a very +critical period of her life according to A-Kamba beliefs. If this +condition appears when she is away from the village, say at work in +the fields, she returns at once to her village, but is careful to +walk through the grass and not on a path, for if she followed a +path and a stranger accidentally trod on a spot of blood and then +cohabited with a member of the opposite sex before the girl was +better again, it is believed that she would never bear a child." +She remains at home till the symptoms have ceased, and during this +time she may be fed by none but her mother. When the flux is over, +her father and mother are bound to cohabit with each other, else it +is believed that the girl would be barren all her life.<a id= +"footnotetag67" name="footnotetag67"></a><a href= +"#footnote67"><sup>67</sup></a> Similarly, among the Baganda, when +a girl menstruated for the first time she was secluded and not +allowed to handle food; and at the end of her seclusion the kinsman +with whom she was staying (for among the Baganda young people did +not reside with their parents) was obliged to jump over his wife, +which with the Baganda is regarded as equivalent to having +intercourse with her. Should the girl happen to be living near her +parents at the moment when she attained to puberty, she was +expected on her recovery to inform them of the fact, whereupon her +father jumped over her mother. Were this custom omitted, the +Baganda, like the A-Kamba, thought that the girl would never have +children or that they would die in infancy.<a id="footnotetag68" +name="footnotetag68"></a><a href="#footnote68"><sup>68</sup></a> +Thus the pretence of sexual intercourse between the parents or +other relatives of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name= +"page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> the girl was a magical ceremony to +ensure her fertility. It is significant that among the Baganda the +first menstruation was often called a marriage, and the girl was +spoken of as a bride.<a id="footnotetag69" name= +"footnotetag69"></a><a href="#footnote69"><sup>69</sup></a> These +terms so applied point to a belief like that of the Siamese, that a +girl's first menstruation results from her defloration by one of a +host of aerial spirits, and that the wound thus inflicted is +repeated afterwards every month by the same ghostly agency.<a id= +"footnotetag70" name="footnotetag70"></a><a href= +"#footnote70"><sup>70</sup></a> For a like reason, probably, the +Baganda imagine that a woman who does not menstruate exerts a +malign influence on gardens and makes them barren<a id= +"footnotetag71" name="footnotetag71"></a><a href= +"#footnote71"><sup>71</sup></a> if she works in them. For not being +herself fertilized by a spirit, how can she fertilize the +garden?</p> +<a id="seclusiontangayika" name="seclusiontangayika"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes of the +Tanganyika plateau.]</p> +<p>Among the Amambwe, Winamwanga, Alungu, and other tribes of the +great plateau to the west of Lake Tanganyika, "when a young girl +knows that she has attained puberty, she forthwith leaves her +mother's hut, and hides herself in the long grass near the village, +covering her face with a cloth and weeping bitterly. Towards sunset +one of the older women—who, as directress of the ceremonies, +is called <i>nachimbusa</i>—follows her, places a cooking-pot +by the cross-roads, and boils therein a concoction of various +herbs, with which she anoints the neophyte. At nightfall the girl +is carried on the old woman's back to her mother's hut. When the +customary period of a few days has elapsed, she is allowed to cook +again, after first whitewashing the floor of the hut. But, by the +following month, the preparations for her initiation are complete. +The novice must remain in her hut throughout the whole period of +initiation, and is carefully guarded by the old women, who +accompany her whenever she leaves her quarters, veiling her head +with a native cloth. The ceremonies last for at least one month." +During this period of seclusion, drumming and songs are kept up +within the mother's hut by the village women, and no male, except, +it is said, the father of twins, is allowed to enter. The +directress of the rites and the older women instruct the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>[pg +25]</span> young girl as to the elementary facts of life, the +duties of marriage, and the rules of conduct, decorum, and +hospitality to be observed by a married woman. Amongst other things +the damsel must submit to a series of tests such as leaping over +fences, thrusting her head into a collar made of thorns, and so on. +The lessons which she receives are illustrated by mud figures of +animals and of the common objects of domestic life. Moreover, the +directress of studies embellishes the walls of the hut with rude +pictures, each with its special significance and song, which must +be understood and learned by the girl.<a id="footnotetag72" name= +"footnotetag72"></a><a href="#footnote72"><sup>72</sup></a> In the +foregoing account the rule that a damsel at puberty may neither see +the sun nor touch the ground seems implied by the statement that on +the first discovery of her condition she hides in long grass and is +carried home after sunset on the back of an old woman.</p> +<a id="seclusionbritishcentral" name="seclusionbritishcentral"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes of British +Central Africa.]</p> +<p>Among the Nyanja-speaking tribes of Central Angoniland, in +British Central Africa, when a young girl finds that she has become +a woman, she stands silent by the pathway leading to the village, +her face wrapt in her calico. An old woman, finding her there, +takes her off to a stream to bathe; after that the girl is secluded +for six days in the old woman's hut. She eats her porridge out of +an old basket and her relish, in which no salt is put, from a +potsherd. The basket is afterwards thrown away. On the seventh day +the aged matrons gather together, go with the girl to a stream, and +throw her into the water. In returning they sing songs, and the old +woman, who directs the proceedings, carries the maiden on her back. +Then they spread a mat and fetch her husband and set the two down +on the mat and shave his head. When it is dark, the old women +escort the girl to her husband's hut. There the <i>ndiwo</i> relish +is cooking on the fire. During the night the woman rises and puts +some salt in the pot. Next morning, before dawn, while all is dark +and the villagers have not yet opened their doors, the young +married woman goes off and gives some of the relish to her mother +and to the old woman who was mistress of the ceremony. This relish +she sets down at the doors of their <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page26" name="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> houses and goes away. And +in the morning, when the sun has risen and all is light in the +village, the two women open their doors, and there they find the +relish with the salt in it; and they take of it and rub it on their +feet and under their arm-pits; and if there are little children in +the house, they eat of it. And if the young wife has a kinsman who +is absent from the village, some of the relish is put on a splinter +of bamboo and kept against his return, that when he comes he, too, +may rub his feet with it. But if the woman finds that her husband +is impotent, she does not rise betimes and go out in the dark to +lay the relish at the doors of her mother and the old woman. And in +the morning, when the sun is up and all the village is light, the +old women open their doors, and see no relish there, and they know +what has happened, and so they go wilily to work. For they persuade +the husband to consult the diviner that he may discover how to cure +his impotence; and while he is closeted with the wizard, they fetch +another man, who finishes the ceremony with the young wife, in +order that the relish may be given out and that people may rub +their feet with it. But if it happens that when a girl comes to +maturity she is not yet betrothed to any man, and therefore has no +husband to go to, the matrons tell her that she must go to a lover +instead. And this is the custom which they call <i>chigango</i>. So +in the evening she takes her cooking pot and relish and hies away +to the quarters of the young bachelors, and they very civilly sleep +somewhere else that night. And in the morning the girl goes back to +the <i>kuka</i> hut.<a id="footnotetag73" name= +"footnotetag73"></a><a href="#footnote73"><sup>73</sup></a></p> +<a id="abstinencesalt" name="abstinencesalt"></a> +<p>[Abstinence from salt associated with a rule of chastity in many +tribes.]</p> +<p>From the foregoing account it appears that among these tribes no +sooner has a girl attained to womanhood than she is expected and +indeed required to give proof of her newly acquired powers by +cohabiting with a man, whether her husband or another. And the +abstinence from salt during the girl's seclusion is all the more +remarkable because as soon as the seclusion is over she has to use +salt for a particular purpose, to which the people evidently attach +very great importance, since in the event of her husband proving +impotent she is even compelled, apparently, to commit <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> adultery +in order that the salted relish may be given out as usual. In this +connexion it deserves to be noted that among the Wagogo of German +East Africa women at their monthly periods may not sleep with their +husbands and may not put salt in food.<a id="footnotetag74" name= +"footnotetag74"></a><a href="#footnote74"><sup>74</sup></a> A +similar rule is observed by the Nyanja-speaking tribes of Central +Angoniland, with whose puberty customs we are here concerned. Among +them, we are told, "some superstition exists with regard to the use +of salt. A woman during her monthly sickness must on no account put +salt into any food she is cooking, lest she give her husband or +children a disease called <i>tsempo</i> (<i>chitsoko soko</i>) but +calls a child to put it in, or, as the song goes, '<i>Natira +nichere ni bondo chifukwa n'kupanda mwana</i>' and pours in the +salt by placing it on her knee, because there is no child handy. +Should a party of villagers have gone to make salt, all sexual +intercourse is forbidden among the people of the village, until the +people who have gone to make the salt (from grass) return. When +they do come back, they must make their entry into the village at +night, and no one must see them. Then one of the elders of the +village sleeps with his wife. She then cooks some relish, into +which she puts some of the salt. This relish is handed round to the +people who went to make the salt, who rub it on their feet and +under their armpits."<a id="footnotetag75" name= +"footnotetag75"></a><a href="#footnote75"><sup>75</sup></a> Hence +it would seem that in the mind of these people abstinence from salt +is somehow associated with the idea of chastity. The same +association meets us in the customs of many peoples in various +parts of the world. For example, ancient Hindoo ritual prescribed +that for three nights after a husband had brought his bride home, +the two should sleep on the ground, remain chaste, and eat no +salt.<a id="footnotetag76" name="footnotetag76"></a><a href= +"#footnote76"><sup>76</sup></a> Among the Baganda, when a man was +making a net, he had to refrain from eating salt and meat and from +living with his wife; these restrictions he observed until the net +took its first catch of fish. Similarly, so long as a fisherman's +nets or traps were in the water, he must live apart from his wife, +and neither he nor she nor their children might eat salt or +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[pg +28]</span> meat.<a id="footnotetag77" name= +"footnotetag77"></a><a href="#footnote77"><sup>77</sup></a> +Evidence of the same sort could be multiplied,<a id="footnotetag78" +name="footnotetag78"></a><a href="#footnote78"><sup>78</sup></a> +but without going into it further we may say that for some reason +which is not obvious to us primitive man connects salt with the +intercourse of the sexes and therefore forbids the use of that +condiment in a variety of circumstances in which he deems +continence necessary or desirable. As there is nothing which the +savage regards as a greater bar between the sexes than the state of +menstruation, he naturally prohibits the use of salt to women and +girls at their monthly periods.</p> +<a id="seclusionnyassa" name="seclusionnyassa"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes about Lake +Nyassa and on the Zambesi.]</p> +<p>With the Awa-nkonde, a tribe at the northern end of Lake Nyassa, +it is a rule that after her first menstruation a girl must be kept +apart, with a few companions of her own sex, in a darkened house. +The floor is covered with dry banana leaves, but no fire may be lit +in the house, which is called "the house of the Awasungu," that is, +"of maidens who have no hearts."<a id="footnotetag79" name= +"footnotetag79"></a><a href="#footnote79"><sup>79</sup></a> When a +girl reaches puberty, the Wafiomi of Eastern Africa hold a festival +at which they make a noise with a peculiar kind of rattle. After +that the girl remains for a year in the large common hut +(<i>tembe</i>), where she occupies a special compartment screened +off from the men's quarters. She may not cut her hair or touch +food, but is fed by other women. At night, however, she quits the +hut and dances with young men.<a id="footnotetag80" name= +"footnotetag80"></a><a href="#footnote80"><sup>80</sup></a> Among +the Barotse or Marotse of the upper Zambesi, "when a girl arrives +at the age of puberty she is sent into the fields, where a hut is +constructed far from the village. There, with two or three +companions, she spends a month, returning home late and starting +before dawn in order not to be seen by the men. The women of the +village visit her, bringing food and honey, and singing and dancing +to amuse her. At the end of a month her husband comes and fetches +her. It is only after this ceremony that women have the right to +smear themselves with ochre."<a id="footnotetag81" name= +"footnotetag81"></a><a href="#footnote81"><sup>81</sup></a> We may +suspect that the chief reason why <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page29" name="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> the girl during her +seclusion may visit her home only by night is a fear, not so much +lest she should be seen by men, as that she might be seen by the +sun. Among the Wafiomi, as we have just learned, the young woman in +similar circumstances is even free to dance with men, provided +always that the dance is danced at night. The ceremonies among the +Barotse or Marotse are somewhat more elaborate for a girl of the +royal family. She is shut up for three months in a place which is +kept secret from the public; only the women of her family know +where it is. There she sits alone in the darkness of the hut, +waited on by female slaves, who are strictly forbidden to speak and +may communicate with her and with each other only by signs. During +all this time, though she does nothing, she eats much, and when at +last she comes forth, her appearance is quite changed, so fat has +she grown. She is then led by night to the river and bathed in +presence of all the women of the village. Next day she flaunts +before the public in her gayest attire, her head bedecked with +ornaments and her face mottled with red paint. So everybody knows +what has happened.<a id="footnotetag82" name= +"footnotetag82"></a><a href="#footnote82"><sup>82</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionthonga" name="seclusionthonga"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Thonga on Delagoa +Bay.]</p> +<p>Among the northern clans of the Thonga tribe, in South-Eastern +Africa, about Delagoa Bay, when a girl thinks that the time of her +nubility is near, she chooses an adoptive mother, perhaps in a +neighbouring village. When the symptoms appear, she flies away from +her own village and repairs to that of her adopted mother "to weep +near her." After that she is secluded with several other girls in +the same condition for a month. They are shut up in a hut, and +whenever they come outside they must wear a dirty greasy cloth over +their faces as a veil. Every morning they are led to a pool and +plunged in the water up to their necks. Initiated girls or women +accompany them, singing obscene songs and driving away with sticks +any man who meets them; for no man may see a girl during this time +of seclusion. If he saw her, it is said that he would be struck +blind. On their return from the river, the girls are again +imprisoned in the hut, where they remain wet and shivering, for +they may not go near the fire to warm themselves. During their +seclusion they listen to lascivious songs sung by <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> grown +women and are instructed in sexual matters. At the end of the month +the adoptive mother brings the girl home to her true mother and +presents her with a pot of beer.<a id="footnotetag83" name= +"footnotetag83"></a><a href="#footnote83"><sup>83</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusioncaffre" name="seclusioncaffre"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Caffre tribes of South +Africa.]</p> +<p>Among the Caffre tribes of South Africa the period of a girl's +seclusion at puberty varies with the rank of her father. If he is a +rich man, it may last twelve days; if he is a chief, it may last +twenty-four days.<a id="footnotetag84" name= +"footnotetag84"></a><a href="#footnote84"><sup>84</sup></a> And +when it is over, the girl rubs herself over with red earth, and +strews finely powdered red earth on the ground, before she leaves +the hut where she has been shut up. Finally, though she was +forbidden to drink milk all the days of her separation, she washes +out her mouth with milk, and is from that moment regarded as a +full-grown woman.<a id="footnotetag85" name= +"footnotetag85"></a><a href="#footnote85"><sup>85</sup></a> +Afterwards, in the dusk of the evening, she carries away all the +objects with which she came into contact in the hut during her +seclusion and buries them secretly in a sequestered spot.<a id= +"footnotetag86" name="footnotetag86"></a><a href= +"#footnote86"><sup>86</sup></a> When the girl is a chief's daughter +the ceremonies at her liberation from the hut are more elaborate +than usual. She is led forth from the hut by a son of her father's +councillor, who, wearing the wings of a blue crane, the badge of +bravery, on his head, escorts her to the cattle kraal, where cows +are slaughtered and dancing takes place. Large skins full of milk +are sent to the spot from neighbouring villages; and after the +dances are over the girl drinks milk for the first time since the +day she entered into retreat. But the first mouthful is drunk by +the girl's aunt or other female relative who had charge of her +during her seclusion; and a little of it is poured on the +fire-place.<a id="footnotetag87" name="footnotetag87"></a><a href= +"#footnote87"><sup>87</sup></a> Amongst the Zulus, when the girl +was a princess royal, the end of her time of separation was +celebrated by a sort of saturnalia: law and order were for the time +being in abeyance: every man, woman, and child might appropriate +any article of property: the king abstained from interfering; and +if during this reign of misrule he was robbed of anything he valued +he could only <span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name= +"page31"></a>[pg 31]</span> recover it by paying a fine.<a id= +"footnotetag88" name="footnotetag88"></a><a href= +"#footnote88"><sup>88</sup></a> Among the Basutos, when girls at +puberty are bathed as usual by the matrons in a river, they are +hidden separately in the turns and bends of the stream, and told to +cover their heads, as they will be visited by a large serpent. +Their limbs are then plastered with clay, little masks of straw are +put on their faces, and thus arrayed they daily follow each other +in procession, singing melancholy airs, to the fields, there to +learn the labours of husbandry in which a great part of their adult +life will be passed.<a id="footnotetag89" name= +"footnotetag89"></a><a href="#footnote89"><sup>89</sup></a> We may +suppose, though we are not told, that the straw masks which they +wear in these processions are intended to hide their faces from the +gaze of men and the rays of the sun.</p> +<a id="seclusionlowercongo" name="seclusionlowercongo"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty in the Lower Congo.]</p> +<p>Among the tribes in the lower valley of the Congo, such as the +Bavili, when a girl arrives at puberty, she has to pass two or +three months in seclusion in a small hut built for the purpose. The +hair of her head is shaved off, and every day the whole of her body +is smeared with a red paint (<i>takulla</i>) made from a powdered +wood mixed with water. Some of her companions reside in the hut +with her and prepare the paint for her use. A woman is appointed to +take charge of the hut and to keep off intruders. At the end of her +confinement she is taken to water by the women of her family and +bathed; the paint is rubbed off her body, her arms and legs are +loaded with brass rings, and she is led in solemn procession under +an umbrella to her husband's house. If these ceremonies were not +performed, the people believe that the girl would be barren or +would give birth to monsters, that the rain would cease to fall, +the earth to bear fruit, and the fishing to be successful.<a id= +"footnotetag90" name="footnotetag90"></a><a href= +"#footnote90"><sup>90</sup></a> Such serious importance do these +savages <span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[pg +32]</span> ascribe to the performance of rites which to us seem so +childish.</p> +<h4><a id="sect2-2" name="sect2-2">§ 2. <i>Seclusion of Girls +at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, and Indonesia</i></a></h4> +<a id="seclusionnewireland" name="seclusionnewireland"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland.]</p> +<p>In New Ireland girls are confined for four or five years in +small cages, being kept in the dark and not allowed to set foot on +the ground. The custom has been thus described by an eye-witness. +"I heard from a teacher about some strange custom connected with +some of the young girls here, so I asked the chief to take me to +the house where they were. The house was about twenty-five feet in +length, and stood in a reed and bamboo enclosure, across the +entrance to which a bundle of dried grass was suspended to show +that it was strictly '<i>tabu</i>.' Inside the house were three +conical structures about seven or eight feet in height, and about +ten or twelve feet in circumference at the bottom, and for about +four feet from the ground, at which point they tapered off to a +point at the top. These cages were made of the broad leaves of the +pandanus-tree, sewn quite close together so that no light and +little or no air could enter. On one side of each is an opening +which is closed by a double door of plaited cocoa-nut tree and +pandanus-tree leaves. About three feet from the ground there is a +stage of bamboos which forms the floor. In each of these cages we +were told there was a young woman confined, each of whom had to +remain for at least four or five years, without ever being allowed +to go outside the house. I could scarcely credit the story when I +heard it; the whole thing seemed too horrible to be true. I spoke +to the chief, and told him that I wished to see the inside of the +cages, and also to see the girls that I might make them a present +of a few beads. He told me that it was '<i>tabu</i>,' forbidden for +any men but their own relations to look at them; but I suppose the +promised beads <span class="pagenum"><a id="page33" name= +"page33"></a>[pg 33]</span> acted as an inducement, and so he sent +away for some old lady who had charge, and who alone is allowed to +open the doors. While we were waiting we could hear the girls +talking to the chief in a querulous way as if objecting to +something or expressing their fears. The old woman came at length +and certainly she did not seem a very pleasant jailor or guardian; +nor did she seem to favour the request of the chief to allow us to +see the girls, as she regarded us with anything but pleasant looks. +However, she had to undo the door when the chief told her to do so, +and then the girls peeped out at us, and, when told to do so, they +held out their hands for the beads. I, however, purposely sat at +some distance away and merely held out the beads to them, as I +wished to draw them quite outside, that I might inspect the inside +of the cages. This desire of mine gave rise to another difficulty, +as these girls were not allowed to put their feet to the ground all +the time they were confined in these places. However, they wished +to get the beads, and so the old lady had to go outside and collect +a lot of pieces of wood and bamboo, which she placed on the ground, +and then going to one of the girls, she helped her down and held +her hand as she stepped from one piece of wood to another until she +came near enough to get the beads I held out to her. I then went to +inspect the inside of the cage out of which she had come, but could +scarcely put my head inside of it, the atmosphere was so hot and +stifling. It was clean and contained nothing but a few short +lengths of bamboo for holding water. There was only room for the +girl to sit or lie down in a crouched position on the bamboo +platform, and when the doors are shut it must be nearly or quite +dark inside. The girls are never allowed to come out except once a +day to bathe in a dish or wooden bowl placed close to each cage. +They say that they perspire profusely. They are placed in these +stifling cages when quite young, and must remain there until they +are young women, when they are taken out and have each a great +marriage feast provided for them. One of them was about fourteen or +fifteen years old, and the chief told us that she had been there +for five years, but would soon be taken out now. The other two were +about eight and ten years old, and they have to stay there for +several years <span class="pagenum"><a id="page34" name= +"page34"></a>[pg 34]</span> longer."<a id="footnotetag91" name= +"footnotetag91"></a><a href="#footnote91"><sup>91</sup></a> A more +recent observer has described the custom as it is observed on the +western coast of New Ireland. He says: "A <i>buck</i> is the name +of a little house, not larger than an ordinary hen-coop, in which a +little girl is shut up, sometimes for weeks only, and at other +times for months.... Briefly stated, the custom is this. Girls, on +attaining puberty or betrothal, are enclosed in one of these little +coops for a considerable time. They must remain there night and +day. We saw two of these girls in two coops; the girls were not +more than ten years old, still they were lying in a doubled-up +position, as their little houses would not admit of them lying in +any other way. These two coops were inside a large house; but the +chief, in consideration of a present of a couple of tomahawks, +ordered the ends to be torn out of the house to admit the light, so +that we might photograph the <i>buck</i>. The occupant was allowed +to put her face through an opening to be photographed, in +consideration of another present."<a id="footnotetag92" name= +"footnotetag92"></a><a href="#footnote92"><sup>92</sup></a> As a +consequence of their long enforced idleness in the shade the girls +grow fat and their dusky complexion bleaches to a more pallid hue. +Both their corpulence and their pallor are regarded as +beauties.<a id="footnotetag93" name="footnotetag93"></a><a href= +"#footnote93"><sup>93</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>[pg +35]</span> <a id="seclusionnewguinea" name= +"seclusionnewguinea"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram and +Yap.]</p> +<p>In Kabadi, a district of British New Guinea, "daughters of +chiefs, when they are about twelve or thirteen years of age, are +kept indoors for two or three years, never being allowed, under any +pretence, to descend from the house, and the house is so shaded +that the sun cannot shine on them."<a id="footnotetag94" name= +"footnotetag94"></a><a href="#footnote94"><sup>94</sup></a> Among +the Yabim and Bukaua, two neighbouring and kindred tribes on the +coast of German New Guinea, a girl at puberty is secluded for some +five or six weeks in an inner part of the house; but she may not +sit on the floor, lest her uncleanness should cleave to it, so a +log of wood is placed for her to squat on. Moreover, she may not +touch the ground with her feet; hence if she is obliged to quit the +house for a short time, she is muffled up in mats and walks on two +halves of a coconut shell, which are fastened like sandals to her +feet by creeping plants. During her seclusion she is in charge of +her aunts or other female relatives. At the end of the time she +bathes, her person is loaded with ornaments, her face is +grotesquely painted with red stripes on a white ground, and thus +adorned she is brought forth in public to be admired by everybody. +She is now marriageable.<a id="footnotetag95" name= +"footnotetag95"></a><a href="#footnote95"><sup>95</sup></a> Among +the Ot Danoms of Borneo girls at the age of eight or ten years are +shut up in a little room or cell of the house, and cut off from all +intercourse with the world for a long time. The cell, like the rest +of the house, is raised on piles above the ground, and is lit by a +single small window opening on a lonely place, so that the girl is +in almost total darkness. She may not leave the room on any pretext +whatever, not even for the most necessary purposes. None of her +family may see her all the time she is shut up, but a single slave +woman is appointed to wait on her. During her lonely confinement, +which often lasts seven years, the girl occupies herself in weaving +mats or with other handiwork. Her bodily growth is stunted by the +long want of exercise, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" +name="page36"></a>[pg 36]</span> when, on attaining womanhood, she +is brought out, her complexion is pale and wax-like. She is now +shewn the sun, the earth, the water, the trees, and the flowers, as +if she were newly born. Then a great feast is made, a slave is +killed, and the girl is smeared with his blood.<a id= +"footnotetag96" name="footnotetag96"></a><a href= +"#footnote96"><sup>96</sup></a> In Ceram girls at puberty were +formerly shut up by themselves in a hut which was kept dark.<a id= +"footnotetag97" name="footnotetag97"></a><a href= +"#footnote97"><sup>97</sup></a> In Yap, one of the Caroline +Islands, should a girl be overtaken by her first menstruation on +the public road, she may not sit down on the earth, but must beg +for a coco-nut shell to put under her. She is shut up for several +days in a small hut at a distance from her parents' house, and +afterwards she is bound to sleep for a hundred days in one of the +special houses which are provided for the use of menstruous +women.<a id="footnotetag98" name="footnotetag98"></a><a href= +"#footnote98"><sup>98</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect2-3" name="sect2-3">§ 3. <i>Seclusion of Girls +at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands and Northern +Australia</i></a></h4> +<a id="seclusionmabuiag" name="seclusionmabuiag"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Mabuiag, Torres Straits.]</p> +<p>In the island of Mabuiag, Torres Straits, when the signs of +puberty appear on a girl, a circle of bushes is made in a dark +corner of the house. Here, decked with shoulder-belts, armlets, +leglets just below the knees, and anklets, wearing a chaplet on her +head, and shell ornaments in her ears, on her chest, and on her +back, she squats in the midst of the bushes, which are piled so +high round about her that only her head is visible. In this state +of seclusion she must remain for three months. All this time the +sun may not shine upon her, but at night she is allowed to slip out +of the hut, and the bushes that hedge her in are then changed. She +may not feed herself or handle food, but is fed by one or two old +women, her maternal aunts, who are especially appointed to look +after her. One of these women cooks food for her at a special fire +in the forest. The girl is forbidden to eat turtle or <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37"></a>[pg 37]</span> turtle +eggs during the season when the turtles are breeding; but no +vegetable food is refused her. No man, not even her own father, may +come into the house while her seclusion lasts; for if her father +saw her at this time he would certainly have bad luck in his +fishing, and would probably smash his canoe the very next time he +went out in it. At the end of the three months she is carried down +to a fresh-water creek by her attendants, hanging on to their +shoulders in such a way that her feet do not touch the ground, +while the women of the tribe form a ring round her, and thus escort +her to the beach. Arrived at the shore, she is stripped of her +ornaments, and the bearers stagger with her into the creek, where +they immerse her, and all the other women join in splashing water +over both the girl and her bearers. When they come out of the water +one of the two attendants makes a heap of grass for her charge to +squat upon. The other runs to the reef, catches a small crab, tears +off its claws, and hastens back with them to the creek. Here in the +meantime a fire has been kindled, and the claws are roasted at it. +The girl is then fed by her attendants with the roasted claws. +After that she is freshly decorated, and the whole party marches +back to the village in a single rank, the girl walking in the +centre between her two old aunts, who hold her by the wrists. The +husbands of her aunts now receive her and lead her into the house +of one of them, where all partake of food, and the girl is allowed +once more to feed herself in the usual manner. A dance follows, in +which the girl takes a prominent part, dancing between the husbands +of the two aunts who had charge of her in her retirement.<a id= +"footnotetag99" name="footnotetag99"></a><a href= +"#footnote99"><sup>99</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionnorthernaustralia" name= +"seclusionnorthernaustralia"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Northern Australia.]</p> +<p>Among the Yaraikanna tribe of Cape York Peninsula, in Northern +Queensland, a girl at puberty is said to live by herself for a +month or six weeks; no man may see her, though any woman may. She +stays in a hut or shelter specially made for her, on the floor of +which she lies supine. She may not see the sun, and towards sunset +she must keep her eyes shut until the sun has gone down, otherwise +it is thought that her nose will be diseased. During her seclusion +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38"></a>[pg +38]</span> she may eat nothing that lives in salt water, or a snake +would kill her. An old woman waits upon her and supplies her with +roots, yams, and water.<a id="footnotetag100" name= +"footnotetag100"></a><a href="#footnote100"><sup>100</sup></a> Some +tribes are wont to bury their girls at such seasons more or less +deeply in the ground, perhaps in order to hide them from the light +of the sun. Thus the Larrakeeyah tribe in the northern territory of +South Australia used to cover a girl up with dirt for three days at +her first monthly period.<a id="footnotetag101" name= +"footnotetag101"></a><a href="#footnote101"><sup>101</sup></a> In +similar circumstances the Otati tribe, on the east coast of the +Cape York Peninsula, make an excavation in the ground, where the +girl squats. A bower is then built over the hole, and sand is +thrown on the young woman till she is covered up to the hips. In +this condition she remains for the first day, but comes out at +night. So long as the period lasts, she stays in the bower during +the day-time, but is not again covered with sand. Afterwards her +body is painted red and white from the head to the hips, and she +returns to the camp, where she squats first on the right side, then +on the left side, and then on the lap of her future husband, who +has been previously selected for her.<a id="footnotetag102" name= +"footnotetag102"></a><a href="#footnote102"><sup>102</sup></a> +Among the natives of the Pennefather River, in the Cape York +Peninsula, Queensland, when a girl menstruates for the first time, +her mother takes her away from the camp to some secluded spot, +where she digs a circular hole in the sandy soil under the shade of +a tree. In this hole the girl squats with crossed legs and is +covered with sand from the waist downwards. A digging-stick is +planted firmly in the sand on each side of her, and the place is +surrounded by a fence of bushes except in front, where her mother +kindles a fire. Here the girl stays all day, sitting with her arms +crossed and the palms of her hands resting on the sand. She may not +move her arms except to take food from her mother or to scratch +herself; and in scratching herself she may not touch herself with +her own hands, but must use for the purpose a splinter of wood, +which, when it is not in use, is stuck in her hair. She may speak +to nobody but her mother; indeed nobody else would <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39"></a>[pg 39]</span> think of +coming near her. At evening she lays hold of the two digging-sticks +and by their help frees herself from the superincumbent weight of +sand and returns to the camp. Next morning she is again buried in +the sand under the shade of the tree and remains there again till +evening. This she does daily for five days. On her return at +evening on the fifth day her mother decorates her with a +waist-band, a forehead-band, and a necklet of pearl-shell, ties +green parrot feathers round her arms and wrists and across her +chest, and smears her body, back and front, from the waist upwards +with blotches of red, white, and yellow paint. She has in like +manner to be buried in the sand at her second and third +menstruations, but at the fourth she is allowed to remain in camp, +only signifying her condition by wearing a basket of empty shells +on her back.<a id="footnotetag103" name= +"footnotetag103"></a><a href="#footnote103"><sup>103</sup></a> +Among the Kia blacks of the Prosperine River, on the east coast of +Queensland, a girl at puberty has to sit or lie down in a shallow +pit away from the camp; a rough hut of bushes is erected over her +to protect her from the inclemency of the weather. There she stays +for about a week, waited on by her mother and sister, the only +persons to whom she may speak. She is allowed to drink water, but +may not touch it with her hands; and she may scratch herself a +little with a mussel-shell. This seclusion is repeated at her +second and third monthly periods, but when the third is over she is +brought to her husband bedecked with savage finery. Eagle-hawk or +cockatoo feathers are stuck in her hair: a shell hangs over her +forehead: grass bugles encircle her neck and an apron of opossum +skin her waist: strings are tied to her arms and wrists; and her +whole body is mottled with patterns drawn in red, white, and yellow +pigments and charcoal.<a id="footnotetag104" name= +"footnotetag104"></a><a href="#footnote104"><sup>104</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiontorres" name="seclusiontorres"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty in the islands of Torres +Straits.]</p> +<p>Among the Uiyumkwi tribe in Red Island the girl lies at full +length in a shallow trench dug in the foreshore, and sand is +lightly thrown over her legs and body up to the breasts, which +appear not to be covered. A rough shelter of boughs is then built +over her, and thus she <span class="pagenum"><a id="page40" name= +"page40"></a>[pg 40]</span> remains lying for a few hours. Then she +and her attendant go into the bush and look for food, which they +cook at a fire close to the shelter. They sleep under the boughs, +the girl remaining secluded from the camp but apparently not being +again buried. At the end of the symptoms she stands over hot stones +and water is poured over her, till, trickling from her body on the +stones, it is converted into steam and envelops her in a cloud of +vapour. Then she is painted with red and white stripes and returns +to the camp. If her future husband has already been chosen, she +goes to him and they eat some food together, which the girl has +previously brought from the bush.<a id="footnotetag105" name= +"footnotetag105"></a><a href="#footnote105"><sup>105</sup></a> In +Prince of Wales Island, Torres Strait, the treatment of the patient +is similar, but lasts for about two months. During the day she lies +covered up with sand in a shallow hole on the beach, over which a +hut is built. At night she may get out of the hole, but she may not +leave the hut. Her paternal aunt looks after her, and both of them +must abstain from eating turtle, dugong, and the heads of fish. +Were they to eat the heads of fish no more fish would be caught. +During the time of the girl's seclusion, the aunt who waits upon +her has the right to enter any house and take from it anything she +likes without payment, provided she does so before the sun rises. +When the time of her retirement has come to an end, the girl bathes +in the sea while the morning star is rising, and after performing +various other ceremonies is readmitted to society.<a id= +"footnotetag106" name="footnotetag106"></a><a href= +"#footnote106"><sup>106</sup></a> In Saibai, another island of +Torres Straits, at her first monthly sickness a girl lives secluded +in the forest for about a fortnight, during which no man may see +her; even the women who have spoken to her in the forest must wash +in salt water before they speak to a man. Two girls wait upon and +feed the damsel, putting the food into her mouth, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page41" name="page41"></a>[pg 41]</span> for she +is not allowed to touch it with her own hands. Nor may she eat +dugong and turtle. At the end of a fortnight the girl and her +attendants bathe in salt water while the tide is running out. +Afterwards they are clean, may again speak to men without ceremony, +and move freely about the village. In Yam and Tutu a girl at +puberty retires for a month to the forest, where no man nor even +her own mother may look upon her. She is waited on by women who +stand to her in a certain relationship (<i>mowai</i>), apparently +her paternal aunts. She is blackened all over with charcoal and +wears a long petticoat reaching below her knees. During her +seclusion the married women of the village often assemble in the +forest and dance, and the girl's aunts relieve the tedium of the +proceedings by thrashing her from time to time as a useful +preparation for matrimony. At the end of a month the whole party go +into the sea, and the charcoal is washed off the girl. After that +she is decorated, her body blackened again, her hair reddened with +ochre, and in the evening she is brought back to her father's +house, where she is received with weeping and lamentation because +she has been so long away.<a id="footnotetag107" name= +"footnotetag107"></a><a href="#footnote107"><sup>107</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect2-4" name="sect2-4">§ 4. <i>Seclusion of Girls +at Puberty among the Indians of North America</i></a></h4> +<a id="seclusioncaliformia" name="seclusioncaliformia"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of +California]</p> +<p>Among the Indians of California a girl at her first menstruation +"was thought to be possessed of a particular degree of supernatural +power, and this was not always regarded as entirely defiling or +malevolent. Often, however, there was a strong feeling of the power +of evil inherent in her condition. Not only was she secluded from +her family and the community, but an attempt was made to seclude +the world from her. One of the injunctions most strongly laid upon +her was not to look about her. She kept her head bowed and was +forbidden to see the world and the sun. Some tribes covered her +with a blanket. Many of the customs in this connection resembled +those of the North Pacific Coast most strongly, such as the +prohibition to the girl to touch or scratch her head with her hand, +a special implement being furnished her for the purpose. Sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42"></a>[pg +42]</span> she could eat only when fed and in other cases fasted +altogether. Some form of public ceremony, often accompanied by a +dance and sometimes by a form of ordeal for the girl, was practised +nearly everywhere. Such ceremonies were well developed in Southern +California, where a number of actions symbolical of the girl's +maturity and subsequent life were performed."<a id="footnotetag108" +name="footnotetag108"></a><a href="#footnote108"><sup>108</sup></a> +Thus among the Maidu Indians of California a girl at puberty +remained shut up in a small separate hut. For five days she might +not eat flesh or fish nor feed herself, but was fed by her mother +or other old woman. She had a basket, plate, and cup for her own +use, and a stick with which to scratch her head, for she might not +scratch it with her fingers. At the end of five days she took a +warm bath and, while she still remained in the hut and plied the +scratching-stick on her head, was privileged to feed herself with +her own hands. After five days more she bathed in the river, after +which her parents gave a great feast in her honour. At the feast +the girl was dressed in her best, and anybody might ask her parents +for anything he pleased, and they had to give it, even if it was +the hand of their daughter in marriage. During the period of her +seclusion in the hut the girl was allowed to go by night to her +parents' house and listen to songs sung by her friends and +relations, who assembled for the purpose. Among the songs were some +that related to the different roots and seeds which in these tribes +it is the business of women to gather for food. While the singers +sang, she sat by herself in a corner of the house muffled up +completely in mats and skins; no man or boy might come near +her.<a id="footnotetag109" name="footnotetag109"></a><a href= +"#footnote109"><sup>109</sup></a> Among the Hupa, another Indian +tribe of California, when a girl had reached maturity her male +relatives danced all night for nine successive nights, while the +girl remained apart, eating no meat and blindfolded. But on the +tenth night she entered the house and took part in the last +dance.<a id="footnotetag110" name="footnotetag110"></a><a href= +"#footnote110"><sup>110</sup></a> Among the Wintun, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43"></a>[pg 43]</span> another +Californian tribe, a girl at puberty was banished from the camp and +lived alone in a distant booth, fasting rigidly from animal food; +it was death to any person to touch or even approach her.<a id= +"footnotetag111" name="footnotetag111"></a><a href= +"#footnote111"><sup>111</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionwashington" name="seclusionwashington"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of Washington +State.]</p> +<p>In the interior of Washington State, about Colville, "the +customs of the Indians, in relation to the treatment of females, +are singular. On the first appearance of the menses, they are +furnished with provisions, and sent into the woods, to remain +concealed for two days; for they have a superstition, that if a man +should be seen or met with during that time, death will be the +consequence. At the end of the second day, the woman is permitted +to return to the lodge, when she is placed in a hut just large +enough for her to lie in at full length, in which she is compelled +to remain for twenty days, cut off from all communication with her +friends, and is obliged to hide her face at the appearance of a +man. Provisions are supplied her daily. After this, she is required +to perform repeated ablutions, before she can resume her place in +the family. At every return, the women go into seclusion for two or +more days."<a id="footnotetag112" name= +"footnotetag112"></a><a href="#footnote112"><sup>112</sup></a> +Among the Chinook Indians who inhabited the coast of Washington +State, from Shoalwater Bay as far as Grey's Harbour, when a chief's +daughter attained to puberty, she was hidden for five days from the +view of the people; she might not look at them nor at the sky, nor +might she pick berries. It was believed that if she were to look at +the sky, the weather would be bad; that if she picked berries, it +would rain; and that when she hung her towel of cedar-bark on a +spruce-tree, the tree withered up at once. She went out of the +house by a separate door and bathed in a creek far from the +village. She fasted for some days, and for many days more she might +not eat fresh food.<a id="footnotetag113" name= +"footnotetag113"></a><a href="#footnote113"><sup>113</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionnootka" name="seclusionnootka"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Nootka Indians of +Vancouver Island.]</p> +<p>Amongst the Aht or Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island, when +girls reach puberty they are placed in a sort of gallery in the +house "and are there surrounded <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page44" name="page44"></a>[pg 44]</span> completely with mats, so +that neither the sun nor any fire can be seen. In this cage they +remain for several days. Water is given them, but no food. The +longer a girl remains in this retirement the greater honour is it +to the parents; but she is disgraced for life if it is known that +she has seen fire or the sun during this initiatory ordeal."<a id= +"footnotetag114" name="footnotetag114"></a><a href= +"#footnote114"><sup>114</sup></a> Pictures of the mythical +thunder-bird are painted on the screens behind which she hides. +During her seclusion she may neither move nor lie down, but must +always sit in a squatting posture. She may not touch her hair with +her hands, but is allowed to scratch her head with a comb or a +piece of bone provided for the purpose. To scratch her body is also +forbidden, as it is believed that every scratch would leave a scar. +For eight months after reaching maturity she may not eat any fresh +food, particularly salmon; moreover, she must eat by herself, and +use a cup and dish of her own.<a id="footnotetag115" name= +"footnotetag115"></a><a href="#footnote115"><sup>115</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionhaida" name="seclusionhaida"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Haida Indians of the +Queen Charlotte Islands.]</p> +<p>Among the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands girls at +puberty were secluded behind screens in the house for about twenty +days. In some parts of the islands separate fires were provided for +the girls, and they went out and in by a separate door at the back +of the house. If a girl at such a time was obliged to go out by the +front door, all the weapons, gambling-sticks, medicine, and other +articles had to be removed from the house till her return, for +otherwise it was thought that they would be unlucky; and if there +was a good hunter in the house, he also had to go out at the same +time on pain of losing his good luck if he remained. During several +months or even half a year the girl was bound to wear a peculiar +cloak or hood made of cedar-bark, nearly conical in shape and +reaching <span class="pagenum"><a id="page45" name="page45"></a>[pg +45]</span> down below the breast, but open before the face. After +the twenty days were over the girl took a bath; none of the water +might be spilled, it had all to be taken back to the woods, else +the girl would not live long. On the west coast of the islands the +damsel might eat nothing but black cod for four years; for the +people believed that other kinds of fish would become scarce if she +partook of them. At Kloo the young woman at such times was +forbidden to look at the sea, and for forty days she might not gaze +at the fire; for a whole year she might not walk on the beach below +high-water mark, because then the tide would come in, covering part +of the food supply, and there would be bad weather. For five years +she might not eat salmon, or the fish would be scarce; and when her +family went to a salmon-creek, she landed from the canoe at the +mouth of the creek and came to the smoke-house from behind; for +were she to see a salmon leap, all the salmon might leave the +creek. Among the Haidas of Masset it was believed that if the girl +looked at the sky, the weather would be bad, and that if she +stepped over a salmon-creek, all the salmon would disappear.<a id= +"footnotetag116" name="footnotetag116"></a><a href= +"#footnote116"><sup>116</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiontlingit" name="seclusiontlingit"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tlingit Indians of +Alaska.]</p> +<p>Amongst the Tlingit (Thlinkeet) or Kolosh Indians of Alaska, +when a girl shewed signs of womanhood she used to be confined to a +little hut or cage, which was completely blocked up with the +exception of a small air-hole. In this dark and filthy abode she +had to remain a year, without fire, exercise, or associates. Only +her mother and a female slave might supply her with nourishment. +Her food was put in at the little window; she had to drink out of +the wing-bone of a white-headed eagle. The time of her seclusion +was afterwards reduced in some places to six or three months or +even less. She had to wear a sort of hat with long flaps, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page46" name="page46"></a>[pg +46]</span> that her gaze might not pollute the sky; for she was +thought unfit for the sun to shine upon, and it was imagined that +her look would destroy the luck of a hunter, fisher, or gambler, +turn things to stone, and do other mischief. At the end of her +confinement her old clothes were burnt, new ones were made, and a +feast was given, at which a slit was cut in her under lip parallel +to the mouth, and a piece of wood or shell was inserted to keep the +aperture open.<a id="footnotetag117" name= +"footnotetag117"></a><a href="#footnote117"><sup>117</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiontsetsaut" name="seclusiontsetsaut"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tsetsaut and Bella +Coola Indians of British Columbia.]</p> +<p>In the Tsetsaut tribe of British Columbia a girl at puberty +wears a large hat of skin which comes down over her face and +screens it from the sun. It is believed that if she were to expose +her face to the sun or to the sky, rain would fall. The hat +protects her face also against the fire, which ought not to strike +her skin; to shield her hands she wears mittens. In her mouth she +carries the tooth of an animal to prevent her own teeth from +becoming hollow. For a whole year she may not see blood unless her +face is blackened; otherwise she would grow blind. For two years +she wears the hat and lives in a hut by herself, although she is +allowed to see other people. At the end of two years a man takes +the hat from her head and throws it away.<a id="footnotetag118" +name="footnotetag118"></a><a href="#footnote118"><sup>118</sup></a> +In the Bilqula or Bella Coola tribe of British Columbia, when a +girl attains puberty she must stay in the shed which serves as her +bedroom, where she has a separate fireplace. She is not allowed to +descend to the main part of the house, and may not sit by the fire +of the family. For four days she is <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page47" name="page47"></a>[pg 47]</span> bound to remain +motionless in a sitting posture. She fasts during the day, but is +allowed a little food and drink very early in the morning. After +the four days' seclusion she may leave her room, but only through a +separate opening cut in the floor, for the houses are raised on +piles. She may not yet come into the chief room. In leaving the +house she wears a large hat which protects her face against the +rays of the sun. It is believed that if the sun were to shine on +her face her eyes would suffer. She may pick berries on the hills, +but may not come near the river or sea for a whole year. Were she +to eat fresh salmon she would lose her senses, or her mouth would +be changed into a long beak.<a id="footnotetag119" name= +"footnotetag119"></a><a href="#footnote119"><sup>119</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiontinneh" name="seclusiontinneh"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tinneh Indians of +British Columbia.]</p> +<p>Among the Tinneh Indians about Stuart Lake, Babine Lake, and +Fraser Lake in British Columbia "girls verging on maturity, that is +when their breasts begin to form, take swans' feathers mixed with +human hair and plait bands, which they tie round their wrists and +ankles to secure long life. At this time they are careful that the +dishes out of which they eat, are used by no other person, and +wholly devoted to their own use; during this period they eat +nothing but dog fish, and starvation <i>only</i> will drive them to +eat either fresh fish or meat. When their first periodical sickness +comes on, they are fed by their mothers or nearest female relation +by <i>themselves</i>, and on no account will they touch their food +with their own hands. They are at this time also careful not to +touch their heads with their hands, and keep a small stick to +scratch their heads with. They remain outside the lodge, all the +time they are in this state, in a hut made for the purpose. During +all this period they wear a skull-cap made of skin to fit very +tight; this is never taken off until their first monthly sickness +ceases; they also wear a strip of black paint about one inch wide +across their eyes, and wear a fringe of shells, bones, etc., +hanging down from their foreheads to below their eyes; and this is +never taken off <span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name= +"page48"></a>[pg 48]</span> till the second monthly period arrives +and ceases, when the nearest male relative makes a feast; after +which she is considered a fully matured woman; but she has to +refrain from eating anything fresh for one year after her first +monthly sickness; she may however eat partridge, but it must be +cooked in the crop of the bird to render it harmless. I would have +thought it impossible to perform this feat had I not seen it done. +The crop is blown out, and a small bent willow put round the mouth; +it is then filled with water, and the meat being first minced up, +put in also, then put on the fire and boiled till cooked. Their +reason for hanging fringes before their eyes, is to hinder any bad +medicine man from harming them during this critical period: they +are very careful not to drink whilst facing a medicine man, and do +so only when their backs are turned to him. All these habits are +left off when the girl is a recognised woman, with the exception of +their going out of the lodge and remaining in a hut, every time +their periodical sickness comes on. This is a rigidly observed law +with both single and married women."<a id="footnotetag120" name= +"footnotetag120"></a><a href="#footnote120"><sup>120</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiontinnehalaska" name="seclusiontinnehalaska"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tinneh Indians of +Alaska.]</p> +<p>Among the Hareskin Tinneh a girl at puberty was secluded for +five days in a hut made specially for the purpose; she might only +drink out of a tube made from a swan's bone, and for a month she +might not break a hare's bones, nor taste blood, nor eat the heart +or fat of animals, nor birds' eggs.<a id="footnotetag121" name= +"footnotetag121"></a><a href="#footnote121"><sup>121</sup></a> +Among the Tinneh Indians of the middle Yukon valley, in Alaska, the +period of the girl's seclusion lasts exactly a lunar month; for the +day of the moon on which the symptoms first occur is noted, and she +is sequestered until the same day of the next moon. If the season +is winter, a corner of the house is curtained off for her use by a +blanket or a sheet of canvas; if it is summer, a small tent is +erected for her near the common one. Here she lives and sleeps. She +wears a long robe and a large <span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" +name="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span> hood, which she must pull down +over her eyes whenever she leaves the hut, and she must keep it +down till she returns. She may not speak to a man nor see his face, +much less touch his clothes or anything that belongs to him; for if +she did so, though no harm would come to her, he would grow +unmanly. She has her own dishes for eating out of and may use no +other; at Kaltag she must suck the water through a swan's bone +without applying her lips to the cup. She may eat no fresh meat or +fish except the flesh of the porcupine. She may not undress, but +sleeps with all her clothes on, even her mittens. In her socks she +wears, next to the skin, the horny soles cut from the feet of a +porcupine, in order that for the rest of her life her shoes may +never wear out. Round her waist she wears a cord to which are tied +the heads of femurs of a porcupine; because of all animals known to +the Tinneh the porcupine suffers least in parturition, it simply +drops its young and continues to walk or skip about as if nothing +had happened. Hence it is easy to see that a girl who wears these +portions of a porcupine about her waist, will be delivered just as +easily as the animal. To make quite sure of this, if anybody +happens to kill a porcupine big with young while the girl is +undergoing her period of separation, the foetus is given to her, +and she lets it slide down between her shirt and her body so as to +fall on the ground like an infant.<a id="footnotetag122" name= +"footnotetag122"></a><a href="#footnote122"><sup>122</sup></a> Here +the imitation of childbirth is a piece of homoeopathic or imitative +magic designed to facilitate the effect which it simulates.<a id= +"footnotetag123" name="footnotetag123"></a><a href= +"#footnote123"><sup>123</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionthompson" name="seclusionthompson"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Thompson Indians of +British Columbia.]</p> +<p>Among the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, when a girl +attained puberty, she was at once separated from all the people. A +conical hut of fir branches and bark was erected at some little +distance from the other houses, and in it the girl had to squat on +her heels during the day. Often a deep circular hole was dug in the +hut and the girl squatted in the hole, with her head projecting +above the surface of the ground. She might quit the hut for various +purposes in the early morning, but had always to be back at +sunrise. On the first appearance of the symptoms her face was +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" name="page50"></a>[pg +50]</span> painted red all over, and the paint was renewed every +morning during her term of seclusion. A heavy blanket swathed her +body from top to toe, and during the first four days she wore a +conical cap made of small fir branches, which reached below the +breast but left an opening for the face. In her hair was fastened +an implement made of deer-bone with which she scratched herself. +For the first four days she might neither wash nor eat, but a +little water was given her in a birch-bark cup painted red, and she +sucked up the liquid through a tube made out of the leg of a crane, +a swan, or a goose, for her lips might not touch the surface of the +water. After the four days she was allowed, during the rest of the +period of isolation, to eat, to wash, to lie down, to comb her +hair, and to drink of streams and springs. But in drinking at these +sources she had still to use her tube, otherwise the spring would +dry up. While her seclusion lasted she performed by night various +ceremonies, which were supposed to exert a beneficial influence on +her future life. For example, she ran as fast as she could, praying +at the same time to the Earth or Nature that she might be fleet of +foot and tireless of limb. She dug trenches, in order that in after +life she might be able to dig well and to work hard. These and +other ceremonies she repeated for four nights or mornings in +succession, four times each morning, and each time she supplicated +the Dawn of the Day. Among the Lower Thompson Indians she carried a +staff for one night; and when the day was breaking she leaned the +staff against the stump of a tree and prayed to the Dawn that she +might be blessed with a good husband, who was symbolized by the +staff. She also wandered some nights to lonely parts of the +mountains, where she would dance, imploring the spirits to pity and +protect her during her future life; then, the dance and prayer +over, she would lie down on the spot and fall asleep. Again, she +carried four stones in her bosom to a spring, where she spat upon +the stones and threw them one after the other into the water, +praying that all disease might leave her, as these stones did. Also +she ran four times in the early morning with two small stones in +her bosom; and as she ran the stones slipped down between her bare +body and her clothes and fell to the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page51" name="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span> ground. At the same time +she prayed to the Dawn that when she should be with child, she +might be delivered as easily as she was delivered of these stones. +But whatever exercises she performed or prayers she offered on the +lonely mountains during the hours of darkness or while the morning +light was growing in the east, she must always be back in her +little hut before the sun rose. There she often passed the tedious +hours away picking the needles, one by one, from the cones on two +large branches of fir, which hung from the roof of her hut on +purpose to provide her with occupation. And as she picked she +prayed to the fir-branch that she might never be lazy, but always +quick and active at work. During her seclusion, too, she had to +make miniatures of all the articles that Indian women make, or used +to make, such as baskets, mats, ropes, and thread. This she did in +order that afterwards she might be able to make the real things +properly. Four large fir-branches also were placed in front of the +hut, so that when she went out or in, she had to step over them. +The branches were renewed every morning and the old ones thrown +away into the water, while the girl prayed, "May I never bewitch +any man, nor my fellow-women! May it never happen!" The first four +times that she went out and in, she prayed to the fir-branches, +saying, "If ever I step into trouble or difficulties or step +unknowingly inside the magical spell of some person, may you help +me, O Fir-branches, with your power!" Every day she painted her +face afresh, and she wore strings of parts of deer-hoofs round her +ankles and knees, and tied to her waistband on either side, which +rattled when she walked or ran. Even the shape of the hut in which +she lived was adapted to her future rather than to her present +needs and wishes. If she wished to be tall, the hut was tall; if +she wished to be short, it was low, sometimes so low that there was +not room in it for her to stand erect, and she would lay the palm +of her hand on the top of her head and pray to the Dawn that she +might grow no taller. Her seclusion lasted four months. The Indians +say that long ago it extended over a year, and that fourteen days +elapsed before the girl was permitted to wash for the first time. +The dress which she wore during her time of separation was +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[pg +52]</span> afterwards taken to the top of a hill and burned, and +the rest of her clothes were hung up on trees.<a id= +"footnotetag124" name="footnotetag124"></a><a href= +"#footnote124"><sup>124</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionlillooet" name="seclusionlillooet"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Lillooet Indians of +British Columbia.]</p> +<p>Among the Lillooet Indians of British Columbia, neighbours of +the Thompsons, the customs observed by girls at puberty were +similar. The damsels were secluded for a period of not less than +one year nor more than four years, according to their own +inclination and the wishes of their parents. Among the Upper +Lillooets the hut in which the girl lodged was made of bushy +fir-trees set up like a conical tent, the inner branches being +lopped off, while the outer branches were closely interwoven and +padded to form a roof. Every month or half-month the hut was +shifted to another site or a new one erected. By day the girl sat +in the hut; for the first month she squatted in a hole dug in the +middle of it; and she passed the time making miniature baskets of +birch-bark and other things, praying that she might be able to make +the real things well in after years. At the dusk of the evening she +left the hut and wandered about all night, but she returned before +the sun rose. Before she quitted the hut at nightfall to roam +abroad, she painted her face red and put on a mask of fir-branches, +and in her hand, as she walked, she carried a basket-rattle to +frighten ghosts and guard herself from evil. Among the Lower +Lillooets, the girl's mask was often made of goat-skin, covering +her head, neck, shoulders and breast, and leaving only a narrow +opening from the brow to the chin. During the nocturnal hours she +performed many ceremonies. Thus she put two smooth stones in her +bosom and ran, and as they fell down between her body and her +clothes, she prayed, saying, "May I always have easy child-births!" +Now one of these stones represented her future child and the other +represented the afterbirth. Also she dug trenches, praying that in +the years to come she might be strong and tireless in digging +roots; she picked leaves and needles from the fir-trees, praying +that her fingers might be nimble in picking berries; and she tore +sheets of birch-bark into <span class="pagenum"><a id="page53" +name="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> shreds, dropping the shreds as she +walked and asking that her hands might never tire and that she +might make neat and fine work of birch-bark. Moreover, she ran and +walked much that she might be light of foot. And every evening, +when the shadows were falling, and every morning, when the day was +breaking, she prayed to the Dusk of the Evening or to the Dawn of +Day, saying, "O Dawn of Day!" or "O Dusk," as it might be, "may I +be able to dig roots fast and easily, and may I always find +plenty!" All her prayers were addressed to the Dusk of the Evening +or the Dawn of Day. She supplicated both, asking for long life, +health, wealth, and happiness.<a id="footnotetag125" name= +"footnotetag125"></a><a href="#footnote125"><sup>125</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionshuswap" name="seclusionshuswap"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Shuswap Indians of +British Columbia.]</p> +<p>Among the Shuswap Indians of British Columbia, who are +neighbours of the Thompsons and Lillooets, "a girl on reaching +maturity has to go through a great number of ceremonies. She must +leave the village and live alone in a small hut on the mountains. +She cooks her own food, and must not eat anything that bleeds. She +is forbidden to touch her head, for which purpose she uses a comb +with three points. Neither is she allowed to scratch her body, +except with a painted deer-bone. She wears the bone and the comb +suspended from her belt. She drinks out of a painted cup of +birch-bark, and neither more nor less than the quantity it holds. +Every night she walks about her hut, and plants willow twigs, which +she has painted, and to the ends of which she has attached pieces +of cloth, into the ground. It is believed that thus she will become +rich in later life. In order to become strong she should climb +trees and try to break off their points. She plays with +<i>lehal</i> sticks that her future husbands might have good luck +when gambling."<a id="footnotetag126" name= +"footnotetag126"></a><a href="#footnote126"><sup>126</sup></a> +During the day the girl stays in her hut and occupies herself in +making miniature bags, mats, and baskets, in sewing and embroidery, +in manufacturing thread, twine, and so forth; in short she makes a +beginning of all kinds of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page54" +name="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> woman's work, in order that she +may be a good housewife in after life. By night she roams the +mountains and practises running, climbing, carrying burdens, and +digging trenches, so that she may be expert at digging roots. If +she has wandered far and daylight overtakes her, she hides herself +behind a veil of fir branches; for no one, except her instructor or +nearest relatives, should see her face during her period of +seclusion. She wore a large robe painted red on the breast and +sides, and her hair was done up in a knot at each ear.<a id= +"footnotetag127" name="footnotetag127"></a><a href= +"#footnote127"><sup>127</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiondelaware" name="seclusiondelaware"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Delaware and Cheyenne +Indians.]</p> +<p>Ceremonies of the same general type were probably observed by +girls at puberty among all the Indian tribes of North America. But +the record of them is far less full for the Central and Eastern +tribes, perhaps because the settlers who first came into contact +with the Red Man in these regions were too busy fighting him to +find leisure, even if they had the desire, to study his manners and +customs. However, among the Delaware Indians, a tribe in the +extreme east of the continent, we read that "when a Delaware girl +has her first monthly period, she must withdraw into a hut at some +distance from the village. Her head is wrapped up for twelve days, +so that she can see nobody, and she must submit to frequent vomits +and fasting, and abstain from all labor. After this she is washed +and new clothed, but confined to a solitary life for two months, at +the close of which she is declared marriageable."<a id= +"footnotetag128" name="footnotetag128"></a><a href= +"#footnote128"><sup>128</sup></a> Again, among the Cheyennes, an +Indian tribe of the Missouri valley, a girl at her first +menstruation is painted red all over her body and secluded in a +special little lodge for four days. However, she may remain in her +father's lodge provided that there are no charms ("medicine"), no +sacred bundle, and no shield in it, or that these and all other +objects invested with a sacred character have been removed. For +four days she may not eat boiled meat; the flesh of which she +partakes must be roasted over coals. Young men will not eat from +the dish nor drink from the pot, which has been used by her; +because <span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55"></a>[pg +55]</span> they believe that were they to do so they would be +wounded in the next fight. She may not handle nor even touch any +weapon of war or any sacred object. If the camp moves, she may not +ride a horse, but is mounted on a mare.<a id="footnotetag129" name= +"footnotetag129"></a><a href="#footnote129"><sup>129</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionesquimaux" name="seclusionesquimaux"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Esquimaux.]</p> +<p>Among the Esquimaux also, in the extreme north of the continent, +who belong to an entirely different race from the Indians, the +attainment of puberty in the female sex is, or used to be, the +occasion of similar observances. Thus among the Koniags, an +Esquimau people of Alaska, a girl at puberty was placed in a small +hut in which she had to remain on her hands and knees for six +months; then the hut was enlarged a little so as to allow her to +straighten her back, but in this posture she had to remain for six +months more. All this time she was regarded as an unclean being +with whom no one might hold intercourse. At the end of the year she +was received back by her parents and a great feast held.<a id= +"footnotetag130" name="footnotetag130"></a><a href= +"#footnote130"><sup>130</sup></a> Again, among the Malemut, and +southward from the lower Yukon and adjacent districts, when a girl +reaches the age of puberty she is considered unclean for forty days +and must therefore live by herself in a corner of the house with +her face to the wall, always keeping her hood over her head and her +hair hanging dishevelled over her eyes. But if it is summer, she +commonly lives in a rough shelter outside the house. She may not go +out by day, and only once at night, when every one else is asleep. +At the end of the period she bathes and is clothed in new garments, +whereupon she may be taken in marriage. During her seclusion she is +supposed to be enveloped in a peculiar atmosphere of such a sort +that were a young man to come near enough for it to touch him, it +would render him visible to every animal he might hunt, so that his +luck as a hunter would be gone.<a id="footnotetag131" name= +"footnotetag131"></a><a href="#footnote131"><sup>131</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>[pg +56]</span> +<h4><a id="sect2-5" name="sect2-5">§ 5. <i>Seclusion of Girls +at Puberty among the Indians of South America</i></a></h4> +<a id="seclusionguaranis" name="seclusionguaranis"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Guaranis, Chiriguanos, +and Lengua Indians of South America.]</p> +<p>When symptoms of puberty appeared on a girl for the first time, +the Guaranis of Southern Brazil, on the borders of Paraguay, used +to sew her up in her hammock, leaving only a small opening in it to +allow her to breathe. In this condition, wrapt up and shrouded like +a corpse, she was kept for two or three days or so long as the +symptoms lasted, and during this time she had to observe a most +rigorous fast. After that she was entrusted to a matron, who cut +the girl's hair and enjoined her to abstain most strictly from +eating flesh of any kind until her hair should be grown long enough +to hide her ears. Meanwhile the diviners drew omens of her future +character from the various birds or animals that flew past or +crossed her path. If they saw a parrot, they would say she was a +chatterbox; if an owl, she was lazy and useless for domestic +labours, and so on.<a id="footnotetag132" name= +"footnotetag132"></a><a href="#footnote132"><sup>132</sup></a> In +similar circumstances the Chiriguanos of southeastern Bolivia +hoisted the girl in her hammock to the roof, where she stayed for a +month: the second month the hammock was let half-way down from the +roof; and in the third month old women, armed with sticks, entered +the hut and ran about striking everything they met, saying they +were hunting the snake that had wounded the girl.<a id= +"footnotetag133" name="footnotetag133"></a><a href= +"#footnote133"><sup>133</sup></a> The Lengua Indians of the +Paraguayan Chaco under similar circumstances hang the girl in her +hammock from the roof of the house, but they leave her there only +three days and nights, during which they give her nothing to eat +but a little Paraguay tea or boiled maize. Only her mother or +grandmother has access to her; nobody else approaches or speaks to +her. If she is obliged to leave the hammock for a little, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[pg +57]</span> her friends take great care to prevent her from touching +the <i>Boyrusu</i>, which is an imaginary serpent that would +swallow her up. She must also be very careful not to set foot on +the droppings of fowls or animals, else she would suffer from sores +on the throat and breast. On the third day they let her down from +the hammock, cut her hair, and make her sit in a corner of the room +with her face turned to the wall. She may speak to nobody, and must +abstain from flesh and fish. These rigorous observances she must +practise for nearly a year. Many girls die or are injured for life +in consequence of the hardships they endure at this time. Their +only occupations during their seclusion are spinning and +weaving.<a id="footnotetag134" name="footnotetag134"></a><a href= +"#footnote134"><sup>134</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionyuracares" name="seclusionyuracares"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Yuracares of +Bolivia.]</p> +<p>Among the Yuracares, an Indian tribe of Bolivia, at the eastern +foot of the Andes, when a girl perceives the signs of puberty, she +informs her parents. The mother weeps and the father constructs a +little hut of palm leaves near the house. In this cabin he shuts up +his daughter so that she cannot see the light, and there she +remains fasting rigorously for four days. Meantime the mother, +assisted by the women of the neighbourhood, has brewed a large +quantity of the native intoxicant called <i>chicha</i>, and poured +it into wooden troughs and palm leaves. On the morning of the +fourth day, three hours before the dawn, the girl's father, having +arrayed himself in his savage finery, summons all his neighbours +with loud cries. The damsel is seated on a stone, and every guest +in turn cuts off a lock of her hair, and running away hides it in +the hollow trunk of a tree in the depths of the forest. When they +have all done so and seated themselves again gravely in the circle, +the girl offers <span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name= +"page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> to each of them a calabash full of very +strong <i>chicha</i>. Before the wassailing begins, the various +fathers perform a curious operation on the arms of their sons, who +are seated beside them. The operator takes a very sharp bone of an +ape, rubs it with a pungent spice, and then pinching up the skin of +his son's arm he pierces it with the bone through and through, as a +surgeon might introduce a seton. This operation he repeats till the +young man's arm is riddled with holes at regular intervals from the +shoulder to the wrist. Almost all who take part in the festival are +covered with these wounds, which the Indians call <i>culucute</i>. +Having thus prepared themselves to spend a happy day, they drink, +play on flutes, sing and dance till evening. Rain, thunder, and +lightning, should they befall, have no effect in damping the +general enjoyment or preventing its continuance till after the sun +has set. The motive for perforating the arms of the young men is to +make them skilful hunters; at each perforation the sufferer is +cheered by the promise of another sort of game or fish which the +surgical operation will infallibly procure for him. The same +operation is performed on the arms and legs of the girls, in order +that they may be brave and strong; even the dogs are operated on +with the intention of making them run down the game better. For +five or six months afterwards the damsel must cover her head with +bark and refrain from speaking to men. The Yuracares think that if +they did not submit a young girl to this severe ordeal, her +children would afterwards perish by accidents of various kinds, +such as the sting of a serpent, the bite of a jaguar, the fall of a +tree, the wound of an arrow, or what not.<a id="footnotetag135" +name="footnotetag135"></a><a href= +"#footnote135"><sup>135</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiongranchaco" name="seclusiongranchaco"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of the Gran +Chaco.]</p> +<p>Among the Matacos or Mataguayos, an Indian tribe of the Gran +Chaco, a girl at puberty has to remain in seclusion for some time. +She lies covered up with branches or other things in a corner of +the hut, seeing no one and speaking to no one, and during this time +she may eat neither flesh nor fish. Meantime a man beats a drum in +front of the house.<a id="footnotetag136" name= +"footnotetag136"></a><a href="#footnote136"><sup>136</sup></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name="page59"></a>[pg +59]</span> Similarly among the Tobas, another Indian tribe of the +same region, when a chief's daughter has just attained to +womanhood, she is shut up for two or three days in the house, all +the men of the tribe scour the country to bring in game and fish +for a feast, and a Mataco Indian is engaged to drum, sing, and +dance in front of the house without cessation, day and night, till +the festival is over. As the merrymaking lasts for two or three +weeks, the exhaustion of the musician at the end of it may be +readily conceived. Meat and drink are supplied to him on the spot +where he pays his laborious court to the Muses. The proceedings +wind up with a saturnalia and a drunken debauch.<a id= +"footnotetag137" name="footnotetag137"></a><a href= +"#footnote137"><sup>137</sup></a> Among the Yaguas, an Indian tribe +of the Upper Amazon, a girl at puberty is shut up for three months +in a lonely hut in the forest, where her mother brings her food +daily.<a id="footnotetag138" name="footnotetag138"></a><a href= +"#footnote138"><sup>138</sup></a> When a girl of the Peguenches +tribe perceives in herself the first signs of womanhood, she is +secluded by her mother in a corner of the hut screened off with +blankets, and is warned not to lift up her eyes on any man. Next +day, very early in the morning and again after sunset, she is taken +out by two women and made to run till she is tired; in the interval +she is again secluded in her corner. On the following day she lays +three packets of wool beside the path near the house to signify +that she is now a woman.<a id="footnotetag139" name= +"footnotetag139"></a><a href="#footnote139"><sup>139</sup></a> +Among the Passes, Mauhes, and other tribes of Brazil the young +woman in similar circumstances is hung in her hammock from the roof +and has to fast there for a month or as long as she can hold +out.<a id="footnotetag140" name="footnotetag140"></a><a href= +"#footnote140"><sup>140</sup></a> One of the early settlers in +Brazil, about the middle of the sixteenth century, has described +the severe ordeal which damsels at puberty had to undergo among the +Indians on the south-east coast of that country, near what is now +Rio de Janeiro. When a girl had reached this critical period of +life, her hair was burned or shaved off close to the head. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[pg +60]</span> Then she was placed on a flat stone and cut with the +tooth of an animal from the shoulders all down the back, till she +ran with blood. Next the ashes of a wild gourd were rubbed into the +wounds; the girl was bound hand and foot, and hung in a hammock, +being enveloped in it so closely that no one could see her. Here +she had to stay for three days without eating or drinking. When the +three days were over, she stepped out of the hammock upon the flat +stone, for her feet might not touch the ground. If she had a call +of nature, a female relation took the girl on her back and carried +her out, taking with her a live coal to prevent evil influences +from entering the girl's body. Being replaced in her hammock, she +was now allowed to get some flour, boiled roots, and water, but +might not taste salt or flesh. Thus she continued to the end of the +first monthly period, at the expiry of which she was gashed on the +breast and belly as well as all down the back. During the second +month she still stayed in her hammock, but her rule of abstinence +was less rigid, and she was allowed to spin. The third month she +was blackened with a certain pigment and began to go about as +usual.<a id="footnotetag141" name="footnotetag141"></a><a href= +"#footnote141"><sup>141</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionguiana" name="seclusionguiana"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of Guiana; +custom of beating the girls and of causing them to be stung by +ants.]</p> +<p>Amongst the Macusis of British Guiana, when a girl shews the +first signs of puberty, she is hung in a hammock at the highest +point of the hut. For the first few days she may not leave the +hammock by day, but at night she must come down, light a fire, and +spend the night beside it, else she would break out in sores on her +neck, throat, and other parts of her body. So long as the symptoms +are at their height, she must fast rigorously. When they have +abated, she may come down and take up her abode in a little +compartment that is made for her in the darkest corner of the hut. +In the morning she may cook her food, but it must be at a separate +fire and in a vessel of her own. After about ten days the magician +comes and undoes the spell by muttering charms and breathing on her +and on the more valuable of the things with which she has come in +contact. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[pg +61]</span> The pots and drinking-vessels which she used are broken +and the fragments buried. After her first bath, the girl must +submit to be beaten by her mother with thin rods without uttering a +cry. At the end of the second period she is again beaten, but not +afterwards. She is now "clean," and can mix again with +people.<a id="footnotetag142" name="footnotetag142"></a><a href= +"#footnote142"><sup>142</sup></a> Other Indians of Guiana, after +keeping the girl in her hammock at the top of the hut for a month, +expose her to certain large ants, whose bite is very painful.<a id= +"footnotetag143" name="footnotetag143"></a><a href= +"#footnote143"><sup>143</sup></a> Sometimes, in addition to being +stung with ants, the sufferer has to fast day and night so long as +she remains slung up on high in her hammock, so that when she comes +down she is reduced to a skeleton. The intention of stinging her +with ants is said to be to make her strong to bear the burden of +maternity.<a id="footnotetag144" name="footnotetag144"></a><a href= +"#footnote144"><sup>144</sup></a> Amongst the Uaupes of Brazil a +girl at puberty is secluded in the house for a month, and allowed +only a small quantity of bread and water. Then she is taken out +into the midst of her relations and friends, each of whom gives her +four or five blows with pieces of <i>sipo</i> (an elastic climber), +till she falls senseless or dead. If she recovers, the operation is +repeated four times at intervals of six hours, and it is considered +an offence to the parents not to strike hard. Meantime, pots of +meats and fish have been made ready; the <i>sipos</i> are dipped +into them and then given to the girl to lick, who is now considered +a marriageable woman.<a id="footnotetag145" name= +"footnotetag145"></a><a href="#footnote145"><sup>145</sup></a></p> +<a id="ants" name="ants"></a> +<p>[Custom in South America of causing young men to be stung with +ants as an initiatory rite.]</p> +<p>The custom of stinging the girl at such times with ants or +beating her with rods is intended, we may be sure, not as a +punishment or a test of endurance, but as a purification, the +object being to drive away the malignant influences with which a +girl in this condition is believed to be beset and enveloped. +Examples of purification, by beating, by incisions in the flesh, +and by <span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62"></a>[pg +62]</span> stinging with ants, have already come before us.<a id= +"footnotetag146" name="footnotetag146"></a><a href= +"#footnote146"><sup>146</sup></a> In some Indian tribes of Brazil +and Guiana young men do not rank as warriors and may not marry till +they have passed through a terrible ordeal, which consists in being +stung by swarms of venomous ants whose bite is like fire. Thus +among the Mauhes on the Tapajos river, a southern tributary of the +Amazon, boys of eight to ten years are obliged to thrust their arms +into sleeves stuffed with great ferocious ants, which the Indians +call <i>tocandeira</i> (<i>Cryptocerus atratus</i>, F.). When the +young victim shrieks with pain, an excited mob of men dances round +him, shouting and encouraging him till he falls exhausted to the +ground. He is then committed to the care of old women, who treat +his fearfully swollen arms with fresh juice of the manioc; and on +his recovery he has to shew his strength and skill in bending a +bow. This cruel ordeal is commonly repeated again and again, till +the lad has reached his fourteenth year and can bear the agony +without betraying any sign of emotion. Then he is a man and can +marry. A lad's age is reckoned by the number of times he has passed +through the ordeal.<a id="footnotetag147" name= +"footnotetag147"></a><a href="#footnote147"><sup>147</sup></a> An +eye-witness has described how a young Mauhe hero bore the torture +with an endurance more than Spartan, dancing and singing, with his +arms cased in the terrible mittens, before every cabin of the great +common house, till pallid, staggering, and with chattering teeth he +triumphantly laid the gloves before the old chief and received the +congratulations of the men and the caresses of the women; then +breaking away from his friends and admirers he threw himself into +the river and remained in its cool soothing water till +nightfall.<a id="footnotetag148" name="footnotetag148"></a><a href= +"#footnote148"><sup>148</sup></a> Similarly among the Ticunas of +the Upper Amazon, on the border of Peru, the young man who would +take his place among the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name= +"page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> warriors must plunge his arm into a +sort of basket full of venomous ants and keep it there for several +minutes without uttering a cry. He generally falls backwards and +sometimes succumbs to the fever which ensues; hence as soon as the +ordeal is over the women are prodigal of their attentions to him, +and rub the swollen arm with a particular kind of herb.<a id= +"footnotetag149" name="footnotetag149"></a><a href= +"#footnote149"><sup>149</sup></a> Ordeals of this sort appear to be +in vogue among the Indians of the Rio Negro as well as of the +Amazon.<a id="footnotetag150" name="footnotetag150"></a><a href= +"#footnote150"><sup>150</sup></a> Among the Rucuyennes, a tribe of +Indians in the north of Brazil, on the borders of Guiana, young men +who are candidates for marriage must submit to be stung all over +their persons not only with ants but with wasps, which are applied +to their naked bodies in curious instruments of trellis-work shaped +like fantastic quadrupeds or birds. The patient invariably falls +down in a swoon and is carried like dead to his hammock, where he +is tightly lashed with cords. As they come to themselves, they +writhe in agony, so that their hammocks rock violently to and fro, +causing the hut to shake as if it were about to collapse. This +dreadful ordeal is called by the Indians a +<i>maraké</i>.<a id="footnotetag151" name= +"footnotetag151"></a><a href="#footnote151"><sup>151</sup></a></p> +<a id="antscharacter" name="antscharacter"></a> +<p>[Custom of causing men and women to be stung with ants to +improve their character and health or to render them +invulnerable.]</p> +<p>The same ordeal, under the same name, is also practised by the +Wayanas, an Indian tribe of French Guiana, but with them, we are +told, it is no longer deemed an indispensable preliminary to +marriage; "it is rather a sort of national medicine administered +chiefly to the youth of both sexes." Applied to men, the +<i>maraké</i>, as it is called, "sharpens them, prevents +them from being heavy and lazy, makes them active, brisk, +industrious, imparts strength, and helps them to shoot well with +the bow; without it the Indians would always be slack and rather +sickly, would always have a little fever, and would lie perpetually +in their hammocks. As for the women, the <i>maraké</i> keeps +them from going to sleep, renders them active, alert, brisk, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>[pg +64]</span> gives them strength and a liking for work, makes them +good housekeepers, good workers at the stockade, good makers of +<i>cachiri</i>. Every one undergoes the <i>maraké</i> at +least twice in his life, sometimes thrice, and oftener if he likes. +It may be had from the age of about eight years and upward, and no +one thinks it odd that a man of forty should voluntarily submit to +it."<a id="footnotetag152" name="footnotetag152"></a><a href= +"#footnote152"><sup>152</sup></a> Similarly the Indians of St. Juan +Capistrano in California used to be branded on some part of their +bodies, generally on the right arm, but sometimes on the leg also, +not as a proof of manly fortitude, but because they believed that +the custom "added greater strength to the nerves, and gave a better +pulse for the management of the bow." Afterwards "they were whipped +with nettles, and covered with ants, that they might become robust, +and the infliction was always performed in summer, during the +months of July and August, when the nettle was in its most fiery +state. They gathered small bunches, which they fastened together, +and the poor deluded Indian was chastised, by inflicting blows with +them upon his naked limbs, until unable to walk; and then he was +carried to the nest of the nearest and most furious species of +ants, and laid down among them, while some of his friends, with +sticks, kept annoying the insects to make them still more violent. +What torments did they not undergo! What pain! What hellish +inflictions! Yet their faith gave them power to endure all without +a murmur, and they remained as if dead. Having undergone these +dreadful ordeals, they were considered as invulnerable, and +believed that the arrows of their enemies could no longer harm +them."<a id="footnotetag153" name="footnotetag153"></a><a href= +"#footnote153"><sup>153</sup></a> Among the Alur, a tribe +inhabiting the south-western region of the upper Nile, to bury a +man in an ant-hill and leave him there for a while is the regular +treatment for insanity.<a id="footnotetag154" name= +"footnotetag154"></a><a href="#footnote154"><sup>154</sup></a></p> +<a id="beatingpurification" name="beatingpurification"></a> +<p>[In such cases the beating or stinging was originally a +purification; at a later time it is interpreted as a test of +courage and endurance.]</p> +<p>In like manner it is probable that beating or scourging as a +religious or ceremonial rite was originally a <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page65" name="page65"></a>[pg 65]</span> mode of +purification. It was meant to wipe off and drive away a dangerous +contagion, whether personified as demoniacal or not, which was +supposed to be adhering physically, though invisibly, to the body +of the sufferer.<a id="footnotetag155" name= +"footnotetag155"></a><a href="#footnote155"><sup>155</sup></a> The +pain inflicted on the person beaten was no more the object of the +beating than it is of a surgical operation with us; it was a +necessary accident, that was all. In later times such customs were +interpreted otherwise, and the pain, from being an accident, became +the prime object of the ceremony, which was now regarded either as +a test of endurance imposed upon persons at critical epochs of +life, or as a mortification of the flesh well pleasing to the god. +But asceticism, under any shape or form, is never primitive. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page66" name="page66"></a>[pg +66]</span> The savage, it is true, in certain circumstances will +voluntarily subject himself to pains and privations which appear to +us wholly needless; but he never acts thus unless he believes that +some solid temporal advantage is to be gained by so doing. Pain for +the sake of pain, whether as a moral discipline in this life or as +a means of winning a glorious immortality hereafter, is not an +object which he sets himself deliberately to pursue.</p> +<a id="beatingconfirmed" name="beatingconfirmed"></a> +<p>[This explanation confirmed with reference to the beating of +girls at puberty among the South American Indians; treatment of a +girl at puberty among the Banivas of the Orinoco; symptoms of +puberty in a girl regarded as wounds inflicted by a demon.]</p> +<p>If this view is correct, we can understand why so many Indian +tribes of South America compel the youth of both sexes to submit to +these painful and sometimes fatal ordeals. They imagine that in +this way they rid the young folk of certain evils inherent in +youth, especially at the critical age of puberty; and when they +picture to themselves the evils in a personal form as dangerous +spirits or demons, the ceremony of their expulsion may in the +strict sense be termed an exorcism. This certainly appears to be +the interpretation which the Banivas of the Orinoco put upon the +cruel scourgings which they inflict on girls at puberty. At her +first menstruation a Baniva girl must pass several days and nights +in her hammock, almost motionless and getting nothing to eat and +drink but water and a little manioc. While she lies there, the +suitors for her hand apply to her father, and he who can afford to +give most for her or can prove himself the best man, is promised +the damsel in marriage. The fast over, some old men enter the hut, +bandage the girl's eyes, cover her head with a bonnet of which the +fringes fall on her shoulders, and then lead her forth and tie her +to a post set up in an open place. The head of the post is carved +in the shape of a grotesque face. None but the old men may witness +what follows. Were a woman caught peeping and prying, it would go +ill with her; she would be marked out for the vengeance of the +demon, who would make her expiate her crime at the very next moon +by madness or death. Every participant in the ceremony comes armed +with a scourge of cords or of fish skins; some of them reinforce +the virtue of the instrument by tying little sharp stones to the +end of the thongs. Then, to the dismal and deafening notes of +shell-trumpets blown by two or three supernumeraries, the men +circle round and round the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" +name="page67"></a>[pg 67]</span> post, every one applying his +scourge as he passes to the girl's back, till it streams with +blood. At last the musicians, winding tremendous blasts on their +trumpets against the demon, advance and touch the post in which he +is supposed to be incorporate. Then the blows cease to descend; the +girl is untied, often in a fainting state, and carried away to have +her wounds washed and simples applied to them. The youngest of the +executioners, or rather of the exorcists, hastens to inform her +betrothed husband of the happy issue of the exorcism. "The spirit," +he says, "had cast thy beloved into a sleep as deep almost as that +of death. But we have rescued her from his attacks, and laid her +down in such and such a place. Go seek her." Then going from house +to house through the village he cries to the inmates, "Come, let us +burn the demon who would have taken possession of such and such a +girl, our friend." The bridegroom at once carries his wounded and +suffering bride to his own house; and all the people gather round +the post for the pleasure of burning it and the demon together. A +great pile of firewood has meanwhile been heaped up about it, and +the women run round the pyre cursing in shrill voices the wicked +spirit who has wrought all this evil. The men join in with hoarser +cries and animate themselves for the business in hand by deep +draughts of an intoxicant which has been provided for the occasion +by the parents-in-law. Soon the bridegroom, having committed the +bride to the care of his mother, appears on the scene brandishing a +lighted torch. He addresses the demon with bitter mockery and +reproaches; informs him that the fair creature on whom he, the +demon, had nefarious designs, is now his, the bridegroom's, +blooming spouse; and shaking his torch at the grinning head on the +post, he screams out, "This is how the victims of thy persecution +take vengeance on thee!" With these words he puts a light to the +pyre. At once the drums strike up, the trumpets blare, and men, +women, and children begin to dance. In two long rows they dance, +the men on one side, the women on the other, advancing till they +almost touch and then retiring again. After that the two rows join +hands, and forming a huge circle trip it round and round the blaze, +till the post with its grotesque face is consumed in the flames +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page68" name="page68"></a>[pg +68]</span> and nothing of the pyre remains but a heap of red and +glowing embers. "The evil spirit has been destroyed. Thus delivered +from her persecutor, the young wife will be free from sickness, +will not die in childbed, and will bear many children to her +husband."<a id="footnotetag156" name="footnotetag156"></a><a href= +"#footnote156"><sup>156</sup></a> From this account it appears that +the Banivas attribute the symptoms of puberty in girls to the +wounds inflicted on them by an amorous devil, who, however, can be +not only exorcised but burnt to ashes at the stake.</p> +<h4><a id="sect2-6" name="sect2-6">§ 6. <i>Seclusion of Girls +at Puberty in India and Cambodia</i></a></h4> +<a id="seclusionhindoos" name="seclusionhindoos"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Hindoos; seclusion of +girls at puberty in Southern India.]</p> +<p>When a Hindoo maiden reaches maturity she is kept in a dark room +for four days, and is forbidden to see the sun. She is regarded as +unclean; no one may touch her. Her diet is restricted to boiled +rice, milk, sugar, curd, and tamarind without salt. On the morning +of the fifth day she goes to a neighbouring tank, accompanied by +five women whose husbands are alive. Smeared with turmeric water, +they all bathe and return home, throwing away the mat and other +things that were in the room.<a id="footnotetag157" name= +"footnotetag157"></a><a href="#footnote157"><sup>157</sup></a> The +Rarhi Brahmans of Bengal compel a girl at puberty to live alone, +and do not allow her to see the face of any male. For three days +she remains shut up in a dark room, and has to undergo certain +penances. Fish, flesh, and sweetmeats are forbidden her; she must +live upon rice and ghee.<a id="footnotetag158" name= +"footnotetag158"></a><a href="#footnote158"><sup>158</sup></a> +Among the Tiyans of Malabar a girl is thought to be polluted for +four days from the beginning of her first menstruation. During this +time she must keep to the north side of the house, where she sleeps +on a grass mat of a particular kind, in a room festooned with +garlands of young coco-nut leaves. Another girl keeps her company +and sleeps with her, but she may <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page69" name="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span> not touch any other +person, tree or plant. Further, she may not see the sky, and woe +betide her if she catches sight of a crow or a cat! Her diet must +be strictly vegetarian, without salt, tamarinds, or chillies. She +is armed against evil spirits by a knife, which is placed on the +mat or carried on her person.<a id="footnotetag159" name= +"footnotetag159"></a><a href="#footnote159"><sup>159</sup></a> +Among the Kappiliyans of Madura and Tinnevelly a girl at her first +monthly period remains under pollution for thirteen days, either in +a corner of the house, which is screened off for her use by her +maternal uncle, or in a temporary hut, which is erected by the same +relative on the common land of the village. On the thirteenth day +she bathes in a tank, and, on entering the house, steps over a +pestle and a cake. Near the entrance some food is placed and a dog +is allowed to partake of it; but his enjoyment is marred by +suffering, for while he eats he receives a sound thrashing, and the +louder he howls the better, for the larger will be the family to +which the young woman will give birth; should there be no howls, +there will be no children. The temporary hut in which the girl +passed the days of her seclusion is burnt down, and the pots which +she used are smashed to shivers.<a id="footnotetag160" name= +"footnotetag160"></a><a href="#footnote160"><sup>160</sup></a> +Similarly among the Parivarams of Madura, when a girl attains to +puberty she is kept for sixteen days in a hut, which is guarded at +night by her relations; and when her sequestration is over the hut +is burnt down and the pots she used are broken into very small +pieces, because they think that if rain-water gathered in any of +them, the girl would be childless.<a id="footnotetag161" name= +"footnotetag161"></a><a href="#footnote161"><sup>161</sup></a> The +Pulayars of Travancore build a special hut in the jungle for the +use of a girl at puberty; there she remains for seven days. No one +else may enter the hut, not even her mother. Women stand a little +way off and lay down food for her. At the end of the time she is +brought home, clad in a new or clean cloth, and friends are treated +to betel-nut, toddy, and arack.<a id="footnotetag162" name= +"footnotetag162"></a><a href="#footnote162"><sup>162</sup></a> +Among the Singhalese a girl at her first menstruation is confined +to a room, where she may neither see nor be seen by any male. After +being thus secluded for two weeks she is taken out, with her face +covered, and is bathed by women at the back <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page70" name="page70"></a>[pg 70]</span> of the +house. Near the bathing-place are kept branches of any milk-bearing +tree, usually of the <i>jak</i>-tree. In some cases, while the time +of purification or uncleanness lasts, the maiden stays in a +separate hut, which is afterwards burnt down.<a id="footnotetag163" +name="footnotetag163"></a><a href= +"#footnote163"><sup>163</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusioncambodia" name="seclusioncambodia"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Cambodia.]</p> +<p>In Cambodia a girl at puberty is put to bed under a mosquito +curtain, where she should stay a hundred days. Usually, however, +four, five, ten, or twenty days are thought enough; and even this, +in a hot climate and under the close meshes of the curtain, is +sufficiently trying.<a id="footnotetag164" name= +"footnotetag164"></a><a href="#footnote164"><sup>164</sup></a> +According to another account, a Cambodian maiden at puberty is said +to "enter into the shade." During her retirement, which, according +to the rank and position of her family, may last any time from a +few days to several years, she has to observe a number of rules, +such as not to be seen by a strange man, not to eat flesh or fish, +and so on. She goes nowhere, not even to the pagoda. But this state +of seclusion is discontinued during eclipses; at such times she +goes forth and pays her devotions to the monster who is supposed to +cause eclipses by catching the heavenly bodies between his +teeth.<a id="footnotetag165" name="footnotetag165"></a><a href= +"#footnote165"><sup>165</sup></a> This permission to break her rule +of retirement and appear abroad during an eclipse seems to shew how +literally the injunction is interpreted which forbids maidens +entering on womanhood to look upon the sun.</p> +<h4><a id="sect2-7" name="sect2-7">§ 7. <i>Seclusion of Girls +at Puberty in Folk-tales</i></a></h4> +<a id="seclusiondanish" name="seclusiondanish"></a> +<p>[Traces of the seclusion of girls at puberty in folk-tales. +Danish story of the girl who might not see the sun.]</p> +<p>A superstition so widely diffused as this might be expected to +leave traces in legends and folk-tales. And it has done so. In a +Danish story we read of a princess who was fated to be carried off +by a warlock if ever the sun shone on her before she had passed her +thirtieth year; so the king her father kept her shut up in the +palace, and had all the windows on the east, south, and west sides +blocked up, lest a sunbeam should fall on his darling child, and he +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71"></a>[pg +71]</span> should thus lose her for ever. Only at evening, when the +sun was down, might she walk for a little in the beautiful garden +of the castle. In time a prince came a-wooing, followed by a train +of gorgeous knights and squires on horses all ablaze with gold and +silver. The king said the prince might have his daughter to wife on +condition that he would not carry her away to his home till she was +thirty years old but would live with her in the castle, where the +windows looked out only to the north. The prince agreed, so married +they were. The bride was only fifteen, and fifteen more long weary +years must pass before she might step out of the gloomy donjon, +breathe the fresh air, and see the sun. But she and her gallant +young bridegroom loved each other and they were happy. Often they +sat hand in hand at the window looking out to the north and talked +of what they would do when they were free. Still it was a little +dull to look out always at the same window and to see nothing but +the castle woods, and the distant hills, and the clouds drifting +silently over them. Well, one day it happened that all the people +in the castle had gone away to a neighbouring castle to witness a +tournament and other gaieties, and the two young folks were left as +usual all alone at the window looking out to the north. They sat +silent for a time gazing away to the hills. It was a grey sad day, +the sky was overcast, and the weather seemed to draw to rain. At +last the prince said, "There will be no sunshine to-day. What if we +were to drive over and join the rest at the tournament?" His young +wife gladly consented, for she longed to see more of the world than +those eternal green woods and those eternal blue hills, which were +all she ever saw from the window. So the horses were put into the +coach, and it rattled up to the door, and in they got and away they +drove. At first all went well. The clouds hung low over the woods, +the wind sighed in the trees, a drearier day you could hardly +imagine. So they joined the rest at the other castle and took their +seats to watch the jousting in the lists. So intent were they in +watching the gay spectacle of the prancing steeds, the fluttering +pennons, and the glittering armour of the knights, that they failed +to mark the change, the fatal change, in the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page72" name="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span> weather. +For the wind was rising and had begun to disperse the clouds, and +suddenly the sun broke through, and the glory of it fell like an +aureole on the young wife, and at once she vanished away. No sooner +did her husband miss her from his side than he, too, mysteriously +disappeared. The tournament broke up in confusion, the bereft +father hastened home, and shut himself up in the dark castle from +which the light of life had departed. The green woods and the blue +hills could still be seen from the window that looked to the north, +but the young faces that had gazed out of it so wistfully were +gone, as it seemed, for ever.<a id="footnotetag166" name= +"footnotetag166"></a><a href="#footnote166"><sup>166</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusiontyrolese" name="seclusiontyrolese"></a> +<p>[Tyrolese story of the girl who might not see the sun.]</p> +<p>A Tyrolese story tells how it was the doom of a lovely maiden +with golden hair to be transported into the belly of a whale if +ever a sunbeam fell on her. Hearing of the fame of her beauty the +king of the country sent for her to be his bride, and her brother +drove the fair damsel to the palace in a carefully closed coach, +himself sitting on the box and handling the reins. On the way they +overtook two hideous witches, who pretended they were weary and +begged for a lift in the coach. At first the brother refused to +take them in, but his tender-hearted sister entreated him to have +compassion on the two poor footsore women; for you may easily +imagine that she was not acquainted with their true character. So +down he got rather surlily from the box, opened the coach door, and +in the two witches stepped, laughing in their sleeves. But no +sooner had the brother mounted the box and whipped up the horses, +than one of the two wicked witches bored a hole in the closed +coach. A sunbeam at once shot through the hole and fell on the fair +damsel. So she vanished from the coach and was spirited away into +the belly of a whale in the neighbouring sea. You can imagine the +consternation of the king, when the coach door opened and instead +of his blooming bride out bounced two hideous hags!<a id= +"footnotetag167" name="footnotetag167"></a><a href= +"#footnote167"><sup>167</sup></a></p> +<a id="seclusionmoderngreek" name="seclusionmoderngreek"></a> +<p>[Modern Greek stories of the maid who might not see the +sun.]</p> +<p>In a modern Greek folk-tale the Fates predict that in her +fifteenth year a princess must be careful not to let the sun +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page73" name="page73"></a>[pg +73]</span> shine on her, for if this were to happen she would be +turned into a lizard.<a id="footnotetag168" name= +"footnotetag168"></a><a href="#footnote168"><sup>168</sup></a> In +another modern Greek tale the Sun bestows a daughter upon a +childless woman on condition of taking the child back to himself +when she is twelve years old. So, when the child was twelve, the +mother closed the doors and windows, and stopped up all the chinks +and crannies, to prevent the Sun from coming to fetch away her +daughter. But she forgot to stop up the key-hole, and a sunbeam +streamed through it and carried off the girl.<a id="footnotetag169" +name="footnotetag169"></a><a href="#footnote169"><sup>169</sup></a> +In a Sicilian story a seer foretells that a king will have a +daughter who, in her fourteenth year, will conceive a child by the +Sun. So, when the child was born, the king shut her up in a lonely +tower which had no window, lest a sunbeam should fall on her. When +she was nearly fourteen years old, it happened that her parents +sent her a piece of roasted kid, in which she found a sharp bone. +With this bone she scraped a hole in the wall, and a sunbeam shot +through the hole and got her with child.<a id="footnotetag170" +name="footnotetag170"></a><a href= +"#footnote170"><sup>170</sup></a></p> +<a id="danae" name="danae"></a> +<p>[The story of Danae and its parallel in a Kirghiz legend.]</p> +<p>The old Greek story of Danae, who was confined by <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page74" name="page74"></a>[pg 74]</span> her +father in a subterranean chamber or a brazen tower, but impregnated +by Zeus, who reached her in the shape of a shower of gold,<a id= +"footnotetag171" name="footnotetag171"></a><a href= +"#footnote171"><sup>171</sup></a> perhaps belongs to the same class +of tales. It has its counterpart in the legend which the Kirghiz of +Siberia tell of their ancestry. A certain Khan had a fair daughter, +whom he kept in a dark iron house, that no man might see her. An +old woman tended her; and when the girl was grown to maidenhood she +asked the old woman, "Where do you go so often?" "My child," said +the old dame, "there is a bright world. In that bright world your +father and mother live, and all sorts of people live there. That is +where I go." The maiden said, "Good mother, I will tell nobody, but +shew me that bright world." So the old woman took the girl out of +the iron house. But when she saw the bright world, the girl +tottered and fainted; and the eye of God fell upon her, and she +conceived. Her angry father put her in a golden chest and sent her +floating away (fairy gold can float in fairyland) over the wide +sea.<a id="footnotetag172" name="footnotetag172"></a><a href= +"#footnote172"><sup>172</sup></a> The shower of gold in the Greek +story, and the eye of God in the Kirghiz legend, probably stand for +sunlight and the sun.</p> +<a id="sunimpregnation" name="sunimpregnation"></a> +<p>[Impregnation of women by the sun in legends.]</p> +<p>The idea that women may be impregnated by the sun is not +uncommon in legends. Thus, for example, among the Indians of +Guacheta in Colombia, it is said, a report once ran that the sun +would impregnate one of their maidens, who should bear a child and +yet remain a virgin. The chief had two daughters, and was very +desirous that one of them should conceive in this miraculous +manner. So every day he made them climb a hill to the east of his +house in order to be touched by the first beams of the rising sun. +His wishes were fulfilled, for one of the damsels conceived and +after nine months gave birth to an emerald. So she wrapped it in +cotton and placed it in her bosom, and in a few days it turned into +a child, who received the name of Garanchacha and was universally +recognized as a son of the sun.<a id="footnotetag173" name= +"footnotetag173"></a><a href="#footnote173"><sup>173</sup></a> +Again, the Samoans tell of a woman named Mangamangai, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page75" name="page75"></a>[pg 75]</span> who +became pregnant by looking at the rising sun. Her son grew up and +was named "Child of the Sun." At his marriage he applied to his +mother for a dowry, but she bade him apply to his father, the sun, +and told him how to go to him. So one morning he took a long vine +and made a noose in it; then climbing up a tree he threw the noose +over the sun and caught him fast. Thus arrested in his progress, +the luminary asked him what he wanted, and being told by the young +man that he wanted a present for his bride, the sun obligingly +packed up a store of blessings in a basket, with which the youth +descended to the earth.<a id="footnotetag174" name= +"footnotetag174"></a><a href="#footnote174"><sup>174</sup></a></p> +<a id="marriagecustoms" name="marriagecustoms"></a> +<p>[Traces in marriage customs of the belief that women can be +impregnated by the sun.]</p> +<p>Even in the marriage customs of various races we may perhaps +detect traces of this belief that women can be impregnated by the +sun. Thus amongst the Chaco Indians of South America a newly +married couple used to sleep the first night on a mare's or +bullock's skin with their heads towards the west, "for the marriage +is not considered ratified till the rising sun shines on their feet +the succeeding morning."<a id="footnotetag175" name= +"footnotetag175"></a><a href="#footnote175"><sup>175</sup></a> At +old Hindoo marriages the first ceremony was the "Impregnation-rite" +(<i>Garbh[=a]dh[=a]na</i>); during the previous day the bride was +made to look towards the sun or to be in some way exposed to its +rays.<a id="footnotetag176" name="footnotetag176"></a><a href= +"#footnote176"><sup>176</sup></a> Amongst the Turks of Siberia it +was formerly the custom on the morning after the marriage to lead +the young couple out of the hut to greet the rising sun. The same +custom is said to be still practised in Iran and Central Asia under +a belief that the beams of the rising sun are the surest means of +impregnating the new bride.<a id="footnotetag177" name= +"footnotetag177"></a><a href="#footnote177"><sup>177</sup></a></p> +<a id="moonimpregnation" name="moonimpregnation"></a> +<p>[Belief in the impregnation of women by the moon.]</p> +<p>And as some people think that women may be gotten with child by +the sun, so others imagine that they can conceive by the moon. +According to the Greenlanders <span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" +name="page76"></a>[pg 76]</span> the moon is a young man, and he +"now and then comes down to give their wives a visit and caress +them; for which reason no woman dare sleep lying upon her back, +without she first spits upon her fingers and rubs her belly with +it. For the same reason the young maids are afraid to stare long at +the moon, imagining they may get a child by the bargain."<a id= +"footnotetag178" name="footnotetag178"></a><a href= +"#footnote178"><sup>178</sup></a> Similarly Breton peasants are +reported to believe that women or girls who expose their persons to +the moonlight may be impregnated by it and give birth to +monsters.<a id="footnotetag179" name="footnotetag179"></a><a href= +"#footnote179"><sup>179</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect2-8" name="sect2-8">§ 8. <i>Reasons for the +Seclusion of Girls at Puberty</i></a></h4> +<a id="reasondread" name="reasondread"></a> +<p>[The reason for the seclusion of women at puberty is the dread +of menstruous blood.]</p> +<p>The motive for the restraints so commonly imposed on girls at +puberty is the deeply engrained dread which primitive man +universally entertains of menstruous blood. He fears it at all +times but especially on its first appearance; hence the +restrictions under which women lie at their first menstruation are +usually more stringent than those which they have to observe at any +subsequent recurrence of the mysterious flow. Some evidence of the +fear and of the customs based on it has been cited in an earlier +part of this work;<a id="footnotetag180" name= +"footnotetag180"></a><a href="#footnote180"><sup>180</sup></a> but +as the terror, for it is nothing less, which the phenomenon +periodically strikes into the mind of the savage has deeply +influenced his life and institutions, it may be well to illustrate +the subject with some further examples.</p> +<a id="dreadaustralia" name="dreadaustralia"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the aborigines of +Australia.]</p> +<p>Thus in the Encounter Bay tribe of South Australia there is, or +used to be, a "superstition which obliges a woman to separate +herself from the camp at the time of her monthly illness, when, if +a young man or boy should approach, she calls out, and he +immediately makes a circuit to avoid her. If she is neglectful upon +this point, she exposes herself to scolding, and sometimes to +severe beating by her husband or nearest relation, because the boys +are told from their infancy, that if they see the blood they will +early become grey-headed, and their strength will fail +prematurely."<a id="footnotetag181" name= +"footnotetag181"></a><a href="#footnote181"><sup>181</sup></a> And +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page77" name="page77"></a>[pg +77]</span> of the South Australian aborigines in general we read +that there is a "custom requiring all boys and uninitiated young +men to sleep at some distance from the huts of the adults, and to +remove altogether away in the morning as soon as daylight dawns, +and the natives begin to move about. This is to prevent their +seeing the women, some of whom may be menstruating; and if looked +upon by the young males, it is supposed that dire results will +follow."<a id="footnotetag182" name="footnotetag182"></a><a href= +"#footnote182"><sup>182</sup></a> And amongst these tribes women in +their courses "are not allowed to eat fish of any kind, or to go +near the water at all; it being one of their superstitions, that if +a female, in that state, goes near the water, no success can be +expected by the men in fishing."<a id="footnotetag183" name= +"footnotetag183"></a><a href="#footnote183"><sup>183</sup></a> +Similarly, among the natives of the Murray River, menstruous women +"were not allowed to go near water for fear of frightening the +fish. They were also not allowed to eat them, for the same reason. +A woman during such periods would never cross the river in a canoe, +or even fetch water for the camp. It was sufficient for her to say +<i>Thama</i>, to ensure her husband getting the water +himself."<a id="footnotetag184" name="footnotetag184"></a><a href= +"#footnote184"><sup>184</sup></a> The Dieri of Central Australia +believe that if women at these times were to eat fish or bathe in a +river, the fish would all die and the water would dry up. In this +tribe a mark made with red ochre round a woman's mouth indicates +that she has her courses; no one would offer fish to such a +woman.<a id="footnotetag185" name="footnotetag185"></a><a href= +"#footnote185"><sup>185</sup></a> The Arunta of Central Australia +forbid menstruous women to gather the <i>irriakura</i> bulbs, which +form a staple article of diet for both men and women. They believe +that were a woman to break this rule, the supply of bulbs would +fail.<a id="footnotetag186" name="footnotetag186"></a><a href= +"#footnote186"><sup>186</sup></a> Among the aborigines of Victoria +the wife at her monthly periods had to sleep on the opposite side +of the fire from her husband; she might partake of nobody's food, +and nobody would partake of hers, for people thought that if they +ate or drank anything that had been touched by a woman in her +courses, it would make them weak or ill. Unmarried girls +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page78" name="page78"></a>[pg +78]</span> and widows at such times had to paint their heads and +the upper parts of their bodies red,<a id="footnotetag187" name= +"footnotetag187"></a><a href="#footnote187"><sup>187</sup></a> no +doubt as a danger signal.</p> +<p>[Severe penalties inflicted for breaches of the custom of +seclusion.]</p> +<p>In some Australian tribes the seclusion of menstruous women was +even more rigid, and was enforced by severer penalties than a +scolding or a beating. Thus with regard to certain tribes of New +South Wales and Southern Queensland we are told that "during the +monthly illness, the woman is not allowed to touch anything that +men use, or even to walk on a path that any man frequents, on pain +of death."<a id="footnotetag188" name="footnotetag188"></a><a href= +"#footnote188"><sup>188</sup></a> Again, "there is a regulation +relating to camps in the Wakelbura tribe which forbids the women +coming into the encampment by the same path as the men. Any +violation of this rule would in a large camp be punished with +death. The reason for this is the dread with which they regard the +menstrual period of women. During such a time, a woman is kept +entirely away from the camp, half a mile at least. A woman in such +a condition has boughs of some tree of her totem tied round her +loins, and is constantly watched and guarded, for it is thought +that should any male be so unfortunate as to see a woman in such a +condition, he would die. If such a woman were to let herself be +seen by a man, she would probably be put to death. When the woman +has recovered, she is painted red and white, her head covered with +feathers, and returns to the camp."<a id="footnotetag189" name= +"footnotetag189"></a><a href="#footnote189"><sup>189</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadtorres" name="dreadtorres"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women in the Torres Straits +Islands, New Guinea, Galela, and Sumatra.]</p> +<p>In Muralug, one of the Torres Straits Islands, a menstruous +woman may not eat anything that lives in the sea, else the natives +believe that the fisheries would fail. Again, in Mabuiag, another +of these islands, women who have their courses on them may not eat +turtle flesh nor turtle eggs, probably for a similar reason. And +during the season when the turtles are pairing the restrictions +laid on <span class="pagenum"><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>[pg +79]</span> such a woman are much severer. She may not even enter a +house in which there is turtle flesh, nor approach a fire on which +the flesh is cooking; she may not go near the sea and she should +not walk on the beach below high-water mark. Nay, the infection +extends to her husband, who may not himself harpoon or otherwise +take an active part in catching turtle; however, he is permitted to +form one of the crew on a turtling expedition, provided he takes +the precaution of rubbing his armpits with certain leaves, to which +no doubt a disinfectant virtue is ascribed.<a id="footnotetag190" +name="footnotetag190"></a><a href="#footnote190"><sup>190</sup></a> +Among the Kai of German New Guinea women at their monthly sickness +must live in little huts built for them in the forest; they may not +enter the cultivated fields, for if they did go to them, and the +pigs were to taste of the blood, it would inspire the animals with +an irresistible desire to go likewise into the fields, where they +would commit great depredations on the growing crops. Hence the +issue from women at these times is carefully buried to prevent the +pigs from getting at it. And conversely, if the pigs often break +into the fields, the blame is laid on the women who by the neglect +of these elementary precautions have put temptation in the way of +the swine.<a id="footnotetag191" name="footnotetag191"></a><a href= +"#footnote191"><sup>191</sup></a> In Galela, to the west of New +Guinea, women at their monthly periods may not enter a +tobacco-field, or the plants would be attacked by disease.<a id= +"footnotetag192" name="footnotetag192"></a><a href= +"#footnote192"><sup>192</sup></a> The Minangkabauers of Sumatra are +persuaded that if a woman in her unclean state were to go near a +rice-field, the crop would be spoiled.<a id="footnotetag193" name= +"footnotetag193"></a><a href="#footnote193"><sup>193</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadsouthafrica" name="dreadsouthafrica"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of +South Africa.]</p> +<p>The Bushmen of South Africa think that, by a glance of a girl's +eye at the time when she ought to be kept in strict retirement, men +become fixed in whatever position they happen to occupy, with +whatever they were holding in their hands, and are changed into +trees that talk.<a id="footnotetag194" name= +"footnotetag194"></a><a href="#footnote194"><sup>194</sup></a> +Cattle-rearing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name= +"page80"></a>[pg 80]</span> tribes of South Africa hold that their +cattle would die if the milk were drunk by a menstruous +woman;<a id="footnotetag195" name="footnotetag195"></a><a href= +"#footnote195"><sup>195</sup></a> and they fear the same disaster +if a drop of her blood were to fall on the ground and the oxen were +to pass over it. To prevent such a calamity women in general, not +menstruous women only, are forbidden to enter the cattle enclosure; +and more than that, they may not use the ordinary paths in entering +the village or in passing from one hut to another. They are obliged +to make circuitous tracks at the back of the huts in order to avoid +the ground in the middle of the village where the cattle stand or +lie down. These women's tracks may be seen at every Caffre +village.<a id="footnotetag196" name="footnotetag196"></a><a href= +"#footnote196"><sup>196</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadcentralafrica" name="dreadcentralafrica"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of +Central and East Africa.]</p> +<p>Similarly among the Bahima, a cattle-breeding tribe of Ankole, +in Central Africa, no menstruous woman may drink milk, lest by so +doing she should injure the cows; and she may not lie on her +husband's bed, no doubt lest she should injure him. Indeed she is +forbidden to lie on a bed at all and must sleep on the ground. Her +diet is restricted to vegetables and beer.<a id="footnotetag197" +name="footnotetag197"></a><a href="#footnote197"><sup>197</sup></a> +Among the Baganda, in like manner, no menstruous woman might drink +milk or come into contact with any milk-vessel;<a id= +"footnotetag198" name="footnotetag198"></a><a href= +"#footnote198"><sup>198</sup></a> and she might not touch anything +that belonged to her husband, nor sit on his mat, nor cook his +food. If she touched anything of his at such a time it was deemed +equivalent to wishing him dead or to actually working magic for his +destruction.<a id="footnotetag199" name= +"footnotetag199"></a><a href="#footnote199"><sup>199</sup></a> Were +she to handle any article of his, he would surely fall ill; were +she to handle his weapons, he would certainly be killed in the next +battle. Even a woman <span class="pagenum"><a id="page81" name= +"page81"></a>[pg 81]</span> who did not menstruate was believed by +the Baganda to be a source of danger to her husband, indeed capable +of killing him. Hence, before he went to war, he used to wound her +slightly with his spear so as to draw blood; this was thought to +ensure his safe return.<a id="footnotetag200" name= +"footnotetag200"></a><a href="#footnote200"><sup>200</sup></a> +Apparently the notion was that if the wife did not lose blood in +one way or another, her husband would be bled in war to make up for +her deficiency; so by way of guarding against this undesirable +event, he took care to relieve her of a little superfluous blood +before he repaired to the field of honour. Further, the Baganda +would not suffer a menstruous woman to visit a well; if she did so, +they feared that the water would dry up, and that she herself would +fall sick and die, unless she confessed her fault and the +medicine-man made atonement for her.<a id="footnotetag201" name= +"footnotetag201"></a><a href="#footnote201"><sup>201</sup></a> +Among the Akikuyu of British East Africa, if a new hut is built in +a village and the wife chances to menstruate in it on the day she +lights the first fire there, the hut must be broken down and +demolished the very next day. The woman may on no account sleep a +second night in it; there is a curse (<i>thahu</i>) both on her and +on it.<a id="footnotetag202" name="footnotetag202"></a><a href= +"#footnote202"><sup>202</sup></a> In the Suk tribe of British East +Africa warriors may not eat anything that has been touched by +menstruous women. If they did so, it is believed that they would +lose their virility; "in the rain they will shiver and in the heat +they will faint." Suk men and women take their meals apart, because +the men fear that one or more of the women may be +menstruating.<a id="footnotetag203" name= +"footnotetag203"></a><a href="#footnote203"><sup>203</sup></a> The +Anyanja of British Central Africa, at the southern end of Lake +Nyassa, think that a man who should sleep with a woman in her +courses would fall sick and die, unless some remedy were applied in +time. And with them it is a rule that at such times a woman should +not put any salt into the food she is cooking, otherwise the people +who partook of the food salted by her would suffer from a certain +disease called <span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name= +"page82"></a>[pg 82]</span> <i>tsempo</i>; hence to obviate the +danger she calls a child to put the salt into the dish.<a id= +"footnotetag204" name="footnotetag204"></a><a href= +"#footnote204"><sup>204</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadwestafrica" name="dreadwestafrica"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of +West Africa.]</p> +<p>Among the Hos, a tribe of Ewe negroes of Togoland in West +Africa, so long as a wife has her monthly sickness she may not cook +for her husband, nor lie on his bed, nor sit on his stool; an +infraction of these rules would assuredly, it is believed, cause +her husband to die. If her husband is a priest, or a magician, or a +chief, she may not pass the days of her uncleanness in the house, +but must go elsewhere till she is clean.<a id="footnotetag205" +name="footnotetag205"></a><a href="#footnote205"><sup>205</sup></a> +Among the Ewe negroes of this region each village has its huts +where women who have their courses on them must spend their time +secluded from intercourse with other people. Sometimes these huts +stand by themselves in public places; sometimes they are mere +shelters built either at the back or front of the ordinary +dwelling-houses. A woman is punishable if she does not pass the +time of her monthly sickness in one of these huts or shelters +provided for her use. Thus, if she shews herself in her own house +or even in the yard of the house, she may be fined a sheep, which +is killed, its flesh divided among the people, and its blood poured +on the image of the chief god as a sin-offering to expiate her +offence. She is also forbidden to go to the place where the +villagers draw water, and if she breaks the rule, she must give a +goat to be killed; its flesh is distributed, and its blood, diluted +with water and mixed with herbs, is sprinkled on the watering-place +and on the paths leading to it. Were any woman to disregard these +salutary precautions, the chief fetish-man in the village would +fall sick and die, which would be an irreparable loss to +society.<a id="footnotetag206" name="footnotetag206"></a><a href= +"#footnote206"><sup>206</sup></a></p> +<a id="arablegend" name="arablegend"></a> +<p>[Powerful influence ascribed to menstruous blood in Arab +legend.]</p> +<p>The miraculous virtue ascribed to menstruous blood is well +illustrated in a story told by the Arab chronicler Tabari. He +relates how Sapor, king of Persia, besieged the strong city of +Atrae, in the desert of Mesopotamia, for several years without +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" name="page83"></a>[pg +83]</span> being able to take it. But the king of the city, whose +name was Daizan, had a daughter, and when it was with her after the +manner of women she went forth from the city and dwelt for a time +in the suburb, for such was the custom of the place. Now it fell +out that, while she tarried there, Sapor saw her and loved her, and +she loved him; for he was a handsome man and she a lovely maid. And +she said to him, "What will you give me if I shew you how you may +destroy the walls of this city and slay my father?" And he said to +her, "I will give you what you will, and I will exalt you above my +other wives, and will set you nearer to me than them all." Then she +said to him, "Take a greenish dove with a ring about its neck, and +write something on its foot with the menstruous blood of a +blue-eyed maid; then let the bird loose, and it will perch on the +walls of the city, and they will fall down." For that, says the +Arab historian, was the talisman of the city, which could not be +destroyed in any other way. And Sapor did as she bade him, and the +city fell down in a heap, and he stormed it and slew Daizan on the +spot.<a id="footnotetag207" name="footnotetag207"></a><a href= +"#footnote207"><sup>207</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadjews" name="dreadjews"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Jews and in +Syria.]</p> +<p>According to the Talmud, if a woman at the beginning of her +period passes between two men, she thereby kills one of them; if +she passes between them towards the end of her period, she only +causes them to quarrel violently.<a id="footnotetag208" name= +"footnotetag208"></a><a href="#footnote208"><sup>208</sup></a> +Maimonides tells us that down to his time it was a common custom in +the East to keep women at their periods in a separate house and to +burn everything on which they had trodden; a man who spoke with +such a woman or who was merely exposed to the same wind that blew +over her, became thereby unclean.<a id="footnotetag209" name= +"footnotetag209"></a><a href="#footnote209"><sup>209</sup></a> +Peasants of the Lebanon think that menstruous women are the cause +of many misfortunes; their shadow <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page84" name="page84"></a>[pg 84]</span> causes flowers to wither +and trees to perish, it even arrests the movements of serpents; if +one of them mounts a horse, the animal might die or at least be +disabled for a long time.<a id="footnotetag210" name= +"footnotetag210"></a><a href="#footnote210"><sup>210</sup></a> In +Syria to this day a woman who has her courses on her may neither +salt nor pickle, for the people think that whatever she pickled or +salted would not keep.<a id="footnotetag211" name= +"footnotetag211"></a><a href="#footnote211"><sup>211</sup></a> The +Toaripi of New Guinea, doubtless for a similar reason, will not +allow women at such times to cook.<a id="footnotetag212" name= +"footnotetag212"></a><a href="#footnote212"><sup>212</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadindia" name="dreadindia"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women in India.]</p> +<p>The Bhuiyars, a Dravidian tribe of South Mirzapur, are said to +feel an intense dread of menstrual pollution. Every house has two +doors, one of which is used only by women in this condition. During +her impurity the wife is fed by her husband apart from the rest of +the family, and whenever she has to quit the house she is obliged +to creep out on her hands and knees in order not to defile the +thatch by her touch.<a id="footnotetag213" name= +"footnotetag213"></a><a href="#footnote213"><sup>213</sup></a> The +Kharwars, another aboriginal tribe of the same district, keep their +women at such seasons in the outer verandah of the house for eight +days, and will not let them enter the kitchen or the cowhouse; +during this time the unclean woman may not cook nor even touch the +cooking vessels. When the eight days are over, she bathes, washes +her clothes, and returns to family life.<a id="footnotetag214" +name="footnotetag214"></a><a href="#footnote214"><sup>214</sup></a> +Hindoo women seclude themselves at their monthly periods and +observe a number of rules, such as not to drink milk, not to milk +cows, not to touch fire, not to lie on a high bed, not to walk on +common paths, not to cross the track of animals, not to walk by the +side of flowering plants, and not to observe the heavenly +bodies.<a id="footnotetag215" name="footnotetag215"></a><a href= +"#footnote215"><sup>215</sup></a> The motive for these <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85"></a>[pg 85]</span> +restrictions is not mentioned, but probably it is a dread of the +baleful influence which is supposed to emanate from women at these +times. The Parsees, who reverence fire, will not suffer menstruous +women to see it or even to look on a lighted taper;<a id= +"footnotetag216" name="footnotetag216"></a><a href= +"#footnote216"><sup>216</sup></a> during their infirmity the women +retire from their houses to little lodges in the country, whither +victuals are brought to them daily; at the end of their seclusion +they bathe and send a kid, a fowl, or a pigeon to the priest as an +offering.<a id="footnotetag217" name="footnotetag217"></a><a href= +"#footnote217"><sup>217</sup></a> In Annam a woman at her monthly +periods is deemed a centre of impurity, and contact with her is +avoided. She is subject to all sorts of restrictions which she must +observe herself and which others must observe towards her. She may +not touch any food which is to be preserved by salting, whether it +be fish, flesh, or vegetables; for were she to touch it the food +would putrefy. She may not enter any sacred place, she may not be +present at any religious ceremony. The linen which she wears at +such times must be washed by herself at sunrise, never at night. On +reaching puberty girls may not touch flowers or the fruits of +certain trees, for touched by them the flowers would fade and the +fruits fall to the ground. "It is on account of their reputation +for impurity that the women generally live isolated. In every house +they have an apartment reserved for them, and they never eat at the +same table as the men. For the same reason they are excluded from +all religious ceremonies. They may only be present at family +ceremonies, but without ever officiating in them."<a id= +"footnotetag218" name="footnotetag218"></a><a href= +"#footnote218"><sup>218</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadsouthamerica" name="dreadsouthamerica"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of +South and Central America.]</p> +<p>The Guayquiries of the Orinoco think that when a woman has her +courses, everything upon which she steps will die, and that if a +man treads on the place where she has passed, his legs will +immediately swell up.<a id="footnotetag219" name= +"footnotetag219"></a><a href="#footnote219"><sup>219</sup></a> +Among the Guaraunos of the same great river, women at their periods +are regarded as unclean and kept apart in special huts, where +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" name="page86"></a>[pg +86]</span> all that they need is brought to them.<a id= +"footnotetag220" name="footnotetag220"></a><a href= +"#footnote220"><sup>220</sup></a> In like manner among the +Piapocos, an Indian tribe on the Guayabero, a tributary of the +Orinoco, a menstruous woman is secluded from her family every month +for four or five days. She passes the time in a special hut, +whither her husband brings her food; and at the end of the time she +takes a bath and resumes her usual occupations.<a id= +"footnotetag221" name="footnotetag221"></a><a href= +"#footnote221"><sup>221</sup></a> So among the Indians of the +Mosquito territory in Central America, when a woman is in her +courses, she must quit the village for seven or eight days. A small +hut is built for her in the wood, and at night some of the village +girls go and sleep with her to keep her company. Or if the nights +are dark and jaguars are known to be prowling in the neighbourhood, +her husband will take his gun or bow and sleep in a hammock near +her. She may neither handle nor cook food; all is prepared and +carried to her. When the sickness is over, she bathes in the river, +puts on clean clothes, and returns to her household duties.<a id= +"footnotetag222" name="footnotetag222"></a><a href= +"#footnote222"><sup>222</sup></a> Among the Bri-bri Indians of +Costa Rica a girl at her first menstruation retires to a hut built +for the purpose in the forest, and there she must stay till she has +been purified by a medicine-man, who breathes on her and places +various objects, such as feathers, the beaks of birds, the teeth of +beasts, and so forth, upon her body. A married woman at her periods +remains in the house with her husband, but she is reckoned unclean +(<i>bukuru</i>) and must avoid all intimate relations with him. She +uses for plates only banana leaves, which, when she has done with +them, she throws away in a sequestered spot; for should a cow find +and eat them, the animal would waste away and perish. Also she +drinks only out of a special vessel, because any person who should +afterwards drink out of the same vessel would infallibly pine away +and die.<a id="footnotetag223" name="footnotetag223"></a><a href= +"#footnote223"><sup>223</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87"></a>[pg +87]</span> <a id="dreadnorthamerica" name="dreadnorthamerica"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of +North America.]</p> +<p>Among most tribes of North American Indians the custom was that +women in their courses retired from the camp or the village and +lived during the time of their uncleanness in special huts or +shelters which were appropriated to their use. There they dwelt +apart, eating and sleeping by themselves, warming themselves at +their own fires, and strictly abstaining from all communications +with men, who shunned them just as if they were stricken with the +plague. No article of furniture used in these menstrual huts might +be used in any other, not even the flint and steel with which in +the old days the fires were kindled. No one would borrow a light +from a woman in her seclusion. If a white man in his ignorance +asked to light his pipe at her fire, she would refuse to grant the +request, telling him that it would make his nose bleed and his head +ache, and that he would fall sick in consequence. If an Indian's +wooden pipe cracked, his friends would think that he had either lit +it at one of these polluted fires or had held some converse with a +woman during her retirement, which was esteemed a most disgraceful +and wicked thing to do. Decent men would not approach within a +certain distance of a woman at such times, and if they had to +convey anything to her they would stand some forty or fifty paces +off and throw it to her. Everything which was touched by her hands +during this period was deemed ceremonially unclean. Indeed her +touch was thought to convey such pollution that if she chanced to +lay a finger on a chief's lodge or his gun or anything else +belonging to him, it would be instantly destroyed. If she crossed +the path of a hunter or a warrior, his luck for that day at least +would be gone. Were she not thus secluded, it was supposed that the +men would be attacked by diseases of various kinds, which would +prove mortal. In some tribes a woman who infringed the rules of +separation might have to answer with her life for any misfortunes +that might happen to individuals or to the tribe in consequence, as +it was supposed, of her criminal negligence. When she quitted her +tent or hut to go into retirement, the fire in it was extinguished +and the ashes thrown away outside of the village, and a new fire +was kindled, as if the old one had been defiled by her presence. At +the end of their <span class="pagenum"><a id="page88" name= +"page88"></a>[pg 88]</span> seclusion the women bathed in running +streams and returned to their usual occupations.<a id= +"footnotetag224" name="footnotetag224"></a><a href= +"#footnote224"><sup>224</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadcreek" name="dreadcreek"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Creek, +Choctaw, Omaha, and Cheyenne Indians.]</p> +<p>Thus, to take examples, the Creek and kindred Indians of the +United States compelled women at menstruation to live in separate +huts at some distance from the village. There the women had to +stay, at the risk of being surprised and cut off by enemies. It was +thought "a most horrid and dangerous pollution" to go near the +women at such times; and the danger extended to enemies who, if +they slew the women, had to cleanse themselves from the pollution +by means of certain sacred herbs and roots.<a id="footnotetag225" +name="footnotetag225"></a><a href="#footnote225"><sup>225</sup></a> +Similarly, the Choctaw women had to quit their huts during their +monthly periods, and might not return till after they had been +purified. While their uncleanness lasted they had to prepare their +own food. The men believed that if they were to approach a +menstruous woman, they would fall ill, and that some mishap would +overtake them when they went to the wars.<a id="footnotetag226" +name="footnotetag226"></a><a href="#footnote226"><sup>226</sup></a> +When an Omaha woman has her courses on her, she retires from the +family to a little shelter of bark or grass, supported by sticks, +where she kindles a fire and cooks her victuals alone. Her +seclusion lasts four days. During this time she may not approach or +touch a horse, for the Indians believe that <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page89" name="page89"></a>[pg 89]</span> such +contamination would impoverish or weaken the animal.<a id= +"footnotetag227" name="footnotetag227"></a><a href= +"#footnote227"><sup>227</sup></a> Among the Potawatomis the women +at their monthly periods "are not allowed to associate with the +rest of the nation; they are completely laid aside, and are not +permitted to touch any article of furniture or food which the men +have occasion to use. If the Indians be stationary at the time, the +women are placed outside of the camp; if on a march, they are not +allowed to follow the trail, but must take a different path and +keep at a distance from the main body."<a id="footnotetag228" name= +"footnotetag228"></a><a href="#footnote228"><sup>228</sup></a> +Among the Cheyennes menstruous women slept in special lodges; the +men believed that if they slept with their wives at such times, +they would probably be wounded in their next battle. A man who +owned a shield had very particularly to be on his guard against +women in their courses. He might not go into a lodge where one of +them happened to be, nor even into a lodge where one of them had +been, until a ceremony of purification had been performed. Sweet +grass and juniper were burnt in the tent, and the pegs were pulled +up and the covering thrown back, as if the tent were about to be +struck. After this pretence of decamping from the polluted spot the +owner of the shield might enter the tent.<a id="footnotetag229" +name="footnotetag229"></a><a href= +"#footnote229"><sup>229</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadbritishcolumbia" name="dreadbritishcolumbia"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of +British Columbia.]</p> +<p>The Stseelis Indians of British Columbia imagined that if a +menstruous woman were to step over a bundle of arrows, the arrows +would thereby be rendered useless and might even cause the death of +their owner; and similarly that if she passed in front of a hunter +who carried a gun, the weapon would never shoot straight again. +Neither her husband nor her father would dream of going out to hunt +while she was in this state; and even if he had wished to do so, +the other hunters would not go with him. Hence to keep them out of +harm's way, the women, both married and unmarried, were secluded at +these times for four days in shelters.<a id="footnotetag230" name= +"footnotetag230"></a><a href="#footnote230"><sup>230</sup></a> +Among the Thompson <span class="pagenum"><a id="page90" name= +"page90"></a>[pg 90]</span> Indians of British Columbia every woman +had to isolate herself from the rest of the people during every +recurring period of menstruation, and had to live some little way +off in a small brush or bark lodge made for the purpose. At these +times she was considered unclean, must use cooking and eating +utensils of her own, and was supplied with food by some other +woman. If she smoked out of a pipe other than her own, that pipe +would ever afterwards be hot to smoke. If she crossed in front of a +gun, that gun would thenceforth be useless for the war or the +chase, unless indeed the owner promptly washed the weapon in +"medecine" or struck the woman with it once on each principal part +of her body. If a man ate or had any intercourse with a menstruous +woman, nay if he merely wore clothes or mocassins made or patched +by her, he would have bad luck in hunting and the bears would +attack him fiercely. Before being admitted again among the people, +she had to change all her clothes and wash several times in clear +water. The clothes worn during her isolation were hung on a tree, +to be used next time, or to be washed. For one day after coming +back among the people she did not cook food. Were a man to eat food +cooked by a woman at such times, he would have incapacitated +himself for hunting and exposed himself to sickness or death.<a id= +"footnotetag231" name="footnotetag231"></a><a href= +"#footnote231"><sup>231</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadchippeway" name="dreadchippeway"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Chippeway +Indians.]</p> +<p>Among the Chippeways and other Indians of the Hudson Bay +Territory, menstruous women are excluded from the camp, and take up +their abode in huts of branches. They wear long hoods, which +effectually conceal the head and breast. They may not touch the +household furniture nor any objects used by men; for their touch +"is supposed to defile them, so that their subsequent use would be +followed by certain mischief or misfortune," such as disease or +death. They must drink out of a swan's bone. They may not walk on +the common paths nor cross the tracks of animals. They "are never +permitted to walk on the ice of rivers or lakes, or near the part +where the men are hunting beaver, or where a fishing-net is set, +for fear of averting <span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name= +"page91"></a>[pg 91]</span> their success. They are also prohibited +at those times from partaking of the head of any animal, and even +from walking in or crossing the track where the head of a deer, +moose, beaver, and many other animals have lately been carried, +either on a sledge or on the back. To be guilty of a violation of +this custom is considered as of the greatest importance; because +they firmly believe that it would be a means of preventing the +hunter from having an equal success in his future +excursions."<a id="footnotetag232" name= +"footnotetag232"></a><a href="#footnote232"><sup>232</sup></a> So +the Lapps forbid women at menstruation to walk on that part of the +shore where the fishers are in the habit of setting out their +fish;<a id="footnotetag233" name="footnotetag233"></a><a href= +"#footnote233"><sup>233</sup></a> and the Esquimaux of Bering +Strait believe that if hunters were to come near women in their +courses they would catch no game.<a id="footnotetag234" name= +"footnotetag234"></a><a href="#footnote234"><sup>234</sup></a></p> +<a id="dreadtinneh" name="dreadtinneh"></a> +<p>[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Tinneh or +Déné Indians; customs and beliefs of the Carrier +Indians in regard to menstruous women.]</p> +<p>But the beliefs and superstitions of this sort that prevail +among the western tribes of the great Déné or Tinneh +stock, to which the Chippeways belong, have been so well described +by an experienced missionary, that I will give his description in +his own words. Prominent among the ceremonial rites of these +Indians, he says, "are the observances peculiar to the fair sex, +and many of them are remarkably analogous to those practised by the +Hebrew women, so much so that, were it not savouring of profanity, +the ordinances of the Déné ritual code might be +termed a new edition 'revised and considerably augmented' of the +Mosaic ceremonial law. Among the Carriers,<a id="footnotetag235" +name="footnotetag235"></a><a href="#footnote235"><sup>235</sup></a> +as soon as a girl has experienced the first flow of the menses +which in the female constitution are a natural discharge, her +father believed himself under the obligation of atoning for her +supposedly sinful condition by a small impromptu distribution of +clothes among the natives. This periodical state of women was +considered as one of legal impurity <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page92" name="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span> fateful both to the man +who happened to have any intercourse, however indirect, with her, +and to the woman herself who failed in scrupulously observing all +the rites prescribed by ancient usage for persons in her +condition.</p> +<a id="dreadcarrier" name="dreadcarrier"></a> +<p>[Seclusion of Carrier girls at puberty.]</p> +<p>"Upon entering into that stage of her life, the maiden was +immediately sequestered from company, even that of her parents, and +compelled to dwell in a small branch hut by herself away from +beaten paths and the gaze of passers-by. As she was supposed to +exercise malefic influence on any man who might inadvertently +glance at her, she had to wear a sort of head-dress combining in +itself the purposes of a veil, a bonnet, and a mantlet. It was made +of tanned skin, its forepart was shaped like a long fringe +completely hiding from view the face and breasts; then it formed on +the head a close-fitting cap or bonnet, and finally fell in a broad +band almost to the heels. This head-dress was made and publicly +placed on her head by a paternal aunt, who received at once some +present from the girl's father. When, three or four years later, +the period of sequestration ceased, only this same aunt had the +right to take off her niece's ceremonial head-dress. Furthermore, +the girl's fingers, wrists, and legs at the ankles and immediately +below the knees, were encircled with ornamental rings and bracelets +of sinew intended as a protection against the malign influences she +was supposed to be possessed with.<a id="footnotetag236" name= +"footnotetag236"></a><a href="#footnote236"><sup>236</sup></a> To a +belt girding her waist were suspended two bone implements called +respectively <i>Tsoenkuz</i> (bone tube) and <i>Tsiltsoet</i> (head +scratcher). The former was a hollowed swan bone to drink with, any +other mode of drinking being unlawful to her. The latter was +fork-like and was called into requisition whenever she wanted to +scratch her head—immediate contact of the fingers with the +head being reputed injurious to her health. While thus secluded, +she was called <i>asta</i>, that <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page93" name="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span> is 'interred alive' in +Carrier, and she had to submit to a rigorous fast and abstinence. +Her only allowed food consisted of dried fish boiled in a small +bark vessel which nobody else must touch, and she had to abstain +especially from meat of any kind, as well as fresh fish. Nor was +this all she had to endure; even her contact, however remote, with +these two articles of diet was so dreaded that she could not cross +the public paths or trails, or the tracks of animals. Whenever +absolute necessity constrained her to go beyond such spots, she had +to be packed or carried over them lest she should contaminate the +game or meat which had passed that way, or had been brought over +these paths; and also for the sake of self-preservation against +tabooed, and consequently to her, deleterious food. In the same way +she was never allowed to wade in streams or lakes, for fear of +causing death to the fish.</p> +<p>"It was also a prescription of the ancient ritual code for +females during this primary condition to eat as little as possible, +and to remain lying down, especially in course of each monthly +flow, not only as a natural consequence of the prolonged fast and +resulting weakness; but chiefly as an exhibition of a becoming +penitential spirit which was believed to be rewarded by long life +and continual good health in after years.</p> +<p>[Seclusion of Carrier women at their monthly periods; reasons +for the seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians.]</p> +<p>"These mortifications or seclusion did not last less than three +or four years. Useless to say that during all that time marriage +could not be thought of, since the girl could not so much as be +seen by men. When married, the same sequestration was practised +relatively to husband and fellow-villagers—without the +particular head-dress and rings spoken of—on the occasion of +every recurring menstruation. Sometimes it was protracted as long +as ten days at a time, especially during the first years of +cohabitation. Even when she returned to her mate, she was not +permitted to sleep with him on the first nor frequently on the +second night, but would choose a distant corner of the lodge to +spread her blanket, as if afraid to defile him with her dread +uncleanness."<a id="footnotetag237" name= +"footnotetag237"></a><a href="#footnote237"><sup>237</sup></a> +Elsewhere the same writer tells us that most of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94"></a>[pg 94]</span> the +devices to which these Indians used to resort for the sake of +ensuring success in the chase "were based on their regard for +continence and their excessive repugnance for, and dread of, +menstruating women."<a id="footnotetag238" name= +"footnotetag238"></a><a href="#footnote238"><sup>238</sup></a> But +the strict observances imposed on Tinneh or Déné +women at such times were designed at the same time to protect the +women themselves from the evil consequences of their dangerous +condition. Thus it was thought that women in their courses could +not partake of the head, heart, or hind part of an animal that had +been caught in a snare without exposing themselves to a premature +death through a kind of rabies. They might not cut or carve salmon, +because to do so would seriously endanger their health, and +especially would enfeeble their arms for life. And they had to +abstain from cutting up the grebes which are caught by the Carriers +in great numbers every spring, because otherwise the blood with +which these fowls abound would occasion haemorrhage or an +unnaturally prolonged flux in the transgressor.<a id= +"footnotetag239" name="footnotetag239"></a><a href= +"#footnote239"><sup>239</sup></a> Similarly Indian women of the +Thompson tribe abstained from venison and the flesh of other large +game during menstruation, lest the animals should be displeased and +the menstrual flow increased.<a id="footnotetag240" name= +"footnotetag240"></a><a href="#footnote240"><sup>240</sup></a> For +a similar reason, probably, Shuswap girls during their seclusion at +puberty are forbidden to eat anything that bleeds.<a id= +"footnotetag241" name="footnotetag241"></a><a href= +"#footnote241"><sup>241</sup></a> The same principle may perhaps +partly explain the rule, of which we have had some examples, that +women at such times should refrain from fish and flesh, and +restrict themselves to a vegetable diet.</p> +<a id="similarrules" name="similarrules"></a> +<p>[Similar rules of seclusion enjoined on menstruous women in +ancient Hindoo, Persian, and Hebrew codes.]</p> +<p>The philosophic student of human nature will observe, or learn, +without surprise that ideas thus deeply ingrained <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page95" name="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span> in the +savage mind reappear at a more advanced stage of society in those +elaborate codes which have been drawn up for the guidance of +certain peoples by lawgivers who claim to have derived the rules +they inculcate from the direct inspiration of the deity. However we +may explain it, the resemblance which exists between the earliest +official utterances of the deity and the ideas of savages is +unquestionably close and remarkable; whether it be, as some +suppose, that God communed face to face with man in those early +days, or, as others maintain, that man mistook his wild and +wandering thoughts for a revelation from heaven. Be that as it may, +certain it is that the natural uncleanness of woman at her monthly +periods is a conception which has occurred, or been revealed, with +singular unanimity to several ancient legislators. The Hindoo +lawgiver Manu, who professed to have received his institutes from +the creator Brahman, informs us that the wisdom, the energy, the +strength, the sight, and the vitality of a man who approaches a +woman in her courses will utterly perish; whereas, if he avoids +her, his wisdom, energy, strength, sight, and vitality will all +increase.<a id="footnotetag242" name="footnotetag242"></a><a href= +"#footnote242"><sup>242</sup></a> The Persian lawgiver Zoroaster, +who, if we can take his word for it, derived his code from the +mouth of the supreme being Ahura Mazda, devoted special attention +to the subject. According to him, the menstrous flow, at least in +its abnormal manifestations, is a work of Ahriman, or the devil. +Therefore, so long as it lasts, a woman "is unclean and possessed +of the demon; she must be kept confined, apart from the faithful +whom her touch would defile, and from the fire which her very look +would injure; she is not allowed to eat as much as she wishes, as +the strength she might acquire would accrue to the fiends. Her food +is not given her from hand to hand, but is passed to her from a +distance, in a long leaden spoon."<a id="footnotetag243" name= +"footnotetag243"></a><a href="#footnote243"><sup>243</sup></a> The +Hebrew lawgiver Moses, whose divine legation is as little open to +question as that of Manu and Zoroaster, treats the subject at still +greater length; but I must leave to the reader the task of +comparing the inspired ordinances <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page96" name="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span> on this head with the +merely human regulations of the Carrier Indians which they so +closely resemble.</p> +<a id="superstitionsmenstrous" name="superstitionsmenstrous"></a> +<p>[Superstitions as to menstruous women in ancient and modern +Europe.]</p> +<p>Amongst the civilized nations of Europe the superstitions which +cluster round this mysterious aspect of woman's nature are not less +extravagant than those which prevail among savages. In the oldest +existing cyclopaedia—the <i>Natural History</i> of +Pliny—the list of dangers apprehended from menstruation is +longer than any furnished by mere barbarians. According to Pliny, +the touch of a menstruous woman turned wine to vinegar, blighted +crops, killed seedlings, blasted gardens, brought down the fruit +from trees, dimmed mirrors, blunted razors, rusted iron and brass +(especially at the waning of the moon), killed bees, or at least +drove them from their hives, caused mares to miscarry, and so +forth.<a id="footnotetag244" name="footnotetag244"></a><a href= +"#footnote244"><sup>244</sup></a> Similarly, in various parts of +Europe, it is still believed that if a woman in her courses enters +a brewery the beer will turn sour; if she touches beer, wine, +vinegar, or milk, it will go bad; if she makes jam, it will not +keep; if she mounts a mare, it will miscarry; if she touches buds, +they will wither; if she climbs a cherry tree, it will die.<a id= +"footnotetag245" name="footnotetag245"></a><a href= +"#footnote245"><sup>245</sup></a> In Brunswick people think that if +a menstruous woman assists at the killing of a pig, the pork will +putrefy.<a id="footnotetag246" name="footnotetag246"></a><a href= +"#footnote246"><sup>246</sup></a> In the Greek island of Calymnos a +woman at such times may not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page97" +name="page97"></a>[pg 97]</span> go to the well to draw water, nor +cross a running stream, nor enter the sea. Her presence in a boat +is said to raise storms.<a id="footnotetag247" name= +"footnotetag247"></a><a href="#footnote247"><sup>247</sup></a></p> +<a id="intentionsecluding" name="intentionsecluding"></a> +<p>[The intention of secluding menstruous women is to neutralize +the dangerous influences which are thought to emanate from them in +that condition; suspension between heaven and earth.]</p> +<p>Thus the object of secluding women at menstruation is to +neutralize the dangerous influences which are supposed to emanate +from them at such times. That the danger is believed to be +especially great at the first menstruation appears from the unusual +precautions taken to isolate girls at this crisis. Two of these +precautions have been illustrated above, namely, the rules that the +girl may not touch the ground nor see the sun. The general effect +of these rules is to keep her suspended, so to say, between heaven +and earth. Whether enveloped in her hammock and slung up to the +roof, as in South America, or raised above the ground in a dark and +narrow cage, as in New Ireland, she may be considered to be out of +the way of doing mischief, since, being shut off both from the +earth and from the sun, she can poison neither of these great +sources of life by her deadly contagion. In short, she is rendered +harmless by being, in electrical language, insulated. But the +precautions thus taken to isolate or insulate the girl are dictated +by a regard for her own safety as well as for the safety of others. +For it is thought that she herself would suffer if she were to +neglect the prescribed regimen. Thus Zulu girls, as we have seen, +believe that they would shrivel to skeletons if the sun were to +shine on them at puberty, and in some Brazilian tribes the young +women think that a transgression of the rules would entail sores on +the neck and throat. In short, the girl is viewed as charged with a +powerful force which, if not kept within bounds, may prove +destructive both to herself and to all with whom she comes in +contact. To repress this force within the limits necessary for the +safety of all concerned is the object of the taboos in +question.</p> +<a id="suspensionheaven" name="suspensionheaven"></a> +<p>[The same explanation applies to the similar rules of seclusion +observed by divine kings and priests; suspension between heaven and +earth.]</p> +<p>The same explanation applies to the observance of the same rules +by divine kings and priests. The uncleanness, as it is called, of +girls at puberty and the sanctity of holy men do not, to the +primitive mind, differ materially from each other. They are only +different manifestations of the same mysterious energy which, like +energy in general, is in itself neither good <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98"></a>[pg 98]</span> nor bad, +but becomes beneficent or maleficent according to its +application.<a id="footnotetag248" name= +"footnotetag248"></a><a href="#footnote248"><sup>248</sup></a> +Accordingly, if, like girls at puberty, divine personages may +neither touch the ground nor see the sun, the reason is, on the one +hand, a fear lest their divinity might, at contact with earth or +heaven, discharge itself with fatal violence on either; and, on the +other hand, an apprehension that the divine being, thus drained of +his ethereal virtue, might thereby be incapacitated for the future +performance of those magical functions, upon the proper discharge +of which the safety of the people and even of the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99"></a>[pg 99]</span> world is +believed to hang. Thus the rules in question fall under the head of +the taboos which we examined in the second part of this work;<a id= +"footnotetag249" name="footnotetag249"></a><a href= +"#footnote249"><sup>249</sup></a> they are intended to preserve the +life of the divine person and with it the life of his subjects and +worshippers. Nowhere, it is thought, can his precious yet dangerous +life be at once so safe and so harmless as when it is neither in +heaven nor in earth, but, as far as possible, suspended between the +two.<a id="footnotetag250" name="footnotetag250"></a><a href= +"#footnote250"><sup>250</sup></a></p> +<a id="storiesimmortality" name="storiesimmortality"></a> +<p>[Stories of immortality attained by suspension between heaven +and earth.]</p> +<p>In legends and folk-tales, which reflect the ideas of earlier +ages, we find this suspension between heaven and earth attributed +to beings who have been endowed with the coveted yet burdensome +gift of immortality. The wizened remains of the deathless Sibyl are +said to have been preserved in a jar or urn which hung in a temple +of Apollo at Cumae; and when a group of merry children, tired, +perhaps, of playing in the sunny streets, sought the shade of the +temple and amused themselves by gathering underneath the familiar +jar and calling out, "Sibyl, what do you wish?" a hollow voice, +like an echo, used to answer from the urn, "I wish to die."<a id= +"footnotetag251" name="footnotetag251"></a><a href= +"#footnote251"><sup>251</sup></a> A story, taken down from the lips +of a German peasant at Thomsdorf, relates that once upon a time +there was a girl in London who wished to live for ever, so they +say:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"London, London is a fine town.</p> +<p>A maiden prayed to live for ever."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>And still she lives and hangs in a basket in a church, and every +St. John's Day, about the hour of noon, she eats a roll of +bread.<a id="footnotetag252" name="footnotetag252"></a><a href= +"#footnote252"><sup>252</sup></a> Another German story tells of a +lady who <span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name= +"page100"></a>[pg 100]</span> resided at Danzig and was so rich and +so blest with all that life can give that she wished to live +always. So when she came to her latter end, she did not really die +but only looked like dead, and very soon they found her in a hollow +of a pillar in the church, half standing and half sitting, +motionless. She stirred never a limb, but they saw quite plainly +that she was alive, and she sits there down to this blessed day. +Every New Year's Day the sacristan comes and puts a morsel of the +holy bread in her mouth, and that is all she has to live on. Long, +long has she rued her fatal wish who set this transient life above +the eternal joys of heaven.<a id="footnotetag253" name= +"footnotetag253"></a><a href="#footnote253"><sup>253</sup></a> A +third German story tells of a noble damsel who cherished the same +foolish wish for immortality. So they put her in a basket and hung +her up in a church, and there she hangs and never dies, though many +a year has come and gone since they put her there. But every year +on a certain day they give her a roll, and she eats it and cries +out, "For ever! for ever! for ever!" And when she has so cried she +falls silent again till the same time next year, and so it will go +on for ever and for ever.<a id="footnotetag254" name= +"footnotetag254"></a><a href="#footnote254"><sup>254</sup></a> A +fourth story, taken down near Oldenburg in Holstein, tells of a +jolly dame that ate and drank and lived right merrily and had all +that heart could desire, and she wished to live always. For the +first hundred years all went well, but after that she began to +shrink and shrivel up, till at last she could neither walk nor +stand nor eat nor drink. But die she could not. At first they fed +her as if she were a little child, but when she grew smaller and +smaller they put her in a glass bottle and hung her up in the +church. And there she still hangs, in the church of St. Mary, at +Lübeck. She is as small as a mouse, but once a year she +stirs.<a id="footnotetag255" name="footnotetag255"></a><a href= +"#footnote255"><sup>255</sup></a></p> +<p>Notes:</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote64" name= +"footnote64"></a> <b>Footnote 64</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag64">(return)</a> +<p>Pechuel-Loesche, "Indiscretes aus Loango," <i>Zeitschrift +für Ethnologie</i>, x. (1878) p. 23.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote65" name= +"footnote65"></a> <b>Footnote 65</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag65">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Macdonald, "Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and +Religions of South African Tribes," <i>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</i>, xx. (1891) p. 118.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote66" name= +"footnote66"></a> <b>Footnote 66</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag66">(return)</a> +<p>Dudley Kidd, <i>The Essential Kafir</i> (London, 1904), p. 209. +The prohibition to drink milk under such circumstances is also +mentioned, though without the reason for it, by L. Alberti (<i>De +Kaffersaan de Zuidkust van Afrika</i>, Amsterdam, 1810, p. 79), +George Thompson (<i>Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa</i>, +London, 1827, ii. 354 <i>sq.</i>), and Mr. Warner (in Col. +Maclean's <i>Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs</i>; Cape Town, +1866, p. 98). As to the reason for the prohibition, see <a href= +"#page80">below, p. 80</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote67" name= +"footnote67"></a> <b>Footnote 67</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag67">(return)</a> +<p>C.W. Hobley, <i>Ethnology of A-Kamba and other East African +Tribes</i> (Cambridge, 1910), p. 65.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote68" name= +"footnote68"></a> <b>Footnote 68</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag68">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, <i>The Baganda</i> (London, 1911), p. 80. As to +the interpretation which the Baganda put on the act of jumping or +stepping over a woman, see <i>id.</i>, pp. 48, 357 note 1. +Apparently some of the Lower Congo people interpret the act +similarly. See J.H. Weeks, "Notes on some Customs of the Lower +Congo People," <i>Folk-lore</i>, xix. (1908) p. 431. Among the +Baganda the separation of children from their parents took place +after weaning; girls usually went to live either with an elder +married brother or (if there was none such) with one of their +father's brothers; boys in like manner went to live with one of +their father's brothers. See J. Roscoe, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 74. As +to the prohibition to touch food with the hands, see <i>Taboo and +the Perils of the Soul</i>, pp. 138 <i>sqq.</i>, 146 <i>sqq.</i>, +etc.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote69" name= +"footnote69"></a> <b>Footnote 69</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag69">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, <i>The Baganda</i>, p. 80.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote70" name= +"footnote70"></a> <b>Footnote 70</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag70">(return)</a> +<p>De la Loubere, <i>Du royaume de Siam</i> (Amsterdam, 1691), i. +203. In Travancore it is believed that women at puberty and after +childbirth are peculiarly liable to be attacked by demons. See S. +Mateer, <i>The Land of Charity</i> (London, 1871), p. 208.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote71" name= +"footnote71"></a> <b>Footnote 71</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag71">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, <i>The Baganda</i>, p. 80.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote72" name= +"footnote72"></a> <b>Footnote 72</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag72">(return)</a> +<p>C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, <i>The Great Plateau of Northern +Nigeria</i> (London, 1911), pp. 158-160.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote73" name= +"footnote73"></a> <b>Footnote 73</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag73">(return)</a> +<p>R. Sutherland Rattray, <i>Some Folk-lore, Stories and Songs in +Chinyanja</i> (London, 1907), pp. 102-105.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote74" name= +"footnote74"></a> <b>Footnote 74</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag74">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. H. Cole, "Notes on the Wagogo of German East Africa," +<i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, xxxii. (1902) pp. +309 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote75" name= +"footnote75"></a> <b>Footnote 75</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag75">(return)</a> +<p>R. Sutherland Rattray, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 191 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote76" name= +"footnote76"></a> <b>Footnote 76</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag76">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Grihya Sutras</i>, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part i. p. +357, Part ii. p. 267 (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, vols. xxix., +xxx.).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote77" name= +"footnote77"></a> <b>Footnote 77</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag77">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, <i>The Baganda</i> (London, 1911), pp. 393 +<i>sq.</i>, compare pp. 396, 398.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote78" name= +"footnote78"></a> <b>Footnote 78</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag78">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>Totemism and Exogamy</i>, iv. 224 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote79" name= +"footnote79"></a> <b>Footnote 79</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag79">(return)</a> +<p>Sir Harry H. Johnston, <i>British Central Africa</i> (London, +1897), p. 411.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote80" name= +"footnote80"></a> <b>Footnote 80</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag80">(return)</a> +<p>Oscar Baumann, <i>Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle</i> (Berlin, +1894), p. 178.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote81" name= +"footnote81"></a> <b>Footnote 81</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag81">(return)</a> +<p>Lionel Decle, <i>Three Years in Savage Africa</i> (London, +1898), p. 78. Compare E. Jacottet, <i>Études sur les Langues +du Haut-Zambèze</i>, Troisième Partie (Paris, 1901), +pp. 174 <i>sq.</i> (as to the A-Louyi).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote82" name= +"footnote82"></a> <b>Footnote 82</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag82">(return)</a> +<p>E. Béguin, <i>Les Ma-rotsé</i> (Lausanne and +Fontaines, 1903), p. 113.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote83" name= +"footnote83"></a> <b>Footnote 83</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag83">(return)</a> +<p>Henri A. Junod, <i>The Life of a South African Tribe</i> +(Neuchatel, 1912-1913), i. 178 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote84" name= +"footnote84"></a> <b>Footnote 84</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag84">(return)</a> +<p>G. McCall Theal, <i>Kaffir Folk-lore</i> (London, 1886), p. +218.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote85" name= +"footnote85"></a> <b>Footnote 85</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag85">(return)</a> +<p>L. Alberti, <i>De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika</i> +(Amsterdam, 1810), pp. 79 <i>sq.</i>; H. Lichtenstein, <i>Reisen im +südlichen Africa</i> (Berlin, 1811-1812), i. 428.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote86" name= +"footnote86"></a> <b>Footnote 86</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag86">(return)</a> +<p>Gustav Fritsch, <i>Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika's</i> +(Breslau, 1872), p. 112. This statement applies especially to the +Ama-Xosa.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote87" name= +"footnote87"></a> <b>Footnote 87</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag87">(return)</a> +<p>G. McCall Theal, <i>Kaffir Folk-lore</i>, p. 218.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote88" name= +"footnote88"></a> <b>Footnote 88</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag88">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Canon Henry Callaway, <i>Nursery Tales, Traditions, and +Histories of the Zulus</i> (Natal and London, 1868), p. 182, note +20. From one of the Zulu texts which the author edits and +translates (p. 189) we may infer that during the period of her +seclusion a Zulu girl may not light a fire. Compare <a href= +"#page28">above, p. 28</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote89" name= +"footnote89"></a> <b>Footnote 89</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag89">(return)</a> +<p>E. Casalis, <i>The Basutos</i> (London, 1861), p. 268.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote90" name= +"footnote90"></a> <b>Footnote 90</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag90">(return)</a> +<p>J. Merolla, "Voyage to Congo," in J. Pinkerton's <i>Voyages and +Travels</i> (London, 1808-1814), xvi. 238; Father Campana, "Congo; +Mission Catholique de Landana," <i>Les Missions Catholiques</i>, +xxvii. (1895) p. 161; R.E. Dennett, <i>At the Back of the Black +Man's Mind</i> (London, 1906), pp. 69 <i>sq.</i>. According to +Merolla, it is thought that if girls did not go through these +ceremonies, they would "never be fit for procreation." The other +consequences supposed to flow from the omission of the rites are +mentioned by Father Campana. From Mr. Dennett's account (<i>op. +cit.</i> pp. 53, 67-71) we gather that drought and famine are +thought to result from the intercourse of a man with a girl who has +not yet passed through the "paint-house," as the hut is called +where the young women live in seclusion. According to O. Dapper, +the women of Loango paint themselves red on every recurrence of +their monthly sickness; also they tie a cord tightly round their +heads and take care neither to touch their husband's food nor to +appear before him (<i>Description de l'Afrique</i>, Amsterdam, +1686, p. 326).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote91" name= +"footnote91"></a> <b>Footnote 91</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag91">(return)</a> +<p>The Rev. G. Brown, quoted by the Rev. B. Danks, "Marriage +Customs of the New Britain Group," <i>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</i>, xviii. (1889) pp. 284. <i>sq.; id., +Melanesians and Polynesians</i> (London, 1910), pp. 105-107. +Compare <i>id.</i>, "Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain, +and New Ireland," <i>Journal of the Royal Geographical Society</i>, +xlvii. (1877) pp. 142 <i>sq.</i>; A. Hahl, "Das mittlere +Neumecklenburg," <i>Globus</i>, xci. (1907) p. 313. Wilfred +Powell's description of the New Ireland custom is similar +(<i>Wanderings in a Wild Country</i>, London, 1883, p. 249). +According to him, the girls wear wreaths of scented herbs round the +waist and neck; an old woman or a little child occupies the lower +floor of the cage; and the confinement lasts only a month. Probably +the long period mentioned by Dr. Brown is that prescribed for +chiefs' daughters. Poor people could not afford to keep their +children so long idle. This distinction is sometimes expressly +stated. See <a href="#page30">above, p. 30</a>. Among the Goajiras +of Colombia rich people keep their daughters shut up in separate +huts at puberty for periods varying from one to four years, but +poor people cannot afford to do so for more than a fortnight or a +month. See F.A. Simons, "An Exploration of the Goajira Peninsula," +<i>Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society</i>, N.S., vii. +(1885) p. 791. In Fiji, brides who were being tattooed were kept +from the sun (Thomas Williams, <i>Fiji and the Fijians</i>, Second +Edition, London, 1860, i. 170). This was perhaps a modification of +the Melanesian custom of secluding girls at puberty. The reason +mentioned by Mr. Williams, "to improve her complexion," can hardly +have been the original one.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote92" name= +"footnote92"></a> <b>Footnote 92</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag92">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. R.H. Rickard, quoted by Dr. George Brown, <i>Melanesians +and Polynesians</i>, pp. 107 <i>sq.</i>. His observations were made +in 1892.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote93" name= +"footnote93"></a> <b>Footnote 93</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag93">(return)</a> +<p>R. Parkinson, <i>Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee</i> +(Stuttgart, 1907), p. 272. The natives told Mr. Parkinson that the +confinement of the girls lasts from twelve to twenty months. The +length of it may have been reduced since Dr. George Brown described +the custom in 1876.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote94" name= +"footnote94"></a> <b>Footnote 94</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag94">(return)</a> +<p>J. Chalmers and W. Wyatt Gill, <i>Work and Adventure in New +Guinea</i> (London, 1885), p. 159.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote95" name= +"footnote95"></a> <b>Footnote 95</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag95">(return)</a> +<p>H. Zahn and S. Lehner, in R. Neuhauss's <i>Deutsch +New-Guinea</i> (Berlin, 1911), iii. 298, 418-420. The customs of +the two tribes seem to be in substantial agreement, and the +accounts of them supplement each other. The description of the +Bukaua practice is the fuller.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote96" name= +"footnote96"></a> <b>Footnote 96</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag96">(return)</a> +<p>C.A.L.M. Schwaner, <i>Borneo, Beschrijving van het stroomgebied +van den Barito</i> (Amsterdam, 1853-1854), ii. 77 <i>sq.</i>; +W.F.A. Zimmermann, <i>Die Inseln des Indischen und Stillen +Meeres</i> (Berlin, 1864-1865), ii. 632 <i>sq.</i>; Otto Finsch, +<i>Neu Guinea und seine Bewohner</i> (Bremen, 1865), pp. 116 +<i>sq.</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote97" name= +"footnote97"></a> <b>Footnote 97</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag97">(return)</a> +<p>J.G.F. Riedel, <i>De sluik—en kroesharige rassen tusschen +Selebes en Papua</i> (The Hague, 1886), p. 138.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote98" name= +"footnote98"></a> <b>Footnote 98</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag98">(return)</a> +<p>A. Senfft, "Ethnographische Beiträge über die +Karolineninsel Yap," <i>Petermanns Mitteilungen</i>, xlix. (1903) +p. 53; <i>id.</i>, "Die Rechtssitten der Jap-Eingeborenen," +<i>Globus</i>, xci. (1907) pp. 142 <i>sq.</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote99" name= +"footnote99"></a> <b>Footnote 99</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag99">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in <i>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</i>, xxix. (1899) pp. 212 <i>sq.; id.</i>, in <i>Reports +of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits</i>, +v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 203 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote100" name= +"footnote100"></a> <b>Footnote 100</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag100">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in <i>Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to +Torres Straits</i>, v. (Cambridge, 1904) p. 205.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote101" name= +"footnote101"></a> <b>Footnote 101</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag101">(return)</a> +<p>L. Crauford, in <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, +xxiv. (1895) p. 181.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote102" name= +"footnote102"></a> <b>Footnote 102</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag102">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. C.G. Seligmann, <i>op. cit.</i> v. 206.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote103" name= +"footnote103"></a> <b>Footnote 103</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag103">(return)</a> +<p>Walter E. Roth, <i>North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 5, +Superstition, Magic, and Medicine</i> (Brisbane, 1903), pp. 24 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote104" name= +"footnote104"></a> <b>Footnote 104</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag104">(return)</a> +<p>Walter E. Roth, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 25.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote105" name= +"footnote105"></a> <b>Footnote 105</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag105">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in <i>Reports of the Cambridge +Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits</i>, v. (Cambridge, +1904), p. 205.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote106" name= +"footnote106"></a> <b>Footnote 106</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag106">(return)</a> +<p>From notes kindly sent me by Dr. C.G. Seligmann. The practice of +burying a girl at puberty was observed also by some Indian tribes +of California, but apparently rather for the purpose of producing a +sweat than for the sake of concealment. The treatment lasted only +twenty-four hours, during which the patient was removed from the +ground and washed three or four times, to be afterwards reimbedded. +Dancing was kept up the whole time by the women. See H. R. +Schoolcraft, <i>Indian Tribes of the United States</i> +(Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 215.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote107" name= +"footnote107"></a> <b>Footnote 107</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag107">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in <i>Reports of the Cambridge +Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits</i>, v. 201 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote108" name= +"footnote108"></a> <b>Footnote 108</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag108">(return)</a> +<p>A.L. Kroeber, "The Religion of the Indians of California," +<i>University of California Publications in American Archaeology +and Ethnology</i>, vol. iv. No. 6 (September, 1907), p. 324.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote109" name= +"footnote109"></a> <b>Footnote 109</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag109">(return)</a> +<p>Roland B. Dixon, "The Northern Maidu," <i>Bulletin of the +American Museum of Natural History</i>, vol. xvii. Part iii. (May +1905) pp. 232 <i>sq.</i>, compare pp. 233-238.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote110" name= +"footnote110"></a> <b>Footnote 110</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag110">(return)</a> +<p>Stephen Powers, <i>Tribes of California</i> (Washington, 1877), +p. 85 (<i>Contributions to North American Ethnology</i>, vol. +iii.).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote111" name= +"footnote111"></a> <b>Footnote 111</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag111">(return)</a> +<p>Stephen Powers, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 235.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote112" name= +"footnote112"></a> <b>Footnote 112</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag112">(return)</a> +<p>Charles Wilkes, <i>Narrative of the United States Exploring +Expedition</i>, New Edition (New York, 1851), iv. 456.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote113" name= +"footnote113"></a> <b>Footnote 113</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag113">(return)</a> +<p>Franz Boas, <i>Chinook Texts</i> (Washington, 1894), pp. 246 +<i>sq.</i> The account, taken down from the lips of a Chinook +Indian, is not perfectly clear; some of the restrictions were +prolonged after the girl's second monthly period.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote114" name= +"footnote114"></a> <b>Footnote 114</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag114">(return)</a> +<p>G.M. Sproat, <i>Scenes and Studies of Savage Life</i> (London, +1868), pp. 93 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote115" name= +"footnote115"></a> <b>Footnote 115</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag115">(return)</a> +<p>Franz Boas, in <i>Sixth Report on the North-Western Tribes of +Canada</i>, pp. 40-42 (separate reprint from the <i>Report of the +British Association for the Advancement of Science</i>, Leeds +meeting, 1890). The rule not to lie down is observed also during +their seclusion at puberty by Tsimshian girls, who always sit +propped up between boxes and mats; their heads are covered with +small mats, and they may not look at men nor at fresh salmon and +olachen. See Franz Boas, in <i>Fifth Report on the North-Western +Tribes of Canada</i>, p. 41 (separate reprint from the <i>Report of +the British Association for the Advancement of Science</i>, +Newcastle-upon-Tyne meeting, 1889); G.M. Dawson, <i>Report on the +Queen Charlotte Islands, 1878</i> (Montreal, 1880), pp. 130 B +<i>sq.</i> Some divine kings are not allowed to lie down. See +<i>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</i>, p. 5.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote116" name= +"footnote116"></a> <b>Footnote 116</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag116">(return)</a> +<p>George M. Dawson, <i>Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands, +1878</i> (Montreal, 1880), p. 130 B; J.R. Swanton, <i>Contributions +to the Ethnology of the Haida</i> (Leyden and New York, 1905), pp. +48-50 (<i>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the +American Museum of Natural History</i>, New York). Speaking of the +customs observed at Kloo, where the girls had to abstain from +salmon for five years, Mr. Swanton says (p. 49): "When five years +had passed, the girl came out, and could do as she pleased." This +seems to imply that the girl was secluded in the house for five +years. We have seen (<a href="#page32">above, p. 32</a>) that in +New Ireland the girls used sometimes to be secluded for the same +period.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote117" name= +"footnote117"></a> <b>Footnote 117</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag117">(return)</a> +<p>G.H. von Langsdorff, <i>Reise um die Welt</i> (Frankfort, 1812), +ii. 114 <i>sq.</i>; H.J. Holmberg, "Ethnographische Skizzen +über die Völker des Russischen Amerika," <i>Acta +Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae</i>, iv. (Helsingfors, 1856) pp. +319 <i>sq.</i>; T. de Pauly, <i>Description Ethnographique des +Peuples de la Russie</i> (St. Petersburg, 1862), <i>Peuples de +l'Amérique Russe</i>, p. 13; A. Erman, "Ethnographische +Wahrnehmungen und Erfahrungen an den Küsten des +Berings-Meeres," <i>Zeitschrift für Ethnologie</i>, ii. (1870) +pp. 318 <i>sq.</i>; H.H. Bancroft, <i>Native Races of the Pacific +States</i> (London, 1875-1876), i. 110 <i>sq.</i>; Rev. Sheldon +Jackson, "Alaska and its Inhabitants," <i>The American +Antiquarian</i>, ii. (Chicago, 1879-1880) pp. 111 <i>sq.</i>; A. +Woldt, <i>Captain Jacobsen's Reise an der Nordwestkiiste Americas, +1881-1883</i> (Leipsic, 1884), p. 393; Aurel Krause, <i>Die +Tlinkit-Indianer</i> (Jena, 1885), pp. 217 <i>sq.</i>; W.M. Grant, +in <i>Journal of American Folk-lore</i>, i. (1888) p. 169; John R. +Swanton, "Social Conditions, Beliefs, and Linguistic Relationship +of the Tlingit Indians," <i>Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the +Bureau of American Ethnology</i> (Washington, 1908), p. 428.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote118" name= +"footnote118"></a> <b>Footnote 118</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag118">(return)</a> +<p>Franz Boas, in <i>Tenth Report of the Committee on the +North-Western Tribes of Canada</i>, p. 45 (separate reprint from +the <i>Report of the British Association for the Advancement of +Science</i>, Ipswich meeting, 1895).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote119" name= +"footnote119"></a> <b>Footnote 119</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag119">(return)</a> +<p>Franz Boas, in <i>Fifth Report of the Committee on the +North-Western Tribes of Canada</i>, p. 42 (separate reprint from +the <i>Report of the British Association for the Advancement of +Science</i>, Newcastle-upon-Tyne meeting, 1889); <i>id.</i>, in +<i>Seventh Report</i>, etc., p. 12 (separate reprint from the +<i>Report of the British Association for the Advancement of +Science</i>, Cardiff meeting, 1891).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote120" name= +"footnote120"></a> <b>Footnote 120</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag120">(return)</a> +<p>"Customs of the New Caledonian women belonging to the Nancaushy +Tine, or Stuart's Lake Indians, Natotin Tine, or Babine's and +Nantley Tine, or Fraser Lake Tribes," from information supplied by +Gavin Hamilton, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company's service, +who has been for many years among these Indians, both he and his +wife speaking their languages fluently (communicated by Dr. John +Rae), <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, vii. (1878) +pp. 206 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote121" name= +"footnote121"></a> <b>Footnote 121</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag121">(return)</a> +<p>Émile Petitot, <i>Traditions Indiennes du Canada +Nord-ouest</i> (Paris, 1886), pp. 257 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote122" name= +"footnote122"></a> <b>Footnote 122</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag122">(return)</a> +<p>Fr. Julius Jetté, S.J., "On the Superstitions of the +Ten'a Indians," <i>Anthropos</i>, vi. (1911) pp. 700-702.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote123" name= +"footnote123"></a> <b>Footnote 123</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag123">(return)</a> +<p>Compare <i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, i. 70 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote124" name= +"footnote124"></a> <b>Footnote 124</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag124">(return)</a> +<p>James Teit, <i>The Thompson Indians of British Columbia</i>, pp. +311-317 (<i>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the +American Museum of Natural History</i>, New York, April, 1900). As +to the customs observed among these Indians by the father of a girl +at such times in order not to lose his luck in hunting, see +<i>Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild</i>, ii. 268.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote125" name= +"footnote125"></a> <b>Footnote 125</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag125">(return)</a> +<p>James Teit, <i>The Lillooet Indians</i> (Leyden and New York, +1906), pp. 263-265 (<i>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir +of the American Museum of Natural History</i>, New York). Compare +C. Hill Tout, "Report on the Ethnology of the Stlatlumh of British +Columbia," <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, xxxv. +(1905) p. 136.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote126" name= +"footnote126"></a> <b>Footnote 126</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag126">(return)</a> +<p>Franz Boas, in <i>Sixth Report of the Committee on the +North-Western Tribes of Canada</i>, pp. 89 <i>sq</i>. (separate +reprint from the <i>Report of the British Association for the +Advancement of Science</i>, Leeds meeting, 1890).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote127" name= +"footnote127"></a> <b>Footnote 127</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag127">(return)</a> +<p>James Teit, <i>The Shuswap</i> (Leyden and New York, 1909), pp. +587 <i>sq.</i> (<i>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of +the American Museum of Natural History</i>, New York).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote128" name= +"footnote128"></a> <b>Footnote 128</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag128">(return)</a> +<p>G.H. Loskiel, <i>History of the Mission of the United Brethren +among the Indians of North America</i> (London, 1794), Part i. pp. +56 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote129" name= +"footnote129"></a> <b>Footnote 129</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag129">(return)</a> +<p>G.B. Grinnell, "Cheyenne Woman Customs," <i>American +Anthropologist</i>, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) pp. 13 +<i>sq</i>. The Cheyennes appear to have been at first settled on +the Mississippi, from which they were driven westward to the +Missouri. See <i>Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico</i>, +edited by F.W. Hodge (Washington, 1907-1910), i. 250 +<i>sqq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote130" name= +"footnote130"></a> <b>Footnote 130</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag130">(return)</a> +<p>H.J. Holmberg, "Ueber die Völker des Russischen Amerika," +<i>Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae</i>, iv. (Helsingfors, +1856) pp. 401 <i>sq.</i>; Ivan Petroff, <i>Report on the +Population, Industries and Resources of Alaska</i>, p. 143.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote131" name= +"footnote131"></a> <b>Footnote 131</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag131">(return)</a> +<p>E.W. Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait," <i>Eighteenth +Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology</i>, Part i. +(Washington, 1899) p. 291.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote132" name= +"footnote132"></a> <b>Footnote 132</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag132">(return)</a> +<p>Jose Guevara, "Historia del Paraguay, Rio de la Plata, y +Tucuman," pp. 16 <i>sq.</i>, in Pedro de Angelis, <i>Coleccion de +Obras y Documentos relativos a la Historia antigua y moderna de las +Provincias del Rio de la Plata</i>, vol. ii. (Buenos-Ayres, 1836); +J.F. Lafitau, <i>Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains</i> (Paris, 1724), +i. 262 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote133" name= +"footnote133"></a> <b>Footnote 133</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag133">(return)</a> +<p>Father Ignace Chomé, in <i>Lettres Édifiantes et +Curieuses</i>, Nouvelle Edition (Paris, 1780-1783), viii. 333. As +to the Chiriguanos, see C.F. Phil. von Martius, <i>Zur Ethnographie +Amerika's, zumal Brasiliens</i> (Leipsic, 1867), pp. 212 +<i>sqq.</i>; Colonel G.E. Church, <i>Aborigines of South +America</i> (London, 1912), pp. 207-227.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote134" name= +"footnote134"></a> <b>Footnote 134</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag134">(return)</a> +<p>A. Thouar, <i>Explorations dans l'Amérique du Sud</i> +(Paris, 1891), pp. 48 <i>sq.</i>; G. Kurze, "Sitten und +Gebräuche der Lengua-Indianer," <i>Mitteilungen der +Geographischen Gesellschaft zu Jena</i>, xxiii. (1905) pp. 26 +<i>sq.</i> The two accounts appear to be identical; but the former +attributes the custom to the Chiriguanos, the latter to the +Lenguas. As the latter account is based on the reports of the Rev. +W.B. Grubb, a missionary who has been settled among the Indians of +the Chaco for many years and is our principal authority on them, I +assume that the ascription of the custom to the Lenguas is correct. +However, in the volume on the Lengua Indians, which has been edited +from Mr. Grubb's papers (<i>An Unknown People in an Unknown +Land</i>, London, 1911), these details as to the seclusion of girls +at puberty are not mentioned, though what seems to be the final +ceremony is described (<i>op. cit.</i> pp. 177 <i>sq.</i>). From +the description we learn that boys dressed in ostrich feathers and +wearing masks circle round the girl with shrill cries, but are +repelled by the women.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote135" name= +"footnote135"></a> <b>Footnote 135</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag135">(return)</a> +<p>Alcide d'Orbigny, <i>Voyage dans l'Amérique +Méridionale</i> vol. iii. 1to Partie (Paris and Strasburg, +1844), pp. 205 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote136" name= +"footnote136"></a> <b>Footnote 136</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag136">(return)</a> +<p>A. Thouar, <i>Explorations dans l'Amérique du Sud</i> +(Paris, 1891) pp. 56 <i>sq.</i>; Father Cardus, quoted in J. +Pelleschi's <i>Los Indios Matacos</i> (Buenos Ayres, 1897), pp. 47 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote137" name= +"footnote137"></a> <b>Footnote 137</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag137">(return)</a> +<p>A. Thouar, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 63.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote138" name= +"footnote138"></a> <b>Footnote 138</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag138">(return)</a> +<p>Francis de Castelnau, <i>Expédition dans les parties +centrales de l'Amérique du Sud</i> (Paris, 1850-1851), v. +25.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote139" name= +"footnote139"></a> <b>Footnote 139</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag139">(return)</a> +<p>D. Luis de la Cruz, "Descripcion de la Naturaleza de los +Terrenos que se comprenden en los Andes, poseidos por los +Peguenches y los demas espacios hasta el rio de Chadileuba," p. 62, +in Pedro de Angelis, <i>Coleccion de Obras y Documentos relativos a +la Historia antigua y moderna de las Provincias del Rio de la +Plata</i>, vol. i. (Buenos-Ayres, 1836). Apparently the Peguenches +are an Indian tribe of Chili.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote140" name= +"footnote140"></a> <b>Footnote 140</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag140">(return)</a> +<p>J.B. von Spix und C.F. Ph. von Martius, <i>Reise in +Brasilien</i> (Munich, 1823-1831), iii. 1186, 1187, 1318.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote141" name= +"footnote141"></a> <b>Footnote 141</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag141">(return)</a> +<p>André Thevet, <i>Cosmographie Universelle</i> (Paris, +1575), ii. 946 B [980] <i>sq.</i>; <i>id., Les Singularites de la +France Antarctique, autrement nommée Amerique</i> (Antwerp, +1558), p. 76; J.F. Lafitau, <i>Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains</i> +(Paris, 1724), i. 290 <i>sqq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote142" name= +"footnote142"></a> <b>Footnote 142</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag142">(return)</a> +<p>R. Schomburgk, <i>Reisen in Britisch Guiana</i> (Leipsic, +1847-1848), ii. 315 <i>sq.</i>; C.F.Ph. von Martius, <i>Zur +Ethnographie Amerika's, zumal Brasiliens</i> (Leipsic, 1867), p. +644.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote143" name= +"footnote143"></a> <b>Footnote 143</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag143">(return)</a> +<p>Labat, <i>Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, +Isles voisines, et à Cayenne</i>, iv. 365 <i>sq.</i> (Paris, +1730), pp. 17 <i>sq.</i> (Amsterdam, 1731).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote144" name= +"footnote144"></a> <b>Footnote 144</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag144">(return)</a> +<p>A. Caulin, <i>Historia Coro-graphica natural y evangelica dela +Nueva Andalucia</i> (1779), p. 93. A similar custom, with the +omission of the stinging, is reported of the Tamanaks in the region +of the Orinoco. See F.S. Gilij, <i>Saggio di Storia Americana</i>, +ii. (Rome, 1781), p. 133.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote145" name= +"footnote145"></a> <b>Footnote 145</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag145">(return)</a> +<p>A.R. Wallace, <i>Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio +Negro</i>, p. 496 (p. 345 of the Minerva Library edition, London, +1889).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote146" name= +"footnote146"></a> <b>Footnote 146</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag146">(return)</a> +<p><i>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</i>, pp. 105 <i>sqq.</i>; +<i>The Scapegoat</i>> pp. 259 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote147" name= +"footnote147"></a> <b>Footnote 147</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag147">(return)</a> +<p>J.B. von Spix and C.F.Ph. von Martius, <i>Reise in Brasilien</i> +(Munich, 1823-1831), iii. 1320.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote148" name= +"footnote148"></a> <b>Footnote 148</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag148">(return)</a> +<p>W. Lewis Herndon, <i>Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon</i> +(Washington, 1854), pp. 319 <i>sq.</i> The scene was described to +Mr. Herndon by a French engineer and architect, M. de Lincourt, who +witnessed it at Manduassu, a village on the Tapajos river. Mr. +Herndon adds: "The <i>Tocandeira</i> ants not only bite, but are +also armed with a sting like the wasp; but the pain felt from it is +more violent. I think it equal to that occasioned by the sting of +the black scorpion." He gives the name of the Indians as Mahues, +but I assume that they are the same as the Mauhes described by Spix +and Martius.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote149" name= +"footnote149"></a> <b>Footnote 149</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag149">(return)</a> +<p>Francis de Castelnau, <i>Expédition dans les parties +centrals de l'Amérique du Sud</i> (Paris, 1850-1851), v. +46.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote150" name= +"footnote150"></a> <b>Footnote 150</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag150">(return)</a> +<p>L'Abbé Durand, "Le Rio Negro du Nord et son bassin," +<i>Bulletin de la Société de Géographie</i> +(Paris), vi. Série, iii. (1872) pp. 21 <i>sq.</i> The writer +says that the candidate has to keep his arms plunged up to the +shoulders in vessels full of ants, "as in a bath of vitriol," for +hours. He gives the native name of the ant as <i>issauba</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote151" name= +"footnote151"></a> <b>Footnote 151</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag151">(return)</a> +<p>J. Crevaux, <i>Voyages dans l'Amérique du Sud</i> (Paris, +1883), pp. 245-250.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote152" name= +"footnote152"></a> <b>Footnote 152</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag152">(return)</a> +<p>H. Coudreau, <i>Chez nos Indiens: quatre années dans la +Guyane Française</i> (Paris, 1895), p. 228. For details as +to the different modes of administering the <i>maraké</i> +see <i>ibid.</i> pp. 228-235.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote153" name= +"footnote153"></a> <b>Footnote 153</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag153">(return)</a> +<p>Father Geronimo Boscana, "Chinigchinich," in <i>Life in +California by an American</i> [A. Robinson] (New York, 1846), pp. +273 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote154" name= +"footnote154"></a> <b>Footnote 154</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag154">(return)</a> +<p>F. Stuhlmann, <i>Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika</i> +(Berlin, 1894), p. 506.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote155" name= +"footnote155"></a> <b>Footnote 155</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag155">(return)</a> +<p>As a confirmation of this view it may be pointed out that +beating or scourging is inflicted on inanimate objects expressly +for the purpose indicated in the text. Thus the Indians of Costa +Rica hold that there are two kinds of ceremonial uncleanness, +<i>nya</i> and <i>bu-ku-rú</i>. Anything that has been +connected with a death is <i>nya</i>. But <i>bu-ku-rú</i> is +much more virulent. It can not only make one sick but kill. +"<i>Bu-ku-rú</i> emanates in a variety of ways; arms, +utensils, even houses become affected by it after long disuse, and +before they can be used again must be purified. In the case of +portable objects left undisturbed for a long time, the custom is to +beat them with a stick before touching them. I have seen a woman +take a long walking-stick and beat a basket hanging from the roof +of a house by a cord. On asking what that was for, I was told that +the basket contained her treasures, that she would probably want to +take something out the next day, and that she was driving off the +<i>bu-ku-rú</i>. A house long unused must be swept, and then +the person who is purifying it must take a stick and beat not only +the movable objects, but the beds, posts, and in short every +accessible part of the interior. The next day it is fit for +occupation. A place not visited for a long time or reached for the +first time is <i>bu-ku-rú</i>. On our return from the ascent +of Pico Blanco, nearly all the party suffered from little +calenturas, the result of extraordinary exposure to wet and cold +and of want of food. The Indians said that the peak was especially +<i>bu-ku-rú</i> since nobody had ever been on it before." +One day Mr. Gabb took down some dusty blow-guns amid cries of +<i>bu-ku-rú</i> from the Indians. Some weeks afterwards a +boy died, and the Indians firmly believed that the +<i>bu-ku-rú</i> of the blow-guns had killed him. "From all +the foregoing, it would seem that <i>bu-ku-rú</i> is a sort +of evil spirit that takes possession of the object, and resents +being disturbed; but I have never been able to learn from the +Indians that they consider it so. They seem to think of it as a +property the object acquires. But the worst <i>bu-ku-rú</i> +of all, is that of a young woman in her first pregnancy. She +infects the whole neighbourhood. Persons going from the house where +she lives, carry the infection with them to a distance, and all the +deaths or other serious misfortunes in the vicinity are laid to her +charge. In the old times, when the savage laws and customs were in +full force, it was not an uncommon thing for the husband of such a +woman to pay damages for casualties thus caused by his unfortunate +wife." See Wm. M. Gabb, "On the Indian Tribes and Languages of +Costa Rica," <i>Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society +held at Philadelphia</i>, xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876) pp. 504 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote156" name= +"footnote156"></a> <b>Footnote 156</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag156">(return)</a> +<p>J. Chaffanjon, <i>L'Orénoque et le Caura</i> (Paris, +1889), pp. 213-215.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote157" name= +"footnote157"></a> <b>Footnote 157</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag157">(return)</a> +<p>Shib Chunder Bose, <i>The Hindoos as they are</i> (London and +Calcutta, 1881), p. 86. Similarly, after a Brahman boy has been +invested with the sacred thread, he is for three days strictly +forbidden to see the sun. He may not eat salt, and he is enjoined +to sleep either on a carpet or a deer's skin, without a mattress or +mosquito curtain (<i>ibid.</i> p. 186). In Bali, boys who have had +their teeth filed, as a preliminary to marriage, are kept shut up +in a dark room for three days (R. Van Eck, "Schetsen van het eiland +Bali," <i>Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië</i>, N.S., ix. +(1880) pp. 428 <i>sq.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote158" name= +"footnote158"></a> <b>Footnote 158</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag158">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) H.H. Risley, <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Ethnographic +Glossary</i> (Calcutta, 1891-1892), i. 152.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote159" name= +"footnote159"></a> <b>Footnote 159</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag159">(return)</a> +<p>Edgar Thurston, <i>Castes and Tribes of Southern India</i> +(Madras, 1909), vii. 63 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote160" name= +"footnote160"></a> <b>Footnote 160</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag160">(return)</a> +<p>Edgar Thurston, <i>op. cit.</i> iii. 218.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote161" name= +"footnote161"></a> <b>Footnote 161</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag161">(return)</a> +<p>Edgar Thurston, <i>op. cit.</i> vi. 157.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote162" name= +"footnote162"></a> <b>Footnote 162</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag162">(return)</a> +<p>S. Mateer, <i>Native Life in Travancore</i> (London, 1883), p. +45.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote163" name= +"footnote163"></a> <b>Footnote 163</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag163">(return)</a> +<p>Arthur A. Perera, "Glimpses of Singhalese Social Life," +<i>Indian Antiquary</i> xxxi, (1902) p. 380.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote164" name= +"footnote164"></a> <b>Footnote 164</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag164">(return)</a> +<p>J. Moura, <i>Le Royaume du Cambodge</i> (Paris, 1883), i. +377.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote165" name= +"footnote165"></a> <b>Footnote 165</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag165">(return)</a> +<p>Étienne Aymonier, "Notes sur les coutumes et croyances +superstitieuses des Cambodgiens," <i>Cochinchine Française: +Excursions et Reconnaissances</i>, No. 16 (Saigon, 1883), pp. 193 +<i>sq.</i> Compare <i>id., Notice sur le Cambodge</i> (Paris, +1875), p. 50 <i>id., Notes sur le Laos</i> (Saigon, 1885), p. +177.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote166" name= +"footnote166"></a> <b>Footnote 166</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag166">(return)</a> +<p>Svend Grundtvig, <i>Dänische Volks-märchen</i>, +übersetzt von A. Strodtmann, Zweite Sammlung (Leipsic, 1879), +pp. 199 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote167" name= +"footnote167"></a> <b>Footnote 167</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag167">(return)</a> +<p>Christian Schneller, <i>Märchen und Sagen aus +Wälschtirol</i> (Innsbruck, 1867), No. 22, pp. 51 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote168" name= +"footnote168"></a> <b>Footnote 168</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag168">(return)</a> +<p>Bernbard Schmidt, <i>Griechische Märchen, Sagen und +Volkslieder</i> (Leipsic, 1877), p. 98.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote169" name= +"footnote169"></a> <b>Footnote 169</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag169">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. von Hahn, <i>Griechische und albanesische Märchen</i> +(Leipsic, 1864), No. 41, vol. i. pp. 245 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote170" name= +"footnote170"></a> <b>Footnote 170</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag170">(return)</a> +<p>Laura Gonzenbach, <i>Sicilianische Märchen</i> (Leipsic, +1870), No. 28, vol. i. pp. 177 <i>sqq.</i> The incident of the bone +occurs in other folk-tales. A prince or princess is shut up for +safety in a tower and makes his or her escape by scraping a hole in +the wall with a bone which has been accidentally conveyed into the +tower; sometimes it is expressly said that care was taken to let +the princess have no bones with her meat (J.G. von Hahn, <i>op. +cit.</i> No. 15; L. Gonzenbach, <i>op. cit.</i> Nos. 26, 27; <i>Der +Pentamerone, aus dem Neapolitanischen übertragen</i> von Felix +Liebrecht (Breslau, 1846), No. 23, vol. i. pp. 294 <i>sqq.</i>). +From this we should infer that it is a rule with savages not to let +women handle the bones of animals during their monthly seclusions. +We have already seen the great respect with which the savage treats +the bones of game (<i>Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild</i> ii. +238 <i>sqq.</i>, 256 <i>sqq.</i>); and women in their courses are +specially forbidden to meddle with the hunter or fisher, as their +contact or neighbourhood would spoil his sport (see below, pp. +<a href="#page77">77</a>, <a href="#page78">78</a> <i>sq.</i>, +<a href="#page87">87</a>, <a href="#page89">89</a> <i>sqq.</i>). In +folk-tales the hero who uses the bone is sometimes a boy; but the +incident might easily be transferred from a girl to a boy after its +real meaning had been forgotten. Amongst the Tinneh Indians a girl +at puberty is forbidden to break the bones of hares (<a href= +"#page48">above, p. 48</a>). On the other hand, she drinks out of a +tube made of a swan's bone (above, pp. <a href="#page48">48</a>, +<a href="#page49">49</a>), and the same instrument is used for the +same purpose by girls of the Carrier tribe of Indians (see below, +p. <a href="#page92">92</a>). We have seen that a Tlingit +(Thlinkeet) girl in the same circumstances used to drink out of the +wing-bone of a white-headed eagle (above, p. <a href= +"#page45">45</a>), and that among the Nootka and Shuswap tribes +girls at puberty are provided with bones or combs with which to +scratch themselves, because they may not use their fingers for this +purpose (above, pp. <a href="#page44">44</a>, <a href= +"#page53">53</a>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote171" name= +"footnote171"></a> <b>Footnote 171</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag171">(return)</a> +<p>Sophocles, <i>Antigone</i>, 944 <i>sqq.</i>; Apollodorus, +<i>Bibliotheca</i>, ii. 4. I; Horace, <i>Odes</i>, iii. 16. I +<i>sqq.</i>; Pausanias, ii. 23. 7.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote172" name= +"footnote172"></a> <b>Footnote 172</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag172">(return)</a> +<p>W. Radloff, <i>Proben der Volks-litteratur der türkischen +Stämme Süd-Siberiens,</i> iii. (St. Petersburg, 1870) pp. +82 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote173" name= +"footnote173"></a> <b>Footnote 173</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag173">(return)</a> +<p>H. Ternaux-Compans, <i>Essai sur l'ancien Cundinamarca</i> +(Paris, N.D.), p. 18.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote174" name= +"footnote174"></a> <b>Footnote 174</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag174">(return)</a> +<p>George Turner, LL.D., <i>Samoa, a Hundred Years ago and long +before</i> (London, 1884), p. 200. For other examples of such +tales, see Adolph Bastian, <i>Die Voelker des Oestlichen Asien</i>, +i. 416, vi. 25; <i>Panjab Notes and Queries</i>, ii. p. 148, § +797 (June, 1885); A. Pfizmaier, "Nachrichten von den alten +Bewohnern des heutigen Corea," <i>Sitzungsberichte der philosoph. +histor. Classe der kaiser. Akademie der Wissenschaften</i> +(Vienna), lvii. (1868) pp. 495 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote175" name= +"footnote175"></a> <b>Footnote 175</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag175">(return)</a> +<p>Thomas J. Hutchinson, "On the Chaco and other Indians of South +America," <i>Transactions of the Ethnological Society of +London</i>, N.S. iii. (1865) p. 327. Amongst the Lengua Indians of +the Paraguayan Chaco the marriage feast is now apparently extinct. +See W. Barbrooke Grubb, <i>An Unknown People in an Unknown Land</i> +(London, 1911), p. 179.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote176" name= +"footnote176"></a> <b>Footnote 176</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag176">(return)</a> +<p>Monier Williams, <i>Religious Thought and Life in India</i> +(London, 1883), p. 354.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote177" name= +"footnote177"></a> <b>Footnote 177</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag177">(return)</a> +<p>H. Vambery, <i>Das Türkenvolk</i> (Leipsic, 1885), p. +112.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote178" name= +"footnote178"></a> <b>Footnote 178</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag178">(return)</a> +<p>Hans Egede, <i>A Description of Greenland</i> (London, 1818), p. +209.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote179" name= +"footnote179"></a> <b>Footnote 179</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag179">(return)</a> +<p><i>Revue des Traditions Populaires</i>, xv. (1900) p. 471.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote180" name= +"footnote180"></a> <b>Footnote 180</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag180">(return)</a> +<p><i>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</i>, pp. 145 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote181" name= +"footnote181"></a> <b>Footnote 181</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag181">(return)</a> +<p>H.E.A. Meyer, "Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the +Encounter Bay Tribe, South Australia," <i>The Native Tribes of +South Australia</i> (Adelaide, 1879), p. 186.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote182" name= +"footnote182"></a> <b>Footnote 182</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag182">(return)</a> +<p>E.J. Eyre, <i>Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central +Australia</i> (London, 1845), ii. 304.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote183" name= +"footnote183"></a> <b>Footnote 183</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag183">(return)</a> +<p>E.J. Eyre, <i>op. cit.</i> ii. 295.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote184" name= +"footnote184"></a> <b>Footnote 184</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag184">(return)</a> +<p>R. Brough Smyth, <i>The Aborigines of Victoria</i> (Melbourne +and London, 1878), i. 236.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote185" name= +"footnote185"></a> <b>Footnote 185</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag185">(return)</a> +<p>Samuel Gason, in <i>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</i>, xxiv. (1895) p. 171.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote186" name= +"footnote186"></a> <b>Footnote 186</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag186">(return)</a> +<p>Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen, <i>Native Tribes of Central +Australia</i> (London, 1899), p. 473; <i>idem, Northern Tribes of +Central Australia</i> (London, 1904), p. 615.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote187" name= +"footnote187"></a> <b>Footnote 187</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag187">(return)</a> +<p>James Dawson, <i>Australian Aborigines</i> (Melbourne, Sydney, +and Adelaide, 1881), pp. ci. <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote188" name= +"footnote188"></a> <b>Footnote 188</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag188">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. William Ridley, "Report on Australian Languages and +Traditions," <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, ii. +(1873) p. 268. Compare <i>id., Kamilaroi and other Australian +Languages</i> (Sydney, 1875), p. 157.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote189" name= +"footnote189"></a> <b>Footnote 189</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag189">(return)</a> +<p>A.W. Howitt, <i>The Native Tribes of South-East Australia</i> +(London, 1904.), pp. 776 <i>sq.</i>, on the authority of Mr. J.C. +Muirhead. The Wakelbura are in Central Queensland. Compare Captain +W.E. Armit, quoted in <i>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</i>, ix. (1880) pp. 459 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote190" name= +"footnote190"></a> <b>Footnote 190</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag190">(return)</a> +<p><i>Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres +Straits</i>, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 196, 207.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote191" name= +"footnote191"></a> <b>Footnote 191</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag191">(return)</a> +<p>Ch. Keysser, "Aus dem Leben der Kaileute," in R. Neuhauss's +<i>Deutsch Neu-Guinea</i> (Berlin, 1911), iii. 91.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote192" name= +"footnote192"></a> <b>Footnote 192</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag192">(return)</a> +<p>M.J. van Baarda, "Fabelen, Verhalen en Overleveringen der +Galelareezen," <i>Bijdragen tot de Taal-Landen Volkenkinde van +Nederlandsch-Indië</i>, xlv. (1895) p. 489.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote193" name= +"footnote193"></a> <b>Footnote 193</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag193">(return)</a> +<p>J.L. van der Toorn, "Het animisme bij den Minangkabauer der +Padangsche Bovenlanden," <i>Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land- en +Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië</i>, xxxix. (1890) p. +66.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote194" name= +"footnote194"></a> <b>Footnote 194</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag194">(return)</a> +<p>W.H.I. Bleek, <i>A Brief Account of Bushman Folk-lore</i> +(London, 1875), p. 14; compare <i>ibid.</i>, p. 10.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote195" name= +"footnote195"></a> <b>Footnote 195</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag195">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. James Macdonald, "Manners, Customs, Superstitions and +Religions of South African Tribes," <i>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</i>, xx. (1891) p. 138; <i>id., Light in +Africa</i>, Second Edition (London, 1890), p. 221.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote196" name= +"footnote196"></a> <b>Footnote 196</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag196">(return)</a> +<p>Dudley Kidd, <i>The Essential Kafir</i> (London, 1904), p. 238; +Mr. Warren's Notes, in Col. Maclean's <i>Compendium of Kafir Laws +and Customs</i> (Cape Town, 1866), p. 93; Rev. J. Macdonald, +<i>Light in Africa</i>, p. 221; <i>id., Religion and Myth</i> +(London, 1893), p. 198. Compare Henri A. Junod, "Les conceptions +physiologiques des Bantou Sud-Africains et leurs tabous," <i>Revue +d'Ethnographie et de Sociologie</i>, i. (1910) p. 139. The danger +of death to the cattle from the blood of women is mentioned only by +Mr. Kidd. The part of the village which is frequented by the +cattle, and which accordingly must be shunned by women, has a +special name, <i>inkundhla</i> (Mr. Warner's Notes, +<i>l.c.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote197" name= +"footnote197"></a> <b>Footnote 197</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag197">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, "The Bahima, a Cow Tribe of Enkole," <i>Journal +of the Royal Anthropological Institute</i>, xxxvii. (1907) p. +106.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote198" name= +"footnote198"></a> <b>Footnote 198</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag198">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, <i>The Baganda</i> (London, 1911), p. 419.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote199" name= +"footnote199"></a> <b>Footnote 199</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag199">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, <i>The Baganda</i>, p. 96.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote200" name= +"footnote200"></a> <b>Footnote 200</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag200">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, "Notes on the Manners and Customs of the +Baganda," <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, xxxi. +(1901) p. 121; <i>id.</i>, "Further Notes on the Manners and +Customs of the Baganda," <i>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</i>, xxxii. (1902) p. 39; <i>id., The Baganda</i>, p. +352.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote201" name= +"footnote201"></a> <b>Footnote 201</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag201">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Roscoe, <i>The Baganda</i>, p. 459.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote202" name= +"footnote202"></a> <b>Footnote 202</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag202">(return)</a> +<p>C.W. Hobley, "Further Researches into Kikuyu and Kamba Religious +Beliefs and Customs," <i>Journal of the Royal Anthropological +Institute</i>, xli. (1911) p. 409.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote203" name= +"footnote203"></a> <b>Footnote 203</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag203">(return)</a> +<p>Mervyn W.H. Beech, <i>The Suk, their Language and Folklore</i> +(Oxford, 1911), p. 11.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote204" name= +"footnote204"></a> <b>Footnote 204</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag204">(return)</a> +<p>H.S. Stannus, "Notes on some Tribes of British Central Africa," +<i>Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute</i>, xl. (1910) +p. 305; R. Sutherland Rattray, <i>Some Folk-lore Stories and Songs +in Chinyanja</i> (London, 1907), p. 191. See above, p. <a href= +"#page27">27</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote205" name= +"footnote205"></a> <b>Footnote 205</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag205">(return)</a> +<p>Jakob Spieth, <i>Die Ewe-Stämme</i> (Berlin, 1906), p. +192.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote206" name= +"footnote206"></a> <b>Footnote 206</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag206">(return)</a> +<p>Anton Witte, "Menstruation und Pubertätsfeier der +Mädchen in Kpandugebiet Togo," <i>Baessler-Archiv</i>, i. +(1911) p. 279.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote207" name= +"footnote207"></a> <b>Footnote 207</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag207">(return)</a> +<p>Th. Nöldeke, <i>Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit +der Sassaniden, aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari +übersetzt</i> (Leyden, 1879), pp. 33-38. I have to thank my +friend Professor A.A. Bevan for pointing out to me this passage. +Many ancient cities had talismans on the preservation of which +their safety was believed to depend. The Palladium of Troy is the +most familiar instance. See Chr. A. Lobeck, <i>Aglaophamus</i> +(Königsberg, 1829), pp. 278 <i>sqq.</i>, and my note on +Pausanias, viii. 47. 5 (vol. iv. pp. 433 <i>sq.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote208" name= +"footnote208"></a> <b>Footnote 208</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag208">(return)</a> +<p>J. Mergel, <i>Die Medezin der Talmudisten</i> (Leipsic and +Berlin, 1885), pp. 15 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote209" name= +"footnote209"></a> <b>Footnote 209</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag209">(return)</a> +<p>Maimonides, quoted by D. Chwolsohn, <i>Die Ssabier und der +Ssabismus</i> (St. Petersburg, 1856), ii. 483. According to the +editor (p. 735) by the East Maimonides means India and eastern +countries generally.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote210" name= +"footnote210"></a> <b>Footnote 210</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag210">(return)</a> +<p>L'abbé Béchara Chémali, "Naissance et +premier âge au Liban," <i>Anthropos</i>, v. (1910) p. +735.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote211" name= +"footnote211"></a> <b>Footnote 211</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag211">(return)</a> +<p>Eijub Abela, "Beiträge zur Kenntniss abergläubischer +Gebräuche in Syrien," <i>Zeitschrift des deutschen +Palaestina-Vereins</i>, vii. (1884) p. 111.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote212" name= +"footnote212"></a> <b>Footnote 212</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag212">(return)</a> +<p>J. Chalmers, "Toaripi," <i>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</i>, xxvii. (1898) p. 328.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote213" name= +"footnote213"></a> <b>Footnote 213</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag213">(return)</a> +<p>W. Crooke, <i>Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces +and Qudh</i> (Calcutta, 1896), ii. 87.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote214" name= +"footnote214"></a> <b>Footnote 214</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag214">(return)</a> +<p>W. Crooke, in <i>North Indian Notes and Queries</i>, i. p. 67, +§ 467 (July, 1891).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote215" name= +"footnote215"></a> <b>Footnote 215</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag215">(return)</a> +<p>L.K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, <i>The Cochin Tribes and Castes</i>, +i. (Madras, 1909) pp. 201-203. As to the seclusion of menstruous +women among the Hindoos, see also Sonnerat, <i>Voyage aux Indes +Orientates et à la Chine</i> (Paris, 1782), i. 31; J.A. +Dubois, <i>Moeurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des +Peuples de l'Inde</i> (Paris, 1825), i. 245 <i>sq.</i> Nair women +in Malabar seclude themselves for three days at menstruation and +prepare their food in separate pots and pans. See Duarte Barbosa, +<i>Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the +beginning of the Sixteenth Century</i> (Hakluyt Society, London, +1866), pp. 132 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote216" name= +"footnote216"></a> <b>Footnote 216</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag216">(return)</a> +<p>G. Hoffman, <i>Auszüge aus Syrischen Akten persisischer +Martyrer übersetzt</i> (Leipsic, 1880), p. 99. This passage +was pointed out to me by my friend Professor A.A. Bevan.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote217" name= +"footnote217"></a> <b>Footnote 217</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag217">(return)</a> +<p>J.B. Tavernier, <i>Voyages en Turquie, en Perse, et aux +Indes</i> (The Hague, 1718), i. 488.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote218" name= +"footnote218"></a> <b>Footnote 218</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag218">(return)</a> +<p>Paul Giran, <i>Magie et Religion Annamites</i> (Paris, 1912), +pp. 107 <i>sq.</i>, 112.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote219" name= +"footnote219"></a> <b>Footnote 219</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag219">(return)</a> +<p>Joseph Gumilla, <i>Histoire Naturelle, Civile, et +Géographique de l'Orenoque</i> (Avignon, 1758), i. 249.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote220" name= +"footnote220"></a> <b>Footnote 220</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag220">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. Louis Plassard, "Les Guaraunos et le delta de +l'Orénoque," <i>Bulletin de la Société de +Géographie</i> (Paris), v. Série, xv. (1868) p. +584.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote221" name= +"footnote221"></a> <b>Footnote 221</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag221">(return)</a> +<p>J. Crevaux, <i>Voyages dans l'Amérique du Sud</i> (Paris, +1883), p. 526. As to the customs observed at menstruation by Indian +women in South America, see further A. d'Orbigny, <i>L'Homme +Americain</i> (Paris, 1839), i. 237.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote222" name= +"footnote222"></a> <b>Footnote 222</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag222">(return)</a> +<p>Chas. N. Bell, "The Mosquito Territory," <i>Journal of the Royal +Geographical Society</i>, xxxii. (1862) p. 254.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote223" name= +"footnote223"></a> <b>Footnote 223</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag223">(return)</a> +<p>H. Pittier de Fabrega, "Die Sprache der Bribri-Indianer in Costa +Rica," <i>Sitztungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen Classe +der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften</i> (Vienna), +cxxxviii. (1898) pp. 19 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote224" name= +"footnote224"></a> <b>Footnote 224</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag224">(return)</a> +<p>Gabriel Sagard, <i>Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons</i>, +Nouvelle Édition (Paris, 1865), p. 54 (original edition, +Paris, 1632); J.F. Lafitau, <i>Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains</i> +(Paris, 1724), i. 262; Charlevoix, <i>Histoire de la Nouvelle +France</i> (Paris, 1744), v. 423 <i>sq.</i>; Captain Jonathan +Carver, <i>Travels through the Interior Parts of North America</i>, +Third Edition (London, 1781), pp. 236 <i>sq.</i>; Captains Lewis +and Clark, <i>Expedition to the Sources of the Missouri</i>, etc. +(London, 1905), iii. 90 (original edition, 1814); Rev. Jedidiah +Morse, <i>Report to the Secretary of War of the United States on +Indian Affairs</i> (New Haven, 1822), pp. 136 <i>sq.</i>; +<i>Annales de l'Association de la Propagation de la Foi</i>, iv, +(Paris and Lyons, 1830) pp. 483, 494 <i>sq.</i>; George Catlin, +<i>Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the +North American Indians</i>, Fourth Edition (London, 1844), ii. 233; +H.R. Schoolcraft, <i>Indian Tribes of the United States</i> +(Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 70; A.L. Kroeber, "The Religion of +the Indians of California," <i>University of California Publication +in American Archaeology and Ethnology</i>, vol. iv. No. 6 +(Berkeley, September, 1907), pp. 323 <i>sq.</i>; Frank G. Speck, +<i>Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians</i> (Philadelphia, 1909), p. 96. +Among the Hurons of Canada women at their periods did not retire +from the house or village, but they ate from small dishes apart +from the rest of the family at these times (Gabriel Sagard, +<i>l.c.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote225" name= +"footnote225"></a> <b>Footnote 225</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag225">(return)</a> +<p>James Adair, <i>History of the American Indians</i> (London, +1775), pp. 123 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote226" name= +"footnote226"></a> <b>Footnote 226</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag226">(return)</a> +<p>Bossu, <i>Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes occidentales</i> (Paris, +1768), ii. 105.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote227" name= +"footnote227"></a> <b>Footnote 227</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag227">(return)</a> +<p>Edwin James, <i>Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the +Rocky Mountains</i> (London, 1823), i. 214.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote228" name= +"footnote228"></a> <b>Footnote 228</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag228">(return)</a> +<p>William H. Keating, <i>Narrative of an Expedition to the Source +of St. Peter's River</i> (London, 1825), i. 132.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote229" name= +"footnote229"></a> <b>Footnote 229</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag229">(return)</a> +<p>G.B. Grinnell, "Cheyenne Woman Customs," <i>American +Anthropologist</i>, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) p. 14.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote230" name= +"footnote230"></a> <b>Footnote 230</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag230">(return)</a> +<p>C. Hill Tout, "Ethnological Report on the Stseelis and Skaulits +Tribes of the Halokmelem Division of the Salish of British +Columbia," <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, xxxiv. +(1904) p. 320.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote231" name= +"footnote231"></a> <b>Footnote 231</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag231">(return)</a> +<p>James Teit, <i>The Thompson Indians of British Columbia</i>, pp. +326 <i>sq.</i> (<i>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of +the American Museum of Natural History</i>, New York, April, +1900).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote232" name= +"footnote232"></a> <b>Footnote 232</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag232">(return)</a> +<p>Samuel Hearne, <i>Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in +Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean</i> (London, 1795), pp. 314 +<i>sq.</i>; Alex. Mackenzie, <i>Voyages through the Continent of +North America</i> (London, 1801), p. cxxiii.; E. Petitot, +<i>Monographic des Déné-Dindjié</i> (Paris, +1876), pp. 75 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote233" name= +"footnote233"></a> <b>Footnote 233</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag233">(return)</a> +<p>C. Leemius, <i>De Lapponibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua vita et +religione pristina</i> (Copenhagen, 1767), p. 494.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote234" name= +"footnote234"></a> <b>Footnote 234</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag234">(return)</a> +<p>E.W. Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait," <i>Eighteenth +Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology</i>, Part i. +(Washington, 1899) p. 440.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote235" name= +"footnote235"></a> <b>Footnote 235</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag235">(return)</a> +<p>The Carriers are a tribe of Déné or Tinneh Indians +who get their name from a custom observed among them by widows, who +carry, or rather used to carry, the charred bones of their dead +husbands about with them in bundles.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote236" name= +"footnote236"></a> <b>Footnote 236</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag236">(return)</a> +<p>Hence we may conjecture that the similar ornaments worn by +Mabuiag girls in similar circumstances are also amulets. See above, +p. <a href="#page36">36</a>. Among the aborigines of the Upper +Yarra river in Victoria, a girl at puberty used to have cords tied +very tightly round several parts of her body. The cords were worn +for several days, causing the whole body to swell very much and +inflicting great pain. The girl might not remove them till she was +clean. See R. Brough Smyth, <i>Aborigines of Victoria</i> +(Melbourne and London, 1878), i. 65. Perhaps the cords were +intended to arrest the flow of blood.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote237" name= +"footnote237"></a> <b>Footnote 237</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag237">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Father A.G. Morice, "The Western Dénés, their +Manners and Customs," <i>Proceedings of the Canadian Institute, +Toronto</i>, Third Series, vii. (1888-89) pp. 162-164. The writer +has repeated the substance of this account in a later work, <i>Au +pays de l'Ours Noir: chez les sauvages de la Colombia +Britannique</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1897), pp. 72 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote238" name= +"footnote238"></a> <b>Footnote 238</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag238">(return)</a> +<p>A.G. Morice, "Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, and +Sociological, on the Western Dénés," <i>Transactions +of the Canadian Institute</i>, iv. (1892-93) pp. 106 <i>sq.</i> +Compare Rev. Father Julius Jetté, "On the Superstitions of +the Ten'a Indians," <i>Anthropos</i>, vi. (1911) pp. 703 +<i>sq.</i>, who tells us that Tinneh women at these times may not +lift their own nets, may not step over other people's nets, and may +not pass in a boat or canoe near a place where nets are being +set.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote239" name= +"footnote239"></a> <b>Footnote 239</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag239">(return)</a> +<p>A.G. Morice, in <i>Transactions of the Canadian Institute</i>, +iv. (1892-93) pp. 107, 110.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote240" name= +"footnote240"></a> <b>Footnote 240</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag240">(return)</a> +<p>James Teit, <i>The Thompson Indians of British Columbia</i>, p. +327 (<i>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American +Museum of Natural History</i>, New York, April 1900).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote241" name= +"footnote241"></a> <b>Footnote 241</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag241">(return)</a> +<p>See above, p. <a href="#page53">53</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote242" name= +"footnote242"></a> <b>Footnote 242</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag242">(return)</a> +<p><i>Laws of Manu</i>, translated by G. Buhler (Oxford, 1886), ch. +iv. 41 <i>sq.</i>, p. 135 (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, vol. +xxv.).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote243" name= +"footnote243"></a> <b>Footnote 243</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag243">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Zend-Avesta</i>, translated by J. Darmesteter, i. +(Oxford, 1880) p. xcii. (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, vol. +iv.). See <i>id.</i>, pp. 9, 181-185, <i>Fargard</i>, i. 18 and 19, +xvi. 1-18.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote244" name= +"footnote244"></a> <b>Footnote 244</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag244">(return)</a> +<p>Pliny, <i>Nat. Hist.</i> vii. 64 <i>sq.</i>, xxviii. 77 +<i>sqq.</i> Compare <i>Geoponica</i>, xii. 20. 5 and 25. 2; +Columella, <i>De re rustica</i>, xi. 357 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote245" name= +"footnote245"></a> <b>Footnote 245</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag245">(return)</a> +<p>August Schleicher, <i>Volkstümliches aus Sonnenberg</i> +(Weimar, 1858), p. 134; B. Souché, <i>Croyances, +Présages et Traditions diverses</i> (Niort, 1880), p. 11; A. +Meyrac, <i>Traditions, Coutumes Légendes et Contes des +Ardennes</i> (Charleville, 1890), p. 171; V. Fossel, +<i>Volksmedicin und medicinischer Aberglaube in +Steiermark</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Graz, 1886), p. 124. A correspondent, +who withholds her name, writes to me that in a Suffolk village, +where she used to live some twenty or thirty years ago, "every one +pickled their own beef, and it was held that if the pickling were +performed by a woman during her menstrual period the meat would not +keep. If the cook were incapacitated at the time when the pickling +was due, another woman was sent for out of the village rather than +risk what was considered a certainty." Another correspondent +informs me that in some of the dales in the north of Yorkshire a +similar belief prevailed down to recent years with regard to the +salting of pork. Another correspondent writes to me: "The +prohibition that a menstruating woman must not touch meat that is +intended for keeping appears to be common all over the country; at +least I have met with it as a confirmed and active custom in widely +separated parts of England.... It is in regard to the salting of +meat for bacon that the prohibition is most usual, because that is +the commonest process; but it exists in regard to any meat food +that is required to be kept."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote246" name= +"footnote246"></a> <b>Footnote 246</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag246">(return)</a> +<p>R. Andree, <i>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</i> (Brunswick, 1896), +p. 291.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote247" name= +"footnote247"></a> <b>Footnote 247</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag247">(return)</a> +<p>W.R. Paton, in <i>Folk-lore</i>, i. (1890) p. 524.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote248" name= +"footnote248"></a> <b>Footnote 248</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag248">(return)</a> +<p>The Greeks and Romans thought that a field was completely +protected against insects if a menstruous woman walked round it +with bare feet and streaming hair (Pliny, <i>Nat. Hist.</i> xvii. +266, xxviii. 78; Columella, <i>De re rustica</i>, x. 358 +<i>sq.</i>, xi. 3. 64; Palladius, <i>De re rustica</i>, i. 35. 3; +<i>Geoponica</i>, xii. 8. 5 <i>sq.</i>; Aelian, <i>Nat. Anim.</i> +vi. 36). A similar preventive is employed for the same purpose by +North American Indians and European peasants. See H.R. Schoolcraft, +<i>Indian Tribes of the United States</i> (Philadelphia, +1853-1856), v. 70; F.J. Wiedemann, <i>Aus dem inneren und +aüssern Leben der Ehsten</i> (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 484. +Compare J. Haltrich, <i>Zur Volkskunde der Siebenbürger +Sachsen</i> (Vienna, 1885), p. 280; Adolph Heinrich, <i>Agrarische +Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens</i> +(Hermannstadt, 1880), p. 14; J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> iii. 468; G. Lammert, <i>Volksmedizin +und medizinischer Aberglaube aus Bayern</i> (Würzburg, 1869), +p. 147. Among the Western Dénés it is believed that +one or two transverse lines tattooed on the arms or legs of a young +man by a pubescent girl are a specific against premature weakness +of these limbs. See A.G. Morice, "Notes, Archaeological, +Industrial, and Sociological, on the Western Dénés," +<i>Transactions of the Canadian Institute</i>, iv. (1892-93) p. +182. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia thought that the Dawn +of Day could and would cure hernia if only an adolescent girl +prayed to it to do so. Just before daybreak the girl would put some +charcoal in her mouth, chew it fine, and spit it out four times on +the diseased place. Then she prayed: "O Day-dawn! thy child relies +on me to obtain healing from thee, who art mystery. Remove thou the +swelling of thy child. Pity thou him, Day-Dawn!" See James Teit, +<i>The Thompson Indians of British Columbia</i>, pp. 345 <i>sq.</i> +(<i>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American +Museum of Natural History</i>, New York, April, 1900). To cure the +painful and dangerous wound inflicted by a ray-fish, the Indians of +the Gran Chaco smoke the wounded limb and then cause a woman in her +courses to sit astride of it. See G. Pelleschi, <i>Eight Months on +the Gran Chaco of the Argentine Republic</i> (London, 1886), p. +106. An ancient Hindoo method of securing prosperity was to swallow +a portion of the menstruous fluid. See W. Caland, <i>Altindisches +Zauberritual</i> (Amsterdam, 1900), pp. 57 <i>sq.</i> To preserve a +new cow from the evil eye Scottish Highlanders used to sprinkle +menstruous blood on the animal; and at certain seasons of the year, +especially at Beltane (the first of May) and Lammas (the first of +August) it was their custom to sprinkle the same potent liquid on +the doorposts and houses all round to guard them from harm. The +fluid was applied by means of a wisp of straw, and the person who +discharged this salutary office went round the house in the +direction of the sun. See J.G. Campbell, <i>Superstitions of the +Highlands and Islands of Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1900), p. 248. +These are examples of the beneficent application of the menstruous +energy.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote249" name= +"footnote249"></a> <b>Footnote 249</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag249">(return)</a> +<p><i>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</i>, pp. 1 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote250" name= +"footnote250"></a> <b>Footnote 250</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag250">(return)</a> +<p>For a similar reason, perhaps, ancient Hindoo ritual prescribed +that when the hair of a child's head was shorn in the third year, +the clippings should be buried in a cow-stable, or near an +<i>udumbara</i> tree, or in a clump of <i>darbha</i> grass, with +the words, "Where Pushan, Brihaspati, Savitri, Soma, Agni dwell, +they have in many ways searched where they should deposit it, +between heaven and earth, the waters and heaven." See <i>The +Grihya-Sûtras</i>, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part ii. +(Oxford, 1892) p. 218 (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, vol. +xxx.).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote251" name= +"footnote251"></a> <b>Footnote 251</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag251">(return)</a> +<p>Petronius, <i>Sat.</i> 48; Pausanias, x. 12: 8; Justin Martyr, +<i>Cohort ad Graecos</i>, 37, p. 34 c (ed. 1742). According to +another account, the remains of the Sibyl were enclosed in an iron +cage which hung from a pillar in an ancient temple of Hercules at +Argyrus (Ampelius, <i>Liber Memorialis</i>, viii. 16).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote252" name= +"footnote252"></a> <b>Footnote 252</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag252">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <i>Nord-deutsche Sagen, Märchen +und Gebräuche</i> (Leipsic, 1848), p. 70, No. 72. i. This and +the following German parallels to the story of the Sibyl's wish +were first indicated by Dr. M.R. James (<i>Classical Review</i>, +vi. (1892) p. 74). I have already given the stories at length in a +note on Pausanias, x. 12. 8 (vol. v. pp. 292 <i>sq.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote253" name= +"footnote253"></a> <b>Footnote 253</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag253">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 70 <i>sq.</i>, No. +72. 2.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote254" name= +"footnote254"></a> <b>Footnote 254</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag254">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 71, No. 72. 3.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote255" name= +"footnote255"></a> <b>Footnote 255</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag255">(return)</a> +<p>Karl Müllenhoff, <i>Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der +Herzogthümer Holstein und Lauenburg</i> (Kiel, 1845), pp. 158 +<i>sg.</i>, No. 217.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>[pg +101]</span> +<h2><a id="chap3" name="chap3">CHAPTER III</a></h2> +<h3>THE MYTH OF BALDER</h3> +<a id="balderdeath" name="balderdeath"></a> +<p>[How Balder, the good and beautiful god, was done to death by a +stroke of the mistletoe.]</p> +<p>A deity whose life might in a sense be said to be neither in +heaven nor on earth but between the two, was the Norse Balder, the +good and beautiful god, the son of the great god Odin, and himself +the wisest, mildest, best beloved of all the immortals. The story +of his death, as it is told in the younger or prose <i>Edda</i>, +runs thus. Once on a time Balder dreamed heavy dreams which seemed +to forebode his death. Thereupon the gods held a council and +resolved to make him secure against every danger. So the goddess +Frigg took an oath from fire and water, iron and all metals, stones +and earth, from trees, sicknesses and poisons, and from all +four-footed beasts, birds, and creeping things, that they would not +hurt Balder. When this was done Balder was deemed invulnerable; so +the gods amused themselves by setting him in their midst, while +some shot at him, others hewed at him, and others threw stones at +him. But whatever they did, nothing could hurt him; and at this +they were all glad. Only Loki, the mischief-maker, was displeased, +and he went in the guise of an old woman to Frigg, who told him +that the weapons of the gods could not wound Balder, since she had +made them all swear not to hurt him. Then Loki asked, "Have all +things sworn to spare Balder?" She answered, "East of Walhalla +grows a plant called mistletoe; it seemed to me too young to +swear." So Loki went and pulled the mistletoe and took it to the +assembly of the gods. There he found the blind god Hother standing +at the outside of the circle. Loki asked him, "Why do you not shoot +at Balder?" Hother answered, "Because I do not see where +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>[pg +102]</span> he stands; besides I have no weapon." Then said Loki, +"Do like the rest and shew Balder honour, as they all do. I will +shew you where he stands, and do you shoot at him with this twig." +Hother took the mistletoe and threw it at Balder, as Loki directed +him. The mistletoe struck Balder and pierced him through and +through, and he fell down dead. And that was the greatest +misfortune that ever befell gods and men. For a while the gods +stood speechless, then they lifted up their voices and wept +bitterly. They took Balder's body and brought it to the sea-shore. +There stood Balder's ship; it was called Ringhorn, and was the +hugest of all ships. The gods wished to launch the ship and to burn +Balder's body on it, but the ship would not stir. So they sent for +a giantess called Hyrrockin. She came riding on a wolf and gave the +ship such a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the +earth shook. Then Balder's body was taken and placed on the funeral +pile upon his ship. When his wife Nanna saw that, her heart burst +for sorrow and she died. So she was laid on the funeral pile with +her husband, and fire was put to it. Balder's horse, too, with all +its trappings, was burned on the pile.<a id="footnotetag256" name= +"footnotetag256"></a><a href="#footnote256"><sup>256</sup></a></p> +<a id="olderedda" name="olderedda"></a> +<p>[Tale of Balder in the older <i>Edda</i>.]</p> +<p>In the older or poetic <i>Edda</i> the tragic tale of Balder is +hinted at rather than told at length. Among the visions which the +Norse Sibyl sees and describes in the weird prophecy known as the +<i>Voluspa</i> is one of the fatal mistletoe. "I behold," says she, +"Fate looming for Balder, Woden's son, the bloody victim. There +stands the Mistletoe slender and delicate, blooming high above the +ground. Out of this shoot, so slender to look on, there shall grow +a harmful fateful shaft. Hod shall shoot it, but Frigga in Fen-hall +shall weep over the woe of Wal-hall."<a id="footnotetag257" name= +"footnotetag257"></a><a href="#footnote257"><sup>257</sup></a> Yet +looking far into <span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name= +"page103"></a>[pg 103]</span> the future the Sibyl sees a brighter +vision of a new heaven and a new earth, where the fields unsown +shall yield their increase and all sorrows shall be healed; then +Balder will come back to dwell in Odin's mansions of bliss, in a +hall brighter than the sun, shingled with gold, where the righteous +shall live in joy for ever more.<a id="footnotetag258" name= +"footnotetag258"></a><a href="#footnote258"><sup>258</sup></a></p> +<a id="saxogrammaticus" name="saxogrammaticus"></a> +<p>[The story of Balder as related by Saxo Grammaticus.]</p> +<p>Writing about the end of the twelfth century, the old Danish +historian Saxo Grammaticus tells the story of Balder in a form +which professes to be historical. According to him, Balder and +Hother were rival suitors for the hand of Nanna, daughter of Gewar, +King of Norway. Now Balder was a demigod and common steel could not +wound his sacred body. The two rivals encountered each other in a +terrific battle, and though Odin and Thor and the rest of the gods +fought for Balder, yet was he defeated and fled away, and Hother +married the princess. Nevertheless Balder took heart of grace and +again met Hother in a stricken field. But he fared even worse than +before; for Hother dealt him a deadly wound with a magic sword, +which he had received from Miming, the Satyr of the woods; and +after lingering three days in pain Balder died of his hurt and was +buried with royal honours in a barrow.<a id="footnotetag259" name= +"footnotetag259"></a><a href="#footnote259"><sup>259</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>[pg +104]</span> <a id="baldernorway" name="baldernorway"></a> +<p>[Balder worshipped in Norway.]</p> +<p>Whether he was a real or merely a mythical personage, Balder was +worshipped in Norway. On one of the bays of the beautiful Sogne +Fiord, which penetrates far into the depths of the solemn Norwegian +mountains, with their sombre pine-forests and their lofty cascades +dissolving into spray before they reach the dark water of the fiord +far below, Balder had a great sanctuary. It was called Balder's +Grove. A palisade enclosed the hallowed ground, and within it stood +a spacious temple with the images of many gods, but none of them +was worshipped with such devotion as Balder. So great was the awe +with which the heathen regarded the place that no man might harm +another there, nor steal his cattle, nor defile himself with women. +But women cared for the images of the gods in the temple; they +warmed them at the fire, anointed them with oil, and dried them +with cloths.<a id="footnotetag260" name= +"footnotetag260"></a><a href="#footnote260"><sup>260</sup></a></p> +<a id="balderfirdusi" name="balderfirdusi"></a> +<p>[The legendary death of Balder resembles the legendary death of +the Persian hero Isfendiyar in the epic of Firdusi.]</p> +<p>It might be rash to affirm that the romantic figure of Balder +was nothing but a creation of the mythical fancy, a radiant phantom +conjured up as by a wizard's wand to glitter for a time against the +gloomy background of the stern Norwegian landscape. It may be so; +yet it is also possible that the myth was founded on the tradition +of a hero, popular and beloved in his lifetime, who long survived +in the memory of the people, gathering more and more of the +marvellous about him as he passed from generation to generation of +story-tellers. At all events it is worth while to observe that a +somewhat similar story is told of another national hero, who may +well have been a real man. In his great poem, <i>The Epic of +Kings</i>, which is founded on Persian traditions, the poet Firdusi +tells us that in the combat between Rustem and Isfendiyar the +arrows of the former did no harm to his adversary, "because +Zerdusht had charmed his body against all dangers, so that it was +like unto brass." But Simurgh, the bird of God, shewed Rustem the +way he should follow in order to vanquish his redoubtable foe. He +rode after her, and they halted not till they came to the +sea-shore. There she led him into a garden, where grew a +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>[pg +105]</span> tamarisk, tall and strong, and the roots thereof were +in the ground, but the branches pierced even unto the sky. Then the +bird of God bade Rustem break from the tree a branch that was long +and slender, and fashion it into an arrow, and she said, "Only +through his eyes can Isfendiyar be wounded. If, therefore, thou +wouldst slay him, direct this arrow unto his forehead, and verily +it shall not miss its aim." Rustem did as he was bid; and when next +he fought with Isfendiyar, he shot the arrow at him, and it pierced +his eye, and he died. Great was the mourning for Isfendiyar. For +the space of one year men ceased not to lament for him, and for +many years they shed bitter tears for that arrow, and they said, +"The glory of Iran hath been laid low."<a id="footnotetag261" name= +"footnotetag261"></a><a href="#footnote261"><sup>261</sup></a></p> +<a id="balderceremony" name="balderceremony"></a> +<p>[The myth of Balder was perhaps acted as a magical ceremony. The +two chief incidents of the myth, namely the pulling of the +mistletoe and the death and burning of the god, have perhaps their +counterparts in popular ritual.]</p> +<p>Whatever may be thought of an historical kernel underlying a +mythical husk in the legend of Balder, the details of the story +suggest that it belongs to that class of myths which have been +dramatized in ritual, or, to put it otherwise, which have been +performed as magical ceremonies for the sake of producing those +natural effects which they describe in figurative language. A myth +is never so graphic and precise in its details as when it is, so to +speak, the book of the words which are spoken and acted by the +performers of the sacred rite. That the Norse story of Balder was a +myth of this sort will become probable if we can prove that +ceremonies resembling the incidents in the tale have been performed +by Norsemen and other European peoples. Now the main incidents in +the tale are two—first, the pulling of the mistletoe, and +second, the death and burning of the god; and both of them may +perhaps be found to have had their counterparts in yearly rites +observed, whether separately or conjointly, by people in various +parts of Europe. These rites will be described and discussed in the +following chapters. We shall begin with the annual festivals of +fire and shall reserve the pulling of the mistletoe for +consideration later on.</p> +<p>Notes:</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote256" name= +"footnote256"></a> <b>Footnote 256</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag256">(return)</a> +<p><i>Die Edda</i>, übersetzt von K. Simrock,<sup>8</sup> +(Stuttgart, 1882), pp. 286-288. Compare pp. 8, 34, 264. Balder's +story is told in a professedly historical form by the old Danish +historian Saxo Grammaticus in his third book. See below, p. +<a href="#page103">103</a>. In English the story is told at length +by Professor (Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i> (London and +Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 529 <i>sqq.</i> It is elaborately discussed +by Professor F. Knuffmann in a learned monograph, <i>Balder, Mythus +und Sage</i> (Strasburg, 1902).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote257" name= +"footnote257"></a> <b>Footnote 257</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag257">(return)</a> +<p>Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell, <i>Corpus Poeticum +Boreale</i>, i. (Oxford, 1883) p. 197. Compare <i>Edda Rhythmica +seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta</i>, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, +1828) pp. 39 <i>sq.</i>; <i>Die Edda</i>, übersetzt von K. +Simrock,<sup>8</sup> (Stuttgart, 1882), p. 8; K. Müllenhoff, +<i>Deutsche Altertumskunde</i>, v. Zweite Abteilung (Berlin, 1891), +pp. 78 <i>sq.</i>; Fr. Kauffmann, <i>Balder, Mythus und Sage</i>, +pp. 20 <i>sq.</i> In this passage the words translated "bloody +victim" (<i>blaupom tivor</i>) and "fate looming" (<i>ørlog +fólgen</i>) are somewhat uncertain and have been variously +interpreted. The word <i>tivor</i>, usually understood to mean +"god," seems to be found nowhere else. Professor H.M. Chadwick has +kindly furnished me with the following literal translation of the +passage: "I saw (or 'have seen') held in safe keeping the life of +Balder, the bloody god, Othin's son. High above the fields +(<i>i.e.</i> the surface of the earth) grew a mistletoe, slender +and very beautiful. From a shaft (or 'stem') which appeared +slender, came a dangerous sorrow-bringing missile (<i>i.e.</i> the +shaft became a ... missile); Hodr proceeded to shoot. Soon was a +brother of Balder born. He, Othin's son, proceeded to do battle +when one day old. He did not wash his hands or comb his head before +he brought Balder's antagonist on to the pyre. But Frigg in +Fen-salir (<i>i.e.</i> the Fen-abode) lamented the trouble of +Val-holl." In translating the words <i>ørlog +fólgen</i> "held in safe keeping the life" Professor +Chadwick follows Professor F. Kauffmann's rendering ("<i>das Leben +verwahrt</i>"); but he writes to me that he is not quite confident +about it, as the word <i>ørlog</i> usually means "fate" +rather than "life." Several sentences translated by Professor +Chadwick ("Soon was a brother of Balder born ... he brought +Balder's antagonist on the pyre") are omitted by some editors and +translators of the <i>Edda</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote258" name= +"footnote258"></a> <b>Footnote 258</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag258">(return)</a> +<p>G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, <i>Corpus Poeticum Boreale</i>, +i. 200 <i>sq.</i>; <i>Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo +Saemundina dicta</i>, Pars iii. pp. 51-54; <i>Die Edda</i>, +übersetzt von K. Simrock,<sup>8</sup> p. 10 <i>sq.</i>; K. +Müllenhoff, <i>Deutsche Altertumskunde</i>, v. Zweite +Abteilung, pp. 84 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote259" name= +"footnote259"></a> <b>Footnote 259</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag259">(return)</a> +<p>Saxo Grammaticus, <i>Historia Danica</i>, ed. P.E. Müller +(Copenhagen, 1839-1858), <i>lib.</i> iii. vol. i. pp. 110 +<i>sqq.</i>; <i>The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo +Grammaticus</i>, translated by Oliver Elton (London, 1894), pp. +83-93.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote260" name= +"footnote260"></a> <b>Footnote 260</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag260">(return)</a> +<p><i>Fridthjofs Saga, aus dem Alt-isländischen</i>, von J.C. +Poestion, (Vienna, 1879), pp. 3 <i>sq.</i>, 14-17, 45-52.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote261" name= +"footnote261"></a> <b>Footnote 261</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag261">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Epic of Kings, Stories retold from Firdusi</i>, by Helen +Zimmern (London, 1883), pp. 325-331. The parallel between Balder +and Isfendiyar was pointed out in the "Lexicon Mythologicum" +appended to the <i>Edda Rhythmifa seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina +dicta</i>, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) p. 513 note, with a +reference to <i>Schah Namech, verdeutscht von Görres</i>, ii. +324, 327 <i>sq.</i> It is briefly mentioned by Dr. P. Wagler, +<i>Die Eiche in alter und neuer Zeit</i>, ii. Teil (Berlin, 1891), +p. 40.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>[pg +106]</span> +<h2><a id="chap4" name="chap4">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> +<h3>THE FIRE-FESTIVALS OF EUROPE</h3> +<h4><a id="sect4-1" name="sect4-1">§ 1. <i>The Lenten +Fires</i></a></h4> +<a id="custom" name="custom"></a> +<p>[European custom of kindling bonfires on certain days of the +year, dancing round them and leaping over them. Effigies are +sometimes burnt in the fires.]</p> +<p>All over Europe the peasants have been accustomed from time +immemorial to kindle bonfires on certain days of the year, and to +dance round or leap over them. Customs of this kind can be traced +back on historical evidence to the Middle Ages,<a id= +"footnotetag262" name="footnotetag262"></a><a href= +"#footnote262"><sup>262</sup></a> and their analogy to similar +customs observed in antiquity goes with strong internal evidence to +prove that their origin must be sought in a period long prior to +the spread of Christianity. Indeed the earliest proof of their +observance in Northern Europe is furnished by the attempts made by +Christian synods in the eighth century to put them down as +heathenish rites.<a id="footnotetag263" name= +"footnotetag263"></a><a href="#footnote263"><sup>263</sup></a> Not +uncommonly effigies are burned in these fires, or a pretence is +made of burning a living person in them; and there are grounds for +believing that anciently human beings were actually burned on these +occasions. A general survey of the customs in question will bring +out the traces of human sacrifice, and will serve at the same time +to throw light on their meaning.<a id="footnotetag264" name= +"footnotetag264"></a><a href="#footnote264"><sup>264</sup></a></p> +<a id="seasons" name="seasons"></a> +<p>[Seasons of the year at which the bonfires are lit.]</p> +<p>The seasons of the year when these bonfires are most commonly +lit are spring and midsummer; but in some places they are kindled +also at the end of autumn or during the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span> course +of the winter, particularly on Hallow E'en (the thirty-first of +October), Christmas Day, and the Eve of Twelfth Day. We shall +consider them in the order in which they occur in the calendar +year. The earliest of them is the winter festival of the Eve of +Twelfth Day (the fifth of January); but as it has been already +described in an earlier part of this work<a id="footnotetag265" +name="footnotetag265"></a><a href="#footnote265"><sup>265</sup></a> +we shall pass it over here and begin with the fire-festivals of +spring, which usually fall on the first Sunday of Lent +(<i>Quadragesima</i> or <i>Invocavit</i>),<a id="footnotetag266" +name="footnotetag266"></a><a href="#footnote266"><sup>266</sup></a> +Easter Eve, and May Day.</p> +<a id="fireardennes" name="fireardennes"></a> +<p>[Custom of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in the +Belgian Ardennes.]</p> +<p>The custom of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent has +prevailed in Belgium, the north of France, and many parts of +Germany. Thus in the Belgian Ardennes for a week or a fortnight +before the "day of the great fire," as it is called, children go +about from farm to farm collecting fuel. At Grand Halleux any one +who refuses their request is pursued next day by the children, who +try to blacken his face with the ashes of the extinct fire. When +the day has come, they cut down bushes, especially juniper and +broom, and in the evening great bonfires blaze on all the heights. +It is a common saying that seven bonfires should be seen if the +village is to be safe from conflagrations. If the Meuse happens to +be frozen hard at the time, bonfires are lit also on the ice. At +Grand Halleux they set up a pole called <i>makral</i> or "the +witch," in the midst of the pile, and the fire is kindled by the +man who was last married in the village. In the neighbourhood of +Morlanwelz a straw man is burnt in the fire. Young people and +children dance and sing round the bonfires, and leap over the +embers to secure good crops or a happy marriage within the year, or +as a means of guarding themselves against colic. In Brabant on the +same Sunday, down to the beginning of the nineteenth century, women +and men disguised in female attire used to go with burning torches +to the fields, where they danced and sang comic songs for the +purpose, as they alleged, of driving away "the wicked sower," who +is mentioned in the Gospel for the day. At Maeseyck and in many +villages of Limburg, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name= +"page108"></a>[pg 108]</span> on the evening of the day children +run through the streets carrying lighted torches; then they kindle +little fires of straw in the fields and dance round them. At +Ensival old folks tell young folks that they will have as many +Easter eggs as they see bonfires on this day.<a id="footnotetag267" +name="footnotetag267"></a><a href="#footnote267"><sup>267</sup></a> +At Pâturages, in the province of Hainaut, down to about 1840 +the custom was observed under the name of <i>Escouvion</i> or +<i>Scouvion</i>. Every year on the first Sunday of Lent, which was +called the Day of the Little Scouvion, young folks and children +used to run with lighted torches through the gardens and orchards. +As they ran they cried at the pitch of their voices,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Bear apples, bear pears</p> +<p>And cherries all black</p> +<p class="i2">To Scouvion!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>At these words the torch-bearer whirled his blazing brand and +hurled it among the branches of the apple-trees, the pear-trees, +and the cherry-trees. The next Sunday was called the Day of the +Great Scouvion, and the same race with lighted torches among the +trees of the orchards was repeated in the afternoon till darkness +fell. The same custom was observed on the same two days at +Wasmes.<a id="footnotetag268" name="footnotetag268"></a><a href= +"#footnote268"><sup>268</sup></a> In the neighbourhood of +Liège, where the Lenten fires were put down by the police +about the middle of the nineteenth century, girls thought that by +leaping over the fires without being smirched they made sure of a +happy marriage. Elsewhere in order to get a good husband it was +necessary to see seven of the bonfires from one spot. In Famenne, a +district of Namur, men and cattle who traversed the Lenten fires +were thought to be safe from sickness and witchcraft. Anybody who +saw seven such fires at once had nothing to fear from sorcerers. An +old saying ran, that if you do not light "the great fire," God will +light it for you; which seems to imply that the kindling of the +bonfires was deemed a protection against conflagrations throughout +the year.<a id="footnotetag269" name="footnotetag269"></a><a href= +"#footnote269"><sup>269</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>[pg +109]</span> <a id="firefrenchardennes" name= +"firefrenchardennes"></a> +<p>[Bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in the French department +of the Ardennes.]</p> +<p>In the French department of the Ardennes the whole village used +to dance and sing round the bonfires which were lighted on the +first Sunday in Lent. Here, too, it was the person last married, +sometimes a man and sometimes a woman, who put the match to the +fire. The custom is still kept up very commonly in the district. +Cats used to be burnt in the fire or roasted to death by being held +over it; and while they were burning the shepherds drove their +flocks through the smoke and flames as a sure means of guarding +them against sickness and witchcraft. In some communes it was +believed that the livelier the dance round the fire, the better +would be the crops that year.<a id="footnotetag270" name= +"footnotetag270"></a><a href="#footnote270"><sup>270</sup></a> In +the Vosges Mountains it is still customary to light great fires on +the heights and around the villages on the first Sunday in Lent; +and at Rupt and elsewhere the right of kindling them belongs to the +person who was last married. Round the fires the people dance and +sing merrily till the flames have died out. Then the master of the +fire, as they call the man who kindled it, invites all who +contributed to the erection of the pile to follow him to the +nearest tavern, where they partake of good cheer. At Dommartin they +say that, if you would have the hemp tall, it is absolutely +necessary that the women should be tipsy on the evening of this +day.<a id="footnotetag271" name="footnotetag271"></a><a href= +"#footnote271"><sup>271</sup></a> At Épinal in the Vosges, +on the first Sunday in Lent, bonfires used to be kindled at various +places both in the town and on the banks of the Moselle. They +consisted of pyramids of sticks and faggots, which had been +collected some days earlier by young folks going from door to door. +When the flames blazed up, the names of various couples, whether +young or old, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, were called out, and +the persons thus linked in mock marriage were forced, whether they +liked it or not, to march arm in arm round the fire amid the +laughter and jests of the crowd. The festivity lasted till the fire +died out, and then the spectators dispersed through the streets, +stopping under the windows of the houses and proclaiming the names +of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>[pg +110]</span> <i>féchenots</i> and <i>féchenottes</i> +or Valentines whom the popular voice had assigned to each other. +These couples had to exchange presents; the mock bridegroom gave +his mock bride something for her toilet, while she in turn +presented him with a cockade of coloured ribbon. Next Sunday, if +the weather allowed it, all the couples, arrayed in their best +attire and attended by their relations, repaired to the wood of +Saint Antony, where they mounted a famous stone called the +<i>danserosse</i> or <i>danseresse</i>. Here they found cakes and +refreshments of all sorts, and danced to the music of a couple of +fiddlers. The evening bell, ringing the Angelus, gave the signal to +depart. As soon as its solemn chime was heard, every one quitted +the forest and returned home. The exchange of presents between the +Valentines went by the name of ransom or redemption +(<i>rachat</i>), because it was supposed to redeem the couple from +the flames of the bonfire. Any pair who failed thus to ransom +themselves were not suffered to share the merrymaking at the great +stone in the forest; and a pretence was made of burning them in +small fires kindled before their own doors.<a id="footnotetag272" +name="footnotetag272"></a><a href= +"#footnote272"><sup>272</sup></a></p> +<a id="firefranchecomte" name="firefranchecomte"></a> +<p>[Bonfires on the First Sunday of Lent in +Franche-Comté.]</p> +<p>In the French province of Franche-Comté, to the west of +the Jura Mountains, the first Sunday of Lent is known as the Sunday +of the Firebrands (<i>Brandons</i>), on account of the fires which +it is customary to kindle on that day. On the Saturday or the +Sunday the village lads harness themselves to a cart and drag it +about the streets, stopping at the doors of the houses where there +are girls and begging for a faggot. When they have got enough, they +cart the fuel to a spot at some little distance from the village, +pile it up, and set it on fire. All the people of the parish come +out to see the bonfire. In some villages, when the bells have rung +the Angelus, the signal for the observance is given by cries of, +"To the fire! to the fire!" Lads, lasses, and children dance round +the blaze, and when the flames have died down they vie with each +other in leaping over the red embers. He or she who does so without +singeing his or her garments will be married within the year. Young +folk also carry lighted torches about the streets or the fields, +and when they pass <span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name= +"page111"></a>[pg 111]</span> an orchard they cry out, "More fruit +than leaves!" Down to recent years at Laviron, in the department of +Doubs, it was the young married couples of the year who had charge +of the bonfires. In the midst of the bonfire a pole was planted +with a wooden figure of a cock fastened to the top. Then there were +races, and the winner received the cock as a prize.<a id= +"footnotetag273" name="footnotetag273"></a><a href= +"#footnote273"><sup>273</sup></a></p> +<a id="fireauvergne" name="fireauvergne"></a> +<p>[Bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Auvergne; the Granno +invoked at these bonfires may be the old Celtic god Grannus, who +was identified with Apollo.]</p> +<p>In Auvergne fires are everywhere kindled on the evening of the +first Sunday in Lent. Every village, every hamlet, even every ward, +every isolated farm has its bonfire or <i>figo</i>, as it is +called, which blazes up as the shades of night are falling. The +fires may be seen flaring on the heights and in the plains; the +people dance and sing round about them and leap through the flames. +Then they proceed to the ceremony of the <i>Grannas-mias</i>. A +<i>granno-mio</i><a id="footnotetag274" name= +"footnotetag274"></a><a href="#footnote274"><sup>274</sup></a> is a +torch of straw fastened to the top of a pole. When the pyre is half +consumed, the bystanders kindle the torches at the expiring flames +and carry them into the neighbouring orchards, fields, and gardens, +wherever there are fruit-trees. As they march they sing at the top +of their voices,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Granno, mo mio,</p> +<p>Granno, mon pouère,</p> +<p>Granno, mo mouère!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>that is, "Grannus my friend, Grannus my father, Grannus my +mother." Then they pass the burning torches under the branches of +every tree, singing,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Brando, brandounci</p> +<p>Tsaque brantso, in plan panei!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>[pg +112]</span> +<p>that is, "Firebrand burn; every branch a basketful!" In some +villages the people also run across the sown fields and shake the +ashes of the torches on the ground; also they put some of the ashes +in the fowls' nests, in order that the hens may lay plenty of eggs +throughout the year. When all these ceremonies have been performed, +everybody goes home and feasts; the special dishes of the evening +are fritters and pancakes.<a id="footnotetag275" name= +"footnotetag275"></a><a href="#footnote275"><sup>275</sup></a> Here +the application of the fire to the fruit-trees, to the sown fields, +and to the nests of the poultry is clearly a charm intended to +ensure fertility; and the Granno to whom the invocations are +addressed, and who gives his name to the torches, may possibly be, +as Dr. Pommerol suggests,<a id="footnotetag276" name= +"footnotetag276"></a><a href="#footnote276"><sup>276</sup></a> no +other than the ancient Celtic god Grannus, whom the Romans +identified with Apollo, and whose worship is attested by +inscriptions found not only in France but in Scotland and on the +Danube.<a id="footnotetag277" name="footnotetag277"></a><a href= +"#footnote277"><sup>277</sup></a> If the name Grannus is derived, +as the learned tell us, from a root meaning "to glow, burn, +shine,"<a id="footnotetag278" name="footnotetag278"></a><a href= +"#footnote278"><sup>278</sup></a> the deity who bore the name and +was identified with Apollo may well have been a sun-god; and in +that case the prayers addressed to him by the peasants of the +Auvergne, while they wave the blazing, crackling torches about the +fruit-trees, would be eminently appropriate. For who could ripen +the fruit so well as the sun-god? and what better process could be +devised to draw the blossoms from the bare boughs than the +application to them of that genial warmth which is ultimately +derived from the solar beams? Thus the fire-festival of the first +Sunday in Lent, as it is observed in Auvergne, may be interpreted +very naturally and simply as a religious or rather perhaps magical +ceremony designed to procure a due supply of the sun's heat for +plants and animals. At the same time we should remember that the +employment of fire in this and kindred ceremonies may have been +designed originally, not so much to stimulate growth and +reproduction, as to burn and destroy all agencies, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span> +whether in the shape of vermin, witches, or what not, which +threatened or were supposed to threaten the growth of the crops and +the multiplication of animals. It is often difficult to decide +between these two different interpretations of the use of fire in +agricultural rites. In any case the fire-festival of Auvergne on +the first Sunday in Lent may date from Druidical times.</p> +<a id="firebrandons" name="firebrandons"></a> +<p>[French custom of carrying lighted torches (<i>brandons</i>) +about the orchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday +of Lent.]</p> +<p>The custom of carrying lighted torches of straw +(<i>brandons</i>) about the orchards and fields to fertilize them +on the first Sunday of Lent seems to have been common in France, +whether it was accompanied with the practice of kindling bonfires +or not. Thus in the province of Picardy "on the first Sunday of +Lent people carried torches through the fields, exorcising the +field-mice, the darnel, and the smut. They imagined that they did +much good to the gardens and caused the onions to grow large. +Children ran about the fields, torch in hand, to make the land more +fertile. All that was done habitually in Picardy, and the ceremony +of the torches is not entirely forgotten, especially in the +villages on both sides the Somme as far as Saint-Valery."<a id= +"footnotetag279" name="footnotetag279"></a><a href= +"#footnote279"><sup>279</sup></a> "A very agreeable spectacle, said +the curate of l'Étoile, is to survey from the portal of the +church, situated almost on the top of the mountain, the vast plains +of Vimeux all illuminated by these wandering fires. The same +pastime is observed at Poix, at Conty, and in all the villages +round about."<a id="footnotetag280" name= +"footnotetag280"></a><a href="#footnote280"><sup>280</sup></a> +Again, in the district of Beauce a festival of torches +(<i>brandons</i> or <i>brandelons</i>) used to be held both on the +first and on the second Sunday in Lent; the first was called "the +Great Torches" and the second "the Little Torches." The torches +were, as usual, bundles of straw wrapt round poles. In the evening +the village lads carried the burning brands through the country, +running about in disorder and singing,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i6">"Torches burn</p> +<p>At these vines, at this wheat;</p> +<p class="i6">Torches burn</p> +<p>For the maidens that shall wed!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>From time to time the bearers would stand still and smite +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>[pg +114]</span> the earth all together with the blazing straw of the +torches, while they cried, "A sheaf of a peck and a half!" +(<i>Gearbe à boissiaux</i>). If two torchbearers happened to +meet each other on their rounds, they performed the same ceremony +and uttered the same words. When the straw was burnt out, the poles +were collected and a great bonfire made of them. Lads and lasses +danced round the flames, and the lads leaped over them. Afterwards +it was customary to eat a special sort of hasty-pudding made of +wheaten flour. These usages were still in vogue at the beginning of +the nineteenth century, but they have now almost disappeared. The +peasants believed that by carrying lighted torches through the +fields they protected the crops from field-mice, darnel, and +smut.<a id="footnotetag281" name="footnotetag281"></a><a href= +"#footnote281"><sup>281</sup></a> "At Dijon, in Burgundy, it is the +custom upon the first Sunday in Lent to make large fires in the +streets, whence it is called Firebrand Sunday. This practice +originated in the processions formerly made on that day by the +peasants with lighted torches of straw, to drive away, as they +called it, the bad air from the earth."<a id="footnotetag282" name= +"footnotetag282"></a><a href="#footnote282"><sup>282</sup></a> In +some parts of France, while the people scoured the country with +burning brands on the first Sunday in Lent, they warned the +fruit-trees that if they did not take heed and bear fruit they +would surely be cut down and cast into the fire.<a id= +"footnotetag283" name="footnotetag283"></a><a href= +"#footnote283"><sup>283</sup></a> On the same day peasants in the +department of Loiret used to run about the sowed fields with +burning torches in their hands, while they adjured the field-mice +to quit the wheat on pain of having their whiskers burned.<a id= +"footnotetag284" name="footnotetag284"></a><a href= +"#footnote284"><sup>284</sup></a> In the department of Ain the +great fires of straw and faggots which are kindled in the fields at +this time are or were supposed to destroy the nests of the +caterpillars.<a id="footnotetag285" name= +"footnotetag285"></a><a href="#footnote285"><sup>285</sup></a> At +Verges, a lonely village surrounded by forests between the Jura and +the Combe d'Ain, the torches used at this season were kindled in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>[pg +115]</span> a peculiar manner. The young people climbed to the top +of a mountain, where they placed three nests of straw in three +trees. These nests being then set on fire, torches made of dry +lime-wood were lighted at them, and the merry troop descended the +mountain to their flickering light, and went to every house in the +village, demanding roasted peas and obliging all couples who had +been married within the year to dance.<a id="footnotetag286" name= +"footnotetag286"></a><a href="#footnote286"><sup>286</sup></a> In +Berry, a district of central France, it appears that bonfires are +not lighted on this day, but when the sun has set the whole +population of the villages, armed with blazing torches of straw, +disperse over the country and scour the fields, the vineyards, and +the orchards. Seen from afar, the multitude of moving lights, +twinkling in the darkness, appear like will-o'-the-wisps chasing +each other across the plains, along the hillsides, and down the +valleys. While the men wave their flambeaus about the branches of +the fruit-trees, the women and children tie bands of wheaten-straw +round the tree-trunks. The effect of the ceremony is supposed to be +to avert the various plagues from which the fruits of the earth are +apt to suffer; and the bands of straw fastened round the stems of +the trees are believed to render them fruitful.<a id= +"footnotetag287" name="footnotetag287"></a><a href= +"#footnote287"><sup>287</sup></a> In the peninsula of La Manche the +Norman peasants used to spend almost the whole night of the first +Sunday in Lent rushing about the country with lighted torches for +the purpose, as they supposed, of driving away the moles and +field-mice; fires were also kindled on some of the dolmens.<a id= +"footnotetag288" name="footnotetag288"></a><a href= +"#footnote288"><sup>288</sup></a></p> +<a id="firegermany" name="firegermany"></a> +<p>[Bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in Germany and Austria; +burning the witch; burning discs thrown into the air; burning +wheels rolled down hill; bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in +Switzerland.]</p> +<p>In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at the same season similar +customs have prevailed. Thus in the Eifel Mountains, Rhenish +Prussia, on the first Sunday in Lent young people used to collect +straw and brushwood from house to house. These they carried to an +eminence and piled up round a tall, slim beech-tree, to which a +piece of wood was fastened at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" +name="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span> right angles to form a cross. +The structure was known as the "hut" or "castle." Fire was set to +it and the young people marched round the blazing "castle" +bareheaded, each carrying a lighted torch and praying aloud. +Sometimes a straw-man was burned in the "hut." People observed the +direction in which the smoke blew from the fire. If it blew towards +the corn-fields, it was a sign that the harvest would be abundant. +On the same day, in some parts of the Eifel, a great wheel was made +of straw and dragged by three horses to the top of a hill. Thither +the village boys marched at nightfall, set fire to the wheel, and +sent it rolling down the slope. Two lads followed it with levers to +set it in motion again, in case it should anywhere meet with a +check. At Oberstattfeld the wheel had to be provided by the young +man who was last married.<a id="footnotetag289" name= +"footnotetag289"></a><a href="#footnote289"><sup>289</sup></a> +About Echternach in Luxemburg the same ceremony is called "burning +the witch"; while it is going on, the older men ascend the heights +and observe what wind is blowing, for that is the wind which will +prevail the whole year.<a id="footnotetag290" name= +"footnotetag290"></a><a href="#footnote290"><sup>290</sup></a> At +Voralberg in the Tyrol, on the first Sunday in Lent, a slender +young fir-tree is surrounded with a pile of straw and firewood. To +the top of the tree is fastened a human figure called the "witch," +made of old clothes and stuffed with gunpowder. At night the whole +is set on fire and boys and girls dance round it, swinging torches +and singing rhymes in which the words "corn in the +winnowing-basket, the plough in the earth" may be +distinguished.<a id="footnotetag291" name= +"footnotetag291"></a><a href="#footnote291"><sup>291</sup></a> In +Swabia on the first Sunday in Lent a figure called the "witch" or +the "old wife" or "winter's grandmother" is made up of clothes and +fastened to a pole. This is stuck in the middle of a pile of wood, +to which fire is applied. While the "witch" is burning, the young +people throw blazing discs into the air. The discs are thin round +pieces of wood, a few inches in diameter, with notched edges to +imitate the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name= +"page117"></a>[pg 117]</span> rays of the sun or stars. They have a +hole in the middle, by which they are attached to the end of a +wand. Before the disc is thrown it is set on fire, the wand is +swung to and fro, and the impetus thus communicated to the disc is +augmented by dashing the rod sharply against a sloping board. The +burning disc is thus thrown off, and mounting high into the air, +describes a long fiery curve before it reaches the ground. A single +lad may fling up forty or fifty of these discs, one after the +other. The object is to throw them as high as possible. The wand by +which they are hurled must, at least in some parts of Swabia, be of +hazel. Sometimes the lads also leap over the fire brandishing +lighted torches of pine-wood. The charred embers of the burned +"witch" and discs are taken home and planted in the flaxfields the +same night, in the belief that they will keep vermin from the +fields.<a id="footnotetag292" name="footnotetag292"></a><a href= +"#footnote292"><sup>292</sup></a> At Wangen, near Molsheim in +Baden, a like custom is observed on the first Sunday in Lent. The +young people kindle a bonfire on the crest of the mountain above +the village; and the burning discs which they hurl into the air are +said to present in the darkness the aspect of a continual shower of +falling stars. When the supply of discs is exhausted and the +bonfire begins to burn low, the boys light torches and run with +them at full speed down one or other of the three steep and winding +paths that descend the mountain-side to the village. Bumps, +bruises, and scratches are often the result of their efforts to +outstrip each other in the headlong race.<a id="footnotetag293" +name="footnotetag293"></a><a href="#footnote293"><sup>293</sup></a> +In the Rhön Mountains, situated on the borders of Hesse and +Bavaria, the people used to march to the top of a hill or eminence +on the first Sunday in Lent. Children and lads carried torches, +brooms daubed with tar, and poles swathed in straw. A wheel, wrapt +in combustibles, was kindled and rolled down <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span> the +hill; and the young people rushed about the fields with their +burning torches and brooms, till at last they flung them in a heap, +and standing round them, struck up a hymn or a popular song. The +object of running about the fields with the blazing torches was to +"drive away the wicked sower." Or it was done in honour of the +Virgin, that she might preserve the fruits of the earth throughout +the year and bless them.<a id="footnotetag294" name= +"footnotetag294"></a><a href="#footnote294"><sup>294</sup></a> In +neighbouring villages of Hesse, between the Rhön and the Vogel +Mountains, it is thought that wherever the burning wheels roll, the +fields will be safe from hail and storm.<a id="footnotetag295" +name="footnotetag295"></a><a href="#footnote295"><sup>295</sup></a> +At Konz on the Moselle, on the Thursday before the first Sunday in +Lent, the two guilds of the butchers and the weavers used to repair +to the Marxberg and there set up an oak-tree with a wheel fastened +to it. On the following Sunday the people ascended the hill, cut +down the oak, set fire to the wheel, and sent both oak and wheel +rolling down the hillside, while a guard of butchers, mounted on +horses, fired at the flaming wheel in its descent. If the wheel +rolled down into the Moselle, the butchers were rewarded with a +waggon-load of wine by the archbishop of Treves.<a id= +"footnotetag296" name="footnotetag296"></a><a href= +"#footnote296"><sup>296</sup></a></p> +<a id="firediscs" name="firediscs"></a> +<p>[Burning discs thrown into the air.]</p> +<p>In Switzerland, also, it is or used to be customary to kindle +bonfires on high places on the evening of the first Sunday in Lent, +and the day is therefore popularly known as Spark Sunday. The +custom prevailed, for example, throughout the canton of Lucerne. +Boys went about from house to house begging for wood and straw, +then piled the fuel on a conspicuous mountain or hill round about a +pole, which bore a straw effigy called "the witch." At nightfall +the pile was set on fire, and the young folks danced wildly round +it, some of them cracking whips or ringing bells; and when the fire +burned low enough, they leaped over it. This <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> was +called "burning the witch." In some parts of the canton also they +used to wrap old wheels in straw and thorns, put a light to them, +and send them rolling and blazing down hill. The same custom of +rolling lighted wheels down hill is attested by old authorities for +the cantons of Aargau and Bâle. The more bonfires could be +seen sparkling and flaring in the darkness, the more fruitful was +the year expected to be; and the higher the dancers leaped beside +or over the fire, the higher, it was thought, would grow the flax. +In the district of Freiburg and at Birseck in the district of +Bâle it was the last married man or woman who must kindle the +bonfire. While the bonfires blazed up, it was customary in some +parts of Switzerland to propel burning discs of wood through the +air by means of the same simple machinery which is used for the +purpose in Swabia. Each lad tried to send his disc fizzing and +flaring through the darkness as far as possible, and in discharging +it he mentioned the name of the person to whose honour it was +dedicated. But in Prättigau the words uttered in launching the +fiery discs referred to the abundance which was apparently expected +to follow the performance of the ceremony. Among them were, "Grease +in the pan, corn in the fan, and the plough in the earth!"<a id= +"footnotetag297" name="footnotetag297"></a><a href= +"#footnote297"><sup>297</sup></a></p> +<a id="fireconnexion" name="fireconnexion"></a> +<p>[Connexion of these bonfires with the custom of "carrying out +Death;" effigies burnt on Shrove Tuesday.]</p> +<p>It seems hardly possible to separate from these bonfires, +kindled on the first Sunday in Lent, the fires in which, about the +same season, the effigy called Death is burned as part of the +ceremony of "carrying out Death." We have seen that at Spachendorf, +in Austrian Silesia, on the morning of Rupert's Day (Shrove +Tuesday?), a straw-man, dressed in a fur coat and a fur cap, is +laid in a hole outside the village and there burned, and that while +it is blazing every one seeks to snatch a fragment of it, which he +fastens to a branch of the highest tree in his garden or buries in +his field, believing that this will make the crops to grow better. +The ceremony is known as the "burying of Death."<a id= +"footnotetag298" name="footnotetag298"></a><a href= +"#footnote298"><sup>298</sup></a> Even <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page120" name="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span> when the straw-man is +not designated as Death, the meaning of the observance is probably +the same; for the name Death, as I have tried to shew, does not +express the original intention of the ceremony. At Cobern in the +Eifel Mountains the lads make up a straw-man on Shrove Tuesday. The +effigy is formally tried and accused of having perpetrated all the +thefts that have been committed in the neighbourhood throughout the +year. Being condemned to death, the straw-man is led through the +village, shot, and burned upon a pyre. They dance round the blazing +pile, and the last bride must leap over it.<a id="footnotetag299" +name="footnotetag299"></a><a href="#footnote299"><sup>299</sup></a> +In Oldenburg on the evening of Shrove Tuesday people used to make +long bundles of straw, which they set on fire, and then ran about +the fields waving them, shrieking, and singing wild songs. Finally +they burned a straw-man on the field.<a id="footnotetag300" name= +"footnotetag300"></a><a href="#footnote300"><sup>300</sup></a> In +the district of Düsseldorf the straw-man burned on Shrove +Tuesday was made of an unthreshed sheaf of corn.<a id= +"footnotetag301" name="footnotetag301"></a><a href= +"#footnote301"><sup>301</sup></a> On the first Monday after the +spring equinox the urchins of Zurich drag a straw-man on a little +cart through the streets, while at the same time the girls carry +about a May-tree. When vespers ring, the straw-man is burned.<a id= +"footnotetag302" name="footnotetag302"></a><a href= +"#footnote302"><sup>302</sup></a> In the district of Aachen on Ash +Wednesday a man used to be encased in peas-straw and taken to an +appointed place. Here he slipped quietly out of his straw casing, +which was then burned, the children thinking that it was the man +who was being burned.<a id="footnotetag303" name= +"footnotetag303"></a><a href="#footnote303"><sup>303</sup></a> In +the Val di Ledro (Tyrol) on the last day of the Carnival a figure +is made up of straw and brushwood and then burned. The figure is +called the Old Woman, and the ceremony "burning the Old +Woman."<a id="footnotetag304" name="footnotetag304"></a><a href= +"#footnote304"><sup>304</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect4-2" name="sect4-2">§ 2. <i>The Easter +Fires</i></a></h4> +<a id="fireeaster" name="fireeaster"></a> +<p>[Fire-festivals on Easter Eve. Custom in Catholic countries of +kindling a holy new fire at the church on Easter Saturday; +marvellous properties ascribed to the embers of the fire; the +burning of Judas.]</p> +<p>Another occasion on which these fire-festivals are held is +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>[pg +121]</span> Easter Eve, the Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that +day it has been customary in Catholic countries to extinguish all +the lights in the churches, and then to make a new fire, sometimes +with flint and steel, sometimes with a burning-glass. At this fire +is lit the great Paschal or Easter candle, which is then used to +rekindle all the extinguished lights in the church. In many parts +of Germany a bonfire is also kindled, by means of the new fire, on +some open space near the church. It is consecrated, and the people +bring sticks of oak, walnut, and beech, which they char in the +fire, and then take home with them. Some of these charred sticks +are thereupon burned at home in a newly-kindled fire, with a prayer +that God will preserve the homestead from fire, lightning, and +hail. Thus every house receives "new fire." Some of the sticks are +kept throughout the year and laid on the hearth-fire during heavy +thunder-storms to prevent the house from being struck by lightning, +or they are inserted in the roof with the like intention. Others +are placed in the fields, gardens, and meadows, with a prayer that +God will keep them from blight and hail. Such fields and gardens +are thought to thrive more than others; the corn and the plants +that grow in them are not beaten down by hail, nor devoured by +mice, vermin, and beetles; no witch harms them, and the ears of +corn stand close and full. The charred sticks are also applied to +the plough. The ashes of the Easter bonfire, together with the +ashes of the consecrated palm-branches, are mixed with the seed at +sowing. A wooden figure called Judas is sometimes burned in the +consecrated bonfire, and even where this custom has been abolished +the bonfire itself in some places goes by the name of "the burning +of Judas."<a id="footnotetag305" name="footnotetag305"></a><a href= +"#footnote305"><sup>305</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>[pg +122]</span> <a id="firebavaria" name="firebavaria"></a> +<p>[Easter fires in Bavaria and the Abruzzi.]</p> +<p>In the Hollertau, Bavaria, the young men used to light their +lanterns at the newly-kindled Easter candle in the church and then +race to the bonfire; he who reached it first set fire to the pile, +and next day, Easter Sunday, was rewarded at the church-door by the +housewives, who presented him with red eggs. Great was the +jubilation while the effigy of the traitor was being consumed in +the flames. The ashes were carefully collected and thrown away at +sunrise in running water.<a id="footnotetag306" name= +"footnotetag306"></a><a href="#footnote306"><sup>306</sup></a> In +many parts of the Abruzzi, also, pious people kindle their fires on +Easter Saturday with a brand brought from the sacred new fire in +the church. When the brand has thus served to bless the fire on the +domestic hearth, it is extinguished, and the remainder is +preserved, partly in a cranny of the outer wall of the house, +partly on a tree to which it is tied. This is done for the purpose +of guarding the homestead against injury by storms. At Campo di +Giove the people say that if you can get a piece of one of the +three holy candles which the priest lights from the new fire, you +should allow a few drops of the wax to fall into the crown of your +hat; for after that, if it should thunder and lighten, you have +nothing to do but to clap the hat on your head, and no flash of +lightning can possibly strike you.<a id="footnotetag307" name= +"footnotetag307"></a><a href="#footnote307"><sup>307</sup></a></p> +<a id="firewater" name="firewater"></a> +<p>[Water as well as fire consecrated in the Abruzzi on Easter +Saturday; water consecrated in Calabria on Easter Saturday; water +and fire consecrated on Easter Saturday among the Germans of +Bohemia; Easter rites of fire and water at Hildesheim.]</p> +<p>Further, it deserves to be noted that in the Abruzzi water as +well as fire is, as it were, renewed and consecrated on Easter +Saturday. Most people fetch holy water on <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span> that +day from the churches, and every member of the family drinks a +little of it, believing that it has power to protect him or her +against witchcraft, fever, and stomach-aches of all sorts. And when +the church bells ring again after their enforced silence, the water +is sprinkled about the house, and especially under the beds, with +the help of a palm-branch. Some of this blessed water is also kept +in the house for use in great emergencies, when there is no time to +fetch a priest; thus it may be employed to baptize a newborn infant +gasping for life or to sprinkle a sick man in the last agony; such +a sprinkling is reckoned equal to priestly absolution.<a id= +"footnotetag308" name="footnotetag308"></a><a href= +"#footnote308"><sup>308</sup></a> In Calabria the customs with +regard to the new water, as it is called, on Easter Saturday are +similar; it is poured into a new vessel, adorned with ribbons and +flowers, is blessed by the priest, and is tasted by every one of +the household, beginning with the parents. And when the air +vibrates with the glad music of the church bells announcing the +resurrection, the people sprinkle the holy water about the houses, +bidding in a loud voice all evil things to go forth and all good +things to come in. At the same time, to emphasize the exorcism, +they knock on doors, window-shutters, chests, and other domestic +articles of furniture. At Cetraro people who suffer from diseases +of the skin bathe in the sea at this propitious moment; at Pietro +in Guarano they plunge into the river on the night of Easter +Saturday before Easter Sunday dawns, and while they bathe they +utter never a word. Moreover, the Calabrians keep the "new water" +as a sacred thing. They believe that it serves as a protection +against witchcraft if it is sprinkled on a fire or a lamp, when the +wood crackles or the wick sputters; for they regard it as a bad +omen when the fire talks, as they say.<a id="footnotetag309" name= +"footnotetag309"></a><a href="#footnote309"><sup>309</sup></a> +Among the Germans of Western Bohemia, also, water as well as fire +is consecrated by the priest in front of the church on Easter +Saturday. People bring jugs full of water to the church and set +them beside the holy fire; afterwards they use the water to +sprinkle on the palm-branches which are stuck in the fields. +Charred sticks of the Judas fire, as it is popularly called, are +supposed to possess a magical and healing virtue; <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span> hence +the people take them home with them, and even scuffle with each +other for the still glowing embers in order to carry them, still +glimmering, to their houses and so obtain "the light" or "the holy +light."<a id="footnotetag310" name="footnotetag310"></a><a href= +"#footnote310"><sup>310</sup></a> At Hildesheim, also, and the +neighbouring villages of central Germany rites both of fire and +water are or were till lately observed at Easter. Thus on Easter +night many people fetch water from the Innerste river and keep it +carefully, believing it to be a remedy for many sorts of ailments +both of man and beast. In the villages on the Leine river servant +men and maids used to go silently on Easter night between the hours +of eleven and twelve and silently draw water in buckets from the +river; they mixed the water with the fodder and the drink of the +cattle to make the animals thrive, and they imagined that to wash +in it was good for human beings. Many were also of opinion that at +the same mystic hour the water turned to wine as far as the crowing +of a cock could be heard, and in this belief they laid themselves +flat on their stomachs and kept their tongues in the water till the +miraculous change occurred, when they took a great gulp of the +transformed water. At Hildesheim, too, and the neighbouring +villages fires used to blaze on all the heights on Easter Eve; and +embers taken from the bonfires were dipped in the cattle troughs to +benefit the beasts and were kept in the houses to avert +lightning.<a id="footnotetag311" name="footnotetag311"></a><a href= +"#footnote311"><sup>311</sup></a></p> +<a id="firecarinthia" name="firecarinthia"></a> +<p>[New fire at Easter in Carinthia; consecration of fire and water +by the Catholic Church at Easter.]</p> +<p>In the Lesachthal, Carinthia, all the fires in the houses used +to be extinguished on Easter Saturday, and rekindled with a fresh +fire brought from the churchyard, where the priest had lit it by +the friction of flint and steel and had bestowed his blessing on +it.<a id="footnotetag312" name="footnotetag312"></a><a href= +"#footnote312"><sup>312</sup></a> Such customs were probably +widespread. In a Latin poem of the sixteenth century, written by a +certain Thomas Kirchmeyer and translated into English by Barnabe +Googe, we read:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"On Easter Eve the fire all is quencht in every place,</p> +<p>And fresh againe from out the flint is fetcht with solemne +grace:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>[pg +125]</span> +<p>The priest doth halow this against great daungers many one,</p> +<p>A brande whereof doth every man with greedie mind take home,</p> +<p>That when the fearefull storme appeares, or tempest black +arise,</p> +<p>By lighting this he safe may be from stroke of hurtful +skies:</p> +<p>A taper great, the Paschall namde, with musicke then they +blesse,</p> +<p>And franckensence herein they pricke, for greater holynesse:</p> +<p>This burneth night and day as signe of Christ that conquerde +hell,</p> +<p>As if so be this foolish toye suffiseth this to tell.</p> +<p>Then doth the Bishop or the Priest, the water halow +straight,</p> +<p>That for their baptisme is reservde: for now no more of +waight</p> +<p>Is that they usde the yeare before, nor can they any more,</p> +<p>Yong children christen with the same, as they have done +before.</p> +<p>With wondrous pompe and furniture, amid the Church they go,</p> +<p>With candles, crosses, banners, Chrisme, and oyle appoynted +tho:</p> +<p>Nine times about the font they marche, and on the saintes doe +call,</p> +<p>Then still at length they stande, and straight the Priest begins +withall,</p> +<p>And thrise the water doth he touche, and crosses thereon +make,</p> +<p>Here bigge and barbrous wordes he speakes, to make the devill +quake:</p> +<p>And holsome waters conjureth, and foolishly doth dresse,</p> +<p>Supposing holyar that to make, which God before did blesse:</p> +<p>And after this his candle than, he thrusteth in the floode,</p> +<p>And thrise he breathes thereon with breath, that stinkes of +former foode:</p> +<p>And making here an ende, his Chrisme he poureth thereupon,</p> +<p>The people staring hereat stande, amazed every one;</p> +<p>Beleeving that great powre is given to this water here,</p> +<p>By gaping of these learned men, and such like trifling gere.</p> +<p>Therefore in vessels brought they draw, and home they carie +some,</p> +<p>Against the grieves that to themselves, or to their beastes may +come.</p> +<p>Then Clappers ceasse, and belles are set againe at +libertée,</p> +<p>And herewithall the hungrie times of fasting ended +bée."<a id="footnotetag313" name= +"footnotetag313"></a><a href="#footnote313"><sup>313</sup></a></p> +</div> +</div> +<p>It is said that formerly all the fires in Rome were lighted +afresh from the holy fire kindled in St. Peter's on Easter +Saturday.<a id="footnotetag314" name="footnotetag314"></a><a href= +"#footnote314"><sup>314</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>[pg +126]</span> <a id="fireflorence" name="fireflorence"></a> +<p>[The new fire on Easter Saturday at Florence.]</p> +<p>In Florence the ceremony of kindling the new fire on Easter Eve +is peculiar. The holy flame is elicited from certain flints which +are said to have been brought by a member of the Pazzi family from +the Holy Land. They are kept in the church of the Holy Apostles on +the Piazza del Limbo, and on the morning of Easter Saturday the +prior strikes fire from them and lights a candle from the new +flame. The burning candle is then carried in solemn procession by +the clergy and members of the municipality to the high altar in the +cathedral. A vast crowd has meanwhile assembled in the cathedral +and the neighbouring square to witness the ceremony; amongst the +spectators are many peasants drawn from the surrounding country, +for it is commonly believed that on the success or failure of the +ceremony depends the fate of the crops for the year. Outside the +door of the cathedral stands a festal car drawn by two fine white +oxen with gilded horns. The body of the car is loaded with a +pyramid of squibs and crackers and is connected by a wire with a +pillar set up in front of the high altar. The wire extends down the +middle of the nave at a height of about six feet from the ground. +Beneath it a clear passage is left, the spectators being ranged on +either side and crowding the vast interior from wall to wall. When +all is ready, High Mass is celebrated, and precisely at noon, when +the first words of the <i>Gloria</i> are being chanted, the sacred +fire is applied to the pillar, which like the car is wreathed with +fireworks. A moment more and a fiery dove comes flying down the +nave, with a hissing sound and a sputter of sparks, between the two +hedges of eager spectators. If all goes well, the bird pursues its +course along the wire and out at the door, and in another moment a +prolonged series of fizzes, pops and bangs announces to the excited +crowd in the cathedral that the fireworks on the car are going off. +Great is the joy accordingly, especially among the bumpkins, who +are now sure of an abundant harvest. But if, as sometimes happens, +the dove stops short in its career and fizzles out, revealing +itself as a stuffed bird with a packet of squibs tied to its tail, +great is the consternation, and deep the curses that issue from +between the set teeth of the clodhoppers, who now give up the +harvest for lost. Formerly the unskilful <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span> +mechanician who was responsible for the failure would have been +clapped into gaol; but nowadays he is thought sufficiently punished +by the storm of public indignation and the loss of his pay. The +disaster is announced by placards posted about the streets in the +evening; and next morning the newspapers are full of gloomy +prognostications.<a id="footnotetag315" name= +"footnotetag315"></a><a href="#footnote315"><sup>315</sup></a></p> +<a id="firemexico" name="firemexico"></a> +<p>[The new fire and burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in +Mexico.]</p> +<p>Some of these customs have been transported by the Catholic +Church to the New World. Thus in Mexico the new fire is struck from +a flint early in the morning of Easter Saturday, and a candle which +has been lighted at the sacred flame is carried through the church +by a deacon shouting "<i>Lumen Christi</i>." Meantime the whole +city, we are informed, has been converted into a vast place of +execution. Ropes stretch across the streets from house to house, +and from every house dangles an effigy of Judas, made of paper +pulp. Scores or hundreds of them may adorn a single street. They +are of all shapes and sizes, grotesque in form and garbed in +strange attire, stuffed with gunpowder, squibs and crackers, +sometimes, too, with meat, bread, soap, candy, and clothing, for +which the crowd will scramble and scuffle while the effigies are +burning. There they hang grim, black, and sullen in the strong +sunshine, greeted with a roar of execration by the pious mob. A +peal of bells from the cathedral tower on the stroke of noon gives +the signal for the execution. At the sound a frenzy seizes the +crowd. They throw themselves furiously on the figures of the +detested traitor, cut them down, hurl them with curses into the +fire, and fight and struggle with each other in their efforts to +tear the effigies to tatters and appropriate their contents. Smoke, +stink, sputter of crackers, oaths, curses, yells are now the order +of the day. But the traitor does not perish unavenged. For the +anatomy of his frame has been cunningly contrived so as in burning +to discharge volleys of squibs into his assailants; and the wounds +and burns with which their <span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" +name="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span> piety is rewarded form a feature +of the morning's entertainment. The English Jockey Club in Mexico +used to improve on this popular pastime by suspending huge figures +of Judas, stuffed with copper coins, from ropes in front of their +clubhouse. These were ignited at the proper moment and lowered +within reach of the expectant rabble, and it was the privilege of +members of the club, seated in the balcony, to watch the grimaces +and to hear the shrieks of the victims, as they stamped and capered +about with the hot coppers sticking to their hands, divided in +their minds between an acute sense of pain and a thirst for filthy +lucre.<a id="footnotetag316" name="footnotetag316"></a><a href= +"#footnote316"><sup>316</sup></a></p> +<p>[The burning of Judas at Easter in South America.]</p> +<p>Scenes of the same sort, though on a less ambitious scale, are +witnessed among the Catholics of South America on the same day. In +Brazil the mourning for the death of Christ ceases at noon on +Easter Saturday and gives place to an extravagant burst of joy at +his resurrection. Shots are fired everywhere, and effigies of Judas +are hung on trees or dragged about the streets, to be finally +burned or otherwise destroyed.<a id="footnotetag317" name= +"footnotetag317"></a><a href="#footnote317"><sup>317</sup></a> In +the Indian villages scattered among the wild valleys of the +Peruvian Andes figures of the traitor, made of pasteboard and +stuffed with squibs and crackers, are hanged on gibbets before the +door of the church on Easter Saturday. Fire is set to them, and +while they crackle and explode, the Indians dance and shout for joy +at the destruction of their hated enemy.<a id="footnotetag318" +name="footnotetag318"></a><a href="#footnote318"><sup>318</sup></a> +Similarly at Rio Hacha, in Colombia, Judas is represented during +Holy Week by life-sized effigies, and the people fire at them as if +they were discharging a sacred duty.<a id="footnotetag319" name= +"footnotetag319"></a><a href="#footnote319"><sup>319</sup></a></p> +<a id="firejerusalem" name="firejerusalem"></a> +<p>[The new fire on Easter Saturday in the Church of the Holy +Sepulchre at Jerusalem.]</p> +<p>But usages of this sort are not confined to the Latin Church; +they are common to the Greek Church also. Every year on the +Saturday before Easter Sunday a new fire is miraculously kindled at +the Holy Sepulchre in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name= +"page129"></a>[pg 129]</span> Jerusalem. It descends from heaven +and ignites the candles which the patriarch holds in his hands, +while with closed eyes he wrestles in prayer all alone in the +chapel of the Angel. The worshippers meanwhile wait anxiously in +the body of the church, and great are their transports of joy when +at one of the windows of the chapel, which had been all dark a +minute before, there suddenly appears the hand of an angel, or of +the patriarch, holding a lighted taper. This is the sacred new +fire; it is passed out to the expectant believers, and the +desperate struggle which ensues among them to get a share of its +blessed influence is only terminated by the intervention of the +Turkish soldiery, who restore peace and order by hustling the whole +multitude impartially out of the church. In days gone by many lives +were often lost in these holy scrimmages. For example, in the year +1834, the famous Ibrahim Pasha witnessed the frantic scene from one +of the galleries, and, being moved with compassion at the sight, +descended with a few guards into the arena in the chimerical hope +of restoring peace and order among the contending Christians. He +contrived to force his way into the midst of the dense crowd, but +there the heat and pressure were so great that he fainted away; a +body of soldiers, seeing his danger, charged straight into the +throng and carried him out of it in their arms, trampling under +foot the dying and dead in their passage. Nearly two hundred people +were killed that day in the church. The fortunate survivors on +these occasions who succeeded in obtaining a portion of the coveted +fire applied it freely to their faces, their beards, and their +garments. The theory was that the fire, being miraculous, could +only bless and not burn them; but the practical results of the +experiment were often disappointing, for while the blessings were +more or less dubious, there could be no doubt whatever about the +burns.<a id="footnotetag320" name="footnotetag320"></a><a href= +"#footnote320"><sup>320</sup></a> The history of the miracle has +been carefully <span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name= +"page130"></a>[pg 130]</span> investigated by a Jesuit father. The +conclusions at which he arrives are that the miracle was a miracle +indeed so long as the Catholics had the management of it; but that +since it fell into the hands of the heretics it has been nothing +but a barefaced trick and imposture.<a id="footnotetag321" name= +"footnotetag321"></a><a href="#footnote321"><sup>321</sup></a> Many +people will be disposed to agree with the latter conclusion who +might hesitate to accept the former.</p> +<a id="firegreece" name="firegreece"></a> +<p>[The new fire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in +Greece.]</p> +<p>At Athens the new fire is kindled in the cathedral at midnight +on Holy Saturday. A dense crowd with unlit candles in their hands +fills the square in front of the cathedral; the king, the +archbishop, and the highest dignitaries of the church, arrayed in +their gorgeous robes, occupy a platform; and at the exact moment of +the resurrection the bells ring out, and the whole square bursts as +by magic into a blaze of light. Theoretically all the candles are +lit from the sacred new fire in the cathedral, but practically it +may be suspected that the matches which bear the name of Lucifer +have some share in the sudden illumination.<a id="footnotetag322" +name="footnotetag322"></a><a href="#footnote322"><sup>322</sup></a> +Effigies of Judas used to be burned at Athens on Easter Saturday, +but the custom has been forbidden by the Government. However, +firing goes on more or less continuously all over the city both on +Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, and the cartridges used on this +occasion are not always blank. The shots are aimed at Judas, but +sometimes they miss him and hit other people. Outside of Athens the +practice of burning Judas in effigy still survives in some places. +For example, in Cos a straw image of the traitor is made on Easter +Day, and after being hung up and shot at it is burned.<a id= +"footnotetag323" name="footnotetag323"></a><a href= +"#footnote323"><sup>323</sup></a> A similar custom <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span> +appears to prevail at Thebes;<a id="footnotetag324" name= +"footnotetag324"></a><a href="#footnote324"><sup>324</sup></a> it +used to be observed by the Macedonian peasantry, and it is still +kept up at Therapia, a fashionable summer resort of +Constantinople.<a id="footnotetag325" name= +"footnotetag325"></a><a href="#footnote325"><sup>325</sup></a></p> +<a id="firearmenia" name="firearmenia"></a> +<p>[The new fire at Candlemas in Armenia.]</p> +<p>In the Armenian Church the sacred new fire is kindled not at +Easter but at Candlemas, that is, on the second of February, or on +the eve of that festival. The materials of the bonfire are piled in +an open space near a church, and they are generally ignited by +young couples who have been married within the year. However, it is +the bishop or his vicar who lights the candles with which fire is +set to the pile. All young married pairs are expected to range +themselves about the fire and to dance round it. Young men leap +over the flames, but girls and women content themselves with going +round them, while they pray to be preserved from the itch and other +skin-diseases. When the ceremony is over, the people eagerly pick +up charred sticks or ashes of the fire and preserve them or scatter +them on the four corners of the roof, in the cattle-stall, in the +garden, and on the pastures; for these holy sticks and ashes +protect men and cattle against disease, and fruit-trees against +worms and caterpillars. Omens, too, are drawn from the direction in +which the wind blows the flames and the smoke: if it carries them +eastward, there is hope of a good harvest; but if it inclines them +westward, the people fear that the crops will fail.<a id= +"footnotetag326" name="footnotetag326"></a><a href= +"#footnote326"><sup>326</sup></a></p> +<a id="firerelics" name="firerelics"></a> +<p>[The new fire and the burning of Judas at Easter are probably +relics of paganism.]</p> +<p>In spite of the thin cloak of Christianity thrown over these +customs by representing the new fire as an emblem of Christ and the +figure burned in it as an effigy of Judas, we can hardly doubt that +both practices are of pagan origin. Neither of them has the +authority of Christ or of his disciples; but both of them have +abundant analogies in popular custom <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page132" name="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span> and superstition. Some +instances of the practice of annually extinguishing fires and +relighting them from a new and sacred flame have already come +before us;<a id="footnotetag327" name="footnotetag327"></a><a href= +"#footnote327"><sup>327</sup></a> but a few examples may here be +cited for the sake of illustrating the wide diffusion of a custom +which has found its way into the ritual both of the Eastern and of +the Western Church.</p> +<a id="fireincas" name="fireincas"></a> +<p>[The new fire at the summer solstice among the Incas of Peru; +the new fire among the Indians of Mexico and New Mexico; the new +fire among the Esquimaux.]</p> +<p>The Incas of Peru celebrated a festival called Raymi, a word +which their native historian Garcilasso de la Vega tells us was +equivalent to our Easter. It was held in honour of the sun at the +solstice in June. For three days before the festival the people +fasted, men did not sleep with their wives, and no fires were +lighted in Cuzco, the capital. The sacred new fire was obtained +direct from the sun by concentrating his beams on a highly polished +concave plate and reflecting them on a little cotton wool. With +this holy fire the sheep and lambs offered to the sun were +consumed, and the flesh of such as were to be eaten at the festival +was roasted. Portions of the new fire were also conveyed to the +temple of the sun and to the convent of the sacred virgins, where +they were kept burning all the year, and it was an ill omen if the +holy flame went out.<a id="footnotetag328" name= +"footnotetag328"></a><a href="#footnote328"><sup>328</sup></a> At a +festival held in the last month of the old Mexican year all the +fires both in the temples and in the houses were extinguished, and +the priest kindled a new fire by rubbing two sticks against each +other before the image of the fire-god.<a id="footnotetag329" name= +"footnotetag329"></a><a href="#footnote329"><sup>329</sup></a> The +Zuni Indians of New Mexico kindle a new fire by the friction of +wood both at the winter and the summer solstice. At the winter +solstice the chosen fire-maker collects a faggot of cedar-wood from +every house in the village, and each person, as he hands the wood +to the fire-maker, prays that the crops may be good in the coming +year. For several days before the new fire is kindled, no +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>[pg +133]</span> ashes or sweepings may be removed from the houses and +no artificial light may appear outside of them, not even a burning +cigarette or the flash of firearms. The Indians believe that no +rain will fall on the fields of the man outside whose house a light +has been seen at this season. The signal for kindling the new fire +is given by the rising of the Morning Star. The flame is produced +by twirling an upright stick between the hands on a horizontal +stick laid on the floor of a sacred chamber, the sparks being +caught by a tinder of cedar-dust. It is forbidden to blow up the +smouldering tinder with the breath, for that would offend the gods. +After the fire has thus been ceremonially kindled, the women and +girls of all the families in the village clean out their houses. +They carry the sweepings and ashes in baskets or bowls to the +fields and leave them there. To the sweepings the woman says: "I +now deposit you as sweepings, but in one year you will return to me +as corn." And to the ashes she says: "I now deposit you as ashes, +but in one year you will return to me as meal." At the summer +solstice the sacred fire which has been procured by the friction of +wood is used to kindle the grass and trees, that there may be a +great cloud of smoke, while bull-roarers are swung and prayers +offered that the Rain-makers up aloft will water the earth.<a id= +"footnotetag330" name="footnotetag330"></a><a href= +"#footnote330"><sup>330</sup></a> From this account we see how +intimately the kindling of a new fire at the two turning-points of +the sun's course is associated in the minds of these Indians with +the fertility of the land, particularly with the growth of the +corn. The rolling smoke is apparently an imitation of rain-clouds +designed, on the principle of homoeopathic magic, to draw showers +from the blue sky. Once a year the Iroquois priesthood supplied the +people with a new fire. As a preparation for the annual rite +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>[pg +134]</span> the fires in all the huts were extinguished and the +ashes scattered about. Then the priest, wearing the insignia of his +office, went from hut to hut relighting the fires by means of a +flint.<a id="footnotetag331" name="footnotetag331"></a><a href= +"#footnote331"><sup>331</sup></a> Among the Esquimaux with whom +C.F. Hall resided, it was the custom that at a certain time, which +answered to our New Year's Day, two men went about from house to +house blowing out every light in the village. One of the men was +dressed to represent a woman. Afterwards the lights were rekindled +from a fresh fire. An Esquimau woman being asked what all this +meant, replied, "New sun—new light."<a id="footnotetag332" +name="footnotetag332"></a><a href="#footnote332"><sup>332</sup></a> +Among the Esquimaux of Iglulik, when the sun first rises above the +horizon after the long night of the Arctic winter, the children who +have watched for his reappearance run into the houses and blow out +the lamps. Then they receive from their mothers presents of pieces +of wick.<a id="footnotetag333" name="footnotetag333"></a><a href= +"#footnote333"><sup>333</sup></a></p> +<a id="firewadai" name="firewadai"></a> +<p>[The new fire in Wadai, among the Swahili, and in other parts of +Africa.]</p> +<p>In the Sudanese kingdom of Wadai all the fires in the villages +are put out and the ashes removed from the houses on the day which +precedes the New Year festival. At the beginning of the new year a +new fire is lit by the friction of wood in the great straw hut +where the village elders lounge away the sultry hours together; and +every man takes thence a burning brand with which he rekindles the +fire on his domestic hearth.<a id="footnotetag334" name= +"footnotetag334"></a><a href="#footnote334"><sup>334</sup></a> In +the Bahr-el-Ghazal province of the Egyptian Sudan the people +extinguish their old fires at the Arab New Year and bring in new +fire. On the same occasion they beat the walls of their huts, the +grass thatches, and the walls of their enclosures in order to drive +away the devil or evil spirits. The beating of the walls and roofs +is accompanied by the firing of guns, the shouting of men, and the +shriller cries of the women.<a id="footnotetag335" name= +"footnotetag335"></a><a href="#footnote335"><sup>335</sup></a> Thus +these people combine <span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name= +"page135"></a>[pg 135]</span> an annual expulsion of demons with an +annual lighting of a new fire. Among the Swahili of East Africa the +greatest festival is that of the New Year, which falls in the +second half of August. At a given moment all the fires are +extinguished with water and afterwards relit by the friction of two +dry pieces of wood. The ashes of the old fires are carried out and +deposited at cross-roads. All the people get up very early in the +morning and bathe in the sea or some other water, praying to be +kept in good health and to live that they may bathe again next +year. Sham-fights form part of the amusements of the day; sometimes +they pass into grim reality. Indeed the day was formerly one of +general license; every man did that which was good in his own eyes. +No awkward questions were asked about any crimes committed on this +occasion, so some people improved the shining hour by knocking a +few poor devils on the head. Shooting still goes on during the +whole day, and at night the proceedings generally wind up with a +great dance.<a id="footnotetag336" name= +"footnotetag336"></a><a href="#footnote336"><sup>336</sup></a> The +King of Benametapa, as the early Portuguese traders called him, in +East Africa used to send commissioners annually to every town in +his dominions; on the arrival of one of these officers the +inhabitants of each town had to put out all their fires and to +receive a new fire from him. Failure to comply with this custom was +treated as rebellion.<a id="footnotetag337" name= +"footnotetag337"></a><a href="#footnote337"><sup>337</sup></a> Some +tribes of British Central Africa carefully extinguish the fires on +the hearths at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name= +"page136"></a>[pg 136]</span> the beginning of the hoeing season +and at harvest; the fires are afterwards rekindled by friction, and +the people indulge in dances of various kinds.<a id= +"footnotetag338" name="footnotetag338"></a><a href= +"#footnote338"><sup>338</sup></a></p> +<a id="firetodas" name="firetodas"></a> +<p>[The new fire among the Todas of Southern India and among the +Nagas of North-Eastern India.]</p> +<p>The Todas of the Neilgheny Hills, in Southern India, annually +kindle a sacred new fire by the friction of wood in the month which +begins with the October moon. The ceremony is performed by two holy +dairymen at the foot of a high hill. When they have lighted the +fire by rubbing two dry sticks together, and it begins to burn +well, they stand a little way off and pray, saying, "May the young +grass flower! May honey flourish! May fruit ripen!" The purpose of +the ceremony is to make the grass and honey plentiful. In ancient +times the Todas lived largely on wild fruits, and then the rite of +the new fire was very important. Now that they subsist chiefly on +the milk of their buffaloes, the ceremony has lost much of its old +significance.<a id="footnotetag339" name= +"footnotetag339"></a><a href="#footnote339"><sup>339</sup></a> When +the Nagas of North-Eastern India have felled the timber and cut +down the scrub in those patches of jungle which they propose to +cultivate, they put out all the fires in the village and light a +new fire by rubbing two dry pieces of wood together. Then having +kindled torches at it they proceed with them to the jungle and +ignite the felled timber and brushwood. The flesh of a cow or +buffalo is also roasted on the new fire and furnishes a sacrificial +meal.<a id="footnotetag340" name="footnotetag340"></a><a href= +"#footnote340"><sup>340</sup></a> Near the small town of Kahma in +Burma, between Prome and Thayetmyo, certain gases escape from a +hollow in the ground and burn with a steady flame during the dry +season of the year. The people regard the flame as the forge of a +spectral smith who here carried on his business after death had +removed him from his old smithy in the village. Once a year all the +household fires in Kahma are extinguished and then lighted afresh +from the ghostly flame.<a id="footnotetag341" name= +"footnotetag341"></a><a href="#footnote341"><sup>341</sup></a></p> +<a id="firechina" name="firechina"></a> +<p>[The new fire in China and Japan.]</p> +<p>In China every year, about the beginning of April, certain +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>[pg +137]</span> officials, called <i>Sz'hüen</i>, used of old to +go about the country armed with wooden clappers. Their business was +to summon the people and command them to put out every fire. This +was the beginning of a season called <i>Han-shih-tsieh</i>, or +"eating cold food." For three days all household fires remained +extinct as a preparation for the solemn renewal of the fire, which +took place on the fifth or sixth day of April, being the hundred +and fifth day after the winter solstice. The ceremony was performed +with great pomp by the same officials, who procured the new fire +from heaven by reflecting the sun's rays either from a metal mirror +or from a crystal on dry moss. Fire thus obtained is called by the +Chinese heavenly fire, and its use is enjoined in sacrifices; +whereas fire elicited by the friction of wood is termed by them +earthly fire, and its use is prescribed for cooking and other +domestic purposes. When once the new fire had thus been drawn from +the sun, all the people were free to rekindle their domestic +hearths; and, as a Chinese distich has it—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"At the festival of the cold food there are a thousand white +stalks among the flowers;</p> +<p>On the day Tsing-ming, at sunrise, you may see the smoke of +ten</p> +<p>thousand houses."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>According to a Chinese philosopher, the reason for thus renewing +fire periodically is that the vital principle grows weaker and +weaker in old fire, whereas in new fire it is young and vigorous. +This annual renewal of fire was a ceremony of very great antiquity +in China, since it is known to have been observed in the time of +the first dynasty, about two thousand years before Christ. Under +the Tcheou dynasty a change in the calendar led to shifting the +fire-festival from spring to the summer solstice, but afterwards it +was brought back to its original date. Although the custom appears +to have long fallen into disuse, the barbarous inhabitants of +Hainan, an island to the south of China, still call a year "a +fire," as if in memory of the time when the years were reckoned by +the annually recurring ceremony of rekindling the sacred +fire.<a id="footnotetag342" name="footnotetag342"></a><a href= +"#footnote342"><sup>342</sup></a> "A Japanese book written two +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>[pg +138]</span> centuries ago informs us that sticks resembling the +wands used for offerings at the purification ceremony were part +shaven and set up in bundles at the four corners of the Gion shrine +on the last day of the year. The priests, after prayers were +recited, broke up the bundles and set fire to the sticks, which the +people then carried home to light their household fires with for +the New Year. The object of this ceremony was to avert +pestilence."<a id="footnotetag343" name= +"footnotetag343"></a><a href="#footnote343"><sup>343</sup></a></p> +<a id="firerome" name="firerome"></a> +<p>[The new fire in ancient Greece and Rome.]</p> +<p>In classical antiquity the Greek island of Lemnos was devoted to +the worship of the smith-god Hephaestus, who was said to have +fallen on it when Zeus hurled him from heaven.<a id= +"footnotetag344" name="footnotetag344"></a><a href= +"#footnote344"><sup>344</sup></a> Once a year every fire in the +island was extinguished and remained extinct for nine days, during +which sacrifices were offered to the dead and to the infernal +powers. New fire was brought in a ship from the sacred isle of +Delos, and with it the fires in the houses and the workshops were +relit. The people said that with the new fire they made a new +beginning of life. If the ship that bore the sacred flame arrived +too soon, it might not put in to shore, but had to cruise in the +offing till the nine days were expired.<a id="footnotetag345" name= +"footnotetag345"></a><a href="#footnote345"><sup>345</sup></a> At +Rome the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta was kindled anew every +year on the first of March, which used to be the beginning of the +Roman year;<a id="footnotetag346" name= +"footnotetag346"></a><a href="#footnote346"><sup>346</sup></a> the +task of lighting it was entrusted to the Vestal Virgins, and they +performed it by drilling a hole in a board of lucky wood till the +flame was elicited by friction. The new fire thus produced was +carried into the temple of Vesta by one of the virgins in a bronze +sieve.<a id="footnotetag347" name="footnotetag347"></a><a href= +"#footnote347"><sup>347</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>[pg +139]</span> <a id="firecelts" name="firecelts"></a> +<p>[The new fire at Hallow E'en among the old Celts of Ireland; the +new fire on September 1st among the Russian peasants.]</p> +<p>Among the Celts of Ireland a new fire was annually kindled on +Hallowe'en or the Eve of Samhain, as they called it, the last day +of October, from which the Irish new year began; and all the +hearths throughout the country are said to have been relighted from +the fresh fire. The place where this holy flame was lit bore the +name of Tlachtga or Tlactga; it has been identified with a rath or +native fort on the Hill of Ward near Athboy in the county of Meath. +"It was there," says the old Irish historian, Geoffrey Keating, +"that the Festival of the Fire of Tlactga was ordered to be held, +and it was thither that the Druids of Ireland were wont to repair +and to assemble, in solemn meeting, on the eve of Samhain, for the +purpose of making a sacrifice to all the gods. It was in that fire +at Tlactga, that their sacrifice was burnt; and it was made +obligatory, under pain of punishment, to extinguish all the fires +of Ireland, on that eve; and the men of Ireland were allowed to +kindle no other fire but that one; and for each of the other fires, +which were all to be lighted from it, the king of Munster was to +receive a tax of a <i>sgreball</i>, that is, of three pence, +because the land, upon which Tlactga was built, belongs to the +portion of Meath which had been taken from Munster."<a id= +"footnotetag348" name="footnotetag348"></a><a href= +"#footnote348"><sup>348</sup></a> In the villages near Moscow at +the present time the peasants put out all their fires on the eve of +the first of September, and next morning at sunrise a wise man or a +wise woman rekindles them with the help of muttered incantations +and spells.<a id="footnotetag349" name= +"footnotetag349"></a><a href="#footnote349"><sup>349</sup></a></p> +<a id="fireheathen" name="fireheathen"></a> +<p>[Thus the ceremony of the new fire in the Eastern and Western +Church is probably a relic of an old heathen rite.]</p> +<p>Instances of such practices might doubtless be multiplied, but +the foregoing examples may suffice to render it <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>[pg 140]</span> +probable that the ecclesiastical ceremony of lighting a sacred new +fire on Easter Saturday had originally nothing to do with +Christianity, but is merely one case of a world-wide custom which +the Church has seen fit to incorporate in its ritual. It might be +supposed that in the Western Church the custom was merely a +survival of the old Roman usage of renewing the fire on the first +of March, were it not that the observance by the Eastern Church of +the custom on the same day seems to point back to a still older +period when the ceremony of lighting a new fire in spring, perhaps +at the vernal equinox, was common to many peoples of the +Mediterranean area. We may conjecture that wherever such a ceremony +has been observed, it originally marked the beginning of a new +year, as it did in ancient Rome and Ireland, and as it still does +in the Sudanese kingdom of Wadai and among the Swahili of Eastern +Africa.</p> +<a id="paganeaster" name="paganeaster"></a> +<p>[The pagan character of the Easter fire appears from the +superstitions associated with it, such as the belief that the fire +fertilizes the fields and protects houses from conflagration and +sickness.]</p> +<p>The essentially pagan character of the Easter fire festival +appears plainly both from the mode in which it is celebrated by the +peasants and from the superstitious beliefs which they associate +with it. All over northern and central Germany, from Altmark and +Anhalt on the east, through Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg, the Harz +district, and Hesse to Westphalia the Easter bonfires still blaze +simultaneously on the hill-tops. As many as forty may sometimes be +counted within sight at once. Long before Easter the young people +have been busy collecting firewood; every farmer contributes, and +tar-barrels, petroleum cases, and so forth go to swell the pile. +Neighbouring villages vie with each other as to which shall send up +the greatest blaze. The fires are always kindled, year after year, +on the same hill, which accordingly often takes the name of Easter +Mountain. It is a fine spectacle to watch from some eminence the +bonfires flaring up one after another on the neighbouring heights. +As far as their light reaches, so far, in the belief of the +peasants, the fields will be fruitful, and the houses on which they +shine will be safe from conflagration or sickness. At Volkmarsen +and other places in Hesse the people used to observe which way the +wind blew the flames, and then they sowed flax seed in that +direction, confident that it would grow well. Brands taken from the +bonfires preserve houses from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" +name="page141"></a>[pg 141]</span> being struck by lightning; and +the ashes increase the fertility of the fields, protect them from +mice, and mixed with the drinking-water of cattle make the animals +thrive and ensure them against plague. As the flames die down, +young and old leap over them, and cattle are sometimes driven +through the smouldering embers. In some places tar-barrels or +wheels wrapt in straw used to be set on fire, and then sent rolling +down the hillside. In others the boys light torches and wisps of +straw at the bonfires and rush about brandishing them in their +hands. Where the people are divided between Protestantism and +Catholicism, as in Hildesheim, it has been observed that among +Protestants the Easter bonfires are generally left to the boys, +while in Catholic districts they are cared for by grown-up persons, +and here the whole population will gather round the blazing pile +and join in singing choral hymns, which echo far and wide in the +stillness of night.<a id="footnotetag350" name= +"footnotetag350"></a><a href="#footnote350"><sup>350</sup></a></p> +<a id="firemunsterland" name="firemunsterland"></a> +<p>[The Easter fires in Münsterland, Oldenburg, the Harz +Mountains and the Altmark.]</p> +<p>In Münsterland these Easter fires are always kindled upon +certain definite hills, which are hence known as Easter or Paschal +Mountains. The whole community assembles about the fire. Fathers of +families form an inner circle round it. An outer circle is composed +of the young men and maidens, who, singing Easter hymns, march +round and round the fire in the direction of the sun, till the +blaze dies down. Then the girls jump over the fire in a line, one +after the other, each supported by two young men who hold her hands +and run beside her. When the fire has burned out, the whole +assembly marches in solemn procession to the church, singing hymns. +They go thrice round the church, and then break up. In the twilight +boys with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name= +"page142"></a>[pg 142]</span> blazing bundles of straw run over the +fields to make them fruitful.<a id="footnotetag351" name= +"footnotetag351"></a><a href="#footnote351"><sup>351</sup></a> At +Delmenhorst, in Oldenburg, it used to be the custom to cut down two +trees, plant them in the ground side by side, and pile twelve +tar-barrels, one above the other, against each of the trees. +Brushwood was then heaped about the trees, and on the evening of +Easter Saturday the boys, after rushing about with blazing +beanpoles in their hands, set fire to the whole. At the end of the +ceremony the urchins tried to blacken each other and the clothes of +grown-up people.<a id="footnotetag352" name= +"footnotetag352"></a><a href="#footnote352"><sup>352</sup></a> In +Schaumburg the Easter bonfires may be seen blazing on all the +mountains around for miles. They are made with a tar-barrel +fastened to a pine-tree, which is wrapt in straw. The people dance +singing round them.<a id="footnotetag353" name= +"footnotetag353"></a><a href="#footnote353"><sup>353</sup></a> In +the Harz Mountains the fire is commonly made by piling brushwood +about a tree and setting it on fire. At Osterode every one tries to +snatch a brand from the bonfire and runs about with it; the better +it burns, the more lucky it is. In Grund there are +torch-races.<a id="footnotetag354" name= +"footnotetag354"></a><a href="#footnote354"><sup>354</sup></a> In +the Altmark the Easter bonfires are composed of tar-barrels, +bee-hives, and so forth, piled round a pole. The young folk dance +round the fire; and when it has died out, the old folk come and +collect the ashes, which they preserve as a remedy for the ailments +of bees. It is also believed that as far as the blaze of the +bonfire is visible, the corn will grow well throughout the year, +and no conflagration will break out.<a id="footnotetag355" name= +"footnotetag355"></a><a href="#footnote355"><sup>355</sup></a> At +Braunröde, in the Harz Mountains, it was the custom to burn +squirrels in the Easter bonfire.<a id="footnotetag356" name= +"footnotetag356"></a><a href="#footnote356"><sup>356</sup></a> In +the Altmark, bones were burned in it.<a id="footnotetag357" name= +"footnotetag357"></a><a href="#footnote357"><sup>357</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>[pg +143]</span> <a id="easterbavaria" name="easterbavaria"></a> +<p>[The Easter fires in Bavaria; the burning of Judas; burning the +Easter Man.]</p> +<p>Further south the Easter fires are, or used to be, lit in many +districts of Bavaria. Thus on Easter Monday in some parts of Middle +Franken the schoolboys collect all the old worn-out besoms they can +lay hands on, and march with them in a long procession to a +neighbouring height. When the first chime of the evening bell comes +up from the dale they set fire to the brooms, and run along the +ridges waving them, so that seen from below the hills appear to be +crested with a twinkling and moving chain of fire.<a id= +"footnotetag358" name="footnotetag358"></a><a href= +"#footnote358"><sup>358</sup></a> In some parts of Upper Bavaria at +Easter burning arrows or discs of wood were shot from hill-tops +high into the air, as in the Swabian and Swiss customs already +described.<a id="footnotetag359" name="footnotetag359"></a><a href= +"#footnote359"><sup>359</sup></a> At Oberau, instead of the discs, +an old cart-wheel was sometimes wrapt in straw, ignited, and sent +rolling and blazing down the mountain. The lads who hurled the +discs received painted Easter eggs from the girls.<a id= +"footnotetag360" name="footnotetag360"></a><a href= +"#footnote360"><sup>360</sup></a> Near Forchheim, in Upper Franken, +a straw-man called the Judas used to be burned in the churchyards +on Easter Saturday. The whole village contributed wood to the pyre +on which he perished, and the charred sticks were afterwards kept +and planted in the fields on Walpurgis Day (the first of May) to +preserve the wheat from blight and mildew.<a id="footnotetag361" +name="footnotetag361"></a><a href="#footnote361"><sup>361</sup></a> +About a hundred years ago or more the custom at Althenneberg, in +Upper Bavaria, used to be as follows. On the afternoon of Easter +Saturday the lads collected wood, which they piled in a cornfield, +while in the middle of the pile they set up a tall wooden cross all +swathed in straw. After the evening service they lighted their +lanterns at the consecrated candle in the church, and ran with them +at full speed to the pyre, each striving to get there first. The +first to arrive set fire to the heap. No woman or girl might come +near the bonfire, but they were allowed to watch it from a +distance. As the flames rose the men and lads rejoiced and made +merry, shouting, "We are burning the Judas!" Two of them had to +watch the glowing embers the whole night long, lest people should +come and steal them. Next morning at sunrise they carefully +collected the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name= +"page144"></a>[pg 144]</span> ashes, and threw them into the +running water of the Röten brook. The man who had been the +first to reach the pyre and to kindle it was rewarded on Easter +Sunday by the women, who gave him coloured eggs at the church door. +Well-to-do women gave him two; poorer women gave him only one. The +object of the whole ceremony was to keep off the hail. About a +century ago the Judas fire, as it was called, was put down by the +police.<a id="footnotetag362" name="footnotetag362"></a><a href= +"#footnote362"><sup>362</sup></a> At Giggenhausen and Aufkirchen, +two other villages of Upper Bavaria, a similar custom prevailed, +yet with some interesting differences. Here the ceremony, which +took place between nine and ten at night on Easter Saturday, was +called "burning the Easter Man." On a height about a mile from the +village the young fellows set up a tall cross enveloped in straw, +so that it looked like a man with his arms stretched out. This was +the Easter Man. No lad under eighteen years of age might take part +in the ceremony. One of the young men stationed himself beside the +Easter Man, holding in his hand a consecrated taper which he had +brought from the church and lighted. The rest stood at equal +intervals in a great circle round the cross. At a given signal they +raced thrice round the circle, and then at a second signal ran +straight at the cross and at the lad with the lighted taper beside +it; the one who reached the goal first had the right of setting +fire to the Easter Man. Great was the jubilation while he was +burning. When he had been consumed in the flames, three lads were +chosen from among the rest, and each of the three drew a circle on +the ground with a stick thrice round the ashes. Then they all left +the spot. On Easter Monday the villagers gathered the ashes and +strewed them on their fields; also they planted in the fields +palm-branches which had been consecrated on Palm Sunday, and sticks +which had been charred and hallowed on Good Friday, all for the +purpose of protecting their fields against showers of hail. The +custom of burning an Easter Man made of straw on Easter Saturday +was observed also at Abensberg, in Lower Bavaria.<a id= +"footnotetag363" name="footnotetag363"></a><a href= +"#footnote363"><sup>363</sup></a> In some parts of Swabia the +Easter fires might <span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name= +"page145"></a>[pg 145]</span> not be kindled with iron or steel or +flint, but only by the friction of wood.<a id="footnotetag364" +name="footnotetag364"></a><a href= +"#footnote364"><sup>364</sup></a></p> +<a id="easterbaden" name="easterbaden"></a> +<p>[The Easter fires in Baden; "Thunder poles."]</p> +<p>In Baden bonfires are still kindled in the churchyards on Easter +Saturday, and ecclesiastical refuse of various sorts, such as +candle-ends, old surplices, and the wool used by the priest in the +application of extreme unction, is consumed in the flames. At +Zoznegg down to about 1850 the fire was lighted by the priest by +means of a flint which had never been used before. People bring +sticks, especially oaken sticks, char them in the fire, and then +carry them home and keep them in the house as a preservative +against lightning. At Zoznegg these oaken sticks were sword-shaped, +each about an ell and a half long, and they went by the name of +"weather or thunder poles" (<i>Wetterpfähle</i>). When a +thunderstorm threatened to break out, one of the sticks was put +into a small fire, in order that the hallowed smoke, ascending to +the clouds, might ward off the lightning from the house and the +hail from the fields and gardens. At Schöllbronn the oaken +sticks, which are thus charred in the Easter bonfire and kept in +the house as a protective against thunder and lightning, are three +in number, perhaps with an allusion to the Trinity; they are +brought every Easter to be consecrated afresh in the bonfire, till +they are quite burnt away. In the lake district of Baden it is also +customary to burn one of these holy sticks in the fire when a heavy +thunderstorm is raging.<a id="footnotetag365" name= +"footnotetag365"></a><a href="#footnote365"><sup>365</sup></a> +Hence it seems that the ancient association of the oak with the +thunder<a id="footnotetag366" name="footnotetag366"></a><a href= +"#footnote366"><sup>366</sup></a> persists in the minds of German +peasants to the present day.</p> +<a id="easterholland" name="easterholland"></a> +<p>[Easter fires in Holland and Sweden; the burning of Judas in +Bohemia.]</p> +<p>Thus the custom of the Easter fires appears to have prevailed +all over central and western Germany from north to south. We find +it also in Holland, where the fires were kindled on the highest +eminences, and the people danced round them and leaped through the +flames or over the glowing embers. Here too, as so often in +Germany, the materials for the bonfire were collected by the young +folk <span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>[pg +146]</span> from door to door.<a id="footnotetag367" name= +"footnotetag367"></a><a href="#footnote367"><sup>367</sup></a> In +many parts of Sweden firearms are, as at Athens, discharged in all +directions on Easter eve, and huge bonfires are lighted on hills +and eminences. Some people think that the intention is to keep off +the Troll and other evil spirits who are especially active at this +season.<a id="footnotetag368" name="footnotetag368"></a><a href= +"#footnote368"><sup>368</sup></a> When the afternoon service on +Good Friday is over, German children in Bohemia drive Judas out of +the church by running about the sacred edifice and even the streets +shaking rattles and clappers. Next day, on Easter Saturday, the +remains of the holy oil are burnt before the church door in a fire +which must be kindled with flint and steel. This fire is called +"the burning of Judas," but in spite of its evil name a beneficent +virtue is ascribed to it, for the people scuffle for the cinders, +which they put in the roofs of their houses as a safeguard against +fire and lightning.<a id="footnotetag369" name= +"footnotetag369"></a><a href="#footnote369"><sup>369</sup></a></p> +<h4><a href="#sect4-3" name="sect4-3" id="sect4-3">§ 3. <i>The +Beltane Fires</i></a></h4> +<a id="beltanehighlands" name="beltanehighlands"></a> +<p>[The Beltane fires on the first of May in the Highlands of +Scotland; description of the Beltane fires by John Ramsay of +Ochtertyre in the eighteenth century.]</p> +<p>In the central Highlands of Scotland bonfires, known as the +Beltane fires, were formerly kindled with great ceremony on the +first of May, and the traces of human sacrifices at them were +particularly clear and unequivocal. The custom of lighting the +bonfires lasted in various places far into the eighteenth century, +and the descriptions of the ceremony by writers of that period +present such a curious and interesting picture of ancient +heathendom surviving in our own country that I will reproduce them +in the words of their authors. The fullest of the descriptions, so +far as I know, is the one bequeathed to us by John Ramsay, laird of +Ochtertyre, near Crieff, the patron of Burns and the friend of Sir +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>[pg +147]</span> Walter Scott. From his voluminous manuscripts, written +in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, a selection was +published in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The +following account of Beltane is extracted from a chapter dealing +with Highland superstitions. Ramsay says: "But the most +considerable of the Druidical festivals is that of Beltane, or +May-day, which was lately observed in some parts of the Highlands +with extraordinary ceremonies. Of later years it is chiefly +attended to by young people, persons advanced in years considering +it as inconsistent with their gravity to give it any countenance. +Yet a number of circumstances relative to it may be collected from +tradition, or the conversation of very old people, who witnessed +this feast in their youth, when the ancient rites were better +observed.</p> +<p>[Need-fire.]</p> +<p>"This festival is called in Gaelic +<i>Beal-tene</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, the fire of Bel.... Like the +other public worship of the Druids, the Beltane feast seems to have +been performed on hills or eminences. They thought it degrading to +him whose temple is the universe, to suppose that he would dwell in +any house made with hands. Their sacrifices were therefore offered +in the open air, frequently upon the tops of hills, where they were +presented with the grandest views of nature, and were nearest the +seat of warmth and order. And, according to tradition, such was the +manner of celebrating this festival in the Highlands within the +last hundred years. But since the decline of superstition, it has +been celebrated by the people of each hamlet on some hill or rising +ground around which their cattle were pasturing. Thither the young +folks repaired in the morning, and cut a trench, on the summit of +which a seat of turf was formed for the company. And in the middle +a pile of wood or other fuel was placed, which of old they kindled +with <i>tein-eigin</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, forced-fire or +<i>need-fire</i>. Although, for many years past, they have been +contented with common fire, yet we shall now describe the process, +because it will hereafter appear that recourse is still had to the +<i>tein-eigin</i> upon extraordinary emergencies.</p> +<p>[Need-fire kindled by the friction of oak wood.]</p> +<p>"The night before, all the fires in the country were carefully +extinguished, and next morning the materials for exciting this +sacred fire were prepared. The most primitive method seems to be +that which was used in the islands of <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page148" name="page148"></a>[pg 148]</span> Skye, Mull, and Tiree. +A well-seasoned plank of oak was procured, in the midst of which a +hole was bored. A wimble of the same timber was then applied, the +end of which they fitted to the hole. But in some parts of the +mainland the machinery was different. They used a frame of green +wood, of a square form, in the centre of which was an axle-tree. In +some places three times three persons, in others three times nine, +were required for turning round by turns the axle-tree or wimble. +If any of them had been guilty of murder, adultery, theft, or other +atrocious crime, it was imagined either that the fire would not +kindle, or that it would be devoid of its usual virtue. So soon as +any sparks were emitted by means of the violent friction, they +applied a species of agaric which grows on old birch-trees, and is +very combustible. This fire had the appearance of being immediately +derived from heaven, and manifold were the virtues ascribed to it. +They esteemed it a preservative against witchcraft, and a sovereign +remedy against malignant diseases, both in the human species and in +cattle; and by it the strongest poisons were supposed to have their +nature changed.</p> +<p>[The Beltane cake and the Beltane carline +(<i>cailleach</i>).]</p> +<p>"After kindling the bonfire with the <i>tein-eigin</i> the +company prepared their victuals. And as soon as they had finished +their meal, they amused themselves a while in singing and dancing +round the fire. Towards the close of the entertainment, the person +who officiated as master of the feast produced a large cake baked +with eggs and scalloped round the edge, called <i>am bonnach +beal-tine—i.e.</i> the Beltane cake. It was divided into a +number of pieces, and distributed in great form to the company. +There was one particular piece which whoever got was called +<i>cailleach beal-tine—i.e.</i>, the Beltane <i>carline</i>, +a term of great reproach. Upon his being known, part of the company +laid hold of him and made a show of putting him into the fire; but +the majority interposing, he was rescued. And in some places they +laid him flat on the ground, making as if they would quarter him. +Afterwards, he was pelted with egg-shells, and retained the odious +appellation during the whole year. And while the feast was fresh in +people's memory, they affected to speak of the <i>cailleach +beal-tine</i> as dead.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149"></a>[pg +149]</span> +<p>"This festival was longest observed in the interior Highlands, +for towards the west coast the traces of it are faintest. In +Glenorchy and Lorne, a large cake is made on that day, which they +consume in the house; and in Mull it has a large hole in the +middle, through which each of the cows in the fold is milked. In +Tiree it is of a triangular form. The more elderly people remember +when this festival was celebrated without-doors with some solemnity +in both these islands. There are at present no vestiges of it in +Skye or the Long Island, the inhabitants of which have substituted +the <i>connach Micheil</i> or St. Michael's cake. It is made at +Michaelmas with milk and oatmeal, and some eggs are sprinkled on +its surface. Part of it is sent to the neighbours.</p> +<p>"It is probable that at the original Beltane festival there were +two fires kindled near one another. When any person is in a +critical dilemma, pressed on each side by unsurmountable +difficulties, the Highlanders have a proverb, <i>The e' eada anda +theine bealtuin</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, he is between the two +Beltane fires. There are in several parts small round hills, which, +it is like, owe their present names to such solemn uses. One of the +highest and most central in Icolmkil is called +<i>Cnoch-nan-ainneal</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, the hill of the fires. +There is another of the same name near the kirk of Balquhidder; and +at Killin there is a round green eminence which seems to have been +raised by art. It is called +<i>Tom-nan-ainneal</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, the eminence of the +fires. Around it there are the remains of a circular wall about two +feet high. On the top a stone stands upon end. According to the +tradition of the inhabitants, it was a place of Druidical worship; +and it was afterwards pitched on as the most venerable spot for +holding courts of justice for the country of Breadalbane. The earth +of this eminence is still thought to be possessed of some healing +virtue, for when cattle are observed to be diseased some of it is +sent for, which is rubbed on the part affected."<a id= +"footnotetag370" name="footnotetag370"></a><a href= +"#footnote370"><sup>370</sup></a></p> +<p>[Local differences in the Beltane cakes; evidence of two fires +at Beltane; Beltane pies and cakes in the parish of Callander.]</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>[pg +150]</span> +<p>In the parish of Callander, a beautiful district of western +Perthshire, the Beltane custom was still in vogue towards the end +of the eighteenth century. It has been described as follows by the +parish minister of the time: "Upon the first day of May, which is +called <i>Beltan</i>, or <i>Bal-tein</i> day, all the boys in a +township or hamlet, meet in the moors. They cut a table in the +green sod, of a round figure, by casting a trench in the ground, of +such circumference as to hold the whole company. They kindle a +fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk in the consistence of a +custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the +embers against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide +the cake into so many portions, as similar as possible to one +another in size and shape, as there are persons in the company. +They daub one of these portions all over with charcoal, until it be +perfectly black. They put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet. +Every one, blindfold, draws out a portion. He who holds the bonnet, +is entitled to the last bit. Whoever draws the black bit, is the +<i>devoted</i> person who is to be sacrificed to <i>Baal</i><a id= +"footnotetag371" name="footnotetag371"></a><a href= +"#footnote371"><sup>371</sup></a> whose favour they mean to +implore, in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name= +"page151"></a>[pg 151]</span> rendering the year productive of the +sustenance of man and beast. There is little doubt of these inhuman +sacrifices having been once offered in this country, as well as in +the east, although they now pass from the act of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page152" name="page152"></a>[pg 152]</span> +sacrificing, and only compel the <i>devoted</i> person to leap +three times through the flames; with which the ceremonies of this +festival are closed."<a id="footnotetag372" name= +"footnotetag372"></a><a href="#footnote372"><sup>372</sup></a></p> +<a id="beltaneperthshire" name="beltaneperthshire"></a> +<p>[Pennant's description of the Beltane fires and cakes in +Perthshire.]</p> +<p>Thomas Pennant, who travelled in Perthshire in the year 1769, +tells us that "on the first of May, the herdsmen of every village +hold their Bel-tien, a rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench on +the ground, leaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a +fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, +oatmeal and milk; and bring besides the ingredients of the caudle, +plenty of beer and whisky; for each of the company must contribute +something. The rites begin with spilling some of the caudle on the +ground, by way of libation: on that every one takes a cake of +oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to +some particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks and +herds, or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them: +each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and +flinging it over his shoulders, says, 'This I give to thee, +preserve thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep; and +so on,' After that, they use the-same ceremony to the noxious +animals: 'This I give to thee, O fox! spare thou my lambs; this to +thee, O hooded crow! this to thee, O eagle!' When the ceremony is +over, they dine on the caudle; and after the feast is finished, +what is left is hid by two persons deputed for that purpose; but on +the next Sunday they re-assemble, and finish the reliques of the +first entertainment"<a id="footnotetag373" name= +"footnotetag373"></a><a href="#footnote373"><sup>373</sup></a></p> +<p>[Beltane cakes and fires in the parishes of Logierait and +Kirkmichael; omens drawn from the cakes.]</p> +<p>Another writer of the eighteenth century has described the +Beltane festival as it was held in the parish of Logierait in +Perthshire. He says: "On the first of May, O.S., a festival called +<i>Beltan</i> is annually held here. It is chiefly celebrated by +the cow-herds, who assemble by scores in the fields, to dress a +dinner for themselves, of boiled milk <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page153" name="page153"></a>[pg 153]</span> and eggs. These dishes +they eat with a sort of cakes baked for the occasion, and having +small lumps in the form of <i>nipples</i>, raised all over the +surface."<a id="footnotetag374" name="footnotetag374"></a><a href= +"#footnote374"><sup>374</sup></a> In this last account no mention +is made of bonfires, but they were probably lighted, for a +contemporary writer informs us that in the parish of Kirkmichael, +which adjoins the parish of Logierait on the east, the custom of +lighting a fire in the fields and baking a consecrated cake on the +first of May was not quite obsolete in his time.<a id= +"footnotetag375" name="footnotetag375"></a><a href= +"#footnote375"><sup>375</sup></a> We may conjecture that the cake +with knobs was formerly used for the purpose of determining who +should be the "Beltane carline" or victim doomed to the flames. A +trace of this custom survived, perhaps, in the custom of baking +oatmeal cakes of a special kind and rolling them down hill about +noon on the first of May; for it was thought that the person whose +cake broke as it rolled would die or be unfortunate within the +year. These cakes, or bannocks as we call them in Scotland, were +baked in the usual way, but they were washed over with a thin +batter composed of whipped egg, milk or cream, and a little +oatmeal. This custom appears to have prevailed at or near Kingussie +in Inverness-shire. At Achterneed, near Strathpeffer in Ross-shire, +the Beltane bannocks were called <i>tcharnican</i> or hand-cakes, +because they were kneaded entirely in the hand, and not on a board +or table like common cakes; and after being baked they might not be +placed anywhere but in the hands of the children who were to eat +them.<a id="footnotetag376" name="footnotetag376"></a><a href= +"#footnote376"><sup>376</sup></a></p> +<a id="beltanenescotland" name="beltanenescotland"></a> +<p>[Beltane fires in the north-east of Scotland to burn the +witches; the Beltane cake.]</p> +<p>In the north-east of Scotland the Beltane fires were still +kindled in the latter half of the eighteenth century; the herdsmen +of several farms used to gather dry wood, kindle it, and dance +three times "southways" about the burning <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page154" name="page154"></a>[pg 154]</span> +pile.<a id="footnotetag377" name="footnotetag377"></a><a href= +"#footnote377"><sup>377</sup></a> But in this region, according to +a later authority, the Beltane fires were lit not on the first but +on the second of May, Old Style. They were called bone-fires. The +people believed that on that evening and night the witches were +abroad and busy casting spells on cattle and stealing cows' milk. +To counteract their machinations, pieces of rowan-tree and +woodbine, but especially of rowan-tree, were placed over the doors +of the cow-houses, and fires were kindled by every farmer and +cottar. Old thatch, straw, furze, or broom was piled in a heap and +set on fire a little after sunset. While some of the bystanders +kept tossing the blazing mass, others hoisted portions of it on +pitchforks or poles and ran hither and thither, holding them as +high as they could. Meantime the young people danced round the fire +or ran through the smoke shouting, "Fire! blaze and burn the +witches; fire! fire! burn the witches." In some districts a large +round cake of oat or barley meal was rolled through the ashes. When +all the fuel was consumed, the people scattered the ashes far and +wide, and till the night grew quite dark they continued to run +through them, crying, "Fire! burn the witches."<a id= +"footnotetag378" name="footnotetag378"></a><a href= +"#footnote378"><sup>378</sup></a></p> +<a id="beltanehebrides" name="beltanehebrides"></a> +<p>[Beltane cakes and fires in the Hebrides.]</p> +<p>In the Hebrides "the Beltane bannock is smaller than that made +at St. Michael's, but is made in the same way; it is no longer made +in Uist, but Father Allan remembers seeing his grandmother make one +about twenty-five years ago. There was also a cheese made, +generally on the first of May, which was kept to the next Beltane +as a sort of charm against the bewitching of milk-produce. The +Beltane customs seem to have been the same as elsewhere. Every fire +was put out and a large one lit on the top of the hill, and the +cattle driven round it sunwards (<i>dessil</i>), to keep off +murrain all the year. Each man would take home fire wherewith to +kindle his own."<a id="footnotetag379" name= +"footnotetag379"></a><a href="#footnote379"><sup>379</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page155" name="page155"></a>[pg +155]</span> <a id="beltanewales" name="beltanewales"></a> +<p>[Beltane fires and cakes in Wales.]</p> +<p>In Wales also the custom of lighting Beltane fires at the +beginning of May used to be observed, but the day on which they +were kindled varied from the Eve of May Day to the third of May. +The flame was sometimes elicited by the friction of two pieces of +oak, as appears from the following description. "The fire was done +in this way. Nine men would turn their pockets inside out, and see +that every piece of money and all metals were off their persons. +Then the men went into the nearest woods, and collected sticks of +nine different kinds of trees. These were carried to the spot where +the fire had to be built. There a circle was cut in the sod, and +the sticks were set crosswise. All around the circle the people +stood and watched the proceedings. One of the men would then take +two bits of oak, and rub them together until a flame was kindled. +This was applied to the sticks, and soon a large fire was made. +Sometimes two fires were set up side by side. These fires, whether +one or two, were called <i>coelcerth</i> or bonfire. Round cakes of +oatmeal and brown meal were split in four, and placed in a small +flour-bag, and everybody present had to pick out a portion. The +last bit in the bag fell to the lot of the bag-holder. Each person +who chanced to pick up a piece of brown-meal cake was compelled to +leap three times over the flames, or to run thrice between the two +fires, by which means the people thought they were sure of a +plentiful harvest. Shouts and screams of those who had to face the +ordeal could be heard ever so far, and those who chanced to pick +the oatmeal portions sang and danced and clapped their hands in +approval, as the holders of the brown bits leaped three times over +the flames, or ran three times between the two fires. As a rule, no +danger attended <span class="pagenum"><a id="page156" name= +"page156"></a>[pg 156]</span> these curious celebrations, but +occasionally somebody's clothes caught fire, which was quickly put +out. The greatest fire of the year was the eve of May, or May +first, second, or third. The Midsummer Eve fire was more for the +harvest. Very often a fire was built on the eve of November. The +high ground near the Castle Ditches at Llantwit Major, in the Vale +of Glamorgan, was a familiar spot for the Beltane on May third and +on Midsummer Eve.... Sometimes the Beltane fire was lighted by the +flames produced by stone instead of wood friction. Charred logs and +faggots used in the May Beltane were carefully preserved, and from +them the next fire was lighted. May fires were always started with +old faggots of the previous year, and midsummer from those of the +last summer. It was unlucky to build a midsummer fire from May +faggots. People carried the ashes left after these fires to their +homes, and a charred brand was not only effectual against +pestilence, but magical in its use. A few of the ashes placed in a +person's shoes protected the wearer from any great sorrow or +woe."<a id="footnotetag380" name="footnotetag380"></a><a href= +"#footnote380"><sup>380</sup></a></p> +<p>[Welsh belief that passage over or between the fires ensured +good crops.]</p> +<p>From the foregoing account we learn that bonfires were kindled +in Wales on Midsummer Eve and Hallowe'en (the thirty-first of +October), as well as at the beginning of May, but that the Beltane +fires in May were deemed the most important. To the Midsummer Eve +and Hallowe'en fires we shall return presently. The belief of the +people that by leaping thrice over the bonfires or running thrice +between them they ensured a plentiful harvest is worthy of note. +The mode in which this result was supposed to be brought about is +indicated by another writer on Welsh folk-lore, according to whom +it used to be held that "the bonfires lighted in May or Midsummer +protected the lands from sorcery, so that good crops would follow. +The ashes were also considered valuable as charms."<a id= +"footnotetag381" name="footnotetag381"></a><a href= +"#footnote381"><sup>381</sup></a> Hence it appears that the heat of +the fires was thought to fertilize the fields, not directly by +quickening the seeds in the ground, but indirectly by counteracting +the baleful influence <span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name= +"page157"></a>[pg 157]</span> of witchcraft or perhaps by burning +up the persons of the witches.</p> +<a id="beltaneman" name="beltaneman"></a> +<p>[Beltane fires in the Isle of Man to burn the witches; Beltane +fires in Nottinghamshire.]</p> +<p>"The Druidical anniversary of Beil or Baal is still celebrated +in the Isle of Man. On the first of May, 1837, the Baal fires were, +as usual on that day, so numerous as to give the island the +appearance of a general conflagration."<a id="footnotetag382" name= +"footnotetag382"></a><a href="#footnote382"><sup>382</sup></a> By +May Day in Manx folk-lore is meant May Day Old Style, or <i>Shenn +Laa Boaldyn</i>, as it is called in Manx. The day was one on which +the power of elves and witches was particularly dreaded, and the +people resorted to many precautions in order to protect themselves +against these mischievous beings. Hence at daybreak they set fire +to the ling or gorse, for the purpose of burning out the witches, +who are wont to lurk in the form of hares.<a id="footnotetag383" +name="footnotetag383"></a><a href="#footnote383"><sup>383</sup></a> +On the Hemlock Stone, a natural pillar of sandstone standing on +Stapleford Hill in Nottinghamshire, a fire used to be solemnly +kindled every year on Beltane Eve. The custom seems to have +survived down to the beginning of the nineteenth century; old +people could remember and describe the ceremony long after it had +fallen into desuetude.<a id="footnotetag384" name= +"footnotetag384"></a><a href="#footnote384"><sup>384</sup></a></p> +<a id="beltaneireland" name="beltaneireland"></a> +<p>[Beltane fires in Ireland.]</p> +<p>The Beltane fires appear to have been kindled also in Ireland, +for Cormac, "or somebody in his name, says that <i>belltaine</i>, +May-day, was so called from the 'lucky fire,' or the 'two fires,' +which the druids of Erin used to make on that day with great +incantations; and cattle, he adds, used to be brought to those +fires, or to be driven between them, as a safeguard against the +diseases of the year."<a id="footnotetag385" name= +"footnotetag385"></a><a href="#footnote385"><sup>385</sup></a> +Again, a very ancient Irish poem, enumerating the May Day +celebrations, mentions among them a bonfire on a hill (<i>tendal ar +cnuc</i>); and another old authority says that these fires were +kindled in the name of the idol-god Bel.<a id="footnotetag386" +name="footnotetag386"></a><a href="#footnote386"><sup>386</sup></a> +From an old life of St. Patrick we learn that on a day <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page158" name="page158"></a>[pg 158]</span> in +spring the heathen of Ireland were wont to extinguish all their +fires until a new fire was kindled with solemn ceremony in the +king's house at Tara. In the year in which St. Patrick landed in +Ireland it chanced that the night of the extinguished fires +coincided with the Eve of Easter; and the saint, ignorant of this +pagan superstition, resolved to celebrate his first Easter in +Ireland after the true Christian fashion by lighting the holy +Paschal fire on the hill of Slane, which rises high above the left +bank of the Boyne, about twelve miles from the mouth of the river. +So that night, looking from his palace at Tara across the darkened +landscape, the king of Tara saw the solitary fire flaring on the +top of the hill of Slane, and in consternation he asked his wise +men what that light meant. They warned him of the danger that it +betokened for the ancient faith of Erin.<a id="footnotetag387" +name="footnotetag387"></a><a href="#footnote387"><sup>387</sup></a> +In spite of the difference of date between Easter and Beltane, we +may suspect that the new fire annually kindled with solemn ceremony +about Easter in the king of Ireland's palace at Tara was no other +than the Beltane fire. We have seen that in the Highlands of +Scotland down to modern times it was customary to extinguish all +fires in the neighbourhood before proceeding to kindle the sacred +flame.<a id="footnotetag388" name="footnotetag388"></a><a href= +"#footnote388"><sup>388</sup></a> The Irish historian Geoffrey +Keating, who wrote in the first part of the seventeenth century, +tells us that the men of Ireland held a great fair every year in +the month of May at Uisnech (<i>Ushnagh</i>) in the county of +Meath, "and at it they were wont to exchange their goods and their +wares and their jewels. At it, they were, also, wont to make a +sacrifice to the Arch-God that they adored, whose name was +Bèl (<i>bayl</i>). It was, likewise, their usage to light +two fires to Bèl, in every district of Ireland, at this +season, and to drive a pair of each kind of cattle that the +district contained, between those two fires, as a preservative to +guard them against all the diseases of that year. It is from that +fire, thus made in honour of Bèl, that the day [the first of +May] on which the noble feast of the apostles, Philip and James, is +held, has been called Bèltaini, or Bèaltaine +(<i>Bayltinnie</i>); for Beltaini is the same as +Bèil-teinè, <i>i.e.</i> Teiné Bhèil +(<i>Tinnie Vayl</i>) or <span class="pagenum"><a id="page159" name= +"page159"></a>[pg 159]</span> Bèl's Fire."<a id= +"footnotetag389" name="footnotetag389"></a><a href= +"#footnote389"><sup>389</sup></a> The custom of driving cattle +through or between fires on May Day or the eve of May Day persisted +in Ireland down to a time within living memory. Thus Sir John Rhys +was informed by a Manxman that an Irish cattle-dealer of his +acquaintance used to drive his cattle through fire on May Day so as +to singe them a little, since he believed that it would preserve +them from harm. When the Manxman was asked where the dealer came +from, he answered, "From the mountains over there," pointing to the +Mourne Mountains then looming faintly in the mists on the western +horizon.<a id="footnotetag390" name="footnotetag390"></a><a href= +"#footnote390"><sup>390</sup></a></p> +<a id="maydaysweden" name="maydaysweden"></a> +<p>[Fires on the Eve of May Day in Sweden; fires on the Eve of May +Day in Austria and Saxony for the purpose of burning the +witches.]</p> +<p>The first of May is a great popular festival in the more midland +and southern parts of Sweden. On the eve of the festival, huge +bonfires, which should be lighted by striking two flints together, +blaze on all the hills and knolls. Every large hamlet has its own +fire, round which the young people dance in a ring. The old folk +notice whether the flames incline to the north or to the south. In +the former case, the spring will be cold and backward; in the +latter, it will be mild and genial.<a id="footnotetag391" name= +"footnotetag391"></a><a href="#footnote391"><sup>391</sup></a> +Similarly, in Bohemia, on the eve of May Day, young people kindle +fires on hills and eminences, at crossways, and in pastures, and +dance round them. They leap over the glowing embers or even through +the flames. The ceremony is called "burning the witches." In some +places an effigy representing a witch used to be burnt in the +bonfire.<a id="footnotetag392" name="footnotetag392"></a><a href= +"#footnote392"><sup>392</sup></a> We have to remember that the eve +of May Day is the notorious Walpurgis Night, when the witches are +everywhere speeding unseen through the air on their hellish +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page160" name="page160"></a>[pg +160]</span> errands. On this witching night children in Voigtland +also light bonfires on the heights and leap over them. Moreover, +they wave burning brooms or toss them into the air. So far as the +light of the bonfire reaches, so far will a blessing rest on the +fields. The kindling of the fires on Walpurgis Night is called +"driving away the witches."<a id="footnotetag393" name= +"footnotetag393"></a><a href="#footnote393"><sup>393</sup></a> The +custom of kindling fires on the eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) +for the purpose of burning the witches is, or used to be, +widespread in the Tyrol, Moravia, Saxony and Silesia.<a id= +"footnotetag394" name="footnotetag394"></a><a href= +"#footnote394"><sup>394</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect4-4" name="sect4-4">§ 4. <i>The Midsummer +Fires</i></a></h4> +<a id="summersolstice" name="summersolstice"></a> +<p>[The great season for fire-festivals in Europe is the summer +solstice, Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day, which the church has +dedicated to St. John the Baptist; the bonfires, the torches, and +the burning wheels of the festival.]</p> +<p>But the season at which these fire-festivals have been mostly +generally held all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is +Midsummer Eve (the twenty-third of June) or Midsummer Day (the +twenty-fourth of June). A faint tinge of Christianity has been +given to them by naming Midsummer Day after St. John the Baptist, +but we cannot doubt that the celebration dates from a time long +before the beginning of our era. The summer solstice, or Midsummer +Day, is the great turning-point in the sun's career, when, after +climbing higher and higher day by day in the sky, the luminary +stops and thenceforth retraces his steps down the heavenly road. +Such a moment could not but be regarded with anxiety by primitive +man so soon as he began to observe and ponder the courses of the +great lights across the celestial vault; and having still to learn +his own powerlessness in face of the vast cyclic changes of nature, +he may have fancied that he could help the sun in his seeming +decline—could prop his failing <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page161" name="page161"></a>[pg 161]</span> steps and rekindle the +sinking flame of the red lamp in his feeble hand. In some such +thoughts as these the midsummer festivals of our European peasantry +may perhaps have taken their rise. Whatever their origin, they have +prevailed all over this quarter of the globe, from Ireland on the +west to Russia on the east, and from Norway and Sweden on the north +to Spain and Greece on the south.<a id="footnotetag395" name= +"footnotetag395"></a><a href="#footnote395"><sup>395</sup></a> +According to a mediæval writer, the three great features of +the midsummer celebration were the bonfires, the procession with +torches round the fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel. He +tells us that boys burned bones and filth of various kinds to make +a foul smoke, and that the smoke drove away certain noxious dragons +which at this time, excited by the summer heat, copulated in the +air and poisoned the wells and rivers by dropping their seed into +them; and he explains the custom of trundling a wheel to mean that +the sun, having now reached the highest point in the ecliptic, +begins thenceforward to descend.<a id="footnotetag396" name= +"footnotetag396"></a><a href="#footnote396"><sup>396</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page162" name="page162"></a>[pg +162]</span> <a id="summerkirchmeyer" name="summerkirchmeyer"></a> +<p>[T. Kirchmeyer's description of the Midsummer Festival.]</p> +<p>A good general account of the midsummer customs, together with +some of the reasons popularly alleged for observing them, is given +by Thomas Kirchmeyer, a writer of the sixteenth century, in his +poem <i>The Popish Kingdome</i>:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his +turne,</p> +<p>When bonfiers great with loftie flame, in every towne doe +burne;</p> +<p>And yong men round about with maides, doe daunce in every +streete,</p> +<p>With garlands wrought of Motherwort, or else with Vervain +sweete,</p> +<p>And many other flowres faire, with Violets in their handes,</p> +<p>Whereas they all do fondly thinke, that whosoever standes,</p> +<p>And thorow the flowres beholds the flame, his eyes shall feele +no paine.</p> +<p>When thus till night they daunced have, they through the fire +amaine</p> +<p>With striving mindes doe runne, and all their hearbes they cast +therin,</p> +<p>And then with wordes devout and prayers, they solemnely +begin,</p> +<p>Desiring God that all their illes may there consumed bee,</p> +<p>Whereby they thinke through all that yeare from Agues to be +free.</p> +<p>Some others get a rotten wheele, all worne and cast aside,</p> +<p>Which covered round about with strawe, and tow, they closely +hide:</p> +<p>And caryed to some mountaines top, being all with fire +light,</p> +<p>They hurle it downe with violence, when darke appeares the +night:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page163" name="page163"></a>[pg +163]</span> +<p>Resembling much the Sunne, that from the heavens downe should +fal,</p> +<p>A straunge and monstrous sight it seemes, and fearfull to them +all;</p> +<p>But they suppose their mischiefes all are likewise throwne to +hell,</p> +<p>And that from harmes and daungers now, in safetie here they +dwell."<a id="footnotetag397" name="footnotetag397"></a><a href= +"#footnote397"><sup>397</sup></a></p> +</div> +</div> +<p>From these general descriptions, which to some extent still hold +good, or did so till lately, we see that the main features of the +midsummer fire-festival resemble those which we have found to +characterize the vernal festivals of fire. The similarity of the +two sets of ceremonies will plainly appear from the following +examples.</p> +<a id="summergermany" name="summergermany"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Germany; the celebration at Konz on the +Moselle: the rolling of a burning wheel down hill.]</p> +<p>A writer of the first half of the sixteenth century informs us +that in almost every village and town of Germany public bonfires +were kindled on the Eve of St. John, and young and old, of both +sexes, gathered about them and passed the time in dancing and +singing. People on this occasion wore chaplets of mugwort and +vervain, and they looked at the fire through bunches of larkspur +which they held in their hands, believing that this would preserve +their eyes in a healthy state throughout the year. As each +departed, he threw the mugwort and vervain into the fire, saying, +"May all my ill-luck depart and be burnt up with these."<a id= +"footnotetag398" name="footnotetag398"></a><a href= +"#footnote398"><sup>398</sup></a> At Lower Konz, a village prettily +situated on a hillside overlooking the Moselle, in the midst of a +wood of walnut-trees and fruit-trees, the midsummer festival used +to be celebrated as follows. A quantity of straw was collected on +the top of the steep Stromberg Hill. Every inhabitant, or at least +every householder, had to contribute his share of straw to the +pile; a recusant was looked at askance, and if in the course of the +year he happened to break a leg or lose a child, there was not a +gossip in the village but knew the reason why. At nightfall the +whole male population, men and boys, mustered on the top of the +hill; the women and girls were not allowed to join them, but had to +take up their position at a certain spring half-way down the slope. +On the summit stood a huge wheel completely encased in some of the +straw which had been jointly contributed by the villagers; the rest +of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name="page164"></a>[pg +164]</span> straw was made into torches. From each side of the +wheel the axle-tree projected about three feet, thus furnishing +handles to the lads who were to guide it in its descent. The mayor +of the neighbouring town of Sierck, who always received a basket of +cherries for his services, gave the signal; a lighted torch was +applied to the wheel, and as it burst into flame, two young +fellows, strong-limbed and swift of foot, seized the handles and +began running with it down the slope. A great shout went up. Every +man and boy waved a blazing torch in the air, and took care to keep +it alight so long as the wheel was trundling down the hill. Some of +them followed the fiery wheel, and watched with amusement the +shifts to which its guides were put in steering it round the +hollows and over the broken ground on the mountainside. The great +object of the young men who guided the wheel was to plunge it +blazing into the water of the Moselle; but they rarely succeeded in +their efforts, for the vineyards which cover the greater part of +the declivity impeded their progress, and the wheel was often +burned out before it reached the river. As it rolled past the women +and girls at the spring, they raised cries of joy which were +answered by the men on the top of the mountain; and the shouts were +echoed by the inhabitants of neighbouring villages who watched the +spectacle from their hills on the opposite bank of the Moselle. If +the fiery wheel was successfully conveyed to the bank of the river +and extinguished in the water, the people looked for an abundant +vintage that year, and the inhabitants of Konz had the right to +exact a waggon-load of white wine from the surrounding vineyards. +On the other hand, they believed that, if they neglected to perform +the ceremony, the cattle would be attacked by giddiness and +convulsions and would dance in their stalls.<a id="footnotetag399" +name="footnotetag399"></a><a href= +"#footnote399"><sup>399</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerbavaria" name="summerbavaria"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Bavaria; Cattle driven through the fire; +the new fire; omens of the harvest drawn from the fires; burning +discs thrown into the air.]</p> +<p>Down at least to the middle of the nineteenth century the +midsummer fires used to blaze all over Upper Bavaria. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165"></a>[pg 165]</span> They +were kindled especially on the mountains, but also far and wide in +the lowlands, and we are told that in the darkness and stillness of +night the moving groups, lit up by the flickering glow of the +flames, presented an impressive spectacle. In some places the +people shewed their sense of the sanctity of the fires by using for +fuel the trees past which the gay procession had defiled, with +fluttering banners, on Corpus Christi Day. In others the children +collected the firewood from door to door on the eve of the +festival, singing their request for fuel at every house in doggerel +verse. Cattle were driven through the fire to cure the sick animals +and to guard such as were sound against plague and harm of every +kind throughout the year. Many a householder on that day put out +the fire on the domestic hearth and rekindled it by means of a +brand taken from the midsummer bonfire. The people judged of the +height to which the flax would grow in the year by the height to +which the flames of the bonfire rose; and whoever leaped over the +burning pile was sure not to suffer from backache in reaping the +corn at harvest. But it was especially the practice for lovers to +spring over the fire hand in hand, and the way in which each couple +made the leap was the subject of many a jest and many a +superstition. In one district the custom of kindling the bonfires +was combined with that of lighting wooden discs and hurling them in +the air after the manner which prevails at some of the spring +festivals.<a id="footnotetag400" name="footnotetag400"></a><a href= +"#footnote400"><sup>400</sup></a> In many parts of Bavaria it was +believed that the flax would grow as high as the young people +leaped over the fire.<a id="footnotetag401" name= +"footnotetag401"></a><a href="#footnote401"><sup>401</sup></a> In +others the old folk used to plant three charred sticks from the +bonfire in the fields, believing that this would make the flax grow +tall.<a id="footnotetag402" name="footnotetag402"></a><a href= +"#footnote402"><sup>402</sup></a> Elsewhere an extinguished brand +was put in the roof of the house to protect it against fire. In the +towns about Würzburg the bonfires used to be kindled in the +market-places, and the young people who jumped over them wore +garlands of flowers, especially of mugwort and vervain, and carried +sprigs of larkspur in their hands. They thought <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166"></a>[pg 166]</span> that +such as looked at the fire holding a bit of larkspur before their +face would be troubled by no malady of the eyes throughout the +year.<a id="footnotetag403" name="footnotetag403"></a><a href= +"#footnote403"><sup>403</sup></a> Further, it was customary at +Würzburg, in the sixteenth century, for the bishop's followers +to throw burning discs of wood into the air from a mountain which +overhangs the town. The discs were discharged by means of flexible +rods, and in their flight through the darkness presented the +appearance of fiery dragons.<a id="footnotetag404" name= +"footnotetag404"></a><a href="#footnote404"><sup>404</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerswabia" name="summerswabia"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Swabia; omens drawn from the leaps over +the fires; burning wheels rolled down hill; burning the Angel-Man +at Rottenburg.]</p> +<p>In the valley of the Lech, which divides Upper Bavaria from +Swabia, the midsummer customs and beliefs are, or used to be, very +similar. Bonfires are kindled on the mountains on Midsummer Day; +and besides the bonfire a tall beam, thickly wrapt in straw and +surmounted by a cross-piece, is burned in many places. Round this +cross as it burns the lads dance with loud shouts; and when the +flames have subsided, the young people leap over the fire in pairs, +a young man and a young woman together. If they escape unsmirched, +the man will not suffer from fever, and the girl will not become a +mother within the year. Further, it is believed that the flax will +grow that year as high as they leap over the fire; and that if a +charred billet be taken from the fire and stuck in a flax-field it +will promote the growth of the flax.<a id="footnotetag405" name= +"footnotetag405"></a><a href="#footnote405"><sup>405</sup></a> +Similarly in Swabia, lads and lasses, hand in hand, leap over the +midsummer bonfire, praying that the hemp may grow three ells high, +and they set fire to wheels of straw and send them rolling down the +hill. Among the places where burning wheels were thus bowled down +hill at Midsummer were the Hohenstaufen mountains in Wurtemberg and +the Frauenberg near Gerhausen.<a id="footnotetag406" name= +"footnotetag406"></a><a href="#footnote406"><sup>406</sup></a> At +Deffingen, in Swabia, as the people sprang over the midsummer +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" name="page167"></a>[pg +167]</span> bonfire they cried out, "Flax, flax! may the flax this +year grow seven ells high!"<a id="footnotetag407" name= +"footnotetag407"></a><a href="#footnote407"><sup>407</sup></a> At +Rottenburg in Swabia, down to the year 1807 or 1808, the festival +was marked by some special features. About mid-day troops of boys +went about the town begging for firewood at the houses. In each +troop there were three leaders, one of whom carried a dagger, a +second a paper banner, and a third a white plate covered with a +white cloth. These three entered each house and recited verses, in +which they expressed an intention of roasting Martin Luther and +sending him to the devil; and for this meritorious service they +expected to be paid, the contributions being received in the +cloth-covered plate. In the evening they counted up their money and +proceeded to "behead the Angel-man." For this ceremony an open +space was chosen, sometimes in the middle of the town. Here a stake +was thrust into the ground and straw wrapt about it, so as to make +a rude effigy of human form with arms, head, and face. Every boy +brought a handful of nosegays and fastened them to the straw-man, +who was thus enveloped in flowers. Fuel was heaped about the stake +and set on fire. When the Angel-man, as the straw-effigy was +called, blazed up, all the boys of the neighbourhood, who had +gathered expectantly around, fell upon him with their wooden swords +and hewed him to pieces. As soon as he had vanished in smoke and +flame, the lads leaped backward and forward over the glowing +embers, and later in the evening they feasted on the proceeds of +their collection.<a id="footnotetag408" name= +"footnotetag408"></a><a href="#footnote408"><sup>408</sup></a> Here +the Angel-man burnt in the fire appears to be identified with +Martin Luther, to whom, as we have seen, allusion was made during +the house-to-house visitation. The identification was probably +modern, for we may assume that the custom of burning an effigy in +the Midsummer bonfire is far older than the time of Luther.</p> +<a id="summerbaden" name="summerbaden"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Baden; omens drawn from leaps over the +fires; burning discs thrown into the air; Midsummer fires in +Alsace, Lorraine, the Eifel, the Harz districts and Thuringia; +burning barrel swung round a pole.]</p> +<p>In Baden the children used to collect fuel from house to house +for the Midsummer bonfire on St. John's Day; and lads and lasses +leaped over the fire in couples. Here, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page168" name="page168"></a>[pg 168]</span> as elsewhere, a close +connexion was traced between these bonfires and the harvest. In +some places it was thought that those who leaped over the fires +would not suffer from backache at reaping. Sometimes, as the young +folk sprang over the flames, they cried, "Grow, that the hemp may +be three ells high!" This notion that the hemp or the corn would +grow as high as the flames blazed or as the people jumped over +them, seems to have been widespread in Baden. It was held that the +parents of the young people who bounded highest over the fire would +have the most abundant harvest; and on the other hand, if a man +contributed nothing to the bonfire, it was imagined that there +would be no blessing on his crops, and that his hemp in particular +would never grow.<a id="footnotetag409" name= +"footnotetag409"></a><a href="#footnote409"><sup>409</sup></a> In +the neighbourhood of Bühl and Achern the St. John's fires were +kindled on the tops of hills; only the unmarried lads of the +village brought the fuel, and only the unmarried young men and +women sprang through the flames. But most of the villagers, old and +young, gathered round the bonfires, leaving a clear space for the +leapers to take their run. One of the bystanders would call out the +names of a pair of sweethearts; on which the two would step out +from the throng, take each other by the hand, and leap high and +lightly through the swirling smoke and flames, while the spectators +watched them critically and drew omens of their married life from +the height to which each of them bounded. Such an invitation to +jump together over the bonfire was regarded as tantamount to a +public betrothal.<a id="footnotetag410" name= +"footnotetag410"></a><a href="#footnote410"><sup>410</sup></a> Near +Offenburg, in the Black Forest, on Midsummer Day the village boys +used to collect faggots and straw on some steep and conspicuous +height, and they spent some time in making circular wooden discs by +slicing the trunk of a pine-tree across. When darkness had fallen, +they kindled the bonfire, and then, as it blazed up, they lighted +the discs at it, and, after swinging them to and fro at the end of +a stout and supple hazel-wand, they hurled them one after the +other, whizzing and flaming, into the air, where they described +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169"></a>[pg +169]</span> great arcs of fire, to fall at length, like +shooting-stars, at the foot of the mountain.<a id="footnotetag411" +name="footnotetag411"></a><a href="#footnote411"><sup>411</sup></a> +In many parts of Alsace and Lorraine the midsummer fires still +blaze annually or did so not very many years ago.<a id= +"footnotetag412" name="footnotetag412"></a><a href= +"#footnote412"><sup>412</sup></a> At Speicher in the Eifel, a +district which lies on the middle Rhine, to the west of Coblentz, a +bonfire used to be kindled in front of the village on St. John's +Day, and all the young people had to jump over it. Those who failed +to do so were not allowed to join the rest in begging for eggs from +house to house. Where no eggs were given, they drove a wedge into +the keyhole of the door. On this day children in the Eifel used +also to gather flowers in the fields, weave them into garlands, and +throw the garlands on the roofs or hang them on the doors of the +houses. So long as the flowers remained there, they were supposed +to guard the house from fire and lightning.<a id="footnotetag413" +name="footnotetag413"></a><a href="#footnote413"><sup>413</sup></a> +In the southern Harz district and in Thuringia the Midsummer or St. +John's fires used to be commonly lighted down to about the middle +of the nineteenth century, and the custom has probably not died +out. At Edersleben, near Sangerhausen, a high pole was planted in +the ground and a tar-barrel was hung from it by a chain which +reached to the ground. The barrel was then set on fire and swung +round the pole amid shouts of joy.<a id="footnotetag414" name= +"footnotetag414"></a><a href="#footnote414"><sup>414</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerfriction" name="summerfriction"></a> +<p>[Midsummer fires kindled by the friction of wood in Germany and +Switzerland; driving away demons and witches.]</p> +<p>According to one account, German tradition required that the +midsummer fire should be lighted, not from a common hearth, but by +the friction of two sorts of wood, namely oak and fir.<a id= +"footnotetag415" name="footnotetag415"></a><a href= +"#footnote415"><sup>415</sup></a> In some old farm-houses of the +Surenthal and Winenthal, in Switzerland, a couple of holes or a +whole row of them may be seen facing each other in the door-posts +of the barn or stable. Sometimes the holes are smooth and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170"></a>[pg +170]</span> round; sometimes they are deeply burnt and blackened. +The explanation of them is this. About midsummer, but especially on +Midsummer Day, two such holes are bored opposite each other, into +which the extremities of a strong pole are fixed. The holes are +then stuffed with tow steeped in resin and oil; a rope is looped +round the pole, and two young men, who must be brothers or must +have the same baptismal name, and must be of the same age, pull the +ends of the rope backwards and forwards so as to make the pole +revolve rapidly, till smoke and sparks issue from the two holes in +the door-posts. The sparks are caught and blown up with tinder, and +this is the new and pure fire, the appearance of which is greeted +with cries of joy. Heaps of combustible materials are now ignited +with the new fire, and blazing bundles are placed on boards and +sent floating down the brook. The boys light torches at the new +fire and run to fumigate the pastures. This is believed to drive +away all the demons and witches that molest the cattle. Finally the +torches are thrown in a heap on the meadow and allowed to burn out. +On their way back the boys strew the ashes over the fields, which +is supposed to make them fertile. If a farmer has taken possession +of a new house, or if servants have changed masters, the boys +fumigate the new abode and are rewarded by the farmer with a +supper.<a id="footnotetag416" name="footnotetag416"></a><a href= +"#footnote416"><sup>416</sup></a></p> +<a id="summersilesia" name="summersilesia"></a> +<p>[Midsummer fires in Silesia; scaring away the witches.]</p> +<p>In Silesia, from the south-eastern part of the Sudeten range and +north-westward as far as Lausitz, the mountains are ablaze with +bonfires on Midsummer Eve; and from the valleys and the plains +round about Leobschütz, Neustadt, Zülz, Oels, and other +places answering fires twinkle through the deepening gloom. While +they are smouldering and sending forth volumes of smoke across the +fields, young men kindle broom-stumps, soaked in pitch, at the +bonfires and then, brandishing the stumps, which emit showers of +sparks, they chase one another or dance with the girls round the +burning pile. Shots, too, are fired, and shouts raised. The fire, +the smoke, the shots, and the shouts are all intended to scare away +the witches, who are let loose on this witching day, and who would +certainly work harm to the crops and the cattle, if they were not +deterred by these salutary measures. <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page171" name="page171"></a>[pg 171]</span> Mere contact with the +fire brings all sorts of blessings. Hence when the bonfire is +burning low, the lads leap over it, and the higher they bound, the +better is the luck in store for them. He who surpasses his fellows +is the hero of the day and is much admired by the village girls. It +is also thought to be very good for the eyes to stare steadily at +the bonfire without blinking; moreover he who does so will not +drowse and fall asleep betimes in the long winter evenings. On +Midsummer Eve the windows and doors of houses in Silesia are +crowned with flowers, especially with the blue cornflowers and the +bright corn-cockles; in some villages long strings of garlands and +nosegays are stretched across the streets. The people believe that +on that night St. John comes down from heaven to bless the flowers +and to keep all evil things from house and home.<a id= +"footnotetag417" name="footnotetag417"></a><a href= +"#footnote417"><sup>417</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerdenmark" name="summerdenmark"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Denmark and Norway; keeping off the +witches; the Midsummer fires in Sweden.]</p> +<p>In Denmark and Norway also Midsummer fires were kindled on St. +John's Eve on roads, open spaces, and hills. People in Norway +thought that the fires banished sickness from among the +cattle.<a id="footnotetag418" name="footnotetag418"></a><a href= +"#footnote418"><sup>418</sup></a> Even yet the fires are said to be +lighted all over Norway on the night of June the twenty-third, +Midsummer Eve, Old Style. As many as fifty or sixty bonfires may +often be counted burning on the hills round Bergen. Sometimes fuel +is piled on rafts, ignited, and allowed to drift blazing across the +fiords in the darkness of night. The fires are thought to be +kindled in order to keep off the witches, who are said to be flying +from all parts that night to the Blocksberg, where the big witch +lives.<a id="footnotetag419" name="footnotetag419"></a><a href= +"#footnote419"><sup>419</sup></a> <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page172" name="page172"></a>[pg 172]</span> In Sweden the Eve of +St. John (St. Hans) is the most joyous night of the whole year. +Throughout some parts of the country, especially in the provinces +of Bohus and Scania and in districts bordering on Norway, it is +celebrated by the frequent discharge of firearms and by huge +bonfires, formerly called Balder's Balefires (<i>Balder's +Balar</i>), which are kindled at dusk on hills and eminences and +throw a glare of light over the surrounding landscape. The people +dance round the fires and leap over or through them. In parts of +Norrland on St. John's Eve the bonfires are lit at the cross-roads. +The fuel consists of nine different sorts of wood, and the +spectators cast into the flames a kind of toad-stool +(<i>Bäran</i>) in order to counteract the power of the Trolls +and other evil spirits, who are believed to be abroad that night; +for at that mystic season the mountains open and from their +cavernous depths the uncanny crew pours forth to dance and disport +themselves for a time. The peasants believe that should any of the +Trolls be in the vicinity they will shew themselves; and if an +animal, for example a he or she goat, happens to be seen near the +blazing, crackling pile, the peasants are firmly persuaded that it +is no other than the Evil One in person.<a id="footnotetag420" +name="footnotetag420"></a><a href="#footnote420"><sup>420</sup></a> +Further, it deserves to be remarked that in Sweden St. John's Eve +is a festival of water as well as of fire; for certain holy springs +are then supposed to be endowed with wonderful medicinal virtues, +and many sick people resort to them for the healing of their +infirmities.<a id="footnotetag421" name= +"footnotetag421"></a><a href="#footnote421"><sup>421</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerswitzerland" name="summerswitzerland"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Switzerland and Austria; effigies burnt +in the fires; burning wheels rolled down hill.]</p> +<p>In Switzerland on Midsummer Eve fires are, or used to be, +kindled on high places in the cantons of Bern, Neuchatel, Valais, +and Geneva.<a id="footnotetag422" name= +"footnotetag422"></a><a href="#footnote422"><sup>422</sup></a> In +Austria the midsummer customs and superstitions resemble those of +Germany. Thus in some parts of the Tyrol bonfires are kindled and +burning discs hurled into the air.<a id="footnotetag423" name= +"footnotetag423"></a><a href="#footnote423"><sup>423</sup></a> In +the lower valley of the Inn a taterdemalian effigy is carted about +the village on Midsummer <span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" +name="page173"></a>[pg 173]</span> Day and then burned. He is +called the <i>Lotter</i>, which has been corrupted into Luther. At +Ambras, one of the villages where Martin Luther is thus burned in +effigy, they say that if you go through the village between eleven +and twelve on St. John's Night and wash yourself in three wells, +you will see all who are to die in the following year.<a id= +"footnotetag424" name="footnotetag424"></a><a href= +"#footnote424"><sup>424</sup></a> At Gratz on St. John's Eve (the +twenty-third of June) the common people used to make a puppet +called the <i>Tatermann</i>, which they dragged to the bleaching +ground, and pelted with burning besoms till it took fire.<a id= +"footnotetag425" name="footnotetag425"></a><a href= +"#footnote425"><sup>425</sup></a> At Reutte, in the Tyrol, people +believed that the flax would grow as high as they leaped over the +midsummer bonfire, and they took pieces of charred wood from the +fire and stuck them in their flax-fields the same night, leaving +them there till the flax harvest had been got in.<a id= +"footnotetag426" name="footnotetag426"></a><a href= +"#footnote426"><sup>426</sup></a> In Lower Austria fires are lit in +the fields, commonly in front of a cross, and the people dance and +sing round them and throw flowers into the flames. Before each +handful of flowers is tossed into the fire, a set speech is made; +then the dance is resumed and the dancers sing in chorus the last +words of the speech. At evening bonfires are kindled on the +heights, and the boys caper round them, brandishing lighted torches +drenched in pitch. Whoever jumps thrice across the fire will not +suffer from fever within the year. Cart-wheels are often smeared +with pitch, ignited, and sent rolling and blazing down the +hillsides.<a id="footnotetag427" name="footnotetag427"></a><a href= +"#footnote427"><sup>427</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerbohemia" name="summerbohemia"></a> +<p>[Midsummer fires in Bohemia; wreaths thrown across the fire; +uses made of the singed wreaths; burning wheels rolled down hill; +embers of the fire stuck in fields, gardens, and houses as a +talisman against lightning and conflagration; use of mugwort; +cattle protected against witchcraft.]</p> +<p>All over Bohemia bonfires still burn on Midsummer Eve. In the +afternoon boys go about with handcarts from house to house +collecting fuel, such as sticks, brushwood, old besoms, and so +forth. They make their request at each house in rhyming verses, +threatening with evil consequences the curmudgeons who refuse them +a dole. Sometimes the young men fell a tall straight fir in the +woods and set it up on a height, where the girls deck it with +nosegays, wreaths of leaves, and red ribbons. Then brushwood is +piled about it, and at nightfall the whole is set on fire. While +the flames break out, the young men climb <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page174" name="page174"></a>[pg 174]</span> the +tree and fetch down the wreaths which the girls had placed on it. +After that, lads and lasses stand on opposite sides of the fire and +look at one another through the wreaths to see whether they will be +true to each other and marry within the year. Also the girls throw +the wreaths across the flames to the men, and woe to the awkward +swain who fails to catch the wreath thrown him by his sweetheart. +When the blaze has died down, each couple takes hands, and leaps +thrice across the fire. He or she who does so will be free from +ague throughout the year, and the flax will grow as high as the +young folks leap. A girl who sees nine bonfires on Midsummer Eve +will marry before the year is out. The singed wreaths are carried +home and carefully preserved throughout the year. During +thunderstorms a bit of the wreath is burned on the hearth with a +prayer; some of it is given to kine that are sick or calving, and +some of it serves to fumigate house and cattle-stall, that man and +beast may keep hale and well. Sometimes an old cartwheel is smeared +with resin, ignited, and sent rolling down the hill. Often the boys +collect all the worn-out besoms they can get hold of, dip them in +pitch, and having set them on fire wave them about or throw them +high into the air. Or they rush down the hillside in troops, +brandishing the flaming brooms and shouting, only however to return +to the bonfire on the summit when the brooms have burnt out. The +stumps of the brooms and embers from the fire are preserved and +stuck in cabbage gardens to protect the cabbages from caterpillars +and gnats. Some people insert charred sticks and ashes from the +bonfire in their sown fields and meadows, in their gardens and the +roofs of their houses, as a talisman against lightning and foul +weather; or they fancy that the ashes placed in the roof will +prevent any fire from breaking out in the house. In some districts +they crown or gird themselves with mugwort while the midsummer fire +is burning, for this is supposed to be a protection against ghosts, +witches, and sickness; in particular, a wreath of mugwort is a sure +preventive of sore eyes. Sometimes the girls look at the bonfires +through garlands of wild flowers, praying the fire to strengthen +their eyes and eyelids. She who does this thrice will have no sore +eyes <span class="pagenum"><a id="page175" name="page175"></a>[pg +175]</span> all that year. In some parts of Bohemia they used to +drive the cows through the midsummer fire to guard them against +witchcraft.<a id="footnotetag428" name= +"footnotetag428"></a><a href="#footnote428"><sup>428</sup></a></p> +<a id="summermoravia" name="summermoravia"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Moravia, Austrian Silesia, and the +district of Cracow; fire kindled by the friction of wood.]</p> +<p>The Germans of Moravia in like manner still light bonfires on +open grounds and high places on Midsummer Eve; and they kindle +besoms in the flames and then stick the charred stumps in the +cabbage-fields as a powerful protection against caterpillars. On +the same mystic evening Moravian girls gather flowers of nine sorts +and lay them under their pillow when they go to sleep; then they +dream every one of him who is to be her partner for life. For in +Moravia maidens in their beds as well as poets by haunted streams +have their Midsummer Night's dreams.<a id="footnotetag429" name= +"footnotetag429"></a><a href="#footnote429"><sup>429</sup></a> In +Austrian Silesia the custom also prevails of lighting great +bonfires on hilltops on Midsummer Eve, and here too the boys swing +blazing besoms or hurl them high in the air, while they shout and +leap and dance wildly. Next morning every door is decked with +flowers and birchen saplings.<a id="footnotetag430" name= +"footnotetag430"></a><a href="#footnote430"><sup>430</sup></a> In +the district of Cracow, especially towards the Carpathian +Mountains, great fires are kindled by the peasants in the fields or +on the heights at nightfall on Midsummer Eve, which among them goes +by the name of Kupalo's Night. The fire must be kindled by the +friction of two sticks. The young people dance round or leap over +it; and a band of sturdy fellows run a race with lighted torches, +the winner being rewarded with a peacock's feather, which he keeps +throughout the year as a distinction. Cattle also are driven round +the fire in the belief that this is a charm against pestilence and +disease of every sort.<a id="footnotetag431" name= +"footnotetag431"></a><a href="#footnote431"><sup>431</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page176" name="page176"></a>[pg +176]</span> <a id="summerslavs" name="summerslavs"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires among the Slavs of Russia; cattle protected +against witchcraft; the fires lighted by the friction of wood.]</p> +<p>The name of Kupalo's Night, applied in this part of Galicia to +Midsummer Eve, reminds us that we have now passed from German to +Slavonic ground; even in Bohemia the midsummer celebration is +common to Slavs and Germans. We have already seen that in Russia +the summer solstice or Eve of St. John is celebrated by young men +and maidens, who jump over a bonfire in couples carrying a straw +effigy of Kupalo in their arms.<a id="footnotetag432" name= +"footnotetag432"></a><a href="#footnote432"><sup>432</sup></a> In +some parts of Russia an image of Kupalo is burnt or thrown into a +stream on St. John's Night.<a id="footnotetag433" name= +"footnotetag433"></a><a href="#footnote433"><sup>433</sup></a> +Again, in some districts of Russia the young folk wear garlands of +flowers and girdles of holy herbs when they spring through the +smoke or flames; and sometimes they drive the cattle also through +the fire in order to protect the animals against wizards and +witches, who are then ravenous after milk.<a id="footnotetag434" +name="footnotetag434"></a><a href="#footnote434"><sup>434</sup></a> +In Little Russia a stake is driven into the ground on St. John's +Night, wrapt in straw, and set on fire. As the flames rise the +peasant women throw birchen boughs into them, saying, "May my flax +be as tall as this bough!"<a id="footnotetag435" name= +"footnotetag435"></a><a href="#footnote435"><sup>435</sup></a> In +Ruthenia the bonfires are lighted by a flame procured by the +friction of wood. While the elders of the party are engaged in thus +"churning" the fire, the rest maintain a respectful silence; but +when the flame bursts from the wood, they break forth into joyous +songs. As soon as the bonfires are kindled, the young people take +hands and leap in pairs through the smoke, if not through the +flames; and after that the cattle in their turn are driven through +the fire.<a id="footnotetag436" name="footnotetag436"></a><a href= +"#footnote436"><sup>436</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerprussia" name="summerprussia"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Prussia and Lithuania thought to protect +against witchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease; the fire +kindled by the friction of wood.]</p> +<p>In many parts of Prussia and Lithuania great fires are kindled +on Midsummer Eve. All the heights are ablaze with them, as far as +the eye can see. The fires are supposed to be a protection against +witchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease, especially if next +morning the cattle are driven over the places where the fires +burned. Above all, the bonfires ensure the farmer against the arts +of witches, who try to steal the milk from his cows by charms and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>[pg +177]</span> spells. That is why next morning you may see the young +fellows who lit the bonfire going from house to house and receiving +jugfuls of milk. And for the same reason they stick burs and +mugwort on the gate or the hedge through which the cows go to +pasture, because that is supposed to be a preservative against +witchcraft.<a id="footnotetag437" name= +"footnotetag437"></a><a href="#footnote437"><sup>437</sup></a> In +Masuren, a district of Eastern Prussia inhabited by a branch of the +Polish family, it is the custom on the evening of Midsummer Day to +put out all the fires in the village. Then an oaken stake is driven +into the ground and a wheel is fixed on it as on an axle. This +wheel the villagers, working by relays, cause to revolve with great +rapidity till fire is produced by friction. Every one takes home a +lighted brand from the new fire and with it rekindles the fire on +the domestic hearth.<a id="footnotetag438" name= +"footnotetag438"></a><a href="#footnote438"><sup>438</sup></a> In +the sixteenth century Martin of Urzedow, a Polish priest, denounced +the heathen practices of the women who on St. John's Eve (Midsummer +Eve) kindled fires by the friction of wood, danced, and sang songs +in honour of the devil.<a id="footnotetag439" name= +"footnotetag439"></a><a href="#footnote439"><sup>439</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerletts" name="summerletts"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires among the Letts of Russia; Midsummer Day in +ancient Rome.]</p> +<p>Among the Letts who inhabit the Baltic provinces of Russia the +most joyful festival of the year is held on Midsummer Day. The +people drink and dance and sing and adorn themselves and their +houses with flowers and branches. Chopped boughs of fir are strewn +about the rooms, and leaves are stuck in the roofs. In every +farm-yard a birch tree is set up, and every person of the name of +John who enters the farm that day must break off a twig from the +tree and hang up on its branches in return a small present for the +family. When the serene twilight of the summer night has veiled the +landscape, bonfires gleam on all the hills, and wild shouts of +"Ligho! Ligho!" echo from the woods and fields. In Riga the day is +a festival of flowers. From all the neighbourhood the peasants +stream into the city laden with flowers and garlands. A market of +flowers is held in an open square and on the chief bridge over the +river; here wreaths of immortelles, which grow wild in the meadows +and woods, are sold in great profusion and deck the houses +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>[pg +178]</span> of Riga for long afterwards. Roses, too, are now at the +prime of their beauty, and masses of them adorn the flower-stalls. +Till far into the night gay crowds parade the streets to music or +float on the river in gondolas decked with flowers.<a id= +"footnotetag440" name="footnotetag440"></a><a href= +"#footnote440"><sup>440</sup></a> So long ago in ancient Rome +barges crowned with flowers and crowded with revellers used to +float down the Tiber on Midsummer Day, the twenty-fourth of +June,<a id="footnotetag441" name="footnotetag441"></a><a href= +"#footnote441"><sup>441</sup></a> and no doubt the strains of music +were wafted as sweetly across the water to listeners on the banks +as they still are to the throngs of merrymakers at Riga.</p> +<a id="summersouthslavs" name="summersouthslavs"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires among the South Slavs.]</p> +<p>Bonfires are commonly kindled by the South Slavonian peasantry +on Midsummer Eve, and lads and lasses dance and shout round them in +the usual way. The very names of St. John's Day (<i>Ivanje</i>) and +the St. John's fires (<i>kries</i>) are said to act like electric +sparks on the hearts and minds of these swains, kindling a thousand +wild, merry, and happy fancies and ideas in their rustic breasts. +At Kamenagora in Croatia the herdsmen throw nine three-year old +vines into the bonfire, and when these burst into flames the young +men who are candidates for matrimony jump through the blaze. He who +succeeds in leaping over the fire without singeing himself will be +married within the year. At Vidovec in Croatia parties of two girls +and one lad unite to kindle a Midsummer bonfire and to leap through +the flames; he or she who leaps furthest will soonest wed. +Afterwards lads and lasses dance in separate rings, but the ring of +lads bumps up against the ring of girls and breaks it, and the girl +who has to let go her neighbour's hand will forsake her true love +hereafter.<a id="footnotetag442" name="footnotetag442"></a><a href= +"#footnote442"><sup>442</sup></a> In Servia on Midsummer Eve +herdsmen light torches of birch bark and march round the sheepfolds +and cattle-stalls; then they climb the hills and there allow the +torches to burn out.<a id="footnotetag443" name= +"footnotetag443"></a><a href="#footnote443"><sup>443</sup></a></p> +<a id="summermagyars" name="summermagyars"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires among the Magyars of Hungary.]</p> +<p>Among the Magyars in Hungary the midsummer fire-festival is +marked by the same features that meet us in so many parts of +Europe. On Midsummer Eve in many <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page179" name="page179"></a>[pg 179]</span> places it is customary +to kindle bonfires on heights and to leap over them, and from the +manner in which the young people leap the bystanders predict +whether they will marry soon. At Nograd-Ludany the young men and +women, each carrying a truss of straw, repair to a meadow, where +they pile the straw in seven or twelve heaps and set it on fire. +Then they go round the fire singing, and hold a bunch of iron-wort +in the smoke, while they say, "No boil on my body, no sprain in my +foot!" This holding of the flowers over the flames is regarded, we +are told, as equally important with the practice of walking through +the fire barefoot and stamping it out. On this day also many +Hungarian swineherds make fire by rotating a wheel round a wooden +axle wrapt in hemp, and through the fire thus made they drive their +pigs to preserve them from sickness.<a id="footnotetag444" name= +"footnotetag444"></a><a href="#footnote444"><sup>444</sup></a> In +villages on the Danube, where the population is a cross between +Magyar and German, the young men and maidens go to the high banks +of the river on Midsummer Eve; and while the girls post themselves +low down the slope, the lads on the height above set fire to little +wooden wheels and, after swinging them to and fro at the end of a +wand, send them whirling through the air to fall into the Danube. +As he does so, each lad sings out the name of his sweetheart, and +she listens well pleased down below.<a id="footnotetag445" name= +"footnotetag445"></a><a href="#footnote445"><sup>445</sup></a></p> +<a id="summeresthonians" name="summeresthonians"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires among the Esthonians; the Midsummer fires +in Oesel.]</p> +<p>The Esthonians of Russia, who, like the Magyars, belong to the +great Turanian family of mankind, also celebrate the summer +solstice in the usual way. On the Eve of St. John all the people of +a farm, a village, or an estate, walk solemnly in procession, the +girls decked with flowers, the men with leaves and carrying bundles +of straw under their arms. The lads carry lighted torches or +flaming hoops steeped in tar at the top of long poles. Thus they go +singing to the cattle-sheds, the granaries, and so forth, and +afterwards march thrice round the dwelling-house. Finally, preceded +by the shrill music of the bagpipes and shawms, they repair to a +neighbouring hill, where the materials of a bonfire have +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180"></a>[pg +180]</span> been collected. Tar-barrels filled with combustibles +are hung on poles, or the trunk of a felled tree has been set up +with a great mass of juniper piled about it in the form of a +pyramid. When a light has been set to the pile, old and young +gather about it and pass the time merrily with song and music till +break of day. Every one who comes brings fresh fuel for the fire, +and they say, "Now we all gather together, where St. John's fire +burns. He who comes not to St. John's fire will have his barley +full of thistles, and his oats full of weeds." Three logs are +thrown into the fire with special ceremony; in throwing the first +they say, "Gold of pleasure (a plant with yellow flowers) into the +fire!" in throwing the second they say, "Weeds to the unploughed +land!" but in throwing the third they cry, "Flax on my field!" The +fire is said to keep the witches from the cattle.<a id= +"footnotetag446" name="footnotetag446"></a><a href= +"#footnote446"><sup>446</sup></a> According to others, it ensures +that for the whole year the milk shall be "as pure as silver and as +the stars in the sky, and the butter as yellow as the sun and the +fire and the gold."<a id="footnotetag447" name= +"footnotetag447"></a><a href="#footnote447"><sup>447</sup></a> In +the Esthonian island of Oesel, while they throw fuel into the +midsummer fire, they call out, "Weeds to the fire, flax to the +field," or they fling three billets into the flames, saying, "Flax +grow long!" And they take charred sticks from the bonfire home with +them and keep them to make the cattle thrive. In some parts of the +island the bonfire is formed by piling brushwood and other +combustibles round a tree, at the top of which a flag flies. +Whoever succeeds in knocking down the flag with a pole before it +begins to burn will have good luck. Formerly the festivities lasted +till daybreak, and ended in scenes of debauchery which looked +doubly hideous by the growing light of a summer morning.<a id= +"footnotetag448" name="footnotetag448"></a><a href= +"#footnote448"><sup>448</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerfinns" name="summerfinns"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires among the Finns and Cheremiss of +Russia.]</p> +<p>Still farther north, among a people of the same Turanian +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" name="page181"></a>[pg +181]</span> stock, we learn from an eye-witness that Midsummer +Night used to witness a sort of witches' sabbath on the top of +every hill in Finland. The bonfire was made by setting up four tall +birches in a square and piling the intermediate space with fuel. +Round the roaring flames the people sang and drank and gambolled in +the usual way.<a id="footnotetag449" name= +"footnotetag449"></a><a href="#footnote449"><sup>449</sup></a> +Farther east, in the valley of the Volga, the Cheremiss celebrate +about midsummer a festival which Haxthausen regarded as identical +with the midsummer ceremonies of the rest of Europe. A sacred tree +in the forest, generally a tall and solitary oak, marks the scene +of the solemnity. All the males assemble there, but no woman may be +present. A heathen priest lights seven fires in a row from +north-west to south-east; cattle are sacrificed and their blood +poured in the fires, each of which is dedicated to a separate +deity. Afterwards the holy tree is illumined by lighted candles +placed on its branches; the people fall on their knees and with +faces bowed to the earth pray that God would be pleased to bless +them, their children, their cattle, and their bees, grant them +success in trade, in travel, and in the chase, enable them to pay +the Czar's taxes, and so forth.<a id="footnotetag450" name= +"footnotetag450"></a><a href="#footnote450"><sup>450</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerfrance" name="summerfrance"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in France; Bossuet on the Midsummer +festival.]</p> +<p>When we pass from the east to the west of Europe we still find +the summer solstice celebrated with rites of the same general +character. Down to about the middle of the nineteenth century the +custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer prevailed so commonly in +France that there was hardly a town or a village, we are told, +where they were not kindled.<a id="footnotetag451" name= +"footnotetag451"></a><a href="#footnote451"><sup>451</sup></a> +Though the pagan origin of the custom may be regarded as certain, +the Catholic Church threw a Christian cloak over it by boldly +declaring that the bonfires were lit in token of the general +rejoicing at the birth of the Baptist, who opportunely came into +the world at the solstice of summer, just as his greater successor +did at the solstice of winter; so that the whole year might be said +to revolve on <span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name= +"page182"></a>[pg 182]</span> the golden hinges of these two great +birthdays.<a id="footnotetag452" name="footnotetag452"></a><a href= +"#footnote452"><sup>452</sup></a> Writing in the seventeenth +century Bishop Bossuet expressly affirms this edifying theory of +the Midsummer bonfires, and he tells his catechumens that the +Church herself participated in the illumination, since in several +dioceses, including his own diocese of Meaux, a number of parishes +kindled what were called ecclesiastical fires for the purpose of +banishing the superstitions practised at the purely mundane +bonfires. These superstitions, he goes on to say, consisted in +dancing round the fire, playing, feasting, singing ribald songs, +throwing herbs across the fire, gathering herbs at noon or while +fasting, carrying them on the person, preserving them throughout +the year, keeping brands or cinders of the fire, and other similar +practices.<a id="footnotetag453" name="footnotetag453"></a><a href= +"#footnote453"><sup>453</sup></a> However excellent the intentions +of the ecclesiastical authorities may have been, they failed of +effecting their purpose; for the superstitions as well as the +bonfires survived in France far into the nineteenth century, if +indeed they are extinct even now at the beginning of the twentieth. +Writing in the latter part of the nineteenth century Mr. Ch. +Cuissard tells us that he himself witnessed in Touraine and Poitou +the superstitious practices which he describes as follows: "The +most credulous examine the ways in which the flame burns and draw +good or bad omens accordingly. Others, after leaping through the +flames crosswise, pass their little children through them thrice, +fully persuaded that the little ones will then be able to walk at +once. In some places the shepherds make their sheep tread the +embers of the extinct fire in order to preserve them from the +foot-rot. Here you may see about midnight an old woman grubbing +among the cinders of the pyre to find the hair of the Holy Virgin +or Saint <span class="pagenum"><a id="page183" name= +"page183"></a>[pg 183]</span> John, which she deems an infallible +specific against fever. There, another woman is busy plucking the +roots of the herbs which have been burned on the surface of the +ground; she intends to eat them, imagining that they are an +infallible preservative against cancer. Elsewhere a girl wears on +her neck a flower which the touch of St. John's fire has turned for +her into a talisman, and she is sure to marry within the year. +Shots are fired at the tree planted in the midst of the fire to +drive away the demons who might purpose to send sicknesses about +the country. Seats are set round about the bonfire, in order that +the souls of dead relations may come and enjoy themselves for a +little with the living."<a id="footnotetag454" name= +"footnotetag454"></a><a href="#footnote454"><sup>454</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerbrittany" name="summerbrittany"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Brittany; uses made of the charred +sticks and flowers.]</p> +<p>In Brittany, apparently, the custom of the Midsummer bonfires is +kept up to this day. Thus in Lower Brittany every town and every +village still lights its <i>tantad</i> or bonfire on St. John's +Night. When the flames have died down, the whole assembly kneels +round about the bonfire and an old man prays aloud. Then they all +rise and march thrice round the fire; at the third turn they stop +and every one picks up a pebble and throws it on the burning pile. +After that they disperse.<a id="footnotetag455" name= +"footnotetag455"></a><a href="#footnote455"><sup>455</sup></a> In +Finistère the bonfires of St. John's Day are kindled by +preference in an open space near a chapel of St. John; but if there +is no such chapel, they are lighted in the square facing the parish +church and in some districts at cross-roads. Everybody brings fuel +for the fire, it may be a faggot, a log, a branch, or an armful of +gorse. When the vespers are over, the parish priest sets a light to +the pile. All heads are bared, prayers recited, and hymns sung. +Then the dancing begins. The young folk skip round the blazing pile +and leap over it, when the flames have died down. If anybody makes +a false step and falls or rolls in the hot embers, he or she is +greeted with hoots and retires abashed from the circle of dancers. +Brands are carried home from the bonfire to protect the houses +against lightning, conflagrations, and certain maladies and spells. +The precious talisman is carefully kept in a cupboard till +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>[pg +184]</span> St. John's Day of the following year.<a id= +"footnotetag456" name="footnotetag456"></a><a href= +"#footnote456"><sup>456</sup></a> At Quimper, and in the district +of Léon, chairs used to be placed round the midsummer +bonfire, that the souls of the dead might sit on them and warm +themselves at the blaze.<a id="footnotetag457" name= +"footnotetag457"></a><a href="#footnote457"><sup>457</sup></a> At +Brest on this day thousands of people used to assemble on the +ramparts towards evening and brandish lighted torches, which they +swung in circles or flung by hundreds into the air. The closing of +the town gates put an end to the spectacle, and the lights might be +seen dispersing in all directions like wandering +will-o'-the-wisps.<a id="footnotetag458" name= +"footnotetag458"></a><a href="#footnote458"><sup>458</sup></a> In +Upper Brittany the materials for the midsummer bonfires, which +generally consist of bundles of furze and heath, are furnished by +voluntary contributions, and piled on the tops of hills round +poles, each of which is surmounted by a nosegay or a crown. This +nosegay or crown is generally provided by a man named John or a +woman named Jean, and it is always a John or a Jean who puts a +light to the bonfire. While the fire is blazing the people dance +and sing round it, and when the flames have subsided they leap over +the glowing embers. Charred sticks from the bonfire are thrown into +wells to improve the water, and they are also taken home as a +protection against thunder.<a id="footnotetag459" name= +"footnotetag459"></a><a href="#footnote459"><sup>459</sup></a> To +make them thoroughly effective, however, against thunder and +lightning you should keep them near your bed, between a bit of a +Twelfth Night cake and a sprig of boxwood which has been blessed on +Palm Sunday.<a id="footnotetag460" name= +"footnotetag460"></a><a href="#footnote460"><sup>460</sup></a> +Flowers from the nosegay or crown which overhung the fire are +accounted charms against disease and pain, both bodily and +spiritual; hence girls hang them at their breast by a thread of +scarlet wool. In many parishes of Brittany the priest used to go in +procession with the crucifix and kindle the bonfire with his own +hands; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>[pg +185]</span> and farmers were wont to drive their flocks and herds +through the fire in order to preserve them from sickness till +midsummer of the following year. Also it was believed that every +girl who danced round nine of the bonfires would marry within the +year.<a id="footnotetag461" name="footnotetag461"></a><a href= +"#footnote461"><sup>461</sup></a></p> +<a id="summernormandy" name="summernormandy"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Normandy; the fires as a protection +against witchcraft; the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf at +Jumièges; pretence of throwing the Green Wolf into the +fire.]</p> +<p>In Normandy the midsummer fires have now almost disappeared, at +least in the district known as the Bocage, but they used to shine +on every hill. They were commonly made by piling brushwood, broom, +and ferns about a tall tree, which was decorated with a crown of +moss and sometimes with flowers. While they burned, people danced +and sang round them, and young folk leaped over the flames or the +glowing ashes. In the valley of the Orne the custom was to kindle +the bonfire just at the moment when the sun was about to dip below +the horizon; and the peasants drove their cattle through the fires +to protect them against witchcraft, especially against the spells +of witches and wizards who attempted to steal the milk and +butter.<a id="footnotetag462" name="footnotetag462"></a><a href= +"#footnote462"><sup>462</sup></a> At Jumièges in Normandy, +down to the first half of the nineteenth century, the midsummer +festival was marked by certain singular features which bore the +stamp of a very high antiquity. Every year, on the twenty-third of +June, the Eve of St. John, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose +a new chief or master, who had always to be taken from the hamlet +of Conihout. On being elected, the new head of the brotherhood +assumed the title of the Green Wolf, and donned a peculiar costume +consisting of a long green mantle and a very tall green hat of a +conical shape and without a brim. Thus arrayed he stalked solemnly +at the head of the brothers, chanting the hymn of St. John, the +crucifix and holy banner leading the way, to a place called +Chouquet. Here the procession was met by the priest, precentors, +and choir, who conducted the brotherhood to the parish church. +After hearing mass the company adjourned to the house of the Green +Wolf, where a simple repast, such as is required by the church on +fast-days, was served up to them. Then they <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page186" name="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> danced +before the door till it was time to light the bonfire. Night being +come, the fire was kindled to the sound of hand-bells by a young +man and a young woman, both decked with flowers. As the flames +rose, the <i>Te Deum</i> was sung, and a villager thundered out a +parody in the Norman dialect of the hymn <i>ut queant laxis</i>. +Meantime the Green Wolf and his brothers, with their hoods down on +their shoulders and holding each other by the hand, ran round the +fire after the man who had been chosen to be the Green Wolf of the +following year. Though only the first and the last man of the chain +had a hand free, their business was to surround and seize thrice +the future Green Wolf, who in his efforts to escape belaboured the +brothers with a long wand which he carried. When at last they +succeeded in catching him they carried him to the burning pile and +made as if they would throw him on it. This ceremony over, they +returned to the house of the Green Wolf, where a supper, still of +the most meagre fare, was set before them. Up till midnight a sort +of religious solemnity prevailed. No unbecoming word might fall +from the lips of any of the company, and a censor, armed with a +hand-bell, was appointed to mark and punish instantly any +infraction of the rule. But at the stroke of twelve all this was +changed. Constraint gave way to license; pious hymns were replaced +by Bacchanalian ditties, and the shrill quavering notes of the +village fiddle hardly rose above the roar of voices that went up +from the merry brotherhood of the Green Wolf. Next day, the +twenty-fourth of June or Midsummer Day, was celebrated by the same +personages with the same noisy gaiety. One of the ceremonies +consisted in parading, to the sound of musketry, an enormous loaf +of consecrated bread, which, rising in tiers, was surmounted by a +pyramid of verdure adorned with ribbons. After that the holy +handbells, deposited on the step of the altar, were entrusted as +insignia of office to the man who was to be the Green Wolf next +year.<a id="footnotetag463" name="footnotetag463"></a><a href= +"#footnote463"><sup>463</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187"></a>[pg +187]</span> <a id="summerpicardy" name="summerpicardy"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Picardy.]</p> +<p>In the canton of Breteuil in Picardy (department of Oise) the +priest used to kindle the midsummer bonfire, and the people marched +thrice round it in procession. Some of them took ashes of the fire +home with them to protect the houses against lightning.<a id= +"footnotetag464" name="footnotetag464"></a><a href= +"#footnote464"><sup>464</sup></a> The custom is, or was down to +recent years, similar at Vorges, near Laon. An enormous pyre, some +fifty or sixty feet high, supported in the middle by a tall pole, +is constructed every year on the twenty-third of June, the Eve of +St. John. It stands at one end of the village, and all the +inhabitants contribute fuel to it: a cart goes round the village in +the morning, by order of the mayor, collecting combustibles from +house to house: no one would dream of refusing to comply with the +customary obligation. In the evening, after a service in honour of +St. John has been performed in the church, the clergy, the mayor, +the municipal authorities, the rural police, and the fire-brigade +march in procession to the bonfire, accompanied by the inhabitants +and a crowd of idlers drawn by curiosity from the neighbouring +villages. After addressing the throng in a sermon, to which they +pay little heed, the parish priest sprinkles the pyre with holy +water, and taking a lighted torch from the hand of an assistant +sets fire to the pile. The enormous blaze, flaring up against the +dark sky of the summer night, is seen for many miles around, +particularly from the hill of Laon. When it has died down into a +huge heap of glowing embers and grey ashes, every one carries home +a charred stick or some cinders; and the fire-brigade, playing +their hose on what remains, extinguishes the smouldering fire. The +people preserve the charred sticks and cinders throughout the year, +believing that these relics of St John's bonfire have power to +guard them from lightning and from contagious diseases.<a id= +"footnotetag465" name="footnotetag465"></a><a href= +"#footnote465"><sup>465</sup></a> At Château-Thierry, a town +of the department of Aisne, between Paris and Reims, the custom of +lighting bonfires and dancing round them at the midsummer festival +of St. John lasted down to about 1850; the fires were kindled +especially when June had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" +name="page188"></a>[pg 188]</span> been rainy, and the people +thought that the lighting of the bonfires would cause the rain to +cease.<a id="footnotetag466" name="footnotetag466"></a><a href= +"#footnote466"><sup>466</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerbeauce" name="summerbeauce"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Beauce and Perche; the fires as a +protection against witchcraft.]</p> +<p>In Beauce and Perche, two neighbouring districts of France to +the south-west of Paris, the midsummer bonfires have nearly or +wholly disappeared, but formerly they were commonly kindled and +went by the name of the "fires of St. John." The site of the +bonfire was either the village square or beside the cross in the +cemetery. Here a great pile of faggots, brushwood, and grass was +accumulated about a huge branch, which bore at the top a crown of +fresh flowers. The priest blessed the bonfire and the people danced +round it. When it blazed and crackled, the bystanders thrust their +heads into the puffs of smoke, in the belief that it would preserve +them from a multitude of ills; and when the fire was burnt out, +they rushed upon the charred embers and ashes and carried them +home, imagining that they had a secret virtue to guard their houses +from being struck by lightning or consumed by fire. Some of the +Perche farmers in the old days, not content with the public +bonfire, used to light little private bonfires in their farmyards +and make all their cattle pass through the smoke and flames for the +purpose of protecting them against witchcraft or disease.<a id= +"footnotetag467" name="footnotetag467"></a><a href= +"#footnote467"><sup>467</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerardennes" name="summerardennes"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura; +the Midsummer fires in Franche-Comté; the Midsummer fires in +Berry and other parts of Central France.]</p> +<p>In the department of the Ardennes every one was wont to +contribute his faggot to the midsummer bonfire, and the clergy +marched at the head of the procession to kindle it. Failure to +light the fires would, in the popular belief, have exposed the +fields to the greatest danger. At Revin the young folk, besides +dancing round the fire to the strains of the village fiddler, threw +garlands of flowers across the flames to each other.<a id= +"footnotetag468" name="footnotetag468"></a><a href= +"#footnote468"><sup>468</sup></a> In the Vosges it is still +customary to kindle bonfires upon the hill-tops on Midsummer Eve; +the people believe that the fires help to preserve the fruits of +the earth and ensure good crops.<a id="footnotetag469" name= +"footnotetag469"></a><a href="#footnote469"><sup>469</sup></a> In +the Jura Mountains the midsummer <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page189" name="page189"></a>[pg 189]</span> bonfires went by the +name of <i>bâ</i> or <i>beau</i>. They were lit on the most +conspicuous points of the landscape.<a id="footnotetag470" name= +"footnotetag470"></a><a href="#footnote470"><sup>470</sup></a> Near +St. Jean, in the Jura, it appears that at this season young people +still repair to the cross-roads and heights, and there wave burning +torches so as to present the appearance of fiery wheels in the +darkness.<a id="footnotetag471" name="footnotetag471"></a><a href= +"#footnote471"><sup>471</sup></a> In Franche-Comté, the +province of France which lies immediately to the west of the Jura +mountains, the fires of St. John still shone on the saint's day in +several villages down to recent years. They were generally lit on +high ground and the young folks of both sexes sang and danced round +them, and sprang over the dying flames.<a id="footnotetag472" name= +"footnotetag472"></a><a href="#footnote472"><sup>472</sup></a> In +Bresse bonfires used to be kindled on Midsummer Eve (the +twenty-third of June) and the people danced about them in a circle. +Devout persons, particularly old women, circumambulated the fires +fourteen times, telling their beads and mumbling seven +<i>Paters</i> and seven <i>Aves</i> in the hope that thereby they +would feel no pains in their backs when they stooped over the +sickle in the harvest field.<a id="footnotetag473" name= +"footnotetag473"></a><a href="#footnote473"><sup>473</sup></a> In +Berry, a district of Central France, the midsummer fire was lit on +the Eve of St. John and went by the name of the +<i>jônée, joannée</i>, or +<i>jouannée</i>. Every family according to its means +contributed faggots, which were piled round a pole on the highest +ground in the neighbourhood. In the hamlets the office of kindling +the fire devolved on the oldest man, but in the towns it was the +priest or the mayor who discharged the duty. Here, as in Brittany, +people supposed that a girl who had danced round nine of the +midsummer bonfires would marry within the year. To leap several +times over the fire was regarded as a sort of purification which +kept off sickness and brought good luck to the leaper. Hence the +nimble youth bounded through the smoke and flames, and when the +fire had somewhat abated parents jumped across it with their +children in their arms in order that the little ones might also +partake of its <span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name= +"page190"></a>[pg 190]</span> beneficent influence. Embers from the +extinct bonfire were taken home, and after being dipped in holy +water were kept as a talisman against all kinds of misfortune, but +especially against lightning.<a id="footnotetag474" name= +"footnotetag474"></a><a href="#footnote474"><sup>474</sup></a> The +same virtue was ascribed to the ashes and charred sticks of the +midsummer bonfire in Périgord, where everybody contributed +his share of fuel to the pile and the whole was crowned with +flowers, especially with roses and lilies.<a id="footnotetag475" +name="footnotetag475"></a><a href="#footnote475"><sup>475</sup></a> +On the borders of the departments of Creuse and Corrèze, in +Central France, the fires of St. John used to be lit on the Eve of +the saint's day (the twenty-third of June); the custom seems to +have survived till towards the end of the nineteenth century. Men, +women, and children assembled round the fires, and the young people +jumped over them. Children were brought by their parents or elder +brothers into contact with the flames in the belief that this would +save them from fever. Older people girded themselves with stalks of +rye taken from a neighbouring field, because they fancied that by +so doing they would not grow weary in reaping the corn at +harvest.<a id="footnotetag476" name="footnotetag476"></a><a href= +"#footnote476"><sup>476</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerpoitou" name="summerpoitou"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Poitou.]</p> +<p>Bonfires were lit in almost all the hamlets of Poitou on the Eve +of St. John. People marched round them thrice, carrying a branch of +walnut in their hand. Shepherdesses and children passed sprigs of +mullein (<i>verbascum</i>) and nuts across the flames; the nuts +were supposed to cure toothache, and the mullein to protect the +cattle from sickness and sorcery. When the fire died down people +took some of the ashes home with them, either to keep them in the +house as a preservative against thunder or to scatter them on the +fields for the purpose of destroying corn-cockles and darnel. +Stones were also placed round the fire, and it was believed that +the first to lift one of these stones next morning would find under +it the hair of St. John.<a id="footnotetag477" name= +"footnotetag477"></a><a href="#footnote477"><sup>477</sup></a> In +Poitou also it used to be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page191" +name="page191"></a>[pg 191]</span> customary on the Eve of St. John +to trundle a blazing wheel wrapt in straw over the fields to +fertilize them.<a id="footnotetag478" name= +"footnotetag478"></a><a href="#footnote478"><sup>478</sup></a> This +last custom is said to be now extinct,<a id="footnotetag479" name= +"footnotetag479"></a><a href="#footnote479"><sup>479</sup></a> but +it is still usual, or was so down to recent years, in Poitou to +kindle fires on this day at cross-roads or on the heights. The +oldest or youngest person present sets a light to the pile, which +consists of broom, gorse, and heath. A bright and crackling blaze +shoots up, but soon dies down, and over it the young folk leap. +They also throw stones into it, picking the stone according to the +size of the turnips that they wish to have that year. It is said +that "the good Virgin" comes and sits on the prettiest of the +stones, and next morning they see there her beautiful golden +tresses. At Lussac, in Poitou, the lighting of the midsummer +bonfire is still an affair of some ceremony. A pyramid of faggots +is piled round a tree or tall pole on the ground where the fair is +held; the priest goes in procession to the spot and kindles the +pile. When prayers have been said and the clergy have withdrawn, +the people continue to march round the fire, telling their beads, +but it is not till the flames have begun to die down that the youth +jump over them. A brand from the midsummer bonfire is supposed to +be a preservative against thunder.<a id="footnotetag480" name= +"footnotetag480"></a><a href="#footnote480"><sup>480</sup></a></p> +<a id="summervienne" name="summervienne"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in the departments of Vienne and +Deux-Sèvres and in the provinces of Saintonge and +Aunis.]</p> +<p>In the department of Vienne the bonfire was kindled by the +oldest man, and before the dance round the flames began it was the +custom to pass across them a great bunch of mullein (<i>bouillon +blanc</i>) and a branch of walnut, which next morning before +sunrise were fastened over the door of the chief cattle-shed.<a id= +"footnotetag481" name="footnotetag481"></a><a href= +"#footnote481"><sup>481</sup></a> A similar custom prevailed in the +neighbouring department of Deux-Sèvres; but here it was the +priest who kindled the bonfire, and old men used to put embers of +the fire in their wooden shoes as a preservative <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> +against many evils.<a id="footnotetag482" name= +"footnotetag482"></a><a href="#footnote482"><sup>482</sup></a> In +some towns and villages of Saintonge and Aunis, provinces of +Western France now mostly comprised in the department of Charente +Inférieure, the fires of St. John are still kindled on +Midsummer Eve, but the custom is neither so common nor carried out +with so much pomp and ceremony as formerly. Great quantities of +wood used to be piled on an open space round about a huge post or a +tree stripped of its leaves and branches. Every one took care to +contribute a faggot to the pile, and the whole population marched +to the spot in procession with the crucifix at their head and the +priest bringing up the rear. The squire, or other person of high +degree, put the torch to the pyre, and the priest blessed it. In +the southern and eastern parts of Saintonge children and cattle +were passed through the smoke of the bonfires to preserve them from +contagious diseases, and when the fire had gone out the people +scuffled for the charred fragments of the great post, which they +regarded as talismans against thunder. Next morning, on Midsummer +Day, every shepherdess in the neighbourhood was up very early, for +the first to drive her sheep over the blackened cinders and ashes +of the great bonfire was sure to have the best flock all that year. +Where the shepherds shrunk from driving their flocks through the +smoke and flames of the bonfire they contented themselves with +marking the hinder-quarters of the animals with a broom which had +been blackened in the ashes.<a id="footnotetag483" name= +"footnotetag483"></a><a href="#footnote483"><sup>483</sup></a></p> +<a id="summersouthernfrance" name="summersouthernfrance"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Southern France; Midsummer festival of +fire and water in Provence; bathing in the sea at Midsummer; +temporary Midsummer kings at Aix and Marseilles.]</p> +<p>In the mountainous part of Comminges, a province of Southern +France, now comprised in the department of Haute Garonne, the +midsummer fire is made by splitting open the trunk of a tall tree, +stuffing the crevice with shavings, and igniting the whole. A +garland of flowers is fastened to the top of the tree, and at the +moment when the fire is lighted the man who was last married has to +climb up a ladder and bring the flowers down. In the flat parts of +the same district the materials of the midsummer bonfires consist +of fuel piled in the usual way; but they must be <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193"></a>[pg 193]</span> put +together by men who have been married since the last midsummer +festival, and each of these benedicts is obliged to lay a wreath of +flowers on the top of the pile.<a id="footnotetag484" name= +"footnotetag484"></a><a href="#footnote484"><sup>484</sup></a> At +the entrance of the valley of Aran young people set up on the banks +of the Garonne a tree covered with ribbons and garlands; at the end +of a year the withered tree and faded flowers furnish excellent +fuel. So on the Eve of St. John the villagers assemble, and an old +man or a child kindles the fire which is to consume tree and +garlands together. While the blaze lasts the people sing and dance; +and the burnt tree is then replaced by another which will suffer +the same fate after the lapse of a year.<a id="footnotetag485" +name="footnotetag485"></a><a href="#footnote485"><sup>485</sup></a> +In some districts of the French Pyrenees it is deemed necessary to +leap nine times over the midsummer fire if you would be assured of +prosperity.<a id="footnotetag486" name= +"footnotetag486"></a><a href="#footnote486"><sup>486</sup></a> A +traveller in Southern France at the beginning of the nineteenth +century tells us that "the Eve of St. John is also a day of joy for +the Provençals. They light great fires and the young folk +leap over them. At Aix they shower squibs and crackers on the +passers-by, which has often had disagreeable consequences. At +Marseilles they drench each other with scented water, which is +poured from the windows or squirted from little syringes; the +roughest jest is to souse passers-by with clean water, which gives +rise to loud bursts of laughter."<a id="footnotetag487" name= +"footnotetag487"></a><a href="#footnote487"><sup>487</sup></a> At +Draguignan, in the department of Var, fires used to be lit in every +street on the Eve of St. John, and the people roasted pods of +garlic at them; the pods were afterwards distributed to every +family. Another diversion of the evening was to pour cans of water +from the houses on the heads of people in the streets.<a id= +"footnotetag488" name="footnotetag488"></a><a href= +"#footnote488"><sup>488</sup></a> In Provence the midsummer fires +are still popular. Children go from door to door begging for fuel, +and they are seldom sent empty away. Formerly the priest, the +mayor, and the aldermen used to walk in procession to the bonfire, +and even deigned to light it; after which the assembly marched +thrice round the burning pile, while the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194"></a>[pg 194]</span> church +bells pealed and rockets fizzed and sputtered in the air. Dancing +began later, and the bystanders threw water on each other. At +Ciotat, while the fire was blazing, the young people plunged into +the sea and splashed each other vigorously. At Vitrolles they +bathed in a pond in order that they might not suffer from fever +during the year, and at Saintes-Maries they watered the horses to +protect them from the itch.<a id="footnotetag489" name= +"footnotetag489"></a><a href="#footnote489"><sup>489</sup></a> At +Aix a nominal king, chosen from among the youth for his skill in +shooting at a popinjay, presided over the festival. He selected his +own officers, and escorted by a brilliant train marched to the +bonfire, kindled it, and was the first to dance round it. Next day +he distributed largesse to his followers. His reign lasted a year, +during which he enjoyed certain privileges. He was allowed to +attend the mass celebrated by the commander of the Knights of St. +John on St. John's Day: the right of hunting was accorded to him; +and soldiers might not be quartered in his house. At Marseilles +also on this day one of the guilds chose a king of the +<i>badache</i> or double axe; but it does not appear that he +kindled the bonfire, which is said to have been lighted with great +ceremony by the préfet and other authorities.<a id= +"footnotetag490" name="footnotetag490"></a><a href= +"#footnote490"><sup>490</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerbelgium" name="summerbelgium"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Belgium; bonfires on St. Peter's Day in +Brabant; the King and Queen of the Roses; effigies burnt in the +Midsummer fires.]</p> +<p>In Belgium the custom of kindling the midsummer bonfires has +long disappeared from the great cities, but it is still kept up in +rural districts and small towns of Brabant, Flanders, and Limburg. +People leap across the fires to protect themselves against fever, +and in eastern Flanders women perform similar leaps for the purpose +of ensuring an easy delivery. At Termonde young people go from door +to door collecting fuel for the fires and reciting verses, in which +they beg the inmates to give them "wood of St. John" and to keep +some wood for St. Peter's Day (the twenty-ninth of June); for in +Belgium the Eve of St. Peter's Day is celebrated by bonfires and +dances exactly like those which commemorate St. John's Eve. The +ashes of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name= +"page195"></a>[pg 195]</span> the St. John's fires are deemed by +Belgian peasants an excellent remedy for consumption, if you take a +spoonful or two of them, moistened with water, day by day. People +also burn vervain in the fires, and they say that in the ashes of +the plant you may find, if you look for it, the "Fool's +Stone."<a id="footnotetag491" name="footnotetag491"></a><a href= +"#footnote491"><sup>491</sup></a> In many parts of Brabant St. +Peter's bonfire used to be much larger than that of his rival St. +John. When it had burned out, both sexes engaged in a game of ball, +and the winner became the King of Summer or of the Ball and had the +right to choose his Queen. Sometimes the winner was a woman, and it +was then her privilege to select her royal mate. This pastime was +well known at Louvain and it continued to be practised at Grammont +and Mespelaer down to the second half of the nineteenth century. At +Mespelaer, which is a village near Termonde, a huge pile of +eglantine, reeds, and straw was collected in a marshy meadow for +the bonfire; and next evening after vespers the young folk who had +lit it assembled at the "Good Life" tavern to play the game. The +winner was crowned with a wreath of roses, and the rest danced and +sang in a ring about him. At Grammont, while the bonfire was lit +and the dances round it took place on St. Peter's Eve, the festival +of the "Crown of Roses" was deferred till the following Sunday. The +young folk arranged among themselves beforehand who should be King +and Queen of the Roses: the rosy wreaths were hung on cords across +the street: the dancers danced below them, and at a given moment +the wreaths fell on the heads of the chosen King and Queen, who had +to entertain their fellows at a feast. According to some people the +fires of St. Peter, like those of St. John, were lighted in order +to drive away dragons.<a id="footnotetag492" name= +"footnotetag492"></a><a href="#footnote492"><sup>492</sup></a> In +French Flanders down to 1789 a straw figure representing a man was +always burned in the midsummer bonfire, and the figure of a woman +was burned on St. Peter's Day.<a id="footnotetag493" name= +"footnotetag493"></a><a href="#footnote493"><sup>493</sup></a> In +Belgium people jump over the midsummer bonfires as a <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196"></a>[pg 196]</span> +preventive of colic, and they keep the ashes at home to hinder fire +from breaking out.<a id="footnotetag494" name= +"footnotetag494"></a><a href="#footnote494"><sup>494</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerengland" name="summerengland"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in England; Stow's description of the +Midsummer fires in London; the Midsummer fires at Eton.]</p> +<p>The custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has been observed +in many parts of our own country. "On the Vigil of Saint John the +Baptist, commonly called Midsummer Eve, it was usual in most +country places, and also in towns and cities, for the inhabitants, +both old and young, and of both sexes, to meet together, and make +merry by the side of a large fire made in the middle of the street, +or in some open and convenient place, over which the young men +frequently leaped by way of frolic, and also exercised themselves +with various sports and pastimes, more especially with running, +wrestling, and dancing. These diversions they continued till +midnight, and sometimes till cock-crowing."<a id="footnotetag495" +name="footnotetag495"></a><a href="#footnote495"><sup>495</sup></a> +In the streets of London the midsummer fires were lighted in the +time of Queen Elizabeth down to the end of the sixteenth century, +as we learn from Stow's description, which runs thus: "In the +months of June and July, on the vigils of festival days, and on the +same festival days in the evenings after the sun setting, there +were usually made bonfires in the streets, every man bestowing wood +or labour towards them; the wealthier sort also, before their doors +near to the said bonfires, would set out tables on the vigils +furnished with sweet bread and good drink, and on the festival days +with meats and drinks plentifully, whereunto they would invite +their neighbours and passengers also to sit and be merry with them +in great familiarity, praising God for His benefits bestowed on +them. These were called bonfires as well of good amity amongst +neighbours that being before at controversy, were there, by the +labour of others, reconciled, and made of bitter enemies loving +friends; and also for the virtue that a great fire hath to purge +the infection of the air. On the vigil of St. John the Baptist, and +on St. Peter and Paul the Apostles, every man's door being shadowed +with green birch, long fennel, St John's wort, orpin, white lilies, +and such like, garnished upon with garlands of beautiful flowers, +had also lamps of glass, with oil burning in them all the night; +some hung <span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name= +"page197"></a>[pg 197]</span> out branches of iron curiously +wrought, containing hundreds of lamps alight at once, which made a +goodly show, namely, in New Fish Street, Thames Street, etc."<a id= +"footnotetag496" name="footnotetag496"></a><a href= +"#footnote496"><sup>496</sup></a> In the sixteenth century the Eton +boys used to kindle a bonfire on the east side of the church both +on St John's Day and on St. Peter's Day.<a id="footnotetag497" +name="footnotetag497"></a><a href="#footnote497"><sup>497</sup></a> +Writing in the second half of the seventeenth century, the +antiquary John Aubrey tells us that bonfires were still kindled in +many places on St. John's Night, but that the civil wars had thrown +many of these old customs out of fashion. Wars, he adds, extinguish +superstition as well as religion and laws, and there is nothing +like gunpowder for putting phantoms to flight.<a id= +"footnotetag498" name="footnotetag498"></a><a href= +"#footnote498"><sup>498</sup></a></p> +<a id="summernorthengland" name="summernorthengland"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in the north of England; the Midsummer +fires in Northumberland.]</p> +<p>In the north of England these fires used to be lit in the open +streets. Young and old gathered round them, and while the young +leaped over the fires and engaged in games, their elders looked on +and probably remembered with regret the days when they used to foot +it as nimbly. Sometimes the fires were kindled on the tops of high +hills. The people also carried firebrands about the fields.<a id= +"footnotetag499" name="footnotetag499"></a><a href= +"#footnote499"><sup>499</sup></a> The custom of kindling bonfires +on Midsummer Eve prevailed all over Cumberland down to the second +half of the eighteenth century.<a id="footnotetag500" name= +"footnotetag500"></a><a href="#footnote500"><sup>500</sup></a> In +Northumberland the custom seems to have lasted into the first +quarter of the nineteenth century; the fires were lit in the +villages and on the tops of high hills, and the people sported and +danced round them.<a id="footnotetag501" name= +"footnotetag501"></a><a href="#footnote501"><sup>501</sup></a> +Moreover, the villagers used to run with burning brands round their +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page198" name="page198"></a>[pg +198]</span> fields and to snatch ashes from a neighbour's fire, +saying as they did so, "We have the flower (or flour) of the +wake."<a id="footnotetag502" name="footnotetag502"></a><a href= +"#footnote502"><sup>502</sup></a> At Sandhill bonfires were kindled +on the Eve of St. Peter as well as on Midsummer Eve; the custom is +attested for the year 1575, when it was described as ancient.<a id= +"footnotetag503" name="footnotetag503"></a><a href= +"#footnote503"><sup>503</sup></a> We are told that "on Midsummer's +eve, reckoned according to the old style, it was formerly the +custom of the inhabitants, young and old, not only of Whalton, but +of most of the adjacent villages, to collect a large cartload of +whins and other combustible materials, which was dragged by them +with great rejoicing (a fiddler being seated on the top of the +cart) into the village and erected into a pile. The people from the +surrounding country assembled towards evening, when it was set on +fire; and whilst the young danced around it, the elders looked on +smoking their pipes and drinking their beer, until it was consumed. +There can be little doubt that this curious old custom dates from a +very remote antiquity." In a law-suit, which was tried in 1878, the +rector of Whalton gave evidence of the constant use of the village +green for the ceremony since 1843. "The bonfire," he said, "was +lighted a little to the north-east of the well at Whalton, and +partly on the footpath, and people danced round it and jumped +through it. That was never interrupted." The Rev. G.R. Hall, +writing in 1879, says that "the fire festivals or bonfires of the +summer solstice at the Old Midsummer until recently were +commemorated on Christenburg Crags and elsewhere by leaping through +and dancing round the fires, as those who have been present have +told me."<a id="footnotetag504" name="footnotetag504"></a><a href= +"#footnote504"><sup>504</sup></a> Down to the early part of the +nineteenth century bonfires called Beal-fires used to be lit on +Midsummer Eve all over the wolds in the East Riding of +Yorkshire.<a id="footnotetag505" name="footnotetag505"></a><a href= +"#footnote505"><sup>505</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page199" name="page199"></a>[pg +199]</span> <a id="summerherefordshire" name= +"summerherefordshire"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Herefordshire, Somersetshire, +Devonshire, and Cornwall; the Cornish fires on Midsummer Eve and +St. Peter's Eve.]</p> +<p>In Herefordshire and Somersetshire the peasants used to make +fires in the fields on Midsummer Eve "to bless the apples."<a id= +"footnotetag506" name="footnotetag506"></a><a href= +"#footnote506"><sup>506</sup></a> In Devonshire the custom of +leaping over the midsummer fires was also observed.<a id= +"footnotetag507" name="footnotetag507"></a><a href= +"#footnote507"><sup>507</sup></a> "In Cornwall, the festival fires, +called bonfires, are kindled on the Eves of St. John Baptist and +St. Peter's day; and Midsummer is thence, in the Cornish tongue, +called <i>Goluan</i>, which signifies both light and rejoicing. At +these fires the Cornish attend with lighted torches, tarred and +pitched at the end, and make their perambulations round their +fires, going from village to village and carrying their torches +before them; this is certainly the remains of Druid superstition; +for, <i>Faces praeferre</i>, to carry lighted torches was reckoned +a kind of gentilism, and as such particularly prohibited by the +Gallick Councils."<a id="footnotetag508" name= +"footnotetag508"></a><a href="#footnote508"><sup>508</sup></a> At +Penzance and elsewhere in the county the people danced and sang +about the bonfires on Midsummer Eve. On Whiteborough, a large +tumulus near Launceston, a huge bonfire used to be kindled on +Midsummer Eve; a tall summer pole with a large bush at the top was +fixed in the centre of the bonfire.<a id="footnotetag509" name= +"footnotetag509"></a><a href="#footnote509"><sup>509</sup></a> The +Cornish fires at this season appear to have been commonly lit on +high and conspicuous hills, such as Tregonan, Godolphin, Carnwarth, +and Cam Brea. When it grew dusk on Midsummer Eve, old men would +hobble away to some height whence they counted the fires and drew a +presage from their number.<a id="footnotetag510" name= +"footnotetag510"></a><a href="#footnote510"><sup>510</sup></a> "It +is the immemorial usage in Penzance, and the neighbouring towns and +villages, to kindle bonfires and torches on Midsummer-eve; and on +Midsummer-day to hold a fair on Penzance quay, where the country +folks assemble from the adjoining parishes in great numbers to make +excursions on the water. St. Peter's Eve <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page200" name="page200"></a>[pg 200]</span> (the +twenty-eighth of June) is distinguished by a similar display of +bonfires and torches, although the 'quay-fair' on St. Peter's-day +(the twenty-ninth of June), has been discontinued upwards of forty +years. On these eves a line of tar-barrels, relieved occasionally +by large bonfires, is seen in the centre of each of the principal +streets in Penzance. On either side of this line young men and +women pass up and down, swinging round their heads heavy torches +made of large pieces of folded canvas steeped in tar, and nailed to +the ends of sticks between three and four feet long; the flames of +some of these almost equal those of the tar-barrels. Rows of +lighted candles, also, when the air is calm, are fixed outside the +windows or along the sides of the streets. In St. Just, and other +mining parishes, the young miners, mimicking their fathers' +employments, bore rows of holes in the rocks, load them with +gunpowder, and explode them in rapid succession by trains of the +same substance. As the holes are not deep enough to split the +rocks, the same little batteries serve for many years. On these +nights, Mount's Bay has a most animating appearance, although not +equal to what was annually witnessed at the beginning of the +present century, when the whole coast, from the Land's End to the +Lizard, wherever a town or a village existed, was lighted up with +these stationary or moving fires. In the early part of the evening, +children may be seen wearing wreaths of flowers—a custom in +all probability originating from the ancient use of these ornaments +when they danced around the fires. At the close of the fireworks in +Penzance, a great number of persons of both sexes, chiefly from the +neighbourhood of the quay, used always, until within the last few +years, to join hand in hand, forming a long string, and run through +the streets, playing 'thread the needle,' heedless of the fireworks +showered upon them, and oftentimes leaping over the yet glowing +embers. I have on these occasions seen boys following one another, +jumping through flames higher than themselves."<a id= +"footnotetag511" name="footnotetag511"></a><a href= +"#footnote511"><sup>511</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerwales" name="summerwales"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Wales and the Isle of Man; burning wheel +rolled down hill.]</p> +<p>In Wales the midsummer fires were kindled on St. John's +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201"></a>[pg +201]</span> Eve and on St. John's Day. Three or nine different +kinds of wood and charred faggots carefully preserved from the last +midsummer were deemed necessary to build the bonfire, which was +generally done on rising ground. Various herbs were thrown into the +blaze; and girls with bunches of three or nine different kinds of +flowers would take the hands of boys, who wore flowers in their +buttonholes and hats, and together the young couples would leap +over the fires. On the same two midsummer days roses and wreaths of +flowers were hung over the doors and windows. "Describing a +midsummer fire, an old inhabitant, born in 1809, remembered being +taken to different hills in the Vale of Glamorgan to see +festivities in which people from all parts of the district +participated. She was at that time about fourteen, and old enough +to retain a vivid recollection of the circumstances. People +conveyed trusses of straw to the top of the hill, where men and +youths waited for the contributions. Women and girls were stationed +at the bottom of the hill. Then a large cart-wheel was thickly +swathed with straw, and not an inch of wood was left in sight. A +pole was inserted through the centre of the wheel, so that long +ends extended about a yard on each side. If any straw remained, it +was made up into torches at the top of tall sticks. At a given +signal the wheel was lighted, and sent rolling downhill. If this +fire-wheel went out before it reached the bottom of the hill, a +very poor harvest was promised. If it kept lighted all the way +down, and continued blazing for a long time, the harvest would be +exceptionally abundant. Loud cheers and shouts accompanied the +progress of the wheel."<a id="footnotetag512" name= +"footnotetag512"></a><a href="#footnote512"><sup>512</sup></a> At +Darowen in Wales small bonfires were kindled on Midsummer +Eve.<a id="footnotetag513" name="footnotetag513"></a><a href= +"#footnote513"><sup>513</sup></a> On the same day people in the +Isle of Man were wont to light fires to the windward of every +field, so that the smoke might pass over the corn; and they folded +their cattle and carried blazing furze or gorse round them several +times.<a id="footnotetag514" name="footnotetag514"></a><a href= +"#footnote514"><sup>514</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerireland" name="summerireland"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Ireland; passage of people and cattle +through the fires; cattle driven through the fire; ashes used to +fertilize the fields; the White Horse at the Midsummer fire.]</p> +<p>A writer of the last quarter of the seventeenth century +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page202" name="page202"></a>[pg +202]</span> tells us that in Ireland, "on the Eves of St. John +Baptist and St. Peter, they always have in every town a bonfire, +late in the evenings, and carry about bundles of reeds fast tied +and fired; these being dry, will last long, and flame better than a +torch, and be a pleasing divertive prospect to the distant +beholder; a stranger would go near to imagine the whole country was +on fire."<a id="footnotetag515" name="footnotetag515"></a><a href= +"#footnote515"><sup>515</sup></a> Another writer says of the South +of Ireland: "On Midsummer's Eve, every eminence, near which is a +habitation, blazes with bonfires; and round these they carry +numerous torches, shouting and dancing, which affords a beautiful +sight."<a id="footnotetag516" name="footnotetag516"></a><a href= +"#footnote516"><sup>516</sup></a> An author who described Ireland +in the first quarter of the eighteenth century says: "On the vigil +of St. John the Baptist's Nativity, they make bonfires, and run +along the streets and fields with wisps of straw blazing on long +poles to purify the air, which they think infectious, by believing +all the devils, spirits, ghosts, and hobgoblins fly abroad this +night to hurt mankind."<a id="footnotetag517" name= +"footnotetag517"></a><a href="#footnote517"><sup>517</sup></a> +Another writer states that he witnessed the festival in Ireland in +1782: "At the house where I was entertained, it was told me, that +we should see, at midnight, the most singular sight in Ireland, +which was the lighting of fires in honour of the sun. Accordingly, +exactly at midnight, the fires began to appear; and taking the +advantage of going up to the leads of the house, which had a widely +extended view, I saw on a radius of thirty miles, all around, the +fires burning on every eminence which the country afforded. I had a +farther satisfaction in learning, from undoubted authority, that +the people danced round the fires, and at the close went through +these fires, and made their sons and daughters, together with their +cattle, pass through the fire; and the whole was conducted with +religious solemnity."<a id="footnotetag518" name= +"footnotetag518"></a><a href="#footnote518"><sup>518</sup></a> That +the custom prevailed in full force as late as 1867 appears from a +notice in a newspaper of that date, which runs thus: "The old pagan +fire-worship still survives in Ireland, though nominally +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203"></a>[pg +203]</span> in honour of St. John. On Sunday night bonfires were +observed throughout nearly every county in the province of +Leinster. In Kilkenny, fires blazed on every hillside at intervals +of about a mile. There were very many in the Queen's County, also +in Kildare and Wexford. The effect in the rich sunset appeared to +travellers very grand. The people assemble, and dance round the +fires, the children jump through the flames, and in former times +live coals were carried into the corn-fields to prevent +blight."<a id="footnotetag519" name="footnotetag519"></a><a href= +"#footnote519"><sup>519</sup></a> In County Leitrim on St. John's +Eve, which is called Bonfire Day, fires are still lighted after +dusk on the hills and along the sides of the roads.<a id= +"footnotetag520" name="footnotetag520"></a><a href= +"#footnote520"><sup>520</sup></a> All over Kerry the same thing +continues to be done, though not so commonly as of old. Small fires +were made across the road, and to drive through them brought luck +for the year. Cattle were also driven through the fires. On +Lettermore Island, in South Connemara, some of the ashes from the +midsummer bonfire are thrown on the fields to fertilize them.<a id= +"footnotetag521" name="footnotetag521"></a><a href= +"#footnote521"><sup>521</sup></a> One writer informs us that in +Munster and Connaught a bone must always be burned in the fire; for +otherwise the people believe that the fire will bring no luck. He +adds that in many places sterile beasts and human beings are passed +through the fire, and that as a boy he himself jumped through the +fire "for luck."<a id="footnotetag522" name= +"footnotetag522"></a><a href="#footnote522"><sup>522</sup></a> An +eye-witness has described as follows a remarkable ceremony observed +in Ireland on Midsummer Eve: "When the fire burned for some hours, +and got low, an indispensable part of the ceremony commenced. Every +one present of the peasantry passed through it, and several +children were thrown across the sparkling embers; while a wooden +frame, of some eight feet long, with a horse's head fixed to one +end, and a large white sheet thrown over it concealing the wood and +the man on whose head it was carried, made its appearance. This was +greeted with loud shouts of 'The white horse!' and having been +safely carried by the skill of its <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page204" name="page204"></a>[pg 204]</span> bearer several times +through the fire with a bold leap, it pursued the people, who ran +screaming and laughing in every direction. I asked what the horse +was meant for, and was told that it represented 'all +cattle.'"<a id="footnotetag523" name="footnotetag523"></a><a href= +"#footnote523"><sup>523</sup></a></p> +<p>[Lady Wilde's account of the Midsummer fires in Ireland.]</p> +<p>Lady Wilde's account of the midsummer festival in Ireland is +picturesque and probably correct in substance, although she does +not cite her authorities. As it contains some interesting features +which are not noticed by the other writers on Ireland whom I have +consulted, I will quote the greater part of it in full. "In ancient +times," she says, "the sacred fire was lighted with great ceremony +on Midsummer Eve; and on that night all the people of the adjacent +country kept fixed watch on the western promontory of Howth, and +the moment the first flash was seen from that spot the fact of +ignition was announced with wild cries and cheers repeated from +village to village, when all the local fires began to blaze, and +Ireland was circled by a cordon of flame rising up from every hill. +Then the dance and song began round every fire, and the wild +hurrahs filled the air with the most frantic revelry. Many of these +ancient customs are still continued, and the fires are still +lighted on St. John's Eve on every hill in Ireland. When the fire +has burned down to a red glow the young men strip to the waist and +leap over or through the flames; this is done backwards and +forwards several times, and he who braves the greatest blaze is +considered the victor over the powers of evil, and is greeted with +tremendous applause. When the fire burns still lower, the young +girls leap the flame, and those who leap clean over three times +back and forward will be certain of a speedy marriage and good luck +in after-life, with many children. The married women then walk +through the lines of the burning embers; and when the fire is +nearly burnt and trampled down, the yearling cattle are driven +through the hot ashes, and their back is singed with a lighted +hazel twig. These rods are kept safely afterwards, being considered +of immense power to drive the cattle to and from the watering +places. As the fire diminishes the shouting grows fainter, and the +song and the dance commence; while <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page205" name="page205"></a>[pg 205]</span> professional +story-tellers narrate tales of fairy-land, or of the good old times +long ago, when the kings and princes of Ireland dwelt amongst their +own people, and there was food to eat and wine to drink for all +comers to the feast at the king's house. When the crowd at length +separate, every one carries home a brand from the fire, and great +virtue is attached to the lighted <i>brone</i> which is safely +carried to the house without breaking or falling to the ground. +Many contests also arise amongst the young men; for whoever enters +his house first with the sacred fire brings the good luck of the +year with him."<a id="footnotetag524" name= +"footnotetag524"></a><a href="#footnote524"><sup>524</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerwaterireland" name="summerwaterireland"></a> +<p>[Holy water resorted to on Midsummer Eve in Ireland.]</p> +<p>In Ireland, as elsewhere, water was also apparently thought to +acquire a certain mystical virtue at midsummer. "At Stoole, near +Downpatrick, there is a ceremony commencing at twelve o'clock at +night on Midsummer Eve. Its sacred mount is consecrated to St. +Patrick; the plain contains three wells, to which the most +extraordinary virtues are attributed. Here and there are heaps of +stones, around some of which appear great numbers of people, +running with as much speed as possible; around others crowds of +worshippers kneel with bare legs and feet as an indispensable part +of the penance. The men, without coats, with handkerchiefs on their +heads instead of hats, having gone seven times round each heap, +kiss the ground, cross themselves, and proceed to the hill; here +they ascend, on their bare knees, by a path so steep and rugged +that it would be difficult to walk up. Many hold their hands +clasped at the back of their necks, and several carry large stones +on their heads. Having repeated this ceremony seven times, they go +to what is called St. Patrick's Chair, which are two great flat +stones fixed upright in the hill; here they cross and bless +themselves as they step in between these stones, and, while +repeating prayers, an old man, seated for the purpose, turns them +round on their feet three times, for which he is paid; the devotee +then goes to conclude his penance at a pile of stones, named the +Altar. While this busy scene is continued by the multitude, the +wells and streams issuing from them are thronged by crowds of halt, +maimed, and blind, pressing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" +name="page206"></a>[pg 206]</span> to wash away their infirmities +with water consecrated by their patron saint, and so powerful is +the impression of its efficacy on their minds, that many of those +who go to be healed, and who are not totally blind, or altogether +crippled, really believe for a time that they are by means of its +miraculous virtues perfectly restored."<a id="footnotetag525" name= +"footnotetag525"></a><a href="#footnote525"><sup>525</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerscotland" name="summerscotland"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Scotland; fires on St. Peter's Day (the +twenty-ninth of June).]</p> +<p>In Scotland the traces of midsummer fires are few. We are told +by a writer of the eighteenth century that "the midsummer-even +fire, a relict of Druidism," was kindled in some parts of the +county of Perth.<a id="footnotetag526" name= +"footnotetag526"></a><a href="#footnote526"><sup>526</sup></a> +Another writer of the same period, describing what he calls the +Druidical festivals of the Highlanders, says that "the least +considerable of them is that of midsummer. In the Highlands of +Perthshire there are some vestiges of it. The cowherd goes three +times round the fold, according to the course of the sun, with a +burning torch in his hand. They imagined this rite had a tendency +to purify their herds and flocks, and to prevent diseases. At their +return the landlady makes an entertainment for the cowherd and his +associates."<a id="footnotetag527" name= +"footnotetag527"></a><a href="#footnote527"><sup>527</sup></a> In +the northeast of Scotland, down to the latter half of the +eighteenth century, farmers used to go round their lands with +burning torches about the middle of June.<a id="footnotetag528" +name="footnotetag528"></a><a href="#footnote528"><sup>528</sup></a> +On the hill of Cairnshee, in the parish of Durris, Kincardineshire, +the herdsmen of the country round about annually kindle a bonfire +at sunset on Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June); the men or +lads collect the fuel and push each other through the smoke and +flames. The custom is kept up through the benefaction of a certain +Alexander Hogg, a native of the parish, who died about 1790 and +left a small sum for the maintenance of a midsummer bonfire on the +spot, because as <span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name= +"page207"></a>[pg 207]</span> a boy he had herded cattle on the +hill. We may conjecture that in doing so he merely provided for the +continuance of an old custom which he himself had observed in the +same place in his youth.<a id="footnotetag529" name= +"footnotetag529"></a><a href="#footnote529"><sup>529</sup></a> At +the village of Tarbolton in Ayrshire a bonfire has been annually +kindled from time immemorial on the evening of the first Monday +after the eleventh of June. A noted cattle-market was formerly held +at the fair on the following day. The bonfire is still lit at the +gloaming by the lads and lasses of the village on a high mound or +hillock just outside of the village. Fuel for it is collected by +the lads from door to door. The youth dance round the fire and leap +over the fringes of it. The many cattle-drovers who used to +assemble for the fair were wont to gather round the blazing pile, +smoke their pipes, and listen to the young folk singing in chorus +on the hillock. Afterwards they wrapped themselves in their plaids +and slept round the bonfire, which was intended to last all +night.<a id="footnotetag530" name="footnotetag530"></a><a href= +"#footnote530"><sup>530</sup></a> Thomas Moresin of Aberdeen, a +writer of the sixteenth century, says that on St. Peter's Day, +which is the twenty-ninth of June, the Scotch ran about at night +with lighted torches on mountains and high grounds, "as Ceres did +when she roamed the whole earth in search of Proserpine";<a id= +"footnotetag531" name="footnotetag531"></a><a href= +"#footnote531"><sup>531</sup></a> and towards the end of the +eighteenth century the parish minister of Loudoun, a district of +Ayrshire whose "bonny woods and braes" have been sung by Burns, +wrote that "the custom still remains amongst the herds and young +people to kindle fires in the high grounds in honour of Beltan. +<i>Beltan</i>, which in Gaelic signifies <i>Baal</i>, or +<i>Bel's-fire</i>, was antiently the time of this solemnity. It is +now kept on St. Peter's day."<a id="footnotetag532" name= +"footnotetag532"></a><a href="#footnote532"><sup>532</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208"></a>[pg +208]</span> <a id="summerspain" name="summerspain"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Spain and the Azores; divination on +Midsummer Eve in the Azores; the Midsummer fires in Corsica and +Sardinia.]</p> +<p>All over Spain great bonfires called <i>lumes</i> are still lit +on Midsummer Eve. They are kept up all night, and the children leap +over them in a certain rhythmical way which is said to resemble the +ancient dances. On the coast, people at this season plunge into the +sea; in the inland districts the villagers go and roll naked in the +dew of the meadows, which is supposed to be a sovereign +preservative against diseases of the skin. On this evening, too, +girls who would pry into the future put a vessel of water on the +sill outside their window; and when the clocks strike twelve, they +break an egg in the water and see, or fancy they see, in the shapes +assumed by the pulp, as it blends with the liquid, the likeness of +future bridegrooms, castles, coffins, and so forth. But generally, +as might perhaps have been anticipated, the obliging egg exhibits +the features of a bridegroom.<a id="footnotetag533" name= +"footnotetag533"></a><a href="#footnote533"><sup>533</sup></a> In +the Azores, also, bonfires are lit on Midsummer Eve (St. John's +Eve), and boys jump over them for luck. On that night St. John +himself is supposed to appear in person and bless all the seas and +waters, driving out the devils and demons who had been disporting +themselves in them ever since the second day of November; that is +why in the interval between the second of November and the +twenty-third of June nobody will bathe in the sea or in a hot +spring. On Midsummer Eve, too, you can always see the devil, if you +will go into a garden at midnight. He is invariably found standing +near a mustard-plant. His reason for adopting this posture has not +been ascertained; perhaps in the chilly air of the upper world he +is attracted by the genial warmth of the mustard. Various forms of +divination are practised by people in the Azores on Midsummer Eve. +Thus a new-laid egg is broken <span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" +name="page209"></a>[pg 209]</span> into a glass of water, and the +shapes which it assumes foreshadow the fate of the person +concerned. Again, seven saucers are placed in a row, filled +respectively with water, earth, ashes, keys, a thimble, money, and +grass, which things signify travel, death, widowhood, housekeeping, +spinsterhood, riches, and farming. A blindfolded person touches one +or other of the saucers with a wand and so discovers his or her +fate. Again, three broad beans are taken; one is left in its skin, +one is half peeled, and the third is peeled outright. The three +denote respectively riches, competence, and poverty. They are +hidden and searched for; and he who finds one of them knows +accordingly whether he will be rich, moderately well-off, or poor. +Again, girls take slips of paper and write the names of young men +twice over on them. These they fold up and crumple and place one +set under their pillows and the other set in a saucer full of +water. In the morning they draw one slip of paper from under their +pillow, and see whether one in the water has opened out. If the +names on the two slips are the same, it is the name of her future +husband. Young men do the same with girls' names. Once more, if a +girl rises at sunrise, goes out into the street, and asks the first +passer-by his Christian name, that will be her husband's +name.<a id="footnotetag534" name="footnotetag534"></a><a href= +"#footnote534"><sup>534</sup></a> Some of these modes of divination +resemble those which are or used to be practised in Scotland at +Hallowe'en.<a id="footnotetag535" name= +"footnotetag535"></a><a href="#footnote535"><sup>535</sup></a> In +Corsica on the Eve of St. John the people set fire to the trunk of +a tree or to a whole tree, and the young men and maidens dance +round the blaze, which is called <i>fucaraia</i>.<a id= +"footnotetag536" name="footnotetag536"></a><a href= +"#footnote536"><sup>536</sup></a> We have seen that at Ozieri, in +Sardinia, a great bonfire is kindled on St. John's Eve, and that +the young people dance round it.<a id="footnotetag537" name= +"footnotetag537"></a><a href="#footnote537"><sup>537</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerabruzzi" name="summerabruzzi"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in the Abruzzi; bathing on Midsummer Eve in +the Abruzzi; the Midsummer fires in Sicily; the witches at +Midsummer.]</p> +<p>Passing to Italy, we find that the midsummer fires are still +lighted on St. John's Eve in many parts of the Abruzzi. They are +commonest in the territory which was inhabited in antiquity by the +Vestini; they are rarer in the land of the ancient Marsi, and they +disappear entirely in the lower valley <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page210" name="page210"></a>[pg 210]</span> of the Sangro. For the +most part, the fires are fed with straw and dry grass, and are +kindled in the fields near the villages or on high ground. As they +blaze up, the people dance round or over them. In leaping across +the flames the boys cry out, "St. John, preserve my thighs and +legs!" Formerly it used to be common to light the bonfires also in +the towns in front of churches of St. John, and the remains of the +sacred fire were carried home by the people; but this custom has +mostly fallen into disuse. However, at Celano the practice is still +kept up of taking brands and ashes from the bonfires to the houses, +although the fires are no longer kindled in front of the churches, +but merely in the streets.<a id="footnotetag538" name= +"footnotetag538"></a><a href="#footnote538"><sup>538</sup></a> In +the Abruzzi water also is supposed to acquire certain marvellous +and beneficent properties on St. John's Night. Hence many people +bathe or at least wash their faces and hands in the sea or a river +at that season, especially at the moment of sunrise. Such a bath is +said to be an excellent cure for diseases of the skin. At +Castiglione a Casauria the people, after washing in the river or in +springs, gird their waists and wreath their brows with sprigs of +briony in order to keep them from aches and pains.<a id= +"footnotetag539" name="footnotetag539"></a><a href= +"#footnote539"><sup>539</sup></a> In various parts of Sicily, also, +fires are kindled on Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve), the +twenty-third of June. On the Madonie mountains, in the north of the +island, the herdsmen kindle them at intervals, so that the crests +of the mountains are seen ablaze in the darkness for many miles. +About Acireale, on the east coast of the island, the bonfires are +lit by boys, who jump over them. At Chiaromonte the witches that +night acquire extraordinary powers; hence everybody then puts a +broom outside of his house, because a broom is an excellent +protective against witchcraft.<a id="footnotetag540" name= +"footnotetag540"></a><a href="#footnote540"><sup>540</sup></a> At +Orvieto the midsummer fires were specially excepted from the +prohibition directed against bonfires in general.<a id= +"footnotetag541" name="footnotetag541"></a><a href= +"#footnote541"><sup>541</sup></a></p> +<a id="summermalta" name="summermalta"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Malta ]</p> +<p>In Malta also the people celebrate Midsummer Eve <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>[pg 211]</span> (St. +John's Eve) "by kindling great fires in the public streets, and +giving their children dolls to carry in their arms on this day, in +order to make good the prophecy respecting the Baptist, <i>Multi in +nativitate ejus gaudebunt</i>. Days and even weeks before this +festival, groups of children are seen going out into the country +fields to gather straw, twigs, and all sorts of other combustibles, +which they store up for St. John's Eve. On the night of the +twenty-third of June, the day before the festival of the Saint, +great fires are kindled in the streets, squares, and market places +of the towns and villages of the Island, and as fire after fire +blazes out of the darkness of that summer night, the effect is +singularly striking. These fires are sometimes kept up for hours, +being continually fed by the scores of bystanders, who take great +delight in throwing amidst the flames some old rickety piece of +furniture which they consider as lumber in their houses. Lots of +happy and reckless children, and very often men, are seen merrily +leaping in succession over and through the crackling flames. At the +time of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Grand Master +himself, soon after the <i>Angelus</i>, used to leave his palace, +accompanied by the Grand Prior, the Bishop, and two bailiffs, to +set fire to some pitch barrels which were placed for the occasion +in the square facing the sacred Hospital. Great crowds used to +assemble here in order to assist at this ceremony. The setting +ablaze of the five casks, and later on of the eight casks, by the +Grand Master, was a signal for the others to kindle their fires in +the different parts of the town."<a id="footnotetag542" name= +"footnotetag542"></a><a href="#footnote542"><sup>542</sup></a></p> +<a id="summergreece" name="summergreece"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in Greece; the Midsummer fires in Macedonia +and Albania.]</p> +<p>In Greece, the custom of kindling fires on St. John's Eve and +jumping over them is said to be still universal. One reason +assigned for it is a wish to escape from the fleas.<a id= +"footnotetag543" name="footnotetag543"></a><a href= +"#footnote543"><sup>543</sup></a> According to another account, the +women cry out, as they leap over the fire, "I leave my sins behind +me."<a id="footnotetag544" name="footnotetag544"></a><a href= +"#footnote544"><sup>544</sup></a> In Lesbos the fires on St. John's +Eve are usually lighted by threes, and <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page212" name="page212"></a>[pg 212]</span> the people spring +thrice over them, each with a stone on his head, saying, "I jump +the hare's fire, my head a stone!" On the morning of St. John's Day +those who dwell near the coast go to bathe in the sea. As they go +they gird themselves with osiers, and when they are in the water +they let the osiers float away, saying, "Let my maladies go away!" +Then they look for what is called "the hairy stone," which +possesses the remarkable property not only of keeping moths from +clothes but even of multiplying the clothes in the chest where it +is laid up, and the more hairs on the stone the more will the +clothes multiply in the chest.<a id="footnotetag545" name= +"footnotetag545"></a><a href="#footnote545"><sup>545</sup></a> In +Calymnos the midsummer fire is supposed to ensure abundance in the +coming year as well as deliverance from fleas. The people dance +round the fires singing, with stones on their heads, and then jump +over the blaze or the glowing embers. When the fire is burning low, +they throw the stones into it; and when it is nearly out, they make +crosses on their legs and then go straightway and bathe in the +sea.<a id="footnotetag546" name="footnotetag546"></a><a href= +"#footnote546"><sup>546</sup></a> In Cos the lads and lasses dance +round the bonfires on St. John's Eve. Each of the lads binds a +black stone on his head, signifying that he wishes to become as +strong as the stone. Also they make the sign of the cross on their +feet and legs and jump over the fire.<a id="footnotetag547" name= +"footnotetag547"></a><a href="#footnote547"><sup>547</sup></a> On +Midsummer Eve the Greeks of Macedonia light fires after supper in +front of their gates. The garlands, now faded, which were hung over +the doors on May Day, are taken down and cast into the flames, +after which the young folk leap over the blaze, fully persuaded +that St. John's fire will not burn them.<a id="footnotetag548" +name="footnotetag548"></a><a href="#footnote548"><sup>548</sup></a> +In Albania fires of dry herbage are, or used to be, lit everywhere +on St. John's Eve; young and old leap over them, for such a leap is +thought to be good for the health.<a id="footnotetag549" name= +"footnotetag549"></a><a href="#footnote549"><sup>549</sup></a></p> +<a id="summeramerica" name="summeramerica"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires in America.]</p> +<p>From the Old World the midsummer fires have been <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>[pg 213]</span> +carried across the Atlantic to America. In Brazil people jump over +the fires of St. John, and at this season they can take hot coals +in their mouths without burning themselves.<a id="footnotetag550" +name="footnotetag550"></a><a href="#footnote550"><sup>550</sup></a> +In Bolivia on the Eve of St. John it is usual to see bonfires +lighted on the hills and even in the streets of the capital La Paz. +As the city stands at the bottom of an immense ravine, and the +Indians of the neighbourhood take a pride in kindling bonfires on +heights which might seem inaccessible, the scene is very striking +when the darkness of night is suddenly and simultaneously lit up by +hundreds of fires, which cast a glare on surrounding objects, +producing an effect at once weird and picturesque.<a id= +"footnotetag551" name="footnotetag551"></a><a href= +"#footnote551"><sup>551</sup></a></p> +<a id="summermorocco" name="summermorocco"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer fires among the Mohammedans of Morocco and +Algeria.]</p> +<p>The custom of kindling bonfires on Midsummer Day or on Midsummer +Eve is widely spread among the Mohammedan peoples of North Africa, +particularly in Morocco and Algeria; it is common both to the +Berbers and to many of the Arabs or Arabic-speaking tribes. In +these countries Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June, Old +Style) is called [Arabic: <i>l'ansara</i>]. The fires are lit in +the courtyards, at cross-roads, in the fields, and sometimes on the +threshing-floors. Plants which in burning give out a thick smoke +and an aromatic smell are much sought after for fuel on these +occasions; among the plants used for the purpose are giant-fennel, +thyme, rue, chervil-seed, camomile, geranium, and penny-royal. +People expose themselves, and especially their children, to the +smoke, and drive it towards the orchards and the crops. Also they +leap across the fires; in some places everybody ought to repeat the +leap seven times. Moreover they take burning brands from the fires +and carry them through the houses in order to fumigate them. They +pass things through the fire, and bring the sick into contact with +it, while they utter prayers for their recovery. The ashes of the +bonfires are also reputed to possess beneficial properties; hence +in some places people rub their hair or their bodies with +them.<a id="footnotetag552" name="footnotetag552"></a><a href= +"#footnote552"><sup>552</sup></a> For example, the Andjra +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>[pg +214]</span> mountaineers of Morocco kindle large fires in open +places of their villages on Midsummer Day. Men, women, and children +jump over the flames or the glowing embers, believing that by so +doing they rid themselves of all misfortune which may be clinging +to them; they imagine, also, that such leaps cure the sick and +procure offspring for childless couples. Moreover, they burn straw, +together with some marjoram and alum, in the fold where the cattle, +sheep, and goats are penned for the night; the smoke, in their +opinion, will make the animals thrive. On Midsummer Day the Arabs +of the Mnasara tribe make fires outside their tents, near their +animals, on their fields, and in their gardens. Large quantities of +penny-royal are burned in these fires, and over some of them the +people leap thrice to and fro. Sometimes small fires are also +kindled inside the tents. They say that the smoke confers blessings +on everything with which it comes into contact. At Salee, on the +Atlantic coast of Morocco, persons who suffer from diseased eyes +rub them with the ashes of the midsummer fire; and in Casablanca +and Azemmur the people hold their faces over the fire, because the +smoke is thought to be good for the eyes. The Arab tribe Ulad Bu +Aziz, in the Dukkala province of Morocco, kindle midsummer +bonfires, not for themselves and their cattle, but only for crops +and fruit; nobody likes to reap his crops before Midsummer Day, +because if he did they would lose the benefit of the blessed +influence which flows from the smoke of the bonfires. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>[pg 215]</span> Again, +the Beni Mgild, a Berber tribe of Morocco, light fires of straw on +Midsummer Eve and leap thrice over them to and fro. They let some +of the smoke pass underneath their clothes, and married women hold +their breasts over the fire, in order that their children may be +strong. Moreover, they paint their eyes and lips with some black +powder, in which ashes of the bonfire are mixed. And in order that +their horses may also benefit by the fires, they dip the right +forelegs of the animals in the smoke and flames or in the hot +embers, and they rub ashes on the foreheads and between the +nostrils of the horses. Berbers of the Rif province, in northern +Morocco, similarly make great use of fires at midsummer for the +good of themselves, their cattle, and their fruit-trees. They jump +over the bonfires in the belief that this will preserve them in +good health, and they light fires under fruit-trees to keep the +fruit from falling untimely. And they imagine that by rubbing a +paste of the ashes on their hair they prevent the hair from falling +off their heads.<a id="footnotetag553" name= +"footnotetag553"></a><a href="#footnote553"><sup>553</sup></a></p> +<p>[Beneficial effect ascribed to the smoke of the fires; ill luck +supposed to be burnt in the Midsummer fires; the Midsummer festival +in North Africa comprises rites concerned with water as well as +with fire; the Midsummer festival in North Africa is probably older +than Mohammedanism.]</p> +<p>In all these Moroccan customs, we are told, the beneficial +effect is attributed wholly to the smoke, which is supposed to be +endued with a magical quality that removes misfortune from men, +animals, fruit-trees, and crops. But in some parts of Morocco +people at midsummer kindle fires of a different sort, not for the +sake of fumigation, but in order to burn up misfortune in the +flames. Thus on Midsummer Eve the Berber tribe of the Beni Mgild +burn three sheaves of unthreshed wheat or barley, "one for the +children, one for the crops, and one for the animals." On the same +occasion they burn the tent of a widow who has never given birth to +a child; by so doing they think to rid the village of ill luck. It +is said that at midsummer the Zemmur burn a tent, which belongs to +somebody who was killed in war during a feast; or if there is no +such person in the village, the schoolmaster's tent is burned +instead. Among the Arabic-speaking Beni Ahsen it is customary for +those who live near the river Sbu to make a little hut of straw at +midsummer, set it on fire, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" +name="page216"></a>[pg 216]</span> and let it float down the river. +Similarly the inhabitants of Salee burn a straw hut on the river +which flows past their town.<a id="footnotetag554" name= +"footnotetag554"></a><a href="#footnote554"><sup>554</sup></a></p> +<p>Further it deserves to be noticed that in Northern Africa, as in +Southern Europe, the midsummer festival comprises rites concerned +with water as well as with fire. For example, among the Beni-Snous +the women light a fire in an oven, throw perfumes into it, and +circumambulate a tank, which they also incense after a fashion. In +many places on the coast, as in the province of Oran and +particularly in the north of Morocco, everybody goes and bathes in +the sea at midsummer; and in many towns of the interior, such as +Fez, Mequinez, and especially Merrakech, people throw water over +each other on this day; and where water is scarce, earth is used +instead, according to the Mohammedan principle which permits +ablutions to be performed with earth or sand when water cannot be +spared for the purpose.<a id="footnotetag555" name= +"footnotetag555"></a><a href="#footnote555"><sup>555</sup></a> +People of the Andjra district in Morocco not only bathe themselves +in the sea or in rivers at midsummer, they also bathe their +animals, their horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, sheep, and goats; +for they think that on that day water possesses a blessed virtue +(<i>baraka</i>), which removes sickness and misfortune. In Aglu, +again, men, women, and children bathe in the sea or springs or +rivers at midsummer, alleging that by so doing they protect +themselves against disease for the whole year. Among the Berbers of +the Rif district the custom of bathing on this day is commonly +observed, and animals share the ablutions.<a id="footnotetag556" +name="footnotetag556"></a><a href= +"#footnote556"><sup>556</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerwater" name="summerwater"></a> +<p>[Some Mohammedans of North Africa kindle fires and observe water +ceremonies at their movable New Year; water ceremonies at New Year +in Morocco; the rites of fire and water at Midsummer and New Year +in Morocco seem to be identical in character; the duplication of +the festival is probably due to a conflict between the solar +calendar of the Romans and the lunar calendar of the Arabs.]</p> +<p>The celebration of a midsummer festival by Mohammedan peoples is +particularly remarkable, because the Mohammedan calendar, being +purely lunar and uncorrected by intercalation, necessarily takes no +note of festivals which occupy fixed points in the solar year; all +strictly Mohammedan feasts, being pinned to the moon, slide +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>[pg +217]</span> gradually with that luminary through the whole period +of the earth's revolution about the sun. This fact of itself seems +to prove that among the Mohammedan peoples of Northern Africa, as +among the Christian peoples of Europe, the midsummer festival is +quite independent of the religion which the people publicly +profess, and is a relic of a far older paganism. There are, indeed, +independent grounds for thinking that the Arabs enjoyed the +advantage of a comparatively well-regulated solar year before the +prophet of God saddled them with the absurdity and inconvenience of +a purely lunar calendar.<a id="footnotetag557" name= +"footnotetag557"></a><a href="#footnote557"><sup>557</sup></a> Be +that as it may, it is notable that some Mohammedan people of North +Africa kindle fires and bathe in water at the movable New Year of +their lunar calendar instead of at the fixed Midsummer of the solar +year; while others again practise these observances at both +seasons. New Year's Day, on which the rites are celebrated, is +called <i>Ashur</i>; it is the tenth day of Moharram, the first +month of the Mohammedan calendar. On that day bonfires are kindled +in Tunis and also at Merrakech and among some tribes of the +neighbourhood.<a id="footnotetag558" name= +"footnotetag558"></a><a href="#footnote558"><sup>558</sup></a> At +Demnat, in the Great Atlas mountains, people kindle a large bonfire +on New Year's Eve and leap to and fro over the flames, uttering +words which imply that by these leaps they think to purify +themselves from all kinds of evil. At Aglu, in the province of Sus, +the fire is lighted at three different points by an unmarried girl, +and when it has died down the young men leap over the glowing +embers, saying, "We shook on you, O Lady Ashur, fleas, and lice, +and the illnesses of the heart, as also those of the bones; we +shall pass through you again next year and the following years with +safety and health." Both at Aglu and Glawi, in the Great Atlas, +smaller fires are also kindled, over which the animals <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>[pg 218]</span> are +driven. At Demnat girls who wish to marry wash themselves in water +which has been boiled over the New Year fire; and in Dukkala people +use the ashes of that fire to rub sore eyes with. New Year fires +appear to be commonly kindled among the Berbers who inhabit the +western portion of the Great Atlas, and also among the +Arabic-speaking tribes of the plains; but Dr. Westermarck found no +traces of such fires among the Arabic-speaking mountaineers of +Northern Morocco and the Berbers of the Rif province. Further, it +should be observed that water ceremonies like those which are +practised at Midsummer are very commonly observed in Morocco at the +New Year, that is, on the tenth day of the first month. On the +morning of that day (<i>Ashur</i>) all water or, according to some +people, only spring water is endowed with a magical virtue +(<i>baraka</i>), especially before sunrise. Hence at that time the +people bathe and pour water over each other; in some places they +also sprinkle their animals, tents, or rooms. In Dukkala some of +the New Year water is preserved at home till New Year's Day +(<i>Ashur</i>) of next year; some of it is kept to be used as +medicine, some of it is poured on the place where the corn is +threshed, and some is used to water the money which is to be buried +in the ground; for the people think that the earth-spirits will not +be able to steal the buried treasures which have thus been +sanctified with the holy water.<a id="footnotetag559" name= +"footnotetag559"></a><a href="#footnote559"><sup>559</sup></a></p> +<a id="summerberber" name="summerberber"></a> +<p>[The Midsummer festival in Morocco seems to be of Berber +origin.]</p> +<p>Thus the rites of fire and water which are observed in Morocco +at Midsummer and New Year appear to be identical in character and +intention, and it seems certain that the duplication of the rites +is due to a conflict between two calendars, namely the old Julian +calendar of the Romans, which was based on the sun, and the newer +Mohammedan calendar of the Arabs, which is based on the moon. For +not only was the Julian calendar in use throughout the whole of +Northern Africa under the Roman Empire; to this day it is +everywhere employed among Mohammedans for the regulation of +agriculture and all the affairs of daily life; its practical +convenience has made it indispensable, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page219" name="page219"></a>[pg 219]</span> and the lunar calendar +of orthodox Mohammedanism is scarcely used except for purposes of +chronology. Even the old Latin names of the months are known and +employed, in slightly disguised forms, throughout the whole Moslem +world; and little calendars of the Julian year circulate in +manuscript among Mohammedans, permitting them to combine the +practical advantages of pagan science with a nominal adherence to +orthodox absurdity.<a id="footnotetag560" name= +"footnotetag560"></a><a href="#footnote560"><sup>560</sup></a> Thus +the heathen origin of the midsummer festival is too palpable to +escape the attention of good Mohammedans, who accordingly frown +upon the midsummer bonfires as pagan superstitions, precisely as +similar observances in Europe have often been denounced by orthodox +Christianity. Indeed, many religious people in Morocco entirely +disapprove of the whole of the midsummer ceremonies, maintaining +that they are all bad; and a conscientious schoolmaster will even +refuse his pupils a holiday at midsummer, though the boys sometimes +offer him a bribe if he will sacrifice his scruples to his +avarice.<a id="footnotetag561" name="footnotetag561"></a><a href= +"#footnote561"><sup>561</sup></a> As the midsummer customs appear +to flourish among all the Berbers of Morocco but to be unknown +among the pure Arabs who have not been affected by Berber +influence, it seems reasonable to infer with Dr. Westermarck that +the midsummer festival has belonged from time immemorial to the +Berber race, and that so far as it is now observed by the Arabs of +Morocco, it has been learned by them from the Berbers, the old +indigenous inhabitants of the country. Dr. Westermarck may also be +right in holding that, in spite of the close similarity which +obtains between the midsummer festival of Europe and the midsummer +festival of North Africa, the latter is not a copy of the former, +but that both have been handed down independently from a time +beyond the purview of history, when such ceremonies were common to +the Mediterranean race.<a id="footnotetag562" name= +"footnotetag562"></a><a href="#footnote562"><sup>562</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page220" name="page220"></a>[pg +220]</span> +<h4><a id="sect4-5" name="sect4-5">§ 5. <i>The Autumn +Fires</i></a></h4> +<a id="autumnaugust" name="autumnaugust"></a> +<p>[Festivals of fire in August; Russian feast of Florus and Laurus +on August 18th; "Living fire" made by the friction of wood.]</p> +<p>In the months which elapse between midsummer and the setting in +of winter the European festivals of fire appear to be few and +unimportant. On the evening of the first day of August, which is +the Festival of the Cross, bonfires are commonly lit in Macedonia +and boys jump over them, shouting, "Dig up! bury!" but whom or what +they wish to dig up or bury they do not know.<a id="footnotetag563" +name="footnotetag563"></a><a href="#footnote563"><sup>563</sup></a> +The Russians hold the feast of two martyrs, Florus and Laurus, on +the eighteenth day of August, Old Style. "On this day the Russians +lead their horses round the church of their village, beside which +on the foregoing evening they dig a hole with two mouths. Each +horse has a bridle made of the bark of the linden-tree. The horses +go through this hole one after the other, opposite to one of the +mouths of which the priest stands with a sprinkler in his hand, +with which he sprinkles them. As soon as the horses have passed by +their bridles are taken off, and they are made to go between two +fires that they kindle, called by the Russians <i>Givoy Agon</i>, +that is to say, living fires, of which I shall give an account. I +shall before remark, that the Russian peasantry throw the bridles +of their horses into one of these fires to be consumed. This is the +manner of their lighting these <i>givoy agon</i>, or living fires. +Some men hold the ends of a stick made of the plane-tree, very dry, +and about a fathom long. This stick they hold firmly over one of +birch, perfectly dry, and rub with violence and quickly against the +former; the birch, which is somewhat softer than the plane, in a +short time inflames, and serves them to light both the fires I have +described."<a id="footnotetag564" name= +"footnotetag564"></a><a href="#footnote564"><sup>564</sup></a></p> +<a id="autumnnativity" name="autumnnativity"></a> +<p>[Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth of September +at Capri and Naples.]</p> +<p>The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth day of +September is celebrated at Naples and Capri with fireworks, +bonfires, and assassinations. On this subject my <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>[pg 221]</span> friend +Professor A. E. Housman, who witnessed the celebration in different +years at both places, has kindly furnished me with the following +particulars: "In 1906 I was in the island of Capri on September the +eighth, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin. The anniversary +was duly solemnised by fire-works at nine or ten in the evening, +which I suppose were municipal; but just after sundown the boys +outside the villages were making small fires of brushwood on waste +bits of ground by the wayside. Very pretty it looked, with the +flames blowing about in the twilight; but what took my attention +was the listlessness of the boys and their lack of interest in the +proceeding. A single lad, the youngest, would be raking the fire +together and keeping it alight, but the rest stood lounging about +and looking in every other direction, with the air of discharging +mechanically a traditional office from which all zest had +evaporated." "The pious orgy at Naples on September the eighth went +through the following phases when I witnessed it in 1897. It began +at eight in the evening with an illumination of the façade +of Santa Maria Piedigrotta and with the whole population walking +about blowing penny trumpets. After four hours of this I went to +bed at midnight, and was lulled to sleep by barrel-organs, which +supersede the trumpets about that hour. At four in the morning I +was waked by detonations as if the British fleet were bombarding +the city, caused, I was afterwards told, by dynamite rockets. The +only step possible beyond this is assassination, which accordingly +takes place about peep of day: I forget now the number of the +slain, but I think the average is eight or ten, and I know that in +honour of my presence they murdered a few more than usual."</p> +<p>[The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin may have replaced a +pagan festival; the coincidence of the Midsummer festival with the +summer solstice implies that the founders of the festival regulated +their calendar by observation of the sun.]</p> +<p>It is no doubt possible that these illuminations and fireworks, +like the assassinations, are merely the natural and spontaneous +expressions of that overflowing joy with which the thought of the +birth of the Virgin must fill every pious heart; but when we +remember how often the Church has skilfully decanted the new wine +of Christianity into the old bottles of heathendom, we may be +allowed to conjecture that the ecclesiastical authorities adroitly +timed the Nativity of the Virgin so as to coincide with an old +pagan festival <span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name= +"page222"></a>[pg 222]</span> of that day, in which fire, noise, +and uproar, if not broken heads and bloodshed, were conspicuous +features. The penny trumpets blown on this occasion recall the like +melodious instruments which figure so largely in the celebration of +Befana (the Eve of Epiphany) at Rome.<a id="footnotetag565" name= +"footnotetag565"></a><a href="#footnote565"><sup>565</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect4-6" name="sect4-6">§ 6. <i>The Hallowe'en +Fires</i></a></h4> +<a id="halloweencelts" name="halloweencelts"></a> +<p>[On the other hand the Celts divided their year, not by the +solstices, but by the beginning of summer (the first of May) and +the beginning of winter (the first of November).]</p> +<p>From the foregoing survey we may infer that among the heathen +forefathers of the European peoples the most popular and widespread +fire-festival of the year was the great celebration of Midsummer +Eve or Midsummer Day. The coincidence of the festival with the +summer solstice can hardly be accidental. Rather we must suppose +that our pagan ancestors purposely timed the ceremony of fire on +earth to coincide with the arrival of the sun at the highest point +of his course in the sky. If that was so, it follows that the old +founders of the midsummer rites had observed the solstices or +turning-points of the sun's apparent path in the sky, and that they +accordingly regulated their festal calendar to some extent by +astronomical considerations.</p> +<p>[The division seems to have been neither astronomical nor +agricultural but pastoral, being determined by the times when +cattle are driven to and from their summer pasture.]</p> +<p>But while this may be regarded as fairly certain for what we may +call the aborigines throughout a large part of the continent, it +appears not to have been true of the Celtic peoples who inhabited +the Land's End of Europe, the islands and promontories that stretch +out into the Atlantic ocean on the North-West. The principal +fire-festivals of the Celts, which have survived, though in a +restricted area and with diminished pomp, to modern times and even +to our own day, were seemingly timed without any reference to the +position of the sun in the heaven. They were two in number, and +fell at an interval of six months, one being celebrated on the eve +of May Day and the other on Allhallow Even or Hallowe'en, as it is +now commonly called, that is, on the thirty-first of October, the +day preceding All Saints' or Allhallows' Day. These dates coincide +with none of the four great hinges on which the solar year +revolves, to wit, the solstices and the equinoxes. Nor do they +agree with the principal seasons of the agricultural <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>[pg 223]</span> year, +the sowing in spring and the reaping in autumn. For when May Day +comes, the seed has long been committed to the earth; and when +November opens, the harvest has long been reaped and garnered, the +fields lie bare, the fruit-trees are stripped, and even the yellow +leaves are fast fluttering to the ground. Yet the first of May and +the first of November mark turning-points of the year in Europe; +the one ushers in the genial heat and the rich vegetation of +summer, the other heralds, if it does not share, the cold and +barrenness of winter. Now these particular points of the year, as +has been well pointed out by a learned and ingenious writer,<a id= +"footnotetag566" name="footnotetag566"></a><a href= +"#footnote566"><sup>566</sup></a> while they are of comparatively +little moment to the European husbandman, do deeply concern the +European herdsman; for it is on the approach of summer that he +drives his cattle out into the open to crop the fresh grass, and it +is on the approach of winter that he leads them back to the safety +and shelter of the stall. Accordingly it seems not improbable that +the Celtic bisection of the year into two halves at the beginning +of May and the beginning of November dates from a time when the +Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent for their +subsistence on their herds, and when accordingly the great epochs +of the year for them were the days on which the cattle went forth +from the homestead in early summer and returned to it again in +early winter.<a id="footnotetag567" name= +"footnotetag567"></a><a href="#footnote567"><sup>567</sup></a> Even +in Central Europe, remote from the region now occupied by the +Celts, a similar bisection of the year may be clearly traced in the +great popularity, on the one hand, of May Day and its Eve +(Walpurgis Night), and, on the other hand, of the Feast of All +Souls at the beginning of November, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page224" name="page224"></a>[pg 224]</span> which under a thin +Christian cloak conceals an ancient pagan festival of the +dead.<a id="footnotetag568" name="footnotetag568"></a><a href= +"#footnote568"><sup>568</sup></a> Hence we may conjecture that +everywhere throughout Europe the celestial division of the year +according to the solstices was preceded by what we may call a +terrestrial division of the year according to the beginning of +summer and the beginning of winter.</p> +<a id="halloweenbeltane" name="halloweenbeltane"></a> +<p>[The two great Celtic festivals, Beltane and Hallowe'en.]</p> +<p>Be that as it may, the two great Celtic festivals of May Day and +the first of November or, to be more accurate, the Eves of these +two days, closely resemble each other in the manner of their +celebration and in the superstitions associated with them, and +alike, by the antique character impressed upon both, betray a +remote and purely pagan origin. The festival of May Day or Beltane, +as the Celts called it, which ushered in summer, has already been +described;<a id="footnotetag569" name="footnotetag569"></a><a href= +"#footnote569"><sup>569</sup></a> it remains to give some account +of the corresponding festival of Hallowe'en, which announced the +arrival of winter.</p> +<a id="halloweenbeginning" name="halloweenbeginning"></a> +<p>[Hallowe'en (the evening of October 31st) seems to have marked +the beginning of the Celtic year; the many forms of divination +resorted to at Hallowe'en are appropriate to the beginning of a New +Year; Hallowe'en also a festival of the dead.]</p> +<p>Of the two feasts Hallowe'en was perhaps of old the more +important, since the Celts would seem to have dated the beginning +of the year from it rather than from Beltane. In the Isle of Man, +one of the fortresses in which the Celtic language and lore longest +held out against the siege of the Saxon invaders, the first of +November, Old Style, has been regarded as New Year's day down to +recent times. Thus Manx mummers used to go round on Hallowe'en (Old +Style), singing, in the Manx language, a sort of Hogmanay song +which began "To-night is New Year's Night, <i>Hog-unnaa</i>!"<a id= +"footnotetag570" name="footnotetag570"></a><a href= +"#footnote570"><sup>570</sup></a> One of Sir John Rhys's Manx +informants, an old man of sixty-seven, "had been a farm servant +from the age of sixteen till he was twenty-six to the same man, +near Regaby, in the parish of Andreas, and he remembers his master +and a near neighbour of his discussing the term New Year's Day as +applied to the first of November, and explaining to the younger men +that it had always been so in old <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page225" name="page225"></a>[pg 225]</span> times. In fact, it +seemed to him natural enough, as all tenure of land ends at that +time, and as all servant men begin their service then."<a id= +"footnotetag571" name="footnotetag571"></a><a href= +"#footnote571"><sup>571</sup></a> In ancient Ireland, as we saw, a +new fire used to be kindled every year on Hallowe'en or the Eve of +Samhain, and from this sacred flame all the fires in Ireland were +rekindled.<a id="footnotetag572" name="footnotetag572"></a><a href= +"#footnote572"><sup>572</sup></a> Such a custom points strongly to +Samhain or All Saints' Day (the first of November) as New Year's +Day; since the annual kindling of a new fire takes place most +naturally at the beginning of the year, in order that the blessed +influence of the fresh fire may last throughout the whole period of +twelve months. Another confirmation of the view that the Celts +dated their year from the first of November is furnished by the +manifold modes of divination which, as we shall see presently, were +commonly resorted to by Celtic peoples on Hallowe'en for the +purpose of ascertaining their destiny, especially their fortune in +the coming year; for when could these devices for prying into the +future be more reasonably put in practice than at the beginning of +the year? As a season of omens and auguries Hallowe'en seems to +have far surpassed Beltane in the imagination of the Celts; from +which we may with some probability infer that they reckoned their +year from Hallowe'en rather than Beltane. Another circumstance of +great moment which points to the same conclusion is the association +of the dead with Hallowe'en. Not only among the Celts but +throughout Europe, Hallowe'en, the night which marks the transition +from autumn to winter, seems to have been of old the time of year +when the souls of the departed were supposed to revisit their old +homes in order to warm themselves by the fire and to comfort +themselves with the good cheer provided for them in the kitchen or +the parlour by their affectionate kinsfolk.<a id="footnotetag573" +name="footnotetag573"></a><a href="#footnote573"><sup>573</sup></a> +It was, perhaps, a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" name= +"page226"></a>[pg 226]</span> natural thought that the approach of +winter should drive the poor shivering hungry ghosts from the bare +fields and the leafless woodlands to the shelter of the cottage +with its familiar fireside.<a id="footnotetag574" name= +"footnotetag574"></a><a href="#footnote574"><sup>574</sup></a> Did +not the lowing kine then troop back from the summer pastures in the +forests and on the hills to be fed and cared for in the stalls, +while the bleak winds whistled among the swaying boughs and the +snow drifts deepened in the hollows? and could the good-man and the +good-wife deny to the spirits of their dead the welcome which they +gave to the cows?</p> +<a id="halloweenfairies" name="halloweenfairies"></a> +<p>[Fairies and Hobgoblins let loose at Hallowe'en.]</p> +<p>But it is not only the souls of the departed who are supposed to +be hovering unseen on the day "when autumn to winter resigns the +pale year." Witches then speed on their errands of mischief, some +sweeping through the air on besoms, others galloping along the +roads on tabby-cats, which for that evening are turned into +coal-black steeds.<a id="footnotetag575" name= +"footnotetag575"></a><a href="#footnote575"><sup>575</sup></a> The +fairies, too, are all let loose, and hobgoblins of every sort roam +freely about In South Uist and Eriskay there is a +saying:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Hallowe'en will come, will come,</p> +<p>Witchcraft [or divination] will be set agoing,</p> +<p>Fairies will be at full speed,</p> +<p>Running in every pass.</p> +<p>Avoid the road, children, children."<a id="footnotetag576" name= +"footnotetag576"></a><a href="#footnote576"><sup>576</sup></a></p> +</div> +</div> +<p>[Dancing with the fairies at Hallowe'en.]</p> +<p>In Cardiganshire on November Eve a bogie sits on every +stile.<a id="footnotetag577" name="footnotetag577"></a><a href= +"#footnote577"><sup>577</sup></a> On that night in Ireland all the +fairy hills are thrown wide open and the fairies swarm forth; any +man who is bold enough may then peep into the open green hills and +see the treasures hidden in them. Worse than that, the cave of +Cruachan in Connaught, known as "the Hell-gate of Ireland," is +unbarred on Samhain Eve or Hallowe'en, and a host of horrible +fiends and goblins used to rush forth, particularly a flock of +copper-red birds, which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name= +"page227"></a>[pg 227]</span> blighted crops and killed animals by +their poisonous breath.<a id="footnotetag578" name= +"footnotetag578"></a><a href="#footnote578"><sup>578</sup></a> The +Scotch Highlanders have a special name <i>Samhanach</i> (derived +from <i>Samhain</i>, "All-hallows") for the dreadful bogies that go +about that night stealing babies and committing other +atrocities.<a id="footnotetag579" name= +"footnotetag579"></a><a href="#footnote579"><sup>579</sup></a> And +though the fairies are a kindlier folk, it is dangerous to see even +them at their revels on Hallowe'en. A melancholy case of this sort +is reported from the Ferintosh district of the Highlands, though +others say that it happened at the Slope of Big Stones in Harris. +Two young men were coming home after nightfall on Hallowe'en, each +with a jar of whisky on his back, when they saw, as they thought, a +house all lit up by the roadside, from which proceeded the sounds +of music and dancing. In reality it was not a house at all but a +fairy knoll, and it was the fairies who were jigging it about there +so merrily. But one of the young men was deceived and stepping into +the house joined in the dance, without even stopping to put down +the jar of whisky. His companion was wiser; he had a shrewd +suspicion that the place was not what it seemed, and on entering he +took the precaution of sticking a needle in the door. That disarmed +the power of the fairies, and he got away safely. Well, that day +twelve months he came back to the spot and what should he see but +his poor friend still dancing away with the jar of whisky on his +back? A weary man was he, as you may well believe, but he begged to +be allowed to finish the reel which he was in the act of executing, +and when they took him out into the open air, there was nothing of +him left but skin and bones.<a id="footnotetag580" name= +"footnotetag580"></a><a href="#footnote580"><sup>580</sup></a> +Again, the wicked fairies are apt to carry off men's wives with +them to fairyland; but the lost spouses can be recovered within a +year and a day when the procession of the fairies is defiling past +on Hallowe'en, always provided that the mortals did not partake of +elfin food while they were in elfinland.<a id="footnotetag581" +name="footnotetag581"></a><a href= +"#footnote581"><sup>581</sup></a></p> +<p>[Guleesh and the revels of the fairies at Hallowe'en.]</p> +<p>Sometimes valuable information may be obtained from the fairies +on Hallowe'en. There was a young man named <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>[pg 228]</span> +Guleesh in the County of Mayo. Near his house was a <i>rath</i> or +old fort with a fine grass bank running round it. One Hallowe'en, +when the darkness was falling, Guleesh went to the rath and stood +on a gray old flag. The night was calm and still; there was not a +breath of wind stirring, nor a sound to be heard except the hum of +the insects flitting past, or the whistle of the plovers, or the +hoarse scream of the wild geese as they winged their way far +overhead. Above the white fog the moon rose like a knob of fire in +the east, and a thousand thousand stars were twinkling in the sky. +There was a little frost in the air, the grass was white and crisp +and crackled under foot. Guleesh expected to see the fairies, but +they did not come. Hour after hour wore away, and he was just +bethinking him of going home to bed, when his ear caught a sound +far off coming towards him, and he knew what it was in a moment. +The sound grew louder and louder; at first it was like the beating +of waves on a stony shore, then it was like the roar of a +waterfall, at last it was like a mighty rushing wind in the tops of +the trees, then the storm burst upon the rath, and sure enough the +fairies were in it. The rout went by so suddenly that Guleesh lost +his breath; but he came to himself and listened. The fairies were +now gathered within the grassy bank of the rath, and a fine uproar +they made. But Guleesh listened with all his ears, and he heard one +fairy saying to another that a magic herb grew by Guleesh's own +door, and that Guleesh had nothing to do but pluck it and boil it +and give it to his sweetheart, the daughter of the King of France, +and she would be well, for just then she was lying very ill. +Guleesh took the hint, and everything went as the fairy had said. +And he married the daughter of the King of France; and they had +never a cark nor a care, a sickness nor a sorrow, a mishap nor a +misfortune to the day of their death.<a id="footnotetag582" name= +"footnotetag582"></a><a href="#footnote582"><sup>582</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweendivination" name="halloweendivination"></a> +<p>[Divination resorted to in Celtic countries at Hallowe'en.]</p> +<p>In all Celtic countries Hallowe'en seems to have been the great +season of the year for prying into the future; all kinds of +divination were put in practice that night. We read that Dathi, a +king of Ireland in the fifth century, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page229" name="page229"></a>[pg 229]</span> happening to be at the +Druids' Hill (<i>Cnoc-nan-druad</i>) in the county of Sligo one +Hallowe'en, ordered his druid to forecast for him the future from +that day till the next Hallowe'en should come round. The druid +passed the night on the top of the hill, and next morning made a +prediction to the king which came true.<a id="footnotetag583" name= +"footnotetag583"></a><a href="#footnote583"><sup>583</sup></a> In +Wales Hallowe'en was the weirdest of all the <i>Teir Nos +Ysbrydion</i>, or Three Spirit Nights, when the wind, "blowing over +the feet of the corpses," bore sighs to the houses of those who +were to die within the year. People thought that if on that night +they went out to a cross-road and listened to the wind, they would +learn all the most important things that would befall them during +the next twelve months.<a id="footnotetag584" name= +"footnotetag584"></a><a href="#footnote584"><sup>584</sup></a> In +Wales, too, not so long ago women used to congregate in the parish +churches on the night of Hallowe'en and read their fate from the +flame of the candle which each of them held in her hand; also they +heard the names or saw the coffins of the parishioners who would +die within the year, and many were the sad scenes to which these +gloomy visions gave rise.<a id="footnotetag585" name= +"footnotetag585"></a><a href="#footnote585"><sup>585</sup></a> And +in the Highlands of Scotland anybody who pleased could hear +proclaimed aloud the names of parishioners doomed to perish within +the next twelve months, if he would only take a three-legged stool +and go and sit on it at three cross-roads, while the church clock +was striking twelve at midnight on Hallowe'en. It was even in his +power to save the destined victims from their doom by taking with +him articles of wearing apparel and throwing them away, one by one, +as each name was called out by the mysterious voice.<a id= +"footnotetag586" name="footnotetag586"></a><a href= +"#footnote586"><sup>586</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweenscotland" name="halloweenscotland"></a> +<p>[Hallowe'en bonfires in the Highlands of Scotland; John Ramsay's +account of the Hallowe'en bonfires; divination from stones at the +fire; Hallowe'en fires in the parishes of Callander and +Logierait.]</p> +<p>But while a glamour of mystery and awe has always clung to +Hallowe'en in the minds of the Celtic peasantry, the popular +celebration of the festival has been, at least in modern times, by +no means of a prevailingly gloomy cast; on the contrary it has been +attended by picturesque features and <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page230" name="page230"></a>[pg 230]</span> merry pastimes, which +rendered it the gayest night of all the year. Amongst the things +which in the Highlands of Scotland contributed to invest the +festival with a romantic beauty were the bonfires which used to +blaze at frequent intervals on the heights. "On the last day of +autumn children gathered ferns, tar-barrels, the long thin stalks +called <i>gàinisg</i>, and everything suitable for a +bonfire. These were placed in a heap on some eminence near the +house, and in the evening set fire to. The fires were called +<i>Samhnagan</i>. There was one for each house, and it was an +object of ambition who should have the biggest. Whole districts +were brilliant with bonfires, and their glare across a Highland +loch, and from many eminences, formed an exceedingly picturesque +scene."<a id="footnotetag587" name="footnotetag587"></a><a href= +"#footnote587"><sup>587</sup></a> Like the Beltane fires on the +first of May, the Hallowe'en bonfires seem to have been kindled +most commonly in the Perthshire Highlands. Travelling in the parish +of Moulin, near Pitlochrie, in the year 1772, the Englishman Thomas +Pennant writes that "Hallow Eve is also kept sacred: as soon as it +is dark, a person sets fire to a bush of broom fastened round a +pole, and, attended with a crowd, runs about the village. He then +flings it down, heaps great quantity of combustible matters on it, +and makes a great bonfire. A whole tract is thus illuminated at the +same time, and makes a fine appearance."<a id="footnotetag588" +name="footnotetag588"></a><a href="#footnote588"><sup>588</sup></a> +The custom has been described more fully by a Scotchman of the +eighteenth century, John Ramsay of Ochtertyre. On the evening of +Hallowe'en "the young people of every hamlet assembled upon some +eminence near the houses. There they made a bonfire of ferns or +other fuel, cut the same day, which from the feast was called +<i>Samh-nag</i> or <i>Savnag</i>, a fire of rest and pleasure. +Around it was placed a circle of stones, one for each person of the +families to whom they belonged. And when it grew dark the bonfire +was kindled, at which a loud shout was set up. Then each person +taking a torch of ferns or sticks in his hand, ran round the fire +exulting; and sometimes <span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name= +"page231"></a>[pg 231]</span> they went into the adjacent fields, +where, if there was another company, they visited the bonfire, +taunting the others if inferior in any respect to themselves. After +the fire was burned out they returned home, where a feast was +prepared, and the remainder of the evening was spent in mirth and +diversions of various kinds. Next morning they repaired betimes to +the bonfire, where the situation of the stones was examined with +much attention. If any of them were misplaced, or if the print of a +foot could be discerned near any particular stone, it was imagined +that the person for whom it was set would not live out the year. Of +late years this is less attended to, but about the beginning of the +present century it was regarded as a sure prediction. The +Hallowe'en fire is still kept up in some parts of the Low country; +but on the western coast and in the Isles it is never kindled, +though the night is spent in merriment and entertainments."<a id= +"footnotetag589" name="footnotetag589"></a><a href= +"#footnote589"><sup>589</sup></a> In the Perthshire parish of +Callander, which includes the now famous pass of the Trossachs +opening out on the winding and wooded shores of the lovely Loch +Katrine, the Hallowe'en bonfires were still kindled down to near +the end of the eighteenth century. When the fire had died down, the +ashes were carefully collected in the form of a circle, and a stone +was put in, near the circumference, for every person of the several +families interested in the bonfire. Next morning, if any of these +stones was found to be displaced or injured, the people made sure +that the person represented by it was <i>fey</i> or devoted, and +that he could not live twelve months from that day.<a id= +"footnotetag590" name="footnotetag590"></a><a href= +"#footnote590"><sup>590</sup></a> In the parish of Logierait, which +covers the beautiful valley of the Tummel, one of the fairest +regions of all Scotland, the Hallowe'en fire was somewhat +different. Faggots of heath, broom, and the dressings of flax were +kindled and carried on poles by men, who ran with them round the +villages, attended by a crowd. As soon as one faggot was burnt out, +a fresh one was lighted and fastened to the pole. Numbers of these +blazing faggots were often carried about together, and when +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>[pg +232]</span> the night happened to be dark, they formed a splendid +illumination.<a id="footnotetag591" name= +"footnotetag591"></a><a href="#footnote591"><sup>591</sup></a></p> +<p>[Hallowe'en fires on Loch Tay; Hallowe'en fires at +Balquhidder.]</p> +<p>Nor did the Hallowe'en fires die out in Perthshire with the end +of the eighteenth century. Journeying from Dunkeld to Aberfeldy on +Hallowe'en in the first half of the nineteenth century, Sheriff +Barclay counted thirty fires blazing on the hill tops, and saw the +figures of the people dancing like phantoms round the flames.<a id= +"footnotetag592" name="footnotetag592"></a><a href= +"#footnote592"><sup>592</sup></a> Again, "in 1860, I was residing +near the head of Loch Tay during the season of the Hallowe'en +feast. For several days before Hallowe'en, boys and youths +collected wood and conveyed it to the most prominent places on the +hill sides in their neighbourhood. Some of the heaps were as large +as a corn-stack or hayrick. After dark on Hallowe'en, these heaps +were kindled, and for several hours both sides of Loch Tay were +illuminated as far as the eye could see. I was told by old men that +at the beginning of this century men as well as boys took part in +getting up the bonfires, and that, when the fire was ablaze, all +joined hands and danced round the fire, and made a great noise; but +that, as these gatherings generally ended in drunkenness and rough +and dangerous fun, the ministers set their faces against the +observance, and were seconded in their efforts by the more +intelligent and well-behaved in the community; and so the practice +was discontinued by adults and relegated to school boys."<a id= +"footnotetag593" name="footnotetag593"></a><a href= +"#footnote593"><sup>593</sup></a> At Balquhidder down to the latter +part of the nineteenth century each household kindled its bonfire +at Hallowe'en, but the custom was chiefly observed by children. The +fires were lighted on any high knoll near the house; there was no +dancing round them.<a id="footnotetag594" name= +"footnotetag594"></a><a href="#footnote594"><sup>594</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweenbuchan" name="halloweenbuchan"></a> +<p>[Hallowe'en fires in Buchan to burn the witches; processions +with torches at Hallowe'en in the Braemar Highlands.]</p> +<p>Hallowe'en fires were also lighted in some districts of the +north-east of Scotland, such as Buchan. Villagers and farmers alike +must have their fire. In the villages the boys went from house to +house and begged a peat from each householder, usually with the +words, "Ge's a peat t' burn <span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" +name="page233"></a>[pg 233]</span> the witches." In some villages +the lads collected the peats in a cart, some of them drawing it +along and the others receiving the peats and loading them on the +cart. Along with the peats they accumulated straw, furze, potato +haulm, everything that would burn quickly, and when they had got +enough they piled it all in a heap and set it on fire. Then each of +the youths, one after another, laid himself down on the ground as +near to the fire as he could without being scorched, and thus lying +allowed the smoke to roll over him. The others ran through the +smoke and jumped over their prostrate comrade. When the heap was +burned down, they scattered the ashes. Each one took a share in +this part of the ceremony, giving a kick first with the right foot +and then with the left; and each vied with the other who should +scatter the most. After that some of them still continued to run +through the scattered ashes and to pelt each other with the +half-burned peats. At each farm a spot as high as possible, not too +near the steading, was chosen for the fire, and the proceedings +were much the same as at the village bonfire. The lads of one farm, +when their own fire was burned down and the ashes scattered, +sometimes went to a neighbouring fire and helped to kick the ashes +about.<a id="footnotetag595" name="footnotetag595"></a><a href= +"#footnote595"><sup>595</sup></a> Referring to this part of +Scotland, a writer at the end of the eighteenth century observes +that "the Hallow-even fire, another relict of druidism, was kindled +in Buchan. Various magic ceremonies were then celebrated to +counteract the influence of witches and demons, and to +prognosticate to the young their success or disappointment in the +matrimonial lottery. These being devoutly finished, the hallow fire +was kindled, and guarded by the male part of the family. Societies +were formed, either by pique or humour, to scatter certain fires, +and the attack and defence were often conducted with art and with +fury."<a id="footnotetag596" name="footnotetag596"></a><a href= +"#footnote596"><sup>596</sup></a> Down to about the middle of the +nineteenth century "the Braemar Highlanders made the circuit of +their fields with lighted torches at Hallowe'en to ensure their +fertility in the coming year. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" +name="page234"></a>[pg 234]</span> At that date the custom was as +follows: Every member of the family (in those days households were +larger than they are now) was provided with a bundle of fir +'can'les' with which to go the round. The father and mother stood +at the hearth and lit the splints in the peat fire, which they +passed to the children and servants, who trooped out one after the +other, and proceeded to tread the bounds of their little property, +going slowly round at equal distances apart, and invariably with +the sun. To go 'withershins' seems to have been reserved for +cursing and excommunication. When the fields had thus been +circumambulated the remaining spills were thrown together in a heap +and allowed to burn out."<a id="footnotetag597" name= +"footnotetag597"></a><a href="#footnote597"><sup>597</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweenhighlands" name="halloweenhighlands"></a> +<p>[Divination at Hallow-e'en in the Highlands and Lowlands of +Scotland; the stolen kail; sowing hemp seed; the winnowing basket; +the wet shirt; the thrown shoe.]</p> +<p>In the Highlands of Scotland, as the evening of Hallowe'en wore +on, young people gathered in one of the houses and resorted to an +almost endless variety of games, or rather forms of divination, for +the purpose of ascertaining the future fate of each member of the +company. Were they to marry or remain single, was the marriage to +take place that year or never, who was to be married first, what +sort of husband or wife she or he was to get, the name, the trade, +the colour of the hair, the amount of property of the future +spouse—these were questions that were eagerly canvassed and +the answers to them furnished never-failing entertainment.<a id= +"footnotetag598" name="footnotetag598"></a><a href= +"#footnote598"><sup>598</sup></a> Nor were these modes of +divination at Hallowe'en confined to the Highlands, where the +bonfires were kindled; they were practised with equal faith and in +practically the same forms in the Lowlands, as we learn, for +example, from Burns's poem <i>Hallowe'en</i>, which describes the +auguries drawn from a variety of omens by the Ayrshire peasantry. +These Lowlanders of Saxon descent may well have inherited the rites +from the Celts who preceded them in the possession of the south +country. A common practice at Hallowe'en was to go out stealthily +to a neighbour's kailyard and there, with shut eyes, to pull up the +first kail <span class="pagenum"><a id="page235" name= +"page235"></a>[pg 235]</span> stock that came to hand. It was +necessary that the plants should be stolen without the knowledge or +consent of their owner; otherwise they were quite useless for the +purpose of divination. Strictly speaking, too, the neighbour upon +whose garden the raid was made should be unmarried, whether a +bachelor or a spinster. The stolen kail was taken home and +examined, and according to its height, shape, and features would be +the height, shape, and features of the future husband or wife. The +taste of the <i>custock</i>, that is, the heart of the stem, was an +infallible indication of his or her temper; and a clod of earth +adhering to the root signified, in proportion to its size, the +amount of property which he or she would bring to the common stock. +Then the kail-stock or <i>runt</i>, as it was called in Ayrshire, +was placed over the lintel of the door; and the baptismal name of +the young man or woman who first entered the door after the kail +was in position would be the baptismal name of the husband or +wife.<a id="footnotetag599" name="footnotetag599"></a><a href= +"#footnote599"><sup>599</sup></a> Again, young women sowed hemp +seed over nine ridges of ploughed land, saying, "I sow hemp seed, +and he who is to be my husband, let him come and harrow it." On +looking back over her left shoulder the girl would see the figure +of her future mate behind her in the darkness. In the north-east of +Scotland lint seed was used instead of hemp seed and answered the +purpose quite as well.<a id="footnotetag600" name= +"footnotetag600"></a><a href="#footnote600"><sup>600</sup></a> +Again, a mode of ascertaining your future husband or wife was this. +Take a clue of blue yarn and go to a lime-kiln. Throw the clue into +the kiln, but keep one end of the thread in your hand and wind it +on to another clue. As you come near the end somebody or something +will hold the other end tight in the kiln. Then you call out, "Who +holds?" giving the thread at the same time a gentle pull. Some one +or something will thereupon pull the other end of the thread, and a +voice will mention the name of your future husband or wife.<a id= +"footnotetag601" name="footnotetag601"></a><a href= +"#footnote601"><sup>601</sup></a> Another way is this. Go to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page236" name="page236"></a>[pg +236]</span> barn alone and secretly. Be sure to open both doors and +if possible take them off their hinges; for if the being who is +about to appear should catch you in the barn and clap the doors to +on you, he or she might do you a mischief. Having done this, take +the sieve or winnowing-basket, which in Lowland Scotch is called a +<i>wecht</i> or <i>waicht</i>, and go through the action of +winnowing corn. Repeat it thrice, and at the third time the +apparition of your future husband or wife will pass through the +barn, entering at the windy door and passing out at the +other.<a id="footnotetag602" name="footnotetag602"></a><a href= +"#footnote602"><sup>602</sup></a> Or this. Go to a southward +running stream, where the lands of three lairds meet, or to a ford +where the dead and living have crossed. Dip the left sleeve of your +shirt in the water. Then go home, take off the shirt, hang it up +before a fire to dry, and go to bed, taking care that the bed +stands so that you can see your shirt hanging before the fire. Keep +awake, and at midnight you will see the form of your future spouse +come into the room and turn the other side of the sleeve to the +fire to dry it.<a id="footnotetag603" name= +"footnotetag603"></a><a href="#footnote603"><sup>603</sup></a> A +Highland form of divination at Hallowe'en is to take a shoe by the +tip and throw it over the house, then observe the direction in +which the toe points as it lies on the ground on the other side; +for in that direction you are destined to go before long. If the +shoe should fall sole uppermost, it is very unlucky for you.<a id= +"footnotetag604" name="footnotetag604"></a><a href= +"#footnote604"><sup>604</sup></a></p> +<p>[The white of eggs in water; the names on the chimney piece; the +nuts in the fire; the milk and meal; the apples in the water; the +three plates.]</p> +<p>These ways of prying into the future are practised outside of +the house; others are observed in the kitchen or the parlour before +the cheerful blaze of the fire. Thus the white of eggs, dropped in +a glass of pure water, indicates by certain marks how many children +a person will have. The impatience and clamour of the children, +eager to ascertain the exact number of their future progeny, often +induced the housewife to perform this ceremony for them by +daylight; and the kindly mother, standing with her face to the +window, dropping the white of an egg into a crystal <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>[pg 237]</span> glass +of clean water, and surrounded by a group of children intently +watching her proceedings, made up a pretty picture.<a id= +"footnotetag605" name="footnotetag605"></a><a href= +"#footnote605"><sup>605</sup></a> When the fun of the evening had +fairly commenced, the names of eligible or likely matches were +written on the chimney-piece, and the young man who wished to try +his fortune was led up blindfolded to the list. Whatever name he +put his finger on would prove that of his future wife.<a id= +"footnotetag606" name="footnotetag606"></a><a href= +"#footnote606"><sup>606</sup></a> Again, two nuts, representing a +lad and a lass whose names were announced to the company, were put +side by side in the fire. If they burned quietly together, the pair +would be man and wife, and from the length of time they burned and +the brightness of the flame the length and happiness of the married +life of the two were augured. But if instead of burning together +one of the nuts leaped away from the other, then there would be no +marriage, and the blame would rest with the person whose nut had +thus started away by itself.<a id="footnotetag607" name= +"footnotetag607"></a><a href="#footnote607"><sup>607</sup></a> +Again, a dish of milk and meal (in Gaelic <i>fuarag</i>, in Lowland +Scotch <i>crowdie</i>) or of beat potatoes was made and a ring was +hidden in it. Spoons were served out to the company, who supped the +contents of the dish hastily with them, and the one who got the +ring would be the first to be married.<a id="footnotetag608" name= +"footnotetag608"></a><a href="#footnote608"><sup>608</sup></a> +Again, apples and a silver sixpence were put in a tub of water; the +apples naturally floated on the top and the sixpence sank to the +bottom. Whoever could lift an apple or the sixpence from the water +with his mouth, without using his teeth, was counted very lucky and +got the prize to himself.<a id="footnotetag609" name= +"footnotetag609"></a><a href="#footnote609"><sup>609</sup></a> +Again, three plates or basins were placed on the hearth. One was +filled with clean water, another with dirty water, and the third +was empty. The enquirer was blindfolded, knelt in front of the +hearth, and groped about till he put his finger in one of them. If +he lighted on the plate with the clean water, he would wed a maid; +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>[pg +238]</span> if on the plate with the dirty water, he would marry a +widow; and if on the empty plate, he would remain a bachelor. For a +girl the answer of the oracle was analogous; she would marry a +bachelor, a widower, or nobody according to the plate into which +she chanced to dip her finger. But to make sure, the operation had +to be repeated thrice, the position of the plates being changed +each time. If the enquirer put his or her finger into the same +plate thrice or even twice, it was quite conclusive.<a id= +"footnotetag610" name="footnotetag610"></a><a href= +"#footnote610"><sup>610</sup></a></p> +<p>[The sliced apple; the white of egg in water; the salt cake or +salt herring.]</p> +<p>These forms of divination in the house were practised by the +company in a body; but the following had to be performed by the +person alone. You took an apple and stood with it in your hand in +front of a looking-glass. Then you sliced the apple, stuck each +slice on the point of the knife, and held it over your left +shoulder, while you looked into the glass and combed your hair. The +spectre of your future husband would then appear in the mirror +stretching forth his hand to take the slices of the apple over your +shoulder. Some say that the number of slices should be nine, that +you should eat the first eight yourself, and only throw the ninth +over your left shoulder for your husband; also that at each slice +you should say, "In the name of the Father and the Son."<a id= +"footnotetag611" name="footnotetag611"></a><a href= +"#footnote611"><sup>611</sup></a> Again, take an egg, prick it with +a pin, and let the white drop into a wine-glass nearly full of +water. Take some of this in your mouth and go out for a walk. The +first name you hear called out aloud will be that of your future +husband or wife. An old woman told a lady that she had tried this +mode of divination in her youth, that the name of Archibald "came +up as it were from the very ground," and that Archibald sure enough +was the name of her husband.<a id="footnotetag612" name= +"footnotetag612"></a><a href="#footnote612"><sup>612</sup></a> In +South Uist and Eriskay, two of the outer Hebrides, a salt cake +called <i>Bonnach Salainn</i> is eaten at Hallowe'en to induce +dreams that will reveal the future. It is baked of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>[pg 239]</span> common +meal with a great deal of salt. After eating it you may not drink +water nor utter a word, not even to say your prayers. A salt +herring, eaten bones and all in three bites, is equally +efficacious, always provided that you drink no water and hold your +tongue.<a id="footnotetag613" name="footnotetag613"></a><a href= +"#footnote613"><sup>613</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweenwales" name="halloweenwales"></a> +<p>[Hallowe'en fires in Wales; omens drawn from stones thrown into +the fire; divination by stones in the ashes.]</p> +<p>In the northern part of Wales it used to be customary for every +family to make a great bonfire called <i>Coel Coeth</i> on +Hallowe'en. The fire was kindled on the most conspicuous spot near +the house; and when it had nearly gone out everyone threw into the +ashes a white stone, which he had first marked. Then having said +their prayers round the fire, they went to bed. Next morning, as +soon as they were up, they came to search out the stones, and if +any one of them was found to be missing, they had a notion that the +person who threw it would die before he saw another +Hallowe'en.<a id="footnotetag614" name= +"footnotetag614"></a><a href="#footnote614"><sup>614</sup></a> A +writer on Wales at the beginning of the nineteenth century says +that "the autumnal fire is still kindled in North Wales, being on +the eve of the first day of November, and is attended by many +ceremonies; such as running through the fire and smoke, each +casting a stone into the fire, and all running off at the +conclusion to escape from the black short-tailed sow; then supping +upon parsnips, nuts, and apples; catching up an apple suspended by +a string with the mouth alone, and the same by an apple in a tub of +water: each throwing a nut into the fire; and those that burn +bright, betoken prosperity to the owners through the following +year, but those that burn black and crackle, denote misfortune. On +the following morning the stones are searched for in the fire, and +if any be missing, they betide ill to those who threw them +in."<a id="footnotetag615" name="footnotetag615"></a><a href= +"#footnote615"><sup>615</sup></a> According to Sir John Rhys, the +habit of celebrating Hallowe'en by lighting bonfires on the hills +is perhaps not yet extinct in Wales, and men still living +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240"></a>[pg +240]</span> can remember how the people who assisted at the +bonfires would wait till the last spark was out and then would +suddenly take to their heels, shouting at the top of their voices, +"The cropped black sow seize the hindmost!" The saying, as Sir John +Rhys justly remarks, implies that originally one of the company +became a victim in dead earnest. Down to the present time the +saying is current in Carnarvonshire, where allusions to the cutty +black sow are still occasionally made to frighten children.<a id= +"footnotetag616" name="footnotetag616"></a><a href= +"#footnote616"><sup>616</sup></a> We can now understand why in +Lower Brittany every person throws a pebble into the midsummer +bonfire.<a id="footnotetag617" name="footnotetag617"></a><a href= +"#footnote617"><sup>617</sup></a> Doubtless there, as in Wales and +the Highlands of Scotland,<a id="footnotetag618" name= +"footnotetag618"></a><a href="#footnote618"><sup>618</sup></a> +omens of life and death have at one time or other been drawn from +the position and state of the pebbles on the morning of All Saints' +Day. The custom, thus found among three separate branches of the +Celtic stock, probably dates from a period before their dispersion, +or at least from a time when alien races had not yet driven home +the wedges of separation between them.</p> +<a id="halloweenwalesdivination" name= +"halloweenwalesdivination"></a> +<p>[Divination as to love and marriage at Hallowe'en in Wales.]</p> +<p>In Wales, as in Scotland, Hallowe'en was also the great season +for forecasting the future in respect of love and marriage, and +some of the forms of divination employed for this purpose resembled +those which were in use among the Scotch peasantry. Two girls, for +example, would make a little ladder of yarn, without breaking it +from the ball, and having done so they would throw it out of the +window. Then one of the girls, holding the ball in her hand, would +wind the yarn back, repeating a rhyme in Welsh. This she did +thrice, and as she wound the yarn she would see her future husband +climbing up the little ladder. Again, three bowls or basins were +placed on a table. One of them contained clean water, one dirty +water, and one was empty. The girls of the household, and sometimes +the boys too, then eagerly tried their fortunes. They were +blindfolded, led up to the table, and dipped their hands into a +bowl. If they happened to dip into the clean water, they would +marry maidens or bachelors; if into the dirty water, they would be +widowers or widows; if into the empty bowl, they would <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>[pg 241]</span> live +unmarried. Again, if a girl, walking backwards, would place a knife +among the leeks on Hallowe'en, she would see her future husband +come and pick up the knife and throw it into the middle of the +garden.<a id="footnotetag619" name="footnotetag619"></a><a href= +"#footnote619"><sup>619</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweendivinationireland" name= +"halloweendivinationireland"></a> +<p>[Divination at Hallowe'en in Ireland.]</p> +<p>In Ireland the Hallowe'en bonfires would seem to have died out, +but the Hallowe'en divination has survived. Writing towards the end +of the eighteenth century, General Vallancey tells us that on +Hallowe'en or the vigil of Saman, as he calls it, "the peasants in +Ireland assemble with sticks and clubs (the emblems of laceration) +going from house to house, collecting money, bread-cake, butter, +cheese, eggs, etc., etc., for the feast, repeating verses in honour +of the solemnity, demanding preparations for the festival, in the +name of St. Columb Kill, desiring them to lay aside the fatted +calf, and to bring forth the black sheep. The good women are +employed in making the griddle cake and candles; these last are +sent from house to house in the vicinity, and are lighted up on the +(Saman) next day, before which they pray, or are supposed to pray, +for the departed souls of the donor. Every house abounds in the +best viands they can afford: apples and nuts are devoured in +abundance: the nut-shells are burnt, and from the ashes many +strange things are foretold: cabbages are torn up by the root: hemp +seed is sown by the maidens, and they believe, that if they look +back, they will see the apparition of the man intended for their +future spouse: they hang a smock before the fire, on the close of +the feast, and sit up all night, concealed in a corner of the room, +convinced that his apparition will come down the chimney and turn +the smock: they throw a ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it +on the reel within, convinced, that if they repeat the <i>Pater +Noster</i> backwards, and look at the ball of yarn without, they +will then also see his <i>sith</i> or apparition: they dip for +apples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring one up in the +mouth: they suspend a cord with a cross-stick, with apples at one +point, and candles lighted at the other, and endeavour to catch the +apple, while it is in a circular motion, in the mouth. These, and +many other superstitious ceremonies, the remains of Druidism, are +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>[pg +242]</span> observed on this holiday, which will never be +eradicated, while the name of <i>Saman</i> is permitted to +remain."<a id="footnotetag620" name="footnotetag620"></a><a href= +"#footnote620"><sup>620</sup></a></p> +<p>[Divination at Hallow-e'en in Queen's County; divination at +Hallow-e'en in County Leitrim; divination at Hallowe'en in County +Roscommon.]</p> +<p>In Queen's County, Ireland, down to the latter part of the +nineteenth century children practised various of these rites of +divination on Hallowe'en. Girls went out into the garden blindfold +and pulled up cabbages: if the cabbage was well grown, the girl +would have a handsome husband, but if it had a crooked stalk, the +future spouse would be a stingy old man. Nuts, again, were placed +in pairs on the bar of the fire, and from their behaviour omens +were drawn of the fate in love and marriage of the couple whom they +represented. Lead, also, was melted and allowed to drop into a tub +of cold water, and from the shapes which it assumed in the water +predictions were made to the children of their future destiny. +Again, apples were bobbed for in a tub of water and brought up with +the teeth; or a stick was hung from a hook with an apple at one end +and a candle at the other, and the stick being made to revolve you +made a bite at the apple and sometimes got a mouthful of candle +instead.<a id="footnotetag621" name="footnotetag621"></a><a href= +"#footnote621"><sup>621</sup></a> In County Leitrim, also, down to +near the end of the nineteenth century various forms of divination +were practised at Hallowe'en. Girls ascertained the character of +their future husbands by the help of cabbages just as in Queen's +County. Again, if a girl found a branch of a briar-thorn which had +bent over and grown into the ground so as to form a loop, she would +creep through the loop thrice late in the evening in the devil's +name, then cut the briar and put it under her pillow, all without +speaking a word. Then she would lay her head on the pillow and +dream of the man she was to marry. Boys, also, would dream in like +manner of love and marriage at Hallowe'en, if only they would +gather ten leaves of ivy without speaking, throw away one, and put +the other nine under their pillow. Again, divination was practised +by means of a cake called <i>barm-breac</i>, in which a nut and a +ring were baked. Whoever got the ring would be married first; +whoever got the nut would marry a widow or a widower; but if the +nut were an empty shell, he or she <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page243" name="page243"></a>[pg 243]</span> would remain unwed. +Again, a girl would take a clue of worsted, go to a lime kiln in +the gloaming, and throw the clew into the kiln in the devil's name, +while she held fast the other end of the thread. Then she would +rewind the thread and ask, "Who holds my clue?" and the name of her +future husband would come up from the depth of the kiln. Another +way was to take a rake, go to a rick and walk round it nine times, +saying, "I rake this rick in the devil's name." At the ninth time +the wraith of your destined partner for life would come and take +the rake out of your hand. Once more, before the company separated +for the night, they would rake the ashes smooth on the hearth, and +search them next morning for tracks, from which they judged whether +anybody should come to the house, or leave it, or die in it before +another year was out.<a id="footnotetag622" name= +"footnotetag622"></a><a href="#footnote622"><sup>622</sup></a> In +County Roscommon, which borders on County Leitrim, a cake is made +in nearly every house on Hallowe'en, and a ring, a coin, a sloe, +and a chip of wood are put into it. Whoever gets the coin will be +rich; whoever gets the ring will be married first; whoever gets the +chip of wood, which stands for a coffin, will die first; and +whoever gets the sloe will live longest, because the fairies blight +the sloes in the hedges on Hallowe'en, so that the sloe in the cake +will be the last of the year. Again, on the same mystic evening +girls take nine grains of oats in their mouths, and going out +without speaking walk about till they hear a man's name pronounced; +it will be the name of their future husband. In County Roscommon, +too, on Hallowe'en there is the usual dipping in water for apples +or sixpences, and the usual bites at a revolving apple and tallow +candle.<a id="footnotetag623" name="footnotetag623"></a><a href= +"#footnote623"><sup>623</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweenman" name="halloweenman"></a> +<p>[Hallowe'en fires in the Isle of Man; divination at Hallowe'en +in the Isle of Man.]</p> +<p>In the Isle of Man also, another Celtic country, Hallow-e'en was +celebrated down to modern times by the kindling of fires, +accompanied with all the usual ceremonies designed to prevent the +baneful influence of fairies and witches. Bands of young men +perambulated the island by night, and at the door of every +dwelling-house they struck up a Manx rhyme, beginning</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"<i>Noght oie howney hop-dy-naw</i>,"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>[pg +244]</span> that is to say, "This is Hollantide Eve." For +Hollantide is the Manx way of expressing the old English <i>All +hallowen tide</i>, that is, All Saints' Day, the first of November. +But as the people reckon this festival according to the Old Style, +Hollantide in the Isle of Man is our twelfth of November. The +native Manx name for the day is <i>Sauin</i> or <i>Laa Houney</i>. +Potatoes, parsnips and fish, pounded up together and mixed with +butter, formed the proper evening meal (<i>mrastyr</i>) on +Hallowe'en in the Isle of Man.<a id="footnotetag624" name= +"footnotetag624"></a><a href="#footnote624"><sup>624</sup></a> +Here, too, as in Scotland forms of divination are practised by some +people on this important evening. For example, the housewife fills +a thimble full of salt for each member of the family and each +guest; the contents of the thimblefuls are emptied out in as many +neat little piles on a plate, and left there over night. Next +morning the piles are examined, and if any of them has fallen down, +he or she whom it represents will die within the year. Again, the +women carefully sweep out the ashes from under the fireplace and +flatten them down neatly on the open hearth. If they find next +morning a footprint turned towards the door, it signifies a death +in the family within the year; but if the footprint is turned in +the opposite direction, it bodes a marriage. Again, divination by +eavesdropping is practised in the Isle of Man in much the same way +as in Scotland. You go out with your mouth full of water and your +hands full of salt and listen at a neighbour's door, and the first +name you hear will be the name of your husband. Again, Manx maids +bandage their eyes and grope about the room till they dip their +hands in vessels full of clean or dirty water, and so on; and from +the thing they touch they draw corresponding omens. But some people +in the Isle of Man observe these auguries, not on Hallowe'en or +Hollantide Eve, as they call it, which was the old Manx New Year's +Eve, but on the modern New Year's Eve, that is, on the thirty-first +of December. The change no doubt marks a transition from the +ancient to the modern mode of dating the beginning of the +year.<a id="footnotetag625" name="footnotetag625"></a><a href= +"#footnote625"><sup>625</sup></a></p> +<a id="halloweenlancashire" name="halloweenlancashire"></a> +<p>[Hallowe'en fires and divination in Lancashire; candles lighted +to keep off the witches; divination at Hallowe'en in +Northumberland; Hallowe'en fires in France.]</p> +<p>In Lancashire, also, some traces of the old Celtic celebration +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245"></a>[pg +245]</span> of Hallowe'en have been reported in modern times. It is +said that "fires are still lighted in Lancashire, on Hallowe'en, +under the name of Beltains or Teanlas; and even such cakes as the +Jews are said to have made in honour of the Queen of Heaven, are +yet to be found at this season amongst the inhabitants of the banks +of the Ribble.... Both the fires and the cakes, however, are now +connected with superstitious notions respecting Purgatory, +etc."<a id="footnotetag626" name="footnotetag626"></a><a href= +"#footnote626"><sup>626</sup></a> On Hallowe'en, too, the +Lancashire maiden "strews the ashes which are to take the form of +one or more letters of her lover's name; she throws hemp-seed over +her shoulder and timidly glances to see who follows her."<a id= +"footnotetag627" name="footnotetag627"></a><a href= +"#footnote627"><sup>627</sup></a> Again, witches in Lancashire used +to gather on Hallowe'en at the Malkin Tower, a ruined and desolate +farm-house in the forest of Pendle. They assembled for no good +purpose; but you could keep the infernal rout at bay by carrying a +lighted candle about the fells from eleven to twelve o'clock at +night. The witches tried to blow out the candle, and if they +succeeded, so much the worse for you; but if the flame burned +steadily till the clocks had struck midnight, you were safe. Some +people performed the ceremony by deputy; and parties went about +from house to house in the evening collecting candles, one for each +inmate, and offering their services to <i>late</i> or <i>leet</i> +the witches, as the phrase ran. This custom was practised at +Longridge Fell in the early part of the nineteenth century.<a id= +"footnotetag628" name="footnotetag628"></a><a href= +"#footnote628"><sup>628</sup></a> In Northumberland on Hallowe'en +omens of marriage were drawn from nuts thrown into the fire; and +the sports of ducking for apples and biting at a revolving apple +and lighted candle were also practised on that evening.<a id= +"footnotetag629" name="footnotetag629"></a><a href= +"#footnote629"><sup>629</sup></a> The equivalent of the Hallowe'en +bonfires is reported also from France. We are told that in the +department of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name= +"page246"></a>[pg 246]</span> Deux-Sèvres, which forms part +of the old province of Poitou, young people used to assemble in the +fields on All Saints' Day (the first of November) and kindle great +fires of ferns, thorns, leaves, and stubble, at which they roasted +chestnuts. They also danced round the fires and indulged in noisy +pastimes.<a id="footnotetag630" name="footnotetag630"></a><a href= +"#footnote630"><sup>630</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect4-7" name="sect4-7">§ 7. <i>The Midwinter +Fires</i></a></h4> +<a id="winterfire" name="winterfire"></a> +<p>[A Midwinter festival of fire; Christmas the continuation of an +old heathen festival of the sun.]</p> +<p>If the heathen of ancient Europe celebrated, as we have good +reason to believe, the season of Midsummer with a great festival of +fire, of which the traces have survived in many places down to our +own time, it is natural to suppose that they should have observed +with similar rites the corresponding season of Midwinter; for +Midsummer and Midwinter, or, in more technical language, the summer +solstice and the winter solstice, are the two great turning-points +in the sun's apparent course through the sky, and from the +standpoint of primitive man nothing might seem more appropriate +than to kindle fires on earth at the two moments when the fire and +heat of the great luminary in heaven begin to wane or to wax. In +this way the savage philosopher, to whose meditations on the nature +of things we owe many ancient customs and ceremonies, might easily +imagine that he helped the labouring sun to relight his dying lamp, +or at all events to blow up the flame into a brighter blaze. +Certain it is that the winter solstice, which the ancients +erroneously assigned to the twenty-fifth of December, was +celebrated in antiquity as the Birthday of the Sun, and that festal +lights or fires were kindled on this joyful occasion. Our Christmas +festival is nothing but a continuation under a Christian name of +this old solar festivity; for the ecclesiastical authorities saw +fit, about the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth +century, arbitrarily to transfer the nativity of Christ from the +sixth of January to the twenty-fifth of December, for the purpose +of diverting to their Lord the worship which the heathen had +hitherto paid on that day to the sun.<a id="footnotetag631" name= +"footnotetag631"></a><a href="#footnote631"><sup>631</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>[pg +247]</span> <a id="winterlog" name="winterlog"></a> +<p>[The Yule log is the Midwinter counterpart of the Midsummer +bonfire.]</p> +<p>In modern Christendom the ancient fire-festival of the winter +solstice appears to survive, or to have survived down to recent +years, in the old custom of the Yule log, clog, or block, as it was +variously called in England.<a id="footnotetag632" name= +"footnotetag632"></a><a href="#footnote632"><sup>632</sup></a> The +custom was widespread in Europe, but seems to have flourished +especially in England, France, and among the South Slavs; at least +the fullest accounts of the custom come from these quarters. That +the Yule log was only the winter counterpart of the Midsummer +bonfire, kindled within doors instead of in the open air on account +of the cold and inclement weather of the season, was pointed out +long ago by our English antiquary John Brand;<a id="footnotetag633" +name="footnotetag633"></a><a href="#footnote633"><sup>633</sup></a> +and the view is supported by the many quaint superstitions +attaching to the Yule log, superstitions which have no apparent +connexion with Christianity but carry their heathen origin plainly +stamped upon them. But while the two solstitial celebrations were +both festivals of fire, the necessity or desirability of holding +the winter celebration within doors lent it the character of a +private or domestic festivity, which contrasts strongly with the +publicity of the summer celebration, at which the people gathered +on some open space or conspicuous height, kindled a huge bonfire in +common, and danced and made merry round it together.</p> +<a id="yulegermany" name="yulegermany"></a> +<p>[The Yule log in Germany; the Yule log in Switzerland.]</p> +<p>Among the Germans the custom of the Yule log is known to have +been observed in the eleventh century; for in the year 1184 the +parish priest of Ahlen, in Münsterland, spoke of "bringing a +tree to kindle the festal fire at the Lord's Nativity."<a id= +"footnotetag634" name="footnotetag634"></a><a href= +"#footnote634"><sup>634</sup></a> Down to about the middle of the +nineteenth century the old rite was kept up in some parts of +central Germany, as we learn from an account of it given by a +contemporary writer. After mentioning the custom of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page248" name="page248"></a>[pg 248]</span> +feeding the cattle and shaking the fruit-trees on Christmas night, +to make them bear fruit, he goes on as follows: "Other customs +pointing back to the far-off times of heathendom may still be met +with among the old-fashioned peasants of the mountain regions. Such +is in the valleys of the Sieg and Lahn the practice of laying a new +log as a foundation of the hearth. A heavy block of oak-wood, +generally a stump grubbed up from the ground, is fitted either into +the floor of the hearth, or into a niche made for the purpose in +the wall under the hook on which the kettle hangs. When the fire on +the hearth glows, this block of wood glows too, but it is so placed +that it is hardly reduced to ashes within a year. When the new +foundation is laid, the remains of the old block are carefully +taken out, ground to powder, and strewed over the fields during the +Twelve Nights. This, so people fancied, promotes the fruitfulness +of the year's crops."<a id="footnotetag635" name= +"footnotetag635"></a><a href="#footnote635"><sup>635</sup></a> In +some parts of the Eifel Mountains, to the west of Coblentz, a log +of wood called the <i>Christbrand</i> used to be placed on the +hearth on Christmas Eve; and the charred remains of it on Twelfth +Night were put in the corn-bin to keep the mice from devouring the +corn.<a id="footnotetag636" name="footnotetag636"></a><a href= +"#footnote636"><sup>636</sup></a> At Weidenhausen and Girkshausen, +in Westphalia, the practice was to withdraw the Yule log +(<i>Christbrand</i>) from the fire so soon as it was slightly +charred; it was then kept carefully to be replaced on the fire +whenever a thunder-storm broke, because the people believed that +lightning would not strike a house in which the Yule log was +smouldering.<a id="footnotetag637" name= +"footnotetag637"></a><a href="#footnote637"><sup>637</sup></a> In +some villages near Berleburg in Westphalia the old custom was to +tie up the Yule log in the last sheaf cut at harvest.<a id= +"footnotetag638" name="footnotetag638"></a><a href= +"#footnote638"><sup>638</sup></a> On Christmas Eve the peasantry of +the Oberland, in Meiningen, a province of Central Germany, used to +put a great block of wood called the <i>Christklots</i> on the fire +before they went to bed; it should burn all night, and the charred +remains were believed to guard the house for the whole year against +the risk of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page249" name= +"page249"></a>[pg 249]</span> fire, burglary, and other +misfortunes.<a id="footnotetag639" name= +"footnotetag639"></a><a href="#footnote639"><sup>639</sup></a> The +Yule log seems to be known only in the French-speaking parts of +Switzerland, where it goes by the usual French name of +<i>Bûche de Noël</i>. In the Jura mountains of the +canton of Bern, while the log is burning on the hearth the people +sing a blessing over it as follows:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"May the log burn!</p> +<p>May all good come in!</p> +<p>May the women have children</p> +<p>And the sheep lambs!</p> +<p>White bread for every one</p> +<p>And the vat full of wine!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>The embers of the Yule log were kept carefully, for they were +believed to be a protection against lightning.<a id= +"footnotetag640" name="footnotetag640"></a><a href= +"#footnote640"><sup>640</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulebelgium" name="yulebelgium"></a> +<p>[The Yule log in Belgium.]</p> +<p>"The Christmas fires, which were formerly lit everywhere in the +Low Countries, have fallen into disuse. But in Flanders a great log +of wood, called the <i>kersavondblok</i> and usually cut from the +roots of a fir or a beech, is still put on the fire; all the lights +in the house are extinguished, and the whole family gathers round +the log to spend part of the night in singing, in telling stories, +especially about ghosts, were-wolves, and so on, and also in +drinking gin. At Grammont and in the neighbourhood of that town, +where the Yule log is called <i>Kersmismot</i>, it is customary to +set fire to the remainder of the gin at the moment when the log is +reduced to ashes. Elsewhere a piece of the log is kept and put +under the bed to protect the house against thunder and lightning. +The charcoal of the log which burned during Christmas Night, if +pounded up and mixed with water, is a cure for consumption. In the +country of Limburg the log burns several nights, and the pounded +charcoal is kept as a preventive (so they say), of +toothache."<a id="footnotetag641" name= +"footnotetag641"></a><a href="#footnote641"><sup>641</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulefrance" name="yulefrance"></a> +<p>[The Yule log in France.]</p> +<p>In several provinces of France, and particularly in Provence, +the custom of the Yule log or <i>tréfoir</i>, as it was +called in many places, was long observed. A French <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250"></a>[pg 250]</span> writer +of the seventeenth century tells us that on Christmas Eve the log +was prepared, and when the whole family had assembled in the +kitchen or parlour of the house, they went and brought it in, +walking in procession and singing Provençal verses to the +following effect:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Let the log rejoice,</p> +<p>To-morrow is the day of bread;</p> +<p>Let all good enter here;</p> +<p>Let the women bear children;</p> +<p>Let the she-goats bring forth kids;</p> +<p>Let the ewes drop lambs;</p> +<p>Let there be much wheat and flour,</p> +<p>And the vat full of wine."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Then the log was blessed by the smallest and youngest child of +the house, who poured a glass of wine over it saying, <i>In nomine +patris</i>, etc.; after which the log was set on the fire. The +charcoal of the burnt wood was kept the whole year, and used as an +ingredient in several remedies.<a id="footnotetag642" name= +"footnotetag642"></a><a href="#footnote642"><sup>642</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulefrenchsuperstitions" name="yulefrenchsuperstitions"></a> +<p>[French superstitions as to the Yule log.]</p> +<p>Amongst the superstitions denounced by the same writer is "the +belief that a log called the <i>trefoir</i> or Christmas brand, +which you put on the fire for the first time on Christmas Eve and +continue to put on the fire for a little while every day till +Twelfth Night, can, if kept under the bed, protect the house for a +whole year from fire and thunder; that it can prevent the inmates +from having chilblains on their heels in winter; that it can cure +the cattle of many maladies; that if a piece of it be steeped in +the water which cows drink it helps them to calve; and lastly that +if the ashes of the log be strewn on the fields it can save the +wheat from mildew."<a id="footnotetag643" name= +"footnotetag643"></a><a href="#footnote643"><sup>643</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulemarseilles" name="yulemarseilles"></a> +<p>[The Yule log at Marseilles and in Perigord; virtues ascribed to +the charcoal and ashes of the burnt log; the Yule log in +Berry.]</p> +<p>In Marseilles the Yule log used to be a great block of oak, +which went by the name of <i>calendeau</i> or <i>calignau</i>; it +was sprinkled with wine and oil, and the head of the house kindled +it himself.<a id="footnotetag644" name= +"footnotetag644"></a><a href="#footnote644"><sup>644</sup></a> "The +Yule log plays a great part at the festival of the winter solstice +in Perigord. The countryman thinks that it is best made of +plum-tree, cherry, or oak, and <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page251" name="page251"></a>[pg 251]</span> that the larger it is +the better. If it burns well, it is a good omen, the blessing of +heaven rests upon it. The charcoal and ashes, which are collected +very carefully, are excellent for healing swollen glands; the part +of the trunk which has not been burnt in the fire is used by +ploughmen to make the wedge (<i>técoin ou cale</i>) for +their plough, because they allege that it causes the seeds to +thrive better; and the women keep pieces of it till Twelfth Night +for the sake of their chickens. Nevertheless if you sit down on the +log, you become subject to boils, and to cure yourself of them you +must pass nine times under a bramble branch which happens to be +rooted in the ground at both ends. The charcoal heals sheep of a +disease called the <i>goumon</i>; and the ashes, carefully wrapt up +in white linen, preserve the whole household from accidents. Some +people think that they will have as many chickens as there are +sparks that fly out of the brands of the log when they shake them; +and others place the extinct brands under the bed to drive away +vermin. In Vienne, on Christmas Eve, when supper is over, the +master of the house has a great log—the Christmas +brand—brought in, and then, surrounded by all the spectators +gathered in profound silence, he sprinkles salt and water on the +log. It is then put on the fire to burn during the three festivals; +but they carefully preserve a piece to be kindled every time that +it thunders."<a id="footnotetag645" name= +"footnotetag645"></a><a href="#footnote645"><sup>645</sup></a> In +Berry, a district of Central France, the Yule log was called the +<i>cosse de Nau</i>, the last word being an abbreviation of the +usual French word for Christmas (Noël). It consisted of an +enormous tree-trunk, so heavy that the united strength of several +men was needed to carry it in and place it on the hearth, where it +served to feed the fire during the three days of the Christmas +festivity. Strictly speaking, it should be the trunk of an old +oak-tree which had never been lopped and had been felled at +midnight. It <span class="pagenum"><a id="page252" name= +"page252"></a>[pg 252]</span> was placed on the hearth at the +moment when the tinkle of the bell announced the elevation of the +host at the midnight mass; and the head of the family, after +sprinkling it with holy water, set it on fire. The remains of the +log were preserved till the same day next year. They were kept +under the bed of the master of the house; and whenever thunder was +heard, one of the family would take a piece of the log and throw it +on the fire, which was believed to guard the family against +lightning. In the Middle Ages, we are told, several fiefs were +granted on condition that the vassal should bring in person a Yule +log every year for the hearth of his liege lord.<a id= +"footnotetag646" name="footnotetag646"></a><a href= +"#footnote646"><sup>646</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulenormandybrittany" name="yulenormandybrittany"></a> +<p>[The Yule log in Normandy and Brittany.]</p> +<p>Similar customs and beliefs survived till recent years in some +of the remote country villages of the picturesque district known as +the Bocage of Normandy. There it was the grandfather or other +oldest man of the family who chose the Yule log in good time and +had it ready for Christmas Eve. Then he placed it on the hearth at +the moment when the church bell began to ring for the evening +service. Kneeling reverently at the hearth with the members of his +family in a like attitude of devotion, the old man recited three +<i>Pater Nosters</i> and three <i>Aves</i>, and invoked the +blessing of heaven on the log and on the cottage. Then at the sound +of the bell which proclaimed the sacrament of the mass, or, if the +church was too far off to allow the tinkle of the bell to be heard, +at the moment when they judged that the priest was elevating the +host before the high altar, the patriarch sprinkled the burning log +with holy water, blessed it in the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Ghost, and drew it out of the fire. The charred +log was then carefully kept till the following Christmas as a +precious relic which would guard the house against the levin bolt, +evil spirits, sorcerers, and every misfortune that might befall in +the course of the year.<a id="footnotetag647" name= +"footnotetag647"></a><a href="#footnote647"><sup>647</sup></a> In +the department of Orne <span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name= +"page253"></a>[pg 253]</span> "the Yule-log is called +<i>trefouet</i>; holy water is poured on it; it should last the +three days of the festival, and the remains of it are kept to be +put on the fire when it thunders. This brand is a protection both +against thunder and against sorcerers."<a id="footnotetag648" name= +"footnotetag648"></a><a href="#footnote648"><sup>648</sup></a> In +Upper Brittany, also, the Yule log is thought to be a safeguard +against thunder and lightning. It is sprinkled with holy water on +Christmas morning and allowed to burn till evening. If a piece of +it is thrown into the well, it will ensure a supply of good +water.<a id="footnotetag649" name="footnotetag649"></a><a href= +"#footnote649"><sup>649</sup></a></p> +<a id="yuleardennes" name="yuleardennes"></a> +<p>[The Yule log in the Ardennes.]</p> +<p>"In almost all the families of the Ardennes," we are told, "at +the present day they never fail to put the Yule log on the +fireplace, but formerly it was the object of a superstitious +worship which is now obsolete. The charred remains of it, placed +under the pillow or under the house, preserved the house from +storms, and before it was burned the Virgin used to come and sit on +it, invisible, swaddling the infant Jesus. At Nouzon, twenty years +ago, the traditional log was brought into the kitchen on Christmas +Eve, and the grandmother, with a sprig of box in her hand, +sprinkled the log with holy water as soon as the clock struck the +first stroke of midnight. As she did so she chanted,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>'When Christmas comes,</p> +<p>Every one should rejoice,</p> +<p>For it is a New Covenant.'</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>"Following the grandmother and joining in the song, the children +and the rest of the family marched thrice round the log, which was +as fine a log as could be got."<a id="footnotetag650" name= +"footnotetag650"></a><a href="#footnote650"><sup>650</sup></a> We +can now, perhaps, understand why in Perigord people who sat on the +Yule log suffered from boils,<a id="footnotetag651" name= +"footnotetag651"></a><a href="#footnote651"><sup>651</sup></a> and +why in Lorraine young folks used to be warned that if they sat on +it they would have the scab.<a id="footnotetag652" name= +"footnotetag652"></a><a href="#footnote652"><sup>652</sup></a> The +reason probably was that the Virgin and child were supposed to be +seated, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page254" name= +"page254"></a>[pg 254]</span> invisible, upon the log and to resent +the indignity of contact with mortal children.</p> +<a id="yulevosges" name="yulevosges"></a> +<p>[The Yule log in the Vosges; the Yule log in +Franche-Comté and Burgundy.]</p> +<p>On Christmas Eve the mountaineers of Rupt, in the Vosges, also +never fail to put on the hearth the largest log which the hearth +can hold; they call it <i>la galeuche de Noë</i>, that is, the +Yule log. Next morning they rake the ashes for any charred +fragments and keep them as valuable talismans to guard them against +the stroke of lightning. At Vagney and other places near it in the +Vosges it used to be customary on the same evening to grease the +hinges and the latches of the doors, that no harsh grating sound +should break the slumbers of the infant Christ. In the Vosges +Mountains, too, as indeed in many other places, cattle acquired the +gift of speech on Christmas Eve and conversed with each other in +the language of Christians. Their conversation was, indeed, most +instructive; for the future, it seems, had no secret worth +mentioning for them. Yet few people cared to be caught +eavesdropping at the byre; wise folk contented themselves with +setting a good store of fodder in the manger, then shut the door, +and left the animals to their ruminations. A farmer of Vecoux once +hid in a corner of the byre to overhear the edifying talk of the +beasts. But it did him little good; for one ox said to another ox, +"What shall we do to-morrow?" and the other replied, "We shall +carry our master to the churchyard." Sure enough the farmer died +that very night and was buried next morning.<a id="footnotetag653" +name="footnotetag653"></a><a href="#footnote653"><sup>653</sup></a> +In Franche-Comté, the province of France to the west of the +Jura mountains, if the Yule log is really to protect a house +against thunder and lightning, it is essential that it should burn +during the midnight mass, and that the flame should not go out +before the divine service is concluded. Otherwise the log is quite +useless for the purpose.<a id="footnotetag654" name= +"footnotetag654"></a><a href="#footnote654"><sup>654</sup></a> In +Burgundy the log which is placed on the fire on Christmas Eve is +called the <i>suche</i>. While it is burning, the father of the +family, assisted by his wife and children, sings Christmas carols; +and when he has finished, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" +name="page255"></a>[pg 255]</span> he tells the smallest children +to go into a corner of the room and pray God that the log may give +them sweeties. The prayer is invariably answered.<a id= +"footnotetag655" name="footnotetag655"></a><a href= +"#footnote655"><sup>655</sup></a></p> +<a id="yuleengland" name="yuleengland"></a> +<p>[The Yule log and the Yule candle in England.]</p> +<p>In England the customs and beliefs concerning the Yule log, +clog, or block, as it was variously called, used to be similar. On +the night of Christmas Eve, says the antiquary John Brand, "our +ancestors were wont to light up candles of an uncommon size, called +Christmas Candles, and lay a log of wood upon the fire, called a +Yule-clog or Christmas-block, to illuminate the house, and, as it +were, to turn night into day. This custom is, in some measure, +still kept up in the North of England. In the buttery of St. John's +College, Oxford, an ancient candle-socket of stone still remains +ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It was formerly used +to burn the Christmas Candle in, on the high table at supper, +during the twelve nights of that festival."<a id="footnotetag656" +name="footnotetag656"></a><a href="#footnote656"><sup>656</sup></a> +"A tall mould candle, called a Yule candle, is lighted and set on +the table; these candles are presented by the chandlers and grocers +to their customers. The Yule-log is bought of the carpenters' lads. +It would be unlucky to light either of them before the time, or to +stir the fire or candle during the supper; the candle must not be +snuffed, neither must any one stir from the table till supper is +ended. In these suppers it is considered unlucky to have an odd +number at table. A fragment of the log is occasionally saved, and +put under a bed, to remain till next Christmas: it secures the +house from fire; a small piece of it thrown into a fire occurring +at the house of a neighbour, will quell the raging flame. A piece +of the candle should likewise be kept to ensure good luck."<a id= +"footnotetag657" name="footnotetag657"></a><a href= +"#footnote657"><sup>657</sup></a> In the seventeenth century, as we +learn from some verses of Herrick, the English custom was to light +the Yule log with a fragment of its predecessor, which had been +kept throughout the year for the purpose; where it was so kept, the +fiend could do no mischief.<a id="footnotetag658" name= +"footnotetag658"></a><a href="#footnote658"><sup>658</sup></a> +Indeed the practice of preserving a piece of the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256"></a>[pg 256]</span> +Yule-log of one year to light that of the next was observed by at +least one family at Cheadle in Staffordshire down to the latter +part of the nineteenth century.<a id="footnotetag659" name= +"footnotetag659"></a><a href="#footnote659"><sup>659</sup></a></p> +<a id="yuleyorkshire" name="yuleyorkshire"></a> +<p>[The Yule-log in Yorkshire; the Yule log in Lincolnshire; the +Yule log in Warwickshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire; the Yule +log in Wales.]</p> +<p>In the North of England farm-servants used to lay by a large +knotty block of wood for the Christmas fire, and so long as the +block lasted they were entitled by custom to ale at their meals. +The log was as large as the hearth could hold.<a id= +"footnotetag660" name="footnotetag660"></a><a href= +"#footnote660"><sup>660</sup></a> At Belford, in Northumberland, +"the lord of the manor sends round to every house, on the afternoon +of Christmas Eve, the Yule Logs—four or five large +logs—to be burnt on Christmas Eve and Day. This old custom +has always, I am told, been kept up here."<a id="footnotetag661" +name="footnotetag661"></a><a href="#footnote661"><sup>661</sup></a> +The custom of burning the Yule log at Christmas used to be observed +in Wensleydale and other parts of Yorkshire, and prudent housewives +carefully preserved pieces of the log throughout the year. At +Whitby the portions so kept were stowed away under the bed till +next Christmas, when they were burnt with the new log; in the +interval they were believed to protect the house from +conflagration, and if one of them were thrown into the fire, it +would quell a raging storm.<a id="footnotetag662" name= +"footnotetag662"></a><a href="#footnote662"><sup>662</sup></a> The +practice and the belief were similar at Filey on the coast of +Yorkshire, where besides the Yule log a tall Yule candle was lit on +the same evening.<a id="footnotetag663" name= +"footnotetag663"></a><a href="#footnote663"><sup>663</sup></a> In +the West Riding, while the log <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page257" name="page257"></a>[pg 257]</span> blazed cheerfully, the +people quaffed their ale and sang, "Yule! Yule! a pack of new cards +and a Christmas stool!"<a id="footnotetag664" name= +"footnotetag664"></a><a href="#footnote664"><sup>664</sup></a> At +Clee, in Lincolnshire, "when Christmas Eve has come the Yule cake +is duly cut and the Yule log lit, and I know of some even +middle-class houses where the new log must always rest upon and be +lighted by the old one, a small portion of which has been carefully +stored away to preserve a continuity of light and heat."<a id= +"footnotetag665" name="footnotetag665"></a><a href= +"#footnote665"><sup>665</sup></a> At the village of Wootton Wawen +in Warwickshire, down to 1759 at least, the Yule-block, as it was +called, was drawn into the house by a horse on Christmas Eve "as a +foundation for the fire on Christmas Day, and according to the +superstition of those times for the twelve days following, as the +said block was not to be entirely reduced to ashes till that time +had passed by."<a id="footnotetag666" name= +"footnotetag666"></a><a href="#footnote666"><sup>666</sup></a> As +late as 1830, or thereabout, the scene of lighting the hearth-fire +on Christmas Eve, to continue burning throughout the Christmas +season, might have been witnessed in the secluded and beautiful +hill-country of West Shropshire, from Chirbury and Worthen to +Pulverbatch and Pontesbury. The Christmas brand or brund, as they +called it, was a great trunk of seasoned oak, holly, yew, or +crab-tree, drawn by horses to the farm-house door and thence rolled +by means of rollers and levers to the back of the wide open hearth, +where the fire was made up in front of it. The embers were raked up +to it every night, and it was carefully tended, that it might not +go out during the whole Christmas season. All those days no light +might be struck, given, or borrowed. Such was the custom at Worthen +in the early part of the nineteenth century.<a id="footnotetag667" +name="footnotetag667"></a><a href="#footnote667"><sup>667</sup></a> +In Herefordshire the Christmas feast "lasted for twelve days, and +no work was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page258" name= +"page258"></a>[pg 258]</span> done. All houses were, and are now, +decorated with sprigs of holly and ivy, which must not be brought +in until Christmas Eve. A Yule log, as large as the open hearth +could accommodate, was brought into the kitchen of each farmhouse, +and smaller ones were used in the cottages. W—— +P—— said he had seen a tree drawn into the kitchen at +Kingstone Grange years ago by two cart horses; when it had been +consumed a small portion was carefully kept to be used for lighting +next year's log. 'Mother always kept it very carefully; she said it +was lucky, and kept the house from fire and from lightning.' It +seems to have been the general practice to light it on Christmas +Eve."<a id="footnotetag668" name="footnotetag668"></a><a href= +"#footnote668"><sup>668</sup></a> "In many parts of Wales it is +still customary to keep part of the Yule-log until the following +Christmas Eve 'for luck.' It is then put into the fireplace and +burnt, but before it is consumed the new log is put on, and thus +'the old fire and the new' burn together. In some families this is +done from force of habit, and they cannot now tell why they do it; +but in the past the observance of this custom was to keep witches +away, and doubtless was a survival of fire-worship."<a id= +"footnotetag669" name="footnotetag669"></a><a href= +"#footnote669"><sup>669</sup></a></p> +<a id="yuleservia" name="yuleservia"></a> +<p>[The Yule log in Servia; the cutting of the oak tree to form the +Yule log.]</p> +<p>But nowhere, apparently, in Europe is the old heathen ritual of +the Yule log preserved to the present day more perfectly than in +Servia. At early dawn on Christmas Eve (<i>Badnyi Dan</i>) every +peasant house sends two of its strongest young men to the nearest +forest to cut down a young oak tree and bring it home. There, after +offering up a short prayer or crossing themselves thrice, they +throw a handful of wheat on the chosen oak and greet it with the +words, "Happy <i>Badnyi</i> day to you!" Then they cut it down, +taking care that it shall fall towards the east at the moment when +the sun's orb appears over the rim of the eastern horizon. Should +the tree fall towards the west, it would be the worst possible omen +for the house and its inmates in the ensuing year; and it is also +an evil omen if the tree should be caught and stopped in its fall +by another tree. It is important <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page259" name="page259"></a>[pg 259]</span> to keep and carry home +the first chip from the fallen oak. The trunk is sawn into two or +three logs, one of them rather longer than the others. A flat, +unleavened cake of the purest wheaten flour is brought out of the +house and broken on the larger of the logs by a woman. The logs are +left for the present to stand outside, leaning on one of the walls +of the house. Each of them is called a Yule log +(<i>badnyak</i>).</p> +<p>[Prayers to Colleda.]</p> +<p>Meanwhile the children and young people go from house to house +singing special songs called <i>Colleda</i> because of an old pagan +divinity Colleda, who is invoked in every line. In one of them she +is spoken of as "a beautiful little maid"; in another she is +implored to make the cows yield milk abundantly. The day is spent +in busy preparations. The women bake little cakes of a special sort +in the shape of lambs, pigs, and chickens; the men make ready a pig +for roasting, for in every Servian house roast pig is the principal +dish at Christmas. A bundle of straw, tied with a rope, is brought +into the courtyard and left to stand there near the Yule logs.</p> +<p>[The bringing in of the Yule log.]</p> +<p>At the moment when the sun is setting all the members of the +family assemble in the central hall (the great family kitchen) of +the principal house. The mother of the family (or the wife of the +chief of the Zadrooga)<a id="footnotetag670" name= +"footnotetag670"></a><a href="#footnote670"><sup>670</sup></a> +gives a pair of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page260" name= +"page260"></a>[pg 260]</span> woollen gloves to one of the young +men, who goes out and presently returns carrying in his gloved +hands the largest of the logs. The mother receives him at the +threshold, throwing at him a handful of wheat, in which the first +chip of the oak tree cut in the early morning for the Yule log has +been kept all day. Entering the central hall with the Yule log the +young man greets all present with the words: "Good evening, and may +you have a happy Christmas!" and they all answer in chorus, "May +God and the happy and holy Christmas help thee!" In some parts of +Servia the chief of the family, holding a glass of red wine in his +hand, greets the Yule log as if it were a living person, and drinks +to its health. After that, another glass of red wine is poured on +the log. Then the oldest male member of the family, assisted by the +young man who brought in the log, places it on the burning fire so +that the thicker end of the log protrudes for about a foot from the +hearth. In some places this end is smeared with honey.</p> +<p>[The ceremony with the straw; the Yule candle.]</p> +<p>Next the mother of the family brings in the bundle of straw +which was left standing outside. All the young children arrange +themselves behind her in a row. She then walks slowly round the +hall and the adjoining rooms, throwing handfuls of straw on the +floor and imitating the cackling of a hen, while all the children +follow her peeping with their lips as if they were chickens +cheeping and waddling after the mother bird. When the floor is well +strewn with straw, the father or the eldest member of the family +throws a few walnuts in every corner of the hall, pronouncing the +words: "In the name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy +Ghost, Amen!" A large pot, or a small wooden box, filled with wheat +is placed high in the east corner of the hall, and a tall candle of +yellow wax is stuck in the middle of the wheat. Then the father of +the family reverently lights the candle <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page261" name="page261"></a>[pg 261]</span> and +prays God to bless the family with health and happiness, the fields +with a good harvest, the beehives with plenty of honey, the cattle +and sheep with young, and the cows with abundant milk and rich +cream. After that they all sit down to supper, squatting on the +floor, for the use of chairs and tables is forbidden on this +occasion.</p> +<p>[The roast Pig; the drawing of the water.]</p> +<p>By four o'clock next morning (Christmas Day) the whole village +is astir; indeed most people do not sleep at all that night. It is +deemed most important to keep the Yule log burning brightly all +night long. Very early, too, the pig is laid on the fire to roast, +and at the same moment one of the family goes out into the yard and +fires a pistol or gun; and when the roast pig is removed from the +fire the shot is repeated. Hence for several hours in the early +morning of Christmas Day such a popping and banging of firearms +goes on that a stranger might think a stubborn skirmish was in +progress. Just before the sun rises a girl goes and draws water at +the village spring or at the brook. Before she fills her vessels, +she wishes the water a happy Christmas and throws a handful of +wheat into it. The first cupfuls of water she brings home are used +to bake a special Christmas cake (<i>chesnitsa</i>), of which all +the members partake at dinner, and portions are kept for absent +relatives. A small silver coin is baked in the cake, and he or she +who gets it will be lucky during the year.</p> +<p>[The Christmas visiter (<i>polaznik</i>).]</p> +<p>All the family gathered round the blazing Yule log now anxiously +expect the arrival of the special Christmas visiter, who bears the +title of <i>polaznik</i>. He is usually a young boy of a friendly +family. No other person, not even the priest or the mayor of the +village, would be allowed to set foot in the house before the +arrival of this important personage. Therefore he ought to come, +and generally does come, very early in the morning. He carries a +woollen glove full of wheat, and when the door is opened at his +knock he throws handfuls of wheat on the family gathered round the +hearth, greeting them with the words, "Christ is born!" They all +answer, "He is born indeed," and the hostess flings a handful of +wheat over the Christmas visiter, who moreover casts some of his +wheat into the corners of the hall as well as upon the people. Then +he walks straight to the hearth, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page262" name="page262"></a>[pg 262]</span> takes a shovel and +strikes the burning log so that a cloud of sparks flies up the +chimney, while he says, "May you have this year so many oxen, so +many horses, so many sheep, so many pigs, so many beehives full of +honey, so much good luck, prosperity, progress, and happiness!" +Having uttered these good wishes, he embraces and kisses his host. +Then he turns again to the hearth, and after crossing himself falls +on his knees and kisses the projecting part of the Yule log. On +rising to his feet he places a coin on the log as his gift. +Meanwhile a low wooden chair has been brought in by a woman, and +the visiter is led to it to take his seat. But just as he is about +to do so, the chair is jerked away from under him by a male member +of the family and he measures his length on the floor. By this fall +he is supposed to fix into the ground all the good wishes which he +has uttered that morning. The hostess thereupon wraps him in a +thick blanket, and he sits quietly muffled in it for a few minutes; +the thick blanket in which he is swathed is believed, on the +principles of homoeopathic magic, to ensure that the cows will give +thick cream next year. While he sits thus enriching the milk of the +dairy, the lads who are to herd the sheep in the coming year go to +the hearth and kneeling down before it kiss each other across the +projecting end of the Yule log. By this demonstration of affection +they are thought to seal the love of the ewes for their +lambs.<a id="footnotetag671" name="footnotetag671"></a><a href= +"#footnote671"><sup>671</sup></a></p> +<a id="yuleslavonia" name="yuleslavonia"></a> +<p>[The Yule log among the Servians of Slavonia; the Christmas +visiter (<i>polazenik</i>).]</p> +<p>The ritual of the Yule log is observed in a similar form by the +Servians who inhabit the southern provinces of Austria. Thus in +Syrmia, a district of Slavonia which borders on Servia, the head of +the house sends out one or two young men on Christmas Eve to cut +the Yule log in the nearest forest. On being brought in, the log is +not mixed with the ordinary fuel but placed by itself, generally +leaning against a fruit-tree till the evening shadows begin to +fall. When a man carries it into the kitchen and lays it on the +fire, the master of the house throws corn over him, and the two +greet each other solemnly the one saying, "Christ is born," and the +other answering "He is born indeed." Later in the evening the +master of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page263" name= +"page263"></a>[pg 263]</span> the house pours a glass of wine on +the charred end of the log, whereupon one of the younger men takes +the burnt piece of wood, carries it to the orchard, and sets it up +against one of the fruit-trees. For this service he is rewarded by +the master of the house with a piece of money. On Christmas Day, +when the family is assembled at table, they expect the arrival of +the special Christmas visiter (called <i>polazenik</i>), the only +person who is allowed to enter the house that day. When he comes, +he goes to the hearth, stirs the fire with the poker and says, +"Christ is born. May the family enjoy all good luck and happiness +in this year! May the cattle increase in number like the sparks I +have struck!" As he says these words, the mistress of the house +pours corn over him and leads him to the parlour, where he takes +the place of honour beside the master of the house. He is treated +with marked attention and respect. The family are at pains to +entertain him; they sing their best songs for his amusement, and +after midnight a numerous band of men and maidens escorts him by +torchlight, with songs and jubilation, to his own house.<a id= +"footnotetag672" name="footnotetag672"></a><a href= +"#footnote672"><sup>672</sup></a></p> +<a id="yuledalmatia" name="yuledalmatia"></a> +<p>[The Yule log among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and +Montenegro; the Yule log in Albania.]</p> +<p>Among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro it +is customary on Christmas Eve (<i>Badnyi Dan</i>) to fetch a great +Yule log (<i>badnyak</i>), which serves as a symbol of family luck. +It is generally cut from an evergreen oak, but sometimes from an +olive-tree or a beech. At nightfall the master of the house himself +brings in the log and lays it on the fire. Then he and all present +bare their heads, sprinkle the log with wine, and make a cross on +it. After that the master of the house says, "Welcome, O log! May +God keep you from mishap!" So saying he strews peas, maize, +raisins, and wheat on the log, praying for God's blessing on all +members of the family living and dead, for heaven's blessing on +their undertakings, and for domestic prosperity. In Montenegro they +meet the log with a loaf of bread and a jug of wine, drink to it, +and pour wine on it, whereupon the whole family drinks out of the +same beaker. In Dalmatia and other places, for example in Rizano, +the Yule logs are decked by young women with red silk, flowers, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page264" name="page264"></a>[pg +264]</span> laurel leaves, ribbons, and even gold wire; and the +lights near the doorposts are kindled when the log is brought into +the house. Among the Morlaks, as soon as the master of the house +crosses the threshold with the Yule log, one of the family must +sprinkle corn on him and say, "God bless you," to which he answers, +"The same to you." A piece of the log is kept till New Year's Day +to kindle a light with or it is carried out to the fields to +protect them from hail. It is customary to invite before hand a +Christmas visitor (<i>polazaynik</i>) and to admit no one else into +the house on that day. He comes early, carrying in his sleeves a +quantity of corn which he throws into the house, saying, "Christ is +born." One of the household replies, "He is born indeed," and +throws corn on the visiter. Then the newcomer goes up to the +hearth, pokes the fire and strikes the burning log with the poker +so hard that sparks fly off in all directions. At each blow he +says, "I wish the family as many cows, calves, sucking pigs, goats, +and sheep, and as many strokes of good luck, as the sparks that now +fly from the log." With these words he throws some small coins into +the ashes.<a id="footnotetag673" name="footnotetag673"></a><a href= +"#footnote673"><sup>673</sup></a> In Albania down to recent years +it was a common custom to burn a Yule log at Christmas, and with it +corn, maize, and beans; moreover, wine and <i>rakia</i> were poured +on the flames, and the ashes of the fire were scattered on the +fields to make them fertile.<a id="footnotetag674" name= +"footnotetag674"></a><a href="#footnote674"><sup>674</sup></a> The +Huzuls, a Slavonic people of the Carpathians, kindle fire by the +friction of wood on Christmas Eve (Old Style, the fifth of January) +and keep it burning till Twelfth Night.<a id="footnotetag675" name= +"footnotetag675"></a><a href="#footnote675"><sup>675</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulefire" name="yulefire"></a> +<p>[Belief that the Yule log protects against fire and +lightning.]</p> +<p>It is remarkable how common the belief appears to have been that +the remains of the Yule-log, if kept throughout the year, had power +to protect the house against fire and especially against +lightning.<a id="footnotetag676" name="footnotetag676"></a><a href= +"#footnote676"><sup>676</sup></a> As the Yule log was <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page265" name="page265"></a>[pg 265]</span> +frequently of oak,<a id="footnotetag677" name= +"footnotetag677"></a><a href="#footnote677"><sup>677</sup></a> it +seems possible that this belief may be a relic of the old Aryan +creed which associated the oak-tree with the god of thunder.<a id= +"footnotetag678" name="footnotetag678"></a><a href= +"#footnote678"><sup>678</sup></a> Whether the curative and +fertilizing virtues ascribed to the ashes of the Yule log, which +are supposed to heal cattle as well as men, to enable cows to +calve, and to promote the fruitfulness of the earth,<a id= +"footnotetag679" name="footnotetag679"></a><a href= +"#footnote679"><sup>679</sup></a> may not be derived from the same +ancient source, is a question which deserves to be considered.</p> +<a id="yulepublic" name="yulepublic"></a> +<p>[Public celebrations of the fire-festival at Midwinter; the +bonfire on Christmas Eve at Schweina in Thuringia.]</p> +<p>Thus far we have regarded only the private or domestic +celebration of the fire-festival at midwinter. The public +celebration of such rites at that season of the year appears to +have been rare and exceptional in Central and Northern Europe. +However, some instances are on record. Thus at Schweina, in +Thuringia, down to the second half of the nineteenth century, the +young people used to kindle a great bonfire on the Antonius +Mountain every year on Christmas Eve. Neither the civil nor the +ecclesiastical authorities were able to suppress the celebration; +nor could the cold, rain, and snow of the season damp or chill the +enthusiasm of the celebrants. For some time before Christmas the +young men and boys were busy building a foundation for the bonfire +on the top of the mountain, where the oldest church of the village +used to stand. The foundation consisted of a pyramidal structure +composed of stones, turf, and moss. When Christmas Eve came round, +a strong pole, with bundles of brushwood tied to it, was erected on +the pyramid. The young folk also provided themselves with poles to +which old brooms or faggots of shavings were attached. These were +to serve as torches. When the evening grew dark and the church +bells rang to service, the troop of lads ascended the mountain; and +soon from the top the glare of the bonfire lit up the darkness, and +the sound of a hymn broke the stillness of night. In a circle round +the great fire lesser fires were kindled; and last of all the lads +ran about swinging their lighted torches, till these twinkling +points of fire, moving down the mountain-side, went out one by one +in the darkness. At midnight the bells rang out from the church +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page266" name="page266"></a>[pg +266]</span> tower, mingled with the blast of horns and the sound of +singing. Feasting and revelry were kept up throughout the night, +and in the morning young and old went to early mass to be edified +by hearing of the light eternal.<a id="footnotetag680" name= +"footnotetag680"></a><a href="#footnote680"><sup>680</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulenormandy" name="yulenormandy"></a> +<p>[Bonfires on Christmas Eve in Normandy.]</p> +<p>In the Bocage of Normandy the peasants used to repair, often +from a distance of miles, to the churches to hear the midnight mass +on Christmas Eve. They marched in procession by torchlight, +chanting Christmas carols, and the fitful illumination of the +woods, the hedges, and the fields as they moved through the +darkness, presented a succession of picturesque scenes. Mention is +also made of bonfires kindled on the heights; the custom is said to +have been observed at Athis near Condé down to recent +years.<a id="footnotetag681" name="footnotetag681"></a><a href= +"#footnote681"><sup>681</sup></a></p> +<a id="yuleman" name="yuleman"></a> +<p>[Bonfires on St. Thomas's Day in the Isle of Man; the "Burning +of the Clavie" at Burghead on the last day of December; the old +rampart at Burghead]</p> +<p>In the Isle of Man, "on the twenty-first of December, a day +dedicated to Saint Thomas, the people went to the mountains to +catch deer and sheep for Christmas, and in the evenings always +kindled a large fire on the top of every <i>fingan</i> or cliff. +Hence, at the time of casting peats, every one laid aside a large +one, saying, '<i>Faaid mooar moayney son oie'l fingan</i>'; that +is, 'a large turf for Fingan Eve.'"<a id="footnotetag682" name= +"footnotetag682"></a><a href="#footnote682"><sup>682</sup></a> At +Burghead, an ancient village on the southern shore of the Moray +Firth, about nine miles from the town of Elgin, a festival of fire +called "the Burning of the Clavie" has been celebrated from time +immemorial on Hogmanay, the last day of December. A tar-barrel is +sawn in two, one half of it is set on the top of a stout pole, and +filled with tar and other combustibles. The half-barrel is fastened +to the pole by means of a long nail, which is made for the purpose +and furnished gratuitously by the village blacksmith. The nail must +be knocked in with a stone; the use of a hammer is forbidden. When +the shades of evening have begun to fall, the Clavie, as it is +called, is set on fire by means of a burning peat, which is always +fetched from the same house; it may not be kindled with a match. As +soon as it is in a blaze, it is shouldered by a man, who proceeds +to carry it at a run, flaring and dripping melted tar, round the +old <span class="pagenum"><a id="page267" name="page267"></a>[pg +267]</span> boundaries of the village; the modern part of the town +is not included in the circuit. Close at his heels follows a motley +crowd, cheering and shouting. One bearer relieves another as each +wearies of his burden. The first to shoulder the Clavie, which is +esteemed an honour, is usually a man who has been lately married. +Should the bearer stumble or fall, it is deemed a very ill omen for +him and for the village. In bygone times it was thought necessary +that one man should carry it all round the village; hence the +strongest man was chosen for the purpose. Moreover it was customary +to carry the burning Clavie round every fishing-boat and vessel in +the harbour; but this part of the ceremony was afterwards +discontinued. Finally, the blazing tar-barrel is borne to a small +hill called the Doorie, which rises near the northern end of the +promontory. Here the pole is fixed into a socket in a pillar of +freestone, and fresh fuel is heaped upon the flames, which flare up +higher and brighter than ever. Formerly the Clavie was allowed to +burn here the whole night, but now, after blazing for about half an +hour, it is lifted from the socket and thrown down the western +slope of the hill. Then the crowd rushes upon it, demolishes it, +and scrambles for the burning, smoking embers, which they carry +home and carefully preserve as charms to protect them against +witchcraft and misfortune.<a id="footnotetag683" name= +"footnotetag683"></a><a href="#footnote683"><sup>683</sup></a> The +great antiquity of Burghead, where this curious and no doubt +ancient festival is still annually observed, appears from the +remains of a very remarkable rampart which formerly encircled the +place. It consists of a mound of earth faced on both sides with a +solid wall of stone and strengthened internally by oak beams and +planks, the whole being laid on a foundation of boulders. The style +of the rampart agrees in general with Caesar's description of the +mode in which the Gauls constructed their walls of earth, stone, +and logs,<a id="footnotetag684" name="footnotetag684"></a><a href= +"#footnote684"><sup>684</sup></a> and it resembles the ruins of +Gallic fortifications which have been discovered <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page268" name="page268"></a>[pg 268]</span> in +France, though it is said to surpass them in the strength and +solidity of its structure. No similar walls appear to be known in +Britain. A great part of this interesting prehistoric fortress was +barbarously destroyed in the early part of the nineteenth century, +much of it being tumbled into the sea and many of the stones used +to build the harbour piers.<a id="footnotetag685" name= +"footnotetag685"></a><a href="#footnote685"><sup>685</sup></a></p> +<a id="yulelerwick" name="yulelerwick"></a> +<p>[Procession with burning tar-barrels on Christmas Eve (Old +Style) at Lerwick.]</p> +<p>In Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, "on Christmas +Eve, the fourth of January,—for the old style is still +observed—the children go <i>a guizing</i>, that is to say, +they disguising themselves in the most fantastic and gaudy +costumes, parade the streets, and infest the houses and shops, +begging for the wherewithal to carry on their Christmas amusements. +One o'clock on Yule morning having struck, the young men turn out +in large numbers, dressed in the coarsest of garments, and, at the +double-quick march, drag huge tar barrels through the town, +shouting and cheering as they go, or blowing loud blasts with their +'louder horns.' The tar barrel simply consists of several—say +from four to eight—tubs filled with tar and chips, placed on +a platform of wood. It is dragged by means of a chain, to which +scores of jubilant youths readily yoke themselves. They have +recently been described by the worthy burgh officer of Lerwick as +'fiery chariots, the effect of which is truly grand and terrific.' +In a Christmas morning the dark streets of Lerwick are generally +lighted up by the bright glare, and its atmosphere blackened by the +dense smoke of six or eight tar barrels in succession. On the +appearance of daybreak, at six A.M., the morning revellers put off +their coarse garments—well begrimed by this time—and in +their turn become guizards. They assume every imaginable form of +costume—those of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page269" name= +"page269"></a>[pg 269]</span> soldiers, sailors, Highlanders, +Spanish chevaliers, etc. Thus disguised, they either go in pairs, +as man and wife, or in larger groups, and proceed to call on their +friends, to wish them the compliments of the season. Formerly, +these adolescent guizards used to seat themselves in crates, and +accompanied by fiddlers, were dragged through the town."<a id= +"footnotetag686" name="footnotetag686"></a><a href= +"#footnote686"><sup>686</sup></a></p> +<p>[Persian festival of fire at the winter solstice.]</p> +<p>The Persians used to celebrate a festival of fire called +<i>Sada</i> or <i>Saza</i> at the winter solstice. On the longest +night of the year they kindled bonfires everywhere, and kings and +princes tied dry grass to the feet of birds and animals, set fire +to the grass, and then let the birds and beasts fly or run blazing +through the air or over the fields and mountains, so that the whole +air and earth appeared to be on fire.<a id="footnotetag687" name= +"footnotetag687"></a><a href="#footnote687"><sup>687</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect4-8" name="sect4-8">§ 8. <i>The +Need-fire</i></a></h4> +<a id="needfire" name="needfire"></a> +<p>[European festivals of fire in seasons of distress and calamity; +the need-fire.]</p> +<p>The fire-festivals hitherto described are all celebrated +periodically at certain stated times of the year. But besides these +regularly recurring celebrations the peasants in many parts of +Europe have been wont from time immemorial to resort to a ritual of +fire at irregular intervals in seasons of distress and calamity, +above all when their cattle were attacked by epidemic disease. No +account of the popular European fire-festivals would be complete +without some notice of these remarkable rites, which have all the +greater claim on our attention because they may perhaps be regarded +as the source and origin of all the other fire-festivals; certainly +they must date from a very remote antiquity. The general name by +which they are known among the Teutonic peoples is need-fire.<a id= +"footnotetag688" name="footnotetag688"></a><a href= +"#footnote688"><sup>688</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page270" name="page270"></a>[pg +270]</span> <a id="needmiddleages" name="needmiddleages"></a> +<p>[The needfire in the Middle Ages; the needfire at Neustadt in +1598.]</p> +<p>The history of the need-fire can be traced back to early Middle +Ages; for in the reign of Pippin, King of Franks, the practice of +kindling need-fires was denounced as a heathen superstition by a +synod of prelates and nobles held under the presidency of Boniface, +Archbishop of Mainz.<a id="footnotetag689" name= +"footnotetag689"></a><a href="#footnote689"><sup>689</sup></a> Not +long afterwards the custom was again forbidden, along with many +more relics of expiring paganism, in an "Index of Superstitions and +Heathenish Observances," which has been usually referred to the +year 743 A.D., though some scholars assign it a later date under +the reign of Charlemagne.<a id="footnotetag690" name= +"footnotetag690"></a><a href="#footnote690"><sup>690</sup></a> In +Germany the need-fires would seem to have been popular down to the +second half of the nineteenth century. Thus in the year 1598, when +a fatal cattle-plague was raging at Neustadt, near Marburg, a wise +man of the name of Joh. Köhler induced the authorities of the +town to adopt the following remedy. A new waggon-wheel was taken +and twirled round an axle, which had never been used before, until +the friction elicited fire. With this fire a bonfire was next +kindled between the gates of the town, and all the cattle were +driven through the smoke and flames. Moreover, every householder +had to rekindle the fire on his hearth by means of a light taken +from the bonfire. Strange to say, this salutary measure had no +effect whatever in staying the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page271" name="page271"></a>[pg 271]</span> cattle-plague, and +seven years later the sapient Joh. Köhler himself was burnt as +a witch. The farmers, whose pigs and cows had derived no benefit +from the need-fire, perhaps assisted as spectators at the burning, +and, while they shook their heads, agreed among themselves that it +served Joh. Köhler perfectly right.<a id="footnotetag691" +name="footnotetag691"></a><a href="#footnote691"><sup>691</sup></a> +According to a writer who published his book about nine years +afterwards, some of the Germans, especially in the Wassgaw +mountains, confidently believed that a cattle-plague could be +stayed by driving the animals through a need-fire which had been +kindled by the violent friction of a pole on a quantity of dry oak +wood; but it was a necessary condition of success that all fires in +the village should previously be extinguished with water, and any +householder who failed to put out his fire was heavily fined.<a id= +"footnotetag692" name="footnotetag692"></a><a href= +"#footnote692"><sup>692</sup></a></p> +<a id="needmethod" name="needmethod"></a> +<p>[Method kindling the need fire.]</p> +<p>The method of kindling the need-fire is described as follows by +a writer towards the end of the seventeenth century: "When an evil +plague has broken out among the cattle, large and small, and the +herds have thereby suffered great ravages, the peasants resolve to +light a need-fire. On a day appointed there must be no single flame +in any house nor on any hearth. From every house a quantity of +straw and water and underwood must be brought forth; then a strong +oaken pole is fixed firmly in the earth, a hole is bored in it, and +a wooden winch, well smeared with pitch and tar, is inserted in the +hole and turned round forcibly till great heat and then fire is +generated. The fire so produced is caught in fuel and fed with +straw, heath, and underwood till it bursts out into a regular +need-fire, which must then be somewhat spread out between walls or +fences, and the cattle and horses driven through it twice or thrice +with sticks and whips. Others set up two posts, each with a hole in +it, and insert a winch, along with old greasy rags, in the holes. +Others use a thick rope, collect nine kinds of wood, and keep them +in violent motion till fire leaps forth. Perhaps there may be other +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272"></a>[pg +272]</span> ways of generating or kindling this fire, but they are +all directed simply at the cure of the cattle. After passing twice +or thrice through the fire the cattle are driven to their stalls or +to pasture, and the heap of wood that had been collected is +destroyed, but in some places every householder must take with him +a brand, extinguish it in a washing-tub or trough, and put it in +the manger where the cattle are fed, where it must lie for some +time. The poles that were used to make the need-fire, together with +the wood that was employed as a winch, are sometimes burned with +the rest of the fuel, sometimes carefully preserved after the +cattle have been thrice driven through the flames."<a id= +"footnotetag693" name="footnotetag693"></a><a href= +"#footnote693"><sup>693</sup></a></p> +<a id="needhildesheim" name="needhildesheim"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire about Hildesheim.]</p> +<p>Sometimes the need-fire was known as the "wild fire," to +distinguish it no doubt from the tame fire produced by more +ordinary methods. The following is Grimm's account of the mode of +kindling it which prevailed in some parts of Central Germany, +particularly about Hildesheim, down apparently to the first half of +the nineteenth century: "In many places of Lower Saxony, especially +among the mountains, the custom prevails of preparing the so-called +'wild fire' for the purpose of preventing cattle-plague; and +through it first the pigs, then the cows, and last of all the geese +are driven. The proceedings on the occasion are as follows. The +principal farmers and parishioners assemble, and notice is served +to every inhabitant to extinguish entirely all fire in his house, +so that not even a spark remains alight in the whole village. Then +young and old repair to a road in a hollow, usually towards +evening, the women carrying linen, and the men wood and tow. Two +oaken poles are driven into the ground about a foot and a half from +each other. Each pole has in the side facing the other a socket +into which a cross-piece as thick as a man's arm is fitted. The +sockets are stuffed with linen, and the cross-piece is rammed in as +tight as possible, while the poles are bound together at the top by +ropes. A rope is wound about the round, smooth cross-piece, and the +free ends of the rope at both sides are gripped by several +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page273" name="page273"></a>[pg +273]</span> persons, who pull the cross-piece to and fro with the +utmost rapidity, till through the friction the linen in the sockets +takes fire. The sparks of the linen are immediately caught in tow +or oakum and waved about in a circle until they burst into a bright +glow, when straw is applied to it, and the flaming straw used to +kindle the brushwood which has been stacked in piles in the hollow +way. When this wood has blazed up and the fire has nearly died out +again, the people hasten to the herds, which have been waiting in +the background, and drive them forcibly, one after the other, +through the glow. As soon as all the beasts are through, the young +folk rush wildly at the ashes and cinders, sprinkling and +blackening each other with them; those who have been most sprinkled +and blackened march in triumph behind the cattle into the village +and do not wash themselves for a long time. If after long rubbing +the linen should not catch fire, they guess that there is still +fire somewhere in the village; then a strict search is made from +house to house, any fire that may be found is put out, and the +householder is punished or upbraided. The 'wild fire' must be made +by prolonged friction; it may not be struck with flint and steel. +Some villages do not prepare it yearly as a preventive of +cattle-plague, but only kindle it when the disease has actually +broken out."<a id="footnotetag694" name= +"footnotetag694"></a><a href="#footnote694"><sup>694</sup></a> In +the Halberstadt district the ends of the rope which was used to +make the cross-piece revolve in the sockets had to be pulled by two +chaste young men.<a id="footnotetag695" name= +"footnotetag695"></a><a href="#footnote695"><sup>695</sup></a></p> +<a id="needmark" name="needmark"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Mark.]</p> +<p>In the Mark down to the first half of the nineteenth century the +practice was similar. We read that "in many parts of the Mark there +still prevails on certain occasions the custom of kindling a +need-fire, it happens particularly when a farmer has sick pigs. Two +posts of dry wood are planted in the earth amid solemn silence +before the sun rises, and round these posts hempen ropes are pulled +to and fro till the wood kindles; whereupon the fire is fed with +dry leaves and twigs and the sick beasts are driven through it In +some places the fire is produced by the friction of an old +cart-wheel."<a id="footnotetag696" name= +"footnotetag696"></a><a href="#footnote696"><sup>696</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page274" name="page274"></a>[pg +274]</span> <a id="needmecklenburg" name="needmecklenburg"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Mecklenburg]</p> +<p>In Mecklenburg the need-fire used to be lighted by the friction +of a rope wound about an oaken pole or by rubbing two boards +against each other. Having been thus elicited, the flame was fed +with wood of seven kinds. The practice was forbidden by Gustavus +Adolphus, Duke of Mecklenburg, in 1682; but the prohibition +apparently had little effect, for down to the end of the eighteenth +century the custom was so common that the inhabitants even of large +towns made no scruple of resorting to it. For example, in the month +of July 1792 sickness broke out among the cattle belonging to the +town of Sternberg; some of the beasts died suddenly, and so the +people resolved to drive all the survivors through a need-fire. On +the tenth day of July the magistrates issued a proclamation +announcing that next morning before sunrise a need-fire would be +kindled for the behoof of all the cattle of the town, and warning +all the inhabitants against lighting fires in their kitchens that +evening. So next morning very early, about two o'clock, nearly the +whole population was astir, and having assembled outside one of the +gates of the town they helped to drive the timid cattle, not +without much ado, through three separate need-fires; after which +they dispersed to their homes in the unalterable conviction that +they had rescued the cattle from destruction. But to make assurance +doubly sure they deemed it advisable to administer the rest of the +ashes as a bolus to the animals. However, some people in +Mecklenburg used to strew the ashes of the need-fire on fields for +the purpose of protecting the crops against vermin. As late as June +1868 a traveller in Mecklenburg saw a couple of peasants sweating +away at a rope, which they were pulling backwards and forwards so +as to make a tarry roller revolve with great speed in the socket of +an upright post. Asked what they were about, they vouchsafed no +reply; but an old woman who appeared on the scene from a +neighbouring cottage was more communicative. In the fulness of her +heart she confided to the stranger that her pigs were sick, that +the two taciturn bumpkins were her sons, who were busy extracting a +need-fire from the roller, and that, when they succeeded, the flame +would be used to ignite a heap of rags and brushwood, through which +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page275" name="page275"></a>[pg +275]</span> the ailing swine would be driven. She further explained +that the persons who kindle a need-fire should always be two +brothers or at least bear the same Christian name.<a id= +"footnotetag697" name="footnotetag697"></a><a href= +"#footnote697"><sup>697</sup></a></p> +<a id="needhanover" name="needhanover"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Hanover.]</p> +<p>In the summer of 1828 there was much sickness among the pigs and +the cows of Eddesse, a village near Meinersen, in the south of +Hanover. When all ordinary measures to arrest the malady failed, +the farmers met in solemn conclave on the village green and +determined that next morning there should be a need-fire. Thereupon +the head man of the village sent word from house to house that on +the following day nobody should kindle a fire before sunrise, and +that everybody should stand by ready to drive out the cattle. The +same afternoon all the necessary preparations were made for giving +effect to the decision of the collective wisdom. A narrow street +was enclosed with planks, and the village carpenter set to work at +the machinery for kindling the fire. He took two posts of oak wood, +bored a hole about three inches deep and broad in each, and set the +two poles up facing each other at a distance of about two feet. +Then he fitted a roller of oak wood into the two holes of the +posts, so that it formed a cross-piece between them. About two +o'clock next morning every householder brought a bundle of straw +and brushwood and laid it down across the street in a prescribed +order. The sturdiest swains who could be found were chosen to make +the need-fire. For this purpose a long hempen rope was wound twice +round the oaken roller in the oaken posts: the pivots were well +smeared with pitch and tar: a bundle of tow and other tinder was +laid close at hand, and all was ready. The stalwart clodhoppers now +seized the two ends of the rope and went to work with a will. Puffs +of smoke soon issued from the sockets, but to the consternation of +the bystanders not a spark of fire could be elicited. Some people +openly declared their suspicion that some rascal had not put out +the fire in his house, when suddenly the tinder burst into flame. +The cloud passed away from all faces; the fire was applied to the +heaps of fuel, and when the flames had somewhat died down, the +herds were forcibly driven through the fire, first the pigs, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276"></a>[pg +276]</span> next the cows, and last of all the horses. The herdsmen +then drove the beasts to pasture, and persons whose faith in the +efficacy of the need-fire was particularly robust carried home +brands.<a id="footnotetag698" name="footnotetag698"></a><a href= +"#footnote698"><sup>698</sup></a></p> +<a id="needharz" name="needharz"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Harz Mountains.]</p> +<p>Again, at a village near Quedlinburg, in the Harz Mountains, it +was resolved to put a herd of sick swine through the need-fire. +Hearing of this intention the Superintendent of Quedlinburg hurried +to the spot and has described for us what he saw. The beadles went +from house to house to see that there was no fire in any house; for +it is well known that should there be common fire burning in a +house the need-fire will not kindle. The men made their rounds very +early in the morning to make quite sure that all lights were out. +At two o'clock a night-light was still burning in the parsonage, +and this was of course a hindrance to the need-fire. The peasants +knocked at the window and earnestly entreated that the night-light +might be extinguished. But the parson's wife refused to put the +light out; it still glimmered at the window; and in the darkness +outside the angry rustics vowed that the parson's pigs should get +no benefit of the need-fire. However, as good luck would have it, +just as the morning broke, the night-light went out of itself, and +the hopes of the people revived. From every house bundles of straw, +tow, faggots and so forth were now carried to feed the bonfire. The +noise and the cheerful bustle were such that you might have thought +they were all hurrying to witness a public execution. Outside the +village, between two garden walls, an oaken post had been driven +into the ground and a hole bored through it. In the hole a wooden +winch, smeared with tar, was inserted and made to revolve with such +force and rapidity that fire and smoke in time issued from the +socket. The collected fuel was then thrown upon the fire and soon a +great blaze shot up. The pigs were now driven into the upper end of +the street. As soon as they saw the fire, they turned tail, but the +peasants drove them through with shrieks and shouts and lashes of +whips. At the other end of the street there was another crowd +waiting, who <span class="pagenum"><a id="page277" name= +"page277"></a>[pg 277]</span> chased the swine back through the +fire a second time. Then the other crowd repeated the manoeuvre, +and the herd of swine was driven for the third time through the +smoke and flames. That was the end of the performance. Many pigs +were scorched so severely that they gave up the ghost. The bonfire +was broken up, and every householder took home with him a brand, +which he washed in the water-barrel and laid for some time, as a +treasure of great price, in the manger from which the cattle were +fed. But the parson's wife had reason bitterly to repent her folly +in refusing to put out that night-light; for not one of her pigs +was driven through the need-fire, so they died.<a id= +"footnotetag699" name="footnotetag699"></a><a href= +"#footnote699"><sup>699</sup></a></p> +<a id="needbrunswick" name="needbrunswick"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Brunswick.]</p> +<p>In Brunswick, also, the need-fire is known to have been +repeatedly kindled during the nineteenth century. After driving the +pigs through the fire, which was kindled by the friction of wood, +some people took brands home, dipped them in water, and then gave +the water to the pigs to drink, no doubt for the purpose of +inoculating them still more effectually with the precious virtue of +the need-fire. In the villages of the Drömling district +everybody who bore a hand in kindling the "wild fire" must have the +same Christian name; otherwise they laboured in vain. The fire was +produced by the friction of a rope round the beams of a door; and +bread, corn, and old boots contributed their mites to swell the +blaze through which the pigs as usual were driven. In one place, +apparently not far from Wolfenbüttel, the needfire is said to +have been kindled, contrary to custom, by the smith striking a +spark from the cold anvil.<a id="footnotetag700" name= +"footnotetag700"></a><a href="#footnote700"><sup>700</sup></a> At +Gandersheim down to about the beginning of the nineteenth century +the need-fire was lit in the common way by causing a cross-bar to +revolve rapidly on its axis between two upright posts. The rope +which produced the revolution of the bar had to be new, but it was +if possible woven from threads taken from a gallows-rope, with +which people had been hanged. While the need-fire was being kindled +in this fashion, every other fire in the town had to be put out; +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page278" name="page278"></a>[pg +278]</span> search was made through the houses, and any fire +discovered to be burning was extinguished. If in spite of every +precaution no flame could be elicited by the friction of the rope, +the failure was set down to witchcraft; but if the efforts were +successful, a bonfire was lit with the new fire, and when the +flames had died down, the sick swine were driven thrice through the +glowing embers.<a id="footnotetag701" name= +"footnotetag701"></a><a href="#footnote701"><sup>701</sup></a> On +the lower Rhine the need-fire is said to have been kindled by the +friction of oak-wood on fir-wood, all fires in the village having +been previously extinguished. The bonfires so kindled were composed +of wood of nine different sorts; there were three such bonfires, +and the cattle were driven round them with great gravity and +devotion.<a id="footnotetag702" name="footnotetag702"></a><a href= +"#footnote702"><sup>702</sup></a></p> +<a id="needsilesia" name="needsilesia"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Silesia and Bohemia.]</p> +<p>In Silesia, also, need-fires were often employed for the purpose +of curing a murrain or preventing its spread. While all other +lights within the boundaries were extinguished, the new fire was +produced by the friction of nine kinds of wood, and the flame so +obtained was used to kindle heaps of brushwood or straw to which +every inhabitant had contributed. Through these fires the cattle, +both sick and sound, were driven in the confident expectation that +thereby the sick would be healed and the sound saved from +sickness.<a id="footnotetag703" name="footnotetag703"></a><a href= +"#footnote703"><sup>703</sup></a> When plague breaks out among the +herds at Dobischwald, in Austrian Silesia, a splinter of wood is +chipped from the threshold of every house, the cattle are driven to +a cross-road, and there a tree, growing at the boundary, is felled +by a pair of twin brothers. The wood of the tree and the splinters +from the thresholds furnish the fuel of a bonfire, which is kindled +by the rubbing of two pieces of wood together. When the bonfire is +ablaze, the horns of the cattle are pared and the parings thrown +into the flames, after which the animals are driven through the +fire. This is believed to guard the herd against the plague.<a id= +"footnotetag704" name="footnotetag704"></a><a href= +"#footnote704"><sup>704</sup></a> The Germans of Western Bohemia +resort to similar measures for staying a murrain. You set up a +post, bore a hole in it, and insert in the hole a stick, which you +have first of all smeared <span class="pagenum"><a id="page279" +name="page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> with pitch and wrapt in +inflammable stuffs. Then you wind a rope round the stick and give +the two ends of the rope to two persons who must either be brothers +or have the same baptismal name. They haul the rope backwards and +forwards so as to make the tarred stick revolve rapidly, till the +rope first smokes and then emits sparks. The sparks are used to +kindle a bonfire, through which the cattle are driven in the usual +way. And as usual no other fire may burn in the village while the +need-fire is being kindled; for otherwise the rope could not +possibly be ignited.<a id="footnotetag705" name= +"footnotetag705"></a><a href="#footnote705"><sup>705</sup></a> In +Upper Austria sick pigs are reported to have been driven through a +need-fire about the beginning of the nineteenth century.<a id= +"footnotetag706" name="footnotetag706"></a><a href= +"#footnote706"><sup>706</sup></a></p> +<a id="needswitzerland" name="needswitzerland"></a> +<p>[The use the need-fire in Switzerland.]</p> +<p>The need-fire is still in use in some parts of Switzerland, but +it seems to have degenerated into a children's game and to be +employed rather for the dispersal of a mist than for the prevention +or cure of cattle-plague. In some cantons it goes by the name of +"mist-healing," while in others it is called "butter-churning." On +a misty or rainy day a number of children will shut themselves up +in a stable or byre and proceed to make fire for the purpose of +improving the weather. The way in which they make it is this. A boy +places a board against his breast, takes a peg pointed at both +ends, and, setting one end of the peg against the board on his +breast, presses the other end firmly against a second board, the +surface of which has been flaked into a nap. A string is tied round +the peg, and two other boys pull it to and fro, till through the +rapid motion of the point of the peg a hole is burnt in the flaked +board, to which tow or dry moss is then applied as a tinder. In +this way fire and smoke are elicited, and with their appearance the +children fancy that the mist will vanish.<a id="footnotetag707" +name="footnotetag707"></a><a href="#footnote707"><sup>707</sup></a> +We may conjecture that this method of dispersing a mist, which is +now left to children, was formerly practised in all seriousness by +grown men in Switzerland. It is thus that religious or magical +rites dwindle away into the sports <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page280" name="page280"></a>[pg 280]</span> of children. In the +canton of the Grisons there is still in common use an imprecation, +"Mist, go away, or I'll heal you," which points to an old custom of +burning up the fog with fire. A longer form of the curse lingers in +the Vallée des Bagnes of the canton Valais. It runs thus: +"Mist, mist, fly, fly, or St. Martin will come with a sheaf of +straw to burn your guts, a great log of wood to smash your brow, +and an iron chain to drag you to hell."<a id="footnotetag708" name= +"footnotetag708"></a><a href="#footnote708"><sup>708</sup></a></p> +<a id="needsweden" name="needsweden"></a> +<p>[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Sweden and Norway; the +need-fire as a protection against witchcraft.]</p> +<p>In Sweden the need-fire is called, from the mode of its +production, either <i>vrid-eld</i>, "turned fire," or +<i>gnid-eld</i>, "rubbed fire." Down to near the end of the +eighteenth century the need-fire was kindled, as in Germany, by the +violent rubbing of two pieces of wood against each other; sometimes +nine different kinds of wood were used for the purpose. The smoke +of the fire was deemed salutary; fruit-trees and nets were +fumigated with it, in order that the trees might bear fruit and the +nets catch fish. Cattle were also driven through the smoke.<a id= +"footnotetag709" name="footnotetag709"></a><a href= +"#footnote709"><sup>709</sup></a> In Sundal, a narrow Norwegian +valley, shut in on both sides by precipitous mountains, there lived +down to the second half of the nineteenth century an old man who +was very superstitious. He set salmon-traps in the river Driva, +which traverses the valley, and he caught many fish both in spring +and autumn. When his fishing went wrong, he kindled <i>naueld</i> +("need-fire") or <i>gnideild</i> ("rubbed fire," "friction fire") +to counteract the witchcraft, which he believed to be the cause of +his bad luck. He set up two planks near each other, bored a hole in +each, inserted a pointed rod in the holes, and twisted a long cord +round the rod. Then he pulled the cord so as to make the rod +revolve rapidly. Thus by reason of the friction he at last drew +fire from the wood. That contented him, for "he believed that the +witchery was thus rendered powerless, and that good luck in his +fishing was now ensured."<a id="footnotetag710" name= +"footnotetag710"></a><a href="#footnote710"><sup>710</sup></a></p> +<a id="needslavonic" name="needslavonic"></a> +<p>[The need-fire among the Slavonic peoples.]</p> +<p>Slavonic peoples hold the need-fire in high esteem. <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page281" name="page281"></a>[pg 281]</span> They +call it "living fire," and attribute to it a healing virtue. The +ascription of medicinal power to fire kindled by the friction of +wood is said to be especially characteristic of the Slavs who +inhabit the Carpathian Mountains and the Balkan peninsula. The mode +in which they produce the need-fire differs somewhat in different +places. Thus in the Schar mountains of Servia the task is entrusted +to a boy and girl between eleven and fourteen years of age. They +are led into a perfectly dark room, and having stripped themselves +naked kindle the fire by rubbing two rollers of lime wood against +each other, till the friction produces sparks, which are caught in +tinder. The Serbs of Western Macedonia drive two oaken posts into +the ground, bore a round hole in the upper end of each, insert a +roller of lime wood in the holes, and set it revolving rapidly by +means of a cord, which is looped round the roller and worked by a +bow. Elsewhere the roller is put in motion by two men, who hold +each one end of the cord and pull it backwards and forwards +forcibly between them. Bulgarian shepherds sometimes kindle the +need-fire by drawing a prism-shaped piece of lime wood to and fro +across the flat surface of a tree-stump in the forest.<a id= +"footnotetag711" name="footnotetag711"></a><a href= +"#footnote711"><sup>711</sup></a> But in the neighbourhood of +Küstendil, in Bulgaria, the need-fire is kindled by the +friction of two pieces of oak wood and the cattle are driven +through it.<a id="footnotetag712" name= +"footnotetag712"></a><a href="#footnote712"><sup>712</sup></a></p> +<a id="needrussia" name="needrussia"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Russia and Poland; the need-fire in +Slavonia.]</p> +<p>In many districts of Russia, also, "living fire" is made by the +friction of wood on St. John's Day, and the herds are driven +through it, and the people leap over it in the conviction that +their health is thereby assured; when a cattle-plague is raging, +the fire is produced by rubbing two pieces of oak wood against each +other, and it is used to kindle the lamps before the holy pictures +and the censers in the churches.<a id="footnotetag713" name= +"footnotetag713"></a><a href="#footnote713"><sup>713</sup></a> Thus +it appears that in Russia the need-fire is kindled for the sake of +the cattle periodically as well as on special emergencies. +Similarly in Poland the peasants are said to kindle fires in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page282" name="page282"></a>[pg +282]</span> the village streets on St. Rochus's day and to drive +the cattle thrice through them in order to protect the animals +against the murrain. The fire is produced by rubbing a pole of +poplar wood on a plank of poplar or fir wood and catching the +sparks in tow. The embers are carried home to be used as remedies +in sickness.<a id="footnotetag714" name= +"footnotetag714"></a><a href="#footnote714"><sup>714</sup></a> As +practised in Slavonia, the custom of the need-fire used to present +some interesting features, which are best described in the words of +an eyewitness:—"In the year 1833 I came for the first time as +a young merchant to Slavonia; it was to Gaj that I went, in the +Pozega district. The time was autumn, and it chanced that a +cattle-plague was raging in the neighbourhood, which inflicted much +loss on the people. The peasants believed that the plague was a +woman, an evil spirit (<i>Kutga</i>), who was destroying the +cattle; so they sought to banish her. I had then occasion to +observe the proceedings in the villages of Gaj, Kukunjevac, +Brezina, and Brekinjska. Towards evening the whole population of +the village was busy laying a ring of brushwood round the +boundaries of the village. All fires were extinguished throughout +the village. Then pairs of men in several places took pieces of +wood, which had been specially prepared for the purpose, and rubbed +them together till they emitted sparks. The sparks were allowed to +fall on tinder and fanned into a flame, with which the dry +brushwood was kindled. Thus the fire burned all round the village. +The peasants persuaded themselves that thereupon <i>Kuga</i> must +take her departure."<a id="footnotetag715" name= +"footnotetag715"></a><a href="#footnote715"><sup>715</sup></a></p> +<a id="needservia" name="needservia"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Servia.]</p> +<p>This last account leaves no doubt as to the significance of the +need-fire in the minds of Slavonian peasantry. They regard it +simply as a barrier interposed between their cattle and the evil +spirit, which prowls, like a hungry wolf, round the fold and can, +like a wolf, be kept at bay by fire. The same interpretation of the +need-fire comes out, hardly less clearly, in the account which +another writer gives of a ceremony witnessed by him at the village +of Setonje, at the foot of the Homolje mountains in the great +forest of Servia. An <span class="pagenum"><a id="page283" name= +"page283"></a>[pg 283]</span> epidemic was raging among the +children, and the need-fire was resorted to as a means of staying +the plague. It was produced by an old man and an old woman in the +first of the ways described above; that is, they made it in the +dark by rubbing two sticks of lime wood against each other. Before +the healing virtue of the fire was applied to the inhabitants of +the village, two old women performed the following ceremony. Both +bore the name of Stana, from the verb <i>stati</i>, "to remain +standing"; for the ceremony could not be successfully performed by +persons of any other name. One of them carried a copper kettle full +of water, the other an old house-lock with the key. Thus equipped +they repaired to a spot outside of the village, and there the old +dame with the kettle asked the old dame with the lock, "Whither +away?" and the other answered her, "I came to shut the village +against ill-luck." With that she locked the lock and threw it with +the key into the kettle of water. Then they marched thrice round +the village, repeating the ceremony of the lock and key at each +round. Meantime all the villagers, arrayed in their best clothes, +were assembled in an open place. All the fires in the houses had +been previously extinguished. Two sturdy yokels now dug a tunnel +through a mound beside an oak tree; the tunnel was just high enough +to let a man creep through it on all fours. Two fires, lit by the +need-fire, were now laid, one at each end of the tunnel; and the +old woman with the kettle took her stand at the entrance of the +tunnel, while the one with the lock posted herself at the exit. +Facing the latter stood another woman with a great pot of milk +before her, and on the other side was set a pot full of melted +swine's fat. All was now ready. The villagers thereupon crawled +through the tunnel on hands and knees, one behind the other. Each, +as he emerged from the tunnel, received a spoonful of milk from the +woman and looked at his face reflected in the pot of melted swine's +fat. Then another woman made a cross with a piece of charcoal on +his back. When all the inhabitants had thus crept through the +tunnel and been doctored at the other end, each took some glowing +embers home with him in a pot wherewith to rekindle the fire on the +domestic hearth. Lastly they put some of the charcoal in a vessel +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page284" name="page284"></a>[pg +284]</span> of water and drank the mixture in order to be thereby +magically protected against the epidemic.<a id="footnotetag716" +name="footnotetag716"></a><a href= +"#footnote716"><sup>716</sup></a></p> +<p>It would be superfluous to point out in detail how admirably +these measures are calculated to arrest the ravages of disease; but +for the sake of those, if there are any, to whom the medicinal +effect of crawling through a hole on hands and knees is not at once +apparent, I shall merely say that the procedure in question is one +of the most powerful specifics which the wit of man has devised for +maladies of all sorts. Ample evidence of its application will be +adduced in a later part of this work.<a id="footnotetag717" name= +"footnotetag717"></a><a href="#footnote717"><sup>717</sup></a></p> +<a id="needbulgaria" name="needbulgaria"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Bulgaria.]</p> +<p>In Bulgaria the herds suffer much from the raids of certain +blood-sucking vampyres called <i>Ustrels</i>. An <i>Ustrel</i> is +the spirit of a Christian child who was born on a Saturday and died +unfortunately before he could be baptized. On the ninth day after +burial he grubs his way out of the grave and attacks the cattle at +once, sucking their blood all night and returning at peep of dawn +to the grave to rest from his labours. In ten days or so the +copious draughts of blood which he has swallowed have so fortified +his constitution that he can undertake longer journeys; so when he +falls in with great herds of cattle or flocks of sheep he returns +no more to the grave for rest and refreshment at night, but takes +up his quarters during the day either between the horns of a sturdy +calf or ram or between the hind legs of a milch-cow. Beasts whose +blood he has sucked die the same night. In any herd that he may +fasten on he begins with the fattest animal and works his way down +steadily through the leaner kine till not one single beast is left +alive. The carcases of the victims swell up, and when the hide is +stripped off you can always perceive the livid patch of flesh where +the monster sucked the blood of the poor creature. In a single +night he may, by working hard, kill five cows; but he seldom +exceeds that number. He can change his shape and weight very +easily; for example, when he is sitting by day between the horns of +a ram, the animal scarcely feels his weight, but at night he will +sometimes throw himself on an ox or a cow <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page285" name="page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> so +heavily that the animal cannot stir, and lows so pitifully that it +would make your heart bleed to hear. People who were born on a +Saturday can see these monsters, and they have described them +accurately, so that there can be no doubt whatever about their +existence. It is, therefore, a matter of great importance to the +peasant to protect his flocks and herds against the ravages of such +dangerous vampyres. The way in which he does so is this. On a +Saturday morning before sunrise the village drummer gives the +signal to put out every fire in the village; even smoking is +forbidden. Next all the domestic animals, with the exception of +fowls, geese, and ducks, are driven out into the open. In front of +the flocks and herds march two men, whose names during the ceremony +may not be mentioned in the village. They go into the wood, pick +two dry branches, and having stript themselves of their clothes +they rub the two branches together very hard till they catch fire; +then with the fire so obtained they kindle two bonfires, one on +each side of a cross-road which is known to be frequented by +wolves. After that the herd is driven between the two fires. Coals +from the bonfires are then taken back to the village and used to +rekindle the fires on the domestic hearths. For several days no one +may go near the charred and blackened remains of the bonfires at +the cross-road. The reason is that the vampyre is lying there, +having dropped from his seat between the cow's horns when the +animals were driven between the two fires. So if any one were to +pass by the spot during these days, the monster would be sure to +call him by name and to follow him to the village; whereas if he is +left alone, a wolf will come at midnight and strangle him, and in a +few days the herdsmen can see the ground soaked with his slimy +blood. So that is the end of the vampyre.<a id="footnotetag718" +name="footnotetag718"></a><a href="#footnote718"><sup>718</sup></a> +In this Bulgarian custom, as in the Slavonian custom described +above, the conception of the need-fire as a barrier set up between +the cattle and a dangerous spirit is clearly worked out. The spirit +rides the cow till he comes to the narrow pass between the two +fires, but the heat there is too much for him; he drops in a faint +from the saddle, or rather from the horns, and the now riderless +animal escapes safe and sound <span class="pagenum"><a id="page286" +name="page286"></a>[pg 286]</span> beyond the smoke and flame, +leaving her persecutor prostrate on the ground on the further side +of the blessed barrier.</p> +<a id="needbosnia" name="needbosnia"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina.]</p> +<p>In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are some local differences in +the mode of kindling the need-fire, or "living fire," as it is +called. Thus at Jablanica both the uprights and the roller or +cross-piece, which by its revolution kindles the fire, are made of +cornel-tree wood; whereas at Dolac, near Sarajevo, the uprights and +the cross-piece or roller are all made of lime wood. In Gacko, +contrary to the usual custom, the fire is made by striking a piece +of iron on an anvil, till sparks are given out, which are caught in +tinder. The "living fire" thus produced is employed for purposes of +healing. In particular, if any one suffers from wounds or sores, +ashes of the need-fire are sprinkled on the ailing part. In Gacko +it is also believed that if a pregnant woman witnesses a +conflagration, her child will either be born with a red eruption on +its skin or will contract the malady sooner or later afterwards. +The only remedy consists in ashes of the need-fire, which are mixed +with water and given to the child to drink.<a id="footnotetag719" +name="footnotetag719"></a><a href= +"#footnote719"><sup>719</sup></a></p> +<a id="needengland" name="needengland"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in England; the need-fire in Yorkshire.]</p> +<p>In England the earliest notice of the need-fire seems to be +contained in the Chronicle of Lanercost for the year 1268. The +annalist tells with pious horror how, when an epidemic was raging +in that year among the cattle, "certain beastly men, monks in garb +but not in mind, taught the idiots of their country to make fire by +the friction of wood and to set up an image of Priapus, whereby +they thought to succour the animals."<a id="footnotetag720" name= +"footnotetag720"></a><a href="#footnote720"><sup>720</sup></a> The +use of the need-fire is particularly attested for the counties of +Yorkshire and Northumberland. Thus in Yorkshire down to the middle +of the eighteenth century "the favourite remedy of the country +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page287" name="page287"></a>[pg +287]</span> people, not only in the way of cure, but of prevention, +was an odd one; it was to smoke the cattle almost to suffocation, +by kindling straw, litter, and other combustible matter about them. +The effects of this mode of cure are not stated, but the most +singular part of it was that by which it was reported to have been +discovered. An angel (says the legend), descended into Yorkshire, +and there set a large tree on fire; the strange appearance of which +or else the savour of the smoke, incited the cattle around (some of +which were infected) to draw near the miracle, when they all either +received an immediate cure or an absolute prevention of the +disorder. It is not affirmed that the angel staid to speak to +anybody, but only that he left a <i>written</i> direction for the +neighbouring people to catch this supernatural fire, and to +communicate it from one to another with all possible speed +throughout the country; and in case it should be extinguished and +utterly lost, that then new fire, of equal virtue, might be +obtained, not by any common method, but by rubbing two pieces of +wood together till they ignited. Upon what foundation this story +stood, is not exactly known, but it put the farmers actually into a +hurry of communicating flame and smoke from one house to another +with wonderful speed, making it run like wildfire over the +country."<a id="footnotetag721" name="footnotetag721"></a><a href= +"#footnote721"><sup>721</sup></a> Again, we read that "the father +of the writer, who died in 1843, in his seventy-ninth year, had a +perfect remembrance of a great number of persons, belonging to the +upper and middle classes of his native parish of Bowes, assembling +on the banks of the river Greta to work for need-fire. A disease +among cattle, called the murrain, then prevailed to a very great +extent through that district of Yorkshire. The cattle were made to +pass through the smoke raised by this miraculous fire, and their +cure was looked upon as certain, and to neglect doing so was looked +upon as wicked. This fire was produced by the violent and continued +friction of two dry pieces of wood until such time as it was +thereby obtained. 'To work as though one was working for need-fire' +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288"></a>[pg +288]</span> is a common proverb in the North of England."<a id= +"footnotetag722" name="footnotetag722"></a><a href= +"#footnote722"><sup>722</sup></a> At Ingleton, a small town +nestling picturesquely at the foot of the high hill of Ingleborough +in western Yorkshire, "within the last thirty years or so it was a +common practice to kindle the so-called 'Need-fire' by rubbing two +pieces of wood briskly together, and setting ablaze a large heap of +sticks and brushwood, which were dispersed, and cattle then driven +through the smoking brands. This was thought to act as a charm +against the spread or developement of the various ailments to which +cattle are liable, and the farmers seem to have had great faith in +it."<a id="footnotetag723" name="footnotetag723"></a><a href= +"#footnote723"><sup>723</sup></a> Writing about the middle of the +nineteenth century, Kemble tells us that the will-fire or need-fire +had been used in Devonshire for the purpose of staying a murrain +within the memory of man.<a id="footnotetag724" name= +"footnotetag724"></a><a href="#footnote724"><sup>724</sup></a></p> +<a id="neednorthumberland" name="neednorthumberland"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Northumberland.]</p> +<p>So in Northumberland, down to the first half of the nineteenth +century, "when a contagious disease enters among cattle, the fires +are extinguished in the adjacent villages. Two pieces of dried wood +are then rubbed together until fire be produced; with this a +quantity of straw is kindled, juniper is thrown into the flame, and +the cattle are repeatedly driven through the smoke. Part of the +forced fire is sent to the neighbours, who again forward it to +others, and, as great expedition is used, the fires may be seen +blazing over a great extent of country in a very short space of +time."<a id="footnotetag725" name="footnotetag725"></a><a href= +"#footnote725"><sup>725</sup></a> "It is strange," says the +antiquary William Henderson, writing about 1866, "to find the +custom of lighting 'need-fires' on the occasion of epidemics among +cattle still lingering among us, but so it is. The vicar of +Stamfordham writes thus <span class="pagenum"><a id="page289" name= +"page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> respecting it: 'When the murrain +broke out among the cattle about eighteen years ago, this fire was +produced by rubbing two pieces of dry wood together, and was +carried from place to place all through this district, as a charm +against cattle taking the disease. Bonfires were kindled with it, +and the cattle driven into the smoke, where they were left for some +time. Many farmers hereabouts, I am informed, had the +need-fire.'"<a id="footnotetag726" name= +"footnotetag726"></a><a href="#footnote726"><sup>726</sup></a></p> +<a id="needscotland" name="needscotland"></a> +<p>[Martin's account of the need-fire in the Highlands of +Scotland.]</p> +<p>In the earliest systematic account of the western islands of +Scotland we read that "the inhabitants here did also make use of a +fire called <i>Tin-egin, i.e.</i> a forced fire, or fire of +necessity, which they used as an antidote against the plague or +murrain in cattle; and it was performed thus: all the fires in the +parish were extinguished, and then eighty-one married men, being +thought the necessary number for effecting this design, took two +great planks of wood, and nine of them were employed by turns, who +by their repeated efforts rubbed one of the planks against the +other until the heat thereof produced fire; and from this forced +fire each family is supplied with new fire, which is no sooner +kindled than a pot full of water is quickly set on it, and +afterwards sprinkled upon the people infected with the plague, or +upon the cattle that have the murrain. And this they all say they +find successful by experience: it was practised in the main land, +opposite to the south of Skie, within these thirty years."<a id= +"footnotetag727" name="footnotetag727"></a><a href= +"#footnote727"><sup>727</sup></a></p> +<a id="needmull" name="needmull"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in the island of Mull; sacrifice of a +heifer.]</p> +<p>In the island of Mull, one of the largest of the Hebrides, the +need-fire was kindled as late as 1767. "In consequence of a disease +among the black cattle the people agreed to perform an incantation, +though they esteemed it a wicked thing. They carried to the top of +Carnmoor a wheel and nine spindles of oakwood. They extinguished +every fire in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page290" name= +"page290"></a>[pg 290]</span> every house within sight of the hill; +the wheel was then turned from east to west over the nine spindles +long enough to produce fire by friction. If the fire were not +produced before noon, the incantation lost its effect. They failed +for several days running. They attributed this failure to the +obstinacy of one householder, who would not let his fires be put +out for what he considered so wrong a purpose. However, by bribing +his servants they contrived to have them extinguished and on that +morning raised their fire. They then sacrificed a heifer, cutting +in pieces and burning, while yet alive, the diseased part. They +then lighted their own hearths from the pile and ended by feasting +on the remains. Words of incantation were repeated by an old man +from Morven, who came over as master of the ceremonies, and who +continued speaking all the time the fire was being raised. This man +was living a beggar at Bellochroy. Asked to repeat the spell, he +said, the sin of repeating it once had brought him to beggary, and +that he dared not say those words again. The whole country believed +him accursed."<a id="footnotetag728" name= +"footnotetag728"></a><a href="#footnote728"><sup>728</sup></a> From +this account we see that in Mull the kindling of the need-fire as a +remedy for cattle disease was accompanied by the sacrifice of one +of the diseased animals; and though the two customs are for the +most part mentioned separately by our authorities, we may surmise +that they were often, perhaps usually, practised together for the +purpose of checking the ravages of sickness in the herds.<a id= +"footnotetag729" name="footnotetag729"></a><a href= +"#footnote729"><sup>729</sup></a></p> +<a id="needcaithness" name="needcaithness"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Caithness.]</p> +<p>In the county of Caithness, forming the extreme northeast corner +of the mainland of Scotland, the practice of the need-fire survived +down at least to about 1788. We read that "in those days, when the +stock of any considerable farmer was seized with the murrain, he +would send for one of the charm-doctors to superintend the raising +of a <i>need-fire</i>. It was done by friction, thus; upon any +small island, where the stream of a river or burn ran on each side, +a circular booth was erected, of stone and turf, as it could be +had, in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name= +"page291"></a>[pg 291]</span> which a semicircular or highland +couple of birch, or other hard wood, was set; and, in short, a roof +closed on it. A straight pole was set up in the centre of this +building, the upper end fixed by a wooden pin to the top of the +couple, and the lower end in an oblong <i>trink</i> in the earth or +floor; and lastly, another pole was set across horizontally, having +both ends tapered, one end of which was supported in a hole in the +side of the perpendicular pole, and the other in a similar hole in +the couple leg. The horizontal stick was called the auger, having +four short arms or levers fixed in its centre, to work it by; the +building having been thus finished, as many men as could be +collected in the vicinity, (being divested of all kinds of metal in +their clothes, etc.), would set to work with the said auger, two +after two, constantly turning it round by the arms or levers, and +others occasionally driving wedges of wood or stone behind the +lower end of the upright pole, so as to press it the more on the +end of the auger: by this constant friction and pressure, the ends +of the auger would take fire, from which a fire would be instantly +kindled, and thus the <i>needfire</i> would be accomplished. The +fire in the farmer's house, etc., was immediately quenched with +water, a fire kindled from this needfire, both in the farm-houses +and offices, and the cattle brought to feel the smoke of this new +and sacred fire, which preserved them from the murrain."<a id= +"footnotetag730" name="footnotetag730"></a><a href= +"#footnote730"><sup>730</sup></a></p> +<a id="needcaithness2" name="needcaithness2"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Caithness.]</p> +<p>The last recorded case of the need-fire in Caithness happened in +1809 or 1810. At Houstry, Dunbeath, a crofter named David Gunn had +made for himself a kail-yard and in doing so had wilfully +encroached on one of those prehistoric ruins called <i>brochs</i>, +which the people of the neighbourhood believed to be a fairy +habitation. Soon afterwards a murrain broke out among the cattle of +the district and carried off many beasts. So the wise men put their +heads together and resolved to light a <i>teine-eigin</i> or +need-fire as the best way of stopping the plague. They cut a branch +from a tree in a neighbouring wood, stripped it of bark, and +carried it to a small island in the Houstry Burn. Every fire in the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page292" name="page292"></a>[pg +292]</span> district having been quenched, new fire was made by the +friction of wood in the island, and from this sacred flame all the +hearths of the houses were lit afresh. One of the sticks used in +making the fire was preserved down to about the end of the +nineteenth century; apparently the mode of operation was the one +known as the fire-drill: a pointed stick was twirled in a hole made +in another stick till fire was elicited by the friction.<a id= +"footnotetag731" name="footnotetag731"></a><a href= +"#footnote731"><sup>731</sup></a></p> +<p>[Another account of the need-fire in the Highlands.]</p> +<p>Another account of the use of need-fire in the Highlands of +Scotland runs as follows: "When, by the neglect of the prescribed +safeguards [against witchcraft], the seeds of iniquity have taken +root, and a person's means are decaying in consequence, the only +alternative, in this case, is to resort to that grand remedy, the +<i>Tein Econuch</i>, or 'Forlorn Fire,' which seldom fails of being +productive of the best effects. The cure for witchcraft, called +<i>Tein Econuch</i>, is wrought in the following manner:—A +consultation being held by the unhappy sufferer and his friends as +to the most advisable measures of effecting a cure, if this process +is adopted, notice is privately communicated to all those +householders who reside within the nearest of two running streams, +to extinguish their lights and fires on some appointed morning. On +its being ascertained that this notice has been duly observed, a +spinning-wheel, or some other convenient instrument, calculated to +produce fire by friction, is set to work with the most furious +earnestness by the unfortunate sufferer, and all who wish well to +his cause. Relieving each other by turns, they drive on with such +persevering diligence, that at length the spindle of the wheel, +ignited by excessive friction, emits 'forlorn fire' in abundance, +which, by the application of tow, or some other combustible +material, is widely extended over the whole neighbourhood. +Communicating the fire to the tow, the tow communicates it to a +candle, the candle to a fir-torch, the torch to a cartful of peats, +which the master of the ceremonies, with pious ejaculations for the +success of the experiment, distributes to messengers, who will +proceed with portions of it to the different houses within the said +two running streams, to kindle the different fires. By the +influence <span class="pagenum"><a id="page293" name= +"page293"></a>[pg 293]</span> of this operation, the machinations +and spells of witchcraft are rendered null and void."<a id= +"footnotetag732" name="footnotetag732"></a><a href= +"#footnote732"><sup>732</sup></a></p> +<a id="needcarmichael" name="needcarmichael"></a> +<p>[Alexander Carmichael's account of the need-fire in the +Highlands of Scotland during the nineteenth century.]</p> +<p>In various parts of the Highlands of Scotland the needfire was +still kindled during the first half of the nineteenth century, as +we learn from the following account:—</p> +<p>"<i>Tein-eigin</i>, neid-fire, need-fire, forced fire, fire +produced by the friction of wood or iron against wood.</p> +<p>"The fire of purification was kindled from the neid-fire, while +the domestic fire on the hearth was re-kindled from the +purification fire on the knoll. Among other names, the purification +fire was called <i>Teine Bheuil</i>, fire of Beul, and <i>Teine mor +Bheuil</i>, great fire of Beul. The fire of Beul was divided into +two fires between which people and cattle rushed australly for +purposes of purification. The ordeal was trying, as may be inferred +from phrases still current. <i>Is teodha so na teine teodha +Bheuil</i>, 'Hotter is this than the hot fire of Beul.' Replying to +his grandchild, an old man in Lewis said ... 'Mary! sonnie, it were +worse for me to do that for thee than to go between the two great +fires of Beul.'</p> +<p>"The neid-fire was resorted to in imminent or actual calamity +upon the first day of the quarter, and to ensure success in great +or important events.</p> +<p>[The needfire in Arran.]</p> +<p>"The writer conversed with several persons who saw the neid-fire +made, and who joined in the ceremony. As mentioned elsewhere, a +woman in Arran said that her father, and the other men of the +townland, made the neid-fire on the knoll on <i>La buidhe +Bealltain</i>—Yellow Day of Beltane. They fed the fire from +<i>cuaile mor conaidh caoin</i>—great bundles of sacred +faggots brought to the knoll on Beltane Eve. When the sacred fire +became kindled, the people rushed home and brought their herds and +drove them through and round the fire of purification, to sain them +from the <i>bana bhuitseach mhor Nic Creafain Mac +Creafain</i>—the great arch witch Mac Crauford, now Crawford. +That was in the second decade of this century.</p> +<p>[The need-fire in North Uist.]</p> +<p>"John Macphail, Middlequarter, North Uist, said that +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294"></a>[pg +294]</span> the last occasion on which the neid-fire was made in +North Uist was <i>bliadhna an t-sneachda bhuidhe</i>—the year +of the yellow snow—1829 (?). The snow lay so deep and +remained so long on the ground, that it became yellow. Some suggest +that the snow was originally yellow, as snow is occasionally red. +This extraordinary continuance of snow caused much want and +suffering throughout the Isles. The people of North Uist +extinguished their own fires and generated a purification fire at +Sail Dharaich, Sollas. The fire was produced from an oak log by +rapidly boring with an auger. This was accomplished by the +exertions of <i>naoi naoinear ciad ginealach mac</i>—the nine +nines of first-begotten sons. From the neid-fire produced on the +knoll the people of the parish obtained fire for their dwellings. +Many cults and ceremonies were observed on the occasion, cults and +ceremonies in which Pagan and Christian beliefs intermingled. +<i>Sail Dharaich</i>, Oak Log, obtained its name from the log of +oak for the neid-fire being there. A fragment of this log riddled +with auger holes marks a grave in <i>Cladh Sgealoir</i>, the +burying-ground of <i>Sgealoir</i>, in the neighbourhood.</p> +<p>[The need-fire in Reay, Sutherland.]</p> +<p>"Mr. Alexander Mackay, Edinburgh, a native of Reay, Sutherland, +says:—'My father was the skipper of a fishing crew. Before +beginning operations for the season, the crew of the boat met at +night in our house to settle accounts for the past, and to plan +operations for the new season. My mother and the rest of us were +sent to bed. I lay in the kitchen, and was listening and watching, +though they thought I was asleep. After the men had settled their +past affairs and future plans, they put out the fire on the hearth, +not a spark being allowed to live. They then rubbed two pieces of +wood one against another so rapidly as to produce fire, the men +joining in one after the other, and working with the utmost energy +and never allowing the friction to relax. From this friction-fire +they rekindled the fire on the hearth, from which all the men +present carried away a kindling to their own homes. Whether their +success was due to their skill, their industry, their perseverance, +or to the neid-fire, I do not know, but I know that they were much +the most successful crew in the place. They met on Saturday, and +went to church on Sunday like the good men <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page295" name="page295"></a>[pg 295]</span> and +the good Christians they were—a little of their Pagan faith +mingling with their Christian belief. I have reason to believe that +other crews in the place as well as my father's crew practised the +neid-fire.'</p> +<p>"A man at Helmsdale, Sutherland, saw the <i>tein-eigin</i> made +in his boyhood.</p> +<p>"The neid-fire was made in North Uist about the year 1829, in +Arran about 1820, in Helmsdale about 1818, in Reay about +1830."<a id="footnotetag733" name="footnotetag733"></a><a href= +"#footnote733"><sup>733</sup></a></p> +<p>[The Beltane fire a precaution against witchcraft.]</p> +<p>From the foregoing account we learn that in Arran the annual +Beltane fire was regularly made by the friction of wood, and that +it was used to protect men and cattle against a great witch. When +we remember that Beltane Eve or the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis +Night) is the great witching time of the year throughout Europe, we +may surmise that wherever bonfires have been ceremonially kindled +on that day it has been done simply as a precaution against +witchcraft; indeed this motive is expressly alleged not only in +Scotland, but in Wales, the Isle of Man, and many parts of Central +Europe.<a id="footnotetag734" name="footnotetag734"></a><a href= +"#footnote734"><sup>734</sup></a> It deserves, further, to be +noticed that in North Uist the wood used to kindle the need-fire +was oak, and that the nine times nine men by whose exertions the +flame was elicited were all first-born sons. Apparently the +first-born son of a family was thought to be endowed with more +magical virtue than his younger brothers. Similarly in the Punjaub +"the supernatural power ascribed to the first born is not due to +his being unlucky, but the idea underlying the belief seems to be +that being the first product of the parents, he inherits the +spiritual powers (or magnetism) in a high degree. The success of +such persons in stopping rain and hail and in stupefying snakes is +proverbial. It is believed that a first child born with feet +forward can cure backache by kicking the patient in the back, on a +crossing."<a id="footnotetag735" name="footnotetag735"></a><a href= +"#footnote735"><sup>735</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296"></a>[pg +296]</span> <a id="needaberdeenshire" name="needaberdeenshire"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Aberdeenshire.]</p> +<p>In the north-east of Aberdeenshire and the neighbourhood, when +the cattle-disease known as the "quarter-ill" broke out, "the +'muckle wheel' was set in motion and turned till fire was produced. +From this virgin flame fires were kindled in the byres. At the same +time, if neighbours requested the favour, live coals were given +them to kindle fires for the purification of their homesteads and +turning off the disease. Fumigating the byres with juniper was a +method adopted to ward off disease. Such a fire was called +'needfyre.' The kindling of it came under the censure of the +Presbytery at times."<a id="footnotetag736" name= +"footnotetag736"></a><a href="#footnote736"><sup>736</sup></a></p> +<a id="needperthshire" name="needperthshire"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Perthshire.]</p> +<p>In Perthshire the need-fire was kindled as a remedy for +cattle-disease as late as 1826. "A wealthy old farmer, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page297" name="page297"></a>[pg 297]</span> having +lost several of his cattle by some disease very prevalent at +present, and being able to account for it in no way so rationally +as by witchcraft, had recourse to the following remedy, recommended +to him by a weird sister in his neighbourhood, as an effectual +protection from the attacks of the foul fiend. A few stones were +piled together in the barnyard, and woodcoals having been laid +thereon, the fuel was ignited by <i>will-fire</i>, that is fire +obtained by friction; the neighbours having been called in to +witness the solemnity, the cattle were made to pass through the +flames, in the order of their dignity and age, commencing with the +horses and ending with the swine. The ceremony having been duly and +decorously gone through, a neighbouring farmer observed to the +enlightened owner of the herd, that he, along with his family, +ought to have followed the example of the cattle, and the sacrifice +to Baal would have been complete."<a id="footnotetag737" name= +"footnotetag737"></a><a href="#footnote737"><sup>737</sup></a></p> +<a id="needireland" name="needireland"></a> +<p>[The need-fire in Ireland.]</p> +<p>In County Leitrim, Ireland, in order to prevent fever from +spreading, "all the fires on the townland, and the two adjoining +(one on each side), would be put out. Then the men of the three +townlands would come to one house, and get two large blocks of +wood. One would be set in the ground, and the other one, fitted +with two handles, placed on the top of it. The men would then draw +the upper block backwards and forwards over the lower until fire +was produced by friction, and from this the fires would be lighted +again. This would prevent the fever from spreading,"<a id= +"footnotetag738" name="footnotetag738"></a><a href= +"#footnote738"><sup>738</sup></a></p> +<a id="needrelic" name="needrelic"></a> +<p>[The use of the need-fire a relic of a time when all fires were +kindled by the friction of wood.]</p> +<p>Thus it appears that in many parts of Europe it has been +customary to kindle fire by the friction of wood for the purpose of +curing or preventing the spread of disease, particularly among +cattle. The mode of striking a light by rubbing two dry sticks +against each other is the one to which all over the world savages +have most commonly resorted for the sake of providing themselves +with fire;<a id="footnotetag739" name="footnotetag739"></a><a href= +"#footnote739"><sup>739</sup></a> and we can scarcely doubt that +the practice of kindling the need-fire in this primitive fashion is +merely a survival from the time <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page298" name="page298"></a>[pg 298]</span> when our savage +forefathers lit all their fires in that way. Nothing is so +conservative of old customs as religious or magical ritual, which +invests these relics of the past with an atmosphere of mysterious +virtue and sanctity. To the educated mind it seems obvious that a +fire which a man kindles with the sweat of his brow by laboriously +rubbing one stick against each other can possess neither more nor +less virtue than one which he has struck in a moment by the +friction of a lucifer match; but to the ignorant and superstitious +this truth is far from apparent, and accordingly they take infinite +pains to do in a roundabout way what they might have done directly +with the greatest ease, and what, even when it is done, is of no +use whatever for the purpose in hand. A vast proportion of the +labour which mankind has expended throughout the ages has been no +better spent; it has been like the stone of Sisyphus eternally +rolled up hill only to revolve eternally down again, or like the +water poured for ever by the Danaids into broken pitchers which it +could never fill.</p> +<a id="needbelief" name="needbelief"></a> +<p>[The belief that the need-fire cannot kindle if any other fire +remains alight in the neighbourhood.]</p> +<p>The curious notion that the need-fire cannot kindle if any other +fire remains alight in the neighbourhood seems to imply that fire +is conceived as a unity which is broken up into fractions and +consequently weakened in exact proportion to the number of places +where it burns; hence in order to obtain it at full strength you +must light it only at a single point, for then the flame will burst +out with a concentrated energy derived from the tributary fires +which burned on all the extinguished hearths of the country. So in +a modern city if all the gas were turned off simultaneously at all +the burners but one, the flame would no doubt blaze at that one +burner with a fierceness such as no single burner could shew when +all are burning at the same time. The analogy may help us to +understand the process of reasoning which leads the peasantry to +insist on the extinction of all common fires when the need-fire is +about to be kindled. Perhaps, too, it may partly explain that +ceremonial extinction of all old fires on other occasions which is +often required by custom as a preliminary to the lighting of a new +and sacred fire.<a id="footnotetag740" name= +"footnotetag740"></a><a href="#footnote740"><sup>740</sup></a> We +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299"></a>[pg +299]</span> have seen that in the Highlands of Scotland all common +fires were extinguished on the Eve of May-day as a preparation for +kindling the Beltane bonfire by friction next morning;<a id= +"footnotetag741" name="footnotetag741"></a><a href= +"#footnote741"><sup>741</sup></a> and no doubt the reason for the +extinction was the same as in the case of the need-fire. Indeed we +may assume with a fair degree of probability that the need-fire was +the parent of the periodic fire-festivals; at first invoked only at +irregular intervals to cure certain evils as they occurred, the +powerful virtue of fire was afterwards employed at regular +intervals to prevent the occurrence of the same evils as well as to +remedy such as had actually arisen.</p> +<a id="neediroquois" name="neediroquois"></a> +<p>[The needfire among the Iroquois of North America.]</p> +<p>The need-fire of Europe has its parallel in a ceremony which +used to be observed by the Iroquois Indians of North America. +"Formerly when an epidemic prevailed among the Iroquois despite the +efforts to stay it, it was customary for the principal shaman to +order the fires in every cabin to be extinguished and the ashes and +cinders to be carefully removed; for it was believed that the +pestilence was sent as a punishment for neglecting to rekindle 'new +fire,' or because of the manner in which the fire then in use had +been kindled. So, after all the fires were out, two suitable logs +of slippery elm (<i>Ulmus fulva</i>) were provided for the new +fire. One of the logs was from six to eight inches in diameter and +from eight to ten feet long; the other was from ten to twelve +inches in diameter and about ten feet long. About midway across the +larger log a cuneiform notch or cut about six inches deep was made, +and in the wedge-shaped notch punk was placed. The other log was +drawn rapidly to and fro in the cut by four strong men chosen for +the purpose until the punk was ignited by the friction thus +produced. Before and during the progress of the work of igniting +the fire the shaman votively sprinkled +<i>tcar-hu'-eñ-we</i>, 'real tobacco,' three several times +into the cuneiform notch and offered earnest prayers to the +Fire-god, beseeching him 'to aid, to bless, and <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page300" name="page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> to +redeem the people from their calamities.' The ignited punk was used +to light a large bonfire, and then the head of every family was +required to take home 'new fire' to rekindle a fire in his or her +fire-place."<a id="footnotetag742" name= +"footnotetag742"></a><a href="#footnote742"><sup>742</sup></a></p> +<h4><a id="sect4-9" name="sect4-9">§ 9. <i>The Sacrifice of an +Animal to stay a Cattle-Plague</i></a></h4> +<a id="sacrificeengland" name="sacrificeengland"></a> +<p>[The burnt sacrifice of a calf in England and Wales; burnt +sacrifice a pig in Scotland.]</p> +<p>Sometimes apparently in England as well as in Scotland the +kindling of a need-fire was accompanied by the sacrifice of a calf. +Thus in Northamptonshire, at some time during the first half of the +nineteenth century, "Miss C—— and her cousin walking +saw a fire in a field and a crowd round it. They said, 'What is the +matter?' 'Killing a calf.' 'What for?' 'To stop the murrain.' They +went away as quickly as possible. On speaking to the clergyman he +made enquiries. The people did not like to talk of the affair, but +it appeared that when there is a disease among the cows or the +calves are born sickly, they sacrifice (<i>i.e.</i> kill and burn) +one 'for good luck.'"<a id="footnotetag743" name= +"footnotetag743"></a><a href="#footnote743"><sup>743</sup></a> It +is not here said that the fire was a need-fire, of which indeed the +two horrified ladies had probably never heard; but the analogy of +the parallel custom in Mull<a id="footnotetag744" name= +"footnotetag744"></a><a href="#footnote744"><sup>744</sup></a> +renders it probable that in Northamptonshire also the fire was +kindled by the friction of wood, and that the calf or some part of +it was burnt in the fire. Certainly the practice of burning a +single animal alive in order to save all the others would seem to +have been not uncommon in England down to the nineteenth century. +Thus a farmer in Cornwall about the year 1800, having lost many +cattle by disease, and tried many remedies in vain, consulted with +some of his neighbours and laying their heads together "they +recalled to their recollections a tale, which tradition had handed +down from remote antiquity, that the calamity would not cease until +he had actually burned alive the finest calf which he had upon his +farm; but that, when this sacrifice was made, the murrain would +afflict his cattle no more." Accordingly, on a day appointed they +met, lighted a large fire, placed the best calf in it, and standing +round the blazing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page301" name= +"page301"></a>[pg 301]</span> pile drove the animal with pitchforks +back into the flames whenever it attempted to escape. Thus the +victim was burned alive to save the rest of the cattle.<a id= +"footnotetag745" name="footnotetag745"></a><a href= +"#footnote745"><sup>745</sup></a> "There can be no doubt but that a +belief prevailed until a very recent period, amongst the small +farmers in the districts remote from towns in Cornwall, that a +living sacrifice appeased the wrath of God. This sacrifice must be +by fire; and I have heard it argued that the Bible gave them +warranty for this belief.... While correcting these sheets I am +informed of two recent instances of this superstition. One of them +was the sacrifice of a calf by a farmer near Portreath, for the +purpose of removing a disease which had long followed his horses +and his cows. The other was the burning of a living lamb, to save, +as the farmer said, 'his flocks from spells which had been cast on +'em.'"<a id="footnotetag746" name="footnotetag746"></a><a href= +"#footnote746"><sup>746</sup></a> In a recent account of the +fire-festivals of Wales we read that "I have also heard my +grandfather and father say that in times gone by the people would +throw a calf in the fire when there was any disease among the +herds. The same would be done with a sheep if there was anything +the matter with a flock. I can remember myself seeing cattle being +driven between two fires to 'stop the disease spreading.' When in +later times it was not considered humane to drive the cattle +between the fires, the herdsmen were accustomed to force the +animals over the wood ashes to protect them against various +ailments."<a id="footnotetag747" name="footnotetag747"></a><a href= +"#footnote747"><sup>747</sup></a> Writing about 1866, the antiquary +W. Henderson says that a live ox was burned near Haltwhistle in +Northumberland "only twenty years ago" to stop a murrain.<a id= +"footnotetag748" name="footnotetag748"></a><a href= +"#footnote748"><sup>748</sup></a> "About the year 1850 disease +broke out among the cattle of a small farm in the parish of +Resoliss, Black Isle, Ross-shire. The farmer prevailed on his wife +to undertake a journey to a wise woman of renown <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page302" name="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span> in +Banffshire to ask a charm against the effects of the 'ill eye.' The +long journey of upwards of fifty miles was performed by the good +wife, and the charm was got. One chief thing ordered was to burn to +death a pig, and sprinkle the ashes over the byre and other farm +buildings. This order was carried out, except that the pig was +killed before it was burned. A more terrible sacrifice was made at +times. One of the diseased animals was rubbed over with tar, driven +forth, set on fire, and allowed to run till it fell down and +died."<a id="footnotetag749" name="footnotetag749"></a><a href= +"#footnote749"><sup>749</sup></a> "Living animals have been burnt +alive in sacrifice within memory to avert the loss of other stock. +The burial of three puppies 'brandise-wise' in a field is supposed +to rid it of weeds. Throughout the rural districts of Devon +witchcraft is an article of current faith, and the toad is thrown +into the flames as an emissary of the evil one."<a id= +"footnotetag750" name="footnotetag750"></a><a href= +"#footnote750"><sup>750</sup></a></p> +<a id="sacrificecalf" name="sacrificecalf"></a> +<p>[The calf is burnt in order to break a spell which has been cast +on the herd.]</p> +<p>But why, we may ask, should the burning alive of a calf or a +sheep be supposed to save the rest of the herd or the flock from +the murrain? According to one writer, as we have seen, the burnt +sacrifice was thought to appease the wrath of God.<a id= +"footnotetag751" name="footnotetag751"></a><a href= +"#footnote751"><sup>751</sup></a> The idea of appeasing the wrath +of a ferocious deity by burning an animal alive is probably no more +than a theological gloss put on an old heathen rite; it would +hardly occur to the simple mind of an English bumpkin, who, though +he may be stupid, is not naturally cruel and does not conceive of a +divinity who takes delight in the contemplation of suffering. To +his thinking God has little or nothing to do with the murrain, but +witches, ill-wishers, and fairies have a great deal to do with it. +The English farmer who burned one of his lambs alive said that he +did it "to save his flocks from spells which had been cast on +them"; and the Scotch farmer who was bidden to burn a pig alive for +a similar <span class="pagenum"><a id="page303" name= +"page303"></a>[pg 303]</span> purpose, but who had the humanity to +kill the animal first, believed that this was a remedy for the +"evil eye" which had been cast upon his beasts. Again, we read that +"a farmer, who possessed broad acres, and who was in many respects +a sensible man, was greatly annoyed to find that his cattle became +diseased in the spring. Nothing could satisfy him but that they +were bewitched, and he was resolved to find out the person who had +cast the evil eye on his oxen. According to an anciently-prescribed +rule, the farmer took one of his bullocks and bled it to death, +catching all the blood on bundles of straw. The bloody straw was +then piled into a heap, and set on fire. Burning with a vast +quantity of smoke, the farmer expected to see the witch, either in +reality or in shadow, amidst the smoke."<a id="footnotetag752" +name="footnotetag752"></a><a href="#footnote752"><sup>752</sup></a> +Such reasons express the real beliefs of the peasants. "Cattle, +like human beings, were exposed to the influences of the evil eye, +of forespeaking, and of the casting of evil. Witches and warlocks +did the work of evil among their neighbours' cattle if their anger +had been aroused in any way. The fairies often wrought injury +amongst cattle. Every animal that died suddenly was killed by the +dart of the fairies, or, in the language of the people, was +'shot-a-dead.' Flint arrows and spear-heads went by the name of +'faery dairts....' When an animal died suddenly the canny woman of +the district was sent for to search for the 'faery dairt,' and in +due course she found one, to the great satisfaction of the owner of +the dead animal."<a id="footnotetag753" name= +"footnotetag753"></a><a href="#footnote753"><sup>753</sup></a></p> +<a id="sacrificemode" name="sacrificemode"></a> +<p>[Mode in which the burning of a bewitched animal is supposed to +break the spell.]</p> +<p>But how, we must still ask, can burning an animal alive break +the spell that has been cast upon its fellows by a witch or a +warlock? Some light is thrown on the question by the following +account of measures which rustic wiseacres in Suffolk are said to +have adopted as a remedy for witchcraft. "A woman I knew +forty-three years had been employed by my predecessor to take care +of his poultry. At the time I came to make her acquaintance she was +a bedridden toothless crone, with chin and nose all but meeting. +She did <span class="pagenum"><a id="page304" name= +"page304"></a>[pg 304]</span> not discourage in her neighbours the +idea that she knew more than people ought to know, and had more +power than others had. Many years before I knew her it happened one +spring that the ducks, which were a part of her charge, failed to +lay eggs.... She at once took it for granted that the ducks had +been bewitched. This misbelief involved very shocking consequences, +for it necessitated the idea that so diabolical an act could only +be combated by diabolical cruelty. And the most diabolical act of +cruelty she could imagine was that of baking alive in a hot oven +one of the ducks. And that was what she did. The sequence of +thought in her mind was that the spell that had been laid on the +ducks was that of preternaturally wicked wilfulness; that this +spell could only be broken through intensity of suffering, in this +case death by burning; that the intensity of suffering would break +the spell in the one roasted to death; and that the spell broken in +one would be altogether broken, that is, in all the ducks.... +Shocking, however, as was this method of exorcising the ducks, +there was nothing in it original. Just about a hundred years +before, everyone in the town and neighbourhood of Ipswich had +heard, and many had believed, that a witch had been burnt to death +in her own house at Ipswich by the process of burning alive one of +the sheep she had bewitched. It was curious, but it was as +convincing as curious, that the hands and feet of this witch were +the only parts of her that had not been incinerated. This, however, +was satisfactorily explained by the fact that the four feet of the +sheep, by which it had been suspended over the fire, had not been +destroyed in the flames that had consumed its body."<a id= +"footnotetag754" name="footnotetag754"></a><a href= +"#footnote754"><sup>754</sup></a> According to a slightly different +account of the same tragic incident, the last of the "Ipswitch +witches," one Grace Pett, "laid her hand heavily on a farmer's +sheep, who, in order to punish her, fastened one of the sheep in +the ground and burnt it, except the feet, which were under the +earth. The next morning Grace Pett was found burnt to a cinder, +except her <span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name= +"page305"></a>[pg 305]</span> feet. Her fate is recorded in the +<i>Philosophical Transactions</i> as a case of spontaneous +combustion."<a id="footnotetag755" name= +"footnotetag755"></a><a href="#footnote755"><sup>755</sup></a></p> +<a id="sacrificewitch" name="sacrificewitch"></a> +<p>[In burning the bewitched animal you burn the witch +herself.]</p> +<p>This last anecdote is instructive, if perhaps not strictly +authentic. It shows that in burning alive one of a bewitched flock +or herd what you really do is to burn the witch, who is either +actually incarnate in the animal or perhaps more probably stands in +a relation of sympathy with it so close as almost to amount to +identity. Hence if you burn the creature to ashes, you utterly +destroy the witch and thereby save the whole of the rest of the +flock or herd from her abominable machinations; whereas if you only +partially burn the animal, allowing some parts of it to escape the +flames, the witch is only half-baked, and her power for mischief +may be hardly, if at all, impaired by the grilling. We can now see +that in such matters half-measures are useless. To kill the animal +first and burn it afterwards is a weak compromise, dictated no +doubt by a well-meant but utterly mistaken kindness; it is like +shutting the stable-door when the steed is stolen, for obviously by +leaving the animal's, and therefore the witch's, body nearly intact +at the moment of death, it allows her soul to escape and return +safe and sound to her own human body, which all the time is +probably lying quietly at home in bed. And the same train of +reasoning that justifies the burning alive of bewitched animals +justifies and indeed requires the burning alive of the witches +themselves; it is really the only way of destroying them, body and +soul, and therefore of thoroughly extirpating the whole infernal +crew.</p> +<a id="sacrificeman" name="sacrificeman"></a> +<p>[Practice of burning cattle and sheep as sacrifices in the Isle +of Man.]</p> +<p>In the Isle of Man the practice of burning cattle alive in order +to stop a murrain seems to have persisted down to a time within +living memory. On this subject I will quote the evidence collected +by Sir John Rhys: "A respectable farmer from Andreas told me that +he was driving with his wife to the neighbouring parish of Jurby +some years ago, and that on the way they beheld the carcase of a +cow or an ox burning in a field, with a woman engaged in stirring +the fire. On reaching the village to which they were going, they +found that the burning beast belonged to a farmer <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page306" name="page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> whom +they knew. They were further told it was no wonder that the said +farmer had one of his cattle burnt, as several of them had recently +died. Whether this was a case of sacrifice or not I cannot say. But +let me give you another instance: a man whom I have already +mentioned, saw at a farm nearer the centre of the island a live +calf being burnt. The owner bears an English name, but his family +has long been settled in Man. The farmer's explanation to my +informant was that the calf was burnt to secure luck for the rest +of the herd, some of which were threatening to die. My informant +thought there was absolutely nothing the matter with them, except +that they had too little to eat. Be that as it may, the one calf +was sacrificed as a burnt-offering to secure luck for the rest of +the cattle. Let me here also quote Mr. Moore's note in his <i>Manx +Surnames</i>, p. 184, on the place name <i>Cabbal yn Oural +Losht</i>, or the Chapel of the Burnt Sacrifice. 'This name,' he +says, 'records a circumstance which took place in the nineteenth +century, but which, it is to be hoped, was never customary in the +Isle of Man. A farmer, who had lost a number of his sheep and +cattle by murrain, burned a calf as a propitiatory offering to the +Deity on this spot, where a chapel was afterwards built. Hence the +name.' Particulars, I may say, of time, place, and person could be +easily added to Mr. Moore's statement, excepting, perhaps as to the +deity in question; on that point I have never been informed, but +Mr. Moore is probably right in the use of the capital <i>d</i>, as +the sacrificer is, according to all accounts, a highly devout +Christian. One more instance: an octogenarian woman, born in the +parish of Bride, and now living at Kirk Andreas, saw, when she was +a 'lump of a girl' of ten or fifteen years of age, a live sheep +being burnt in a field in the parish of Andreas, on May-day, +whereby she meant the first of May reckoned according to the Old +Style. She asserts very decidedly that it was <i>son oural</i>, 'as +a sacrifice,' as she put it, and 'for an object to the public': +those were her words when she expressed herself in English. +Further, she made the statement that it was a custom to burn a +sheep on old May-day for a sacrifice. I was fully alive to the +interest of this evidence, and cross-examined her so far as +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page307" name="page307"></a>[pg +307]</span> her age allows of it, and I find that she adheres to +her statement with all firmness."<a id="footnotetag756" name= +"footnotetag756"></a><a href="#footnote756"><sup>756</sup></a></p> +<a id="sacrificeappear" name="sacrificeappear"></a> +<p>[By burning a bewitched animal you compel the witch to +appear.]</p> +<p>But Manxmen burn beasts when they are dead as well as when they +are alive; and their reasons for burning the dead animals may help +us to understand their reasons for burning the living animals. On +this subject I will again quote Sir John Rhys: "When a beast dies +on a farm, of course it dies, according to the old-fashioned view +of things, as I understand it, from the influence of the evil eye +or the interposition of a witch. So if you want to know to whom you +are indebted for the loss of the beast, you have simply to burn its +carcase in the open air and watch who comes first to the spot or +who first passes by; that is the criminal to be charged with the +death of the animal, and he cannot help coming there—such is +the effect of the fire. A Michael woman, who is now about thirty, +related to me how she watched while the carcase of a bewitched colt +was burning, how she saw the witch coming, and how she remembers +her shrivelled face, with nose and chin in close proximity. +According to another native of Michael, a well-informed middle-aged +man, the animal in question was oftenest a calf, and it was wont to +be burnt whole, skin and all. The object, according to him, is +invariably to bring the bewitcher on the spot, and he always comes; +but I am not clear what happens to him when he appears. My +informant added, however, that it was believed that, unless the +bewitcher got possession of the heart of the burning beast, he lost +all his power of bewitching."<a id="footnotetag757" name= +"footnotetag757"></a><a href="#footnote757"><sup>757</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page308" name="page308"></a>[pg +308]</span> <a id="magicsympathy" name="magicsympathy"></a> +<p>[Magic sympathy between the witch and the bewitched animal.]</p> +<p>These statements shew that in the Isle of Man the sympathetic +relation between the witch and his or her animal victim is believed +to be so close that by burning the animal you compel the witch to +appear. The original idea may have been that, by virtue of a magic +sympathy which binds the two together, whatever harm you do to the +animal is felt by the witch as if it were done to herself. That +notion would fully explain why Manx people used also to burn +bewitched animals alive; in doing so they probably imagined that +they were simultaneously burning the witch who had cast the spell +on their cattle.</p> +<a id="parallelbelief" name="parallelbelief"></a> +<p>[Parallel belief in magic sympathy between the animal shape of a +were-wolf and his or her ordinary human shape: by wounding the wolf +you simultaneously wound the man or woman.]</p> +<p>This explanation of the reason for burning a bewitched animal, +dead or alive, is confirmed by the parallel belief concerning +were-wolves. It is commonly supposed that certain men and women can +transform themselves by magic art into wolves or other animals, but +that any wound inflicted on such a transformed beast (a were-wolf +or other were-animal) is simultaneously inflicted on the human body +of the witch or warlock who had transformed herself or himself into +the creature. This belief is widely diffused; it meets us in +Europe, Asia, and Africa. For example, Olaus Magnus tells us that +in Livonia, not many years before he wrote, a noble lady had a +dispute with her slave on the subject of were-wolves, she doubting +whether there were any such things, and he maintaining that there +were. To convince her he retired to a room, from which he soon +appeared in the form of a wolf. Being chased by the dogs into the +forest and brought to bay, the wolf defended himself fiercely, but +lost an eye in the struggle. Next day the slave returned to his +mistress in human form but with only one eye.<a id="footnotetag758" +name="footnotetag758"></a><a href="#footnote758"><sup>758</sup></a> +Again, it happened in the year 1588 that a gentleman in a village +among the mountains of Auvergne, looking out of the window one +evening, saw a friend of his going out to hunt. He begged him to +bring him back some of his bag, and his friend said that he would. +Well, he had not gone very far before he met a huge wolf. He fired +and missed it, and the animal attacked him furiously, but he stood +on his guard and with an adroit stroke of his <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page309" name="page309"></a>[pg 309]</span> +hunting knife he cut off the right fore-paw of the brute, which +thereupon fled away and he saw it no more. He returned to his +friend, and drawing from his pouch the severed paw of the wolf he +found to his horror that it was turned into a woman's hand with a +golden ring on one of the fingers. His friend recognized the ring +as that of his own wife and went to find her. She was sitting by +the fire with her right arm under her apron. As she refused to draw +it out, her husband confronted her with the hand and the ring on +it. She at once confessed the truth, that it was she in the form of +a were-wolf whom the hunter had wounded. Her confession was +confirmed by applying the severed hand to the stump of her arm, for +the two fitted exactly. The angry husband delivered up his wicked +wife to justice; she was tried and burnt as a witch.<a id= +"footnotetag759" name="footnotetag759"></a><a href= +"#footnote759"><sup>759</sup></a> It is said that a were-wolf, +scouring the streets of Padua, was caught, and when they cut off +his four paws he at once turned into a man, but with both his hands +and feet amputated.<a id="footnotetag760" name= +"footnotetag760"></a><a href="#footnote760"><sup>760</sup></a> +Again, in a farm of the French district of Beauce, there was once a +herdsman who never slept at home. These nocturnal absences +naturally attracted attention and set people talking. At the same +time, by a curious coincidence, a wolf used to prowl round the farm +every night and to excite the dogs in the farmyard to fury by +thrusting his snout derisively through the cat's hole in the great +gate. The farmer had his suspicions and he determined to watch. One +night, when the herdsman went out as usual, his master followed him +quietly till he came to a hut, where with his own eyes he saw the +man put on a broad belt and at once turn into a wolf, which scoured +away over the fields. The farmer smiled a sickly sort of smile and +went back to the farm. There he took a stout stick and sat down at +the cat's hole to wait. He had not long to wait. The dogs barked +like mad, a wolf's snout shewed through the hole, down came the +stick, out gushed the blood, and a voice was heard to say without +the gate, "A good job too. I had still three years to run." Next +day the herdsman appeared as usual, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page310" name="page310"></a>[pg 310]</span> but he had a scar on +his brow, and he never went out again at night.<a id= +"footnotetag761" name="footnotetag761"></a><a href= +"#footnote761"><sup>761</sup></a></p> +<a id="chinawerewolves" name="chinawerewolves"></a> +<p>[Werewolves in China.]</p> +<p>In China also the faith in similar transformation is reflected +in the following tale. A certain man in Sung-yang went into the +mountains to gather fuel. Night fell and he was pursued by two +tigers, but scrambled up a tree out of their reach. Then said the +one tiger to the other tiger, "If we can find Chu-Tu-shi, we are +sure to catch this man up the tree." So off went one of them to +find Chu-Tu-shi, while the other kept watch at the foot of the +tree. Soon after that another tiger, leaner and longer than the +other two, appeared on the scene and made a grab at the man's coat. +But fortunately the moon was shining, the man saw the paw, and with +a stroke of his axe cut off one of its claws. The tigers roared and +fled, one after the other, so the man climbed down the tree and +went home. When he told his tale in the village, suspicion +naturally fell on the said Chu-Tu-shi; next day some men went to +see him in his house. They <span class="pagenum"><a id="page311" +name="page311"></a>[pg 311]</span> were told that they could not +see him; for he had been out the night before and had hurt his +hand, and he was now ill in bed. So they put two and two together +and reported him to the police. The police arrived, surrounded the +house, and set fire to it; but Chu-Tu-shi rose from his bed, turned +into a tiger, charged right through the police, and escaped, and to +this day nobody ever knew where he went to.<a id="footnotetag762" +name="footnotetag762"></a><a href= +"#footnote762"><sup>762</sup></a></p> +<a id="toradjaswerewolves" name="toradjaswerewolves"></a> +<p>[Werewolves among the Toradjas of Central Celebes.]</p> +<p>The Toradjas of Central Celebes stand in very great fear of +werewolves, that is of men and women, who have the power of +transforming their spirits into animals such as cats, crocodiles, +wild pigs, apes, deer, and buffaloes, which roam about battening on +human flesh, and especially on human livers, while the men and +women in their own proper human form are sleeping quietly in their +beds at home. Among them a man is either born a were-wolf or +becomes one by infection; for mere contact with a were-wolf, or +even with anything that has been touched by his spittle, is quite +enough to turn the most innocent person into a were-wolf; nay even +to lean your head against anything against which a were-wolf has +leaned his head suffices to do it. The penalty for being a +were-wolf is death; but the sentence is never passed until the +accused has had a fair trial and his guilt has been clearly +demonstrated by an ordeal, which consists in dipping the middle +finger into boiling resin. If the finger is not burnt, the man is +no were-wolf; but if it is burnt, a werewolf he most assuredly is, +so they take him away to a quiet spot and hack him to bits. In +cutting him up the executioners are naturally very careful not to +be bespattered with his blood, for if that were to happen they +would of course be turned into were-wolves themselves. Further, +they place his severed head beside his hinder-quarters to prevent +his soul from coming to life again and pursuing his depredations. +So great is the horror of were-wolves among the Toradjas, and so +great is their fear of contracting the deadly taint by infection, +that many persons have assured a missionary that they would not +spare their own child if they knew him to be a were-wolf.<a id= +"footnotetag763" name="footnotetag763"></a><a href= +"#footnote763"><sup>763</sup></a> Now these people, <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page312" name="page312"></a>[pg 312]</span> whose +faith in were-wolves is not a mere dying or dead superstition but a +living, dreadful conviction, tell stories of were-wolves which +conform to the type which we are examining. They say that once upon +a time a were-wolf came in human shape under the house of a +neighbour, while his real body lay asleep as usual at home, and +calling out softly to the man's wife made an assignation with her +to meet him in the tobacco-field next day. But the husband was +lying awake and he heard it all, but he said nothing to anybody. +Next day chanced to be a busy one in the village, for a roof had to +be put on a new house and all the men were lending a hand with the +work, and among them to be sure was the were-wolf himself, I mean +to say his own human self; there he was up on the roof working away +as hard as anybody. But the woman went out to the tobacco-field, +and behind went unseen her husband, slinking through the underwood. +When they were come to the field, he saw the were-wolf make up to +his wife, so out he rushed and struck at him with a stick. Quick as +thought, the were-wolf turned himself into a leaf, but the man was +as nimble, for he caught up the leaf, thrust it into the joint of +bamboo, in which he kept his tobacco, and bunged it up tight. Then +he walked back with his wife to the village, carrying the bamboo +with the werewolf in it. When they came to the village, the human +body of the were-wolf was still on the roof, working away with the +rest. The man put the bamboo in a fire. At that the human were-wolf +looked down from the roof and said, "Don't do that." The man drew +the bamboo from the fire, but a moment afterwards he put it in the +fire again, and again the human were-wolf on the roof looked down +and cried, "Don't do that." But this time the man kept the bamboo +in the fire, and when it blazed up, down fell the human were-wolf +from the roof as dead as a stone.<a id="footnotetag764" name= +"footnotetag764"></a><a href="#footnote764"><sup>764</sup></a> +Again, the following story went round among the Toradjas not so +very many years ago. The thing happened at Soemara, on the Gulf of +Tomori. It was evening and some men sat chatting with a certain +Hadji Mohammad. When it had grown dark, one of the men went out of +the house for something or other. A little while afterwards one of +the company <span class="pagenum"><a id="page313" name= +"page313"></a>[pg 313]</span> thought he saw a stag's antlers +standing out sharp and clear against the bright evening sky. So +Hadji Mohammad raised his gun and fired. A minute or two afterwards +back comes the man who had gone out, and says he to Hadji Mohammad, +"You shot at me and hit me. You must pay me a fine." They searched +him but found no wound on him anywhere. Then they knew that he was +a were-wolf who had turned himself into a stag and had healed the +bullet-wound by licking it. However, the bullet had found its +billet, for two days afterwards he was a dead man.<a id= +"footnotetag765" name="footnotetag765"></a><a href= +"#footnote765"><sup>765</sup></a></p> +<a id="werewolvessudan" name="werewolvessudan"></a> +<p>[Were-wolves in the Egyptian Sudan.]</p> +<p>In Sennar, a province of the Egyptian Sudan, the Hammeg and +Fungi enjoy the reputation of being powerful magicians who can turn +themselves into hyaenas and in that guise scour the country at +night, howling and gorging themselves. But by day they are men +again. It is very dangerous to shoot at such human hyaenas by +night. On the Jebel Bela mountain a soldier once shot at a hyaena +and hit it, but it dragged itself off, bleeding, in the darkness +and escaped. Next morning he followed up the trail of blood and it +led him straight to the hut of a man who was everywhere known for a +wizard. Nothing of the hyaena was to be seen, but the man himself +was laid up in the house with a fresh wound and died soon +afterwards. And the soldier did not long survive him.<a id= +"footnotetag766" name="footnotetag766"></a><a href= +"#footnote766"><sup>766</sup></a></p> +<a id="werewolfpetronius" name="werewolfpetronius"></a> +<p>[The were-wolf story in Petronius.]</p> +<p>But the classical example of these stories is an old Roman tale +told by Petronius. It is put in the mouth of one Niceros. Late at +night he left the town to visit a friend of his, a widow, who lived +at a farm five miles down the road. He <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page314" name="page314"></a>[pg 314]</span> was accompanied by a +soldier, who lodged in the same house, a man of Herculean build. +When they set out it was near dawn, but the moon shone as bright as +day. Passing through the outskirts of the town, they came amongst +the tombs, which lined the highroad for some distance. There the +soldier made an excuse for retiring behind a monument, and Niceros +sat down to wait for him, humming a tune and counting the +tombstones to pass the time. In a little he looked round for his +companion, and saw a sight which froze him with horror. The soldier +had stripped off his clothes to the last rag and laid them at the +side of the highway. Then he performed a certain ceremony over +them, and immediately was changed into a wolf, and ran howling into +the forest. When Niceros had recovered himself a little, he went to +pick up the clothes, but found that they were turned to stone. More +dead than alive, he drew his sword, and, striking at every shadow +cast by the tombstones on the moonlit road, he tottered to his +friend's house. He entered it like a ghost, to the surprise of the +widow, who wondered to see him abroad so late. "If you had only +been here a little ago," said she, "you might have been of some +use. For a wolf came tearing into the yard, scaring the cattle and +bleeding them like a butcher. But he did not get off so easily, for +the servant speared him in the neck." After hearing these words, +Niceros felt that he could not close an eye, so he hurried away +home again. It was now broad daylight, but when he came to the +place where the clothes had been turned to stone, he found only a +pool of blood. He reached home, and there lay the soldier in bed +like an ox in the shambles, and the doctor was bandaging his neck. +"Then I knew," said Niceros, "that the man was a were-wolf, and +never again could I break bread with him, no, not if you had killed +me for it."<a id="footnotetag767" name= +"footnotetag767"></a><a href="#footnote767"><sup>767</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page315" name="page315"></a>[pg +315]</span> <a id="witchesanimals" name="witchesanimals"></a> +<p>[Witches like were-wolves can temporarily transform themselves +into animals.]</p> +<p>These stories may help us to understand the custom of burning a +bewitched animal, which has been observed in our own country down +to recent times, if indeed it is even now extinct. For a close +parallel may be traced in some respects between witches and +were-wolves. Like were-wolves, witches are commonly supposed to be +able to transform themselves temporarily into animals for the +purpose of playing their mischievous pranks;<a id="footnotetag768" +name="footnotetag768"></a><a href="#footnote768"><sup>768</sup></a> +and like were-wolves they can in their animal disguise be compelled +to unmask themselves to any one who succeeds in drawing their +blood. In either case the animal-skin is conceived as a cloak +thrown round the wicked enchanter; and if you can only pierce the +skin, whether by the stab of a knife or the shot of a gun, you so +rend the disguise that the man or woman inside of it stands +revealed in his or her true colours. Strictly speaking, the stab +should be given on the brow or between the eyes in the case both of +a witch and of a were-wolf;<a id="footnotetag769" name= +"footnotetag769"></a><a href="#footnote769"><sup>769</sup></a> and +it is vain to shoot at a were-wolf unless you have had the bullet +blessed in a chapel <span class="pagenum"><a id="page316" name= +"page316"></a>[pg 316]</span> of St. Hubert or happen to be +carrying about you, without knowing it, a four-leaved clover; +otherwise the bullet will merely rebound from the were-wolf like +water from a duck's back.<a id="footnotetag770" name= +"footnotetag770"></a><a href="#footnote770"><sup>770</sup></a> +However, in Armenia they say that the were-wolf, who in that +country is usually a woman, can be killed neither by shot nor by +steel; the only way of delivering the unhappy woman from her +bondage is to get hold of her wolf's skin and burn it; for that +naturally prevents her from turning into a wolf again. But it is +not easy to find the skin, for she is cunning enough to hide it by +day.<a id="footnotetag771" name="footnotetag771"></a><a href= +"#footnote771"><sup>771</sup></a> So with witches, it is not only +useless but even dangerous to shoot at one of them when she has +turned herself into a hare; if you do, the gun may burst in your +hand or the shot come back and kill you. The only way to make quite +sure of hitting a witch-animal is to put a silver sixpence or a +silver button in your gun.<a id="footnotetag772" name= +"footnotetag772"></a><a href="#footnote772"><sup>772</sup></a> For +example, it happened one evening that a native of the island of +Tiree was going home with a new gun, when he saw a black sheep +running towards him across the plain of Reef. Something about the +creature excited his suspicion, so he put a silver sixpence in his +gun and fired at it. Instantly the black sheep became a woman with +a drugget coat wrapt round her head. The man knew her quite well, +for she was a witch who had often persecuted him before in the +shape of a cat.<a id="footnotetag773" name= +"footnotetag773"></a><a href="#footnote773"><sup>773</sup></a></p> +<a id="woundsinflicted" name="woundsinflicted"></a> +<p>[Wounds inflicted on an animal into which a witch has +transformed herself are inflicted on the witch herself.]</p> +<p>Again, the wounds inflicted on a witch-hare or a witch-cat are +to be seen on the witch herself, just as the wounds inflicted on a +were-wolf are to be seen on the man himself when he has doffed the +wolfs skin. To take a few instances out of a multitude, a young man +in the island of Lismore was out shooting. When he was near +Balnagown loch, he started <span class="pagenum"><a id="page317" +name="page317"></a>[pg 317]</span> a hare and fired at it. The +animal gave an unearthly scream, and then for the first time it +occurred to him that there were no real hares in Lismore. He threw +away his gun in terror and fled home; and next day he heard that a +notorious witch was laid up with a broken leg. A man need be no +conjuror to guess how she came by that broken leg.<a id= +"footnotetag774" name="footnotetag774"></a><a href= +"#footnote774"><sup>774</sup></a> Again, at Thurso certain witches +used to turn themselves into cats and in that shape to torment an +honest man. One night he lost patience, whipped out his broadsword, +and put them to flight. As they were scurrying away he struck at +them and cut off a leg of one of the cats. To his astonishment it +was a woman's leg, and next morning he found one of the witches +short of the corresponding limb.<a id="footnotetag775" name= +"footnotetag775"></a><a href="#footnote775"><sup>775</sup></a> +Glanvil tells a story of "an old woman in Cambridge-shire, whose +astral spirit, coming into a man's house (as he was sitting alone +at the fire) in the shape of an huge cat, and setting her self +before the fire, not far from him, he stole a stroke at the back of +it with a fire-fork, and seemed to break the back of it, but it +scambled from him, and vanisht he knew not how. But such an old +woman, a reputed witch, was found dead in her bed that very night, +with her back broken, as I have heard some years ago credibly +reported."<a id="footnotetag776" name="footnotetag776"></a><a href= +"#footnote776"><sup>776</sup></a> In Yorkshire during the latter +half of the nineteenth century a parish clergyman was told a +circumstantial story of an old witch named Nanny, who was hunted in +the form of a hare for several miles over the Westerdale moors and +kept well away from the dogs, till a black one joined the pack and +succeeded in taking a bit out of one of the hare's legs. That was +the end of the chase, and immediately afterwards the sportsmen +found old Nanny laid up in bed with a sore leg. On examining the +wounded limb they discovered that the hurt was precisely in that +part of it which in the hare had been bitten by the black dog and, +what was still more significant, the wound had all the appearance +of having been inflicted by a dog's teeth. So they put two and two +together.<a id="footnotetag777" name="footnotetag777"></a><a href= +"#footnote777"><sup>777</sup></a> The same sort of thing +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page318" name="page318"></a>[pg +318]</span> is often reported in Lincolnshire. "One night," said a +servant from Kirton Lindsey, "my father and brother saw a cat in +front of them. Father knew it was a witch, and took a stone and +hammered it. Next day the witch had her face all tied up, and +shortly afterwards died." Again, a Bardney bumpkin told how a witch +in his neighbourhood could take all sorts of shapes. One night a +man shot a hare, and when he went to the witch's house he found her +plastering a wound just where he had shot the hare.<a id= +"footnotetag778" name="footnotetag778"></a><a href= +"#footnote778"><sup>778</sup></a> So in County Leitrim, in Ireland, +they say that a hare pursued by dogs fled to a house near at hand, +but just as it was bolting in at the door one of the dogs came up +with it and nipped a piece out of its leg. The hunters entered the +house and found no hare there but only an old woman, and her side +was bleeding; so they knew what to think of her.<a id= +"footnotetag779" name="footnotetag779"></a><a href= +"#footnote779"><sup>779</sup></a></p> +<p>[Wounded witches in the Vosges.]</p> +<p>Again, in the Vosges Mountains a great big hare used to come out +every evening to take the air at the foot of the Mont des Fourches. +All the sportsmen of the neighbourhood tried their hands on that +hare for a month, but not one of them could hit it. At last one +marksman, more knowing than the rest, loaded his gun with some +pellets of a consecrated wafer in addition to the usual pellets of +lead. That did the trick. If puss was not killed outright, she was +badly hurt, and limped away uttering shrieks and curses in a human +voice. Later it transpired that she was no other than the witch of +a neighbouring village who had the power of putting on the shape of +any animal she pleased.<a id="footnotetag780" name= +"footnotetag780"></a><a href="#footnote780"><sup>780</sup></a> +Again, a hunter of Travexin, in the Vosges, fired at a hare and +almost shot away one of its hind legs. Nevertheless the creature +contrived to escape into a cottage through the open door. +Immediately a child's cries were heard to proceed from the cottage, +and the hunter could distinguish these words, "Daddy, daddy, come +quick! Poor mammy has her leg broken."<a id="footnotetag781" name= +"footnotetag781"></a><a href="#footnote781"><sup>781</sup></a></p> +<p>[Wounded witches in Swabia.]</p> +<p>In Swabia the witches are liable to accidents of the same sort +when they go about their business in the form <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page319" name="page319"></a>[pg 319]</span> of +animals. For example, there was a soldier who was betrothed to a +young woman and used to visit her every evening when he was off +duty. But one evening the girl told him that he must not come to +the house on Friday nights, because it was never convenient to her +to see him then. This roused his suspicion, and the very next +Friday night he set out to go to his sweetheart's house. On the way +a white cat ran up to him in the street and dogged his steps, and +when the animal would not make off he drew his sword and slashed +off one of its paws. On that the cat bolted. The soldier walked on, +but when he came to his sweetheart's house he found her in bed, and +when he asked her what was the matter, she gave a very confused +reply. Noticing stains of blood on the bed, he drew down the +coverlet and saw that the girl was weltering in her gore, for one +of her feet was lopped off. "So that's what's the matter with you, +you witch!" said he, and turned on his heel and left her, and +within three days she was dead.<a id="footnotetag782" name= +"footnotetag782"></a><a href="#footnote782"><sup>782</sup></a> +Again, a farmer in the neighbourhood of Wiesensteig frequently +found in his stable a horse over and above the four horses he +actually owned. He did not know what to make of it and mentioned +the matter to the smith. The smith said quietly, "The next time you +see a fifth horse in the stable, just you send for me." Well, it +was not long before the strange horse was there again, and the +farmer at once sent for the smith. He came bringing four +horse-shoes with him, and said, "I'm sure the nag has no shoes; +I'll shoe her for you." No sooner said than done. However, the +smith overreached himself; for next day when his friend the farmer +paid him a visit he found the smith's own wife prancing about with +horse-shoes nailed on her hands and feet. But it was the last time +she ever appeared in the shape of a horse.<a id="footnotetag783" +name="footnotetag783"></a><a href= +"#footnote783"><sup>783</sup></a></p> +<p>[The miller's wife and the two grey cats.]</p> +<p>Once more, in Silesia they tell of a miller's apprentice, a +sturdy and industrious young fellow, who set out on his travels. +One day he came to a mill, and the miller told <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page320" name="page320"></a>[pg 320]</span> him +that he wanted an apprentice but did not care to engage one, +because hitherto all his apprentices had run away in the night, and +when he came down in the morning the mill was at a stand. However, +he liked the looks of the young chap and took him into his pay. But +what the new apprentice heard about the mill and his predecessors +was not encouraging; so the first night when it was his duty to +watch in the mill he took care to provide himself with an axe and a +prayer-book, and while he kept one eye on the whirring, humming +wheels he kept the other on the good book, which he read by the +flickering light of a candle set on a table. So the hours at first +passed quietly with nothing to disturb him but the monotonous drone +and click of the machinery. But on the stroke of twelve, as he was +still reading with the axe lying on the table within reach, the +door opened and in came two grey cats mewing, an old one and a +young one. They sat down opposite him, but it was easy to see that +they did not like his wakefulness and the prayer-book and the axe. +Suddenly the old cat reached out a paw and made a grab at the axe, +but the young chap was too quick for her and held it fast. Then the +young cat tried to do the same for the prayer-book, but the +apprentice gripped it tight. Thus balked, the two cats set up such +a squalling that the young fellow could hardly say his prayers. +Just before one o'clock the younger cat sprang on the table and +fetched a blow with her right paw at the candle to put it out. But +the apprentice struck at her with his axe and sliced the paw off, +whereupon the two cats vanished with a frightful screech. The +apprentice wrapped the paw up in paper to shew it to his master. +Very glad the miller was next morning when he came down and found +the mill going and the young chap at his post. The apprentice told +him what had happened in the night and gave him the parcel +containing the cat's paw. But when the miller opened it, what was +the astonishment of the two to find in it no cat's paw but a +woman's hand! At breakfast the miller's young wife did not as usual +take her place at the table. She was ill in bed, and the doctor had +to be called in to bind up her right arm, because in hewing wood, +so they said, she had made a slip and cut off her own right hand. +But <span class="pagenum"><a id="page321" name="page321"></a>[pg +321]</span> the apprentice packed up his traps and turned his back +on that mill before the sun had set.<a id="footnotetag784" name= +"footnotetag784"></a><a href="#footnote784"><sup>784</sup></a></p> +<a id="analogywerewolves" name="analogywerewolves"></a> +<p>[The analogy of were-wolves confirms the view that the reason +for burning bewitched animals is either to burn the witch or to +compel her to appear.]</p> +<p>It would no doubt be easy to multiply instances, all equally +well attested and authentic, of the transformation of witches into +animals and of the damage which the women themselves have sustained +through injuries inflicted on the animals.<a id="footnotetag785" +name="footnotetag785"></a><a href="#footnote785"><sup>785</sup></a> +But the foregoing evidence may suffice to establish the complete +parallelism between witches and were-wolves in these respects. The +analogy appears to confirm the view that the reason for burning a +bewitched animal alive is a belief that the witch herself is in the +animal, and that by burning it you either destroy the witch +completely or at least unmask her and compel her to reassume her +proper human shape, in which she is naturally far less potent for +mischief than when she is careering about the country in the +likeness of a cat, a hare, a horse, or what not. This principle is +still indeed clearly recognized by people in Oldenburg, though, as +might be expected, they do not now carry out the principle to its +logical conclusion by burning the bewitched animal or person alive; +instead they resort to a feeble and, it must be added, perfectly +futile subterfuge dictated by a mistaken humanity or a fear of the +police. "When anything living is bewitched in a house, for example, +children or animals, they burn or boil the nobler inwards of +animals, especially the hearts, but also the lungs or the liver. If +animals have died, they take the inwards of one of them or of an +animal of the same kind slaughtered for the purpose; but if that is +not possible they take the inwards of a cock, by preference a black +one. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page322" name= +"page322"></a>[pg 322]</span> heart, lung, or liver is stuck all +over with needles, or marked with a cross cut, or placed on the +fire in a tightly closed vessel, strict silence being observed and +doors and windows well shut. When the heart boils or is reduced to +ashes, the witch must appear, for during the boiling she feels the +burning pain. She either begs to be released or seeks to borrow +something, for example, salt or a coal of fire, or she takes the +lid off the pot, or tries to induce the person whose spell is on +her to speak. They say, too, that a woman comes with a +spinning-wheel. If it is a sheep that has died, you proceed in the +same way with a tripe from its stomach and prick it with needles +while it is on the boil. Instead of boiling it, some people nail +the heart to the highest rafter of the house, or lay it on the edge +of the hearth, in order that it may dry up, no doubt because the +same thing happens to the witch. We may conjecture that other +sympathetic means of destruction are employed against witchcraft. +The following is expressly reported: the heart of a calf that has +died is stuck all over with needles, enclosed in a bag, and thrown +into flowing water before sunset."<a id="footnotetag786" name= +"footnotetag786"></a><a href="#footnote786"><sup>786</sup></a></p> +<a id="bewitchedthings" name="bewitchedthings"></a> +<p>[There is the same reason for burning bewitched things; +similarly by burning alive a person whose form a witch has assumed, +you compel the witch to disclose herself.]</p> +<p>And the same thing holds good also of inanimate objects on which +a witch has cast her spell. In Wales they say that "if a thing is +bewitched, burn it, and immediately afterwards the witch will come +to borrow something of you. If you give what she asks, she will go +free; if you refuse it, she will burn, and a mark will be on her +body the next day."<a id="footnotetag787" name= +"footnotetag787"></a><a href="#footnote787"><sup>787</sup></a> So, +too, in Oldenburg, "the burning of things that are bewitched or +that have been received from witches is another way of breaking the +spell. It is often said that the burning should take place at a +cross-road, and in several places cross-roads are shewn where the +burning used to be performed.... As a rule, while the things are +burning, the guilty witches appear, though not always in their own +shape. At the burning of bewitched butter they often appear as +cockchafers and can be killed with impunity. Victuals received from +witches may be safely consumed if only you <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page323" name="page323"></a>[pg 323]</span> first +burn a portion of them."<a id="footnotetag788" name= +"footnotetag788"></a><a href="#footnote788"><sup>788</sup></a> For +example, a young man in Oldenburg was wooing a girl, and she gave +him two fine apples as a gift. Not feeling any appetite at the +time, he put the apples in his pocket, and when he came home he +laid them by in a chest. Two or three days afterwards he remembered +the apples and went to the chest to fetch them. But when he would +have put his hand on them, what was his horror to find in their +stead two fat ugly toads in the chest. He hastened to a wise man +and asked him what he should do with the toads. The man told him to +boil the toads alive, but while he was doing so he must be sure on +no account to lend anything out of the house. Well, just as he had +the toads in a pot on the fire and the water began to grow nicely +warm, who should come to the door but the girl who had given him +the apples, and she wished to borrow something; but he refused to +give her anything, rated her as a witch, and drove her out of the +house. A little afterwards in came the girl's mother and begged +with tears in her eyes for something or other; but he turned her +out also. The last word she said to him was that he should at least +spare her daughter's life; but he paid no heed to her and let the +toads boil till they fell to bits. Next day word came that the girl +was dead.<a id="footnotetag789" name="footnotetag789"></a><a href= +"#footnote789"><sup>789</sup></a> Can any reasonable man doubt that +the witch herself was boiled alive in the person of the toads?</p> +<a id="witchireland" name="witchireland"></a> +<p>[The burning alive of a supposed witch in Ireland in 1895.]</p> +<p>Moreover, just as a witch can assume the form of an animal, so +she can assume the form of some other human being, and the likeness +is sometimes so good that it is difficult to detect the fraud. +However, by burning alive the person whose shape the witch has put +on, you force the witch to disclose herself, just as by burning +alive the bewitched animal you in like manner oblige the witch to +appear. This principle may perhaps be unknown to science, falsely +so called, but it is well understood in Ireland and has been acted +on within recent years. In March 1895 a peasant named Michael +Cleary, residing at Ballyvadlea, a remote and lonely district in +the county of Tipperary, burned his wife <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page324" name="page324"></a>[pg 324]</span> +Bridget Cleary alive over a slow fire on the kitchen hearth in the +presence of and with the active assistance of some neighbours, +including the woman's own father and several of her cousins. They +thought that she was not Bridget Cleary at all, but a witch, and +that when they held her down on the fire she would vanish up the +chimney; so they cried, while she was burning, "Away she goes! Away +she goes!" Even when she lay quite dead on the kitchen floor (for +contrary to the general expectation she did not disappear up the +chimney), her husband still believed that the woman lying there was +a witch, and that his own dear wife had gone with the fairies to +the old <i>rath</i> or fort on the hill of Kylenagranagh, where he +would see her at night riding a grey horse and roped to the saddle, +and that he would cut the ropes, and that she would stay with him +ever afterwards. So he went with some friends to the fort night +after night, taking a big table-knife with him to cut the ropes. +But he never saw his wife again. He and the men who had held the +woman on the fire were arrested and tried at Clonmel for wilful +murder in July 1895; they were all found guilty of manslaughter and +sentenced to various terms of penal servitude and imprisonment; the +sentence passed on Michael Cleary was twenty years' penal +servitude.<a id="footnotetag790" name="footnotetag790"></a><a href= +"#footnote790"><sup>790</sup></a></p> +<a id="animalsburied" name="animalsburied"></a> +<p>[Sometimes bewitched animals are buried alive instead of being +burned.]</p> +<p>However, our British peasants, it must be confessed, have not +always acted up to the strict logical theory which seems to call +for death by fire as the proper treatment both of bewitched animals +and of witches. Sometimes, perhaps in moments of weakness, they +have merely buried the bewitched animals alive instead of burning +them. For example, in the year 1643, "many cattle having died, John +Brughe and Neane Nikclerith, also one of the initiated, conjoined +their mutual skill for the safety of the herd. The surviving +animals were drove past a tub of water containing two enchanted +stones: and each was sprinkled from the liquid contents in its +course. One, however, being unable to walk, 'was by force drawin +out at the byre dure; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page325" name= +"page325"></a>[pg 325]</span> and the said Johnne with Nikclerith +smelling the nois thereof said it wald not leive, caused are hoill +to be maid in Maw Greane, quhilk was put quick in the hole and maid +all the rest of the cattell theireftir to go over that place: and +in that devillische maner, be charmeing,' they were cured."<a id= +"footnotetag791" name="footnotetag791"></a><a href= +"#footnote791"><sup>791</sup></a> Again, during the prevalence of a +murrain about the year 1629, certain persons proposed to stay the +plague with the help of a celebrated "cureing stane" of which the +laird of Lee was the fortunate owner. But from this they were +dissuaded by one who "had sene bestiall curet be taking are quik +seik ox, and making are deip pitt, and bureing him therin, and be +calling the oxin and bestiall over that place." Indeed Issobell +Young, the mother of these persons, had herself endeavoured to +check the progress of the distemper by taking "ane quik ox with ane +catt, and ane grit quantitie of salt," and proceeding "to burie the +ox and catt quik with the salt, in ane deip hoill in the grund, as +ane sacrifice to the devill, that the rest of the guidis might be +fred of the seiknes or diseases."<a id="footnotetag792" name= +"footnotetag792"></a><a href="#footnote792"><sup>792</sup></a> +Writing towards the end of the eighteenth century, John Ramsay of +Ochtertyre tells us that "the violent death even of a brute is in +some cases held to be of great avail. There is a disease called the +<i>black spauld</i>, which sometimes rages like a pestilence among +black cattle, the symptoms of which are a mortification in the legs +and a corruption of the mass of blood. Among the other engines of +superstition that are directed against this fatal malady, the first +cow seized with it is commonly buried alive, and the other cattle +are forced to pass backwards and forwards over the pit. At other +times the heart is taken out of the beast alive, and then the +carcass is buried. It is remarkable that the leg affected is cut +off, and hung up in some part of the house or byre, where it +remains suspended, notwithstanding the seeming danger of infection. +There is hardly a house in Mull where these may not be seen. This +practice seems to have taken its rise antecedent to Christianity, +as it reminds us of the pagan custom of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page326" name="page326"></a>[pg 326]</span> +hanging up offerings in their temples. In Breadalbane, when a cow +is observed to have symptoms of madness, there is recourse had to a +peculiar process. They tie the legs of the mad creature, and throw +her into a pit dug at the door of the fold. After covering the hole +with earth, a large fire is kindled upon it; and the rest of the +cattle are driven out, and forced to pass through the fire one by +one."<a id="footnotetag793" name="footnotetag793"></a><a href= +"#footnote793"><sup>793</sup></a> In this latter custom we may +suspect that the fire kindled on the grave of the buried cow was +originally made by the friction of wood, in other words, that it +was a need-fire. Again, writing in the year 1862, Sir Arthur +Mitchell tells us that "for the cure of the murrain in cattle, one +of the herd is still sacrificed for the good of the whole. This is +done by burying it alive. I am assured that within the last ten +years such a barbarism occurred in the county of Moray."<a id= +"footnotetag794" name="footnotetag794"></a><a href= +"#footnote794"><sup>794</sup></a></p> +<a id="calveskilled" name="calveskilled"></a> +<p>[Calves killed and buried to save the rest of the herd.]</p> +<p>Sometimes, however, the animal has not even been buried alive, +it has been merely killed and then buried. In this emasculated form +the sacrifice, we may say with confidence, is absolutely useless +for the purpose of stopping a murrain. Nevertheless, it has been +tried. Thus in Lincolnshire, when the cattle plague was so +prevalent in 1866, there was, I believe, not a single cowshed in +Marshland but had its wicken cross over the door; and other charms +more powerful than this were in some cases resorted to. I never +heard of the use of the needfire in the Marsh, though it was, I +believe, used on the wolds not many miles off. But I knew of at +least one case in which a calf was killed and solemnly buried feet +pointing upwards at the threshold of the cowshed. When our garthman +told me of this, I pointed out to him that the charm had failed, +for the disease had not spared that shed. But he promptly replied, +"Yis, but owd Edwards were a soight too cliver; he were that mean +he slew nobbutt a wankling cauf as were bound to deny anny road; if +he had nobbutt tekken his best cauf it wud hev worked reight enuff; +'tain't <span class="pagenum"><a id="page327" name= +"page327"></a>[pg 327]</span> in reason that owd skrat 'ud be +hanselled wi' wankling draffle."<a id="footnotetag795" name= +"footnotetag795"></a><a href="#footnote795"><sup>795</sup></a></p> +<p>Notes:</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote262" name= +"footnote262"></a> <b>Footnote 262</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag262">(return)</a> +<p>See Jacob Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> +(Berlin, 1875-1878), i. 502, 510, 516.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote263" name= +"footnote263"></a> <b>Footnote 263</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag263">(return)</a> +<p>W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer +Nachbarstämme</i> (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote264" name= +"footnote264"></a> <b>Footnote 264</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag264">(return)</a> +<p>In the following survey of these fire-customs I follow chiefly +W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, kap. vi. pp. 497 <i>sqq.</i> +Compare also J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. +500 <i>sqq.</i>; Walter E. Kelly, <i>Curiosities of Indo-European +Tradition and Folk-lore</i> (London, 1863), pp. 46 <i>sqq.</i>; F. +Vogt, "Scheibentreiben und Frühlingsfeuer," <i>Zeitschrift des +Vereins für Volkskunde</i>, iii. (1893) pp. 349-369; +<i>ibid.</i> iv. (1894) pp. 195-197.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote265" name= +"footnote265"></a> <b>Footnote 265</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag265">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Scapegoat</i>, pp. 316 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote266" name= +"footnote266"></a> <b>Footnote 266</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag266">(return)</a> +<p>The first Sunday in Lent is known as <i>Invocavit</i> from the +first word of the mass for the day (O. Frh. von +Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <i>Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen</i>, +p. 67).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote267" name= +"footnote267"></a> <b>Footnote 267</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag267">(return)</a> +<p>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <i>Calendrier Belge</i> +(Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 141-143; E. Monseur, <i>Le Folklore +Wallon</i> (Brussels, N.D.), pp. 124 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote268" name= +"footnote268"></a> <b>Footnote 268</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag268">(return)</a> +<p>Émile Hublard, <i>Fêtes du Temps Jadis, les Feux du +Carême</i> (Mons, 1899), pp. 25. For the loan of this work I +am indebted to Mrs. Wherry of St. Peter's Terrace, Cambridge.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote269" name= +"footnote269"></a> <b>Footnote 269</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag269">(return)</a> +<p>É. Hublard, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 27 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote270" name= +"footnote270"></a> <b>Footnote 270</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag270">(return)</a> +<p>A. Meyrac, <i>Traditions, coutumes, légendes et contes +des Ardennes</i> (Charleville, 1890), p. 68.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote271" name= +"footnote271"></a> <b>Footnote 271</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag271">(return)</a> +<p>L.F. Sauvé, <i>Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges</i> (Paris, +1889), p. 56. The popular name for the bonfires in the Upper Vosges +(<i>Hautes-Vosges</i>) is <i>chavandes</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote272" name= +"footnote272"></a> <b>Footnote 272</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag272">(return)</a> +<p>E. Cortet, <i>Essai sur les fêtes religieuses</i> (Paris, +1867), pp. 101 <i>sq.</i> The local name for these bonfires is +<i>bures</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote273" name= +"footnote273"></a> <b>Footnote 273</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag273">(return)</a> +<p>Charles Beauquier, <i>Les mois en Franche-Comté</i> +(Paris, 1900), pp. 33 <i>sq.</i> In Bresse the custom was similar. +See <i>La Bresse Louhannaise, Bulletin Mensuel, Organe de la +Société d'Agriculture et d'Horticulture de +l'Arrondissement de Louhans</i>, Mars, 1906, pp. 111 <i>sq.</i>; E. +Cortet, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 100. The usual name for the bonfires is +<i>chevannes</i> or <i>schvannes</i>; but in some places they are +called <i>foulères, foualères, failles</i>, or +<i>bourdifailles</i> (Ch. Beauquier, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 34). But +the Sunday is called the Sunday of the <i>brandons, bures, +bordes</i>, or <i>boidès</i>, according to the place. The +<i>brandons</i> are the torches which are carried about the streets +and the fields; the bonfires, as we have seen, bear another name. A +curious custom, observed on the same Sunday in +Franche-Comté, requires that couples married within the year +should distribute boiled peas to all the young folks of both sexes +who demand them at the door. The lads and lasses go about from +house to house, making the customary request; in some places they +wear masks or are otherwise disguised. See Ch. Beauquier, <i>op. +cit.</i> pp. 31-33.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote274" name= +"footnote274"></a> <b>Footnote 274</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag274">(return)</a> +<p>Curiously enough, while the singular is <i>granno-mio</i>, the +plural is <i>grannas-mias</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote275" name= +"footnote275"></a> <b>Footnote 275</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag275">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. Pommerol, "La fête des Brandons et le dieu Gaulois +Grannus," <i>Bulletins et Mémoires de la +Société d'Anthropologie de Paris</i>, v. +Série, ii. (1901) pp. 427-429.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote276" name= +"footnote276"></a> <b>Footnote 276</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag276">(return)</a> +<p><i>Op. cit.</i> pp. 428 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote277" name= +"footnote277"></a> <b>Footnote 277</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag277">(return)</a> +<p>H. Dessau, <i>Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae</i>, vol. ii. Pars +i. (Berlin, 1902) pp. 216 <i>sq.</i>, Nos. 4646-4652.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote278" name= +"footnote278"></a> <b>Footnote 278</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag278">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i> (London, 1888), pp. +22-25.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote279" name= +"footnote279"></a> <b>Footnote 279</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag279">(return)</a> +<p>Émile Hublard, <i>Fêtes du Temps Jadis, les Feux du +Carême</i> (Mons, 1899), p. 38, quoting Dom Grenier, +<i>Histoire de la Province de Picardie</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote280" name= +"footnote280"></a> <b>Footnote 280</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag280">(return)</a> +<p>É. Hublard, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 39, quoting Dom +Grenier.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote281" name= +"footnote281"></a> <b>Footnote 281</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag281">(return)</a> +<p>M. Desgranges, "Usages du Canton de Bonneval," +<i>Mémoires de la Société Royale des +Antiquaires de France</i>, i. (Paris, 1817) pp. 236-238; Felix +Chapiseau, <i>Le folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche</i> (Paris, +1902), i. 315 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote282" name= +"footnote282"></a> <b>Footnote 282</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag282">(return)</a> +<p>John Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 100.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote283" name= +"footnote283"></a> <b>Footnote 283</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag283">(return)</a> +<p>E. Cortet, <i>Essai sur les fêtes religieuses</i> (Paris, +1867), pp. 99 <i>sq.; La Bresse Louhannaise</i>, Mars, 1906, p. +111.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote284" name= +"footnote284"></a> <b>Footnote 284</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag284">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, mythes et traditions des provinces de +France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 283 <i>sq.</i> A similar, +though not identical, custom prevailed at Valenciennes +(<i>ibid.</i> p. 338).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote285" name= +"footnote285"></a> <b>Footnote 285</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag285">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 302.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote286" name= +"footnote286"></a> <b>Footnote 286</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag286">(return)</a> +<p>Désiré Monnier, <i>Traditions populaires +comparées</i> (Paris, 1854), pp. 191 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote287" name= +"footnote287"></a> <b>Footnote 287</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag287">(return)</a> +<p>Laisnel de la Salle, <i>Croyances et légendes du centre +de la France</i> (Paris, 1875). i. 35 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote288" name= +"footnote288"></a> <b>Footnote 288</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag288">(return)</a> +<p>Jules Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du Rocage Normand</i> +(Condé-sur-Noireau, 1887), ii. 131 <i>sq.</i> For more +evidence of customs of this sort observed in various parts of +France on the first Sunday in Lent, see Madame Clément, +<i>Histoire des Fêtes civiles et religieuses</i>, etc., <i>du +Département du Nord</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Cambrai, 1836), pp. +351 <i>sqq.</i>; Émile Hublard, <i>Fêtes du Temps +Jadis, les Feux du Carême</i> (Mons, 1899), pp. 33 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote289" name= +"footnote289"></a> <b>Footnote 289</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag289">(return)</a> +<p>J.H. Schmitz, <i>Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, +Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes</i> +(Trèves, 1856-1858), i. 21-25; N. Hocker, in <i>Zeitschrift +für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde</i>, i. (1853) p. 90; +W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer +Nachbarstämme</i> (Berlin, 1875), p. 501.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote290" name= +"footnote290"></a> <b>Footnote 290</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag290">(return)</a> +<p>N. Hocker, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 89 <i>sq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, +<i>l.c.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote291" name= +"footnote291"></a> <b>Footnote 291</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag291">(return)</a> +<p>F.J. Vonbun, <i>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</i> +(Chur, 1862), p. 20; W. Mannhardt, <i>l.c.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote292" name= +"footnote292"></a> <b>Footnote 292</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag292">(return)</a> +<p>Ernst Meier, <i>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Schwaben</i> (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 380 <i>sqq.</i>; Anton +Birlinger, <i>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</i> (Freiburg im +Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 56 <i>sqq.</i>, 66 <i>sqq.</i>; +<i>Bavaria, Landes-und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern</i> +(Munich, 1860-1867), ii. 2, pp. 838 <i>sq.</i>; F. Panzer, +<i>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, 1848-1855), i. +211, § 232; W. Mannhardt, <i>l.c.</i> One of the popular +German names for the first Sunday in Lent is White Sunday, which is +not to be confused with the first Sunday after Easter, which also +goes by the name of White Sunday (E. Meier, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 380; +A. Birlinger, <i>op. cit.</i> ii. 56).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote293" name= +"footnote293"></a> <b>Footnote 293</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag293">(return)</a> +<p>H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la +roue," <i>Revue Archéologique</i>, iii. série, iv. +(1884) pp. 139 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote294" name= +"footnote294"></a> <b>Footnote 294</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag294">(return)</a> +<p>August Witzschel, <i>Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Thüringen</i> (Vienna, 1878), p. 189; F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag +zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 207; W. +Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus,</i> pp. 500 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote295" name= +"footnote295"></a> <b>Footnote 295</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag295">(return)</a> +<p>W. Kolbe, <i>Hessiche Volks-Sitten und +Gebräuche</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Marburg, 1888), p. 36.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote296" name= +"footnote296"></a> <b>Footnote 296</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag296">(return)</a> +<p>Adalbert Kuhn, <i>Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des +Göttertranks</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Gütersloh, 1886), p. 86, +quoting Hocker, <i>Des Mosellandes Geschichten, Sagen und +Legenden</i> (Trier, 1852), pp. 415 <i>sqq.</i> Compare W. +Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 501; and below, pp. 163 +<i>sq.</i> Thus it appears that the ceremony of rolling the fiery +wheel down hill was observed twice a year at Konz, once on the +first Sunday in Lent, and once at Midsummer.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote297" name= +"footnote297"></a> <b>Footnote 297</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag297">(return)</a> +<p>H. Herzog, <i>Schweizerische Volksfeste, Sitten und +Gebräuche</i> (Aarau, 1884), pp. 214-216; E. Hoffmann-Krayer, +"Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen Volksbrauch," +<i>Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde</i>, xi. (1907) pp. +247-249; <i>id., Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes</i> +(Zurich, 1913), pp. 135 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote298" name= +"footnote298"></a> <b>Footnote 298</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag298">(return)</a> +<p>Theodor Vernaleken, <i>Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in +Oesterreich</i> (Vienna, 1859), pp. 293 <i>sq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, +<i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 498. See <i>The Dying God</i>, p. +239.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote299" name= +"footnote299"></a> <b>Footnote 299</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag299">(return)</a> +<p>J. H. Schmitz, <i>Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, +Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes</i> +(Treves, 1856-1858), i. 20; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. +499.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote300" name= +"footnote300"></a> <b>Footnote 300</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag300">(return)</a> +<p>L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum +Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), ii. 39, § 306; W. Mannhardt, +<i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 498.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote301" name= +"footnote301"></a> <b>Footnote 301</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag301">(return)</a> +<p>W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 499.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote302" name= +"footnote302"></a> <b>Footnote 302</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag302">(return)</a> +<p>W. Mannhardt, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 498 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote303" name= +"footnote303"></a> <b>Footnote 303</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag303">(return)</a> +<p>W. Mannhardt, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 499.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote304" name= +"footnote304"></a> <b>Footnote 304</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag304">(return)</a> +<p>Christian Schneller, <i>Märchen und Sagen aus +Wälschtirol</i> (Innsbruck, 1867), pp. 234 <i>sq.</i>; W. +Mannhardt, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 499 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote305" name= +"footnote305"></a> <b>Footnote 305</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag305">(return)</a> +<p>John Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 157 <i>sq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, +pp. 502-505; Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, <i>Aus dem +Lechrain</i> (Munich, 1855), pp. 172 <i>sq.</i>; Anton Birlinger, +<i>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</i> (Freiburg im Breisgau, +1861-1862), i. 472 <i>sq.</i>; Montanus, <i>Die deutschen +Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube</i> +(Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 26; F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</i> (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 241 <i>sq.</i>; Ernst +Meier, <i>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Schwaben</i> (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 139 <i>sq.</i>; <i>Bavaria, +Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern</i> (Munich, +1860-1867), i. 371; A. Wuttke, <i>Der deutsche +Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Berlin, 1869), pp. 68 <i>sq.</i>, +§ 81; Ignaz V. Zingerle, <i>Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen +des Tiroler Volkes</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Innsbruck, 1871), p. 149, +§§ 1286-1289; W. Kolbe, <i>Hessische Volks-Sitten und +Gebräuche</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Marburg, 1888), pp. 44 +<i>sqq.</i>; <i>County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, Leicestershire +and Rutland</i>, collected by C.J. Billson (London, 1895), pp. 75 +<i>sq.</i>; A. Tiraboschi, "Usi pasquali nel Bergamasco," +<i>Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizione Popolari</i>, i. (1892) +pp. 442 <i>sq.</i> The ecclesiastical custom of lighting the +Paschal or Easter candle is very fully described by Mr. H.J. +Feasey, <i>Ancient English Holy Week Ceremonial</i> (London, 1897), +pp. 179 <i>sqq.</i> These candles were sometimes of prodigious +size; in the cathedrals of Norwich and Durham, for example, they +reached almost to the roof, from which they had to be lighted. +Often they went by the name of the Judas Light or the Judas Candle; +and sometimes small waxen figures of Judas were hung on them. See +H.J. Feasey, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 193, 213 <i>sqq.</i> As to the +ritual of the new fire at St. Peter's in Rome, see R. Chambers, +<i>The Book of Days</i> (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. 421; and +as to the early history of the rite in the Catholic church, see +Mgr. L. Duchesne, <i>Origines du Culte +Chrétien</i>,<sup>3</sup> (Paris, 1903), pp. 250-257.]</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote306" name= +"footnote306"></a> <b>Footnote 306</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag306">(return)</a> +<p><i>Bavaria, Landes und Volkskunde des Königreichs +Bayern</i> (Munich, 1860-1867), i. 1002 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote307" name= +"footnote307"></a> <b>Footnote 307</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag307">(return)</a> +<p>Gennaro Finamore, <i>Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi</i> +(Palermo, 1890), pp. 122 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote308" name= +"footnote308"></a> <b>Footnote 308</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag308">(return)</a> +<p>G. Finamore, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 123 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote309" name= +"footnote309"></a> <b>Footnote 309</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag309">(return)</a> +<p>Vincenzo Dorsa, <i>La Tradizione Greco-Latina negli Usi e nelle +Credenze Popolari della Calabria Citeriore</i> (Cosenza, 1884), pp. +48 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote310" name= +"footnote310"></a> <b>Footnote 310</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag310">(return)</a> +<p>Alois John, <i>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen +Westböhmen</i> (Prague, 1905), pp. 62 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote311" name= +"footnote311"></a> <b>Footnote 311</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag311">(return)</a> +<p>K. Seifart, <i>Sagen, Märchen, Schwänke und +Gebräuche aits Stadt und Stift Hildesheim</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177 <i>sq.</i>, 179 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote312" name= +"footnote312"></a> <b>Footnote 312</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag312">(return)</a> +<p>M. Lexer, "Volksüberlieferungen aus dem Lesachthal in +Karnten," <i>Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und +Sittenkunde</i>, iii. (1855) p. 31.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote313" name= +"footnote313"></a> <b>Footnote 313</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag313">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin +verse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe</i>, +1570, edited by R.C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 52, <i>recto.</i> The +title of the original poem was <i>Regnum Papisticum</i>. The +author, Thomas Kirchmeyer (Naogeorgus, as he called himself), died +in 1577. The book is a satire on the abuses and superstitions of +the Catholic Church. Only one perfect copy of Googe's translation +is known to exist: it is in the University Library at Cambridge. +See Mr. R.C. Hope's introduction to his reprint of this rare work, +pp. xv. <i>sq.</i> The words, "Then Clappers ceasse, and belles are +set againe at libertée," refer to the custom in Catholic +countries of silencing the church bells for two days from noon on +Maundy Thursday to noon on Easter Saturday and substituting for +their music the harsh clatter of wooden rattles. See R. Chambers, +<i>The Book of Days</i> (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i, 412 +<i>sq.</i> According to another account the church bells are silent +from midnight on the Wednesday preceding Maundy Thursday till +matins on Easter Day. See W. Smith and S. Cheetham, <i>Dictionary +of Christian Antiquities</i> (London, 1875-1880), ii. 1161, +referring to <i>Ordo Roman</i>. i. <i>u.s.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote314" name= +"footnote314"></a> <b>Footnote 314</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag314">(return)</a> +<p>R. Chambers, <i>The Book of Days</i> (London and Edinburgh, +1886), i. 421.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote315" name= +"footnote315"></a> <b>Footnote 315</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag315">(return)</a> +<p>Miss Jessie L. Weston, "The <i>Scoppio del Carro</i> at +Florence," <i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905) pp. 182-184; "Lo Scoppio +del Carro," <i>Resurrezione, Numero Unico del Sabato Santo</i> +(Florence, April, 1906), p. 1 (giving a picture of the car with its +pyramid of fire-works). The latter paper was kindly sent to me from +Florence by my friend Professor W.J. Lewis. I have also received a +letter on the subject from Signor Carlo Placci, dated 4 (or 7) +September, 1905, 1 Via Alfieri, Firenze.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote316" name= +"footnote316"></a> <b>Footnote 316</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag316">(return)</a> +<p>Frederick Starr, "Holy Week in Mexico," <i>The Journal of +American Folk-lore</i>, xii. (1899) pp. 164 <i>sq.</i>; C. Boyson +Taylor, "Easter in Many Lands," <i>Everybody's Magazine</i>, New +York, 1903, p. 293. I have to thank Mr. S.S. Cohen, of 1525 Walnut +Street, Philadelphia, for sending me a cutting from the latter +magazine.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote317" name= +"footnote317"></a> <b>Footnote 317</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag317">(return)</a> +<p>K. von den Steinen, <i>Unter den Naturvölkern +Zentral-Brasiliens</i> (Berlin, 1894), pp. 458 <i>sq.</i>; E. +Montet, "Religion et Superstition dans l'Amérique du Sud," +<i>Revue de l'Histoire des Religions</i>, xxxii. (1895) p. 145.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote318" name= +"footnote318"></a> <b>Footnote 318</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag318">(return)</a> +<p>J.J. von Tschudi, <i>Peru, Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren +1838-1842</i> (St. Gallen, 1846), ii. 189 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote319" name= +"footnote319"></a> <b>Footnote 319</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag319">(return)</a> +<p>H. Candelier, <i>Rio-Hacha et les Indiens Goajires</i> (Paris, +1893), p. 85.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote320" name= +"footnote320"></a> <b>Footnote 320</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag320">(return)</a> +<p>Henry Maundrell, "A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, +A.D. 1697," in Bohn's <i>Early Travellers in Palestine</i> (London, +1848), pp. 462-465; Mgr. Auvergne, in <i>Annales de la Propagation +de la Foi</i>, x. (1837) pp. 23 <i>sq.</i>; A.P. Stanley, <i>Sinai +and Palestine</i>, Second Edition (London, 1856), pp. 460-465; E. +Cortet, <i>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</i> (Paris, 1867), +pp. 137-139; A.W. Kinglake, <i>Eothen</i>, chapter xvi. pp. 158-163 +(Temple Classics edition); Father N. Abougit, S.J., "Le feu du +Saint-Sépulcre," <i>Les Missions Catholiques</i>, viii. +(1876) pp. 518 <i>sq.</i>; Rev. C.T. Wilson, <i>Peasant Life in the +Holy Land</i> (London, 1906), pp. 45 <i>sq.</i>; P. Saint-yves, "Le +Renouvellement du Feu Sacré," <i>Revue des Traditions +Populaires</i>, xxvii. (1912) pp. 449 <i>sqq.</i> The distribution +of the new fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the subject +of a picture by Holman Hunt. From some printed notes on the +picture, with which Mrs. Holman Hunt was so kind as to furnish me, +it appears that the new fire is carried by horsemen to Bethlehem +and Jaffa, and that a Russian ship conveys it from Jaffa to Odessa, +whence it is distributed all over the country.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote321" name= +"footnote321"></a> <b>Footnote 321</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag321">(return)</a> +<p>Father X. Abougit, S.J., "Le feu du Saint-Sépulcre," +<i>Les Missions Catholiques</i>, viii. (1876) pp. 165-168.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote322" name= +"footnote322"></a> <b>Footnote 322</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag322">(return)</a> +<p>I have described the ceremony as I witnessed it at Athens, on +April 13th, 1890. Compare <i>Folk-lore</i>, i. (1890) p. 275. +Having been honoured, like other strangers, with a place on the +platform, I did not myself detect Lucifer at work among the +multitude below; I merely suspected his insidious presence.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote323" name= +"footnote323"></a> <b>Footnote 323</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag323">(return)</a> +<p>W.H.D. Rouse, "Folk-lore from the Southern Sporades," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, x. (1899) p. 178.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote324" name= +"footnote324"></a> <b>Footnote 324</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag324">(return)</a> +<p>Mrs. A.E. Gardner was so kind as to send me a photograph of a +Theban Judas dangling from a gallows and partially enveloped in +smoke. The photograph was taken at Thebes during the Easter +celebration of 1891.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote325" name= +"footnote325"></a> <b>Footnote 325</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag325">(return)</a> +<p>G.F. Abbott, <i>Macedonian Folklore</i> (Cambridge, 1903) p. +37.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote326" name= +"footnote326"></a> <b>Footnote 326</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag326">(return)</a> +<p>Cirbied, "Mémoire sur la gouvernment et sur la religion +des anciens Arméniens," <i>Mémoires publiées +par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France</i>, +ii. (1820) pp. 285-287; Manuk Abeghian, <i>Der armenische +Volksglaube</i> (Leipsic, 1899), pp. 72-74. The ceremony is said to +be merely a continuation of an old heathen festival which was held +at the beginning of spring in honour of the fire-god Mihr. A +bonfire was made in a public place, and lamps kindled at it were +kept burning throughout the year in each of the fire-god's +temples.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote327" name= +"footnote327"></a> <b>Footnote 327</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag327">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, i. 32, ii. 243; +<i>Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild</i>, ii. 65, 74, 75, 78, +136.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote328" name= +"footnote328"></a> <b>Footnote 328</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag328">(return)</a> +<p>Garcilasso de la Vega, <i>Royal Commentaries of the Yncas</i> +translated by (Sir) Clements R. Markham (Hakluyt Society, London, +1869-1871), vol. ii. pp. 155-163. Compare Juan de Velasco, +"Histoire du Royaume de Quito," in H. Ternaux-Compans's <i>Voyages, +Relations et Mémoires originaux pour servir à +l'Histoire de la Découverte de l'Amérique</i>, xviii. +(Paris, 1840) p. 140.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote329" name= +"footnote329"></a> <b>Footnote 329</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag329">(return)</a> +<p>B. de Sahagun, <i>Histoire Générale des Choses de +la Nouvelle Espagne</i>, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon +(Paris, 1880), bk. ii. chapters 18 and 37, pp. 76, 161; Brasseur de +Bourbourg, <i>Histoire des Nations civilisées du Mexique et +de l'Amérique-Centrale</i> (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 136.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote330" name= +"footnote330"></a> <b>Footnote 330</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag330">(return)</a> +<p>Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, "The Zuñi Indians," +<i>Twenty-third Annual Report of the Bureau of American +Ethnology</i> (Washington, 1904), pp. 108-141, 148-162, especially +pp. 108, 109, 114 <i>sq.</i>, 120 <i>sq.</i>, 130 <i>sq.</i>, 132, +148 <i>sq.</i>, 157 <i>sq.</i> I have already described these +ceremonies in <i>Totemism and Exogamy</i>, iii. 237 <i>sq.</i> +Among the Hopi (Moqui) Indians of Walpi, another pueblo village of +this region, new fire is ceremonially kindled by friction in +November. See Jesse Walter Fewkes, "The Tusayan New Fire Ceremony," +<i>Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History</i>, xxvi. +422-458; <i>id.</i>, "The Group of Tusayan Ceremonials called +<i>Katcinas," Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of +Ethnology</i> (Washington, 1897), p. 263; <i>id.</i>, "Hopi +<i>Katcinas," Twenty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American +Ethnology</i> (Washington, 1903), p. 24.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote331" name= +"footnote331"></a> <b>Footnote 331</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag331">(return)</a> +<p>Henry R. Schoolcraft, <i>Notes on the Iroquois</i> (Albany, +1847), p. 137. Schoolcraft did not know the date of the ceremony, +but he conjectured that it fell at the end of the Iroquois year, +which was a lunar year of twelve or thirteen months. He says: "That +the close of the lunar series should have been the period of +putting out the fire, and the beginning of the next, the time of +relumination, from new fire, is so consonant to analogy in the +tropical tribes, as to be probable" (<i>op. cit.</i> p. 138).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote332" name= +"footnote332"></a> <b>Footnote 332</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag332">(return)</a> +<p>C.F. Hall, <i>Life with the Esquimaux</i> (London, 1864), ii. +323.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote333" name= +"footnote333"></a> <b>Footnote 333</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag333">(return)</a> +<p>Franz Boas, "The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay," +<i>Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural, History</i>, xv. +Part i. (New York, 1901) p. 151.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote334" name= +"footnote334"></a> <b>Footnote 334</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag334">(return)</a> +<p>G. Nachtigal, <i>Saharâ und Sûdân</i>, iii. +(Leipsic, 1889) p. 251.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote335" name= +"footnote335"></a> <b>Footnote 335</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag335">(return)</a> +<p>Major C. Percival, "Tropical Africa, on the Border Line of +Mohamedan Civilization," <i>The Geographical Journal</i>, xlii. +(1913) pp. 253 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote336" name= +"footnote336"></a> <b>Footnote 336</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag336">(return)</a> +<p>Adrien Germain, "Note sur Zanzibar et la côte orientale de +l'Afrique," <i>Bulletin de la Société de +Géographie</i> (Paris), v. Série xvi. (1868) p. 557; +<i>Les Missions Catholiques</i>, iii. (1870) p. 270; Charles New, +<i>Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa</i> (London, +1873), p. 65; Jerome Becker, <i>La Vie en Afrique</i> (Paris and +Brussels, 1887), ii. 36; O. Baumann, <i>Usambara und seine +Nachbargebiele</i> (Berlin, 1891), pp. 55 <i>sq.</i>; C. Velten, +<i>Sitten und Gebräucheaer Suaheli</i> (Göttingen,1903), +pp. 342-344.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote337" name= +"footnote337"></a> <b>Footnote 337</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag337">(return)</a> +<p>Duarte Barbosa, <i>Description of the Coasts of East Africa and +Malabar</i> (Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), p. 8; <i>id.</i>, in +<i>Records of South-Eastern Africa</i>, collected by G. McCall +Theal, vol. i. (1898) p. 96; Damião de Goes, "Chronicle of +the Most Fortunate King Dom Emanuel," in <i>Records of +South-Eastern Africa</i>, collected by G. McCall Theal, vol. iii. +(1899) pp. 130 <i>sq.</i> The name Benametapa (more correctly +<i>monomotapa</i>) appears to have been the regular title of the +paramount chief, which the Portuguese took to be the name of the +country. The people over whom he ruled seem to have been the Bantu +tribe of the Makalanga in the neighbourhood of Sofala. See G. +McCall Theal, <i>Records of South-Eastern Africa</i>, vii. (1901) +pp. 481-484. It is to their custom of annually extinguishing and +relighting the fire that Montaigne refers in his essay (i. 22, vol. +i. p. 140 of Charpentier's edition), though he mentions no +names.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote338" name= +"footnote338"></a> <b>Footnote 338</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag338">(return)</a> +<p>Sir H.H. Johnson, <i>British Central Africa</i> (London, 1897), +pp. 426, 439.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote339" name= +"footnote339"></a> <b>Footnote 339</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag339">(return)</a> +<p>W.H.R. Rivers, <i>The Todas</i> (London, 1906), pp. 290-292.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote340" name= +"footnote340"></a> <b>Footnote 340</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag340">(return)</a> +<p>Lieut. R. Stewart, "Notes on Northern Cachar," <i>Journal of the +Asiatic Society of Bengal</i> xxiv. (1855) p. 612.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote341" name= +"footnote341"></a> <b>Footnote 341</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag341">(return)</a> +<p>A. Bastian, <i>Die Völker des östlichen Asien</i>, ii. +(Leipsic, 1866) pp. 49 <i>sq.</i>; Shway Yoe, <i>The Burman</i> +(London, 1882), ii. 325 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote342" name= +"footnote342"></a> <b>Footnote 342</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag342">(return)</a> +<p>G. Schlegel, <i>Uranographie Chinoise</i> (The Hague and Leyden, +1875), pp. 139-143; C. Puini, "Il fuoco nella tradizione degli +antichi Cinesi," <i>Giornale della Società Asiatica +Italiana</i>, i. (1887) pp. 20-23; J.J.M. de Groot, <i>Les +Fétes annuellement célébrées à +Émoui (Amoy)</i> (Paris, 1886), i. 208 <i>sqq.</i> The +notion that fire can be worn out with age meets us also in Brahman +ritual. See the <i>Satapatha Brahmana</i>, translated by Julius +Eggeling, Part i. (Oxford, 1882) p. 230 (<i>Sacred Books of the +East</i>, vol. xii.).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote343" name= +"footnote343"></a> <b>Footnote 343</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag343">(return)</a> +<p>W.G. Aston, <i>Shinto, The Way of the Gods</i> (London, 1905), +pp. 258 <i>sq.</i>, compare p. 193. The wands in question are +sticks whittled near the top into a mass of adherent shavings; they +go by the name of <i>kedzurikake</i> ("part-shaved"), and resemble +the sacred <i>inao</i> of the Aino. See W.G. Aston, <i>op. cit.</i> +p. 191; and as to the <i>inao</i>, see <i>Spirits of the Corn and +of the Wild</i>, ii. 185, with note 2.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote344" name= +"footnote344"></a> <b>Footnote 344</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag344">(return)</a> +<p>Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, iii. 82; Homer, <i>Iliad</i>, i. 590, +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote345" name= +"footnote345"></a> <b>Footnote 345</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag345">(return)</a> +<p>Philostiatus, <i>Heroica</i>, xx. 24.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote346" name= +"footnote346"></a> <b>Footnote 346</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag346">(return)</a> +<p>Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, iii. 143 <i>sq.</i>; Macrobius, +<i>Saturn</i>, i. 12. 6.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote347" name= +"footnote347"></a> <b>Footnote 347</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag347">(return)</a> +<p>Festus, ed. C.O. Müller (Leipsic, 1839), p. 106, +<i>s.v.</i> "Ignis." Plutarch describes a method of rekindling the +sacred fire by means of the sun's rays reflected from a hollow +mirror (<i>Numa</i>, 9); but he seems to be referring to a Greek +rather than to the Roman custom. The rule of celibacy imposed on +the Vestals, whose duty it was to relight the sacred fire as well +as to preserve it when it was once made, is perhaps explained by a +superstition current among French peasants that if a girl can blow +up a smouldering candle into a flame she is a virgin, but that if +she fails to do so, she is not. See Jules Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du +Bocage Normand</i> (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 27; +B. Souché, <i>Croyances, Présages et Traditions +diverses</i> (Niort, 1880), p. 12. At least it seems more likely +that the rule sprang from a superstition of this sort than from a +simple calculation of expediency, as I formerly suggested +(<i>Journal of Philology</i>, xiv. (1885) p. 158). Compare <i>The +Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings></i> ii. 234 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote348" name= +"footnote348"></a> <b>Footnote 348</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag348">(return)</a> +<p>Geoffrey Keating, D.D., <i>The History of Ireland, translated +from the original Gaelic, and copiously annotated</i>, by John +O'Mahony (New York, 1857), p. 300, with the translator's note. +Compare (Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i> (London, 1888), +pp. 514 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote349" name= +"footnote349"></a> <b>Footnote 349</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag349">(return)</a> +<p>W.R.S. Ralston, <i>Songs of the Russian People</i>, Second +Edition (London, 1872), pp. 254 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote350" name= +"footnote350"></a> <b>Footnote 350</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag350">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <i>Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und +Gebräuche</i> (Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; A. Kuhn, <i>Sagen, +Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen</i> (Leipsic, 1859), +ii. 134 <i>sqq.; id., Märkische Sagen und Märchen</i> +(Berlin, 1843), pp. 312 <i>sq.</i>; J.D.H. Temme, <i>Die Volkssagen +der Altmark</i> (Berlin, 1839), pp. 75 <i>sq.</i>; K. Lynker, +<i>Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Cassel and Göttingen, 1860), p. 240; H. Pröhle, +<i>Harzbilder</i> (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; R. Andree, +<i>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</i> (Brunswick, 1896), pp. 240-242; W. +Kolbe, <i>Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche</i> (Marburg, +1888), pp. 44-47; F.A. Reimann, <i>Deutsche Volksfeste</i> (Weimar, +1839), p. 37; "Sitten und Gebräuche in Duderstadt," +<i>Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sitten-kunde</i>, +ii. (1855) p. 107; K. Seifart, <i>Sagen, Märchen, +Schwänke und Gebräuche aus Stadt und Stift +Hildesheim</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177, 180; O. +Hartung, "Zur Volkskunde aus Anhalt," <i>Zeitschrift des Vereins +für Volkskunde</i>, vii. (1897) p. 76.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote351" name= +"footnote351"></a> <b>Footnote 351</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag351">(return)</a> +<p>L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum +Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), ii. p. 43 <i>sq.</i>, §313; +W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer +Nachbarstämme</i> (Berlin, 1875), pp. 505 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote352" name= +"footnote352"></a> <b>Footnote 352</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag352">(return)</a> +<p>L. Strackerjan, <i>op. cit.</i> ii. p. 43, §313.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote353" name= +"footnote353"></a> <b>Footnote 353</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag353">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> (Berlin, +1875-1878), i. 512; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus der Germanen +und ihrer Nachbarstämme</i>, pp. 506 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote354" name= +"footnote354"></a> <b>Footnote 354</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag354">(return)</a> +<p>H. Pröhle, <i>Harzbilder</i> (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; +<i>id.</i>, in <i>Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und +Sittenkunde</i>, i. (1853) p. 79; A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, +<i>Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche</i> +(Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. +507.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote355" name= +"footnote355"></a> <b>Footnote 355</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag355">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn, <i>Märkische Sagen und Märchen</i> (Berlin, +1843), pp. 312 <i>sq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>l.c.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote356" name= +"footnote356"></a> <b>Footnote 356</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag356">(return)</a> +<p>W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i> p. 508. Compare J.W. Wolf, +<i>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Göttingen, +1852-1857), i. 74; J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 512. The two latter writers only +state that before the fires were kindled it was customary to hunt +squirrels in the woods.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote357" name= +"footnote357"></a> <b>Footnote 357</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag357">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn, <i>l.c.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. +508.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote358" name= +"footnote358"></a> <b>Footnote 358</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag358">(return)</a> +<p><i>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs +Bayern</i> (Munich, 1860-1867), iii. 956.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote359" name= +"footnote359"></a> <b>Footnote 359</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag359">(return)</a> +<p>See above, pp. <a href="#page116">116</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href= +"#page119">119</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote360" name= +"footnote360"></a> <b>Footnote 360</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag360">(return)</a> +<p>F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, +1848-1855), i. pp. 211 <i>sq.</i>, § 233; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der +Baumkultus</i>, pp. 507 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote361" name= +"footnote361"></a> <b>Footnote 361</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag361">(return)</a> +<p><i>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs +Bayern</i>, iii. 357.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote362" name= +"footnote362"></a> <b>Footnote 362</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag362">(return)</a> +<p>F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, +1848-1855), i. pp. 212 <i>sq.</i>, § 236.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote363" name= +"footnote363"></a> <b>Footnote 363</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag363">(return)</a> +<p>F. Panzer, <i>op. cit.</i> ii. pp. 78 <i>sq.</i>, §§ +114, 115. The customs observed at these places and at Althenneberg +are described together by W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. +505.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote364" name= +"footnote364"></a> <b>Footnote 364</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag364">(return)</a> +<p>A. Birlinger, <i>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</i> (Freiburg +im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. p. 82, § 106; W. Mannhardt, +<i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 508.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote365" name= +"footnote365"></a> <b>Footnote 365</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag365">(return)</a> +<p>Elard Hugo Meyer, <i>Badisches Volksleben</i> (Strasburg, 1900), +pp. 97 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote366" name= +"footnote366"></a> <b>Footnote 366</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag366">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 349 +<i>sqq.</i> See further below, vol. ii. pp. 298 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote367" name= +"footnote367"></a> <b>Footnote 367</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag367">(return)</a> +<p>J.W. Wolf, <i>Beiträge sur deutschen Mythologie</i>, i. 75 +<i>sq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 506.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote368" name= +"footnote368"></a> <b>Footnote 368</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag368">(return)</a> +<p>L. Lloyd, <i>Peasant Life in Sweden</i> (London, 1870), p. +228.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote369" name= +"footnote369"></a> <b>Footnote 369</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag369">(return)</a> +<p>W. Müller, <i>Beiträge sur Volkskunde der Deutschen in +Mahren</i> (Vienna and Olmütz, 1893), pp. 321, 397 <i>sq.</i> +In Wagstadt, a town of Austrian Silesia, a boy in a red waistcoat +used to play the part of Judas on the Wednesday before Good Friday. +He was chased from before the church door by the other school +children, who pursued him through the streets with shouts and the +noise of rattles and clappers till they reached a certain suburb, +where they always caught and beat him because he had betrayed the +Redeemer. See Anton Peter, <i>Volksthümliches aus +österreichisch-Schlesien</i> (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 282 +<i>sq.</i>; Paul Drechsler, <i>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in +Schlesien</i> (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 77 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote370" name= +"footnote370"></a> <b>Footnote 370</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag370">(return)</a> +<p><i>Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century</i>, from the +MSS. of John Ramsay, Esq., of Ochtertyre, edited by Alexander +Allardyce (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 439-445. As to the +<i>tein-eigin</i> or need-fire, see below, pp. <a href= +"#page269">269</a> <i>sqq</i>. The etymology of the word Beltane is +uncertain; the popular derivation of the first part from the +Phoenician Baal is absurd. See, for example, John Graham Dalyell, +<i>The Darker Superstitions of Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. +176 <i>sq.</i>: "The recognition of the pagan divinity Baal, or +Bel, the Sun, is discovered through innumerable etymological +sources. In the records of Scottish history, down to the sixteenth +or seventeenth centuries, multiplied prohibitions were issued from +the fountains of ecclesiastical ordinances, against kindling +<i>Bailfires</i>, of which the origin cannot be mistaken. The +festival of this divinity was commemorated in Scotland until the +latest date." Modern scholars are not agreed as to the derivation +of the name Beltane. See Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, +<i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of +Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 268 <i>sq.</i>; J.A. MacCulloch, +<i>The Religion of the Ancient Celts</i> (Edinburgh, 1911), p. +264.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote371" name= +"footnote371"></a> <b>Footnote 371</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag371">(return)</a> +<p>"<i>Bal-tein</i> signifies the <i>fire of Baal. Baal</i> or +<i>Ball</i> is the only word in Gaelic for <i>a globe</i>. This +festival was probably in honour of the sun, whose return, in his +apparent annual course, they celebrated, on account of his having +such a visible influence, by his genial warmth, on the productions +of the earth. That the Caledonians paid a superstitious respect to +the sun, as was the practice among many other nations, is evident, +not only by the sacrifice at Baltein, but upon many other +occasions. When a Highlander goes to bathe, or to drink waters out +of a consecrated fountain, he must always approach by going round +the place, <i>from east to west on the south side</i>, in imitation +of the apparent diurnal motion of the sun. When the dead are laid +in the earth, the grave is approached by going round in the same +manner. The bride is conducted to her future spouse, in the +presence of the minister, and the glass goes round a company, in +the course of the sun. This is called, in Gaelic, going round the +right, or the <i>lucky way</i>. The opposite course is the wrong, +or the <i>unlucky</i> way. And if a person's meat or drink were to +affect the wind-pipe, or come against his breath, they instantly +cry out <i>deisheal</i>! which is an ejaculation praying that it +may go by the right way" (Rev. J. Robertson, in Sir John Sinclair's +<i>Statistical Account of Scotland</i>, xi. 621 note). Compare J.G. +Campbell, <i>Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of +Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 229 <i>sq.</i>: "<i>The +Right-hand Turn</i> (<i>Deiseal</i>).—This was the most +important of all the observances. The rule is '<i>Deiseal</i> +(<i>i.e.</i> the right-hand turn) for everything,' and consists in +doing all things with a motion corresponding to the course of the +sun, or from left to right. This is the manner in which screw-nails +are driven, and is common with many for no reason but its +convenience. Old men in the Highlands were very particular about +it. The coffin was taken <i>deiseal</i> about the grave, when about +to be lowered; boats were turned to sea according to it, and drams +are given to the present day to a company. When putting a straw +rope on a house or corn-stack, if the assistant went +<i>tuaitheal</i> (<i>i.e.</i> against the course of the sun), the +old man was ready to come down and thrash him. On coming to a house +the visitor should go round it <i>deiseal</i> to secure luck in the +object of his visit. After milking a cow the dairy-maid should +strike it <i>deiseal</i> with the shackle, saying 'out and home' +(<i>mach 'us dachaigh</i>). This secures its safe return. The word +is from <i>deas</i>, right-hand, and <i>iul</i>, direction, and of +itself contains no allusion to the sun." Compare M. Martin, +"Description of the Western Islands of Scotland," in J. Pinkerton's +<i>Voyages and Travels</i>, iii. 612 <i>sq.</i>: "There was an +ancient custom in the island of Lewis, to make a fiery circle about +the houses, corn, cattle, etc., belonging to each particular +family: a man carried fire in his right hand, and went round, and +it was called <i>dessil</i>, from the right hand, which in the +ancient language is called <i>dess</i>.... There is another way of +the <i>dessil</i>, or carrying fire round about women before they +are churched, after child-bearing; and it is used likewise about +children until they are christened; both which are performed in the +morning and at night. This is only practised now by some of the +ancient midwives: I enquired their reason for this custom, which I +told them was altogether unlawful; this disobliged them mightily, +insomuch that they would give me no satisfaction. But others, that +were of a more agreeable temper, told me that fire-round was an +effectual means to preserve both the mother and the infant from the +power of evil spirits, who are ready at such times to do mischief, +and sometimes carry away the infant; and when they get them once in +their possession, return them poor meagre skeletons; and these +infants are said to have voracious appetites, constantly craving +for meat. In this case it was usual with those who believed that +their children were thus taken away, to dig a grave in the fields +upon quarter-day, and there to lay the fairy skeleton till next +morning; at which time the parents went to the place, where they +doubted not to find their own child instead of this skeleton. Some +of the poorer sort of people in these islands retain the custom of +performing these rounds sun-ways about the persons of their +benefactors three times, when they bless them, and wish good +success to all their enterprizes. Some are very careful when they +set out to sea that the boat be first rowed about sun-ways; and if +this be neglected, they are afraid their voyage may prove +unfortunate." Probably the superstition was based entirely on the +supposed luckiness of the right hand, which accordingly, in making +a circuit round an object, is kept towards the centre. As to a +supposed worship of the sun among the Scottish Highlanders, compare +J.G. Campbell, <i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and +Islands of Scotland</i>, p. 304: "Both the sun (<i>a Ghrian</i>) +and moon (<i>a Ghealach</i>) are feminine in Gaelic, and the names +are simply descriptive of their appearance. There is no trace of a +Sun-God or Moon-Goddess." As to the etymology of Beltane, see +above, p. <a href="#footnotetag370">149 note</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote372" name= +"footnote372"></a> <b>Footnote 372</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag372">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. James Robertson (Parish Minister of Callander), in Sir John +Sinclair's <i>Statistical Account of Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, +1791-1799), xi. 620 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote373" name= +"footnote373"></a> <b>Footnote 373</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag373">(return)</a> +<p>Pennant's "Tour in Scotland," in John Pinkerton's <i>Voyages and +Travels</i> (London, 1808-1814), iii. 49.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote374" name= +"footnote374"></a> <b>Footnote 374</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag374">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's <i>Statistical +Account of Scotland</i>, v. 84.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote375" name= +"footnote375"></a> <b>Footnote 375</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag375">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Allan Stewart, in Sir John Sinclair's <i>Statistical +Account of Scotland</i>, xv. 517 note.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote376" name= +"footnote376"></a> <b>Footnote 376</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag376">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Walter Gregor, "Notes on Beltane Cakes," <i>Folk-lore</i>, +vi. (1895) pp. 2 <i>sq.</i> The Beltane cakes with the nine knobs +on them remind us of the cakes with twelve knobs which the +Athenians offered to Cronus and other deities (see <i>The +Scapegoat</i>, p. 351). The King of the Bean on Twelfth Night was +chosen by means of a cake, which was broken in as many pieces as +there were persons present, and the person who received the piece +containing a bean or a coin became king. See J. Boemus, <i>Mores, +leges et ritus omnium gentium</i> (Lyons, 1541), p. 222; John +Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 22 <i>sq.; The Scapegoat</i>, pp. 313 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote377" name= +"footnote377"></a> <b>Footnote 377</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag377">(return)</a> +<p>Shaw, in Pennant's "Tour in Scotland," printed in J. Pinkerton's +<i>Voyages and Travels</i>, iii. 136. The part of Scotland to which +Shaw's description applies is what he calls the province or country +of Murray, extending from the river Spey on the east to the river +Beauly on the west, and south-west to Loch Lochy.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote378" name= +"footnote378"></a> <b>Footnote 378</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag378">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East +of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), p. 167.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote379" name= +"footnote379"></a> <b>Footnote 379</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag379">(return)</a> +<p>A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xiii. (1902) p. 41. The St. Michael's cake +(<i>Strùthan na h'eill Micheil</i>), referred to in the +text, is described as "the size of a quern" in circumference. "It +is kneaded simply with water, and marked across like a scone, +dividing it into four equal parts, and then placed in front of the +fire resting on a quern. It is not polished with dry meal as is +usual in making a cake, but when it is cooked a thin coating of +eggs (four in number), mixed with buttermilk, is spread first on +one side, then on the other, and it is put before the fire again. +An earlier shape, still in use, which tradition associates with the +female sex, is that of a triangle with the corners cut off. A +<i>strùhthan</i> or <i>strùhdhan</i> (the word seems +to be used for no other kind of cake) is made for each member of +the household, including servants and herds. When harvest is late, +an early patch of corn is mown on purpose for the +<i>strùthan</i>" (A. Goodrich-Freer, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 44. +<i>sq.</i>.)</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote380" name= +"footnote380"></a> <b>Footnote 380</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag380">(return)</a> +<p>Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> +(London, 1909), pp. 22-24.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote381" name= +"footnote381"></a> <b>Footnote 381</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag381">(return)</a> +<p>Jonathan Ceredig Davies, <i>Folklore of West and Mid-Wales</i> +(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote382" name= +"footnote382"></a> <b>Footnote 382</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag382">(return)</a> +<p>Joseph Train, <i>An Historical and Statistical Account of the +Isle of Man</i> (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), i. 314 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote383" name= +"footnote383"></a> <b>Footnote 383</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag383">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</i> +(Oxford, 1901), i. 309; <i>id.</i>, "The Coligny Calendar," +<i>Proceedings of the British Academy, 1909-1910</i>, pp. 261 +<i>sq.</i> See further <i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of +Kings</i>, ii. 53 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote384" name= +"footnote384"></a> <b>Footnote 384</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag384">(return)</a> +<p>Professor Frank Granger, "Early Man," in <i>The Victoria History +of the County of Nottingham</i>, edited by William Page, i. +(London, 1906) pp. 186 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote385" name= +"footnote385"></a> <b>Footnote 385</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag385">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</i> +(Oxford, 1901), i. 310; <i>id.</i>, "Manx Folk-lore and +Superstitions," <i>Folk-lore</i>, ii. (1891) pp. 303 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote386" name= +"footnote386"></a> <b>Footnote 386</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag386">(return)</a> +<p>P.W. Joyce, <i>A Social History of Ancient Ireland</i> (London, +1903), i. 290 <i>sq.</i>, referring to Kuno Meyer, <i>Hibernia +Minora</i>, p. 49 and <i>Glossary</i>, 23.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote387" name= +"footnote387"></a> <b>Footnote 387</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag387">(return)</a> +<p>J.B. Bury, <i>The Life of St. Patrick</i> (London, 1905), pp. +104 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote388" name= +"footnote388"></a> <b>Footnote 388</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag388">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page147">147</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote389" name= +"footnote389"></a> <b>Footnote 389</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag389">(return)</a> +<p>Geoffrey Keating, D.D., <i>The History of Ireland</i>, +translated by John O'Mahony (New York, 1857), pp. 300 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote390" name= +"footnote390"></a> <b>Footnote 390</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag390">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folk-lore and Superstition," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, ii. (1891) p. 303; <i>id., Celtic Folk-lore, +Welsh and Manx</i> (Oxford, 1901), i. 309. Compare P.W. Joyce, <i>A +Social History of Ancient Ireland</i> (London, 1903), i. 291: "The +custom of driving cattle through fires against disease on the eve +of the 1st of May, and on the eve of the 24th June (St. John's +Day), continued in Ireland, as well as in the Scottish Highlands, +to a period within living memory." In a footnote Mr. Joyce refers +to Carmichael, <i>Carmina Gadelica</i>, ii. 340, for Scotland, and +adds, "I saw it done in Ireland."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote391" name= +"footnote391"></a> <b>Footnote 391</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag391">(return)</a> +<p>L. Lloyd, <i>Peasant Life in Sweden</i> (London, 1870), pp. 233 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote392" name= +"footnote392"></a> <b>Footnote 392</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag392">(return)</a> +<p>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <i>Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen</i> +(Prague, N.D.), pp. 211 <i>sq.</i>; Br. Jelínek, +"Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens," +<i>Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien</i>, +xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois John, <i>Sitte, Branch, und Volksglaube im +deutschen Westböhmen</i> (Prague, 1905), p. 71.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote393" name= +"footnote393"></a> <b>Footnote 393</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag393">(return)</a> +<p>J.A.E. Köhler, <i>Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre +alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande</i> (Leipsic, 1867), p. 373. +The superstitions relating to witches at this season are legion. +For instance, in Saxony and Thuringia any one who labours under a +physical blemish can easily rid himself of it by transferring it to +the witches on Walpurgis Night. He has only to go out to a +cross-road, make three crosses on the blemish, and say, "In the +name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Thus the +blemish, whatever it may be, is left behind him at the cross-road, +and when the witches sweep by on their way to the Brocken, they +must take it with them, and it sticks to them henceforth. Moreover, +three crosses chalked up on the doors of houses and cattle-stalls +on Walpurgis Night will effectually prevent any of the infernal +crew from entering and doing harm to man or beast. See E. Sommer, +<i>Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und +Thüringen</i> (Halle, 1846), pp. 148 <i>sq.; Die gestriegelte +Rockenphilosophie</i> (Chemnitz, 1759), p. 116.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote394" name= +"footnote394"></a> <b>Footnote 394</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag394">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>The Scapegoat</i>, pp. 158 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote395" name= +"footnote395"></a> <b>Footnote 395</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag395">(return)</a> +<p>As to the Midsummer Festival of Europe in general see the +evidence collected in the "Specimen Calendarii Gentilis," appended +to the <i>Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta</i>, +Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) pp. 1086-1097.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote396" name= +"footnote396"></a> <b>Footnote 396</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag396">(return)</a> +<p>John Mitchell Kemble, <i>The Saxons in England</i>, New Edition +(London, 1876), i. 361 <i>sq</i>., quoting "an ancient MS. written +in England, and now in the Harleian Collection, No. 2345, fol. 50." +The passage is quoted in part by J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</i> (London, 1882-1883), i. 298 <i>sq.</i>, by +R.T. Hampson, <i>Medii Aevi Kalendarium</i> (London, 1841), i. 300, +and by W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 509. The same +explanations of the Midsummer fires and of the custom of trundling +a burning wheel on Midsummer Eve are given also by John Beleth, a +writer of the twelfth century. See his <i>Rationale Divinorum +Officiorum</i> (appended to the <i>Rationale Divinorum +Officiorum</i> of G. [W.] Durandus, Lyons, 1584), p. 556 <i>recto: +"Solent porro hoc tempore</i> [the Eve of St. John the Baptist] +<i>ex veteri consuetudine mortuorum animalium ossa comburi, quod +hujusmodi habet originem. Sunt enim animalia, quae dracones +appellamus.... Haec inquam animalia in aere volant, in aquis +natant, in terra ambulant. Sed quando in aere ad libidinem +concitantur (quod fere fit) saepe ipsum sperma vel in puteos, vel +in aquas fluviales ejicunt ex quo lethalis sequitur annus. Adversus +haec ergo hujusmodi inventum est remedium, ut videlicet rogus ex +ossibus construeretur, et ita fumus hujusmodi animalia fugaret. Et +quia istud maxime hoc tempore fiebat, idem etiam modo ab omnibus +observatur.... Consuetum item est hac vigilia ardentes deferri +faculas quod Johannes fuerit ardens lucerna, et qui vias Domini +praeparaverit. Sed quod etiam rota vertatur hinc esse putant quia +in eum circulum tunc Sol descenderit ultra quem progredi nequit, a +quo cogitur paulatim descendere</i>." The substance of the passage +is repeated in other words by G. Durandus (Wilh. Durantis), a +writer of the thirteenth century, in his <i>Rationale Divinorum +Officiorum</i>, lib. vii. cap. 14 (p. 442 <i>verso</i>, ed. Lyons, +1584). Compare J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. +516.</p> +<p>With the notion that the air is poisoned at midsummer we may +compare the popular belief that it is similarly infected at an +eclipse. Thus among the Esquimaux on the Lower Yukon river in +Alaska "it is believed that a subtle essence or unclean influence +descends to the earth during an eclipse, and if any of it is caught +in utensils of any kind it will produce sickness. As a result, +immediately on the commencement of an eclipse, every woman turns +bottom side up all her pots, wooden buckets, and dishes" (E.W. +Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait," <i>Eighteenth Annual +Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology</i>, Part i. +(Washington, 1899) p. 431). Similar notions and practices prevail +among the peasantry of southern Germany. Thus the Swabian peasants +think that during an eclipse of the sun poison falls on the earth; +hence at such a time they will not sow, mow, gather fruit or eat +it, they bring the cattle into the stalls, and refrain from +business of every kind. If the eclipse lasts long, the people get +very anxious, set a burning candle on the mantel-shelf of the +stove, and pray to be delivered from the danger. See Anton +Birlinger, <i>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</i> (Freiburg im +Breisgau, 1861-1862), i. 189. Similarly Bavarian peasants imagine +that water is poisoned during a solar eclipse (F. Panzer, +<i>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</i>, ii. 297); and Thuringian +bumpkins cover up the wells and bring the cattle home from pasture +during an eclipse either of the sun or of the moon; an eclipse is +particularly poisonous when it happens to fall on a Wednesday. See +August Witzschel, <i>Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Thüringen</i> (Vienna, 1878), p. 287. As eclipses are commonly +supposed by the ignorant to be caused by a monster attacking the +sun or moon (E.B. Tylor, <i>Primitive Culture</i>,<sup>2</sup> +London, 1873, i. 328 <i>sqq.</i>), we may surmise, on the analogy +of the explanation given of the Midsummer fires, that the unclean +influence which is thought to descend on the earth at such times is +popularly attributed to seed discharged by the monster or possibly +by the sun or moon then in conjunction with each other.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote397" name= +"footnote397"></a> <b>Footnote 397</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag397">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin +verse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe, +1570</i>, edited by R.C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 54 <i>verso</i>. +As to this work see above, p. <a href="#footnotetag313">125 note +1.</a></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote398" name= +"footnote398"></a> <b>Footnote 398</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag398">(return)</a> +<p>J. Boemus, <i>Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium</i> (Lyons, +1541), pp. 225 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote399" name= +"footnote399"></a> <b>Footnote 399</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag399">(return)</a> +<p>Tessier, "Sur la fête annuelle de la roue flamboyante de +la Saint-Jean, à Basse-Kontz, arrondissement de Thionville," +<i>Mémoires et dissertations publiés par la +Société Royale des Antiquaires de France</i>, v. +(1823) pp. 379-393. Tessier witnessed the ceremony, 23rd June 1822 +(not 1823, as is sometimes stated). His account has been reproduced +more or less fully by J. Grimm (<i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 515 <i>sq.</i>) W. Mannhardt (<i>Der +Baumkultus</i>, pp. 510 <i>sq.</i>), and H. Gaidoz ("Le dieu +gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la Roue," <i>Revue +Archéologique</i>, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 24 +<i>sq.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote400" name= +"footnote400"></a> <b>Footnote 400</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag400">(return)</a> +<p><i>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs +Bayern</i> (Munich, 1860-1867), i. 373 <i>sq</i>.; compare +<i>id</i>., iii. 327 <i>sq</i>. As to the burning discs at the +spring festivals, see above, pp. <a href="#page116">116</a> +<i>sq</i>., <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href= +"#page143">143</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote401" name= +"footnote401"></a> <b>Footnote 401</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag401">(return)</a> +<p><i>Op. cit</i>. ii. 260 <i>sq</i>., iii. 936, 956, iv. 2. p. +360.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote402" name= +"footnote402"></a> <b>Footnote 402</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag402">(return)</a> +<p><i>Op. cit</i>. ii. 260.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote403" name= +"footnote403"></a> <b>Footnote 403</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag403">(return)</a> +<p><i>Op. cit.</i> iv. i. p. 242. We have seen (p. 163) that in the +sixteenth century these customs and beliefs were common in Germany. +It is also a German superstition that a house which contains a +brand from the midsummer bonfire will not be struck by lightning +(J.W. Wolf, <i>Beiträge, zur deutschen Mythologie</i>, i. p. +217, § 185).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote404" name= +"footnote404"></a> <b>Footnote 404</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag404">(return)</a> +<p>J. Boemus, <i>Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium</i> (Lyons, +1541), p. 226.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote405" name= +"footnote405"></a> <b>Footnote 405</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag405">(return)</a> +<p>Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, <i>Aus dem Lechrain</i> (Munich, +1855), pp. 181 <i>sqq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. +510.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote406" name= +"footnote406"></a> <b>Footnote 406</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag406">(return)</a> +<p>A. Birlinger, <i>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</i> (Freiburg +im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. pp. 96 <i>sqq.</i>, § 128, pp. +103 <i>sq.</i>, § 129; <i>id., Aus Schwaben</i> (Wiesbaden, +1874), ii. 116-120; E. Meier, <i>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und +Gebräuche aus Schwaben</i> (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 423 +<i>sqq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 510.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote407" name= +"footnote407"></a> <b>Footnote 407</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag407">(return)</a> +<p>F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, +1848-1855), i. pp. 215 <i>sq.</i>, § 242; <i>id.</i>, ii. +549.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote408" name= +"footnote408"></a> <b>Footnote 408</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag408">(return)</a> +<p>A. Birlinger, <i>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</i> (Freiburg +im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 99-101.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote409" name= +"footnote409"></a> <b>Footnote 409</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag409">(return)</a> +<p>Elard Hugo Mayer, <i>Badisches Volksleben</i> (Strasburg, 1900), +pp. 103 <i>sq.</i>, 225 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote410" name= +"footnote410"></a> <b>Footnote 410</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag410">(return)</a> +<p>W. von Schulenberg, in <i>Verhandlungen der Berliner +Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, +Jahrgang 1897</i>, pp. 494 <i>sq.</i> (bound up with <i>Zeitschrift +für Ethnologie</i>, xxix. 1897).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote411" name= +"footnote411"></a> <b>Footnote 411</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag411">(return)</a> +<p>H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu Gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la +Roue," <i>Revue Archéologique</i>, iii. Série, iv. +(1884) pp. 29 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote412" name= +"footnote412"></a> <b>Footnote 412</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag412">(return)</a> +<p>Bruno Stehle, "Volksglauben, Sitten und Gebräuche in +Lothringen," <i>Globus</i>, lix. (1891) pp. 378 <i>sq.</i>; "Die +Sommerwendfeier im St. Amarinthale," <i>Der Urquell</i>, N.F., i. +(1897) pp. 181 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote413" name= +"footnote413"></a> <b>Footnote 413</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag413">(return)</a> +<p>J.H. Schmitz, <i>Sitten und Sagen Lieder, Sprüchwörter +und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes</i> (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 40 +<i>sq.</i> According to one writer, the garlands are composed of +St. John's wort (Montanus, <i>Die deutschen Volksfeste, +Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube</i>, Iserlohn, N.D., p. +33). As to the use of St. John's wort at Midsummer, see below, vol. +ii. pp. 54 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote414" name= +"footnote414"></a> <b>Footnote 414</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag414">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <i>Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und +Gebräuche</i> (Leipsic, 1848), p. 390.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote415" name= +"footnote415"></a> <b>Footnote 415</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag415">(return)</a> +<p>Montanus, <i>Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und +deutscher Volksglaube</i> (Iserlohn, N.D.), pp. 33 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote416" name= +"footnote416"></a> <b>Footnote 416</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag416">(return)</a> +<p>C.L. Rochholz, <i>Deutscher Glaube und Brauch</i> (Berlin, +1867), ii. 144 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote417" name= +"footnote417"></a> <b>Footnote 417</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag417">(return)</a> +<p>Philo vom Walde, <i>Schlesien in Sage und Brauch</i> (Berlin, +N.D.), p. 124; Paul Drechsler, <i>Sitte, Brauch, und Volksglaube in +Schlesien</i> (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 136 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote418" name= +"footnote418"></a> <b>Footnote 418</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag418">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie,</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 517 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote419" name= +"footnote419"></a> <b>Footnote 419</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag419">(return)</a> +<p>From information supplied by Mr. Sigurd K. Heiberg, engineer, of +Bergen, Norway, who in his boyhood regularly collected fuel for the +fires. I have to thank Miss Anderson, of Barskimming, Mauchline, +Ayrshire, for kindly procuring the information for me from Mr. +Heiberg.</p> +<p>The Blocksberg, where German as well as Norwegian witches gather +for their great Sabbaths on the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) +and Midsummer Eve, is commonly identified with the Brocken, the +highest peak of the Harz mountains. But in Mecklenburg, Pomerania, +and probably elsewhere, villages have their own local Blocksberg, +which is generally a hill or open place in the neighbourhood; a +number of places in Pomerania go by the name of the Blocksberg. See +J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> ii. 878 +<i>sq.</i>; Ulrich Jahn, <i>Hexenwesen und Zauberei in Pommern</i> +(Breslau, 1886), pp. 4 <i>sq.</i>; <i>id.</i>, <i>Volkssagen aus +Pommern und Rügen</i> (Stettin, 1886), p. 329.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote420" name= +"footnote420"></a> <b>Footnote 420</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag420">(return)</a> +<p>L. Lloyd, <i>Peasant Life in Sweden</i> (London, 1870), pp. 259, +265.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote421" name= +"footnote421"></a> <b>Footnote 421</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag421">(return)</a> +<p>L. Lloyd, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 261 <i>sq.</i> These springs are +called "sacrificial fonts" (<i>Offer källor</i>) and are "so +named because in heathen times the limbs of the slaughtered victim, +whether man or beast, were here washed prior to immolation" (L. +Lloyd, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 261).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote422" name= +"footnote422"></a> <b>Footnote 422</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag422">(return)</a> +<p>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, <i>Feste und Bräuche des +Schweizervolkes</i> (Zurich, 1913), p. 164.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote423" name= +"footnote423"></a> <b>Footnote 423</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag423">(return)</a> +<p>Ignaz V. Zingerle, <i>Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des +Tiroler Volkes</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Innsbruck, 1871), ii. p. 159, +§ 1354.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote424" name= +"footnote424"></a> <b>Footnote 424</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag424">(return)</a> +<p>I.V. Zingerle, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 159, §§ 1353, 1355, +1356; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 513.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote425" name= +"footnote425"></a> <b>Footnote 425</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag425">(return)</a> +<p>W. Mannhardt, <i>l.c.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote426" name= +"footnote426"></a> <b>Footnote 426</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag426">(return)</a> +<p>F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, +1848-1855), i. p. 210, § 231.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote427" name= +"footnote427"></a> <b>Footnote 427</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag427">(return)</a> +<p>Theodor Vernaleken, <i>Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in +Oesterreich</i> (Vienna, 1859), pp. 307 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote428" name= +"footnote428"></a> <b>Footnote 428</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag428">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 519; +Theodor Vernaleken, <i>Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in +Oesterreich</i> (Vienna, 1859), p. 308; Joseph Virgil Grohmann, +<i>Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Bohmen und Mähren</i> +(Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 80, § 636; +Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <i>Fest-Kalender aus Bohmen</i> +(Prague, N.D.), pp. 306-311; Br. Jelfnek, "Materialien zur +Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens," <i>Mittheilungen der +anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien></i> xxi. (1891) p. 13; +Alois John, <i>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen +Westböhmen</i> (Prague, 1905) pp. 84-86.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote429" name= +"footnote429"></a> <b>Footnote 429</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag429">(return)</a> +<p>Willibald Müller, <i>Beiträge zur Volkskunde der +Deutschen in Mähren</i> (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. +263-265.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote430" name= +"footnote430"></a> <b>Footnote 430</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag430">(return)</a> +<p>Anton Peter, <i>Volksthümliches aus +Österreichisch-Schlesien</i> (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. +287.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote431" name= +"footnote431"></a> <b>Footnote 431</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag431">(return)</a> +<p>Th. Vernaleken, <i>Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in +Oesterreich</i> (Vienna, 1859), pp. 308 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote432" name= +"footnote432"></a> <b>Footnote 432</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag432">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Dying God</i>, p. 262. Compare M. Kowalewsky, in +<i>Folk-lore</i>, i. (1890) p. 467.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote433" name= +"footnote433"></a> <b>Footnote 433</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag433">(return)</a> +<p>W.R.S. Ralston, <i>Songs of the Russian People</i>, Second +Edition (London, 1872), p. 240.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote434" name= +"footnote434"></a> <b>Footnote 434</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag434">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 519; W.R.S. +Ralston, <i>Songs of the Russian People</i> (London, 1872), pp. +240, 391.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote435" name= +"footnote435"></a> <b>Footnote 435</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag435">(return)</a> +<p>W.R.S. Ralston, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 240.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote436" name= +"footnote436"></a> <b>Footnote 436</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag436">(return)</a> +<p>W.R.S. Ralston, <i>l.c.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote437" name= +"footnote437"></a> <b>Footnote 437</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag437">(return)</a> +<p>W.J.A. von Tettau und J.D.H. Temme, <i>Die Volkssagen +Ostpreussens, Litthauens und Westpreussens</i> (Berlin, 1837), p. +277.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote438" name= +"footnote438"></a> <b>Footnote 438</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag438">(return)</a> +<p>M. Töppen, <i>Aberglauben aus Masuren</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Danzig, 1867), p. 71.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote439" name= +"footnote439"></a> <b>Footnote 439</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag439">(return)</a> +<p>F.S. Krauss, "Altslavische Feuergewinnung," <i>Globus</i>, lix. +(1891) p. 318.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote440" name= +"footnote440"></a> <b>Footnote 440</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag440">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Kohl, <i>Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen</i> +(Dresden and Leipsic, 1841), i. 178-180, ii. 24 <i>sq.</i> Ligho +was an old heathen deity, whose joyous festival used to fall in +spring.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote441" name= +"footnote441"></a> <b>Footnote 441</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag441">(return)</a> +<p>Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, vi. 775 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote442" name= +"footnote442"></a> <b>Footnote 442</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag442">(return)</a> +<p>Friederich S. Krauss, <i>Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven</i> +(Vienna, 1885), pp. 176 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote443" name= +"footnote443"></a> <b>Footnote 443</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag443">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 519.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote444" name= +"footnote444"></a> <b>Footnote 444</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag444">(return)</a> +<p>H. von Wlislocki, <i>Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der +Magyar</i> (Münster i. W., 1893), pp. 40-44.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote445" name= +"footnote445"></a> <b>Footnote 445</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag445">(return)</a> +<p>A. von Ipolyi, "Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie aus +Ungarn," <i>Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und +Sittenkunde</i>, i. (1853) pp. 270 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote446" name= +"footnote446"></a> <b>Footnote 446</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag446">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Kohl, <i>Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen</i>, ii. +268 <i>sq.</i>; F.J. Wiedemann, <i>Aus dem inneren und +äusseren Leben der Ehsten</i> (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 362. +The word which I have translated "weeds" is in Esthonian +<i>kaste-heinad</i>, in German <i>Thaugras</i>. Apparently it is +the name of a special kind of weed.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote447" name= +"footnote447"></a> <b>Footnote 447</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag447">(return)</a> +<p>Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, <i>Mythische und Magische Lieder der +Ehsten</i> (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 62.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote448" name= +"footnote448"></a> <b>Footnote 448</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag448">(return)</a> +<p>J.B. Holzmayer, "Osiliana," <i>Verhandlungen der gelehrten +Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat</i>, vii. (1872) pp. 62 +<i>sq.</i> Wiedemann also observes that the sports in which young +couples engage in the woods on this evening are not always decorous +(<i>Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten</i>, p. +362).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote449" name= +"footnote449"></a> <b>Footnote 449</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag449">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Kohl, <i>Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen</i>, ii. +447 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote450" name= +"footnote450"></a> <b>Footnote 450</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag450">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Georgi, <i>Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen +Reichs</i> (St. Petersburg, 1776), p. 36; August Freiherr von +Haxthausen, <i>Studien über die innere Zustände das +Volksleben und insbesondere die ländlichen Einrichtungen +Russlands</i> (Hanover, 1847), i. 446 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote451" name= +"footnote451"></a> <b>Footnote 451</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag451">(return)</a> +<p>Alfred de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces +de France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 19.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote452" name= +"footnote452"></a> <b>Footnote 452</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag452">(return)</a> +<p>It is notable that St. John is the only saint whose birthday the +Church celebrates with honours like those which she accords to the +nativity of Christ. Compare Edmond Doutté, <i>Magie et +Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord</i> (Algiers, 1908), p. 571 note +I.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote453" name= +"footnote453"></a> <b>Footnote 453</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag453">(return)</a> +<p>Bossuet, <i>Oeuvres</i> (Versailles, 1815-1819), vi. 276 +("Catéchisme du diocèse de Meaux"). His description +of the superstitions is, in his own words, as follows: "<i>Danser +à l'entour du feu, jouer, faire des festins, chanter des +chansons deshonnètes, jeter des herbes par-dessus le feu, en +cueillir avant midi ou à jeun, en porter sur soi, les +conserver le long de l'année, garder des tisons ou des +charbons du feu, et autres semblables.</i>" This and other evidence +of the custom of kindling Midsummer bonfires in France is cited by +Ch. Cuissard in his tract <i>Les Feux de la Saint-Jean</i> +(Orleans, 1884).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote454" name= +"footnote454"></a> <b>Footnote 454</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag454">(return)</a> +<p>Ch. Cuissard, <i>Les Feux de la Saint-Jean</i> (Orleans, 1884), +pp. 40 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote455" name= +"footnote455"></a> <b>Footnote 455</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag455">(return)</a> +<p>A. Le Braz, <i>La Légende de la Mort en +Basse-Bretagne</i> (Paris, 1893), p. 279. For an explanation of the +custom of throwing a pebble into the fire, see below, p. <a href= +"#page240">240</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote456" name= +"footnote456"></a> <b>Footnote 456</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag456">(return)</a> +<p>M. Quellien, quoted by Alexandre Bertrand, <i>La Religion des +Gaulois</i> (Paris, 1897), pp. 116 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote457" name= +"footnote457"></a> <b>Footnote 457</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag457">(return)</a> +<p>Collin de Plancy, <i>Dictionnaire Infernal</i> (Paris, +1825-1826), iii. 40; J.W. Wolf, <i>Beiträge zur deutschen +Mythologie</i> (Göttingen, 1852-1857), i. p. 217, § 185; +A. Breuil, "Du Culte de St. Jean Baptiste," <i>Mémoires de +la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie</i>, viii. +(Amiens, 1845) pp. 189 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote458" name= +"footnote458"></a> <b>Footnote 458</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag458">(return)</a> +<p>Eugene Cortet, <i>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</i> +(Paris, 1867), p. 216; Ch. Cuissard, <i>Les Feux de la +Saint-Jean</i> (Orleans, 1884), p. 24.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote459" name= +"footnote459"></a> <b>Footnote 459</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag459">(return)</a> +<p>Paul Sébillot, <i>Coutumes populaires de la +Haute-Bretagne</i> (Paris, 1886), pp. 192-195. In Upper Brittany +these bonfires are called <i>rieux</i> or <i>raviers</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote460" name= +"footnote460"></a> <b>Footnote 460</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag460">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de +France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 219; E. Cortet, <i>Essai sur +les Fétes Religieuses</i>, p. 216.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote461" name= +"footnote461"></a> <b>Footnote 461</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag461">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de +France</i>, pp. 219, 228, 231; E. Cortet, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 215 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote462" name= +"footnote462"></a> <b>Footnote 462</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag462">(return)</a> +<p>J. Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</i> +(Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 219-224.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote463" name= +"footnote463"></a> <b>Footnote 463</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag463">(return)</a> +<p>This description is quoted by Madame Clément (<i>Histoire +des fêtes civites et religieuses</i>, etc., <i>de la Belgique +Méridionale</i>, Avesnes, 1846, pp. 394-396); F. Liebrecht +(<i>Des Gervasius von Tilbury Otia Imperialia</i>, Hanover, 1856, +pp. 209 <i>sq.</i>); and W. Mannhardt (<i>Antike Wald und +Feldkulte</i>, Berlin, 1877, pp. 323 <i>sqq.</i>) from the +<i>Magazin pittoresque</i>, Paris, viii. (1840) pp. 287 <i>sqq.</i> +A slightly condensed account is given, from the same source, by E. +Cortet (<i>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</i>, pp. 221 +<i>sq.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote464" name= +"footnote464"></a> <b>Footnote 464</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag464">(return)</a> +<p>Bazin, quoted by Breuil, in <i>Mémoires de la +Société d' Antiquaires de Picardie</i>, viii. (1845) +p. 191 note.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote465" name= +"footnote465"></a> <b>Footnote 465</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag465">(return)</a> +<p>Correspondents quoted by A. Bertrand, <i>La Religion des +Gaulois</i> (Paris, 1897), pp. 118, 406.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote466" name= +"footnote466"></a> <b>Footnote 466</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag466">(return)</a> +<p>Correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 407.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote467" name= +"footnote467"></a> <b>Footnote 467</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag467">(return)</a> +<p>Felix Chapiseau, <i>Le folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche</i> +(Paris, 1902), i. 318-320. In Perche the midsummer bonfires were +called <i>marolles</i>. As to the custom formerly observed at +Bullou, near Chateaudun, see a correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, +<i>La Religion des Gaulois</i> (Paris, 1897), p. 117.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote468" name= +"footnote468"></a> <b>Footnote 468</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag468">(return)</a> +<p>Albert Meyrac, <i>Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes, et +Contes des Ardennes</i> (Charleville, 1890), pp. 88 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote469" name= +"footnote469"></a> <b>Footnote 469</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag469">(return)</a> +<p>L.F. Sauvé, <i>Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges</i> (Paris, +1889), p. 186.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote470" name= +"footnote470"></a> <b>Footnote 470</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag470">(return)</a> +<p>Désiré Monnier, <i>Traditions populaires +comparées</i> (Paris, 1854), pp. 207 <i>sqq.</i>; E. Cortet, +<i>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</i>, pp. 217 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote471" name= +"footnote471"></a> <b>Footnote 471</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag471">(return)</a> +<p>Bérenger-Féraud, <i>Réminiscences +populaires de la Provence</i> (Paris, 1885), p. 142.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote472" name= +"footnote472"></a> <b>Footnote 472</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag472">(return)</a> +<p>Charles Beauquier, <i>Les Mois en Franche-Comté</i> +(Paris, 1900), p. 89. The names of the bonfires vary with the +place; among them are <i>failles, bourdifailles, bâs</i> or +<i>baux, feulères</i> or <i>folières</i>, and +<i>chavannes</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote473" name= +"footnote473"></a> <b>Footnote 473</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag473">(return)</a> +<p><i>La Bresse Louhannaise</i>, Juin, 1906, p. 207.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote474" name= +"footnote474"></a> <b>Footnote 474</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag474">(return)</a> +<p>Laisnel de la Salle, <i>Croyances et Légendes du Centre +de la France</i> (Paris, 1875), i. 78 <i>sqq.</i> The writer adopts +the absurd derivation of <i>jônée</i> from Janus. +Needless to say that our old friend Baal, Bel, or Belus figures +prominently in this and many other accounts of the European +fire-festivals.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote475" name= +"footnote475"></a> <b>Footnote 475</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag475">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de +France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 150.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote476" name= +"footnote476"></a> <b>Footnote 476</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag476">(return)</a> +<p>Correspondent, quoted by A. Bertrand, <i>La Religion des +Gaulois</i> (Paris, 1897), p. 408.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote477" name= +"footnote477"></a> <b>Footnote 477</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag477">(return)</a> +<p>Guerry, "Sur les usages et traditions du Poitou," +<i>Mémoires et dissertations publiés par la +Société Royale des Antiquaires de France</i>, viii. +(1829) pp. 451 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote478" name= +"footnote478"></a> <b>Footnote 478</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag478">(return)</a> +<p>Breuil, in <i>Mémoires de la Société des +Antiquaires de Picardie</i>, viii. (1845) p. 206; E. Cortet, +<i>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</i>, p. 216; Laisnel de la +Salle, <i>Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France</i>, +i. 83; J. Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</i>, ii. 225.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote479" name= +"footnote479"></a> <b>Footnote 479</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag479">(return)</a> +<p>H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la +roue," <i>Revue Archéologique</i>, iii. Série, iv. +(1884) p. 26, note 3.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote480" name= +"footnote480"></a> <b>Footnote 480</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag480">(return)</a> +<p>L. Pineau, <i>Le Folk-lore du Poitou</i> (Paris, 1892), pp. 499 +<i>sq.</i> In Périgord the ashes of the midsummer bonfire +are searched for the hair of the Virgin (E. Cortet, <i>Essai sur +les Fêtes Religieuses</i>, p. 219).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote481" name= +"footnote481"></a> <b>Footnote 481</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag481">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de +France</i>, pp. 149 <i>sq.</i>; E. Cortet, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 218 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote482" name= +"footnote482"></a> <b>Footnote 482</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag482">(return)</a> +<p>Dupin, "Notice sur quelques fêtes et divertissemens +populaires du département des Deux-Sèvres," +<i>Mémoires et Dissertations publiés par la +Société Royale des Antiquaires de France</i>, iv. +(1823) p. 110.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote483" name= +"footnote483"></a> <b>Footnote 483</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag483">(return)</a> +<p>J.L.M. Noguès, <i>Les moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et +en Aunis</i> (Saintes, 1891), pp. 72, 178 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote484" name= +"footnote484"></a> <b>Footnote 484</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag484">(return)</a> +<p>H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu soleil et le symbolisme de la roue," +<i>Revue Archéologique</i>, iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. +30.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote485" name= +"footnote485"></a> <b>Footnote 485</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag485">(return)</a> +<p>Ch. Cuissard, <i>Les Feux de la Saint-Jean</i> (Orleans, 1884), +pp. 22 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote486" name= +"footnote486"></a> <b>Footnote 486</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag486">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de +France</i> p. 127.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote487" name= +"footnote487"></a> <b>Footnote 487</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag487">(return)</a> +<p>Aubin-Louis Millin, <i>Voyage dans les Départemens du +Midi de la France</i> (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 341 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote488" name= +"footnote488"></a> <b>Footnote 488</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag488">(return)</a> +<p>Aubin-Louis Millin, <i>op. cit.</i> iii. 28.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote489" name= +"footnote489"></a> <b>Footnote 489</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag489">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 19 <i>sq.</i>; +Bérenger-Féraud, <i>Reminiscences populaires de la +Provence</i> (Paris, 1885), pp. 135-141. As to the custom at +Toulon, see Poncy, quoted by Breuil, <i>Mémoires de la +Société des Antiquaires de Picardie</i>, viii. (1845) +p. 190 note. The custom of drenching people on this occasion with +water used to prevail in Toulon, as well as in Marseilles and other +towns in the south of France. The water was squirted from syringes, +poured on the heads of passers-by from windows, and so on. See +Breuil, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 237 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote490" name= +"footnote490"></a> <b>Footnote 490</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag490">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 20 <i>sq.</i>; E. Cortet, <i>op. +cit.</i> pp. 218, 219 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote491" name= +"footnote491"></a> <b>Footnote 491</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag491">(return)</a> +<p>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <i>Calendrier Belge</i> +(Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 416 <i>sq.</i> 439.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote492" name= +"footnote492"></a> <b>Footnote 492</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag492">(return)</a> +<p>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <i>op. cit.</i> i. +439-442.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote493" name= +"footnote493"></a> <b>Footnote 493</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag493">(return)</a> +<p>Madame Clément, <i>Histoire des fêtes civiles et +religieuses</i>, etc., <i>du Département du Nord</i> +(Cambrai, 1836), p. 364; J.W. Wolf, <i>Beiträge zur deutschen +Mythologie</i> (Göttingen, 1852-1857), ii. 392; W. Mannhardt, +<i>Der Baumkultus</i>. p. 513.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote494" name= +"footnote494"></a> <b>Footnote 494</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag494">(return)</a> +<p>E. Monseur, <i>Folklore Wallon</i> (Brussels, N.D.), p. 130, +§§ 1783, 1786, 1787.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote495" name= +"footnote495"></a> <b>Footnote 495</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag495">(return)</a> +<p>Joseph Strutt, <i>The Sports and Pastimes of the People of +England</i>, New Edition, by W. Hone (London, 1834), p. 359.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote496" name= +"footnote496"></a> <b>Footnote 496</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag496">(return)</a> +<p>John Stow, <i>A Survay of London</i>, edited by Henry Morley +(London, N.D.), pp. 126 <i>sq.</i> Stow's <i>Survay</i> was written +in 1598.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote497" name= +"footnote497"></a> <b>Footnote 497</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag497">(return)</a> +<p>John Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 338; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, <i>British Popular +Customs</i> (London, 1876), p. 331. Both writers refer to <i>Status +Scholae Etonensis</i> (A.D. 1560).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote498" name= +"footnote498"></a> <b>Footnote 498</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag498">(return)</a> +<p>John Aubrey, <i>Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme</i> (London, +1881), p. 26.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote499" name= +"footnote499"></a> <b>Footnote 499</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag499">(return)</a> +<p>J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 300 <i>sq.</i>, 318, compare pp. 305, 306, 308 +<i>sq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus</i>, p. 512. Compare W. +Hutchinson, <i>View of Northumberland</i>, vol. ii. (Newcastle, +1778), Appendix, p. (15), under the head "Midsummer":—"It is +usual to raise fires on the tops of high hills and in the villages, +and sport and danse around them; this is of very remote antiquity, +and the first cause lost in the distance of time."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote500" name= +"footnote500"></a> <b>Footnote 500</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag500">(return)</a> +<p>Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, quoted by William Borlase, +<i>Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of +Cornwall</i> (London, 1769), p. 135 note.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote501" name= +"footnote501"></a> <b>Footnote 501</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag501">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, +collected by M.C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 76, quoting E. +Mackenzie, <i>An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of +the County of Northumberland</i>, Second Edition (Newcastle, 1825), +i. 217.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote502" name= +"footnote502"></a> <b>Footnote 502</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag502">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, +collected by M.C. Balfour, p. 75.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote503" name= +"footnote503"></a> <b>Footnote 503</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag503">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, +collected by M.C. Balfour, p. 75.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote504" name= +"footnote504"></a> <b>Footnote 504</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag504">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Denham Tracts</i>, edited by J. Hardy (London, +1892-1895), ii. 342 <i>sq.</i>, quoting <i>Archælogia +Aeliana</i>, N.S., vii. 73, and the <i>Proceedings</i> of the +Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vi. 242 <i>sq.</i>; <i>County +Folk-lore</i>, vol. iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, collected by M.C. +Balfour (London, 1904), pp. 75 <i>sq.</i> Whalton is a village of +Northumberland, not far from Morpeth.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote505" name= +"footnote505"></a> <b>Footnote 505</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag505">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. vi. <i>East Riding of +Yorkshire</i>, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), +p. 102.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote506" name= +"footnote506"></a> <b>Footnote 506</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag506">(return)</a> +<p>John Aubrey, <i>Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme</i> (London, +1881), p. 96, compare <i>id.</i>, p. 26.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote507" name= +"footnote507"></a> <b>Footnote 507</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag507">(return)</a> +<p>J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 311.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote508" name= +"footnote508"></a> <b>Footnote 508</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag508">(return)</a> +<p>William Borlase, LL.D., <i>Antiquities, Historical and +Monumental, of the County of Cornwall</i> (London, 1769), pp. 135 +<i>sq.</i> The Eve of St. Peter is June 28th. Bonfires have been +lit elsewhere on the Eve or the day of St. Peter. See above, pp. +<a href="#page194">194</a> <i>sq.</i> <a href="#page196">196</a> +<i>sq.</i>, and below, pp. <a href="#page199">199</a> <i>sq.</i>, +<a href="#page202">202</a>, <a href="#page207">207</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote509" name= +"footnote509"></a> <b>Footnote 509</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag509">(return)</a> +<p>J. Brand, <i>op. cit.</i> i. 318, 319; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, +<i>British Popular Customs</i> (London, 1876), p. 315.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote510" name= +"footnote510"></a> <b>Footnote 510</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag510">(return)</a> +<p>William Bottrell, <i>Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West +Cornwall</i> (Penzance, 1870), pp. 8 <i>sq.</i>, 55 <i>sq.</i>; +James Napier, <i>Folk-lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of +Scotland</i> (Paisley, 1879), p. 173.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote511" name= +"footnote511"></a> <b>Footnote 511</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag511">(return)</a> +<p>Richard Edmonds, <i>The Land's End District</i> (London, 1862), +pp. 66 <i>sq.</i>; Robert Hunt, <i>Popular Romances of the West of +England</i>, Third Edition (London, 1881), pp. 207 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote512" name= +"footnote512"></a> <b>Footnote 512</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag512">(return)</a> +<p>Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> +(London, 1909), pp. 27 <i>sq.</i> Compare Jonathan Ceredig Davies, +<i>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</i> (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. +76.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote513" name= +"footnote513"></a> <b>Footnote 513</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag513">(return)</a> +<p>J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 318.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote514" name= +"footnote514"></a> <b>Footnote 514</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag514">(return)</a> +<p>Joseph Train, <i>Account of the Isle of Man</i> (Douglas, Isle +of Man, 1845), ii. 120.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote515" name= +"footnote515"></a> <b>Footnote 515</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag515">(return)</a> +<p>Sir Henry Piers, <i>Description of the County of Westmeath</i>, +written in 1682, published by (General) Charles Vallancey, +<i>Collectanea de Rebus Hibernieis</i>, i. (Dublin, 1786) pp. 123 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote516" name= +"footnote516"></a> <b>Footnote 516</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag516">(return)</a> +<p>J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 303, quoting the author of the <i>Survey of the +South of Ireland</i>, p. 232.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote517" name= +"footnote517"></a> <b>Footnote 517</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag517">(return)</a> +<p>J. Brand, <i>op. cit.</i> i. 305, quoting the author of the +<i>Comical Pilgrim's Pilgrimage into Ireland</i> (1723), p. 92.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote518" name= +"footnote518"></a> <b>Footnote 518</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag518">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Gentleman's Magazine</i>, vol. lxv. (London, 1795) pp. +124 <i>sq.</i> The writer dates the festival on June 21st, which is +probably a mistake.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote519" name= +"footnote519"></a> <b>Footnote 519</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag519">(return)</a> +<p>T.F. Thiselton Dyer, <i>British Popular Customs</i> (London, +1876), pp. 321 <i>sq.</i>, quoting the <i>Liverpool Mercury</i> of +June 29th, 1867.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote520" name= +"footnote520"></a> <b>Footnote 520</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag520">(return)</a> +<p>L.L. Duncan, "Further Notes from County Leitrim," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, v. (1894) p. 193.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote521" name= +"footnote521"></a> <b>Footnote 521</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag521">(return)</a> +<p>A.C. Haddon, "A Batch of Irish Folk-lore," <i>Folk-lore</i>, iv. +(1893) pp. 351, 359.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote522" name= +"footnote522"></a> <b>Footnote 522</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag522">(return)</a> +<p>G.H. Kinahan, "Notes on Irish Folk-lore," <i>Folk-lore +Record</i>, iv. (1881) p. 97.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote523" name= +"footnote523"></a> <b>Footnote 523</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag523">(return)</a> +<p>Charlotte Elizabeth, <i>Personal Recollections</i>, quoted by +Rev. Alexander Hislop, <i>The Two Babylons</i> (Edinburgh, 1853), +p. 53.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote524" name= +"footnote524"></a> <b>Footnote 524</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag524">(return)</a> +<p>Lady Wilde, <i>Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions +of Ireland</i> (London, 1887), i. 214 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote525" name= +"footnote525"></a> <b>Footnote 525</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag525">(return)</a> +<p>T.F. Thiselton Dyer, <i>British Popular Customs</i> (London, +1876), pp. 322 <i>sq.</i>, quoting the <i>Hibernian Magazine</i>, +July 1817. As to the worship of wells in ancient Ireland, see P.W. +Joyce, <i>A Social History of Ancient Ireland</i> (London, 1903), +i. 288 <i>sq.</i>, 366 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote526" name= +"footnote526"></a> <b>Footnote 526</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag526">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. A. Johnstone, describing the parish of Monquhitter in +Perthshire, in Sir John Sinclair's <i>Statistical Account of +Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xxi. 145. Mr. W. Warde Fowler +writes that in Scotland "before the bonfires were kindled on +midsummer eve, the houses were decorated with foliage brought from +the woods" (<i>Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic</i>, +London, 1899, pp. 80 <i>sq.</i>). For his authority he refers to +<i>Chambers' Journal</i>, July, 1842.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote527" name= +"footnote527"></a> <b>Footnote 527</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag527">(return)</a> +<p>John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, <i>Scotland and Scotsmen in the +Eighteenth Century</i>, edited by A. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), +ii. 436.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote528" name= +"footnote528"></a> <b>Footnote 528</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag528">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Mr. Shaw, Minister of Elgin, in Pennant's "Tour in +Scotland," printed in John Pinkerton's <i>Voyages and Travels</i> +(London, 1808-1814), iii. 136.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote529" name= +"footnote529"></a> <b>Footnote 529</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag529">(return)</a> +<p>A. Macdonald, "Midsummer Bonfires," <i>Folk-lore</i>, xv. (1904) +pp. 105 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote530" name= +"footnote530"></a> <b>Footnote 530</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag530">(return)</a> +<p>From notes kindly furnished to me by the Rev. J.C. Higgins, +parish minister of Tarbolton. Mr. Higgins adds that he knows of no +superstition connected with the fire, and no tradition of its +origin. I visited the scene of the bonfire in 1898, but, as +Pausanias says (viii. 41. 6) in similar circumstances, "I did not +happen to arrive at the season of the festival." Indeed the snow +was falling thick as I trudged to the village through the beautiful +woods of "the Castle o' Montgomery" immortalized by Burns. From a +notice in <i>The Scotsman</i> of 26th June, 1906 (p. 8) it appears +that the old custom was observed as usual that year.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote531" name= +"footnote531"></a> <b>Footnote 531</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag531">(return)</a> +<p>Thomas Moresinus, <i>Papatus seu Depravatae Religionis Origo et +Incrementum</i> (Edinburgh, 1594), p. 56.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote532" name= +"footnote532"></a> <b>Footnote 532</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag532">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Dr. George Lawrie, in Sir John Sinclair's <i>Statistical +Account of Scotland</i>, iii. (Edinburgh, 1792) p. 105.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote533" name= +"footnote533"></a> <b>Footnote 533</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag533">(return)</a> +<p>Letter from Dr. Otero Acevado of Madrid, published in <i>Le +Temps</i>, September 1898. An extract from the newspaper was sent +me, but without mention of the day of the month when it appeared. +The fires on St. John's Eve in Spain are mentioned also by J. +Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i>, i. 317. Jacob +Grimm inferred the custom from a passage in a romance (<i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 518). The custom of washing or +bathing on the morning of St. John's Day is mentioned by the +Spanish historian Diego Duran, <i>Historia de las Indias de Nueva +España</i>, edited by J.F. Ramirez (Mexico, 1867-1880), vol. +ii. p. 293. To roll in the dew on the morning of St. John's Day is +a cure for diseases of the skin in Normandy, Périgord, and +the Abruzzi, as well as in Spain. See J. Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du +Bocage Normand</i>, ii. 8; A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et +Traditions des Provinces de France</i>, p. 150; Gennaro Finamore, +<i>Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi</i> (Palermo, 1890), p. +157.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote534" name= +"footnote534"></a> <b>Footnote 534</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag534">(return)</a> +<p>M. Longworth Dames and Mrs. E. Seemann, "Folklore of the +Azores," <i>Folk-lore</i>, xiv. (1903) pp. 142 <i>sq.</i>; +Theophilo Braga, <i>O Povo Portuguez nos seus Costumes, +Crenças e Tradiçoes</i> (Lisbon, 1885), ii. 304 +<i>sq.</i>, 307 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote535" name= +"footnote535"></a> <b>Footnote 535</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag535">(return)</a> +<p>See below, pp. <a href="#page234">234</a> <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote536" name= +"footnote536"></a> <b>Footnote 536</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag536">(return)</a> +<p>Angelo de Gubernatis, <i>Mythologie des Plantes</i> (Paris, +1878-1882), i. 185 note 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote537" name= +"footnote537"></a> <b>Footnote 537</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag537">(return)</a> +<p><i>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</i>, Second Edition, pp. 202 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote538" name= +"footnote538"></a> <b>Footnote 538</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag538">(return)</a> +<p>G. Finamore, <i>Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi</i> (Palermo, +1890), pp. 154 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote539" name= +"footnote539"></a> <b>Footnote 539</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag539">(return)</a> +<p>G. Finamore, <i>Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi</i>, pp. +158-160. We may compare the Provençal and Spanish customs of +bathing and splashing water at Midsummer. See above, pp. <a href= +"#page193">193</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page208">208</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote540" name= +"footnote540"></a> <b>Footnote 540</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag540">(return)</a> +<p>Giuseppe Pitrè, <i>Spettacoli e Feste Popolari +Siciliane</i> (Palermo, 1881), pp. 246, 308 <i>sq.</i>; <i>id., Usi +e Costumi, Credenze e Pregiudizi del Popolo Siciliano</i> (Palermo, +1889), pp. 146 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote541" name= +"footnote541"></a> <b>Footnote 541</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag541">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 518.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote542" name= +"footnote542"></a> <b>Footnote 542</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag542">(return)</a> +<p>V. Busuttil, <i>Holiday Customs in Malta, and Sports, Usages, +Ceremonies, Omens, and Superstitions of the Maltese People</i> +(Malta, 1894), pp. 56 <i>sqq.</i> The extract was kindly sent to me +by Mr. H.W. Underwood (letter dated 14th November, 1902, Birbeck +Bank Chambers, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.). See +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xiv. (1903) pp. 77 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote543" name= +"footnote543"></a> <b>Footnote 543</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag543">(return)</a> +<p>W. R. Paton, in <i>Folk-lore</i>, ii. (1891) p. 128. The custom +was reported to me when I was in Greece in 1890 (<i>Folk-lore</i>, +i. (1890) p. 520).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote544" name= +"footnote544"></a> <b>Footnote 544</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag544">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 519.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote545" name= +"footnote545"></a> <b>Footnote 545</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag545">(return)</a> +<p>G. Georgeakis et L. Pineau, <i>Le Folk-lore de Lesbos</i> +(Paris, 1894), pp. 308 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote546" name= +"footnote546"></a> <b>Footnote 546</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag546">(return)</a> +<p>W.R. Paton, in <i>Folk-lore</i>, vi. (1895) p. 94. From the +stones cast into the fire omens may perhaps be drawn, as in +Scotland, Wales, and probably Brittany. See above, p. <a href= +"#page183">183</a>, and below, pp. <a href="#page230">230</a> +<i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page239">239</a>, <a href= +"#page240">240</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote547" name= +"footnote547"></a> <b>Footnote 547</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag547">(return)</a> +<p>W.H.D. Rouse, "Folklore from the Southern Sporades," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, x. (1899) p. 179.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote548" name= +"footnote548"></a> <b>Footnote 548</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag548">(return)</a> +<p>Lucy M.J. Garnett, <i>The Women of Turkey and their Folk-lore, +the Christian Women</i> (London, 1890), p. 122; G.F. Abbott, +<i>Macedonian Folklore</i> (Cambridge, 1903), p. 57.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote549" name= +"footnote549"></a> <b>Footnote 549</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag549">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. von Hahn, <i>Albanesische Studien</i> (Jena, 1854), i. +156.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote550" name= +"footnote550"></a> <b>Footnote 550</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag550">(return)</a> +<p>K. von den Steinen, <i>Unter den Natur-Völkern +Zentral-Brasiliens</i> (Berlin, 1894), p. 561.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote551" name= +"footnote551"></a> <b>Footnote 551</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag551">(return)</a> +<p>Alcide d'Orbigny, <i>Voyage dans l'Amérique +Méridionale</i>, ii. (Paris and Strasbourg, 1839-1843), p. +420; D. Forbes, "On the Aymara Indians of Bolivia and Peru," +<i>Journal of the Ethnological Society of London</i>, ii. (1870) p. +235.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote552" name= +"footnote552"></a> <b>Footnote 552</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag552">(return)</a> +<p>Edmond Doutté, <i>Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du +Nord</i> (Algiers, 1908), pp. 566 <i>sq</i>. For an older but +briefer notice of the Midsummer fires in North Africa, see Giuseppe +Ferraro, <i>Superstizioni, Usi e Proverbi Monferrini</i> (Palermo, +1886), pp. 34 <i>sq.</i>: "Also in Algeria, among the Mussalmans, +and in Morocco, as Alvise da Cadamosto reports in his <i>Relazione +dei viaggi d'Africa</i>, which may be read in Ramusio, people used +to hold great festivities on St. John's Night; they kindled +everywhere huge fires of straw (the <i>Palilia</i> of the Romans), +in which they threw incense and perfumes the whole night long in +order to invoke the divine blessing on the fruit-trees." See also +Budgett Meakin, <i>The Moors</i> (London, 1902), p. 394: "The +Berber festivals are mainly those of Islam, though a few traces of +their predecessors are observable. Of these the most noteworthy is +Midsummer or St. John's Day, still celebrated in a special manner, +and styled <i>El Ansarah</i>. In the Rîf it is celebrated by +the lighting of bonfires only, but in other parts there is a +special dish prepared of wheat, raisins, etc., resembling the +frumenty consumed at the New Year. It is worthy of remark that the +Old Style Gregorian calendar is maintained among them, with +corruptions of Latin names."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote553" name= +"footnote553"></a> <b>Footnote 553</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag553">(return)</a> +<p>Edward Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folklore</i>, xvi. (1905) pp. 28-30; <i>id., Ceremonies and +Beliefs connected with Agriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar +Year, and the Weather</i> (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 79-83.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote554" name= +"footnote554"></a> <b>Footnote 554</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag554">(return)</a> +<p>E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905) pp. 30 <i>sq.</i>; <i>id., Ceremonies +and Beliefs connected with Agriculture</i>, etc., pp. 83 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote555" name= +"footnote555"></a> <b>Footnote 555</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag555">(return)</a> +<p>Edmond Doutté, <i>Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du +Nord</i> (Algiers, 1908), pp. 567 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote556" name= +"footnote556"></a> <b>Footnote 556</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag556">(return)</a> +<p>E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905) pp. 31 <i>sq.</i>; <i>id., Ceremonies +and Beliefs connected with Agriculture</i>, etc., pp. 84-86.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote557" name= +"footnote557"></a> <b>Footnote 557</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag557">(return)</a> +<p>See K. Vollers, in Dr. James Hastings's <i>Encyclopaedia of +Religion and Ethics</i> iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) <i>s.v.</i> +"Calendar (Muslim)," pp. 126 <i>sq.</i> However, L. Ideler held +that even before the time of Mohammed the Arab year was lunar and +vague, and that intercalation was only employed in order to fix the +pilgrimage month in autumn, which, on account of the milder weather +and the abundance of food, is the best time for pilgrims to go to +Mecca. See L. Ideler, <i>Handbuch der mathematischen und techischen +Chronologie</i> (Berlin, 1825-1826), ii. 495 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote558" name= +"footnote558"></a> <b>Footnote 558</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag558">(return)</a> +<p>E. Doutté, <i>Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du +Nord</i>, pp. 496, 509, 532, 543, 569. It is somewhat remarkable +that the tenth, not the first, day of the first month should be +reckoned New Year's Day.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote559" name= +"footnote559"></a> <b>Footnote 559</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag559">(return)</a> +<p>E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905) pp. 40-42.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote560" name= +"footnote560"></a> <b>Footnote 560</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag560">(return)</a> +<p>E. Doutté, <i>Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du +Nord</i> (Algiers, 1908), pp. 541 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote561" name= +"footnote561"></a> <b>Footnote 561</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag561">(return)</a> +<p>E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905) p. 42; <i>id., Ceremonies and Beliefs +connected with Agriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar Year, and +the Weather in Morocco</i> (Helsingfors, 1913), p. 101.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote562" name= +"footnote562"></a> <b>Footnote 562</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag562">(return)</a> +<p>E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905), pp. 42 <i>sq.</i>, 46 <i>sq.; id., +Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture</i>, etc., <i>in +Morocco</i>, pp. 99 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote563" name= +"footnote563"></a> <b>Footnote 563</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag563">(return)</a> +<p>G. F. Abbott, <i>Macedonian Folklore</i> (Cambridge, 1903), pp. +60 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote564" name= +"footnote564"></a> <b>Footnote 564</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag564">(return)</a> +<p>"Narrative of the Adventures of four Russian Sailors, who were +cast in a storm upon the uncultivated island of East Spitzbergen," +translated from the German of P.L. Le Roy, in John Pinkerton's +<i>Voyages and Travels</i> (London, 1808-1814), i. 603. This +passage is quoted from the original by (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, +<i>Researches into the Early History of Mankind</i>, Third Edition +(London, 1878), pp. 259 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote565" name= +"footnote565"></a> <b>Footnote 565</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag565">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>The Scapegoat</i>, pp. 166 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote566" name= +"footnote566"></a> <b>Footnote 566</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag566">(return)</a> +<p>E.K. Chambers, <i>The Mediaeval Stage</i> (Oxford, 1903), i. 110 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote567" name= +"footnote567"></a> <b>Footnote 567</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag567">(return)</a> +<p>In Eastern Europe to this day the great season for driving out +the cattle to pasture for the first time in spring is St. George's +Day, the twenty-third of April, which is not far removed from May +Day. See <i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 324 +<i>sqq.</i> As to the bisection of the Celtic year, see the old +authority quoted by P.W. Joyce, <i>The Social History of Ancient +Ireland</i> (London, 1903), ii. 390: "The whole year was +[originally] divided into two parts—Summer from 1st May to +1st November, and Winter from 1st November to 1st May." On this +subject compare (Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i> (London +and Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 460, 514 <i>sqq.; id., Celtic Folk-lore, +Welsh and Manx</i> (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 <i>sqq.</i>; J.A. +MacCulloch, in Dr. James Hastings's <i>Encyclopaedia of Religion +and Ethics</i>, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) p. 80.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote568" name= +"footnote568"></a> <b>Footnote 568</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag568">(return)</a> +<p>See below, p. <a href="#page225">225</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote569" name= +"footnote569"></a> <b>Footnote 569</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag569">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page146">146</a> <i>sqq.</i>; <i>The Magic +Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 59 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote570" name= +"footnote570"></a> <b>Footnote 570</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag570">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Folk-lore, Manx and Welsh</i> +(Oxford, 1901), i. 316, 317 <i>sq.</i>; J.A. MacCulloch, in Dr. +James Hastings's <i>Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics</i>, iii. +(Edinburgh, 1910) <i>s.v.</i> "Calendar," p. 80, referring to +Kelly, <i>English and Manx Dictionary</i> (Douglas, 1866), +<i>s.v.</i> "Blein." Hogmanay is the popular Scotch name for the +last day of the year. See Dr. J. Jamieson, <i>Etymological +Dictionary of the Scottish Language</i>, New Edition (Paisley, +1879-1882), ii. 602 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote571" name= +"footnote571"></a> <b>Footnote 571</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag571">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</i>, i. 316 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote572" name= +"footnote572"></a> <b>Footnote 572</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag572">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page139">139</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote573" name= +"footnote573"></a> <b>Footnote 573</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag573">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</i>, Second Edition, pp. 309-318. +As I have there pointed out, the Catholic Church succeeded in +altering the date of the festival by one day, but not in changing +the character of the festival. All Souls' Day is now the second +instead of the first of November. But we can hardly doubt that the +Saints, who have taken possession of the first of November, wrested +it from the Souls of the Dead, the original proprietors. After all, +the Saints are only one particular class of the Souls of the Dead; +so that the change which the Church effected, no doubt for the +purpose of disguising the heathen character of the festival, is +less great than appears at first sight.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote574" name= +"footnote574"></a> <b>Footnote 574</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag574">(return)</a> +<p>In Wales "it was firmly believed in former times that on All +Hallows' Eve the spirit of a departed person was to be seen at +midnight on every cross-road and on every stile" (Marie Trevelyan, +<i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i>, London, 1909, p. +254).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote575" name= +"footnote575"></a> <b>Footnote 575</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag575">(return)</a> +<p>E. J. Guthrie, <i>Old Scottish Customs</i> (London and Glasgow, +1885), p. 68.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote576" name= +"footnote576"></a> <b>Footnote 576</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag576">(return)</a> +<p>A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xiii. (1902) p. 53.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote577" name= +"footnote577"></a> <b>Footnote 577</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag577">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) Jolin Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i> (London and +Edinburgh, 1888), p. 516.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote578" name= +"footnote578"></a> <b>Footnote 578</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag578">(return)</a> +<p>P.W. Joyce, <i>A Social History of Ancient Ireland</i> (London, +1903), i. 264 <i>sq.</i>, ii. 556.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote579" name= +"footnote579"></a> <b>Footnote 579</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag579">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i>, p. 516.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote580" name= +"footnote580"></a> <b>Footnote 580</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag580">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, <i>Superstitions of the Highlands +and Islands of Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 61 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote581" name= +"footnote581"></a> <b>Footnote 581</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag581">(return)</a> +<p>Ch. Rogers, <i>Social Life in Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, +1884-1886), iii. 258-260.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote582" name= +"footnote582"></a> <b>Footnote 582</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag582">(return)</a> +<p>Douglas Hyde, <i>Beside the Fire, a Collection of Irish Gaelic +Folk Stories</i> (London, 1890), pp. 104, 105, 121-128.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote583" name= +"footnote583"></a> <b>Footnote 583</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag583">(return)</a> +<p>P.W. Joyce, <i>Social History of Ancient Ireland</i>, i. +229.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote584" name= +"footnote584"></a> <b>Footnote 584</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag584">(return)</a> +<p>Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> +(London, 1909), p. 254.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote585" name= +"footnote585"></a> <b>Footnote 585</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag585">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i>, pp. 514 <i>sq.</i> In +order to see the apparitions all you had to do was to run thrice +round the parish church and then peep through the key-hole of the +door. See Marie Trevelyan, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 254; J. C. Davies, +<i>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</i> (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. +77.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote586" name= +"footnote586"></a> <b>Footnote 586</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag586">(return)</a> +<p>Miss E. J. Guthrie, <i>Old Scottish Customs</i> (London and +Glasgow, 1885), p. 75.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote587" name= +"footnote587"></a> <b>Footnote 587</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag587">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, <i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in +the Highlands and Islands of Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), p. +282.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote588" name= +"footnote588"></a> <b>Footnote 588</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag588">(return)</a> +<p>Thomas Pennant, "Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides in +1772," in John Pinkerton's <i>Voyages and Travels</i>, iii. +(London, 1809) pp. 383 <i>sq.</i> In quoting the passage I have +corrected what seem to be two misprints.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote589" name= +"footnote589"></a> <b>Footnote 589</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag589">(return)</a> +<p>John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, <i>Scotland and Scotsmen in the +Eighteenth Century</i>, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh +and London, 1888), ii. 437 <i>sq.</i> This account was written in +the eighteenth century.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote590" name= +"footnote590"></a> <b>Footnote 590</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag590">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. James Robertson, Parish minister of Callander, in Sir John +Sinclair's <i>Statistical Account of Scotland</i>, xi. (Edinburgh, +1794), pp. 621 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote591" name= +"footnote591"></a> <b>Footnote 591</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag591">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's <i>Statistical +Account of Scotland</i> v. (Edinburgh, 1793) pp. 84 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote592" name= +"footnote592"></a> <b>Footnote 592</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag592">(return)</a> +<p>Miss E. J. Guthrie, <i>Old Scottish Customs</i> (London and +Glasgow, 1885), p. 67.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote593" name= +"footnote593"></a> <b>Footnote 593</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag593">(return)</a> +<p>James Napier, <i>Folk Lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West +of Scotland within this Century</i> (Paisley, 1879), p. 179.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote594" name= +"footnote594"></a> <b>Footnote 594</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag594">(return)</a> +<p>J. G. Frazer, "Folk-lore at Balquhidder," <i>The Folk-lore +Journal</i>, vi. (1888) p. 270.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote595" name= +"footnote595"></a> <b>Footnote 595</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag595">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East +of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), pp. 167 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote596" name= +"footnote596"></a> <b>Footnote 596</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag596">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. A. Johnstone, as to the parish of Monquhitter, in Sir John +Sinclair's <i>Statistical Account of Scotland</i>, xxi. (Edinburgh, +1799) pp. 145 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote597" name= +"footnote597"></a> <b>Footnote 597</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag597">(return)</a> +<p>A. Macdonald, "Some former Customs of the Royal Parish of +Crathie, Scotland," <i>Folk-lore</i>, xviii. (1907) p. 85. The +writer adds: "In this way the 'faulds' were purged of evil +spirits." But it does not appear whether this expresses the belief +of the people or only the interpretation of the writer.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote598" name= +"footnote598"></a> <b>Footnote 598</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag598">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, <i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in +the Highlands and Islands of Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 282 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote599" name= +"footnote599"></a> <b>Footnote 599</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag599">(return)</a> +<p>Robert Burns, <i>Hallowe'en</i>, with the poet's note; Rev. +Walter Gregor, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 84; Miss E.J. Guthrie, <i>op. +cit.</i> p. 69; Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 287.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote600" name= +"footnote600"></a> <b>Footnote 600</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag600">(return)</a> +<p>R. Burns, <i>l.c.</i>; Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>l.c.</i>; Miss +E.J. Guthrie, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 70 <i>sq.</i>; Rev. J.G. +Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 286.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote601" name= +"footnote601"></a> <b>Footnote 601</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag601">(return)</a> +<p>R. Burns, <i>l.c.</i>.; Rev. W. Gregor, <i>l.c.</i>; Miss E.J. +Guthrie, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 73; Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> +p. 285; A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xiii. (1902) pp. 54 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote602" name= +"footnote602"></a> <b>Footnote 602</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag602">(return)</a> +<p>R. Burns, <i>l.c.</i>; Rev. W. Gregor, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 85; +Miss E.J. Guthrie, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 71; Rev. J.G. Campbell, +<i>op. cit.</i> p. 285. According to the last of these writers, the +winnowing had to be done in the devil's name.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote603" name= +"footnote603"></a> <b>Footnote 603</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag603">(return)</a> +<p>R. Burns, <i>l.c.</i>; Rev. W. Gregor, <i>l.c.</i>; Miss E.J. +Guthrie, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 72; Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> +p. 286; A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides," +<i>Folklore</i>, xiii. (1902) p. 54.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote604" name= +"footnote604"></a> <b>Footnote 604</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag604">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 283.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote605" name= +"footnote605"></a> <b>Footnote 605</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag605">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 283 <i>sq.</i>; A. +Goodrich-Freer, <i>l.c.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote606" name= +"footnote606"></a> <b>Footnote 606</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag606">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 284.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote607" name= +"footnote607"></a> <b>Footnote 607</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag607">(return)</a> +<p>R. Burns, <i>l.c.</i>; Rev. W. Gregor, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 85; +Miss E.J. Guthrie, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 70; Rev. J.G. Campbell, +<i>op. cit.</i> p. 284. Where nuts were not to be had, peas were +substituted.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote608" name= +"footnote608"></a> <b>Footnote 608</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag608">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 284.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote609" name= +"footnote609"></a> <b>Footnote 609</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag609">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>l.c.</i> According to my recollection of +Hallowe'en customs observed in my boyhood at Helensburgh, in +Dumbartonshire, another way was to stir the floating apples and +then drop a fork on them as they bobbed about in the water. Success +consisted in pinning one of the apples with the fork.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote610" name= +"footnote610"></a> <b>Footnote 610</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag610">(return)</a> +<p>R. Burns, <i>l.c.</i>; Rev. W. Gregor, <i>op. cit</i>. pp. 85 +<i>sq</i>.; Miss E.J. Guthrie, <i>op. cit</i>. pp. 72 <i>sq</i>.; +Rev. J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit</i>. p. 287.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote611" name= +"footnote611"></a> <b>Footnote 611</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag611">(return)</a> +<p>R. Burns, <i>l.c.</i>; Rev. W. Gregor, <i>op. cit</i>. p. 85; +Miss E.J. Guthrie, <i>op. cit</i>. pp. 69 <i>sq</i>.; Rev. J.G. +Campbell, <i>op. cit</i>. p. 285. It is the last of these writers +who gives what may be called the Trinitarian form of the +divination.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote612" name= +"footnote612"></a> <b>Footnote 612</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag612">(return)</a> +<p>Miss E.J. Guthrie, <i>Old Scottish Customs</i> (London and +Glasgow, 1885), pp. 74 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote613" name= +"footnote613"></a> <b>Footnote 613</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag613">(return)</a> +<p>A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xiii. (1902) p. 55.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote614" name= +"footnote614"></a> <b>Footnote 614</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag614">(return)</a> +<p>Pennant's manuscript, quoted by J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</i> (London, 1882-1883), i. 389 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote615" name= +"footnote615"></a> <b>Footnote 615</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag615">(return)</a> +<p>Sir Richard Colt Hoare, <i>The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin +through Wales A.D. MCLXXXVIII. by Giraldus de Barri</i> (London, +1806), ii. 315; J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities</i>, i. 390. The +passage quoted in the text occurs in one of Hoare's notes on the +Itinerary. The dipping for apples, burning of nuts, and so forth, +are mentioned also by Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</i> (London, 1909), pp. 253, 255.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote616" name= +"footnote616"></a> <b>Footnote 616</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag616">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Heathendom</i> (London and Edinburgh, +1888), pp. 515 <i>sq.</i> As to the Hallowe'en bonfires in Wales +compare J.C. Davies, <i>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</i> +(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote617" name= +"footnote617"></a> <b>Footnote 617</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag617">(return)</a> +<p>See above, p. <a href="#page183">183</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote618" name= +"footnote618"></a> <b>Footnote 618</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag618">(return)</a> +<p>See above, p. <a href="#page231">231</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote619" name= +"footnote619"></a> <b>Footnote 619</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag619">(return)</a> +<p>Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> +(London, 1909), pp. 254 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote620" name= +"footnote620"></a> <b>Footnote 620</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag620">(return)</a> +<p>(General) Charles Vallancey, <i>Collectanea de Rebus +Hibernicis</i>, iii. (Dublin, 1786), pp. 459-461.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote621" name= +"footnote621"></a> <b>Footnote 621</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag621">(return)</a> +<p>Miss A. Watson, quoted by A.C. Haddon, "A Batch of Irish +Folk-lore," <i>Folk-lore</i>, iv. (1893) pp. 361 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote622" name= +"footnote622"></a> <b>Footnote 622</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag622">(return)</a> +<p>Leland L. Duncan, "Further Notes from County Leitrim," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, v. (1894) pp. 195-197.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote623" name= +"footnote623"></a> <b>Footnote 623</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag623">(return)</a> +<p>H.J. Byrne, "All Hallows Eve and other Festivals in Connaught," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xviii. (1907) pp. 437 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote624" name= +"footnote624"></a> <b>Footnote 624</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag624">(return)</a> +<p>Joseph Train, <i>Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle +of Man</i> (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 123; (Sir) John Rhys, +<i>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</i> (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote625" name= +"footnote625"></a> <b>Footnote 625</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag625">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, <i>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</i> +(Oxford, 1901), i. 318-321.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote626" name= +"footnote626"></a> <b>Footnote 626</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag626">(return)</a> +<p>John Harland and T.T. Wilkinson, <i>Lancashire Folk-lore</i> +(Manchester and London, 1882), pp. 3 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote627" name= +"footnote627"></a> <b>Footnote 627</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag627">(return)</a> +<p>J. Harland and T.T. Wilkinson, <i>op. cit</i>. p. 140.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote628" name= +"footnote628"></a> <b>Footnote 628</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag628">(return)</a> +<p>Annie Milner, in William Hone's <i>Year Book</i> (London, +preface dated January, 1832), coll. 1276-1279 (letter dated June, +1831); R.T. Hampson, <i>Medii Aevi Kalendarium</i> (London, 1841), +i. 365; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, <i>British Popular Customs</i> +(London, 1876), p. 395.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote629" name= +"footnote629"></a> <b>Footnote 629</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag629">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i> vol. iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, +collected by M.C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 78. Compare W. +Henderson, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of +England</i> (London, 1879), pp. 96 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote630" name= +"footnote630"></a> <b>Footnote 630</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag630">(return)</a> +<p>Baron Dupin, in <i>Mémoires publiées par la +Société Royale des Antiquaires de France</i>, iv. +(1823) p. 108.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote631" name= +"footnote631"></a> <b>Footnote 631</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag631">(return)</a> +<p>The evidence for the solar origin of Christmas is given in +<i>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</i>, Second Edition, pp. 254-256.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote632" name= +"footnote632"></a> <b>Footnote 632</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag632">(return)</a> +<p>For the various names (Yu-batch, Yu-block, Yule-log, etc.) see +Francis Grose, <i>Provincial Glossary</i>, New Edition (London, +1811), p. 141; Joseph Wright, <i>The English Dialect Dictionary</i> +(London, 1898-1905), vi. 593, <i>s.v.</i> "Yule."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote633" name= +"footnote633"></a> <b>Footnote 633</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag633">(return)</a> +<p>"I am pretty confident that the Yule block will be found, in its +first use, to have been only a counterpart of the Midsummer fires, +made within doors because of the cold weather at this winter +solstice, as those in the hot season, at the summer one, are +kindled in the open air." (John Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of +Great Britain</i>, London, 1882-1883, i. 471). His opinion is +approved by W. Mannhardt <i>(Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer +Nachbarstämme</i>, p. 236).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote634" name= +"footnote634"></a> <b>Footnote 634</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag634">(return)</a> +<p>"<i>Et arborem in nativitate domini ad festivum ignem suum +adducendam esse dicebat</i>" (quoted by Jacob Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>, i. 522).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote635" name= +"footnote635"></a> <b>Footnote 635</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag635">(return)</a> +<p>Montanus, <i>Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbrauche und +deutscher Volksglaube</i> (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 12. The Sieg and +Lahn are two rivers of Central Germany, between Siegen and +Marburg.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote636" name= +"footnote636"></a> <b>Footnote 636</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag636">(return)</a> +<p>J.H. Schmitz, <i>Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, +Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes</i> +(Treves, 1856-1858), i. 4.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote637" name= +"footnote637"></a> <b>Footnote 637</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag637">(return)</a> +<p>Adalbert Kuhn, <i>Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus +Westfalen</i> (Leipsic, 1859), ii. § 319, pp. 103 +<i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote638" name= +"footnote638"></a> <b>Footnote 638</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag638">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn, <i>op. cit.</i> ii. § 523, p. 187.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote639" name= +"footnote639"></a> <b>Footnote 639</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag639">(return)</a> +<p>August Witzschel, <i>Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Thüringen</i> (Vienna, 1878), p. 172.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote640" name= +"footnote640"></a> <b>Footnote 640</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag640">(return)</a> +<p>K. Hoffmann-Krayer, <i>Feste und Bräuche des +Schweizervolkes</i> (Zurich, 1913), pp. 108 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote641" name= +"footnote641"></a> <b>Footnote 641</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag641">(return)</a> +<p>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <i>Calendrier Belge</i> +(Brussels, 1861-1862), ii. 326 <i>sq.</i> Compare J.W. Wolf, +<i>Beiträgezur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Göttingen, +1852-1858), i. 117.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote642" name= +"footnote642"></a> <b>Footnote 642</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag642">(return)</a> +<p>J.B. Thiers, <i>Traité des Superstitions</i>,<sup>5</sup> +(Paris, 1741), i. 302 <i>sq.</i>; Eugène Cortet, <i>Essai +sur les Fêtes Religieuses</i> (Paris, 1867), pp. <i>266 +sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote643" name= +"footnote643"></a> <b>Footnote 643</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag643">(return)</a> +<p>J.B. Thiers, <i>Traité des Superstitions</i> (Paris, +1679), p. 323.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote644" name= +"footnote644"></a> <b>Footnote 644</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag644">(return)</a> +<p>Aubin-Louis Millin, <i>Voyage dans les Départemens du +Midi de la France</i> (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 336 <i>sq.</i> The +fire so kindled was called <i>caco fuech</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote645" name= +"footnote645"></a> <b>Footnote 645</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag645">(return)</a> +<p>Alfred de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces +de France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 151 <i>sq.</i> The three +festivals during which the Yule log is expected to burn are +probably Christmas Day (December 25th), St. Stephen's Day (December +26th), and St. John the Evangelist's Day (December 27th). Compare +J.L.M. Noguès, <i>Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en +Aunis</i> (Saintes, 1891), pp. 45-47. According to the latter +writer, in Saintonge it was the mistress of the house who blessed +the Yule log, sprinkling salt and holy water on it; in Poitou it +was the eldest male who officiated. The log was called the <i>cosse +de Nô</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote646" name= +"footnote646"></a> <b>Footnote 646</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag646">(return)</a> +<p>Laisnel de Salle, <i>Croyances et Légendes du Centres de +la France</i> (Paris, 1875), i. 1-3.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote647" name= +"footnote647"></a> <b>Footnote 647</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag647">(return)</a> +<p>Jules Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</i> +(Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 291. The author speaks +of the custom as still practised in out-of-the-way villages at the +time when he wrote. The usage of preserving the remains of the +Yule-log (called <i>tréfouet</i>) in Normandy is mentioned +also by M'elle Amélie Bosquet, <i>La Normandie Romanesque et +Merveilleuse</i> (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 294.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote648" name= +"footnote648"></a> <b>Footnote 648</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag648">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de +France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 256.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote649" name= +"footnote649"></a> <b>Footnote 649</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag649">(return)</a> +<p>Paul Sébillot, <i>Coutumes populaires de la +Haute-Bretagne</i> (Paris, 1886), pp. 217 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote650" name= +"footnote650"></a> <b>Footnote 650</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag650">(return)</a> +<p>Albert Meyrac, <i>Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes et +Contes des Ardennes</i> (Charleville, 1890), pp. 96 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote651" name= +"footnote651"></a> <b>Footnote 651</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag651">(return)</a> +<p>See above, p. <a href="#page251">251</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote652" name= +"footnote652"></a> <b>Footnote 652</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag652">(return)</a> +<p>Lerouze, in <i>Mémoires de l'Academie Celtique</i>, iii. +(1809) p. 441, quoted by J. Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great +Britain</i> (London, 1882-1883), i. 469 note.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote653" name= +"footnote653"></a> <b>Footnote 653</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag653">(return)</a> +<p>L.F. Sauvé, <i>Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges</i> (Paris, +1889), pp. 370 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote654" name= +"footnote654"></a> <b>Footnote 654</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag654">(return)</a> +<p>Charles Beauquier, <i>Les Mois en Franche-Comté</i> +(Paris, 1900), p. 183.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote655" name= +"footnote655"></a> <b>Footnote 655</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag655">(return)</a> +<p>A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de +France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 302 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote656" name= +"footnote656"></a> <b>Footnote 656</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag656">(return)</a> +<p>John Brand, <i>Popular Antiquities of Great Britain</i> (London, +1882-1883), i. 467.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote657" name= +"footnote657"></a> <b>Footnote 657</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag657">(return)</a> +<p>J. Brand, <i>op. cit.</i> i. 455; <i>The Denham Tracts</i>, +edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 25 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote658" name= +"footnote658"></a> <b>Footnote 658</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag658">(return)</a> +<p>Herrick, <i>Hesperides</i>, "Ceremonies for Christmasse":</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Come, bring with a noise,</p> +<p>My merrie merrie boyes,</p> +<p>The Christmas log to the firing;...</p> +<p>With the last yeeres brand</p> +<p>Light the neiv block"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>And, again, in his verses, "Ceremonies for Candlemasse Day":</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Kindle the Christmas brand, and then</p> +<p>Till sunne-set let it burne;</p> +<p>Which quencht, then lay it up agen,</p> +<p>Till Christmas next returne.</p> +<p>Part must be kept, wherewith to teend</p> +<p>The Christmas log next yeare;</p> +<p>And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend</p> +<p>Can do no mischiefe there"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>See <i>The Works of Robert Herrick</i> (Edinburgh, 1823), vol. +ii. pp. 91, 124. From these latter verses it seems that the Yule +log was replaced on the fire on Candlemas (the second of +February).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote659" name= +"footnote659"></a> <b>Footnote 659</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag659">(return)</a> +<p>Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, <i>Shropshire +Folk-lore</i> (London, 1883), p. 398 note 2. See also below, pp. +<a href="#page257">257</a>, <a href="#page258">258</a>, as to the +Lincolnshire, Herefordshire, and Welsh practice.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote660" name= +"footnote660"></a> <b>Footnote 660</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag660">(return)</a> +<p>Francis Grose, <i>Provincial Glossary</i>, Second Edition +(London, 1811), pp. 141 <i>sq.</i>; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, <i>British +Popular Customs</i> (London, 1876), p. 466.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote661" name= +"footnote661"></a> <b>Footnote 661</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag661">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, +collected by M.C. Balfour and edited by Northcote W. Thomas +(London, 1904), p. 79.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote662" name= +"footnote662"></a> <b>Footnote 662</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag662">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore,</i> vol. ii. <i>North Riding of Yorkshire, +York and the Ainsty,</i> collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch +(London, 1901), pp. 273, 274, 275 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote663" name= +"footnote663"></a> <b>Footnote 663</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag663">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. vi. <i>East Riding of +Yorkshire</i>, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), +pp. 23, 118, compare p. 114.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote664" name= +"footnote664"></a> <b>Footnote 664</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag664">(return)</a> +<p>John Aubrey, <i>Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme</i> (London, +1881), p. 5.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote665" name= +"footnote665"></a> <b>Footnote 665</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag665">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. v. <i>Lincolnshire</i>, collected +by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 219. Elsewhere +in Lincolnshire the Yule-log seems to have been called the +Yule-clog (<i>op. cit</i>. pp. 215, 216).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote666" name= +"footnote666"></a> <b>Footnote 666</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag666">(return)</a> +<p>Mrs. Samuel Chandler (Sarah Whateley), quoted in <i>The +Folk-lore Journal</i>, i. (1883) pp. 351 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote667" name= +"footnote667"></a> <b>Footnote 667</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag667">(return)</a> +<p>Miss C.S. Burne and Miss G.F. Jackson, <i>Shropshire +Folk-lore</i> (London, 1883), pp. 397 <i>sq</i>. One of the +informants of these writers says (<i>op. cit.</i> p. 399): "In 1845 +I was at the Vessons farmhouse, near the Eastbridge Coppice (at the +northern end of the Stiperstones). The floor was of flags, an +unusual thing in this part. Observing a sort of roadway through the +kitchen, and the flags much broken, I enquired what caused it, and +was told it was from the horses' hoofs drawing in the 'Christmas +Brund.'"</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote668" name= +"footnote668"></a> <b>Footnote 668</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag668">(return)</a> +<p>Mrs. Ella Mary Leather, <i>The Folklore of Herefordshire</i> +(Hereford and London, 1912), p. 109. Compare Miss C.S. Burne, +"Herefordshire Notes," <i>The Folk-lore Journal</i>, iv. (1886) p. +167.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote669" name= +"footnote669"></a> <b>Footnote 669</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag669">(return)</a> +<p>Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> +(London, 1909), p. 28.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote670" name= +"footnote670"></a> <b>Footnote 670</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag670">(return)</a> +<p>"In earlier ages, and even so late as towards the middle of the +nineteenth century, the Servian village organisation and the +Servian agriculture had yet another distinguishing feature. The +dangers from wild beasts in old time, the want of security for life +and property during the Turkish rule, or rather misrule, the +natural difficulties of the agriculture, more especially the lack +in agricultural labourers, induced the Servian peasants not to +leave the parental house but to remain together on the family's +property. In the same yard, within the same fence, one could see +around the ancestral house a number of wooden huts which contained +one or two rooms, and were used as sleeping places for the sons, +nephews and grandsons and their wives. Men and women of three +generations could be often seen living in that way together, and +working together the land which was considered as common property +of the whole family. This expanded family, remaining with all its +branches together, and, so to say, under the same roof, working +together, dividing the fruits of their joint labours together, this +family and an agricultural association in one, was called +<i>Zadrooga</i> (The Association). This combination of family and +agricultural association has morally, economically, socially, and +politically rendered very important services to the Servians. The +headman or chief (called <i>Stareshina</i>) of such family +association is generally the oldest male member of the family. He +is the administrator of the common property and director of work. +He is the executive chairman of the association. Generally he does +not give any order without having consulted all the grown-up male +members of the <i>Zadroega</i>" (Chedo Mijatovich, <i>Servia and +the Servians</i>, London, 1908, pp. 237 <i>sq.</i>). As to the +house-communities of the South Slavs see further Og. M. +Utiesenovic, <i>Die Hauskommunionen der Südslaven</i> (Vienna, +1859); F. Demelic, <i>Le Droit Coutumier des Slaves +Méridionaux</i> (Paris, 1876), pp. 23 <i>sqq.</i>; F.S. +Krauss, <i>Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven</i> (Vienna, 1885), +pp. 64 <i>sqq.</i> Since Servia, freed from Turkish oppression, has +become a well-regulated European state, with laws borrowed from the +codes of France and Germany, the old house-communities have been +rapidly disappearing (Chedo Mijatovich, <i>op. cit.</i> p. +240).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote671" name= +"footnote671"></a> <b>Footnote 671</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag671">(return)</a> +<p>Chedo Mijatovich, <i>Servia and the Servians</i> (London, 1908), +pp. 98-105.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote672" name= +"footnote672"></a> <b>Footnote 672</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag672">(return)</a> +<p>Baron Rajacsich, <i>Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebräuche der +im Kaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven</i> (Vienna, +1873), pp. 122-128.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote673" name= +"footnote673"></a> <b>Footnote 673</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag673">(return)</a> +<p>Baron Rajacsich, <i>Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebrauche der im +Kaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven</i> (Vienna, 1873), +pp. 129-131. The Yule log (<i>badnyak</i>) is also known in +Bulgaria, where the women place it on the hearth on Christmas Eve. +See A. Strausz, <i>Die Bulgaren</i> (Leipsic, 1898), p. 361.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote674" name= +"footnote674"></a> <b>Footnote 674</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag674">(return)</a> +<p>M. Edith Durham, <i>High Albania</i> (London, 1909), p. 129.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote675" name= +"footnote675"></a> <b>Footnote 675</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag675">(return)</a> +<p>R.F. Kaindl, <i>Die Huzulen</i> (Vienna, 1894) p. 71.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote676" name= +"footnote676"></a> <b>Footnote 676</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag676">(return)</a> +<p>See above, pp. <a href="#page248">248</a>, <a href= +"#page249">249</a>, <a href="#page250">250</a>, <a href= +"#page251">251</a>, <a href="#page252">252</a>, <a href= +"#page253">253</a>, <a href="#page254">254</a>, <a href= +"#page255">255</a>, <a href="#page256">256</a>, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>. Similarly at Candlemas people lighted candles +in the churches, then took them home and kept them, and thought +that by lighting them at any time they could keep off thunder, +storm, and tempest. See Barnabe Googe, <i>The Popish Kingdom</i> +(reprinted London, 1880), p. 48 <i>verso</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote677" name= +"footnote677"></a> <b>Footnote 677</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag677">(return)</a> +<p>See above, pp. <a href="#page248">248</a>, <a href= +"#page250">250</a>, <a href="#page251">251</a>, <a href= +"#page257">257</a>, <a href="#page258">258</a>, <a href= +"#page263">263</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote678" name= +"footnote678"></a> <b>Footnote 678</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag678">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 356 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote679" name= +"footnote679"></a> <b>Footnote 679</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag679">(return)</a> +<p>See above, pp. <a href="#page248">248</a>, <a href= +"#page249">249</a>, <a href="#page250">250</a>, <a href= +"#page251">251</a>, <a href="#page264">264</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote680" name= +"footnote680"></a> <b>Footnote 680</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag680">(return)</a> +<p>August Witzschel, <i>Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Thüringen</i> (Vienna, 1878), pp. 171 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote681" name= +"footnote681"></a> <b>Footnote 681</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag681">(return)</a> +<p>Jules Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</i> +(Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 289 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote682" name= +"footnote682"></a> <b>Footnote 682</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag682">(return)</a> +<p>Joseph Train, <i>Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle +of Man</i> (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 124, referring to +Cregeen's <i>Manx Dictionary</i>, p. 67.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote683" name= +"footnote683"></a> <b>Footnote 683</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag683">(return)</a> +<p>R. Chambers, <i>The Book of Days</i> (London and Edinburgh, +1886), ii. 789-791, quoting <i>The Banffshire Journal</i>; Miss +C.F. Gordon Cumming, <i>In the Hebrides</i> (London, 1883), p. 226; +Miss E.J. Guthrie, <i>Old Scottish Customs</i> (London and Glasgow, +1885), pp. 223-225; Ch. Rogers, <i>Social Life in Scotland</i> +(Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. 244 <i>sq</i>.; <i>The Folk-lore +Journal</i>, vii. (1889) pp. 11-14, 46. Miss Gordon Gumming and +Miss Guthrie say that the burning of the Clavie took place upon +Yule Night; but this seems to be a mistake.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote684" name= +"footnote684"></a> <b>Footnote 684</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag684">(return)</a> +<p>Caesar, <i>De bello Gallico</i>, vii. 23.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote685" name= +"footnote685"></a> <b>Footnote 685</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag685">(return)</a> +<p>Hugh W. Young, F.S.A. Scot., <i>Notes on the Ramparts of +Burghead as revealed by recent Excavations</i> (Edinburgh, 1892), +pp. 3 <i>sqq</i>.; <i>Notes on further Excavations at Burghead</i> +(Edinburgh, 1893), pp. 7 <i>sqq</i>. These papers are reprinted +from the <i>Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of +Scotland</i>, vols. xxv., xxvii. Mr. Young concludes as follows: +"It is proved that the fort at Burghead was raised by a people +skilled in engineering, who used axes and chisels of iron; who shot +balista stones over 20 lbs. in weight; and whose daily food was the +<i>bos longifrons</i>. A people who made paved roads, and sunk +artesian wells, and used Roman beads and pins. The riddle of +Burghead should not now be very difficult to read." (<i>Notes on +further Excavations at Burghead</i>, pp. 14 <i>sq</i>.). For a loan +of Mr. Young's pamphlets I am indebted to the kindness of +Sheriff-Substitute David.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote686" name= +"footnote686"></a> <b>Footnote 686</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag686">(return)</a> +<p>Robert Cowie, M.A., M.D., <i>Shetland, Descriptive and +Historical</i> (Aberdeen, 1871), pp. 127 <i>sq.</i>; <i>County +Folk-lore</i>, vol. iii. <i>Orkney and Shetland Islands</i>, +collected by G.F. Black and edited by Northcote W. Thomas (London, +1903), pp. 203 <i>sq.</i> A similar celebration, known as +Up-helly-a, takes place at Lerwick on the 29th of January, +twenty-four days after Old Christmas. See <i>The Scapegoat</i>, pp. +167-169. Perhaps the popular festival of Up-helly-a has absorbed +some of the features of the Christmas Eve celebration.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote687" name= +"footnote687"></a> <b>Footnote 687</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag687">(return)</a> +<p>Thomas Hyde, <i>Historia Religionis veterum Persarum</i> +(Oxford, 1700), pp. 255-257.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote688" name= +"footnote688"></a> <b>Footnote 688</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag688">(return)</a> +<p>On the need-fire see Jacob Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 501 <i>sqq.</i>; J.W. Wolf, +<i>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Göttingen and +Leipsic, 1852-1857), i. 116 <i>sq.</i>, ii. 378 <i>sqq.</i>; +Adalbert Kuhn, <i>Die Herabkunjt des Feuers und des +Göttertranks</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 41 +<i>sqq.</i>; Walter K. Kelly, <i>Curiosities of Indo-European +Tradition and Folk-lore</i> (London, 1863), pp. 48 <i>sqq.</i>; W. +Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer +Nachbarstämme</i> (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 <i>sqq.</i>; Charles +Elton, <i>Origins of English History</i> (London, 1882), pp. 293 +<i>sqq.</i>; Ulrich Jahn, <i>Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei +Ackerbau und Viehzucht</i> (Breslau, 1884), pp. 26 <i>sqq.</i> +Grimm would derive the name <i>need-</i>fire (German, <i>niedfyr, +nodfyr, nodfeur, nothfeur</i>) from <i>need</i> (German, +<i>noth</i>), "necessity," so that the phrase need-fire would mean +"a forced fire." This is the sense attached to it in Lindenbrog's +glossary on the capitularies, quoted by Grimm, <i>op. cit.</i> i. +p. 502: "<i>Eum ergo ignem</i> nodfeur <i>et</i> nodfyr, <i>quasi +necessarium ignem vocant</i>" C.L. Rochholz would connect +<i>need</i> with a verb <i>nieten</i> "to churn," so that need-fire +would mean "churned fire." See C.L. Rochholz, <i>Deutscher Glaube +und Brauch</i> (Berlin, 1867), ii. 149 <i>sq.</i> This interpretion +is confirmed by the name <i>ankenmilch bohren</i>, which is given +to the need-fire in some parts of Switzerland. See E. +Hoffmann-Krayer, "Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen +Volksbrauch," <i>Schweizerisches Archiv für +Volkskünde</i>, xi. (1907) p. 245.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote689" name= +"footnote689"></a> <b>Footnote 689</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag689">(return)</a> +<p>"<i>Illos sacrilegos ignes, quos</i> niedfyr <i>vocant</i>," +quoted by J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 502; +R. Andree, <i>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</i> (Brunswick, 1896), p. +312.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote690" name= +"footnote690"></a> <b>Footnote 690</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag690">(return)</a> +<p><i>Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum</i>, No. XV., "<i>De +igne fricato de ligno i.e.</i> nodfyr." A convenient edition of the +<i>Indiculus</i> has been published with a commentary by H.A. Saupe +(Leipsic, 1891). As to the date of the work, see the editor's +introduction, pp. 4 <i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote691" name= +"footnote691"></a> <b>Footnote 691</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag691">(return)</a> +<p>Karl Lynker, <i>Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen +Gauen</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Cassel and Göttingen, 1860), pp. 252 +<i>sq.</i>, quoting a letter of the mayor (<i>Schultheiss</i>) of +Neustadt to the mayor of Marburg dated 12th December 1605.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote692" name= +"footnote692"></a> <b>Footnote 692</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag692">(return)</a> +<p>Bartholomäus Carrichter, <i>Der Teutschen Speisskammer</i> +(Strasburg, 1614), Fol. pag. 17 and 18, quoted by C.L. Rochholz, +<i>Deutscher Glaube und Brauch</i> (Berlin, 1867), ii. 148 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote693" name= +"footnote693"></a> <b>Footnote 693</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag693">(return)</a> +<p>Joh. Reiskius, <i>Untersuchung des Notfeuers</i> (Frankfort and +Leipsic, 1696), p. 51, quoted by J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 502 <i>sq.</i>; R. Andree, +<i>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</i> (Brunswick, 1896), p. 313.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote694" name= +"footnote694"></a> <b>Footnote 694</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag694">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 503 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote695" name= +"footnote695"></a> <b>Footnote 695</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag695">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>op. cit.</i> i. 504.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote696" name= +"footnote696"></a> <b>Footnote 696</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag696">(return)</a> +<p>Adalbert Kuhn, <i>Märkische Sagen und Märchen</i> +(Berlin, 1843), p. 369.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote697" name= +"footnote697"></a> <b>Footnote 697</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag697">(return)</a> +<p>Karl Bartsch, <i>Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus +Mecklenburg</i> (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 149-151.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote698" name= +"footnote698"></a> <b>Footnote 698</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag698">(return)</a> +<p>Carl und Theodor Colshorn, <i>Märchen und Sagen</i> +(Hanover, 1854), pp. 234-236, from the description of an +eye-witness.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote699" name= +"footnote699"></a> <b>Footnote 699</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag699">(return)</a> +<p>Heinrich Pröhle, <i>Harzbilder, Sitten und Gebräuche +aus dem Harz-gebirge</i> (Leipsic, 1855), pp. 74 <i>sq.</i> The +date of this need-fire is not given; probably it was about the +middle of the nineteenth century.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote700" name= +"footnote700"></a> <b>Footnote 700</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag700">(return)</a> +<p>R. Andree, <i>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</i> (Brunswick, 1896), +pp. 313 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote701" name= +"footnote701"></a> <b>Footnote 701</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag701">(return)</a> +<p>R. Andree, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 314 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote702" name= +"footnote702"></a> <b>Footnote 702</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag702">(return)</a> +<p>Montanus, <i>Die deutschen Volks-feste, Volksbräuche und +deutscher Volksglaube</i> (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 127.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote703" name= +"footnote703"></a> <b>Footnote 703</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag703">(return)</a> +<p>Paul Drechsler, <i>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in +Schlesien</i> (Leipsic, 1903-1906), ii. 204.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote704" name= +"footnote704"></a> <b>Footnote 704</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag704">(return)</a> +<p>Anton Peter, <i>Volksthümliches aus +Österreichisch-Schlesien</i> (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. +250.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote705" name= +"footnote705"></a> <b>Footnote 705</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag705">(return)</a> +<p>Alois John, <i>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen +Westböhmen</i> (Prague, 1905), p. 209.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote706" name= +"footnote706"></a> <b>Footnote 706</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag706">(return)</a> +<p>C.L. Rochholz, <i>Deutscher Glaube und Brauch</i> (Berlin, +1867), ii. 149.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote707" name= +"footnote707"></a> <b>Footnote 707</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag707">(return)</a> +<p>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, "Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen +Volksbrauch," <i>Schweizerisches Archiv fur Volkskunde</i>, xi. +(1907) pp. 244-246.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote708" name= +"footnote708"></a> <b>Footnote 708</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag708">(return)</a> +<p>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 246.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote709" name= +"footnote709"></a> <b>Footnote 709</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag709">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 505.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote710" name= +"footnote710"></a> <b>Footnote 710</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag710">(return)</a> +<p>"Old-time Survivals in remote Norwegian Dales," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xx. (1909) pp. 314, 322 <i>sq.</i> This record of +Norwegian folk-lore is translated from a little work <i>Sundalen og +Öksendalens Beskrivelse</i> written by Pastor Chr. +Glükstad and published at Christiania "about twenty years +ago."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote711" name= +"footnote711"></a> <b>Footnote 711</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag711">(return)</a> +<p>Prof. VI. Titelbach, "Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven," +<i>Inter-nationales Archiv für Ethnographie</i>, xiii. (1900) +pp. 2 <i>sq.</i> We have seen (above, p. 220) that in Russia the +need-fire is, or used to be, annually kindled on the eighteenth of +August. As to the need-fire in Bulgaria see also below, pp. +<a href="#page284">284</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote712" name= +"footnote712"></a> <b>Footnote 712</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag712">(return)</a> +<p>F.S. Krauss, "Altslavische Feuergewinnung," <i>Globus</i>, lix. +(1891) p. 318, quoting P. Ljiebenov, <i>Baba Ega</i> (Trnovo, +1887), p. 44.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote713" name= +"footnote713"></a> <b>Footnote 713</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag713">(return)</a> +<p>F.S. Krauss, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 319, quoting <i>Wisla</i>, vol. +iv. pp. 1, 244 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote714" name= +"footnote714"></a> <b>Footnote 714</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag714">(return)</a> +<p>F.S. Krauss, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 318, quoting Oskar Kolberg, in +<i>Mazowsze</i>, vol. iv. p. 138.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote715" name= +"footnote715"></a> <b>Footnote 715</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag715">(return)</a> +<p>F.S. Krauss, "Slavische Feuerbohrer," <i>Globus</i>, lix. (1891) +p. 140. The evidence quoted by Dr. Krauss is that of his father, +who often told of his experience to his son.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote716" name= +"footnote716"></a> <b>Footnote 716</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag716">(return)</a> +<p>Prof. Vl. Titelbach, "Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven," +<i>Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie</i>, xiii. (1900) p. +3.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote717" name= +"footnote717"></a> <b>Footnote 717</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag717">(return)</a> +<p>See below, vol. ii. pp. 168 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote718" name= +"footnote718"></a> <b>Footnote 718</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag718">(return)</a> +<p>Adolf Strausz, <i>Die Bulgaren</i> (Leipsic, 1898), pp. +194-199.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote719" name= +"footnote719"></a> <b>Footnote 719</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag719">(return)</a> +<p><i>Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen aus Bosnien und der +Hercegovina</i>, redigirt von Moriz Hoernes, iii. (Vienna, 1895) +pp. 574 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote720" name= +"footnote720"></a> <b>Footnote 720</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag720">(return)</a> +<p>"<i>Pro fidei divinae integritate servanda recolat lector quod, +cum hoc anno in Laodonia pestis grassaretur in pecudes armenti, +quam vocant usitate Lungessouth, quidam bestiales, habitu +claustrales non animo, docebant idiotas patriae ignem confrictione +de lignis educere et simulachrum Priapi statuere, et per haec +bestiis succurrere</i>" quoted by J.M. Kemble, <i>The Saxons in +England</i> (London, 1849), i. 358 <i>sq.</i>; A. Kuhn, <i>Die +Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Gütersloh, 1886), p. 43; Ulrich Jahn, <i>Die deutschen +Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht</i> (Breslau, 1884) +p. 31.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote721" name= +"footnote721"></a> <b>Footnote 721</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag721">(return)</a> +<p>W.G.M. Jones Barker, <i>The Three Days of Wensleydale</i> +(London, 1854), pp. 90 <i>sq.</i>; <i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. +ii., <i>North Riding of Yorkshire, York and the Ainsty</i>, +collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1901), p. 181.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote722" name= +"footnote722"></a> <b>Footnote 722</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag722">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Denham Tracts, a Collection of Folklore by Michael +Aislabie Denham</i>, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), +ii. 50.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote723" name= +"footnote723"></a> <b>Footnote 723</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag723">(return)</a> +<p>Harry Speight, <i>Tramps and Drives in the Craven Highlands</i> +(London, 1895), p. 162. Compare, <i>id., The Craven and North-West +Yorkshire Highlands</i> (London, 1892), pp. 206 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote724" name= +"footnote724"></a> <b>Footnote 724</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag724">(return)</a> +<p>J.M. Kemble, <i>The Saxons in England</i> (London, 1849), i. 361 +note.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote725" name= +"footnote725"></a> <b>Footnote 725</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag725">(return)</a> +<p>E. Mackenzie, <i>An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive +View of the County of Northumberland</i>, Second Edition +(Newcastle, 1825), i. 218, quoted in <i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. +iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, collected by M.C. Balfour (London, +1904), p. 45. Compare J.T. Brockett, <i>Glossary of North Country +Words</i>, p. 147, quoted by Mrs. M.C. Balfour, <i>l.c.: +"Need-fire</i> ... an ignition produced by the friction of two +pieces of dried wood. The vulgar opinion is, that an angel strikes +a tree, and that the fire is thereby obtained. Need-fire, I am +told, is still employed in the case of cattle infected with the +murrain. They were formerly driven through the smoke of a fire made +of straw, etc." The first edition of Brockett's <i>Glossary</i> was +published in 1825.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote726" name= +"footnote726"></a> <b>Footnote 726</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag726">(return)</a> +<p>W. Henderson, <i>Notes on the Folklore of the Northern Counties +of England and the Borders</i> (London, 1879), pp. 167 <i>sq.</i> +Compare <i>County Folklore</i>, vol. iv. <i>Northumberland</i>, +collected by M.C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 45. Stamfordham is in +Northumberland. The vicar's testimony seems to have referred to the +first half of the nineteenth century.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote727" name= +"footnote727"></a> <b>Footnote 727</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag727">(return)</a> +<p>M. Martin, "Description of the Western Islands of Scotland," in +J. Pinkerton's <i>General Collection of Voyages and Travels</i>, +iii. (London, 1809), p. 611. The second edition of Martin's book, +which Pinkerton reprints, was published at London in 1716. For John +Ramsay's account of the need-fire, see above, pp. <a href= +"#page147">147</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote728" name= +"footnote728"></a> <b>Footnote 728</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag728">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 506, +referring to Miss Austin as his authority.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote729" name= +"footnote729"></a> <b>Footnote 729</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag729">(return)</a> +<p>As to the custom of sacrificing one of a plague-stricken herd or +flock for the purpose of saving the rest, see below, pp. <a href= +"#page300">300</a> <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote730" name= +"footnote730"></a> <b>Footnote 730</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag730">(return)</a> +<p>John Jamieson, <i>Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish +Language</i>, New Edition, revised by J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson, +iii. (Paisley, 1880) pp. 349 <i>sq.</i>, referring to "Agr. Surv. +Caithn., pp. 200, 201."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote731" name= +"footnote731"></a> <b>Footnote 731</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag731">(return)</a> +<p>R.C. Maclagan, "Sacred Fire," <i>Folk-lore</i>, ix. (1898) pp. +280 <i>sq.</i> As to the fire-drill see <i>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 207 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote732" name= +"footnote732"></a> <b>Footnote 732</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag732">(return)</a> +<p>W. Grant Stewart, <i>The Popular Superstitions and Festive +Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, 1823), +pp. 214-216; Walter K. Kelly, <i>Curiosities of Indo-European +Tradition and Folk-lore</i> (London, 1863), pp. 53 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote733" name= +"footnote733"></a> <b>Footnote 733</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag733">(return)</a> +<p>Alexander Carmichael, <i>Carmina Gadelica</i> (Edinburgh, 1900), +ii. 340 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote734" name= +"footnote734"></a> <b>Footnote 734</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag734">(return)</a> +<p>See above, pp. <a href="#page154">154</a>, <a href= +"#page156">156</a>, <a href="#page157">157</a>, <a href= +"#page159">159</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote735" name= +"footnote735"></a> <b>Footnote 735</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag735">(return)</a> +<p><i>Census of India, 1911</i>, vol. xiv. <i>Punjab</i>, Part i. +<i>Report</i>, by Pandit Harikishan Kaul (Lahore, 1912), p. 302. So +in the north-east of Scotland "those who were born with their feet +first possessed great power to heal all kinds of sprains, lumbago, +and rheumatism, either by rubbing the affected part, or by +trampling on it. The chief virtue lay in the feet. Those who came +into the world in this fashion often exercised their power to their +own profit." See Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of +the North-East of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), pp. 45 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote736" name= +"footnote736"></a> <b>Footnote 736</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag736">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East +of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), p. 186. The fumigation of the byres +with juniper is a charm against witchcraft. See J.G. Campbell, +<i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of +Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), p. ii. The "quarter-ill" is a disease +of cattle, which affects the animals only in one limb or quarter. +"A very gross superstition is observed by some people in Angus, as +an antidote against this ill. A piece is cut out of the thigh of +one of the cattle that has died of it. This they hang up within the +chimney, in order to preserve the rest of the cattle from being +infected. It is believed that as long as it hangs there, it will +prevent the disease from approaching the place. It is therefore +carefully preserved; and in case of the family removing, +transported to the new farm, as one of their valuable effects. It +is handed down from one generation to another" (J. Jamieson, +<i>Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language</i>, revised by +J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson, iii. 575, <i>s.v.</i> "Quarter-ill"). +See further Rev. W. Gregor, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 186 <i>sq.</i>: +"The forelegs of one of the animals that had died were cut off a +little above the knee, and hung over the fire-place in the kitchen. +It was thought sufficient by some if they were placed over the door +of the byre, in the 'crap o' the wa'.' Sometimes the heart and part +of the liver and lungs were cut out, and hung over the fireplace +instead of the fore-feet. Boiling them was at times substituted for +hanging them over the hearth." Compare W. Henderson, <i>Notes on +the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the +Borders</i> (London, 1879), p. 167: "A curious aid to the rearing +of cattle came lately to the knowledge of Mr. George Walker, a +gentleman of the city of Durham. During an excursion of a few miles +into the country, he observed a sort of rigging attached to the +chimney of a farmhouse well known to him, and asked what it meant. +The good wife told him that they had experienced great difficulty +that year in rearing their calves; the poor little creatures all +died off, so they had taken the leg and thigh of one of the dead +calves, and hung it in a chimney by a rope, since which they had +not lost another calf." In the light of facts cited below (pp. +<a href="#page315">315</a> <i>sqq.</i>) we may conjecture that the +intention of cutting off the legs or cutting out the heart, liver, +and lungs of the animals and hanging them up or boiling them, is by +means of homoeopathic magic to inflict corresponding injuries on +the witch who cast the fatal spell on the cattle.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote737" name= +"footnote737"></a> <b>Footnote 737</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag737">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Mirror</i>, 24th June, 1826, quoted by J. M. Kemble, +<i>The Saxons in England</i> (London, 1849), i. 360 note 2.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote738" name= +"footnote738"></a> <b>Footnote 738</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag738">(return)</a> +<p>Leland L. Duncan, "Fairy Beliefs and other Folklore Notes from +County Leitrim," <i>Folk-lore</i>, vii. (1896) pp. 181 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote739" name= +"footnote739"></a> <b>Footnote 739</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag739">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) Edward B. Tylor, <i>Researches into the Early History of +Mankind</i>, Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 237 <i>sqq.</i>; +<i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 207 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote740" name= +"footnote740"></a> <b>Footnote 740</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag740">(return)</a> +<p>For some examples of such extinctions, see <i>The Magic Art and +the Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 261 <i>sqq.</i>, 267 <i>sq.</i>; +<i>Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild</i>, i. 311, ii. 73 +<i>sq.</i>; and above, pp. <a href="#page124">124</a> <i>sq.</i>, +<a href="#page132">132-139</a>. The reasons for extinguishing fires +ceremonially appear to vary with the occasion. Sometimes the motive +seems to be a fear of burning or at least singeing a ghost, who is +hovering invisible in the air; sometimes it is apparently an idea +that a fire is old and tired with burning so long, and that it must +be relieved of the fatiguing duty by a young and vigorous +flame.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote741" name= +"footnote741"></a> <b>Footnote 741</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag741">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page147">147</a>, <a href= +"#page154">154</a>. The same custom appears to have been observed +in Ireland. See above, p. <a href="#page158">158</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote742" name= +"footnote742"></a> <b>Footnote 742</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag742">(return)</a> +<p>J.N.B. Hewitt, "New Fire among the Iroquois," <i>The American +Anthropologist</i>, ii. (1889) p. 319.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote743" name= +"footnote743"></a> <b>Footnote 743</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag743">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 507.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote744" name= +"footnote744"></a> <b>Footnote 744</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag744">(return)</a> +<p>See above, p. <a href="#page290">290</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote745" name= +"footnote745"></a> <b>Footnote 745</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag745">(return)</a> +<p>William Hone, <i>Every-day Book</i> (London, preface dated +1827), i. coll. 853 <i>sq.</i> (June 24th), quoting Hitchin's +<i>History of Cornwall</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote746" name= +"footnote746"></a> <b>Footnote 746</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag746">(return)</a> +<p>Hunt, <i>Romances and Drolls of the West of England</i>, 1st +series, p. 237, quoted by W. Henderson, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore +of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders</i> (London, +1879), p. 149. Compare J.G. Dalyell, <i>The Darker Superstitions of +Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, 1834), p. 184: "Here also maybe found a +solution of that recent expedient so ignorantly practised in the +neighbouring kingdom, where one having lost many of his herd by +witchcraft, as he concluded, burnt a living calf to break the spell +and preserve the remainder."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote747" name= +"footnote747"></a> <b>Footnote 747</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag747">(return)</a> +<p>Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> +(London, 1909), p. 23.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote748" name= +"footnote748"></a> <b>Footnote 748</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag748">(return)</a> +<p>W. Henderson, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 148 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote749" name= +"footnote749"></a> <b>Footnote 749</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag749">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East +of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), p. 186.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote750" name= +"footnote750"></a> <b>Footnote 750</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag750">(return)</a> +<p>R. N. Worth, <i>History of Devonshire</i>, Second Edition +(London, 1886), p. 339. The diabolical nature of the toad probably +explains why people in Herefordshire think that if you wear a +toad's heart concealed about your person you can steal to your +heart's content without being found out. A suspected thief was +overheard boasting, "They never catches <i>me</i>: and they never +ooll neither. I allus wears a toad's heart round my neck, <i>I</i> +does." See Mrs. Ella M. Leather, in <i>Folk-lore</i>, xxiv. (1913) +p. 238.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote751" name= +"footnote751"></a> <b>Footnote 751</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag751">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page301">301</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote752" name= +"footnote752"></a> <b>Footnote 752</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag752">(return)</a> +<p>Robert Hunt, <i>Popular Romances of the West of England</i>, +Third Edition (London, 1881), p. 320. The writer does not say where +this took place; probably it was in Cornwall or Devonshire.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote753" name= +"footnote753"></a> <b>Footnote 753</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag753">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. Walter Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East +of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), p. 184.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote754" name= +"footnote754"></a> <b>Footnote 754</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag754">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk</i>, +collected and edited by the Lady Eveline Camilla Gurdon (London, +1893), pp. 190 <i>sq.</i>, quoting <i>Some Materials for the +History of Wherstead</i> by F. Barham Zincke (Ipswich, 1887), p. +168.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote755" name= +"footnote755"></a> <b>Footnote 755</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag755">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk</i>, p. +191, referring to Murray's <i>Handbook for Essex, Suffolk</i>, +etc., p. 109.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote756" name= +"footnote756"></a> <b>Footnote 756</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag756">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folklore and Superstitions," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, ii. (1891) pp. 300-302; repeated in his <i>Celtic +Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</i> (Oxford, 1901), i. 306 <i>sq.</i> Sir +John Rhys does not doubt that the old woman saw, as she said, a +live sheep being burnt on old May-day; but he doubts whether it was +done as a sacrifice. He adds: "I have failed to find anybody else +in Andreas or Bride, or indeed in the whole island, who will now +confess to having ever heard of the sheep sacrifice on old +May-day." However, the evidence I have adduced of a custom of burnt +sacrifice among English rustics tends to confirm the old woman's +statement, that the burning of the live sheep which she witnessed +was not an act of wanton cruelty but a sacrifice per formed for the +public good.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote757" name= +"footnote757"></a> <b>Footnote 757</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag757">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folklore and Superstitions," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, ii. (1891) pp. 299 <i>sq.; id., Celtic Folklore, +Welsh and Manx</i> (Oxford, 1901), i. 304 <i>sq.</i> We have seen +that by burning the blood of a bewitched bullock a farmer expected +to compel the witch to appear. See above, p. <a href= +"#page303">303</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote758" name= +"footnote758"></a> <b>Footnote 758</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag758">(return)</a> +<p>Olaus Magnus, <i>Historia de Gentium Septentrionalium +Conditionibus</i>, lib xviii. cap. 47, p. 713 (ed. Bâle, +1567).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote759" name= +"footnote759"></a> <b>Footnote 759</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag759">(return)</a> +<p>Collin de Plancy, <i>Dictionnaire Infernal</i> (Paris, +1825-1826), iii. 473 <i>sq.</i>, referring to Boguet.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote760" name= +"footnote760"></a> <b>Footnote 760</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag760">(return)</a> +<p>Collin de Plancy, <i>op. cit.</i> iii. 473.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote761" name= +"footnote761"></a> <b>Footnote 761</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag761">(return)</a> +<p>Felix Chapiseau, <i>Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche</i> +(Paris, 1902), i. 239 <i>sq.</i> The same story is told in Upper +Brittany. See Paul Sébillot, <i>Traditions et Superstitions +de la Haute-Bretagne</i> (Paris, 1882), i. 292. It is a common +belief that a man who has once been transformed into a werewolf +must remain a were-wolf for seven years unless blood is drawn from +him in his animal shape, upon which he at once recovers his human +form and is delivered from the bondage and misery of being a +were-wolf. See F. Chapiseau, <i>op. cit.</i> i. 218-220; +Amélie Bosquet, <i>La Normandie Romanesque et +Merveilleuse</i> (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 233. On the belief in +were-wolves in general; see W. Hertz, <i>Der Werwolf</i> +(Stuttgart, 1862); J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 915 <i>sqq.</i>; (Sir) Edward B. +Tylor, <i>Primitive Culture</i>,<sup>2</sup> (London, 1873), i. 308 +<i>sqq.</i>; R. Andree, <i>Ethnographische Parallelen und +Vergleiche</i> (Stuttgart, 1878), pp. 62-80. In North Germany it is +believed that a man can turn himself into a wolf by girding himself +with a strap made out of a wolf's hide. Some say that the strap +must have nine, others say twelve, holes and a buckle; and that +according to the number of the hole through which the man inserts +the tongue of the buckle will be the length of time of his +transformation. For example, if he puts the tongue of the buckle +through the first hole, he will be a wolf for one hour; if he puts +it through the second, he will be a wolf for two days; and so on, +up to the last hole, which entails a transformation for a full +year. But by putting off the girdle the man can resume his human +form. The time when were-wolves are most about is the period of the +Twelve Nights between Christmas and Epiphany; hence cautious German +farmers will not remove the dung from the cattle stalls at that +season for fear of attracting the were-wolves to the cattle. See +Adalbert Kuhn, <i>Märkische Sagen und Märchen</i> +(Berlin, 1843), p. 375; Ulrich Jahn, <i>Volkssagen aus Pommern und +Rügen</i> (Stettin, 1886), pp. 384, 386, Nos. 491, 495. Down +to the time of Elizabeth it was reported that in the county of +Tipperary certain men were annually turned into wolves. See W. +Camden, <i>Britain</i>, translated into English by Philemon Holland +(London, 1610), "Ireland," p. 83.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote762" name= +"footnote762"></a> <b>Footnote 762</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag762">(return)</a> +<p>J.J.M. de Groot, <i>The Religious System of China</i>, v. +(Leyden, 1907) p. 548.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote763" name= +"footnote763"></a> <b>Footnote 763</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag763">(return)</a> +<p>A. C. Kruijt, "De weerwolf bij de Toradja's van Midden-Celebes," +<i>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Landen Volkenkunde,</i> xli. +(1899) pp. 548-551, 557-560.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote764" name= +"footnote764"></a> <b>Footnote 764</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag764">(return)</a> +<p>A.C. Kruijt, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 552 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote765" name= +"footnote765"></a> <b>Footnote 765</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag765">(return)</a> +<p>A.C. Kruijt, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 553. For more evidence of the +belief in were-wolves, or rather in were-animals of various sorts, +particularly were-tigers, in the East Indies, see J.J. M. de Groot, +"De Weertijger in onze Koloniën en op het oostaziatische +Vasteland," <i>Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van +Nederlandsch-Indië</i>, xlix. (1898) pp. 549-585; G.P. +Rouffaer, "Matjan Gadoengan," <i>Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en +Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië</i> 1. (1899) pp. 67-75; J. +Knebel, "De Weertijger op Midden-Java, den Javaan naverteld," +<i>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde</i>, xli. +(1899) pp. 568-587; L.M.F. Plate, "Bijdrage tot de kennis van de +lykanthropie bij de Sasaksche bevolking in Oost-Lombok," +<i>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde</i>, liv. +(1912) pp. 458-469; G.A. Wilken, "Het animisme bij de volken van +den Indischen Archipel," <i>Verspreide Geschriften</i> (The Hague, +1912), iii. 25-30.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote766" name= +"footnote766"></a> <b>Footnote 766</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag766">(return)</a> +<p>Ernst Marno, <i>Reisen im Gebiete des blauen und weissen Nil</i> +(Vienna, 1874), pp. 239 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote767" name= +"footnote767"></a> <b>Footnote 767</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag767">(return)</a> +<p>Petronius, <i>Sat.</i> 61 <i>sq.</i> (pp. 40 <i>sq.</i>, ed. Fr. +Buecheler,<sup>3</sup> Berlin, 1882). The Latin word for a +were-wolf (<i>versipellis</i>) is expressive: it means literally +"skin-shifter," and is equally appropriate whatever the particular +animal may be into which the wizard transforms himself. It is to be +regretted that we have no such general term in English. The bright +moonlight which figures in some of these were-wolf stories is +perhaps not a mere embellishment of the tale but has its own +significance; for in some places it is believed that the +transformation of were-wolves into their bestial shape takes place +particularly at full moon. See A. de Nore, <i>Coutumes, Mythes et +Traditions des Provinces de France</i> (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. +99, 157; J.L.M. Noguès, <i>Les Moeurs d'autrefois en +Saintonge et en Aunis</i> (Saintes, 1891), p. 141.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote768" name= +"footnote768"></a> <b>Footnote 768</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag768">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Campbell, <i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands +and Islands of Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), p. 6: "In carrying out +their unhallowed cantrips, witches assumed various shapes. They +became gulls, cormorants, ravens, rats, mice, black sheep, swelling +waves, whales, and very frequently cats and hares." To this list of +animals into which witches can turn themselves may be added horses, +dogs, wolves, foxes, pigs, owls, magpies, wild geese, ducks, +serpents, toads, lizards, flies, wasps, and butterflies. See A. +Wuttke, <i>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Berlin, +1869), p. 150 § 217; L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen +aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), i. 327 § +220; Ulrich Jahn, <i>Hexenwesen und Zauberei in Pommern</i> +(Breslau, 1886), p. 7. In his <i>Topography of Ireland</i> (chap. +19), a work completed in 1187 A.D., Giraldus Cambrensis records +that "it has also been a frequent complaint, from old times as well +as in the present, that certain hags in Wales, as well as in +Ireland and Scotland, changed themselves into the shape of hares, +that, sucking teats under this counterfeit form, they might +stealthily rob other people's milk." See <i>The Historical Works of +Giraldus Cambrensis</i>, revised and edited by Thomas Wright +(London, 1887), p. 83.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote769" name= +"footnote769"></a> <b>Footnote 769</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag769">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Folk-lore Journal</i>, iv. (1886) p. 266; Collin de +Plancy, <i>Dictionnaire Infernal</i> (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 475; +J.L.M. Noguès, <i>Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en +Aunis</i> (Saintes, 1891), p. 141. In Scotland the cut was known as +"scoring above the breath." It consisted of two incisions made +crosswise on the witch's forehead, and was "confided in all +throughout Scotland as the most powerful counter-charm." See Sir +Walter Scott, <i>Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft</i> (London, +1884), p. 272; J.G. Dalyell, <i>The Darker Superstitions of +Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 531 <i>sq.</i>; M.M. Banks, +"Scoring a Witch above the Breath," <i>Folk-lore</i>, xxiii. (1912) +p. 490.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote770" name= +"footnote770"></a> <b>Footnote 770</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag770">(return)</a> +<p>J.L.M. Noguès, <i>l.c.</i>; L.F. Sauvé, <i>Le +Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges</i> (Paris, 1889), P. 187.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote771" name= +"footnote771"></a> <b>Footnote 771</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag771">(return)</a> +<p>M. Abeghian, <i>Der armenische Volksglaube</i> (Leipsic, 1899), +p. 117. The wolf-skin is supposed to fall down from heaven and to +return to heaven after seven years, if the were-wolf has not been +delivered from her unhappy state in the meantime by the burning of +the skin.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote772" name= +"footnote772"></a> <b>Footnote 772</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag772">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Campbell, <i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands +and Islands of Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), p. 8; compare A. +Wuttke, <i>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Berlin, +1869), p. 150 § 217. Some think that the sixpence should be +crooked. See Rev. W. Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the +North-East of Scotland</i> (London, 1881), pp. 71 <i>sq.</i>, 128; +<i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. v. <i>Lincolnshire</i>, collected by +Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote773" name= +"footnote773"></a> <b>Footnote 773</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag773">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 30.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote774" name= +"footnote774"></a> <b>Footnote 774</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag774">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Campbell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 33.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote775" name= +"footnote775"></a> <b>Footnote 775</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag775">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) Edward B. Tylor, <i>Primitive Culture</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(London, 1873), i. 314.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote776" name= +"footnote776"></a> <b>Footnote 776</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag776">(return)</a> +<p>Joseph Glanvil, <i>Saducismus Triumphatus or Full and Plain +Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions</i> (London, 1681), +Part ii. p. 205.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote777" name= +"footnote777"></a> <b>Footnote 777</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag777">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J.C. Atkinson, <i>Forty Years in a Moorland Parish</i> +(London, 1891), pp. 82-84.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote778" name= +"footnote778"></a> <b>Footnote 778</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag778">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. v. <i>Lincolnshire</i>, collected +by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), pp. 79, 80.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote779" name= +"footnote779"></a> <b>Footnote 779</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag779">(return)</a> +<p>Leland L. Duncan, "Folk-lore Gleanings from County Leitrim," +<i>Folklore</i>, iv. (1893) pp. 183 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote780" name= +"footnote780"></a> <b>Footnote 780</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag780">(return)</a> +<p>L.F. Sauvé, <i>Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges</i> (Paris, +1889), p. 176.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote781" name= +"footnote781"></a> <b>Footnote 781</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag781">(return)</a> +<p>L.F. Sauvé, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 176 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote782" name= +"footnote782"></a> <b>Footnote 782</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag782">(return)</a> +<p>Ernst Meier, <i>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Schwaben</i> (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 184 <i>sq.</i>, No. 203.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote783" name= +"footnote783"></a> <b>Footnote 783</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag783">(return)</a> +<p>E. Meier, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 191 <i>sq.</i>, No. 215. A similar +story of the shoeing of a woman in the shape of a horse is reported +from Silesia. See R. Kühnau, <i>Schlesische Sagen</i> (Berlin, +1910-1913), iii. pp. 27 <i>sq.</i>, No. 1380.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote784" name= +"footnote784"></a> <b>Footnote 784</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag784">(return)</a> +<p>R. Kühnau, <i>Schlesische Sagen</i> (Berlin, 1910-1913), +iii. pp. 23 <i>sq.</i>, No. 1375. Compare <i>id.</i>, iii. pp. 28 +<i>sq.</i>, No. 1381.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote785" name= +"footnote785"></a> <b>Footnote 785</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag785">(return)</a> +<p>See for example L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem +Herzogthum Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), i. pp. 328, 329, 334, +339; W. von Schulenburg, <i>Wendische Volkssagen und Gebräuche +aus dem Spreewald</i> (Leipsic, 1880), pp. 164, 165 <i>sq.</i>; H. +Pröhle, <i>Harzsagen</i> (Leipsic, 1859), i. 100 <i>sq.</i> +The belief in such things is said to be universal among the +ignorant and superstitious in Germany. See A. Wuttke, <i>Der +deutsche Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Berlin, 1869), p. 150, +§ 217. In Wales, also, "the possibility of injuring or marking +the witch in her assumed shape so deeply that the bruise remained a +mark on her in her natural form was a common belief" (J. Ceredig +Davies, <i>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</i>, Aberystwyth, 1911, +p. 243). For Welsh stories of this sort, see J. Ceredig Davies, +<i>l.c.</i>; Rev. Elias Owen, <i>Welsh Folk-lore</i> (Oswestry and +Wrexham, N.D., preface dated 1896), pp. 228 <i>sq.</i>; M. +Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> (London, +1909), p. 214.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote786" name= +"footnote786"></a> <b>Footnote 786</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag786">(return)</a> +<p>L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum +Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 361, § 239.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote787" name= +"footnote787"></a> <b>Footnote 787</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag787">(return)</a> +<p>Marie Trevelyan, <i>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</i> +(London, 1909), p. 210.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote788" name= +"footnote788"></a> <b>Footnote 788</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag788">(return)</a> +<p>L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum +Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 358, § 238.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote789" name= +"footnote789"></a> <b>Footnote 789</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag789">(return)</a> +<p>L. Strackerjan, <i>op. cit.</i> i. p. 360, § 238e.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote790" name= +"footnote790"></a> <b>Footnote 790</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag790">(return)</a> +<p>"The 'Witch-burning' at Clonmell," <i>Folk-lore</i>, vi. (1895) +pp. 373-384. The account there printed is based on the reports of +the judicial proceedings before the magistrates and the judge, +which were published in <i>The Irish Times</i> for March 26th, +27th, and 28th, April 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 8th, and July 6th, +1895.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote791" name= +"footnote791"></a> <b>Footnote 791</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag791">(return)</a> +<p>John Graham Dalyell, <i>The Darker Superstitions of Scotland</i> +(Edinburgh, 1834), p. 185. In this passage "quick" is used in the +old sense of "living," as in the phrase "the quick and the dead." +<i>Nois</i> is "nose," <i>hoill</i> is "hole," <i>quhilk +(whilk)</i> is "which," and <i>be</i> is "by."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote792" name= +"footnote792"></a> <b>Footnote 792</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag792">(return)</a> +<p>J.G. Dalyell, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 186. <i>Bestiall</i>=animals; +<i>seik</i>=sick; <i>calling</i>=driving; <i>guidis</i>=cattle.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote793" name= +"footnote793"></a> <b>Footnote 793</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag793">(return)</a> +<p>John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, <i>Scotland and Scotsmen in the +Eighteenth Century</i>, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh +and London, 1888), ii. 446 <i>sq.</i> As to the custom of cutting +off the leg of a diseased animal and hanging it up in the house, +see above, p. <a href="#page296">296</a>, note 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote794" name= +"footnote794"></a> <b>Footnote 794</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag794">(return)</a> +<p>(Sir) Arthur Mitchell, A.M., M.D., <i>On Various Superstitions +in the North-West Highlands and Islands of Scotland</i> (Edinburgh, +1862), p. 12 (reprinted from the <i>Proceedings of the Society of +Antiquaries of Scotland</i>, vol. iv.).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote795" name= +"footnote795"></a> <b>Footnote 795</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag795">(return)</a> +<p><i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. v. <i>Lincolnshire</i>, collected +by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75, quoting Rev. +R.M. Heanley, "The Vikings: traces of their Folklore in Marshland," +a paper read before the Viking Club, London, and printed in its +<i>Saga-Book</i>, vol. iii. Part i. Jan. 1902. The wicken-tree is +the mountain-ash or rowan free, which is a very efficient, or at +all events a very popular protective against witchcraft. See +<i>County Folk-lore</i>, vol. v. <i>Lincolnshire</i>, pp. 26 +<i>sq.</i>, 98 <i>sq.</i>; Mabel Peacock, "The Folklore of +Lincolnshire," <i>Folk-lore</i>, xii. (1901) p. 175; J.G. Campbell, +<i>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of +Scotland</i> (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 11 <i>sq.</i>; Rev. Walter +Gregor, <i>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland</i> +(London, 1881), p. 188. See further <i>The Scapegoat</i>, pp. 266 +<i>sq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page328" name="page328"></a>[pg +328]</span> +<h2><a id="chap5" name="chap5">CHAPTER V</a></h2> +<h3>THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRE-FESTIVALS</h3> +<h4><a id="sect5-1" name="sect5-1">§ 1. <i>On the +Fire-festivals in general</i></a></h4> +<a id="fireresemblance" name="fireresemblance"></a> +<p>[General resemblance of the European fire-festivals to each +other.]</p> +<p>The foregoing survey of the popular fire-festivals of Europe +suggests some general observations. In the first place we can +hardly help being struck by the resemblance which the ceremonies +bear to each other, at whatever time of the year and in whatever +part of Europe they are celebrated. The custom of kindling great +bonfires, leaping over them, and driving cattle through or round +them would seem to have been practically universal throughout +Europe, and the same may be said of the processions or races with +blazing torches round fields, orchards, pastures, or cattle-stalls. +Less widespread are the customs of hurling lighted discs into the +air<a id="footnotetag796" name="footnotetag796"></a><a href= +"#footnote796"><sup>796</sup></a> and trundling a burning wheel +down hill;<a id="footnotetag797" name="footnotetag797"></a><a href= +"#footnote797"><sup>797</sup></a> for to judge by the evidence +which I have collected these modes of distributing the beneficial +influence of the fire have been confined in the main to Central +Europe. The ceremonial of the Yule log is distinguished from that +of the other fire-festivals by the privacy and domesticity which +characterize it; but, as we have already seen, this distinction may +well be due simply to the rough weather of midwinter, which is apt +not only to render a public assembly in the open air disagreeable, +but also at any moment to defeat the object of the assembly by +extinguishing the all-important fire under a downpour of rain or a +fall of snow. Apart from these local or seasonal differences, the +general resemblance between <span class="pagenum"><a id="page329" +name="page329"></a>[pg 329]</span> the fire-festivals at all times +of the year and in all places is tolerably close. And as the +ceremonies themselves resemble each other, so do the benefits which +the people expect to reap from them. Whether applied in the form of +bonfires blazing at fixed points, or of torches carried about from +place to place, or of embers and ashes taken from the smouldering +heap of fuel, the fire is believed to promote the growth of the +crops and the welfare of man and beast, either positively by +stimulating them, or negatively by averting the dangers and +calamities which threaten them from such causes as thunder and +lightning, conflagration, blight, mildew, vermin, sterility, +disease, and not least of all witchcraft.</p> +<a id="twoexplanations" name="twoexplanations"></a> +<p>[Two explanations suggested of the fire-festivals. According to +W. Mannhardt, they are charms to secure a supply of sunshine; +according to Dr. E. Westermarck they are purificatory, being +intended to burn and destroy all harmful influences.]</p> +<p>But we naturally ask, How did it come about that benefits so +great and manifold were supposed to be attained by means so simple? +In what way did people imagine that they could procure so many +goods or avoid so many ills by the application of fire and smoke, +of embers and ashes? In short, what theory underlay and prompted +the practice of these customs? For that the institution of the +festivals was the outcome of a definite train of reasoning may be +taken for granted; the view that primitive man acted first and +invented his reasons to suit his actions afterwards, is not borne +out by what we know of his nearest living representatives, the +savage and the peasant. Two different explanations of the +fire-festivals have been given by modern enquirers. On the one hand +it has been held that they are sun-charms or magical ceremonies +intended, on the principle of imitative magic, to ensure a needful +supply of sunshine for men, animals, and plants by kindling fires +which mimic on earth the great source of light and heat in the sky. +This was the view of Wilhelm Mannhardt.<a id="footnotetag798" name= +"footnotetag798"></a><a href="#footnote798"><sup>798</sup></a> It +may be called the solar theory. On the other hand it has been +maintained that the ceremonial fires have no necessary reference to +the sun but are simply purificatory in intention, being designed to +burn up and destroy all harmful influences, whether these are +conceived in a personal form as witches, demons, and monsters, or +in an impersonal form as a sort of pervading taint or corruption of +the air. This is the view of Dr. <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page330" name="page330"></a>[pg 330]</span> Edward +Westermarck<a id="footnotetag799" name= +"footnotetag799"></a><a href="#footnote799"><sup>799</sup></a> and +apparently of Professor Eugen Mogk.<a id="footnotetag800" name= +"footnotetag800"></a><a href="#footnote800"><sup>800</sup></a> It +may be called the purificatory theory. Obviously the two theories +postulate two very different conceptions of the fire which plays +the principal part in the rites. On the one view, the fire, like +sunshine in our latitude, is a genial creative power which fosters +the growth of plants and the development of all that makes for +health and happiness; on the other view, the fire is a fierce +destructive power which blasts and consumes all the noxious +elements, whether spiritual or material, that menace the life of +men, of animals, and of plants. According to the one theory the +fire is a stimulant, according to the other it is a disinfectant; +on the one view its virtue is positive, on the other it is +negative.</p> +<a id="notexclusive" name="notexclusive"></a> +<p>[The two explanations are perhaps not mutually exclusive.]</p> +<p>Yet the two explanations, different as they are in the character +which they attribute to the fire, are perhaps not wholly +irreconcilable. If we assume that the fires kindled at these +festivals were primarily intended to imitate the sun's light and +heat, may we not regard the purificatory and disinfecting +qualities, which popular opinion certainly appears to have ascribed +to them, as attributes derived directly from the purificatory and +disinfecting qualities of sunshine? In this way we might conclude +that, while the imitation of sunshine in these ceremonies was +primary and original, the purification attributed to them was +secondary and derivative. Such a conclusion, occupying an +intermediate position between the two opposing theories and +recognizing an element of truth in both of them, was adopted by me +in earlier editions of this work;<a id="footnotetag801" name= +"footnotetag801"></a><a href="#footnote801"><sup>801</sup></a> but +in the meantime Dr. Westermarck <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page331" name="page331"></a>[pg 331]</span> has argued powerfully +in favour of the purificatory theory alone, and I am bound to say +that his arguments carry great weight, and that on a fuller review +of the facts the balance of evidence seems to me to incline +decidedly in his favour. However, the case is not so clear as to +justify us in dismissing the solar theory without discussion, and +accordingly I propose to adduce the considerations which tell for +it before proceeding to notice those which tell against it. A +theory which had the support of so learned and sagacious an +investigator as W. Mannhardt is entitled to a respectful +hearing.</p> +<h4><a id="sect5-2" name="sect5-2">§ 2. <i>The Solar Theory of +the Fire-festivals</i></a></h4> +<a id="supplytheory" name="supplytheory"></a> +<p>[Theory that the fire-festivals are charms to ensure a supply of +sunshine.]</p> +<p>In an earlier part of this work we saw that savages resort to +charms for making sunshine,<a id="footnotetag802" name= +"footnotetag802"></a><a href="#footnote802"><sup>802</sup></a> and +it would be no wonder if primitive man in Europe did the same. +Indeed, when we consider the cold and cloudy climate of Europe +during a great part of the year, we shall find it natural that +sun-charms should have played a much more prominent part among the +superstitious practices of European peoples than among those of +savages who live nearer the equator and who consequently are apt to +get in the course of nature more sunshine than they want. This view +of the festivals may be supported by various arguments drawn partly +from their dates, partly from the nature of the rites, and partly +from the influence which they are believed to exert upon the +weather and on vegetation.</p> +<a id="solsticecoincidence" name="solsticecoincidence"></a> +<p>[Coincidence of two of the festivals with the solstices.]</p> +<p>First, in regard to the dates of the festivals it can be no mere +accident that two of the most important and widely spread of the +festivals are timed to coincide more or less exactly with the +summer and winter solstices, that is, with the two turning-points +in the sun's apparent course in the sky when he reaches +respectively his highest and his lowest elevation at noon. Indeed +with respect to the midwinter celebration of Christmas we are not +left to conjecture; we <span class="pagenum"><a id="page332" name= +"page332"></a>[pg 332]</span> know from the express testimony of +the ancients that it was instituted by the church to supersede an +old heathen festival of the birth of the sun,<a id="footnotetag803" +name="footnotetag803"></a><a href="#footnote803"><sup>803</sup></a> +which was apparently conceived to be born again on the shortest day +of the year, after which his light and heat were seen to grow till +they attained their full maturity at midsummer. Therefore it is no +very far fetched conjecture to suppose that the Yule log, which +figures so prominently in the popular celebration of Christmas, was +originally designed to help the labouring sun of midwinter to +rekindle his seemingly expiring light.</p> +<a id="bushmenattempt" name="bushmenattempt"></a> +<p>[Attempt of the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in +midwinter by kindling sticks.]</p> +<p>The idea that by lighting a log on earth you can rekindle a fire +in heaven or fan it into a brighter blaze, naturally seems to us +absurd; but to the savage mind it wears a different aspect, and the +institution of the great fire-festivals which we are considering +probably dates from a time when Europe was still sunk in savagery +or at most in barbarism. Now it can be shewn that in order to +increase the celestial source of heat at midwinter savages resort +to a practice analogous to that of our Yule log, if the kindling of +the Yule log was originally a magical rite intended to rekindle the +sun. In the southern hemisphere, where the order of the seasons is +the reverse of ours, the rising of Sirius or the Dog Star in July +marks the season of the greatest cold instead of, as with us, the +greatest heat; and just as the civilized ancients ascribed the +torrid heat of midsummer to that brilliant star,<a id= +"footnotetag804" name="footnotetag804"></a><a href= +"#footnote804"><sup>804</sup></a> so the modern savage of South +Africa attributes to it the piercing cold of midwinter and seeks to +mitigate its rigour by warming up the chilly star with the genial +heat of the sun. How he does so may be best described in his own +words as follows:—<a id="footnotetag805" name= +"footnotetag805"></a><a href="#footnote805"><sup>805</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page333" name="page333"></a>[pg +333]</span> +<p>"The Bushmen perceive Canopus, they say to a child: 'Give me +yonder piece of wood, that I may put the end of it in the fire, +that I may point it burning towards grandmother, for grandmother +carries Bushman rice; grandmother shall make a little warmth for +us; for she coldly comes out; the sun<a id="footnotetag806" name= +"footnotetag806"></a><a href="#footnote806"><sup>806</sup></a> +shall warm grandmother's eye for us.' Sirius comes out; the people +call out to one another: 'Sirius comes yonder;' they say to one +another: 'Ye must burn a stick for us towards Sirius.' They say to +one another: 'Who was it who saw Sirius?' One man says to the +other: 'Our brother saw Sirius,' The other man says to him: 'I saw +Sirius.' The other man says to him: 'I wish thee to burn a stick +for us towards Sirius; that the sun may shining come out for us; +that Sirius may not coldly come out' The other man (the one who saw +Sirius) says to his son: 'Bring me the small piece of wood yonder, +that I may put the end of it in the fire, that I may burn it +towards grandmother; that grandmother may ascend the sky, like the +other one, Canopus.' The child brings him the piece of wood, he +(the father) holds the end of it in the fire. He points it burning +towards Sirius; he says that Sirius shall twinkle like Canopus. He +sings; he sings about Canopus, he sings about Sirius; he points to +them with fire,<a id="footnotetag807" name= +"footnotetag807"></a><a href="#footnote807"><sup>807</sup></a> that +they may twinkle like each other. He throws fire at them. He covers +himself up entirely (including his head) in his kaross and lies +down. He arises, he sits down; while he does not again lie down; +because he feels that he has worked, putting Sirius into the sun's +warmth; so that Sirius may warmly come out. The women go out early +to seek for Bushman rice; they walk, sunning their shoulder +blades."<a id="footnotetag808" name="footnotetag808"></a><a href= +"#footnote808"><sup>808</sup></a> What the Bushmen thus do to +temper the cold of midwinter in the southern hemisphere by blowing +up the celestial fires may have been done by our rude forefathers +at the corresponding season in the northern hemisphere.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page334" name="page334"></a>[pg +334]</span> <a id="burningimitations" name="burningimitations"></a> +<p>[The burning wheels and discs of the fire-festivals may be +direct imitations of the sun.]</p> +<p>Not only the date of some of the festivals but the manner of +their celebration suggests a conscious imitation of the sun. The +custom of rolling a burning wheel down a hill, which is often +observed at these ceremonies, might well pass for an imitation of +the sun's course in the sky, and the imitation would be especially +appropriate on Midsummer Day when the sun's annual declension +begins. Indeed the custom has been thus interpreted by some of +those who have recorded it.<a id="footnotetag809" name= +"footnotetag809"></a><a href="#footnote809"><sup>809</sup></a> Not +less graphic, it may be said, is the mimicry of his apparent +revolution by swinging a burning tar-barrel round a pole.<a id= +"footnotetag810" name="footnotetag810"></a><a href= +"#footnote810"><sup>810</sup></a> Again, the common practice of +throwing fiery discs, sometimes expressly said to be shaped like +suns, into the air at the festivals may well be a piece of +imitative magic. In these, as in so many cases, the magic force may +be supposed to take effect through mimicry or sympathy: by +imitating the desired result you actually produce it: by +counterfeiting the sun's progress through the heavens you really +help the luminary to pursue his celestial journey with punctuality +and despatch. The name "fire of heaven," by which the midsummer +fire is sometimes popularly known,<a id="footnotetag811" name= +"footnotetag811"></a><a href="#footnote811"><sup>811</sup></a> +clearly implies a consciousness of a connexion between the earthly +and the heavenly flame.</p> +<a id="wheelimitation" name="wheelimitation"></a> +<p>[The wheel sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may +also be an imitation of the sun.]</p> +<p>Again, the manner in which the fire appears to have been +originally kindled on these occasions has been alleged in support +of the view that it was intended to be a mock-sun. As some scholars +have perceived, it is highly probable <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page335" name="page335"></a>[pg 335]</span> that at the periodic +festivals in former times fire was universally obtained by the +friction of two pieces of wood.<a id="footnotetag812" name= +"footnotetag812"></a><a href="#footnote812"><sup>812</sup></a> We +have seen that it is still so procured in some places both at the +Easter and the midsummer festivals, and that it is expressly said +to have been formerly so procured at the Beltane celebration both +in Scotland and Wales.<a id="footnotetag813" name= +"footnotetag813"></a><a href="#footnote813"><sup>813</sup></a> But +what makes it nearly certain that this was once the invariable mode +of kindling the fire at these periodic festivals is the analogy of +the need-fire, which has almost always been produced by the +friction of wood, and sometimes by the revolution of a wheel. It is +a plausible conjecture that the wheel employed for this purpose +represents the sun,<a id="footnotetag814" name= +"footnotetag814"></a><a href="#footnote814"><sup>814</sup></a> and +if the fires at the regularly recurring celebrations were formerly +produced in the same way, it might be regarded as a confirmation of +the view that they were originally sun-charms. In point of fact +there is, as Kuhn has indicated,<a id="footnotetag815" name= +"footnotetag815"></a><a href="#footnote815"><sup>815</sup></a> some +evidence to shew that the midsummer fire was originally thus +produced. We have seen that many Hungarian swineherds make fire on +Midsummer Eve by rotating a wheel round a wooden axle wrapt in +hemp, and that they drive their pigs through the fire thus +made.<a id="footnotetag816" name="footnotetag816"></a><a href= +"#footnote816"><sup>816</sup></a> At Obermedlingen, in Swabia, the +"fire of heaven," as it was called, was made on St. Vitus's Day +(the fifteenth of June) by igniting a cartwheel, which, smeared +with pitch and plaited with straw, was fastened on a pole twelve +feet high, the top of the pole being inserted in the nave of the +wheel. This fire was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page336" name= +"page336"></a>[pg 336]</span> made on the summit of a mountain, and +as the flame ascended, the people uttered a set form of words, with +eyes and arms directed heavenward.<a id="footnotetag817" name= +"footnotetag817"></a><a href="#footnote817"><sup>817</sup></a> Here +the fixing of a wheel on a pole and igniting it suggests that +originally the fire was produced, as in the case of the need-fire, +by the revolution of a wheel. The day on which the ceremony takes +place (the fifteenth of June) is near midsummer; and we have seen +that in Masuren fire is, or used to be, actually made on Midsummer +Day by turning a wheel rapidly about an oaken pole,<a id= +"footnotetag818" name="footnotetag818"></a><a href= +"#footnote818"><sup>818</sup></a> though it is not said that the +new fire so obtained is used to light a bonfire. However, we must +bear in mind that in all such cases the use of a wheel may be +merely a mechanical device to facilitate the operation of +fire-making by increasing the friction; it need not have any +symbolical significance.</p> +<a id="fireinfluence" name="fireinfluence"></a> +<p>[The influence which the fires are supposed to exert on the +weather and vegetation may be thought to be due to an increase of +solar heat produced by the fires.]</p> +<p>Further, the influence which these fires, whether periodic or +occasional, are supposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may +be cited in support of the view that they are sun-charms, since the +effects ascribed to them resemble those of sunshine. Thus, the +French belief that in a rainy June the lighting of the midsummer +bonfires will cause the rain to cease<a id="footnotetag819" name= +"footnotetag819"></a><a href="#footnote819"><sup>819</sup></a> +appears to assume that they can disperse the dark clouds and make +the sun to break out in radiant glory, drying the wet earth and +dripping trees. Similarly the use of the need-fire by Swiss +children on foggy days for the purpose of clearing away the +mist<a id="footnotetag820" name="footnotetag820"></a><a href= +"#footnote820"><sup>820</sup></a> may very naturally be interpreted +as a sun-charm. Again, we have seen that in the Vosges Mountains +the people believe that the midsummer fires help to preserve the +fruits of the earth and ensure good crops.<a id="footnotetag821" +name="footnotetag821"></a><a href="#footnote821"><sup>821</sup></a> +In Sweden the warmth or cold of the coming season is inferred from +the direction in which the flames of the May Day bonfire are blown; +if they blow to the south, it will be warm, if to the north, +cold.<a id="footnotetag822" name="footnotetag822"></a><a href= +"#footnote822"><sup>822</sup></a> No doubt at present the direction +of the flames is regarded merely as an augury of the weather, not +as a mode of influencing it. But we may be pretty sure that this is +one of the cases in which magic has dwindled into divination. So in +the Eifel <span class="pagenum"><a id="page337" name= +"page337"></a>[pg 337]</span> Mountains, when the smoke blows +towards the corn-fields, this is an omen that the harvest will be +abundant.<a id="footnotetag823" name="footnotetag823"></a><a href= +"#footnote823"><sup>823</sup></a> But the older view may have been +not merely that the smoke and flames prognosticated, but that they +actually produced an abundant harvest, the heat of the flames +acting like sunshine on the corn. Perhaps it was with this view +that people in the Isle of Man lit fires to windward of their +fields in order that the smoke might blow over them.<a id= +"footnotetag824" name="footnotetag824"></a><a href= +"#footnote824"><sup>824</sup></a> So in South Africa, about the +month of April, the Matabeles light huge fires to the windward of +their gardens, "their idea being that the smoke, by passing over +the crops, will assist the ripening of them."<a id="footnotetag825" +name="footnotetag825"></a><a href="#footnote825"><sup>825</sup></a> +Among the Zulus also "medicine is burned on a fire placed to +windward of the garden, the fumigation which the plants in +consequence receive being held to improve the crop."<a id= +"footnotetag826" name="footnotetag826"></a><a href= +"#footnote826"><sup>826</sup></a> Again, the idea of our European +peasants that the corn will grow well as far as the blaze of the +bonfire is visible,<a id="footnotetag827" name= +"footnotetag827"></a><a href="#footnote827"><sup>827</sup></a> may +be interpreted as a remnant of the belief in the quickening and +fertilizing power of the bonfires. The same belief, it may be +argued, reappears in the notion that embers taken from the bonfires +and inserted in the fields will promote the growth of the +crops,<a id="footnotetag828" name="footnotetag828"></a><a href= +"#footnote828"><sup>828</sup></a> and it may be thought to underlie +the customs of sowing flax-seed in the direction in which the +flames blow,<a id="footnotetag829" name= +"footnotetag829"></a><a href="#footnote829"><sup>829</sup></a> of +mixing the ashes of the bonfire with the seed-corn at sowing,<a id= +"footnotetag830" name="footnotetag830"></a><a href= +"#footnote830"><sup>830</sup></a> of scattering the ashes by +themselves over the field to fertilize it,<a id="footnotetag831" +name="footnotetag831"></a><a href="#footnote831"><sup>831</sup></a> +and of incorporating a piece of the Yule log in the plough to make +the seeds thrive.<a id="footnotetag832" name= +"footnotetag832"></a><a href="#footnote832"><sup>832</sup></a> The +opinion that the flax or hemp will grow as high as the flames rise +or the people leap over them<a id="footnotetag833" name= +"footnotetag833"></a><a href="#footnote833"><sup>833</sup></a> +belongs clearly to the same class of ideas. Again, at Konz, on the +banks of the Moselle, if the blazing wheel which was trundled down +the hillside reached the river without being extinguished, this was +hailed as a proof that the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page338" +name="page338"></a>[pg 338]</span> vintage would be abundant. So +firmly was this belief held that the successful performance of the +ceremony entitled the villagers to levy a tax upon the owners of +the neighbouring vineyards.<a id="footnotetag834" name= +"footnotetag834"></a><a href="#footnote834"><sup>834</sup></a> Here +the unextinguished wheel might be taken to represent an unclouded +sun, which in turn would portend an abundant vintage. So the +waggon-load of white wine which the villagers received from the +vineyards round about might pass for a payment for the sunshine +which they had procured for the grapes. Similarly we saw that in +the Vale of Glamorgan a blazing wheel used to be trundled down hill +on Midsummer Day, and that if the fire were extinguished before the +wheel reached the foot of the hill, the people expected a bad +harvest; whereas if the wheel kept alight all the way down and +continued to blaze for a long time, the farmers looked forward to +heavy crops that summer.<a id="footnotetag835" name= +"footnotetag835"></a><a href="#footnote835"><sup>835</sup></a> +Here, again, it is natural to suppose that the rustic mind traced a +direct connexion between the fire of the wheel and the fire of the +sun, on which the crops are dependent.</p> +<a id="fertilizingfire" name="fertilizingfire"></a> +<p>[The effect which the bonfires are supposed to have in +fertilizing cattle and women may also be attributed to an increase +of solar heat produced by the fires.]</p> +<p>But in popular belief the quickening and fertilizing influence +of the bonfires is not limited to the vegetable world; it extends +also to animals. This plainly appears from the Irish custom of +driving barren cattle through the midsummer fires,<a id= +"footnotetag836" name="footnotetag836"></a><a href= +"#footnote836"><sup>836</sup></a> from the French belief that the +Yule-log steeped in water helps cows to calve,<a id= +"footnotetag837" name="footnotetag837"></a><a href= +"#footnote837"><sup>837</sup></a> from the French and Servian +notion that there will be as many chickens, calves, lambs, and kids +as there are sparks struck out of the Yule log,<a id= +"footnotetag838" name="footnotetag838"></a><a href= +"#footnote838"><sup>838</sup></a> from the French custom of putting +the ashes of the bonfires in the fowls' nests to make the hens lay +eggs,<a id="footnotetag839" name="footnotetag839"></a><a href= +"#footnote839"><sup>839</sup></a> and from the German practice of +mixing the ashes of the bonfires with the drink of cattle in order +to make the animals thrive.<a id="footnotetag840" name= +"footnotetag840"></a><a href="#footnote840"><sup>840</sup></a> +Further, there are clear indications that even human fecundity is +supposed to be promoted by the genial heat of the fires. In Morocco +the people think that childless couples can obtain offspring by +leaping over the midsummer bonfire.<a id="footnotetag841" name= +"footnotetag841"></a><a href="#footnote841"><sup>841</sup></a> It +is an Irish belief that a girl who jumps thrice over the midsummer +bonfire will soon marry and become the mother <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page339" name="page339"></a>[pg 339]</span> of +many children;<a id="footnotetag842" name= +"footnotetag842"></a><a href="#footnote842"><sup>842</sup></a> in +Flanders women leap over the Midsummer fires to ensure an easy +delivery;<a id="footnotetag843" name="footnotetag843"></a><a href= +"#footnote843"><sup>843</sup></a> and in various parts of France +they think that if a girl dances round nine fires she will be sure +to marry within the year.<a id="footnotetag844" name= +"footnotetag844"></a><a href="#footnote844"><sup>844</sup></a> On +the other hand, in Lechrain people say that if a young man and +woman, leaping over the midsummer fire together, escape unsmirched, +the young woman will not become a mother within twelve +months:<a id="footnotetag845" name="footnotetag845"></a><a href= +"#footnote845"><sup>845</sup></a> the flames have not touched and +fertilized her. In parts of Switzerland and France the lighting of +the Yule log is accompanied by a prayer that the women may bear +children, the she-goats bring forth kids, and the ewes drop +lambs.<a id="footnotetag846" name="footnotetag846"></a><a href= +"#footnote846"><sup>846</sup></a> The rule observed in some places +that the bonfires should be kindled by the person who was last +married<a id="footnotetag847" name="footnotetag847"></a><a href= +"#footnote847"><sup>847</sup></a> seems to belong to the same class +of ideas, whether it be that such a person is supposed to receive +from, or to impart to, the fire a generative and fertilizing +influence. The common practice of lovers leaping over the fires +hand in hand may very well have originated in a notion that thereby +their marriage would be blessed with offspring; and the like motive +would explain the custom which obliges couples married within the +year to dance to the light of torches.<a id="footnotetag848" name= +"footnotetag848"></a><a href="#footnote848"><sup>848</sup></a> And +the scenes of profligacy which appear to have marked the midsummer +celebration among the Esthonians,<a id="footnotetag849" name= +"footnotetag849"></a><a href="#footnote849"><sup>849</sup></a> as +they once marked the celebration of May Day among ourselves, may +have sprung, not from the mere license of holiday-makers, but from +a crude notion that such orgies were justified, if not required, by +some mysterious bond which linked the life of man to the courses of +the heavens at this turning-point of the year.</p> +<a id="carryingtorches" name="carryingtorches"></a> +<p>[The custom of carrying lighted torches about the country at the +festival may be explained as an attempt to diffuse the Sun's +heat.]</p> +<p>At the festivals which we are considering the custom of kindling +bonfires is commonly associated with a custom of carrying lighted +torches about the fields, the orchards, the pastures, the flocks +and the herds; and we can hardly doubt that the two customs are +only two different ways of attaining the same object, namely, the +benefits which are believed to flow from the fire, whether it be +stationary or portable. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page340" name= +"page340"></a>[pg 340]</span> Accordingly if we accept the solar +theory of the bonfires, we seem bound to apply it also to the +torches; we must suppose that the practice of marching or running +with blazing torches about the country is simply a means of +diffusing far and wide the genial influence of the sunshine, of +which these flickering flames are a feeble imitation. In favour of +this view it may be said that sometimes the torches are carried +about the fields for the express purpose of fertilizing them,<a id= +"footnotetag850" name="footnotetag850"></a><a href= +"#footnote850"><sup>850</sup></a> and for the same purpose live +coals from the bonfires are sometimes placed in the fields "to +prevent blight."<a id="footnotetag851" name= +"footnotetag851"></a><a href="#footnote851"><sup>851</sup></a> On +the Eve of Twelfth Day in Normandy men, women, and children run +wildly through the fields and orchards with lighted torches, which +they wave about the branches and dash against the trunks of the +fruit-trees for the sake of burning the moss and driving away the +moles and field mice. "They believe that the ceremony fulfils the +double object of exorcizing the vermin whose multiplication would +be a real calamity, and of imparting fecundity to the trees, the +fields, and even the cattle"; and they imagine that the more the +ceremony is prolonged, the greater will be the crop of fruit next +autumn.<a id="footnotetag852" name="footnotetag852"></a><a href= +"#footnote852"><sup>852</sup></a> In Bohemia they say that the corn +will grow as high as they fling the blazing besoms into the +air.<a id="footnotetag853" name="footnotetag853"></a><a href= +"#footnote853"><sup>853</sup></a> Nor are such notions confined to +Europe. In Corea, a few days before the New Year festival, the +eunuchs of the palace swing burning torches, chanting invocations +the while, and this is supposed to ensure bountiful crops for the +next season.<a id="footnotetag854" name= +"footnotetag854"></a><a href="#footnote854"><sup>854</sup></a> The +custom of trundling a burning wheel <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page341" name="page341"></a>[pg 341]</span> over the fields, which +used to be observed in Poitou for the express purpose of +fertilizing them,<a id="footnotetag855" name= +"footnotetag855"></a><a href="#footnote855"><sup>855</sup></a> may +be thought to embody the same idea in a still more graphic form; +since in this way the mock-sun itself, not merely its light and +heat represented by torches, is made actually to pass over the +ground which is to receive its quickening and kindly influence. +Once more, the custom of carrying lighted brands round cattle<a id= +"footnotetag856" name="footnotetag856"></a><a href= +"#footnote856"><sup>856</sup></a> is plainly equivalent to driving +the animals through the bonfire; and if the bonfire is a sun-charm, +the torches must be so also.</p> +<h4><a id="sect5-3" name="sect5-3">§ 3. <i>The Purificatory +Theory of the Fire-festivals</i></a></h4> +<a id="purificatorytheory" name="purificatorytheory"></a> +<p>[Theory that the fires at the festivals are purificatory, being +intended to burn up all harmful things.]</p> +<p>Thus far we have considered what may be said for the theory that +at the European fire-festivals the fire is kindled as a charm to +ensure an abundant supply of sunshine for man and beast, for corn +and fruits. It remains to consider what may be said against this +theory and in favour of the view that in these rites fire is +employed not as a creative but as a cleansing agent, which purifies +men, animals, and plants by burning up and consuming the noxious +elements, whether material or spiritual, which menace all living +things with disease and death.</p> +<a id="destructiveeffect" name="destructiveeffect"></a> +<p>[The purificatory or destructive effect of the fires is often +alleged by the people who light them; the great evil against which +the fire at the festivals is directed appears to be +witchcraft.]</p> +<p>First, then, it is to be observed that the people who practise +the fire-customs appear never to allege the solar theory in +explanation of them, while on the contrary they do frequently and +emphatically put forward the purificatory theory. This is a strong +argument in favour of the purificatory and against the solar +theory; for the popular explanation of a popular custom is never to +be rejected except for grave cause. And in the present case there +seems to be no adequate reason for rejecting it. The conception of +fire as a destructive agent, which can be turned to account for the +consumption of evil things, is so simple and obvious that it could +hardly escape the minds even of the rude peasantry with whom these +festivals originated. On the other hand the conception of fire as +an emanation of the sun, or at all events as linked to it by a bond +of physical sympathy, is far less simple and obvious; and though +the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page342" name="page342"></a>[pg +342]</span> use of fire as a charm to produce sunshine appears to +be undeniable,<a id="footnotetag857" name= +"footnotetag857"></a><a href="#footnote857"><sup>857</sup></a> +nevertheless in attempting to explain popular customs we should +never have recourse to a more recondite idea when a simpler one +lies to hand and is supported by the explicit testimony of the +people themselves. Now in the case of the fire-festivals the +destructive aspect of fire is one upon which the people dwell again +and again; and it is highly significant that the great evil against +which the fire is directed appears to be witchcraft. Again and +again we are told that the fires are intended to burn or repel the +witches;<a id="footnotetag858" name="footnotetag858"></a><a href= +"#footnote858"><sup>858</sup></a> and the intention is sometimes +graphically expressed by burning an effigy of a witch in the +fire.<a id="footnotetag859" name="footnotetag859"></a><a href= +"#footnote859"><sup>859</sup></a> Hence, when we remember the great +hold which the dread of witchcraft has had on the popular European +mind in all ages, we may suspect that the primary intention of all +these fire-festivals was simply to destroy or at all events get rid +of the witches, who were regarded as the causes of nearly all the +misfortunes and calamities that befall men, their cattle, and their +crops.<a id="footnotetag860" name="footnotetag860"></a><a href= +"#footnote860"><sup>860</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page343" name="page343"></a>[pg +343]</span> <a id="cattledisease" name="cattledisease"></a> +<p>[Amongst the evils for which the fire-festivals are deemed +remedies the foremost is cattle-disease, and cattle-disease is +often supposed to be an effect of witchcraft.]</p> +<p>This suspicion is confirmed when we examine the evils for which +the bonfires and torches were supposed to provide a remedy. +Foremost, perhaps, among these evils we may reckon the diseases of +cattle; and of all the ills that witches are believed to work there +is probably none which is so constantly insisted on as the harm +they do to the herds, particularly by stealing the milk from the +cows.<a id="footnotetag861" name="footnotetag861"></a><a href= +"#footnote861"><sup>861</sup></a> Now it is significant that the +need-fire, which may perhaps be regarded as the parent of the +periodic fire-festivals, is kindled above all as a remedy for a +murrain or other disease of cattle; and the circumstance suggests, +what on general grounds seems probable, that the custom of kindling +the need-fire goes back to a time when the ancestors of the +European peoples subsisted chiefly on the products of their herds, +and when agriculture as yet played a subordinate part in their +lives. Witches and wolves are the two great foes still dreaded by +the herdsman in many parts of Europe;<a id="footnotetag862" name= +"footnotetag862"></a><a href="#footnote862"><sup>862</sup></a> and +we need not wonder that he should resort to fire as a powerful +means of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page344" name= +"page344"></a>[pg 344]</span> banning them both. Among Slavonic +peoples it appears that the foes whom the need-fire is designed to +combat are not so much living witches as vampyres and other evil +spirits,<a id="footnotetag863" name="footnotetag863"></a><a href= +"#footnote863"><sup>863</sup></a> and the ceremony, as we saw, aims +rather at repelling these baleful beings than at actually consuming +them in the flames. But for our present purpose these distinctions +are immaterial. The important thing to observe is that among the +Slavs the need-fire, which is probably the original of all the +ceremonial fires now under consideration, is not a sun-charm, but +clearly and unmistakably nothing but a means of protecting man and +beast against the attacks of maleficent creatures, whom the peasant +thinks to burn or scare by the heat of the fire, just as he might +burn or scare wild animals.</p> +<a id="averthail" name="averthail"></a> +<p>[Again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, thunder, +lightning, and other maladies, all of which are attributed to the +maleficent arts of witches.]</p> +<p>Again, the bonfires are often supposed to protect the fields +against hail<a id="footnotetag864" name= +"footnotetag864"></a><a href="#footnote864"><sup>864</sup></a> and +the homestead against thunder and lightning.<a id="footnotetag865" +name="footnotetag865"></a><a href="#footnote865"><sup>865</sup></a> +But both hail and thunderstorms are frequently thought to be caused +by witches;<a id="footnotetag866" name= +"footnotetag866"></a><a href="#footnote866"><sup>866</sup></a> +hence the fire which bans the witches necessarily serves at the +same time as a talisman against hail, thunder, and lightning. +Further, brands taken from the bonfires are commonly kept in the +houses to guard them against conflagration;<a id="footnotetag867" +name="footnotetag867"></a><a href="#footnote867"><sup>867</sup></a> +and though this may perhaps be done on the principle of +homoeopathic magic, one fire being thought to act as a preventive +of another, it is also possible that the intention may be to keep +witch-incendiaries at bay. Again, people leap over the bonfires as +a preventive of colic,<a id="footnotetag868" name= +"footnotetag868"></a><a href="#footnote868"><sup>868</sup></a> and +look at the flames steadily in order to preserve their eyes in good +health;<a id="footnotetag869" name="footnotetag869"></a><a href= +"#footnote869"><sup>869</sup></a> and both colic and sore eyes are +in Germany, and probably elsewhere, set down to the machinations of +witches.<a id="footnotetag870" name="footnotetag870"></a><a href= +"#footnote870"><sup>870</sup></a> Once more, to leap over the +Midsummer fires or <span class="pagenum"><a id="page345" name= +"page345"></a>[pg 345]</span> to circumambulate them is thought to +prevent a person from feeling pains in his back at reaping;<a id= +"footnotetag871" name="footnotetag871"></a><a href= +"#footnote871"><sup>871</sup></a> and in Germany such pains are +called "witch-shots" and ascribed to witchcraft.<a id= +"footnotetag872" name="footnotetag872"></a><a href= +"#footnote872"><sup>872</sup></a></p> +<a id="wheelsburn" name="wheelsburn"></a> +<p>[The burning wheels rolled down hills and the burning discs and +brooms thrown into the air may be intended to burn the invisible +witches.]</p> +<p>But if the bonfires and torches of the fire-festivals are to be +regarded primarily as weapons directed against witches and wizards, +it becomes probable that the same explanation applies not only to +the flaming discs which are hurled into the air, but also to the +burning wheels which are rolled down hill on these occasions; discs +and wheels, we may suppose, are alike intended to burn the witches +who hover invisible in the air or haunt unseen the fields, the +orchards, and the vineyards on the hillside.<a id="footnotetag873" +name="footnotetag873"></a><a href="#footnote873"><sup>873</sup></a> +Certainly witches are constantly thought to ride through the air on +broomsticks or other equally convenient vehicles; and if they do +so, how can you get at them so effectually as by hurling lighted +missiles, whether discs, torches, or besoms, after them as they +flit past overhead in the gloom? The South Slavonian peasant +believes that witches ride in the dark hail-clouds; so he shoots at +the clouds to bring down the hags, while he curses them, saying, +"Curse, curse Herodias, thy mother is a heathen, damned of God and +fettered through the Redeemer's blood." Also he brings out a pot of +glowing charcoal on which he has thrown holy oil, laurel leaves, +and wormwood to make a smoke. The fumes are supposed to ascend to +the clouds and stupefy the witches, so that they tumble down to +earth. And in order that they may not fall soft, but may hurt +themselves very much, the yokel hastily brings out a chair and +tilts it bottom up so that the witch in falling may break her legs +on the legs of the chair. Worse than that, he cruelly lays scythes, +bill-hooks and other formidable weapons edge upwards so as to cut +and mangle <span class="pagenum"><a id="page346" name= +"page346"></a>[pg 346]</span> the poor wretches when they drop +plump upon them from the clouds.<a id="footnotetag874" name= +"footnotetag874"></a><a href="#footnote874"><sup>874</sup></a></p> +<a id="fertilityindirect" name="fertilityindirect"></a> +<p>[On this view the fertility supposed to follow the use of fire +results indirectly from breaking the spells of witches.]</p> +<p>On this view the fertility supposed to follow the application of +fire in the form of bonfires, torches, discs, rolling wheels, and +so forth, is not conceived as resulting directly from an increase +of solar heat which the fire has magically generated; it is merely +an indirect result obtained by freeing the reproductive powers of +plants and animals from the fatal obstruction of witchcraft. And +what is true of the reproduction of plants and animals may hold +good also of the fertility of the human sexes. We have seen that +the bonfires are supposed to promote marriage and to procure +offspring for childless couples. This happy effect need not flow +directly from any quickening or fertilizing energy in the fire; it +may follow indirectly from the power of the fire to remove those +obstacles which the spells of witches and wizards notoriously +present to the union of man and wife.<a id="footnotetag875" name= +"footnotetag875"></a><a href="#footnote875"><sup>875</sup></a></p> +<a id="destructiveprobable" name="destructiveprobable"></a> +<p>[On the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructive +intention of the fire-festivals seems the more probable.]</p> +<p>On the whole, then, the theory of the purificatory virtue of the +ceremonial fires appears more probable and more in accordance with +the evidence than the opposing theory of their connexion with the +sun. But Europe is not the only part of the world where ceremonies +of this sort have been performed; elsewhere the passage through the +flames or smoke or over the glowing embers of a bonfire, which is +the central feature of most of the rites, has been employed as a +cure or a preventive of various ills. We have seen that the +midsummer ritual of fire in Morocco is practically identical with +that of our European peasantry; and customs more or less similar +have been observed by many races in various parts of the world. A +consideration of some of them may help us to decide between the +conflicting claims of the two rival theories, which explain the +ceremonies as sun-charms or purifications respectively.</p> +<p>Notes:</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote796" name= +"footnote796"></a> <b>Footnote 796</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag796">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page116">116</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href= +"#page119">119</a>, <a href="#page143">143</a>, <a href= +"#page165">165</a>, <a href="#page166">166</a>, <a href= +"#page168">168</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page172">172</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote797" name= +"footnote797"></a> <b>Footnote 797</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag797">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page116">116</a>, <a href= +"#page117">117</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href= +"#page141">141</a>, <a href="#page143">143</a>, <a href= +"#page161">161</a>, <a href="#page162">162</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href= +"#page163">163</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page173">173</a>, <a href= +"#page191">191</a>, <a href="#page201">201</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote798" name= +"footnote798"></a> <b>Footnote 798</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag798">(return)</a> +<p>W. Mannhardt, <i>Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer +Nachbarstämme</i> (Berlin, 1875), pp. 521 <i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote799" name= +"footnote799"></a> <b>Footnote 799</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag799">(return)</a> +<p>E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," +<i>Folk-lore</i>, xvi. (1905) pp. 44 <i>sqq.; id., The Origin and +Development of the Moral Ideas</i> (London, 1906-1908), i. 56; +<i>id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, certain +Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco</i> +(Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 93-102.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote800" name= +"footnote800"></a> <b>Footnote 800</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag800">(return)</a> +<p>E. Mogk, "Sitten und Gebräuche im Kreislauf des Jahres," in +R. Wuttke's <i>Sächsische Volkskunde</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Dresden, 1901), pp. 310 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote801" name= +"footnote801"></a> <b>Footnote 801</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag801">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Golden Bough</i>, Second Edition (London, 1900), iii. +312: "The custom of leaping over the fire and driving cattle +through it may be intended, on the one hand, to secure for man and +beast a share of the vital energy of the sun, and, on the other +hand, to purge them of all evil influences; for to the primitive +mind fire is the most powerful of all purificatory agents"; and +again, <i>id.</i> iii. 314: "It is quite possible that in these +customs the idea of the quickening power of fire may be combined +with the conception of it as a purgative agent for the expulsion or +destruction of evil beings, such as witches and the vermin that +destroy the fruits of the earth. Certainly the fires are often +interpreted in the latter way by the persons who light them; and +this purgative use of the element comes out very prominently, as we +have seen, in the general expulsion of demons from towns and +villages. But in the present class of cases this aspect of fire may +be secondary, if indeed it is more than a later misinterpretation +of the custom."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote802" name= +"footnote802"></a> <b>Footnote 802</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag802">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, i. 311 +<i>sqq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote803" name= +"footnote803"></a> <b>Footnote 803</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag803">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</i>, Second Edition, pp. 254 +<i>sqq</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote804" name= +"footnote804"></a> <b>Footnote 804</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag804">(return)</a> +<p>Manilius, <i>Astronom</i>. v. 206 <i>sqq.</i>:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Cum vero in vastos surget Nemeaeus</p> +<p class="i4">hiatus,</p> +<p class="i2">Exoriturque Canis, latratque Canicula</p> +<p class="i4">flammas</p> +<p class="i2">Et rabit igne suo geminatque incendia</p> +<p class="i4">solis,</p> +<p class="i2">Qua subdente facem terris radiosque</p> +<p class="i4">movente" etc.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Pliny, <i>Naturalis Historic</i> xviii. 269 <i>sq</i>.: +"<i>Exoritur dein post triduum fere ubique confessum inter omnes +sidus ingens quod canis ortum vocamus, sole partem primam leonis +ingresso. Hoc fit post solstitium XXIII. die. Sentiunt id maria et +terrae, multae vero et ferae, ut suis locis diximus. Neque est +minor ei veneratio quam descriptis in deos stellis accendique solem +et magnam aestus obtinet causam</i>."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote805" name= +"footnote805"></a> <b>Footnote 805</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag805">(return)</a> +<p><i>Specimens of Bushman Folklore</i> collected by the late +W.H.I. Bleek, Ph.D., and L.C. Lloyd (London, 1911), pp. 339, 341. +In quoting the passage I have omitted the brackets which the +editors print for the purpose of indicating the words which are +implied, but not expressed, in the original Bushman text.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote806" name= +"footnote806"></a> <b>Footnote 806</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag806">(return)</a> +<p>"The sun is a little warm, when this star appears in winter" +(Editors of <i>Specimens of Bushman Folklore</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote807" name= +"footnote807"></a> <b>Footnote 807</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag807">(return)</a> +<p>"With the stick that he had held in the fire, moving it up and +down quickly" (Editors).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote808" name= +"footnote808"></a> <b>Footnote 808</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag808">(return)</a> +<p>"They take one arm out of the kaross, thereby exposing one +shoulder blade to the sun" (Editors).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote809" name= +"footnote809"></a> <b>Footnote 809</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag809">(return)</a> +<p>See above, pp. <a href="#page162">161</a>, <a href= +"#page162">162</a> <i>sq.</i> On the wheel as an emblem of the sun, +see J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> ii. 585; A. +Kuhn, <i>Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des +Göttertranks</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 45 +<i>sqq.</i>; H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme +de la roue," <i>Revue Archéologique</i>, iii. Série, +iv. (1884) pp. 14 <i>sqq.</i>; William Simpson, <i>The Buddhist +Praying Wheel</i> (London, 1896), pp. 87 <i>sqq.</i> It is a +popular Armenian idea that "the body of the sun has the shape of +the wheel of a water-mill; it revolves and moves forward. As drops +of water sputter from the mill-wheel, so sunbeams shoot out from +the spokes of the sun-wheel" (M. Abeghian, <i>Der armenische +Volksglaube</i>, Leipsic, 1899, p. 41). In the old Mexican +picture-books the usual representation of the sun is "a wheel, +often brilliant with many colours, the rays of which are so many +bloodstained tongues, by means of which the Sun receives his +nourishment" (E.J. Payne, <i>History of the New World called +America</i>, Oxford, 1892, i. 521).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote810" name= +"footnote810"></a> <b>Footnote 810</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag810">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page169">169</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote811" name= +"footnote811"></a> <b>Footnote 811</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag811">(return)</a> +<p>Ernst Meier, <i>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Schwaben</i> (Stuttgart, 1852), p. 225; F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag zur +deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 240; Anton +Birlinger, <i>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</i> (Freiburg im +Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 57, 97; W. Mannhardt, <i>Baumkultus</i>, +p. 510.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote812" name= +"footnote812"></a> <b>Footnote 812</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag812">(return)</a> +<p>Compare J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. +521; J.W. Wolf, <i>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</i> +(Gottingen und Leipsic, 1852-1857), ii. 389; Adalbert Kuhn, <i>Die +Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 41 <i>sq.</i>, 47; W. Mannhardt, +<i>Baumkultus</i>, p. 521. Lindenbrog in his Glossary on the +Capitularies (quoted by J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 502) expressly says: "The rustics in +many parts of Germany, particularly on the festival of St. John the +Baptist, wrench a stake from a fence, wind a rope round it, and +pull it to and fro till it catches fire. This fire they carefully +feed with straw and dry sticks and scatter the ashes over the +vegetable gardens, foolishly and superstitiously imagining that in +this way the caterpillar can be kept off. They call such a fire +<i>nodfeur</i> or <i>nodfyr</i>, that is to say need-fire."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote813" name= +"footnote813"></a> <b>Footnote 813</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag813">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page144">144</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page155">155</a>, <a href= +"#page169">169</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page175">175</a>, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page179">179</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote814" name= +"footnote814"></a> <b>Footnote 814</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag814">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> i. 509; J.W. +Wolf, <i>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</i>, i. 117; A. +Kuhn, <i>Die Herabkunft des Feuers</i>,<sup>2</sup> pp. 47 +<i>sq.</i>; W. Mannhardt, <i>Baumkultus</i>, p. 521; W.E. Kelly, +<i>Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore</i> +(London, 1863), p. 49.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote815" name= +"footnote815"></a> <b>Footnote 815</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag815">(return)</a> +<p>A. Kuhn, <i>Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des +Göttertranks</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Gütersloh, 1886), p. +47.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote816" name= +"footnote816"></a> <b>Footnote 816</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag816">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page179">179</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote817" name= +"footnote817"></a> <b>Footnote 817</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag817">(return)</a> +<p>F. Panzer, <i>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</i> (Munich, +1848-1855), ii. 240, § 443.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote818" name= +"footnote818"></a> <b>Footnote 818</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag818">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page177">177</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote819" name= +"footnote819"></a> <b>Footnote 819</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag819">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page187">187</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote820" name= +"footnote820"></a> <b>Footnote 820</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag820">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page279">279</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote821" name= +"footnote821"></a> <b>Footnote 821</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag821">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page188">188</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote822" name= +"footnote822"></a> <b>Footnote 822</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag822">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page159">159</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote823" name= +"footnote823"></a> <b>Footnote 823</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag823">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page116">116</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote824" name= +"footnote824"></a> <b>Footnote 824</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag824">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page201">201</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote825" name= +"footnote825"></a> <b>Footnote 825</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag825">(return)</a> +<p>L. Decle, <i>Three Years in Savage Africa</i> (London, 1898), +pp. 160 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote826" name= +"footnote826"></a> <b>Footnote 826</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag826">(return)</a> +<p>Rev. J. Shooter, <i>The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country</i> +(London, 1857), p. 18.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote827" name= +"footnote827"></a> <b>Footnote 827</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag827">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page140">140</a>, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote828" name= +"footnote828"></a> <b>Footnote 828</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag828">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href= +"#page165">165</a>, <a href="#page166">166</a>, <a href= +"#page173">173</a>, <a href="#page203">203</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote829" name= +"footnote829"></a> <b>Footnote 829</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag829">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page140">140</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote830" name= +"footnote830"></a> <b>Footnote 830</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag830">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page121">121</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote831" name= +"footnote831"></a> <b>Footnote 831</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag831">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page141">141</a>, <a href= +"#page170">170</a>, <a href="#page190">190</a>, <a href= +"#page203">203</a>, <a href="#page248">248</a>, <a href= +"#page250">250</a>, <a href="#page264">264</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote832" name= +"footnote832"></a> <b>Footnote 832</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag832">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page251">251</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote833" name= +"footnote833"></a> <b>Footnote 833</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag833">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href= +"#page165">165</a>, <a href="#page166">166</a>, <a href= +"#page168">168</a>, <a href="#page173">173</a>, <a href= +"#page174">174</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote834" name= +"footnote834"></a> <b>Footnote 834</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag834">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page118">118</a>, <a href= +"#page163">163</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote835" name= +"footnote835"></a> <b>Footnote 835</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag835">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page201">201</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote836" name= +"footnote836"></a> <b>Footnote 836</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag836">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page203">203</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote837" name= +"footnote837"></a> <b>Footnote 837</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag837">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page250">250</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote838" name= +"footnote838"></a> <b>Footnote 838</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag838">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page251">251</a>, <a href= +"#page262">262</a>, <a href="#page263">263</a>, <a href= +"#page264">264</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote839" name= +"footnote839"></a> <b>Footnote 839</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag839">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page112">112</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote840" name= +"footnote840"></a> <b>Footnote 840</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag840">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page141">141</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote841" name= +"footnote841"></a> <b>Footnote 841</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag841">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page214">214</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote842" name= +"footnote842"></a> <b>Footnote 842</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag842">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page204">204</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote843" name= +"footnote843"></a> <b>Footnote 843</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag843">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page194">194</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote844" name= +"footnote844"></a> <b>Footnote 844</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag844">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page185">185</a>, <a href= +"#page189">189</a>; compare p. <a href="#page174">174</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote845" name= +"footnote845"></a> <b>Footnote 845</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag845">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page166">166</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote846" name= +"footnote846"></a> <b>Footnote 846</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag846">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page249">249</a>, <a href= +"#page250">250</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote847" name= +"footnote847"></a> <b>Footnote 847</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag847">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page107">107</a>, <a href= +"#page109">109</a>, <a href="#page111">111</a>, <a href= +"#page119">119</a>; compare pp. <a href="#page116">116</a>, +<a href="#page192">192</a>, <a href="#page193">193</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote848" name= +"footnote848"></a> <b>Footnote 848</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag848">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page115">115</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote849" name= +"footnote849"></a> <b>Footnote 849</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag849">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page180">180</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote850" name= +"footnote850"></a> <b>Footnote 850</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag850">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page113">113</a>, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>, <a href="#page170">170</a>, <a href= +"#page233">233</a>. The torches of Demeter, which figure so largely +in her myth and on her monuments, are perhaps to be explained by +this custom. See <i>Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild</i>, i. 57. +W. Mannhardt thought (<i>Baumkultus</i>, p. 536) that the torches +in the modern European customs are imitations of lightning. At some +of their ceremonies the Indians of North-West America imitate +lightning by means of pitch-wood torches which are flashed through +the roof of the house. See J.G. Swan, quoted by Franz Boas, "The +Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl +Indians," <i>Report of the United States National Museum for +1895</i> (Washington, 1897), p. 639.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote851" name= +"footnote851"></a> <b>Footnote 851</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag851">(return)</a> +<p>Above, p. <a href="#page203">203</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote852" name= +"footnote852"></a> <b>Footnote 852</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag852">(return)</a> +<p>Amélie Bosquet, <i>La Normandie Romanesque et +Merveilleuse</i> (Paris and Rouen, 1845), pp. 295 <i>sq.</i>; Jules +Lecoeur, <i>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</i> +(Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 126-129. See <i>The +Scapegoat</i>, pp. 316 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote853" name= +"footnote853"></a> <b>Footnote 853</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag853">(return)</a> +<p>Br. Jelínek, "Materialen zur Vorgeschichte mid Volkskunde +Böhmens," <i>Mittheilungen der anthropolog. Gesellschaft in +Wien</i> xxi. (1891) p. 13 note.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote854" name= +"footnote854"></a> <b>Footnote 854</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag854">(return)</a> +<p>Mrs. Bishop, <i>Korea and her Neighbours</i> (London, 1898), ii. +56 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote855" name= +"footnote855"></a> <b>Footnote 855</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag855">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page190">190</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote856" name= +"footnote856"></a> <b>Footnote 856</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag856">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page178">178</a>, <a href= +"#page205">205</a>, <a href="#page206">206</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote857" name= +"footnote857"></a> <b>Footnote 857</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag857">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, i. 311 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote858" name= +"footnote858"></a> <b>Footnote 858</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag858">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page108">108</a>, <a href= +"#page109">109</a>, <a href="#page116">116</a>, <a href= +"#page118">118</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page121">121</a>, <a href= +"#page148">148</a>, <a href="#page154">154</a>, <a href= +"#page156">156</a>, <a href="#page157">157</a>, <a href= +"#page159">159</a>, <a href="#page160">160</a>, <a href= +"#page170">170</a>, <a href="#page171">171</a>, <a href= +"#page174">174</a>, <a href="#page175">175</a>, <a href= +"#page176">176</a>, <a href="#page180">180</a>, <a href= +"#page183">183</a>, <a href="#page185">185</a>, <a href= +"#page188">188</a>, <a href="#page232">232</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href= +"#page245">245</a>, <a href="#page252">252</a>, <a href= +"#page253">253</a>, <a href="#page280">280</a>, <a href= +"#page292">292</a>, <a href="#page293">293</a>, <a href= +"#page295">295</a>, <a href="#page297">297</a>. For more evidence +of the use of fire to burn or expel witches on certain days of the +year, see <i>The Scapegoat</i> pp. 158 <i>sqq.</i> Less often the +fires are thought to burn or repel evil spirits and vampyres. See +above, pp. <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href="#page170">170</a>, +<a href="#page172">172</a>, <a href="#page202">202</a>, <a href= +"#page252">252</a>, <a href="#page282">282</a>, <a href= +"#page285">285</a>. Sometimes the purpose of the fires is to drive +away dragons (above, pp. <a href="#page161">161</a>, <a href= +"#page195">195</a>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote859" name= +"footnote859"></a> <b>Footnote 859</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag859">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page107">107</a>, <a href= +"#page116">116</a>, <a href="#page118">118</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href= +"#page159">159</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote860" name= +"footnote860"></a> <b>Footnote 860</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag860">(return)</a> +<p>"In short, of all the ills incident to the life of man, none are +so formidable as witchcraft, before the combined influence of +which, to use the language of an honest man who had himself +severely suffered from its effects, the great laird of Grant +himself could not stand them if they should fairly yoke upon him" +(W. Grant Stewart, <i>The Popular Superstitions and Festive +Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland</i>, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. +202 <i>sq.</i>). "Every misfortune and calamity that took place in +the parish, such as ill-health, the death of friends, the loss of +stock, and the failure of crops; yea to such a length did they +carry their superstition, that even the inclemency of the seasons, +were attributed to the influence of certain old women who were +supposed to be in league, and had dealings with the Devil. These +the common people thought had the power and too often the +inclination to injure their property, and torment their persons" +(<i>County Folklore</i>, vol. v. <i>Lincolnshire</i>, collected by +Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock, London, 1908, p. 76). "The county of +Salop is no exception to the rule of superstition. The late vicar +of a parish on the Clee Hills, startled to find that his +parishioners still believed in witchcraft, once proposed to preach +a sermon against it, but he was dissuaded from doing so by the +parish schoolmaster, who assured him that the belief was so deeply +rooted in the people's minds that he would be more likely to +alienate them from the Church than to weaken their faith in +witchcraft" (Miss C.F. Burne and Miss G.F. Jackson, <i>Shropshire +Folk-lore</i>, London, 1883, p. 145). "Wherever a man or any living +creature falls sick, or a misfortune of any kind happens, without +any natural cause being discoverable or rather lying on the +surface, there in all probability witchcraft is at work. The sudden +stiffness in the small of the back, which few people can account +for at the time, is therefore called a 'witch-shot' and is really +ascribed to witchcraft" (L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen +aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</i>, Oldenburg, 1867, i. p. 298, +§ 209). What Sir Walter Scott said less than a hundred years +ago is probably still true: "The remains of the superstition +sometimes occur; there can be no doubt that the vulgar are still +addicted to the custom of scoring above the breath (as it is +termed), and other counter-spells, evincing that the belief in +witchcraft is only asleep, and might in remote corners be again +awakened to deeds of blood" (<i>Letters on Demonology and +Witchcraft</i>, London, 1884, p. 272). Compare L. Strackerjan, +<i>op. cit.</i> i. p. 340, § 221: "The great power, the +malicious wickedness of the witches, cause them to be feared and +hated by everybody. The hatred goes so far that still at the +present day you may hear it said right out that it is a pity +burning has gone out of fashion, for the evil crew deserve nothing +else. Perhaps the hatred might find vent yet more openly, if the +fear were not so great."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote861" name= +"footnote861"></a> <b>Footnote 861</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag861">(return)</a> +<p>For some evidence, see <i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of +Kings</i>; ii. 52-55, 330 <i>sqq.</i> It is a popular belief, +universally diffused in Germany, that cattle-plagues are caused by +witches (A. Wuttke, <i>Der deutsche +Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> Berlin, 1869, p. 149 § 216). +The Scotch Highlanders thought that a witch could destroy the whole +of a farmer's live stock by hiding a small bag, stuffed with +charms, in a cleft of the stable or byre (W. Grant Stewart, <i>The +Popular superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of +Scotland</i>, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 201 <i>sq.</i>).</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote862" name= +"footnote862"></a> <b>Footnote 862</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag862">(return)</a> +<p><i>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</i>, ii. 330 +<i>sqq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote863" name= +"footnote863"></a> <b>Footnote 863</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag863">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page282">282</a>, <a href= +"#page284">284</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote864" name= +"footnote864"></a> <b>Footnote 864</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag864">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page118">118</a>, <a href= +"#page121">121</a>, <a href="#page144">144</a>, <a href= +"#page145">145</a>, <a href="#page176">176</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote865" name= +"footnote865"></a> <b>Footnote 865</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag865">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page121">121</a>, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>, <a href="#page124">124</a>, <a href= +"#page140">140</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#page145">145</a>, <a href= +"#page146">146</a>, <a href="#page174">174</a>, <a href= +"#page176">176</a>, <a href="#page183">183</a>, <a href= +"#page184">184</a>, <a href="#page187">187</a>, <a href= +"#page188">188</a>, <a href="#page190">190</a>, <a href= +"#page191">191</a>, <a href="#page192">192</a>, <a href= +"#page249">249</a>, <a href="#page250">250</a>, <a href= +"#page252">252</a>, <a href="#page253">253</a>, <a href= +"#page254">254</a>, <a href="#page258">258</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote866" name= +"footnote866"></a> <b>Footnote 866</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag866">(return)</a> +<p>J. Grimm, <i>Deutsch Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> ii. 908 +<i>sqq.</i>; J.V. Grohmann, <i>Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus +Böhmen und Mähren</i> (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 32 +§ 182; A. Wuttke, <i>Der deutsche +Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Berlin, 1869), pp. 149 +<i>sq.</i>, §216; J. Ceredig Davies, <i>Folk-lore of West and +Mid-Wales</i> (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 230; Alois John, <i>Sitte, +Branch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen</i> (Prague, +1905), p. 202.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote867" name= +"footnote867"></a> <b>Footnote 867</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag867">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page108">108</a>, <a href= +"#page121">121</a>, <a href="#page140">140</a>, <a href= +"#page146">146</a>, <a href="#page165">165</a>, <a href= +"#page183">183</a>, <a href="#page188">188</a>, <a href= +"#page196">196</a>, <a href="#page250">250</a>, <a href= +"#page255">255</a>, <a href="#page256">256</a>, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote868" name= +"footnote868"></a> <b>Footnote 868</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag868">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page107">107</a>, <a href= +"#page195">195</a> <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote869" name= +"footnote869"></a> <b>Footnote 869</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag869">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page162">162</a>, <a href= +"#page163">163</a>, <a href="#page166">166</a>, <a href= +"#page171">171</a>, <a href="#page174">174</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote870" name= +"footnote870"></a> <b>Footnote 870</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag870">(return)</a> +<p>A. Wuttke, <i>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Berlin, 1869), p. 351, § 395.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote871" name= +"footnote871"></a> <b>Footnote 871</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag871">(return)</a> +<p>Above, pp. <a href="#page165">165</a>, <a href= +"#page168">168</a>, <a href="#page189">189</a>, compare <a href= +"#page190">190</a>.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote872" name= +"footnote872"></a> <b>Footnote 872</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag872">(return)</a> +<p>A. Wuttke, <i>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> +(Berlin, 1869), p. 351, § 395; L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube +und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. +298, § 209. See above, p. <a href="#page343">343</a> note.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote873" name= +"footnote873"></a> <b>Footnote 873</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag873">(return)</a> +<p>In the Ammerland, a district of Oldenburg, you may sometimes see +an old cart-wheel fixed over the principal door or on the gable of +a house; it serves as a charm against witchcraft and is especially +intended to protect the cattle as they are driven out and in. See +L. Strackerjan, <i>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum +Oldenburg</i> (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 357, § 236. Can this +use of a wheel as a talisman against witchcraft be derived from the +practice of rolling fiery wheels down hill for a similar +purpose?</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote874" name= +"footnote874"></a> <b>Footnote 874</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag874">(return)</a> +<p>F.S. Krauss, <i>Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der +Südslaven</i> (Münster i. W., 1890), pp. 118 +<i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote875" name= +"footnote875"></a> <b>Footnote 875</b>: <a href= +"#footnotetag875">(return)</a> +<p>In German such spells are called <i>Nestelknüpfen</i>; in +French, <i>nouer l'aiguilette</i>. See J. Grimm, <i>Deutsche +Mythologie</i>,<sup>4</sup> ii. 897, 983; A. Wuttke, <i>Der +deutsche Volksaberglaube</i>,<sup>2</sup> (Berlin, 1869), p. 252 +§ 396; K. Doutté, <i>Magic et Religion dans l'Afrique +du Nord</i> (Algiers, 1908), pp. 87 <i>sq.</i>, 294 <i>sqq.</i>; +J.L.M. Noguès, <i>Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en +Aunis</i> (Saintes, 1891), pp. 171 <i>sq.</i></p> +</blockquote> +<hr /> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12261 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |