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diff --git a/41572-tei/41572-tei.tei b/41572-tei/41572-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bcedf23 --- /dev/null +++ b/41572-tei/41572-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,22258 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 4 of 12)</title> + <author><name reg="Frazer, James George">James George Frazer</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="3">Edition 3</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>December 6, 2012</date> + <idno type="etext-no">41572</idno> + <availability> + <p>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 online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + <language id="el"></language> + <language id="la"></language> + <language id="ja"></language> + <language id="it"></language> + <language id="de"></language> + <language id="fr"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2012-12-06">December 6, 2012</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by David Edwards, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + (This file was produced from images generously + made available by The Internet Archive.) + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">The Golden Bough</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">A Study in Magic and Religion</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">By</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">James George Frazer, D.C.L., LL.D., Litt.D.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Liverpool</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Third Edition.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Vol. IV.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Part III</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">The Dying God</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">New York and London</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">MacMillan and Co.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1911</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<div> +<p rend='text-align: center'> +<figure url='images/cover.jpg' rend='width: 40%'> +<figDesc>Cover Art</figDesc> +</figure> +</p> +<p> +[Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter at +Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] +</p> +</div> + +<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Preface.</head> + +<p> +With this third part of <hi rend='italic'>The Golden Bough</hi> we take up the +question, Why had the King of the Wood at Nemi regularly +to perish by the hand of his successor? In the first +part of the work I gave some reasons for thinking that the +priest of Diana, who bore the title of King of the Wood +beside the still lake among the Alban Hills, personated the +great god Jupiter or his duplicate Dianus, the deity of the +oak, the thunder, and the sky. On this theory, accordingly, +we are at once confronted with the wider and deeper question, +Why put a man-god or human representative of deity +to a violent death? Why extinguish the divine light in its +earthly vessel instead of husbanding it to its natural close? +My general answer to that question is contained in the +present volume. If I am right, the motive for slaying a +man-god is a fear lest with the enfeeblement of his body +in sickness or old age his sacred spirit should suffer a +corresponding decay, which might imperil the general course +of nature and with it the existence of his worshippers, who +believe the cosmic energies to be mysteriously knit up with +those of their human divinity. Hence, if there is any +measure of truth in this theory, the practice of putting divine +men and particularly divine kings to death, which seems to +have been common at a particular stage in the evolution +of society and religion, was a crude but pathetic attempt to +disengage an immortal spirit from its mortal envelope, to +arrest the forces of decomposition in nature by retrenching +<pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> +with ruthless hand the first ominous symptoms of decay. +We may smile if we please at the vanity of these and the +like efforts to stay the inevitable decline, to bring the +relentless revolution of the great wheel to a stand, to keep +youth's fleeting roses for ever fresh and fair; but perhaps +in spite of every disillusionment, when we contemplate the +seemingly endless vistas of knowledge which have been +opened up even within our own generation, many of us may +cherish in our heart of hearts a fancy, if not a hope, that +some loophole of escape may after all be discovered from +the iron walls of the prison-house which threaten to close on +and crush us; that, groping about in the darkness, mankind +may yet chance to lay hands on <q>that golden key that opes +the palace of eternity,</q> and so to pass from this world of +shadows and sorrow to a world of untroubled light and joy. +If this is a dream, it is surely a happy and innocent one, +and to those who would wake us from it we may murmur +with Michael Angelo, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<q><foreign rend='italic'>Però non mi destar, deh! parla basso.</foreign></q> +</quote> + +<p> +J. G. FRAZER. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cambridge</hi>,<lb/> +<hi rend='italic'>11th June 1911</hi>. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter I. The Mortality Of The Gods.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mortality +of savage +gods, Greek gods.</note> +At an early stage of his intellectual development man +deems himself naturally immortal, and imagines that were +it not for the baleful arts of sorcerers, who cut the vital +thread prematurely short, he would live for ever. The +illusion, so flattering to human wishes and hopes, is still +current among many savage tribes at the present day,<note place='foot'>For examples see M. Dobrizhoffer, +<hi rend='italic'>Historia de Abiponibus</hi> (Vienna, 1784), +ii. 92 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 240 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; C. Gay, <q>Fragment +d'un voyage dans le Chili et au +Cusco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin le la Société de Géographie</hi> +(Paris), Deuxième Série, xix. +(1843) p. 25; H. Delaporte, <q>Une +Visite chez les Araucaniens,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin +de la Société de Géographie</hi> (Paris), +Quatrième Série, x. (1855) p. 30; +K. von den Steinen, <hi rend='italic'>Unter den Naturvölkern +Zentral-Brasiliens</hi> (Berlin, 1894), +pp. 344, 348; E. F. im Thurn, +<hi rend='italic'>Among the Indians of Guiana</hi> (London, +1883), pp. 330 sq.; A. G. Morice, +<q>The Canadian Dénés,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Annual +Archaeological Report, 1905</hi>; (Toronto, +1906), p. 207; (Sir) George Grey, +<hi rend='italic'>Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery +into North-West and Western +Australia</hi> (London, 1841), ii. 238; +A. Oldfield, <q>The Aborigines of +Australia,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Ethnological +Society of London</hi>, N.S. iii. +(1865) p. 236; J. Dawson, <hi rend='italic'>Australian +Aborigines</hi> (Melbourne, Sydney, and +Adelaide, 1881), p. 63; Rev. G. +Taplin, <q>The Narrinyeri,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Native +Tribes of South Australia</hi> (Adelaide, +1879), p. 25; C. W. Schürmann, +<q>The Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of South Australia</hi>, +p. 237; H. E. A. Meyer, in <hi rend='italic'>Native +Tribes of South Australia</hi>, p. 195; +R. Brough Smyth, <hi rend='italic'>The Aborigines of +Victoria</hi> (Melbourne, 1878), i. 110, +ii. 289 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Stanbridge, in <hi rend='italic'>Transactions +of the Ethnological Society of +London</hi>, New Series, i. (1861) p. 299; +L. Fison and A. W. Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>Kamilaroi +and Kurnai</hi>, pp. 250 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; A. L. P. +Cameron, <q>Notes on some Tribes of +New South Wales,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xiv. (1885) +pp. 361, 362 sq.; W. Ridley, <hi rend='italic'>Kamilaroi</hi>, +Second Edition (Sydney, 1875), +p. 159; Baldwin Spencer and F. J. +Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of Central Australia</hi> +(London, 1899), pp. 46-48; +<hi rend='italic'>Cambridge Anthropological Expedition +to Torres Straits</hi>, v. (Cambridge, 1904) +pp. 248, 323; E. Beardmore, <q>The +Natives of Mowat, British New +Guinea,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xix. (1890) p. 461; +R. E. Guise, <q>On the Tribes inhabiting +the Mouth of the Wanigela River, +New Guinea,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xxviii. (1899) p. +216; C. G. Seligmann, <hi rend='italic'>The Melanesians of British New Guinea</hi> (Cambridge, +1910), p. 279; K. Vetter, +<hi rend='italic'>Komm herüber und hilf uns! oder die +Arbeit der Neuen-Dettelsauer Mission</hi>, +iii. (Barmen, 1898) pp. 10 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +in <hi rend='italic'>Nachrichten über Kaiser-Wilhelmsland +und den Bismarck-Archipel</hi>, 1897, +pp. 94, 98; A. Deniau, <q>Croyances +religieuses et mœurs des indigènes de +l'ile Malo,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Missions Catholiques</hi>, +xxxiii. (1901) pp. 315 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; C. Ribbe, +<hi rend='italic'>Zwei Jahre unter den Kannibalen der +Salomo-Inseln</hi> (Dresden-Blasewitz, +1903), p. 268; P. A. Kleintitschen, +<hi rend='italic'>Die Küstenbewohner der Gazellehalbinsel</hi> +(Hiltrup bei Münster, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), +p. 344; P. Rascher, <q>Die Sulka,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Archiv für Anthropologie</hi>, xxix. (1904) +pp. 221 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; R. Parkinson, <hi rend='italic'>Dreissig +Jahre in der Südsee</hi> (Stuttgart, 1907), +pp. 199-201; G. Brown, D.D., +<hi rend='italic'>Melanesians and Polynesians</hi> (London, +1910), p. 176; Father Abinal, +<q>Astrologie Malgache,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Missions +Catholiques</hi>, xi. (1879) p. 506; A. +Grandidier, <q>Madagascar,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin +de la Société de Géographie</hi> (Paris), +Sixième Série, iii. (1872) p. 399; +Father Campana, <q>Congo, Mission +Catholique de Landana,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Missions +Catholiques</hi>, xxvii. (1895) pp. 102 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Th. Masui, <hi rend='italic'>Guide de la Section +de l'État Indépendant du Congo à l'Exposition +de Bruxelles-Tervueren en +1897</hi> (Brussels, 1897), p. 82. The +discussion of this and similar evidence +must be reserved for another work.</note> and +<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/> +it may be supposed to have prevailed universally in that +Age of Magic which appears to have everywhere preceded +the Age of Religion. But in time the sad truth of human +mortality was borne in upon our primitive philosopher with +a force of demonstration which no prejudice could resist and +no sophistry dissemble. Among the manifold influences +which combined to wring from him a reluctant assent to the +necessity of death must be numbered the growing influence +of religion, which by exposing the vanity of magic and of +all the extravagant pretensions built on it gradually lowered +man's proud and defiant attitude towards nature, and taught +him to believe that there are mysteries in the universe which +his feeble intellect can never fathom, and forces which his +puny hands can never control. Thus more and more he +learned to bow to the inevitable and to console himself for +the brevity and the sorrows of life on earth by the hope +of a blissful eternity hereafter. But if he reluctantly acknowledged +the existence of beings at once superhuman and +supernatural, he was as yet far from suspecting the width +and the depth of the gulf which divided him from them. +The gods with whom his imagination now peopled the +darkness of the unknown were indeed admitted by him +to be his superiors in knowledge and in power, in the +joyous splendour of their life and in the length of its duration. +But, though he knew it not, these glorious and awful +beings were merely, like the spectre of the Brocken, the +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> +reflections of his own diminutive personality exaggerated +into gigantic proportions by distance and by the mists and +clouds upon which they were cast. Man in fact created +gods in his own likeness and being himself mortal he +naturally supposed his creatures to be in the same sad +predicament. Thus the Greenlanders believed that a wind +could kill their most powerful god, and that he would +certainly die if he touched a dog. When they heard +of the Christian God, they kept asking if he never died, +and being informed that he did not, they were much +surprised, and said that he must be a very great god +indeed.<note place='foot'>C. Meiners, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte der Religionen</hi> +(Hannover, 1806-1807), i. 48.</note> In answer to the enquiries of Colonel Dodge, a +North American Indian stated that the world was made by +the Great Spirit. Being asked which Great Spirit he meant, +the good one or the bad one, <q>Oh, neither of <emph>them</emph></q> replied +he, <q>the Great Spirit that made the world is dead long ago. +He could not possibly have lived as long as this.</q><note place='foot'>R. I. Dodge, <hi rend='italic'>Our Wild Indians</hi>, +p. 112.</note> A tribe +in the Philippine Islands told the Spanish conquerors that +the grave of the Creator was upon the top of Mount +Cabunian.<note place='foot'>F. Blumentritt, <q>Der Ahnencultus +und die religiösen Anschauungen der +Malaien des Philippinen-Archipels,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen d. Wiener geogr. Gesellschaft</hi>, +1882, p. 198.</note> Heitsi-eibib, a god or divine hero of the +Hottentots, died several times and came to life again. His +graves are generally to be met with in narrow defiles between +mountains. When the Hottentots pass one of them, they +throw a stone on it for good luck, sometimes muttering <q>Give +us plenty of cattle.</q><note place='foot'>Sir James E. Alexander, <hi rend='italic'>Expedition +of Discovery into the Interior of +Africa</hi>, i. 166; H. Lichtenstein, +<hi rend='italic'>Reisen im Südlichen Africa</hi> (Berlin, +1811-1812), i. 349 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. H. I. +Bleek, <hi rend='italic'>Reynard the Fox in South +Africa</hi> (London, 1864), pp. 75 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Theophilus Hahn, <hi rend='italic'>Tsuni-Goam, the +Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi</hi> +(London, 1881), pp. 56, 69.</note> The grave of Zeus, the great god of +Greece, was shewn to visitors in Crete as late as about the +beginning of our era.<note place='foot'>Callimachus, <hi rend='italic'>Hymn to Zeus</hi>, 9 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Diodorus Siculus, iii. 61; Lucian, <hi rend='italic'>Philopseudes</hi>, +3; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Jupiter Tragoedus</hi>, 45; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Philopatris</hi>, 10; Porphyry, <hi rend='italic'>Vita +Pythagorae</hi>, 17; Cicero, <hi rend='italic'>De natura +deorum</hi>, iii. 21. 53; Pomponius Mela, +ii. 7. 112; Minucius Felix, <hi rend='italic'>Octavius</hi>, +21; Lactantius, <hi rend='italic'>Divin. instit.</hi> i. II.</note> The body of Dionysus was buried at +Delphi beside the golden statue of Apollo, and his tomb bore +the inscription, <q>Here lies Dionysus dead, the son of Semele.</q><note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Isis et Osiris</hi>, 35; +Philochorus, <hi rend='italic'>Fragm.</hi> 22, in C. Müller's +<hi rend='italic'>Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum</hi>, +i. p. 378; Tatian, <hi rend='italic'>Oratio ad Graecos</hi>, +8, ed. Otto; J. Tzetzes, <hi rend='italic'>Schol. on +Lycophron</hi>, 208. Compare Ch. Petersen, +<q>Das Grab und die Todtenfeier +des Dionysos,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Philologus</hi>, xv. (1860) +pp. 77-91. The grave of Dionysus +is also said to have been at Thebes +(Clemens Romanus, <hi rend='italic'>Recognitiones</hi>, +x. 24; Migne's <hi rend='italic'>Patrologia Graeca</hi>, +i. col. 1434).</note> +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> +According to one account, Apollo himself was buried at +Delphi; for Pythagoras is said to have carved an inscription +on his tomb, setting forth how the god had been killed by the +python and buried under the tripod.<note place='foot'>Porphyry, <hi rend='italic'>Vit. Pythag.</hi> 16.</note> The ancient god Cronus +was buried in Sicily,<note place='foot'>Philochorus, <hi rend='italic'>Fr.</hi> 184, in C. Müller's +<hi rend='italic'>Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum</hi>, +ii. p. 414.</note> and the graves of Hermes, Aphrodite, +and Ares were shewn in Hermopolis, Cyprus, and Thrace.<note place='foot'>Ch. Lobeck, <hi rend='italic'>Aglaophamus</hi> (Königsberg, +1829), pp. 574 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mortality +of +Egyptian +gods.</note> +The great gods of Egypt themselves were not exempt +from the common lot. They too grew old and died. For +like men they were composed of body and soul, and like +men were subject to all the passions and infirmities of the +flesh. Their bodies, it is true, were fashioned of more ethereal +mould, and lasted longer than ours, but they could not hold +out for ever against the siege of time. Age converted their +bones into silver, their flesh into gold, and their azure locks +into lapis-lazuli. When their time came, they passed away +from the cheerful world of the living to reign as dead gods +over dead men in the melancholy world beyond the grave. +Even their souls, like those of mankind, could only endure +after death so long as their bodies held together; and hence +it was as needful to preserve the corpses of the gods as the +corpses of common folk, lest with the divine body the divine +spirit should also come to an untimely end. At first their +remains were laid to rest under the desert sands of the +mountains, that the dryness of the soil and the purity of the +air might protect them from putrefaction and decay. Hence +one of the oldest titles of the Egyptian gods is <q>they who +are under the sands.</q> But when at a later time the discovery +of the art of embalming gave a new lease of life to the souls +of the dead by preserving their bodies for an indefinite time +from corruption, the deities were permitted to share the +benefit of an invention which held out to gods as well as to +men a reasonable hope of immortality. Every province then +had the tomb and mummy of its dead god. The mummy +of Osiris was to be seen at Mendes; Thinis boasted of the +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> +mummy of Anhouri; and Heliopolis rejoiced in the possession +of that of Toumou.<note place='foot'>G. Maspero, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire ancienne des +peuples de l'Orient classique: les origines</hi>, +pp. 108-111, 116-118. On the +mortality of the Egyptian gods see +further A. Moret, <hi rend='italic'>Le Rituel du culte +divin journalier en Égypte</hi> (Paris, +1902), pp. 219 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> But while their bodies lay swathed +and bandaged here on earth in the tomb, their souls, if we +may trust the Egyptian priests, shone as bright stars in the +firmament. The soul of Isis sparkled in Sirius, the soul of +Horus in Orion, and the soul of Typhon in the Great Bear.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Isis et Osiris</hi>, 21, 22, +38, 61; Diodorus Siculus, i. 27. 4; +Dittenberger, <hi rend='italic'>Orientis Graeci inscriptiones +selectae</hi>, i. No. 56, p. 102.</note> +But the death of the god did not involve the extinction of +his sacred stock; for he commonly had by his wife a son and +heir, who on the demise of his divine parent succeeded to the +full rank, power, and honours of the godhead.<note place='foot'>A. Wiedemann, <hi rend='italic'>Die Religion der +alten Aegypter</hi>, pp. 59 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; G. Maspero, +<hi rend='italic'>Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient +classique: les origines</hi>, pp. 104-108, +150. Indeed it was an article of the +Egyptian creed that every god must die +after he had begotten a son in his own +likeness (A. Wiedemann, <hi rend='italic'>Herodots +zweites Buch</hi>, p. 204). Hence the +Egyptian deities were commonly +arranged in trinities of a simple and +natural type, each comprising a father, +a mother, and a son. <q>Speaking +generally, two members of such a triad +were gods, one old and one young, and +the third was a goddess, who was, +naturally, the wife, or female counterpart, +of the older god. The younger +god was the son of the older god and +goddess, and he was supposed to possess +all the attributes and powers which +belonged to his father.... The +feminine counterpart or wife of the +chief god was usually a local goddess +of little or no importance; on the +other hand, her son by the chief god +was nearly as important as his father, +because it was assumed that he would +succeed to his rank and throne when +the elder god had passed away. The +conception of the triad or trinity is, in +Egypt, probably as old as the belief in +gods, and it seems to be based on +the anthropomorphic views which were +current in the earliest times about +them</q> (E. A. Wallis Budge, <hi rend='italic'>The Gods +of the Egyptians</hi>, London, 1904, i. +113 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). If the Christian doctrine +of the Trinity took shape under +Egyptian influence, the function +originally assigned to the Holy Spirit +may have been that of the divine +mother. In the apocryphal <hi rend='italic'>Gospel to +the Hebrews</hi>, as Mr. F. C. Conybeare +was kind enough to point out to me, +Christ spoke of the Holy Ghost as his +mother. The passage is quoted by +Origen (<hi rend='italic'>Comment. in Joan. II.</hi> vol. iv. +col. 132, ed. Migne), and runs as +follows: <q>My mother the Holy Spirit +took me a moment ago by one of my +hairs and carried me away to the great +Mount Tabor.</q> Compare Origen, <hi rend='italic'>In +Jeremiam Hom.</hi> XV. 4, vol. iii. col. +433, ed. Migne. In the reign of Trajan +a certain Alcibiades, from Apamea in +Syria, appeared at Rome with a volume +in which the Holy Ghost was described +as a stalwart female about ninety-six +miles high and broad in proportion. See +Hippolytus, <hi rend='italic'>Refut. omnium haeresium</hi>, +ix. 13, p. 462, ed. Duncker and Schneidewin. +The Ophites represented the +Holy Spirit as <q>the first woman,</q> +<q>mother of all living,</q> who was beloved +by <q>the first man</q> and likewise +by <q>the second man,</q> and who conceived +by one or both of them <q>the +light, which they call Christ.</q> See H. +Usener, <hi rend='italic'>Das Weihnachtsfest</hi>, pp. 116 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, quoting Irenaeus, i. 28. As to a +female member of the Trinity, see +further <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Dreiheit, ein Versuch +mythologischer Zahlenlehre</hi> (Bonn, 1903), +pp. 41 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Gibbon, <hi rend='italic'>Decline and +Fall of the Roman Empire</hi>, ch. 1. vol. +ix. p. 261, note g (Edinburgh, 1811). +Mr. Conybeare tells me that Philo +Judaeus, who lived in the first half of +the first century of our era, constantly +defines God as a Trinity in Unity, or a +Unity in Trinity, and that the speculations +of this Alexandrian Jew deeply +influenced the course of Christian +thought on the mystical nature of the +deity. Thus it seems not impossible +that the ancient Egyptian doctrine of +the divine Trinity may have been distilled +through Philo into Christianity. +On the other hand it has been suggested +that the Christian Trinity is of Babylonian +origin. See H. Zimmern, in +E. Schrader's <hi rend='italic'>Die Keilinschriften und +das Alte Testament</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> pp. 418 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +440.</note> The high gods +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> +of Babylon also, though they appeared to their worshippers +only in dreams and visions, were conceived to be human in +their bodily shape, human in their passions, and human in +their fate; for like men they were born into the world, and +like men they loved and fought and died.<note place='foot'>L. W. King, <hi rend='italic'>Babylonian Religion +and Mythology</hi> (London, 1899), p. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The death +of the +Great Pan. +Death of +the King +of the Jinn. +Death of +the Grape-cluster.</note> +One of the most famous stories of the death of a god is +told by Plutarch. It runs thus. In the reign of the emperor +Tiberius a certain schoolmaster named Epitherses was sailing +from Greece to Italy. The ship in which he had taken his +passage was a merchantman and there were many other +passengers on board. At evening, when they were off the +Echinadian Islands, the wind died away, and the vessel drifted +close in to the island of Paxos. Most of the passengers were +awake and many were still drinking wine after dinner, when +suddenly a voice hailed the ship from the island, calling upon +Thamus. The crew and passengers were taken by surprise, +for though there was an Egyptian pilot named Thamus on +board, few knew him even by name. Twice the cry was +repeated, but Thamus kept silence. However, at the third +call he answered, and the voice from the shore, now louder +than ever, said, <q>When you are come to Palodes, announce +that the Great Pan is dead.</q> Astonishment fell upon all, and +they consulted whether it would be better to do the bidding +of the voice or not. At last Thamus resolved that, if the +wind held, he would pass the place in silence, but if it dropped +when they were off Palodes he would give the message. Well, +when they were come to Palodes, there was a great calm; so +Thamus standing in the stern and looking towards the land +cried out, as he had been bidden, <q>The Great Pan is dead.</q> +The words had hardly passed his lips when a loud sound +of lamentation broke on their ears, as if a multitude were +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +mourning. This strange story, vouched for by many on +board, soon got wind at Rome, and Thamus was sent for and +questioned by the emperor Tiberius himself, who caused +enquiries to be made about the dead god.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>De defectu oraculorum</hi>, +17.</note> In modern +times, also, the annunciation of the death of the Great +Pan has been much discussed and various explanations +of it have been suggested. On the whole the simplest +and most natural would seem to be that the deity +whose sad end was thus mysteriously proclaimed and +lamented was the Syrian god Tammuz or Adonis, whose +death is known to have been annually bewailed by his +followers both in Greece and in his native Syria. At +Athens the solemnity fell at midsummer, and there is no +improbability in the view that in a Greek island a band of +worshippers of Tammuz should have been celebrating the +death of their god with the customary passionate demonstrations +of sorrow at the very time when a ship lay +becalmed off the shore, and that in the stillness of the +summer night the voices of lamentation should have been +wafted with startling distinctness across the water and +should have made on the minds of the listening passengers +a deep and lasting impression.<note place='foot'>This is in substance the explanation +briefly suggested by F. Liebrecht, +and developed more fully and with +certain variations of detail by S. +Reinach. See F. Liebrecht, <hi rend='italic'>Des +Gervasius von Tilbury Otia Imperialia</hi> +(Hanover, 1856), p. 180; S. Reinach, +<hi rend='italic'>Cultes, mythes et religions</hi>, iii. (Paris, +1908), pp. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> As to the worship +of Tammuz or Adonis in Syria and +Greece see my <hi rend='italic'>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</hi>, +Second Edition (London, 1907). In +Plutarch's narrative confusion seems +to have arisen through the native name +(Tammuz) of the deity, which either +accidentally coincided with that of the +pilot (as S. Reinach thinks) or was +erroneously transferred to him by a +narrator (as F. Liebrecht supposed). +An entirely different explanation of the +story has been proposed by Dr. W. H. +Roscher. He holds that the god whose +death was lamented was the great ram-god +of Mendes in Egypt, whom Greek +writers constantly mistook for a goat-god +and identified with Pan. A living +ram was always revered as an incarnation +of the god, and when it died there +was a great mourning throughout all +the land of Mendes. Some stone +coffins of the sacred animal have been +found in the ruins of the city. See +Herodotus, ii. 46, with A. Wiedemann's +commentary; W. H. Roscher, +<q>Die Legende vom Tode des groszen +Pan,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Fleckeisen's Jahrbücher für +classische Philologie</hi>, xxxviii. (1892) pp. +465-477. Dr. Roscher shews that +Thamus was an Egyptian name, comparing +Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Phaedrus</hi>, p. 274 <hi rend='smallcaps'>d e</hi>; +Polyaenus, iii. 2. 5; Philostratus, <hi rend='italic'>Vit. +Apollon. Tyan.</hi> vi. 5. 108. As to +the worshipful goat, or rather ram, of +Mendes, see also Diodorus Siculus, +i. 84; Strabo, xvii. 1. 19, p. 802; +Clement of Alexandria, <hi rend='italic'>Protrept.</hi> ii. +39, p. 34, ed. Potter; Suidas, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +Μένδην.</note> However that may be, +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +stories of the same kind found currency in western Asia down +to the Middle Ages. An Arab writer relates that in the year +1063 or 1064 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>, in the reign of the caliph Caiem, +a rumour went abroad through Bagdad, which soon spread +all over the province of Irac, that some Turks out hunting in +the desert had seen a black tent, where many men and +women were beating their faces and uttering loud cries, as it +is the custom to do in the East when some one is dead. +And among the cries they distinguished these words, <q>The +great King of the Jinn is dead, woe to this country!</q> In +consequence of this a mysterious threat was circulated from +Armenia to Chuzistan that every town which did not lament +the dead King of the Jinn should utterly perish. Again, in +the year 1203 or 1204 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> a fatal disease, which attacked +the throat, raged in parts of Mosul and Irac, and it was +divulged that a woman of the Jinn called Umm 'Uncūd or +<q>Mother of the Grape-cluster</q> had lost her son, and that all +who did not lament for him would fall victims to the epidemic. +So men and women sought to save themselves from death by +assembling and beating their faces, while they cried out in a +lamentable voice, <q>O mother of the Grape-cluster, excuse us; +the Grape-cluster is dead; we knew it not.</q><note place='foot'>F. Liebrecht, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 180 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +W. Robertson Smith, <hi rend='italic'>Religion of the +Semites</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> pp. 412, 414. The latter +writer observes with justice that <q>the +wailing for 'Uncūd, the divine Grape-cluster, +seems to be the last survival of +an old vintage piaculum.</q> <q>The +dread of the worshippers,</q> he adds, +<q>that the neglect of the usual ritual +would be followed by disaster, is particularly +intelligible if they regarded +the necessary operations of agriculture +as involving the violent extinction of a +particle of divine life.</q> On the mortality +of the gods in general and of the +Teutonic gods in particular, see J. +Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 263 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; compare E. H. Meyer, <hi rend='italic'>Mythologie +der Germanen</hi> (Strasburg, 1903), p. +288. As to the mortality of the Irish +gods, see Douglas Hyde, <hi rend='italic'>Literary +History of Ireland</hi> (London, 1899), +pp. 80 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter II. The Killing Of The Divine King.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='1. Preference for a Violent Death.'/> +<head>§ 1. Preference for a Violent Death.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Human +gods are +killed to +prevent +them from +growing +old and +feeble.</note> +If the high gods, who dwell remote from the fret and fever +of this earthly life, are yet believed to die at last, it is not to be +expected that a god who lodges in a frail tabernacle of flesh +should escape the same fate, though we hear of African +kings who have imagined themselves immortal by virtue of +their sorceries.<note place='foot'><q>Der Muata Cazembe und die +Völkerstämme der Maravis, Chevas, +Muembas, Lundas und andere von Süd-Afrika,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für allgemeine +Erdkunde</hi>, vi. (1856) p. 395; F. T. +Valdez, <hi rend='italic'>Six Years of a Traveller's Life +in Western Africa</hi> (London, 1861), ii. +241 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Now primitive peoples, as we have seen,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the +Soul</hi>, pp. 6, 7 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +sometimes believe that their safety and even that of the +world is bound up with the life of one of these god-men or +human incarnations of the divinity. Naturally, therefore, they +take the utmost care of his life, out of a regard for their own. +But no amount of care and precaution will prevent the man-god +from growing old and feeble and at last dying. His worshippers +have to lay their account with this sad necessity and to +meet it as best they can. The danger is a formidable one; +for if the course of nature is dependent on the man-god's +life, what catastrophes may not be expected from the gradual +enfeeblement of his powers and their final extinction in +death? There is only one way of averting these dangers. +The man-god must be killed as soon as he shews symptoms +that his powers are beginning to fail, and his soul must be +transferred to a vigorous successor before it has been seriously +impaired by the threatened decay. The advantages of thus +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +putting the man-god to death instead of allowing him to die +of old age and disease are, to the savage, obvious enough. +For if the man-god dies what we call a natural death, it +means, according to the savage, that his soul has either +voluntarily departed from his body and refuses to return, +or more commonly that it has been extracted, or at least +detained in its wanderings, by a demon or sorcerer.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the +Soul</hi>, pp. 26 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In +any of these cases the soul of the man-god is lost to his +worshippers; and with it their prosperity is gone and their +very existence endangered. Even if they could arrange to +catch the soul of the dying god as it left his lips or his +nostrils and so transfer it to a successor, this would not +effect their purpose; for, dying of disease, his soul would +necessarily leave his body in the last stage of weakness and +exhaustion, and so enfeebled it would continue to drag out +a languid, inert existence in any body to which it might be +transferred. Whereas by slaying him his worshippers could, +in the first place, make sure of catching his soul as it escaped +and transferring it to a suitable successor; and, in the second +place, by putting him to death before his natural force was +abated, they would secure that the world should not fall +into decay with the decay of the man-god. Every purpose, +therefore, was answered, and all dangers averted by thus +killing the man-god and transferring his soul, while yet at +its prime, to a vigorous successor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Preference +for a +violent +death: the +sick and +old killed.</note> +Some of the reasons for preferring a violent death to the +slow death of old age or disease are obviously as applicable +to common men as to the man-god. Thus the Mangaians +think that <q>the spirits of those who die a natural death are +excessively feeble and weak, as their bodies were at dissolution; +whereas the spirits of those who are slain in battle are +strong and vigorous, their bodies not having been reduced by +disease.</q><note place='foot'>W. W. Gill, <hi rend='italic'>Myths and Songs of +the South Pacific</hi> (London, 1876), p. +163.</note> The Barongo believe that in the world beyond +the grave the spirits of their dead ancestors appear with the +exact form and lineaments which their bodies exhibited at the +moment of death; the spirits are young or old according +as their bodies were young or old when they died; there +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +are baby spirits who crawl about on all fours.<note place='foot'>H. A. Junod, <hi rend='italic'>Les Ba-Ronga</hi> +(Neuchatel, 1898), pp. 381 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The Lengua +Indians of the Gran Chaco are persuaded that the souls of +the departed correspond exactly in form and characteristics +to the bodies which they quitted at death; thus a tall man +is tall, a short man is short, and a deformed man is deformed +in the spirit-land, and the disembodied soul of a child remains +a child, it never develops into an adult. Hence they burn +the body of a murderer and scatter the ashes to the winds, +thinking that this treatment will prevent his spirit from +assuming human shape in the other world.<note place='foot'>W. Barbrooke Grubb, <hi rend='italic'>An Unknown +People in an Unknown Land</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 120.</note> So, too, the +Naga tribes of Manipur hold that the ghost of a dead man +is an exact image of the deceased as he was at the moment +of death, with his scars, tattoo marks, mutilations, and all +the rest.<note place='foot'>T. C. Hodson, <hi rend='italic'>The Naga Tribes +of Manipur</hi> (London, 1911), p. 159.</note> The Baganda think that the ghosts of men who +were mutilated in life are mutilated in like manner after +death; so to avoid that shame they will rather die with all +their limbs than lose one by amputation and live.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 281.</note> Hence, +men sometimes prefer to kill themselves or to be killed before +they grow feeble, in order that in the future life their souls +may start fresh and vigorous as they left their bodies, instead +of decrepit and worn out with age and disease. Thus in Fiji, +<q>self-immolation is by no means rare, and they believe that +as they leave this life, so they will remain ever after. This +forms a powerful motive to escape from decrepitude, or from a +crippled condition, by a voluntary death.</q><note place='foot'>Ch. Wilkes, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of the U.S. +Exploring Expedition</hi> (London, 1845), +iii. 96.</note> Or, as another +observer of the Fijians puts it more fully, <q>the custom of +voluntary suicide on the part of the old men, which is among +their most extraordinary usages, is also connected with their +superstitions respecting a future life. They believe that +persons enter upon the delights of their elysium with the +same faculties, mental and physical, that they possess at the +hour of death, in short, that the spiritual life commences +where the corporeal existence terminates. With these views, +it is natural that they should desire to pass through this +change before their mental and bodily powers are so enfeebled +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> +by age as to deprive them of their capacity for enjoyment. +To this motive must be added the contempt which attaches +to physical weakness among a nation of warriors, and the +wrongs and insults which await those who are no longer +able to protect themselves. When therefore a man finds his +strength declining with the advance of age, and feels that he +will soon be unequal to discharge the duties of this life, and +to partake in the pleasures of that which is to come, he calls +together his relations, and tells them that he is now worn +out and useless, that he sees they are all ashamed of him, +and that he has determined to be buried.</q> So on a day +appointed they used to meet and bury him alive.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>U.S. Exploring Expedition, Ethnology +and Philology</hi>, by H. Hale +(Philadelphia, 1846), p. 65. Compare +Th. Williams, <hi rend='italic'>Fiji and the Fijians</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> i. +183; J. E. Erskine, <hi rend='italic'>Journal of a Cruise +among the Islands of the Western Pacific</hi> +(London, 1853), p. 248.</note> In Vaté, +one of the New Hebrides, the aged were buried alive at their +own request. It was considered a disgrace to the family of an +old chief if he was not buried alive.<note place='foot'>G. Turner, <hi rend='italic'>Samoa</hi>, p. 335.</note> Of the Kamants, a Jewish +tribe in Abyssinia, it is reported that <q>they never let a person +die a natural death, but that if any of their relatives is nearly +expiring, the priest of the village is called to cut his throat; +if this be omitted, they believe that the departed soul has not +entered the mansions of the blessed.</q><note place='foot'>Martin Flad, <hi rend='italic'>A Short Description +of the Falasha and Kamants in Abyssinia</hi>, +p. 19.</note> The old Greek philosopher +Heraclitus thought that the souls of those who die in +battle are purer than the souls of those who die of disease.<note place='foot'>H. Diels, <hi rend='italic'>Die Fragmente der +Vorsokratiker</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> i. (Berlin, 1906) p. 81; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Herakleitos von Ephesos</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Berlin, +1909), p. 50, Frag. 136, ψυχαὶ ἀρηίφατοι +καθαρώτεραι ἢ ἐνὶ νούσοις.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Preference +for a +violent +death: the +sick and +aged killed.</note> +Among the Chiriguanos, a tribe of South American +Indians on the river Pilcomayo, when a man was at the +point of death his nearest relative used to break his spine by +a blow of an axe, for they thought that to die a natural +death was the greatest misfortune that could befall a man.<note place='foot'>F. de Castelnau, <hi rend='italic'>Expédition dans +les parties centrales de l'Amérique du +Sud</hi>, iv. (Paris, 1851) p. 380. Compare +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> ii. 49 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> as to the practice of +the Chavantes, a tribe of Indians on +the Tocantins river.</note> +Whenever a Payagua Indian of Paraguay, or a Guayana of +south-eastern Brazil, grew weary of life, a feast was made, +and amid the revelry and dancing the man was gummed +and feathered with the plumage of many-coloured birds. A +huge jar had been previously fixed in the ground to be +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> +ready for him; in this he was placed, the mouth of the jar +was covered with a heavy lid of baked clay, the earth was +heaped over it, and thus <q>he went to his doom more joyful +and gladsome than to his first nuptials.</q><note place='foot'>R. Southey, <hi rend='italic'>History of Brazil</hi>, iii. +(London, 1819) p. 619; R. F. +Burton, in <hi rend='italic'>The Captivity of Hans Stade +of Hesse</hi> (Hakluyt Society, London, +1874), p. 122.</note> Among the +Koryaks of north-eastern Asia, when a man felt that his last +hour was come, superstition formerly required that he should +either kill himself or be killed by a friend, in order that he +might escape the Evil One and deliver himself up to the +Good God.<note place='foot'>C. von Dittmar, <q>Über die +Koräken und die ihnen sehr nahe +verwandten Tschuktschen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin de +la Classe philologique de l'Académie +Impériale des Sciences de St-Pétersbourg</hi>, +xiii. (1856) coll. 122, 124 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +The custom has now been completely +abandoned. See W. Jochelson, <q>The +Koryak, Religion and Myths</q> (Leyden +and New York, 1905), p. 103 (<hi rend='italic'>Memoir +of the American Museum of Natural +History, The Jesup North Pacific Expedition</hi>, +vol. vi. part i.).</note> Similarly among the Chukchees of the same +region, when a man's strength fails and he is tired of life, he +requests his son or other near relation to despatch him, +indicating the manner of death he prefers to die. So, on a +day appointed, his friends and neighbours assemble, and in +their presence he is stabbed, strangled, or otherwise disposed +of according to his directions.<note place='foot'>C. von Dittmar, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> col. 132; +De Wrangell, <hi rend='italic'>Le Nord de la Sibérie</hi> +(Paris, 1843), i. 263 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <q>Die Ethnographie +Russlands nach A. F. Rittich,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Petermann's Mittheilungen, Ergänzungsheft</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>No.</hi> 54 (Gotha, 1878), pp. +14 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <q>Der Anadyr-Bezirk nach A. +W. Olssufjew,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Petermann's Mittheilungen</hi>, +xlv. (1899) p. 230; V. +Priklonski, <q>Todtengebräuche der +Jakuten,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lix. (1891) p. 82; +R. von Seidlitz, <q>Der Selbstmord bei +den Tschuktschen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>ib.</hi> p. 111; +Cremat, <q>Der Anadyrbezirk Sibiriens +und seine Bevölkerung,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lxvi. +(1894) p. 287; H. de Windt, <hi rend='italic'>Through +the Gold-fields of Alaska to Bering +Straits</hi> (London, 1898), pp. 223-225; +W. Bogaras, <q>The Chukchee</q> (Leyden +and New York, 1904-1909), pp. +560 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Memoir of the American +Museum of Natural History, The +Jesup North Pacific Expedition</hi>, vol. +vii.).</note> The turbulent Angamis are +the most warlike and bloodthirsty of the wild head-hunting +tribes in the valley of the Brahmapootra. Among them, +when a warrior dies a natural death, his nearest male +relative takes a spear and wounds the corpse by a blow on +the head, in order that the man may be received with +honour in the other world as one who has died in battle.<note place='foot'>L. A. Waddell, <q>The Tribes of +the Brahmaputra Valley,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of +the Asiatic Society of Bengal</hi>, lxix. +part iii. (1901) pp. 20, 24; T. C. +Hodson, <hi rend='italic'>The Naga Tribes of Manipur</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 151.</note> +The heathen Norsemen believed that only those who fell +fighting were received by Odin in Valhalla; hence it appears +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> +to have been customary to wound the dying with a spear, in +order to secure their admission to the happy land. The +custom may have been a mitigation of a still older practice +of slaughtering the sick.<note place='foot'>K. Simrock, <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der deutschen +Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> pp. 177 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 507; +H. M. Chadwick, <hi rend='italic'>The Cult of Othin</hi> +(London, 1899), pp. 13 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 34 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> We know from Procopius that +among the Heruli, a Teutonic tribe, the sick and old were +regularly slain at their own request and then burned on a +pyre.<note place='foot'>Procopius, <hi rend='italic'>De bello Gothico</hi>, ii. 14.</note> The Wends used to kill their aged parents and +other kinsfolk, and having killed them they boiled and ate +their bodies; and the old folks preferred to die thus rather +than to drag out a weary life of weakness and decrepitude.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> +p. 488. A custom of putting +the sick and aged to death seems to +have prevailed in several branches of +the Aryan family; it may at one time +have been common to the whole stock. +See J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 486 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +O. Schrader, <hi rend='italic'>Reallexikon der indogermanischen +Altertumskunde</hi>, pp. 36-39.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='2. Kings killed when their Strength fails.'/> +<head>§ 2. Kings killed when their Strength fails.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Divine +kings put +to death. +The +Chitomé +of Congo. +Ethiopian +kings of +Meroe.</note> +But it is with the death of the god-man—the divine king +or priest—that we are here especially concerned. The +mystic kings of Fire and Water in Cambodia are not +allowed to die a natural death. Hence when one of them +is seriously ill and the elders think that he cannot recover, +they stab him to death.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 4 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The people of Congo believed, as +we have seen,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, +pp. 5 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> that if their pontiff the Chitomé were to die a +natural death, the world would perish, and the earth, which +he alone sustained by his power and merit, would immediately +be annihilated. Accordingly when he fell ill and seemed +likely to die, the man who was destined to be his successor +entered the pontiff's house with a rope or a club and +strangled or clubbed him to death.<note place='foot'>J. B. Labat, <hi rend='italic'>Relation historique de +l'Éthiopie occidentale</hi> (Paris, 1732), i. +260 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Winwood Reade, <hi rend='italic'>Savage +Africa</hi> (London, 1863), p. 362.</note> A fuller account +of this custom is given by an old Italian writer as follows: +<q>Let us pass to the death of the magicians, who often +die a violent death, and that for the most part voluntarily. +I shall speak only of the head of this crew, from +whom his followers take example. He is called Ganga +Chitome, being reputed god of the earth. The first-fruits +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> +of all the crops are offered to him as his due, because +they are thought to be produced by his power, and not +by nature at the bidding of the Most High God. This +power he boasts he can impart to others, when and to whom +he pleases. He asserts that his body cannot die a natural +death, and therefore when he knows he is near the end of +his days, whether it is brought about by sickness or age, or +whether he is deluded by the demon, he calls one of his +disciples to whom he wishes to communicate his power, in +order that he may succeed him. And having made him +tie a noose to his neck he commands him to strangle him, +or to knock him on the head with a great cudgel and kill +him. His disciple obeys and sends him a martyr to the +devil, to suffer torments with Lucifer in the flames for ever. +This tragedy is enacted in public, in order that his successor +may be manifested, who hath the power of fertilising the +earth, the power having been imparted to him by the +deceased; otherwise, so they say, the earth would remain +barren, and the world would perish. Oh too great foolishness +and palpable blindness of the gentiles, to enlighten the +eye of whose mind there would be needed the very hand of +Christ whereby he opened the bodily eyes of him that had been +born blind! I know that in my time one of these magicians +was cast into the sea, another into a river, a mother put to +death with her son, and many more seized by our orders and +banished.</q><note place='foot'>G. Merolla, <hi rend='italic'>Relazione del viaggio +nel regno di Congo</hi> (Naples, 1726), p. +76. The English version of this passage +(Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, +xvi. 228) has already been quoted by +Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury) in +his <hi rend='italic'>Origin of Civilisation</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> pp. 358 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +In that version the native title of the +pontiff is misspelt.</note> The Ethiopian kings of Meroe were worshipped +as gods; but whenever the priests chose, they sent a messenger +to the king, ordering him to die, and alleging an oracle of the +gods as their authority for the command. This command the +kings always obeyed down to the reign of Ergamenes, a contemporary +of Ptolemy II., King of Egypt. Having received +a Greek education which emancipated him from the superstitions +of his countrymen, Ergamenes ventured to disregard the +command of the priests, and, entering the Golden Temple +with a body of soldiers, put the priests to the sword.<note place='foot'>Diodorus Siculus, iii. 6; Strabo, +xvii. 2. 3, p. 822.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kings of +Fazoql on +the Blue +Nile.</note> +Customs of the same sort appear to have prevailed +in this region down to modern times. Thus we are told +that in Fazoql, a district in the valley of the Blue Nile, +to the west of Abyssinia, it was customary, as late as the +middle of the nineteenth century, to hang a king who was no +longer beloved. His relatives and ministers assembled round +him, and announced that as he no longer pleased the men, +the women, the asses, the oxen, and the fowls of the country, +it was better he should die. Once on a time, when a king +was unwilling to take the hint, his own wife and mother +urged him so strongly not to disgrace himself by disregarding +the custom, that he submitted to his fate and was strung up +in the usual way. In some tribes of Fazoql the king had to +administer justice daily under a certain tree. If from sickness +or any other cause he was unable to discharge this +duty for three whole days, he was hanged on the tree in a +noose, which contained two razors so arranged that when +the noose was drawn tight by the weight of the king's body +they cut his throat.<note place='foot'>R. Lepsius, <hi rend='italic'>Letters from Egypt, +Ethiopia, and the peninsula of Sinai</hi> +(London, 1853), pp. 202, 204. I have +to thank Dr. E. Westermarck for pointing +out these passages to me. Fazoql lies +in the fork between the Blue Nile and its +tributary the Tumat. See J. Russeger, +<hi rend='italic'>Reisen in Europa, Asien und Afrika</hi>, +ii. 2 (Stuttgart, 1844), p. 552 note.</note> At Fazolglou an annual festival, which +partook of the nature of a Saturnalia, was preceded by a +formal trial of the king in front of his house. The judges +were the chief men of the country. The king sat on his +royal stool during the trial, surrounded by armed men, who +were ready to carry out a sentence of death. A little way +off a jackal and a dog were tied to a post. The conduct of +the king during his year of office was discussed, complaints +were heard, and if the verdict was unfavourable, the king +was executed and his successor chosen from among the +members of his family. But if the monarch was acquitted, +the people at once paid their homage to him afresh, and the +dog or the jackal was killed in his stead. This custom +lasted down to the year 1837 or 1838, when king Yassin +was thus condemned and executed.<note place='foot'>Brun-Rollet, <hi rend='italic'>Le Nil Blanc et le +Soudan</hi> (Paris, 1855), pp. 248 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> For +the orgiastic character of these annual +festivals, see <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> p. 245. Fazolglou +is probably the same as Fazoql. The +people who practise the custom are +called Bertat by E. Marno (<hi rend='italic'>Reisen im +Gebiete des blauen und weissen Nil</hi> +(Vienna, 1874), p. 68).</note> His nephew Assusa was +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> +compelled under threats of death to succeed him in the +office.<note place='foot'>J. Russegger, <hi rend='italic'>Reisen in Europa, +Asien und Afrika</hi>, ii. 2, p. 553. Russegger +met Assusa in January 1838, and +says that the king had then been a year +in office. He does not mention the name +of the king's uncle who had, he tells us, +been strangled by the chiefs; but I assume +that he was the Yassin who is mentioned +by Brun-Rollet. Russegger adds that +the strangling of the king was performed +publicly, and in the most solemn manner, +and was said to happen often in Fazoql +and the neighbouring countries.</note> Afterwards it would seem that the death of the dog +was regularly accepted as a substitute for the death of the +king. At least this may be inferred from a later account of +the Fazoql practice, which runs thus: <q>The meaning of +another of their customs is quite obscure. At a certain +time of the year they have a kind of carnival, where every +one does what he likes best. Four ministers of the king +then bear him on an anqareb out of his house to an open +space of ground; a dog is fastened by a long cord to one of +the feet of the anqareb. The whole population collects +round the place, streaming in on every side. They then +throw darts and stones at the dog, till he is killed, after which +the king is again borne into his house.</q><note place='foot'>R. Lepsius, <hi rend='italic'>Letters from Egypt, +Ethiopia, and the peninsula of Sinai</hi> +(London, 1853), p. 204. Lepsius's +letter is dated <q>The Pyramids of Meroë, +22nd April 1844.</q> His informant was +Osman Bey, who had lived for sixteen +years in these regions. An <foreign rend='italic'>anqareb</foreign> +or <foreign rend='italic'>angareb</foreign> is a kind of bed made by +stretching string or leather thongs over +an oblong wooden framework.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Shilluk +custom of +putting +divine +kings to +death. The +Shilluk +kings +supposed +to be +reincarnations +of +Nyakang, +the semi-divine +founder +of the +dynasty. +The +shrines of +Nyakang.</note> +A custom of putting their divine kings to death at the +first symptoms of infirmity or old age prevailed until lately, +if indeed it is even now extinct and not merely dormant, +among the Shilluk of the White Nile, and in recent years it +has been carefully investigated by Dr. C. G. Seligmann, to +whose researches I am indebted for the following detailed +information on the subject.<note place='foot'>I have to thank Dr. Seligmann +for his kindness and courtesy in transmitting +to me his unpublished account +and allowing me to draw on it at my +discretion.</note> The Shilluk are a tribe or +nation who inhabit a long narrow fringe of territory on the +western bank of the White Nile from Kaka in the north to +Lake No in the south, as well as a strip on the eastern bank +of the river, which stretches from Fashoda to Taufikia and +for some thirty-five miles up the Sobat River. The country +of the Shilluk is almost entirely in grass, hence the principal +wealth of the people consists in their flocks and herds, but +they also grow a considerable quantity of the species of +millet which is known as durra. But though the Shilluk +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> +are mainly a pastoral people, they are not nomadic, but live +in many settled villages. The tribe at present numbers about +forty thousand souls, and is governed by a single king (<foreign rend='italic'>ret</foreign>), +whose residence is at Fashoda. His subjects take great +care of him, and hold him in much honour. In the old +days his word was law and he was not suffered to go forth +to battle. At the present day he still keeps up considerable +state and exercises much authority; his decisions on all +matters brought before him are readily obeyed; and he +never moves without a bodyguard of from twelve to twenty +men. The reverence which the Shilluk pay to their king +appears to arise chiefly from the conviction that he is a +reincarnation of the spirit of Nyakang, the semi-divine hero +who founded the dynasty and settled the tribe in their +present territory, to which he is variously said to have +conducted them either from the west or from the south. +Tradition has preserved the pedigree of the kings from +Nyakang to the present day. The number of kings recorded +between Nyakang and the father of the reigning monarch is +twenty, distributed over twelve generations; but Dr. Seligmann +is of opinion that many more must have reigned, and +that the genealogy of the first six or seven kings, as given +to him, has been much abbreviated. There seems to be no +reason to doubt the historical character of all of them, +though myths have gathered like clouds round the persons +of Nyakang and his immediate successors. The Shilluk +about Kodok (Fashoda) think of Nyakang as having been +a man in appearance and physical qualities, though unlike +his royal descendants of more recent times he did not die +but simply disappeared. His holiness is manifested especially +by his relation to Jŭok, the great god of the Shilluk, +who created man and is responsible for the order of nature. +Jŭok is formless and invisible and like the air he is everywhere +at once. He is far above Nyakang and men alike, +but he is not worshipped directly, and it is only through the +intercession of Nyakang, whose favour the Shilluk secure +by means of sacrifices, that Jŭok can be induced to send the +needed rain for the cattle and the crops.<note place='foot'>As to Jŭok (Čuok), the supreme +being of the Shilluk, see P. W. Hofmayr, +<q>Religion der Schilluk,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Anthropos</hi>, +vi. (1911) pp. 120-122, whose account +agrees with the briefer one given by +Dr. C. G. Seligmann. Otiose supreme +beings (<foreign rend='italic'>dieux fainéants</foreign>) of this type, +who having made the world do not +meddle with it and to whom little or no +worship is paid, are common in Africa.</note> In his character +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +of rain-giver Nyakang is the great benefactor of the Shilluk. +Their country, baked by the burning heat of the tropical +sun, depends entirely for its fertility on the waters of heaven, +for the people do not resort to artificial irrigation. When +the rain falls, then the grass sprouts, the millet grows, the +cattle thrive, and the people have food to eat. Drought brings +famine and death in its train.<note place='foot'>P. W. Hofmayr, <q>Religion der +Schilluk,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Anthropos</hi>, vi. (1911) pp. +123, 125. This writer gives Nykang +as the name of the first Shilluk king.</note> Nyakang is said not only +to have brought the Shilluk into their present land, but +to have made them into a nation of warriors, divided the +country among them, regulated marriage, and made the +laws.<note place='foot'>P. W. Hofmayr, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 123.</note> The religion of the Shilluk at the present time consists +mainly of the worship paid to this semi-divine hero, +the traditionary ancestor of their kings. There seems to be +no reason to doubt that the traditions concerning him are +substantially correct; in all probability he was simply a man +whom the superstition of his fellows in his own and subsequent +ages has raised to the rank of a deity.<note place='foot'>This is the view both of Dr. C. G. +Seligmann and of Father P. W. Hofmayr +(<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 123).</note> No less than +ten shrines are dedicated to his worship; the three most +famous are at Fashoda, Akurwa, and Fenikang. They +consist of one or more huts enclosed by a fence; generally +there are several huts within the enclosure, one or more of +them being occupied by the guardians of the shrine. These +guardians are old men, who not only keep the hallowed +spot scrupulously clean, but also act as priests, killing the +sacrificial victims which are brought to the shrine, sharing +their flesh, and taking the skins for themselves. All the +shrines of Nyakang are called graves of Nyakang (<foreign rend='italic'>kengo +Nyakang</foreign>), though it is well known that nobody is buried +there.<note place='foot'>The word <foreign rend='italic'>kengo</foreign> is applied only to +the shrines of Nyakang and the graves +of the kings. Graves of commoners +are called <foreign rend='italic'>roro</foreign>.</note> Sacred spears are kept in all of them and are +used to slaughter the victims offered in sacrifice at the +shrines. The originals of these spears are said to have +belonged to Nyakang and his companions, but they have +disappeared and been replaced by others. +</p> + +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Annual +rain-making +ceremony +performed +at the +shrines of +Nyakang. +Harvest +ceremony +at the +shrines of +Nyakang.</note> +Two great ceremonies are annually performed at the +shrines of Nyakang: one of them is intended to ensure the +fall of rain, the other is celebrated at harvest. At the +rain-making ceremony, which is held before the rains at +the beginning of the month <foreign rend='italic'>alabor</foreign>, a bullock is slain with +a sacred spear before the door of the shrine, while the king +stands by praying in a loud voice to Nyakang to send down +the refreshing showers on the thirsty land. As much of +the blood of the victim as possible is collected in a gourd +and thrown into the river, perhaps as a rain-charm. This +intention of the sacrifice comes out more plainly in a form +of the ritual which is said to be observed at Ashop. There +the sacrificial bullock is speared high up in the flank, so +that the wound is not immediately fatal. Then the wounded +animal is allowed and indeed encouraged to walk to and +from the river before it sinks down and dies. In the blood +that streams from its side on the ground the people may see +a symbol of the looked-for rain.<note place='foot'>On the use of flowing blood in +rain-making ceremonies see <hi rend='italic'>The Magic +Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. +256, 257 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Care is taken not to break +the bones of the animal, and they, like the blood, are thrown +into the river. At the annual rain-making ceremony a cow +is also dedicated to Nyakang: it is not killed but added to +the sacred herd of the shrine. The other great annual +ceremony observed at the shrines of Nyakang falls at harvest. +When the millet has been reaped, every one brings a portion +of the grain to a shrine of Nyakang, where it is ground into +flour, which is made into porridge with water fetched from +the river. Then some of the porridge is poured out on +the threshold of the hut which the spirit of Nyakang is +supposed to inhabit; some of it is smeared on the outer +walls of the building; and some of it is emptied out on the +ground outside. Even before harvest it is customary to +bring some of the ripening grain from the fields and to +thrust it into the thatch of the huts in the shrines, no doubt +in order to secure the blessing of Nyakang on the crops. +Sacrifices are also offered at these shrines for the benefit of sick +people. A sufferer will bring or send a sheep to the nearest +sanctuary, where the guardians will slaughter the animal with +a sacred spear and pray for the patient's recovery. +</p> + +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Shilluk +kings put +to death +when they +shew signs +of ill-health +or +failing +strength.</note> +It is a fundamental article of the Shilluk creed that +the spirit of the divine or semi-divine Nyakang is incarnate +in the reigning king, who is accordingly himself invested +to some extent with the character of a divinity. But while +the Shilluk hold their kings in high, indeed religious reverence +and take every precaution against their accidental +death, nevertheless they cherish <q>the conviction that the +king must not be allowed to become ill or senile, lest with +his diminishing vigour the cattle should sicken and fail to +bear their increase, the crops should rot in the fields, and +man, stricken with disease, should die in ever increasing +numbers.</q><note place='foot'>Dr. C. G. Seligmann, <hi rend='italic'>The Shilluk Divine Kings</hi> (in manuscript).</note> To prevent these calamities it used to be the +regular custom with the Shilluk to put the king to death +whenever he shewed signs of ill-health or failing strength. +One of the fatal symptoms of decay was taken to be an +incapacity to satisfy the sexual passions of his wives, of +whom he has very many, distributed in a large number +of houses at Fashoda. When this ominous weakness manifested +itself, the wives reported it to the chiefs, who are popularly +said to have intimated to the king his doom by spreading +a white cloth over his face and knees as he lay slumbering in +the heat of the sultry afternoon. Execution soon followed +the sentence of death. A hut was specially built for the +occasion: the king was led into it and lay down with his +head resting on the lap of a nubile virgin: the door of the +hut was then walled up; and the couple were left without +food, water, or fire to die of hunger and suffocation. This +was the old custom, but it was abolished some five generations +ago on account of the excessive sufferings of one of +the kings who perished in this way. He survived his companion +for some days, and in the interval was so distressed +by the stench of her putrefying body that he shouted to the +people, whom he could hear moving outside, never again to +let a king die in this prolonged and exquisite agony. After +a time his cries died away into silence; death had released +him from his sufferings; but since then the Shilluk have +adopted a quicker and more merciful mode of executing +their kings. What the exact form of execution has been in +later times Dr. Seligmann found it very difficult to ascertain, +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> +though with regard to the fact of the execution he tells us +that there is not the least doubt. It is said that the chiefs +announce his fate to the king, and that afterwards he is +strangled in a hut which has been specially built for the +occasion. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Shilluk +kings +formerly +liable to be +attacked +and killed +at any time +by rival +claimants +to the +throne.</note> +From Dr. Seligmann's enquiries it appears that not only +was the Shilluk king liable to be killed with due ceremony +at the first symptoms of incipient decay, but even while he +was yet in the prime of health and strength he might be +attacked at any time by a rival and have to defend his +crown in a combat to the death. According to the common +Shilluk tradition any son of a king had the right thus to +fight the king in possession and, if he succeeded in killing +him, to reign in his stead. As every king had a large harem +and many sons, the number of possible candidates for the +throne at any time may well have been not inconsiderable, +and the reigning monarch must have carried his life in his +hand. But the attack on him could only take place with +any prospect of success at night; for during the day the +king surrounded himself with his friends and bodyguards, +and an aspirant to the throne could hardly hope to cut his +way through them and strike home. It was otherwise at +night. For then the guards were dismissed and the king +was alone in his enclosure with his favourite wives, and there +was no man near to defend him except a few herdsmen, +whose huts stood a little way off. The hours of darkness +were therefore the season of peril for the king. It is said +that he used to pass them in constant watchfulness, prowling +round his huts fully armed, peering into the blackest shadows, +or himself standing silent and alert, like a sentinel on duty, +in some dark corner. When at last his rival appeared, the +fight would take place in grim silence, broken only by the +clash of spears and shields, for it was a point of honour +with the king not to call the herdsmen to his assistance.<note place='foot'>On this subject Dr. Seligmann +writes to me (March 9th, 1911) as +follows: <q>The assumption of the +throne as the result of victory in single +combat doubtless occurred once; at +the present day and perhaps for the +whole of the historic period it has +been superseded by the ceremonial +killing of the king, but I regard these +stories as folk-lore indicating what once +really happened.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +When the king did not perish in single combat, but was +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +put to death on the approach of sickness or old age, it became +necessary to find a successor for him. Apparently the +successor was chosen by the most powerful chiefs from +among the princes (<foreign rend='italic'>niăret</foreign>), the sons either of the late king +or of one of his predecessors. Details as to the mode of +election are lacking. So far as Dr. Seligmann could ascertain, +the kings elect shewed no reluctance to accept the fatal +sovereignty; indeed he was told a story of a man who +clamoured to be made king for only one day, saying that +he was perfectly ready to be killed after that. The age at +which the king was killed would seem to have commonly +been between forty and fifty.<note place='foot'>These particulars I take from +letters of Dr. C. G. Seligmann's to +me (dated 8th February and 9th +March 1911). They are not mentioned +in the writer's paper on the +subject.</note> To the improvident and +unimaginative savage the prospect of being put to death at +the end of a set time, whether long or short, has probably +few terrors; and if it has any, we may suspect that they are +altogether outweighed in his mind by the opportunities for +immediate enjoyment of all kinds which a kingdom affords +to his unbridled appetites and passions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ceremonies +at the +accession +of a Shilluk +king.</note> +An important part of the solemnities attending the +accession of a Shilluk king appears to be intended to convey +to the new monarch the divine spirit of Nyakang, which has +been transmitted from the founder of the dynasty to all his +successors on the throne. For this purpose a sacred four-legged +stool and a mysterious object which bears the name +of Nyakang himself are brought with much solemnity from +the shrine of Nyakang at Akurwa to the small village of +Kwom near Fashoda, where the king elect and the chiefs +await their arrival. The thing called Nyakang is said to be +of cylindrical shape, some two or three feet long by six +inches broad. The chief of Akurwa informed Dr. Seligmann +that the object in question is a rude wooden figure of a man, +which was fashioned long ago at the command of Nyakang +in person. We may suppose that it represents the divine +king himself and that it is, or was formerly, supposed to +house his spirit, though the chief of Akurwa denied to Dr. +Seligmann that it does so now. Be that as it may, the +object plays a prominent part at the installation of a new +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> +king. When the men of Akurwa arrive at Kwom with the +sacred stool and the image of Nyakang, as we may call it, they +engage in a sham fight with the men who are waiting for +them with the king elect. The weapons used on both sides +are simply stalks of millet. Being victorious in the mock +combat, the men of Akurwa escort the king to Fashoda, and +some of them enter the shrine of Nyakang with the stool. +After a short time they bring the stool forth again and set +it on the ground outside of the sacred enclosure. Then the +image of Nyakang is placed on the stool; the king elect holds +one leg of the stool and an important chief holds another. +The king is surrounded by a crowd of princes and nobles, +and near him stand two of his paternal aunts and two of his +sisters. After that a bullock is killed and its flesh eaten by +the men of certain families called <foreign rend='italic'>ororo</foreign>, who are said to be +descended from the third of the Shilluk kings. Then the +Akurwa men carry the image of Nyakang into the shrine, and +the <foreign rend='italic'>ororo</foreign> men place the king elect on the sacred stool, where +he remains seated for some time, apparently till sunset. +When he rises, the Akurwa men carry the stool back into +the shrine, and the king is escorted to three new huts, where +he stays in seclusion for three days. On the fourth night +he is conducted quietly, almost stealthily, to his royal +residence at Fashoda, and next day he shews himself publicly +to his subjects. The three new huts in which he spent the +days of his seclusion are then broken up and their fragments +cast into the river. The installation of a new king generally +takes place about the middle of the dry season; and it is +said that the men of Akurwa tarry at Fashoda with the image +of Nyakang till about the beginning of the rains. Before +they leave Fashoda they sacrifice a bullock, and at every +waddy or bed of a stream that they cross they kill a sheep. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Worship +of the dead +Shilluk +kings.</note> +Like Nyakang himself, their founder, each of the Shilluk +kings after death is worshipped at a shrine, which is erected +over his grave, and the grave of a king is always in the +village where he was born.<note place='foot'>When one of the king's wives is +with child, she remains at Fashoda till +the fourth or fifth month of her pregnancy; +she is then sent away to a +village, not necessarily her own, where +she remains under the charge of the +village chief until she has finished +nursing the child. Afterwards she +returns to Fashoda, but the child +invariably remains in the village of his +or her birth and is brought up there. +All royal children of either sex, in +whatever part of the Shilluk territory +they may happen to die, are buried +the village where they were born.</note> The tomb-shrine of a king +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> +resembles the shrine of Nyakang, consisting of a few huts +enclosed by a fence; one of the huts is built over the +king's grave, the others are occupied by the guardians of +the shrine. Indeed the shrines of Nyakang and the shrines +of the kings are scarcely to be distinguished from each +other, and the religious rituals observed at all of them +are identical in form and vary only in matters of detail, +the variations being due apparently to the far greater +sanctity attributed to the shrines of Nyakang. The grave-shrines +of the kings are tended by certain old men or women, +who correspond to the guardians of the shrines of Nyakang. +They are usually widows or old men-servants of the deceased +king, and when they die they are succeeded in their office +by their descendants. Moreover, cattle are dedicated to the +grave-shrines of the kings and sacrifices are offered at them +just as at the shrines of Nyakang. Thus when the millet +crop threatens to fail or a murrain to break out among the +cattle, either Nyakang himself or one of his successors on +the throne will appear to somebody in a dream and demand +a sacrifice. The dream is reported to the king, who thereupon +at once sends a cow and a bullock to one or more of +the shrines of Nyakang, if it was he who appeared in the +vision, or to the grave-shrine of the particular king whom +the dreamer saw in his dream. The bullock is then sacrificed +and the cow added to the sacred herd belonging to the +shrine. Further, the harvest ceremony which is performed +at the shrines of Nyakang is usually, though not necessarily, +performed also at the grave-shrines of the kings; and, lastly, +sick folk send animals to be sacrificed as offerings on their +behalf at the shrines of the kings just as they send them to +the shrines of Nyakang. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sick +people and +others +supposed +to be +possessed +by the +spirits of +dead +Shilluk +kings.</note> +Sick people have, indeed, a special reason for sacrificing +to the spirits of the dead kings in the hope of recovery, +inasmuch as one of the commonest causes of sickness, +according to the Shilluk, is the entrance of one of these +royal spirits into the body of the sufferer, whose first care, +therefore, is to rid himself as quickly as possible of his +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> +august but unwelcome guest. Apparently, however, it is +only the souls of the early kings who manifest themselves in +this disagreeable fashion. Dr. Seligmann met with a woman, +for example, who had been ill and who attributed her illness +to the spirit of Dag, the second of the Shilluk kings, which +had taken possession of her body. But a sacrifice of two +sheep had induced the spirit to quit her, and she wore anklets +of beads, with pieces of the ears of the sheep strung on them, +which she thought would effectually guard her against the +danger of being again possessed by the soul of the dead +king. Nor is it only in sickness that the souls of dead kings +are thought to take possession of the bodies of the living. +Certain men and women, who bear the name of <foreign rend='italic'>ajuago</foreign>, +are believed to be permanently possessed by the spirit of +one or other of the early kings, and in virtue of this +inspiration they profess to heal the sick and do a brisk +trade in amulets. The first symptom of possession may +take the form of illness or of a dream from which the sleeper +awakes trembling and agitated. A long and complicated +ceremony follows to abate the extreme force of the spiritual +manifestations in the new medium, for were these to continue +in their first intensity he would not dare to approach his +women. But whichever of the dead kings may manifest +himself to the living, whether in dreams or in the form of +bodily possession, his spirit is deemed, at least by many of +the Shilluk, to be identical with that of Nyakang; they do +not clearly distinguish, if indeed they distinguish at all, +between the divine spirit of the founder of the dynasty and +its later manifestations in all his royal successors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +principal +element +in the +religion +of the +Shilluk is +the worship +of their +kings. +The +kings put +to death +in order to +preserve +their divine +spirit from +natural decay, +which +would +sympathetically +affect the +crops, the +cattle, and +mankind.</note> +In general the principal element in the religion of the +Shilluk would seem to be the worship which they pay to +their sacred or divine kings, whether dead or alive. These +are believed to be animated by a single divine spirit, which +has been transmitted from the semi-mythical, but probably +in substance historical, founder of the dynasty through all +his successors to the present day. Yet the divine spirit, as +Dr. Seligmann justly observes, is clearly not thought of as +congenital in the members of the royal house; it is only conveyed +to each king on his accession by means of the mysterious +object called Nyakang, in which, as Dr. Seligmann with great +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> +probability conjectures, the holy spirit of Nyakang may be +supposed to reside. Hence, regarding their kings as incarnate +divinities on whom the welfare of men, of cattle, and of the +corn implicitly depends, the Shilluk naturally pay them the +greatest respect and take every care of them; and however +strange it may seem to us, their custom of putting the divine +king to death as soon as he shews signs of ill-health or +failing strength springs directly from their profound veneration +for him and from their anxiety to preserve him, or +rather the divine spirit by which he is animated, in the most +perfect state of efficiency: nay, we may go further and say +that their practice of regicide is the best proof they can give +of the high regard in which they hold their kings. For they +believe, as we have seen, that the king's life or spirit is so +sympathetically bound up with the prosperity of the whole +country, that if he fell ill or grew senile the cattle would +sicken and cease to multiply, the crops would rot in the +fields, and men would perish of widespread disease. Hence, +in their opinion, the only way of averting these calamities is +to put the king to death while he is still hale and hearty, in +order that the divine spirit which he has inherited from his +predecessors may be transmitted in turn by him to his +successor while it is still in full vigour and has not yet been +impaired by the weakness of disease and old age. In this +connexion the particular symptom which is commonly said +to seal the king's death-warrant is highly significant; when +he can no longer satisfy the passions of his numerous wives, +in other words, when he has ceased, whether partially or +wholly, to be able to reproduce his kind, it is time for him to +die and to make room for a more vigorous successor. Taken +along with the other reasons which are alleged for putting +the king to death, this one suggests that the fertility of men, +of cattle, and of the crops is believed to depend sympathetically +on the generative power of the king, so that the +complete failure of that power in him would involve a +corresponding failure in men, animals, and plants, and would +thereby entail at no distant date the entire extinction of all +life, whether human, animal, or vegetable. No wonder, that +with such a danger before their eyes the Shilluk should be +most careful not to let the king die what we should call a +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +natural death of sickness or old age. It is characteristic of +their attitude towards the death of the kings that they refrain +from speaking of it as death: they do not say that a king +has died but simply that he has <q>gone away</q> like his divine +ancestors Nyakang and Dag, the two first kings of the +dynasty, both of whom are reported not to have died but to +have disappeared. The similar legends of the mysterious disappearance +of early kings in other lands, for example at Rome +and in Uganda,<note place='foot'>As to the disappearance of the +early Roman kings see <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art +and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, vol. ii. pp. +312 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; as to the disappearance of +the early kings of Uganda, see the Rev. +J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi> (London, +1911), p. 214.</note> may well point to a similar custom of putting +them to death for the purpose of preserving their life. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Parallel +between +the Shilluk +kings and +the King +of the +Wood at +Nemi.</note> +On the whole the theory and practice of the divine kings of +the Shilluk correspond very nearly to the theory and practice +of the priests of Nemi, the Kings of the Wood, if my view of +the latter is correct.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, ii. 376 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In both we see a series of divine kings +on whose life the fertility of men, of cattle, and of vegetation +is believed to depend, and who are put to death, +whether in single combat or otherwise, in order that +their divine spirit may be transmitted to their successors +in full vigour, uncontaminated by the weakness and +decay of sickness or old age, because any such degeneration +on the part of the king would, in the opinion of his +worshippers, entail a corresponding degeneration on mankind, +on cattle, and on the crops. Some points in this +explanation of the custom of putting divine kings to death, +particularly the method of transmitting their divine souls to +their successors, will be dealt with more fully in the sequel. +Meantime we pass to other examples of the general practice. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Dinka of +the Upper +Nile.</note> +The Dinka are a congeries of independent tribes in the +valley of the White Nile, whose territory, lying mostly on the +eastern bank of the river and stretching from the sixth to the +twelfth degree of North Latitude, has been estimated to comprise +between sixty and seventy thousand square miles. They +are a tall long-legged people rather slender than fat, with +curly hair and a complexion of the deepest black. Though +ill-fed, they are strong and healthy and in general reach +a great age. The nation embraces a number of independent +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> +tribes, and each tribe is mainly composed of the owners of +cattle; for the Dinka are essentially a pastoral people, +passionately devoted to the care of their numerous herds +of oxen, though they also keep sheep and goats, and the +women cultivate small quantities of millet (durra) and +sesame. The tribes have no political union. Each village +forms a separate community, pasturing its herds together in +the same grass-land. With the change of the seasons the +people migrate with their flocks and herds to and from the +banks of the Nile. In summer, when the plains near the great +river are converted into swamps and covered with clouds of +mosquitoes, the herdsmen and their families drive their beasts +to the higher land of the interior, where the animals find firm +ground, abundant fodder, and pools of water at which to slake +their thirst in the fervour of the noonday heat. Here in the +clearings of the forest the community takes up its abode, each +family dwelling by itself in one or more conical huts enclosed +by a strong fence of stakes and thorn-bushes. It is in the +patches of open ground about these dwellings that the women +grow their scanty crops of millet and sesame. The mode of +tillage is rude. The stumps of the trees which have been +felled are left standing to a height of several feet; the ground +is hacked by the help of a tool between a hoe and a spade, +and the weeds are uprooted with the hand. Such as it is, +the crop is exposed to the ravages of apes and elephants by +night and of birds by day. The hungry blacks do not +always wait till the corn is ripe, but eat much of it while +the ears are still green. The cattle are kept in separate +parks (<foreign rend='italic'>murahs</foreign>) away from the villages. It is in the season +of the summer rains that the Dinka are most happy and +prosperous. Then the cattle find sweet grass, plentiful +water, coolness and shade in the forest; then the people +subsist in comfort on the milk of their flocks and herds, +supplementing it with the millet which they reap and the +wild fruits which they gather in the forest; then they brew +the native beer, then they marry and dance by night under +the bright moon of the serene tropical sky. But in autumn +a great change passes over the life of the community. +When October has come, the rains are over, the grass of +the pastures is eaten down or withered, the pools are dry; +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +thirst compels the whole village, with its lowing herds and +bleating flocks, to migrate to the neighbourhood of the river. +Now begins a time of privation and suffering. There is no +grass for the cattle save in some marshy spots, where the +herdsman must fight his rivals in order to win a meagre supply +of fodder for his starveling beasts. There is no milk for the +people, no fruits on the trees, except a bitter sort of acorns, +from which a miserable flour is ground to stay the pangs of +hunger. The lean and famished natives are driven to fish in +the river for the tubers of water-lilies, to grub in the earth for +roots, to boil the leaves of trees, and as a last resource to +drink the blood drawn from the necks of their wretched cattle. +The gaunt appearance of the people at this season fills the +beholder with horror. The herds are decimated by famine, +but even more beasts perish by dysentery and other diseases +when the first rains cause the fresh grass to sprout.<note place='foot'><q>E. de Pruyssenaere's Reisen und +Forschungen im Gebiete des Weissen +und Blauen Nil,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Petermann's Mittheilungen, +Ergänzungsheft</hi>, No. 50 (Gotha, +1877), pp. 18-23. Compare G. +Schweinfurth, <hi rend='italic'>The Heart of Africa</hi>, +Third Edition (London, 1878), i. 48 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> In the text I have followed de +Pruyssenaere's description of the privations +endured by the Dinka in the dry +season. But that description is perhaps +only applicable in seasons of unusual +drought, for Dr. C. G. Seligmann, +writing from personal observation, informs +me that he regards the description +as much overdrawn; in an average +year, he tells me, the cattle do not die of +famine and the natives are not starving. +According to his information the drinking +of the blood of their cattle is a +luxury in which the Dinka indulge +themselves at any time of the year.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dengdit, +the Supreme +Being of +the Dinka. +Totemism +of the +Dinka.</note> +It is no wonder that the rain, on which the Dinka are +so manifestly dependent for their subsistence, should play +a great part in their religion and superstition. They +worship a supreme being whose name of Dengdit means +literally Great Rain.<note place='foot'>For this and the following information +as to the religion, totemism, and +rain-makers of the Dinka I am indebted +to the kindness of Dr. C. G. Seligmann, +who investigated the Shilluk +and Dinka in 1909-1910 and has +most obligingly placed his manuscript +materials at my disposal.</note> It was he who created the world and +established the present order of things, and it is he who sends +down the rain from the <q>rain-place,</q> his home in the upper +regions of the air. But according to the Niel Dinka this +great being was once incarnate in human form. Born of a +woman, who descended from the sky, he became the ancestor +of a clan which has the rain for its totem; for the recent +researches of Dr. C. G. Seligmann have proved that every +Dinka tribe is divided into a number of clans, each of which +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> +reveres as its totem a species of animals or plants or other +natural objects, such as rain or fire. Animal totems seem +to be the commonest; amongst them are the lion, the +elephant, the crocodile, the hippopotamus, the fox, the +hyaena, and a species of small birds called <foreign rend='italic'>amur</foreign>, clouds of +which infest the cornfields and do great damage to the +crops. Each clan speaks of its totemic animal or plant +as its ancestor and refrains from injuring and eating it. +Men of the Crocodile clan, for example, call themselves +<q>Brothers of the Crocodile,</q> and will neither kill nor eat the +animal; indeed they will not even eat out of any vessel +which has held crocodile flesh. And as they do not injure +crocodiles, so they imagine that their crocodile kinsfolk will +not injure them; hence men of this clan swim freely in the +river, even by night, without fear of being attacked by the +dangerous reptiles. And when the totem is a carnivorous +animal, members of the clan may propitiate it by killing sheep +and throwing out the flesh to be devoured by their animal +brethren either on the outskirts of the village or in the river. +Members of the Small Bird (<foreign rend='italic'>amur</foreign>) clan perform ceremonies +to prevent the birds from injuring the crops. The relationship +between a clan and its animal ancestor or totem is +commonly explained by a legend that in the beginning an +ancestress gave birth to twins, one of whom was the totemic +animal and the other the human ancestor. Like most totemic +clans, the clans of the Dinka are exogamous, that is, no man +may marry a woman of his own clan. The descent of the +clans is in the paternal line; in other words, every man and +woman belongs to his or her father's clan, not to that of his +or her mother. But the Rain clan of the Niel Dinka has for +its ancestor, as we have seen, the supreme god himself, who +deigned to be born of a woman and to live for a long time +among men, ruling over them, till at last he grew very old and +disappeared appropriately, like Romulus, in a great storm of +rain. Shrines erected in his honour appear to be scattered +all over the Dinka country and offerings are made at them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Rain-makers +among the +Dinka.</note> +Perhaps without being unduly rash we may conjecture +that the great god of the Dinka, who gives them the rain, +was indeed, what tradition represents him as having been, a +man among men, in fact a human rain-maker, whom at his +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> +death the superstition of his fellows promoted to the rank +of a deity above the clouds. Be that as it may, the human +rain-maker (<foreign rend='italic'>bain</foreign>) is a very important personage among the +Dinka to this day; indeed the men in authority whom +travellers dub chiefs or sheikhs are in fact the actual or +potential rain-makers of the tribe or community.<note place='foot'>On the importance of the rain-makers +among the Dinka and other +tribes of the Upper Nile, see <hi rend='italic'>The +Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, +i. 345 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Each of +them is believed to be animated by the spirit of a great +rain-maker, which has come down to him through a succession +of rain-makers; and in virtue of this inspiration a +successful rain-maker enjoys very great power and is consulted +on all important matters. For example, in the Bor +tribe of Dinka at the present time there is an old but active +rain-maker named Biyordit, who is reputed to have immanent +in him a great and powerful spirit called Lerpiu, and by +reason of this reputation he exercises immense influence over +all the Dinka of the Bor and Tain tribes. While the mighty +spirit Lerpiu is supposed to be embodied in the rain-maker, +it is also thought to inhabit a certain hut which serves as a +shrine. In front of the hut stands a post to which are +fastened the horns of many bullocks that have been sacrificed +to Lerpiu; and in the hut is kept a very sacred spear which +bears the name of Lerpiu and is said to have fallen from +heaven six generations ago. As fallen stars are also called +Lerpiu, we may suspect that an intimate connexion is +supposed to exist between meteorites and the spirit which +animates the rain-maker; nor would such a connexion seem +unnatural to the savage, who observes that meteorites and +rain alike descend from the sky. In spring, about the +month of April, when the new moon is a few days old, a +sacrifice of bullocks is offered to Lerpiu for the purpose of +inducing him to move Dengdit, the great heavenly rain-maker, +to send down rain on the parched and thirsty earth. +Two bullocks are led twice round the shrine and afterwards tied +by the rain-maker to the post in front of it. Then the drums +beat and the people, old and young, men and women, dance +round the shrine and sing, while the beasts are being sacrificed, +<q>Lerpiu, our ancestor, we have brought you a sacrifice. Be +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +pleased to cause rain to fall.</q> The blood of the bullocks is +collected in a gourd, boiled in a pot on the fire, and eaten by +the old and important people of the clan. The horns of the +animals are attached to the post in front of the shrine. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dinka +rain-makers not +allowed +to die a +natural +death.</note> +In spite, or rather in virtue, of the high honour in which +he is held, no Dinka rain-maker is allowed to die a natural +death of sickness or old age; for the Dinka believe that if +such an untoward event were to happen, the tribe would +suffer from disease and famine, and the herds would not +yield their increase. So when a rain-maker feels that he is +growing old and infirm, he tells his children that he wishes +to die. Among the Agar Dinka a large grave is dug and +the rain-maker lies down in it on his right side with his head +resting on a skin. He is surrounded by his friends and +relatives, including his younger children; but his elder +children are not allowed to approach the grave lest in their +grief and despair they should do themselves a bodily injury. +For many hours, generally for more than a day, the rain-maker +lies without eating or drinking. From time to time he +speaks to the people, recalling the past history of the tribe, +reminding them how he has ruled and advised them, and +instructing them how they are to act in the future. Then, +when he has concluded his admonition, he tells them that it +is finished and bids them cover him up. So the earth is +thrown down on him as he lies in the grave, and he soon +dies of suffocation. Such, with minor variations, appears to +be the regular end of the honourable career of a rain-maker +in all the Dinka tribes. The Khor-Adar Dinka told Dr. +Seligmann that when they have dug the grave for their rain-maker +they strangle him in his house. The father and +paternal uncle of one of Dr. Seligmann's informants had both +been rain-makers and both had been killed in the most regular +and orthodox fashion. Even if a rain-maker is quite young he +will be put to death should he seem likely to perish of disease. +Further, every precaution is taken to prevent a rain-maker +from dying an accidental death, for such an end, though not +nearly so serious a matter as death from illness or old age, +would be sure to entail sickness on the tribe. As soon as a +rain-maker is killed, his valuable spirit is supposed to pass to a +suitable successor, whether a son or other near blood relation. +</p> + +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kings +put to +death in +Unyoro +and other +parts of +Africa.</note> +In the Central African kingdom of Unyoro down to +recent years custom required that as soon as the king fell +seriously ill or began to break up from age, he should die by +his own hand; for, according to an old prophecy, the +throne would pass away from the dynasty if ever the king +were to die a natural death. He killed himself by +draining a poisoned cup. If he faltered or were too ill to +ask for the cup, it was his wife's duty to administer the +poison.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Emin Pasha in Central Africa, +being a Collection of his Letters and +Journals</hi> (London, 1888), p. 91; J. G. +Frazer, <hi rend='italic'>Totemism and Exogamy</hi>, ii. +529 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (from information given by the +Rev. John Roscoe).</note> When the king of Kibanga, on the Upper +Congo, seems near his end, the sorcerers put a rope round +his neck, which they draw gradually tighter till he dies.<note place='foot'>Father Guillemé, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de la +Propagation de la Foi</hi>, lx. (1888) p. 258; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Credenze religiose dei Negri di +Kibanga nell' Alto Congo,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Archivio +per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari</hi>, +vii. (1888) p. 231.</note> +If the king of Gingero happens to be wounded in war, he is +put to death by his comrades, or, if they fail to kill him, by +his kinsfolk, however hard he may beg for mercy. They +say they do it that he may not die by the hands of his +enemies.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Travels of the Jesuits in +Ethiopia</hi>, collected and historically +digested by F. Balthazar Tellez, of the +Society of Jesus (London, 1710), p. +197. We may compare the death of +Saul (1 Samuel, xxxi. 3-6).</note> The Jukos are a heathen tribe of the Benue +river, a great tributary of the Niger. In their country <q>the +town of Gatri is ruled by a king who is elected by the +big men of the town as follows. When in the opinion of +the big men the king has reigned long enough, they give +out that <q>the king is sick</q>—a formula understood by all to +mean that they are going to kill him, though the intention +is never put more plainly. They then decide who is to be +the next king. How long he is to reign is settled by the +influential men at a meeting; the question is put and +answered by each man throwing on the ground a little piece +of stick for each year he thinks the new king should rule. +The king is then told, and a great feast prepared, at which +the king gets drunk on guinea-corn beer. After that he is +speared, and the man who was chosen becomes king. Thus +each Juko king knows that he cannot have very many more +years to live, and that he is certain of his predecessor's fate. +This, however, does not seem to frighten candidates. The +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> +same custom of king-killing is said to prevail at Quonde and +Wukari as well as at Gatri.</q><note place='foot'>Lieut. H. Pope-Hennessy, <q>Notes +on the Jukos and other Tribes of the +Middle Benue,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xxx. (1900) p. (29).</note> In the three Hausa kingdoms +of Gobir, Katsina, and Daura, in Northern Nigeria, as soon +as a king shewed signs of failing health or growing infirmity, +an official who bore the title of Killer of the Elephant +(<foreign rend='italic'>kariagiwa</foreign>) appeared and throttled him by holding his +windpipe. The king elect was afterwards conducted to the +centre of the town, called Head of the Elephant (<foreign rend='italic'>kan giwa</foreign>), +where he was made to lie down on a bed. Then a black +ox was slaughtered and its blood allowed to pour all over +his body. Next the ox was flayed, and the remains of the +dead king, which had been disembowelled and smoked for +seven days over a slow fire, were wrapt up in the hide and +dragged along the ground to the place of burial, where they +were interred in a circular pit. After his bath of ox blood +the new king had to remain for seven days in his mother's +house, undergoing ablutions daily. On the eighth day he +was conducted in state to his palace. In the kingdom of +Daura the new monarch had moreover to step over the +corpse of his predecessor.<note place='foot'>J. G. Frazer, <hi rend='italic'>Totemism and Exogamy</hi>, +ii. 608, on the authority of Mr. +H. R. Palmer, Resident in Charge of +Katsina.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Matiamvo +of Angola.</note> +The Matiamvo is a great king or emperor in the interior +of Angola. One of the inferior kings of the country, +by name Challa, gave to a Portuguese expedition the +following account of the manner in which the Matiamvo +comes by his end. <q>It has been customary,</q> he said, +<q>for our Matiamvos to die either in war or by a violent +death, and the present Matiamvo must meet this last +fate, as, in consequence of his great exactions, he has +lived long enough. When we come to this understanding, +and decide that he should be killed, we invite him to make +war with our enemies, on which occasion we all accompany +him and his family to the war, when we lose some of our +people. If he escapes unhurt, we return to the war again +and fight for three or four days. We then suddenly abandon +him and his family to their fate, leaving him in the enemy's +hands. Seeing himself thus deserted, he causes his throne +to be erected, and, sitting down, calls his family around him. +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +He then orders his mother to approach; she kneels at his +feet; he first cuts off her head, then decapitates his sons in +succession, next his wives and relatives, and, last of all, his +most beloved wife, called Anacullo. This slaughter being +accomplished, the Matiamvo, dressed in all his pomp, awaits +his own death, which immediately follows, by an officer sent +by the powerful neighbouring chiefs, Caniquinha and Canica. +This officer first cuts off his legs and arms at the joints, and +lastly he cuts off his head; after which the head of the +officer is struck off. All the potentates retire from the encampment, +in order not to witness his death. It is my duty to +remain and witness his death, and to mark the place where +the head and arms have been deposited by the two great chiefs, +the enemies of the Matiamvo. They also take possession +of all the property belonging to the deceased monarch and +his family, which they convey to their own residence. I +then provide for the funeral of the mutilated remains of the +late Matiamvo, after which I retire to his capital and proclaim +the new government. I then return to where the head, legs, and +arms have been deposited, and, for forty slaves, I ransom them, +together with the merchandise and other property belonging +to the deceased, which I give up to the new Matiamvo, who +has been proclaimed. This is what has happened to many +Matiamvos, and what must happen to the present one.</q><note place='foot'>F. T. Valdez, <hi rend='italic'>Six Years of a Traveller's Life in Western Africa</hi> (London, +1861), ii. 194 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Zulu +kings put +to death +on the +approach +of old age.</note> +It appears to have been a Zulu custom to put the king +to death as soon as he began to have wrinkles or grey hairs. +At least this seems implied in the following passage written +by one who resided for some time at the court of the +notorious Zulu tyrant Chaka, in the early part of the nineteenth +century: <q>The extraordinary violence of the king's +rage with me was mainly occasioned by that absurd nostrum, +the hair oil, with the notion of which Mr. Farewell had +impressed him as being a specific for removing all indications +of age. From the first moment of his having heard that +such a preparation was attainable, he evinced a solicitude to +procure it, and on every occasion never forgot to remind us +of his anxiety respecting it; more especially on our departure +on the mission his injunctions were particularly directed to +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +this object. It will be seen that it is one of the barbarous +customs of the Zoolas in their choice or election of their +kings that he must neither have wrinkles nor grey hairs, as +they are both distinguishing marks of disqualification for +becoming a monarch of a warlike people. It is also equally +indispensable that their king should never exhibit those +proofs of having become unfit and incompetent to reign; it +is therefore important that they should conceal these indications +so long as they possibly can. Chaka had become +greatly apprehensive of the approach of grey hairs; which +would at once be the signal for him to prepare to make his +exit from this sublunary world, it being always followed by the +death of the monarch.</q><note place='foot'>Nathaniel Isaacs, <hi rend='italic'>Travels and +Adventures in Eastern Africa</hi> (London, +1836), i. 295 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, compare pp. +232, 290 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The writer to whom we are indebted +for this instructive anecdote of the hair-oil omits to specify the +mode in which a grey-haired and wrinkled Zulu chief used +<q>to make his exit from this sublunary world</q>; but on analogy +we may conjecture that he did so by the simple and perfectly +sufficient process of being knocked on the head. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kings of +Sofala +put to +death on +account of +bodily +blemishes.</note> +The custom of putting kings to death as soon as they +suffered from any personal defect prevailed two centuries +ago in the Caffre kingdom of Sofala, to the north of the +present Zululand. We have seen that these kings of Sofala, +each of whom bore the official name of Quiteve, were regarded +as gods by their people, being entreated to give rain or sunshine, +according as each might be wanted.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 392.</note> Nevertheless a +slight bodily blemish, such as the loss of a tooth, was considered +a sufficient cause for putting one of these god-men +to death, as we learn from the following passage of an old +Portuguese historian: <q>It was formerly the custom of the +kings of this land to commit suicide by taking poison when +any disaster or natural physical defect fell upon them, such +as impotence, infectious disease, the loss of their front teeth, +by which they were disfigured, or any other deformity or +affliction. To put an end to such defects they killed themselves, +saying that the king should be free from any blemish, +and if not, it was better for his honour that he should die +and seek another life where he would be made whole, for there +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +everything was perfect. But the Quiteve who reigned when +I was in those parts would not imitate his predecessors in +this, being discreet and dreaded as he was; for having lost +a front tooth he caused it to be proclaimed throughout the +kingdom that all should be aware that he had lost a tooth +and should recognise him when they saw him without it, and +if his predecessors killed themselves for such things they +were very foolish, and he would not do so; on the contrary, +he would be very sorry when the time came for him to die a +natural death, for his life was very necessary to preserve his +kingdom and defend it from his enemies; and he recommended +his successors to follow his example.</q><note place='foot'>J. dos Santos, <q>Eastern Ethiopia,</q> +in G. McCall Theal's <hi rend='italic'>Records of Southeastern +Africa</hi>, vii. (1901) pp. 194 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +A more highly-flavoured and full-bodied, +though less slavishly accurate, +translation of this passage is given in +Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, xvi. +684, where the English translator has +enriched the unadorned simplicity of +the Portuguese historian's style with +<q>the scythe of time</q> and other +flowers of rhetoric.</note> The same +historian tells us that <q>near the kingdom of Quiteve is +another of which Sedanda is king, the laws and customs of +which are very similar to those of Quiteve, all these Kaffirs +being of the same nation, and these two kingdoms having +formerly been one, as I shall relate hereafter. When I was +in Sofala it happened that King Sedanda was seized with a +severe and contagious leprosy, and seeing that his complaint +was incurable, having named the prince who was to succeed +him, he took poison and died, according to the custom of those +kings when they are afflicted with any physical deformity.</q><note place='foot'>J. dos Santos, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 193.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kings +required +to be unblemished. +Courtiers +required to +imitate +their +sovereign.</note> +The king of Sofala who dared to survive the loss of his +front tooth was thus a bold reformer like Ergamenes, king +of Ethiopia. We may conjecture that the ground for putting +the Ethiopian kings to death was, as in the case of the Zulu +and Sofala kings, the appearance on their person of any +bodily defect or sign of decay; and that the oracle which +the priests alleged as the authority for the royal execution +was to the effect that great calamities would result from the +reign of a king who had any blemish on his body; just as +an oracle warned Sparta against a <q>lame reign,</q> that is, the +reign of a lame king.<note place='foot'>Xenophon, <hi rend='italic'>Hellenica</hi>, iii. 3. 3; +Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Agesilaus</hi>, 3; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Lysander</hi>, +22; Pausanias, iii. 8. 9.</note> It is some confirmation of this conjecture +that the kings of Ethiopia were chosen for their size, +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> +strength, and beauty long before the custom of killing them +was abolished.<note place='foot'>Herodotus, iii. 20; Aristotle, <hi rend='italic'>Politics</hi>, +iv. 4. 4.; Athenaeus, xiii. 20, p. 566. +According to Nicolaus Damascenus +(<hi rend='italic'>Fr.</hi> 142, in <hi rend='italic'>Fragmenta historicorum +Graecorum</hi>, ed. C. Müller, iii. p. 463), +the handsomest and bravest man was +only raised to the throne when the king +had no heirs, the heirs being the sons +of his sisters. But this limitation is not +mentioned by the other authorities.</note> To this day the Sultan of Wadai must +have no obvious bodily defect, and the king of Angoy cannot +be crowned if he has a single blemish, such as a broken +or a filed tooth or the scar of an old wound.<note place='foot'>G. Nachtigal, <hi rend='italic'>Saharâ und Sûdân</hi>, +iii. (Leipsic, 1889) p. 225; A. Bastian, +<hi rend='italic'>Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste</hi> +(Jena, 1874-75), i. 220.</note> According to +the Book of Acaill and many other authorities no king who +was afflicted with a personal blemish might reign over +Ireland at Tara. Hence, when the great King Cormac Mac +Art lost one eye by an accident, he at once abdicated.<note place='foot'>P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>Social History of +Ancient Ireland</hi> (London, 1903), i. 311.</note> It +is only natural, therefore, to suppose, especially with the +other African examples before us, that any bodily defect or +symptom of old age appearing on the person of the Ethiopian +monarch was the signal for his execution. At a later time +it is recorded that if the king of Ethiopia became maimed +in any part of his body all his courtiers had to suffer the +same mutilation.<note place='foot'>Strabo, xvii. 2. 3, p. 823; Diodorus +Siculus, iii. 7.</note> But this rule may perhaps have been +instituted at the time when the custom of killing the king +for any personal defect was abolished; instead of compelling +the king to die because, for example, he had lost a tooth, all +his subjects would be obliged to lose a tooth, and thus the +invidious superiority of the subjects over the king would be +cancelled. A rule of this sort is still observed in the same +region at the court of the Sultans of Darfur. When the +Sultan coughs, every one makes the sound <foreign rend='italic'>ts ts</foreign> by striking +the tongue against the root of the upper teeth; when he +sneezes, the whole assembly utters a sound like the cry of +the jeko; when he falls off his horse, all his followers must +fall off likewise; if any one of them remains in the saddle, no +matter how high his rank, he is laid on the ground and +beaten.<note place='foot'>Mohammed Ebn-Omar El-Tounsy, +<hi rend='italic'>Voyage au Darfour</hi> (Paris, 1845), pp. +162 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Travels of an Arab Merchant +in Soudan</hi>, abridged from the French +by Bayle St. John (London, 1854), p. +78; <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin de la Société de Géographie</hi> +(Paris), IVme Série, iv. (1852) pp. +539 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At the court of the king of Uganda in central +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> +Africa, when the king laughs, every one laughs; when he +sneezes, every one sneezes; when he has a cold, every one +pretends to have a cold; when he has his hair cut, so has +everybody.<note place='foot'>R. W. Felkin, <q>Notes on the +Waganda Tribe of Central Africa,</q> in +<hi rend='italic'>Proceedings of the Royal Society of +Edinburgh</hi>, xiii. (1884-1886) p. 711; +J. Roscoe, <q>Further Notes on the +Manners and Customs of the Baganda,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +xxxii. (1902) p. 77 (as to +sneezing).</note> At the court of Boni in Celebes it is a rule +that whatever the king does all the courtiers must do. If +he stands, they stand; if he sits, they sit; if he falls off his +horse, they fall off their horses; if he bathes, they bathe, and +passers-by must go into the water in the dress, good or bad, +which they happen to have on.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Narrative of Events in Borneo and +Celebes, from the Journal of James +Brooke, Esq., Rajah of Sarawak</hi>, by +Captain R. Mundy, i. 134. My friend +the late Mr. Lorimer Fison, in a letter +of August 26th, 1898, told me that the +custom of falling down whenever a +chief fell was observed also in Fiji, +where it had a special name, <foreign rend='italic'>bale muri</foreign>, +<q>fall-follow.</q></note> When the emperor of +China laughs, the mandarins in attendance laugh also; +when he stops laughing, they stop; when he is sad, their +countenances are chopfallen; <q>you would say that their faces +are on springs, and that the emperor can touch the springs +and set them in motion at pleasure.</q><note place='foot'>Mgr. Bruguière, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de +l'Association de la Propagation de la +Foi</hi>, v. (1831) pp. 174 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> But to return to +the death of the divine king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kings of +Eyeo put +to death. +Voluntary +death by +fire of +the old +Prussian +<foreign rend='italic'>Kirwaido</foreign>.</note> +Many days' journey to the north-east of Abomey, the +old capital of Dahomey, lies the kingdom of Eyeo. <q>The +Eyeos are governed by a king, no less absolute than the +king of Dahomy, yet subject to a regulation of state, +at once humiliating and extraordinary. When the people +have conceived an opinion of his ill-government, which is +sometimes insidiously infused into them by the artifice of +his discontented ministers, they send a deputation to him +with a present of parrots' eggs, as a mark of its authenticity, +to represent to him that the burden of government +must have so far fatigued him that they consider it full +time for him to repose from his cares and indulge himself +with a little sleep. He thanks his subjects for their +attention to his ease, retires to his own apartment as if to +sleep, and there gives directions to his women to strangle +him. This is immediately executed, and his son quietly +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> +ascends the throne upon the usual terms of holding the reins +of government no longer than whilst he merits the approbation +of the people.</q> About the year 1774, a king of Eyeo, +whom his ministers attempted to remove in the customary +manner, positively refused to accept the proffered parrots' +eggs at their hands, telling them that he had no mind to +take a nap, but on the contrary was resolved to watch for +the benefit of his subjects. The ministers, surprised and +indignant at his recalcitrancy, raised a rebellion, but were +defeated with great slaughter, and thus by his spirited conduct +the king freed himself from the tyranny of his +councillors and established a new precedent for the guidance +of his successors.<note place='foot'>A. Dalzel, <hi rend='italic'>History of Dahomy</hi> +(London, 1793), pp. 12 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 156 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> However, the old custom seems to have +revived and persisted until late in the nineteenth century, +for a Catholic missionary, writing in 1884, speaks of the +practice as if it were still in vogue.<note place='foot'>Father Baudin, <q>Le Fétichisme +ou la religion des Nègres de la Guinée,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Missions Catholiques</hi>, xvi. (1884) p. 215.</note> Another missionary, +writing in 1881, thus describes the usage of the Egbas and +the Yorubas of west Africa: <q>Among the customs of +the country one of the most curious is unquestionably +that of judging and punishing the king. Should he +have earned the hatred of his people by exceeding his rights, +one of his councillors, on whom the heavy duty is laid, +requires of the prince that he shall <q>go to sleep,</q> which means +simply <q>take poison and die.</q> If his courage fails him at +the supreme moment, a friend renders him this last service, +and quietly, without betraying the secret, they prepare the +people for the news of the king's death. In Yoruba the +thing is managed a little differently. When a son is born +to the king of Oyo, they make a model of the infant's right +foot in clay and keep it in the house of the elders (<foreign rend='italic'>ogboni</foreign>). +If the king fails to observe the customs of the country, a +messenger, without speaking a word, shews him his child's +foot. The king knows what that means. He takes poison +and goes to sleep.</q><note place='foot'>Missionary Holley, <q>Étude sur +les Egbas,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Missions Catholiques</hi>, xiii. +(1881) pp. 351 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Here Oyo is +probably the same as Eyeo mentioned +above.</note> The old Prussians acknowledged as +their supreme lord a ruler who governed them in the name +of the gods, and was known as God's Mouth (<foreign rend='italic'>Kirwaido</foreign>). +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> +When he felt himself weak and ill, if he wished to leave a +good name behind him, he had a great heap made of thorn-bushes +and straw, on which he mounted and delivered a +long sermon to the people, exhorting them to serve the gods +and promising to go to the gods and speak for the people. +Then he took some of the perpetual fire which burned in +front of the holy oak-tree, and lighting the pile with it +burned himself to death.<note place='foot'>Simon Grunau, <hi rend='italic'>Preussische Chronik</hi>, +herausgegeben von Dr. M. +Perlbach (Leipsic, 1876), i. p. +97.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Voluntary +deaths by +fire. +Peregrinus +at +Olympia. +Buddhist +monks in +China.</note> +We need not doubt the truth of this last tradition. +Fanaticism or the mere love of notoriety has led men in +other ages and other lands to court death in the flames. In +antiquity the mountebank Peregrinus, after bidding for fame +in the various characters of a Christian martyr, a shameless +cynic, and a rebel against Rome, ended his disreputable and +vainglorious career by publicly burning himself at the +Olympic festival in the presence of a crowd of admirers and +scoffers, among whom was the satirist Lucian.<note place='foot'>Lucian, <hi rend='italic'>De morte Peregrini</hi>. That +Lucian's account of the mountebank's +death is not a fancy picture is proved +by the evidence of Tertullian, <hi rend='italic'>Ad +martyres</hi>, 4, <q><hi rend='italic'>Peregrinus qui non olim +se rogo immisit.</hi></q></note> Buddhist +monks in China sometimes seek to attain Nirvana by the +same method, the flame of their religious zeal being fanned +by a belief that the merit of their death redounds to the +good of the whole community, while the praises which are +showered upon them in their lives, and the prospect of the +honours and worship which await them after death, serve as +additional incentives to suicide. The beautiful mountains of +Tien-tai, in the district of Tai-chow, are, or were till lately, +the scene of many such voluntary martyrdoms. The victims +are monks who, weary of the vanities of earth, have withdrawn +even from their monasteries and spent years alone in +one or other of the hermitages which are scattered among +the ravines and precipices of this wild and secluded region. +Their fancy having been wrought and their resolution strung +to the necessary pitch by a life of solitude and brooding contemplation, +they announce their intention and fix the day of +their departure from this world of shadows, always choosing +for that purpose a festival which draws a crowd of +worshippers and pilgrims to one of the many monasteries of +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> +the district. Advertisements of the approaching solemnity +are posted throughout the country, and believers are invited +to attend and assist the martyrs with their prayers. From +three to five monks are said thus to commit themselves to +the flames every year at Tien-tai. They prepare by fasting +and ablution for the last fiery trial of their faith. An +upright chest containing a seat is placed in a brick furnace, +and the space between the chest and the walls of the furnace +is filled with fuel. The doomed man takes his seat in the +chest; the door is shut on him and barred; fire is applied +to the combustibles, and consumes the candidate for heaven. +When all is over, the charred remains are raked together, +worshipped, and reverently buried in a dagoba or shrine +destined for the preservation and worship of the relics of +saints. The victims, it is said, are not always voluntary. +In remote districts unscrupulous priests have been known to +stupefy a clerical brother with drugs and then burn him +publicly, an unwilling martyr, as a means of spreading the +renown of the monastery and thereby attracting the alms of +the faithful. On the twenty-eighth of January 1888 the +Spiritual-hill monastery, distant about a day's journey from +the city of Wen-chow, witnessed the voluntary death by fire +of two monks who bore the euphonious names of Perceptive-intelligence +and Effulgent-glamour. Before they entered the +furnaces, the spectators prayed them to become after death +the spiritual guardians of the neighbourhood, to protect it from +all evil influences, and to grant luck in trade, fine seasons, +plentiful harvests, and every other blessing. The martyrs complaisantly +promised to comply with these requests, and were +thereupon worshipped as living Buddhas, while a stream of +gifts poured into the coffers of the monastery.<note place='foot'>D. S. Macgowan, M.D., <q>Self-immolation +by Fire in China,</q> <hi rend='italic'>The +Chinese Recorder and Missionary +Journal</hi>, xix. (1888) pp. 445-451, +508-521.</note> Among the +Esquimaux of Bering Strait a shaman has been known to +burn himself alive in the expectation of returning to life with +much stronger powers than he had possessed before.<note place='foot'>E. W. Nelson, <q>The Eskimo +about Bering Strait,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Eighteenth +Annual Report of the Bureau of +American Ethnology</hi>, Part I. (Washington, +1899), pp. 320, 433 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Religious +suicides in +Russia. +Belief +in the +approaching +end of +the world.</note> +But the suicides by fire of Chinese Buddhists and +Esquimaux sorcerers have been far surpassed by the frenzies +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +of Christian fanaticism. In the seventeenth century the +internal troubles of their unhappy country, viewed in the +dim light of prophecy, created a widespread belief among +the Russian people that the end of the world was at hand, +and that the reign of Antichrist was about to begin. We +know from Scripture that the old serpent, which is the +devil, has been or will be shut up under lock and key for +a thousand years,<note place='foot'>Revelation xx. 1-3.</note> and that the number of the Beast is six +hundred and sixty-six.<note place='foot'>Revelation xiii. 18.</note> A simple mathematical calculation, +based on these irrefragable data, pointed to the year one +thousand six hundred and sixty-six as the date when +the final consummation of all things and the arrival of the +Beast in question might be confidently anticipated. When +the year came and went and still, to the general surprise, the +animal failed to put in an appearance, the calculations were +revised, it was discovered that an error had crept into them, +and the world was respited for another thirty-three years. +But though opinions differed as to the precise date of the +catastrophe, the pious were unanimous in their conviction of +its proximity. Accordingly some of them ceased to till their +fields, abandoned their houses, and on certain nights of the +year expected the sound of the last trump in coffins which +they took the precaution of closing, lest their senses, or what +remained of them, should be overpowered by the awful vision +of the Judgment Day. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Epidemic +of suicide. +Suicide by +starvation. Suicide +by fire.</note> +It would have been well if the delusion of their disordered +intellects had stopped there. Unhappily in many +cases it went much further, and suicide, universal suicide, +was preached by fervent missionaries as the only means to +escape the snares of Antichrist and to pass from the sins and +sorrows of this fleeting world to the eternal joys of heaven. +Whole communities hailed with enthusiasm the gospel of +death, and hastened to put its precepts in practice. An +epidemic of suicide raged throughout northern and north-eastern +Russia. At first the favourite mode of death was by +starvation. In the forest of Vetlouga, for example, an old +man founded an establishment for the use of religious suicides. +It was a building without doors and windows. The aspirants +to heaven were lowered into it through a hole in the roof, +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +the hatch was battened down on them, and men armed +with clubs patrolled the outer walls to prevent the prisoners +from escaping. Hundreds of persons thus died a lingering +death. At first the sounds of devotion issued from the walls; +but as time went on these were replaced by entreaties for +food, prayers for mercy, and finally imprecations on the miscreant +who had lured these misguided beings to destruction +and on the parents who had brought them into the world to +suffer such exquisite torments. Thus death by famine was +attended by some obvious disadvantages. It was slow: it +opened the door to repentance: it occasionally admitted of +rescue. Accordingly death by fire was preferred as surer and +more expeditious. Priests, monks, and laymen scoured the +villages and hamlets preaching salvation by the flames, some +of them decked in the spoils of their victims; for the motives +of the preachers were often of the basest sort. They did +not spare even the children, but seduced them by promises +of the gay clothes, the apples, the nuts, the honey they +would enjoy in heaven. Sometimes when the people +hesitated, these infamous wretches decided the wavering +minds of their dupes by a false report that the troops were +coming to deliver them up to Antichrist, and so to rob them +of a blissful eternity. Then men, women, and children +rushed into the flames. Sometimes hundreds, and even +thousands, thus perished together. An area was enclosed by +barricades, fuel was heaped up in it, the victims huddled +together, fire set to the whole, and the sacrifice consummated. +Any who in their agony sought to escape were driven or +thrown back into the flames, sometimes by their own relations. +These sinister fires generally blazed at night, reddening the +sky till daybreak. In the morning nothing remained but +charred bodies gnawed by prowling dogs; but the stench of +burnt human flesh poisoned the air for days afterwards.<note place='foot'>Ivan Stchoukine, <hi rend='italic'>Le Suicide collectif +dans le Raskol russe</hi> (Paris, +1903), pp. 45-53, 61-78, 84-87, +96-99, 102-112. The mania in its +most extreme form died away towards +the end of the seventeenth century, but +during the eighteenth and nineteenth +centuries cases of collective suicide +from religious motives occurred from +time to time, people burning themselves +in families or in batches of +thirty or forty. The last of these +suicides by fire took place in 1860, +when fifteen persons thus perished in +the Government of Olonetz. Twenty-four +others buried themselves alive near +Tiraspol in the winter of 1896-97. See +I. Stchoukine, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 114-126.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A Jewish +Messiah.</note> +As the Christians expected the arrival of Antichrist in +the year 1666, so the Jews cheerfully anticipated the long-delayed +advent of their Messiah in the same fateful year. A +Jew of Smyrna, by name Sabatei-Sevi, availed himself of +this general expectation to pose as the Messiah in person. +He was greeted with enthusiasm. Jews from many parts of +Europe hastened to pay their homage and, what was still +better, their money to the future deliverer of his country, +who in return parcelled out among them, with the greatest +liberality, estates in the Holy Land which did not belong +to him. But the alternative of death by impalement or +conversion to Mohammedanism, which the Sultan submitted +to his consideration, induced him to revise his theological +opinions, and on looking into the matter more closely he +discovered that his true mission in life was to preach the +total abolition of the Jewish religion and the substitution +for it of Islam.<note place='foot'>Voltaire, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Mœurs</hi>, iii. 142-145 (<hi rend='italic'>Œuvres complètes de Voltaire</hi>, +xiii. Paris, 1878).</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='3. Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term.'/> +<head>§ 3. Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kings put +to death +after a +fixed term. +Suicide of +the kings of +Quilacare +at the end +of a reign +of twelve +years.</note> +In the cases hitherto described, the divine king or priest +is suffered by his people to retain office until some outward +defect, some visible symptom of failing health or advancing +age, warns them that he is no longer equal to the discharge +of his divine duties; but not until such symptoms have made +their appearance is he put to death. Some peoples, however, +appear to have thought it unsafe to wait for even the +slightest symptom of decay and have preferred to kill the +king while he was still in the full vigour of life. Accordingly, +they have fixed a term beyond which he might not +reign, and at the close of which he must die, the term fixed +upon being short enough to exclude the probability of his +degenerating physically in the interval. In some parts of +southern India the period fixed was twelve years. Thus, +according to an old traveller, in the province of Quilacare, +about twenty leagues to the north-east of Cape Comorin, +<q>there is a Gentile house of prayer, in which there is an +idol which they hold in great account, and every twelve +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +years they celebrate a great feast to it, whither all the +Gentiles go as to a jubilee. This temple possesses many +lands and much revenue: it is a very great affair. This +province has a king over it, who has not more than twelve +years to reign from jubilee to jubilee. His manner of living +is in this wise, that is to say: when the twelve years are completed, +on the day of this feast there assemble together innumerable +people, and much money is spent in giving food to +Bramans. The king has a wooden scaffolding made, spread +over with silken hangings: and on that day he goes to bathe +at a tank with great ceremonies and sound of music, after that +he comes to the idol and prays to it, and mounts on to the +scaffolding, and there before all the people he takes some +very sharp knives, and begins to cut off his nose, and then his +ears, and his lips, and all his members, and as much flesh off +himself as he can; and he throws it away very hurriedly +until so much of his blood is spilled that he begins to faint, +and then he cuts his throat himself. And he performs this +sacrifice to the idol, and whoever desires to reign other +twelve years and undertake this martyrdom for love of the +idol, has to be present looking on at this: and from that +place they raise him up as king.</q><note place='foot'>Duarte Barbosa, <hi rend='italic'>A Description of +the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar +in the Beginning of the Sixteenth +Century</hi> (Hakluyt Society, London, +1866), pp. 172 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Custom +of the +kings of +Calicut.</note> +The king of Calicut, on the Malabar coast, bears the +title of Samorin or Samory, which in the native language is +said to mean <q>God on earth.</q><note place='foot'>L. di Varthema, <hi rend='italic'>Travels</hi>, translated +by J. W. Jones and edited by G. +P. Badger (Hakluyt Society, London, +1863), p. 134. In a note the Editor +says that the name Zamorin (Samorin) +according to some <q>is a corruption of +<foreign rend='italic'>Tamuri</foreign>, the name of the most exalted +family of the Nair caste.</q></note> He <q>pretends to be of a +higher rank than the Brahmans, and to be inferior only to +the invisible gods; a pretention that was acknowledged by +his subjects, but which is held as absurd and abominable by +the Brahmans, by whom he is only treated as a Sudra.</q><note place='foot'>Francis Buchanan, <q>Journey from +Madras through the Countries of +Mysore, Canara, and Malabar,</q> in +Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, viii. +735.</note> +Formerly the Samorin had to cut his throat in public at +the end of a twelve years' reign. But towards the end of the +seventeenth century the rule had been modified as follows: +<q>Many strange customs were observed in this country in +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> +former times, and some very odd ones are still continued. +It was an ancient custom for the Samorin to reign but twelve +years, and no longer. If he died before his term was expired, +it saved him a troublesome ceremony of cutting his +own throat, on a publick scaffold erected for the purpose. +He first made a feast for all his nobility and gentry, who +are very numerous. After the feast he saluted his guests, and +went on the scaffold, and very decently cut his own throat +in the view of the assembly, and his body was, a little while +after, burned with great pomp and ceremony, and the +grandees elected a new Samorin. Whether that custom +was a religious or a civil ceremony, I know not, but it is now +laid aside. And a new custom is followed by the modern +Samorins, that jubilee is proclaimed throughout his dominions, +at the end of twelve years, and a tent is pitched for him in a +spacious plain, and a great feast is celebrated for ten or twelve +days, with mirth and jollity, guns firing night and day, so at the +end of the feast any four of the guests that have a mind to +gain a crown by a desperate action, in fighting their way +through 30 or 40,000 of his guards, and kill the Samorin +in his tent, he that kills him succeeds him in his empire. +In anno 1695, one of those jubilees happened, and the tent +pitched near Pennany, a seaport of his, about fifteen leagues +to the southward of Calicut. There were but three men +that would venture on that desperate action, who fell in, +with sword and target, among the guard, and, after they had +killed and wounded many, were themselves killed. One of +the desperados had a nephew of fifteen or sixteen years of +age, that kept close by his uncle in the attack on the guards, +and, when he saw him fall, the youth got through the guards +into the tent, and made a stroke at his Majesty's head, and +had certainly despatched him if a large brass lamp which was +burning over his head had not marred the blow; but, before +he could make another, he was killed by the guards; and, +I believe, the same Samorin reigns yet. I chanced to come +that time along the coast and heard the guns for two or +three days and nights successively.</q><note place='foot'>Alex. Hamilton, <q>A New Account of the East Indies,</q> in Pinkerton's +<hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, viii. 374.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fuller +account of +the Calicut +custom.</note> +The English traveller, whose account I have quoted, did +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> +not himself witness the festival he describes, though he heard +the sound of the firing in the distance. Fortunately, exact +records of these festivals and of the number of men who +perished at them have been preserved in the archives of the +royal family at Calicut. In the latter part of the nineteenth +century they were examined by Mr. W. Logan, with the personal +assistance of the reigning king, and from his work it +is possible to gain an accurate conception both of the tragedy +and of the scene where it was periodically enacted down to +1743, when the ceremony took place for the last time. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The <foreign rend='italic'>Maha +Makham</foreign> +or Great +Sacrifice at +Calicut.</note> +The festival at which the king of Calicut staked his +crown and his life on the issue of battle was known as the +<foreign rend='italic'>Maha Makham</foreign> or Great Sacrifice. It fell every twelfth +year, when the planet Jupiter was in retrograde motion in +the sign of the Crab, and it lasted twenty-eight days, +culminating at the time of the eighth lunar asterism in the +month of Makaram. As the date of the festival was determined +by the position of Jupiter in the sky, and the interval +between two festivals was twelve years, which is roughly +Jupiter's period of revolution round the sun,<note place='foot'>The sidereal revolution of Jupiter +is completed in 11 years 314.92 days +(<hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia Britannica</hi>, Ninth Edition, +<hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Astronomy,</q> ii. 808). The +twelve-years revolution of Jupiter was +known to the Greek astronomers, from +whom the knowledge may perhaps have +penetrated into India. See Geminus, +<hi rend='italic'>Eisagoge</hi>, I, p. 10, ed. Halma.</note> we may conjecture +that the splendid planet was supposed to be in a +special sense the king's star and to rule his destiny, the +period of its revolution in heaven corresponding to the +period of his reign on earth. However that may be, the +ceremony was observed with great pomp at the Tirunavayi +temple, on the north bank of the Ponnani River. The spot +is close to the present railway line. As the train rushes by, +you can just catch a glimpse of the temple, almost hidden +behind a clump of trees on the river bank. From the +western gateway of the temple a perfectly straight road, +hardly raised above the level of the surrounding rice-fields +and shaded by a fine avenue, runs for half a mile to a high +ridge with a precipitous bank, on which the outlines of three +or four terraces can still be traced. On the topmost of +these terraces the king took his stand on the eventful day. +The view which it commands is a fine one. Across the flat +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> +expanse of the rice-fields, with the broad placid river +winding through them, the eye ranges eastward to high +tablelands, their lower slopes embowered in woods, while +afar off looms the great chain of the western Ghauts, +and in the furthest distance the Neilgherries or Blue +Mountains, hardly distinguishable from the azure of the +sky above. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The attack +on the +king.</note> +But it was not to the distant prospect that the king's +eyes naturally turned at this crisis of his fate. His attention +was arrested by a spectacle nearer at hand. For all the +plain below was alive with troops, their banners waving gaily +in the sun, the white tents of their many camps standing +sharply out against the green and gold of the rice-fields. +Forty thousand fighting men or more were gathered there to +defend the king. But if the plain swarmed with soldiers, +the road that cuts across it from the temple to the king's +stand was clear of them. Not a soul was stirring on it. +Each side of the way was barred by palisades, and from the +palisades on either hand a long hedge of spears, held by +strong arms, projected into the empty road, their blades +meeting in the middle and forming a glittering arch of steel. +All was now ready. The king waved his sword. At the +same moment a great chain of massy gold, enriched with +bosses, was placed on an elephant at his side. That was +the signal. On the instant a stir might be seen half a mile +away at the gate of the temple. A group of swordsmen, +decked with flowers and smeared with ashes, has stepped out +from the crowd. They have just partaken of their last meal +on earth, and they now receive the last blessings and farewells +of their friends. A moment more and they are +coming down the lane of spears, hewing and stabbing right +and left at the spearmen, winding and turning and writhing +among the blades as if they had no bones in their bodies. +It is all in vain. One after the other they fall, some nearer +the king, some further off, content to die, not for the shadow +of a crown, but for the mere sake of approving their dauntless +valour and swordsmanship to the world. On the last +days of the festival the same magnificent display of +gallantry, the same useless sacrifice of life was repeated +again and again. Yet perhaps no sacrifice is wholly +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> +useless which proves that there are men who prefer honour +to life.<note place='foot'>W. Logan, <hi rend='italic'>Malabar</hi> (Madras, +1887), i. 162-169. The writer +describes in particular the festival of +1683, when fifty-five men perished in +the manner described.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Custom of +kings in +Bengal. +Custom of +the kings +of Passier. Custom of +Slavonic +kings.</note> +<q>It is a singular custom in Bengal,</q> says an old native +historian of India, <q>that there is little of hereditary descent +in succession to the sovereignty. There is a throne allotted +for the king; there is, in like manner, a seat or station +assigned for each of the <foreign rend='italic'>amirs</foreign>, <foreign rend='italic'>wazirs</foreign>, and <foreign rend='italic'>mansabdars</foreign>. It +is that throne and these stations alone which engage the +reverence of the people of Bengal. A set of dependents, +servants, and attendants are annexed to each of these situations. +When the king wishes to dismiss or appoint any +person, whosoever is placed in the seat of the one dismissed +is immediately attended and obeyed by the whole establishment +of dependents, servants, and retainers annexed to the +seat which he occupies. Nay, this rule obtains even as to the +royal throne itself. Whoever kills the king, and succeeds in +placing himself on that throne, is immediately acknowledged +as king; all the <foreign rend='italic'>amirs</foreign>, <foreign rend='italic'>wazirs</foreign>, soldiers, and peasants instantly +obey and submit to him, and consider him as being as much +their sovereign as they did their former prince, and obey his +orders implicitly. The people of Bengal say, <q>We are faithful +to the throne; whoever fills the throne we are obedient and +true to it.</q></q><note place='foot'>Sir H. M. Elliot, <hi rend='italic'>The History of +India as told by its own Historians</hi>, iv. +260. I have to thank Mr. R. S. +Whiteway, of Brownscombe, Shottermill, +Surrey, for kindly calling my +attention to this and the following +instance of the custom of regicide.</note> A custom of the same sort formerly prevailed +in the little kingdom of Passier, on the northern coast of +Sumatra. The old Portuguese historian De Barros, who informs +us of it, remarks with surprise that no wise man would +wish to be king of Passier, since the monarch was not allowed +by his subjects to live long. From time to time a sort of fury +seized the people, and they marched through the streets of +the city chanting with loud voices the fatal words, <q>The +king must die!</q> When the king heard that song of death +he knew that his hour had come. The man who struck +the fatal blow was of the royal lineage, and as soon as +he had done the deed of blood and seated himself on +the throne he was regarded as the legitimate king, provided +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +that he contrived to maintain his seat peaceably for a single +day. This, however, the regicide did not always succeed in +doing. When Fernão Peres d'Andrade, on a voyage to +China, put in at Passier for a cargo of spices, two kings +were massacred, and that in the most peaceable and orderly +manner, without the smallest sign of tumult or sedition in +the city, where everything went on in its usual course, +as if the murder or execution of a king were a matter +of everyday occurrence. Indeed, on one occasion three +kings were raised to the dangerous elevation and followed +each other on the dusty road of death in a single day. The +people defended the custom, which they esteemed very laudable +and even of divine institution, by saying that God +would never allow so high and mighty a being as a king, +who reigned as his vicegerent on earth, to perish by violence +unless for his sins he thoroughly deserved it.<note place='foot'>De Barros, <hi rend='italic'>Da Asia, dos feitos, +que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento +e conquista dos mares e terras do +Oriente</hi>, Decada Terceira, Liv. V. cap. +i. pp. 512 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (Lisbon, 1777).</note> Far away +from the tropical island of Sumatra a rule of the same sort +appears to have obtained among the old Slavs. When the +captives Gunn and Jarmerik contrived to slay the king and +queen of the Slavs and made their escape, they were pursued +by the barbarians, who shouted after them that if they would +only come back they would reign instead of the murdered +monarch, since by a public statute of the ancients the +succession to the throne fell to the king's assassin. But the +flying regicides turned a deaf ear to promises which they +regarded as mere baits to lure them back to destruction; +they continued their flight, and the shouts and clamour of +the barbarians gradually died away in the distance.<note place='foot'>Saxo Grammaticus,<hi rend='italic'>Historia +Danica</hi>, viii. pp. 410 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, ed. P. E. +Müller (p. 334 of Mr. Oliver Elton's +English translation).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Custom of +<foreign rend='italic'>Thalavettiparothiam</foreign> +in Malabar. Custom of +the Sultans +of Java.</note> +When kings were bound to suffer death, whether at their +own hands or at the hands of others, on the expiration of a +fixed term of years, it was natural that they should seek to +delegate the painful duty, along with some of the privileges +of sovereignty, to a substitute who should suffer vicariously +in their stead. This expedient appears to have been resorted +to by some of the princes of Malabar. Thus we are informed +by a native authority on that country that <q>in some places +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> +all powers both executive and judicial were delegated for a +fixed period to natives by the sovereign. This institution +was styled <foreign rend='italic'>Thalavettiparothiam</foreign> or authority obtained by +decapitation. <foreign rend='italic'>Parothiam</foreign> is the name of a supreme authority +of those days. The name of the office is still preserved in +the Cochin state, where the village headman is called a +<foreign rend='italic'>Parathiakaran</foreign>. This <foreign rend='italic'>Thalavettiparothiam</foreign> was a terrible +but interesting institution. It was an office tenable for +five years during which its bearer was invested with supreme +despotic powers within his jurisdiction. On the expiry of +the five years the man's head was cut off and thrown up in +the air amongst a large concourse of villagers, each of whom +vied with the other in trying to catch it in its course down. +He who succeeded was nominated to the post for the next +five years.</q><note place='foot'>T. K. Gopal Panikkar (of the +Madras Registration Department), +<hi rend='italic'>Malabar and its Folk</hi> (Madras, N. D., +preface dated Chowghaut, 8th October +1900), pp. 120 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> I have to thank +my friend Mr. W. Crooke for calling +my attention to this account.</note> A similar delegation of the duty of dying for +his country was perhaps practised by the Sultans of Java. +At least such a custom would explain a strange scene which +was witnessed at the court of one of these sultans by the +famous traveller Ibn Batuta, a native of Tangier, who visited +the East Indies in the first half of the fourteenth century. +He says: <q>During my audience with the Sultan I saw a man +who held in his hand a knife like that used by a grape-gleaner. +He placed it on his own neck and spoke for a long time in a +language which I did not understand. After that he seized +the knife with both hands at once and cut his throat. His +head fell to the ground, so sharp was the blade and so great +the force with which he used it. I remained dumbfoundered +at his behaviour, but the Sultan said to me, <q>Does any one +do like that in your country?</q> I answered, <q>Never did I +see such a thing.</q> He smiled and replied, <q>These people +are our slaves, and they kill themselves for love of us.</q> Then +he commanded that they should take away him who had +slain himself and should burn him. The Sultan's officers, +the grandees, the troops, and the common people attended +the cremation. The sovereign assigned a liberal pension to +the children of the deceased, to his wife, and to his brothers; +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +and they were highly honoured because of his conduct. A +person, who was present at the audience when the event I +have described took place, informed me that the speech made +by the man who sacrificed himself set forth his devotion to +the monarch. He said that he wished to immolate himself +out of affection for the sovereign, as his father had done for +love of the prince's father, and as his grandfather had done +out of regard for the prince's grandfather.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Voyage d'Ibn Batoutah</hi>, texte arabe, +accompagné d'une traduction par C. +Deffrémery et B. R. Sanguinetti (Paris, +1853-58), iv. 246 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> We may +conjecture that formerly the sultans of Java, like the kings of +Quilacare and Calicut, were bound to cut their own throats +at the end of a fixed term of years, but that at a later time +they deputed the painful, though glorious, duty of dying for +their country to the members of a certain family, who received +by way of recompense ample provision during their life and +a handsome funeral at death. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Religious +suicides in +India.</note> +A similar mode of religious suicide seems to have been +often adopted in India, especially in Malabar, during the +Middle Ages. Thus we are told by Friar Jordanus that +in the Greater India, by which he seems to mean Malabar +and the neighbouring regions, many sacrifice themselves to +the idols. When they are sick or involved in misfortune, +they vow themselves to the idol in case they are delivered. +Then, when they have recovered, they fatten themselves +for one or two years; and when another festival comes +round, they cover themselves with flowers, crown themselves +with white garlands, and go singing and playing +before the idol, when it is carried through the land. There, +after they have shown off a great deal, they take a sword +with two handles, like those used in currying leather, put +it to the back of their neck, and cutting strongly with +both hands sever their heads from their bodies before the +idol.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Wonders of the East, by Friar +Jordanus</hi>, translated by Col. Henry +Yule (London, 1863, Hakluyt Society), +pp. 32 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, Nicolo Conti, who travelled in the East in +the early part of the fifteenth century, informs us that in +the city of Cambaita <q>many present themselves who have +determined upon self immolation, having on their neck a +broad circular piece of iron, the fore part of which is round +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> +and the hinder part extremely sharp. A chain attached to +the fore part hangs suspended upon the breast, into which +the victims, sitting down with their legs drawn up and their +neck bent, insert their feet. Then, on the speaker pronouncing +certain words, they suddenly stretch out their legs, +and at the same time drawing up their neck, cut off their +own head, yielding up their lives as a sacrifice to their idols. +These men are regarded as saints.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>India in the Fifteenth Century, +being a Collection of Voyages to India +in the century preceding the Portuguese +discovery of the Cape of Good Hope</hi>, +edited by R. H. Major (Hakluyt Society, +London, 1857), <q>The Travels of +Nicolo Conti in the East,</q> pp. 27 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +An instrument of the sort described in +the text (a crescent-shaped knife with +chains and stirrups attached to it for +the convenience of the suicide) used to +be preserved at Kshira, a village of +Bengal near Nadiya: it was called a +<foreign rend='italic'>karavat</foreign>. See <hi rend='italic'>The Book of Ser Marco +Polo</hi>, newly translated and edited by +Colonel Henry Yule, Second Edition +(London, 1875), ii. 334.</note> Among the Jaintias +or Syntengs, a Khasi tribe of Assam, human sacrifices used +to be annually offered on the <foreign rend='italic'>Sandhi</foreign> day in the month of +Ashwin. Persons often came forward voluntarily and presented +themselves as victims. This they generally did by +appearing before the Rajah on the last day of Shravan and +declaring that the goddess had called them to herself. +After due enquiry, if the would-be victim were found suitable, +it was customary for the Rajah to present him with a +golden anklet and to give him permission to live as he chose +and to do what he liked, the royal treasury undertaking to +pay compensation for any damage he might do in the +exercise of his remarkable privileges. But the enjoyment +of these privileges was very short. On the day appointed +the voluntary victim, after bathing and purifying himself, +was dressed in new attire, daubed with red sandal-wood and +vermilion, and bedecked with garlands. Thus arrayed, he +sat for a time in meditation and prayer on a dais in front of +the goddess; then he made a sign with his finger, and the +executioner, after uttering the usual formulas, cut off his +head, which was thereafter laid before the goddess on a +golden plate. The lungs were cooked and eaten by such +<foreign rend='italic'>Kandra Yogis</foreign> as were present, and it is said that the royal +family partook of a small quantity of rice cooked in the +blood of the victim. The ceremony was usually witnessed +by crowds of spectators who assembled from all parts of the +<pb n='056'/><anchor id='Pg056'/> +neighbouring hills. When the supply of voluntary victims +fell short, emissaries were sent out to kidnap strangers from +other territories, and it was the practice of such man-hunts +that led to the annexation of the Jaintia country by the +British.<note place='foot'>Major P. R. T. Gurdon, <hi rend='italic'>The +Khasis</hi> (London, 1907), pp. 102 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +quoting Mr. Gait in the <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Asiatic Society of Bengal</hi> for 1898.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pretence +of putting +the king's +proxy to +death. +Man killed +at the installation +of a king of +Cassange.</note> +When once kings, who had hitherto been bound to die +a violent death at the end of a term of years, conceived +the happy thought of dying by deputy in the persons of +others, they would very naturally put it in practice; and +accordingly we need not wonder at finding so popular +an expedient, or traces of it, in many lands. Thus, for +example, the Bhuiyas are an aboriginal race of north-eastern +India, and one of their chief seats is Keonjhur. At +the installation of a Rajah of Keonjhur a ceremony is +observed which has been described as follows by an English +officer who witnessed it: <q>Then the sword, a very rusty old +weapon, is placed in the Raja's hands, and one of the +Bhuiyas, named Anand Kopat, comes before him, and kneeling +sideways, the Raja touches him on the neck as if about +to strike off his head, and it is said that in former days there +was no fiction in this part of the ceremony. The family of +the Kopat hold their lands on the condition that the victim +when required shall be produced. Anand, however, hurriedly +arose after the accolade and disappeared. He must not be +seen for three days; then he presents himself again to the +Raja as miraculously restored to life.</q><note place='foot'>E. T. Dalton, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptive Ethnology +of Bengal</hi> (Calcutta, 1872), p. 146.</note> Here the custom +of putting the king's proxy to death has dwindled, probably +under English influence, to a mere pretence; but elsewhere +it survives, or survived till recent times, in full force. +Cassange, a native state in the interior of Angola, is ruled by +a king, who bears the title of Jaga. When a king is about +to be installed in office, some of the chiefs are despatched to +find a human victim, who may not be related by blood or +marriage to the new monarch. When he comes to the +king's camp, the victim is provided with everything he +requires, and all his orders are obeyed as promptly as those +of the sovereign. On the day of the ceremony the king takes +<pb n='057'/><anchor id='Pg057'/> +his seat on a perforated iron stool, his chiefs, councillors, +and the rest of the people forming a great circle round +about him. Behind the king sits his principal wife, together +with all his concubines. An iron gong, with two small bells +attached to it, is then struck by an official, who continues to +ring the bells during the ceremony. The victim is then +introduced and placed in front of the king, but with his back +towards him. Armed with a scimitar the king then cuts +open the man's back, extracts his heart, and having taken a +bite out of it, spits it out and gives it to be burned. The +councillors meantime hold the victim's body so that the +blood from the wound spouts against the king's breast and +belly, and, pouring through the hole in the iron stool, is +collected by the chiefs in their hands, who rub their breasts +and beards with it, while they shout, <q>Great is the king and +the rites of the state!</q> After that the corpse is skinned, +cut up, and cooked with the flesh of an ox, a dog, a hen, +and some other animals. The meal thus prepared is served +first to the king, then to the chiefs and councillors, and lastly +to all the people assembled. Any man who refused to +partake of it would be sold into slavery together with his +family.<note place='foot'>F. T. Valdez, <hi rend='italic'>Six Years of a +Traveller's Life in Western Africa</hi> +(London, 1861), ii. 158-160. I have +translated the title <foreign rend='italic'>Maquita</foreign> by <q>chief</q>; +the writer does not explain it.</note> The distinction with which the human victim is +here treated before his execution suggests that he is a +substitute for the king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacrifice of +the king's +sons in +Sweden: +evidence of +a nine +years' +tenure +of the +throne.</note> +Scandinavian traditions contain some hints that of old +the Swedish kings reigned only for periods of nine years, +after which they were put to death or had to find a substitute +to die in their stead. Thus Aun or On, king of Sweden, is +said to have sacrificed to Odin for length of days and to +have been answered by the god that he should live so long +as he sacrificed one of his sons every ninth year. He +sacrificed nine of them in this manner, and would have +sacrificed the tenth and last, but the Swedes would not allow +him. So he died and was buried in a mound at Upsala.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ynglinga Saga</hi>, 29 (<hi rend='italic'>The Heimskringla</hi>, +translated by S. Laing, i. 239 +sq.). Compare H. M. Chadwick, <hi rend='italic'>The +Cult of Othin</hi> (London, 1899), p. 4. +According to Messrs. Laing and Chadwick +the sacrifice took place every <emph>tenth</emph> +year. But I follow Prof. K. Weinhold +who translates <q><foreign rend='italic'>hit tiunda hvert ár</foreign></q> +by <q><foreign rend='italic'>alle neun Jahre</foreign></q> (<q>Die mystische +Neunzahl bei den Deutschen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Abhandlungen +der könig. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin</hi>, 1897, p. 6). So +in Latin <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>decimo quoque anno</foreign> should be +translated <q>every ninth year.</q></note> +<pb n='058'/><anchor id='Pg058'/> +Another indication of a similar tenure of the crown occurs +in a curious legend of the disposition and banishment of +Odin. Offended at his misdeeds, the other gods outlawed +and exiled him, but set up in his place a substitute, Oller by +name, a cunning wizard, to whom they accorded the symbols +both of royalty and of godhead. The deputy bore the name +of Odin, and reigned for nearly ten years, when he was +driven from the throne, while the real Odin came to his +own again. His discomfited rival retired to Sweden and +was afterwards slain in an attempt to repair his shattered +fortunes.<note place='foot'>Saxo Grammaticus, <hi rend='italic'>Historia +Danica</hi>, iii. pp. 129-131, ed. P. E. +Müller (pp. 98 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> of Oliver Elton's +English translation).</note> As gods are often merely men who loom large +through the mists of tradition, we may conjecture that this +Norse legend preserves a confused reminiscence of ancient +Swedish kings who reigned for nine or ten years together, +then abdicated, delegating to others the privilege of dying +for their country. The great festival which was held at +Upsala every nine years may have been the occasion on +which the king or his deputy was put to death. We know +that human sacrifices formed part of the rites.<note place='foot'>Adam of Bremen, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptio insularum +Aquilonis</hi>, 27 (Migne's <hi rend='italic'>Patrologia +Latina</hi>, cxlvi. col. 644). See <hi rend='italic'>The +Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, +vol. ii. pp. 364 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='4. Octennial Tenure of the Kingship.'/> +<head>§ 4. Octennial Tenure of the Kingship.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Limited +tenure of +the kingship +in +ancient +Greece. +The +Spartan +kings +appear +formerly to +have held +office for +periods of +eight years +only. The dread +of meteors +shared by +savages.</note> +There are some grounds for believing that the reign of +many ancient Greek kings was limited to eight years, or at +least that at the end of every period of eight years a new +consecration, a fresh outpouring of the divine grace, was +regarded as necessary in order to enable them to discharge +their civil and religious duties. Thus it was a rule of the +Spartan constitution that every eighth year the ephors should +choose a clear and moonless night and sitting down observe +the sky in silence. If during their vigil they saw a meteor or +shooting star, they inferred that the king had sinned against +the deity, and they suspended him from his functions until +the Delphic or Olympic oracle should reinstate him in them. +This custom, which has all the air of great antiquity, was not +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> +suffered to remain a dead letter even in the last period of +the Spartan monarchy; for in the third century before our +era a king, who had rendered himself obnoxious to the +reforming party, was actually deposed on various trumped-up +charges, among which the allegation that the ominous sign +had been seen in the sky took a prominent place.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Agis</hi>, II. Plutarch says +that the custom was observed <q>at +intervals of nine years</q> (δι᾽ ἐτῶν ἐννέα), +but the expression is equivalent to our +<q>at intervals of eight years.</q> In reckoning +intervals of time numerically the +Greeks included both the terms which +are separated by the interval, whereas +we include only one of them. For +example, our phrase <q>every second +day</q> would be rendered in Greek διὰ +τρίτης ἡμέρας, literally <q>every third +day.</q> Again, a cycle of two years is +in Greek <foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>trieteris</foreign>, literally <q>a period +of three years</q>; a cycle of eight years +is <foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>ennaeteris</foreign>, literally <q>a period of +nine years</q>; and so forth. See Censorinus, +<hi rend='italic'>De die natali</hi>, 18. The Latin +use of the ordinal numbers is similar, +<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi> our <q>every second year</q> would be +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>tertio quoque anno</foreign> in Latin. However, +the Greeks and Romans were not +always consistent in this matter, for +they occasionally reckoned in our +fashion. The resulting ambiguity is +not only puzzling to moderns; it sometimes +confused the ancients themselves. +For example, it led to a derangement +of the newly instituted Julian calendar, +which escaped detection for more than +thirty years. See Macrobius, <hi rend='italic'>Saturn.</hi> +i. 14. 13 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Solinus, i. 45-47. On +the ancient modes of counting in such +cases see A. Schmidt, <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der +griechischen Chronologie</hi> (Jena, 1888), +pp. 95 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> According to Schmidt, +the practice of adding both terms to +the sum of the intervening units was +not extended by the Greeks to numbers +above nine.</note> When +we compare this custom with the evidence to be presently +adduced of an eight years' tenure of the kingship +in Greece, we shall probably agree with K. O. Müller<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Die Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> ii. 96.</note> +that the quaint Spartan practice was much more than a +mere antiquarian curiosity; it was the attenuated survival +of an institution which may once have had great significance, +and it throws an important light on the restrictions and +limitations anciently imposed by religion on the Dorian +kingship. What exactly was the import of a meteor in the +opinion of the old Dorians we can hardly hope to determine; +one thing only is clear, they regarded it as a portent of so +ominous and threatening a kind that its appearance under +certain circumstances justified and even required the deposition +of their king. This exaggerated dread of so simple a +natural phenomenon is shared by many savages at the +present day; and we shall hardly err in supposing that +the Spartans inherited it from their barbarous ancestors, +who may have watched with consternation, on many a starry +night among the woods of Germany, the flashing of a meteor +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> +through the sky. It may be well, even at the cost of +a digression, to illustrate this primitive superstition by +examples. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Superstitions +of the +Australian +aborigines +as to +shooting +stars.</note> +Thus, shooting stars and meteors are viewed with apprehension +by the natives of the Andaman Islands, who suppose +them to be lighted faggots hurled into the air by the malignant +spirit of the woods in order to ascertain the whereabouts of +any unhappy wight in his vicinity. Hence if they happen to +be away from their camp when the meteor is seen, they hide +themselves and remain silent for a little before they venture +to resume the work they were at; for example, if they are +out fishing they will crouch at the bottom of the boat.<note place='foot'>E. Man, <hi rend='italic'>Aboriginal Inhabitants +of the Andaman Islands</hi>, pp. 84 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +The natives of the Tully River in Queensland believe +falling stars to be the fire-sticks carried about by the spirits +of dead enemies. When they see one shooting through the +air they take it as a sign that an enemy is near, and accordingly +they shout and make as much noise as they can; next +morning they all go out in the direction in which the star +fell and look for the tracks of their foe.<note place='foot'>W. E. Roth, <hi rend='italic'>North Queensland +Bulletin, No. 5, Superstition, Magic, +and Medicine</hi> (Brisbane, 1903), p. 8.</note> The Turrbal tribe of +Queensland thought that a falling star was a medicine-man +flying through the air and dropping his fire-stick to kill somebody; +if there was a sick man in the camp, they regarded him +as doomed.<note place='foot'>A. W. Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>The Native Tribes +of South-East Australia</hi>, p. 429.</note> The Ngarigo of New South Wales believed +the fall of a meteor to betoken the place where their foes were +mustering for war.<note place='foot'>A. W. Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 430. +One of the earliest writers on New +South Wales reports that the natives +attributed great importance to the falling +of a star (D. Collins,<hi rend='italic'>Account of +the English Colony in New South Wales</hi> +(London, 1804), p. 383).</note> The Kaitish tribe of central Australia +imagine that the fall of a star marks the whereabouts of a +man who has killed another by means of a magical pointing-stick +or bone. If a member of any group has been killed +in this way, his friends watch for the descent of a meteor, +march in that direction, slay an enemy there, and leave his +body lying on the ground. The friends of the murdered +man understand what has happened, and bury his body +where the star fell; for they recognise the spot by the softness +of the earth.<note place='foot'>Spencer and Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>Northern +Tribes of Central Australia</hi>, p. 627.</note> The Mara tribe of northern Australia +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +suppose a falling star to be one of two hostile spirits, father +and son, who live up in the sky and come down occasionally +to do harm to men. In this tribe the profession of medicine-man +is strictly hereditary in the stock which has the falling +star for its totem;<note place='foot'>Spencer and Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. +488, 627 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> if these wizards had ever developed into +kings, the descent of a meteor at certain times might have +had the same fatal significance for them as for the kings of +Sparta. The Taui Islanders, to the west of the Bismarck +Archipelago, make war in the direction in which they have +observed a star to fall,<note place='foot'>G. Thilenius, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnographische +Ergebnisse aus Melanesien</hi>, ii. (Halle, +1903) p. 129.</note> probably for a reason like that which +induces the Kaitish to do the same. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Superstitions +of the +negroes +and other +African +races as to +shooting +stars.</note> +When the Baronga of south Africa see a shooting star +they spit on the ground to avert the evil omen, and cry, +<q>Go away! go away all alone!</q> By this they mean that +the light, which is so soon to disappear, is not to take them +with it, but to go and die by itself.<note place='foot'>H. A. Junod, <hi rend='italic'>Les Ba-ronga</hi> +(Neuchatel, 1898), p. 470.</note> So when a Masai +perceives the flash of a meteor he spits several times and +says, <q>Be lost! go in the direction of the enemy!</q> after +which he adds, <q>Stay away from me.</q><note place='foot'>A. C. Hollis, <hi rend='italic'>The Masai</hi> (Oxford, +1905), p. 316.</note> The Namaquas +<q>are greatly afraid of the meteor which is vulgarly called a +falling star, for they consider it a sign that sickness is coming +upon the cattle, and to escape it they will immediately drive +them to some other parts of the country. They call out to +the star how many cattle they have, and beg of it not to +send sickness.</q><note place='foot'>J. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Travels in South +Africa</hi> (London, 1815), pp. 428 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The Bechuanas are also much alarmed at +the appearance of a meteor. If they happen to be dancing +in the open air at the time, they will instantly desist and +retire hastily to their huts.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Travels in South Africa, +Second Journey</hi> (London, 1822), ii. +204.</note> The Ewe negroes of Guinea +regard a falling star as a powerful divinity, and worship +it as one of their national gods, by the name of Nyikpla +or Nyigbla. In their opinion the falling star is especially a +war-god who marches at the head of the host and leads it +to victory, riding like Castor and Pollux on horseback. +But he is also a rain-god, and the showers are sent by +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +him from the sky. Special priests are devoted to his +worship, with a chief priest at their head, who resides in +the capital. They are known by the red staves which +they carry and by the high-pointed caps, woven of +threads and palm-leaves, which they wear on their heads. +In times of drought they call upon their god by night +with wild howls. Once a year an ox is sacrificed to him +at the capital, and the priests consume the flesh. On +this occasion the people smear themselves with the pollen +of a certain plant and go in procession through the towns +and villages, singing, dancing, and beating drums.<note place='foot'>G. Zündel, <q>Land und Volk der +Eweer auf der Sclavenküste in Westafrika,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für +Erdkunde zu Berlin</hi>, xii. (1877) pp. +415 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; C. Spiess, <q>Religionsbegriffe +der Evheer in Westafrika,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen +des Seminars für Orientalische +Sprachen zu Berlin</hi>, vi. (1903) Dritte +Abtheilung, p. 112.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Superstitions +of the +American +Indians as +to shooting +stars.</note> +By some Indians of California meteors were called +<q>children of the moon,</q> and whenever young women saw +one of them they fell to the ground and covered their heads, +fearing that, if the meteor saw them, their faces would become +ugly and diseased.<note place='foot'>Boscana, <q>Chinigchinich, a Historical +Account of the Origin, etc., of +the Indians of St. Juan Capistrano,</q> in +A. Robinson's <hi rend='italic'>Life in California</hi> (New +York, 1846), p. 299.</note> The Tarahumares of Mexico fancy that +a shooting star is a dead sorcerer coming to harm a man +who harmed him in life. Hence when they see one they +huddle together and scream for terror.<note place='foot'>C. Lumholtz, <hi rend='italic'>Unknown Mexico</hi> +(London, 1903), i. 324 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> When a German +traveller was living with the Bororos of central Brazil, a +splendid meteor fell, spreading dismay through the Indian +village. It was believed to be the soul of a dead medicine-man, +who suddenly appeared in this form to announce that he +wanted meat, and that, as a preliminary measure, he proposed +to visit somebody with an attack of dysentery. Its appearance +was greeted with yells from a hundred throats: men, +women, and children swarmed out of their huts like ants whose +nest has been disturbed; and soon watch-fires blazed, round +which at a little distance groups of dusky figures gathered, +while in the middle, thrown into strong relief by the flickering +light of the fire, two red-painted sorcerers reeled and +staggered in a state of frantic excitement, snorting and +spitting towards the quarter of the sky where the meteor +had run its brief but brilliant course. Pressing his right +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +hand to his yelling mouth, each of them held aloft in his +extended left, by way of propitiating the angry star, a +bundle of cigarettes. <q>There!</q> they seemed to say, <q>all +that tobacco will we give to ward off the impending visitation. +Woe to you, if you do not leave us in peace.</q><note place='foot'>K. von den Steinen, <hi rend='italic'>Unter den +Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens</hi> (Berlin, +1894), pp. 514 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The Peruvian +Indians also made a prodigious noise +when they saw a shooting star. See +P. de Cieza de Leon, <hi rend='italic'>Travels</hi> (Hakluyt +Society, London, 1864), p. 232.</note> The +Lengua Indians of the Gran Chaco also stand in great fear +of meteors, imagining them to be stones hurled from heaven +at the wicked sorcerers who have done people to death by +their charms.<note place='foot'>G. Kurze, <q>Sitten und Gebräuche +der Lengua-Indianer,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mitteilungen +der Geographischen Gesellschaft zu +Jena</hi>, xxiii. (1905) p. 17; W. Barbrooke +Grubb, <hi rend='italic'>An Unknown People in an +Unknown Land</hi> (London, 1911), p. +163.</note> When the Abipones beheld a meteor flashing +or heard thunder rolling in the sky, they imagined +that one of their medicine-men had died, and that the +flash of light and the peal of thunder were part of his +funeral honours.<note place='foot'>M. Dobrizhoffer, <hi rend='italic'>Historia de Abiponibus</hi> +(Vienna, 1784), ii. 86.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Shooting +stars +regarded +as demons.</note> +When the Laughlan Islanders see a shooting star they +make a great noise, for they think it is the old woman who +lives in the moon coming down to earth to catch somebody, +who may relieve her of her duties in the moon while she +goes away to the happy spirit-land.<note place='foot'>W. Tetzlaff, <q>Notes on the Laughlan +Islands,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Annual Report on +British New Guinea, 1890-91</hi> (Brisbane, +1892), p. 105.</note> In Vedic India a +meteor was believed to be the embodiment of a demon, and +on its appearance certain hymns or incantations, supposed +to possess the power of killing demons, were recited for the +purpose of expiating the prodigy.<note place='foot'>H. Oldenberg, <hi rend='italic'>Die Religion des +Veda</hi>, p. 267.</note> To this day in India, +when women see a falling star, they spit thrice to scare the +demon.<note place='foot'>W. Crooke, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Religion and +Folklore of Northern India</hi> (Westminster, +1906), ii. 22.</note> Some of the Esthonians at the present time +regard shooting stars as evil spirits.<note place='foot'>Holzmayer, <q>Osiliana,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Verhandlungen +der gelehrten Estnischen +Gesellschaft zu Dorpat</hi>, vii. (1872) +p. 48.</note> It is a Mohammedan +belief that falling stars are demons or jinn who have +attempted to scale the sky, and, being repulsed by the +angels with stones, are hurled headlong, flaming, from the +celestial vault. Hence every true believer at sight of a +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> +meteor should say, <q>I take refuge with God from the stoned +devil.</q><note place='foot'>Guillain, <hi rend='italic'>Documents sur l'histoire, +la géographie, et le commerce de l'Afrique +Orientale</hi>, ii. (Paris, <hi rend='smallcaps'>N.D.</hi>) p. 97; C. +Velten, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten und Gebräuche der +Suaheli</hi> (Göttingen, 1903), pp. 339 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; C. B. Klunzinger, <hi rend='italic'>Upper Egypt</hi> +(London, 1878), p. 405; Budgett +Meakin, <hi rend='italic'>The Moors</hi> (London, 1902), +p. 353.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Shooting +stars +associated +with the +souls of +the dead. Supposed +relation of +the stars +to men.</note> +A widespread superstition, of which some examples +have already been given, associates meteors or falling +stars with the souls of the dead. Often they are believed to +be the spirits of the departed on their way to the other +world. The Maoris imagine that at death the soul leaves +the body and goes to the nether world in the form of a +falling star.<note place='foot'>E. Dieffenbach, <hi rend='italic'>Travels in New +Zealand</hi> (London, 1843), ii. 66. +According to another account, meteors +are regarded by the Maoris as betokening +the presence of a god (R. +Taylor, <hi rend='italic'>Te Ika a Maui, or New +Zealand and its Inhabitants</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> p. 147).</note> The Kingsmill Islanders deemed a shooting +star an omen of death to some member of the family which +occupied the part of the council-house nearest to the point +of the sky whence the meteor took its flight. If the star +was followed by a train of light, it foretold the death of a +woman; if not, the death of a man.<note place='foot'>Ch. Wilkes, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of the United +States Exploring Expedition</hi>, v. 88.</note> When the Wotjobaluk +tribe of Victoria see a shooting star, they think it is falling +with the heart of a man who has been caught by a sorcerer +and deprived of his fat.<note place='foot'>A. W. Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of +South-East Australia</hi>, p. 369.</note> One evening when Mr. Howitt +was talking with an Australian black, a bright meteor was +seen shooting through the sky. The native watched it and +remarked, <q>An old blackfellow has fallen down there.</q><note place='foot'>A. W. Howitt, in Brough Smyth's +<hi rend='italic'>Aborigines of Victoria</hi>, ii. 309.</note> +Among the Yerrunthally tribe of Queensland the ideas on +this subject were even more definite. They thought that +after death they went to a place away among the stars, and +that to reach it they had to climb up a rope; when they +had clambered up they let go the rope, which, as it fell from +heaven, appeared to people on earth as a falling star.<note place='foot'>E. Palmer, <q>Notes on some +Australian Tribes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xiii. (1884) +p. 292. Sometimes apparently the +Australian natives regard crystals or +broken glass as fallen stars, and +treasure them as powerful instruments +of magic. See E. M. Curr, <hi rend='italic'>The +Australian Race</hi>, iii. 29; W. E. +Roth, <hi rend='italic'>North Queensland Ethnography, +Bulletin No. 5</hi>, p. 8.</note> The +natives of the Prince of Wales Islands, off Queensland, are +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +much afraid of shooting stars, for they believe them to be +ghosts which, in breaking up, produce young ones of their +own kind.<note place='foot'>J. Macgillivray, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of the +Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake</hi> (London, +1852), ii. 30.</note> The natives of the Gazelle Peninsula in New +Britain think that meteors are the souls of people who have +been murdered or eaten; so at the sight of a meteor +flashing they cry out, <q>The ghost of a murdered man!</q><note place='foot'>P. A. Kleintitschen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Küstenbewohner +der Gazellehalbinsel</hi> (Hiltrup +bei Münster, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), p. 227.</note> +According to the Sulka of New Britain meteors are souls +which have been flung into the air in order to plunge into +the sea; and the train of light which they leave behind +them is a burning tail of dry coco-nut leaves which has been +tied to them by other souls, in order to help them to wing +their way through the air.<note place='foot'>P. Rascher, <q>Die Sulka,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Archiv +für Anthropologie</hi>, xxix. (1904) p. 216.</note> The Caffres of South Africa +often say that a shooting star is the sign of the death of +some chief, and at sight of it they will spit on the ground +as a mark of friendly feeling towards the dead man.<note place='foot'>Dudley Kidd, <hi rend='italic'>Savage Childhood</hi> +(London, 1906), p. 149.</note> +Similarly the Ababua of the Congo valley think that a +chief will die in the village into which a star appears to fall, +unless the danger of death be averted by a particular +dance.<note place='foot'>J. Halkin, <hi rend='italic'>Quelques Peuplades du +district de l'Uelé</hi> (Liège, 1907), p. 102.</note> In the opinion of the Masai, the fall of a +meteor signifies the death of some one; at sight of it they +pray that the victim may be one of their enemies.<note place='foot'>O. Baumann, <hi rend='italic'>Durch Massailand +zur Nilquelle</hi> (Berlin, 1894), p. 163.</note> The +Wambugwe of eastern Africa fancy that the stars are men, +of whom one dies whenever a star is seen to fall.<note place='foot'>O. Baumann, <hi rend='italic'>Durch Massailand +zur Nilquelle</hi> (Berlin, 1894), p. 188.</note> The +Tinneh Indians and the Tchiglit Esquimaux of north-western +America believe that human life on earth is +influenced by the stars, and they take a shooting star to +be a sign that some one has died.<note place='foot'>E. Petitot, <hi rend='italic'>Monographie des Dènè-Dindjé</hi> +(Paris, 1876), p. 60; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Monographie des Esquimaux Tchiglit</hi> +(Paris, 1876), p. 24.</note> The Lolos, an aboriginal +tribe of western China, hold that for each person +on earth there is a corresponding star in the sky. Hence +when a man is ill, they sacrifice wine to his star and light +four and twenty lamps outside of his room. On the day +after the funeral they dig a hole in the chamber of death +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +and pray the dead man's star to descend and be buried in +it. If this precaution were not taken, the star might fall +and hit somebody and hurt him very much.<note place='foot'>A. Henry, <q>The Lolos and other +Tribes of Western China,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of +the Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxxiii. +(1903) p. 103.</note> In classical +antiquity there was a popular notion that every human +being had his own star in the sky, which shone bright or +dim according to his good or evil fortune, and fell in the +form of a meteor when he died.<note place='foot'>Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Hist.</hi> ii. 28.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Modern +European +beliefs as +to meteors. Various +beliefs as +to stars and +meteors.</note> +Superstitions of the same sort are still commonly to +be met with in Europe. Thus in some parts of Germany +they say that at the birth of a man a new star is set +in the sky, and that as it burns brilliantly or faintly he +grows rich or poor; finally when he dies it drops from +the sky in the likeness of a shooting star.<note place='foot'>F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi>, ii. 293; A. Kuhn und W. +Schwartz, <hi rend='italic'>Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen +und Gebräuche</hi>, p. 457, § 422; E. Meier, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche +aus Schwaben</hi>, p. 506, §§ 379, 380.</note> Similarly in +Brittany, Transylvania, Bohemia, the Abruzzi, the Romagna, +and the Esthonian island of Oesel it is thought by some +that every man has his own particular star in the sky, and +that when it falls in the shape of a meteor he expires.<note place='foot'>P. Sébillot, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions et superstitions +de la Haute-Bretagne</hi>, ii. +353; J. Haltrich, <hi rend='italic'>Zur Volkskunde der +Siebenbürger Sachsen</hi> (Vienna, 1885), p. +300; W. Schmidt, <hi rend='italic'>Das Jahr und seine +Tage in Meinung und Brauch der +Romänen Siebenbürgens</hi>, p. 38; E. +Gerard, <hi rend='italic'>The Land beyond the Forest</hi>, i. +311; J. V. Grohmann, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglauben und +Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren</hi>, +p. 31, § 164; Br. Jelínek, <q>Materialien +zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde +Böhmens,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen der anthropologischen +Gesellschaft in Wien</hi>, xxi. +(1891) p. 25; G. Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>Credenze, +usi e costumi Abruzzesi</hi>, pp. 47 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; M. +Placucci, <hi rend='italic'>Usi e pregiudizj dei contadini +della Romagna</hi> (Palermo, 1885), p. 141; +Holzmayer, <q>Osiliana,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Verhandl. der +gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft zu +Dorpat</hi>, vii. (1872) p. 48. The same +belief is said to prevail in Armenia. +See Minas Tchéraz, <q>Notes sur la +mythologie arménienne,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Transactions +of the Ninth International Congress of +Orientalists</hi> (London, 1893), ii. 824. +Bret Harte has employed the idea in +his little poem, <q>Relieving Guard.</q></note> A +like belief is entertained by Polish Jews.<note place='foot'>H. Lew, <q>Der Tod und die +Beerdigungs-gebräuche bei den polnischen +Juden,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen der +anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien</hi>, +xxxii. (1902) p. 402.</note> In Styria they +say that when a shooting star is seen a man has just died, +or a poor soul been released from purgatory.<note place='foot'>A. Schlossar, <q>Volksmeinung und +Volksaberglaube aus der deutschen +Steiermark,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Germania</hi>, N.R., xxiv. +(1891) p. 389.</note> The Esthonians +believe that if any one sees a falling star on New +Year's night he will die or be visited by a serious illness that +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> +year.<note place='foot'>Boecler-Kreutzwald, <hi rend='italic'>Der Ehsten +abergläubische Gebräuche, Weisen und +Gewohnheiten</hi> (St. Petersburg, 1854), +p. 73.</note> In Belgium and many parts of France the people +suppose that a meteor is a soul which has just quitted the +body, sometimes that it is specially the soul of an unbaptized +infant or of some one who has died without absolution. At +sight of it they say that you should cross yourself and pray, +or that if you wish for something while the star is falling +you will be sure to get it.<note place='foot'>E. Monseur, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folklore wallon</hi>, +p. 61; A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, mythes +et traditions des provinces de France</hi>, +pp. 101, 160, 223, 267, 284; B. Souché, +<hi rend='italic'>Croyances, présages et traditions diverses</hi>, +p. 23; P. Sébillot, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions et superstitions +de la Haute-Bretagne</hi>, ii. 352; +J. Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du bocage normand</hi>, +ii. 13; L. Pineau, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore +du Poitou</hi> (Paris, 1892), pp. 525 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Vosges Mountains +in the warm nights of July it is not uncommon to see whole +showers of shooting stars. It is generally agreed that these +stars are souls, but some difference of opinion exists as to +whether they are souls just taking leave of earth, or tortured +by the fires of purgatory, or on their passage from purgatory +to heaven.<note place='foot'>L. F. Sauvé. <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore des +Hautes-Vosges</hi> (Paris, 1889), pp. 196 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The last and most cheering of these views is +held by the French peasantry of Beauce and Perche and by +the Italian peasantry of the Abruzzi, and charitable people +pray for the deliverance of a soul at the sight of a falling +star.<note place='foot'>F. Chapiseau, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore de la +Beauce et du Perche</hi> (Paris, 1902), i. +290; G. Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>Credenze, usi e +costumi Abruzzesi</hi> (Palermo, 1890), +p. 48.</note> The downward direction of its flight might naturally +suggest a different goal; and accordingly other people have +seen in the transient flame of a meteor the descent of a soul +from heaven to be born on earth. In the Punjaub, for +example, Hindoos believe that the length of a soul's residence +in the realms of bliss is exactly proportioned to the sums which +the man distributed in charity during his life; and that when +these are exhausted his time in heaven is up, and down he +comes.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>North Indian Notes and Queries</hi>, +i. p. 102, § 673. Compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> p. 47, +§ 356; <hi rend='italic'>Indian Notes and Queries</hi>, iv. +p. 184, § 674; W. Crooke, <hi rend='italic'>Popular +Religion and Folklore of Northern India</hi> +(Westminster, 1896), i. 82.</note> In Polynesia a shooting star was held to be the +flight of a spirit, and to presage the birth of a great prince.<note place='foot'>W. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>Polynesian Researches</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +iii. 171.</note> +The Mandans of north America fancied that the stars were +dead people, and that when a woman was brought to bed a +star fell from heaven, and entering into her was born as a +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +child.<note place='foot'>Maximilian Prinz zu Wied, <hi rend='italic'>Reise +in das Innere Nord-America</hi> (Coblenz, +1839-1841), ii. 152. It does not, however, +appear from the writer's statement +whether the descent of the soul +was identified with the flight of a +meteor or not.</note> On the Biloch frontier of the Punjaub each man is +held to have his star, and he may not journey in particular +directions when his star is in certain positions. If duty +compels him to travel in the forbidden direction, he takes +care before setting out to bury his star, or rather a figure +of it cut out of cloth, so that it may not see what he is +doing.<note place='foot'>D. C. J. Ibbetson, <hi rend='italic'>Outlines of +Panjab Ethnography</hi> (Calcutta, 1883), +p. 118, § 231.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The fall of +the king's +star.</note> +Which, if any, of these superstitions moved the barbarous +Dorians of old to depose their kings whenever at a certain +season a meteor flamed in the sky, we cannot say. Perhaps +they had a vague general notion that its appearance signified +the dissatisfaction of the higher powers with the state of the +commonwealth; and since in primitive society the king is +commonly held responsible for all untoward events, whatever +their origin, the natural course was to relieve him of +duties which he had proved himself incapable of discharging. +But it may be that the idea in the minds of these rude +barbarians was more definite. Possibly, like some people in +Europe at the present day, they thought that every man had +his star in the sky, and that he must die when it fell. The +king would be no exception to the rule, and on a certain +night of a certain year, at the end of a cycle, it might be +customary to watch the sky in order to mark whether the +king's star was still in the ascendant or near its setting. +The appearance of a meteor on such a night—of a star +precipitated from the celestial vault—might prove for the +king not merely a symbol but a sentence of death. It +might be the warrant for his execution. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Reasons +for limiting +a king's +reign to +eight years. The +octennial +cycle based +on an +attempt to +reconcile +solar and +lunar time.</note> +If the tenure of the regal office was formerly limited +among the Spartans to eight years, we may naturally ask, +why was that precise period selected as the measure of a +king's reign? The reason is probably to be found in those +astronomical considerations which determined the early Greek +calendar. The difficulty of reconciling lunar with solar time +is one of the standing puzzles which has taxed the ingenuity +of men who are emerging from barbarism. Now an octennial +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +cycle is the shortest period at the end of which sun and +moon really mark time together after overlapping, so to say, +throughout the whole of the interval. Thus, for example, it +is only once in every eight years that the full moon coincides +with the longest or shortest day; and as this coincidence +can be observed with the aid of a simple dial, the observation +is naturally one of the first to furnish a base for a +calendar which shall bring lunar and solar times into tolerable, +though not exact, harmony.<note place='foot'>L. Ideler, <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der mathematischen +und technischen Chronologie</hi>, +ii. 605 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> Ninety-nine lunar months +nearly coincide with eight solar years, +as the ancients well knew (Sozomenus, +<hi rend='italic'>Historia ecclesiastica</hi>, vii. 18). On +the religious and political import of +the eight years' cycle in ancient Greece +see especially K. O. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Orchomenus +und die Minyer</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> pp. 213-218; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Die Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> i. 254 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 333 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +440, ii. 96, 483; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Prolegomena +zu einer wissenschaftlichen Mythologie</hi> +(Göttingen, 1825), pp. 422-424.</note> But in early days the +proper adjustment of the calendar is a matter of religious +concern, since on it depends a knowledge of the right seasons +for propitiating the deities whose favour is indispensable to +the welfare of the community.<note place='foot'><q>Ancient opinion even assigned +the regulation of the calendar by the +solstices and equinoxes to the will of +the gods that sacrifices should be +rendered at similar times in each year, +rather than to the strict requirements +of agriculture; and as religion undoubtedly +makes larger demands on +the cultivator as agriculture advances, +the obligations of sacrifice may probably +be reckoned as of equal importance +with agricultural necessities in urging +the formation of reckonings in the +nature of a calendar</q> (E. J. Payne, +<hi rend='italic'>History of the New World called +America</hi>, ii. 280).</note> No wonder, therefore, that +the king, as the chief priest of the state, or as himself a god, +should be liable to deposition or death at the end of an +astronomical period. When the great luminaries had run +their course on high, and were about to renew the heavenly +race, it might well be thought that the king should renew +his divine energies, or prove them unabated, under pain of +making room for a more vigorous successor. In southern +India, as we have seen, the king's reign and life terminated +with the revolution of the planet Jupiter round the sun. In +Greece, on the other hand, the king's fate seems to have +hung in the balance at the end of every eight years, ready +to fly up and kick the beam as soon as the opposite scale +was loaded with a falling star. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +octennial +cycle in +relation to the Greek +doctrine +of rebirth.</note> +The same train of thought may explain an ancient Greek +custom which appears to have required that a homicide should +be banished his country, and do penance for a period of +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +eight or nine years.<note place='foot'>As to the eight years' servitude of +Apollo and Cadmus for the slaughter +of dragons, see below, p. <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>. For +the nine years' penance of the man +who had tasted human flesh at the +festival of Zeus on Mount Lycaeus, see +Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. hist.</hi> viii. 81 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Augustine, +<hi rend='italic'>De civitate Dei</hi>, xviii. 17; Pausanias, +viii. 2. 6; compare Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Republic</hi>, +viii. p. 565 D E. Any god who forswore +himself by the water of Styx was +exiled for nine years from the society +of his fellow-gods (Hesiod, <hi rend='italic'>Theogony</hi>, +793-804). On this subject see further, +E. Rohde, <hi rend='italic'>Psyche</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> ii. 211 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. H. +Roscher, <q>Die enneadischen und hebdomadischen +Fristen und Wochen der +ältesten Griechen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Abhandlungen der +philolog.-histor. Klasse der Königl. +Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften</hi>, +xxi. No. 4 (1903), pp. 24 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> With the beginning of a new cycle +or great year, as it was called, it might be thought that all +nature was regenerate, all old scores wiped out. According +to Pindar, the dead whose guilt had been purged away by +an abode of eight years in the nether world were born +again on earth in the ninth year as glorious kings, athletes, +and sages.<note place='foot'>Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Meno</hi>, p. 81 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a</hi>-<hi rend='smallcaps'>c</hi>; Pindar, +ed. Boeckh, vol. iii. pp. 623 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, Frag. +98.</note> The doctrine may well be an old popular belief +rather than a mere poetical fancy. If so, it would supply +a fresh reason for the banishment of a homicide during the +years that the angry ghost of his victim might at any +moment issue from its prison-house and pounce on him. +Once the perturbed spirit had been happily reborn, he might +be supposed to forgive, if not to forget, the man who had +done him an injury in a former life. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +octennial +cycle at +Cnossus in +Crete. +King +Minos and +Zeus. Sacred +marriage +of the king +and queen +of Cnossus +in the form +of bull and +cow as +symbols of +the sun +and moon.</note> +Whatever its origin may have been, the cycle of eight +years appears to have coincided with the normal length of +the king's reign in other parts of Greece besides Sparta. +Thus Minos, king of Cnossus in Crete, whose great palace +has been unearthed in recent years, is said to have held +office for periods of eight years together. At the end of +each period he retired for a season to the oracular cave on +Mount Ida, and there communed with his divine father Zeus, +giving him an account of his kingship in the years that were +past, and receiving from him instructions for his guidance +in those which were to come.<note place='foot'><p>Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Odyssey</hi>, xix. 178 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +</p> +<p> +τῇσι δ᾽ ἐνὶ Κνωσός, μεγάλη πόλις, ἔνθα τε Μίνως<lb/> +ἐννέωρος βασίλευε Διὸς μεγάλου ὀαριστής. +</p> +<p> +with the Scholia; Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Laws</hi>, i. I. p. +624 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a</hi>, <hi rend='smallcaps'>b</hi>;[<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>] <hi rend='italic'>Minos</hi>, 13 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, pp. +319 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Strabo, ix. 4. 8, p. 476; +Maximus Tyrius, <hi rend='italic'>Dissert.</hi> xxxviii. 2; +<hi rend='italic'>Etymologicum magnum</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> ἐννέωροι, +p. 343, 23 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Valerius Maximus, i. +2, ext. I; compare Diodorus Siculus, +v. 78. 3. Homer's expression, ἐννέωρος +βασίλευε, has been variously explained. +I follow the interpretation which appears +to have generally found favour both +with the ancients, including Plato, and +with modern scholars. See K. Hoeck, +<hi rend='italic'>Kreta</hi>, i. 244 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; K. O. Müller,<hi rend='italic'>Die +Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> ii. 96; G. F. Unger, <q>Zeitrechnung +der Griechen und Römer,</q> +in Ivan Müller's <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der klassischen +Altertumswissenschaft</hi>, i. 569; +A. Schmidt, <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der griechischen +Chronologie</hi> (Jena, 1888), p. 65; W. H. +Roscher, <q>Die enneadischen und hebdomadischen +Fristen und Wochen der +ältesten Griechen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Abhandlungen der +philolog.-histor. Klasse der Königl. Sächsischen +Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften</hi>, +xxi. No. 4 (Leipsic, 1903), pp. 22 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +E. Rohde, <hi rend='italic'>Psyche</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> i. 128 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Literally +interpreted, ἐννέωρος +means <q>for nine +years,</q> not <q>for eight years.</q> But see +above, p. <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref>, note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>.</p></note> The tradition plainly implies +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> +that at the end of every eight years the king's sacred powers +needed to be renewed by intercourse with the godhead, and +that without such a renewal he would have forfeited his +right to the throne. We may surmise that among the +solemn ceremonies which marked the beginning or the end +of the eight years' cycle the sacred marriage of the king +with the queen played an important part, and that in this +marriage we have the true explanation of the strange legend +of Pasiphae and the bull. It was said that Pasiphae, the +wife of King Minos, fell in love with a wondrous white bull +which rose from the sea, and that in order to gratify her +unnatural passion the artist Daedalus constructed a hollow +wooden cow, covered with a cow's hide, in which the love-sick +queen was hidden while the bull mounted it. The +result of their union was the Minotaur, a monster with the +body of a man and the head of a bull, whom the king shut +up in the labyrinth, a building full of such winding and +intricate passages that the prisoner might roam in it for +ever without finding the way out.<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 1. 3 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, iii. 15. +8; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 77; Schol. on +Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Hippolytus</hi>, 887; J. Tzetzes, +<hi rend='italic'>Chiliades</hi>, i. 479 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Hyginus, +<hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 40; Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Ecl.</hi> vi. 45 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Ars amat.</hi> i. 289 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> The legend appears to +reflect a mythical marriage of the sun and moon, which was +acted as a solemn rite by the king and queen of Cnossus, +wearing the masks of a bull and cow respectively.<note place='foot'>K. Hoeck, <hi rend='italic'>Kreta</hi>, ii. (Göttingen, +1828) pp. 63-69; L. Preller, <hi rend='italic'>Griechische +Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> ii. 119-123; W. H. +Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>Über Selene mid Verwandtes</hi> +(Leipsic, 1890), pp. 135-139; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Nachträge zu meiner Schrift über Selene</hi> +(Leipsic, 1895), p. 3; Türk, in W. H. +<hi rend='italic'>Roscher's Lexikon der griech. und röm. +Mythologie</hi>, iii. 1666 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; A. J. Evans, +<q>Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of Hellenic Studies</hi>, xxi. (1901) +p. 181; A. B. Cook, <q>Zeus, Jupiter, +and the Oak,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Classical Review</hi>, xvii. +(1903) pp. 406-412; compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<q>The European Sky-god,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folklore</hi>, +xv. (1904) p. 272. All these writers, +except Mr. Cook, regard Minos and +Pasiphae as representing the sun and +moon. Mr. Cook agrees so far as +relates to Minos, but he supposes +Pasiphae to be a sky-goddess or sun-goddess +rather than a goddess of the +moon. On the other hand, he was +the first to suggest that the myth was +periodically acted by the king and queen +of Cnossus disguised in bovine form.</note> To a +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +pastoral people a bull is the most natural type of vigorous +reproductive energy,<note place='foot'>Compare <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 368 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> and as such is a fitting emblem of the +sun. Islanders who, like many of the Cretans, see the sun +daily rising from the sea, might readily compare him to a +white bull issuing from the waves. Indeed, we are expressly +told that the Cretans called the sun a bull.<note place='foot'>Bekker's <hi rend='italic'>Anecdota Graeca</hi>, i. 344, +<hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Ἀδιούνιος ταῦρος.</note> Similarly in +ancient Egypt the sacred bull Mnevis of Heliopolis (the +City of the Sun) was deemed an incarnation of the Sun-god,<note place='foot'>Eusebius, <hi rend='italic'>Praeparatio Evangelii</hi>, +iii. 13. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Diodorus Siculus, i. 84. +4, i. 88. 4; Strabo, xvii. 1. 22 and +27, pp. 803, 805; Aelian, <hi rend='italic'>De natura +animalium</hi>, xi. II; Suidas, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Ἆπις; +Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 14. 7; +A. Wiedemann, <hi rend='italic'>Herodots Zweites +Buch</hi>, p. 552; A. Erman, <hi rend='italic'>Die ägyptische +Religion</hi> (Berlin, 1905), p. 26; +E. A. Wallis Budge, <hi rend='italic'>The Gods of the +Egyptians</hi> (London, 1904), i. 330.</note> +and for thousands of years the kings of Egypt +delighted to be styled <q>mighty bull</q>; many of them +inscribed the title on their <foreign rend='italic'>serekh</foreign> or cognisance, which +set forth their names in their character of descendants +of Horus.<note place='foot'>E. A. Wallis Budge, <hi rend='italic'>The Gods of +the Egyptians</hi>, i. 25.</note> The identification of Pasiphae, <q>she who shines +on all,</q> with the moon was made long ago by Pausanias, +who saw her image along with that of the sun in a sanctuary +on that wild rocky coast of Messenia where the great range +of Taygetus descends seaward in a long line of naked crags.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, i. 26. 1. For a description +of the scenery of this coast, +see Morritt, in Walpole's <hi rend='italic'>Memoirs relating +to European Turkey</hi>, i.<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> p. 54.</note> +The horns of the waxing or waning moon naturally suggest +the resemblance of the luminary to a white cow; hence the +ancients represented the goddess of the moon drawn by a +team of white cattle.<note place='foot'>W. H. Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>Über Selene und +Verwandtes</hi>, pp. 30-33.</note> When we remember that at the +court of Egypt the king and queen figured as god and +goddess in solemn masquerades, where the parts of animal-headed +deities were played by masked men and women,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 130 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> We are +told that Egyptian sovereigns assumed +the masks of lions, bulls, and serpents +as symbols of power (Diodorus Siculus, +i. 62. 4).</note> we +need have no difficulty in imagining that similar dramas +may have been performed at the court of a Cretan king, +whether we suppose them to have been imported from +Egypt or to have had an independent origin. +</p> + +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The same +myth and +custom +of the +marriage +of the sun +and moon +appear in +the stories +of Zeus and +Europa, of +Minos and +Britomartis. +The conjunction +of +the sun +and moon +regarded +as the best +time for +marriages. Octennial +marriage +of the +king and +queen as +representatives +of the +sun and +moon.</note> +The stories of Zeus and Europa, and of Minos and +Britomartis or Dictynna appear to be only different expressions +of the same myth, different echoes of the same +custom. The moon rising from the sea was the fair maiden +Europa coming across the heaving billows from the far +eastern land of Phoenicia, borne or pursued by her suitor the +solar bull. The moon setting in the western waves was the +coy Britomartis or Dictynna, who plunged into the sea to +escape the warm embrace of her lover Minos, himself the +sun. The story how the drowning maiden was drawn up in +a fisherman's net may well be, as some have thought, the +explanation given by a simple seafaring folk of the moon's +reappearance from the sea in the east after she had sunk +into it in the west.<note place='foot'>As to Minos and Britomartis or +Dictynna, see Callimachus, <hi rend='italic'>Hymn to +Diana</hi>, 189 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Pausanias, ii. 30. 3; +Antoninus Liberalis, <hi rend='italic'>Transform.</hi> 40; +Diodorus Siculus, v. 76. On Britomartis +as a moon-goddess, see K. +Hoeck, <hi rend='italic'>Kreta</hi>, ii. 170; W. H. Roscher, +<hi rend='italic'>Über Selene und Verwandtes</hi>, pp. 45 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 116-118. Hoeck acutely perceived +that the pursuit of Britomartis by Minos +<q>is a trait of old festival customs in +which the conceptions of the sun-god +were transferred to the king of the +island.</q> As to the explanation here +adopted of the myth of Zeus and +Europa, see K. Hoeck, <hi rend='italic'>Kreta</hi>, i. 90 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +W. H. Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 128-135. +Moschus describes (ii. 84 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>) the bull +which carried off Europa as yellow in +colour with a silver circle shining on +his forehead, and he compares the +bull's horns to those of the moon.</note> To the mythical fancy of the ancients +the moon was a coy or a wanton maiden, who either fled +from or pursued the sun every month till the fugitive was +overtaken and the lovers enjoyed each other's company at +the time when the luminaries are in conjunction, namely, in +the interval between the old and the new moon. Hence on +the principles of sympathetic magic that interval was considered +the time most favourable for human marriages. +When the sun and moon are wedded in the sky, men and +women should be wedded on earth. And for the same +reason the ancients chose the interlunar day for the celebration +of the Sacred Marriages of gods and goddesses. Similar +beliefs and customs based on them have been noted among +other peoples.<note place='foot'>See W. H. Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. +76-82. Amongst the passages of +classical writers which he cites are +Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>De facie in orbe lunae</hi>, 30; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Isis et Osiris</hi>, 52; Cornutus, +<hi rend='italic'>Theologiae Graecae compendium</hi>, 34, +p. 72, ed. C. Lang; Proclus, on Hesiod, +<hi rend='italic'>Works and Days</hi>, 780; Macrobius, +<hi rend='italic'>Commentar. in Somnium Scipionis</hi>, i. +18. 10 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. hist.</hi> ii. 45. +When the sun and moon were eclipsed, +the Tahitians supposed that the luminaries were in the act of copulation +(J. Wilson, <hi rend='italic'>Missionary Voyage to the +Southern Pacific Ocean</hi> (London, 1799), +p. 346).</note> It is likely, therefore, that a king and queen +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> +who represented the sun and moon may have been expected +to exercise their conjugal rights above all at the time when +the moon was thought to rest in the arms of the sun. +However that may have been, it would be natural that their +union should be consummated with unusual solemnity every +eight years, when the two great luminaries, so to say, meet +and mark time together once more after diverging from +each other more or less throughout the interval. It is true +that sun and moon are in conjunction once every month, +but every month their conjunction takes place at a different +point in the sky, until eight revolving years have brought +them together again in the same heavenly bridal chamber +where first they met. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Octennial +tribute of +youths and +maidens +probably +required as +a means of +renewing +the sun's +fire by +human +sacrifices. +The +Minotaur +a bull-headed +image of +the sun.</note> +Without being unduly rash we may surmise that the +tribute of seven youths and seven maidens whom the +Athenians were bound to send to Minos every eight years +had some connexion with the renewal of the king's power +for another octennial cycle. Traditions varied as to the +fate which awaited the lads and damsels on their arrival in +Crete; but the common view appears to have been that +they were shut up in the labyrinth, there to be devoured +by the Minotaur, or at least to be imprisoned for life.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Theseus</hi>, 15 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Diodorus +Siculus, iv. 61; Pausanias, i. 27. +10; Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Metam.</hi> viii. 170 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> According +to another account, the tribute +of youths and maidens was paid every +year. See Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> vi. 14 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, +with the commentary of Servius; +Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 41.</note> +Perhaps they were sacrificed by being roasted alive in a +bronze image of a bull, or of a bull-headed man, in order to +renew the strength of the king and of the sun, whom he +personated. This at all events is suggested by the legend +of Talos, a bronze man who clutched people to his breast +and leaped with them into the fire, so that they were roasted +alive. He is said to have been given by Zeus to Europa, +or by Hephaestus to Minos, to guard the island of Crete, +which he patrolled thrice daily.<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, i. 9. 26; Apollonius +Rhodius, <hi rend='italic'>Argon.</hi> iv. 1638 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, with the +scholium; Agatharchides, in Photius, +<hi rend='italic'>Bibliotheca</hi>, p. 443<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>b</hi>, lines 22-25, ed. +Bekker; Lucian, <hi rend='italic'>De saltatione</hi>, 49; +Zenobius, v. 85; Suidas, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Σαρδάνιος +γέλως; Eustathius on Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Odyssey</hi>, +xx. 302, p. 1893; Schol. on Plato, +<hi rend='italic'>Republic</hi>, i. p. 337<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>A</hi>.</note> According to one +account he was a bull,<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, i. 9. 26.</note> according to another he was the +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> +sun.<note place='foot'>Hesychius, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Ταλῶς.</note> Probably he was identical with the Minotaur, and +stripped of his mythical features was nothing but a bronze +image of the sun represented as a man with a bull's head. In +order to renew the solar fires, human victims may have been +sacrificed to the idol by being roasted in its hollow body or +placed on its sloping hands and allowed to roll into a pit of +fire. It was in the latter fashion that the Carthaginians +sacrificed their offspring to Moloch. The children were laid +on the hands of a calf-headed image of bronze, from which +they slid into a fiery oven, while the people danced to the +music of flutes and timbrels to drown the shrieks of the +burning victims.<note place='foot'>Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14; Clitarchus, +cited by Suidas, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Σαρδάνιος +γέλως, and by the Scholiast on Plato, +<hi rend='italic'>Republic</hi>, p. 337<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>A</hi>; Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>De superstitione</hi>, +13; Paulus Fagius, quoted by +Selden, <hi rend='italic'>De dis Syris</hi> (Leipsic, 1668), +pp. 169 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The calf's head of the +idol is mentioned only by P. Fagius, +who drew his account from a book +Jalkut by Rabbi Simeon.</note> The resemblance which the Cretan traditions +bear to the Carthaginian practice suggests that the +worship associated with the names of Minos and the +Minotaur may have been powerfully influenced by that of a +Semitic Baal.<note place='foot'>Compare M. Mayer, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Kronos,</q> +in W. H. Roscher's <hi rend='italic'>Lexikon d. griech. +u. röm. Mythologie</hi>, iii. 1501 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In the tradition of Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum, +and his brazen bull<note place='foot'>J. Tzetzes, <hi rend='italic'>Chiliades</hi>, i. 646 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> we may have an echo of similar rites +in Sicily, where the Carthaginian power struck deep roots. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dance +of the +youths and +maidens at +Cnossus.</note> +But perhaps the youths and maidens who were sent +across the sea to Cnossus had to perform certain religious +duties before they were cast into the fiery furnace. The +same cunning artist Daedalus who planned the labyrinth +and contrived the wooden cow for Pasiphae was said to +have made a dance for Ariadne, daughter of Minos. It +represented youths and maidens dancing in ranks, the +youths armed with golden swords, the maidens crowned with +garlands.<note place='foot'>Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, xviii. 590 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Moreover, when Theseus landed with Ariadne in +Delos on his return from Crete, he and the young companions +whom he had rescued from the Minotaur are said +to have danced a mazy dance in imitation of the intricate +windings of the labyrinth; on account of its sinuous turns +the dance was called <q>the Crane.</q><note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Theseus</hi>, 21; Julius +Pollux, iv. 101.</note> Taken together, these +two traditions suggest that the youths and maidens who +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> +were sent to Cnossus had to dance in the labyrinth before +they were sacrificed to the bull-headed image. At all +events there are good grounds for thinking that there was a +famous dance which the ancients regularly associated with +the Cretan labyrinth. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The game +of Troy.</note> +Among the Romans that dance appears to have been +known from the earliest times by the name of Troy or the +Game of Troy. Tradition ran that it was imported into +Italy by Aeneas, who transmitted it through his son Ascanius +to the Alban kings, who in their turn handed it down to the +Romans. It was performed by bands of armed youths on +horseback. Virgil compares their complicated evolutions to +the windings of the Cretan labyrinth;<note place='foot'>As to the Game of Troy, see +Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> v. 545-603; Plutarch, +<hi rend='italic'>Cato</hi>, 3; Tacitus, <hi rend='italic'>Annals</hi>, xi. 11; +Suetonius, <hi rend='italic'>Augustus</hi>, 43; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Tiberius</hi>, +6; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Caligula</hi>, 18; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Nero</hi>, 6; W. +Smith's <hi rend='italic'>Dictionary of Greek and Roman +Antiquities</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Trojae ludus</q>; O. +Benndorf, <q>Das Alter des Trojaspieles,</q> +appended to W. Reichel's +<hi rend='italic'>Über homerische Waffen</hi> (Vienna, +1894), pp. 133-139.</note> and that the comparison +is more than a mere poetical flourish appears from a +drawing on a very ancient Etruscan vase found at Tragliatella. +The drawing represents a procession of seven beardless +warriors dancing, accompanied by two armed riders on +horseback, who are also beardless. An inscription proves +that the scene depicted is the Game of Troy; and attached +to the procession is a figure of the Cretan labyrinth,<note place='foot'>O. Benndorf, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 133 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> the +pattern of which is well known from coins of Cnossus on +which it is often represented.<note place='foot'>B. V. Head, <hi rend='italic'>Historia numorum</hi> +(Oxford, 1887), pp. 389-391.</note> The same pattern, identified +by an inscription, <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Labyrinthus, hic habitat Minotaurus</foreign>,</q> is +scratched on a wall at Pompeii; and it is also worked in +mosaic on the floor of Roman apartments, with the figures +of Theseus and the Minotaur in the middle.<note place='foot'>O. Benndorf, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 134 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Roman boys +appear to have drawn the very same pattern on the ground +and to have played a game on it, probably a miniature Game +of Troy.<note place='foot'>Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. hist.</hi> xxxvi. 85.</note> Labyrinths of similar type occur as decorations +on the floors of old churches, where they are known as <q>the +Road of Jerusalem</q>; they were used for processions. The +garden mazes of the Renaissance were modelled on them. +Moreover, they are found very commonly in the north of +Europe, marked out either by raised bands of turf or by +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> +rows of stones. Such labyrinths may be seen in Norway, +Sweden, Denmark, Finnland, the south coast of Russian +Lappland, and even in Iceland. They go by various names, +such as Babylon, Wieland's House, Trojeborg, Tröburg, and +so forth, some of which clearly indicate their connexion +with the ancient Game of Troy. They are used for children's +games.<note place='foot'>O. Benndorf, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 135; W. +Meyer, <q>Ein Labyrinth mit Versen,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Sitzungsberichte der philosoph. philolog. +und histor</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Classe der k. b. Akademie +der Wissenschaften zu München</hi>, 1882, +vol. ii. pp. 267-300.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The dance +at Cnossus +perhaps an +imitation +of the +sun's +course in +the sky.</note> +A dance or game which has thus spread over Europe +and survived in a fashion to modern times must have been +very popular, and bearing in mind how often with the decay +of old faiths the serious rites and pageants of grown people +have degenerated into the sports of children, we may reasonably +ask whether Ariadne's Dance or the Game of Troy may +not have had its origin in religious ritual. The ancients +connected it with Cnossus and the Minotaur. Now we have +seen reason to hold, with many other scholars, that Cnossus +was the seat of a great worship of the sun, and that the +Minotaur was a representative or embodiment of the sun-god. +May not, then, Ariadne's dance have been an imitation +of the sun's course in the sky? and may not its intention +have been, by means of sympathetic magic, to aid the great +luminary to run his race on high? We have seen that +during an eclipse of the sun the Chilcotin Indians walk in +a circle, leaning on staves, apparently to assist the labouring +orb. In Egypt also the king, who embodied the sun-god, +seems to have solemnly walked round the walls of a temple +for the sake of helping the sun on his way.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 312.</note> If there is any +truth in this conjecture, it would seem to follow that the +sinuous lines of the labyrinth which the dancers followed in +their evolutions may have represented the ecliptic, the sun's +apparent annual path in the sky. It is some confirmation +of this view that on coins of Cnossus the sun or a star +appears in the middle of the labyrinth, the place which on +other coins is occupied by the Minotaur.<note place='foot'>B. V. Head, <hi rend='italic'>Historia numorum</hi>, +p. 389.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Conclusions +as +to the king +of Cnossus.</note> +On the whole the foregoing evidence, slight and fragmentary +as it is, points to the conclusion that at Cnossus the +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> +king represented the sun-god, and that every eight years his +divine powers were renewed at a great festival, which comprised, +first, the sacrifice of human victims by fire to a bull-headed +image of the sun, and, second, the marriage of the +king disguised as a bull to the queen disguised as a cow, the +two personating respectively the sun and the moon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Octennial +festivals +of the +Crowning +at Delphi +and the +Laurel-bearing +at +Thebes. +Both +represented +dramatically +the +slaying of +a water-dragon.</note> +Whatever may be thought of these speculations, we +know that many solemn rites were celebrated by the ancient +Greeks at intervals of eight years.<note place='foot'>Censorinus, <hi rend='italic'>De die natali</hi>, 18. 6.</note> Amongst them, two +deserve to be noticed here, because it has been recently +suggested, with some appearance of probability, that they +were based on an octennial tenure of the kingship.<note place='foot'>The suggestion was made by Mr. +A. B. Cook. The following discussion +of the subject is founded on his ingenious +exposition. See his article, <q>The +European Sky-god,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folklore</hi>, xv. +(1904) pp. 402-424.</note> One +was the Festival of the Crowning at Delphi; the other was +the Festival of the Laurel-bearing at Thebes. In their +general features the two festivals seem to have resembled +each other very closely. Both represented dramatically the +slaying of a great water-dragon by a god or hero; in both, +the lad who played the part of the victorious god or hero +crowned his brows with a wreath of sacred laurel and had to +submit to a penance and purification for the slaughter of the +beast. At Delphi the legendary slayer of the dragon was +Apollo; at Thebes he was Cadmus.<note place='foot'>As to the Delphic festival see +Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Quaest. Graec.</hi> 12; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>De +defectu oraculorum</hi>, 15; Strabo, ix. +3. 12, pp. 422 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Aelian, <hi rend='italic'>Var. hist.</hi> +iii. 1; Stephanus Byzantius, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +Δειπνίας; K. O. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Die Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +i. 203 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 321-324; Aug. Mommsen, +<hi rend='italic'>Delphika</hi> (Leipsic, 1878), pp. 206 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Th. Schreiber, <hi rend='italic'>Apollo Pythoktonos</hi>, pp. +9 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; my note on Pausanias, ii. 7. 7 +(vol. ii. 53 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>). As to the Theban +festival, see Pausanias, ix. 10. 4, with +my note; Proclus, quoted by Photius, +<hi rend='italic'>Bibliotheca</hi>, p. 321, ed. Bekker; Aug. +Boeckh, in his edition of Pindar, +<hi rend='italic'>Explicationes</hi>, p. 590; K. O. Müller, +<hi rend='italic'>Orchomenus und die Minyer</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> pp. 215 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> i. 236 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 333 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +C. Boetticher, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus der +Hellenen</hi>, pp. 386 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; G. F. Schömann, +<hi rend='italic'>Griechische Alterthümer</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> ii. +479 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At both places +the legendary penance for the slaughter seems to have +been servitude for eight years.<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 4. 2, iii. 10. 4; +Servius, on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> vii. 761. +The servitude of Apollo is traditionally +associated with his slaughter of +the Cyclopes, not of the dragon. But +see my note on Pausanias, ii. 7. 7 +(vol. ii. pp. 53 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>).</note> The evidence for the +rites of the Delphic festival is fairly complete, but for the +Theban festival it has to be eked out by vase-paintings, +which represent Cadmus crowned with laurel preparing to +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> +attack the dragon or actually in combat with the monster, +while goddesses bend over the champion, holding out +wreaths of laurel to him as the mede of victory.<note place='foot'>W. H. Roscher's <hi rend='italic'>Lexikon d. griech. +und röm. Mythologie</hi>, ii. 830, 838, 839. +On an Etruscan mirror the scene of +Cadmus's combat with the dragon is +surrounded by a wreath of laurel +(Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 862). Mr. A. B. +Cook was the first to call attention to +these vase-paintings in confirmation of +my view that the Festival of the +Laurel-bearing celebrated the destruction +of the dragon by Cadmus (<hi rend='italic'>Folklore</hi>, +xv. (1904) p. 411, note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>224</hi>).</note> It is true +that in historical times Apollo appears to have ousted +Cadmus from the festival, though not from the myth. But +at Thebes the god was plainly a late intruder, for his +temple lay outside the walls, whereas the most ancient +sanctuaries stood in the oldest part of the city, the low hill +which took its name of Cadmea from the genuine Theban +hero Cadmus.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, ix. 10. 2; K. O. +Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Die Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> i. 237 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> It is not impossible that at Delphi also, and +perhaps at other places where the same drama was acted,<note place='foot'>For evidence of the wide diffusion +of the myth and the drama, see Th. +Schreiber, <hi rend='italic'>Apollon Pythoktonos</hi>, pp. +39-50. The Laurel-bearing Apollo +was worshipped at Athens, as we know +from an inscription carved on one of +the seats in the theatre. See E. S. +Roberts and E. A. Gardner, <hi rend='italic'>Introduction +to Greek Epigraphy</hi>, ii. (Cambridge, +1905) p. 467, No. 247.</note> +Apollo may have displaced an old local hero in the honourable +office of dragon-slayer. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Both at +Delphi and +at Thebes +the dragon +seems to +have +guarded +the +oracular +spring +and the +oracular +tree. +The crown +of laurel +and the +crown of +oak. The +Festival of +Crowning +at Delphi +originally +identical +with the +Pythian +games.</note> +Both at Thebes and at Delphi the dragon guarded a +spring,<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 4. 3; Schol. on +Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, ii. 494; Pausanias, ix. 10. +5; <hi rend='italic'>Homeric Hymn to Apollo</hi>, 300 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +The writer of the Homeric hymn +merely says that Apollo slew the +Delphic dragon at a spring; but Pausanias +(x. 6. 6) tells us that the beast +guarded the oracle.</note> the water of which was probably deemed oracular. +At Delphi the sacred spring may have been either Cassotis +or the more famed Castaly, which issues from a narrow +gorge, shut in by rocky walls of tremendous height, a little +to the east of Apollo's temple. The waters of both were +thought to be endowed with prophetic power.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, x. 8. 9, x. 24. 7, with +my notes; Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Amores</hi>, i. 15. 35 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Lucian, <hi rend='italic'>Jupiter tragoedus</hi>, 30; Nonnus, +<hi rend='italic'>Dionys.</hi> iv. 309 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Suidas, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +Κασταλία.</note> Probably, +too, the monster was supposed to keep watch and ward over +the sacred laurel, from which the victor in the combat +wreathed his brows; for in vase-paintings the Theban dragon +appears coiled beside the holy tree,<note place='foot'>W. H. Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>Lexikon d. griech. +u. röm. Mythologie</hi>, ii. 830, 838.</note> and Euripides describes +the Delphic dragon as covered by a leafy laurel.<note place='foot'>Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Iphigenia in Tauris</hi>, +1245 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, where the reading κατάχαλκος +is clearly corrupt.</note> At all +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +oracular seats of Apollo his priestess drank of the sacred +spring and chewed the sacred laurel before she prophesied.<note place='foot'>Lucian, <hi rend='italic'>Bis accusatus</hi>, I. So the +priest of the Clarian Apollo at Colophon +drank of a secret spring before he +uttered oracles in verse (Tacitus, <hi rend='italic'>Annals</hi>, +ii. 54; Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. hist.</hi> ii. 232).</note> +Thus it would seem that the dragon, which at Delphi is +expressly said to have been the guardian of the oracle,<note place='foot'>Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Iphigenia in Tauris</hi>, +1245 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Apollodorus, i. 4. I; Pausanias, +x. 6. 6; Aelian, <hi rend='italic'>Var. hist.</hi> iii. +i; Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 140; Schol. on +Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, ii. 519; Schol. on Pindar, +<hi rend='italic'>Pyth.</hi> Argument, p. 298, ed. Boeckh.</note> had +in its custody both the instruments of divination, the holy +tree and the holy water. We are reminded of the dragon +or serpent, slain by Hercules, which guarded the golden +apples of the Hesperides in the happy garden.<note place='foot'>Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Hercules Furens</hi>, 395 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Apollodorus, ii. 5. II; Diodorus +Siculus, iv. 26; Eratosthenes, +<hi rend='italic'>Catasterism.</hi> 3; Schol. on Euripides, +<hi rend='italic'>Hippolytus</hi>, 742; Schol. on Apollonius +Rhodius, <hi rend='italic'>Argon</hi>, iv. 1396.</note> But at +Delphi the oldest sacred tree appears, as Mr. A. B. Cook +has pointed out,<note place='foot'>A. B. Cook, <q>The European Sky-god,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folklore</hi>, xv. (1904) p. 413.</note> to have been not a laurel but an oak. For +we are told that originally the victors in the Pythian games +at Delphi wore crowns of oak leaves, since the laurel had +not yet been created.<note place='foot'>Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Metam.</hi> i. 448 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Now, like the Festival of Crowning, the +Pythian games were instituted to commemorate the slaughter +of the dragon;<note place='foot'>Clement of Alexandria, <hi rend='italic'>Protrept.</hi> +i. I, p. 2, and ii. 34, p. 29, ed. Potter; +Aristotle, <hi rend='italic'>Peplos</hi>, Frag. (<hi rend='italic'>Fragmenta +historicorum Graecorum</hi>, ii. p. 189, +No. 282, ed. C. Müller); John of +Antioch, Frag. i. 20 (<hi rend='italic'>Frag. histor. +Graec.</hi> iv. p. 539, ed. C. Müller); +Jamblichus, <hi rend='italic'>De Pythagor. vit.</hi> x. 52; +Schol. on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Pyth.</hi> Argum. p. +298, ed. Boeckh; Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Metam.</hi> i. +445 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 140.</note> like it they were originally held every eighth +year;<note place='foot'>Schol. on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Censorinus, +<hi rend='italic'>De die natali</hi>, 18. 6; compare Eustathius +on Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> iii. 267, p. +1466. 29.</note> the two festivals were celebrated nearly at the same +time of the year;<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>De defectu oraculorum</hi>, +3, compared with <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> 15; Aug. +Mommsen, <hi rend='italic'>Delphika</hi>, pp. 211, 214; +Th. Schreiber, <hi rend='italic'>Apollon Pythoktonos</hi> +(Leipsic, 1879), pp. 32 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> and the representative of Apollo in the +one and the victors in the other were adorned with crowns +made from the same sacred laurel.<note place='foot'>Aelian, <hi rend='italic'>Var. hist.</hi> iii. I; Schol. +on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> In short, the two festivals +appear to have been in origin substantially identical; the +distinction between them may have arisen when the +Delphians decided to hold the Pythian games every fourth, +instead of every eighth year.<note place='foot'>On the original identity of the +festivals see Th. Schreiber, <hi rend='italic'>Apollon +Pythoktonus</hi>, pp. 37 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; A. B. Cook, +in <hi rend='italic'>Folklore</hi>, xv. (1904) pp. 404 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> We may fairly suppose, +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> +therefore, that the leaf-crowned victors in the Pythian +games, like the laurel-wreathed boy in the Festival of +Crowning, formerly acted the part of the god himself. But +if in the beginning these actors in the sacred drama wore +wreaths of oak instead of laurel, it seems to follow that the +deity whom they personated was the oak-god Zeus rather +than the laurel-god Apollo; from which again we may infer +that Delphi was a sanctuary of Zeus and the oak before it +became the shrine of Apollo and the laurel.<note place='foot'>The inference was drawn by +Mr. A. B. Cook, whom I follow. +See his article, <q>The European +Sky-god,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xv. (1904) pp. +412 <hi rend='italic'>sqq</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Substitution +of the +laurel for +the oak.</note> +But why should the crown of oak have ceased to be the +badge of victory? and why should a wreath of laurel have +taken its place? The abandonment of the oak crown may +have been a consequence of the disappearance of the oak +itself from the neighbourhood of Delphi; in Greece, as in +Italy, the deciduous trees have for centuries been retreating +up the mountain sides before the advance of the evergreens.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, vol. i. p. 8.</note> +When the last venerable oak, the rustling of whose leaves in +the breeze had long been listened to as oracular, finally succumbed +through age, or was laid low by a storm, the priests +may have cast about for a tree of another sort to take its place. +Yet they sought it neither in the lower woods of the valley +nor in the dark forests which clothe the upper slopes of Parnassus +above the frowning cliffs of Delphi. Legend ran that +after the slaughter of the dragon, Apollo had purged himself +from the stain of blood in the romantic Vale of Tempe, where +the Peneus flows smoothly in a narrow defile between the +lofty wooded steeps of Olympus and Ossa. Here the god +crowned himself with a laurel wreath, and thither accordingly +at the Festival of Crowning his human representative +went to pluck the laurel for his brows.<note place='foot'>Aelian, <hi rend='italic'>Var. hist.</hi> iii. 1; Schol. +on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Pyth.</hi> Argum. p. 298, ed. +Boeckh.</note> The custom, +though doubtless ancient, can hardly have been original. +We must suppose that in the beginning the dragon-guarded +tree, whether an oak or a laurel, grew at Delphi itself. But +why should the laurel be chosen as a substitute for the oak? +Mr. A. B. Cook has suggested a plausible answer. The +laurel leaf resembles so closely the leaf of the ilex or holm-oak +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> +in both shape and colour that an untrained observer +may easily confuse the two. The upper surface of both is a +dark glossy green, the lower surface shews a lighter tint. +Nothing, therefore, could be more natural than to make the +new wreath out of leaves which looked so like the old oak +leaves that the substitution might almost pass undetected.<note place='foot'>A. B. Cook, <q>The European Sky-god,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xv. (1904) pp. 423 +<hi rend='italic'>sq</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Whether at Thebes, as at Delphi, the laurel had ousted +the oak from the place of honour at the festival of the +Slaying of the Dragon, we cannot say. The oak has long +disappeared from the low hills and flat ground in the +neighbourhood of Thebes, but as late as the second century +of our era there was a forest of ancient oaks not many miles +off at the foot of Mount Cithaeron.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, ix. 3. 4. See <hi rend='italic'>The +Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, +vol. ii. p. 140.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hypothesis +of octennial +kings at +Delphi and +Thebes, +who +personated +dragons or +serpents. +Animals +sacred to +royal +families. +Greek +stories of +the transformation +of gods +into beasts +point to a +custom of +a sacred +marriage +in which +the actors +masqueraded +as +animals.</note> +It has been conjectured that in ancient days the persons +who wore the wreath of laurel or oak at the octennial festivals +of Delphi and Thebes were no other than the priestly kings, +who personated the god, slew their predecessors in the guise +of dragons, and reigned for a time in their stead.<note place='foot'>A. B. Cook, <q>The European Sky-god,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xv. (1904) pp. 402 <hi rend='italic'>sqq</hi>.</note> The +theory certainly cannot be demonstrated, but there is a good +deal of analogy in its favour. An eight years' tenure of the +kingship at Delphi and Thebes would accord with the similar +tenure of the office at Sparta and Cnossus. And if the kings +of Cnossus disguised themselves as bulls, there seems no +reason why the kings of Delphi and Thebes should not have +personated dragons or serpents. In all these cases the animal +whose guise the king assumed would be sacred to the royal +family. At first the relation of the beast to the man would +be direct and simple; the creature would be revered for some +such reason as that for which a savage respects a certain +species of animals, for example, because he believes that his +ancestors were beasts of the same sort, or that the souls of his +dead are lodged in them. In later times the sanctity of the +species would be explained by saying that a god had at some +time, and for some reason or other, assumed the form of the +animal. It is probably not without significance that in +Greek mythology the gods in general, and Zeus in particular, +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> +are commonly said to have submitted to this change of shape +for the purpose of prosecuting a love adventure. Such +stories may well reflect a custom of a Sacred Marriage at +which the actors played the parts of the worshipful animals. +With the growth of culture these local worships, the relics of +a barbarous age, would be explained away by tales of the +loves of the gods, and, gradually falling out of practice, would +survive only as myths. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Analogy +of the Wolf +Society of +Arcadia +to the +Leopard +Society of +west +Africa.</note> +It is said that at the festival of the Wolf-god Zeus, held +every nine years on the Wolf-mountain in Arcadia, a man +tasted of the bowel of a human victim mixed with the bowels +of animals, and having tasted it he was turned into a wolf, and +remained a wolf for nine years, when he changed back again +into a man if in the interval he had abstained from eating +human flesh.<note place='foot'>Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Republic</hi>, viii. p. 565 <hi rend='smallcaps'>d e</hi>; +Polybius, vii. 13; Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. hist.</hi> +viii. 81; Varro, cited by Augustine, <hi rend='italic'>De +civitate Dei</hi>, xviii. 17; Pausanias, vi. +8. 2, viii. 2. 3-6.</note> The tradition points to the existence of a +society of cannibal wolf-worshippers, one or more of whom +personated, and were supposed to embody, the sacred animal +for periods of nine years together. Their theory and practice +would seem to have agreed with those of the Human Leopard +Societies of western Africa, whose members disguise themselves +in the skins of leopards with sharp claws of steel. In +that guise they attack and kill men in order to eat their +flesh or to extract powerful charms from their bodies.<note place='foot'>Mary H. Kingsley, <hi rend='italic'>Travels in +West Africa</hi>, pp. 536-543; T. J. +Alldridge, <hi rend='italic'>The Sherbro and its Hinterland</hi> +(London, 1901), pp. 153-159; compare +R. H. Nassau, <hi rend='italic'>Fetichism in West +Africa</hi> (London, 1904), pp. 200-203.</note> +Their mode of gaining recruits is like that of the Greek +Wolf Society. When a visitor came to a village inhabited +by a Leopard Society, <q>he was invited to partake of food, +in which was mixed a small quantity of human flesh. The +guest all unsuspectingly partook of the repast, and was afterwards +told that human flesh formed one of the ingredients of +the meal, and that it was then necessary that he should join +the society, which was invariably done.</q><note place='foot'>T. J. Alldridge, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 154.</note> As the ancient +Greeks thought that a man might be turned into a wolf, so +these negroes believe that he can be changed into a leopard; +and, like the Greeks, some of them fancy that if the transformed +man abstains during his transformation from preying +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +on his fellows he can regain his human shape, but that if he +once laps human blood he must remain a leopard for ever.<note place='foot'>A. Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutsche Expedition +an der Loango-Küste</hi>, ii. 248.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Legend of +the transformation +of Cadmus +and Harmonia +into +serpents. +Transmigration +of the souls +of the +dead into +serpents. Kings +claim kinship +with +the most +powerful +animals.</note> +The hypothesis that the ancient kings of Thebes and +Delphi had for their sacred animal the serpent or dragon, and +claimed kinship with the creature, derives some countenance +from the tradition that at the end of their lives Cadmus and +his wife Harmonia quitted Thebes and went to reign over a +tribe of Encheleans or Eel-men in Illyria, where they were +both finally transformed into dragons or serpents.<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 5. 4; Strabo, vii. +7. 8, p. 326; Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Metam</hi>. iv. 563-603; +Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 6; Nicander, +<hi rend='italic'>Theriaca</hi>, 607 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> To the +primitive mind an eel is a water-serpent;<note place='foot'>A. van Gennep, <hi rend='italic'>Tabou et totémisme +à Madagascar</hi> (Paris, 1904), +p. 326.</note> it can hardly, +therefore, be an accident that the serpent-killer afterwards +reigned over a tribe of eel-men and himself became a serpent at +last. Moreover, according to one account, his wife Harmonia +was a daughter of the very dragon which he slew.<note place='foot'>Dercylus, quoted by a scholiast on +Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Phoenissae</hi>, 7; <hi rend='italic'>Fragmenta +historicorum Graecorum</hi>, ed. C. Müller, +iv. 387. The writer rationalises the +legend by representing the dragon as +a Theban man of that name whom +Cadmus slew. On the theory here +suggested this Euhemeristic version of +the story is substantially right.</note> The +tradition would fit in well with the hypothesis that the dragon +or serpent was the sacred animal of the old royal house of +Thebes, and that the kingdom fell to him who slew his +predecessor and married his daughter. We have seen reason +to think that such a mode of succession to the throne was +common in antiquity.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 268 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> The story of the final transformation +of Cadmus and Harmonia into snakes may be a relic of a +belief that the souls of the dead kings and queens of Thebes +transmigrated into the bodies of serpents, just as Caffre kings +turn at death into boa-constrictors or deadly black snakes.<note place='foot'>David Leslie, <hi rend='italic'>Among the Zulus +and Amatongas</hi>, Second Edition (Edinburgh, +1875), p. 213. Compare H. +Callaway, <hi rend='italic'>The Religious System of the +Amazulu</hi>, Part II., pp. 196, 211.</note> +Indeed the notion that the souls of the dead lodge in serpents +is widely spread in Africa and Madagascar.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</hi>, Second +Edition, pp. 73 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Other African +tribes believe that their dead kings and chiefs turn into lions, +leopards, hyaenas, pythons, hippopotamuses, or other creatures, +and the animals are respected and spared accordingly.<note place='foot'>D. Livingstone, <hi rend='italic'>Missionary +Travels and Researches in South +Africa</hi>, p. 615; Miss A. Werner, +<hi rend='italic'>The Natives of British Central Africa</hi> +(London, 1906), p. 64; L. Decle, +<hi rend='italic'>Three Years in Savage Africa</hi> (London, +1898), p. 74; J. Roscoe, <q>The +Bahima,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xxxvii. (1907) pp. 101 +sq.; Major J. A. Meldon, <q>Notes on +the Bahima,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the African +Society</hi>, No. 22 (January, 1907), pp. +151-153; J. A. Chisholm, <q>Notes on +the Manners and Customs of the +Winamwanga and Wiwa,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of +the African Society</hi>, No. 36 (July, +1910), pp. 374, 375; P. Alois Hamberger, +in <hi rend='italic'>Anthropos</hi>, v. (1910) p. 802.</note> In +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> +like manner the Semang and other wild tribes of the Malay +Peninsula imagine that the souls of their chiefs, priests, and +magicians transmigrate at death into the bodies of certain +wild beasts, such as elephants, tigers, and rhinoceroses, and +that in their bestial form the dead men extend a benign +protection to their living human kinsfolk.<note place='foot'>W. W. Skeat and C. O. Blagden, +<hi rend='italic'>Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula</hi> +(London, 1906), ii. 194, 197, 221, +227, 305.</note> Even during their +lifetime kings in rude society sometimes claim kinship with +the most formidable beasts of the country. Thus the royal +family of Dahomey specially worships the leopard; some of +the king's wives are distinguished by the title of Leopard +Wives, and on state occasions they wear striped cloths +to resemble the animal.<note place='foot'>A. B. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>The Ewe-speaking +Peoples of the Slave Coast</hi>, pp. 74 sq.</note> One king of Dahomey, on +whom the French made war, bore the name of Shark; +hence in art he was represented sometimes with a shark's +body and a human head, sometimes with a human +body and the head of a shark.<note place='foot'>This I learned from Professor +F. von Luschan in the Anthropological +Museum at Berlin.</note> The Trocadero Museum +at Paris contains the wooden images of three kings of +Dahomey who reigned during the nineteenth century, and +who are all represented partly in human and partly in animal +form. One of them, Guezo, bore the surname of the Cock, +and his image represents him as a man covered with feathers. +His son Guelelé, who succeeded him on the throne, was +surnamed the Lion, and his effigy is that of a lion rampant +with tail raised and hair on his body, but with human feet +and hands. Guelelé was succeeded on the throne by his +son Behanzin, who was surnamed the Shark, and his effigy +portrays him standing upright with the head and body of +a fish, the fins and scales being carefully represented, while +his arms and legs are those of a man.<note place='foot'>M. Delafosse, in <hi rend='italic'>La Nature</hi>, No. +1086 (March 24th, 1894), pp. 262-266; +J. G. Frazer, <q>Statues of Three +Kings of Dahomey,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Man</hi>, viii. (1908) +pp. 130-132. King Behanzin, surnamed +the Shark, is doubtless the +King of Dahomey referred to by Professor +von Luschan (see the preceding +note).</note> Again, a king of +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> +Benin was called Panther, and a bronze statue of him, now +in the Anthropological Museum at Berlin, represents him +with a panther's whiskers.<note place='foot'>The statue was pointed out to +me and explained by Professor F. von +Luschan.</note> Such portraits furnish an exact +parallel to what I conceive to be the true story of the +Minotaur. On the Gold Coast of Africa a powerful ruler is +commonly addressed as <q>O Elephant!</q> or <q>O Lion!</q> and +one of the titles of the king of Ashantee, mentioned at great +ceremonies, is <foreign rend='italic'>borri</foreign>, the name of a venomous snake.<note place='foot'>A. B. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>The Tshi-speaking +Peoples of the Gold Coast</hi>, pp. 205 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> It has +been argued that King David belonged to a serpent family, +and that the brazen serpent, which down to the time of +Hezekiah was worshipped with fumes of burning incense,<note place='foot'>2 Kings xviii. 4.</note> +represented the old sacred animal of his house.<note place='foot'>W. Robertson Smith, <q>Animal +Worship and Animal Tribes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal +of Philology</hi>, ix. (1880) pp. 99 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Professor +T. K. Cheyne prefers to suppose +that the brazen serpent and the brazen +<q>sea</q> in the temple at Jerusalem were +borrowed from Babylon and represented +the great dragon, the impersonation of +the primaeval watery chaos. See <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia +Biblica</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Nehushtan,</q> +vol. i. coll. 3387. The two views are +perhaps not wholly irreconcilable. See +below, pp. <ref target='Pg111'>111</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Europe +the bull, the serpent, and the wolf would naturally be on the +list of royal beasts. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +serpent +the royal +animal at +Athens +and +Salamis.</note> +If the king's soul was believed to pass at death into the +sacred animal, a custom might arise of keeping live creatures +of the species in captivity and revering them as the souls of +dead rulers. This would explain the Athenian practice of +keeping a sacred serpent on the Acropolis and feeding +it with honey cakes; for the serpent was identified with +Erichthonius or Erechtheus, one of the ancient kings of +Athens, of whose palace some vestiges have been discovered +in recent times. The creature was supposed to guard the +citadel. During the Persian invasion a report that the +serpent had left its honey-cake untasted was one of the +strongest reasons which induced the people to abandon +Athens to the enemy; they thought that the holy reptile had +forsaken the city.<note place='foot'>Herodotus, viii. 41; Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Themistocles</hi>, +10; Aristophanes, <hi rend='italic'>Lysistrata</hi>, +758 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, with the Scholium; Philostratus, +<hi rend='italic'>Imagines</hi>, ii. 17. 6. Some said that +there were two serpents ,Hesychius and +Photius, <hi rend='italic'>Lexicon</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> οἰκουρὸν ὄφιν. +For the identity of the serpent with +Erichthonius, see Pausanias, i. 24. 7; +Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Astronomica</hi>, ii. 13; Tertullian, +<hi rend='italic'>De spectaculis</hi>, 9; compare +Philostratus, <hi rend='italic'>Vit. Apoll.</hi> vii. 24; and +for the identity of Erichthonius and +Erechtheus, see Schol. on Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, +ii. 547; <hi rend='italic'>Etymologicum magnum</hi>, p. +371, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Ἐρεχθεύς. According to some, +the upper part of Erichthonius was +human and the lower part or only the +feet serpentine. See Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, +166; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Astronomica</hi>, ii. 13; Schol. +on Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Timaeus</hi>, p. 23 <hi rend='smallcaps'>d</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Etymologicum +magnum</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Servius on +Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> iii. 13. See further my +notes on Pausanias i. 18. 2 and i. 26. +5, vol. ii. pp. 168 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 330 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Again, Cecrops, the first king of Athens, +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> +is said to have been half-serpent and half-man;<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 14. i; Aristophanes, +<hi rend='italic'>Wasps</hi>, 438. Compare J. +Tzetzes, <hi rend='italic'>Chiliades</hi>, v. 641.</note> in art he is +represented as a man from the waist upwards, while the +lower part of his body consists of the coils of a serpent.<note place='foot'>W. H. Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>Lexikon d. griech. +und röm. Mythologie</hi>, ii. 1019. Compare +Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Ion</hi>, 1163 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +It has been suggested that like Erechtheus he was identical +with the serpent on the Acropolis.<note place='foot'>O. Immisch, in W. H. Roscher's +<hi rend='italic'>Lexikon d. griech. und röm. Mythologie</hi>, +ii. 1023.</note> Once more, we are told +that Cychreus gained the kingdom of Salamis by slaying a +snake which ravaged the island,<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 12. 7; Diodorus +Siculus, iv. 72; J. Tzetzes, <hi rend='italic'>Schol. on +Lycophron</hi>, 110, 175, 451.</note> but that after his death he, +like Cadmus, appeared in the form of the reptile.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, i. 36. 1. Another +version of the story was that Cychreus +bred a snake which ravaged the island +and was driven out by Eurylochus, +after which Demeter received the +creature at Eleusis as one of her +attendants (Hesiod, quoted by Strabo, +ix. 1. 9, p. 393).</note> Some +said that he was a man who received the name of Snake on +account of his cruelty.<note place='foot'>Stephanus Byzantius, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Κυχρεῖος +πάγος; Eustathius, <hi rend='italic'>Commentary on +Dionysius</hi>, 507, in <hi rend='italic'>Geographi Graeci +minores</hi>, ed. C. Müller, ii. 314.</note> Such tales may preserve reminiscences +of kings who assumed the style of serpents in their +lifetime and were believed to transmigrate into serpents after +death. Like the dragons of Thebes and Delphi, the Athenian +serpent appears to have been conceived as a creature of the +waters; for the serpent-man Erechtheus was identified with +the water-god Poseidon,<note place='foot'>Hesychius, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Ἐρεχθεύς; Athenagoras, +<hi rend='italic'>Supplicatio pro Christianis</hi>, 1; +[Plutarch], <hi rend='italic'>Vit. X. Orat.</hi> p. 843 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b c</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>Corpus inscriptionum Atticarum</hi>, i. No. +387, iii. Nos. 276, 805; compare +Pausanias, i. 26. 5.</note> and in his temple, the Erechtheum, +where the serpent lived, there was a tank which went by the +name of <q>the sea of Erechtheus.</q><note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 14. 1; Herodotus, +viii. 55; compare Pausanias, viii. 10. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +wedding of +Cadmus +and Harmonia +at +Thebes +may have +been a +dramatic +representation +of +the +marriage +of the sun +and moon +at the end +of the eight +years' cycle.</note> +If the explanation of the eight years' cycle which I have +adopted holds good for Thebes and Delphi, the octennial +festivals held at these places probably had some reference +to the sun and moon, and may have comprised a sacred +marriage of these luminaries. The solar character of Apollo, +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> +whether original or adventitious, lends some countenance to +this view, but at both Delphi and Thebes the god was +apparently an intruder who usurped the place of an older +god or hero at the festival. At Thebes that older hero was +Cadmus. Now Cadmus was a brother of Europa, who +appears to have been a personification of the moon conceived +in the form of a cow.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>.</note> He travelled westward seeking his +lost sister till he came to Delphi, where the oracle bade him +give up the search and follow a cow which had the white +mark of the full moon on its flank; wherever the cow fell +down exhausted, there he was to take up his abode and +found a city. Following the cow and the directions of the +oracle he built Thebes.<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 4. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Pausanias, +ix. 12. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Schol. on Homer, +<hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, ii. 494; Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 178. +The mark of the moon on the cow is +mentioned only by Pausanias and +Hyginus.</note> Have we not here in another form +the myth of the moon pursued and at last overtaken by the +sun? and the famous wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia, to +attend which all the gods came down from heaven,<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, iii. 4. 2; Euripides, +<hi rend='italic'>Phoenissae</hi>, 822 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Pyth.</hi> +iii. 155 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Diodorus Siculus, v. 49. +1; Pausanias, iii. 18. 12, ix. 12. 3; +Schol. on Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, ii. 494.</note> may it +not have been at once the mythical marriage of the great +luminaries and the ritual marriage of the king and queen of +Thebes masquerading, like the king and queen of Cnossus, +in the character of the lights of heaven at the octennial +festival which celebrated and symbolised the conjunction of +the sun and moon after their long separation, their harmony +after eight years of discord? A better name for the bride +at such a wedding could hardly have been chosen than +Harmonia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>This +theory +confirmed +by the +astronomical +symbols +carried by +the Laurel-bearer +at the +octennial +festival of +Laurel-bearing. The +Olympic +festival +seems to +have been +based on +the octennial +cycle. +Mythical +marriage +of the +sun and +moon at +Olympia.</note> +This theory is supported by a remarkable feature of the +festival. At the head of the procession, immediately in front +of the Laurel-bearer, walked a youth who carried in his +hands a staff of olive-wood draped with laurels and flowers. +To the top of the staff was fastened a bronze globe, with +smaller globes hung from it; to the middle of the staff were +attached a globe of medium size and three hundred and +sixty-five purple ribbands, while the lower part of the staff +was swathed in a saffron pall. The largest globe, we are +told, signified the sun, the smaller the moon, and the smallest +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +the stars, and the purple ribbands stood for the course of +the year, being equal in number to the days comprised in it.<note place='foot'>Proclus, quoted by Photius, <hi rend='italic'>Bibliotheca</hi>, +p. 321, ed. Bekker.</note> +The choir of virgins who followed the Laurel-bearer singing +hymns<note place='foot'>Proclus, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> may have represented the Muses, who are said to +have sung and played at the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia; +down to late times the very spot in the market-place +was shewn where they had discoursed their heavenly music.<note place='foot'>Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Pyth.</hi> iii. 155 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Diodorus +Siculus, v. 49. 1; Pausanias, ix. +12. 3; Schol. on Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, ii. +494.</note> +We may conjecture that the procession of the Laurel-bearing +was preceded by a dramatic performance of the Slaying +of the Dragon, and that it was followed by a pageant representative +of the nuptials of Cadmus and Harmonia in the +presence of the gods. On this hypothesis Harmonia, the +wife of Cadmus, is only another form of his sister Europa, +both of them being personifications of the moon. Accordingly +in the Samothracian mysteries, in which the marriage +of Cadmus and Harmonia appears to have been celebrated, +it was Harmonia and not Europa whose wanderings were +dramatically represented.<note place='foot'>Schol. on Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Phoenissae</hi>, 7 +καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἐν τῇ Σαμοθρᾴκῃ ζητοῦσιν +αὐτὴν [scil. Ἁρμονίαν] ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς. +According to the Samothracian account, +Cadmus in seeking Europa came to +Samothrace, and there, having been +initiated into the mysteries, married +Harmonia (Diodorus Siculus, v. 48 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). +It is probable, though it cannot be +proved, that the legend was acted in +the mystic rites.</note> The gods who quitted Olympus +to grace the wedding by their presence were probably +represented in the rites, whether celebrated at Thebes or in +Samothrace, by men and women attired as deities. In like +manner at the marriage of a Pharaoh the courtiers masqueraded +in the likeness of the animal-headed Egyptian gods.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 133. Mr. A. B. +Cook has suggested that the central +scene on the eastern frieze of the +Parthenon represents the king and +queen of Athens about to take their +places among the enthroned deities. +See his article <q>Zeus, Jupiter, and the +Oak,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Classical Review</hi>, xviii. (1904) +p. 371. As the scenes on the frieze +appear to have been copied from the +Panathenaiac festival, it would seem, +on Mr. Cook's hypothesis, that the +sacred marriage of the King and Queen +was celebrated on that occasion in +presence of actors who played the parts +of gods and goddesses. In this connexion +it may not be amiss to remember +that in the eastern gable of the +Parthenon the pursuit of the moon by +the sun was mythically represented by +the horses of the sun emerging from +the sea on the one side, and the horses +of the moon plunging into it on the +other.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Within historical times the great Olympic festival was +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +always held at intervals of four, not of eight, years. Yet it too +would seem to have been based on the octennial cycle. For +it always fell on a full moon, at intervals of fifty and of forty-nine +lunar months alternately.<note place='foot'>Schol. on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Olymp.</hi> iii. 35 +(20).</note> Thus the total number of +lunar months comprised in two successive Olympiads was +ninety-nine, which is precisely the number of lunar months +in the octennial cycle.<note place='foot'>Compare Aug. Boeckh, on Pindar, +<hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Explicationes</hi>, p. 138; L. Ideler, +<hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der mathematischen und +technischen Chronologie</hi>, i. 366 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; G. +F. Unger, <q>Zeitrechnung der Griechen +und Römer,</q> in Iwan Müller's <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch +der classischen Altertumswissenschaft</hi>, +i. 605 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> All these writers +recognise the octennial cycle at +Olympia.</note> It is possible that, as K. O. Müller +conjectured,<note place='foot'>K. O. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Die Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> ii. 483; +compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> i. 254 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> the Olympic games may, like the Pythian, have +originally been celebrated at intervals of eight instead of four +years. If that was so, analogy would lead us to infer that +the festival was associated with a mythical marriage of the sun +and moon. A reminiscence of such a marriage appears to +survive in the legend that Endymion, the son of the first +king of Elis, had fifty daughters by the Moon, and that +he set his sons to run a race for the kingdom at Olympia.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 1. 4.</note> +For, as scholars have already perceived, Endymion is the +sunken sun overtaken by the moon below the horizon, and +his fifty daughters by her are the fifty lunar months of an +Olympiad or, more strictly speaking, of every alternate +Olympiad.<note place='foot'>Aug. Boeckh, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; A. Schmidt, +<hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der griechischen Chronologie</hi> +(Jena, 1888), pp. 50 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; K. O. +Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Die Dorier</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> i. 438; W. H. +Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>Selene und Verwandtes</hi>, pp. +2 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 80 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 101.</note> If the Olympic festival always fell, as many +authorities have maintained, at the first full moon after the +summer solstice,<note place='foot'>See Aug. Boeckh and L. Ideler, +<hi rend='italic'>ll.cc.</hi> More recent writers would date +it on the second full moon after the +summer solstice, hence in August or +the last days of July. See G. F. +Unger, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; E. F. Bischoff, <q>De fastis +Graecorum antiquioribus,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Leipziger +Studien zur classischen Philologie</hi>, vii. +(1884) pp. 347 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Aug. Mommsen, +<hi rend='italic'>Über die Zeit der Olympien</hi> (Leipsic, +1891); and my note on Pausanias, v. +9. 3 (vol. iii. pp. 488 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> the time would be eminently appropriate +for a marriage of the luminaries, since both of them might +then be conceived to be at the prime of their vigour. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Olympic +victors, +male and +female, +may +originally +have represented +Zeus and +Hera or +the Sun +and Moon, +and have +reigned as +divine king +and queen +for four or +eight years.</note> +It has been ingeniously argued by Mr. A. B. Cook<note place='foot'>A. B. Cook, <q>The European Sky-God,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xv. (1904) pp. 398-402.</note> that +the Olympic victors in the chariot-race were the lineal +successors of the old rulers, the living embodiments of Zeus, +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> +whose claims to the kingdom were decided by a race, as in +the legend of Endymion and his sons, and who reigned for a +period of four, perhaps originally of eight years, after which +they had again, like Oenomaus, to stake their right to the +throne on the issue of a chariot-race. Certainly the four-horse +car in which they raced assimilated them to the sun-god, +who was commonly supposed to drive through the sky +in a similar fashion;<note place='foot'>Rapp, in W. H. Roscher's <hi rend='italic'>Lexikon +d. griech. und röm. Mythologie</hi>, i. 2005 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> while the crown of sacred olive which +decked their brows<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 15. 3, with my note; +Schol. on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Olymp.</hi> iii. 60.</note> likened them to the great god Zeus +himself, whose glorious image at Olympia wore a similar +wreath.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 11. 1.</note> But if the olive-crowned victor in the men's race +at Olympia represented Zeus, it becomes probable that the +olive-crowned victor in the girls' race, which was held every +fourth year at Olympia in honour of Hera,<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 16. 2 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> represented in +like manner the god's wife; and that in former days the two +together acted the part of the god and goddess in that sacred +marriage of Zeus and Hera which is known to have been +celebrated in many parts of Greece.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</hi>, vol. ii. p. 143.</note> This conclusion is +confirmed by the legend that the girls' race was instituted +by Hippodamia in gratitude for her marriage with Pelops;<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 16. 4.</note> +for if Pelops as victor in the chariot-race represented Zeus, +his bride would naturally play the part of Hera. But under +the names of Zeus and Hera the pair of Olympic victors +would seem to have really personated the Sun and Moon, +who were the true heavenly bridegroom and bride of the +ancient octennial festival.<note place='foot'>Many years after the theory in the +text was printed (for the present volume +has been long in the press) I accidentally +learned that my friend Mr. F. M. +Cornford, Fellow and Lecturer of +Trinity College, Cambridge, had quite +independently arrived at a similar conclusion +with regard to the mythical +and dramatic parts played by the +Olympic victors, male and female, as +representatives of the Sun and Moon, +and I had the pleasure of hearing +him expound the theory in a brilliant +lecture delivered before the Classical +Society of Cambridge, 28th February +1911. The coincidence of two independent +enquirers in conclusions, +which can hardly be called obvious, +seems to furnish a certain confirmation +of their truth. In Mr. Cornford's case +the theory in question forms part of +a more elaborate and comprehensive +hypothesis as to the origin of the +Olympic games, concerning which I +must for the present suspend my judgment.</note> In the decline of ancient civilisation +the old myth of the marriage of the great luminaries +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> +was revived by the crazy fanatic and libertine, the emperor +Heliogabalus, who fetched the image of Astarte, regarded as +the moon-goddess, from Carthage to Rome and wedded it +to the image of the Syrian sun-god, commanding all men at +Rome and throughout Italy to celebrate with joy and +festivity the solemn nuptials of the God of the Sun with the +Goddess of the Moon.<note place='foot'>Herodian, v. 6. 3-5.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='5. Funeral Games.'/> +<head>§ 5. Funeral Games.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tradition +that the +great +games of +Greece +originated +in funeral +celebrations.</note> +But a different and at first sight inconsistent explanation +of the Olympic festival deserves to be considered. Some of +the ancients held that all the great games of Greece—the +Olympic, the Nemean, the Isthmian, and the Pythian—were +funeral games celebrated in honour of the dead.<note place='foot'>Clement of Alexandria, <hi rend='italic'>Protrept.</hi> +ii. 34, p. 29, ed. Potter. The following +account of funeral games is based +on my note on Pausanias i. 44. 8 (vol. +ii. pp. 549 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). Compare W. Ridgeway, +<hi rend='italic'>The Origin of Tragedy</hi> (Cambridge, +1910), pp. 32 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Thus the +Olympic games were supposed to have been founded in +honour of Pelops,<note place='foot'>Clement of Alexandria, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> the great legendary hero, who had a +sacred precinct at Olympia, where he was honoured above +all the other heroes and received annually the sacrifice of +a black ram.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 13. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Once a year, too, all the lads of Peloponnese +are said to have lashed themselves on his grave at Olympia, +till the blood streamed down their backs as a libation to the +departed hero.<note place='foot'>Scholiast on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Olymp.</hi> i. 146.</note> Similarly at Roman funerals the women +scratched their faces till they bled for the purpose, as Varro +tells us, of pleasing the ghosts with the sight of the flowing +blood.<note place='foot'>Varro, cited by Servius, on Virgil, +<hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> iii. 67.</note> So, too, among the aborigines of Australia mourners +sometimes cut and hack themselves and allow the streaming +blood to drip on the dead body of their kinsman or into the +grave.<note place='foot'>F. Bonney, <q>On some Customs +of the Aborigines of the River Darling,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +xiii. (1884) pp. 134 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Spencer and +Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of Central Australia</hi>, +pp. 507, 509 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; (Sir) G. Grey, +<hi rend='italic'>Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery +in North-West and Western +Australia</hi> (London, 1841), ii. 332.</note> Among the eastern islanders of Torres Straits in +like manner youths who had lately been initiated and girls +who had attained to puberty used to have the lobes of their +ears cut as a mourning ceremony, and the flowing blood was +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +allowed to drip on the feet of the corpse as a mark of pity +or sorrow; moreover, young adults of both sexes had patterns +cut in their flesh with a sharp shell so that the blood fell on +the dead body.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological +Expedition to Torres Straits</hi>, +vi. (Cambridge, 1908) pp. 135, 154.</note> The similarity of these savage rites to the +Greek custom observed at the grave of Pelops suggests that +the tomb was not a mere cenotaph, but that it contained the +actual remains of the dead hero, though these have not been +discovered by the German excavators of Olympia. In like +manner the Nemean games are said to have been celebrated +in honour of the dead Opheltes, whose grave was shewn at +Nemea.<note place='foot'>Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 74; Apollodorus, +iii. 6. 4; Schol. on Pindar, +<hi rend='italic'>Pyth.</hi>, Introduction; Pausanias, ii. 15. +2 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Clement of Alexandria, <hi rend='italic'>Protrept.</hi> +ii. 34, p. 29, ed. Potter.</note> According to tradition, the Isthmian games were +instituted in honour of the dead Melicertes, whose body had +been washed ashore at the Isthmus of Corinth. It is said +that when this happened a famine fell upon the Corinthians, +and an oracle declared that the evil would not cease until +the people paid due obsequies to the remains of the drowned +Melicertes and honoured him with funeral games. The +Corinthians complied with the injunction for a short time; +but as soon as they omitted to celebrate the games, the +famine broke out afresh, and the oracle informed them that +the honours paid to Melicertes must be eternal.<note place='foot'>Scholiast on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Isthm.</hi>, Introduction, +p. 514, ed. Boeckh; Pausanias, +i. 44. 8; Apollodorus, iii. 4. 3; +Zenobius, iv. 38; Clement of Alexandria, +<hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; J. Tzetzes, <hi rend='italic'>Scholia on +Lycophron</hi>, 107, 229; Scholia on +Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Medea</hi>, 1284; Hyginus, +<hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 2.</note> Lastly, +the Pythian games are said to have been celebrated in +honour of the dead dragon or serpent Python.<note place='foot'>Clement of Alexandria, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; +Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 140.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +tradition is +confirmed +by Greek +practice, +for in +historical +times +games were +instituted +to do +honour +to many +famous +men in +Greece.</note> +These Greek traditions as to the funeral origin of the +great games are strongly confirmed by Greek practice in +historical times. Thus in the Homeric age funeral games, +including chariot-races, foot-races, wrestling, boxing, spear-throwing, +quoit-throwing, and archery, were celebrated in +honour of dead kings and heroes at their barrows.<note place='foot'>Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, xxiii. 255 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 629 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 651 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In the +fifth century before Christ, when Miltiades, the victor of +Marathon, died in the Thracian Chersonese, the people +offered sacrifices to him as their founder and instituted +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +equestrian and athletic games in his honour, in which no +citizen of Lampsacus was allowed to contend.<note place='foot'>Herodotus, vi. 38.</note> Near the +theatre at Sparta there were two graves; one contained the +bones of the gallant Leonidas which had been brought back +from the pass of Thermopylae to rest in Spartan earth; the +other held the dust of King Pausanias, who commanded the +Greek armies on the great day when they routed the Persian +host at Plataea, but who lived to tarnish his laurels and to +die a traitor's death. Every year speeches were spoken +over these graves and games were held in which none but +Spartans might compete.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, iii. 14. 1.</note> Perhaps in the case of Pausanias +the games were intended rather to avert his anger than +to do him honour; for we are told that wizards were fetched +even from Italy to lay the traitor's unquiet ghost.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>De sera numinis vindicta</hi>, +17.</note> Again, +when the Spartan general Brasidas, defending Amphipolis +in Thrace against the Athenians, fell mortally wounded +before the city and just lived, like Wolfe on the Heights of +Abraham, to learn that his men were victorious, all the +allies in arms followed the dead soldier to the grave; and +the grateful citizens fenced his tomb about, sacrificed to +him as a hero, and decreed that his memory should be +honoured henceforth with games and annual sacrifices.<note place='foot'>Thucydides, v. 10 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +So, too, when Timoleon, the saviour of Syracuse, died in +the city which he had delivered from tyrants within and +defended against enemies without, vast multitudes of men +and women, crowned with garlands and clad in clean +raiment, attended all that was mortal of their benefactor +to the funeral pyre, the voices of praise and benediction +mingling with the sound of lamentations and sobs; +and when at last the bier was laid on the pyre a herald +chosen for his sonorous voice proclaimed that the people +of Syracuse were burying Timoleon, and that they would +honour him for all time to come with musical, equestrian, +and athletic games, because he had put down the tyrants, +conquered the foreign foe, rebuilt the cities that had been +laid waste, and restored their free constitutions to the +Sicilians.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Timoleon</hi>, 39.</note> In dedicating the great Mausoleum at Halicarnassus +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> +to the soul of her dead husband Mausolus, his +widow Artemisia instituted a contest of eloquence in his +memory, prizes of money and other valuables being offered +to such as should pronounce the most splendid panegyrics +on the departed. Isocrates himself is said to have entered +for the prize but to have been vanquished by his pupil +Theopompus.<note place='foot'>Aulus Gellius, x. 18. 5 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Alexander the Great prepared to pay honour +to his dead friend Hephaestion by celebrating athletic and +musical contests on a greater scale than had ever been +witnessed before, and for this purpose he actually assembled +three thousand competitors, who shortly afterwards contended +at the funeral games of the great conqueror himself.<note place='foot'>Arrian, vii. 14. 10.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Greeks also +instituted +games in +honour +of large +numbers +of men +who had +perished in +battle or a +massacre.</note> +Nor were the Greeks in the habit of instituting games in +honour only of a few distinguished individuals; they sometimes +established them to perpetuate the memory or to appease +the ghosts of large numbers of men who had perished on the +field of battle or been massacred in cold blood. When the +Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians together had beaten the +Phocaeans in a sea-fight, they landed their prisoners near +Agylla in Etruria and stoned them all to death. After that, +whenever the people of Agylla or their oxen or their sheep +passed the scene of the massacre, they were attacked by a +strange malady, which distorted their bodies and deprived +them of the use of their limbs. So they consulted the +Delphic oracle, and the priestess told them that they must +offer great sacrifices to the dead Phocaeans and institute +equestrian and athletic games in their honour,<note place='foot'>Herodotus, i. 167.</note> no doubt +to appease the angry ghosts of the murdered men, who +were supposed to be doing the mischief. At Plataea +down to the second century of our era might be seen the +graves of the men who fell in the great battle with the +Persians. Sacrifices were offered to them every year with +great solemnity. The chief magistrate of Plataea, clad in +a purple robe, washed with his own hands the tombstones +and anointed them with scented oil. He slaughtered a black +bull over a burning pyre and called upon the dead warriors +to come and partake of the banquet and the blood. Then +filling a bowl of wine and pouring a libation he said, <q>I drink +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +to the men who died for the freedom of Greece.</q> Moreover, +games were celebrated every fourth year in honour of these +heroic dead, the principal prizes being offered for a race in +armour.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Aristides</hi>, 21; Strabo, +ix. 2. 31, p. 412; Pausanias, ix. 2. +5 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Athens funeral games were held in the Academy +to commemorate the men slain in war who were buried in the +neighbouring Ceramicus, and sacrifices were offered to them +at a pit: the games were superintended and the sacrifices +offered by the Polemarch or minister of war.<note place='foot'>Philostratus, <hi rend='italic'>Vit. Sophist.</hi> ii. 30; +Heliodorus, <hi rend='italic'>Aethiopica</hi>, i. 17; compare +Aristotle, <hi rend='italic'>Constitution of Athens</hi>, 58.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Funeral +games +have been +celebrated +in honour +of the dead +by other +peoples +both in +ancient and +modern +times.</note> +Similar honours have been paid to the spirits of the +departed by many other peoples both ancient and modern. +Thus in antiquity the Thracians burned or buried their dead, +and having raised mounds over their remains they held games +of all kinds on the spot, assigning the principal prizes to +victory in single combat.<note place='foot'>Herodotus, v. 8.</note> At Rome funeral games were +celebrated and gladiators fought in honour of distinguished +men who had just died. The games were sometimes held in +the forum. Thus in the year 216 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, when Marcus Aemilius +Lepidus died, who had been twice consul, his three sons +celebrated funeral games in the forum for three days, and +two-and-twenty pairs of gladiators fought on the occasion.<note place='foot'>Livy, xxiii. 30. 15.</note> +Again, in the year 200 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi> funeral games were held for four +days in the forum, and five-and-twenty pairs of gladiators +fought in honour of the deceased M. Valerius Laevinus, the +expense of the ceremonies being defrayed by the two sons of +the dead man.<note place='foot'>Livy, xxxi. 50. 4.</note> Once more, when the Pontifex Maximus, +Publicius Licinius Crassus, died at the beginning of the year +183 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, funeral games were celebrated in his honour for +three days, a hundred and twenty gladiators fought, and the +ceremonies concluded with a banquet, for which the tables +were spread in the forum.<note place='foot'>Livy, xxxix. 46. 2 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> These games and combats were +doubtless intended to please and soothe the ghost of the +recently departed, just as we saw that Roman women lacerated +their faces for a similar purpose. Similarly, when the +Southern Nicobarese dig up the bones of their dead, clean +them, and bury them again, they hold a feast at which sham-fights +with quarter-staves take place <q>to gratify the departed +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> +spirit.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Census of India, 1901</hi>, vol. iii., +<hi rend='italic'>The Andaman and Nicobar Islands</hi>, by +Lieut.-Col. Sir Richard C. Temple +(Calcutta, 1903), p. 209.</note> In Futuna, an island of the South Pacific, when a +death has taken place friends express their grief by cutting +their faces, breast, and arms with shells, and at the funeral +festival which follows pairs of boxers commonly engage in +combats by way of honouring the deceased.<note place='foot'>Letter of the missionary Chevron, +in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de la Propagation de la Foi</hi>, +xv. (1843) pp. 40 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Laos, a +province of Siam, boxers are similarly engaged to bruise +each other at the festival which takes place when the remains +of a chief or other important person are cremated. The +festival lasts three days, but it is while the pyre is actually +blazing that the combatants are expected to batter each +other's heads with the utmost vigour.<note place='foot'>É. Aymonier, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage dans le Laos</hi> +(Paris, 1895-1897), ii. 325 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; C. +Bock, <hi rend='italic'>Temples and Elephants</hi> (London, +1884), p. 262.</note> Among the Kirghiz +the anniversary of the death of a rich man is celebrated with +a great feast and with horse-races, shooting-matches, and +wrestling-matches. It is said that thousands of sheep and +hundreds of horses, besides slaves, coats of mail, and a great +many other objects, are sometimes distributed as prizes +among the winners.<note place='foot'>A. de Levchine, <hi rend='italic'>Description des +hommes et des steppes des Kirghiz-Kazaks +ou Kirghiz-Kaisaks</hi> (Paris, +1840), pp. 367 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. Vambery, <hi rend='italic'>Das +Türkenvolk</hi> (Leipsic, 1885), p. 255; P. +von Stenin, <q>Die Kirgisen des Kreises +Saissanak im Gebiete von Ssemipalatinsk,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lxix. (1906) p. 228.</note> The Bashkirs, a Tartar people of +mixed extraction, bury their dead, and always end the +obsequies with horse-races.<note place='foot'>T. de Pauly, <hi rend='italic'>Description ethnographique +des peuples de la Russie</hi> (St. +Petersburg, 1862), <hi rend='italic'>Peuples ouralo-altaïques</hi>, +p. 29.</note> Among some of the North +American Indians contests in running, shooting, and so forth +formed part of the funeral celebration.<note place='foot'>Charlevoix, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire de la Nouvelle +France</hi> (Paris, 1744), vi. 111.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Funeral +games +among the +Bedouins +and among +the peoples +of the +Caucasus.</note> +The Bedouins of the Sinaitic peninsula observe a great +annual festival at the grave of the prophet Salih, and camel-races +are included in the ceremonies. At the end of the races a +procession takes place round the prophet's grave, after which +the sacrificial victims are led to the door of the mortuary +chapel, their ears are cut off, and the doorposts are smeared +with their streaming blood.<note place='foot'>I. Goldziher, <hi rend='italic'>Muhammedanische +Studien</hi> (Halle a. S., 1888-1890), ii. +328 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> However, Prof. Goldziher believes +that the festival is an ancient +heathen one which has been subsequently +grafted upon the tradition of +the orthodox prophet Salih.</note> The custom of holding funeral +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> +games in honour of the dead appears to be common among +the people of the Caucasus. Thus in Circassia the anniversary +of the death of a distinguished warrior or chief is celebrated +for years with horse-races, foot-races, and various kinds of +martial and athletic exercises, for which prizes are awarded +to the successful competitors.<note place='foot'>J. Potocki, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage dans les steps +d'Astrakhan et du Caucase</hi> (Paris, +1829), i. 275 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Edmund Spencer, +<hi rend='italic'>Travels in Circassia, Krim Tartary</hi>, +etc. (London, 1836) ii. 399.</note> Among the Chewsurs, another +people of the Caucasus, horse-races are held at the funeral of +a rich man, and prizes of cattle and sheep are given to the +winners; poorer folk content themselves with a competition in +shooting and with more modest prizes. Similar celebrations +take place on the anniversary of the death.<note place='foot'>G. Radde, <hi rend='italic'>Die Chews'uren und +ihr Land</hi> (Cassel, 1878), pp. 95 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Prince Eristow, <q>Die Pschawen und +Chewsurier im Kaukasus,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift +für allgemeine Erdkunde</hi>, Neue Folge, +ii. (1857) p. 77.</note> In like manner +shooting-matches form a feature of an annual Festival of All +Souls, when the spirits of departed Chewsurs are believed to +revisit their old village. Adults and children alike take part +in the matches, the adults shooting with guns and the children +with bows and arrows. The prizes consist of loaves, stockings, +gloves, and so forth.<note place='foot'>C. v. Hahn, <q>Religiöse Anschauungen +und Totengedächtnisfeier der +Chewsuren,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lxxvi. (1899) pp. +211 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Abchases, another +people of the Caucasus, two years after a death a memorial +feast is held in honour of the deceased, at which animals +are killed and measures taken to appease the soul of the +departed. For they believe that if the ghost is discontented +he can injure them and their property. The horse of the +deceased figures prominently at the festival. After the guests +have feasted at a long table spread in the open air, the young +men perform evolutions on horseback which are said to recall +the tournaments of the Middle Ages, and children of eight +or nine years of age ride races on horseback.<note place='foot'>N. v. Seidlitz, <q>Die Abchasen,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lxvi. (1894) pp. 42 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Games +periodically +held in +honour +of some +famous +man might +in time +assume the +character +of a great +fair. +The +great Irish +fairs of +Tailltin +and +Carman, +in which +horse-races +played a +prominent +part, are +said to +have been +instituted +in honour +of the +dead.</note> +Thus it appears that many different peoples have been +in the habit of holding games, including horse-races, in honour +of the dead; and as the ancient Greeks unquestionably did +so within historical times for men whose existence is as little +open to question as that of Wellington and Napoleon, we +cannot dismiss as improbable the tradition that the Olympic +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> +and perhaps other great Greek games were instituted to +commemorate real men who once lived, died, and were buried +on the spot where the festivals were afterwards held. When +the person so commemorated had been great and powerful +in his lifetime, his ghost would be deemed great and powerful +after death, and the games celebrated in his honour might +naturally attract crowds of spectators. The need of providing +food and accommodation for the multitude which +assembled on these occasions would in turn draw numbers +of hucksters and merchants to the spot, and thus what in +its origin had been a solemn religious ceremony might +gradually assume more and more the character of a fair, +that is, of a concourse of people brought together mainly +for purposes of trade and amusement. This theory might +account for the origin not only of the Olympic and other +Greek games, but also for that of the great fairs or public +assemblies of ancient Ireland which have been compared, not +without reason, to the Greek games. Indeed the two most +famous of these Irish festivals, in which horse-races played a +prominent part, are actually said to have been instituted in +honour of the dead. Most celebrated of all was the fair of +Tailltiu or Tailltin, held at a place in the county of Meath +which is now called Teltown on the Blackwater, midway +between Navan and Kells. The festival lasted for a fortnight +before Lammas (the first of August) and a fortnight after it. +Among the manly sports and contests which formed a leading +feature of the fair horse-races held the principal place. But +trade was not neglected, and among the wares brought to +market were marriageable women, who, according to a +tradition which survived into the nineteenth century, were +bought and sold as wives for one year. The very spot where +the marriages took place is still pointed out by the peasantry; +they call it <q>Marriage Hollow.</q> Multitudes flocked to the fair +not only from all parts of Ireland, but even from Scotland; +it is officially recorded that in the year 1169 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> the horses +and chariots alone, exclusive of the people on foot, extended +in a continuous line for more than six English miles, from +Tailltin to Mullach-Aiti, now the Hill of Lloyd near Kells. +The Irish historians relate that the fair of Tailltin was +instituted by Lug in honour of his foster-mother Tailltiu, +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +whom he buried under a great sepulchral mound on the +spot, ordering that a commemorative festival with games and +sports should be celebrated there annually for ever.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi> +(London, 1888), pp. 409 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. +d'Arbois de Jubainville, <hi rend='italic'>Cours de littérature +celtique</hi>, vii. (Paris, 1895) pp. +309 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>Social History +of Ancient Ireland</hi> (London, 1903), ii. +438 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> <q>The <foreign rend='italic'>aenach</foreign> or fair was an +assembly of the people of every grade +without distinction; it was the most +common kind of large public meeting, +and its main object was the celebration +of games, athletic exercises, sports, and +pastimes of all kinds</q> (P. W. Joyce, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 438). The Irish name is +<foreign rend='italic'>Tailltiu</foreign>, genitive <foreign rend='italic'>Taillten</foreign>, accusative +and dative <foreign rend='italic'>Tailltin</foreign> (Sir J. Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 409 note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>).</note> The +other great fair of ancient Ireland was held only once in +three years at Carman, now called Wexford, in Leinster. It +began on Lammas Day (the first of August) and lasted six +days. A horse-race took place on each day of the festival. +In different parts of the green there were separate markets +for victuals, for cattle and horses, and for gold and precious +stuffs of the merchants. Harpers harped and pipers piped +for the entertainment of the crowds, and in other parts of +the fair bards recited in the ears of rapt listeners old +romantic tales of forays and cattle-raids, of battles and +murders, of love and courtship and marriage. Prizes were +awarded to the best performers in every art. In the Book +of Ballymote the fair of Carman or Garman is said to have +been founded in accordance with the dying wish of a chief +named Garman, who was buried on the spot, after begging +that a fair of mourning (<foreign rend='italic'>aenach n-guba</foreign>) should be instituted +for him and should bear his name for ever. <q>It was considered +an institution of great importance, and among the +blessings promised to the men of Leinster from holding it +and duly celebrating the established games, were plenty of +corn, fruit and milk, abundance of fish in their lakes and +rivers, domestic prosperity, and immunity from the yoke of +any other province. On the other hand, the evils to follow +from the neglect of this institution were to be failure and +early greyness on them and their kings.</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi>, +p. 411; H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, +<hi rend='italic'>Cours de littérature celtique</hi>, vii. +313 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>Social History +of Ancient Ireland</hi>, ii. 434 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 441 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Indeed +most of +the great +Irish fairs +are said +to have +originated +in funeral +games.</note> +Nor were these two great fairs the only ancient Irish +festivals of the sort which are reported to have been founded +in honour of the dead. The annual fair at Emain is said to +have been established to lament the death of Queen Macha +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> +of the Golden Hair, who had her palace on the spot.<note place='foot'>P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 435.</note> In +short <q>most of the great meetings, by whatever name known, +had their origin in funeral games. Tara, Tailltenn, Tlachtga, +Ushnagh, Cruachan, Emain Macha and other less prominent +meeting-places, are well known as ancient pagan cemeteries, +in all of which many illustrious semi-historical personages +were interred: and many sepulchral monuments remain in +them to this day.</q><note place='foot'>P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 434. +Compare (Sir) J. Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi>, +p. 411.</note> <q>There was a notion that Carman +was a cemetery, that there kings and queens had been +buried, and that the games and horse-races, which formed +the principal attraction of the fair, had been instituted in +honour of the dead folk on whose graves the feet of the +assembled multitude were treading. The same view is taken +of the fairs of Tailltiu and Cruachan: Tailltiu and Cruachan +were cemeteries before they served periodically as places of +assembly for business and pleasure.</q><note place='foot'>H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, <hi rend='italic'>Cours +de littérature celtique</hi>, vii. 313.</note> The tombs of the +first kings of Ulster were at Tailltin.<note place='foot'>H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> vii. 310.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +great Irish +fairs were +held on +the first of +August +(Lammas), +which +seems to +have been +an old +harvest +festival of +first-fruits.</note> +If we ask whether the tradition as to the funeral origin +of these great Irish fairs is true or false, it is important to +observe the date at which they were commonly celebrated. +The date was the first of August, or Lugnasad, that is, the +<foreign rend='italic'>nasad</foreign> or games of Lug, as the day is still called in every part +of Ireland.<note place='foot'>P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 389, 439.</note> This was the date of the great fair of Cruachan<note place='foot'>(Sir) J. Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi>, +p. 410.</note> +as well as of Tailltin and Carman. Now the first of August +is our Lammas Day, a name derived from the Anglo-Saxon +<foreign rend='italic'>hlafmaesse</foreign>, that is, <q>Loaf-mass</q> or <q>Bread-mass,</q> and the +name marks the day as a mass or feast of thanksgiving for +the first-fruits of the corn-harvest, which in England and +Ireland usually ripen about that time. The feast <q>seems +to have been observed with bread of new wheat, and therefore +in some parts of England, and even in some near Oxford, +the tenants are bound to bring in wheat of that year to their +lord, on or before the first of August.</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) J. Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi>, +pp. 411 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, quoting the substance of +a note by Thos. Hearne, in his edition +of <hi rend='italic'>Robert of Gloucester's Chronicles</hi> +(Oxford, 1724), p. 679. As to the +derivation of the word see <hi rend='italic'>New English +Dictionary</hi> (Oxford, 1888- ) and W. +W. Skeat, <hi rend='italic'>Etymological Dictionary of the +English Language</hi> (Oxford, 1910), <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +<q>Lammas.</q></note> But if the festival +of the first of August was in its origin an offering of the +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> +first-fruits of the corn-harvest, we can easily understand the +great importance which the ancient Irish attached to it, and +why they should have thought that its observance ensured a +plentiful crop of corn as well as abundance of fruit and milk +and fish, whereas the neglect of the festival would entail the +failure of these things and cause the hair of their kings to +turn prematurely grey.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref>.</note> For it is a widespread custom +among primitive agricultural peoples to offer the first-fruits +of the harvest to divine beings, whether gods or spirits, +before any person may eat of the new crops,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Golden Bough</hi>, Second +Edition, ii. 459 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> and wherever +such customs are observed we may assume that an omission +to offer the first-fruits must be supposed to endanger the +crops and the general prosperity of the community, by +exciting the wrath of the gods or spirits, who conceive +themselves to be robbed of their dues. Now among the +divine beings who are thus propitiated the souls of dead +ancestors take in many tribes a prominent or even exclusive +place, and that these ancestors are not creations of the +mythical fancy but were once men of flesh and blood is sometimes +demonstrated by the substantial evidence of their skulls, +to which the offerings are made and in which the spirits are +supposed to take up their abode for the purpose of partaking +of the food presented to them. Sometimes the ceremony is +designated by the expressive name of <q>feeding the dead.</q><note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Golden Bough</hi>, Second +Edition, ii. 460, 463, 464 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>If the +great Irish +fairs were +instituted +in honour +of the dead, +we can +understand +why their +observance +was supposed +to +ensure +plenty of +corn, fruit, +milk, and +fish.</note> +All this tends to support the traditional explanation +of the great Irish fairs held at the beginning of August, +when the first corn is ripe; for if these festivals were +indeed celebrated, as they are said to have been, at cemeteries +where kings and other famous men were buried, and +if the horse-races and other games, which formed the most +prominent feature of the celebrations, were indeed instituted, +as they are said to have been, in honour of dead men and +women, we can perfectly understand why the observance +of the festivals and the games was supposed to ensure a +plentiful harvest and abundance of fruit and fish, whereas +the neglect to celebrate them was believed to entail the +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> +failure of these things. So long as the spirits of the dead +men and women, who were buried on the spot, received the +homage of their descendants in the shape of funeral games +and perhaps of first-fruits, so long would they bless their +people with plenty by causing the earth to bring forth +its fruits, the cows to yield milk, and the waters to swarm +with fish; whereas if they deemed themselves slighted and +neglected, they would avenge their wrongs by cutting off +the food supply and afflicting the people with dearth and +other calamities. Among these threatened calamities the +premature greyness of the kings is specially mentioned, +and was probably deemed not the least serious; for we +have seen that the welfare of the whole people is often +deemed to be bound up with the physical vigour of the +king, and that the appearance of grey hairs on his head and +wrinkles on his face is sometimes viewed with apprehension +and proves the signal for putting him to death.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref>, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Similarly +the Abchases of the Caucasus imagine that if they do not +honour a dead man by horse-races and other festivities, his +ghost will be angry with them and visit his displeasure on +their persons and their property.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref>.</note> In this connexion it is +significant that the celebration of the Isthmian games at +Corinth in honour of the dead Melicertes is said to have +been instituted for the purpose of staying a famine, and that +the intermission of the games was immediately followed by +a fresh visitation of the calamity.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>.</note> Analogy suggests that +the famine may have been ascribed to the anger of the +ghost of Melicertes at the neglect of his funeral honours. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>But the +theory of +the funeral +origin +of the +Olympic +games does +not explain +all the +legends +connected +with them. Suggested +theory of +the origin +of the +Olympic +games.</note> +Thus on the whole the theory of the funeral origin of +the great Greek games is supported not only by Greek +tradition and Greek custom but by the evidence of parallel +customs observed in many lands. Yet the theory seems +hardly adequate to explain all the features in the legends of +the foundation and early history of the Olympic games. +For if these contests were instituted merely to please and propitiate +the soul of a prince named Pelops who was buried +on the spot, what are we to make of the tradition that the +foot-race was founded in order to determine the successor to +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> +the kingdom?<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 1. 4, v. 8. 1.</note> or of the similar, though not identical, tradition +that the kingdom and the hand of the king's daughter +were awarded as the prize to him who could vanquish the +king in a chariot race, while death was the penalty inflicted +on the beaten charioteer?<note place='foot'>Apollodorus, <hi rend='italic'>Bibliotheca</hi>, pp. 183-185 +ed. R. Wagner (<hi rend='italic'>Epitoma</hi>, ii. 3-9); +Diodorus Siculus, iv. 73; Hyginus, +<hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 84; Schol. on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Olymp.</hi> +i. 114; Servius on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> +iii. 7. See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 299 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Such legends can hardly have +been pure fictions; they probably reflect some real custom +observed at Olympia. We may perhaps combine them with +the tradition of the funeral origin of the games by supposing +that victory in the race entitled the winner to reign as a +divine king, the embodiment of a god, for a term of years, +whether four or eight years according to the interval between +successive celebrations of the festival; that when the term +had expired the human god must again submit his title to +the crown to the hazard of a race for the purpose of proving +that his bodily vigour was unimpaired; that if he failed to +do so he lost both his kingdom and his life; and lastly that +the spirits of these divine kings, like those of the divine +kings of the Shilluk, were worshipped with sacrifices at their +graves and were thought to delight in the spectacle of the +games which reminded them of the laurels they had themselves +won long ago, amid the plaudits of a vast multitude, +in the sunshine and dust of the race-course, before they +joined the shadowy company of ghosts in the darkness and +silence of the tomb. The theory would explain the existence +of the sacred precinct of Pelops at Olympia, where the black +rams, the characteristic offerings to the dead,<note place='foot'>Strabo, vi. 3. 9, p. 284; K. O. +Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Aeschylos Eumeniden</hi> (Göttingen, +1833), p. 144.</note> were sacrificed +to the hero, and where the young men lashed themselves till +the blood dripped from their backs on the ground—a sight +well-pleasing to the grim bloodthirsty ghost lurking unseen +below. Perhaps, too, the theory may explain the high +mound, at some distance from Olympia, which passed for +the grave of the suitors of Hippodamia, to whose shades +Pelops is said to have sacrificed as to heroes every year.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, vi. 21. 9-11.</note> +It is possible that the men buried in this great barrow were +not, as tradition had it, the suitors who contended in the +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> +chariot-race for the hand of Hippodamia and being defeated +were slain by her relentless father; they may have been men +who, like Pelops himself, had won the kingdom and a bride +in the chariot-race, and, after enjoying the regal dignity and +posing as incarnate deities for a term of years, had been +finally defeated in the race and put to death. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Olympic +games not +a harvest +festival, +but based +on astronomical +considerations.</note> +Whatever may be thought of these speculations, the great +Olympic festival cannot have been, like our Lammas, a +harvest festival: the quadrennial period of the celebration and +the season of the year at which it fell, about halfway between +the corn-reaping of early summer and the vintage of mid-autumn, +alike exclude the supposition and alike point to +an astronomical, not an agricultural, basis of the solemnity. +Accordingly we seem driven to conclude that if the winners, +male and female, in the Olympic games indeed represented +divinities, these divinities must have been personifications +of astronomical, not agricultural, powers; in short that the +victors posed as embodiments of the Sun and Moon, then at +the prime of their radiant power and glory, whose meeting +in the heavenly bridechamber of the sky after years of +separation was mimicked and magically promoted by the +nuptials of their human representatives on earth. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='6. The Slaughter of the Dragon.'/> +<head>§ 6. The Slaughter of the Dragon.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Widespread +myth of +the +slaughter +of a great +dragon. +The +Babylonian +story of the +slaying of +Tiamat by +Marduk is +a myth of +the creation +of cosmos +out of +chaos.</note> +In the foregoing discussion it has been suggested that +Delphi, Thebes, Salamis, and Athens were once ruled by +kings who had, in modern language, a serpent or dragon for +their crest, and were believed to migrate at death into the +bodies of the beasts. But these legends of the dragon admit +of another and, at first sight at least, discrepant explanation. +It is difficult to separate them from those similar tales of the +slaughter of a great dragon which are current in many lands, +and have commonly been interpreted as nature-myths, in +other words, as personifications of physical phenomena. Of +such tales the oldest known versions are the ancient Babylonian +and the ancient Indian. The Babylonian myth relates +how in the beginning the mighty god Marduk fought and +killed the great dragon Tiamat, an embodiment of the +primaeval watery chaos, and how after his victory he created +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> +the present heaven and earth by splitting the huge carcase of +the monster into halves and setting one of them up to form +the sky, while the other half apparently he used to fashion +the earth. Thus the story is a myth of creation. In +language which its authors doubtless understood literally, +but which more advanced thinkers afterwards interpreted +figuratively, it describes how confusion was reduced to order, +how a cosmos emerged from chaos.<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Kosmologie der +Babylonier</hi> (Strasburg, 1890), pp. 263 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Assyrisch-babylonische +Mythen und Epen</hi> (Berlin, 1900), pp. +3 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; M. Jastrow, <hi rend='italic'>The Religion of +Babylonia and Assyria</hi>, pp. 407 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +L. W. King, <hi rend='italic'>Babylonian Religion and +Mythology</hi>, pp. 53 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; H. Zimmern, +in E. Schrader's <hi rend='italic'>Die Keilinschriften +und das Alte Testament</hi> (Berlin, 1902), +pp. 488 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; M. J. Lagrange, <hi rend='italic'>Études +sur les religions sémitiques</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Paris, +1905); pp. 366 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> The account of creation +given in the first chapter of Genesis, which has been so +much praised for its simple grandeur and sublimity, is merely +a rationalised version of the old myth of the fight with the +dragon,<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Kosmologie der +Babylonier</hi>, pp. 304-306; H. Gunkel, +<hi rend='italic'>Schöpfung und Chaos in Urzeit und +Endzeit</hi> (Göttingen, 1895), pp. 114 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Genesis übersetzt und erklärt</hi> +(Göttingen, 1901), pp. 107 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia +Biblica</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Creation,</q> +i. coll. 938 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; S. R. Driver, <hi rend='italic'>The +Book of Genesis</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> (London, 1905), pp. +27 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The myth is clearly alluded +to in several passages of Scripture, +where the dragon of the sea is spoken +of as Rahab or Leviathan. See Isaiah +li. 9, <q>Art thou not it that cut Rahab +in pieces, that pierced the dragon?</q>: +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> xxvii. 1, <q>In that day the Lord +with his sore and great and strong +sword shall punish leviathan the swift +serpent, and leviathan the crooked +serpent; and he shall slay the dragon +that is in the sea</q>: Job xxvi. 12, +<q>He stirreth up the sea with his power, +and by his understanding he smiteth +through Rahab</q>: Psalm lxxxix. 10, +<q>Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces +as one that is slain</q>: Psalm lxxiv. 13 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <q>Thou didst divide the sea by +thy strength: thou brakest the heads +of the dragons in the waters. Thou +brakest the heads of leviathan in +pieces.</q> See further H. Gunkel, +<hi rend='italic'>Schöpfung und Chaos</hi>, pp. 29 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> a myth which for crudity of thought deserves to +rank with the quaint fancies of the lowest savages. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Indian +story of +the slaying +of Vṛtra by +Indra. The story +may be a +myth +descriptive +of the +beginning +of the +rainy +season in +India.</note> +Again, the Indian myth embodied in the hymns of the +Rigveda tells how the strong and valiant god Indra +conquered a great dragon or serpent named Vṛtra, which had +obstructed the waters so that they could not flow. He slew +the monster with his bolt, and then the pent-up springs +gushed in rivers to the sea. And what he did once, he +continues to do. Again and again he renews the conflict; +again and again he slays the dragon and releases the imprisoned +waters. Prayers are addressed to him that he +would be pleased to do so in the future. Even priests on +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +earth sometimes associate themselves with Indra in his battles +with the dragon. The worshipper is said to have placed the +bolt in the god's hands, and the sacrifice is spoken of as +having helped the weapon to slay the monster.<note place='foot'>A. A. Macdonell, <hi rend='italic'>Vedic Mythology</hi>, +pp. 58-60, 158 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare H. +Oldenberg, <hi rend='italic'>Die Religion des Veda</hi>, +pp. 134 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Thus the +feat attributed to Indra would seem to be a mythical +account not so much of creation as of some regularly +recurring phenomenon. It has been plausibly interpreted +as a description of the bursting of the first storms of rain +and thunder after the torrid heat of an Indian summer.<note place='foot'>See M. Winternitz, <q>Der Sarpabali, +ein altindischer Schlangencult,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen +Gesellschaft in Wien</hi>, xviii. (1888) +pp. 44 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At +such times all nature, exhausted by the drought, longs for +coolness and moisture. Day after day men and cattle may +be tormented by the sight of clouds that gather and then +pass away without disburdening themselves of their contents. +At last the long-drawn struggle between the rival forces +comes to a crisis. The sky darkens, thunder peals, lightning +flashes, and the welcome rain descends in sheets, +drenching the parched earth and flooding the rivers. Such +a battle of the elements might well present itself to the +primitive mind in the guise of a conflict between a maleficent +dragon of drought and a beneficent god of thunder and +rain. The cloud-dragon has swallowed the waters and keeps +them shut up in the black coils of his sinuous body; the god +cleaves the monster's belly with his thunder-bolt, and the +imprisoned waters escape, in the form of dripping rain and +rushing stream. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Similarly +the other +tales of the +slaughter +of the +dragon +may be +mythical +descriptions +of the +changes +of the +seasons.</note> +In other countries a similar myth might, with appropriate +variations of detail, express in like manner the passage of +one season into another. For example, in more rigorous +climates the dragon might stand for the dreary winter and +the dragon-slayer for the genial summer. The myths of +Apollo and the Python, of St. George and the Dragon have +thus been interpreted as symbolising the victory of summer +over winter.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn, <q>Wodan,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift +für deutsches Alterthum</hi>, v. (1845) +pp. 484-488.</note> Similarly it has been held with much probability +that the Babylonian legend of Marduk and Tiamat +reflects the annual change which transforms the valley of the +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +Euphrates in spring. During the winter the wide Babylonian +plain, flooded by the heavy rains, looks like a sea, +for which the Babylonian word is <foreign rend='italic'>tiamtu</foreign>, <foreign rend='italic'>tiamat</foreign>. Then +comes the spring, when with the growing power of the sun +the clouds vanish, the waters subside, and dry land and +vegetation appear once more. On this hypothesis the +dragon Tiamat represents the clouds, the rain, the floods of +winter, while Marduk stands for the vernal or summer sun +which dispels the powers of darkness and moisture.<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Kosmologie der +Babylonier</hi>, pp. 315 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. Gunkel, +<hi rend='italic'>Schöpfung und Chaos</hi>, p. 25; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Genesis +übersetzt und erklärt</hi>, pp. 115 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +M. Jastrow, <hi rend='italic'>The Religion of Babylonia +and Assyria</hi>, pp. 411 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 429 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 432 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. Zimmern, in <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia +Biblica</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Creation,</q> i. coll. 940 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, in E. Schrader's <hi rend='italic'>Die Keilinschriften +und das Alte Testament</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> +pp. 370 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 500 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; S. R. Driver, <hi rend='italic'>The +Book of Genesis</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> (London, 1905), p. 28.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The cosmogonical +significance +of +the Babylonian +myth may +have been +an after-thought, +the early +philosophers +picturing +the creation +of the +world +on the +analogy +of the +change +from +winter to +summer.</note> +But if the combat of Marduk and Tiamat was primarily +a mythical description of the Babylonian spring, it would +seem that its cosmogonical significance as an account of +creation must have been an after-thought. The early +philosophers who meditated on the origin of things may +have pictured to themselves the creation or evolution of the +world on the analogy of the great changes which outside +the tropics pass over the face of nature every year. In these +changes it is not hard to discern or to imagine a conflict +between two hostile forces or principles, the principle of construction +or of life and the principle of destruction or of +death, victory inclining now to the one and now to the other, +according as winter yields to spring or summer fades into +autumn. It would be natural enough to suppose that the +same mighty rivals which still wage war on each other had +done so from the beginning, and that the formation of the +universe as it now exists had resulted from the shock of their +battle. On this theory the creation of the world is repeated +every spring, and its dissolution is threatened every autumn: +the one is proclaimed by summer's gay heralds, the opening +flowers; the other is whispered by winter's sad harbingers, +the yellow leaves. Here as elsewhere the old creed is echoed +by the poet's fancy:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non alios prima crescentis origine mundi</foreign></q></l> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Inluxisse dies aliumve habuisse tenorem</foreign></l> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Crediderim: ver illud erat, ver magnus agebat</foreign></l> +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Orbis, et hibernis parcebant flatibus Euri:</foreign></l> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Cum primae lucem pecudes hausere, virumque</foreign></l> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Ferrea progenies duris caput extulit arvis,</foreign></l> +<l><q rend='post'><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Inmissaeque ferae silvis et sidera caelo.</foreign></q><note place='foot'>Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georgics</hi>, ii. 336-342.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thus +ceremonies +intended to +hasten the +departure +of winter +are in a +sense +attempts to +repeat the +creation of +the world.</note> +Thus the ceremonies which in many lands have been +performed to hasten the departure of winter or stay the +flight of summer are in a sense attempts to create the +world afresh, to <q>re-mould it nearer to the Heart's desire.</q> +But if we would set ourselves at the point of view of +the old sages who devised means so feeble to accomplish a +purpose so immeasurably vast, we must divest ourselves of +our modern conceptions of the immensity of the universe and +of the pettiness and insignificance of man's place in it. We +must imagine the infinitude of space shrunk to a few miles, +the infinitude of time contracted to a few generations. To +the savage the mountains that bound the visible horizon, or +the sea that stretches away to meet it, is the world's end. +Beyond these narrow limits his feet have never strayed, and +even his imagination fails to conceive what lies across the +waste of waters or the far blue hills. Of the future he +hardly thinks, and of the past he knows only what has been +handed down to him by word of mouth from his savage +forefathers. To suppose that a world thus circumscribed in +space and time was created by the efforts or the fiat of a +being like himself imposes no great strain on his credulity; +and he may without much difficulty imagine that he himself +can annually repeat the work of creation by his charms and +incantations. And once a horde of savages had instituted +magical ceremonies for the renewal or preservation of all +things, the force of custom and tradition would tend to +maintain them in practice long after the old narrow ideas +of the universe had been superseded by more adequate conceptions, +and the tribe had expanded into a nation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In Babylon +and India +the myth +of the +slaughter +of the +dragon +may have +been acted +as a +magical +ceremony +to hasten +the advent +of summer +or of the +rainy +season. +New-year +festival of +Zagmuk at +Babylon.</note> +Neither in Babylonia nor in India, indeed, so far as I +am aware, is there any direct evidence that the story of the +Slaughter of the Dragon was ever acted as a miracle-play or +magical rite for the sake of bringing about those natural +events which it describes in figurative language. But analogy +leads us to conjecture that in both countries the myth may +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> +have been recited, if not acted, as an incantation, for the +purpose I have indicated. At Babylon the recitation may +have formed part of the great New Year festival of Marduk, +which under the name of Zagmuk was celebrated with great +pomp about the vernal equinox.<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Kosmologie der +Babylonier</hi>, pp. 84 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; M. Jastrow, +<hi rend='italic'>The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria</hi>, +pp. 677 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; H. Zimmern, in E. +Schrader's <hi rend='italic'>Die Keilinschriften und das +Alte Testament</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> pp. 371, 384 note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi>, +402, 427, 515 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; R. F. Harper, +<hi rend='italic'>Babylonian and Assyrian Literature</hi> +(New York, 1901), pp. 136, <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 137, +140, 149; M. J. Lagrange, <hi rend='italic'>Études sur +les religions sémitiques</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Paris, 1905), +pp. 285 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In this connexion it may +not be without significance that one version of the Babylonian +legend of creation has been found inscribed on a tablet, of +which the reverse exhibits an incantation intended to be +recited for the purification of the temple of E-zida in +Borsippa.<note place='foot'>L. W. King, <hi rend='italic'>Babylonian Religion +and Mythology</hi>, pp. 88 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Now E-zida was the temple of Nabu or Nebo, +a god closely associated, if not originally identical, with +Marduk; indeed Hammurabi, the great king of Babylon, +dedicated the temple in question to Marduk and not to +Nabu.<note place='foot'>See C. P. Tiele, <hi rend='italic'>Geschiedenis van +den Godsdienst in de Oudheid</hi>, i. +(Amsterdam, 1903) pp. 159 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +L. W. King, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 21; H. Zimmern. +in E. Schrader's <hi rend='italic'>Die Keilinschriften +und das Alte Testament</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> +p. 399; M. Jastrow, <hi rend='italic'>Die Religion +Babyloniens und Assyriens</hi>, i (Giessen, +1905) pp. 117 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> It seems not improbable, therefore, that the creation +legend, in which Marduk played so important a part, was +recited as an incantation at the purification of the temple +E-zida. The ceremony perhaps took place at the Zagmuk +festival, when the image of Nabu was solemnly brought in +procession from his temple in Borsippa to the great temple +of Marduk in Babylon.<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 85 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +M. Jastrow, <hi rend='italic'>The Religion of Babylonia +and Assyria</hi>, p. 679; H. Zimmern, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 515; M. J. Lagrange, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +p. 286.</note> Moreover, it was believed that at +this great festival the fates were determined by Marduk or +Nabu for the ensuing year.<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 87; M. +Jastrow, <hi rend='italic'>The Religion of Babylonia and +Assyria</hi>, p. 681; H. Zimmern, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +pp. 402, 415; R. F. Harper, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +p. 136.</note> Now, the creation myth +relates how, after he had slain the dragon, Marduk wrested +the tablets of destiny from Ningu, the paramour of Tiamat, +sealed them with a seal, and laid them on his breast.<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>Assyrisch-babylonische +Mythen und Epen</hi>, p. 29; L. W. +King, <hi rend='italic'>Babylonian Religion and Mythology</hi>, +p. 74.</note> We +may conjecture that the dramatic representation of this +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> +incident formed part of the annual determination of the +fates at Zagmuk. In short, it seems probable that the whole +myth of creation was annually recited and acted at this +great spring festival as a charm to dispel the storms and +floods of winter, and to hasten the coming of summer.<note place='foot'>This appears to be substantially +the view of H. Zimmern (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +501) and of Karppe (referred to in +<hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia Biblica</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Creation,</q> +i. coll. 941 note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Part played +by the +king in the +drama +of the +Slaughter +of the +Dragon.</note> +Wherever sacred dramas of this sort were acted as +magical rites for the regulation of the seasons, it would be +natural that the chief part should be played by the king, at +first in his character of head magician, and afterwards as +representative and embodiment of the beneficent god who +vanquishes the powers of evil. If, therefore, the myth of the +Slaughter of the Dragon was ever acted with this intention, +the king would appropriately figure in the play as the +victorious champion, while the defeated monster would be +represented by an actor of inferior rank. But it is possible +that under certain circumstances the distribution of parts in +the drama might be somewhat different. Where the tenure +of the regal office was limited to a fixed time, at the end of +which the king was inexorably put to death, the fatal part +of the dragon might be assigned to the monarch as the +representative of the old order, the old year, or the old cycle +which was passing away, while the part of the victorious +god or hero might be supported by his successor and +executioner. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Suggested +reconciliation +of the +totemic +with the +cosmological +interpretation +of the +Slaughter +of the +Dragon.</note> +An hypothesis of this latter sort would to a certain +extent reconcile the two apparently discrepant interpretations +of the myth which have been discussed in the preceding +pages, and which for the sake of distinction may be called +the totemic and the cosmological interpretations respectively. +The serpent or dragon might be the sacred animal or totem +of the royal house at the same time that it stood mythically +for certain cosmological phenomena, whether moisture or +drought, cold or heat, winter or summer. In like manner +any other species of animal which served as the totem of +the royal family might simultaneously possess a cosmological +significance as the symbol of an elemental power. Thus at +Cnossus, as we have seen reason to think, the bull was at +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> +once the king's crest and an emblem of the sun. Similarly +in Egypt the hawk was the symbol both of the sun and +of the king. The oldest royal capital known to us was +Hieraconpolis or Hawk-town, and the first Egyptian king +of whom we hear had for his only royal title the name of +hawk.<note place='foot'>A. Moret, <hi rend='italic'>Du caractère religieux +de la royauté Pharaonique</hi> (Paris, +1902), pp. 18 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 33 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> At the same time the hawk was with the Egyptians +an emblem of the sun.<note place='foot'>Clement of Alexandria. <hi rend='italic'>Strom.</hi> v. +7. p. 671, ed. Potter.</note> Hawks were kept in the sun-god's +temple, and the deity himself was commonly represented in +art as a man with a hawk's head and the disc of the sun +above it.<note place='foot'>A. Erman, <hi rend='italic'>Die ägyptische Religion</hi> +(Berlin, 1905), pp. 10, 25.</note> However, I am fully sensible of the slipperiness +and uncertainty of the ground I am treading, and it is +with great diffidence that I submit these speculations to the +judgment of my readers. The subject of ancient mythology +is involved in dense mists which it is not always possible to +penetrate and illumine even with the lamp of the Comparative +Method. Demonstration in such matters is rarely, if ever, +attainable; the utmost that a candid enquirer can claim for +his conclusions is a reasonable degree of probability. Future +researches may clear up the obscurity which still rests on +the myth of the Slaughter of the Dragon, and may thereby +ascertain what measure of truth, if any, there is in the +suggested interpretations. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='7. Triennial Tenure of the Kingship.'/> +<head>§ 7. Triennial Tenure of the Kingship.</head> + +<p> +In the province of Lagos, which forms part of Southern +Nigeria, the Ijebu tribe of the Yoruba race is divided into +two branches, which are known respectively as the Ijebu +Ode and the Ijebu Remon. The Ode branch of the tribe +is ruled by a chief who bears the title of Awujale and is +surrounded by a great deal of mystery. Down to recent +times his face might not be seen even by his own subjects, +and if circumstances obliged him to communicate with them +he did so through a screen which hid him from view. The +other or Remon branch of the Ijebu tribe is governed by +a chief, who ranks below the Awujale. Mr. John Parkinson +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> +was informed that in former times this subordinate chief +used to be killed with ceremony after a rule of three years. +As the country is now under British protection the custom +of putting the chief to death at the end of a three years' +reign has long been abolished, and Mr. Parkinson was +unable to ascertain any particulars on the subject.<note place='foot'>John Parkinson (late Principal +of the Mineral Survey of Southern +Nigeria), <q>Southern Nigeria, the +Lagos Province,</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Empire Review</hi>, +vol. xv. May 1908, pp. 290 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +account in the text of the mystery surrounding +the Awujale is taken from +A. B. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>The Yoruba-speaking +Peoples of the Slave Coast of West +Africa</hi> (London, 1894), p. 170.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='8. Annual Tenure of the Kingship.'/> +<head>§ 8. Annual Tenure of the Kingship.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Evidence +of an +annual +tenure of +the kingship +at +Babylon. +Further, it +would +seem that +in very +early times +the kings +of Babylon +were put to +death at +the end of +a year's +reign. +The mock +king put to +death at +the festival +of the +Sacaea was +probably a +substitute +for the real +king.</note> +At Babylon, within historical times, the tenure of the +kingly office was in practice lifelong, yet in theory it would +seem to have been merely annual. For every year at the +festival of Zagmuk the king had to renew his power by +seizing the hands of the image of Marduk in his great +temple of Esagil at Babylon. Even when Babylon passed +under the power of Assyria, the monarchs of that country +were expected to legalise their claim to the throne every +year by coming to Babylon and performing the ancient +ceremony at the New-year festival, and some of them found +the obligation so burdensome that rather than discharge it +they renounced the title of king altogether and contented +themselves with the humbler one of Governor.<note place='foot'>M. Jastrow, <hi rend='italic'>The Religion of +Babylonia and Assyria</hi>, p. 680; H. +Zimmern, in E. Schrader's <hi rend='italic'>Die Keilinschriften +und das Alte Testament</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> +pp. 374, 515; C. Brockelmann, <q>Wesen +und Ursprung des Eponymats in +Assyrien,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Assyriologie</hi>, +xvi. (1902) pp. 391 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 396 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Further, it +would appear that in remote times, though not within the +historical period, the kings of Babylon or their barbarous +predecessors forfeited not merely their crown but their life +at the end of a year's tenure of office. At least this is the +conclusion to which the following evidence seems to point. +According to the historian Berosus, who as a Babylonian priest +spoke with ample knowledge, there was annually celebrated +in Babylon a festival called the Sacaea. It began on the +sixteenth day of the month Lous, and lasted for five days. +During these five days masters and servants changed places, +the servants giving orders and the masters obeying them. A +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +prisoner condemned to death was dressed in the king's +robes, seated on the king's throne, allowed to issue whatever +commands he pleased, to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, and +to lie with the king's concubines. But at the end of the +five days he was stripped of his royal robes, scourged, and +hanged or impaled. During his brief term of office he bore +the title of Zoganes.<note place='foot'>Athenaeus, xiv. 44, p. 639 <hi rend='smallcaps'>c</hi>; Dio +Chrysostom, <hi rend='italic'>Or.</hi> iv. pp. 69 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (vol. i. +p. 76, ed. L. Dindorf). Dio Chrysostom +does not mention his authority, +but it was probably either Berosus or +Ctesias. The execution of the mock +king is not noticed in the passage of +Berosus cited by Athenaeus, probably +because the mention of it was not +germane to Athenaeus's purpose, which +was simply to give a list of festivals at +which masters waited on their servants. +A passage of Macrobius (<hi rend='italic'>Saturn.</hi> iii. +7. 6) which has sometimes been interpreted +as referring to this Babylonian +custom (F. Liebrecht, in <hi rend='italic'>Philologus</hi>, +xxii. 710; J. J. Bachofen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Sage von +Tanaquil</hi>, p. 52, note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>16</hi>) has in fact +nothing to do with it. See A. B. Cook, +in <hi rend='italic'>Classical Review</hi>, xvii. (1903) p. +412; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> in <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xv. (1904) pp. +304, 384. In the passage of Dio +Chrysostom ἐκρέμασαν should strictly +mean <q>hanged,</q> but the verb was +applied by the Greeks to the Roman +punishment of crucifixion (Plutarch, +<hi rend='italic'>Caesar</hi>, 2). It may have been extended +to include impalement, which +was often inflicted by the Assyrians, as +we may see by the representations of +it on the Assyrian monuments in the +British Museum. See also R. F. +Harper, <hi rend='italic'>Assyrian and Babylonian +Literature</hi>, p. 41, with the plate facing +p. 54. The proper word for impalement +in Greek is ἀνασκολοπίζειν (Herodotus, +iv. 202). Hanging was also an +Oriental as well as Roman mode of +punishment. The Hebrew word for it +(חלה) seems unambiguous. See Esther, +v. 14, vii. 9 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Deuteronomy, xxi. +22 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Joshua, viii. 29, x. 26; Livy, +i. 26. 6.</note> This custom might perhaps have been +explained as merely a grim jest perpetrated in a season of +jollity at the expense of an unhappy criminal. But one +circumstance—the leave given to the mock king to enjoy +the king's concubines—is decisive against this interpretation. +Considering the jealous seclusion of an oriental despot's +harem we may be quite certain that permission to invade it +would never have been granted by the despot, least of all to a +condemned criminal, except for the very gravest cause. This +cause could hardly be other than that the condemned man +was about to die in the king's stead, and that to make the +substitution perfect it was necessary he should enjoy the full +rights of royalty during his brief reign. There is nothing +surprising in this substitution. The rule that the king must +be put to death either on the appearance of any symptom +of bodily decay or at the end of a fixed period is certainly +one which, sooner or later, the kings would seek to abolish or +modify. We have seen that in Ethiopia, Sofala, and Eyeo the +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +rule was boldly set aside by enlightened monarchs; and that +in Calicut the old custom of killing the king at the end of +twelve years was changed into a permission granted to any +one at the end of the twelve years' period to attack the +king, and, in the event of killing him, to reign in his stead; +though, as the king took care at these times to be surrounded +by his guards, the permission was little more than a form. +Another way of modifying the stern old rule is seen in the +Babylonian custom just described. When the time drew +near for the king to be put to death (in Babylon this +appears to have been at the end of a single year's reign) he +abdicated for a few days, during which a temporary king +reigned and suffered in his stead. At first the temporary +king may have been an innocent person, possibly a member +of the king's own family; but with the growth of civilisation +the sacrifice of an innocent person would be revolting to the +public sentiment, and accordingly a condemned criminal +would be invested with the brief and fatal sovereignty. In +the sequel we shall find other examples of a dying criminal +representing a dying god. For we must not forget that, as +the case of the Shilluk kings clearly shews,<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> the king is slain +in his character of a god or a demigod, his death and resurrection, +as the only means of perpetuating the divine life +unimpaired, being deemed necessary for the salvation of his +people and the world. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +festival of +the Sacaea +was +perhaps +identical +with +Zagmuk. Festival of +Zagmuk in +Assyria. Trace of +an annual +tenure of +the kingship +in +Assyria.</note> +If at Babylon before the dawn of history the king himself +used to be slain at the festival of the Sacaea, it is natural to +suppose that the Sacaea was no other than Zagmuk or +Zakmuk, the great New-year festival at which down to +historical times the king's power had to be formally renewed +by a religious ceremony in the temple of Marduk. The +theory of the identity of the festivals is indeed strongly +supported by many considerations and has been accepted by +some eminent scholars,<note place='foot'>Bruno Meissner, <q>Zur Entstehungsgeschichte +des Purimfestes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift +der deutschen morgenländischen +Gesellschaft</hi>, I. (1896) pp. 296-301; +H. Winckler, <hi rend='italic'>Altorientalische Forschungen</hi>, +Zweite Reihe, Bd. ii. p. 345; +C. Brockelmann, <q>Wesen und Ursprung +des Eponymats in Assyrien,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Assyriologie</hi>, xvi. (1902) +pp. 391 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> but it has to encounter a serious +chronological difficulty, since Zagmuk fell about the equinox +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/> +in spring, whereas the Sacaea according to Berosus was held +on the sixteenth of the month Lous, which was the tenth +month of the Syro-Macedonian calendar and appears to +have nearly coincided with July. The question of the +sameness or difference of these festivals will be discussed +later on.<note place='foot'>Meantime I may refer the reader +to <hi rend='italic'>The Golden Bough</hi>, Second Edition, +ii. 254, iii. 151 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> As I have there +pointed out (iii. 152 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>) the identification +of the months of the Syro-Macedonian +calendar (that is, the +ascertainment of their astronomical +dates in the solar year) is a matter +of some uncertainty, the dates appearing +to have varied considerably in +different places. The month Lous in +particular is variously said to have +corresponded in different places to +July, August, September, and October. +Until we have ascertained beyond the +reach of doubt when Lous fell at +Babylon in the time of Berosus, it +would be premature to allow much +weight to the seeming discrepancy in +the dates of Zagmuk and the Sacaea. +On the whole difficult question of the +identification or dating of the months +of the Syro-Macedonian calendar see L. +Ideler, <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch der mathematischen +und technischen Chronologie</hi>, i. 393 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +K. F. Hermann, <q>Über griechische +Monatskunde,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Abhandlungen der +histor.-philolog. Classe d. kön. Gesellschaft +der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen</hi>, +ii. (1843-44) pp. 68 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 95, 109, 111 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; H. F. Clinton, <hi rend='italic'>Fasti Hellenici</hi>, +iii.<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> 351 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; article <q>Calendarium,</q> +in W. Smith's <hi rend='italic'>Dictionary of Greek and +Roman Antiquities</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> i. 339. The distinction +between the dates of the Syro-Macedonian +months, which differed in +different places, and their order, which +was the same in all places (Dius, Apellaeus, +etc.), appears to have been overlooked +by some of my former readers.</note> Here it is to be observed that Zagmuk +was apparently celebrated in Assyria as well as in +Babylonia. For at the end of his great inscription +Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, expresses a wish that it may +be granted to him to muster all his riding-horses and so +forth every year at Zagmuk in his palace.<note place='foot'>P. Jensen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Kosmologie der +Babylonier</hi>, p. 84; C. Brockelmann, +<q>Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats +in Assyrien,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Assyriologie</hi>, +xvi. (1902) p. 392. However, +there is no mention of Zagmuk in Prof. +R. F. Harper's translation of the inscription +(<hi rend='italic'>Assyrian and Babylonian +Literature</hi>, p. 87).</note> But whether +the power of the Assyrian kings had, like that of the +Babylonian monarchs, to be annually renewed at this festival, +we do not know. However, a trace of an annual tenure of +the kingly office in Assyria may perhaps, as Dr. C. Brockelmann +thinks,<note place='foot'>C. Brockelmann, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 389-401.</note> be detected in the rule that an Assyrian king +regularly gave his name only to a single year of his reign, +while all the other years were named after certain officers +and provincial governors, about thirty in number, who were +appointed for this purpose and succeeded each other according +to a fixed rotation.<note place='foot'>H. Winckler, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte Babyloniens +und Assyriens</hi> (Leipsic, 1902), +p. 212; R. F. Harper, <hi rend='italic'>Assyrian and +Babylonian Literature</hi>, pp. xxxviii. <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +206-216; E. Meyer, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte des +Altertums</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>, i. 2 (Stuttgart and Berlin, +1909), pp. 331 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> It was the second, +not the first, year of a king's reign +which in later times at all events was +named after him. For the explanation +see C. Brockelmann, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 397 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> But we know too little about +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> +the institution of the <foreign rend='italic'>limu</foreign> or eponymate to allow us to press +this argument for an annual tenure of the kingship in Assyria.<note place='foot'>The eponymate in Assyria and +elsewhere may have been the subject +of superstitions which we do not yet +understand. Perhaps the eponymous +magistrate may have been deemed in a +sense responsible for everything that +happened in the year. Thus we are +told that <q>in Manipur they have a +noteworthy system of keeping count of +the years. Each year is named after +some man, who—for a consideration—undertakes +to bear the fortune, good or +bad, of the year. If the year be good, +if there be no pestilence and a good +harvest, he gets presents from all sorts +of people, and I remember hearing that +in 1898, when the cholera was at its +worst, a deputation came to the Political +Agent and asked him to punish the +name-giver, as it was obvious that he was +responsible for the epidemic. In former +times he would have got into trouble</q> +(T. C. Hodson, <q>The Native Tribes +of Manipur,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xxxi. 1901, p. 302).</note> +A reminiscence of Zagmuk seems to linger in the belief of +the Yezidis that on New-year's day God sits on his throne +arranging the decrees for the coming year, assigning to +dignitaries their various offices, and delivering to them their +credentials under his signature and seal.<note place='foot'>C. Brockelmann, <q>Das Neujahrsfest +der Jezîdîs,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift der +deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft</hi>, +lv. (1901) pp. 388-390.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Slaves +sacrificed +instead +of their +masters in +West +Africa.</note> +The view that at Babylon the condemned prisoner who +wore the royal robes was slain as a substitute for the king +may be supported by the practice of West Africa, where at +the funeral of a king slaves used sometimes to be dressed up +as ministers of state and then sacrificed in that character +instead of the real ministers, their masters, who purchased +for a sum of money the privilege of thus dying by proxy. +Such vicarious sacrifices were witnessed by Catholic missionaries +at Porto Novo on the Slave Coast.<note place='foot'>Letter of the missionary N. Baudin, +dated 16th April 1875, in <hi rend='italic'>Missions +Catholiques</hi>, vii. (1875) pp. 614-616, +627 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Annales de la Propagation de +la Foi</hi>, xlviii. (1876) pp. 66-76.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Trace of +custom of +killing the +kings of +Hawaii +at the end +of a year's +reign.</note> +A vestige of a practice of putting the king to death at +the end of a year's reign appears to have survived in the +festival called Macahity, which used to be celebrated in +Hawaii during the last month of the year. About a hundred +years ago a Russian voyager described the custom as +follows: <q>The taboo Macahity is not unlike to our festival +of Christmas. It continues a whole month, during which +the people amuse themselves with dances, plays, and sham-fights +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> +of every kind. The king must open this festival +wherever he is. On this occasion his majesty dresses himself +in his richest cloak and helmet, and is paddled in a canoe +along the shore, followed sometimes by many of his subjects. +He embarks early, and must finish his excursion at sun-rise. +The strongest and most expert of the warriors is chosen to +receive him on his landing. This warrior watches the canoe +along the beach; and as soon as the king lands, and has +thrown off his cloak, he darts his spear at him, from a +distance of about thirty paces, and the king must either +catch the spear in his hand, or suffer from it: there is no +jesting in the business. Having caught it, he carries it +under his arm, with the sharp end downwards, into the +temple or heavoo. On his entrance, the assembled multitude +begin their sham-fights, and immediately the air is obscured +by clouds of spears, made for the occasion with blunted ends. +Hamamea [the king] has been frequently advised to abolish +this ridiculous ceremony, in which he risks his life every +year; but to no effect. His answer always is, that he is as +able to catch a spear as any one on the island is to throw it +at him. During the Macahity, all punishments are remitted +throughout the country; and no person can leave the place +in which he commences these holidays, let the affair be ever +so important.</q><note place='foot'>U. Lisiansky, <hi rend='italic'>A Voyage Round the +World in the Years 1803, 4, 5, and 6</hi> +(London, 1814), pp. 118 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +same ceremony seems to be more briefly +described by the French voyager Freycinet, +who says that after the principal +idol had been carried in procession about +the island for twenty-three days it was +brought back to the temple, and that +thereupon the king was not allowed to +enter the precinct until he had parried +a spear thrown at him by two men. +See L. de Freycinet, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage autour du +monde</hi>, vol. ii. Première Partie (Paris, +1829), pp. 596 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='9. Diurnal Tenure of the Kingship.'/> +<head>§ 9. Diurnal Tenure of the Kingship.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The reign +and life of +the king +limited to +a single +day in +Ngoio, a +province of +Congo.</note> +That a king should regularly have been put to death +at the close of a year's reign will hardly appear improbable +when we learn that to this day there is still a kingdom in +which the reign and the life of the sovereign are limited to +a single day. In Ngoio, a province of the ancient kingdom +of Congo in West Africa, the rule obtains that the chief who +assumes the cap of sovereignty is always killed on the night +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> +after his coronation. The right of succession lies with the +chief of the Musurongo; but we need not wonder that he +does not exercise it, and that the throne stands vacant. +<q>No one likes to lose his life for a few hours' glory on +the Ngoio throne.</q><note place='foot'>R. E. Dennett, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Folklore +of the Fjort</hi>, with an introduction +by Mary H. Kingsley (London, 1898), +p. xxxii; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>At the Back of the Black +Man's Mind</hi> (London, 1906), p. 120. +Miss Kingsley in conversation called +my attention to this particular custom, +and informed me that she was personally +acquainted with the chief, who +possesses but declines to exercise the +right of succession.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter III. The Slaying Of The King In Legend.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Reminiscences +of +a custom +of regicide +in popular +tales. +Story how +Lancelot +came to a +city where +the king +had to +perish in +the fire on +New Year's +Day.</note> +If a custom of putting kings to death at the end of a set term +has prevailed in many lands, it is natural enough that reminiscences +of it should survive in tradition long after the custom +itself has been abolished. In the <hi rend='italic'>High History of the Holy Graal</hi> +we read how Lancelot roamed through strange lands and +forests seeking adventures till he came to a fair and wide +plain lying without a city that seemed of right great lordship. +As he rode across the plain the people came forth from +the city to welcome him with the sound of flutes and viols +and many instruments of music. When he asked them what +meant all this joy, <q><q>Sir,</q> said they, <q>all this joy is made +along of you, and all these instruments of music are moved +to joy and sound of gladness for your coming.</q> <q>But wherefore +for me?</q> saith Lancelot. <q>That shall you know well +betimes,</q> say they. <q>This city began to burn and to melt +in one of the houses from the very same hour that our king +was dead, nor might the fire be quenched, nor ever will be +quenched until such time as we have a king that shall be +lord of the city and of the honour thereunto belonging, and +on New Year's Day behoveth him to be crowned in the +midst of the fire, and then shall the fire be quenched, for +otherwise may it never be put out nor extinguished. Wherefore +have we come to meet you to give you the royalty, for +we have been told that you are a good knight.</q> <q>Lords,</q> +saith Lancelot, <q>of such a kingdom have I no need, and +God defend me from it.</q> <q>Sir,</q> say they, <q>you may not be +defended thereof, for you come into this land at hazard, and +great grief would it be that so good a land as you see this +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> +is were burnt and melted away by the default of one single +man, and the lordship is right great, and this will be right +great worship to yourself, that on New Year's Day you +should be crowned in the fire and thus save this city and +this great people, and thereof shall you have great praise.</q> +Much marvelleth Lancelot of this that they say. They come +round about him on all sides and lead him into the city. +The ladies and damsels are mounted to the windows of the +great houses and make great joy, and say the one to another, +<q>Look at the new king here that they are leading in. Now +will he quench the fire on New Year's Day.</q> <q>Lord!</q> say +the most part, <q>what great pity is it of so comely a knight +that he shall end on such-wise!</q> <q>Be still!</q> say the others. +<q>Rather should there be great joy that so fair city as is +this should be saved by his death, for prayer will be made +throughout all the kingdom for his soul for ever!</q> Therewith +they lead him to the palace with right great joy and +say that they will crown him. Lancelot found the palace +all strown with rushes and hung about with curtains of rich +cloths of silk, and the lords of the city all apparelled to do +him homage. But he refuseth right stoutly, and saith that +their king nor their lord will he never be in no such sort. +Thereupon behold you a dwarf that entereth into the city, +leading one of the fairest dames that be in any kingdom, +and asketh whereof this joy and this murmuring may be. +They tell him they are fain to make the knight king, +but that he is not minded to allow them, and they tell him +the whole manner of the fire. The dwarf and the damsel +are alighted, then they mount up to the palace. The dwarf +calleth the provosts of the city and the greater lords. +<q>Lords,</q> saith he, <q>sith that this knight is not willing to be +king, I will be so willingly, and I will govern the city at +your pleasure and do whatsoever you have devised to do.</q> +<q>In faith, sith that the knight refuseth this honour and you +desire to have it, willingly will we grant it you, and he may +go his way and his road, for herein do we declare him wholly +quit.</q> Therewithal they set the crown on the dwarf's head, +and Lancelot maketh great joy thereof. He taketh his leave, +and they commend him to God, and so remounteth he on +his horse and goeth his way through the midst of the city +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> +all armed. The dames and damsels say that he would not +be king for that he had no mind to die so soon.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The High History of the Holy +Graal</hi>, translated from the French by +Sebastian Evans (London, 1898), i. +200-203. I have to thank the translator, +Mr. Sebastian Evans, for his kindness +in indicating this passage to me.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Story of +King Vikramditya +of Ujjain +in India. +Kings of +Ujjain +devoured +by a demon +after a +reign of a +single day.</note> +A story of the same sort is told of Ujjain, the ancient +capital of Malwa in western India, where the renowned +King Vikramaditya is said to have held his court, gathering +about him a circle of poets and scholars.<note place='foot'>For a discussion of the legends +which gather round Vikramaditya see +Captain Wilford, <q>Vicramaditya and +Salivahana,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Researches</hi>, ix. +(London, 1809) pp. 117 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Chr. +Lassen, <hi rend='italic'>Indische Alterthumskunde</hi>, ii.<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +752 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 794 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; E. T. Atkinson, +<hi rend='italic'>The Himalayan Districts of the North-Western +Provinces of India</hi>, ii. (Allahabad, +1884), pp. 410. <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> Vikramaditya +is commonly supposed to have lived in +the first century <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi> and to have +founded the <foreign rend='italic'>Samvat</foreign> era, which began +with 57 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, and is now in use all over +India. But according to Professor H. +Oldenberg it is now certain that this +Vikramaditya was a purely legendary +personage (H. Oldenberg, <hi rend='italic'>Die Literatur +des alten Indien</hi>, Stuttgart and +Berlin, 1903, pp. 215 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> Tradition has it +that once on a time an arch-fiend, with a legion of devils at +his command, took up his abode in Ujjain, the inhabitants +of which he vexed and devoured. Many had fallen a prey +to him, and others had abandoned the country to save their +lives. The once populous city was fast being converted into +a desert. At last the principal citizens, meeting in council, +besought the fiend to reduce his rations to one man a day, +who would be duly delivered up to him in order that the +rest might enjoy a day's repose. The demon closed with +the offer, but required that the man whose turn it was to be +sacrificed should mount the throne and exercise the royal +power for a single day, all the grandees of the kingdom +submitting to his commands, and everybody yielding him +the most absolute obedience. Necessity obliged the citizens +to accept these hard terms; their names were entered on a +list; every day one of them in his turn ruled from morning +to night, and was then devoured by the demon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Vikramaditya +puts +an end to +the custom +by vanquishing +the demon, +after which +he reigns +as king of +Ujjain.</note> +Now it happened by great good luck that a caravan of +merchants from Gujerat halted on the banks of a river not +far from the city. They were attended by a servant who +was no other than Vikramaditya. At nightfall the jackals +began to howl as usual, and one of them said in his own +tongue, <q>In two hours a human corpse will shortly float +down this river, with four rubies of great price at his belt, +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +and a turquois ring on his finger. He who will give me +that corpse to devour will bear sway over the seven lands.</q> +Vikramaditya, knowing the language of birds and beasts, +understood what the jackal said, gave the corpse to the +beast to devour, and took possession of the ring and the +rubies. Next day he entered the town, and, traversing the +streets, observed a troop of horse under arms, forming a +royal escort, at the door of a potter's house. The grandees +of the city were there, and with them was the garrison. +They were in the act of inducing the son of the potter to +mount an elephant and proceed in state to the palace. But +strange to say, instead of being pleased at the honour conferred +on their son, the potter and his wife stood on the +threshold weeping and sobbing most bitterly. Learning +how things stood, the chivalrous Vikramaditya was touched +with pity, and offered to accept the fatal sovereignty instead +of the potter's son, saying that he would either deliver the +people from the tyranny of the demon or perish in the +attempt. Accordingly he donned the kingly robes, assumed +all the badges of sovereignty, and, mounting the elephant, +rode in great pomp to the palace, where he seated himself +on the throne, while the dignitaries of the kingdom discharged +their duties in his presence. At night the fiend +arrived as usual to eat him up. But Vikramaditya was +more than a match for him, and after a terrific combat the +fiend capitulated and agreed to quit the city. Next morning +the people on coming to the palace were astonished to find +Vikramaditya still alive. They thought he must be no +common mortal, but some superhuman being, or the +descendant of a great king. Grateful to him for their +deliverance they bestowed the kingdom on him, and he +reigned happily over them.<note place='foot'><q>Histoire des rois de l'Hindoustan +après les Pandaras, traduite du texte +hindoustani de Mîr Cher-i Alî Afsos, +par M. l'abbé Bertrand,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal +Asiatique</hi>, IVème Série, iii. (Paris, +1844) pp. 248-257. The story is told +more briefly by Mrs. Postans, <hi rend='italic'>Cutch</hi> +(London, 1839), pp. 21 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare +Chr. Lassen, <hi rend='italic'>Indische Alterthumskunde</hi>, +ii.<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> 798.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Yearly +human +sacrifices +formerly +offered at +Ujjain.</note> +According to one account, the dreadful being who +ravaged Ujjain and devoured a king every day was the bloodthirsty +goddess Kali. When she quitted the city she left +behind her two sisters, whose quaint images still frown on +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> +the spectator from the pillared portal known as Vikramaditya's +Gate at Ujjain. To these her sisters she granted the +privilege of devouring as many human beings as they pleased +once every twelve years. That tribute they still exact, +though the European in his blindness attributes the deaths +to cholera. But in addition seven girls and five buffaloes +were to be sacrificed to them every year, and these sacrifices +used to be offered regularly until the practice was put down +by the English Government. It is said that the men who +gave their five-year-old daughters to be slain received grants +of land as a reward of their piety. Nowadays only buffaloes +are killed at the Daçaratha festival, which is held in October +on the ninth day of the month Açvina. The heads of the +animals are buried at Vikramaditya's gateway, and those of +the last year's victims are taken up. The girls who would +formerly have been sacrificed are now released, but they are +not allowed to marry, and their fathers still receive grants +of lands just as if the cruel sacrifice had been consummated.<note place='foot'>A. V. Williams Jackson, <q>Notes +from India, Second Series,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of +the American Oriental Society</hi>, xxiii. +(1902) pp. 308, 316 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> I have to +thank my friend the Rev. Professor J. +H. Moulton for referring me to Prof. +Williams Jackson's paper.</note> +The persistence of these bloody rites at Ujjain down to +recent times raises a presumption that the tradition of the +daily sacrifice of a king in the same city was not purely +mythical. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Story of +the birth +of Vikramaditya. +His father +Gandharva-Sena +was an +ass by day +and a man +by night, +until his +ass's skin +was burnt, +when he +left his wife +for ever.</note> +It is worth while to consider another of the stories which +are told of King Vikramaditya. His birth is said to have +been miraculous, for his father was Gandharva-Sena, who +was the son of the great god Indra. One day Gandharva-Sena +had the misfortune to offend his divine father, who +was so angry that he cursed his son and banished him from +heaven to earth, there to remain under the form of an ass +by day and of a man by night until a powerful king should +burn his ass's body, after which Gandharva-Sena would +regain his proper shape and return to the upper world. All +this happened according to the divine word. In the shape +of an ass the son of the god rendered an important service +to the King of Dhara, and received the hand of the king's +daughter as his reward. By day he was an ass and ate hay +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> +in the stables; by night he was a man and enjoyed the +company of the princess his wife. But the king grew tired +of the taunts of his enemies, as well as of the gibes which +were levelled by unfeeling wits at his asinine son-in-law. +So one night, while Gandharva-Sena in human shape was +with his wife, the king got hold of the ass's body which his +son-in-law had temporarily quitted, and throwing it on a fire +burned it to ashes. On the instant Gandharva-Sena +appeared to him, and thanking him for undoing the spell +announced that he was about to return to heaven, but that +his wife was with child by him, and that she would bring +forth a son who would bear the name of Vikramaditya and +be endowed with the strength of a thousand elephants. +The deserted wife was filled with sorrow at his departure, +and died in giving birth to Vikramaditya.<note place='foot'><q>Histoire des rois de l'Hindoustan,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal Asiatique</hi>, IVème +Série, iii. (1844) pp. 239-243. The +legend is told with modifications by +Captain Wilford (<q>Vicramaditya and +Salivahana,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Asiatic Researches</hi>, ix. +London, 1809, pp. 148 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>), Mrs. +Postans (<hi rend='italic'>Cutch</hi>, London, 1839, pp. +18-20), and Prof. Williams Jackson +(<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 314 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Stories of +the type of +Beauty and +the Beast, +which tell +how human +beings are +married to +beasts or +to animals +which temporarily +assume +human +form.</note> +This story belongs to a widely diffused type of tale +which in England is known by the name of Beauty and the +Beast. It relates how a beast, doffing its animal shape, +lives as a human husband or wife with a human spouse. +Often, though not always, their marriage has a tragic ending. +The couple live lovingly together for years and children are +born to them. But it is a condition of their union that the +transformed husband or wife should never be reminded of +his or her old life in furry, feathered, or finny form. At +last one unhappy day the fairy spouse finds his or her beast +skin, which had been carefully hidden away by her or his +loving partner; or husband and wife quarrel and the real +man or woman taunts the other with her or his kinship with +the beasts. The sight of the once familiar skin awakens old +memories and stirs yearnings that had been long suppressed: +the cruel words undo the kindness of years. The sometime +animal resumes its native shape and disappears, and the +human husband or wife is left lamenting. Sometimes, as in +the story of Gandharva-Sena, the destruction of the beast's +skin causes the fairy mate to vanish for ever; sometimes it +enables him or her to remain thenceforth in human form +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> +with the human wife or husband. Tales of this sort are told +by savages in many parts of the world, and many of them +have survived in the folk-lore of civilised peoples. With +their implied belief that beasts can turn into men or men +into beasts, they must clearly have originated among savages +who see nothing incredible in such transformations. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Stories of +this kind +are told by +savages to +explain +why they +abstain +from eating +certain +animals. +Dyak +stories of +this type.</note> +Now it is to be observed that stories of this sort are told +by savage tribes to explain why they abstain from eating +certain creatures. The reason they assign for the abstinence +is that they themselves are descended from a creature of +that sort, who was changed for a time into human shape +and married a human husband or wife. Thus in the rivers +of Sarawak there is a certain fish called a <foreign rend='italic'>puttin</foreign>, which some +of the Dyaks will on no account eat, saying that if they did +so they would be eating their relations. Tradition runs +that a solitary old man went out fishing and caught a +<foreign rend='italic'>puttin</foreign>, which he dragged out of the water and laid down in +his boat. On turning round he perceived that it had +changed into a very pretty girl. He thought she would +make a charming wife for his son, so he took her home and +brought her up till she was of an age to marry. She consented +to be his son's wife, but cautioned her husband to +use her well. Some time after marriage, however, he was +angry and struck her. She screamed and rushed away +into the water, leaving behind her a beautiful daughter who +became the mother of the race. Other Dyak tribes tell +similar stories of their ancestors.<note place='foot'>The Bishop of Labuan, <q>Wild +Tribes of Borneo,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the +Ethnological Society of London</hi>, New +Series, ii. (1863) pp. 26 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Thus the Sea Dyaks +relate how the white-headed hawk married a Sea Dyak +woman, and how he gave all his daughters in marriage to +the various omen-birds. Hence if a Sea Dyak kills an +omen-bird by mistake, he wraps it in a cloth and buries it +carefully in the earth along with rice, flesh, and money, +entreating the bird not to be vexed, and to forgive him, +because it was all an accident.<note place='foot'>Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, +<q>The Relations between Men and +Animals in Sarawak,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxxi. (1901) +pp. 197 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, a Kalamantan chief +and all his people refrain from killing and eating deer of a +certain species (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>cervulus muntjac</foreign>), because one of their +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> +ancestors became a deer of that kind, and as they cannot +distinguish his incarnation from common deer they spare +them all.<note place='foot'>Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 193.</note> In these latter cases the legends explaining the +kinship of the men with the animals are not given in full; +we can only conjecture, therefore, that they conform to the +type here discussed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Story told +by the Sea +Dyaks to +explain +how they +came to +plant rice +and to +revere the +omen-birds. +It describes +how the +young chief +Siu married +a woman +of the bird-family, +and +promised +her never +to hurt or +even touch +a bird.</note> +The Sea Dyaks also tell a story of the same sort to +explain how they first came to plant rice and to revere the +omen-birds which play so important a part in Dyak life. +Long, long ago, so runs the tale, when rice was yet unknown, +and the Dyaks lived on tapioca, yams, potatoes, and such +fruits as they could procure, a handsome young chief named +Siu went out into the forest with his blow-pipe to shoot +birds. He wandered without seeing a bird or meeting an +animal till the sun was sinking in the west. Then he came +to a wild fig-tree covered with ripe fruit, which a swarm of +birds of all kinds were busy pecking at. Never in his life +had he seen so many birds together! It seemed as if all +the fowls of the forest were gathered in the boughs of that +tree. He killed a great many with the poisoned darts of +his blow-pipe, and putting them in his basket started for +home. But he lost his way in the wood, and the night had +fallen before he saw the lights and heard the usual sounds +of a Dyak house. Hiding his blow-pipe and the dead birds +in the jungle, he went up the ladder into the house, but +what was his surprise to find it apparently deserted. There +was no one in the long verandah, and of the people whose +voices he had heard a minute before not one was to be +seen. Only in one of the many rooms, dimly lighted, he +found a beautiful girl, who prepared for him his evening +meal. Now though Siu did not know it, the house was the +house of the great Singalang Burong, the Ruler of the Spirit +World. He could turn himself and his followers into any +shape. When they went forth against an enemy they took +the form of birds for the sake of speed, and flew over the +tall trees, the broad rivers, and even the sea. But in his +own house and among his own people Singalang Burong +appeared as a man. He had eight daughters, and the girl +who cooked Siu's food for him was the youngest. The +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> +reason why the house was so still and deserted was that the +people were in mourning for some of their relatives who had +just been killed, and the men had gone out to take human +heads in revenge. Siu stayed in the house for a week, and +then the girl, whose pet name was Bunsu Burong or <q>the +youngest of the bird family,</q> agreed to marry him; but she +said he must promise never to kill or hurt a bird or even to +hold one in his hands; for if he did, she would be his wife +no more. Siu promised, and together they returned to his +people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>But one +day he +broke his +word, and +his bird-wife +left +him and +returned to +the bird-people.</note> +There they lived happily, and in time Siu's wife bore +him a son whom they named Seragunting. One day when +the boy had grown wonderfully tall and strong for his years +and was playing with his fellows, a man brought some birds +which he had caught in a trap. Forgetting the promise he +had made to his wife, Siu asked the man to shew him the +birds, and taking one of them in his hand he stroked it. +His wife saw it and was sad at heart. She took the pitchers +and went as though she would fetch water from the well. +But she never came back. Siu and his son sought her, +sorrowing, for days. At last after many adventures they +came to the house of the boy's grandfather, Singalang +Burong, the Ruler of the Spirit World. There they found +the lost wife and mother, and there they stayed for a time. +But the heart of Siu yearned to his old home. He +would fain have persuaded his wife to return with him, but +she would not. So at last he and his son went back alone. +But before he went he learned from his father-in-law how to +plant rice, and how to revere the sacred birds and to draw +omens from them. These birds were named after the sons-in-law +of the Ruler of the Spirit World and were the +appointed means whereby he made known his wishes to +mankind. That is how the Sea Dyaks learned to plant rice +and to honour the omen-birds.<note place='foot'>Rev. E. H. Gomes, <q>Two Sea +Dyak Legends,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Straits +Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society</hi>, +No. 41 (January 1904, Singapore), pp. +12-28; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Seventeen Years among the +Sea Dyaks of Borneo</hi> (London, 1911), +pp. 278 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Stories of +the same +sort are +told by the +Tshi-speaking +negroes of +the Gold +Coast to +explain +why they +do not eat +their +totemic +animals.</note> +Stories of the same kind meet us on the west coast of +Africa. Thus the Tshi-speaking negroes of the Gold Coast +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> +are divided into a number of great families or clans, mostly +named after animals or plants, and the members of a clan +refrain from eating animals of the species whose name they +bear. In short, the various animals or plants are the totems +of their respective clans. Now some of the more recent of +these clans possess traditions of their origin, and in such +cases the founder of the family, from whom the name is +derived, is always represented as having been a beast, bird, +or fish, which possessed the power of assuming human shape +at will. Thus, for instance, at the town of Chama there resides +a family or clan who take their name from the <foreign rend='italic'>sarfu</foreign> or +horse-mackerel, which they may not eat because they are +descended from a horse-mackerel. One day, so runs the +story, a native of Chama who had lost his wife was +walking sadly on the beach, when he met a beautiful young +woman whom he persuaded to be his wife. She consented, +but told him that her home lay in the sea, that her people +were fishes, and that she herself was a fish, and she made +him swear that he would never allude to her old home and +kinsfolk. All went well for a time till her husband took +a second wife, who quarrelled with the first wife and taunted +her with being a fish. That grieved her so that she bade +her husband good-bye and plunged into the sea with her +youngest child in her arms. But she left her two elder +children behind, and from them are descended the Horse-mackerel +people of Chama. A similar story is told of +another family in the town of Appam. Their ancestor +caught a fine fish of the sort called <foreign rend='italic'>appei</foreign>, which turned into +a beautiful woman and became his wife. But she told him +that in future neither they nor their descendants might eat +the <foreign rend='italic'>appei</foreign> fish or else they would at once return to the sea. +The family, duly observing the prohibition, increased and +multiplied till they occupied the whole country, which was +named after them Appeim or Appam.<note place='foot'>A. B. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast</hi> (London, 1887), +pp. 204-212.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Stories of +this sort +were probably +at +first always +told to +explain +the totemic +belief in +the kinship +of certain +families +with certain +species of +animals. +When +husband +and wife +had different +totems, +a violation +of the +totemic +taboos by +husband +or wife +might lead +to the +separation +of the +spouses. +This would +explain the +separation +of husband +and wife +in the type +of tale here +discussed.</note> +We may surmise that stories of this sort, wherever found, +had a similar origin; in other words, that they reflect and +are intended to explain a real belief in the kinship of certain +families with certain species of animals. Hence if the name +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +totemism may be used to include all such beliefs and the +practices based on them, the origin of this type of story may +be said to be totemic.<note place='foot'>The type of story in question has +been discussed by Mr. Andrew Lang +in a well-known essay <q>Cupid, Psyche, +and the Sun-Frog,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Custom and Myth</hi> +(London, 1884), pp. 64-86. He rightly +explains all such tales as based on savage +taboos, but so far as I know he does not +definitely connect them with totemism. +For other examples of these tales +told by savages see W. Lederbogen, +<q>Duala Märchen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen des +Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu +Berlin</hi>, v. (1902) Dritte Abtheilung, +pp. 139-145 (the Duala tribe of +Cameroons; in one tale the wife is a +palm-rat, in the other a <foreign rend='italic'>mpondo</foreign>, a +hard brown fruit as large as a coconut); +R. H. Nassau, <hi rend='italic'>Fetichism in West +Africa</hi> (London, 1904), pp. 351-358 +(West Africa; wife a forest-rat); G. +H. Smith, <q>Some Betsimisaraka Superstitions,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>The Antananarivo Annual +and Madagascar Magazine</hi>, No. 10 +(Christmas, 1886), pp. 241 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; R. H. +Codrington, <hi rend='italic'>The Melanesians</hi>, pp. 172, +397 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (Melanesia; wife a bird, husband +an owl); A. F. van Spreeuwenberg, +<q>Een blik op Minahassa,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Neêrland's Indië</hi>, +1846, Erste deel, pp. 25-28 (the +Bantiks of Celebes; wife a white dove); +J. H. F. Kohlbrugge, <q>Die Tenggeresen, +ein alter Javanischer Volksstaam,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en +Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, +iiii. (1901) pp. 97-99 (the Tenggeres +of Java; wife a bird); J. Fanggidaej, +<q>Rottineesche Verhalen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen +tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van +Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, lviii. (1905), pp. +430-436 (island of Rotti; husband +a crocodile); J. Kubary, <q>Die +Religion der Pelauer,</q> in A. Bastian's +<hi rend='italic'>Allerlei aus Volkes- und Menschenkunde</hi> +(Berlin, 1888), i. 60 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (Pelew Islands; +wife a fish); A. R. McMahon, <hi rend='italic'>The +Karens of the Golden Chersonese</hi>, pp. +248-250 (Karens of Burma; husband a +tree-lizard); Landes, <q>Contes Tjames,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Cochinchine française, excursions et +reconnaissances</hi>, No. 29 (Saigon, 1887), +pp. 53 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> (Chams of Cochin-China; +husband a coco-nut); A. Certeux and +E. H. Carnoy, <hi rend='italic'>L'Algérie traditionnelle</hi> +(Paris and Algiers, 1884), pp. 87-89 +(Arabs of Algeria; wife a dove); J. G. +Kohl, <hi rend='italic'>Kitschi-Gami</hi> (Bremen, 1858), +i. 140-145 (Ojebway Indians; wife a +beaver); Franz Boas and George Hunt, +<hi rend='italic'>Kwakiutl Texts</hi>, ii. 322-330 (<hi rend='italic'>The +Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir +of the American Museum of Natural +History</hi>) (Kwakiutl Indians; wife a +salmon); J. R. Swanton, <hi rend='italic'>Haida Texts +and Myths</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Bureau of American Ethnology, +Bulletin</hi>, No. 29, Washington, +1905), pp. 286 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (Haida Indians; +wife a killer-whale); H. Rink, <hi rend='italic'>Tales +and Traditions of the Eskimo</hi>, pp. 146 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (Esquimaux; wife a sea-fowl). The +Bantik story is told to explain the origin +of the people; the Tenggeres story is +told to explain why it is forbidden to +lift the lid of a basket in which rice is +being boiled. The other stories referred +to in this note are apparently told +as fairy tales only, but we may conjecture +that they too were related originally +to explain a supposed relationship +of human beings to animals or plants. +I have already illustrated and explained +this type of story in <hi rend='italic'>Totemism and +Exogamy</hi>, vol. ii. pp. 55, 206, 308, +565-571, 589, iii. 60-64, 337 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Now, wherever the totemic clans +have become exogamous, that is, wherever a man is always +obliged to marry a woman of a totem different from his own, +it is obvious that husband and wife will always have to observe +different totemic taboos, and that a want of respect shewn +by one of them for the sacred animal or plant of the other +would tend to domestic jars, which might often lead to the +permanent separation of the spouses, the offended wife or +husband returning to her or his native clan of the fish-people, +the bird-people, or what not. That, I take it, was the origin +of the sad story of the man or woman happily mated with +a transformed animal and then parted for ever. Such tales, +if I am right, were not wholly fictitious. Totemism may +have broken many loving hearts. But when that ancient +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> +system of society had fallen into disuse, and the ideas on +which it was based had ceased to be understood, the quaint +stories of mixed marriages to which it had given birth would +not be at once forgotten. They would continue to be told, +no longer indeed as myths explanatory of custom, but merely +as fairy tales for the amusement of the listeners. The +barbarous features of the old legends, which now appeared +too monstrously incredible even for story-tellers, would be +gradually discarded and replaced by others which fitted in +better with the changed beliefs of the time. Thus in +particular the animal husband or animal wife of the story +might drop the character of a beast to assume that of a +fairy. This is the stage of decay exhibited by the two +most famous tales of the class in question, the Greek +fable of Cupid and Psyche and the Indian story of +King Pururavas and the nymph Urvasi, though in the +latter we can still detect hints that the fairy wife was once +a bird-woman.<note place='foot'>The fable of Cupid and Psyche is +only preserved in the Latin of Apuleius +(<hi rend='italic'>Metamorph.</hi> iv. 28-vi. 24), but we +cannot doubt that the original was +Greek. For the story of Pururavas and +Urvasi, see <hi rend='italic'>The Rigveda</hi>, x. 95 (<hi rend='italic'>Hymns +of the Rigveda</hi>, translated by R. T. H. +Griffith, vol. iv. Benares, 1892, pp. +304 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>); <hi rend='italic'>Satapatha Brahmana</hi>, +translated by J. Eggeling, part v. pp. +68-74 (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books of the East</hi>, vol. +xliv.); and the references in <hi rend='italic'>The +Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, +vol. ii. p. 250, note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi>. A clear trace of +the bird-nature of Urvasi occurs in the +<hi rend='italic'>Satapatha Brahmana</hi> (Part v. p. 70 of +J. Eggeling's translation), where the +sorrowing husband finds his lost wife +among nymphs who are swimming +about in the shape of swans or ducks +on a lotus-covered lake. This has +been already pointed out by Th. +Benfey (<hi rend='italic'>Pantschatantra</hi>, i. 264). In +English the type of tale is known as +<q>Beauty and the Beast,</q> which ought +to include the cases in which the wife, +as well as those in which the husband, +appears as an animal. On stories of +this sort, especially in the folklore of +civilised peoples, see Th. Benfey, +<hi rend='italic'>Pantschatantra</hi>, i. 254 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; W. R. S. +Ralston, Introduction to F. A. von +Schiefner's <hi rend='italic'>Tibetan Tales</hi>, pp. xxxvii.-xxxix.; +A. Lang, <hi rend='italic'>Custom and Myth</hi> +(London, 1884), pp. 64 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; S. Baring-Gould, +<hi rend='italic'>Curious Myths of the Middle +Ages</hi>, pp. 561-578; E. Cosquin, <hi rend='italic'>Contes +populaires de Lorraine</hi>, ii. 215-230; +W. A. Clouston, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Tales and +Fictions</hi>, i. 182-191; Miss M. Roalfe +Cox, <hi rend='italic'>Introduction to Folklore</hi> (London, +1895) pp. 120-123.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The story +of the +parentage +of Vikramaditya +may point +to a line of +kings who +had the +ass for +their crest +or totem. +Similarly +the Maharajahs +of +Nagpur +have the +cobra for +their crest +and the +origin of +the crest is +explained +by a story +of the type +of Beauty +and the +Beast.</note> +It would, no doubt, be a mistake to suppose that totemism, +or a system of taboos resembling it, must have existed +wherever such stories are told; for it is certain that popular +tales spread by diffusion from tribe to tribe and nation to +nation, till they may be handed down by oral tradition +among people who neither practise nor even understand the +customs in which the stories originated. Yet the legend of +the miraculous parentage of Vikramaditya may very well +have been based on the existence at Ujjain of a line of +rajahs who had the ass for their crest or totem.<note place='foot'>In the ruins of Raipoor, supposed +to be the ancient Mandavie, coins are +found bearing the image of an ass; +and the legend of the transformation +of Gandharva-Sena into an ass is told +to explain their occurrence. The coins +are called Gandharva pice. See Mrs. +Postans, <hi rend='italic'>Cutch</hi> (London, 1839), pp. +17 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 22.</note> Such a +custom is not without analogy in India. The crest of the +Maharajah of Nagpur is a cobra with a human face under +its expanded hood, surrounded by all the insignia of royalty. +Moreover, the Rajah and the chief members of his family +always wear turbans so arranged that they resemble a coiled +serpent with its head projecting over the wearer's brow. To +explain this serpent badge a tale is told which conforms to +the type of Beauty and the Beast. Once upon a time a +Nag or serpent named Pundarika took upon himself the +likeness of a Brahman, and repaired in that guise to the +house of a real Brahman at Benares, in order to perfect +himself in a knowledge of the sacred books. The teacher +was so pleased with the progress made by his pupil that he +gave him his only child, the beautiful Parvati, to wife. But +the subtle serpent, though he could assume any form at +pleasure, was unable to rid himself of his forked tongue and +foul breath. To conceal these personal blemishes from his +wife he always slept with his back to her. One night, +however, she got round him and discovered his unpleasant +peculiarities. She questioned him sharply, and to divert +her attention he proposed that they should make a pilgrimage +to Juggernaut. The idea of visiting that fashionable +watering-place so raised the lady's spirits that she quite forgot +to pursue the enquiry. However, on their way home her +curiosity revived, and she repeated her questions under +circumstances which rendered it impossible for the serpent, +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> +as a tender husband, to evade them, though well he knew +that the disclosure he was about to make would sever him, +the immortal, at once and for ever from his mortal wife. He +related the wondrous tale, and, plunging into a pool, disappeared +from sight. His poor wife was inconsolable at his +hurried departure, and in the midst of her grief and remorse +her child was born. But instead of rejoicing at the birth, +she made for herself a funeral pyre and perished in the +flames. At that moment a Brahman appeared on the scene, +and perceived the forsaken babe lying sheltered and guarded +by a great hooded snake. It was the serpent father protecting +his child. Addressing the Brahman, he narrated his +history, and foretold that the child should be called Phani-Makuta +Raya, that is, <q>the snake crowned,</q> and that he +should reign as rajah over the country to be called Nagpur. +That is why the rajahs of Nagpur have the serpent for their +crest.<note place='foot'>E. T. Dalton, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptive Ethnology +of Bengal</hi>, pp. 165 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, the rajahs of Manipur trace their descent +from a divine snake. At his installation a rajah of Manipur +used to have to pass with great solemnity between two +massive dragons of stone which stood in front of the +coronation house. Somewhere inside the building was a +mysterious chamber, and in the chamber was a pipe, which, +according to the popular belief, led down to the depths of a +cavern where dwells the snake god, the ancestor of the royal +family. The length and prosperity of the rajah's reign were +believed to depend on the length of time he could sit on the +pipe enduring the fiery breath of his serpentine forefather in +the place below. Women are specially devoted to the +worship of the ancestral snake, and great reverence is paid +them in virtue of their sacred office.<note place='foot'>T. C. Hodson, <q>The Native +Tribes of Manipur,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxxi. (1901) +pp. 302, 304.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The parallelism between the legends of Nagpur and Ujjain +may be allowed to strengthen my conjecture that, if we have +a race of royal serpents in the one place, there may well have +been a race of royal asses in the other; indeed such dynasties +have perhaps not been so rare as might be supposed. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IV. The Supply Of Kings.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Stories of +the type of +Beauty and +the Beast +are not +mere +fictions, +but rest on +a real basis +of belief +and +custom. +Similarly +the legend +of kings +who were +sacrificed +after a +reign of a +single day +has its +analogy in +actual +custom. +Such +stories indicate +that +the supply +of kings +may have +been maintained +by +compelling +men to +accept the +fatal sovereignty.</note> +Tales of the foregoing sort might be dismissed as fictions +designed to amuse a leisure hour, were it not for their +remarkable agreement with beliefs and customs which, as we +have seen, still exist, or are known to have existed in former +times. That agreement can hardly be accidental. We +seem to be justified, therefore, in assuming that stories +of the kind really rest on a basis of facts, however much +these facts may have been distorted or magnified in passing +through the mind of the story-teller, who is naturally more +concerned to amuse than instruct his hearers. Even the +legend of a line of kings of whom each reigned for a single +day, and was sacrificed at night for the good of the people, +will hardly seem incredible when we remember that to this +day a kingdom is held on a similar tenure in west Africa, +though under modern conditions the throne stands vacant.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +And while it would be vain to rely on such stories for exact +historical details, yet they may help us in a general way to +understand the practical working of an institution which to +civilised men seems at first sight to belong to the cloudland +of fancy rather than to the sober reality of the workaday +world. Remark, for example, how in these stories the +supply of kings is maintained. In the Indian tradition all +the men of the city are put on a list, and each of them, +when his turn comes, is forced to reign for a day and to die +the death. It is not left to his choice to decide whether he +will accept the fatal sovereignty or not. In the <hi rend='italic'>High +History of the Holy Grail</hi> the mode of filling the vacant +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> +throne is different. A stranger, not a citizen, is seized and +compelled to accept office. In the end, no doubt, the dwarf +volunteers to be king, thus saving Lancelot's life; but the +narrative plainly implies that if a substitute had not thus +been found, Lancelot would have been obliged, whether he +would or not, to wear the crown and to perish in the fire. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Our conceptions +of the +primitive +kingship +are apt to +be coloured +and falsified +by +ideas borrowed +from +the very +different +monarchies +of modern +Europe.</note> +In thus representing the succession to a throne as compulsory, +the stories may well preserve a reminiscence of a +real custom. To us, indeed, who draw our ideas of kingship +from the hereditary and highly privileged monarchies of +civilised Europe, the notion of thrusting the crown upon +reluctant strangers or common citizens of the lowest rank is +apt to appear fantastic and absurd. But that is merely +because we fail to realise how widely the modern type of +kingship has diverged from the ancient pattern. In early +times the duties of sovereignty are more conspicuous than +its privileges. At a certain stage of development the chief +or king is rather the minister or servant than the ruler of +his people. The sacred functions which he is expected to +discharge are deemed essential to the welfare, and even the +existence, of the community, and at any cost some one must +be found to perform them. Yet the burdens and restrictions +of all sorts incidental to the early kingship are such that not +merely in popular tales, but in actual practice, compulsion +has sometimes been found necessary to fill vacancies, while +elsewhere the lack of candidates has caused the office to fall +into abeyance, or even to be abolished altogether.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, vol. ii. p. 4; <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the +Perils of the Soul</hi>, pp. 17 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> And +where death stared the luckless monarch in the face at the +end of a brief reign of a few months or days, we need not +wonder that gaols had to be swept and the dregs of society +raked to find a king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In other +races and +other ages +many men +may +have been +willing to +accept a +kingdom +on condition of +being killed +at the end +of a short +reign. +Various +causes have +contributed +to intensify +the fear of +death in +modern +Europe.</note> +Yet we should doubtless err if we supposed that under +such hard conditions men could never be found ready and +even eager to accept the sovereignty. A variety of causes +has led the modern nations of western Europe to set on +human life—their own life and that of others—a higher value +than is put upon it by many other races. The result is a +fear of death which is certainly not shared in the same +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +degree of intensity by some peoples whom we in our self-complacency +are accustomed to regard as our inferiors. +Among the causes which thus tend to make us cowards may +be numbered the spread of luxury and the doctrines of a +gloomy theology, which by proclaiming the eternal damnation +and excruciating torments of the vast majority of mankind +has added incalculably to the dread and horror of death. +The growth of humaner sentiments, which seldom fails to +effect a corresponding amelioration in the character even of +the gods, has indeed led many Protestant divines of late years +to temper the rigour of the divine justice with a large infusion +of mercy by relegating the fires of hell to a decent +obscurity or even extinguishing them altogether. But these +lurid flames appear to blaze as fiercely as ever in the more +conservative theology of the Catholic Church.<note place='foot'>See Dr. Joseph Bautz, <hi rend='italic'>Die Hölle, +im Anschluss an die Scholastik dargestellt</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Mainz, 1905). Dr. Bautz holds +that the damned burn in eternal darkness +and eternal fire somewhere in +the bowels of the earth. He is, let us +hope in more senses than one, an +extraordinary professor of theology at +the University of Münster, and his +book is published with the approbation +of the Catholic Church.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Evidence +of the comparative +indifference +to death +displayed +by other +races. +Absence of +the fear of +death in +India and +Annam.</note> +It would be easy to accumulate evidence of the indifference +or apathy exhibited in presence of death by races whom +we commonly brand as lower. A few examples must here +suffice. Speaking of the natives of India an English writer +observes: <q>We place the highest value on life, while they, +being blessed with a comfortable fatalism, which assumes +that each man's destiny is written on his forehead in invisible +characters, and being besides untroubled with any doubts or +thoughts as to the nature of their reception in the next +world, take matters of life and death a great deal more +unconcernedly, and, compared with our ideas, they may be +said to present an almost apathetic indifference on these +subjects.</q><note place='foot'>R. H. Elliot, <hi rend='italic'>Experiences of a +Planter in the Jungles of Mysore</hi> +(London, 1871), i. 95.</note> To the same effect another English writer +remarks that <q>the absence of that fear of death, which is so +powerful in the hearts of civilised men, is the most remarkable +trait in the Hindu character.</q><note place='foot'>Mrs. Postans, <hi rend='italic'>Cutch</hi> (London, +1839), p. 168.</note> Among the natives of +Annam, according to a Catholic missionary, <q>the subject +of death has nothing alarming for anybody. In presence +of a sick man people will speak of his approaching end +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +and of his funeral as readily as of anything else. Hence +we never need to take the least verbal precaution in +warning the sick to prepare themselves to receive the +last sacraments. Some time ago I was summoned to a +neophyte whose death, though certain, was still distant. On +entering the house I found a woman seated at his bedside +sewing the mourning dresses of the family. Moreover, the +carpenter was fitting together the boards of the coffin quite +close to the door of the house, so that the dying man could +observe the whole proceeding from his bed. The worthy +man superintended personally all these details and gave +directions for each of the operations. He even had for his +pillow part of the mourning costume which was already +finished. I could tell you a host of anecdotes of the same +sort.</q> Among these people it is a mark of filial piety to +present a father or mother with a coffin; the presentation is +the occasion of a family festival to which all friends are +invited. Pupils display their respect for their masters in the +same fashion. Bishop Masson, whose letter I have just +quoted, was himself presented with a fine coffin by some of +his converts as a New Year gift and a token of their respect +and affection; they invited his attention particularly to the +quality of the wood and the beauty of the workmanship.<note place='foot'>Mgr. Masson, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de la Propagation de la Foi</hi>, xxiv. (1852) pp. +324 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Absence of +the fear of +death +among the +American +Indians.</note> +With regard to the North American Indians a writer +who knew them well has said that among them <q>the idea +of immortality is strongly dwelt upon. It is not spoken of +as a supposition or a mere belief, not fixed. It is regarded +as an actuality,—as something known and approved by the +judgment of the nation. During the whole period of my +residence and travels in the Indian country, I never knew +and never heard of an Indian who did not believe in it, and +in the reappearance of the body in a future state. However +mistaken they are on the subject of accountabilities for acts +done in the present life, no small part of their entire mythology, +and the belief that sustains the man in his vicissitudes +and wanderings here, arises from the anticipation of ease and +enjoyment in a future condition, after the soul has left the +body. The resignation, nay, the alacrity with which an +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +Indian frequently lies down and surrenders life, is to be +ascribed to this prevalent belief. He does not fear to go to +a land which, all his life long, he has heard abounds in +rewards without punishments.</q><note place='foot'>H. R. Schoolcraft, <hi rend='italic'>Indian Tribes +of the United States</hi>, ii. (Philadelphia, +1853), p. 68.</note> Another traveller, who saw +much of the South American Indians, asserts that they +surpass the beasts in their insensibility to hardship and pain, +never complaining in sickness nor even when they are being +killed, and exhibiting in their last moments an apathetic +indifference untroubled by any misgiving as to the future.<note place='foot'>F. de Azara, <hi rend='italic'>Voyages dans l'Amérique +Méridionale</hi>, ii. 181.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Apathy of +savages +under +sentence +of death.</note> +Wholesale butcheries of human beings were perpetrated +till lately in the name of religion in the west African +kingdom of Dahomey. As to the behaviour of the victims +we are told that <q>almost invariably, those doomed to die +exhibit the greatest coolness and unconcern. The natural +dread of death which the instinct of self-preservation has +implanted in every breast, often leads persons who are liable +to be seized for immolation to endeavour to escape; but +once they are seized and bound, they resign themselves to +their fate with the greatest apathy. This is partly due to +the less delicate nervous system of the negro; but one +reason, and that not the least, is that they have nothing to +fear. As has been said, they have but to undergo a surgical +operation and a change of place of residence; there is no +uncertain future to be faced, and, above all, there is an +entire absence of that notion of a place of terrible punishment +which makes so many Europeans cowards when face +to face with death.</q><note place='foot'>A. B. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>The Ewe-speaking +Peoples of the Slave Coast</hi>, p. 127. +The testimony of a soldier on such a +point is peculiarly valuable.</note> One of the earliest European settlers +on the coast of Brazil has remarked on the indifference +exhibited by the Indian prisoners who were about to be +massacred by their enemies. He conversed with the +captives, men young, strong, and handsome. To his +question whether they did not fear the death that was so +near and so appalling, they replied with laughter and +mockery. When he spoke of ransoming them from their +foes, they jeered at the cowardice of Europeans.<note place='foot'>A. Thevet, <hi rend='italic'>Les Singularitez de +la France Antarctique</hi> (Antwerp, +1558), pp. 74 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Cosmographie +universelle</hi> (Paris, 1575), p. 945 +[979].</note> The +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> +Khonds of India practised an extensive system of human +sacrifice, of which we shall hear more in the sequel. The +victims, known as Meriahs, were kept for years to be +sacrificed, and their manner of death was peculiarly horrible, +since they were hacked to pieces or slowly roasted alive. +Yet when these destined victims were rescued by the English +officers who were engaged in putting down the custom, they +generally availed themselves of any opportunity to escape +from their deliverers and returned to their fate.<note place='foot'>My informant was the late Captain +W. C. Robinson, formerly of the 2nd +Bombay Europeans (Company's Service), +afterwards resident at 15 Chesterton +Hall Crescent, Cambridge. He +learned the facts in the year 1853 from +his friend Captain Gore, of the 29th +Madras Native Infantry, who rescued +some of the victims.</note> In Uganda +there were formerly many sacrificial places where human +victims used to be slaughtered or burned to death, sometimes +in hundreds, from motives of superstition. <q>Those +who have taken part in these executions bear witness how +seldom a victim, whether man or woman, raised his voice to +protest or appeal against the treatment meted out to him. +The victims went to death (so they thought) to save their +country and race from some calamity, and they laid down +their lives without a murmur or a struggle.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 338.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Further, +men of +other races +often +sacrifice +their lives +voluntarily +for reasons +which +seem to us +wholly inadequate. Thus +people +have freely +allowed +themselves +to be killed +in order to +accompany +their dead +ruler to the +other +world.</note> +But it is not merely that men of other races and other +religions submit to inevitable death with an equanimity +which modern Europeans in general cannot match; they often +actually seek and find it for reasons which seem to us wholly +inadequate. The motives which lead them to sacrifice their +lives are very various. Among them religious fanaticism +has probably been one of the commonest, and in the preceding +pages we have met with many instances of voluntary +deaths incurred under its powerful impulse.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> But more +secular motives, such as loyalty, revenge, and an excessive +sensibility on the point of honour, have also driven multitudes +to throw away their lives with a levity which may +strike the average modern Englishman as bordering on +insanity. It may be well to illustrate this comparative +indifference to death by a few miscellaneous examples +drawn from different races. Thus, when the king of Benin +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> +died and was about to be lowered into the earth, his +favourites and servants used to compete with each other +for the privilege of being buried alive with his body in order +that they might attend and minister to him in the other +world. After the dispute was settled and the tomb had +closed over the dead and the living, sentinels were set to +watch it day and night. Next day the sepulchre would be +opened and some one would call down to the entombed +men to know what they were doing and whether any of +them had gone to serve the king. The answer was +commonly, <q>No, not yet.</q> The third day the same question +would be put, and a voice would reply that so-and-so had +gone to join his Majesty. The first to die was deemed the +happiest. In four or five days when no answer came up to +the question, and all was silent in the grave, the heir to the +throne was informed, and he signalised his accession by +kindling a fire on the tomb, roasting flesh at it, and distributing +the meat to the people.<note place='foot'>O. Dapper, <hi rend='italic'>Description de l'Afrique</hi> +(Amsterdam, 1686), p. 312; H. +Ling Roth, <hi rend='italic'>Great Benin</hi>, p. 43.</note> The daughter of a +Mbaya chief in South America, having been happily baptized +at the very point of death, was accorded Christian burial in +the church by the Jesuit missionary who had rescued her +like a brand from the burning. But an old heathen woman +of the tribe took it sadly to heart that her chief's daughter +should not be honoured with the usual human sacrifices. +So, drawing an Indian aside, she implored him to be so kind +as to knock her on the head, that she might go and serve +her young mistress in the Land of Souls. The savage +obligingly complied with her request, and the whole horde +begged the missionary that her body might be buried with +that of the chief's daughter. The Jesuit sternly refused. +He informed them that the girl was now with the angels, +and stood in need of no such attendant. As for the old +woman, he observed grimly that she had gone to a very +different place and would move in a very different circle of +society.<note place='foot'>R. Southey, <hi rend='italic'>History of Brazil</hi>, +iii. 391 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> When Otho committed suicide after the battle of +Bedriacum, some of his soldiers slew themselves at his pyre, +and their example was afterwards followed by many of their +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> +comrades in the armies which had marched with Otho to +meet Vitellius; their motive was not fear of the conqueror, +but purely loyalty and devotion to their emperor.<note place='foot'>Tacitus, <hi rend='italic'>Histor.</hi> ii. 49; Plutarch, +<hi rend='italic'>Otho</hi>, 17.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In the +East, +persons +sometimes +commit +suicide in +order to +avenge +themselves +on their +enemies. +Law of +retaliation +in a robber +caste of +southern +India.</note> +In the East that indifference to human life which seems +so strange to the Western mind often takes a peculiar form. +A man will sometimes kill himself merely in order to be +revenged on his foe, believing that his ghost will haunt and +torment the survivor, or expecting that punishment of some +sort will overtake the wretch who drove him to this extreme +step.<note place='foot'>R. Lasch, <q>Rache als Selbstmordmotiv,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lxxiv. (1898) pp. +37-39.</note> Among some peoples etiquette requires that if a man +commits suicide for this purpose, his enemy should at once +follow his example. To take a single example. There is +a caste of robbers in southern India among whom <q>the law +of retaliation prevails in all its rigour. If a quarrel takes +place, and somebody tears out his own eye or kills himself, +his adversary must do the same either to himself or to one +of his relations. The women carry this barbarity still +further. For a slight affront put on them, a sharp word +said to them, they will go and smash their head against the +door of her who offended them, and the latter is obliged +immediately to do the same. If a woman poisons herself +by drinking the juice of a poisonous herb, the other woman +who drove her to this violent death must poison herself +likewise; else her house will be burned, her cattle carried +off, and injuries of all kinds done her until satisfaction is +given. They extend this cruelty even to their own children. +Not long ago, a few steps from the church in which I have +the honour to write to you, two of these barbarians having +quarrelled, one of them ran to his house, took from it a +child of about four years, and crushed its head between two +stones in the presence of his enemy. The latter, without +exhibiting any emotion, took his nine-years' old daughter, +and, plunging a dagger into her breast, said, <q>Your child was +only four years old, mine was nine years old. Give me a +victim to equal her.</q> <q>Certainly,</q> replied the other, and +seeing at his side his eldest son, who was ready to be +married, he stabbed him four or five times with his dagger; +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +and, not content with shedding the blood of his two sons, he +killed his wife too, in order to oblige his enemy to murder +his wife in like manner. Lastly, a little girl and a baby at +the breast had also their throats cut, so that in a single day +seven persons were sacrificed to the vengeance of two bloodthirsty +men, more cruel than the most ferocious brutes. I +have actually in my church a young man who sought refuge +among us, wounded by a spear-thrust which his father +inflicted on him in order to kill him and thus oblige his foe +to slay his own son in like manner. The barbarian had +already stabbed two of his children on other occasions for +the same purpose. Such atrocious examples will seem to +you to partake more of fable than of truth; but believe me +that far from exaggerating, I could produce many others not +less tragical.</q><note place='foot'>Father Martin, Jesuit missionary, +in <hi rend='italic'>Lettres édifiantes et curieuses</hi>, Nouvelle +Édition, xi. (Paris, 1781), pp. +246-248. The letter was written at +Marava, in the mission of Madura, +8th November 1709. No doubt the +English Government has long since +done its best to suppress these +practices.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Contempt +of death +exhibited in +antiquity +by the +Thracians +and the +Gauls.</note> +The same contempt of death which many races have +exhibited in modern times was displayed in antiquity by the +hardy natives of Europe before Christianity had painted the +world beyond the grave in colours at which even their bold +spirits quailed. Thus, for example, at their banquets the +rude Thracians used to suspend a halter over a movable +stone and cast lots among themselves. The man on whom +the lot fell mounted the stone with a scimitar in his hand +and thrust his head into the noose. A comrade then rolled +the stone from under him, and while he did so the other +attempted to sever the rope with his scimitar. If he succeeded +he dropped to the ground and was saved; if he failed, +he was hanged, and his dying struggles were greeted with +peals of laughter by his fellows, who regarded the whole +thing as a capital joke.<note place='foot'>Seleucus, quoted by Athenaeus, +iv. 42, p. 155 <hi rend='smallcaps'>d e</hi>.</note> The Greek traveller Posidonius, +who visited Gaul early in the first century before our era, +records that among the Celts men were to be found who for +a sum of money or a number of jars of wine, which they +distributed among their kinsmen or friends, would allow +themselves to be publicly slaughtered in a theatre. They +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> +lay down on their backs upon a shield and a man came and +cut their throats with a sword.<note place='foot'>Posidonius, quoted by Athenaeus, +iv. 40, p. 154 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b c</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In ancient +Rome there +were men +willing to +be beheaded +for +a sum of +five <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>minae</foreign>.</note> +A Greek author, Euphorion of Chalcis, who lived in the +age when the eyes of all the world were turned on the great +conflict between Rome and Carthage for the mastery of the +Mediterranean, tells us that at Rome it was customary to +advertise for men who would consent to be beheaded with +an axe in consideration of receiving a sum of five <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>minae</foreign>, or +about twenty pounds of our money, to be paid after their +death to their heirs. Apparently there was no lack of +applicants for this hard-earned bounty; for we are informed +that several candidates would often compete for the privilege, +each of them arguing that he had the best right to be +cudgelled to death.<note place='foot'>Euphorion of Chalcis, quoted by +Athenaeus, iv. 40, p. 154 C; Eustathius +on Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Odyssey</hi>, xviii. 46, p. +1837.</note> Why were these men invited to be +beheaded for twenty pounds a piece? and why in response +to the invitation did they gratuitously, as it would seem, +express their readiness to suffer a much more painful death +than simple decapitation? The reasons are not stated by +Euphorion in the brief extract quoted from his work by +Athenaeus, the Greek writer who has also preserved for us +the testimony of Posidonius to the Gallic recklessness of life. +But the connexion in which Athenaeus cites both these +passages suggests that the intention of the Roman as of the +Gallic practice was merely to minister to the brutal pleasure +of the spectators; for he inserts his account of the customs in +a dissertation on banquets, and he had just before described +how hired ruffians fought and butchered each other at Roman +dinner-parties for the amusement of the tipsy guests.<note place='foot'>Athenaeus, iv. 39, p. 153 <hi rend='smallcaps'>e f</hi>, +quoting Nicolaus Damascenus.</note> Or +perhaps the men were wanted to be slaughtered at funerals, +for we know that at Rome a custom formerly prevailed of +sacrificing human beings at the tomb: the victims were +commonly captives or slaves,<note place='foot'>Tertullian, <hi rend='italic'>De spectaculis</hi>, 12. +The custom of sacrificing human beings +in honour of the dead, which has been +practised by many savage and barbarous +peoples, was in later times so far mitigated +at Rome that the destined victims +were allowed to fight each other, which +gave some of them a chance of surviving. +This mitigation of human sacrifice +is said to have been introduced by D. +Junius Brutus in the third century <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi> +(Livy, <hi rend='italic'>Epit.</hi> xvi.). It resembles the +change which I suppose to have taken +place at Nemi and other places, where, +if I am right, kings were at first put to +death inexorably at the end of a fixed +period, but were afterwards permitted +to defend themselves in single combat.</note> but they may sometimes have +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/> +been obtained by advertisement from among the class of +needy freemen. Such wretches in bidding against each +other may have pleaded as a reason for giving them the +preference that they really deserved for their crimes to die a +slow and painful death under the cudgel of the executioner. +This explanation of the custom, which I owe to my friend +Mr. W. Wyse, is perhaps the most probable. But it is also +possible, though the language of Euphorion does not +lend itself so well to this interpretation, that a cudgelling +preceded decapitation as part of the bargain. If that was +so, it would seem that the men were wanted to die as substitutes +for condemned criminals; for in old Rome capital +punishment was regularly inflicted in this fashion, the malefactors +being tied up to a post and scourged with rods before +they were beheaded with an axe.<note place='foot'>Livy, ii. 5. 8, xxvi. 13. 15, xxviii. +29. 11; Polybius, i. 7. 12, xi. 30. 2; +Th. Mommsen, <hi rend='italic'>Römisches Strafrecht</hi> +(Leipsic, 1899), pp. 916 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> There is nothing improbable +in the view that persons could be hired to suffer +the extreme penalty of the law instead of the real culprits. +We shall see that a voluntary substitution of the same sort is +reported on apparently good authority to be still occasionally +practised in China. However, it is immaterial to our purpose +whether these men perished to save others, to adorn a funeral, +or merely to gratify the Roman lust for blood. The one thing +that concerns us is that in the great age of Rome there were +to be found Romans willing, nay, eager to barter their lives +for a paltry sum of money of which they were not even to +have the enjoyment. No wonder that men made of that stuff +founded a great empire, and spread the terror of the Roman +arms from the Grampians to the tropics.<note place='foot'>Hiera Sykaminos (<foreign rend='italic'>Maharraka</foreign>), the +furthest point of the Roman dominion +in southern Egypt, lies within the +tropics. The empire did not reach +this its extreme limit till after the age +of Augustus. See Th. Mommsen, +<hi rend='italic'>Römische Geschichte</hi>, v. 594 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Strabo +speaks (xvii. 1. 48, p. 817) as if Syene, +which was held by a Roman garrison +of three cohorts, were within the +tropics; but that is a mistake.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Chinese +indifference +to death.</note> +The comparative indifference with which the Chinese +regard their lives is attested by the readiness with which +they commit suicide on grounds which often seem to the +European extremely trifling.<note place='foot'>For some evidence see J. H. Gray, +<hi rend='italic'>China</hi>, i. 329 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; H. Norman, <hi rend='italic'>The +Peoples and Politics of the Far East</hi> +(London, 1905), pp. 277 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> On this +subject the Rev. Dr. W. T. A. Barber, +Headmaster of the Leys School, Cambridge, +formerly a missionary in China, +writes to me as follows (3rd February +1902):—<q>Undoubtedly the Eastern, +through his belief in Fate, has comparatively +little fear of death. I have +sometimes seen the Chinese in great fear; +but, on the other hand, I have saved at +least a hundred lives of people who had +swallowed opium out of spite against +some one else, the idea being, first, the +trouble given by minions of the law to +the survivor; second, that the dead +would gain a vantage ground by +becoming a ghost, and thus able +to plague his enemy in the flesh. +Probably blind anger has more to do +with it than either of these causes. +But the particular mode would not +ordinarily occur to a Western. I am +bound to say that in many cases the +patient was ready enough to take my +medicines, but mostly it was the friends +who were most eager, and exceedingly +rarely did I receive thanks from the +rescued.</q></note> A still more striking proof +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> +of their apathy in this respect is furnished by the readiness +with which in China a man can be induced to suffer death +for a sum of money to be paid to his relatives. Thus, for +example, <q>one of the most wealthy of the aboriginal tribes, +called Shurii-Kia-Miau, is remarkable for the practice of a +singular and revolting religious ceremony. The people +possess a large temple, in which is an idol in the form of +a dog. They resort to this shrine on a certain day every +year to worship. At this annual religious festival it is, I +believe, customary for the wealthy members of the tribe to +entertain their poorer brethren at a banquet given in honour +of one who has agreed, for a sum of money paid to his +family, to allow himself to be offered as a sacrifice on the +altar of the dog idol. At the end of the banquet the victim, +having drunk wine freely, is put to death before the idol. +This people believe that, were they to neglect this rite, they +would be visited with pestilence, famine, or the sword.</q><note place='foot'>J. H. Gray (Archdeacon of Hong-kong), +<hi rend='italic'>China</hi> (London, 1878), ii. 306.</note> +Further, it is said that in China a man condemned to death +can procure a substitute, who, for a small sum, will voluntarily +consent to be executed in his stead. The money goes +to the substitute's kinsfolk, and since to increase the family +prosperity at the expense of personal suffering is regarded +by the Chinese as an act of the highest virtue, there is reported +to be, just as there used to be in ancient Rome, quite +a competition among the candidates for death. Such a substitution +is even recognised by the Chinese authorities, except +in the case of certain grave crimes, as for instance parricide. +The local mandarin is probably not averse to the arrangement, +for he is said to make a pecuniary profit by the transaction, +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> +engaging a substitute for a less sum than he received from +the condemned man, and pocketing the difference.<note place='foot'>The particulars in the text are +taken, with Lord Avebury's kind permission, +from a letter addressed to him +by Mr. M. W. Lampson of the Foreign +Office. See Note A at the end of the +volume. Speaking of capital punishment +in China, Professor E. H. Parker +says: <q>It is popularly stated that substitutes +can be bought for Taels 50, and +most certainly this statement is more +than true, so far as the price of human +life is concerned; but it is quite +another question whether the gaolers +and judges can always be bribed</q> (E. +H. Parker, Professor of Chinese at the +Owens College, Manchester, <hi rend='italic'>China +Past and Present</hi>, London, 1903, pp. +378 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). However, from his personal +enquiries Professor Parker is convinced +that in such matters the local +mandarin can do what he pleases, provided +that he observes the form of law +and gives no offence to his superiors.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>We must +not judge +of all men's +love of life +by our +own.</note> +The foregoing evidence may suffice to convince us that +we should commit a grievous error were we to judge all +men's love of life by our own, and to assume that others +cannot hold cheap what we count so dear. We shall never +understand the long course of human history if we persist +in measuring mankind in all ages and in all countries by +the standard, perhaps excellent but certainly narrow, of the +modern English middle class with their love of material comfort +and <q>their passionate, absorbing, almost bloodthirsty clinging +to life.</q> That class, of which I may say, in the words of +Matthew Arnold, that I am myself a feeble unit, doubtless +possesses many estimable qualities, but among them can +hardly be reckoned the rare and delicate gift of historical +imagination, the power of entering into the thoughts and +feelings of men of other ages and other countries, of conceiving +that they may regulate their life by principles which +do not square with ours, and may throw it away for objects +which to us might seem ridiculously inadequate.<note place='foot'>My friend, the late Sir Francis +Galton, mentioned in conversation a +phrase which described the fear of +death as <q>the Western (or European) +malady,</q> but he did not remember +where he had met with it. He wrote +to me (18th October 1902) that <q>our +fear of death is presumably much +greater than that of the barbarians who +were our far-back ancestors.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hence it is +probable +that in +some races +and at +some +periods of +history it +would be +easy to find +men willing +to accept a +kingdom +on condition +of +being killed +at the end +of a short +reign.</note> +To return, therefore, to the point from which we started, +we may safely assume that in some races, and at some +periods of history, though certainly not in the well-to-do +classes of England to-day, it might be easy to find men who +would willingly accept a kingdom with the certainty of being +put to death after a reign of a year or less. Where men are +ready, as they have been in Gaul, in Rome, and in China, to +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> +yield up their lives at once for a paltry sum of which they +are themselves to reap no benefit, would they not be willing +to purchase at the same price a year's tenure of a throne? +Among people of that sort the difficulty would probably be +not so much to find a candidate for the crown as to decide +between the conflicting claims of a multitude of competitors. +In point of fact we have heard of a Shilluk clamouring +to be made king on condition of being killed at the end of +a brief reign of a single day, and we have read how in +Malabar a crowd scrambled for the bloody head which +entitled the lucky man who caught it to be decapitated after +five years of unlimited enjoyment, and how at Calicut many +men used to rush cheerfully on death, not for a kingship of +a year, or even of an hour, but merely for the honour of +displaying their valour in a fruitless attack on the king.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref>, <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter V. Temporary Kings.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Annual +abdication +of kings +and their +places +temporarily +taken by +nominal +sovereigns. +Temporary +kings in +Cambodia.</note> +In some places the modified form of the old custom of regicide +which appears to have prevailed at Babylon<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> has been +further softened down. The king still abdicates annually for +a short time and his place is filled by a more or less nominal +sovereign; but at the close of his short reign the latter is +no longer killed, though sometimes a mock execution still +survives as a memorial of the time when he was actually +put to death. To take examples. In the month of Méac +(February) the king of Cambodia annually abdicated for +three days. During this time he performed no act of +authority, he did not touch the seals, he did not even receive +the revenues which fell due. In his stead there reigned a +temporary king called Sdach Méac, that is, King February. +The office of temporary king was hereditary in a family +distantly connected with the royal house, the sons succeeding +the fathers and the younger brothers the elder brothers, +just as in the succession to the real sovereignty. On a +favourable day fixed by the astrologers the temporary king +was conducted by the mandarins in triumphal procession. +He rode one of the royal elephants, seated in the royal +palanquin, and escorted by soldiers who, dressed in appropriate +costumes, represented the neighbouring peoples of +Siam, Annam, Laos, and so on. In place of the golden +crown he wore a peaked white cap, and his regalia, instead +of being of gold encrusted with diamonds, were of rough +wood. After paying homage to the real king, from whom +he received the sovereignty for three days, together with all +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> +the revenues accruing during that time (though this last +custom has been omitted for some time), he moved in +procession round the palace and through the streets of the +capital. On the third day, after the usual procession, the +temporary king gave orders that the elephants should +trample under foot the <q>mountain of rice,</q> which was a +scaffold of bamboo surrounded by sheaves of rice. The +people gathered up the rice, each man taking home a little +with him to secure a good harvest. Some of it was also taken +to the king, who had it cooked and presented to the monks.<note place='foot'>E. Aymonier, <hi rend='italic'>Notice sur le Cambodge</hi> +(Paris, 1875), p. 61; J. Moura, <hi rend='italic'>Le +Royaume du Cambodge</hi> (Paris, 1883), i. +327 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> For the connexion of the temporary +king's family with the royal house, +see E. Aymonier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 36 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Temporary +kings in +Siam in +former +days.</note> +In Siam on the sixth day of the moon in the sixth +month (the end of April) a temporary king is appointed, +who for three days enjoys the royal prerogatives, the real +king remaining shut up in his palace. This temporary king +sends his numerous satellites in all directions to seize and +confiscate whatever they can find in the bazaar and open +shops; even the ships and junks which arrive in harbour +during the three days are forfeited to him and must be +redeemed. He goes to a field in the middle of the city, +whither they bring a gilded plough drawn by gaily-decked +oxen. After the plough has been anointed and the oxen +rubbed with incense, the mock king traces nine furrows with +the plough, followed by aged dames of the palace scattering +the first seed of the season. As soon as the nine furrows +are drawn, the crowd of spectators rushes in and scrambles +for the seed which has just been sown, believing that, mixed +with the seed-rice, it will ensure a plentiful crop. Then the +oxen are unyoked, and rice, maize, sesame, sago, bananas, +sugar-cane, melons, and so on, are set before them; whatever +they eat first will, it is thought, be dear in the year following, +though some people interpret the omen in the opposite sense. +During this time the temporary king stands leaning against +a tree with his right foot resting on his left knee. From +standing thus on one foot he is popularly known as King +Hop; but his official title is Phaya Phollathep, <q>Lord +of the Heavenly Hosts.</q><note place='foot'>De la Loubère, <hi rend='italic'>Du royaume de Siam</hi> +(Amsterdam, 1691), i. 56 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Turpin, +<q>History of Siam,</q> in Pinkerton's +<hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, ix. 581 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Mgr. +Brugière, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de l'Association de +la Propagation de la Foi</hi>, v. (1831) pp. 188 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Pallegoix, <hi rend='italic'>Description du royaume +Thai ou Siam</hi> (Paris, 1854), i. 250; A. +Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die Völker des östlichen Asien</hi>, +iii. 305-309, 526-528. Bowring (<hi rend='italic'>Siam</hi>, +i. 158 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>) copies, as usual, from Pallegoix. +For a description of the ceremony +as observed at the present day, see E. +Young, <hi rend='italic'>The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe</hi> +(Westminster, 1898), pp. 210 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +representative of the king no longer +enjoys his old privilege of seizing any +goods that are exposed for sale along the +line of the procession. According to Mr. +Young, the ceremony is generally held +about the middle of May, and no one +is supposed to plough or sow till it is +over. According to Loubère the title +of the temporary king was <foreign rend='italic'>Oc-ya Kaou</foreign>, +or Lord of the Rice, and the office was +regarded as fatal, or at least calamitous +<q><foreign rend='italic'>funeste</foreign></q>) to him.</note> He is a sort of Minister of +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> +Agriculture; all disputes about fields, rice, and so forth, are +referred to him. There is moreover another ceremony in +which he personates the king. It takes place in the second +month (which falls in the cold season) and lasts three days. +He is conducted in procession to an open place opposite +the Temple of the Brahmans, where there are a number +of poles dressed like May-poles, upon which the Brahmans +swing. All the while that they swing and dance, the Lord +of the Heavenly Hosts has to stand on one foot upon a seat +which is made of bricks plastered over, covered with a white +cloth, and hung with tapestry. He is supported by a +wooden frame with a gilt canopy, and two Brahmans stand +one on each side of him. The dancing Brahmans carry +buffalo horns with which they draw water from a large +copper caldron and sprinkle it on the spectators; this is +supposed to bring good luck, causing the people to dwell in +peace and quiet, health and prosperity. The time during +which the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts has to stand on one +foot is about three hours. This is thought <q>to prove the +dispositions of the Devattas and spirits.</q> If he lets his foot +down <q>he is liable to forfeit his property and have his family +enslaved by the king; as it is believed to be a bad omen, +portending destruction to the state, and instability to the +throne. But if he stand firm he is believed to have gained +a victory over evil spirits, and he has moreover the privilege, +ostensibly at least, of seizing any ship which may enter the +harbour during these three days, and taking its contents, and +also of entering any open shop in the town and carrying +away what he chooses.</q><note place='foot'>Lieut.-Col. James Low, <q>On the +Laws of Muung Thai or Siam,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal +of the Indian Archipelago</hi>, i. (Singapore, +1847) p. 339; A. Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die +Völker des östlichen Asien</hi>, iii. 98, 314, +526 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Modern +custom of +temporary +kings in +Siam.</note> +Such were the duties and privileges of the Siamese King +Hop down to about the middle of the nineteenth century +or later. Under the reign of the late enlightened monarch +this quaint personage was to some extent both shorn of the +glories and relieved of the burden of his office. He still +watches, as of old, the Brahmans rushing through the air in +a swing suspended between two tall masts, each some ninety +feet high; but he is allowed to sit instead of stand, and, +although public opinion still expects him to keep his right +foot on his left knee during the whole of the ceremony, he +would incur no legal penalty were he, to the great chagrin +of the people, to put his weary foot to the ground. Other +signs, too, tell of the invasion of the East by the ideas and +civilisation of the West. The thoroughfares that lead to the +scene of the performance are blocked with carriages: lamp-posts +and telegraph posts, to which eager spectators cling +like monkeys, rise above the dense crowd; and, while a tatterdemalion +band of the old style, in gaudy garb of vermilion +and yellow, bangs and tootles away on drums and trumpets +of an antique pattern, the procession of barefooted soldiers +in brilliant uniforms steps briskly along to the lively strains +of a modern military band playing <q>Marching through +Georgia.</q><note place='foot'>E. Young, <hi rend='italic'>The Kingdom of the +Yellow Robe</hi>, pp. 212-217. The writer +tells us that though the Minister for +Agriculture still officiates at the Ploughing +Festival, he no longer presides at +the Swinging Festival; a different +nobleman is chosen every year to +superintend the latter.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Temporary +kings in +Samaracand +and +Upper +Egypt.</note> +On the first day of the sixth month, which was regarded +as the beginning of the year, the king and people of Samaracand +used to put on new clothes and cut their hair and +beards. Then they repaired to a forest near the capital +where they shot arrows on horseback for seven days. On +the last day the target was a gold coin, and he who hit it +had the right to be king for one day.<note place='foot'>Ed. Chavannes, <hi rend='italic'>Documents sur les +Tou-Kiue (Turcs) Occidentaux</hi> (St. +Petersburg, 1903), p. 133, note. The +documents collected in this volume are +translated from the Chinese.</note> In Upper Egypt on +the first day of the solar year by Coptic reckoning, that is, on +the tenth of September, when the Nile has generally reached +its highest point, the regular government is suspended for +three days and every town chooses its own ruler. This +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +temporary lord wears a sort of tall fool's cap and a long +flaxen beard, and is enveloped in a strange mantle. With +a wand of office in his hand and attended by men disguised +as scribes, executioners, and so forth, he proceeds to the +Governor's house. The latter allows himself to be deposed; +and the mock king, mounting the throne, holds a tribunal, +to the decisions of which even the governor and his officials +must bow. After three days the mock king is condemned +to death; the envelope or shell in which he was encased is +committed to the flames, and from its ashes the Fellah +creeps forth.<note place='foot'>C. B. Klunzinger, <hi rend='italic'>Bilder aus Oberägypten +der Wüste und dem Rothen +Meere</hi> (Stuttgart, 1877), pp. 180 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The custom perhaps points to an old practice +of burning a real king in grim earnest. In Uganda the +brothers of the king used to be burned, because it was not +lawful to shed the royal blood.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, +p. 243. For evidence of a practice of +burning divine personages, see <hi rend='italic'>Adonis, +Attis, Osiris</hi>, Second Edition, pp. 84 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 91 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 139 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Temporary +kings in +Morocco.</note> +The Mohammedan students of Fez, in Morocco, are +allowed to appoint a sultan of their own, who reigns for a +few weeks, and is known as <foreign rend='italic'>Sultan t-tulba</foreign>, <q>the Sultan of +the Scribes.</q> This brief authority is put up for auction and +knocked down to the highest bidder. It brings some substantial +privileges with it, for the holder is freed from taxes +thenceforward, and he has the right of asking a favour from +the real sultan. That favour is seldom refused; it usually +consists in the release of a prisoner. Moreover, the agents +of the student-sultan levy fines on the shopkeepers and +householders, against whom they trump up various humorous +charges. The temporary sultan is surrounded with the +pomp of a real court, and parades the streets in state with +music and shouting, while a royal umbrella is held over his +head. With the so-called fines and free-will offerings, to +which the real sultan adds a liberal supply of provisions, the +students have enough to furnish forth a magnificent banquet; +and altogether they enjoy themselves thoroughly, indulging +in all kinds of games and amusements. For the first seven +days the mock sultan remains in the college; then he goes +about a mile out of the town and encamps on the bank of +the river, attended by the students and not a few of the +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> +citizens. On the seventh day of his stay outside the town +he is visited by the real sultan, who grants him his request +and gives him seven more days to reign, so that the reign +of <q>the Sultan of the Scribes</q> nominally lasts three weeks. +But when six days of the last week have passed the mock +sultan runs back to the town by night. This temporary +sultanship always falls in spring, about the beginning of +April. Its origin is said to have been as follows. When +Mulai Rasheed II. was fighting for the throne in 1664 or +1665, a certain Jew usurped the royal authority at Taza. +But the rebellion was soon suppressed through the loyalty +and devotion of the students. To effect their purpose they +resorted to an ingenious stratagem. Forty of them caused +themselves to be packed in chests which were sent as a +present to the usurper. In the dead of night, while the +unsuspecting Jew was slumbering peacefully among the +packing-cases, the lids were stealthily raised, the brave forty +crept forth, slew the usurper, and took possession of the city +in the name of the real sultan, who, to mark his gratitude +for the help thus rendered him in time of need, conferred +on the students the right of annually appointing a sultan of +their own.<note place='foot'>Budgett Meakin, <hi rend='italic'>The Moors</hi> (London, +1902), pp. 312 sq.; E. Aubin, +<hi rend='italic'>Le Maroc d'aujourd'hui</hi> (Paris, 1904), +pp. 283-287. According to the latter +of these writers the flight of the mock +sultan takes place the day after his +meeting with the real sultan. The +account in the text embodies some +notes which were kindly furnished me +by Dr. E. Westermarck.</note> The narrative has all the air of a fiction +devised to explain an old custom, of which the real meaning +and origin had been forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Temporary +king in +Cornwall.</note> +A custom of annually appointing a mock king for a +single day was observed at Lostwithiel in Cornwall down to +the sixteenth century. On <q>little Easter Sunday</q> the freeholders +of the town and manor assembled together, either in +person or by their deputies, and one among them, as it fell +to his lot by turn, gaily attired and gallantly mounted, with +a crown on his head, a sceptre in his hand, and a sword +borne before him, rode through the principal street to the +church, dutifully attended by all the rest on horseback. +The clergyman in his best robes received him at the churchyard +stile and conducted him to hear divine service. On +leaving the church he repaired, with the same pomp, to a +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +house provided for his reception. Here a feast awaited him +and his suite, and being set at the head of the table he was +served on bended knees, with all the rites due to the estate +of a prince. The ceremony ended with the dinner, and +every man returned home.<note place='foot'>R. Carew, <hi rend='italic'>Survey of Cornwall</hi> +(London, 1811), p. 322. I do not +know what the writer means by <q>little +Easter Sunday.</q> The ceremony has +often been described by subsequent +writers, but they seem all to copy, +directly or indirectly, from Carew, who +says that the custom had been yearly +observed in past times and was only of +late days discontinued. His <hi rend='italic'>Survey of +Cornwall</hi> was first printed in 1602. I +have to thank Mr. G. M. Trevelyan, +formerly Fellow of Trinity College, +Cambridge, for directing my attention +to this interesting survival of what was +doubtless a very ancient custom.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Temporary +kings at the +beginning +of a reign.</note> +Sometimes the temporary king occupies the throne, not +annually, but once for all at the beginning of each reign. +Thus in the kingdom of Jambi, in Sumatra, it is the custom +that at the beginning of a new reign a man of the people +should occupy the throne and exercise the royal prerogatives +for a single day. The origin of the custom is explained by +a tradition that there were once five royal brothers, the four +elder of whom all declined the throne on the ground of +various bodily defects, leaving it to their youngest brother. +But the eldest occupied the throne for one day, and reserved +for his descendants a similar privilege at the beginning of +every reign. Thus the office of temporary king is hereditary +in a family akin to the royal house.<note place='foot'>J. W. Boers, <q>Oud volksgebruik +in het Rijk van Jambi,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor +Neêrlands Indië</hi>, 1840, dl. i. pp. 372 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In Bilaspur it seems +to be the custom, after the death of a Rajah, for a Brahman +to eat rice out of the dead Rajah's hand, and then to +occupy the throne for a year. At the end of the year the +Brahman receives presents and is dismissed from the +territory, being forbidden apparently to return. <q>The idea +seems to be that the spirit of the Rájá enters into the +Bráhman who eats the <foreign rend='italic'>khír</foreign> (rice and milk) out of his hand +when he is dead, as the Brahman is apparently carefully +watched during the whole year, and not allowed to go +away.</q> The same or a similar custom is believed to obtain +among the hill states about Kangra.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Panjab Notes and Queries</hi>, i. p. 86, +§ 674 (May 1884).</note> The custom of banishing +the Brahman who represents the king may be a substitute +for putting him to death. At the installation of a +prince of Carinthia a peasant, in whose family the office +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> +was hereditary, ascended a marble stone which stood surrounded +by meadows in a spacious valley; on his right +stood a black mother-cow, on his left a lean ugly mare. A +rustic crowd gathered about him. Then the future prince, +dressed as a peasant and carrying a shepherd's staff, drew +near, attended by courtiers and magistrates. On perceiving +him the peasant called out, <q>Who is this whom I see +coming so proudly along?</q> The people answered, <q>The +prince of the land.</q> The peasant was then prevailed on to +surrender the marble seat to the prince on condition of +receiving sixty pence, the cow and mare, and exemption +from taxes. But before yielding his place he gave the +prince a light blow on the cheek.<note place='foot'>Aeneas Sylvius, <hi rend='italic'>Opera</hi> (Bâle, +1571), pp. 409 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. Boemus, <hi rend='italic'>Mores, +leges, et ritus omnium gentium</hi> (Lyons, +1541), pp. 241 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche +Rechtsalterthümer</hi>, p. 253. According +to Grimm, the cow and mare stood +beside the prince, not the peasant. +The Carinthian ceremony is the subject +of an elaborate German dissertation by +Dr. Emil Goldmann (<hi rend='italic'>Die Einführung +der deutschen Herzogsgeschlechter Kärntens +in den Slovenischen Stammesverband, +ein Beitrag zur Rechts- und +Kulturgeschichte</hi>, Breslau, 1903).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +temporary +kings discharge +divine or +magical +functions.</note> +Some points about these temporary kings deserve to +be specially noticed before we pass to the next branch of +the evidence. In the first place, the Cambodian and +Siamese examples shew clearly that it is especially the +divine or magical functions of the king which are transferred +to his temporary substitute. This appears from the +belief that by keeping up his foot the temporary king of +Siam gained a victory over the evil spirits, whereas by +letting it down he imperilled the existence of the state. +Again, the Cambodian ceremony of trampling down the +<q>mountain of rice,</q> and the Siamese ceremony of opening +the ploughing and sowing, are charms to produce a plentiful +harvest, as appears from the belief that those who carry +home some of the trampled rice, or of the seed sown, will +thereby secure a good crop. Moreover, when the Siamese +representative of the king is guiding the plough, the people +watch him anxiously, not to see whether he drives a straight +furrow, but to mark the exact point on his leg to which the +skirt of his silken robe reaches; for on that is supposed to +hang the state of the weather and the crops during the +ensuing season. If the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts hitches +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> +up his garment above his knee, the weather will be wet +and heavy rains will spoil the harvest. If he lets it trail +to his ankle, a drought will be the consequence. But fine +weather and heavy crops will follow if the hem of his robe +hangs exactly half-way down the calf of his leg.<note place='foot'>E. Young, <hi rend='italic'>The Kingdom of the +Yellow Robe</hi>, p. 211.</note> So closely +is the course of nature, and with it the weal or woe of the +people, dependent on the minutest act or gesture of the +king's representative. But the task of making the crops +grow, thus deputed to the temporary kings, is one of the +magical functions regularly supposed to be discharged by +kings in primitive society. The rule that the mock king +must stand on one foot upon a raised seat in the rice-field +was perhaps originally meant as a charm to make the crop +grow high; at least this was the object of a similar ceremony +observed by the old Prussians. The tallest girl, +standing on one foot upon a seat, with her lap full of cakes, +a cup of brandy in her right hand and a piece of elm-bark +or linden-bark in her left, prayed to the god Waizganthos +that the flax might grow as high as she was standing. +Then, after draining the cup, she had it refilled, and poured +the brandy on the ground as an offering to Waizganthos, +and threw down the cakes for his attendant sprites. If +she remained steady on one foot throughout the ceremony, +it was an omen that the flax crop would be good; but +if she let her foot down, it was feared that the crop might +fail.<note place='foot'>Lasicius, <q>De diis Samagitarum +caeterorumque Sarmatarum,</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Respublica +sive status regni Poloniae, +Lituaniae, Prussiae, Livoniae</hi>, etc. +(Elzevir, 1627), pp. 306 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, edited +by W. Mannhardt in <hi rend='italic'>Magazin herausgegeben +von der Lettisch-Literarischen +Gesellschaft</hi>, xiv. 91 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. G. Kohl, +<hi rend='italic'>Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen</hi> +(Dresden and Leipsic, 1841), ii. 27. +There, are, however, other occasions +when superstition requires a person to +stand on one foot. At Toku-toku, in +Fiji, the grave-digger who turns the +first sod has to stand on one leg, leaning +on his digging-stick (Rev. Lorimer +Fison, in a letter to the author, dated +August 26, 1898). Among the Angoni +of British Central Africa, when the +corpse of a chief is being burned, his +heir stands beside the blazing pyre on +one leg with his shield in his hand; and +three days later he again stands on one +leg before the assembled people when +they proclaim him chief. See R. Sutherland +Rattray, <hi rend='italic'>Some Folk-lore Stories and +Songs in Chinyanja</hi> (London, 1907), +pp. 100, 101.</note> The same significance perhaps attaches to the swinging +of the Brahmans, which the Lord of the Heavenly +Hosts had formerly to witness standing on one foot. On +the principles of homoeopathic or imitative magic it might +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> +be thought that the higher the priests swing the higher will +grow the rice. For the ceremony is described as a harvest +festival,<note place='foot'>E. Young, <hi rend='italic'>The Kingdom of the +Yellow Robe</hi>, p. 212.</note> and swinging is practised by the Letts of Russia +with the avowed intention of influencing the growth of the +crops. In the spring and early summer, between Easter +and St. John's Day (the summer solstice), every Lettish +peasant is said to devote his leisure hours to swinging +diligently; for the higher he rises in the air the higher will +his flax grow that season.<note place='foot'>J. G. Kohl, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutsch-russischen +Ostseeprovinzen</hi>, ii. 25. With regard to +swinging as a magical or religious rite, +see Note B at the end of the volume. +For other charms to make the crops +grow tall by leaping, letting the hair hang +loose, and so forth, see <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art +and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. 135 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> The gilded plough with which +the Siamese mock king opens the ploughing may be compared +with the bronze ploughs which the Etruscans employed +at the ceremony of founding cities;<note place='foot'>Macrobius, <hi rend='italic'>Saturn.</hi> v. 19. 13.</note> in both cases the use of +bare iron was probably forbidden on superstitious grounds.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the +Soul</hi>, pp. 225 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Temporary +kings substituted +in +certain +emergencies +for +Shahs of +Persia.</note> +In the foregoing cases the temporary king is appointed +annually in accordance with a regular custom. But in other +cases the appointment is made only to meet a special +emergency, such as to relieve the real king from some actual +or threatened evil by diverting it to a substitute, who takes +his place on the throne for a short time. The history of Persia +furnishes instances of such occasional substitutes for the Shah. +Thus Shah Abbas the Great, the most eminent of all the +kings of Persia, who reigned from 1586 to 1628 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>, being +warned by his astrologers in the year 1591 that a serious +danger impended over him, attempted to avert the omen +by abdicating the throne and appointing a certain unbeliever +named Yusoofee, probably a Christian, to reign in his stead. +The substitute was accordingly crowned, and for three days, +if we may trust the Persian historians, he enjoyed not only +the name and the state but the power of the king. At the +end of his brief reign he was put to death: the decree of +the stars was fulfilled by this sacrifice; and Abbas, who +reascended his throne in a most propitious hour, was +promised by his astrologers a long and glorious reign.<note place='foot'>Sir John Malcolm, <hi rend='italic'>History of +Persia</hi> (London, 1815), i. 527 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> I +am indebted to my friend Mr. W. +Crooke for calling my attention to this +passage.</note> +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> +Again, Shah Sufi II., who reigned from 1668 to 1694 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>, +was crowned a second time and changed his name to +Sulaiman or Soliman under the following circumstances: +<q>The King, a few days after, was out of danger, but the +matter was to restore him to perfect health. Having been +always in a languishing condition, and his physicians never +able to discover the cause of his distemper, he suspected +that their ignorance retarded his recovery, and two or three +of them were therefore ill treated. At length the other +physicians, fearing it might be their own turn next, bethought +themselves, that Persia being at the same time afflicted with +a scarcity of provisions and the King's sickness, the fault +must be in the astrologers, who had not chosen a favourable +hour when the King was set upon the throne, and therefore +persuaded him that the ceremony must be perform'd again, +and he change his name in a more lucky minute. The +King and his council approving of their notion, the physicians +and astrologers together expected the first unfortunate day, +which, according to their superstition, was to be followed in +the evening by a propitious hour. Among the Gavres, or +original Persians, Worshippers of Fire, there are some who +boast their descent from the Rustans, who formerly reigned +over Persia and Parthia. On the morning of the aforesaid +unlucky day, they took one of these Gavres of that Blood-royal, +and having plac'd him on the throne, with his back +against a figure that represented him to the life, all the +great men of the court came to attend him, as if he had +been their king, performing all that he commanded. This +scene lasted till the favourable hour, which was a little +before sun-setting, and then an officer of the court came +behind and cut off the head of the wooden statue with his +cymiter, the Gaure then starting up and running away. +That very moment the King came into the hall, and the +Sofy's cap being set on his head, and his sword girt to +his side, he sat down on the throne, changing his name +for that of Soliman, which was perform'd with the usual +ceremonies, the drums beating and trumpets sounding as +before. It was requisite to act this farce, in order to satisfy +the law, which requires that in order to change his name +and take possession of the throne again he must expel a +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> +prince that had usurped it upon some pretensions; and +therefore they made choice of a Gaure, who pretended to +be descended from the ancient kings of Persia, and was +besides of a different religion from that of the government.</q><note place='foot'>Captain John Stevens, <hi rend='italic'>The History +of Persia</hi> (London, 1715), pp. 356 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +I have to thank Mr. W. Crooke for +his kindness in copying out this passage +and sending it to me. I have not seen +the original. An Irish legend relates +how the abbot Eimine Ban and forty-nine +of his monks sacrificed themselves +by a voluntary death to save Bran úa +Faeláin, King of Leinster, and forty-nine +Leinster chiefs, from a pestilence +which was then desolating Leinster. +They were sacrificed in batches of seven +a day for a week, the abbot himself +perishing after the last batch on the +last day of the week. But it is not +said that the abbot enjoyed regal +dignity during the seven days. See +C. Plummer, <q>Cáin Eimíne Báin,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Ériu, the Journal of the School of Irish +Learning, Dublin</hi>. vol. iv. part i. +(1908) pp. 39-46. The legend was +pointed out to me by Professor Kuno +Meyer.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VI. Sacrifice Of The King's Son.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +temporary +kings are +sometimes +related by +blood to +the real +kings.</note> +A point to notice about the temporary kings described in the +foregoing chapter is that in two places (Cambodia and Jambi) +they come of a stock which is believed to be akin to the royal +family. If the view here taken of the origin of these temporary +kingships is correct, we can easily understand why +the king's substitute should sometimes be of the same race +as the king. When the king first succeeded in getting the +life of another accepted as a sacrifice instead of his own, he +would have to shew that the death of that other would +serve the purpose quite as well as his own would have done. +Now it was as a god or demigod that the king had to die; +therefore the substitute who died for him had to be invested, at +least for the occasion, with the divine attributes of the king. +This, as we have just seen, was certainly the case with the +temporary kings of Siam and Cambodia; they were invested +with the supernatural functions, which in an earlier +stage of society were the special attributes of the king. +But no one could so well represent the king in his divine +character as his son, who might be supposed to share the +divine afflatus of his father. No one, therefore, could so +appropriately die for the king and, through him, for the +whole people, as the king's son. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tradition +of On, +King of +Sweden, +and the +sacrifice of +his nine +sons.</note> +According to tradition, Aun or On, King of Sweden, +sacrificed nine of his sons to Odin at Upsala in order that +his own life might be spared. After he had sacrificed his +second son he received from the god an answer that he +should live so long as he gave him one of his sons every +ninth year. When he had sacrificed his seventh son, he still +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +lived, but was so feeble that he could not walk but had to +be carried in a chair. Then he offered up his eighth son, +and lived nine years more, lying in his bed. After that he +sacrificed his ninth son, and lived another nine years, but so +that he drank out of a horn like a weaned child. He now +wished to sacrifice his only remaining son to Odin, but the +Swedes would not allow him. So he died and was buried +in a mound at Upsala. The poet Thiodolf told the king's +history in verse:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>In Upsal's town the cruel king</q></l> +<l>Slaughtered his sons at Odin's shrine—</l> +<l>Slaughtered his sons with cruel knife,</l> +<l>To get from Odin length of life.</l> +<l>He lived until he had to turn</l> +<l>His toothless mouth to the deer's horn;</l> +<l>And he who shed his children's blood</l> +<l>Sucked through the ox's horn his food.</l> +<l>At length fell Death has tracked him down,</l> +<l><q rend='post'>Slowly but sure, in Upsal's town.</q><note place='foot'><q>Ynglinga Saga,</q> 29, in <hi rend='italic'>The +Heimskringla or Chronicle of the Kings +of Norway, translated from the Icelandic +of Snorro</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Sturleson</hi>, by S. Laing +(London, 1844), i. 239 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. M. +Chadwick, <hi rend='italic'>The Cult of Othin</hi> (London, +1899), pp. 4, 27. I have already +cited the tradition as evidence of a +nine years' tenure of the kingship in +Sweden. See above, p. <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>, with note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2.</hi></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tradition +of King +Athamas +and his +children. Male descendants +of King +Athamas +liable to be +sacrificed.</note> +In ancient Greece there seems to have been at least +one kingly house of great antiquity of which the eldest sons +were always liable to be sacrificed in room of their royal +sires. When Xerxes was marching through Thessaly at +the head of his mighty host to attack the Spartans at +Thermopylae, he came to the town of Alus. Here he was +shewn the sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus, about which his +guides told him a strange tale. It ran somewhat as follows. +Once upon a time the king of the country, by name +Athamas, married a wife Nephele, and had by her a son +called Phrixus and a daughter named Helle. Afterwards +he took to himself a second wife called Ino, by whom he +had two sons, Learchus and Melicertes. But his second +wife was jealous of her step-children, Phrixus and Helle, and +plotted their death. She went about very cunningly to +compass her bad end. First of all she persuaded the women +of the country to roast the seed corn secretly before it was +committed to the ground. So next year no crops came +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> +up and the people died of famine. Then the king sent +messengers to the oracle at Delphi to enquire the cause +of the dearth. But the wicked step-mother bribed the +messenger to give out as the answer of the god that the +dearth would never cease till the children of Athamas by +his first wife had been sacrificed to Zeus. When Athamas +heard that, he sent for the children, who were with the +sheep. But a ram with a fleece of gold opened his lips, and +speaking with the voice of a man warned the children of +their danger. So they mounted the ram and fled with him +over land and sea. As they flew over the sea, the girl +slipped from the animal's back, and falling into water was +drowned. But her brother Phrixus was brought safe to the +land of Colchis, where reigned a child of the Sun. Phrixus +married the king's daughter, and she bore him a son +Cytisorus. And there he sacrificed the ram with the golden +fleece to Zeus the God of Flight; but some will have it that +he sacrificed the animal to Laphystian Zeus. The golden +fleece itself he gave to his wife's father, who nailed it to an +oak tree, guarded by a sleepless dragon in a sacred grove of +Ares. Meanwhile at home an oracle had commanded that +King Athamas himself should be sacrificed as an expiatory +offering for the whole country. So the people decked him +with garlands like a victim and led him to the altar, where +they were just about to sacrifice him when he was rescued +either by his grandson Cytisorus, who arrived in the nick of +time from Colchis, or by Hercules, who brought tidings that +the king's son Phrixus was yet alive. Thus Athamas was +saved, but afterwards he went mad, and mistaking his son +Learchus for a wild beast shot him dead. Next he attempted +the life of his remaining son Melicertes, but the child was +rescued by his mother Ino, who ran and threw herself and +him from a high rock into the sea. Mother and son were +changed into marine divinities, and the son received special +homage in the isle of Tenedos, where babes were sacrificed +to him. Thus bereft of wife and children the unhappy +Athamas quitted his country, and on enquiring of the oracle +where he should dwell was told to take up his abode wherever +he should be entertained by wild beasts. He fell in with a +pack of wolves devouring sheep, and when they saw him they +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> +fled and left him the bleeding remnants of their prey. In +this way the oracle was fulfilled. But because King Athamas +had not been sacrificed as a sin-offering for the whole country, +it was divinely decreed that the eldest male scion of his +family in each generation should be sacrificed without fail, +if ever he set foot in the town-hall, where the offerings were +made to Laphystian Zeus by one of the house of Athamas. +Many of the family, Xerxes was informed, had fled to foreign +lands to escape this doom; but some of them had returned +long afterwards, and being caught by the sentinels in the +act of entering the town-hall were wreathed as victims, led +forth in procession, and sacrificed.<note place='foot'>Herodotus, vii. 197; Apollodorus, +i. 9. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Schol. on Aristophanes, <hi rend='italic'>Clouds</hi>, +257; J. Tzetzes, <hi rend='italic'>Schol. on Lycophron</hi>, +21, 229; Schol. on Apollonius Rhodius, +<hi rend='italic'>Argonautica</hi>, ii. 653; Eustathius, on +Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, vii. 86, p. 667; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, on +<hi rend='italic'>Odyssey</hi>, v. 339, p. 1543; Pausanias, +i. 44. 7, ix. 34. 7; Zenobius, iv. 38; +Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>De superstitione</hi>, 5; Hyginus, +<hi rend='italic'>Fab.</hi> 1-5; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Astronomica</hi>, ii. 20; +Servius, on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> v. 241. The +story is told or alluded to by these +writers with some variations of detail. +In piecing their accounts together I +have chosen the features which seemed +to be the most archaic. According to +Pherecydes, one of the oldest writers +on Greek legendary history, Phrixus +offered himself as a voluntary victim +when the crops were perishing (Schol. +on Pindar, <hi rend='italic'>Pyth.</hi> iv. 288). On the +whole subject see K. O. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Orchomenus +und die Minyer</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> pp. 156, 171.</note> These instances appear +to have been notorious, if not frequent; for the writer of a +dialogue attributed to Plato, after speaking of the immolation +of human victims by the Carthaginians, adds that such +practices were not unknown among the Greeks, and he refers +with horror to the sacrifices offered on Mount Lycaeus and +by the descendants of Athamas.<note place='foot'>Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Minos</hi>, p. 315 <hi rend='smallcaps'>c</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Family of +royal +descent +liable to be +sacrificed +at Orchomenus.</note> +The suspicion that this barbarous custom by no means +fell into disuse even in later days is strengthened by a case +of human sacrifice which occurred in Plutarch's time at +Orchomenus, a very ancient city of Boeotia, distant only a +few miles across the plain from the historian's birthplace. +Here dwelt a family of which the men went by the name of +Psoloeis or <q>Sooty,</q> and the women by the name of Oleae +or <q>Destructive.</q> Every year at the festival of the Agrionia +the priest of Dionysus pursued these women with a drawn +sword, and if he overtook one of them he had the right +to slay her. In Plutarch's lifetime the right was actually +exercised by a priest Zoilus. Now the family thus liable +to furnish at least one human victim every year was of +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> +royal descent, for they traced their lineage to Minyas, the +famous old king of Orchomenus, the monarch of fabulous +wealth, whose stately treasury, as it is called, still stands in +ruins at the point where the long rocky hill of Orchomenus +melts into the vast level expanse of the Copaic plain. +Tradition ran that the king's three daughters long despised +the other women of the country for yielding to the Bacchic +frenzy, and sat at home in the king's house scornfully plying +the distaff and the loom, while the rest, wreathed with +flowers, their dishevelled locks streaming to the wind, roamed +in ecstasy the barren mountains that rise above Orchomenus, +making the solitude of the hills to echo to the wild music +of cymbals and tambourines. But in time the divine fury +infected even the royal damsels in their quiet chamber; +they were seized with a fierce longing to partake of human +flesh, and cast lots among themselves which should give up +her child to furnish a cannibal feast. The lot fell on +Leucippe, and she surrendered her son Hippasus, who was +torn limb from limb by the three. From these misguided +women sprang the Oleae and the Psoloeis, of whom the +men were said to be so called because they wore sad-coloured +raiment in token of their mourning and grief.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Quaest. Graec.</hi> 38; +Antoninus Liberalis, <hi rend='italic'>Transform.</hi> 10; +Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Metam.</hi> iv. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thessalian +and Boeotian +kings +seem to +have sacrificed +their +sons to +Laphystian +Zeus instead +of +themselves.</note> +Now this practice of taking human victims from a +family of royal descent at Orchomenus is all the more +significant because Athamas himself is said to have +reigned in the land of Orchomenus even before the time of +Minyas, and because over against the city there rises +Mount Laphystius, on which, as at Alus in Thessaly, there +was a sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus, where, according to +tradition, Athamas purposed to sacrifice his two children +Phrixus and Helle.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, ix. 34. 5 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Apollonius +Rhodius, <hi rend='italic'>Argonautica</hi>, iii. 265 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Hellanicus, cited by the Scholiast +on Apollonius, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi> Apollodorus speaks +of Athamas as reigning over Boeotia +(<hi rend='italic'>Bibliotheca</hi>, i. 9. 1); Tzetzes calls him +king of Thebes (<hi rend='italic'>Schol. on Lycophron</hi>, +21).</note> On the whole, comparing the traditions +about Athamas with the custom that obtained with +regard to his descendants in historical times, we may fairly +infer that in Thessaly and probably in Boeotia there +reigned of old a dynasty of which the kings were liable +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> +to be sacrificed for the good of the country to the god +called Laphystian Zeus, but that they contrived to shift the +fatal responsibility to their offspring, of whom the eldest +son was regularly destined to the altar. As time went +on, the cruel custom was so far mitigated that a ram +was accepted as a vicarious sacrifice in room of the royal +victim, provided always that the prince abstained from +setting foot in the town-hall where the sacrifices were offered +to Laphystian Zeus by one of his kinsmen.<note place='foot'>The old Scholiast on Apollonius +Rhodius (<hi rend='italic'>Argon.</hi> ii. 653) tells us that +down to his time it was customary for +one of the descendants of Athamas to +enter the town-hall and sacrifice to +Laphystian Zeus. K. O. Müller sees in +this custom a mitigation of the ancient +rule—instead of being themselves sacrificed, +the scions of royalty were now +permitted to offer sacrifice (<hi rend='italic'>Orchomenus +und die Minyer</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> p. 158). But this +need not have been so. The obligation +to serve as victims in certain circumstances +lay only on the eldest male of +each generation in the direct line; +the sacrificers may have been younger +brothers or more remote relations of +the destined victims. It may be +observed that in a dynasty of which the +eldest males were regularly sacrificed, +the kings, if they were not themselves +the victims, must always have been +younger sons.</note> But if he +were rash enough to enter the place of doom, to thrust +himself wilfully, as it were, on the notice of the god who +had good-naturedly winked at the substitution of a ram, +the ancient obligation which had been suffered to lie in +abeyance recovered all its force, and there was no help for +it but he must die. The tradition which associated the +sacrifice of the king or his children with a great dearth +points clearly to the belief, so common among primitive +folk, that the king is responsible for the weather and the +crops, and that he may justly pay with his life for the inclemency +of the one or the failure of the other. Athamas and +his line, in short, appear to have united divine or magical +with royal functions; and this view is strongly supported +by the claims to divinity which Salmoneus, the brother of +Athamas, is said to have set up. We have seen that this +presumptuous mortal professed to be no other than Zeus +himself, and to wield the thunder and lightning, of which he +made a trumpery imitation by the help of tinkling kettles +and blazing torches.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, vol. i. p. 310.</note> If we may judge from analogy, his +mock thunder and lightning were no mere scenic exhibition +designed to deceive and impress the beholders; they were +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> +enchantments practised by the royal magician for the +purpose of bringing about the celestial phenomena which +they feebly mimicked.<note place='foot'>I have followed K. O. Müller +(<hi rend='italic'>Orchomenus und die Minyer</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> pp. 160, +166 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>) in regarding the ram which +saved Phrixus as a mythical expression +for the substitution of a ram for a +human victim. He points out that a +ram was the proper victim to sacrifice +to Trophonius (Pausanias, ix. 39. 6), +whose very ancient worship was practised +at Lebadea not far from Orchomenus. +The principle of vicarious +sacrifices was familiar enough to the +Greeks, as K. O. Müller does not fail +to indicate. At Potniae, near Thebes, +goats were substituted as victims instead +of boys in the sacrifices offered to +Dionysus (Pausanias, ix. 8. 2). Once +when an oracle commanded that a girl +should be sacrificed to Munychian +Artemis in order to stay a plague or +famine, a goat dressed up as a girl +was sacrificed instead (Eustathius on +Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, ii. 732, p. 331; Apostolius, +vii. 10; <hi rend='italic'>Paroemiogr. Graeci</hi>, ed. +Leutsch et Schneidewin, ii. 402; Suidas, +<hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Ἔμβαρος). At Salamis in Cyprus a +man was annually sacrificed to Aphrodite +and afterwards to Diomede, but +in later times an ox was substituted +(Porphyry, <hi rend='italic'>De abstinentia</hi>, ii. 54). +At Laodicea in Syria a deer took the +place of a maiden as the victim yearly +offered to Athena (Porphyry, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +ii. 56). Since human sacrifices have +been forbidden by the Dutch Government +in Borneo, the Barito and other +Dyak tribes of that island have kept +cattle for the sole purpose of sacrificing +them instead of human beings at the +close of mourning and at other religious +ceremonies. See A. W. Nieuwenhuis, +<hi rend='italic'>Quer durch Borneo</hi>, ii. +(Leyden, 1907), p. 127.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacrifice of +kings' sons +among the +Semites. Sacrifice of +children to +Baal +among the +Semites.</note> +Among the Semites of Western Asia the king, in a time +of national danger, sometimes gave his own son to die as a +sacrifice for the people. Thus Philo of Byblus, in his work +on the Jews, says: <q>It was an ancient custom in a crisis of +great danger that the ruler of a city or nation should give +his beloved son to die for the whole people, as a ransom +offered to the avenging demons; and the children thus +offered were slain with mystic rites. So Cronus, whom the +Phoenicians call Israel, being king of the land and having +an only-begotten son called Jeoud (for in the Phoenician +tongue Jeoud signifies <q>only-begotten</q>), dressed him in royal +robes and sacrificed him upon an altar in a time of war, +when the country was in great danger from the enemy.</q><note place='foot'>Philo of Byblus, quoted by Eusebius, +<hi rend='italic'>Praeparatio Evangelii</hi>, i. 10. +29 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +When the king of Moab was besieged by the Israelites and +hard beset, he took his eldest son, who should have reigned in +his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall.<note place='foot'>2 Kings iii. 27.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But amongst the Semites the practice of sacrificing their +children was not confined to kings.<note place='foot'>On this subject see Dr. G. F. +Moore, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Molech, Moloch,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia +Biblica</hi>, iii. 3183 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; C. P. +Tiele, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte der Religion im Altertum</hi>, +i. (Gotha, 1896) pp. 240-244.</note> In times of great +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> +calamity, such as pestilence, drought, or defeat in war, the +Phoenicians used to sacrifice one of their dearest to Baal. +<q>Phoenician history,</q> says an ancient writer, <q>is full of such +sacrifices.</q><note place='foot'>Porphyry, <hi rend='italic'>De abstinentia</hi>, ii. 56.</note> The writer of a dialogue ascribed to Plato +observes that the Carthaginians immolated human beings as +if it were right and lawful to do so, and some of them, he +adds, even sacrificed their own sons to Baal.<note place='foot'>Plato, <hi rend='italic'>Minos</hi>, p. 315 <hi rend='smallcaps'>c</hi>.</note> When Gelo, +tyrant of Syracuse, defeated the Carthaginians in the great +battle of Himera he required as a condition of peace that +they should sacrifice their children to Baal no longer.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Regum et imperatorum +apophthegmata, Gelon I.</hi></note> But +the barbarous custom was too inveterate and too agreeable +to Semitic modes of thought to be so easily eradicated, and +the humane stipulation of the Greek despot probably remained +a dead letter. At all events the history of this remarkable +people, who combined in so high a degree the spirit of commercial +enterprise with a blind attachment to a stern and +gloomy religion, is stained in later times with instances of +the same cruel superstition. When the Carthaginians were +defeated and besieged by Agathocles, they ascribed their +disasters to the wrath of Baal; for whereas in former times +they had been wont to sacrifice to him their own offspring, +they had latterly fallen into the habit of buying children and +rearing them to be victims. So, to appease the angry god, +two hundred children of the noblest families were picked out +for sacrifice, and the tale of victims was swelled by not less +than three hundred more who volunteered to die for the +fatherland. They were sacrificed by being placed, one by +one, on the sloping hands of the brazen image, from which +they rolled into a pit of fire.<note place='foot'>Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14. Compare +Clitarchus, cited by Suidas, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> σαρδάνιος +γέλως, and by the Scholiast on Plato, +<hi rend='italic'>Republic</hi>, p. 337 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a</hi>; J. Selden, <hi rend='italic'>De +dis Syris</hi> (Leipsic, 1668), pp. 169 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Childless people among +the Carthaginians bought children from poor parents and +slaughtered them, says Plutarch, as if they were lambs or +chickens; and the mother had to stand by and see it done +without a tear or a groan, for if she wept or moaned she +lost all the credit and the child was sacrificed none the less. +But all the place in front of the image was filled with a +tumultuous music of fifes and drums to drown the shrieks +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> +of the victims.<note place='foot'>Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>De superstitione</hi>, 13. +Egyptian mothers were glad and proud +when their children were devoured by +the holy crocodiles. See Aelian, <hi rend='italic'>De +natura animalium</hi>, x. 21; Maximus +Tyrius, <hi rend='italic'>Dissert.</hi> viii. 5; Josephus, +<hi rend='italic'>Contra Apion.</hi> ii. 7.</note> Infants were publicly sacrificed by the +Carthaginians down to the proconsulate of Tiberius, who +crucified the priests on the trees beside their temples. +Yet the practice still went on secretly in the lifetime +of Tertullian.<note place='foot'>Tertullian, <hi rend='italic'>Apologeticus</hi>, 6. Compare +Justin, xviii. 6. 12; Ennius, cited +by Festus, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Puelli,</q> pp. 248, 249, +ed. C. O. Müller; Augustine, <hi rend='italic'>De +civitate Dei</hi>, vii. 19 and 26.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Canaanite +and Hebrew +custom +of burning +children in +honour of +Baal or +Moloch. Sacrifices +of children +in Tophet.</note> +Among the Canaanites or aboriginal inhabitants of +Palestine, whom the invading Israelites conquered but did +not exterminate, the grisly custom of burning their children +in honour of Baal or Moloch seems to have been regularly +practised.<note place='foot'><q>Every abomination to the Lord, +which he hateth, have they done unto +their gods; for even their sons and +their daughters do they burn in the fire +to their gods,</q> Deuteronomy xii. 31. +Here and in what follows I quote the +Revised English Version.</note> To the best representatives of the Hebrew +people, the authors of their noble literature, such rites were +abhorrent, and they warned their fellow-countrymen against +participating in them. <q>When thou art come into the land +which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to +do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not +be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his +daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, +one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or +a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, +or a necromancer. For whosoever doeth these things is an +abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations +the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before +thee.</q><note place='foot'>Deuteronomy xviii. 9-12.</note> Again we read: <q>And thou shalt not give any of +thy seed to pass through the fire to Molech.</q><note place='foot'>Leviticus xviii. 21.</note> Whatever +effect these warnings may have had in the earlier days of +Israelitish history, there is abundant evidence that in later +times the Hebrews lapsed, or rather perhaps relapsed, into +that congenial mire of superstition from which the higher +spirits of the nation struggled—too often in vain—to rescue +them. The Psalmist laments that his erring countrymen +<q>mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their +works: and they served their idols; which became a snare +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> +unto them: yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters +unto demons, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of +their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto +the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.</q><note place='foot'>Psalms cvi. 35-38.</note> +When the Hebrew annalist has recorded how Shalmaneser, +king of Assyria, besieged Samaria for three years and took +it and carried Israel away into captivity, he explains that +this was a divine punishment inflicted on his people for +having fallen in with the evil ways of the Canaanites. They +had built high places in all their cities, and set up pillars and +sacred poles (<foreign rend='italic'>asherim</foreign>) upon every high hill and under every +green tree; and there they burnt incense after the manner +of the heathen. <q>And they forsook all the commandments +of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even +two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the +host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their +sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used +divination and enchantments.</q><note place='foot'>2 Kings xvii. 16, 17.</note> At Jerusalem in these +days there was a regularly appointed place where parents +burned their children, both boys and girls, in honour of Baal +or Moloch. It was in the valley of Hinnom, just outside +the walls of the city, and bore the name, infamous ever +since, of Tophet. The practice is referred to again and +again with sorrowful indignation by the prophets.<note place='foot'><q>And they have built the high +places of Topheth, which is in the +valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn +their sons and their daughters in the +fire,</q> Jeremiah vii. 31; <q>And have +built the high places of Baal, to burn +their sons in the fire for burnt offerings +unto Baal,</q> <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> xix. 5; <q>And they +built the high places of Baal, which are +in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to +cause their sons and their daughters to +pass through the fire unto Molech,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> xxxii. 35; <q>Moreover thou hast +taken thy sons and thy daughters, +whom thou hast borne unto me, and +these hast thou sacrificed unto them to +be devoured. Were thy whoredoms +a small matter, that thou hast slain +my children, and delivered them up, +in causing them to pass through the +fire unto them?</q> Ezekiel xvi. 20 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +compare xx. 26, 31. A comparison of +these passages shews that the expression +<q>to cause to pass through the fire,</q> so +often employed in this connexion in +Scripture, meant to burn the children +in the fire. Some have attempted to +interpret the words in a milder sense. +See J. Spencer, <hi rend='italic'>De legibus Hebraeorum</hi> +(The Hague, 1686), i. 288 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> The +kings of Judah set an example to their people by burning +their own children at the usual place. Thus of Ahaz, who +reigned sixteen years at Jerusalem, we are told that <q>he +burnt incense in the valley of Hinnom, and burnt his children +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> +in the fire.</q><note place='foot'>2 Chronicles xxviii. 3. In the +corresponding passage of 2 Kings (xvi. +3) it is said that Ahaz <q>made his son +to pass through the fire.</q></note> Again, King Manasseh, whose long reign +covered fifty-five years, <q>made his children to pass through +the fire in the valley of Hinnom.</q><note place='foot'>2 Chronicles xxxiii. 6; compare +2 Kings xxi. 6.</note> Afterwards in the reign +of the good king Josiah the idolatrous excesses of the people +were repressed, at least for a time, and among other measures +of reform Tophet was defiled by the King's orders, <q>that no +man might make his son or his daughter to pass through +the fire to Molech.</q><note place='foot'>2 Kings xxiii. 10.</note> Whether the place was ever used +again for the same dark purpose as before does not appear. +Long afterwards, under the sway of a milder faith, there was +little in the valley to recall the tragic scenes which it had +so often witnessed. Jerome describes it as a pleasant and +shady spot, watered by the rills of Siloam and laid out in +delightful gardens.<note place='foot'>Jerome on Jeremiah vii. 31, +quoted in Winer's <hi rend='italic'>Biblisches Realwôrterbuch</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +<hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Thopeth.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Did the +Hebrews +borrow the +custom +from the +Canaanites? +Custom of +the Sepharvites.</note> +It would be interesting, though it might be fruitless, to +enquire how far the Hebrew prophets and psalmists were +right in their opinion that the Israelites learned these and +other gloomy superstitions only through contact with the old +inhabitants of the land, that the primitive purity of faith and +morals which they brought with them from the free air of +the desert was tainted and polluted by the grossness and +corruption of the heathen in the fat land of Canaan. +When we remember, however, that the Israelites were of +the same Semitic stock as the population they conquered +and professed to despise,<note place='foot'>The Tel El-Amarna tablets prove +that <q>the prae-Israelitish inhabitants +of Canaan were closely akin to the +Hebrews, and that they spoke substantially +the same language</q> (S. R. +Driver, in <hi rend='italic'>Authority and Archaeology, +Sacred and Profane</hi>, edited by D. G. +Hogarth (London, 1899), p. 76).</note> and that the practice of human +sacrifice is attested for many branches of the Semitic race, +we shall, perhaps, incline to surmise that the chosen people +may have brought with them into Palestine the seeds +which afterwards sprang up and bore such ghastly fruit in +the valley of Hinnom. It is at least significant of the +prevalence of such customs among the Semites that no +sooner were the native child-burning Israelites carried +off by King Shalmaneser to Assyria than their place was +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +taken by colonists who practised precisely the same rites +in honour of deities who probably differed in little but +name from those revered by the idolatrous Hebrews. +<q>The Sepharvites,</q> we are told, <q>burnt their children in +the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of +Sepharvaim.</q><note place='foot'>2 Kings xvii. 31. The identification +of Sepharvaim is uncertain. +See <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia Biblica</hi>, iv. 4371 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The pious Jewish historian, who saw in +Israel's exile God's punishment for sin, has suggested no +explanation of that mystery in the divine economy which +suffered the Sepharvites to continue on the same spot the +very same abominations for which the erring Hebrews had +just been so signally chastised. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Only the +firstborn +children +were +burned.</note> +We have still to ask which of their children the Semites +picked out for sacrifice; for that a choice was made and +some principle of selection followed, may be taken for granted. +A people who burned all their children indiscriminately would +soon extinguish themselves, and such an excess of piety is +probably rare, if not unknown. In point of fact it seems, at +least among the Hebrews, to have been only the firstborn +child that was doomed to the flames. The prophet Micah +asks, in a familiar passage, <q>Wherewith shall I come before +the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come +before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? +Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with +ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for +my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my +soul?</q> These were the questions which pious and doubting +hearts were putting to themselves in the days of the prophet. +The prophet's own answer is not doubtful. <q>He hath shewed +thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require +of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk +humbly with thy God?</q><note place='foot'>Micah vi. 6-8.</note> It is a noble answer and one +which only elect spirits in that or, perhaps, in any age have +given. In Israel the vulgar answer was given on bloody +altars and in the smoke and flames of Tophet, and the form +in which the prophet's question is cast—<q>Shall I give my +firstborn for my transgression?</q>—shews plainly on which +of the children the duty of atoning for the sins of their +father was supposed to fall. A passage in Ezekiel points +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> +no less clearly to the same conclusion. The prophet +represents God as saying, <q>I gave them statutes that were +not good, and judgments wherein they should not live; and +I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to +pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might +make them desolate.</q> That the writer was here thinking +specially of the sacrifice of children is proved by his own +words a little later on. <q>When ye offer your gifts, when ye +make your sons to pass through the fire, do ye pollute yourselves +with all your idols, unto this day?</q><note place='foot'>Ezekiel xx. 25, 26, 31.</note> Further, that +by the words <q>to pass through the fire all that openeth the +womb</q> he referred only to the firstborn can easily be shewn +by the language of Scripture in reference to that law of the +consecration of firstlings which Ezekiel undoubtedly had in +his mind when he wrote this passage. Thus we find that +law enunciated in the following terms: <q>And the Lord spake +unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever +openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both +of man and of beast: it is mine.</q><note place='foot'>Exodus xiii. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, it is written: +<q>Thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the +womb, and every firstling which thou hast that cometh of a +beast; the males shall be the Lord's.</q><note place='foot'>Exodus xiii. 12.</note> Once more: <q>All +that openeth the womb is mine; and all thy cattle that is +male, the firstlings of ox and sheep.</q><note place='foot'>Exodus xxxiv. 19. In the Authorised +Version the passage runs thus: <q>All +that openeth the matrix is mine; and +every firstling among thy cattle, whether +ox or sheep, that is male.</q></note> This ancient Hebrew +custom of the consecration to God of all male firstlings, +whether of man or beast, was merely the application to the +animal kingdom of the law that all first fruits whatsoever +belong to the deity and must be made over to him or his +representatives. That general law is thus stated by the +Hebrew legislator: <q>Thou shalt not delay to offer of the +abundance of thy fruits, and of thy liquors. The firstborn of +thy sons shalt thou give unto me. Likewise shalt thou do +with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be +with its dam; and on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.</q><note place='foot'>Exodus xxii. 29 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The Authorised +Version has <q>the first of thy ripe +fruits" instead of "the abundance of +thy fruits.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hebrew +sacrifice of +firstlings: +redemption +of the firstlings +of +men and +asses.</note> +Thus the god of the Hebrews plainly regarded the first-born +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> +of men and the firstlings of animals as his own, and +required that they should be made over to him. But how? +Here a distinction was drawn between sheep, oxen, and +goats on the one hand and men and asses on the other; the +firstlings of the former were always sacrificed, the firstlings +of the latter were generally redeemed. <q>The firstling of an +ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou +shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their +blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering +made by fire for a sweet savour unto the Lord.</q> The flesh +went to the Levites,<note place='foot'>Numbers xviii. 17 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Elsewhere, +however, we read: <q>All the firstling +males that are born of thy herd and of +thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the +Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work +with the firstling of thine ox, nor shear +the firstling of thy flock. Thou shalt +eat it before the Lord thy God year by +year in the place which the Lord shall +choose, thou and thy household,</q> +Deuteronomy xv. 19 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare +Deuteronomy xii. 6 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 17 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> To +reconcile this ordinance with the other +we must suppose that the flesh was +divided between the Levite and the +owner of the animal. But perhaps the +rule in Deuteronomy may represent +the old custom which obtained before +the rise of the priestly caste. Prof. +S. R. Driver inclines to the latter +view (<hi rend='italic'>Commentary on Deuteronomy</hi>, +p. 187).</note> who consumed it, no doubt, instead of +the deity whom they represented. On the other hand, the +ass was not sacrificed by the Israelites, probably because +they did not eat the animal themselves, and hence concluded +that God did not do so either. In the matter of diet the +taste of gods generally presents a striking resemblance to +that of their worshippers. Still the firstling ass, like all +other firstlings, was sacred to the deity, and since it was not +sacrificed to him, he had to receive an equivalent for it. In +other words, the ass had to be redeemed, and the price of +the redemption was a lamb which was burnt as a vicarious +sacrifice instead of the ass, on the hypothesis, apparently, +that roast lamb is likely to be more palatable to the Supreme +Being than roast donkey. If the ass was not redeemed, it +had to be killed by having its neck broken.<note place='foot'>Exodus xiii. 13, xxxiv. 20.</note> The firstlings +of other unclean animals and of men were redeemed for five +shekels a head, which were paid to the Levites.<note place='foot'>Numbers xviii. 15 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare +Numbers iii. 46-51; Exodus xiii. 13, +xxxiv. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacrifice of +firstborn +children +perhaps +regarded as +an act of +heroic +virtue.</note> +We can now readily understand why so many of the +Hebrews, at least in the later days of their history, sacrificed +their firstborn children, and why tender-hearted parents, +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> +whose affection for their offspring exceeded their devotion to +the deity, may often have been visited with compunction, +and even tormented with feelings of bitter self-reproach and +shame at their carnal weakness in suffering the beloved son +to live, when they saw others, with an heroic piety which +they could not emulate, calmly resigning their dear ones to +the fire, through which, as they firmly believed, they passed +to God, to reap, perhaps, in endless bliss in heaven the +reward of their sharp but transient sufferings on earth. +From infancy they had been bred up in the belief that the +firstborn was sacred to God, and though they knew that he +had waived his right to them in consideration of the receipt +of five shekels a head, they could, hardly view this as anything +but an act of gracious condescension, of generous +liberality on the part of the divinity who had stooped to +accept so trifling a sum instead of the life which really +belonged to him. <q>Surely,</q> they might argue, <q>God would +be better pleased if we were to give him not the money but +the life, not the poor paltry shekels, but what we value most, +our first and best-loved child. If we hold that life so dear, +will not he also? It is his. Why should we not give him +his own?</q> It was in answer to anxious questions such as +these, and to quite truly conscientious scruples of this sort +that the prophet Micah declared that what God required of +his true worshippers was not sacrifice but justice and mercy +and humility. It is the answer of morality to religion—of +the growing consciousness that man's duty is not to propitiate +with vain oblations those mysterious powers of the +universe of which he can know little or nothing, but to be +just and merciful in his dealings with his fellows and to +humbly trust, though he cannot know, that by acting thus +he will best please the higher powers, whatever they may be. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tradition +of the +origin of +the Passover.</note> +But while morality ranges itself on the side of the +prophet, it may be questioned whether history and precedent +were not on the side of his adversaries. If the +firstborn of men and cattle were alike sacred to God, +and the firstborn of cattle were regularly sacrificed, while +the firstborn of men were ransomed by a money payment, +has not this last provision the appearance of being +a later mitigation of an older and harsher custom which +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> +doomed firstborn children, like firstling lambs and calves +and goats, to the altar or the fire? The suspicion is +greatly strengthened by the remarkable tradition told to +account for the sanctity of the firstborn. When Israel +was in bondage in Egypt, so runs the tradition, God resolved +to deliver them from captivity, and to lead them to the +Promised Land. But the Egyptians were loth to part with +their bondmen and thwarted the divine purpose by refusing +to let the Israelites go. Accordingly God afflicted these +cruel taskmasters with one plague after another, but all in +vain, until at last he made up his mind to resort to a strong +measure, which would surely have the desired effect. At +dead of night he would pass through the land killing all the +firstborn of the Egyptians, both man and beast; not one of +them would be left alive in the morning. But the Israelites +were warned of what was about to happen and told to keep +indoors that night, and to put a mark on their houses, so +that when he passed down the street on his errand of +slaughter, God might know them at sight from the houses of +the Egyptians and not turn in and massacre the wrong +children and animals. The mark was to be the blood of a +lamb smeared on the lintel and side posts of the door. In +every house the lamb, whose red blood was to be the badge +of Israel that night, as the white scarves were the badge of +the Catholics on the night of St. Bartholomew, was to be +killed at evening and eaten by the household, with very +peculiar rites, during the hours of darkness while the +butchery was proceeding: none of the flesh was to see the +morning light: whatever the family could not eat was to +be burned with fire. All this was done. The massacre of +Egyptian children and animals was successfully perpetrated +and had the desired effect; and to commemorate this great +triumph God ordained that all the firstborn of man and +beast among the Israelites should be sacred to him ever +afterwards in the manner already described, the edible +animals to be sacrificed, and the uneatable, especially men +and asses, to be ransomed by a substitute or by a pecuniary +payment of so much a head. And a festival was to be +celebrated every spring with rites exactly like those which +were observed on the night of the great slaughter. The +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> +divine command was obeyed, and the festival thus instituted +was the Passover.<note place='foot'>Exodus xi.-xiii. 16; Numbers +iii. 13, viii. 17. While many points in +this strange story remain obscure, the +reason which moved the Israelites of +old to splash the blood of lambs on the +doorposts of their houses at the Passover +may perhaps have been not very +different from that which induces the +Sea Dyaks of Borneo to do much the +same thing at the present day. <q>When +there is any great epidemic in the +country—when cholera or smallpox is +killing its hundreds on all sides—one +often notices little offerings of food +hung on the walls and from the ceiling, +animals killed in sacrifice, and +blood splashed on the posts of the +houses. When one asks why all this +is done, they say they do it in the hope +that when the evil spirit, who is thirsting +for human lives, comes along and +sees the offerings they have made and +the animals killed in sacrifice, he will +be satisfied with these things, and not +take the lives of any of the people +living in the Dyak village house</q> +(E. H. Gomes, <hi rend='italic'>Seventeen Years among +the Sea Dyaks of Borneo</hi>, London, 1911, +p. 201). Similarly in Western Africa, +when a pestilence or an attack of +enemies is expected, it is customary to +sacrifice sheep and goats and smear +their blood on the gateways of the +village (Miss Mary H. Kingsley, +<hi rend='italic'>Travels in West Africa</hi>, p. 454, compare +p. 45). In Peru, when an Indian +hut is cleansed and whitewashed, the +blood of a llama is always sprinkled on +the doorway and internal walls in order +to keep out the evil spirit (Col. Church, +cited by E. J. Payne, <hi rend='italic'>History of the +New World called America</hi>, i. 394, +note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>). For more evidence of the +custom of pouring or smearing blood +on the threshold, lintel, and side-posts +of doors, see Ph. Paulitschke, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnographie +Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige +Cultur der Danâkil, Galla und Somâl</hi> +(Berlin, 1896), pp. 38, 48; J. Goldziher, +<hi rend='italic'>Muhamedanische Studien</hi>, ii. +329; S. J. Curtiss, <hi rend='italic'>Primitive Semitic +Religion To-day</hi>, pp. 181-193, 227 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. C. Trumbull, <hi rend='italic'>The Threshold +Covenant</hi> (New York, 1896), pp. 4 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +8 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 26-28, 66-68. Perhaps the +original intention of the custom was +to avert evil influence, especially evil +spirits, from the door.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Originally +the firstborn +children +seem to +have been +regularly +sacrificed: +their redemption +was a later +mitigation +of the rule.</note> +The one thing that looms clear through the haze of this +weird tradition is the memory of a great massacre of firstborn. +This was the origin, we are told, both of the sanctity +of the firstborn and of the feast of the Passover. But when +we are further told that the people whose firstborn were +slaughtered on that occasion were not the Hebrews but their +enemies, we are at once met by serious difficulties. Why, +we may ask, should the Israelites kill the firstlings of their +cattle for ever because God once killed those of the Egyptians? +and why should every Hebrew father have to pay God a +ransom for his firstborn child because God once slew all the +firstborn children of the Egyptians? In this form the +tradition offers no intelligible explanation of the custom. +But it at once becomes clear and intelligible when we +assume that in the original version of the story it was the +Hebrew firstborn that were slain; that in fact the slaughter +of the firstborn children was formerly, what the slaughter of +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> +the firstborn cattle always continued to be, not an isolated +butchery but a regular custom, which with the growth of +more humane sentiments was afterwards softened into the +vicarious sacrifice of a lamb and the payment of a ransom +for each child. Here the reader may be reminded of another +Hebrew tradition in which the sacrifice of the firstborn child +is indicated still more clearly. Abraham, we are informed, +was commanded by God to offer up his firstborn son Isaac +as a burnt sacrifice, and was on the point of obeying the +divine command, when God, content with this proof of his +faith and obedience, substituted for the human victim a ram, +which Abraham accordingly sacrificed instead of his son.<note place='foot'>Genesis xxii. 1-13.</note> +Putting the two traditions together and observing how +exactly they dovetail into each other and into the later +Hebrew practice of actually sacrificing the firstborn children +by fire to Baal or Moloch, we can hardly resist the conclusion +that, before the practice of redeeming them was introduced, +the Hebrews, like the other branches of the Semitic race, +regularly sacrificed their firstborn children by the fire or the +knife. The Passover, if this view is right, was the occasion +when the awful sacrifice was offered; and the tradition of +its origin has preserved in its main outlines a vivid memory +of the horrors of these fearful nights. They must have been +like the nights called Evil on the west coast of Africa, when +the people kept indoors, because the executioners were going +about the streets and the heads of the human victims were +falling in the king's palace.<note place='foot'>See for example Father Baudin, in +<hi rend='italic'>Missions Catholiques</hi>, xvi. (1894) p. +333; A. B. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>The Yoruba-speaking +Peoples of the Slave Coast</hi>, pp. 105 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> But seen in the lurid light of +superstition or of legend they were no common mortals, no +vulgar executioners, who did the dreadful work at the first +Passover. The Angel of Death was abroad that night; +into every house he entered, and a sound of lamentation +followed him as he came forth with his dripping sword. +The blood that bespattered the lintel and door-posts would +at first be the blood of the firstborn child of the house; and +when the blood of a lamb was afterwards substituted, we +may suppose that it was intended not so much to appease +as to cheat the ghastly visitant. Seeing the red drops in +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> +the doorway he would say to himself, <q>That is the blood of +their child. I need not turn in there. I have many yet to +slay before the morning breaks grey in the east.</q> And he +would pass on in haste. And the trembling parents, as +they clasped their little one to their breast, might fancy that +they heard his footfalls growing fainter and fainter down the +street. In plain words, we may surmise that the slaughter +was originally done by masked men, like the Mumbo +Jumbos and similar figures of west Africa, who went from +house to house and were believed by the uninitiated to be +the deity or his divine messengers come in person to carry +off the victims. When the leaders had decided to allow the +sacrifice of animals instead of children, they would give the +people a hint that if they only killed a lamb and smeared +its blood on the door-posts, the bloodthirsty but near-sighted +deity would never know the difference. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attempts +to outwit a +malignant +spirit.</note> +The attempt to outwit a malignant and dangerous spirit is +common, and might be illustrated by many examples. Some +instances will be noticed in a later part of this work. Here +a single one may suffice. The Malays believe in a Spectral +Huntsman, who ranges the forest with a pack of ghostly +dogs, and whose apparition bodes sickness or death. Certain +birds which fly in flocks by night uttering a loud and peculiar +note are supposed to follow in his train. Hence when +Perak peasants hear the weird sound, they run out and +make a clatter with a knife on a wooden platter, crying, +<q>Great-grandfather, bring us their hearts!</q> The Spectral +Huntsman, hearing these words, will take the supplicants +for followers of his own asking to share his bag. So he will +spare the household and pass on, and the tumult of the wild +hunt will die away in the darkness and the distance.<note place='foot'>W. E. Maxwell, <q>The Folklore of +the Malays,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Straits +Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society</hi>, +No. 7 (June 1881), p. 14; W. W. +Skeat, <hi rend='italic'>Malay Magic</hi>, p. 112. The +bird in question is thought to be the +goat-sucker or night-jar.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +custom of +sacrificing +all the +firstborn, +whether of +animals or +men, was +probably +a very +ancient +Semitic +institution.</note> +If this be indeed the origin of the Passover and of the +sanctity of the firstborn among the Hebrews, the whole of +the Semitic evidence on the subject is seen to fall into line +at once. The children whom the Carthaginians, Phoenicians, +Canaanites, Moabites, Sepharvites, and probably other +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> +branches of the Semitic race burnt in the fire would be +their firstborn only, although in general ancient writers +have failed to indicate this limitation of the custom. For +the Moabites, indeed, the limitation is clearly indicated, if +not expressly stated, when we read that the king of Moab +offered his eldest son, who should have reigned after him, +as a burnt sacrifice on the wall.<note place='foot'>2 Kings iii. 27.</note> For the Phoenicians it +comes out less distinctly in the statement of Porphyry that +the Phoenicians used to sacrifice one of their dearest to +Baal, and in the legend recorded by Philo of Byblus that +Cronus sacrificed his only-begotten son.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg167'>167</ref>.</note> We may suppose +that the custom of sacrificing the firstborn both of men and +animals was a very ancient Semitic institution, which many +branches of the race kept up within historical times; but +that the Hebrews, while they maintained the custom in +regard to domestic cattle, were led by their loftier morality +to discard it in respect of children, and to replace it by a +merciful law that firstborn children should be ransomed +instead of sacrificed.<note place='foot'>As to the redemption of the firstborn +among modern Jews, see L. Löw, +<hi rend='italic'>Die Lebensalter in der jüdischen Literatur</hi> +(Szegedin, 1875), pp. 110-118; +Budgett Meakin, <hi rend='italic'>The Moors</hi> (London, +1902), pp. 440 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacrifice of +firstborn +children +among +various +races.</note> +The conclusion that the Hebrew custom of redeeming +the firstborn is a modification of an older custom of sacrificing +them has been mentioned by some very distinguished +scholars only to be rejected on the ground, apparently, of its +extreme improbability.<note place='foot'>J. Wellhausen, <hi rend='italic'>Prolegomena zur +Geschichte Israels</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> p. 90; W. Robertson +Smith, <hi rend='italic'>Religion of the Semites</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +p. 464. On the other hand, when I +published the foregoing discussion in +the second edition of my book, I was +not aware that the conclusion reached +in it had been anticipated by Prof. Th. +Nöldeke, who has drawn the same +inference from the same evidence. See +<hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen +Gesellschaft</hi>, xlii. (1888) p. +483. I am happy to find myself in +agreement with so eminent an authority +on Semitic antiquity.</note> To me the converging lines of +evidence which point to this conclusion seem too numerous +and too distinct to be thus lightly brushed aside. And the +argument from improbability can easily be rebutted by +pointing to other peoples who are known to have practised +or to be still practising a custom of the same sort. In some +tribes of New South Wales the firstborn child of every +woman was eaten by the tribe as part of a religious +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> +ceremony.<note place='foot'>R. Brough Smyth, <hi rend='italic'>Aborigines of +Victoria</hi>, ii. 311. In the Luritcha +tribe of central Australia <q>young +children are sometimes killed and +eaten, and it is not an infrequent +custom, when a child is in weak health, +to kill a younger and healthy one and +then to feed the weakling on its flesh, +the idea being that this will give the +weak child the strength of the stronger +one</q> (Spencer and Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>Native +Tribes of Central Australia</hi>, p. 475). +The practice seems to have been common +among the Australian aborigines. +See W. E. Stanbridge, quoted by R. +Brough Smyth, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 52; A. W. +Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of South-East +Australia</hi>, pp. 749, 750.</note> Among the aborigines on the lower portions of +the Paroo and Warrego rivers, which join the Darling River +in New South Wales, girls used to become wives when they +were mere children and to be mothers at fourteen, and the +old custom was to kill the firstborn child by strangulation.<note place='foot'>G. Scriviner, in E. Curr's <hi rend='italic'>The +Australian Race</hi>, ii. 182.</note> +Again, among the tribes about Maryborough in Queensland a +girl's first child was almost always exposed and left to perish.<note place='foot'>A. W. Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of +South-East Australia</hi>, p. 750.</note> +In the tribes about Beltana, in South Australia, girls were +married at fourteen, and it was customary to destroy their +firstborn.<note place='foot'>S. Gason, in E. Curr's <hi rend='italic'>The +Australian Race</hi>, ii. 119.</note> The natives of Rook, an island off the east coast +of New Guinea, used to kill all their firstborn children; they +prided themselves on their humanity in burying the murdered +infants instead of eating them as their barbarous neighbours +did. They spared the second child but killed the third, and +so on alternately with the rest of their offspring.<note place='foot'>Father Mazzuconi, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de +la Propagation de la Foi</hi>, xxvii. (1855) +pp. 368 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Chinese +history reports that in a state called Khai-muh, to the east +of Yueh, it was customary to devour the firstborn sons,<note place='foot'>J. J. M. de Groot, <hi rend='italic'>Religious +System of China</hi>, ii. 679, iv. 364.</note> and +further, that to the west of Kiao-chi or Tonquin <q>there was +a realm of man-eaters, where the firstborn son was, as a +rule, chopped into pieces and eaten, and his younger brothers +were nevertheless regarded to have fulfilled their fraternal +duties towards him. And if he proved to be appetizing +food, they sent some of his flesh to their chieftains, who, +exhilarated, gave the father a reward.</q><note place='foot'>J. J. M. de Groot, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> iv. 365. +On these Chinese reports Prof. de +Groot remarks (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> iv. 366): +<q>Quite at a loss, however, we are to +explain that eating of firstborn sons by +their own nearest kinsfolk, absolutely +inconsistent as it is with a primary law +of tribal life in general, which imperiously +demands that the tribe should +make itself strong in male cognates, +but not indulge in self-destruction by +killing its natural defenders. We feel, +therefore, strongly inclined to believe +the statement fabulous.</q> Such scepticism +implies an opinion of the good +sense and foresight of savages which is +far from being justified by the facts. +Many savage tribes have <q>indulged in +self-destruction</q> by killing a large +proportion of their children, both male +and female. See below, pp. <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In India, down +to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the custom of +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> +sacrificing a firstborn child to the Ganges was common.<note place='foot'>W. Crooke, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Religion and +Folklore of Northern India</hi>, ii. 169.</note> +Again, we are told that among the Hindoos <q>the firstborn +has always held a peculiarly sacred position, especially if +born in answer to a vow to parents who have long been +without offspring, in which case sacrifice of the child was +common in India. The Mairs used to sacrifice a firstborn +son to Mata, the small-pox goddess.</q><note place='foot'>H. A. Rose, <q>Unlucky Children,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folklore</hi>, xiii. (1902) p. 63; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, in +<hi rend='italic'>Indian Antiquary</hi>, xxxi. (1902) pp. +162 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Mr. Rose is Superintendent +of Ethnography in the Punjaub. The +authorities cited by him are Moore's +<hi rend='italic'>Hindu Infanticide</hi>, pp. 198 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, and +Sherring's <hi rend='italic'>Hindu Tribes and Castes</hi>, +iii. p. 66.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacrifice of +firstborn +children +among the +Borans and +other tribes +to the +south of +Abyssinia. Firstborn +male +children +put to +death in +Uganda.</note> +The Borans, on the southern borders of Abyssinia, +propitiate a sky-spirit called Wak by sacrificing their children +and cattle to him. Among them when a man of any +standing marries, he becomes a Raba, as it is called, and for +a certain period after marriage, probably four to eight years, +he must leave any children that are born to him to die in +the bush. No Boran cares to contemplate the fearful +calamities with which Wak would visit him if he failed to +discharge this duty. After he ceases to be a Raba, a man +is circumcised and becomes a Gudda. The sky-spirit has +no claim on the children born after their father's circumcision, +but they are sent away at a very early age to be reared by +the Wata, a low caste of hunters. They remain with these +people till they are grown up, and then return to their +families.<note place='foot'>Captain Philip Maud, <q>Exploration +in the Southern Borderland of +Abyssinia,</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Geographical Journal</hi>, +xxiii. (1904) pp. 567 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In this remarkable custom it would appear that +the circumcision of the father is regarded as an atoning +sacrifice which redeems the rest of his children from the +spirit to whom they would otherwise belong. The obscure +story told by the Israelites to explain the origin of circumcision +seems also to suggest that the custom was supposed +to save the life of the child by giving the deity a substitute +for it.<note place='foot'>Exodus iv. 24-26.</note> Again, the Kerre, Banna, and Bashada, three tribes +in the valley of the Omo River, to the south of Abyssinia, +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> +are in the habit of strangling their firstborn children and +throwing the bodies away. The Kerre cast the bodies into +the river Omo, where they are devoured by crocodiles; the +other two tribes leave them in the forest to be eaten by the +hyaenas. The only explanation they give of the custom is +that it was decreed by their ancestors. Captain C. H. +Stigand enquired into the practice very carefully and was +told that <q>for a certain number of years after marriage +children would be thrown away, and after that they would +be kept. The number of the first children who were +strangled, and the period of years during which this was +done, appears to be variable, but I could not understand +what regulated it. There was one point, however, about +which they were certain, and that was that the first-born of +all, rich, poor, high and low, had to be strangled and thrown +away. The chief of the Kerre said, <q>If I had a child now, +it would have to be thrown away,</q> laughing as if it were a +great joke. What amused him really was that I should be +so interested in their custom.</q> So far as Captain Stigand +could ascertain, there is no idea of sacrificing the children to +the crocodiles by throwing them into the river. If a Kerre +man has a first child born to him while he is on a journey +away from the river, he will throw the infant away in the +forest.<note place='foot'>Captain C. H. Stigand, <hi rend='italic'>To Abyssinia +through an Unknown Land</hi> +(London, 1910), pp. 234 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Uganda if the firstborn child of a chief or any +important person is a son, the midwife strangles it and +reports that the infant was still-born. <q>This is done to +ensure the life of the father; if he has a son born first he +will soon die, and the child inherit all he has.</q><note place='foot'>J. Roscoe, <q>Further Notes on +the Manners and Customs of the +Baganda,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xxxii. (1902) p. 30. +Mr. Roscoe informs me that a similar +custom prevails also in Koki and +Bunyoro.</note> Amongst +the people of Senjero in eastern Africa we are told that +many families must offer up their firstborn sons as sacrifices, +because once upon a time, when summer and winter were +jumbled together in a bad season, and the fruits of the earth +would not ripen, the soothsayers enjoined it. At that time +a great pillar of iron is said to have stood at the entrance of +the capital, which in accordance with the advice of the +soothsayers was broken down by order of the king, whereupon +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> +the seasons became regular again. To avert the +recurrence of such a calamity the wizards commanded the +king to pour human blood once a year on the base of the +broken shaft of the pillar, and also upon the throne. Since +then certain families have been obliged to deliver up their +firstborn sons, who were sacrificed at an appointed time.<note place='foot'>J. L. Krapf, <hi rend='italic'>Travels, Researches, +and Missionary Labours during an +Eighteen Years' Residence in Eastern +Africa</hi> (London, 1860), pp. 69 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +Dr. Krapf, who reports the custom at +second hand, thinks that the existence +of the pillar may be doubted, but that +the rest of the story harmonises well +enough with African superstition.</note> +Among some tribes of south-eastern Africa there is a rule +that when a woman's husband has been killed in battle and +she marries again, the first child she gives birth to after her +second marriage must be put to death, whether she has it +by her first or her second husband. Such a child is called +<q>the child of the assegai,</q> and if it were not killed, death or +an accident would be sure to befall the second spouse, and +the woman herself would be barren. The notion is that the +woman must have had some share in the misfortune that +overtook her first husband, and that the only way of removing +the malign influence is to slay <q>the child of the assegai.</q><note place='foot'>J. Macdonald, <hi rend='italic'>Light in Africa</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(London, 1890), p. 156. In the text I +have embodied some fuller explanations +and particulars which my friend the Rev. +Mr. Macdonald was good enough to send +me in a letter dated September 16th, +1899. Among the tribes with which +Mr. Macdonald is best acquainted the +custom is obsolete and lives only in +tradition; formerly it was universally +practised.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacrifice +of firstborn +children in +Europe +and +America. Sacrifice of +firstborn +children to +the sun. Sacrifice of +children in +Peru.</note> +The heathen Russians often sacrificed their firstborn to +the god Perun.<note place='foot'>F. J. Mone, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte des Heidenthums +im nördlichen Europa</hi> (Leipsic +and Darmstadt, 1822-1823), i. 119.</note> It is said that on Mag Slacht or <q>plain of +prostrations,</q> near the present village of Ballymagauran, in +the County Cavan, there used to stand a great idol called +Cromm Cruach, covered with gold, to which the ancient +Irish sacrificed <q>the firstlings of every issue and the chief +scions of every clan</q> in order to obtain plenty of corn, +honey, and milk. Round about the golden image, which +was spoken of as the king idol of Erin, stood twelve other +idols of stone.<note place='foot'>Vallancey, <hi rend='italic'>Collectanea de rebus +Hibernicis</hi>, vol. iii. (Dublin, 1786) p. +457; D. Nutt, <hi rend='italic'>The Voyage of Bran</hi>, +ii. 149-151, 304 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; P. W. Joyce, +<hi rend='italic'>Social History of Ancient Ireland</hi>, i. +275 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 281-284. The authority for +the tradition is the <hi rend='italic'>Dinnschenchas</hi> or +<hi rend='italic'>Dinnsenchus</hi>, a document compiled in +the eleventh and twelfth centuries out +of older materials. Mr. Joyce discredits +the tradition of human sacrifice.</note> The Kutonaqa Indians of British Columbia +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> +worship the sun and sacrifice their firstborn children to him. +When a woman is with child she prays to the sun, saying, +<q>I am with child. When it is born I shall offer it to you. +Have pity upon us.</q> Thus they expect to secure health +and good fortune for their families.<note place='foot'>Fr. Boas, in <q>Fourth Annual +Report on the North-Western Tribes +of Canada,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Report of the British +Association for 1888</hi>, p. 242; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, in +<hi rend='italic'>Fifth Report on the North-Western +Tribes of Canada</hi>, p. 52 (separate reprint +from the <hi rend='italic'>Report of the British +Association for 1889</hi>).</note> Among the Coast +Salish Indians of the same region the first child is often +sacrificed to the sun in order to ensure the health and +prosperity of the whole family.<note place='foot'>Fr. Boas, in <hi rend='italic'>Fifth Report on the +North-Western Tribes of Canada</hi>, p. +46 (separate reprint from the <hi rend='italic'>Report +of the British Association for 1889</hi>).</note> The Indians of Florida +sacrificed their firstborn male children.<note place='foot'>W. Strachey, <hi rend='italic'>Historie of travaile +into Virginia Britannia</hi> (Hakluyt +Society, London, 1849), p. 84.</note> Among the Indians +of north Carolina down to the early part of the eighteenth +century a remarkable ceremony was performed, which seems +to be most naturally interpreted as a modification of an +older custom of putting the king's son to death, perhaps as +a substitute for his father. It is thus described by a writer +of that period: <q>They have a strange custom or ceremony +amongst them, to call to mind the persecutions and death +of the kings their ancestors slain by their enemies at +certain seasons, and particularly when the savages have +been at war with any nation, and return from their country +without bringing home some prisoners of war, or the heads +of their enemies. The king causes as a perpetual remembrance +of all his predecessors to beat and wound the best +beloved of all his children with the same weapons wherewith +they had been kill'd in former times, to the end that by +renewing the wound, their death should be lamented afresh. +The king and his nation being assembled on these occasions, +a feast is prepared, and the Indian who is authorised to +wound the king's son, runs about the house like a distracted +person crying and making a most hideous noise all the time +with the weapon in his hand, wherewith he wounds the +king's son; this he performs three several times, during +which interval he presents the king with victuals or <foreign rend='italic'>cassena</foreign>, +and it is very strange to see the Indian that is thus struck +never offers to stir till he is wounded the third time, after +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> +which he falls down backwards stretching out his arms and +legs as if he had been ready to expire; then the rest of the +king's sons and daughters, together with the mother and +vast numbers of women and girls, fall at his feet and lament +and cry most bitterly. During this time the king and his +retinue are feasting, yet with such profound silence for some +hours, that not one word or even a whisper is to be heard +amongst them. After this manner they continue till night, +which ends in singing, dancing, and the greatest joy imaginable.</q><note place='foot'>J. Bricknell, <hi rend='italic'>The Natural History +of North Carolina</hi> (Dublin, 1737), +pp. 342 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> I have taken the liberty +of altering slightly the writer's somewhat +eccentric punctuation.</note> +In this account the description of the frantic +manner assumed by the person whose duty it was to wound +the king's son reminds us of the frenzy of King Athamas +when he took or attempted the lives of his children.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref>.</note> The +same feature is said to have characterised the sacrifice of +children in Peru. <q>When any person of note was sick and +the priest said he must die, they sacrificed his son, desiring +the idol to be satisfied with him and not to take away his +father's life. The ceremonies used at these sacrifices were +strange, for they behaved themselves like mad men. They +believed that all calamities were occasioned by sin, and that +sacrifices were the remedy.</q><note place='foot'>A. de Herrera, <hi rend='italic'>The General History +of the Vast Continent and Islands +of America</hi>, translated by Capt. John +Stevens (London, 1725-6), iv. 347 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +Compare J. de Acosta, <hi rend='italic'>Natural and +Moral History of the Indies</hi> (Hakluyt +Society, London, 1880), ii. 344.</note> An early Spanish historian +of the conquest of Peru, in describing the Indians of the +Peruvian valleys between San-Miguel and Caxamalca, records +that <q>they have disgusting sacrifices and temples of idols +which they hold in great veneration; they offer them their +most precious possessions. Every month they sacrifice their +own children and smear with the blood of the victims the +face of the idols and the doors of the temples.</q><note place='foot'>Fr. Xeres, <hi rend='italic'>Relation véridique de +la conquête du Perou et de la Province +de Cuzco nommée Nouvelle-Castille</hi> (in H. +Ternaux-Compans's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages, relations +et mémoires</hi>, etc., Paris, 1837), p. 53.</note> In Puruha, +a province of Quito, it used to be customary to sacrifice the +firstborn children to the gods. Their remains were dried, +enclosed in vessels of metal or stone, and kept in the +houses.<note place='foot'>Juan de Velasco, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire du +royaume de Quito</hi>, i. (Paris, 1840) +p. 106 (forming vol. xviii. of H. +Ternaux-Compans's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages, relations +et mémoires</hi>, etc.).</note> The Ximanas and Cauxanas, two Indian tribes +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> +in the upper valley of the Amazon, kill all their firstborn +children.<note place='foot'>A. R. Wallace, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of +Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro</hi> +(London, 1889), p. 355.</note> If the firstborn is a girl, the Lengua Indians +invariably put it to death.<note place='foot'>W. Barbrooke Grubb, <hi rend='italic'>An Unknown +People in an Unknown Land</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 233.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +<q>sacred +spring</q> in +ancient +Italy.</note> +Among the ancient Italian peoples, especially of the +Sabine stock, it was customary in seasons of great peril or +public calamity, as when the crops had failed or a pestilence +was raging, to vow that they would sacrifice to the gods +every creature, whether man or beast, that should be born in +the following spring. To the creatures thus devoted to +sacrifice the name of <q>the sacred spring</q> was applied. +<q>But since,</q> says Festus, <q>it seemed cruel to slay innocent +boys and girls, they were kept till they had grown up, then +veiled and driven beyond the boundaries.</q><note place='foot'>Festus, <hi rend='italic'>De verborum significatione</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>s.vv.</hi> <q>Mamertini,</q> <q>Sacrani,</q> and +<q>Ver sacrum,</q> pp. 158, 370, 371, +379, ed. C. O. Müller; Servius on +Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> vii. 796; Nonius Marcellus, +<hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>ver sacrum,</q> p. 522 (p. 610, ed. +Quicherat); Varro, <hi rend='italic'>Rerum rusticarum</hi>, +iii. 16. 29; Dionysius Halicarnasensis, +<hi rend='italic'>Antiquit. Rom.</hi> i. 16 and 23 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, ii. 1. 2.</note> Several Italian +peoples, for example the Piceni, Samnites, and Hirpini, +traced their origin to a <q>sacred spring,</q> that is, to the +consecrated youth who had swarmed off from the parent +stock in consequence of such a vow.<note place='foot'>Strabo, v. 4. 2 and 12; Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. +hist.</hi> iii. 110; Festus, <hi rend='italic'>De verborum significatione</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Irpini,</q> ed. C. O. Müller, +p. 106. It is worthy of note that the +three swarms which afterwards developed +into the Piceni, the Samnites, and the +Hirpini were said to have been guided +by a woodpecker, a bull, and a wolf +respectively, of which the woodpecker +(<foreign rend='italic'>picus</foreign>) and the wolf (<foreign rend='italic'>hirpus</foreign>) gave their +names to the Piceni and the Hirpini. +The tradition may perhaps preserve a +trace of totemism, but in the absence +of clearer evidence it would be rash to +assume that it does so. The woodpecker +was sacred among the Latins, +and a woodpecker as well as a wolf is +said to have fed the twins Romulus +and Remus (Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Quaest. Rom.</hi> +21; Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Fasti</hi>, iii. 37 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). Does +this legend point to the existence of a +wolf-clan and a woodpecker-clan at +Rome? There was perhaps a similar +conjunction of wolf and woodpecker at +Soracte, for the woodpecker is spoken +of as the bird of Feronia (<q><hi rend='italic'>picus +Feronius</hi>,</q> Festus, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Oscines,</q> +p. 197, ed. C. O. Müller), a goddess +in whose sanctuary at Soracte certain +men went by the name of Soranian +Wolves (Servius, on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> xi. +785; Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. hist.</hi> vii. 19; +Strabo, v. 2. 9). These <q>Soranian +Wolves</q> will meet us again later on.</note> When the Romans +were engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Hannibal +after their great defeat at the Trasimene Lake, they vowed +to offer a <q>sacred spring</q> if victory should attend their +arms and the commonwealth should retrieve its shattered +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> +fortunes. But the vow extended only to all the offspring of +sheep, goats, oxen, and swine that should be brought forth +on Italian mountains, plains, and meadows the following +spring.<note place='foot'>Livy, xxii. 9 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Plutarch, <hi rend='italic'>Fabius +Maximus</hi>, 4.</note> On a later occasion, when the Romans pledged +themselves again by a similar vow, it was decided that by +the <q>sacred spring</q> should be meant all the cattle born +between the first day of March and the last day of April.<note place='foot'>Livy, xxxiv. 44.</note> +Although in later times the Italian peoples appear to have +resorted to measures of this sort only in special emergencies, +there was a tradition that in former times the consecration +of the firstborn to the gods had been an annual custom.<note place='foot'>Dionysius Halicarnasensis, <hi rend='italic'>Antiquit. +Rom.</hi> i. 24.</note> +Accordingly, it seems not impossible that originally the +Italians may, like the Hebrews and perhaps the Semites in +general, have been in the habit of dedicating all the firstborn, +whether of man or beast, and sacrificing them at a great +festival in spring.<note place='foot'>Schwegler thought it hardly open +to question that the <q>sacred spring</q> +was a substitute for an original custom +of human sacrifice (<hi rend='italic'>Römische Geschichte</hi>, +i. 240 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). The inference is denied +on insufficient grounds by R. von +Ihering (<hi rend='italic'>Vorgeschichte der Indoeuropäer</hi>, +pp. 309 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>).</note> The custom of the <q>sacred spring</q> was +not confined to the Italians, but was practised by many +other peoples, both Greeks and barbarians, in antiquity.<note place='foot'>Dionysius Halicarnasensis, <hi rend='italic'>Antiquit. +Rom.</hi> i. 16. 1. Rhegium in Italy +was founded by Chalcidian colonists, +who in obedience to the Delphic +Oracle had been dedicated as a tithe-offering +to Apollo on account of a +dearth (Strabo, vi. 1. 6, p. 257). +Justin speaks of the Gauls sending out +three hundred thousand men, <q>as it +were a sacred spring,</q> to seek a new +home (Justin, xxiv. 4. 1).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Different +motives +may have +led to the +practice of +killing the +firstborn. A belief in +the rebirth +of souls +may in +some cases +have +operated to +produce infanticide, +especially +of the firstborn. +The +Hindoos +believe that +a man is +reborn in +his son, +while at +the same +time he +dies in +his own +person.</note> +Thus it would seem that a custom of putting to death +all firstborn children has prevailed in many parts of the +world. What was the motive which led people to practise +a custom which to us seems at once so cruel and so foolish? +It cannot have been the purely prudential consideration +of adjusting the numbers of the tribe to the amount of the +food-supply; for, in the first place, savages do not take +such thought for the morrow,<note place='foot'>The Australian aborigines resort +to infanticide to keep down the number +of a family. But <q>the number is kept +down, not with any idea at all of regulating +the food supply, so far as the +adults are concerned, but simply from +the point of view that, if the mother is +suckling one child, she cannot properly +provide food for another, quite apart +from the question of the trouble of carrying +two children about. An Australian +native never looks far enough ahead to +consider what will be the effect on the +food supply in future years if he allows +a particular child to live; what affects +him is simply the question of how it +will interfere with the work of his wife +so far as their own camp is concerned</q> +(Spencer and Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of +Central Australia</hi>, p. 264).</note> and, in the second place, if +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> +they did, they would be likely to kill the later born children +rather than the firstborn. The foregoing evidence suggests +that the custom may have been practised by different +peoples from different motives. With the Semites, the +Italians, and their near kinsmen the Irish the sacrifice or at +least the consecration of the firstborn seems to have been +viewed as a tribute paid to the gods, who were thus content +to receive a part though they might justly have claimed the +whole. In some cases the death of the child appears to be +definitely regarded as a substitute for the death of the +father, who obtains a new lease of life by the sacrifice of his +offspring. This comes out clearly in the tradition of Aun, +King of Sweden, who sacrificed one of his sons every nine +years to Odin in order to prolong his own life.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> And in +Peru also the son died that the father might live.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref>.</note> But in +some cases it would seem that the child has been killed, not +so much as a substitute for the father, as because it is +supposed to endanger his life by absorbing his spiritual +essence or vital energy. In fact, a belief in the transmigration +or rebirth of souls has operated to produce a regular +custom of infanticide, especially infanticide of the firstborn. +At Whydah, on the Slave coast of West Africa, where the +doctrine of reincarnation is firmly held, it has happened that +a child has been put to death because the fetish doctors +declared it to be the king's father come to life again. The +king naturally could not submit to be pushed from the +throne by his predecessor in this fashion; so he compelled +his supposed parent to return to the world of the dead from +which he had very inopportunely effected his escape.<note place='foot'>Father Baudin, <q>Le Fétichisme,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Missions Catholiques</hi>, xvi. (1884) p. +259.</note> The +Hindoos are of opinion that a man is literally reborn in the +person of his son. Thus in the <hi rend='italic'>Laws of Manu</hi> we read that +<q>the husband, after conception by his wife, becomes an +embryo and is born again of her; for that is the wifehood of +a wife, that he is born again by her.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Laws of Manu</hi>, ix. 8, p. 329, +G. Bühler's translation (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books +of the East</hi>, vol. xxv.). On this Hindoo +doctrine of reincarnation, its logical +consequences and its analogies in other +parts of the world, see J. von Negelein, +<q>Eine Quelle der indischen +Seelenwanderungvorstellung,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Archiv +für Religionswissenschaft</hi>, vi. (1903) +pp. 320-333. Compare E. S. Hartland, +<hi rend='italic'>The Legend of Perseus</hi>, i. 218 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Primitive Paternity</hi> (London, +1909-1910), ii. 196 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Hence after the birth +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> +of a son the father is clearly in a very delicate position. +Since he is his own son, can he himself, apart from his son, +be said to exist? Does he not rather die in his own person +as soon as he comes to life in the person of his son? This +appears to be the opinion of the subtle Hindoo, for in some +sections of the Khatris, a mercantile caste of the Punjaub, +funeral rites are actually performed for the father in the fifth +month of his wife's pregnancy. But apparently he is allowed, +by a sort of legal fiction, to come to life again in his own +person; for after the birth of his first son he is formally +remarried to his wife, which may be regarded as a tacit +admission that in the eye of the law at least he is alive.<note place='foot'>H. A. [J. A.] Rose, <q>Unlucky +and Lucky Children, and some Birth +Superstitions,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Indian Antiquary</hi>, +xxxi. (1902) p. 516; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, in <hi rend='italic'>Folklore</hi>, +xiii. (1902) pp. 278 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> As to the +Khatris, see D. C. J. Ibbetson, <hi rend='italic'>Outlines +of Panjab Ethnography</hi>, pp. 295 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. H. Risley, <hi rend='italic'>The Tribes and +Castes of Bengal</hi>, i. 478 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; W. +Crooke, <hi rend='italic'>The Tribes and Castes of the +North-western Provinces and Oudh</hi>, +iii. 264 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Painful +dilemma of +a father.</note> +Now to people who thus conceive the relation of father +and son it is plain that fatherhood must appear a very +dubious privilege; for if you die in begetting a son, can you +be quite sure of coming to life again? His existence is at +the best a menace to yours, and at the worst it may involve +your extinction. The danger seems to lie especially in the +birth of your first son; if only you can tide that over, you are, +humanly speaking, safe. In fact, it comes to this, Are you to +live? or is he? It is a painful dilemma. Parental affection +urges you to die that he may live. Self-love whispers, <q>Live +and let him die. You are in the flower of your age. You +adorn the circle in which you move. You are useful, nay, indispensable, +to society. He is a mere babe. He never will be +missed.</q> Such a train of thought, preposterous as it seems to +us, might easily lead to a custom of killing the firstborn.<note place='foot'>The same suggestion has been +made by Dr. E. Westermarck (<hi rend='italic'>The +Origin and Development of the Moral +Ideas</hi>, i. (London, 1906) pp. 460 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). +Some years ago, before the publication +of his book and while the present +volume was still in proof, Dr. Westermarck +and I in conversation discovered +that we had independently +arrived at the same conjectural explanation +of the custom of killing the +firstborn.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The same +notion of +the rebirth +of the +father in +the son +would explain +why +in Polynesia +infants +succeeded +to +the chieftainship +as +soon as +they were +born, their +fathers +abdicating +in their +favour.</note> +Further, the same notion of the rebirth of the father in +his eldest son would explain the remarkable rule of succession +which prevailed in Polynesia and particularly in Tahiti, +where as soon as the king had a son born to him he was +obliged to abdicate the throne in favour of the infant. +Whatever might be the king's age, his influence in the state, +or the political situation of affairs, no sooner was the child +born than the monarch became a subject: the infant was at +once proclaimed the sovereign of the people: the royal name +was conferred upon him, and his father was the first to do +him homage, by saluting his feet and declaring him king. +All matters, however, of importance which concerned either +the internal welfare or the foreign relations of the country +continued to be transacted by the father and his councillors; +but every edict was issued in the name and on the behalf of +the youthful monarch, and though the whole of the executive +government might remain in the hands of the father, he +only acted as regent for his son, and was regarded as such +by the nation. The lands and other sources of revenue +were appropriated to the maintenance of the infant ruler, his +household, and his attendants; the insignia of royal authority +were transferred to him, and his father rendered him all +those marks of humble respect which he had hitherto +exacted from his subjects. This custom of succession was +not confined to the family of the sovereign, it extended also +to the nobles and the landed gentry; they, too, had to resign +their rank, honours, and possessions on the birth of a son. +A man who but yesterday was a baron, not to be approached +by his inferiors till they had ceremoniously bared the whole +of the upper part of their bodies, was to-day reduced to the +rank of a mere commoner with none to do him reverence, if +in the night time his wife had given birth to a son, and the +child had been suffered to live. The father indeed still continued +to administer the estate, but he did so for the benefit +of the infant, to whom it now belonged, and to whom all the +marks of respect were at once transferred.<note place='foot'>Capt. J. Cook, <hi rend='italic'>Voyages</hi> (London, +1809), i. 225 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Capt. J. Wilson, +<hi rend='italic'>Missionary Voyage to the Southern +Pacific Ocean</hi> (London, 1799), pp. 327, +330, 333; W. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>Polynesian +Researches</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> iii. 99-101; J. A. Mourenhout, +<hi rend='italic'>Voyages aux îles du Grand +Océan</hi>, ii. 13 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Mathias G. ——, +<hi rend='italic'>Lettres sur les Îles Marquises</hi> (Paris, +1843), pp. 103 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. Hale, <hi rend='italic'>United +States Exploring Expedition, Ethnography +and Philology</hi> (Philadelphia, +1846), p. 34.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Such a +rule of +succession +might +easily lead +to a +practice of +infanticide. +Prevalence +of infanticide +in +Polynesia.</note> +This singular usage becomes intelligible if the spirit of +the father was supposed to quit him at the birth of his first +son and to reappear in the infant. Such a belief and such +a practice would, it is obvious, supply a powerful motive to +infanticide, since a father could not rear his firstborn son +without thereby relinquishing the honours and possessions +to which he had been accustomed. The sacrifice was a +heavy one, and we need not wonder if many men refused to +make it. Certainly infanticide was practised in Polynesia to +an extraordinary extent. The first missionaries estimated +that not less than two-thirds of the children were murdered +by their parents, and this estimate has been confirmed by a +careful enquirer. It would seem that before the introduction +of Christianity there was not a single mother in the +islands who was not also a murderess, having imbrued her +hands in the blood of her offspring. Three native women, +the eldest not more than forty years of age, happened once +to be in a room where the conversation turned on infanticide, +and they confessed to having destroyed not less than twenty-one +infants between them.<note place='foot'>W. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>Polynesian Researches</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +i. 251-253.</note> It would doubtless be a gross +mistake to lay the whole blame of these massacres on the +doctrine of reincarnation, but we can hardly doubt that it +instigated a great many. Once more we perceive the fatal +consequences that may flow in practice from a theoretical +error. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In some +places the +father +either +abdicates +when his +son attains +to manhood +or is +forcibly +deposed by +him.</note> +In some places the abdication of the father does not take +place until the son is grown up. This was the general +practice in Fiji.<note place='foot'>J. E. Erskine, <hi rend='italic'>Journal of a Cruise +among the Islands of the Western Pacific</hi> +(London, 1853), p. 233.</note> In Raratonga as soon as a son reached +manhood, he would fight and wrestle with his father for the +mastery, and if he obtained it he would take forcible possession +of the farm and drive his parent in destitution from +home.<note place='foot'>J. Williams, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of Missionary +Enterprises in the South Sea Islands</hi> +(London, 1836), pp. 117 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Corannas of South Africa the youthful +son of a chief is hardly allowed to walk, but has to idle away +his time in the hut and to drink much milk in order that he +may grow strong. When he has attained to manhood his +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> +father produces two short, bullet-headed sticks and presents +one to his son, while he keeps the other for himself. Armed +with these weapons the two often fight, and when the son +succeeds in knocking his parent down he is acknowledged +chief of the kraal.<note place='foot'>J. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Travels in South +Africa, Second Journey</hi> (London, +1822), ii. 276.</note> But such customs probably do not +imply the theory of rebirth; they may only be applications +of the principle that might is right. Still they would equally +supply the father with a motive for killing the infant son +who, if suffered to live, would one day strip him of his rank +and possessions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +custom of +the deposition +of the +father by +his son +may +perhaps be +traced in +Greek +myth and +legend. +Cronus +and his +children.</note> +Perhaps customs of this sort have left traces of themselves +in Greek myth and legend. Cronus or Saturn, as the +Romans called him, is said to have been the youngest son +of the sky-god Uranus, and to have mutilated his father and +reigned in his stead as king of gods and men. Afterwards +he was warned by an oracle that he himself should be deposed +by his son. To prevent that catastrophe Cronus swallowed +his children, one after the other, as soon as they were born. +Only the youngest of them, Zeus, was saved through a trick +of his mother's, and in time he fulfilled the oracle by banishing +his father and sitting on his throne. But Zeus in his +turn was told that his wife Metis would give birth to a son +who would supplant him in the kingdom of heaven. Accordingly, +to rid himself of his future rival he resorted to a device +like that which his father Cronus had employed for a similar +purpose. Only instead of waiting till the child was born +and then devouring it, he made assurance doubly sure by +swallowing his wife with the unborn babe in her womb.<note place='foot'>Hesiod, <hi rend='italic'>Theogony</hi>, 137 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 453 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 886 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Apollodorus, <hi rend='italic'>Bibliotheca</hi>, +i. 1-3.</note> +Such barbarous myths become intelligible if we suppose that +they took their rise among people who were accustomed to +see grown-up sons supplanting their fathers by force, and +fathers murdering and perhaps eating their infants in order +to secure themselves against their future rivalry. We have +met with instances of savage tribes who are said to devour +their firstborn children.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Traces of a +custom of sacrificing the children instead +of the father may perhaps be found in +the legends that Menoeceus, son of +Creon, died to save Thebes, and that +one or more of the daughters of Erechtheus perished to save Athens. See +Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Phoenissae</hi>, 889 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Apollodorus, iii. 6. 7, iii. 15. 4; +Schol. on Aristides, <hi rend='italic'>Panathen.</hi> p. 113, +ed. Dindorf; Cicero, <hi rend='italic'>Tuscul.</hi>, i. 48. 116; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>De natura deorum</hi>, iii. 19. 50; +W. H. Roscher, <hi rend='italic'>Lexikon d. griech. und +röm. Mythologie</hi>, i. 1298 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, ii. 2794 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Legend of +Oedipus, +who slew +his father +and +married his +mother. +Marriage +with a +widowed +queen +sometimes +forms a +legitimate +title to the +kingdom. +Marriage +with a stepmother +or +a sister, a +mode of +securing +the succession +of the +king's own +children, +and so of +transferring +the inheritance +from the +female to +the male +line. Brother +and sister +marriages +in royal +families.</note> +The legend that Laius, king of Thebes, exposed his infant +son Oedipus, who afterwards slew his father and sat on the +throne, may well be a reminiscence of a state of things in +which father and son regularly plotted against each other. +The other feature of the story, to wit the marriage of Oedipus +with the widowed queen, his mother, fits in very well with +the rule which has prevailed in some countries that a valid +title to the throne is conferred by marriage with the late +king's widow. That custom probably arose, as I have +endeavoured to shew,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, vol. ii. pp. 269 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> in an age when the blood-royal ran +in the female line, and when the king was a man of another +family, often a stranger and foreigner, who reigned only in +virtue of being the consort of a native princess, and whose +sons never succeeded him on the throne. But in process of +time, when fathers had ceased to regard the birth of a son +as a menace to their life, or at least to their regal power, +kings would naturally scheme to secure the succession +for their own male offspring, and this new practice could +be reconciled with the old one by marrying the king's son +either to his own sister or, after his father's decease, to +his stepmother. We have seen marriage with a stepmother +actually enjoined for this very purpose by some +of the Saxon kings.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, vol. ii. p. 283. The Oedipus +legend would conform still more +closely to custom if we could suppose +that marriage with a mother was formerly +allowed in cases where the king +had neither a sister nor a stepmother, +by marrying whom he could otherwise +legalise his claim to the throne.</note> And on this hypothesis we can +understand why the custom of marriage with a full or a +half sister has prevailed in so many royal families.<note place='foot'>Examples of this custom are collected +by me in a note on Pausanias, +i. 7. 1 (vol. ii. p. 85). For other +instances see V. Noel, <q>Île de Madagascar, +recherches sur les Sakkalava,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Bulletin de la Société de Géographie</hi> +(Paris), Deuxième Série, xx. (Paris, +1843) pp. 63 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (among the Sakkalavas +of Madagascar); V. L. Cameron, +<hi rend='italic'>Across Africa</hi> (London, 1877), ii. 70, +149; J. Roscoe, <q>Further Notes on +the Manners and Customs of the +Baganda,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xxxii. (1902) p. 27 +(among the Baganda of Central Africa); +J. G. Frazer, <hi rend='italic'>Totemism and Exogamy</hi>, +ii. 523, 538 (among the Banyoro and +Bahima); J. Dos Santos, <q>Eastern +Ethiopia,</q> in G. McCall Theal's <hi rend='italic'>Records +of South-Eastern Africa</hi>, vii. 191 (as +to the kings of Sofala in eastern Africa). +But Dos Santos's statement is doubted +by Dr. McCall Theal (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 395).</note> It was +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> +introduced, we may suppose, for the purpose of giving the +king's son the right of succession hitherto enjoyed, under a +system of female kinship, either by the son of the king's +sister or by the husband of the king's daughter; for under +the new rule the heir to the throne united both these characters, +being at once the son of the king's sister and, through +marriage with his own sister, the husband of the king's +daughter. Thus the custom of brother and sister marriage +in royal houses marks a transition from female to male +descent of the crown.<note place='foot'>This explanation of the custom +was anticipated by McLennan: +<q>Another rule of chiefly succession, +which has been mentioned, that which +gave the chiefship to a sister's son, +appears to have been nullified in some +cases by an extraordinary but effective +expedient—by the chief, that is, marrying +his own sister</q> (<hi rend='italic'>The Patriarchal +Theory, based on the Papers of the late +John Ferguson McLennan</hi>, edited and +completed by Donald McLennan (London, +1885), p. 95).</note> In this connexion it may be significant +that Cronus and Zeus themselves married their full +sisters Rhea and Hera, a tradition which naturally proved +a stone of stumbling to generations who had forgotten the +ancient rule of policy which dictated such incestuous unions, +and who had so far inverted the true relations of gods and +men as to expect their deities to be edifying models of the +new virtues instead of warning examples of the old vices.<note place='foot'>Compare Cicero, <hi rend='italic'>De natura +deorum</hi>, ii. 26. 66; [Plutarch], <hi rend='italic'>De vita +et poesi Homeri</hi>, ii. 96; Lactantius, +<hi rend='italic'>Divin. Inst.</hi> i. 10; Firmicus Maternus, +<hi rend='italic'>De errore profanarum religionum</hi>, xii. 4.</note> +They failed to understand that men create their gods in +their own likeness, and that when the creator is a savage, +his creatures the gods are savages also. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Kings' sons +sacrificed +instead +of their +fathers. Substitution +of condemned +criminals.</note> +With the preceding evidence before us we may safely +infer that a custom of allowing a king to kill his son, as a +substitute or vicarious sacrifice for himself, would be in no +way exceptional or surprising, at least in Semitic lands, where +indeed religion seems at one time to have recommended or +enjoined every man, as a duty that he owed to his god, to +take the life of his eldest son. And it would be entirely in +accordance with analogy if, long after the barbarous custom +had been dropped by others, it continued to be observed +by kings, who remain in many respects the representatives +of a vanished world, solitary pinnacles that topple over the +rising waste of waters under which the past lies buried. We +have seen that in Greece two families of royal descent +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> +remained liable to furnish human victims from their number +down to a time when the rest of their fellow countrymen +and countrywomen ran hardly more risk of being sacrificed +than passengers in Cheapside at present run of being hurried +into St. Paul's or Bow Church and immolated on the altar. +A final mitigation of the custom would be to substitute condemned +criminals for innocent victims. Such a substitution +is known to have taken place in the human sacrifices annually +offered in Rhodes to Baal,<note place='foot'>Porphyry, <hi rend='italic'>De abstinentia</hi>, ii. 54.</note> and we have seen good grounds +for believing that the criminal, who perished on the cross or +the gallows at Babylon, died instead of the king in whose +royal robes he had been allowed to masquerade for a few +days. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VII. Succession To The Soul.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A custom +of putting +kings to +death at +short +intervals +might extinguish +the families +from which +the kings +were +drawn; +but this +tendency +would be +no bar to +the observance +of the +custom. +Many +races have +indulged in +practices +which tend +directly +to their +extinction.</note> +To the view that in early times, and among barbarous +races, kings have frequently been put to death at the end of +a short reign, it may be objected that such a custom would +tend to the extinction of the royal family. The objection +may be met by observing, first, that the kingship is often +not confined to one family, but may be shared in turn by +several;<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 292 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> second, that the office is frequently not hereditary, +but is open to men of any family, even to foreigners, who +may fulfil the requisite conditions, such as marrying a +princess or vanquishing the king in battle;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>See The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 269 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> and, third, that +even if the custom did tend to the extinction of a dynasty, +that is not a consideration which would prevent its observance +among people less provident of the future and less +heedful of human life than ourselves. Many races, like +many individuals have indulged in practices which must in +the end destroy them. Not to mention such customs as +collective suicide and the prohibition of marriage,<note place='foot'>Men and women of the Khlysti +sect in Russia abhor marriage; and +in the sect of the Skoptsi or Eunuchs +the devotees mutilate themselves. See +Sir D. Mackenzie Wallace, <hi rend='italic'>Russia</hi>. +(London [1877]), p. 302. As to +collective suicide, see above, pp. <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> both of +which may be set down to religious mania, we have seen +that the Polynesians killed two-thirds of their children.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref>.</note> In +some parts of East Africa the proportion of infants massacred +at birth is said to be the same. Only children born in +certain presentations are allowed to live.<note place='foot'>Father Picarda, <q>Autour de Mandéra, +notes sur l'Ouzigowa, l'Oukwéré +et l'Oudoe (Zanguebar),</q> <hi rend='italic'>Missions +Catholiques</hi>, xviii. (1886) p. 284.</note> The Jagas, a +conquering tribe in Angola, are reported to have put to +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> +death all their children, without exception, in order that the +women might not be cumbered with babies on the march. +They recruited their numbers by adopting boys and girls of +thirteen or fourteen years of age, whose parents they had +killed and eaten.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Strange Adventures of Andrew +Battell</hi> (Hakluyt Society, 1901), pp. +32, 84 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Mbaya Indians of South +America the women used to murder all their children except +the last, or the one they believed to be the last. If one of +them had another child afterwards, she killed it.<note place='foot'>F. de Azara, <hi rend='italic'>Voyages dans +l'Amérique Méridionale</hi> (Paris, 1809), +ii. 115-117. The writer affirms that +the custom was universally established +among all the women of the Mbaya +nation, as well as among the women +of other Indian nations.</note> We need not +wonder that this practice entirely destroyed a branch of the +Mbaya nation, who had been for many years the most formidable +enemies of the Spaniards.<note place='foot'>R. Southey, <hi rend='italic'>History of Brazil</hi>, iii. +(London, 1819) p. 385.</note> Among the Lengua +Indians of the Gran Chaco the missionaries discovered +what they describe as <q>a carefully planned system of +racial suicide, by the practice of infanticide by abortion, +and other methods.</q><note place='foot'>W. Barbrooke Grubb, <hi rend='italic'>An Unknown +People in an Unknown Land</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 233.</note> Nor is infanticide the only mode +in which a savage tribe commits suicide. A lavish use of +the poison ordeal may be equally effective. Some time +ago a small tribe named Uwet came down from the hill +country, and settled on the left branch of the Calabar river +in West Africa. When the missionaries first visited the place, +they found the population considerable, distributed into three +villages. Since then the constant use of the poison ordeal has +almost extinguished the tribe. On one occasion the whole +population took poison to prove their innocence. About +half perished on the spot, and the remnant, we are told, +still continuing their superstitious practice, must soon become +extinct.<note place='foot'>Hugh Goldie, <hi rend='italic'>Calabar and its +Mission</hi>, new edition with additional +chapters by the Rev. John Taylor +Dean (Edinburgh and London, 1901), +pp. 34 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 37 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The preface to the +original edition of this work is dated +1890. By this time the tribal suicide +is probably complete.</note> With such examples before us we need not +hesitate to believe that many tribes have felt no scruple or +delicacy in observing a custom which tends to wipe out a +single family. To attribute such scruples to them is to +commit the common, the perpetually repeated mistake of +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +judging the savage by the standard of European civilisation. +If any of my readers set out with the notion that all races of +men think and act much in the same way as educated +Englishmen, the evidence of superstitious belief and custom +collected in the volumes of this work should suffice to disabuse +him of so erroneous a prepossession. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Transmission +of +the soul of +the slain +king to his +successor. +Transmission +of +the souls +of chiefs to +their sons +in Nias.</note> +The explanation here given of the custom of killing +divine persons assumes, or at least is readily combined with, +the idea that the soul of the slain divinity is transmitted to +his successor. Of this transmission I have no direct proof +except in the case of the Shilluk, among whom the practice +of killing the divine king prevails in a typical form, and with +whom it is a fundamental article of faith that the soul of +the divine founder of the dynasty is immanent in every one +of his slain successors.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> But if this is the only actual +example of such a belief which I can adduce, analogy seems +to render it probable that a similar succession to the soul of +the slain god has been supposed to take place in other instances, +though direct evidence of it is wanting. For it has +been already shewn that the soul of the incarnate deity is +often supposed to transmigrate at death into another incarnation;<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 410 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +and if this takes place when the death is a natural +one, there seems no reason why it should not take place when +the death has been brought about by violence. Certainly the +idea that the soul of a dying person may be transmitted to his +successor is perfectly familiar to primitive peoples. In Nias +the eldest son usually succeeds his father in the chieftainship. +But if from any bodily or mental defect the eldest son is +disqualified for ruling, the father determines in his lifetime +which of his sons shall succeed him. In order, however, +to establish his right of succession, it is necessary that the +son upon whom his father's choice falls shall catch in his +mouth or in a bag the last breath, and with it the soul, of +the dying chief. For whoever catches his last breath is +chief equally with the appointed successor. Hence the +other brothers, and sometimes also strangers, crowd round +the dying man to catch his soul as it passes. The houses +in Nias are raised above the ground on posts, and it has +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> +happened that when the dying man lay with his face on +the floor, one of the candidates has bored a hole in the floor +and sucked in the chief's last breath through a bamboo +tube. When the chief has no son, his soul is caught in a +bag, which is fastened to an image made to represent the +deceased; the soul is then believed to pass into the image.<note place='foot'>J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. von +Rosenberg, <q>Verslag omtrent het eiland +Nias,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Verhandelingen van het Batav. +Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen</hi>, +xxx. (1863) p. 85; H. von +Rosenberg, <hi rend='italic'>Der Malayische Archipel</hi>, +p. 160; L. N. H. A. Chatelin, +<q>Godsdienst en bijgeloof der Niassers,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en +Volkenkunde</hi>, xxvi. (1880) pp. 142 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +H. Sundermann, <q>Die Insel Nias und +die Mission daselbst,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift</hi>, +xi. (1884) p. 445; +E. Modigliani, <hi rend='italic'>Un Viaggio a Nías</hi>, pp. +277, 479 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>L'Isola delle Donne</hi> +(Milan, 1894), p. 195.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Succession +to the soul +among the +American +Indians +and other +races.</note> +Amongst the Takilis or Carrier Indians of North-West +America, when a corpse was burned the priest pretended to +catch the soul of the deceased in his hands, which he closed +with many gesticulations. He then communicated the +captured soul to the dead man's successor by throwing his +hands towards and blowing upon him. The person to whom +the soul was thus communicated took the name and rank of +the deceased. On the death of a chief the priest thus filled +a responsible and influential position, for he might transmit +the soul to whom he would, though doubtless he generally +followed the regular line of succession.<note place='foot'>Ch. Wilkes, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of the +United States Exploring Expedition</hi> +(London, 1845), iv. 453; <hi rend='italic'>United States +Exploring Expedition, Ethnography +and Philology</hi>, by H. Hale (Philadelphia, +1846), p. 203.</note> In Guatemala, when +a great man lay at the point of death, they put a precious +stone between his lips to receive the parting soul, and +this was afterwards kept as a memorial by his nearest +kinsman or most intimate friend.<note place='foot'>Brasseur de Bourbourg, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire +des nations civilisées du Mexique et de +l'Amérique-Centrale</hi>, ii. 574.</note> Algonquin women who +wished to become mothers flocked to the side of a dying +person in the hope of receiving and being impregnated by +the passing soul. Amongst the Seminoles of Florida when +a woman died in childbed the infant was held over her face +to receive her parting spirit.<note place='foot'>D. G. Brinton, <hi rend='italic'>Myths of the New +World</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (New York, 1876), pp. 270 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> When infants died within a +month or two of birth, the Huron Indians did not lay them +in bark coffins on poles, as they did with other corpses, but +buried them beside the paths, in order that they might +secretly enter into the wombs of passing women and be born +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +again.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Relations des Jésuites</hi>, 1636, p. 130 +(Canadian reprint, Quebec, 1858).</note> The Tonquinese cover the face of a dying person +with a handkerchief, and at the moment when he breathes +his last, they fold up the handkerchief carefully, thinking +that they have caught the soul in it.<note place='foot'>A. Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die Voelker des oestlichen +Asien</hi>, iv. 386.</note> The Romans caught +the breath of dying friends in their mouths, and so received +into themselves the soul of the departed.<note place='foot'>Servius on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> iv. 685; +Cicero, <hi rend='italic'>In Verr.</hi> ii. 5. 45; K. F. +Hermann, <hi rend='italic'>Lehrbuch der griechischen +Privatalterthümer</hi>, ed. H. Blümner, +p. 362, note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>.</note> The same custom +is said to be still practised in Lancashire.<note place='foot'>J. Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, +<hi rend='italic'>Lancashire Folk-lore</hi> (London, 1882), +pp. 7 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Succession +to the soul +in Africa. +Inspired +representatives +of dead +kings in +Africa.</note> +On the seventh day after the death of a king of Gingiro +the sorcerers bring to his successor, wrapt in a piece of silk, +a worm which they say comes from the nose of the dead +king; and they make the new king kill the worm by +squeezing its head between his teeth.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Travels of the Jesuits in +Ethiopia</hi>, collected and historically +digested by F. Balthazar Tellez (London, +1710), p. 198.</note> The ceremony seems +to be intended to convey the spirit of the deceased monarch +to his successor. The Danakil or Afars of eastern Africa +believe that the soul of a magician will be born again in the +first male descendant of the man who was most active in +attending on the dying magician in his last hours. Hence +when a magician is ill he receives many attentions.<note place='foot'>Ph. Paulitschke, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnographie +Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur der +Danâkil, Galla und Somâl</hi> (Berlin, +1896), p. 28.</note> In +Uganda the spirit of the king who had been the last to die +manifested itself from time to time in the person of a priest, +who was prepared for the discharge of this exalted function by +a peculiar ceremony. When the body of the king had been +embalmed and had lain for five months in the tomb, which +was a house built specially for it, the head was severed from +the body and laid in an ant-hill. Having been stript of flesh +by the insects, the skull was washed in a particular river (the +Ndyabuworu) and filled with native beer. One of the late +king's priests then drank the beer out of the skull and thus +became himself a vessel meet to receive the spirit of the deceased +monarch. The skull was afterwards replaced in the tomb, but +the lower jaw was separated from it and deposited in a jar; and +this jar, being swathed in bark-cloth and decorated with beads +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> +so as to look like a man, henceforth represented the late +king. A house was built for its reception in the shape of a +beehive and divided into two rooms, an inner and an outer. +Any person might enter the outer room, but in the inner +room the spirit of the dead king was supposed to dwell. In +front of the partition was set a throne covered with lion and +leopard skins, and fenced off from the rest of the chamber +by a rail of spears, shields, and knives, most of them made of +copper and brass, and beautifully worked. When the priest, +who had fitted himself to receive the king's spirit, desired to +converse with the people in the king's name, he went to the +throne and addressing the spirit in the inner room informed +him of the business in hand. Then he smoked one or two +pipes of tobacco, and in a few minutes began to rave, which +was a sign that the spirit had entered into him. In this +condition he spoke with the voice and made known the +wishes of the late king. When he had done so, the spirit +left him and returned into the inner room, and he himself +departed a mere man as before.<note place='foot'>This account I received from my +friend the Rev. J. Roscoe in a letter +dated Mengo, Uganda, April 27, +1900. See his <q>Further Notes on the +Manners and Customs of the Baganda,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +xxxii. (1902) pp. 42, 45 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, where, +however, the account is in some points +not quite so explicit.</note> Every year at the new +moon of September the king of Sofala in eastern Africa used +to perform obsequies for the kings, his predecessors, on the +top of a high mountain, where they were buried. In the +course of the lamentations for the dead, the soul of the king +who had died last used to enter into a man who imitated +the deceased monarch, both in voice and gesture. The living +king conversed with this man as with his dead father, consulting +him in regard to the affairs of the kingdom and +receiving his oracular replies.<note place='foot'>J. Dos Santos, <q>Eastern Ethiopia,</q> +in G. McCall Theal's <hi rend='italic'>Records of South-eastern +Africa</hi>, vii. 196 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> These examples shew that +provision is often made for the ghostly succession of kings +and chiefs. In the Hausa kingdom of Daura, in Northern +Nigeria, where the kings used regularly to be put to death +on the first symptoms of failing health, the new king had to +step over the corpse of his predecessor and to be bathed in +the blood of a black ox, the skin of which then served as +a shroud for the body of the late king.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref>.</note> The ceremony +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +may well have been intended to convey the spirit of the +dead king to his successor. Certainly we know that many +primitive peoples attribute a magical virtue to the act of +stepping over a person.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the +Soul</hi>, pp. 423 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Right of +succession +to the kingdom +conferred +by +possession +of personal +relics of +dead kings. Sometimes +a king has +to eat a +portion of +his predecessor.</note> +Sometimes it would appear that the spiritual link +between a king and the souls of his predecessors is formed +by the possession of some part of their persons. In southern +Celebes, as we have seen, the regalia often consist of corporeal +portions of deceased rajahs, which are treasured as +sacred relics and confer the right to the throne.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 362 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Similarly +among the Sakalavas of southern Madagascar a vertebra of +the neck, a nail, and a lock of hair of a deceased king are +placed in a crocodile's tooth and carefully kept along with +the similar relics of his predecessors in a house set apart +for the purpose. The possession of these relics constitutes +the right to the throne. A legitimate heir who should be +deprived of them would lose all his authority over the people, +and on the contrary a usurper who should make himself +master of the relics would be acknowledged king without +dispute. It has sometimes happened that a relation of +the reigning monarch has stolen the crocodile teeth with +their precious contents, and then had himself proclaimed +king. Accordingly, when the Hovas invaded the country, +knowing the superstition of the natives, they paid less +attention to the living king than to the relics of the dead, +which they publicly exhibited under a strong guard on pretext +of paying them the honours that were their due.<note place='foot'>A. Grandidier, <q>Madagascar,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Bull. de la Société de Géographie</hi> (Paris), +VIème Série, iii. (1872) pp. 402 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In +antiquity, when a king of the Panebian Libyans died, his +people buried the body but cut off the head, and having +covered it with gold they dedicated it in a sanctuary.<note place='foot'>Nicolaus Damascenus, quoted by +Stobaeus, <hi rend='italic'>Florilegium</hi>, cxxiii. 12 (<hi rend='italic'>Fragmenta +historicorum Graecorum</hi>, ed. C. +Müller, iii. 463). The Issedones of +Scythia used to gild the skulls of their +dead fathers and offer great sacrifices to +them annually (Herodotus, iv. 26); +they also used the skulls as drinking-cups +(Mela, ii. 1. 9). The Boii of +Cisalpine Gaul cut off the head of +a Roman general whom they had defeated, +and having gilded the scalp +they used it as a sacred vessel for the +pouring of libations, and the priests +drank out of it (Livy, xxiii. 24. 12).</note> +Among the Masai of East Africa, when an important chief +has been dead and buried for a year, his eldest son or other +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> +successor removes the skull of the deceased, while he at the +same time offers a sacrifice and a libation with goat's blood, +milk, and honey. He then carefully secrets the skull, the +possession of which is understood to confirm him in power +and to impart to him some of the wisdom of his predecessor.<note place='foot'>Sir H. Johnston, <hi rend='italic'>The Uganda +Protectorate</hi> (London, 1902), ii. 828.</note> +When the Alake or king of Abeokuta in West Africa dies, +the principal men decapitate his body, and placing the head +in a large earthen vessel deliver it to the new sovereign; it +becomes his fetish and he is bound to pay it honours.<note place='foot'>Missionary Holley, <q>Étude sur +les Egbas,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Missions Catholiques</hi>, xiii. +(1881) p. 353. The writer speaks of +<q><foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>le roi d'Alakei</foreign>,</q> but this is probably +a mistake or a misprint. As to the +Alake or king of Abeokuta, see Sir +William Macgregor, <q>Lagos, Abeokuta, +and the Alake,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the African +Society</hi>, No. xii. (July, 1904) pp. 471 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Some years ago the Alake visited +England and I had the honour of being +presented to his Majesty by Sir William +Macgregor at Cambridge.</note> +Similarly, when the Jaga or King of Cassange, in Angola, +has departed this life, an official extracts a tooth from the +deceased monarch and presents it to his successor, who +deposits it along with the teeth of former kings in a box, +which is the sole property of the crown and without which no +Jaga can legitimately exercise the regal power.<note place='foot'>F. T. Valdez, <hi rend='italic'>Six Years of a +Traveller's Life in Western Africa</hi>, ii. +161 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Sometimes, +in order apparently that the new sovereign may inherit more +surely the magical and other virtues of the royal line, he is +required to eat a piece of his dead predecessor. Thus at +Abeokuta not only was the head of the late king presented +to his successor, but the tongue was cut out and given him +to eat. Hence, when the natives wish to signify that the +sovereign reigns, they say, <q>He has eaten the king.</q><note place='foot'>Missionary Holley, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales +de la Propagation de la Foi</hi>, liv. (1882) +p. 87. The <q>King of Ake</q> mentioned +by the writer is the Alake or king of +Abeokuta; for Ake is the principal +quarter of Abeokuta, and Alake means +<q>Lord of Ake.</q> See Sir William +Macgregor, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> A +custom of the same sort is still practised at Ibadan, a large +town in the interior of Lagos, West Africa. When the king +dies his head is cut off and sent to his nominal suzerain, the +Alafin of Oyo, the paramount king of Yoruba land; but his +heart is eaten by his successor. This ceremony was performed +a few years ago at the accession of a new king of Ibadan.<note place='foot'>Extracted from a letter of Mr. +Harold G. Parsons, dated Lagos, +September 28th, 1903, and addressed +to Mr. Theodore A. Cooke of 54 Oakley +Street, Chelsea, London, who was so +kind as to send me the letter with leave +to make use of it. <q>It is usual for +great chiefs to report or announce their +succession to the Oni of Ife, or to the +Alafin of Oyo, the intimation being +accompanied by a present</q> (Sir W. +Macgregor, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Succession +to the soul +of the slain +king or +priest.</note> +Taking the whole of the preceding evidence into account, +we may fairly suppose that when the divine king or priest +is put to death his spirit is believed to pass into his successor. +In point of fact we have seen that among the Shilluk of +the White Nile, who regularly kill their divine kings, every +king on his accession has to perform a ceremony which +appears designed to convey to him the same sacred and +worshipful spirit which animated all his predecessors, one +after the other, on the throne.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Dr. E. +Westermarck has suggested as an alternative +to the theory in the text, <q>that +the new king is supposed to inherit, +not the predecessor's soul, but his +divinity or holiness, which is looked +upon in the light of a mysterious +entity, temporarily seated in the ruling +sovereign, but separable from him and +transferable to another individual.</q> +See his article, <q>The Killing of the +Divine King,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Man</hi>, viii. (1908) pp. +22-24. There is a good deal to be +said in favour of Dr. Westermarck's +theory, which is supported in particular +by the sanctity attributed to the regalia. +But on the whole I see no sufficient +reason to abandon the view adopted in +the text, and I am confirmed in it by +the Shilluk evidence, which was unknown +to Dr. Westermarck when he +propounded his theory.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VIII. The Killing Of The Tree-Spirit.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='1. The Whitsuntide Mummers.'/> +<head>§ 1. The Whitsuntide Mummers.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The single +combat of +the King +of the +Wood at +Nemi was +probably a +mitigation +of an older +custom of +putting +him to +death at +the end of +a fixed +period.</note> +It remains to ask what light the custom of killing the divine +king or priest sheds upon the special subject of our enquiry. In +the first part of this work we saw reason to suppose that the +King of the Wood at Nemi was regarded as an incarnation of +a tree-spirit or of the spirit of vegetation, and that as such +he would be endowed, in the belief of his worshippers, with a +magical power of making the trees to bear fruit, the crops +to grow, and so on.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, ii. 378 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> His life must therefore have been held +very precious by his worshippers, and was probably hedged +in by a system of elaborate precautions or taboos like those +by which, in so many places, the life of the man-god has +been guarded against the malignant influence of demons +and sorcerers. But we have seen that the very value +attached to the life of the man-god necessitates his violent +death as the only means of preserving it from the inevitable +decay of age. The same reasoning would apply to the +King of the Wood; he, too, had to be killed in order that +the divine spirit, incarnate in him, might be transferred in +its integrity to his successor. The rule that he held office +till a stronger should slay him might be supposed to +secure both the preservation of his divine life in full vigour +and its transference to a suitable successor as soon as that +vigour began to be impaired. For so long as he could +maintain his position by the strong hand, it might be inferred +that his natural force was not abated; whereas his +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> +defeat and death at the hands of another proved that his +strength was beginning to fail and that it was time his +divine life should be lodged in a less dilapidated tabernacle. +This explanation of the rule that the King of the Wood had +to be slain by his successor at least renders that rule perfectly +intelligible. It is strongly supported by the theory +and practice of the Shilluk, who put their divine king to +death at the first signs of failing health, lest his decrepitude +should entail a corresponding failure of vital energy on the +corn, the cattle, and men.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Moreover, it is countenanced +by the analogy of the Chitomé, upon whose life the existence +of the world was supposed to hang, and who was therefore +slain by his successor as soon as he shewed signs of breaking +up. Again, the terms on which in later times the King +of Calicut held office are identical with those attached to the +office of King of the Wood, except that whereas the former +might be assailed by a candidate at any time, the King of +Calicut might only be attacked once every twelve years. +But as the leave granted to the King of Calicut to reign so +long as he could defend himself against all comers was a +mitigation of the old rule which set a fixed term to his life,<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg047'>47</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +so we may conjecture that the similar permission granted +to the King of the Wood was a mitigation of an older +custom of putting him to death at the end of a definite period. +In both cases the new rule gave to the god-man at least a +chance for his life, which under the old rule was denied him; +and people probably reconciled themselves to the change by +reflecting that so long as the god-man could maintain himself +by the sword against all assaults, there was no reason +to apprehend that the fatal decay had set in. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Custom of +killing the +human +representatives +of the +tree-spirit.</note> +The conjecture that the King of the Wood was formerly +put to death at the expiry of a fixed term, without being +allowed a chance for his life, will be confirmed if evidence +can be adduced of a custom of periodically killing his +counterparts, the human representatives of the tree-spirit, in +Northern Europe. Now in point of fact such a custom has +left unmistakable traces of itself in the rural festivals of the +peasantry. To take examples. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bavarian +customs of +beheading +the representatives +of the tree-spirit +at +Whitsuntide.</note> +At Niederpöring, in Lower Bavaria, the Whitsuntide +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +representative of the tree-spirit—the <foreign rend='italic'>Pfingstl</foreign> as he was +called—was clad from top to toe in leaves and flowers. +On his head he wore a high pointed cap, the ends of which +rested on his shoulders, only two holes being left in it for +his eyes. The cap was covered with water-flowers and +surmounted with a nosegay of peonies. The sleeves of his +coat were also made of water-plants, and the rest of his +body was enveloped in alder and hazel leaves. On each +side of him marched a boy holding up one of the <foreign rend='italic'>Pfingstl's</foreign> +arms. These two boys carried drawn swords, and so did +most of the others who formed the procession. They stopped +at every house where they hoped to receive a present; and +the people, in hiding, soused the leaf-clad boy with water. +All rejoiced when he was well drenched. Finally he waded +into the brook up to his middle; whereupon one of the +boys, standing on the bridge, pretended to cut off his head.<note place='foot'>Fr. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), i. +235 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi> +(Berlin, 1875), pp. 320 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +In some villages of Lower Bavaria +one of the <foreign rend='italic'>Pfingstl's</foreign> comrades carries +<q>the May,</q> which is a young birch-tree +wreathed and decorated. Another name +for this Whitsuntide masker, both in +Lower and Upper Bavaria, is the Water-bird. +Sometimes he carries a straw effigy +of a monstrous bird with a long neck and +a wooden beak, which is thrown into +the water instead of the bearer. The +wooden beak is afterwards nailed to +the ridge of a barn, which it is supposed +to protect against lightning and +fire for a whole year, till the next +<foreign rend='italic'>Pfingstl</foreign> makes his appearance. See +<hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des +Königreichs Bayern</hi>, i. 375 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 1003 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +In Silesia the Whitsuntide mummer, +called the <foreign rend='italic'>Rauchfiess</foreign> or <foreign rend='italic'>Raupfiess</foreign>, +sometimes stands in a leafy arbour, +which is mounted on a cart and drawn +about the village by four or six lads. +They collect gifts at the houses and +finally throw the cart and the <foreign rend='italic'>Rauchfiess</foreign> +into a shallow pool outside the +village. This is called <q>driving out +the <foreign rend='italic'>Rauchfiess</foreign>.</q> The custom used to +be associated with the driving out of the +cattle at Whitsuntide to pasture on the +dewy grass, which was thought to make +the cows yield plenty of milk. The +herdsman who was the last to drive out +his beasts on the morning of the day +became the <foreign rend='italic'>Rauchfiess</foreign> in the afternoon. +See P. Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und +Volksglaube in Schlesien</hi>, i. (Leipsic, +1903), pp. 117-123.</note> +At Wurmlingen, in Swabia, a score of young fellows dress +themselves on Whit-Monday in white shirts and white +trousers, with red scarves round their waists and swords +hanging from the scarves. They ride on horseback into +the wood, led by two trumpeters blowing their trumpets. +In the wood they cut down leafy oak branches, in which +they envelop from head to foot him who was the last of +their number to ride out of the village. His legs, however, +are encased separately, so that he may be able to mount +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> +his horse again. Further, they give him a long artificial +neck, with an artificial head and a false face on the top of +it. Then a May-tree is cut, generally an aspen or beech +about ten feet high; and being decked with coloured handkerchiefs +and ribbons it is entrusted to a special <q>May-bearer.</q> +The cavalcade then returns with music and song +to the village. Amongst the personages who figure in the +procession are a Moorish king with a sooty face and a +crown on his head, a Dr. Iron-Beard, a corporal, and an +executioner. They halt on the village green, and each of +the characters makes a speech in rhyme. The executioner +announces that the leaf-clad man has been condemned to +death, and cuts off his false head. Then the riders race to +the May-tree, which has been set up a little way off. The +first man who succeeds in wrenching it from the ground as +he gallops past keeps it with all its decorations. The +ceremony is observed every second or third year.<note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Schwaben</hi> (Stuttgart, +1852), pp. 409-419; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 349 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Killing the +Wild Man +in Saxony +and +Bohemia.</note> +In Saxony and Thüringen there is a Whitsuntide ceremony +called <q>chasing the Wild Man out of the bush,</q> or +<q>fetching the Wild Man out of the Wood.</q> A young fellow +is enveloped in leaves or moss and called the Wild Man. +He hides in the wood and the other lads of the village go +out to seek him. They find him, lead him captive out of +the wood, and fire at him with blank muskets. He falls +like dead to the ground, but a lad dressed as a doctor bleeds +him, and he comes to life again. At this they rejoice, and, +binding him fast on a waggon, take him to the village, +where they tell all the people how they have caught the +Wild Man. At every house they receive a gift.<note place='foot'>E. Sommer, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Märchen und +Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen</hi> +(Halle, 1846), pp. 154 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 335 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the +Erzgebirge the following custom was annually observed at +Shrovetide about the beginning of the seventeenth century. +Two men disguised as Wild Men, the one in brushwood and +moss, the other in straw, were led about the streets, and at +last taken to the market-place, where they were chased up +and down, shot and stabbed. Before falling they reeled +about with strange gestures and spirted blood on the people +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +from bladders which they carried. When they were down +the huntsmen placed them on boards and carried them to +the ale-house, the miners marching beside them and winding +blasts on their mining tools as if they had taken a noble +head of game.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. +336.</note> A very similar Shrovetide custom is still +observed near Schluckenau in Bohemia. A man dressed +up as a Wild Man is chased through several streets till he +comes to a narrow lane across which a cord is stretched. +He stumbles over the cord and, falling to the ground, is +overtaken and caught by his pursuers. The executioner +runs up and stabs with his sword a bladder filled with blood +which the Wild Man wears round his body; so the Wild +Man dies, while a stream of blood reddens the ground. +Next day a straw-man, made up to look like the Wild Man, +is placed on a litter, and, accompanied by a great crowd, is +taken to a pool into which it is thrown by the executioner. +The ceremony is called <q>burying the Carnival.</q><note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi> (Prague, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>, +preface dated 1861), p. 61; W. +Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 336 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beheading +the King +on Whit-Monday +in +Bohemia.</note> +In Semic (Bohemia) the custom of beheading the King +is observed on Whit-Monday. A troop of young people +disguise themselves; each is girt with a girdle of bark and +carries a wooden sword and a trumpet of willow-bark. The +King wears a robe of tree-bark adorned with flowers, on his +head is a crown of bark decked with flowers and branches, +his feet are wound about with ferns, a mask hides his face, +and for a sceptre he has a hawthorn switch in his hand. A +lad leads him through the village by a rope fastened to his +foot, while the rest dance about, blow their trumpets, and +whistle. In every farmhouse the King is chased round the +room, and one of the troop, amid much noise and outcry +strikes with his sword a blow on the King's robe of bark +till it rings again. Then a gratuity is demanded.<note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi>, p. 263; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. 343.</note> The +ceremony of decapitation, which is here somewhat slurred +over, is carried out with a greater semblance of reality in +other parts of Bohemia. Thus in some villages of the +Königgrätz district on Whit-Monday the girls assemble under +one lime-tree and the young men under another, all dressed +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> +in their best and tricked out with ribbons. The young men +twine a garland for the Queen, and the girls another for the +King. When they have chosen the King and Queen they +all go in procession, two and two, to the ale-house, from the +balcony of which the crier proclaims the names of the King +and Queen. Both are then invested with the insignia of +their office and are crowned with the garlands, while the +music plays up. Then some one gets on a bench and +accuses the King of various offences, such as ill-treating the +cattle. The King appeals to witnesses and a trial ensues, at +the close of which the judge, who carries a white wand as +his badge of office, pronounces a verdict of <q>Guilty</q> or <q>Not +guilty.</q> If the verdict is <q>Guilty,</q> the judge breaks his +wand, the King kneels on a white cloth, all heads are bared, +and a soldier sets three or four hats, one above the other, on +his Majesty's head. The judge then pronounces the word +<q>Guilty</q> thrice in a loud voice, and orders the crier to +behead the King. The crier obeys by striking off the King's +hats with his wooden sword.<note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi>, pp. 269 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beheading +the King +on Whit-Monday +in +Bohemia.</note> +But perhaps, for our purpose, the most instructive of +these mimic executions is the following Bohemian one, +which has been in part described already.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 86 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In some places +of the Pilsen district (Bohemia) on Whit-Monday the King +is dressed in bark, ornamented with flowers and ribbons; he +wears a crown of gilt paper and rides a horse, which is also +decked with flowers. Attended by a judge, an executioner, +and other characters, and followed by a train of soldiers, all +mounted, he rides to the village square, where a hut or +arbour of green boughs has been erected under the May-trees, +which are firs, freshly cut, peeled to the top, and +dressed with flowers and ribbons. After the dames and +maidens of the village have been criticised and a frog +beheaded, in the way already described, the cavalcade rides +to a place previously determined upon, in a straight, broad +street. Here they draw up in two lines and the King takes +to flight. He is given a short start and rides off at full +speed, pursued by the whole troop. If they fail to catch +him he remains King for another year, and his companions +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> +must pay his score at the ale-house in the evening. But if +they overtake and catch him he is scourged with hazel rods +or beaten with the wooden swords and compelled to dismount. +Then the executioner asks, <q>Shall I behead this +King?</q> The answer is given, <q>Behead him</q>; the executioner +brandishes his axe, and with the words, <q>One, two, +three, let the King headless be!</q> he strikes off the King's +crown. Amid the loud cries of the bystanders the King +sinks to the ground; then he is laid on a bier and carried +to the nearest farmhouse.<note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi>, pp. 264 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. +Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 353 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The leaf-clad +mummers +in +these +customs +represent +the tree-spirit +or +spirit of +vegetation.</note> +In most of the personages who are thus slain in mimicry +it is impossible not to recognise representatives of the tree-spirit +or spirit of vegetation, as he is supposed to manifest +himself in spring. The bark, leaves, and flowers in which +the actors are dressed, and the season of the year at which +they appear, shew that they belong to the same class as the +Grass King, King of the May, Jack-in-the-Green, and other +representatives of the vernal spirit of vegetation which we +examined in the first part of this work.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 73 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> As if to remove +any possible doubt on this head, we find that in two +cases<note place='foot'>See pp. <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref>, <ref target='Pg210'>210</ref>.</note> these slain men are brought into direct connexion +with May-trees, which are the impersonal, as the May +King, Grass King, and so forth, are the personal representatives +of the tree-spirit. The drenching of the <foreign rend='italic'>Pfingstl</foreign> with +water and his wading up to the middle into the brook are, +therefore, no doubt rain-charms like those which have been +already described.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 247 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 272 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The tree-spirit +is +killed in +order to +prevent its +decay and +ensure its +revival in a +vigorous +successor.</note> +But if these personages represent, as they certainly do, +the spirit of vegetation in spring, the question arises, Why +kill them? What is the object of slaying the spirit of vegetation +at any time and above all in spring, when his services +are most wanted? The only probable answer to this question +seems to be given in the explanation already proposed +of the custom of killing the divine king or priest. The +divine life, incarnate in a material and mortal body, is liable +to be tainted and corrupted by the weakness of the frail +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/> +medium in which it is for a time enshrined; and if it is to +be saved from the increasing enfeeblement which it must +necessarily share with its human incarnation as he advances +in years, it must be detached from him before, or at least as +soon as, he exhibits signs of decay, in order to be transferred +to a vigorous successor. This is done by killing the old +representative of the god and conveying the divine spirit +from him to a new incarnation. The killing of the god, that +is, of his human incarnation, is therefore merely a necessary +step to his revival or resurrection in a better form. Far +from being an extinction of the divine spirit, it is only the +beginning of a purer and stronger manifestation of it. If +this explanation holds good of the custom of killing divine +kings and priests in general, it is still more obviously +applicable to the custom of annually killing the representative +of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation in spring. For +the decay of plant life in winter is readily interpreted by +primitive man as an enfeeblement of the spirit of vegetation; +the spirit has, he thinks, grown old and weak and must +therefore be renovated by being slain and brought to life in +a younger and fresher form. Thus the killing of the representative +of the tree-spirit in spring is regarded as a means +to promote and quicken the growth of vegetation. For the +killing of the tree-spirit is associated always (we must +suppose) implicitly, and sometimes explicitly also, with a +revival or resurrection of him in a more youthful and +vigorous form. So in the Saxon and Thüringen custom, +after the Wild Man has been shot he is brought to life +again by a doctor;<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref>.</note> and in the Wurmlingen ceremony there +figures a Dr. Iron-Beard, who probably once played a +similar part; certainly in another spring ceremony, which +will be described presently, Dr. Iron-Beard pretends to restore +a dead man to life. But of this revival or resurrection of +the god we shall have more to say anon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Resemblances +between +these +North +European +customs +and the +rites of +Nemi.</note> +The points of similarity between these North European +personages and the subject of our enquiry—the King of +the Wood or priest of Nemi—are sufficiently striking. In +these northern maskers we see kings, whose dress of bark +and leaves, along with the hut of green boughs and the +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/> +fir-trees under which they hold their court, proclaim them +unmistakably as, like their Italian counterpart, Kings of +the Wood. Like him they die a violent death, but like +him they may escape from it for a time by their bodily +strength and agility; for in several of these northern customs +the flight and pursuit of the king is a prominent part of the +ceremony, and in one case at least if the king can outrun +his pursuers he retains his life and his office for another +year. In this last case the king in fact holds office on +condition of running for his life once a year, just as the +King of Calicut in later times held office on condition of +defending his life against all comers once every twelve years, +and just as the priest of Nemi held office on condition of +defending himself against any assault at any time. In every +one of these instances the life of the god-man is prolonged +on condition of his shewing, in a severe physical contest of +fight or flight, that his bodily strength is not decayed, and +that, therefore, the violent death, which sooner or later is inevitable, +may for the present be postponed. With regard +to flight it is noticeable that flight figured conspicuously both +in the legend and in the practice of the King of the Wood. +He had to be a runaway slave in memory of the flight of +Orestes, the traditional founder of the worship; hence the +Kings of the Wood are described by an ancient writer as +<q>both strong of hand and fleet of foot.</q><note place='foot'>Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Fasti</hi>, iii. 271.</note> Perhaps if we +knew the ritual of the Arician grove fully we might find that +the king was allowed a chance for his life by flight, like his +Bohemian brother. I have already conjectured that the +annual flight of the priestly king at Rome (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>regifugium</foreign>) was +at first a flight of the same kind; in other words, that he +was originally one of those divine kings who are either put +to death after a fixed period or allowed to prove by the +strong hand or the fleet foot that their divinity is vigorous +and unimpaired.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 308 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> One more point of resemblance may be +noted between the Italian King of the Wood and his northern +counterparts. In Saxony and Thüringen the representative +of the tree-spirit, after being killed, is brought to life again +by a doctor. This is exactly what legend affirmed to have +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/> +happened to the first King of the Wood at Nemi, Hippolytus +or Virbius, who after he had been killed by his horses was +restored to life by the physician Aesculapius.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 20.</note> Such a +legend tallies well with the theory that the slaying of the +King of the Wood was only a step to his revival or resurrection +in his successor. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='2. Mock Human Sacrifices.'/> +<head>§ 2. Mock Human Sacrifices.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mock +killing of +the leaf-clad +mummers +is +probably a +substitute +for an old +custom of +killing +them in +earnest. +Substitution +of +mock +human +sacrifices +for real +ones.</note> +In the preceding discussion it has been assumed that +the mock killing of the Wild Man and of the King in +North European folk-custom is a modern substitute for +an ancient custom of killing them in earnest. Those who +best know the tenacity of life possessed by folk-custom +and its tendency, with the growth of civilisation, to dwindle +from solemn ritual into mere pageant and pastime, will +be least likely to question the truth of this assumption. +That human sacrifices were commonly offered by the +ancestors of the civilised races of North Europe, Celts, +Teutons, and Slavs, is certain.<note place='foot'>Caesar, <hi rend='italic'>Bell. Gall.</hi> vi. 16; Adam +of Bremen, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptio Insularum +Aquilonis</hi>, 27 (Migne's <hi rend='italic'>Patrologia +Latina</hi>, cxlvi. col. 644); Olaus Magnus, +<hi rend='italic'>De gentium septrionalium variis +conditionibus</hi>, iii. 7; J. Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 35 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; F. +J. Mone, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte des nordischen +Heidenthums</hi>, i. 69, 119, 120, 149, +187 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> It is not, therefore, surprising +that the modern peasant should do in mimicry what +his forefathers did in reality. We know as a matter of +fact that in other parts of the world mock human sacrifices +have been substituted for real ones. Thus in Minahassa, a +district of Celebes, human victims used to be regularly sacrificed +at certain festivals, but through Dutch influence the +custom was abolished and a sham sacrifice substituted for it. +The victim was seated in a chair and all the usual preparations +were made for sacrificing him, but at the critical +moment, when the chief priest had heaved up his flashing +swords (for he wielded two of them) to deal the fatal stroke, +his assistants sprang forward, their hands wrapt in cloths, to +grasp and arrest the descending blades. The precaution was +necessary, for the priest was wound up to such a pitch of +excitement that if left alone he might have consummated +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> +the sacrifice. Afterwards an effigy, made out of the stem of +a banana-tree, was substituted for the human victim; and +the blood, which might not be wanting, was supplied by +fowls.<note place='foot'>H. J. Tendeloo, <q>Verklaring van +het zoogenaamd Oud-Alfoersch Teekenschrift,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Mededeelingen van wege het +Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap</hi>, +xxxvi. (1892) pp. 338 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Near the native town of Luba, in western Busoga, +a district of central Africa, there is a sacred tree of the +species known as <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Parinarium</foreign>. Its glossy white trunk shoots +up to a height of a hundred feet before it sends out branches. +The tree is surrounded by small fetish huts and curious +arcades. Once when the dry season was drawing to an end +and the new crops were not yet ripe, the Basoga suffered +from hunger. So they came to the sacred tree in canoes, of +which the prows were decked with wreaths of yellow acacia +blossom and other flowers. Landing on the shore they +stripped themselves of their clothing and wrapped ropes +made of green creepers and leaves round their arms and +necks. At the foot of the tree they danced to an accompaniment +of song. Then a little girl, about ten years old, was +brought and laid at the base of the tree as if she were to be +sacrificed. Every detail of the sacrifice was gone through in +mimicry. A slight cut was made in the child's neck, and +she was then caught up and thrown into the lake, where a +man stood ready to save her from drowning. By native +custom the girl on whom this ceremony had been performed +was dedicated to a life of perpetual virginity.<note place='foot'>Sir H. Johnston, <hi rend='italic'>The Uganda +Protectorate</hi> (London, 1902), ii. 719 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +The writer describes the ceremony from +the testimony of an eye-witness.</note> Captain +Bourke was informed by an old chief that the Indians of +Arizona used to offer human sacrifices at the Feast of Fire +when the days are shortest. The victim had his throat +cut, his breast opened, and his heart taken out by one +of the priests. This custom was abolished by the Mexicans, +but for a long time afterwards a modified form of it was +secretly observed as follows. The victim, generally a young +man, had his throat cut, and blood was allowed to flow +freely; but the medicine-men sprinkled <q>medicine</q> on +the gash, which soon healed up, and the man recovered.<note place='foot'>J. G. Bourke, <hi rend='italic'>Snake Dance of the +Moquis of Arizona</hi>, pp. 196 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +So in the ritual of Artemis at Halae in Attica, a man's +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +throat was cut and the blood allowed to gush out, but he +was not killed.<note place='foot'>Euripides, <hi rend='italic'>Iphigenia in Taur.</hi> 1458 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> At the funeral of a chief in Nias slaves +are sacrificed; a little of their hair is cut off, and then they +are beheaded. The victims are generally purchased for the +purpose, and their number is proportioned to the wealth and +power of the deceased. But if the number required is +excessively great or cannot be procured, some of the chiefs +own slaves undergo a sham sacrifice. They are told, and +believe, that they are about to be decapitated; their heads +are placed on a log and their necks struck with the back of +a sword. The fright drives some of them crazy.<note place='foot'>J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. +von Rosenberg, <q>Verslag omtrent het +eiland Nias,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Verhandelingen van het +Batav. Genootschap van Kunsten en +Wetenschappen</hi>, xxx. (1863) p. 43; +E. Modigliani, <hi rend='italic'>Un Viaggio a Nias</hi> +(Milan, 1890), pp. 282 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> When a +Hindoo has killed or ill-treated an ape, a bird of prey of +a certain kind, or a cobra capella, in the presence of the +worshippers of Vishnu, he must expiate his offence by the +pretended sacrifice and resurrection of a human being. An +incision is made in the victim's arm, the blood flows, he +grows faint, falls, and feigns to die. Afterwards he is +brought to life by being sprinkled with blood drawn from +the thigh of a worshipper of Vishnu. The crowd of spectators +is fully convinced of the reality of this simulated +death and resurrection.<note place='foot'>J. A. Dubois, <hi rend='italic'>Mæurs, institutions +et cérémonies des peuples de l'Inde</hi> +(Paris, 1825), i. 151 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The Malayans, a caste of +Southern India, act as devil dancers for the purpose of +exorcising demons who have taken possession of people. +One of their ceremonies, <q>known as <foreign rend='italic'>ucchav[-e]li</foreign>, has several +forms, all of which seem to be either survivals, or at least +imitations of human sacrifice. One of these consists of a +mock living burial of the principal performer, who is placed +in a pit, which is covered with planks, on the top of which +a sacrifice is performed, with a fire kindled with jack wood +(<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Artocarpus integrifolia</foreign>) and a plant called erinna. In +another variety, the Malayan cuts his left forearm, and +smears his face with the blood thus drawn.</q><note place='foot'>E. Thurston, <hi rend='italic'>Castes and Tribes +of Southern India</hi> (Madras, 1909), +iv. 437, quoting Mr. A. R. Loftus-Tottenham.</note> In Samoa, +where every family had its god incarnate in one or more +species of animals, any disrespect shewn to the worshipful +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> +animal, either by members of the kin or by a stranger in +their presence, had to be atoned for by pretending to +bake one of the family in a cold oven as a burnt sacrifice +to appease the wrath of the offended god. For example, +if a stranger staying in a household whose god was +incarnate in cuttle-fish were to catch and cook one of +these creatures, or if a member of the family had been +present where a cuttle-fish was eaten, the family would +meet in solemn conclave and choose a man or woman to +go and lie down in a cold oven, where he would be covered +over with leaves, just as if he were really being baked. +While this mock sacrifice was being carried out the family +prayed: <q>O bald-headed Cuttle-fish! forgive what has been +done, it was all the work of a stranger.</q> If they had not +thus abased themselves before the divine cuttle-fish, he would +undoubtedly have come and been the death of somebody by +making a cuttle-fish to grow in his inside.<note place='foot'>G. Turner, <hi rend='italic'>Samoa</hi>, pp. 31 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +compare pp. 38, 58, 59, 69 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 72.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mock +human +sacrifices +carried out +in effigy.</note> +Sometimes, as in Minahassa, the pretended sacrifice is +carried out, not on a living person, but on an effigy. At the +City of the Sun in ancient Egypt three men used to be +sacrificed every day, after the priests had stripped and +examined them, like calves, to see whether they were without +blemish and fit for the altar. But King Amasis ordered +waxen images to be substituted for the human victims.<note place='foot'>Porphyry, <hi rend='italic'>De abstinentia</hi>, ii. 55, +citing Manetho as his authority.</note> An +Indian law-book, the <hi rend='italic'>Calica Puran</hi>, prescribes that when the +sacrifice of lions, tigers, or human beings is required, an +image of a lion, tiger, or man shall be made with butter, +paste, or barley meal, and sacrificed instead.<note place='foot'><q>The Rudhirádhyáyă, or sanguinary +chapter,</q> translated from the +<hi rend='italic'>Calica Puran</hi> by W. C. Blaquiere, in +<hi rend='italic'>Asiatick Researches</hi>, v. 376 (8vo ed., +London, 1807).</note> Some of the +Gonds of India formerly offered human sacrifices; they now +sacrifice straw-men, which are found to answer the purpose +just as well.<note place='foot'>E. T. Dalton, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptive Ethnology +of Bengal</hi> (Calcutta, 1872), p. +281.</note> Colonel Dalton was told that in some of their +villages the Bhagats <q>annually make an image of a man in +wood, put clothes and ornaments on it, and present it before +the altar of a Mahádeo. The person who officiates as priest +on the occasion says: <q>O Mahádeo, we sacrifice this man to +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> +you according to ancient customs. Give us rain in due +season, and a plentiful harvest.</q> Then with one stroke of +the axe the head of the image is struck off, and the body is +removed and buried.</q><note place='foot'>E. T. Dalton, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 258 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Formerly, when a Siamese army +was about to take the field a condemned criminal representing +the enemy was put to death, but a humane king caused +a puppet to be substituted for the man. The effigy is felled +by the blow of an axe, and if it drops at the first stroke, the +omen is favourable.<note place='foot'>Mgr. Bruguière, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de +l'Association de la Propagation de la +Foi</hi>, v. (1831) p. 201.</note> In the East Indian island of Siaoo or +Siauw, one of the Sangi group, a child stolen from a neighbouring +island used to be sacrificed every year to the spirit +of a volcano in order that there might be no eruption. The +victim was slowly tortured to death in the temple by a +priestess, who cut off the child's ears, nose, fingers, and so +on, then consummated the sacrifice by splitting open the +breast. The spectacle was witnessed by hundreds of people, +and feasting and cock-fighting went on for nine days afterwards. +In course of time the annual human victim was +replaced by a wooden puppet, which was cut to pieces in the +same manner.<note place='foot'>B. C. A. J. van Dinter, <q>Eenige +geographische en ethnographische +aanteekeningen betreffende het eiland +Siaoe,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en +Volkenkunde</hi>, xli. (1899) p. +379.</note> The Kayans of Borneo used to kill slaves +at the death of a chief and nail them to the tomb, in order +that they might accompany the chief on his long journey to +the other world and paddle the canoe in which he must +travel. This is no longer done, but instead they put up a +wooden figure of a man at the head and another of a woman +at the foot of the chief's coffin as it lies in state before the +funeral. And a small wooden image of a man is usually fixed +on the top of the tomb to row the canoe for the dead chief.<note place='foot'>Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, +<q>The Relations between Men and +Animals in Sarawak,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxxi. (1901) +p. 208.</note> +In ancient times human sacrifices used to be offered at +the graves of Mikados and princes of Japan, the personal +attendants of the deceased being buried alive within the +precincts of the tomb. But a humane emperor ordered +that clay images should thenceforth be substituted for live +men and women. One of these images is now in the +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> +British Museum.<note place='foot'>W. G. Aston, <hi rend='italic'>Shinto</hi> (London, +1905). pp. 56 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The Toboongkoos of central Celebes, +who are reported still to carry home as trophies the heads +of their slain enemies, resort to the following cure for +certain kinds of sickness. The heathen priestess cuts the +likeness of a human head out of the sheath of a sago-leaf +and sets it up on three sticks in the courtyard of the +house. The patient, arrayed in his or her best clothes, is +then brought down into the court and remains there while +women dance and sing round the artificial head, and men +perform sham fights with shield, spear, and bow, just as +they did, or perhaps still do, when they have brought back +a human head from a raid. After that the sick man +is taken back to the house, and an improvement in his +health is confidently expected.<note place='foot'>A. C. Kruijt, <q>Eenige ethnografische +aanteekeningen omtrent de +Toboengkoe en de Tomori,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mededeelingen +van wege het Nederlandsche +Zendelinggenootschap</hi>, xliv. (1900) p. +222.</note> In this ceremony the sham +head is doubtless a substitute for a real one. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mimic +sacrifices +of various +kinds. +Mimic +sacrifices +of fingers. +Mimic +rite of +circumcision.</note> +With these mock sacrifices of human lives we may +compare mimic sacrifices of other kinds. In southern India, +as in many parts of the world, it used to be customary to +sacrifice joints of the fingers on certain occasions. Thus +among the Morasas, when a grandchild was born in the +family, the wife of the eldest son of the grandfather must +have the last two joints of the third and fourth fingers of her +right hand amputated at a temple of Bhairava. The +amputation was performed by the village carpenter with a +chisel. Nowadays, the custom having been forbidden by +the English Government, the sacrifice is performed in +mimicry. Some people stick gold or silver pieces with +flour paste to the ends of their fingers and then cut or pull +them off. Others tie flowers round the fingers that used to +be amputated, and go through a pantomime of cutting the +fingers by putting a chisel on the joint and then taking it +away. Others again twist gold wires in the shape of rings +round their fingers. These the carpenter removes and +appropriates.<note place='foot'>E. Thurston, <q>Deformity and +Mutilation,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Madras Government +Museum, Bulletin</hi>, vol. iv. No. 3 +(Madras, 1903), pp. 193-196. As to +the custom of sacrificing joints of +fingers, see my note on Pausanias, viii. +34. 2, vol. iv. pp. 354 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> To the +evidence there adduced add P. J. de +Smet, <hi rend='italic'>Western Missions and Missionaries</hi> +(New York, 1863), p. 135; G. +B. Grinnell, <hi rend='italic'>Blackfoot Lodge Tales</hi>, pp. +194, 258; A. d'Orbigny, <hi rend='italic'>L'Homme +américain</hi>, ii. 24; J. Williams, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative +of Missionary Enterprises in the +South Sea Islands</hi>, pp. 470 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. +Mathew, <hi rend='italic'>Eaglehawk and Crow</hi> (London +and Melbourne, 1899), p. 120; +A. W. Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of South-East +Australia</hi>, pp. 746 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; L. +Degrandpré, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage à la côte occidentale +d'Afrique</hi> (Paris, 1801), ii. 93 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Dudley Kidd, <hi rend='italic'>The Essential +Kaffir</hi>, pp. 203, 262 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; G. W. +Stow, <hi rend='italic'>Native Races of South Africa</hi> +(London, 1905), pp. 129, 152; <hi rend='italic'>Lettres +édifiantes et curieuses</hi>, Nouvelle Édition, +ix. 369, xii. 371; <hi rend='italic'>Annales de la +Propagation de la Foi</hi>, xiii. (1841) p. +20; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, xiv. (1842) pp. 68, 192; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +xvii. (1845) pp. 12, 13; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, xviii. +(1846) p. 6; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, xxiii. (1851) p. 314; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, xxxii. (1860) pp. 95 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Indian +Antiquary</hi>, xxiv. (1895) p. 303; +<hi rend='italic'>Missions Catholiques</hi>, xxix. (1897) p. +90; <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Ethnologie</hi>, xxxii. +(1900) p. 81. The objects of this +mutilation were various. In ancient +Athens it was customary to cut off the +hand of a suicide and bury it apart +from his body (Aeschines, <hi rend='italic'>Contra +Ctesiph.</hi> § 244, p. 193, ed. F. Franke), +perhaps to prevent his ghost from +attacking the living.</note> In Niué or Savage Island, in the South +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> +Pacific, the following custom continued till lately to be +observed. When a boy was a few weeks old the men +assembled, and a feast was made. On the village square an +awning was rigged up, and the child was laid on the ground +under it. An old man then approached it, and performed +the operation of circumcision on the infant in dumb show +with his forefinger. No child was regarded as a full-born +member of the tribe till he had been subjected to this rite. +The natives say that real circumcision was never performed +in their island; but as it was commonly practised in Fiji, +Tonga, and Samoa, we may assume that its imitation in +Niué was a substitute, introduced at some time or other, for +the actual operation.<note place='foot'>Basil C. Thomson, <hi rend='italic'>Savage Island</hi> +(London, 1902), pp. 92 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Similarly when an adult Hindoo +joins the sect of the Daira or Mahadev Mohammedans in +Mysore, a mock rite of circumcision is performed on him +instead of the real operation. A betel leaf is wrapped +round the male member of the neophyte and the loose end +of the leaf is snipped off instead of the prepuce.<note place='foot'>E. Thurston, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnographic Notes +in Southern India</hi> (Madras, 1906), +p. 390.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='3. Burying the Carnival.'/> +<head>§ 3. Burying the Carnival.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>It has been +customary +to kill +animal +gods and +corn gods +as well as +tree-spirits.</note> +Thus far I have offered an explanation of the rule which +required that the priest of Nemi should be slain by his +successor. The explanation claims to be no more than +probable; our scanty knowledge of the custom and of its +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +history forbids it to be more. But its probability will be +augmented in proportion to the extent to which the motives +and modes of thought which it assumes can be proved to +have operated in primitive society. Hitherto the god with +whose death and resurrection we have been chiefly concerned +has been the tree-god. But if I can shew that the custom +of killing the god and the belief in his resurrection originated, +or at least existed, in the hunting and pastoral stage of +society, when the slain god was an animal, and that it +survived into the agricultural stage, when the slain god was +the corn or a human being representing the corn, the +probability of my explanation will have been considerably +increased. This I shall attempt to do in the sequel, and in +the course of the discussion I hope to clear up some +obscurities which still remain, and to answer some +objections which may have suggested themselves to the +reader. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Customs +of burying +the +Carnival +and carrying +out +Death.</note> +We start from the point at which we left off—the spring +customs of European peasantry. Besides the ceremonies +already described there are two kindred sets of observances +in which the simulated death of a divine or supernatural +being is a conspicuous feature. In one of them the being +whose death is dramatically represented is a personification +of the Carnival; in the other it is Death himself. The +former ceremony falls naturally at the end of the Carnival, +either on the last day of that merry season, namely +Shrove Tuesday, or on the first day of Lent, namely +Ash Wednesday. The date of the other ceremony—the +Carrying or Driving out of Death, as it is commonly called—is +not so uniformly fixed. Generally it is the fourth +Sunday in Lent, which hence goes by the name of Dead +Sunday; but in some places the celebration falls a week +earlier, in others, as among the Czechs of Bohemia, a week +later, while in certain German villages of Moravia it is held +on the first Sunday after Easter. Perhaps, as has been +suggested, the date may originally have been variable, +depending on the appearance of the first swallow or some +other herald of the spring. Some writers regard the +ceremony as Slavonic in its origin. Grimm thought it was +a festival of the New Year with the old Slavs, who began +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> +their year in March.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> ii. +645; K. Haupt, <hi rend='italic'>Sagenbuch der Lausitz</hi>, +ii. 58; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi>, pp. 86 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Das festliche Jahr</hi>, pp. 77 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, +Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs +Bayern</hi>, iii. 958 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Sepp, <hi rend='italic'>Die +Religion der alten Deutschen</hi> (Munich, +1890), pp. 67 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge +zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in +Mähren</hi> (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), +pp. 258, 353. The fourth Sunday in +Lent is also known as Mid-Lent, +because it falls in the middle of Lent, +or as <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Laetare</foreign> from the first word of the +liturgy for that day. In the Roman +calendar it is the Sunday of the Rose +(<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Domenica rosae</foreign>), because on that day +the Pope consecrates a golden rose, +which he presents to some royal lady. +In one German village of Transylvania +the Carrying out of Death takes place +on Ascension Day. See below, pp. +<ref target='Pg248'>248</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> We shall first take examples of the +mimic death of the Carnival, which always falls before +the other in the calendar. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Effigy of +the Carnival +burnt +at Frosinone +in +Latium.</note> +At Frosinone, in Latium, about half-way between Rome +and Naples, the dull monotony of life in a provincial Italian +town is agreeably broken on the last day of the Carnival by +the ancient festival known as the <foreign rend='italic'>Radica</foreign>. About four +o'clock in the afternoon the town band, playing lively tunes +and followed by a great crowd, proceeds to the Piazza del +Plebiscito, where is the Sub-Prefecture as well as the rest +of the Government buildings. Here, in the middle of the +square, the eyes of the expectant multitude are greeted by +the sight of an immense car decked with many-coloured +festoons and drawn by four horses. Mounted on the car +is a huge chair, on which sits enthroned the majestic figure +of the Carnival, a man of stucco about nine feet high with a +rubicund and smiling countenance. Enormous boots, a tin +helmet like those which grace the heads of officers of the +Italian marine, and a coat of many colours embellished with +strange devices, adorn the outward man of this stately +personage. His left hand rests on the arm of the chair, +while with his right he gracefully salutes the crowd, being +moved to this act of civility by a string which is pulled by +a man who modestly shrinks from publicity under the mercy-seat. +And now the crowd, surging excitedly round the +car, gives vent to its feelings in wild cries of joy, gentle +and simple being mixed up together and all dancing furiously +the <foreign rend='italic'>Saltarello</foreign>. A special feature of the festival is that +every one must carry in his hand what is called a <foreign rend='italic'>radica</foreign> +(<q>root</q>), by which is meant a huge leaf of the aloe or rather +the agave. Any one who ventured into the crowd without +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> +such a leaf would be unceremoniously hustled out of it, +unless indeed he bore as a substitute a large cabbage at the +end of a long stick or a bunch of grass curiously plaited. +When the multitude, after a short turn, has escorted the slow-moving +car to the gate of the Sub-Prefecture, they halt, and +the car, jolting over the uneven ground, rumbles into the +courtyard. A hush now falls on the crowd, their subdued +voices sounding, according to the description of one who has +heard them, like the murmur of a troubled sea. All eyes +are turned anxiously to the door from which the Sub-Prefect +himself and the other representatives of the majesty of the +law are expected to issue and pay their homage to the hero +of the hour. A few moments of suspense and then a storm +of cheers and hand-clapping salutes the appearance of the +dignitaries, as they file out and, descending the staircase, +take their place in the procession. The hymn of the +Carnival is now thundered out, after which, amid a deafening +roar, aloe leaves and cabbages are whirled aloft and descend +impartially on the heads of the just and the unjust, who +lend fresh zest to the proceedings by engaging in a free +fight. When these preliminaries have been concluded to the +satisfaction of all concerned, the procession gets under weigh. +The rear is brought up by a cart laden with barrels of wine +and policemen, the latter engaged in the congenial task of +serving out wine to all who ask for it, while a most internecine +struggle, accompanied by a copious discharge of yells, +blows, and blasphemy, goes on among the surging crowd +at the cart's tail in their anxiety not to miss the glorious +opportunity of intoxicating themselves at the public expense. +Finally, after the procession has paraded the principal streets +in this majestic manner, the effigy of Carnival is taken to +the middle of a public square, stripped of his finery, laid +on a pile of wood, and burnt amid the cries of the multitude, +who thundering out once more the song of the Carnival +fling their so-called <q>roots</q> on the pyre and give themselves +up without restraint to the pleasures of the dance.<note place='foot'>G. Targioni-Tozzetti, <hi rend='italic'>Saggio di +novelline, canti ed usanze popolari +della Ciociaria</hi> (Palermo, 1891), pp. +89-95. At Palermo an effigy of the +Carnival (<foreign rend='italic'>Nannu</foreign>) was burnt at midnight +on Shrove Tuesday 1878. See +G. Pitrè, <hi rend='italic'>Usi e costumi, credenze e +pregiudizi del popolo siciliano</hi>, i. 117-119; +G. Trede, <hi rend='italic'>Das Heidentum in +der römischen Kirche</hi>, iii. 11, note.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Burying +the Carnival +in the +Abruzzi.</note> +In the Abruzzi a pasteboard figure of the Carnival is +carried by four grave-diggers with pipes in their mouths and +bottles of wine slung at their shoulder-belts. In front walks +the wife of the Carnival, dressed in mourning and dissolved +in tears. From time to time the company halts, and while +the wife addresses the sympathising public, the grave-diggers +refresh the inner man with a pull at the bottle. In the open +square the mimic corpse is laid on a pyre, and to the roll of +drums, the shrill screams of the women, and the gruffer +cries of the men a light is set to it. While the figure burns, +chestnuts are thrown about among the crowd. Sometimes +the Carnival is represented by a straw-man at the top of a +pole which is borne through the town by a troop of +mummers in the course of the afternoon. When evening +comes on, four of the mummers hold out a quilt or sheet +by the corners, and the figure of the Carnival is made to +tumble into it. The procession is then resumed, the +performers weeping crocodile tears and emphasising the +poignancy of their grief by the help of saucepans and dinner +bells. Sometimes, again, in the Abruzzi the dead Carnival +is personified by a living man who lies in a coffin, attended +by another who acts the priest and dispenses holy water in +great profusion from a bathing tub.<note place='foot'>A. de Nino, <hi rend='italic'>Usi e costumi abruzzesi</hi>, +ii. 198-200. The writer omits to +mention the date of these celebrations. +No doubt it is either Shrove Tuesday +or Ash Wednesday. Compare G. +Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>Credenze, usi e costumi +abruzzesi</hi> (Palermo, 1890), p. 111. +In some parts of Piedmont an effigy +of Carnival is burnt on the evening of +Shrove Tuesday; in others they set +fire to tall poplar trees, which, stript +of their branches and surmounted by +banners, have been set up the day +before in public places. These trees +go by the name of <foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>Scarli</foreign>. See G. di +Giovanni, <hi rend='italic'>Usi, credenze e pregiudizi +del Canavese</hi> (Palermo, 1889), pp. 161, +164 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> For other accounts of the +ceremony of the death of the Carnival, +represented either by a puppet or a +living person, in Italy and Sicily, see +G. Pitrè, <hi rend='italic'>Usi e costumi, credenze e +pregiudizi del popolo siciliano</hi>, i. 96-100; +G. Amalfi, <hi rend='italic'>Tradizioni ed usi +nella Penisola Sorrentina</hi> (Palermo, +1890), pp. 40, 42. It has been +rightly observed by Pitrè (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +p. 96), that the personification of +the Carnival is doubtless the lineal +descendant of some mythical personage +of remote Greek and Roman +antiquity.</note> In Malta the death of +the Carnival used to be mourned by women on the last day +of the merry festival. Clad from head to foot in black +mantles, they carried through the streets of the city the linen +effigy of a corpse, stuffed with straw or hay and decked with +leaves and oranges. As they carried it, they chanted dirges, +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> +stopping after every verse to howl like professional mourners. +The custom came to an end about the year 1737.<note place='foot'>R. Wünsch, <hi rend='italic'>Das Frühlingsfest +der Insel Malta</hi> (Leipsic, 1902), pp. +29 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, quoting Ciantar's supplements +to Abelas's <hi rend='italic'>Malta illustrata</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Burial of +the Carnival +at +Lerida in +Spain.</note> +At Lerida, in Catalonia, the funeral of the Carnival was +witnessed by an English traveller in 1877. On the +last Sunday of the Carnival a grand procession of infantry, +cavalry, and maskers of many sorts, some on horseback and +some in carriages, escorted the grand car of His Grace Pau +Pi, as the effigy was called, in triumph through the principal +streets. For three days the revelry ran high, and then at +midnight on the last day of the Carnival the same procession +again wound through the streets, but under a different aspect +and for a different end. The triumphal car was exchanged +for a hearse, in which reposed the effigy of his dead Grace: +a troop of maskers, who in the first procession had played +the part of Students of Folly with many a merry quip and +jest, now, robed as priests and bishops, paced slowly along +holding aloft huge lighted tapers and singing a dirge. All +the mummers wore crape, and all the horsemen carried +blazing flambeaux. Down the high street, between the +lofty, many-storeyed and balconied houses, where every +window, every balcony, every housetop was crammed with +a dense mass of spectators, all dressed and masked in +fantastic gorgeousness, the procession took its melancholy +way. Over the scene flashed and played the shifting cross-lights +and shadows from the moving torches: red and blue +Bengal lights flared up and died out again; and above the +trampling of the horses and the measured tread of the +marching multitude rose the voices of the priests chanting +the requiem, while the military bands struck in with the +solemn roll of the muffled drums. On reaching the principal +square the procession halted, a burlesque funeral oration +was pronounced over the defunct Pau Pi, and the lights +were extinguished. Immediately the devil and his angels +darted from the crowd, seized the body and fled away with +it, hotly pursued by the whole multitude, yelling, screaming, +and cheering. Naturally the fiends were overtaken and +dispersed; and the sham corpse, rescued from their clutches, +was laid in a grave that had been made ready for its +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> +reception. Thus the Carnival of 1877 at Lerida died and +was buried.<note place='foot'>J. S. Campion, <hi rend='italic'>On Foot in Spain</hi> +(London, 1879), pp. 291-295.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Funeral +of the +Carnival +in France. Execution +of Shrove +Tuesday +in the +Ardennes +and +Franche-Comté.</note> +A ceremony of the same sort is observed in Provence on +Ash Wednesday. An effigy called Caramantran, whimsically +attired, is drawn in a chariot or borne on a litter, accompanied +by the populace in grotesque costumes, who carry +gourds full of wine and drain them with all the marks, real +or affected, of intoxication. At the head of the procession +are some men disguised as judges and barristers, and a tall +gaunt personage who masquerades as Lent; behind them +follow young people mounted on miserable hacks and attired +as mourners who pretend to bewail the fate that is in store +for Caramantran. In the principal square the procession +halts, the tribunal is constituted, and Caramantran placed +at the bar. After a formal trial he is sentenced to death +amid the groans of the mob; the barrister who defended +him embraces his client for the last time: the officers of +justice do their duty: the condemned is set with his back to +a wall and hurried into eternity under a shower of stones. +The sea or a river receives his mangled remains.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, mythes et +traditions des provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 37 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +The name Caramantran is thought to +be compounded of <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>carême entrant</foreign>, +<q>Lent entering.</q> It is said that the +effigy of Caramantran is sometimes +burnt (E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les fêtes +religieuses</hi>, Paris, 1867, p. 107).</note> At Lussac +in the department of Vienne young people, attired in long +mourning robes and with woebegone countenances, carry an +effigy down to the river on Ash Wednesday and throw it +into the river, crying, <q>Carnival is dead! Carnival is dead!</q><note place='foot'>L. Pineau, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore du Poitou</hi> +(Paris, 1892), p. 493.</note> +Throughout nearly the whole of the Ardennes it was and +still is customary on Ash Wednesday to burn an effigy which +is supposed to represent the Carnival, while appropriate verses +are sung round about the blazing figure. Very often an +attempt is made to fashion the effigy in the likeness of the +husband who is reputed to be least faithful to his wife of +any in the village. As might perhaps have been anticipated, +the distinction of being selected for portraiture under these +painful circumstances has a slight tendency to breed domestic +jars, especially when the portrait is burnt in front of the house +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> +of the gay deceiver whom it represents, while a powerful +chorus of caterwauls, groans, and other melodious sounds +bears public testimony to the opinion which his friends and +neighbours entertain of his private virtues. In some villages +of the Ardennes a young man of flesh and blood, dressed up +in hay and straw, used to act the part of Shrove Tuesday +(<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Mardi Gras</foreign>), as the personification of the Carnival is often +called in France after the last day of the period which he +personates. He was brought before a mock tribunal, and +being condemned to death was placed with his back to +a wall, like a soldier at a military execution, and fired at +with blank cartridges. At Vrigne-aux-Bois one of these +harmless buffoons, named Thierry, was accidentally killed +by a wad that had been left in a musket of the firing-party. +When poor Shrove Tuesday dropped under the fire, the +applause was loud and long, he did it so naturally; but +when he did not get up again, they ran to him and found +him a corpse. Since then there have been no more of these +mock executions in the Ardennes.<note place='foot'>A. Meyrac, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions, légendes et +contes des Ardennes</hi> (Charleville, 1890), +p. 63. According to the writer, the +custom of burning an effigy of Shrove +Tuesday or the Carnival is pretty +general in France.</note> In Franche-Comté +people used to make an effigy of Shrove Tuesday on Ash +Wednesday, and carry it about the streets to the accompaniment +of songs. Then they brought it to the public square, +where the offender was tried in front of the town-hall. +Judges muffled in old red curtains and holding big books in +their hands pronounced sentence of death. The mode of +execution varied with the place. Sometimes it was burning, +sometimes drowning, sometimes decapitation. In the last +case the effigy was provided with tubes of blood, which +spouted gore at the critical moment, making a profound +impression on the minds of children, some of whom wept +bitterly at the sight. Meantime the onlookers uttered +piercing cries and appeared to be plunged in the deepest +grief. The proceedings generally wound up in the evening +with a ball, which the young married people were obliged +to provide for the public entertainment; otherwise their +slumbers were apt to be disturbed by the discordant notes of +a cat's concert chanted under their windows.<note place='foot'>Ch. Beauquier, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mois en +Franche-Comté</hi> (Paris, 1900), p. 30. +In Beauce and Perche the burning +or burial of Shrove Tuesday used +to be represented in effigy, but the +custom has now disappeared. See +F. Chapiseau, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore de la Beauce +et du Perche</hi> (Paris, 1902), i. 320 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Burial of +Shrove +Tuesday in +Normandy. +Burning +Shrove +Tuesday at +Saint-Lô.</note> +In Normandy on the evening of Ash Wednesday it used +to be the custom to hold a celebration called the Burial of +Shrove Tuesday. A squalid effigy scantily clothed in rags, +a battered old hat crushed down on his dirty face, his great +round paunch stuffed with straw, represented the disreputable +old rake who after a long course of dissipation was now +about to suffer for his sins. Hoisted on the shoulders of a +sturdy fellow, who pretended to stagger under the burden, +this popular personification of the Carnival promenaded the +streets for the last time in a manner the reverse of triumphal. +Preceded by a drummer and accompanied by a jeering rabble, +among whom the urchins and all the tag-rag and bobtail of +the town mustered in great force, the figure was carried +about by the flickering light of torches to the discordant din +of shovels and tongs, pots and pans, horns and kettles, +mingled with hootings, groans, and hisses. From time to +time the procession halted, and a champion of morality +accused the broken-down old sinner of all the excesses he +had committed and for which he was now about to be burned +alive. The culprit, having nothing to urge in his own +defence, was thrown on a heap of straw, a torch was put to +it, and a great blaze shot up, to the delight of the children +who frisked round it screaming out some old popular verses +about the death of the Carnival. Sometimes the effigy was +rolled down the slope of a hill before being burnt.<note place='foot'>J. Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage +Normand</hi> (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), +ii. 148-150.</note> At +Saint-Lô the ragged effigy of Shrove Tuesday was followed +by his widow, a big burly lout dressed as a woman with a +crape veil, who emitted sounds of lamentation and woe in a +stentorian voice. After being carried about the streets on a +litter attended by a crowd of maskers, the figure was thrown +into the River Vire. The final scene has been graphically +described by Madame Octave Feuillet as she witnessed it in +her childhood some fifty years ago. <q rend='pre'>My parents invited +friends to see, from the top of the tower of Jeanne Couillard, +the funeral procession passing. It was there that, quaffing +lemonade—the only refreshment allowed because of the fast—we +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> +witnessed at nightfall a spectacle of which I shall +always preserve a lively recollection. At our feet flowed the +Vire under its old stone bridge. On the middle of the bridge +lay the figure of Shrove Tuesday on a litter of leaves, +surrounded by scores of maskers dancing, singing, and +carrying torches. Some of them in their motley costumes +ran along the parapet like fiends. The rest, worn out with +their revels, sat on the posts and dozed. Soon the dancing +stopped, and some of the troop, seizing a torch, set fire to +the effigy, after which they flung it into the river with +redoubled shouts and clamour. The man of straw, soaked +with resin, floated away burning down the stream of the +Vire, lighting up with its funeral fires the woods on the +bank and the battlements of the old castle in which Louis XI. +and Francis I. had slept. When the last glimmer of the +blazing phantom had vanished, like a falling star, at the end +of the valley, every one withdrew, crowd and maskers alike, +and we quitted the ramparts with our guests. As we returned +home my father sang gaily the old popular song:—</q> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'><q rend='pre'>Shrove Tuesday is dead and his wife has got</q></hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>His shabby pocket-handkerchief and his cracked old pot.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Sing high, sing low,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'><q rend='post'>Shrove Tuesday will come back no more.</q></hi></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q rend='post'><q>He will come back! He will come back!</q> we cried warmly, +clapping our hands; and he did come back next year, and +I think I should see him still if, after the lapse of half a +century, I returned to the land of my birth.</q><note place='foot'>Madame Octave Feuillet, <hi rend='italic'>Quelques +années de ma vie</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> (Paris, 1895), pp. +59-61.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Burial of +Shrove +Tuesday +or the +Carnival in +Brittany.</note> +In Upper Brittany the burial of Shrove Tuesday or the +Carnival is sometimes performed in a ceremonious manner. +Four young fellows carry a straw-man or one of their companions, +and are followed by a funeral procession. A show +is made of depositing the pretended corpse in the grave, +after which the bystanders make believe to mourn, crying out +in melancholy tones, <q>Ah! my poor little Shrove Tuesday!</q> +The boy who played the part of Shrove Tuesday bears the +name for the whole year.<note place='foot'>P. Sébillot, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes populaires de +la Haute-Bretagne</hi> (Paris, 1886), pp. +227 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Lesneven in Lower Brittany +it was formerly the custom on Ash Wednesday to burn a +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/> +straw-man, covered with rags, after he had been promenaded +about the town. He was followed by a representative of +Shrove Tuesday clothed with sardines and cods' tails.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, mythes et +traditions des Provinces de France</hi>, p. +206.</note> At +Pontaven in Finistère an effigy representing the Carnival +used to be thrown from the quay into the sea on the morning +of Ash Wednesday.<note place='foot'>P. Sébillot, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore de France</hi>, +ii. (Paris, 1905) p. 170.</note> At La Rochelle the porters and sailors +carried about a man of straw representing Shrove Tuesday, +then burned it on Ash Wednesday and flung the ashes into +the sea.<note place='foot'>P. Sébillot, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> In Saintonge and Aunis, which correspond roughly +to the modern departments of Charente, children used to +drown or burn a figure of the Carnival on the morning of +Ash Wednesday.<note place='foot'>J. L. M. Nogues, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mœurs +d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis</hi> +(Saintes, 1891), p. 60. As to the trial +and condemnation of the Carnival on +Ash Wednesday in France, see further +Bérenger-Féraud, <hi rend='italic'>Superstitions et survivances</hi>, +iv. 52 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The beginning of Lent in England was +formerly marked by a custom which has now fallen into +disuse. A figure, made up of straw and cast-off clothes, +was drawn or carried through the streets amid much noise +and merriment; after which it was either burnt, shot at, or +thrown down a chimney. This image went by the name of +Jack o' Lent, and was by some supposed to represent Judas +Iscariot.<note place='foot'>T. F. Thiselton Dyer, <hi rend='italic'>British +Popular Customs</hi> (London, 1876), p. +93.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Burying the +Carnival in +Germany +and +Austria.</note> +A Bohemian form of the custom of <q>Burying the Carnival</q> +has been already described.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref>.</note> The following Swabian +form is obviously similar. In the neighbourhood of Tübingen +on Shrove Tuesday a straw-man, called the Shrovetide Bear, +is made up; he is dressed in a pair of old trousers, and a +fresh black-pudding or two squirts filled with blood are +inserted in his neck. After a formal condemnation he is +beheaded, laid in a coffin, and on Ash Wednesday is buried +in the churchyard. This is called <q>Burying the Carnival.</q><note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Schwaben</hi>, p. +371.</note> +Amongst some of the Saxons of Transylvania the Carnival +is hanged. Thus at Braller on Ash Wednesday or Shrove +Tuesday two white and two chestnut horses draw a sledge +on which is placed a straw-man swathed in a white cloth; +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/> +beside him is a cart-wheel which is kept turning round. +Two lads disguised as old men follow the sledge lamenting. +The rest of the village lads, mounted on horseback and +decked with ribbons, accompany the procession, which is +headed by two girls crowned with evergreen and drawn in a +waggon or sledge. A trial is held under a tree, at which +lads disguised as soldiers pronounce sentence of death. The +two old men try to rescue the straw-man and to fly with +him, but to no purpose; he is caught by the two girls and +handed over to the executioner, who hangs him on a tree. +In vain the old men try to climb up the tree and take him +down; they always tumble down, and at last in despair they +throw themselves on the ground and weep and howl for the +hanged man. An official then makes a speech in which he +declares that the Carnival was condemned to death because +he had done them harm, by wearing out their shoes and +making them tired and sleepy.<note place='foot'>J. Haltrich, <hi rend='italic'>Zur Volkskunde der +Siebenbürger Sachsen</hi> (Vienna, 1885), +pp. 284 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At the <q>Burial of Carnival</q> +in Lechrain, a man dressed as a woman in black clothes is +carried on a litter or bier by four men; he is lamented over +by men disguised as women in black clothes, then thrown +down before the village dung-heap, drenched with water, +buried in the dung-heap, and covered with straw.<note place='foot'>K. von Leoprechting, <hi rend='italic'>Aus dem +Lechrain</hi>, pp. 162 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. 411.</note> Similarly +in Schörzingen, near Schömberg, the <q>Carnival (Shrovetide) +Fool</q> was carried all about the village on a bier, preceded +by a man dressed in white, and followed by a devil who was +dressed in black and carried chains, which he clanked. One +of the train collected gifts. After the procession the Fool +was buried under straw and dung.<note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Schwaben</hi>, p. 374; +compare A. Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches +aus Schwaben</hi> (Freiburg im Breisgau, +1861-1862), ii. pp. 54 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 71.</note> In Rottweil the <q>Carnival +Fool</q> is made drunk on Ash Wednesday and buried +under straw amid loud lamentation.<note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 372.</note> In Wurmlingen the +Fool is represented by a young fellow enveloped in straw, +who is led about the village by a rope as a <q>Bear</q> on Shrove +Tuesday and the preceding day. He dances to the flute. +Then on Ash Wednesday a straw-man is made, placed on a +trough, carried out of the village to the sound of drums and +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/> +mournful music, and buried in a field.<note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 373.</note> In Altdorf and +Weingarten on Ash Wednesday the Fool, represented by a +straw-man, is carried about and then thrown into the water +to the accompaniment of melancholy music. In other +villages of Swabia the part of fool is played by a live person, +who is thrown into the water after being carried about in +procession.<note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 373, 374.</note> At Balwe, in Westphalia, a straw-man is made +on Shrove Tuesday and thrown into the river amid rejoicings. +This is called, as usual, <q>Burying the Carnival.</q><note place='foot'>A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Gebräuche und +Märchen aus Westfalen</hi> (Leipsic, 1859), +ii. p. 130, § 393.</note> At Burgebrach, +in Bavaria, it used to be customary, as a public pastime, +to hold a sort of court of justice on Ash Wednesday. The +accused was a straw-man, on whom was laid the burden of +all the notorious transgressions that had been committed in +the course of the year. Twelve chosen maidens sat in +judgment and pronounced sentence, and a single advocate +pleaded the cause of the public scapegoat. Finally the +effigy was burnt, and thus all the offences that had created a +scandal in the community during the year were symbolically +atoned for. We can hardly doubt that this custom of +burning a straw-man on Ash Wednesday for the sins of a +whole year is only another form of the custom, observed on +the same day in so many other places, of burning an effigy +which is supposed to embody and to be responsible for all +the excesses committed during the licence of the Carnival. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Burning the +Carnival +in Greece. Esthonian +custom on +Shrove +Tuesday.</note> +In Greece a ceremony of the same sort was witnessed at +Pylos by Mr. E. L. Tilton in 1895. On the evening of the first +day of the Greek Lent, which fell that year on the twenty-fifth +of February, an effigy with a grotesque mask for a face was +borne about the streets on a bier, preceded by a mock priest +with long white beard. Other functionaries surrounded the +bier and two torch-bearers walked in advance. The procession +moved slowly to melancholy music played by a pipe +and drum. A final halt was made in the public square, +where a circular space was kept clear of the surging crowd. +Here a bonfire was kindled, and round it the priest led a wild +dance to the same droning music. When the frenzy was at +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/> +its height, the chief performer put tow on the effigy and set +fire to it, and while it blazed he resumed his mad career, +brandishing torches and tearing off his venerable beard to +add fuel to the flames.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, vi. (1895) p. 206.</note> On the evening of Shrove Tuesday +the Esthonians make a straw figure called <foreign rend='italic'>metsik</foreign> or <q>wood-spirit</q>; +one year it is dressed with a man's coat and hat, next +year with a hood and a petticoat. This figure is stuck on a +long pole, carried across the boundary of the village with loud +cries of joy, and fastened to the top of a tree in the wood. +The ceremony is believed to be a protection against all kinds +of misfortune.<note place='foot'>F. J. Wiedemann, <hi rend='italic'>Aus dem inneren +und äusseren Leben der Ehsten</hi> (St. +Petersburg, 1876), p. 353.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Resurrection +enacted in +these ceremonies.</note> +Sometimes at these Shrovetide or Lenten ceremonies the +resurrection of the pretended dead person is enacted. Thus, +in some parts of Swabia on Shrove Tuesday Dr. Iron-Beard +professes to bleed a sick man, who thereupon falls as dead to +the ground; but the doctor at last restores him to life by +blowing air into him through a tube.<note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 374.</note> In the Harz Mountains, +when Carnival is over, a man is laid on a baking-trough +and carried with dirges to a grave; but in the grave a glass +of brandy is buried instead of the man. A speech is delivered +and then the people return to the village-green or meeting-place, +where they smoke the long clay pipes which are +distributed at funerals. On the morning of Shrove Tuesday +in the following year the brandy is dug up and the festival +begins by every one tasting the spirit which, as the phrase +goes, has come to life again.<note place='foot'>H. Pröhle, <hi rend='italic'>Harzbilder</hi> (Leipsic, +1855), p. 54.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='4. Carrying out Death.'/> +<head>§ 4. Carrying out Death.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carrying +out Death +in Bavaria.</note> +The ceremony of <q>Carrying out Death</q> presents much +the same features as <q>Burying the Carnival</q>; except that +the carrying out of Death is generally followed by a ceremony, +or at least accompanied by a profession, of bringing +in Summer, Spring, or Life. Thus in Middle Franken, a +province of Bavaria, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, the +village urchins used to make a straw effigy of Death, which +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/> +they carried about with burlesque pomp through the streets, +and afterwards burned with loud cries beyond the bounds.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi>, iii. 958.</note> +The Frankish custom is thus described by a writer of the +sixteenth century: <q>At Mid-Lent, the season when the +church bids us rejoice, the young people of my native +country make a straw image of Death, and fastening it to +a pole carry it with shouts to the neighbouring villages. +By some they are kindly received, and after being refreshed +with milk, peas, and dried pears, the usual food of that +season, are sent home again. Others, however, treat them +with anything but hospitality; for, looking on them as +harbingers of misfortune, to wit of death, they drive them +from their boundaries with weapons and insults.</q><note place='foot'>J. Boemus, <hi rend='italic'>Omnium gentium +mores, leges, et ritus</hi> (Paris, 1538), +p. 83.</note> In the +villages near Erlangen, when the fourth Sunday in Lent +came round, the peasant girls used to dress themselves +in all their finery with flowers in their hair. Thus attired +they repaired to the neighbouring town, carrying puppets +which were adorned with leaves and covered with white +cloths. These they took from house to house in pairs, +stopping at every door where they expected to receive +something, and singing a few lines in which they announced +that it was Mid-Lent and that they were about to throw +Death into the water. When they had collected some +trifling gratuities they went to the river Regnitz and flung +the puppets representing Death into the stream. This was +done to ensure a fruitful and prosperous year; further, it was +considered a safeguard against pestilence and sudden death.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi>, iii. 958.</note> +At Nuremberg girls of seven to eighteen years of age go +through the streets bearing a little open coffin, in which is a +doll hidden under a shroud. Others carry a beech branch, +with an apple fastened to it for a head, in an open box. +They sing, <q>We carry Death into the water, it is well,</q> or +<q>We carry Death into the water, carry him in and out +again.</q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 639 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 412.</note> In other parts of Bavaria the ceremony took +place on the Saturday before the fifth Sunday in Lent, and +the performers were boys or girls, according to the sex of +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> +the last person who died in the village. The figure was +thrown into water or buried in a secret place, for example +under moss in the forest, that no one might find Death +again. Then early on Sunday morning the children went +from house to house singing a song in which they announced +the glad tidings that Death was gone.<note place='foot'>Sepp, <hi rend='italic'>Die Religion der alten +Deutschen</hi> (Munich, 1876), p. 67.</note> In some parts of +Bavaria down to 1780 it was believed that a fatal epidemic +would ensue if the custom of <q>Carrying out Death</q> were +not observed.<note place='foot'>Fr. Kauffmann, <hi rend='italic'>Balder</hi> (Strasburg, +1902), p. 283.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carrying +out +Death in +Thüringen.</note> +In some villages of Thüringen, on the fourth Sunday of +Lent, the children used to carry a puppet of birchen twigs +through the village, and then threw it into a pool, while they +sang, <q>We carry the old Death out behind the herdsman's +old house; we have got Summer, and Kroden's (?) power is +destroyed.</q><note place='foot'>Aug. Witzschel, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Thüringen</hi> (Vienna, +1878), p. 193.</note> At Debschwitz or Dobschwitz, near Gera, the +ceremony of <q>Driving out Death</q> is or was annually observed +on the first of March. The young people make up +a figure of straw or the like materials, dress it in old clothes, +which they have begged from houses in the village, and carry +it out and throw it into the river. On returning to the +village they break the good news to the people, and receive +eggs and other victuals as a reward. The ceremony is or +was supposed to purify the village and to protect the inhabitants +from sickness and plague. In other villages of +Thüringen, in which the population was originally Slavonic, +the carrying out of the puppet is accompanied with the +singing of a song, which begins, <q>Now we carry Death out +of the village and Spring into the village.</q><note place='foot'>A. Witzschel, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 199; +J. A. E. Köhler, <hi rend='italic'>Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, +Sagen und andre alte Überlieferungen +im Voigtlande</hi> (Leipsic, +1867), pp. 171 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At the end of +the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century the +custom was observed in Thüringen as follows. The boys +and girls made an effigy of straw or the like materials, but +the shape of the figure varied from year to year. In one +year it would represent an old man, in the next an old +woman, in the third a young man, and in the fourth a +maiden, and the dress of the figure varied with the character +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/> +it personated. There used to be a sharp contest as to where +the effigy was to be made, for the people thought that the +house from which it was carried forth would not be visited +with death that year. Having been made, the puppet was +fastened to a pole and carried by a girl if it represented an +old man, but by a boy if it represented an old woman. +Thus it was borne in procession, the young people holding +sticks in their hands and singing that they were driving out +Death. When they came to water they threw the effigy +into it and ran hastily back, fearing that it might jump on +their shoulders and wring their necks. They also took care +not to touch it, lest it should dry them up. On their return +they beat the cattle with the sticks, believing that this would +make the animals fat or fruitful. Afterwards they visited +the house or houses from which they had carried the image +of Death, where they received a dole of half-boiled peas.<note place='foot'>Fr. Kauffmann, <hi rend='italic'>Balder</hi> (Strasburg, +1902), p. 283 note, quoting J. K. +Zeumer, <hi rend='italic'>Laetare vulgo Todten Sonntag</hi> +(Jena, 1701), pp. 20 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; J. Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> ii. 640 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +words of the song are given as <q><foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>So +treiben wir den todten auss</foreign>,</q> but this +must be a mistake for <q><foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>So treiben wir +den Tod hinaus</foreign>,</q> as the line is given +by P. Drechsler (<hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und +Volksglaube in Schlesien</hi>, i. 66). In +the passage quoted the effigy is spoken +of as <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>mortis larva</foreign>.</q></note> +The custom of <q>Carrying out Death</q> was practised also in +Saxony. At Leipsic the bastards and public women used +to make a straw effigy of Death every year at Mid-Lent. +This they carried through all the streets with songs and +shewed it to the young married women. Finally they threw +it into the river Parthe. By this ceremony they professed +to make the young wives fruitful, to purify the city, and to +protect the inhabitants for that year from plague and other +epidemics.<note place='foot'>Zacharias Schneider, <hi rend='italic'>Leipziger +Chronik</hi>, iv. 143, cited by K. Schwenk, +<hi rend='italic'>Die Mythologie der Slaven</hi> (Frankfort, +1853), pp. 217 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, and Fr. Kauffmann, +<hi rend='italic'>Balder</hi>, pp. 284 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carrying +out Death +in Silesia.</note> +Ceremonies of the same sort are observed at Mid-Lent +in Silesia. Thus in many places the grown girls with the +help of the young men dress up a straw figure with women's +clothes and carry it out of the village towards the setting +sun. At the boundary they strip it of its clothes, tear it in +pieces, and scatter the fragments about the fields. This is +called <q>Burying Death.</q> As they carry the image out, they +sing that they are about to bury death under an oak, that +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/> +he may depart from the people. Sometimes the song runs +that they are bearing death over hill and dale to return no +more. In the Polish neighbourhood of Gross-Strehlitz the +puppet is called Goik. It is carried on horseback and +thrown into the nearest water. The people think that the +ceremony protects them from sickness of every sort in the +coming year. In the districts of Wohlau and Guhrau the +image of Death used to be thrown over the boundary of the +next village. But as the neighbours feared to receive the +ill-omened figure, they were on the look-out to repel it, and +hard knocks were often exchanged between the two parties. +In some Polish parts of Upper Silesia the effigy, representing +an old woman, goes by the name of Marzana, the goddess +of death. It is made in the house where the last death +occurred, and is carried on a pole to the boundary of the +village, where it is thrown into a pond or burnt. At Polkwitz +the custom of <q>Carrying out Death</q> fell into abeyance; +but an outbreak of fatal sickness which followed the intermission +of the ceremony induced the people to resume it.<note place='foot'>P. Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und +Volksglaube in Schlesien</hi>, i. 65-71. +Compare A. Peter, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Österreichisch-Schlesien</hi> (Troppau, +1865-1867), ii. 281 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +Some of the Moravians of Silesia make three puppets on +this occasion: one represents a man, another a bride, and +the third a bridesmaid. The first is carried by the boys, the +two last by the girls. Formerly these effigies were torn to +pieces at a brook; now they are brought home again.<note place='foot'>F. Tetzner, <q>Die Tschechen und +Mährer in Schlesien,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lxxviii. +(1900) p. 340.</note> In +this last custom two of the figures are clearly conceived as +bride and bridegroom. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carrying +out +Death in +Bohemia.</note> +In Bohemia the children go out with a straw-man, representing +Death, to the end of the village, where they burn +it, singing— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Now carry we Death out of the village,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The new Summer into the village,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Welcome, dear Summer,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Green little corn.</hi></q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 642.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +At Tabor in Bohemia the figure of Death is carried out +of the town and flung from a high rock into the water, while +they sing— +</p> + +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Death swims on the water,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Summer will soon be here,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>We carried Death away for you,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>We brought the Summer.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And do thou, O holy Marketa,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Give us a good year</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>For wheat and for rye.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen</hi>, pp. 90 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In other parts of Bohemia they carry Death to the end of +the village, singing— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>We carry Death out of the village,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And the New Year into the village.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Dear Spring, we bid you welcome,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Green grass, we bid you welcome.</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Behind the village they erect a pyre, on which they burn the +straw figure, reviling and scoffing at it the while. Then they +return, singing— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>We have carried away Death,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And brought Life back.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>He has taken up his quarters in the village,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Therefore sing joyous songs.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> p. 91.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Carrying +out Death +in Moravia.</note> +In some German villages of Moravia, as in Jassnitz and +Seitendorf, the young folk assemble on the third Sunday in +Lent and fashion a straw-man, who is generally adorned +with a fur cap and a pair of old leathern hose, if such are to +be had. The effigy is then hoisted on a pole and carried +by the lads and lasses out into the open fields. On the +way they sing a song, in which it is said that they are +carrying Death away and bringing dear Summer into the +house, and with Summer the May and the flowers. On +reaching an appointed place they dance in a circle round +the effigy with loud shouts and screams, then suddenly rush +at it and tear it to pieces with their hands. Lastly, the +pieces are thrown together in a heap, the pole is broken, and +fire is set to the whole. While it burns the troop dances +merrily round it, rejoicing at the victory won by Spring; +and when the fire has nearly died out they go to the householders +to beg for a present of eggs wherewith to hold a +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/> +feast, taking care to give as a reason for the request that +they have carried Death out and away.<note place='foot'>W. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur Volkskunde +der Deutschen in Mähren</hi> +(Vienna and Olmütz, 1893), pp. 353-355.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The effigy +of Death +feared and +abhorred.</note> +The preceding evidence shews that the effigy of Death is +often regarded with fear and treated with marks of hatred +and abhorrence. Thus the anxiety of the villagers to transfer +the figure from their own to their neighbours' land, and the +reluctance of the latter to receive the ominous guest, are +proof enough of the dread which it inspires. Further, in +Lusatia and Silesia the puppet is sometimes made to look +in at the window of a house, and it is believed that some +one in the house will die within the year unless his life is +redeemed by the payment of money.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 644; K. Haupt, <hi rend='italic'>Sagenbuch der +Lausitz</hi> (Leipsic, 1862-1863), ii. 55; +P. Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Branch und Volksglaube +in Schlesien</hi>, i. 70 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, after throwing +the effigy away, the bearers sometimes run home lest Death +should follow them, and if one of them falls in running, it is +believed that he will die within the year.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 640, 643; +P. Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 70. See also +above, p. 236.</note> At Chrudim, in +Bohemia, the figure of Death is made out of a cross, with a +head and mask stuck at the top, and a shirt stretched out +on it. On the fifth Sunday in Lent the boys take this +effigy to the nearest brook or pool, and standing in a line +throw it into the water. Then they all plunge in after it; but +as soon as it is caught no one more may enter the water. The +boy who did not enter the water or entered it last will die +within the year, and he is obliged to carry the Death back +to the village. The effigy is then burned.<note place='foot'>Th. Vernaleken, <hi rend='italic'>Mythen und +Bräuche des Volkes in Österreich</hi> +(Vienna, 1859), pp. 294 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender aus +Böhmen</hi>, p. 90.</note> On the other +hand, it is believed that no one will die within the year in +the house out of which the figure of Death has been +carried;<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref>.</note> and the village out of which Death has been +driven is sometimes supposed to be protected against sickness +and plague.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg234'>234</ref>, <ref target='Pg235'>235</ref>, <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref>, +<ref target='Pg237'>237</ref>.</note> In some villages of Austrian Silesia on the +Saturday before Dead Sunday an effigy is made of old +clothes, hay, and straw, for the purpose of driving Death out +of the village. On Sunday the people, armed with sticks +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/> +and straps, assemble before the house where the figure is +lodged. Four lads then draw the effigy by cords through +the village amid exultant shouts, while all the others beat it +with their sticks and straps. On reaching a field which +belongs to a neighbouring village they lay down the figure, +cudgel it soundly, and scatter the fragments over the field. +The people believe that the village from which Death has +been thus carried out will be safe from any infectious disease +for the whole year.<note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Das festliche +Jahr</hi> (Leipsic, 1863), p. 80.</note> In Slavonia the figure of Death is +cudgelled and then rent in two.<note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>Songs of the +Russian People</hi> (London, 1872), p. +211.</note> In Poland the effigy, +made of hemp and straw, is flung into a pool or swamp +with the words <q>The devil take thee.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> p. 210.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='5. Sawing the Old Woman.'/> +<head>§ 5. Sawing the Old Woman.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sawing +the Old +Woman at +Mid-Lent +in Italy.</note> +The custom of <q>Sawing the Old Woman,</q> which is or +used to be observed in Italy, France, and Spain on the fourth +Sunday in Lent, is doubtless, as Grimm supposes, merely +another form of the custom of <q>Carrying out Death.</q> A +great hideous figure representing the oldest woman of the +village was dragged out and sawn in two, amid a prodigious +noise made with cow-bells, pots and pans, and so forth.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 652; H. Usener, "Italische +Mythen," <hi rend='italic'>Rheinisches Museum</hi>, N.F., +xxx. (1875) pp. 191 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In +Palermo the representation used to be still more lifelike. +At Mid-Lent an old woman was drawn through the streets +on a cart, attended by two men dressed in the costume of +the <hi rend='italic'>Compagnia de' Bianchi</hi>, a society or religious order whose +function it was to attend and console prisoners condemned +to death. A scaffold was erected in a public square; the +old woman mounted it, and two mock executioners proceeded, +amid a storm of huzzas and hand-clapping, to saw through +her neck, or rather through a bladder of blood which had +been previously fitted to it. The blood gushed out and the +old woman pretended to swoon and die. The last of these +mock executions took place in 1737.<note place='foot'>G. Pitrè, <hi rend='italic'>Spettacoli e feste popolari +siciliane</hi> (Palermo, 1881), pp. 207 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi +del popolo siciliano</foreign>, i. 107 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Florence, during +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/> +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Old Woman was +represented by a figure stuffed with walnuts and dried figs +and fastened to the top of a ladder. At Mid-Lent this +effigy was sawn through the middle under the <foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>Loggie</foreign> of the +Mercato Nuovo, and as the dried fruits tumbled out they +were scrambled for by the crowd. A trace of the custom +is still to be seen in the practice, observed by urchins, of +secretly pinning paper ladders to the shoulders of women of +the lower classes who happen to shew themselves in the +streets on the morning of Mid-Lent.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni +popolari</hi>, iv. (1885) pp. 294 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> A similar custom is +observed by urchins in Rome; and at Naples on the first of +April boys cut strips of cloth into the shape of saws, smear +them with gypsum, and strike passers-by with their "saws" +on the back, thus imprinting the figure of a saw upon their +clothes.<note place='foot'>H. Usener, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 193.</note> At Montalto, in Calabria, boys go about at Mid-Lent +with little saws made of cane and jeer at old people, +who therefore generally stay indoors on that day. The +Calabrian women meet together at this time and feast on +figs, chestnuts, honey, and so forth; this they call <q>Sawing +the Old Woman</q>—a reminiscence probably of a custom +like the old Florentine one.<note place='foot'>Vincenzo Dorsa, <hi rend='italic'>La Tradizione +greco-latina negli usi e nelle credenze +popolari della Calabria citeriore</hi> (Cosenza, +1884), pp. 43 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Lombardy the Thursday +of Mid-Lent is known as the Day of the Old Wives (<foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>il +giorno delle vecchie</foreign>). The children run about crying out for +the oldest woman, whom they wish to burn; and failing to +possess themselves of the original, they make a puppet +representing her, which in the evening is consumed on a +bonfire. On the Lake of Garda the blaze of light flaring at +different points on the hills produces a picturesque effect.<note place='foot'>E. Martinengo-Cesaresco, in <hi rend='italic'>The +Academy</hi>, No. 671, March 14, 1885, +p. 188.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sawing +the Old +Woman at +Mid-Lent +in France.</note> +In Berry, a region of central France, the custom of <q>Sawing +the Old Woman</q> at Mid-Lent used to be popular, and +has probably not wholly died out even now. Here the name +of <q>Fairs of the old Wives</q> was given to certain fairs held +in Lent, at which children were made to believe that they +would see the Old Woman of Mid-Lent split or sawn asunder. +At Argenton and Cluis-Dessus, when Mid-Lent has come, +children of ten or twelve years of age scour the streets with +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> +wooden swords, pursue the old crones whom they meet, +and even try to break into the houses where ancient dames +are known to live. Passers-by, who see the children thus +engaged, say, <q>They are going to cut or sabre the Old +Woman.</q> Meantime the old wives take care to keep out of +sight as much as possible. When the children of Cluis-Dessus +have gone their rounds, and the day draws towards +evening, they repair to Cluis-Dessous, where they mould a +rude figure of an old woman out of clay, hew it in pieces +with their wooden swords, and throw the bits into the river. +At Bourges on the same day, an effigy representing an old +woman was formerly sawn in two on the crier's stone in a +public square. About the middle of the nineteenth century, +in the same town and on the same day, hundreds of children +assembled at the Hospital <q>to see the old woman split or +divided in two.</q> A religious service was held in the building +on this occasion, which attracted many idlers. In the +streets it was not uncommon to hear cries of <q>Let us cleave +the Old Wife! let us cleave the oldest woman of the ward!</q> +At Tulle, on the day of Mid-Lent, the people used to enquire +after the oldest woman in the town, and to tell the children +that at mid-day punctually she was to be sawn in two at +Puy-Saint-Clair.<note place='foot'>Laisnel de la Salle, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances et +légendes du centre de la France</hi> (Paris, +1875), i. 43 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sawing +the Old +Woman at +Mid-Lent +in Spain +and among +the Slavs.</note> +In Barcelona on the fourth Sunday in Lent boys run +about the streets, some with saws, others with billets of wood, +others again with cloths in which they collect gratuities. +They sing a song in which it is said that they are looking +for the oldest woman of the city for the purpose of sawing +her in two in honour of Mid-Lent; at last, pretending to +have found her, they saw something in two and burn it. A +like custom is found amongst the South Slavs. In Lent the +Croats tell their children that at noon an old woman is being +sawn in two outside the gates; and in Carniola also the saying +is current that at Mid-Lent an old woman is taken out +of the village and sawn in two. The North Slavonian expression +for keeping Mid-Lent is <foreign rend='italic'>bábu rezati</foreign>, that is, <q>sawing +the Old Wife.</q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 652; H. Usener, <q>Italische +Mythen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Rheinisches Museum</hi>, N.F., +xxx. (1875) pp. 191 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the Graubünden Canton of Switzerland, +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/> +on <foreign rend='italic'>Invocavit</foreign> Sunday, grown people used to assemble in the +ale-house and there saw in two a straw puppet which they +called Mrs. Winter or the Ugly Woman (<foreign rend='italic'>bagorda</foreign>), while the +children in the streets teased each other with wooden saws.<note place='foot'>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, <q>Fruchtbarkeitsriten +im schweizerischen Volksbrauch,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Schweizerisches Archiv für +Volkskunde</hi>, xi. (1903) p. 239.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sawing +the Old +Woman +on Palm +Sunday +among the +gypsies.</note> +Among the gypsies of south-eastern Europe the custom +of <q>sawing the Old Woman in two</q> is observed in a +very graphic form, not at Mid-Lent, but on the afternoon +of Palm Sunday. The Old Woman, represented by a +puppet of straw dressed in women's clothes, is laid across +a beam in some open place and beaten with clubs by +the assembled gypsies, after which it is sawn in two +by a young man and a maiden, both of whom wear a +disguise. While the effigy is being sawn through, the rest of +the company dance round it singing songs of various sorts. +The remains of the figure are finally burnt, and the ashes +thrown into a stream. The ceremony is supposed by the +gypsies themselves to be observed in honour of a certain +Shadow Queen; hence Palm Sunday goes by the name +Shadow Day among all the strolling gypsies of eastern and +southern Europe. According to the popular belief, this +Shadow Queen, of whom the gypsies of to-day have only a +very vague and confused conception, vanishes underground +at the appearance of spring, but comes forth again at the +beginning of winter to plague mankind during that inclement +season with sickness, hunger, and death. Among +the vagrant gypsies of southern Hungary the effigy is +regarded as an expiatory and thank offering made to the +Shadow Queen for having spared the people during the +winter. In Transylvania the gypsies who live in tents clothe +the puppet in the cast-off garments of the woman who has +last become a widow. The widow herself gives the clothes +gladly for this purpose, because she thinks that being burnt +they will pass into the possession of her departed husband, +who will thus have no excuse for returning from the spirit-land +to visit her. The ashes are thrown by the Transylvanian +gypsies on the first graveyard that they pass on their journey.<note place='foot'>H. von Wlislocki, <hi rend='italic'>Volksglaube und +religiöser Brauch der Zigeuner</hi> (Münster +i. W., 1891), pp. 145 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> +In this gypsy custom the equivalence of the effigy of the Old +Woman to the effigy of Death in the customs we have just +been considering comes out very clearly, thus strongly confirming +the opinion of Grimm that the practice of <q>sawing +the Old Woman</q> is only another form of the practice of +<q>carrying out Death.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seven-legged +effigies of +Lent in +Spain.</note> +The same perhaps may be said of a somewhat different +form which the custom assumes in parts of Spain and Italy. +In Spain it is sometimes usual on Ash Wednesday to +fashion an effigy of stucco or pasteboard representing a +hideous old woman with seven legs, wearing a crown of sorrel +and spinach, and holding a sceptre in her hand. The seven +skinny legs stand for the seven weeks of the Lenten fast +which begins on Ash Wednesday. This monster, proclaimed +Queen of Lent amid the chanting of lugubrious songs, is +carried in triumph through the crowded streets and public +places. On reaching the principal square the people put out +their torches, cease shouting, and disperse. Their revels are +now ended, and they take a vow to hold no more merry +meetings until all the legs of the old woman have fallen one +by one and she has been beheaded. The effigy is then +deposited in some place appointed for the purpose, where +the public is admitted to see it during the whole of Lent. +Every week, on Saturday evening, one of the Queen's legs is +pulled off; and on Holy Saturday, when from every church +tower the joyous clangour of the bells proclaims the glad +tidings that Christ is risen, the mutilated body of the fallen +Queen is carried with great solemnity to the principal square +and publicly beheaded.<note place='foot'>E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les fêtes +religieuses</hi> (Paris, 1867), pp. 107 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Laisnel de la Salle, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances et +légendes du centre de la France</hi>, i. 45 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> A similar custom appears to be +observed in Minorca. See <hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lix. +(1891) pp. 279, 280.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seven-legged +effigies of +Lent in +Italy.</note> +A custom of the same sort prevails in various parts of +Italy. Thus in the Abruzzi they hang a puppet of tow, +representing Lent, to a cord, which stretches across the street +from one window to another. Seven feathers are attached +to the figure, and in its hand it grasps a distaff and spindle. +Every Saturday in Lent one of the seven feathers is plucked +out, and on Holy Saturday, while the bells are ringing, a +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/> +string of chestnuts is burnt for the purpose of sending Lent +and its meagre fare to the devil. In houses, too, it is usual to +amuse children by cutting the figure of an old woman with +seven legs out of pasteboard and sticking it beside the +chimney. The old woman represents Lent, and her seven legs +are the seven weeks of the fast; every Saturday one of the +legs is amputated. At Mid-Lent the effigy is cut through +the middle, and the part of which the feet have been already +amputated is removed. Sometimes the figure is stuffed +with sweets, dried fruits, and halfpence, for which the street +urchins scramble when the puppet is bisected.<note place='foot'>A. de Nino, <hi rend='italic'>Usi e costumi abruzzesi</hi>, +ii. 203-205 (Florence, 1881); G. +Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>Credenze, usi e costumi +abruzzesi</hi> (Palermo, 1890), pp. 112, +114.</note> In the +Sorrentine peninsula Lent is similarly represented by the +effigy of a wrinkled old hag with a spindle and distaff, +which is fastened to a balcony or a window. Attached to +the figure is an orange with as many feathers stuck into it +as there are weeks in Lent, and at the end of each week one +of the feathers is plucked out. At Mid-Lent the puppet is +sawn in two, an operation which is sometimes attended by a +gush of blood from a bladder concealed in the interior of the +figure. Any old women who shew themselves in the streets +on that day are exposed to jibes and jests, and may be +warned that they ought to remain at home.<note place='foot'>G. Amalfi, <hi rend='italic'>Tradizioni ed usi nella +Penisola Sorrentina</hi> (Palermo, 1890), +p. 41.</note> At Castellammare, +to the south of Naples, an English lady observed a +rude puppet dangling from a string which spanned one of +the narrow streets of the old town, being fastened at either +end, high overhead, to the upper part of the many-storied +houses. The puppet, about a foot long, was dressed all +in black, rather like a nun, and from the skirts projected +five or six feathers which bore a certain resemblance to legs. +A peasant being asked what these things meant, replied +with Italian vagueness, <q>It is only Lent.</q> Further enquiries, +however, elicited the information that at the end of every +week in Lent one of the feather legs was pulled off the +puppet, and that the puppet was finally destroyed on the last +day of Lent.<note place='foot'>Lucy E. Broadwood, in <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +iv. (1893) p. 390.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='6. Bringing in Summer.'/> +<head>§ 6. Bringing in Summer.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +custom of +carrying +out Death +is often +followed +by the +ceremony +of bringing +in Summer, +in which +the Summer +is represented +by a tree or +branches.</note> +In the preceding ceremonies the return of Spring, Summer, +or Life, as a sequel to the expulsion of Death, is only implied +or at most announced. In the following ceremonies it is +plainly enacted. Thus in some parts of Bohemia the effigy of +Death is drowned by being thrown into the water at sunset; +then the girls go out into the wood and cut down a young +tree with a green crown, hang a doll dressed as a woman on +it, deck the whole with green, red, and white ribbons, and +march in procession with their <foreign rend='italic'>Líto</foreign> (Summer) into the +village, collecting gifts and singing— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Death swims in the water,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Spring comes to visit us,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>With eggs that are red,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>With yellow pancakes.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>We carried Death out of the village,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>We are carrying Summer into the village.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi>, pp. 89 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. 156. This +custom has been already referred to. +See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 73 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In many Silesian villages the figure of Death, after being +treated with respect, is stript of its clothes and flung with +curses into the water, or torn to pieces in a field. Then the +young folk repair to a wood, cut down a small fir-tree, peel +the trunk, and deck it with festoons of evergreens, paper +roses, painted egg-shells, motley bits of cloth, and so forth. +The tree thus adorned is called Summer or May. Boys +carry it from house to house singing appropriate songs and +begging for presents. Among their songs is the following:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>We have carried Death out,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>We are bringing the dear Summer back,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The Summer and the May</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And all the flowers gay.</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Sometimes they also bring back from the wood a prettily +adorned figure, which goes by the name of Summer, May, or +the Bride; in the Polish districts it is called Dziewanna, the +goddess of spring.<note place='foot'>P. Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und +Volksglaube in Schlesien</hi>, i. 71 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Das festliche +Jahr</hi>, p. 82; Philo vom Walde, <hi rend='italic'>Schlesien +in Sage und Brauch</hi> (Berlin, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>, +preface dated 1883), p. 122.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/> + +<p> +At Eisenach on the fourth Sunday in Lent young +people used to fasten a straw-man, representing Death, to a +wheel, which they trundled to the top of a hill. Then setting +fire to the figure they allowed it and the wheel to roll down +the slope. Next they cut a tall fir-tree, tricked it out with +ribbons, and set it up in the plain. The men then climbed +the tree to fetch down the ribbons.<note place='foot'>A. Witzschel, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Sitten und +Gebräuche aus Thüringen</hi>, pp. 192 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +compare pp. 297 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In Upper Lusatia the +figure of Death, made of straw and rags, is dressed in a veil +furnished by the last bride and a shirt provided by the house +in which the last death took place. Thus arrayed the figure +is stuck on the end of a long pole and carried at full speed +by the tallest and strongest girl, while the rest pelt the effigy +with sticks and stones. Whoever hits it will be sure to live +through the year. In this way Death is carried out of the +village and thrown into the water or over the boundary of the +next village. On their way home each one breaks a green +branch and carries it gaily with him till he reaches the village, +when he throws it away. Sometimes the young people of the +next village, upon whose land the figure has been thrown, run +after them and hurl it back, not wishing to have Death among +them. Hence the two parties occasionally come to blows.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 643 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; K. Haupt, <hi rend='italic'>Sagenbuch der +Lausitz</hi>, ii. 54 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 412 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. R. S. +Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>Songs of the Russian People</hi>, +p. 211.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>New +potency +of life +ascribed to +the image +of Death. Carrying +out Death +at Braller +in Transylvania.</note> +In these cases Death is represented by the puppet which +is thrown away, Summer or Life by the branches or trees +which are brought back. But sometimes a new potency of +life seems to be attributed to the image of Death itself, and +by a kind of resurrection it becomes the instrument of the +general revival. Thus in some parts of Lusatia women alone +are concerned in carrying out Death, and suffer no male to +meddle with it. Attired in mourning, which they wear the +whole day, they make a puppet of straw, clothe it in a white +shirt, and give it a broom in one hand and a scythe in the +other. Singing songs and pursued by urchins throwing +stones, they carry the puppet to the village boundary, +where they tear it in pieces. Then they cut down a fine +tree, hang the shirt on it, and carry it home singing.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 644; K. +Haupt, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 55.</note> On +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +the Feast of Ascension the Saxons of Braller, a village +of Transylvania, not far from Hermannstadt, observe the +ceremony of <q>Carrying out Death</q> in the following +manner. After morning service all the school-girls repair +to the house of one of their number, and there dress up the +Death. This is done by tying a threshed-out sheaf of corn +into a rough semblance of a head and body, while the arms +are simulated by a broomstick thrust through it horizontally. +The figure is dressed in the holiday attire of a young +peasant woman, with a red hood, silver brooches, and a +profusion of ribbons at the arms and breast. The girls +bustle at their work, for soon the bells will be ringing to +vespers, and the Death must be ready in time to be placed +at the open window, that all the people may see it on their +way to church. When vespers are over, the longed-for +moment has come for the first procession with the Death to +begin; it is a privilege that belongs to the school-girls +alone. Two of the older girls seize the figure by the arms +and walk in front: all the rest follow two and two. Boys +may take no part in the procession, but they troop after it +gazing with open-mouthed admiration at the <q>beautiful +Death.</q> So the procession goes through all the streets of +the village, the girls singing the old hymn that begins— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Gott mein Vater, deine Liebe</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Reicht so weit der Himmel ist,</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +to a tune that differs from the ordinary one. When the +procession has wound its way through every street, the girls +go to another house, and having shut the door against the +eager prying crowd of boys who follow at their heels, they +strip the Death and pass the naked truss of straw out of +the window to the boys, who pounce on it, run out of the +village with it without singing, and fling the dilapidated +effigy into the neighbouring brook. This done, the second +scene of the little drama begins. While the boys were +carrying away the Death out of the village, the girls +remained in the house, and one of them is now dressed in all +the finery which had been worn by the effigy. Thus arrayed +she is led in procession through all the streets to the singing +of the same hymn as before. When the procession is over +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> +they all betake themselves to the house of the girl who +played the leading part. Here a feast awaits them from +which also the boys are excluded. It is a popular belief +that the children may safely begin to eat gooseberries and +other fruit after the day on which Death has thus been +carried out; for Death, which up to that time lurked especially +in gooseberries, is now destroyed. Further, they may +now bathe with impunity out of doors.<note place='foot'>J. K. Schuller, <hi rend='italic'>Das Todaustragen +und der Muorlef, ein Beitrag zur Kunde +sächsischer Sitte und Sage in Siebenbürgen</hi> +(Hermannstadt, 1861), pp. 4 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The description of this ceremony +by Miss E. Gerard (<hi rend='italic'>The Land beyond +the Forest</hi>, ii. 47-49) is plainly borrowed +from Mr. Schuller's little work.</note> Very similar is the +ceremony which, down to recent years, was observed in some +of the German villages of Moravia. Boys and girls met on +the afternoon of the first Sunday after Easter, and together +fashioned a puppet of straw to represent Death. Decked +with bright-coloured ribbons and cloths, and fastened to the +top of a long pole, the effigy was then borne with singing +and clamour to the nearest height, where it was stript of its +gay attire and thrown or rolled down the slope. One of +the girls was next dressed in the gauds taken from the +effigy of Death, and with her at its head the procession +moved back to the village. In some villages the practice +is to bury the effigy in the place that has the most evil +reputation of all the country-side: others throw it into +running water.<note place='foot'>W. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur Volkskunde +der Deutschen in Mähren</hi> (Vienna and +Olmütz, 1893), pp. 258 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Life-giving +virtue +ascribed to +the effigy +of Death.</note> +In the Lusatian ceremony described above,<note place='foot'>P. <ref target='Pg247'>247</ref>.</note> the tree +which is brought home after the destruction of the figure of +Death is plainly equivalent to the trees or branches which, +in the preceding customs, were brought back as representatives +of Summer or Life, after Death had been thrown away +or destroyed. But the transference of the shirt worn by the +effigy of Death to the tree clearly indicates that the tree is +a kind of revivification, in a new form, of the destroyed effigy.<note place='foot'>This is also the view taken of the +custom by W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 419.</note> +This comes out also in the Transylvanian and Moravian +customs: the dressing of a girl in the clothes worn by the +Death, and the leading her about the village to the same +song which had been sung when the Death was being +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/> +carried about, shew that she is intended to be a kind of +resuscitation of the being whose effigy has just been destroyed. +These examples therefore suggest that the Death whose +demolition is represented in these ceremonies cannot be +regarded as the purely destructive agent which we understand +by Death. If the tree which is brought back as an +embodiment of the reviving vegetation of spring is clothed +in the shirt worn by the Death which has just been destroyed, +the object certainly cannot be to check and counteract the +revival of vegetation: it can only be to foster and promote +it. Therefore the being which has just been destroyed—the +so-called Death—must be supposed to be endowed with a +vivifying and quickening influence, which it can communicate +to the vegetable and even the animal world. This +ascription of a life-giving virtue to the figure of Death is put +beyond a doubt by the custom, observed in some places, of +taking pieces of the straw effigy of Death and placing them +in the fields to make the crops grow, or in the manger to +make the cattle thrive. Thus in Spachendorf, a village of +Austrian Silesia, the figure of Death, made of straw, brushwood, +and rags, is carried with wild songs to an open place +outside the village and there burned, and while it is burning +a general struggle takes place for the pieces, which are pulled +out of the flames with bare hands. Each one who secures +a fragment of the effigy ties it to a branch of the largest +tree in his garden, or buries it in his field, in the belief that +this causes the crops to grow better.<note place='foot'>Th. Vernaleken, <hi rend='italic'>Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Österreich</hi>, pp. +293 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the Troppau +district of Austrian Silesia the straw figure which the boys +make on the fourth Sunday in Lent is dressed by the girls +in woman's clothes and hung with ribbons, necklace, and +garlands. Attached to a long pole it is carried out of the +village, followed by a troop of young people of both sexes, +who alternately frolic, lament, and sing songs. Arrived at +its destination—a field outside the village—the figure is +stripped of its clothes and ornaments; then the crowd +rushes at it and tears it to bits, scuffling for the fragments. +Every one tries to get a wisp of the straw of which the +effigy was made, because such a wisp, placed in the manger, +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/> +is believed to make the cattle thrive.<note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Das festliche +Jahr</hi>, p. 82.</note> Or the straw is put +in the hens' nest, it being supposed that this prevents the +hens from carrying away their eggs, and makes them brood +much better.<note place='foot'>Philo vom Walde, <hi rend='italic'>Schlesien in +Sage und Brauch</hi>, p. 122; P. Drechsler, +<hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in +Schlesien</hi>, i. 74.</note> The same attribution of a fertilising power +to the figure of Death appears in the belief that if the +bearers of the figure, after throwing it away, beat cattle +with their sticks, this will render the beasts fat or prolific.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref>.</note> +Perhaps the sticks had been previously used to beat the +Death,<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg239'>239</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> and so had acquired the fertilising power ascribed +to the effigy. We have seen, too, that at Leipsic a straw +effigy of Death was shewn to young wives to make them +fruitful.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Summer-tree +equivalent +to the May-tree. But the +Summer-tree +is a +revival of +the image +of Death; +hence the +image of +Death +must be an +embodiment +of the +spirit of +vegetation.</note> +It seems hardly possible to separate from the May-trees +the trees or branches which are brought into the village +after the destruction of the Death. The bearers who +bring them in profess to be bringing in the Summer,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref>.</note> +therefore the trees obviously represent the Summer; +indeed in Silesia they are commonly called the Summer +or the May,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref>.</note> and the doll which is sometimes attached +to the Summer-tree is a duplicate representative of +the Summer, just as the May is sometimes represented +at the same time by a May-tree and a May +Lady.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 73 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Further, the Summer-trees are adorned like May-trees +with ribbons and so on; like May-trees, when large, +they are planted in the ground and climbed up; and like +May-trees, when small, they are carried from door to door +by boys or girls singing songs and collecting money.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref>, and J. Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> ii. 644; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender aus +Böhmen</hi>, pp. 87 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> And +as if to demonstrate the identity of the two sets of customs +the bearers of the Summer-tree sometimes announce that +they are bringing in the Summer and the May.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref>.</note> The +customs, therefore, of bringing in the May and bringing in +the Summer are essentially the same; and the Summer-tree +is merely another form of the May-tree, the only distinction +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/> +(besides that of name) being in the time at which they are +respectively brought in; for while the May-tree is usually +fetched in on the first of May or at Whitsuntide, the Summer-tree +is fetched in on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Therefore, +if the May-tree is an embodiment of the tree-spirit or spirit +of vegetation, the Summer-tree must likewise be an embodiment +of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. But we +have seen that the Summer-tree is in some cases a revivification +of the effigy of Death. It follows, therefore, that in these +cases the effigy called Death must be an embodiment of the +tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. This inference is confirmed, +first, by the vivifying and fertilising influence which the fragments +of the effigy of Death are believed to exercise both on +vegetable and on animal life;<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> for this influence, as we saw in +the first part of this work,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 45 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> is supposed to be a special attribute +of the tree-spirit. It is confirmed, secondly, by observing that +the effigy of Death is sometimes decked with leaves or made +of twigs, branches, hemp, or a threshed-out sheaf of corn;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg234'>234</ref>, <ref target='Pg235'>235</ref>, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref>, <ref target='Pg248'>248</ref>, +<ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>; and J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 643.</note> +and that sometimes it is hung on a little tree and so carried +about by girls collecting money,<note place='foot'>Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi>, p. 88. Sometimes +the effigy of Death (without a tree) is +carried round by boys who collect +gratuities (J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 644).</note> just as is done with the +May-tree and the May Lady, and with the Summer-tree and +the doll attached to it. In short we are driven to regard +the expulsion of Death and the bringing in of Summer as, +in some cases at least, merely another form of that death +and revival of the spirit of vegetation in spring which we +saw enacted in the killing and resurrection of the Wild +Man.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref>.</note> The burial and resurrection of the Carnival is probably +another way of expressing the same idea. The interment +of the representative of the Carnival under a dung-heap<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref>.</note> +is natural, if he is supposed to possess a quickening and +fertilising influence like that ascribed to the effigy of Death. +The Esthonians, indeed, who carry the straw figure out of +the village in the usual way on Shrove Tuesday, do not call it +the Carnival, but the Wood-spirit (<foreign rend='italic'>Metsik</foreign>), and they clearly +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/> +indicate the identity of the effigy with the wood-spirit by +fixing it to the top of a tree in the wood, where it remains +for a year, and is besought almost daily with prayers and +offerings to protect the herds; for like a true wood-spirit the +<foreign rend='italic'>Metsik</foreign> is a patron of cattle. Sometimes the <foreign rend='italic'>Metsik</foreign> is made +of sheaves of corn.<note place='foot'>F. J. Wiedemann, <hi rend='italic'>Aus dem inneren +und äusseren Leben der Ehsten</hi>, p. 353; +Holzmayer, <q>Osiliana,</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Verhandlungen +der gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft +zu Dorpat</hi>, vii. Heft 2, pp. 10 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. +407 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The names +of Carnival, +Death, and +Summer +in the +preceding +customs +seem to +cover an +ancient +tree-spirit +or spirit of +vegetation.</note> +Thus we may fairly conjecture that the names Carnival, +Death, and Summer are comparatively late and inadequate +expressions for the beings personified or embodied in the +customs with which we have been dealing. The very abstractness +of the names bespeaks a modern origin; for the +personification of times and seasons like the Carnival and +Summer, or of an abstract notion like death, is hardly +primitive. But the ceremonies themselves bear the stamp +of a dateless antiquity; therefore we can hardly help supposing +that in their origin the ideas which they embodied +were of a more simple and concrete order. The notion of a +tree, perhaps of a particular kind of tree (for some savages +have no word for tree in general), or even of an individual +tree, is sufficiently concrete to supply a basis from which by +a gradual process of generalisation the wider idea of a spirit +of vegetation might be reached. But this general idea of +vegetation would readily be confounded with the season in +which it manifests itself; hence the substitution of Spring, +Summer, or May for the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation +would be easy and natural. Again, the concrete notion of +the dying tree or dying vegetation would by a similar process +of generalisation glide into a notion of death in general; so +that the practice of carrying out the dying or dead vegetation +in spring, as a preliminary to its revival, would in time +widen out into an attempt to banish Death in general from +the village or district. The view that in these spring ceremonies +Death meant originally the dying or dead vegetation +of winter has the high support of W. Mannhardt; and he +confirms it by the analogy of the name Death as applied to +the spirit of the ripe corn. Commonly the spirit of the ripe +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +corn is conceived, not as dead, but as old, and hence it goes +by the name of the Old Man or the Old Woman. But in +some places the last sheaf cut at harvest, which is generally +believed to be the seat of the corn spirit, is called "the Dead +One": children are warned against entering the corn-fields +because Death sits in the corn; and, in a game played by +Saxon children in Transylvania at the maize harvest, Death +is represented by a child completely covered with maize +leaves.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. +417-421.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='7. Battle of Summer and Winter.'/> +<head>§ 7. Battle of Summer and Winter.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dramatic +contests +between +representatives +of +Summer +and +Winter.</note> +Sometimes in the popular customs of the peasantry the +contrast between the dormant powers of vegetation in winter +and their awakening vitality in spring takes the form of a +dramatic contest between actors who play the parts respectively +of Winter and Summer. Thus in the towns of Sweden +on May Day two troops of young men on horseback used to +meet as if for mortal combat. One of them was led by a +representative of Winter clad in furs, who threw snowballs +and ice in order to prolong the cold weather. The other +troop was commanded by a representative of Summer covered +with fresh leaves and flowers. In the sham fight which +followed the party of Summer came off victorious, and the +ceremony ended with a feast.<note place='foot'>Olaus Magnus, <hi rend='italic'>De gentium septentrionalium +variis conditionibus</hi>, xv. 8 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> In <hi rend='italic'>Le Temps</hi>, No. 15,669, May +11, 1902, p. 2, there is a description +of this ceremony as it used to be performed +in Stockholm. The description +seems to be borrowed from Olaus +Magnus.</note> Again, in the region of the +middle Rhine, a representative of Summer clad in ivy combats +a representative of Winter clad in straw or moss and finally +gains a victory over him. The vanquished foe is thrown to +the ground and stripped of his casing of straw, which is torn +to pieces and scattered about, while the youthful comrades of +the two champions sing a song to commemorate the defeat of +Winter by Summer. Afterwards they carry about a summer +garland or branch and collect gifts of eggs and bacon from +house to house. Sometimes the champion who acts the part +of Summer is dressed in leaves and flowers and wears a +chaplet of flowers on his head. In the Palatinate this mimic +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> +conflict takes place on the fourth Sunday in Lent.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 637-639; <hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und +Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern</hi>, +iv. 2, pp. 357 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> See also E. Krause, +<q>Das Sommertags-Fest in Heidelberg,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Verhandlungen der Berliner +Gesellschaft für Anthropologie</hi>, 1895, +p. (145); A. Dieterich, <q>Sommertag,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Archiv für Religionswissenschaft</hi>, viii. +(1905) Beiheft, pp. 82 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> All over +Bavaria the same drama used to be acted on the same day, +and it was still kept up in some places down to the middle +of the nineteenth century or later. While Summer appeared +clad all in green, decked with fluttering ribbons, and carrying +a branch in blossom or a little tree hung with apples and +pears, Winter was muffled up in cap and mantle of fur and +bore in his hand a snow-shovel or a flail. Accompanied by +their respective retinues dressed in corresponding attire, they +went through all the streets of the village, halting before the +houses and singing staves of old songs, for which they +received presents of bread, eggs, and fruit. Finally, after a +short struggle, Winter was beaten by Summer and ducked in +the village well or driven out of the village with shouts and +laughter into the forest.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi>, i. 369 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In some parts of Bavaria the boys +who play the parts of Winter and Summer act their little +drama in every house that they visit, and engage in a war +of words before they come to blows, each of them vaunting +the pleasures and benefits of the season he represents and +disparaging those of the other. The dialogue is in verse. A +few couplets may serve as specimens:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Summer</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Green, green are meadows wherever I pass</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And the mowers are busy among the grass.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Winter</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>White, white are the meadows wherever I go,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And the sledges glide hissing across the snow.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Summer</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>I'll climb up the tree where the red cherries glow,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And Winter can stand by himself down below.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Winter</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>With you I will climb the cherry-tree tall,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Its branches will kindle the fire in the hall.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Summer</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>O Winter, you are most uncivil</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>To send old women to the devil.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Winter</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>By that I make them warm and mellow,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>So let them bawl and let them bellow.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Summer</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>I am the Summer in white array,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>I'm chasing the Winter far, far away.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Winter</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>I am the Winter in mantle of furs,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>I'm chasing the Summer o'er bushes and burs.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Summer</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Just say a word more, and I'll have you banned</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>At once and for ever from Summer land.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Winter</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>O Summer, for all your bluster and brag,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>You'd not dare to carry a hen in a bag.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Summer</hi> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>O Winter, your chatter no more can I stay,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>I'll kick and I'll cuff you without delay.</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +</quote> + +<p> +Here ensues a scuffle between the two little boys, in which +Summer gets the best of it, and turns Winter out of the +house. But soon the beaten champion of Winter peeps in +at the door and says with a humbled and crestfallen air:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>O Summer, dear Summer, I'm under your ban,</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>For you are the master and I am the man.</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +To which Summer replies:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>'Tis a capital notion, an excellent plan,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>If I am the master and you are the man.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>So come, my dear Winter, and give me your hand,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>We'll travel together to Summer Land.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi>, ii. 259 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi>, i. pp. 253-256; K. von +Leoprechting, <hi rend='italic'>Aus dem Lechrain</hi>, pp. +167 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> A dialogue in verse between +representatives of Winter and Summer +is spoken at Hartlieb in Silesia, near +Breslau. See <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift des Vereins +für Volkskunde</hi>, iii. (1893) pp. 226-228.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dramatic +contests +between +representatives +of +Summer +and +Winter.</note> +At Goepfritz in Lower Austria, two men personating +Summer and Winter used to go from house to house on +Shrove Tuesday, and were everywhere welcomed by the +children with great delight. The representative of Summer +was clad in white and bore a sickle; his comrade, who +played the part of Winter, had a fur-cap on his head, +his arms and legs were swathed in straw, and he carried +a flail. In every house they sang verses alternately.<note place='foot'>Th. Vernaleken, <hi rend='italic'>Mythen und +Bräuche des Völkes in Österreich</hi>, pp. +297 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +At Drömling in Brunswick, down to the present time, +the contest between Summer and Winter is acted every +year at Whitsuntide by a troop of boys and a troop +of girls. The boys rush singing, shouting, and ringing +bells from house to house to drive Winter away; after +them come the girls singing softly and led by a May Bride, +all in bright dresses and decked with flowers and garlands +to represent the genial advent of spring. Formerly the +part of Winter was played by a straw-man which the boys +carried with them; now it is acted by a real man in disguise.<note place='foot'>R. Andree, <hi rend='italic'>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</hi> +(Brunswick, 1896), p. 250.</note> +In Wachtl and Brodek, a German village and a little German +town of Moravia, encompassed by Slavonic people on every +side, the great change that comes over the earth in spring is +still annually mimicked. The long village of Wachtl, with its +trim houses and farmyards, nestles in a valley surrounded by +pretty pine-woods. Here, on a day in spring, about the time +of the vernal equinox, an elderly man with a long flaxen +beard may be seen going from door to door. He is muffled +in furs, with warm gloves on his hands and a bearskin cap +on his head, and he carries a threshing flail. This is the +personification of Winter. With him goes a younger beardless +man dressed in white, wearing a straw hat trimmed with +gay ribbons on his head, and carrying a decorated May-tree +in his hands. This is Summer. At every house they receive +a friendly greeting and recite a long dialogue in verse, Winter +punctuating his discourse with his flail, which he brings +down with rude vigour on the backs of all within reach.<note place='foot'>W. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur Volkskunde +der Deutschen in Mähren</hi>, pp. +430-436.</note> +Amongst the Slavonic population near Ungarisch Brod, in +Moravia, the ceremony took a somewhat different form. +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +Girls dressed in green marched in procession round a May-tree. +Then two others, one in white and one in green, stepped +up to the tree and engaged in a dialogue. Finally, the girl +in white was driven away, but returned afterwards clothed in +green, and the festival ended with a dance.<note place='foot'>W. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 259.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Queen of +Winter +and Queen +of May in +the Isle of +Man.</note> +On May Day it used to be customary in almost all the +large parishes of the Isle of Man to choose from among the +daughters of the wealthiest farmers a young maiden to be +Queen of May. She was dressed in the gayest attire and +attended by about twenty others, who were called maids of +honour. She had also a young man for her captain with a +number of inferior officers under him. In opposition to her +was the Queen of Winter, a man attired as a woman, with +woollen hoods, fur tippets, and loaded with the warmest and +heaviest clothes, one upon another. Her attendants were +habited in like manner, and she too had a captain and troop +for her defence. Thus representing respectively the beauty of +spring and the deformity of winter they set forth from their +different quarters, the one preceded by the dulcet music of flutes +and violins, the other by the harsh clatter of cleavers and tongs. +In this array they marched till they met on a common, +where the trains of the two mimic sovereigns engaged in a +mock battle. If the Queen of Winter's forces got the better of +their adversaries and took her rival prisoner, the captive +Queen of Summer was ransomed for as much as would pay +the expenses of the festival. After this ceremony, Winter +and her company retired and diverted themselves in a barn, +while the partisans of Summer danced on the green, concluding +the evening with a feast, at which the Queen and +her maids sat at one table and the captain and his troop at +another. In later times the person of the Queen of May +was exempt from capture, but one of her slippers was +substituted and, if captured, had to be ransomed to defray +the expenses of the pageant. The procession of the +Summer, which was subsequently composed of little girls +and called the Maceboard, outlived that of its rival the +Winter for some years; but both have now long been +things of the past.<note place='foot'>J. Train, <hi rend='italic'>Historical and Statistical +Account of the Isle of Man</hi> (Douglas, +Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 118-120. It +has been suggested that the name +Maceboard may be a corruption of +May-sports.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Contests +between +representatives +of +Summer +and Winter +among the +Esquimaux. Canadian +Indians +drove away +Winter +with burning +brands.</note> +Among the central Esquimaux of North America the +contest between representatives of summer and winter, +which in Europe has long degenerated into a mere dramatic +performance, is still kept up as a magical ceremony of which +the avowed intention is to influence the weather. In autumn, +when storms announce the approach of the dismal Arctic +winter, the Esquimaux divide themselves into two parties +called respectively the ptarmigans and the ducks, the ptarmigans +comprising all persons born in winter, and the ducks +all persons born in summer. A long rope of sealskin is then +stretched out, and each party laying hold of one end of it +seeks by tugging with might and main to drag the other +party over to its side. If the ptarmigans get the worst of +it, then summer has won the game and fine weather may be +expected to prevail through the winter.<note place='foot'>Fr. Boas, <q>The Central Eskimo,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of +Ethnology</hi> (Washington, 1888), p. 605. +The account of this custom given by +Captain J. S. Mutch is as follows: +<q>The people take a long rope, the +ends of which are tied together. They +arrange themselves so that those born +during the summer stand close to the +water, and those born in the winter +stand inland; and then they pull at +the rope to see whether summer or +winter is the stronger. If winter +should win, there will be plenty of +food; if summer should win, there will +be a bad winter.</q> See Fr. Boas, <q>The +Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson +Bay,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin of the American +Museum of Natural History</hi>, xv. +(1901) pp. 140 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> At Memphis in +Egypt there were two statues in front +of the temple of Hephaestus (Ptah), of +which the more northern was popularly +called Summer and the more +southern Winter. The people worshipped +the image of Summer and +execrated the image of Winter. It +has been suggested that the two +statues represented Osiris and Typhon, +the good and the bad god. See +Herodotus, ii. 121, with the notes of +Bähr and Wiedemann.</note> In this ceremony it +is clearly assumed that persons born in summer have a +natural affinity with warm weather, and therefore possess a +power of mitigating the rigour of winter, whereas persons +born in winter are, so to say, of a cold and frosty disposition +and can thereby exert a refrigerating influence on the temperature +of the air. In spite of this natural antipathy +between the representatives of summer and winter, we may +be allowed to conjecture that in the grand tug of war the +ptarmigans do not pull at the rope with the same hearty +goodwill as the ducks, and that thus the genial influence of +summer commonly prevails over the harsh austerity of winter. +The Indians of Canada seem also to have imagined that +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +persons are endowed with distinct natural capacities according +as they are born in summer or winter, and they turned +the distinction to account in much the same fashion as the +Esquimaux. When they wearied of the long frosts and the +deep snow which kept them prisoners in their huts and prevented +them from hunting, all of them who were born in +summer rushed out of their houses armed with burning +brands and torches which they hurled against the One who +makes Winter; and this was supposed to produce the desired +effect of mitigating the cold. But those Indians who were +born in winter abstained from taking part in the ceremony, +for they believed that if they meddled with it the cold would +increase instead of diminishing.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Relations des Jésuites</hi>, 1636, p. 38 +(Canadian reprint, Quebec, 1858).</note> We may surmise that in +the corresponding European ceremonies, which have just been +described, it was formerly deemed necessary that the actors, +who played the parts of Winter and Summer, should have +been born in the seasons which they personated. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The burning +of +Winter at +Zurich.</note> +Every year on the Monday after the spring equinox +boys and girls attired in gay costume flock at a very early +hour into Zurich from the country. The girls, generally +clad in white, are called <foreign rend='italic'>Mareielis</foreign> and carry two and two a +small May tree or a wreath decked with flowers and ribbons. +Thus they go in bands from house to house, jingling the +bells which are attached to the wreath and singing a song, +in which it is said that the <foreign rend='italic'>Mareielis</foreign> dance because the +leaves and the grass are green and everything is bursting +into blossom. In this way they are supposed to celebrate +the triumph of Summer and to proclaim his coming. The +boys are called <foreign rend='italic'>Böggen</foreign>. They generally wear over their +ordinary clothes a shirt decked with many-coloured ribbons, +tall pointed paper caps on their heads, and masks before +their faces. In this quaint costume they cart about through +the streets effigies made of straw and other combustible +materials which are supposed to represent Winter. At +evening these effigies are burned in various parts of the +city.<note place='foot'>H. Herzog, <hi rend='italic'>Schweizerische Volksfeste, +Sitten und Gebräuche</hi> (Aurau, +1884), pp. 164-166; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 498 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The ceremony was witnessed at Zurich on Monday, +April 20th, 1903, by my friend Dr. J. Sutherland +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/> +Black, who has kindly furnished me with some notes on the +subject. The effigy of Winter was a gigantic figure composed +in great part, as it seemed, of cotton-wool. This +was laid on a huge pyre, about thirty feet high, which had +been erected on the Stadthausplatz close to the lake. In +presence of a vast concourse of people fire was set to the +pyre and all was soon in a blaze, while the town bells rang +a joyous peal. As the figure gradually consumed in the +flames, the mechanism enclosed in its interior produced a +variety of grotesque effects, such as the gushing forth of +bowels. At last nothing remained of the effigy but the iron +backbone; the crowd slowly dispersed, and the fire brigade +set to work to quench the smouldering embers.<note place='foot'>Letter to me of Dr. J. S. Black, +dated Lauriston Cottage, Wimbledon +Common, 28th May, 1903. In a subsequent +letter (dated 9th June, 1903) +Dr. Black enclosed some bibliographical +references to the custom which were +kindly furnished to him by Professor +P. Schmiedel of Zurich, who speaks of +the effigy as a representative of Winter. +It is not expressly so called by H. +Herzog and W. Mannhardt. See the +preceding note.</note> In this +ceremony the contest between Summer and Winter is rather +implied than expressed, but the significance of the rite is +unmistakable. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='8. Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko.'/> +<head>§ 8. Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Funeral +of Kostrubonko, +Kostroma, +Kupalo, +and Yarilo +in Russia.</note> +In Russia funeral ceremonies like those of <q>Burying the +Carnival</q> and <q>Carrying out Death</q> are celebrated under +the names, not of Death or the Carnival, but of certain mythic +figures, Kostrubonko, Kostroma, Kupalo, Lada, and Yarilo. +These Russian ceremonies are observed both in spring and +at midsummer. Thus <q rend='pre'>in Little Russia it used to be the +custom at Eastertide to celebrate the funeral of a being +called Kostrubonko, the deity of the spring. A circle was +formed of singers who moved slowly around a girl who lay +on the ground as if dead, and as they went they sang,—</q> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='none'><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Dead, dead is our Kostrubonko!</hi></q></q></l> +<l><q rend='none'><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Dead, dead is our dear one!</hi></q></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +until the girl suddenly sprang up, on which the chorus joyfully +exclaimed,— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='none'><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Come to life, come to life has our Kostrubonko!</hi></q></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Come to life, come to life has our dear one!</hi></q></q><note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>Songs of the +Russian People</hi>, p. 221.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/> + +<p> +On the Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve) a figure of Kupalo +is made of straw and <q>is dressed in woman's clothes, with a +necklace and a floral crown. Then a tree is felled, and, after +being decked with ribbons, is set up on some chosen spot. +Near this tree, to which they give the name of Marena +[Winter or Death], the straw figure is placed, together with a +table, on which stand spirits and viands. Afterwards a bonfire +is lit, and the young men and maidens jump over it in +couples, carrying the figure with them. On the next day +they strip the tree and the figure of their ornaments, and +throw them both into a stream.</q><note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>Songs of the +Russian People</hi>, p. 241.</note> On St. Peter's Day, the +twenty-ninth of June, or on the following Sunday, <q>the +Funeral of Kostroma</q> or of Lada or of Yarilo is celebrated +in Russia. In the Governments of Penza and Simbirsk the +funeral used to be represented as follows. A bonfire was +kindled on the twenty-eighth of June, and on the next day +the maidens chose one of their number to play the part of +Kostroma. Her companions saluted her with deep obeisances, +placed her on a board, and carried her to the bank of +a stream. There they bathed her in the water, while the +oldest girl made a basket of lime-tree bark and beat it like +a drum. Then they returned to the village and ended the +day with processions, games, and dances.<note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. +243 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 414.</note> In the Murom +district Kostroma was represented by a straw figure dressed +in woman's clothes and flowers. This was laid in a trough +and carried with songs to the bank of a lake or river. Here +the crowd divided into two sides, of which the one attacked +and the other defended the figure. At last the assailants +gained the day, stripped the figure of its dress and ornaments, +tore it in pieces, trod the straw of which it was made under +foot, and flung it into the stream; while the defenders of the +figure hid their faces in their hands and pretended to bewail +the death of Kostroma.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, pp. +414 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +244.</note> In the district of Kostroma the +burial of Yarilo was celebrated on the twenty-ninth or +thirtieth of June. The people chose an old man and gave +him a small coffin containing a Priapus-like figure representing +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> +Yarilo. This he carried out of the town, followed by +women chanting dirges and expressing by their gestures +grief and despair. In the open fields a grave was dug, and +into it the figure was lowered amid weeping and wailing, +after which games and dances were begun, <q>calling to mind +the funeral games celebrated in old times by the pagan +Slavonians.</q><note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 245; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. 416.</note> In Little Russia the figure of Yarilo was +laid in a coffin and carried through the streets after sunset +surrounded by drunken women, who kept repeating mournfully, +<q>He is dead! he is dead!</q> The men lifted and +shook the figure as if they were trying to recall the dead +man to life. Then they said to the women, <q>Women, weep +not. I know what is sweeter than honey.</q> But the women +continued to lament and chant, as they do at funerals. <q>Of +what was he guilty? He was so good. He will arise no +more. O how shall we part from thee? What is life +without thee? Arise, if only for a brief hour. But he rises +not, he rises not.</q> At last the Yarilo was buried in a grave.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; W. R. S. +Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='9. Death and Revival of Vegetation.'/> +<head>§ 9. Death and Revival of Vegetation.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Russian +Kostrubonko, +Yarilo, +and so +on, were +probably +at first +spirits of +vegetation +dying and +coming to +life again.</note> +These Russian customs are plainly of the same nature as +those which in Austria and Germany are known as <q>Carrying +out Death.</q> Therefore if the interpretation here adopted +of the latter is right, the Russian Kostrubonko, Yarilo, +and the rest must also have been originally embodiments of +the spirit of vegetation, and their death must have been +regarded as a necessary preliminary to their revival. The +revival as a sequel to the death is enacted in the first of the +ceremonies described, the death and resurrection of Kostrubonko. +The reason why in some of these Russian ceremonies +the death of the spirit of vegetation is celebrated at midsummer +may be that the decline of summer is dated from +Midsummer Day, after which the days begin to shorten, and +the sun sets out on his downward journey— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>To the darksome hollows</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Where the frosts of winter lie.</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/> + +<p> +Such a turning-point of the year, when vegetation might be +thought to share the incipient though still almost imperceptible +decay of summer, might very well be chosen by +primitive man as a fit moment for resorting to those magic +rites by which he hopes to stay the decline, or at least to +ensure the revival, of plant life. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In these +ceremonies +grief and +gladness, +love and +hatred +appear to +be curiously +combined.</note> +But while the death of vegetation appears to have been +represented in all, and its revival in some, of these spring +and midsummer ceremonies, there are features in some of +them which can hardly be explained on this hypothesis +alone. The solemn funeral, the lamentations, and the +mourning attire, which often characterise these rites, are +indeed appropriate at the death of the beneficent spirit of +vegetation. But what shall we say of the glee with which +the effigy is often carried out, of the sticks and stones with +which it is assailed, and the taunts and curses which are +hurled at it? What shall we say of the dread of the effigy +evinced by the haste with which the bearers scamper home +as soon as they have thrown it away, and by the belief that +some one must soon die in any house into which it has +looked? This dread might perhaps be explained by a belief +that there is a certain infectiousness in the dead spirit of +vegetation which renders its approach dangerous. But this +explanation, besides being rather strained, does not cover +the rejoicings which often attend the carrying out of Death. +We must therefore recognise two distinct and seemingly +opposite features in these ceremonies: on the one hand, +sorrow for the death, and affection and respect for the dead; +on the other hand, fear and hatred of the dead, and rejoicings +at his death. How the former of these features is to be +explained I have attempted to shew: how the latter came +to be so closely associated with the former is a question +which I shall try to answer in the sequel. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Expulsion +of Death +sometimes +enacted +without an +effigy.</note> +Before we quit these European customs to go farther +afield, it will be well to notice that occasionally the expulsion +of Death or of a mythic being is conducted without any +visible representative of the personage expelled. Thus at +Königshain, near Görlitz in Silesia, all the villagers, young +and old, used to go out with straw torches to the top of a +neighbouring hill, called <foreign rend='italic'>Todtenstein</foreign> (Death-stone), where +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/> +they lit their torches, and so returned home singing, <q>We +have driven out Death, we are bringing back Summer.</q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 644.</note> +In Albania young people light torches of resinous wood on +Easter Eve, and march in procession through the village +brandishing them. At last they throw the torches into the +river, saying, <q>Ha, Kore, we fling you into the river, like +these torches, that you may return no more.</q> Some say +that the intention of the ceremony is to drive out winter; +but Kore is conceived as a malignant being who devours +children.<note place='foot'>J. G. von Hahn, <hi rend='italic'>Albanesische +Studien</hi> (Jena, 1854), i. 160.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='10. Analogous Rites in India.'/> +<head>§ 10. Analogous Rites in India.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Images of +Siva and +Pârvatî +married, +drowned, +and +mourned +for in +India.</note> +In the Kanagra district of India there is a custom +observed by young girls in spring which closely resembles +some of the European spring ceremonies just described. It +is called the <foreign rend='italic'>Ralî Ka melâ</foreign>, or fair of Ralî, the <foreign rend='italic'>Ralî</foreign> being a +small painted earthen image of Siva or Pârvatî. The custom +is in vogue all over the Kanagra district, and its celebration, +which is entirely confined to young girls, lasts through most +of Chet (March-April) up to the Sankrânt of Baisâkh (April). +On a morning in March all the young girls of the village +take small baskets of <foreign rend='italic'>dûb</foreign> grass and flowers to an appointed +place, where they throw them in a heap. Round this +heap they stand in a circle and sing. This goes on every +day for ten days, till the heap of grass and flowers has +reached a fair height. Then they cut in the jungle two +branches, each with three prongs at one end, and place them, +prongs downwards, over the heap of flowers, so as to make +two tripods or pyramids. On the single uppermost points +of these branches they get an image-maker to construct two +clay images, one to represent Siva, and the other Pârvatî. +The girls then divide themselves into two parties, one for +Siva and one for Pârvatî, and marry the images in the usual +way, leaving out no part of the ceremony. After the marriage +they have a feast, the cost of which is defrayed by +contributions solicited from their parents. Then at the next +Sankrânt (Baisâkh) they all go together to the river-side, +throw the images into a deep pool, and weep over the place, +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/> +as though they were performing funeral obsequies. The +boys of the neighbourhood often tease them by diving after +the images, bringing them up, and waving them about while +the girls are crying over them. The object of the fair is +said to be to secure a good husband.<note place='foot'>R. C. Temple, in <hi rend='italic'>Indian Antiquary</hi>, +xi. (1882) pp. 297 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In this +Indian +custom +Siva and +Pârvatî +seem to be +the equivalents +of +the King +and Queen +of May.</note> +That in this Indian ceremony the deities Siva and +Pârvatî are conceived as spirits of vegetation seems to be +proved by the placing of their images on branches over a +heap of grass and flowers. Here, as often in European folk-custom, +the divinities of vegetation are represented in +duplicate, by plants and by puppets. The marriage of +these Indian deities in spring corresponds to the European +ceremonies in which the marriage of the vernal spirits of +vegetation is represented by the King and Queen of May, +the May Bride, Bridegroom of the May, and so forth.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 84 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> The +throwing of the images into the water, and the mourning for +them, are the equivalents of the European customs of throwing +the dead spirit of vegetation under the name of Death, +Yarilo, Kostroma, and the rest, into the water and lamenting +over it. Again, in India, as often in Europe, the rite is +performed exclusively by females. The notion that the +ceremony helps to procure husbands for the girls can be +explained by the quickening and fertilising influence which +the spirit of vegetation is believed to exert upon the life of +man as well as of plants.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 45 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='11. The Magic Spring.'/> +<head>§ 11. The Magic Spring.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The foregoing +customs +were +originally +rites intended +to +ensure the +revival of +nature in +spring by +means of +imitative +magic. Feelings +with which +the primitive +savage +may have +regarded +the changes +of the +seasons.</note> +The general explanation which we have been led to +adopt of these and many similar ceremonies is that they are, +or were in their origin, magical rites intended to ensure the +revival of nature in spring. The means by which they were +supposed to effect this end were imitation and sympathy. +Led astray by his ignorance of the true causes of things, +primitive man believed that in order to produce the great +phenomena of nature on which his life depended he had +only to imitate them, and that immediately by a secret +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/> +sympathy or mystic influence the little drama which he +acted in forest glade or mountain dell, on desert plain or +wind-swept shore, would be taken up and repeated by +mightier actors on a vaster stage. He fancied that by +masquerading in leaves and flowers he helped the bare +earth to clothe herself with verdure, and that by playing the +death and burial of winter he drove that gloomy season +away, and made smooth the path for the footsteps of returning +spring. If we find it hard to throw ourselves even in +fancy into a mental condition in which such things seem +possible, we can more easily picture to ourselves the anxiety +which the savage, when he first began to lift his thoughts +above the satisfaction of his merely animal wants, and to +meditate on the causes of things, may have felt as to the +continued operation of what we now call the laws of +nature. To us, familiar as we are with the conception of +the uniformity and regularity with which the great cosmic +phenomena succeed each other, there seems little ground for +apprehension that the causes which produce these effects +will cease to operate, at least within the near future. But +this confidence in the stability of nature is bred only by the +experience which comes of wide observation and long +tradition; and the savage, with his narrow sphere of observation +and his short-lived tradition, lacks the very elements +of that experience which alone could set his mind at rest in +face of the ever-changing and often menacing aspects of +nature. No wonder, therefore, that he is thrown into a +panic by an eclipse, and thinks that the sun or the moon +would surely perish, if he did not raise a clamour and shoot +his puny shafts into the air to defend the luminaries from +the monster who threatens to devour them. No wonder he +is terrified when in the darkness of night a streak of sky is +suddenly illumined by the flash of a meteor, or the whole +expanse of the celestial arch glows with the fitful light of +the Northern Streamers.<note place='foot'>When the Kurnai of Victoria saw +the Aurora Australis, which corresponds +to the Northern Streamers of Europe, +they exchanged wives for the day and +swung the severed hand of a dead man +towards it, shouting, <q>Send it away! +do not let it burn us up!</q> See A. W. +Howitt, <q>On some Australian Beliefs,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +xiii. (1884) p. 189; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes +of South-East Australia</hi>, pp. 276 sq., +430.</note> Even phenomena which recur at +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/> +fixed and uniform intervals may be viewed by him with +apprehension, before he has come to recognise the orderliness +of their recurrence. The speed or slowness of his +recognition of such periodic or cyclic changes in nature will +depend largely on the length of the particular cycle. The +cycle, for example, of day and night is everywhere, except +in the polar regions, so short and hence so frequent that +men probably soon ceased to discompose themselves seriously +as to the chance of its failing to recur, though the ancient +Egyptians, as we have seen, daily wrought enchantments to +bring back to the east in the morning the fiery orb which +had sunk at evening in the crimson west. But it was far +otherwise with the annual cycle of the seasons. To any +man a year is a considerable period, seeing that the number +of our years is but few at the best. To the primitive +savage, with his short memory and imperfect means of +marking the flight of time, a year may well have been so +long that he failed to recognise it as a cycle at all, and +watched the changing aspects of earth and heaven with a +perpetual wonder, alternately delighted and alarmed, elated +and cast down, according as the vicissitudes of light and heat, +of plant and animal life, ministered to his comfort or +threatened his existence. In autumn when the withered +leaves were whirled about the forest by the nipping blast, +and he looked up at the bare boughs, could he feel sure +that they would ever be green again? As day by day the +sun sank lower and lower in the sky, could he be certain +that the luminary would ever retrace his heavenly road? +Even the waning moon, whose pale sickle rose thinner and +thinner every night over the rim of the eastern horizon, may +have excited in his mind a fear lest, when it had wholly +vanished, there should be moons no more. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In modern +Europe the +old magical +rites for +the revival +of nature +in spring +have degenerated +into mere +pageants +and +pastimes.</note> +These and a thousand such misgivings may have thronged +the fancy and troubled the peace of the man who first began +to reflect on the mysteries of the world he lived in, and to take +thought for a more distant future than the morrow. It was +natural, therefore, that with such thoughts and fears he should +have done all that in him lay to bring back the faded blossom +to the bough, to swing the low sun of winter up to his old +place in the summer sky, and to restore its orbed fulness to +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/> +the silver lamp of the waning moon. We may smile at his +vain endeavours if we please, but it was only by making +a long series of experiments, of which some were almost +inevitably doomed to failure, that man learned from experience +the futility of some of his attempted methods and +the fruitfulness of others. After all, magical ceremonies are +nothing but experiments which have failed and which continue +to be repeated merely because, for reasons which have +already been indicated,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. 242 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> the operator is unaware of their +failure. With the advance of knowledge these ceremonies +either cease to be performed altogether or are kept up from +force of habit long after the intention with which they were +instituted has been forgotten. Thus fallen from their high +estate, no longer regarded as solemn rites on the punctual +performance of which the welfare and even the life of the +community depend, they sink gradually to the level of +simple pageants, mummeries, and pastimes, till in the final +stage of degeneration they are wholly abandoned by older +people, and, from having once been the most serious occupation +of the sage, become at last the idle sport of children. +It is in this final stage of decay that most of the old magical +rites of our European forefathers linger on at the present +day, and even from this their last retreat they are fast being +swept away by the rising tide of those multitudinous forces, +moral, intellectual, and social, which are bearing mankind +onward to a new and unknown goal. We may feel some +natural regret at the disappearance of quaint customs and +picturesque ceremonies, which have preserved to an age +often deemed dull and prosaic something of the flavour and +freshness of the olden time, some breath of the springtime of +the world; yet our regret will be lessened when we remember +that these pretty pageants, these now innocent diversions, +had their origin in ignorance and superstition; that if they +are a record of human endeavour, they are also a monument +of fruitless ingenuity, of wasted labour, and of blighted +hopes; and that for all their gay trappings—their flowers, +their ribbons, and their music—they partake far more of +tragedy than of farce. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Parallel to +the spring +customs of +Europe in +the magical +rites of the +Central +Australian +aborigines.</note> +The interpretation which, following in the footsteps of +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> +W. Mannhardt, I have attempted to give of these ceremonies +has been not a little confirmed by the discovery, made since +this book was first written, that the natives of Central Australia +regularly practise magical ceremonies for the purpose +of awakening the dormant energies of nature at the approach +of what may be called the Australian spring. Nowhere +apparently are the alternations of the seasons more sudden +and the contrasts between them more striking than in the +deserts of Central Australia, where at the end of a long +period of drought the sandy and stony wilderness, over which +the silence and desolation of death appear to brood, is +suddenly, after a few days of torrential rain, transformed into +a landscape smiling with verdure and peopled with teeming +multitudes of insects and lizards, of frogs and birds. The +marvellous change which passes over the face of nature at +such times has been compared even by European observers +to the effect of magic;<note place='foot'>Spencer and Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes +of Central Australia</hi>, pp. 4 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 170.</note> no wonder, then, that the savage +should regard it as such in very deed. Now it is just when +there is promise of the approach of a good season that the +natives of Central Australia are wont especially to perform +those magical ceremonies of which the avowed intention is to +multiply the plants and animals they use as food.<note place='foot'>Spencer and Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +170. For a description of some of +these ceremonies see <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art +and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. 85 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> These +ceremonies, therefore, present a close analogy to the spring +customs of our European peasantry not only in the time +of their celebration, but also in their aim; for we can +hardly doubt that in instituting rites designed to assist +the revival of plant life in spring our primitive forefathers +were moved, not by any sentimental wish to smell at +early violets, or pluck the rathe primrose, or watch yellow +daffodils dancing in the breeze, but by the very practical +consideration, certainly not formulated in abstract terms, +that the life of man is inextricably bound up with that +of plants, and that if they were to perish he could not +survive. And as the faith of the Australian savage in the +efficacy of his magic rites is confirmed by observing that +their performance is invariably followed, sooner or later, by +that increase of vegetable and animal life which it is their +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/> +object to produce, so, we may suppose, it was with European +savages in the olden time. The sight of the fresh green +in brake and thicket, of vernal flowers blowing on mossy +banks, of swallows arriving from the south, and of the sun +mounting daily higher in the sky, would be welcomed by +them as so many visible signs that their enchantments +were indeed taking effect, and would inspire them with a +cheerful confidence that all was well with a world which +they could thus mould to suit their wishes. Only in autumn +days, as summer slowly faded, would their confidence +again be dashed by doubts and misgivings at symptoms +of decay, which told how vain were all their efforts to +stave off for ever the approach of winter and of death. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Note A. Chinese Indifference To Death.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Letter of +Mr. M. W. +Lampson.</note> +Lord Avebury kindly allows me to print the letter of Mr. M. W. +Lampson, referred to above (p. <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref>, note <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>). It runs as follows:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Foreign Office</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>August 7, 1903</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Dear Lord Avebury</hi>—As the result of enquiries I hear from a +Mr. Eames, a lawyer who practised for some years at Shanghai and +has considerable knowledge of Chinese matters, that for a small sum +a substitute can be found for execution. This is recognised by the +Chinese authorities, with certain exceptions, as for instance parricide. +It is even asserted that the local Taotai gains pecuniarily by this +arrangement, as he is as a rule not above obtaining a substitute for the +condemned man for a less sum than was paid him by the latter. +</p> + +<p> +It is, I believe, part of the doctrine of Confucius that it is one of +the highest virtues to increase the family prosperity at the expense +of personal suffering. According to Eames, the Chinamen [<hi rend='italic'>sic</hi>] looks +upon execution in another man's stead in this light, and consequently +there is quite a competition for such a <q>substitution.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Should you wish to get more definite information, the address is: +W. Eames, Esq., c/o Norman Craig, Inner Temple, E.C. +</p> + +<p> +The only man in this department who has actually been out to +China is at present away. But on his return I will ask him about it.— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Yours sincerely,</l> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Miles W. Lampson</hi>.</l> +</lg> + +</quote> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Lord +Avebury's +statement.</note> +On this subject Lord Avebury had stated: <q>It is said that in +China, if a rich man is condemned to death, he can sometimes +purchase a willing substitute at a very small expense.</q><note place='foot'>Lord Avebury, <hi rend='italic'>Origin of Civilisation</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> pp. 378 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Prehistoric +Times</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> p. 561.</note> In regard +to his authority for this statement Lord Avebury wrote to me +(August 10, 1903): <q>I believe my previous information came from +Sir T. Wade, but I have been unable to lay my hand on his letter, +and do not therefore like to state it as a fact.</q> Sir Thomas Wade +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> +was English Ambassador at Peking, and afterwards Professor of +Chinese at Cambridge. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Opinions +of various +authorities.</note> +On the same subject Mr. Valentine Chirol, editor of the foreign +department of <hi rend='italic'>The Times</hi>, wrote to me as follows:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Queen Anne's Mansions, Westminster, S.W.</hi>,</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>August 21st, 1905</hi>.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Dear Sir</hi>—I shall be very glad to do what I can to obtain for you +the information you require. It was a surprise to me to hear that the +accuracy of the statement was called in question. It is certainly a +matter of common report in China that the practice exists. The +difficulty, I conceive, will be to obtain evidence enabling one to quote +concrete cases. My own impression is that the practice is quite justifiable +according to Chinese ethics when life is given up from motives of +filial piety, that is to say in order to relieve the wants of indigent +parents, or to defray the costs of ancestral rights [<hi rend='italic'>sic</hi>]. Your general +thesis that life is less valued and more readily sacrificed by some races +than by modern Europeans seems to be beyond dispute. Surely the +Japanese practice of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>sepuku</foreign>, or <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>harikari</foreign>, as it is vulgarly called, is a +case in point. Life is risked, as in duelling, by Europeans, for the +mere point of honour, but it is never deliberately laid down in satisfaction +of the exigencies of the social code. I will send you whatever +information I can obtain when it reaches me, but that will not of course +be for some months.—Yours truly, +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>Valentine Chirol</hi>.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>P.S.</hi>—A friend of mine who has just been here entirely confirms +my own belief as to the accuracy of your statement, and tells me he +has himself seen several Imperial Decrees in the <hi rend='italic'>Peking Gazette</hi>, calling +provincial authorities to order for having allowed specific cases of substitution +to occur, and ordering the death penalty to be carried out in +a more severe form on the original culprits as an extra punishment for +obtaining substitutes. He has promised to look up some of these +Impe. Decrees on his return to China, and send me translations. I +am satisfied personally that his statement is conclusive. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>V. C.</l> +</lg> + +</quote> + +<p> +On the same subject I have received the following letter from +Mr. J. O. P. Bland, for fourteen years correspondent of <hi rend='italic'>The Times</hi> +in China:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Clock House, Shepperton</hi>,</l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>March 22nd, 1911</hi>.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Dear Professor Frazer</hi>—My friend Mr. Valentine Chirol, writing +the other day from Crete on his way East, asked me to communicate +with you on the subject of your letter of the 3rd ulto., namely, the +custom, alleged to exist in China, of procuring substitutes for persons +condemned to death, the substitutes' families or relatives receiving +compensation in cash. +</p> + +<p> +To speak of this as a custom is to exaggerate the frequency of a +class of incident which has undoubtedly been recorded in China and +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +of which there has been mention in Imperial Decrees. I am sorry to +say that I have not my file of the <hi rend='italic'>Peking Gazette</hi> here, for immediate +reference, but I am writing to my friend Mr. Backhouse in Peking, and +have no doubt but that he will be able to give chapter and verse of +instances thus recorded. I had expected to find cases of the kind +recorded in Mr. Werner's recently-published <q>Descriptive Sociology</q> +of the Chinese (Spencerian publications), but have not been able to do +so in the absence of an index to that voluminous work. More than one +of the authors whom he quotes have certainly referred to cases of +substitution for death-sentence prisoners. Parker, for instance (<q>China +Past and Present,</q> page 378), asserts that substitutes were to be had +in Canton at the reasonable price of fifty taels (say £10). Dr. Matignon +(in <q>Superstition, Crime et Misère en Chine,</q> page 113) says that filial +piety is a frequent motive. The negative opinion of Professors Giles +and de Groot is entitled to consideration, but cannot be regarded as any +more conclusive than the views expressed by Professor Giles on the +question of infanticide which are outweighed by a mass of direct proof +of eye-witnesses. +</p> + +<p> +In a country where men submit voluntarily to mutilation and grave +risk of death for a comparatively small gain to themselves and their +relatives, where women commit suicide in hundreds to escape capture +by invaders or strangers, where men and women alike habitually sacrifice +their life for the most trivial motives of revenge or distress, it need not +greatly surprise us that some should be found, especially among the +wretchedly poor class, willing to give up their life in order to relieve +their families of want or otherwise to <q>acquire merit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The most important thing, I think, in expressing any opinion about +the Chinese, is to remember the great extent and heterogeneous elements +of the country, and to abstain from any sweeping generalisations based +on isolated acts or events.—Yours very truly, +</p> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='smallcaps'>J. O. P. Bland</hi>.</l> +</lg> + +</quote> + +<p> +As the practice in question involves a grave miscarriage of +justice, the discovery of which might entail serious consequences on +the magistrate who connived at it, we need not wonder that it is +generally hushed up, and that no instances of it should come to the +ears of many Europeans resident in China. My friend Professor +H. A. Giles of Cambridge in conversation expressed himself quite incredulous +on the subject, and Professor J. J. M. de Groot of Leyden +wrote to me (January 31, 1902) to the same effect. The Rev. Dr. +W. T. A. Barber, Headmaster of the Leys School, Cambridge, and +formerly a missionary in China, wrote to me (January 30, 1902): +<q>As to the possibility that a man condemned to death may secure a +substitute on payment of a moderate sum of money, we used to +hear that this was the case; but I have no proof that would justify +you in using the fact.</q> Another experienced missionary, the Rev. +W. A. Cornaby, wrote to Dr. Barber: <q>I have heard of no such +custom in capital crimes. The man in whose house a fire starts +may, and often does, pay another to receive the blows and three +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/> +days in a cangue. But unless where <q>foreign riots</q> were the +case, and a previously condemned criminal handy, I should hardly +think it possible. Every precaution is taken that no one is beheaded +but the man who cannot possibly be let off. The expense +on the county mandarin is over £100 in <q>stationery expenses</q> +with higher courts.</q> On this I would observe that if every execution +costs the local mandarin so dear, he must be under a strong temptation +to get the expenses out of the prisoner whenever he can do so +without being detected. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Substitutes +for corporal +punishment +in +China.</note> +With regard to the custom, mentioned by Mr. Cornaby, of +procuring substitutes for corporal punishment, we are told that in +China there are men who earn a livelihood by being thrashed +instead of the real culprits. But they bribe the executioner to lay +on lightly; otherwise their constitution could not long resist the +tear and wear of so exhausting a profession.<note place='foot'>De Guignes, <hi rend='italic'>Voyages à Peking, Manille et l'Île de France</hi>, iii. (Paris, +1808) pp. 114 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Thus the theory and +practice of vicarious suffering are well understood in China. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Note B. Swinging As A Magical Rite.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +custom of +swinging +practised +for various +reasons. +Swinging +at harvest.</note> +The custom of swinging has been practised as a religious or rather +magical rite in various parts of the world, but it does not seem +possible to explain all the instances of it in the same way. People +appear to have resorted to the practice from different motives and +with different ideas of the benefit to be derived from it. In the +text we have seen that the Letts, and perhaps the Siamese, swing to +make the crops grow tall.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The same may be the intention of +the ceremony whenever it is specially observed at harvest festivals. +Among the Buginese and Macassars of Celebes, for example, it used +to be the custom for young girls to swing one after the other on +these occasions.<note place='foot'>B. F. Matthes, <hi rend='italic'>Einige Eigenthumlichkeiten +in den Festen und Gewohnheiten +der Makassaren und Buginesen</hi> +(Leyden, 1884), p. 1; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Over de +âdá's of gewoonten der Makassaren en +Boegineezen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Verslagen en Mededeelingen +der koninklijke Akademie van +Wetenschappen</hi>, Afdeeling Letterkunde, +Derde Reeks, Tweede Deel (Amsterdam, +1885), pp. 169 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At the great Dassera festival of Nepaul, which +immediately precedes the cutting of the rice, swings and kites come +into fashion among the young people of both sexes. The swings +are sometimes hung from boughs of trees, but generally from a +cross-beam supported on a framework of tall bamboos.<note place='foot'>H. A. Oldfield, <hi rend='italic'>Sketches from +Nipal</hi> (London, 1880), ii. 351.</note> Among +the Dyaks of Sarawak a feast is held at the end of harvest, when the +soul of the rice is secured to prevent the crops from rotting away. +On this occasion a number of old women rock to and fro on a rude +swing suspended from the rafters.<note place='foot'>Spenser St. John, <hi rend='italic'>Life in the +Forests of the Far East</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> i. 194 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> A traveller in Sarawak has +described how he saw many tall swings erected and Dyaks swinging +to and fro on them, sometimes ten or twelve men together on +one swing, while they chanted in monotonous, dirge-like tones an +invocation to the spirits that they would be pleased to grant a +plentiful harvest of sago and fruit and a good fishing season.<note place='foot'>Ch. Brooke, <hi rend='italic'>Ten Years in Sarawak</hi>, +ii. 226 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Swinging +for fish +and game.</note> +In the East Indian island of Bengkali elaborate and costly ceremonies +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> +are performed to ensure a good catch of fish. Among the +rest an hereditary priestess, who bears the royal title of Djindjang +Rajah, works herself up by means of the fumes of incense and so +forth into that state of mental disorder which with many people passes +for a symptom of divine inspiration. In this pious frame of mind +she is led by her four handmaids to a swing all covered with yellow +and hung with golden bells, on which she takes her seat amid the +jingle of the bells. As she rocks gently to and fro in the swing, she +speaks in an unknown tongue to each of the sixteen spirits who have +to do with the fishing.<note place='foot'>J. S. G. Gramberg, <q>De Troeboekvisscherij,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Indische +Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde</hi>, xxiv. +(1887) pp. 314 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In order to procure a plentiful supply of +game the Tinneh Indians of North-West America perform a magical +ceremony which they call <q>the young man bounding or tied.</q> +They pinion a man tightly, and having hung him by the head and +heels from the roof of the hut, rock him backwards and forwards.<note place='foot'>E. Petitot, <hi rend='italic'>Monographie des Dènè-Dindjiè</hi> +(Paris, 1876), p. 38. The +same ceremony is performed, oddly +enough, to procure the death of an +enemy.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Indian +custom of +swinging +on hooks. Swinging +in the rainy +season. Swinging +in honour +of Krishna. Esthonian +custom of +swinging +at the +summer +solstice.</note> +Thus we see that people swing in order to procure a plentiful +supply of fish and game as well as good crops. In such cases the +notion seems to be that the ceremony promotes fertility, whether in +the vegetable or the animal kingdom; though why it should be +supposed to do so, I confess myself unable to explain. There seem +to be some reasons for thinking that the Indian rite of swinging on +hooks run through the flesh of the performer is also resorted to, at +least in some cases, from a belief in its fertilising virtue. Thus +Hamilton tells us that at Karwar, on the west coast of India, a feast +is held at the end of May or beginning of June in honour of the +infernal gods, <q>with a divination or conjuration to know the fate of +the ensuing crop of corn.</q> Men were hung from a pole by means +of tenter-hooks inserted in the flesh of their backs; and the pole +with the men dangling from it was then dragged for more than a +mile over ploughed ground from one sacred grove to another, +preceded by a young girl who carried a pot of fire on her head. +When the second grove was reached, the men were let down and +taken off the hooks, and the girl fell into the usual prophetic frenzy, +after which she unfolded to the priests the revelation with which she +had just been favoured by the terrestrial gods. In each of the +groves a shapeless black stone, daubed with red lead to stand for a +mouth, eyes, and ears, appears to have represented the indwelling +divinity.<note place='foot'>Hamilton's <q>Account of the East +Indies,</q> in Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and +Travels</hi>, viii. 360 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> In general +we are merely told that these Indian +devotees swing on hooks in fulfilment +of a vow or to obtain some favour of a +deity. See Duarte Barbosa, <hi rend='italic'>Description +of the Coasts of East Africa and +Malabar in the beginning of the Sixteenth Century</hi>, translated by the Hon. +H. E. J. Stanley (Hakluyt Society, +London, 1866), pp. 95 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Gaspar +Balbi's <q>Voyage to Pegu,</q> in Pinkerton's +<hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, ix. 398; +Sonnerat, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage aux Indes orientales +et à la Chine</hi>, i. 244; S. Mateer, <hi rend='italic'>The +Land of Charity</hi>, p. 220; W. W. +Hunter, <hi rend='italic'>Annals of Rural Bengal</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> p. +463; <hi rend='italic'>North Indian Notes and Queries</hi>, +i. p. 76, § 511.</note> Sometimes this custom of swinging on hooks, which is +known among the Hindoos as <foreign rend='italic'>Churuk Puja</foreign>, seems to be intended +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/> +to propitiate demons. Some Santals asked Mr. V. Ball to be allowed +to perform it because their women and children were dying of sickness, +and their cattle were being killed by wild beasts; they believed +that these misfortunes befell them because the evil spirits had not +been appeased.<note place='foot'>V. Ball, <hi rend='italic'>Jungle Life in India</hi> +(London, 1880), p. 232.</note> These same Santals celebrate a swinging festival +of a less barbarous sort about the month of February. Eight men +sit in chairs and rotate round posts in a sort of revolving swing, like +the merry-go-rounds which are so dear to children at English fairs.<note place='foot'>W. W. Hunter, <hi rend='italic'>Annals of Rural +Bengal</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> (London, 1872), p. 463.</note> +At the Nauroz and Eed festivals in Dardistan the women swing on +ropes suspended from trees.<note place='foot'>G. W. Leitner, <hi rend='italic'>The Languages and +Races of Dardistan</hi> (Lahore, 1878), +p. 12.</note> During the rainy season in Behar +young women swing in their houses, while they sing songs appropriate +to the season. The period during which they indulge in this +pastime, if a mere pastime it be, is strictly limited; it begins with a +festival which usually falls on the twenty-fifth of the month Jeyt and +ends with another festival which commonly takes place on the twenty-fifth +of the month Asin. No one would think of swinging at any +other time of the year.<note place='foot'>Sarat Chandra Mitra, <q>Notes on +two Behari Pastimes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Society of Bombay</hi>, iii. +95 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> It is possible that this last custom may +be nothing more than a pastime meant to while away some of the +tedious hours of the inclement season; but its limitation to a certain +clearly-defined portion of the year seems rather to point to a religious +or magical origin. Possibly the intention may once have been to +drive away the rain. We shall see immediately that swinging is sometimes +resorted to for the purpose of expelling the powers of evil. +About the middle of March the Hindoos observe a swinging festival +of a different sort in honour of the god Krishna, whose image is +placed in the seat or cradle of a swing and then, just when the dawn +is breaking, rocked gently to and fro several times. The same ceremony +is repeated at noon and at sunset.<note place='foot'>H. H. Wilson, <q>The Religious +Festivals of the Hindus,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of +the Royal Asiatic Society</hi>, ix. (1848) +p. 98. Compare E. T. Dalton, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptive +Ethnology of Bengal</hi>, p. 314; +Monier Williams, <hi rend='italic'>Religious Life and +Thought in India</hi>, p. 137; W. Crooke, +<q>The Legends of Krishna,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xi. (1900) pp. 21 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In the Rigveda the sun +is called, by a natural metaphor, <q>the golden swing in the sky,</q> and +the expression helps us to understand a ceremony of Vedic India. +A priest sat in a swing and touched with the span of his right hand at +once the seat of the swing and the ground. In doing so he said, <q>The +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> +great lord has united himself with the great lady, the god has united +himself with the goddess.</q> Perhaps he meant to indicate in a graphic +way that the sun had reached that lowest point of its course where +it was nearest to the earth.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Hymns of the Rigveda</hi>, vii. +87. 5 (vol. iii. p. 108 of R. T. H. +Griffith's translation, Benares, 1891); +H. Oldenberg, <hi rend='italic'>Die Religion des Veda</hi>, +pp. 444 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In this connexion it is of interest to +note that in the Esthonian celebration of St. John's Day or the +summer solstice swings play, along with bonfires, the most prominent +part. Girls sit and swing the whole night through, singing old songs +to explain why they do so. For legend tells of an Esthonian prince +who wooed and won an Islandic princess. But a wicked enchanter +spirited away the lover to a desert island, where he languished in +captivity, till his lady-love contrived to break the magic spell that +bound him. Together they sailed home to Esthonia, which they +reached on St. John's Day, and burnt their ship, resolved to stray no +longer in far foreign lands. The swings in which the Esthonian +maidens still rock themselves on St. John's Day are said to recall +the ship in which the lovers tossed upon the stormy sea, and the +bonfires commemorate the burning of it. When the fires have died +out, the swings are laid aside and never used again either in the +village or at the solitary alehouse until spring comes round once +more.<note place='foot'>J. G. Kohl, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutsch-russischen +Ostseeprovinzen</hi> (Dresden and Leipsic, +1841), ii. 268 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Here it is natural to connect both swings and bonfires with +the apparent course of the sun, who reaches the highest and turning +point of his orbit on St. John's Day. Bonfires and swings perhaps +were originally charms intended to kindle and speed afresh on its +heavenly road <q>the golden swing in the sky.</q> Among the Letts of +South Livonia and Curland the summer solstice is the occasion of a +great festival of flowers, at which the people sing songs with the +constant refrain of <foreign rend='italic'>lihgo, lihgo</foreign>. It has been proposed to derive the +word <foreign rend='italic'>lihgo</foreign> from the Lettish verb <foreign rend='italic'>ligot</foreign>, <q>to swing,</q> with reference to +the sun swinging in the sky at this turning-point of his course.<note place='foot'>L. v. Schroeder, <q>Lihgo (Refrain +der lettischen Sonnwendlieder),</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mitteilungen +der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft +in Wien</hi>, xxxii. (1902) pp. 1-11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Swinging +for inspiration.</note> +At Tengaroeng, in Eastern Borneo, the priests and priestesses +receive the inspiration of the spirits seated in swings and rocking +themselves to and fro. Thus suspended in the air they appear to +be in a peculiarly favourable position for catching the divine afflatus. +One end of the plank which forms the seat of the priest's swing is +carved in the rude likeness of a crocodile's head; the swing of the +priestess is similarly ornamented with a serpent's head.<note place='foot'>S. W. Tromp, <q>Uit de Salasila van +Koetei,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- +en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, +xxxvii. (1888) pp. 87-89.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Swinging +as a +cure for +sickness.</note> +Again, swings are used for the cure of sickness, but it is the +doctor who rocks himself in them, not the patient. In North +Borneo the Dyak medicine man will sometimes erect a swing in +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> +front of the sick man's house and sway backwards and forwards on +it for the purpose of kicking away the disease, frightening away evil +spirits, and catching the stray soul of the sufferer.<note place='foot'>J. Perham, <q>Manangism in +Borneo,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Straits +Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society</hi>, +No. 19 (Singapore, 1887), pp. 97 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +E. H. Gomes, <hi rend='italic'>Seventeen Years among +the Sea Dyaks of Borneo</hi> (London, +1911), pp. 169, 170, 171; H. Ling +Roth, <hi rend='italic'>The Natives of Sarawak and +British North Borneo</hi>, i. 279.</note> Clearly in his +passage through the air the physician is likely to collide with +the disease and the evil spirits, both of which are sure to be +loitering about in the neighbourhood of the patient, and the rude +shock thus given to the malady and the demons may reasonably +be expected to push or hustle them away. At Tengaroeng, in +Eastern Borneo, a traveller witnessed a ceremony for the expulsion +of an evil spirit in which swinging played a part. After four +men in blue shirts bespangled with stars, and wearing coronets +of red cloth decorated with beads and bells, had sought diligently +for the devil, grabbling about on the floor and grunting withal, three +hideous hags dressed in faded red petticoats were brought in with +great pomp, carried on the shoulders of Malays, and took their seats, +amid solemn silence, on the cradle of a swing, the ends of which +were carved to represent the head and tail of a crocodile. Not +a sound escaped from the crowd of spectators during this awe-inspiring +ceremony; they regarded the business as most serious. +The venerable dames then rocked to and fro on the swing, fanning +themselves languidly with Chinese paper fans. At a later stage of +the performance they and three girls discharged burning arrows at +a sort of altar of banana leaves, maize, and grass. This completed +the discomfiture of the devil.<note place='foot'>C. Bock, <hi rend='italic'>The Head-hunters of +Borneo</hi> (London, 1881), pp. 110-112.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Athenian +festival of +swinging.</note> +The Athenians in antiquity celebrated an annual festival of +swinging. Boards were hung from trees by ropes, and people +sitting on them swung to and fro, while they sang songs of a loose +or voluptuous character. The swinging went on both in public and +private. Various explanations were given of the custom; the most +generally received was as follows. When Bacchus came among +men to make known to them the pleasures of wine, he lodged with +a certain Icarus or Icarius, to whom he revealed the precious secret +and bade him go forth and carry the glad tidings to all the world. +So Icarus loaded a waggon with wine-skins, and set out on his +travels, the dog Maera running beside him. He came to Attica, +and there fell in with shepherds tending their sheep, to whom he +gave of the wine. They drank greedily, but when some of them +fell down dead drunk, their companions thought the stranger had +poisoned them with intent to steal the sheep; so they knocked him +on the head. The faithful dog ran home and guided his master's +daughter Erigone to the body. At sight of it she was smitten with +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> +despair and hanged herself on a tree beside her dead father, but not +until she had prayed that, unless the Athenians should avenge her +sire's murder, their daughters might die the same death as she. +Her curse was fulfilled, for soon many Athenian damsels hanged +themselves for no obvious reason. An oracle informed the +Athenians of the true cause of this epidemic of suicide; so they +sought out the bodies of the unhappy pair and instituted the +swinging festival to appease Erigone; and at the vintage they +offered the first of the grapes to her and her father.<note place='foot'>Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Astronomica</hi>, ii. 4, pp. 34 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, ed. Bunte; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Fabulae</hi>, 130; +Servius and Probus on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> +ii. 389; Festus, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Oscillantes,</q> p. +194, ed. C. O. Müller; Athenaeus, +xiv. 10, p. 618 <hi rend='smallcaps'>e f</hi>; Pollux, iv. 55; +Hesychius, <hi rend='italic'>s.vv.</hi> Ἀλῆτις and Αἰώρα; +<hi rend='italic'>Etymologicum magnum</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Αἰώρα, +p. 42. 3; Schol. on Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, xxii. +29. The story of the murder of Icarius +is told by a scholiast on Lucian (<hi rend='italic'>Dial. +meretr.</hi> vii. 4) to explain the origin of +a different festival (<hi rend='italic'>Rheinisches Museum</hi>, +N.F., xxv. (1870) pp. 557 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>Scholia in Lucianum</hi>, ed. H. Rabe, +p. 280). As to the swinging festival +at Athens see O. Jahn, <hi rend='italic'>Archäologische +Beiträge</hi>, pp. 324 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Daremberg et +Saglio, <hi rend='italic'>Dictionnaire des antiquités +grecques et romaines</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Aiora</q>; +Miss J. E. Harrison, in <hi rend='italic'>Mythology and +Monuments of Ancient Athens</hi>, by Mrs. +Verrall and Miss J. E. Harrison, pp. +xxxix. <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Swinging +as a mode +of expiation +and +purification.</note> +Thus the swinging festival at Athens was regarded by the +ancients as an expiation for a suicide or suicides by hanging. This +opinion is strongly confirmed by a statement of Varro, that it was +unlawful to perform funeral rites in honour of persons who had died +by hanging, but that in their case such rites were replaced by a +custom of swinging images, as if in imitation of the death they had +died.<note place='foot'>Servius on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> xii. 603: +<q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Et Varro ait: Suspendiosis quibus +iusta fieri ius non sit, suspensis oscillis +veluti per imitationem mortis parentari.</foreign></q></note> Servius says that the Athenians, failing to find the bodies +of Icarius and Erigone on earth, made a pretence of seeking them +in the air by swinging on ropes hung from trees; and he seems to +have regarded the custom of swinging as a purification by means of +air.<note place='foot'>Servius on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> ii. 389; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, on <hi rend='italic'>Aen.</hi> vi. 741.</note> This explanation probably comes very near the truth; indeed +if we substitute <q>souls</q> for <q>bodies</q> in the wording of it we may +almost accept it as exact. It might be thought that the souls of +persons who had died by hanging were, more than the souls of the +other dead, hovering in the air, since their bodies were suspended +in air at the moment of death. Hence it would be considered +needful to purge the air of these vagrant spirits, and this might be +done by swinging persons or things to and fro, in order that by +their impact they might disperse and drive away the baleful ghosts. +Thus the custom would be exactly analogous, on the one hand, to +the practice of the Malay medicine-man, who swings to and fro in +front of the patient's house in order to chase away the disease, or to +frighten away evil spirits, or to catch the stray soul of the sick man, +and, on the other hand, to the practice of the Central Australian +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/> +aborigines who beat the air with their weapons and hands in order +to drive the lingering ghost away to the grave.<note place='foot'>Spencer and Gillen, <hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes +of Central Australia</hi>, pp. 505 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Rome swinging +seems to have formed part of the great Latin festival (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Feriae Latinae</foreign>), +and its origin was traced to a search in the air for the body or +even the soul of King Latinus, who had disappeared from earth +after the battle with Mezentius, King of Caere.<note place='foot'>Festus, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Oscillantes,</q> p. 194, +ed. C. O. Müller. This festival and its +origin are also alluded to in a passage +of one of the manuscripts of Servius +(on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> ii. 389), which is +printed by Lion in his edition of +Servius (vol. ii. 254, note), but not +by Thilo and Hagen in their large +critical edition of the old Virgilian +commentator. <q>In <hi rend='italic'>Schol. Bob.</hi> p. 256 +we are told that there was a reminiscence +of the fact that, the bodies of +Latinus and Aeneas being undiscoverable, +their <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>animae</foreign> were sought in the +air</q> (G. E. M. Marindin, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +<q>Oscilla,</q> W. Smith's <hi rend='italic'>Dictionary of +Greek and Roman Antiquities</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> ii. +304).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Swinging +to promote +the growth +of plants.</note> +Yet on the other hand there are circumstances which point to +an intimate association, both at Athens and Rome, of these swinging +festivals with an intention of promoting the growth of cultivated +plants. Such circumstances are the legendary connexion of the +Athenian festival with Bacchus, the custom of offering the first-fruits +of the vintage to Erigone and Icarius,<note place='foot'>Hyginus, <hi rend='italic'>Fab.</hi> 130.</note> and at Rome the +practice of hanging masks on trees at the time of sowing<note place='foot'>Probus on Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> ii. 385.</note> and in +order to make the grapes grow better.<note place='foot'>Virgil, <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> ii. 388 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Perhaps we can reconcile +the two apparently discrepant effects attributed to swinging as a +means of expiation on the one side and of fertilisation on the other, +by supposing that in both cases the intention is to clear the air of +dangerous influences, whether these are ghosts of the unburied dead +or spiritual powers inimical to the growth of plants. Independent +of both appears to be the notion that the higher you swing the +higher will grow the crops.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref>.</note> This last is homoeopathic or imitative +magic pure and simple, without any admixture of the ideas of +purification or expiation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Swinging +as a festal +rite in +modern +Greece and +Italy.</note> +In modern Greece and Italy the custom of swinging as a festal +rite, whatever its origin may be, is still observed in some places. +At the small village of Koukoura in Elis an English traveller +observed peasants swinging from a tree in honour of St. George, +whose festival it was.<note place='foot'>W. G. Clark, <hi rend='italic'>Peloponnesus</hi> +(London, 1858), p. 274.</note> On the Tuesday after Easter the maidens +of Seriphos play their favourite game of the swing. They hang a +rope from one wall to another of the steep, narrow, filthy street, +and putting some clothes on it swing one after the other, singing as +they swing. Young men who try to pass are called upon to pay +toll in the shape of a penny, a song, and a swing. The words +which the youth sings are generally these: <q>The gold is swung, the +silver is swung, and swung too is my love with the golden hair</q>; to +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> +which the girl replies, <q>Who is it that swings me that I may gild +him with my favour, that I may work him a fez all covered with +pearls?</q><note place='foot'>J. T. Bent, <hi rend='italic'>The Cyclades</hi> (London, +1885), p. 5.</note> In the Greek island of Karpathos the villagers assemble +at a given place on each of the four Sundays before Easter, a swing +is erected, and the women swing one after the other, singing death +wails such as they chant round the mimic tombs in church on the +night of Good Friday.<note place='foot'>J. T. Bent, quoted by Miss J. E. +Harrison, <hi rend='italic'>Mythology and Monuments +of Ancient Athens</hi>, p. xliii.</note> On Christmas Day peasant girls in some +villages of Calabria fasten ropes to iron rings in the ceiling and +swing on them, while they sing certain songs prescribed by custom +for the occasion. The practice is regarded not merely as an amusement +but also as an act of devotion.<note place='foot'>Vincenzo Dorsa, <hi rend='italic'>La Tradizione +greco-latina negli usi e nelle credenze +popolari della Calabria Citeriore</hi> +(Cosenza, 1884), p. 36. In one village +the custom is observed on Ascension +Day instead of at Christmas.</note> <q>It is a custom in Cadiz, +when Christmas comes, to fasten swings in the courtyards of houses, +and even in the houses themselves when there is no room for them +outside. In the evenings lads and lasses assemble round the swings +and pass the time happily in swinging amid joyous songs and cries. +The swings are taken down when Carnival is come.</q><note place='foot'>Valdés, <hi rend='italic'>Los Majos de Cadiz</hi>, extract +sent to me in the original Spanish by +Mr. W. Moss, of 21 Abbey Grove, +Bolton, March 23rd, 1907.</note> The +observance of the custom at Christmas, that is, at the winter solstice, +suggests that in Calabria and Spain, as in Esthonia, the pastime may +originally have been a magical rite designed to assist the sun in +climbing the steep ascent to the top of the summer sky. If this were +so, we might surmise that the gold and the golden hair mentioned +by youths and maidens of Seriphos as they swing refer to <q>the +golden swing in the sky,</q> in other words to the sun whose golden +lamp swings daily across the blue vault of heaven. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Swinging +at festivals +in spring.</note> +However that may be, it would seem that festivals of swinging are +especially held in spring. This is true, for example, of North Africa, +where such festivals are common. At some places in that part of +the world the date of the swinging is the time of the apricots; at +others it is said to be the spring equinox. In some places the festival +lasts three days, and fathers who have had children born to them +within the year bring them and swing them in the swings.<note place='foot'>E. Doutté, <hi rend='italic'>Magie et religion dans +l'Afrique du nord</hi> (Algiers, 1908), pp. +580 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Corea +<q>the fifth day of the fifth moon is called <foreign rend='italic'>Tano-nal</foreign>. Ancestors are +then worshipped, and swings are put up in the yards of most houses +for the amusement of the people. The women on this day may go +about the streets; during the rest of the year they may go out only +after dark. Dressed in their prettiest clothes, they visit the various +houses and amuse themselves swinging. The swing is said to convey +the idea of keeping cool in the approaching summer. It is one of +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/> +the most popular feasts of the year.</q><note place='foot'>W. W. Rockhill, <q>Notes on some +of the Laws, Customs, and Superstitions +of Korea,</q> <hi rend='italic'>American Anthropologist</hi>, +iv. (1891) pp. 185 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Perhaps the reason here +assigned for swinging may explain other instances of the custom; +on the principles of homoeopathic magic the swinging may be +regarded as a means of ensuring a succession of cool refreshing +breezes during the oppressive heat of the ensuing summer. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Addenda.</head> + +<p> +P. <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref>. <emph>The sacred precinct of Pelops at Olympia.</emph>—It deserves +to be noted that just as Pelops, whose legend reflects the origin of +the chariot-race, had his sacred precinct and probably his tomb at +Olympia, in like manner Endymion, whose legend reflects the origin +of the foot-race,<note place='foot'>Pausanias, v. 1. 4.</note> had his tomb at the end of the Olympic stadium, +at the point where the runners started in the race.<note place='foot'>Pausanias, vi. 20. 9.</note> This presence +at Olympia of the graves of the two early kings, whose names are +associated with the origin of the foot-race and of the chariot-race +respectively, can hardly be without significance; it indicates the +important part played by the dead in the foundation of the +Olympic games. +</p> + +<p> +P. <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref>. <emph>A man is literally reborn in the person of his son.</emph>—This +belief in the possible rebirth of the parent in the child may +sometimes explain the seemingly widespread dislike of people to +have children like themselves. Examples of such a dislike have +met us in a former part of this work.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, +pp. 88 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> A similar superstition +prevails among the Papuans of Doreh Bay in Dutch New Guinea. +When a son resembles his father or a daughter resembles her mother +closely in features, these savages fear that the father or mother +will soon die.<note place='foot'>J. L. van Hasselt, <q>Aanteekeningen +aangaande de gewoonten der +Papoeas in de Dorebaai, ten opzichte +van zwangerschap en geboorte,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift +voor Indische Taal- Land- en +Volkenkunde</hi>, xliii. (1901) p. 566.</note> Again, in the island of Savou, to the south-west of +Timor, if a child at birth is thought to be like its father or mother, +it may not remain under the parental roof, else the person whom it +resembles would soon die.<note place='foot'>J. H. Letteboer, <q>Eenige aanteekeningen +omtrent de gebruiken bij +zwangerschap en geboorte onder de +Savuneezen,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mededeelingen van wege +het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap</hi>, +xlvi. (1902) p. 45.</note> Such superstitions, it is obvious, might +readily suggest the expedient of killing the child in order to save the +life of the parent. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Index.</head> + +<lg> +<l>Ababua, the, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abbas, the Great, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abchases, their memorial feasts, <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref>, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abdication, annual, of kings, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of father when his son is grown up, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the king on the birth of a son, <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abeokuta, the Alake of, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abipones, the, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abraham, his attempted sacrifice of Isaac, <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abruzzi, the, <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref>, <ref target='Pg067'>67</ref>; burning an effigy of the Carnival in the, <ref target='Pg224'>224</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Lenten custom in the, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Abstract notions, the personification of, not primitive, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Academy at Athens, funeral games held in the, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Acaill, Book of, <ref target='Pg039'>39</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Accession of a Shilluk king, ceremonies at the, <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Acropolis at Athens, the sacred serpent on the, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Adonis or Tammuz, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Aesculapius restores Hippolytus or Virbius to life, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Africa, succession to the soul in, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— North, festivals of swinging in, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Agathocles, his siege of Carthage, <ref target='Pg167'>167</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Agrigentum, Phalaris of, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Agrionia, a festival, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Agylla, funeral games at, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ahaz, King, his sacrifice of his children, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Akurwa, <ref target='Pg019'>19</ref>, <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Alake, the, of Abeokuta, custom of cutting off the head of his corpse, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Alban kings, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Albania, expulsion of Kore on Easter Eve in, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Alcibiades of Apamea, his vision of the Holy Ghost, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Alexander the Great, funeral games in his honour, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Algonkin women, their attempts to be impregnated by the souls of the dying, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Altdorf and Weingarten, Ash Wednesday at, <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Alus, sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus at, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg164'>164</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Amasis, king of Egypt, <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Amelioration in the character of the gods, <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>American Indians, their Great Spirit, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Andaman Islanders, their ideas as to shooting stars, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Angamis, the, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Angel of Death, <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Angola, the Matiamvo of, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Angoni, the, of British Central Africa, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Angoy, king of, <ref target='Pg039'>39</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Anhouri, Egyptian god, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Animals sacred to kings, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>transformations into, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Annam, natives of, their indifference to death, <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Annual abdication of kings, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— renewal of king's power at Babylon, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— tenure of the kingship, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Antichrist, expected reign of, <ref target='Pg044'>44</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Aphrodite, the grave of, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Apollo, buried at Delphi, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>servitude of, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and the laurel, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>as slayer of the dragon at Delphi, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref>, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>at Thebes, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>purged of the dragon's blood in the Vale of Tempe, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ardennes, effigies of Carnival burned in the, <ref target='Pg226'>226</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ares, the grave of, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ariadne and Theseus, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ariadne's Dance, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Arician grove, ritual of the, <ref target='Pg213'>213</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Arizona, mock human sacrifices in, <ref target='Pg215'>215</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Arnold, Matthew, on the English middle class, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Artemis, Munychian, sacrifice to, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>; mock human sacrifice in the ritual of, <ref target='Pg215'>215</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/> + +<lg> +<l>Ascanius, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ascension Day, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n</hi>.<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>; the <q>Carrying out of Death</q> on, at Braller, <ref target='Pg247'>247</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ash Wednesday, Burial of the Carnival on, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>death of Caramantran on, <ref target='Pg226'>226</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>effigies of Carnival or of Shrove Tuesday burnt or buried on, <ref target='Pg226'>226</ref>, <ref target='Pg228'>228</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Asherim</hi>, sacred poles, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ass, son of a god in the form of an, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the crest or totem of a royal family, <ref target='Pg132'>132</ref>, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Assegai, child of the,</q> <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Asses and men, redemption of firstling, <ref target='Pg173'>173</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Assyrian eponymate, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Astarte, the moon-goddess, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Astronomical considerations determining the early Greek calendar, <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Athamas and his children, legend of, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Athena, human sacrifices to, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Athenaeus, <ref target='Pg143'>143</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Athenian festival of swinging, <ref target='Pg281'>281</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Athens, funeral games at, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>hand of suicide cut off at, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Attacks on kings permitted, <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref>, <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Aun or On, king of Sweden, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>; sacrifices his sons, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Aurora Australis, fear entertained by the Kurnai of the, <ref target='Pg267'>267</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Australia, custom of destroying firstborn children among the aborigines of, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>magical rites for the revival of nature in Central, <ref target='Pg270'>270</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Australian aborigines, their ideas as to shooting stars, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— funeral custom, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Avebury, Lord, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg273'>273</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Baal, Semitic, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human sacrifices to, <ref target='Pg167'>167</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg195'>195</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Babylon, festival of Zagmuk at, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref>, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Babylonian gods, mortality of the, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— legend of creation, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— myth of Marduk and Tiamat, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bacchic frenzy, <ref target='Pg164'>164</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Baganda, the, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ball, V., <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ballymote, the Book of, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Balwe in Westphalia, Burying the Carnival at, <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Banishment of homicide, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Banna, a tribe accustomed to strangle their firstborn children, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Barber, Rev. Dr. W. T. A., <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi>, <ref target='Pg275'>275</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Barcelona, ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> at, <ref target='Pg242'>242</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Barongo, the, <ref target='Pg010'>10</ref>, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bashada, a tribe accustomed to strangle their firstborn children, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bashkirs, their horse-races at funerals, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bath of ox blood, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Battle of Summer and Winter, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bautz, Dr. Joseph, on hell fire, <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bavaria, Whitsuntide mummers in, <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Carrying out Death in, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>dramatic contests between Summer and Winter in, <ref target='Pg255'>255</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bear, the soul of Typhon in the Great, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Beast, the number of the, <ref target='Pg044'>44</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Beating cattle to make them fat or fruitful, <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Beauty and the Beast type of tale, <ref target='Pg125'>125</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bedouins, annual festival of the Sinaitic, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Behar, custom of swinging in, <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Beheading the King, a Whitsuntide pageant in Bohemia, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bengal, kings of, their rule of succession, <ref target='Pg051'>51</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bengkali, East Indian island, <ref target='Pg277'>277</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Benin, king of, represented with panther's whiskers, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human sacrifices at the burial of a king of, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Berosus, Babylonian historian, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Berry, ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> in, <ref target='Pg241'>241</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bhagats, mock human sacrifices among the, <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bhuiyas, the, of north-eastern India, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bilaspur, temporary rajah in, <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Birds of omen, stories of their origin, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref>, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Black, Dr. J. Sutherland, <ref target='Pg260'>260</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Black bull sacrificed to the dead, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— ox, bath of blood of, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— ram sacrificed to Pelops, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bland, J. O. P., <ref target='Pg274'>274</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Blemishes, bodily, a ground for putting kings to death, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Blood of victims in rain-making ceremonies, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>bath of ox, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human, offered to the dead, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of sacrifice splashed on door-posts, house-posts, etc., <ref target='Pg175'>175</ref>, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of human victims smeared on faces of idols, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Boemus, J., <ref target='Pg234'>234</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bohemia, Whitsuntide mummers in, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q>Carrying out Death</q> in, <ref target='Pg237'>237</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bones of sacrificial victim not broken, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bonfire, jumping over, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Boni, in Celebes, <ref target='Pg040'>40</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Book of Acaill, <ref target='Pg039'>39</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Borans, their custom of sacrificing their children, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bororos, the, of Brazil, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bourges, ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> at, <ref target='Pg242'>242</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bourke, Captain J. G., <ref target='Pg215'>215</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/> + +<lg> +<l>Boxers at funerals, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brahmans, the ceremonial swinging of, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref>, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Braller in Transylvania, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref>; <q>Carrying out Death</q> at, <ref target='Pg247'>247</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brasidas, funeral games in his honour, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brazilian Indians, their indifference to death, <ref target='Pg138'>138</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Breezes, magical means of securing, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bridegroom of the May, <ref target='Pg266'>266</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bringing in Summer, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref>, <ref target='Pg237'>237</ref>, <ref target='Pg238'>238</ref>, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Britomartis and Minos, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brittany, Burial of Shrove Tuesday or of the Carnival in, <ref target='Pg229'>229</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brockelmann, C., <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bronze ploughs used by Etruscans at founding cities, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Brother and sister marriages in royal families, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Buddhist monks, suicide of, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Budge, E. A. Wallis, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Buginese of Celebes, their custom of swinging, <ref target='Pg277'>277</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bull, Pasiphae and the, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>; as symbol of the sun, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the brazen, of Phalaris, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>said to have guided the Samnites, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and cow, represented by masked actors, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Bull-headed image of the sun, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Burgebrach in Bavaria, straw-man burnt on Ash Wednesday at, <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Burial alive of the aged, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in jars, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of infants to secure rebirth, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Shrove Tuesday, <ref target='Pg228'>228</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Burning an effigy of the Carnival, <ref target='Pg223'>223</ref>, <ref target='Pg224'>224</ref>, <ref target='Pg228'>228</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg229'>229</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— effigies of Shrove Tuesday, <ref target='Pg227'>227</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Winter at Zurich, <ref target='Pg260'>260</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Burying the Carnival,</q> <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref>, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Busoga, mock human sacrifice in, <ref target='Pg215'>215</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cabunian, Mount, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cadiz, custom of swinging at, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cadmea, the, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cadmus, servitude of, for the slaughter of the dragon, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the slayer of the dragon at Thebes, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Harmonia, their transformation into serpents, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>marriage of, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref>, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Caffres, the, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Caiem, the caliph, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Calabria, ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> in, <ref target='Pg241'>241</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>custom of swinging in, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Calendar, the early Greek, determined by astronomical considerations, <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>closely bound up with religion, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the Syro-Macedonian, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Calica Puran</hi>, an Indian law-book, <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Calicut, rule of succession observed by the kings of, <ref target='Pg047'>47</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg206'>206</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>California, Indians of, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cambodia, Kings of Fire and Water in, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>annual abdication of the king of, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Canaanites, their custom of burning their children in honour of Baal, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Canada, Indians of, their ceremony for mitigating the cold of winter, <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Caramantran, death of, on Ash Wednesday in Provence, <ref target='Pg226'>226</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carinthia, ceremony at the installation of a prince of, <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carman, the fair of, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref>, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carnival, Burying the, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref>, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>swings taken down at, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Carnival (Shrovetide) Fool,</q> <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carolina, king's son wounded among the Indians of, <ref target='Pg184'>184</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carrier Indians, succession to the soul among the, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Carrying out Death,</q> <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Carthaginian sacrifice of children to Moloch, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>to Baal, <ref target='Pg167'>167</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cassange, in Angola, king of, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human sacrifice at installation of king of, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cassotis, oracular spring, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Castaly, the oracular spring of, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Catalonia, funeral of Carnival in, <ref target='Pg225'>225</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cattle sacrificed instead of human beings, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi> <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Caucasus, funeral games among the people of the, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cauxanas, Indian tribe of the Amazon, kill all their firstborn children, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cecrops, half-serpent, half-man, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Celebes, sanctity of regalia in, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref>; the Toboongkoos of, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Celts of Gaul, their indifference to death, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cemeteries, fairs held at, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref>, <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chaka, a Zulu tyrant, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chama, town on the Gold Coast, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chariot-race at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— races in honour of the dead, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chewsurs, their funeral games, <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cheyne, Professor T. K., <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chilcotin Indians, their practice at an eclipse of the sun, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Child of the assegai,</q> <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Children sacrificed to Moloch, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacrificed by the Semites, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>dislike of parents to have children like themselves, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chinese indifference to death, <ref target='Pg144'>144</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg273'>273</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>reports of custom of devouring firstborn children, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chiriguanos, the, of South America, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/> + +<lg> +<l>Chirol, Valentine, <ref target='Pg274'>274</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chitomé, a pontiff in Congo, the manner of his death, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Christmas, custom of swinging at, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chrudim in Bohemia, effigy of Death burnt at, <ref target='Pg239'>239</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Chukchees, voluntary deaths among the, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Circassia, games in honour of the dead in, <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Circumcision of father as a mode of redeeming his offspring, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mimic rite of, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cities, Etruscan ceremony at the founding of, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cloud-dragon, myth of the, <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cluis-Dessus and Cluis-Dessous, custom of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> at, <ref target='Pg241'>241</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cnossus, Minos at, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the labyrinth at, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cobra, the crest of the Maharajah of Nagpur, <ref target='Pg132'>132</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cock, king represented with the feathers of a, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Colchis, Phrixus in, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Congo, the pontiff Chitomé in, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Conjunction of sun and moon, a time for marriage, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Consecration of firstlings, <ref target='Pg172'>172</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Contempt of death, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Contests, dramatic, between actors representing Summer and Winter, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Conti, Nicolo, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Conybeare, F. C., <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cook, A. B., <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref>, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref> <hi rend='italic'>ns.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi> and <hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi>, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi>, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Corannas of South Africa, custom as to succession among the, <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Corea, custom of swinging in, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cornaby, Rev. W. A., <ref target='Pg273'>273</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cornford, F. M., <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>7</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Corn-harvest, the first-fruits of the, offered at Lammas, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -spirit called the Old Man or the Old Woman, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cornwall, temporary king in, <ref target='Pg153'>153</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Corporeal relics of dead kings confer right to throne, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Courtiers required to imitate their sovereign, <ref target='Pg039'>39</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cow as symbol of the moon, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crane, dance called the, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crassus, Publicius Licinius, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Creation, myths of, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Babylonian legend of, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Creator, the grave of the, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crete, grave of Zeus in, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Criminals sacrificed, <ref target='Pg195'>195</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crocodile clan, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cromm Cruach, a legendary Irish idol, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cronus buried in Sicily, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>his sacrifice of his son, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>his treatment of his father and his children, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>his marriage with his sister Rhea, <ref target='Pg194'>194</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crooke, W., <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi>, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crown of laurel, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of oak leaves, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of olive at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crowning, festival of the, at Delphi, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cruachan, the fair of, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Crystals, superstitions as to, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>6</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cupid and Psyche, story of, <ref target='Pg131'>131</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cutting or lacerating the body in honour of the dead, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cuttle-fish, expiation for killing a, <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cychreus, king of Salamis, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cycle, the octennial, based on an attempt to reconcile solar and lunar time, <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cyclopes, slaughter of the, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Cytisorus, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Czechs of Bohemia, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Daedalus, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dahomey, royal family of, related to leopards, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>religious massacres in, <ref target='Pg138'>138</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Daira or Mahadev Mohammedans in Mysore, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dalton, Colonel E. T., <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Danakils or Afar of East Africa, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dance of youths and maidens at Cnossus, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Ariadne's, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dardistan, custom of swinging in, <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Darfur, Sultans of, <ref target='Pg039'>39</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dassera festival of Nepaul, <ref target='Pg277'>277</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Daura, a Hausa kingdom, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>custom of succession to the throne in, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>David, King, and the brazen serpent, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dead, souls of the, associated with falling stars, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>rebirth of the, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacrifices to the, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref>, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref>, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human blood offered to the, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dead kings, worship of, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their spirits thought to possess sick people, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Uganda consulted as oracles, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— man's hand used in magical ceremony, <ref target='Pg267'>267</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— One, the, name applied to the last sheaf, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Sunday, <ref target='Pg239'>239</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the fourth Sunday in Lent, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>also called Mid-Lent, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Death of the Great Pan, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— preference for a violent, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>natural, regarded as a calamity, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>European fear of, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>indifference to, displayed by many races, <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the Carrying out of, +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/> +<ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>conception of, in relation to vegetation, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in the corn, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and resurrection of Kostrubonko at Eastertide, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and revival of vegetation, <ref target='Pg263'>263</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Death, effigy of, feared and abhorred, <ref target='Pg239'>239</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>potency of life attributed to, <ref target='Pg247'>247</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— the Angel of, <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>De Barros, Portuguese historian, <ref target='Pg051'>51</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Deer, descent of Kalamants from a, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacrificed instead of human beings, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi>.<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Delos, Theseus at, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Delphi, tombs of Dionysus and Apollo at, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>festival of Crowning at, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dengdit, the Supreme Being of the Dinka, <ref target='Pg030'>30</ref>, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Deputy, the expedient of dying by, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref>, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dictynna and Minos, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dinka, the, of the White Nile, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>totemism of the, <ref target='Pg030'>30</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Diomede, human sacrifices to, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dionysus, the tomb of, at Delphi, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human sacrifice consummated by a priest of, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>boys sacrificed to, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dislike of people to have children like themselves, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Diurnal tenure of the kingship, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Divine king, the killing of the, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— kings of the Shilluk, <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— spirit incarnate in Shilluk kings, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dodge, Colonel R. I., <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dog killed instead of king, <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Doreh Bay in New Guinea, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dorians, their superstition as to meteors, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dragon, drama of the slaughter of the, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>myth of the, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dragon-crest of kings, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dramatic contests of actors representing Summer and Winter, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dreams, revelations in, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Drenching leaf-clad mummer as a rain-charm, <ref target='Pg211'>211</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Driver, Professor S. R., <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi>, <ref target='Pg173'>173</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ducks and ptarmigan, dramatic contest of the, <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dyak medicine-men, their practice of swinging, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dyaks of Sarawak, story of their descent from a fish, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacrifice cattle instead of human beings, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their sacrifices during an epidemic, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their custom of swinging, <ref target='Pg277'>277</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dying, custom of catching the souls of the, <ref target='Pg198'>198</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Dying by deputy, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref>, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eames, W., <ref target='Pg273'>273</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ears of sacrificial victims cut off, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Easter, first Sunday after, <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>swinging on the Tuesday after, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>custom of swinging on the four Sundays before, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Easter Eve in Albania, expulsion of Kore on, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eastertide, death and resurrection of Kostrubonko at, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eating the bodies of aged relations, custom of, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Echinadian Islands, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eclipse of the sun and moon, belief of the Tahitians as to, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>practice of the Chilcotin Indians at an, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ecliptic perhaps mimicked in dances, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Effigies of Carnival, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Shrove Tuesday, <ref target='Pg227'>227</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Death, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>seven-legged, of Lent in Spain and Italy, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Winter burnt at Zurich, <ref target='Pg260'>260</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Kupalo, Kostroma, and Yarilo in Russia, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Effigy, human sacrifices carried out in, <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Egbas, the, <ref target='Pg041'>41</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Egypt, temporary kings in Upper, <ref target='Pg151'>151</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mock human sacrifices in ancient, <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Egyptian gods, mortality of the ancient, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>influence on Christian doctrine of the Trinity, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>kings called bulls, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>trinities of gods, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eimine Ban, an Irish abbot, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eldest sons sacrificed for their fathers, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Elliot, R. H., <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Emain, fair at, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Embalming as a means of prolonging the life of the soul, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Encheleans, the, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Endymion at Olympia, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref>; his tomb at Olympia, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>English middle class, their clinging to life, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ἐννέωρος βασίλευε, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eponymate, the Assyrian, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eponymous magistrates, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Equinox, the spring, custom of swinging at, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>drama of Summer and Winter at the spring, <ref target='Pg257'>257</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Erechtheum, the, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<anchor id='Index-Erechtheus'/> +<l>Erechtheus or Erichthonius in relation to the sacred serpent on the Acropolis, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>voluntary death of the daughters of, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ergamenes, king of Meroe, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Erichthonius, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref>. <hi rend='italic'>See</hi> <ref target='Index-Erechtheus'>Erechtheus</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Erigone, her suicide by hanging, <ref target='Pg281'>281</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/> + +<lg> +<l>Erzgebirge, Shrovetide custom in the, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Esagil, temple of Marduk at Babylon, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Esquimaux, suicide among the, <ref target='Pg043'>43</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their magical ceremony in autumn, <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Esthonian belief as to falling stars, <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>celebration of St. John's Day, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>custom on Shrove Tuesday, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref>, <ref target='Pg252'>252</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Esthonians, their ideas of shooting stars, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ethiopia, kings of, chosen for their beauty, <ref target='Pg038'>38</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ethiopian kings of Meroe put to death, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Etruscan ceremony at founding cities, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Euphorion of Chalcis, Greek author, <ref target='Pg143'>143</ref>, <ref target='Pg144'>144</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Europa, her wanderings, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Zeus, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>European beliefs as to shooting stars, <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>fear of death, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Evans, Sebastian, <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eve, Easter, in Albania, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve), Russian ceremony on, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ewe negroes, the, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Expiation for killing sacred animals, <ref target='Pg216'>216</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Eyeo, kings of, put to death, <ref target='Pg040'>40</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ezekiel, on the sacrifice of the firstborn, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>E-zida, the temple of Nabu, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fairs of ancient Ireland, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fashoda, the capital of the Shilluk kings, <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref>, <ref target='Pg019'>19</ref>, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Father god succeeded by his divine son, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fazoql or Fazolglou, kings of, put to death, <ref target='Pg016'>16</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fear of death entertained by the European races, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Feeding the dead,</q> <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Feriae Latinae</foreign>, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Feronia, a Latin goddess, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fertilising power ascribed to the effigy of Death, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Festival of the Crowning at Delphi, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the Laurel-bearing at Thebes, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Festus, on <q>the Sacred Spring,</q> <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Feuillet, Madame Octave, <ref target='Pg228'>228</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fez, mock sultan in, <ref target='Pg152'>152</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fighting the king, right of, <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fiji, voluntary deaths in, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>custom of grave-diggers in, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>rule of succession in, <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Finger-joints, custom of sacrificing, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mock sacrifice of, <hi rend='italic'>ib.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fire, voluntary death by, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Water, kings of, in Cambodia, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Firstborn, sacrifice of the, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>killed and eaten, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacrificed among various races, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -fruits offered to the dead, <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the corn offered at Lammas, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the vintage offered to Icarius and Erigone, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Firstlings, Hebrew sacrifice of, <ref target='Pg172'>172</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Irish sacrifice of, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fish, descent of the Dyaks from a, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fison, Rev. Lorimer, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Five years, despotic power for period of, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Flight of the priestly king (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Regifugium</foreign>) at Rome, <ref target='Pg213'>213</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Florence, ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> at, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Florida, sacrifice of firstborn male children by the Indians of, <ref target='Pg184'>184</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Fool, the Carnival, burial of, <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Foot, custom of standing on one, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref>, <ref target='Pg155'>155</ref>, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -race at Olympia, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Franche-Comté, effigies of Shrove Tuesday destroyed in, <ref target='Pg227'>227</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Freycinet, L. de, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Frosinone in Latium, burning an effigy of the Carnival at, <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Funeral of Kostroma, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -games, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -rites performed for a father in the fifth month of his wife's pregnancy, <ref target='Pg189'>189</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Futuna in the South Pacific, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Galton, Sir Francis, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Game of Troy, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Games, funeral, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gandharva-Sena, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref>, <ref target='Pg125'>125</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ganges, firstborn children sacrificed to the, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gazelle Peninsula in New Britain, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gelo, tyrant of Syracuse, <ref target='Pg167'>167</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Genesis, account of the creation in, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ghost, the Holy, regarded as female, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ghosts propitiated with blood, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>propitiated with games, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>anger of, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Giles, Professor H. A., <ref target='Pg275'>275</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Girls' race at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gladiators at Roman funerals, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>at Roman banquets, <ref target='Pg143'>143</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Goats sacrificed instead of human beings, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gobir, a Hausa kingdom, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>God, the killing and resurrection of a god in the hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages of society, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> + +<lg> +<l>God's Mouth, <ref target='Pg041'>41</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gods, mortality of the, <ref target='Pg001'>1</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>created by man in his own likeness, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>succeeded by their sons, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>progressive amelioration in the character of the, <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Golden apples of the Hesperides, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— fleece, ram with, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— swords, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Goldmann, Dr. Emil, <ref target='Pg155'>155</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Goldziher, I., <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>7</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gomes, E. H., <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gonds, mock human sacrifices among the, <ref target='Pg217'>217</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Good Friday, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gore, Captain, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gospel to the Hebrews, the apocryphal, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Graal</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>History of the Holy</hi>, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref>, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Grape-cluster, Mother of the, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gray, Archdeacon J. H., <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Great Pan, death of the, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Spirit, the, of the American Indians, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— year, the, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Greece, human sacrifices in ancient, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>swinging as a festal rite in modern, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Greek mode of reckoning intervals of time, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Greenlanders, their belief in the mortality of the gods, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Grey hair a signal of death, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— hairs of kings, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref>, <ref target='Pg102'>102</ref>, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Grimm, J., <ref target='Pg155'>155</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref>, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Groot, Professor J. J. M. de, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>7</hi>, <ref target='Pg275'>275</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Grove, the Arician, <ref target='Pg213'>213</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Guatemala, catching the soul of the dying in, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Guayana Indians, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Gypsies, ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> among the, <ref target='Pg243'>243</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hair, grey, a signal of death, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Halae in Attica, mock human sacrifice at, <ref target='Pg215'>215</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hale, Horatio, quoted, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hamilton, Alexander, quoted, <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hamilton's <hi rend='italic'>Account of the East Indies</hi>, <ref target='Pg278'>278</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hammurabi, king of Babylon, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hand of dead man in magical ceremony, <ref target='Pg267'>267</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of suicide cut off, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hanging of an effigy of the Carnival, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Harmonia and Cadmus, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>marriage of, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref>, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Harvest ceremonies, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Harz Mountains, ceremony at Carnival in the, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hausa kings put to death, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hawaii, annual festival in, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hawk in Egypt, symbol of the sun and of the king, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heads of dead kings removed and kept, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hebrew sacrifice of the firstborn, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hebrews, apocryphal Gospel to the, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heitsi-eibib, a Hottentot god, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heliogabalus, the emperor, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heliopolis, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the sacred bull of, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hell fire in Catholic and Protestant theology, <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Helle and Phrixus, the children of King Athamas, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hephaestion, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hera, race of girls in honour of, at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the sister of her husband Zeus, <ref target='Pg194'>194</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heraclitus, on the souls of the dead, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hercules in the garden of the Hesperides, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hermapolis, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hermes, the grave of, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Heruli, the, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hesperides, garden of the, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hieraconpolis, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>High History of the Holy Graal</hi>, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref>, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hippodamia at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>grave of the suitors of, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hippolytus or Virbius killed by horses, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hindoo belief as to shooting stars, <ref target='Pg067'>67</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the rebirth of a father in his son, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hinnom, the Valley of, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hirpini, guided by a wolf (<foreign rend='italic'>hirpus</foreign>), <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hodson, T. C., <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hoeck, K., <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hofmayr, P. W., <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg019'>19</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holm-oak, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Holy Ghost, regarded as female, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Saturday, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Homeric age, funeral games in the, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Homicide, banishment of, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Homoeopathic or imitative magic, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref>, <ref target='Pg285'>285</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hooks, Indian custom of swinging on, <ref target='Pg278'>278</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Horse-mackerel, descent of a totemic clan from a, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -races in honour of the dead, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref>, <ref target='Pg098'>98</ref>, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref>, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>at fairs, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Horses, Hippolytus killed by, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Horus, the soul of, in Orion, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Hottentots, the mortal god of the, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Howitt, A. W., <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Human flesh, transformation into animal shape through eating, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> + +<lg> +<l>Human sacrifices at Upsala, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in ancient Greece, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mock, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>offered by ancestors of the European races, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>to renew the sun's fire, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Huntsman, the Spectral, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Huron Indians, their burial of infants, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ibadan in West Africa, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ibn Batuta, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Icarus or Icarius and his daughter Erigone, <ref target='Pg281'>281</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ida, oracular cave of Zeus on Mount, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ihering, R. von, <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ijebu tribe, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ilex or holm-oak, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Immortality, belief of savages in their natural, <ref target='Pg001'>1</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>firm belief of the North American Indians in, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Impregnation by the souls of the dying, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Incarnation of divine spirit in Shilluk kings, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>India, sacrifice of firstborn children in, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>images of Siva and Pârvati married in, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Indians of Arizona, mock human sacrifice among the, <ref target='Pg215'>215</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Canada, their ceremony for mitigating the cold of winter, <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Indifference to death displayed by many races, <ref target='Pg136'>136</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Indra and the dragon Vrtra, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Infanticide among the Australian aborigines, <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>6</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sometimes suggested by a doctrine of transmigration or reincarnation of human souls, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>prevalent in Polynesia, <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref>, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>among savages, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Infants, burial of, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ino and Melicertes, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Intervals of time, Greek and Latin modes of reckoning, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Invocavit</foreign> Sunday, <ref target='Pg243'>243</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ireland, the great fairs of ancient, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Irish sacrifice of firstlings, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Iron-Beard, Dr., a Whitsuntide mummer, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref>, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref>, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Isaac about to be sacrificed by his father Abraham, <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Isaacs, Nathaniel, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Isis, the soul of, in Sirius, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Isle of Man, May Day in the, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Isocrates, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Israelites, their custom of burning their children in honour of Baal, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Isthmian games instituted in honour of Melicertes, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Italy, seven-legged effigies of Lent in, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jack o' Lent, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jagas, a tribe of Angola, their custom of infanticide, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jaintias of Assam, <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jambi in Sumatra, temporary kings in, <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Japan, mock human sacrifices in, <ref target='Pg218'>218</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jars, burial in, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Java, Sultans of, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jawbone of king preserved, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jeoud, the only-begotten son of Cronus, sacrificed by his father, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jerome, on Tophet, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Jerusalem, the Road of,</q> <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jerusalem, sacrifice of children at, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jinn, death of the King of the, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jordanus, Friar, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Joyce, P. W., <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Judah, kings of, their custom of burning their children, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jukos, kings of the, put to death, <ref target='Pg034'>34</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jumping over a bonfire, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>June, the twenty-ninth of, St. Peter's Day, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jŭok, the great god of the Shilluk, <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Jupiter, period of revolution of the planet, <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Justin, <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kaitish, the, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kalamantans, their descent from a deer, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kali, Indian goddess, <ref target='Pg123'>123</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kamants, a Jewish tribe, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kanagra district of India, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Karpathos, custom of swinging in the island of, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Katsina, a Hausa kingdom, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kayans of Borneo, mock human sacrifices among the, <ref target='Pg218'>218</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Keonjhur, ceremony at installation of Rajah of, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kerre, a tribe accustomed to strangle their firstborn children, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Khlysti, the, a Russian sect, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Khonds of India, their human sacrifices, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kibanga, kings of, put to death, <ref target='Pg034'>34</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Killer of the Elephant, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Killing the divine king, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— of the tree-spirit, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>a means to promote the growth of vegetation, <ref target='Pg211'>211</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— a god, in the hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages of society, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>King, the killing of the divine, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>slaying of the, in legend, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>responsible for the weather and crops, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>abdicates on the birth of a son, <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>at Whitsuntide, pretence of beheading the, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> + +<lg> +<l>King of the Jinn, death of the, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— of the Wood at Nemi, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Queen of May, marriage of, <ref target='Pg266'>266</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>King Hop, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Pg151'>151</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>King's daughter offered as prize in a race, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— jawbone preserved, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— life sympathetically bound up with the prosperity of the country, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— skull used as a drinking-vessel, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— son, sacrifice of the, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— widow, succession to the throne through marriage with, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kingdom, the prize of a race, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>See also</hi> <ref target='Index-Succession'>Succession</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kings, divine, of the Shilluk, <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>regarded as incarnations of a divine spirit, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>attacks on, permitted, <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref>, <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>worship of dead, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>killed at the end of a fixed term, <ref target='Pg046'>46</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>related to sacred animals, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>personating dragons or serpents, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>addressed by names of animals, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>with a dragon or serpent crest, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the supply of, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>temporary, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>abdicate annually, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— killed when their strength fails, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— of Dahomey and Benin represented partly in animal shapes, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— of Fire and Water, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— of Uganda, dead, consulted as oracles, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kingship, octennial tenure of the, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>triennial tenure of the, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>annual tenure of the, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>diurnal tenure of the, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>burdens and restrictions attaching to the early, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>modern type of, different from the ancient, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kingsley, Mary H., <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kingsmill Islanders, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kirghiz, games in honour of the dead among the, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Kirwaido</hi>, ruler of the old Prussians, <ref target='Pg041'>41</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Königgrätz district of Bohemia, Whitsuntide custom in the, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kore expelled on Easter Eve in Albania, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Koryaks, voluntary deaths among the, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kostroma, funeral of, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kostrubonko, funeral of, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Krapf, Dr. J. L., <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Krishna, Hindoo festival of swinging in honour of, <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kupalo, funeral of, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref>, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kurnai, their fear of the Aurora Australis, <ref target='Pg267'>267</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Kutonaqa Indians of British Columbia, their sacrifice of their firstborn children to the sun, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>La Rochelle, burning of Shrove Tuesday at, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Labyrinth, the Cretan, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref>, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref>, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Labyrinths in churches, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in the north of Europe, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lada, the funeral of, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref>, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laevinus, M. Valerius, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laius and Oedipus, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Lame reign,</q> <ref target='Pg038'>38</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lammas, the first of August, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref>, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref>, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref>, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lampson, M. W., <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg273'>273</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lancelot constrained to be king, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lang, Andrew, <ref target='Pg130'>130</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laodicea in Syria, human sacrifices at, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laos, a province of Siam, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laphystian Zeus, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref>, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>, <ref target='Pg164'>164</ref>, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Last sheaf called <q>the Dead One,</q> <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Latin festival, the great (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Feriae Latinae</foreign>), <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— mode of reckoning intervals of time, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Latins, sanctity of the woodpecker among the, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Latinus, King, his disappearance, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laughlan Islanders, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laurel, sacred, guarded by a dragon, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>chewed by priestess of Apollo, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Laurel-Bearer at Thebes, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -Bearing Apollo, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -bearing, festival of the, at Thebes, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— wreath at Delphi and Thebes, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Laws of Manu</hi>, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Learchus, son of King Athamas, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lechrain, Burial of the Carnival in, <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Leipsic, <q>Carrying out Death</q> at, <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lengua Indians, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the Gran Chaco, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their practice of killing firstborn girls, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their custom of infanticide, <ref target='Pg197'>197</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lent, the fourth Sunday in, called Dead Sunday or Mid-Lent, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>, <ref target='Pg255'>255</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>personified by an actor or effigy, <ref target='Pg226'>226</ref>, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>fifth Sunday in, <ref target='Pg234'>234</ref>, <ref target='Pg239'>239</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>third Sunday in, <ref target='Pg238'>238</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Queen of, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>symbolised by a seven-legged effigy, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Leonidas, funeral games in his honour, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/> + +<lg> +<l>Leopard Societies of Western Africa, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Leopards related to royal family of Dahomey, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lepsius, R., <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lerida in Catalonia, funeral of the Carnival at, <ref target='Pg225'>225</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lerpiu, a spirit, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Letts, celebration of the summer solstice among the, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Leviathan, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Liebrecht, F., <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Life, human, valued more highly by Europeans than by many other races, <ref target='Pg135'>135</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Limu</foreign>, the Assyrian eponymate, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lion, king represented with the body of a, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lisiansky, U., <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Little Easter Sunday,</q> <ref target='Pg153'>153</ref>, <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Logan, W., <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lolos, the, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lombardy, the Day of the Old Wives in, <ref target='Pg241'>241</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Lord of the Heavenly Hosts,</q> <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref>, <ref target='Pg155'>155</ref>, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lostwithiel in Cornwall, temporary king at, <ref target='Pg153'>153</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lous, a Babylonian month, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref>, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lucian, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lug, legendary Irish hero, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref>, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lugnasad, the first of August, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lunar and solar time, attempts to harmonise, <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Luschan, F. von, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi>, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lussac, Ash Wednesday at, <ref target='Pg226'>226</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Lycaeus, Mount, Zeus on, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human sacrifices on, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Macahity, an annual festival in Hawaii, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Macassars of Celebes, their custom of swinging, <ref target='Pg277'>277</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Macdonald, Rev. J., <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Maceboard, the, in the Isle of Man, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Macgregor, Sir William, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Macha, Queen, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>McLennan, J. F., <ref target='Pg194'>194</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Magic, the Age of, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>homoeopathic or imitative, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref>, <ref target='Pg285'>285</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Magical ceremonies for the revival of nature in spring, <ref target='Pg266'>266</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>for the revival of nature in Central Australia, <ref target='Pg270'>270</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Maha Makham</foreign>, the Great Sacrifice, <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mairs, their custom of sacrificing their firstborn sons, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Malabar, custom of <foreign rend='italic'>Thalavettiparothiam</foreign> in, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>religious suicide in, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Malayans, devil-dancers, practise a mock human sacrifice, <ref target='Pg216'>216</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Malays, their belief in the Spectral Huntsman, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Malta, death of the Carnival in, <ref target='Pg224'>224</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Manasseh, King, his sacrifice of his children, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mandans, their notions as to the stars, <ref target='Pg067'>67</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Man-god, reason for killing the, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mangaians, their preference for a violent death, <ref target='Pg010'>10</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Manipur, the Naga tribes of, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mode of counting the years in, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>rajahs of, descended from a snake, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mannhardt, W., <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi>, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref>, <ref target='Pg270'>270</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Manu</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Laws of</hi>, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Maoris, the, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mara tribe of northern Australia, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Mardi Gras</foreign>, Shrove Tuesday, <ref target='Pg227'>227</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marduk, New Year festival of, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>his image at Babylon, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Tiamat, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Mareielis</foreign> at Zurich, <ref target='Pg260'>260</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marena, Winter or Death, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marketa, the holy, <ref target='Pg238'>238</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marriage, mythical and dramatic, of the Sun and Moon, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of brothers and sisters in royal families, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Sacred, of king and queen, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of gods and goddesses, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of actors disguised as animals, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Zeus and Hera, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Marriage Hollow</q> at Teltown, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Martin, Father, quoted, <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Marzana, goddess of Death, <ref target='Pg237'>237</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Masai, the, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref>, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their custom as to the skulls of dead chiefs, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Masks hung on trees, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Masquerades of kings and queens, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref>, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Masson, Bishop, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mata, the small-pox goddess, sacrifice of children to, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Matiamvo, a potentate in Angola, the manner of his death, <ref target='Pg035'>35</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mausolus, contests of eloquence in his honour, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>May, the Queen of, in the Isle of Man, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>King and Queen of, <ref target='Pg266'>266</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Bride, <ref target='Pg266'>266</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Day in Sweden, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in the Isle of Man, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -tree, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>horse-race to, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -trees, <ref target='Pg251'>251</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mbaya Indians of South America, <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their custom of infanticide, <ref target='Pg197'>197</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Medicine-men swinging as a mode of cure, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Melicertes at the Isthmus of Corinth, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in Tenedos, human sacrifices to, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> + +<lg> +<l>Memphis, statues of Summer and Winter at, <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Men and asses, redemption of firstling, <ref target='Pg173'>173</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mendes, mummy of Osiris at, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the ram-god of, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref> n.<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Menoeceus, his voluntary death, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Meriahs, human victims among the Khonds, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Meroe, Ethiopian kings of, put to death, <ref target='Pg015'>15</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Merolla, G., quoted, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Messiah, a pretended, <ref target='Pg046'>46</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Meteors, superstitions as to, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Metis, swallowed by her husband Zeus, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Metsik</foreign>, <q>wood-spirit,</q> <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref>, <ref target='Pg252'>252</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Meyer, Professor Kuno, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Micah, the prophet, on sacrifice, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref>, <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mid-Lent, the fourth Sunday in Lent, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>also called Dead Sunday, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>celebration of, <ref target='Pg234'>234</ref>, <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> at, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Midsummer Eve, Russian ceremony on, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mikados, human sacrifices formerly offered at the graves of the, <ref target='Pg218'>218</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Miltiades, funeral games in his honour, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Minahassa, mock human sacrifices in, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Minorca, seven-legged images of Lent in, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Minos, king of Cnossus, his reign of eight years, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>tribute of youths and maidens sent to, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Britomartis, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Minotaur, legend of the, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref>, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Minyas, king of Orchomenus, <ref target='Pg164'>164</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mnevis, the sacred bull of Heliopolis, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Moab, king of, sacrifices his son on the wall, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mock human sacrifices, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacrifices of finger-joints, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— sultan in Morocco, <ref target='Pg152'>152</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mohammedan belief as to falling stars, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Moloch, sacrifice of children to, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Moon represented by a cow, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>myth of the setting and rising, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>married to Endymion, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and sun, mythical and dramatic marriage of the, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Morasas, the, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Moravia, <q>Carrying out Death</q> in, <ref target='Pg238'>238</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Morocco, annual temporary king in, <ref target='Pg152'>152</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mortality of the gods, <ref target='Pg001'>1</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Moschus, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Moss, W., <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mother of the Grape-cluster, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Moulton, Professor J. H., <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mounds, sepulchral, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref>, <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mulai Rasheed II., <ref target='Pg153'>153</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Müller, K. O., <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref>, <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref>, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mumbo Jumbos, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mummers, the Whitsuntide, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Murderers, their bodies destroyed, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mutch, Captain J. S., <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Mysore, mimic rite of circumcision in, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Myths of creation, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nabu, a Babylonian god, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Naga tribes of Manipur, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nagpur, the cobra the crest of the Maharajah of, <ref target='Pg132'>132</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Namaquas, the, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Natural death regarded as a calamity, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nauroz and Eed festivals, <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nemean games celebrated in honour of Opheltes, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nemi, priest of, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>King of the Wood at, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nephele, wife of King Athamas, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>New Britain, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Guinea, the Papuans of, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Hebrides, burial alive in the, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— South Wales, sacrifice of firstborn children among the aborigines of, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ngarigo, the, of New South Wales, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ngoio, a province of Congo, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nias, custom of succession to the chieftainship in, <ref target='Pg198'>198</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l>mock human sacrifices at funerals in, <ref target='Pg216'>216</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nicobarese, their sham-fights to gratify the dead, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Niederpöring in Bavaria, Whitsuntide custom at, <ref target='Pg206'>206</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Niué or Savage Island, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nöldeke, Professor Th., <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Normandy, Burial of Shrove Tuesday in, <ref target='Pg228'>228</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Norsemen, their custom of wounding the dying, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>North Africa, festivals of swinging in, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— American Indians, their funeral celebrations, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their firm belief in immortality, <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nyakang, founder of the dynasty of Shilluk kings, <ref target='Pg018'>18</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Nyikpla or Nyigbla, a negro divinity, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oak, sacred, at Delphi, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>effigy of Death buried under an, <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/> + +<lg> +<l>Oak branches, Whitsuntide mummer swathed in, <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -leaves, crown of, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oath by the Styx, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Octennial cycle based on an attempt to harmonise lunar and solar time, <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— tenure of the kingship, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Odin, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>legend of the deposition of, <ref target='Pg056'>56</ref>; sacrifice of king's sons to, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human sacrifices to, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oedipus, legend of, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oenomaus at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oesel, island of, <ref target='Pg066'>66</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Old Man, name of the corn-spirit, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— people killed, <ref target='Pg011'>11</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Wives, the Day of the, <ref target='Pg241'>241</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Woman, Sawing the, a ceremony in Lent, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>name applied to the corn-spirit, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oldenberg, Professor H., <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oleae, the, at Orchomenus, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>, <ref target='Pg164'>164</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Olive crown at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Olympia, tombs of Pelops and Endymion at, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Olympiads based on the octennial cycle, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Olympic festival based on the octennial cycle, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>based on astronomical, not agricultural considerations, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— games said to have been founded in honour of Pelops, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— stadium, the, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— victors regarded as embodiments of Zeus, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, or of the Sun and Moon, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref>, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Omen-birds, stories of their origin, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref>, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>On or Aun, king of Sweden, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Opheltes at Nemea, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ophites, the, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oracular springs, <ref target='Pg079'>79</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Orchomenus in Boeotia, human sacrifice at, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ordeal by poison, fatal effects of, <ref target='Pg197'>197</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Orestes, flight of, <ref target='Pg213'>213</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Origen, on the Holy Spirit, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Orion the soul of Horus, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Ororo</foreign>, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Osiris, the mummy of, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Otho, suicide of the Emperor, <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ox-blood, bath of, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Oxen sacrificed instead of human beings, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Palermo, ceremony of <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> at, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Palm Sunday, <q>Sawing the Old Woman</q> on, <ref target='Pg243'>243</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Palodes, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pan, death of the Great, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Panebian Libyans, their custom of cutting off the heads of their dead kings, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Papuans, the, of Doreh Bay in New Guinea, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Parker, Professor E. H., <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Parkinson, John, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Parrots' eggs, a signal of death, <ref target='Pg040'>40</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Parsons, Harold G., <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Parthenon, eastern frieze of the, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pârvatî and Siva, marriage of the images of, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pasiphae identified with the moon, <ref target='Pg072'>72</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and the bull, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Pass through the fire,</q> meaning of the phrase as applied to the sacrifice of children, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi>, <ref target='Pg172'>172</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Passier, kings of, put to death, <ref target='Pg051'>51</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Passover, tradition of the origin of the, <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pau Pi, an effigy of the Carnival, <ref target='Pg225'>225</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pausanias, King, funeral games in his honour, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Payagua Indians, <ref target='Pg012'>12</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Payne, E. J., <ref target='Pg069'>69</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Paxos, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Peking Gazette</hi>, <ref target='Pg274'>274</ref>, <ref target='Pg275'>275</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pelops worshipped at Olympia, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacred precinct of, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref>, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Hippodamia at Olympia, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Penance for the slaughter of the dragon, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Peregrinus, his death by fire, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Persia, temporary kings in, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Personification of abstract ideas not primitive, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Peru, sacrifice of children among the Indians of, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Perun, sacrifice of firstborn children to, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Peruvian Indians, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Pfingstl</hi>, a Whitsuntide mummer, <ref target='Pg206'>206</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg211'>211</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Phalaris, the brazen bull of, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Phaya Phollathep, <q>Lord of the Heavenly Hosts,</q> <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pherecydes, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Philippine Islands, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Philo Judaeus, his doctrine of the Trinity, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— of Byblus, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Phocaeans, dead, propitiated with games, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Phoenicians, their custom of human sacrifice, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref>, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Phrixus and Helle, the children of King Athamas, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Piceni, guided by a woodpecker (<foreign rend='italic'>picus</foreign>), <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pilsen district of Bohemia, Whitsuntide custom in the, <ref target='Pg210'>210</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pindar on the rebirth of the dead, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/> + +<lg> +<l>Pitrè, G., <ref target='Pg224'>224</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Plataea, sacrifices and funeral games in honour of the slain at, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Plato on human sacrifices, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ploughing, annual ceremony of, performed by temporary king, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Pg155'>155</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ploughs, bronze, used by Etruscans at founding of cities, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Plutarch, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on the death of the Great Pan, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on human sacrifices among the Carthaginians, <ref target='Pg167'>167</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Poison ordeal, fatal effects of the use of the, <ref target='Pg197'>197</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Polynesia, remarkable rule of succession in, <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>prevalence of infanticide in, <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref>, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Poplars burnt on Shrove Tuesday, <ref target='Pg224'>224</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Poseidon, identified with Erechtheus, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Posidonius, ancient Greek traveller, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Possession by spirits of dead kings, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Preference for a violent death, <ref target='Pg009'>9</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pregnancy, funeral rites performed for a father in the fifth month of his wife's, <ref target='Pg189'>189</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Prince of Wales Islands, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Procopius, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Prussians, supreme ruler of the old, <ref target='Pg041'>41</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>custom of the old, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pruyssenaere, E. de, <ref target='Pg030'>30</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Psoloeis, the, at Orchomenus, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>, <ref target='Pg164'>164</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ptarmigans and ducks, dramatic contest of the, <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Puruha, a province of Quito, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pururavas and Urvasi, Indian story of, <ref target='Pg131'>131</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pylos, burning the Carnival at, <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pythagoras at Delphi, <ref target='Pg004'>4</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Pythian games, <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>celebrated in honour of the Python, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Queen of May in the Isle of Man, <ref target='Pg259'>259</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>married to the King of May, <ref target='Pg266'>266</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— of Winter in the Isle of Man, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Queensland, natives of, their superstitions as to falling stars, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Quilicare, suicide of kings of, <ref target='Pg046'>46</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Quiteve, title of kings of Sofala, <ref target='Pg037'>37</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Race for the kingdom at Olympia, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Races to determine the successor to the kingship, <ref target='Pg103'>103</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Radica</hi>, a festival at the end of the Carnival at Frosinone, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rahab or Leviathan, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rain-charms, <ref target='Pg211'>211</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— clan, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -god, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -makers among the Dinka, <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -making ceremonies, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rajah, temporary, <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ralî, the fair of, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ram with golden fleece, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -god of Mendes, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— sacrificed to Pelops, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg104'>104</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Raratonga, custom of succession in, <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Rauchfiess</hi>, a Whitsuntide mummer, <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rebirth of the dead, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of a father in his son, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the parent in the child, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Reckoning intervals of time, Greek and Latin modes of reckoning, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Redemption of firstling men and asses, <ref target='Pg173'>173</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Regalia in Celebes, sanctity of, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Regicide among the Slavs, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>modified custom of, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Regifugium</foreign> at Rome, <ref target='Pg213'>213</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Reinach, Salomon, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Reincarnation of human souls, belief in, a motive for infanticide, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Religion, the Age of, <ref target='Pg002'>2</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Renewal, annual, of king's power at Babylon, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Resurrection of the god, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the tree-spirit, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of a god in the hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages of society, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>enacted in Shrovetide or Lenten ceremonies, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the effigy of Death, <ref target='Pg247'>247</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the Carnival, <ref target='Pg252'>252</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the Wild Man, <ref target='Pg252'>252</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Kostrubonko at Eastertide, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Retaliation in Southern India, law of, <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rhea and Cronus, <ref target='Pg194'>194</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rhegium in Italy, <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rhodes, human sacrifices to Baal in, <ref target='Pg195'>195</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rhys, Sir John, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rigveda, the, <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Road of Jerusalem,</q> <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Robinson, Captain W. C., <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rockhill, W. W., <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Roman custom of catching the souls of the dying, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of vowing a <q>Sacred Spring,</q> <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— funeral customs, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— game of Troy, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— indifference to death, <ref target='Pg143'>143</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rome, funeral games at, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Regifugium</foreign> at, <ref target='Pg213'>213</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rook, custom of killing all firstborn children in the island of, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Roscher, W. H., <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Roscoe, Rev. J., <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref>, <ref target='Pg182'>182</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rose, H. A., <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rose, the Sunday of the, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Rottweil, the Carnival Fool at, <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Russia, funeral ceremonies of Kostrubonko, etc., in, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Russians, religious suicides among the, <ref target='Pg044'>44</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the heathen, their sacrifice of the firstborn children, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/> + +<lg> +<l>Sacaea, a Babylonian festival, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sacred Marriage of king and queen, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of actors disguised as animals, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of gods and goddesses, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of Zeus and Hera, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— spears, <ref target='Pg019'>19</ref>, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Sacred spring, the,</q> among the ancient Italian peoples, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sacrifice of the king's son, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of the firstborn, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of finger-joints, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sacrifices for rain, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>for the sick, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>to totems, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>to the dead, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg093'>93</ref>, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref>, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref>, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>of children among the Semites, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— human, in ancient Greece, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mock human, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— vicarious, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in ancient Greece, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. George and the Dragon, <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>swinging on the festival of, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. John's Day (the summer solstice), swinging at, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Eve, Russian ceremony on, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saint-Lô, the burning of Shrove Tuesday at, <ref target='Pg228'>228</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>St. Peter's Day, the twenty-ninth of June, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saintonge and Aunis, burning the Carnival in, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sakalavas, sanctity of relics of dead kings among the, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Salamis in Cyprus, human sacrifices at, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Salih, a prophet, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Salish Indians, their sacrifice of their firstborn children to the sun, <ref target='Pg184'>184</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Salmoneus, his imitation of thunder and lightning, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Samaracand, New Year ceremony at, <ref target='Pg151'>151</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Samnites, guided by a bull, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Samoa, expiation for disrespect to a sacred animal in, <ref target='Pg216'>216</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Samorin, title of the kings of Calicut, <ref target='Pg047'>47</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Samothracian mysteries, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Santal custom of swinging on hooks, <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Santos, J. dos, <ref target='Pg037'>37</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sarawak, Dyaks of, <ref target='Pg277'>277</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saturday, Holy, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Savage Island, mimic rite of circumcision in, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Savages believe themselves naturally immortal, <ref target='Pg001'>1</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Savou, island of, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Sawing the Old Woman,</q> a Lenten ceremony, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saws at Mid-Lent, <ref target='Pg241'>241</ref>, <ref target='Pg242'>242</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saxon kings, their marriage with their stepmothers, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saxons of Transylvania, the hanging of an effigy of Carnival among the, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Saxony, Whitsuntide mummers in, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Scarli</hi>, <ref target='Pg224'>224</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schmidt, A., <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schmiedel, Professor P., <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schoolcraft, H. R., <ref target='Pg137'>137</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schörzingen, the Carnival Fool at, <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Schwegler, F. C. A., <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sdach Méac, title of annual temporary king of Cambodia, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sea Dyaks, their stories of the origin of omen birds, <ref target='Pg126'>126</ref>, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Seligmann, C. G., <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref>, <ref target='Pg021'>21</ref>, <ref target='Pg022'>22</ref>, <ref target='Pg023'>23</ref>, <ref target='Pg026'>26</ref>, <ref target='Pg030'>30</ref>, <ref target='Pg033'>33</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Semang, the, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Semic in Bohemia, beheading the king on Whit-Monday at, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Seminoles of Florida, souls of the dying caught among the, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Semites, sacrifices of children among the, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Semitic Baal, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Senjero, sacrifice of firstborn sons in, <ref target='Pg182'>182</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sepharvites, their sacrifices of children, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Seriphos, custom of swinging in the island of, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Serpent, the Brazen, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacred, on the Acropolis at Athens, <ref target='Pg086'>86</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>or dragons personated by kings, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>transmigration of the souls of the dead into, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Servitude for the slaughter of dragons, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Servius, on the legend of Erigone, <ref target='Pg282'>282</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Seven youths and maidens, tribute of, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -legged effigy of Lent, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shadow Day, a gypsy name for Palm Sunday, <ref target='Pg243'>243</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Queen, the, <ref target='Pg243'>243</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sham fight, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shark, king of Dahomey represented with body of a, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shilluk, a tribe of the White Nile, <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>custom of putting to death the divine kings, <ref target='Pg017'>17</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg204'>204</ref>, <ref target='Pg206'>206</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>ceremony on the accession of a new king of the, <ref target='Pg204'>204</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shirt worn by the effigy of Death, its use, <ref target='Pg247'>247</ref>, <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shooting stars, superstitions as to, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shrines of dead kings, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shrove Tuesday, Burial of the Carnival on, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>mock death of, <ref target='Pg227'>227</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>drama of Summer and Winter on, <ref target='Pg257'>257</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Shrovetide custom in the Erzgebirge, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in Bohemia, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Bear, the, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/> + +<lg> +<l>Shurii-Kia-Miau, aboriginal tribe in China, <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Siam, annual temporary kings in, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Siamese, mock human sacrifices among the, <ref target='Pg218'>218</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sick, sacrifices for the, <ref target='Pg020'>20</ref>, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>thought to be possessed by the spirits of kings, <ref target='Pg025'>25</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Silesia, <q>Carrying out Death</q> in, <ref target='Pg236'>236</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Singalang Burong, the Ruler of the Spirit World, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref>, <ref target='Pg128'>128</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sioo or Siauw, mock human sacrifices in the island of, <ref target='Pg218'>218</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sirius, the soul of Isis in, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sister, marriage with, in royal families, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Siu, a Sea Dyak, and his bird wife, <ref target='Pg127'>127</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Siva and Pârvatî, marriage of the images of, <ref target='Pg265'>265</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Six hundred and sixty-six, the number of the Beast, <ref target='Pg044'>44</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Skoptsi, a Russian sect, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Skull of dead king used as a drinking-vessel, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Skulls of dead kings removed and kept, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sky-spirit, sacrifice of children to, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Slaughter of the Dragon, drama of the, at Delphi and Thebes, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>myth of the, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Slavs, custom of regicide among the, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>festival of the New Year among the old, <ref target='Pg221'>221</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>"Sawing the Old Woman" among the, <ref target='Pg242'>242</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Slaying of the king in legend, <ref target='Pg120'>120</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Smith, W. Robertson, <ref target='Pg008'>8</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Snake, rajahs of Manipur descended from a, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sofala, kings of, put to death, <ref target='Pg037'>37</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>dead kings of, consulted as oracles, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Solar and lunar time, early attempts to harmonise, <ref target='Pg068'>68</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Son of the king sacrificed for his father, <ref target='Pg160'>160</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sons of gods, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Soranian Wolves,</q> <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Soul, succession to the, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Souls of the dead supposed to resemble their bodies, as these were at the moment of death, <ref target='Pg010'>10</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>associated with falling stars, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>transmitted to successors, <ref target='Pg198'>198</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>South American Indians, their insensibility to pain, <ref target='Pg138'>138</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spain, seven-legged effigies of Lent in, <ref target='Pg244'>244</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spartan kings liable to be deposed every eighth year, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spears, sacred, <ref target='Pg019'>19</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spectral Huntsman, <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spencer and Gillen, quoted, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>6</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spirit, the Great, of the American Indians, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spitting to avert demons, <ref target='Pg063'>63</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spring equinox, custom of swinging at, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>drama of Summer and Winter at the, <ref target='Pg257'>257</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Spring, magical ceremonies for the revival of nature in, <ref target='Pg266'>266</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Spring, the Sacred,</q> among the ancient Italian peoples, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Springs, oracular, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stadium, the Olympic, <ref target='Pg287'>287</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Standing on one foot, custom of, <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref>, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref>, <ref target='Pg155'>155</ref>, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stars, the souls of Egyptian gods in, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>shooting, superstitions as to, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their supposed influence on human destiny, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg067'>67</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stepmother, marriage with a, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stevens, Captain John, his <hi rend='italic'>History of Persia</hi> quoted, <ref target='Pg158'>158</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stigand, Captain C. H., <ref target='Pg182'>182</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Stool at installation of Shilluk kings, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Students of Fez, their mock sultan, <ref target='Pg152'>152</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Styx, oath by the, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Substitutes, voluntary, for capital punishment in China, <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg273'>273</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<anchor id='Index-Succession'/> +<l>Succession in Polynesia, customs of, <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— to the kingdom through marriage with a sister or with the king's widow, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>conferred by personal relics of dead kings, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— to the soul, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sufi II., Shah of Persia, <ref target='Pg158'>158</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Suicide of Buddhist monks, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>epidemic of, in Russia, <ref target='Pg044'>44</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>by hanging, <ref target='Pg282'>282</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>——, religious, <ref target='Pg042'>42</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in India, <ref target='Pg054'>54</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>——, hand of, cut off, <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sulka, the, of New Britain, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><q>Sultan of the Scribes,</q> <ref target='Pg152'>152</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Summer, bringing in, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref>, <ref target='Pg237'>237</ref>, <ref target='Pg238'>238</ref>, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Winter, dramatic battle of, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— solstice in connexion with the Olympic festival, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>swinging at the, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— trees, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref>, <ref target='Pg251'>251</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sun represented by a bull, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>represented as a man with a bull's head, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>eclipses of the, beliefs and practices as to, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacrifice of firstborn children to the, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>called <q>the golden swing in the sky,</q> <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/> + +<lg> +<l>Sun and Moon, mythical and dramatic marriage of, <ref target='Pg071'>71</ref>, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref>, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sunday of the Rose, <ref target='Pg222'>222</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Supply of kings, <ref target='Pg134'>134</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Supreme Beings, otiose, in Africa, <ref target='Pg019'>19</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Swabia, Whitsuntide mummers in, <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Shrovetide or Lenten ceremonies in, <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref>, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Sweden, May Day in, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Swedish kings, traces of nine years' reign of, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Swing in the Sky, the Golden, description of the sun, <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Swinging as a ceremony or magical rite, <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref>, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg277'>277</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on hooks run through the body, Indian custom, <ref target='Pg278'>278</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>as a mode of inspiration, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>as a festal rite in modern Greece, Spain, and Italy, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Swords, golden, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Syene, <ref target='Pg144'>144</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Syntengs of Assam, <ref target='Pg055'>55</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Syro-Macedonian calendar, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tahiti, remarkable rule of succession in, <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tahitians, their notions as to eclipses of the sun and moon, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tailltiu or Tailltin, the fair of, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref>, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Takilis or Carrier Indians, succession to the soul among the, <ref target='Pg199'>199</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Talos, a bronze man, perhaps identical with the Minotaur, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tammuz or Adonis, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tara, pagan cemetery at, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tarahumares, the, of Mexico, <ref target='Pg062'>62</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Taui Islanders, <ref target='Pg061'>61</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tchiglit Esquimaux, the, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tel-El-Amarna tablets, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Teltown, the fair at, <ref target='Pg099'>99</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tempe, the Vale of, <ref target='Pg081'>81</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Temporary kings, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tenedos, sacrifice of infants to Melicertes in, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tengaroeng in Borneo, swinging at, <ref target='Pg280'>280</ref>, <ref target='Pg281'>281</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Thalavettiparothiam</foreign>, a custom observed in Malabar, <ref target='Pg052'>52</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Thamus, an Egyptian pilot, <ref target='Pg006'>6</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Thebes, festival of the Laurel-Bearing at, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg088'>88</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Theopompus, <ref target='Pg095'>95</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Theseus and Ariadne, <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Thiodolf, the poet, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Thracians, funeral games held by the, <ref target='Pg096'>96</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>their contempt of death, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Throne, reverence for the, <ref target='Pg051'>51</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Thüringen, Whitsuntide mummers in, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Carrying out Death in, <ref target='Pg235'>235</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tiamat and Marduk, <ref target='Pg105'>105</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tiberius, his enquiries as to the death of Pan, <ref target='Pg007'>7</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>his attempt to put down Carthaginian sacrifices of children, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tilton, E. L., <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Time, Greek and Latin modes of reckoning intervals of, <ref target='Pg059'>59</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Timoleon, funeral games in his honour, <ref target='Pg094'>94</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tinneh Indians, the, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref>, <ref target='Pg278'>278</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tirunavayi temple, <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tlachtga, pagan cemetery at, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Toboongkoos, mock human sacrifices among the, <ref target='Pg219'>219</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend='italic'>Todtenstein</foreign>, <ref target='Pg264'>264</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tonquinese custom of catching the soul of the dying, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tooth of dead king kept, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tophet, <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref>, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Torres Straits, funeral custom in, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Totemism of the Dinka, <ref target='Pg030'>30</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>possible trace of Latin, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the source of a particular type of folk-tales, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Totems, sacrifices to, <ref target='Pg031'>31</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>stories told to account for the origin of, <ref target='Pg129'>129</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Toumou, Egyptian god, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Transformations into animals, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Transmigration of souls of the dead into serpents and other animals, <ref target='Pg084'>84</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>belief in, a motive for infanticide, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Transmission of soul to successor, <ref target='Pg198'>198</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trasimene Lake, battle of, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tree-spirit, killing of the, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>resurrection of the, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in relation to vegetation-spirit, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trees, masks hung on, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trevelyan, G. M., <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tribute of youths and maidens, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Triennial tenure of the kingship, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trinity, Christian doctrine of the, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trocadero Museum, statues of kings of Dahomey in the, <ref target='Pg085'>85</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trojeburg, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Trophonius at Lebadea, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Troy, the game of, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Tshi-speaking negroes of the Gold Coast, their stories to explain their totemism, <ref target='Pg128'>128</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Turrbal tribe of Queensland, <ref target='Pg060'>60</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Typhon, the soul of, in the Great Bear, <ref target='Pg005'>5</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Uganda, king of, <ref target='Pg039'>39</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>human sacrifices in, <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>firstborn sons strangled in, <ref target='Pg182'>182</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>dead kings of, give oracles through inspired mediums, <ref target='Pg200'>200</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ujjain in Western India, <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg132'>132</ref>, <ref target='Pg133'>133</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ulster, tombs of the kings of, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Unyoro, kings of, put to death, <ref target='Pg034'>34</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Upsala, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sepulchral mound at, <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>great festival at, <ref target='Pg058'>58</ref></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/> + +<lg> +<l>Uranus mutilated by his son Cronus, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Urvasi and King Pururavas, Indian story of, <ref target='Pg131'>131</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ushnagh, pagan cemetery at, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Valhala, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Varro on a Roman funeral custom, <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on suicides by hanging, <ref target='Pg282'>282</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vegetation, death and revival of, <ref target='Pg263'>263</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -spirit perhaps generalised from a tree-spirit, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vicarious sacrifices, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>in ancient Greece, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vikramaditya, legendary king of Ujjain, <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg132'>132</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vintage, first-fruits of the, offered to Icarius and Erigone, <ref target='Pg283'>283</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Virbius or Hippolytus killed by horses, <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Virgil, on the game of Troy, <ref target='Pg076'>76</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on the creation of the world, <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vishnu, mock human sacrifice in the worship of, <ref target='Pg216'>216</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Volcano, sacrifice of child to, <ref target='Pg218'>218</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vosges Mountains, superstition as to shooting stars in the, <ref target='Pg067'>67</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Vṛtra, the dragon, <ref target='Pg106'>106</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wachtl in Moravia, drama of Summer and Winter at, <ref target='Pg257'>257</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wadai, Sultan of, <ref target='Pg039'>39</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wade, Sir Thomas, <ref target='Pg273'>273</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Waizganthos, an old Prussian god, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wak, a sky-spirit, <ref target='Pg181'>181</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wambugwe, the, <ref target='Pg065'>65</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Water, effigies of Death thrown into the, <ref target='Pg234'>234</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg246'>246</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -bird, a Whitsuntide mummer, <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -dragon, drama of the slaying of, <ref target='Pg078'>78</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Weinhold, K., <ref target='Pg057'>57</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wends, their custom of killing and eating the old, <ref target='Pg014'>14</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Westermarck, Dr. E., <ref target='Pg016'>16</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg153'>153</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>, <ref target='Pg189'>189</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi>, <ref target='Pg204'>204</ref><hi rend='italic'> n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wheat at Lammas, offerings of, <ref target='Pg101'>101</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wheel, effigy of Death attached to a, <ref target='Pg247'>247</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Whiteway, R. S., <ref target='Pg051'>51</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Whitsuntide, drama of Summer and Winter at, <ref target='Pg257'>257</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— King, <ref target='Pg209'>209</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Mummers, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Queen, <ref target='Pg210'>210</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Widow of king, succession to the throne through marriage with the, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wieland's House, <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wild Man, a Whitsuntide mummer, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg212'>212</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Winter, Queen of, in the Isle of Man, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>effigy of, burned at Zurich, <ref target='Pg260'>260</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Summer, dramatic battle of, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wolf, transformation into, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>said to have guided the Samnites, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— -god, Zeus as the, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wolves, Soranian, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Woman, Sawing the Old, a Lenten ceremony, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wood, King of the, at Nemi, <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Woodpecker (<foreign rend='italic'>picus</foreign>) said to have guided the Piceni, <ref target='Pg186'>186</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>sacred among the Latins, <hi rend='italic'>ib.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Worship of dead kings, <ref target='Pg024'>24</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wotjobaluk, the, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wounding the dead or dying, custom of, <ref target='Pg013'>13</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wrestling-matches in honour of the dead, <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wurmlingen in Swabia, Whitsuntide custom at, <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the Carnival Fool at, <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Wyse, W., <ref target='Pg144'>144</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Xeres, Fr., early Spanish historian, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Xerxes in Thessaly, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Ximanas, an Indian tribe of the Amazon, kill all their firstborn children, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Yarilo, the funeral of, <ref target='Pg261'>261</ref>, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Year, the Great, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Years, mode of counting the, in Manipur, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Yerrunthally tribe of Queensland, <ref target='Pg064'>64</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Yorubas, the, <ref target='Pg041'>41</ref>, <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Youths and maidens, tribute of, sent to Minos, <ref target='Pg074'>74</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Zagmuk, a Babylonian festival, <ref target='Pg110'>110</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref>, <ref target='Pg115'>115</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Zeus, the grave of, <ref target='Pg003'>3</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>oracular cave of, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>on Mount Lycaeus, <ref target='Pg070'>70</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>his transformations into animals, <ref target='Pg082'>82</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the Wolf-god, <ref target='Pg083'>83</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>the Olympic victors regarded as embodiments of, <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>swallows his wife Metis, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>his marriage with his sister Hera, <ref target='Pg194'>194</ref>;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>and Europa, <ref target='Pg073'>73</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— and Hera, sacred marriage of, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>—— Laphystian, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref>, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>, <ref target='Pg164'>164</ref>, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Zimmern, H., <ref target='Pg111'>111</ref> <hi rend='italic'>n.</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>1</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Zoganes at Babylon, <ref target='Pg114'>114</ref></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Zulu kings put to death, <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Zurich, effigies of Winter burnt at, <ref target='Pg260'>260</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l> +</lg> + +</div> + +</body> +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> diff --git a/41572-tei/images/cover.jpg b/41572-tei/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1db89ad --- /dev/null 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