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diff --git a/24614-h/24614-h.htm b/24614-h/24614-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c01f4a --- /dev/null +++ b/24614-h/24614-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14994 @@ +<!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 http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Science of Fairy Tales, by Edwin Sidney Hartland. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1em; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + + .noindent {text-indent: 0em;} + + p.hang {text-indent: -3em; margin-left: 3em;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; clear: both; } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + +/* LISTS */ +ul {position: relative; width:85%; margin-left:2%; list-style-type:none;} + +li {margin-top: 0.25em; line-height: 1.2em; font-size:95%; margin-left:2%;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; } + + .pagenum { position: absolute; left: 1%; + font-size: 70%; text-align: right; } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 12%; font-size: 0.9em;} + + .totoc {position: absolute; right: 2%; font-size: 75%; text-align: right;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +/* FOOTNOTES */ + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px; margin-top:1em; clear: both;} + .footnotes h3 { margin-top: 0.5em;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 85%; text-align: right; font-size: 0.9em;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .7em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:18%; margin-right:18%; text-align: left; font-size: 0.9em;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i3 {display: block; margin-left: 3em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + +ins.corr {text-decoration: none; border-bottom: thin dotted red;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Science of Fairy Tales, by Edwin Sidney Hartland + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Science of Fairy Tales + An Inquiry into Fairy Mythology + +Author: Edwin Sidney Hartland + +Release Date: February 14, 2008 [EBook #24614] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by R. Cedron, Marcia Brooks, Henry Craig and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1><span class="smcap">The Science<br /> +of<br /> +Fairy Tales</span></h1> + +<h4>AN INQUIRY INTO FAIRY MYTHOLOGY.</h4> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>EDWIN SIDNEY HARTLAND,</h2> +<h4>FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.</h4> + +<center>LONDON:<br /> +WALTER SCOTT,<br /> +24, WARWICK LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.<br /> +1891.</center> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>The chief object of this volume is to exhibit, in a +manner acceptable to readers who are not specialists, +the application of the principles and methods which +guide investigations into popular traditions to a few of +the most remarkable stories embodying the Fairy superstitions +of the Celtic and Teutonic peoples. Some of +the subjects discussed have already been dealt with by +more competent inquirers. But even in these cases +I have sometimes been able to supply additional illustrations +of the conclusions previously arrived at, and +occasionally, I hope, to carry the argument a step or +two further than had been done before. I have thus +tried to render the following pages not wholly valueless +to students.</p> + +<p>A portion of the book incorporates the substance of +some articles which I contributed to “The Archæological +Review” and “Folk-Lore.” But these have been to a +considerable extent re-written; and it is hoped that in +the process wider and more accurate generalizations have +been attained.</p> + +<p>My hearty thanks are due to the various friends whose +generous assistance has been recorded in the footnotes, +and especially to Professor Dr. George Stephens, the +veteran antiquary of the North, and Mr. W. G. +Fretton, who have not measured their pains on behalf +of one whose only claim on them was a common desire +to pry into the recesses of the past. I am under still +deeper obligations to Mr. G. L. Gomme, F.S.A., who has +so readily acceded to my request that he would read the +proof-sheets, and whose suggestions have repeatedly been +of the greatest value; and to Mr. Havelock Ellis for the +counsel and suggestions which his experience has more +than once enabled him to give as the book was passing +through the press.</p> + +<p>I have been anxious to enable the reader who cares to +do so to verify every statement made; but some of +them no doubt have escaped reference. Many books +are cited again and again, and in similar cases the +reader's time is frequently wasted in searching for the +first mention of a book, so as to ascertain its title and +other particulars. To avoid the trouble I have so many +times experienced in this way, I have put together in +an <a href="#APPENDIX">Appendix</a> a list of the principal authorities made use +of, indicating them by the short title by which they are +cited in the footnotes, and giving sufficient bibliographical +details to enable them to be identified. Classics and +works which are in every one's hands I have not thought +it necessary to include in the list.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right;">E. S. H.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Barnwood Court, Gloucester</span>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>24th October, 1890.</i></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<a name="toc" id="toc"></a> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" summary="TOC" width="70%"> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>Page</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ART OF STORY-TELLING</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SAVAGE IDEAS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES (<i>continued</i>)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CHANGELINGS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND (<i>continued</i>)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND (<i>continued</i>)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SWAN-MAIDENS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SWAN-MAIDENS (<i>continued</i>)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII.</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>CONCLUSION</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#APPENDIX"><b>APPENDIX.</b></a></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_353">353</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX.</b></a></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_367">367</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES.</h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE ART OF STORY-TELLING.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The art of story-telling — Unity of human imagination — Definition of +Fairy Tales — Variable value of Tradition — Story-telling and the +story-teller among various peoples — The connection of folk-tales +with folk-songs — Continuity of Tradition — Need of accuracy and +good faith in reporting stories.</p></div> + + +<p>The art of story-telling has been cultivated in all ages +and among all nations of which we have any record; it +is the outcome of an instinct implanted universally in the +human mind. By means of a story the savage philosopher +accounts for his own existence and that of all the +phenomena which surround him. With a story the +mothers of the wildest tribes awe their little ones into +silence, or rouse them into delight. And the weary +hunters beguile the long silence of a desert night with +the mirth and wonders of a tale. The imagination is not +less fruitful in the higher races; and, passing through +forms sometimes more, sometimes less, serious, the art of +story-telling unites with the kindred arts of dance and +song to form the epic or the drama, or develops under +the complex influences of modern life into the prose +romance and the novel. These in their various ways +are its ultimate expression; and the loftiest genius has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +found no fitter vehicle to convey its lessons of truth and +beauty.</p> + +<p>But even in the most refined products of the imagination +the same substances are found which compose the +rudest. Something has, of course, been dropped in the +process; and where we can examine the process stage by +stage, we can discern the point whereat each successive +portion has been purged away. But much has also been +gained. To change the figure, it is like the continuous +development of living things, amorphous at first, by and +by shooting out into monstrous growths, unwieldy and +half-organized, anon settling into compact and beautiful +shapes of subtlest power and most divine suggestion. But +the last state contains nothing more than was either +obvious or latent in the first. Man's imagination, like +every other known power, works by fixed laws, the +existence and operation of which it is possible to trace; +and it works upon the same material,—the external +universe, the mental and moral constitution of man and +his social relations. Hence, diverse as may seem at first +sight the results among the cultured Europeans and the +debased Hottentots, the philosophical Hindoos and the +Red Indians of the Far West, they present, on a close +examination, features absolutely identical. The outlines +of a story-plot among savage races are wilder and more +unconfined; they are often a vast unhidebound corpse, +but one that bears no distant resemblance to forms we +think more reasonable only because we find it difficult to +let ourselves down to the level of savage ignorance, and +to lay aside the data of thought which have been won for +us by the painful efforts of civilization. The incidents, +making all due allowance for these differences and those +of climate and physical surroundings, are not merely +alike; they are often indistinguishable. It cannot, of +course, be expected that the characters of the actors in +these stories will be drawn with skill, or indeed that any +attention will be paid to them. Character-study is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +late development. True: we ought not to overlook the +fact that we have to do with barbarous ideals. In a +rudimentary state of civilization the passions, like the +arts, are distinguished not by subtlety and complexity, +but by simplicity and violence of contrast. This may +account to some extent for what seems to us repulsive, +inconsistent or impossible. But we must above all things +beware of crediting the story-teller with that degree of +conscious art which is only possible in an advanced +culture and under literary influences. Indeed, the researches +which are constantly extending the history of +human civilization into a remoter and remoter past, go +everywhere to show that story-telling is an inevitable and +wholly unconscious growth, probably arising, as we shall +see in the next <a href="#CHAPTER_II">chapter</a>, out of narratives believed to +record actual events.</p> + +<p>I need not stop now to illustrate this position, which is +no new one, and the main lines of which I hope will be +rendered apparent in the course of this volume. But it +is necessary, perhaps, to point out that, although these +are the premises from which I start, the limitations imposed +by a work of the size and pretensions of this one +will not allow me to traverse more than a very small +corner of the field here opened to view. It is, therefore, +not my intention to attempt any formal proof of the +foregoing generalizations. Rather I hope that if any +reader deem it proper to require the complete evidence +on which they rest, he will be led to further investigations +on his own behalf. His feet, I can promise him, will +wander along flowery paths, where every winding will +bring him fresh surprises, and every step discover new +sources of enjoyment.</p> + +<p>The stories with which we shall deal in the following +pages are vaguely called Fairy Tales. These we may +define to be: Traditionary narratives not in their present +form relating to beings held to be divine, nor to cosmological +or national events, but in which the supernatural<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +plays an essential part. It will be seen that literary tales, +such as those of Hans Andersen and Lord Brabourne, +based though they often are upon tradition, are excluded +from Fairy Tales as thus defined. Much no doubt might +be said both interesting and instructive concerning these +brilliant works. But it would be literary criticism, a +thing widely different from the scientific treatment of +Fairy Tales. The Science of Fairy Tales is concerned +with tradition, and not with literature. It finds its +subjects in the stories which have descended from mouth +to mouth from an unknown past; and if reference be +occasionally made to works of conscious literary art, the +value of such works is not in the art they display, but the +evidence they yield of the existence of given tales in +certain forms at periods and places approximately capable +of determination: evidence, in a word, which appropriates +and fixes a pre-existing tradition. But even in +this they are inferior in importance to historical or topographical +works, where we frequently meet with records +of the utmost importance in considering the origin and +meaning of Folk-tales.</p> + +<p>Literature, in short, of whatever kind, is of no value to +the student of Fairy Tales, as that phrase is here used, +save as a witness to Tradition. Tradition itself, however, +is variable in value, if regard be had alone to purity and +originality. For a tribe may conceivably be so isolated +that it is improbable that any outside influence can have +affected its traditions for a long series of generations; or +on the other hand it may be in the highway of nations. +It may be physically of a type unique and unalloyed by +foreign blood; or it may be the progeny of a mingling of +all the races on the earth. Now it is obvious that if we +desire to reason concerning the wide distribution, or the +innate and necessary character of any idea, or of any +story, the testimony of a given tribe or class of men will +vary in proportion to its segregation from other tribes +and classes: where we can with most probability exclude<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +outside influence as a factor in its mental evolution, there +we shall gather evidence of the greatest value for the +purpose of our argument.</p> + +<p>Again: some nations have developed the art of story-telling +more highly than others, since some stages of +civilization are more favourable to this development than +others, and all nations are not in the same stage. The +further question may, therefore, be put whether these +various stages of development may not produce differences +of manner in story-telling—differences which may indicate, +if they do not cause, deep-seated differences in the +value of the traditions themselves. To make my meaning +clear: a people which requires its story-tellers to relate +their stories in the very words in which they have been +conveyed from time immemorial, and allows no deviation, +will preserve its traditions with the least possible blemish +and the least possible change. In proportion as latitude +in repetition is permitted and invention is allowed to +atone for want of memory, tradition will change and +become uncertain. Such latitude may be differently +encouraged by different social states. A social state is +part of, and inseparable from, the sum total of arts, +knowledge, organization and customs which we call the +<i>civilization</i>, or the <i>stage of civilization</i>, of a people. It +may be worth while to spend a short time in examining +the mode of story-telling and the requirements of a +story-teller among nations in different stages of civilization. +We shall thus endeavour to appreciate the +differences in the manner of telling, and to ascertain in +general terms how far these differences affect the value of +the traditions.</p> + +<p>If we turn first to some of the Celtic nations, we find a +social state in which the art of story-telling has received +a high degree of attention. The late Mr. J. F. Campbell, +to whom the science of Folklore owes an incalculable +debt, describes a condition of things in the Western +Highlands extremely favourable to the cultivation of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +folk-tales. Quoting from one of his most assiduous +collectors, he says that most of the inhabitants of Barra +and South Uist are Roman Catholics, unable to speak +English or to read or write. Hence it is improbable that +they can have borrowed much from the literature of +other nations. Among these people in the long winter +nights the recitation of tales is very common. They +gather in crowds at the houses of those who are reputed +to be good tale-tellers. Their stories frequently relate to +the exploits of the Ossianic heroes, of whose existence +they are as much convinced as ordinary English folk are +of the existence and deeds of the British army in its +most recent wars. During the tales “the emotions of the +reciters are occasionally very strongly excited, and so also +are those of the listeners, almost shedding tears at one +time, and giving way to loud laughter at another. A +good many of them firmly believe in all the extravagance +of these stories.” Another of his collectors, a self-educated +workman in the employ of the Duke of Argyll, +writing more than thirty years ago to him, speaks of +what used to take place about Loch Lomond upwards of +fifty years before—that is to say, about the beginning of +the present century. The old people then would pass +the winter evenings telling each other traditional stories. +These chiefly concerned freebooters, and tribal raids and +quarrels, and included descriptions of the manners, dress +and weapons of their ancestors and the hardships they +had to endure. The youngsters also would gather, and +amuse themselves with games or the telling of tales of a +more romantic cast. But the chief story-tellers appear to +have been the tailors and shoemakers, who were literally +journeymen, going from house to house in search of work. +As they travelled about, they picked up great numbers of +tales, which they repeated; “and as the country people +made the telling of these tales, and listening to hear +them, their winter night's amusement, scarcely any part +of them would be lost.” In these tales Gaelic words were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +often used which had dropped out of ordinary parlance, +giving proof of careful adherence to the ancient forms; +and the writer records that the previous year he had +heard a story told identical with one he had heard forty +years before from a different man thirty miles away; and +this story contained old Gaelic words the meaning of +which the teller did not know. A gamekeeper from +Ross-shire also testified to similar customs at his native +place: the assemblies of the young to hear their elders +repeat, on winter nights, the tales they had learned from +their fathers before them, and the renown of the travelling +tailor and shoemaker. When a stranger came to +the village it was the signal for a general gathering at the +house where he stayed, to listen to his tales. The goodman +of the house usually began with some favourite tale, +and the stranger was expected to do the rest. It was a +common saying: “The first tale by the goodman, and +tales to daylight by the guest.” The minister, however, +came to the village in 1830, and the schoolmaster soon +followed, with the inevitable result of putting an end to +these delightful times.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>Not very different is the account given by M. Luzel +of the <i>Veillées</i> in which he has often taken part in +Brittany. In the lonely farmhouse after the evening +meal prayers are said, and the life in Breton of the saint +of the day read, all the family assemble with the +servants and labourers around the old-fashioned hearth, +where the fire of oaken logs spirts and blazes, defying the +wind and the rain or snow without. The talk is of the +oxen and the horses and the work of the season. The +women are at their wheels; and while they spin they sing +love ditties, or ballads of more tragic or martial tone. +The children running about grow tired of their games, +and of the tedious conversation of their elders, and +demand a tale, it matters not what, of giants, or goblins, +or witches—nay, even of ghosts. They are soon gratified;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +and if an old man, as frequently happens, be the narrator, +he is fortified and rewarded for the toil by a mug of cider +constantly replenished. One such depositary of tradition +is described as a blind beggar, a veritable Homer in +wooden shoon, with an inexhaustible memory of songs +and tales of every kind. He was welcome everywhere, +in the well-to-do farmhouse as in the humble cottage. +He stayed as long as he pleased, sometimes for whole +weeks; and it was with reluctance that he was allowed +to leave in order to become for a time the charm of +another fireside, where he was always awaited with impatience.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>M. Braga, the Portuguese scholar, quotes an old French +writer, Jean le Chapelain, as recording a custom in Normandy +similar to that of Ross-shire, that the guest was +always expected to repay hospitality by telling tales or +singing songs to his host. And he states that the +emigrants from Portugal to Brazil took this custom with +them. In Gascony M. Arnaudin formed his collection of +tales a few years ago by assisting at gatherings like those +just described in Brittany, as well as at marriages and at +various agricultural festivals.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Similar customs existed in Wales within living +memory, and in remote districts they probably exist +to-day. If they do not now continue in England, it is at +least certain that our forefathers did not differ in this +respect from their neighbours. A writer of the seventeenth +century, in enumerating the causes of upholding +“the damnable doctrine of witchcraft,” mentions: “Old +wives' fables, who sit talking and chatting of many false +old stories of Witches and Fairies and Robin Goodfellow, +and walking spirits and the dead walking again; +all of which lying fancies people are more naturally +inclined to listen after than to the Scriptures.” And if +we go further back we find in chapter clv. of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +printed editions of the “Gesta Romanorum” an interesting +picture of domestic life. The whole family is +portrayed gathering round the fire in the winter evenings +and beguiling the time by telling stories. Such we are +informed was the custom among the higher classes. It +was, indeed, the custom among all classes, not only in +England but on the Continent, throughout the Middle +Ages. The eminent French antiquary, Paul Lacroix, +speaks of wakes, or evening parties, where fairy tales and +other superstitions were propagated, as having a very +ancient origin. He states that they are still (as we have +already seen in Brittany and Gascony) the custom in +most of the French provinces, and that they formed +important events in the private lives of the peasants.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>It is difficult to sever the occasion and mode of the +tale-telling from the character of the teller; nor would +it be wise to do so. And in this connection it is interesting +to pause for a moment on Dr. Pitré's description of +Agatuzza Messia, the old woman from whom he derived +so large a number of the stories in his magnificent collection, +and whom he regarded as a model story-teller. I +am tempted to quote his account at length. “Anything +but beautiful,” he says, “she has facile speech, efficacious +phrases, an attractive manner of telling, whence you +divine her extraordinary memory and the sallies of her +natural wit. Messia already reckons her seventy years, +and is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. +As a child, she was told by her grandmother an infinity +of tales which she had learned from her mother, and <i>she</i> +in turn from her grandfather; she had a good memory +and never forgot them. There are women who have +heard hundreds of tales and remember none; and there +are others who, though they remember them, have not +the grace of narration. Among her companions of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +Borgo, a quarter of Palermo, Messia enjoyed the reputation +of a fine story-teller; and the more one heard her, +the more one desired to hear. Almost half a century ago +she was obliged to go with her husband to Messina, and +lived there some time: a circumstance, this, worthy of +note, since our countrywomen never go away from their +own district save from the gravest necessity. Returning +to her native home, she spoke of things of which the +gossips of the neighbourhood could not speak: she spoke +of the Citadel, a fortress which no one could take, not +even the Turks themselves; she spoke of the Pharos of +Messina, which was beautiful, but dangerous for sailors; +she spoke of Reggio in Calabria, which, facing the walls +of Messina, seemed to wish to touch hands with them; +and she remembered and mimicked the pronunciation of +the Milazzesi, who spoke, Messia said, so curiously as to +make one laugh. All these reminiscences have remained +most vivid in her memory. She cannot read, but she +knows so many things that no one else knows, and +repeats them with a propriety of tongue that is a pleasure +to hear. This is a characteristic to which I call my +readers' attention. If the tale turns upon a vessel which +has to make a voyage, she utters, without remarking it, +or without seeming to do so, sailors' phrases, and words +which only seamen and those who have to do with +seamen are acquainted with. If the heroine arrives, poor +and desolate, at a baker's and takes a place there, Messia's +language is so completely that of the trade that you +would believe that the baking of bread had been her +business, whereas at Palermo this occupation, an ordinary +one in the families of the large and small communes of +the island, is that of professional bakers alone.... As a +young woman Messia was a tailoress; when through toil +her sight became weakened, she turned to sewing winter +quilts. But in the midst of this work, whereby she earns +her living, she finds time for the fulfilment of her religious +duties; every day, winter and summer, in rain or snow,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +in the gloaming she goes to her prayers. Whatever feast +is celebrated in the church, she is solicitous to attend: +Monday, she is at the Ponte dell' Ammiraglio praying +for the Souls of the Beheaded; Wednesday, you find her +at San Giuseppe keeping the festival of the Madonna +della Providenza; every Friday she goes to San Francesco +di Paola, reciting by the way her accustomed beads; and +if one Saturday pass when she ought to go to the +Madonna dei Cappuccini, another does not; and there +she prays with a devotion which none can understand +who has not experienced it. Messia witnessed my birth +and held me in her arms: hence I have been able to +collect from her mouth the many and beautiful traditions +to which her name is appended. She has repeated to the +grown man the tales she had told to the child thirty years +before; nor has her narration lost a shade of the old +sincerity, vivacity, and grace. The reader will only find +the cold and naked words; but Messia's narration consists, +more than in words, in the restless movement of the +eyes, in the waving of the arms, in the gestures of the +whole person, which rises, walks around the room, bends, +and is again uplifted, making her voice now soft, now +excited, now fearful, now sweet, now hoarse, as it portrays +the voices of the various personages, and the action +which these are performing.”<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>Such a woman as is here described is a born story-teller; +and her art, as exhibited in the tales attributed to +her in Dr. Pitré's collection, reaches perhaps the highest +point possible in tradition. Women are usually the best +narrators of nursery tales. Most of the modern collections, +from that of the brothers Grimm downwards, owe +their choicest treasures to women. In the Panjab, however, +Captain Temple ascribes to children marvellous +power of telling tales, which he states they are not slow +to exercise after sunset, when the scanty evening meal is +done and they huddle together in their little beds beneath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +the twinkling stars, while the hot air cools, the mosquito +sings, and the village dogs bark at imaginary foes. The +Rev. Hinton Knowles' collection was gathered in Cashmere +apparently from men and boys only; but all classes +contributed, from the governor and the pandit down to +the barber and the day-labourer, the only qualification +being that they should be entirely free from European +influence.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>But nursery tales told simply for amusement are far +from being the only kind of traditional narrative. +Savage and barbarous races, to whom the art of writing +is unknown, are dependent upon memory for such +records as they have of their past; and sometimes a +professional class arises to preserve and repeat the stories +believed to embody these records. Among the Maories +and their Polynesian kinsmen the priests are the great +depositaries of tradition. It is principally from them +that Mr. White and the Rev. W. W. Gill have obtained +their collections. But the orators and chiefs are also fully +conversant with the narratives; and their speeches are +filled with allusions to them, and with quotations from +ancient poems relating the deeds of their forefathers. +The difficulty of following such allusions, and consequently +of understanding the meaning of the chiefs when +addressing him on behalf of their fellow-countrymen, +first induced, or compelled, Sir George Grey, when +Governor of New Zealand, to make the inquiries whose +results are embodied in his work on Polynesian +Mythology. The Eskimo of Greenland, at the other +end of the world, divide their tales into two classes: +the ancient and the modern. The former may be considered, +Dr. Rink says, as more or less the property of +the whole nation, while the latter are limited to certain +parts of the country, or even to certain people who claim +to be akin to one another. The art of telling these tales +is “practised by certain persons specially gifted in this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +respect; and among a hundred people there may +generally be found one or two particularly favoured +with the art of the <i>raconteur</i>, besides several tolerable +narrators.” It is the narrators of the ancient tales “who +compose the more recent stories by picking up the +occurrences and adventures of their latest ancestors, +handed down occasionally by some old members of the +family, and connecting and embellishing them by a +large addition of the supernatural, for which purpose +resort is always had to the same traditional and mystic +elements of the ancient folklore.”<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>But the art of story-telling has not everywhere given +rise to a professional class. When the Malagasy receive +friends at their houses, they themselves recount the +deeds of their ancestors, which are handed down from +father to son, and form the principal topic of conversation. +So, too, the savage Ahts of Vancouver Island sit +round their fires singing and chatting; “and the older +men, we are told, lying and bragging after the manner +of story-tellers, recount their feats in war, or the +chase, to a listening group.” Mr. Im Thurn has +drawn an interesting picture of the habits at night +of the Indian tribes of Guiana. The men, if at home, +spend the greater part of the day in their hammocks, +smoking, “and leisurely fashioning arrowheads, or some +such articles of use or of ornament.... When the +day has at last come to an end, and the women +have gathered together enough wood for the fires +during the night, they, too, throw themselves into their +hammocks; and all talk together. Till far into the +night the men tell endless stories, sometimes droning +them out in a sort of monotonous chant, sometimes +delivering them with a startling amount of emphasis +and gesticulation. The boys and younger men add to +the noise by marching round the houses, blowing horns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +and playing on flutes. There is but little rest to be +obtained in an Indian settlement by night. These +people sleep, as dogs do, without difficulty, for brief +periods, but frequently and indifferently by day or night +as may be convenient. The men, having slept at +intervals during the day, do not need night-rest; the +women are not considered in the matter. At last, in the +very middle of their stories, the party drops off to sleep; +and all is quiet for a short while. Presently some woman +gets up to renew the fires, or to see to some other +domestic work. Roused by the noise which she makes, +all the dogs of the settlement break into a chorus of +barks and yelps. This wakes the children, who begin +to scream. The men turn in their hammocks, and +immediately resume their stories, apparently from the +point at which they left off, and as if they had never +ceased. This time it is but a short interruption to the +silence of the night; and before long everything again +becomes quiet, till some new outbreak is caused, much as +was the last. In the very middle of the night there are +perhaps some hours of quiet. But about an hour before +dawn, some of the men having to go out to hunt, +effectually wake everybody about them by playing flutes, +or beating drums, as they go to bathe before leaving the +settlement.”<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>But the folk-tale cannot be separated in this inquiry +from the folk-song with which, in its origin and development, +it is so closely connected. In India there are, or +were until recent years, everywhere professional bards; +and the stories told in Indian villages are frequently the +substance of the chants of these bards. More than this, +the line between singing and narration is so faintly +drawn, that the bards themselves often interpose great +patches of prose between the metrical portions of their +recitations. Fairs, festivals, and marriages all over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +India are attended by the bards, who are always ready +to perform for pay and drink. Mr. Leland believes the +stories he obtained from the Christian Algonkins of New +England, concerning the ancient heroes of the race and +other mythical personages, to have once been delivered as +poems from generation to generation and always chanted. +The deeds of Maori warriors are handed down in song; +just as we find in Beowulf, the story of Hrothgar's +ancestors was sung before his own companions-in-arms +by his gleemen to the accompaniment of some instrument +after the mead cup had gone round. The Roman +historian attests the prevalence among the German tribes +of ancient songs, which he expressly mentions as their +only kind of memory or record,—thus showing that all +their tales, whether mythologic or heroic, were for better +preservation cast into metrical form. Some of these, +enshrining the deeds of their heroes, were chanted on +going into battle, in order to arouse the warriors' courage. +And as far back as the light of history, or of literature, +penetrates, not only the Teutonic, but also the Celtic +nations loved to have their actions celebrated thus. +To a Welsh king his household bard was as necessary as +his domestic chaplain, or his court physician, and in the +ancient laws his duties, his precedence, his perquisites, +and even the songs he was expected to sing, are minutely +prescribed. The bards were organized into a regular +order, or college, with an official chief. They were not +merely singers or poets, but also tale-tellers; and from the +Mabinogion we gather that listening to songs and tales +was one of the habitual, if not daily pastimes, of a court.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>It is needless to follow through the Middle Ages +the history of the troubadour, the minstrel and the +jongleur, who played so large part in the social life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +of those times. Many of them were retainers of noblemen +and kings; but others roamed about from place +to place, singing their lays and reciting their stories (for +they dealt in prose as well as verse), very much in the +manner of the Indian bards just mentioned. Their stock-in-trade +must have been partly traditional and partly +of their own composition. In this respect they were +probably less hide-bound than their Indian brethren are. +For the latter, whether retainers of the native grandees, +as many of them are, or members of the humbler class +of wandering minstrels, are expected to repeat their lays +as they have received them. But, although in the main +these professional gentlemen adhere to the traditional +words which they know by heart, the temptation must +be very strong to foist at suitable pauses into their tales +impromptu passages—best described in stage language +as “gag”—which they think will be acceptable to their +audience. And whether or not this be actually the case +with the Indian bards, we are expressly told that it is so +with the Arab story-teller, and that it accounts for much +of the ribaldry and filth which have become embedded +in the immortal “Nights.” A viol having only one +string accompanies the passages in verse with which the +stories are interlarded; and a similar instrument seems +to be used for the like purpose among the orthodox +Guslars of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> A description +given by Sir Richard Burton of a story-teller at the +bazaar at Tangier may stand, except as to the external +details, for that of an Arab reciter throughout Northern +Africa and the Moslem East. “The market people,” +he says, “form a ring about the reciter, a stalwart man, +affecting little raiment besides a broad waist-belt into +which his lower chiffons are tucked, and noticeable only +for his shock hair, wild eyes, broad grin, and generally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +disreputable aspect. He usually handles a short stick; +and, when drummer and piper are absent, he carries a +tiny tomtom shaped like an hour-glass, upon which he +taps the periods. This Scealuidhe, as the Irish call him, +opens the drama with an extempore prayer, proving that +he and the audience are good Moslems; he speaks +slowly and with emphasis, varying the diction with +breaks of animation, abundant action and the most +comical grimace: he advances, retires, and wheels about, +illustrating every point with pantomime; and his +features, voice and gestures are so expressive that even +Europeans who cannot understand a word of Arabic, +divine the meaning of his tale. The audience stands +breathless and motionless, surprising strangers by the +ingenuousness and freshness of feeling hidden under their +hard and savage exterior. The performance usually ends +with the embryo actor going round for alms, and +flourishing in the air every silver bit, the usual honorarium +being a few <i>f'lús</i>, that marvellous money of +Barbary, big coppers worth one-twelfth of a penny.” +Another writer, who has published modern Arab folk-tales, +obtained eleven out of twelve from his cook, a +man who could neither read nor write, but possessed +an excellent memory. His stories were derived from his +mother and aunts, and from old women who frequented +his early home. The remaining tale was dictated by +a sheikh with some, though small, pretensions to +education, and this tale, though at bottom a genuine +folk-tale, presented traces of literary manipulation.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>The literary touches here spoken of were probably not +impromptu. But it must be admitted that the tendency +to insert local colouring and “gag” is almost irresistible +amongst the Arabs. Dr. Steere notices it as a characteristic +of the story-tellers of the Swahili, a people of +mixed Arab and Negro descent at Zanzibar;<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> and it is +perhaps inevitable in a professional reciter whose audience,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +like himself, is restless and vivacious in so high a degree. +The only case in which any restraint would be certain to +be felt is where a narrative believed to be of religious +import is given. Under the influence of religious feeling +the most mobile of races become conservative; and +traditions of a sacred character are the most likely of all +to be handed down unchanged from father to son. +Directly we get outside the charmed circle of religious +custom, precept, and story, the awe which has the most +powerful effect in preserving tradition intact ceases to +work; and we are left to a somewhat less conservative +force of habit to retain the old form of words and the +time-honoured ceremonies. Still this force is powerful; +the dislike of voluntary change forbids amendment even +of formularies which have long ceased to be understood, +and have often become ridiculous because their meaning +has been lost. It is by no means an uncommon thing for +the rustic story-teller to be unable to explain expressions, +and indeed whole episodes, in any other way than Uncle +Remus, when called upon to say who Miss Meadows was: +“She wuz in de tale, Miss Meadows en de gals wuz, en +de tale I give you like hi't wer' gun ter me.” Dr. Steere, +speaking of a collection of Swahili tales by M. Jablonsky +which I think has never been published, tells us that +almost all of the tales had “sung parts,” and of some of +these even they who sang them could scarcely explain +the meaning. Here we may observe the connection with +the folk-song; and it is a strong evidence of adherence to +ancient tradition. Frequently in Dr. Steere's own experience +the skeleton of the story seemed to be contained +in these snatches of song, which were connected together +by an account, apparently extemporized, of the intervening +history. In these latter portions, if the hypothesis of extemporization +were correct, the words of course would be +different, but the substance might remain untouched. +I suspect, however, that the extemporization was nothing +like so complete as the learned writer imagined, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +rather that the tale, as told with song and narrative +mingled, was in a state of gradual decay or transition +from verse to prose, and that the prose portions were, to +almost as great an extent as the verse, traditional.</p> + +<p>Be this as it may, the tenacity with which the illiterate +story-teller generally adheres to the substance and to the +very words of his narrative is remarkable—and this in +spite of the freedom sometimes taken of dramatic illustration, +and the license to introduce occasional local and +personal allusions and “gag.” These are easily separable +from the genuine tale. What Dr. Rink says of +the Eskimo story-telling holds good, more or less, all +over the world. “The art,” he states, “requires the +ancient tales to be related as nearly as possible in the +very words of the original version, with only a few +arbitrary reiterations, and otherwise only varied according +to the individual talents of the narrator, as to the mode +of recitation, gesture, &c. The only real discretionary +power allowed by the audience to the narrator is the +insertion of a few peculiar passages from other traditions; +but even in that case no alteration of these original or +elementary materials used in the composition of tales is +admissible. Generally, even the smallest deviation from +the original version will be taken notice of and corrected, +if any intelligent person happens to be present. This +circumstance,” he adds, “accounts for their existence in +an unaltered shape through ages; for had there been +the slightest tendency to variation on the part of the +narrator, or relish for it on that of the audience, every +similarity of these tales, told in such widely-separated +countries, would certainly have been lost in the course of +centuries.” Here the audience, wedded to the accustomed +formularies, is represented as controlling any inclination +to variation on the reciter's part. How far such an attitude +of mind may have been produced by previous +repetitions in the same words we need not inquire. +Certain it is that accuracy would be likely to generate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +the love of accuracy, and <i>that</i> again to react so as to +compel adherence to the form of words which the ear +had been led to expect. Readers of Grimm will remember +the anxiety betrayed by a peasant woman of +Niederzwehr, near Cassel, that her very words and expressions +should be taken down. They who have +studied the records collectors have made of the methods +they have adopted, and the assistance they have received +from narrators who have understood and sympathized +with their purpose, will not find anything exceptional in +this woman's conduct.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>Nor must we overlook the effect of dramatic and pantomimic +action. At first sight action, like that of Messia +or the Arab reciter, might seem to make for freedom in +narration. But it may well be questioned if this be so to +any great extent. For in a short time certain attitudes, +looks, and gestures become inseparably wedded, not only +in the actor's mind, but also in the minds of the audience +who have grown accustomed to them, with the passages +and the very words to which they are appropriate. The +eye as well as the ear learns what to expect, with results +proportioned to the comparative values of those two +senses as avenues of knowledge. The history of the +stage, the observation of our own nurseries, will show +with how much suspicion any innovation on the mode of +interpreting an old favourite is viewed.</p> + +<p>To sum up: it would appear that national differences +in the manner of story-telling are for the most part +superficial. Whether told by men to men in the bazaar +or the coffee-house of the East, or by old men or women +to children in the sacred recesses of the European home, +or by men to a mixed assembly during the endless nights +of the Arctic Circle, or in the huts of the tropical forest, +and notwithstanding the license often taken by a professional +reciter, the endeavour to render to the audience +just that which the speaker has himself received from his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +predecessors is paramount. The faithful delivery of the +tradition is the principle underlying all variation of +manner; and it is not confined to any one race or people. +It is not denied that changes do take place as the story +passes from one to another. This indeed is the inevitable +result of the play of the two counteracting forces just +described—the conservative tendency and the tendency to +variation. It is the condition of development; it is what +makes a science of Folk-tales both necessary and possible. +Nor can it be denied that some changes are voluntary. +But the voluntary changes are rare; and the involuntary +changes are only such as are natural and unavoidable if +the story is to continue its existence in the midst of the +ever-shifting social organism of humanity. The student +must, therefore, know something of the habits, the +natural and social surroundings, and the modes of the +thought of the people whose stories he examines. But +this known, it is not difficult to decipher the documents.</p> + +<p>There is, however, one caution—namely, to be assured +that the documents are gathered direct from the lips of +the illiterate story-teller, and set down with accuracy and +good faith. Every turn of phrase, awkward or coarse +though it may seem to cultured ears, must be unrelentingly +reported; and every grotesquery, each strange +word, or incomprehensible or silly incident, must be +given without flinching. Any attempt to soften down +inconsistencies, vulgarities or stupidities, detracts from the +value of the text, and may hide or destroy something +from which the student may be able to make a discovery +of importance to science. Happily the collectors of the +present day are fully alive to this need. The pains they +take to ensure correctness are great, and their experiences +in so doing are often very interesting. Happily, too, the +student soon learns to distinguish the collections whose +sincerity is certain from those furbished up by literary +art. The latter may have purposes of amusement to +serve, but beyond that they are of comparatively little use.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Campbell, vol. i. pp. xii. xiv. lvii.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Luzel, “Veillées,” <i>passim</i>.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Introduction to Romero, p. x.; Arnaudin, p. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Thomas Ady, “A Candle in the Dark” (1656) (<i>Cf.</i> Aubrey, +“Remaines,” p. 67); “Gesta Romanorum,” Introd., p. xxv. +(E.E.T.S.); Lacroix, p. 100.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Pitré, vol. iv. p. xvii.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> “Wide-awake Stories,” p. 1; Knowles, p. ix.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> White, vol. i. p. vi.; Sir G. Grey, p. vii.; Gill, p. xx.; Rink, pp. 83, 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Ellis, “History of Madagascar,” vol. i. p. 264; Sproat, “Scenes +and Studies of Savage Life,” p. 51; Im Thurn, pp. 215, 216.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Temple, “Legends of the Panjab,” vol. i. p. v.; Thorburn, p. 172; +Leland, p. 12; Taylor, p. 306; “Beowulf,” lay 16; Tacitus, “Germania,” +cc., 2, 3; “Ancient Laws and Institutions of Wales” (Public +Record Commission, 1841), pp. 15, 35, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Burton, “Nights,” vol. x. p. 163; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” +vol. iv. p. 6. In Greece and Albania, however, the viol would seem +not to be used. Women are the chief reciters. Von Hahn, vol. i. p. ix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Spitta Bey, p. viii.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Steere, pp. v., vii.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Rink, p. 85; Grimm, “Märchen,” p. vii.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>SAVAGE IDEAS.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Sagas and <i>Märchen</i> — Fairy + Tales based upon ideas familiar to savages — The +Doctrine of Spirits — The Doctrine of Transformation — Totemism — Death — Witchcraft — The +predominance of imagination over reason in savages — Method of the inquiry.</p></div> + +<p>Fairy Tales, as defined in the previous <a href="#CHAPTER_I">chapter</a>, fall under +two heads. Under the first we may place all those +stories which relate to definite supernatural beings, or +definite orders of supernatural beings, held really to +exist, and the scenes of which are usually laid in some +specified locality. Stories belonging to this class do not +necessarily, however, deal with the supernatural. Often +they are told of historical heroes, or persons believed to +have once lived. For instance, the legends of Lady +Godiva and Whittington and his Cat, which, however +improbable, contain nothing of the supernatural, must be +reckoned under this head equally with the story of the +Luck of Edenhall, or the Maori tale of the Rending +asunder of Heaven and Earth. In other words, this class +is by no means confined to Fairy Tales, but includes all +stories which are, or at all events have been up to recent +years, and in the form in which they come to us, looked +upon as narratives of actual occurrences. They are called +<i>Sagas</i>. The other class of tales consists of such as are +told simply for amusement, like Jack and the Beanstalk, +Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Puss in Boots. They +may embody incidents believed in other countries, or in +other stages of civilization, to be true in fact; but in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +form in which we have them this belief has long since +been dropped. In general, the reins are thrown upon the +neck of the imagination; and, marvellous though the +story be, it cannot fail to find acceptance, because nobody +asserts that its events ever took place, and nobody +desires to bring down its flights to the level either of +logic or experience. Unlike the saga, it binds the conscience +neither of teller nor of listener; its hero or +heroine has no historical name or fame, either national +or local; and being untrammelled either by history or +probability, the one condition the tale is expected to fulfil +is to end happily. Stories of this class are technically +called <i>Märchen</i>: we have no better English name for +them than <i>Nursery Tales</i>.</p> + +<p>If we inquire which of these two species of tales is the +earlier in the history of culture, it seems that the priority +must be given to sagas. The matter, indeed, is not quite +free from doubt, because low down in the scale of civilization, +as among the Ainos of Japan, stories are told which +appear to be no more than <i>märchen</i>; and because, on the +other hand, it is at all times easier, even for experienced +collectors, to obtain sagas than <i>märchen</i>. But among +the lower races, a vastly preponderating number of tales +recorded by Europeans who have lived with them on +the terms of the greatest intimacy is told to account for +the phenomena of nature, or their own history and +organization. From many savage peoples we have no +other stories at all; and it is not uncommon to find narratives +at bottom identical with some of these told as +<i>märchen</i> among nations that have reached a higher plane. +In these cases, at all events, it looks as if the tales, or +tales from which they had been derived, had been originally +believed as true, and, having ceased to be thus +received, had continued to be repeated, in a shape more +or less altered, for mere amusement. If we may venture +to affirm this and to generalize from such cases, this is the +way in which <i>märchen</i> have arisen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>But sagas are not only perhaps the most ancient of +tales, they are certainly the most persistent. By their +attachment to places and to persons, a religious sanction +is frequently given to them, a local and national pride +is commonly felt in preserving them. Thus they are +remembered when nursery tales are forgotten; they are +more easily communicated to strangers; they find their +way into literature and so are rendered imperishable.</p> + +<p>Fairy Tales of both these classes are compounded of +incidents which are the common property of many +nations, and not a few whereof are known all over the +habitable globe. In some instances the whole plot, a +more or less intricate one, is found among races the most +diverse in civilization and character. Where the plot is +intricate, or contains elements of a kind unlikely to have +originated independently, we may be justified in suspecting +diffusion from one centre. Then it is that the history +and circumstances of a nation become important factors +in the inquiry; and upon the purity of blood and the +isolation from neighbouring races may depend our decision +as to the original or derivative character of such a tradition. +Sometimes the passage of a story from one country +to another can be proved by literary evidence. This is +markedly the case with Apologues and Facetious Tales, two +classes of traditions which do not come within the purview +of the present work. But the story has then passed +beyond the traditional stage, or else such proof could not +be given. In tracing the history of a folk-tale which has +entered into literature, the problem is to ascertain how +far the literary variations we meet with may have been +influenced by pre-existing traditional tales formed upon +similar lines. In general, however, it may be safely said +of Fairy Tales (with which we are more immediately concerned) +that the argument in favour of their propagation +from a single centre lacks support. The incidents of +which they are composed are based upon ideas not +peculiar to any one people, ideas familiar to savages<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +everywhere, and only slowly modified and transformed as +savagery gives way to barbarism, and barbarism to modern +civilization and scientific knowledge of the material +phenomena of the universe. The ideas referred to are +expressed by races in the lower culture both in belief and +in custom. And many of the tales which now amuse +our children appear to have grown out of myths believed +in the most matter-of-fact way by our remote forefathers; +while others enshrine relics of long-forgotten customs and +modes of tribal organization.</p> + +<p>There is one habit of thought familiar to savage tribes +that to us, trained through long centuries of progressive +knowledge, seems in the highest degree absurd and even +incomprehensible. As a matter of every-day practice we +cannot, if we would, go back to that infantine state of +mind which regards not only our fellow men and women, +but all objects animate and inanimate around us, as +instinct with a consciousness, a personality akin to our +own. This, however, is the savage philosophy of things. +To a large proportion of human beings at the present day +beasts and birds, trees and plants, the sea, the mountains, +the wind, the sun, the moon, the clouds and the stars, day +and night, the heaven and the earth, are alive and possessed +of the passions and the cunning and the will they +feel within themselves. The only difference is that these +things are vastly cleverer and more powerful than men. +Hence they are to be dreaded, to be appeased—if possible, +to be outwitted—even, sometimes, to be punished. We +may observe this childish habit of thought in our nurseries +to-day when one of our little ones accidentally runs +against the table, and forthwith turns round to beat the +senseless wood as if it had voluntarily and maliciously +caused his pain; or when another, looking wistfully out +of window, adjures the rain in the old rhyme:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Rain, rain, go away!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come again another day!”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>Poets, too, and orators in their loftiest moods revert to +language and modes of expression which have no meaning +apart from this belief in the conscious animation of +every object in the world. They may move us for the +moment by their utterances; but we never take their +raptures literally. To the savage, however, it is no +figure of speech to call upon the sun to behold some great +deed, or to declare that the moon hides her face; to assert +that the ocean smiles, or that the river swells with rage, +and overwhelms a wayfarer who is crossing it, or an unsuspecting +village on its banks. These phrases for him +fit the facts of nature as closely as those which record +that the man eats or the boy runs. Nay, what would +seem incredible to him would be to deny that the sun can +see or the moon hide her face, the ocean smile or the +river become enraged. Conscious personality and human +emotions are visible to him everywhere and in all things.</p> + +<p>It matters not to the savage that human form and +speech are absent. These are not necessary, or, if they +are, they can be assumed either at will or under certain +conditions. For one of the consequences, or at least one of +the accompaniments, of this stage of thought is the belief +in change of form without loss of individual identity. +The bear whom the savage meets in the woods is too +cunning to appear and do battle with him as a man; but +he could if he chose. The stars were once men and +women. Sun and moon, the wind and the waters, +perform all the functions of living beings: they speak, +they eat, they marry and have children. Rocks and +trees are not always as immovable as they appear: sometimes +they are to be seen as beasts or men, whose shapes +they still, it may be, dimly retain.</p> + +<p>It follows that peoples in this stage of thought cannot +have, in theory at all events, the repugnance to a sexual +union between man and the lower animals with which +religious training and the growth of civilization have +impressed all the higher races. Such peoples admit the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +possibility of a marriage wherein one party may be human +and the other an animal of a different species, or even a +tree or plant. If they do not regard it as an event which +can take place in their own time and neighbourhood, it +does not seem entirely incredible as an event of the past; +and sometimes customs are preserved on into a higher +degree of culture—such as that of wedding, for special +purposes, a man to a tree—unmistakably bespeaking +former, if not present, beliefs. Moreover, tribes in the +stage of thought here described, hold themselves to be +actually descended from material objects often the most +diverse from human form. These are not only animals +(beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, and even insects) or vegetables, +but occasionally the sun, the sea, the earth, and +other things unendowed with life. Such mythic ancestors +are worshipped as divine. This superstition is called +<i>Totemism</i>, and the mythic ancestor is known as the +<i>Totem</i>. As a people passes gradually into a higher stage +of culture, greater stress is constantly laid on the human +qualities of the Totem, until it becomes at length an +anthropomorphic god. To such deity the object previously +reverenced as a Totem is attached, and a new and +modified legend grows up to account for the connection.</p> + +<p>The belief in metamorphosis involves opinions on the +subject of death which are worth a moment's pause. +Death is a problem to all men, to the savage as to the +most civilized. Least of any can the savage look upon +it as extinction. He emphatically believes that he has +something within him that survives the dissolution of +his outward frame. This is his spirit, the seat of his +consciousness, his real self. As he himself has a spirit, +so every object in the world has a spirit. He peoples the +universe, as he knows it, with spirits akin to his own. +It is to their spirits that all the varied objects around +him, all the phenomena observable by day or by night, +owe the consciousness, the personality, I have already +tried to describe. These spirits are separable from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +material form with which they are clad. When the +savage sleeps, his spirit goes forth upon various adventures. +These adventures he remembers as dreams; but +they are as veritable as his waking deeds; and he awakes +when his spirit returns to him. In his dreams he sees +his friends, his foes; he kills imaginary bears and +venison. He knows therefore that other men's spirits +travel while their bodies sleep and undergo adventures +like his own, and in company often with his spirit. He +knows that the spirits of wild animals range abroad and +encounter his spirit. What is death but the spirit going +forth to return no more? Rocks and rivers perhaps +cannot die, or at least their life immeasurably exceeds +that of men. But the trees of the forest may, for he +can cut them down and burn them. Yet, inasmuch as it +is the nature of a body to have an indwelling spirit, +death—the permanent severing of body and spirit—cannot +occur naturally: it must be due to the machination +of some enemy, by violence, by poison, or by +sorcery.</p> + +<p>The spirit that has gone forth for ever is not, by +quitting its bodily tenement, deprived of power offensive +and defensive. It is frequently impelled by hostile +motives to injure those yet in the flesh; and it must, +therefore, be appeased, or deceived, or driven away. +This is the end and aim of funeral rites: this is the +meaning of many periodical ceremonies in which the +whole tribe takes part. For the same reason, when the +hunter slays a powerful animal, he apologizes and lays +the blame on his arrows or his spear, or on some one else. +For the same reason the woodman, when he cuts down a +tree, asks permission to do so and offers sacrifices, and he +provides a green sprig to stick into the stump as soon as +the tree falls, that it may be a new home for the spirit +thus dislodged. For since the spirit is neither slain, nor +deprived of power, by destruction of the body, or by +severance from the body, it may find another to dwell in.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +Spirits of dead men, like other spirits, may assume fresh +bodies, new forms, and forms not necessarily human. A +favourite form is that of a snake: it was as a snake that +the spirit of Anchises appeared and accepted the offerings +made by his pious son. In their new forms the +spirits of the dead are sometimes, as in this case, kindly, +at other times malicious, but always to be treated with +respect, always to be conciliated; for their power is +great. They can in their turn cause disease, misfortune, +death.</p> + +<p>Another characteristic of the mental condition I am +describing must not be omitted. Connection of thought, +even though purely fortuitous, is taken to indicate actual +connection of the things represented in thought. This +connection is, of course, often founded on association of +time or place, and once formed it is not easily broken. +For example, any object once belonging to a man recalls +the thought of him. The connection between him and +that object is therefore looked upon as still existing, and +he may be affected by the conduct shown towards it. +This applies with special force to such objects as articles of +clothing, and still more to footprints and to spittle, hair, +nail-parings and excrement. Injury to these with malicious +intent will hurt him from whom they are derived. In +the same way a personal name is looked upon as inseparable +from its owner; and savages are frequently +careful to guard the knowledge of their true names from +others, being content to be addressed and spoken of by +a nickname, or a substituted epithet. The reason of this +is that the knowledge of another's name confers power +over that other: it is as though he, or at least an +essential part of him, were in the possession of the +person who had obtained the knowledge of his name. +It is perhaps not an unfair deduction from the same +premises that endows an image with the properties of +its prototype—nay, identifies it with its prototype. This +leads on the one hand to idol-worship, and on the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +hand to the rites of witchcraft wherein the wizard is said +to make a figure of a man, call it by his name, and then +transfix it with nails or thorns, or burn it, with the +object of causing pain and ultimately death to the person +represented. Nor is a very different process of thought +discernible in the belief that by eating human or other +flesh the spirit (or at any rate some of the spiritual +qualities) formerly animating it can be transferred to the +eater. So a brave enemy is devoured in the hope of +acquiring his bravery; and a pregnant woman is denied +the flesh of hares and other animals whose qualities it is +undesirable her children should have.</p> + +<p>To minds guiltless of inductive reasoning an accidental +coincidence is a sure proof of cause and effect. Travellers' +tales are full of examples of misfortunes quite +beyond foresight or control, but attributed by the savages +among whom the narrators have sojourned to some +perfectly innocent act on their part, or merely to their +presence, or to some strange article of their equipment. +Occasionally the anger of the gods is aroused by these +things; and missionaries, in particular, have suffered +much on this account. But sometimes a more direct +causation is imagined, though it is probably not always +easy to distinguish the two cases. Omens also are +founded upon accidental coincidences. The most lively +imagination may fail to trace cause and effect between +the meeting of a magpie at setting out and a fruitless +errand following, or between a certain condition of the +entrails of an animal sacrificed and a victory or defeat +thereafter. But the imagination is not to be beaten thus. +If the magpie did not cause failure, at all events it +foretold it; and the look of the entrails was an omen of +the gain or loss of the battle.</p> + +<p>Again, a merely fanciful resemblance is a sufficient +association to establish actual connection. Why do the +Bushmen kindle great fires in time of drought, if not +because of the similarity in appearance between smoke<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +and rain-clouds? Such resemblances, to give a familiar +instance, have fastened on certain rocks and stones many +legends of transformation in conformity with the belief +already discussed; and they account for a vast variety of +symbolism in the rites and ceremonies of nations all over +the world.</p> + +<p>The topic is well nigh endless; but enough has been +said to enable the reader to see how widely pervasive in +human affairs is the belief in real connection founded on +nothing more substantial than association of thought, +however occasioned. Nothing, indeed, is too absurd for +this belief. It is one of the most fruitful causes of +superstition; and it only disappears very gradually from +the higher civilization as the reasoning powers become +more and more highly trained. In magic, or witchcraft, +we find it developed into a system, with professional +ministers and well-established rules. By these rules its +ministers declare themselves able to perform all the +wonders of transformation referred to above, to command +spirits, to bring distant persons and things into their +immediate presence, to inflict injury and death upon +whom they please, to bestow wealth and happiness, and +to foretell the future. The terror they have thus +inspired, and the horrors wrought under the influence of +that terror, form one of the saddest chapters of history.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>I do not of course pretend that the foregoing is a +complete account of the mental processes of savage +peoples. Still less have I attempted to trace the history +of the various characteristics mentioned, or to show the +order of their evolution. To attempt either of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +things would be beyond the scope of the present work. +I have simply enumerated a few of the elements in the +psychology of men in a low state of culture which it +is needful to bear in mind in order to understand the +stories we are about to examine. In those stories we +shall find many impossibilities, many absurdities and +many traces of customs repulsive to our modes of +thought and foreign to our manners. The explanation +is to be obtained, not by speculations based on far-fetched +metaphors supposed to have existed in the speech +of early races, nor in philological puzzles, but by soberly +inquiring into the facts of barbarian and savage life and +into the psychological phenomena of which the facts +are the outcome. The evidence of these facts and phenomena +is to be found scattered up and down the pages +of writers of every age, creed and country. On hardly +any subject have men of such different degrees of learning, +such various and opposite prejudices, left us their +testimony—testimony from the nature of the subject +more than ordinarily liable to be affected by prejudice, +and by the limitations of each witness's powers of observation +and opportunities of ascertaining the truth. But +after all deductions for prejudice, mistake, inaccuracy and +every other shortcoming, there is left a strong, an invincible +consensus of testimony, honest, independent and +full of undesigned corroborations, to the development of +the mind of all races in the lower culture along the lines +here indicated. Nay, more; the numerous remains of +archaic institutions, as well as of beliefs among the most +advanced nations, prove that they too have passed through +the very same stages in which we find the most backward +still lingering—stages which the less enlightened classes +even of our own countrymen at the present day are loth +to quit. And the further we penetrate in these investigations, +the more frequent and striking are the coincidences +between the mental phenomena already described +which are still manifested by savage peoples, and those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +of which the evidence has not yet disappeared from our +own midst.</p> + +<p>Nor need we be surprised at this, for the root whence +all these phenomena spring is the predominance of +imagination over reason in the uncivilized. Man, while +his experience is limited to a small tract of earth, and +his life is divided between a struggle with nature and +his fellow-man for the permission and the means to live, +on the one hand, and seasons of idleness, empty perforce +of every opportunity and every desire for improving his +condition, on the other, cannot acquire the materials of +a real knowledge of his physical environment. His only +data for interpreting the world and the objects it contains, +so far as he is acquainted with them, are his own consciousness +and his own emotions. Upon these his drafts +are unbounded; and if he have any curiosity about the +origin and government of things, his hypotheses take the +shape of tales in which the actors, whatever form they +bear, are essentially himself in motive and deed, but +magnified and distorted to meet his wishes or his fears, +or the conditions of the problem as presented to his +limited vision. The thought which is the measure of +his universe is as yet hardly disciplined by anything +beyond his passions.</p> + +<p>Nor does the predominance of the imagination issue +only in these tales and in songs—the two modes of expression +we most readily attribute to the imagination. +In practical life it issues in superstitious observances, and +in social and political institutions. Social institutions +are sometimes of great complexity, even in the depth of +savagery. Together with political institutions they supply +the model on which are framed man's ideas of the relationship +to one another and to himself of the supernatural +beings whom he creates; and in turn they reflect and +perpetuate those ideas in ceremonial and other observances. +The student of Fairy Tales, therefore, cannot +afford to neglect the study of institutions; for it often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +throws a light altogether unexpected on the origin and +meaning of a story. Tradition must, indeed, be studied +as a whole. As with other sciences, its division into parts +is natural and necessary; but it should never be forgotten +that none of its parts can be rightly understood without +reference to the others. By Tradition I mean the +entire circle of thought and practice, custom as well as +belief, ceremonies, tales, music, songs, dances and other +amusements, the philosophy and the superstitions and +the institutions, delivered by word of mouth and by +example from generation to generation through unremembered +ages: in a word, the sum total of the psychological +phenomena of uncivilized man. Every people has +its own body of Tradition, its own Folklore, which comprises +a slowly diminishing part, or the whole, of its +mental furniture, according as the art of writing is, or +is not, known. The invention of writing, by enabling +records to be made and thoughts and facts to be communicated +with certainty from one to another, first +renders possible the accumulation of true knowledge and +ensures a constantly accelerating advance in civilization. +But in every civilized nation there are backward classes +to whom reading and writing are either quite unknown, +or at least unfamiliar; and there are certain matters in +the lives even of the lettered classes which remain more +or less under the dominion of Tradition. Culture, in +the sense of a mode of life guided by reason and utilizing +the discoveries and inventions that are the gift of science, +finds its way but slowly among a people, and filters only +sluggishly through its habits, its institutions and its creeds. +Surely, however, though gradually it advances, like a +rising tide which creeps along the beach, here undermining +a heap of sand, there surrounding, isolating, and +at last submerging a rock, here swallowing up a pool +brilliant with living creatures and many-coloured weed, +there mingling with and overwhelming a rivulet that +leaps down to its embrace, until all the shore is covered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +with its waters. Meanwhile, he who would understand +its course must know the conformation of the coast,—the +windings, the crags (their composition as well as their +shape), the hollows, the sands, the streams; for without +these its currents and its force are alike inexplicable. +The analogy must not be pressed too far; but it will +help us to understand why we find a fragment of a +custom in one place, a portion of a tale jumbled up with +portions of dissimilar tales in another place, a segment +of a superstition, and again a worn and broken relic of a +once vigorous institution. They are the rocks and the +sands which the flood of civilization is first isolating, then +undermining, and at last overwhelming, and hiding from +our view. They are (to change the figure) survivals of an +earlier state of existence, unintelligible if regarded singly, +made to render up their secret only by comparison with +other survivals, and with examples of a like state of existence +elsewhere. Taken collectively, they enable us to +trace the evolution of civilization from a period before +history begins, and through more recent times by channels +whereof history gives no account.</p> + +<p>These are the premises whence we set out, and the +principles which will guide us, in the study on which we +are about to enter. The name of Fairy Tales is legion; +but they are made up of incidents whose number is comparatively +limited. And though it would be impossible +to deal adequately with more than a small fraction of +them in a work like the present, still a selection may be +so treated as to convey a reasonably just notion of the +application of the principles laid down and of the results +to be obtained. In making such a selection several interesting +groups of stories, unconnected as between +themselves, might be chosen for consideration. The +disadvantage of this course would be the fragmentary +nature of the discussions, and consequently of the conclusions +arrived at. It is not wholly possible to avoid +this disadvantage in any mode of treatment; but it is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +possible to lessen it. I propose, therefore, to deal with +a few of the most interesting sagas relative to the Fairy +Mythology strictly so called. We shall thus confine our +view to a well-defined area, in the hope that we may +obtain such an idea of it as in its main lines at all events +may be taken to be fairly true to the facts, and that we +may learn who really were these mysterious beings who +played so large a part in our fathers' superstitions. As +yet, however, we must not be disappointed if we find that +the state of scientific inquiry will not admit of many +conclusions, and such as we may reach can at present +be stated only tentatively and with caution. Science, +like Mr. Fox in the nursery tale, writes up over all the +doors of her palace:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Many a victim has found to his cost what it meant to +disregard this warning.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> I have not thought it necessary to illustrate at length the characteristics +of savage thought enumerated above. They are exhaustively discussed by Dr. Tylor in “Primitive Culture,” Sir John Lubbock in +“The Origin of Civilization,” Mr. Andrew Lang in “Myth Ritual and Religion,” and some of them by Mr. J. G. Frazer in “Totemism,” and +more recently in “The Golden Bough,” published since these pages were written.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Stories of midwives who have been +summoned to the birth of fairies — Human visitors to Fairyland +must not eat there — The reason — Fairies' gratitude — +The conditions of fairy gifts.</p></div> + +<p>A tale, the scene of which is laid near Beddgelert, runs, +as translated by Professor Rhys, in this way:—“Once on +a time, when a midwife from Nanhwynan had newly got +to the Hafodydd Brithion to pursue her calling, a gentleman +came to the door on a fine grey steed and bade her +come with him at once. Such was the authority with +which he spoke, that the poor midwife durst not refuse +to go, however much it was her duty to stay where she +was. So she mounted behind him, and off they went, +like the flight of a swallow, through Cwmllan, over the +Bwlch, down Nant yr Aran, and over the Gadair to Cwm +Hafod Ruffydd before the poor woman had time even to +say Oh! When they got there, she saw before her +a magnificent mansion, splendidly lit up with such +lamps as she had never before seen. They entered the +court, and a crowd of servants in expensive liveries came +to meet them, and she was at once led through the great +hall into a bed-chamber, the like of which she had never +seen. There the mistress of the house, to whom she +had been fetched, was awaiting her. She got through +her duties successfully, and stayed there until the lady +had completely recovered, nor had she spent any part of +her life so merrily; there was naught but festivity day +and night: dancing, singing, and endless rejoicing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +reigned there. But merry as it was, she found she must +go, and the nobleman gave her a large purse, with the +order not to open it until she had got into her own +house; then he bade one of his servants escort her the +same way she had come. When she reached home she +opened the purse, and, to her great joy, it was full of +money; and she lived happily on those earnings to the +end of her life.”<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>It is a long leap from Carnarvonshire to Lapland, +where this story is told with no great variation. A +clergyman's wife in Swedish Lappmark, the cleverest +midwife in all Sweden, was summoned one fine summer's +evening to attend a mysterious being of Troll race and +great might, called Vitra. At this unusual call she took +counsel with her husband, who, however, deemed it best +for her to go. Her guide led her into a splendid building, +the rooms whereof were as clean and elegant as those of +very illustrious folk; and in a beautiful bed lay a still +more beautiful woman, for whom her services were required, +and who was no other than Vitra herself. Under +the midwife's care Vitra speedily gave birth to a fair girl, +and in a few minutes had entirely recovered, and fetched +all sorts of refreshments, which she laid before her benefactress. +The latter refused to eat, in spite of Vitra's +reassuring persuasion, and further refused the money +which the Troll-wife pressed upon her. Vitra then sent +her home, bidding her look on the table when next she +entered her cowherd's hut and see what she would find +there. She thought no more of the matter until the +following spring, when on entering the hut she found on +the table half a dozen large spoons of pure silver with her +name engraved thereon in neat letters. These spoons +long remained an heirloom in the clergyman's family to +testify the truth of the story. A Swedish book, published +in 1775, contains a tale, narrated in the form of a legal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +declaration solemnly subscribed on the 12th April 1671 +by the fortunate midwife's husband, whose name was +Peter Rahm, and who also seems to have been a clergyman. +On the authority of this declaration we are called +on to believe that the event recorded actually happened +in the year 1660. Peter Rahm alleges that he and his +wife were at their farm one evening late when there +came a little man, swart of face and clad in grey, who +begged the declarant's wife to come and help his wife +then in labour. The declarant, seeing that they had to +do with a Troll, prayed over his wife, blessed her, and +bade her in God's name go with the stranger. She +seemed to be borne along by the wind. After her task +was accomplished she, like the clergyman's wife just +mentioned, refused the food offered her, and was borne +home in the same manner as she had come. The next +day she found on a shelf in the sitting-room a heap of +old silver pieces and clippings, which it is to be supposed +the Troll had brought her.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>Apart from the need of human aid, common to all the +legends with which we are dealing, the two points +emphasized by these Swedish tales are the midwife's +refusal of food and the gratitude of the Troll. In a +Swabian story the Earthman, as he is called, apologizes +for omitting to offer food. In this case the midwife was +afraid to go alone with her summoner, and begged that +her husband might accompany her. This was permitted; +and the Earthman showed them the way through the +forest with his lantern, for it was of course night. They +came first to a moss door, then to a wooden door, and +lastly to a door of shining metal, whence a staircase went +down into the earth, and led them into a large and +splendid chamber where the Earthwife lay. When the +object of their visit was accomplished the Earthman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +thanked the woman much, and said: “You do not relish +our meat and drink, wherefore I will bestow something +else upon thee.” With these words he gave her a whole +apronful of black coals, and taking his lantern again he +lighted the midwife and her husband home. On the +way home she slily threw away one coal after another. +The Earthman said nothing until he was about to take +his leave, when he observed merely: “The less you +scattered the more you might have.” After he had +gone the woman's husband remonstrated with her, +bidding her keep the coals, for the Earthman appeared +in earnest with his gift. When they reached home, +however, she shook out her apron on the hearth, and +behold! instead of coals, glittering true gold pieces. +The woman now sought eagerly enough after the coals +she had thrown away, but she found them not.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>Confining our attention for the moment to the refusal +of food, it would seem that the Earthman's apology in +the foregoing narrative is, as too many human apologies +are, a mere excuse. The real reason for the midwife's +abstention was not that fairy food was distasteful, but that +she durst not touch it, under penalty of never again +returning to the light of day. A Danish tradition tells +of a woman who was taken by an elf on Christmas +Eve down into the earth to attend his wife. As soon as +the elfwife was delivered her husband took the child +away; for if he could find two newly married persons in +the bridal bed, before they had repeated their Paternoster, +he could, by laying the child between them, procure for +it all the good fortune intended for the newly wedded +pair. During his absence the elfwife took the opportunity +of instructing her helper as to her conduct when +he returned; and the first and chief point of her advice +was to eat nothing that was offered her. The elfwife +was herself a Christian woman who had been inveigled +down into the dwellings of the elves; she had eaten, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +therefore had never escaped again. On the elf's return, +accordingly, the midwife refused food, and he said: +“They did not strike thee on the mouth who taught +thee that.” Late rabbinical writings contain a similar +legend of a Mohel, a man whose office it was to circumcise, +who was summoned one winter's night by a stranger +to perform the ceremony upon a child who would be +eight days old the following day. The stranger led him +to a lofty mountain, into the bowels of which they passed, +and after descending many flights of steps found themselves +in a great city. Here the Mohel was taken to +a palace, in one of whose apartments was the child's +mother lying. When she saw the Mohel she began to +weep, and told him that he was in the land of the +Mazikin, but that she was a human being, a Jewess, who +had been carried away when little from home and brought +thither. And she counselled him to take good heed to +refuse everything whether of meat or drink that might +be offered him: “For if thou taste anything of theirs +thou wilt become like one of them, and wilt remain here +for ever.”<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p>We touch here upon a very ancient and widespread +superstition, which we may pause to illustrate from +different parts of the world. A Manx tale, which can +be traced back to Waldron, narrates the night adventure +of a farmer who lost his way in returning home from +Peel, and was led by the sound of music into a large hall +where were a great number of little people feasting. +Among them were some faces he seemed to know; but +he took no notice of them until the little folk offered him +drink, when one of them, whose features seemed not unknown +to him, plucked him by the coat and forbade him, +whatever he did, to taste anything he saw before him; +“for if you do”, he added, “you will be as I am, and +return no more to your family.”<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>It is necessary for the hero of a Picard story to go and +seek the devil in his own abode. The devil of popular +imagination, though a terrific ogre, is not the entirely +Evil One of theologians; and one of his good points in +the story referred to is that he has three fair daughters, +the fairest of whom is compelled by the hero to help him +in overcoming her father. She accordingly instructs him +to eat no meat and to drink no wine at the devil's house, +otherwise he will be poisoned. This may remind us of +Kan Püdäi, who in the Altaic ballad descends with his +steed to the middle of the earth and encounters various +monsters. There the grass and the water of the mountain +forest through which he rode were poison. In both +cases, what is probably meant is, that to eat or drink is to +return no more from these mysterious abodes; and it +may be to the intent to obviate any such consequence +that Saint Peter, in sending a certain king's son down +through a black and stinking hole a hundred toises deep +underground, in a Gascon tale, to fetch Saint Peter's own +sword, provides him with just enough bread in his wallet +every morning to prevent his bursting with hunger. An +extension of this thought sometimes even prohibits the +hero from accepting a seat or a bed offered by way of +hospitality on the part of the devil, or the sorceress, to +whose dwelling his business may take him, or even to +look at the fair temptress who may seek to entice him to +eat.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>The meaning of the superstition is not easy to trace, +but it should be remembered that in the lower stages of +human civilization no distinction is drawn between +supernatural or spiritual beings who have never been +enclosed in human bodies, and the spirits of the dead. +Savage philosophy mingles them together in one phantasmagoria +of grotesquery and horror. The line which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +separates fairies and ogres from the souls of men has +gradually grown up through ages of Christian teaching; +and, broad as it may seem to us, it is occasionally hardly +visible in these stories. Every now and then it is +ignored, as in the case of the old friends found among +the “little people” by the Manx farmer. Less startling +than these, but quite as much in point, are the women, +like some already mentioned, who are carried off into +Fairyland, where they become wives and mothers. They +can never come back to their old life, though they retain +enough of the “mortal mixture” to require the adventurous +human midwife to relieve their pains. Accordingly, +we need not be surprised if the same incidents of +story or fibres of superstition attach at one time to ghosts +and at another to the non-human creatures of imagination, +or if Hades and Fairyland are often confounded. +Both are equally the realm of the supernatural. We +may therefore inquire whether eating is forbidden to the +chance sojourner in the place of the dead equally as to +the sojourner in Fairyland, if he wish to return to the +upper air. And we shall find that it is.</p> + +<p>Proserpine ate seven grains of a pomegranate which +grew in the Elysian Fields, and so was compelled to +remain in the Shades, the wife of “the grisly king.” +Thus, too, when Morgan the Fay takes measures to get +Ogier the Dane into her power she causes him to be +shipwrecked on a loadstone rock near to Avalon. Escaping +from the sea, he comes to an orchard, and there +eats an apple which, it is not too much to say, seals his +fate. Again, when Thomas of Erceldoune is being led +down by the Fairy Queen into her realm, he desires to +eat of the fruit of certain trees.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“He presed to pul the frute with his honde,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As man for fode was nyhonde feynte;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She seid, Thomas, lat them stande,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or ellis the fiend will the ateynte.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If thou pulle the sothe to sey,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thi soule goeth to the fyre of hell<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hit cummes never out til doomsday,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But ther ever in payne to dwelle.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">An old story preserved for us by Saxo Grammaticus describes +the visit of some Danish heroes to Guthmund, a giant +who rules a delightful land beyond a certain river crossed +by a golden bridge. Thorkill, their conductor, a Scandinavian +Ulysses for cunning, warns his companions of the +various temptations that will be set before them. They +must forbear the food of the country, and be satisfied with +that which they had brought with them; moreover, they +must keep apart from the natives, taking care not so much +as to touch them. In spite, however, of Thorkill's warnings +to them, and his excuses in their behalf to the king, +some of the heroes fell and were left behind when their +friends were at last allowed to depart.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> So far we see +that the prohibition and the danger we found extant in +the Fairyland of modern folk-tales apply also to the +classic Hades; and we have traced them back a long way +into the Middle Ages in French, British, and Danish +traditions relating to fairies and other supernatural +existences, with a special threat of Hell in the case of +Thomas of Erceldoune.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the globe the Banks' islanders +believe, like the Greeks, in an underground kingdom of +the dead, which they call Panoi. Only a few years ago +a woman was living who professed to have been down +there. Her object had been to visit her brother, who +had recently died. To do this she perfumed herself with +water in which a dead rat had been steeped, so as to give +herself a death-like smell. She then pulled up a bird's +nest and descended through the hole thus made. Her +brother, whom of course she found, cautioned her to eat +nothing, and by taking his advice she was able to return.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +A similar tale is told of a New Zealand woman of rank, +who was lucky enough to come back from the abode of +departed spirits by the assistance of her father and his +repeated commands to avoid tasting the disgusting food +of the dead. Wäinämöinen, the epic hero of the Finns, +determined to penetrate to Manala, the region of the +dead. We need not follow in detail his voyage; it will +suffice to say that on his arrival, after a long parley with +the maiden daughter of Tuoni, the king of the island, +beer was brought to him in a two-eared tankard.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Wäinämöinen, old and trusty,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gaz'd awhile upon the tankard;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lo! within it frogs were spawning,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Worms about its sides were laying.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Words in this wise then he utter'd:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Not to drink have I come hither<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the tankard of Manala,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not to empty Tuoni's beaker;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They who drink of beer are drowned,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Those who drain the can are ruin'd.'”<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The hero's concluding words might form a motto for +our teetotallers; and in any case his abstinence enabled +him to succeed in his errand and return. A point is +made in the poem of the loathsome character of the +beverage offered him, which thus agrees with the poison +referred to in some of the narratives I have previously +cited. The natives of the Southern Seas universally +represent the sustenance of spirits as filthy and abominable. +A most remarkable coincidence with the description +of Tuoni's beer occurs in a curious story told on one +of the Hervey Islands, concerning a Mangaian Dante. +Being apparently near death, this man directed that, as +soon as the breath was out of his body, a cocoa-nut should +be cracked, and its kernel disengaged from the shell and +placed upon his stomach under the grave-clothes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +Having descended to the Shades, he beheld Miru, the +horrible hag who rules them, and whose deformities need +not now be detailed. She commanded him to draw +near. “The trembling human spirit obeyed, and sat +down before Miru. According to her unvarying practice +she set for her intended victim a bowl of food, and bade +him eat it quite up. Miru, with evident anxiety, waited +to see him swallow it. As Tekanae took up the bowl, to +his horror he found it to consist of living centipedes. The +quick-witted mortal now recollected the cocoa-nut kernel +at the pit of his stomach, and hidden from Miru's view +by his clothes. With one hand he held the bowl to his +lips, as if about to swallow its contents; with the other +he secretly held the cocoa-nut kernel, and ate it—the +bowl concealing the nut from Miru. It was evident to +the goddess that Tekanae was actually swallowing <i>something</i>: +what else could it be but the contents of the fatal +bowl? Tekanae craftily contrived whilst eating the +nourishing cocoa-nut to allow the live centipedes to fall +on the ground one or two at a time. As the intended +victim was all the time sitting on the ground it was no +difficult achievement in this way to empty the bowl completely +by the time he had finished the cocoa-nut. Miru +waited in vain to see her intended victim writhing in +agony and raging with thirst. Her practice on such +occasions was to direct the tortured victim-spirit to dive +in a lake close by, to seek relief. None that dived into +that water ever came up alive; excessive anguish and +quenchless thirst so distracting their thoughts that they +were invariably drowned. Miru would afterwards cook +and eat her victims at leisure. Here was a new event in +her history: the bowl of living centipedes had been disposed +of, and yet Tekanae manifested no sign of pain, no +intention to leap into the cooling, but fatal, waters. Long +did Miru wait; but in vain. At last she said to her +visitor, 'Return to the upper world' (<i>i.e.</i>, to life). 'Only +remember this—do not speak against me to mortals.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +Reveal not my ugly form and my mode of treating my +visitors. Should you be so foolish as to do so, you will +certainly at some future time come back to my domains, +and I will see to it that you do not escape my vengeance +a second time!' Tekanae accordingly left the Shades, +and came back to life”; but he, it is needless to say, carefully +disregarded the hag's injunction, or we should not +have had the foregoing veracious account of what happens +below.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>The tortures reserved for Miru's victims cast a weird +light on the warning in the Picard story against eating +and drinking what the devil may offer. But whether +poisoning in the latter case would have been the preliminary +to a hearty meal to be made off the unlucky +youth by his treacherous host, or no, it is impossible to +determine. What the tales do suggest, however, is that +the food buried with the dead by uncivilized tribes may +be meant to provide them against the contingency of +having to partake of the hospitality of the Shades, and so +afford them a chance of escaping back to the upper air. +But, putting this conjecture aside, we have found the +supposition that to eat of fairy food is to return no more, +equally applicable to the world of the dead as to Fairyland. +In seeking its meaning, therefore, we must not be +satisfied without an explanation that will fit both. Almost +all over the earth the rite of hospitality has been +held to confer obligations on its recipient, and to +unite him by special ties to the giver. And even +where the notion of hospitality does not enter, to +join in a common meal has often been held to +symbolize, if not to constitute, union of a very sacred +kind. The formation of blood relationship, or brotherhood, +and formal adoption into a tribe or family (ceremonies +well known in the lower culture), are usually, if +not always, cemented in this way. The modern wedding +breakfast, with its bridecake, is a survival from a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +ancient mode of solemnizing the closest tie of all; and +when Proserpine tasted a pomegranate she partook of a +fruit of a specially symbolic character to signify acceptance +of her new destiny as her captor's wife. Hence to partake +of food in the land of spirits, whether they are +human dead, or fairies, is to proclaim one's union with +them and to renounce the fellowship of mortals.</p> + +<p>The other point emphasized in the Swedish tales +quoted just now is the Troll's gratitude, as evidenced by +his gifts to the successful midwife. Before considering +this, however, let us note that these supernatural beings +do not like to be imposed upon. A German midwife who +was summoned by a Waterman, or Nix, to aid a woman +in labour, was told by the latter: “I am a Christian +woman as well as you; and I was carried off by a Waterman, +who changed me. When my husband comes in +now and offers you money, take no more from him than +you usually get, or else he will twist your neck. Take +good care!” And in another tale, told at Kemnitz of +the Nicker, as he is there called, when he asks the midwife +how much he owes her, she answers that she will +take no more from him than from other people. “That's +lucky for thee,” he replies; “hadst thou demanded more, +it would have gone ill with thee!” But for all that he +gave her an apron full of gold and brought her safely +home.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>A Pomeranian story marks the transition to a type of +tale wherein one special characteristic of elfin gifts is presented. +For in this case, when the mannikin asked the +midwife what her charge was, she modestly replied: “Oh, +nothing; the little trouble I have had does not call for +any payment.” “Now then, lift up thy apron!” +answered he; and it was quickly filled with the rubbish +that lay in the corner of the room. Taking his lantern, +the elf then politely guided her home. When she shook +out the contents of her apron, lo! it was no rubbish which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +fell on the ground, but pure, shining minted gold. +Hitherto she and her father had been very poor; thenceforth +they had no more want their whole lives long. +This gift of an object apparently worthless, which turns +out, on the conditions being observed, of the utmost +value, is a commonplace of fairy transactions. It is one +of the most obvious manifestations of superhuman power; +and as such it has always been a favourite incident in the +stories of all nations. We have only to do here with the +gift as it appears in the group under analysis; and in these +cases it presents little variety. In a tale told on the lake +of Zug the dwarf fills the woman's apron with something +at which he bids her on no account look before she is in +her own house. Her curiosity, however, is uncontrollable; +and the moment the dwarf vanishes she peeps +into her apron, to find simply black coals. She, in a rage, +flings them away, keeping only two as evidence of the +shabby treatment she had met with; but when she got +home these two were nothing less than precious stones. +She at once ran back to where she had shaken out the +supposed coals; but they were all gone. So a recompense +of straws, dust, birch leaves, or shavings becomes, as +elsewhere told, pure gold, pure silver, or thalers. Nor is +the story confined to Europe. In Dardistan it is related +that a boy, taken down by a Yatsh, or demon, into an +underground palace, is allowed to be present at a Yatsh +wedding. He finds the Yatshes assembled in great force +and in possession of a number of valuables belonging to +the dwellers in his own village. On his return his guide +presents him with a sack full of coals, which he empties +as soon as he is out of sight. One little piece, however, +remains, and is transformed into a gold coin when he +reaches home.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>Conversely, when the midwife is rewarded with that +which seems valuable it turns out worthless. An Irishwoman, +in relating a professional experience among the +Good People, wound up her story as follows: “The +king slipped five guineas into my hand as soon as I was +on the ground, and thanked me, and bade me good-night. +I hope I'll never see his face again. I got into bed, and +couldn't sleep for a long time; and when I examined +my five guineas this morning, that I left in the table-drawer +the last thing, I found five withered leaves of +oak—bad scran to the giver!” This incident recalls +the Barber's tale of his fourth brother in the “Arabian +Nights.” This unlucky man went on selling meat to +a sorcerer for five months, and putting the bright new +money in which the latter paid him into a box by itself; +but when he came to open the box he found in it +nothing but a parcel of leaves, or, as Sir Richard Burton +has it, bits of white paper cut round to look like coin. +Chinese folklore is full of similar occurrences, which we +cannot now stay to discuss. But, returning to western +traditions, there is a way of counteracting the elves' +transforming magic. The wife of a farmer named Niels +Hansen, of Uglerup, in Denmark, was summoned to +attend a troll-wife, who told her that the troll, her +husband, would offer her a quantity of gold; “but,” +she said, “unless you cast this knife behind you when +you go out, it will be nothing but coal when you reach +home”. The woman followed her patient's advice, and +so continued to carry safely home a costly present of +gold.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>The objection of supernatural beings to iron, and its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +power of undoing their charms, will be considered in a +future chapter. The good luck of Niels Hansen's wife +offers meantime another subject of interest; for it was +due to her own kindness of heart. A short time before +she had been raking hay in a field, when she caught +a large and fat toad between the teeth of her rake. +She gently released it, saying: “Poor thing! I see that +thou needest help; I will help thee.” That toad was +the troll-wife, and as she afterwards attended her she +was horrified to see a hideous serpent hanging down just +above her head. Her fright led to explanations and an +expression of gratitude on the part of the troll-wife. +This incident is by no means uncommon; but a very +few examples must suffice here. Generally the woman's +terror is attributed to a millstone hanging over her head. +At Grammendorf, in Pomerania, a maid saw, every time +she went to milk the cows, a hateful toad hopping about +in the stable. She determined to kill it, and would have +seized it one day had it not, in the very nick of time, +succeeded in creeping into a hole, where she could not +get at it. A few days after, when she was again busy in +the stable, a little Ulk, as the elves there are called, came +and invited her to descend with him into Fairyland. +On reaching the bottom of a staircase with her conductor, +she found her services were required for an Ulkwife, +whose time was at hand. Entering the dwelling she +was frightened to observe a huge millstone above her, +suspended by a silken thread; and the Ulk, seeing her +terror, told her she had caused him exactly the same, +when she chased the poor toad and attempted to +kill it. The girl was compelled to share in the feast +which followed. When it was over she was given a +piece of gold, that she was carefully to preserve; for so +long as she did so she would never be in want of money. +But her guide warned her at parting never to relate her +experience, otherwise the elves would fetch her again, +and set her under the millstone, which would then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +fall and crush her. Whether this was indeed the consequence +of her narrating this very true story we do not +know. After some of the beliefs we have been considering +in the foregoing pages it is, however, interesting +to note that no ill attended her eating and drinking in +Fairyland, and that the gold she received did not turn +to dross, though it possessed other miraculous qualities +which might very well have led her to the bad end +threatened by the Ulk. Perhaps a portion of the story +has been lost.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<p>Sometimes a different turn is given to the tale. A +Swabian peasant-woman was once in the fields with her +servant-maid, when they saw a big toad. The woman +told her maid to kill it. The latter replied: “No; I +won't do that, and I will stand sponsor for it yet once +more.” Not long afterwards she was sent for to become +sponsor, and was conducted into the lake, where she found +the toad now in guise of a woman. After the ceremony +was over, the lake-woman rewarded her with a bushel of +straw, and sent by her hand a girdle for her mistress. +On the way home the girl tried the girdle on a tree to +see how it would look, and in a moment the tree was +torn into a thousand pieces. This was the punishment +devised by the lake-woman for her mistress, because she +had wished to put her to death while in the form of a +toad. The straw was, of course, pure gold; but the +girl foolishly cast it all away except a few stalks which +clung to her dress. So a countryman who accidentally +spilt some hot broth on a witch, disguised as a toad, is +presented by her another day with a girdle for his little +son. Suspecting something wrong, he tries it on his +dog, which at once swells up and bursts. This is a Saxon +saga from Transylvania; an Irish saga brings us to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +same catastrophe. There a girl meets a frog which is +painfully bloated, and kicks it unfeelingly aside, with the +words: “May you never be delivered till I am midwife +to you!” Now the frog was a water-fairy dwelling in a +lake, into which the girl soon after was conveyed and +compelled to become the fairy's midwife. By way of +reward she is presented with a red cloak, which, on her +way home, she hangs up in admiration on a tree. Well +was it for her that she did so, for it set the tree on fire; +and had she worn it, as she meant to do, on the following +Sunday at Mass, the chapel itself would have been in a +blaze.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>The fairies' revenge here missed its mark, though +calculated on no trifling scale. Indeed, the rewards they +bestowed were never nicely balanced with the good or ill +they intended to requite, but were showered in open-handed +fashion as by those who could afford to be lavish. +Of this we have already had several instances; a few +more may be given. At Palermo a tale is told of a +midwife who was one day cooking in her own kitchen +when a hand appeared and a voice cried: “Give to +me!” She took a plate and filled it from the food she +was preparing. Presently the hand returned the plate +full of golden money. This was repeated daily; and the +woman, seeing the generous payment, became more and +more free with her portions of food. At the end of +nine months a knocking was heard at the door; and, +descending, she found two giants, who caught her up on +their shoulders, and unceremoniously ran off with her. +They carried her to a lady who needed her offices, and +she assisted to bring into the world two fine boys. The +lady evidently was fully alive to her own dignity, for she +kept the woman a proper human month, to the distress +of her husband, who, not knowing what had become of +her, searched the city night and day, and at last gave her +up for dead. Then the lady (a fairy princess she was)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +asked her if she wished to go, and whether she would be +paid by blows or pinches. The poor midwife deemed +her last hour was come, and said to herself that if she +must die it would be better to die quickly; so she chose +blows. Accordingly the princess called the two giants, +and sent her home with a large sack of money, which +enabled her to relinquish business, set up her carriage, +and become one of the first ladies in Palermo. Ten +years passed; and one day a grand carriage stopped at +her door. A lady alighted and entered her palace. +When she had her face to face, the lady said: “Gossip, +do you know me?” “No, madam.” “What! do you +not remember that I am the lady to whom you came +ten years ago, when these children were born? I, too, +am she who held out her hand and asked for food. I +was the fairies' captive; and if you had not been generous +enough to give me to eat, I should have died in the night. +And because you were generous you have become rich. +Now I am freed, and here I am with my sons.” The +quondam midwife, with tears in her eyes, looked at her, +and blessed the moment she had done a generous act. +So they became lifelong friends.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p>I have given the foregoing tale almost at full length +because it has not, so far as I know, appeared before in +any other than its native Sicilian dress, and because +analogous stories are not common in collections from +Mediterranean countries. This rarity is not, I need +hardly say, from any absence of the mythological +material, and perhaps it may be due to accident in the +formation of the collections. If the story were really +wanting elsewhere in Southern Europe, we might be +permitted the conjecture that its presence in Sicily was +to be accounted for by the Norman settlements there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +One such story, however, is recorded from the Island of +Kimolos, one of the Cyclades, but without the human +captivity in Elfland, without the acts of charity, and +without the gratitude. The Nereids of the Kimoliote +caves are of a grimmer humour than the kindly-natured +underground folk of Celtic and Teutonic lands, or than +the heroine of Palermo. The payment to their human +help is no subject of jest to them. A woman whom they +once called in was roundly told: “If it be a boy you +shall be happy; but if it be a girl we will tear you in four +parts, and hang you in this cave.” The unhappy midwife +of course determined that it should be a boy; and +when a girl arrived she made believe it was a boy, +swaddled it up tightly, and went home. When, eight +days afterwards, the child was unpacked, the Nereids' +rage and disappointment were great; and they sent +one of their number to knock at her door in the hope +that she would answer the first summons. Now to +answer the first summons of a Nereid meant madness. +Of this the woman was fully aware; and her cunning +cheated them even of their revenge.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>Sometimes these supernatural beings bestow gifts of a +more distinctly divine character than any of the foregoing. +A midwife in Strathspey, on one such occasion, was +desired to ask what she would, and it should be granted +if in the power of the fairies. She asked that success +might attend herself and her posterity in all similar +operations. The gift was conferred; and her great-grandson +still continued to exercise it when Mr. Stewart +was collecting the materials for his work on the superstitions +of the Highlanders, published in 1823. In like +manner the Mohel, to whose adventure I have already +referred, and who was originally an avaricious man, +received the grace of benevolence to the poor, which +caused him to live a long and happy life with his family, +a pattern unto the whole world. The gift was symbolized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +by the restoration to him of his own bunch of keys, +which he found with many others in the possession of +his uncanny conductor. This personage had held the +keys by virtue of his being lord over the hearts of those +who never at any time do good: in other words, he was +the demon of covetousness. Here we have an instance, +more or less conscious, of the tendency, so marked in +Jewish literature, to parable. But the form of the +parable bears striking testimony to its origin in a myth +common to many races. The keys in particular probably +indicate that the recompense at one time took the shape +of a palladium. This is not at all uncommon in the +tales. The Countess Von Ranzau was once summoned +from her castle of Breitenburg in Schleswig to the help +of a dwarf-woman, and in return received, according to +one account, a large piece of gold to be made into fifty +counters, a herring and two spindles, upon the preservation +of which the fortunes of the family were to +depend. The gifts are variously stated in different +versions of the tale, but all the versions agree in attaching +to them blessings on the noble house of Ranzau so long +as they were kept in the family. The Frau Von Hahnen, +in a Bohemian legend, receives for her services to a +water-nix three pieces of gold, with the injunction to +take care of them, and never to let them go out of the +hands of her own lineage, else the whole family would +fall into poverty. She bequeathed the treasures to her +three sons; but the youngest son took a wife, who with +a light heart gave the fairy gold away. Misery, of +course, resulted from her folly; and the race of Hahnen +speedily came to an end.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>It is quite possible that the spoons bestowed by Vitra +upon the clergyman's wife in Lappmark were once reputed +to be the subject of a similar proviso. So common,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +forsooth, was the stipulation, that in one way or other it +was annexed to well-nigh all fairy gifts: they brought +luck to their possessor for the time being. Examples of +this are endless: one only will content us in this connection; +and, like Vitra's gift, we shall find it in Swedish +Lappmark. A peasant who had one day been unlucky +at the chase, was returning disgusted, when he met a fine +gentleman who begged him to come and cure his wife. +The peasant protested in vain that he was not a doctor. +The other would take no denial, insisting that it was no +matter, for if he would only put his hands upon the lady +she would be healed. Accordingly the stranger led him +to the very top of a mountain, where was perched a +castle he had never seen before. On entering it he +found the walls were mirrors, the roof overhead of silver, +the carpets of gold-embroidered silk, and the furniture of +the purest gold and jewels. The stranger took him into +a room where lay the loveliest of princesses on a golden +bed, screaming with pain. As soon as she saw the +peasant she begged him to come and put his hands upon +her. Almost stupefied with astonishment he hesitated to +lay his coarse hands upon so fair a dame. But at length +he yielded; and in a moment her pain ceased, and she +was made whole. She stood up and thanked him, +begging him to tarry awhile and eat with them. This, +however, he declined to do, for he feared that if he +tasted the food which was offered him he must remain +there. The stranger whom he had followed then took +a leathern purse, filled it with small round pieces of +wood, and gave it to the peasant with these words: “So +long as thou art in possession of this purse money will +never fail thee. But if thou shouldst ever see me again, +beware of speaking to me; for if thou speak thy luck +will depart.” When the man got home he found the +purse filled with dollars; and by virtue of its magical +property he became the richest man in the parish. As +soon as he found the purse always full, whatever he took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +out of it, he began to live in a spendthrift manner and +frequented the alehouse. One evening as he sat there +he beheld the stranger with a bottle in his hand going +round and gathering the drops which the guests shook +from time to time out of their glasses. The rich peasant +was surprised that one who had given him so much did +not seem able to buy himself a single dram, but was +reduced to this means of getting a drink. Thereupon he +went up to him and said: “Thou hast shown me more +kindness than any other man ever did, and I will +willingly treat thee to a little.” The words were scarce +out of his mouth when he received such a blow on his +head that he fell stunned to the ground; and when +again he came to himself the stranger and his purse +were both gone. From that day forward he became +poorer and poorer, until he was reduced to absolute +beggary.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>This story exemplifies every point that had had interested +us in this discussion: the need of the Trolls for +human help, the refusal of food, fairy gratitude, and the +conditions involved in the acceptance of supernatural +gifts. It mentions one further characteristic of fairy +nature—the objection to be recognized and addressed by +men who are privileged to see them. But the consideration +of this requires another chapter.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. v. p. 70, translated from “Y Brython,” +vol. iv. p. 251.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Poestion, p. 111; Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” p. 457, note, quoting at +length the declaration from Hülpher, “Samlingen om Jämtland.” A translation will be found in Keightley, p. 122.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Meier, p. 59.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 128, from Thiele, “Danmark's Folkesagn”; Keightley, p. 506.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Waldron, p. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> “Mélusine,” vol. i. p. 446; Radloff, vol. i. p. 78; Bladé, vol. i. p. +161; Cosquin, vol. ii. p. 10; Cavallius, p. 281; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iv. p. 222.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Child, vol. i. p. 319; “Thomas of Erceldoune,” p. 11 (Cambridge +Text); Saxo, “Gesta Dan.” l. viii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <i>Journal of Anthrop. Inst.</i> vol. x. p. 282; Shortland, p. 150; +“Kalewala,” rune xvi. l. 293.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Gill, p. 172.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Keightley, p. 261; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Jahn, p. 72; Keightley, p. 275, quoting Müller, “Bilder und +Sagen aus der Schweiz,” p. 119; Birlinger, “Volksthümliches,” vol. i. p. 42; Kuhn, p. 82; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 128; vol. iii. p. 54, quoting +Müllenhoff, “Sagen, &c., der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg”; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 173; Wratislaw, p. 40; Wenzig, +p. 198; Liebrecht, p. 100, citing “Results of a Tour in Dardistan”, part iii. p. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Kennedy, p. 106; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 130, quoting Thiele, “Danmark's +Folkesagn.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Jahn, p. 64; <i>cf.</i> p. 74, where there are two maidens, one of whom +had saved the toad when the other desired to kill it. They stand sponsors for the fairy child, and are rewarded with sweepings which +turn to gold; also Bartsch, vol. i. p. 50, where a sword is suspended.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Meier, p. 69; Müller, p. 140; “N. and Q.,” 7th ser. vol. v. p. 501.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Pitré, vol. v. p. 23. The story in its present form does not say that +the human food enabled the lady to return from Fairyland, but only that it saved her life. Probably, however, an earlier version may have +shown the incident in a more primitive form.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Bent, p. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Keightley, p. 388, citing Stewart; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 50 <i>et seq.</i>, +quoting Müllenhoff and Thiele; Grohmann, p. 145; see also Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Poestion, p. 119.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES (<i>continued</i>).</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The magical ointment — Human +prying punished by fairies, and by other supernatural beings — Dame + Berchta — Hertha — Lady Godiva — Analogous stories +in Europe — In the East — Religious ceremonies performed by +women only — Lady Godiva a pagan goddess.</p></div> + +<p>Before we quit the subject of fairy births, we have a +few more stories to discuss. They resemble in their +general tenor those already noticed; but instead of +one or other of the incidents considered in the previous +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">chapter</a> we are led to a different catastrophe by the +introduction of a new incident—that of the Magical +Ointment. The plot no longer hinges upon fairy +gratitude, but upon human curiosity and disobedience.</p> + +<p>The typical tale is told, and exceedingly well told—though, +alas! not exactly in the language of the natives—by +Mrs. Bray in her Letters to Southey, of a certain +midwife of Tavistock. One midnight, as she was getting +into bed, this good woman was summoned by a strange, +squint-eyed, little, ugly old fellow to follow him straightway, +and attend upon his wife. In spite of her instinctive +repulsion she could not resist the command; +and in a moment the little man whisked her, with +himself, upon a large coal-black horse with eyes of fire, +which stood waiting at the door. Ere long she found +herself at the door of a neat cottage; the patient was a +decent-looking woman who already had two children, +and all things were prepared for her visit. When the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +child—a fine, bouncing babe—was born, its mother gave +the midwife some ointment, with directions to “strike +the child's eyes with it.” Now the word <i>strike</i> in the +Devonshire dialect means not to give a blow, but to rub, +or touch, gently; and as the woman obeyed she thought +the task an odd one, and in her curiosity tried the effect +of the ointment upon one of her own eyes. At once a +change was wrought in the appearance of everything +around her. The new mother appeared no longer as a +homely cottager, but a beautiful lady attired in white; +the babe, fairer than before, but still witnessing with the +elvish cast of its eye to its paternity, was wrapped in +swaddling clothes of silvery gauze; while the elder +children, who sat on either side of the bed, were +transformed into flat-nosed imps, who with mops and +mows were busied to no end in scratching their own +polls, or in pulling the fairy lady's ears with their long +and hairy paws. The nurse, discreetly silent about +what she had done and the wonderful metamorphoses +she beheld around her, got away from the house of +enchantment as quickly as she could; and the sour-looking +old fellow who had brought her carried her back +on his steed much faster than they had come. But the +next market-day, when she sallied forth to sell her eggs, +whom should she see but the same ill-looking scoundrel +busied in pilfering sundry articles from stall to stall. +So she went up to him, and with a nonchalant air +addressed him, inquiring after his wife and child, who, +she hoped, were both as well as could be expected. +“What!” exclaimed the old pixy thief, “do you <i>see</i> me +to-day?” “See you! to be sure I do, as plain as I see +the sun in the skies; and I see you are busy into the +bargain,” she replied. “Do you so?” cried he; “pray, +with which eye do you see all this?” “With the right +eye, to be sure.” “The ointment! the ointment!” +exclaimed the old fellow; “take that for meddling with +what did not belong to you: you shall see me no more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>.” +He struck her eye as he spoke, and from that hour till +the day of her death she was blind on the right side, +thus dearly paying for having gratified an idle curiosity +in the house of a pixy.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>In this tale the midwife acquired her supernatural +vision through gratifying her curiosity; but perhaps in +the larger number of instances it is acquired by accident. +Her eye smarts or itches; and without thinking, she rubs +it with a finger covered with the Magical Ointment. In +a Breton variant, however, a certain stone, perfectly +polished, and in the form of an egg, is given to the +woman to rub the fairy child's eyes. In order to test +its virtue she applies it to her own right eye, thus +obtaining the faculty of seeing the elves when they +rendered themselves invisible to ordinary sight. Sometimes, +moreover, the eye-salve is expressly given for the +purpose of being used by the nurse upon her own eyes. +This was the case with a doctor who, in a north country +tale, was presented with one kind of ointment before he +entered the fairy realm and another when he left it. +The former gave him to behold a splendid portico in the +side of a steep hill, through which he passed into the +fairies' hall within; but on anointing one eye with the +latter ointment, to that eye the hill seemed restored to +its natural shape. Similarly in Nithsdale a fairy rewards +the kindness of a young mother, to whom she had +committed her babe to suckle, by taking her on a visit +to Fairyland. A door opened in a green hillside, disclosing +a porch which the nurse and her conductor +entered. There the lady dropped three drops of a +precious dew on the nurse's left eyelid, and they were +admitted to a beautiful land watered with meandering +rivulets and yellow with corn, where the trees were laden +with fruits which dropped honey. The nurse was here +presented with magical gifts, and when a green dew had +baptized her right eye she was enabled to behold further<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +wonders. On returning, the fairy passed her hand over +the woman's eye and restored its normal powers; but +the woman had sufficient address to secure the wonder-working +balm. By its means she retained for many +years the gift of discerning the earth-visiting spirits; +but on one occasion, happening to meet the fairy lady +who had given her the child, she attempted to shake +hands with her. “What ee d' ye see me wi'?” whispered +she. “Wi' them baith,” answered the matron. The +fairy accordingly breathed on her eyes; and even the +power of the box failed afterwards to restore their +enchanted vision. A Carnarvonshire story, probably +incomplete, makes no mention of the ointment conferring +supernatural sight; but when the midwife is to +be dismissed she is told to rub her eyes with a certain +salve, whereupon she at once finds herself sitting on a +tuft of rushes, and not in a palace: baby and all had +disappeared. The sequel, however, shows that by some +means she had retained the power of seeing fairies, at +least with one eye; for when she next went to the town, +lo and behold! busily buying was the elf whose wife she +had attended. He betrayed the usual annoyance at +being noticed by the woman; and on learning with which +eye she saw him he vanished, never more to be looked +upon by her. A tale from Guernsey attributes the +magical faculty to some of the child's saliva which fell +into the nurse's eye. And a still more extraordinary +cause is assigned to it in a tradition from Lower Brittany, +where it is said to be due to the sacred bond formed +between the woman and a masculine elf when she +became godmother and he godfather to the babe.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> + +<p>The effect of the wonder-working salve or water is +differently described in different tales. The fairy maiden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +Rockflower speaks of it to her lover, in a Breton tale +from Saint Cast, as “clearing his eyes like her own.” +And this is evidently to be understood in all cases. +Accordingly, we find the invariable result is that the +favoured mortal beholds swarms of fairies who were +invisible before. But their dwellings, their clothing, and +their surroundings in general suffer a transformation by +no means always the same. A hovel or a cavern becomes +a palace, whose inhabitants, however ugly they may be, +are attired like princesses and courtiers, and are served +with vessels of silver and gold. On the other hand a +castle is changed by the magical balm into “a big rough +cave, with water oozing over the edges of the stones, and +through the clay; and the lady, and the lord, and the +child, weazened, poverty-bitten crathurs—nothing but +skin and bone, and the rich dresses were old rags.” +This is an Irish picture; but in the north of England +it is much the same. Instead of a neat cottage the +midwife perceives the large overhanging branches of an +ancient oak, whose hollow and moss-grown trunk she +had before mistaken for the fireplace, where glow-worms +supplied the place of lamps. And in North Wales, +when Mrs. Gamp incautiously rubbed an itching eye +with the finger she had used to rub the baby's eyes, +“then she saw with that eye that the wife lay on a +bundle of rushes and withered ferns, in a large cave of +big stones all round her, with a little fire in one corner +of it; and she also saw that the lady was only Eilian, +her former servant-girl, whilst with the other eye she +beheld the finest place she had ever seen.” More terrible +still, in another story, evidently influenced by the Welsh +Methodist revival, the unhappy woman beheld “herself +surrounded by fearful flames; the ladies and gentlemen +looked like devils, and the children appeared like the +most hideous imps of hell, though with the other parts +of her eyes all looked grand and beautiful as before.”<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>However disturbing these visions may have been, the +nurse was generally discreet enough to maintain perfect +silence upon them until she got back to the safety +of her own home. But it is not very surprising if her +tongue sometimes got the better of her, as in a story +obtained by Professor Rhys at Ystrad Meurig. There +the heroine said to the elf-lady in the evening, as she was +dressing the infant: “You have had a great many visitors +to-day.” To this the lady sharply replied: “How do +you know that? Have you been putting the ointment +to your eyes?” Thereupon she jumped out of bed, and +blew into her eyes, saying: “Now you will see no more.” +The woman could never afterwards see the fairies, nor +was the ointment entrusted to her again. So in the +Cornish tale of Cherry of Zennor, that young damsel, +being hired by a fairy widower to keep house for him, +has the assurance to fall in love with him. She touches +her own eyes with the unguent kept for anointing the +eyes of her master's little boy, and in consequence +catches her master kissing a lovely lady. When he next +attempts to kiss Cherry herself she slaps his face, and, +mad with jealousy, lets slip the secret. No fairy widower +with any self-respect could put up with such conduct as +this; and Cherry has to quit Fairyland. Her parents had +supposed her dead; and when she returned they believed +at first it was her ghost. Indeed, it is said she was never +afterwards right in her head; and on moonlight nights, +until she died, she would wander on to the Lady Downs +to look for her master.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<p>The earliest writer who mentions a story of this type<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +is Gervase of Tilbury, marshal of the kingdom of Arles, +who wrote about the beginning of the thirteenth century. +He professes to have himself met with a woman of Arles +who was one day washing clothes on the banks of the +Rhone, when a wooden bowl floated by her. In trying +to catch it, she got out of her depth and was seized by a +Drac. The Dracs were beings who haunted the waters of +rivers and dwelt in the deep pools, appearing often on +the banks and in the towns in human form. The woman +in question was carried down beneath the stream, and, +like Cherry of Zennor, made nurse to her captor's son. +One day the Drac gave her an eel pasty to eat. Her +fingers became greasy with the fat; and she happened to +put them to one of her eyes. Forthwith she acquired a +clear and distinct vision under the water. After some +years she was allowed to return to her husband and +family; and going early one morning to the market-place +of Beaucaire, she met the Drac. Recognizing him at +once, she saluted him and asked after the health of his +wife and child. “With which eye do you see me?” +inquired the Drac. The woman pointed to the eye she +had touched with the eel-fat; and thrusting his finger +into it, the Drac vanished from sight.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>The only punishment suffered in these cases is the +deprivation of the power of seeing fairies, or banishment +from their society. This seems mild enough: much +more was generally inflicted. The story first quoted +relates what seems to be the ordinary form of vengeance +for disregard of the prohibition to use the fairy eye-salve, +namely, loss of sight in the offending eye. Spitting or +striking is usually the means adopted by the elves to +effect this end. Sometimes, however, the eye is torn +from its socket. Whether there is much to choose between +these different ways of undergoing the punishment +is doubtful; but it should be noted that the last-mentioned +mode is a favourite one in Brittany, and follows<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +not so much on recognition as on denunciation by the +virtuous mortal of the elf's thieving propensities. “See +what thieves these fairies are!” cried a woman who +watched one of them putting her hand into the pocket of +a country woman's apron. The fairy instantly turned +round and tore out her eye. “Thieves!” bawled another +on a similar occasion, with the same result. In a Cornish +tale a woman is entrusted in her own house with the care +of an elf-child. The child brought remarkable prosperity +to the house, and his foster-mother grew very fond of +him. Finding that a certain water in which she was +required to wash his face made it very bright, she determined +to try it on her own, and splashed some of it into +her eye. This conferred the gift of seeing the little +people, who played with her boy, but had hitherto been +invisible to her; and one day she was surprised to meet +her nursling's father in the market—stealing. Recognition +followed, and the stranger exclaimed:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Water for elf, not water for self,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You've lost your eye, your child, and yourself.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">From that hour she was blind in the right eye. When +she got home the boy was gone; and she and her +husband, who had once been so happy, became poor and +wretched.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p>Here poverty and wretchedness, as well as the loss of +an eye, were inflicted. In a Northumbrian case the +foster-parent lost his charge and both eyes. So in a story +from Guernsey, the midwife, on the Saturday following +her attendance on the lady, meets the husband and father +in a shop filling his basket to right and left. She at once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +comprehends the plenty that reigned in his mysterious +dwelling. “Ah, you wicked thief, I see you!” she cried. +“You see me; how?” he inquired. “With my eyes,” +she replied. “In that case I will soon put you out of +power to play the spy,” he answered. So saying, he spat +in her face, and she became blind on the spot. A Danish +story also relates that a midwife, who had inadvertently +anointed her eyes with the salve handed to her by the +elf-folk for the usual purpose, was going home afterwards +and passed by a rye-field. The field was swarming with +elves, who were busy clipping off the ears of rye. Indignantly +she cried out: “What are you doing there?” +The little people thronged round her, and angrily +answered: “If thou canst see us, thus shalt thou be +served;” and suiting the action to the word, they put +out her eyes.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>Human beings, however, betray their meddling with +fairy ointment in other ways than by speech. The following +curious story was related as current at his native +place, by Dr. Carré of St. Jacut-de-la-Mer, to M. Sébillot. +A fisherman from St. Jacut was the last to return one +evening at dusk from the scene of his labours; and as he +walked along the wet sand of the seashore, he suddenly +came upon a number of sea-fairies in a cavern, talking and +gesticulating with vivacity, though he could not hear +what they said. He beheld them rub their eyes and +bodies with a sort of pomade, when, lo! their appearance +changed, and they were enabled to walk away in the +guise of ordinary women. Hiding carefully behind a +large rock, he watched them out of sight; and then, impelled +by curiosity, he made straight for the cave. There +he found what was left of the pomade, and taking a little +on his finger, he smeared it around his left eye. By this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +means he found himself able to penetrate the various +disguises assumed by the fairies for the purpose of robbing +or annoying mankind. He recognized as one of that +mischievous race a beggar-woman whom he saw a few +days afterwards going from door to door demanding +charity. He saw her casting spells on certain houses, and +peering eagerly into all, as if she were seeking for something +to steal. He distinguished, too, when out in his +boat, fish which were real fish from fish which were in +reality “ladies of the sea,” employed in entangling the +nets and playing other tricks upon the seamen. Attending +the fair of Ploubalay, he saw several elves who had assumed +the shapes of fortune-tellers, showmen, or gamblers, +to deceive the country folk; and this permitted him to +keep clear of their temptations. But as he smiled to +himself at what was going on around him, some of the +elves, who were exhibiting themselves on a platform in +front of one of the booths, caught sight of him; and he +saw by the anger in their looks that they had divined his +secret. Before he had time to fly, one of them, with the +rapidity of an arrow, struck his clairvoyant eye with a +stick and burst it. That is what happened to him who +would learn the secrets of the sea-fairies.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + +<p>Such was the punishment of curiosity; nor is it by +fairies alone that curiosity is punished. Cranmere Pool +on Dartmoor is, we are told, a great penal settlement for +refractory spirits. Many of the former inhabitants of the +parish are supposed to be still there expiating their +ghostly pranks. Of the spirit of one old farmer it is +related that it took seven clergymen to secure him. +They, however, succeeded at last in transforming him into +a colt, which was given in charge to a servant-boy with +directions to take him to Cranmere Pool, and there on +the brink of the pool to slip off the halter and return +instantly without looking round. He did look round, in +spite of the warning, and beheld the colt in the form of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +ball of fire plunge into the water. But as the mysterious +beast plunged he gave the lad a parting kick, which +knocked out one of his eyes, just as the Calender was +deprived of his eye in the “Arabian Nights.” Still worse +was the fate that overtook a woman, who, at midnight on +New Year's Eve, when all water is turned into wine, was +foolhardy enough to go to a well. As she bent over it to +draw, one came and plucked out her eye, saying:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“All water is wine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And thy two eyes are mine.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">A variant of the story relates that the woman herself +disappeared, and gives the rhyme as</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“All water is wine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And what is thereby is mine.”<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>At the end of the last <a href="#CHAPTER_III">chapter</a> we noted as a characteristic +of fairy nature the objection to be recognized and +addressed by men who are privileged to see them. We +are now able to carry the generalization a step further. +For, from the instances adduced in the foregoing pages, +it is obviously a common belief that supernatural personages, +without distinction, dislike not merely being +recognized and addressed, but even being seen, or at all +events being watched, and are only willing to be manifested +to humanity at their own pleasure and for their +own purposes. In the stories of the Magical Ointment it +is not so much the theft as the contravention of the +implicit prohibition against prying into fairy business +that rouses elfin anger. This will appear more clearly +from the fuller consideration of cases like those mentioned +in the last paragraph, in which punishment follows +directly upon the act of spying. In Northamptonshire,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +we learn that a man whose house was frequented by +fairies, and who had received many favours from them, +became smitten with a violent desire to behold his invisible +benefactors. Accordingly, he one night stationed himself +behind a knot in the door which divided the living-room +of his cottage from the sleeping-apartment. True to +their custom, the elves came to disport themselves on his +carefully-swept hearth, and to render to the household +their usual good offices. But no sooner had the man +glanced upon them than he became blind; and so provoked +were the fairies at this breach of hospitality that +they deserted his dwelling, and never more returned to +it. In Southern Germany and Switzerland, a mysterious +lady known as Dame Berchta is reputed to be abroad on +Twelfth Night. She is admittedly the relic of a heathen +goddess, one of whose attributes was to be a leader of the +souls of the dead; and as such she is followed by a band of +children. For her the peasants on Twelfth Night set a +repast, of which, if she be pleased, she and her troop +partake. A servant boy at a peasant's farm in the Tirol +on one such occasion perceived Lady Berchta's approach, +and hid himself behind the kneading-trough to watch +what she would do. She immediately became aware of +his presence as he peeped through a chink, and called to +one of her children to go and stop that chink. The child +went and blew into it, and the boy became stark-blind. +Thus he continued for a year, nor could any doctor help +him, until an old experienced man advised him to go to the +same place on the following Twelfth-tide, and falling down +on his knees behind the kneading-trough, to bewail his +curiosity. He accordingly did so. Dame Berchta came +again, and taking pity on him, commanded one of her +children to restore his sight. The child went and blew +once more through the chink, and the boy saw. Berchta, +however, and her weird troop he saw not; but the food +set out for them had disappeared.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>The tradition of the goddess Hertha lingered until +recently, and perchance lingers still, in the island of +Rügen. She had her dwelling, it is believed, in the +Herthaburg; and often yet, in the clear moonlight, out +of the forest which enfolds that hill, a fair lady comes +surrounded by her maids to bathe in the lake at its foot. +After awhile they emerge from the waters, and, wrapt +again in their long white veils, they vanish flickering +among the trees. But to the belated wanderer, if any +such there be, who looks upon this scene, it is a vision of +dread; for he is drawn by irresistible might to the lake +wherein the white lady is bathing, to be swallowed up in +its depths. And it is said that every year the lady must +lure one unhappy mortal into the flood. So in the classic +mythology, if Ovid report aright, Actæon met the fearful +fate of transformation into a stag by “gazing on divinity +disrobed,” and was torn in pieces by his own hounds. +Hertha was, indeed, according to Tacitus, more terrible +than Diana, since death was the penalty even when duty +called her slaves to the awful sight.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<p>These traditions have led us away from the Magical +Ointment, which thus appears to be only one aspect of the +larger theme of the objection on the part of supernatural +beings to human prying. Nor need we regret having +strayed; for we are brought naturally to one of the most +interesting of our national legends, namely, that of Lady +Godiva; and it will well repay a little consideration. As +generally told to-day it bears an unmistakable resemblance +to the foregoing stories; but there seems some difficulty +in classing it with them, because Peeping Tom is wanting +in the most ancient version known to us.</p> + +<p>Godiva, properly Godgifu, was an undoubted historical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +personage, the wife of Leofric, Earl of the Mercians, and +mother of the Earls Morcar and Edwin, and of Edith, +wife first of Gruffydd, Prince of North Wales, and afterwards +of King Harold the Second. The earliest mention +of her famous ride through Coventry is by Roger of +Wendover, who wrote in the beginning of the thirteenth +century, or a hundred and fifty years or thereabout after +her death. His account of the matter is as follows: +“The countess Godiva, who was a great lover of God's +mother, longing to free the town of Coventry from the +oppression of a heavy toll, often with urgent prayers +besought her husband, that from regard to Jesus Christ +and His mother, he would free the town from that service, +and from all other heavy burdens; and when the earl +sharply rebuked her for foolishly asking what was so +much to his damage, and always forbade her evermore +to speak to him on the subject; and while she, on the +other hand, with a woman's pertinacity, never ceased to +exasperate her husband on that matter, he at last made +her this answer: 'Mount your horse, and ride naked +before all the people, through the market of the town +from one end to the other, and on your return you shall +have your request.' On which Godiva replied: 'But will +you give me permission if I am willing to do it?' 'I +will,' said he. Whereupon the countess, beloved of God, +loosed her hair and let down her tresses, which covered +the whole of her body like a veil, and then mounting her +horse and attended by two knights, she rode through the +market place without being seen, except her fair legs; +and having completed the journey, she returned with +gladness to her astonished husband, and obtained of him +what she had asked, for Earl Leofric freed the town of +Coventry and its inhabitants from the aforesaid service, +and confirmed what he had done by a charter.”<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> +According to the more modern version, the inhabitants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +were enjoined to remain within doors, and, in the +Laureate's words:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">“one low churl, compact of thankless earth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The fatal byword of all years to come,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Boring a little auger-hole in fear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Peep'd—but his eyes, before they had their will,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were shrivell'd into darkness in his head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dropt before him. So the powers who wait<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On noble deeds, cancell'd a sense misus'd.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is not my business now to prove that the legend is +untrue in fact, or I should insist, first, that its omission +by previous writers, who refer both to Leofric and Godgifu +and their various good deeds, is strong negative testimony +against it; and I should show, from a calculation made +by the late Mr. M. H. Bloxam, and founded on the record +of Domesday Book, that the population of Coventry in +Leofric's time could scarcely have exceeded three hundred +and fifty souls, all in a greater or less degree of servitude, +and dwelling probably in wooden hovels each of a single +story, with a door, but no window.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> There was, therefore, +no market on the scale contemplated by Roger of +Wendover,—hardly, indeed, a town through which +Godgifu could have ridden; and a mere toll would have +been a matter of small moment when the people were all +serfs. The tale, in short, in the form given by the +chronicler, could not have been told until after Coventry +had risen to wealth and importance by means of its +monastery, whereof Godgifu and her husband were the +founders. Nobody, however, now asserts that Roger +of Wendover's narrative is to be taken seriously. +What therefore I want to point out in it is that +Godgifu's bargain was that she should ride naked +<i>before all the people</i>. And this is what the historian +understands her to have done; for he states that she rode<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +through the market-place without being seen, <i>except her +fair legs</i>, all the rest of her body being covered by her +hair like a veil. He tells us nothing about a proclamation +to the inhabitants to keep within doors; and of +course Peeping Tom is an impossibility in this version of +the tale.</p> + +<p>Coventry has for generations honoured its benefactress +by a periodical procession, wherein she is represented by +a girl dressed as nearly like the countess on her ride as +the manners of the day have permitted. When this procession +was first instituted, is unknown. The earliest +mention of it seems to be in the year 1678. Its object +then was to proclaim the Great Fair, and Lady Godiva +was merely an incident in it. The Lansdowne MSS. in +the British Museum contain an account of a visit to +Coventry by the “captain, lieutenant, and ancient” of +the military company of Norwich, who travelled in the +Midland Counties in August 1634. These tourists +describe St. Mary's Hall as adorned at the upper end +“with rich hangings, and all about with fayre pictures, one +more especially of a noble lady (the Lady Godiva) whose +memory they have cause not to forget, for that shee purchas'd +and redeem'd their lost infringed liberties and +ffreedomes, and obtained remission of heavy tributes +impos'd upon them, by undertaking a hard and unseemly +task, w'ch was to ride naked openly at high noone day +through the city on a milk-white steed, w'ch she willingly +performed, according to her lord's strict injunction. It +may be very well discussed heere whether his hatred or +her love exceeded. Her fayre long hayre did much offend +the wanton's glancing eye.” In this record we have no +additional fact except the mention of “high noone day” +as the time of the journey; for the allusion to “the +wanton's glancing eye” is too vague to be interpreted +of Peeping Tom, and the writer does not refer to +any commemorative procession. It has been supposed, +therefore, that the carnival times of Charles the Second<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +both begot the procession and tacked Peeping Tom +to the legend. But it is more likely that the procession +is as old as the fair, which was held under +a charter of Henry the Third, granted in 1217. Such +pageants were not uncommon in municipal life, +and were everywhere to the taste of the people. +Whether Lady Godiva was a primitive part of it is +another question. The mention of the procession in +1678 occurs in a manuscript volume of annals of the city, +in a handwriting of the period. The entry in question +is as follows: “31 May 1678 being the great Fair at +Coventry there was an extraordinary” [Here the +bottom of the page is reached; and in turning over the +chronicler has omitted a word, for on the top of the next +page we read:] “Divers of the Companies” [<i>i.e.</i>, the +City Guilds] “set out each a follower, The Mayor Two, +and the Sheriffs each one and 2 at the publick charge, +there were divers Streamers with the Companies arms +and Ja. Swinnertons Son represented Lady Godiva.”<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>This brief entry is by no means free from ambiguity. +Perhaps all that we are warranted in inferring from it is +that the annual procession was, that year, of unusual +splendour. Whether, as has been conjectured, it was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +first time Lady Godiva had ever made her appearance, +there seems more doubt. Apart from any evidence, there +is no improbability in supposing that she may have formed +part of earlier processions; though it may be that during +the period of Puritan ascendency the show had been +neglected and the lady in particular had been discountenanced. +If this be so, however, it is difficult to account +for the manner in which her figure is referred to by +the writer, unless there were some personal reason connected +with James Swinnerton, or his son, undiscoverable +by us at this distance of time.</p> + +<p>But whatever doubt may exist as to Godiva's share +in the early processions, there appears no less as to the +episode of Peeping Tom. Looking out of an upper story +of the King's Head, at the corner of Smithford Street, is +an oaken figure called by the name of the notorious tailor. +It is in reality a statue of a man in armour, dating no +further back than the reign of Henry the Seventh; and, +as a local antiquary notes, “to favour the posture of his +leaning out of window, the arms have been cut off at the +elbows.”<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> This statue, now generally believed to have +been intended for St. George, could not have been thus +appropriated and adapted to its present purpose until its +original design had been forgotten and the incongruity of +its costume passed unrecognized. This is said to have +been in 1678, when a figure, identified with the one in +question, was put up in Grey Friars Lane by Alderman +Owen.</p> + +<p>It must not be overlooked that there may have been +from the first more than one version of the legend, and +that a version rejected by, or perhaps unknown to, Roger +of Wendover and the writers who followed him may have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +always included the order to the inhabitants to keep +within doors, of which Peeping Tom would seem to be +the necessary accompaniment. Unfortunately, we have +no evidence on this point. The earliest record of such +a version appears in one of the manuscript volumes +already alluded to. It has not been hitherto printed; +and it is so much at variance, alike with the legend +preserved in the thirteenth century, and the poem of +the nineteenth century, that I quote it entire:—“The +Franchisment and Freedome of Coventry was purchased +in manner Following. Godiva the wife of Leofric Earle +of Chester and Duke of March requesting of her Lord +freedome for this That Towne, obtained the same upon +condition that she should ride naked through the same; +who for the Love she bare to the Inhabitants thereof, +and the perpetuall remembrance of her Great Affection +thereunto, performed the same as Followeth. In the +forenoone all householders were Commanded to keep in +their Families shutting their doores and windows close +whilst the Dutchess performed this good deed, which +done she rode naked through the midst of the Towne, +without any other Coverture save only her hair. But +about the midst of the Citty her horse neighed, whereat +one desirous to see the strange Case lett downe a Window, +and looked out, for which fact or for that the Horse did +neigh, as the cause thereof, Though all the Towne were +Franchised, yet horses were not toll-free to this day.”<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> + +<p>The manuscript in which this passage occurs is copied +from an older manuscript which appears to have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +compiled in the sixteenth century. Unfortunately, however, +the latter is imperfect, a leaf having been torn +out at this very point. We cannot, therefore, say with +certainty that the account of the famous ride was ever +comprised in it. But the expressions made use of imply +that the windows were closed with shutters rather than +glass, and that they were opened by letting down the +shutters, which were either loose or affixed by a hinge +to the bottom sills. It is a question exactly at what +period glass came into general use for windows in the +burgesses' houses at Coventry. Down almost to the +middle of the fifteenth century all glass was imported; +and consequently it was not so common in the midlands +as near the coast, especially the south-eastern coast. +We shall probably be on the safe side if we assume that +in the early years of the sixteenth century, at all events, +the ordinary dwelling-house at Coventry was no longer +destitute of this luxury. It would seem, therefore, that +the story, in the form here given, cannot be later, and +may be much earlier, than the latter years of the fifteenth +century.</p> + +<p>Failing definite evidence to carry us back further, it +becomes of importance to inquire whether there are +any traditions in other places from which we may +reason. In the “History of Gloucestershire,” printed +by Samuel Rudder of Cirencester in 1779, we read +that the parishioners of St. Briavels, hard by the +Forest of Dean, “have a custom of distributing yearly +upon Whitsunday, after divine service, pieces of bread +and cheese to the congregation at church, to defray +the expenses of which every householder in the parish +pays a penny to the churchwardens; and this is said +to be for the privilege of cutting and taking the wood +in Hudnolls. The tradition is that the privilege was +obtained of some Earl of Hereford, then lord of the +Forest of Dean, at the instance of his lady, upon the +same hard terms that Lady Godiva obtained the privileges<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +for the citizens of Coventry.” It appears that +Rudder, while in the main accurately relating both +custom and tradition, has made the mistake of supposing +that the payment was made to the churchwardens, +whereas it was in all probability made to the constable +of the castle of St. Briavels as warden of the Forest of +Dean. The custom is now in a late stage of decadence, +and local inquiries have failed to elicit any further details +throwing light on the point under consideration.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>I am not aware of any other European tradition that +will bear comparison with that of Godiva, but Liebrecht +relates that he remembers in his youth, about the year +1820, in a German newspaper, a story according to which +a countess frees her husband's subjects from a heavy +punishment imposed by him. She undertakes to walk a +certain course clad only in her shift, and she performs it, +but clad in a shift of iron.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> The condition is here eluded +rather than fulfilled; and the point of the story is consequently +varied. It would be interesting to have the tale +unearthed from the old newspaper, and to know where +its scene was laid, and whether it was a genuine piece of +folklore.</p> + +<p>Eastern tales, however, furnish us repeatedly with +incidents in which a lady parades the streets of a city, +and during her progress all folk are bidden to close their +shops and withdraw into their houses on pain of death. +The example of the Princess Badroulbadour will occur +to every reader of the “Arabian Nights.” This, however, +is by no means a solitary example. In the story of Kamar +Al-Zaman and the Jeweller's Wife, one of the stories of +the “Nights” rejected on moral grounds by Lane, but +translated by Burton, a dervish relates that he chanced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +one Friday to enter the city of Bassorah, and found the +streets deserted. The shops were open; but neither man +nor woman, girl nor boy, dog nor cat was to be seen. +By and by he heard a sound of drums, and hiding himself +in a coffee-house, he looked out through a crevice +and saw forty pairs of slave girls, with uncovered heads +and faces displayed, come walking through the market, +and in their midst a lady riding unveiled and adorned +with gold and gems. In front of her was a damsel +bearing in baldric a great sword with haft of emerald and +tassels of jewel-encrusted gold. Pausing close to the +dervish, the lady said to her maidens: “I hear a noise of +somewhat within yonder shop; so do ye search it, lest +haply there be one hidden there, with intent to enjoy a +look at us while we have our faces unveiled.” Accordingly +they searched the shop opposite the coffee-house, +and brought forth a man. At the lady's command the +damsel with the sword smote off his head, and leaving +the corpse lying on the ground, the procession swept on. +It turned out that the lady was the wife of a jeweller to +whom the King of Bassorah was desirous of granting a +boon, and at her request the boon obtained was a proclamation +commanding that all the townsfolk should every +Friday enter the mosques two hours before the hour of +prayer, so that none might abide in the town, great or +small, unless they were in the mosques or in the houses +with the doors locked upon them; but all the shops were +to be left open. Then the lady had permission to ride +with her slave-women through the heart of the town, +and none were to look on her from window or lattice; +and every one whom she found abroad she was at liberty +to kill. A similar incident is related in the life of Kurroglú, +the robber-poet of Persia, where a beautiful princess +passes in state through the bazaars every Friday on her +way to the mosque, while all the men are banished.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +Here, again, some one was of course found playing the +spy.</p> + +<p>A version of the incident, which can be traced further +back in literary form than either of the foregoing, occurs +in the “Ardshi-Bordshi.” This book is a Mongolian +recension of a Sanskrit collection of stories concerning +Vikramâditya, a monarch who, if he ever lived, seems to +have flourished about the beginning of the Christian era. +He was celebrated, like Solomon, for his wisdom and his +might; and his name became the centre of a vast accretion +of legends. Some of these legends were translated +into Mongolian late in the Middle Ages, and formed a +small collection called after Ardshi-Bordshi, the nominal +hero. In the story to which I wish to direct attention, a +certain king has a daughter bearing the name of Sunshine, +of whom he was so jealous that if any one looked upon +her his eyes were put out, and the man who entered her +apartments had his legs broken. Naturally, the young +lady got tired of being thus immured, and complained to +her father that, as she had no opportunity of seeing man +or beast, the time hung heavily on her hands; and she +begged him to let her go out on the fifteenth of the month +and look about her. The king agreed to this; but, the +sly old rascal! nothing was further from his intention +than to gratify his daughter's longing for masculine +converse. Wherefore he issued a decree that all objects +for sale were to be exposed openly to the view, all cattle +to be left indoors, the men and women were to withdraw +into their houses and close their doors and windows, and +if any one came forth he should be severely punished. +On the appointed day, Sunshine, surrounded by her +ladies, and seated in a brand-new chariot, drove through +the town, and viewed the merchandise and goods exposed +for sale. The king had a minister, named Moon, who +could not restrain his curiosity; and he peeped at her +from a balcony. The princess, as he did so, caught sight +of him and made signs to him, which were interpreted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +by the penetration of his wife to be an invitation to meet +her clandestinely. The wife hardly displayed what most +ladies would deem “a proper spirit” in advising compliance; +and the consequence of taking that advice +would have been serious trouble both to himself and to +the princess, had it not been for the ready wit of the two +women, who got over the difficulty by contriving an +ingenious equivocation not unknown in other stories, by +which the princess cleared herself and her lover on oath.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>It is true that in these tales the lady who rides forth is +not naked; but to ride openly and unveiled would be +thought almost as immodest in countries where strict +seclusion is imposed upon women. All these tales +include the Peeping Tom incident; and it appears, +indeed, so obvious a corollary to the central thought of +Lady Godiva's adventure that it is hardly likely to have +required centuries for its evolution. From some traditions, +however, it is absent. A story belonging to the +Cinderella cycle, found at Smyrna, relates that when a +certain king desired to marry his own daughter, the +maiden, by the advice of her Fate, demanded as the +price of compliance three magnificent dresses. Having +obtained these, she asked permission to go unseen (like +Badroulbadour) to the bath. The king, to gratify her, +forbade his subjects on pain of death to open their shops +or to show themselves in the streets while she passed by. +She thus got an opportunity of escaping from the city, +of which she did not fail to make use,—greatly, no doubt, +to her unnatural father's disgust. An Indian tradition also +tells us that the inhabitants of Chamba were under the +necessity of digging a canal for irrigation, but when it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +was dug, owing to the enchantments of an evil spirit, not +a drop of water could be got to flow along its course. A +magician at last found out that the spell could be dissolved +if the beautiful and virtuous young princess of +Chamba would consent to traverse a given distance of +the plain entirely naked, in full view of the populace, and +to lose her head when the journey was accomplished. +After much hesitation, her compassion triumphed over +her shame; and she undertook the task. But lo! as she +advanced, a thick line of young trees arose to right and +left, completely hiding her from cynical eyes. And the +shady canal is shown to-day by the good people of +Chamba as one of the most authentic monuments of their +history.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p>So far the stories. Concerning which it must be +observed that they are evidence that the myth of Lady +Godiva is widely diffused in the East, and that the spy +is usually, though not always, part of the tale. The +Smyrnœan version must probably be thrown out of the +reckoning. It is, as I have already mentioned, a variant +of the Cinderella cycle. The problem of the plot is how +to get the heroine unseen out of her father's clutches. +This is commonly effected by the simple mechanism of +a disguise and a night escape. Other methods, I need +not now detail, are, however, sometimes adopted; and +the excuse of going to the bath, with the order to the +people to close their shops and keep within doors, would +seem to reveal nothing more than the unconscious +influence of Aladdin or some other of the Eastern stories. +Throwing this out, then, as accidental, an overwhelming +proportion of the analogues cited contains the spy. It +would be dangerous to reason on the supposition that +the proportions of all the Asiatic variants extant correspond +with those of the variants cited; but we are at +liberty to assume that a large number, if not the majority,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +comprise the incident of Peeping Tom. None of them +was known in Europe until Galland published his translation +of the “Arabian Nights” in the year 1704—upwards +of two centuries later than the latest period at +which the story as given in the Coventry manuscript +can have come into existence.</p> + +<p>But the stories, though they may go a little way to +help us in regard to the incident of Peeping Tom, throw +no light on the origin of the legend, or of the procession. +Let us therefore turn to one or two curious religious +ceremonies, which may have some bearing upon it. +A potent spell to bring rain was reported as actually +practised during the Gorakhpur famine of 1873-4. +It consisted of a gang of women stripping themselves +perfectly naked, and going out by night to drag the +plough across a field. The men were kept carefully +out of the way, as it was believed that peeping by +them would not only vitiate the spell, but bring +trouble on the village. It would not be a long step +from this belief to a story in which peeping was alleged +to have taken place with disastrous effects, either to +the village, or (by favour of the deities intended to be +propitiated) to the culprit himself. At the festival of the +local goddess in the village of Serúr, in the Southern +Mahratta country, the third and fourth days are devoted +to private offerings. Many women, we are told, on these +days walk naked to the temple in fulfilment of vows, +“but they were covered with leaves and boughs of trees, +and surrounded by their female relations and friends.”<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + +<p>The performance of religious rites by women alone, +when men are required under heavy penalties to absent +themselves, is, indeed, not very uncommon in savage life. +Nor is it confined to savage life. When Rome was at the +height of her civilization and her triumphs, the festival +of the Bona Dea was rendered notorious by the divorce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +of Cæsar's wife and by legal proceedings against an +aristocratic scoundrel, who, for the purposes of an intrigue +with her, had violated the sacred ceremonies. The +Bona Dea, or Good Goddess, was a woodland deity, the +daughter and wife of Faunus. Her worship had descended +from a remote antiquity; and her annual festival +was held in the month of December, and was attended +only by women. The matrons of the noblest families of +Rome met by night in the house of the highest official of +the state to perform the traditional ceremonies of the +goddess, and to pray for the well-being of the Roman +people. Only women, and those of the most unsullied +character, were permitted to attend; and the breach of +this rule by Clodius, disguised in woman's garb, constituted +a heinous offence against the state, from the +penalties of which he only escaped, if we may believe +Cicero, by bribing the judges.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> + +<p>At the village of Southam, not far from Coventry, +another procession in honour of Godiva formerly took +place. Very little is known about it now, save one +singular fact, namely, that there were two Godivas in +the cavalcade, and one of them was black. Southam was +part of the property possessed by Earl Leofric; and it +has been suggested that this is enough to account for the +commemoration of Godgifu. It would no doubt be an +excellent reason for affixing her renowned name to a +periodical ceremony already performed there. But it +would hardly be a reason for commemorating her +extortion of privileges in which the inhabitants of +Southam did not share; and it would leave the black +lady unexplained. She may, indeed, have been a mere +travesty, though the hypothesis would be anything but +free from difficulty. Here, again, if we have recourse to +the comparison of ceremonies, we may obtain some light.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +Among the tribes of the Gold Coast of Africa the wives +of men who have gone to war make a daily procession +through the town. They are stark naked, painted all +over with white, and decorated with beads and charms. +Any man who is found in the town is attacked and +driven away. And on the occasion of a battle the women +imitate the actions the men are thought to be performing, +with guns, sticks, and knives. The Gold Coast is a long +way off; but not only do black women there paint +themselves white in their sacred rites, white women in +Britain have painted themselves, if not black, at least a +dark blue. Pliny records that both matrons and unmarried +girls among the Britons in the first century of the +Christian era were in the habit of staining themselves all +over with the juice of the woad; and he adds that, thus +rivalling the swarthy hue of the Æthiopians, they go on +these occasions in a state of nature. We are sometimes +taught that when the English invaded Britain, the +natives whom they found here were all driven out or +massacred. There are, however, many reasons for doubting +that this wholesale destruction was as complete as +has been imagined. The name of Coventry betrays in +its termination a Celtic element; and this could hardly +have entered into it had there not been in the neighbourhood +a considerable British-speaking population. +What is more likely than that at Southam this population +continued and preserved its customs, and that one +of such customs was that very religious rite of which +Pliny speaks? Unhappily he tells us nothing about the +rite itself, nor the deity in whose honour it was performed. +But it would not involve a great stretch of fancy to +suppose that in the black lady of Southam we have a +survival of the performance. It is not too much to say +that this explanation would have the merit of being +intelligible and adequate.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>In all countries ceremonies of a special character are +usually dramatic. They represent, or are believed to +represent, actions of the divinities in whose honour they +are performed. The rites of the Bona Dea, we know, +were of this kind; and they consequently degenerated +into orgies of a shameful character. The Coventry procession +is admittedly a representation of Godgifu's ride. +It is not now, nor has it been so long as we have any +records of it—that is to say for two hundred years—connected +with any professed act of worship; but this is not +incompatible with its being the long-descended relic of +some such observance as those I have described. The +introduction of Christianity did not annihilate the older +cults. The new religion incorporated some of them; and +although the rest were no longer regarded as sacred, +the feeling of obligation remained attached to them for +centuries. They were secularized, and ultimately degraded +for the most part into burlesque. Such as were +connected with municipal life, or, as we shall see in a +future chapter, with family life, retained a measure of +solemnity long after it had passed away from rites which +had been abandoned to an unorganized mob. This is +well illustrated by the contrast between the ceremonial +at Coventry (whatever its origin) and that at St. Briavels. +The stronger hand of a municipality would have a +restraining power wanting to that of a village community, +or a parish—especially if the latter had been +governed by a lord, who in later times had been shorn +of his authority, or had ceased to reside among, or take +an interest in the affairs of, his tenantry. Something +like this I take to have been the history of St. Briavels. +There does not appear from Rudder's account to have +been, in his time at least, any pageant commemorative of +the achievement of the lady to whom the parishioners +reckoned themselves to owe their privileges; nor have I +been able to trace one by local inquiries. But the tradition +is at St. Briavels unmistakably connected with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +religious and social rite. The distribution of food on a +day of high and holy festival in the church to the congregation, +and paid for by a levy upon every householder in +the parish, can point to nothing else than a feast of +the whole community as a solemn act of worship. Its +degeneracy in more recent times has been thus described +to me by the Rev. W. Taprell Allen:—“For many years +it was customary to bring to the church on Whitsunday +afternoon baskets of the stalest bread and hardest cheese, +cut up into small pieces the size of dice. Immediately +after the service the bread and cheese were scrambled for +in the church, and it was a custom to use them as pellets, +the parson coming in for his share as he left the pulpit. +About 1857, or perhaps a year or two later, the unseemly +custom was transferred from the church to the churchyard, +the bread and cheese being thrown down from the +church tower. Later on it was transferred to the road +outside the church gates. It now lasts but a few minutes. +A few years ago all the roughs of the Forest used to +come over, and there was much drinking and fighting; +but now it is very different. The custom has in fact +been dying out.” From these later stages of decay the +Godiva pageant was saved by becoming a municipal +festival. And while at St. Briavels we can watch +the progress of degeneration from a point at which +the religious character of the ceremony had not quite +vanished, down to the most unblushing burlesque, and to +its ultimate expulsion from consecrated precincts,—at +Coventry we see but one phase, one moment, at which +the rite, if it ever had any title to that name, seems to +have been photographed and rendered permanent.</p> + +<p>It is obvious, however, that a feast is not a dramatic +representation of a ride; and the point requiring elucidation +is the intimate relation of the feast at St. Briavels +with a story apparently so irrelevant as that of the +countess' ride. To explain this, we must suppose that +the feast was only part—doubtless the concluding part—of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +a ceremony, and that the former portion was a procession, +of which the central figure was identical with +that familiar to us at Coventry. But such a procession, +terminating in a sacred feast, would have had no meaning +if the naked lady represented a creature merely of flesh +and blood. It is only explicable on the hypothesis that +she was the goddess of a heathen cult, such as Hertha (or +Nerthus), whose periodical progress among her subject +tribes is described in a well-known passage by Tacitus,<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> +and yet survives, as we have seen, in the folklore of +Rügen. Now the historian tells us that Hertha was +Mother Earth, the goddess of the soil, whose yearly celebration +would appropriately take place in the spring or +early summer. To her the produce of the land would be +ascribed; and in her name and by her permission would +all agricultural operations be performed. Such a goddess +it must be who is honoured by the ceremonies already +noticed in India. Such a goddess, at any rate, was the +Bona Dea; and to such a goddess we may readily believe +would be ascribed the privilege of cutting wood. It is +quite consistent with this that the payment by every +household at St. Briavels should be made to the warden +of the forest, and that it should be spent by him on the +goddess' festival. We are left to surmise what were the +tolls and burdens at Coventry, so vaguely referred to by +Roger of Wendover. Pigs and horses, we learn from two +different sources, were not included in the exemptions +obtained by the countess; and the reason for this in the +latter case is accounted for by the incident of Peeping +Tom.</p> + +<p>One other point is worthy of mention: both at St. +Briavels and at Coventry the commemoration takes place +nearly at the same time of year. The Great Fair at +Coventry opens on the day after Corpus Christi Day—that +is to say, the Friday after Trinity Sunday. Corpus +Christi Day itself was the day on which the celebrated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +Coventry Miracle Plays were performed; and the Fair +opened the next morning. At the same time of year too—namely, +on Ascension Day—a custom, for which there +is no explanation in any record, was observed at St. +Michael's Church, York, when ale and bread and cheese +were yearly given away in the church to the poor of the +parish.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> Although Ascension Day is separated by three +weeks from Corpus Christi, the movable character of the +feasts would bridge this gulf without any difficulty; and +heathen observances of the same nature, and referring to +the same season, when they had to be reconciled to the +Christian calendar, might easily find places in some +instances on one day and in others on another day. +Godgifu and her husband were honoured as founders of +the Benedictine monastery at Coventry, which rose upon +the ruins of an earlier house of Benedictine nuns founded +by Osburg, a lady of the royal house, nearly two hundred +years before. This nunnery had been destroyed in the +Danish wars about the year 1016. Consequently, if +any legend, or ceremony, was known or practised at +Coventry in connection with some traditional patroness, +the name of Godgifu was ready to hand to be identified +with it. Through the monastery Coventry first rose to +wealth and repute; and the townsfolk on this score owed +a debt of gratitude to the foundress, though there is no +record whether any special day was set apart in her +honour.</p> + +<p>On the whole, then, there is ground for supposing +that the legend and procession of Lady Godiva +are survivals of a pagan belief and worship located at +Coventry; that the legend was concerned with a being +awful and mysterious as Dame Berchta, or Hertha herself; +and that the incident of Peeping Tom was from the +first, or at all events from an early date, part of the story. +The evidence upon which these conclusions rest may be +shortly recapitulated thus:—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<ol> +<li>The absence of historical foundation for the tradition.</li> + +<li>The close resemblance between the tradition and +other stories and superstitions which unquestionably deal +with heathen goddesses, such as Berchta and Hertha.</li> + +<li>The equally close analogy between the procession +and that described in Eastern stories, which, so far as we +know, could not have reached England at the latest +period when the procession could possibly have been +instituted; and between the procession and certain +heathen rites practised not only in the East, but as near +home as Rome and Germany,—nay, in Britain itself.</li> + +<li>The occurrence of a similar procession at Southam, +in the same county, having the special feature of a black +lady, best explained as a survival of certain rites +practised by the ancient Britons.</li> + +<li>The connection between the analogous legend at St. +Briavel's and the remains of a sacred communal feast that +can hardly be anything else than the degraded remnant +of a pagan observance.</li></ol> + +<p>The want of historical evidence cannot, of course, be +overlooked; but we must remember that in investigating +traditions and traditional observances we are dealing with +a phase of civilization of which history only yields rare +and indirect glimpses. It is the absence of direct evidence +that, not only in the science of Folklore, but also in the +physical sciences, causes resort to the evidence afforded by +comparison of other structures and processes. On the +validity of this evidence, and the reasoning based upon it, +nearly all our scientific learning depends. In spite, therefore, +of the defects in the historical evidence, and in the +absence of evidence to the contrary, it can scarcely be +denied that the analogies in both custom and legend here +brought together amount to a fairly strong presumption +in favour of the conclusions I have ventured to draw from them.</p> + +<p>If I may formulate my conjecture as to the course of +development actually pursued, it would be something like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +this. The ceremony at Coventry is a survival of an +annual rite in honour of a heathen goddess, from which +men were excluded. This rite, like all such, would have +been a part of the tribal cult, and intimately associated +with the tribal life and organization. Side by side with +it a myth would have been evolved, accounting for the +performance as a dramatic representation of an event in +the goddess' career. This myth would have been similar +in outline to those recited above, and would have comprised +an explanation of the exclusion of men. When +Christianity spread through the district the inhabitants +would still cling to their old custom and their old myth, +as we know was done elsewhere, because it was bound up +with their social life. But, if not violently put down by +the rulers of the land, both custom and myth would, +little by little, lose their sacred character as the new +religion increased in influence, and would become transformed +into municipal ceremonies. This process would +be slow, centuries being required for its completion; but +it would be aided by the gradual development of the +tribe first into a settled village community, and thence +into a mediæval township. With the loss of sanctity +the reason for prohibiting the attendance of men would +vanish; but the tradition of it would be preserved in the +incident of the story which narrated Peeping Tom's +treachery.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Mrs. Bray, vol. i. p. 174.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> “Revue Celtique,” vol. i. p. 231; Keightley, p. 312, citing “The +Local Historian's Table-Book,” by M. A. Richardson. Cromek, p. 242; “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. iv. p. 209; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” +vol. iii. p. 426; “Revue Celtique,” vol. i. p. 232.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Sébillot, “Contes,” vol. ii. p. 34; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iii. +p. 428; Sébillot, “Litt. Orale,” p. 21; Kennedy, p. 106; Keightley, p. 311; “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. p. 166; Wirt Sikes, +p. 87. This story purports to be quoted from Howells, p. 349—an impossible reference, seeing that the volume in question only contains +194 pages. The peculiarities of Mr. Sikes' authorities, however, need very little comment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. p. 194; Hunt, p. 120.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Gerv. Tilb. <i>Dcc.</i> iii. c. 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Sébillot, “Contes,” vol. ii. p. 42; “Litt. Orale,” p. 23; “Trad. et +Super.” p. 109. But in these cases the operation was performed painlessly +enough, for the victims were unaware of their loss until they came to look in the glass. In one of Prof. Rhys' stories the eye is pricked +with a green rush; “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. p. 178: Hunt, p. 83. See also Sébillot, “Contes,” vol. i. p. 119.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Keightley, p. 310; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iii. p. 426; +Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 129, quoting Thiele. In another Danish tale given on the same page, the woman's blindness is attributed to her +having divulged what she had seen in Fairyland.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Sébillot, “Litt. Orale,” p. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> “Choice Notes,” p. 170; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 8. The latter form +of the story seems more usual. See Gredt, pp. 28, 29, where we are plainly told that the hapless mortals are fetched away by the devil.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Sternberg, p. 132 (see also Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 12); Von Alpenburg, +p. 63. See a similar story in Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” p. 276, from Börner, “Folk-tales of the Orlagau.” In the latter case, however, +the punishment seems to have been inflicted for jeering.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Jahn, p. 177, quoting Temme, “Volkssagen”; Ovid, “Metam.” +l. iii. fab. 3; Tacitus, “Germ.” c. 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Roger of Wendover, “Flowers of History,” sub anno 1057. I +quote from Dr. Giles' translation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> See his Presidential Address to the Warwickshire Naturalists' and +Archæologists' Field Club, 1886.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> MS. marked D. This entry is an interpolation in a list of mayors +and sheriffs in a different handwriting. There are several such interpolations in the volume. Coventry possesses a number of MS. volumes +of annals, one of which (see below) seems to date from the latter part of the sixteenth century, and the rest from the latter part of the seventeenth. +In the MS. marked F. (considered by Mr. W. G. Fretton, F.S.A., to be in the handwriting of John Tipper, of Bablake, Coventry, a +schoolmaster and local antiquary at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries), and also in the MS. in the +British Museum (Additional MSS. 11,364), the entry runs simply:—“1678 Michaell Earle (Mercer) Mayor; Francis Clark, George +Allatt, Sherriffs. This year y<sup>e</sup> severall Companies had new streamers, and attended y<sup>e</sup> Mayor to proclaim y<sup>e</sup> faire, and each company cloathed +one boy or two to augment y<sup>e</sup> show.” The latter MS. elsewhere speaks of the story of Godiva's ride as “comonly known, and yearly +comemorated by the Mayor, Aldermen, and y<sup>e</sup> severall companies.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> This statue used to be decked out on the occasion of the procession +in the long peruke and neckcloth of the reign of Charles II. See T. Ward, “Collections for the Continuation of Dugdale's Antiquities of +Warwickshire” (2 vols., fol. MS., Brit. Mus., Additional MSS., Nos. 29,264, 29,265), vol. ii. fol. 143.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> MS. marked E, Coventry, seventeenth century. A careful examination +of the language of Roger of Wendover, Matthew Paris, John of Brompton, and Matthew of Westminster, shows that Roger of +Wendover's account is the source of the other three, Matthew Paris copying most closely, and John of Brompton most freely. John of +Brompton and Matthew of Westminster omit the escort. Their statement as to Godiva's being unseen refers to the hair which covered her; +and the latter informs us, with a touch of rhetoric, that Leofric regarded it as a miracle.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Rudder, p. 307. The Rev. W. Taprell Allen, M.A., Vicar of +St. Briavels, has been kind enough to supply me with the correction from local inquiries and intimate acquaintance with the traditions and +affairs of the parish extending over many years. See also “Gent. Mag. Lib.” (Manners and Customs), p. 230.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Liebrecht, p. 104.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Burton, “Nights,” vol. ix. p. 255; Burton, “Supp. Nights,” vol. +iii. p. 570 (Appendix by Mr. W. A. Clouston). Kurroglú flourished in the second half of the seventeenth century.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> This story is edited by Jülg in Mongolian and German (Innsbruck, +1867). Miss Busk gives a free adaptation rather than a translation of the German version, “Sagas,” p. 315. Prof. De Gubernatis, “Zool. +Myth.” vol. i. p. 138, of course interprets it as a sun-myth—an interpretation +to which the names Sunshine and Moon, and the date of the adventure (the fifteenth of the month), lend themselves.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Von Hahn, vol. ii. p. 225; “Tour du Monde,” vol. xxi. p. 342, +quoted by Liebrecht, p. 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> “Panjab N. and Q.” vol. iii. pp. 41, 115; “Journal Ethnol. Soc. +London,” N. S., vol. i. p. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> The information relating to the Bona Dea has been collected by +Preller, “Röm. Myth.” vol. i. p. 398; and see the authorities he has cited.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Ellis, p. 226; Pliny, “Nat. Hist.” l. xxii. c. 1. For the information +as to the procession at Southam I am indebted to Mr. W. G. Fretton, who formerly lived there.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> “Germania,” c. 40; <i>cf.</i> c. 9.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Nicholson, p. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> I am indebted to Mr. Samuel Timmins, F.S.A., and to Mr. W. +G. Fretton, F.S.A., for a great amount of local information and other assistance which they have spared no pains to render me, and to the +Town Clerk of Coventry for permission to inspect the invaluable local manuscripts belonging to the Corporation.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>CHANGELINGS.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The belief in changelings — Precautions against changing — Motives +assigned for changing — Attempts frustrated — How changelings +may be known — Their physical characteristics — Devices to lead +them to betray themselves — Their subsequent treatment — Journey +to Fairyland to fetch back the true child — Adult changelings.</p></div> + +<p>A new-born babe, of all human beings the most helpless, +has always roused compassion and care. Nor is it a +matter for wonder if its helplessness against physical +dangers have led to the assumption that it is exposed +to spiritual or supernatural evils more than its elders. +At all events it seems a widespread superstition that +a babe, when first it makes its appearance in this world, +must be protected not merely against the natural perils +of its condition, but also against enemies of an even +more subtle and fearful description. The shape taken +by this superstition in north-western Europe is the belief +in Changelings—a belief which I propose to examine in +the present chapter.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> + +<p>By the belief in changelings I mean a belief that +fairies and other imaginary beings are on the watch for +young children, or (as we shall see hereafter) sometimes +even for adults, that they may, if they can find them +unguarded, seize and carry them off, leaving in their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +place one of themselves, or a block of wood animated by +their enchantments and made to resemble the stolen +person. Wise mothers take precautions against such +thefts. These precautions are tolerably simple, and for +the most part display the same general character. First +and foremost among them is the rite of baptism, whereby +the little one is admitted into the Christian Church. +Faith in the efficacy of baptism as a protection from +the powers hostile to man is not less strong among +communities nominally Protestant than among Roman +Catholics, and has doubtless operated to bring many +children within the pale of the visible Church who might +otherwise have been long in reaching that sacred enclosure. +Examples of the belief in the power of baptism +against the depredations of fairies could easily be cited +from all Protestant countries. Without doing this, we +may just pause to note that baptism was also reckoned +a remedy for disease. This is doubtless a relic of the old +creed which refers all human ailments to witchcraft and +other spiritualistic origins. Mr. Henderson, speaking of +the notion prevalent in the north of England that sickly +infants never thrive until they are christened, relates a +story communicated to him by a clergyman, within whose +personal knowledge it had happened. He says: “The +infant child of a chimney-sweeper at Thorne, in the West +Riding of Yorkshire, was in a very weak state of health, +and appeared to be pining away. A neighbour looked +in, and inquired if the child had been baptized. On an +answer being given in the negative, she gravely said, 'I +would try having it christened.' The counsel was taken, +and I believe with success.” The same belief is found +both in North and South Wales. It is also testified +to by a Scottish clergyman, who moreover adduces the +following conversation as illustrative of it and of “an +undefinable sort of awe about unbaptized infants, as well +as an idea of uncanniness in having them without baptism +in the house,” which is entertained among the labouring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +classes in the north-east of Scotland. “Oh, sir,” said the +wife of a working man to the minister, on asking him +to baptize her child along with others, whose mothers +were present, “this registration's the warst thing the +queentry ever saw; it sud be deen awa' wee athegeethir!” +“Why?” asked the minister, in astonishment at the +woman's words and earnestness of manner. “It'll pit oot +kirsnin athegeethir. Ye see the craitirs gets their names, +an we jist think that aneuch, an' we're in nae hurry +sennin for you.” How far, as this anecdote dimly suggests, +it was the giving of a name which was supposed +to protect a child, I cannot say: more probably it was +the dedication to God involved in baptism. This is +countenanced by the precaution said to have been observed +in Nithsdale when a pretty child was born to +consecrate it to God, and sue for its protection by “taking +the Beuk” and other acts of prayer and devotion.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> + +<p>Putting aside such ceremonies as these which may be +supposed distinctly Christian, there were other charms +looked upon as efficacious. Thus in Scotland it was +deemed highly judicious to keep an open Bible always +near a child, and even to place the holy volume beneath +the head of a woman in labour. In some parts of +Germany it is enough to lay a single leaf out of a Bible +or prayer-book in the cradle, until by the baptism of the +infant the danger of robbery passes away; and a prayer-book +is also placed under the pillow of the newly-made +mother, who is at that time specially liable to fall under +the power of the underground folk. Indeed a prayer-book, +or the mere repetition of a Paternoster, is equally +valuable with a Bible for these purposes; and if, by the +neglect of any of these precautions, an opportunity be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +given to the foe, the child may yet be saved by the +utterance of the name of Jesus Christ at the moment +when the change is being effected. Holy water and the +sign of the cross, in Ireland, or a rosary blessed by a +priest, in Picardy, enjoy a similar reputation.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<p>All these means of prevention are veneered with some +sort of Christianity; but there are others which display +Heathenism naked and unblushing. While a child in +Mecklenburg remains unbaptized it is necessary to burn +a light in the chamber. Nor is the superstition confined +to one district: it is common all over Germany and +Denmark; it was once common in England; it is found +in Ireland; it is found among the Lithuanians on the +shores of the Baltic; it was practised by the ancient +Romans, and appears to be a relic of the sacred character +anciently imputed to fire. In the island of Lewis fire used +to be carried round women before they were churched +and children before they were christened, both night and +morning; and this was held effectual to preserve both +mother and infant from evil spirits, and (in the case of +the infant) from being changed. The Sad Dar, one of +the sacred books of the Parsees, contains directions to +keep a continual fire in the house during a woman's +pregnancy, and after the child is born to burn a lamp +for three nights and days—a fire, indeed, is declared to +be better—“so that the demons and fiends may not be +able to do any damage and harm.” By way of enforcing +this precept we are told that when Zoroaster was born, +a demon came at the head of a hundred and fifty other +demons, every night for three nights, to slay him, but +they were put to flight by seeing the fire, and were consequently +unable to hurt him.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>Iron or steel, in the shape of needles, a key, a knife, +a pair of tongs, an open pair of scissors, or in any other +shape, if placed in the cradle, secured the desired end. +In Bulgaria a reaping-hook is placed in a corner of +the room for the same purpose. I shall not stay now +to discuss the reason why supernatural beings dread +and dislike iron. The open pair of scissors, however, +it should be observed, has double power; for it is not +only of the abhorred metal,—it is also in form a cross. +The use of the cross in baptism was probably one of +the reasons for the efficacy of that rite against felonious +fairies. At all events, over a very wide area the cross +is thought a potent protection; nor is the belief by +any means confined to Christian lands. Mr. Mitchell-Innes +tells us that the fear of changelings exists in +China. “To avert the calamity of nursing a demon, +dried banana-skin is burnt to ashes, which are then mixed +with water. Into this the mother dips her finger and +paints a cross upon the sleeping babe's forehead. In a +short time the demon soul returns—for the soul wanders +from the body during sleep and is free—but, failing to +recognize the body thus disguised, flies off. The true +soul, which has been waiting for an opportunity, now +approaches the dormant body, and, if the mark has been +washed off in time, takes possession of it; but if not, it, +like the demon, failing to recognize the body, departs, and +the child dies in its sleep.”<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> +How to hit the exact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +moment between the flight of the demon and the advent +of the true soul doubtless puzzles many a Chinese mother +fully as much as the cross puzzles the two competing +souls. But when she is successful she baffles the evil +spirit by deceit, of which the cross is made the instrument; +though we may well believe that the child is +not disguised in this way without reference to the cross's +inherent sanctity; for it is a religious symbol among +nations who never heard the gospel of the Crucified.</p> + +<p>Spirits whose baleful influences are feared by man are +happily easily tricked. To this guilelessness on their +part must be attributed another strange method of defeating +their evil designs on children. It appears to be +enough to lay over the infant, or on the bed beside the +mother, a portion of the father's clothes. A shepherd's +wife living near Selkirk was lying in bed one day with +her new-born boy at her side, when she heard a sound +of talking and laughter in the room. Suspecting what +turned out to be the case, she seized in great alarm her +husband's waistcoat, which was lying at the foot of the +bed, and flung it over herself and the child. The fairies, +for it was they who were the cause of the noise, set up +a loud scream, crying out: “Auld Luckie has cheated +us o' our bairnie!” Soon afterwards the woman heard +something fall down the chimney, and looking out she +saw a waxen effigy of her baby, stuck full of pins, lying +on the hearth. The would-be thieves had meant to substitute +this for the child. When her husband came home +he made up a large fire and threw the doll upon it; but, +instead of burning, the thing flew up the chimney amid +shouts of laughter from the unseen visitors. The suggestion +seems to be that the sight of the father's clothes +leads “the good people” to think that he himself is +present watching over his offspring. Some articles of +clothing, however, seem to have special virtue, such as +a right shirt-sleeve or a left stocking, though wherefore +is not very clear; and in China, about Canton, a fisherman's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +net is employed with as little apparent reason. In +Sweden the babe is wrapped in red cloth, which we may +be allowed to conjecture is intended to cozen the fairies +by simulating fire.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> + +<p>Moreover, certain plants are credited with a similar +gift. In Germany orant (whatever that may be), blue +marjoram, and black cumin; and in Denmark garlic—nasty +enough surely to keep any beings off—and bread +are used. The Danes, too, place salt in the cradle or +over the door. The Italians fear not only fairies who rob +them of their children, but also witches who tear the +faces of unbaptized infants. These are both old superstitions, +dating in one form or other from classic times. +To baulk the witches of their prey it is in some places +customary to keep a light burning in the chamber at +night, and to affix at the door of the house the image of +a saint, hanging to it a rosary and an unravelled napkin; +while behind the door are put a jar full of salt and a +brush. A twofold defence is thus built up; for the +witch, beholding the image of the saint and the rosary, +will straightway retire; or if these fail to warn her off, +she will on entering be compelled to count the grains of +salt, the broken threads of the napkin, and the twigs of +the brush—a task that will keep her occupied from midnight, +when at the earliest she can dare appear, until dawn, +when she must slink away without having been able to +attain her object. Among the Greeks witches are believed +to have great power. They seek new-born babes to suck +their blood or to prick them to death with sharp instruments. +Often they inflict such injuries that a child +remains for ever a cripple or an invalid. The Nereids of +the fountains and springs are also on the watch “to +exchange one of their own fractious offspring for a +mortal babe.” Constant watchfulness, and baptism as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +soon as the Church permits it, are therefore necessary. +In England it seems to have been held in former +days that witches stole children from their cradles +before baptism to make an oil or unguent by boiling +them to a jelly. A part of this jelly they used to drink, +and with the remainder they rubbed their bodies. This +was the orthodox means of acquiring magical powers. +It is a Sicilian belief that the hands of unbaptized children +are used by witches in their sorceries.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> + +<p>As we might expect, the reason why unbaptized babes +are held to be so liable to these attacks is that until the +initiatory rite has been performed they are looked upon +as heathen, and therefore peculiarly under the dominion +of evil spirits. In Sicily and in Spain an infant until +baptism is called by the opprobrious epithets of <i>Pagan</i>, +<i>Turk</i>, <i>Moor</i>, <i>Jew</i>. Even women will not kiss it, for to kiss +a Moor, at all events in Spain, is sin; though, on the other +hand, to kiss an unbaptized child, if no one else have +kissed it, is sovereign against toothache. By the Greeks +these little innocents are regarded not merely as not +Christians, but as really less human than demoniac in +their nature. This is said, indeed, to be the teaching of +the Church. The lower classes, at least (and, presumably +therefore, not long ago the upper classes) believe it firmly; +so that an unbaptized babe is called <i>Drakos</i> (feminine, +<i>Drakoula</i>), that is to say, serpent or dragon. This is the +same opprobrious title that we found Gervase of Tilbury<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +applying to the evil spirits infesting the waters of the +Rhone; and we cannot doubt that it is intended to convey +an imputation of Satanic nature.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> The extent of +this superstition would form an interesting subject of +inquiry. If it could be established as existing now or +formerly among other Christian nations (and the superstitions +of Sicily and Spain just cited point to this) it +would help to clear up much of the difficulty surrounding +the subject of changelings, especially the motives actuating +both fairies and witches in their depredations. And, as +infant baptism is by no means exclusively a Christian +rite, research among heathen nations would be equally pertinent.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the motive usually assigned to fairies in +northern stories is that of preserving and improving their +race, on the one hand by carrying off human children to +be brought up among the elves and to become united +with them, and on the other hand by obtaining the milk +and fostering care of human mothers for their own +offspring. Doubts have been expressed by the German +poet and mythologist, Karl Simrock, whether this was +the primitive motive. He suggests that originally these +spirits were looked upon as wholly beneficent, and even +the theft of children was dictated by their care for the +best interests of mankind. Nor does he hesitate to lay it +down that the selfish designs just mentioned were first +attributed to them when with growing enlightenment +the feeling manifested itself that the kindly beings were +falling into decay.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> + +<p>It might be sufficient to reply that no spiritual existences +imagined by men in a state of civilization such as surrounded +our Celtic and Teutonic forefathers were ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +regarded as unswervingly benevolent: caprice and vindictiveness, +if not cruelty, are always elements of their +character. Beyond this general consideration, however, +there is a further and conclusive answer in the fact that +there is no warrant in tradition for the supposition that +could we penetrate to the oldest strata of mythical belief +we should not discover selfish designs imputed to “the +good people.” The distinguished commentator himself +is bound to admit that the belief in their need of human +help is entwined in the very roots of the Teutonic myths. +It is, indeed, nothing but the mediæval and Teutonic +form of tenets common to all the nations upon earth. +The changeling superstition and the classic stories of +children and adults beloved by gods of high and low +degree are consistent with this belief, and inseparable +from it. The motive is so far comprehensible: what is +wanted is to know whether any special relations, such as +are pointed at by the Greek epithet <i>Drakos</i>, were held to +exist between the mysterious world and newly-born babes +which would render the latter more obnoxious to attack than +elder children or adults; or whether, as I have put it at +the beginning of this chapter, their helplessness alone +suggested their exceeding danger. To solve the riddle +we must wait for a larger accumulation of documents.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>But in the best regulated families it is not always possible +to prevent the abduction from being attempted, +and sometimes accomplished, in spite of every precaution. +One night a Welsh woman, waking in a fright in her +husband's absence, missed her baby. She sought for it +and caught it upon the boards above the bed: the fairies +had not succeeded in bearing it any further away. +Another felt her boy being taken from her arms; whereupon +she screamed and held him tightly, and, according +to her own expression, “God and me were too hard for +them.” The child grew up to become a famous preacher. +A peasant woman in Mecklenburg who ventured to +sleep without a light was attacked by an elf-woman. +The stranger seized the child, but was baffled by the +woman's determination; for she struggled and shrieked +for her husband, and when he hurried in with a light the +fairy vanished.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></p> + +<p>Nor is it always the mother who arrests the theft. +A trick frequently played by the dwarfs in Northern +Germany on the birth of a child was to pinch a cow's +ear; and when the animal bellowed and everybody +ran out to know why, a dwarf would slip indoors and +effect the change. On one such occasion the father saw +his infant being dragged out of the room. In the nick +of time he grasped it and drew it towards himself. The +changeling left in its place was found in the bed; and +this he kept too, defying the efforts of the underground +folk to regain it. At a place in North Jutland it happened +many years ago in a lying-in room that the mother +could get no sleep while the lights were burning. So +her husband resolved to take the child in his arm, in +order to keep strict watch over it so long as it was dark.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +But, unfortunately, he fell asleep; and on being awakened +by a shake of the arm, he saw a tall woman standing by +the bed, and found that he had an infant in each arm. +The woman instantly vanished; and as he had forgotten +in which arm he had held his child, there he lay without +knowing which of the two children was his own. A boy, +who was watching his younger sister while his parents +were both from home, saw a small man and woman come +from behind the oven. They told him to give them the +little one; and when he refused they stepped to the cradle +and endeavoured to take the babe by force. The boy, +however, was strong and bold, and laid about him with +such determination that the robbers at length took to +flight. On the Lithuanian coast of the Baltic substantially +the same tale is told with more humour. There a +farmer's boy sleeping in the living-room of the house is +awakened by the proceedings of two <i>laumes</i>, or elves. +They stealthily fetch out of the bedroom the new-born +babe and swathe it in swaddling clothes of their own, +while they wrap in its clothes the oven-broom. Then +they began to quarrel which of them should carry the +broom thus rolled up into the bedroom; and as they +were unable to agree they resolved to carry it together. +No sooner had they disappeared into the inner apartment +than the boy leaped out of bed, picked up his +mistress' child and took it into his own bed. When +the <i>laumes</i> returned the infant was not to be found. +They were both very angry and began to scold one +another: “It's your fault.” “No, it's your fault; didn't +I say, You carry it, while I stay here and keep watch? I +said it would be stolen!” While they wrangled thus, +kakary ku! crew the cock, and, foiled and enraged, they +had to make off. The boy had great difficulty in wakening +his mistress, who was in a deep sleep, dreaming a +horrible dream that a stock of wood had been placed on +her breast so that she could hardly breathe. He told her +what had happened, but she would not believe it until<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +she saw that she had <i>two</i> children—one to which she had +given birth, the other fashioned out of the oven-broom.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> + +<p>Prayer and the utterance of a holy name are to the full +as effectual as physical strength. A fisherwoman in the +north-east of Scotland was once left alone in bed with her +baby, when in came a little man dressed in green, and +proceeded to lay hold of the child. The woman knew at +once with whom she had to do, and ejaculated: “God +be atween you an' me!” Out rushed the fairy in a +moment, and mother and babe were left without further +molestation. A curious tale is told of two Strathspey +smugglers who were one night laying in a stock of +whiskey at Glenlivat when they heard the child in the +cradle give a piercing cry, just as if it had been shot. +The mother, of course, blessed it; and the Strathspey +lads took no further notice, and soon afterwards went +their way with their goods. Before they had gone far +they found a fine healthy child lying all alone on the +roadside, and recognized it as their friend's. They saw at +once how the affair stood. The fairies had taken away +the real infant and left a stock; but owing to the pious +ejaculation of the mother, they had been forced to drop +it. As the urgency of their business did not admit of +their return they took the child with them, and kept it +until they went to Glenlivat again. On their arrival +here they said nothing about the child, which they kept +concealed. In the course of conversation the woman +remarked that the disease which had attacked the little +one the last time they were there had never left it, and +she had now scarce any hope of its recovery. As if to +confirm her statement, it continued uttering most piercing +cries. The smugglers thereupon produced the real babe +healthy and hearty, and told her how they had found it. +The mother was, of course, pleased to recover it; and the +next thing was to dispose of the changeling. For this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +purpose the Strathspey lads got an old creel to put him +in and some straw to light under it. Seeing the serious +turn matters were likely to take he resolved not to await +the trial, but flew up the smoke-hole and cried out from +the top that but for the guests events would have gone +very differently.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> + +<p>Two pixies of Dartmoor, in the shape of large bundles +of rags, led away one of two children who were following +their mother homeward. It was eventually found, on +a search being made by the neighbours with lanterns, +under a certain large oak tree known to be pixy-haunted. +This is hardly a changeling story, as no attempt was +made to foist a false child on the parent. A tale from +the Isle of Man contains two similar incidents of attempted +robbery without replacing the stolen child by one of +superhuman birth. The fairies there adopted artifices +like those of the North German dwarfs above mentioned. +A few nights after a woman had been delivered of her +first child a cry of fire was raised, and every one ran out +of the house to see whence it proceeded, leaving the +helpless mother alone with her babe. On returning they +found the infant lying on the threshold of the house. +The following year, when another little stranger had +presented itself, a noise was heard in an out-house among +the cattle. Again everybody that was stirring, including +the nurse, hurried forth to learn what was the matter, +believing that the cattle had got loose. But finding all +safe, they came back, only to discover that the new-born +babe had been taken out of bed, as the former had been, +and on their coming dropped in the middle of the entry. +It might have been supposed that these two warnings +would have been enough; but a third time the trick was +played, and then more successfully. Forgetting what +had previously happened, all who were in the house ran +out one night on hearing a noise in the cow-house—all, +that is, except the mother, who could not move, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +nurse, who was sleeping off the effects of alcohol. The +former was lying broad awake and saw her child lifted +from the bed by invisible hands and carried clean away. +She shrieked at once to the nurse, but failed to arouse +her; and when her husband returned, an infant was +indeed lying beside her, but a poor, lean, withered, +deformed creature, very different from her own. It lay +quite naked, though the clothes of the true child had +been considerately left for it by the ravishers.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> + +<p>One of the difficulties experienced by the fairies on two +of the three occasions here narrated in making off with +the little one occurred at the door of the house. That +they should have tried, repeatedly at all events, to pass +out that way is almost as remarkable as that they should +have been permitted more than once to attempt the +theft. For the threshold is a part of the dwelling which +from of old has been held sacred, and is generally avoided +by uncanny beings. Wiser, though still doomed to +failure, were those Irish elves who lifted up a window +and handed the infant out. For it happened that a +neighbour who was coming to pay a visit that moment +stopped before the house, and exclaimed: “God keep all +here from harm!” No sooner had she uttered the +words than she saw the child put forth, how, or by +whom, she did not know; and without hesitation she +went up and took it away home with her. The next +morning when she called to see how her friend fared +great was the moan made to her over the behaviour of +the child—so different from what it had ever been before—crying +all the night and keeping awake its mother, who +could not quiet it by any means. “I'll tell you what +you'll do with the brat,” she replied; “whip it well first, +and then bring it to the cross-roads, and leave the fairy +in the ditch there for any one to take that pleases; for +I have your child at home safe and sound as he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +handed out of the window last night to me.” When the +mother heard this, she just stepped out to get a rod; but +before she returned the changeling had vanished, and no +one either saw or heard of it again.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> + +<p>Fairies, however, when bent upon mischief, are not +always baulked so easily. They effect the exchange, +sometimes in the house, and sometimes when the parent +is at work in the fields and incautiously puts her offspring +down the while. In these circumstances, grievous as +may be the suspicion arising from the changed conduct +of the nursling, it is not always easy to be sure of what +has taken place. Tests, therefore, have to be applied. +Often the appearance is enough. A “mighty big head,” +or an abnormally thick head and neck, is in Germany +deemed sufficient credentials from Fairyland; while in +a case from Lapland, where the hand and foot grew so +rapidly as to become speedily nearly half an ell in length +and the child was unable to learn to speak, whereas she +readily understood what was said to her, these deviations +from the course of nature were looked upon as conclusive +evidence.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> A reputed changeling shown to Waldron in +the Isle of Man early in the last century is thus described: +“Nothing under heaven could have a more beautiful +face; but though between five and six years old, and +seemingly healthy, he was so far from being able to +walk, or stand, that he could not so much as move any +one joint; his limbs were vastly long for his age, but +smaller than an infant's of six months; his complexion +was perfectly delicate, and he had the finest hair in the +world; he never spoke, nor cried, eat scarce anything, +and was very seldom seen to smile, but if any one called +him a fairy-elf, he would frown and fix his eyes so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +earnestly on those who said it, as if he would look them +through. His mother, or at least his supposed mother, +being very poor, frequently went out a-charing, and left +him a whole day together. The neighbours, out of +curiosity, have often looked in at the window to see how +he behaved when alone, which, whenever they did, they +were sure to find him laughing and in the utmost delight. +This made them judge that he was not without company +more pleasing to him than any mortal's could be; and +what made this conjecture seem the more reasonable was, +that if he were left ever so dirty, the woman at her return +saw him with a clean face, and his hair combed with the +utmost exactness and nicety.”<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> Luther tells us that he +saw and touched at Dessau a changed child which was +twelve years of age. The account he gives of the child +is that “he had his eyes and all members like another +child; he did nothing but feed, and would eat as much +as two clowns or threshers were able to eat. When one +touched it, then it cried out. When any evil happened +in the house, then it laughed and was joyful; but when +all went well, then it cried and was very sad.” So much +for the Reformer's testimony of what he saw and was +told. His theories and generalizations are in their way +not less interesting than his testimony: as might have +been expected, they are an adaptation of the ordinary +superstitions to his own grim scheme of things. “Such +changelings and killcrops,” he goes on to say, “<i>supponit +Satan in locum verorum filiorum</i>; for the devil hath +this power, that he changeth children, and instead +thereof layeth devils in the cradles, which thrive not, +only they feed and suck: but such changelings live not +above eighteen or nineteen years. It sometimes falleth +out that the children of women in child-bed are thus +changed, and Devils laid in their stead, one of which +more fouleth itself than ten other children do, so that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +the parents are much therewith disquieted; and the +mothers in such sort are sucked out, that afterwards they +are able to give suck no more.”<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> + +<p>Making allowance for the influence of imagination, +there can be no doubt, on comparison of these passages, +that the children to whom the character of changelings +was ascribed were invariably deformed or diseased. The +delightful author of the “Popular Romances of the +West of England” says that some thirty or forty years +before the date of writing he had seen several reputed +changelings. And his evidence is express that “in every +case they have been sad examples of the influence of +mesenteric disease.” After describing their external +symptoms, he adds: “The wasted frame, with sometimes +strumous swellings, and the unnatural abdominal enlargement +which accompanies disease of mesenteric glands, +gives a very sad, and often a most unnatural, appearance +to the sufferer.” Professor Rhys' description of a reputed +changeling, one Ellis Bach, of Nant Gwrtheyrn, +in Carnarvonshire, is instructive as showing the kind of +being accredited among the Welsh with fairy nature. +The professor is repeating the account given to him of +this poor creature, who died nearly half a century ago. +He tells us: “His father was a farmer, whose children, +both boys and girls, were like ordinary folks, excepting +Ellis, who was deformed, his legs being so short that his +body seemed only a few inches from the ground when he +walked. His voice was also small and squeaky. However, +he was very sharp, and could find his way among +the rocks pretty well when he went in quest of his father's +sheep and goats, of which there used to be plenty there +formerly. Everybody believed Ellis to have been a +changeling, and one saying of his is well known in +that part of the country. When strangers visited Nant +Gwrtheyrn, a thing which did not frequently happen,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +and when his parents asked them to their table, and +pressed them to eat, he would squeak out drily: <i>'B'yta +'nynna b'yta'r cwbwl</i>,' that is to say—'Eating—that +means eating all.'” A changeling in Monmouthshire, +described by an eye-witness at the beginning of the +present century, was simply an idiot of a forbidding +aspect, a dark, tawny complexion, and much addicted to +screaming.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> + +<p>But a changeling was to be known in other ways than +by his physical defects; under careful management he +might be led to betray himself in speech or action. A +Kirkcudbrightshire tale represents a child as once left in +charge of a tailor, who “commenced a discourse” with +him. “'Will, hae ye your pipes?' says the tailor. +'They're below my head,' says the tenant of the cradle. +'Play me a spring,' says the tailor. Like thought, the +little man, jumping from the cradle, played round the +room with great glee. A curious noise was heard meantime +outside; and the tailor asked what it meant. The +little elf called out: 'It's my folk wanting me,' and away +he fled up the chimney, leaving the tailor more dead +than alive.” In the neighbouring county of Dumfries +the story is told with more gusto. The gudewife goes +to the hump-backed tailor, and says: “Wullie, I maun +awa' to Dunse about my wab, and I dinna ken what to +do wi' the bairn till I come back: ye ken it's but a +whingin', screechin', skirlin' wallidreg—but we maun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +bear wi' dispensations. I wad wuss ye,' quoth she, 'to +tak tent till't till I come hame—ye sall hae a roosin' +ingle, and a blast o' the goodman's tobacco-pipe forbye.' +Wullie was naething laith, and back they gaed the-gither. +Wullie sits down at the fire, and awa' wi' her +yarn gaes the wife; but scarce had she steekit the door, +and wan half-way down the close, when the bairn cocks +up on its doup in the cradle, and rounds in Wullie's lug: +'Wullie Tylor, an' ye winna tell my mither when she +comes back, I'se play ye a bonny spring on the bagpipes.' +I wat Wullie's heart was like to loup the hool—for +tylors, ye ken, are aye timorsome—but he thinks to +himsel': 'Fair fashions are still best,' an' 'It's better to +fleetch fules than to flyte wi' them'; so he rounds +again in the bairn's lug: 'Play up, my doo, an' I'se tell +naebody.' Wi' that the fairy ripes amang the cradle +strae, and pu's oot a pair o' pipes, sic as tylor Wullie +ne'er had seen in a' his days—muntit wi' ivory, and +gold, and silver, and dymonts, and what not. I dinna +ken what spring the fairy played, but this I ken weel, +that Wullie had nae great goo o' his performance; so +he sits thinkin' to himsel': 'This maun be a deil's get, +Auld Waughorn himsel' may come to rock his son's +cradle, and play me some foul prank;' so he catches +the bairn by the cuff o' the neck, and whupt him into +the fire, bagpipes and a'!”<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> + +<p>In Nithsdale the elf-child displays a superhuman +power of work. The mother left it on one occasion in +the charge of a servant-girl, who sat bemoaning herself. +“Wer't nae for thy girning face I would knock the +big, winnow the corn, and grun the meal!” “Lowse +the cradle band,” cried the child, “and tent the +neighbours, an' I'll work yere wark.” With that he +started up, the wind arose, the corn was winnowed, the +outlyers were foddered, the hand-mill moved around as +by instinct, and the knocking mell did its work with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +amazing rapidity. The lass and the elf meanwhile +took their ease, until, on the mistress's return, he was +restored to the cradle and began to yell anew.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> + +<p>Most of the stories of changelings, in fact, assume +that, though the outward characteristics might justify +vehement suspicion, yet they were not absolutely +decisive, and that to arrive at certainty the elf must +be brought to betray himself. No great subtlety, however, +was needful; for the stratagem employed varies +but little, as the following examples will show. The +child of a married couple in Mecklenburg at two years +of age was no longer than a shoe, but had a mighty big +head, and, withal, was unable to learn to speak. Its +parents were led by an old man to suspect that it had +been changed, and their adviser told them: “If you +wish to become certain, take an empty egg-shell, and in +the child's presence pour in new beer and cause it to +ferment by means of yeast. If then the child speak, my +conjecture is right.” His counsel was followed, and +scarcely had the beer fermented when the child cried +out from the cradle:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“I am as old<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As Bohemian gold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet for the first time now I see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beer in an egg-shell brew'd to be.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">The parents determined to fling the babe into the river +the following night; but when at midnight they rose for +the purpose they found in the cradle a strong, blooming +child. In a Welsh tale from Radnorshire the egg-shell +is boiled full of pottage in the children's sight (there are +twins in this case) and taken out as a dinner for the +reapers who happened to be cutting the rye and oats. +In Glamorganshire the woman declares she is mixing a +pasty for the reapers. An Icelandic legend makes a +woman set a pot containing food to cook on the fire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +and fasten twigs end to end in continuation of the +handle of a spoon until the topmost one appears above +the chimney, when she puts the bowl in the pot. +Another woman in a Danish tale engaged to drive a +changeling out of the house he troubled; and this is +how she set about it. In his temporary absence she +killed a pig and made a black pudding of it, hide, hair +and all. On his return she set it before him, for he was +a prodigious eater. He began gobbling it up as usual; +but as he ate his efforts gradually slackened, and at last +he sat quite still, eyeing it thoughtfully. Then he exclaimed: +“A pudding with hide! and a pudding with +hair! a pudding with eyes! and a pudding with bones +in it! Thrice have I seen a young wood spring upon +Tiis Lake, but never yet did I see such a pudding! The +devil will stay here no longer!” And so saying he ran +off and never returned.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> + +<p>Of these devices, however, the normal one is that of +the egg-shells. Sometimes one egg-shell only is employed, +sometimes two—a dozen—or an indefinite number. At +seaside places, like Normandy and the Channel Islands, +egg-shells are sometimes replaced by shells of shell-fish.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> +In all the stories the end is the same, namely, to excite +the curiosity and wonder of the imp to such a pitch that +he gives expression to it in language akin to that of the +North German or the Danish tale just quoted. The +measure of age given in his exclamation is usually that +of the trees in the forest, or indeed the forest itself. In +the instance from Mecklenburg, Bohemian gold (<i>Böhmer +Gold</i>) is made the measure, and this runs through quite +a number of Low Dutch stories. There can be little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +doubt, however, that it is a corruption, and that the true +form is, as given in a Schleswig-Holstein tale, Bohemian +Forest (<i>Behmer Woelt</i>).<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> In Hesse Wester Forest +(<i>Westerwald</i>) is found, and so on in other countries, +the narrator in each case referring to some wood well +known to his audience. The Lithuanian elf, or <i>laumes</i>, +says: “I am so old, I was already in the world before +the Kamschtschen Wood was planted, wherein great +trees grew, and <i>that</i> is now laid waste again; but anything +so wonderful I have never seen.” In Normandy +the changeling declares: “I have seen the Forest of +Ardennes burnt seven times, but I never saw so many +pots boil.” The astonishment of a Scandinavian imp +expressed itself even more graphically, for when he saw +an egg-shell boiling on the fire having one end of a +measuring rod set in it, he crept out of the cradle on +his hands, leaving his feet still inside, and stretched +himself out longer and longer until he reached right +across the floor and up the chimney, when he exclaimed: +“Well! seven times have I seen the wood fall in Lessö +Forest, but never till now have I seen so big a ladle in +so small a pot!” And the Danish story I have cited +above represents the child as saying that he has seen a +young wood thrice upon Tiis Lake.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> The Welsh fairies +are curiously youthful compared with these hoary infants, +which is all the more remarkable when the daring +exaggerations of Cambrian story-tellers are considered. +It is a modest claim only to have seen the acorn before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +the oak and the egg before the hen, yet that is all that +is put forward. In one of the Lays of Marie de France +the wood of Brézal is indicated as the spot where the +oak was seen.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> The formula thus variously used would +appear to be a common one to describe great antiquity, +and in all probability itself dates back to a very remote period.</p> + +<p>But changelings frequently conform to the more +civilized usage of measuring their age by years. And +various are the estimates given us, from fifteen hundred +years in the Emerald Isle down to the computation, +erring perhaps on the other side, of the young gentleman +in the English tale, who remarks: “Seven years +old was I before I came to the nurse, and four years have +I lived since, and never saw so many milk-pans before.” +A yet more mysterious hint as to her earlier life is +dropped by an imp in Brittany. She has been treated +to the sight of milk boiling in egg-shells, and cries: +“I shall soon be a hundred years old, but I never saw so +many shells boiling! I was born in Pif and in Paf, in +the country where cats are made; but I never saw anything +like it!”<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> To all right-minded persons this disclosure +contained sufficient warrant for her reputed +mother to repudiate her as a witch, though cats are no +less intimate with fairies than with conjurers.</p> + +<p>Simrock, in his work on German mythology already +cited, inclines to the opinion that the object of the +ceremony which the suspected child is made to witness +is to produce laughter. He says: “The dwarf is no +over-ripe beauty who must keep her age secret. Rather +something ridiculous must be done to cause him to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +laugh, because laughter brings deliverance.”<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> The +problem set before the heroes of many folk-tales is to +compel laughter, but that does not seem to be intended +in these changeling stories. At least I have only met +with it in one, and it certainly is not common. The +confession of age which the ceremony draws forth is +really much more. It is a confession that the apparently +human babe is an imposture, that it belongs in fact to a +different race, and has no claim on the mother's care and +tenderness. Therefore it is not always enough for the +fraud to be discovered: active means must sometimes be +taken to rid the family of their supernatural burden and +regain their own little one. In Grimm's story, in which +the child laughs, a host of elves comes suddenly bringing +back the true and carrying away the false one; and in +many of the German and Northern tales the changeling +disappears in one way or other immediately after its +exclamation. We are sometimes even told in so many +words that the changeling had betrayed himself, and the +underground folk were obliged to give back the stolen +child. And in the Lithuanian story we have cited the +<i>laumes</i> straightway falls sick and dies.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> Such conduct +accords entirely with the resentment at being recognized +which we have in a previous chapter found to be a +characteristic of spiritual existences. It is much more +like the dislike of being found out attributed to beings +who are in the habit of walking invisible, than any +mystical effect of laughter.</p> + +<p>If this be so, still less do the stories where it is required +actually to drive the imp away support the learned +German's contention. The means taken in these stories +are very various. Sometimes it is enough to let the +child severely alone, as once in the Isle of Man where a +woman laid her child down in the field while she was +cutting corn, and a fairy changed it there and then.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +The changeling began to scream, but the mother was +prevented by a man who had been a witness to the +transaction from picking it up; and when the fairy +found that no notice was taken the true child was brought +back. In the island of Lewis the custom was to dig a +grave in the fields on Quarter Day and lay the goblin in +it until the next morning, by which time it was believed +the human babe would be returned. In the north of +Germany one is advised not to touch the changeling +with the hands, but to overturn the cradle so that the +child falls on the floor. The elf must then be swept out +of the door with an old broom, when the dwarfs will +come and bring back the stolen child. Putting it on +the dunghill and leaving it there to cry has been +practised successfully in England; but in Ireland this is +only one part of a long and serious ceremony directed by +a wizard or “fairy-man.” In dealing with these stories +we must always remember that not merely are we concerned +with sagas of something long past, but with a yet +living superstition, and that the practices I am about to +mention—even the most cruel and the most ridiculous +of them—so far respond to the actual beliefs of the +people that instances of their occurrence are quite recent +and well authenticated, as we shall presently see. An +anonymous but well-informed writer describes, as if it +were by no means an unusual ceremony, that just referred +to; and Kennedy gives the same in the shape of a legend. +It seems to consist in taking a clean shovel and seating +the changeling on its broad iron blade, and thus conveying +the creature to the manure heap. The assistants would +then join hands and circle about the heap thrice while +the fairy-man chanted an incantation in the Irish language. +At its conclusion all present would withdraw into the +house, leaving the child where it had been placed, to +howl and cry as it pleased. Says Mr. Kennedy: “They +soon felt the air around them sweep this way and that, +as if it was stirred by the motion of wings, but they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +remained quiet and silent for about ten minutes. +Opening the door, they then looked out, and saw the +bundle of straw on the heap, but neither child nor fairy. +'Go into your bedroom, Katty,' said the fairy-man, +'and see if there's anything left on the bed!' She did +so, and they soon heard a cry of joy, and Katty was +among them in a moment, kissing and hugging her own +healthy-looking child, who was waking and rubbing his +eyes, and wondering at the lights and all the eager +faces.”<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p> + +<p>Whether it was the noise made by the child or the +incantation that drew the “good people's” attention, we +are left in doubt by this story. A Norman woman was, +however, advised to make her child cry lustily “in order +to bring its <i>real</i> mother to it.” And this is probably the +meaning of the many tales in which the elf is beaten, or +starved and subjected to other ill-usage, or is threatened +with death.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> In the Pflöckenstein Lake in Bohemia wild +women are believed to dwell, who, among other attributes +common to elves or fairies, are believed to change +infants. In order to compel a re-exchange, directions are +given to bind with a weed growing at the bottom of the +lake and to beat with a rod of the same, calling out +therewithal: “Take thine own and bring me mine.” A +mother in a Little Russian tale had a baby of extraordinary +habits. When alone, he jumped out of the cradle, no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +longer a baby but a bearded old man, gobbled up the food +out of the stove, and then lay down again a screeching +babe. A wise woman who was consulted placed him on +a block of wood and began to chop the block under his +feet. He screeched and she chopped; he screeched and +she chopped; until he became an old man again and +made the enigmatical confession: “I have transformed +myself not once nor twice only. I was first a fish, then I +became a bird, an ant, and a quadruped, and now I have +once more made trial of being a human being. It isn't +better thus than being among the ants; but among +human beings—it isn't worse!” Here the chopping was +evidently a threat to kill. Nor, if we may trust the +stories, was this threat always an empty one. The +changeling fashioned out of a broom in the Lithuanian +story already cited, was disposed of, by the parish priest's +advice, by hewing its head off. The reason given by the +holy man was that it was not yet four and twenty hours +old, and it would not be really alive until the expiration +of that time. Accordingly when the neck was severed +nothing but a wisp of straw was found inside, though +blood flowed as if there were veins.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></p> + +<p>But even more truculent methods are represented by +the story-tellers as resorted to free the afflicted household. +Nothing short of fire is often deemed sufficient for +the purpose. There were various methods of applying it. +Sometimes we are told of a shovel being made red-hot +and held before the child's face; sometimes he is seated +on it and flung out into the dung-pit, or into the oven; +or again, the poker would be heated to mark the sign of +the cross on his forehead, or the tongs to take him by the +nose. Or he is thrown bodily on the fire, or suspended +over it in a creel or a pot; and in the north of Scotland +the latter must be hung from a piece of the branch of a +hazel tree. In this case we are told that if the child +screamed it was a changeling, and it was held fast to prevent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +its escape. Generally, however, it is related that the +elf flies up the chimney, and when safely at the top he stops +to make uncomplimentary remarks upon his persecutors. +In the Nithsdale story which I have already cited, the +servant girl at midnight covers up the chimney and every +other inlet, makes the embers glowing hot, and undressing +the changeling tosses it on them. In answer to its +yells the fairies are heard moaning and rattling at the +window boards, the chimney-head, and the door. “In +the name o' God, bring back the bairn,” she exclaims. In +a moment up flew the window, the human child was laid +unharmed on the mother's lap, while its guilty substitute +flew up the chimney with a loud laugh.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p> + +<p>Frightful as this cruelty would seem to every one if +perpetrated on the mother's own offspring, it was regarded +with equanimity as applied to a goblin; and it is not more +frightful than what has been actually perpetrated on +young children, and that within a very few years, under +the belief that they were beings of a different race. +Instances need not be multiplied; it will be enough to +show that one of the horrible methods of disposing of +changelings referred to in the last paragraph came under +judicial notice no longer ago than the month of May 1884. +Two women were reported in the “Daily Telegraph” as +having been arrested at Clonmel on the 17th of that +month, charged with cruelly ill-treating a child three +years old. The evidence given was to the effect that the +neighbours fancied that the child, who had not the use +of his limbs, was a changeling. During the mother's +absence the prisoners accordingly entered her house and +placed the child naked on a hot shovel, “under the impression +that this would break the charm.” As might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +have been expected the poor little thing was severely +burnt, and, when the women were apprehended, it was +in a precarious condition. The prisoners, on being +remanded, were hooted by an indignant crowd. It might +be thought that this was an indication of the decay of +superstition, even in Ireland, however much to be condemned +as an outburst of feeling against unconvicted and +even untried persons. But we must regard it rather as a +protest against the prisoners' inhumanity than against +their superstition: in either case, of course, the product +of advancing civilization. For if we may trust the +witness of other sagas we find the trial by fire commuted +to a symbolic act, as though men had begun to be +revolted by the cruelty, even when committed only on a +fairy who had been found out, but were unwilling to +abandon their belief in the power of the exorcism. In +the north-east of Scotland, for example, where a beggar, +who had diagnosed a changeling, was allowed to try his +hand at disposing of it, he made a large fire on the hearth +and held a black hen over it till she struggled, and finally +escaped from his grasp, flying out by the “lum.” More +minute directions are given by the cunning man in a +Glamorganshire tale. After poring over his big book, he +told his distracted client to find a black hen without a +single feather of any other colour. This she was to bake +(not living, but dead, as appears by the sequel) before a +fire of wood (not, as usual, of peat), with feathers and all +intact. Every window and opening was to be closed, +except one—presumably the chimney; and she was not +to watch the <i>crimbil</i>, or changeling, until the hen had +been done enough, which she would know by the falling +off of all her feathers. The more knowing woman, in an +Irish story, attributes the fact of the infant's being changed +to the Evil Eye; and her directions for treatment require +the mother to watch for the woman who has given it the +Evil Eye, inveigle her into the house and cut a piece +secretly out of her cloak. This piece of the cloak was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +then to be burnt close to the child until the smoke made +him sneeze, when the spell would be broken and her own +child restored. The writer who records this tale mentions +the following mode of proceeding as a common one, +namely: to place the babe in the middle of the cabin +and light a fire round it, fully expecting it to be changed +into a sod of turf, but manifestly not intending to do +bodily harm to it independently of any such change. In +Carnarvonshire a clergyman is credited with telling a +mother to cover a shovel with salt, mark a cross in the +salt, and burn it in the chamber where the child was, +judiciously opening the window first.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> It is satisfactory +to know that, so far as the recorded cases go, the ceremony +lost nothing of its power by being thus toned down.</p> + +<p>Fire, however, was not the only element efficacious for +turning to flight these troublesome aliens. Water's +antagonism to witches is notorious; and ample use was +made of it in the old witch trials. It is equally obnoxious +to fairies and their congeners. In a Welsh story from +Radnorshire, when the mother has been by the egg-shell +device convinced of the exchange of her own twin children, +she takes the goblin twins and flings them into +Llyn Ebyr; but their true kinsmen clad in blue trousers +(their usual garb) save them, and the mother receives her +own again. In other tales she drops the twins into the +river; but in one case the witch who has been credited +with the change bathes the child at a mountain spout, or +<i>pistyll</i>, and exacts a promise from the mother to duck him +in cold water every morning for three months. It is not +very surprising to learn that “at the end of that time +there was no finer infant in the Cwm.”<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>There is an oft-quoted passage in Luther's “Table +Talk,” in which he relates that he told the Prince of +Anhalt that if he were prince he would venture <i>homicidium</i> +upon a certain changeling with which he had +been brought into contact, and throw it into the river +Moldaw. The great Reformer was only on a level with +his countrymen in their superstitions in reference to +changelings, or Killcrops, as they were then called. I +have already quoted his opinion of them as devils; and +the test of their true nature, which he seems to have +thought infallible, was their inordinate appetite; nor did +he attach any value to baptism as a means of exorcism. +One excellent tale he tells on the subject concerns a +peasant who lived near Halberstadt, in Saxony. This +good man, in accordance with advice, was taking the +child to Halberstadt to be rocked at the shrine of the +Virgin Mary, when in crossing a river another devil that +was below in the river called out “Killcrop! Killcrop!” +Then, says Luther, the child in the basket, that had never +before spoken one word, answered “Ho, ho!” The +devil in the water asked, “Whither art thou going?” +and the child replied, “I am going to Halberstadt to our +Loving Mother, to be rocked.” In his fright the man +threw the basket containing the child over the bridge +into the water, whereupon the two devils flew away +together and cried “Ho, ho, ha!” tumbling themselves +one over another, and so vanished.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> This may be taken +as a type of many a story current in North Germany and +the neighbouring Slavonic lands. It is not, however, +unknown in this country. Mr. Hunt has versified a +Cornish tale in which the mother took her brat to the +chapel well to plunge it at dawn and pass it round slowly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +three times <i>against</i> the sun, as she had been advised to +do on the first three Wednesdays in the month of May. +Reaching the top of the hill on one of these occasions, she +heard a shrill voice in her ear: “Tredrill, Tredrill! thy +wife and children greet thee well.” The little one of +course replied, much to her astonishment, repudiating all +concern for his wife and children, and intimating his +enjoyment of the life he was leading, and the spell that +was being wrought in his behalf. In the end she got rid +of him by the homely process of beating and leaving him +on the ground near the old church stile. A Sutherlandshire +tradition tells of a child less than a year old who +suddenly addressed his mother in verse as he was being +carried through a wild glen. Translated, the youth's +impromptu lines run thus:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Many is the dun hummel cow<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(Each having a calf)<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the opposite dun glen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without the aid of dog,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or man, or woman, or gillie,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One man excepted,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And he grey——”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">At that moment his remarks were interrupted by the +terrified woman throwing him down in the plaid which +wrapt him, and scampering home, where to her joy she +found her true babe smiling in the cradle.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></p> + +<p>These verses carry us back to the egg-shell episode, from +which the consideration of the means adopted to drive +away the intrusive goblin has diverted us. They contain +a vague assertion of age like those then before us, but +not a hint of laughter. Nor have we found anything +throughout the whole discussion to favour Simrock's +suggestion, or to shake the opinion that the dissolution +of the fairy spell was derived either from the vexation of +the supernatural folk at their own self-betrayal, or from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +the disclosure to the human foster-parents of the true +state of the facts, and their consequent determination to +exorcise the demon.</p> + +<p>It is true we have a few more stories to examine, but we +shall find that they all confirm this conclusion. The +cases we have yet to deal with, except the first, exhibit +a different and much more humane treatment of the +changeling than the foregoing. The case excepted is +found in Carnarvonshire, where one infallible method of +getting rid of the child was to place it on the floor and +let all present in the house throw a piece of iron at it. +The old woman who mentioned this to Professor Rhys +conjectured that the object was to convince the <i>Tylwyth +Teg</i>, or fairy people, of the intention to kill the babe, in +order to induce them to bring the right child back.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> +This would be the same motive as that which threatened +death by fire or other ill-usage, in some of the instances +mentioned above. But we could not thus account for the +requirement that iron, and only iron, was to be used; and +here we have, in fact, a superstition carefully preserved, +while its meaning has quite passed out of memory. In a +future chapter we shall examine the attitude of mythical +beings in folklore to metals, and especially to iron; in +the meantime we may content ourselves with noting this +addition to the examples we have already met with of +the horror with which they regarded it.</p> + +<p>So far from its being always deemed wise to neglect +or injure the changeling, it was not infrequently supposed +to be necessary to take the greatest care of it, +thereby and by other means to propitiate its elvish tribe. +This was the course pursued with the best results by a +Devonshire mother; and a woman at Strassberg, in +North Germany, was counselled by all her gossips to +act lovingly, and above all not to beat the imp, lest her +own little one be beaten in turn by the underground +folk. So in a Hessian tale mentioned by Grimm, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +<i>wichtel-wife</i> caught almost in the act of kidnapping +refused to give up the babe until the woman had placed +the changed one to her breast, and “nourished it for +once with the generous milk of human kind.” In +Ireland, even when the child is placed on a dunghill, +the charm recited under the direction of the “fairy-man” +promises kindly entertainment in future for the +“gambolling crew,” if they will only undo what they +have done. A method in favour in the north of Scotland +is to take the suspected elf to some known haunt +of its race, generally, we are told, some spot where +peculiar soughing sounds are heard, or to some barrow, +or stone circle, and lay it down, repeating certain incantations +the while. What the words of these incantations +are we are not informed, but we learn that an +offering of bread, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, and flesh +of fowl must accompany the child. The parents then +retire for an hour or two, or until after midnight; and +if on returning these things have disappeared, they conclude +that the offering is accepted and their own child +returned.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> + +<p>Neither ill-usage nor kindness, neither neglect nor propitiation, +was sometimes prescribed and acted upon, but—harder +than either—a journey to Fairyland to fetch +back the captive. A man on the island of Rügen, whose +carelessness had occasioned the loss of his child, watched +until the underground dwellers sallied forth on another +raid, when he hastened to the mouth of the hole that +led into their realm, and went boldly down. There +in the Underworld he found the child, and thus the +robbers were forced to take their own again instead. +In a more detailed narrative from Islay, the father arms +himself with a Bible, a dirk, and a crowing cock, and +having found the hill where the “Good People” had +their abode open, and filled with the lights and sounds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +of festival, he approached and stuck the dirk into the +threshold. The object of this was to prevent the +entrance from closing upon him. Then he steadily advanced, +protected from harm by the Bible at his breast. +Within, his boy (who was thirteen or fourteen years of +age) was working at the forge; but when the man +demanded him the elves burst into a loud laugh, which +aroused the cock in his arms. The cock at once leaped +upon his shoulders, flapped his wings, and crowed loud +and long. The enraged elves thereupon cast the man +and his son both out of the hill, and flung the dirk after +them; and in an instant all was dark. It should be +added that for a year and a day afterwards the boy did +no work, and scarcely spoke; but he ultimately became +a very famous smith, the inventor of a specially fine and +well-tempered sword. The changeling himself in one of +Lady Wilde's tales directs his foster-mother to Fairyland. +The way thither was down a well; and she was led by +the portress, an old woman, into the royal palace. There +the queen admits that she stole the child, “for he was +so beautiful,” and put her own instead. The re-exchange +is effected, and the good woman is feasted with food which +the fairies cannot touch, because it has been sprinkled +with salt. When she found herself again at home, she +fancied she had only been away an hour: it was three +years.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> + +<p>But it was not always necessary to incur the risk of +going as far as the other world. The Glamorganshire +woman, whose successful cooking of a black hen has +been already referred to, had first to go at full moon to a +place where four roads met, and hide herself to watch the +fairy procession which passed at midnight. There in the +midst of the music and the <i>Bendith eu mammau</i> she +beheld her own dear little child. One of the most +interesting changeling stories was gravely related in the +“Irish Fireside” for the 7th of January 1884, concerning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +a land-leaguer who had been imprisoned as a suspect +under the then latest Coercion Act. When this patriot +was a boy he had been stolen by the fairies, one of themselves +having been left in his place. The parish priest, +however, interfered; and by a miracle he caused the elf +for a moment to disappear, and the boy to return to tell +him the conditions on which his captivity might be +ended. The information given, the goblin again replaced +the true son; but the good priest was now able +to deal effectually with the matter. The imp was +accordingly dipped thrice in Lough Lane (a small lake in +the eastern part of Westmeath), when “a curl came on +the water, and up from the deep came the naked form +of the boy, who walked on the water to meet his father +on shore. The father wrapped his overcoat about his +son, and commenced his homeward march, accompanied +by a line of soldiers, who also came out of the lake. +The boy's mother was enjoined not to speak until the +rescuing party would reach home. She accidentally +spoke; and immediately the son dropped a tear, and +forced himself out of his father's arms, piteously exclaiming: +'Father, father, my mother spoke! You +cannot keep me. I must go.' He disappeared, and, +reaching home, the father found the sprite again on the +hearth.” The ghostly father's services were called into +requisition a second time; and better luck awaited an +effort under his direction after the performance of a +second miracle like the first. For this time the mother +succeeded in holding her tongue, notwithstanding that +at every stream on the way home from the lake the car +on which the boy was carried was upset, and he himself +fainted.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> This is declared to have happened no longer +ago than the year 1869. The writer, apparently a pious +Roman Catholic, who vouches for the fact, probably never +heard the touching tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.</p> + +<p>The foregoing story, as well as some of those previously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +mentioned, shows that fairy depredations were by no +means confined to babes and young children. Indeed +adults were often carried off; and, although this chapter +is already far too long, I cannot close it without briefly +examining a few such cases. Putting aside those, then, +in which boys or young men have been taken, as already +sufficiently discussed, all the other cases of robbery, as +distinguished from seduction or illusion, are concerned +with matrons. The elfin race were supposed to be on +the watch for unchurched or unsained mothers to have +the benefit of their milk. In one instance the captive was +reputed to have freed herself by promising in exchange +her husband's best mare under milk, which was retained +by the captors until it was exhausted and almost dead. +More usually the story relates that a piece of wood is +carved in the likeness of the lady and laid in her place, +the husband and friends being deceived into believing +it to be herself. A man returning home at night overhears +the supernatural beings at work. He listens and +catches the words: “Mak' it red cheekit an' red lippit +like the smith o' Bonnykelly's wife.” Mastering the +situation he runs off to the smith's house, and sains the +new mother and her babe. And he is only just in time, +for hardly has he finished than a great thud is heard +outside. On going out a piece of bog-fir is found,—the +image the fairies intended to substitute for the smith's +wife. In North German and Danish tales it is the +husband who overhears the conspirators at work, and he +often has coolness enough to watch their proceedings +on his return home and, bouncing out upon them, +to catch them just as they are about to complete their +crime. Thus, one clever fellow succeeded in retaining +both his wife and the image already put into her bed, +which he thrust into the oven to blaze and crackle in the +sight and hearing of his wife's assembled friends, who +supposed he was burning her until he produced her to +their astonished gaze. A tale from Badenoch represents<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +the man as discovering the fraud from finding his wife, +a woman of unruffled temper, suddenly turned a shrew. +So he piles up a great fire and threatens to throw the +occupant of the bed upon it unless she tells him what +has become of his own wife. She then confesses that the +latter has been carried off, and she has been appointed +successor; but by his determination he happily succeeds +in recapturing his own at a certain fairy knoll near +Inverness.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p> + +<p>It happens occasionally that these victims of elfin +gallantry are rescued by other men than their husbands. +A smith at work one day hears a great moaning and +sobbing out of doors. Looking out he sees a troll +driving a pregnant woman before him, and crying to her +continually: “A little further yet! a little further yet!” +He instantly springs forward with a red-hot iron in his +hand, which he holds between the troll and his thrall, +so that the former has to abandon her and take to flight. +The smith then took the woman under his protection, +and the same night she was delivered of twins. Going +to the husband to console him for his loss, he is surprised +to find a woman exactly resembling his friend's +wife in her bed. He saw how the matter stood, and +seizing an axe he killed the witch on the spot, and +restored to the husband his real wife and new-born +children. This is a Danish legend; but there is a Highland +one very similar to it. A man meets one night a +troop of fairies with a prize of some sort. Recollecting +that fairies are obliged to exchange whatever they may +have with any one who offers them anything, no matter +what its value, for it, he flings his bonnet to them, calling +out: “Mine is yours, and yours is mine!” The prize +which they dropped turned out to be an English lady +whom they had carried off, leaving in her place a stock, +which, of course, died and was buried. The Sassenach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +woman lived for some years in the Highlander's house, +until the captain in command of an English regiment +came to lodge in his house with his son, while the +soldiers were making new roads through the country. +There the son recognized his mother, and the father his +wife long mourned as dead.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></p> + +<p>The death and burial of changelings, though, as here, +occurring in the tales, are not often alluded to; and there +are grounds for thinking them a special deduction of +the Scottish mind. Sometimes the incident is ghastly +enough to satisfy the devoted lover of horrors. The +west of Scotland furnishes an instance in which the +exchange was not discovered until after the child's +apparent death. It was buried in due course; but suspicion +having been aroused, the grave and coffin were +opened, and not a corpse but only a wooden figure was +found within. A farmer at Kintraw, in Argyllshire, +lost his wife. On the Sunday after the funeral, when he +and his servants returned from church, the children, +who had been left at home, reported that their mother +had been to see them, and had combed and dressed them. +The following Sunday they made the same statement, +in spite of the punishment their father had thought +proper to inflict for telling a lie on the first occasion. +The next time she came the eldest child asked her why +she came, when she said that she had been carried off +by “the good people,” and could only get away for an +hour or two on Sundays, and should her coffin be opened +it would be found to contain nothing but a withered +leaf. The minister, however, who ridiculed the story, +refused to allow the coffin to be opened; and when, +some little time after, he was found dead near the Fairies' +Hill, above Kintraw, he was held by many to be a victim +to the indignation of the fairy world he had laughed +at. Sir Walter Scott mentions the tale of a farmer's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +wife in Lothian, who, after being carried off by the fairies, +reappeared repeatedly on Sunday to her children, and +combed their hair. On one of these occasions the +husband met her, and was told that there was one way +to recover her, namely, by lying in wait on Hallowe'en +for the procession of fairies, and stepping boldly out, and +seizing her as she passed among them. At the moment +of execution, however, his heart failed, and he lost his +wife for ever. In connection with this, Scott refers to a +real event which happened at the town of North Berwick. +A widower, who was paying addresses with a view to +second marriage, was troubled by dreams of his former +wife, to whom he had been tenderly attached. One +morning he declared to the minister that she had +appeared to him the previous night, stating that she was +a captive in Fairyland, and begged him to attempt her +deliverance. The mode she prescribed was to bring the +minister and certain others to her grave at midnight to +dig up her body, and recite certain prayers, after which +the corpse would become animated and flee from him. +It was to be pursued by the swiftest runner in the parish, +and if he could catch it before it had encircled the +church thrice, the rest were to come to his help and hold +it notwithstanding its struggles, and the shapes into +which it might be transformed. In this way she would +be redeemed. The minister, however, declined to take +part in so absurd and indecent a proceeding.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></p> + +<p>Absurd and indecent it would undoubtedly have been +to unearth a dead body in the expectation of any such +result; but it would have been entirely in harmony with +current superstition. The stories and beliefs examined in +the present chapter prove that there has been no superstition +too gross, or too cruel, to survive into the midst +of the civilization of the nineteenth century; and the +exhumation of a corpse, of the two, is less barbarous than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +the torture by fire of an innocent child. The flight, +struggles, and transformation of a bespelled lady are found +both in <i>märchen</i> and saga: some examples of the latter +will come under our notice in a future chapter.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> The belief in changelings is not confined to Europe, though the +accounts we have of it elsewhere are meagre. It is found, as we shall +see further on, in China. It is found also among the natives of the +Pacific slopes of North America, where it is death to the mother to +suckle the changeling. Dorman, p. 24, citing Bancroft.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> See a curious Scottish ballad given at length, “F. L. +Record,” vol. i. p. 235; Henderson, p. 15; “Cymru Fu N. and +Q.” vol. ii. p. 144; Gregor, p. 11 (<i>cf.</i> Harland and Wilkinson, +p. 221); Cromek, p. 247. See Webster, p. 73, where a witch carries away +a child who is not blessed when it sneezes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Napier, p. 40; “F. L. Journal,” vol. i. p. 56; Kuhn, +pp. 365, 196; Knoop, p. 155; “Zeits. f. Volksk.” vol. ii. p. +33; Kennedy, p. 95; Carnoy, p. 4; “F. L. Journal,” vol. ii. +p. 257.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. pp. 64, 89; vol. ii. p. 43; Kuhn, p. 195; Knoop, +<i>loc. cit.</i>; Jahn, pp. 52, 71; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 174; “Zeits. f. +Volksk.” vol. ii. <i>loc. cit.</i> W. Map, Dist. ii. c. 14; Brand, vol. +ii. p. 8, note; Lady Wilde, vol. i. pp. 71, 73; Schleicher, p. 93; +Tertullian, “Adv. Nationes,” l. ii. c. 11; Brand, vol. ii. +p. 334 note, quoting Martin, “History of the Western +Islands”; Train, vol. ii. p. 132; “Sacred Books of the +East,” vol. xxiv. p. 277. As to the use of fire in China, see +“F. L. Journal,” vol. v. p. 225; and generally as to the +efficacy of fire in driving off evil spirits see Tylor, vol. ii. p. 177.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” p. 468; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 2, +vol. iii. p. 45; Train, vol. ii. p. 133; Garnett, pp. 231, 315; +“F. L. Journal,” vol. v. p. 225. In Eastern Prussia a steel +used for striking a light, a hammer, or anything else that will strike +fire, is used. This seems to combine the dread of steel with that of +fire (Lemke, p. 41).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” <i>loc. cit.</i>; Train, vol. ii. <i>loc. +cit.</i>; Henderson, p. 14; “F. L. Journal,” vol. v. p. 224; +“Zeits. f. Volksk.” vol. ii, p. 33; “N. and Q.” +7th ser. vol. x. p. 185.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Henderson, <i>loc. cit.</i>; Bartsch, vol. ii. p. 192; Pitré, +vol. xv. pp. 154 note, 155; vol. xvii. p. 102, quoting Castelli, +“Credenze ed usi”; Horace, “Ep. ad Pison,” v. +340; Dorsa, p. 146; Wright, “Middle Ages,” vol. i. p. 290; +Garnett, p. 70; “Mélusine,” vol. v. p. 90, quoting +English authorities. Map, Dist. ii. c. 14, gives a story of babies +killed by a witch. St. Augustine records that the god Silvanus was +feared as likely to injure women in child-bed, and that for their +protection three men were employed to go round the house during the +night and to strike the threshold with a hatchet and a pestle and sweep +it with a brush; and he makes merry over the superstition (“De +Civ. Dei,” l. vi. c. 9).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Pitré, vol. xii. p. 304, note; vol. xv. p. 154; “F. L. +Españ.” vol. ii. p. 51; De Gubernatis, “Usi +Natal.” p. 219, quoting Bézoles, “Le +Baptême.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. p. 46; Jahn, p. 89; Grimm, “Teut. +Myth.” p. 468; Simrock, p. 418.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> There is another motive for the robbery of a human creature, +mentioned only, I think, in the Romance of Thomas the Rhymer, namely, +that at certain seasons the foul fiend fetches his fee, or tribute of a +living soul, from among the underground folk. Several difficulties arise +upon this; but it is needless to discuss them until the motive in +question be found imputed elsewhere than in a literary work of the +fifteenth century, and ballads derived therefrom.</p> + +<p>Since the foregoing note was written my attention has been drawn to the +following statement in Lady Wilde, vol. i. p. 70: “Sometimes it is +said the fairies carry off the mortal child for a sacrifice, as they +have to offer one every seven years to the devil in return for the power +he gives them. And beautiful young girls are carried off, also, either +for sacrifice or to be wedded to the fairy king.” It is easier to +generalize in this manner than to produce documents in proof. And I +think I am expressing the opinion of all folklore students when I say +that, with all respect for Lady Wilde, I would rather not lay any stress +upon her general statements. Indeed, those of anybody, however great an +authority, need to be checked by the evidence of particular instances. I +await such evidence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Sikes, p. 62; <i>cf.</i> Brand, vol. ii. p. 334 note; Bartsch, vol. i. p. 46.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 175; vol. iii. p. 43; Kuhn, p. 195; Schleicher, p. 92.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Gregor, p. 61; Keightley, p. 393; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 64.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Hunt, p. 96; Waldron, p. 30. This account was given to the author by the mother herself.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Croker, p. 81. See a similar tale in Campbell, vol. ii. p. 58. +Gregor, p. 61, mentions the dog-hole as the way by which children are +sometimes carried off.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. p. 46; Kuhn, p. 196; Grimm, “Teut. +Myth.” p. 468; Poestion, p. 114; Grohmann, p. 113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Waldron, p. 29. The same writer gives a similar account of the +changeling mentioned above, p. 107.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> “Colloquia Mensalia,” quoted by Southey, “The +Doctor” (London, 1848), p. 621. As to the attribute of greed, +<i>cf.</i> Keightley, p. 125.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Hunt, p. 85; “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. p. 175; Rev. +Edmund Jones, “A Relation of Apparitions,” quoted by Wirt +Sikes, p. 56. Thiele relates a story in which a wild stallion colt is +brought in to smell two babes, one of which is a changeling. Every time +he smells one he is quiet and licks it; but on smelling the other he is +invariably restive and strives to kick it. The latter, therefore, is the +changeling. (Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 177.) Sir John Maundeville also states +that in Sicily is a kind of serpent whereby men assay the legitimacy of +their children. If the children be illegitimate the serpents bite and +kill them; if otherwise they do them no harm—an easy and off-hand +way of getting rid of them! (“Early Trav.” p. 155).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Campbell, vol. ii. p. 58; Chambers, p. 70.</p></div> <div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Cromek, p. 246.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. p. 42; Sikes, p. 59, quoting from the +“Cambrian Quarterly,” vol. ii. p. 86; “Y +Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. p. 209; Arnason's “Icelandic +Legends,” cited in Kennedy, p. 89; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 174, +quoting Thiele, “Danmark's Folkesagn samlede.” See also +Keightley, p. 125.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Fleury, p. 60; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iii. p. 162.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Cf. <i>Böhmen-Gold</i>, Bartsch, vol. i. p. 22; <i>Böhmegold</i>, +ibid. p. 47; <i>Böhmer Gold</i>, ibid. pp. 65, 79, and presumably p. 89; +<i>Böhma gold</i>, Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 30; <i>Boehman gold</i>, ibid. p. +31; <i>böm un gold</i> (timber and gold), ibid. p. 105; <i>Boem un holt</i> +(timber and wood), Jahn, p. 90; <i>Bernholt in den Wolt</i> (firewood in the +forest), and <i>Bremer Wold</i>, Müllenhoff, cited Grimm, +“Tales,” vol. i. p. 388. These variations while preserving a +similar sound are suspicious.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Grimm, “Tales,” vol. i. pp. 163, 388; Schleicher, p. +91; Fleury, p. 60; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 176; quoting Asbjörnsen, +“Huldreeventyr,” vol. ii. p. 165. <i>Cf.</i> Sébillot, +“Contes Pop.” vol. ii. p. 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Sikes, pp. 58, 59; Howells, p. 138; “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. +iv. p. 208, vol. vi. pp. 172, 204; Keightley, p. 436.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Croker, p. 65; “A Pleasant Treatise of Witches,” p. 62, quoted +in Hazlitt, “Fairy Tales,” p. 372; Sébillot, “Contes,” vol. ii. p. 76; +Carnoy, p. 4; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 157; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 47; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iii. p. 162. <i>Cf.</i> a Basque tale given by +Webster, where the Devil is tricked into telling his age (Webster, p. 58).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Simrock, p. 419.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Jahn, p. 89; Schleicher, p. 91.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> “Choice Notes,” p. 27; (this seems to have been a common +prescription in Wales: see “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi, pp. 175, 178; and in the Western Highlands: see Campbell, vol. ii. p. 64.) +Brand, vol. ii. p. 335, note; (this seems also to be the case in some parts of Ireland, Lady Wilde, vol. i. p. 70.) Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 157; +Kennedy, p. 94; “Irish Folk Lore,” p. 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> <i>Beaten</i>—Lay of Marie de France, quoted Keightley, p. 436; +Costello, “Pilgrimage to Auvergne,” vol. ii. p. 294, quoted Keightley, +p. 471; Fleury, p. 62, citing Bosquet, “Normandie Romanesque”; +Howells, p. 139; Aubrey, “Remains,” p. 30; Jahn, pp. 98, 101; +Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 29; Croker, p. 81. <i>Starved, beaten, &c.</i>—Croker, +p. 77. <i>Threatened to be killed</i>—Sébillot, “Trad. et Super.” +vol. i. p. 118; “Contes,” vol. i. p. 28, vol. ii. p. 76; Carnoy, p. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Grohmann, p. 135; Wratislaw, p. 161; Schleicher, p. 92.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> “Y Brython,” vol. ii. p. 20; Kennedy, p. 90; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. +174; Napier, p. 40; Lady Wilde, vol. i. pp. 72, 171; Keightley, p. +393; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iii. p. 162; Campbell, vol. ii. pp. +47, 61; Croker, p. 65; Chambers, p. 70; “F. L. Journal,” vol. i. p. +56; Gregor, pp. 8, 9; Cromek, p. 246.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> “Daily Telegraph,” 19 May 1884; Gregor, p. 61; Lady Wilde, +vol. i. pp. 38, 173; “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. p. 209, vol. v. p. 72.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> “Cambrian Quarterly,” vol. ii. p. 86, quoted, Sikes, p. 59; “Y +Cymmrodor,” vol. iv. p. 208, vol. vi. pp. 172, 203. Mr. Sikes refers +to a case in which the child was bathed in a solution of foxglove as +having actually occurred in Carnarvonshire in 1857, but he gives no +authority.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Quoted in Southey, <i>loc. cit.</i> Müllenhoff relates a similar tale, see +Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 46; also Grohmann, p. 126; Kuhn und Schwartz, +p. 30. Bowker, p. 73, relates a story embodying a similar episode, +but apparently connected with Wild Hunt legends. See his note, ibid. +p. 251.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Hunt, p. 91; “F. L. Journal,” vol. vi. p. 182.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. p. 181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Mrs. Bray, vol. i. p. 167; Kuhn, p. 196; Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” +p. 468, note; “Irish F. L.” p. 45; Napier, p. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Jahn, p. 52; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 47; Lady Wilde, vol. i. p. 119.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> “F. L. Journal,” vol. ii. p. 91, quoting the “Irish Fireside.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Gregor, p. 62; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 139, quoting Thiele; vol. iii. +p. 41, quoting Müllenhoff; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 67; Cromek, p. 244.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 133, quoting Thiele; Keightley, p. 391, quoting +Stewart, “The Popular Superstitions of the Highlanders.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> Napier, p. 41; Lord A. Campbell, “Waifs and Strays,” p. 71; +“Border Minstrelsy,” vol. ii. p. 173.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The tale of Elidorus — Celtic and Teutonic stories of theft from +supernatural beings — The thief unsuccessful — Cases of +successful robbery — Robbery from the king of the serpents — +Robbery of a drinking-cup, or horn — The horn of Oldenburg and +similar vessels — The Luck of Edenhall — The cup of +Ballafletcher — These vessels sacrificial and pagan.</p></div> + +<p>The earliest writers who allude to the Welsh fairy traditions +are Giraldus Cambrensis and Walter Map, two +members of that constellation of literary men which +rendered brilliant the early years of the Plantagenet +dynasty. Giraldus, with whom alone we have to do in +this chapter, lays the scene of what is perhaps his most +famous story near Swansea, and states that the adventures +narrated occurred a short time before his own days. The +story concerns one Elidorus, a priest, upon whose persistent +declarations it is founded. This good man in his +youth ran away from the discipline and frequent stripes +of his preceptor, and hid himself under the hollow bank +of a river. There he remained fasting for two days; and +then two men of pigmy stature appeared, and invited +him to come with them, and they would lead him into a +country full of delights and sports. A more powerful +temptation could not have been offered to a runaway +schoolboy of twelve years old; and the invitation was +speedily accepted. He accompanied his guides into a +subterranean land, where he found a people of small +stature but pure morals. He was brought into the presence +of the king, and by him handed over to his son, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +was then a boy. In that land he dwelt for some time; +but he often used to return by various paths to the upper +day, and on one of these occasions he made himself +known to his mother, declaring to her the nature, +manners, and state of the pigmy folk. She desired him +to bring her a present of gold, which was plentiful in +that region; and he accordingly stole a golden ball +while at play with the king's son, and ran off with it to +his mother, hotly pursued. Reaching home, his foot +stumbled on the threshold, and, dropping the ball, he +fell into the room where his mother was sitting. The +two pigmies who had followed him at once seized the ball +and made off with it, not without expressing their contempt +for the thief who had returned their kindness +with such ingratitude; and Elidorus, though he sought +it carefully with penitence and shame, could never again +find the way into the underground realm.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a></p> + +<p>Narratives of the theft of valuables from supernatural +beings are found all the world over. In this way, for +example, in the mythology of more than one nation mankind +obtained the blessing of fire. Such tales, however, +throw but little light on this one of Elidorus; and it will +therefore be more profitable in considering it to confine +our attention to those generally resembling it current +among Celts and Teutons. They are very common; and +the lesson they usually teach is that honesty is the best +policy—at all events, in regard to beings whose power is +not bounded by the ordinary human limitations. Beginning +with South Wales, we find one of these tales told +by the Rev. Edward Davies, a clergyman in Gloucestershire +at the beginning of this century, who was the author +of two curious works on Welsh antiquities, stuffed with +useless, because misdirected, learning. The tale in question +relates to a small lake “in the mountains of +Brecknock,” concerning which we are informed that +every Mayday a certain door in a rock near the lake was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +found open. He who was bold enough to enter was led +by a secret passage to a small island, otherwise invisible, +in the middle of the lake. This was a fairy island, a +garden of enchanting beauty, inhabited by the <i>Tylwyth +Teg</i> (or Fair Family), and stored with fruits and flowers. +The inhabitants treated their visitors with lavish hospitality, +but permitted nothing to be carried away. One +day this prohibition was violated by a visitor, who put +into his pocket a flower with which he had been presented. +The Fair Family showed no outward resentment. Their +guests were dismissed with the accustomed courtesy; but +the moment he who had broken their behest “touched +unhallowed ground” the flower disappeared, and he lost +his senses. Nor has the mysterious door ever been found +again.<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></p> + +<p>In both these cases the thief is unsuccessful, and the +punishment of his crime is the loss of fairy intercourse; +perhaps the mildest form which punishment could take. +But sometimes the <i>chevalier d'industrie</i> is lucky enough +to secure his spoils. It is related that certain white +ghosts were in the habit of playing by night at skittles +on a level grass-plot on the Lüningsberg, near Aerzen, in +North Germany. A journeyman weaver, who was in +love with a miller's daughter, but lacked the means to +marry her, thought there could be no harm in robbing +the ghosts of one of the golden balls with which they +used to play. He accordingly concealed himself one +evening; and when the harmless spectres came out he +seized one of their balls, and scampered away with it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +followed by the angry owners. A stream crossed his +path, and, missing the plank bridge which spanned it, he +sprang into the water. This saved him, for the spirits +had no power there; and a merry wedding was the +speedy sequel of his adventure. In like manner a fairy, +who, in a Breton saga, was incautious enough to winnow +gold in broad daylight in a field where a man was +pruning beeches, excited the latter's attention by this +singular proceeding; and the man possessed himself of +the treasure by simply flinging into it a hallowed rosary. +In Germany the water-nix has the reputation of being +a good shoemaker. It is related that a man, who once saw +a nix on the shore of the March busy at his work, threw a +rosary upon it. The nix disappeared, leaving the shoe; +and a variant states that the shoe was so well made that +the owner wore out successively twelve other shoes which +he had caused to be made to match it, without its being +any the worse.<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></p> + +<p>We have already seen in the last <a href="#CHAPTER_V">chapter</a> that the +performance of Christian rites and the exhibition of +Christian symbols and sacred books have a powerful +effect against fairies. But further, the invocation, or +indeed the simple utterance, of a sacred name has always +been held to counteract enchantments and the wiles of all +supernatural beings who are not themselves part and +parcel of what I may, without offence and for want of a +better term, call the Christian mythology, and who may +therefore at times, if not constantly, be supposed to be +hostile to the Christian powers and to persons under +their protection. These beliefs are, of course, in one +form or another part of the machinery of every religion. +The tales just quoted are examples of the potency of a +symbol. A North German story is equally emphatic as +to the value of a holy name. We are told that late one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +evening a boy saw a great number of hares dancing and +leaping. Now hares are specially witch-possessed animals. +As he stood and watched them one of them sprang +towards him and tried to bite his leg. But he said: “Go +away! thou art not of God, but of the devil.” Instantly +the whole company vanished; but he heard a doleful +voice exclaiming: “My silver beaker, my silver beaker!” +On reaching home he told his adventure; and his father +at once started back with him to the place, where they +found a silver beaker inscribed with a name neither they +nor the goldsmith, to whom they sold the goblet for a +large sum of money, could read. The district whence +this story comes furnishes us also with an account of a +man who, being out late one night, came upon a fire surrounded +by a large circle of women sitting at a table. He +ventured to seat himself among them. Each one had +brought something for the meal; and a man-cook went +round them asking each what she had got. When he +came to the hero of the story the latter struck him with +his stick, saying: “I have a blow which our Lord God +gave the devil.” Thereupon the whole assembly disappeared, +leaving nothing behind but the kettle which +hung over the fire, and which the man took and long +preserved to testify the truth of his story. A Cornish +fisherman was scarcely less lucky without the protection +of a pious exclamation. For one night going home he +found a crowd of “little people” on the beach. They +were sitting in a semicircle holding their hats towards +one of their number, who was pitching gold pieces from +a heap into them. The fisherman contrived to introduce +his hat among them without being noticed, and having +got a share of the money, made off with it. He was followed +by the piskies, but had a good start, and managed +to reach home and shut the door upon them. Yet so +narrow was his escape that he left the tails of his sea-coat +in their hands.<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>Vengeance, however, is sometimes swift and sure upon +these robberies. It is believed in Germany that the king +of the snakes is wont to come out to sun himself at noon; +and that he then lays aside his crown, a prize for any one +who can seize it. A horseman, coming at the opportune +moment, did so once; but the serpent-king called forth his +subjects and pursued him. By the help of his good steed +the man succeeded in arriving at home; and, thankful to +have escaped the danger, he patted the beast's neck as he +jumped down, saying: “Faithfully hast thou helped me!” +At that instant a snake, which had hidden herself unnoticed +in the horse's tail, bit the man; and little joy had +he of his crime. In another story the girl who steals the +crown is deafened by the cries of her victim; and elsewhere, +when the serpent-king is unable to reach the +robber, he batters his own head to pieces in ineffectual +rage. Perhaps he deserved his fate in some of these +cases, for it seems he had a foolish liking to lay down his +crown on a white cloth, or a white, or blue, silk handkerchief,—a +predilection which the robber did not fail to +provide him with the opportunity of gratifying, and of +repenting.<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p> + +<p>Other tales represent the thief as compelled to restore +the stolen goods. Thus a man who found the trolls on +the Danish isle of Fuur carrying their treasures out into +the air, shot thrice over them, and thereby forced the +owners to quit them. He caught up the gold and silver +and rode off with it, followed by the chief troll. But +after he got into the house and shut the doors there was +such a storming and hissing outside, that the whole house +seemed ablaze. Terrified, he flung the bag wherein he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +had secured the treasures out into the night. The storm +ceased, and he heard a voice crying: “Thou hast still +enough.” In the morning he found a heavy silver cup, +which had fallen behind a chest of drawers. Again, a +farm servant of South Kongerslev, in Denmark, who +went at his master's instance, on Christmas Eve, to see +what the trolls in a neighbouring hill were doing, was +offered drink from a golden cup. He took the cup, and +casting out its contents, spurred his horse from the spot, +hotly pursued. On the way back he passed the dwelling +of a band of trolls at enmity with those from whom he +had stolen the cup. Counselled by them, he took to the +ploughed field, where his pursuers were unable to follow +him, and so escaped. The farmer kept the goblet until +the following Christmas Eve, when his wife imprudently +helped a tattered beggar to beer in it. It is not wonderful +that both the cup and the beggar vanished; but we +are to understand that the beggar was a troll. Perhaps +he was. In Thyholm, a district of Denmark, there is a +range of lofty mounds formerly inhabited by trolls. +Some peasants who were once passing by these mounds +prayed the trolls to give them some beer. In a moment +a little creature came out and presented a large silver can +to one of the men, who had no sooner grasped it than he +set spurs to his horse, with the intention of keeping it. +But the little man of the mound was too quick for him, +for he speedily caught him and compelled him to return +the can. In a Pomeranian story the underground folk +forestalled the intention to rob them on the part of a +farmer's boy whose thirst they had quenched with a can +of delicious brown-beer. Having drunk, he hid the can +itself, with the object of taking it home when his day's +work was done, for it was of pure silver; but when he +afterwards went to look for it, it had disappeared.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> + +<p>Moreover, ungrateful mortals are sometimes punished,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +even when they are lucky enough to secure their prize. +Thus it is told of a man of Zahren, in Mecklenburg, who +was seized with thirst on his way home from Penzlin, +that he heard music in a barrow known to be the haunt +of the underground folk. People were then on familiar +terms with the latter; and the man cried out and asked +for a drink. Nor did he ask in vain; for his appeal was +at once answered by the appearance of a little fellow with +a flask of delicious drink. After slaking his thirst the +man took the opportunity to make off with the flask; +but he was pursued by the whole troop of elves, only one +of whom, and he had only one leg, succeeded in keeping +up with him. The thief, however, managed to get over +a cross-road where One-leg could not follow him; and +the latter then, making a virtue of necessity, cried out: +“Thou mayst keep the flask; and henceforth always +drink thereout, for it will never be empty; but beware +of looking into it.” For some years the elf's injunction +was observed; but one day, in a fit of curiosity, the +peasant looked into the bottom of the flask, and there sat +a horrid toad! The toad disappeared, and so did the +liquor; and the man in a short time fell miserably sick. +In a Norse tale, a man whose bride is about to be carried +off by Huldre-folk, rescues her by shooting over her head +a pistol loaded with a silver bullet. This has the effect +of dissolving the witchery; and he is forthwith enabled +to seize her and gallop off, not unpursued. One of the +trolls, to retard his flight, held out to him a well-filled +golden horn. He took the horn, but cast the liquor +away, and rode away with both horn and girl. The +trolls, when they found themselves unable to catch him, +cried after him in their exasperation: “The red cock +shall crow over thy dwelling!” And behold! his house +stood in a blaze. Similarly, a Swedish tradition relates +that one of the serving-men of the lady of Liungby, in +Scania, one night of Christmas in the year 1490, rode +out to inquire the cause of the noise at the Magle stone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +He found the trolls dancing and making merry. A fair +troll-woman stepped forth and offered him a drinking-horn +and a pipe, praying he would drink the troll-king's +health and blow in the pipe. He snatched the horn +and pipe from her, and spurring back to the mansion, +delivered them into his lady's hands. The trolls followed +and begged to have their treasures back, promising +prosperity to the lady's race if she would restore them. +She kept them, however; and they are said to be still +preserved at Liungby as memorials of the adventure. +But the serving-man who took them died three days +after, and the horse on the second day; the mansion has +been twice burnt, and the family never prospered after. +On the eve of the first of May the witches of Germany +hold high revel. Every year the fields and farmyards of +a certain landowner were so injured by these nocturnal +festivities that one of his servants determined to put a +stop to the mischief. Going to the trysting-place, he +found the witches eating and drinking around a large +slab of marble which rested on four golden pillars; and on +the slab lay a golden horn of wondrous form. The +sorceresses invited him to join the feast; but a fellow-servant +whom he met there warned him not to drink, for +they only wished to poison him. Wherefore he flung +the proffered beverage away, seized the horn, and galloped +home as hard as he could. All doors and gates had been +left open for him; and the witches consequently were +unable to catch him. The next day a gentleman in fine +clothes appeared and begged his master to restore the +horn, promising in return to surround his property with +a wall seven feet high, but threatening, in case of refusal, +to burn his farms down thrice, and that just when he +thought himself richest. Three days were allowed to the +landowner for consideration, but he declined to restore +the horn. The next harvest had hardly been housed +when his barns were in flames. Three times did this +happen, and the landowner was reduced to poverty. By<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +the king's kindness he was enabled to rebuild; and he +then made every effort to discover the owner of the horn, +sending it about for that purpose even as far as Constantinople; +but no one could be found to claim it.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p> + +<p>Somewhat more courteous was a Danish boy whom an +Elf-maiden met and offered drink from a costly drinking-horn +one evening as he rode homeward late from Ristrup +to Siellevskov. He received the horn, but fearing to +drink its contents, poured them out behind him, so that, +as in several of these stories, they fell on the horse's +back, and singed the hair off. The horn he held fast, +and the horse probably needed no second hint to start at +the top of its speed. The elf-damsel gave chase until +horse and man reached a running water, across which +she could not follow them. Seeing herself outwitted, she +implored the youth to give her back the horn, promising +him in reward the strength of twelve men. On this +assurance he returned the horn to her, and got what she +had promised him. But the exchange was not very +profitable; for with the strength of twelve men he had +unfortunately acquired the appetite of twelve. Here it +may well be thought that the supernatural gift only took +its appropriate abatement. In a story from the north of +Scotland the cup was stolen for the purpose of undoing a +certain spell, and was honourably returned when the +purpose was accomplished. Uistean, we are told, was a +great slayer of Fuathan, supernatural beings apparently +akin to fairies. He shot one day into a wreath of mist, +and a beautiful woman fell down at his side. He took +her home; and she remained in his house for a year, +speechless. On a day at the end of the year he was +benighted in the mountains, and seeing a light in a +hill, he drew nigh, and found the fairies feasting. He +entered the hill, and heard the butler, as he was handing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +the drink round, say: “It is a year from this night's +night that we lost the daughter of the Earl of Antrim. +She has the power of the draught on her that she does +not speak a word till she gets a drink from the cup that +is in my hand.” When the butler reached Uistean, he +handed him the cup. The latter, on getting it in his +hand, ran off, pursued by the fairies until the cock crew. +When he got home, he gave the lady in his house to +drink out of the cup; and immediately her speech +returned. She then told him she was the Earl of +Antrim's daughter, stolen by the fairies from child-bed. +Uistean took back the cup to the hill whence he had +brought it, and then restored the lady to her father safe +and sound, the fairy woman who had been left in her +place vanishing meantime in a flame of fire.<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> + +<p>There are also legends in which a hat conferring +invisibility, or a glove, figures; but the stolen article is +usually, as in most of the instances cited above, a cup or +a drinking-horn. Many such articles are still preserved +in various parts of Northern Europe. Of these the most +celebrated are the Luck of Edenhall and the Oldenburg +horn. But before discussing these I must refer to some +other stories, the material evidence of which is no longer +extant. Gervase of Tilbury relates that in a forest of +Gloucestershire there is a glade in the midst whereof +stands a hillock rising to the height of a man. Knights +and hunters were wont, when fatigued with heat and +thirst, to ascend the hillock in question to obtain relief. +This had to be done singly and alone. The adventurous +man then would say: “I thirst,” when a cupbearer would +appear and present him with a large drinking-horn +adorned with gold and gems, as, says the writer, was the +custom among the most ancient English, and containing +liquor of some unknown but most delicious flavour. When +he had drunk this, all heat and weariness fled from his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +body, and the cupbearer presented him with a towel +to wipe his mouth withal; and then having performed +his office he disappeared, waiting neither for recompense +nor inquiry. One day an ill-conditioned knight of the +city of Gloucester, having gotten the horn into his hands, +contrary to custom and good manners kept it. But the +Earl of Gloucester, having heard of it, condemned the +robber to death, and gave the horn to King Henry I., +lest he should be thought to have approved of such +wickedness if he had added the rapine of another to the +store of his own private property. Gervase of Tilbury +wrote near the beginning of the thirteenth century. His +contemporary, William of Newbury, relates a similar +story, but lays its scene in Yorkshire. He says that a +peasant coming home late at night, not very sober, and +passing by a barrow, heard the noise of singing and +feasting. Seeing a door open in the side of the barrow, +he looked in, and beheld a great banquet. One of the +attendants offered him a cup, which he took, but would +not drink. Instead of doing so, he poured out the contents, +and kept the vessel. The fleetness of his beast +enabled him to distance all pursuit, and he escaped. +We are told that the cup, described as of unknown +material, of unusual colour and of extraordinary form, +was presented to Henry I., who gave it to his brother-in-law, +David, King of the Scots. After having been +kept for several years in the Scottish treasury it was +given by William the Lion to King Henry II., who +wished to see it.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></p> + +<p>By a fortune somewhat rare, this story, having been +written down in the days of the early Plantagenet kings, +has been lately found again among the folk in the +East Riding. The how, or barrow, where it is now said +to have occurred is Willey How, near Wold Newton, on +the Bridlington road, a conspicuous mound about three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +hundred feet in circumference and sixty feet in height. +The rustic to whom the adventure happened was an +inhabitant of Wold Newton, who had been on a visit to +the neighbouring village of North Burton, and was +belated. Another tale resembling the Gloucestershire +saga is found in Swabia, though the object of which +the mysterious benefactor was deprived was not a cup, +but a knife. Some farm servants, while at work in the +fields, were approached by an unusually beautiful maiden +clad in black. Every day about nine or ten o'clock in +the morning, and again about four o'clock in the afternoon, +she brought them a small pitcher of wine and a +loaf of snow-white bread—greater luxuries, probably, to +peasants then even than they would be now. She always +brought a very pretty silver knife to cut the bread, and +always begged them to be sure to give it back to her, +else she were lost. Her visits continued until one of the +servants took it into his head to keep the knife, which +he was ungrateful enough to do in spite of her tears and +prayers. Finding all entreaties vain, she uttered piercing +cries of distress, tore her fair hair, rent her silken clothes, +and vanished, never to be seen again. But often you +may hear on the spot where she once appeared sobs and +the sound of weeping.<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></p> + +<p>A Cornish tale relates that a farmer's boy of Portallow +was one night sent to a neighbouring village for some +household necessaries. On the way he fell in with some +piskies, and by repeating the formula he heard them use, +transported himself with them, first to Portallow Green, +then to Seaton Beach, and finally to “the King of +France's cellar,” where he joined his mysterious companions +in tasting that monarch's wines. They then +passed through magnificent rooms, where the tables were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +laden for a feast. By way of taking some memorial of +his travels he pocketed one of the rich silver goblets +which stood on one of the tables. After a very short +stay the word was passed to return, and presently he +found himself again at home. The good wife complimented +him on his despatch. “You'd say so, if you only +know'd where I've been,” he replied; “I've been wi' the +piskies to Seaton Beach, and I've been to the King o' +France's house, and all in five minutes.” The farmer +stared and said the boy was <i>mazed</i>. “I thought you'd +say I was mazed, so I brort away this mug to show vor +et,” he answered, producing the goblet. With such +undeniable evidence his story could not be any longer +doubted. Stealing from a natural enemy like the King +of France was probably rather meritorious than otherwise; +and the goblet remained in the boy's family for +generations, though unfortunately it is no longer forthcoming +for the satisfaction of those who may still be +sceptical.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></p> + +<p>This story differs from the others I have detailed, in +narrating a raid by supernatural beings on the dwelling +of a human potentate—a raid in which a human creature +joined and brought away a substantial trophy. In the +seventeenth century there was in the possession of Lord +Duffus an old silver cup, called the Fairy Cup, concerning +which the following tradition was related to John +Aubrey, the antiquary, by a correspondent writing from +Scotland on the 25th of March 1695. An ancestor of the +then Lord Duffus was walking in the fields near his house +in Morayshire when he heard the noise of a whirlwind and +of voices crying: “Horse and Hattock!” This was the +exclamation fairies were said to use “when they remove +from any place.” Lord Duffus was bold enough to cry +“Horse and Hattock” also, and was immediately caught +up through the air with the fairies to the King of France's +cellar at Paris, where, after he had heartily drunk, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +fell asleep. There he was found lying the next morning +with the silver cup in his hand, and was promptly brought +before the King, to whom, on being questioned, he repeated +this story; and the King, in dismissing him, +presented him with the cup. Where it may be now I +do not know, nor does Aubrey's correspondent furnish +us with any description of it, save the negative but +important remark that it had nothing engraven upon it +beside the arms of the family.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></p> + +<p>On this vessel, therefore, if it be yet in existence, there +is nothing to warrant the name of Fairy Cup, or to +connect it with the adventure just related. Nor does the +Oldenburg Horn itself bear any greater marks of authenticity. +That famous vessel is still exhibited at the palace +of Rosenborg at Copenhagen. It is of silver gilt, and +ornamented in paste with enamel. It bears coats of +arms and inscriptions, showing that it was made for +King Christian I. of Denmark in honour of the Three +Kings of Cologne, and cannot therefore be older than the +middle of the fifteenth century. The legend attached to +it claims for it a much greater antiquity. The legend itself +was narrated in Hamelmann's “Oldenburger Chronik” +at the end of the sixteenth century, and is even yet current +in the mouths of the Oldenburg folk. Hamelmann dates +it in the year 990, when the then Count of Oldenburg +was hunting in the forest of Bernefeuer. He had followed +a roe from that forest to the Osenberg, and had distanced +all his attendants. It was the twentieth of July, the +weather was hot, and the count thirsty. He cried out +for a draught of water, and had scarcely uttered the +words, when the hill opened and a beautiful damsel +appeared and offered him drink in this horn. Not liking +the look of the beverage, he declined to drink. Whereupon +she pressed him to do so, assuring him that it would +go well with him and his thenceforth, and with the whole +house of Oldenburg; but if the count would not believe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +her and drink there would be no unity from that time in +the Oldenburg family. He had no faith in her words, +and poured out the drink, which took the hair off his +horse wherever it splashed him, and galloped away with +the horn.<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></p> + +<p>Other drinking-horns, of which precisely analogous +tales are told, are still to be seen in Norway. Of the +one at Halsteengaard it is related that the posterity of +the robber, down to the ninth generation, were afflicted, +as a penalty, with some bodily blemish. This horn is +described as holding nearly three quarts, and as being +encircled by a strong gilt copper ring, about three inches +broad, on which, in monkish characters, are to be read +the names of the Three Kings of Cologne, Melchior, +Baltazar, and Caspar. It is further ornamented with a +small gilt copper plate, forming the setting of an oval +crystal. Another horn, preserved in the museum at +Arendal, was obtained in a similar manner. A father, +pursuing his daughter and her lover, was stopped by a +troll, and offered drink in it. Instead of drinking, he +cast out the contents, with the usual result, and put +spurs to his horse. He was counselled by another troll, +who was not on good terms with the first, to ride through +the rye and not through the wheat; but even when his +pursuer was impeded by the tall rye-stalks, only the +crowing of the cock before dawn rescued him. The +vessel is encircled by three silver gilt rings, bearing an +inscription, which seems not quite correctly reported, as +follows: “Potum servorum benedic deus alme tuorum +reliquam unus benede le un Caspar Melchior Baltazar.”<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>The legend of which I am treating attaches also to a +number of sacred chalices. At Aagerup, in Zealand, is +one of these. The thief, nearly overtaken by the trolls +he had robbed, prayed to God in his distress, and vowed +to bestow the cup upon the church if his prayer were +heard. The church of Vigersted, also in Zealand, +possesses another. In the latter case the man took +refuge in the church, where he was besieged by the +trolls until morning. In Bornholm a chalice and paten +belonging to the church are said to have been made out +of a cup stolen in the same way by a peasant whose +mother was a mermaid, and who had inherited some +portion of her supernatural power; hence, probably, his +intercourse with the trolls, of which he took so mean an +advantage. At Viöl, near Flensborg, in Schleswig, is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +beaker belonging to the church, and, like the chalice at +Aagerup, of gold, of which it is narrated that it was +presented full of a liquor resembling buttermilk to a +man who was riding by a barrow where the underground +folk were holding high festival. He emptied and rode +off with it in the usual manner. A cry arose behind +him: “Three-legs, come out!” and, looking round, he +saw a monster pursuing him. Finding this creature +unable to come up with him, he heard many voices +calling: “Two-legs, come out!” But his horse was +swifter than Two-legs. Then One-leg was summoned, +as in the story already cited from Mecklenburg, and came +after him with gigantic springs, and would have caught +him, but the door of his own house luckily stood open. +He had scarcely entered, and slammed it to, when One-leg +stood outside, banging against it, and foiled. The +beaker was presented to the church in fulfilment of a +vow made by the robber in his fright; and it is now used +as the communion-cup. At Rambin, on the island of +Rügen, is another cup, the story of which relates that +the man to whom it was offered by the underground folk +did not refuse to drink, but having drunk, he kept the +vessel and took it home. A boy who was employed to +watch horses by night on a turf moor near the village of +Kritzemow, in Mecklenburg, annoyed the underground +folk by the constant cracking of his whip. One night, +as he was thus amusing himself, a mannikin came up to +him and offered him drink in a silver-gilt beaker. The +boy took the beaker, but being openly on bad terms with +the elves, argued no good to himself from such an offering. +So he instantly leaped on horseback and fled, with +the vessel in his hand, along the road to Biestow and +Rostock. The mannikin, of course, followed, but, coming +to a crossway, was compelled to give up the chase. When +the boy reached Biestow much of the liquid, as was to be +expected, had been shaken out of the cup, and wherever +on the horse it had fallen the hair had been burnt away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +Glad of escaping this danger, the boy thanked God and +handed the vessel over to the church at Biestow. In +none of these instances, however, do I find any description +of the goblet.<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></p> + +<p>Fortunately there is one, and that the most celebrated +of all the cups to which a fairy origin has been ascribed, +which has been often and accurately delineated both with +pen and pencil. I refer to the Luck of Edenhall. It +belongs to Sir George Musgrave of Edenhall in Cumberland, +in the possession of whose family it has been for +many generations. The tradition is that a butler, going +to fetch water from a well in the garden, called St. +Cuthbert's Well, came upon a company of fairies at their +revels, and snatched it from them. As the little, ill-used +folk disappeared, after an ineffectual attempt to recover +it, they cried:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“If this glass do break or fall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Farewell the luck of Edenhall!”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The most recent account of it was written in the year +1880, by the Rev. Dr. Fitch, for “The Scarborough +Gazette,” from which it has been reprinted for private circulation +in the shape of a dainty pamphlet. He speaks +of it, from a personal examination, as “a glass stoup, a +drinking vessel, about six inches in height, having a +circular base, perfectly flat, two inches in diameter, +gradually expanding upwards till it ends in a mouth four +inches across. The material is by no means fine in +quality, presenting, as it does on close inspection, several +small cavities or air-bubbles. The general hue is a warm +green, resembling the tone known by artists as <i>brown +pink</i>. Upon the transparent glass is traced a geometric +pattern in white and blue enamel, somewhat raised,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +aided by gold and a little crimson. It will, of course, +stand on its base, but it would be far from wise to entrust +it, when filled, to this support.” Dr. Fitch is in accord +with the common opinion of antiquaries in pronouncing +it to be of Venetian origin, though Mr. Franks thought +it Saracenic. He describes the case in which it is kept as +evidently made for it, being of the same shape. “The +lid of this case,” he says, “rather unevenly fits the body +by overlapping it. There is no hinge; the fastenings +are certain hooks or catches, not in good condition; the +security and better apposition of the lid is maintained by +a piece of leather, not unlike a modern boot-lace, or thin +thong. The case dates, probably, from the fifteenth +century, as articles made of similar material, viz., <i>cuir +bouilli</i>, softened or boiled leather, were much in use in +that age. This case bears an elegantly varied pattern +that has been recognized in an inkstand of Henry the +Seventh's, yet extant. Upon the lid of this case, in very +chaste and well-formed characters, is the sacred monogram +I.H.S.” These three letters, which do not really +form a monogram, have possibly given rise to the +surmise, or tradition, that the Luck was once used as +a sacred vessel. Dr. Fitch goes on to quote several +authorities, showing that chalices of glass were sanctioned +by the church, and were, in fact, made and used; and +the Luck may have been such a vessel. But I can see no +sufficient evidence of it. There is nothing to show that +the leathern case is of the same date as the glass itself; +and it may have been made long afterwards. The earliest +mention of the relic seems to have been by Francis +Douce, the antiquary, who was at Edenhall in 1785, and +wrote some verses upon it; nor is there any authentic +family history attaching to it. The shape of the goblet, +its unsteadiness when full, and the difficulty of drinking +from it without spilling some of its contents, of which Dr. +Fitch had some experience, would point to its being +intended rather for convivial than sacred uses.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>The hypothesis of the Luck's having once been a chalice +explains nothing; because, as we have seen, several of the +cups alleged to have been stolen from supernatural beings +are chalices to this day. Moreover, what are we to think +of the drinking-horns of which the same tale is told? +Some of these already mentioned bear, not indeed the +sacred letters, but prayers and the names of the sainted +Kings of Cologne, though, unlike the cups, they are not +found in churches. One drinking-horn, however, was +preserved in the cathedral at Wexiö, in Sweden, until +carried away by the Danes in 1570. This horn, stated to +be of three hundred colours, was received by a knight on +Christmas morning from a troll-wife, whose head he +there and then cut off with his sword. The king dubbed +him Trolle in memory of the deed, and bestowed on him +a coat-of-arms containing a headless troll.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> How the +horn came into the possession of the cathedral I do not +know; but at all events it could never have been a +chalice.</p> + +<p>A silver cup, perhaps still used for sacramental +purposes at the parish church of Malew, in the Isle of +Man, is the subject of the following legend. A farmer +returning homeward to the parish of Malew from Peel +was benighted and lost his way among the mountains. +In the course of his wanderings he was drawn by the +sound of sweet music into a large hall where a number of +little people were banqueting. Among them were some +faces he thought he had formerly seen; but he forbore to +take any notice of them. Nor did they take any notice +of him until he was offered drink, when one of them, +whose features seemed not unknown to him, plucked him +by the coat and forbade him, whatever he did, to taste +anything he saw before him; “for if you do,” he added, +“you will be as I am, and return no more to your +family.” Accordingly, when a large silver beaker was +put into his hand, filled with liquor, he found an opportunity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +to throw its contents on the ground. The music +forthwith ceased, and the company disappeared, leaving +the cup in his hand. On finding his way home, he told +the minister of the parish what had occurred; and the +latter, with the instincts of his profession, advised him to +devote the cup to the service of the Church. We are +indebted to Waldron's well-known “Description of the +Isle of Man,” originally published in 1731, for this story. +A later writer, annotating Waldron's work rather more +than a quarter of a century ago, refers to the vessel in +question as a paten; he states that it was still preserved +in the church, and that it bore engraved the legend: +“Sancte Lupe ora pro nobis.”<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> There are no fewer +than eleven saints named Lupus in the calendar. +Whichever of them was invoked here, the inscription +points to a continental origin for the vessel, whether cup +or paten, and is not inconsistent with its being of some +antiquity.</p> + +<p>Mr. Train, who quotes the tradition in his account of +the Isle of Man, states that several similar tales had been +placed at his disposal by friends in the island; but it was +naturally beneath the dignity of an historian to do more +than give a single specimen of this “shade of superstition,” +as he calls it. He does, however, mention +(though apparently without being conscious of any close +relationship with the cup of Kirk Malew) an antique +crystal goblet in the possession, when he wrote, of +Colonel Wilks, the proprietor of the Estate of Ballafletcher, +four or five miles from Douglas. It is described +as larger than a common bell-shaped tumbler, uncommonly +light and chaste in appearance, and ornamented +with floral scrolls, having between the designs, +on two sides, upright <i>columellæ</i> of five pillars. The +history of this cup is interesting. It is said to have been +taken by Magnus, the Norwegian King of Man, from +St. Olave's shrine. On what ground this statement rests<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +does not appear. What is really known about the goblet +is that having belonged for at least a hundred years to +the Fletcher family, the owners of Ballafletcher, it was +sold with the effects of the last of the family in 1778, and +was bought by Robert Cæsar, Esq., who gave it to his +niece for safe keeping. This niece was, perhaps, the +“old lady, a connection of the family of Fletcher,” who +is mentioned by Train as having presented the cup to +Colonel Wilks. The tradition is that it had been given +to the first of the Fletcher family more than two centuries +ago, with the injunction “that as long as he preserved it +peace and plenty would follow; but woe to him who broke +it, as he would surely be haunted by the <i>lhiannan Shee</i>,” +or “peaceful spirit” of Ballafletcher. It was kept in +a recess, whence it was never taken except on Christmas +and Easter days, or, according to Train's account, at +Christmas alone. Then, we are told, it was “filled with +wine, and quaffed off at a breath by the head of the house +only, as a libation to the spirit for her protection.”<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></p> + +<p>Here is no mention of the theft of the goblet unless +from St. Olave's sanctuary; but yet I think we have +a glimpse of the real character of the cups to which the +legend I am discussing attaches. They were probably +sacrificial vessels dedicated to the old pagan worship of +the house-spirits, of which we find so many traces among +the Indo-European peoples. These house-spirits had +their chief seat on the family hearth; and their great +festival was that of the New Year, celebrated at the +winter solstice. The policy of the Church in early and +mediæval times was to baptize to Christian uses as many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +of the heathen beliefs and ceremonies as possible. The +New Year festival thus became united with the anniversary +of the birth of Christ; and it is matter of +history that as the Danes used, previously to their conversion, +to drink to Odin and the Anses, so after that +event they were in the habit of solemnly pledging Our +Lord, His Apostles and the Saints. Such of the old +beliefs and practices, however, as the Church could +neither impress with a sacred character, nor destroy, +lingered on. Among them were the superstitions of the +fairies and the household spirits; and there is nothing +unlikely in the supposition that special vessels were kept +for the ceremonies in which these beings were propitiated. +For this purpose a horn would serve as well as any goblet; +if, indeed, it were not actually preferred, as being older, +and therefore more sacred in shape and material. As +these ceremonies gradually fell into desuetude, or were +put down by clerical influence, it would be both natural +and in accordance with policy that the cups devoted to +the supposed rites should be transferred to the service of +the Church.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> They would all be old-fashioned, quaint, +and, many of them, of foreign and unknown provenance. +Already connected in the minds of the people with the +spirit world, a supernatural origin would be ascribed to +them; and gift or robbery would be the theory of acquisition +most readily adopted. Now, theory in a certain +stage of culture is indistinguishable from narrative.</p> + +<p>In this chapter I have dealt entirely with stolen goods; +but, as we have seen in previous chapters, tales of cups +and other articles lent or given by elves in exchange for +services rendered are by no means unknown. I cannot, +however, recall any of such gifts which are now extant. +It were much to be wished that all the drinking-vessels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>—nay, +all the articles of every kind—to which legends of +supernatural origin belong were actually figured and +described. Much light would thereby be thrown upon +their true history. I will only now point out, with +regard to the Luck of Edenhall, and the three horns of +Oldenburg, of Halsteengaard, and of Arendal, of which +we have full descriptions, that what we know of them is +all in confirmation of the theory suggested. In particular, +the names of the Three Kings connect the horns +with a Christmas, or Twelfth Night, festival, which is +exactly what the theory of the sacrificial nature of these +vessels would lead us to expect. If we turn from the +actual beakers to the stories, it is surprising how many +of these we find pointing to the same festival. The cup +of South Kongerslev was won and lost on Christmas +Eve. The horn and pipe of Liungby were stolen “one +night of Christmas.” It was at Christmas-time that the +Danish boy acquired his supernatural strength by giving +back to the elf-maiden the horn he had taken from her. +The Halsteengaard horn and the golden beaker of +Aagerup were both reft from the trolls on Christmas +Eve, and the horn of Wexiö on Christmas morning. +The night of St. John's Day is mentioned as the time +when the horn now at Arendal was obtained. The saint +here referred to is probably St. John the Evangelist, +whose feast is on December the 27th. And in more than +one case the incident is connected with a marriage, which +would be an appropriate occasion for the propitiation of +the household spirit. The only instance presenting any +difficulty is that of the cup at Kirk Malew; and there the +difficulty arises from the name of the saint to whom the +cup was apparently dedicated. Nor is it lessened by +the number of saints bearing the name of Lupus. The +days on which these holy men are respectively commemorated +range through the calendar from January to +October; and until we know which of them was intended +it is useless to attempt an explanation. The question,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +however, is of small account in the face of the probability +called forth by the coincidences that remain.</p> + +<p>There is one other matter to which I would call +attention, namely, that while stories of the type discussed +in the foregoing pages are common to both Celts and +Teutons, the stolen cup is exclusively a Teutonic +possession. More than that, no authentic record of the +preservation of the relic itself is found save in the homes +and conquests of the Scandinavian race. Is this to be +accounted for by the late date of Christianity, and, therefore, +the more recent survival of heathen rites among +Teutonic, and especially Scandinavian, peoples?</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Girald. Cambr., l. i. c. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Davies, “Mythology,” p. 155. Mr. Wirt Sikes quotes this story +without acknowledgment, stating that the legend, “varying but little in phraseology, is current in the neighbourhood of a dozen different +mountain lakes.” As if he had collected it himself! (Sikes, p. 45). Compare an Eskimo story of a girl who, having acquired <i>angakok</i> +power, visited the <i>ingnersuit</i>, or underground folk, “and received presents from them; but while carrying them homewards the gifts were +wafted out of her hands and flew back to their first owners” (Rink, p. 460).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 120, apparently quoting Harry's “Sagen, +Märchen und Legenden Niedersachsens”; Sébillot, “Trad. et Sup.” +vol. i. p. 115; “Zeits. f. Volksk.” vol. ii. p. 415, quoting Vernaleken.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 305, 306; “Choice Notes,” p. 76.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> Niederhöffer, vol. iv. p. 130; Bartsch, vol. i. p. 278; Thorpe, vol. +iii. p. 56, quoting Müllenhoff; Birlinger, “Volksthümliches,” vol. i. p. 103; Grimm, “Tales,” vol. ii. p. 77. A Lusatian tradition quoted +by Grimm in a note represents the watersnake-king's crown as not only valuable in itself, but like other fairy property, the bringer of +great riches to its possessor. Ibid. 406. <i>Cf.</i> a Hindoo story to the same effect, Day, p. 17; and many other tales.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. pp. 148, 146, 121, quoting Thiele, “Danmarks +Folkesagn;” Jahn, p. 75.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. p. 83 (see also p. 41); Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 6, quoting +Faye, “Norske Folkesagn”; ibid. p. 89, quoting Afzelius, “Svenske Folkets Sago-Häfder”; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 142, quoting Thiele. See also Keightley, p. 88; +Campbell, vol. ii. p. 97.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> Gerv. Tilb., Decis. iii. c. 60; Guil. Neub. “Chronica Rerum +Anglic.” lib. i. c. 28, quoted by Liebrecht in a note to Gerv. Tilb.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Nicholson, p. 83. Mr. Nicholson in a letter to me says that he +had the story as given by him from an old inhabitant of Bridlington, and that it is current in the neighbourhood. Birlinger, “Volkst.” vol. i. pp. 3, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> “Choice Notes,” p. 73.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> Aubrey, “Miscellany,” p. 149.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 128; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 280. The latter +is the version still found as traditional. Its details are not so full, and are in some respects different.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. pp. 15, 14, apparently quoting Faye. Dr. Geo. +Stephens of the University of Copenhagen very kindly made a great number of inquiries for me with a view to obtain information, and, if +possible, drawings of the Scandinavian horns and cups, but unhappily with little success. The answer to his inquiries in reference to the horns +of Halsteengaard and Arendal, sent by Prof. Olaf Rygh, the learned Keeper of the Norwegian Museum at Christiania, will be read with +interest. He says: “Mr. Hartland's notice of 'Halsteengaard' in Norway doubtless refers to a local tale about a drinking-horn formerly +in the hands of the owner of Holsteingaard, Aal parish, Hallingdal. It was first made public in the year 174-, in 'Ivar Wiels Beskriveke +over Ringerige og Hallingdals Fogderi,' in 'Topografisk Journal for Norge,' Part XXXI., Christiania, 1804, pp. 179-183. I know nothing +more as to the fate of this horn than what is said in Nicolaysen's 'Norske Fornlevninger,' p. 152, that it is said to have been sent to the Bergen +Museum in 1845. Should this be so, it will be almost impossible to identify it among the many such horns in that collection. As described +by Wiel, it was merely a very simple specimen of the kind with the common inscription JASPAR X MELCHIOR X BALTAZAR. +This class of horn was largely imported to Norway from North Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries.</p> + +<p>“Meanwhile I beg to point out that the oldest legend of this kind which has come down to us is found in 'Biskop Jens Nilssons Visitatsböger +og Reise-optegnelser, udgivne af Dr. Yngvar Nielsen,' p. 393. It was written by the bishop or his amanuensis during his visitation, +1595, in Flatdal parish, Telemarken. What has become of the horn spoken of by the bishop I cannot say. </p> + +<p> “I have no idea of what is meant by Mr. Hartland's reference to Arendal. Possibly it may concern something in the museum there, but +of which I never heard. The printed catalogue of the museum (Arendal, 1882) includes nothing from the middle age or later.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 144, quoting Thiele. Keightley, pp. 109, +111, note; (The latter mentions another theft of a silver jug where the thief was saved by crossing running water.) Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 140; +vol. iii. p. 70, quoting Müllenhoff; Jahn, p. 53; Bartsch, vol. i. p. 60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 91, quoting Afzelius.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> Waldron, pp. 28, 106.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Train, vol. ii. p. 154; and see a note by Harrison to his edition of +Waldron, p. 106. The cup is stated by Harrison to have been, when he wrote, in the possession of Major Bacon, of Seafield House. Mrs. +Russell, of Oxford, kindly made inquiries for me in the Isle of Man as to its present whereabouts, and that of the cup of Kirk Malew, and +inserted a query in <i>Yn Livar Manninagh</i>, the organ of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society, but without eliciting any information.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> It is not irrelevant to observe in this connection that several of the +chalices in Sweden are said to have been presented to the churches by priests to whom a Berg-woman had offered drink in these very cups or +bowls (Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 90, quoting Afzelius).</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The story of Rhys and Llewelyn — Dancing for a twelvemonth — British +variants — Lapse of time among the Siberian Tartars — German +and Slavonic stories — The penalty of curiosity and greed — A +Lapp tale —The mother leaving her child in the mysterious cave — Rip +van Winkle — Eastern variants — King Herla — The Adalantado +of the Seven Cities — The Seven Sleepers — King Wenzel and the +smith — Lost brides and bridegrooms — The Monk Felix — Visits to +Paradise — A Japanese tale.</p></div> + +<p>In previous chapters we have seen that human beings are +sometimes taken by fairies into Fairyland, and that they +are there kept for a longer or shorter period, or, it may +be, are never permitted to return to earth at all. We +have noted cases in which they are led down for +temporary purposes and, if they are prudent, are enabled +to return when those purposes are accomplished. We +have noted other cases in which babes or grown women +have been stolen and retained until their kindred have +compelled restoration. The story cited in the last +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">chapter</a> from Giraldus describes a seduction of a +different kind. There the visit to Fairyland was of a +more voluntary character, and the hero was able to go +to and fro as he pleased. We have also met with tales +in which the temptation of food, or more usually of +drink, has been held out to the wayfarer; and we have +learned that the result of yielding would be to give +himself wholly into the fairies' hands. I propose now to +examine instances in which temptation of one kind or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +other has been successful, or in which a spell has been +cast over man or woman, not merely preventing the +bewitched person from regaining his home and human +society, but also rendering him, while under the spell, +impervious to the attacks of time and unconscious of its +flight.</p> + +<p>These stories are of many types. The first type +comes, so far as I know, only from Celtic sources. It +is very widely known in Wales, and we may call it, from +its best-known example, the “Rhys and Llewelyn type.” +A story obtained between sixty and seventy years ago in +the Vale of Neath relates that Rhys and Llewelyn were +fellow-servants to a farmer; and they had been engaged +one day in carrying lime for their master. As they were +going home, driving their mountain ponies before them +in the twilight, Rhys suddenly called to his companion +to stop and listen to the music. It was a tune, he said, +to which he had danced a hundred times, and he must +go and have a dance now. So he told his companion to +go on with the horses and he would soon overtake him. +Llewelyn could hear nothing, and began to remonstrate; +but away sprang Rhys, and he called after him in vain. +Accordingly he went home, put up the ponies, ate his +supper and went to bed, thinking that Rhys had only +made a pretext for going to the alehouse. But when +morning came, and still no sign of Rhys, he told his +master what had occurred. Search proving fruitless, +suspicion fell on Llewelyn of having murdered his +fellow-servant; and he was accordingly imprisoned. A +farmer in the neighbourhood, skilled in fairy matters, +guessing how things might have been, proposed that +himself and some others, including the narrator of the +story, should accompany Llewelyn to the place where he +parted with Rhys. On coming to it, “Hush!” cried +Llewelyn, “I hear music, I hear sweet harps.” All +listened, but could hear nothing. But Llewelyn's foot +was on the outward edge of the fairy-ring. “Put your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +foot on mine, David,” he said to the narrator. The +latter did so, and so did each of the party, one after the +other, and then heard the sound of many harps, and saw +within a circle, about twenty feet across, great numbers +of little people dancing round and round. Among them +was Rhys, whom Llewelyn caught by the smock-frock, as +he came by him, and pulled him out of the circle. +“Where are the horses? where are the horses?” cried +he. “Horses, indeed!” said Llewelyn. Rhys urged +him to go home and let him finish his dance, in which +he averred he had not been engaged more than five +minutes. It was only by main force they got him away; +and the sequel was that he could not be persuaded of the +time that had passed in the dance: he became melancholy, +took to his bed, and soon after died.<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></p> + +<p>Variants of this tale are found all over Wales. At +Pwllheli, Professor Rhys was told of two youths who +went out to fetch cattle and came at dusk upon a party +of fairies dancing. One was drawn into the circle; and +the other was suspected of murdering him, until, at +a wizard's suggestion, he went again to the same spot at +the end of a year and a day. There he found his friend +dancing, and managed to get him out, reduced to a mere +skeleton. The first question put by the rescued man +was as to the cattle he was driving. Again, at Trefriw, +Professor Rhys found a belief that when a young man +got into a fairy-ring the fairy damsels took him away; +but he could be got out unharmed at the end of a year +and a day, when he would be found dancing with them +in the same ring. The mode of recovery was to touch +him with a piece of iron and to drag him out at once. +We shall consider hereafter the reason for touching the +captive with iron. In this way was recovered, after +the expiration of a year and a day, a youth who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +wandered into a fairy-ring. He had new shoes on at the +time he was lost; and he could not be made to understand +that he had been there more than five minutes +until he was asked to look at his new shoes, which were +by that time in pieces. Near Aberystwyth, Professor +Rhys was told of a servant-maid who was lost while +looking for some calves. Her fellow-servant, a man, was +taken into custody on a charge of murdering her. A +“wise man,” however, found out that she was with the +fairies; and by his directions the servant-man was +successful at the end of the usual period of twelve +months and a day in drawing her out of the fairy-ring +at the place where she was lost. As soon as she was +released and saw her fellow-servant (who was carefully +dressed in the same clothes as he had on when she left +him), she asked about the calves. On their way home +she told her master, the servant-man, and the others, that +she would stay with them until her master should strike +her with iron. One day, therefore, when she was helping +her master to harness a horse the bit touched her, +and she disappeared instantly and was never seen from +that time forth. In another case, said to have happened +in Anglesea, a girl got into a fairy-circle while looking, +with her father, for a lost cow. By a “wise man's” +advice, however, he rescued her by pulling her out of +the circle the very hour of the night of the anniversary +of his loss. The first inquiry she then made was after +the cow, for she had not the slightest recollection of the +time she had spent with the fairies.<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></p> + +<p>A ghastly sequel, more frequently found in a type of +the story considered later on, sometimes occurs. In +Carmarthenshire it is said that a farmer going out one +morning very early was lost; nor were any tidings heard +of him for more than twelve months afterwards, until +one day a man passing by a lonely spot saw him dancing, +and spoke to him. This broke the spell; and the farmer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +as if waking out of a dream, exclaimed: “Oh dear! +where are my horses?” Stepping out of the magical +circle, he fell down and mingled his dust with the earth. +In North Wales a story was generally current a couple of +generations since of two men travelling together who +were benighted in a wood. One of them slept, but the +other fell into the hands of the fairies. With the help +of a wizard's advice, some of his relatives rescued him at +the end of a year. They went to the place where his +companion had missed him, there found him dancing +with the fairies and dragged him out of the ring. The +unfortunate man, imagining it was the same night and +that he was with his companion, immediately asked if it +were not better to go home. He was offered some food, +which he began to eat; but he had no sooner done so +than he mouldered away. A similar tradition attaches +to a certain yew-tree near Mathafarn in the parish of +Llanwrin. One of two farm-servants was lost at that +spot, and found again, a year after, dancing in a fairy-circle. +On being dragged out he was asked if he did not +feel hungry. “No,” he replied, “and if I did, have I not +here in my wallet the remains of my dinner that I had +before I fell asleep?” He did not know that a year had +passed by. His look was like a skeleton; and as soon as +he had tasted food he too mouldered away.<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p> + +<p>In Scotland the story is told without this terrible end. +For example, in Sutherlandshire we learn that a man +who had been with a friend to the town of Lairg to +enter his first child's birth in the session-books, and to +buy a keg of whisky against the christening, sat down to +rest at the foot of the hill of Durchâ, near a large hole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +from which they soon heard a sound of piping and +dancing. Feeling curious, he entered the cavern, and +disappeared. His friend was accused of murder, but +being allowed a year and a day to vindicate himself, he +used to repair at dusk to the fatal spot and call and pray. +One day before the term ran out, he sat, as usual, in the +gloaming by the cavern, when, what seemed his friend's +shadow passed within it. It was his friend himself, +tripping merrily with the fairies. The accused man +succeeded in catching him by the sleeve and pulling him +out. “Why could you not let me finish my reel, +Sandy?” asked the bewitched man. “Bless me!” rejoined +Sandy, “have you not had enough of reeling this +last twelvemonth?” But the other would not believe in +this lapse of time until he found his wife sitting by the +door with a yearling child in her arms. In Kirkcudbrightshire, +one night about Hallowe'en two young +ploughmen, returning from an errand, passed by an old +ruined mill and heard within music and dancing. One +of them went in; and nothing was seen of him again +until a year after, when his companion went to the same +place, Bible in hand, and delivered him from the evil +beings into whose power he had fallen.<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></p> + +<p>The captive, however, does not always require to be +sought for: he is sometimes released voluntarily by his +captors. A man who lived at Ystradgynlais, in Brecknockshire, +going out one day to look after his cattle and +sheep on the mountain, disappeared. In about three +weeks, after search had been made in vain for him and +his wife had given him up for dead, he came home. His +wife asked him where he had been for the past three +weeks. “Three weeks! Is it three weeks you call three +hours?” said he. Pressed to say where he had been, he +told her he had been playing on his flute (which he +usually took with him on the mountain) at the Llorfa, a +spot near the Van Pool, when he was surrounded at a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +distance by little beings like men, who closed nearer and +nearer to him until they became a very small circle. +They sang and danced, and so affected him that he quite +lost himself. They offered him some small cakes to eat, +of which he partook; and he had never enjoyed himself +so well in his life. Near Bridgend is a place where a +woman is said to have lived who was absent ten years +with the fairies, and thought she was not out of the house +more than ten minutes. With a woman's proverbial +persistency, she would not believe her husband's assurances +that it was ten years since she disappeared; and +the serious disagreement between them which ensued +was so notorious that it gave a name to the place where +they lived. A happier result is believed to have attended +an adventure that foreboded much worse to a man at +Dornoch, in Sutherlandshire. He was present at a funeral +in the churchyard on New Year's Day, and was so piqued +at not being invited, as all the others were, to some of the +New Year's festivities, that in his vexation, happening to +see a skull lying at his feet, he struck it with his staff and +said: “Thou seemest to be forsaken and uncared-for, like +myself. I have been bidden by none; neither have I +invited any: I now invite thee!” That night as he and +his wife were sitting down alone to supper, a venerable +old man entered the room in silence and took his share of +the delicacies provided. In those days the New Year's +feast was kept up for eleven days together; and the +stranger's visit was repeated in the same absolute silence +for six nights. At last the host, alarmed and uneasy, +sought the priest's advice as to how he was to get rid of +his unwelcome guest. The reverend father bade him, in +laying the bannocks in the basket for the seventh day's +supper, reverse the last-baked one. This, he declared, +would induce the old man to speak. It did; and the +speech was an invitation—nay, rather a command—to +spend the remainder of the festival with him in the +churchyard. The priest, again consulted, advised compliance;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +and the man went trembling to the tryst. He +found in the churchyard a great house, brilliantly +illuminated, where he enjoyed himself, eating, drinking, +piping and dancing. After what seemed the lapse of a +few hours, the grey master of the house came to him, +and bade him hasten home, or his wife would be married +to another; and in parting he advised him always to +respect the remains of the dead. Scarcely had he done +speaking when the grey old man himself, the guests, the +house, and all that it contained, vanished, leaving the man +to crawl home alone in the moonlight as best he might +after so long a debauch. For he had been absent a year +and a day; and when he got home he found his wife in a +bride's dress, and the whole house gay with a bridal party. +His entrance broke in upon the mirth: his wife swooned, +and the new bridegroom scrambled up the chimney. But +when she got over her fright, and her husband had +recovered from the fatigue of his year-long dance, they +made it up, and lived happily ever after.<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a></p> + +<p>A story of this type has been elaborated by a Welsh +writer who is known as “Glasynys” into a little romance, +in which the hero is a shepherd lad, and the heroine a fairy +maiden whom he weds and brings home with him. This +need not detain us; but a more authentic story from the +Vale of Neath may be mentioned. It concerns a boy +called Gitto Bach, or Little Griffith, a farmer's son, who +disappeared. During two whole years nothing was heard +of him; but at length one morning when his mother, +who had long and bitterly mourned for him as dead, +opened the door, whom should she see sitting on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +threshold but Gitto with a bundle under his arm. He +was dressed and looked exactly as when she last saw him, +for he had not grown a bit. “Where have you been all +this time?” asked his mother. “Why, it was only yesterday +I went away,” he replied; and opening the bundle, +he showed her a dress the “little children,” as he called +them, had given him for dancing with them. The dress +was of white paper without seam. With maternal caution +she put it into the fire.<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></p> + +<p>I am not aware of many foreign examples of this type; +but among the Siberian Tartars their extravagant heroes +sometimes feast overlong with friends as mythical as +themselves. On one occasion</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“They caroused, they feasted.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That a month had flown<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They knew not;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That a year had gone by<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They knew not.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As a year went by<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It seemed like a day;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As two years went by<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It seemed like two days;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As three years went by<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It seemed like three days.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Again, when a hero was married the time very naturally +passed rapidly. “One day he thought he had lived +here—he had lived a month; two days he believed he +had lived—he had lived two months; three days he +believed he had lived—he had lived three months.” And +he was much surprised to learn from his bride how long +it really was, though time seems always to have gone +wrong with him. For after he was born it is recorded +that in one day he became a year old, in two days two +years, and in seven days seven years old; after which he +performed some heroic feats, ate fourteen sheep and three +cows, and then lying down slept for seven days and seven<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +nights—in other words, until he was fourteen years old. +In a Breton tale a girl who goes down underground, to +become godmother to a fairy child, thinks, when she +returns, that she has been away but two days, though in +the meantime her god-child has grown big: she has been +in fact ten years. In a Hessian legend the time of absence +is seven years.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p> + +<p>Turning away from this type, in which pleasure, and +especially the pleasure of music and dancing, is the +motive, let us look at what seem to be some specially +German and Slavonic types of the tale. In the latter it +is rather an act of service (sometimes under compulsion), +curiosity or greed, which leads the mortal into the +mysterious regions where time has so little power. At +Eldena, in Pomerania, are the ruins of a monastery and +church, formerly very wealthy, under which are said to +be some remarkable chambers. Two Capuchin monks +came from Rome many years ago, and inquired of the +head of the police after a hidden door which led under +the ruins. He lent them his servant-boy, who, under +their direction, removed the rubbish and found the door. +It opened at the touch of the monks, and they entered +with the servant. Passing through several rooms they +reached one in which many persons were sitting and +writing. Here they were courteously received; and after +a good deal of secret conference between the monks and +their hosts, they were dismissed. When the servant +came back to the upper air, he found he had been absent +three whole years. Blanik is the name of a mountain in +Bohemia, beneath which are lofty halls whose walls are +entirely fashioned of rock-crystal. In these halls the +Bohemian hero, the holy King Wenzel, sleeps with a +chosen band of his knights, until some day the utmost +need of his country shall summon him and them to her +aid. A smith, who dwelt near the mountain, was once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +mowing his meadow, when a stranger came and bade him +follow him. The stranger led him into the mountain, +where he beheld the sleeping knights, each one upon his +horse, his head bent down upon the horse's neck. His +guide then brought him tools that he might shoe the +horses, but told him to beware in his work of knocking +against any of the knights. The smith skilfully performed +his work, but as he was shoeing the last horse he accidentally +touched the rider, who started up, crying out: +“Is it time?” “Not yet,” replied he who had brought +the smith thither, motioning the latter to keep quiet. +When the task was done, the smith received the old shoes +by way of reward. On returning home he was astonished +to find two mowers at work in his meadow, whereas he +had only left one there. From them he learned that he +had been away a whole year; and when he opened his +bag, behold the old horse-shoes were all of solid gold! +On Easter Sunday, during mass, the grey horse belonging +to another peasant living at the foot of the Blanik disappeared. +While in quest of him the owner found the +mountain open, and, entering, arrived in the hall where +the knights sat round a large table of stone and slept. +Each of them wore black armour, save their chief, who +shone in gold and bore three herons' feathers in his helm. +Ever and anon one or other of the knights would look up +and ask: “Is it time?” But on their chief shaking his +head he would sink again to rest. While the peasant was +in the midst of his astonishment he heard a neighing +behind him; and turning round he left the cavern. His +horse was quietly grazing outside; but when he got home +every one shrank in fright away from him. His wife sat +at the table in deep mourning. On seeing him she +shrieked and asked: “Where have you been for a whole +year?” He thought he had only been absent a single +hour. A servant-man driving two horses over the Blanik +heard the trampling of steeds and a battle-march played. +It was the knights returning from their mimic combat;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +and the horses he was driving were so excited that he was +compelled to follow with them into the mountain, which +then closed upon them. Nor did he reach home until +ten years had passed away, though he thought it had only +been as many days.<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p> + +<p>We shall have occasion to return to Blanik and its +knights. Parallel traditions attach, as is well known, to +the Kyffhäuser, a mountain in Thuringia, where Frederick +Barbarossa sleeps. A peasant going with corn to market +at Nordhausen, drove by the Kyffhäuser, where he was +met by a little grey man, who asked him whither he was +going, and offered to reward him if he would accompany +him instead. The little grey man led him through a +great gateway into the mountain till they came at last to +a castle. There he took from the peasant his waggon and +horses, and led him into a hall gorgeously illuminated and +filled with people, where he was well entertained. At +last the little grey man told him it was now time he +went home, and rewarding him bountifully he led him +forth. His waggon and horses were given to him again, +and he trudged homeward well pleased. Arrived there, +however, his wife opened her eyes wide to see him, for he +had been absent a year, and she had long accounted him +dead. It fared not quite so well with a journeyman +joiner from Nordhausen, by name Thiele, who found the +mountain open, as it is every seven years, and went in. +There he saw the Marquis John (whoever he may have +been), with his beard spreading over the table and his +nails grown through it. Around the walls lay great +wine-vats, whose hoops and wood had alike rolled away; +but the wine had formed its own shell and was blood-red. +A little drop remained in the wine-glass which stood +before the Marquis John. The joiner made bold to drain +it off, and thereupon fell asleep. When he awoke again +he had slept for seven years in the mountain.<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>Curiosity and greed caused this man to lose seven +years of his life. This is a motive often met with in +these stories. A young girl during the midday rest +left a hayfield in the Lavantthal, Carinthia, to climb the +Schönofen, whence there is a fine view over the valley. +As she reached the top she became aware of an open door +in the rock. She entered, and found herself in a cellar-like +room. Two fine black steeds stood at the fodder-trough +and fed off the finest oats. Marvelling how they +got there, she put a few handfuls of the oats into her +pocket, and passed on into a second chamber. A chest +stood there, and on the chest lay a black dog. Near him +was a loaf of bread, in which a knife was stuck. With +ready wit she divined, or recollected, the purpose of the +bread; and cutting a good slice she threw it to the dog. +While he was busy devouring it she filled her apron from +the treasure contained in the chest. But meantime the +door closed, and there was nothing for it but to lie down +and sleep. She awoke to find the door wide open, and at +once made the best of her way home. But she was not a +little astounded to learn that she had been gone for a +whole year.<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a></p> + +<p>A Lapp tale presents this mysterious lapse of time as +the sequel of an adventure similar to that of Ulysses with +Polyphemus. An old Lapp, having lost his way while +hunting, came to a cottage. The door was open; and he +entered to remain there the night, and began to cook in +a pot he carried with him the game he had caught that +day. Suddenly a witch entered, and asked him: “What +is your name?” “Myself,” answered the Lapp; and +taking a spoonful of the boiling liquid he flung it in her +face. She cried out: “Myself has burnt me! Myself has +burnt me!” “If you have burnt yourself you ought to +suffer,” answered her companion from the neighbouring +mountain. The hunter was thus delivered for the moment +from the witch, who, however, as she went away, exclaimed:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +“Self has burnt me; Self shall sleep till the +new year!” When the Lapp had finished his repast he +lay down to repose. On awaking he rummaged in his +provision-sack: he found its contents mouldy and putrid. +Nor could he understand this before he got home and +learned that he had been missing for six months.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p> + +<p>This story is unlike the previous ones, inasmuch as it +represents the six months' disappearance as in no way +due to any enticements, either of supernatural beings or +of the hero's own passions. Neither music, nor dancing, +neither greed nor curiosity, led him astray. The aboriginal +inhabitants of Japan in like manner tell of a certain +man who went out in his boat to fish and was carried off +by a storm to an unknown land. The chief, an old man +of divine aspect, begged him to stay there for the night, +promising to send him home to his own country on the +morrow. The promise was fulfilled by his being sent +with some of the old chief's subjects who were going +thither; but the man was enjoined to lie down in the +boat and cover up his head. When he reached his native +place the sailors threw him into the water; and ere he +came to himself sailors and boat had disappeared. He +had been away for a whole year; and the chief appeared +to him shortly afterwards in a dream, revealing himself +as no human being, but the chief of the salmon, the +divine fish; and he required the man thenceforth to +worship him. Curiously similar to the Japanese tale is +a tale told to M. Sébillot by a cabin-boy of Saint Cast in +Brittany. A fisherman caught one day the king of the +fishes, in the shape of a small gilded fish, but was persuaded +to let him go under promise to send (such is the +popular belief in the unselfishness of kings) at all times +as many of his subjects as the fisherman wanted into his +nets. The promise was royally fulfilled. More than this, +when the fisherman's boat was once capsized by a storm +the king of the fishes appeared, gave its drowning owner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +to drink from a bottle he had brought for the purpose, +and conveyed him under the water to his capital,—a +beautiful city whose streets, surpassing those of London +in the traditions of English peasant children, were paved +not only with gold but with diamonds and other gems. The +fisherman promptly filled his pockets with these paving-stones; +and then the king politely told him: “When +you are tired of being with us, you have only to say so.” +There is a limit to hospitality; so the fisherman took the +hint, and told the king how delighted he should be to +remain there always, but that he had a wife and children +at home who would think he was drowned. The king +called a tunny and commanded him to take the fisherman +on his back and deposit him on a rock near the shore, +where the other fishers could see and rescue him. Then, +with the parting gift of an inexhaustible purse, he dismissed +his guest. When the fisherman got back to +his village he found he had been away more than +six months. In the <a href="#CHAPTER_V">chapter</a> on Changelings I had +occasion to refer to some instances of women being +carried off at a critical time in their lives. One more +such instance may be added here. Among the Bohemians +a mythical female called Polednice is believed to +be dangerous to women who have recently added to the +population; and such women are accordingly warned to +keep within doors, especially at noon and after the +angelus in the evening. On one occasion a woman, who +scorned the warnings she had received, was carried off by +Polednice in the form of a whirlwind, as she sat in the +harvest-field chatting with the reapers, to whom she had +brought their dinner. Only after a year and a day was +she permitted to return.<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></p> + +<p>In some of the German and Bohemian tales a curious +incident occurs. Beneath the Rollberg, near Niemes, in +Bohemia, is a treasure-vault, the door of which stands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +open for a short time every Palm Sunday. A woman +once found it open thus and entered with her child. +There she saw a number of Knights Templars sitting +round a table, gambling. They did not notice her; so +she helped herself from a pile of gold lying near them, +having first set down her child. Beside the gold lay a +black dog, which barked from time to time. The woman +knew that the third time it barked the door would close; +wherefore she hastened out. When she bethought herself +of the child it was too late: she had left it behind in +her haste, and the vault was closed. The following year +she returned at the hour when the door was open, and +found the little one safe and sound, in either hand a fair +red apple. Frequently in these tales a beautiful lady +comes and ministers to the child during its mother's +absence; at other times, a man. The treasure of King +Darius is believed to be buried beneath the Sattelburg in +Transylvania. A Wallachian woman, with her yearling +babe in her arms, once found the door open and went in. +There sat an old, long-bearded man, and about him stood +chests full of silver and gold. She asked him if she +might take some of this treasure for herself. “Oh, yes,” +answered he, “as much as you like.” She put down the +child and filled her skirts with gold, put the gold outside +and re-entered. Having obtained permission, she filled +and emptied her skirts a second time. But when she +turned to enter a third time the door banged-to, and she +was left outside. She cried out for her child, and wept—in +vain. Then she made her way to the priest and laid +her case before him. He advised her to pray daily for a +whole year, and she would then get her child again. She +carried out his injunction; and the following year she +went again to the Sattelburg. The door was open, and +she found the babe still seated in the chest where she had +put it down. It was playing with a golden apple, which +it held up to her, crying: “Look, mother, look!” The +mother was astonished to hear it speak, and asked:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +“Whence hast thou that beautiful apple?” “From the +old man, who has given me to eat too.” The man was, +however, no longer to be seen; and as the mother took +her child and left the place, the door closed behind her.<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></p> + +<p>But the most numerous, and assuredly the most weird +and interesting, of these stories belong to a type which we +may call, after the famous Posthumous Writing of Diedrich +Knickerbocker, the “Rip van Winkle type.” Here the +hero remains under the spell of the supernatural until he +passes the ordinary term of life; and he comes back to +find all his friends dead and himself nothing but a dim +memory. It will be needless here to recapitulate the +tale of Rip van Winkle himself. Whether any such +legend really lingers about the Kaatskill mountains I do +not know; but I have a vehement suspicion that Washington +Irving was indebted rather to Otmar's “Traditions +of the Harz,” a book published at Bremen in the year +1800. In this book the scene of the tale is laid on the +Kyffhäuser, and with the exception of such embellishments +as the keen tongue of Dame van Winkle and a few +others, the incidents in the adventures of Peter Claus the +Goatherd are absolutely the same as those of Rip van +Winkle.<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></p> + +<p>Of all the variants of this type it is in China that we +find the one most resembling it. Wang Chih, afterwards +one of the holy men of the Taoists, wandering one day in +the mountains of Kü Chow to gather firewood, entered a +grotto in which some aged men were playing at chess. +He laid down his axe and watched their game, in the +course of which one of them handed him something in +size and shape like a date-stone, telling him to put it into +his mouth. No sooner had he done so than hunger and +thirst passed away. After some time had elapsed one of +the players said: “It is long since you came here; you +should go home now.” Wang Chih accordingly proceeded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +to pick up his axe, but found that its handle had +mouldered into dust; and on reaching home he became +aware that not hours, nor days, but centuries had passed +since he left it, and that no vestige of his kinsfolk remained. +Another legend tells of a horseman who, riding over the +hills, sees several old men playing a game with rushes. +He ties his horse to a tree while he looks on at them. +In a few minutes, as it seems to him, he turns to depart; +but his horse is already a skeleton, and of the saddle and +bridle rotten pieces only are left. He seeks his home; +but that too is gone; and he lies down and dies broken-hearted. +A similar story is told in Japan of a man who +goes into the mountains to cut wood, and watches two +mysterious ladies playing at chess while seven generations +of mortal men pass away. Both these legends omit the +supernatural food which seems to support life, not only +in the case of Wang Chih, but also in that of Peter +Claus. In another Chinese tale two friends, wandering +in the T'ien-t'ai mountains, are entertained by two +beautiful girls, who feed them on a kind of haschisch, a +drug made from hemp; and when they return they find +that they have passed seven generations of ordinary men +in the society of these ladies. Another Taoist devotee +was admitted for a while into the next world, where he +was fed on cakes, and, as if he were a dyspeptic, he received +much comfort from having all his digestive organs +removed. After awhile he was sent back to this world, +to find himself much younger than his youngest grandson.<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></p> + +<p>Feasts in Fairyland occupy an unconscionable length +of time. Walter Map, writing in the latter half of the +twelfth century, relates a legend concerning a mythical +British king, Herla, who was on terms of friendship with +the king of the pigmies. The latter appeared to him one +day riding on a goat, a man such as Pan might have been +described to be, with a very large head, a fiery face, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +a long red beard. A spotted fawn-skin adorned his +breast, but the lower part of his body was exposed and +shaggy, and his legs degenerated into goat's feet. This +queer little fellow declared himself very near akin to +Herla, foretold that the king of the Franks was about to +send ambassadors offering his daughter as wife to the +king of the Britons, and invited himself to the wedding. +He proposed a pact between them, that when he had +attended Herla's wedding, Herla should the following +year attend his. Accordingly at Herla's wedding the +pigmy king appears with a vast train of courtiers and +servants, and numbers of precious gifts. The next year +he sends to bid Herla to his own wedding. Herla goes. +Penetrating a mountain cavern, he and his followers +emerge into the light, not of sun or moon, but of +innumerable torches, and reach the pigmies' dwellings, +whose splendour Map compares with Ovid's description +of the palace of the sun. Having given so charming, and +doubtless so accurate, a portrait of the pigmy king, it is a +pity the courtier-like ecclesiastic has forgotten to inform +us what his bride was like. He leaves us to guess that +her attractions must have corresponded with those of her +stately lord, telling us simply that when the wedding was +over, and the gifts which Herla brought had been presented, +he obtained leave to depart, and set out for home, +laden, he too, with gifts, among which are enumerated +horses, dogs, hawks, and other requisites of a handsome +outfit for hunting or fowling. Indeed, the bridegroom +himself accompanied them as far as the darkness of the +cavern through which they had to pass; and at parting he +added to his presentations that of a bloodhound, so small +as to be carried, forbidding any of the train to alight +anywhere until the hound should leap from his bearer. +When Herla found himself once more within his own +realm he met with an old shepherd, and inquired for +tidings of his queen by name. The shepherd looked at +him astonished, scarcely understanding his speech; for he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +was a Saxon, whereas Herla was a Briton. Nor, as he +told the king, had he heard of such a queen, unless it +were a queen of the former Britons, whose husband, +Herla, was said to have disappeared at yonder rock with +a dwarf, and never to have been seen again. That, however, +was long ago, for it was now more than two hundred +years since the Britons had been driven out and the +Saxons had taken possession of the land. The king was +stupefied, for he deemed he had only been away three +days, and could hardly keep his seat. Some of his +followers, forgetful of the pigmy king's prohibition, +alighted without waiting for the dog to lead the way, and +were at once crumbled into dust. Herla and those who +were wiser took warning by the fate of their companions. +One story declared that they were wandering still; and +many persons asserted that they had often beheld the +host upon its mad, its endless journey. But Map concludes +that the last time it appeared was in the year of +King Henry the Second's coronation, when it was seen +by many Welshmen to plunge into the Wye in Herefordshire.<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p> + +<p>Cases in which dancing endures for a whole twelvemonth +have already been mentioned. This might be +thought a moderate length of time for a ball, even for a +fairy ball; but some have been known to last longer. +Two celebrated fiddlers of Strathspey were inveigled by a +venerable old man, who ought to have known better, into +a little hill near Inverness, where they supplied the +music for a brilliant assembly which lasted in fact for a +hundred years, though to them it seemed but a few hours. +They emerged into daylight again on a Sunday; and +when they had learned the real state of affairs, and +recovered from their astonishment at the miracle which +had been wrought in them, they went, as was meet, to +church. They sat listening for awhile to the ringing of +the bells; but when the clergyman began to read the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +gospel, at the first word he uttered they both fell into +dust. This is a favourite form of the legend in Wales as +well as Scotland; but, pathetic and beautiful as the various +versions are, they present no variations of importance.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></p> + +<p>Often the stranger's festive visit to Fairyland is rounded +with a sleep. We have seen this in the instance of Rip van +Winkle. Another legend has been put into literary form +by Washington Irving, this time from a Portuguese +source. It relates the adventures of a noble youth who +set out to find an island in which some of the former +inhabitants of the Peninsula had taken refuge at the +time of the Moorish conquest, and where their descendants +still dwelt. The island was believed to contain +seven cities; and the adventurer was appointed by the +king of Portugal Adalantado, or governor, of the Seven +Cities. He reached the island, and was received as +Adalantado, was feasted, and then fell asleep. When he +came to himself again he was on board a homeward-bound +vessel, having been picked up senseless from a +drifting wreck. He reached Lisbon, but no one knew +him. His ancestral mansion was occupied by others: +none of his name had dwelt in it for many a year. He +hurried to his betrothed, only to fling himself, not, as he +thought, at her feet, but at the feet of her great-granddaughter. +In cases like this the supernatural lapse of +time may be conceived as taking place during the +enchanted sleep, rather than during the festivities. +According to a Coptic Christian romance, Abimelek, the +youthful favourite of King Zedekiah, preserved the prophet +Jeremiah's life when he was thrown into prison, and +afterwards persuaded his master to give him charge of +the prophet, and to permit him to release him from the +dungeon. In reward, Jeremiah promised him that he +should never see the destruction of Jerusalem, nor +experience the Babylonish captivity, and yet that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +should not die. The sun should take care of him, the +atmosphere nourish him; the earth on which he slept +should give him repose, and he should taste of joy for +seventy years until he should again see Jerusalem in its +glory, flourishing as before. Accordingly, going out one +day, as his custom was, into the royal garden to gather +grapes and figs, God caused him to rest and fall asleep +beneath the shadow of a rock. There he lay peacefully +slumbering while the city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, +and during the horrors of its capture and the +whole of the seventy sad years that followed. When he +awoke, it was to meet the prophet Jeremiah returning +from the captivity, and he entered the restored city with +him in triumph. But the seventy years had seemed to him +but a few hours; nor had he known anything of what +passed while he slumbered. Mohammed in the Koran +mentions a story referred by the commentators to Ezra. +He is represented as passing by a village (said to mean +Jerusalem) when it was desolate, and saying: “How will +God revive this after its death?” And God made him +die for a hundred years. Then He raised him and asked: +“How long hast thou tarried?” Said the man: “I have +tarried a day, or some part of a day.” But God said: +“Nay, thou hast tarried a hundred years. Look at thy +food and drink, they are not spoiled; and look at thine +ass; for we will make thee a sign to men. And look at +the bones, how we scatter them and then clothe them +with flesh.” And when it was made manifest to him, he +said: “I know that God is mighty over all.”<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p> + +<p>Mohammed probably was unconscious that this is to all +intents and purposes the same story as that of the Seven +Sleepers, to which he refers in the chapter on the Cave. +Some of the phrases he uses are, indeed, identical. As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +usually told, this legend speaks of seven youths of Ephesus +who had fled from the persecutions of the heathen +emperor Decius, and taken refuge in a cave, where they +slept for upwards of three hundred years. In Mohammed's +time, however, it should be noted, the number of the +sleepers was undetermined; they were credited with a +dog who slept with them, like Ezra's ass; and Mohammed's +notion of the time they slept was only one hundred years. +One of the wild tribes on the northern frontier of +Afghanistan is said to tell the following story concerning +a cavern in the Hirak Valley, known as the cave of the +Seven Sleepers. A king bearing the suspicious name of +Dakianus, deceived by the devil, set himself up as a god. +Six of his servants, however, having reason to think that +his claim was unfounded, fled from him and fell in with a +shepherd, who agreed to throw in his lot with theirs and +to guide them to a cavern where they might all hide. +The shepherd's dog followed his master; but the six +fugitives insisted on his being driven back lest he should +betray their whereabouts. The shepherd begged that he +might go with them, as he had been his faithful companion +for years; but in vain. So he struck the dog +with his stick, breaking one of his legs. The dog still +followed; and the shepherd repeated the blow, breaking +a second leg. Finding that the dog continued to crawl +after them notwithstanding this, the men were struck +with pity and took it in turns to carry the poor animal. +Arrived at the cave, they all lay down and slept for three +hundred and nine years. Assuming the genuineness of the +tradition, which perhaps rests on no very good authority, +its form is obviously due to Mohammedan influence. But +the belief in this miraculous sleep is traceable beyond +Christian and Mohammedan legends into the Paganism +of classical antiquity. Pliny, writing in the first century +of our era, alludes to a story told of the Cretan poet +Epimenides, who, when a boy, fell asleep in a cave, and +continued in that state for fifty-seven years. On waking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +he was greatly surprised at the change in the appearance +of everything around him, as he thought he had only +slept for a few hours; and though he did not, as in the +Welsh and Scottish tales, fall into dust, still old age came +upon him in as many days as the years he had passed in +slumber.<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> + +<p>Nor is it only in dancing, feasting, or sleeping that the +time passes quickly with supernatural folk. A shepherd +at the foot of the Blanik, who missed one of his flock, +followed it into a cavern, whence he could not return +because the mountain closed upon him with a crash. A +dwarf came and led him into a large hall. There he saw +King Wenzel sleeping with his knights. The king +awoke, and bade him stay and clean the armour. One +day—perhaps the criticism would be too carping which +inquired how he knew the day from the night—he +received permission to go, and a bag which he was told +contained his reward. When he reached the light of day, +he opened the bag and found it filled with oats. In the +village all was changed, for he had been a hundred years +in the mountain, and nobody knew him. He succeeded +in getting a lodging, and on again opening his bag, lo! +all the grains of oats had turned to gold pieces and thalers, +so that he was able to buy a fine house, and speedily +became the richest man in the place. This was a pleasanter +fate than that of the Tirolese peasant who followed +his herd under a stone, where they had all disappeared. +He presently came into a lovely garden; and there a lady +came, and, inviting him to eat, offered to take him as +gardener. He readily assented; but after some weeks he +began to be homesick, and, taking leave of his mistress, +went home. On arriving there he was astounded +that he knew no one, and no one knew him, save an old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +crone, who at length came to him and said: “Where +have you been? I have been looking for you for two +hundred years.” Thus saying, she took him by the hand +and he fell dead; for the crone who had sought him so +long was Death.<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></p> + +<p>Save in the legends that tell of a mother leaving her +child in the mountain from her eagerness to gather +treasure, we have encountered but few instances of +women being beguiled. They are, indeed, not so +numerous as those where the sterner sex is thus overcome; +nor need we be detained by most of them. A +Danish tradition, however, runs that a bride, during the +dancing and festivities of her wedding-day, left the room +and thoughtlessly walked towards a mound where the +elves were also making merry. The hillock was standing, +as is usual on such occasions, on red pillars; and as she +drew near, one of the company offered her a cup of +wine. She drank, and then suffered herself to join in +a dance. When the dance was over she hastened +home. But alas! house, farm, everything was changed. +The noise and mirth of the wedding was stilled. No +one knew her; but at length, on hearing her lamentation, +an old woman exclaimed: “Was it you, then, who +disappeared at my grandfather's brother's wedding, a +hundred years ago?” At these words the aged bride +fell down and expired. A prettier, if not a more pathetic, +story is widely current on the banks of the Rhine. A +maiden who bore an excellent character for piety and +goodness was about to be married. She was fond of +roses; and on the wedding morning she stepped into +the garden to gather a small bunch. There she met a +man whom she did not know. He admired two lovely +blossoms which she had, but said he had many finer in +his garden: would she not go with him? “I cannot,” +she said; “I must go to the church: it is high time.” +“It is not far,” urged the stranger. The maiden allowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +herself to be persuaded; and the man showed her beautiful, +beautiful flowers—finer she had never seen—and gave her +a wonderful rose of which she was very proud. Then +she hastened back, lest she should be too late. When +she mounted the steps of the house she could not understand +what had happened to her. Children whom she +knew not were playing there: people whom she did not +recognize were within. And every one ran away from +her, frightened to see a strange woman in an antiquated +wedding-dress stand there bitterly weeping. She had +but just left her bridegroom to go for a moment into the +garden, and in so short a time guests and bridegroom +had all vanished. She asked after her bridegroom, and +nobody knew him. At last she told her story to the +folk around her. A man said he had bought the house, +and knew nothing at all of her bridegroom or her +parents. They took her to the parish priest. He reached +his church-books down, and there he found recorded that +almost two hundred years before, a certain bride on the +wedding-day had disappeared from her father's house. +Burdened thus with two centuries of life, she lingered +on a few lonely years, and then sank into the grave; +and the good, simple villagers whisper that the strange +gardener was no other than the Lord Jesus, who thus +provided for His humble child an escape from a union +which would have been the source of bitterest woe. +After this it is almost an anti-climax to refer to a Scottish +tale in which a bridegroom was similarly spirited away. +As he was leaving the church after the ceremony, a tall +dark man met him and asked him to come round to the +back of the church, for he wanted to speak to him. +When he complied, the dark man asked him to be good +enough to stand there until a small piece of candle he +held in his hand should burn out. He good-humouredly +complied. The candle took, as he thought, less than two +minutes to burn; and he then rushed off to overtake +his friends. On his way he saw a man cutting turf,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +and asked if it were long since the wedding party had +passed. The man replied that he did not know that +any wedding party had passed that way to-day, or for +a long time. “Oh, there was a marriage to-day,” said +the other, “and I am the bridegroom. I was asked by +a man to go with him to the back of the church, and +I went. I am now running to overtake the party.” +The turf-cutter, feeling that this could not be, asked +him what date he supposed that day was. The bridegroom's +answer was in fact two hundred years short of +the real date: he had passed two centuries in those two +minutes which the bit of candle took, as he thought, to +burn. “I remember,” said he who cut the turf, “that +my grandfather used to tell something of such a disappearance +of a bridegroom, a story which his grandfather told +him as a fact which happened when he was young.” +“Ah, well then, I am the bridegroom,” sighed the +unfortunate man, and fell away as he stood, until nothing +remained but a small heap of earth.<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></p> + +<p>Every reader of Longfellow loves the story of the Monk +Felix, so exquisitely told in “The Golden Legend.” Its +immediate source I do not know; but it is certain that +the tradition is a genuine one, and has obtained a local +habitation in many parts of Europe. Southey relates +it as attached to the Spanish convent of San Salvador +de Villar, where the tomb of the Abbot to whom the +adventure happened was shown. And he is very severe +on “the dishonest monks who, for the honour of their +convent and the lucre of gain, palmed this lay (for such +in its origin it was) upon their neighbours as a true +legend.” In Wales, the ruined monastery at Clynnog-Fawr, +on the coast of Carnarvonshire, founded by St. +Beuno, the uncle of the more famous St. Winifred, has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +been celebrated by a Welsh antiquary as the scene of +the same event, in memory whereof a woodland patch +near Clynnog is said to be called Llwyn-y-Nef, the +Grove of Heaven. At Pantshonshenkin, in Carmarthenshire, +a youth went out early one summer's morning +and was lost. An old woman, Catti Madlen, prophesied +of him that he was in the fairies' power and would not +be released until the last sap of a certain sycamore tree +had dried up. When that time came he returned. He +had been listening all the while to the singing of a bird, +and supposed only a few minutes had elapsed, though, +seventy years had in fact gone over his head. In the +Mabinogi of Branwen, daughter of Llyr, Pryderi and his +companions, while bearing the head of Bran the Blessed, +to bury it in the White Mount in London, were entertained +seven years at Harlech, feasting and listening to +the singing of the three birds of Rhiannon—a mythical +figure in whom Professor Rhys can hardly be wrong in +seeing an old Celtic goddess. In Germany and the Netherlands +the story is widely spread. At the abbey of Afflighem, +Fulgentius, who was abbot towards the close of the +eleventh century, received the announcement one day +that a stranger monk had knocked at the gate and +claimed to be one of the brethren of that cloister. His +story was that he had sung matins that morning with +the rest of the brotherhood; and when they came to +the verse of the 90th Psalm where it is said: “A +thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday,” he +had fallen into deep meditation, and continued sitting +in the choir when the others had departed, and that a +little bird had then appeared to him and sung so sweetly +that he had followed it into the forest, whence, after a +short stay, he had now returned, but found the abbey +so changed that he hardly knew it. On questioning him +about his abbot and the name of the king whom he +supposed to be still reigning, Fulgentius found that both +had been dead for three hundred years. The same tale<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +is told of other monasteries. In Transylvania it is told +concerning a student of the school at Kronstadt that he +was to preach on the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity in +St. John's Church, now known as the Church of the +Franciscans, and on the Saturday previous he walked +out on the Kapellenberg to rehearse his sermon. After +he had learned it he saw a beautiful bird, and tried to +catch it. It led him on and on into a cavern, where he +met a dwarf, who showed the astonished and curious +student all the wealth of gold and jewels stored up in +the vaults of the mountain. When he escaped again +to the upper air the trees and the houses were altered; +other and unknown faces greeted him at the school; his +own room was changed—taken by another; a different +rector ruled; and in short a hundred years had elapsed +since he had gone forth to study his sermon for the +next day. The old record-book, bound in pigskin, reposed +on the rector's shelves. He took it down: it +contained an entry of the student's having quitted the +school and not returned, and of the difficulty caused +thereby at St. John's Church, where he was to have +preached the following day. By the time the entry was +found and the mystery solved, it was noon. The student +was hungry with his hundred-years' fast; and he sat +down with the others at the common table to dine. +But he had no sooner tasted the first spoonful of soup +than his whole frame underwent a change. From a +ruddy youth he became an old man in the last stage +of decrepitude. His comrades scarce had time to hurry +him upon a bed ere he breathed his last. Some pretty +verses, attributed to Alaric A. Watts, commemorate a +similar incident, said to have happened to two sisters +who were nuns at Beverley Minister. They disappeared +one evening after vespers. After some months they +were found in a trance in the north tower. On being +aroused they declared they had been admitted into +Paradise, whither they would return before morning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +They died in the night; and the beautiful monument +called the Sisters' Shrine still witnesses to the truth of +their story.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a></p> + +<p>From monastic meditations we may pass without any +long interval to a type of the story that perhaps appears +at its best in M. Luzel's charming collection of distinctively +Christian traditions of Lower Brittany. In this type we +are given the adventures of a youth who undertakes to +carry a letter to “<i>Monsieur le Bon Dieu</i>” in Paradise. +Proceeding by the directions of a hermit, he is guided by +a ball to the hermit's brother, who points out the road and +describes the various difficulties through which he will +have to pass. Accordingly he climbs the mountain before +him; and the path then leads him across an arid meadow +filled with fat cattle, and next over a lush pasture tenanted +only by lean and sickly kine. Having left this behind +he enters an avenue where, under the trees, youths and +damsels richly clad are feasting and making merry; and +they tempt the traveller to join them. The path then +becomes narrow and steep, and encumbered with brambles +and nettles and stones. Here he meets a rolling fire, but +standing firm in the middle of the path, the fire passes +harmlessly over his head. Hardly has it gone by, however, +when he hears a terrible roar behind him, as though +the sea in all its fury were at his heels ready to engulf +him. He resolutely refuses to look back; and the noise +subsides. A thick hedge of thorns closes the way before +him; but he pushes through it, only to fall into a ditch +filled with nettles and brambles on the other side, where +he faints with loss of blood. When he recovers and +scrambles out of the ditch, he reaches a place filled with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +the sweet perfume of flowers, with butterflies, and with +the melody of birds. A clear river waters this beautiful +land; and there he sits upon a stone and bathes his cruelly +torn feet. No wonder he falls asleep and dreams that he +is already in Paradise. Awaking, he finds his strength +restored, and his wounds healed. Before him is Mount +Calvary, the Saviour still upon the cross, and the blood +yet running from His body. A crowd of little children +are trying to climb the mountain; but ere they reach the +top they roll down again continually to the foot, only to +recommence the toil. They crowd round the traveller, +and beseech him to take them with him; and he takes +three, one on each shoulder and one by the hand; but +with them he cannot get to the top, for he is hurled back +again and again. Leaving them therefore behind, he +climbs with ease, and throws himself at the foot of the +cross to pray and weep. On rising, he sees before him a +palace that proves to be Paradise itself. St. Peter, the +celestial porter, receives his letter and carries it to its +destination. While the youth waits, he finds St. Peter's +spectacles on the table and amuses himself by trying them +on. Many and marvellous are the things they reveal to +him; but the porter comes back, and he hastily takes off +the glasses, fearing to be scolded. St. Peter, however, +tells him: “Fear nothing, my child. You have already +been looking through my glasses for five hundred years!” +“But I have only just put them on my nose!” “Yes, +my child,” returned the door-keeper, “it is five hundred +years, and I see you find the time short.” After this it +is a trifle that he spends another hundred years looking +at the seat reserved for himself in Paradise and thinks +them only a moment. The Eternal Father's reply to +the letter is handed to him; and since his master and the +king who sent him on the errand have both long been +dead and in Paradise (though on lower seats than that +which he is to occupy), he is bidden to take the reply to +his parish <ins class="corr" title="priests">prices</ins>. The priest will in return hand him a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +hundred crowns, which he is to give to the poor, and +when the last penny has been distributed he will die and +enter Paradise, to obtain the seat he has been allowed to +see. As he makes his way back, one of the hermits +explains to him the various sights he beheld and the +difficulties he conquered during his outward journey. I +shall not stop to unveil the allegories of this traditional +Pilgrim's Progress, which is known from Brittany to +Transylvania, from Iceland to Sicily. Other Breton tales +exist, describing a similar journey, in all of which the +miraculous lapse of time is an incident. In one the +youth is sent to the sun to inquire why it is red in the +morning when it rises. In another a maiden is married +to a mysterious stranger, who turns out to be Death. +Her brother goes to visit her, and is allowed to accompany +her husband on his daily flight, in the course of which he +sees a number of remarkable sights, each one of them a +parable.<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></p> + +<p>A story is told at Glienke, near New Brandenburg, of +two friends who made mutual promises to attend one +another's weddings. One was married, and his friend +kept his word; but before the latter's turn to marry +came the married man had fallen into want, and under +the pressure of need had committed robbery, a crime for +which he had been hanged. Shortly afterwards his friend +was about to be married; and his way a few days before, +in the transaction of his business, led him past the +gallows where the body still swung. As he drew near +he murmured a Paternoster for the dead man, and said: +“At your wedding I enjoyed myself; and you promised +me to come to mine, and now you cannot come!” A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +voice from the gallows distinctly replied: “Yes, I will +come.” To the wedding feast accordingly the dead man +came, with the rope round his neck, and was placed +between the pastor and the sacristan. He ate and drank in +silence, and departed. As he left, he beckoned the bridegroom +to follow him; and when they got outside the +village the hanged man said: “Thanks to your Paternoster, +I am saved.” They walked a little further, and +the bridegroom noticed that the country was unknown +to him. They were in a large and beautiful garden. +“Will you not return?” asked the dead man; “they will +miss you.” “Oh! let me stay; it is so lovely here,” +replied his friend. “Know that we are in Paradise; you +cannot go with me any further. Farewell!” So saying +the dead man vanished. Then the bridegroom turned +back; but he did not reach the village for three days. +There all was changed. He asked after his bride: no one +knew her. He sought the pastor and found a stranger. +When he told his tale the pastor searched the church-books +and discovered that a man of his name had been +married one hundred and fifty years before. The bridegroom +asked for food; but when he had eaten it he sank +into a heap of ashes at the pastor's feet. The Transylvanian +legend of “The Gravedigger in Heaven” also turns +upon an invitation thoughtlessly given to a dead man +and accepted. The entertainment is followed by a +counter-invitation; and the gravedigger is forced to pay a +return visit. He is taken to Heaven, where, among other +things, he sees at intervals three leaves fall slowly one +after another from off a large tree in the garden. The +tree is the Tree of Life, from which a leaf falls at the end +of every century. He was three hundred years in Heaven +and thought it scarce an hour. The Icelandic version +concerns a wicked priest. His unjust ways are reproved +by a stranger who takes him to the place of joy and the +place of torment, and shows him other wonderful things +such as the youth in the Breton tale is permitted to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +behold. When he is brought back, and the stranger +leaves him, he finds that he has been absent seven years, +and his living is now held by another priest.<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></p> + +<p>Here, perhaps, is a fitting place to mention the Happy +Islands of Everlasting Life as known to Japanese tradition, +though the story can hardly be said to belong to the type +we have just discussed,—perhaps not strictly to any of +the foregoing types. A Japanese hero, the wise Vasobiove, +it was who succeeded in reaching the Happy Islands, and +in returning to bring sure tidings of them. For, like St. +Brendan's Isle in western lore, these islands may be +visible for a moment and afar off to the seafarer, but a +mortal foot has hardly ever trodden them. Vasobiove, +however, in his boat alone, set sail from Nagasaki, and, in +spite of wind and waves, landed on the green shore of +Horaisan. Two hundred years he sojourned there; +yet wist he not how long the period was, there where +everything remained the same, where there was neither +birth nor death, where none heeded the flight of time. +With dance and music, in intercourse with wise men and +lovely women, his days passed away. But at length he +grew weary of this sweet round of existence: he longed +for death—an impossible wish in a land where death was +unknown. No poison, no deadly weapons were to be +found. To tumble down a chasm, or to fling oneself on +sharp rocks was no more than a fall upon a soft cushion. +If he would drown himself in the sea, the water refused +its office, and bore him like a cork. Weary to death the +poor Vasobiove could find no help. In this need a +thought struck him: he caught and tamed a giant stork +and taught him to carry him. On the back of this bird +he returned over sea and land to his beloved Japan, +bringing the news of the realm of Horaisan. His story +took hold of the hearts of his fellow-countrymen; and +that the story-tellers might never forget it, it has been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +emblazoned by the painters in a thousand ways. Nor +can the stranger go anywhere in Japan without seeing the +old, old man depicted on his stork and being reminded of +his voyage to the Happy Islands.<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Croker, vol. iii. p. 215. This tale is given by Sikes, p. 70, of +course without any acknowledgment. It is also found in Keightley, p. 415.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. vi. pp. 174, 157, 196, 187.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Howells, pp. 141, 145; Sikes, p. 73. I have not been able to +trace Mr. Sikes' authority for the last story; but his experience and skill in borrowing from other books are so much greater than in oral collection +that it is probably from some literary source, though no doubt many of the embellishments are his own. The foundation, however, appears to be traditional.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Campbell, vol. ii. pp. 63, 55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> “F. L. Journal,” vol. vi. p. 191. (This story was told to the present +writer and Mr. G. L. Gomme by Alderman Howel Walters, of Ystradgynlais, who had it from an old man who knew the hero well and gave +implicit credit to the narrative.) “Trans. Aberd. Eistedd.” p. 227; “F. L. Journal,” vol. vi. p. 183. A similar tale is referred to in Jones' +“Account of the Parish of Aberystruth,” 1779, quoted in “Choice Notes,” p. 157.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> “Cymru Fu,” p. 177 (a translation is given by Professor Rhys in +“Y Cymmrodor,” vol. v. p. 81); Croker, vol. iii. p. 208.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Radloff, vol. i. p. 95, vol. iv. p. 109; Sébillot, “Contes,” vol. ii. +p. 8; Grimm, “Tales,” vol. i. p. 162.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Jahn, p. 199; Grohmann, pp. 19, 20, 18.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 220, 222.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Rappold, p. 34.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> “Archivio,” vol. vi. p. 398.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> “F. L. Journal,” vol. vi. p. 33; “Archivio,” vol. ix. p. 233 Grohmann, p. 112.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Grohmann, pp. 29, 289, 296, 298; Müller, p. 83.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> See Thorpe's translation of the story, “Yule Tide Stories,” p. 475.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> Dennys, p. 98; Giles, vol. ii. pp. 89 note, 85; Brauns, p. 366.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> Map, Dist. i. c. 11. But see below, p. 234.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Croker, vol. iii. p. 17; Howells, p. 123; “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. iv. p. 196, vol. v. pp. 108, 113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> “Wolfert's Roost, and other Sketches,” by Washington Irving +(London, 1855) p. 225; Amélineau, vol. ii. p. 111; Koran, c. 2 (“Sacred Books of the East,” vol. vi. p. 41); “Masnavi i Ma'navi,” p. 214.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Koran, c. 18 (“Sacred Books of the East,” vol. ix. p. 14); +“Indian N. and Q.” vol. iv. p. 8, quoting the “Pall Mall Gazette” (The story of the Seven Sleepers is also localized at N'gaous in Algeria; +Certeux et Carnoy, vol. i. p. 63.) Pliny, “Nat. Hist.” l. vii. c. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Grohmann, p. 16; Schneller, p. 217.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 138; Birlinger, “Volkst.” vol. i. p. 257 (<i>cf.</i> +Bartsch, vol. i, p. 326, where there is no wedding, and curiosity is the lady's motive for venturing into the fairy cavern); “Celtic Mag.” Oct. 1887, p. 566.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Southey, “Doctor,” p. 574; “Y Brython,” vol. iii. p. 111, and +Cymru Fu, p. 183; Howells, p. 127; “Y Llyvyr Coch,” p. 40 (Lady Charlotte Guest's translation, p. 381); Thorpe, vol. iii. p. +297, quoting Wolf; Müller, p. 50 (<i>cf.</i> Jahn, p. 96). The reader will not fail to remark the record-book bound in pigskin as a resemblance in +detail to Longfellow's version. Thorpe alludes in a note to a German poem by Wegener, which I have not seen. Nicholson, p. 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> Luzel, “Légendes Chrét.” vol. i. pp. 225, 216, 247, 249; +“Contes,” vol. i. pp. 14, 40; <i>cf.</i> Pitré, vol. vi. p. 1; and Gonzenbach, vol. ii. p. 171, in neither of which the lapse of time is an +incident. Dr. Pitré says that the tale has no analogues (<i>riscontri</i>) outside Sicily; by which I understand him to mean that it has not been +hitherto found in any other Italian-speaking land.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. p. 282; Müller, p. 46; Powell and Magnusson, vol. ii. p. 37.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> Brauns, p. 146.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND</h3> + +<h4>(<i>continued</i>).</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Ossian in the Tir na n'Og — The Island of Happiness — The Mermaid — Thomas +of Erceldoune — Olger the Dane — The Sleeping Hero — King +Arthur — Don Sebastian — The expected deliverer — British +variants — German variants — Frederick Barbarossa — Nameless +heroes — Slavonic variants.</p></div> + + +<p>The stories we have hitherto considered, relating to the +supernatural lapse of time in fairyland, have attributed +the mortal's detention there to various motives. Compulsion +on the part of the superhuman powers, and +pleasure, curiosity, greed, sheer folly, as also the performance +of just and willing service on the part of the +mortal, have been among the causes of his entrance +thither and his sojourn amid its enchantments. +Human nature could hardly have been what it is if +the supreme passion of love had been absent from the +list. Nor is it wanting, though not found in the same +plenteous measure that will meet us when we come to +deal with the Swan-maiden myth—that is to say, with +the group of stories concerning the capture by men of +maidens of superhuman birth.</p> + +<p>We may take as typical the story of Oisin, or Ossian, +as told in Ireland. In County Clare it is said that once +when he was in the full vigour of youth Oisin lay down +under a tree to rest and fell asleep. Awaking with a +start, he saw a lady richly clad, and of more than mortal +beauty, gazing on him. She was the Queen of Tir na<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +n'Og, the Country of Perpetual Youth. She had fallen +in love with Oisin, as the strange Italian lady is said to +have done with a poet of whose existence we are somewhat +better assured than of Oisin's; and she invited +him to accompany her to her own realm and share her +throne. Oisin was not long in making up his mind, and +all the delights of Tir na n'Og were laid at his feet. In +one part of the palace garden, however, was a broad flat +stone, on which he was forbidden to stand, under penalty +of the heaviest misfortune. Probably, as is usual in +these cases, if he had not been forbidden, he would +never have thought of standing on it. But one day +finding himself near it, the temptation to transgress was +irresistible. He yielded, and stepping on the stone he +found himself in full view of his native land, the very +existence of which he had forgotten till that moment. +Even in the short space of time since he left it much +had changed: it was suffering from oppression and +violence. Overcome with grief, he hastened to the +queen and prayed for leave to go back, that he might +help his people. The queen tried to dissuade him, but +in vain. She asked him how long he supposed he had +been absent. Oisin told her: “Thrice seven days.” She +replied that three times thrice seven years had passed +since he arrived in Tir na n'Og; and though Time could +not enter that land, it would immediately assert its +dominion over him if he left it. At length she +persuaded him to promise that he would return to his +country for one day only, and then come back to dwell +with her for ever. She accordingly gave him a beautiful +jet-black horse, from whose back he was on no account +to alight, or at all events not to allow the bridle to fall +from his hand; and in parting she gifted him with +wisdom and knowledge far surpassing that of men. +Mounting the steed, he soon found himself near his +former home; and as he journeyed he met a man driving +a horse, across whose back was thrown a sack of corn.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +The sack had fallen a little aside; and the man asked +Oisin to assist him in balancing it properly. Oisin, +good-naturedly stooping, caught it and gave it such a +heave that it fell over on the other side. Annoyed at +his ill-success, he forgot his bride's commands, and sprang +from the horse to lift the sack from the ground, letting +go the bridle at the same time. Forthwith the steed +vanished; and Oisin instantly became a blind, feeble, +helpless old man—everything lost but the wisdom and +knowledge bestowed upon him by his immortal bride.<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p> + +<p>A variant adds some particulars, from which it appears +that Oisin was not only husband of the queen, but also +rightful monarch of Tir na n'Og. For in that land was +a strange custom. The office of king was the prize of a +race every seven years. Oisin's predecessor had consulted +a Druid as to the length of his own tenure, and +had been told that he might keep the crown for ever +unless his son-in-law took it from him. Now the king's +only daughter was the finest woman in Tir na n'Og, or +indeed in the world; and the king naturally thought +that if he could so deform his daughter that no one +would wed her he would be safe. So he struck her with +a rod of Druidic spells, which turned her head into a +pig's head. This she was condemned to wear until she +could marry one of Fin Mac Cumhail's sons in Erin. +The young lady, therefore, went in search of Fin Mac +Cumhail's sons; and having chosen Oisin she found an +opportunity to tell him her tale, with the result that he +wedded her without delay. The same moment her +deformity was gone, and her beauty as perfect as before +she was enchanted. Oisin returned to Tir na n'Og with +her; and on the first race for the crown he won so easily +that no man ever cared to dispute it with him afterwards. +So he reigned for many a year, until one day the longing +seized him to go to Erin and see his father and his men. +His wife told him that if he set foot in Erin he would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +never come back to her, and he would become a blind +old man; and she asked him how long he thought it +was since he came to Tir na n'Og. “About three years,” +he replied. “It is three hundred years,” she said. However, +if he must go she would give him a white steed to +bear him; but if he dismounted, or touched the soil of +Erin with his foot, the steed would return that instant, +and he would be left a poor old man. This inevitable +catastrophe occurred in his eagerness to blow the great +horn of the Fenians, in order to summon his friends +around him. His subsequent adventures with Saint +Patrick, interesting though they are, are unimportant for +our present purpose.<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></p> + +<p>Perhaps the nearest analogue to this is the Italian +Swan-maiden <i>märchen</i>, of the Island of Happiness. +There a youth sets out to seek Fortune, and finds her in +the shape of a maiden bathing, whose clothes he steals, +obtaining possession thereby of her book of command, +and so compelling her to wed him. But in his absence +his mother gives her the book again, which enables her +to return to her home in the Island of Happiness. Thither +her husband goes to seek her, and after a variety of +adventures he is reunited to her. All goes smoothly +until he desires to visit his mother, supposing that he +had only been in the island for two months, whereas in +fact he has been there two hundred years. Fortune, +finding he was bent on going, was more prudent than +the queen of Tir na n'Og, for she went with him on the +magic horse. In their way they met with a lean woman +who had worn out a carriage-load of shoes in travelling. +She feigned to fall to the ground to see if Fortune's +husband would lift her up. But Fortune cried out to +him: “Beware! that is Death!” A little further on +they met a devil in the guise of a great lord riding a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +horse whose legs were worn out with much running. +He also fell from his horse. This was another trap for +Fortune's husband; but again she cried out to him: +“Beware!” Then, having reached his own neighbourhood +and satisfied himself that no one knew him, and +that none even of the oldest remembered his mother, he +allowed his wife to lead him back to the Island of Happiness, +where he still dwells with her.<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a></p> + +<p>In an Annamite saga a certain king wished to build a +town on a site he had fixed upon. All at once a tree +bearing an unknown foliage and strange flowers sprang +up on the spot. It was determined to offer these flowers +to the king; and sentinels were placed to see that no +one plucked the blossoms. A rock still pointed out in +the north of Annam was the home of a race of genii. +A young and lovely maiden belonging to that race +visited the tree, and was unlucky enough to touch one +of the flowers and to cause it to drop. She was at once +seized by the guards, but was released at the intercession +of a certain mandarin. The mandarin's heart was +susceptible: he fell in love with her, and, pursuing her, +he was admitted into the abodes of the Immortals and +received by the maiden of his dreams. His happiness +continued until the day when it was his lady's turn to +be in attendance on the queen of the Immortals. Ere +she left him she warned him against opening the back +door of the palace where they dwelt, otherwise he would +be compelled to return home, and his present abode +would be forbidden to him from that moment. He +disobeyed her. On opening the door he beheld once +more the outside world, and his family came to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +remembrance. The Immortals who were within earshot +drove him out, and forbade him to return. He +thought he had only been there a few days, but he could +no longer find his relatives. No one knew the name he +asked for. At last an old man said: “There existed +once, under the reign of I do not now remember what +sovereign, an old mandarin of the name, but you would +have some difficulty in finding him, for he has been dead +three or four hundred years.” An Esthonian tale represents +a mermaid, the daughter of the Water-Mother, as +falling in love with a loutish boy, the youngest son of a +peasant, and taking him down to dwell with her as her +husband in her palace beneath the waves. The form +in which she appeared to him was a woman's; but she +passed her Thursdays in seclusion, which she forbade +him to break, enjoining him, moreover, never to call her +Mermaid. After little more than a year, however, he +grew curious and jealous, and yielded to the temptation +of peeping through the curtain of her chamber, where +he beheld her swimming about, half woman and half +fish. He had broken the condition of his happiness, and +might no longer stay with her. Wherefore he was cast +up again on the shore where he had first met the +mermaid. Rising and going into the village he inquired +for his parents, but found that they had been dead for +more than thirty years, and that his brothers were dead +too. He himself was unconsciously changed into an old +man. For a few days he wandered about the shore, and +the charitable gave him bread. He ventured to tell his +history to one kind friend; but the same night he disappeared, +and in a few days the waves cast up his body +on the beach.<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></p> + +<p>The foregoing tales all combine with the characteristics<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +of the group under discussion, either those of the Swan-maiden +group or those of the Forbidden Chamber group. +In the myth of the Swan-maidens, as in some types of the +myth of the Forbidden Chamber, the human hero weds +a supernatural bride; and a story containing such an +incident seems to have a tendency to unite itself to one +or other of these two groups. This tendency is not, +however, always developed. The two ladies in the +Chinese legend, cited in the last <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">chapter</a>, were neither +Swan-maidens nor female Bluebeards; and this is not the +only tale from the Flowery Land in which these superhuman +beauties appear without promoting the development +in question. Nor do I find any hint of it in the +tradition of Bran Mac Fearbhall, King of Ireland, who +was one day lulled asleep by a strain of fairy music. On +awaking he found the silver branch of a tree by his side; +and a strange lady appeared at his court and invited him +to a land of happiness. He handed her the silver branch; +and the next morning with a company of thirty persons +he sailed out on the ocean. In a few days they landed on +an island inhabited only by women, of whom the strange +lady appeared to be the chieftainess. Here Bran Mac +Fearbhall remained several ages before returning to his +own palace near Lough Foyle. An Arab tale in the +Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris shows us a king's son +who in his wanderings lands on a strange island, where +he marries the king's daughter and becomes his father-in-law's +vizier. The country was watered by a river which +flowed at certain seasons from a great mountain. Every +year it was the vizier's duty to enter the cavern, having +first received instructions from the king and a mysterious +gift. At the end of an hour he reappeared, followed by +the stream, which continued to flow during the time +needful for the fertilization of the country. When the +prince as vizier entered the cavern he found a negro, who +led him to his mistress, the queen of a people of Amazons. +In her hands was the management of the river; and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +had caused the periodical drought in order to exact a +tribute of date-stones which she had to pass on to an Ifrit, +to purchase his forbearance towards her own subjects. +The prince ingratiates himself with her: she suppresses +the periodical droughts and marries him. After two centuries +of wedded life she dies, leaving him ten daughters, +whom he takes back, together with considerable wealth, +to the city formerly governed by his father-in-law, and +now by his great-great-grandson. The latter was a hundred +years old, and venerable by the side of his great-great-grandfather, +over whose head the years had passed +in that enchanted realm without effect. He made himself +known to his descendant and stayed ten years with +him; but whether he succeeded in marrying off any of +his daughters, of ages so very uncertain, the abstract of +the story I have before me does not say. At last he +returned to his native land, and reigned there for a long +time.<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></p> + +<p>In the hero of the Island of Happiness we found just +now one who, having returned to earth for a season, had +been taken back again by his supernatural spouse to a +more lasting enjoyment. But he is not alone in his +good fortune. Thomas of Erceldoune, a personage less +shadowy than some of those commemorated in this +chapter, is known to have lived in the thirteenth century. +His reputation for prophetic powers has been wide and +lasting. These powers were said to be, like Oisin's, a gift +from the Fairy Queen. She met him under the Eildon +Tree, which stood on the easternmost of the three +Eildon Hills. Having got him into her power, she took +him down with her into Fairyland, where he abode, as he +deemed, for three days, but in reality for three years. +At the end of that time the lady carries him back to +Eildon Tree and bids him farewell. He asks her for +some token whereby he may say that he had been with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +her; and she bestows on him a prophetic tongue that +cannot lie, and leaves him with a promise to meet him +again on Huntley Banks. Here both the old ballads and +the older romance desert us; but if we may trust Sir +Walter Scott's report of the tradition current in the +neighbourhood, Thomas was under an obligation to +return to Fairyland whenever he was summoned. +“Accordingly, while Thomas was making merry with +his friends in the tower of Ercildoune, a person came +running in, and told, with marks of fear and astonishment, +that a hart and hind had left the neighbouring +forest, and were, composedly and slowly, parading the +street of the village. The prophet instantly arose, left +his habitation, and followed the wonderful animals to the +forest, whence he was never seen to return. According +to the popular belief, he still 'drees his weird' in Fairyland, +and is one day expected to revisit earth. In the +meanwhile his memory is held in the most profound +respect.”<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></p> + +<p>In the romance of Ogier, or Olger, the Dane, one of +the Paladins of Charlemagne, it is related that six fairies +presided at his birth and bestowed various gifts upon +him. Morgan the Fay, the last of the six, promised that +after a long and glorious career he should never die, but +dwell with her in her castle of Avalon. Wherefore, after +he had lived and fought and loved for more than a +hundred years, Morgan caused him to be shipwrecked. +All men thought he had perished. In reality Morgan +had taken this means of bringing him to Avalon, where +she met him and put a ring on his finger, which restored +him to youth, and a golden crown of myrtle and laurel +on his brow—the crown of forgetfulness. His toils, his +battles, even his loves were forgotten; and his heart was +filled with a new devotion, namely, for the fairy queen +Morgan. With her he dwelt in pleasures ever new for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +two hundred years, until there came a day when France +and Christendom fell into trouble and danger, and the +peoples cried out for a deliverer. Morgan heard them, +and resolved that Olger must go to fight for them. She +lifted the crown from his brow, and his memory came +back. She bade him guard well his ring, and gave him a +torch: if that torch were lighted his life would burn out +with the last spark. He returned to France, fought the +Paynim and conquered, freeing France and Christendom. +The widowed queen of France then intrigued to marry +him; but as she was on the point of attaining her purpose +Morgan appeared and caught him away. In Avalon +he still dreams in her arms; and some day when France +is in her direst need, Olger will come back on his +famous charger to smite and to deliver her.</p> + +<p>Here we come upon another type, the story and the +superstition of the expected deliverer, which is widely +scattered through Europe. In this country the most +noted example is that of King Arthur, who may fitly give +his name to the type. King Arthur, according to the +romances, is, like Olger, in the Island of Avalon, where +indeed the romance of Olger declares that the two heroes +met. Sir Thomas Malory tells us: “Some men yet say +in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, +but had by the will of our Lord Jesus Christ into another +place; and men say that hee will come againe, and he +shall winne the holy crosse. I will not say that it shall +bee so, but rather I will say that heere in this world hee +changed his life. But many men say that there is +written upon his tombe this verse: Hic jacet Arthurus, +rex quondam, rexque futurus.” This is a belief dear to +the heart of many an oppressed people. It was told of +Harold that he was not slain at Senlac, and that he would +yet come back to lead his countrymen against the hated +Normans. Even of Roderick, the Last of the Goths, +deeply stained as he was with crime, men were loth to +believe that he was dead. In the latter part of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +sixteenth century, after Don Sebastian had fallen in the +ill-fated expedition to Morocco, Philip the Second of +Spain took advantage of the failure of the male line on +the death of the cardinal-king, Henry, to add Portugal +to his dominions, already too large. His tyranny roused +a popular party whose faith was that Don Sebastian was +not really dead: he was reigning in the Island of the +Seven Cities, and he would return by and by to drive +out the Spaniards and their justly execrated king. Even +in the year 1761 a monk was condemned by the Inquisition +as a Sebastianist, a believer and a disseminator of +false prophecies,—so long did the tradition linger. In the +Spanish peninsula, indeed, the superstition has been by no +means confined to Christians. The Moors who were left +in the mountains of Valentia looked for the return of +their hero Alfatimi upon a green horse, from his place of +concealment in the Sierra de Aguar, to defend them and +to put their Catholic tyrants to the sword.<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></p> + +<p>Oppression nourishes beliefs of this kind. It was under +the Roman dominion that the Jewish expectation of a Messiah +grew to its utmost strength; and the manifestation +of the Messiah was to be preceded by the reappearance +of Elijah, a prophet who was not dead but translated +to heaven. And strange sometimes are the gods from +whom salvation is to come. Only a few years ago, if we +may trust Bishop Melchisedech of Roumania, there was +a Slavonic sect, the object of whose worship was Napoleon +the First. He, said his worshippers, had not really died; +he was only at Irkousk, in Siberia, where, at the head of +a powerful, an invincible, army, he was ready once more +to overrun the world.<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></p> + +<p>But, however the belief in a deity, or hero, who is to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +return some day, may be strengthened by political causes, +it is not dependent upon them. Many races having traditions +of a Culture God—that is, of a superior being who +has taught them agriculture and the arts of life, and led +them to victory over their enemies—add that he has +gone away from them for awhile, and that he will some +day come back again. Quetzalcoatl and Viracocha, +the culture gods of Mexico and Peru, are familiar instances +of this. In the later Brahminism of India, Vishnu, +having already accomplished nine avatars, or incarnations, +for special emergencies in the past, was yet to have +one more avatar for the final destruction of the wicked +and the restoration of goodness at the end of the present +age; he would then be revealed in the sky seated on a +white horse and wielding a blazing sword. I need not +specify others: it will be manifest that the traditions +of modern Europe we have been considering contain the +same thought. Nor is it unlikely that they have been +influenced by the Christian doctrine of the Second Advent. +Many of them have received the polish of literature. +The stories of Olger and Arthur, for example, have +descended to us as romances written by cultivated men. +Don Sebastian was the plaything of a political party, if +not the symbol of religious heresy, for nearly two centuries. +In all these stories we encounter the belief that +the god or hero is in heaven, or in some remote land. +Such a belief is the sign of a civilization comparatively +advanced. The cruder and more archaic belief is that +he sleeps within the hills.</p> + +<p>This cruder belief is more familiar in the folklore of +Europe than the other. King Arthur was believed to +lie with his warriors beneath the Craig-y-Ddinas (Castle +Rock) in the Vale of Neath. Iolo Morganwg, a well-known +Welsh antiquary, used to relate a curious tradition +concerning this rock. A Welshman, it was said, +walking over London Bridge with a hazel staff in his +hand, was met by an Englishman, who told him that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +stick he carried grew on a spot under which were hidden +vast treasures, and if the Welshman remembered the +place and would show it to him he would put him in +possession of those treasures. After some demur the +Welshman consented, and took the Englishman (who +was in fact a wizard) to the Craig-y-Ddinas and showed +him the spot. They dug up the hazel tree on which the +staff grew and found under it a broad flat stone. This +covered the entrance to a cavern in which thousands of +warriors lay in a circle sleeping on their arms. In the +centre of the entrance hung a bell which the conjurer +begged the Welshman to beware of touching. But if +at any time he did touch it and any of the warriors should +ask if it were day, he was to answer without hesitation: +“No; sleep thou on.” The warriors' arms were so +brightly polished that they illumined the whole cavern; +and one of them had arms that outshone the rest, and a +crown of gold lay by his side. This was Arthur; and +when the Welshman had taken as much as he could +carry of the gold which lay in a heap amid the warriors, +both men passed out; not, however, without the Welshman's +accidentally touching the bell. It rang; but when +the inquiry: “Is it day?” came from one of the warriors, +he was prompt with the reply: “No; sleep thou on.” +The conjurer afterwards told him that the company he +had seen lay asleep ready for the dawn of the day when +the Black Eagle and the Golden Eagle should go to +war, the clamour of which would make the earth tremble +so much that the bell would ring loudly and the warriors +would start up, seize their arms, and destroy the enemies +of the Cymry, who should then repossess the island of +Britain and be governed from Caerlleon with justice and +peace so long as the world endured. When the Welshman's +treasure was all spent he went back to the cavern +and helped himself still more liberally than before. On +his way out he touched the bell again: again it rang. +But this time he was not so ready with his answer, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +some of the warriors rose up, took the gold from him, +beat him and cast him out of the cave. He never recovered +the effects of that beating, but remained a cripple +and a pauper to the end of his days; and he never could +find the entrance to the cavern again. Merlin and the +charm</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Of woven paces and of waving hands”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">I need not do more than mention. A recess in the rock +three miles eastward of Carmarthen, called Merlin's Cave, +is generally accredited as the place where Vivien perpetrated +her treachery. Merlin's county is possessed of another enchanted +hero. On the northern side of Mynydd Mawr +(the Great Mountain) near Llandilo, is a cave where +Owen Lawgoch (Owen of the Red Hand), one of the last +chieftains who fought against the English, lies with his +men asleep. And there they will lie until awakened by +the sound of a trumpet and the clang of arms on Rhywgoch, +when they will arise and conquer their Saxon foes, +driving them from the land. A more famous chieftain +is the subject of a similar belief in the Vale of Gwent. +Considerable obscurity overhangs the fate of Owen +Glendower. What is certain about him is that he +disappeared from history in the year 1415. What is +believed in the Vale of Gwent is that he and his men +still live and lie asleep on their arms in a cave there, +called “Gogov y Ddinas,” or Castle Cave, where they +will continue until England become self-debased; but +that then they will sally forth to reconquer their country, +privileges, and crown for the Welsh, who shall be dispossessed +of them no more until the Day of Judgment.<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>In other Celtic lands the same superstition occurs. +There is a hole called the Devil's Den at the foot of a +mountain in the Isle of Man where it was believed in the +last century that a great prince who never knew death +had been bound by spells for six hundred years; but +none had ever had courage enough to explore the hole. +In Sutherlandshire it is said that a man once entered a +cave and there found many huge men all asleep on the +floor. They rested on their elbows. In the centre of +the hall was a stone table, and on it lay a bugle. The +man put the bugle to his lips and blew once. They all +stirred. He blew a second blast, and one of the giants, +rubbing his eyes, said: “Do not do that again, or you +will wake us!” The intruder fled in terror, and never +found the mouth of the cavern again. Earl Gerald of +Mullaghmast sleeps with his warriors in a cavern under +the castle, or Rath, of Mullaghmast. A long table runs +down the middle of the cave. The Earl sits at the head, +and his troopers in complete armour on either side, their +heads resting on the table. Their horses, saddled and +bridled, stand behind their masters in stalls on either +side. The Earl was a leader of the Irish; he was very +skilful at weapons, and deep in the black art. He could +change himself into any shape he pleased. His lady was +always begging him to let her see him in some strange +shape; but he always put her off, for he told her that +if during his transformation she showed the least fright +he would not recover his natural form till many generations +of men were under the mould. Nothing, however, +would do for the lady but an exhibition of his powers; +so one evening he changed himself into a goldfinch. +While he was playing with her in this form a hawk +caught sight of him and pursued him. The hawk dashed +itself against a table and was killed; but the lady had +given a loud scream at seeing her husband's danger, and +neither goldfinch nor Earl did she behold again. Once +in seven years the Earl rides round the Curragh of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +Kildare on a horse whose silver shoes were half an inch +thick when he disappeared. When they are worn as +thin as a cat's ear, a miller's son, who is to be born with +six fingers on each hand, will blow his trumpet, the +troopers will awake and mount their horses and with the +Earl go forth to battle against the English; and he will +reign King of Ireland for twoscore years. A horse-dealer +once found the lighted cavern open on the night +the Earl was riding round the Curragh and went in. +In his astonishment at what he saw he dropped a bridle +on the ground. The sound of its fall echoing in the +recesses of the cave aroused one of the warriors nearest +to him; and he lifted up his head and asked: “Is it +time yet?” The man had the wit to say: “Not yet, +but soon will;” and the heavy helmet sank down once +more upon the table, while the man made the best of +his way out. On Rathlin Island there is a ruin called +Bruce's Castle. In a cave beneath lie Bruce and his +chief warriors in an enchanted sleep; but some day they +will arise and unite the island to Scotland. Only once +in seven years the entrance to the cave is visible. A man +discovered it on one of these occasions, and went in. He +found himself in the presence of these men in armour. +A sabre was half-sheathed in the earth at his feet. He +tried to draw it, but every one of the sleepers lifted his +head and put his hand on his sword. The intruder fled; +but ere the gate of the cavern clanged behind him he +heard voices calling fiercely after him: “Why could we +not be left to sleep?”<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></p> + +<p>The population of the south and west of Yorkshire is +largely Celtic. A tradition of Arthur seems to have +been preserved among them to the effect that he and his +knights sit spell-bound in the ruins of a castle, believed +by the clergyman who communicated it to Mr. Alfred +Nutt to be Richmond Castle. Wherever it was, a man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +named Potter Thompson penetrated by chance into the +hall, and found them sitting around a table whereon lay +a sword and a horn. The man did not venture, like the +Sutherlandshire intruder, to blow the horn, but turned +and fled at once. There, it seems, he made a mistake; +for had he done so he would have released Arthur from +the spell. And as he crossed the threshold again a voice +sounded in his ears:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Potter Thompson, Potter Thompson, hadst thou blown the horn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou hadst been the greatest man that ever was born.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">He had missed his chance, and could not return into the +enchanted hall. By the twelfth century the legend of +Arthur had reached Sicily, perhaps with the Normans. +Gervase of Tilbury tells us that a boy was in charge of +the Bishop of Catania's palfrey, when it broke loose and +ran away. He pursued it boldly into the dark recesses of +Mount Etna, where, on a wide plain full of all delights, +he found Arthur stretched on a royal couch in a palace +built with wonderful skill. Having explained what +brought him thither, the hero caused the horse to be +given up to him, and added gifts which were afterwards +beheld with astonishment by many. Arthur informed +him, moreover, that he had been compelled to remain +there on account of his wound, which broke out afresh +every year.<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></p> + +<p>In Teutonic lands the legends of the sleeping host and +the sleeping monarch are very numerous. Grimm in his +Mythology has collected many of them. I select for +mention a few only, adding one or two not included by +him. Karl the Great lies in the Unterberg, near Salzburg, +and also in the Odenberg, where Woden himself, +according to other legends, is said to be. Siegfried, the +hero of the Nibelungen Lied, dwells in the mountain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +fastness of Geroldseck. Diedrich rests in the mountains +of Alsace, his hand upon his sword, waiting till the Turk +shall water his horses on the banks of the Rhine. On +the Grütli, where once they met to swear the oath which +freed their country, lie the three founders of the Swiss +Federation in a cleft of the rock. The Danes have appropriated +Olger, who, Grimm says, really belongs to the +Ardennes; and in a vaulted chamber under the castle +of Kronburg he sits, with a number of warriors clad in +mail, about a stone table, into which his beard has grown. +A slave who was condemned to death received pardon +and freedom on condition of descending to ascertain +what was beneath the castle; for at that time no one +knew, and no one could explain the clashing of armour +sometimes heard below. He passed through an iron +doorway and found himself in the presence of Olger and +his men. Their heads rested on their arms, which were +crossed upon the table. When Olger lifted up his head +the table burst asunder. “Reach me thy hand,” he said +to the slave; but the latter, not venturing to give his +hand, held out an iron bar instead, which Olger squeezed +so that the marks remained visible. At length letting +it go, he exclaimed: “It gladdens me that there are still +men in Denmark!”<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></p> + +<p>But of all the great names appropriated by this myth, +the one which has thus been made most famous is that +of Frederick Barbarossa. When he was drowned in +crossing the river Calycadmus in Asia Minor, the +peasants of Germany refused to believe in his death, +and constantly expected him to return. Poems which +go back to the middle of the fourteenth century, or +within a century and a half of Frederick's death, prove +the existence of a tradition to this effect. More than +this, they contain allusions to some of the details about +to be mentioned, and foretell his recovery of the Holy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +Sepulchre. The Kyffhäuser in Thuringia is the mountain +usually pointed out as his place of retreat, though +other places also claim the honour. Within the cavern +he sits at a stone table, and rests his head upon his +hand. His beard grows round the table: twice already +has it made the circuit; when it has grown round the +third time the emperor will awake. He will then come +forth, and will hang his shield on a withered tree which +will break into leaf, and a better time will dawn. +Gorgeous descriptions are given of the cavern. It is +radiant with gold and jewels; and though it is a +cavern deep in the earth, it shines within like the +sunniest day. The most splendid trees and shrubs stand +there, and through the midst of this Paradise flows a +brook whose very mud is pure gold. Here the +emperor's rest is not so profound as might have been +expected. A strain of music easily seems to rouse him. +A shepherd having once piped to him, Frederick asked: +“Fly the ravens round the mountain still?” “Yes,” +replied the shepherd. “Then must I sleep another +hundred years,” murmured the emperor. The shepherd +was taken into the armoury, and rewarded with the stand +of a hand-basin, which turned out to be of pure gold. +A party of musicians on their way home from a wedding +passed that way, and played a tune “for the old Emperor +Frederick.” Thereupon a maiden stepped out, and +brought them the emperor's thanks, presenting each of +them with a horse's head by way of remembrance. All +but one threw the gift away in contempt. One, however, +kept his “to have a joke with his old woman,” as he +phrased it, and taking it home he put it under the pillow. +In the morning, when his wife turned up the pillow to +look at it, instead of a horse's head she brought forth a +lump of gold. Other stories are told of persons who +have penetrated into the emperor's presence and been +enriched. A shepherd found the mountain open on +St. John's Day, and entered. He was allowed to take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +some of the horse-meal, which when he reached home +he found to be gold. Women have been given knots of +flax, of the same metal. A swineherd, however, who +went in, was less lucky. The emperor's lady-housekeeper +made signs to him that he might take some of the +treasure on the table before him; accordingly he stuffed +his pockets full. As he turned to go out she called after +him: “Forget not the best!” She meant a flower +which lay on the table; but he heeded not, and the +mountain, slamming behind him, cut off his heel, so that +he died in great pain.<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p> + +<p>Such are a few of the legends relating to the Kyffhäuser; +but it should be observed that Frederick Barbarossa's +is not the only name given to the slumbering +hero. We have already seen in the last <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">chapter</a> that one +tradition calls him the Marquis John. Another dubs +him the Emperor Otto; and yet in another Dame Holle +is identified with his housekeeper. Now this difference +in the traditions about names, while they agree in the +substance of the superstition, indicates that the substance +is older and more important than the names, and that +well-known names have become affixed to the traditions +as they happened from time to time to strike the popular +imagination. This is confirmed by the fact that in many +places where similar traditions are located, no personal +name at all is given to the hero. In the Guckenberg, +near Fränkischgemünden, <i>an emperor</i> disappeared a long +time ago with his army. A boy selling rolls once met an +old man, to whom he complained of bad trade. The old +man said he could show him a place where he could +bring his rolls every day; but he must tell no one +thereof. So saying, he led the boy into the mountain, +where there were many people. The emperor himself +sat at a table, round which his beard had grown twice:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +when it has grown round it once more he will come forth +again with all his men. The boy's rolls were bought; +and he daily repeated his visit. After a while, however, +he could not pass the ancient coin wherein he was paid. +The people in the village, grown suspicious, made him +confess all; and he could never find his way to the +mountain again. In the “Auersperg Chronicle,” under +the year 1223, it is recorded that from a certain mountain +which Grimm identifies with the Donnersberg (Thor's +mountain), near Worms, a multitude of armed horsemen +used daily to issue, and thither daily to return. A man, +who armed himself with the sign of the cross, and +questioned one of the host in the name of Our Lord, was +told by him: “We are not, as you think, phantoms, nor, +as we seem, a band of soldiers, but the souls of slain +soldiers. The arms and clothing, and horses, because +they once were the instruments of sin, are now to us the +materials of our punishment; for what you behold upon +us is really on fire, although you cannot perceive it with +your bodily eyes.” We saw in an earlier chapter that a +story influenced by the Welsh Methodist revival represented +the midwife whose sight was cleared by fairy +ointment as beholding herself surrounded by flames, and +the fairies about her in the guise of devils. In the same +way here the wonders recorded by a pious ecclesiastic +have taken, though possibly not in the first instance +from him, a strictly orthodox form, and one calculated +to point a pulpit moral.<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></p> + +<p>Over against the last two legends we may place two from +Upper Alsace. A body of the Emperor Karl the Great's +warriors had become so puffed up by their successes that +at last they pointed their guns and cannon against +heaven itself. Scarcely had they discharged their pieces +when the whole host sank into the earth. Every seventh +year they may be seen by night on their horses, exercising.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +Concerning them it is said that a baker's +daughter of Ruffach, in the Ochsenfeld valley, was +carrying white bread to the next village, when she met +a soldier on a white horse who offered to lead her to a +place where she could sell the bread immediately for a +good price. She accordingly followed him through a +subterranean passage into a great camp quite full of +long-bearded soldiers, who were all fast asleep. Here she +sold all her bread, and was well paid; and for several +years she continued daily to sell her bread there, so that +her father became a rich man. One day she was ill +and unable to go, whereupon she sent her brother, describing +the place to him. He found it, but a door +blocked up the passage, and he could not open it. +The girl died soon after, and since then no one has +entered the subterranean camp. From Bütow in +Pomerania comes a saga similar to that of Olger at +Kronburg. A mountain in the neighbourhood is held +to be an enchanted castle, communicating by an underground +passage with the castle of Bütow. A criminal +was once offered his choice whether to die by the hangman, +or to make his way by the passage in question to +the enchanted castle, and bring back a written proof +from the lord who sat enchanted within it. He succeeded +in his mission; and the document he brought back is +believed to be laid up among the archives of the town. +According to another account a man once met two +women who led him into the mountain, where he found +a populous city. They brought him safely back after +he had spent six hours within the mountain. A saga +referred to by Grimm relates how a shepherd found in +the cavern of the Willberg <i>a little man</i> sitting at a stone +table through which his beard had grown; and in +another three unnamed malefactors are spoken of. +In Sweden there is a story that may remind us of the +Sutherlandshire legend. In a large cleft of the mountain +of Billingen, in West Gothland, called the Giant's Path,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +it is said there was formerly a way leading far into the +mountain, into which a peasant once penetrated, and +found a man lying asleep on a large stone. No one +knows how he came there; but every time the bell tolls +for prayers in Yglunda church, he turns round and sighs. +So he will continue until Doomsday.<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> In none of these +stories is the hero identified with any known historical +person.</p> + +<p>Among the Slavonic peoples corresponding sagas are +told. In Servia and Bulgaria King Marko is the enchanted +hero. He is variously held to be in a palace on +some mysterious island, or in a mountain not far from +the Iron Gates. The traveller who crosses the mountain +calls to him: “Marko, dost thou live?” and in the echo +he believes that Marko gives him a reply. “Prince” +Marko is also believed by the Serbs to be in the mountain +Urvina with his horse Sharatz, asleep. His sword +is rising slowly out of the mountain. When it is fully +disclosed, Marko will awake and deliver his people. +If other accounts may be trusted, however, he has retired +to the Alps since the invention of gunpowder, and now +lives as a hermit in a cave. So great pity was it</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“This villainous saltpetre should be digg'd<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Out of the bowels of the harmless earth.”<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Carpathian hero is Dobocz, the robber chief. He +is bespelled by a jealous mistress in a cavern on the +Czornahora, where he perpetually counts the gold he has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +hidden. On certain days of the year he comes out with +his followers; and then he has often been seen by the +mountaineers. Sometimes he visits his wife in her rock-dwelling +by Polansko, where she too is enchanted; and +on such occasions the nightly festivities may be seen and +heard. Bold are they who endeavour to penetrate the +depths of the mountain where Dobocz dwells. They +never return, but are caught by the robber and added to +his band. Strengthened with these reinforcements his +companions will be with him when the charm shall one +day be broken, and he will issue forth to take vengeance +on the men who betrayed him. Some of the stories of +Blanik Mountain, where Wenzel, the king of Bohemia, +lies, have been set before the reader. The horses of himself +and his followers stand ever ready saddled; and at +midnight the mountain opens, and the king and his +knights ride forth to exercise upon the plain. But other +heroes than Wenzel dispute with him the honour of +being the enchanted inhabitant of the Blanik. One +clear moonlight night of spring the burgesses of Jung-Wositz +were aroused from their slumbers by the beating +of drums, and the clang of armour, and the trampling of +horses. Terrified at such a rout, and not knowing what +it might mean, they seized their weapons and stood on +the defensive. Nor were they a little surprised to see +on the open meadows a troop of horsemen engaged in +knightly play. By and by, at the sound of the kettledrum, +the troop formed into rank, and vanished into the +mountain, which closed behind them with a crash. The +burgesses offered a reward to whomsoever would explore +the recesses of the mountain, and bring them sure +tidings of the ghostly horsemen. Three years passed by +ere the task was attempted. At last a clever man, +Zdenko von Zasmuk, undertook the adventure. He was +lucky enough to find the mountain open; and riding in, +he came into a vast lighted hall where slept on stone +benches the knights of the mountain, now changed into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +fine old men with long white beards. Their snow-white +horses, ready saddled, stood fastened to the piers of the +vault. Zdenko accidentally knocked down a spear; and +the clangour, echoing round the hall, awakened the +men. He explained to them why he had come, and +politely offered, if they wished, to attempt their deliverance. +Their leader informed him in reply that he was +Ulrich von Rosenberg, that he with his companions had +fallen gloriously against Chichka, in defence of the city of +Litic, and that God, instead of admitting them into Paradise, +had assigned them an abode in that place until Bohemia +should be at its sorest need; then they would sally forth, +and bring back peace and happiness to the land. And +he enjoined Zdenko to make this known to the people. +So saying, he sank again to sleep. It is said, moreover, +that when the time of which Ulrich spoke shall come, a +certain hazel-tree shall begin to blossom, though it will +be winter. A quite different story alleges that it is the +Knight Stoymir, who is under the spell at Blanik. His +last struggle against the plundering hordes which overran +the country took place there; and he with all his +band perished. The next morning when the enemy had +departed his friends searched the battlefield, but not a +trace could be recovered of their bodies. It was first +thought that the foes had carried them off to be ransomed. +At night, however, the inhabitants of the +neighbourhood were roused from slumber by the noise +of a host; and they beheld the slain heroes exercising +and afterwards watering their horses at the beck before +they returned to the mountain. The herdsman who +told the foregoing tale declared that he had been into the +mountain, and had himself seen Stoymir and his companions +in their sleep. There can be no doubt, therefore, +of its truth.<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></p> + +<p>Legends of buried armies occur also at Trzebnica, in +Silesia, where the Poles encountered the Turks, and at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +Matwa in the Prussian province of Posen. In the former +a girl who is admitted into the cavern is warned against +touching a bell that, as in the Welsh tale, hangs in the +entrance. She cannot resist the temptation to transgress +this command, and is ignominiously ejected. In the +latter, an old man buys corn for the troops. Again, in +the Carpathians, as in one of the sagas concerning the +Blanik, a smith is summoned to shoe the steeds. The +Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma, in addition to these stories, +gave the Folklore Society some years ago, from a chap-book +of Posen, the following abstract of a legend I have +not met with elsewhere: “Once upon a time, in Mazowia, +there were seven victorious leaders. After having +won a hundred battles, finding their beards had grown +white, they ordered their soldiers to build in their honour +a very high tower. The soldiers built and built, but +every day part of the tower tumbled down. This lasted +a whole year. The leaders, after supper, assembled at +the ruins of the tower. Here, at the sound of lutes and +songs, immediately a tower grew up from the earth to +heaven, and on its seven pinnacles shone the seven +helmets of the seven leaders. Higher and higher they +rose, but brighter and brighter they shone till they +appeared as the seven stars in heaven. The soldiers +sank down into graves which had been dug round the +tower and fell asleep. The tower has melted out of view, +but on fine nights we still see the seven helmets of the +leaders, and the soldiers are sleeping till they are +wanted.”<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> “Choice Notes,” p. 94.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Curtin, p. 327. See also Kennedy, p. 240, and “F. L. Record,” +vol. ii. p. 15, where the late Mr. H. C. Coote quotes the “Transactions of the Ossianic Society.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> Comparetti, vol. i. p. 212. An English version is given by Mr. +Coote, “F. L. Record,” vol. ii. p. 12. Madame D'Aulnoy gives a similar story in her “Histoire d'Hypolite, Comte de Douglas,” which seems +to be the original of a tale in verse quoted by Mr. Baring-Gould from Dodsley's “Poetical Collection.” See “F. L. Record,” vol. ii. p. 8; Baring-Gould, p. 547.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> Des Michels, p. 38; Kreutzwald, p. 212. See also my article on +“The Forbidden Chamber,” “F. L. Journal,” vol. iii. p. 193, where the relations of the Esthonian tale to the myth of the Forbidden Chamber are discussed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> Dennys, p. 98, “Gent. Mag. Lib.” (Eng. Trad. Lore), p. 22; +“Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iii. p. 566.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> “Thomas of Erceldoune,” <i>passim</i>; Child, vol. i. p. 318; “Border +Minstrelsy,” vol. iii. p. 170.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> Malory, vol. iii. p. 339; Braga, vol. ii. p. 238; Liebrecht in a note +to Gerv. Tilb., p. 95, quoting Aznar, “Expulsion de los Moriscos.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> “Athenæum,” No. 2,400, 25 Oct. 1873, giving an account of Bishop +Melchisedech's book, entitled “Lipovenismulu,” on the creed and customs of the Raskolnics, or Russian schismatics.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> “Trans. Aberd. Eistedd.,” p. 227, quoting Waring's “Recollections +of Iolo Morganwg”; Black's “Picturesque Guide to Wales” (1872), p. 279; Howells, p. 104; “Iolo MSS.” (Llandovery, 1848), pp. 68, +454, quoting from papers attributed to the Rev. Evan Evans, and said to be, when copied by Iolo Morganwg, in the possession of Paul Panton, Esq., of Anglesea.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> Waldron, p. 68; “F. L. Journal,” vol. vi. p. 164; Kennedy, +p. 172, Lady Wilde, vol. i. p. 161.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> “F. L. Journal,” vol. i. p. 193; Gerv. Tilb., Dec. ii. c. 12. See +Mr. Nutt's remarks on these in his admirable “Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail” (London, 1888), pp. 123, 196.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” pp. 953, 955, 961; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. +222, translating Thiele; Certeux et Carnoy, vol. i. p. 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> Grimm, “Teut. Myth.,” p. 955; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 217. +See also Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 101, translating Kuhn und Schwartz, and Grimm.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 220, 222; Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” pp. 953, 954.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> Meier, pp. 122, 123; Jahn, p. 248; Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” p. 961; +Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 91, from Afzelius. In an Austrian <i>märchen</i> the Sleeping Host is a host of serpents. The king slept on a crystal table +in the centre. During the winter serpents are believed to sleep. In the spring the oldest serpent awakes and wakens the others, crying: +“It is time” (Vernaleken, p. 113).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> Grohmann, p. 10. Marko was a shepherd, who for a service rendered +to a Vila was gifted by her with heroism, beauty, and other good fortune (Krauss, “Volksgl.” p. 103).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> Grohmann, pp. 11, 13, 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> “F. L. Record,” vol. iv. p. 67. Mr. Lach-Szyrma conjectures that +the seven stars are the stars of <i>Ursa Major.</i></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND</h3> + +<h4>(<i>continued</i>).</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The story not an early one — Its weirdest developments European — Stories +of short time appearing long — Mohammed's night-journey +and its variants — The Sleeping Hero, a heathen god — The Wild +Hunt — The Enchanted Princess, a heathen goddess.</p></div> + +<p>The visits to Fairyland recorded in <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII</a> differ +only in one respect from those mentioned in earlier +chapters of this book. Like them, they are visits of +business or of pleasure. Mortals are summoned to perform +some service for the mysterious beings whose +dwelling is beneath the earth, such as to stand sponsor +to their children, or to shoe their horses; or they go to +take a message from this world, or to bring a message +back. Or else they are drawn into the regions over +which the power of the supernatural extends, by +curiosity, by the desire of pleasure, or else by the +invitation, or unconsciously by the spell, of their superhuman +inhabitants. The point at which the visits differ +from those we have previously considered, and from a +hundred others precisely parallel in all other respects, is +in their length. To the entrammelled mortal the visit +seems to last but a moment; for while under the fairy +sway he is unconscious of the flight of time. In other +stories deception is practised on the sight. The midwife, +without the ointment, is deceived like Thor by Utgard-Loki: +nothing is as it appears to her. Parents and +husbands are deceived by changelings: they are made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +to believe that images of dead wood are living creatures, +or human corpses. In these stories, on the other hand, +the magic is directed against the sense of time. A +subtler, a weirder, a more awful horror is thus added to +the dread of communion with the supernatural.</p> + +<p>This horror is one arising comparatively late in the +history of culture. The idea of time must first grow up +and be elaborated. Time is dependent on number. A +savage who can barely count beyond five cannot know +anything of stories which deal with the lapse of centuries. +Even the vaguer, but shorter, period of a generation will +be an idea he cannot grasp. We have therefore found +no such tales in the lower savagery; and even among +the Lapplanders and the Siberian tribes the stories we +have been able to collect speak only of short periods, +such as the transition from autumn to spring, where a +man had slept through the winter, and the expansion of +a day into a month, or a year. In these two cases not +only the phases of the moon and the measurement of +time by them, which must have been early in development, +but also the cycle of the seasons had been +observed. But the idea lying at the root of this group +of tales is as yet only in germ. The full terror of the +situation, as exhibited in the traditions of the more +highly organized societies of Europe and of the extreme +Orient, is unforeseen. For it is in proportion to the +organization of society that such a catastrophe as the loss +of years, and thereby of kindred and friends, becomes +really dreadful. Indeed, it would seem to have been +reserved for the European nations to put the final +touches of gloom and horror upon the canvas. It may +be sufficient to refer this to the more sombre imagination +of Western peoples. But we ought not to overlook the +influence of the Catholic Church in darkening the +general tone of the imagination, and particularly the +tone of the fairy sagas, by the absolute and unquestioned +supremacy she demanded, and the frightful penalties,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +temporal and spiritual, she invoked upon those who +dared to indulge in cults she was unable to incorporate. +To men under such an influence, intercourse with fairies +would be a thing unholy; and the greater the temptations +to it, the severer, they would deem, should be the +penalties. This is the frame of mind which would, if +with shuddering, yet without a murmur, acquiesce in the +justice of the doom suffered by Herla, to put an extreme +case—a frame of mind undoubtedly countenanced by the +equally uncompromising claims of various forms of +Protestantism. But, while reprobating commerce with +unhallowed spirits, intercourse with spirits sanctioned by +the Church was believed to be almost equally possible, +and was encouraged as much as the other was denounced. +If such intercourse sometimes resulted in severance between +the favoured mortal and his human friends, this was only +an extension of the monastic idea; and, as in that case, +the loss was held to be abundantly compensated by the +favour of Heaven and the bliss received. At all events it +is certain, from whatever cause, that the deepest depths +and the loftiest heights of which this story-plot has been +found capable, have been reached only under Christian +influences. Pliny and Mohammed, the Taoist and the +Shintoist, have recorded no tale that sways our emotions +like those of Herla, the Aged Bride, and the Monk +Felix.</p> + +<p>But the magical power over time operates now and +then in the contrary way, by making a short time appear +long. A few examples may be interesting, though they +will in no way affect the foregoing conclusions. In the +tenth part of a night Mohammed, it will be remembered, +was taken up to Paradise on the back of the beast +Alborac, and passed through all the seven heavens into +the presence of Allah himself, with whom he had a +conversation, which could not have been a very short +one, and was then brought back by the way he had +gone. He remained long enough in each heaven to give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +a full, true and particular account of it and of its inhabitants, +and performed various other feats during the +journey. Nor will it be forgotten how one of the +Sultans one day expressing doubts on the possibility of +so much having happened to the Apostle in so short a +time, a learned doctor of the Mohammedan law caused +a basin of water to be brought and requested him to dip +his head into it. When the Sultan dipped his head he +found himself in a strange country, alone and friendless, +on the seashore. He made his way to a neighbouring +town, obtained employment, became rich, married, lived +seven years with his wife, who afterwards, to his great +grief, died, and then he lost all. One day he was +wandering in despondency along the seashore, where he +had first found himself; and in his despair he determined +to cast himself into the sea. Scarcely had he done so +when he beheld his courtiers standing around his throne: +he was once more Sultan, and the basin of water into +which he had dipped his head was before him. He +began furiously to reproach the learned doctor for +banishing him from his capital and sending him into +the midst of vicissitudes and adventures for so many +years. Nor was it without difficulty that he was brought +to believe that he had only just dipped his head into the +water and lifted it out again.</p> + +<p>This type of story is less frequent than the other, but +it is known in countries far apart. A stripling, in +Pembrokeshire, joined a fairy dance, and found himself +in a palace glittering with gold and pearls, where he +remained in great enjoyment with the fairy folk for +many years. One restriction was laid upon him: he was +not to drink from a certain well in the midst of the +palace gardens. But he could not forbear. In that well +swam golden fishes and fishes of all colours. One day +the youth, impelled by curiosity, plunged his hand into +the water; but in a moment fishes and all disappeared, +a shriek ran through the garden, and he found himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +again on the hillside with his father's flocks around him. +In fact, he had never left the sheep, and what seemed to +him to be years had been only minutes, during which the +fairy spell had been over him. In Count Lucanor, a +Spanish work of the fourteenth century, is a story of a +Dean of Santiago, who went to Don Illan, a magician +of Toledo, to be instructed in necromancy. Don Illan +made a difficulty, stating that the dean was a man of +influence and consequently likely to attain a high +position, and that men when they rise forget easily all +past obligations, as well as the persons from whom they +received them. The dean, however, protested that, no +matter to what eminence he attained, he would never +fail to remember and to help his former friends, and the +magician in particular. This being the bargain, Don +Illan led the dean into a remote apartment, first desiring +his housekeeper to procure some partridges for supper, +but not to cook them until she had his special commands. +Scarcely had the dean and his friend reached the room +when two messengers arrived from the dean's uncle, the +archbishop, summoning him to his death-bed. Being +unwilling, however, to forego the lessons he was about +to receive, he contented himself with a respectful reply. +Four days afterwards other messengers arrived with +letters informing the dean of the archbishop's death, +and again at the end of other seven or eight days he +learned that he himself had been appointed archbishop +in his uncle's place. Don Illan solicited the vacant +deanery for his son; but the new archbishop preferred +his own brother, inviting, however, Don Illan and his +son to accompany him to his see. After awhile, the +deanery was again vacant: and again the archbishop +refused Don Illan's suit, in favour of one of his own +uncles. Two years later, the archbishop was named +cardinal and summoned to Rome, with liberty to name +his successor in the see. Don Illan, pressing his suit +more urgently, was again repulsed in favour of another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +uncle. At length the pope died, and the new cardinal +was chosen pope. Don Illan, who had accompanied him +to Rome, then reminded him that he had now no excuse +for not fulfilling the promises he had so often repeated to +him. The pope sought to put him off; but Don Illan +complained in earnest of the many promises he had +made, none of which had been kept, and declared that +he had no longer any faith in his words. The pope, much +angered, threatened to have Don Illan thrown into +prison as a heretic and a sorcerer; for he knew that in +Toledo he had no other means of support but by +practising the art of necromancy. Don Illan, seeing +how ill the pope had requited his services, prepared to +depart; and the pope, as if he had not already shown +sufficient ingratitude, refused even to grant him wherewith +to support himself on the road. “Then,” retorted +Don Illan, “since I have nothing to eat, I must needs +fall back on the partridges I ordered for to-night's +supper.” He then called out to his housekeeper and +ordered her to cook the birds. No sooner had he thus +spoken than the dean found himself again in Toledo, +still dean of Santiago, as on his arrival, for, in fact, he +had not stirred from the place. This was simply the way +the magician had chosen to test his character, before +committing himself to his hands; and the dean was so +crestfallen he had nothing to reply to the reproaches +wherewith Don Illan dismissed him without even a taste +of the partridges.<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></p> + +<p>A modern folk-tale from Cashmere tells of a Brahmin +who prayed to know something of the state of the +departed. One morning, while bathing in the river, his +spirit left him and entered the body of the infant child +of a cobbler. The child grew up, learned his father's +business, married, and had a large family, when suddenly +he was made aware of his high caste, and, abandoning all, +he went to another country. There the king had just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +died; and the stranger was chosen in his place, and put +upon his throne. In the course of a few years his wife +came to know where he was, and sought to join him. In +this or some other way his people learned that he was +a cobbler; and great consternation prevailed on account +of his low caste. Some of his subjects fled; others +performed great penances; and some indeed burnt +themselves lest they should be excommunicated. When +the king heard all this, he too burnt himself; and his +spirit went and re-occupied the Brahmin's corpse, which +still lay by the riverside. Thereupon the Brahmin got +up and went home to his wife, who only said: “How +quickly you have performed your ablutions this +morning!” The Brahmin said not a word of his +adventures, notwithstanding he was greatly astonished. +To crown all, however, about a week afterwards a man +came to him begging, and said he had eaten nothing for +five days, during which he had been running away from +his country because a cobbler had been made king. All +the people, he said, were running away, or burning +themselves, to escape the consequences of such an evil. +The Brahmin, while he gave the man food, thought: +“How can these things be? I have been a cobbler for +several years; I have reigned as a king for several years;—and +this man confirms the truth of my thoughts. Yet +my wife declares I have not been absent from this house +more than the usual time; and I believe her, for she +does not look any older, neither is the place changed in +any way.” Thus were the gods teaching him that the +soul passes through various stages of existence according +to a man's thoughts, words, and acts, and in the great +Hereafter a day is equal to a thousand years, and a +thousand years are equal to a day.<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></p> + +<p>We may now turn to the types in which the spell is +believed to be still powerful over heroes once mighty but +now hidden within the hills, or in some far-off land,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +awaiting in magical sleep, or in more than human delight, +the summons that shall bid them return to succour their +distressed people in the hour of utmost need. As to the +personality of these heroes there can be no doubt. +Grimm long ago pointed out that the red-bearded king +beneath the Kyffhäuser can be no other than Thor, the +old Teutonic god of thunder, and that the long beard—sometimes +described as white—attributed to other leaders +was a token of Woden. The very name of Woden is +preserved in the Odenberg, to which several of such +legends attach; and the hidden king there is sometimes +called Karl the Great, and sometimes Woden. In other +countries Quetzalcoatl and Vishnu, we know, are gods of +the native cults. Oisin, Merlin, and King Arthur all +belong to the old Celtic Pantheon. And if some +other sleeping or vanished heroes bear the names +of personages who once had a real existence, they are +but decked in borrowed plumes. In short, all these +Hidden Heroes are gods of the earlier faiths, vanquished +by Christianity but not destroyed.</p> + +<p>If this be so, it may be inferred that these gods were at +one time conceived as presently active, and that it is only +since the introduction of the new faith that they have +been thought to be retired beneath the overhanging hills +or in the Islands of the Blest. But this was not so. In +all regions the chief activity of the deities has always +been placed in the past. Upon the stories told of the +deeds of yesterday the belief of to-day is founded. +Whether it be creation, or strife against evil spirits, or +the punishment of men, or the invention of the civilizing +arts, or the endless amours of too susceptible divinities, +all is looked upon as past and done. The present is +a state of rest, of suspension of labour, or at least of +cessation of open and visible activity. These gods, like +men, require an abode. In the later stages of culture +this abode is a Paradise on some more or less imaginary +mountain-top, or effectually cut off from men by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +magical tempests of the immeasurable main, or by the +supreme and silent heights of heaven. But this exaltation +of ideas took long to reach. At first a strange rock, +a fountain, the recesses of a cavern, or the mysterious +depths of the forest, enshrouded the divinity. In the +earlier stages of savagery it would be almost truer to say +that these <i>were</i> very often the divinity: at least they were +often his outward and visible form. Mr. Im Thurn, +who has had exceptional opportunities of observing the +characteristics of the savage mind, and has made exceptionally +good use of those opportunities, in describing +the animism of the Indians of Guiana, says: “Every +object in the whole world is a being consisting of body +and spirit, and differs from every other object in no +respect except that of bodily form, and in the greater or +less degree of brute power and brute cunning consequent +on the difference of bodily form and bodily habits.” +Then, after discussing the lower animals and plants as +each possessed of body and soul, and particularizing +several rocks which are supposed by the Indians to +possess spirits like human beings, he goes on: “It is +unnecessary to multiply instances, further than by saying +that almost every rock seen for the first time, and any +rock which is in any way abnormal whenever seen, is +believed to consist of body and spirit. And not only +many rocks, but also many waterfalls, streams, and +indeed material bodies of every sort, are supposed to +consist each of a body and a spirit as does man; and +that not all inanimate objects have this dual nature +avowedly attributed to them is probably only due to +the chance that, while all such objects may at any time, +in any of the ways above indicated, show signs of the +presence of a spirit within them, this spirit has not yet +been noticed in some cases.”<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> + From this belief to that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +in which the rocks and hills and other inanimate objects +are looked upon as having the relation to spirits, not of +body and soul, but of dwelling and dweller, is a step +upward, and perhaps a long one. But it is a natural +development, and one which would inevitably take place +as the popular opinion of the power of certain spirits +grew, and these spirits attracted to themselves superstitions +and sagas current among the people whose +civilization was by the same slow movement growing too.</p> + +<p>The development spoken of would perhaps be assisted +by the erection of monuments like piles of stones, or +earthen barrows, over the dead. As formerly in their +huts, so now in their graves, the dead would be regarded +as the occupiers. Their spirits were still living, and +would be seen from time to time haunting the spot. +Food would be buried with them; and sacrifices at the +moment of burial and on subsequent occasions would be +offered to them. In process of time among illiterate +races their identity would be forgotten, and then if the +barrows were not large enough to attract attention the +superstitions which had their seat there might cease. +But if the barrows could not be overlooked, the spirits +supposed to haunt them might merge into some other +objects of reverence. In Denmark the barrows are +invariably regarded as the haunt of fairies; and this is +frequently the case in other countries.<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> + When men once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +became habituated to think of a barrow as not the +outward and visible form of some spirit, but simply its +dwelling-place—still more, perhaps, if many interments +took place within it, so that it became the dwelling-place +of many spirits—they would be led by an easy transition +to think of rocks, fountains, hills, and other natural +objects in the same way. The spirits once supposed to +be their inner identity would become perfectly separable +in thought from them, because merely their tenants. +Thus the gulf would be bridged between the savage +philosophy of spirits described by Mr. Im Thurn, and the +polytheism of the higher heathendom, represented by +Mexico, Scandinavia, and Greece.</p> + +<p>But whether they travelled by this, or any different +road, certain it is that in the remoter times of the higher +heathendom men had arrived no further than the belief +that certain spots, and preferably certain striking objects, +were the abodes of their gods. This was a doctrine +developed directly from that which regarded the more +remarkable objects of nature as the bodies of powerful +spirits. Nor was it ever entirely abandoned; for even after +the more advanced and thoughtful of the community had +reached the idea of an Olympus, or an Asgard, far +removed above the every-day earth of humanity, the gods +still had their temples, and sacred legends still attached +to places where events of the divine history had happened. +Consequently some localities kept their reputation of +sanctity. That they were really the abiding-places of the +gods the common people would not cease to hold, whatever +might be taught or held by those who had renounced +that crudity. And, indeed, it may be doubted whether +anybody ever renounced it altogether. Probably, at all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +events, most persons would see no difficulty in believing +that the god dwelt on the sacred spot of earth and also +at the same time in heaven. They would accept both +traditions as equally true, without troubling themselves +how to reconcile them.</p> + +<p>But the gods did not always remain in their dwellings. +The Wild Hunt, a tradition of a furious host riding +abroad with a terrific noise of shouts and horns and the +braying of hounds, common to Germany and England, +has been identified beyond doubt by Grimm with Woden +and his host. We cannot here discuss the subject except +in its relations with the group of stories now under consideration. +Woden, it will be borne in mind, is one of +the figures of the old mythology merged in the Hidden +Hero beneath the German hills. Now, nothing is more +natural than that, when a company of warriors is conceived +as lying ready for a summons, themselves all +armed and their steeds standing harnessed at their sides, +they should be thought now and then to sally forth. +This was the sound which surprised the good burgesses +of Jung-Wositz when Ulrich von Rosenberg and his +train rode out by night upon the plain. In this way +King Wenzel exercises his followers, and the unfortunate +Stoymir vindicated his existence beneath the Blanik notwithstanding +his death. In this way too, before a war, +Diedrich is heard preparing for battle at one o'clock in +the morning on the mountain of Ax. Once in seven +years Earl Gerald rides round the Curragh of Kildare; +and every seventh year the host at Ochsenfeld in Upper +Alsace may be seen by night exercising on their horses. +On certain days the Carpathian robber issues from his +cavern in the Czornahora. Grimm mentions the +story of a blacksmith who found a gap he had never +noticed before in the face of a cliff on the Odenberg, +and entering, stood in the presence of mighty men, +playing there at bowls with balls of iron, as Rip +van Winkle's friends were playing at ninepins. So a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +Wallachian saga connects the Wild Hunt with a mysterious +forest castle built by the Knight Sigmirian, who +was cursed with banishment for three hundred years from +the society of men for refusing the daughter of the King +of Stones. In the same category we must put the spectral +host in the Donnersberg, and Herla's company, which +haunted the Welsh marches, and is described by Walter +Map as a great band of men and women on foot and in +chariots, with pack-saddles and panniers, birds and dogs, +advancing with trumpets and shouts, and all sorts of +weapons ready for emergencies. Night was the usual +time of Herla's wanderings, but the last time he and his +train were seen was at noon. Those who then saw them, +being unable to obtain an answer to their challenge by +words, prepared to exact one by arms; but the moment +they did so the troop rose into the air and disappeared, +nor was it ever seen again.<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></p> + +<p>This is a different account of Herla from that previously +quoted from an earlier part of Map's work; but perhaps, +if it were worth while to spend the time, not altogether +irreconcilable with it. The tradition, it should be observed, +appears to have been an English, and not a Welsh, +tradition, since the host received the English name of +Herlething. Gervase of Tilbury, writing about the same +time, reports that Arthur was said by the foresters, or +woodwards, both in Britain and in Brittany, to be very +often seen at midday, or in the evening moonlight at +full of the moon, accompanied by a troop of soldiers, +hunters, dogs, and the sound of horns. This is manifestly +a Celtic tradition. But these occasions are not the +last on which such appearances have been seen and +heard in this country. If we may believe a tract published +in 1643, spectral fights had taken place at Keniton, +in Northamptonshire, during four successive Saturday +and Sunday nights of the preceding Christmastide. By +those who are reported to have witnessed the phenomenon—and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +among them were several gentlemen of credit +mentioned by name as despatched by the king himself +from Oxford—it was taken to be a ghostly repetition of +the battle of Edgehill, which had been fought only two +months before on the adjacent fields. The excitement of +men's minds during periods of commotion has doubtless +much to do with the currency of beliefs like this. Saint +Augustine alludes to a story of a battle between evil +spirits beheld upon a plain in Campania during the civil +wars of Rome. As in the case of Edgehill, the vision +was accompanied by all the noises of a conflict; and +indeed the saint goes the length of declaring that after it +was over the ground was covered with the footprints of +men and horses. On the spot where this is said to have +happened an actual battle took place not very long after.<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> +These two instances are unconnected with the Sleeping +Host; but many of the legends explicitly declare the +exercises of the host when it emerges from its retirement +to consist of a sham fight. Although the legends containing +this account are not all found among Teutonic +peoples, it cannot be deemed irrelevant to draw attention +to the fact that similar fights are mentioned as the daily +occupation of the heroes who attain to Valhalla, just as +the nightly feasts of that roystering paradise correspond +to the refreshments provided for the warriors around +the tables of stone in their subterranean retreats. +Whatever may have been the creed of other European +races, it is hardly to be doubted that in these German +superstitions we have an approach to the primitive belief, +of which the Eddaic Valhalla was a late and idealized +development.</p> + +<p>But we may—nay, we must—go further. For in the +history of traditional religions goddesses have been as +popular as gods; and if we are right in seeing, with +Grimm, the archaic gods in the Hidden Heroes, some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +where we must find their mates, the corresponding +goddesses. We have already had glimpses of them +in Morgan the Fay, in the Emperor Frederick's lady-housekeeper +(<i>ausgeberin</i>) and in the maid who in +another saga attended on his bidding. The lady-housekeeper +is expressly called in one story Dame Holle. +Now Dame Holle herself is the leader of a Furious Host, +or Wild Hunt, and has been identified by Grimm beyond +any doubt as a pagan goddess, like Berchta.</p> + +<p>Let us take another story in which the female companion +of the enchanted hero appears. Near the town of +Garz, on the island of Rügen, lies a lake by which a castle +formerly stood. It belonged to an old heathen king, +whose avarice heaped up great store of gold and jewels in +the vaults beneath. It was taken and destroyed by the +Christians, and its owner was transformed into a great +black dog ever watching his treasure. Sometimes he is +still seen in human form with helm, or golden crown, and +coat of mail, riding a grey horse over the city and the +lake; sometimes he is met with by night in the forest, +wearing a black fur cap and carrying a white staff. It is +possible to disenchant him, but only if a pure virgin, on +St. John's night between twelve and one o'clock, will +venture, naked and alone, to climb the castle wall and +wander backwards to and fro amid the ruins, until she +light upon the spot where the stairway of the tower leads +down into the treasure chamber. Slipping down, she will +then be able to take as much gold and jewels as she can +carry, and what she cannot herself carry the old king will +bring after her, so that she will be rich for the rest of her +life. But she must return by sunrise, and she must not +once look behind her, nor speak a single word, else not +only will she fail, but she will perish miserably. A +princess who was accused of unchastity obtained her +father's permission to try this adventure, in order to +prove the falsehood of the charge against her. She safely +gained the vault, which was illuminated with a thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +lights. The king, a little grey old man, bestowed the +treasure upon her, and sent a number of servants laden +with it to follow her. All would have gone well, but +unhappily when she had climbed a few of the old steps +she looked round to see if the servants were coming. At +once the king changed into a great black dog, that sprang +upon her with fiery throat and glowing eyes. She just +had time to scream out when the door slammed to, the +steps sank, and she fell back into the vault in darkness. +She has sat there now for four hundred years, waiting +until a pure youth shall find his way down in the same +manner on St. John's night, shall bow to her thrice and +silently kiss her. He may then take her hand and lead +her forth to be his bride; and he will inherit such riches +as a whole kingdom cannot buy.<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></p> + +<p>But goddesses do not always play so secondary a part. +In a wood in Pomerania stands a round, flat hill called +the Castle Hill, and at its foot lies a little lake known as +the Hertha Lake. By its name it is thus directly connected +with one of the old divinities, like that lake on the +island of Rügen referred to in <a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chapter IV</a>. And here, +too, a mysterious lady has been seen to wash, a young +and lovely maiden, clad in black—not in secret, as in the +former instance, but openly, as if for the purpose of +attracting attention from passers-by, and of being spoken +to. At last a broad-shouldered workman, named Kramp, +ventured to give the maiden “the time of day,” and to +get her into conversation. She told him she was a +princess, who, with her castle, had been from time +immemorial enchanted, and that she was still waiting for +her deliverer. The mode of loosing the spell was by +carrying her on his back in silence to the churchyard of +Wusseken and there putting her down, being careful not +to look round the while; for, happen what would, he could +take no harm, even if it were threatened to tear his head +off. He undertook the task, and had nearly accomplished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +it without troubling in the least about the troops of spirits +which followed him, when suddenly, as he drew near the +churchyard, a hurricane arose and took his cap off. Forgetful +of his promise, he looked round; and the maiden +rose into the air, weeping and crying out that she could +never be delivered now. A story told in Mecklenburg is +more picturesque. It concerns the daughter of a lake-king, +who leagued himself with other knights against a +robber, the owner of a castle called the Glamburg, which +was a place of some strength, being entirely surrounded +by the water of the Lake of Glam. The confederates +were defeated; and nine large round barrows were raised +the next day over the slain, among whom was the lake-king. +His daughter wept upon her father's grave, and +her tears, as they touched the earth, became lovely blue +flowers. These flowers still grow upon the loftiest of the +nine barrows, while the others are quite destitute of them. +The princess threw herself that night—it was St. John's +night—into the lake; and now every year on St. John's +night, between twelve and one o'clock, a bridge of copper +rises out of the lake, and the princess appears upon it, +sighing for her deliverance.<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a></p> + +<p>The typical form of the tale is as follows: In the +Buchenberg by Doberan dwells an enchanted princess, who +can only be released once in a hundred years, on St. +John's Day between twelve and one. In the year 1818 +a servant boy was watching sheep on the eastern side of +the Buchenberg the day before St. John's day. About +noon a white lady appeared to him and told him that he +could deliver her, if he would, the next day at the same +hour, kiss her. She would then come to him in the form +of a toad with a red band round its neck. The shepherd +promised; but the next day when he saw the toad he was +so horrified that he ran away. A variant records the hour +as between twelve and one at night, and the form of the +lady as a snake which sought to twine round the shep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>herd's +neck. A great treasure buried in the hill would +have been his had he stood the proof; but now the lady +will have to wait until a beech tree shall have grown up +on the spot and been cut down, and of its timber a cradle +made: the child that is rocked in that cradle will have +power to save her. This is in effect the story told by +Sir John Maundeville concerning the daughter of +Hippocrates, the renowned physician, who was said to +have been enchanted by Diana on the island of Cos, or +(as he calls it) Lango, and given with so much of Mr. +William Morris' power in “The Earthly Paradise.”<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> +“Then listen!” says the damsel in the ruined castle +to the seaman whom she meets—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Then listen! when this day is overpast,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">A fearful monster I shall be again,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And thou may'st be my saviour at the last,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Unless, once more, thy words are nought and vain;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">If thou of love and sovereignty art fain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come thou next morn, and when thou seest here<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A hideous dragon, have thereof no fear,<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“But take the loathsome head up in thine hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And kiss it, and be master presently<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of twice the wealth that is in all the lands,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">From Cathay to the head of Italy;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And master also, if it pleaseth thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of all thou praisest as so fresh and bright,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of what thou callest crown of all delight.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Ah, me! to hold my child upon my knees,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">After the weeping of unkindly tears,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all the wrongs of these four hundred years.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">But the horrible apparition of the dragon was too much +for the adventurer's courage:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">“He cried out and wildly at her smote,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shutting his eyes, and turned and from the place<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ran swiftly, with a white and ghastly face,”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> +<p class="noindent">to die within three days, a raving maniac. And</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">“Never any man again durst go<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To seek her woman's form, and end her wo.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It would be too tedious to run through even a small +proportion of the examples of this tale, almost innumerable +in Germany alone. Fortunately, it will only be +necessary to allude to a few of its chief features. When +the enchanted princess assumes a monstrous form, the +usual ordeal of the would-be deliverer is to kiss her. A +toad or a snake is, perhaps, her favourite form; but +occasionally she is half woman, half toad, or half woman, +half snake. Further transformations now and then take +place, as from a snake into a fiery dog, or from a bear +into a lion, from a lion into a snake. Sometimes as a +bear alone she threatens her deliverer. In a Carinthian +saga he is to cut three birch rods at the full of the moon, +and then wait at the appointed place. The damsel +approaches in the guise of a snake, with a bunch of keys +in her mouth, and menaces him, hissing and snorting fire. +Unmoved by the creature's rage, he is to strike her thrice +on the head with each rod and take the keys from her +mouth. In the Duchy of Luxemburg the favourite form +assumed by the princess is that of a fire-breathing snake, +bearing in her mouth a bunch of keys, or a ring; and +the deliverer's task then is to take the keys or ring away +with his own mouth. It is believed that Melusina, whose +story we shall deal with in the following chapters, is +enchanted beneath the Bockfels, a rock near the town of +Luxemburg. There she appears every seventh year in +human form and puts one stitch in a smock. When she +shall have finished sewing the smock she will be delivered; +but woe then to the town! for its ruins will be her grave +and monument. Men have often undertaken her earlier +deliverance. This is to be effected at midnight, when she +appears as a snake, by taking with the mouth a key<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +from her mouth and flinging it into the Alzet. No +one, however, has yet succeeded in doing this; and +meantime when a calamity threatens the town, whose +faithful guardian she is, she gives warning by gliding +round the Bockfels uttering loud laments.<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a></p> + +<p>But in many of the sagas the princess meets her hero +in her own proper shape, and then the feat to be performed +varies much more. In a Prussian tale she comes +out of a deep lake, which occupies the site of a once-mighty +castle, at sunset, clothed in black, and accompanied +by a black dog. The castle belonged to the young lady's +parents, who were wicked, though she herself was pious; +and it was destroyed on account of their evil doings. +Since that time she has wandered around, seeking some +bold and pious man who will follow her into the depths +of the lake, and thus remove the curse. This would seem +but another form of the tradition of the lake at the foot +of the Herthaburg on the isle of Rügen. In another +story the lady must be brought an unbaptized child to +kiss. In yet another the deliverer is led down through a +dark underground passage into a brilliantly lighted room, +where sit three black men writing at a table, and is +bidden to take one of two swords which lie on the table +and strike off the enchanted lady's head. To cut off the +head of a bewitched person is an effectual means of +destroying the spell. So, in the Gaelic story of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +Widow and her Daughters, the heroine decapitates the +horse-ogre, who thereupon returns to his true form as a +king's son, and marries her. A large number of parallel +instances might easily be given; but they would lead +us too far afield. The lady of the Princess Hill, near +Warin, in Mecklenburg, has to be held fast from midnight +until one o'clock in spite of all frightful apparitions +of snakes, dragons, and toads which crowd around and +threaten the adventurer. In the same way Peleus, +desiring to secure Thetis, had to hold her fast through +her various magical changes until she found resistance +useless, and returned to her true form. In a modern +Cretan tale the hero, by the advice of an old woman, +seizes at night a Nereid by the hair and holds her until +the cock crows, in spite of her changes successively into +a dog, a snake, a camel, and fire. The process of disenchanting +Tam Lin, in the ballad of that name, was for +his lady-love to take him in her arms and hold him, notwithstanding +his transformation into a snake, a bear, a +lion, a red-hot iron, and lastly into a “burning gleed,” +when he was to be immediately flung into a well.<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a></p> + +<p>We have already seen that the task is sometimes to +carry the maiden to a churchyard. At the Castle Hill of +Bütow she was to be carried to the Polish churchyard +and there thrown to the ground with all the deliverer's +might. A castle is said to have stood formerly on the +site of Budow Mill in Eastern Pomerania. An enchanted +princess now haunts the place. She is only to be freed +by a bachelor who will carry her in silence, and without +looking behind him, around the churchyard; but the +spirits which hold her under their spell will seek in every +way to hinder her deliverance. On the Müggelsberg is, +or was (for it is said to be now destroyed), a large stone +under which a treasure lies. It was called the Devil's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +Altar; and at night it often seemed, from the neighbouring +village of Müggelsheim, to be in a blaze; but on +drawing near the fire would vanish from sight. At +Köpenick, another village not far off, it was called the +Princesses' Stone, but the lake at the foot of the hill was +called the Devil's Lake. The stone was said to occupy +the site of a castle, now enchanted and swallowed up in +the earth. Beneath it a hole ran deep into the mountain, +out of which a princess was sometimes of an evening seen +to come, with a casket of pure gold in her hand. He who +would carry her thrice round the church of Köpenick +without looking about him, would win the casket of gold +and deliver her. The names of the stone and of the +lake, as well as the attendant circumstances, are strong +evidence in favour of the conclusion that we have in this +superstition a relic of heathen times, and a record of +some divinity believed to reside at that spot. A princess, +clad in white and having a golden spinning-wheel in +her hand, was believed to appear on the Castle Hill at +Biesenthal, at midday. Once at midnight she appeared +to a gardener who had often heard voices at night +summoning him to the castle garden. At first he was +frightened at the vision, but at length consented to carry +her to the church, which stands near the hill. He took +her on his back; but when he entered the churchyard +gate he suddenly met a carriage drawn by coal-black +horses, which vomited fire. So terrified was he that he +shrieked aloud, whereupon the carriage vanished, and the +princess flew away moaning: “For ever lost!” In a +case where a prince had been enchanted, the feat was to +wrestle with him three nights in succession.<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a></p> + +<p>But it was not always that so hard a task was set before +the deliverer. To our thinking, it says little for the +German way of doing business that the difficulty in unspelling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +the castle near Lossin, and the maiden who +dwelt therein, was to buy a pair of shoes without +bargaining and cheapening their price, but to pay for +them exactly the piece of money which the maiden +handed to the youth who undertook the enterprise. In +another case a maiden was seen to scour a kettle at a +little lake. She was enchanted. The man who beheld +her thought the kettle would prove useful at his approaching +wedding, and borrowed it on the express condition +of returning it at a fixed time. He failed to do so, +and the Evil One came and fetched it; and the maiden +had to wait longer for her deliverance. There are stories +similar to this of fairies lending such articles on this +condition. If the condition be not complied with, the +fairies are never seen again. Aubrey relates that in the +vestry of Frensham Church, in Surrey, is a great kettle, +which was borrowed from the fairies who lived in the +Borough Hill, about a mile away. It was not returned +according to promise, and though afterwards taken back, +it was not received, nor since that time had there been +any borrowing there.<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></p> + +<p>A man who was in the habit of meeting in a certain +wood an adder, which always sneezed thrice as he passed, +consulted his parish priest on the subject. The priest +advised him to say the next time, as he would to a human +friend who sneezed: “God help thee!” The man did +so, whereupon the adder shot forth before him with fiery +body and terrible rattling, so startling him that he +turned and fled. The snake hurried after him, crying +out that it would not hurt him, but that if he would take +(not, however, with naked hands) the bunch of keys that +hung about its neck, it would then lead the way to a +great treasure and make him happy. He turned a deaf +ear to these entreaties; and as he ran away he heard the +snake exclaim that now it must remain enchanted until<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +yon little oak tree had grown great, and a cradle had been +made out of the timber: the first child that lay in that +cradle would be able to deliver it. The same incident +reappears in another saga, in which some men passing +through the forest hear a sneeze, and one of them says: +“God help thee!” The sneeze and the blessing are +repeated; but when the sneeze was heard a third time, +the man exclaimed: “Oh, go to the devil!” “I believe +somebody is making game of us,” said another. But a +mannikin stepped forward and said: “If you had said a +third time 'God help thee!' I should have been saved. +Now I must wait until an acorn falls from yonder +tree and becomes an oak, and a cradle is made out of its +timber. The child that comes to lie in that cradle will +be able to deliver me.” In this case all that was required +was a thrice-repeated blessing. Another curious means +of deliverance is found in a story from Old Strelitz. +There an enchanted princess haunted a bridge a short +distance from one of the gates of the town, on the road +to Woldegk. Whoever in going over this bridge uttered +a certain word, could unspell her if he would afterwards +allow her to walk beside him the rest of the way over the +bridge without speaking; but the difficulty was that +nobody knew what the powerful word was.<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a></p> + +<p>Two other legends may be noticed on the mode of +undoing the spell. The White Lady who haunts the +White Tower on the White Hill at Prague was married +to a king. She betrayed him, and married his enemy, +from whom she subsequently fled with an officer of his +army. She was, however, caught, and walled up in the +White Tower. From this she may be delivered if she can +find any one who will allow her to give him three stabs +in the breast with a bayonet without uttering a sound. +Once she prevailed on a young recruit, who was placed +as sentinel before the magazine of the castle, to stand the +necessary trial; but on receiving the first blow he could +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>not forbear crying aloud: “Jesus! Mary! thou hast given +it me!” Another old castle in Bohemia has twelve +ladies enchanted by day as fish in the fountain of the +castle garden, and appearing only at night in their true +shape. They can not be disenchanted unless by twelve +men who will remain in the castle for twelve months +without once going outside the walls.<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></p> + +<p>These bring us to a number of <i>märchen</i> in which the +bespelled heroine is released by a youth who suffers +torture on her account. The Transylvanian gipsies tell +a tale of a very poor man who, instructed by a dream, +climbed a certain mountain and found a beautiful maiden +before a cavern, spinning her own golden hair. She had +been sold by her heartless parents to an evil spirit, who +compelled her to this labour; but she could be saved if +she could find any one willing to undergo in silence, for +her sake, an hour's torture from the evil spirit on three +successive nights. The man expressed himself ready to +make the attempt; he entered the cave, and at midnight +a gigantic Prikulich, or evil spirit, appeared, and +questioned him as to who he was and what he wanted +there. Failing to get any reply, the Prikulich flung him +to the ground and danced about madly on him. The +man endured without a moan; and at one o'clock the +Prikulich disappeared. The second night the man was +beaten with a heavy hammer, and so tortured that the +maiden had great difficulty in persuading him to stand +the third proof. While she was praying him, however, to +stay, the Prikulich appeared the third time, and beat him +again with the hammer until he was half dead. Then +the goblin made a fire and flung him into it. The poor +fellow uttered not a single sound, in spite of all this +torment; and the maiden was saved and wedded her +deliverer. This is a tale by no means uncommon. Want +of space forbids us to follow it in detail, but a few +references in the note below will enable the reader to do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +so if he please. Meantime, I will only say that sometimes +the princess who is thus to be rescued is enchanted in the +form of a snake, sometimes of a she-goat, sometimes of a +bird; and in one of the stories she herself, in the shape +of a monster like a hedgehog, comes out of a coffin to tear +the hero in pieces.<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> The group is allied, on the one +hand, to that of Fearless Johnny who, passing the night +in a haunted house, expelled the ghosts, or goblins, which +had taken possession of it; on the other hand, to that of +the Briar Rose, illustrated by Mr. Burne Jones' series of +paintings.</p> + +<p>The Briar Rose, or The Beauty of Sleeping Wood, as +it comes to us from Perrault's hands, is the story of a +maiden who was cursed by an offended fairy to pierce +her hand with a spindle and to die of it—a curse afterwards +mitigated into a sleep of a hundred years. Every +effort was made by the king, her father, to avert the +doom, but in vain; and for a whole century the princess +and all her court remained in the castle in a magical +sleep, while the castle itself and all within it were +protected from intrusion by an equally magical growth +of brambles and thorns, which not only prevented access, +but entirely hid it from view. At length a king's son +found his way in at the very moment the fated period +came to an end; or, as we have it in other versions, he +awakened the maiden with a kiss. In the old stories of +the Niblungs and the Volsungs Odin has pricked the +shield-maid Brynhild with a sleep-thorn, and thus condemned +her to sleep within the shield-burg on Hindfell. +Attracted by the appearance of fire, Sigurd comes to the +shield-burg and, finding Brynhild, releases her from her +slumber by ripping up her armour with his sword. This +is chronologically the earliest form of the myth of the +Enchanted Princess with which we are acquainted; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +it is interwoven with the very fibres of the Teutonic +mythology. It is no wonder, therefore, that the Germans +have given it so prominent a place in their folklore. +So far as now appears it is less conspicuous in the folklore +of the other European races with the exception of +the Slaves, and when it does show itself it shows itself +chiefly as a <i>märchen</i>. But, although what we know of +the folklore of the Teutonic and Slavonic races may suggest +reasons for this, we must not forget how rarely we +can dogmatize with safety on national characteristics. +To this rule the folklore of a nation is no exception; +nay, rather, the rule applies with a double emphasis +to a subject the scientific investigation of which has so +lately begun and has yet achieved so little.</p> + +<p>Declining this speculation, therefore, we turn to a last +point in the sagas before us, namely, the propitious time +for the disenchantment. Different times of the year are +spoken of for this purpose. In some stories it is Advent, +or New Year's night, when the lady makes her appearance +and may be delivered. In a Pomeranian saga, +where a woman cursed her seven daughters and they +became mice, a woman, who is of the same age as the +mother when she uttered the curse, must come with +seven sons of the same ages as the daughters were when +they were cursed, on Good Friday at noon, to the thicket +where the mice are, and put her sons on a certain round +stone there. The seven mice will then return to human +shape; and when the children are old enough they will +marry, and become rich and happy for the rest of their +lives. A Carinthian tale requires the deliverer to come +the next full moon after “May-Sunday”; and May-night +is the date fixed in another case. But the favourite time +is St. John's Day, either at noon or midnight.<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> + Some of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +these days are ecclesiastical festivals; but perhaps the +only one which has not superseded an ancient heathen +feast is Good Friday. The policy of the Church, in +consecrating to Christian uses as many as possible of +the seasons and customs she found already honoured +among the peoples she had conquered, seized upon their +holy days and made them her own. And if the science +of Folklore has taught us anything, it is that the observances +on these converted holy days external to the rites +demanded by the Church are relics of the ceremonies +performed in pagan days to pagan deities. In none of +these instances has the proof been more conclusive than +in that of St. John's, or Midsummer Day. Grimm, first, +with abundant learning, and more recently Mr. Frazer, +with a wealth of illustration surpassing that of Grimm +himself, and indeed inaccessible in his day, have shown +that the Midsummer festival was kept in honour of the +sun; that it consisted of the ceremonial kindling of fire, +the gathering and use of floral garlands, the offering of +human and other sacrifices, and the performance of sacred +dances; and that its object was to increase the power of +the sun by magical sympathy, to obtain a good harvest +and fruitfulness of all creatures, and to purge the sins of +the people. It was, in fact, the chief ceremony of the +year among the European races.</p> + +<p>Prominent among the remnants of these ceremonies +continued down to modern days are the Midsummer +bonfires. These were lighted on the tops of mountains, +hills, or even barrows. This situation may be thought +to have symbolic reference to the solstice; but probably +a still more powerful reason for it was the already sacred +character of such places. But we need hardly consider +whether the ceremonies of which the bonfires are the +remnant, were observed on the hill-tops and other high +places because the latter were already sacred, or, conversely, +the hill tops and other high places were held +sacred because of the ceremonies enacted there; for in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +either case the sanctity remains. Wells and pools, too, +many of them still held sacred, were in various ways the +objects of superstition at the Midsummer festival; for +which the Church, when she chose to take the practices +under her protection, had an ample excuse in St. John's +mission to baptize.<a name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> Now, whatever spots were the haunt +of pagan divinities, there it was doubtless that those divinities +were expected to appear; and by the same reasoning +they would be most likely to appear during the favoured +hours of the holy days. This is exactly what we find to +be the case with Enchanted Princesses, and, so far as the +days are recorded, with Sleeping Heroes. The heroes lie +within the hills, which in many legends are only open +on certain days. The princesses appear upon the hills, +or by the sides of pools, the sites, if we believe the +legends, of ancient castles where they dwelt. Once in +the year, or once in a cycle of years, on a certain day, +usually Midsummer Day or Midsummer Eve, they come +to wash, or to fetch water, in their own form, either +compelled or permitted by the terms of the curse that +has bound them; and then it is that mortals are admitted +to an interview and may render them the service of disenchantment. +The instances in which the days are +specified are so frequent we may perhaps suspect that +they were originally mentioned in all, but that time and +other circumstances have caused them to be forgotten. +However this may be, it is only reasonable to conclude +that, in the number of instances remaining, we have a +tradition of the honours long ago paid to these degraded +divinities on the days appointed for their worship.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>I may be going too far in suggesting that the feats to +be performed afford some confirmation of this conclusion; +yet it seems to me there is much to be said for such an +opinion. The appearance of a god in animal form—even +in a loathsome animal form—would not derogate +from his essential godhead. Where in these stories the +deliverer has to deal with an animal, a kiss is the usual +task prescribed. Kissing is a very ancient and well-known +act of worship, which survives among us in many +a practice of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in +the form of oath taken daily in our law courts; and it +may be that the more repulsive the object to be kissed, +the greater the merit of kissing it. Again, the lady who +required to be followed into the depths of a lake may be +matched with the goddess Hertha, whose slaves were +drowned in the self-same waters wherein they had +washed her; nor does it seem more menial to carry a +princess than to wash a goddess. The ceremony of +carrying may indeed be the relic of a solemn procession, +or of a sacred drama. The words of blessing following +on a sneeze need no explanation; and the omission to +return at the promised time a borrowed kettle would be +more likely to provoke the anger of a god than to retard +the deliverance of a mortal. This is implied by the +statement that the devil fetched the kettle himself; and +we need have little doubt that in an earlier form the +story so described it. I am unable to explain the +unknown word which would deliver the lady who +haunted the bridge at Old Strelitz, unless it be a +reminiscence of an incantation.</p> + +<p>There remain the demand for an unbaptized child to +kiss, the torture to which the heroes of the two Bohemian +sagas submit, the requirement in the Pomeranian tale to +place seven brothers on the stone haunted by the seven +mice, and lastly the personal violence to the damsel +involved in striking her with a birch-rod or a bunch of +juniper and in beheadal. In all these we probably have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +traces of sacrifice. The offering of an innocent child is +familiar, if not comprehensible, enough to any one who +has the most superficial acquaintance with savage rites. +We have already seen that an unbaptized child is regarded +as a pagan, and is an object of desire on the part of supernatural +beings. The same reasons which induce fairies +to steal it would probably render it an acceptable offering +to a pagan divinity. No words need be wasted on the +torture, or the tale of the mice. But the personal +violence, if indeed the remnant of a tradition of sacrifice, +involves the slaughter of the divinity herself. This +might be thought an insuperable objection; but it is +not really so. For, however absurd it may seem to us, +it is a very widespread custom to sacrifice to a divinity +his living representative or incarnation, whether in +animal or human form. It is believed in such cases that +the victim's spirit, released by sacrifice, forthwith finds a +home in another body. The subject is too vast and +complex to be discussed here at length; the reader who +desires to follow it out can do so in Mr. Frazer's profoundly +interesting work on “The Golden Bough.” +Assuming, however, the custom and belief, as here +stated, to be admitted, it will be seen that the underlying +thought is precisely that which we want in order to +explain this mode of disenchantment. For if, on the +one hand, what looks like murder be enjoined in a +number of stories for the purpose of disenchanting a +bewitched person; and if, on the other hand, the result +of solemnly slaughtering a victim be in fact held to be +simply the release of the victim's spirit—nay, if it was +the prescribed mode of releasing that spirit—to seek a +new, sometimes a better, abode in a fresh body, we +may surely be satisfied that both these have the same +origin. We may then go further, and see in this +unspelling incident, performed, as in the Enchanted +Princess stories, in this way, at a haunted spot, frequently +on a day of special sanctity, one more proof that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +the princess herself was in the earlier shape of the +traditions no other than a goddess.</p> + +<p>Finally: the myth of the Enchanted Princess has preserved +in many of its variants a detail more archaic than +any in that of the Sleeping Hero, and one which is decisive +as to the lady's real status. If Frederick were to arise and +come forth from his sleeping-place, the Kyffhäuser itself +would remain. If Arthur were to awake and quit the +Castle Rock, the rock itself wherein he lay would still +be there. But the lake or mountain haunted by an +enchanted maiden often owes its very existence, if not to +her, at least to the spell which holds her enthralled. +When she is delivered the place will be changed: the +lake will give way to a palace; the earth will open and a +buried castle will reascend to the surface; what is now +nothing but an old grey boulder will forthwith return to +its previous condition of an inhabited and stately building; +or what is now a dwelling of men will become desolate. +One of the best examples of this is the superstition I have +already cited concerning Melusina. When she finishes +her needlework she will be disenchanted, but only to die; +and the ruins of the town of Luxemburg will be her +grave and monument. In other words, the existence of +the town is bound up with her enchantment,—that is to +say, with her life. In the same way the bespelled damsel +of the Urschelberg, near Pfullingen, in Swabia, is called +by the very name of the mountain—the Old Urschel. +This can only be the survival of a belief in the enchanted +lady as the indwelling spirit, the soul, the real life of the +spot she haunted: a belief which goes back to a deeper +depth of savagery than one that regards her as a local +goddess, and out of which the latter would be easily +developed.<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>These considerations by no means exhaust the case; +but I have said enough in support of conclusions anticipated +by Grimm's clear-sighted genius and confirmed +by every fresh discovery. Let me, therefore, recapitulate +the results of the investigations contained in this and the +two preceding chapters. We have rapidly examined +several types of fairy tales in which the hero, detained +in Fairyland, is unconscious of the flight of time. These +tales are characteristic of a high rather than a low stage +of civilization. Connected with them we have found the +story of King Arthur, the Sleeping Hero, “<i>rex quondam, +rex que futurus</i>,” the expected deliverer, sometimes believed +to be hidden beneath the hills, at other times in +a far-off land, or from time to time traversing the world +with his band of attendants as the Wild Hunt. This +is a tradition of a heathen god put down by Christianity, +but not destroyed in the hearts and memories of the +people—a tradition independent of political influences, +but to which oppression is apt to give special and +enduring vitality. The corresponding tradition concerning +a heathen goddess is discovered in the Enchanted +Princess of a thousand sagas, whose peculiar home, if +they have one, is in Teutonic and Slavonic countries.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> Howells, p. 120; “Count Lucanor,” p. 77.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> Knowles, p. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Im Thurn, pp. 352, 354. <i>Cf.</i> Brett, p. 375. So Leland, p. 3: +“The Indian <i>m'téoulin</i>, or magician, distinctly taught that every created thing, animate or inanimate, had its indwelling spirit. Whatever +had an <i>idea</i> had a soul.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” p. 962, quoting Harry, “Nieders. +Sagen”; Jahn, p. 228, quoting Temme. Many of the sanctuaries of the Celts were upon mounds, which were either barrows of the dead, or +were expressly made for temples; and the god was called in Irish <i>Cenn Cruaich</i>, in Welsh <i>Penn Cruc</i> (now <i>Pen Crûg</i>), both meaning the +Head or Chief of the Mound (Rhys, “Hibbert Lectures,” p. 201). Many mounds in England, now crowned by churches, have been conjectured +to be old Celtic temples. See an able paper by Mr. T. W. Shore on “Characteristic Survivals of the Celts in Hampshire,” +<i>Journ. Anthrop. Inst.</i>, vol. xx. p. 9. Mont St. Michel, near Carnac, in Brittany, is a chambered barrow surmounted by a little chapel. From +the relics found in the tomb, as well as the size of the barrow itself, some person, or persons, of importance must have been buried there. +The mound may well have been a haunted, a sacred spot ever since the ashes of the dead and their costly weapons and ornaments were committed +to its keeping far back in the Neolithic age. Instances might easily be multiplied.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> Müller, p. 203; Map, Dist. iv. c. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> Gerv. Tilb., Dec. ii. c. 12; “Book of Days,” vol. i. p. 154; +Augustine, “De Civ. Dei,” l. ii. c. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> Jahn, p. 182, quoting Arndt.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> Knoop, p. 10; Bartsch, vol. i. p. 273.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. p. 271; “Early Trav.,” p. 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Bartsch, vol. i. pp. 269 (citing Niederhöffer, below), 271, 272, 273, +274, 318. In this last case it is a man who is to be saved by a kiss from a woman while he is in serpent form. Niederhöffer, vol. i. +pp. 58, 168, vol. ii. p. 235; Meier, pp. 6, 31, 321; Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 9, 201; Baring-Gould, p. 223, citing Kornemann, +“Mons Veneris,” and Prætorius, “Weltbeschreibung”; Jahn, p. 220; Rappold, p. 135. Gredt, pp. 8, 9, 215, 228, &c. In one of Meier's +Swabian tales the princess appears as a snake and flings herself round the neck of her would-be deliverer—a woman—who is to strike her +lightly with a bunch of juniper: Meier, p. 27. In one of Kuhn und Schwartz' collection, where the princess becomes a toad, no ceremony is prescribed: Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> Von Tettau, p. 220; Kuhn, pp. 66, 99; Bartsch, vol. i. p. 272; +Jahn, p. 249; Ovid, “Metam.” l. xi. f. 5; Child, vol. i. pp. 336 (citing Schmidt, “Volkleben der Neugriechen,” p. 115), 340.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> Knoop, pp. 6, 57; Kuhn, pp. 113, 172; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 1. +The prohibition to look back was imposed on Orpheus when he went to rescue Eurydice from Hades.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> Knoop, pp. 51, 59; Keightley, p. 295, quoting Aubrey's “Natural +History of Surrey”; “Gent. Mag. Lib.” (Pop. Supers.), p. 280.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> Meier, pp. 209, 87; Niederhöffer, vol. iii. p. 251.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> Grohmann, pp. 56, 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> Von Wlislocki, p. 76; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 293; Luzel, “Contes,” +vol. i. pp. 198, 217; “Annuaire des Trad. Pop.” 1887, p. 53; Pitré, vol. v. pp. 238, 248; Grundtvig, vol. i. p. 148; Schneller, pp. 103, 109.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> Meier, p. 26; Bartsch, vol. i. pp. 271, 272, 274; Jahn, p. 185; +Rappold, p. 135; Bartsch, vol. i. pp. 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 283, 308, 318; Niederhöffer, vol. i. p. 168, vol. ii. p. 235, vol. iii. p. +171; Knoop, p. 10; Jahn, pp. 182, 185, 206, 207, 217, 220, 221; and many others.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> “Gent. Mag. Lib.” (Pop. Superst.) p. 51; Brand, vol. i. p. 250, +note; Pitré, vol. xii. pp. 304, 307; Bartsch, vol. ii. p. 288; “Antiquary,” vol. xxi. p. 195, vol. xxii. p. 67. <i>Cf.</i> a legend in which the +scene haunted by the enchanted lady is a Johannisberg on the top of which is a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, to which pilgrimages +were made and the lady appeared on Midsummer Day (Gredt, pp. 215, 219, 225, 579).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> Von Tettau, p. 220; Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 9, 200; Meier, pp. 6, +8; Gredt, pp. 7, 228, 281. In another story, quoted by Meier (p. 34), from Crusius' “Schwäb. Chron.”, the enchanted maiden is called “a +heathen's daughter”—pointing directly to pagan origin.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>SWAN-MAIDENS.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The <i>märchen</i> of Hasan of Bassorah — The Marquis of the Sun — The +feather robe and other disguises — The taboo — The Star's Daughter — Melusina — The +Lady of the Van Pool and other variants — The Nightmare.</p></div> + +<p>The narratives with which we have hitherto been occupied +belong to the class called Sagas. But our discussions +of them have led us once and again to refer to the other +class mentioned in the second <a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter</a>—that of Nursery +Tales or <i>Märchen</i>. For, as I have already pointed out, +there is no bridgeless gulf between them. We have +seen the very same incidents narrated in Wales or in +Germany with breathless awe as a veritable occurrence +which in India, or among the Arabs, are a mere play of +fancy. Equally well the case may be reversed, and what +is gravely told at the antipodes as a series of events in +the life of a Maori ancestor, may be reported in France +or England as a nursery tale. Nay, we need not go out +of Europe itself to find the same plot serving for a saga +in one land and a <i>märchen</i>, detached from all circumstances +of time and place, in another.</p> + +<p>An excellent example of this is furnished by the myth +of the Swan-maiden, one of the most widely distributed, +and at the same time one of the most beautiful, stories +ever evolved from the mind of man. As its first type +I shall take the tale of Hasan of Bassorah, where it has +been treated with an epic grandeur hardly surpassed by +any of its companions in the famous “Nights,” and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +perhaps only by one of the less famous but equally +splendid Mabinogion of old Wales.</p> + +<p>Hasan is a worthless boy who falls under the influence +of a Magian, who professes to be an alchemist, and who +at length kidnaps him. Having used him with great +cruelty the Magian takes him fifteen days' journey on +dromedaries into the desert to a high mountain, at the +foot whereof the old rascal sews him up in a skin, +together with a knife and a small provision of three +cakes and a leathern bottle of water, afterwards retiring +to a distance. One of the vultures which infest the +mountain then pounces on Hasan and carries him to +the top. In accordance with the Magian's instructions, +the hero, on arriving there, slits the skin, and jumping +out, to the bird's affright, picks up and casts down to the +Magian bundles of the wood which he finds around him. +This wood is the means by which the alchemy is performed; +and having gathered up the bundles the Magian +leaves Hasan to his fate. The youth, after despairing of +life, finds his way to a palace where dwell seven maidens, +with whom he remains for awhile in Platonic friendship. +When they are summoned away by their father for a +two months' absence, they leave him their keys, straitly +charging him not to open a certain door. He disregards +their wishes, and finds within a magnificent pavilion +enclosing a basin brimful of water, at which ten birds +come to bathe and play. The birds for this purpose +cast their feathers; and Hasan is favoured with the sight +of “ten virgins, maids whose beauty shamed the +brilliancy of the moon.” He fell madly in love with +the chief damsel, who turns out to be a daughter of a +King of the Jann. On the return of the maidens of +the palace he is advised by them to watch the next time +the birds come, and to take possession of the feather-suit +belonging to the damsel of his choice, for without +this she cannot return home with her attendants. He +succeeds in doing so, and thus compels her to remain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +with him and become his wife. With her he departs to +his own country and settles in Bagdad, where his wife +bears him two sons. During his temporary absence, +however, she persuades her mother-in-law—who, unfortunately +for the happiness of the household, lives +with the young couple—to let her have the feather-suit +which her husband has left under her charge. Clad +with this she takes her two boys in her arms and sails +away through the air to the islands of Wák, leaving a +message for the hapless Hasan that if he loves her he +may come and seek her there. Now the islands of +Wák were seven islands, wherein was a mighty host, +all virgin girls, and the inner isles were peopled by +satans and marids and warlocks and various tribesmen +of the Jinn, and whoso entered their land never returned +thence; and Hasan's wife was one of the king's daughters. +To reach her he would have to cross seven wadys and +seven seas and seven mighty mountains. Undaunted, +however, by the difficulties wherewith he is threatened, +he determines to find her, swearing by Allah never to +turn back till he regain his beloved, or till death overtake +him. By the help of sundry potentates of more or +less forbidding aspect and supernatural power, to whom +he gets letters of introduction, and who live in gorgeous +palaces amid deserts, and are served by demons only +uglier and less mighty than themselves, he succeeds in +traversing the Land of Birds, the Land of Wild Beasts, +the country of the Warlocks and the Enchanters, and +the Land of the Jinn, and enters the islands of Wák—there +to fall into the hands of that masterful virago, his +wife's eldest sister. After a preliminary outburst against +Hasan, this amiable creature pours, as is the wont of +women, the full torrent of her wrath against her erring +sister. From the tortures she inflicts, Hasan at length +rescues his wife, with their two sons, by means of a cap +of invisibility and a rod conferring authority over seven +tribes of the Jinn, which he has stolen from two boys<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +who are quarrelling over them. When his sister-in-law +with an army of Jinn pursues the fugitives, the subjects +of the rod overcome her. His wife begs for her sister's +life and reconciles her husband to her, and then returns +with her husband to his home in Bagdad, to quit him +no more.<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></p> + +<p>Such in meagre outline is this wonderful story. Its +variants are legion, and I can only refer to a few of them +which are of special interest. In dealing with these I +shall confine my attention to the essential points of the +plot, touching only such details as are germane to the +questions thus evoked. We shall accordingly pass in +review the maiden's disguise and capture, her flight and +her recapture; and afterwards turning to other types of +the tale, we shall look at the corresponding incidents to +be met with therein, reserving for another chapter the +consideration of the meaning of the myth, so far as it +can be traced.</p> + +<p>The bird whose shape is assumed by the Jinn in the +foregoing tale is not specified; but in Europe, where +beauty and grace and purity find so apt an emblem in +the swan, several of the most important variants have +naturally appropriated that majestic form to the heroine, +and have thus given a name to the whole group of +stories. In Sweden, for example, we are told of a young +hunter who beheld three swans descend on the seashore +and lay their plumage aside before they plunged into +the water. When he looked at the robes so laid aside +they appeared like linen, and the forms that were +swimming in the waves were damsels of dazzling whiteness. +Advised by his foster-mother, he secures the linen +of the youngest and fairest. She, therefore, could not +follow her companions when they drew on their plumage +and flew away; and being thus in the hunter's power, she +became his wife. The hero of a story current among +the Germans of Transylvania opens, like Hasan, a forbidden door,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +and finds three swan-maids bathing in a +blue pool. Their clothes are contained in satchels on +its margin, and when he has taken the satchel of the +youngest he must not look behind until he has reached +home. This done, he finds the maiden there and +persuades her to marry him. Mikáilo Ivanovitch, the +hero of a popular Russian ballad, wanders by the sea, +and, gazing out upon a quiet bay, beholds a white swan +floating there. He draws his bow to shoot her, but she +prays him to desist; and rising over the blue sea upon +her white wings, she turns into a beautiful maiden. +Surprised with love, he offers to kiss her; but she reveals +herself as a heathen princess and demands first to be +baptized, and then she will wed him. In a Hessian story +a forester sees a fair swan floating on a lonely lake. He +is about to shoot it when it warns him to desist, or it +will cost him his life. Immediately the swan was transformed +into a maiden, who told him she was bewitched, +but could be freed if he would say a Paternoster for her +every Sunday for a twelvemonth, and meantime keep +silence concerning his adventure. The test proved too +hard, and he lost her.<a name="FNanchor_186_186" id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a></p> + +<p>The swan, however, by no means monopolizes the +honour of concealing the heroine's form. In a Finnish +tale from Œsterbotten, a dead father appears in dreams +to his three sons, commanding them to watch singly by +night the geese on the sea-strand. The two elder are so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +frightened by the darkness that they scamper home. +But the youngest, despised and dirty, watches boldly, +till at the first flush of dawn three geese fly thither, +strip off their feathers, and plunge, as lovely maidens, +into the water to bathe. Then the youth chooses the +most beautiful of the three pairs of wings he finds on +the shore, hides them, and awaits events; nor does he +give them up again to the owner until she has betrothed +herself to him. Elsewhere the damsels are described as +ducks; but a more common shape is that of doves. A +story is current in Bohemia of a boy whom a witch leads +to a spring. Over the spring stands an old elm-tree +haunted by three white doves, who are enchanted princesses. +Catching one and plucking out her wings, he +restores her to her natural condition; and she brings him +to his parents, whom he had lost in the sack of the city +where they dwelt. The Magyars speak of three pigeons +coming every noontide to a great white lake, where they +turn somersaults and are transformed into girls. They +are really fairy-maidens; and a boy who can steal the +dress of one of them and run away with it, resisting the +temptation to look back when she calls in caressing +tones, succeeds in winning her. In the “Bahar Danush” +a merchant's son perceives four doves alight at sunset +by a piece of water, and, resuming their natural form +(for they are Peries), forthwith undress and plunge into +the water. He steals their clothes, and thus compels +the one whom he chooses to accept him as her husband. +The extravagance characteristic of the “Arabian Nights,” +when, in the story of Janshah, it represents the ladies as +doves, expands their figures to the size of eagles, with +far less effect, however, than where they retain more +moderate dimensions. No better illustration of this can +be given than the story from South Smaland of the fair +Castle east of the Sun and north of the Earth, versified so +exquisitely in “The Earthly Paradise.” There a peasant, +finding that the fine grass of a meadow belonging to him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +was constantly trodden down during the summer nights, +set his three sons, one after another, to watch for the +trespassers. The two elder, as usual in these tales, are +unsuccessful, but the youngest keeps wide awake until +the sun is about to rise. A rustling in the air, as of +birds, then heralds the flight of three doves, who cast +their feathers and become fair maidens. These maidens +begin to dance on the green grass, and so featly do they +step that they scarce seem to touch the ground. To the +watching youth, one among them looked more beautiful +than all other women; and he pictured to himself the +possession of her as more to be longed for than that of +every other in the world. So he rose and stole their +plumage, nor did he restore it until the king's daughter, +the fairest of them all, had plighted her troth to him.<a name="FNanchor_187_187" id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a></p> + +<p>The story is by no means confined to Europe and Asia. +The Arawàks, one of the aboriginal tribes of Guiana, +relate that a beautiful royal vulture was once captured by +a hunter. She was the daughter of Anuanima, sovereign +of a race whose country is above the sky, and who lay +aside there the appearance of birds for that of humanity. +Smitten with love for the hunter, the captive divested +herself of her feathers and exhibited her true form—that +of a beautiful girl. “She becomes his wife, bears +him above the clouds, and, after much trouble, persuades +her father and family to receive him. All then goes well, +until he expresses a wish to visit his aged mother, when +they discard him, and set him on the top of a very high +tree, the trunk of which is covered with formidable +prickles. He appeals pathetically to all the living +creatures around. Then spiders spin cords to help him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +and fluttering birds ease his descent, so that at last he +reaches the ground in safety. Then follow his efforts, +extending over several years, to regain his wife, whom he +tenderly loves. Her family seek to destroy him; but +by his strength and sagacity he is victorious in every +encounter. The birds at length espouse his cause, +assemble their forces, and bear him as their commander +above the sky. He is at last slain by a valiant young +warrior, resembling himself in person and features. It +is his own son, born after his expulsion from the upper +regions, and brought up there in ignorance of his own +father. The legend ends with the conflagration of the +house of the royal vultures, who, hemmed in by crowds +of hostile birds, are unable to use their wings, and forced +to fight and die in their human forms.”<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> This tale, so +primitive in form, can hardly have travelled round half +the globe to the remote American Indians among whom +it was discovered. And yet in many of its features it +presents the most striking likeness to several of the +versions current in the Old World.</p> + +<p>Sometimes, however, as in the tale of Hasan, the +species is left undescribed. Among the Eskimo the +heroine is vaguely referred to as a sea-fowl. The Kurds +have a strange tale of a bird they call the Bird Simer. +His daughter has been ensnared by a giant when she and +three other birds were out flying; but she is at length +rescued by two heroes, one of whom she weds. When she +becomes homesick she puts on her feather-dress and flies +away.<a name="FNanchor_189_189" id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a></p> + +<p>A Pomeranian saga forms an interesting link between +the Swan-maiden group and the legends of Enchanted +Princesses discussed in the last <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">chapter</a>. A huntsman, +going his rounds in the forest, drew near a pool which +lies at the foot of the Hühnerberg. There he saw a girl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +bathing; and thinking that she was from the neighbouring +village, he picked up her clothes, with the intention +of playing her a trick. When she saw what he had done, +she left the water and hastened after him, begging him to +give back her clothes—or at any rate her shift. He, +however, was not to be moved; and she then told him +she was an enchanted princess, and without her shift she +could not return. <i>Now</i> he was fully determined not to +give up the precious article of apparel. She was, therefore, +compelled to follow him to his hut, where his mother +kept house for him. The huntsman there put the shift +into a chest, of which he took the key, so that the +maiden could not escape; and after some time she +accepted the position, and agreed to become his wife. +Years passed by, and several children had been born, +when one day he went out, leaving the key of the chest +behind. When the heroine saw this she begged her +mother-in-law to open the chest and show her the shift; +for, we are told, the enchanted princess could not herself +open the trunk. She begged so hard that her mother-in-law +at last complied; and no sooner had she got the +shift into her hands than she vanished out of sight. +When the husband returned and heard what had happened, +he made up his mind to seek her. So he climbed +the Hühnerberg and let himself down the opening he +found there. He soon arrived at the underground castle. +Before its closed gate lay a great black dog, around whose +neck a paper hung which conveniently contained directions +how to penetrate into the castle. Following these, +he presently found himself in the presence of the +princess, his wife, who was right glad to see him, and +gave him a glass of wine to strengthen him for the task +before him; for at midnight the Evil One would come +to drive him out of the castle and prevent the lady's +deliverance. At this point, unfortunately, the reciter's +memory failed: hence we do not know the details of the +rescue. But we may conjecture, from the precedents,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +that the huntsman had to endure torture. The issue +was that he was successful, the castle ascended out of the +earth, and husband and wife were reunited.<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a></p> + +<p>This story differs in many important respects from the +type; and it contains the incident, very rare in a modern +European saga belonging to this group, of the recovery +of the bride. I shall have occasion to revert to the +curious inability of the enchanted princess to open the +chest containing the wonderful shift. Meanwhile, let me +observe that in most of the tales the feather-dress, or +talisman, by which the bride may escape, is committed +to the care of a third person—usually a kinswoman of +the husband, and in many cases his mother; and that the +wife as a rule only recovers it when it is given to her, or +at least when that which contains it has been opened by +another: she seems incapable of finding it herself.</p> + +<p>There is another type of the Swan-maiden myth, +which appears to be the favourite of the Latin nations, +though it is also to be met with among other peoples. +Its outline may, perhaps, best be given from the nursery +tale of the Marquis of the Sun, as told at Seville. The +Marquis of the Sun was a great gamester. A man +played with him and lost all he had, and then staked his +soul—and lost it. The Marquis instructed him, if he +desired to recover it, to come to him when he had worn +out a pair of iron shoes. In the course of his wanderings +he finds a struggle going on over a dead man, whose +creditors would not allow him to be buried until his debts +had been paid. Iron Shoes pays them, and one shoe goes +to pieces. He afterwards meets a cavalier, who reveals +himself as the dead man whose debts had been paid, and +who is desirous of requiting that favour. He therefore +directs Iron Shoes to the banks of a river where three +white doves come, change into princesses, and bathe. +Iron Shoes is to take the dress of the smallest, and thus +get her to tell him whither he has to go. Obeying this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +direction, he learns from the princess that the Marquis is +her father; and she shows him the way to his castle. +Arrived there, he demands his soul. Before conceding it +the Marquis sets him tasks: to level an inconvenient +mountain, so that the sun may shine on the castle; to +sow the site of the mountain with fruit trees, and gather +the fruit of them in one day for dinner; to find a piece of +plate which the Marquis's great-grandfather had dropped +into the river; to catch and mount a horse which is no +other than the Marquis himself; and to choose a bride +from among the princesses, his daughters. The damsel +who had shown Iron Shoes the way to the palace performs +the first two of these tasks: and she teaches him +how to perform the others. For the third, he has to +cut her up and cast her into the river, whence she immediately +rises whole again, triumphantly bringing the lost +piece of plate. In butchering her he has, however, +clumsily dropped a piece of her little finger on the +ground. It is accordingly wanting when she rises from +the river; and this is the token by which Iron Shoes +recognizes her when he has to choose a bride; for, in +choosing, he is only allowed to see the little fingers of +these candidates for matrimony. He and his bride afterwards +flee from the castle; but we need not follow their +adventures now.<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a></p> + +<p>In stories of this type doves are the shape usually +assumed by the heroine and her comrades; but swans +and geese are often found, and in a Russian tale we are +even introduced to spoonbills. Nor do the birds I have +mentioned by any means exhaust the disguises of these +supernatural ladies. The stories comprised under this +and the foregoing type are nearly all <i>märchen</i>; but +when we come to other types where sagas become more +numerous, we find other animals favoured, well-nigh to +the exclusion of birds. In the latter types there is no +recovery of the wife when she has once abandoned her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +husband. An inhabitant of Unst, one of the Shetland +Islands, beholds a number of the sea-folk dancing by +moonlight on the shore of a small bay. Near them lie +several sealskins. He snatches up one, the property, as +it turns out, of a fair maiden, who thereupon becomes +his wife. Years after, one of their children finds her +sealskin, and runs to display it to his mother, not +knowing it was hers. She puts it on, becomes a seal, +and plunges into the waters. In Croatia it is said +that a soldier once, watching in a haunted mill, saw +a she-wolf enter, divest herself of her skin, and come +out of it a damsel. She hangs the skin on a peg and +goes to sleep before the fire. While she sleeps the soldier +takes the skin and nails it fast to the mill-wheel, so +that she cannot recover it. He marries her, and she +bears him two sons. The elder of these children hears +that his mother is a wolf. He becomes inquisitive, and +his father at length tells him where the skin is. When +he tells his mother, she goes away and is heard of no +more. A Sutherlandshire story speaks of a mermaid +who fell in love with a fisherman. As he did not want +to be carried away into the sea he, by fair means or foul, +succeeded in getting hold of her pouch and belt, on +which her power of swimming depended, and so retained +her on land; and she became his bride. But we are not +surprised to hear that her tail was always in the way: +her silky hair grew tangled too, for her comb and glass +were in the pouch; the dogs teased her, and rude people +mocked her. Thus her life was made wretched. But one +day in her husband's absence the labourers were pulling +down a stack of corn. As she watched them, weeping +for her lost freedom, she espied her precious pouch and +belt, which had been built in and buried among the +sheaves. She caught it and leaped into the sea.<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>In the last tale there is no change of form: the hero +simply possesses himself of something without which the +supernatural maiden has no power to leave him. Even +in the true Hasan of Bassorah type, the magical change +does not always occur. A variant translated by Jonathan +Scott from a Syrian manuscript merely enwraps the +descending damsels in robes of light green silk. When +her robe is taken the chosen beauty is kept from following +her companions in their return flight. Similar to this is +the Pomeranian saga already cited. In the New Hebrides +there is a legend of seven winged women whose home +was in heaven, and who came down to earth to bathe. +Before bathing, they put off their wings. According to +the version told in Aurora island, Qatu one day, seeing +them thus bathing, took the wings of one and buried +them at the foot of the main post of his house. In +this way he won their owner as his wife; and she so +remained until she found her wings again. In modern +Greece it is believed that Nereids can be caught by seizing +their wings, their clothes, or even their handkerchiefs. +The Bulgarians, who have similar tales, call the supernatural +ladies Samodivas; and they are captured by +means of their raiment. A number of parallels have +been cited from various sources by M. Cosquin, a few of +which may be mentioned. A Burmese drama, for instance, +sets before us nine princesses of the city of the Silver +Mountain, who wear enchanted girdles that enable them +to fly as swiftly as a bird. The youngest of these princesses +is caught while bathing, by means of a magical slip-knot. +A divine ancestress of the Bantiks, a tribe inhabiting the +Celebes Islands, came down from the sky with seven companions +to bathe. A man who saw them took them for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +doves, but was surprised to find that they were women. He +possessed himself of the clothes of one of them, and thus +obliged her to marry him. In a story told by the Santals +of India, the daughters of the sun make use of a spider's +thread to reach the earth. A shepherd, whom they unblushingly +invite to bathe with them, persuades them to +try which of them all can remain longest under water; +and while they are in the river he scrambles out, and, +taking the upper garment of the one whom he loves, +flees with it to his home. In another Indian tale, five +apsaras, or celestial dancers, are conveyed in an enchanted +car to a pool in the forest. Seven supernatural maidens, +in a Samoyede <i>märchen</i>, are brought in their reindeer +chariot to a lake, where the hero possesses himself of the +best suit of garments he finds on the shore. The owner +prays him to give them up; but he refuses, until he +obtains a definite pledge of marriage, saying: “If I give +thee the garments thou wilt fare up again to heaven.”<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a></p> + +<p>In none of these stories (and they are but samples of +many) does the feather dress occur; yet it has left reminiscences +which are unmistakable. The variants hitherto +cited have all betrayed these reminiscences as articles of +clothing, or conveyance, or in the pardonable mistake of +the Bantik forefather at the time of capture. I shall refer +presently to cases whence the plumage has faded entirely +out of the story—and that in spite of its picturesqueness—without +leaving a trace. But let me first call attention to +the fact that, even where it is preserved, we often do not +find it exactly how and where we should have expected +it. Witness the curious Algonkin tale of “How one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +the Partridge's wives became a Sheldrake Duck.” A +hunter, we are told, returning home in his canoe, saw a +beautiful girl sitting on a rock by the river, making a +moccasin. He paddled up softly to capture her; but she +jumped into the water and disappeared. Her mother, +however, who lived at the bottom, compelled her to +return to the hunter and be his wife. The legend then +takes a turn in the direction of the Bluebeard myth; for +the woman yields to curiosity, and thus deprives her +husband of his luck. When he finds this out he seizes +his bow to beat her. “When she saw him seize his bow +to beat her she ran down to the river, and jumped in to +escape death at his hands, though it should be by +drowning. But as she fell into the water she became a +sheldrake duck.” The Passamaquoddies, who relate this +story, have hardly yet passed out of the stage of thought +in which no steadfast boundary is set between men and +the lower animals. The amphibious maiden, who dwelt +in the bottom of the river, could not be drowned by +jumping into the stream; and it is evident that she only +resumes her true aquatic form in escaping from her +husband, who, it should be added, is himself called +Partridge and seems to be regarded as, in fact, a fowl of +that species. A still more remarkable instance is to be +found among the Welsh of Carnarvonshire, who, it need +hardly be said, are now on a very different level of civilization +from that of the Passamaquoddies. They tell us +that when the fairy bride of Corwrion quitted her unlucky +husband, she at once flew through the air and +plunged into the lake; and one account significantly +describes her as flying away <i>like a wood-hen</i>. Can it have +been many generations since she was spoken of as actually +changing into a bird?<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>We may now pass to wholly different types of the +tradition. In all the stories where the magical dress +appears, whether as a feather-skin, the hide of a +quadruped, or in the modified form of wings, a robe, +an apron, a veil or other symbol, the catastrophe is +brought about by the wife's recovery, usually more or less +accidental, of the article in question. But it is obvious +that where the incident of the dress is wanting, the loss +of the supernatural bride must be brought about by other +means. In some traditions, the woman's caprice, or the +fulfilment of her fate, is deemed enough for this purpose; +but in the most developed stories it is caused by the +breach of a <i>taboo</i>. <i>Taboo</i> is a word adopted from the +Polynesian languages, signifying, first, something set +apart, thence holy and inviolable, and lastly something +simply forbidden. It is generally used in English as a +verb of which the nearest equivalent is another curious +verb—to boycott. A person or thing <i>tabooed</i> is one +avoided by express or tacit agreement on the part of any +class or number of persons; and <i>to taboo</i> is to avoid in +pursuance of such an agreement. In Folklore, however, +the word is used in a different and wider sense. It +includes every sort of prohibition, from the social or +religious boycott (if I may use the word), to which it +would be more properly applied, down to any injunction +addressed by a supernatural being to the hero or heroine +of a tale. Folklore students of the anthropological school +are so apt to refer these last prohibitions for their origin +to the more general prohibitions of the former kind, that +perhaps this indiscriminate use of the word may be held +to beg some of the questions at issue. It is certain, however, +that the scholars who originally applied it to what I +may call private prohibitions, had no such thought in +their minds. They found it a convenient term, applicable +by no great stretch of its ordinary meaning, and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +appropriated it to the purposes of science. I shall therefore +use it without scruple as a well recognized word, +and without any question-begging intent.</p> + +<p>Having premised so much, I will proceed to set forth +shortly the balder type of the story, where there is no +taboo, then the fuller type. Their relations to one +another will be dealt with in the next <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">chapter</a>.</p> + +<p>An Algonkin legend relates that a hunter beheld a +basket descend from heaven, containing twelve young +maidens of ravishing beauty. He attempted to approach, +but on perceiving him they quickly re-entered the basket +and were drawn up again out of his sight. Another day, +however, he succeeded, by disguising himself as a mouse, +in capturing the youngest of the damsels, whom he +married and by whom he had a son. But nothing could +console his wife for the society of her sisters, which she +had lost. So one day she made a small basket; and +having entered it with her child she sang the charm +she and her sisters had formerly used, and ascended once +more to the star from whence she had come. It is added +that when two years had elapsed the star said to his +daughter: “Thy son wants to see his father; go down, +therefore, to the earth and fetch thy husband, and tell +him to bring us specimens of all the animals he kills.” +This was done. The hunter ascended with his wife to +the sky; and there a great feast was given, in which the +animals he brought were served up. Those of the guests +who took the paws or the tails were transformed into +animals. The hunter himself took a white feather, and +with his wife and child was metamorphosed into a +falcon.<a name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a> I will only now remark on the latter part of +the tale that it is told by the same race as the Sheldrake +Duck's adventures; and if we deem it probable that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +heroine of that narrative simply resumed her pristine +form in becoming a duck, the same reasoning will hold +good as to the falcons here. This type of the myth we +may call the “Star's Daughter type.”</p> + +<p>The other type may be named after Melusina, the +famous Countess of Lusignan. The earliest writer to +mention the legend which afterwards became identified +with her name, was Gervase of Tilbury, who relates that +Raymond, the lord of a certain castle a few miles from +Aix in Provence, riding alone on the banks of the river, +unexpectedly met an unknown lady of rare beauty, also +alone, riding on a splendidly caparisoned palfrey. On +his saluting her she replied, addressing him by name. +Astonished at this, but encouraged, he made improper +overtures to her; to which she declined to assent, +intimating, however, in the most unabashed way, that +she would marry him if he liked. He agreed to this; +but the lady imposed a further condition, namely, that +he should never see her naked; for if once he did so, +all the prosperity and all the happiness with which he +was about to be blessed would depart, and he would +be left to drag out the rest of his life in wretchedness. +On these terms they were married; and every earthly +felicity followed,—wealth, renown, bodily strength, the +love of his fellow-men, and children—boys and girls—of +the greatest beauty. But one day his lady was bathing +in the bedroom, when he came in from hunting and +fowling, laden with partridges and other game. While +food was being prepared the thought struck him that +he would go and see her in her bath. So many years +had he enjoyed unalloyed prosperity that, if there ever +were any force in her threat, he deemed it had long +since passed away. Deaf to his wife's pleadings, he tore +away the curtain from the bath and beheld her naked; +but only for an instant, for she was forthwith changed +into a serpent, and, putting her head under the water, +she disappeared. Nor ever was she seen again; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +sometimes in the darkness of night the nurses would +hear her busy with a mother's care for her little children. +Gervase adds that one of her daughters was married to +a relative of his own belonging to a noble family of +Provence, and her descendants were living at the time +he wrote.<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></p> + +<p>The story, as told of Melusina, was amplified, but in its +substance differed little from the foregoing. Melusina +does not forbid her husband to see her naked, but bargains +for absolute privacy on Saturdays. When Raymond +violates this covenant he finds her in her bath +with her lower extremities changed into a serpent's tail. +The lady appears to be unconscious of her husband's discovery; +and nothing happens until, in a paroxysm of anger +and grief, arising from the murder of one of his children +by another, he cries out upon her as an odious serpent, +the contaminator of his race. It will be remembered +that in the Esthonian tale cited in <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII</a> the +youth is forbidden to call his mistress mermaid; and all +goes well until he peeps into the locked chamber, where +she passes her Thursdays, and finds her in mermaid form. +Far away in Japan we learn that the hero Hohodemi +wedded Toyotamahime, a daughter of the Sea-god, and +built a house for her on the strand where she might give +birth to her child. She strictly forbade him to come +near until the happy event was over: he was to remain +in his own dwelling, and on no account to attempt to see +her until she sent for him. His curiosity, however, was +too much for his happiness. He peeped, and saw his wife +writhing to and fro on the floor in the shape of a dragon. +He started back, shocked; and when, later on, Toyotamahime +called him to her, she saw by his countenance +that he had discovered the secret she had thought to +hide from all mankind. In spite of his entreaties she +plunged into the sea, never more to see her lord. Her +boy, notwithstanding, was still the object of her care.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +She sent her sister to watch over him, and he grew up to +become the father of the first Emperor of Japan. In a +Maori tale the hero loses his wife through prematurely +tearing down a screen he had erected for her convenience +on a similar occasion. A Moravian tale speaks of a bride +who shuts herself up every eighth day, and when her +husband looks through the keyhole, he beholds her +thighs clad with hair and her feet those of goats. This +is a <i>märchen</i>; and in the end, having paid the penalty +of his rashness by undergoing adventures like those of +Hasan, the hero regains his love. A Tirolese <i>märchen</i> +tells us of a witch who, in the shape of a beautiful girl, +took service with a rich man and made a conquest of his +son. She wedded him on condition that he would never +look upon her by candlelight. The youth, like a masculine +Psyche, breaks the taboo; and a drop of the wax, +falling on her cheek, awakens her. It was in vain that he +blew out the taper and lay down. When he awoke in +the morning she was gone; but a pair of shoes with iron +soles stood by the bed, with a paper directing him to +seek her till the soles were worn out, and then he should +find her again. By the aid of a mantle of invisibility, +and a chair which bore him where he wished, he arrived +in the nick of time to prevent her marriage with another +bridegroom. The proper reconciliation follows, and her +true husband bears her home in triumph. Not so happy +was the hero of a Corsican saga, who insisted on seeing +his wife's naked shoulder and found it nothing but +bones—the skeleton of their love which he had thus +murdered.<a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></p> + +<p>At the foot of the steep grassy cliffs of the Van Mountains +in Carmarthenshire lies a lonely pool, called Llyn y +Fan Fach, which is the scene of a variant of Melusina, +less celebrated, indeed, but equally romantic and far more +beautiful. The legend may still be heard on the lips of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +the peasantry; and more than one version has found its +way into print. The most complete was written down by +Mr. William Rees, of Tonn (a well-known Welsh antiquary +and publisher), from the oral recitation of two old +men and a woman, natives of Myddfai, where the hero +of the story is said to have dwelt. Stated shortly, the +legend is to the following effect: The son of a widow +who lived at Blaensawdde, a little village about three-quarters +of a mile from the pool, was one day tending his +mother's cattle upon its shore when, to his astonishment, +he beheld the Lady of the Lake sitting upon its unruffled +surface, which she used as a mirror while she combed out +her graceful ringlets. She imperceptibly glided nearer to +him, but eluded his grasp and refused the bait of barley +bread and cheese that he held out to her, saying as she +dived and disappeared:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Cras dy fara;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nid hawdd fy nala!”<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(“Hard-baked is thy bread;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It is not easy to catch me!”)<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">An offer of unbaked dough, or <i>toes</i>, the next day was +equally unsuccessful. She exclaimed:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Llaith dy fara!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ti ni fynna'.”<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(“Unbaked is thy bread!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I will not have thee.”)<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">But the slightly baked bread, which the youth subsequently +took, by his mother's advice, was accepted: he +seized the lady's hand and persuaded her to become his +bride. Diving into the lake she then fetched her father—“a +hoary-headed man of noble mien and extraordinary +stature, but having otherwise all the force and strength +of youth”—who rose from the depths with <i>two</i> ladies and +was ready to consent to the match, provided the young +man could distinguish which of the two ladies before him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +was the object of his affections. This was no small test +of love, inasmuch as the maidens were exactly alike in +form and features. One of them, however, thrust her +foot a little forward; and the hero recognized a peculiarity +of her shoe-tie, which he had somehow had leisure to +notice at his previous interviews. The father admits the +correctness of his choice, and bestows a dowry of sheep, +cattle, goats, and horses, but stipulates in the most +business-like way that these animals shall return with +the bride, if at any time her husband prove unkind and +strike her thrice without a cause.</p> + +<p>So far Mr. Rees' version. A version published in the +“Cambro-Briton” is somewhat different. Three beautiful +damsels appear from the pool, and are repeatedly pursued +by the young farmer, but in vain. They always reached +the water before him and taunted him with the couplet:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Cras dy fara,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Anhawdd ein dala!”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">One day some moist bread from the lake came floating +ashore. The youth seized and devoured it; and the +following day he was successful in catching the ladies. +The one to whom he offers marriage consents on the +understanding that he will recognize her the next day +from among the three sisters. He does so by the strapping +of her sandal; and she is accompanied to her new +home by seven cows, two oxen, and a bull from the lake. +A third version presents the maiden as rowing on New +Year's Eve up and down the lake in a golden boat with +a golden oar. She disappears from the hero's gaze, without +replying to his adjurations. Counselled by a soothsayer, +who dwells on the mountain, he casts loaves and +cheese night after night from Midsummer Eve to New +Year's Eve into the water, until at length the magic skiff +again appears, and the fairy, stepping ashore, weds her +persistent wooer.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>In all three versions the bridegroom is forbidden to +strike “three causeless blows.” Of course he disobeys. +According to the “Cambro-Briton” version it happened +that one day, preparing for a fair, he desired his wife to +go to the field for his horse. Finding her dilatory in +doing so, he tapped her arm thrice with his glove, saying, +half in jest: “Go, go, go!” The blows were slight, but +they were blows; and, the terms of the marriage contract +being broken, the dame departed—she and her cattle with +her—back into the lake. The other two accounts agree +in spreading the blows over a much greater length of +time. Mr. Rees' version relates that once the husband and +wife were invited to a christening in the neighbourhood. +The lady, however, seemed reluctant to go, making the +feminine excuse that the distance was too far to walk. +Her husband told her to fetch one of the horses from the +field. “I will,” said she, “if you will bring me my +gloves, which I left in the house.” He went, and, +returning with the gloves, found that she had not gone +for the horse, so he jocularly slapped her shoulder with +one of the gloves, saying: “Go, go!” Whereupon she +reminded him of the condition that he was not to strike +her without a cause, and warned him to be more careful +in future. Another time, when they were together at a +wedding, she burst out sobbing amid the joy and mirth +of all around her. Her husband touched her on the +shoulder and inquired the cause of her weeping. She +replied: “Now people are entering into trouble; and +your troubles are likely to commence, as you have the +second time stricken me without a cause.” Finding how +very wide an interpretation she put upon the “causeless +blows,” the unfortunate husband did his best to avoid +anything which could give occasion for the third and last +blow. But one day they were together at a funeral, +where, in the midst of the grief, she appeared in the +highest spirits and indulged in immoderate fits of +laughter. Her husband was so shocked that he touched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +her, saying: “Hush, hush! don't laugh!” She retorted +that she laughed “because people, when they die, go out +of trouble”; and, rising up, she left the house, exclaiming: +“The last blow has been struck; our marriage +contract is broken, and at an end! Farewell!” Hurrying +home, she called together all her fairy cattle, walked +off with them to the lake, and vanished in its waters. +Even a little black calf, slaughtered and suspended on +the hook, descended alive and well again to obey his +mistress' summons; and four grey oxen, which were +ploughing, dragged the plough behind them as they +went, leaving a well-marked furrow, that remains to this +day “to witness if I lie.” The remaining version, with +some differences of detail, represents the same eccentric +pessimism on the lady's part (presumably attributable to +the greater spiritual insight of her supernatural character), +as the cause of the husband's not unwarranted annoyance +and of his breach of the agreement. She had borne him +three fair sons; and although she had quitted her husband +for ever, she continued to manifest herself occasionally to +them, and gave them instruction in herbs and medicine, +predicting that they and their issue would become during +many generations the most renowned physicians in the +country.<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a></p> + +<p>Such is the legend of the Van Pool. It has a number +of variants, both in Wales and elsewhere, the examination +of which I postpone for the present. Hitherto I have +been guided in the mention of variants of this myth +chiefly by the desire of showing how one type insensibly +merges into another. The only type I have now left for +examination may be called the “Nightmare type.” It is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +allied not so much to the stories of Melusina and the +Lady of the Van Pool as to stories like that of the +Croatian wolf-maiden. According to German and +Slavonic belief the nightmare is a human being—frequently +one whose love has been slighted, and who in +this shape is enabled to approach the beloved object. It +slips through the keyhole, or any other hole in a building, +and presses its victim sometimes to death. But it can be +caught by quickly stopping the hole through which it +has entered. A certain man did so one night; and in the +morning he found a young and lovely maiden in the +room. On asking her whence she came, she told him +from Engelland (angel-land, England). He hid her +clothes, married her, and had by her three children. +The only thing peculiar about her was that she used constantly +to sing while spinning:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Now calls my mother (<i>or</i>, blows my father) in Engelland,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mary Catharine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Drive out thy swine.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">One day her husband came home and found that his wife +had been telling the children that she had come as a nightmare +from Engelland. When he reproached her for it, +she went to the cupboard where her clothes were hidden, +threw them over herself, and vanished. Yet she could +not quite forsake her husband and little ones. On Saturdays +she came unseen and laid out their clean clothes; +and every night she appeared while others slept, and +taking the baby out of the cradle quieted it at her breast. +The allusion to the nightmare's clothes is uncommon; +but it is an unmistakable link with the types we have +been considering. In other tales she is caught in the +shape of a straw; and she is generally released by taking +the stopper out of the hole whereby she entered. The +account she gives of herself is that she has come out of +England, that the pastor had been guilty of some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +omission in the service when she was baptized, and +hence she became a nightmare, but to be re-christened +would cure her. She often hears her mother call her. +In one story she vanished on being reproached with her +origin, and in another on being asked how she became a +nightmare.<a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></p> + +<p>An Esthonian tale speaks of a father who found his +little boy one night in an unquiet slumber. He noticed +over the bed a hole in the wall through which the wind +was whistling, and thought it was this which was disturbing +him. Wherefore he stopped it up; and no +sooner had he done so than he saw on the bed by the +boy's side a pretty little girl, who teased and played with +him so that he could not sleep in peace. The child was +thus forced to stay in the house. She grew up with the +other children, and being quick and industrious was +beloved by all. Specially was she dear to the boy in +whose bed she was found; and when he grew up he +married her. One Sunday in church she burst out +laughing during the sermon. After the service was +over the husband inquired what she was laughing at. +She refused to tell him, save on condition of his telling +her in return how she came into his father's house. +When she had extracted this promise from him, she told +him she saw stretched on the wall of the church a great +horse-skin, on which the Evil One was writing the +names of all those who slept or chattered in church, and +paid no heed to God's word. The skin was at last full<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +of names; and in order to find room for more the Devil +had to pull it with his teeth, so as to stretch it further. +In so doing he bumped his head against the wall, and +made a wry face: whereat she, who saw it, laughed. +When they got home her husband pulled out the piece +of wood which his father had put into the hole; and the +same instant his wife was gone. The husband was disconsolate, +but he saw her no more. It was said, however, +that she often appeared to his two children in +secret, and brought them precious gifts. In Smaland a +parallel legend is current, according to which the +ancestress of a certain family was an elf-maid who came +into the house with the sunbeams through a knot-hole in +the wall, and, after being married to the son and bearing +him four children, vanished the same way as she had +come. In North Germany it is believed that when +seven boys, or seven girls, are born in succession, one +among them is a nightmare. A man who had unknowingly +wedded such a nightmare found that she +disappeared from his bed at nights; and on watching +her he discovered that she slipped through the hole for +the strap by which the latch was lifted, returning the +same way. So he stopped up the opening, and thus +always retained her. After a considerable time he +wanted to use the latch, and thinking she had forgotten +her bad habit and he might safely take the peg out, he +did so; but the next night she was missing, and never +came back, though every Sunday morning the man +found clean linen laid out for him as usual.<a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></p> + +<p>A Pomeranian tradition relates the adventure of an +officer who was much troubled by the nightmare. He +caught her in the usual manner and wedded her, although +he could not persuade her to say whence she came. After +some years she induced her husband to open the holes he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +had stopped up; and the next morning she had disappeared. +But he found written in chalk on the table +the words: “If thou wilt seek me, the Commander of +London is my father.” He sought her in London and +found her; and having taken the precaution to rechristen +her he lived happily with her ever after.<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> This is the +only instance I have met with where the nightmare-wife +is recovered. It would be interesting to know why +England is assigned as the home of these perturbed +spirits.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> Burton, “Nights,” vol. viii. p. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 69, quoting Afzelius; Haltrich, p. 15; Hapgood, +p. 214; Meier, “Volksmärchen,” p. 39; Baring-Gould, p. 575. No authority is given by Mr. Baring-Gould, and I have been unable to +trace the Hessian tale; but I rely on his correctness. He also cites an incoherent Swan-maiden tale from Castrén, of which he manages to +make more sense than I can (Castrén, “Altaischen Völker,” p. 172). In an Irish tale Oengus, the son of the Dagda, falls in love, through +a dream, with Caer ib Ormaith, who is one year in the form of a swan and the next in human shape. After union with her he seems to +have undergone the same alternation of form (<i>Revue Celtique</i>, vol. iii. p. 342, from a MS. in the British Museum).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> Schreck, p. 35; Vernaleken, pp. 274, 287; Jones and Kropf, p. +95; “Bahar-Danush,” vol. ii. p. 213 (an abstract of this story will be found in Keightley, p. 20); Burton, “Nights,” vol. v. p. 344; Steere, +p. 349; Cavallius, p. 175, freely translated by Thorpe, “Yule-Tide Stories,” p. 158. Mr. Morris turns the doves into swans. <i>Cf.</i> a South-Slavonic +tale from Varazdina, Krauss, vol. i. p. 409.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> Brett, “Legends and Myths,” p. 29. This legend is told with +further details by Im Thurn, p. 381.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> Rink, p. 145; Prym und Socin, p. 51.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> Knoop, p. 104.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> “F. L. Españ.” vol. i. p. 187.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> Keightley, p. 169, from Hibbert, “Description of the Shetland +Islands”; Wratislaw, p. 290; “F. L. Journal,” vol. vi. p. 165. As a point of resemblance with the Lady of the Van Pool, quoted further +on, it may be noted that these seal-women (the legend of their capture is a common one in the Shetland Islands) had the power to conjure up +from the deep a superior breed of horned cattle, many of whose offspring are still to be seen (Dr. Karl Blind in “Contemp. Rev.” 1881, +quoted by Mac Ritchie, p. 4).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> Kirby, p. 319; “Arch. Rev.” vol. ii. p. 90; Schmidt, p. 133; +Bent, p. 13; Von Hahn, vol. i. p. 295 (<i>cf.</i> vol. ii. p. 82); Garnett, p. 352, translating Dozon's “Chansons Populaires Bulgares”; Cosquin, +vol. ii. p. 18. <i>Cf.</i> Ralston, “Tibetan Tales,” p. 53; Landes, p. 123; Comparetti, vol. i. p. 212, translated “F. L. Record,” vol. ii. p. 12; +Grimm, “Tales,” vol. ii. p. 331; Poestion, p. 55; Vernaleken, p. 274; Pitré, vol. iv. p. 140; Sastri, p. 80.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> Leland, p. 300. <i>Cf.</i> ibid. p. 140, where the maidens are called +weasels, and ultimately marry stars. “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. iv. p. 201. In a tale rendered from the modern Greek by Von Hahn the name +Swan-maiden is preserved in the title, though the plumage has disappeared from the text. Stress can hardly be laid upon this, as the title +is no part of the tale. Von Hahn, vol. i. p. 131.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> “La Tradition,” March 1889, p. 78, quoting the Abbé Domenech, +“Voyage pittoresque dans les déserts du Nouveau Monde,” p. 214. Mr. Farrer gives the same story from “Algic Researches” (Farrer, +“Primitive Manners,” p. 256).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> Gerv. Tilb. Dec. i. c. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> Brauns, p. 138; White, vol. ii. p. 141; Vernaleken, p. 294; +Schneller, p. 23; Ortoli, p. 284.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> “The Physicians of Myddfai—Meddygon Myddfai,” translated by +John Pughe, Esq., F.R.C.S., and edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, M.A. (1861), p. xxi. “Cambro-Briton,” vol. ii. p. 315; +Sikes, p. 40. Mr. Sikes gives no authority for the third version. I have assumed its genuineness, though I confess Mr. Sikes' methods are +not such as to inspire confidence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> Jahn, p. 364, <i>et seqq.</i>; Knoop, pp. 26, 83, 103; Kuhn, pp. 47, 197, +374; Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 14, 91, 298; Schleicher, p. 93; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 169, quoting Thiele. Note the suggestion of Pope Gregory's +pun in the name of the native land of the nightmare. Elsewhere a child becomes a nightmare who is born on a Sunday and baptized on a +Sunday at the same hour, or one at whose baptism some wicked person has secretly muttered in response to one of the priest's questions some +wrong words, or “It shall become a nightmare” (Lemke, p. 42). Similar superstitions attached to somnabulism; see Lecky, “History of +Rationalism,” vol. i. p. 81, note 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> Jannsen, vol. i. p. 53; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 70, quoting Afzelius, +vol. ii. p. 29, quoting Müllenhoff. It is a common Teutonic belief that knot-holes are attributable to elves (Grimm, “Teut. Myth.” p. 461).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> “Am Urds-Brunnen,” vol. vi. p. 58.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>SWAN-MAIDENS (<i>continued</i>).</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">The incident of the recovery of the bride not found in all the stories — New +Zealand sagas — Andrianòro — Mother-right — The father represented +under a forbidding aspect — Tasks imposed on the hero — The +Buddhist theory of the Grateful Animals — The feather-robe +a symbol of bride's superhuman character — Mode of capture — The +Taboo — Dislike of fairies for iron—Utterance of name forbidden — Other +prohibitions — Fulfilment of fate — The taboo a mark of +progress in civilization — The divine ancestress — Totems and +Banshees — Re-appearance of mother to her children — The lady +of the Van Pool an archaic deity.</p></div> + +<p>I hope I have made clear in the last <a href="#CHAPTER_X">chapter</a> the connection +between the various types of the Swan-maiden +group of folk-tales. The one idea running through them +all is that of a man wedding a supernatural maiden and +unable to retain her. She must return to her own +country and her own kin; and if he desire to recover her +he must pursue her thither and conquer his right to +her by undergoing superhuman penance or performing +superhuman tasks,—neither of which it is given to +ordinary men to do. It follows that only when the story +is told of men who can be conceived as released from the +limitations we have been gradually learning during the +progress of civilization to regard as essential to humanity—only +when the reins are laid upon the neck of invention,—is +it possible to relate the narrative of the recovery of the +bride. These conditions are twice fulfilled in the history +of a folk-tale. They are fulfilled, first, when men are in +that early stage of thought in which the limitations of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +man's nature are unknown, when speculations of the +kind touched upon in our second <a href="#CHAPTER_II">chapter</a>, and illustrated +repeatedly in the course of this work, are received as +undisputed opinions. They are fulfilled again when +the relics of these opinions, and the memories of the +mythical events believed in accordance with such +opinions, are still operative in the mind, though no +longer with the vividness of primitive times; when some +of them still hold together, but for the most part they +are decaying and falling to pieces, and are only like the +faded rags of a once splendid robe which a child may +gather round its puny form and make believe for the +moment that it is a king. To the genuine credulity of +the South-Sea Islander, and to the conscious make-believe +of the Arab story-teller and the peasant who +repeats the modern <i>märchen</i>, all things are possible. +But to the same peasant when relating the traditional +histories of his neighbours, and to the grave mediæval +chronicler, only some things are possible, though many +more things than are possible to us. The slow and +partial advance of knowledge destroys some superstitions +sooner, others later. Some branches of the tree of +marvel flourish with apparently unimpaired life long +after others have withered, and others again have only +begun to fade. Hence, where the adventures of Tawhaki, +the mythical New Zealander, are incredible, the legend of +the origin of the Physicians of Myddfai from the Lady +of the Lake may still be gravely accepted. Gervase of +Tilbury would probably have treated the wild story of +Hasan's adventures in the islands of Wák as what it is; +but he tells us he has seen and conversed with women +who had been captives to the Dracs beneath the waters of +the Rhone, while a relative of his own had married a +genuine descendant of the serpent-lady of that castle in +the valley of Trets.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, the episode of the recovery of the bride is +scarcely ever found in the sagas of modern Europe, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +indeed of any nation that has progressed beyond a certain +mark in civilization. But it is common in their <i>märchen</i>, +as well as in the sagas of more backward nations. In the +sagas of the advanced races, with rare exceptions, the most +we get is what looks like a reminiscence of the episode in +the occasional reappearance of the supernatural wife to +her children, or as a Banshee. Putting this reminiscence, +if it be one, aside for the present, we will first discuss +some aspects of the bride's recovery. In doing so, +though the natural order may seem to be inverted, we +shall in effect clear the ground for the proper understanding +of the main features of the myth.</p> + +<p>Many variants of the legend of Tawhaki are current +among the Maories. According to that adopted by Sir +George Grey, he was a hero renowned for his courage, +whose fame had reached to heaven. There Tango-tango, +a maiden of heavenly race, fell in love with him from +report; and one night she descended to the earth and lay +down by his side. She continued to do this nightly, +stealing away again before dawn to her home. But +when she found herself likely to become a mother she +remained with him openly; and when her daughter was +born she gave her to her husband to wash. Evidently +he did not like the work, for while carrying out his wife's +instructions, Tawhaki made a very rude remark about +the child. Hearing this, Tango-tango began to sob +bitterly, and at last rose up from her place with the +child and took flight to the sky. Her husband determined +to seek her. He found his way to the place +where a creeper hung down from heaven and struck its +roots into the earth. It was guarded there by a blind +old ancestress of his, whom he restored to sight, and +from whom he obtained directions how to climb the +plant. Arrived in heaven, he disguised himself and had +to undergo the indignity—he, a mighty chieftain—of +being enslaved by his wife's relatives, for whom he was +compelled to perform menial work. At length, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +he manifested himself to his wife and was reconciled to +her. He is still in heaven, and is worshipped as a god. +Another version represents a cloud swooping upon the +wife and taking her away. Tawhaki endeavoured in +vain to follow her by mounting on a kite. A third +version simply relates that the lady returned to her +friends. Her husband, on arriving at the <i>pa</i>, or settlement, +where she dwelt, found among the children his +own son, by whom he sent his wife a love-token she had +formerly given him. This led to recognition, and she +eventually returned with him to his home. A more +interesting variant tells us that the fame of the nobleness +of Tini-rau was heard by Hine-te-iwaiwa, who determined +to set her cap (or whatever might be its equivalent in her +scanty costume) at him. She obtained an interview with +him, by a device recalling the conduct of the ladies in +The Land East of the Sun, for she broke and destroyed +some bathing-pools belonging to the hero. A quest of +the intruder naturally followed, with the result that +Tini-rau took her to live with him. She made short +work of her rivals, his elder wives; and all went +smoothly until Hine, one unlucky day, asked her +husband to perform an operation upon her head as +necessary as familiar in some strata of civilization. In +doing this he made disrespectful observations about her, +when lo! a mist settled down upon them, from the midst +of which her elder brother came and took his sister away. +Tini-rau, unable to endure her absence, determined to go +after his wife, accompanied by a flight of birds, by whose +cries he was informed, as he passed one settlement after +another, whether or not his wife was there. At length +he discovered her whereabouts, and made himself known +to her sister by a token which Hine understood. Then +he came to her, and she announced his arrival to all the +people, who assembled and welcomed him. He abode +there; and when his wife's relatives complained that he +did not go and get food, he obtained it in abundance by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +the exercise of magical powers; and so they lived happy +ever after.<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a></p> + +<p>Now let us turn to the Malagasy tale of the way in +which Andrianòro obtained a wife from heaven. There +three sisters, whose dwelling-place is in heaven, frequent +a lake in the crystal waters whereof they swim, taking +flight at once on the approach of any human being. By +a diviner's advice the hero changes into three lemons, +which the youngest sister desires to take; but the others, +fearing a snare, persuade her to fly away with them. +Foiled thus, the hero changes into bluish water in the +midst of the lake, then into the seed of a vegetable +growing by the waterside, and ultimately into an ant. +He is at length successful in seizing the youngest maiden, +who consents to be his wife in spite of the difference of +race; for, while her captor is a man living on the earth, +her father dwells in heaven, whence the thunderbolt +darts forth if he speak, and she herself drinks no spirits, +“for if spirits even touch my mouth I die.” After some +time, during his absence, his father and mother force +<i>tòaka</i>, or rum, into the lady's mouth, and she dies; but +on his return he insists on opening her grave, and, to his +joy, finds her alive again. But she will not now stay on +earth: she must return to her father and mother in the +sky. They are grieving for her, and the thunder is a +sign of their grief. Finding himself unable to prevail +upon her to stay, he obtains permission to accompany +her. She warns him, however, of the dangers he will +have to encounter,—the thunderbolt when her father +speaks, and the tasks her father will lay upon him. +Before he goes he accordingly calls the beasts and the +birds together; he slays oxen to feed them; he tells them +the tests he is about to undergo, and takes promises +from them to accomplish the things that trouble him. +Obedient to his wife, he displays great humility to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +father-in-law; and by the aid of the lower animals he +comes triumphant out of every trial. The beasts with +their tusks plough up the spacious fields of heaven; the +beasts and birds uproot the giant trees; from the +Crocodile Lake the crocodiles themselves bring the +thousand spades; between cattle which are exactly +alike the cattle-fly distinguishes the cows from the +calves; and the little fly, settling on the nose of the +heroine's mother, enables the hero to point her out among +her daughters. The wife's father is astonished, and gives +his daughter anew to the hero to be his wife, dismissing +them with a dower of oxen, slaves and money.<a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></p> + +<p>It will be observed that the adventures undergone by +Andrianòro in heaven are very different from those of +the Maori heroes. Tawhaki and Tini-rau have certainly +to submit to hardships and indignities before they can be +reunited to their wives; and they perform actions of +superhuman power. But these actions are not performed +as the condition of reunion; nor are the tasks and the +indignities laid upon them by any parental ogre. In fact +the parental ogre is as conspicuous by his absence from +the New Zealand stories as he is by his presence in those +of Andrianòro and the Marquis of the Sun. How is +this to be explained? The reason seems to lie in the +different organization of society under which the tale +attained its present form in either case. At an early +period of civilization, kinship is reckoned exclusively +through the mother: even the father is in no way +related to his children. This is a stage hardly ever +found complete in all its consequences, but of which the +traces remain in the customs and in the lore of many +nations who have long since passed from it, becoming, as +we might expect, fainter and fewer as it recedes into the +distance. Such traces are abundant in Maori tradition; +and they point to a comparatively recent emergence from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +female kinship. Among these traces is the omission of +the heavy father from the stories before us. Tango-tango +and Hine-te-iwaiwa were both maidens of more +than mortal race; and presumably their parents would +be conceived of as still alive. But they are not so much +as alluded to—a sure sign that there was no paternal +authority to which these ladies would be accountable. +Indeed, if accountable at all, they are so to the whole +circle of their relatives, or to their tribe in general. It +is their brothers who assist them in time of need. +Tawhaki becomes the slave of his brothers-in-law. To +her “people” Hine announces her husband's arrival: +she simply announces it; nor does it appear that any +consent on their part is required. Tini-rau takes his +place at once as a tribesman, and is expected to contribute +by his labour and skill to the sustenance of the +whole brotherhood.</p> + +<p>One of the consequences of reckoning descent only +through females, which may be noticed here, is that the +children belong to the mother and the mother's family. +A trace of this lingers about the story of Tawhaki in the +affront to Tango-tango caused by her husband's offensive +remark upon their little one. In a society where the +offspring are the father's, or even where, as in modern +civilized life, they are treated as belonging to both +parents and partaking of the nature of both, no such +offence could be taken. Another consequence is that in +the organization of society the wife still continues after +marriage to reside with, and to be part of, the community +to which she belongs by birth. The man leaves his +father and his mother and cleaves to his wife. Hence it +would be natural for her to return home to her own +kindred, and for him to seek her and dwell with her +there. This is illustrated not only in the Maori legends +just cited, but also in the Arawàk story given in the last +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">chapter</a>, where the husband is received into the vulture +race until he desires to visit his mother. He is then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +discarded as if he had committed some unpardonable +breach of custom; and he cannot be restored to his +former privileges. Although the Greeks had before the +dawn of history ceased to practise mother-right, a trace +of it lingers in a modern folk-tale from Epirus. There a +man had by the ordinary device obtained an elf as a wife; +and she bore him a child. After this her own kinsmen +came and begged her to return to them; but she +refused on the ground that she had a husband and child. +“Then bring them with you,” they replied. Accordingly, +she took her husband and child, and went back with them +to dwell among the elves. It seems, however, to be felt +that this was an unusual proceeding; otherwise it would +have been needless to plead with the lady to return, and +to extend a special invitation to those whom she would +not abandon: an indication, this, that the story has been +adapted to a higher plane of civilization, in which it was +no longer the custom for the husband to go and dwell +among his wife's people.<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a></p> + +<p>On the other hand, Andrianòro's wife lives under +patriarchal government. The Malagasy have advanced +further on the path of civilization than the Maories; and +at the stage of progress they have reached, the father is +much more like an absolute monarch. In the story<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +referred to, the lady had married without her father's +consent. Accordingly her marriage is ignored, and her +lover has to perform a number of services for his father-in-law, +and so purchase formal consent to their union. +Nor will it escape the reader that when the wielder of +the thunderbolt at last gives his daughter to her husband, +he dismisses them back to the home of the latter. +Hasan, too, it will be remembered, returns to Bagdad +with his wife and children, though we probably have a +survival of an older form of the story in his relations +with her redoubtable sister. This lady holds a position +impossible in an Arab kingdom. Her father is a mere +shadow, hardly mentioned but to save appearances; +so much more substantial is her power and her opposition +to the match. The variants of the Marquis of the +Sun are found chiefly among European nations,<a name="FNanchor_205_205" id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> whose +history, institutions, and habits of thought lead them to +attach great value to paternal authority. In the tasks +performed in <i>märchen</i> of this type, and the precipitate +flight which usually takes place on the wedding night +from the ogre's secret wrath, it would seem that we have +a reminiscence of the archaic institutions of marriage by +purchase and marriage by capture,—both alike incidents +of the period when mother-right (as the reckoning of +descent solely through females is called) has ceased to +exist in a pure form, and society has passed, or is passing, +into the patriarchal stage. The Marquis of the Sun +type is, therefore, more recent than the other types of +the Swan-maiden tradition, none of which so uniformly +in all their variants recognize the father's supreme +position.<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>If the tasks and the flight be a reminiscence of purchase +and capture, we may find in that reminiscence a reason +why nearly all the stories concur in representing the +father under a forbidding aspect. As his daughter's +vendor,—her unwilling vendor,—as her guardian from +capture, he would be the natural foe of her lover. He +is not always so ready as the Bird Simer to give up to +another his rights over her; but perhaps the Bird Simer's +readiness may be partly explained by the husband's having +already performed the feat of rescuing the maiden from +a giant, beside slaying his own brother for her sake. +Usually the father is a frightful ogre or giant; not infrequently +he is no less a personage than the Devil himself. +And the contrast between him and his lovely +daughter would be more and more strongly felt as +purchase and capture ceased to be serious methods of +bride-winning. Hence, probably, the thought of real +relationship would be abandoned, and the maiden would +often be conceived of as enchanted and captive in the +hands of a malevolent being.</p> + +<p>We will not now stop to discuss the tasks in detail: +we can only afford time to glance at one of them, namely, +that of distinguishing the maid from her sisters. There +are three chief means by which the lover or husband is +enabled to identify the object of his devotion. Two of +these depend upon the lady herself: in the one she slily +helps her lover; in the other he recognizes an insignificant +peculiarity of her person or attire. The third +means is an indication given by one of the lower animals, +which has better means of knowledge than the suitor, +due probably to its greater cleverness—a quality, as I +have already pointed out in <a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II</a>., universally +credited in a certain stage of culture to these creatures. +We will deal first with the second means.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>The most usual personal idiosyncrasy of the damsel is +the want of a finger, or some deformity in it, the result +of her previous efforts to aid the hero. Thus, in a Basque +tale the lad is set to find a ring lost by the ogre in a river. +This is accomplished by cutting up the maiden and +throwing the pieces into the stream; but a part of the +little finger sticks in his shoe. When he afterwards has +to choose between the ogre's daughters with his eyes shut, +he recognizes his love by the loss of her little finger. +The giant's daughter, in a West Highland tale, makes a +ladder with her fingers for her lover to climb a tree to +fetch a magpie's eggs; and, in the hurry, she leaves her +little finger at the top. This accident arises sometimes, +as in the Marquis of the Sun, from the dropping of a +piece of flesh on the ground when the hero cuts up his +beloved; or, according to a story of the Italian Tirol, +from spilling some of her blood. In the latter case, three +drops of blood fall into the lake, instead of the bucket +prepared to receive them, and thereby almost cause the +failure of his task. When the magician afterwards leads +the youth to his daughters and bids him choose, he takes +the youngest by the hand, and says: “I choose this one.” +We are not told that there was any difference in the +maidens' hands, but this is surely to be inferred. In the +Milanese story of the King of the Sun the hero also +chooses his wife blindfold from the king's three daughters +by touching their hands; and here, too, we must suppose +previous help or concert, though it has disappeared +from the text. In a story from Lorraine, John has to +take the devil's daughter, Greenfeather, to pieces to find +a spire for the top of a castle that he is compelled to +build; and in putting her together again he sets one of +her little fingers clumsily. With bandaged eyes he has +to find the lady who has assisted him; and he succeeds +by putting his hand on hers. The lad who falls into the +strange gentleman's hands in a Breton tale, forgets to +put the little toe of the girl's left foot into the caldron;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +and when she and her two sisters are led before him +veiled and clad in other than their ordinary garb, he +knows her at once by the loss of her toe. As it is told +in Denmark the enchanted princess agrees with the king's +son to wind a red silken thread around her little finger; +and by this means he identifies her, though in the form +of a little grey-haired, long-eared she-ass, and again of a +wrinkled, toothless, palsied old woman, into which the +sorceress, whose captive she is, changes her. In a Swedish +story the damsel informs her lover that when the mermaid's +daughters appear in various repulsive forms she +will be changed into a little cat with her side burnt and +one ear snipped. The Catalonian <i>märchen</i> of Joanescas +represents the heroine as wanting a joint of her finger, +from her lover having torn off some of her feathers by +accident when he stole her robe. “Monk” Lewis in his +“Journal of a West India Proprietor” gives an Ananci tale +in which the heroine and her two sisters are changed +into black cats: the two latter bore scarlet threads round +their necks, the former a blue thread.<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a> According to +the Carmarthenshire saga, the lady is recognized by the +strapping of her sandal.</p> + +<p>In several of the stories just cited, and many of their +congeners, the maiden forewarns her suitor how she will +be disguised, or by what marks she will be known. +Sometimes, however, she makes a sign to him on the +spot. The Lady of the Van Pool only thrusts her foot +forward that he may notice her shoe-tie; but Cekanka +in a Bohemian tale is bold enough to wink at him. In +a Russian variant of the Marquis of the Sun, to which +I have already referred, the hero is in the power of the +Water King. On his way to that potentate's palace he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +had, by the advice of the Baba Yaga, gone to the seashore +and watched until twelve spoonbills alighted, and, turning +into maidens, had unrobed for the purpose of bathing. +Then he had stolen the eldest maiden's shift, to restore +it only on her promise to aid him against her father, the +Water King. She redeems the pledge by performing for +him the usual tasks, the last of which is to choose the +same bride thrice among the king's twelve daughters. +The first time she secretly agrees with him that she will +wave her handkerchief; the second time she is to be +arranging her dress; and the third time he will see a +fly above her head.<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></p> + +<p>Here we are led to the third means of recognition. +The incident of help rendered by one or more of the +lower animals to man is a favourite one in folk-tales; +and it has furnished a large portion of the argumentative +stock-in-trade of those scholars who contend for their +Indian origin. We are assured that every tale which +contains this incident must be referred to a Buddhist +source, or at least has been subjected to Buddhist influence. +This theory is supported by reference to the +doctrine of love for all living creatures which Buddha +is said to have promulgated. The command to overcome +hatred by love, the precepts of self-sacrifice and +devotion to others' good were not limited in the Buddha's +discourses, if those discourses be correctly reported, to +our conduct towards our fellow-men: they included all +creation. And they were enforced by parables which +represented good as done in turn to men by all sorts of +creatures, even the wildest and the most savage. Stories +of grateful beasts, of the type familiar to us in Androcles +and the Lion, became favourites among the disciples of +the Light of Asia. Scholars, therefore, have told us that +wherever a grateful beast thrusts his muzzle into the +story, that story must have come from India, and must +have come since the rise of Buddhism. Nay, they go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +further. In every instance where a beast appears as +helping the hero, we are taught to presume that the +hero has first helped the beast, even though no trace of +such an incident be actually found. It must have been +so, otherwise the beast would have had no motive for +helping the hero,—and, it may be added, the theorist +would have had no ground for claiming the story as +proceeding from a Buddhist source.</p> + +<p>Now all this would have been seen at once to be very +poor reasoning, but for one fact. A number, sufficient +to be called large, of parables, have actually made their +way from India to Europe in historic times, and since +the age of Gautama. The literary history of these +parables can be traced; and it must be acknowledged +that, whatever their origin, they have been adopted +into Buddhist works and adapted to Buddhist doctrine. +Further, it seems demonstrated that some of them +have descended into the oral tradition of various +nations in Europe, Asia, and even Africa. But when so +much as this is conceded, it still fails to account for the +spread of the story of the Grateful Beasts and, even more +signally, for the incident of the Beast-helpers where there +is no gratitude in the case. A very slight examination +of the incident as it appears in the group of legends now +before us will convince us of this.</p> + +<p>First of all, let it be admitted that in several of these +tales the service rendered by the brute is in requital for +a good turn on the part of the hero. Andrianòro, as we +have seen, begins by making friends with various animals +by means of the mammon of unrighteousness in the +shape of a feast. Jagatalapratâpa, in the narrative already +cited from the Tamil book translated into English under +the title of “The Dravidian Nights Entertainments,” +pursuing one of Indra's four daughters, is compelled by +her father, after three other trials, to choose her out from +her sisters, who are all converted into one shape. He +prays assistance from a kind of grasshopper; and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +little creature, in return for a previous benefit, hops upon +her foot. But it is somewhat curious, if the theory be +true, that even in stories told among peoples distinctly +under Buddhist influence the gratitude is by no means +an invariable point. Thus the princess in the Burmese +drama is betrayed by “the king of flies” to her husband, +though the abstract we have of the play gives us no hint +of any previous transaction between the puny monarch +and the hero; and it is worthy of note that the Tibetan +version of the same plot given by Mr. Ralston from the +Kah-Gyur knows nothing of this entomological agency. +There the hero is a Bodisat, who, if he does not recognize +his beloved among the thousand companions who surround +her, at least has a spell the utterance of which +compels her to step out from among them. It does not +appear that Kasimbaha, the Bantik patriarch, is required +to undergo this particular test. But he is indebted to a +bird for indicating the lady's residence; a glow-worm +places itself at her chamber door; and a fly shows him +which of a number of dishes set before him he must not +uncover. M. Cosquin, who is an adherent of the Buddhist +hypothesis, in relating this instance, is compelled expressly +to say that “one does not see why” these animals +should render such services. Neither, on M. Cosquin's +principle, can one see why, in the Arawàk story, the +spiders should spin cords to help the outcast husband +down from heaven, or the birds take his part against the +vulture-folk to enable him to recover his wife.<a name="FNanchor_209_209" id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a> The proof +of Buddhist influence must rest heavily on its advocates +here, both on account of the absence of motive for gratitude, +and of the distance of the Arawàk people from +India and the utter disparity of civilizations.</p> + +<p>The agency of recognition, when attributed to one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +the lower animals, is ordinarily an insect; but the reason +is, as often as not, a prior arrangement with the lady, as +in the Russian story of the Water King. The Polish +<i>märchen</i> of Prince Unexpected follows this line. In it, +the princess warns her lover that she will have a ladybird +over her right eye. When a thousand maidens all +alike are produced to poor Hans in a Bohemian tale, he +has no difficulty in selecting the right one; for a witch +has bidden him “choose her on whom, from the roof +of the chamber, a spider descends.”<a name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a></p> + +<p>These considerations are sufficient to prove that the +incident of the Helpful Beasts, as found in the Swan-maiden +group of stories, cannot be attributed to a +Buddhist origin.</p> + +<p>We have now dealt with an episode of the mythical +narrative, necessary, indeed, to its completion, but found +only under certain conditions which I have pointed out. +We have seen this episode in two distinct forms whose +respective sources we have assigned to two distinct stages of +culture. The form characteristic of the European <i>märchen</i> +is apparently more barbarous in several respects than that +yielded by the islanders of the Southern Ocean; but the +latter bears testimony to a state of society more archaic +than the other. Presumably, therefore, it represents +more nearly the primitive form of the story.</p> + +<p>We turn next to the central incidents. In the previous +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">chapter</a> I have taken pains to show the unmistakable +relation between the different types of the myth, in spite +of the omission of the feather-robe, or indeed of any +substitute for it. The truth is that the feather-robe is +no more than a symbol of the wife's superhuman nature. +From the more archaic variants it is absent; but +frequently the true form of the lady is held to be +that of a member of what we contemptuously call +“the brute creation.” Men in savagery, as we have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +already seen, have quite different feelings from those +of contempt for brutes. On the contrary, they entertain +the highest respect and even awe for them. +They trace their descent from some of them; and +a change of form from beast to man, or from man +to beast, while still preserving individual identity, would +not seem at all incredible, or even odd, to them. By +and by, however, the number of creatures having +these astonishing powers would decrease, as the circle +of experience widened. But there would linger a belief +in remarkable instances, as at Shan-si, in China, where +it is believed that there is still a bird which can divest +itself of its feathers and become a woman. Not every +swan would then be deemed capable of turning when it +pleased into a fair maiden; and when this change happened, +it would be attributed to enchantment, which had +caused the maiden merely to assume the appearance of a +swan for a time and for a special purpose. This often occurs, +as we have seen, in <i>märchen</i>, where the contrast between +the heroine and her father, or, as it is then often put, her +master, is very strong. It occurs, too, in tales belonging +to other types. A <i>märchen</i> told by Dr. Pitré relates that +a man had a pet magpie, which by enchantment had the +power of casting its wings and becoming a woman. She +always practised this power in his absence; but he came +home one day and found her wings on the chair. He +burnt them, and she remained permanently a woman +and married him. In a saga from Guiana a warlock's +daughter persuades her father to transform her into a +dog that she may venture near a hunter whom she loves. +He accordingly gives her a skin, which she draws over +her shoulders, and thus becomes a hound. When the +hunter finds her in his hut as a maiden, the charmed skin +hanging up and revealing her secret, he flings the skin +into the fire and weds her.<a name="FNanchor_211_211" id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>But enchantment is not the only explanation. The +lady may, like Hasan's bride, be held to belong to a +superior race to men, though properly in human form. +In either case the peltry would be a mere veil hiding the +true individuality for a while. It would thus acquire a +distinct magical efficacy; so that when deprived of it, +the maiden would be unable to effect the change. A +remarkable instance of this occurs in an Arab saga. +There a man, at Algiers, puts to death his three +daughters, who afterwards appear to a guitar-player and +dance to his playing. As they dance they throw him the +rind of the oranges they hold in their hands; and this +rind is found the next day changed into gold pieces and +into jewels. The following year the maidens appear +again to the guitar-player. He manages to get hold of +their shrouds, which he burns. They thereupon come +back to life, and he weds the youngest of them. This is +said to have happened no longer ago than sixty years +before the French conquest of Algiers.<a name="FNanchor_212_212" id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a></p> + +<p>Nothing of the sort is found in the Maori tales. To +the natives of New Zealand no change seemed needful: +the lady was of supernatural birth and could fly as she +pleased. The same may be said of Andrianòro's wife, +notwithstanding that the Malagasy variant, as a whole, +bespeaks a higher level of culture than the adventures of +Tawhaki and Tini-rau. As little do we find the magical +robe in the Passamaquoddy story of the Partridge and the +Sheldrake Duck. The Dyaks of Borneo are unconscious +of the need of it in the saga of their ancestral fish, the +<i>puttin</i>, which was caught by a man, and when laid in his +boat turned into a girl, whom he gave to his son for a +bride. The Chinese have endless tales about foxes which +assume human form; but the fox's skin plays no part in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +them. And in a Japanese tale belonging to the group +under consideration, the lady changes into a fox and +back again into a lady without any apparatus of peltry.<a name="FNanchor_213_213" id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a></p> + +<p>Again, in the nursery tales of the higher races, the +dress when cast seems simply an article of human clothing, +often nothing but a girdle, veil, or apron; and it is +only when donned by the enchanted lady, or elf, that it +is found to be neither more nor less than a complete +plumage. Thence it easily passes into a mere instrument +of power, like the mermaid's belt and pouch in the +Scottish story, or the book of command in the <i>märchen</i> +of the Island of Happiness, and is on its way to final +disappearance.</p> + +<p>The maiden's capture is effected in those types of the +tale where the enchanted garment is worn, by the theft +of the garment. These cases will not detain our attention: +we will pass at once to the discussion of those +where there is no transformation to be effected or +dreaded. Perhaps the most interesting of all are the +Welsh sagas; and of these not the least remarkable is +the suit by offerings of food. Andrianòro tried this +device in the Malagasy story; but it was unsuccessful. +In a Carnarvonshire analogue from Llanberis, the youth +entices his beloved into his grasp by means of an apple:<a name="FNanchor_214_214" id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a> +in the Van Pool variants the offering assumes almost a +sacramental character. Until the fairy maiden has tasted +earthly bread, or until her suitor has eaten of the food +which sustains her, he cannot be united to her. Here we +are reminded on the one hand of the elfin food considered +in a former chapter, to partake of which sealed +the adventurer's fate and prevented him for ever from +returning to his human home; and on the other hand of +the ceremony of eating together which among so many +nations has been part of the marriage rites.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>Walter Map relates a curious story of Llangorse Lake +having affinities for the Land East of the Sun, and still +more with one of the Maori sagas. Wastin of Wastiniog +watched, the writer tells us, three clear moonlit nights +and saw bands of women in his oat-fields, and followed +them until they plunged into the pool, where he overheard +them conversing, and saying to one another: “If +he did so and so, he would catch one of us.” Thus +instructed, he of course succeeded in capturing one. +Here, as in many of the stories, the lady has obviously +designs upon the mortal of opposite sex, and deliberately +throws herself in his way. But she lays a taboo upon +him, promising to serve him willingly and with all +obedient devotion, until that day he should strike her in +anger with his bridle. After the birth of several children +he was unfortunate enough on some occasion, the details +of which Walter Map has forgotten, to break the condition; +whereupon she fled with all her offspring, of whom +her husband was barely able to save one before she +plunged with the rest into the lake. This one, whom +he called Triunnis Nagelwch, grew up, and entered the +service of the King of North Wales. At his royal +master's command, Triunnis once led a marauding expedition +into the territory of the King of Brecknock. +A battle ensued, when he was defeated and his band cut +to pieces. It is said that Triunnis himself was saved by +his mother, and thenceforth dwelt with her in the lake. +“But, indeed,” adds the truth-loving Walter, “I think +it is a lie, because a delusion of this kind is so likely to +account for his body not having been found.”<a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a></p> + +<p>In spite, however, of such unwonted incredulity, Map, +having once begun by telling this story, proceeds to tell +another like it, which he seems to have no difficulty in +believing. The second tale concerns a hero of the Welsh +border, Wild Edric, of whose historic reality as one of +the English rebels against William the Conqueror there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +is ample proof. It appears that Edric, returning from +hunting, lost his way in the Forest of Dean, and accompanied +only by one boy, reached about midnight a large +house which turned out to be a drinking-shop, such as +the English, Map says, call a <i>guildhouse</i>. On approaching +it he saw a light, and looking in, he beheld a number +of women dancing. They were beautiful in countenance, +bigger and taller than ordinary women. He noticed one +among them fairer than the rest, and (Walter, perhaps, +had Fair Rosamund in his mind when he says) more to +be desired than all the darlings of kings. Edric rushed +round the house and, finding an entrance, dashed in and +with the help of his boy dragged her out, despite a furious +resistance in which the nails and teeth of her companions +made themselves felt. She brooded in sullen silence for +three whole days; but on the fourth day she exclaimed +to her new master: “Bless you, my dearest, and you will +be blessed too, and enjoy health and prosperity until you +reproach me on account of my sisters, or the place, or the +grove whence you have snatched me away, or anything +connected with it. For the very day you do so your +happiness will forsake you. I shall be taken away; and +you will suffer repeated misfortune, and long for your +own death.” He pledged himself to fidelity; and to +their splendid nuptials nobles came from far and near. +King William heard of the wonder, and bade the newly +wedded pair to London, where he was then holding his +court, that he might test the truth of the tale. They +proved it to him by many witnesses from their own +country; but the chief testimony was that of the lady's +superhuman beauty; and he dismissed them in admiration +to their home. After many years of happiness +Edric returned one evening late from hunting, and +could not find his wife. He spent some time in vainly +calling for her before she came. “Of course,” he began, +angrily, “you have not been detained so long by your +sisters, have you?” The rest of his wrath fell upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +empty air; for at the mention of her sisters she vanished. +And neither her husband's self-reproaches, nor his tears, +nor any search could ever find her again.<a name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a></p> + +<p>A point far more interesting than the actual mode of +capture is the taboo. The condition on which the heroine +remains with her captor-spouse is, in stories of the Hasan +of Bassorah type, his preservation of the feather-garb; +in those of the Melusina type (with which we are now +dealing), his observance of the taboo. In the tales just +cited from Walter Map we have two important forms of +the taboo, and in the legend of Melusina herself we have +a third. The latter is an example of the ordinary +objection on the part of supernatural beings to be seen +otherwise than just how and when they please, which +we have dealt with in a previous chapter; and little +need be added to what I have already said on the +subject. The other two are, however, worth some +consideration.</p> + +<p>In the account of Wastin of Wastiniog we are told +that he was forbidden to strike his wife with the bridle. +Let us compare this prohibition with that of the fairy of +“the bottomless pool of Corwrion,” in Upper Arllechwedd, +Carnarvonshire, who wedded the heir of the owner of +Corwrion. The marriage took place on two conditions—first, +that the husband was not to know his wife's name, +though he might give her any name he chose; and, +second, that if she misbehaved towards him, he might +now and then beat her with a rod, but that he should not +strike her with iron, on pain of her leaving him at once. +“This covenant,” says Professor Rhys in repeating the +tale, “was kept for some years, so that they lived happily +together, and had four children, of whom the two +youngest were a boy and a girl. But one day, as they +went to one of the fields of Bryn Twrw, in the direction +of Penardd Gron, to catch a pony, the fairy wife, being +so much nimbler than her husband, ran before him and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +had her hand in the pony's mane in no time. She called +out to her husband to throw her a halter; but instead of +that he threw towards her a bridle with an iron bit, +which, as bad luck would have it, struck her. The wife +at once flew through the air, and plunged headlong into +Corwrion Lake. The husband returned sighing and +weeping towards Bryn Twrw (Noise Hill), and when he +reached it, the <i>twrw</i> (noise) there was greater than had +ever been heard before, namely, that of weeping after +'Belene'; and it was then, after he had struck her with +iron, that he first learnt what his wife's name was.”<a name="FNanchor_217_217" id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></p> + +<p>The perusal of this saga will raise a suspicion that the +original form of the taboo in Wastin's case was a prohibition +against striking with iron, and that the prohibition +was eventually infringed by means of a bridle. Whether +the alteration was due to a blunder on Map's part in relating +the story is of no importance; but the suspicion will +be raised to a certainty by turning to some other sagas in +Professor Rhys' admirable collection. It is related at +Waenfawr, near Carnarvon, that a youth broke, like +Wild Edric, into a dance of the fairies on the banks of +the Gwyrfai, near Cwellyn Lake, one moonlit night, +and carried off a maiden. She at first refused to wed +him, but consented to remain his servant. One evening, +however, he overheard two of her kindred speaking of +her, and caught her name—Penelope. When she found +that he had learnt her name she gave way to grief: +evidently she now knew that her fate was sealed. On his +importunity being renewed, she at length consented to +marry him, but on the condition that he should not strike +her with iron. Here again the taboo was broken by the +flinging of a bridle while chasing a horse. A similar tale +was related in the vale of Beddgelert, wherein the stolen +lady would only consent to be the servant of her ravisher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +if he could find out her name. When he had discovered +it, she asked in astonishment; “O mortal, who has betrayed +my name to thee?” Then, lifting up her tiny +folded hands, she exclaimed: “Alas! my fate, my fate!” +Even then she would only marry him on condition that +if ever he should touch her with iron she would be free +to leave him and return to her family. Catastrophe, as +before. In a variant the maiden, pressed by her human +lover, promises to marry, provided he can find out her +name. When he succeeds in doing this she faints away, +but has to submit to her doom. In doing so, she imposes +one more proviso: he is not to touch her with iron, nor +is there to be a bolt of iron, or a lock, on their door. The +servant-girl, in another story cited in <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII</a>., who +was rescued from Fairyland, could only stay, it will be +remembered, in her master's service so long afterward, as +he forebore to strike her with iron; and the fatal blow +was struck accidentally with a bit.<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></p> + +<p>Mr. Andrew Lang has remarked, following Dr. Tylor, +that in this taboo the fairy mistress is “the representative +of the stone age.” This is so; and the reason is, because +she belongs to the realm of the supernatural. When the +use of metals was discovered, stone implements were discarded +in ordinary life; but for ages afterwards knives of +stone were used for religious purposes. There is evidence, +for instance, that the Hebrews, to seek no further, employed +them in some of their sacred rites; an altar of +stone was forbidden to be hewn; and when King +Solomon built the temple, “there was neither hammer, +nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it +was in building.” Although there may be no direct +evidence of such a practice among the Cymric Britons, +they were probably no exception to the rule, which seems +to have been general throughout the world; and the +Druids' custom of cutting the mistletoe with a golden, not +with an iron, sickle, points in this direction. The retention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +of stone instruments in religious worship was doubtless +due to the intense conservatism of religious feeling. +The gods, having been served with stone for so long, +would be conceived of as naturally objecting to change; +and the implements whose use had continued through so +many revolutions in ordinary human utensils, would +thereby have acquired a divine character. Changes of +religion, however, brought in time changes even in these +usages. Christianity was bound to no special reverence +for knives and arrowheads of flint; but they seem to +have been still vaguely associated with the discarded +deities, or their allies, the Nymphs and Oreads and Fairies +of stream or wood or dell, and with the supernatural +generally. A familiar example of this is the name of +Elfbolts given by the country people in this and other +lands to these old-world objects, whenever turned up by +the harrow or the spade. Now the traditional preference +on the part of supernatural beings for stone instruments +is only one side of the thought which would, as its reverse +side, show a distinct abhorrence by the same mythical +personages for metals, and chiefly (since we have long +passed out of the bronze age) for iron. Not only do +witches and spirits object to the horseshoe; axes and +iron wedges are equally distasteful to them—at all events +in Denmark. So in Brittany, when men go to gather +the <i>herbe d'or</i>, a medicinal plant of extraordinary virtue, +they go barefooted, in a white robe and fasting, and no +iron may be employed; and though all the necessary +ceremonies be performed, only holy men will be able to +find it. The magical properties of this plant, as well as +the rites requisite to obtain it, disclose its sacredness to +the old divinities. It shines at a distance like gold, and +if one tread on it he will fall asleep, and will come to +understand the languages of birds, dogs, and wolves.<a name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a></p> + +<p>In previous chapters we have already had occasion to note<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +this dislike for iron and steel. Hence the placing of scissors +and fire-steel in an unchristened babe's cradle. Hence the +reason for the midwife's casting a knife behind her when +she left the troll's dwelling laden with his gifts; and for +the Islay father's taking the precaution of striking his +dirk into the threshold when he sought his son in the +fairy hill. So, too, in Sweden people who bathed in the +sea were gravely advised to cast into it close to them a +fire-steel, a knife, or the like, to prevent any monster from +hurting them. The bolts and locks to which the fairy +of Beddgelert objected would have prevented her free +passage into and out of the house.</p> + +<p>In the Pomeranian saga quoted in the last <a href="#CHAPTER_X">chapter</a>, the +enchanted princess is unable to open the trunk which +contains her magical shift: she must wait for another to +open it and give her the garment. In the same way +Hasan's bride could not herself go to the chest and get her +feather-dress. The key was committed to her mother-in-law's +care, and was forced from the old woman by +Zubaydah, the Caliph's wife; nor did it ever come into +the fairy's hands, for her dress was fetched for her by +Masrur at Zubaydah's bidding. It is not unlikely that +the reason for the supernatural wife's difficulty in these +and analogous cases is the metal lock and key. But we +must not forget that the robe is not always locked up in a +chest. Sometimes it is hidden in a hole in the wall, sometimes +in a stack of corn, sometimes beneath the main-post +of the wooden hut in which the wedded pair are dwelling. +Moreover, we must not leave out of account that in the +Nightmare type the wife cannot herself take the wooden +stopper out of the hole through which she entered; but +directly it is removed by another she vanishes. These +things go to show that such supernatural beings cannot +themselves undo charms expressly performed against +them. So evil spirits cannot penetrate a circle drawn +around him by one who invokes them. So, too, the sign +of the cross is an efficient protection against them; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +it is therefore made upon churches and altars at the time +of consecration.</p> + +<p>But the stipulation made by the lady of Corwrion was +twofold. Not only was her bridegroom to forbear striking +her with iron, but he was not even to know her name. +It is so difficult for us to put ourselves into the mental +attitude of savages, that we do not understand the objection +they almost all entertain to the mention of their +names. The objection itself is, however, well known +and widely spread; but it is not always manifested in +exactly the same form. In some cases a man only refuses +to utter his own name, while he will utter another's +name readily enough. Sometimes it is deemed an unpardonable +thing to call another by name; he must be +addressed, or spoken of by an epithet. And frequently +a man's real name is a profound secret, known only to +himself, all others knowing him only by some epithet or +title. Sometimes it is only forbidden to relatives by +marriage to speak one another's names. Thus in various +ways etiquette has prescribed a number of customs +limiting the utterance of names among savage and +barbarous peoples all the world over. The origin of +these rules and customs seems to have been the dread of +sorcery. A personal name was held to be a part of its +owner; and, just as the possession of a lock of another's +hair, or even a paring of his nail, was believed to confer +power over him, so was the knowledge of his name. +Similarly men in the lower culture have a great fear of +having their likenesses taken; and everybody is familiar +with the belief that a witch, who has made a waxen +image and given it the name of any one whom she wants +to injure, can, by sticking pins in it, or melting it in a +flame, inflict pain, and even death, upon the person whom +the doll represents.<a name="FNanchor_220_220" id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>Illustrations of this superstition might easily be multiplied +from every nation under heaven. But we need not +go so far afield; for if we compare the taboo in the story +of Corwrion with the other stories I have cited from +the same county, we shall have no difficulty in satisfying +ourselves as to its meaning. It can only belong to the +stage of thought which looks with dread on the use that +may be made of one's name by an enemy,—a stage of +thought in which the fairy might naturally fear for a +man of another race, albeit her husband, to become +possessed of her real name. What else can we infer from +the evident terror and grief with which the captive ladies +hear their names from their suitors' lips? It is clear +that the knowledge of the fairy's name conferred power +over her which she was unable to resist. This is surely +the interpretation also of the Danish tale of a man from +whom a Hill-troll had stolen no fewer than three wives. +Riding home late one night afterwards, he saw a great +crowd of Hill-folk dancing and making merry; and +among them he recognized his three wives. One of these +was Kirsten, his best beloved, and he called out to her +and named her name. The troll, whose name was +Skynd, or Hurry, came up to him and asked him why +he presumed to call Kirsten. The man explained that +she had been his favourite wife, and begged him with +tears to give her back to him. The troll at last consented, +but with the proviso that he should never hurry +(<i>skynde</i>) her. For a long time the condition was +observed; but one day, as she was delayed in fetching +something for her husband from the loft, he cried out to +her: “Make haste (<i>skynde dig</i>), Kirsten!” And he had +hardly spoken the words when the woman was gone,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +compelled to return to the troll's abode. Here we have +the phenomenon in a double form; for not only does the +husband regain his wife from the troll by pronouncing +her name, but he loses her once more by inadvertently +summoning her captor. It is a German superstition that +a mara, or nightmare, can be effectually exorcised if the +sufferer surmises who it is, and instantly addresses it by +name.<a name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a> We can now understand how, in the Carmarthenshire +story mentioned in <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII.</a>, the farmer was +rescued from the fairies under whose spell he had been +for twelve months. A man caught sight of him dancing +on the mountain and broke the spell by speaking to him. +It must have been the utterance of his name that drew +him out of the enchanted circle.</p> + +<p>Returning, however, to the legend of Wastin, we may +observe how much narrower and less likely to be infringed +is the taboo imposed on him than that imposed on the +youth of Blaensawdde. Yet the lady of the Van Pool, +whatever her practice, had in theory some relics of old-fashioned +wifely duty. She did not object to the +chastisement which the laws of Wales allowed a husband +to bestow. A husband was permitted to beat his wife +for three causes; and if on any other occasion he raised +his hand against her, she had her remedy in the shape +of a <i>sarâd</i>, or fine, to be paid to her for the disgrace. +But a <i>sarâd</i> would not satisfy this proud lady; nothing +less than a divorce would meet the case. The Partridge's +wife, as we have seen, was still more exacting: she declined +to be struck at all. In the same way the fish who had +become a girl, in the Dyak story, cautioned her husband +to use her well; and when he struck her she rushed +back screaming into the water. In another Bornoese +tradition, which is quoted by Mr. Farrer, the heroine +is taken up to the sky because her husband had struck +her, there having been no previous prohibition.<a name="FNanchor_222_222" id="FNanchor_222_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> +A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> different sort of personal violence is resented in the +Bantik legend cited above. There the husband is +forbidden to tear out one white hair which adorns +Outahagi, his wife's head. He disobeys after she has +given birth to a son; and she vanishes in a tempest and +returns to the sky, where her husband is forced to seek +her again.</p> + +<p>The stipulation made by Wild Edric's bride is still +more arbitrary, according to our notions, than these. +Her husband was forbidden to reproach her on account +of her sisters, or the place from which he snatched her +away. In other words, he was forbidden to charge her +with her supernatural character. When Diarmaid, the +daughter of King Underwaves, comes in the form of a +beggar to Fionn and insists on sharing his couch, she +becomes a beautiful girl, and consents to marry him on +condition that he does not say to her thrice how he found +her. In a variant, the hero, going out shooting, meets +with a hare, which, when hard pressed by the dogs, turns +into a woman. She promises to wed him on his entering +into three vows, namely, not to ask his king to a feast +without first letting her know (a most housewifely +proviso), not to cast up to her in any company that he +found her in the form of a hare, and not to leave her in +the company of only one man. Both these are West +Highland tales; and in the manner of the taboo they +closely resemble that given by Map. In an Illyrian +story, a Vila is by a youth found one morning sleeping +in the grass. He is astonished at her beauty, and plants +a shade for her. When she wakes she is pleased, and +asks what he wants for such kindness. He asks nothing +less than to take her to wife; and she is content, but, +avowing herself a Vila, forbids him to utter that name, +for if he should do so she must quit him at once.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +Keats has glorified one of these stories by his touch; +and it was a true instinct that guided him to make +Lamia's disappearance follow, not on Apollonius' denunciation +of her real character, but on the echo of the +words “A serpent!” by her astounded husband, +Lycius. What matter that the philosopher should make +a charge against her? It was only when her lover +repeated the foul word that she forsook him. The +nightmare-wife in one of the stories mentioned in the +last <a href="#CHAPTER_X">chapter</a> vanishes, it will be remembered, on being +reproached with her origin, and in another on being +asked how she became a nightmare; and the lady in +the Esthonian tale warns her husband against calling her +Mermaid. In this connection it is obvious to refer to +the euphemistic title Eumenides, bestowed by the Greeks +on the Furies, and to the parallel names, Good People and +Fair Family, for fays in this country. In all these cases +the thought is distinguishable from that of the Carnarvonshire +sagas; for the offence is not given by the +utterance of a personal name, but by incautious use of +a generic appellation which conveys reproach, if not +scorn.<a name="FNanchor_223_223" id="FNanchor_223_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></p> + +<p>The heroine of a saga of the Gold Coast was really a +fish, but was in the form of a woman. Her husband had +sworn to her that he would not allude in any way to her +home or her relatives; and, relying on this promise, his +wife had disclosed her true nature to him and taken him +down to her home. He was kindly received there, but +was speared by some fishermen, and only with difficulty +rescued by his new relatives, who enjoined him when he +returned to earth with his wife to keep the spearhead +carefully concealed. It was, however, found and claimed +by its owner; and to escape the charge of theft the husband<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +reluctantly narrated the whole adventure. No evil +consequences immediately ensued from this breach of his +vow. But he had lately taken a second wife; and she +one day quarrelled with the first wife and taunted her +with being a fish. Upbraiding her husband for having +revealed the secret, the latter plunged into the sea and +resumed her former shape. So in the Pawnee story of +The Ghost Wife, a wife who had died is persuaded by her +husband to come back from the Spirit Land to dwell again +with himself and her child. All goes well until he takes +a second wife, who turns out ill-tempered and jealous +of the first wife. Quarrelling with her one day, she +reproaches the latter with being nothing but a ghost. +The next morning when the husband awoke, his first +wife was no longer by his side. She had returned to +the Spirit Land; and the following night both he and the +child died in their sleep—called by the first wife to +herself.<a name="FNanchor_224_224" id="FNanchor_224_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> These sagas bring us back to that of Melusina, +who disappears, it will be recollected, not when the +count, her husband, breaks the taboo, but when, by +calling her a serpent, he betrays his guilty knowledge.</p> + +<p>A name, indeed, is the cause of offence and disappearance +in many other of these stories. The chieftain of the +Quins, who owned the Castle of Inchiquin on the lake of +that name, near the town of Ennis in Ireland, found in +one of the many caves of the neighbourhood a lady who +consented to become his bride, only stipulating that no +one bearing the name of O'Brien should be allowed to +enter the castle gate. When this prohibition was infringed +she sprang through a window with her child +into the lake. The property has long since passed into +the hands of the O'Briens; and amid the ruins of the +castle the fatal window is still shown nearly as perfect as +when the supernatural lady leaped through it into the +waters. It may be safely said that the primitive form of +the taboo has not come down to us in this tale, and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +it owes its present form to the fact that the O'Briens +have acquired the estates once owned by the Quins. +Probably the utterance of some hateful name was +forbidden. But whatever name may have been able +to disturb the equanimity of the Lady of Inchiquin, +we are now familiar enough with these superstitions to +understand why a holy name should be tabooed by the +goat-footed fairy wife of Don Diego Lopez in the Spanish +tale narrated by Sir Francis Palgrave. “Holy Mary!” +exclaimed the Don, as he witnessed an unexpected +quarrel among his dogs, “who ever saw the like?” +His wife, without more ado, seized her daughter and +glided through the air to her native mountains. Nor +did she ever return, though she afterwards, at her son's +request, supplied an enchanted horse to release her husband +when in captivity to the Moors. In two Norman +variants the lady forbids the utterance in her presence of +the name of Death.<a name="FNanchor_225_225" id="FNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a></p> + +<p>These high-born heroines had, forsooth, highly developed +sensibilities. The wife of a Teton (the Tetons are +a tribe of American natives) deserted him, abandoned +her infant to her younger brother's care, and plunged +into a stream, where she became what we call a mermaid,—and +all because her husband had scolded her. In +another American tale, where the wife was a snake, she +deserted him from jealousy. A Tirolese saga speaks of +a man who had a wife of unknown extraction. She had +bidden him, whenever she baked bread, to pour water for +her with his right hand. He poured it once with the +left, to see what would happen. He soon saw, to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +cost; for she flew out of the house. The Queen of +Sheba, according to a celebrated Arab writer, was the +daughter of the King of China and a Peri. Her birth +came about on this wise. Her father, hunting, met two +snakes, a black one and a white, struggling together in +deadly combat. He killed the black one, and caused the +white one to be carefully carried to his palace and into +his private apartment. On entering the room the next +day, he was surprised to find a lovely lady, who announced +herself as a Peri, and thanked him for delivering her the +day before from her enemy, the black snake. As a proof +of her gratitude she offered him her sister in marriage, +subject, however, to the proviso that he should never +question her why she did this or that, else she would +vanish, never to be seen again. The king agreed, and +had every reason to be pleased with his beautiful bride. +A son was born to them; but the lady put it in the fire. +The king wept and tore his beard, but said nothing. +Then a daughter of singular loveliness—afterwards +Balkis, Queen of Sheba—was born: a she-bear appeared +at the door, and the mother flung her babe into its jaws. +The king tore out not only his beard, but the hair of his +head, in silence. A climax, however, came when, in the +course of a war, he and his army had to effect a seven +days' march across a certain desert. On the fifth day +came the queen, a large knife in her hand, and, slitting +the provision-bags and the waterskins, strewed the whole +of the food upon the ground, and brought the king and +his army face to face with death. Her husband could no +longer restrain himself from questioning her. Then she +told him that his vizier, bribed by the enemy, had poisoned +the food and water in order to destroy him and his army, +and that his son had a constitutional defect which would +have prevented him from living three days if she had not +put him in the fire. The she-bear, who was no other +than a trusty old nurse, brought back his daughter at her +call; but the queen herself disappeared, and he saw her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +no more. The Nereid in the Cretan tale referred to in +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Chapter IX</a> obstinately refused to speak, although her +lover had fairly conquered her. But after she bore him +a son, the old woman of whom he had previously taken +counsel advised him to heat the oven and threaten his +mistress that if she would not speak he would throw the +boy into it. The Nereid seized the babe, and, crying out: +“Let go my child, dog!” tore it from his arms and +vanished. It is related by Apollodorus that Thetis, who +was also a Nereid, wished to make her son immortal. To +this end she buried him in fire by night to burn out his +human elements, and anointed him with ambrosia by +day. Peleus, her husband, was not informed of the +reason for this lively proceeding; and, seeing his child +in the fire, he called out. Thetis, thus thwarted, abandoned +both husband and child in disgust, and went back +to her native element. In the great Sanskrit epic of the +Mahábhárata we are told that King Sántanu, walking by +a riverside one day, met and fell in love with a beautiful +girl, who told him that she was the river Ganges, and +could only marry him on condition that he never questioned +her conduct. To this he, with a truly royal +gallantry, agreed; and she bore him several children, all +of whom she threw into the river as soon as they were +born. At last she bore him a boy, Bhíshma; and her +husband begged her to spare his life, whereupon she +instantly changed into the river Ganges and flowed +away. Incompatibility of temper, as evidenced by three +simple disagreements, was a sufficient ground of divorce +for the fairy of Llyn Nelferch, in the parish of Ystradyfodwg, +in Glamorganshire, from her human husband. +In a variant of the Maori sagas, to which I have more +than once referred, the lady quits her spouse in disgust +because he turns out <i>not</i> to be a cannibal, as she had +hoped from his truculent name, Kai-tangata, or man-eater. +Truly a heartrending instance of misplaced confidence!<a name="FNanchor_226_226" id="FNanchor_226_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>Many of these stories belong to the Star's Daughter +type,—that is to say, are wanting in the taboo. But +in every variant of the Swan-maiden group, to whatsoever +type it may belong, the catastrophe is inevitable +from the beginning. Whether or not it depends on the +breach of an explicit taboo, it is equally the work of +doom. A legend of the Loo-Choo Islands expresses this +feeling in its baldest form. A farmer sees a bright light +in his well, and, on drawing near, beholds a woman +diving and washing in the water. Her clothes, strange +in shape and of a ruddy sunset colour, are hanging on +a pine-tree near at hand. He takes them, and thus +compels her to marry him. She lives with him for ten +years, bearing him a son and a daughter. At the end of +that time her fate is fulfilled; she ascends a tree during +her husband's absence, and, having bidden her children +farewell, glides off on a cloud and disappears. Both in +its approximation to the Hasan of Bassorah type and in +its attributing the separation of husband and wife to fate, +this tale agrees remarkably with the Lay of Weyland +Smith, where we are told: “From the south through +Mirkwood, to fulfil their fates, the young fairy maidens +flew. The southern ladies alighted to rest on the sea-strand, +and fell to spinning their goodly linen. First +Allrune, Cear's fair daughter, took Egil to her bright +bosom. The second, Swanwhite, took Slagfin. But +Lathgund, her sister, clasped the white neck of Weyland. +Seven winters they stayed there in peace, but the eighth +they began to pine, the ninth they must needs part. +The young fairy maidens hastened to Mirkwood to fulfil +their fates.” A Vidyádhari, too, who, in the Kathá-sarit-ságara, is caught in the orthodox manner, dwells +with a certain ascetic until she brings forth a child. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +then calmly remarks to her holy paramour: “My curse +has been brought to an end by living with you. If +you desire to see any more of me, cook this child of +mine with rice and eat it; you will then be reunited to +me!” Having said this, she vanished. The ascetic +followed her directions, and was thus enabled to fly after +her. In one of the New Zealand variants we are told +that the time came for Whai-tiri to return to her home. +The same thing is indicated to the wife in a Tirolese +tale by means of a voice, which her husband hears as he +passes through the forest. The voice cried: “Tell Mao +that Mamao is dead.” When he repeated this to his +wife she disappeared; and he never saw or heard of her +after. In view of these narratives there can be little +doubt as to the meaning of the Arab tradition of the +she-demon, from whom one of the clans was descended. +Her union with their human father came suddenly to an +end when she beheld a flash of lightning.<a name="FNanchor_227_227" id="FNanchor_227_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></p> + +<p>The Star's Daughter, however, returned to the sky +because she was homesick. Nor is she the only heroine +of these tales who did so; but homesick heroines are +not very interesting, and I pass to one who had a nobler +reason for quitting her love. The saga is told at +Rarotonga of a girl of dazzling white complexion who +came up out of a fountain and was caught. She became +the wife of a chief. It was the custom of the inhabitants +of the world from which she came to perform the +Cæsarean operation on females who were ready to give +birth; so that the birth of a child involved the mother's +death. When she found on the earth, to her surprise, +that by allowing nature to take its course the mother as +well as the child was saved, she persuaded her husband +to go with her to the lower world to endeavour to put +a stop to the cruel custom. He was ready to accompany<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +her; but after five several efforts to dive with her +through the fountain to the regions below he was +obliged to abandon the attempt. Sorrowfully embracing +each other, the “peerless one” said: “I alone will go to +the spirit-world to teach what I have learnt from you.” +At this she again dived down into the clear waters, and +was never more seen on earth.<a name="FNanchor_228_228" id="FNanchor_228_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></p> + +<p>It will not have escaped the reader's attention, that +among the more backward races the taboo appears +generally simpler in form, or is absent altogether. +Among most, if not all, of the peoples who tell stories +wherein this is the case, the marriage bonds are of the +loosest description; and there is, therefore, nothing very +remarkable in the supernatural bride's conduct. We +might expect to find that as advances are made in +civilization, and marriage becomes more regarded, the +reason for separation would become more and more complex +and cogent. Am I going too far in suggesting that +the resumption by the bride of her bird or beast shape +marks a stage in the development of the myth beyond +the Star's Daughter type; and the formal taboo, where +the human figure is not abandoned, a stage later still? +In our view, indeed, the taboo is not less irrational, as a +means of putting an end to the marriage, than the +retrieved robe or skin. But we forget how recent in +civilization is the sanctity of the marriage-tie. Even +among Christian nations divorce was practised during +the Middle Ages for very slight reasons, despite the +authority of popes and priests. In Eastern countries the +husband has always had little check on his liberty of +putting away a wife for any cause, or no cause at all; +and, though unrecognized by the religious books, which +have enforced the husband's rights with so stern a +sanction, this liberty on his part may have been counter-balanced, +oftener than we think, by corresponding liberty +on the wife's part. Beyond doubt this has been so in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +India, where it is effected by means of marriage settlements. +In Bengal, for instance, a bridegroom is sometimes +compelled to execute a deed in which he stipulates +never to scold his wife, the penalty being a divorce; and +deeds are not unknown empowering the wife to get a +divorce if her husband ever so much as disagree with +her.<a name="FNanchor_229_229" id="FNanchor_229_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a> This is incompatibility of temper with a vengeance! +Even the fairy of Llyn Nelferch was willing to put up +with two disagreements; and no taboo in story has gone, +or could go, further.</p> + +<p>Moreover, some of the taboos are such as the etiquette +of various peoples would entirely approve, though +breaches of them might not be visited so severely as in +the tales. I have already pointed out that the Lady of +the Van Pool would have had a legal remedy for blows +without cause. The romance lies in the wide interpretation +she gave to the blows, and their disproportionate +punishment. These transfer the hearer's sympathies +from the wife to the husband. Precisely parallel seems +to be the injunction laid upon Hohodemi, by Toyotamahime, +daughter of the Sea-god. I know not what may +be the rule in Japan; but it is probably not different +from that which obtains in China. There, as we learn +from the Li Kì, one of the Confucian classics, a wife in +Toyotamahime's condition would, even among the poor, +be placed in a separate apartment; and her husband, +though it would be his duty to send twice a day to ask +after her, would not see her, nor apparently enter her +room until the child was presented to him to be named. +Curiously enough the prohibition in the Japanese tale is +identical with that imposed by Pressina, herself a water-fay, +the mother of Melusina, according to the romance +of Jean d'Arras written at the end of the fourteenth +century. Melusina and the Esthonian mermaid laid +down another rule: they demanded a recurring period +during which they would be free from marital intrusion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> +India is not Europe; but it cannot be thought quite +irrelevant to observe that much more than this is +commonly secured to a bride in many parts of India. +For by the marriage settlement it is expressly agreed +that she is to go to her father's house as often as she +likes; and if her husband object, she is empowered in +the deed to bring an action against him for false imprisonment.<a name="FNanchor_230_230" id="FNanchor_230_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a></p> + +<p>Here we may leave the subject of the taboo. Something, +however, must be said on the Swan-maiden as +divine ancestress. But first of all, let me advert to one +or two cases where divinity is ascribed without progenitorship. +The Maori heroine and her husband are worshipped. +They do not appear to be considered actual +parents of any New Zealand clan; but the husband at all +events would be deemed one of the same blood. Passing +over to New Guinea, we find a remarkable saga concerning +the moon. The moon is a daughter of the +earth, born by the assistance of a native of the village +of Keile, about twenty miles to the eastward of Port +Moresby. A long while ago, digging deeper than usual, +he came upon a round, smooth, silvery, shining object, +which, after he had got it out and lifted it up, grew +rapidly larger and larger until it floated away. He +set out to search for it; nor did he desist until one day +he came upon a large pool in the river and found a +beautiful woman bathing. On the bank lay her grass +petticoat where she had cast it off. He sat down upon +it; and when her attention was attracted to him by his +dogs, they recognized one another. She was the moon, +and he was the man who had dug her up out of the +earth; and he claimed her as his wife. “If I marry +you,” she replied, “you must die; but as you have +touched my clothes you must die in any case, and so +for one day I will marry you, and then you must go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +home to your village and prepare for death.” Accordingly +they were married for one day; and the man +then went home, made his funeral feast and died. The +moon in due course married the sun, as it was her doom +to do; but his intolerable jealousies rendered their union +so wretched that they at last agreed to see as little of one +another as possible. This accounts for their conduct ever +since. An Annamite legend relates that a woodcutter +found some fairies bathing at a lovely fountain. He took +possession of the raiment of one, and hid it at the +bottom of his rice-barn. In this way he compelled its +owner to become his wife; and they lived together +happily for some years. Their son was three years old +when, in her husband's absence, she sold their stock of +rice. On clearing out the barn her clothes were found. +She bade farewell to the child, left her comb stuck in his +collar, donned her clothes and flew away. When her +husband returned and learned how matters stood, he +took his son and repaired to the fountain, where happily +they fell in with some of his wife's servants who were +sent thither to draw water. Engaging them in conversation, +he caused his son to drop the comb into one +of the water-jars. By this means his wife recognized +them, and sent an enchanted handkerchief which enabled +him to fly and follow her servants to her home. After +awhile she sent him and her son back to the earth, +promising to get permission in a short time to return +and live with them. By the carelessness of one of her +servants, however, both father and son were dropped +into the sea and drowned. Apprised of the catastrophe +by ravens, the fairy transformed her servant, by way of +punishment, into—or according to a variant, became +herself—the morning star, while father and son became +the evening star. And now the morning star and the +evening star perpetually seek one another, but never +again can they meet.<a name="FNanchor_231_231" id="FNanchor_231_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>Turning to the instances where ancestry is claimed, we +find that the chiefs of the Ati clan are descended from +“the peerless one” of Rarotonga. The Arawàk Indians of +Guiana reckon descent in the female line. One of their +families takes its name from its foremother, the warlock's +daughter who was provided with the dogskin mentioned +on a previous page. Another family deduces its name +and pedigree from an earth-spirit married to one of its +ancestors; but it does not appear whether any Swan-maiden +myth attaches to her. The fish <i>puttin</i> is sacred +among the Dyaks. On no account will they eat it, because +they would be eating their relations, for they are +descended from the lady whose first and last form was a +<i>puttin</i>. In other words, the <i>puttin</i> is their totem. A +family of the town of Chama on the Gold Coast claims in +like manner to be descended from the fish-woman of +whose story I have given an outline; and a legend to +the same effect is current at the neighbouring town of +Appam; nor in either instance do the members of the +family dare to eat of the fish of the kind to which they +believe their ancestress belonged. The totem superstition +is manifest in the case of the Phœnician, or Babylonian, +goddess Derceto, who was represented as woman to the +waist and thence downward fish. She was believed to +have been a woman, the mother of Semiramis, and to +have thrown herself in despair into a lake. Her worshippers +abstained from eating fish; though fish were +offered to her in sacrifice, and golden fish suspended in +her temple. Melusina was the mother of the family of +Lusignan. She used to appear and shriek on one of the +castle towers as often as the head of the family, or a King +of France, was to die, or when any disaster was about to +happen to the realm, or to the town of Luxemburg. She +was also the author of certain presages of plenty or famine. +Similar legends are told of the castles of Argouges and +Rânes in Normandy. If the Irish Banshee tales could be +minutely examined, it is probable that they would resolve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> +themselves into stories of supernatural ancestresses. To +the Vila of the Illyrian story, and the fairy of Sir Francis +Palgrave's Spanish story, noble families attribute their +origin. A family in the Tirol is descended from the lady +who insisted on her husband's pouring water with his +right hand; and the members of a noble Greek family +have the blood of a Nereid in their veins.<a name="FNanchor_232_232" id="FNanchor_232_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a></p> + +<p>Though the heroine of the Van Pool might never +return to her husband, she was drawn back to earth by +the care of her three sons, who, by means of her instructions, +became celebrated physicians. On one occasion +she accompanied them to a place still called Pant-y-Meddygon +(the hollow, or dingle, of the physicians), and +there pointed out to them the various herbs which grew +around, and revealed their medicinal virtues. It is +added that, in order that their knowledge should not be +lost, the physicians wisely committed the same to +writing for the benefit of mankind throughout all ages. +A collection of medical recipes purporting to be this very +work still exists in a manuscript preserved at Jesus +College, Oxford, which is now in course of publication by +Professor Rhys and Mr. J. Gwenogvryn Evans, and is +known as the Red Book of Hergest. An edition of the +“Meddygon Myddfai,” as this collection is called, was +published by the Welsh MSS. Society thirty years ago, +with an English translation. It professes to have been +written under the direction of Rhiwallon the Physician +and his sons Kadwgan, Gruffydd, and Einion; and they +are called “the ablest and most eminent of the physicians +of their time and of the time of Rhys Gryg, their lord, +and the lord of Dinevor, the nobleman who kept their +rights and privileges whole unto them, as was meet.” +This nobleman was Prince of South Wales in the early +part of the thirteenth century; and his monumental effigy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +is in the cathedral of St. David's. Mr. Gwenogvryn +Evans, than whom there is no higher authority, is of +opinion that the manuscript was written at the end of +the fourteenth century—that is to say, about two hundred +years after the date at which the marriage between the +youth of Blaensawdde and his fairy love is alleged to +have taken place; and it is believed by the editor of the +published volume to be a copy of a still more ancient +manuscript now in the British Museum. Yet it contains +no reference to the legend of the Van Pool. The volume +in question includes a transcript of another manuscript of +the work, which is ascribed in the colophon to Howel +the Physician, who, writing in the first person, claims to +be “regularly descended in the male line from the said +Einion, the son of Rhiwallon, the physician of Myddfai, +being resident in Cilgwryd, in Gower.” This recension +of the work is much later in date than the former. A +portion of it cannot be older than the end of the fifteenth +century; and the manuscript from which it was printed +was probably the result of accretions extending over a +long period of time, down to the year 1743, when it was +copied “from the book of John Jones, Physician of +Myddfai, the last lineal descendant of the family.” The +remedies it contains, though many of them are antique +enough, and superstitious enough, are of various dates +and sources; and, so far from being attributed to a supernatural +origin, they are distinctly said to “have been +proved to be the best and most suitable for the human +body through the research and diligent study of Rhiwallon” +and his three sons. The negative evidence of +the “Meddygon Myddfai,” therefore, tends to show that +the connection of the Van Pool story with the Physicians +is of comparatively recent date.<a name="FNanchor_233_233" id="FNanchor_233_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a></p> + +<p>And yet it is but natural (if we may use such an expression) +that a mythical creature like the Lady of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +Lake should be the progenitor of an extraordinary offspring. +Elsewhere we have seen her sisters the totems +of clans, the goddesses of nations, the parents of great +families and renowned personages. Melusina gave birth +to monsters of ugliness and evil,<a name="FNanchor_234_234" id="FNanchor_234_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a> and through them to a +long line of nobles. So the heroine of the Llanberis +legend had two sons and two daughters, all of whom +were remarkable. The elder son became a great +physician, and all his descendants were celebrated for +their proficiency in medicine. The second son was a +Welsh Tubal-cain. One of the daughters invented the +small ten-stringed harp, and the other the spinning +wheel. “Thus,” we are told, “were introduced the arts +of medicine, manufactures, music, and woollen work!” +If, then, there were a family at Myddfai celebrated for +their leechcraft, and possessed of lands and influence, as +we know was the fact, their hereditary skill would seem to +an ignorant peasantry to demand a supernatural origin; +and their wealth and material power would not refuse +the additional consideration which a connection with the +legend of the neighbouring pool would bring them.</p> + +<p>But for all that the incident of the reappearance by +the mother to her children may have been part of the +original story. The Carnarvonshire fairies of various +tales analogous to that of the Van Pool are recalled by +maternal love to the scenes of their wedded life; and +the hapless father hears his wife's voice outside the window +chanting pathetically:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“If my son should feel it cold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let him wear his father's coat;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If the fair one feel the cold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let her wear my petticoat!”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> +<p class="noindent">Whatever he may have thought of these valuable directions, +they hardly seem to us sufficient to have brought +the lady up from “the bottomless pool of Corwrion” to +utter. There is more sense in the mother's song in a +Kaffir tale. This woman was not of purely supernatural +origin. She was born in consequence of her (human) +mother's eating pellets given her by a bird. Married to +a chief by whom she was greatly beloved, it was noticed +that she never went out of doors by day. In her husband's +absence her father-in-law forced her to go and +fetch water from the river for him in the daytime. Like +the woman by the waters of the Rhone, she was drawn +down into the river. That evening her child cried +piteously; and the nurse took it to the stream in the +middle of the night, singing:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“It is crying, it is crying,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The child of Sihamba Ngenyanga;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It is crying, it will not be pacified.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">The mother thereupon came out of the water, and +wailed this song as she put the child to her breast:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“It is crying, it is crying,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The child of the walker by moonlight.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It was done intentionally by people whose names are unmentionable.<a name="FNanchor_235_235" id="FNanchor_235_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a><br /></span> +<span class="i0">They sent her for water during the day.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She tried to dip with the milk-basket, and then it sank.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tried to dip with the ladle, and then it sank.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tried to dip with the mantle, and then it sank.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">The result of the information conveyed in these words +was her ultimate recovery by her husband with the +assistance of her mother, who was a skilful sorceress.<a name="FNanchor_236_236" id="FNanchor_236_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>A Finnish tale belonging to the Cinderella group +represents the heroine as changed into a reindeer-cow by +an ogress who takes her place as wife and mother. But +her babe will not be comforted; so a woman, to whose +care he is committed, carries him into the forest, and +sings the following incantation:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Little blue eyes, little red-fell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come thou thine own son to suckle,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Feed whom thou hast given birth to!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of that cannibal nought will he,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never drinks from that bloodsucker;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For her breasts to him are loathsome,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor can hunger drive him to them.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">The reindeer cannot withstand this appeal. She casts her +skin, and comes in human form to suckle her child. This +results, after two repetitions in the husband's burning the +reindeer hide and clasping her in his arms. But, like +Peleus, he has to hold her fast in spite of various transformations, +until he has overcome the charm and has +her once more in her pristine shape!<a name="FNanchor_237_237" id="FNanchor_237_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_237_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></p> + +<p>It was not strength so much as boldness and tenacity +that conquered here. In the Kaffir story the husband's +first attempt to pull his wife out of the water by sheer +force failed. Thus, too, in one of the Tirolese stories +already mentioned the husband lies in wait for his wife +when she returns, as usual, to comb her little girl's +hair on a Saturday. He catches her by the arm as +she enters; and she tells him that if he can hold +her for a little while she must stay: otherwise she will +never come again. All his strength is, however, too +little to struggle successfully with her. The mother's +visits to her children are, indeed, a frequent sequel to the +story; and occasionally the tie which compels her to +return is taken advantage of by the forsaken husband to +obtain possession of her again. But fraud, not force, is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +the means employed, as in the Lapp story of the Maiden +out of the Sea, where the mermaid's clothes are once +more confiscated. In a legend of Llyn y Dywarchen (the +Lake of the Sod), not very far from Beddgelert, the +water-nymph subsequently appears to her husband, conversing +with him from a floating turf while he stands on +the shore. Here the motive of the reappearance is the +unusual one of conjugal, rather than parental, affection.<a name="FNanchor_238_238" id="FNanchor_238_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_238_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a></p> + +<p>I must not omit to add that the first Sunday in +August is kept in the neighbourhood of the Van Pool as +the anniversary of the fairy's return to the lake. It is +believed that annually on that day a commotion takes +place in the lake; its waters boil to herald the approach +of the lady with her oxen. It was, and still is (though in +decreasing force), the custom for large numbers of people +to make a pilgrimage to witness the phenomenon; and it +is said that the lady herself appears in mermaid form +upon the surface, and combs her tresses. I have little +doubt that in this superstition we have the relic of a +religious festival in honour of an archaic divinity whose +abode was in the lake. She has, perhaps, only escaped +being an enchanted princess by being a Welsh rather +than a German goddess. If the mermaid form be of +genuine antiquity,—about which I confess to a lurking +suspicion,—it is another bond with the Scottish stories, +with Melusina and with Derceto.<a name="FNanchor_239_239" id="FNanchor_239_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_239_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></p> + +<p>We have now considered the principal points of the +myth. The feather-robe, or skin, we found absent from all +its more archaic examples. There, no change of form +occurs, or when it does occur it is accomplished by simple +transformation. When present, the robe is a mere symbol +of the lady's superhuman nature, or else the result of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +enchantment. These are more recent types, and are all, +or nearly all, <i>märchen</i>. In the later sagas, such as those +of Melusina and the Lady of the Van Pool, it is again +absent; though relics of the change of form frequently +remain.</p> + +<p>Capture of the Swan-maiden proper is effected by theft +of her robe: in other types either by main force, or more +frequently with her consent, more or less willingly given, +or by her own initiative.</p> + +<p>We then passed to the more important subject of the +taboo. The taboo, strictly speaking, only appears where +the peltry is absent. Several of its forms correspond +with rules of antique etiquette. Others recall special +points connected with savage life, such as the dislike of +iron and steel, and the prejudice against the mention of +a personal name. Other prohibitions are against reproaching +the wife with her origin, against reminding +her of her former condition, or against questioning her +conduct or crossing her will. But whether the taboo be +present or absent, the loss of the wife is equally inevitable, +equally foreseen from the beginning. It is the doom of +the connection between a simple man and a superhuman +female. Even where the feather-robe is absent the +taboo is not always found. Among savages the marriage-bond +is often very loose: notably in the more backward +races. And among these the superhuman wife's excuse +for flight is simpler; and sometimes it is only an arbitrary +exercise of will. The taboo grows up with the advance +in civilization.</p> + +<p>Lastly, we considered the Swan-maiden as divine +ancestress. We found her resident in heaven, we found +her worshipped, we found her as the totem of a clan. +The totemistic stories are widely spread,—so widely, +indeed, as to afford a presumption that we have in them +a clue to the whole meaning of the myth. For not only +have we the complete totemistic form, as among the +Dyaks and the tribes of the Gold Coast; but we find the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +superstition fading through the goddess Derceto into +modern sagas of the supernatural mother of a family, +who to her sometimes owe extraordinary powers, and +over whose fate she continually watches.</p> + +<p>Here, then, our study of this beautiful myth must close. +I am far from suggesting that the subject is exhausted. +On the contrary, it is so large and so complex that I +have rigidly abstained from anything more than a very +imperfect examination of its principal features. On some +of the points here partially discussed I shall have something +more to add in our final <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">chapter</a>, when discussing +certain theories on the fairy beliefs.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> Grey, p. 66; Taylor, p. 138; White, vol. i. pp. 95, 115, <i>et seqq.</i>, vol. ii. p. 127, <i>et seqq.</i></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> “F. L. Journal,” vol. i. p. 202; “Revue des Trad. Pop.” vol. iv. p. 305.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> Von Hahn, vol. ii. p. 78. In illustration of these remarks on +marital relations in a society where female kinship only is recognized, let me quote the following paragraph concerning Maori customs. The +Maories, it must be borne in mind, have only recently emerged from this stage; and many relics of it remain.</p> + +<p>“Sometimes the father simply told his intended son-in-law he might come and live with his daughter; she was thenceforth considered his +wife, he lived with his father-in-law, and became one of the tribe, or <i>hapu</i>, to which his wife belonged, and in case of war, was often obliged +to fight against his own relatives. So common is the custom of the bridegroom going to live with his wife's family, that it frequently +occurs, when he refuses to do so, she will leave him, and go back to her relatives; several instances came under my notice where young +men have tried to break through this custom, and have so lost their wives” (Taylor, p. 337).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> Not entirely: see Burton, “Suppl. Nights,” vol. vi. p. 363; “F. +L. Journal,” vol. i. p. 284; Sastri, p. 148.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> In speaking of a type as more or less recent than another, it must +be recollected that I am not speaking of chronological order, but of the order of development. For aught we know, the story of the Marquis +of the Sun may as a matter of date be actually older, could we trace it, than the far more archaic story of Tawhaki. But the society in +which it took shape was more advanced than that disclosed in the Maori legend.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> Webster, p. 120; Campbell, vol. i. p. 25; “Mélusine,” vol. i. +p. 446; “F. L. Españ.” vol. i. p. 187; Schneller, p. 71; Imbriani, p. 411; Cosquin, vol. i. pp. 9, 25; Sébillot, “Contes,” vol. i. p. 197; +Grundtvig, vol. i. p. 46; Cavallius, p. 255; Maspons y Labros, p. 102; “F. L. Journal,” vol. i. p. 284, quoting Lewis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> Waldau, p. 248; Ralston, “R. F. Tales,” p. 120, from Afanasief.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> Compare the assistance rendered by the birds to Tini-rau, <i>suprà</i>, +p. 286. The Eskimo hero is conveyed to his wife on a salmon's tail (Rink, p. 145). Where is the Buddhist pedigree of this incident, or the +evidence of Buddhist influence which produced it?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> Sastri, p. 80; Cosquin, vol. ii. pp. 19, 18; Ralston, “Tibetan +Tales,” p. 72; “F. L. Journal,” vol. ii. p. 9; Vernaleken, p. 280.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> “F. L. Journal,” vol. vii. p. 318; Pitré, vol. iv. pp. 391, 410. +A variant given by Prof. De Gubernatis is nearly allied to the Cinderella group (“Novelline,” p. 29); Brett, p. 176.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> Basset, p. 161, quoting Bresnier, “Cours de langue Arabe.” In a +Maya story given by Dr. Brinton, the husband prevents his wife's transformation in a different way—namely, by throwing salt (“F. L. Journal,” vol. i. p. 251).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> “Journ. Ethnol. Soc.” N. S., vol. ii. p. 26; Giles, <i>passim</i>; Brauns, p. 388.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. v. p. 94.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> Map, Dist. ii. c. 11.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> Map, Dist. ii. c. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. iv. p. 201. Nothing turns on the actual names +in these stories; they have been evidently much corrupted,—probably past all recognition.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> Ibid. p. 189; vol. v. pp. 59, 66; vol. vi. p. 196.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> Pliny l. xvi. c. 95; Thorpe, vol. ii. pp. 275, 277; Stephens, +p. 248, citing the “Barzas Breiz.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> The above paragraphs had scarcely been written when the London +papers (June 1890) reprinted extracts from a letter in the <i>Vossische Zeitung</i> relating the adventures of Dr. Bayol, the Governor of Kotenon, +who was recently imprisoned by the bloodthirsty King of Dahomey. The king was too suspicious to sign the letter written in his name to the +President of the French Republic. In all probability he was unwilling to let the President have his sign manual, for of course M. Carnot would +have no hesitation in bewitching him by its means.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> Keightley, p. 121, quoting from Thiele; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 155.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_222_222" id="Footnote_222_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales (Public Record Comm., +1841) pp. 44, 252. (The Dimetian code was the one in force at Myddfai; but that of Gwynedd was similar in this respect.) Farrer, p. 256.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_223_223" id="Footnote_223_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> Campbell, vol. iii. p. 403; Mac Innes, p. 211; Wratislaw, p. 314. +<i>Cf.</i> a similar story told by a peasant to Dr. Krauss' mother no longer ago than 1888, as having recently happened at Mrkopolje: he “knew the +parties!” (Krauss, “Volksgl.” p. 107).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_224_224" id="Footnote_224_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> Ellis, p. 208; Grinnell, p. 129.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_225_225" id="Footnote_225_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> “Choice Notes,” p. 96; <i>cf.</i> Jahn, p. 364, cited above, p. 279. +(Kennedy relates the story of the Lady of Inchiquin differently. According to him the husband was never to invite company to the +castle. This is probably more modern than the other version. Kennedy, p. 282.) Keightley, p. 458, quoting the <i>Quarterly Review</i>, vol. xxii. +Sir Francis Palgrave, though an accurate writer, was guilty of the unpardonable sin of invariably neglecting to give his authorities. Ibid. +p. 485, quoting Mdlle. Bosquet, “La Normandie Romanesque.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_226_226" id="Footnote_226_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> “Journal Amer. F. L.” vol ii. p. 137; vol. i. p. 76; Schneller, p. +210; “Rosenöl,” vol. i. p. 162; Child, vol. i. p. 337, quoting Schmidt and Apollodorus; “Panjab N. & Q.,” vol. ii. p. 207. (In this form the +story is found as a tradition, probably derived from the Mahábhárata.) “Trans. Aberd. Eistedd.” p. 225; White, vol. i. p. 126.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_227_227" id="Footnote_227_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> Dennys, p. 140; “Corpus Poet. Bor.” vol. i. p. 168; “Kathá-sarit-ságara,” +vol. ii. p. 453, <i>cf.</i> p. 577; White, vol. i. p. 88; Schneller, p. 210; Robertson Smith, p. 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_228_228" id="Footnote_228_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> Gill, p. 265.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_229_229" id="Footnote_229_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> “Indian N. & Q.” vol. iv. p. 147.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_230_230" id="Footnote_230_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> “Sacred Books of the East,” vol. xxvii. pp. 471, 475, 476; “Indian N. & Q.” vol. iv. p. 147.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_231_231" id="Footnote_231_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> Romilly, p. 134; Landes, p. 123.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_232_232" id="Footnote_232_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> Bent, p. 13. The Nereids in modern Greek folklore are conceived +in all points as Swan-maidens. They fly through the air by means of magical raiment (Schmidt, p. 133).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_233_233" id="Footnote_233_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> See my article on the “Meddygon Myddfai,” entitled “Old Welsh +Folk Medicine,” “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. ix. p. 227.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_234_234" id="Footnote_234_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> A certain German family used to excuse its faults by attributing +them to a sea-fay who was reckoned among its ancestors; Birlinger, “Aus Schwaben,” vol. i. p. 7, quoting the “Zimmerische Chronik.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_235_235" id="Footnote_235_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> Namely, her husband's father, whose name she was not +permitted by etiquette to utter. See above, p. 309.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_236_236" id="Footnote_236_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> Theal, p. 54. The Teton lady who became a mermaid was +summoned, by singing an incantation, to suckle her child; “Journal Amer. F. L.” vol. ii. p. 137.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_237_237" id="Footnote_237_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> Schreck, p. 71.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_238_238" id="Footnote_238_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> Poestion, p. 55; “Cymru Fu,” p. 474.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_239_239" id="Footnote_239_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> “Y Cymmrodor,” vol. iv. p. 177, vol. vi. p. 203. I have also +made inquiries at Ystradgynlais, in the neighbourhood of the lake, the results of which confirm the statements of Professor Rhys' correspondents; +but I have failed to elicit any further information.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">Retrospect — The fairies of Celtic and Teutonic races of the same +nature as the supernatural beings celebrated in the traditions of +other nations — All superstitions of supernatural beings explicable +by reference to the conceptions of savages — Liebrecht's Ghost +Theory of some Swan-maiden myths — MacRitchie's Finn Theory — The +amount of truth in them — Both founded on too narrow an +induction — Conclusion.</p></div> + +<p>We have in the preceding pages examined some of the +principal groups of tales and superstitions relating to +Fairies proper,—that is to say, the Elves and Fays of +Celtic and Teutonic tradition.</p> + +<p>Dealing in the first instance with the sagas found in +this country, or in Germany, our investigations have by +no means ended there; for in order to understand these +sagas, we have found occasion to refer again and again to +the <i>märchen</i>, as well as the sagas, of other European +nations,—nay, to the traditions of races as wide apart from +our own in geographical position and culture, as the +South Sea Islanders, the Ainos, and the Aborigines of +America. And we have found among peoples in the +most distant parts of the globe similar stories and superstitions. +Incidentally, too, we have learned something of +the details of archaic practices, and have found the two +great divisions of Tradition,—belief and practice,—inseparably +interwoven.</p> + +<p>I do not pretend to have touched upon all the myths<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> +referring to Fairies, as thus strictly defined; and the +Kobolds and Puck, the Household Spirits and Mischievous +Demons, have scarcely been so much as mentioned. Want +of space forbids our going further. It is hoped, however, +that enough has been said, not merely to give the +readers an idea of the Fairy Mythology correct as far as it +goes, but, beyond that, to vindicate the method pursued +in the investigation, as laid down in our second <a href="#CHAPTER_II">chapter</a>, +by demonstrating the essential identity of human +imagination all over the world, and by tracing the stories +with which we have been dealing to a more barbarous +state of society and a more archaic plane of thought. It +now remains, therefore, to recall what we have ascertained +concerning the nature and origin of the Fairies, +and briefly to consider two rival theories.</p> + +<p>We started from some of the ascertained facts of savage +thought and savage life. The doctrine of Spirits formed +our first proposition. This we defined to be the belief +held by savages that man consists of body and spirit; that +it is possible for the spirit to quit the body and roam at +will in different shapes about the world, returning to the +body as to its natural home; that in the spirit's absence +the body sleeps, and that it dies if the spirit return not; +further, that the universe swarms with spirits embodied +and disembodied, because everything in the world has a +spirit, and all these spirits are analogues of the human +spirit, having the same will and acting from the same +motives; and that if by chance any of these spirits be +ejected from its body, it may continue to exist without a +body, or it may find and enter a new body, not necessarily +such an one as it occupied before, but one quite different. +The doctrine of Transformation was another of our +premises: that is to say, the belief held by savages in +the possibility of a change of form while preserving the +same identity. A third premise was the belief in Witchcraft, +or the power of certain persons to cause the transformations +just mentioned, and to perform by means of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +spells, or symbolic actions and mystical words, various +other feats beyond ordinary human power. And there +were others to which I need not now refer, all of +which were assumed to be expressed in the tales +and songs, and in the social and political institutions, +of savages. Along with these, we assumed the hypothesis +of the evolution of civilization from savagery. +By this I mean that just as the higher orders of animal +and vegetable life have been developed from germs which +appeared on this planet incalculable ages ago; so during +a past of unknown length the civilization of the highest +races of men has been gradually evolving through the +various stages of savagery and barbarism up to what we +know it to-day; and so every nation, no matter how +barbarous, has arisen from a lower stage than that in +which it is found, and is on its way, if left to its natural +processes, to something higher and better. This is an +hypothesis which does not, of course, exclude the possibility +of temporary and partial relapses, such as we know +have taken place in the history of every civilized country, +any more than it excludes the possibility of the decay and +death of empires; but upon the whole it claims that +progress and not retrogression is the law of human +society. The different stages of this progress have +everywhere left their mark on the tales and songs, the +sayings and superstitions, the social, religious and political +institutions—in other words, on the belief and practice—of +mankind.</p> + +<p>Starting from these premises, we have examined five +groups, or cycles, of tales concerning the Fairy Mythology. +We have found Fairyland very human in its +organization. Its inhabitants marry, sometimes among +themselves, sometimes into mankind. They have +children born to them; and they require at such times +female assistance. They steal children from men, and +leave their own miserable brats in exchange; they steal +women, and sometimes leave in their stead blocks of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> +wood, animated by magical art, or sometimes one of +themselves. In the former case the animation does not +usually last very long, and the women is then supposed +to die. Their females sometimes in turn become captive +to men. Unions thus formed are, however, not lasting, +until the husband has followed the wife to her own +home, and conquered his right to her afresh by some +great adventure. This is not always in the story: presumably, +therefore, not always possible. On the other +hand, he who enters Fairyland and partakes of fairy +food is spell-bound: he cannot return—at least for many +years, perhaps for ever—to the land of men. Fairies +are grateful to men for benefits conferred, and resentful +for injuries. They never fail to reward those who do +them a kindness; but their gifts usually have conditions +attached, which detract from their value and sometimes +become a source of loss and misery. Nor do they forget +to revenge themselves on those who offend them; and +to watch them, when they do not desire to be manifested, +is a mortal offence. Their chief distinction from men is +in their unbounded magical powers, whereof we have had +several illustrations. They make things seem other than +they are; they appear and disappear at will; they make +long time seem short, or short time long; they change +their own forms; they cast spells over mortals, and keep +them spell-bound for ages.</p> + +<p>All these customs and all these powers are asserted of +the Fairies properly so called. And when we look at +the superstitions of other races than the Celts and +Teutons, to which our inquiries have been primarily +directed, we find the same things asserted of all sorts of +creatures. Deities, ancestors, witches, ghosts, as well as +animals of every kind, are endowed by the belief of +nations all over the world with powers precisely similar +to those of the Fairies, and with natures and social +organizations corresponding with those of men. These +beliefs can only be referred to the same origin as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> +fairy superstitions; and all arise out of the doctrine of +spirits, the doctrine of transformations, and the belief in +witchcraft, held by savage tribes.</p> + +<p>But here I must, at the risk of some few repetitions, +notice a theory on the subject of the Swan-maiden myth +enunciated by Liebrecht. That distinguished writer, in +his book on Folklore, devotes a section to the consideration +of the group which has occupied us in the last two +chapters, and maintains, with his accustomed wealth of +allusion and his accustomed ingenuity, that some at +least of the Swan-maidens are nothing more nor less than +ghosts of the departed, rescued from the kingdom of +darkness for a while, but bound to return thither after +a short respite here with those whom they love. Now +it is clear that if Swan-maiden tales are to be resolved +into ghost stories, all other supernatural beings, gods and +devils as well as fairies and ghosts, will turn out to be +nothing but spectres of the dead. A summary of his +argument, and of the reasons for rejecting it, will, therefore, +not only fill up any serious gaps in our discussion +of the main incidents of the myth in question; but it +will take a wider sweep, and include the whole subject +of the present volume.</p> + +<p>His argument, as I understand it, is based, first, on the +terms of the taboo. The object of the taboo, he thinks, +is to avoid any remark being made, any question being +asked, any object being presented, which would remind +these spirits of their proper home, and awaken a longing +they cannot withstand to return. There is an old +Teutonic legend of a knight who came in a little boat +drawn by a swan to succour and wed a distressed lady, +on whom he laid a charge never to ask whence he came, +or in what country he was born. When she breaks this +commandment the swan reappears and fetches him away. +So the nightmare-wife, as we have seen, in one of the +tales vanishes on being asked how she became a nightmare. +Again, the fay of Argouges disappears on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> +name of Death being mentioned in her presence. A fair +maiden in an Indian tale, who is found by the hero in +the neighbourhood of a fountain, and bears the name of +Bheki (Frog), forbids her husband ever to let her see +water. When she is thirsty and begs him for water, the +doom is fulfilled on his bringing it to her. A similar +tale may be added from Ireland, though Liebrecht does +not mention it. A man who lived near Lough Sheelin, +in County Meath, was annoyed by having his corn eaten +night after night. So he sat up to watch; and to his +astonishment a number of horses came up out of the lake +driven by a most beautiful woman, whom he seized and +induced to marry him. She made the stipulation that +she was never to be allowed to see the lake again; and +for over twenty years she lived happily with him, till +one day she strolled out to look at the haymakers, and +caught sight of the distant water. With a loud cry she +flew straight to it, and vanished beneath the surface.<a name="FNanchor_240_240" id="FNanchor_240_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_240_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></p> + +<p>Liebrecht's next reason is based upon the place where +the maiden is found,—a forest, or a house in the forest. +In this connection he refers to the tavern, or drinking-shop, +on the borders of the forest, where Wild Edric +found his bride, and points to a variant of the story, also +given by Walter Map, in which she is said, in so many +words, to have been snatched <i>from the dead</i>.<a name="FNanchor_241_241" id="FNanchor_241_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_241_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> The +forest, he fancies, is the place of the dead, the underworld. +Lastly, he gives numerous legends of the +Middle Ages,—some of which found their way into the +“Decameron,” that great storehouse of floating tales, +and other literary works of imagination, as well as into +chronicles,—and instances from more modern folklore, +wherein a mistress or wife dies, or seems to die, and is +buried, yet is afterwards recovered from the tomb, and +lives to wed, if a maiden, and to bear children. He +supports these by references to the vampire superstitions,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +and to the case of Osiris, who returned after death to +Isis and became the father of Horus. And, following +Uhland, he compares the sleep-thorn, with which Odin +pricked the Valkyrie, Brynhild, and so put her into a +magic slumber, to the stake which was driven into the +corpse suspected of being a vampire, to prevent its rising +any more from the grave and troubling the living.</p> + +<p>Now it may be admitted that there is much that is +plausible, much even that is true, in this theory. It +might be urged in its behalf that (as we have had more +than one occasion in the course of this work to know) +Fairyland is frequently not to be distinguished from the +world of the dead. Time is not known there; and the +same consequences of permanent abode follow upon +eating the food of the dead and the food of the fairies. +Further, when living persons are stolen by fairies, mere +dead images are sometimes left in their place. These +arguments, and such as these, might well be added to +Liebrecht's; and it would be hard to say that a formidable +case was not made out. And yet the theory +fails to take account of some rather important considerations. +Perhaps the strongest point made—a point +insisted on with great power—is that of the taboo. The +case of the lady of Argouges is certainly very striking, +though, taken by itself, it is far from conclusive. It +might very well be that a supernatural being, in remaining +here, would be obliged to submit to mortality, +contrary perhaps to its nature; and to remind it of this +might fill it with an irresistible impulse to fly from so +horrible a fate. I do not say this is the explanation, but +it is as feasible as the other. In the Spanish story it was +not the utterance of the name of Death, but of a holy +name—the name of Mary—which compelled the wife to +leave her husband. Here she was unquestionably regarded +by Spanish orthodoxy, not as a spirit of the dead, +but as a foul fiend, able to assume what bodily form it +would, but bound to none. The prohibition of inquiry as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +to the bride's former home may arise not so much from +a desire to avoid the recollection, as from the resentment +of impertinent curiosity, which we have seen arouses +excessive annoyance in supernatural bosoms. The resentment +of equally impertinent reproaches, or a reminiscence +of savage etiquette that avoids the direct +name, may account at least as well for other forms of the +taboo. Liebrecht suggests most ingeniously that assault +and battery must strike the unhappy elf still more +strongly than reproaches, as a difference between her +present and former condition, and remind her still more +importunately of her earlier home, and that this explains +the prohibition of the “three causeless blows.” It may be +so, though there is no hint of this in the stories; and yet +her former condition need not have been that of a ghost +of the dead, nor her earlier home the tomb. By far the +greater number of these stories represent the maiden as +a water-nymph; but it is the depths of the earth rather +than the water which are commonly regarded as the +dwelling-place of the departed. Moreover, the correspondence +I have tried to point out between the etiquette +of various peoples and the taboo,—such, for instance, as +the ban upon a husband's breaking into his wife's seclusion +at a delicate moment in his family history,—would +remain, on Liebrecht's theory, purely accidental. Nor +would the theory account for the absence of a taboo in +the lower savagery, nor for the totemistic character of +the lady, nor, least of all, for the peltry which is the +most picturesque, if not the most important, incident in +this group of tales.</p> + +<p>In fact, the only direct evidence for Liebrecht's contention +is the variant of Wild Edric's legend alluded to by +Map. His words are, speaking of Alnoth, Edric's son, +a great benefactor of the see of Hereford: “The man +whose mother vanished into air openly in the sight of +many persons, being indignant at her husband's reproaching +her that he had carried her off by force from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +among the dead (<i>quod cam a mortuis rapuisset</i>).” Upon +this it is to be observed that the expression here made +use of cannot be regarded as one which had accidentally +dropped out of the narrative previously given; but it is +an allusion to an independent and inconsistent version, +given in forgetfulness that the writer had already in +another part of his work related the story at large and +with comments. There he had explicitly called Alnoth—the +heir and offspring of a devil (<i>dæmon</i>), and had +expressed his wonder that such a person should have +given up his whole inheritance (namely, the manor of +Ledbury North, which he made over to the see of Hereford +in gratitude for the miraculous cure of his palsy) to +Christ in return for his restored health, and spent the +rest of his life as a pilgrim. Mediæval writers (especially +ecclesiastics) were in a difficulty in describing fairies. +They looked upon them as having an objective existence; +and yet they knew not how to classify them. Fairies were +certainly neither departed saints nor holy angels. Beside +these two kinds of spirits, the only choice left was between +devils and ghosts of the wicked dead, or, at most, of +the dead who had no claims to extraordinary goodness. +They did not believe in any other creatures which could +be identified with these mysterious elves. It is no +wonder, therefore, if they were occasionally perplexed, +occasionally inconsistent, sometimes denouncing them as +devils, at other times dismissing them as ghosts.<a name="FNanchor_242_242" id="FNanchor_242_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_242_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></p> + +<p>This is what seems to have happened to Map. In the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +two chapters immediately preceding, he has given two +legends illustrating each horn of the dilemma. One of +these relates the marriage of Henno With-the-Teeth, +who found a lovely maiden in a grove on the coast of +Normandy. She was sitting alone, apparelled in royal +silk, and weeping. Her beauty and her tears attracted +the gallant knight, to whom, in response to his questions, +she told a cock-and-bull story about her father having +brought her, all unwilling as she was, by sea to be +married to the King of France; but having been driven +by a storm on the shore, she said she had landed, and +then her father had taken advantage of a sudden change +of wind to sail away, leaving her to her fate. Henno +was an easy conquest: he took her home and married +her. Unluckily, however, he had a mother who had +her suspicions. She noticed that her fair daughter-in-law, +though she went often to church, always upon some +trumpery excuse came late, so as to avoid being sprinkled +with holy water, and as regularly left before the consecration +of the elements. So this virtuous old vixen +determined to watch one Sunday morning; and she +discovered that after Henno had gone to church, his wife, +transformed into a serpent, entered a bath, and in a little +while, issuing upon a cloth which her maid had spread +out for her, she tore it into pieces with her teeth before +resuming human form. The maid afterwards went +through the like performance, her mistress waiting upon +her. All this was in due course confided to Henno, who, +in company with a priest, unexpectedly burst in the next +time upon his wife and her servant, and sprinkled them +with holy water. Mistress and maid thereupon with a +great yell bounded out through the roof and disappeared.</p> + +<p>Clearly these ladies were devils: no other creatures +with self-respect would be guilty of such transformations +and such constant disregard of the proprieties at church. +Ghosts get their turn in Map's other narrative. It concerns +a man whose wife had died. After sorrowing long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> +for her death, he found her one night in a deep and +solitary dale amid a number of women. With great +joy he seized her, and, carrying her off, lived with her +again for many years and had a numerous progeny. Not +a few of her descendants were living when Map wrote, +and were known as <i>the children of the dead woman</i>. +This, of course, is not a Swan-maiden story at all. At +the end of <a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chapter V</a>. I have referred to some similar +tales; and what we learned during our discussion of the +subject of Changelings may lead us to suspect that we +have here in an imperfect form a story of the exchange +of an adult woman for a lifeless image, and her recovery +from the hands of her ravishers. This is by no means +the same plot as that of the stories recounted by Liebrecht +in which the wife or the betrothed is rescued from the +grave. Those stories, at least in warm climates where +burials are hurried, and in rude ages when medical skill +is comparatively undeveloped, are all within the bounds +of possibility. There does not appear in them any trace +of mythology,—hardly even of the supernatural; and he +would be a bold man who would deny that a substratum +of fact may not underlie some of them. To establish +their relationship with the group we are now considering, +links of a much more evident character are wanting. +The fact that they are traditional is not of itself sufficient. +The fairy of the Forest of Dean had not revived after +death, or supposed death; nor had she been recovered +from supernatural beings who had stolen her away. +Map's account, to whatever his expression <i>from the dead</i> +may point, is inconsistent with either the one or the +other. Rather she was stolen from her own kindred, to +become the wife of him who had won her by his own +right arm.</p> + +<p>But a single instance, and that instance either inconsistent +with the analogous traditions, or unable to supply +a cogent or consistent explanation of them, is not a +very safe basis for a theory. What is it worth when it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> +is inconsistent even with the theory itself? Indeed, if +it were consistent with the theory, we might match it +with another instance wholly irreconcilable. Mikáilo +Ivanovitch in the Russian ballad marries a Swan-maiden, +who, unlike some of the ladies just mentioned, insists +upon being first baptized into the Christian faith. She +makes the stipulation that when the one of them dies the +other shall go living into the grave with the dead, and +there abide for three months. She herself dies. Mikáilo +enters the grave with her, and there conquers a dragon +which comes to feast on the dead bodies. The dragon is +compelled to fetch the waters of life and death, by means +of which the hero brings his dead love back to life. +Marya, the White Swan, however, proved herself so +ungrateful that after awhile she took another husband, +and twice she acted the part of Delilah to Mikáilo. The +third time she tried it he was compelled in self-defence to +put an end to her wiles by cutting off her head. This is +honest, downright death. There is no mistaking it. But +then it is impossible that Marya, the White Swan, was +a mere ghost filched from the dead and eager to return. +Yet the story of Marya is equally a Swan-maiden story, +and is just as good to build a theory on as Map's variant +of Wild Edric.<a name="FNanchor_243_243" id="FNanchor_243_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_243_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a></p> + +<p>In replying, however, to the arguments of so learned +and acute a writer as Liebrecht, it is not enough to point +out these distinctions and inconsistencies: it is not +enough to show that the terms of the taboo do not +warrant the construction he has put upon them, nor +that he has failed to account for very significant incidents. +If he has mistaken the meaning of the legends, we should +be able to make clear the source of his error. It arises, +I hold, from an imperfect apprehension of the archaic +philosophy underlying the narratives. Liebrecht's comparisons +are, with one exception, limited to European +variants. His premises were thus too narrow to admit of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +his making valid deductions. Perhaps even yet we are +hardly in a position to do this; but at all events the +sources of possible error are diminished by the wider +area we are able to survey, and from the evidence of +which we reason. We have compared the stories, both +mediæval and modern, mentioned by Liebrecht, with +<i>märchen</i> and sagas told among nations outside European +influence in various degrees of civilization, down to the +savagery of Kaffirs and Dyaks. We have succeeded in +classifying their differences, and in spite of them we have +found all the tales in substantial agreement. They are +all built on the same general plan; the same backbone +of thought runs through them; and between them all +there is no greater divergence than that which in the +physical realm separates mammal from bird, or bird from +reptile. It is inevitable to conclude that even the most +recently discovered folk-tale of them has come to us from +a distant period when our forefathers were in the same +rude state as Dyaks and South Sea Islanders. No actual +adventure of Wild Edric or Raymond of Lusignan +gave rise to these stories. English patriot and Burgundian +Count were only the names whereon they fastened,—the +mountains which towered above the plain and +gathered about their heads the vapours already floating +in the atmosphere. We must therefore go back far +beyond the Middle Ages to learn in what manner we are +to understand these stories,—back to the state of savagery +whence the inhabitants of Europe had long emerged +when Map and Gervase wrote, but of which the relics +linger among us even yet.</p> + +<p>The necessarily meagre exposition of some of the most +salient characteristics of savage thought with which we +started has been illustrated and its outlines filled in to +some extent in the course of the subsequent discussions. +I need not, therefore, do more than draw attention as +briefly as possible to those characteristics that are +relevant here. First and foremost, we have found some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +of the Swan-maiden tales boldly professing to account for +the worship of totems; and so thoroughly does totemism +appear to be ingrained in the myth that there is some +reason for thinking that here we have a clue to the +myth's origin and meaning. But the intellect to which +totemism is a credible theory draws no line of demarcation +between humanity and the life and consciousness +it recognizes in the whole encircling universe. To it, +accordingly, a story of union between a man and a fish, +a swan or a serpent, involves no difficulty. When +advancing knowledge, and with knowledge repulsion +from such a story, begins to threaten it, another belief +advances to its defence. For nothing is easier to +creatures as clever as the lower animals than a change +of form. They can, whenever they please, assume the +appearance of man or woman: it is as natural to them +as the shape under which they are usually seen. Again, +the life that swarms about the savage philosopher does +not always manifest itself visibly. It is often unseen. +The world is filled with spirits, of whom some have +inhabited human bodies, others have not. To the savage +they are all alike; for those who have not hitherto +inhabited human bodies may do so at will, or may +inhabit other bodies, either animal or vegetable, and +those who have once done so may do so again.</p> + +<p>All these—Totemism, the equality and essential +identity of nature between man and all other objects +in the universe, the doctrine of Transformation, the +doctrine of Spirits—are phases of savage thought, every +one of which has been incorporated in the myth of the +Swan-maidens, and every one of which, except one special +and very limited development of the doctrine of Spirits, +is ignored in Liebrecht's theory. The theory is, indeed, +an admirable illustration of the danger of reasoning +without a sufficiently wide area of induction. Liebrecht's +mistake on the present occasion was twofold: he only +dealt with one or, at most, two types of the myth; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> +he ignored the savage variants. Had he taken into +consideration other types—such as Hasan, the Marquis +of the Sun, the Star's Daughter;—had he been aware +of the savage variants all over the world, he would not have +formed a theory so inconsistent with the facts, and so +little fitted to solve the problems propounded, not merely +by the phenomena of the Swan-maiden group, but by +those of other tales in which supernatural beings intervene.</p> + +<p>In reasoning by induction, the greater the number of +facts taken into account, the greater the probability of +sound reasoning; and therefore the greater the number of +facts a theory will explain, the more likely it is to be true. +Had Liebrecht's theory touched only the Swan-maiden +group, it would have been more convenient to discuss it +in the last <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">chapter</a>. But inasmuch as its truth would +involve much wider issues, it seemed better to reserve it +to be dealt with here. For if the theory be valid for +Melusina, the Lady of the Van Pool, and other water-nymphs, +it is valid also for the “water-woman” who, in +a Transylvanian story, dwelt in a lake in the forest +between Mehburg and Reps. She had two sons, whose +father was a man, and the younger of whom became king +of that land. But when the Saxon immigration took +place the incomers cut down the wood; the lake dried +up, and as it dried up, the lives of the water-spirit and +her son gradually sank lower and lower, and at last were +extinguished with the extinction of the lake.<a name="FNanchor_244_244" id="FNanchor_244_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_244_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a> Now I will +venture to say that this story is to be explained satisfactorily +on no theory yet broached, unless it be the theory +that we have in it a survival of the savage doctrine of +Spirits. Least of all it is to be explained by any adaptation +of what I may call the Ghost theory,—namely, that the +water-spirit and her son were already the spirits of dead +human beings.</p> + +<p>Leaving this one example of the value of Liebrecht's +theory, as applied to water-spirits, to stand for all, I turn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> +to another order of beings with supernatural powers +referred to several times in the foregoing pages: I mean +Witches. I adduced in <a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X</a>. a Tirolese tale, a +variant of the Melusina type, wherein the wife was a +witch. It will have been obvious to every reader that +the tale is simply that of Cupid and Psyche with the +parts reversed; and I might urge that Cupid and the +witch were beings of precisely the same nature. Waiving +this for the moment, however, no one will deny that the +witch takes the place of the Swan-maiden, or fairy, in other +stories of the group. But perhaps it may be suggested +that the name <i>witch</i> (<i>Angana</i>, <i>Hexe</i>) has got into the +story by accident; and that not a witch in our sense of +the word, but a ghost from the dead, is really meant. +There might be something to be said for this if there +were any substantial distinction to be made between +ghosts and witches and fairies. In the tales and superstitions +discussed in the present volume we have found +no distinction. Whether it be child-stealing, transformation, +midnight meetings, possession and gift of enchanted +objects, spell-binding, or whatever function, or habit, or +power be predicted of one, it will be found to be common +to the three. I conclude, therefore, that they are all +three of the same nature. This is what a consideration +of the superstitions of savages would lead me to expect. +The belief in fairies, ghosts, and witches is a survival of +those superstitions. It is, of course, not found in equal +coherence, equal strength of all its parts, equal logic (if I +may so express it) everywhere. We must not be surprised +if, as it is gradually penetrated by the growing +forces of civilization, it becomes fragmentary, and the +attributes of these various orders of supernatural beings +begin to be differentiated. They are never completely +so; and the proof of this is that what is at one place, at +one time, or by one people, ascribed to one order, is at +another place, at another time, or by another people, +ascribed to another order. The nature of the classical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +deities was identical too; and hence Cupid and the witch +of the Tirolese tale are the masculine and feminine +counterparts of the same conception.</p> + +<p>Lastly, a few words must be expended on a totally +different theory lately put forward by Mr. MacRitchie. +This theory is not altogether a new one; it has been +before the world for many years. But Mr. MacRitchie has, +first in “The Archæological Review,” and since then more +elaborately in a separate book, entitled “The Testimony +of Tradition,” worked it out and fortified it with an +array of arguments philological, historical, topographical, +and traditional. He claims to have established that the +fairies of the Celtic and Teutonic races are neither more +nor less than the prehistoric tribes whom they conquered +and drove back, and whose lands they now possess. He +identifies these mysterious beings with the Picts of Scotland, +the Feinne of the Scottish Highlands and of Ireland, +and the Finns and Lapps of Scandinavia. And he suggests +that the Eskimo, the Ainos, and I know not what other +dwarfish races, are relics of the same people; while Santa +Klaus, the patron saint of children, is only a tradition of +the wealthy and beneficent character borne by this ill-used +folk. Primarily his arguments are concerned with Scotland +and Ireland. He builds much on the howes or +barrows, called in Scotland Picts' houses, which in both +countries bear the reputation of being the haunt of fairies +or dwarfs, and some of which seem to have been in fact +dwelling-places. He quotes Dr. Karl Blind to show that +Finns intermarried with the Shetlanders, and that they +were believed to come over in the form of seals, casting +aside their sealskins when they landed. In this connection +he relates how the Finn women were captured by taking +possession of their sealskins, without which they could +not get away from their captors. He also shows that +illimitable riches and magical powers were ascribed to +the Picts and to the Finns, and that the Lapps were +pre-eminent in witchcraft.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span></p> + +<p>I shall leave it to Celtic scholars to deal with Mr. +MacRitchie's remarkable etymologies and with his historical +arguments, confining myself to one or two +observations on the traditional aspect of the theory. +Now I should be the last to undervalue any traces of +history to be found in tradition. I have elsewhere drawn +attention to the importance of the study of this element +in folk-tales;<a name="FNanchor_245_245" id="FNanchor_245_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_245_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a> and I am quite ready to admit that +nothing is more likely than the transfer to the mythical +beings of Celtic superstition of some features derived +from alien races. Savages and barbarians are in the +habit of imputing to strangers and foes in greatly +extended measure the might of witchcraft they claim +for themselves. And the wider the differences between +themselves and the foreigners, the more mysterious to +them are the habits and appearance of the latter, and the +more powerful do they believe them. All this might +account for many details that we are told concerning +the dwarfs, the Picts, the Finns, or by whatever other +names the elvish race may have been known to Scots +and Irishmen. But further than this I cannot go with +Mr. MacRitchie. I hold his error, like that of Liebrecht +already discussed, to be founded on too narrow an induction. +This volume will have been written in vain, as it +appears that for Mr. MacRitchie the vastly more important +works of Dr. Tylor and Mr. Andrew Lang have been +written in vain, unless I have made it clear that the +myths of nations all over the world follow one general +law and display common characteristics. I am not +astonished to find the Shetland tale of marriage with +a seal-woman reproduced on the Gold Coast and among +the Dyaks of Borneo. But Mr. MacRitchie ought to be +very much astonished; for he can hardly show that the +historical Finns were known in these out-of-the-way +places. It seems to me natural to find that in Scotland +and Ireland fairies dwelt in barrows, and in Annam and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> +Arabia in hills and rocks; and that both in this country +and in the far East they inveigled unhappy mortals into +their dwellings and kept them for generations—nay, for +centuries. That the Shoshone of California should dread +their infants being changed by the Ninumbees, or dwarfs, +in the same way as the Celts of the British Islands, and +the Teutons too, dreaded their infants being changed, +does not seem at all incredible to me. That to eat the +food of the dead in New Zealand prevents a living man +from returning to the land of the living, just as Persephone +was retained in Hades by partaking of the pomegranate, +and just as to eat the food of fairies hinders the Manx or +the Hebrew adventurer from rejoining his friends on the +surface of the earth, is in no way perplexing to me. But +all these things, and they might be multiplied indefinitely, +must be very perplexing to Mr. MacRitchie, if he be not +prepared to prove that Annamites and Arabs, Hebrews +and Shoshone, New Zealanders and classical Greeks alike, +were acquainted with the Picts and the Finns, and alike +celebrated them in their traditions.</p> + +<p>The truth Mr. MacRitchie does not reckon with is, that +no theory will explain the nature and origin of the fairy +superstitions which does not also explain the nature and +origin of every other supernatural being worshipped or +dreaded by uncivilized mankind throughout the world. +And until he shall address himself to this task, however +ingenious his guesses, however amusing his philology, +however delightfully wild his literary and historical +arguments, he will not succeed in convincing any +serious student.</p> + +<p>Here then we must pause. Obvious are the differences +between the nations of mankind: differences of physical +conformation,—that is to say, of race; divergences of +mental and moral development,—that is to say, of civilization. +Hitherto the task attempted by folklore has been +to show that underlying all these differences there is a +broad foundation of common agreement; that distinctions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> +of race do not extend to mental and moral constitution; +that the highest nation on the ladder of culture has +climbed from the same rung on which the lowest are yet +standing; and that the absurd and incongruous customs +and institutions and the equally absurd and impossible +stories and beliefs found imbedded in the civilization of +the more advanced nations are explicable, and explicable +only, as relics of the phases wherethrough those nations +have passed from the depths of savagery.</p> + +<p>If it be admitted in general terms that the evidence +collected and marshalled up to the present time has +established among sure scientific facts so much of the past +of humanity, this achievement is but the beginning of +toil. A wide field has been opened to the student for the +collection and arrangement of details, before the true +meaning of many a strange custom and stranger tale will +be thoroughly understood. I have tried to do something +of the kind in the foregoing pages. But beyond this +there is the more delicate investigation of the ethnic +element in folklore. Can we assign to the various races +their special shares in the development of a common +tradition? Can we show what direction each race took, +and how and why it modified the general inheritance?</p> + +<p>On the other hand, it is not asserted that the status of +savagery was the primitive condition of men. Of course +it may have been. But if not, there is work to be done +in endeavouring to ascertain what lies behind it. The +questions started from this point wander across the border +of folklore into pure psychology; but it is a psychology +based not upon introspection and analysis of the mind of +the civilized man, developed under the complex influences +that have been acting and reacting during untold years of +upward struggling, always arduous and often cruel, but a +psychology which must be painfully reconstructed from +the simplest and most archaic phenomena disclosed by +anthropological research. Who can say what light may +not thus be thrown as well on the destiny as on the origin +of mankind?</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_240_240" id="Footnote_240_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240_240"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> Liebrecht, p. 54; “F. L. Journal,” vol. vii. p. 312.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_241_241" id="Footnote_241_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241_241"><span class="label">[241]</span></a> Map, Dist. iv. c. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_242_242" id="Footnote_242_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242_242"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> The sect of the Cabalists, indeed, believed in the existence of spirits +of nature, embodiments or representatives of the four elements, which they called respectively gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and ondines. To +this strange sect some of the savage opinions on the subject of spirits seem to have been transmitted in a philosophical form from classical +antiquity. They taught that it was possible for the philosopher by austerity and study to rise to intercourse with these elemental spirits, +and even to obtain them in marriage. But the orthodox regarded the Cabalists as magicians and their spirits as foul incubi. See Lecky, +“History of Rationalism,” vol. i. p. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_243_243" id="Footnote_243_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243_243"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> Hapgood, p. 214.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_244_244" id="Footnote_244_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_244_244"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> Müller, p. 33.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_245_245" id="Footnote_245_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_245_245"><span class="label">[245]</span></a> “Folklore,” vol. i. pp. 113, 116.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><center><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> <i><a href="#APPENDIX">See Appendix</a></i> for more details</center><br /></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.</h2> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Bibliographical List of some of the Works referred to<br /> +in the foregoing Pages.</span></h4> + + +<p class="hang"><i>Aberd. Eistedd.</i> See <i>Trans. Aberd. Eistedd.</i></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Alpenburg.</span> See Von Alpenburg.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Amélineau.</span> Contes et Romans del' Égypte Chrétienne par E. +Amélineau. 2 vols. Paris, 1888.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Amer. F. L.</i> See <i>Journal Amer. F. L.</i></p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Am Urds-Brunnen.</i> Am Urds-Brunnen. Mittheilungen für Freunde +volksthümlich-wissenschaftlicher Kunde. 6 vols. [The first two +volumes entitled <i>Am Urds-Brunnen</i>, <i>Organ des Vereins für +Verbreitung volksthümlich-wissenschaftlicher Kunde</i>.] Rendsburg, +1881-89.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Antiquary.</i> The Antiquary, a Magazine devoted to the study of the +Past. 22 vols. London, 1880-90, still proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Archivio.</i> Archivio per lo studio delle Tradizioni Popolari Rivista +Trimestrale diretta da G. Pitré e S. Salomone-Marino. 9 vols. +Palermo, 1882-90, still proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Arch. Rev.</i> The Archæological Review. 4 vols. London, 1888-90.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Arnaudin.</span> Contes Populaires recueillis dans la Grande Lande le +Born les Petites Landes et le Marensin par Félix Arnaudin. Paris, +1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Aubrey</span>, <i>Miscellanies</i>. Miscellanies upon various subjects. By John +Aubrey, F.R.S. 4th edition. London, 1857.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Remaines</i>. Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme. By John +Aubrey, R.S.S. 1686-87. Edited and annotated by James +Britten, F.L.S. London, 1881. (Folk-Lore Society.)</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><i>Bahar-Danush.</i> Bahar-Danush; or Garden of Knowledge. An Oriental +Romance. Translated from the Persic of Einaiut Oollah. +By Jonathan Scott. 3 vols. Shrewsbury, 1799.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Baring-Gould.</span> Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. By S. Baring-Gould, +M.A. New edition. London, 1869.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bartsch.</span> Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg. Gesammelt +und herausgegeben von Karl Bartsch. 2 vols. Wien, 1879-80.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Basset.</span> Contes Populaires Berbères recueillis, traduits et annotés par +René Basset. Paris, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bent.</span> The Cyclades, or Life among the Insular Greeks. By J. +Theodore Bent, B.A. London, 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Birlinger</span>, <i>Aus Schwaben</i>. Aus Schwaben Sagen, Legenden, Aberglauben, +Sitten, Rechtsbräuche, Ortsneckereien, Lieder, Kinderreime +Neue Sammlung von Anton Birlinger. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, 1874.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Volksthümliches</i>. Volksthümliches aus Schwaben. Herausgegeben +von Dr. Anton Birlinger. 2 vols. and Wörterbüchlein. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-62.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bladé.</span> Contes Populaires de la Gascogne par M. Jean-François +Bladé. 3 vols. Paris, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Border Minstrelsy.</i> Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border: consisting of +Historical and Romantic Ballads, collected in the Southern +Counties of Scotland. 3rd edition. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1806.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bowker.</span> Goblin Tales of Lancashire. By James Bowker, F.R.G.S.I. +London, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Braga.</span> Ethnographia Portugueza. O Povo Portuguez nos seus +Costumes, Crenças e Tradições por Theophilo Braga. 2 vols. Lisboa, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brand.</span> Observations on Popular Antiquities: chiefly illustrating the +origin of our vulgar Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions. By John Brand, M.A., F. and Sec. S.A. Arranged and revised, with +additions by Henry Ellis, F.R.S., Sec. S.A. 2 vols. London, 1813.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brauns.</span> Japanische Märchen und Sagen gesammelt und herausgegeben +von David Brauns. Leipzig, 1885</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bray.</span> See Mrs. Bray.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brett.</span> The Indian Tribes of Guiana: their condition and habits. +By the Rev. W. H. Brett. London, 1868.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Legends and Myths</i>. Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal +Indians of British Guiana. Collected and edited by the Rev. +William Henry Brett, B. D. London, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span></p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Brython</i>. See <i>Y Brython</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Burton</span>, <i>Nights</i>. A plain and literal translation of the Arabian Nights' +Entertainments, now entitled The Book of the Thousand Nights +and a Night, with introduction, explanatory notes, &c. by Richard +F. Burton. 10 vols. Privately printed. 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Suppl. Nights</i>. Supplemental Nights to The Book of the +Thousand Nights and a Night with notes anthropological and +explanatory by Richard F. Burton. 6 vols. Privately printed. +1886-88.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Busk</span>, <i>Sagas</i>. Sagas from the Far East; or Kalmouk and Mongolian +Traditionary Tales. With historical preface and explanatory notes +by the author of Patrañas, &c. [Miss R. H. Busk]. London, +1873.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Campbell.</span> Popular Tales of the West Highlands orally collected +with a translation by J. F. Campbell. 4 vols. Edinburgh, 1860-62.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Campbell</span>, Lord A. See Lord A. Campbell.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Carnoy.</span> Littérature Orale de la Picardie par E. Henry Carnoy. +Paris, 1883.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Castrén</span>, <i>Altaischen Völker</i>. M. Alexander Castrén's Ethnologische +Vorlesungen über die Altaischen Völker nebst Samojedischen Märchen und Tartarischen Heldensagen. Herausgegeben von +Anton Schiefner. St. Petersburg, 1857.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Cavallius.</span> Schwedische Volkssagen und Märchen. Nach mündlicher +Ueberlieferung gesammelt und herausgegeben von Gunnar Olof Hyltén Cavallius und George Stephens. Mit Varianten und +kritischen Anmerkungen. Deutsch von Carl Oberleitner. Wien, 1848.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Certeux et Carnoy.</span> Contributions au Folk-Lore des Arabes. +L'Algérie Traditionnelle Légendes, Contes, &c., par A. Certeux et +E. Henry Carnoy. First vol. only published. Paris, 1884.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Chambers.</span> Popular Rhymes of Scotland. Robert Chambers. London, 1870.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Child.</span> The English and Scottish Popular Ballads edited by +Francis James Child. Boston, U.S.A. Privately printed. [The prospectus is dated 1882. It announced “about 8 parts”: only +six of these (making three volumes) have been issued to date.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Choice Notes.</i> Choice Notes from “Notes and Queries.” Folk Lore. +London, 1859.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Comparetti.</span> Novelline Popolari Italiane pubblicate ed illustrate da +Domenico Comparetti. First vol. only published. Roma, 1875.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Corpus Poet. Bor.</i> Corpus Poeticum Boreale. The Poetry of the Old +Northern Tongue from the earliest times to the thirteenth century. Edited by Gudbrand Vigfusson, M.A., and F. York Powell, M.A. +2 vols. Oxford, 1883.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Cosquin.</span> Emmanuel Cosquin. Contes Populaires de Lorraine comparés +avec les Contes des autres Provinces de France et des Pays Étrangers. 2 vols. Paris, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span></p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Count Lucanor.</i> Count Lucanor; or The Fifty Pleasant Stories of Patronio. Written by the Prince Don Juan Manuel and first +done into English by James York, M.D., 1868. London, 1888.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Cromek.</span> Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song with Historical +and Traditional Notices relative to the Manners and Customs of the Peasantry, now first published by R. H. Cromek, F.A.S. Ed. +London, 1810. Reprint: Paisley, 1880.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Curtin.</span> Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland by Jeremiah Curtin. London, 1890.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Cymmrodor.</i> See <i>Y Cymmrodor</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Cymru Fu.</i> “Cymru Fu”; yn cynwys Hanesion, Traddodiadau, yn +nghyda Chwedlau a Dammegion Cymreig (oddiar lafar gwlad a gweithiau y prif awduron). Wrexham, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span> [Preface dated +October 1862.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Cymru Fu N. and Q.</i> Cymru Fu: Notes and Queries relating to the past History of Wales and the Border Countries. 2 vols. Cardiff, +1887-90, still proceeding.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Davies</span>, <i>Mythology.</i> The Mythology and Rites of the British Druids +by Edward Davies, author of Celtic Researches. London, 1809.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Day.</span> Folk-Tales of Bengal by the Rev. Lal Behari Day. London, 1883.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">De Gubernatis</span>, <i>Novelline</i>. Le Novelline di Santo Stefano raccolte +da Angelo De Gubernatis. Torino, 1869.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Usi Natal.</i> A. De Gubernatis. Storia comparata degli Usi +Natalizi in Italia e presso gli altri-popoli Indo-Europei. Milano, 1878.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Zool. Myth.</i> Zoological Mythology or The Legends of Animals +by Angelo De Gubernatis. 2 vols. London, 1872.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Dennys.</span> The Folk-Lore of China, and its affinities with that of the +Aryan and Semitic Races. By N. B. Dennys, Ph.D., F.R.G.S. London, 1876.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Des Michels.</span> Contes Plaisants Annamites traduits en Français +pour la première fois par Abel Des Michels. Paris, 1888.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Dorman.</span> The Origin of Primitive Superstitions and their Development, +&c., among the Aborigines of America. By Rushton M. Dorman. Philadelphia, 1881.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Dorsa.</span> La Tradizione Greco-Latina negli usi e nelle credenze +popolari della Calabria citeriore per Vincenzo Dorsa. 2a edizione. Cozenza, 1884.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><i>Early Trav.</i> Early Travels in Palestine, edited by Thomas Wright +Esq., M.A., F.S.A., &c. London, 1848.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ellis.</span> The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa. +Their religion, manners, customs, laws, language, &c. By A. B. +Ellis. London, 1887.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Farrer.</span> Primitive Manners and Customs. By James A. Farrer. London, 1879.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>F. L. Españ.</i> Folk-Lore Español. Biblioteca de las Tradiciones +Populares Españolas. 11 vols. Sevilla, 1883-90, still proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Folk-Lore.</i> Folk-Lore, a quarterly Review of Myth, Tradition, Institution, and Custom. London, 1890, still proceeding. +[Organ of the Folk-Lore Society.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>F. L. Journal.</i> The Folk-Lore Journal. 7 vols. London, 1883-89. [Organ of the Folk-Lore Society.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>F. L. Record.</i> The Folk-Lore Record. 5 vols. <span class="smcap">N.D.</span> [1878-82. +Organ of the Folk-Lore Society.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Fleury.</span> Littérature Orale de la Basse-Normandie (Hague et Val-de-Saire) +par Jean Fleury. Paris, 1883.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Garnett.</span> The Women of Turkey and their Folklore by Lucy M. J. +Garnett. The Christian Women. London, 1890.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Gent. Mag. Lib.</i> The Gentleman's Magazine Library: being a classified collection of the chief contents of the Gentleman's Magazine +from 1731 to 1868. Edited by George Lawrence Gomme, F.S.A. 11 vols. London, 1883-90, still proceeding. [Vols. not numbered, +but distinguished by the title of their contents.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Gerv. Tilb.</span> Des Gervasius von Tilbury Otia Imperialia. In einer +Auswahl neu herausgegeben und mit Anmerkungen begleitet von Felix Liebrecht. Hannover, 1856.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Gesta Romanorum.</i> Gesta Romanorum translated from the Latin +by the Rev. Charles Swan, revised and corrected by Wynnard Hooper, B.A. London, 1877.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Giles.</span> Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Translated and +annotated by Herbert A. Giles. 2 vols. London, 1880.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Gill.</span> Myths and Songs from the South Pacific. By the Rev. +William Wyatt Gill, B.A. London, 1876.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Girald. Cambr.</span> The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, +translated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart., in The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis, edited by Thomas Wright Esq., +M.A., F.S.A. London, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Gonzenbach.</span> Sicilianische Märchen. Aus dem Volksmund gesammelt +von Laura Gonzenbach. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1870.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Gredt.</span> Sagenschatz des Luxemburger Landes. Gesammelt von Dr. +N. Gredt. Luxemburg, 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Gregor.</span> Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland. +By the Reverend Walter Gregor, M.A. London, 1881. (Folk-Lore Society.)</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Grey.</span> See Sir G. Grey.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Grimm</span>, <i>Märchen.</i> Kinder- und Haus-Märchen gesammelt durch die +Brüder Grimm. 17te Auflage. Berlin, 1880.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Tales</i>. Grimm's Household Tales. With the author's notes +translated from the German and edited by Margaret Hunt. 2 vols. London, 1884.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Teut. Myth.</i> Teutonic Mythology by Jacob Grimm translated +from the fourth edition with notes and appendix by James Steven Stallybrass. 4 vols. with continuous pagination. London, 1880-88.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Grinnell.</span> Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales with notes on the +Origin, Customs, and Character of the Pawnee People by George Bird Grinnell. New York, 1889.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Grohmann.</span> Sagen aus Böhmen gesammelt und herausgegeben von +Dr. Josef Virgil Grohmann. Prag, 1883.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Grundtvig.</span> Dänische Volksmärchen von Svend Grundtvig. Übersetzt +von Willibald Leo. Neue Ausgabe. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Gubernatis.</span> See De Gubernatis.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Hahn.</span> See Von Hahn.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Haltrich.</span> Deutsche Volksmärchen aus dem Sachsenlande in Siebenbürgen. +Gesammelt von Josef Haltrich. 4te Auflage. Wien, 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Hapgood.</span> The Epic Songs of Russia by Isabel Florence Hapgood. +New York, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span> [Preface dated August 1885.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Harland</span> and <span class="smcap">Wilkinson</span>. Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, +Sports, &c. By John Harland, F.S.A., and T. T. Wilkinson, F.R.A.S. London, 1873.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Hazlitt</span>, <i>Fairy Tales</i>. Fairy Tales, Legends and Romances illustrating +Shakespeare and other Early English writers to which are prefixed two preliminary dissertations by Joseph Ritson. [Edited +by W. C. Hazlitt.] London, 1875.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Henderson.</span> Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of +England and the Borders. New Edition. By William Henderson. London, 1879. (Folk-Lore Society.)</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Howells.</span> Cambrian Superstitions, comprising Ghosts, Omens, +Witchcraft, Traditions, &c. By W. Howells. Tipton, 1831.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Hunt.</span> Popular Romances of the West of England or the Drolls, +Traditions and Superstitions of Old Cornwall collected and edited by Robert Hunt, F.R.S. 3rd edition, revised and enlarged. London, 1881.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Imbriani.</span> La Novellaja Fiorentina fiabe e novelline stenografate in +Firenze dal dettato popolare da Vittorio Imbriani. Ristampa +accresciute di molte novelle inedite, &c., nelle quali è accolta La +Novellaja Milanese dello stesso raccoglitore. Livorno, 1877.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Im Thurn.</span> Among the Indians of Guiana being sketches chiefly +anthropologic from the interior of British Guiana. By Everard F. im Thurn, M.A. London, 1883.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Indian N. and Q.</i> Indian Notes and Queries (late “Panjab Notes and +Queries”), a Monthly Periodical conducted by Captain R. C. Temple and others. 7 vols. Allahabad, 1883-90, still proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Irish Folk Lore</i>, or <i>Irish F. L.</i> Irish Folk Lore: Traditions and +Superstitions of the Country; with humorous tales. By “Lageniensis.” Glasgow, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span> [Preface dated April 1870.]</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Jahn.</span> Volkssagen aus Pommern und Rügen. Gesammelt und +herausgegeben von Dr. Ulrich Jahn. Stettin, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Jannsen.</span> Märchen und Sagen des estnischen Volkes gesammelt und +übersetzt von Harry Jannsen. Two series. 1st ser. Dorpat, 1881: 2nd ser. Riga, 1888.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Jones</span> and <span class="smcap">Kropf</span>. The Folk-Tales of the Magyars. Collected by +Kriza, Erdélyi, Pap and others. Translated and edited by the Rev. W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf. London, 1889. (Folk-Lore Society.)</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Journal. Amer. F. L.</i> The Journal of American Folk-Lore. 3 vols. +Boston, 1888-90, still proceeding. [Organ of the American Folk-Lore Society.]</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><i>Kalewala.</i> Kalewala, des National-Epos der Finnen, nach der zweiten +Ausgabe ins Deutsche übertragen von Anton Schiefner. Helsingfors, 1852.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Kathá Sarit Ságara.</i> The Kathá Sarit Ságara, or Ocean of the Streams +of Story translated from the original Sanskrit by C. H. Tawney, M.A. 2 vols. Calcutta, 1880-84.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Keightley.</span> The Fairy Mythology, illustrative of the Romance and +Superstition of various Countries by Thomas Keightley. New Edition, revised and greatly enlarged. London, 1882.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kennedy.</span> Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts. Collected and +narrated by Patrick Kennedy. London, 1866.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kirby.</span> The New Arabian Nights. Select Tales, not included by +Galland or Lane. Translated and edited by W. F. Kirby. London, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Knoop.</span> Volkssagen, Erzählungen, Aberglauben, Gebräuche und +Märchen aus dem östlichen Hinterpommern. Gesammelt von Otto Knoop. Posen, 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Knowles.</span> Folk-Tales of Kashmir. By the Rev. J. Hinton Knowles. +London, 1888.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Krauss.</span> Sagen und Märchen der Südslaven. Zum grossen Teil aus +ungedruckten Quellen von Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1883-84.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Volksgl.</i> Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Südslaven. +Vorwiegend nach eigenen Ermittlungen von Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss. Münster i W. 1890.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kreutzwald.</span> Ehstnische Märchen. Aufgezeichnet von Friedrich +Kreutzwald. Aus dem Ehstnischen übersetzt von F. Löwe. Halle, 1869.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kuhn.</span> Märkische Sagen und Märchen nebst einem Anhange von +Gebräuchen und Aberglauben gesammelt und herausgegeben von Adalbert Kuhn. Berlin, 1843.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kuhn und Schwartz.</span> Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche +aus Mecklenburg, &c. Aus dem munde des Volkes gesammelt und herausgegeben von A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz. Leipzig, 1848.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lady Wilde.</span> Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of +Ireland. By Lady Wilde. 2 vols. London, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">La Croix.</span> Manners Customs and Dress during the Middle Ages and +during the Renaissance Period by Paul La Croix (Bibliophile +Jacob). 4th thousand. London, 1876.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Landes.</span> Contes et Légendes Annamites par A. Landes. Saigon, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>La Tradition.</i> La Tradition Revue Générale des Contes, Légendes, +Chants, Usages, Traditions et Arts populaires. 4 vols. Paris, 1887-90, still proceeding. [Organ of the Société des Traditionnistes.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Leland.</span> The Algonquin Legends of New England, or Myths and +Folk-Lore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes by Charles G. Leland. London, 1884.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lemke.</span> Volksthümliches in Ostpreussen von E. Lemke. 2 vols. +Mohrungen, 1884-87.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Liebrecht.</span> Zur Volkskunde. Alte und neue Aufsätze von Felix +Liebrecht. Heilbronn, 1879.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Llyvyr Coch.</i> See <i>Y Llyvyr Coch</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang">Lord <span class="smcap">A. Campbell</span>, <i>Waifs and Strays</i>. Waifs and Strays of Celtic +Tradition. I. Argyllshire Series. Edited by Lord Archibald Campbell. London, 1879.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Luzel</span>, <i>Contes</i>. Contes Populaires de Basse-Bretagne par F. M. +Luzel. 3 vols. Paris, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Légendes Chrét.</i> Légendes Chrétiennes de la Basse-Bretagne par +F. M. Luzel. 2 vols. Paris, 1881.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Veillées</i>. Veillées Bretonnes par F. M. Luzel. Morlaix, 1879.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">MacInnes.</span> Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. Folk and Hero +Tales. Collected, Edited and Translated by the Rev. D. Mac Innes. With Notes by the Editor and Alfred Nutt. London, 1890.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">MacRitchie.</span> The Testimony of Tradition by David MacRitchie. London, 1890.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Malory.</span> La Mort d' Arthure. The History of King Arthur and of +the Knights of the Round Table. Compiled by Sir Thomas Malory, Knt. Edited from the text of the edition of 1634 by +Thomas Wright Esq., M.A., F.S.A. 2nd edition. 3 vols. London, 1866.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Map.</span> Gualteri Mapes De Nugis Curialium Distinctiones Quinque. +Edited from the unique manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford by Thomas Wright Esq., M.A., F.S.A., &c. London, +1850.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Masnavi i Ma'navi.</i> Masnavi i Ma'navi. The Spiritual Couplets of +Maulána Jalálu-'d-Dín Muhammad i Rúmí. Translated and +abridged by E. H. Whinfield, M.A. London, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Maspons y Labros.</span> Folk-Lore Catalá. Cuentos Populars Catalans +per lo Dr. Francisco de S. Maspons y Labros. Barcelona, 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Meier.</span> Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben, +gesammelt von Ernst Meier. Stuttgart, 1852.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Märchen</i>. Deutsche Volksmärchen aus Schwaben. Aus dem +Munde des Volks gesammelt und herausgegeben von Dr. Ernst Meier. 3te Auflage. Stuttgart, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span></p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Mélusine.</i> Mélusine Recueil de Mythologie, Littérature Populaire, +Traditions et Usages publié par H. Gaidoz et E. Rolland. [Since +vol. iii. by H. Gaidoz alone.] 5 vols. Paris, 1878-90, still +proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Michels.</span> See Des Michels.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Bray.</span> The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy; their Natural +History, &c., by Mrs. Bray. New Edition. 2 vols. London, 1879.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Müller.</span> Siebenbürgische Sagen gesammelt und herausgegeben von +Dr. Friedrich Müller. Zweite veränderte Auflage. Wien, 1885.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Napier.</span> Folk Lore: or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland +within this Century. By James Napier, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., &c. Paisley; 1879.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Nicholson.</span> Folk Lore of East Yorkshire. By John Nicholson. +London, 1890.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Niederhöffer.</span> Mecklenburg's Volkssagen. Gesammelt und herausgegeben +von M. Dr. A. Niederhöffer. 4 vols. Leipzig, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span> [Vorwort dated Februar 1857.]</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ortoli.</span> Les Contes Populaires del' Ile de Corse par J. B. Frédéric +Ortoli. Paris, 1883.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><i>Panjab N. and Q.</i> See <i>Indian N. and Q.</i></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Pitré.</span> Biblioteca delle Tradizioni Popolari Siciliane per cura di +Giuseppe Pitré. 18 vols. Palermo, 1871-88.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Poestion.</span> Lappländische Märchen, Volkssagen, Rätsel und Sprichwörter. +Nach lappländischen, norwegischen und schwedischen Quellen von J. C. Poestion. Wien, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Powell</span> and <span class="smcap">Magnusson.</span> Icelandic Legends (collected by Jón +Arnason) Translated by George E. J. Powell and Eiríkr Magnusson. 2nd series. London, 1866.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Preller</span>, <i>Röm. Myth.</i> Römische Mythologie von L. Preller. 3te +Auflage. 2 vols. Berlin, 1881-83.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Prym und Socin.</span> Kurdische Sammlungen. Erzählungen und Lieder +im dialekte des Tûr 'Abdîn. Gesammelt, herausgegeben und übersetzt von Eugen Prym und Albert Socin. St. Petersburg, +1887. [A second part, by Socin only, consisting of tales and songs in the dialect of Bohtan, has since been published, 1890.]</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Radloff.</span> Proben der Volkslitteratur der Türkischen Stämme Süd-Sibiriens, +gesammelt und übersetzt von Dr. W. Radloff. 6 vols. [the last two entitled P. der V. der Nördlichen Türkischen +Stämme.] St. Petersburg, 1866-86.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ralston</span>, <i>R. F. Tales</i>. Russian Folk-Tales by W. R. S. Ralston, +M.A. London, 1873.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Tibetan Tales</i>. Tibetan Tales derived from Indian Sources. +Translated from the Tibetan of the Kah-Gyur by F. Anton von Schiefner. Done into English from the German by W. R. S. +Ralston, M.A. London, 1882.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Rappold.</span> Sagen aus Kärnten. Zusammengestellt und theilweise +neu erzählt von Professor J. Rappold. Augsburg, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Revue des Trad. Pop.</i> Revue des Traditions Populaires. 5 vols. +Paris, 1886-90, still proceeding. [Organ of the Société des Traditions Populaires.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Rhys</span>, <i>Hibbert Lectures</i>. The Hibbert Lectures, 1886. Lectures on +the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic Heathendom. By John Rhys. London, 1888.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Rink.</span> Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo by Dr. Henry Rink. +Translated from the Danish by the author. Edited by Dr. Robert Brown. Edinburgh, 1875.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Robertson Smith.</span> Lectures on the Religion of the Semites. First +Series. The Fundamental Institutions. By W. Robertson Smith, M.A., LL.D. Edinburgh, 1889.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Romero.</span> Contos Populares do Brazil collegidos pelo Dr. Sylvio +Romero. Lisboa, 1885.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Romilly.</span> From my Verandah in New Guinea Sketches and Traditions +by Hugh Hastings Romilly, C.M.G. London, 1889.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Rosenöl.</i> Rosenöl oder Sagen und Kunden des Morgenländes aus +arabischen, persischen und türkischen Quellen gesammelt. 2 vols. Stuttgart, 1813.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Rudder.</span> A New History of Gloucestershire. Cirencester, Samuel Rudder, 1779.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sastri.</span> The Dravidian Nights Entertainments: being a translation +of Madanakamarajankadai. By Pandit S. M. Natesa Sastri. Madras, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Saxo</span>, <i>Gesta Dan</i>. Saxonis Grammatici Gesta Danorum, herausgegeben +von Alfred Holder. Strassberg, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Schleicher.</span> Litaüische Märchen, Sprichwörter, Rätsel und Lieder. +Gesammelt und übersetzt von August Schleicher. Weimar, 1857.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Schmidt.</span> Griechische Märchen, Sagen und Volkslieder gesammelt, +übersetzt und erläutert von Bernhardt Schmidt. Leipzig, 1877.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Schneller.</span> Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol. Gesammelt von +Christian Schneller. Innsbruck, 1867.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Schreck.</span> Finnische Märchen übersetzt von Emmy Schreck. Weimar, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sébillot</span>, <i>Contes</i>. Paul Sébillot. Contes Populaires de la Haute +Bretagne. Paris, 1880. Do. 2me série. Contes des Paysans et des Pécheurs. Paris, 1881. Do. 3me série. Contes des Marins. +Paris, 1882.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Litt. Orale</i>. Littérature Orale de la Haute Bretagne par Paul +Sébillot. Paris, 1881.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Trad. et Super.</i> Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute Bretagne +par Paul Sébillot. 2 vols. Paris, 1882.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Shortland.</span> Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders: with +illustrations of their manners and customs. By Edward Shortland, M.A. 2nd edition. London, 1856.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sikes.</span> British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, +Legends and Traditions. By Wirt Sikes. London, 1880.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Simrock.</span> Handbuch der Deutschen Mythologie mit Einschluss der +nordischen. Von Karl Simrock. 3te Auflage. Bonn, 1869.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sir G. Grey.</span> Polynesian Mythology, and Ancient Traditional +History of the New Zealand Race, as furnished by their Priests and Chiefs. By Sir George Grey. London, 1855.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Spitta Bey.</span> Contes Arabes Modernes recueillis et traduits par +Guillaume Spitta-Bey. Leide, 1883.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Steere.</span> Swahili Tales, as told by natives of Zanzibar. With an +English translation. By Edward Steere, LL.D. London, 1870.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Stephens.</span> The Literature of the Kymry: being a critical essay on +the history of the Language and Literature of Wales during the twelfth and two succeeding centuries. By Thomas Stephens. +2nd edition. London, 1876.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Sternberg.</span> The Dialect and Folk-Lore of Northamptonshire. By +Thomas Sternberg. London, 1851.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Taylor.</span> Te Ika a Maui; or New Zealand and its Inhabitants. By +the Rev. Richard Taylor, M.A., F.G.S. 2nd edition. London, 1870.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Temple</span>, <i>Legends of the Panjab</i>. The Legends of the Panjab. By +Captain R. C. Temple. 2 vols. Bombay, N.D. [Preface to vol. i. dated May 1884.] Still proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tettau.</span> See Von Tettau.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Theal.</span> Kaffir Folk-Lore; a Selection from the Traditional Tales +current amongst the people living on the eastern border of the Cape Colony. By George M'Call Theal. London, <span class="smcap">N.D.</span> [Preface +dated Jan. 1882.]</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Thomas of Erceldoune.</span> The Romance and Prophecies of Thomas +of Erceldoune, printed from five manuscripts. Edited, with introduction +and notes, by James A. H. Murray, LL.D. London 1875 (Early Eng. Text Soc.).</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Thorburn.</span> Bannú; or, Our Afghan Frontier. By S. S. Thorburn. +London, 1876.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Thorpe.</span> Northern Mythology, comprising the principal popular +traditions and superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands. Compiled by Benjamin Thorpe. 3 vols. London, 1851-52.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— <i>Yule-Tide Stories</i>. Yule-Tide Stories. A collection of Scandinavian +and North German Popular Tales and Traditions. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe. London, 1853.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Tradition.</i> See <i>La Tradition</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Trad. Pop. Revue des.</i> See <i>Revue des Trad. Pop.</i></p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Train.</span> An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man, +from the earliest times to the present date. By Joseph Train, F.S.A. Scot. 2 vols. Douglas, 1845.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Trans. Aberd. Eistedd.</i> Eisteddfod Genedlaethol y Cymry. Cofnodion +a Chyfansoddiadau Buddugol Eisteddfod Aberdar, 1885. Transactions of the National Eisteddfod of Wales, Aberdare, +1885. Caerdydd, 1887.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tylor.</span> Primitive Culture: Researches into the development of +Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. By Edward B. Tylor. 2 vols. London, 1871.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Vernaleken.</span> In the Land of Marvels. Folk-Tales from Austria +and Bohemia by Theodor Vernaleken. London, 1889.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Volkskunde.</i> See <i>Zeits. f. Volkskunde</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Von Alpenburg.</span> Mythen und Sagen Tirols. Gesammelt und herausgegeben +von Johann Nepomuk Ritter von Alpenburg. Zürich, 1857.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Von Hahn.</span> Griechische und albanesiche Märchen. Gesammelt +übersetzt und erläutert von J. G. von Hahn. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1864.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Von Tettau.</span> Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und +Westpreussens. Gesammelt von W. J. A. von Tettau und J. D. H. Temme. Berlin, 1837.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Von Wlislocki.</span> Märchen und Sagen der Transsilvanischen Zigeuner +Gesammelt und übersetzt von Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki. Berlin, 1886.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Waldau.</span> Böhmisches Märchenbuch. Deutsch von Alfred Waldau. +Prag, 1860.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Waldron.</span> A Description of the Isle of Man by George Waldron, +Gent. Edited by William Harrison, Esq. Douglas, 1865.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Webster.</span> Basque Legends: collected chiefly in the Labourd by +Rev. Wentworth Webster, M.A. 2nd edition. London, 1879.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wenzig.</span> Westslawischer Märchenschatz. Deutsch bearbeitet von +Joseph Wenzig. Neue Ausgabe. Leipzig, 1886.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">White.</span> The Ancient History of the Maori, his Mythology and +Traditions by John White. 4 vols. Wellington, 1887-89, still proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Wide Awake Stories.</i> Wide Awake Stories. A collection of tales +told by little children, between sunset and sunrise, in the Panjab +and Kashmir. By F. A. Steel and R. C. Temple. Bombay, 1884.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wilde.</span> See Lady Wilde.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wirt Sikes.</span> See Sikes.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wlislocki.</span> See Von Wlislocki.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wratislaw.</span> Sixty Folk-Tales from exclusively Slavonic sources. +Translated, with brief introductions and notes, by A. H. Wratislaw, M.A. London, 1889.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wright</span>, <i>Middle Ages</i>. Essays on subjects connected with the +Literature, Popular Superstitions and History of England in the +Middle Ages. By Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A. 2 vols. London, 1846.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><i>Y Brython.</i> Y Brython: Cylchgrawn Llenyddol Cymru; dan olygiad +y Parch. D. Silvan Evans. 5 vols. Tremadog, 1858-63.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Y Cymmrodor.</i> Y Cymmrodor, embodying the Transactions of the +Cymmrodorion Society of London. 10 vols. London, 1877-90, +still proceeding.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>Y Llyvyr Coch.</i> Y Llyvyr Coch o Hergest. Y gyvrol I. The Text of +the Mabinogion and other Welsh Tales from the Red Book of +Hergest edited by John Rhys, M.A. and J. Gwenogvryn Evans. +Oxford, 1887.<br /><br /> + +The Mabinogion, from the Welsh of the Llyfr Coch o Hergest +(The Red Book of Hergest) in the Library of Jesus College, Oxford. +Translated, with notes, by Lady Charlotte Guest. London, 1877.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="hang"><i>Zeits. f. Volksk.</i> Zeitschrift für Volkskunde in Sage und Mär, Schwank +und Streich, Lied, Rätsel und Sprichwörter, Sitte und Brauch +herausgegeben von Dr. Edmund Veckenstedt. 2 vols. Leipzig, +1889-90, still proceeding.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2> + +<ul> +<li>Actæon, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> +<li>Afghan legend, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> +<li><a name="Alsatian" id="Alsatian"></a>Alsatian tales, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> +<li>American Indians, Tales of North, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li> +<li>Ananci tale, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> +<li>Animism, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> +<li>Annamite tales, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> +<li><a name="Arabian" id="Arabian"></a>Arabian Nights Entertainments, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> +<li>Arab tales (<i>see</i> <a href="#Arabian">Arabian Nights Entertainments</a>), <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> +<li>Ardshi-Bordshi, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +<li>Arthur, King, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> +<li><a name="Art" id="Art"></a>Art of Story-telling, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + <li><ul> + <li>In Western Highlands, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> + <li>Brittany, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> + <li>Portugal, Brazil, Gascony, Wales, England, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> + <li>France, Sicily, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> + <li>Panjab, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> + <li>Cashmere, New Zealand, Polynesia, Greenland, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> + <li>among the Malagasy, Ahts, Indian tribes of Guiana, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> + <li>in India, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li> + <li>among the Algonkins, ancient Germans, Anglo-Saxons, ancient Welsh, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> + <li>Arabs, Guslars, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> + <li>Swahilis, <a href="#Page_17">176</a>;</li> + <li>Eskimo, 12, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Ascension Day, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +<li>Aubrey, John, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Bahar Danush, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> +<li>Ballafletcher, Cup of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> +<li>Bantik. <i>See</i> <a href="#Celebes">Celebes</a></li> +<li>Bards, Welsh, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li><a name="Baptism" id="Baptism"></a>Baptism, superstitions concerning, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +<li>Barrows, haunted, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> +<li>Basque tale, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> +<li>Berchta, Dame, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +<li>Blanik mountain, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> +<li>Blood relationship among savages, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> +<li><a name="Bohemian" id="Bohemian"></a>Bohemian tales, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, + <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> +<li>Bona Dea, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> +<li><a name="Bornoese" id="Bornoese"></a>Bornoese tales, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> +<li><a name="Breton" id="Breton"></a>Breton tales, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, + <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> +<li>Briar Rose, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> +<li><a name="Buddhist" id="Buddhist"></a>Buddhist influence on tales, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Bulgarian tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Slavonic">Slavonic</a></li> +<li>Burmese tale, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> +<li>Burton, Sir Richard F. (<i>see</i> <a href="#Arabian">Arabian Nights Entertainments</a>), <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Cabalists, the, a mediæval sect, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> +<li>Carinthian tales, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> +<li>Cashmere, tales from. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indian">Indian</a></li> +<li><a name="Celebes" id="Celebes"></a>Celebes Islands, tale from, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> +<li>Changelings, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Chinese superstitions, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> +<li>Chinese tales, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> +<li>Christening. <i>See</i> <a href="#Baptism">Baptism</a></li> +<li>Christmas, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> +<li>Coals turned to gold, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> +<li>Cologne, Three Kings of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> +<li>Coptic tale, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> +<li>Corpus Christi Day, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> +<li><a name="Corsican" id="Corsican"></a>Corsican tale, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> +<li>Cosquin, Emmanuel, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> +<li>Coventry. <i>See</i> <a href="#Godiva">Godiva</a></li> +<li>Cretan tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Greek">Greek</a></li> +<li>Cyclades, tale from. <i>See</i> <a href="#Greek">Greek</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li><a name="Danish" id="Danish"></a>Danish superstitions, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> +<li>Danish tales, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, + <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> +<li>Dardistan, tale from, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> +<li>Davies, Rev. Edward, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +<li>Dean, Forest of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Forest">Forest</a></li> +<li>Death, savage belief on, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> +<li>Derceto, a Phœnician goddess, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> +<li>Devil, the, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> +<li>Diana, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> +<li>Diedrich, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> +<li>Dobocz, the robber chief, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> +<li>Dracs of the Rhone, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> +<li>Duffus, story of Lord, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> +<li>Dyak. <i>See</i> <a href="#Bornoese">Bornoese</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> +<li>Edenhall. <i>See</i> <a href="#Luck">Luck</a></li> +<li>Edgehill, Battle of, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> +<li><a name="Edric" id="Edric"></a>Edric the Wild, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li> +<li>Eggshells, changelings detected by, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> +<li>Elidorus, tale of, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> +<li>English superstitions, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> +<li>English tales, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> +<li>Epimenides, tale of, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> +<li>Eskimo tales, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> +<li>Esthonian tales, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> +<li>Etiquette of various nations, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> +<li>Ezra, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li><a name="Fairy" id="Fairy"></a>Fairy Births and Human Midwives, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Fairyland, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> +<li>Fairy Tales, definition of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> + <li><ul><li>divisions of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> + <li>principles of explanation of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Feather-robe, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> +<li>Females, kinship through. <i>See</i> <a href="#Kinship">Kinship</a></li> +<li>Finnish tales, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> +<li>Fire, superstitions respecting, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> +<li><a name="Forest" id="Forest"></a>Forest of Dean, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> +<li>Folktale (<i>See</i> <a href="#Art">Art of Story-telling</a>), connection with folk-song, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li> +<li><ul><li>how to be reported, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Frazer J. G., <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> +<li>Frederick Barbarossa, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> +<li>French superstitions, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li>French tales (<i>See</i> <a href="#Breton">Breton</a>), <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> +<li>Frog, Fairy as. <i>See</i> <a href="#Toad">Toad</a>.</li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Gaelic tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Scottish">Scottish</a></li> +<li>Gerald, Earl, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> +<li>German superstitions, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> +<li>German tales (<i>See</i> <a href="#Alsatian">Alsatian</a>, <a href="#Pomeranian">Pomeranian</a>, <a href="#Ruumlgen">Rügen</a>, <a href="#Swabian">Swabian</a>, <a href="#Transylvanian">Transylvanian</a>), +<a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, +<a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, +<a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> +<li>Gervase of Tilbury, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> +<li>Giraldus Cambrensis, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> +<li>Gloucestershire (<i>See</i> <a href="#Forest">Forest of Dean, St. Briavels</a>), <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> +<li><a name="Godiva" id="Godiva"></a>Godiva, legend of Lady, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Gold Coast, custom at, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> +<li>Gold Coast, tales of, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> +<li>Gold, fairy, turns to dross, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> +<li>Grateful animals. <i>See</i> <a href="#Buddhist">Buddhist</a></li> +<li>Gratitude, fairy, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> +<li>Greek superstitions, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> +<li><a name="Greek" id="Greek"></a>Greek tales, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> +<li>Grey, Sir George, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> +<li>Grimm, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> +<li>Guiana, tales from, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> +<li>Guernsey, tales from, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Hades, food of, must not be eaten, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> +<li>Harold II., King, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> +<li>Hasan of Bassorah, tale of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> +<li><a name="Hebrew" id="Hebrew"></a>Hebrew tale, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> +<li>Helpful beasts. <i>See</i> <a href="#Buddhist">Buddhist</a></li> +<li>Herla, King, tale of, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> +<li>Hero, the Hidden, the Sleeping, <a href="#Page_205">205</a> <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> +<li>Hertha, a German goddess, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +<li>Hindoo customs, tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indian">Indian</a></li> +<li>Highland tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Scottish">Scottish</a></li> +<li>Holle, Dame, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li><a name="Icelandic" id="Icelandic"></a>Icelandic tales, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> +<li>Imagination among savages, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> +<li>Im Thurn, Everard, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> +<li><a name="Indian" id="Indian"></a>Indian customs, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> +<li>Indian tales, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> +<li>Iolo Morganwg, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> +<li>Irish superstitions, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> +<li>Irish tales, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> +<li>Iron, dislike of supernatural beings to, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> +<li>Irving, Washington, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> +<li>Italian superstitions, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> +<li>Italian tales (<i>see</i> <a href="#Corsican">Corsican</a>, <a href="#Sicilian">Sicilian</a>, <a href="#Tirolese">Tirolese</a>), <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Japanese tales, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> +<li>Jewish tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Hebrew">Hebrew</a></li> +<li><ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: out of alphabetical order">Jeremiah the prophet,</ins> <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Kaffir tale, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> +<li>Kan Püdäi, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> +<li>Kathá-sarit-ságara, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> +<li>Keats, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> +<li><a name="Kinship" id="Kinship"></a>Kinship through females, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Kirk Malew, Cup of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> +<li>Koran. <i>See</i> <a href="#Mohammed">Mohammed</a></li> +<li>Kurdish tale, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> +<li>Kurroglú, the robber-poet, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> +<li>Kyffhäuser, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Lady Wilde. <i>See</i> <a href="#Wilde">Wilde</a></li> +<li>Lapp superstitions, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> +<li>Lapp tales, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> +<li>Liebrecht, Felix, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> + <li><ul><li>his Ghost Theory, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Lithuanian superstitions, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li><a name="Lithuanian" id="Lithuanian"></a>Lithuanian tales, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> +<li>Li Kì, a Chinese classic, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> +<li>Loo Choo Islands, tale from, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> +<li>Longfellow, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> +<li><a name="Luck" id="Luck"></a>Luck of Edenhall, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> +<li>Luther on Changelings, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> +<li>Luxemburg, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> +<li>Luzel, F. M., <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Mabinogion, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> +<li>MacRitchie, David, his Finn Theory, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Mahábhárata, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> +<li>Magyar tale, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> +<li>Malagasy tale, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> +<li>Malory, Sir Thomas, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> +<li>Manx superstitions, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> +<li>Manx tales, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> +<li><a name="Maori" id="Maori"></a>Maori customs, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> +<li>Maori tales, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> +<li>Map, Walter, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> +<li>Marko, Prince, <i>or</i> King, tale of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> +<li>Marquis of the Sun, tale of, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> +<li>Marriage settlements, Indian, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li> +<li>Maundeville, Sir John, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> +<li><a name="Meddygon" id="Meddygon"></a>Meddygon Myddfai, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> +<li>Melusina, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> +<li>Merlin, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> +<li>Messia, the Sicilian story-teller, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> +<li>Metamorphosis, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> +<li>Midsummer Day. <i>See</i> <a href="#St_Johns">St. John's Day</a></li> +<li>Midwives, adventures of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Fairy">Fairy Births</a></li> +<li>Minstrel in Middle Ages, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> +<li><a name="Mohammed" id="Mohammed"></a>Mohammed, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> +<li>Mohel, adventure of a, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> +<li>Moravian tale, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> +<li>Morgan the Fay, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> +<li>Morris, William, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> +<li>Mother-right. <i>See</i> <a href="#Kinship">Kinship</a></li> +<li>Myddfai, Physicians of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Meddygon">Meddygon</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Names, Savage feeling about, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li> +<li>Napoleon I., <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> +<li>Nereids, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> +<li>Netherlands, tale from, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> +<li>New Guinea, tale from, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li> +<li>New Year's Eve and Night, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> +<li>New Zealand. <i>See</i> <a href="#Maori">Maori</a></li> +<li>Nightmare, the, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Norwegian tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Scandinavian">Scandinavian</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Odin. <i>See</i> <a href="#Woden">Woden</a></li> +<li>Ogier the Dane. <i>See</i> <a href="#Olger">Olger</a></li> +<li>Ointment, Magical, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li><a name="Oisin" id="Oisin"></a>Oisin, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> +<li>Oldenburg Horn, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> +<li><a name="Olger" id="Olger"></a>Olger the Dane, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> +<li>Omens, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> +<li>Osburg, foundress of nunnery at Coventry, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +<li>Ossian. <i>See</i> <a href="#Oisin">Oisin</a></li> +<li>Ovid, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> +<li>Owen Glendower, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> +<li>Owen Lawgoch, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Parsees. <i>See</i> <a href="#Sad_Dar">Sad Dar</a></li> +<li>Peeping Tom. <i>See</i> <a href="#Godiva">Godiva</a></li> +<li>Peleus. <i>See</i> <a href="#Thetis">Thetis</a></li> +<li>Perrault, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> +<li>Pitré, Dr., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> +<li>Pliny, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> +<li><a name="Pomeranian" id="Pomeranian"></a>Pomeranian tales, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> +<li>Polynesian tales, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> +<li>Portuguese superstition, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> +<li>Portuguese tale, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> +<li><a name="Princess" id="Princess"></a>Princess, the Enchanted, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> +<li>Proserpine, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Revenge, Fairy, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Rhys, Professor, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> +<li>Rip van Winkle, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> +<li>Robberies from Fairyland, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Roger of Wendover. <i>See</i> <a href="#Godiva">Godiva</a></li> +<li>Roman superstition, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li><a name="Russian" id="Russian"></a>Russian tales, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> +<li><a name="Ruumlgen" id="Ruumlgen"></a>Rügen, Island of, tales from, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li><a name="Sad_Dar" id="Sad_Dar"></a>Sad Dar, a sacred book of Parsees, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +<li>Samoyede tale, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> +<li>Savage ideas, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> + <li><ul><li>evidence of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li></ul></li> +<li>Savages, imagination among, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> +<li>Saxo Grammaticus, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> +<li><a name="Scandinavian" id="Scandinavian"></a>Scandinavian tales (<i>see</i> <a href="#Icelandic">Icelandic</a>, <a href="#Danish">Danish</a>), <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> +<li><a name="Scottish" id="Scottish"></a>Scottish superstitions, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> +<li>Scottish tales, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> +<li>Sebastian, Don, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> +<li>Sébillot, Paul, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> +<li>Seven Sleepers, the, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> +<li>Siberian tales, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> +<li><a name="Sicilian" id="Sicilian"></a>Sicilian superstitions, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> +<li>Sicilian tales, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> +<li>Siegfried, <i>or</i> Sigurd, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> +<li>Sikes, Wirt, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> +<li>Simrock, Karl, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> +<li><a name="Slavonic" id="Slavonic"></a>Slavonic superstitions, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> +<li>Slavonic tales (<i>see</i> <a href="#Bohemian">Bohemian</a>, <a href="#Russian">Russian</a>, <a href="#Lithuanian">Lithuanian</a>), <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> +<li>Southam, procession at, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> +<li>Southey, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> +<li>Spanish superstitions, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> +<li>Spanish tales, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li> +<li>Spirits, doctrine of, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> +<li>St. Augustine, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> +<li>St. Briavels, custom at, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> +<li>Stephens, Professor Dr. Geo., <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> +<li><a name="St_Johns" id="St_Johns"></a>St. John's Day, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> +<li>Story-telling, Art of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Art">Art</a></li> +<li>Stoymir, the Knight, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> +<li><a name="Swabian" id="Swabian"></a>Swabian tales, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> +<li>Swan-maidens, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> +<li>Swedish tales. <i>See</i> <a href="#Scandinavian">Scandinavian</a></li> +<li>Swiss tale, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Taboo, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> +<li>Tacitus, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> +<li>Tam Lin, ballad of, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> +<li>Tawhaki and Tango-tango, tale of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li><a name="Thetis" id="Thetis"></a>Thetis, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> +<li>Thomas of Erceldoune, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> +<li>Time, supernatural lapse of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <i>et seqq.</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Tini-rau, tale of, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <i>et seqq.</i></li> +<li>Tir na n 'Og. <i>See</i> <a href="#Oisin">Oisin</a></li> +<li><a name="Tirolese" id="Tirolese"></a>Tirolese tales, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> +<li><a name="Toad" id="Toad"></a>Toad or frog, fairy as (<i>see</i> <a href="#Princess">Princess</a>), <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li> +<li>Totemism, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> +<li>Tradition, definition of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> +<li>Traditions, variable value of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> +<li>Transformations, doctrine of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> +<li><a name="Transylvanian" id="Transylvanian"></a>Transylvanian tales, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Ulrich von Rosenberg, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Van Pool, Lady of the, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> +<li>Vikramâditya, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> +<li>Vitra, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Wäinämöinen, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> +<li>Waldron, Geo., <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> +<li>Wastin of Wastiniog, tale of, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> +<li>Welsh superstitions, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> +<li>Welsh tales, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> +<li>Wenzel, King, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> +<li>Western Highlands, story-telling in, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> +<li>Weyland Smith, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> +<li><a name="Wilde" id="Wilde"></a>Wilde, Lady, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> +<li>Wild Edric. <i>See</i> <a href="#Edric">Edric</a></li> +<li>Wild Hunt, the, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> +<li>William of Newbury, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> +<li>Witchcraft, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> +<li>Witches, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> +<li><a name="Woden" id="Woden"></a>Woden, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Yatsh, <i>or</i> demon, wedding, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> +<li>York, custom at, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +<li>Yorkshire, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> +<li style="list-style:none"><br /></li> + +<li>Zoroaster, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +</ul> + +<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h4>UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON.</h4> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Science of Fairy Tales, by +Edwin Sidney Hartland + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 24614-h.htm or 24614-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/1/24614/ + +Produced by R. 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