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diff --git a/43049-tei/43049-tei.tei b/43049-tei/43049-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b912a5f --- /dev/null +++ b/43049-tei/43049-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,21071 @@ +<?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: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 10 of 12)</title> + <title type="sub">Balder the Beautiful, Vol. 1 of 2.</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>June 27, 2013</date> + <idno type="etext-no">43049</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="la"></language> + <language id="fr"></language> + <language id="gd"></language> + <language id="zh"></language> + <language id="de"></language> + <language id="et"></language> + <language id="ja"></language> + <language id="cy"></language> + <language id="gv"></language> + <language id="kw"></language> + <language id="ga"></language> + <language id="ar"></language> + <language id="sv"></language> + <language id="es"></language> + <language id="ru"></language> + <language id="mt"></language> + <language id="sr"></language> + <language id="sq"></language> + <language id="fa"></language> + <language id="bg"></language> + <language id="no"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2013-06-27">June 27, 2013</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">Vol. X. of XII.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Part VII: Balder the Beautiful.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">The Fire-Festivals of Europe and the Doctrine of the External Soul.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Vol. 1 of 2.</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">1919</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> +In this concluding part of <hi rend='italic'>The Golden Bough</hi> I have discussed +the problem which gives its title to the whole work. +If I am right, the Golden Bough over which the King of +the Wood, Diana's priest at Aricia, kept watch and ward +was no other than a branch of mistletoe growing on an oak +within the sacred grove; and as the plucking of the bough +was a necessary prelude to the slaughter of the priest, I +have been led to institute a parallel between the King of +the Wood at Nemi and the Norse god Balder, who was +worshipped in a sacred grove beside the beautiful Sogne +fiord of Norway and was said to have perished by a stroke +of mistletoe, which alone of all things on earth or in heaven +could wound him. On the theory here suggested both +Balder and the King of the Wood personified in a sense +the sacred oak of our Aryan forefathers, and both had +deposited their lives or souls for safety in the parasite which +sometimes, though rarely, is found growing on an oak and +by the very rarity of its appearance excites the wonder and +stimulates the devotion of ignorant men. Though I am +now less than ever disposed to lay weight on the analogy +between the Italian priest and the Norse god, I have +allowed it to stand because it furnishes me with a pretext +for discussing not only the general question of the external +soul in popular superstition, but also the fire-festivals of +Europe, since fire played a part both in the myth of Balder +and in the ritual of the Arician grove. Thus Balder the +<pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> +Beautiful in my hands is little more than a stalking-horse +to carry two heavy pack-loads of facts. And what is true +of Balder applies equally to the priest of Nemi himself, +the nominal hero of the long tragedy of human folly +and suffering which has unrolled itself before the readers +of these volumes, and on which the curtain is now about +to fall. He, too, for all the quaint garb he wears and the +gravity with which he stalks across the stage, is merely a +puppet, and it is time to unmask him before laying him up +in the box. +</p> + +<p> +To drop metaphor, while nominally investigating a +particular problem of ancient mythology, I have really +been discussing questions of more general interest which +concern the gradual evolution of human thought from +savagery to civilization. The enquiry is beset with difficulties +of many kinds, for the record of man's mental +development is even more imperfect than the record of his +physical development, and it is harder to read, not only by +reason of the incomparably more subtle and complex nature +of the subject, but because the reader's eyes are apt to be +dimmed by thick mists of passion and prejudice, which +cloud in a far less degree the fields of comparative anatomy +and geology. My contribution to the history of the human +mind consists of little more than a rough and purely provisional +classification of facts gathered almost entirely from +printed sources. If there is one general conclusion which +seems to emerge from the mass of particulars, I venture to +think that it is the essential similarity in the working of the +less developed human mind among all races, which corresponds +to the essential similarity in their bodily frame +revealed by comparative anatomy. But while this general +mental similarity may, I believe, be taken as established, we +must always be on our guard against tracing to it a multitude +of particular resemblances which may be and often are +due to simple diffusion, since nothing is more certain than +<pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> +that the various races of men have borrowed from each +other many of their arts and crafts, their ideas, customs, +and institutions. To sift out the elements of culture which +a race has independently evolved and to distinguish them +accurately from those which it has derived from other races +is a task of extreme difficulty and delicacy, which promises +to occupy students of man for a long time to come; indeed +so complex are the facts and so imperfect in most cases +is the historical record that it may be doubted whether in +regard to many of the lower races we shall ever arrive at +more than probable conjectures. +</p> + +<p> +Since the last edition of <hi rend='italic'>The Golden Bough</hi> was published +some thirteen years ago, I have seen reason to change +my views on several matters discussed in this concluding +part of the work, and though I have called attention to +these changes in the text, it may be well for the sake of +clearness to recapitulate them here. +</p> + +<p> +In the first place, the arguments of Dr. Edward Westermarck +have satisfied me that the solar theory of the European +fire-festivals, which I accepted from W. Mannhardt, is very +slightly, if at all, supported by the evidence and is probably +erroneous. The true explanation of the festivals I now +believe to be the one advocated by Dr. Westermarck himself, +namely that they are purificatory in intention, the fire +being designed not, as I formerly held, to reinforce the sun's +light and heat by sympathetic magic, but merely to burn or +repel the noxious things, whether conceived as material or +spiritual, which threaten the life of man, of animals, and of +plants. This aspect of the fire-festivals had not wholly +escaped me in former editions; I pointed it out explicitly, +but, biassed perhaps by the great authority of Mannhardt, I +treated it as secondary and subordinate instead of primary +and dominant. Out of deference to Mannhardt, for whose +work I entertain the highest respect, and because the +evidence for the purificatory theory of the fires is perhaps +<pb n='viii'/><anchor id='Pgviii'/> +not quite conclusive, I have in this edition repeated and +even reinforced the arguments for the solar theory of the +festivals, so that the reader may see for himself what can be +said on both sides of the question and may draw his own +conclusion; but for my part I cannot but think that the +arguments for the purificatory theory far outweigh the +arguments for the solar theory. Dr. Westermarck based +his criticisms largely on his own observations of the Mohammedan +fire-festivals of Morocco, which present a remarkable +resemblance to those of Christian Europe, though there +seems no reason to assume that herein Africa has borrowed +from Europe or Europe from Africa. So far as Europe is +concerned, the evidence tends strongly to shew that the +grand evil which the festivals aimed at combating was +witchcraft, and that they were conceived to attain their end +by actually burning the witches, whether visible or invisible, +in the flames. If that was so, the wide prevalence and the +immense popularity of the fire-festivals provides us with a +measure for estimating the extent of the hold which the +belief in witchcraft had on the European mind before the +rise of Christianity or rather of rationalism; for Christianity, +both Catholic and Protestant, accepted the old belief and +enforced it in the old way by the faggot and the stake. It +was not until human reason at last awoke after the long +slumber of the Middle Ages that this dreadful obsession +gradually passed away like a dark cloud from the intellectual +horizon of Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Yet we should deceive ourselves if we imagined that the +belief in witchcraft is even now dead in the mass of the +people; on the contrary there is ample evidence to shew +that it only hibernates under the chilling influence of +rationalism, and that it would start into active life if that +influence were ever seriously relaxed. The truth seems to +be that to this day the peasant remains a pagan and savage +at heart; his civilization is merely a thin veneer which the +<pb n='ix'/><anchor id='Pgix'/> +hard knocks of life soon abrade, exposing the solid core of +paganism and savagery below. The danger created by a +bottomless layer of ignorance and superstition under the +crust of civilized society is lessened, not only by the natural +torpidity and inertia of the bucolic mind, but also by the +progressive decrease of the rural as compared with the urban +population in modern states; for I believe it will be found +that the artisans who congregate in towns are far less +retentive of primitive modes of thought than their rustic +brethren. In every age cities have been the centres and as +it were the lighthouses from which ideas radiate into the +surrounding darkness, kindled by the friction of mind with +mind in the crowded haunts of men; and it is natural that +at these beacons of intellectual light all should partake in +some measure of the general illumination. No doubt the +mental ferment and unrest of great cities have their dark as +well as their bright side; but among the evils to be apprehended +from them the chances of a pagan revival need +hardly be reckoned. +</p> + +<p> +Another point on which I have changed my mind is the +nature of the great Aryan god whom the Romans called +Jupiter and the Greeks Zeus. Whereas I formerly argued +that he was primarily a personification of the sacred oak +and only in the second place a personification of the thundering +sky, I now invert the order of his divine functions and +believe that he was a sky-god before he came to be associated +with the oak. In fact, I revert to the traditional view of +Jupiter, recant my heresy, and am gathered like a lost sheep +into the fold of mythological orthodoxy. The good shepherd +who has brought me back is my friend Mr. W. Warde Fowler. +He has removed the stone over which I stumbled in the +wilderness by explaining in a simple and natural way how +a god of the thundering sky might easily come to be afterwards +associated with the oak. The explanation turns on +the great frequency with which, as statistics prove, the oak +<pb n='x'/><anchor id='Pgx'/> +is struck by lightning beyond any other tree of the wood in +Europe. To our rude forefathers, who dwelt in the gloomy +depths of the primaeval forest, it might well seem that the +riven and blackened oaks must indeed be favourites of the +sky-god, who so often descended on them from the murky +cloud in a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. +</p> + +<p> +This change of view as to the great Aryan god necessarily +affects my interpretation of the King of the Wood, +the priest of Diana at Aricia, if I may take that discarded +puppet out of the box again for a moment. On my theory +the priest represented Jupiter in the flesh, and accordingly, +if Jupiter was primarily a sky-god, his priest cannot have +been a mere incarnation of the sacred oak, but must, like the +deity whose commission he bore, have been invested in the +imagination of his worshippers with the power of overcasting +the heaven with clouds and eliciting storms of thunder and +rain from the celestial vault. The attribution of weather-making +powers to kings or priests is very common in primitive +society, and is indeed one of the principal levers by +which such personages raise themselves to a position of +superiority above their fellows. There is therefore no improbability +in the supposition that as a representative of +Jupiter the priest of Diana enjoyed this reputation, though +positive evidence of it appears to be lacking. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, in the present edition I have shewn some grounds +for thinking that the Golden Bough itself, or in common +parlance the mistletoe on the oak, was supposed to have +dropped from the sky upon the tree in a flash of lightning +and therefore to contain within itself the seed of celestial +fire, a sort of smouldering thunderbolt. This view of the +priest and of the bough which he guarded at the peril of +his life has the advantage of accounting for the importance +which the sanctuary at Nemi acquired and the treasure +which it amassed through the offerings of the faithful; for +the shrine would seem to have been to ancient what Loreto +<pb n='xi'/><anchor id='Pgxi'/> +has been to modern Italy, a place of pilgrimage, where +princes and nobles as well as commoners poured wealth +into the coffers of Diana in her green recess among the +Alban hills, just as in modern times kings and queens vied +with each other in enriching the black Virgin who from her +Holy House on the hillside at Loreto looks out on the blue +Adriatic and the purple Apennines. Such pious prodigality +becomes more intelligible if the greatest of the gods was +indeed believed to dwell in human shape with his wife +among the woods of Nemi. +</p> + +<p> +These are the principal points on which I have altered +my opinion since the last edition of my book was published. +The mere admission of such changes may suffice to indicate +the doubt and uncertainty which attend enquiries of this +nature. The whole fabric of ancient mythology is so foreign +to our modern ways of thought, and the evidence concerning +it is for the most part so fragmentary, obscure, and conflicting +that in our attempts to piece together and interpret it +we can hardly hope to reach conclusions that will completely +satisfy either ourselves or others. In this as in other branches +of study it is the fate of theories to be washed away like +children's castles of sand by the rising tide of knowledge, +and I am not so presumptuous as to expect or desire for +mine an exemption from the common lot. I hold them all +very lightly and have used them chiefly as convenient pegs +on which to hang my collections of facts. For I believe +that, while theories are transitory, a record of facts has a +permanent value, and that as a chronicle of ancient customs +and beliefs my book may retain its utility when my theories +are as obsolete as the customs and beliefs themselves +deserve to be. +</p> + +<p> +I cannot dismiss without some natural regret a task +which has occupied and amused me at intervals for many +years. But the regret is tempered by thankfulness and +hope. I am thankful that I have been able to conclude +<pb n='xii'/><anchor id='Pgxii'/> +at least one chapter of the work I projected a long time +ago. I am hopeful that I may not now be taking a final +leave of my indulgent readers, but that, as I am sensible +of little abatement in my bodily strength and of none in +my ardour for study, they will bear with me yet a while +if I should attempt to entertain them with fresh subjects of +laughter and tears drawn from the comedy and the tragedy +of man's endless quest after happiness and truth. +</p> + +<p> +J. G. FRAZER. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cambridge</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>17th October 1913</hi>. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter I. Between Heaven And Earth.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='1. Not to touch the Earth.'/> +<head>§ 1. Not to touch the Earth.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The priest +of Aricia +and the +Golden +Bough.</note> +We have travelled far since we turned our backs on Nemi and +set forth in quest of the secret of the Golden Bough. With +the present volume we enter on the last stage of our long +journey. The reader who has had the patience to follow the +enquiry thus far may remember that at the outset two questions +were proposed for answer: Why had the priest of Aricia +to slay his predecessor? And why, before doing so, had +he to pluck the Golden Bough?<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. 44.</note> Of these two questions +the first has now been answered. The priest of Aricia, if I +am right, was one of those sacred kings or human divinities +on whose life the welfare of the community and even the +course of nature in general are believed to be intimately +dependent. It does not appear that the subjects or worshippers +of such a spiritual potentate form to themselves any +very clear notion of the exact relationship in which they +stand to him; probably their ideas on the point are vague +and fluctuating, and we should err if we attempted to define +the relationship with logical precision. All that the people +know, or rather imagine, is that somehow they themselves, +their cattle, and their crops are mysteriously bound up with +their divine king, so that according as he is well or ill the +community is healthy or sickly, the flocks and herds thrive +or languish with disease, and the fields yield an abundant or +a scanty harvest. The worst evil which they can conceive +of is the natural death of their ruler, whether he succumb to +<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/> +sickness or old age, for in the opinion of his followers such +a death would entail the most disastrous consequences on +themselves and their possessions; fatal epidemics would +sweep away man and beast, the earth would refuse her +increase, nay the very frame of nature itself might be dissolved. +To guard against these catastrophes it is necessary +to put the king to death while he is still in the full bloom +of his divine manhood, in order that his sacred life, transmitted +in unabated force to his successor, may renew its +youth, and thus by successive transmissions through a +perpetual line of vigorous incarnations may remain eternally +fresh and young, a pledge and security that men +and animals shall in like manner renew their youth by +a perpetual succession of generations, and that seedtime +and harvest, and summer and winter, and rain and sunshine +shall never fail. That, if my conjecture is right, was why the +priest of Aricia, the King of the Wood at Nemi, had regularly +to perish by the sword of his successor. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>What was +the Golden +Bough?</note> +But we have still to ask, What was the Golden Bough? +and why had each candidate for the Arician priesthood to +pluck it before he could slay the priest? These questions +I will now try to answer. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacred +kings and +priests forbidden +to +touch the +ground +with their +feet.</note> +It will be well to begin by noticing two of those rules +or taboos by which, as we have seen, the life of divine kings +or priests is regulated. The first of the rules to which I +desire to call the reader's attention is that the divine personage +may not touch the ground with his foot. This rule +was observed by the supreme pontiff of the Zapotecs in +Mexico; he profaned his sanctity if he so much as touched +the ground with his foot.<note place='foot'>H. H. Bancroft, <hi rend='italic'>Native Races of +the Pacific States</hi> (London, 1875-1876), +ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire +des Nations civilisées du Mexique +et de l'Amérique-Centrale</hi> (Paris, 1857-1859), +iii. 29.</note> Montezuma, emperor of Mexico, +never set foot on the ground; he was always carried on the +shoulders of noblemen, and if he lighted anywhere they laid +rich tapestry for him to walk upon.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Manuscrit Ramirez, Histoire de +l'origine des Indiens</hi>, publié par D. +Charnay (Paris, 1903), p. 108; J. de +Acosta, <hi rend='italic'>The Natural and Moral History +of the Indies</hi>, bk. vii. chap. 22, +vol. ii. p. 505 of E. Grimston's translation, +edited by (Sir) Clements R. +Markham (Hakluyt Society, London, +1880).</note> For the Mikado of +Japan to touch the ground with his foot was a shameful +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> +degradation; indeed, in the sixteenth century, it was +enough to deprive him of his office. Outside his palace he +was carried on men's shoulders; within it he walked on +exquisitely wrought mats.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Memorials of the Empire of Japon +in the XVI. and XVII. Centuries</hi>, +edited by T. Rundall (Hakluyt Society, +London, 1850), pp. 14, 141; B. +Varenius, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptio regni Japoniae +et Siam</hi> (Cambridge, 1673), p. 11; +Caron, <q>Account of Japan,</q> in John +Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi> +(London, 1808-1814), vii. 613; +Kaempfer, <q>History of Japan,</q> in +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> vii. 716.</note> The king and queen of Tahiti +might not touch the ground anywhere but within their +hereditary domains; for the ground on which they trod +became sacred. In travelling from place to place they were +carried on the shoulders of sacred men. They were always +accompanied by several pairs of these sanctified attendants; +and when it became necessary to change their bearers, the +king and queen vaulted on to the shoulders of their new +bearers without letting their feet touch the ground.<note place='foot'>W. Ellis, <hi rend='italic'>Polynesian Researches</hi>, +Second Edition (London, 1832-1836), +iii. 102 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Captain James Wilson, +<hi rend='italic'>Missionary Voyage to the Southern +Pacific Ocean</hi> (London, 1799), p. 329.</note> It was +an evil omen if the king of Dosuma touched the ground, +and he had to perform an expiatory ceremony.<note place='foot'>A. Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Der Mensch in der +Geschichte</hi> (Leipsic, 1860), iii. 81.</note> Within +his palace the king of Persia walked on carpets on which +no one else might tread; outside of it he was never seen on +foot but only in a chariot or on horseback.<note place='foot'>Athenaeus, xii. 8, p. 514 c.</note> In old days +the king of Siam never set foot upon the earth, but was +carried on a throne of gold from place to place.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Voiages and Travels of John +Struys</hi> (London, 1684), p. 30.</note> Formerly +neither the kings of Uganda, nor their mothers, nor their +queens might walk on foot outside of the spacious enclosures +in which they lived. Whenever they went forth they were +carried on the shoulders of men of the Buffalo clan, several +of whom accompanied any of these royal personages on a +journey and took it in turn to bear the burden. The king +sat astride the bearer's neck with a leg over each shoulder +and his feet tucked under the bearer's arms. When one of +these royal carriers grew tired he shot the king on to the +shoulders of a second man without allowing the royal feet +to touch the ground. In this way they went at a great +pace and travelled long distances in a day, when the king +was on a journey. The bearers had a special hut in the +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> +king's enclosure in order to be at hand the moment they +were wanted.<note place='foot'>Rev. 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) pp. 62, +67; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi> (London, 1911), +pp. 154 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare L. Decle, +<hi rend='italic'>Three Years in Savage Africa</hi> (London, +1898), p. 445 note: <q>Before horses +had been introduced into Uganda the +king and his mother never walked, +but always went about perched astride +the shoulders of a slave—a most ludicrous +sight. In this way they often +travelled hundreds of miles.</q> The +use both of horses and of chariots by +royal personages may often have been +intended to prevent their sacred feet +from touching the ground.</note> Among the Bakuba or rather Bushongo, a +nation in the southern region of the Congo, down to a few +years ago persons of the royal blood were forbidden to +touch the ground; they must sit on a hide, a chair, or the +back of a slave, who crouched on hands and feet; their +feet rested on the feet of others. When they travelled they +were carried on the backs of men; but the king journeyed +in a litter supported on shafts.<note place='foot'>E. Torday et T. A. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>Les +Bushongo</hi> (Brussels, 1910), p. 61.</note> Among the Ibo people +about Awka, in Southern Nigeria, the priest of the Earth +has to observe many taboos; for example, he may not see +a corpse, and if he meets one on the road he must hide his +eyes with his wristlet. He must abstain from many foods, +such as eggs, birds of all sorts, mutton, dog, bush-buck, and +so forth. He may neither wear nor touch a mask, and no +masked man may enter his house. If a dog enters his +house, it is killed and thrown out. As priest of the Earth +he may not sit on the bare ground, nor eat things that have +fallen on the ground, nor may earth be thrown at him.<note place='foot'>Northcote W. Thomas, <hi rend='italic'>Anthropological +Report on the Ibo-speaking +Peoples of Nigeria</hi> (London, 1913), i. +57 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +According to ancient Brahmanic ritual a king at his inauguration +trod on a tiger's skin and a golden plate; he +was shod with shoes of boar's skin, and so long as he lived +thereafter he might not stand on the earth with his bare feet.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Satapatha Brâhmana</hi>, translated +by Julius Eggeling, Part iii. (Oxford, +1894) pp. 81, 91, 92, 102, 128 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +(<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books of the East</hi>, vol. xli.).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Certain +persons +on certain +occasions +forbidden +to touch +the ground +with their +feet.</note> +But besides persons who are permanently sacred or +tabooed and are therefore permanently forbidden to touch +the ground with their feet, there are others who enjoy the +character of sanctity or taboo only on certain occasions, and +to whom accordingly the prohibition in question only applies +at the definite seasons during which they exhale the odour +of sanctity. Thus among the Kayans or Bahaus of Central +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> +Borneo, while the priestesses are engaged in the performance +of certain rites they may not step on the ground, and boards +are laid for them to tread on.<note place='foot'>A. W. Nieuwenhuis, <hi rend='italic'>Quer durch +Borneo</hi> (Leyden, 1904-1907), i. 172.</note> At a funeral ceremony +observed by night among the Michemis, a Tibetan tribe +near the northern frontier of Assam, a priest fantastically +bedecked with tiger's teeth, many-coloured plumes, bells, and +shells, executed a wild dance for the purpose of exorcising +the evil spirits; then all fires were extinguished and a new +light was struck by a man suspended by his feet from a +beam in the ceiling; <q>he did not touch the ground,</q> we are +told, <q>in order to indicate that the light came from heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Letter of Missionary Krick, in +<hi rend='italic'>Annales de la Propagation de la Foi</hi>, +xxvi. (1854) pp. 86-88.</note> +Again, newly born infants are strongly tabooed; accordingly +in Loango they are not allowed to touch the earth.<note place='foot'>Pechuel-Loesche, <q>Indiscretes aus +Loango,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Ethnologie</hi>, +x. (1878) pp. 29 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among +the Iluvans of Malabar the bridegroom on his wedding-day +is bathed by seven young men and then carried or walks +on planks from the bathing-place to the marriage booth; he +may not touch the ground with his feet.<note place='foot'>Edgar Thurston, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnographic +Notes in Southern India</hi> (Madras, +1906), p. 70.</note> With the Dyaks +of Landak and Tajan, two districts of Dutch Borneo, it is a +custom that for a certain time after marriage neither bride +nor bridegroom may tread on the earth.<note place='foot'>M. C. Schadee, <q>Het familieleven +en familierecht der Dajaks van Landak +en Tajan,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen tot de Taal- +Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, +lxiii. (1910) p. 433.</note> Warriors, again, +on the war-path are surrounded, so to say, by an atmosphere +of taboo; hence some Indians of North America might not +sit on the bare ground the whole time they were out on a +warlike expedition.<note place='foot'>James Adair, <hi rend='italic'>History of the +American Indians</hi> (London, 1775), +p. 382; <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of the Captivity +and Adventures of John Tanner</hi> +(London, 1830), p. 123. As to the +taboos to which warriors are subject +see <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, +pp. 157 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In Laos the hunting of elephants +gives rise to many taboos; one of them is that the chief +hunter may not touch the earth with his foot. Accordingly, +when he alights from his elephant, the others spread a +carpet of leaves for him to step upon.<note place='foot'>Etienne Aymonier, <hi rend='italic'>Notes sur le +Laos</hi> (Saigon, 1885), p. 26.</note> German wiseacres +recommended that when witches were led to the block or +the stake, they should not be allowed to touch the bare +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> +earth, and a reason suggested for the rule was that if they +touched the earth they might make themselves invisible and +so escape. The sagacious author of <hi rend='italic'>The Striped-petticoat +Philosophy</hi> in the eighteenth century ridicules the idea as +mere silly talk. He admits, indeed, that the women were +conveyed to the place of execution in carts; but he denies +that there is any deep significance in the cart, and he is +prepared to maintain this view by a chemical analysis of the +timber of which the cart was built. To clinch his argument +he appeals to plain matter of fact and his own personal +experience. Not a single instance, he assures us with +apparent satisfaction, can be produced of a witch who +escaped the axe or the fire in this fashion. <q>I have myself,</q> +says he, <q>in my youth seen divers witches burned, some at +Arnstadt, some at Ilmenau, some at Schwenda, a noble +village between Arnstadt and Ilmenau, and some of them +were pardoned and beheaded before being burned. They were +laid on the earth in the place of execution and beheaded +like any other poor sinner; whereas if they could have +escaped by touching the earth, not one of them would +have failed to do so.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> (Chemnitz, 1759), pp. 586 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacred or +tabooed +persons +apparently +thought to +be charged +with a +mysterious +virtue like +a fluid, +which will +run to +waste or +explode if +it touches +the ground.</note> +Apparently holiness, magical virtue, taboo, or whatever +we may call that mysterious quality which is supposed +to pervade sacred or tabooed persons, is conceived by the +primitive philosopher as a physical substance or fluid, with +which the sacred man is charged just as a Leyden jar is +charged with electricity; and exactly as the electricity in the +jar can be discharged by contact with a good conductor, so +the holiness or magical virtue in the man can be discharged +and drained away by contact with the earth, which on this +theory serves as an excellent conductor for the magical fluid. +Hence in order to preserve the charge from running to +waste, the sacred or tabooed personage must be carefully +prevented from touching the ground; in electrical language +he must be insulated, if he is not to be emptied of the +precious substance or fluid with which he, as a vial, is filled +to the brim. And in many cases apparently the insulation +of the tabooed person is recommended as a precaution not +merely for his own sake but for the sake of others; for +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +since the virtue of holiness or taboo is, so to say, a powerful +explosive which the smallest touch may detonate, it is +necessary in the interest of the general safety to keep it +within narrow bounds, lest breaking out it should blast, +blight, and destroy whatever it comes into contact with. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Things +as well as +persons +can be +charged +with the +mysterious +quality of +holiness or +taboo; and +when so +charged +they must +be kept +from contact +with +the ground.</note> +But things as well as persons are often charged with +the mysterious quality of holiness or taboo; hence it frequently +becomes necessary for similar reasons to guard them +also from coming into contact with the ground, lest they +should in like manner be drained of their valuable properties +and be reduced to mere commonplace material objects, empty +husks from which the good grain has been eliminated. Thus, +for example, the most sacred object of the Arunta tribe in +Central Australia is, or rather used to be, a pole about +twenty feet high, which is completely smeared with human +blood, crowned with an imitation of a human head, and set +up on the ground where the final initiatory ceremonies of +young men are performed. A young gum-tree is chosen to +form the pole, and it must be cut down and transported in +such a way that it does not touch the earth till it is erected +in its place on the holy ground. Apparently the pole +represents some famous ancestor of the olden time.<note place='foot'>Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, +<hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of Central Australia</hi> +(London, 1899), pp. 364, 370 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, +629; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Across Australia</hi> (London, +1912), ii. 280, 285 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Festival +of the wild +mango tree +in British +New +Guinea.</note> +Again, at a great dancing festival celebrated by the +natives of Bartle Bay, in British New Guinea, a wild mango +tree plays a prominent part. The tree must be self-sown, +that is, really wild and so young that it has never flowered. +It is chosen in the jungle some five or six weeks before the +festival, and a circle is cleared round its trunk. From that +time the master of the ceremonies and some eight to twenty +other men, who have aided him in choosing the tree and in +clearing the jungle, become strictly holy or tabooed. They +sleep by themselves in a house into which no one else may +intrude: they may not wash or drink water, nor even allow +it accidentally to touch their bodies: they are forbidden to +eat boiled food and the fruit of mango trees: they may drink +only the milk of a young coco-nut which has been baked, +and they may eat certain fruits and vegetables, such as paw-paws +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +(<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Carica papaya</foreign>) and sugar-cane, but only on condition +that they have been baked. All refuse of their food is kept +in baskets in their sleeping-house and may not be removed +from it till the festival is over. At the time when the men +begin to observe these rules of abstinence, some six to ten +women, members of the same clan as the master of the +ceremonies, enter on a like period of mortification, avoiding +the company of the other sex, and refraining from water, all +boiled food, and the fruit of the mango tree. These fasting +men and women are the principal dancers at the festival. +The dancing takes place on a special platform in a temporary +village which has been erected for the purpose. When +the platform is about to be set up, the fasting men rub the +stepping posts and then suck their hands for the purpose of +extracting the ghost of any dead man that might chance to +be in the post and might be injured by the weight of the +platform pressing down on him. Having carefully extracted +these poor souls, the men carry them away tenderly and set +them free in the forest or the long grass. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The wild +mango tree +not allowed +to touch the +ground.</note> +On the day before the festival one of the fasting men +cuts down the chosen mango tree in the jungle with a stone +adze, which is never afterwards put to any other use; an +iron tool may not be used for the purpose, though iron tools +are now common enough in the district. In cutting down +the mango they place nets on the ground to catch any +leaves or twigs that might fall from the tree as it is being +felled, and they surround the trunk with new mats to +receive the chips which fly out under the adze of the woodman; +for the chips may not drop on the earth. Once the +tree is down, it is carried to the centre of the temporary +village, the greatest care being taken to prevent it from +coming into contact with the ground. But when it is +brought into the village, the houses are connected with the +top of the mango by means of long vines decorated with +streamers. In the afternoon the fasting men and women +begin to dance, the men bedizened with gay feathers, armlets, +streamers, and anklets, the women flaunting in parti-coloured +petticoats and sprigs of croton leaves, which wave from their +waistbands as they dance. The dancing stops at sundown, +and when the full moon rises over the shoulder of the +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> +eastern hill (for the date of the festival seems to be determined +with reference to the time of the moon), two chiefs +mount the gables of two houses on the eastern side of the +square, and, their dusky figures standing sharply out against +the moonlight, pray to the evil spirits to go away and not +to hurt the people. Next morning pigs are killed by being +speared as slowly as possible in order that they may squeal +loud and long; for the people believe that the mango trees +hear the squealing, and are pleased at the sound, and bear +plenty of fruit, whereas if they heard no squeals they would +bear no fruit. However, the trees have to content themselves +with the squeals; the flesh of the pigs is eaten by the +people. This ends the festival. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Final disposition +of +the wild +mango tree.</note> +Next day the mango is taken down from the platform, +wrapt in new mats, and carried by the fasting men to their +sleeping house, where it is hung from the roof. But after +an interval, it may be of many months, the tree is brought +forth again. As to the reason for its reappearance in public +opinions are divided; but some say that the tree itself orders +the master of the ceremonies to bring it forth, appearing to +him in his dreams and saying, <q>Let me smell the smoking +fat of pigs. So will your pigs be healthy and your crops +will grow.</q> Be that as it may, out it comes, conducted by +the fasting men in their dancing costume; and with it come +in the solemn procession all the pots, spoons, cups and so +forth used by the fasting men during their period of holiness +or taboo, also all the refuse of their food which has been +collected for months, and all the fallen leaves and chips of +the mango in their bundles of mats. These holy relics are +carried in front and the mango tree itself brings up the rear +of the procession. While these sacred objects are being +handed out of the house, the men who are present rush up, +wipe off the hallowed dust which has accumulated on them, +and smear it over their own bodies, no doubt in order to +steep themselves in their blessed influence. Thus the tree +is carried as before to the centre of the temporary village, +care being again taken not to let it touch the ground. Then +one of the fasting men takes from a basket a number of +young green mangoes, cuts them in pieces, and places them +with his own hands in the mouths of his fellows, the other +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +fasting men, who chew the pieces small and turning round +spit the morsels in the direction of the setting sun, +in order that <q>the sun should carry the mango bits +over the whole country and everyone should know.</q> A +portion of the mango tree is then broken off and in the +evening it is burnt along with the bundles of leaves, chips, +and refuse of food, which have been stored up. What +remains of the tree is taken to the house of the master of +the ceremonies and hung over the fire-place; it will be +brought out again at intervals and burned bit by bit, till all +is consumed, whereupon a new mango will be cut down and +treated in like manner. The ashes of the holy fire on each +occasion are gathered by the people and preserved in the +house of the master of the ceremonies.<note place='foot'>C. G. Seligmann, M.D., <hi rend='italic'>The Melanesians of British New Guinea</hi> (Cambridge, +1910), pp. 589-599.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +ceremony +apparently +intended to +fertilize the +mango +trees.</note> +The meaning of these ceremonies is not explained by +the authorities who describe them; but we may conjecture +that they are intended to fertilize the mango trees and cause +them to bear a good crop of fruit. The central feature of +the whole ritual is a wild mango tree, so young that it has +never flowered: the men who cut it down, carry it into the +village, and dance at the festival, are forbidden to eat +mangoes: pigs are killed in order that their dying squeals +may move the mango trees to bear fruit: at the end of the +ceremonies pieces of young green mangoes are solemnly +placed in the mouths of the fasting men and are by them +spurted out towards the setting sun in order that the luminary +may carry the fragments to every part of the country; and +finally when after a longer or shorter interval the tree is +wholly consumed, its place is supplied by another. All these +circumstances are explained simply and naturally by the +supposition that the young mango tree is taken as a representative +of mangoes generally, that the dances are intended +to quicken it, and that it is preserved, like a May-pole of +old in England, as a sort of general fund of vegetable life, +till the fund being exhausted by the destruction of the tree +it is renewed by the importation of a fresh young tree from +the forest. We can therefore understand why, as a storehouse +of vital energy, the tree should be carefully kept from +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +contact with the ground, lest the pent-up and concentrated +energy should escape and dribbling away into the earth be +dissipated to no purpose. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacred +objects +of various +sorts not +allowed to +touch the +ground.</note> +To take other instances of what we may call the conservation +of energy in magic or religion by insulating sacred +bodies from the ground, the natives of New Britain have a +secret society called the Duk-duk, the members of which +masquerade in petticoats of leaves and tall headdresses of +wickerwork shaped like candle extinguishers, which descend +to the shoulders of the wearers, completely concealing their +faces. Thus disguised they dance about to the awe and +terror, real or assumed, of the women and uninitiated, who +take, or pretend to take, them for spirits. When lads +are being initiated into the secrets of this august society, +the adepts cut down some very large and heavy bamboos, +one for each lad, and the novices carry them, +carefully wrapt up in leaves, to the sacred ground, where +they arrive very tired and weary, for they may not let the +bamboos touch the ground nor the sun shine on them. +Outside the fence of the enclosure every lad deposits his +bamboo on a couple of forked sticks and covers it up with +nut leaves.<note place='foot'>George Brown, D.D., <hi rend='italic'>Melanesians +and Polynesians</hi> (London, 1910), pp. +60 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 64. As to the Duk-duk society, +see below, vol. ii. pp. 246 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Carrier Indians of North-Western +America, who burned their dead, the ashes of a chief used +to be placed in a box and set on the top of a pole beside +his hut: the box was never allowed to touch the ground.<note place='foot'>John Keast Lord, <hi rend='italic'>The Naturalist +in Vancouver Island and British Columbia</hi> +(London, 1866), ii. 237.</note> +In the Omaha tribe of North American Indians the sacred +clam shell of the Elk clan was wrapt up from sight in a +mat, placed on a stand, and never suffered to come in contact +with the earth.<note place='foot'>Edwin James, <hi rend='italic'>Account of an Expedition +from Pittsburgh to the Rocky +Mountains</hi> (London, 1823), ii. 47; +Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, <q>Omaha Sociology,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Third Annual Report of the +Bureau of Ethnology</hi> (Washington, +1884), p. 226.</note> The Cherokees and kindred Indian +tribes of the United States used to have certain sacred boxes +or arks, which they regularly took with them to war. Such +a holy ark consisted of a square wooden box, which contained +<q>certain consecrated vessels made by beloved superannuated +women, and of such various antiquated forms, as would have +puzzled Adam to have given significant names to each.</q> The +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> +leader of a war party and his attendant bore the ark by +turns, but they never set it on the ground nor would they +themselves sit on the bare earth while they were carrying it +against the enemy. Where stones were plentiful they rested +the ark on them; but where no stones were to be found, +they deposited it on short logs. <q>The Indian ark is deemed +so sacred and dangerous to be touched, either by their own +sanctified warriors, or the spoiling enemy, that they durst +not touch it upon any account. It is not to be meddled +with by any, except the war chieftain and his waiter, under +the penalty of incurring great evil. Nor would the most +inveterate enemy touch it in the woods, for the very same +reason.</q> After their return home they used to hang the +ark on the leader's red-painted war pole.<note place='foot'>James Adair, <hi rend='italic'>History of the American +Indians</hi> (London, 1775), pp. 161-163.</note> At Sipi, near +Simla, in Northern India, an annual fair is held, at which +men purchase wives. A square box with a domed top +figures prominently at the fair. It is fixed on two poles to +be carried on men's shoulders, and long heavily-plaited petticoats +hang from it nearly to the ground. Three sides of +the box are adorned with the head and shoulders of a +female figure and the fourth side with a black yak's tail. +Four men bear the poles, each carrying an axe in his right +hand. They dance round, with a swinging rhythmical step, +to the music of drums and a pipe. The dance goes on for +hours and is thought to avert ill-luck from the fair. It is +said that the box is brought to Simla from a place sixty +miles off by relays of men, who may not stop nor set the +box on the ground the whole way.<note place='foot'>(Sir) Henry Babington Smith, in +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, v. (1894) p. 340.</note> In Scotland, when +water was carried from sacred wells to sick people, the +water-vessel might not touch the earth.<note place='foot'>Miss C. F. Gordon Cumming, <hi rend='italic'>In +the Hebrides</hi> (London, 1883), p. 211.</note> In some parts of +Aberdeenshire the last bunch of standing corn, which is +commonly viewed as very sacred, being the last refuge of +the corn-spirit retreating before the reapers, is not suffered +to touch the ground; the master or <q>gueedman</q> sits down +and receives each handful of corn as it is cut on his lap.<note place='foot'>W. Gregor, <q>Quelques coutumes +du Nord-est du Comté d'Aberdeen,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Revue des Traditions populaires</hi>, iii. +(1888) p. 485 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b</hi>. Compare <hi rend='italic'>Spirits of +the Corn and of the Wild</hi>, i. 158 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacred +food not +allowed to +touch the +earth.</note> +Again, sacred food may not under certain circumstances +be brought into contact with the earth. Some of the +aborigines of Victoria used to regard the fat of the emu +as sacred, believing that it had once been the fat of +the black man. In taking it from the bird or giving +it to another they handled it reverently. Any one who +threw away the fat or flesh of the emu was held accursed. +<q>The late Mr. Thomas observed on one occasion, at Nerrenerre-Warreen, +a remarkable exhibition of the effects of this +superstition. An aboriginal child—one attending the school—having +eaten some part of the flesh of an emu, threw away +the skin. The skin fell to the ground, and this being +observed by his parents, they showed by their gestures every +token of horror. They looked upon their child as one +utterly lost. His desecration of the bird was regarded as a +sin for which there was no atonement.</q><note place='foot'>R. Brough Smyth, <hi rend='italic'>Aborigines of +Victoria</hi> (Melbourne and London, +1878), i. 450.</note> The Roumanians +of Transylvania believe that <q>every fresh-baked loaf of +wheaten bread is sacred, and should a piece inadvertently +fall to the ground, it is hastily picked up, carefully wiped +and kissed, and if soiled, thrown into the fire—partly as an +offering to the dead, and partly because it were a heavy sin +to throw away or tread upon any particle of it.</q><note place='foot'>E. Gerard, <hi rend='italic'>The Land beyond the +Forest</hi> (Edinburgh and London, 1888), +ii. 7.</note> At certain +festivals in south-eastern Borneo the food which is consumed +in the common house may not touch the ground; hence, a +little before the festivals take place, foot-bridges made of +thin poles are constructed from the private dwellings to the +common house.<note place='foot'>F. Grabowsky, <q>Der Distrikt +Dusson Timor in Südost-Borneo und +seine Bewohner,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Das Ausland</hi>, 1884, +No. 24, p. 470.</note> When Hall was living with the Esquimaux +and grew tired of eating walrus, one of the women brought +the head and neck of a reindeer for him to eat. This +venison had to be completely wrapt up before it was brought +into the house, and once in the house it could only be +placed on the platform which served as a bed. <q>To have +placed it on the floor or on the platform behind the fire-lamp, +among the walrus, musk-ox, and polar-bear meat +which occupy a goodly portion of both of these places, would +have horrified the whole town, as, according to the actual +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> +belief of the Innuits, not another walrus could be secured +this year, and there would ever be trouble in catching any +more.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Narrative of the Second Arctic +Expedition made by Charles F. Hall</hi>, +edited by Prof. J. E. Nourse (Washington, +1879), pp. 110 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> But in this case the real scruple appears to have +been felt not so much at placing the venison on the ground +as at bringing it into contact with walrus meat.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and Perils of the Soul</hi>, +pp. 207 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Magical +implements +and +remedies +thought to +lose their +virtue by +contact +with the +ground.</note> +Sometimes magical implements and remedies are +supposed to lose their virtue by contact with the ground, +the volatile essence with which they are impregnated being +no doubt drained off into the earth. Thus in the Boulia +district of Queensland the magical bone, which the native +sorcerer points at his victim as a means of killing him, is +never by any chance allowed to touch the earth.<note place='foot'>Walter E. Roth, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnological +Studies among the North-West-Central +Queensland Aborigines</hi> (Brisbane and +London, 1897), p. 156, § 265. The +custom of killing a man by pointing a +bone or stick at him, while the sorcerer +utters appropriate curses, is common +among the tribes of Central Australia; +but amongst them there seems to be +no objection to place the bone or stick +on the ground; on the contrary, an +Arunta wizard inserts the bone or stick +in the ground while he invokes death +and destruction on his enemy. See +Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, +<hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of Central Australia</hi> +(London, 1899), pp. 534 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Northern Tribes of Central Australia</hi> +(London, 1904), pp. 455 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> The +wives of rajahs in Macassar, a district of southern Celebes, +pride themselves on their luxuriant tresses and are at great +pains to oil and preserve them. Should the hair begin to +grow thin, the lady resorts to many devices to stay the +ravages of time; among other things she applies to her +locks a fat extracted from crocodiles and venomous snakes. +The unguent is believed to be very efficacious, but during its +application the woman's feet may not come into contact with +the ground, or all the benefit of the nostrum would be lost.<note place='foot'>Hugh Low, <hi rend='italic'>Sarawak</hi> (London, +1848), pp. 145 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +Some people in antiquity believed that a woman in hard +labour would be delivered if a spear, which had been +wrenched from a man's body without touching the ground, +were thrown over the house where the sufferer lay. Again, +according to certain ancient writers, arrows which had been +extracted from a body without coming into contact with the +earth and laid under sleepers, acted as a love-charm.<note place='foot'>Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Naturalis Historia</hi>, xxviii. +33 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among +the peasantry of the north-east of Scotland the prehistoric +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> +weapons called celts went by the name of <q>thunderbolts</q> +and were coveted as the sure bringers of success, always +provided that they were not allowed to fall to the ground.<note place='foot'>Rev. Walter Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the +Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland</hi> +(London, 1881), p. 184. As to the +superstitions attaching to stone arrow-heads +and axeheads (celts), commonly +known as <q>thunderbolts,</q> in the British +Islands, see W. W. Skeat, <q>Snake-stones +and Stone Thunderbolts,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xxiii. (1912) pp. 60 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; and as +to such superstitions in general, see +Chr. Blinkenberg, <hi rend='italic'>The Thunderweapon +in Religion and Folklore</hi> (Cambridge, +1911).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Serpents' +eggs or +Snake +Stones.</note> +In ancient Gaul certain glass or paste beads attained +great celebrity as amulets under the name of serpents' +eggs; it was believed that serpents, coiling together in a +wriggling, writhing mass, generated them from their slaver +and shot them into the air from their hissing jaws. If a +man was bold and dexterous enough to catch one of these +eggs in his cloak before it touched the ground, he rode off +on horseback with it at full speed, pursued by the whole +pack of serpents, till he was saved by the interposition of a +river, which the snakes could not pass. The proof of the +egg being genuine was that if it were thrown into a stream +it would float up against the current, even though it were +hooped in gold. The Druids held these beads in high +esteem; according to them, the precious objects could only +be obtained on a certain day of the moon, and the peculiar +virtue that resided in them was to secure success in law +suits and free access to kings. Pliny knew of a Gaulish +knight who was executed by the emperor Claudius for +wearing one of these amulets.<note place='foot'>Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Naturalis Historia</hi>, xxix. +52-54.</note> Under the name of Snake +Stones (<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>glain neidr</foreign>) or Adder Stones the beads are still +known in those parts of our own country where the Celtic +population has lingered, with its immemorial superstitions, +down to the present or recent times; and the old story of +the origin of the beads from the slaver of serpents was +believed by the modern peasantry of Cornwall, Wales, and +Scotland as by the Druids of ancient Gaul. In Cornwall +the time when the serpents united to fashion the beads +was commonly said to be at or about Midsummer Eve; in +Wales it was usually thought to be spring, especially the Eve +of May Day, and even within recent years persons in the +Principality have affirmed that they witnessed the great +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> +vernal congress of the snakes and saw the magic stone in +the midst of the froth. The Welsh peasants believe the +beads to possess medicinal virtues of many sorts and to be +particularly efficacious for all maladies of the eyes. In Wales +and Ireland the beads sometimes went by the name of the +Magician's or Druid's Glass (<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Gleini na Droedh</foreign> and <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Glaine +nan Druidhe</foreign>). Specimens of them may be seen in museums; +some have been found in British barrows. They are of +glass of various colours, green, blue, pink, red, brown, and so +forth, some plain and some ribbed. Some are streaked with +brilliant hues. The beads are perforated, and in the Highlands +of Scotland the hole is explained by saying that when +the bead has just been conflated by the serpents jointly, one +of the reptiles sticks his tail through the still viscous glass. +An Englishman who visited Scotland in 1699 found many +of these beads in use throughout the country. They were +hung from children's necks to protect them from whooping +cough and other ailments. Snake Stones were, moreover, a +charm to ensure prosperity in general and to repel evil +spirits. When one of these priceless treasures was not on +active service, the owner kept it in an iron box to guard it +against fairies, who, as is well known, cannot abide iron.<note place='foot'>W. Borlase, <hi rend='italic'>Antiquities, Historical +and Monumental, of the County +of Cornwall</hi> (London, 1769), pp. 142 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities of +Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 322; J. G. Dalyell, <hi rend='italic'>Darker Superstitions +of Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, 1834), +pp. 140 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Daniel Wilson, <hi rend='italic'>The +Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals +of Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, 1851), pp. +303 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Lieut.-Col. Forbes Leslie, +<hi rend='italic'>The Early Races of Scotland and their +Monuments</hi> (Edinburgh, 1866), i. 75 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and +Second Sight in the Highlands and +Islands of Scotland</hi> (Glasgow, 1902), +pp. 84-88; Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore +and Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, +1909), pp. 170 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. C. Davies, +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</hi> +(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76. Compare +W. W. Skeat, <q>Snakestones and +Stone Thunderbolts,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xxiii. +(1912) pp. 45 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The superstition +is described as follows by Edward +Lhwyd in a letter quoted by W. +Borlase (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 142): <q>In most +parts of Wales, and throughout all +Scotland, and in Cornwall, we find it +a common opinion of the vulgar, that +about Midsummer-Eve (though in the +time they do not all agree) it is usual +for snakes to meet in companies; and +that, by joining heads together, and +hissing, a kind of bubble is formed, +which the rest, by continual hissing, +blow on till it passes quite through the +body, and then it immediately hardens, +and resembles a glass-ring, which whoever +finds (as some old women and +children are persuaded) shall prosper +in all his undertakings. The rings +thus generated, are called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Gleineu +Nadroeth</foreign>; in English, Snake-stones. +They are small glass amulets, commonly +about half as wide as our finger-rings, +but much thicker, of a green +colour usually, though sometimes blue, +and waved with red and white.</q></note> +</p> + +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Medicinal +plants, +water, etc., +not allowed +to touch +the earth.</note> +Pliny mentions several medicinal plants, which, if they +were to retain their healing virtue, ought not to be allowed +to touch the earth.<note place='foot'>Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Naturalis Historia</hi>, xxiv. +12 and 68, xxv. 171.</note> The curious medical treatise of +Marcellus, a native of Bordeaux in the fourth century of our +era, abounds with prescriptions of this sort; and we can +well believe the writer when he assures us that he borrowed +many of his quaint remedies from the lips of common folk +and peasants rather than from the books of the learned.<note place='foot'>Marcellus, <hi rend='italic'>De medicamentis</hi>, ed. +G. Helmreich (Leipsic, 1889), preface, +p. i.: <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Nec solum veteres medicinae +artis auctores Latino dumtaxat sermone +perscriptos ... lectione scrutatus sum, +sed etiam ab agrestibus et plebeis remedia +fortuita atque simplicia, quae experimentis +probaverant didici.</foreign></q> As to +Marcellus and his work, see Jacob +Grimm, <q>Ueber Marcellus Burdigalensis,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Abhandlungen der königlichen +Akademie der Wissenschaft zu Berlin</hi>, +1847, pp. 429-460; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Ueber die +Marcellischen Formeln,</q> <hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi>, 1855, +pp. 50-68.</note> +Thus he tells us that certain white stones found in the +stomachs of young swallows assuage the most persistent +headache, always provided that their virtue be not impaired +by contact with the ground.<note place='foot'>Marcellus, <hi rend='italic'>De medicamentis</hi>, i. 68.</note> Another of his cures for the +same malady is a wreath of fleabane placed on the head, +but it must not touch the earth.<note place='foot'>Marcellus, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 76.</note> On the same condition a +decoction of the root of elecampane in wine kills worms; a +fern, found growing on a tree, relieves the stomach-ache; and +the pastern-bone of a hare is an infallible remedy for colic, +provided, first, it be found in the dung of a wolf, second, +that it does not touch the ground, and, third, that it is not +touched by a woman.<note place='foot'>Marcellus, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> xxviii. 28 and +71, xxix. 35.</note> Another cure for colic is effected by +certain hocus-pocus with a scrap of wool from the forehead +of a first-born lamb, if only the lamb, instead of being +allowed to fall to the ground, has been caught by hand as it +dropped from its dam.<note place='foot'>Marcellus, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> xxix. 51.</note> In Andjra, a district of Morocco, +the people attribute many magical virtues to rain-water +which has fallen on the twenty-seventh day of April, Old +Style; accordingly they collect it and use it for a variety of +purposes. Mixed with tar and sprinkled on the door-posts +it prevents snakes and scorpions from entering the house: +sprinkled on heaps of threshed corn it protects them from +the evil eye: mixed with an egg, henna, and seeds of cress +it is an invaluable medicine for sick cows: poured over a +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> +plate, on which a passage of the Koran has been written, it +strengthens the memory of schoolboys who drink it; and +if you mix it with cowdung and red earth and paint rings +with the mixture round the trunks of your fig-trees at sunset +on Midsummer Day, you may depend on it that the trees +will bear an excellent crop and will not shed their fruit +untimely on the ground. But in order to preserve these +remarkable properties it is absolutely essential that the +water should on no account be allowed to touch the +ground; some say too that it should not be exposed to +the sun nor breathed upon by anybody.<note place='foot'>Edward Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xvi. (1905) pp. 32 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies +and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, +certain Dates of the Solar Year, +and the Weather in Morocco</hi> (Helsingfors, +1913), pp. 75 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, the Moors +ascribe great magical efficacy to what they call <q>the +sultan of the oleander,</q> which is a stalk of oleander with a +cluster of four pairs of leaves springing from it. They think +that the magical virtue is greatest if the stalk has been cut +immediately before midsummer. But when the plant is +brought into the house, the branches may not touch the +ground, lest they should lose their marvellous qualities.<note place='foot'>E. Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xvi. +(1905) p. 35; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies and +Beliefs connected with Agriculture, +certain Dates of the Solar Year, and +the Weather in Morocco</hi> (Helsingfors, +1913), pp. 88 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In +the olden days, before a Lithuanian or Prussian farmer went +forth to plough for the first time in spring, he called in a +wizard to perform a certain ceremony for the good of the +crops. The sage seized a mug of beer with his teeth, +quaffed the liquor, and then tossed the mug over his head. +This signified that the corn in that year should grow taller +than a man. But the mug might not fall to the ground; it +had to be caught by somebody stationed at the wizard's +back, for if it fell to the ground the consequence naturally +would be that the corn also would be laid low on the +earth.<note place='foot'>Matthäus Prätorius, <hi rend='italic'>Deliciae +Prussicae</hi>, herausgegeben von Dr. W. +Pierson (Berlin, 1871), p. 54.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='2. Not to see the Sun.'/> +<head>§ 2. Not to see the Sun.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sacred +persons not +allowed to +see the sun.</note> +The second rule to be here noted is that the sun may +not shine upon the divine person. This rule was observed +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +both by the Mikado and by the pontiff of the Zapotecs. +The latter <q>was looked upon as a god whom the earth was +not worthy to hold, nor the sun to shine upon.</q><note place='foot'>H. H. Bancroft, <hi rend='italic'>Native Races of the +Pacific States</hi> (London, 1875-1876), +ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire +des Nations civilisées du Mexique +et de l'Amérique Centrale</hi> (Paris, 1857-1859), +iii. 29.</note> The +Japanese would not allow that the Mikado should expose +his sacred person to the open air, and the sun was not +thought worthy to shine on his head.<note place='foot'>Kaempfer, <q>History of Japan,</q> in +J. Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, +vii. 717; Caron, <q>Account of Japan,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi> vii. 613; B. Varenius, <hi rend='italic'>Descriptio +regni Japoniae et Siam</hi> (Cambridge, +1673), p. 11: <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Radiis solis caput nunquam +illustrabatur: in apertum aërem +non procedebat.</foreign></q></note> The Indians of +Granada, in South America, <q>kept those who were to be +rulers or commanders, whether men or women, locked up +for several years when they were children, some of them +seven years, and this so close that they were not to see the +sun, for if they should happen to see it they forfeited their +lordship, eating certain sorts of food appointed; and those +who were their keepers at certain times went into their retreat +or prison and scourged them severely.</q><note place='foot'>A. de Herrera, <hi rend='italic'>General History of +the vast Continent and Islands of +America</hi>, trans. by Capt. John Stevens +(London, 1725-1726), v. 88.</note> Thus, for +example, the heir to the throne of Bogota, who was not +the son but the sister's son of the king, had to undergo a +rigorous training from his infancy: he lived in complete +retirement in a temple, where he might not see the sun nor +eat salt nor converse with a woman: he was surrounded by +guards who observed his conduct and noted all his actions: +if he broke a single one of the rules laid down for him, he +was deemed infamous and forfeited all his rights to the +throne.<note place='foot'>H. Ternaux-Compans, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur +l'ancien Cundinamarca</hi> (Paris, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), +p. 56; Theodor Waitz, <hi rend='italic'>Anthropologie +der Naturvölker</hi>, iv. (Leipsic, 1864) +p. 359.</note> So, too, the heir to the kingdom of Sogamoso, +before succeeding to the crown, had to fast for seven years +in the temple, being shut up in the dark and not allowed to +see the sun or light.<note place='foot'>Alonzo de Zurita, <q>Rapport sur +les differentes classes de chefs de la +Nouvelle-Espagne,</q> p. 30, in H. +Ternaux-Compans's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages, Relations +et Mémoires originaux, pour servir à +l'Histoire de la Découverte de l'Amérique</hi> +(Paris, 1840); Th. Waitz, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; A. +Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die Culturländer des alten +Amerika</hi> (Berlin, 1878), ii. 204.</note> The prince who was to become Inca +of Peru had to fast for a month without seeing light.<note place='foot'>Cieza de Leon, <hi rend='italic'>Second Part of the +Chronicle of Peru</hi> (Hakluyt Society, +London, 1883), p. 18.</note> On +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> +the day when a Brahman student of the Veda took a bath, +to signify that the time of his studentship was at an end, he +entered a cow-shed before sunrise, hung over the door a skin +with the hair inside, and sat there; on that day the sun +should not shine upon him.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Grihya Sûtras</hi>, translated by +H. Oldenberg, Part ii. (Oxford, 1892) +pp. 165, 275 (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books of the +East</hi>, vol. xxx.). Umbrellas appear to +have been sometimes used in ritual for +the purpose of preventing the sunlight +from falling on sacred persons or +things. See W. Caland, <hi rend='italic'>Altindisches +Zauberritual</hi> (Amsterdam, 1900), p. +110 note 12. At an Athenian festival +called Scira the priestess of Athena, +the priest of Poseidon, and the priest +of the Sun walked from the Acropolis +under the shade of a huge white umbrella +which was borne over their +heads by the Eteobutads. See Harpocration +and Suidas, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> Σκίρον; +Scholiast on Aristophanes, <hi rend='italic'>Eccles.</hi> 18.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tabooed +persons not +allowed to +see the sun. +Certain +persons +forbidden +to see fire.</note> +Again, women after childbirth and their offspring are +more or less tabooed all the world over; hence in Corea the +rays of the sun are rigidly excluded from both mother and +child for a period of twenty-one or a hundred days, according +to their rank, after the birth has taken place.<note place='foot'>Mrs. Bishop, <hi rend='italic'>Korea and her Neighbours</hi> +(London, 1898), ii. 248.</note> Among some +of the tribes on the north-west coast of New Guinea a +woman may not leave the house for months after childbirth. +When she does go out, she must cover her head with a hood +or mat; for if the sun were to shine upon her, it is thought +that one of her male relations would die.<note place='foot'>J. L. van Hasselt, <q>Eenige aanteekeningen +aangaande de bewoners +der N. Westkust van Nieuw Guinea,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- +en Volkenkunde</hi>, xxxi. (1886) p. 587.</note> Again, mourners are +everywhere taboo; accordingly in mourning the Ainos of Japan +wear peculiar caps in order that the sun may not shine upon +their heads.<note place='foot'>A. Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die Völker des östlichen +Asien</hi>, v. (Jena, 1869) p. 366.</note> During a solemn fast of three days the Indians +of Costa Rica eat no salt, speak as little as possible, light no +fires, and stay strictly indoors, or if they go out during the +day they carefully cover themselves from the light of the sun, +believing that exposure to the sun's rays would turn them +black.<note place='foot'>W. M. Gabb, <q>On the Indian +Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Proceedings of the American Philosophical +Society held at Philadelphia</hi>, xiv. +(Philadelphia, 1876), p. 510.</note> On Yule Night it has been customary in parts of +Sweden from time immemorial to go on pilgrimage, whereby +people learn many secret things and know what is to happen +in the coming year. As a preparation for this pilgrimage, +<q>some secrete themselves for three days previously in a dark +cellar, so as to be shut out altogether from the light of +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +heaven. Others retire at an early hour of the preceding +morning to some out-of-the-way place, such as a hay-loft, +where they bury themselves in the hay, that they may +neither see nor hear any living creature; and here they +remain, in silence and fasting, until after sundown; whilst +there are those who think it sufficient if they rigidly abstain +from food on the day before commencing their wanderings. +During this period of probation a man ought not to see fire, +but should this have happened, he must strike a light with +flint and steel, whereby the evil that would otherwise have +ensued will be obviated.</q><note place='foot'>L. Lloyd, <hi rend='italic'>Peasant Life in Sweden</hi> +(London, 1870), p. 194.</note> During the sixteen days that a +Pima Indian is undergoing purification for killing an Apache +he may not see a blazing fire.<note place='foot'>H. H. Bancroft, <hi rend='italic'>Native Races of +the Pacific States</hi>, i. 553. See <hi rend='italic'>Taboo +and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, p. 182.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The story +of Prince +Sunless.</note> +Acarnanian peasants tell of a handsome prince called +Sunless, who would die if he saw the sun. So he lived in an +underground palace on the site of the ancient Oeniadae, but +at night he came forth and crossed the river to visit a famous +enchantress who dwelt in a castle on the further bank. She +was loth to part with him every night long before the sun +was up, and as he turned a deaf ear to all her entreaties to +linger, she hit upon the device of cutting the throats of all +the cocks in the neighbourhood. So the prince, whose ear +had learned to expect the shrill clarion of the birds as the +signal of the growing light, tarried too long, and hardly had +he reached the ford when the sun rose over the Aetolian +mountains, and its fatal beams fell on him before he could +regain his dark abode.<note place='foot'>L. Heuzey, <hi rend='italic'>Le Mont Olympe et +l'Acarnanie</hi> (Paris, 1860), pp. 458 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter II. The Seclusion of Girls at Puberty.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='1. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa.'/> +<head>§ 1. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Girls at +puberty +forbidden +to touch +the ground +and to see +the sun. Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +A-Kamba. +Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Baganda.</note> +Now it is remarkable that the foregoing two rules—not to +touch the ground and not to see the sun—are observed either +separately or conjointly by girls at puberty in many parts +of the world. Thus amongst the negroes of Loango girls at +puberty are confined in separate huts, and they may not touch +the ground with any part of their bare body.<note place='foot'>Pechuel-Loesche, <q>Indiscretes aus +Loango,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Ethnologie</hi>, x. +(1878) p. 23.</note> Among +the Zulus and kindred tribes of South Africa, when the first +signs of puberty shew themselves <q>while a girl is walking, +gathering wood, or working in the field, she runs to the river +and hides herself among the reeds for the day, so as not to +be seen by men. She covers her head carefully with her +blanket that the sun may not shine on it and shrivel her up +into a withered skeleton, as would result from exposure to +the sun's beams. After dark she returns to her home and +is secluded</q> in a hut for some time.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Macdonald, <q>Manners, +Customs, Superstitions, and Religions +of South African Tribes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xx. (1891) +p. 118.</note> During her seclusion, +which lasts for about a fortnight, neither she nor the girls +who wait upon her may drink any milk, lest the cattle should +die. And should she be overtaken by the first flow while +she is in the fields, she must, after hiding in the bush, +scrupulously avoid all pathways in returning home.<note place='foot'>Dudley Kidd, <hi rend='italic'>The Essential Kafir</hi> +(London, 1904), p. 209. The prohibition +to drink milk under such +circumstances is also mentioned, though +without the reason for it, by L. Alberti +(<hi rend='italic'>De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika</hi>, +Amsterdam, 1810, p. 79), George +Thompson (<hi rend='italic'>Travels and Adventures in +Southern Africa</hi>, London, 1827, ii. +354 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>), and Mr. Warner (in Col. +Maclean's <hi rend='italic'>Compendium of Kafir Laws +and Customs</hi>, Cape Town, 1866, p. 98). +As to the reason for the prohibition, +see below, p. <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref>.</note> A +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +reason for this avoidance is assigned by the A-Kamba of +British East Africa, whose girls under similar circumstances +observe the same rule. <q>A girl's first menstruation is a +very critical period of her life according to A-Kamba beliefs. +If this condition appears when she is away from the village, +say at work in the fields, she returns at once to her village, +but is careful to walk through the grass and not on a path, +for if she followed a path and a stranger accidentally trod +on a spot of blood and then cohabited with a member of the +opposite sex before the girl was better again, it is believed +that she would never bear a child.</q> She remains at home +till the symptoms have ceased, and during this time she may +be fed by none but her mother. When the flux is over, her +father and mother are bound to cohabit with each other, else +it is believed that the girl would be barren all her life.<note place='foot'>C. W. Hobley, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnology of A-Kamba +and other East African Tribes</hi> +(Cambridge, 1910), p. 65.</note> +Similarly, among the Baganda, when a girl menstruated for +the first time she was secluded and not allowed to handle +food; and at the end of her seclusion the kinsman with +whom she was staying (for among the Baganda young people +did not reside with their parents) was obliged to jump over +his wife, which with the Baganda is regarded as equivalent +to having intercourse with her. Should the girl happen to +be living near her parents at the moment when she attained +to puberty, she was expected on her recovery to inform +them of the fact, whereupon her father jumped over her +mother. Were this custom omitted, the Baganda, like the +A-Kamba, thought that the girl would never have children +or that they would die in infancy.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 80. As to the +interpretation which the Baganda put +on the act of jumping or stepping over +a woman, see <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, pp. 48, 357 note 1. +Apparently some of the Lower Congo +people interpret the act similarly. See +J. H. Weeks, <q>Notes on some Customs +of the Lower Congo People,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xix. (1908) p. 431. Among the Baganda +the separation of children from +their parents took place after weaning; +girls usually went to live either with +an elder married brother or (if there +was none such) with one of their father's +brothers; boys in like manner went to +live with one of their father's brothers. +See J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 74. As to +the prohibition to touch food with the +hands, see <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the +Soul</hi>, pp. 138 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 146 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, etc.</note> Thus the pretence of +sexual intercourse between the parents or other relatives of +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> +the girl was a magical ceremony to ensure her fertility. It +is significant that among the Baganda the first menstruation +was often called a marriage, and the girl was spoken of as +a bride.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi>, +p. 80.</note> These terms so applied point to a belief like that +of the Siamese, that a girl's first menstruation results from +her defloration by one of a host of aerial spirits, and that the +wound thus inflicted is repeated afterwards every month by +the same ghostly agency.<note place='foot'>De la Loubère, <hi rend='italic'>Du royaume de +Siam</hi> (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 203. In +Travancore it is believed that women +at puberty and after childbirth are +peculiarly liable to be attacked by +demons. See S. Mateer, <hi rend='italic'>The Land of +Charity</hi> (London, 1871), p. 208.</note> For a like reason, probably, the +Baganda imagine that a woman who does not menstruate +exerts a malign influence on gardens and makes them +barren<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi>, +p. 80.</note> if she works in them. For not being herself +fertilized by a spirit, how can she fertilize the garden? +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +tribes of +the Tanganyika +plateau.</note> +Among the Amambwe, Winamwanga, Alungu, and +other tribes of the great plateau to the west of Lake +Tanganyika, <q>when a young girl knows that she has attained +puberty, she forthwith leaves her mother's hut, and hides +herself in the long grass near the village, covering her face +with a cloth and weeping bitterly. Towards sunset one of +the older women—who, as directress of the ceremonies, is +called <foreign rend='italic'>nachimbusa</foreign>—follows her, places a cooking-pot by the +cross-roads, and boils therein a concoction of various herbs, +with which she anoints the neophyte. At nightfall the girl +is carried on the old woman's back to her mother's hut. +When the customary period of a few days has elapsed, she +is allowed to cook again, after first whitewashing the floor of +the hut. But, by the following month, the preparations for +her initiation are complete. The novice must remain in her +hut throughout the whole period of initiation, and is carefully +guarded by the old women, who accompany her whenever +she leaves her quarters, veiling her head with a native cloth. +The ceremonies last for at least one month.</q> During this +period of seclusion, drumming and songs are kept up within +the mother's hut by the village women, and no male, except, +it is said, the father of twins, is allowed to enter. The +directress of the rites and the older women instruct the +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> +young girl as to the elementary facts of life, the duties of +marriage, and the rules of conduct, decorum, and hospitality +to be observed by a married woman. Amongst other things +the damsel must submit to a series of tests such as leaping +over fences, thrusting her head into a collar made of thorns, +and so on. The lessons which she receives are illustrated +by mud figures of animals and of the common objects of +domestic life. Moreover, the directress of studies embellishes +the walls of the hut with rude pictures, each with +its special significance and song, which must be understood +and learned by the girl.<note place='foot'>C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, <hi rend='italic'>The Great Plateau of Northern Nigeria</hi> +(London, 1911), pp. 158-160.</note> In the foregoing account the +rule that a damsel at puberty may neither see the sun nor +touch the ground seems implied by the statement that +on the first discovery of her condition she hides in long +grass and is carried home after sunset on the back of an +old woman. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +tribes of +British +Central +Africa.</note> +Among the Nyanja-speaking tribes of Central Angoniland, +in British Central Africa, when a young girl finds that +she has become a woman, she stands silent by the pathway +leading to the village, her face wrapt in her calico. An old +woman, finding her there, takes her off to a stream to bathe; +after that the girl is secluded for six days in the old woman's +hut. She eats her porridge out of an old basket and her +relish, in which no salt is put, from a potsherd. The basket +is afterwards thrown away. On the seventh day the aged +matrons gather together, go with the girl to a stream, and +throw her into the water. In returning they sing songs, and +the old woman, who directs the proceedings, carries the +maiden on her back. Then they spread a mat and fetch +her husband and set the two down on the mat and shave +his head. When it is dark, the old women escort the girl to +her husband's hut. There the <foreign rend='italic'>ndiwo</foreign> relish is cooking on the +fire. During the night the woman rises and puts some salt +in the pot. Next morning, before dawn, while all is dark +and the villagers have not yet opened their doors, the young +married woman goes off and gives some of the relish to her +mother and to the old woman who was mistress of the +ceremony. This relish she sets down at the doors of their +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> +houses and goes away. And in the morning, when the sun +has risen and all is light in the village, the two women open +their doors, and there they find the relish with the salt in it; +and they take of it and rub it on their feet and under their +arm-pits; and if there are little children in the house, they +eat of it. And if the young wife has a kinsman who is +absent from the village, some of the relish is put on a splinter +of bamboo and kept against his return, that when he comes +he, too, may rub his feet with it. But if the woman finds +that her husband is impotent, she does not rise betimes and +go out in the dark to lay the relish at the doors of her +mother and the old woman. And in the morning, when the +sun is up and all the village is light, the old women open +their doors, and see no relish there, and they know what has +happened, and so they go wilily to work. For they persuade +the husband to consult the diviner that he may discover how +to cure his impotence; and while he is closeted with the +wizard, they fetch another man, who finishes the ceremony +with the young wife, in order that the relish may be given +out and that people may rub their feet with it. But if it +happens that when a girl comes to maturity she is not yet +betrothed to any man, and therefore has no husband to go +to, the matrons tell her that she must go to a lover instead. +And this is the custom which they call <foreign rend='italic'>chigango</foreign>. So in the +evening she takes her cooking pot and relish and hies away +to the quarters of the young bachelors, and they very civilly +sleep somewhere else that night. And in the morning the +girl goes back to the <foreign rend='italic'>kuka</foreign> hut.<note place='foot'>R. Sutherland Rattray, <hi rend='italic'>Some Folk-lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanja</hi> +(London, 1907), pp. 102-105.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Abstinence +from salt +associated +with a rule +of chastity +in many +tribes.</note> +From the foregoing account it appears that among these +tribes no sooner has a girl attained to womanhood than she +is expected and indeed required to give proof of her newly +acquired powers by cohabiting with a man, whether her +husband or another. And the abstinence from salt during +the girl's seclusion is all the more remarkable because as +soon as the seclusion is over she has to use salt for a particular +purpose, to which the people evidently attach very great +importance, since in the event of her husband proving +impotent she is even compelled, apparently, to commit +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> +adultery in order that the salted relish may be given out as +usual. In this connexion it deserves to be noted that among +the Wagogo of German East Africa women at their monthly +periods may not sleep with their husbands and may not put +salt in food.<note place='foot'>Rev. H. Cole, <q>Notes on the +Wagogo of German East Africa,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +xxxii. (1902) pp. 309 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> A similar rule is observed by the Nyanja-speaking +tribes of Central Angoniland, with whose puberty customs +we are here concerned. Among them, we are told, <q>some +superstition exists with regard to the use of salt. A woman +during her monthly sickness must on no account put salt +into any food she is cooking, lest she give her husband or +children a disease called <foreign rend='italic'>tsempo</foreign> (<foreign rend='italic'>chitsoko soko</foreign>), but calls a +child to put it in, or, as the song goes, <q><foreign rend='italic'>Natira mchere ni +bondo chifukwa n'kupanda mwana</foreign>,</q> and pours in the salt by +placing it on her knee, because there is no child handy. +Should a party of villagers have gone to make salt, all sexual +intercourse is forbidden among the people of the village, +until the people who have gone to make the salt (from grass) +return. When they do come back, they must make their +entry into the village at night, and no one must see them. +Then one of the elders of the village sleeps with his wife. +She then cooks some relish, into which she puts some of the +salt. This relish is handed round to the people who went +to make the salt, who rub it on their feet and under their +armpits.</q><note place='foot'>R. Sutherland Rattray, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +pp. 191 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Hence it would seem that in the mind of these +people abstinence from salt is somehow associated with the +idea of chastity. The same association meets us in the +customs of many peoples in various parts of the world. For +example, ancient Hindoo ritual prescribed that for three +nights after a husband had brought his bride home, the two +should sleep on the ground, remain chaste, and eat no salt.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Grihya Sûtras</hi>, translated by +H. Oldenberg, Part i. p. 357, Part ii. +p. 267 (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books of the East</hi>, vols. +xxix., xxx.).</note> +Among the Baganda, when a man was making a net, he had +to refrain from eating salt and meat and from living with +his wife; these restrictions he observed until the net took its +first catch of fish. Similarly, so long as a fisherman's nets +or traps were in the water, he must live apart from his wife, +and neither he nor she nor their children might eat salt or +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +meat.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi> +(London, 1911), pp. 393 sq., compare +pp. 396, 398.</note> Evidence of the same sort could be multiplied,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Totemism and Exogamy</hi>, iv. +224 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> but +without going into it further we may say that for some +reason which is not obvious to us primitive man connects +salt with the intercourse of the sexes and therefore forbids +the use of that condiment in a variety of circumstances in +which he deems continence necessary or desirable. As there +is nothing which the savage regards as a greater bar between +the sexes than the state of menstruation, he naturally prohibits +the use of salt to women and girls at their monthly +periods. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +tribes +about Lake +Nyassa +and on the +Zambesi.</note> +With the Awa-nkonde, a tribe at the northern end of +Lake Nyassa, it is a rule that after her first menstruation a +girl must be kept apart, with a few companions of her own +sex, in a darkened house. The floor is covered with dry +banana leaves, but no fire may be lit in the house, which is +called <q>the house of the Awasungu,</q> that is, <q>of maidens +who have no hearts.</q><note place='foot'>Sir Harry H. Johnston, <hi rend='italic'>British +Central Africa</hi> (London, 1897), p. 411.</note> When a girl reaches puberty, the +Wafiomi of Eastern Africa hold a festival at which they +make a noise with a peculiar kind of rattle. After that the +girl remains for a year in the large common hut (<foreign rend='italic'>tembe</foreign>), +where she occupies a special compartment screened off from +the men's quarters. She may not cut her hair or touch food, +but is fed by other women. At night, however, she quits the +hut and dances with young men.<note place='foot'>Oscar Baumann, <hi rend='italic'>Durch Massailand +zur Nilquelle</hi> (Berlin, 1894), p. +178.</note> Among the Barotse or +Marotse of the upper Zambesi, <q>when a girl arrives at the +age of puberty she is sent into the fields, where a hut is constructed +far from the village. There, with two or three +companions, she spends a month, returning home late and +starting before dawn in order not to be seen by the men. +The women of the village visit her, bringing food and honey, +and singing and dancing to amuse her. At the end of a +month her husband comes and fetches her. It is only after +this ceremony that women have the right to smear themselves +with ochre.</q><note place='foot'>Lionel Decle, <hi rend='italic'>Three Years in +Savage Africa</hi> (London, 1898), p. 78. +Compare E. Jacottet, <hi rend='italic'>Études sur les +Langues du Haut-Zambèze</hi>, Troisième +Partie (Paris, 1901), pp. 174 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (as to +the A-Louyi).</note> We may suspect that the chief reason why +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> +the girl during her seclusion may visit her home only by +night is a fear, not so much lest she should be seen by men, +as that she might be seen by the sun. Among the Wafiomi, +as we have just learned, the young woman in similar circumstances +is even free to dance with men, provided always that +the dance is danced at night. The ceremonies among the +Barotse or Marotse are somewhat more elaborate for a girl of +the royal family. She is shut up for three months in a place +which is kept secret from the public; only the women of her +family know where it is. There she sits alone in the darkness +of the hut, waited on by female slaves, who are strictly +forbidden to speak and may communicate with her and with +each other only by signs. During all this time, though she +does nothing, she eats much, and when at last she comes forth, +her appearance is quite changed, so fat has she grown. She +is then led by night to the river and bathed in presence of +all the women of the village. Next day she flaunts before +the public in her gayest attire, her head bedecked with +ornaments and her face mottled with red paint. So everybody +knows what has happened.<note place='foot'>E. Béguin, <hi rend='italic'>Les Ma-rotsé</hi> (Lausanne and Fontaines, 1903), p. 113.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Thonga of +Delagoa +Bay.</note> +Among the northern clans of the Thonga tribe, in +South-Eastern Africa, about Delagoa Bay, when a girl +thinks that the time of her nubility is near, she chooses +an adoptive mother, perhaps in a neighbouring village. +When the symptoms appear, she flies away from her own +village and repairs to that of her adopted mother <q>to weep +near her.</q> After that she is secluded with several other girls +in the same condition for a month. They are shut up in a +hut, and whenever they come outside they must wear a dirty +greasy cloth over their faces as a veil. Every morning they +are led to a pool and plunged in the water up to their necks. +Initiated girls or women accompany them, singing obscene +songs and driving away with sticks any man who meets them; +for no man may see a girl during this time of seclusion. If +he saw her, it is said that he would be struck blind. On +their return from the river, the girls are again imprisoned +in the hut, where they remain wet and shivering, for they +may not go near the fire to warm themselves. During +their seclusion they listen to lascivious songs sung by +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +grown women and are instructed in sexual matters. At +the end of the month the adoptive mother brings the +girl home to her true mother and presents her with a pot +of beer.<note place='foot'>Henri A. Junod, <hi rend='italic'>The Life of a +South African Tribe</hi> (Neuchatel, +1912-1913), i. 178 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Caffre +tribes of +South +Africa.</note> +Among the Caffre tribes of South Africa the period of a +girl's seclusion at puberty varies with the rank of her father. +If he is a rich man, it may last twelve days; if he is a chief, +it may last twenty-four days.<note place='foot'>G. McCall Theal, <hi rend='italic'>Kaffir Folk-lore</hi> +(London, 1886), p. 218.</note> And when it is over, the girl +rubs herself over with red earth, and strews finely powdered +red earth on the ground, before she leaves the hut where she +has been shut up. Finally, though she was forbidden to drink +milk all the days of her separation, she washes out her mouth +with milk, and is from that moment regarded as a full-grown +woman.<note place='foot'>L. Alberti, <hi rend='italic'>De Kaffers aan de +Zuidkust van Afrika</hi> (Amsterdam, +1810), pp. 79 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. Lichtenstein, +<hi rend='italic'>Reisen im südlichen Africa</hi> (Berlin, +1811-1812), i. 428.</note> Afterwards, in the dusk of the evening, she carries +away all the objects with which she came into contact in the +hut during her seclusion and buries them secretly in a +sequestered spot.<note place='foot'>Gustav Fritsch, <hi rend='italic'>Die Eingeborenen +Süd-Afrika's</hi> (Breslau, 1872), p. 112. +This statement applies especially to the +Ama-Xosa.</note> When the girl is a chief's daughter the +ceremonies at her liberation from the hut are more elaborate +than usual. She is led forth from the hut by a son of her +father's councillor, who, wearing the wings of a blue crane, the +badge of bravery, on his head, escorts her to the cattle kraal, +where cows are slaughtered and dancing takes place. Large +skins full of milk are sent to the spot from neighbouring +villages; and after the dances are over the girl drinks milk +for the first time since the day she entered into retreat. But +the first mouthful is drunk by the girl's aunt or other female +relative who had charge of her during her seclusion; and a +little of it is poured on the fire-place.<note place='foot'>G. McCall Theal, <hi rend='italic'>Kaffir Folk-lore</hi>, +p. 218.</note> Amongst the Zulus, +when the girl was a princess royal, the end of her time of +separation was celebrated by a sort of saturnalia: law and +order were for the time being in abeyance: every man, +woman, and child might appropriate any article of property: +the king abstained from interfering; and if during this reign +of misrule he was robbed of anything he valued he could only +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> +recover it by paying a fine.<note place='foot'>Rev. Canon Henry Callaway, +<hi rend='italic'>Nursery Tales, Traditions, and +Histories of the Zulus</hi> (Natal and London, +1868), p. 182, note 20. From +one of the Zulu texts which the author +edits and translates (p. 189) we may +infer that during the period of her +seclusion a Zulu girl may not light a +fire. Compare above, p. <ref target='Pg028'>28</ref>.</note> Among the Basutos, when girls +at puberty are bathed as usual by the matrons in a river, +they are hidden separately in the turns and bends of the +stream, and told to cover their heads, as they will be visited +by a large serpent. Their limbs are then plastered with clay, +little masks of straw are put on their faces, and thus arrayed +they daily follow each other in procession, singing melancholy +airs, to the fields, there to learn the labours of husbandry in +which a great part of their adult life will be passed.<note place='foot'>E. Casalis, <hi rend='italic'>The Basutos</hi> (London, +1861), p. 268.</note> We +may suppose, though we are not told, that the straw masks +which they wear in these processions are intended to hide +their faces from the gaze of men and the rays of the sun. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty on +the Lower +Congo.</note> +Among the tribes in the lower valley of the Congo, such as +the Bavili, when a girl arrives at puberty, she has to pass two +or three months in seclusion in a small hut built for the purpose. +The hair of her head is shaved off, and every day the +whole of her body is smeared with a red paint (<foreign rend='italic'>takulla</foreign>) made +from a powdered wood mixed with water. Some of her +companions reside in the hut with her and prepare the paint +for her use. A woman is appointed to take charge of the +hut and to keep off intruders. At the end of her confinement +she is taken to water by the women of her family and +bathed; the paint is rubbed off her body, her arms and legs +are loaded with brass rings, and she is led in solemn procession +under an umbrella to her husband's house. If these ceremonies +were not performed, the people believe that the girl +would be barren or would give birth to monsters, that the +rain would cease to fall, the earth to bear fruit, and the fishing +to be successful.<note place='foot'>J. Merolla, <q>Voyage to Congo,</q> +in J. Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi> +(London, 1808-1814), xvi. 238; +Father Campana, <q>Congo; Mission +Catholique de Landana,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Les Missions +Catholiques</hi>, xxvii. (1895) p. 161; R. E. +Dennett, <hi rend='italic'>At the Back of the Black +Man's Mind</hi> (London, 1906), pp. +69 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> According to Merolla, it is +thought that if girls did not go through +these ceremonies, they would <q>never +be fit for procreation.</q> The other +consequences supposed to flow from the +omission of the rites are mentioned by +Father Campana. From Mr. Dennett's +account (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 53, 67-71) we +gather that drought and famine are +thought to result from the intercourse +of a man with a girl who has not yet +passed through the <q>paint-house,</q> as +the hut is called where the young women +live in seclusion. According to O. +Dapper, the women of Loango paint +themselves red on every recurrence of +their monthly sickness; also they tie a +cord tightly round their heads and take +care neither to touch their husband's +food nor to appear before him +(<hi rend='italic'>Description de l'Afrique</hi>, Amsterdam, +1686, p. 326).</note> Such serious importance do these savages +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> +ascribe to the performance of rites which to us seem so +childish. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='2. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, and Indonesia.'/> +<head>§ 2. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, +New Guinea, and Indonesia.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty in +New +Ireland.</note> +In New Ireland girls are confined for four or five years +in small cages, being kept in the dark and not allowed to +set foot on the ground. The custom has been thus described +by an eye-witness. <q>I heard from a teacher about some +strange custom connected with some of the young girls here, +so I asked the chief to take me to the house where they +were. The house was about twenty-five feet in length, and +stood in a reed and bamboo enclosure, across the entrance +to which a bundle of dried grass was suspended to show that +it was strictly <q><foreign rend='italic'>tabu</foreign>.</q> Inside the house were three conical +structures about seven or eight feet in height, and about ten +or twelve feet in circumference at the bottom, and for about +four feet from the ground, at which point they tapered off +to a point at the top. These cages were made of the broad +leaves of the pandanus-tree, sewn quite close together so +that no light and little or no air could enter. On one side +of each is an opening which is closed by a double door of +plaited cocoa-nut tree and pandanus-tree leaves. About +three feet from the ground there is a stage of bamboos which +forms the floor. In each of these cages we were told there +was a young woman confined, each of whom had to remain +for at least four or five years, without ever being allowed +to go outside the house. I could scarcely credit the story +when I heard it; the whole thing seemed too horrible to be +true. I spoke to the chief, and told him that I wished to +see the inside of the cages, and also to see the girls that I +might make them a present of a few beads. He told me +that it was <q><foreign rend='italic'>tabu</foreign>,</q> forbidden for any men but their own relations +to look at them; but I suppose the promised beads +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +acted as an inducement, and so he sent away for some old +lady who had charge, and who alone is allowed to open the +doors. While we were waiting we could hear the girls talking +to the chief in a querulous way as if objecting to something +or expressing their fears. The old woman came at +length and certainly she did not seem a very pleasant jailor +or guardian; nor did she seem to favour the request of the +chief to allow us to see the girls, as she regarded us with +anything but pleasant looks. However, she had to undo the +door when the chief told her to do so, and then the girls peeped +out at us, and, when told to do so, they held out their hands +for the beads. I, however, purposely sat at some distance away +and merely held out the beads to them, as I wished to draw +them quite outside, that I might inspect the inside of the cages. +This desire of mine gave rise to another difficulty, as these +girls were not allowed to put their feet to the ground all the +time they were confined in these places. However, they +wished to get the beads, and so the old lady had to go outside +and collect a lot of pieces of wood and bamboo, which +she placed on the ground, and then going to one of the girls, +she helped her down and held her hand as she stepped from +one piece of wood to another until she came near enough to +get the beads I held out to her. I then went to inspect the +inside of the cage out of which she had come, but could +scarcely put my head inside of it, the atmosphere was so hot +and stifling. It was clean and contained nothing but a few +short lengths of bamboo for holding water. There was only +room for the girl to sit or lie down in a crouched position +on the bamboo platform, and when the doors are shut it must +be nearly or quite dark inside. The girls are never allowed +to come out except once a day to bathe in a dish or wooden +bowl placed close to each cage. They say that they perspire +profusely. They are placed in these stifling cages +when quite young, and must remain there until they are +young women, when they are taken out and have each a +great marriage feast provided for them. One of them was +about fourteen or fifteen years old, and the chief told us +that she had been there for five years, but would soon be +taken out now. The other two were about eight and ten +years old, and they have to stay there for several years +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> +longer.</q><note place='foot'>The Rev. G. Brown, quoted by +the Rev. B. Danks, <q>Marriage Customs +of the New Britain Group,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal +of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, xviii. +(1889) pp. 284 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Melanesians +and Polynesians</hi> (London, 1910), pp. +105-107. Compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Notes on +the Duke of York Group, New Britain, +and New Ireland,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Royal +Geographical Society</hi>, xlvii. (1877) pp. +142 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; A. Hahl, <q>Das mittlere +Neumecklenburg,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, xci. (1907) +p. 313. Wilfred Powell's description +of the New Ireland custom is similar +(<hi rend='italic'>Wanderings in a Wild Country</hi>, +London, 1883, p. 249). According +to him, the girls wear wreaths of +scented herbs round the waist and +neck; an old woman or a little child +occupies the lower floor of the cage; +and the confinement lasts only a month. +Probably the long period mentioned by +Dr. Brown is that prescribed for chiefs' +daughters. Poor people could not afford +to keep their children so long idle. +This distinction is sometimes expressly +stated. See above, p. <ref target='Pg030'>30</ref>. Among +the Goajiras of Colombia rich people +keep their daughters shut up in separate +huts at puberty for periods varying from +one to four years, but poor people +cannot afford to do so for more than a +fortnight or a month. See F. A. +Simons, <q>An Exploration of the Goajira +Peninsula,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Proceedings of the Royal +Geographical Society</hi>, N.S., vii. (1885) +p. 791. In Fiji, brides who were +being tattooed were kept from the +sun (Thomas Williams, <hi rend='italic'>Fiji and the +Fijians</hi>, Second Edition, London, +1860, i. 170). This was perhaps a +modification of the Melanesian custom +of secluding girls at puberty. The +reason mentioned by Mr. Williams, +<q>to improve her complexion,</q> can +hardly have been the original one.</note> A more recent observer has described the custom as +it is observed on the western coast of New Ireland. He says: +<q>A <foreign rend='italic'>buck</foreign> is the name of a little house, not larger than an +ordinary hen-coop, in which a little girl is shut up, sometimes +for weeks only, and at other times for months.... Briefly +stated, the custom is this. Girls, on attaining puberty or +betrothal, are enclosed in one of these little coops for a +considerable time. They must remain there night and day. +We saw two of these girls in two coops; the girls were not +more than ten years old, still they were lying in a doubled-up +position, as their little houses would not admit of them lying +in any other way. These two coops were inside a large +house; but the chief, in consideration of a present of a +couple of tomahawks, ordered the ends to be torn out of +the house to admit the light, so that we might photograph +the <foreign rend='italic'>buck</foreign>. The occupant was allowed to put her face through +an opening to be photographed, in consideration of another +present.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. R. H. Rickard, quoted by +Dr. George Brown, <hi rend='italic'>Melanesians and +Polynesians</hi>, pp. 107 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> His observations +were made in 1892.</note> As a consequence of their long enforced idleness +in the shade the girls grow fat and their dusky complexion +bleaches to a more pallid hue. Both their corpulence and +their pallor are regarded as beauties.<note place='foot'>R. Parkinson, <hi rend='italic'>Dreissig Jahre in +der Südsee</hi> (Stuttgart, 1907), p. 272. +The natives told Mr. Parkinson that +the confinement of the girls lasts from +twelve to twenty months. The length +of it may have been reduced since Dr. +George Brown described the custom in +1876.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty in +New +Guinea, +Borneo, +Ceram, and +Yap.</note> +In Kabadi, a district of British New Guinea, <q>daughters +of chiefs, when they are about twelve or thirteen years of age, +are kept indoors for two or three years, never being allowed, +under any pretence, to descend from the house, and the house +is so shaded that the sun cannot shine on them.</q><note place='foot'>J. Chalmers and W. Wyatt Gill, +<hi rend='italic'>Work and Adventure in New Guinea</hi> +(London, 1885), p. 159.</note> Among +the Yabim and Bukaua, two neighbouring and kindred tribes +on the coast of German New Guinea, a girl at puberty is +secluded for some five or six weeks in an inner part of the +house; but she may not sit on the floor, lest her uncleanness +should cleave to it, so a log of wood is placed for her to squat +on. Moreover, she may not touch the ground with her feet; +hence if she is obliged to quit the house for a short time, she +is muffled up in mats and walks on two halves of a coco-nut +shell, which are fastened like sandals to her feet by +creeping plants. During her seclusion she is in charge of +her aunts or other female relatives. At the end of the time +she bathes, her person is loaded with ornaments, her face is +grotesquely painted with red stripes on a white ground, and +thus adorned she is brought forth in public to be admired +by everybody. She is now marriageable.<note place='foot'>H. Zahn and S. Lehner, in R. +Neuhauss's <hi rend='italic'>Deutsch Neu-Guinea</hi> (Berlin, +1911), iii. 298, 418-420. The +customs of the two tribes seem to be in +substantial agreement, and the accounts +of them supplement each other. The +description of the Bukaua practice is +the fuller.</note> Among the Ot +Danoms of Borneo girls at the age of eight or ten years are +shut up in a little room or cell of the house, and cut off +from all intercourse with the world for a long time. The +cell, like the rest of the house, is raised on piles above the +ground, and is lit by a single small window opening on a +lonely place, so that the girl is in almost total darkness. +She may not leave the room on any pretext whatever, not +even for the most necessary purposes. None of her family +may see her all the time she is shut up, but a single slave +woman is appointed to wait on her. During her lonely confinement, +which often lasts seven years, the girl occupies +herself in weaving mats or with other handiwork. Her +bodily growth is stunted by the long want of exercise, and +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +when, on attaining womanhood, she is brought out, her complexion +is pale and wax-like. She is now shewn the sun, +the earth, the water, the trees, and the flowers, as if she were +newly born. Then a great feast is made, a slave is killed, +and the girl is smeared with his blood.<note place='foot'>C. A. L. M. Schwaner, <hi rend='italic'>Borneo, +Beschrijving van het stroomgebied van +den Barito</hi> (Amsterdam, 1853-1854), +ii. 77 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. F. A. Zimmermann, +<hi rend='italic'>Die Inseln des Indischen und Stillen +Meeres</hi> (Berlin, 1864-1865), ii. 632 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Otto Finsch, <hi rend='italic'>Neu Guinea und +seine Bewohner</hi> (Bremen, 1865), pp. +116 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Ceram girls at +puberty were formerly shut up by themselves in a hut which +was kept dark.<note place='foot'>J. G. F. Riedel, <hi rend='italic'>De sluik- en +kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en +Papua</hi> (The Hague, 1886), p. 138.</note> In Yap, one of the Caroline Islands, +should a girl be overtaken by her first menstruation on the +public road, she may not sit down on the earth, but must +beg for a coco-nut shell to put under her. She is shut up +for several days in a small hut at a distance from her parents' +house, and afterwards she is bound to sleep for a hundred +days in one of the special houses which are provided for the +use of menstruous women.<note place='foot'>A. Senfft, <q>Ethnographische Beiträge +über die Karolineninsel Yap,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Petermanns Mitteilungen</hi>, xlix. (1903) +p. 53; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Die Rechtssitten der Jap-Eingeborenen,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, xci. (1907) +pp. 142 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='3. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands and Northern Australia.'/> +<head>§ 3. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits +Islands and Northern Australia.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty in +Mabuiag, +Torres +Straits.</note> +In the island of Mabuiag, Torres Straits, when the signs +of puberty appear on a girl, a circle of bushes is made in a +dark corner of the house. Here, decked with shoulder-belts, +armlets, leglets just below the knees, and anklets, wearing a +chaplet on her head, and shell ornaments in her ears, on her +chest, and on her back, she squats in the midst of the bushes, +which are piled so high round about her that only her head +is visible. In this state of seclusion she must remain for +three months. All this time the sun may not shine upon +her, but at night she is allowed to slip out of the hut, and +the bushes that hedge her in are then changed. She may +not feed herself or handle food, but is fed by one or two old +women, her maternal aunts, who are especially appointed to +look after her. One of these women cooks food for her at a +special fire in the forest. The girl is forbidden to eat turtle or +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +turtle eggs during the season when the turtles are breeding; +but no vegetable food is refused her. No man, not even her +own father, may come into the house while her seclusion +lasts; for if her father saw her at this time he would certainly +have bad luck in his fishing, and would probably smash his +canoe the very next time he went out in it. At the end of +the three months she is carried down to a fresh-water creek +by her attendants, hanging on to their shoulders in such a +way that her feet do not touch the ground, while the women +of the tribe form a ring round her, and thus escort her to +the beach. Arrived at the shore, she is stripped of her ornaments, +and the bearers stagger with her into the creek, where +they immerse her, and all the other women join in splashing +water over both the girl and her bearers. When they come +out of the water one of the two attendants makes a heap of +grass for her charge to squat upon. The other runs to the +reef, catches a small crab, tears off its claws, and hastens +back with them to the creek. Here in the meantime a fire +has been kindled, and the claws are roasted at it. The girl +is then fed by her attendants with the roasted claws. After +that she is freshly decorated, and the whole party marches +back to the village in a single rank, the girl walking in the +centre between her two old aunts, who hold her by the +wrists. The husbands of her aunts now receive her and lead +her into the house of one of them, where all partake of food, +and the girl is allowed once more to feed herself in the usual +manner. A dance follows, in which the girl takes a prominent +part, dancing between the husbands of the two aunts +who had charge of her in her retirement.<note place='foot'>Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in <hi rend='italic'>Journal +of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxix. +(1899) pp. 212 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, in <hi rend='italic'>Reports of +the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition +to Torres Straits</hi>, v. (Cambridge, +1904) pp. 203 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty in +Northern +Australia.</note> +Among the Yaraikanna tribe of Cape York Peninsula, in +Northern Queensland, a girl at puberty is said to live by herself +for a month or six weeks; no man may see her, though +any woman may. She stays in a hut or shelter specially +made for her, on the floor of which she lies supine. She +may not see the sun, and towards sunset she must keep +her eyes shut until the sun has gone down, otherwise it is +thought that her nose will be diseased. During her seclusion +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +she may eat nothing that lives in salt water, or a snake +would kill her. An old woman waits upon her and supplies +her with roots, yams, and water.<note place='foot'>Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in <hi rend='italic'>Reports +of the Cambridge Expedition to Torres +Straits</hi>, v. (Cambridge, 1904) p. 205.</note> Some tribes are wont to +bury their girls at such seasons more or less deeply in the +ground, perhaps in order to hide them from the light of the +sun. Thus the Larrakeeyah tribe in the northern territory +of South Australia used to cover a girl up with dirt for +three days at her first monthly period.<note place='foot'>L. Crauford, in <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxiv. (1895) +p. 181.</note> In similar circumstances +the Otati tribe, on the east coast of the Cape York +Peninsula, make an excavation in the ground, where the +girl squats. A bower is then built over the hole, and sand +is thrown on the young woman till she is covered up to the +hips. In this condition she remains for the first day, but +comes out at night. So long as the period lasts, she stays +in the bower during the day-time, but is not again covered +with sand. Afterwards her body is painted red and white +from the head to the hips, and she returns to the camp, +where she squats first on the right side, then on the left +side, and then on the lap of her future husband, who has +been previously selected for her.<note place='foot'>Dr. C. G. Seligmann, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> v. +206.</note> Among the natives of the +Pennefather River, in the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, +when a girl menstruates for the first time, her mother takes +her away from the camp to some secluded spot, where she +digs a circular hole in the sandy soil under the shade of a +tree. In this hole the girl squats with crossed legs and is +covered with sand from the waist downwards. A digging-stick +is planted firmly in the sand on each side of her, and +the place is surrounded by a fence of bushes except in front, +where her mother kindles a fire. Here the girl stays all +day, sitting with her arms crossed and the palms of her +hands resting on the sand. She may not move her arms +except to take food from her mother or to scratch herself; +and in scratching herself she may not touch herself with her +own hands, but must use for the purpose a splinter of wood, +which, when it is not in use, is stuck in her hair. She may +speak to nobody but her mother; indeed nobody else would +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> +think of coming near her. At evening she lays hold of the +two digging-sticks and by their help frees herself from the +superincumbent weight of sand and returns to the camp. +Next morning she is again buried in the sand under the +shade of the tree and remains there again till evening. +This she does daily for five days. On her return at +evening on the fifth day her mother decorates her with a +waist-band, a forehead-band, and a necklet of pearl-shell, +ties green parrot feathers round her arms and wrists and +across her chest, and smears her body, back and front, from +the waist upwards with blotches of red, white, and yellow +paint. She has in like manner to be buried in the sand at +her second and third menstruations, but at the fourth she is +allowed to remain in camp, only signifying her condition by +wearing a basket of empty shells on her back.<note place='foot'>Walter E. Roth, <hi rend='italic'>North Queensland +Ethnography, Bulletin No. 5, +Superstition, Magic, and Medicine</hi> +(Brisbane, 1903), pp. 24 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the +Kia blacks of the Prosperine River, on the east coast of +Queensland, a girl at puberty has to sit or lie down in a +shallow pit away from the camp; a rough hut of bushes is +erected over her to protect her from the inclemency of the +weather. There she stays for about a week, waited on by +her mother and sister, the only persons to whom she may +speak. She is allowed to drink water, but may not touch +it with her hands; and she may scratch herself a little with +a mussel-shell. This seclusion is repeated at her second +and third monthly periods, but when the third is over she +is brought to her husband bedecked with savage finery. +Eagle-hawk or cockatoo feathers are stuck in her hair: a +shell hangs over her forehead: grass bugles encircle her +neck and an apron of opossum skin her waist: strings are +tied to her arms and wrists; and her whole body is mottled +with patterns drawn in red, white, and yellow pigments and +charcoal.<note place='foot'>Walter E. Roth, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 25.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty in +the islands +of Torres +Straits.</note> +Among the Uiyumkwi tribe in Red Island the girl +lies at full length in a shallow trench dug in the foreshore, +and sand is lightly thrown over her legs and body up +to the breasts, which appear not to be covered. A rough +shelter of boughs is then built over her, and thus she +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> +remains lying for a few hours. Then she and her attendant +go into the bush and look for food, which they cook at a +fire close to the shelter. They sleep under the boughs, the +girl remaining secluded from the camp but apparently not +being again buried. At the end of the symptoms she +stands over hot stones and water is poured over her, till, +trickling from her body on the stones, it is converted into +steam and envelops her in a cloud of vapour. Then she +is painted with red and white stripes and returns to the +camp. If her future husband has already been chosen, she +goes to him and they eat some food together, which the girl +has previously brought from the bush.<note place='foot'>Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in <hi rend='italic'>Reports +of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition +to Torres Straits</hi>, v. (Cambridge, +1904), p. 205.</note> In Prince of Wales +Island, Torres Strait, the treatment of the patient is similar, +but lasts for about two months. During the day she lies +covered up with sand in a shallow hole on the beach, over +which a hut is built. At night she may get out of the hole, +but she may not leave the hut. Her paternal aunt looks +after her, and both of them must abstain from eating turtle, +dugong, and the heads of fish. Were they to eat the heads +of fish no more fish would be caught. During the time of +the girl's seclusion, the aunt who waits upon her has the right +to enter any house and take from it anything she likes +without payment, provided she does so before the sun rises. +When the time of her retirement has come to an end, the +girl bathes in the sea while the morning star is rising, and +after performing various other ceremonies is readmitted to +society.<note place='foot'>From notes kindly sent me by +Dr. C. G. Seligmann. The practice +of burying a girl at puberty was observed +also by some Indian tribes of +California, but apparently rather for +the purpose of producing a sweat than +for the sake of concealment. The treatment +lasted only twenty-four hours, +during which the patient was removed +from the ground and washed three or +four times, to be afterwards reimbedded. +Dancing was kept up the +whole time by the women. See H. +R. Schoolcraft, <hi rend='italic'>Indian Tribes of the +United States</hi> (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), +v. 215.</note> In Saibai, another island of Torres Straits, at her +first monthly sickness a girl lives secluded in the forest for +about a fortnight, during which no man may see her; even +the women who have spoken to her in the forest must wash +in salt water before they speak to a man. Two girls wait +upon and feed the damsel, putting the food into her mouth, +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> +for she is not allowed to touch it with her own hands. Nor +may she eat dugong and turtle. At the end of a fortnight +the girl and her attendants bathe in salt water while the +tide is running out. Afterwards they are clean, may again +speak to men without ceremony, and move freely about the +village. In Yam and Tutu a girl at puberty retires for a +month to the forest, where no man nor even her own mother +may look upon her. She is waited on by women who stand +to her in a certain relationship (<foreign rend='italic'>mowai</foreign>), apparently her +paternal aunts. She is blackened all over with charcoal and +wears a long petticoat reaching below her knees. During +her seclusion the married women of the village often assemble +in the forest and dance, and the girl's aunts relieve the tedium +of the proceedings by thrashing her from time to time as a +useful preparation for matrimony. At the end of a month +the whole party go into the sea, and the charcoal is washed +off the girl. After that she is decorated, her body blackened +again, her hair reddened with ochre, and in the evening she is +brought back to her father's house, where she is received with +weeping and lamentation because she has been so long away.<note place='foot'>Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in <hi rend='italic'>Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition +to Torres Straits</hi>, v. 201 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='4. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of North America.'/> +<head>§ 4. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of +North America.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Indians of +California.</note> +Among the Indians of California a girl at her first +menstruation <q>was thought to be possessed of a particular +degree of supernatural power, and this was not always +regarded as entirely defiling or malevolent. Often, however, +there was a strong feeling of the power of evil inherent +in her condition. Not only was she secluded from her family +and the community, but an attempt was made to seclude the +world from her. One of the injunctions most strongly laid +upon her was not to look about her. She kept her head +bowed and was forbidden to see the world and the sun. +Some tribes covered her with a blanket. Many of the +customs in this connection resembled those of the North +Pacific Coast most strongly, such as the prohibition to the +girl to touch or scratch her head with her hand, a special +implement being furnished her for the purpose. Sometimes +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> +she could eat only when fed and in other cases fasted +altogether. Some form of public ceremony, often accompanied +by a dance and sometimes by a form of ordeal for +the girl, was practised nearly everywhere. Such ceremonies +were well developed in Southern California, where a number +of actions symbolical of the girl's maturity and subsequent +life were performed.</q><note place='foot'>A. L. Kroeber, <q>The Religion of +the Indians of California,</q> <hi rend='italic'>University +of California Publications in American +Archaeology and Ethnology</hi>, vol. iv. +No. 6 (September, 1907), p. 324.</note> Thus among the Maidu Indians of +California a girl at puberty remained shut up in a small +separate hut. For five days she might not eat flesh or fish +nor feed herself, but was fed by her mother or other old +woman. She had a basket, plate, and cup for her own use, +and a stick with which to scratch her head, for she might +not scratch it with her fingers. At the end of five days she +took a warm bath and, while she still remained in the hut +and plied the scratching-stick on her head, was privileged to +feed herself with her own hands. After five days more she +bathed in the river, after which her parents gave a great +feast in her honour. At the feast the girl was dressed in +her best, and anybody might ask her parents for anything +he pleased, and they had to give it, even if it was the hand +of their daughter in marriage. During the period of her +seclusion in the hut the girl was allowed to go by night to +her parents' house and listen to songs sung by her friends +and relations, who assembled for the purpose. Among the +songs were some that related to the different roots and seeds +which in these tribes it is the business of women to gather +for food. While the singers sang, she sat by herself in a +corner of the house muffled up completely in mats and skins; +no man or boy might come near her.<note place='foot'>Roland B. Dixon, <q>The Northern +Maidu,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin of the American +Museum of Natural History</hi>, vol. xvii. +Part iii. (May, 1905) pp. 232 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +compare pp. 233-238.</note> Among the Hupa, +another Indian tribe of California, when a girl had reached +maturity her male relatives danced all night for nine successive +nights, while the girl remained apart, eating no meat +and blindfolded. But on the tenth night she entered the +house and took part in the last dance.<note place='foot'>Stephen Powers, <hi rend='italic'>Tribes of California</hi> +(Washington, 1877), p. 85 +(<hi rend='italic'>Contributions to North American Ethnology</hi>, +vol. iii.).</note> Among the Wintun, +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> +another Californian tribe, a girl at puberty was banished from +the camp and lived alone in a distant booth, fasting rigidly +from animal food; it was death to any person to touch or +even approach her.<note place='foot'>Stephen Powers, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 235.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Indians of +Washington +State.</note> +In the interior of Washington State, about Colville, <q>the +customs of the Indians, in relation to the treatment of +females, are singular. On the first appearance of the menses, +they are furnished with provisions, and sent into the woods, +to remain concealed for two days; for they have a superstition, +that if a man should be seen or met with during that +time, death will be the consequence. At the end of the +second day, the woman is permitted to return to the lodge, +when she is placed in a hut just large enough for her to lie +in at full length, in which she is compelled to remain for +twenty days, cut off from all communication with her friends, +and is obliged to hide her face at the appearance of a man. +Provisions are supplied her daily. After this, she is required +to perform repeated ablutions, before she can resume her +place in the family. At every return, the women go into +seclusion for two or more days.</q><note place='foot'>Charles Wilkes, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of the +United States Exploring Expedition</hi>, +New Edition (New York, 1851), iv. +456.</note> Among the Chinook +Indians who inhabited the coast of Washington State, from +Shoalwater Bay as far as Grey's Harbour, when a chief's +daughter attained to puberty, she was hidden for five days +from the view of the people; she might not look at them +nor at the sky, nor might she pick berries. It was believed +that if she were to look at the sky, the weather would be +bad; that if she picked berries, it would rain; and that when +she hung her towel of cedar-bark on a spruce-tree, the tree +withered up at once. She went out of the house by a +separate door and bathed in a creek far from the village. +She fasted for some days, and for many days more she +might not eat fresh food.<note place='foot'>Franz Boas, <hi rend='italic'>Chinook Texts</hi> (Washington, +1894), pp. 246 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +account, taken down from the lips of +a Chinook Indian, is not perfectly +clear; some of the restrictions were +prolonged after the girl's second +monthly period.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Nootka +Indians of +Vancouver +Island.</note> +Amongst the Aht or Nootka Indians of Vancouver +Island, when girls reach puberty they are placed in a sort +of gallery in the house <q>and are there surrounded completely +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +with mats, so that neither the sun nor any fire can +be seen. In this cage they remain for several days. Water +is given them, but no food. The longer a girl remains in +this retirement the greater honour is it to the parents; but +she is disgraced for life if it is known that she has seen fire +or the sun during this initiatory ordeal.</q><note place='foot'>G. M. Sproat, <hi rend='italic'>Scenes and Studies +of Savage Life</hi> (London, 1868), pp. +93 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Pictures of the +mythical thunder-bird are painted on the screens behind +which she hides. During her seclusion she may neither +move nor lie down, but must always sit in a squatting +posture. She may not touch her hair with her hands, but +is allowed to scratch her head with a comb or a piece of +bone provided for the purpose. To scratch her body is +also forbidden, as it is believed that every scratch would +leave a scar. For eight months after reaching maturity she +may not eat any fresh food, particularly salmon; moreover, +she must eat by herself, and use a cup and dish of her own.<note place='foot'>Franz Boas, in <hi rend='italic'>Sixth Report on the +North-Western Tribes of Canada</hi>, pp. +40-42 (separate reprint from the <hi rend='italic'>Report +of the British Association for the Advancement +of Science</hi>, Leeds meeting, +1890). The rule not to lie down is +observed also during their seclusion at +puberty by Tsimshian girls, who always +sit propped up between boxes and +mats; their heads are covered with +small mats, and they may not look at +men nor at fresh salmon and olachen. +See Franz Boas, in <hi rend='italic'>Fifth Report on the +North-Western Tribes of Canada</hi>, p. 41 +(separate reprint from the <hi rend='italic'>Report of the +British Association for the Advancement +of Science</hi>, Newcastle-upon-Tyne +meeting, 1889); G. M. Dawson, <hi rend='italic'>Report +on the Queen Charlotte Islands, +1878</hi> (Montreal, 1880), pp. 130 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b</hi> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +Some divine kings are not allowed to +lie down. See <hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils +of the Soul</hi>, p. 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Haida +Indians of +the Queen +Charlotte +Islands.</note> +Among the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte +Islands girls at puberty were secluded behind screens in +the house for about twenty days. In some parts of the +islands separate fires were provided for the girls, and they +went out and in by a separate door at the back of the +house. If a girl at such a time was obliged to go out by +the front door, all the weapons, gambling-sticks, medicine, +and other articles had to be removed from the house till her +return, for otherwise it was thought that they would be unlucky; +and if there was a good hunter in the house, he also +had to go out at the same time on pain of losing his good +luck if he remained. During several months or even half a +year the girl was bound to wear a peculiar cloak or hood +made of cedar-bark, nearly conical in shape and reaching +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +down below the breast, but open before the face. After the +twenty days were over the girl took a bath; none of the +water might be spilled, it had all to be taken back to the +woods, else the girl would not live long. On the west coast +of the islands the damsel might eat nothing but black cod +for four years; for the people believed that other kinds of +fish would become scarce if she partook of them. At Kloo +the young woman at such times was forbidden to look at +the sea, and for forty days she might not gaze at the fire; +for a whole year she might not walk on the beach below +high-water mark, because then the tide would come in, +covering part of the food supply, and there would be bad +weather. For five years she might not eat salmon, or the +fish would be scarce; and when her family went to a salmon-creek, +she landed from the canoe at the mouth of the creek +and came to the smoke-house from behind; for were she to +see a salmon leap, all the salmon might leave the creek. +Among the Haidas of Masset it was believed that if the +girl looked at the sky, the weather would be bad, and that +if she stepped over a salmon-creek, all the salmon would +disappear.<note place='foot'>George M. Dawson, <hi rend='italic'>Report on the +Queen Charlotte Islands, 1878</hi> (Montreal, +1880), p. 130 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b</hi>; J. R. Swanton, +<hi rend='italic'>Contributions to the Ethnology of +the Haida</hi> (Leyden and New York, +1905), pp. 48-50 (<hi rend='italic'>The Jesup North +Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the +American Museum of Natural History</hi>, +New York). Speaking of the customs +observed at Kloo, where the girls had +to abstain from salmon for five years, +Mr. Swanton says (p. 49): <q>When +five years had passed, the girl came +out, and could do as she pleased.</q> +This seems to imply that the girl was +secluded in the house for five years. +We have seen (above, p. <ref target='Pg032'>32</ref>) that +in New Ireland the girls used sometimes +to be secluded for the same +period.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Tlingit +Indians of +Alaska.</note> +Amongst the Tlingit (Thlinkeet) or Kolosh Indians of +Alaska, when a girl shewed signs of womanhood she used to +be confined to a little hut or cage, which was completely +blocked up with the exception of a small air-hole. In this +dark and filthy abode she had to remain a year, without fire, +exercise, or associates. Only her mother and a female slave +might supply her with nourishment. Her food was put in +at the little window; she had to drink out of the wing-bone +of a white-headed eagle. The time of her seclusion was +afterwards reduced in some places to six or three months or +even less. She had to wear a sort of hat with long flaps, +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> +that her gaze might not pollute the sky; for she was thought +unfit for the sun to shine upon, and it was imagined that +her look would destroy the luck of a hunter, fisher, or +gambler, turn things to stone, and do other mischief. At +the end of her confinement her old clothes were burnt, new +ones were made, and a feast was given, at which a slit was +cut in her under lip parallel to the mouth, and a piece of +wood or shell was inserted to keep the aperture open.<note place='foot'>G. H. von Langsdorff, <hi rend='italic'>Reise +um die Welt</hi> (Frankfort, 1812), ii. +114 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. J. Holmberg, <q>Ethnographische +Skizzen über die Völker +des Russischen Amerika,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Acta Societatis +Scientiarum Fennicae</hi>, iv. (Helsingfors, +1856) pp. 319 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; T. +de Pauly, <hi rend='italic'>Description Ethnographique +des Peuples de la Russie</hi> (St. Petersburg, +1862), <hi rend='italic'>Peuples de l'Amérique +Russe</hi>, p. 13; A. Erman, <q>Ethnographische +Wahrnehmungen und Erfahrungen +an den Küsten des Berings-Meeres,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Ethnologie</hi>, ii. +(1870) pp. 318 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; H. H. Bancroft, +<hi rend='italic'>Native Races of the Pacific States</hi> (London, +1875-1876), i. 110 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Rev. +Sheldon Jackson, <q>Alaska and its Inhabitants,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>The American Antiquarian</hi>, +ii. (Chicago, 1879-1880) pp. 111 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +A. Woldt, <hi rend='italic'>Captain Jacobsen's Reise an +der Nordwestküste Americas, 1881-1883</hi> +(Leipsic, 1884), p. 393; Aurel +Krause, <hi rend='italic'>Die Tlinkit-Indianer</hi> (Jena, +1885), pp. 217 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. M. Grant, in +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of American Folk-lore</hi>, i. +(1888) p. 169; John R. Swanton, +<q>Social Conditions, Beliefs, and Linguistic +Relationship of the Tlingit +Indians,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Twenty-sixth Annual Report +of the Bureau of American Ethnology</hi> +(Washington, 1908), p. 428.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Tsetsaut +and Bella +Coola +Indians of +British +Columbia.</note> +In the Tsetsaut tribe of British Columbia a girl at puberty +wears a large hat of skin which comes down over her face +and screens it from the sun. It is believed that if she were +to expose her face to the sun or to the sky, rain would fall. +The hat protects her face also against the fire, which ought +not to strike her skin; to shield her hands she wears mittens. +In her mouth she carries the tooth of an animal to prevent +her own teeth from becoming hollow. For a whole year +she may not see blood unless her face is blackened; otherwise +she would grow blind. For two years she wears the +hat and lives in a hut by herself, although she is allowed +to see other people. At the end of two years a man +takes the hat from her head and throws it away.<note place='foot'>Franz Boas, in <hi rend='italic'>Tenth Report of the +Committee on the North-Western Tribes +of Canada</hi>, p. 45 (separate reprint from +the <hi rend='italic'>Report of the British Association +for the Advancement of Science</hi>, Ipswich +meeting, 1895).</note> In the +Bilqula or Bella Coola tribe of British Columbia, when a +girl attains puberty she must stay in the shed which serves +as her bedroom, where she has a separate fireplace. She is +not allowed to descend to the main part of the house, and +may not sit by the fire of the family. For four days she is +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +bound to remain motionless in a sitting posture. She fasts +during the day, but is allowed a little food and drink very +early in the morning. After the four days' seclusion she +may leave her room, but only through a separate opening +cut in the floor, for the houses are raised on piles. She +may not yet come into the chief room. In leaving the +house she wears a large hat which protects her face against +the rays of the sun. It is believed that if the sun were to +shine on her face her eyes would suffer. She may pick +berries on the hills, but may not come near the river or sea +for a whole year. Were she to eat fresh salmon she would +lose her senses, or her mouth would be changed into a long +beak.<note place='foot'>Franz Boas, in <hi rend='italic'>Fifth Report of the +Committee on the North-Western Tribes +of Canada</hi>, p. 42 (separate reprint from +the <hi rend='italic'>Report of the British Association +for the Advancement of Science</hi>, Newcastle-upon-Tyne +meeting, 1889); <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +in <hi rend='italic'>Seventh Report</hi>, etc., p. 12 (separate +reprint from the <hi rend='italic'>Report of the British +Association for the Advancement of +Science</hi>, Cardiff meeting, 1891).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Tinneh +Indians of +British +Columbia.</note> +Among the Tinneh Indians about Stuart Lake, Babine +Lake, and Fraser Lake in British Columbia <q>girls verging +on maturity, that is when their breasts begin to form, take +swans' feathers mixed with human hair and plait bands, +which they tie round their wrists and ankles to secure long +life. At this time they are careful that the dishes out of +which they eat, are used by no other person, and wholly +devoted to their own use; during this period they eat +nothing but dog fish, and starvation <emph>only</emph> will drive them to +eat either fresh fish or meat. When their first periodical +sickness comes on, they are fed by their mothers or nearest +female relation by <emph>themselves</emph>, and on no account will +they touch their food with their own hands. They +are at this time also careful not to touch their heads +with their hands, and keep a small stick to scratch +their heads with. They remain outside the lodge, all +the time they are in this state, in a hut made for the purpose. +During all this period they wear a skull-cap made +of skin to fit very tight; this is never taken off until +their first monthly sickness ceases; they also wear a strip +of black paint about one inch wide across their eyes, and +wear a fringe of shells, bones, etc., hanging down from their +foreheads to below their eyes; and this is never taken off +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> +till the second monthly period arrives and ceases, when the +nearest male relative makes a feast; after which she is considered +a fully matured woman; but she has to refrain from +eating anything fresh for one year after her first monthly +sickness; she may however eat partridge, but it must be +cooked in the crop of the bird to render it harmless. I +would have thought it impossible to perform this feat had +I not seen it done. The crop is blown out, and a small +bent willow put round the mouth; it is then filled with +water, and the meat being first minced up, put in also, then +put on the fire and boiled till cooked. Their reason for +hanging fringes before their eyes, is to hinder any bad +medicine man from harming them during this critical period: +they are very careful not to drink whilst facing a medicine +man, and do so only when their backs are turned to him. +All these habits are left off when the girl is a recognised +woman, with the exception of their going out of the lodge +and remaining in a hut, every time their periodical sickness +comes on. This is a rigidly observed law with both single +and married women.</q><note place='foot'><q>Customs of the New Caledonian +women belonging to the Nancaushy +Tine, or Stuart's Lake Indians, Natotin +Tine, or Babine's and Nantley +Tine, or Fraser Lake Tribes,</q> from information +supplied by Gavin Hamilton, +chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company's +service, who has been for many +years among these Indians, both he +and his wife speaking their languages +fluently (communicated by Dr. John +Rae), <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological +Institute</hi>, vii. (1878) pp. 206 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Tinneh +Indians of +Alaska.</note> +Among the Hareskin Tinneh a girl at puberty was +secluded for five days in a hut made specially for the +purpose; she might only drink out of a tube made from +a swan's bone, and for a month she might not break a +hare's bones, nor taste blood, nor eat the heart or fat of +animals, nor birds' eggs.<note place='foot'>Émile Petitot, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions Indiennes +du Canada Nord-ouest</hi> (Paris, +1886), pp. 257 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Tinneh Indians of +the middle Yukon valley, in Alaska, the period of the girl's +seclusion lasts exactly a lunar month; for the day of the +moon on which the symptoms first occur is noted, and she +is sequestered until the same day of the next moon. If the +season is winter, a corner of the house is curtained off for +her use by a blanket or a sheet of canvas; if it is summer, +a small tent is erected for her near the common one. Here +she lives and sleeps. She wears a long robe and a large +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> +hood, which she must pull down over her eyes whenever she +leaves the hut, and she must keep it down till she returns. +She may not speak to a man nor see his face, much less +touch his clothes or anything that belongs to him; for if +she did so, though no harm would come to her, he would +grow unmanly. She has her own dishes for eating out of +and may use no other; at Kaltag she must suck the water +through a swan's bone without applying her lips to the cup. +She may eat no fresh meat or fish except the flesh of the +porcupine. She may not undress, but sleeps with all her +clothes on, even her mittens. In her socks she wears, next +to the skin, the horny soles cut from the feet of a porcupine, +in order that for the rest of her life her shoes may never +wear out. Round her waist she wears a cord to which are +tied the heads of femurs of a porcupine; because of all +animals known to the Tinneh the porcupine suffers least in +parturition, it simply drops its young and continues to walk +or skip about as if nothing had happened. Hence it is easy +to see that a girl who wears these portions of a porcupine +about her waist, will be delivered just as easily as the +animal. To make quite sure of this, if anybody happens +to kill a porcupine big with young while the girl is undergoing +her period of separation, the foetus is given to her, +and she lets it slide down between her shirt and her body so +as to fall on the ground like an infant.<note place='foot'>Fr. Julius Jetté, S.J., <q>On the +Superstitions of the Ten'a Indians,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Anthropos</hi>, vi. (1911) pp. 700-702.</note> Here the imitation +of childbirth is a piece of homoeopathic or imitative magic +designed to facilitate the effect which it simulates.<note place='foot'>Compare <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</hi>, i. 70 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Thompson +Indians +of British +Columbia.</note> +Among the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, when +a girl attained puberty, she was at once separated from all the +people. A conical hut of fir branches and bark was erected +at some little distance from the other houses, and in it the +girl had to squat on her heels during the day. Often a +deep circular hole was dug in the hut and the girl squatted +in the hole, with her head projecting above the surface of +the ground. She might quit the hut for various purposes +in the early morning, but had always to be back at sunrise. +On the first appearance of the symptoms her face was +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> +painted red all over, and the paint was renewed every +morning during her term of seclusion. A heavy blanket +swathed her body from top to toe, and during the first four +days she wore a conical cap made of small fir branches, +which reached below the breast but left an opening for the +face. In her hair was fastened an implement made of deer-bone +with which she scratched herself. For the first four +days she might neither wash nor eat, but a little water was +given her in a birch-bark cup painted red, and she sucked +up the liquid through a tube made out of the leg of a crane, +a swan, or a goose, for her lips might not touch the surface +of the water. After the four days she was allowed, during +the rest of the period of isolation, to eat, to wash, to lie +down, to comb her hair, and to drink of streams and springs. +But in drinking at these sources she had still to use her +tube, otherwise the spring would dry up. While her +seclusion lasted she performed by night various ceremonies, +which were supposed to exert a beneficial influence on her +future life. For example, she ran as fast as she could, +praying at the same time to the Earth or Nature that she +might be fleet of foot and tireless of limb. She dug trenches, +in order that in after life she might be able to dig well and +to work hard. These and other ceremonies she repeated for +four nights or mornings in succession, four times each morning, +and each time she supplicated the Dawn of the Day. Among +the Lower Thompson Indians she carried a staff for one +night; and when the day was breaking she leaned the staff +against the stump of a tree and prayed to the Dawn that +she might be blessed with a good husband, who was symbolized +by the staff. She also wandered some nights to +lonely parts of the mountains, where she would dance, imploring +the spirits to pity and protect her during her future +life; then, the dance and prayer over, she would lie down on +the spot and fall asleep. Again, she carried four stones in +her bosom to a spring, where she spat upon the stones and +threw them one after the other into the water, praying that +all disease might leave her, as these stones did. Also she +ran four times in the early morning with two small stones +in her bosom; and as she ran the stones slipped down +between her bare body and her clothes and fell to the +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> +ground. At the same time she prayed to the Dawn that +when she should be with child, she might be delivered as +easily as she was delivered of these stones. But whatever +exercises she performed or prayers she offered on the lonely +mountains during the hours of darkness or while the morning +light was growing in the east, she must always be back in +her little hut before the sun rose. There she often passed +the tedious hours away picking the needles, one by one, +from the cones on two large branches of fir, which hung +from the roof of her hut on purpose to provide her with +occupation. And as she picked she prayed to the fir-branch +that she might never be lazy, but always quick and active +at work. During her seclusion, too, she had to make +miniatures of all the articles that Indian women make, or +used to make, such as baskets, mats, ropes, and thread. +This she did in order that afterwards she might be able to +make the real things properly. Four large fir-branches also +were placed in front of the hut, so that when she went out +or in, she had to step over them. The branches were renewed +every morning and the old ones thrown away into +the water, while the girl prayed, <q>May I never bewitch any +man, nor my fellow-women! May it never happen!</q> The +first four times that she went out and in, she prayed to the +fir-branches, saying, <q>If ever I step into trouble or difficulties +or step unknowingly inside the magical spell of some person, +may you help me, O Fir-branches, with your power!</q> +Every day she painted her face afresh, and she wore strings +of parts of deer-hoofs round her ankles and knees, and tied +to her waistband on either side, which rattled when she +walked or ran. Even the shape of the hut in which she +lived was adapted to her future rather than to her present +needs and wishes. If she wished to be tall, the hut was +tall; if she wished to be short, it was low, sometimes so low +that there was not room in it for her to stand erect, and she +would lay the palm of her hand on the top of her head and +pray to the Dawn that she might grow no taller. Her +seclusion lasted four months. The Indians say that long +ago it extended over a year, and that fourteen days elapsed +before the girl was permitted to wash for the first time. +The dress which she wore during her time of separation was +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +afterwards taken to the top of a hill and burned, and the +rest of her clothes were hung up on trees.<note place='foot'>James Teit, <hi rend='italic'>The Thompson Indians +of British Columbia</hi>, pp. 311-317 +(<hi rend='italic'>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, +Memoir of the American Museum +of Natural History</hi>, New York, April, +1900). As to the customs observed +among these Indians by the father of a +girl at such times in order not to lose +his luck in hunting, see <hi rend='italic'>Spirits of the +Corn and of the Wild</hi>, ii. 268.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Lillooet +Indians of +British +Columbia.</note> +Among the Lillooet Indians of British Columbia, neighbours +of the Thompsons, the customs observed by girls at +puberty were similar. The damsels were secluded for a +period of not less than one year nor more than four years, +according to their own inclination and the wishes of their +parents. Among the Upper Lillooets the hut in which the +girl lodged was made of bushy fir-trees set up like a conical +tent, the inner branches being lopped off, while the outer +branches were closely interwoven and padded to form a roof. +Every month or half-month the hut was shifted to another +site or a new one erected. By day the girl sat in the hut; for +the first month she squatted in a hole dug in the middle of +it; and she passed the time making miniature baskets of +birch-bark and other things, praying that she might be able +to make the real things well in after years. At the dusk +of the evening she left the hut and wandered about all night, +but she returned before the sun rose. Before she quitted +the hut at nightfall to roam abroad, she painted her face red +and put on a mask of fir-branches, and in her hand, as she +walked, she carried a basket-rattle to frighten ghosts and +guard herself from evil. Among the Lower Lillooets, the +girl's mask was often made of goat-skin, covering her head, +neck, shoulders and breast, and leaving only a narrow +opening from the brow to the chin. During the nocturnal +hours she performed many ceremonies. Thus she put two +smooth stones in her bosom and ran, and as they fell +down between her body and her clothes, she prayed, +saying, <q>May I always have easy child-births!</q> Now one +of these stones represented her future child and the other +represented the afterbirth. Also she dug trenches, praying +that in the years to come she might be strong and tireless +in digging roots; she picked leaves and needles from the +fir-trees, praying that her fingers might be nimble in +picking berries; and she tore sheets of birch-bark into +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> +shreds, dropping the shreds as she walked and asking that +her hands might never tire and that she might make neat +and fine work of birch-bark. Moreover, she ran and walked +much that she might be light of foot. And every evening, +when the shadows were falling, and every morning, when +the day was breaking, she prayed to the Dusk of the +Evening or to the Dawn of Day, saying, <q>O Dawn of +Day!</q> or <q>O Dusk,</q> as it might be, <q>may I be able to dig +roots fast and easily, and may I always find plenty!</q> All +her prayers were addressed to the Dusk of the Evening or +the Dawn of Day. She supplicated both, asking for long +life, health, wealth, and happiness.<note place='foot'>James Teit, <hi rend='italic'>The Lillooet Indians</hi> +(Leyden and New York, 1906), pp. +263-265 (<hi rend='italic'>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, +Memoir of the American +Museum of Natural History</hi>, New +York). Compare C. Hill Tout, <q>Report +on the Ethnology of the Stlatlumh +of British Columbia,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of +the Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxxv. +(1905) p. 136.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls +at puberty +among the +Shuswap +Indians of +British +Columbia.</note> +Among the Shuswap Indians of British Columbia, who +are neighbours of the Thompsons and Lillooets, <q>a girl on +reaching maturity has to go through a great number of +ceremonies. She must leave the village and live alone in a +small hut on the mountains. She cooks her own food, and +must not eat anything that bleeds. She is forbidden to +touch her head, for which purpose she uses a comb with +three points. Neither is she allowed to scratch her body, +except with a painted deer-bone. She wears the bone and the +comb suspended from her belt. She drinks out of a painted +cup of birch-bark, and neither more nor less than the +quantity it holds. Every night she walks about her hut, +and plants willow twigs, which she has painted, and to the +ends of which she has attached pieces of cloth, into the +ground. It is believed that thus she will become rich in +later life. In order to become strong she should climb trees +and try to break off their points. She plays with <foreign rend='italic'>lehal</foreign> +sticks that her future husbands might have good luck when +gambling.</q><note place='foot'>Franz Boas, in <hi rend='italic'>Sixth Report of the +Committee on the North-Western Tribes +of Canada</hi>, pp. 89 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (separate reprint +from the <hi rend='italic'>Report of the British Association +for the Advancement of Science</hi>, +Leeds meeting, 1890).</note> During the day the girl stays in her hut and +occupies herself in making miniature bags, mats, and baskets, +in sewing and embroidery, in manufacturing thread, twine, +and so forth; in short she makes a beginning of all kinds of +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +woman's work, in order that she may be a good housewife +in after life. By night she roams the mountains and +practises running, climbing, carrying burdens, and digging +trenches, so that she may be expert at digging roots. If +she has wandered far and daylight overtakes her, she hides +herself behind a veil of fir branches; for no one, except her +instructor or nearest relatives, should see her face during her +period of seclusion. She wore a large robe painted red on +the breast and sides, and her hair was done up in a knot at +each ear.<note place='foot'>James Teit, <hi rend='italic'>The Shuswap</hi> (Leyden +and New York, 1909), pp. 587 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>The +Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir +of the American Museum of Natural +History</hi>, New York).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Delaware +and +Cheyenne +Indians.</note> +Ceremonies of the same general type were probably +observed by girls at puberty among all the Indian tribes of +North America. But the record of them is far less full for +the Central and Eastern tribes, perhaps because the settlers +who first came into contact with the Red Man in these regions +were too busy fighting him to find leisure, even if they had +the desire, to study his manners and customs. However, +among the Delaware Indians, a tribe in the extreme east of +the continent, we read that <q>when a Delaware girl has her +first monthly period, she must withdraw into a hut at some +distance from the village. Her head is wrapped up for +twelve days, so that she can see nobody, and she must +submit to frequent vomits and fasting, and abstain from all +labor. After this she is washed and new clothed, but +confined to a solitary life for two months, at the close of +which she is declared marriageable.</q><note place='foot'>G. H. Loskiel, <hi rend='italic'>History of the +Mission of the United Brethren among +the Indians of North America</hi> (London, +1794), Part i. pp. 56 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, among the +Cheyennes, an Indian tribe of the Missouri valley, a girl at +her first menstruation is painted red all over her body and +secluded in a special little lodge for four days. However, +she may remain in her father's lodge provided that there are +no charms (<q>medicine</q>), no sacred bundle, and no shield in +it, or that these and all other objects invested with a sacred +character have been removed. For four days she may not +eat boiled meat; the flesh of which she partakes must be +roasted over coals. Young men will not eat from the dish +nor drink from the pot, which has been used by her; because +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> +they believe that were they to do so they would be wounded +in the next fight. She may not handle nor even touch any +weapon of war or any sacred object. If the camp moves, +she may not ride a horse, but is mounted on a mare.<note place='foot'>G. B. Grinnell, <q>Cheyenne +Woman Customs,</q> <hi rend='italic'>American Anthropologist</hi>, +New Series, iv. (New York, +1902) pp. 13 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The Cheyennes +appear to have been at first settled on +the Mississippi, from which they were +driven westward to the Missouri. See +<hi rend='italic'>Handbook of American Indians north +of Mexico</hi>, edited by F. W. Hodge +(Washington, 1907-1910), i. 250 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Esquimaux.</note> +Among the Esquimaux also, in the extreme north of the +continent, who belong to an entirely different race from the +Indians, the attainment of puberty in the female sex is, +or used to be, the occasion of similar observances. Thus +among the Koniags, an Esquimau people of Alaska, a girl +at puberty was placed in a small hut in which she had to +remain on her hands and knees for six months; then the +hut was enlarged a little so as to allow her to straighten her +back, but in this posture she had to remain for six months +more. All this time she was regarded as an unclean being +with whom no one might hold intercourse. At the end of +the year she was received back by her parents and a great +feast held.<note place='foot'>H. J. Holmberg, <q>Ueber die +Völker des Russischen Amerika,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Acta +Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae</hi>, iv. +(Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 401 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Ivan +Petroff, <hi rend='italic'>Report on the Population, Industries +and Resources of Alaska</hi>, p. +143.</note> Again, among the Malemut, and southward +from the lower Yukon and adjacent districts, when a girl +reaches the age of puberty she is considered unclean for +forty days and must therefore live by herself in a corner of +the house with her face to the wall, always keeping her hood +over her head and her hair hanging dishevelled over her +eyes. But if it is summer, she commonly lives in a rough +shelter outside the house. She may not go out by day, and +only once at night, when every one else is asleep. At the +end of the period she bathes and is clothed in new garments, +whereupon she may be taken in marriage. During her +seclusion she is supposed to be enveloped in a peculiar +atmosphere of such a sort that were a young man to come +near enough for it to touch him, it would render him visible +to every animal he might hunt, so that his luck as a hunter +would be gone.<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) +p. 291.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='056'/><anchor id='Pg056'/> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='5. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of South America.'/> +<head>§ 5. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of +South America.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Guaranis, +Chiriguanos, +and +Lengua +Indians of +South +America.</note> +When symptoms of puberty appeared on a girl for the +first time, the Guaranis of Southern Brazil, on the borders of +Paraguay, used to sew her up in her hammock, leaving only +a small opening in it to allow her to breathe. In this +condition, wrapt up and shrouded like a corpse, she was +kept for two or three days or so long as the symptoms +lasted, and during this time she had to observe a most +rigorous fast. After that she was entrusted to a matron, +who cut the girl's hair and enjoined her to abstain most +strictly from eating flesh of any kind until her hair should +be grown long enough to hide her ears. Meanwhile the +diviners drew omens of her future character from the various +birds or animals that flew past or crossed her path. If they +saw a parrot, they would say she was a chatterbox; if an +owl, she was lazy and useless for domestic labours, and so +on.<note place='foot'>Jose Guevara, <q>Historia del +Paraguay, Rio de la Plata, y Tucuman,</q> +pp. 16 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, in Pedro de Angelis, +<hi rend='italic'>Coleccion de Obras y Documentos relativos +a la Historia antigua y moderna +de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata</hi>, +vol. ii. (Buenos-Ayres, 1836); J. F. +Lafitau, <hi rend='italic'>Mœurs des Sauvages Ameriquains</hi> +(Paris, 1724), i. 262 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In similar circumstances the Chiriguanos of south-eastern +Bolivia hoisted the girl in her hammock to the roof, +where she stayed for a month: the second month the +hammock was let half-way down from the roof; and in the +third month old women, armed with sticks, entered the hut +and ran about striking everything they met, saying they +were hunting the snake that had wounded the girl.<note place='foot'>Father Ignace Chomé, in <hi rend='italic'>Lettres +Édifiantes et Curieuses</hi>, Nouvelle +Édition (Paris, 1780-1783), viii. 333. +As to the Chiriguanos, see C. F. +Phil. von Martius, <hi rend='italic'>Zur Ethnographie +Amerika's, zumal Brasiliens</hi> (Leipsic, +1867), pp. 212 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Colonel G. E. +Church, <hi rend='italic'>Aborigines of South America</hi> +(London, 1912), pp. 207-227.</note> The +Lengua Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco under similar +circumstances hang the girl in her hammock from the roof +of the house, but they leave her there only three days and +nights, during which they give her nothing to eat but a little +Paraguay tea or boiled maize. Only her mother or grandmother +has access to her; nobody else approaches or speaks +to her. If she is obliged to leave the hammock for a little, +<pb n='057'/><anchor id='Pg057'/> +her friends take great care to prevent her from touching the +<foreign rend='italic'>Boyrusu</foreign>, which is an imaginary serpent that would swallow +her up. She must also be very careful not to set foot on +the droppings of fowls or animals, else she would suffer from +sores on the throat and breast. On the third day they let her +down from the hammock, cut her hair, and make her sit in +a corner of the room with her face turned to the wall. She +may speak to nobody, and must abstain from flesh and fish. +These rigorous observances she must practise for nearly a +year. Many girls die or are injured for life in consequence +of the hardships they endure at this time. Their only +occupations during their seclusion are spinning and weaving.<note place='foot'>A. Thouar, <hi rend='italic'>Explorations dans +l'Amérique du Sud</hi> (Paris, 1891), pp. +48 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; G. Kurze, <q>Sitten und Gebräuche +der Lengua-Indianer,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mitteilungen +der Geographischen Gesellschaft +zu Jena</hi>, xxiii. (1905) pp. 26 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +two accounts appear to be identical; +but the former attributes the custom +to the Chiriguanos, the latter to the +Lenguas. As the latter account is +based on the reports of the Rev. W. B. +Grubb, a missionary who has been +settled among the Indians of the Chaco +for many years and is our principal +authority on them, I assume that the +ascription of the custom to the Lenguas +is correct. However, in the volume +on the Lengua Indians, which has been +edited from Mr. Grubb's papers (<hi rend='italic'>An +Unknown People in an Unknown Land</hi>, +London, 1911), these details as to the +seclusion of girls at puberty are not +mentioned, though what seems to be +the final ceremony is described (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +pp. 177 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). From the description +we learn that boys dressed in ostrich +feathers and wearing masks circle round +the girl with shrill cries, but are repelled +by the women.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Yuracares +of Bolivia.</note> +Among the Yuracares, an Indian tribe of Bolivia, at the +eastern foot of the Andes, when a girl perceives the signs of +puberty, she informs her parents. The mother weeps and +the father constructs a little hut of palm leaves near the +house. In this cabin he shuts up his daughter so that she +cannot see the light, and there she remains fasting rigorously +for four days. Meantime the mother, assisted by the +women of the neighbourhood, has brewed a large quantity +of the native intoxicant called <foreign rend='italic'>chicha</foreign>, and poured it into +wooden troughs and palm leaves. On the morning of the +fourth day, three hours before the dawn, the girl's father, +having arrayed himself in his savage finery, summons all his +neighbours with loud cries. The damsel is seated on a +stone, and every guest in turn cuts off a lock of her hair, +and running away hides it in the hollow trunk of a tree in +the depths of the forest. When they have all done so and +seated themselves again gravely in the circle, the girl offers +<pb n='058'/><anchor id='Pg058'/> +to each of them a calabash full of very strong <foreign rend='italic'>chicha</foreign>. +Before the wassailing begins, the various fathers perform a +curious operation on the arms of their sons, who are seated +beside them. The operator takes a very sharp bone of an +ape, rubs it with a pungent spice, and then pinching up the +skin of his son's arm he pierces it with the bone through +and through, as a surgeon might introduce a seton. This +operation he repeats till the young man's arm is riddled +with holes at regular intervals from the shoulder to the +wrist. Almost all who take part in the festival are covered +with these wounds, which the Indians call <foreign rend='italic'>culucute</foreign>. Having +thus prepared themselves to spend a happy day, they drink, +play on flutes, sing and dance till evening. Rain, thunder, +and lightning, should they befall, have no effect in damping +the general enjoyment or preventing its continuance till after +the sun has set. The motive for perforating the arms of +the young men is to make them skilful hunters; at each +perforation the sufferer is cheered by the promise of another +sort of game or fish which the surgical operation will +infallibly procure for him. The same operation is performed +on the arms and legs of the girls, in order that they may be +brave and strong; even the dogs are operated on with the +intention of making them run down the game better. For +five or six months afterwards the damsel must cover her +head with bark and refrain from speaking to men. The +Yuracares think that if they did not submit a young girl to +this severe ordeal, her children would afterwards perish by +accidents of various kinds, such as the sting of a serpent, +the bite of a jaguar, the fall of a tree, the wound of an +arrow, or what not.<note place='foot'>Alcide d'Orbigny, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage dans +l'Amérique Méridionale</hi>, vol. iii. 1<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>re</hi> +Partie (Paris and Strasburg, 1844), +pp. 205 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Indians of +the Gran +Chaco, and +Brazil.</note> +Among the Matacos or Mataguayos, an Indian tribe of +the Gran Chaco, a girl at puberty has to remain in seclusion +for some time. She lies covered up with branches or other +things in a corner of the hut, seeing no one and speaking to +no one, and during this time she may eat neither flesh nor +fish. Meantime a man beats a drum in front of the house.<note place='foot'>A. Thouar, <hi rend='italic'>Explorations dans +l'Amérique du Sud</hi> (Paris, 1891) pp. +56 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Father Cardus, quoted in J. +Pelleschi's <hi rend='italic'>Los Indios Matacos</hi> (Buenos +Ayres, 1897), pp. 47 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> +Similarly among the Tobas, another Indian tribe of the +same region, when a chief's daughter has just attained to +womanhood, she is shut up for two or three days in the +house, all the men of the tribe scour the country to bring in +game and fish for a feast, and a Mataco Indian is engaged +to drum, sing, and dance in front of the house without cessation, +day and night, till the festival is over. As the merrymaking +lasts for two or three weeks, the exhaustion of the +musician at the end of it may be readily conceived. Meat +and drink are supplied to him on the spot where he pays +his laborious court to the Muses. The proceedings wind up +with a saturnalia and a drunken debauch.<note place='foot'>A. Thouar, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 63.</note> Among the +Yaguas, an Indian tribe of the Upper Amazon, a girl at +puberty is shut up for three months in a lonely hut in the +forest, where her mother brings her food daily.<note place='foot'>Francis de Castelnau, <hi rend='italic'>Expédition +dans les parties centrales de l'Amérique +du Sud</hi> (Paris, 1850-1851), v. 25.</note> When a +girl of the Peguenches tribe perceives in herself the first +signs of womanhood, she is secluded by her mother in a +corner of the hut screened off with blankets, and is warned +not to lift up her eyes on any man. Next day, very early +in the morning and again after sunset, she is taken out by +two women and made to run till she is tired; in the interval +she is again secluded in her corner. On the following day +she lays three packets of wool beside the path near the +house to signify that she is now a woman.<note place='foot'>D. Luis de la Cruz, <q>Descripcion +de la Naturaleza de los Terrenos que +se comprenden en los Andes, poseidos +por los Peguenches y los demas espacios +hasta el rio de Chadileuba,</q> p. 62, in +Pedro de Angelis, <hi rend='italic'>Coleccion de Obras y +Documentos relativos a la Historia +antigua y moderna de las Provincias +del Rio de la Plata</hi>, vol. i. (Buenos-Ayres, +1836). Apparently the Peguenches +are an Indian tribe of Chili.</note> Among the +Passes, Mauhes, and other tribes of Brazil the young woman +in similar circumstances is hung in her hammock from the roof +and has to fast there for a month or as long as she can hold +out.<note place='foot'>J. B. von Spix und C. F. Ph. von +Martius, <hi rend='italic'>Reise in Brasilien</hi> (Munich, +1823-1831), iii. 1186, 1187, 1318.</note> One of the early settlers in Brazil, about the middle +of the sixteenth century, has described the severe ordeal +which damsels at puberty had to undergo among the Indians +on the south-east coast of that country, near what is now +Rio de Janeiro. When a girl had reached this critical period +of life, her hair was burned or shaved off close to the head. +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> +Then she was placed on a flat stone and cut with the tooth +of an animal from the shoulders all down the back, till she +ran with blood. Next the ashes of a wild gourd were +rubbed into the wounds; the girl was bound hand and +foot, and hung in a hammock, being enveloped in it so +closely that no one could see her. Here she had to stay +for three days without eating or drinking. When the three +days were over, she stepped out of the hammock upon the +flat stone, for her feet might not touch the ground. If she +had a call of nature, a female relation took the girl on her +back and carried her out, taking with her a live coal to +prevent evil influences from entering the girl's body. Being +replaced in her hammock, she was now allowed to get some +flour, boiled roots, and water, but might not taste salt or +flesh. Thus she continued to the end of the first monthly +period, at the expiry of which she was gashed on the breast +and belly as well as all down the back. During the second +month she still stayed in her hammock, but her rule of +abstinence was less rigid, and she was allowed to spin. +The third month she was blackened with a certain pigment +and began to go about as usual.<note place='foot'>André Thevet, <hi rend='italic'>Cosmographie +Universelle</hi> (Paris, 1575), ii. 946 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b</hi> +[980] <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Les Singularitez de la +France Antarctique, autrement nommée +Amerique</hi> (Antwerp, 1558), p. 76; +J. F. Lafitau, <hi rend='italic'>Mœurs des Sauvages +Ameriquains</hi> (Paris, 1724), i. 290 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>,</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Indians of +Guiana. Custom of +beating the +girls and of +causing +them to be +stung by +ants.</note> +Amongst the Macusis of British Guiana, when a girl +shews the first signs of puberty, she is hung in a hammock +at the highest point of the hut. For the first few days she +may not leave the hammock by day, but at night she must +come down, light a fire, and spend the night beside it, else +she would break out in sores on her neck, throat, and other +parts of her body. So long as the symptoms are at their +height, she must fast rigorously. When they have abated, +she may come down and take up her abode in a little +compartment that is made for her in the darkest corner of +the hut. In the morning she may cook her food, but it +must be at a separate fire and in a vessel of her own. After +about ten days the magician comes and undoes the spell by +muttering charms and breathing on her and on the more +valuable of the things with which she has come in contact. +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +The pots and drinking-vessels which she used are broken +and the fragments buried. After her first bath, the girl +must submit to be beaten by her mother with thin rods +without uttering a cry. At the end of the second period she +is again beaten, but not afterwards. She is now <q>clean,</q> +and can mix again with people.<note place='foot'>R. Schomburgk, <hi rend='italic'>Reisen in Britisch +Guiana</hi> (Leipsic, 1847-1848), ii. 315 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; C. F. Ph. von Martius, <hi rend='italic'>Zur +Ethnographie Amerika's, zumal Brasiliens</hi> +(Leipsic, 1867), p. 644.</note> Other Indians of Guiana, +after keeping the girl in her hammock at the top of the +hut for a month, expose her to certain large ants, whose bite +is very painful.<note place='foot'>Labat, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage du Chevalier des +Marchais en Guinée, Isles voisines, et à +Cayenne</hi>, iv. 365 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (Paris, 1730), pp. +17 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (Amsterdam, 1731).</note> Sometimes, in addition to being stung +with ants, the sufferer has to fast day and night so long as +she remains slung up on high in her hammock, so that +when she comes down she is reduced to a skeleton. The +intention of stinging her with ants is said to be to make her +strong to bear the burden of maternity.<note place='foot'>A. Caulin, <hi rend='italic'>Historia Coro-graphica +natural y evangelica dela Nueva +Andalucia</hi> (1779), p. 93. A similar +custom, with the omission of the stinging, +is reported of the Tamanaks in +the region of the Orinoco. See F. S. +Gilij, <hi rend='italic'>Saggio di Storia Americana</hi>, ii. +(Rome, 1781), p. 133.</note> Amongst the +Uaupes of Brazil a girl at puberty is secluded in the house +for a month, and allowed only a small quantity of bread +and water. Then she is taken out into the midst of her +relations and friends, each of whom gives her four or five +blows with pieces of <foreign rend='italic'>sipo</foreign> (an elastic climber), till she falls +senseless or dead. If she recovers, the operation is repeated +four times at intervals of six hours, and it is considered an +offence to the parents not to strike hard. Meantime, pots +of meats and fish have been made ready; the <foreign rend='italic'>sipos</foreign> are +dipped into them and then given to the girl to lick, who is +now considered a marriageable woman.<note place='foot'>A. R. Wallace, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative of +Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro</hi>, +p. 496 (p. 345 of the Minerva Library +edition, London, 1889).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Custom +in South +America +of causing +young +men to be +stung with +ants as an +initiatory +rite.</note> +The custom of stinging the girl at such times with +ants or beating her with rods is intended, we may be +sure, not as a punishment or a test of endurance, but +as a purification, the object being to drive away the +malignant influences with which a girl in this condition +is believed to be beset and enveloped. Examples of +purification, by beating, by incisions in the flesh, and by +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +stinging with ants, have already come before us.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, pp. +105 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. 259 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In some +Indian tribes of Brazil and Guiana young men do not rank +as warriors and may not marry till they have passed +through a terrible ordeal, which consists in being stung +by swarms of venomous ants whose bite is like fire. +Thus among the Mauhes on the Tapajos river, a southern +tributary of the Amazon, boys of eight to ten years are +obliged to thrust their arms into sleeves stuffed with great +ferocious ants, which the Indians call <foreign rend='italic'>tocandeira</foreign> (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Cryptocerus +atratus</foreign>, F.). When the young victim shrieks with pain, +an excited mob of men dances round him, shouting and +encouraging him till he falls exhausted to the ground. +He is then committed to the care of old women, who treat +his fearfully swollen arms with fresh juice of the manioc; +and on his recovery he has to shew his strength and skill +in bending a bow. This cruel ordeal is commonly repeated +again and again, till the lad has reached his fourteenth year +and can bear the agony without betraying any sign of +emotion. Then he is a man and can marry. A lad's age +is reckoned by the number of times he has passed through +the ordeal.<note place='foot'>J. B. von Spix and C. F. Ph. von +Martius, <hi rend='italic'>Reise in Brasilien</hi> (Munich, +1823-1831), iii. 1320.</note> An eye-witness has described how a young +Mauhe hero bore the torture with an endurance more than +Spartan, dancing and singing, with his arms cased in the +terrible mittens, before every cabin of the great common +house, till pallid, staggering, and with chattering teeth he +triumphantly laid the gloves before the old chief and +received the congratulations of the men and the caresses +of the women; then breaking away from his friends and +admirers he threw himself into the river and remained +in its cool soothing water till nightfall.<note place='foot'>W. Lewis Herndon, <hi rend='italic'>Exploration +of the Valley of the Amazon</hi> (Washington, +1854), pp. 319 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The scene +was described to Mr. Herndon by a +French engineer and architect, M. de +Lincourt, who witnessed it at Manduassu, +a village on the Tapajos river. +Mr. Herndon adds: <q>The <foreign rend='italic'>Tocandeira</foreign> +ants not only bite, but are also armed +with a sting like the wasp; but the +pain felt from it is more violent. I +think it equal to that occasioned by +the sting of the black scorpion.</q> He +gives the name of the Indians as +Mahues, but I assume that they are +the same as the Mauhes described by +Spix and Martius.</note> Similarly among +the Ticunas of the Upper Amazon, on the border of Peru, +the young man who would take his place among the +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +warriors must plunge his arm into a sort of basket full +of venomous ants and keep it there for several minutes +without uttering a cry. He generally falls backwards and +sometimes succumbs to the fever which ensues; hence as +soon as the ordeal is over the women are prodigal of their +attentions to him, and rub the swollen arm with a particular +kind of herb.<note place='foot'>Francis de Castelnau, <hi rend='italic'>Expédition +dans les parties centrales de l'Amérique +du Sud</hi> (Paris, 1850-1851), v. 46.</note> Ordeals of this sort appear to be in vogue +among the Indians of the Rio Negro as well as of the +Amazon.<note place='foot'>L'Abbé Durand, <q>Le Rio Negro +du Nord et son bassin,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin de +la Société de Géographie</hi> (Paris), vi. +Série, iii. (1872) pp. 21 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +writer says that the candidate has to +keep his arms plunged up to the +shoulders in vessels full of ants, +<q>as in a bath of vitriol,</q> for hours. +He gives the native name of the ant as +<foreign rend='italic'>issauba</foreign>.</note> Among the Rucuyennes, a tribe of Indians in +the north of Brazil, on the borders of Guiana, young men +who are candidates for marriage must submit to be stung +all over their persons not only with ants but with wasps, +which are applied to their naked bodies in curious instruments +of trellis-work shaped like fantastic quadrupeds or +birds. The patient invariably falls down in a swoon and +is carried like dead to his hammock, where he is tightly +lashed with cords. As they come to themselves, they +writhe in agony, so that their hammocks rock violently +to and fro, causing the hut to shake as if it were about +to collapse. This dreadful ordeal is called by the Indians a +<hi rend='italic'>maraké</hi>.<note place='foot'>J. Crevaux, <hi rend='italic'>Voyages dans l'Amérique +du Sud</hi> (Paris, 1883), pp. 245-250.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Custom +of causing +men and +women to +be stung +with ants +to improve +their character +and +health or +to render +them invulnerable.</note> +The same ordeal, under the same name, is also practised +by the Wayanas, an Indian tribe of French Guiana, but +with them, we are told, it is no longer deemed an indispensable +preliminary to marriage; <q>it is rather a sort of +national medicine administered chiefly to the youth of both +sexes.</q> Applied to men, the <foreign rend='italic'>maraké</foreign>, as it is called, +<q>sharpens them, prevents them from being heavy and +lazy, makes them active, brisk, industrious, imparts strength, +and helps them to shoot well with the bow; without it the +Indians would always be slack and rather sickly, would +always have a little fever, and would lie perpetually in +their hammocks. As for the women, the <foreign rend='italic'>maraké</foreign> keeps +them from going to sleep, renders them active, alert, brisk, +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> +gives them strength and a liking for work, makes them +good housekeepers, good workers at the stockade, good +makers of <foreign rend='italic'>cachiri</foreign>. Every one undergoes the <foreign rend='italic'>maraké</foreign> at +least twice in his life, sometimes thrice, and oftener if he +likes. It may be had from the age of about eight years +and upward, and no one thinks it odd that a man of +forty should voluntarily submit to it.</q><note place='foot'>H. Coudreau, <hi rend='italic'>Chez nos Indiens: +quatre années dans la Guyane Française</hi> +(Paris, 1895), p. 228. For +details as to the different modes of +administering the <foreign rend='italic'>maraké</foreign>, see <hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi> +pp. 228-235.</note> Similarly the +Indians of St. Juan Capistrano in California used to be +branded on some part of their bodies, generally on the right +arm, but sometimes on the leg also, not as a proof of manly +fortitude, but because they believed that the custom <q>added +greater strength to the nerves, and gave a better pulse for +the management of the bow.</q> Afterwards <q>they were +whipped with nettles, and covered with ants, that they +might become robust, and the infliction was always performed +in summer, during the months of July and August, when the +nettle was in its most fiery state. They gathered small +bunches, which they fastened together, and the poor deluded +Indian was chastised, by inflicting blows with them upon his +naked limbs, until unable to walk; and then he was carried +to the nest of the nearest and most furious species of ants, +and laid down among them, while some of his friends, with +sticks, kept annoying the insects to make them still more +violent. What torments did they not undergo! What +pain! What hellish inflictions! Yet their faith gave them +power to endure all without a murmur, and they remained +as if dead. Having undergone these dreadful ordeals, they +were considered as invulnerable, and believed that the arrows +of their enemies could no longer harm them.</q><note place='foot'>Father Geronimo Boscana, <q>Chinigchinich,</q> +in <hi rend='italic'>Life in California by +an American</hi> [A. Robinson] (New +York, 1846), pp. 273 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the +Alur, a tribe inhabiting the south-western region of the upper +Nile, to bury a man in an ant-hill and leave him there for a +while is the regular treatment for insanity.<note place='foot'>F. Stuhlmann, <hi rend='italic'>Mit Emin Pascha +ins Herz von Afrika</hi> (Berlin, 1894), p. +506.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In such +cases the +beating or +stinging +was originally +a +purification; +at a +later time +it is interpreted +as +a test of +courage +and endurance.</note> +In like manner it is probable that beating or scourging +as a religious or ceremonial rite was originally a +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +mode of purification. It was meant to wipe off and +drive away a dangerous contagion, whether personified as +demoniacal or not, which was supposed to be adhering +physically, though invisibly, to the body of the sufferer.<note place='foot'>As a confirmation of this view it +may be pointed out that beating or +scourging is inflicted on inanimate +objects expressly for the purpose indicated +in the text. Thus the Indians +of Costa Rica hold that there are two +kinds of ceremonial uncleanness, <foreign rend='italic'>nya</foreign> +and <foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign>. Anything that has been +connected with a death is <foreign rend='italic'>nya</foreign>. But +<foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign> is much more virulent. It +can not only make one sick but kill. +<q><foreign rend='italic'>Bu-ku-rú</foreign> emanates in a variety of +ways; arms, utensils, even houses +become affected by it after long disuse, +and before they can be used again +must be purified. In the case of +portable objects left undisturbed for a +long time, the custom is to beat them +with a stick before touching them. I +have seen a woman take a long walking-stick +and beat a basket hanging from +the roof of a house by a cord. On +asking what that was for, I was told +that the basket contained her treasures, +that she would probably want to take +something out the next day, and that she +was driving off the <foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign>. A house +long unused must be swept, and then +the person who is purifying it must +take a stick and beat not only the +movable objects, but the beds, posts, +and in short every accessible part of +the interior. The next day it is fit for +occupation. A place not visited for a +long time or reached for the first time +is <foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign>. On our return from the +ascent of Pico Blanco, nearly all the +party suffered from little calenturas, +the result of extraordinary exposure to +wet and cold and of want of food. The +Indians said that the peak was especially +<foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign>, since nobody had ever +been on it before.</q> One day Mr. Gabb +took down some dusty blow-guns amid +cries of <foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign> from the Indians. +Some weeks afterwards a boy died, and +the Indians firmly believed that the +<foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign> of the blow-guns had killed +him. <q>From all the foregoing, it +would seem that <foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign> is a sort of +evil spirit that takes possession of the +object, and resents being disturbed; +but I have never been able to learn +from the Indians that they consider it +so. They seem to think of it as a +property the object acquires. But the +worst <foreign rend='italic'>bu-ku-rú</foreign> of all, is that of a +young woman in her first pregnancy. +She infects the whole neighbourhood. +Persons going from the house where +she lives, carry the infection with them +to a distance, and all the deaths or +other serious misfortunes in the vicinity +are laid to her charge. In the old +times, when the savage laws and +customs were in full force, it was not +an uncommon thing for the husband +of such a woman to pay damages for +casualties thus caused by his unfortunate +wife.</q> See Wm. M. Gabb, <q>On the +Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa +Rica,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Proceedings of the American +Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia</hi>, +xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876) pp. +504 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +The pain inflicted on the person beaten was no more +the object of the beating than it is of a surgical operation +with us; it was a necessary accident, that was all. In +later times such customs were interpreted otherwise, and the +pain, from being an accident, became the prime object of +the ceremony, which was now regarded either as a test of +endurance imposed upon persons at critical epochs of life, +or as a mortification of the flesh well pleasing to the god. +But asceticism, under any shape or form, is never primitive. +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +The savage, it is true, in certain circumstances will +voluntarily subject himself to pains and privations which +appear to us wholly needless; but he never acts thus unless +he believes that some solid temporal advantage is to be +gained by so doing. Pain for the sake of pain, whether as +a moral discipline in this life or as a means of winning a +glorious immortality hereafter, is not an object which he sets +himself deliberately to pursue. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>This explanation +confirmed +with reference +to the +beating of +girls at +puberty +among the +South +American +Indians. +Treatment +of a girl at +puberty +among the +Banivas +of the +Orinoco. Symptoms +of puberty +in a girl +regarded +as wounds +inflicted by +a demon.</note> +If this view is correct, we can understand why so many +Indian tribes of South America compel the youth of both +sexes to submit to these painful and sometimes fatal ordeals. +They imagine that in this way they rid the young folk of +certain evils inherent in youth, especially at the critical age +of puberty; and when they picture to themselves the evils +in a personal form as dangerous spirits or demons, the ceremony +of their expulsion may in the strict sense be termed +an exorcism. This certainly appears to be the interpretation +which the Banivas of the Orinoco put upon the cruel +scourgings which they inflict on girls at puberty. At her +first menstruation a Baniva girl must pass several days and +nights in her hammock, almost motionless and getting +nothing to eat and drink but water and a little manioc. +While she lies there, the suitors for her hand apply to her +father, and he who can afford to give most for her or can +prove himself the best man, is promised the damsel in +marriage. The fast over, some old men enter the hut, +bandage the girl's eyes, cover her head with a bonnet of +which the fringes fall on her shoulders, and then lead her +forth and tie her to a post set up in an open place. The +head of the post is carved in the shape of a grotesque face. +None but the old men may witness what follows. Were a +woman caught peeping and prying, it would go ill with her; +she would be marked out for the vengeance of the demon, +who would make her expiate her crime at the very next +moon by madness or death. Every participant in the ceremony +comes armed with a scourge of cords or of fish skins; +some of them reinforce the virtue of the instrument by tying +little sharp stones to the end of the thongs. Then, to the +dismal and deafening notes of shell-trumpets blown by two +or three supernumeraries, the men circle round and round the +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> +post, every one applying his scourge as he passes to the girl's +back, till it streams with blood. At last the musicians, +winding tremendous blasts on their trumpets against the +demon, advance and touch the post in which he is supposed +to be incorporate. Then the blows cease to descend; the +girl is untied, often in a fainting state, and carried away to +have her wounds washed and simples applied to them. The +youngest of the executioners, or rather of the exorcists, +hastens to inform her betrothed husband of the happy issue +of the exorcism. <q>The spirit,</q> he says, <q>had cast thy beloved +into a sleep as deep almost as that of death. But we have +rescued her from his attacks, and laid her down in such and +such a place. Go seek her.</q> Then going from house to +house through the village he cries to the inmates, <q>Come, let +us burn the demon who would have taken possession of such +and such a girl, our friend.</q> The bridegroom at once carries +his wounded and suffering bride to his own house; and +all the people gather round the post for the pleasure of +burning it and the demon together. A great pile of firewood +has meanwhile been heaped up about it, and the women run +round the pyre cursing in shrill voices the wicked spirit who +has wrought all this evil. The men join in with hoarser +cries and animate themselves for the business in hand by +deep draughts of an intoxicant which has been provided for +the occasion by the parents-in-law. Soon the bridegroom, +having committed the bride to the care of his mother, appears +on the scene brandishing a lighted torch. He addresses the +demon with bitter mockery and reproaches; informs him +that the fair creature on whom he, the demon, had nefarious +designs, is now his, the bridegroom's, blooming spouse; and +shaking his torch at the grinning head on the post, he +screams out, <q>This is how the victims of thy persecution +take vengeance on thee!</q> With these words he puts a light +to the pyre. At once the drums strike up, the trumpets +blare, and men, women, and children begin to dance. In +two long rows they dance, the men on one side, the women +on the other, advancing till they almost touch and then +retiring again. After that the two rows join hands, and +forming a huge circle trip it round and round the blaze, till +the post with its grotesque face is consumed in the flames +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +and nothing of the pyre remains but a heap of red and +glowing embers. <q>The evil spirit has been destroyed. Thus +delivered from her persecutor, the young wife will be free +from sickness, will not die in childbed, and will bear many +children to her husband.</q><note place='foot'>J. Chaffanjon, <hi rend='italic'>L'Orénoque et le +Caura</hi> (Paris, 1889), pp. 213-215.</note> From this account it appears +that the Banivas attribute the symptoms of puberty in girls +to the wounds inflicted on them by an amorous devil, who, +however, can be not only exorcised but burnt to ashes at +the stake. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='6. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in India and Cambodia.'/> +<head>§ 6. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in India and Cambodia.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty +among the +Hindoos, +in Southern +India.</note> +When a Hindoo maiden reaches maturity she is kept in +a dark room for four days, and is forbidden to see the sun. +She is regarded as unclean; no one may touch her. Her +diet is restricted to boiled rice, milk, sugar, curd, and tamarind +without salt. On the morning of the fifth day she goes to +a neighbouring tank, accompanied by five women whose +husbands are alive. Smeared with turmeric water, they all +bathe and return home, throwing away the mat and other +things that were in the room.<note place='foot'>Shib Chunder Bose, <hi rend='italic'>The Hindoos +as they are</hi> (London and Calcutta, +1881), p. 86. Similarly, after a +Brahman boy has been invested with +the sacred thread, he is for three days +strictly forbidden to see the sun. He +may not eat salt, and he is enjoined to +sleep either on a carpet or a deer's skin, +without a mattress or mosquito curtain +(<hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi> p. 186). In Bali, boys who have +had their teeth filed, as a preliminary +to marriage, are kept shut up in a dark +room for three days (R. Van Eck, +<q>Schetsen van het eiland Bali,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië</hi>, +N.S., ix. (1880) pp. 428 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> The Rarhi Brahmans of +Bengal compel a girl at puberty to live alone, and do not +allow her to see the face of any male. For three days she +remains shut up in a dark room, and has to undergo certain +penances. Fish, flesh, and sweetmeats are forbidden her; +she must live upon rice and ghee.<note place='foot'>(Sir) H. H. Risley, <hi rend='italic'>Tribes and +Castes of Bengal, Ethnographic Glossary</hi> +(Calcutta, 1891-1892), i. 152.</note> Among the Tiyans of +Malabar a girl is thought to be polluted for four days from +the beginning of her first menstruation. During this time +she must keep to the north side of the house, where she +sleeps on a grass mat of a particular kind, in a room +festooned with garlands of young coco-nut leaves. Another +girl keeps her company and sleeps with her, but she may +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +not touch any other person, tree or plant. Further, she may +not see the sky, and woe betide her if she catches sight of a +crow or a cat! Her diet must be strictly vegetarian, without +salt, tamarinds, or chillies. She is armed against evil spirits +by a knife, which is placed on the mat or carried on her +person.<note place='foot'>Edgar Thurston, <hi rend='italic'>Castes and Tribes +of Southern India</hi> (Madras, 1909), vii. +63 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Kappiliyans of Madura and Tinnevelly +a girl at her first monthly period remains under pollution +for thirteen days, either in a corner of the house, which is +screened off for her use by her maternal uncle, or in a +temporary hut, which is erected by the same relative on the +common land of the village. On the thirteenth day she +bathes in a tank, and, on entering the house, steps over a +pestle and a cake. Near the entrance some food is placed +and a dog is allowed to partake of it; but his enjoyment is +marred by suffering, for while he eats he receives a sound +thrashing, and the louder he howls the better, for the larger +will be the family to which the young woman will give birth; +should there be no howls, there will be no children. The +temporary hut in which the girl passed the days of her +seclusion is burnt down, and the pots which she used are +smashed to shivers.<note place='foot'>Edgar Thurston, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> iii. 218.</note> Similarly among the Parivarams of +Madura, when a girl attains to puberty she is kept for sixteen +days in a hut, which is guarded at night by her relations; +and when her sequestration is over the hut is burnt down +and the pots she used are broken into very small pieces, +because they think that if rain-water gathered in any of +them, the girl would be childless.<note place='foot'>Edgar Thurston, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> vi. 157.</note> The Pulayars of Travancore +build a special hut in the jungle for the use of a girl at +puberty; there she remains for seven days. No one else +may enter the hut, not even her mother. Women stand a +little way off and lay down food for her. At the end of the +time she is brought home, clad in a new or clean cloth, and +friends are treated to betel-nut, toddy, and arack.<note place='foot'>S. Mateer, <hi rend='italic'>Native Life in Travancore</hi> +(London, 1883), p. 45.</note> Among +the Singhalese a girl at her first menstruation is confined to +a room, where she may neither see nor be seen by any male. +After being thus secluded for two weeks she is taken out, +with her face covered, and is bathed by women at the back +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +of the house. Near the bathing-place are kept branches of +any milk-bearing tree, usually of the <foreign rend='italic'>jak</foreign>-tree. In some +cases, while the time of purification or uncleanness lasts, the +maiden stays in a separate hut, which is afterwards burnt +down.<note place='foot'>Arthur A. Perera, <q>Glimpses of +Singhalese Social Life,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Indian Antiquary</hi>, +xxxi. (1902) p. 380.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of girls at +puberty in +Cambodia.</note> +In Cambodia a girl at puberty is put to bed under +a mosquito curtain, where she should stay a hundred days. +Usually, however, four, five, ten, or twenty days are thought +enough; and even this, in a hot climate and under the close +meshes of the curtain, is sufficiently trying.<note place='foot'>J. Moura, <hi rend='italic'>Le Royaume du Cambodge</hi> +(Paris, 1883), i. 377.</note> According to +another account, a Cambodian maiden at puberty is said +to <q>enter into the shade.</q> During her retirement, which, +according to the rank and position of her family, may last +any time from a few days to several years, she has to observe +a number of rules, such as not to be seen by a strange man, +not to eat flesh or fish, and so on. She goes nowhere, not +even to the pagoda. But this state of seclusion is discontinued +during eclipses; at such times she goes forth and +pays her devotions to the monster who is supposed to cause +eclipses by catching the heavenly bodies between his teeth.<note place='foot'>Étienne Aymonier, <q>Notes sur les +coutumes et croyances superstitieuses +des Cambodgiens,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Cochinchine Française: +Excursions et Reconnaissances</hi>, +No. 16 (Saigon, 1883), pp. 193 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +Compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>,<hi rend='italic'> Notice sur le Cambodge</hi> +(Paris, 1875), p. 50; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Notes sur le +Laos</hi> (Saigon, 1885), p. 177.</note> +This permission to break her rule of retirement and appear +abroad during an eclipse seems to shew how literally the +injunction is interpreted which forbids maidens entering on +womanhood to look upon the sun. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='7. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Folk-tales.'/> +<head>§ 7. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Folk-tales.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Traces of +the seclusion +of girls +at puberty +in folk-tales. +Danish +story of +the girl +who might +not see +the sun.</note> +A superstition so widely diffused as this might be +expected to leave traces in legends and folk-tales. And it +has done so. In a Danish story we read of a princess who +was fated to be carried off by a warlock if ever the sun +shone on her before she had passed her thirtieth year; so +the king her father kept her shut up in the palace, and had +all the windows on the east, south, and west sides blocked +up, lest a sunbeam should fall on his darling child, and he +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> +should thus lose her for ever. Only at evening, when the +sun was down, might she walk for a little in the beautiful +garden of the castle. In time a prince came a-wooing, +followed by a train of gorgeous knights and squires on +horses all ablaze with gold and silver. The king said the +prince might have his daughter to wife on condition that he +would not carry her away to his home till she was thirty +years old but would live with her in the castle, where the +windows looked out only to the north. The prince agreed, +so married they were. The bride was only fifteen, and +fifteen more long weary years must pass before she might +step out of the gloomy donjon, breathe the fresh air, and +see the sun. But she and her gallant young bridegroom +loved each other and they were happy. Often they sat +hand in hand at the window looking out to the north and +talked of what they would do when they were free. Still it +was a little dull to look out always at the same window and +to see nothing but the castle woods, and the distant hills, +and the clouds drifting silently over them. Well, one day +it happened that all the people in the castle had gone away +to a neighbouring castle to witness a tournament and other +gaieties, and the two young folks were left as usual all alone +at the window looking out to the north. They sat silent +for a time gazing away to the hills. It was a grey sad +day, the sky was overcast, and the weather seemed to +draw to rain. At last the prince said, <q>There will be no +sunshine to-day. What if we were to drive over and join +the rest at the tournament?</q> His young wife gladly consented, +for she longed to see more of the world than those +eternal green woods and those eternal blue hills, which were +all she ever saw from the window. So the horses were put +into the coach, and it rattled up to the door, and in they +got and away they drove. At first all went well. The +clouds hung low over the woods, the wind sighed in the +trees, a drearier day you could hardly imagine. So they +joined the rest at the other castle and took their seats to +watch the jousting in the lists. So intent were they in +watching the gay spectacle of the prancing steeds, the +fluttering pennons, and the glittering armour of the knights, +that they failed to mark the change, the fatal change, in the +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +weather. For the wind was rising and had begun to disperse +the clouds, and suddenly the sun broke through, and the +glory of it fell like an aureole on the young wife, and at +once she vanished away. No sooner did her husband miss +her from his side than he, too, mysteriously disappeared. +The tournament broke up in confusion, the bereft father +hastened home, and shut himself up in the dark castle from +which the light of life had departed. The green woods and +the blue hills could still be seen from the window that +looked to the north, but the young faces that had gazed out +of it so wistfully were gone, as it seemed, for ever.<note place='foot'>Svend Grundtvig, <hi rend='italic'>Dänische Volksmärchen</hi>, +übersetzt von A. Strodtmann, +Zweite Sammlung (Leipsic, 1879), pp. +199 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tyrolese +story of the +girl who +might not +see the sun.</note> +A Tyrolese story tells how it was the doom of a lovely +maiden with golden hair to be transported into the belly of a +whale if ever a sunbeam fell on her. Hearing of the fame of +her beauty the king of the country sent for her to be his bride, +and her brother drove the fair damsel to the palace in a +carefully closed coach, himself sitting on the box and +handling the reins. On the way they overtook two hideous +witches, who pretended they were weary and begged for a +lift in the coach. At first the brother refused to take them +in, but his tender-hearted sister entreated him to have compassion +on the two poor footsore women; for you may easily +imagine that she was not acquainted with their true character. +So down he got rather surlily from the box, opened the +coach door, and in the two witches stepped, laughing in +their sleeves. But no sooner had the brother mounted the +box and whipped up the horses, than one of the two wicked +witches bored a hole in the closed coach. A sunbeam at +once shot through the hole and fell on the fair damsel. So +she vanished from the coach and was spirited away into +the belly of a whale in the neighbouring sea. You can +imagine the consternation of the king, when the coach door +opened and instead of his blooming bride out bounced two +hideous hags!<note place='foot'>Christian Schneller, <hi rend='italic'>Märchen und +Sagen aus Wälschtirol</hi> (Innsbruck, +1867), No. 22, pp. 51 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Modern +Greek +stories of +the maid +who might +not see +the sun.</note> +In a modern Greek folk-tale the Fates predict that in her +fifteenth year a princess must be careful not to let the sun +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> +shine on her, for if this were to happen she would be turned +into a lizard.<note place='foot'>Bernhard Schmidt, <hi rend='italic'>Griechische +Märchen, Sagen und Volkslieder</hi> +(Leipsic, 1877), p. 98.</note> In another modern Greek tale the Sun bestows +a daughter upon a childless woman on condition of taking +the child back to himself when she is twelve years old. So, +when the child was twelve, the mother closed the doors and +windows, and stopped up all the chinks and crannies, to +prevent the Sun from coming to fetch away her daughter. +But she forgot to stop up the key-hole, and a sunbeam +streamed through it and carried off the girl.<note place='foot'>J. G. von Hahn, <hi rend='italic'>Griechische und +albanesische Märchen</hi> (Leipsic, 1864), +No. 41, vol. i. pp. 245 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In a Sicilian +story a seer foretells that a king will have a daughter who, +in her fourteenth year, will conceive a child by the Sun. +So, when the child was born, the king shut her up in a +lonely tower which had no window, lest a sunbeam should +fall on her. When she was nearly fourteen years old, it +happened that her parents sent her a piece of roasted kid, +in which she found a sharp bone. With this bone she +scraped a hole in the wall, and a sunbeam shot through the +hole and got her with child.<note place='foot'>Laura Gonzenbach, <hi rend='italic'>Sicilianische +Märchen</hi> (Leipsic, 1870), No. 28, vol. +i. pp. 177 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The incident of the +bone occurs in other folk-tales. A +prince or princess is shut up for safety +in a tower and makes his or her escape +by scraping a hole in the wall with a +bone which has been accidentally conveyed +into the tower; sometimes it is +expressly said that care was taken to +let the princess have no bones with her +meat (J. G. von Hahn, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> No. 15; +L. Gonzenbach, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> Nos. 26, 27; +<hi rend='italic'>Der Pentamerone, aus dem Neapolitanischen +übertragen</hi> von Felix Liebrecht +(Breslau, 1846), No. 23, vol. i. pp. +294 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>). From this we should infer +that it is a rule with savages not to +let women handle the bones of animals +during their monthly seclusions. We +have already seen the great respect +with which the savage treats the bones +of game (<hi rend='italic'>Spirits of the Corn and of +the Wild</hi>, ii. 238 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 256 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>); and +women in their courses are specially +forbidden to meddle with the hunter or +fisher, as their contact or neighbourhood +would spoil his sport (see below, pp. <ref target='Pg077'>77</ref>, +<ref target='Pg078'>78</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg087'>87</ref>, <ref target='Pg089'>89</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>). In folk-tales the hero +who uses the bone is sometimes a boy; +but the incident might easily be transferred +from a girl to a boy after its real +meaning had been forgotten. Amongst +the Tinneh Indians a girl at puberty is +forbidden to break the bones of hares +(above, p. <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref>). On the other hand, +she drinks out of a tube made of a +swan's bone (above, pp. <ref target='Pg048'>48</ref>, <ref target='Pg049'>49</ref>), and the +same instrument is used for the same +purpose by girls of the Carrier tribe of +Indians (see below, p. <ref target='Pg092'>92</ref>). We have +seen that a Tlingit (Thlinkeet) girl in +the same circumstances used to drink +out of the wing-bone of a white-headed +eagle (above, p. <ref target='Pg045'>45</ref>), and that among +the Nootka and Shuswap tribes girls +at puberty are provided with bones or +combs with which to scratch themselves, +because they may not use their +fingers for this purpose (above, pp. +<ref target='Pg044'>44</ref>, <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref>).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The story +of Danae +and its +parallel in +a Kirghiz +legend.</note> +The old Greek story of Danae, who was confined by +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> +her father in a subterranean chamber or a brazen tower, +but impregnated by Zeus, who reached her in the shape +of a shower of gold,<note place='foot'>Sophocles, Antigone, 944 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Apollodorus, <hi rend='italic'>Bibliotheca</hi>, ii. 4. 1; +Horace, <hi rend='italic'>Odes</hi>, iii. 16. 1. <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Pausanias, +ii. 23. 7.</note> perhaps belongs to the same class +of tales. It has its counterpart in the legend which the +Kirghiz of Siberia tell of their ancestry. A certain Khan had +a fair daughter, whom he kept in a dark iron house, that +no man might see her. An old woman tended her; and +when the girl was grown to maidenhood she asked the +old woman, <q>Where do you go so often?</q> <q>My child,</q> +said the old dame, <q>there is a bright world. In that bright +world your father and mother live, and all sorts of people +live there. That is where I go.</q> The maiden said, <q>Good +mother, I will tell nobody, but shew me that bright world.</q> +So the old woman took the girl out of the iron house. But +when she saw the bright world, the girl tottered and fainted; +and the eye of God fell upon her, and she conceived. Her +angry father put her in a golden chest and sent her floating +away (fairy gold can float in fairyland) over the wide sea.<note place='foot'>W. Radloff, <hi rend='italic'>Proben der Volkslitteratur +der türkischen Stämme Süd-Sibiriens</hi>, +iii. (St. Petersburg, 1870) +pp. 82 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +The shower of gold in the Greek story, and the eye of God in +the Kirghiz legend, probably stand for sunlight and the sun. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Impregnation +of +women by +the sun in +legends.</note> +The idea that women may be impregnated by the sun +is not uncommon in legends. Thus, for example, among +the Indians of Guacheta in Colombia, it is said, a report +once ran that the sun would impregnate one of their maidens, +who should bear a child and yet remain a virgin. The +chief had two daughters, and was very desirous that one of +them should conceive in this miraculous manner. So every +day he made them climb a hill to the east of his house in +order to be touched by the first beams of the rising sun. +His wishes were fulfilled, for one of the damsels conceived +and after nine months gave birth to an emerald. So she +wrapped it in cotton and placed it in her bosom, and in a +few days it turned into a child, who received the name of +Garanchacha and was universally recognized as a son of the +sun.<note place='foot'>H. Ternaux-Compans, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur +l'ancien Cundinamarca</hi> (Paris, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), +p. 18.</note> Again, the Samoans tell of a woman named Mangamangai, +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> +who became pregnant by looking at the rising sun. +Her son grew up and was named <q>Child of the Sun.</q> At +his marriage he applied to his mother for a dowry, but she +bade him apply to his father, the sun, and told him how to +go to him. So one morning he took a long vine and made +a noose in it; then climbing up a tree he threw the noose +over the sun and caught him fast. Thus arrested in his +progress, the luminary asked him what he wanted, and being +told by the young man that he wanted a present for his +bride, the sun obligingly packed up a store of blessings in a +basket, with which the youth descended to the earth.<note place='foot'>George Turner, LL.D., <hi rend='italic'>Samoa, a +Hundred Years ago and long before</hi> +(London, 1884), p. 200. For other +examples of such tales, see Adolph +Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die Voelker des Oestlichen +Asien</hi>, i. 416, vi. 25; <hi rend='italic'>Panjab Notes +and Queries</hi>, ii. p. 148, § 797 (June, +1885); A. Pfizmaier, <q>Nachrichten +von den alten Bewohnern des heutigen +Corea,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Sitzungsberichte der philosoph. +histor. Classe der kaiser. Akademie +der Wissenschaften</hi> (Vienna), lvii. +(1868) pp. 495 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Traces in +marriage +customs of +the belief +that women +can be impregnated +by the sun. +Belief in +the impregnation +of women +by the +moon.</note> +Even in the marriage customs of various races we may +perhaps detect traces of this belief that women can be impregnated +by the sun. Thus amongst the Chaco Indians of +South America a newly married couple used to sleep the +first night on a mare's or bullock's skin with their heads +towards the west, <q>for the marriage is not considered ratified +till the rising sun shines on their feet the succeeding morning.</q><note place='foot'>Thomas J. Hutchinson, <q>On the +Chaco and other Indians of South +America,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Ethnological +Society of London</hi>, N.S. iii. +(1865) p. 327. Amongst the Lengua +Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco the +marriage feast is now apparently extinct. +See W. Barbrooke Grubb, <hi rend='italic'>An Unknown +People in an Unknown Land</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 179.</note> +At old Hindoo marriages the first ceremony was the +<q>Impregnation-rite</q> (<foreign rend='italic'>Garbhādhāna</foreign>); during the previous +day the bride was made to look towards the sun or to be in +some way exposed to its rays.<note place='foot'>Monier Williams, <hi rend='italic'>Religious Thought +and Life in India</hi> (London, 1883), p. +354.</note> Amongst the Turks of +Siberia it was formerly the custom on the morning after the +marriage to lead the young couple out of the hut to greet +the rising sun. The same custom is said to be still practised +in Iran and Central Asia under a belief that the beams of +the rising sun are the surest means of impregnating the new +bride.<note place='foot'>H. Vambery, <hi rend='italic'>Das Türkenvolk</hi> +(Leipsic, 1885), p. 112.</note> And as some people think that women may be +gotten with child by the sun, so others imagine that they +can conceive by the moon. According to the Greenlanders +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> +the moon is a young man, and he <q>now and then comes +down to give their wives a visit and caress them; for which +reason no woman dare sleep lying upon her back, without +she first spits upon her fingers and rubs her belly with it. +For the same reason the young maids are afraid to stare long +at the moon, imagining they may get a child by the bargain.</q><note place='foot'>Hans Egede, <hi rend='italic'>A Description of +Greenland</hi> (London, 1818), p. 209.</note> +Similarly Breton peasants are reported to believe +that women or girls who expose their persons to the moonlight +may be impregnated by it and give birth to monsters.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Revue des Traditions Populaires</hi>, +xv. (1900) p. 471.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='8. Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty.'/> +<head>§ 8. Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The reason +for the +seclusion of +women at +puberty is +the dread +of menstruous +blood.</note> +The motive for the restraints so commonly imposed on +girls at puberty is the deeply engrained dread which primitive +man universally entertains of menstruous blood. He +fears it at all times but especially on its first appearance; hence +the restrictions under which women lie at their first menstruation +are usually more stringent than those which they have +to observe at any subsequent recurrence of the mysterious +flow. Some evidence of the fear and of the customs based +on it has been cited in an earlier part of this work;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, +pp. 145 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> but as +the terror, for it is nothing less, which the phenomenon +periodically strikes into the mind of the savage has deeply +influenced his life and institutions, it may be well to illustrate +the subject with some further examples. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +aborigines +of Australia.</note> +Thus in the Encounter Bay tribe of South Australia +there is, or used to be, a <q>superstition which obliges a woman +to separate herself from the camp at the time of her monthly +illness, when, if a young man or boy should approach, she +calls out, and he immediately makes a circuit to avoid her. +If she is neglectful upon this point, she exposes herself to +scolding, and sometimes to severe beating by her husband +or nearest relation, because the boys are told from their +infancy, that if they see the blood they will early become +grey-headed, and their strength will fail prematurely.</q><note place='foot'>H. E. A. Meyer, <q>Manners and +Customs of the Aborigines of the Encounter +Bay Tribe, South Australia,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>The Native Tribes of South Australia</hi> +(Adelaide, 1879), p. 186.</note> And +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> +of the South Australian aborigines in general we read that +there is a <q>custom requiring all boys and uninitiated young +men to sleep at some distance from the huts of the adults, +and to remove altogether away in the morning as soon as +daylight dawns, and the natives begin to move about. This +is to prevent their seeing the women, some of whom may be +menstruating; and if looked upon by the young males, it is +supposed that dire results will follow.</q><note place='foot'>E. J. Eyre, <hi rend='italic'>Journals of Expeditions +of Discovery into Central Australia</hi> +(London, 1845), ii. 304.</note> And amongst these +tribes women in their courses <q>are not allowed to eat fish of +any kind, or to go near the water at all; it being one of +their superstitions, that if a female, in that state, goes near +the water, no success can be expected by the men in fishing.</q><note place='foot'>E. J. Eyre, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 295.</note> +Similarly, among the natives of the Murray River, +menstruous women <q>were not allowed to go near water for +fear of frightening the fish. They were also not allowed to +eat them, for the same reason. A woman during such +periods would never cross the river in a canoe, or even fetch +water for the camp. It was sufficient for her to say <foreign rend='italic'>Thama</foreign>, +to ensure her husband getting the water himself.</q><note place='foot'>R. Brough Smyth, <hi rend='italic'>The Aborigines +of Victoria</hi> (Melbourne and London, +1878), i. 236.</note> The +Dieri of Central Australia believe that if women at these +times were to eat fish or bathe in a river, the fish would all +die and the water would dry up. In this tribe a mark made +with red ochre round a woman's mouth indicates that she +has her courses; no one would offer fish to such a woman.<note place='foot'>Samuel Gason, in <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxiv. (1895) +p. 171.</note> +The Arunta of Central Australia forbid menstruous women +to gather the <foreign rend='italic'>irriakura</foreign> bulbs, which form a staple article of +diet for both men and women. They believe that were a +woman to break this rule, the supply of bulbs would fail.<note place='foot'>Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, +<hi rend='italic'>Native Tribes of Central Australia</hi> +(London, 1899), p. 473; <hi rend='italic'>idem</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Northern Tribes of Central Australia</hi> +(London, 1904), p. 615.</note> +Among the aborigines of Victoria the wife at her monthly +periods had to sleep on the opposite side of the fire from her +husband; she might partake of nobody's food, and nobody +would partake of hers, for people thought that if they ate or +drank anything that had been touched by a woman in her +courses, it would make them weak or ill. Unmarried girls +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> +and widows at such times had to paint their heads and the +upper parts of their bodies red,<note place='foot'>James Dawson, <hi rend='italic'>Australian Aborigines</hi> +(Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, +1881), pp. ci. <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> no doubt as a danger +signal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Severe +penalties +inflicted for +breaches of +the custom +of seclusion.</note> +In some Australian tribes the seclusion of menstruous +women was even more rigid, and was enforced by severer +penalties than a scolding or a beating. Thus with regard +to certain tribes of New South Wales and Southern Queensland +we are told that <q>during the monthly illness, the woman +is not allowed to touch anything that men use, or even +to walk on a path that any man frequents, on pain of +death.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. William Ridley, <q>Report on +Australian Languages and Traditions,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +ii. (1873) p. 268. Compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Kamilaroi and other Australian +Languages</hi> (Sydney, 1875), p. 157.</note> Again, <q>there is a regulation relating to camps in +the Wakelbura tribe which forbids the women coming into +the encampment by the same path as the men. Any violation +of this rule would in a large camp be punished with +death. The reason for this is the dread with which they +regard the menstrual period of women. During such a time, +a woman is kept entirely away from the camp, half a mile +at least. A woman in such a condition has boughs of some +tree of her totem tied round her loins, and is constantly +watched and guarded, for it is thought that should any male +be so unfortunate as to see a woman in such a condition, +he would die. If such a woman were to let herself be +seen by a man, she would probably be put to death. +When the woman has recovered, she is painted red and +white, her head covered with feathers, and returns to the +camp.</q><note place='foot'>A. W. Howitt, <hi rend='italic'>The Native Tribes +of South-East Australia</hi> (London, 1904), +pp. 776 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, on the authority of Mr. +J. C. Muirhead. The Wakelbura are +in Central Queensland. Compare +Captain W. E. Armit, quoted in +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +ix. (1880) pp. 459 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women in +the Torres +Straits +Islands, +New +Guinea, +Galela, +and +Sumatra.</note> +In Muralug, one of the Torres Straits Islands, a +menstruous woman may not eat anything that lives in the +sea, else the natives believe that the fisheries would fail. +Again, in Mabuiag, another of these islands, women who +have their courses on them may not eat turtle flesh nor +turtle eggs, probably for a similar reason. And during the +season when the turtles are pairing the restrictions laid on +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> +such a woman are much severer. She may not even enter +a house in which there is turtle flesh, nor approach a fire on +which the flesh is cooking; she may not go near the sea and +she should not walk on the beach below high-water mark. +Nay, the infection extends to her husband, who may not +himself harpoon or otherwise take an active part in catching +turtle; however, he is permitted to form one of the crew on +a turtling expedition, provided he takes the precaution of +rubbing his armpits with certain leaves, to which no doubt a +disinfectant virtue is ascribed.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological +Expedition to Torres Straits</hi>, +v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 196, 207.</note> Among the Kai of German +New Guinea women at their monthly sickness must live in +little huts built for them in the forest; they may not enter +the cultivated fields, for if they did go to them, and the pigs +were to taste of the blood, it would inspire the animals with +an irresistible desire to go likewise into the fields, where they +would commit great depredations on the growing crops. +Hence the issue from women at these times is carefully +buried to prevent the pigs from getting at it. And +conversely, if the pigs often break into the fields, the blame +is laid on the women who by the neglect of these elementary +precautions have put temptation in the way of the swine.<note place='foot'>Ch. Keysser, <q>Aus dem Leben +der Kaileute,</q> in R. Neuhauss's <hi rend='italic'>Deutsch +Neu-Guinea</hi> (Berlin, 1911), iii. 91.</note> +In Galela, to the west of New Guinea, women at their +monthly periods may not enter a tobacco-field, or the +plants would be attacked by disease.<note place='foot'>M. J. van Baarda, <q>Fabelen, +Verhalen en Overleveringen der Galelareezen,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- +en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, +xlv. (1895) p. 489.</note> The Minangkabauers +of Sumatra are persuaded that if a woman in her +unclean state were to go near a rice-field, the crop would be +spoiled.<note place='foot'>J. L. van der Toorn, <q>Het +animisme bij den Minangkabauer der +Padangsche Bovenlanden,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen +tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van +Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, xxxix. (1890) p. +66.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +tribes of +South +Africa, +Central +and East +Africa.</note> +The Bushmen of South Africa think that, by a glance of +a girl's eye at the time when she ought to be kept in strict +retirement, men become fixed in whatever position they +happen to occupy, with whatever they were holding in their +hands, and are changed into trees that talk.<note place='foot'>W. H. I. Bleek, <hi rend='italic'>A Brief Account +of Bushman Folk-lore</hi> (London, 1875), +p. 14; compare <hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi>, p. 10.</note> Cattle-rearing +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +tribes of South Africa hold that their cattle would die if the +milk were drunk by a menstruous woman;<note place='foot'>Rev. James Macdonald, <q>Manners, +Customs, Superstitions and Religions +of South African Tribes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of +the Anthropological Institute</hi>, xx. (1891) +p. 138; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Light in Africa</hi>, Second +Edition (London, 1890), p. 221.</note> and they fear +the same disaster if a drop of her blood were to fall on the +ground and the oxen were to pass over it. To prevent such +a calamity women in general, not menstruous women only, +are forbidden to enter the cattle enclosure; and more than +that, they may not use the ordinary paths in entering the +village or in passing from one hut to another. They are +obliged to make circuitous tracks at the back of the huts in +order to avoid the ground in the middle of the village where +the cattle stand or lie down. These women's tracks may be +seen at every Caffre village.<note place='foot'>Dudley Kidd, <hi rend='italic'>The Essential Kafir</hi> +(London, 1904), p. 238; Mr. Warren's +Notes, in Col. Maclean's <hi rend='italic'>Compendium +of Kafir Laws and Customs</hi> (Cape +Town, 1866), p. 93; Rev. J. +Macdonald, <hi rend='italic'>Light in Africa</hi>, p. 221; +<hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Religion and Myth</hi> (London, 1893), +p. 198. Compare Henri A. Junod, +<q>Les conceptions physiologiques des +Bantou Sud-Africains et leurs tabous,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Revue d'Ethnographie et de Sociologie</hi>, +i. (1910) p. 139. The danger of death +to the cattle from the blood of women +is mentioned only by Mr. Kidd. The +part of the village which is frequented +by the cattle, and which accordingly +must be shunned by women, has a +special name, <foreign rend='italic'>inkundhla</foreign> (Mr. Warner's +Notes, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>).</note> Similarly among the Bahima, +a cattle-breeding tribe of Ankole, in Central Africa, no +menstruous woman may drink milk, lest by so doing she +should injure the cows; and she may not lie on her +husband's bed, no doubt lest she should injure him. Indeed +she is forbidden to lie on a bed at all and must sleep on the +ground. Her diet is restricted to vegetables and beer.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <q>The Bahima, a +Cow Tribe of Enkole,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Royal Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxxvii. +(1907) p. 106.</note> +Among the Baganda, in like manner, no menstruous woman +might drink milk or come into contact with any milk-vessel;<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi> +(London, 1911), p. 419.</note> +and she might not touch anything that belonged to her +husband, nor sit on his mat, nor cook his food. If she touched +anything of his at such a time it was deemed equivalent to +wishing him dead or to actually working magic for his +destruction.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi>, p. +96.</note> Were she to handle any article of his, he +would surely fall ill; were she to handle his weapons, he +would certainly be killed in the next battle. Even a woman +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> +who did not menstruate was believed by the Baganda to be +a source of danger to her husband, indeed capable of killing +him. Hence, before he went to war, he used to wound her +slightly with his spear so as to draw blood; this was thought +to ensure his safe return.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <q>Notes on the +Manners and Customs of the Baganda,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +xxxi. (1901) p. 121; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Further +Notes on the Manners and Customs +of the Baganda,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxxii. (1902) +p. 39; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi>, p. 352.</note> Apparently the notion was that +if the wife did not lose blood in one way or another, her +husband would be bled in war to make up for her deficiency; +so by way of guarding against this undesirable event, he took +care to relieve her of a little superfluous blood before he +repaired to the field of honour. Further, the Baganda +would not suffer a menstruous woman to visit a well; if +she did so, they feared that the water would dry up, and +that she herself would fall sick and die, unless she confessed +her fault and the medicine-man made atonement for her.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. Roscoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Baganda</hi>, p. +459.</note> +Among the Akikuyu of British East Africa, if a new hut is +built in a village and the wife chances to menstruate in it on +the day she lights the first fire there, the hut must be broken +down and demolished the very next day. The woman may +on no account sleep a second night in it; there is a curse +(<foreign rend='italic'>thahu</foreign>) both on her and on it.<note place='foot'>C. W. Hobley, <q>Further Researches +into Kikuyu and Kamba +Religious Beliefs and Customs,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Royal Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xli. (1911) p. 409.</note> In the Suk tribe of British +East Africa warriors may not eat anything that has been +touched by menstruous women. If they did so, it is +believed that they would lose their virility; <q>in the rain +they will shiver and in the heat they will faint.</q> Suk men +and women take their meals apart, because the men fear that +one or more of the women may be menstruating.<note place='foot'>Mervyn W. H. Beech, <hi rend='italic'>The Suk, +their Language and Folklore</hi> (Oxford, +1911), p. 11.</note> The +Anyanja of British Central Africa, at the southern end of +Lake Nyassa, think that a man who should sleep with a +woman in her courses would fall sick and die, unless some +remedy were applied in time. And with them it is a rule that +at such times a woman should not put any salt into the food +she is cooking, otherwise the people who partook of the food +salted by her would suffer from a certain disease called +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> +<foreign rend='italic'>tsempo</foreign>; hence to obviate the danger she calls a child to put +the salt into the dish.<note place='foot'>H. S. Stannus, <q>Notes on some +Tribes of British Central Africa,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Royal Anthropological +Institute</hi>, xl. (1910) p. 305; R. +Sutherland Rattray, <hi rend='italic'>Some Folk-lore +Stories and Songs in Chinyanja</hi> +(London, 1907), p. 191. See above, +p. <ref target='Pg027'>27</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +tribes of +West +Africa.</note> +Among the Hos, a tribe of Ewe negroes of Togoland +in West Africa, so long as a wife has her monthly +sickness she may not cook for her husband, nor lie on +his bed, nor sit on his stool; an infraction of these rules +would assuredly, it is believed, cause her husband to +die. If her husband is a priest, or a magician, or a chief, +she may not pass the days of her uncleanness in the house, +but must go elsewhere till she is clean.<note place='foot'>Jakob Spieth, <hi rend='italic'>Die Ewe-Stämme</hi> +(Berlin, 1906), p. 192.</note> Among the Ewe +negroes of this region each village has its huts where women +who have their courses on them must spend their time +secluded from intercourse with other people. Sometimes these +huts stand by themselves in public places; sometimes they +are mere shelters built either at the back or front of the +ordinary dwelling-houses. A woman is punishable if she +does not pass the time of her monthly sickness in one of +these huts or shelters provided for her use. Thus, if she +shews herself in her own house or even in the yard of the +house, she may be fined a sheep, which is killed, its flesh +divided among the people, and its blood poured on the image +of the chief god as a sin-offering to expiate her offence. +She is also forbidden to go to the place where the villagers +draw water, and if she breaks the rule, she must give a goat +to be killed; its flesh is distributed, and its blood, diluted +with water and mixed with herbs, is sprinkled on the +watering-place and on the paths leading to it. Were any +woman to disregard these salutary precautions, the chief +fetish-man in the village would fall sick and die, which would +be an irreparable loss to society.<note place='foot'>Anton Witte, <q>Menstruation und +Pubertätsfeier der Mädchen in Kpandugebiet +Togo,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Baessler-Archiv</hi>, i. +(1911) p. 279.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Powerful +influence +ascribed to +menstruous +blood in +Arab +legend.</note> +The miraculous virtue ascribed to menstruous blood is well +illustrated in a story told by the Arab chronicler Tabari. He +relates how Sapor, king of Persia, besieged the strong city of +Atrae, in the desert of Mesopotamia, for several years without +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> +being able to take it. But the king of the city, whose name +was Daizan, had a daughter, and when it was with her after +the manner of women she went forth from the city and dwelt +for a time in the suburb, for such was the custom of the place. +Now it fell out that, while she tarried there, Sapor saw her +and loved her, and she loved him; for he was a handsome +man and she a lovely maid. And she said to him, <q>What +will you give me if I shew you how you may destroy the +walls of this city and slay my father?</q> And he said to her, +<q>I will give you what you will, and I will exalt you above +my other wives, and will set you nearer to me than them +all.</q> Then she said to him, <q>Take a greenish dove with a +ring about its neck, and write something on its foot with the +menstruous blood of a blue-eyed maid; then let the bird +loose, and it will perch on the walls of the city, and they +will fall down.</q> For that, says the Arab historian, was the +talisman of the city, which could not be destroyed in any +other way. And Sapor did as she bade him, and the city +fell down in a heap, and he stormed it and slew Daizan on +the spot.<note place='foot'>Th. Nöldeke, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte der Perser +und Araber zur Zeit der Sassaniden, +aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari +übersetzt</hi> (Leyden, 1879), pp. 33-38. +I have to thank my friend Professor +A. A. Bevan for pointing out to me +this passage. Many ancient cities had +talismans on the preservation of which +their safety was believed to depend. +The Palladium of Troy is the most +familiar instance. See Chr. A. Lobeck, +<hi rend='italic'>Aglaophamus</hi> (Königsberg, 1829), pp. +278 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, and my note on Pausanias, +viii. 47. 5 (vol. iv. pp. 433 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Jews, +in Syria, India, and Annam.</note> +According to the Talmud, if a woman at the beginning +of her period passes between two men, she thereby kills one +of them; if she passes between them towards the end of her +period, she only causes them to quarrel violently.<note place='foot'>J. Mergel, <hi rend='italic'>Die Medezin der Talmudisten</hi> +(Leipsic and Berlin, 1885), +pp. 15 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Maimonides +tells us that down to his time it was a common custom +in the East to keep women at their periods in a separate +house and to burn everything on which they had trodden; +a man who spoke with such a woman or who was merely +exposed to the same wind that blew over her, became thereby +unclean.<note place='foot'>Maimonides, quoted by D. Chwolsohn, +<hi rend='italic'>Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus</hi> +(St. Petersburg, 1856), ii. 483. +According to the editor (p. 735) by +the East Maimonides means India and +eastern countries generally.</note> Peasants of the Lebanon think that menstruous +women are the cause of many misfortunes; their shadow +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +causes flowers to wither and trees to perish, it even arrests +the movements of serpents; if one of them mounts a horse, +the animal might die or at least be disabled for a long time.<note place='foot'>L'abbé Béchara Chémali, <q>Naissance +et premier âge au Liban,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Anthropos</hi>, +v. (1910) p. 735.</note> +In Syria to this day a woman who has her courses on her +may neither salt nor pickle, for the people think that whatever +she pickled or salted would not keep.<note place='foot'>Eijūb Abēla, <q>Beiträge zur Kenntniss +abergläubischer Gebräuche in +Syrien,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift des deutschen +Palaestina-Vereins</hi>, vii. (1884) p. 111.</note> The Toaripi of +New Guinea, doubtless for a similar reason, will not allow +women at such times to cook.<note place='foot'>J. Chalmers, <q>Toaripi,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal +of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, xxvii. +(1898) p. 328.</note> The Bhuiyars, a Dravidian +tribe of South Mirzapur, are said to feel an intense dread of +menstrual pollution. Every house has two doors, one of +which is used only by women in this condition. During her +impurity the wife is fed by her husband apart from the rest +of the family, and whenever she has to quit the house she is +obliged to creep out on her hands and knees in order not to +defile the thatch by her touch.<note place='foot'>W. Crooke, <hi rend='italic'>Tribes and Castes of +the North-Western Provinces and Oudh</hi> +(Calcutta, 1896), ii. 87.</note> The Kharwars, another +aboriginal tribe of the same district, keep their women at +such seasons in the outer verandah of the house for eight +days, and will not let them enter the kitchen or the cow-house; +during this time the unclean woman may not cook +nor even touch the cooking vessels. When the eight days +are over, she bathes, washes her clothes, and returns to family +life.<note place='foot'>W. Crooke, <hi rend='italic'>in North Indian Notes +and Queries</hi>, i. p. 67, § 467 (July, +1891).</note> Hindoo women seclude themselves at their monthly +periods and observe a number of rules, such as not to drink +milk, not to milk cows, not to touch fire, not to lie on a high +bed, not to walk on common paths, not to cross the track +of animals, not to walk by the side of flowering plants, and +not to observe the heavenly bodies.<note place='foot'>L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, +<hi rend='italic'>The Cochin Tribes and Castes</hi>, i. +(Madras, 1909) pp. 201-203. As to +the seclusion of menstruous women +among the Hindoos, see also Sonnerat, +<hi rend='italic'>Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la +Chine</hi> (Paris, 1782), i. 31; J. A. +Dubois, <hi rend='italic'>Mœurs, Institutions et Cérémonies +des Peuples de l'Inde</hi> (Paris, +1825), i. 245 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Nair women in +Malabar seclude themselves for three +days at menstruation and prepare their +food in separate pots and pans. See +Duarte Barbosa, <hi rend='italic'>Description of the +Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in +the beginning of the Sixteenth Century</hi> +(Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), +pp. 132 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The motive for these +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> +restrictions is not mentioned, but probably it is a dread of +the baleful influence which is supposed to emanate from +women at these times. The Parsees, who reverence fire, +will not suffer menstruous women to see it or even to look +on a lighted taper;<note place='foot'>G. Hoffman, <hi rend='italic'>Auszüge aus Syrischen +Akten persisischer Martyrer übersetzt</hi> +(Leipsic, 1880), p. 99. This +passage was pointed out to me by my +friend Professor A. A. Bevan.</note> during their infirmity the women retire +from their houses to little lodges in the country, whither +victuals are brought to them daily; at the end of their +seclusion they bathe and send a kid, a fowl, or a pigeon to +the priest as an offering.<note place='foot'>J. B. Tavernier, <hi rend='italic'>Voyages en Turquie, +en Perse, et aux Indes</hi> (The +Hague, 1718), i. 488.</note> In Annam a woman at her +monthly periods is deemed a centre of impurity, and contact +with her is avoided. She is subject to all sorts of restrictions +which she must observe herself and which others must +observe towards her. She may not touch any food which is +to be preserved by salting, whether it be fish, flesh, or vegetables; +for were she to touch it the food would putrefy. +She may not enter any sacred place, she may not be present +at any religious ceremony. The linen which she wears at +such times must be washed by herself at sunrise, never at +night. On reaching puberty girls may not touch flowers or +the fruits of certain trees, for touched by them the flowers +would fade and the fruits fall to the ground. <q>It is on +account of their reputation for impurity that the women +generally live isolated. In every house they have an +apartment reserved for them, and they never eat at the +same table as the men. For the same reason they are +excluded from all religious ceremonies. They may only be +present at family ceremonies, but without ever officiating in +them.</q><note place='foot'>Paul Giran, <hi rend='italic'>Magie et Religion +Annamites</hi> (Paris, 1912), pp. 107 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +112.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Indians of +South and +Central +America.</note> +The Guayquiries of the Orinoco think that when a +woman has her courses, everything upon which she steps +will die, and that if a man treads on the place where she +has passed, his legs will immediately swell up.<note place='foot'>Joseph Gumilla, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire Naturelle, +Civile, et Géographique de l'Orenoque</hi> +(Avignon, 1758), i. 249.</note> Among the +Guaraunos of the same great river, women at their periods +are regarded as unclean and kept apart in special huts, where +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> +all that they need is brought to them.<note place='foot'>Dr. Louis Plassard, <q>Les Guaraunos +et le delta de l'Orénoque,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Bulletin de la Société de Géographie</hi> +(Paris), v. Série, xv. (1868) p. 584.</note> In like manner +among the Piapocos, an Indian tribe on the Guayabero, a +tributary of the Orinoco, a menstruous woman is secluded +from her family every month for four or five days. She +passes the time in a special hut, whither her husband brings +her food; and at the end of the time she takes a bath and +resumes her usual occupations.<note place='foot'>J. Crevaux, <hi rend='italic'>Voyages dans l'Amérique +du Sud</hi> (Paris, 1883), p. 526. +As to the customs observed at menstruation +by Indian women in South +America, see further A. d'Orbigny, +<hi rend='italic'>L'Homme Americain</hi> (Paris, 1839), i. +237.</note> So among the Indians of +the Mosquito territory in Central America, when a woman is +in her courses, she must quit the village for seven or eight +days. A small hut is built for her in the wood, and at +night some of the village girls go and sleep with her to +keep her company. Or if the nights are dark and jaguars +are known to be prowling in the neighbourhood, her husband +will take his gun or bow and sleep in a hammock near her. +She may neither handle nor cook food; all is prepared and +carried to her. When the sickness is over, she bathes in the +river, puts on clean clothes, and returns to her household +duties.<note place='foot'>Chas. N. Bell, <q>The Mosquito +Territory,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Royal +Geographical Society</hi>, xxxii. (1862) +p. 254.</note> Among the Bri-bri Indians of Costa Rica a girl at +her first menstruation retires to a hut built for the purpose +in the forest, and there she must stay till she has been +purified by a medicine-man, who breathes on her and places +various objects, such as feathers, the beaks of birds, the teeth +of beasts, and so forth, upon her body. A married woman +at her periods remains in the house with her husband, but +she is reckoned unclean (<foreign rend='italic'>bukuru</foreign>) and must avoid all intimate +relations with him. She uses for plates only banana leaves, +which, when she has done with them, she throws away in a +sequestered spot; for should a cow find and eat them, the +animal would waste away and perish. Also she drinks +only out of a special vessel, because any person who should +afterwards drink out of the same vessel would infallibly +pine away and die.<note place='foot'>H. Pittier de Fabrega, <q>Die +Sprache der Bribri-Indianer in Costa +Rica,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Sitzungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen +Classe der Kaiserlichen +Akademie der Wissenschaften</hi> +(Vienna), cxxxviii. (1898) pp. 19 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Indians of +North +America.</note> +Among most tribes of North American Indians the +custom was that women in their courses retired from the +camp or the village and lived during the time of their +uncleanness in special huts or shelters which were appropriated +to their use. There they dwelt apart, eating and +sleeping by themselves, warming themselves at their own +fires, and strictly abstaining from all communications with +men, who shunned them just as if they were stricken with +the plague. No article of furniture used in these menstrual +huts might be used in any other, not even the flint and steel +with which in the old days the fires were kindled. No one +would borrow a light from a woman in her seclusion. If +a white man in his ignorance asked to light his pipe at +her fire, she would refuse to grant the request, telling him +that it would make his nose bleed and his head ache, and +that he would fall sick in consequence. If an Indian's +wooden pipe cracked, his friends would think that he had +either lit it at one of these polluted fires or had held some +converse with a woman during her retirement, which was +esteemed a most disgraceful and wicked thing to do. +Decent men would not approach within a certain distance +of a woman at such times, and if they had to convey anything +to her they would stand some forty or fifty paces off +and throw it to her. Everything which was touched by her +hands during this period was deemed ceremonially unclean. +Indeed her touch was thought to convey such pollution that +if she chanced to lay a finger on a chief's lodge or his gun +or anything else belonging to him, it would be instantly +destroyed. If she crossed the path of a hunter or a warrior, +his luck for that day at least would be gone. Were she not +thus secluded, it was supposed that the men would be +attacked by diseases of various kinds, which would prove +mortal. In some tribes a woman who infringed the rules of +separation might have to answer with her life for any misfortunes +that might happen to individuals or to the tribe in +consequence, as it was supposed, of her criminal negligence. +When she quitted her tent or hut to go into retirement, the +fire in it was extinguished and the ashes thrown away outside +of the village, and a new fire was kindled, as if the old +one had been defiled by her presence. At the end of their +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> +seclusion the women bathed in running streams and returned +to their usual occupations.<note place='foot'>Gabriel Sagard, <hi rend='italic'>Le Grand Voyage +du Pays des Hurons</hi>, Nouvelle Édition +(Paris, 1865), p. 54 (original edition, +Paris, 1632); J. F. Lafitau, <hi rend='italic'>Mœurs +des Sauvages Ameriquains</hi> (Paris, 1724), +i. 262; Charlevoix, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire de la +Nouvelle France</hi> (Paris, 1744), v. 423 +sq.; Captain Jonathan Carver, <hi rend='italic'>Travels +through the Interior Parts of North +America</hi>, Third Edition (London, 1781), +pp. 236 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Captains Lewis and +Clark, <hi rend='italic'>Expedition to the Sources of the +Missouri</hi>, etc. (London, 1905), iii. 90 +(original edition, 1814); Rev. Jedidiah +Morse, <hi rend='italic'>Report to the Secretary of War +of the United States on Indian Affairs</hi> +(New Haven, 1822), pp. 136 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>Annales de l'Association de la Propagation +de la Foi</hi>, iv. (Paris and Lyons, +1830) pp. 483, 494 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; George +Catlin, <hi rend='italic'>Letters and Notes on the +Manners, Customs, and Condition of +the North American Indians</hi>, Fourth +Edition (London, 1844), ii. 233; H. +R. Schoolcraft, <hi rend='italic'>Indian Tribes of the +United States</hi> (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), +v. 70; A. L. Kroeber, <q>The +Religion of the Indians of California,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>University of California Publications +in American Archaeology and Ethnology</hi>, +vol. iv. No. 6 (Berkeley, September, +1907), pp. 323 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Frank G. Speck, +<hi rend='italic'>Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians</hi> (Philadelphia, +1909), p. 96. Among the +Hurons of Canada women at their +periods did not retire from the house +or village, but they ate from small dishes +apart from the rest of the family at +these times (Gabriel Sagard, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Creek, +Choctaw, +Omaha, +and +Cheyenne +Indians.</note> +Thus, to take examples, the Creek and kindred +Indians of the United States compelled women at +menstruation to live in separate huts at some distance +from the village. There the women had to stay, at the +risk of being surprised and cut off by enemies. It was +thought <q>a most horrid and dangerous pollution</q> to go +near the women at such times; and the danger extended +to enemies who, if they slew the women, had to cleanse +themselves from the pollution by means of certain sacred +herbs and roots.<note place='foot'>James Adair, <hi rend='italic'>History of the +American Indians</hi> (London, 1775), +pp. 123 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Similarly, the Choctaw women had to +quit their huts during their monthly periods, and might not +return till after they had been purified. While their uncleanness +lasted they had to prepare their own food. The +men believed that if they were to approach a menstruous +woman, they would fall ill, and that some mishap would +overtake them when they went to the wars.<note place='foot'>Bossu, <hi rend='italic'>Nouveaux Voyages aux +Indes occidentales</hi> (Paris, 1768), ii. +105.</note> When an +Omaha woman has her courses on her, she retires from the +family to a little shelter of bark or grass, supported by +sticks, where she kindles a fire and cooks her victuals alone. +Her seclusion lasts four days. During this time she may +not approach or touch a horse, for the Indians believe that +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +such contamination would impoverish or weaken the animal.<note place='foot'>Edwin James, <hi rend='italic'>Account of an Expedition +from Pittsburgh to the Rocky +Mountains</hi> (London, 1823), i. 214.</note> +Among the Potawatomis the women at their monthly +periods <q>are not allowed to associate with the rest of the +nation; they are completely laid aside, and are not permitted +to touch any article of furniture or food which the +men have occasion to use. If the Indians be stationary at +the time, the women are placed outside of the camp; if on +a march, they are not allowed to follow the trail, but must +take a different path and keep at a distance from the main +body.</q><note place='foot'>William H. Keating, <hi rend='italic'>Narrative +of an Expedition to the Source of St. +Peter's River</hi> (London, 1825), i. 132.</note> Among the Cheyennes menstruous women slept +in special lodges; the men believed that if they slept with +their wives at such times, they would probably be wounded +in their next battle. A man who owned a shield had very +particularly to be on his guard against women in their +courses. He might not go into a lodge where one of them +happened to be, nor even into a lodge where one of them +had been, until a ceremony of purification had been performed. +Sweet grass and juniper were burnt in the tent, +and the pegs were pulled up and the covering thrown back, +as if the tent were about to be struck. After this pretence +of decamping from the polluted spot the owner of the shield +might enter the tent.<note place='foot'>G. B. Grinnell, <q>Cheyenne +Woman Customs,</q> <hi rend='italic'>American Anthropologist</hi>, +New Series, iv. (New York, +1902) p. 14.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Indians of +British +Columbia.</note> +The Stseelis Indians of British Columbia imagined +that if a menstruous woman were to step over a bundle +of arrows, the arrows would thereby be rendered useless +and might even cause the death of their owner; and +similarly that if she passed in front of a hunter who carried +a gun, the weapon would never shoot straight again. +Neither her husband nor her father would dream of going +out to hunt while she was in this state; and even if he +had wished to do so, the other hunters would not go +with him. Hence to keep them out of harm's way, the +women, both married and unmarried, were secluded at these +times for four days in shelters.<note place='foot'>C. Hill Tout, <q>Ethnological +Report on the Stseelis and Skaulits +Tribes of the Halokmelem Division +of the Salish of British Columbia,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</hi>, +xxxiv. (1904) p. 320.</note> Among the Thompson +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +Indians of British Columbia every woman had to isolate +herself from the rest of the people during every recurring +period of menstruation, and had to live some little way off +in a small brush or bark lodge made for the purpose. At +these times she was considered unclean, must use cooking +and eating utensils of her own, and was supplied with food +by some other woman. If she smoked out of a pipe other +than her own, that pipe would ever afterwards be hot to +smoke. If she crossed in front of a gun, that gun would +thenceforth be useless for the war or the chase, unless +indeed the owner promptly washed the weapon in <q>medecine</q> +or struck the woman with it once on each principal +part of her body. If a man ate or had any intercourse +with a menstruous woman, nay if he merely wore clothes or +mocassins made or patched by her, he would have bad luck +in hunting and the bears would attack him fiercely. Before +being admitted again among the people, she had to change +all her clothes and wash several times in clear water. The +clothes worn during her isolation were hung on a tree, to be +used next time, or to be washed. For one day after coming +back among the people she did not cook food. Were a +man to eat food cooked by a woman at such times, he would +have incapacitated himself for hunting and exposed himself +to sickness or death.<note place='foot'>James Teit, <hi rend='italic'>The Thompson Indians +of British Columbia</hi>, pp. 326 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>The +Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir +of the American Museum of Natural +History</hi>, New York, April, 1900).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Chippeway +Indians.</note> +Among the Chippeways and other Indians of the +Hudson Bay Territory, menstruous women are excluded +from the camp, and take up their abode in huts of branches. +They wear long hoods, which effectually conceal the head +and breast. They may not touch the household furniture +nor any objects used by men; for their touch <q>is supposed +to defile them, so that their subsequent use would be +followed by certain mischief or misfortune,</q> such as disease +or death. They must drink out of a swan's bone. They +may not walk on the common paths nor cross the tracks of +animals. They <q>are never permitted to walk on the ice of +rivers or lakes, or near the part where the men are hunting +beaver, or where a fishing-net is set, for fear of averting +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> +their success. They are also prohibited at those times from +partaking of the head of any animal, and even from walking +in or crossing the track where the head of a deer, moose, +beaver, and many other animals have lately been carried, +either on a sledge or on the back. To be guilty of a violation +of this custom is considered as of the greatest importance; +because they firmly believe that it would be a means of +preventing the hunter from having an equal success in his +future excursions.</q><note place='foot'>Samuel Hearne, <hi rend='italic'>Journey from +Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's +Bay to the Northern Ocean</hi> (London, +1795), pp. 314 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Alex. Mackenzie, +<hi rend='italic'>Voyages through the Continent of +North America</hi> (London, 1801), p. +cxxiii.; E. Petitot, <hi rend='italic'>Monographie des +Dènè-Dindjié</hi> (Paris, 1876), pp. 75 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> So the Lapps forbid women at menstruation +to walk on that part of the shore where the fishers +are in the habit of setting out their fish;<note place='foot'>C. Leemius, <hi rend='italic'>De Lapponibus Finmarchiae +eorumque lingua vita et religione +pristina</hi> (Copenhagen, 1767), p. +494.</note> and the Esquimaux +of Bering Strait believe that if hunters were to come near +women in their courses they would catch no game.<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) p. 440.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dread and +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Tinneh or +Déné +Indians. +Customs +and beliefs +of the +Carrier +Indians in +regard to +menstruous +women.</note> +But the beliefs and superstitions of this sort that +prevail among the western tribes of the great Déné or +Tinneh stock, to which the Chippeways belong, have been +so well described by an experienced missionary, that I +will give his description in his own words. Prominent +among the ceremonial rites of these Indians, he says, +<q rend='pre'>are the observances peculiar to the fair sex, and many +of them are remarkably analogous to those practised by +the Hebrew women, so much so that, were it not savouring +of profanity, the ordinances of the Déné ritual code might +be termed a new edition <q>revised and considerably augmented</q> +of the Mosaic ceremonial law. Among the Carriers,<note place='foot'>The Carriers are a tribe of Déné +or Tinneh Indians who get their name +from a custom observed among them +by widows, who carry, or rather used +to carry, the charred bones of their +dead husbands about with them in +bundles.</note> as +soon as a girl has experienced the first flow of the menses +which in the female constitution are a natural discharge, +her father believed himself under the obligation of atoning +for her supposedly sinful condition by a small impromptu +distribution of clothes among the natives. This periodical +state of women was considered as one of legal impurity +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> +fateful both to the man who happened to have any intercourse, +however indirect, with her, and to the woman +herself who failed in scrupulously observing all the rites +prescribed by ancient usage for persons in her condition.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of Carrier +girls at +puberty.</note> +<q rend='pre'>Upon entering into that stage of her life, the maiden +was immediately sequestered from company, even that of +her parents, and compelled to dwell in a small branch hut +by herself away from beaten paths and the gaze of passers-by. +As she was supposed to exercise malefic influence on +any man who might inadvertently glance at her, she had to +wear a sort of head-dress combining in itself the purposes of +a veil, a bonnet, and a mantlet. It was made of tanned +skin, its forepart was shaped like a long fringe completely +hiding from view the face and breasts; then it formed on +the head a close-fitting cap or bonnet, and finally fell in a +broad band almost to the heels. This head-dress was made +and publicly placed on her head by a paternal aunt, who +received at once some present from the girl's father. When, +three or four years later, the period of sequestration ceased, +only this same aunt had the right to take off her niece's +ceremonial head-dress. Furthermore, the girl's fingers, +wrists, and legs at the ankles and immediately below the +knees, were encircled with ornamental rings and bracelets of +sinew intended as a protection against the malign influences +she was supposed to be possessed with.<note place='foot'>Hence we may conjecture that the +similar ornaments worn by Mabuiag +girls in similar circumstances are also +amulets. See above, p. <ref target='Pg036'>36</ref>. Among +the aborigines of the Upper Yarra +river in Victoria, a girl at puberty +used to have cords tied very tightly +round several parts of her body. The +cords were worn for several days, +causing the whole body to swell very +much and inflicting great pain. The +girl might not remove them till she +was clean. See R. Brough Smyth, +<hi rend='italic'>Aborigines of Victoria</hi> (Melbourne and +London, 1878), i. 65. Perhaps the +cords were intended to arrest the flow +of blood.</note> To a belt girding +her waist were suspended two bone implements called +respectively <foreign rend='italic'>Tsoenkuz</foreign> (bone tube) and <foreign rend='italic'>Tsiltsoet</foreign> (head +scratcher). The former was a hollowed swan bone to drink +with, any other mode of drinking being unlawful to her. +The latter was fork-like and was called into requisition +whenever she wanted to scratch her head—immediate contact +of the fingers with the head being reputed injurious to +her health. While thus secluded, she was called <foreign rend='italic'>asta</foreign>, that +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +is <q>interred alive</q> in Carrier, and she had to submit to a +rigorous fast and abstinence. Her only allowed food consisted +of dried fish boiled in a small bark vessel which +nobody else must touch, and she had to abstain especially +from meat of any kind, as well as fresh fish. Nor was this +all she had to endure; even her contact, however remote, +with these two articles of diet was so dreaded that she could +not cross the public paths or trails, or the tracks of animals. +Whenever absolute necessity constrained her to go beyond +such spots, she had to be packed or carried over them lest +she should contaminate the game or meat which had passed +that way, or had been brought over these paths; and also +for the sake of self-preservation against tabooed, and consequently +to her, deleterious food. In the same way she was +never allowed to wade in streams or lakes, for fear of causing +death to the fish.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>It was also a prescription of the ancient ritual code for +females during this primary condition to eat as little as +possible, and to remain lying down, especially in course of +each monthly flow, not only as a natural consequence of the +prolonged fast and resulting weakness; but chiefly as an +exhibition of a becoming penitential spirit which was believed +to be rewarded by long life and continual good health in +after years.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seclusion +of Carrier +women +at their +monthly +periods. Reasons +for the +seclusion of +menstruous +women +among the +Indians.</note> +<q>These mortifications or seclusion did not last less than +three or four years. Useless to say that during all that +time marriage could not be thought of, since the girl could +not so much as be seen by men. When married, the same +sequestration was practised relatively to husband and fellow-villagers—without +the particular head-dress and rings spoken +of—on the occasion of every recurring menstruation. Sometimes +it was protracted as long as ten days at a time, +especially during the first years of cohabitation. Even when +she returned to her mate, she was not permitted to sleep +with him on the first nor frequently on the second night, but +would choose a distant corner of the lodge to spread her +blanket, as if afraid to defile him with her dread uncleanness.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. Father A.G. Morice, <q>The +Western Dénés, their Manners and +Customs,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Proceedings of the Canadian +Institute</hi>, Toronto, Third Series, vii. +(1888-89) pp. 162-164. The writer +has repeated the substance of this +account in a later work, <hi rend='italic'>Au pays de +l'Ours Noir: chez les sauvages de la +Colombie Britannique</hi> (Paris and Lyons, +1897), pp. 72 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +Elsewhere the same writer tells us that most of +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +the devices to which these Indians used to resort for the +sake of ensuring success in the chase <q>were based on their +regard for continence and their excessive repugnance for, +and dread of, menstruating women.</q><note place='foot'>A. G. Morice, <q>Notes, Archaeological, +Industrial, and Sociological, on +the Western Dénés,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of +the Canadian Institute</hi>, iv. (1892-93) +pp. 106 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare Rev. Father +Julius Jetté, <q>On the Superstitions of +the Ten'a Indians,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Anthropos</hi>, vi. +(1911) pp. 703 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, who tells us that +Tinneh women at these times may not +lift their own nets, may not step over +other people's nets, and may not pass +in a boat or canoe near a place where +nets are being set.</note> But the strict observances +imposed on Tinneh or Déné women at such times were +designed at the same time to protect the women themselves +from the evil consequences of their dangerous condition. +Thus it was thought that women in their courses could not +partake of the head, heart, or hind part of an animal that +had been caught in a snare without exposing themselves to +a premature death through a kind of rabies. They might +not cut or carve salmon, because to do so would seriously +endanger their health, and especially would enfeeble their +arms for life. And they had to abstain from cutting +up the grebes which are caught by the Carriers in great +numbers every spring, because otherwise the blood with +which these fowls abound would occasion hæmorrhage or an +unnaturally prolonged flux in the transgressor.<note place='foot'>A. G. Morice, in <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of +the Canadian Institute</hi>, iv. (1892-93) +pp. 107, 110.</note> Similarly +Indian women of the Thompson tribe abstained from venison +and the flesh of other large game during menstruation, +lest the animals should be displeased and the menstrual +flow increased.<note place='foot'>James Teit, <hi rend='italic'>The Thompson Indians +of British Columbia</hi>, p. 327 (<hi rend='italic'>The Jesup +North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of +the American Museum of Natural +History</hi>, New York, April 1900).</note> For a similar reason, probably, Shuswap +girls during their seclusion at puberty are forbidden to eat +anything that bleeds.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg053'>53</ref>.</note> The same principle may perhaps +partly explain the rule, of which we have had some examples, +that women at such times should refrain from fish and flesh, +and restrict themselves to a vegetable diet. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Similar +rules of +seclusion +enjoined on +menstruous +women in +ancient +Hindoo, +Persian, +and +Hebrew +codes.</note> +The philosophic student of human nature will observe, +or learn, without surprise that ideas thus deeply ingrained +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> +in the savage mind reappear at a more advanced stage of +society in those elaborate codes which have been drawn up +for the guidance of certain peoples by lawgivers who claim +to have derived the rules they inculcate from the direct +inspiration of the deity. However we may explain it, the +resemblance which exists between the earliest official +utterances of the deity and the ideas of savages is unquestionably +close and remarkable; whether it be, as some +suppose, that God communed face to face with man in +those early days, or, as others maintain, that man mistook +his wild and wandering thoughts for a revelation from +heaven. Be that as it may, certain it is that the natural +uncleanness of woman at her monthly periods is a conception +which has occurred, or been revealed, with singular unanimity +to several ancient legislators. The Hindoo lawgiver Manu, +who professed to have received his institutes from the creator +Brahman, informs us that the wisdom, the energy, the strength, +the sight, and the vitality of a man who approaches a woman +in her courses will utterly perish; whereas, if he avoids her, +his wisdom, energy, strength, sight, and vitality will all increase.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Laws of Manu</hi>, translated by +G. Bühler (Oxford, 1886), ch. iv. 41 +sq., p. 135 (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books of the East</hi>, +vol. xxv.).</note> +The Persian lawgiver Zoroaster, who, if we can take his word +for it, derived his code from the mouth of the supreme being +Ahura Mazda, devoted special attention to the subject. +According to him, the menstrous flow, at least in its abnormal +manifestations, is a work of Ahriman, or the devil. Therefore, +so long as it lasts, a woman <q>is unclean and possessed of the +demon; she must be kept confined, apart from the faithful +whom her touch would defile, and from the fire which her +very look would injure; she is not allowed to eat as much +as she wishes, as the strength she might acquire would accrue +to the fiends. Her food is not given her from hand to +hand, but is passed to her from a distance, in a long leaden +spoon.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Zend-Avesta</hi>, translated by +J. Darmesteter, i. (Oxford, 1880) +p. xcii. (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books of the East</hi>, +vol. iv.). See <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, pp. 9, 181-185, +<hi rend='italic'>Fargard</hi>, i. 18 and 19, xvi. 1-18.</note> The Hebrew lawgiver Moses, whose divine legation +is as little open to question as that of Manu and Zoroaster, +treats the subject at still greater length; but I must leave +to the reader the task of comparing the inspired ordinances +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +on this head with the merely human regulations of the +Carrier Indians which they so closely resemble. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Superstitions +as to +menstruous +women in +ancient and +modern +Europe.</note> +Amongst the civilized nations of Europe the superstitions +which cluster round this mysterious aspect of +woman's nature are not less extravagant than those which +prevail among savages. In the oldest existing cyclopaedia—the +<hi rend='italic'>Natural History</hi> of Pliny—the list of dangers apprehended +from menstruation is longer than any furnished by +mere barbarians. According to Pliny, the touch of a menstruous +woman turned wine to vinegar, blighted crops, killed +seedlings, blasted gardens, brought down the fruit from trees, +dimmed mirrors, blunted razors, rusted iron and brass (especially +at the waning of the moon), killed bees, or at least +drove them from their hives, caused mares to miscarry, and +so forth.<note place='foot'>Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Hist.</hi> vii. 64 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, xxviii. +77 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> Compare <hi rend='italic'>Geoponica</hi>, xii. 20. 5 +and 25. 2; Columella, <hi rend='italic'>De re rustica</hi>, +xi. 357 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Similarly, in various parts of Europe, it is still +believed that if a woman in her courses enters a brewery +the beer will turn sour; if she touches beer, wine, vinegar, +or milk, it will go bad; if she makes jam, it will not keep; +if she mounts a mare, it will miscarry; if she touches buds, +they will wither; if she climbs a cherry tree, it will die.<note place='foot'>August Schleicher, <hi rend='italic'>Volkstümliches +ans Sonnenberg</hi> (Weimar, 1858), p. 134; +B. Souché, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances, Présages et +Traditions diverses</hi> (Niort, 1880), +p. 11; A. Meyrac, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions, Coutumes, +Légendes et Contes des Ardennes</hi> +(Charleville, 1890), p. 171; V. Fossel, +<hi rend='italic'>Volksmedicin und medicinischer Aberglaube +in Steiermark</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Graz, 1886), p. +124. A correspondent, who withholds +her name, writes to me that in a +Suffolk village, where she used to live +some twenty or thirty years ago, +<q>every one pickled their own beef, +and it was held that if the pickling +were performed by a woman during +her menstrual period the meat would +not keep. If the cook were incapacitated +at the time when the pickling +was due, another woman was sent for +out of the village rather than risk what +was considered a certainty.</q> Another +correspondent informs me that in some +of the dales in the north of Yorkshire +a similar belief prevailed down to +recent years with regard to the salting +of pork. Another correspondent writes +to me: <q>The prohibition that a +menstruating woman must not touch +meat that is intended for keeping +appears to be common all over the +country; at least I have met with it +as a confirmed and active custom in +widely separated parts of England.... +It is in regard to the salting of meat +for bacon that the prohibition is most +usual, because that is the commonest +process; but it exists in regard to any +meat food that is required to be kept.</q></note> +In Brunswick people think that if a menstruous woman +assists at the killing of a pig, the pork will putrefy.<note place='foot'>R. Andree, <hi rend='italic'>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</hi> +(Brunswick, 1896), p. 291.</note> In the +Greek island of Calymnos a woman at such times may not +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> +go to the well to draw water, nor cross a running stream, +nor enter the sea. Her presence in a boat is said to raise +storms.<note place='foot'>W. R. Paton, in <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, i. (1890) p. 524.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The intention +of +secluding +menstruous +women is to +neutralize +the dangerous +influences +which are +thought to +emanate +from them +in that +condition. +Suspension +between +heaven and +earth.</note> +Thus the object of secluding women at menstruation is +to neutralize the dangerous influences which are supposed to +emanate from them at such times. That the danger is +believed to be especially great at the first menstruation +appears from the unusual precautions taken to isolate girls +at this crisis. Two of these precautions have been illustrated +above, namely, the rules that the girl may not touch the +ground nor see the sun. The general effect of these rules +is to keep her suspended, so to say, between heaven and +earth. Whether enveloped in her hammock and slung +up to the roof, as in South America, or raised above the +ground in a dark and narrow cage, as in New Ireland, she +may be considered to be out of the way of doing mischief, +since, being shut off both from the earth and from the sun, +she can poison neither of these great sources of life by her +deadly contagion. In short, she is rendered harmless by +being, in electrical language, insulated. But the precautions +thus taken to isolate or insulate the girl are dictated by a +regard for her own safety as well as for the safety of others. +For it is thought that she herself would suffer if she were +to neglect the prescribed regimen. Thus Zulu girls, as we +have seen, believe that they would shrivel to skeletons if +the sun were to shine on them at puberty, and in some +Brazilian tribes the young women think that a transgression +of the rules would entail sores on the neck and throat. In +short, the girl is viewed as charged with a powerful force +which, if not kept within bounds, may prove destructive both +to herself and to all with whom she comes in contact. To +repress this force within the limits necessary for the safety +of all concerned is the object of the taboos in question. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The same +explanation +applies +to the +similar +rules of +seclusion +observed +by divine +kings and +priests. Suspension +between +heaven and +earth.</note> +The same explanation applies to the observance of the +same rules by divine kings and priests. The uncleanness, as +it is called, of girls at puberty and the sanctity of holy men +do not, to the primitive mind, differ materially from each other. +They are only different manifestations of the same mysterious +energy which, like energy in general, is in itself neither good +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> +nor bad, but becomes beneficent or maleficent according to +its application.<note place='foot'>The Greeks and Romans thought +that a field was completely protected +against insects if a menstruous woman +walked round it with bare feet and +streaming hair (Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Hist.</hi> xvii. +266, xxviii. 78; Columella, <hi rend='italic'>De re rustica</hi>, +x. 358 sq., xi. 3. 64; Palladius, +<hi rend='italic'>De re rustica</hi>, i. 35. 3; <hi rend='italic'>Geoponica</hi>, xii. +8. 5 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Aelian, <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Anim.</hi> vi. 36). +A similar preventive is employed for +the same purpose by North American +Indians and European peasants. See +H. R. Schoolcraft, <hi rend='italic'>Indian Tribes of +the United States</hi> (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), +v. 70; F. J. Wiedemann, <hi rend='italic'>Aus +dem inneren und äussern Leben der +Ehsten</hi> (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 484. +Compare J. Haltrich, <hi rend='italic'>Zur Volkskunde +der Siebenbürger Sachsen</hi> (Vienna, +1885), p. 280; Adolph Heinrich, +<hi rend='italic'>Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter +den Sachsen Siebenbürgens</hi> (Hermannstadt, +1880), p. 14; J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche +Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> iii. 468; G. Lammert, +<hi rend='italic'>Volksmedizin und medizinischer Aberglaube +aus Bayern</hi> (Würzburg, 1869), +p. 147. Among the Western Dénés it +is believed that one or two transverse +lines tattooed on the arms or legs of a +young man by a pubescent girl are a +specific against premature weakness of +these limbs. See A. G. Morice, +<q>Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, +and Sociological, on the Western +Dénés,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Transactions of the Canadian +Institute</hi>, iv. (1892-93) p. 182. The +Thompson Indians of British Columbia +thought that the Dawn of Day could +and would cure hernia if only an +adolescent girl prayed to it to do so. +Just before daybreak the girl would +put some charcoal in her mouth, chew +it fine, and spit it out four times on +the diseased place. Then she prayed: +<q>O Day-dawn! thy child relies on me +to obtain healing from thee, who art +mystery. Remove thou the swelling +of thy child. Pity thou him, Day-Dawn!</q> +See James Teit, <hi rend='italic'>The Thompson +Indians of British Columbia</hi>, pp. +345 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, +Memoir of the American +Museum of Natural History</hi>, New +York, April, 1900). To cure the painful +and dangerous wound inflicted by a +ray-fish, the Indians of the Gran Chaco +smoke the wounded limb and then +cause a woman in her courses to sit +astride of it. See G. Pelleschi, <hi rend='italic'>Eight +Months on the Gran Chaco of the +Argentine Republic</hi> (London, 1886), +p. 106. An ancient Hindoo method +of securing prosperity was to swallow +a portion of the menstruous fluid. See +W. Caland, <hi rend='italic'>Altindisches Zauberritual</hi> +(Amsterdam, 1900), pp. 57 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> To +preserve a new cow from the evil eye +Scottish Highlanders used to sprinkle +menstruous blood on the animal; and +at certain seasons of the year, especially +at Beltane (the first of May) and +Lammas (the first of August) it was +their custom to sprinkle the same +potent liquid on the doorposts and +houses all round to guard them from +harm. The fluid was applied by means +of a wisp of straw, and the person who +discharged this salutary office went +round the house in the direction of the +sun. See J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Superstitions +of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Glasgow, 1900), p. 248. These +are examples of the beneficent application +of the menstruous energy.</note> Accordingly, if, like girls at puberty, divine +personages may neither touch the ground nor see the sun, +the reason is, on the one hand, a fear lest their divinity +might, at contact with earth or heaven, discharge itself with +fatal violence on either; and, on the other hand, an apprehension +that the divine being, thus drained of his ethereal +virtue, might thereby be incapacitated for the future performance +of those magical functions, upon the proper discharge +of which the safety of the people and even of the +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> +world is believed to hang. Thus the rules in question fall +under the head of the taboos which we examined in the +second part of this work;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Taboo and the Perils of the Soul</hi>, +pp. 1 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> they are intended to preserve +the life of the divine person and with it the life of his subjects +and worshippers. Nowhere, it is thought, can his +precious yet dangerous life be at once so safe and so harmless +as when it is neither in heaven nor in earth, but, as far +as possible, suspended between the two.<note place='foot'>For a similar reason, perhaps, +ancient Hindoo ritual prescribed that +when the hair of a child's head was +shorn in the third year, the clippings +should be buried in a cow-stable, or +near an <foreign rend='italic'>udumbara</foreign> tree, or in a clump +of <foreign rend='italic'>darbha</foreign> grass, with the words, +<q>Where Pushan, Brihaspati, Savitri, +Soma, Agni dwell, they have in many +ways searched where they should deposit +it, between heaven and earth, the +waters and heaven.</q> See <hi rend='italic'>The Grihya-Sûtras</hi>, +translated by H. Oldenberg, +Part ii. (Oxford, 1892) p. 218 (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred +Books of the East</hi>, vol. xxx.).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Stories +of immortality +attained by +suspension +between +heaven and +earth.</note> +In legends and folk-tales, which reflect the ideas of +earlier ages, we find this suspension between heaven and +earth attributed to beings who have been endowed with the +coveted yet burdensome gift of immortality. The wizened +remains of the deathless Sibyl are said to have been preserved +in a jar or urn which hung in a temple of Apollo at +Cumae; and when a group of merry children, tired, perhaps, +of playing in the sunny streets, sought the shade of the +temple and amused themselves by gathering underneath the +familiar jar and calling out, <q>Sibyl, what do you wish?</q> a +hollow voice, like an echo, used to answer from the urn, <q>I +wish to die.</q><note place='foot'>Petronius, <hi rend='italic'>Sat.</hi> 48; Pausanias, +x. 12. 8; Justin Martyr, <hi rend='italic'>Cohort ad +Graecos</hi>, 37, p. 34 c (ed. 1742). According +to another account, the remains +of the Sibyl were enclosed in an +iron cage which hung from a pillar in +an ancient temple of Hercules at +Argyrus (Ampelius, <hi rend='italic'>Liber Memorialis</hi>, +viii. 16).</note> A story, taken down from the lips of a +German peasant at Thomsdorf, relates that once upon a +time there was a girl in London who wished to live for +ever, so they say: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>London, London is a fine town.</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>A maiden prayed to live for ever.</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +And still she lives and hangs in a basket in a church, and +every St. John's Day, about the hour of noon, she eats a +roll of bread.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <hi rend='italic'>Norddeutsche +Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche</hi> +(Leipsic, 1848), p. 70, No. 72. 1. +This and the following German parallels +to the story of the Sibyl's wish were +first indicated by Dr. M. R. James +(<hi rend='italic'>Classical Review</hi>, vi. (1892) p. 74). +I have already given the stories at +length in a note on Pausanias, x. 12. 8 +(vol. v. pp. 292 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> Another German story tells of a lady who +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +resided at Danzig and was so rich and so blest with all that +life can give that she wished to live always. So when she +came to her latter end, she did not really die but only +looked like dead, and very soon they found her in a hollow +of a pillar in the church, half standing and half sitting, +motionless. She stirred never a limb, but they saw quite +plainly that she was alive, and she sits there down to this +blessed day. Every New Year's Day the sacristan comes +and puts a morsel of the holy bread in her mouth, and that +is all she has to live on. Long, long has she rued her +fatal wish who set this transient life above the eternal +joys of heaven.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> pp. 70 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, No. 72. 2.</note> A third German story tells of a noble +damsel who cherished the same foolish wish for immortality. +So they put her in a basket and hung her up in a church, +and there she hangs and never dies, though many a year +has come and gone since they put her there. But every +year on a certain day they give her a roll, and she eats it +and cries out, <q>For ever! for ever! for ever!</q> And when +she has so cried she falls silent again till the same time next +year, and so it will go on for ever and for ever.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 71, No. 72. 3.</note> A fourth +story, taken down near Oldenburg in Holstein, tells of a jolly +dame that ate and drank and lived right merrily and had +all that heart could desire, and she wished to live always. +For the first hundred years all went well, but after that she +began to shrink and shrivel up, till at last she could neither +walk nor stand nor eat nor drink. But die she could not. +At first they fed her as if she were a little child, but when +she grew smaller and smaller they put her in a glass bottle +and hung her up in the church. And there she still hangs, +in the church of St. Mary, at Lübeck. She is as small as +a mouse, but once a year she stirs.<note place='foot'>Karl Müllenhoff, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Märchen +und Lieder der Herzogthümer Holstein +und Lauenburg</hi> (Kiel, 1845), pp. 158 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, No. 217.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter III. The Myth of Balder.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>How +Balder, the +good and +beautiful +god, was +done to +death by a +stroke of +the mistletoe.</note> +A deity whose life might in a sense be said to be neither +in heaven nor on earth but between the two, was the Norse +Balder, the good and beautiful god, the son of the great god +Odin, and himself the wisest, mildest, best beloved of all the +immortals. The story of his death, as it is told in the +younger or prose <hi rend='italic'>Edda</hi>, runs thus. Once on a time Balder +dreamed heavy dreams which seemed to forebode his death. +Thereupon the gods held a council and resolved to make +him secure against every danger. So the goddess Frigg +took an oath from fire and water, iron and all metals, stones +and earth, from trees, sicknesses and poisons, and from all +four-footed beasts, birds, and creeping things, that they would +not hurt Balder. When this was done Balder was deemed +invulnerable; so the gods amused themselves by setting +him in their midst, while some shot at him, others hewed at +him, and others threw stones at him. But whatever they +did, nothing could hurt him; and at this they were all glad, +Only Loki, the mischief-maker, was displeased, and he went +in the guise of an old woman to Frigg, who told him that +the weapons of the gods could not wound Balder, since she +had made them all swear not to hurt him. Then Loki +asked, <q>Have all things sworn to spare Balder?</q> She +answered, <q>East of Walhalla grows a plant called mistletoe; +it seemed to me too young to swear.</q> So Loki went and +pulled the mistletoe and took it to the assembly of the gods. +There he found the blind god Hother standing at the outside +of the circle. Loki asked him, <q>Why do you not shoot +at Balder?</q> Hother answered, <q>Because I do not see where +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> +he stands; besides I have no weapon.</q> Then said Loki, +<q>Do like the rest and shew Balder honour, as they all do. +I will shew you where he stands, and do you shoot at him +with this twig.</q> Hother took the mistletoe and threw it at +Balder, as Loki directed him. The mistletoe struck Balder +and pierced him through and through, and he fell down +dead. And that was the greatest misfortune that ever befell +gods and men. For a while the gods stood speechless, then +they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. They took +Balder's body and brought it to the sea-shore. There stood +Balder's ship; it was called Ringhorn, and was the hugest +of all ships. The gods wished to launch the ship and to +burn Balder's body on it, but the ship would not stir. So +they sent for a giantess called Hyrrockin. She came riding +on a wolf and gave the ship such a push that fire flashed +from the rollers and all the earth shook. Then Balder's +body was taken and placed on the funeral pile upon his +ship. When his wife Nanna saw that, her heart burst for +sorrow and she died. So she was laid on the funeral pile +with her husband, and fire was put to it. Balder's horse, +too, with all its trappings, was burned on the pile.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Die Edda</hi>, übersetzt von K. Simrock<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>8</hi> +(Stuttgart, 1882), pp. 286-288. +Compare pp. 8, 34, 264. Balder's +story is told in a professedly historical +form by the old Danish historian Saxo +Grammaticus in his third book. See +below, p. 103. In English the story is +told at length by Professor (Sir) John +Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi> (London and +Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 529 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> It is +elaborately discussed by Professor F. +Kauffmann in a learned monograph, +<hi rend='italic'>Balder, Mythus und Sage</hi> (Strasburg, +1902).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tale of +Balder in +the older +<hi rend='italic'>Edda</hi>.</note> +In the older or poetic <hi rend='italic'>Edda</hi> the tragic tale of Balder is +hinted at rather than told at length. Among the visions +which the Norse Sibyl sees and describes in the weird prophecy +known as the <hi rend='italic'>Voluspa</hi> is one of the fatal mistletoe. +<q>I behold,</q> says she, <q>Fate looming for Balder, Woden's +son, the bloody victim. There stands the Mistletoe slender +and delicate, blooming high above the ground. Out of this +shoot, so slender to look on, there shall grow a harmful +fateful shaft. Hod shall shoot it, but Frigga in Fen-hall +shall weep over the woe of Wal-hall.</q><note place='foot'>Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York +Powell, <hi rend='italic'>Corpus Poeticum Boreale</hi>, i. +(Oxford, 1883) p. 197. Compare <hi rend='italic'>Edda +Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina +dicta</hi>, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, +1828) pp. 39 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Die Edda</hi>, übersetzt +von K. Simrock<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>8</hi> (Stuttgart, 1882), p. +8; K. Müllenhoff, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Altertumskunde</hi>, +v. Zweite Abteilung (Berlin, +1891), pp. 78 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Fr. Kauffmann, +<hi rend='italic'>Balder, Mythus und Sage</hi>, pp. 20 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +In this passage the words translated +<q>bloody victim</q> (<foreign rend='italic'>blauþom tivor</foreign>) and +<q>fate looming</q> (<foreign rend='italic'>ørlog fólgen</foreign>) are somewhat +uncertain and have been variously +interpreted. The word <foreign rend='italic'>tivor</foreign>, usually +understood to mean <q>god,</q> seems to +be found nowhere else. Professor +H. M. Chadwick has kindly furnished +me with the following literal translation +of the passage: <q>I saw (or <q>have seen</q>) +held in safe keeping the life of Balder, +the bloody god, Othin's son. High +above the fields (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the surface of the +earth) grew a mistletoe, slender and +very beautiful. From a shaft (or +<q>stem</q>) which appeared slender, came +a dangerous sorrow-bringing missile +(<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the shaft became a ... missile); +Hodr proceeded to shoot. Soon was +a brother of Balder born. He, Othin's +son, proceeded to do battle when one +day old. He did not wash his hands +or comb his head before he brought +Balder's antagonist on to the pyre. +But Frigg in Fen-salir (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the Fen-abode) +lamented the trouble of Valholl.</q> +In translating the words <foreign rend='italic'>ørlog +fólgen</foreign> <q>held in safe keeping the life</q> +Professor Chadwick follows Professor +F. Kauffmann's rendering (<q><foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>das Leben +verwahrt</foreign></q>); but he writes to me that +he is not quite confident about it, as the +word <foreign rend='italic'>ørlog</foreign> usually means <q>fate</q> rather +than <q>life.</q> Several sentences translated +by Professor Chadwick (<q>Soon +was a brother of Balder born ... he +brought Balder's antagonist on the +pyre</q>) are omitted by some editors and +translators of the <hi rend='italic'>Edda</hi>.</note> Yet looking far into +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> +the future the Sibyl sees a brighter vision of a new heaven +and a new earth, where the fields unsown shall yield their +increase and all sorrows shall be healed; then Balder will +come back to dwell in Odin's mansions of bliss, in a hall +brighter than the sun, shingled with gold, where the righteous +shall live in joy for ever more.<note place='foot'>G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, +<hi rend='italic'>Corpus Poeticum Boreale</hi>, i. 200 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo +Saemundina dicta</hi>, Pars iii. pp. 51-54; +<hi rend='italic'>Die Edda</hi>, übersetzt von K. Simrock<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>8</hi> +pp. 10 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; K. Müllenhoff, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche +Altertumskunde</hi>, v. Zweite Abteilung, +pp. 84 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The story +of Balder +as related +by Saxo +Grammaticus.</note> +Writing about the end of the twelfth century, the old +Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus tells the story of Balder +in a form which professes to be historical. According to him, +Balder and Hother were rival suitors for the hand of Nanna, +daughter of Gewar, King of Norway. Now Balder was a +demigod and common steel could not wound his sacred body. +The two rivals encountered each other in a terrific battle, and +though Odin and Thor and the rest of the gods fought for +Balder, yet was he defeated and fled away, and Hother +married the princess. Nevertheless Balder took heart of +grace and again met Hother in a stricken field. But he +fared even worse than before; for Hother dealt him a deadly +wound with a magic sword, which he had received from +Miming, the Satyr of the woods; and after lingering three +days in pain Balder died of his hurt and was buried with +royal honours in a barrow.<note place='foot'>Saxo Grammaticus, <hi rend='italic'>Historia +Danica</hi>, ed. P. E. Müller (Copenhagen, +1839-1858), <hi rend='italic'>lib.</hi> iii. vol. i. +pp. 110 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The First Nine Books +of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus</hi>, +translated by Oliver Elton +(London, 1894), pp. 83-93.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Balder +worshipped +in Norway.</note> +Whether he was a real or merely a mythical personage, +Balder was worshipped in Norway. On one of the bays of +the beautiful Sogne Fiord, which penetrates far into the +depths of the solemn Norwegian mountains, with their +sombre pine-forests and their lofty cascades dissolving into +spray before they reach the dark water of the fiord far below, +Balder had a great sanctuary. It was called Balder's Grove. +A palisade enclosed the hallowed ground, and within it stood +a spacious temple with the images of many gods, but none +of them was worshipped with such devotion as Balder. So +great was the awe with which the heathen regarded the +place that no man might harm another there, nor steal his +cattle, nor defile himself with women. But women cared for +the images of the gods in the temple; they warmed them at +the fire, anointed them with oil, and dried them with cloths.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Fridthjofs Saga, aus dem Altisländischen</hi>, +von J. C. Poestion +(Vienna, 1879), pp. 3 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 14-17, +45-52.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +legendary +death of +Balder +resembles +the legendary +death +of the +Persian +hero +Isfendiyar +in the epic +of Firdusi.</note> +It might be rash to affirm that the romantic figure of +Balder was nothing but a creation of the mythical fancy, +a radiant phantom conjured up as by a wizard's wand +to glitter for a time against the gloomy background of the +stern Norwegian landscape. It may be so; yet it is also +possible that the myth was founded on the tradition of a +hero, popular and beloved in his lifetime, who long survived +in the memory of the people, gathering more and more of +the marvellous about him as he passed from generation to +generation of story-tellers. At all events it is worth while +to observe that a somewhat similar story is told of another +national hero, who may well have been a real man. In +his great poem, <hi rend='italic'>The Epic of Kings</hi>, which is founded on +Persian traditions, the poet Firdusi tells us that in the combat +between Rustem and Isfendiyar the arrows of the former did +no harm to his adversary, <q>because Zerdusht had charmed +his body against all dangers, so that it was like unto brass.</q> +But Simurgh, the bird of God, shewed Rustem the way he +should follow in order to vanquish his redoubtable foe. He +rode after her, and they halted not till they came to the +sea-shore. There she led him into a garden, where grew a +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> +tamarisk, tall and strong, and the roots thereof were in the +ground, but the branches pierced even unto the sky. Then +the bird of God bade Rustem break from the tree a branch +that was long and slender, and fashion it into an arrow, and +she said, <q>Only through his eyes can Isfendiyar be wounded. +If, therefore, thou wouldst slay him, direct this arrow unto +his forehead, and verily it shall not miss its aim.</q> Rustem +did as he was bid; and when next he fought with Isfendiyar, +he shot the arrow at him, and it pierced his eye, and he +died. Great was the mourning for Isfendiyar. For the +space of one year men ceased not to lament for him, and for +many years they shed bitter tears for that arrow, and they +said, <q>The glory of Iran hath been laid low.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Epic of Kings, Stories retold +from Firdusi</hi>, by Helen Zimmern +(London, 1883), pp. 325-331. The +parallel between Balder and Isfendiyar +was pointed out in the <q>Lexicon +Mythologicum</q> appended to the <hi rend='italic'>Edda +Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina +dicta</hi>, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, +1828) p. 513 note, with a reference +to <hi rend='italic'>Schah Nameh, verdeutscht von +Görres</hi>, ii. 324, 327 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> It is briefly +mentioned by Dr. P. Wagler, <hi rend='italic'>Die +Eiche in alter und neuer Zeit</hi>, ii. Teil +(Berlin, 1891), p. 40.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The myth +of Balder +was perhaps +acted +as a +magical +ceremony. +The two +chief incidents +of +the myth, +namely the +pulling of +the mistletoe +and the +death and +burning of +the god, +have perhaps +their +counterparts +in +popular +ritual.</note> +Whatever may be thought of an historical kernel underlying +a mythical husk in the legend of Balder, the details +of the story suggest that it belongs to that class of myths +which have been dramatized in ritual, or, to put it otherwise, +which have been performed as magical ceremonies for +the sake of producing those natural effects which they +describe in figurative language. A myth is never so +graphic and precise in its details as when it is, so to +speak, the book of the words which are spoken and acted +by the performers of the sacred rite. That the Norse story +of Balder was a myth of this sort will become probable if +we can prove that ceremonies resembling the incidents in +the tale have been performed by Norsemen and other +European peoples. Now the main incidents in the tale are +two—first, the pulling of the mistletoe, and second, the death +and burning of the god; and both of them may perhaps be +found to have had their counterparts in yearly rites observed, +whether separately or conjointly, by people in various parts +of Europe. These rites will be described and discussed in +the following chapters. We shall begin with the annual +festivals of fire and shall reserve the pulling of the mistletoe +for consideration later on. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IV. The Fire-Festivals of Europe.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='1. The Lenten Fires.'/> +<head>§ 1. The Lenten Fires.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>European +custom of +kindling +bonfires +on certain +days of +the year, +dancing +round them +and leaping +over them. +Effigies are +sometimes +burnt in +the fires.</note> +All over Europe the peasants have been accustomed from +time immemorial to kindle bonfires on certain days of the +year, and to dance round or leap over them. Customs of +this kind can be traced back on historical evidence to the +Middle Ages,<note place='foot'>See Jacob Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +(Berlin, 1875-1878), i. 502, +510, 516.</note> and their analogy to similar customs observed +in antiquity goes with strong internal evidence to prove that +their origin must be sought in a period long prior to the +spread of Christianity. Indeed the earliest proof of their +observance in Northern Europe is furnished by the attempts +made by Christian synods in the eighth century to put them +down as heathenish rites.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus +der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme</hi> +(Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Not uncommonly effigies are +burned in these fires, or a pretence is made of burning a +living person in them; and there are grounds for believing +that anciently human beings were actually burned on these +occasions. A general survey of the customs in question will +bring out the traces of human sacrifice, and will serve at the +same time to throw light on their meaning.<note place='foot'>In the following survey of these +fire-customs I follow chiefly W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, kap. vi. pp. +497 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> Compare also J. Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 500 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Walter K. Kelly, <hi rend='italic'>Curiosities of Indo-European +Tradition and Folk-lore</hi> +(London, 1863), pp. 46 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; F. Vogt, +<q>Scheibentreiben und Frühlingsfeuer,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde</hi>, +iii. (1893) pp. 349-369; <hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi> iv. +(1894) pp. 195-197.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Seasons of +the year at +which the +bonfires +are lit.</note> +The seasons of the year when these bonfires are most +commonly lit are spring and midsummer; but in some places +they are kindled also at the end of autumn or during the +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +course of the winter, particularly on Hallow E'en (the thirty-first +of October), Christmas Day, and the Eve of Twelfth +Day. We shall consider them in the order in which they +occur in the calendar year. The earliest of them is the +winter festival of the Eve of Twelfth Day (the fifth of +January); but as it has been already described in an earlier +part of this work<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. 316 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> we shall pass it over here and begin +with the fire-festivals of spring, which usually fall on the +first Sunday of Lent (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Quadragesima</foreign> or <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Invocavit</foreign>),<note place='foot'>The first Sunday in Lent is known +as <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Invocavit</foreign> from the first word of the +mass for the day (O. Frh. von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender aus +Böhmen</hi>, p. 67).</note> Easter +Eve, and May Day. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Custom +of kindling +bonfires on +the first +Sunday in +Lent in the +Belgian +Ardennes.</note> +The custom of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in +Lent has prevailed in Belgium, the north of France, and +many parts of Germany. Thus in the Belgian Ardennes +for a week or a fortnight before the <q>day of the great fire,</q> +as it is called, children go about from farm to farm collecting +fuel. At Grand Halleux any one who refuses their request +is pursued next day by the children, who try to blacken his +face with the ashes of the extinct fire. When the day has +come, they cut down bushes, especially juniper and broom, +and in the evening great bonfires blaze on all the heights. +It is a common saying that seven bonfires should be seen if +the village is to be safe from conflagrations. If the Meuse +happens to be frozen hard at the time, bonfires are lit also +on the ice. At Grand Halleux they set up a pole called +<foreign rend='italic'>makral</foreign>, or <q>the witch,</q> in the midst of the pile, and the fire +is kindled by the man who was last married in the village. +In the neighbourhood of Morlanwelz a straw man is burnt +in the fire. Young people and children dance and sing +round the bonfires, and leap over the embers to secure good +crops or a happy marriage within the year, or as a means +of guarding themselves against colic. In Brabant on the +same Sunday, down to the beginning of the nineteenth +century, women and men disguised in female attire used to +go with burning torches to the fields, where they danced and +sang comic songs for the purpose, as they alleged, of driving +away <q>the wicked sower,</q> who is mentioned in the Gospel +for the day. At Maeseyck and in many villages of Limburg, +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +on the evening of the day children run through the +streets carrying lighted torches; then they kindle little fires +of straw in the fields and dance round them. At Ensival +old folks tell young folks that they will have as many Easter +eggs as they see bonfires on this day.<note place='foot'>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>Calendrier Belge</hi> (Brussels, 1861-1862), +i. 141-143; E. Monseur, <hi rend='italic'>Le +Folklore Wallon</hi> (Brussels, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), pp. +124 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Pâturages, in +the province of Hainaut, down to about 1840 the custom +was observed under the name of <foreign rend='italic'>Escouvion</foreign> or <foreign rend='italic'>Scouvion</foreign>. +Every year on the first Sunday of Lent, which was called +the Day of the Little Scouvion, young folks and children +used to run with lighted torches through the gardens and +orchards. As they ran they cried at the pitch of their +voices, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Bear apples, bear pears</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And cherries all black</hi></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>To Scouvion!</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +At these words the torch-bearer whirled his blazing brand +and hurled it among the branches of the apple-trees, the +pear-trees, and the cherry-trees. The next Sunday was +called the Day of the Great Scouvion, and the same race +with lighted torches among the trees of the orchards was +repeated in the afternoon till darkness fell. The same +custom was observed on the same two days at Wasmes.<note place='foot'>Emile Hublard, <hi rend='italic'>Fêtes du Temps +Jadis, les Feux du Carême</hi> (Mons, +1899), pp. 25. For the loan of this +work I am indebted to Mrs. Wherry +of St. Peter's Terrace, Cambridge.</note> +In the neighbourhood of Liège, where the Lenten fires were +put down by the police about the middle of the nineteenth +century, girls thought that by leaping over the fires without +being smirched they made sure of a happy marriage. Elsewhere +in order to get a good husband it was necessary to +see seven of the bonfires from one spot. In Famenne, a +district of Namur, men and cattle who traversed the Lenten +fires were thought to be safe from sickness and witchcraft. +Anybody who saw seven such fires at once had nothing to +fear from sorcerers. An old saying ran, that if you do not +light <q>the great fire,</q> God will light it for you; which +seems to imply that the kindling of the bonfires was deemed +a protection against conflagrations throughout the year.<note place='foot'>É. Hublard, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 27 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bonfires +on the first +Sunday of +Lent in the +French +department +of the +Ardennes.</note> +In the French department of the Ardennes the whole +village used to dance and sing round the bonfires which +were lighted on the first Sunday in Lent. Here, too, it was +the person last married, sometimes a man and sometimes a +woman, who put the match to the fire. The custom is still +kept up very commonly in the district. Cats used to be +burnt in the fire or roasted to death by being held over it; +and while they were burning the shepherds drove their +flocks through the smoke and flames as a sure means of +guarding them against sickness and witchcraft. In some +communes it was believed that the livelier the dance round +the fire, the better would be the crops that year.<note place='foot'>A. Meyrac, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions, coutumes, +légendes et contes des Ardennes</hi> (Charleville, +1890), p. 68.</note> In the +Vosges Mountains it is still customary to light great fires on +the heights and around the villages on the first Sunday in +Lent; and at Rupt and elsewhere the right of kindling +them belongs to the person who was last married. Round +the fires the people dance and sing merrily till the flames +have died out. Then the master of the fire, as they call +the man who kindled it, invites all who contributed to the +erection of the pile to follow him to the nearest tavern, where +they partake of good cheer. At Dommartin they say that, +if you would have the hemp tall, it is absolutely necessary +that the women should be tipsy on the evening of this day.<note place='foot'>L. F. Sauvé, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore des +Hautes-Vosges</hi> (Paris, 1889), p. 56. The +popular name for the bonfires in the +Upper Vosges (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Hautes-Vosges</foreign>) is <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>chavandes</foreign>.</note> +At Épinal in the Vosges, on the first Sunday in Lent, bonfires +used to be kindled at various places both in the town +and on the banks of the Moselle. They consisted of +pyramids of sticks and faggots, which had been collected +some days earlier by young folks going from door to door. +When the flames blazed up, the names of various couples, +whether young or old, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, were +called out, and the persons thus linked in mock marriage +were forced, whether they liked it or not, to march arm in +arm round the fire amid the laughter and jests of the crowd. +The festivity lasted till the fire died out, and then the +spectators dispersed through the streets, stopping under the +windows of the houses and proclaiming the names of the +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>féchenots</foreign> and <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>féchenottes</foreign> or Valentines whom the popular +voice had assigned to each other. These couples had to +exchange presents; the mock bridegroom gave his mock +bride something for her toilet, while she in turn presented +him with a cockade of coloured ribbon. Next Sunday, if +the weather allowed it, all the couples, arrayed in their best +attire and attended by their relations, repaired to the wood +of Saint Antony, where they mounted a famous stone called +the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>danserosse</foreign> or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>danseresse</foreign>. Here they found cakes and +refreshments of all sorts, and danced to the music of a +couple of fiddlers. The evening bell, ringing the Angelus, +gave the signal to depart. As soon as its solemn chime +was heard, every one quitted the forest and returned home. +The exchange of presents between the Valentines went by +the name of ransom or redemption (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>rachat</foreign>), because it was +supposed to redeem the couple from the flames of the bonfire. +Any pair who failed thus to ransom themselves were +not suffered to share the merrymaking at the great stone in +the forest; and a pretence was made of burning them in +small fires kindled before their own doors.<note place='foot'>E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les fêtes religieuses</hi> +(Paris, 1867), pp. 101 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +The local name for these bonfires is +<hi rend='italic'>bures</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bonfires on +the First +Sunday of +Lent in +Franche-Comté.</note> +In the French province of Franche-Comté, to the west +of the Jura Mountains, the first Sunday of Lent is known as +the Sunday of the Firebrands (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Brandons</foreign>), on account of the +fires which it is customary to kindle on that day. On the +Saturday or the Sunday the village lads harness themselves +to a cart and drag it about the streets, stopping at the doors +of the houses where there are girls and begging for a faggot. +When they have got enough, they cart the fuel to a spot at +some little distance from the village, pile it up, and set it +on fire. All the people of the parish come out to see the +bonfire. In some villages, when the bells have rung the +Angelus, the signal for the observance is given by cries of, +<q>To the fire! to the fire!</q> Lads, lasses, and children dance +round the blaze, and when the flames have died down they +vie with each other in leaping over the red embers. He or +she who does so without singeing his or her garments will +be married within the year. Young folk also carry lighted +torches about the streets or the fields, and when they pass +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> +an orchard they cry out, <q>More fruit than leaves!</q> Down +to recent years at Laviron, in the department of Doubs, it +was the young married couples of the year who had charge of +the bonfires. In the midst of the bonfire a pole was planted +with a wooden figure of a cock fastened to the top. Then +there were races, and the winner received the cock as a prize.<note place='foot'>Charles Beauquier, <hi rend='italic'>Les mois en +Franche-Comté</hi> (Paris, 1900), pp. 33 +sq. In Bresse the custom was similar. +See <hi rend='italic'>La Bresse Louhannaise, Bulletin +Mensuel, Organe de la Société d'Agriculture +et d'Horticulture de l'Arrondissement +de Louhans</hi>, Mars, 1906, +pp. 111 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +100. The usual name for the bonfires +is <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>chevannes</foreign> or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>schvannes</foreign>; but in +some places they are called <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>foulères</foreign>, +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>foualères</foreign>, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>failles</foreign>, or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bourdifailles</foreign> (Ch. +Beauquier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 34). But the +Sunday is called the Sunday of the +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>brandons</foreign>, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bures</foreign>, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bordes</foreign>, or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>boidès</foreign>, +according to the place. The <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>brandons</foreign> +are the torches which are carried +about the streets and the fields; the +bonfires, as we have seen, bear another +name. A curious custom, observed +on the same Sunday in Franche-Comté, +requires that couples married +within the year should distribute boiled +peas to all the young folks of both +sexes who demand them at the door. +The lads and lasses go about from +house to house, making the customary +request; in some places they wear +masks or are otherwise disguised. +See Ch. Beauquier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 31-33.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bonfires +on the first +Sunday of +Lent in +Auvergne. The +Granno +invoked at +these bonfires +may +be the old +Celtic god +Grannus, +who was +identified +with +Apollo.</note> +In Auvergne fires are everywhere kindled on the evening +of the first Sunday in Lent. Every village, every hamlet, +even every ward, every isolated farm has its bonfire or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>figo</foreign>, +as it is called, which blazes up as the shades of night are +falling. The fires may be seen flaring on the heights and +in the plains; the people dance and sing round about them +and leap through the flames. Then they proceed to the +ceremony of the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Grannas-mias</foreign>. A <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>granno-mio</foreign><note place='foot'>Curiously enough, while the +singular is <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>granno-mio</foreign>, the plural is +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>grannas-mias</foreign>.</note> is a torch of +straw fastened to the top of a pole. When the pyre is +half consumed, the bystanders kindle the torches at the +expiring flames and carry them into the neighbouring +orchards, fields, and gardens, wherever there are fruit-trees. +As they march they sing at the top of their voices, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Granno, mo mio,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Granno, mon pouère,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Granno, mo mouère!</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +that is, <q>Grannus my friend, Grannus my father, Grannus +my mother.</q> Then they pass the burning torches under +the branches of every tree, singing, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Brando, brandounci</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Tsaque brantso, in plan panei!</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> + +<p> +that is, <q>Firebrand burn; every branch a basketful!</q> In +some villages the people also run across the sown fields and +shake the ashes of the torches on the ground; also they +put some of the ashes in the fowls' nests, in order that the +hens may lay plenty of eggs throughout the year. When +all these ceremonies have been performed, everybody goes +home and feasts; the special dishes of the evening are +fritters and pancakes.<note place='foot'>Dr. Pommerol, <q>La fête des +Brandons et le dieu Gaulois Grannus,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société +d'Anthropologie de Paris</hi>, v. Série, ii. +(1901) pp. 427-429.</note> Here the application of the fire to +the fruit-trees, to the sown fields, and to the nests of the +poultry is clearly a charm intended to ensure fertility; and +the Granno to whom the invocations are addressed, and +who gives his name to the torches, may possibly be, as +Dr. Pommerol suggests,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi> pp. 428 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> no other than the ancient Celtic +god Grannus, whom the Romans identified with Apollo, and +whose worship is attested by inscriptions found not only +in France but in Scotland and on the Danube.<note place='foot'>H. Dessau, <hi rend='italic'>Inscriptiones Latinae +Selectae</hi>, vol. ii. Pars i. (Berlin, 1902) +pp. 216 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, Nos. 4646-4652.</note> If the +name Grannus is derived, as the learned tell us, from a root +meaning <q>to glow, burn, shine,</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi> +(London, 1888), pp. 22-25.</note> the deity who bore the +name and was identified with Apollo may well have been +a sun-god; and in that case the prayers addressed to him +by the peasants of the Auvergne, while they wave the +blazing, crackling torches about the fruit-trees, would be +eminently appropriate. For who could ripen the fruit so +well as the sun-god? and what better process could be +devised to draw the blossoms from the bare boughs than +the application to them of that genial warmth which is +ultimately derived from the solar beams? Thus the fire-festival +of the first Sunday in Lent, as it is observed in +Auvergne, may be interpreted very naturally and simply as +a religious or rather perhaps magical ceremony designed to +procure a due supply of the sun's heat for plants and +animals. At the same time we should remember that the +employment of fire in this and kindred ceremonies may have +been designed originally, not so much to stimulate growth +and reproduction, as to burn and destroy all agencies, +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> +whether in the shape of vermin, witches, or what not, which +threatened or were supposed to threaten the growth of the +crops and the multiplication of animals. It is often difficult +to decide between these two different interpretations of the +use of fire in agricultural rites. In any case the fire-festival +of Auvergne on the first Sunday in Lent may date from +Druidical times. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>French +custom of +carrying +lighted +torches +(<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>brandons</foreign>) +about the +orchards +and fields +to fertilize +them on +the first +Sunday of +Lent.</note> +The custom of carrying lighted torches of straw (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>brandons</foreign>) +about the orchards and fields to fertilize them on the first +Sunday of Lent seems to have been common in France, +whether it was accompanied with the practice of kindling +bonfires or not. Thus in the province of Picardy <q>on the +first Sunday of Lent people carried torches through the +fields, exorcising the field-mice, the darnel, and the smut. +They imagined that they did much good to the gardens and +caused the onions to grow large. Children ran about the +fields, torch in hand, to make the land more fertile. All that +was done habitually in Picardy, and the ceremony of the +torches is not entirely forgotten, especially in the villages +on both sides the Somme as far as Saint-Valery.</q><note place='foot'>Émile Hublard, <hi rend='italic'>Fêtes du Temps +Jadis, les Feux du Carême</hi> (Mons, 1899), +p. 38, quoting Dom Grenier, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire +de la Province de Picardie</hi>.</note> <q>A very +agreeable spectacle, said the curate of l'Étoile, is to survey +from the portal of the church, situated almost on the top of +the mountain, the vast plains of Vimeux all illuminated by +these wandering fires. The same pastime is observed at +Poix, at Conty, and in all the villages round about.</q><note place='foot'>É. Hublard, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 39, quoting +Dom Grenier.</note> Again, +in the district of Beauce a festival of torches (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>brandons</foreign> or +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>brandelons</foreign>) used to be held both on the first and on the +second Sunday in Lent; the first was called <q>the Great +Torches</q> and the second <q>the Little Torches.</q> The torches +were, as usual, bundles of straw wrapt round poles. In the +evening the village lads carried the burning brands through +the country, running about in disorder and singing, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 8'><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Torches burn</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>At these vines, at this wheat;</hi></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 8'><hi rend='italic'>Torches burn</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>For the maidens that shall wed!</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +From time to time the bearers would stand still and smite +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +the earth all together with the blazing straw of the torches, +while they cried, <q>A sheaf of a peck and a half!</q> (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Gearbe +à boissiaux</foreign>). If two torchbearers happened to meet each +other on their rounds, they performed the same ceremony +and uttered the same words. When the straw was burnt +out, the poles were collected and a great bonfire made of +them. Lads and lasses danced round the flames, and the +lads leaped over them. Afterwards it was customary to eat +a special sort of hasty-pudding made of wheaten flour. +These usages were still in vogue at the beginning of the +nineteenth century, but they have now almost disappeared. +The peasants believed that by carrying lighted torches +through the fields they protected the crops from field-mice, +darnel, and smut.<note place='foot'>M. Desgranges, <q>Usages du +Canton de Bonneval,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires de la +Société Royale des Antiquaires de +France</hi>, i. (Paris, 1817) pp. 236-238; +Felix Chapiseau, <hi rend='italic'>Le folk-lore de la +Beauce et du Perche</hi> (Paris, 1902), i. +315 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> <q>At Dijon, in Burgundy, it is the +custom upon the first Sunday in Lent to make large fires +in the streets, whence it is called Firebrand Sunday. This +practice originated in the processions formerly made on that +day by the peasants with lighted torches of straw, to drive +away, as they called it, the bad air from the earth.</q><note place='foot'>John Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 100.</note> In some +parts of France, while the people scoured the country with +burning brands on the first Sunday in Lent, they warned +the fruit-trees that if they did not take heed and bear fruit +they would surely be cut down and cast into the fire.<note place='foot'>E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les fêtes religieuses</hi> +(Paris, 1867), pp. 99 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>La +Bresse Louhannaise</hi>, Mars, 1906, +p. 111.</note> On +the same day peasants in the department of Loiret used to +run about the sowed fields with burning torches in their +hands, while they adjured the field-mice to quit the wheat +on pain of having their whiskers burned.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, mythes et +traditions des provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 283 +sq. A similar, though not identical, +custom prevailed at Valenciennes +(<hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi> p. 338).</note> In the department +of Ain the great fires of straw and faggots which are +kindled in the fields at this time are or were supposed to +destroy the nests of the caterpillars.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 302.</note> At Verges, a lonely +village surrounded by forests between the Jura and the +Combe d'Ain, the torches used at this season were kindled in +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +a peculiar manner. The young people climbed to the top +of a mountain, where they placed three nests of straw in three +trees. These nests being then set on fire, torches made of +dry lime-wood were lighted at them, and the merry troop +descended the mountain to their flickering light, and went +to every house in the village, demanding roasted peas and +obliging all couples who had been married within the year +to dance.<note place='foot'>Désiré Monnier, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions populaires +comparées</hi> (Paris, 1854), pp. +191 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Berry, a district of central France, it appears +that bonfires are not lighted on this day, but when the sun +has set the whole population of the villages, armed with +blazing torches of straw, disperse over the country and scour +the fields, the vineyards, and the orchards. Seen from afar, +the multitude of moving lights, twinkling in the darkness, +appear like will-o'-the-wisps chasing each other across the +plains, along the hillsides, and down the valleys. While the +men wave their flambeaus about the branches of the fruit-trees, +the women and children tie bands of wheaten-straw +round the tree-trunks. The effect of the ceremony is supposed +to be to avert the various plagues from which the +fruits of the earth are apt to suffer; and the bands of straw +fastened round the stems of the trees are believed to render +them fruitful.<note place='foot'>Laisnel de la Salle, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances et +légendes du centre de la France</hi> (Paris, +1875), i. 35 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In the peninsula of La Manche the Norman +peasants used to spend almost the whole night of the first +Sunday in Lent rushing about the country with lighted +torches for the purpose, as they supposed, of driving away +the moles and field-mice; fires were also kindled on some of +the dolmens.<note place='foot'>Jules Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage +Normand</hi> (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1887), +ii. 131 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> For more evidence of +customs of this sort observed in various +parts of France on the first Sunday in +Lent, see Madame Clément, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire +des Fêtes civiles et religieuses, etc., du +Département du Nord</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Cambrai, +1836), pp. 351 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Émile Hublard, +<hi rend='italic'>Fêtes du Temps Jadis, les Feux du +Carême</hi> (Mons, 1899), pp. 33 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bonfires +on the first +Sunday of +Lent in +Germany +and +Austria. <q>Burning +the witch.</q> +Burning +discs +thrown +into the air. Burning +wheels +rolled +down hill.</note> +In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at the same season +similar customs have prevailed. Thus in the Eifel Mountains, +Rhenish Prussia, on the first Sunday in Lent young people +used to collect straw and brushwood from house to house. +These they carried to an eminence and piled up round a tall, +slim beech-tree, to which a piece of wood was fastened at +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/> +right angles to form a cross. The structure was known as +the <q>hut</q> or <q>castle.</q> Fire was set to it and the young +people marched round the blazing <q>castle</q> bareheaded, each +carrying a lighted torch and praying aloud. Sometimes a +straw-man was burned in the <q>hut.</q> People observed the +direction in which the smoke blew from the fire. If it blew +towards the corn-fields, it was a sign that the harvest would +be abundant. On the same day, in some parts of the Eifel, +a great wheel was made of straw and dragged by three +horses to the top of a hill. Thither the village boys marched +at nightfall, set fire to the wheel, and sent it rolling down +the slope. Two lads followed it with levers to set it in +motion again, in case it should anywhere meet with a +check. At Oberstattfeld the wheel had to be provided by +the young man who was last married.<note place='foot'>J. H. Schmitz, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten und Sagen, +Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des +Eifler Volkes</hi> (Trèves, 1856-1858), +i. 21-25; N. Hocker, in <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift +für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde</hi>, +i. (1853) p. 90; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus der Germanen +und ihrer Nachbarstämme</hi> (Berlin, +1875), p. 501.</note> About Echternach +in Luxemburg the same ceremony is called <q>burning the +witch</q>; while it is going on, the older men ascend the +heights and observe what wind is blowing, for that is the +wind which will prevail the whole year.<note place='foot'>N. Hocker, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 89 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> At Voralberg +in the Tyrol, on the first Sunday in Lent, a slender young +fir-tree is surrounded with a pile of straw and firewood. +To the top of the tree is fastened a human figure called +the <q>witch,</q> made of old clothes and stuffed with gunpowder. +At night the whole is set on fire and boys and +girls dance round it, swinging torches and singing rhymes +in which the words <q>corn in the winnowing-basket, the +plough in the earth</q> may be distinguished.<note place='foot'>F. J. Vonbun, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur +deutschen Mythologie</hi> (Chur, 1862), +p. 20; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> In Swabia +on the first Sunday in Lent a figure called the <q>witch</q> or +the <q>old wife</q> or <q>winter's grandmother</q> is made up of +clothes and fastened to a pole. This is stuck in the middle +of a pile of wood, to which fire is applied. While the +<q>witch</q> is burning, the young people throw blazing discs +into the air. The discs are thin round pieces of wood, a +few inches in diameter, with notched edges to imitate the +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> +rays of the sun or stars. They have a hole in the middle, +by which they are attached to the end of a wand. Before +the disc is thrown it is set on fire, the wand is swung to +and fro, and the impetus thus communicated to the disc is +augmented by dashing the rod sharply against a sloping +board. The burning disc is thus thrown off, and mounting +high into the air, describes a long fiery curve before it reaches +the ground. A single lad may fling up forty or fifty of +these discs, one after the other. The object is to throw them +as high as possible. The wand by which they are hurled +must, at least in some parts of Swabia, be of hazel. Sometimes +the lads also leap over the fire brandishing lighted +torches of pine-wood. The charred embers of the burned +<q>witch</q> and discs are taken home and planted in the flax-fields +the same night, in the belief that they will keep +vermin from the fields.<note place='foot'>Ernst Meier, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, +Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben</hi> +(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 380 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Anton Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Schwaben</hi> (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), +ii. 56 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 66 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, +Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs +Bayern</hi> (Munich, 1860-1867), ii. 2, pp. +838 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), +i. 211, § 232; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi> One +of the popular German names for the +first Sunday in Lent is White Sunday, +which is not to be confused with the +first Sunday after Easter, which also +goes by the name of White Sunday +(E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 380; A. Birlinger, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. 56).</note> At Wangen, near Molsheim in +Baden, a like custom is observed on the first Sunday in +Lent. The young people kindle a bonfire on the crest of +the mountain above the village; and the burning discs +which they hurl into the air are said to present in the darkness +the aspect of a continual shower of falling stars. When +the supply of discs is exhausted and the bonfire begins to +burn low, the boys light torches and run with them at full +speed down one or other of the three steep and winding +paths that descend the mountain-side to the village. Bumps, +bruises, and scratches are often the result of their efforts to +outstrip each other in the headlong race.<note place='foot'>H. Gaidoz, <q>Le dieu gaulois du +soleil et le symbolisme de la roue,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Revue Archéologique</hi>, iii. série, iv. +(1884) pp. 139 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the Rhön +Mountains, situated on the borders of Hesse and Bavaria, +the people used to march to the top of a hill or eminence on +the first Sunday in Lent. Children and lads carried torches, +brooms daubed with tar, and poles swathed in straw. A +wheel, wrapt in combustibles, was kindled and rolled down +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> +the hill; and the young people rushed about the fields with +their burning torches and brooms, till at last they flung them +in a heap, and standing round them, struck up a hymn or a +popular song. The object of running about the fields with +the blazing torches was to <q>drive away the wicked sower.</q> +Or it was done in honour of the Virgin, that she might +preserve the fruits of the earth throughout the year and +bless them.<note place='foot'>August Witzschel, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Thüringen</hi> (Vienna, +1878), p. 189; F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag +zur deutschen Mythologie</hi> (Munich, +1848-1855), ii. 207; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 500 <hi rend='italic'>sq</hi>.</note> In neighbouring villages of Hesse, between +the Rhön and the Vogel Mountains, it is thought that +wherever the burning wheels roll, the fields will be safe from +hail and storm.<note place='foot'>W. Kolbe, <hi rend='italic'>Hessiche Volks-Sitten +und Gebräuche</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Marburg, 1888), +p. 36.</note> At Konz on the Moselle, on the Thursday +before the first Sunday in Lent, the two guilds of the +butchers and the weavers used to repair to the Marxberg +and there set up an oak-tree with a wheel fastened to it. +On the following Sunday the people ascended the hill, cut +down the oak, set fire to the wheel, and sent both oak and +wheel rolling down the hillside, while a guard of butchers, +mounted on horses, fired at the flaming wheel in its descent. +If the wheel rolled down into the Moselle, the butchers were +rewarded with a waggon-load of wine by the archbishop of +Treves.<note place='foot'>Adalbert Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Die Herabkunft des +Feuers und des Göttertranks</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Gütersloh, +1886), p. 86, quoting Hocker, +<hi rend='italic'>Des Mosellandes Geschichten, Sagen und +Legenden</hi> (Trier, 1852), pp. 415 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> +Compare W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 501; and below, pp. <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +Thus it appears that the ceremony of +rolling the fiery wheel down hill was +observed twice a year at Konz, once +on the first Sunday in Lent, and once +at Midsummer.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bonfires +on the first +Sunday in +Lent in +Switzerland. Burning +discs +thrown +into the +air.</note> +In Switzerland, also, it is or used to be customary to +kindle bonfires on high places on the evening of the first +Sunday in Lent, and the day is therefore popularly known +as Spark Sunday. The custom prevailed, for example, +throughout the canton of Lucerne. Boys went about from +house to house begging for wood and straw, then piled the +fuel on a conspicuous mountain or hill round about a pole, +which bore a straw effigy called <q>the witch.</q> At nightfall +the pile was set on fire, and the young folks danced wildly +round it, some of them cracking whips or ringing bells; and +when the fire burned low enough, they leaped over it. This +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> +was called <q>burning the witch.</q> In some parts of the +canton also they used to wrap old wheels in straw and +thorns, put a light to them, and send them rolling and +blazing down hill. The same custom of rolling lighted +wheels down hill is attested by old authorities for the cantons +of Aargau and Bâle. The more bonfires could be seen +sparkling and flaring in the darkness, the more fruitful was +the year expected to be; and the higher the dancers leaped +beside or over the fire, the higher, it was thought, would +grow the flax. In the district of Freiburg and at Birseck +in the district of Bâle it was the last married man or woman +who must kindle the bonfire. While the bonfires blazed up, +it was customary in some parts of Switzerland to propel +burning discs of wood through the air by means of the same +simple machinery which is used for the purpose in Swabia. +Each lad tried to send his disc fizzing and flaring through +the darkness as far as possible, and in discharging it +he mentioned the name of the person to whose honour it +was dedicated. But in Prättigau the words uttered in +launching the fiery discs referred to the abundance which +was apparently expected to follow the performance of the +ceremony. Among them were, <q>Grease in the pan, corn in +the fan, and the plough in the earth!</q><note place='foot'>H. Herzog, <hi rend='italic'>Schweizerische Volksfeste, +Sitten und Gebräuche</hi> (Aarau, +1884), pp. 214-216; E. Hoffmann-Krayer, +<q>Fruchtbarkeitsriten im +schweizerischen Volksbrauch,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Schweizerisches +Archiv für Volkskunde</hi>, xi. +(1907) pp. 247-249; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Feste und +Bräuche des Schweizervolkes</hi> (Zurich, +1913), pp. 135 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Connexion +of these +bonfires +with the +custom of +<q>carrying +out Death.</q> Effigies +burnt on +Shrove +Tuesday.</note> +It seems hardly possible to separate from these bonfires, +kindled on the first Sunday in Lent, the fires in which, about +the same season, the effigy called Death is burned as part of +the ceremony of <q>carrying out Death.</q> We have seen that +at Spachendorf, in Austrian Silesia, on the morning of +Rupert's Day (Shrove Tuesday?), a straw-man, dressed in a +fur coat and a fur cap, is laid in a hole outside the village +and there burned, and that while it is blazing every one +seeks to snatch a fragment of it, which he fastens to a branch +of the highest tree in his garden or buries in his field, +believing that this will make the crops to grow better. The +ceremony is known as the <q>burying of Death.</q><note place='foot'>Theodor Vernaleken, <hi rend='italic'>Mythen und +Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich</hi> +(Vienna, 1859), pp. 293 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. +Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, p. 498. +See <hi rend='italic'>The Dying God</hi>, p. 250.</note> Even +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +when the straw-man is not designated as Death, the meaning +of the observance is probably the same; for the name +Death, as I have tried to shew, does not express the original +intention of the ceremony. At Cobern in the Eifel Mountains +the lads make up a straw-man on Shrove Tuesday. +The effigy is formally tried and accused of having perpetrated +all the thefts that have been committed in the neighbourhood +throughout the year. Being condemned to death, +the straw-man is led through the village, shot, and burned +upon a pyre. They dance round the blazing pile, and the +last bride must leap over it.<note place='foot'>J. H. Schmitz, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten und Sagen, +Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des +Eifler Volkes</hi> (Treves, 1856-1858), +i. 20; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 499.</note> In Oldenburg on the evening +of Shrove Tuesday people used to make long bundles of +straw, which they set on fire, and then ran about the fields +waving them, shrieking, and singing wild songs. Finally +they burned a straw-man on the field.<note place='foot'>L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube und +Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi> +(Oldenburg, 1867), ii. 39, § 306; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, p. +498.</note> In the district of +Düsseldorf the straw-man burned on Shrove Tuesday was +made of an unthreshed sheaf of corn.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 499.</note> On the first Monday +after the spring equinox the urchins of Zurich drag a straw-man +on a little cart through the streets, while at the same +time the girls carry about a May-tree. When vespers ring, +the straw-man is burned.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 498 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the district of Aachen on +Ash Wednesday a man used to be encased in peas-straw and +taken to an appointed place. Here he slipped quietly out +of his straw casing, which was then burned, the children +thinking that it was the man who was being burned.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 499.</note> In +the Val di Ledro (Tyrol) on the last day of the Carnival a +figure is made up of straw and brushwood and then burned. +The figure is called the Old Woman, and the ceremony +<q>burning the Old Woman.</q><note place='foot'>Christian Schneller, <hi rend='italic'>Märchen und +Sagen aus Wälschtirol</hi> (Innsbruck, +1867), pp. 234 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 499 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='2. The Easter Fires.'/> +<head>§ 2. The Easter Fires.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fire-festivals +on +Easter Eve. +Custom in +Catholic +countries +of kindling +a holy new +fire at the +church on +Easter +Saturday; +marvellous +properties +ascribed +to the +embers of +the fire. +The +burning +of Judas.</note> +Another occasion on which these fire-festivals are held is +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> +Easter Eve, the Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that +day it has been customary in Catholic countries to extinguish +all the lights in the churches, and then to make a new fire, +sometimes with flint and steel, sometimes with a burning-glass. +At this fire is lit the great Paschal or Easter candle, +which is then used to rekindle all the extinguished lights in +the church. In many parts of Germany a bonfire is also +kindled, by means of the new fire, on some open space near +the church. It is consecrated, and the people bring sticks of +oak, walnut, and beech, which they char in the fire, and then +take home with them. Some of these charred sticks are +thereupon burned at home in a newly-kindled fire, with a +prayer that God will preserve the homestead from fire, +lightning, and hail. Thus every house receives <q>new fire.</q> +Some of the sticks are kept throughout the year and laid on +the hearth-fire during heavy thunder-storms to prevent the +house from being struck by lightning, or they are inserted in +the roof with the like intention. Others are placed in the +fields, gardens, and meadows, with a prayer that God will +keep them from blight and hail. Such fields and gardens +are thought to thrive more than others; the corn and the +plants that grow in them are not beaten down by hail, nor +devoured by mice, vermin, and beetles; no witch harms them, +and the ears of corn stand close and full. The charred +sticks are also applied to the plough. The ashes of the +Easter bonfire, together with the ashes of the consecrated +palm-branches, are mixed with the seed at sowing. A +wooden figure called Judas is sometimes burned in the +consecrated bonfire, and even where this custom has been +abolished the bonfire itself in some places goes by the name +of <q>the burning of Judas.</q><note place='foot'>John Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 157 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +pp. 502-505; Karl Freiherr +von Leoprechting, <hi rend='italic'>Aus dem Lechrain</hi> +(Munich, 1855), pp. 172 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Anton +Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus Schwaben</hi> +(Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), +i. 472 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Montanus, <hi rend='italic'>Die +deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und +deutscher Volksglaube</hi> (Iserlohn, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), +p. 26; F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), +ii. 241 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Ernst Meier, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche +Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus +Schwaben</hi> (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 139 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi> (Munich, 1860-1867), +i. 371; A. Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche +Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Berlin, 1869), pp. 68 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 81; Ignaz V. Zingerle, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten, +Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler +Volkes</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Innsbruck, 1871), p. 149, +§§ 1286-1289; W. Kolbe, <hi rend='italic'>Hessische +Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Marburg, +1888), pp. 44 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore, +Printed Extracts, Leicestershire and +Rutland</hi>, collected by C. J. Billson +(London, 1895), pp. 75 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; A. Tiraboschi, +<q>Usi pasquali nel Bergamasco,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Archivio per lo Studio delle +Tradizione Popolari</hi>, i. (1892) pp. 442 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The ecclesiastical custom of lighting +the Paschal or Easter candle is +very fully described by Mr. H. J. +Feasey, <hi rend='italic'>Ancient English Holy Week +Ceremonial</hi> (London, 1897), pp. 179 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> These candles were sometimes of +prodigious size; in the cathedrals of +Norwich and Durham, for example, +they reached almost to the roof, from +which they had to be lighted. Often +they went by the name of the Judas +Light or the Judas Candle; and sometimes +small waxen figures of Judas +were hung on them. See H. J. +Feasey, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 193, 213 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> +As to the ritual of the new fire at St. +Peter's in Rome, see R. Chambers, +<hi rend='italic'>The Book of Days</hi> (London and Edinburgh, +1886), i. 421; and as to the +early history of the rite in the Catholic +church, see Mgr. L. Duchesne, +<hi rend='italic'>Origines du Culte Chrétien</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> (Paris, +1903), pp. 250-257.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Easter fires +in Bavaria +and the +Abruzzi.</note> +In the Hollertau, Bavaria, the young men used to +light their lanterns at the newly-kindled Easter candle +in the church and then race to the bonfire; he who reached +it first set fire to the pile, and next day, Easter Sunday, +was rewarded at the church-door by the housewives, who +presented him with red eggs. Great was the jubilation +while the effigy of the traitor was being consumed in the +flames. The ashes were carefully collected and thrown +away at sunrise in running water.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi> (Munich, 1860-1867), +i. 1002 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In many parts of +the Abruzzi, also, pious people kindle their fires on Easter +Saturday with a brand brought from the sacred new fire in +the church. When the brand has thus served to bless the +fire on the domestic hearth, it is extinguished, and the remainder +is preserved, partly in a cranny of the outer wall of +the house, partly on a tree to which it is tied. This is done +for the purpose of guarding the homestead against injury by +storms. At Campo di Giove the people say that if you can +get a piece of one of the three holy candles which the priest +lights from the new fire, you should allow a few drops of the +wax to fall into the crown of your hat; for after that, if it +should thunder and lighten, you have nothing to do but to +clap the hat on your head, and no flash of lightning can +possibly strike you.<note place='foot'>Gennaro Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>Credenze, Usi +e Costumi Abruzzesi</hi> (Palermo, 1890), +pp. 122 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Water as +well as fire +consecrated +in +the Abruzzi +on Easter +Saturday. Water consecrated +in +Calabria +on Easter +Saturday. +Water and +fire consecrated +on Easter +Saturday +among the +Germans of +Bohemia. Easter rites +of fire and +water at +Hildesheim.</note> +Further, it deserves to be noted that in the Abruzzi +water as well as fire is, as it were, renewed and consecrated +on Easter Saturday. Most people fetch holy water on +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +that day from the churches, and every member of the +family drinks a little of it, believing that it has power to +protect him or her against witchcraft, fever, and stomach-aches +of all sorts. And when the church bells ring again +after their enforced silence, the water is sprinkled about the +house, and especially under the beds, with the help of a palm-branch. +Some of this blessed water is also kept in the +house for use in great emergencies, when there is no time to +fetch a priest; thus it may be employed to baptize a new-born +infant gasping for life or to sprinkle a sick man in the +last agony; such a sprinkling is reckoned equal to priestly +absolution.<note place='foot'>G. Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 123 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Calabria the customs with regard to the +new water, as it is called, on Easter Saturday are similar; it +is poured into a new vessel, adorned with ribbons and flowers, +is blessed by the priest, and is tasted by every one of the +household, beginning with the parents. And when the air +vibrates with the glad music of the church bells announcing +the resurrection, the people sprinkle the holy water about the +houses, bidding in a loud voice all evil things to go forth and +all good things to come in. At the same time, to emphasize +the exorcism, they knock on doors, window-shutters, chests, +and other domestic articles of furniture. At Cetraro people +who suffer from diseases of the skin bathe in the sea at this +propitious moment; at Pietro in Guarano they plunge into +the river on the night of Easter Saturday before Easter +Sunday dawns, and while they bathe they utter never a word. +Moreover, the Calabrians keep the <q>new water</q> as a sacred +thing. They believe that it serves as a protection against +witchcraft if it is sprinkled on a fire or a lamp, when the +wood crackles or the wick sputters; for they regard it as a +bad omen when the fire talks, as they say.<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. 48 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the +Germans of Western Bohemia, also, water as well as fire is +consecrated by the priest in front of the church on Easter +Saturday. People bring jugs full of water to the church +and set them beside the holy fire; afterwards they use the +water to sprinkle on the palm-branches which are stuck in +the fields. Charred sticks of the Judas fire, as it is popularly +called, are supposed to possess a magical and healing virtue; +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> +hence the people take them home with them, and even scuffle +with each other for the still glowing embers in order to carry +them, still glimmering, to their houses and so obtain <q>the +light</q> or <q>the holy light.</q><note place='foot'>Alois John, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch, und +Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen</hi> +(Prague, 1905), pp. 62 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Hildesheim, also, and the +neighbouring villages of central Germany rites both of fire +and water are or were till lately observed at Easter. Thus +on Easter night many people fetch water from the Innerste +river and keep it carefully, believing it to be a remedy for +many sorts of ailments both of man and beast. In the +villages on the Leine river servant men and maids used to +go silently on Easter night between the hours of eleven +and twelve and silently draw water in buckets from the +river; they mixed the water with the fodder and the drink +of the cattle to make the animals thrive, and they imagined +that to wash in it was good for human beings. Many were +also of opinion that at the same mystic hour the water +turned to wine as far as the crowing of a cock could +be heard, and in this belief they laid themselves flat on +their stomachs and kept their tongues in the water till the +miraculous change occurred, when they took a great gulp +of the transformed water. At Hildesheim, too, and the +neighbouring villages fires used to blaze on all the heights +on Easter Eve; and embers taken from the bonfires were +dipped in the cattle troughs to benefit the beasts and were +kept in the houses to avert lightning.<note place='foot'>K. Seifart, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Märchen, +Schwänke und Gebräuche aus Stadt und +Stift Hildesheim</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Hildesheim, 1889), +pp. 177 sq., 179 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>New fire at +Easter in +Carinthia. Consecration +of fire +and water +by the +Catholic +Church at +Easter.</note> +In the Lesachthal, Carinthia, all the fires in the houses +used to be extinguished on Easter Saturday, and rekindled +with a fresh fire brought from the churchyard, where the +priest had lit it by the friction of flint and steel and had +bestowed his blessing on it.<note place='foot'>M. Lexer, <q>Volksüberlieferungen +aus dem Lesachthal in Kärnten,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift +für deutsche Mythologie und +Sittenkunde</hi>, iii. (1855) p. 31.</note> Such customs were probably +widespread. In a Latin poem of the sixteenth century, +written by a certain Thomas Kirchmeyer and translated +into English by Barnabe Googe, we read:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>On Easter Eve the fire all is quencht in every place,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And fresh againe from out the flint is fetcht with solemne grace:</hi></l> +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The priest doth halow this against great daungers many one,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>A brande whereof doth every man with greedie mind take home,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>That when the fearefull storme appeares, or tempest black arise,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>By lighting this he safe may be from stroke of hurtful skies:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>A taper great, the Paschall namde, with musicke then they blesse,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And franckensence herein they pricke, for greater holynesse:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>This burneth night and day as signe of Christ that conquerde hell,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>As if so be this foolish toye suffiseth this to tell.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Then doth the Bishop or the Priest, the water halow straight,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>That for their baptisme is reservde: for now no more of waight</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Is that they usde the yeare before, nor can they any more,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Yong children christen with the same, as they have done before.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>With wondrous pompe and furniture, amid the Church they go,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>With candles, crosses, banners, Chrisme, and oyle appoynted tho:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Nine times about the font they marche, and on the saintes doe call,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Then still at length they stande, and straight the Priest begins withall,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And thrise the water doth he touche, and crosses thereon make,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Here bigge and barbrous wordes he speakes, to make the devill quake:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And holsome waters conjureth, and foolishly doth dresse,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Supposing holyar that to make, which God before did blesse:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And after this his candle than, he thrusteth in the floode,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And thrise he breathes thereon with breath, that stinkes of former foode:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And making here an ende, his Chrisme he poureth thereupon,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>The people staring hereat stande, amazed every one:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Beleeving that great powre is given to this water here,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>By gaping of these learned men, and such like trifling gere.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Therefore in vessels brought they draw, and home they carie some,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Against the grieves that to themselves, or to their beastes may come.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Then Clappers ceasse, and belles are set againe at libertée,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And herewith all the hungrie times of fasting ended bée.</hi></q> <note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Popish Kingdome or reigne of +Antichrist, written in Latin verse by +Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by +Barnabe Googe, 1570</hi>, edited by R. C. +Hope (London, 1880), p. 52, <hi rend='italic'>recto</hi>. +The title of the original poem was <hi rend='italic'>Regnum +Papisticum</hi>. The author, Thomas +Kirchmeyer (Naogeorgus, as he called +himself), died in 1577. The book is +a satire on the abuses and superstitions +of the Catholic Church. Only one +perfect copy of Googe's translation is +known to exist: it is in the University +Library at Cambridge. See Mr. R. C. +Hope's introduction to his reprint of +this rare work, pp. xv. <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The words, +<q>Then Clappers ceasse, and belles are +set againe at libertée,</q> refer to the +custom in Catholic countries of silencing +the church bells for two days from +noon on Maundy Thursday to noon +on Easter Saturday and substituting for +their music the harsh clatter of wooden +rattles. See R. Chambers, <hi rend='italic'>The Book of +Days</hi> (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. +412 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> According to another account +the church bells are silent from midnight +on the Wednesday preceding +Maundy Thursday till matins on Easter +Day. See W. Smith and S. Cheetham, +<hi rend='italic'>Dictionary of Christian Antiquities</hi> +(London, 1875-1880), ii. 1161, referring +to <hi rend='italic'>Ordo Roman</hi>. i. <hi rend='italic'>u.s.</hi></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It is said that formerly all the fires in Rome were lighted afresh +from the holy fire kindled in St. Peter's on Easter Saturday. <note place='foot'>R. Chambers, <hi rend='italic'>The Book of Days</hi> +(London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. +421.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire on +Easter +Saturday at +Florence.</note> +In Florence the ceremony of kindling the new fire on +Easter Eve is peculiar. The holy flame is elicited from +certain flints which are said to have been brought by a +member of the Pazzi family from the Holy Land. They are +kept in the church of the Holy Apostles on the Piazza del +Limbo, and on the morning of Easter Saturday the prior +strikes fire from them and lights a candle from the new +flame. The burning candle is then carried in solemn +procession by the clergy and members of the municipality to +the high altar in the cathedral. A vast crowd has meanwhile +assembled in the cathedral and the neighbouring +square to witness the ceremony; amongst the spectators are +many peasants drawn from the surrounding country, for it is +commonly believed that on the success or failure of the +ceremony depends the fate of the crops for the year. Outside +the door of the cathedral stands a festal car drawn by +two fine white oxen with gilded horns. The body of the +car is loaded with a pyramid of squibs and crackers and is +connected by a wire with a pillar set up in front of the high +altar. The wire extends down the middle of the nave at a +height of about six feet from the ground. Beneath it a clear +passage is left, the spectators being ranged on either side and +crowding the vast interior from wall to wall. When all is +ready, High Mass is celebrated, and precisely at noon, when +the first words of the <hi rend='italic'>Gloria</hi> are being chanted, the sacred +fire is applied to the pillar, which like the car is wreathed +with fireworks. A moment more and a fiery dove comes +flying down the nave, with a hissing sound and a sputter of +sparks, between the two hedges of eager spectators. If all +goes well, the bird pursues its course along the wire and out +at the door, and in another moment a prolonged series of +fizzes, pops and bangs announces to the excited crowd in +the cathedral that the fireworks on the car are going off. +Great is the joy accordingly, especially among the bumpkins, +who are now sure of an abundant harvest. But if, as sometimes +happens, the dove stops short in its career and fizzles +out, revealing itself as a stuffed bird with a packet of squibs +tied to its tail, great is the consternation, and deep the curses +that issue from between the set teeth of the clodhoppers, who +now give up the harvest for lost. Formerly the unskilful +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> +mechanician who was responsible for the failure would have +been clapped into gaol; but nowadays he is thought +sufficiently punished by the storm of public indignation and +the loss of his pay. The disaster is announced by placards +posted about the streets in the evening; and next morning +the newspapers are full of gloomy prognostications.<note place='foot'>Miss Jessie L. Weston, <q>The +<hi rend='italic'>Scoppio del Carro</hi> at Florence,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xvi. (1905) pp. 182-184; <q>Lo +Scoppio del Carro,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Resurrezione, +Numero Unico del Sabato Santo</hi> +(Florence, April, 1906), p. 1 (giving a +picture of the car with its pyramid of +fire-works). The latter paper was +kindly sent to me from Florence by my +friend Professor W. J. Lewis. I have +also received a letter on the subject +from Signor Carlo Placci, dated 4 (or +7) September, 1905, 1 Via Alfieri, +Firenze.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire and the +burning of +Judas on +Easter +Saturday in +Mexico.</note> +Some of these customs have been transported by the +Catholic Church to the New World. Thus in Mexico the +new fire is struck from a flint early in the morning of Easter +Saturday, and a candle which has been lighted at the sacred +flame is carried through the church by a deacon shouting +<q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Lumen Christi</foreign>.</q> Meantime the whole city, we are informed, +has been converted into a vast place of execution. +Ropes stretch across the streets from house to house, and +from every house dangles an effigy of Judas, made of paper +pulp. Scores or hundreds of them may adorn a single +street. They are of all shapes and sizes, grotesque in form +and garbed in strange attire, stuffed with gunpowder, squibs +and crackers, sometimes, too, with meat, bread, soap, candy, +and clothing, for which the crowd will scramble and scuffle +while the effigies are burning. There they hang grim, black, +and sullen in the strong sunshine, greeted with a roar of +execration by the pious mob. A peal of bells from the +cathedral tower on the stroke of noon gives the signal for the +execution. At the sound a frenzy seizes the crowd. They +throw themselves furiously on the figures of the detested +traitor, cut them down, hurl them with curses into the fire, +and fight and struggle with each other in their efforts to tear +the effigies to tatters and appropriate their contents. Smoke, +stink, sputter of crackers, oaths, curses, yells are now the +order of the day. But the traitor does not perish unavenged. +For the anatomy of his frame has been cunningly contrived +so as in burning to discharge volleys of squibs into his +assailants; and the wounds and burns with which their +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> +piety is rewarded form a feature of the morning's entertainment. +The English Jockey Club in Mexico used to +improve on this popular pastime by suspending huge figures +of Judas, stuffed with copper coins, from ropes in front of +their clubhouse. These were ignited at the proper moment +and lowered within reach of the expectant rabble, and it +was the privilege of members of the club, seated in the +balcony, to watch the grimaces and to hear the shrieks of +the victims, as they stamped and capered about with the hot +coppers sticking to their hands, divided in their minds +between an acute sense of pain and a thirst for filthy lucre.<note place='foot'>Frederick Starr, <q>Holy Week in +Mexico,</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Journal of American +Folk-lore</hi>, xii. (1899) pp. 164 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; C. +Boyson Taylor, <q>Easter in Many +Lands,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Everybody's Magazine</hi>, New +York, 1903, p. 293. I have to thank +Mr. S. S. Cohen, of 1525 Walnut +Street, Philadelphia, for sending me a +cutting from the latter magazine.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The burning +of +Judas at +Easter in +South +America.</note> +Scenes of the same sort, though on a less ambitious scale, +are witnessed among the Catholics of South America on the +same day. In Brazil the mourning for the death of Christ +ceases at noon on Easter Saturday and gives place to an +extravagant burst of joy at his resurrection. Shots are fired +everywhere, and effigies of Judas are hung on trees or +dragged about the streets, to be finally burned or otherwise +destroyed.<note place='foot'>K. von den Steinen, <hi rend='italic'>Unter den +Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens</hi> (Berlin, +1894), pp. 458 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; E. Montet, +<q>Religion et Superstition dans l'Amérique +du Sud,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Revue de l'Histoire +des Religions</hi>, xxxii. (1895) p. 145.</note> In the Indian villages scattered among the wild +valleys of the Peruvian Andes figures of the traitor, made of +pasteboard and stuffed with squibs and crackers, are hanged +on gibbets before the door of the church on Easter Saturday. +Fire is set to them, and while they crackle and explode, the +Indians dance and shout for joy at the destruction of their +hated enemy.<note place='foot'>J. J. von Tschudi, <hi rend='italic'>Peru, Reiseskizzen +aus den Jahren 1838-1842</hi> (St. +Gallen, 1846), ii. 189 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Similarly at Rio Hacha, in Colombia, Judas +is represented during Holy Week by life-sized effigies, and +the people fire at them as if they were discharging a sacred +duty.<note place='foot'>H. Candelier, <hi rend='italic'>Rio-Hacha et les +Indiens Goajires</hi> (Paris, 1893), p. 85.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire on +Easter +Saturday +in the +Church of +the Holy +Sepulchre +at Jerusalem.</note> +But usages of this sort are not confined to the Latin +Church; they are common to the Greek Church also. +Every year on the Saturday before Easter Sunday a new +fire is miraculously kindled at the Holy Sepulchre in +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> +Jerusalem. It descends from heaven and ignites the +candles which the patriarch holds in his hands, while +with closed eyes he wrestles in prayer all alone in the +chapel of the Angel. The worshippers meanwhile wait +anxiously in the body of the church, and great are their +transports of joy when at one of the windows of the chapel, +which had been all dark a minute before, there suddenly +appears the hand of an angel, or of the patriarch, holding a +lighted taper. This is the sacred new fire; it is passed out +to the expectant believers, and the desperate struggle which +ensues among them to get a share of its blessed influence is +only terminated by the intervention of the Turkish soldiery, +who restore peace and order by hustling the whole multitude +impartially out of the church. In days gone by many lives +were often lost in these holy scrimmages. For example, in +the year 1834, the famous Ibrahim Pasha witnessed the +frantic scene from one of the galleries, and, being moved +with compassion at the sight, descended with a few guards +into the arena in the chimerical hope of restoring peace and +order among the contending Christians. He contrived to +force his way into the midst of the dense crowd, but there +the heat and pressure were so great that he fainted away; +a body of soldiers, seeing his danger, charged straight into +the throng and carried him out of it in their arms, trampling +under foot the dying and dead in their passage. Nearly two +hundred people were killed that day in the church. The +fortunate survivors on these occasions who succeeded in +obtaining a portion of the coveted fire applied it freely to +their faces, their beards, and their garments. The theory +was that the fire, being miraculous, could only bless and not +burn them; but the practical results of the experiment were +often disappointing, for while the blessings were more or +less dubious, there could be no doubt whatever about the +burns.<note place='foot'>Henry Maundrell, <q>A Journey +from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1697,</q> in Bohn's <hi rend='italic'>Early Travellers +in Palestine</hi> (London, 1848), pp. 462-465; +Mgr. Auvergne, in <hi rend='italic'>Annales de la +Propagation de la Foi</hi>, x. (1837) pp. +23 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; A. P. Stanley, <hi rend='italic'>Sinai and +Palestine</hi>, Second Edition (London, +1856), pp. 460-465; E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai +sur les Fêtes Religieuses</hi> (Paris, 1867), +pp. 137-139; A. W. Kinglake, <hi rend='italic'>Eothen</hi>, +chapter xvi. pp. 158-163 (Temple +Classics edition); Father X. Abougit, +S.J., <q>Le feu du Saint-Sépulcre,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Les Missions Catholiques</hi>, viii. (1876) +pp. 518 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Rev. C. T. Wilson, +<hi rend='italic'>Peasant Life in the Holy Land</hi> +(London, 1906), pp. 45 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; P. Saint-yves, +<q>Le Renouvellement du Feu +Sacré,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Revue des Traditions Populaires</hi>, +xxvii. (1912) pp. 449 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The distribution +of the new fire in the Church +of the Holy Sepulchre is the subject +of a picture by Holman Hunt. From +some printed notes on the picture, +with which Mrs. Holman Hunt was so +kind as to furnish me, it appears that +the new fire is carried by horsemen to +Bethlehem and Jaffa, and that a Russian +ship conveys it from Jaffa to Odessa, +whence it is distributed all over the +country.</note> The history of the miracle has been carefully +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +investigated by a Jesuit father. The conclusions at which he +arrives are that the miracle was a miracle indeed so long as +the Catholics had the management of it; but that since it +fell into the hands of the heretics it has been nothing but a +barefaced trick and imposture.<note place='foot'>Father X. Abougit, S.J., <q>Le +feu du Saint-Sépulcre,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Les Missions +Catholiques</hi>, viii. (1876) pp. 165-168.</note> Many people will be +disposed to agree with the latter conclusion who might +hesitate to accept the former. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire and the +burning of +Judas on +Easter +Saturday +in Greece.</note> +At Athens the new fire is kindled in the cathedral at +midnight on Holy Saturday. A dense crowd with unlit +candles in their hands fills the square in front of the +cathedral; the king, the archbishop, and the highest dignitaries +of the church, arrayed in their gorgeous robes, occupy +a platform; and at the exact moment of the resurrection the +bells ring out, and the whole square bursts as by magic into +a blaze of light. Theoretically all the candles are lit from +the sacred new fire in the cathedral, but practically it may +be suspected that the matches which bear the name of +Lucifer have some share in the sudden illumination.<note place='foot'>I have described the ceremony as +I witnessed it at Athens, on April 13th, +1890. Compare <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, i. (1890) +p. 275. Having been honoured, like +other strangers, with a place on the +platform, I did not myself detect +Lucifer at work among the multitude +below; I merely suspected his insidious +presence.</note> Effigies +of Judas used to be burned at Athens on Easter Saturday, +but the custom has been forbidden by the Government. However, +firing goes on more or less continuously all over the city +both on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, and the cartridges +used on this occasion are not always blank. The shots are +aimed at Judas, but sometimes they miss him and hit other +people. Outside of Athens the practice of burning Judas in +effigy still survives in some places. For example, in Cos a +straw image of the traitor is made on Easter Day, and after +being hung up and shot at it is burned.<note place='foot'>W. H. D. Rouse, <q>Folk-lore from +the Southern Sporades,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, x. +(1899) p. 178.</note> A similar custom +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> +appears to prevail at Thebes;<note place='foot'>Mrs. A. E. Gardner was so kind +as to send me a photograph of a +Theban Judas dangling from a gallows +and partially enveloped in smoke. +The photograph was taken at Thebes +during the Easter celebration of 1891.</note> it used to be observed by the +Macedonian peasantry, and it is still kept up at Therapia, +a fashionable summer resort of Constantinople.<note place='foot'>G. F. Abbott, <hi rend='italic'>Macedonian Folk-lore</hi> +(Cambridge, 1903) p. 37.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire at +Candlemas +in Armenia.</note> +In the Armenian Church the sacred new fire is kindled +not at Easter but at Candlemas, that is, on the second of +February, or on the eve of that festival. The materials +of the bonfire are piled in an open space near a church, +and they are generally ignited by young couples who have +been married within the year. However, it is the bishop +or his vicar who lights the candles with which fire is +set to the pile. All young married pairs are expected +to range themselves about the fire and to dance round +it. Young men leap over the flames, but girls and women +content themselves with going round them, while they pray +to be preserved from the itch and other skin-diseases. +When the ceremony is over, the people eagerly pick up +charred sticks or ashes of the fire and preserve them or +scatter them on the four corners of the roof, in the cattle-stall, +in the garden, and on the pastures; for these holy +sticks and ashes protect men and cattle against disease, and +fruit-trees against worms and caterpillars. Omens, too, +are drawn from the direction in which the wind blows the +flames and the smoke: if it carries them eastward, there is +hope of a good harvest; but if it inclines them westward, the +people fear that the crops will fail.<note place='foot'>Cirbied, <q>Mémoire sur le gouvernment +et sur la religion des anciens +Arméniens,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires publiées par la +Société Royaledes Antiquaires de France</hi>, +ii. (1820) pp. 285-287; Manuk +Abeghian, <hi rend='italic'>Der armenische Volksglaube</hi> +(Leipsic, 1899), pp. 72-74. The +ceremony is said to be merely a continuation +of an old heathen festival +which was held at the beginning of +spring in honour of the fire-god Mihr. +A bonfire was made in a public place, +and lamps kindled at it were kept burning +throughout the year in each of the +fire-god's temples.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire and the +burning of +Judas at +Easter are +probably +relics of +paganism.</note> +In spite of the thin cloak of Christianity thrown over +these customs by representing the new fire as an emblem of +Christ and the figure burned in it as an effigy of Judas, we +can hardly doubt that both practices are of pagan origin. +Neither of them has the authority of Christ or of his disciples; +but both of them have abundant analogies in popular custom +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +and superstition. Some instances of the practice of annually +extinguishing fires and relighting them from a new and sacred +flame have already come before us;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 32, ii. 243; <hi rend='italic'>Spirits of the +Corn and of the Wild</hi>, ii. 65, 74, 75, +78, 136.</note> but a few examples +may here be cited for the sake of illustrating the wide +diffusion of a custom which has found its way into the ritual +both of the Eastern and of the Western Church. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire at the +summer +solstice +among the +Incas of +Peru. +The new +fire among +the Indians +of Mexico +and New +Mexico. The new +fire among +the Esquimaux.</note> +The Incas of Peru celebrated a festival called Raymi, a +word which their native historian Garcilasso de la Vega tells +us was equivalent to our Easter. It was held in honour of +the sun at the solstice in June. For three days before the +festival the people fasted, men did not sleep with their wives, +and no fires were lighted in Cuzco, the capital. The sacred +new fire was obtained direct from the sun by concentrating +his beams on a highly polished concave plate and reflecting +them on a little cotton wool. With this holy fire the sheep +and lambs offered to the sun were consumed, and the flesh +of such as were to be eaten at the festival was roasted. +Portions of the new fire were also conveyed to the temple of +the sun and to the convent of the sacred virgins, where they +were kept burning all the year, and it was an ill omen if the +holy flame went out.<note place='foot'>Garcilasso de la Vega, <hi rend='italic'>Royal Commentaries +of the Yncas</hi>, translated by +(Sir) Clements R. Markham (Hakluyt +Society, London, 1869-1871), vol. ii. +pp. 155-163. Compare Juan de +Velasco, <q>Histoire du Royaume de +Quito,</q> in H. Ternaux-Compans's +<hi rend='italic'>Voyages, Relations et Mémoires originaux +pour servir à l'Histoire de la +Découverte de l'Amérique</hi>, xviii. (Paris, +1840) p. 140.</note> At a festival held in the last month +of the old Mexican year all the fires both in the temples and +in the houses were extinguished, and the priest kindled a +new fire by rubbing two sticks against each other before the +image of the fire-god.<note place='foot'>B. de Sahagun, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire Générale +des Choses de la Nouvelle Espagne</hi>, +traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon +(Paris, 1880), bk. ii. chapters 18 and +37, pp. 76, 161; Brasseur de Bourbourg, +<hi rend='italic'>Histoire des Nations civilisées du +Mexique et de l'Amérique-Centrale</hi> +(Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 136.</note> The Zuni Indians of New Mexico +kindle a new fire by the friction of wood both at the winter +and the summer solstice. At the winter solstice the chosen +fire-maker collects a faggot of cedar-wood from every house in +the village, and each person, as he hands the wood to the +fire-maker, prays that the crops may be good in the coming +year. For several days before the new fire is kindled, no +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> +ashes or sweepings may be removed from the houses and +no artificial light may appear outside of them, not even a +burning cigarette or the flash of firearms. The Indians +believe that no rain will fall on the fields of the man outside +whose house a light has been seen at this season. The +signal for kindling the new fire is given by the rising of the +Morning Star. The flame is produced by twirling an upright +stick between the hands on a horizontal stick laid on the +floor of a sacred chamber, the sparks being caught by a +tinder of cedar-dust. It is forbidden to blow up the +smouldering tinder with the breath, for that would offend the +gods. After the fire has thus been ceremonially kindled, the +women and girls of all the families in the village clean out +their houses. They carry the sweepings and ashes in baskets +or bowls to the fields and leave them there. To the sweepings +the woman says: <q>I now deposit you as sweepings, but +in one year you will return to me as corn.</q> And to the ashes +she says: <q>I now deposit you as ashes, but in one year you +will return to me as meal.</q> At the summer solstice the sacred +fire which has been procured by the friction of wood is used to +kindle the grass and trees, that there may be a great cloud +of smoke, while bull-roarers are swung and prayers offered +that the Rain-makers up aloft will water the earth.<note place='foot'>Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, +<q>The Zuñi Indians,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Twenty-third +Annual Report of the Bureau of +American Ethnology</hi> (Washington, +1904), pp. 108-141, 148-162, especially +pp. 108, 109, 114 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 120 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 130 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +132, 148 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 157 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> I have already +described these ceremonies in <hi rend='italic'>Totemism +and Exogamy</hi>, iii. 237 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Among the +Hopi (Moqui) Indians of Walpi, another +pueblo village of this region, new fire is +ceremonially kindled by friction in November. +See Jesse Walter Fewkes, <q>The +Tusayan New Fire Ceremony,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Proceedings +of the Boston Society of Natural +History</hi>, xxvi. 422-458; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>The +Group of Tusayan Ceremonials called +<foreign rend='italic'>Katcinas</foreign>,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Fifteenth Annual Report of +the Bureau of Ethnology</hi> (Washington, +1897), p. 263; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Hopi <foreign rend='italic'>Katcinas</foreign>,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Twenty-first Annual Report of the +Bureau of American Ethnology</hi> (Washington, +1903), p. 24.</note> From +this account we see how intimately the kindling of a new +fire at the two turning-points of the sun's course is associated +in the minds of these Indians with the fertility of the land, +particularly with the growth of the corn. The rolling smoke +is apparently an imitation of rain-clouds designed, on the +principle of homoeopathic magic, to draw showers from the +blue sky. Once a year the Iroquois priesthood supplied the +people with a new fire. As a preparation for the annual rite +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> +the fires in all the huts were extinguished and the ashes +scattered about. Then the priest, wearing the insignia of his +office, went from hut to hut relighting the fires by means of +a flint.<note place='foot'>Henry R. Schoolcraft, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on +the Iroquois</hi> (Albany, 1847), p. 137. +Schoolcraft did not know the date of +the ceremony, but he conjectured that +it fell at the end of the Iroquois year, +which was a lunar year of twelve or +thirteen months. He says: <q>That +the close of the lunar series should have +been the period of putting out the fire, +and the beginning of the next, the +time of relumination, from new fire, is +so consonant to analogy in the tropical +tribes, as to be probable</q> (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +138).</note> Among the Esquimaux with whom C. F. Hall resided, +it was the custom that at a certain time, which answered to +our New Year's Day, two men went about from house to house +blowing out every light in the village. One of the men was +dressed to represent a woman. Afterwards the lights were +rekindled from a fresh fire. An Esquimau woman being +asked what all this meant, replied, <q>New sun—new light.</q><note place='foot'>C. F. Hall, <hi rend='italic'>Life with the Esquimaux</hi> +(London, 1864), ii. 323.</note> +Among the Esquimaux of Iglulik, when the sun first rises +above the horizon after the long night of the Arctic winter, +the children who have watched for his reappearance run into +the houses and blow out the lamps. Then they receive +from their mothers presents of pieces of wick.<note place='foot'>Franz Boas, <q>The Eskimo of +Baffin Land and Hudson Bay,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bulletin +of the American Museum of Natural +History</hi>, xv. Part i. (New York, 1901) +p. 151.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire in +Wadai, +among the +Swahili, +and in +other parts +of Africa.</note> +In the Sudanese kingdom of Wadai all the fires in the +villages are put out and the ashes removed from the houses +on the day which precedes the New Year festival. At the +beginning of the new year a new fire is lit by the friction of +wood in the great straw hut where the village elders lounge +away the sultry hours together; and every man takes thence +a burning brand with which he rekindles the fire on his domestic +hearth.<note place='foot'>G. Nachtigal, <hi rend='italic'>Sahărâ und Sûdân</hi>, +iii. (Leipsic, 1889) p. 251.</note> In the Bahr-el-Ghazal province of the Egyptian +Sudan the people extinguish their old fires at the Arab New +Year and bring in new fire. On the same occasion they beat +the walls of their huts, the grass thatches, and the walls +of their enclosures in order to drive away the devil or evil +spirits. The beating of the walls and roofs is accompanied +by the firing of guns, the shouting of men, and the +shriller cries of the women.<note place='foot'>Major C. Percival, <q>Tropical +Africa, on the Border Line of Mohamedan +Civilization,</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Geographical +Journal</hi>, xlii. (1913) pp. +253 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Thus these people combine +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> +an annual expulsion of demons with an annual lighting of a +new fire. Among the Swahili of East Africa the greatest +festival is that of the New Year, which falls in the second half +of August. At a given moment all the fires are extinguished +with water and afterwards relit by the friction of two dry +pieces of wood. The ashes of the old fires are carried out +and deposited at cross-roads. All the people get up very early +in the morning and bathe in the sea or some other water, +praying to be kept in good health and to live that they may +bathe again next year. Sham-fights form part of the amusements +of the day; sometimes they pass into grim reality. +Indeed the day was formerly one of general license; every +man did that which was good in his own eyes. No awkward +questions were asked about any crimes committed on this +occasion, so some people improved the shining hour by +knocking a few poor devils on the head. Shooting still goes +on during the whole day, and at night the proceedings +generally wind up with a great dance.<note place='foot'>Adrien Germain, <q>Note sur Zanzibar +et la côte orientale de l'Afrique,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Bulletin de la Société de Géographie</hi> +(Paris), v. Série xvi. (1868) p. 557; +<hi rend='italic'>Les Missions Catholiques</hi>, iii. (1870) +p. 270; Charles New, <hi rend='italic'>Life, Wanderings, +and Labours in Eastern Africa</hi> (London, +1873), p. 65; Jerome Becker, +<hi rend='italic'>La Vie en Afrique</hi> (Paris and Brussels, +1887), ii. 36; O. Baumann, <hi rend='italic'>Usambara +und seine Nachbargebiete</hi> (Berlin, 1891), +pp. 55 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; C. Velten, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten und +Gebräuche der Suaheli</hi> (Göttingen, 1903), +pp. 342-344.</note> The King of +Benametapa, as the early Portuguese traders called him, in +East Africa used to send commissioners annually to every +town in his dominions; on the arrival of one of these officers +the inhabitants of each town had to put out all their fires and +to receive a new fire from him. Failure to comply with this +custom was treated as rebellion.<note place='foot'>Duarte Barbosa, <hi rend='italic'>Description of +the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar</hi> +(Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), p. +8; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, in <hi rend='italic'>Records of South-Eastern +Africa</hi>, collected by G. McCall Theal, +vol. i. (1898) p. 96; Damião de Goes, +<q>Chronicle of the Most Fortunate +King Dom Emanuel,</q> in <hi rend='italic'>Records of +South-Eastern Africa</hi>, collected by G. +McCall Theal, vol. iii. (1899) pp. 130 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The name Benametapa (more +correctly <foreign rend='italic'>monomotapa</foreign>) appears to have +been the regular title of the paramount +chief, which the Portuguese took to be +the name of the country. The people +over whom he ruled seem to have been +the Bantu tribe of the Makalanga in +the neighbourhood of Sofala. See G. +McCall Theal, <hi rend='italic'>Records of South-Eastern +Africa</hi>, vii. (1901) pp. 481-484. It is +to their custom of annually extinguishing +and relighting the fire that Montaigne +refers in his essay (i. 22, vol. i. +p. 140 of Charpentier's edition), though +he mentions no names.</note> Some tribes of British +Central Africa carefully extinguish the fires on the hearths at +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +the beginning of the hoeing season and at harvest; the fires +are afterwards rekindled by friction, and the people indulge +in dances of various kinds.<note place='foot'>Sir H. H. Johnson, <hi rend='italic'>British +Central Africa</hi> (London, 1897), pp. +426, 439.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire among +the Todas +of Southern +India and +among +the Nagas +of North-Eastern +India.</note> +The Todas of the Neilgherry Hills, in Southern India, +annually kindle a sacred new fire by the friction of wood in +the month which begins with the October moon. The +ceremony is performed by two holy dairymen at the foot of +a high hill. When they have lighted the fire by rubbing +two dry sticks together, and it begins to burn well, they +stand a little way off and pray, saying, <q>May the young +grass flower! May honey flourish! May fruit ripen!</q> +The purpose of the ceremony is to make the grass and +honey plentiful. In ancient times the Todas lived largely +on wild fruits, and then the rite of the new fire was very +important. Now that they subsist chiefly on the milk of +their buffaloes, the ceremony has lost much of its old +significance.<note place='foot'>W. H. R. Rivers, <hi rend='italic'>The Todas</hi> +(London, 1906), pp. 290-292.</note> When the Nagas of North-Eastern India have +felled the timber and cut down the scrub in those patches +of jungle which they propose to cultivate, they put out all +the fires in the village and light a new fire by rubbing two +dry pieces of wood together. Then having kindled torches +at it they proceed with them to the jungle and ignite the +felled timber and brushwood. The flesh of a cow or buffalo +is also roasted on the new fire and furnishes a sacrificial +meal.<note place='foot'>Lieut. R. Stewart, <q>Notes on +Northern Cachar,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Asiatic Society of Bengal</hi>, xxiv. (1855) +p. 612.</note> Near the small town of Kahma in Burma, between +Prome and Thayetmyo, certain gases escape from a hollow +in the ground and burn with a steady flame during the dry +season of the year. The people regard the flame as the +forge of a spectral smith who here carried on his business +after death had removed him from his old smithy in the +village. Once a year all the household fires in Kahma are +extinguished and then lighted afresh from the ghostly +flame.<note place='foot'>A. Bastian, <hi rend='italic'>Die Völker des östlichen +Asien</hi>, ii. (Leipsic, 1866) pp. +49 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Shway Yoe, <hi rend='italic'>The Burman</hi> +(London, 1882), ii. 325 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire in +China and +Japan.</note> +In China every year, about the beginning of April, certain +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +officials, called <foreign lang='zh' rend='italic'>Sz'hüen</foreign>, used of old to go about the country +armed with wooden clappers. Their business was to summon +the people and command them to put out every fire. This +was the beginning of a season called <foreign lang='zh' rend='italic'>Han-shih-tsieh</foreign>, or +<q>eating cold food.</q> For three days all household fires remained +extinct as a preparation for the solemn renewal of +the fire, which took place on the fifth or sixth day of April, +being the hundred and fifth day after the winter solstice. +The ceremony was performed with great pomp by the same +officials, who procured the new fire from heaven by reflecting +the sun's rays either from a metal mirror or from a crystal +on dry moss. Fire thus obtained is called by the Chinese +heavenly fire, and its use is enjoined in sacrifices; whereas +fire elicited by the friction of wood is termed by them +earthly fire, and its use is prescribed for cooking and other +domestic purposes. When once the new fire had thus been +drawn from the sun, all the people were free to rekindle +their domestic hearths; and, as a Chinese distich has it— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>At the festival of the cold food there are a thousand white stalks among the flowers;</hi></q></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>On the day Tsing-ming, at sunrise, you may see the smoke of ten thousand houses.</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +According to a Chinese philosopher, the reason for thus +renewing fire periodically is that the vital principle grows +weaker and weaker in old fire, whereas in new fire it is +young and vigorous. This annual renewal of fire was a +ceremony of very great antiquity in China, since it is known +to have been observed in the time of the first dynasty, about +two thousand years before Christ. Under the Tcheou +dynasty a change in the calendar led to shifting the fire-festival +from spring to the summer solstice, but afterwards +it was brought back to its original date. Although the +custom appears to have long fallen into disuse, the barbarous +inhabitants of Hainan, an island to the south of China, still +call a year <q>a fire,</q> as if in memory of the time when the +years were reckoned by the annually recurring ceremony of +rekindling the sacred fire.<note place='foot'>G. Schlegel, <hi rend='italic'>Uranographie Chinoise</hi> +(The Hague and Leyden, 1875), pp. +139-143; C. Puini, <q>Il fuoco nella +tradizione degli antichi Cinesi,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Giornale +della Società Asiatica Italiana</hi>, i. +(1887) pp. 20-23; J. J. M. de Groot, +<hi rend='italic'>Les Fêtes annuellement célébrées à +Émoui (Amoy)</hi> (Paris, 1886), i. 208 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The notion that fire can be worn +out with age meets us also in Brahman +ritual. See the <hi rend='italic'>Satapatha Brahmana</hi>, +translated by Julius Eggeling, Part i. +(Oxford, 1882) p. 230 (<hi rend='italic'>Sacred Books +of the East</hi>, vol. xii.).</note> <q>A Japanese book written two +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +centuries ago informs us that sticks resembling the wands +used for offerings at the purification ceremony were part +shaven and set up in bundles at the four corners of the +Gion shrine on the last day of the year. The priests, after +prayers were recited, broke up the bundles and set fire to +the sticks, which the people then carried home to light their +household fires with for the New Year. The object of this +ceremony was to avert pestilence.</q><note place='foot'>W. G. Aston, <hi rend='italic'>Shinto, The Way +of the Gods</hi> (London, 1905), pp. 258 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, compare p. 193. The wands in +question are sticks whittled near the +top into a mass of adherent shavings; +they go by the name of <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>kedzurikake</foreign> +(<q>part-shaved</q>), and resemble the sacred +<foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>inao</foreign> of the Aino. See W. G. Aston, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 191; and as to the <foreign lang='ja' rend='italic'>inao</foreign>, +see <hi rend='italic'>Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild</hi>, +ii. 185, with note 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire in +ancient +Greece and +Rome.</note> +In classical antiquity the Greek island of Lemnos was +devoted to the worship of the smith-god Hephaestus, who +was said to have fallen on it when Zeus hurled him from +heaven.<note place='foot'>Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Fasti</hi>, iii. 82; Homer, <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>, +i. 590, <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Once a year every fire in the island was extinguished +and remained extinct for nine days, during which +sacrifices were offered to the dead and to the infernal powers. +New fire was brought in a ship from the sacred isle of Delos, +and with it the fires in the houses and the workshops were +relit. The people said that with the new fire they made a +new beginning of life. If the ship that bore the sacred +flame arrived too soon, it might not put in to shore, but had +to cruise in the offing till the nine days were expired.<note place='foot'>Philostratus, <hi rend='italic'>Heroica</hi>, xx. 24.</note> At +Rome the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta was kindled +anew every year on the first of March, which used to be the +beginning of the Roman year;<note place='foot'>Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Fasti</hi>, iii. 143 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Macrobius, +<hi rend='italic'>Saturn.</hi> i. 12. 6.</note> the task of lighting it was +entrusted to the Vestal Virgins, and they performed it by +drilling a hole in a board of lucky wood till the flame was +elicited by friction. The new fire thus produced was carried +into the temple of Vesta by one of the virgins in a bronze +sieve.<note place='foot'>Festus, ed. C. O. Müller (Leipsic, +1839), p. 106, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Ignis.</q> Plutarch +describes a method of rekindling the +sacred fire by means of the sun's rays +reflected from a hollow mirror (<hi rend='italic'>Numa</hi>, +9); but he seems to be referring to a +Greek rather than to the Roman +custom. The rule of celibacy imposed +on the Vestals, whose duty it was to +relight the sacred fire as well as to +preserve it when it was once made, is +perhaps explained by a superstition +current among French peasants that +if a girl can blow up a smouldering +candle into a flame she is a virgin, but +that if she fails to do so, she is not. +See Jules Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage +Normand</hi> (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), +ii. 27; B. Souché, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances, +Présages et Traditions diverses</hi> (Niort, +1880), p. 12. At least it seems more +likely that the rule sprang from a +superstition of this sort than from a +simple calculation of expediency, as I +formerly suggested (<hi rend='italic'>Journal of Philology</hi>, +xiv. (1885) p. 158). Compare +<hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of +Kings</hi>, ii. 234 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The new +fire at +Hallow +E'en +among +the old +Celts of +Ireland. +The new +fire on +September +1st among +the Russian +peasants.</note> +Among the Celts of Ireland a new fire was annually +kindled on Hallowe'en or the Eve of Samhain, as they +called it, the last day of October, from which the Irish new +year began; and all the hearths throughout the country +are said to have been relighted from the fresh fire. The place +where this holy flame was lit bore the name of Tlachtga +or Tlactga; it has been identified with a rath or native +fort on the Hill of Ward near Athboy in the county of +Meath. <q>It was there,</q> says the old Irish historian, +Geoffrey Keating, <q>that the Festival of the Fire of Tlactga +was ordered to be held, and it was thither that the Druids +of Ireland were wont to repair and to assemble, in solemn +meeting, on the eve of Samhain, for the purpose of making +a sacrifice to all the gods. It was in that fire at Tlactga, +that their sacrifice was burnt; and it was made obligatory, +under pain of punishment, to extinguish all the fires of +Ireland, on that eve; and the men of Ireland were allowed +to kindle no other fire but that one; and for each of the +other fires, which were all to be lighted from it, the king of +Munster was to receive a tax of a <foreign rend='italic'>sgreball</foreign>, that is, of three +pence, because the land, upon which Tlactga was built, +belongs to the portion of Meath which had been taken from +Munster.</q><note place='foot'>Geoffrey Keating, D.D., <hi rend='italic'>The History +of Ireland, translated from the original +Gaelic, and copiously annotated</hi>, by John +O'Mahony (New York, 1857), p. 300, +with the translator's note. Compare +(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi> +(London, 1888), pp. 514 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the villages near Moscow at the present +time the peasants put out all their fires on the eve of the +first of September, and next morning at sunrise a wise man +or a wise woman rekindles them with the help of muttered +incantations and spells.<note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>Songs of the +Russian People</hi>, Second Edition (London, +1872), pp. 254 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Thus the +ceremony +of the new +fire in the +Eastern +and +Western +Church is +probably a +relic of an +old heathen +rite.</note> +Instances of such practices might doubtless be multiplied, +but the foregoing examples may suffice to render it +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> +probable that the ecclesiastical ceremony of lighting a sacred +new fire on Easter Saturday had originally nothing to do +with Christianity, but is merely one case of a world-wide +custom which the Church has seen fit to incorporate in its +ritual. It might be supposed that in the Western Church +the custom was merely a survival of the old Roman usage of +renewing the fire on the first of March, were it not that the +observance by the Eastern Church of the custom on the +same day seems to point back to a still older period when +the ceremony of lighting a new fire in spring, perhaps at +the vernal equinox, was common to many peoples of the +Mediterranean area. We may conjecture that wherever such +a ceremony has been observed, it originally marked the +beginning of a new year, as it did in ancient Rome and +Ireland, and as it still does in the Sudanese kingdom of +Wadai and among the Swahili of Eastern Africa. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The pagan +character +of the +Easter fire +appears +from the +superstitions +associated +with it, +such as the +belief that +the fire +fertilizes +the fields +and +protects +houses +from conflagration +and sickness.</note> +The essentially pagan character of the Easter fire festival +appears plainly both from the mode in which it is celebrated +by the peasants and from the superstitious beliefs which +they associate with it. All over northern and central +Germany, from Altmark and Anhalt on the east, through +Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg, the Harz district, and Hesse +to Westphalia the Easter bonfires still blaze simultaneously +on the hill-tops. As many as forty may sometimes be +counted within sight at once. Long before Easter the +young people have been busy collecting firewood; every +farmer contributes, and tar-barrels, petroleum cases, and so +forth go to swell the pile. Neighbouring villages vie with +each other as to which shall send up the greatest blaze. The +fires are always kindled, year after year, on the same hill, +which accordingly often takes the name of Easter Mountain. +It is a fine spectacle to watch from some eminence the bonfires +flaring up one after another on the neighbouring heights. +As far as their light reaches, so far, in the belief of the +peasants, the fields will be fruitful, and the houses on which +they shine will be safe from conflagration or sickness. At +Volkmarsen and other places in Hesse the people used to +observe which way the wind blew the flames, and then they +sowed flax seed in that direction, confident that it would grow +well. Brands taken from the bonfires preserve houses from +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> +being struck by lightning; and the ashes increase the fertility +of the fields, protect them from mice, and mixed with +the drinking-water of cattle make the animals thrive and +ensure them against plague. As the flames die down, +young and old leap over them, and cattle are sometimes +driven through the smouldering embers. In some places +tar-barrels or wheels wrapt in straw used to be set on +fire, and then sent rolling down the hillside. In others +the boys light torches and wisps of straw at the bonfires +and rush about brandishing them in their hands. +Where the people are divided between Protestantism and +Catholicism, as in Hildesheim, it has been observed that +among Protestants the Easter bonfires are generally left +to the boys, while in Catholic districts they are cared for +by grown-up persons, and here the whole population will +gather round the blazing pile and join in singing choral +hymns, which echo far and wide in the stillness of night.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, +<hi rend='italic'>Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und +Gebräuche</hi> (Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; +A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen +aus Westfalen</hi> (Leipsic, 1859), +ii. 134 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Märkische Sagen +und Märchen</hi> (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +J. D. H. Temme, <hi rend='italic'>Die Volkssagen der +Altmark</hi> (Berlin, 1839), pp. 75 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +K. Lynker, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen und Sitten +in hessischen Gauen</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Cassel and +Göttingen, 1860), p. 240; H. Pröhle, +<hi rend='italic'>Harzbilder</hi> (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; +R. Andree, <hi rend='italic'>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</hi> +(Brunswick, 1896), pp. 240-242; +W. Kolbe, <hi rend='italic'>Hessische Volks-Sitten und +Gebräuche</hi> (Marburg, 1888), pp. 44-47; +F. A. Reimann, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Volksfeste</hi> +(Weimar, 1839), p. 37; <q>Sitten und +Gebräuche in Duderstadt,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift +für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde</hi>, +ii. (1855) p. 107; K. Seifart, +<hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Märchen, Schwänke und Gebräuche +aus Stadt und Stift Hildesheim</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177, 180; +O. Hartung, <q>Zur Volkskunde aus +Anhalt,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift des Vereins für +Volkskunde</hi>, vii. (1897) p. 76.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Easter +fires in +Münsterland, +Oldenburg, +the Harz +Mountains, +and the +Altmark.</note> +In Münsterland these Easter fires are always kindled +upon certain definite hills, which are hence known as Easter +or Paschal Mountains. The whole community assembles +about the fire. Fathers of families form an inner circle +round it. An outer circle is composed of the young men +and maidens, who, singing Easter hymns, march round and +round the fire in the direction of the sun, till the blaze dies +down. Then the girls jump over the fire in a line, one +after the other, each supported by two young men who hold +her hands and run beside her. When the fire has burned +out, the whole assembly marches in solemn procession to +the church, singing hymns. They go thrice round the +church, and then break up. In the twilight boys with +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +blazing bundles of straw run over the fields to make them +fruitful.<note place='foot'>L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube und +Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi> +(Oldenburg, 1867), ii. pp. 43 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 313; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus der +Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme</hi> +(Berlin, 1875), pp. 505 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Delmenhorst, in Oldenburg, it used to be the +custom to cut down two trees, plant them in the ground +side by side, and pile twelve tar-barrels, one above the +other, against each of the trees. Brushwood was then +heaped about the trees, and on the evening of Easter +Saturday the boys, after rushing about with blazing bean-poles +in their hands, set fire to the whole. At the end of +the ceremony the urchins tried to blacken each other and +the clothes of grown-up people.<note place='foot'>L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. p. 43, +§ 313.</note> In Schaumburg the Easter +bonfires may be seen blazing on all the mountains around +for miles. They are made with a tar-barrel fastened to a +pine-tree, which is wrapt in straw. The people dance +singing round them.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +(Berlin, 1875-1878), i. 512; W. +Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus der Germanen +und ihrer Nachbarstämme</hi>, pp. +506 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the Harz Mountains the fire is +commonly made by piling brushwood about a tree and +setting it on fire. At Osterode every one tries to snatch a +brand from the bonfire and runs about with it; the better it +burns, the more lucky it is. In Grund there are torch-races.<note place='foot'>H. Pröhle, <hi rend='italic'>Harzbilder</hi> (Leipsic, +1855), p. 63; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, in <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für +deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde</hi>, +i. (1853) p. 79; A. Kuhn und W. +Schwartz, <hi rend='italic'>Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen +und Gebräuche</hi> (Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 507.</note> +In the Altmark the Easter bonfires are composed of tar-barrels, +bee-hives, and so forth, piled round a pole. The +young folk dance round the fire; and when it has died out, +the old folk come and collect the ashes, which they preserve +as a remedy for the ailments of bees. It is also believed +that as far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible, the corn +will grow well throughout the year, and no conflagration +will break out.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Märkische Sagen und +Märchen</hi> (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> At Braunröde, in the Harz Mountains, it +was the custom to burn squirrels in the Easter bonfire.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 508. Compare J. W. Wolf, +<hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</hi> +(Göttingen, 1852-1857), i. 74; J. +Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 512. +The two latter writers only state that +before the fires were kindled it was customary +to hunt squirrels in the woods.</note> In +the Altmark, bones were burned in it.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, p. 508.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Easter +fires in +Bavaria. +The +burning +of Judas. Burning +the Easter +Man.</note> +Further south the Easter fires are, or used to be, lit in +many districts of Bavaria. Thus on Easter Monday in +some parts of Middle Franken the schoolboys collect all the +old worn-out besoms they can lay hands on, and march with +them in a long procession to a neighbouring height. When +the first chime of the evening bell comes up from the dale +they set fire to the brooms, and run along the ridges waving +them, so that seen from below the hills appear to be crested +with a twinkling and moving chain of fire.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi> (Munich, 1860-1867), +iii. 956.</note> In some parts +of Upper Bavaria at Easter burning arrows or discs of wood +were shot from hill-tops high into the air, as in the Swabian +and Swiss customs already described.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>.</note> At Oberau, instead of +the discs, an old cart-wheel was sometimes wrapt in straw, +ignited, and sent rolling and blazing down the mountain. The +lads who hurled the discs received painted Easter eggs from +the girls.<note place='foot'>F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), i. +pp. 211 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 233; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 507 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Near Forchheim, in Upper Franken, a straw-man +called the Judas used to be burned in the churchyards on +Easter Saturday. The whole village contributed wood to +the pyre on which he perished, and the charred sticks were +afterwards kept and planted in the fields on Walpurgis Day +(the first of May) to preserve the wheat from blight and +mildew.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi>, iii. 357.</note> About a hundred years ago or more the custom at +Althenneberg, in Upper Bavaria, used to be as follows. On +the afternoon of Easter Saturday the lads collected wood, +which they piled in a cornfield, while in the middle of the +pile they set up a tall wooden cross all swathed in straw. +After the evening service they lighted their lanterns at the +consecrated candle in the church, and ran with them at full +speed to the pyre, each striving to get there first. The first +to arrive set fire to the heap. No woman or girl might +come near the bonfire, but they were allowed to watch it +from a distance. As the flames rose the men and lads +rejoiced and made merry, shouting, <q>We are burning the +Judas!</q> Two of them had to watch the glowing embers +the whole night long, lest people should come and steal +them. Next morning at sunrise they carefully collected the +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/> +ashes, and threw them into the running water of the Röten +brook. The man who had been the first to reach the pyre +and to kindle it was rewarded on Easter Sunday by the +women, who gave him coloured eggs at the church door. +Well-to-do women gave him two; poorer women gave him +only one. The object of the whole ceremony was to keep +off the hail. About a century ago the Judas fire, as it was +called, was put down by the police.<note place='foot'>F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), i. +pp. 212 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 236.</note> At Giggenhausen and +Aufkirchen, two other villages of Upper Bavaria, a similar +custom prevailed, yet with some interesting differences. +Here the ceremony, which took place between nine and ten +at night on Easter Saturday, was called <q>burning the +Easter Man.</q> On a height about a mile from the village +the young fellows set up a tall cross enveloped in straw, so +that it looked like a man with his arms stretched out. This +was the Easter Man. No lad under eighteen years of age +might take part in the ceremony. One of the young men +stationed himself beside the Easter Man, holding in his hand a +consecrated taper which he had brought from the church and +lighted. The rest stood at equal intervals in a great circle +round the cross. At a given signal they raced thrice round +the circle, and then at a second signal ran straight at the +cross and at the lad with the lighted taper beside it; the +one who reached the goal first had the right of setting fire +to the Easter Man. Great was the jubilation while he was +burning. When he had been consumed in the flames, three +lads were chosen from among the rest, and each of the +three drew a circle on the ground with a stick thrice round +the ashes. Then they all left the spot. On Easter Monday +the villagers gathered the ashes and strewed them on their +fields; also they planted in the fields palm-branches which +had been consecrated on Palm Sunday, and sticks which +had been charred and hallowed on Good Friday, all for the +purpose of protecting their fields against showers of hail. +The custom of burning an Easter Man made of straw on +Easter Saturday was observed also at Abensberg, in Lower +Bavaria.<note place='foot'>F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. pp. 78 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +§§ 114, 115. The customs observed +at these places and at Althenneberg +are described together by W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, p. 505.</note> In some parts of Swabia the Easter fires might +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> +not be kindled with iron or steel or flint, but only by the +friction of wood.<note place='foot'>A. Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Schwaben</hi> (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), +ii. p. 82, § 106; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, p. 508.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Easter fires +in Baden. +<q>Thunder +poles.</q></note> +In Baden bonfires are still kindled in the churchyards +on Easter Saturday, and ecclesiastical refuse of various sorts, +such as candle-ends, old surplices, and the wool used by the +priest in the application of extreme unction, is consumed in +the flames. At Zoznegg down to about 1850 the fire was +lighted by the priest by means of a flint which had never +been used before. People bring sticks, especially oaken +sticks, char them in the fire, and then carry them home and +keep them in the house as a preservative against lightning. +At Zoznegg these oaken sticks were sword-shaped, each +about an ell and a half long, and they went by the name of +<q>weather or thunder poles</q> (<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Wetterpfähle</foreign>). When a thunder-storm +threatened to break out, one of the sticks was put +into a small fire, in order that the hallowed smoke, ascending +to the clouds, might ward off the lightning from the house +and the hail from the fields and gardens. At Schöllbronn +the oaken sticks, which are thus charred in the Easter +bonfire and kept in the house as a protective against +thunder and lightning, are three in number, perhaps with +an allusion to the Trinity; they are brought every Easter +to be consecrated afresh in the bonfire, till they are quite +burnt away. In the lake district of Baden it is also +customary to burn one of these holy sticks in the fire +when a heavy thunderstorm is raging.<note place='foot'>Elard Hugo Meyer, <hi rend='italic'>Badisches +Volksleben</hi> (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 97 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Hence it seems +that the ancient association of the oak with the thunder<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 349 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> See further +below, vol. ii. pp. 298 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +persists in the minds of German peasants to the present +day. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Easter fires +in Holland +and +Sweden. The burning +of +Judas in +Bohemia.</note> +Thus the custom of the Easter fires appears to have +prevailed all over central and western Germany from north +to south. We find it also in Holland, where the fires were +kindled on the highest eminences, and the people danced +round them and leaped through the flames or over the +glowing embers. Here too, as so often in Germany, the +materials for the bonfire were collected by the young folk +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> +from door to door.<note place='foot'>J. W. Wolf, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi>, i. 75 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, p. 506.</note> In many parts of Sweden firearms are, +as at Athens, discharged in all directions on Easter eve, and +huge bonfires are lighted on hills and eminences. Some +people think that the intention is to keep off the Troll and +other evil spirits who are especially active at this season.<note place='foot'>L. Lloyd, <hi rend='italic'>Peasant Life in Sweden</hi> +(London, 1870), p. 228.</note> +When the afternoon service on Good Friday is over, German +children in Bohemia drive Judas out of the church by +running about the sacred edifice and even the streets shaking +rattles and clappers. Next day, on Easter Saturday, the +remains of the holy oil are burnt before the church door in +a fire which must be kindled with flint and steel. This fire +is called <q>the burning of Judas,</q> but in spite of its evil +name a beneficent virtue is ascribed to it, for the people +scuffle for the cinders, which they put in the roofs of their +houses as a safeguard against fire and lightning.<note place='foot'>W. Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur Volkskunde +der Deutschen in Mähren</hi> (Vienna +and Olmütz, 1893), pp. 321, 397 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +In Wagstadt, a town of Austrian +Silesia, a boy in a red waistcoat used +to play the part of Judas on the Wednesday +before Good Friday. He was +chased from before the church door by +the other school children, who pursued +him through the streets with shouts +and the noise of rattles and clappers +till they reached a certain suburb, +where they always caught and beat +him because he had betrayed the +Redeemer. See Anton Peter, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches +aus österreichisch-Schlesien</hi> +(Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 282 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Paul Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und +Volksglaube in Schlesien</hi> (Leipsic, +1903-1906), i. 77 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='3. The Beltane Fires.'/> +<head>§ 3. The Beltane Fires.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Beltane +fires on the +first of May +in the +Highlands +of Scotland. +Description +of the +Beltane +fires by +John +Ramsay of +Ochtertyre +in the +eighteenth +century.</note> +In the central Highlands of Scotland bonfires, known as +the Beltane fires, were formerly kindled with great ceremony +on the first of May, and the traces of human sacrifices at +them were particularly clear and unequivocal. The custom +of lighting the bonfires lasted in various places far into the +eighteenth century, and the descriptions of the ceremony by +writers of that period present such a curious and interesting +picture of ancient heathendom surviving in our own country +that I will reproduce them in the words of their authors. +The fullest of the descriptions, so far as I know, is the one +bequeathed to us by John Ramsay, laird of Ochtertyre, +near Crieff, the patron of Burns and the friend of Sir +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> +Walter Scott. From his voluminous manuscripts, written in +the last quarter of the eighteenth century, a selection was +published in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The +following account of Beltane is extracted from a chapter +dealing with Highland superstitions. Ramsay says: <q rend='pre'>But +the most considerable of the Druidical festivals is that of +Beltane, or May-day, which was lately observed in some parts +of the Highlands with extraordinary ceremonies. Of later +years it is chiefly attended to by young people, persons +advanced in years considering it as inconsistent with their +gravity to give it any countenance. Yet a number of circumstances +relative to it may be collected from tradition, or the +conversation of very old people, who witnessed this feast in +their youth, when the ancient rites were better observed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Need-fire.</note> +<q rend='pre'>This festival is called in Gaelic <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Beal-tene</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the fire +of Bel.... Like the other public worship of the Druids, +the Beltane feast seems to have been performed on hills or +eminences. They thought it degrading to him whose temple +is the universe, to suppose that he would dwell in any house +made with hands. Their sacrifices were therefore offered in +the open air, frequently upon the tops of hills, where they +were presented with the grandest views of nature, and were +nearest the seat of warmth and order. And, according to +tradition, such was the manner of celebrating this festival in +the Highlands within the last hundred years. But since the +decline of superstition, it has been celebrated by the people +of each hamlet on some hill or rising ground around which +their cattle were pasturing. Thither the young folks repaired +in the morning, and cut a trench, on the summit of which +a seat of turf was formed for the company. And in the +middle a pile of wood or other fuel was placed, which of old +they kindled with <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>tein-eigin</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, forced-fire or <emph>need-fire</emph>. +Although, for many years past, they have been contented +with common fire, yet we shall now describe the process, +because it will hereafter appear that recourse is still had to +the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>tein-eigin</foreign> upon extraordinary emergencies.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Need-fire +kindled by +the friction +of oak +wood.</note> +<q rend='pre'>The night before, all the fires in the country were +carefully extinguished, and next morning the materials for +exciting this sacred fire were prepared. The most primitive +method seems to be that which was used in the islands of +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> +Skye, Mull, and Tiree. A well-seasoned plank of oak was +procured, in the midst of which a hole was bored. A +wimble of the same timber was then applied, the end of +which they fitted to the hole. But in some parts of the +mainland the machinery was different. They used a frame +of green wood, of a square form, in the centre of which was +an axle-tree. In some places three times three persons, in +others three times nine, were required for turning round by +turns the axle-tree or wimble. If any of them had been +guilty of murder, adultery, theft, or other atrocious crime, +it was imagined either that the fire would not kindle, or +that it would be devoid of its usual virtue. So soon as any +sparks were emitted by means of the violent friction, they +applied a species of agaric which grows on old birch-trees, +and is very combustible. This fire had the appearance of +being immediately derived from heaven, and manifold were +the virtues ascribed to it. They esteemed it a preservative +against witchcraft, and a sovereign remedy against malignant +diseases, both in the human species and in cattle; and by +it the strongest poisons were supposed to have their nature +changed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Beltane +cake and +the Beltane +carline +(<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>cailleach</foreign>).</note> +<q rend='pre'>After kindling the bonfire with the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>tein-eigin</foreign> the +company prepared their victuals. And as soon as they had +finished their meal, they amused themselves a while in singing +and dancing round the fire. Towards the close of the +entertainment, the person who officiated as master of the +feast produced a large cake baked with eggs and scalloped +round the edge, called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>am bonnach beal-tine</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Beltane +cake. It was divided into a number of pieces, and distributed +in great form to the company. There was one +particular piece which whoever got was called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>cailleach +beal-tine</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Beltane <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>carline</foreign>, a term of great reproach. +Upon his being known, part of the company laid hold of +him and made a show of putting him into the fire; but the +majority interposing, he was rescued. And in some places +they laid him flat on the ground, making as if they would +quarter him. Afterwards, he was pelted with egg-shells, +and retained the odious appellation during the whole year. +And while the feast was fresh in people's memory, they +affected to speak of the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>cailleach beal-tine</foreign> as dead.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Local +differences +in the +Beltane +cakes.</note> +<q rend='pre'>This festival was longest observed in the interior +Highlands, for towards the west coast the traces of it are +faintest. In Glenorchy and Lorne, a large cake is made on +that day, which they consume in the house; and in Mull it +has a large hole in the middle, through which each of the +cows in the fold is milked. In Tiree it is of a triangular +form. The more elderly people remember when this festival +was celebrated without-doors with some solemnity in both +these islands. There are at present no vestiges of it in Skye +or the Long Island, the inhabitants of which have substituted +the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>connach Micheil</foreign> or St. Michael's cake. It is made at +Michaelmas with milk and oatmeal, and some eggs are +sprinkled on its surface. Part of it is sent to the neighbours.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Evidence +of two +fires at +Beltane.</note> +<q>It is probable that at the original Beltane festival there +were two fires kindled near one another. When any person +is in a critical dilemma, pressed on each side by unsurmountable +difficulties, the Highlanders have a proverb, <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>The e' eada +anda theine bealtuin</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, he is between the two Beltane +fires. There are in several parts small round hills, which, it +is like, owe their present names to such solemn uses. One +of the highest and most central in Icolmkil is called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Cnoch-nan-ainneal</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +the hill of the fires. There is another of +the same name near the kirk of Balquhidder; and at Killin +there is a round green eminence which seems to have been +raised by art. It is called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Tom-nan-ainneal</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the +eminence of the fires. Around it there are the remains of +a circular wall about two feet high. On the top a stone +stands upon end. According to the tradition of the inhabitants, +it was a place of Druidical worship; and it was +afterwards pitched on as the most venerable spot for holding +courts of justice for the country of Breadalbane. The earth +of this eminence is still thought to be possessed of some +healing virtue, for when cattle are observed to be diseased +some of it is sent for, which is rubbed on the part affected.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Scotland and Scotsmen in the +Eighteenth Century</hi>, from the MSS. +of John Ramsay, Esq., of Ochtertyre, +edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh +and London, 1888), ii. 439-445. +As to the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>tein-eigin</foreign> or need-fire, +see below, pp. 269 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The etymology +of the word Beltane is uncertain; +the popular derivation of the +first part from the Phoenician Baal +is absurd. See, for example, John +Graham Dalyell, <hi rend='italic'>The Darker Superstitions +of Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, 1834), +pp. 176 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>: <q>The recognition of the +pagan divinity Baal, or Bel, the Sun, +is discovered through innumerable +etymological sources. In the records +of Scottish history, down to the sixteenth +or seventeenth centuries, multiplied +prohibitions were issued from the +fountains of ecclesiastical ordinances, +against kindling <foreign rend='italic'>Bailfires</foreign>, of which +the origin cannot be mistaken. The +festival of this divinity was commemorated +in Scotland until the latest date.</q> +Modern scholars are not agreed as to +the derivation of the name Beltane. +See Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the +Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Glasgow, 1902), pp. 268 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. A. +MacCulloch, <hi rend='italic'>The Religion of the +Ancient Celts</hi> (Edinburgh, 1911), p. +264.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beltane +fires and +cakes in the +parish of +Callander.</note> +In the parish of Callander, a beautiful district of western +Perthshire, the Beltane custom was still in vogue towards +the end of the eighteenth century. It has been described +as follows by the parish minister of the time: <q>Upon the +first day of May, which is called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Beltan</foreign>, or <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Bal-tein</foreign> day, all +the boys in a township or hamlet, meet in the moors. They +cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by casting a +trench in the ground, of such circumference as to hold the +whole company. They kindle a fire, and dress a repast of +eggs and milk in the consistence of a custard. They knead +a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the embers against a +stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide the cake +into so many portions, as similar as possible to one another +in size and shape, as there are persons in the company. +They daub one of these portions all over with charcoal, until +it be perfectly black. They put all the bits of the cake +into a bonnet. Every one, blindfold, draws out a portion. +He who holds the bonnet, is entitled to the last bit. Whoever +draws the black bit, is the <emph>devoted</emph> person who is to be +sacrificed to <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Baal</foreign>,<note place='foot'><q><foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Bal-tein</foreign> signifies the <emph>fire of Baal</emph>. +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Baal</foreign> or <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Ball</foreign> is the only word in Gaelic +for <emph>a globe</emph>. This festival was probably +in honour of the sun, whose return, in +his apparent annual course, they celebrated, +on account of his having such a +visible influence, by his genial warmth, +on the productions of the earth. That +the Caledonians paid a superstitious +respect to the sun, as was the practice +among many other nations, is evident, +not only by the sacrifice at Baltein, but +upon many other occasions. When a +Highlander goes to bathe, or to drink +waters out of a consecrated fountain, +he must always approach by going +round the place, <emph>from east to west on +the south side</emph>, in imitation of the apparent +diurnal motion of the sun. +When the dead are laid in the earth, +the grave is approached by going round +in the same manner. The bride is +conducted to her future spouse, in the +presence of the minister, and the glass +goes round a company, in the course +of the sun. This is called, in Gaelic, +going round the right, or the <emph>lucky +way</emph>. The opposite course is the +wrong, or the <emph>unlucky</emph> way. And if +a person's meat or drink were to affect +the wind-pipe, or come against his +breath, they instantly cry out <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>deisheal!</foreign> +which is an ejaculation praying that it +may go by the right way</q> (Rev. J. +Robertson, in Sir John Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical +Account of Scotland</hi>, xi. 621 note). +Compare J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Superstitions +of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Glasgow, 1900), pp. 229 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>: <q><hi rend='italic'>The +Right-hand Turn</hi> (<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Deiseal</foreign>).—This was +the most important of all the observances. +The rule is <q><foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Deiseal</foreign> (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the +right-hand turn) for everything,</q> and +consists in doing all things with a +motion corresponding to the course +of the sun, or from left to right. +This is the manner in which screw-nails +are driven, and is common with +many for no reason but its convenience. +Old men in the Highlands were very +particular about it. The coffin was +taken <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>deiseal</foreign> about the grave, when +about to be lowered; boats were turned +to sea according to it, and drams are +given to the present day to a company. +When putting a straw rope on a house +or corn-stack, if the assistant went +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>tuaitheal</foreign> (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> against the course of the +sun), the old man was ready to come +down and thrash him. On coming to +a house the visitor should go round it +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>deiseal</foreign> to secure luck in the object of +his visit. After milking a cow the +dairy-maid should strike it <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>deiseal</foreign> with +the shackle, saying <q>out and home</q> +(<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>mach 'us dachaigh</foreign>). This secures its +safe return. The word is from <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>deas</foreign>, +right-hand, and <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>iul</foreign>, direction, and of +itself contains no allusion to the sun.</q> +Compare M. Martin, <q>Description of +the Western Islands of Scotland,</q> in +J. Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, +iii. 612 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>: <q>There was an ancient +custom in the island of Lewis, to make +a fiery circle about the houses, corn, +cattle, etc., belonging to each particular +family: a man carried fire in his +right hand, and went round, and it +was called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>dessil</foreign>, from the right hand, +which in the ancient language is called +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>dess</foreign>.... There is another way of the +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>dessil</foreign>, or carrying fire round about +women before they are churched, after +child-bearing; and it is used likewise +about children until they are christened; +both which are performed in the morning +and at night. This is only practised +now by some of the ancient midwives: +I enquired their reason for this +custom, which I told them was altogether +unlawful; this disobliged them +mightily, insomuch that they would +give me no satisfaction. But others, +that were of a more agreeable temper, +told me that fire-round was an effectual +means to preserve both the mother and +the infant from the power of evil spirits, +who are ready at such times to do mischief, +and sometimes carry away the +infant; and when they get them once +in their possession, return them poor +meagre skeletons; and these infants +are said to have voracious appetites, +constantly craving for meat. In this +case it was usual with those who +believed that their children were thus +taken away, to dig a grave in the fields +upon quarter-day, and there to lay +the fairy skeleton till next morning; +at which time the parents went to +the place, where they doubted not to +find their own child instead of this +skeleton. Some of the poorer sort +of people in these islands retain the +custom of performing these rounds sun-ways +about the persons of their benefactors +three times, when they bless +them, and wish good success to all +their enterprizes. Some are very careful +when they set out to sea that the +boat be first rowed about sun-ways; +and if this be neglected, they are +afraid their voyage may prove unfortunate.</q> +Probably the superstition +was based entirely on the supposed +luckiness of the right hand, which +accordingly, in making a circuit round +an object, is kept towards the centre. +As to a supposed worship of the sun +among the Scottish Highlanders, compare +J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and +Second Sight in the Highlands and +Islands of Scotland</hi>, p. 304: <q>Both +the sun (<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>a Ghrian</foreign>) and moon (<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>a +Ghealach</foreign>) are feminine in Gaelic, and +the names are simply descriptive of +their appearance. There is no trace +of a Sun-God or Moon-Goddess.</q> As +to the etymology of Beltane, see above, +p. <ref target='Pg149'>149</ref> note.</note> whose favour they mean to implore, in +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> +rendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +beast. There is little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices +having been once offered in this country, as well as in the +east, although they now pass from the act of sacrificing, and +only compel the <emph>devoted</emph> person to leap three times through +the flames; with which the ceremonies of this festival are +closed.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. James Robertson (Parish +Minister of Callander), in Sir John +Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical Account of Scotland</hi> +(Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xi. 620 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pennant's +description +of the +Beltane +fires and +cakes in +Perthshire.</note> +Thomas Pennant, who travelled in Perthshire in the +year 1769, tells us that <q>on the first of May, the herdsmen +of every village hold their Bel-tien, a rural sacrifice. +They cut a square trench on the ground, leaving the turf in +the middle; on that they make a fire of wood, on which +they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk; +and bring besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of +beer and whisky; for each of the company must contribute +something. The rites begin with spilling some of the caudle +on the ground, by way of libation: on that every one takes +a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square knobs, +each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver +of their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, +the real destroyer of them: each person then turns his face to +the fire, breaks off a knob, and flinging it over his shoulders, +says, <q>This I give to thee, preserve thou my horses; this to +thee, preserve thou my sheep; and so on.</q> After that, they +use the same ceremony to the noxious animals: <q>This I +give to thee, O fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O +hooded crow! this to thee, O eagle!</q> When the ceremony +is over, they dine on the caudle; and after the feast is +finished, what is left is hid by two persons deputed for that +purpose; but on the next Sunday they re-assemble, and +finish the reliques of the first entertainment.</q><note place='foot'>Pennant's <q>Tour in Scotland,</q> in +John Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi> +(London, 1808-1814), iii. 49.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beltane +cakes and +fires in the +parishes of +Logierait +and Kirkmichael. Omens +drawn +from the +cakes.</note> +Another writer of the eighteenth century has described +the Beltane festival as it was held in the parish of Logierait +in Perthshire. He says: <q>On the first of May, O.S., +a festival called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Beltan</foreign> is annually held here. It is chiefly +celebrated by the cow-herds, who assemble by scores in +the fields, to dress a dinner for themselves, of boiled milk +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> +and eggs. These dishes they eat with a sort of cakes +baked for the occasion, and having small lumps in the form +of <emph>nipples</emph>, raised all over the surface.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir +John Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical Account of +Scotland</hi>, v. 84.</note> In this last account +no mention is made of bonfires, but they were probably +lighted, for a contemporary writer informs us that in the +parish of Kirkmichael, which adjoins the parish of Logierait +on the east, the custom of lighting a fire in the fields and +baking a consecrated cake on the first of May was not quite +obsolete in his time.<note place='foot'>Rev. Allan Stewart, in Sir John +Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical Account of Scotland</hi>, +xv. 517 note.</note> We may conjecture that the cake +with knobs was formerly used for the purpose of determining +who should be the <q>Beltane carline</q> or victim doomed to +the flames. A trace of this custom survived, perhaps, in +the custom of baking oatmeal cakes of a special kind and +rolling them down hill about noon on the first of May; for +it was thought that the person whose cake broke as it rolled +would die or be unfortunate within the year. These cakes, +or bannocks as we call them in Scotland, were baked in the +usual way, but they were washed over with a thin batter +composed of whipped egg, milk or cream, and a little +oatmeal. This custom appears to have prevailed at or +near Kingussie in Inverness-shire. At Achterneed, near +Strathpeffer in Ross-shire, the Beltane bannocks were called +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>tcharnican</foreign> or hand-cakes, because they were kneaded entirely +in the hand, and not on a board or table like common +cakes; and after being baked they might not be placed +anywhere but in the hands of the children who were to eat +them.<note place='foot'>Rev. Walter Gregor, <q>Notes on +Beltane Cakes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, vi. (1895) +pp. 2 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The Beltane cakes with +the nine knobs on them remind us of +the cakes with twelve knobs which the +Athenians offered to Cronus and other +deities (see <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, p. 351). +The King of the Bean on Twelfth +Night was chosen by means of a cake, +which was broken in as many pieces as +there were persons present, and the +person who received the piece containing +a bean or a coin became king. +See J. Boemus, <hi rend='italic'>Mores, leges et ritus +omnium gentium</hi> (Lyons, 1541), p. +222; John Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 22 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. 313 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beltane +fires in the +north-east +of Scotland +to +burn the +witches. Burning +the +witches. +The +Beltane +cake.</note> +In the north-east of Scotland the Beltane fires were still +kindled in the latter half of the eighteenth century; the +herdsmen of several farms used to gather dry wood, kindle +it, and dance three times <q>southways</q> about the burning +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +pile.<note place='foot'>Shaw, in Pennant's <q>Tour in +Scotland,</q> printed in J. Pinkerton's +<hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi>, iii. 136. The +part of Scotland to which Shaw's +description applies is what he calls +the province or country of Murray, +extending from the river Spey on the +east to the river Beauly on the west, +and south-west to Loch Lochy.</note> But in this region, according to a later authority, the +Beltane fires were lit not on the first but on the second of +May, Old Style. They were called bone-fires. The people +believed that on that evening and night the witches were +abroad and busy casting spells on cattle and stealing cows' +milk. To counteract their machinations, pieces of rowan-tree +and woodbine, but especially of rowan-tree, were placed +over the doors of the cow-houses, and fires were kindled by +every farmer and cottar. Old thatch, straw, furze, or broom +was piled in a heap and set on fire a little after sunset. +While some of the bystanders kept tossing the blazing mass, +others hoisted portions of it on pitchforks or poles and ran +hither and thither, holding them as high as they could. +Meantime the young people danced round the fire or ran +through the smoke shouting, <q>Fire! blaze and burn the +witches; fire! fire! burn the witches.</q> In some districts a +large round cake of oat or barley meal was rolled through +the ashes. When all the fuel was consumed, the people +scattered the ashes far and wide, and till the night grew +quite dark they continued to run through them, crying, +<q>Fire! burn the witches.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. Walter Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the +Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland</hi> +(London, 1881), p. 167.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beltane +cakes and +fires in the +Hebrides.</note> +In the Hebrides <q>the Beltane bannock is smaller than +that made at St. Michael's, but is made in the same way; +it is no longer made in Uist, but Father Allan remembers +seeing his grandmother make one about twenty-five years +ago. There was also a cheese made, generally on the first +of May, which was kept to the next Beltane as a sort +of charm against the bewitching of milk-produce. The +Beltane customs seem to have been the same as elsewhere. +Every fire was put out and a large one lit on the top of +the hill, and the cattle driven round it sunwards (<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>dessil</foreign>), to +keep off murrain all the year. Each man would take home +fire wherewith to kindle his own.</q><note place='foot'>A. Goodrich-Freer, <q>More Folk-lore +from the Hebrides,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xiii. +(1902) p. 41. The St. Michael's cake +(<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Strùthan na h'eill Micheil</foreign>), referred +to in the text, is described as <q>the +size of a quern</q> in circumference. +<q>It is kneaded simply with water, and +marked across like a scone, dividing +it into four equal parts, and then placed +in front of the fire resting on a quern. +It is not polished with dry meal as is +usual in making a cake, but when it is +cooked a thin coating of eggs (four in +number), mixed with buttermilk, is +spread first on one side, then on the +other, and it is put before the fire +again. An earlier shape, still in use, +which tradition associates with the +female sex, is that of a triangle with +the corners cut off. A <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>strùthan</foreign> or +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>strùdhan</foreign> (the word seems to be used +for no other kind of cake) is made for +each member of the household, including +servants and herds. When harvest +is late, an early patch of corn is mown +on purpose for the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>strùthan</foreign></q> (A. +Goodrich-Freer, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 44 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beltane +fires and +cakes in +Wales.</note> +In Wales also the custom of lighting Beltane fires at +the beginning of May used to be observed, but the day on +which they were kindled varied from the Eve of May Day +to the third of May. The flame was sometimes elicited by +the friction of two pieces of oak, as appears from the following +description. <q>The fire was done in this way. Nine +men would turn their pockets inside out, and see that every +piece of money and all metals were off their persons. +Then the men went into the nearest woods, and collected +sticks of nine different kinds of trees. These were carried +to the spot where the fire had to be built. There a circle +was cut in the sod, and the sticks were set crosswise. All +around the circle the people stood and watched the proceedings. +One of the men would then take two bits of oak, +and rub them together until a flame was kindled. This +was applied to the sticks, and soon a large fire was made. +Sometimes two fires were set up side by side. These fires, +whether one or two, were called <foreign lang='cy' rend='italic'>coelcerth</foreign> or bonfire. Round +cakes of oatmeal and brown meal were split in four, and +placed in a small flour-bag, and everybody present had to +pick out a portion. The last bit in the bag fell to the lot +of the bag-holder. Each person who chanced to pick up a +piece of brown-meal cake was compelled to leap three times +over the flames, or to run thrice between the two fires, by +which means the people thought they were sure of a +plentiful harvest. Shouts and screams of those who had +to face the ordeal could be heard ever so far, and those who +chanced to pick the oatmeal portions sang and danced and +clapped their hands in approval, as the holders of the +brown bits leaped three times over the flames, or ran three +times between the two fires. As a rule, no danger attended +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> +these curious celebrations, but occasionally somebody's +clothes caught fire, which was quickly put out. The +greatest fire of the year was the eve of May, or May first, +second, or third. The Midsummer Eve fire was more for +the harvest. Very often a fire was built on the eve of +November. The high ground near the Castle Ditches at +Llantwit Major, in the Vale of Glamorgan, was a familiar +spot for the Beltane on May third and on Midsummer +Eve.... Sometimes the Beltane fire was lighted by the +flames produced by stone instead of wood friction. Charred +logs and faggots used in the May Beltane were carefully +preserved, and from them the next fire was lighted. May +fires were always started with old faggots of the previous +year, and midsummer from those of the last summer. It +was unlucky to build a midsummer fire from May faggots. +People carried the ashes left after these fires to their homes, +and a charred brand was not only effectual against +pestilence, but magical in its use. A few of the ashes +placed in a person's shoes protected the wearer from any +great sorrow or woe.</q><note place='foot'>Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), +pp. 22-24.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Welsh +belief that +passage +over or +between +the fires +ensured +good crops.</note> +From the foregoing account we learn that bonfires were +kindled in Wales on Midsummer Eve and Hallowe'en (the +thirty-first of October), as well as at the beginning of May, +but that the Beltane fires in May were deemed the most +important. To the Midsummer Eve and Hallowe'en fires +we shall return presently. The belief of the people that by +leaping thrice over the bonfires or running thrice between +them they ensured a plentiful harvest is worthy of note. +The mode in which this result was supposed to be +brought about is indicated by another writer on Welsh +folk-lore, according to whom it used to be held that <q>the +bonfires lighted in May or Midsummer protected the lands +from sorcery, so that good crops would follow. The ashes +were also considered valuable as charms.</q><note place='foot'>Jonathan Ceredig Davies, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore +of West and Mid-Wales</hi> (Aberystwyth, +1911), p. 76.</note> Hence it +appears that the heat of the fires was thought to fertilize +the fields, not directly by quickening the seeds in the +ground, but indirectly by counteracting the baleful influence +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> +of witchcraft or perhaps by burning up the persons of the +witches. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beltane +fires in the +Isle of +Man to +burn the +witches. +Beltane +fires in +Nottinghamshire.</note> +<q>The Druidical anniversary of Beil or Baal is still celebrated +in the Isle of Man. On the first of May, 1837, the +Baal fires were, as usual on that day, so numerous as to +give the island the appearance of a general conflagration.</q><note place='foot'>Joseph Train, <hi rend='italic'>An Historical and +Statistical Account of the Isle of Man</hi> +(Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), i. 314 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +By May Day in Manx folk-lore is meant May Day Old Style, +or <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Shenn Laa Boaldyn</foreign>, as it is called in Manx. The day +was one on which the power of elves and witches was +particularly dreaded, and the people resorted to many +precautions in order to protect themselves against these +mischievous beings. Hence at daybreak they set fire to the +ling or gorse, for the purpose of burning out the witches, +who are wont to lurk in the form of hares.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, +Welsh and Manx</hi> (Oxford, 1901), i. +309; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>The Coligny Calendar,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Proceedings of the British Academy, +1909-1910</hi>, pp. 261 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> See further +<hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution of +Kings</hi>, ii. 53 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> On the Hemlock +Stone, a natural pillar of sandstone standing on Stapleford +Hill in Nottinghamshire, a fire used to be solemnly kindled +every year on Beltane Eve. The custom seems to have +survived down to the beginning of the nineteenth century; +old people could remember and describe the ceremony long +after it had fallen into desuetude.<note place='foot'>Professor Frank Granger, <q>Early +Man,</q> in <hi rend='italic'>The Victoria History of the +County of Nottingham</hi>, edited by William +Page, i. (London, 1906) pp. 186 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beltane +fires in +Ireland.</note> +The Beltane fires appear to have been kindled also +in Ireland, for Cormac, <q>or somebody in his name, says +that <foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>belltaine</foreign>, May-day, was so called from the <q>lucky +fire,</q> or the <q>two fires,</q> which the druids of Erin used to +make on that day with great incantations; and cattle, he +adds, used to be brought to those fires, or to be driven +between them, as a safeguard against the diseases of the +year.</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, +Welsh and Manx</hi> (Oxford, 1901), i. +310; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <q>Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, ii. (1891) pp. 303 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, a very ancient Irish poem, enumerating +the May Day celebrations, mentions among them a bonfire +on a hill (<foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>tendal ar cnuc</foreign>); and another old authority says +that these fires were kindled in the name of the idol-god +Bel.<note place='foot'>P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>A Social History of +Ancient Ireland</hi> (London, 1903), i. 290 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, referring to Kuno Meyer, <hi rend='italic'>Hibernia +Minora</hi>, p. 49 and <hi rend='italic'>Glossary</hi>, 23.</note> From an old life of St. Patrick we learn that on a day +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> +in spring the heathen of Ireland were wont to extinguish +all their fires until a new fire was kindled with solemn +ceremony in the king's house at Tara. In the year in +which St. Patrick landed in Ireland it chanced that the +night of the extinguished fires coincided with the Eve of +Easter; and the saint, ignorant of this pagan superstition, +resolved to celebrate his first Easter in Ireland after the +true Christian fashion by lighting the holy Paschal fire on +the hill of Slane, which rises high above the left bank of the +Boyne, about twelve miles from the mouth of the river. +So that night, looking from his palace at Tara across the +darkened landscape, the king of Tara saw the solitary fire +flaring on the top of the hill of Slane, and in consternation +he asked his wise men what that light meant. They +warned him of the danger that it betokened for the ancient +faith of Erin.<note place='foot'>J. B. Bury, <hi rend='italic'>The Life of St. Patrick</hi> (London, 1905), pp. 104 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In spite of the difference of date between +Easter and Beltane, we may suspect that the new fire +annually kindled with solemn ceremony about Easter in the +king of Ireland's palace at Tara was no other than the Beltane +fire. We have seen that in the Highlands of Scotland down +to modern times it was customary to extinguish all fires +in the neighbourhood before proceeding to kindle the sacred +flame.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>.</note> The Irish historian Geoffrey Keating, who wrote in +the first part of the seventeenth century, tells us that the men +of Ireland held a great fair every year in the month of May +at Uisnech (<foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>Ushnagh</foreign>) in the county of Meath, <q>and at it +they were wont to exchange their goods and their wares and +their jewels. At it, they were, also, wont to make a sacrifice +to the Arch-God that they adored, whose name was Bèl +(<foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>bayl</foreign>). It was, likewise, their usage to light two fires to Bèl, +in every district of Ireland, at this season, and to drive a pair +of each kind of cattle that the district contained, between +those two fires, as a preservative to guard them against all +the diseases of that year. It is from that fire, thus made in +honour of Bèl, that the day [the first of May] on which the +noble feast of the apostles, Philip and James, is held, has +been called Bèltaini, or Bèaltaine (<foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>Bayltinnie</foreign>); for Beltaini +is the same as Bèil-teinè, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> Teiné Bhèil (<foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>Tinnie Vayl</foreign>) or +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> +Bèl's Fire.</q><note place='foot'>Geoffrey Keating, D.D., <hi rend='italic'>The +History of Ireland</hi>, translated by John +O'Mahony (New York, 1857), pp. +300 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The custom of driving cattle through or +between fires on May Day or the eve of May Day persisted +in Ireland down to a time within living memory. Thus Sir +John Rhys was informed by a Manxman that an Irish cattle-dealer +of his acquaintance used to drive his cattle through +fire on May Day so as to singe them a little, since he believed +that it would preserve them from harm. When the Manxman +was asked where the dealer came from, he answered, +<q>From the mountains over there,</q> pointing to the Mourne +Mountains then looming faintly in the mists on the western +horizon.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <q>Manx Folk-lore +and Superstition,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, ii. (1891) +p. 303; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh +and Manx</hi> (Oxford, 1901), i. 309. +Compare P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>A Social History +of Ancient Ireland</hi> (London, 1903), i. +291: <q>The custom of driving cattle +through fires against disease on the eve +of the 1st of May, and on the eve of +the 24th June (St. John's Day), continued +in Ireland, as well as in the +Scottish Highlands, to a period within +living memory.</q> In a footnote Mr. +Joyce refers to Carmichael, <hi rend='italic'>Carmina +Gadelica</hi>, ii. 340, for Scotland, and +adds, <q>I saw it done in Ireland.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fires on +the Eve of +May Day +in Sweden. +Fires on +the Eve +of May +Day in +Austria +and Saxony +for the +purpose of +burning +the witches.</note> +The first of May is a great popular festival in the more +midland and southern parts of Sweden. On the eve of the +festival, huge bonfires, which should be lighted by striking +two flints together, blaze on all the hills and knolls. Every +large hamlet has its own fire, round which the young people +dance in a ring. The old folk notice whether the flames +incline to the north or to the south. In the former case, the +spring will be cold and backward; in the latter, it will be +mild and genial.<note place='foot'>L. Lloyd, <hi rend='italic'>Peasant Life in Sweden</hi> +(London, 1870), pp. 233 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Similarly, in Bohemia, on the eve of +May Day, young people kindle fires on hills and eminences, +at crossways, and in pastures, and dance round them. They +leap over the glowing embers or even through the flames. +The ceremony is called <q>burning the witches.</q> In some +places an effigy representing a witch used to be burnt in +the bonfire.<note place='foot'>Reinsberg - Düringsfeld, <hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender +aus Böhmen</hi> (Prague, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), pp. +211 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Br. Jelínek, <q>Materialien +zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde +Böhmens,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen der anthropologischen +Gesellschaft in Wien</hi>, xxi. +(1891) p. 13; Alois John, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, +Brauch, und Volksglaube im deutschen +Westböhmen</hi> (Prague, 1905), p. 71.</note> We have to remember that the eve of May +Day is the notorious Walpurgis Night, when the witches are +everywhere speeding unseen through the air on their hellish +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> +errands. On this witching night children in Voigtland also +light bonfires on the heights and leap over them. Moreover, +they wave burning brooms or toss them into the air. So far +as the light of the bonfire reaches, so far will a blessing rest +on the fields. The kindling of the fires on Walpurgis Night +is called <q>driving away the witches.</q><note place='foot'>J. A. E. Köhler, <hi rend='italic'>Volksbrauch, +Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte +Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande</hi> (Leipsic, +1867), p. 373. The superstitions relating +to witches at this season are +legion. For instance, in Saxony and +Thuringia any one who labours under +a physical blemish can easily rid himself +of it by transferring it to the witches on +Walpurgis Night. He has only to go +out to a cross-road, make three crosses +on the blemish, and say, <q>In the name +of God the Father, the Son, and the +Holy Ghost.</q> Thus the blemish, whatever +it may be, is left behind him at the +cross-road, and when the witches sweep +by on their way to the Brocken, they +must take it with them, and it sticks +to them henceforth. Moreover, three +crosses chalked up on the doors of +houses and cattle-stalls on Walpurgis +Night will effectually prevent any of +the infernal crew from entering and +doing harm to man or beast. See E. +Sommer, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche +aus Sachsen und Thüringen</hi> (Halle, +1846), pp. 148 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Die gestriegelte +Rockenphilosophie</hi> (Chemnitz, 1759), p. +116.</note> The custom of +kindling fires on the eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) for +the purpose of burning the witches is, or used to be, widespread +in the Tyrol, Moravia, Saxony and Silesia.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. 158 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='4. The Midsummer Fires.'/> +<head>§ 4. The Midsummer Fires.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The great +season for +fire-festivals +in +Europe is +the summer +solstice, +Midsummer +Eve or +Midsummer +Day, which +the church +has dedicated +to +St. John +the Baptist. The bonfires, +the +torches, +and the +burning +wheels of +the festival.</note> +But the season at which these fire-festivals have been +mostly generally held all over Europe is the summer solstice, +that is Midsummer Eve (the twenty-third of June) or Midsummer +Day (the twenty-fourth of June). A faint tinge of +Christianity has been given to them by naming Midsummer +Day after St. John the Baptist, but we cannot doubt that the +celebration dates from a time long before the beginning of +our era. The summer solstice, or Midsummer Day, is the +great turning-point in the sun's career, when, after climbing +higher and higher day by day in the sky, the luminary stops +and thenceforth retraces his steps down the heavenly road. +Such a moment could not but be regarded with anxiety by +primitive man so soon as he began to observe and ponder +the courses of the great lights across the celestial vault; and +having still to learn his own powerlessness in face of the vast +cyclic changes of nature, he may have fancied that he could +help the sun in his seeming decline—could prop his failing +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +steps and rekindle the sinking flame of the red lamp in his +feeble hand. In some such thoughts as these the midsummer +festivals of our European peasantry may perhaps have taken +their rise. Whatever their origin, they have prevailed all over +this quarter of the globe, from Ireland on the west to Russia +on the east, and from Norway and Sweden on the north to +Spain and Greece on the south.<note place='foot'>As to the Midsummer Festival of +Europe in general see the evidence +collected in the <q>Specimen Calendarii +Gentilis,</q> appended to the <hi rend='italic'>Edda +Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina +dicta</hi>, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, +1828) pp. 1086-1097.</note> According to a mediæval +writer, the three great features of the midsummer celebration +were the bonfires, the procession with torches round the +fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel. He tells us that +boys burned bones and filth of various kinds to make a foul +smoke, and that the smoke drove away certain noxious +dragons which at this time, excited by the summer heat, +copulated in the air and poisoned the wells and rivers by +dropping their seed into them; and he explains the custom of +trundling a wheel to mean that the sun, having now reached +the highest point in the ecliptic, begins thenceforward to +descend.<note place='foot'><p>John Mitchell Kemble, <hi rend='italic'>The Saxons +in England</hi>, New Edition (London, +1876), i. 361 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, quoting <q>an ancient +MS. written in England, and now in +the Harleian Collection, No. 2345, +fol. 50.</q> The passage is quoted in +part by J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 298 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, by R. T. Hampson, <hi rend='italic'>Medii +Aevi Kalendarium</hi> (London, 1841), +i. 300, and by W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der +Baumkultus</hi>, p. 509. The same explanations +of the Midsummer fires and +of the custom of trundling a burning +wheel on Midsummer Eve are given +also by John Beleth, a writer of the +twelfth century. See his <hi rend='italic'>Rationale +Divinorum Officiorum</hi> (appended to +the <hi rend='italic'>Rationale Divinorum Officiorum</hi> +of G. [W.] Durandus, Lyons, 1584), +p. 556 <hi rend='italic'>recto</hi>: <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Solent porro hoc tempore</foreign> +[the Eve of St. John the Baptist] +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex veteri consuetudine mortuorum animalium +ossa comburi, quod hujusmodi +habet originem. Sunt enim animalia, +quae dracones appellamus.... Haec +inquam animalia in aere volant, in +aquis natant, in terra ambulant. Sed +quando in aere ad libidinem concitantur +(quod fere fit) saepe ipsum sperma vel +in puteos, vel in aquas fluviales ejiciunt +ex quo lethalis sequitur annus. Adversus +haec ergo hujusmodi inventum est +remedium, ut videlicet rogus ex ossibus +construeretur, et ita fumus hujusmodi +animalia fugaret. Et quia istud maxime +hoc tempore fiebat, idemetiam modo ab +omnibus observatur.... Consuetum +item est hac vigilia ardentes deferri +faculas quod Johannes fuerit ardens +lucerna, et qui vias Domini praeparaverit. +Sed quod etiam rota vertatur +hinc esse putant quia in eum circulum +tunc Sol descenderit ultra quem progredi +nequit, a quo cogitur paulatim +descendere.</foreign></q> The substance of the passage +is repeated in other words by G. +Durandus (Wilh. Durantis), a writer +of the thirteenth century, in his <hi rend='italic'>Rationale +Divinorum Officiorum</hi>, lib. vii. +cap. 14 (p. 442 <hi rend='italic'>verso</hi>, ed. Lyons, 1584). +Compare J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 516. +</p> +<p> +With the notion that the air is +poisoned at midsummer we may +compare the popular belief that it is +similarly infected at an eclipse. Thus +among the Esquimaux on the Lower +Yukon river in Alaska <q>it is believed +that a subtle essence or unclean influence +descends to the earth during an eclipse, +and if any of it is caught in utensils +of any kind it will produce sickness. +As a result, immediately on the commencement +of an eclipse, every woman +turns bottom side up all her pots, +wooden buckets, and dishes</q> (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) p. 431). +Similar notions and practices prevail +among the peasantry of southern +Germany. Thus the Swabian peasants +think that during an eclipse of the sun +poison falls on the earth; hence at such +a time they will not sow, mow, gather +fruit or eat it, they bring the cattle into +the stalls, and refrain from business of +every kind. If the eclipse lasts long, +the people get very anxious, set a +burning candle on the mantel-shelf of +the stove, and pray to be delivered from +the danger. See Anton Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches +aus Schwaben</hi> (Freiburg im +Breisgau, 1861-1862), i. 189. Similarly +Bavarian peasants imagine that +water is poisoned during a solar eclipse +(F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi>, ii. 297); and Thuringian +bumpkins cover up the wells and bring +the cattle home from pasture during an +eclipse either of the sun or of the moon; +an eclipse is particularly poisonous when +it happens to fall on a Wednesday. +See August Witzschel, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Thüringen</hi> (Vienna, +1878), p. 287. As eclipses are commonly +supposed by the ignorant to be +caused by a monster attacking the sun +or moon (E. B. Tylor, <hi rend='italic'>Primitive +Culture</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> London, 1873, i. 328 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>), +we may surmise, on the analogy of the +explanation given of the Midsummer +fires, that the unclean influence which +is thought to descend on the earth at +such times is popularly attributed to +seed discharged by the monster or possibly +by the sun or moon then in conjunction +with each other.</p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Th. Kirchmeyer's +description +of the Midsummer +festival.</note> +A good general account of the midsummer customs, +together with some of the reasons popularly alleged for +observing them, is given by Thomas Kirchmeyer, a writer +of the sixteenth century, in his poem <hi rend='italic'>The Popish Kingdome</hi>:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his turne,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>When bonfiers great with loftie flame, in every towne doe burne;</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And yong men round about with maides, doe daunce in every streete,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>With garlands wrought of Motherwort, or else with Vervain sweete,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And many other flowres faire, with Violets in their handes,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Whereas they all do fondly thinke, that whosoever standes,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And thorow the flowres beholds the flame, his eyes shall feele no paine.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>When thus till night they daunced have, they through the fire amaine</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>With striving mindes doe runne, and all their hearbes they cast therin,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And then with wordes devout and prayers, they solemnely begin,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Desiring God that all their illes may there consumed bee,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Whereby they thinke through all that yeare from Agues to be free.</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Some others get a rotten wheele, all worne and cast aside,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Which covered round about with strawe, and tow, they closely hide:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And caryed to some mountaines top, being all with fire light,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>They hurle it downe with violence, when darke appeares the night:</hi></l> +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Resembling much the Sunne, that from the heavens downe should fal,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>A straunge and monstrous sight it seemes, and fearfull to them all:</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>But they suppose their mischiefes all are likewise throwne to hell,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And that from harmes and daungers now, in safetie here they dwell.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Popish Kingdome or reigne of +Antichrist, written in Latin verse by +Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by +Barnabe Googe, 1570</hi>, edited by R. C. +Hope (London, 1880), p. 54 <hi rend='italic'>verso</hi>. +As to this work see above, p. <ref target='Pg125'>125</ref> +note 1.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +From these general descriptions, which to some extent still +hold good, or did so till lately, we see that the main features +of the midsummer fire-festival resemble those which we have +found to characterize the vernal festivals of fire. The +similarity of the two sets of ceremonies will plainly appear +from the following examples. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Germany. +The celebration +at Konz +on the +Moselle: +the rolling +of a burning +wheel +down hill.</note> +A writer of the first half of the sixteenth century informs +us that in almost every village and town of Germany public +bonfires were kindled on the Eve of St. John, and young and +old, of both sexes, gathered about them and passed the time +in dancing and singing. People on this occasion wore chaplets +of mugwort and vervain, and they looked at the fire through +bunches of larkspur which they held in their hands, believing +that this would preserve their eyes in a healthy state throughout +the year. As each departed, he threw the mugwort and +vervain into the fire, saying, <q>May all my ill-luck depart +and be burnt up with these.</q><note place='foot'>J. Boemus, <hi rend='italic'>Mores, leges et ritus +omnium gentium</hi> (Lyons, 1541), pp. +225 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Lower Konz, a village +prettily situated on a hillside overlooking the Moselle, in the +midst of a wood of walnut-trees and fruit-trees, the midsummer +festival used to be celebrated as follows. A quantity +of straw was collected on the top of the steep Stromberg +Hill. Every inhabitant, or at least every householder, had +to contribute his share of straw to the pile; a recusant was +looked at askance, and if in the course of the year he +happened to break a leg or lose a child, there was not a +gossip in the village but knew the reason why. At nightfall +the whole male population, men and boys, mustered on the +top of the hill; the women and girls were not allowed to +join them, but had to take up their position at a certain +spring half-way down the slope. On the summit stood a +huge wheel completely encased in some of the straw which +had been jointly contributed by the villagers; the rest of the +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> +straw was made into torches. From each side of the wheel +the axle-tree projected about three feet, thus furnishing +handles to the lads who were to guide it in its descent. The +mayor of the neighbouring town of Sierck, who always +received a basket of cherries for his services, gave the signal; +a lighted torch was applied to the wheel, and as it burst into +flame, two young fellows, strong-limbed and swift of foot, +seized the handles and began running with it down the +slope. A great shout went up. Every man and boy waved +a blazing torch in the air, and took care to keep it alight so +long as the wheel was trundling down the hill. Some of +them followed the fiery wheel, and watched with amusement +the shifts to which its guides were put in steering it round +the hollows and over the broken ground on the mountainside. +The great object of the young men who guided the +wheel was to plunge it blazing into the water of the Moselle; +but they rarely succeeded in their efforts, for the vineyards +which cover the greater part of the declivity impeded their +progress, and the wheel was often burned out before it +reached the river. As it rolled past the women and girls at +the spring, they raised cries of joy which were answered by +the men on the top of the mountain; and the shouts were +echoed by the inhabitants of neighbouring villages who +watched the spectacle from their hills on the opposite bank +of the Moselle. If the fiery wheel was successfully conveyed +to the bank of the river and extinguished in the water, the +people looked for an abundant vintage that year, and the +inhabitants of Konz had the right to exact a waggon-load of +white wine from the surrounding vineyards. On the other +hand, they believed that, if they neglected to perform the +ceremony, the cattle would be attacked by giddiness and +convulsions and would dance in their stalls.<note place='foot'>Tessier, <q>Sur la fête annuelle de +la roue flamboyante de la Saint-Jean, à +Basse-Kontz, arrondissement de Thionville,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Mémoires et dissertations publiés +par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de +France</hi>, v. (1823) pp. 379-393. Tessier +witnessed the ceremony, 23rd June 1822 +(not 1823, as is sometimes stated). His +account has been reproduced more or +less fully by J. Grimm (<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 515 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>), W. Mannhardt +(<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, pp. 510 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>), and +H. Gaidoz (<q>Le dieu gaulois du Soleil +et le symbolisme de la Roue,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Revue +Archéologique</hi>, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. +24 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Bavaria. Cattle +driven +through +the fire. +The new +fire. +Omens of +the harvest +drawn from +the fires. Burning +discs +thrown into +the air.</note> +Down at least to the middle of the nineteenth century +the midsummer fires used to blaze all over Upper Bavaria. +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> +They were kindled especially on the mountains, but also far +and wide in the lowlands, and we are told that in the darkness +and stillness of night the moving groups, lit up by +the flickering glow of the flames, presented an impressive +spectacle. In some places the people shewed their sense of +the sanctity of the fires by using for fuel the trees past which +the gay procession had defiled, with fluttering banners, on +Corpus Christi Day. In others the children collected the +firewood from door to door on the eve of the festival, singing +their request for fuel at every house in doggerel verse. Cattle +were driven through the fire to cure the sick animals and to +guard such as were sound against plague and harm of every +kind throughout the year. Many a householder on that +day put out the fire on the domestic hearth and rekindled +it by means of a brand taken from the midsummer bonfire. +The people judged of the height to which the flax would +grow in the year by the height to which the flames of the +bonfire rose; and whoever leaped over the burning pile was +sure not to suffer from backache in reaping the corn at +harvest. But it was especially the practice for lovers to +spring over the fire hand in hand, and the way in which +each couple made the leap was the subject of many a jest +and many a superstition. In one district the custom of +kindling the bonfires was combined with that of lighting +wooden discs and hurling them in the air after the manner +which prevails at some of the spring festivals.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde +des Königreichs Bayern</hi> (Munich, 1860-1867), +i. 373 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, iii. 327 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> As to the burning discs at the +spring festivals, see above, pp. <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +<ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>, <ref target='Pg143'>143</ref>.</note> In many +parts of Bavaria it was believed that the flax would grow as +high as the young people leaped over the fire.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi> ii. 260 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, iii. 936, 956, +iv. 2. p. 360.</note> In others +the old folk used to plant three charred sticks from the +bonfire in the fields, believing that this would make the flax +grow tall.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi> ii. 260.</note> Elsewhere an extinguished brand was put in +the roof of the house to protect it against fire. In the towns +about Würzburg the bonfires used to be kindled in the +market-places, and the young people who jumped over them +wore garlands of flowers, especially of mugwort and vervain, +and carried sprigs of larkspur in their hands. They thought +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> +that such as looked at the fire holding a bit of larkspur +before their face would be troubled by no malady of the +eyes throughout the year.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Op. cit.</hi> iv. 1. p. 242. We have +seen (p. <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>) that in the sixteenth +century these customs and beliefs were +common in Germany. It is also a +German superstition that a house which +contains a brand from the midsummer +bonfire will not be struck by lightning +(J. W. Wolf, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi>, i. p. 217, § 185).</note> Further, it was customary at +Würzburg, in the sixteenth century, for the bishop's followers +to throw burning discs of wood into the air from a mountain +which overhangs the town. The discs were discharged by +means of flexible rods, and in their flight through the darkness +presented the appearance of fiery dragons.<note place='foot'>J. Boemus, <hi rend='italic'>Mores, leges et ritus +omnium gentium</hi> (Lyons, 1541), p. +226.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Swabia. +Omens +drawn from +the leaps +over the +fires. +Burning +wheels +rolled +down hill. Burning +the Angel-Man +at +Rottenburg.</note> +In the valley of the Lech, which divides Upper Bavaria +from Swabia, the midsummer customs and beliefs are, or +used to be, very similar. Bonfires are kindled on the +mountains on Midsummer Day; and besides the bonfire +a tall beam, thickly wrapt in straw and surmounted by a +cross-piece, is burned in many places. Round this cross as +it burns the lads dance with loud shouts; and when the +flames have subsided, the young people leap over the fire in +pairs, a young man and a young woman together. If they +escape unsmirched, the man will not suffer from fever, and +the girl will not become a mother within the year. Further, +it is believed that the flax will grow that year as high as +they leap over the fire; and that if a charred billet be taken +from the fire and stuck in a flax-field it will promote the +growth of the flax.<note place='foot'>Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, +<hi rend='italic'>Aus dem Lechrain</hi> (Munich, 1855), +pp. 181 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der +Baumkultus</hi>, p. 510.</note> Similarly in Swabia, lads and lasses, +hand in hand, leap over the midsummer bonfire, praying +that the hemp may grow three ells high, and they set fire +to wheels of straw and send them rolling down the hill. +Among the places where burning wheels were thus bowled +down hill at Midsummer were the Hohenstaufen mountains +in Wurtemberg and the Frauenberg near Gerhausen.<note place='foot'>A. Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Schwaben</hi> (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), +ii. pp. 96 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, § 128, pp. 103 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 129; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Aus Schwaben</hi> (Wiesbaden, +1874), ii. 116-120; E. Meier, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche +aus Schwaben</hi> (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. +423 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 510.</note> +At Deffingen, in Swabia, as the people sprang over the midsummer +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> +bonfire they cried out, <q>Flax, flax! may the flax +this year grow seven ells high!</q><note place='foot'>F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), i. +pp. 215 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 242; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, ii. 549.</note> At Rottenburg in +Swabia, down to the year 1807 or 1808, the festival was +marked by some special features. About mid-day troops +of boys went about the town begging for firewood at the +houses. In each troop there were three leaders, one of +whom carried a dagger, a second a paper banner, and a +third a white plate covered with a white cloth. These three +entered each house and recited verses, in which they expressed +an intention of roasting Martin Luther and sending +him to the devil; and for this meritorious service they +expected to be paid, the contributions being received in +the cloth-covered plate. In the evening they counted up +their money and proceeded to <q>behead the Angel-man.</q> +For this ceremony an open space was chosen, sometimes in +the middle of the town. Here a stake was thrust into the +ground and straw wrapt about it, so as to make a rude +effigy of human form with arms, head, and face. Every +boy brought a handful of nosegays and fastened them to +the straw-man, who was thus enveloped in flowers. Fuel +was heaped about the stake and set on fire. When the +Angel-man, as the straw-effigy was called, blazed up, all the +boys of the neighbourhood, who had gathered expectantly +around, fell upon him with their wooden swords and hewed +him to pieces. As soon as he had vanished in smoke and +flame, the lads leaped backward and forward over the glowing +embers, and later in the evening they feasted on the +proceeds of their collection.<note place='foot'>A. Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Schwaben</hi> (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), +ii. 99-101.</note> Here the Angel-man burnt +in the fire appears to be identified with Martin Luther, to +whom, as we have seen, allusion was made during the +house-to-house visitation. The identification was probably +modern, for we may assume that the custom of burning +an effigy in the Midsummer bonfire is far older than the +time of Luther. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Baden. Omens +drawn from +leaps over +the fires. +Burning +discs +thrown into +the air. Midsummer +fires in +Alsace, +Lorraine, +the Eifel, +the Harz +districts +and +Thuringia. +Burning +barrel +swung +round a +pole.</note> +In Baden the children used to collect fuel from house +to house for the Midsummer bonfire on St. John's Day; +and lads and lasses leaped over the fire in couples. Here, +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> +as elsewhere, a close connexion was traced between these +bonfires and the harvest. In some places it was thought +that those who leaped over the fires would not suffer from +backache at reaping. Sometimes, as the young folk sprang +over the flames, they cried, <q>Grow, that the hemp may be +three ells high!</q> This notion that the hemp or the corn +would grow as high as the flames blazed or as the people +jumped over them, seems to have been widespread in Baden. +It was held that the parents of the young people who +bounded highest over the fire would have the most abundant +harvest; and on the other hand, if a man contributed nothing +to the bonfire, it was imagined that there would be no blessing +on his crops, and that his hemp in particular would +never grow.<note place='foot'>Elard Hugo Mayer, <hi rend='italic'>Badisches +Volksleben</hi> (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 103 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 225 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the neighbourhood of Bühl and Achern +the St. John's fires were kindled on the tops of hills; only +the unmarried lads of the village brought the fuel, and only +the unmarried young men and women sprang through the +flames. But most of the villagers, old and young, gathered +round the bonfires, leaving a clear space for the leapers to +take their run. One of the bystanders would call out the +names of a pair of sweethearts; on which the two would +step out from the throng, take each other by the hand, and +leap high and lightly through the swirling smoke and flames, +while the spectators watched them critically and drew omens +of their married life from the height to which each of them +bounded. Such an invitation to jump together over the +bonfire was regarded as tantamount to a public betrothal.<note place='foot'>W. von Schulenberg, in <hi rend='italic'>Verhandlungen +der Berliner Gesellschaft für +Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, +Jahrgang 1897</hi>, pp. 494 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +(bound up with <hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Ethnologie</hi>, +xxix. 1897).</note> +Near Offenburg, in the Black Forest, on Midsummer Day +the village boys used to collect faggots and straw on some +steep and conspicuous height, and they spent some time in +making circular wooden discs by slicing the trunk of a pine-tree +across. When darkness had fallen, they kindled the +bonfire, and then, as it blazed up, they lighted the discs at +it, and, after swinging them to and fro at the end of a stout +and supple hazel-wand, they hurled them one after the other, +whizzing and flaming, into the air, where they described +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> +great arcs of fire, to fall at length, like shooting-stars, at the +foot of the mountain.<note place='foot'>H. Gaidoz, <q>Le dieu Gaulois du +Soleil et le symbolisme de la Roue,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Revue Archéologique</hi>, iii. Série, iv. +(1884) pp. 29 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In many parts of Alsace and Lorraine +the midsummer fires still blaze annually or did so not +very many years ago.<note place='foot'>Bruno Stehle, <q>Volksglauben, +Sitten und Gebräuche in Lothringen,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lix. (1891) pp. 378 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <q>Die +Sommerwendfeier im St. Amarinthale,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Der Urquell</hi>, N.F., i. (1897) pp. 181 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> At Speicher in the Eifel, a district +which lies on the middle Rhine, to the west of Coblentz, a +bonfire used to be kindled in front of the village on St. +John's Day, and all the young people had to jump over it. +Those who failed to do so were not allowed to join the rest +in begging for eggs from house to house. Where no eggs +were given, they drove a wedge into the keyhole of the +door. On this day children in the Eifel used also to gather +flowers in the fields, weave them into garlands, and throw +the garlands on the roofs or hang them on the doors of the +houses. So long as the flowers remained there, they were +supposed to guard the house from fire and lightning.<note place='foot'>J. H. Schmitz, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten und Sagen, +Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des +Eifler Volkes</hi> (Treves, 1856-1858), i. +40 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> According to one writer, the +garlands are composed of St. John's +wort (Montanus, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutschen Volksfeste, +Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube</hi>, +Iserlohn, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>, p. 33). As to +the use of St. John's wort at Midsummer, +see below, vol. ii. pp. 54 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In +the southern Harz district and in Thuringia the Midsummer +or St. John's fires used to be commonly lighted down to +about the middle of the nineteenth century, and the custom +has probably not died out. At Edersleben, near Sangerhausen, +a high pole was planted in the ground and a tar-barrel +was hung from it by a chain which reached to the +ground. The barrel was then set on fire and swung round +the pole amid shouts of joy.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, <hi rend='italic'>Norddeutsche +Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche</hi> +(Leipsic, 1848), p. 390.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Midsummer +fires +kindled by +the friction +of wood in +Germany +and Switzerland. Driving +away +demons +and +witches.</note> +According to one account, German tradition required +that the midsummer fire should be lighted, not from a common +hearth, but by the friction of two sorts of wood, namely +oak and fir.<note place='foot'>Montanus, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutschen Volksfeste, +Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube</hi> +(Iserlohn, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), pp. 33 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In some old farm-houses of the Surenthal and +Winenthal, in Switzerland, a couple of holes or a whole row +of them may be seen facing each other in the door-posts of +the barn or stable. Sometimes the holes are smooth and +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> +round; sometimes they are deeply burnt and blackened. +The explanation of them is this. About midsummer, but +especially on Midsummer Day, two such holes are bored +opposite each other, into which the extremities of a strong +pole are fixed. The holes are then stuffed with tow steeped +in resin and oil; a rope is looped round the pole, and two +young men, who must be brothers or must have the same +baptismal name, and must be of the same age, pull the ends +of the rope backwards and forwards so as to make the pole +revolve rapidly, till smoke and sparks issue from the two +holes in the door-posts. The sparks are caught and blown +up with tinder, and this is the new and pure fire, the +appearance of which is greeted with cries of joy. Heaps of +combustible materials are now ignited with the new fire, and +blazing bundles are placed on boards and sent floating down +the brook. The boys light torches at the new fire and run +to fumigate the pastures. This is believed to drive away all +the demons and witches that molest the cattle. Finally the +torches are thrown in a heap on the meadow and allowed to +burn out. On their way back the boys strew the ashes over +the fields, which is supposed to make them fertile. If a +farmer has taken possession of a new house, or if servants +have changed masters, the boys fumigate the new abode and +are rewarded by the farmer with a supper.<note place='foot'>C. L. Rochholz, <hi rend='italic'>Deutscher Glaube und Brauch</hi> (Berlin, 1867), ii. 144 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Midsummer +fires in +Silesia. +Scaring +away the +witches.</note> +In Silesia, from the south-eastern part of the Sudeten +range and north-westward as far as Lausitz, the mountains +are ablaze with bonfires on Midsummer Eve; and from the +valleys and the plains round about Leobschütz, Neustadt, +Zülz, Oels, and other places answering fires twinkle through +the deepening gloom. While they are smouldering and +sending forth volumes of smoke across the fields, young men +kindle broom-stumps, soaked in pitch, at the bonfires and +then, brandishing the stumps, which emit showers of sparks, +they chase one another or dance with the girls round the +burning pile. Shots, too, are fired, and shouts raised. The +fire, the smoke, the shots, and the shouts are all intended to +scare away the witches, who are let loose on this witching +day, and who would certainly work harm to the crops and the +cattle, if they were not deterred by these salutary measures. +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +Mere contact with the fire brings all sorts of blessings. +Hence when the bonfire is burning low, the lads leap over it, +and the higher they bound, the better is the luck in store for +them. He who surpasses his fellows is the hero of the day +and is much admired by the village girls. It is also thought +to be very good for the eyes to stare steadily at the bonfire +without blinking; moreover he who does so will not drowse +and fall asleep betimes in the long winter evenings. On +Midsummer Eve the windows and doors of houses in Silesia +are crowned with flowers, especially with the blue corn-flowers +and the bright corn-cockles; in some villages long +strings of garlands and nosegays are stretched across the +streets. The people believe that on that night St. John +comes down from heaven to bless the flowers and to keep +all evil things from house and home.<note place='foot'>Philo vom Walde, <hi rend='italic'>Schlesien in +Sage und Brauch</hi> (Berlin, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), p. +124; Paul Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch, +und Volksglaube in Schlesien</hi> (Leipsic, +1903-1906), i. 136 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Denmark +and +Norway. +Keeping +off the +witches. The Midsummer +fires in +Sweden.</note> +In Denmark and Norway also Midsummer fires were +kindled on St. John's Eve on roads, open spaces, and hills. +People in Norway thought that the fires banished sickness +from among the cattle.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 517 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Even yet the fires are said to be +lighted all over Norway on the night of June the twenty-third, +Midsummer Eve, Old Style. As many as fifty or +sixty bonfires may often be counted burning on the hills +round Bergen. Sometimes fuel is piled on rafts, ignited, and +allowed to drift blazing across the fiords in the darkness of +night. The fires are thought to be kindled in order to keep +off the witches, who are said to be flying from all parts +that night to the Blocksberg, where the big witch lives.<note place='foot'><p>From information supplied by +Mr. Sigurd K. Heiberg, engineer, of +Bergen, Norway, who in his boyhood +regularly collected fuel for the fires. I +have to thank Miss Anderson, of Barskimming, +Mauchline, Ayrshire, for +kindly procuring the information for +me from Mr. Heiberg. +</p> +<p> +The Blocksberg, where German as +well as Norwegian witches gather for +their great Sabbaths on the Eve of +May Day (Walpurgis Night) and Midsummer +Eve, is commonly identified +with the Brocken, the highest peak of +the Harz mountains. But in Mecklenburg, +Pomerania, and probably elsewhere, +villages have their own local +Blocksberg, which is generally a hill +or open place in the neighbourhood; +a number of places in Pomerania go by +the name of the Blocksberg. See J. +Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> ii. 878 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Ulrich Jahn, <hi rend='italic'>Hexenwesen und +Zauberei in Pommern</hi> (Breslau, 1886), +pp. 4 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Volkssagen aus Pommern +und Rügen</hi> (Stettin, 1886), p. +329.</p></note> +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> +In Sweden the Eve of St. John (St. Hans) is the most +joyous night of the whole year. Throughout some parts +of the country, especially in the provinces of Bohus and +Scania and in districts bordering on Norway, it is celebrated +by the frequent discharge of firearms and by huge +bonfires, formerly called Balder's Balefires (<foreign lang='sv' rend='italic'>Balder's Bălar</foreign>), +which are kindled at dusk on hills and eminences and +throw a glare of light over the surrounding landscape. +The people dance round the fires and leap over or through +them. In parts of Norrland on St. John's Eve the bonfires +are lit at the cross-roads. The fuel consists of nine +different sorts of wood, and the spectators cast into the +flames a kind of toad-stool (<foreign lang='sv' rend='italic'>Bäran</foreign>) in order to counteract +the power of the Trolls and other evil spirits, who are +believed to be abroad that night; for at that mystic season +the mountains open and from their cavernous depths the +uncanny crew pours forth to dance and disport themselves +for a time. The peasants believe that should any of the +Trolls be in the vicinity they will shew themselves; and if +an animal, for example a he or she goat, happens to be +seen near the blazing, crackling pile, the peasants are firmly +persuaded that it is no other than the Evil One in person.<note place='foot'>L. Lloyd, <hi rend='italic'>Peasant Life in Sweden</hi> +(London, 1870), pp. 259, 265.</note> +Further, it deserves to be remarked that in Sweden St. John's +Eve is a festival of water as well as of fire; for certain holy +springs are then supposed to be endowed with wonderful +medicinal virtues, and many sick people resort to them for +the healing of their infirmities.<note place='foot'>L. Lloyd, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 261 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +These springs are called <q>sacrificial +fonts</q> (<foreign lang='sv' rend='italic'>Offer källor</foreign>) and are <q>so named +because in heathen times the limbs of +the slaughtered victim, whether man +or beast, were here washed prior to +immolation</q> (L. Lloyd, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +261).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Switzerland +and +Austria. Effigies +burnt in +the fires. +Burning +wheels +rolled +down hill.</note> +In Switzerland on Midsummer Eve fires are, or used to +be, kindled on high places in the cantons of Bern, Neuchatel, +Valais, and Geneva.<note place='foot'>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, <hi rend='italic'>Feste und +Bräuche des Schweizervolkes</hi> (Zurich, +1913), p. 164.</note> In Austria the midsummer customs +and superstitions resemble those of Germany. Thus in some +parts of the Tyrol bonfires are kindled and burning discs +hurled into the air.<note place='foot'>Ignaz V. Zingerle, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten, Bräuche +und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Innsbruck, 1871), ii. p. 159, § 1354.</note> In the lower valley of the Inn a taterdemalian +effigy is carted about the village on Midsummer +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> +Day and then burned. He is called the <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Lotter</foreign>, which has +been corrupted into Luther. At Ambras, one of the villages +where Martin Luther is thus burned in effigy, they say that +if you go through the village between eleven and twelve on +St. John's Night and wash yourself in three wells, you will +see all who are to die in the following year.<note place='foot'>I. V. Zingerle, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 159, +§§ 1353, 1355, 1356; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, p. 513.</note> At Gratz on +St. John's Eve (the twenty-third of June) the common people +used to make a puppet called the <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Tatermann</foreign>, which they +dragged to the bleaching ground, and pelted with burning +besoms till it took fire.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> At Reutte, in the Tyrol, people +believed that the flax would grow as high as they leaped +over the midsummer bonfire, and they took pieces of charred +wood from the fire and stuck them in their flax-fields the +same night, leaving them there till the flax harvest had +been got in.<note place='foot'>F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), i. p. +210, § 231.</note> In Lower Austria fires are lit in the fields, +commonly in front of a cross, and the people dance and +sing round them and throw flowers into the flames. Before +each handful of flowers is tossed into the fire, a set speech +is made; then the dance is resumed and the dancers sing +in chorus the last words of the speech. At evening bonfires +are kindled on the heights, and the boys caper round +them, brandishing lighted torches drenched in pitch. Whoever +jumps thrice across the fire will not suffer from fever +within the year. Cart-wheels are often smeared with pitch, +ignited, and sent rolling and blazing down the hillsides.<note place='foot'>Theodor Vernaleken, <hi rend='italic'>Mythen und +Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich</hi> +(Vienna, 1859), pp. 307 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Midsummer +fires in +Bohemia. Wreaths +thrown +across the +fire. +Uses made +of the +singed +wreaths. +Burning +wheels +rolled +down hill. +Embers of +the fire +stuck in +fields, +gardens, +and houses +as a +talisman +against +lightning +and conflagration. +Use of +mugwort. Cattle +protected +against +witchcraft.</note> +All over Bohemia bonfires still burn on Midsummer +Eve. In the afternoon boys go about with handcarts +from house to house collecting fuel, such as sticks, brushwood, +old besoms, and so forth. They make their request +at each house in rhyming verses, threatening with evil +consequences the curmudgeons who refuse them a dole. +Sometimes the young men fell a tall straight fir in the +woods and set it up on a height, where the girls deck it +with nosegays, wreaths of leaves, and red ribbons. Then +brushwood is piled about it, and at nightfall the whole is set +on fire. While the flames break out, the young men climb +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> +the tree and fetch down the wreaths which the girls had +placed on it. After that, lads and lasses stand on opposite +sides of the fire and look at one another through the wreaths +to see whether they will be true to each other and marry +within the year. Also the girls throw the wreaths across +the flames to the men, and woe to the awkward swain who +fails to catch the wreath thrown him by his sweetheart. +When the blaze has died down, each couple takes hands, +and leaps thrice across the fire. He or she who does so +will be free from ague throughout the year, and the flax +will grow as high as the young folks leap. A girl who sees +nine bonfires on Midsummer Eve will marry before the year +is out. The singed wreaths are carried home and carefully +preserved throughout the year. During thunderstorms a +bit of the wreath is burned on the hearth with a prayer; +some of it is given to kine that are sick or calving, and some +of it serves to fumigate house and cattle-stall, that man and +beast may keep hale and well. Sometimes an old cart-wheel +is smeared with resin, ignited, and sent rolling down +the hill. Often the boys collect all the worn-out besoms +they can get hold of, dip them in pitch, and having set them +on fire wave them about or throw them high into the air. +Or they rush down the hillside in troops, brandishing the +flaming brooms and shouting, only however to return to the +bonfire on the summit when the brooms have burnt out. +The stumps of the brooms and embers from the fire are +preserved and stuck in cabbage gardens to protect the +cabbages from caterpillars and gnats. Some people insert +charred sticks and ashes from the bonfire in their sown +fields and meadows, in their gardens and the roofs of their +houses, as a talisman against lightning and foul weather; +or they fancy that the ashes placed in the roof will prevent +any fire from breaking out in the house. In some districts +they crown or gird themselves with mugwort while the +midsummer fire is burning, for this is supposed to be a protection +against ghosts, witches, and sickness; in particular, +a wreath of mugwort is a sure preventive of sore eyes. +Sometimes the girls look at the bonfires through garlands +of wild flowers, praying the fire to strengthen their eyes and +eyelids. She who does this thrice will have no sore eyes +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> +all that year. In some parts of Bohemia they used to drive +the cows through the midsummer fire to guard them against +witchcraft.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 519; Theodor Vernaleken, +<hi rend='italic'>Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in +Oesterreich</hi> (Vienna, 1859), p. 308; +Joseph Virgil Grohmann, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglauben +und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und +Mähren</hi> (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), +p. 80, § 636; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen</hi> (Prague, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), pp. 306-311; Br. Jelínek, +<q>Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und +Volkskunde Böhmens,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen +der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in +Wien</hi>, xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois John, +<hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im +deutschen Westböhmen</hi> (Prague, 1905), +pp. 84-86.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Moravia, +Austrian +Silesia, and +the district +of Cracow. +Fire +kindled by +the friction +of wood.</note> +The Germans of Moravia in like manner still light +bonfires on open grounds and high places on Midsummer +Eve; and they kindle besoms in the flames and then +stick the charred stumps in the cabbage-fields as a +powerful protection against caterpillars. On the same +mystic evening Moravian girls gather flowers of nine sorts +and lay them under their pillow when they go to sleep; +then they dream every one of him who is to be her partner +for life. For in Moravia maidens in their beds as well as +poets by haunted streams have their Midsummer Night's +dreams.<note place='foot'>Willibald Müller, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur +Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren</hi> +(Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. 263-265.</note> In Austrian Silesia the custom also prevails of +lighting great bonfires on hilltops on Midsummer Eve, and +here too the boys swing blazing besoms or hurl them high +in the air, while they shout and leap and dance wildly. +Next morning every door is decked with flowers and birchen +saplings.<note place='foot'>Anton Peter, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Österreichisch-Schlesien</hi> (Troppau, +1865-1867), ii. 287.</note> In the district of Cracow, especially towards the +Carpathian Mountains, great fires are kindled by the +peasants in the fields or on the heights at nightfall on +Midsummer Eve, which among them goes by the name of +Kupalo's Night. The fire must be kindled by the friction +of two sticks. The young people dance round or leap over +it; and a band of sturdy fellows run a race with lighted +torches, the winner being rewarded with a peacock's feather, +which he keeps throughout the year as a distinction. Cattle +also are driven round the fire in the belief that this is a +charm against pestilence and disease of every sort.<note place='foot'>Th. Vernaleken, <hi rend='italic'>Mythen und +Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich</hi> +(Vienna, 1859), pp. 308 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires among +the Slavs +of Russia. +Cattle +protected +against +witchcraft. +The fires +lighted by +the friction +of wood.</note> +The name of Kupalo's Night, applied in this part of +Galicia to Midsummer Eve, reminds us that we have now +passed from German to Slavonic ground; even in Bohemia +the midsummer celebration is common to Slavs and +Germans. We have already seen that in Russia the +summer solstice or Eve of St. John is celebrated by young +men and maidens, who jump over a bonfire in couples +carrying a straw effigy of Kupalo in their arms.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Dying God</hi>, p. 262. Compare +M. Kowalewsky, in <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, i. (1890) +p. 467.</note> In some +parts of Russia an image of Kupalo is burnt or thrown into +a stream on St. John's Night.<note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>Songs of the +Russian People</hi>, Second Edition (London, +1872), p. 240.</note> Again, in some districts +of Russia the young folk wear garlands of flowers and +girdles of holy herbs when they spring through the smoke +or flames; and sometimes they drive the cattle also through +the fire in order to protect the animals against wizards and +witches, who are then ravenous after milk.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 519; W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>Songs of +the Russian People</hi> (London, 1872), +pp. 240, 391.</note> In Little +Russia a stake is driven into the ground on St. John's +Night, wrapt in straw, and set on fire. As the flames +rise the peasant women throw birchen boughs into them, +saying, <q>May my flax be as tall as this bough!</q><note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 240.</note> In +Ruthenia the bonfires are lighted by a flame procured by +the friction of wood. While the elders of the party are +engaged in thus <q>churning</q> the fire, the rest maintain a +respectful silence; but when the flame bursts from the +wood, they break forth into joyous songs. As soon as the +bonfires are kindled, the young people take hands and leap +in pairs through the smoke, if not through the flames; and +after that the cattle in their turn are driven through the fire.<note place='foot'>W. R. S. Ralston, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Prussia and +Lithuania +thought to +protect +against +witchcraft, +thunder, +hail, and +cattle +disease. The fire +kindled by +the friction +of wood.</note> +In many parts of Prussia and Lithuania great fires are +kindled on Midsummer Eve. All the heights are ablaze +with them, as far as the eye can see. The fires are supposed +to be a protection against witchcraft, thunder, hail, and +cattle disease, especially if next morning the cattle are +driven over the places where the fires burned. Above all, +the bonfires ensure the farmer against the arts of witches, +who try to steal the milk from his cows by charms and +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> +spells. That is why next morning you may see the young +fellows who lit the bonfire going from house to house and +receiving jugfuls of milk. And for the same reason they +stick burs and mugwort on the gate or the hedge through +which the cows go to pasture, because that is supposed to +be a preservative against witchcraft.<note place='foot'>W. J. A. von Tettau und J. D. H. +Temme, <hi rend='italic'>Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, +Litthauens und Westpreussens</hi> (Berlin, +1837), p. 277.</note> In Masuren, a district +of Eastern Prussia inhabited by a branch of the Polish +family, it is the custom on the evening of Midsummer Day +to put out all the fires in the village. Then an oaken stake +is driven into the ground and a wheel is fixed on it as on +an axle. This wheel the villagers, working by relays, cause +to revolve with great rapidity till fire is produced by friction. +Every one takes home a lighted brand from the new fire +and with it rekindles the fire on the domestic hearth.<note place='foot'>M. Töppen, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglauben aus +Masuren</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Danzig, 1867), p. 71.</note> +In the sixteenth century Martin of Urzedow, a Polish priest, +denounced the heathen practices of the women who on St. +John's Eve (Midsummer Eve) kindled fires by the friction +of wood, danced, and sang songs in honour of the devil.<note place='foot'>F. S. Krauss, <q>Altslavische +Feuergewinnung,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lix. (1891) +p. 318.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires among +the Letts of +Russia. Midsummer +Day in +ancient +Rome.</note> +Among the Letts who inhabit the Baltic provinces of +Russia the most joyful festival of the year is held on Midsummer +Day. The people drink and dance and sing and +adorn themselves and their houses with flowers and branches. +Chopped boughs of fir are strewn about the rooms, and +leaves are stuck in the roofs. In every farm-yard a birch +tree is set up, and every person of the name of John who +enters the farm that day must break off a twig from the tree +and hang up on its branches in return a small present for +the family. When the serene twilight of the summer night +has veiled the landscape, bonfires gleam on all the hills, and +wild shouts of <q>Ligho! Ligho!</q> echo from the woods and +fields. In Riga the day is a festival of flowers. From all +the neighbourhood the peasants stream into the city laden +with flowers and garlands. A market of flowers is held in +an open square and on the chief bridge over the river; here +wreaths of immortelles, which grow wild in the meadows +and woods, are sold in great profusion and deck the houses +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> +of Riga for long afterwards. Roses, too, are now at the +prime of their beauty, and masses of them adorn the flower-stalls. +Till far into the night gay crowds parade the streets +to music or float on the river in gondolas decked with +flowers.<note place='foot'>J. G. Kohl, Die <hi rend='italic'>deutsch-russischen +Ostseeprovinzen</hi> (Dresden and Leipsic, +1841), i. 178-180, ii. 24 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Ligho +was an old heathen deity, whose joyous +festival used to fall in spring.</note> So long ago in ancient Rome barges crowned +with flowers and crowded with revellers used to float down +the Tiber on Midsummer Day, the twenty-fourth of June,<note place='foot'>Ovid, <hi rend='italic'>Fasti</hi>, vi. 775 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> and +no doubt the strains of music were wafted as sweetly across +the water to listeners on the banks as they still are to the +throngs of merrymakers at Riga. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires among +the South +Slavs.</note> +Bonfires are commonly kindled by the South Slavonian +peasantry on Midsummer Eve, and lads and lasses dance +and shout round them in the usual way. The very names +of St. John's Day (<foreign rend='italic'>Ivanje</foreign>) and the St. John's fires (<foreign rend='italic'>kries</foreign>) +are said to act like electric sparks on the hearts and minds +of these swains, kindling a thousand wild, merry, and happy +fancies and ideas in their rustic breasts. At Kamenagora +in Croatia the herdsmen throw nine three-year old vines into +the bonfire, and when these burst into flames the young men +who are candidates for matrimony jump through the blaze. +He who succeeds in leaping over the fire without singeing +himself will be married within the year. At Vidovec in +Croatia parties of two girls and one lad unite to kindle a +Midsummer bonfire and to leap through the flames; he or +she who leaps furthest will soonest wed. Afterwards lads +and lasses dance in separate rings, but the ring of lads +bumps up against the ring of girls and breaks it, and the +girl who has to let go her neighbour's hand will forsake her +true love hereafter.<note place='foot'>Friederich S. Krauss, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte und +Brauch der Südslaven</hi> (Vienna, 1885), +pp. 176 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Servia on Midsummer Eve herdsmen +light torches of birch bark and march round the +sheepfolds and cattle-stalls; then they climb the hills and +there allow the torches to burn out.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 519.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires among +the Magyars +of +Hungary.</note> +Among the Magyars in Hungary the midsummer fire-festival +is marked by the same features that meet us in so +many parts of Europe. On Midsummer Eve in many +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> +places it is customary to kindle bonfires on heights and to +leap over them, and from the manner in which the young +people leap the bystanders predict whether they will marry +soon. At Nograd-Ludany the young men and women, +each carrying a truss of straw, repair to a meadow, where +they pile the straw in seven or twelve heaps and set it on +fire. Then they go round the fire singing, and hold a +bunch of iron-wort in the smoke, while they say, <q>No boil +on my body, no sprain in my foot!</q> This holding of the +flowers over the flames is regarded, we are told, as equally +important with the practice of walking through the fire +barefoot and stamping it out. On this day also many +Hungarian swineherds make fire by rotating a wheel round +a wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and through the fire thus +made they drive their pigs to preserve them from sickness.<note place='foot'>H. von Wlislocki, <hi rend='italic'>Volksglaube und +religiöser Brauch der Magyar</hi> (Münster +i. W., 1893), pp. 40-44.</note> +In villages on the Danube, where the population is a cross +between Magyar and German, the young men and maidens +go to the high banks of the river on Midsummer Eve; and +while the girls post themselves low down the slope, the lads +on the height above set fire to little wooden wheels and, +after swinging them to and fro at the end of a wand, send +them whirling through the air to fall into the Danube. As +he does so, each lad sings out the name of his sweetheart, +and she listens well pleased down below.<note place='foot'>A. von Ipolyi, <q>Beiträge zur +deutschen Mythologie aus Ungarn,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und +Sittenkunde</hi>, i. (1853) pp. 270 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires among +the Esthonians. The Midsummer +fires in +Oesel.</note> +The Esthonians of Russia, who, like the Magyars, belong +to the great Turanian family of mankind, also celebrate the +summer solstice in the usual way. On the Eve of St. John +all the people of a farm, a village, or an estate, walk solemnly +in procession, the girls decked with flowers, the men with +leaves and carrying bundles of straw under their arms. +The lads carry lighted torches or flaming hoops steeped in +tar at the top of long poles. Thus they go singing to the +cattle-sheds, the granaries, and so forth, and afterwards +march thrice round the dwelling-house. Finally, preceded +by the shrill music of the bagpipes and shawms, they repair +to a neighbouring hill, where the materials of a bonfire have +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> +been collected. Tar-barrels filled with combustibles are +hung on poles, or the trunk of a felled tree has been set up +with a great mass of juniper piled about it in the form of a +pyramid. When a light has been set to the pile, old and +young gather about it and pass the time merrily with song +and music till break of day. Every one who comes brings +fresh fuel for the fire, and they say, <q>Now we all gather +together, where St. John's fire burns. He who comes not +to St. John's fire will have his barley full of thistles, and his +oats full of weeds.</q> Three logs are thrown into the fire +with special ceremony; in throwing the first they say, +<q>Gold of pleasure (a plant with yellow flowers) into the +fire!</q> in throwing the second they say, <q>Weeds to the +unploughed land!</q> but in throwing the third they cry, +<q>Flax on my field!</q> The fire is said to keep the witches +from the cattle.<note place='foot'>J.G. Kohl, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutsch-russischen +Ostseeprovinzen</hi>, ii. 268 sq.; F. J. +Wiedemann, <hi rend='italic'>Aus dem inneren und +äusseren Leben der Ehsten</hi> (St. Petersburg, +1876), p. 362. The word which +I have translated <q>weeds</q> is in +Esthonian <foreign lang='et' rend='italic'>kaste-heinad</foreign>, in German +<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Thaugras</foreign>. Apparently it is the name +of a special kind of weed.</note> According to others, it ensures that for +the whole year the milk shall be <q>as pure as silver and as +the stars in the sky, and the butter as yellow as the sun +and the fire and the gold.</q><note place='foot'>Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, +<hi rend='italic'>Mythische und Magische Lieder der +Ehsten</hi> (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 62.</note> In the Esthonian island of +Oesel, while they throw fuel into the midsummer fire, they +call out, <q>Weeds to the fire, flax to the field,</q> or they fling +three billets into the flames, saying, <q>Flax grow long!</q> +And they take charred sticks from the bonfire home with +them and keep them to make the cattle thrive. In some +parts of the island the bonfire is formed by piling brushwood +and other combustibles round a tree, at the top of which a +flag flies. Whoever succeeds in knocking down the flag +with a pole before it begins to burn will have good luck. +Formerly the festivities lasted till daybreak, and ended in +scenes of debauchery which looked doubly hideous by the +growing light of a summer morning.<note place='foot'>J. B. Holzmayer, <q>Osiliana,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Verhandlungen der gelehrten Estnischen +Gesellschaft zu Dorpat</hi>, vii. (1872) +pp. 62 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Wiedemann also observes +that the sports in which young couples +engage in the woods on this evening +are not always decorous (<hi rend='italic'>Aus dem +inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten</hi>, +p. 362).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires among +the Finns +and Cheremiss +of +Russia.</note> +Still farther north, among a people of the same Turanian +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> +stock, we learn from an eye-witness that Midsummer Night +used to witness a sort of witches' sabbath on the top of every +hill in Finland. The bonfire was made by setting up four tall +birches in a square and piling the intermediate space with fuel. +Round the roaring flames the people sang and drank and +gambolled in the usual way.<note place='foot'>J. G. Kohl, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutsch-russischen +Ostseeprovinzen</hi>, ii. 447 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Farther east, in the valley of the +Volga, the Cheremiss celebrate about midsummer a festival +which Haxthausen regarded as identical with the midsummer +ceremonies of the rest of Europe. A sacred tree in the +forest, generally a tall and solitary oak, marks the scene of +the solemnity. All the males assemble there, but no woman +may be present. A heathen priest lights seven fires in a +row from north-west to south-east; cattle are sacrificed and +their blood poured in the fires, each of which is dedicated to +a separate deity. Afterwards the holy tree is illumined by +lighted candles placed on its branches; the people fall on +their knees and with faces bowed to the earth pray that +God would be pleased to bless them, their children, their +cattle, and their bees, grant them success in trade, in travel, +and in the chase, enable them to pay the Czar's taxes, and +so forth.<note place='foot'>J. G. Georgi, <hi rend='italic'>Beschreibung aller +Nationen des russischen Reichs</hi> (St. +Petersburg, 1776), p. 36; August +Freiherr von Haxthausen, <hi rend='italic'>Studien über +die innere Zustände das Volksleben und +insbesondere die ländlichen Einrichtungen +Russlands</hi> (Hanover, 1847), i. +446 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +France. Bossuet on +the Midsummer +festival.</note> +When we pass from the east to the west of Europe we +still find the summer solstice celebrated with rites of the +same general character. Down to about the middle of the +nineteenth century the custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer +prevailed so commonly in France that there was +hardly a town or a village, we are told, where they were not +kindled.<note place='foot'>Alfred de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes +et Traditions des Provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 19.</note> Though the pagan origin of the custom may be +regarded as certain, the Catholic Church threw a Christian +cloak over it by boldly declaring that the bonfires were lit +in token of the general rejoicing at the birth of the Baptist, +who opportunely came into the world at the solstice of +summer, just as his greater successor did at the solstice of +winter; so that the whole year might be said to revolve on +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> +the golden hinges of these two great birthdays.<note place='foot'>It is notable that St. John is the +only saint whose birthday the Church +celebrates with honours like those which +she accords to the nativity of Christ. +Compare Edmond Doutté, <hi rend='italic'>Magie et +Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord</hi> +(Algiers, 1908), p. 571 note 1.</note> Writing +in the seventeenth century Bishop Bossuet expressly affirms +this edifying theory of the Midsummer bonfires, and he +tells his catechumens that the Church herself participated +in the illumination, since in several dioceses, including +his own diocese of Meaux, a number of parishes kindled +what were called ecclesiastical fires for the purpose of +banishing the superstitions practised at the purely mundane +bonfires. These superstitions, he goes on to say, consisted +in dancing round the fire, playing, feasting, singing +ribald songs, throwing herbs across the fire, gathering herbs +at noon or while fasting, carrying them on the person, +preserving them throughout the year, keeping brands or +cinders of the fire, and other similar practices.<note place='foot'>Bossuet, <hi rend='italic'>Œuvres</hi> (Versailles, 1815-1819), +vi. 276 (<q>Catéchisme du +diocèse de Meaux</q>). His description +of the superstitions is, in his own words, +as follows: <q><foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Danser à l'entour du feu, +jouer, faire des festins, chanter des +chansons deshonnêtes, jeter des herbes +par-dessus le feu, en cueillir avant midi +ou à jeun, en porter sur soi, les conserver +le long de l'année, garder des tisons ou +des charbons du feu, et autres semblables.</foreign></q> +This and other evidence of the +custom of kindling Midsummer bonfires +in France is cited by Ch. Cuissard in +his tract <hi rend='italic'>Les Feux de la Saint-Jean</hi> +(Orleans, 1884).</note> However +excellent the intentions of the ecclesiastical authorities may +have been, they failed of effecting their purpose; for the +superstitions as well as the bonfires survived in France far +into the nineteenth century, if indeed they are extinct even +now at the beginning of the twentieth. Writing in the +latter part of the nineteenth century Mr. Ch. Cuissard tells +us that he himself witnessed in Touraine and Poitou the +superstitious practices which he describes as follows: <q>The +most credulous examine the ways in which the flame burns +and draw good or bad omens accordingly. Others, after +leaping through the flames crosswise, pass their little children +through them thrice, fully persuaded that the little ones will +then be able to walk at once. In some places the shepherds +make their sheep tread the embers of the extinct fire in order +to preserve them from the foot-rot. Here you may see +about midnight an old woman grubbing among the cinders +of the pyre to find the hair of the Holy Virgin or Saint +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> +John, which she deems an infallible specific against fever. +There, another woman is busy plucking the roots of the +herbs which have been burned on the surface of the ground; +she intends to eat them, imagining that they are an infallible +preservative against cancer. Elsewhere a girl wears on her +neck a flower which the touch of St. John's fire has turned +for her into a talisman, and she is sure to marry within the +year. Shots are fired at the tree planted in the midst of +the fire to drive away the demons who might purpose to +send sicknesses about the country. Seats are set round +about the bonfire, in order that the souls of dead relations +may come and enjoy themselves for a little with the living.</q><note place='foot'>Ch. Cuissard, <hi rend='italic'>Les Feux de la +Saint-Jean</hi> (Orleans, 1884), pp. 40 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Brittany. Uses +made of +the charred +sticks and +flowers.</note> +In Brittany, apparently, the custom of the Midsummer +bonfires is kept up to this day. Thus in Lower Brittany +every town and every village still lights its <foreign rend='italic'>tantad</foreign> or bonfire +on St. John's Night. When the flames have died down, the +whole assembly kneels round about the bonfire and an old +man prays aloud. Then they all rise and march thrice +round the fire; at the third turn they stop and every one +picks up a pebble and throws it on the burning pile. After +that they disperse.<note place='foot'>A. Le Braz, <hi rend='italic'>La Légende de la +Mort en Basse-Bretagne</hi> (Paris, 1893), +p. 279. For an explanation of the +custom of throwing a pebble into the +fire, see below, p. <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref>.</note> In Finistère the bonfires of St. John's +Day are kindled by preference in an open space near a +chapel of St. John; but if there is no such chapel, they are +lighted in the square facing the parish church and in some +districts at cross-roads. Everybody brings fuel for the fire, +it may be a faggot, a log, a branch, or an armful of gorse. +When the vespers are over, the parish priest sets a light to +the pile. All heads are bared, prayers recited, and hymns +sung. Then the dancing begins. The young folk skip +round the blazing pile and leap over it, when the flames +have died down. If anybody makes a false step and falls +or rolls in the hot embers, he or she is greeted with hoots +and retires abashed from the circle of dancers. Brands are +carried home from the bonfire to protect the houses against +lightning, conflagrations, and certain maladies and spells. +The precious talisman is carefully kept in a cupboard till +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> +St. John's Day of the following year.<note place='foot'>M. Quellien, quoted by Alexandre +Bertrand, <hi rend='italic'>La Religion des Gaulois</hi> +(Paris, 1897), pp. 116 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Quimper, and in +the district of Léon, chairs used to be placed round the midsummer +bonfire, that the souls of the dead might sit on them +and warm themselves at the blaze.<note place='foot'>Collin de Plancy, <hi rend='italic'>Dictionnaire +Infernal</hi> (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 40; +J. W. Wolf, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Göttingen, 1852-1857), i. +p. 217, § 185; A. Breuil, <q>Du Culte +de St. Jean Baptiste,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires de la +Société des Antiquaires de Picardie</hi>, +viii. (Amiens, 1845) pp. 189 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Brest on this day +thousands of people used to assemble on the ramparts towards +evening and brandish lighted torches, which they swung +in circles or flung by hundreds into the air. The closing of +the town gates put an end to the spectacle, and the lights +might be seen dispersing in all directions like wandering will-o'-the-wisps.<note place='foot'>Eugène Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Fêtes +Religieuses</hi> (Paris, 1867), p. 216; Ch. +Cuissard, <hi rend='italic'>Les Feux de la Saint-Jean</hi> +(Orleans, 1884), p. 24.</note> +In Upper Brittany the materials for the midsummer +bonfires, which generally consist of bundles of furze and +heath, are furnished by voluntary contributions, and piled on +the tops of hills round poles, each of which is surmounted by +a nosegay or a crown. This nosegay or crown is generally +provided by a man named John or a woman named Jean, +and it is always a John or a Jean who puts a light to the +bonfire. While the fire is blazing the people dance and sing +round it, and when the flames have subsided they leap over +the glowing embers. Charred sticks from the bonfire are +thrown into wells to improve the water, and they are also +taken home as a protection against thunder.<note place='foot'>Paul Sébillot, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes populaires +de la Haute-Bretagne</hi> (Paris, 1886), +pp. 192-195. In Upper Brittany +these bonfires are called <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>rieux</foreign> or +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>raviers</foreign>.</note> To make +them thoroughly effective, however, against thunder and +lightning you should keep them near your bed, between a +bit of a Twelfth Night cake and a sprig of boxwood which +has been blessed on Palm Sunday.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes et +Traditions des Provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 219; E. +Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</hi>, +p. 216.</note> Flowers from the nosegay +or crown which overhung the fire are accounted charms +against disease and pain, both bodily and spiritual; hence +girls hang them at their breast by a thread of scarlet wool. +In many parishes of Brittany the priest used to go in procession +with the crucifix and kindle the bonfire with his own hands; +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> +and farmers were wont to drive their flocks and herds through +the fire in order to preserve them from sickness till midsummer +of the following year. Also it was believed that every girl +who danced round nine of the bonfires would marry within +the year.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes et +Traditions des Provinces de France</hi>, pp. +219, 228, 231; E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. +215 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Normandy. +The fires +as a protection +against +witchcraft. +The +Brotherhood +of +the Green +Wolf at +Jumièges. Pretence of +throwing +the Green +Wolf into +the fire.</note> +In Normandy the midsummer fires have now almost +disappeared, at least in the district known as the Bocage, +but they used to shine on every hill. They were commonly +made by piling brushwood, broom, and ferns about a tall +tree, which was decorated with a crown of moss and sometimes +with flowers. While they burned, people danced +and sang round them, and young folk leaped over the +flames or the glowing ashes. In the valley of the Orne +the custom was to kindle the bonfire just at the moment +when the sun was about to dip below the horizon; and the +peasants drove their cattle through the fires to protect them +against witchcraft, especially against the spells of witches +and wizards who attempted to steal the milk and butter.<note place='foot'>J. Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage +Normand</hi> (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), +ii. 219-224.</note> +At Jumièges in Normandy, down to the first half of the +nineteenth century, the midsummer festival was marked by +certain singular features which bore the stamp of a very high +antiquity. Every year, on the twenty-third of June, the Eve +of St. John, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose a new +chief or master, who had always to be taken from the hamlet +of Conihout. On being elected, the new head of the brotherhood +assumed the title of the Green Wolf, and donned a +peculiar costume consisting of a long green mantle and a +very tall green hat of a conical shape and without a brim. +Thus arrayed he stalked solemnly at the head of the brothers, +chanting the hymn of St. John, the crucifix and holy banner +leading the way, to a place called Chouquet. Here the +procession was met by the priest, precentors, and choir, who +conducted the brotherhood to the parish church. After +hearing mass the company adjourned to the house of the +Green Wolf, where a simple repast, such as is required by +the church on fast-days, was served up to them. Then they +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> +danced before the door till it was time to light the bonfire. +Night being come, the fire was kindled to the sound of +hand-bells by a young man and a young woman, both +decked with flowers. As the flames rose, the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Te Deum</foreign> was +sung, and a villager thundered out a parody in the Norman +dialect of the hymn <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ut queant laxis</foreign>. Meantime the Green +Wolf and his brothers, with their hoods down on their +shoulders and holding each other by the hand, ran round +the fire after the man who had been chosen to be the Green +Wolf of the following year. Though only the first and the +last man of the chain had a hand free, their business was to +surround and seize thrice the future Green Wolf, who in his +efforts to escape belaboured the brothers with a long wand +which he carried. When at last they succeeded in catching +him they carried him to the burning pile and made as if +they would throw him on it. This ceremony over, they +returned to the house of the Green Wolf, where a supper, +still of the most meagre fare, was set before them. Up till +midnight a sort of religious solemnity prevailed. No unbecoming +word might fall from the lips of any of the +company, and a censor, armed with a hand-bell, was +appointed to mark and punish instantly any infraction of +the rule. But at the stroke of twelve all this was changed. +Constraint gave way to license; pious hymns were replaced +by Bacchanalian ditties, and the shrill quavering notes of the +village fiddle hardly rose above the roar of voices that went +up from the merry brotherhood of the Green Wolf. Next +day, the twenty-fourth of June or Midsummer Day, was +celebrated by the same personages with the same noisy +gaiety. One of the ceremonies consisted in parading, to +the sound of musketry, an enormous loaf of consecrated bread, +which, rising in tiers, was surmounted by a pyramid of +verdure adorned with ribbons. After that the holy hand-bells, +deposited on the step of the altar, were entrusted as +insignia of office to the man who was to be the Green Wolf +next year.<note place='foot'>This description is quoted by +Madame Clément (<hi rend='italic'>Histoire des fêtes +civiles et religieuses</hi>, etc., <hi rend='italic'>de la Belgique +Méridionale</hi>, Avesnes, 1846, pp. 394-396); +F. Liebrecht (<hi rend='italic'>Des Gervasius +von Tilbury Otia Imperialia</hi>, Hanover, +1856, pp. 209 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>); and W. Mannhardt +(<hi rend='italic'>Antike Wald und Feldkulte</hi>, +Berlin, 1877, pp. 323 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>) from the +<hi rend='italic'>Magazin pittoresque</hi>, Paris, viii. (1840) +pp. 287 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> A slightly condensed +account is given, from the same source, +by E. Cortet (<hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</hi>, +pp. 221 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> +</p> + +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Picardy.</note> +In the canton of Breteuil in Picardy (department of +Oise) the priest used to kindle the midsummer bonfire, and +the people marched thrice round it in procession. Some of +them took ashes of the fire home with them to protect the +houses against lightning.<note place='foot'>Bazin, quoted by Breuil, in +<hi rend='italic'>Mémoires de la Société d'Antiquaires +de Picardie</hi>, viii. (1845) p. 191 note.</note> The custom is, or was down to +recent years, similar at Vorges, near Laon. An enormous +pyre, some fifty or sixty feet high, supported in the middle +by a tall pole, is constructed every year on the twenty-third +of June, the Eve of St. John. It stands at one end of the +village, and all the inhabitants contribute fuel to it: a cart +goes round the village in the morning, by order of the +mayor, collecting combustibles from house to house: no one +would dream of refusing to comply with the customary +obligation. In the evening, after a service in honour of +St. John has been performed in the church, the clergy, the +mayor, the municipal authorities, the rural police, and the +fire-brigade march in procession to the bonfire, accompanied +by the inhabitants and a crowd of idlers drawn by curiosity +from the neighbouring villages. After addressing the throng +in a sermon, to which they pay little heed, the parish priest +sprinkles the pyre with holy water, and taking a lighted +torch from the hand of an assistant sets fire to the pile. +The enormous blaze, flaring up against the dark sky of the +summer night, is seen for many miles around, particularly +from the hill of Laon. When it has died down into a huge +heap of glowing embers and grey ashes, every one carries +home a charred stick or some cinders; and the fire-brigade, +playing their hose on what remains, extinguishes the +smouldering fire. The people preserve the charred sticks +and cinders throughout the year, believing that these relics +of St. John's bonfire have power to guard them from lightning +and from contagious diseases.<note place='foot'>Correspondents quoted by A. Bertrand, +<hi rend='italic'>La Religion des Gaulois</hi> (Paris, +1897), pp. 118, 406.</note> At Château-Thierry, +a town of the department of Aisne, between Paris and +Reims, the custom of lighting bonfires and dancing round +them at the midsummer festival of St. John lasted down to +about 1850; the fires were kindled especially when June had +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> +been rainy, and the people thought that the lighting of the +bonfires would cause the rain to cease.<note place='foot'>Correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 407.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Beauce and +Perche. +The fires +as a protection +against +witchcraft.</note> +In Beauce and Perche, two neighbouring districts of +France to the south-west of Paris, the midsummer bonfires +have nearly or wholly disappeared, but formerly they were +commonly kindled and went by the name of the <q>fires of +St. John.</q> The site of the bonfire was either the village +square or beside the cross in the cemetery. Here a great +pile of faggots, brushwood, and grass was accumulated about +a huge branch, which bore at the top a crown of fresh +flowers. The priest blessed the bonfire and the people +danced round it. When it blazed and crackled, the +bystanders thrust their heads into the puffs of smoke, in +the belief that it would preserve them from a multitude of +ills; and when the fire was burnt out, they rushed upon the +charred embers and ashes and carried them home, imagining +that they had a secret virtue to guard their houses from +being struck by lightning or consumed by fire. Some of +the Perche farmers in the old days, not content with the +public bonfire, used to light little private bonfires in their +farmyards and make all their cattle pass through the smoke +and flames for the purpose of protecting them against witchcraft +or disease.<note place='foot'>Felix Chapiseau, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore de +la Beauce et du Perche</hi> (Paris, 1902), +i. 318-320. In Perche the midsummer +bonfires were called <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>marolles</foreign>. As to +the custom formerly observed at Bullou, +near Chateaudun, see a correspondent +quoted by A. Bertrand, <hi rend='italic'>La Religion +des Gaulois</hi> (Paris, 1897), p. 117.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in the +Ardennes, +the Vosges, +and the +Jura. The Midsummer +fires in +Franche-Comté. +The Midsummer +fires in +Berry and +other parts +of Central +France.</note> +In the department of the Ardennes every one was wont +to contribute his faggot to the midsummer bonfire, and the +clergy marched at the head of the procession to kindle it. +Failure to light the fires would, in the popular belief, have +exposed the fields to the greatest danger. At Revin the +young folk, besides dancing round the fire to the strains of +the village fiddler, threw garlands of flowers across the flames +to each other.<note place='foot'>Albert Meyrac, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions, Coutumes, +Légendes, et Contes des Ardennes</hi> +(Charleville, 1890), pp. 88 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the Vosges it is still customary to kindle +bonfires upon the hill-tops on Midsummer Eve; the people +believe that the fires help to preserve the fruits of the earth +and ensure good crops.<note place='foot'>L. F. Sauvé, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore des +Hautes-Vosges</hi> (Paris, 1889), p. 186.</note> In the Jura Mountains the midsummer +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> +bonfires went by the name of <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bâ</foreign> or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>beau</foreign>. They +were lit on the most conspicuous points of the landscape.<note place='foot'>Désiré Monnier, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions populaires +comparées</hi> (Paris, 1854), pp. 207 +sqq.; E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Fêtes +Religieuses</hi>, pp. 217 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +Near St. Jean, in the Jura, it appears that at this season +young people still repair to the cross-roads and heights, and +there wave burning torches so as to present the appearance +of fiery wheels in the darkness.<note place='foot'>Bérenger-Féraud, <hi rend='italic'>Réminiscences +populaires de la Provence</hi> (Paris, 1885), +p. 142.</note> In Franche-Comté, the +province of France which lies immediately to the west of +the Jura mountains, the fires of St. John still shone on the +saint's day in several villages down to recent years. They +were generally lit on high ground and the young folks of +both sexes sang and danced round them, and sprang over +the dying flames.<note place='foot'>Charles Beauquier, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mois en +Franche-Comté</hi> (Paris, 1900), p. 89. +The names of the bonfires vary with +the place; among them are <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>failles</foreign>, +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bourdifailles</foreign>, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bâs</foreign> or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>baux</foreign>, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>feulères</foreign> or +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>folières</foreign>, and <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>chavannes</foreign>.</note> In Bresse bonfires used to be kindled +on Midsummer Eve (the twenty-third of June) and the +people danced about them in a circle. Devout persons, +particularly old women, circumambulated the fires fourteen +times, telling their beads and mumbling seven <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Paters</foreign> and +seven <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Aves</foreign> in the hope that thereby they would feel no +pains in their backs when they stooped over the sickle in +the harvest field.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>La Bresse Louhannaise</hi>, Juin, +1906, p. 207.</note> In Berry, a district of Central France, +the midsummer fire was lit on the Eve of St. John and +went by the name of the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>jônée</foreign>, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>joannée</foreign>, or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>jouannée</foreign>. Every +family according to its means contributed faggots, which +were piled round a pole on the highest ground in the neighbourhood. +In the hamlets the office of kindling the fire +devolved on the oldest man, but in the towns it was the +priest or the mayor who discharged the duty. Here, as in +Brittany, people supposed that a girl who had danced round +nine of the midsummer bonfires would marry within the +year. To leap several times over the fire was regarded as a +sort of purification which kept off sickness and brought good +luck to the leaper. Hence the nimble youth bounded through +the smoke and flames, and when the fire had somewhat abated +parents jumped across it with their children in their arms +in order that the little ones might also partake of its beneficent +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> +influence. Embers from the extinct bonfire were taken +home, and after being dipped in holy water were kept as a +talisman against all kinds of misfortune, but especially against +lightning.<note place='foot'>Laisnel de la Salle, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances et +Légendes du Centre de la France</hi> (Paris, +1875), i. 78 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The writer adopts +the absurd derivation of <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>jônée</foreign> from +Janus. Needless to say that our old +friend Baal, Bel, or Belus figures +prominently in this and many other +accounts of the European fire-festivals.</note> The same virtue was ascribed to the ashes and +charred sticks of the midsummer bonfire in Périgord, where +everybody contributed his share of fuel to the pile and +the whole was crowned with flowers, especially with roses +and lilies.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes et +Traditions des Provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 150.</note> On the borders of the departments of Creuse +and Corrèze, in Central France, the fires of St. John used to +be lit on the Eve of the saint's day (the twenty-third of +June); the custom seems to have survived till towards the +end of the nineteenth century. Men, women, and children +assembled round the fires, and the young people jumped +over them. Children were brought by their parents or +elder brothers into contact with the flames in the belief that +this would save them from fever. Older people girded +themselves with stalks of rye taken from a neighbouring +field, because they fancied that by so doing they would not +grow weary in reaping the corn at harvest.<note place='foot'>Correspondent, quoted by A. Bertrand, +<hi rend='italic'>La Religion des Gaulois</hi> (Paris, +1897), p. 408.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Poitou.</note> +Bonfires were lit in almost all the hamlets of Poitou on the +Eve of St. John. People marched round them thrice, carrying +a branch of walnut in their hand. Shepherdesses and children +passed sprigs of mullein (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>verbascum</foreign>) and nuts across the flames; +the nuts were supposed to cure toothache, and the mullein to +protect the cattle from sickness and sorcery. When the fire +died down people took some of the ashes home with them, +either to keep them in the house as a preservative against +thunder or to scatter them on the fields for the purpose +of destroying corn-cockles and darnel. Stones were also +placed round the fire, and it was believed that the first +to lift one of these stones next morning would find under +it the hair of St. John.<note place='foot'>Guerry, <q>Sur les usages et traditions +du Poitou,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires et dissertations +publiés par la Société Royale des +Antiquaires de France</hi>, viii. (1829) +pp. 451 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Poitou also it used to be +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> +customary on the Eve of St. John to trundle a blazing +wheel wrapt in straw over the fields to fertilize them.<note place='foot'>Breuil, in <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires de la Société +des Antiquaires de Picardie</hi>, viii. (1845) +p. 206; E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Fêtes +Religieuses</hi>, p. 216; Laisnel de la +Salle, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances et Légendes du Centre +de la France</hi>, i. 83; J. Lecœur, +<hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</hi>, ii. 225.</note> This +last custom is said to be now extinct,<note place='foot'>H. Gaidoz, <q>Le dieu gaulois du +soleil et le symbolisme de la roue,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Revue Archéologique</hi>, iii. Série, iv. +(1884) p. 26, note 3.</note> but it is still usual, +or was so down to recent years, in Poitou to kindle fires on +this day at cross-roads or on the heights. The oldest or +youngest person present sets a light to the pile, which consists +of broom, gorse, and heath. A bright and crackling +blaze shoots up, but soon dies down, and over it the young +folk leap. They also throw stones into it, picking the stone +according to the size of the turnips that they wish to have +that year. It is said that <q>the good Virgin</q> comes and sits +on the prettiest of the stones, and next morning they see +there her beautiful golden tresses. At Lussac, in Poitou, +the lighting of the midsummer bonfire is still an affair of +some ceremony. A pyramid of faggots is piled round a +tree or tall pole on the ground where the fair is held; the +priest goes in procession to the spot and kindles the pile. +When prayers have been said and the clergy have withdrawn, +the people continue to march round the fire, telling their +beads, but it is not till the flames have begun to die down +that the youth jump over them. A brand from the midsummer +bonfire is supposed to be a preservative against +thunder.<note place='foot'>L. Pineau, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore du Poitou</hi> +(Paris, 1892), pp. 499 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> In Périgord +the ashes of the midsummer bonfire are +searched for the hair of the Virgin (E. +Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses</hi>, +p. 219).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in the +departments +of +Vienne and +Deux-Sèvres +and +in the provinces +of +Saintonge +and Aunis.</note> +In the department of Vienne the bonfire was kindled by +the oldest man, and before the dance round the flames began +it was the custom to pass across them a great bunch of +mullein (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>bouillon blanc</foreign>) and a branch of walnut, which next +morning before sunrise were fastened over the door of the +chief cattle-shed.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes Mythes et +Traditions des Provinces de France</hi>, +pp. 149 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. +218 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> A similar custom prevailed in the neighbouring +department of Deux-Sèvres; but here it was the +priest who kindled the bonfire, and old men used to put +embers of the fire in their wooden shoes as a preservative +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> +against many evils.<note place='foot'>Dupin, <q>Notice sur quelques fêtes +et divertissemens populaires du département +des Deux-Sèvres,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires et +Dissertations publiés par la Société +Royale des Antiquaires de France</hi>, iv. +(1823) p. 110.</note> In some towns and villages of Saintonge +and Aunis, provinces of Western France now mostly +comprised in the department of Charente Inférieure, the fires +of St. John are still kindled on Midsummer Eve, but the +custom is neither so common nor carried out with so much +pomp and ceremony as formerly. Great quantities of wood +used to be piled on an open space round about a huge post +or a tree stripped of its leaves and branches. Every one +took care to contribute a faggot to the pile, and the whole +population marched to the spot in procession with the +crucifix at their head and the priest bringing up the rear. +The squire, or other person of high degree, put the torch to +the pyre, and the priest blessed it. In the southern and +eastern parts of Saintonge children and cattle were passed +through the smoke of the bonfires to preserve them from +contagious diseases, and when the fire had gone out the +people scuffled for the charred fragments of the great post, +which they regarded as talismans against thunder. Next +morning, on Midsummer Day, every shepherdess in the +neighbourhood was up very early, for the first to drive her +sheep over the blackened cinders and ashes of the great +bonfire was sure to have the best flock all that year. Where +the shepherds shrunk from driving their flocks through the +smoke and flames of the bonfire they contented themselves +with marking the hinder-quarters of the animals with a broom +which had been blackened in the ashes.<note place='foot'>J. L. M. Noguès, <hi rend='italic'>Les mœurs +d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis</hi> +(Saintes, 1891), pp. 72, 178 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Southern +France. Midsummer +festival of +fire and +water in +Provence. Bathing +in the sea +at Midsummer. +Temporary +Midsummer +kings at +Aix and +Marseilles.</note> +In the mountainous part of Comminges, a province of +Southern France, now comprised in the department of Haute +Garonne, the midsummer fire is made by splitting open the +trunk of a tall tree, stuffing the crevice with shavings, and +igniting the whole. A garland of flowers is fastened to +the top of the tree, and at the moment when the fire is +lighted the man who was last married has to climb up a +ladder and bring the flowers down. In the flat parts of +the same district the materials of the midsummer bonfires +consist of fuel piled in the usual way; but they must be +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> +put together by men who have been married since the last +midsummer festival, and each of these benedicts is obliged +to lay a wreath of flowers on the top of the pile.<note place='foot'>H. Gaidoz, <q>Le dieu soleil et le +symbolisme de la roue,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Revue Archéologique</hi>, +iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. 30.</note> At the +entrance of the valley of Aran young people set up on the +banks of the Garonne a tree covered with ribbons and +garlands; at the end of a year the withered tree and faded +flowers furnish excellent fuel. So on the Eve of St. John +the villagers assemble, and an old man or a child kindles +the fire which is to consume tree and garlands together. +While the blaze lasts the people sing and dance; and the +burnt tree is then replaced by another which will suffer the +same fate after the lapse of a year.<note place='foot'>Ch. Cuissard, <hi rend='italic'>Les Feux de la +Saint-Jean</hi> (Orleans, 1884), pp. 22 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In some districts of +the French Pyrenees it is deemed necessary to leap nine +times over the midsummer fire if you would be assured +of prosperity.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes et +Traditions des Provinces de France</hi>, p. +127.</note> A traveller in Southern France at the +beginning of the nineteenth century tells us that <q>the Eve +of St. John is also a day of joy for the Provençals. They +light great fires and the young folk leap over them. At +Aix they shower squibs and crackers on the passers-by, +which has often had disagreeable consequences. At Marseilles +they drench each other with scented water, which is +poured from the windows or squirted from little syringes; +the roughest jest is to souse passers-by with clean water, +which gives rise to loud bursts of laughter.</q><note place='foot'>Aubin-Louis Millin, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage dans +les Départemens du Midi de la France</hi> +(Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 341 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Draguignan, +in the department of Var, fires used to be lit in every +street on the Eve of St. John, and the people roasted pods +of garlic at them; the pods were afterwards distributed to +every family. Another diversion of the evening was to pour +cans of water from the houses on the heads of people in +the streets.<note place='foot'>Aubin-Louis Millin, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> iii. 28.</note> In Provence the midsummer fires are still +popular. Children go from door to door begging for fuel, +and they are seldom sent empty away. Formerly the priest, +the mayor, and the aldermen used to walk in procession to +the bonfire, and even deigned to light it; after which the +assembly marched thrice round the burning pile, while the +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> +church bells pealed and rockets fizzed and sputtered in the +air. Dancing began later, and the bystanders threw water +on each other. At Ciotat, while the fire was blazing, the +young people plunged into the sea and splashed each other +vigorously. At Vitrolles they bathed in a pond in order +that they might not suffer from fever during the year, and +at Saintes-Maries they watered the horses to protect them +from the itch.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 19 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Bérenger-Féraud, <hi rend='italic'>Reminiscences populaires +de la Provence</hi> (Paris, 1885), pp. +135-141. As to the custom at Toulon, +see Poncy, quoted by Breuil, <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires +de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie</hi>, +viii. (1845) p. 190 note. The custom of +drenching people on this occasion with +water used to prevail in Toulon, as well +as in Marseilles and other towns in +the south of France. The water was +squirted from syringes, poured on the +heads of passers-by from windows, and +so on. See Breuil, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 237 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Aix a nominal king, chosen from among +the youth for his skill in shooting at a popinjay, presided +over the festival. He selected his own officers, and escorted +by a brilliant train marched to the bonfire, kindled it, and +was the first to dance round it. Next day he distributed +largesse to his followers. His reign lasted a year, during +which he enjoyed certain privileges. He was allowed to +attend the mass celebrated by the commander of the Knights +of St. John on St. John's Day: the right of hunting was +accorded to him; and soldiers might not be quartered in his +house. At Marseilles also on this day one of the guilds chose +a king of the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>badache</foreign> or double axe; but it does not appear +that he kindled the bonfire, which is said to have been lighted +with great ceremony by the préfet and other authorities.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 20 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +E. Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 218, 219 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Belgium. Bonfires on +St. Peter's +Day in +Brabant. +The King +and Queen +of the +Roses. +Effigies +burnt in +the Midsummer +fires.</note> +In Belgium the custom of kindling the midsummer +bonfires has long disappeared from the great cities, but it +is still kept up in rural districts and small towns of Brabant, +Flanders, and Limburg. People leap across the fires to +protect themselves against fever, and in eastern Flanders +women perform similar leaps for the purpose of ensuring +an easy delivery. At Termonde young people go from +door to door collecting fuel for the fires and reciting +verses, in which they beg the inmates to give them <q>wood +of St. John</q> and to keep some wood for St. Peter's Day +(the twenty-ninth of June); for in Belgium the Eve of St. +Peter's Day is celebrated by bonfires and dances exactly like +those which commemorate St. John's Eve. The ashes of +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> +the St. John's fires are deemed by Belgian peasants an +excellent remedy for consumption, if you take a spoonful +or two of them, moistened with water, day by day. People +also burn vervain in the fires, and they say that in the ashes +of the plant you may find, if you look for it, the <q>Fool's +Stone.</q><note place='foot'>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>Calendrier Belge</hi> (Brussels, 1861-1862), +i. 416 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 439.</note> In many parts of Brabant St. Peter's bonfire used +to be much larger than that of his rival St. John. When +it had burned out, both sexes engaged in a game of ball, +and the winner became the King of Summer or of the Ball +and had the right to choose his Queen. Sometimes the +winner was a woman, and it was then her privilege to select +her royal mate. This pastime was well known at Louvain +and it continued to be practised at Grammont and Mespelaer +down to the second half of the nineteenth century. At +Mespelaer, which is a village near Termonde, a huge pile +of eglantine, reeds, and straw was collected in a marshy +meadow for the bonfire; and next evening after vespers the +young folk who had lit it assembled at the <q>Good Life</q> +tavern to play the game. The winner was crowned with a +wreath of roses, and the rest danced and sang in a ring +about him. At Grammont, while the bonfire was lit and +the dances round it took place on St. Peter's Eve, the +festival of the <q>Crown of Roses</q> was deferred till the +following Sunday. The young folk arranged among themselves +beforehand who should be King and Queen of the +Roses: the rosy wreaths were hung on cords across the +street: the dancers danced below them, and at a given +moment the wreaths fell on the heads of the chosen King +and Queen, who had to entertain their fellows at a feast. +According to some people the fires of St. Peter, like those +of St. John, were lighted in order to drive away dragons.<note place='foot'>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 439-442.</note> +In French Flanders down to 1789 a straw figure representing +a man was always burned in the midsummer bonfire, +and the figure of a woman was burned on St. Peter's Day.<note place='foot'>Madame Clément, <hi rend='italic'>Histoire des +fêtes civiles et religieuses</hi>, etc., <hi rend='italic'>du +Département du Nord</hi> (Cambrai, 1836), +p. 364; J. W. Wolf, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur +deutschen Mythologie</hi> (Göttingen, 1852-1857), +ii. 392; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der +Baumkultus</hi>, p. 513.</note> +In Belgium people jump over the midsummer bonfires as a +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> +preventive of colic, and they keep the ashes at home to +hinder fire from breaking out.<note place='foot'>E. Monseur, <hi rend='italic'>Folklore Wallon</hi> +(Brussels, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), p. 130, §§ 1783, +1786, 1787.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +England. +Stow's +description +of the Midsummer +fires in +London. The Midsummer +fires at +Eton.</note> +The custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has been +observed in many parts of our own country. <q>On the Vigil of +Saint John the Baptist, commonly called Midsummer Eve, it +was usual in most country places, and also in towns and cities, +for the inhabitants, both old and young, and of both sexes, +to meet together, and make merry by the side of a large fire +made in the middle of the street, or in some open and convenient +place, over which the young men frequently leaped +by way of frolic, and also exercised themselves with various +sports and pastimes, more especially with running, wrestling, +and dancing. These diversions they continued till midnight, +and sometimes till cock-crowing.</q><note place='foot'>Joseph Strutt, <hi rend='italic'>The Sports and +Pastimes of the People of England</hi>, +New Edition, by W. Hone (London, +1834), p. 359.</note> In the streets +of London the midsummer fires were lighted in the time of +Queen Elizabeth down to the end of the sixteenth century, +as we learn from Stow's description, which runs thus: <q>In +the months of June and July, on the vigils of festival days, +and on the same festival days in the evenings after the sun +setting, there were usually made bonfires in the streets, every +man bestowing wood or labour towards them; the wealthier +sort also, before their doors near to the said bonfires, would +set out tables on the vigils furnished with sweet bread and +good drink, and on the festival days with meats and drinks +plentifully, whereunto they would invite their neighbours and +passengers also to sit and be merry with them in great +familiarity, praising God for His benefits bestowed on them. +These were called bonfires as well of good amity amongst +neighbours that being before at controversy, were there, by +the labour of others, reconciled, and made of bitter enemies +loving friends; and also for the virtue that a great fire hath +to purge the infection of the air. On the vigil of St. John +the Baptist, and on St. Peter and Paul the Apostles, every +man's door being shadowed with green birch, long fennel, +St. John's wort, orpin, white lilies, and such like, garnished +upon with garlands of beautiful flowers, had also lamps of +glass, with oil burning in them all the night; some hung +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> +out branches of iron curiously wrought, containing hundreds +of lamps alight at once, which made a goodly show, namely, +in New Fish Street, Thames Street, etc.</q><note place='foot'>John Stow, <hi rend='italic'>A Survay of London</hi>, +edited by Henry Morley (London, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), +pp. 126 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Stow's <hi rend='italic'>Survay</hi> was written +in 1598.</note> In the sixteenth +century the Eton boys used to kindle a bonfire on +the east side of the church both on St. John's Day and on +St. Peter's Day.<note place='foot'>John Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 338; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, <hi rend='italic'>British +Popular Customs</hi> (London, 1876), p. +331. Both writers refer to <hi rend='italic'>Status +Scholae Etonensis</hi> (<hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> 1560).</note> Writing in the second half of the +seventeenth century, the antiquary John Aubrey tells us +that bonfires were still kindled in many places on St. +John's Night, but that the civil wars had thrown many of +these old customs out of fashion. Wars, he adds, extinguish +superstition as well as religion and laws, and there is +nothing like gunpowder for putting phantoms to flight.<note place='foot'>John Aubrey, <hi rend='italic'>Remaines of Gentilisme +and Judaisme</hi> (London, 1881), p. +26.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in the +north of +England. +The Midsummer +fires in +Northumberland. The Midsummer +fires at +Whalton +in Northumberland.</note> +In the north of England these fires used to be lit +in the open streets. Young and old gathered round them, +and while the young leaped over the fires and engaged +in games, their elders looked on and probably remembered +with regret the days when they used to foot it as nimbly. +Sometimes the fires were kindled on the tops of high hills. +The people also carried firebrands about the fields.<note place='foot'>J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities of +Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 300 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 318, compare pp. 305, 306, +308 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 512. Compare W. Hutchinson, +<hi rend='italic'>View of Northumberland</hi>, vol. +ii. (Newcastle, 1778), Appendix, p. +(15), under the head <q>Midsummer</q>:—<q>It +is usual to raise fires on the tops +of high hills and in the villages, and +sport and danse around them; this is +of very remote antiquity, and the first +cause lost in the distance of time.</q></note> The +custom of kindling bonfires on Midsummer Eve prevailed +all over Cumberland down to the second half of the +eighteenth century.<note place='foot'>Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, +quoted by William Borlase, <hi rend='italic'>Antiquities, +Historical and Monumental, of the +County of Cornwall</hi> (London, 1769), +p. 135 note.</note> In Northumberland the custom seems +to have lasted into the first quarter of the nineteenth century; +the fires were lit in the villages and on the tops of high hills, +and the people sported and danced round them.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, +collected by M. C. Balfour +(London, 1904), p. 76, quoting E. +Mackenzie, <hi rend='italic'>An Historical, Topographical, +and Descriptive View of the County +of Northumberland</hi>, Second Edition +(Newcastle, 1825), i. 217.</note> Moreover, +the villagers used to run with burning brands round their +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +fields and to snatch ashes from a neighbour's fire, saying as +they did so, <q>We have the flower (or flour) of the wake.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, +collected by M. C. Balfour, +p. 75.</note> At +Sandhill bonfires were kindled on the Eve of St. Peter as +well as on Midsummer Eve; the custom is attested for the +year 1575, when it was described as ancient.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, +collected by M. C. Balfour, +p. 75.</note> We are told +that <q>on Midsummer's eve, reckoned according to the old +style, it was formerly the custom of the inhabitants, young +and old, not only of Whalton, but of most of the adjacent +villages, to collect a large cartload of whins and other combustible +materials, which was dragged by them with great +rejoicing (a fiddler being seated on the top of the cart) into +the village and erected into a pile. The people from the +surrounding country assembled towards evening, when it +was set on fire; and whilst the young danced around it, +the elders looked on smoking their pipes and drinking +their beer, until it was consumed. There can be little +doubt that this curious old custom dates from a very remote +antiquity.</q> In a law-suit, which was tried in 1878, the +rector of Whalton gave evidence of the constant use of the +village green for the ceremony since 1843. <q>The bonfire,</q> +he said, <q>was lighted a little to the north-east of the well at +Whalton, and partly on the footpath, and people danced +round it and jumped through it. That was never interrupted.</q> +The Rev. G. R. Hall, writing in 1879, says that +<q>the fire festivals or bonfires of the summer solstice at the +Old Midsummer until recently were commemorated on +Christenburg Crags and elsewhere by leaping through and +dancing round the fires, as those who have been present +have told me.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Denham Tracts</hi>, edited by J. +Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 342 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, quoting <hi rend='italic'>Archæologia Aeliana</hi>, N.S., +viii. 73, and the <hi rend='italic'>Proceedings</hi> of the +Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vi. 242 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, +collected by M. C. Balfour +(London, 1904), pp. 75 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Whalton +is a village of Northumberland, not far +from Morpeth.</note> Down to the early part of the nineteenth +century bonfires called Beal-fires used to be lit on Midsummer +Eve all over the wolds in the East Riding of +Yorkshire.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. vi. <hi rend='italic'>East +Riding of Yorkshire</hi>, collected and +edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), +p. 102.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Herefordshire, +Somersetshire, +Devonshire, +and +Cornwall. The +Cornish +fires on +Midsummer +Eve and +St. Peter's +Eve.</note> +In Herefordshire and Somersetshire the peasants used +to make fires in the fields on Midsummer Eve <q>to bless +the apples.</q><note place='foot'>John Aubrey, <hi rend='italic'>Remaines of Gentilisme +and Judaisme</hi> (London, 1881), +p. 96, compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, p. 26.</note> In Devonshire the custom of leaping over +the midsummer fires was also observed.<note place='foot'>J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities of +Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), i. +311.</note> <q>In Cornwall, +the festival fires, called bonfires, are kindled on the +Eves of St. John Baptist and St. Peter's day; and Midsummer +is thence, in the Cornish tongue, called <foreign lang='kw' rend='italic'>Goluan</foreign>, +which signifies both light and rejoicing. At these fires the +Cornish attend with lighted torches, tarred and pitched at +the end, and make their perambulations round their fires, +going from village to village and carrying their torches +before them; this is certainly the remains of Druid superstition; +for, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Faces praeferre</foreign>, to carry lighted torches was +reckoned a kind of gentilism, and as such particularly prohibited +by the Gallick Councils.</q><note place='foot'>William Borlase, LL.D., <hi rend='italic'>Antiquities, +Historical and Monumental, of +the County of Cornwall</hi> (London, +1769), pp. 135 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The Eve of St. +Peter is June 28th. Bonfires have +been lit elsewhere on the Eve or +the day of St. Peter. See above, +pp. <ref target='Pg194'>194</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, and below, pp. +<ref target='Pg199'>199</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref>, <ref target='Pg207'>207</ref>.</note> At Penzance and elsewhere +in the county the people danced and sang about the +bonfires on Midsummer Eve. On Whiteborough, a large +tumulus near Launceston, a huge bonfire used to be kindled +on Midsummer Eve; a tall summer pole with a large bush +at the top was fixed in the centre of the bonfire.<note place='foot'>J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 318, 319; +T. F. Thiselton Dyer, <hi rend='italic'>British Popular +Customs</hi> (London, 1876), p. 315.</note> The +Cornish fires at this season appear to have been commonly +lit on high and conspicuous hills, such as Tregonan, Godolphin, +Carnwarth, and Carn Brea. When it grew dusk on +Midsummer Eve, old men would hobble away to some +height whence they counted the fires and drew a presage +from their number.<note place='foot'>William Bottrell, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions and +Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall</hi> +(Penzance, 1870), pp. 8 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 55 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +James Napier, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore, or Superstitious +Beliefs in the West of Scotland</hi> +(Paisley, 1879), p. 173.</note> <q>It is the immemorial usage in +Penzance, and the neighbouring towns and villages, to kindle +bonfires and torches on Midsummer-eve; and on Midsummer-day +to hold a fair on Penzance quay, where the +country folks assemble from the adjoining parishes in great +numbers to make excursions on the water. St. Peter's Eve +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +[the twenty-eighth of June] is distinguished by a similar +display of bonfires and torches, although the <q>quay-fair</q> on +St. Peter's-day [the twenty-ninth of June], has been discontinued +upwards of forty years. On these eves a line of +tar-barrels, relieved occasionally by large bonfires, is seen in +the centre of each of the principal streets in Penzance. On +either side of this line young men and women pass up and +down, swinging round their heads heavy torches made of +large pieces of folded canvas steeped in tar, and nailed to +the ends of sticks between three and four feet long; the +flames of some of these almost equal those of the tar-barrels. +Rows of lighted candles, also, when the air is calm, are fixed +outside the windows or along the sides of the streets. In +St. Just, and other mining parishes, the young miners, +mimicking their fathers' employments, bore rows of holes in +the rocks, load them with gunpowder, and explode them in +rapid succession by trains of the same substance. As the +holes are not deep enough to split the rocks, the same little +batteries serve for many years. On these nights, Mount's +Bay has a most animating appearance, although not equal +to what was annually witnessed at the beginning of the +present century, when the whole coast, from the Land's End +to the Lizard, wherever a town or a village existed, was +lighted up with these stationary or moving fires. In the +early part of the evening, children may be seen wearing +wreaths of flowers—a custom in all probability originating +from the ancient use of these ornaments when they danced +around the fires. At the close of the fireworks in Penzance, +a great number of persons of both sexes, chiefly from the +neighbourhood of the quay, used always, until within the +last few years, to join hand in hand, forming a long string, +and run through the streets, playing <q>thread the needle,</q> +heedless of the fireworks showered upon them, and oftentimes +leaping over the yet glowing embers. I have on +these occasions seen boys following one another, jumping +through flames higher than themselves.</q><note place='foot'>Richard Edmonds, <hi rend='italic'>The Land's +End District</hi> (London, 1862), pp. 66 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Robert Hunt, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Romances +of the West of England</hi>, Third Edition +(London, 1881), pp. 207 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Wales and +the Isle of +Man. +Burning +wheel +rolled +down hill.</note> +In Wales the midsummer fires were kindled on St. John's +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> +Eve and on St. John's Day. Three or nine different kinds of +wood and charred faggots carefully preserved from the last +midsummer were deemed necessary to build the bonfire, which +was generally done on rising ground. Various herbs were +thrown into the blaze; and girls with bunches of three or +nine different kinds of flowers would take the hands of boys, +who wore flowers in their buttonholes and hats, and together +the young couples would leap over the fires. On the same +two midsummer days roses and wreaths of flowers were +hung over the doors and windows. <q>Describing a midsummer +fire, an old inhabitant, born in 1809, remembered +being taken to different hills in the Vale of Glamorgan to +see festivities in which people from all parts of the district +participated. She was at that time about fourteen, and old +enough to retain a vivid recollection of the circumstances. +People conveyed trusses of straw to the top of the hill, where +men and youths waited for the contributions. Women and +girls were stationed at the bottom of the hill. Then a large +cart-wheel was thickly swathed with straw, and not an inch +of wood was left in sight. A pole was inserted through the +centre of the wheel, so that long ends extended about a yard +on each side. If any straw remained, it was made up into +torches at the top of tall sticks. At a given signal the +wheel was lighted, and sent rolling downhill. If this fire-wheel +went out before it reached the bottom of the hill, a +very poor harvest was promised. If it kept lighted all the +way down, and continued blazing for a long time, the harvest +would be exceptionally abundant. Loud cheers and shouts +accompanied the progress of the wheel.</q><note place='foot'>Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), +pp. 27 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare Jonathan Ceredig +Davies, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</hi> +(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76.</note> At Darowen in +Wales small bonfires were kindled on Midsummer Eve.<note place='foot'>J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities of +Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 318.</note> On +the same day people in the Isle of Man were wont to light +fires to the windward of every field, so that the smoke might +pass over the corn; and they folded their cattle and carried +blazing furze or gorse round them several times.<note place='foot'>Joseph Train, <hi rend='italic'>Account of the Isle +of Man</hi> (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), +ii. 120.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Ireland. +Passage +of people +and cattle +through +the fires. Cattle +driven +through the +fire; ashes +used to fertilize +the +fields. +The White +Horse at +the Midsummer +fire.</note> +A writer of the last quarter of the seventeenth century +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +tells us that in Ireland, <q>on the Eves of St. John Baptist +and St. Peter, they always have in every town a bonfire, +late in the evenings, and carry about bundles of reeds +fast tied and fired; these being dry, will last long, and flame +better than a torch, and be a pleasing divertive prospect to +the distant beholder; a stranger would go near to imagine +the whole country was on fire.</q><note place='foot'>Sir Henry Piers, <hi rend='italic'>Description of the +County of Westmeath</hi>, written in 1682, +published by (General) Charles Vallancey, +<hi rend='italic'>Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis</hi>, +i. (Dublin, 1786) pp. 123 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Another writer says of +the South of Ireland: <q>On Midsummer's Eve, every eminence, +near which is a habitation, blazes with bonfires; and +round these they carry numerous torches, shouting and +dancing, which affords a beautiful sight.</q><note place='foot'>J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities of +Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 303, quoting the author of the <hi rend='italic'>Survey +of the South of Ireland</hi>, p. 232.</note> An author who +described Ireland in the first quarter of the eighteenth century +says: <q>On the vigil of St. John the Baptist's Nativity, +they make bonfires, and run along the streets and fields with +wisps of straw blazing on long poles to purify the air, which +they think infectious, by believing all the devils, spirits, +ghosts, and hobgoblins fly abroad this night to hurt mankind.</q><note place='foot'>J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 305, quoting +the author of the <hi rend='italic'>Comical Pilgrim's +Pilgrimage into Ireland</hi> (1723), p. 92.</note> +Another writer states that he witnessed the festival +in Ireland in 1782: <q>At the house where I was entertained, +it was told me, that we should see, at midnight, the most +singular sight in Ireland, which was the lighting of fires in +honour of the sun. Accordingly, exactly at midnight, the +fires began to appear; and taking the advantage of going up +to the leads of the house, which had a widely extended view, +I saw on a radius of thirty miles, all around, the fires burning +on every eminence which the country afforded. I had a +farther satisfaction in learning, from undoubted authority, +that the people danced round the fires, and at the close went +through these fires, and made their sons and daughters, +together with their cattle, pass through the fire; and the +whole was conducted with religious solemnity.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Gentleman's Magazine</hi>, vol. +lxv. (London, 1795) pp. 124 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +writer dates the festival on June 21st, +which is probably a mistake.</note> That the +custom prevailed in full force as late as 1867 appears from +a notice in a newspaper of that date, which runs thus: <q>The +old pagan fire-worship still survives in Ireland, though nominally +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> +in honour of St. John. On Sunday night bonfires were +observed throughout nearly every county in the province of +Leinster. In Kilkenny, fires blazed on every hillside at intervals +of about a mile. There were very many in the Queen's +County, also in Kildare and Wexford. The effect in the +rich sunset appeared to travellers very grand. The people +assemble, and dance round the fires, the children jump +through the flames, and in former times live coals were +carried into the corn-fields to prevent blight.</q><note place='foot'>T. F. Thiselton Dyer, <hi rend='italic'>British +Popular Customs</hi> (London, 1876), pp. +321 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, quoting the <hi rend='italic'>Liverpool Mercury</hi> +of June 29th, 1867.</note> In County +Leitrim on St. John's Eve, which is called Bonfire Day, fires +are still lighted after dusk on the hills and along the sides +of the roads.<note place='foot'>L. L. Duncan, <q>Further Notes +from County Leitrim,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, v. +(1894) p. 193.</note> All over Kerry the same thing continues to +be done, though not so commonly as of old. Small fires +were made across the road, and to drive through them +brought luck for the year. Cattle were also driven through +the fires. On Lettermore Island, in South Connemara, +some of the ashes from the midsummer bonfire are thrown +on the fields to fertilize them.<note place='foot'>A. C. Haddon, <q>A Batch of Irish +Folk-lore,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, iv. (1893) pp. +351, 359.</note> One writer informs us that +in Munster and Connaught a bone must always be burned +in the fire; for otherwise the people believe that the fire will +bring no luck. He adds that in many places sterile beasts +and human beings are passed through the fire, and that as a +boy he himself jumped through the fire <q>for luck.</q><note place='foot'>G. H. Kinahan, <q>Notes on Irish +Folk-lore,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore Record</hi>, iv. (1881) +p. 97.</note> An +eye-witness has described as follows a remarkable ceremony +observed in Ireland on Midsummer Eve: <q>When the fire +burned for some hours, and got low, an indispensable part +of the ceremony commenced. Every one present of the +peasantry passed through it, and several children were +thrown across the sparkling embers; while a wooden frame, +of some eight feet long, with a horse's head fixed to one end, +and a large white sheet thrown over it concealing the wood +and the man on whose head it was carried, made its appearance. +This was greeted with loud shouts of <q>The white +horse!</q> and having been safely carried by the skill of its +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> +bearer several times through the fire with a bold leap, it pursued +the people, who ran screaming and laughing in every +direction. I asked what the horse was meant for, and was +told that it represented <q>all cattle.</q></q><note place='foot'>Charlotte Elizabeth, <hi rend='italic'>Personal Recollections</hi>, +quoted by Rev. Alexander +Hislop, <hi rend='italic'>The Two Babylons</hi> (Edinburgh, +1853), p. 53.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Lady +Wilde's +account +of the Midsummer +fires in +Ireland.</note> +Lady Wilde's account of the midsummer festival in Ireland +is picturesque and probably correct in substance, although +she does not cite her authorities. As it contains some interesting +features which are not noticed by the other writers +on Ireland whom I have consulted, I will quote the greater +part of it in full. <q>In ancient times,</q> she says, <q>the sacred +fire was lighted with great ceremony on Midsummer Eve; +and on that night all the people of the adjacent country kept +fixed watch on the western promontory of Howth, and the +moment the first flash was seen from that spot the fact of +ignition was announced with wild cries and cheers repeated +from village to village, when all the local fires began to blaze, +and Ireland was circled by a cordon of flame rising up from +every hill. Then the dance and song began round every +fire, and the wild hurrahs filled the air with the most frantic +revelry. Many of these ancient customs are still continued, +and the fires are still lighted on St. John's Eve on every hill +in Ireland. When the fire has burned down to a red glow +the young men strip to the waist and leap over or through +the flames; this is done backwards and forwards several +times, and he who braves the greatest blaze is considered +the victor over the powers of evil, and is greeted with +tremendous applause. When the fire burns still lower, the +young girls leap the flame, and those who leap clean over +three times back and forward will be certain of a speedy +marriage and good luck in after-life, with many children. +The married women then walk through the lines of the +burning embers; and when the fire is nearly burnt and +trampled down, the yearling cattle are driven through the +hot ashes, and their back is singed with a lighted hazel twig. +These rods are kept safely afterwards, being considered +of immense power to drive the cattle to and from the +watering places. As the fire diminishes the shouting grows +fainter, and the song and the dance commence; while professional +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> +story-tellers narrate tales of fairy-land, or of the +good old times long ago, when the kings and princes of +Ireland dwelt amongst their own people, and there was food +to eat and wine to drink for all comers to the feast at the +king's house. When the crowd at length separate, every +one carries home a brand from the fire, and great virtue is +attached to the lighted <foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>brone</foreign> which is safely carried to the +house without breaking or falling to the ground. Many contests +also arise amongst the young men; for whoever enters +his house first with the sacred fire brings the good luck of +the year with him.</q><note place='foot'>Lady Wilde, <hi rend='italic'>Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland</hi>, +(London, 1887), i. 214 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Holy wells +resorted to +on Midsummer +Eve in +Ireland.</note> +In Ireland, as elsewhere, water was also apparently +thought to acquire a certain mystical virtue at midsummer. +<q>At Stoole, near Downpatrick, there is a ceremony commencing +at twelve o'clock at night on Midsummer Eve. +Its sacred mount is consecrated to St. Patrick; the plain +contains three wells, to which the most extraordinary virtues +are attributed. Here and there are heaps of stones, around +some of which appear great numbers of people, running +with as much speed as possible; around others crowds of +worshippers kneel with bare legs and feet as an indispensable +part of the penance. The men, without coats, with handkerchiefs +on their heads instead of hats, having gone seven +times round each heap, kiss the ground, cross themselves, and +proceed to the hill; here they ascend, on their bare knees, +by a path so steep and rugged that it would be difficult to +walk up. Many hold their hands clasped at the back of +their necks, and several carry large stones on their heads. +Having repeated this ceremony seven times, they go to what +is called St. Patrick's Chair, which are two great flat stones +fixed upright in the hill; here they cross and bless themselves +as they step in between these stones, and, while +repeating prayers, an old man, seated for the purpose, turns +them round on their feet three times, for which he is paid; +the devotee then goes to conclude his penance at a pile of +stones, named the Altar. While this busy scene is continued +by the multitude, the wells and streams issuing from them +are thronged by crowds of halt, maimed, and blind, pressing +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> +to wash away their infirmities with water consecrated by their +patron saint, and so powerful is the impression of its efficacy on +their minds, that many of those who go to be healed, and +who are not totally blind, or altogether crippled, really +believe for a time that they are by means of its miraculous +virtues perfectly restored.</q><note place='foot'>T. F. Thiselton Dyer, <hi rend='italic'>British +Popular Customs</hi> (London, 1876), pp. +322 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, quoting the <hi rend='italic'>Hibernian Magazine</hi>, +July 1817. As to the worship of +wells in ancient Ireland, see P. W. +Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>A Social History of Ancient Ireland</hi> +(London, 1903), i. 288 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 366 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Scotland. Fires on +St. Peter's +Day (the +twenty-ninth +of +June).</note> +In Scotland the traces of midsummer fires are few. We +are told by a writer of the eighteenth century that <q>the +midsummer-even fire, a relict of Druidism,</q> was kindled in +some parts of the county of Perth.<note place='foot'>Rev. A. Johnstone, describing the +parish of Monquhitter in Perthshire, +in Sir John Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical +Account of Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, 1791-1799), +xxi. 145. Mr. W. Warde +Fowler writes that in Scotland <q>before +the bonfires were kindled on midsummer +eve, the houses were decorated +with foliage brought from the woods</q> +(<hi rend='italic'>Roman Festivals of the Period of the +Republic</hi>, London, 1899, pp. 80 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). +For his authority he refers to <hi rend='italic'>Chambers' +Journal</hi>, July, 1842.</note> Another writer of the +same period, describing what he calls the Druidical festivals +of the Highlanders, says that <q>the least considerable of them +is that of midsummer. In the Highlands of Perthshire there +are some vestiges of it. The cowherd goes three times +round the fold, according to the course of the sun, with a +burning torch in his hand. They imagined this rite had a +tendency to purify their herds and flocks, and to prevent +diseases. At their return the landlady makes an entertainment +for the cowherd and his associates.</q><note place='foot'>John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, <hi rend='italic'>Scotland +and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth +Century</hi>, edited by A. Allardyce (Edinburgh, +1888), ii. 436.</note> In the north-east +of Scotland, down to the latter half of the eighteenth +century, farmers used to go round their lands with burning +torches about the middle of June.<note place='foot'>Rev. Mr. Shaw, Minister of Elgin, +in Pennant's <q>Tour in Scotland,</q> +printed in John Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and +Travels</hi> (London, 1808-1814), iii. 136.</note> On the hill of Cairnshee, +in the parish of Durris, Kincardineshire, the herdsmen of the +country round about annually kindle a bonfire at sunset +on Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June); the men +or lads collect the fuel and push each other through the +smoke and flames. The custom is kept up through the +benefaction of a certain Alexander Hogg, a native of the +parish, who died about 1790 and left a small sum for the +maintenance of a midsummer bonfire on the spot, because as +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +a boy he had herded cattle on the hill. We may conjecture +that in doing so he merely provided for the continuance +of an old custom which he himself had observed in the +same place in his youth.<note place='foot'>A. Macdonald, <q>Midsummer Bonfires,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xv. (1904) pp. 105 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At the village of Tarbolton in +Ayrshire a bonfire has been annually kindled from time +immemorial on the evening of the first Monday after the +eleventh of June. A noted cattle-market was formerly +held at the fair on the following day. The bonfire is still +lit at the gloaming by the lads and lasses of the village on +a high mound or hillock just outside of the village. Fuel +for it is collected by the lads from door to door. The +youth dance round the fire and leap over the fringes of it. +The many cattle-drovers who used to assemble for the fair +were wont to gather round the blazing pile, smoke their +pipes, and listen to the young folk singing in chorus on the +hillock. Afterwards they wrapped themselves in their +plaids and slept round the bonfire, which was intended to +last all night.<note place='foot'>From notes kindly furnished to me +by the Rev. J. C. Higgins, parish +minister of Tarbolton. Mr. Higgins +adds that he knows of no superstition +connected with the fire, and no tradition +of its origin. I visited the scene +of the bonfire in 1898, but, as Pausanias +says (viii. 41. 6) in similar circumstances, +<q>I did not happen to +arrive at the season of the festival.</q> +Indeed the snow was falling thick as +I trudged to the village through the +beautiful woods of <q>the Castle o' +Montgomery</q> immortalized by Burns. +From a notice in <hi rend='italic'>The Scotsman</hi> of 26th +June, 1906 (p. 8) it appears that the +old custom was observed as usual that +year.</note> Thomas Moresin of Aberdeen, a writer of +the sixteenth century, says that on St. Peter's Day, which is +the twenty-ninth of June, the Scotch ran about at night with +lighted torches on mountains and high grounds, <q>as Ceres +did when she roamed the whole earth in search of Proserpine</q>;<note place='foot'>Thomas Moresinus, <hi rend='italic'>Papatus seu +Depravatae Religionis Origo et Incrementum</hi> +(Edinburgh, 1594), p. 56.</note> +and towards the end of the eighteenth century the +parish minister of Loudoun, a district of Ayrshire whose +<q>bonny woods and braes</q> have been sung by Burns, wrote +that <q>the custom still remains amongst the herds and young +people to kindle fires in the high grounds in honour of +Beltan. <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Beltan</foreign>, which in Gaelic signifies <foreign rend='italic'>Baal</foreign>, or <foreign rend='italic'>Bel's-fire</foreign>, +was antiently the time of this solemnity. It is now kept on +St. Peter's day.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. Dr. George Lawrie, in Sir +John Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical Account of +Scotland</hi>, iii. (Edinburgh, 1792) p. 105.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Spain and +the Azores. Divination +on Midsummer +Eve in the +Azores. +The Midsummer +fires in +Corsica +and Sardinia.</note> +All over Spain great bonfires called <foreign lang='es' rend='italic'>lumes</foreign> are still lit on +Midsummer Eve. They are kept up all night, and the +children leap over them in a certain rhythmical way which +is said to resemble the ancient dances. On the coast, people +at this season plunge into the sea; in the inland districts +the villagers go and roll naked in the dew of the meadows, +which is supposed to be a sovereign preservative against +diseases of the skin. On this evening, too, girls who would +pry into the future put a vessel of water on the sill outside +their window; and when the clocks strike twelve, +they break an egg in the water and see, or fancy they +see, in the shapes assumed by the pulp, as it blends with +the liquid, the likeness of future bridegrooms, castles, coffins, +and so forth. But generally, as might perhaps have been +anticipated, the obliging egg exhibits the features of a bridegroom.<note place='foot'>Letter from Dr. Otero Acevado +of Madrid, published in <hi rend='italic'>Le Temps</hi>, +September 1898. An extract from the +newspaper was sent me, but without +mention of the day of the month when +it appeared. The fires on St. John's +Eve in Spain are mentioned also by +J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities of Great +Britain</hi>, i. 317. Jacob Grimm inferred +the custom from a passage in a romance +(<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 518). The +custom of washing or bathing on the +morning of St. John's Day is mentioned +by the Spanish historian Diego Duran, +<hi rend='italic'>Historia de las Indias de Nueva +España</hi>, edited by J. F. Ramirez +(Mexico, 1867-1880), vol. ii. p. 293. +To roll in the dew on the morning of +St. John's Day is a cure for diseases of +the skin in Normandy, Périgord, and +the Abruzzi, as well as in Spain. See +J. Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</hi>, +ii. 8; A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, +Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de +France</hi>, p. 150; Gennaro Finamore, +<hi rend='italic'>Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi</hi> +(Palermo, 1890), p. 157.</note> +In the Azores, also, bonfires are lit on Midsummer +Eve (St. John's Eve), and boys jump over them for luck. On +that night St. John himself is supposed to appear in person and +bless all the seas and waters, driving out the devils and demons +who had been disporting themselves in them ever since the +second day of November; that is why in the interval between +the second of November and the twenty-third of June nobody +will bathe in the sea or in a hot spring. On Midsummer +Eve, too, you can always see the devil, if you will go into a +garden at midnight. He is invariably found standing near +a mustard-plant. His reason for adopting this posture has +not been ascertained; perhaps in the chilly air of the upper +world he is attracted by the genial warmth of the mustard. +Various forms of divination are practised by people in the +Azores on Midsummer Eve. Thus a new-laid egg is broken +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +into a glass of water, and the shapes which it assumes foreshadow +the fate of the person concerned. Again, seven +saucers are placed in a row, filled respectively with water, +earth, ashes, keys, a thimble, money, and grass, which things +signify travel, death, widowhood, housekeeping, spinsterhood, +riches, and farming. A blindfolded person touches one or +other of the saucers with a wand and so discovers his or her +fate. Again, three broad beans are taken; one is left in its +skin, one is half peeled, and the third is peeled outright. +The three denote respectively riches, competence, and +poverty. They are hidden and searched for; and he who +finds one of them knows accordingly whether he will be rich, +moderately well-off, or poor. Again, girls take slips of +paper and write the names of young men twice over on them. +These they fold up and crumple and place one set under their +pillows and the other set in a saucer full of water. In the +morning they draw one slip of paper from under their pillow, +and see whether one in the water has opened out. If the +names on the two slips are the same, it is the name of her +future husband. Young men do the same with girls' names. +Once more, if a girl rises at sunrise, goes out into the street, +and asks the first passer-by his Christian name, that will be +her husband's name.<note place='foot'>M. Longworth Dames and Mrs. E. +Seemann, <q>Folklore of the Azores,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xiv. (1903) pp. 142 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Theophilo Braga, <hi rend='italic'>O Povo Portuguez +nos seus Costumes, Crenças e Tradiçoes</hi> +(Lisbon, 1885), ii. 304 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 307 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Some of these modes of divination +resemble those which are or used to be practised in Scotland +at Hallowe'en.<note place='foot'>See below, pp. <ref target='Pg234'>234</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> In Corsica on the Eve of St. John the +people set fire to the trunk of a tree or to a whole tree, and +the young men and maidens dance round the blaze, which is +called <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>fucaraia</foreign>.<note place='foot'>Angelo de Gubernatis, <hi rend='italic'>Mythologie +des Plantes</hi> (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 185 +note 1.</note> We have seen that at Ozieri, in Sardinia, +a great bonfire is kindled on St. John's Eve, and that the +young people dance round it.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</hi>, Second +Edition, pp. 202 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in the +Abruzzi. Bathing +on Midsummer +Eve in the +Abruzzi. +The Midsummer +fires in +Sicily. +The +witches +at Midsummer.</note> +Passing to Italy, we find that the midsummer fires are +still lighted on St. John's Eve in many parts of the Abruzzi. +They are commonest in the territory which was inhabited in +antiquity by the Vestini; they are rarer in the land of the +ancient Marsi, and they disappear entirely in the lower valley +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> +of the Sangro. For the most part, the fires are fed with +straw and dry grass, and are kindled in the fields near the +villages or on high ground. As they blaze up, the people +dance round or over them. In leaping across the flames the +boys cry out, <q>St. John, preserve my thighs and legs!</q> +Formerly it used to be common to light the bonfires also in +the towns in front of churches of St. John, and the remains +of the sacred fire were carried home by the people; but this +custom has mostly fallen into disuse. However, at Celano +the practice is still kept up of taking brands and ashes from +the bonfires to the houses, although the fires are no longer +kindled in front of the churches, but merely in the streets.<note place='foot'>G. Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>Credenze, Usi e Costumi +Abruzzesi</hi> (Palermo, 1890), pp. +154 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +In the Abruzzi water also is supposed to acquire certain +marvellous and beneficent properties on St. John's Night. +Hence many people bathe or at least wash their faces and +hands in the sea or a river at that season, especially at the +moment of sunrise. Such a bath is said to be an excellent +cure for diseases of the skin. At Castiglione a Casauria +the people, after washing in the river or in springs, gird +their waists and wreath their brows with sprigs of briony in +order to keep them from aches and pains.<note place='foot'>G. Finamore, <hi rend='italic'>Credenze, Usi e Costumi +Abruzzesi</hi>, pp. 158-160. We may +compare the Provençal and Spanish +customs of bathing and splashing water +at midsummer. See above, pp. <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref> +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg208'>208</ref>.</note> In various parts +of Sicily, also, fires are kindled on Midsummer Eve (St. John's +Eve), the twenty-third of June. On the Madonie mountains, +in the north of the island, the herdsmen kindle them at +intervals, so that the crests of the mountains are seen ablaze +in the darkness for many miles. About Acireale, on the +east coast of the island, the bonfires are lit by boys, who +jump over them. At Chiaromonte the witches that night +acquire extraordinary powers; hence everybody then puts a +broom outside of his house, because a broom is an excellent +protective against witchcraft.<note place='foot'>Giuseppe Pitrè, <hi rend='italic'>Spettacoli e Feste +Popolari Siciliane</hi> (Palermo, 1881), pp. +246, 308 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Usi e Costumi, +Credenze e Pregiudizi del Popolo +Siciliano</hi> (Palermo, 1889), pp. 146 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Orvieto the midsummer +fires were specially excepted from the prohibition directed +against bonfires in general.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 518.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Malta.</note> +In Malta also the people celebrate Midsummer Eve +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> +(St. John's Eve) <q>by kindling great fires in the public +streets, and giving their children dolls to carry in their arms +on this day, in order to make good the prophecy respecting +the Baptist, <foreign lang='mt' rend='italic'>Multi in nativitate ejus gaudebunt</foreign>. Days and +even weeks before this festival, groups of children are seen +going out into the country fields to gather straw, twigs, and +all sorts of other combustibles, which they store up for +St. John's Eve. On the night of the twenty-third of June, +the day before the festival of the Saint, great fires are kindled +in the streets, squares, and market places of the towns and +villages of the Island, and as fire after fire blazes out of the +darkness of that summer night, the effect is singularly +striking. These fires are sometimes kept up for hours, being +continually fed by the scores of bystanders, who take great +delight in throwing amidst the flames some old rickety piece +of furniture which they consider as lumber in their houses. +Lots of happy and reckless children, and very often men, are +seen merrily leaping in succession over and through the +crackling flames. At the time of the Order of St. John of +Jerusalem, the Grand Master himself, soon after the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Angelus</foreign>, +used to leave his palace, accompanied by the Grand Prior, +the Bishop, and two bailiffs, to set fire to some pitch barrels +which were placed for the occasion in the square facing the +sacred Hospital. Great crowds used to assemble here in +order to assist at this ceremony. The setting ablaze of the +five casks, and later on of the eight casks, by the Grand +Master, was a signal for the others to kindle their fires in the +different parts of the town.</q><note place='foot'>V. Busuttil, <hi rend='italic'>Holiday Customs in +Malta, and Sports, Usages, Ceremonies, +Omens, and Superstitions of the Maltese +People</hi> (Malta, 1894), pp. 56 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The +extract was kindly sent to me by Mr. +H. W. Underwood (letter dated 14th +November, 1902, Birbeck Bank Chambers, +Southampton Buildings, Chancery +Lane, W.C.). See <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xiv. +(1903) pp. 77 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +Greece. The Midsummer +fires in +Macedonia +and +Albania.</note> +In Greece, the custom of kindling fires on St. John's Eve +and jumping over them is said to be still universal. One +reason assigned for it is a wish to escape from the fleas.<note place='foot'>W. R. Paton, in <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, ii. +(1891) p. 128. The custom was +reported to me when I was in Greece +in 1890 (<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, i. (1890) p. 520).</note> +According to another account, the women cry out, as they +leap over the fire, <q>I leave my sins behind me.</q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 519.</note> In Lesbos +the fires on St. John's Eve are usually lighted by threes, and +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/> +the people spring thrice over them, each with a stone on his +head, saying, <q>I jump the hare's fire, my head a stone!</q> +On the morning of St. John's Day those who dwell near the +coast go to bathe in the sea. As they go they gird themselves +with osiers, and when they are in the water they let +the osiers float away, saying, <q>Let my maladies go away!</q> +Then they look for what is called <q>the hairy stone,</q> which +possesses the remarkable property not only of keeping moths +from clothes but even of multiplying the clothes in the chest +where it is laid up, and the more hairs on the stone the +more will the clothes multiply in the chest.<note place='foot'>G. Georgeakis et L. Pineau, <hi rend='italic'>Le +Folk-lore de Lesbos</hi> (Paris, 1894), pp. +308 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Calymnos +the midsummer fire is supposed to ensure abundance in the +coming year as well as deliverance from fleas. The people +dance round the fires singing, with stones on their heads, +and then jump over the blaze or the glowing embers. When +the fire is burning low, they throw the stones into it; and +when it is nearly out, they make crosses on their legs and +then go straightway and bathe in the sea.<note place='foot'>W. R. Paton, in <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, vi. +(1895) p. 94. From the stones cast +into the fire omens may perhaps be +drawn, as in Scotland, Wales, and +probably Brittany. See above, p. +<ref target='Pg183'>183</ref>, and below, pp. <ref target='Pg230'>230</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg239'>239</ref>, <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref>.</note> In Cos the lads +and lasses dance round the bonfires on St. John's Eve. +Each of the lads binds a black stone on his head, signifying +that he wishes to become as strong as the stone. Also they +make the sign of the cross on their feet and legs and jump +over the fire.<note place='foot'>W. H. D. Rouse, <q>Folklore from +the Southern Sporades,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, x. +(1899) p. 179.</note> On Midsummer Eve the Greeks of Macedonia +light fires after supper in front of their gates. The garlands, +now faded, which were hung over the doors on May Day, +are taken down and cast into the flames, after which the +young folk leap over the blaze, fully persuaded that St. +John's fire will not burn them.<note place='foot'>Lucy M. J. Garnett, <hi rend='italic'>The Women +of Turkey and their Folk-lore, the +Christian Women</hi> (London, 1890), p. +122; G. F. Abbott, <hi rend='italic'>Macedonian Folk-lore</hi> +(Cambridge, 1903), p. 57.</note> In Albania fires of dry +herbage are, or used to be, lit everywhere on St. John's Eve; +young and old leap over them, for such a leap is thought +to be good for the health.<note place='foot'>J. G. von Hahn, <hi rend='italic'>Albanesische +Studien</hi> (Jena, 1854), i. 156.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires in +America.</note> +From the Old World the midsummer fires have been +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/> +carried across the Atlantic to America. In Brazil people +jump over the fires of St. John, and at this season they can +take hot coals in their mouths without burning themselves.<note place='foot'>K. von den Steinen, <hi rend='italic'>Unter den +Natur-Völkern Zentral-Brasiliens</hi> +(Berlin, 1894), p. 561.</note> +In Bolivia on the Eve of St. John it is usual to see bonfires +lighted on the hills and even in the streets of the capital +La Paz. As the city stands at the bottom of an immense +ravine, and the Indians of the neighbourhood take a pride +in kindling bonfires on heights which might seem inaccessible, +the scene is very striking when the darkness of night is +suddenly and simultaneously lit up by hundreds of fires, +which cast a glare on surrounding objects, producing an +effect at once weird and picturesque.<note place='foot'>Alcide d'Orbigny, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage dans +l'Amérique Méridionale</hi>, ii. (Paris and +Strasbourg, 1839-1843), p. 420; D. +Forbes, <q>On the Aymara Indians of +Bolivia and Peru,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Journal of the +Ethnological Society of London</hi>, ii. +(1870) p. 235.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +fires among +the Mohammedans +of +Morocco +and +Algeria.</note> +The custom of kindling bonfires on Midsummer Day +or on Midsummer Eve is widely spread among the +Mohammedan peoples of North Africa, particularly in +Morocco and Algeria; it is common both to the Berbers +and to many of the Arabs or Arabic-speaking tribes. In +these countries Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June, +Old Style) is called <foreign lang='ar' rend='italic'>l'ánṣăra</foreign>. The fires are lit in the courtyards, +at cross-roads, in the fields, and sometimes on the +threshing-floors. Plants which in burning give out a thick +smoke and an aromatic smell are much sought after for fuel +on these occasions; among the plants used for the purpose +are giant-fennel, thyme, rue, chervil-seed, camomile, geranium, +and penny-royal. People expose themselves, and especially +their children, to the smoke, and drive it towards the orchards +and the crops. Also they leap across the fires; in some +places everybody ought to repeat the leap seven times. +Moreover they take burning brands from the fires and carry +them through the houses in order to fumigate them. They +pass things through the fire, and bring the sick into contact +with it, while they utter prayers for their recovery. The +ashes of the bonfires are also reputed to possess beneficial +properties; hence in some places people rub their hair or +their bodies with them.<note place='foot'>Edmond Doutté, <hi rend='italic'>Magie et Religion +dans l'Afrique du Nord</hi> (Algiers, 1908), +pp. 566 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> For an older but briefer +notice of the Midsummer fires in North +Africa, see Giuseppe Ferraro, <hi rend='italic'>Superstizioni, +Usi e Proverbi Monferrini</hi> +(Palermo, 1886), pp. 34 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>: <q>Also in +Algeria, among the Mussalmans, and +in Morocco, as Alvise da Cadamosto +reports in his <hi rend='italic'>Relazione dei viaggi +d'Africa</hi>, which may be read in +Ramusio, people used to hold great +festivities on St. John's Night; they +kindled everywhere huge fires of straw +(the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Palilia</foreign> of the Romans), in which +they threw incense and perfumes the +whole night long in order to invoke the +divine blessing on the fruit-trees.</q> +See also Budgett Meakin, <hi rend='italic'>The Moors</hi> +(London, 1902), p. 394: <q>The Berber +festivals are mainly those of Islam, +though a few traces of their predecessors +are observable. Of these the most +noteworthy is Midsummer or St. John's +Day, still celebrated in a special manner, +and styled <foreign lang='ar' rend='italic'>El 'Anṣarah</foreign>. In the Rîf +it is celebrated by the lighting of +bonfires only, but in other parts there +is a special dish prepared of wheat, +raisins, etc., resembling the frumenty +consumed at the New Year. It is +worthy of remark that the Old Style +Gregorian calendar is maintained +among them, with corruptions of Latin +names.</q></note> For example, the Andjra +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/> +mountaineers of Morocco kindle large fires in open places +of their villages on Midsummer Day. Men, women, and +children jump over the flames or the glowing embers, +believing that by so doing they rid themselves of all +misfortune which may be clinging to them; they imagine, +also, that such leaps cure the sick and procure offspring for +childless couples. Moreover, they burn straw, together with +some marjoram and alum, in the fold where the cattle, +sheep, and goats are penned for the night; the smoke, in +their opinion, will make the animals thrive. On Midsummer +Day the Arabs of the Mnasara tribe make fires outside their +tents, near their animals, on their fields, and in their gardens. +Large quantities of penny-royal are burned in these fires, +and over some of them the people leap thrice to and fro. +Sometimes small fires are also kindled inside the tents. +They say that the smoke confers blessings on everything +with which it comes into contact. At Salee, on the Atlantic +coast of Morocco, persons who suffer from diseased eyes +rub them with the ashes of the midsummer fire; and in +Casablanca and Azemmur the people hold their faces over +the fire, because the smoke is thought to be good for the +eyes. The Arab tribe Ulad Bu Aziz, in the Dukkala +province of Morocco, kindle midsummer bonfires, not for +themselves and their cattle, but only for crops and fruit; +nobody likes to reap his crops before Midsummer Day, +because if he did they would lose the benefit of the blessed +influence which flows from the smoke of the bonfires. +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> +Again, the Beni Mgild, a Berber tribe of Morocco, light fires +of straw on Midsummer Eve and leap thrice over them to +and fro. They let some of the smoke pass underneath their +clothes, and married women hold their breasts over the fire, +in order that their children may be strong. Moreover, they +paint their eyes and lips with some black powder, in which +ashes of the bonfire are mixed. And in order that their +horses may also benefit by the fires, they dip the right forelegs +of the animals in the smoke and flames or in the hot +embers, and they rub ashes on the foreheads and between +the nostrils of the horses. Berbers of the Rif province, in +northern Morocco, similarly make great use of fires at +midsummer for the good of themselves, their cattle, and +their fruit-trees. They jump over the bonfires in the belief +that this will preserve them in good health, and they light +fires under fruit-trees to keep the fruit from falling untimely. +And they imagine that by rubbing a paste of the ashes on +their hair they prevent the hair from falling off their heads.<note place='foot'>Edward Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xvi. (1905) pp. 28-30; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies +and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, +Certain Dates of the Solar +Year, and the Weather</hi> (Helsingfors, +1913), pp. 79-83.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Beneficial +effect +ascribed +to the +smoke of +the fires. +Ill luck +supposed +to be burnt +in the Midsummer +fires.</note> +In all these Moroccan customs, we are told, the beneficial +effect is attributed wholly to the smoke, which is supposed +to be endued with a magical quality that removes misfortune +from men, animals, fruit-trees, and crops. But in some parts +of Morocco people at midsummer kindle fires of a different +sort, not for the sake of fumigation, but in order to burn up +misfortune in the flames. Thus on Midsummer Eve the +Berber tribe of the Beni Mgild burn three sheaves of +unthreshed wheat or barley, <q>one for the children, one for +the crops, and one for the animals.</q> On the same occasion +they burn the tent of a widow who has never given birth to +a child; by so doing they think to rid the village of ill luck. +It is said that at midsummer the Zemmur burn a tent, which +belongs to somebody who was killed in war during a feast; +or if there is no such person in the village, the schoolmaster's +tent is burned instead. Among the Arabic-speaking Beni +Ahsen it is customary for those who live near the river Sbu +to make a little hut of straw at midsummer, set it on fire, +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +and let it float down the river. Similarly the inhabitants of +Salee burn a straw hut on the river which flows past their +town.<note place='foot'>E. Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xvi. +(1905) pp. 30 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies and +Beliefs connected with Agriculture</hi>, etc., +pp. 83 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +festival in +North +Africa +comprises +rites concerned +with +water as +well as with +fire.</note> +Further it deserves to be noticed that in Northern +Africa, as in Southern Europe, the midsummer festival +comprises rites concerned with water as well as with fire. +For example, among the Beni-Snous the women light a fire in +an oven, throw perfumes into it, and circumambulate a tank, +which they also incense after a fashion. In many places on +the coast, as in the province of Oran and particularly in the +north of Morocco, everybody goes and bathes in the sea at +midsummer; and in many towns of the interior, such as +Fez, Mequinez, and especially Merrakech, people throw water +over each other on this day; and where water is scarce, earth +is used instead, according to the Mohammedan principle +which permits ablutions to be performed with earth or sand +when water cannot be spared for the purpose.<note place='foot'>Edmond Doutté, <hi rend='italic'>Magie et Religion +dans l'Afrique du Nord</hi> (Algiers, 1908), +pp. 567 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> People of +the Andjra district in Morocco not only bathe themselves in +the sea or in rivers at midsummer, they also bathe their +animals, their horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, sheep, and +goats; for they think that on that day water possesses a +blessed virtue (<foreign lang='ar' rend='italic'>baraka</foreign>), which removes sickness and misfortune. +In Aglu, again, men, women, and children bathe in +the sea or springs or rivers at midsummer, alleging that by +so doing they protect themselves against disease for the +whole year. Among the Berbers of the Rif district the +custom of bathing on this day is commonly observed, and +animals share the ablutions.<note place='foot'>E. Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xvi. +(1905) pp. 31 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies and +Beliefs connected with Agriculture</hi>, etc., +pp. 84-86.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Midsummer +festival in +North +Africa is +probably +older than +Mohammedanism. Some +Mohammedans +of North +Africa +kindle fires +and observe +water ceremonies +at +their movable +New +Year. Water +ceremonies +at New +Year in +Morocco.</note> +The celebration of a midsummer festival by Mohammedan +peoples is particularly remarkable, because the +Mohammedan calendar, being purely lunar and uncorrected +by intercalation, necessarily takes no note of festivals +which occupy fixed points in the solar year; all strictly +Mohammedan feasts, being pinned to the moon, slide +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> +gradually with that luminary through the whole period +of the earth's revolution about the sun. This fact of itself +seems to prove that among the Mohammedan peoples of +Northern Africa, as among the Christian peoples of Europe, +the midsummer festival is quite independent of the religion +which the people publicly profess, and is a relic of a far +older paganism. There are, indeed, independent grounds for +thinking that the Arabs enjoyed the advantage of a comparatively +well-regulated solar year before the prophet of God +saddled them with the absurdity and inconvenience of a +purely lunar calendar.<note place='foot'>See K. Vollers, in Dr. James +Hastings's <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia of Religion +and Ethics</hi>, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +<q>Calendar (Muslim),</q> pp. 126 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +However, L. Ideler held that even +before the time of Mohammed the +Arab year was lunar and vague, and +that intercalation was only employed +in order to fix the pilgrimage month +in autumn, which, on account of the +milder weather and the abundance of +food, is the best time for pilgrims to go +to Mecca. See L. Ideler, <hi rend='italic'>Handbuch +der mathematischen und techischen +Chronologie</hi> (Berlin, 1825-1826), ii. +495 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Be that as it may, it is notable that +some Mohammedan people of North Africa kindle fires and +bathe in water at the movable New Year of their lunar +calendar instead of at the fixed Midsummer of the solar +year; while others again practise these observances at both +seasons. New Year's Day, on which the rites are celebrated, +is called <foreign lang='ar' rend='italic'>Ashur</foreign>; it is the tenth day of Moharram, the first +month of the Mohammedan calendar. On that day bonfires +are kindled in Tunis and also at Merrakech and among some +tribes of the neighbourhood.<note place='foot'>E. Doutté, <hi rend='italic'>Magie et Religion dans +l'Afrique du Nord</hi>, pp. 496, 509, +532, 543, 569. It is somewhat remarkable +that the tenth, not the first, +day of the first month should be +reckoned New Year's Day.</note> At Demnat, in the Great +Atlas mountains, people kindle a large bonfire on New +Year's Eve and leap to and fro over the flames, uttering +words which imply that by these leaps they think to +purify themselves from all kinds of evil. At Aglu, in +the province of Sus, the fire is lighted at three different +points by an unmarried girl, and when it has died down +the young men leap over the glowing embers, saying, +<q>We shook on you, O Lady Ashur, fleas, and lice, and the +illnesses of the heart, as also those of the bones; we shall pass +through you again next year and the following years with +safety and health.</q> Both at Aglu and Glawi, in the Great +Atlas, smaller fires are also kindled, over which the animals +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> +are driven. At Demnat girls who wish to marry wash +themselves in water which has been boiled over the New +Year fire; and in Dukkala people use the ashes of that fire +to rub sore eyes with. New Year fires appear to be commonly +kindled among the Berbers who inhabit the western +portion of the Great Atlas, and also among the Arabic-speaking +tribes of the plains; but Dr. Westermarck found no +traces of such fires among the Arabic-speaking mountaineers +of Northern Morocco and the Berbers of the Rif province. +Further, it should be observed that water ceremonies like +those which are practised at Midsummer are very commonly +observed in Morocco at the New Year, that is, on the tenth +day of the first month. On the morning of that day +(<foreign lang='ar' rend='italic'>Ashur</foreign>) all water or, according to some people, only spring +water is endowed with a magical virtue (<foreign lang='ar' rend='italic'>baraka</foreign>), especially +before sunrise. Hence at that time the people bathe and +pour water over each other; in some places they also +sprinkle their animals, tents, or rooms. In Dukkala some +of the New Year water is preserved at home till New Year's +Day (<foreign lang='ar' rend='italic'>Ashur</foreign>) of next year; some of it is kept to be used +as medicine, some of it is poured on the place where the +corn is threshed, and some is used to water the money +which is to be buried in the ground; for the people think +that the earth-spirits will not be able to steal the buried +treasures which have thus been sanctified with the holy +water.<note place='foot'>E. Westermarck, <q>Midsummer Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xvi. +(1905) pp. 40-42.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The rites +of fire and +water at +Midsummer +and New +Year in +Morocco +seem to be +identical in +character; +the duplication +of the +festival is +probably +due to a +conflict +between +the solar +calendar +of the +Romans +and the +lunar +calendar of +the Arabs. +The Midsummer +festival in +Morocco +seems to be +of Berber +origin.</note> +Thus the rites of fire and water which are observed in +Morocco at Midsummer and New Year appear to be +identical in character and intention, and it seems certain that +the duplication of the rites is due to a conflict between two +calendars, namely the old Julian calendar of the Romans, +which was based on the sun, and the newer Mohammedan +calendar of the Arabs, which is based on the moon. For +not only was the Julian calendar in use throughout the +whole of Northern Africa under the Roman Empire; to this +day it is everywhere employed among Mohammedans for +the regulation of agriculture and all the affairs of daily +life; its practical convenience has made it indispensable, +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> +and the lunar calendar of orthodox Mohammedanism is +scarcely used except for purposes of chronology. Even the +old Latin names of the months are known and employed, +in slightly disguised forms, throughout the whole Moslem +world; and little calendars of the Julian year circulate in +manuscript among Mohammedans, permitting them to combine +the practical advantages of pagan science with a +nominal adherence to orthodox absurdity.<note place='foot'>E. Doutté, <hi rend='italic'>Magie et Religion dans +l'Afrique du Nord</hi> (Algiers, 1908), pp. +541 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Thus the +heathen origin of the midsummer festival is too palpable to +escape the attention of good Mohammedans, who accordingly +frown upon the midsummer bonfires as pagan superstitions, +precisely as similar observances in Europe have often +been denounced by orthodox Christianity. Indeed, many +religious people in Morocco entirely disapprove of the +whole of the midsummer ceremonies, maintaining that they +are all bad; and a conscientious schoolmaster will even +refuse his pupils a holiday at midsummer, though the +boys sometimes offer him a bribe if he will sacrifice +his scruples to his avarice.<note place='foot'>E. Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xvi. +(1905) p. 42; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies and +Beliefs connected with Agriculture, +Certain Dates of the Solar Year, and +the Weather in Morocco</hi> (Helsingfors, +1913), p. 101.</note> As the midsummer customs +appear to flourish among all the Berbers of Morocco +but to be unknown among the pure Arabs who have not +been affected by Berber influence, it seems reasonable to +infer with Dr. Westermarck that the midsummer festival has +belonged from time immemorial to the Berber race, and that +so far as it is now observed by the Arabs of Morocco, it has +been learned by them from the Berbers, the old indigenous +inhabitants of the country. Dr. Westermarck may also be +right in holding that, in spite of the close similarity which +obtains between the midsummer festival of Europe and the +midsummer festival of North Africa, the latter is not a copy +of the former, but that both have been handed down independently +from a time beyond the purview of history, +when such ceremonies were common to the Mediterranean +race.<note place='foot'>E. Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xvi. +(1905), pp. 42 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 46 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies +and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, +etc., in Morocco</hi>, pp. 99 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='5. The Autumn Fires.'/> +<head>§ 5. The Autumn Fires.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Festivals +of fire in +August. +Russian +feast of +Florus and +Laurus on +August +18th. +<q>Living +fire</q> made +by the +friction of +wood.</note> +In the months which elapse between midsummer and +the setting in of winter the European festivals of fire +appear to be few and unimportant. On the evening of +the first day of August, which is the Festival of the Cross, +bonfires are commonly lit in Macedonia and boys jump over +them, shouting, <q>Dig up! bury!</q> but whom or what they +wish to dig up or bury they do not know.<note place='foot'>G. F. Abbott, <hi rend='italic'>Macedonian Folk-lore</hi> +(Cambridge, 1903), pp. 60 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The Russians +hold the feast of two martyrs, Florus and Laurus, on the +eighteenth day of August, Old Style. <q>On this day the +Russians lead their horses round the church of their village, +beside which on the foregoing evening they dig a hole with +two mouths. Each horse has a bridle made of the bark of +the linden-tree. The horses go through this hole one after +the other, opposite to one of the mouths of which the priest +stands with a sprinkler in his hand, with which he sprinkles +them. As soon as the horses have passed by their bridles +are taken off, and they are made to go between two fires that +they kindle, called by the Russians <foreign lang='ru' rend='italic'>Givoy Agon</foreign>, that is to +say, living fires, of which I shall give an account. I shall +before remark, that the Russian peasantry throw the bridles +of their horses into one of these fires to be consumed. This +is the manner of their lighting these <foreign lang='ru' rend='italic'>givoy agon</foreign>, or living +fires. Some men hold the ends of a stick made of the +plane-tree, very dry, and about a fathom long. This stick +they hold firmly over one of birch, perfectly dry, and rub +with violence and quickly against the former; the birch, +which is somewhat softer than the plane, in a short time +inflames, and serves them to light both the fires I have +described.</q><note place='foot'><q>Narrative of the Adventures of +four Russian Sailors, who were cast +in a storm upon the uncultivated +island of East Spitzbergen,</q> translated +from the German of P. L. Le Roy, in +John Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages and Travels</hi> +(London, 1808-1814), i. 603. This +passage is quoted from the original by +(Sir) Edward B. Tylor, <hi rend='italic'>Researches into +the Early History of Mankind</hi>, Third +Edition (London, 1878), pp. 259 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Feast of the +Nativity +of the +Virgin on +the eighth +of September +at +Capri and +Naples.</note> +The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth +day of September is celebrated at Naples and Capri with +fireworks, bonfires, and assassinations. On this subject my +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +friend Professor A. E. Housman, who witnessed the celebration +in different years at both places, has kindly furnished +me with the following particulars: <q>In 1906 I was in the +island of Capri on September the eighth, the feast of the +Nativity of the Virgin. The anniversary was duly solemnised +by fire-works at nine or ten in the evening, which I suppose +were municipal; but just after sundown the boys outside +the villages were making small fires of brushwood on waste +bits of ground by the wayside. Very pretty it looked, with +the flames blowing about in the twilight; but what took +my attention was the listlessness of the boys and their lack +of interest in the proceeding. A single lad, the youngest, +would be raking the fire together and keeping it alight, but +the rest stood lounging about and looking in every other +direction, with the air of discharging mechanically a traditional +office from which all zest had evaporated.</q> <q>The pious orgy +at Naples on September the eighth went through the following +phases when I witnessed it in 1897. It began at eight +in the evening with an illumination of the façade of Santa +Maria Piedigrotta and with the whole population walking +about blowing penny trumpets. After four hours of this I +went to bed at midnight, and was lulled to sleep by barrel-organs, +which supersede the trumpets about that hour. At +four in the morning I was waked by detonations as if the +British fleet were bombarding the city, caused, I was afterwards +told, by dynamite rockets. The only step possible +beyond this is assassination, which accordingly takes place +about peep of day: I forget now the number of the slain, +but I think the average is eight or ten, and I know that +in honour of my presence they murdered a few more than +usual.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Feast +of the +Nativity of +the Virgin +may have +replaced +a pagan +festival.</note> +It is no doubt possible that these illuminations and fire-works, +like the assassinations, are merely the natural and +spontaneous expressions of that overflowing joy with which +the thought of the birth of the Virgin must fill every +pious heart; but when we remember how often the Church +has skilfully decanted the new wine of Christianity into the +old bottles of heathendom, we may be allowed to conjecture +that the ecclesiastical authorities adroitly timed the Nativity +of the Virgin so as to coincide with an old pagan festival +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> +of that day, in which fire, noise, and uproar, if not broken +heads and bloodshed, were conspicuous features. The penny +trumpets blown on this occasion recall the like melodious +instruments which figure so largely in the celebration of +Befana (the Eve of Epiphany) at Rome.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. 166 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='6. The Halloween Fires.'/> +<head>§ 6. The Hallowe'en Fires.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The coincidence +of +the Midsummer +festival +with the +summer +solstice +implies +that the +founders of +the festival +regulated +their calendar +by +observation +of the sun.</note> +From the foregoing survey we may infer that among +the heathen forefathers of the European peoples the most +popular and widespread fire-festival of the year was the +great celebration of Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day. +The coincidence of the festival with the summer solstice +can hardly be accidental. Rather we must suppose that +our pagan ancestors purposely timed the ceremony of +fire on earth to coincide with the arrival of the sun at the +highest point of his course in the sky. If that was so, it +follows that the old founders of the midsummer rites had +observed the solstices or turning-points of the sun's apparent +path in the sky, and that they accordingly regulated their +festal calendar to some extent by astronomical considerations. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>On the +other hand +the Celts +divided +their year, +not by the +solstices, +but by the +beginning +of summer +(the first of +May) and +the beginning +of +winter (the +first of +November). The division +seems +to have +been +neither +astronomical +nor agricultural +but +pastoral, +being determined +by the times +when cattle +are driven +to and from +their +summer +pasture.</note> +But while this may be regarded as fairly certain for +what we may call the aborigines throughout a large part of +the continent, it appears not to have been true of the Celtic +peoples who inhabited the Land's End of Europe, the +islands and promontories that stretch out into the Atlantic +ocean on the North-West. The principal fire-festivals of +the Celts, which have survived, though in a restricted area +and with diminished pomp, to modern times and even to +our own day, were seemingly timed without any reference +to the position of the sun in the heaven. They were two +in number, and fell at an interval of six months, one +being celebrated on the eve of May Day and the other +on Allhallow Even or Hallowe'en, as it is now commonly +called, that is, on the thirty-first of October, the day preceding +All Saints' or Allhallows' Day. These dates coincide +with none of the four great hinges on which the +solar year revolves, to wit, the solstices and the equinoxes. +Nor do they agree with the principal seasons of the agricultural +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> +year, the sowing in spring and the reaping in +autumn. For when May Day comes, the seed has long +been committed to the earth; and when November opens, +the harvest has long been reaped and garnered, the fields +lie bare, the fruit-trees are stripped, and even the yellow +leaves are fast fluttering to the ground. Yet the first of +May and the first of November mark turning-points of the +year in Europe; the one ushers in the genial heat and the +rich vegetation of summer, the other heralds, if it does not +share, the cold and barrenness of winter. Now these particular +points of the year, as has been well pointed out by +a learned and ingenious writer,<note place='foot'>E. K. Chambers, <hi rend='italic'>The Mediaeval +Stage</hi> (Oxford, 1903), i. 110 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> while they are of comparatively +little moment to the European husbandman, do +deeply concern the European herdsman; for it is on the +approach of summer that he drives his cattle out into the +open to crop the fresh grass, and it is on the approach +of winter that he leads them back to the safety and shelter +of the stall. Accordingly it seems not improbable that +the Celtic bisection of the year into two halves at the +beginning of May and the beginning of November dates +from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, +dependent for their subsistence on their herds, and when +accordingly the great epochs of the year for them were the +days on which the cattle went forth from the homestead in +early summer and returned to it again in early winter.<note place='foot'>In Eastern Europe to this day the +great season for driving out the cattle +to pasture for the first time in spring is +St. George's Day, the twenty-third of +April, which is not far removed from +May Day. See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and +the Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 324 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> +As to the bisection of the Celtic year, +see the old authority quoted by P. W. +Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>The Social History of Ancient +Ireland</hi> (London, 1903), ii. 390: +<q>The whole year was [originally] +divided into two parts—Summer from +1st May to 1st November, and Winter +from 1st November to 1st May.</q> On +this subject compare (Sir) John Rhys, +<hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi> (London and Edinburgh, +1888), pp. 460, 514 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</hi> (Oxford, +1901), i. 315 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; J. A. MacCulloch, +in Dr. James Hastings's +<hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics</hi>, +iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) p. 80.</note> +Even in Central Europe, remote from the region now +occupied by the Celts, a similar bisection of the year may be +clearly traced in the great popularity, on the one hand, of +May Day and its Eve (Walpurgis Night), and, on the other +hand, of the Feast of All Souls at the beginning of November, +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> +which under a thin Christian cloak conceals an ancient pagan +festival of the dead.<note place='foot'>See below, p. <ref target='Pg225'>225</ref>.</note> Hence we may conjecture that everywhere +throughout Europe the celestial division of the year +according to the solstices was preceded by what we may call +a terrestrial division of the year according to the beginning +of summer and the beginning of winter. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The two +great Celtic +festivals, +Beltane +and Hallowe'en.</note> +Be that as it may, the two great Celtic festivals of May +Day and the first of November or, to be more accurate, the +Eves of these two days, closely resemble each other in the +manner of their celebration and in the superstitions associated +with them, and alike, by the antique character impressed +upon both, betray a remote and purely pagan origin. The +festival of May Day or Beltane, as the Celts called it, which +ushered in summer, has already been described;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The Magic +Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. +59 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> it remains +to give some account of the corresponding festival of +Hallowe'en, which announced the arrival of winter. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hallowe'en +(the evening +of +October +31st) seems +to have +marked the +beginning +of the Celtic +year. The many +forms of +divination +resorted to +at Hallowe'en +are +appropriate +to the +beginning +of a New +Year. +Hallowe'en +also a +festival of +the dead.</note> +Of the two feasts Hallowe'en was perhaps of old the +more important, since the Celts would seem to have dated +the beginning of the year from it rather than from Beltane. +In the Isle of Man, one of the fortresses in which the Celtic +language and lore longest held out against the siege of the +Saxon invaders, the first of November, Old Style, has been +regarded as New Year's day down to recent times. Thus +Manx mummers used to go round on Hallowe'en (Old +Style), singing, in the Manx language, a sort of Hogmanay +song which began <q>To-night is New Year's Night, <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Hogunnaa</foreign>!</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, +Manx and Welsh</hi> (Oxford, 1901), i. +316, 317 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; J. A. MacCulloch, in +Dr. James Hastings's <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopaedia +of Religion and Ethics</hi>, iii. (Edinburgh, +1910) <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> <q>Calendar,</q> p. 80, +referring to Kelly, <hi rend='italic'>English and Manx +Dictionary</hi> (Douglas, 1866), <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +<q>Blein.</q> Hogmanay is the popular +Scotch name for the last day of the +year. See Dr. J. Jamieson, <hi rend='italic'>Etymological +Dictionary of the Scottish +Language</hi>, New Edition (Paisley, 1879-1882), +ii. 602 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +One of Sir John Rhys's Manx informants, an +old man of sixty-seven, <q>had been a farm servant from the +age of sixteen till he was twenty-six to the same man, near +Regaby, in the parish of Andreas, and he remembers his +master and a near neighbour of his discussing the term New +Year's Day as applied to the first of November, and explaining +to the younger men that it had always been so in old +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> +times. In fact, it seemed to him natural enough, as all +tenure of land ends at that time, and as all servant men +begin their service then.</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, +Welsh and Manx</hi>, i. 316 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In ancient Ireland, as we saw, +a new fire used to be kindled every year on Hallowe'en or +the Eve of Samhain, and from this sacred flame all the fires +in Ireland were rekindled.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg139'>139</ref>.</note> Such a custom points strongly +to Samhain or All Saints' Day (the first of November) +as New Year's Day; since the annual kindling of a new +fire takes place most naturally at the beginning of the year, +in order that the blessed influence of the fresh fire may last +throughout the whole period of twelve months. Another +confirmation of the view that the Celts dated their year from +the first of November is furnished by the manifold modes of +divination which, as we shall see presently, were commonly +resorted to by Celtic peoples on Hallowe'en for the purpose +of ascertaining their destiny, especially their fortune in the +coming year; for when could these devices for prying into +the future be more reasonably put in practice than at the +beginning of the year? As a season of omens and auguries +Hallowe'en seems to have far surpassed Beltane in the +imagination of the Celts; from which we may with some +probability infer that they reckoned their year from +Hallowe'en rather than Beltane. Another circumstance of +great moment which points to the same conclusion is the +association of the dead with Hallowe'en. Not only among +the Celts but throughout Europe, Hallowe'en, the night +which marks the transition from autumn to winter, seems to +have been of old the time of year when the souls of the +departed were supposed to revisit their old homes in order +to warm themselves by the fire and to comfort themselves +with the good cheer provided for them in the kitchen or the +parlour by their affectionate kinsfolk.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</hi>, Second +Edition, pp. 309-318. As I have +there pointed out, the Catholic Church +succeeded in altering the date of the +festival by one day, but not in changing +the character of the festival. All +Souls' Day is now the second instead +of the first of November. But we can +hardly doubt that the Saints, who +have taken possession of the first of +November, wrested it from the Souls +of the Dead, the original proprietors. +After all, the Saints are only one particular +class of the Souls of the Dead; +so that the change which the Church +effected, no doubt for the purpose of +disguising the heathen character of the +festival, is less great than appears at +first sight.</note> It was, perhaps, a +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> +natural thought that the approach of winter should drive +the poor shivering hungry ghosts from the bare fields and +the leafless woodlands to the shelter of the cottage with its +familiar fireside.<note place='foot'>In Wales <q>it was firmly believed in +former times that on All Hallows' Eve +the spirit of a departed person was to +be seen at midnight on every cross-road +and on every stile</q> (Marie Trevelyan, +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</hi>, +London, 1909, p. 254).</note> Did not the lowing kine then troop back +from the summer pastures in the forests and on the hills +to be fed and cared for in the stalls, while the bleak winds +whistled among the swaying boughs and the snow drifts +deepened in the hollows? and could the good-man and the +good-wife deny to the spirits of their dead the welcome +which they gave to the cows? +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Fairies and +hobgoblins +let loose +at Hallowe'en. Dancing +with the +fairies +at Hallowe'en.</note> +But it is not only the souls of the departed who are +supposed to be hovering unseen on the day <q>when autumn +to winter resigns the pale year.</q> Witches then speed on +their errands of mischief, some sweeping through the air on +besoms, others galloping along the roads on tabby-cats, +which for that evening are turned into coal-black steeds.<note place='foot'>E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>Old Scottish Customs</hi> +(London and Glasgow, 1885), +p. 68.</note> +The fairies, too, are all let loose, and hobgoblins of every +sort roam freely about. In South Uist and Eriskay there is +a saying:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Hallowe'en will come, will come,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft [or divination] will be set agoing,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Fairies will be at full speed,</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Running in every pass.</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>Avoid the road, children, children.</hi></q><note place='foot'>A. Goodrich-Freer, <q>More Folk-lore +from the Hebrides,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xiii. +(1902) p. 53.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In Cardiganshire on November Eve a bogie sits on +every stile.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi> +(London and Edinburgh, 1888), +p. 516.</note> On that night in Ireland all the fairy hills +are thrown wide open and the fairies swarm forth; any +man who is bold enough may then peep into the open green +hills and see the treasures hidden in them. Worse than +that, the cave of Cruachan in Connaught, known as <q>the +Hell-gate of Ireland,</q> is unbarred on Samhain Eve or +Hallowe'en, and a host of horrible fiends and goblins used +to rush forth, particularly a flock of copper-red birds, which +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> +blighted crops and killed animals by their poisonous breath.<note place='foot'>P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>A Social History of +Ancient Ireland</hi> (London, 1903), i. +264 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, ii. 556.</note> +The Scotch Highlanders have a special name <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Samhanach</foreign> +(derived from <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Samhain</foreign>, <q>All-hallows</q>) for the dreadful +bogies that go about that night stealing babies and committing +other atrocities.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi>, +p. 516.</note> And though the fairies are a +kindlier folk, it is dangerous to see even them at their revels +on Hallowe'en. A melancholy case of this sort is reported +from the Ferintosh district of the Highlands, though others +say that it happened at the Slope of Big Stones in Harris. +Two young men were coming home after nightfall on +Hallowe'en, each with a jar of whisky on his back, when +they saw, as they thought, a house all lit up by the roadside, +from which proceeded the sounds of music and dancing. In +reality it was not a house at all but a fairy knoll, and it was +the fairies who were jigging it about there so merrily. But +one of the young men was deceived and stepping into the +house joined in the dance, without even stopping to put +down the jar of whisky. His companion was wiser; he had +a shrewd suspicion that the place was not what it seemed, +and on entering he took the precaution of sticking a needle +in the door. That disarmed the power of the fairies, and +he got away safely. Well, that day twelve months he came +back to the spot and what should he see but his poor friend +still dancing away with the jar of whisky on his back? A +weary man was he, as you may well believe, but he begged +to be allowed to finish the reel which he was in the act of +executing, and when they took him out into the open air, +there was nothing of him left but skin and bones.<note place='foot'>Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>Superstitions of the Highlands and +Islands of Scotland</hi> (Glasgow, 1900), +pp. 61 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, +the wicked fairies are apt to carry off men's wives with them +to fairyland; but the lost spouses can be recovered within a +year and a day when the procession of the fairies is defiling +past on Hallowe'en, always provided that the mortals did not +partake of elfin food while they were in elfinland.<note place='foot'>Ch. Rogers, <hi rend='italic'>Social Life in Scotland</hi> +(Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. +258-260.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Guleesh +and the +revels of +the fairies +at Hallowe'en.</note> +Sometimes valuable information may be obtained from +the fairies on Hallowe'en. There was a young man named +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> +Guleesh in the County of Mayo. Near his house was a <foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>rath</foreign> +or old fort with a fine grass bank running round it. One +Hallowe'en, when the darkness was falling, Guleesh went to +the rath and stood on a gray old flag. The night was calm +and still; there was not a breath of wind stirring, nor a +sound to be heard except the hum of the insects flitting past, +or the whistle of the plovers, or the hoarse scream of the +wild geese as they winged their way far overhead. Above +the white fog the moon rose like a knob of fire in the east, +and a thousand thousand stars were twinkling in the sky. +There was a little frost in the air, the grass was white and +crisp and crackled under foot. Guleesh expected to see the +fairies, but they did not come. Hour after hour wore away, +and he was just bethinking him of going home to bed, when +his ear caught a sound far off coming towards him, and he +knew what it was in a moment. The sound grew louder +and louder; at first it was like the beating of waves on a +stony shore, then it was like the roar of a waterfall, at last +it was like a mighty rushing wind in the tops of the trees, +then the storm burst upon the rath, and sure enough the +fairies were in it. The rout went by so suddenly that +Guleesh lost his breath; but he came to himself and +listened. The fairies were now gathered within the grassy +bank of the rath, and a fine uproar they made. But Guleesh +listened with all his ears, and he heard one fairy saying to +another that a magic herb grew by Guleesh's own door, and +that Guleesh had nothing to do but pluck it and boil it +and give it to his sweetheart, the daughter of the King of +France, and she would be well, for just then she was lying +very ill. Guleesh took the hint, and everything went as the +fairy had said. And he married the daughter of the King +of France; and they had never a cark nor a care, a sickness +nor a sorrow, a mishap nor a misfortune to the day of their +death.<note place='foot'>Douglas Hyde, <hi rend='italic'>Beside the Fire, a +Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk Stories</hi> +(London, 1890), pp. 104, 105, 121-128.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Divination +resorted to +in Celtic +countries +at Hallowe'en.</note> +In all Celtic countries Hallowe'en seems to have been +the great season of the year for prying into the future; all +kinds of divination were put in practice that night. We +read that Dathi, a king of Ireland in the fifth century, +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> +happening to be at the Druids' Hill (<foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>Cnoc-nan-druad</foreign>) in the +county of Sligo one Hallowe'en, ordered his druid to forecast +for him the future from that day till the next Hallowe'en +should come round. The druid passed the night on the +top of the hill, and next morning made a prediction to the +king which came true.<note place='foot'>P. W. Joyce, <hi rend='italic'>Social History of +Ancient Ireland</hi>, i. 229.</note> In Wales Hallowe'en was the +weirdest of all the <foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>Teir Nos Ysbrydion</foreign>, or Three Spirit +Nights, when the wind, <q>blowing over the feet of the +corpses,</q> bore sighs to the houses of those who were to die +within the year. People thought that if on that night they +went out to a cross-road and listened to the wind, they +would learn all the most important things that would befall +them during the next twelve months.<note place='foot'>Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), +p. 254.</note> In Wales, too, not so +long ago women used to congregate in the parish churches +on the night of Hallowe'en and read their fate from the flame +of the candle which each of them held in her hand; also they +heard the names or saw the coffins of the parishioners who +would die within the year, and many were the sad scenes to +which these gloomy visions gave rise.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi>, +pp. 514 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> In order to see +the apparitions all you had to do was +to run thrice round the parish church +and then peep through the key-hole of +the door. See Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 254; J. C. Davies, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore +of West and Mid-Wales</hi> (Aberystwyth, +1911), p. 77.</note> And in the Highlands +of Scotland anybody who pleased could hear proclaimed aloud +the names of parishioners doomed to perish within the next +twelve months, if he would only take a three-legged stool +and go and sit on it at three cross-roads, while the church +clock was striking twelve at midnight on Hallowe'en. It +was even in his power to save the destined victims from +their doom by taking with him articles of wearing apparel +and throwing them away, one by one, as each name was +called out by the mysterious voice.<note place='foot'>Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>Old Scottish +Customs</hi> (London and Glasgow, 1885), +p. 75.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hallowe'en +bonfires in +the Highlands +of +Scotland. John +Ramsay's +account +of the +Hallowe'en +bonfires. Divination +from stones +at the fire. +Hallowe'en +fires in the +parishes of +Callander +and +Logierait. +Divination +from +stones.</note> +But while a glamour of mystery and awe has always +clung to Hallowe'en in the minds of the Celtic peasantry, +the popular celebration of the festival has been, at least in +modern times, by no means of a prevailingly gloomy cast; on +the contrary it has been attended by picturesque features and +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/> +merry pastimes, which rendered it the gayest night of all the +year. Amongst the things which in the Highlands of Scotland +contributed to invest the festival with a romantic beauty +were the bonfires which used to blaze at frequent intervals +on the heights. <q>On the last day of autumn children +gathered ferns, tar-barrels, the long thin stalks called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>gàinisg</foreign>, +and everything suitable for a bonfire. These were placed in +a heap on some eminence near the house, and in the evening +set fire to. The fires were called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Samhnagan</foreign>. There +was one for each house, and it was an object of ambition +who should have the biggest. Whole districts were brilliant +with bonfires, and their glare across a Highland loch, and +from many eminences, formed an exceedingly picturesque +scene.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the +Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Glasgow, 1902), p. 282.</note> Like the Beltane fires on the first of May, the +Hallowe'en bonfires seem to have been kindled most commonly +in the Perthshire Highlands. Travelling in the parish +of Moulin, near Pitlochrie, in the year 1772, the Englishman +Thomas Pennant writes that <q>Hallow Eve is also kept +sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person sets fire to a bush of +broom fastened round a pole, and, attended with a crowd, +runs about the village. He then flings it down, heaps great +quantity of combustible matters on it, and makes a great +bonfire. A whole tract is thus illuminated at the same time, +and makes a fine appearance.</q><note place='foot'>Thomas Pennant, <q>Tour in Scotland, +and Voyage to the Hebrides in +1772,</q> in John Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>Voyages +and Travels</hi>, iii. (London, 1809) pp. +383 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> In quoting the passage I +have corrected what seem to be two +misprints.</note> The custom has been +described more fully by a Scotchman of the eighteenth century, +John Ramsay of Ochtertyre. On the evening of +Hallowe'en <q>the young people of every hamlet assembled +upon some eminence near the houses. There they made a +bonfire of ferns or other fuel, cut the same day, which from +the feast was called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Samh-nag</foreign> or <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Savnag</foreign>, a fire of rest and +pleasure. Around it was placed a circle of stones, one for +each person of the families to whom they belonged. And +when it grew dark the bonfire was kindled, at which a loud +shout was set up. Then each person taking a torch of ferns +or sticks in his hand, ran round the fire exulting; and sometimes +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/> +times they went into the adjacent fields, where, if there was +another company, they visited the bonfire, taunting the +others if inferior in any respect to themselves. After the +fire was burned out they returned home, where a feast was +prepared, and the remainder of the evening was spent in +mirth and diversions of various kinds. Next morning they +repaired betimes to the bonfire, where the situation of the +stones was examined with much attention. If any of them +were misplaced, or if the print of a foot could be discerned +near any particular stone, it was imagined that the person +for whom it was set would not live out the year. Of late +years this is less attended to, but about the beginning of the +present century it was regarded as a sure prediction. The +Hallowe'en fire is still kept up in some parts of the Low +country; but on the western coast and in the Isles it is +never kindled, though the night is spent in merriment and +entertainments.</q><note place='foot'>John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, <hi rend='italic'>Scotland +and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth +Century</hi>, edited by Alexander Allardyce +(Edinburgh and London, 1888), +ii. 437 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> This account was written +in the eighteenth century.</note> In the Perthshire parish of Callander, +which includes the now famous pass of the Trossachs opening +out on the winding and wooded shores of the lovely +Loch Katrine, the Hallowe'en bonfires were still kindled +down to near the end of the eighteenth century. When the +fire had died down, the ashes were carefully collected in the +form of a circle, and a stone was put in, near the circumference, +for every person of the several families interested +in the bonfire. Next morning, if any of these stones was +found to be displaced or injured, the people made sure that +the person represented by it was <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>fey</foreign> or devoted, and that +he could not live twelve months from that day.<note place='foot'>Rev. James Robertson, Parish +minister of Callander, in Sir John Sinclair's +<hi rend='italic'>Statistical Account of Scotland</hi>, +xi. (Edinburgh, 1794), pp. 621 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the +parish of Logierait, which covers the beautiful valley of the +Tummel, one of the fairest regions of all Scotland, the +Hallowe'en fire was somewhat different. Faggots of heath, +broom, and the dressings of flax were kindled and carried on +poles by men, who ran with them round the villages, attended +by a crowd. As soon as one faggot was burnt out, a fresh +one was lighted and fastened to the pole. Numbers of these +blazing faggots were often carried about together, and when +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/> +the night happened to be dark, they formed a splendid +illumination.<note place='foot'>Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir +John Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical Account of +Scotland</hi>, v. (Edinburgh, 1793) pp. 84 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hallowe'en +fires on +Loch Tay. +Hallowe'en +fires at Balquhidder.</note> +Nor did the Hallowe'en fires die out in Perthshire with +the end of the eighteenth century. Journeying from Dunkeld +to Aberfeldy on Hallowe'en in the first half of the nineteenth +century, Sheriff Barclay counted thirty fires blazing on the +hill tops, and saw the figures of the people dancing like +phantoms round the flames.<note place='foot'>Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>Old Scottish +Customs</hi> (London and Glasgow, 1885), +p. 67.</note> Again, <q>in 1860, I was residing +near the head of Loch Tay during the season of the +Hallowe'en feast. For several days before Hallowe'en, boys +and youths collected wood and conveyed it to the most +prominent places on the hill sides in their neighbourhood. +Some of the heaps were as large as a corn-stack or hay-rick. +After dark on Hallowe'en, these heaps were kindled, +and for several hours both sides of Loch Tay were illuminated +as far as the eye could see. I was told by old men that at +the beginning of this century men as well as boys took part +in getting up the bonfires, and that, when the fire was ablaze, +all joined hands and danced round the fire, and made a great +noise; but that, as these gatherings generally ended in +drunkenness and rough and dangerous fun, the ministers set +their faces against the observance, and were seconded in +their efforts by the more intelligent and well-behaved in the +community; and so the practice was discontinued by adults +and relegated to school boys.</q><note place='foot'>James Napier, <hi rend='italic'>Folk Lore, or Superstitious +Beliefs in the West of Scotland +within this Century</hi> (Paisley, 1879), +p. 179.</note> At Balquhidder down to +the latter part of the nineteenth century each household +kindled its bonfire at Hallowe'en, but the custom was chiefly +observed by children. The fires were lighted on any high +knoll near the house; there was no dancing round them.<note place='foot'>J. G. Frazer, <q>Folk-lore at Balquhidder,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>The Folk-lore Journal</hi>, vi. +(1888) p. 270.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hallowe'en +fires in +Buchan to +burn the +witches. Processions +with +torches at +Hallowe'en +in the +Braemar +Highlands.</note> +Hallowe'en fires were also lighted in some districts of +the north-east of Scotland, such as Buchan. Villagers and +farmers alike must have their fire. In the villages the boys +went from house to house and begged a peat from each +householder, usually with the words, <q>Ge's a peat t' burn +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/> +the witches.</q> In some villages the lads collected the peats +in a cart, some of them drawing it along and the others +receiving the peats and loading them on the cart. Along +with the peats they accumulated straw, furze, potato haulm, +everything that would burn quickly, and when they had got +enough they piled it all in a heap and set it on fire. Then +each of the youths, one after another, laid himself down on +the ground as near to the fire as he could without being +scorched, and thus lying allowed the smoke to roll over him. +The others ran through the smoke and jumped over their +prostrate comrade. When the heap was burned down, they +scattered the ashes. Each one took a share in this part of +the ceremony, giving a kick first with the right foot and +then with the left; and each vied with the other who should +scatter the most. After that some of them still continued +to run through the scattered ashes and to pelt each other +with the half-burned peats. At each farm a spot as high as +possible, not too near the steading, was chosen for the fire, +and the proceedings were much the same as at the village +bonfire. The lads of one farm, when their own fire was +burned down and the ashes scattered, sometimes went to a +neighbouring fire and helped to kick the ashes about.<note place='foot'>Rev. Walter Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the +Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland</hi> +(London, 1881), pp. 167 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Referring +to this part of Scotland, a writer at the end of the +eighteenth century observes that <q>the Hallow-even fire, +another relict of druidism, was kindled in Buchan. Various +magic ceremonies were then celebrated to counteract the +influence of witches and demons, and to prognosticate to +the young their success or disappointment in the matrimonial +lottery. These being devoutly finished, the hallow fire was +kindled, and guarded by the male part of the family. +Societies were formed, either by pique or humour, to scatter +certain fires, and the attack and defence were often +conducted with art and with fury.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. A. Johnstone, as to the +parish of Monquhitter, in Sir John +Sinclair's <hi rend='italic'>Statistical Account of Scotland</hi>, +xxi. (Edinburgh, 1799) pp. 145 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Down to about the +middle of the nineteenth century <q>the Braemar Highlanders +made the circuit of their fields with lighted torches at +Hallowe'en to ensure their fertility in the coming year. +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/> +At that date the custom was as follows: Every member of +the family (in those days households were larger than they +are now) was provided with a bundle of fir <q>can'les</q> with +which to go the round. The father and mother stood at +the hearth and lit the splints in the peat fire, which they +passed to the children and servants, who trooped out one +after the other, and proceeded to tread the bounds of their +little property, going slowly round at equal distances apart, +and invariably with the sun. To go <q>withershins</q> seems to +have been reserved for cursing and excommunication. When +the fields had thus been circumambulated the remaining spills +were thrown together in a heap and allowed to burn out.</q><note place='foot'>A. Macdonald, <q>Some former +Customs of the Royal Parish of Crathie, +Scotland,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xviii. (1907) p. +85. The writer adds: <q>In this way +the <q>faulds</q> were purged of evil +spirits.</q> But it does not appear +whether this expresses the belief of +the people or only the interpretation +of the writer.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Divination +at Hallowe'en +in the +Highlands +and Lowlands +of +Scotland. +The stolen +kail. Sowing +hemp seed. +The clue of +blue yarn. The +winnowing +basket. +The wet +shirt. +The +thrown +shoe.</note> +In the Highlands of Scotland, as the evening of +Hallowe'en wore on, young people gathered in one of the +houses and resorted to an almost endless variety of games, +or rather forms of divination, for the purpose of ascertaining +the future fate of each member of the company. +Were they to marry or remain single, was the marriage to +take place that year or never, who was to be married first, +what sort of husband or wife she or he was to get, the name, +the trade, the colour of the hair, the amount of property of +the future spouse—these were questions that were eagerly +canvassed and the answers to them furnished never-failing +entertainment.<note place='foot'>Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the +Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Glasgow, 1902), pp. 282 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Nor were these modes of divination at +Hallowe'en confined to the Highlands, where the bonfires +were kindled; they were practised with equal faith and in +practically the same forms in the Lowlands, as we learn, for +example, from Burns's poem <hi rend='italic'>Hallowe'en</hi>, which describes the +auguries drawn from a variety of omens by the Ayrshire +peasantry. These Lowlanders of Saxon descent may well +have inherited the rites from the Celts who preceded them +in the possession of the south country. A common practice +at Hallowe'en was to go out stealthily to a neighbour's +kailyard and there, with shut eyes, to pull up the first kail +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> +stock that came to hand. It was necessary that the plants +should be stolen without the knowledge or consent of their +owner; otherwise they were quite useless for the purpose +of divination. Strictly speaking, too, the neighbour upon +whose garden the raid was made should be unmarried, +whether a bachelor or a spinster. The stolen kail was +taken home and examined, and according to its height, +shape, and features would be the height, shape, and features +of the future husband or wife. The taste of the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>custock</foreign>, +that is, the heart of the stem, was an infallible indication +of his or her temper; and a clod of earth adhering to the +root signified, in proportion to its size, the amount of property +which he or she would bring to the common stock. +Then the kail-stock or <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>runt</foreign>, as it was called in Ayrshire, +was placed over the lintel of the door; and the baptismal +name of the young man or woman who first entered the +door after the kail was in position would be the baptismal +name of the husband or wife.<note place='foot'>Robert Burns, <hi rend='italic'>Hallowe'en</hi>, with +the poet's note; Rev. Walter Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 84; Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 69; Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 287.</note> Again, young women sowed +hemp seed over nine ridges of ploughed land, saying, <q>I +sow hemp seed, and he who is to be my husband, let him +come and harrow it.</q> On looking back over her left shoulder +the girl would see the figure of her future mate behind her +in the darkness. In the north-east of Scotland lint seed was +used instead of hemp seed and answered the purpose quite +as well.<note place='foot'>R. Burns, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. Walter +Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> pp. 70 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Rev. J. G. Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 286.</note> Again, a mode of ascertaining your future husband +or wife was this. Take a clue of blue yarn and go to a +lime-kiln. Throw the clue into the kiln, but keep one end +of the thread in your hand and wind it on to another clue. +As you come near the end somebody or something will hold +the other end tight in the kiln. Then you call out, <q>Who +holds?</q> giving the thread at the same time a gentle pull. +Some one or something will thereupon pull the other end +of the thread, and a voice will mention the name of your +future husband or wife.<note place='foot'>R. Burns, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. W. Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +73; Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +285; A. Goodrich-Freer, <q>More +Folklore from the Hebrides,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xiii. (1902) pp. 54 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Another way is this. Go to the +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/> +barn alone and secretly. Be sure to open both doors and +if possible take them off their hinges; for if the being +who is about to appear should catch you in the barn +and clap the doors to on you, he or she might do you a +mischief. Having done this, take the sieve or winnowing-basket, +which in Lowland Scotch is called a <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>wecht</foreign> or <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>waicht</foreign>, +and go through the action of winnowing corn. Repeat it +thrice, and at the third time the apparition of your future +husband or wife will pass through the barn, entering at the +windy door and passing out at the other.<note place='foot'>R. Burns, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. W. Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 71; Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. +cit.</hi> p. 285. According to the last of +these writers, the winnowing had to be +done in the devil's name.</note> Or this. Go to +a southward running stream, where the lands of three lairds +meet, or to a ford where the dead and living have crossed. +Dip the left sleeve of your shirt in the water. Then go +home, take off the shirt, hang it up before a fire to dry, and +go to bed, taking care that the bed stands so that you can +see your shirt hanging before the fire. Keep awake, and at +midnight you will see the form of your future spouse come +into the room and turn the other side of the sleeve to the +fire to dry it.<note place='foot'>R. Burns, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. W. Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +72; Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +286; A. Goodrich-Freer, <q>More +Folklore from the Hebrides,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xiii. (1902) p. 54.</note> A Highland form of divination at Hallowe'en +is to take a shoe by the tip and throw it over the house, +then observe the direction in which the toe points as it lies +on the ground on the other side; for in that direction you +are destined to go before long. If the shoe should fall sole +uppermost, it is very unlucky for you.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +283.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The white +of eggs in +water. The names +on the +chimney-piece. +The nuts +in the fire. +The milk +and meal. +The +apples +in the +water. +The three +plates.</note> +These ways of prying into the future are practised +outside of the house; others are observed in the kitchen +or the parlour before the cheerful blaze of the fire. Thus +the white of eggs, dropped in a glass of pure water, +indicates by certain marks how many children a person will +have. The impatience and clamour of the children, eager +to ascertain the exact number of their future progeny, often +induced the housewife to perform this ceremony for them by +daylight; and the kindly mother, standing with her face to +the window, dropping the white of an egg into a crystal +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/> +glass of clean water, and surrounded by a group of children +intently watching her proceedings, made up a pretty picture.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. +283 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; A. Goodrich-Freer, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi></note> +When the fun of the evening had fairly commenced, the +names of eligible or likely matches were written on the +chimney-piece, and the young man who wished to try his +fortune was led up blindfolded to the list. Whatever name +he put his finger on would prove that of his future wife.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +284.</note> +Again, two nuts, representing a lad and a lass whose names +were announced to the company, were put side by side in +the fire. If they burned quietly together, the pair would be +man and wife, and from the length of time they burned and +the brightness of the flame the length and happiness of the +married life of the two were augured. But if instead of +burning together one of the nuts leaped away from the +other, then there would be no marriage, and the blame +would rest with the person whose nut had thus started away +by itself.<note place='foot'>R. Burns, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. W. Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 70; Rev. J. G. Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 284. Where nuts were not +to be had, peas were substituted.</note> Again, a dish of milk and meal (in Gaelic <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>fuarag</foreign>, +in Lowland Scotch <foreign rend='italic'>crowdie</foreign>) or of beat potatoes was made +and a ring was hidden in it. Spoons were served out to +the company, who supped the contents of the dish hastily +with them, and the one who got the ring would be the first +to be married.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +284.</note> Again, apples and a silver sixpence were +put in a tub of water; the apples naturally floated on the +top and the sixpence sank to the bottom. Whoever could +lift an apple or the sixpence from the water with his mouth, +without using his teeth, was counted very lucky and got the +prize to himself.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi> According +to my recollection of Hallowe'en +customs observed in my boyhood at +Helensburgh, in Dumbartonshire, another +way was to stir the floating apples +and then drop a fork on them as they +bobbed about in the water. Success +consisted in pinning one of the apples +with the fork.</note> Again, three plates or basins were placed +on the hearth. One was filled with clean water, another +with dirty water, and the third was empty. The enquirer +was blindfolded, knelt in front of the hearth, and groped +about till he put his finger in one of them. If he lighted +on the plate with the clean water, he would wed a maid; +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> +if on the plate with the dirty water, he would marry a +widow; and if on the empty plate, he would remain a +bachelor. For a girl the answer of the oracle was analogous; +she would marry a bachelor, a widower, or nobody according +to the plate into which she chanced to dip her finger. But +to make sure, the operation had to be repeated thrice, the +position of the plates being changed each time. If the +enquirer put his or her finger into the same plate thrice or +even twice, it was quite conclusive.<note place='foot'>R. Burns, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. W. Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 85 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Miss E. J Guthrie, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 72 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Rev. J. G. Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 287.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The sliced +apple. +The white +of egg in +water. +The salt +cake or salt +herring.</note> +These forms of divination in the house were practised +by the company in a body; but the following had to be +performed by the person alone. You took an apple and +stood with it in your hand in front of a looking-glass. +Then you sliced the apple, stuck each slice on the point +of the knife, and held it over your left shoulder, while +you looked into the glass and combed your hair. The +spectre of your future husband would then appear in the +mirror stretching forth his hand to take the slices of the +apple over your shoulder. Some say that the number of +slices should be nine, that you should eat the first eight +yourself, and only throw the ninth over your left shoulder +for your husband; also that at each slice you should say, +<q>In the name of the Father and the Son.</q><note place='foot'>R. Burns, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. W. Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 69 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Rev. J. G. Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 285. It is the last of +these writers who gives what may be +called the Trinitarian form of the +divination.</note> Again, +take an egg, prick it with a pin, and let the white drop into +a wine-glass nearly full of water. Take some of this in +your mouth and go out for a walk. The first name you +hear called out aloud will be that of your future husband or +wife. An old woman told a lady that she had tried this +mode of divination in her youth, that the name of Archibald +<q>came up as it were from the very ground,</q> and that +Archibald sure enough was the name of her husband.<note place='foot'>Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>Old Scottish +Customs</hi> (London and Glasgow, 1885), +pp. 74 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +In South Uist and Eriskay, two of the outer Hebrides, a +salt cake called <foreign rend='italic'>Bonnach Salainn</foreign> is eaten at Hallowe'en to +induce dreams that will reveal the future. It is baked of +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/> +common meal with a great deal of salt. After eating it you +may not drink water nor utter a word, not even to say your +prayers. A salt herring, eaten bones and all in three bites, +is equally efficacious, always provided that you drink no +water and hold your tongue.<note place='foot'>A. Goodrich-Freer, <q>More Folk-lore +from the Hebrides,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xiii. +(1902) p. 55.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hallowe'en +fires in +Wales. +Omens +drawn +from stones +thrown into +the fire. Divination +by stones +in the +ashes.</note> +In the northern part of Wales it used to be customary +for every family to make a great bonfire called <foreign lang='cy' rend='italic'>Coel Coeth</foreign> on +Hallowe'en. The fire was kindled on the most conspicuous +spot near the house; and when it had nearly gone out everyone +threw into the ashes a white stone, which he had first marked. +Then having said their prayers round the fire, they went to +bed. Next morning, as soon as they were up, they came to +search out the stones, and if any one of them was found to +be missing, they had a notion that the person who threw it +would die before he saw another Hallowe'en.<note place='foot'>Pennant's manuscript, quoted by +J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities of Great +Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), i. 389 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> A writer on +Wales at the beginning of the nineteenth century says +that <q>the autumnal fire is still kindled in North Wales, +being on the eve of the first day of November, and is +attended by many ceremonies; such as running through +the fire and smoke, each casting a stone into the fire, and all +running off at the conclusion to escape from the black short-tailed +sow; then supping upon parsnips, nuts, and apples; +catching up an apple suspended by a string with the mouth +alone, and the same by an apple in a tub of water: each +throwing a nut into the fire; and those that burn bright, +betoken prosperity to the owners through the following +year, but those that burn black and crackle, denote misfortune. +On the following morning the stones are searched +for in the fire, and if any be missing, they betide ill to those +who threw them in.</q><note place='foot'>Sir Richard Colt Hoare, <hi rend='italic'>The Itinerary +of Archbishop Baldwin through +Wales <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi> MCLXXXVIII. by Giraldus +de Barri</hi> (London, 1806), ii. 315; J. +Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities</hi>, i. 390. +The passage quoted in the text occurs +in one of Hoare's notes on the Itinerary. +The dipping for apples, burning of +nuts, and so forth, are mentioned also +by Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), +pp. 253, 255.</note> According to Sir John Rhys, the +habit of celebrating Hallowe'en by lighting bonfires on the +hills is perhaps not yet extinct in Wales, and men still living +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/> +can remember how the people who assisted at the bonfires +would wait till the last spark was out and then would +suddenly take to their heels, shouting at the top of their +voices, <q>The cropped black sow seize the hindmost!</q> The +saying, as Sir John Rhys justly remarks, implies that originally +one of the company became a victim in dead earnest. +Down to the present time the saying is current in Carnarvonshire, +where allusions to the cutty black sow are still occasionally +made to frighten children.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Heathendom</hi> +(London and Edinburgh, 1888), +pp. 515 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> As to the Hallowe'en +bonfires in Wales compare J. C. +Davies, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</hi> +(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77.</note> We can now understand why +in Lower Brittany every person throws a pebble into the +midsummer bonfire.<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref>.</note> Doubtless there, as in Wales and the +Highlands of Scotland,<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg231'>231</ref>.</note> omens of life and death have at one +time or other been drawn from the position and state of the +pebbles on the morning of All Saints' Day. The custom, +thus found among three separate branches of the Celtic +stock, probably dates from a period before their dispersion, +or at least from a time when alien races had not yet driven +home the wedges of separation between them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Divination +as to love +and marriage +at +Hallowe'en +in Wales.</note> +In Wales, as in Scotland, Hallowe'en was also the great +season for forecasting the future in respect of love and +marriage, and some of the forms of divination employed for +this purpose resembled those which were in use among the +Scotch peasantry. Two girls, for example, would make a +little ladder of yarn, without breaking it from the ball, and +having done so they would throw it out of the window. +Then one of the girls, holding the ball in her hand, would +wind the yarn back, repeating a rhyme in Welsh. This she +did thrice, and as she wound the yarn she would see her +future husband climbing up the little ladder. Again, three +bowls or basins were placed on a table. One of them +contained clean water, one dirty water, and one was empty. +The girls of the household, and sometimes the boys too, +then eagerly tried their fortunes. They were blindfolded, +led up to the table, and dipped their hands into a bowl. If +they happened to dip into the clean water, they would marry +maidens or bachelors; if into the dirty water, they would be +widowers or widows; if into the empty bowl, they would +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/> +live unmarried. Again, if a girl, walking backwards, would +place a knife among the leeks on Hallowe'en, she would see +her future husband come and pick up the knife and throw +it into the middle of the garden.<note place='foot'>Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), pp. +254 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Divination +at Hallowe'en +in +Ireland.</note> +In Ireland the Hallowe'en bonfires would seem to have +died out, but the Hallowe'en divination has survived. +Writing towards the end of the eighteenth century, General +Vallancey tells us that on Hallowe'en or the vigil of Saman, +as he calls it, <q>the peasants in Ireland assemble with sticks +and clubs (the emblems of laceration) going from house to +house, collecting money, bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, +etc., etc., for the feast, repeating verses in honour of the +solemnity, demanding preparations for the festival, in the +name of St. Columb Kill, desiring them to lay aside the +fatted calf, and to bring forth the black sheep. The good +women are employed in making the griddle cake and candles; +these last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and +are lighted up on the (Saman) next day, before which they +pray, or are supposed to pray, for the departed souls of the +donor. Every house abounds in the best viands they can afford: +apples and nuts are devoured in abundance: the nut-shells +are burnt, and from the ashes many strange things are foretold: +cabbages are torn up by the root: hemp seed is sown by the +maidens, and they believe, that if they look back, they will see +the apparition of the man intended for their future spouse: +they hang a smock before the fire, on the close of the feast, +and sit up all night, concealed in a corner of the room, convinced +that his apparition will come down the chimney and +turn the smock: they throw a ball of yarn out of the window, +and wind it on the reel within, convinced, that if they repeat +the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Pater Noster</foreign> backwards, and look at the ball of yarn +without, they will then also see his <foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>sith</foreign> or apparition: +they dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring +one up in the mouth: they suspend a cord with a cross-stick, +with apples at one point, and candles lighted at the +other, and endeavour to catch the apple, while it is in a +circular motion, in the mouth. These, and many other +superstitious ceremonies, the remains of Druidism, are +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> +observed on this holiday, which will never be eradicated, +while the name of <foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>Saman</foreign> is permitted to remain.</q><note place='foot'>(General) Charles Vallancey, <hi rend='italic'>Collectanea +de Rebus Hibernicis</hi>, iii. +(Dublin, 1786), pp. 459-461.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Divination +at Hallowe'en +in +Queen's +County. +Divination +at Hallowe'en +in +County +Leitrim. Divination +at Hallowe'en +in +County +Roscommon.</note> +In Queen's County, Ireland, down to the latter part of +the nineteenth century children practised various of these +rites of divination on Hallowe'en. Girls went out into the +garden blindfold and pulled up cabbages: if the cabbage +was well grown, the girl would have a handsome husband, +but if it had a crooked stalk, the future spouse would be a +stingy old man. Nuts, again, were placed in pairs on the +bar of the fire, and from their behaviour omens were drawn +of the fate in love and marriage of the couple whom they +represented. Lead, also, was melted and allowed to drop +into a tub of cold water, and from the shapes which it +assumed in the water predictions were made to the children +of their future destiny. Again, apples were bobbed for in a +tub of water and brought up with the teeth; or a stick was +hung from a hook with an apple at one end and a candle at +the other, and the stick being made to revolve you made a +bite at the apple and sometimes got a mouthful of candle +instead.<note place='foot'>Miss A. Watson, quoted by A. C. +Haddon, <q>A Batch of Irish Folk-lore,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, iv. (1893) pp. 361 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In County Leitrim, also, down to near the end of +the nineteenth century various forms of divination were +practised at Hallowe'en. Girls ascertained the character of +their future husbands by the help of cabbages just as in +Queen's County. Again, if a girl found a branch of a briar-thorn +which had bent over and grown into the ground so as +to form a loop, she would creep through the loop thrice late +in the evening in the devil's name, then cut the briar and +put it under her pillow, all without speaking a word. Then +she would lay her head on the pillow and dream of the man +she was to marry. Boys, also, would dream in like manner +of love and marriage at Hallowe'en, if only they would gather +ten leaves of ivy without speaking, throw away one, and put +the other nine under their pillow. Again, divination was +practised by means of a cake called <foreign lang='ga' rend='italic'>barm-breac</foreign>, in which a +nut and a ring were baked. Whoever got the ring would be +married first; whoever got the nut would marry a widow or +a widower; but if the nut were an empty shell, he or she +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/> +would remain unwed. Again, a girl would take a clue of +worsted, go to a lime kiln in the gloaming, and throw the +clew into the kiln in the devil's name, while she held fast the +other end of the thread. Then she would rewind the thread +and ask, <q>Who holds my clue?</q> and the name of her future +husband would come up from the depth of the kiln. Another +way was to take a rake, go to a rick and walk round it nine +times, saying, <q>I rake this rick in the devil's name.</q> At the +ninth time the wraith of your destined partner for life would +come and take the rake out of your hand. Once more, before +the company separated for the night, they would rake the +ashes smooth on the hearth, and search them next morning +for tracks, from which they judged whether anybody should +come to the house, or leave it, or die in it before another +year was out.<note place='foot'>Leland L. Duncan, <q>Further +Notes from County Leitrim,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +v. (1894) pp. 195-197.</note> In County Roscommon, which borders on +County Leitrim, a cake is made in nearly every house on +Hallowe'en, and a ring, a coin, a sloe, and a chip of wood +are put into it. Whoever gets the coin will be rich; whoever +gets the ring will be married first; whoever gets the +chip of wood, which stands for a coffin, will die first; and +whoever gets the sloe will live longest, because the fairies +blight the sloes in the hedges on Hallowe'en, so that the +sloe in the cake will be the last of the year. Again, on the +same mystic evening girls take nine grains of oats in their +mouths, and going out without speaking walk about till they +hear a man's name pronounced; it will be the name of their +future husband. In County Roscommon, too, on Hallowe'en +there is the usual dipping in water for apples or sixpences, +and the usual bites at a revolving apple and tallow candle.<note place='foot'>H. J. Byrne, <q>All Hallows Eve +and other Festivals in Connaught,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xviii. (1907) pp. 437 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hallowe'en +fires in the +Isle of Man. Divination +at Hallowe'en +in the +Isle of Man.</note> +In the Isle of Man also, another Celtic country, Hallowe'en +was celebrated down to modern times by the kindling +of fires, accompanied with all the usual ceremonies designed to +prevent the baneful influence of fairies and witches. Bands +of young men perambulated the island by night, and at the +door of every dwelling-house they struck up a Manx rhyme, +beginning +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q><hi rend='italic'>Noght oie howney hop-dy-naw,</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> + +<p> +that is to say, <q>This is Hollantide Eve.</q> For Hollantide is +the Manx way of expressing the old English <emph>All hallowen +tide</emph>, that is, All Saints' Day, the first of November. But as +the people reckon this festival according to the Old Style, +Hollantide in the Isle of Man is our twelfth of November. +The native Manx name for the day is <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Sauin</foreign> or <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Laa Houney</foreign>. +Potatoes, parsnips and fish, pounded up together and mixed +with butter, formed the proper evening meal (<foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>mrastyr</foreign>) on +Hallowe'en in the Isle of Man.<note place='foot'>Joseph Train, <hi rend='italic'>Historical and Statistical +Account of the Isle of Man</hi> +(Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 123; +(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh +and Manx</hi> (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Here, too, as in Scotland +forms of divination are practised by some people on this +important evening. For example, the housewife fills a +thimble full of salt for each member of the family and each +guest; the contents of the thimblefuls are emptied out in as +many neat little piles on a plate, and left there over night. +Next morning the piles are examined, and if any of them +has fallen down, he or she whom it represents will die +within the year. Again, the women carefully sweep out the +ashes from under the fireplace and flatten them down neatly +on the open hearth. If they find next morning a footprint +turned towards the door, it signifies a death in the family +within the year; but if the footprint is turned in the +opposite direction, it bodes a marriage. Again, divination +by eavesdropping is practised in the Isle of Man in much +the same way as in Scotland. You go out with your mouth +full of water and your hands full of salt and listen at a +neighbour's door, and the first name you hear will be the +name of your husband. Again, Manx maids bandage their +eyes and grope about the room till they dip their hands in +vessels full of clean or dirty water, and so on; and from the +thing they touch they draw corresponding omens. But +some people in the Isle of Man observe these auguries, not +on Hallowe'en or Hollantide Eve, as they call it, which was +the old Manx New Year's Eve, but on the modern New +Year's Eve, that is, on the thirty-first of December. The +change no doubt marks a transition from the ancient to the +modern mode of dating the beginning of the year.<note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, +Welsh and Manx</hi> (Oxford, 1901), i. +318-321.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Hallowe'en +fires and +divination +in Lancashire. +Candles +lighted to +keep off +the witches. +Divination +at Hallowe'en +in +Northumberland. +Hallowe'en +fires in +France.</note> +In Lancashire, also, some traces of the old Celtic celebration +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/> +of Hallowe'en have been reported in modern times. It is +said that <q>fires are still lighted in Lancashire, on Hallowe'en, +under the name of Beltains or Teanlas; and even such +cakes as the Jews are said to have made in honour of the +Queen of Heaven, are yet to be found at this season +amongst the inhabitants of the banks of the Ribble.... +Both the fires and the cakes, however, are now connected +with superstitious notions respecting Purgatory, etc.</q><note place='foot'>John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, +<hi rend='italic'>Lancashire Folk-lore</hi> (Manchester +and London, 1882), pp. 3 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> On +Hallowe'en, too, the Lancashire maiden <q>strews the ashes +which are to take the form of one or more letters of her +lover's name; she throws hemp-seed over her shoulder and +timidly glances to see who follows her.</q><note place='foot'>J. Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 140.</note> Again, witches +in Lancashire used to gather on Hallowe'en at the Malkin +Tower, a ruined and desolate farm-house in the forest of +Pendle. They assembled for no good purpose; but you +could keep the infernal rout at bay by carrying a lighted +candle about the fells from eleven to twelve o'clock at +night. The witches tried to blow out the candle, and +if they succeeded, so much the worse for you; but if the +flame burned steadily till the clocks had struck midnight, +you were safe. Some people performed the ceremony +by deputy; and parties went about from house to house in +the evening collecting candles, one for each inmate, and +offering their services to <foreign rend='italic'>late</foreign> or <foreign rend='italic'>leet</foreign> the witches, as the +phrase ran. This custom was practised at Longridge Fell +in the early part of the nineteenth century.<note place='foot'>Annie Milner, in William Hone's +<hi rend='italic'>Year Book</hi> (London, preface dated +January, 1832), coll. 1276-1279 (letter +dated June, 1831); R. T. Hampson, +<hi rend='italic'>Medii Acvi Kalendarium</hi> (London, +1841), i. 365; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, +<hi rend='italic'>British Popular Customs</hi> (London, +1876), p. 395.</note> In +Northumberland on Hallowe'en omens of marriage were +drawn from nuts thrown into the fire; and the sports of +ducking for apples and biting at a revolving apple and +lighted candle were also practised on that evening.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, +collected by M. C. Balfour +(London, 1904), p. 78. Compare W. +Henderson, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Folk-lore of +the Northern Counties of England</hi> +(London, 1879), pp. 96 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The +equivalent of the Hallowe'en bonfires is reported also from +France. We are told that in the department of Deux-Sèvres, +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/> +which forms part of the old province of Poitou, +young people used to assemble in the fields on All Saints' +Day (the first of November) and kindle great fires of ferns, +thorns, leaves, and stubble, at which they roasted chestnuts. +They also danced round the fires and indulged in noisy +pastimes.<note place='foot'>Baron Dupin, in <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires publiées +par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de +France</hi>, iv. (1823) p. 108.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='7. The Midwinter Fires.'/> +<head>§ 7. The Midwinter Fires.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A Midwinter +festival +of fire. +Christmas +the continuation +of an old +heathen +festival of +the sun.</note> +If the heathen of ancient Europe celebrated, as we have +good reason to believe, the season of Midsummer with a +great festival of fire, of which the traces have survived in +many places down to our own time, it is natural to suppose +that they should have observed with similar rites the corresponding +season of Midwinter; for Midsummer and Midwinter, +or, in more technical language, the summer solstice +and the winter solstice, are the two great turning-points in +the sun's apparent course through the sky, and from the +standpoint of primitive man nothing might seem more +appropriate than to kindle fires on earth at the two moments +when the fire and heat of the great luminary in heaven +begin to wane or to wax. In this way the savage philosopher, +to whose meditations on the nature of things we owe +many ancient customs and ceremonies, might easily imagine +that he helped the labouring sun to relight his dying lamp, +or at all events to blow up the flame into a brighter blaze. +Certain it is that the winter solstice, which the ancients +erroneously assigned to the twenty-fifth of December, was +celebrated in antiquity as the Birthday of the Sun, and that +festal lights or fires were kindled on this joyful occasion. +Our Christmas festival is nothing but a continuation under a +Christian name of this old solar festivity; for the ecclesiastical +authorities saw fit, about the end of the third or the +beginning of the fourth century, arbitrarily to transfer the +nativity of Christ from the sixth of January to the twenty-fifth +of December, for the purpose of diverting to their Lord +the worship which the heathen had hitherto paid on that +day to the sun.<note place='foot'>The evidence for the solar origin +of Christmas is given in <hi rend='italic'>Adonis, Attis, +Osiris</hi>, Second Edition, pp 254-256.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log is +the Midwinter +counterpart +of +the Midsummer +bonfire.</note> +In modern Christendom the ancient fire-festival of the +winter solstice appears to survive, or to have survived down +to recent years, in the old custom of the Yule log, clog, or +block, as it was variously called in England.<note place='foot'>For the various names (Yu-batch, +Yu-block, Yule-log, etc.) see Francis +Grose, <hi rend='italic'>Provincial Glossary</hi>, New Edition +(London, 1811), p. 141; Joseph +Wright, <hi rend='italic'>The English Dialect Dictionary</hi> +(London, 1898-1905), vi. 593, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +<q>Yule.</q></note> The custom +was widespread in Europe, but seems to have flourished +especially in England, France, and among the South Slavs; +at least the fullest accounts of the custom come from +these quarters. That the Yule log was only the winter +counterpart of the Midsummer bonfire, kindled within doors +instead of in the open air on account of the cold and +inclement weather of the season, was pointed out long +ago by our English antiquary John Brand;<note place='foot'><q>I am pretty confident that the +Yule block will be found, in its first +use, to have been only a counterpart +of the Midsummer fires, made within +doors because of the cold weather at +this winter solstice, as those in the hot +season, at the summer one, are kindled +in the open air</q> (John Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular +Antiquities of Great Britain</hi>, London, +1882-1883, i. 471). His opinion is +approved by W. Mannhardt (<hi rend='italic'>Der +Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer +Nachbarstämme</hi>, p. 236).</note> and the view +is supported by the many quaint superstitions attaching to +the Yule log, superstitions which have no apparent connexion +with Christianity but carry their heathen origin +plainly stamped upon them. But while the two solstitial +celebrations were both festivals of fire, the necessity or +desirability of holding the winter celebration within doors +lent it the character of a private or domestic festivity, which +contrasts strongly with the publicity of the summer celebration, +at which the people gathered on some open space or +conspicuous height, kindled a huge bonfire in common, and +danced and made merry round it together. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in +Germany and Switzerland.</note> +Among the Germans the custom of the Yule log is +known to have been observed in the eleventh century; for +in the year 1184 the parish priest of Ahlen, in Münsterland, +spoke of <q>bringing a tree to kindle the festal fire at the +Lord's Nativity.</q><note place='foot'><q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Et arborem in nativitate domini +ad festivum ignem suum adducendam +esse dicebat</foreign></q> (quoted by Jacob Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 522).</note> Down to about the middle of the nineteenth +century the old rite was kept up in some parts of +central Germany, as we learn from an account of it given by +a contemporary writer. After mentioning the custom of +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +feeding the cattle and shaking the fruit-trees on Christmas +night, to make them bear fruit, he goes on as follows: +<q>Other customs pointing back to the far-off times of +heathendom may still be met with among the old-fashioned +peasants of the mountain regions. Such is in the valleys of +the Sieg and Lahn the practice of laying a new log as a +foundation of the hearth. A heavy block of oak-wood, +generally a stump grubbed up from the ground, is fitted +either into the floor of the hearth, or into a niche made for +the purpose in the wall under the hook on which the kettle +hangs. When the fire on the hearth glows, this block of +wood glows too, but it is so placed that it is hardly reduced +to ashes within a year. When the new foundation is laid, +the remains of the old block are carefully taken out, ground +to powder, and strewed over the fields during the Twelve +Nights. This, so people fancied, promotes the fruitfulness +of the year's crops.</q><note place='foot'>Montanus, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutschen Volksfeste, +Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube</hi> +(Iserlohn, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), p. 12. The +Sieg and Lahn are two rivers of Central +Germany, between Siegen and Marburg.</note> In some parts of the Eifel Mountains, +to the west of Coblentz, a log of wood called the <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Christbrand</foreign> +used to be placed on the hearth on Christmas Eve; and the +charred remains of it on Twelfth Night were put in the corn-bin +to keep the mice from devouring the corn.<note place='foot'>J. H. Schmitz, <hi rend='italic'>Sitten und Sagen, +Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des +Eifler Volkes</hi> (Treves, 1856-1858), +i. 4.</note> At Weidenhausen +and Girkshausen, in Westphalia, the practice was to +withdraw the Yule log (<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Christbrand</foreign>) from the fire so soon as +it was slightly charred; it was then kept carefully to be +replaced on the fire whenever a thunder-storm broke, because +the people believed that lightning would not strike a house +in which the Yule log was smouldering.<note place='foot'>Adalbert Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Gebräuche +und Märchen aus Westfalen</hi> (Leipsic, +1859), ii. § 319, pp. 103 sq.</note> In some villages +near Berleburg in Westphalia the old custom was to tie up +the Yule log in the last sheaf cut at harvest.<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> ii. § 523, p. 187.</note> On Christmas +Eve the peasantry of the Oberland, in Meiningen, a province +of Central Germany, used to put a great block of wood +called the <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Christklotz</foreign> on the fire before they went to bed; it +should burn all night, and the charred remains were believed +to guard the house for the whole year against the risk of +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> +fire, burglary, and other misfortunes.<note place='foot'>August Witzschel, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Thüringen</hi> (Vienna, +1878), p. 172.</note> The Yule log seems +to be known only in the French-speaking parts of Switzerland, +where it goes by the usual French name of <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Bûche de +Noël</foreign>. In the Jura mountains of the canton of Bern, while +the log is burning on the hearth the people sing a blessing +over it as follows:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>May the log burn!</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>May all good come in!</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>May the women have children</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>And the sheep lambs!</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>White bread for every one</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And the vat full of wine!</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The embers of the Yule log were kept carefully, for they +were believed to be a protection against lightning.<note place='foot'>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, <hi rend='italic'>Feste und +Bräuche des Schweizervolkes</hi> (Zurich, +1913), pp. 108 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in +Belgium.</note> +<q>The Christmas fires, which were formerly lit everywhere +in the Low Countries, have fallen into disuse. But in +Flanders a great log of wood, called the <foreign rend='italic'>kersavondblok</foreign> and +usually cut from the roots of a fir or a beech, is still put on +the fire; all the lights in the house are extinguished, and +the whole family gathers round the log to spend part of the +night in singing, in telling stories, especially about ghosts, +were-wolves, and so on, and also in drinking gin. At +Grammont and in the neighbourhood of that town, where the +Yule log is called <foreign rend='italic'>Kersmismot</foreign>, it is customary to set fire to +the remainder of the gin at the moment when the log is +reduced to ashes. Elsewhere a piece of the log is kept and +put under the bed to protect the house against thunder and +lightning. The charcoal of the log which burned during +Christmas Night, if pounded up and mixed with water, is a +cure for consumption. In the country of Limburg the log +burns several nights, and the pounded charcoal is kept as +a preventive (so they say), of toothache.</q><note place='foot'>Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, +<hi rend='italic'>Calendrier Belge</hi> (Brussels, 1861-1862), +ii. 326 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare J. W. +Wolf, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</hi> +(Göttingen, 1852-1858), i. 117.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in +France.</note> +In several provinces of France, and particularly in +Provence, the custom of the Yule log or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>tréfoir</foreign>, as it was +called in many places, was long observed. A French +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/> +writer of the seventeenth century tells us that on Christmas +Eve the log was prepared, and when the whole family had +assembled in the kitchen or parlour of the house, they went +and brought it in, walking in procession and singing +Provençal verses to the following effect:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Let the log rejoice,</hi></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>To-morrow is the day of bread;</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Let all good enter here;</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Let the women bear children;</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Let the she-goats bring forth kids;</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Let the ewes drop lambs;</hi></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Let there be much wheat and flour,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>And the vat full of wine.</hi></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Then the log was blessed by the smallest and youngest +child of the house, who poured a glass of wine over it +saying, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>In nomine patris</foreign>, etc.; after which the log was set on +the fire. The charcoal of the burnt wood was kept the +whole year, and used as an ingredient in several remedies.<note place='foot'>J. B. Thiers, <hi rend='italic'>Traité des Superstitions</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>5</hi> +(Paris, 1741), i. 302 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +Eugène Cortet, <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur les Fêtes +Religieuses</hi> (Paris, 1867), pp. 266 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>French +superstitions +as to the +Yule log.</note> +Amongst the superstitions denounced by the same +writer is <q>the belief that a log called the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>trefoir</foreign> or +Christmas brand, which you put on the fire for the first time +on Christmas Eve and continue to put on the fire for a +little while every day till Twelfth Night, can, if kept +under the bed, protect the house for a whole year from +fire and thunder; that it can prevent the inmates from +having chilblains on their heels in winter; that it can +cure the cattle of many maladies; that if a piece of it +be steeped in the water which cows drink it helps them +to calve; and lastly that if the ashes of the log be strewn +on the fields it can save the wheat from mildew.</q><note place='foot'>J. B. Thiers, <hi rend='italic'>Traité des Superstitions</hi> +(Paris, 1679), p 323.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log at +Marseilles +and in +Perigord. Virtues +ascribed to +the charcoal +and +ashes of the +burnt log. +The Yule +log in +Berry.</note> +In Marseilles the Yule log used to be a great block of +oak, which went by the name of <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>calendeau</foreign> or <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>calignau</foreign>; it +was sprinkled with wine and oil, and the head of the house +kindled it himself.<note place='foot'>Aubin-Louis Millin, <hi rend='italic'>Voyage dans +les Départements du Midi de la France</hi> +(Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 336 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +fire so kindled was called <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>caco fuech</foreign>.</note> <q>The Yule log plays a great part at the +festival of the winter solstice in Perigord. The countryman +thinks that it is best made of plum-tree, cherry, or oak, and +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/> +that the larger it is the better. If it burns well, it is a good +omen, the blessing of heaven rests upon it. The charcoal +and ashes, which are collected very carefully, are excellent +for healing swollen glands; the part of the trunk which has +not been burnt in the fire is used by ploughmen to make the +wedge (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>técoin ou cale</foreign>) for their plough, because they allege that +it causes the seeds to thrive better; and the women keep pieces +of it till Twelfth Night for the sake of their chickens. Nevertheless +if you sit down on the log, you become subject to +boils, and to cure yourself of them you must pass nine times +under a bramble branch which happens to be rooted in the +ground at both ends. The charcoal heals sheep of a disease +called the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>goumon</foreign>; and the ashes, carefully wrapt up in +white linen, preserve the whole household from accidents. +Some people think that they will have as many chickens as +there are sparks that fly out of the brands of the log when +they shake them; and others place the extinct brands under +the bed to drive away vermin. In Vienne, on Christmas +Eve, when supper is over, the master of the house has a +great log—the Christmas brand—brought in, and then, +surrounded by all the spectators gathered in profound +silence, he sprinkles salt and water on the log. It is then +put on the fire to burn during the three festivals; but they +carefully preserve a piece to be kindled every time that it +thunders.</q><note place='foot'>Alfred de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes +et Traditions des Provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 151 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +The three festivals during which the +Yule log is expected to burn are probably +Christmas Day (December 25th), +St. Stephen's Day (December 26th), +and St. John the Evangelist's Day +(December 27th). Compare J. L. M. +Noguès, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mœurs d'autrefois en +Saintonge et en Aunis</hi> (Saintes, 1891), +pp. 45-47. According to the latter +writer, in Saintonge it was the mistress +of the house who blessed the Yule log, +sprinkling salt and holy water on it; +in Poitou it was the eldest male who +officiated. The log was called the +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>cosse de Nô</foreign>.</note> In Berry, a district of Central France, the Yule +log was called the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>cosse de Nau</foreign>, the last word being an +abbreviation of the usual French word for Christmas (Noël). +It consisted of an enormous tree-trunk, so heavy that the +united strength of several men was needed to carry it in +and place it on the hearth, where it served to feed the fire +during the three days of the Christmas festivity. Strictly +speaking, it should be the trunk of an old oak-tree which +had never been lopped and had been felled at midnight. It +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/> +was placed on the hearth at the moment when the tinkle of +the bell announced the elevation of the host at the midnight +mass; and the head of the family, after sprinkling it with +holy water, set it on fire. The remains of the log were +preserved till the same day next year. They were kept +under the bed of the master of the house; and whenever +thunder was heard, one of the family would take a piece of +the log and throw it on the fire, which was believed to guard +the family against lightning. In the Middle Ages, we are +told, several fiefs were granted on condition that the vassal +should bring in person a Yule log every year for the hearth +of his liege lord.<note place='foot'>Laisnel de Salle, <hi rend='italic'>Croyances et +Légendes du Centre de la France</hi> (Paris, +1875), i. 1-3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in +Normandy +and +Brittany.</note> +Similar customs and beliefs survived till recent years in +some of the remote country villages of the picturesque +district known as the Bocage of Normandy. There it was +the grandfather or other oldest man of the family who +chose the Yule log in good time and had it ready for +Christmas Eve. Then he placed it on the hearth at the +moment when the church bell began to ring for the evening +service. Kneeling reverently at the hearth with the +members of his family in a like attitude of devotion, the +old man recited three <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Pater Nosters</foreign> and three <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Aves</foreign>, and +invoked the blessing of heaven on the log and on the +cottage. Then at the sound of the bell which proclaimed +the sacrament of the mass, or, if the church was too far +off to allow the tinkle of the bell to be heard, at the +moment when they judged that the priest was elevating +the host before the high altar, the patriarch sprinkled the +burning log with holy water, blessed it in the name of +the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and +drew it out of the fire. The charred log was then carefully +kept till the following Christmas as a precious relic +which would guard the house against the levin bolt, evil +spirits, sorcerers, and every misfortune that might befall +in the course of the year.<note place='foot'>Jules Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage +Normand</hi> (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), +ii. 291. The author speaks of +the custom as still practised in out-of-the-way +villages at the time when he +wrote. The usage of preserving the +remains of the Yule-log (called <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>tréfouet</foreign>) +in Normandy is mentioned also by +M<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>elle</hi> Amélie Bosquet, <hi rend='italic'>La Nortnandie +Romanesque et Merveilleuse</hi> (Paris and +Rouen, 1845), p. 294.</note> In the department of Orne +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/> +<q>the Yule-log is called <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>trefouet</foreign>; holy water is poured on +it; it should last the three days of the festival, and the +remains of it are kept to be put on the fire when it thunders. +This brand is a protection both against thunder and against +sorcerers.</q><note place='foot'>A. de Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes, et +Traditions des Provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 256.</note> In Upper Brittany, also, the Yule log is thought +to be a safeguard against thunder and lightning. It is +sprinkled with holy water on Christmas morning and allowed +to burn till evening. If a piece of it is thrown into the +well, it will ensure a supply of good water.<note place='foot'>Paul Sébillot, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes populaires +de la Haute-Bretagne</hi> (Paris, 1886), +pp. 217 sq.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in the +Ardennes.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>In almost all the families of the Ardennes,</q> we are +told, <q rend='pre'>at the present day they never fail to put the Yule +log on the fireplace, but formerly it was the object of a +superstitious worship which is now obsolete. The charred +remains of it, placed under the pillow or under the house, +preserved the house from storms, and before it was burned +the Virgin used to come and sit on it, invisible, swaddling +the infant Jesus. At Nouzon, twenty years ago, the +traditional log was brought into the kitchen on Christmas +Eve, and the grandmother, with a sprig of box in her hand, +sprinkled the log with holy water as soon as the clock +struck the first stroke of midnight. As she did so she +chanted,</q> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='none'><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>When Christmas comes,</hi></q></q></l> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Every one should rejoice,</hi></l> +<l><q rend='none'><q rend='post'><hi rend='italic'>For it is a New Covenant.</hi></q></q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<q rend='post'>Following the grandmother and joining in the song, the +children and the rest of the family marched thrice round +the log, which was as fine a log as could be got.</q><note place='foot'>Albert Meyrac, <hi rend='italic'>Traditions, +Coutumes, Légendes et Contes des +Ardennes</hi> (Charleville, 1890), pp. +96 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> We +can now, perhaps, understand why in Perigord people +who sat on the Yule log suffered from boils,<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg251'>251</ref>.</note> and why in +Lorraine young folks used to be warned that if they sat +on it they would have the scab.<note place='foot'>Lerouze, in <hi rend='italic'>Mémoires de l'Academie +Celtique</hi>, iii. (1809) p. 441, +quoted by J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</hi> (London, +1882-1883), i. 469 note.</note> The reason probably +was that the Virgin and child were supposed to be seated, +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +invisible, upon the log and to resent the indignity of contact +with mortal children. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in the +Vosges. +The Yule +log in +Franche-Comté +and +Burgundy.</note> +On Christmas Eve the mountaineers of Rupt, in the +Vosges, also never fail to put on the hearth the largest +log which the hearth can hold; they call it <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>la galeuche +de Noë</foreign>, that is, the Yule log. Next morning they rake +the ashes for any charred fragments and keep them as +valuable talismans to guard them against the stroke of +lightning. At Vagney and other places near it in the +Vosges it used to be customary on the same evening to +grease the hinges and the latches of the doors, that no +harsh grating sound should break the slumbers of the +infant Christ. In the Vosges Mountains, too, as indeed +in many other places, cattle acquired the gift of speech on +Christmas Eve and conversed with each other in the +language of Christians. Their conversation was, indeed, +most instructive; for the future, it seems, had no secret +worth mentioning for them. Yet few people cared to be +caught eavesdropping at the byre; wise folk contented +themselves with setting a good store of fodder in the +manger, then shut the door, and left the animals to their +ruminations. A farmer of Vecoux once hid in a corner of +the byre to overhear the edifying talk of the beasts. But +it did him little good; for one ox said to another ox, +<q>What shall we do to-morrow?</q> and the other replied, +<q>We shall carry our master to the churchyard.</q> Sure +enough the farmer died that very night and was buried +next morning.<note place='foot'>L. F. Sauvé, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore des +Hautes-Vosges</hi> (Paris, 1889), pp. +370 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Franche-Comté, the province of France +to the west of the Jura mountains, if the Yule log is really +to protect a house against thunder and lightning, it is +essential that it should burn during the midnight mass, and +that the flame should not go out before the divine service is +concluded. Otherwise the log is quite useless for the +purpose.<note place='foot'>Charles Beauquier, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mois en +Franche-Comté</hi> (Paris, 1900), p. 183.</note> In Burgundy the log which is placed on the +fire on Christmas Eve is called the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>suche</foreign>. While it is +burning, the father of the family, assisted by his wife and +children, sings Christmas carols; and when he has finished, +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> +he tells the smallest children to go into a corner of the +room and pray God that the log may give them sweeties. +The prayer is invariably answered.<note place='foot'>A. de Nore, Coutumes, <hi rend='italic'>Mythes, +et Traditions des Provinces de France</hi> +(Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 302 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log and +the Yule +candle in +England.</note> +In England the customs and beliefs concerning the +Yule log, clog, or block, as it was variously called, used +to be similar. On the night of Christmas Eve, says the +antiquary John Brand, <q>our ancestors were wont to light +up candles of an uncommon size, called Christmas Candles, +and lay a log of wood upon the fire, called a Yule-clog or +Christmas-block, to illuminate the house, and, as it were, to +turn night into day. This custom is, in some measure, still +kept up in the North of England. In the buttery of St. +John's College, Oxford, an ancient candle-socket of stone still +remains ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It +was formerly used to burn the Christmas Candle in, on +the high table at supper, during the twelve nights of that +festival.</q><note place='foot'>John Brand, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Antiquities +of Great Britain</hi> (London, 1882-1883), +i. 467.</note> <q>A tall mould candle, called a Yule candle, +is lighted and set on the table; these candles are presented +by the chandlers and grocers to their customers. The +Yule-log is bought of the carpenters' lads. It would be +unlucky to light either of them before the time, or to stir +the fire or candle during the supper; the candle must not +be snuffed, neither must any one stir from the table till +supper is ended. In these suppers it is considered unlucky +to have an odd number at table. A fragment of the log is +occasionally saved, and put under a bed, to remain till next +Christmas: it secures the house from fire; a small piece of +it thrown into a fire occurring at the house of a neighbour, +will quell the raging flame. A piece of the candle should +likewise be kept to ensure good luck.</q><note place='foot'>J. Brand, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 455; <hi rend='italic'>The +Denham Tracts</hi>, edited by Dr. James +Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 25 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the seventeenth +century, as we learn from some verses of Herrick, the +English custom was to light the Yule log with a fragment +of its predecessor, which had been kept throughout the year +for the purpose; where it was so kept, the fiend could do no +mischief.<note place='foot'><p>Herrick, <hi rend='italic'>Hesperides</hi>, <q>Ceremonies +for Christmasse</q>: +</p> +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Come, bring with a noise,<lb/> +My merrie merrie boyes,<lb/> +The Christmas log to the firing; ...<lb/> +With the last yeeres brand<lb/> +Light the new block.</hi></q> +</p> +<p> +And, again, in his verses, <q>Ceremonies +for Candlemasse Day</q>: +</p> +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Kindle the Christmas brand, and then<lb/> +Till sunne-set let it burne;<lb/> +Which quencht, then lay it up agen,<lb/> +Till Christmas next returne.<lb/> +Part must be kept, wherewith to teend<lb/> +The Christmas log next yeare;<lb/> +And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend<lb/> +Can do no mischiefe there.</hi></q> +</p> +<p> +See <hi rend='italic'>The Works of Robert Herrick</hi> +(Edinburgh, 1823), vol. ii. pp. 91, 124. +From these latter verses it seems +that the Yule log was replaced on the +fire on Candlemas (the second of +February).</p></note> Indeed the practice of preserving a piece of the +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> +Yule-log of one year to light that of the next was observed +by at least one family at Cheadle in Staffordshire down to +the latter part of the nineteenth century.<note place='foot'>Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. +Jackson, <hi rend='italic'>Shropshire Folk-lore</hi> (London, +1883), p. 398 note 2. See also below, +pp. <ref target='Pg257'>257</ref>, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref>, as to the Lincolnshire, +Herefordshire, and Welsh practice.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in +the North +of England, in +Lincolnshire, +Warwickshire, +Shropshire, +Herefordshire. +The Yule log in Wales.</note> +In the North of England farm-servants used to lay by a +large knotty block of wood for the Christmas fire, and so long +as the block lasted they were entitled by custom to ale at their +meals. The log was as large as the hearth could hold.<note place='foot'>Francis Grose, <hi rend='italic'>Provincial Glossary</hi>, +Second Edition (London, 1811), pp. +141 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, +<hi rend='italic'>British Popular Customs</hi> (London, +1876), p. 466.</note> +At Belford, in Northumberland, <q>the lord of the manor +sends round to every house, on the afternoon of Christmas +Eve, the Yule Logs—four or five large logs—to be burnt +on Christmas Eve and Day. This old custom has always, +I am told, been kept up here.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, +collected by M. C. Balfour +and edited by Northcote W. Thomas +(London, 1904), p. 79.</note> The custom of burning +the Yule log at Christmas used to be observed in Wensleydale +and other parts of Yorkshire, and prudent housewives +carefully preserved pieces of the log throughout the year. +At Whitby the portions so kept were stowed away under +the bed till next Christmas, when they were burnt with the +new log; in the interval they were believed to protect the +house from conflagration, and if one of them were thrown +into the fire, it would quell a raging storm.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. ii. <hi rend='italic'>North +Riding of Yorkshire, York and the +Ainsty</hi>, collected and edited by Mrs. +Gutch (London, 1901), pp. 273, 274, +275 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The practice +and the belief were similar at Filey on the coast of Yorkshire, +where besides the Yule log a tall Yule candle was lit +on the same evening.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. vi. <hi rend='italic'>East +Riding of Yorkshire</hi>, collected and +edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), +pp. 23, 118, compare p. 114.</note> In the West Riding, while the log +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/> +blazed cheerfully, the people quaffed their ale and sang, +<q>Yule! Yule! a pack of new cards and a Christmas +stool!</q><note place='foot'>John Aubrey, <hi rend='italic'>Remaines of Gentilisme +and Judaisme</hi> (London, 1881), +p. 5.</note> At Clee, in Lincolnshire, <q>when Christmas Eve +has come the Yule cake is duly cut and the Yule log lit, +and I know of some even middle-class houses where the +new log must always rest upon and be lighted by the +old one, a small portion of which has been carefully stored +away to preserve a continuity of light and heat.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. v. <hi rend='italic'>Lincolnshire</hi>, +collected by Mrs. Gutch and +Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. +219. Elsewhere in Lincolnshire the +Yule-log seems to have been called the +Yule-clog (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 215, 216).</note> At the +village of Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire, down to 1759 +at least, the Yule-block, as it was called, was drawn into the +house by a horse on Christmas Eve <q>as a foundation for the +fire on Christmas Day, and according to the superstition of +those times for the twelve days following, as the said block was +not to be entirely reduc'd to ashes till that time had passed +by.</q><note place='foot'>Mrs. Samuel Chandler (Sarah +Whateley), quoted in <hi rend='italic'>The Folk-lore +Journal</hi>, i. (1883), pp. 351 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> As late as 1830, or thereabout, the scene of lighting the +hearth-fire on Christmas Eve, to continue burning throughout +the Christmas season, might have been witnessed in the +secluded and beautiful hill-country of West Shropshire, +from Chirbury and Worthen to Pulverbatch and Pontesbury. +The Christmas brand or brund, as they called it, was a +great trunk of seasoned oak, holly, yew, or crab-tree, drawn +by horses to the farm-house door and thence rolled by +means of rollers and levers to the back of the wide open +hearth, where the fire was made up in front of it. The +embers were raked up to it every night, and it was carefully +tended, that it might not go out during the whole Christmas +season. All those days no light might be struck, given, or +borrowed. Such was the custom at Worthen in the early +part of the nineteenth century.<note place='foot'>Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. +Jackson, <hi rend='italic'>Shropshire Folk-lore</hi> (London, +1883), pp. 397 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> One of the informants +of these writers says (<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> +p. 399): <q>In 1845 I was at the +Vessons farmhouse, near the Eastbridge +Coppice (at the northern end of the +Stiperstones). The floor was of flags, +an unusual thing in this part. Observing +a sort of roadway through the +kitchen, and the flags much broken, I +enquired what caused it, and was +told it was from the horses' hoofs +drawing in the <q>Christmas Brund.</q></q></note> In Herefordshire the +Christmas feast <q>lasted for twelve days, and no work was +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +done. All houses were, and are now, decorated with sprigs +of holly and ivy, which must not be brought in until +Christmas Eve. A Yule log, as large as the open hearth +could accommodate, was brought into the kitchen of each +farmhouse, and smaller ones were used in the cottages. +W—— P—— said he had seen a tree drawn into the +kitchen at Kingstone Grange years ago by two cart horses; +when it had been consumed a small portion was carefully +kept to be used for lighting next year's log. <q>Mother +always kept it very carefully; she said it was lucky, and +kept the house from fire and from lightning.</q> It seems to +have been the general practice to light it on Christmas +Eve.</q><note place='foot'>Mrs. Ella Mary Leather, <hi rend='italic'>The Folk-lore +of Herefordshire</hi> (Hereford and +London, 1912), p. 109. Compare +Miss C. S. Burne, <q>Herefordshire +Notes,</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Folk-lore Journal</hi>, iv. +(1886) p. 167.</note> <q>In many parts of Wales it is still customary to +keep part of the Yule-log until the following Christmas Eve +<q>for luck.</q> It is then put into the fireplace and burnt, but +before it is consumed the new log is put on, and thus <q>the +old fire and the new</q> burn together. In some families this +is done from force of habit, and they cannot now tell why +they do it; but in the past the observance of this custom +was to keep witches away, and doubtless was a survival of +fire-worship.</q><note place='foot'>Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), +p. 28.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Yule +log in +Servia. +The cutting +of the oak +tree to +form the +Yule log.</note> +But nowhere, apparently, in Europe is the old heathen +ritual of the Yule log preserved to the present day more perfectly +than in Servia. At early dawn on Christmas Eve (<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>Badnyi +Dan</foreign>) every peasant house sends two of its strongest young +men to the nearest forest to cut down a young oak tree and +bring it home. There, after offering up a short prayer or +crossing themselves thrice, they throw a handful of wheat +on the chosen oak and greet it with the words, <q>Happy +<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>Badnyi</foreign> day to you!</q> Then they cut it down, taking care +that it shall fall towards the east at the moment when the +sun's orb appears over the rim of the eastern horizon. +Should the tree fall towards the west, it would be the worst +possible omen for the house and its inmates in the ensuing +year; and it is also an evil omen if the tree should be +caught and stopped in its fall by another tree. It is important +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/> +to keep and carry home the first chip from the +fallen oak. The trunk is sawn into two or three logs, one +of them rather longer than the others. A flat, unleavened +cake of the purest wheaten flour is brought out of the house +and broken on the larger of the logs by a woman. The +logs are left for the present to stand outside, leaning on one +of the walls of the house. Each of them is called a Yule +log (<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>badnyak</foreign>). +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Prayers to +Colleda.</note> +Meanwhile the children and young people go from house +to house singing special songs called <foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>Colleda</foreign> because of an +old pagan divinity Colleda, who is invoked in every line. +In one of them she is spoken of as <q>a beautiful little maid</q>; +in another she is implored to make the cows yield milk +abundantly. The day is spent in busy preparations. The +women bake little cakes of a special sort in the shape of +lambs, pigs, and chickens; the men make ready a pig for +roasting, for in every Servian house roast pig is the principal +dish at Christmas. A bundle of straw, tied with a rope, is +brought into the courtyard and left to stand there near the +Yule logs. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The bringing +in of the +Yule log.</note> +At the moment when the sun is setting all the members +of the family assemble in the central hall (the great family +kitchen) of the principal house. The mother of the family +(or the wife of the chief of the Zadrooga)<note place='foot'><q>In earlier ages, and even so late +as towards the middle of the nineteenth +century, the Servian village organisation +and the Servian agriculture had +yet another distinguishing feature. The +dangers from wild beasts in old time, +the want of security for life and property +during the Turkish rule, or +rather misrule, the natural difficulties +of the agriculture, more especially the +lack in agricultural labourers, induced +the Servian peasants not to leave the +parental house but to remain together +on the family's property. In the same +yard, within the same fence, one could +see around the ancestral house a +number of wooden huts which contained +one or two rooms, and were +used as sleeping places for the sons, +nephews and grandsons and their wives. +Men and women of three generations +could be often seen living in that way +together, and working together the +land which was considered as common +property of the whole family. This +expanded family, remaining with all its +branches together, and, so to say, under +the same roof, working together, dividing +the fruits of their joint labours together, +this family and an agricultural +association in one, was called <foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>Zadrooga</foreign> +(The Association). This combination +of family and agricultural association +has morally, economically, socially, and +politically rendered very important services +to the Servians. The headman +or chief (called <foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>Stareshina</foreign>) of such +family association is generally the oldest +male member of the family. He is the +administrator of the common property +and director of work. He is the executive +chairman of the association. Generally +he does not give any order without +having consulted all the grown-up male +members of the <foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>Zadrooga</foreign></q> (Chedo +Mijatovich, <hi rend='italic'>Servia and the Servians</hi>, +London, 1908, pp. 237 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). As to +the house-communities of the South +Slavs see further Og. M. Utiešenovič, +<hi rend='italic'>Die Hauskommunionen der Südslaven</hi> +(Vienna, 1859); F. Demelié, <hi rend='italic'>Le Droit +Coutumier des Slaves Méridionaux</hi> +(Paris, 1876), pp. 23 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; F. S. +Krauss, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven</hi> +(Vienna, 1885), pp. 64 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> +Since Servia, freed from Turkish oppression, +has become a well-regulated +European state, with laws borrowed +from the codes of France and Germany, +the old house-communities have been +rapidly disappearing (Chedo Mijatovich, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 240).</note> gives a pair of +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +woollen gloves to one of the young men, who goes out and +presently returns carrying in his gloved hands the largest +of the logs. The mother receives him at the threshold, +throwing at him a handful of wheat, in which the +first chip of the oak tree cut in the early morning for the +Yule log has been kept all day. Entering the central hall +with the Yule log the young man greets all present with the +words: <q>Good evening, and may you have a happy Christmas!</q> +and they all answer in chorus, <q>May God and the +happy and holy Christmas help thee!</q> In some parts of +Servia the chief of the family, holding a glass of red wine +in his hand, greets the Yule log as if it were a living person, +and drinks to its health. After that, another glass of red +wine is poured on the log. Then the oldest male member +of the family, assisted by the young man who brought in +the log, places it on the burning fire so that the thicker end +of the log protrudes for about a foot from the hearth. In +some places this end is smeared with honey. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The ceremony +with +the straw. +The Yule +candle.</note> +Next the mother of the family brings in the bundle of +straw which was left standing outside. All the young +children arrange themselves behind her in a row. She then +walks slowly round the hall and the adjoining rooms, throwing +handfuls of straw on the floor and imitating the cackling +of a hen, while all the children follow her peeping with their +lips as if they were chickens cheeping and waddling after the +mother bird. When the floor is well strewn with straw, the +father or the eldest member of the family throws a few walnuts +in every corner of the hall, pronouncing the words: <q>In the +name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, +Amen!</q> A large pot, or a small wooden box, filled with +wheat is placed high in the east corner of the hall, and a tall +candle of yellow wax is stuck in the middle of the wheat. +Then the father of the family reverently lights the candle +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/> +and prays God to bless the family with health and happiness, +the fields with a good harvest, the beehives with plenty of +honey, the cattle and sheep with young, and the cows with +abundant milk and rich cream. After that they all sit down +to supper, squatting on the floor, for the use of chairs and +tables is forbidden on this occasion. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The roast +pig. +The drawing +of the +water.</note> +By four o'clock next morning (Christmas Day) the whole +village is astir; indeed most people do not sleep at all that +night. It is deemed most important to keep the Yule log +burning brightly all night long. Very early, too, the pig is +laid on the fire to roast, and at the same moment one of the +family goes out into the yard and fires a pistol or gun; and +when the roast pig is removed from the fire the shot is +repeated. Hence for several hours in the early morning of +Christmas Day such a popping and banging of firearms goes +on that a stranger might think a stubborn skirmish was in +progress. Just before the sun rises a girl goes and draws +water at the village spring or at the brook. Before she fills +her vessels, she wishes the water a happy Christmas and +throws a handful of wheat into it. The first cupfuls of water +she brings home are used to bake a special Christmas cake +(<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>chesnitsa</foreign>), of which all the members partake at dinner, and +portions are kept for absent relatives. A small silver coin +is baked in the cake, and he or she who gets it will be lucky +during the year. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Christmas +visiter +(<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>polaznik</foreign>).</note> +All the family gathered round the blazing Yule log now +anxiously expect the arrival of the special Christmas visiter, +who bears the title of <foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>polaznik</foreign>. He is usually a young boy +of a friendly family. No other person, not even the priest +or the mayor of the village, would be allowed to set foot in +the house before the arrival of this important personage. +Therefore he ought to come, and generally does come, very +early in the morning. He carries a woollen glove full of +wheat, and when the door is opened at his knock he throws +handfuls of wheat on the family gathered round the hearth, +greeting them with the words, <q>Christ is born!</q> They all +answer, <q>He is born indeed,</q> and the hostess flings a handful +of wheat over the Christmas visiter, who moreover casts +some of his wheat into the corners of the hall as well as +upon the people. Then he walks straight to the hearth, +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/> +takes a shovel and strikes the burning log so that a cloud +of sparks flies up the chimney, while he says, <q>May you +have this year so many oxen, so many horses, so many +sheep, so many pigs, so many beehives full of honey, so +much good luck, prosperity, progress, and happiness!</q> +Having uttered these good wishes, he embraces and kisses +his host. Then he turns again to the hearth, and after +crossing himself falls on his knees and kisses the projecting +part of the Yule log. On rising to his feet he places a coin +on the log as his gift. Meanwhile a low wooden chair has +been brought in by a woman, and the visiter is led to it to +take his seat. But just as he is about to do so, the chair is +jerked away from under him by a male member of the +family and he measures his length on the floor. By this +fall he is supposed to fix into the ground all the good +wishes which he has uttered that morning. The hostess +thereupon wraps him in a thick blanket, and he sits quietly +muffled in it for a few minutes; the thick blanket in which +he is swathed is believed, on the principles of homoeopathic +magic, to ensure that the cows will give thick cream the +next year. While he sits thus enriching the milk of the +dairy, the lads who are to herd the sheep in the coming year +go to the hearth and kneeling down before it kiss each +other across the projecting end of the Yule log. By this +demonstration of affection they are thought to seal the +love of the ewes for their lambs.<note place='foot'>Chedo Mijatovich, <hi rend='italic'>Servia and the Servians</hi> (London, 1908), pp. 98-105.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Yule log +among the +Servians of +Slavonia. The +Christmas +visiter +(<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>polazenik</foreign>).</note> +The ritual of the Yule log is observed in a similar +form by the Servians who inhabit the southern provinces +of Austria. Thus in Syrmia, a district of Slavonia which +borders on Servia, the head of the house sends out +one or two young men on Christmas Eve to cut the +Yule log in the nearest forest. On being brought in, the +log is not mixed with the ordinary fuel but placed by +itself, generally leaning against a fruit-tree till the evening +shadows begin to fall. When a man carries it into the +kitchen and lays it on the fire, the master of the house +throws corn over him, and the two greet each other solemnly, +the one saying, <q>Christ is born,</q> and the other answering, +<q>He is born indeed.</q> Later in the evening the master of +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> +the house pours a glass of wine on the charred end of the +log, whereupon one of the younger men takes the burnt +piece of wood, carries it to the orchard, and sets it up +against one of the fruit-trees. For this service he is rewarded +by the master of the house with a piece of money. +On Christmas Day, when the family is assembled at table, +they expect the arrival of the special Christmas visiter +(called <foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>polazenik</foreign>), the only person who is allowed to enter +the house that day. When he comes, he goes to the hearth, +stirs the fire with the poker and says, <q>Christ is born. +May the family enjoy all good luck and happiness in this +year! May the cattle increase in number like the sparks +I have struck!</q> As he says these words, the mistress of +the house pours corn over him and leads him to the parlour, +where he takes the place of honour beside the master of the +house. He is treated with marked attention and respect. +The family are at pains to entertain him; they sing their +best songs for his amusement, and after midnight a numerous +band of men and maidens escorts him by torchlight, with +songs and jubilation, to his own house.<note place='foot'>Baron Rajacsich, <hi rend='italic'>Das Leben, die +Sitten und Gebräuche der im Kaiserthume +Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven</hi> +(Vienna, 1873), pp. 122-128.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +Yule log +among the +Servians of +Dalmatia, +Herzegovina, +and +Montenegro. The Yule +log in +Albania.</note> +Among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and +Montenegro it is customary on Christmas Eve (<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>Badnyi Dan</foreign>) +to fetch a great Yule log (<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>badnyak</foreign>), which serves as a +symbol of family luck. It is generally cut from an evergreen +oak, but sometimes from an olive-tree or a beech. At +nightfall the master of the house himself brings in the log +and lays it on the fire. Then he and all present bare their +heads, sprinkle the log with wine, and make a cross on it. +After that the master of the house says, <q>Welcome, O log! +May God keep you from mishap!</q> So saying he strews +peas, maize, raisins, and wheat on the log, praying for God's +blessing on all members of the family living and dead, for +heaven's blessing on their undertakings, and for domestic +prosperity. In Montenegro they meet the log with a loaf +of bread and a jug of wine, drink to it, and pour wine on it, +whereupon the whole family drinks out of the same beaker. +In Dalmatia and other places, for example in Rizano, the +Yule logs are decked by young women with red silk, flowers, +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/> +laurel leaves, ribbons, and even gold wire; and the lights +near the doorposts are kindled when the log is brought into +the house. Among the Morlaks, as soon as the master of +the house crosses the threshold with the Yule log, one of the +family must sprinkle corn on him and say, <q>God bless you,</q> +to which he answers, <q>The same to you.</q> A piece of the +log is kept till New Year's Day to kindle a light with or it +is carried out to the fields to protect them from hail. It is +customary to invite before hand a Christmas visiter (<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>polažaynik</foreign>) +and to admit no one else into the house on that +day. He comes early, carrying in his sleeves a quantity of +corn which he throws into the house, saying, <q>Christ is +born.</q> One of the household replies, <q>He is born indeed,</q> +and throws corn on the visiter. Then the newcomer goes +up to the hearth, pokes the fire and strikes the burning log +with the poker so hard that sparks fly off in all directions. +At each blow he says, <q>I wish the family as many cows, +calves, sucking pigs, goats, and sheep, and as many strokes +of good luck, as the sparks that now fly from the log.</q> +With these words he throws some small coins into the +ashes.<note place='foot'>Baron Rajacsich, <hi rend='italic'>Das Leben, die +Sitten und Gebräuche der im Kaiserthume +Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven</hi> +(Vienna, 1873), pp. 129-131. The +Yule log (<foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>badnyak</foreign>) is also known in +Bulgaria, where the women place it on +the hearth on Christmas Eve. See +A. Strausz, <hi rend='italic'>Die Bulgaren</hi> (Leipsic, +1898), p. 361.</note> In Albania down to recent years it was a common +custom to burn a Yule log at Christmas, and with it corn, +maize, and beans; moreover, wine and <foreign lang='sq' rend='italic'>rakia</foreign> were poured on +the flames, and the ashes of the fire were scattered on the +fields to make them fertile.<note place='foot'>M. Edith Durham, <hi rend='italic'>High Albania</hi> +(London, 1909), p. 129.</note> The Huzuls, a Slavonic people +of the Carpathians, kindle fire by the friction of wood on +Christmas Eve (Old Style, the fifth of January) and keep it +burning till Twelfth Night.<note place='foot'>R. F. Kaindl, <hi rend='italic'>Die Huzulen</hi> +(Vienna, 1894) p. 71.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Belief +that the +Yule log +protects +against +fire and +lightning.</note> +It is remarkable how common the belief appears to +have been that the remains of the Yule-log, if kept throughout +the year, had power to protect the house against fire +and especially against lightning.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg248'>248</ref>, <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>, <ref target='Pg251'>251</ref>, +<ref target='Pg252'>252</ref>, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref>, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref>, <ref target='Pg255'>255</ref>, <ref target='Pg256'>256</ref>, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref>. Similarly +at Candlemas people lighted candles in +the churches, then took them home and +kept them, and thought that by lighting +them at any time they could keep +off thunder, storm, and tempest. See +Barnabe Googe, <hi rend='italic'>The Popish Kingdom</hi> +(reprinted London, 1880), p. 48 <hi rend='italic'>verso</hi>.</note> As the Yule log was +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/> +frequently of oak,<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg248'>248</ref>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>, <ref target='Pg251'>251</ref>, +<ref target='Pg257'>257</ref>, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref>, <ref target='Pg263'>263</ref>.</note> it seems possible that this belief may be +a relic of the old Aryan creed which associated the oak-tree +with the god of thunder.<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 356 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Whether the curative and +fertilizing virtues ascribed to the ashes of the Yule log, +which are supposed to heal cattle as well as men, to enable +cows to calve, and to promote the fruitfulness of the earth,<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg248'>248</ref>, <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>, +<ref target='Pg251'>251</ref>, <ref target='Pg264'>264</ref>.</note> +may not be derived from the same ancient source, is a +question which deserves to be considered. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Public +celebrations +of the +fire-festival +at Midwinter. +The bonfire +on +Christmas +Eve at +Schweina +in +Thuringia.</note> +Thus far we have regarded only the private or domestic +celebration of the fire-festival at midwinter. The public +celebration of such rites at that season of the year appears +to have been rare and exceptional in Central and Northern +Europe. However, some instances are on record. Thus at +Schweina, in Thuringia, down to the second half of the +nineteenth century, the young people used to kindle a great +bonfire on the Antonius Mountain every year on Christmas +Eve. Neither the civil nor the ecclesiastical authorities were +able to suppress the celebration; nor could the cold, rain, +and snow of the season damp or chill the enthusiasm of the +celebrants. For some time before Christmas the young men +and boys were busy building a foundation for the bonfire on +the top of the mountain, where the oldest church of the +village used to stand. The foundation consisted of a pyramidal +structure composed of stones, turf, and moss. When +Christmas Eve came round, a strong pole, with bundles of +brushwood tied to it, was erected on the pyramid. The +young folk also provided themselves with poles to which old +brooms or faggots of shavings were attached. These were +to serve as torches. When the evening grew dark and the +church bells rang to service, the troop of lads ascended the +mountain; and soon from the top the glare of the bonfire +lit up the darkness, and the sound of a hymn broke the +stillness of night. In a circle round the great fire lesser +fires were kindled; and last of all the lads ran about swinging +their lighted torches, till these twinkling points of fire, +moving down the mountain-side, went out one by one in the +darkness. At midnight the bells rang out from the church +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/> +tower, mingled with the blast of horns and the sound of +singing. Feasting and revelry were kept up throughout the +night, and in the morning young and old went to early mass +to be edified by hearing of the light eternal.<note place='foot'>August Witzschel, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Sitten +und Gebräuche aus Thüringen</hi> (Vienna, +1878), pp. 171 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bonfires on +Christmas +Eve in Normandy.</note> +In the Bocage of Normandy the peasants used to repair, +often from a distance of miles, to the churches to hear the +midnight mass on Christmas Eve. They marched in procession +by torchlight, chanting Christmas carols, and the +fitful illumination of the woods, the hedges, and the fields as +they moved through the darkness, presented a succession of +picturesque scenes. Mention is also made of bonfires kindled +on the heights; the custom is said to have been observed at +Athis near Condé down to recent years.<note place='foot'>Jules Lecœur, <hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage +Normand</hi> (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), +ii. 289 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Bonfires +on St. +Thomas's +Day in the +Isle of Man. +The +<q>Burning +of the +Clavie</q> +at Burghead +on +the last +day of +December. The old +rampart at +Burghead.</note> +In the Isle of Man, <q>on the twenty-first of December, +a day dedicated to Saint Thomas, the people went to the +mountains to catch deer and sheep for Christmas, and in the +evenings always kindled a large fire on the top of every +<foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>fingan</foreign> or cliff. Hence, at the time of casting peats, every +one laid aside a large one, saying, <q><foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Faaid mooar moayney son +oie'l fingan</foreign></q>; that is, <q>a large turf for Fingan Eve.</q></q><note place='foot'>Joseph Train, <hi rend='italic'>Historical and Statistical +Account of the Isle of Man</hi> (Douglas, +Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 124, referring +to Cregeen's <hi rend='italic'>Manx Dictionary</hi>, p. 67.</note> At +Burghead, an ancient village on the southern shore of the +Moray Firth, about nine miles from the town of Elgin, a +festival of fire called <q>the Burning of the Clavie</q> has been +celebrated from time immemorial on Hogmanay, the last day +of December. A tar-barrel is sawn in two, one half of it is +set on the top of a stout pole, and filled with tar and other +combustibles. The half-barrel is fastened to the pole by +means of a long nail, which is made for the purpose and +furnished gratuitously by the village blacksmith. The nail +must be knocked in with a stone; the use of a hammer is +forbidden. When the shades of evening have begun to fall, +the Clavie, as it is called, is set on fire by means of a burning +peat, which is always fetched from the same house; it may +not be kindled with a match. As soon as it is in a +blaze, it is shouldered by a man, who proceeds to carry it +at a run, flaring and dripping melted tar, round the old +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/> +boundaries of the village; the modern part of the town is not +included in the circuit. Close at his heels follows a motley +crowd, cheering and shouting. One bearer relieves another +as each wearies of his burden. The first to shoulder the +Clavie, which is esteemed an honour, is usually a man who +has been lately married. Should the bearer stumble or fall, +it is deemed a very ill omen for him and for the village. In +bygone times it was thought necessary that one man should +carry it all round the village; hence the strongest man was +chosen for the purpose. Moreover it was customary to carry +the burning Clavie round every fishing-boat and vessel in the +harbour; but this part of the ceremony was afterwards discontinued. +Finally, the blazing tar-barrel is borne to a small +hill called the Doorie, which rises near the northern end of +the promontory. Here the pole is fixed into a socket in a +pillar of freestone, and fresh fuel is heaped upon the flames, +which flare up higher and brighter than ever. Formerly the +Clavie was allowed to burn here the whole night, but now, +after blazing for about half an hour, it is lifted from the +socket and thrown down the western slope of the hill. Then +the crowd rushes upon it, demolishes it, and scrambles for +the burning, smoking embers, which they carry home and +carefully preserve as charms to protect them against witchcraft +and misfortune.<note place='foot'>R. Chambers, <hi rend='italic'>The Book of Days</hi> +(London and Edinburgh, 1886), ii. +789-791, quoting <hi rend='italic'>The Banffshire +Journal</hi>; Miss C. F. Gordon Cumming, +<hi rend='italic'>In the Hebrides</hi> (London, 1883), +p. 226; Miss E. J. Guthrie, <hi rend='italic'>Old +Scottish Customs</hi> (London and Glasgow, +1885), pp. 223-225; Ch. Rogers, +<hi rend='italic'>Social Life in Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, +1884-1886), iii. 244 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The Folk-lore +Journal</hi>, vii. (1889) pp. 11-14, 46. +Miss Gordon Cumming and Miss +Guthrie say that the burning of the +Clavie took place upon Yule Night; +but this seems to be a mistake.</note> The great antiquity of Burghead, +where this curious and no doubt ancient festival is still +annually observed, appears from the remains of a very remarkable +rampart which formerly encircled the place. It +consists of a mound of earth faced on both sides with a +solid wall of stone and strengthened internally by oak +beams and planks, the whole being laid on a foundation of +boulders. The style of the rampart agrees in general with +Caesar's description of the mode in which the Gauls constructed +their walls of earth, stone, and logs,<note place='foot'>Caesar, <hi rend='italic'>De bello Gallico</hi>, vii. 23.</note> and it resembles +the ruins of Gallic fortifications which have been discovered +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/> +in France, though it is said to surpass them in the strength +and solidity of its structure. No similar walls appear to be +known in Britain. A great part of this interesting prehistoric +fortress was barbarously destroyed in the early part +of the nineteenth century, much of it being tumbled into the +sea and many of the stones used to build the harbour piers.<note place='foot'>Hugh W. Young, F.S.A. Scot., +<hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Ramparts of Burghead as +revealed by recent Excavations</hi> (Edinburgh, +1892), pp. 3 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Notes on +further Excavations at Burghead</hi> +(Edinburgh, 1893), pp. 7 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> These +papers are reprinted from the <hi rend='italic'>Proceedings +of the Society of Antiquaries of +Scotland</hi>, vols. xxv., xxvii. Mr. +Young concludes as follows: <q>It is +proved that the fort at Burghead was +raised by a people skilled in engineering; +who used square-headed nails, +axes and chisels of iron; who shot +balista stones over 20 lbs. in weight; +and whose daily food was the <foreign rend='italic'>bos +longifrons</foreign>. A people who made +paved roads, and sunk artesian wells, +and used Roman beads and pins. +The riddle of Burghead should not +now be very difficult to read</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Notes +on further Excavations at Burghead</hi>, +pp. 14 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). For a loan of Mr. +Young's pamphlets I am indebted to +the kindness of Sheriff-Substitute David +J. Mackenzie of Kilmarnock.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Procession +with burning +tar-barrels +on +Christmas +Eve (Old +Style) at +Lerwick.</note> +In Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, <q>on +Christmas Eve, the fourth of January,—for the old style +is still observed—the children go <foreign rend='italic'>a guizing</foreign>, that is to +say, they disguising themselves in the most fantastic and +gaudy costumes, parade the streets, and infest the houses and +shops, begging for the wherewithal to carry on their Christmas +amusements. One o'clock on Yule morning having struck, +the young men turn out in large numbers, dressed in the +coarsest of garments, and, at the double-quick march, drag +huge tar barrels through the town, shouting and cheering as +they go, or blowing loud blasts with their <q>louder horns.</q> +The tar barrel simply consists of several—say from four to +eight—tubs filled with tar and chips, placed on a platform +of wood. It is dragged by means of a chain, to which scores +of jubilant youths readily yoke themselves. They have recently +been described by the worthy burgh officer of Lerwick as +<q>fiery chariots, the effect of which is truly grand and terrific.</q> +In a Christmas morning the dark streets of Lerwick are +generally lighted up by the bright glare, and its atmosphere +blackened by the dense smoke of six or eight tar barrels in +succession. On the appearance of daybreak, at six <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.m.</hi>, +the morning revellers put off their coarse garments—well +begrimed by this time—and in their turn become guizards. +They assume every imaginable form of costume—those of +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/> +soldiers, sailors, highlanders, Spanish chevaliers, etc. Thus +disguised, they either go in pairs, as man and wife, or in +larger groups, and proceed to call on their friends, to wish +them the compliments of the season. Formerly, these +adolescent guizards used to seat themselves in crates, and +accompanied by fiddlers, were dragged through the town.</q><note place='foot'>Robert Cowie, M.A., M.D., +<hi rend='italic'>Shetland, Descriptive and Historical</hi> +(Aberdeen, 1871), pp. 127 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>County +Folk-lore</hi>, vol. iii. <hi rend='italic'>Orkney and Shetland +Islands</hi>, collected by G. F. Black +and edited by Northcote W. Thomas +(London, 1903), pp. 203 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> A similar +celebration, known as Up-helly-a', takes +place at Lerwick on the 29th of January, +twenty-four days after Old Christmas. +See <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. 167-169. +Perhaps the popular festival of Up-helly-a' +has absorbed some of the +features of the Christmas Eve celebration.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Persian +festival of +fire at the +winter +solstice.</note> +The Persians used to celebrate a festival of fire called +<foreign lang='fa' rend='italic'>Sada</foreign> or <foreign lang='fa' rend='italic'>Saza</foreign> at the winter solstice. On the longest night +of the year they kindled bonfires everywhere, and kings and +princes tied dry grass to the feet of birds and animals, set +fire to the grass, and then let the birds and beasts fly or run +blazing through the air or over the fields and mountains, so +that the whole air and earth appeared to be on fire.<note place='foot'>Thomas Hyde, <hi rend='italic'>Historia Religionis +veterum Persarum</hi> (Oxford, 1700), +pp. 255-257.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='8. The Need-Fire.'/> +<head>§ 8. The Need-fire.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>European +festivals +of fire in +seasons of +distress +and +calamity. +The need-fire.</note> +The fire-festivals hitherto described are all celebrated +periodically at certain stated times of the year. But besides +these regularly recurring celebrations the peasants in many +parts of Europe have been wont from time immemorial to +resort to a ritual of fire at irregular intervals in seasons of +distress and calamity, above all when their cattle were +attacked by epidemic disease. No account of the popular +European fire-festivals would be complete without some +notice of these remarkable rites, which have all the greater +claim on our attention because they may perhaps be regarded +as the source and origin of all the other fire-festivals; +certainly they must date from a very remote antiquity. +The general name by which they are known among the +Teutonic peoples is need-fire.<note place='foot'>On the need-fire see Jacob Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 501 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; J. +W. Wolf, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Göttingen and Leipsic, +1852-1857), i. 116 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, ii. 378 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +Adalbert Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Die Herabkunft des +Feuers und des Göttertranks</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Gütersloh, +1886), pp. 41 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Walter K. +Kelly, <hi rend='italic'>Curiosities of Indo-European +Tradition and Folk-lore</hi> (London, +1863), pp. 48 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus der Germanen und +ihrer Nachbarstämme</hi> (Berlin, 1875), +pp. 518 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Charles Elton, <hi rend='italic'>Origins +of English History</hi> (London, 1882), +pp. 293 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; Ulrich Jahn, <hi rend='italic'>Die +deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau +und Viehzucht</hi> (Breslau, 1884), pp. +26 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> Grimm would derive the name +<emph>need</emph>-fire (German, <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>niedfyr</foreign>, <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>nodfyr</foreign>, +<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>nodfeur</foreign>, <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>nothfeur</foreign>) from <emph>need</emph> (German, +<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>noth</foreign>), <q>necessity,</q> so that the phrase +need-fire would mean <q>a forced fire.</q> +This is the sense attached to it in +Lindenbrog's glossary on the capitularies, +quoted by Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. p. +502: <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Eum ergo ignem</foreign> nodfeur <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>et +nodfyr, quasi necessarium ignem +vocant.</foreign></q> C. L. Rochholz would connect +<emph>need</emph> with a verb <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>nieten</foreign> <q>to +churn,</q> so that need-fire would mean +<q>churned fire.</q> See C. L. Rochholz, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutscher Glaube und Brauch</hi> (Berlin, +1867), ii. 149 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> This interpretation +is confirmed by the name <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>ankenmilch +bohren</foreign>, which is given to the need-fire +in some parts of Switzerland. See E. +Hoffmann-Krayer, <q>Fruchtbarkeitsriten +im schweizerischen Volksbrauch,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde</hi>, +xi. (1907) p. 245.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in the +Middle +Ages. +The need-fire +at +Neustadt +in 1598.</note> +The history of the need-fire can be traced back to the +early Middle Ages; for in the reign of Pippin, King of the +Franks, the practice of kindling need-fires was denounced as +a heathen superstition by a synod of prelates and nobles +held under the presidency of Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz.<note place='foot'><q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Illos sacrilegos ignes, quos</foreign> niedfyr +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>vocant</foreign>,</q> quoted by J. Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 502; R. +Andree, <hi rend='italic'>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</hi> +(Brunswick, 1896), p. 312.</note> +Not long afterwards the custom was again forbidden, along +with many more relics of expiring paganism, in an <q>Index +of Superstitions and Heathenish Observances,</q> which has been +usually referred to the year 743 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>, though some scholars +assign it a later date under the reign of Charlemagne.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum</hi>, +No. XV., <q>De <hi rend='italic'>igne fricato de +ligno</hi> <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> nodfyr.</q> A convenient +edition of the <hi rend='italic'>Indiculus</hi> has been +published with a commentary by H. A. +Saupe (Leipsic, 1891). As to the +date of the work, see the editor's introduction, +pp. 4 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In +Germany the need-fires would seem to have been popular +down to the second half of the nineteenth century. Thus +in the year 1598, when a fatal cattle-plague was raging at +Neustadt, near Marburg, a wise man of the name of Joh. +Köhler induced the authorities of the town to adopt the +following remedy. A new waggon-wheel was taken and +twirled round an axle, which had never been used before, +until the friction elicited fire. With this fire a bonfire was +next kindled between the gates of the town, and all the +cattle were driven through the smoke and flames. Moreover, +every householder had to rekindle the fire on his hearth by +means of a light taken from the bonfire. Strange to say, +this salutary measure had no effect whatever in staying the +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/> +cattle-plague, and seven years later the sapient Joh. +Köhler himself was burnt as a witch. The farmers, whose +pigs and cows had derived no benefit from the need-fire, +perhaps assisted as spectators at the burning, and, while they +shook their heads, agreed among themselves that it served +Joh. Köhler perfectly right.<note place='foot'>Karl Lynker, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen und +Sitten in hessischen Gauen</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Cassel +and Göttingen, 1860), pp. 252 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +quoting a letter of the mayor (<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Schultheiss</foreign>) +of Neustadt to the mayor of +Marburg dated 12th December 1605.</note> According to a writer who +published his book about nine years afterwards, some of the +Germans, especially in the Wassgaw mountains, confidently +believed that a cattle-plague could be stayed by driving the +animals through a need-fire which had been kindled by the +violent friction of a pole on a quantity of dry oak wood; but +it was a necessary condition of success that all fires in the +village should previously be extinguished with water, and any +householder who failed to put out his fire was heavily fined.<note place='foot'>Bartholomäus Carrichter, <hi rend='italic'>Der +Teutschen Speisskammer</hi> (Strasburg, +1614), Fol. pag. 17 and 18, quoted +by C. L. Rochholz, <hi rend='italic'>Deutscher Glaube +und Brauch</hi> (Berlin, 1867), ii. 148 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Method of +kindling +the need-fire.</note> +The method of kindling the need-fire is described as +follows by a writer towards the end of the seventeenth +century: <q>When an evil plague has broken out among +the cattle, large and small, and the herds have thereby +suffered great ravages, the peasants resolve to light a +need-fire. On a day appointed there must be no single +flame in any house nor on any hearth. From every house +a quantity of straw and water and underwood must be +brought forth; then a strong oaken pole is fixed firmly in +the earth, a hole is bored in it, and a wooden winch, well +smeared with pitch and tar, is inserted in the hole and +turned round forcibly till great heat and then fire is +generated. The fire so produced is caught in fuel and fed +with straw, heath, and underwood till it bursts out into a +regular need-fire, which must then be somewhat spread out +between walls or fences, and the cattle and horses driven +through it twice or thrice with sticks and whips. Others set +up two posts, each with a hole in it, and insert a winch, +along with old greasy rags, in the holes. Others use a thick +rope, collect nine kinds of wood, and keep them in violent +motion till fire leaps forth. Perhaps there may be other +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/> +ways of generating or kindling this fire, but they are all +directed simply at the cure of the cattle. After passing +twice or thrice through the fire the cattle are driven to their +stalls or to pasture, and the heap of wood that had been +collected is destroyed, but in some places every householder +must take with him a brand, extinguish it in a washing-tub +or trough, and put it in the manger where the cattle are fed, +where it must lie for some time. The poles that were used +to make the need-fire, together with the wood that was employed +as a winch, are sometimes burned with the rest of the +fuel, sometimes carefully preserved after the cattle have been +thrice driven through the flames.</q><note place='foot'>Joh. Reiskius, <hi rend='italic'>Untersuchung des +Notfeuers</hi> (Frankfort and Leipsic, +1696), p. 51, quoted by J. Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 502 sq.; R. +Andree, <hi rend='italic'>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</hi> +(Brunswick, 1896), p. 313.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +about +Hildesheim.</note> +Sometimes the need-fire was known as the <q>wild fire,</q> +to distinguish it no doubt from the tame fire produced by +more ordinary methods. The following is Grimm's account +of the mode of kindling it which prevailed in some parts +of Central Germany, particularly about Hildesheim, down +apparently to the first half of the nineteenth century: <q>In +many places of Lower Saxony, especially among the +mountains, the custom prevails of preparing the so-called +<q>wild fire</q> for the purpose of preventing cattle-plague; and +through it first the pigs, then the cows, and last of all the +geese are driven. The proceedings on the occasion are as +follows. The principal farmers and parishioners assemble, +and notice is served to every inhabitant to extinguish +entirely all fire in his house, so that not even a spark +remains alight in the whole village. Then young and old +repair to a road in a hollow, usually towards evening, +the women carrying linen, and the men wood and tow. +Two oaken poles are driven into the ground about a foot +and a half from each other. Each pole has in the side +facing the other a socket into which a cross-piece as thick +as a man's arm is fitted. The sockets are stuffed with linen, +and the cross-piece is rammed in as tight as possible, while +the poles are bound together at the top by ropes. A rope +is wound about the round, smooth cross-piece, and the free +ends of the rope at both sides are gripped by several +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> +persons, who pull the cross-piece to and fro with the utmost +rapidity, till through the friction the linen in the sockets +takes fire. The sparks of the linen are immediately caught +in tow or oakum and waved about in a circle until they +burst into a bright glow, when straw is applied to it, and the +flaming straw used to kindle the brushwood which has been +stacked in piles in the hollow way. When this wood has +blazed up and the fire has nearly died out again, the people +hasten to the herds, which have been waiting in the background, +and drive them forcibly, one after the other, through +the glow. As soon as all the beasts are through, the young +folk rush wildly at the ashes and cinders, sprinkling and +blackening each other with them; those who have been most +sprinkled and blackened march in triumph behind the cattle +into the village and do not wash themselves for a long time. +If after long rubbing the linen should not catch fire, they +guess that there is still fire somewhere in the village; then +a strict search is made from house to house, any fire that +may be found is put out, and the householder is punished or +upbraided. The <q>wild fire</q> must be made by prolonged +friction; it may not be struck with flint and steel. Some +villages do not prepare it yearly as a preventive of cattle-plague, +but only kindle it when the disease has actually +broken out.</q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 503 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In the Halberstadt district the ends of the +rope which was used to make the cross-piece revolve in the +sockets had to be pulled by two chaste young men.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 504.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +in the +Mark.</note> +In the Mark down to the first half of the nineteenth +century the practice was similar. We read that <q>in many +parts of the Mark there still prevails on certain occasions +the custom of kindling a need-fire, it happens particularly +when a farmer has sick pigs. Two posts of dry wood are +planted in the earth amid solemn silence before the sun +rises, and round these posts hempen ropes are pulled to and +fro till the wood kindles; whereupon the fire is fed with dry +leaves and twigs and the sick beasts are driven through it. +In some places the fire is produced by the friction of an old +cart-wheel.</q><note place='foot'>Adalbert Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Märkische Sagen +und Märchen</hi> (Berlin, 1843), p. 369.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +in +Mecklenburg.</note> +In Mecklenburg the need-fire used to be lighted by the +friction of a rope wound about an oaken pole or by rubbing +two boards against each other. Having been thus elicited, +the flame was fed with wood of seven kinds. The practice +was forbidden by Gustavus Adolphus, Duke of Mecklenburg, +in 1682; but the prohibition apparently had little effect, +for down to the end of the eighteenth century the custom +was so common that the inhabitants even of large towns +made no scruple of resorting to it. For example, in the +month of July 1792 sickness broke out among the cattle +belonging to the town of Sternberg; some of the beasts +died suddenly, and so the people resolved to drive all the +survivors through a need-fire. On the tenth day of July the +magistrates issued a proclamation announcing that next +morning before sunrise a need-fire would be kindled for the +behoof of all the cattle of the town, and warning all the inhabitants +against lighting fires in their kitchens that evening. +So next morning very early, about two o'clock, nearly the +whole population was astir, and having assembled outside +one of the gates of the town they helped to drive the timid +cattle, not without much ado, through three separate need-fires; +after which they dispersed to their homes in the +unalterable conviction that they had rescued the cattle +from destruction. But to make assurance doubly sure +they deemed it advisable to administer the rest of the +ashes as a bolus to the animals. However, some people +in Mecklenburg used to strew the ashes of the need-fire +on fields for the purpose of protecting the crops against +vermin. As late as June 1868 a traveller in Mecklenburg +saw a couple of peasants sweating away at a rope, which +they were pulling backwards and forwards so as to make a +tarry roller revolve with great speed in the socket of an +upright post. Asked what they were about, they vouchsafed +no reply; but an old woman who appeared on the scene +from a neighbouring cottage was more communicative. In +the fulness of her heart she confided to the stranger that +her pigs were sick, that the two taciturn bumpkins were +her sons, who were busy extracting a need-fire from the +roller, and that, when they succeeded, the flame would be +used to ignite a heap of rags and brushwood, through which +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +the ailing swine would be driven. She further explained +that the persons who kindle a need-fire should always be +two brothers or at least bear the same Christian name.<note place='foot'>Karl Bartsch, <hi rend='italic'>Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg</hi> (Vienna, +1879-1880), ii. 149-151.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +in +Hanover.</note> +In the summer of 1828 there was much sickness among +the pigs and the cows of Eddesse, a village near Meinersen, +in the south of Hanover. When all ordinary measures to +arrest the malady failed, the farmers met in solemn conclave +on the village green and determined that next morning +there should be a need-fire. Thereupon the head man of +the village sent word from house to house that on the following +day nobody should kindle a fire before sunrise, and that everybody +should stand by ready to drive out the cattle. The +same afternoon all the necessary preparations were made +for giving effect to the decision of the collective wisdom. A +narrow street was enclosed with planks, and the village +carpenter set to work at the machinery for kindling the fire. +He took two posts of oak wood, bored a hole about three +inches deep and broad in each, and set the two poles up +facing each other at a distance of about two feet. Then he +fitted a roller of oak wood into the two holes of the posts, +so that it formed a cross-piece between them. About two +o'clock next morning every householder brought a bundle of +straw and brushwood and laid it down across the street in a +prescribed order. The sturdiest swains who could be found +were chosen to make the need-fire. For this purpose a long +hempen rope was wound twice round the oaken roller in the +oaken posts: the pivots were well smeared with pitch and +tar: a bundle of tow and other tinder was laid close at +hand, and all was ready. The stalwart clodhoppers now +seized the two ends of the rope and went to work with a +will. Puffs of smoke soon issued from the sockets, but to the +consternation of the bystanders not a spark of fire could be +elicited. Some people openly declared their suspicion that +some rascal had not put out the fire in his house, when +suddenly the tinder burst into flame. The cloud passed +away from all faces; the fire was applied to the heaps of +fuel, and when the flames had somewhat died down, the +herds were forcibly driven through the fire, first the pigs, +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/> +next the cows, and last of all the horses. The herdsmen +then drove the beasts to pasture, and persons whose faith in +the efficacy of the need-fire was particularly robust carried +home brands.<note place='foot'>Carl und Theodor Colshorn, +<hi rend='italic'>Märchen und Sagen</hi> (Hanover, 1854), +pp. 234-236, from the description of an +eye-witness.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +in the +Harz +Mountains.</note> +Again, at a village near Quedlinburg, in the Harz +Mountains, it was resolved to put a herd of sick swine +through the need-fire. Hearing of this intention the Superintendent +of Quedlinburg hurried to the spot and has +described for us what he saw. The beadles went from +house to house to see that there was no fire in any house; +for it is well known that should there be common fire burning +in a house the need-fire will not kindle. The men +made their rounds very early in the morning to make quite +sure that all lights were out. At two o'clock a night-light +was still burning in the parsonage, and this was of course a +hindrance to the need-fire. The peasants knocked at the +window and earnestly entreated that the night-light might +be extinguished. But the parson's wife refused to put the +light out; it still glimmered at the window; and in the +darkness outside the angry rustics vowed that the parson's +pigs should get no benefit of the need-fire. However, as +good luck would have it, just as the morning broke, the +night-light went out of itself, and the hopes of the people +revived. From every house bundles of straw, tow, faggots +and so forth were now carried to feed the bonfire. The +noise and the cheerful bustle were such that you might +have thought they were all hurrying to witness a public +execution. Outside the village, between two garden walls, +an oaken post had been driven into the ground and a hole +bored through it. In the hole a wooden winch, smeared +with tar, was inserted and made to revolve with such force +and rapidity that fire and smoke in time issued from the +socket. The collected fuel was then thrown upon the fire +and soon a great blaze shot up. The pigs were now driven +into the upper end of the street. As soon as they saw the +fire, they turned tail, but the peasants drove them through +with shrieks and shouts and lashes of whips. At the other +end of the street there was another crowd waiting, who +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> +chased the swine back through the fire a second time. +Then the other crowd repeated the manœuvre, and the herd +of swine was driven for the third time through the smoke +and flames. That was the end of the performance. Many +pigs were scorched so severely that they gave up the ghost. +The bonfire was broken up, and every householder took +home with him a brand, which he washed in the water-barrel +and laid for some time, as a treasure of great price, in the +manger from which the cattle were fed. But the parson's +wife had reason bitterly to repent her folly in refusing to +put out that night-light; for not one of her pigs was driven +through the need-fire, so they died.<note place='foot'>Heinrich Pröhle, <hi rend='italic'>Harzbilder, +Sitten und Gebräuche aus dem Harzgebirge</hi> +(Leipsic, 1855), pp. 74 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The +date of this need-fire is not given; +probably it was about the middle of +the nineteenth century.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +in +Brunswick.</note> +In Brunswick, also, the need-fire is known to have been +repeatedly kindled during the nineteenth century. After +driving the pigs through the fire, which was kindled by the +friction of wood, some people took brands home, dipped +them in water, and then gave the water to the pigs to drink, +no doubt for the purpose of inoculating them still more +effectually with the precious virtue of the need-fire. In the +villages of the Drömling district everybody who bore a hand +in kindling the <q>wild fire</q> must have the same Christian +name; otherwise they laboured in vain. The fire was produced +by the friction of a rope round the beams of a door; +and bread, corn, and old boots contributed their mites to +swell the blaze through which the pigs as usual were driven. +In one place, apparently not far from Wolfenbüttel, the need-fire +is said to have been kindled, contrary to custom, by the +smith striking a spark from the cold anvil.<note place='foot'>R. Andree, <hi rend='italic'>Braunschweiger Volkskunde</hi> +(Brunswick, 1896), pp. 313 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> At Gandersheim +down to about the beginning of the nineteenth +century the need-fire was lit in the common way by causing +a cross-bar to revolve rapidly on its axis between two +upright posts. The rope which produced the revolution of +the bar had to be new, but it was if possible woven from +threads taken from a gallows-rope, with which people had +been hanged. While the need-fire was being kindled in this +fashion, every other fire in the town had to be put out; +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> +search was made through the houses, and any fire discovered +to be burning was extinguished. If in spite of every precaution +no flame could be elicited by the friction of the rope, +the failure was set down to witchcraft; but if the efforts +were successful, a bonfire was lit with the new fire, and +when the flames had died down, the sick swine were driven +thrice through the glowing embers.<note place='foot'>R. Andree, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 314 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> On the lower Rhine +the need-fire is said to have been kindled by the friction of +oak-wood on fir-wood, all fires in the village having been +previously extinguished. The bonfires so kindled were +composed of wood of nine different sorts; there were three +such bonfires, and the cattle were driven round them with +great gravity and devotion.<note place='foot'>Montanus, <hi rend='italic'>Die deutschen Volksfeste, +Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube</hi> +(Iserlohn, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>), p. 127.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +in +Silesia and +Bohemia.</note> +In Silesia, also, need-fires were often employed for the +purpose of curing a murrain or preventing its spread. +While all other lights within the boundaries were extinguished, +the new fire was produced by the friction of nine +kinds of wood, and the flame so obtained was used to +kindle heaps of brushwood or straw to which every inhabitant +had contributed. Through these fires the cattle, both +sick and sound, were driven in the confident expectation that +thereby the sick would be healed and the sound saved from +sickness.<note place='foot'>Paul Drechsler, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und +Volksglaube in Schlesien</hi> (Leipsic, +1903-1906), ii. 204.</note> When plague breaks out among the herds at +Dobischwald, in Austrian Silesia, a splinter of wood is +chipped from the threshold of every house, the cattle are +driven to a cross-road, and there a tree, growing at the +boundary, is felled by a pair of twin brothers. The wood +of the tree and the splinters from the thresholds furnish the +fuel of a bonfire, which is kindled by the rubbing of two +pieces of wood together. When the bonfire is ablaze, the +horns of the cattle are pared and the parings thrown into +the flames, after which the animals are driven through the +fire. This is believed to guard the herd against the plague.<note place='foot'>Anton Peter, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Österreichisch - Schlesien</hi> (Troppau, +1865-1867), ii. 250.</note> +The Germans of Western Bohemia resort to similar measures +for staying a murrain. You set up a post, bore a hole in it, and +insert in the hole a stick, which you have first of all smeared +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/> +with pitch and wrapt in inflammable stuffs. Then you +wind a rope round the stick and give the two ends of the +rope to two persons who must either be brothers or have +the same baptismal name. They haul the rope backwards +and forwards so as to make the tarred stick revolve rapidly +till the rope first smokes and then emits sparks. The sparks +are used to kindle a bonfire, through which the cattle are +driven in the usual way. And as usual no other fire may +burn in the village while the need-fire is being kindled; for +otherwise the rope could not possibly be ignited.<note place='foot'>Alois John, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und +Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen</hi> +(Prague, 1905), p. 209.</note> In +Upper Austria sick pigs are reported to have been driven +through a need-fire about the beginning of the nineteenth +century.<note place='foot'>C. L. Rochholz, <hi rend='italic'>Deutscher Glaube +und Brauch</hi> (Berlin, 1867), ii. 149.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The use of +the need-fire +in +Switzerland.</note> +The need-fire is still in use in some parts of Switzerland, +but it seems to have degenerated into a children's +game and to be employed rather for the dispersal of +a mist than for the prevention or cure of cattle-plague. +In some cantons it goes by the name of <q>mist-healing,</q> +while in others it is called <q>butter-churning.</q> On a misty +or rainy day a number of children will shut themselves up +in a stable or byre and proceed to make fire for the purpose +of improving the weather. The way in which they make it +is this. A boy places a board against his breast, takes a +peg pointed at both ends, and, setting one end of the peg +against the board on his breast, presses the other end firmly +against a second board, the surface of which has been flaked +into a nap. A string is tied round the peg, and two other +boys pull it to and fro, till through the rapid motion of the +point of the peg a hole is burnt in the flaked board, to +which tow or dry moss is then applied as a tinder. In +this way fire and smoke are elicited, and with their appearance +the children fancy that the mist will vanish.<note place='foot'>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, <q>Fruchtbarkeitsriten +im schweizerischen Volksbrauch,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Schweizerisches Archiv für +Volkskunde</hi>, xi. (1907) pp. 244-246.</note> We +may conjecture that this method of dispersing a mist, +which is now left to children, was formerly practised in all +seriousness by grown men in Switzerland. It is thus that +religious or magical rites dwindle away into the sports +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> +of children. In the canton of the Grisons there is still in +common use an imprecation, <q>Mist, go away, or I'll heal +you,</q> which points to an old custom of burning up the fog +with fire. A longer form of the curse lingers in the Vallée +des Bagnes of the canton Valais. It runs thus: <q>Mist, +mist, fly, fly, or St. Martin will come with a sheaf of straw +to burn your guts, a great log of wood to smash your brow, +and an iron chain to drag you to hell.</q><note place='foot'>E. Hoffmann-Krayer, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. +246.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The mode +of kindling +the need-fire +in +Sweden +and +Norway. +The need-fire +as a +protection +against +witchcraft.</note> +In Sweden the need-fire is called, from the mode of +its production, either <foreign lang='sv' rend='italic'>vrid-eld</foreign>, <q>turned fire,</q> or <foreign lang='sv' rend='italic'>gnid-eld</foreign>, +<q>rubbed fire.</q> Down to near the end of the eighteenth +century the need-fire was kindled, as in Germany, by the +violent rubbing of two pieces of wood against each other; +sometimes nine different kinds of wood were used for the +purpose. The smoke of the fire was deemed salutary; +fruit-trees and nets were fumigated with it, in order that the +trees might bear fruit and the nets catch fish. Cattle were also +driven through the smoke.<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. +505.</note> In Sundal, a narrow Norwegian +valley, shut in on both sides by precipitous mountains, there +lived down to the second half of the nineteenth century an +old man who was very superstitious. He set salmon-traps +in the river Driva, which traverses the valley, and he caught +many fish both in spring and autumn. When his fishing +went wrong, he kindled <foreign lang='no' rend='italic'>naueld</foreign> (<q>need-fire</q>) or <foreign lang='no' rend='italic'>gnideild</foreign> +(<q>rubbed fire,</q> <q>friction fire</q>) to counteract the witchcraft, +which he believed to be the cause of his bad luck. He set +up two planks near each other, bored a hole in each, +inserted a pointed rod in the holes, and twisted a long +cord round the rod. Then he pulled the cord so as to +make the rod revolve rapidly. Thus by reason of the +friction he at last drew fire from the wood. That contented +him, for <q>he believed that the witchery was thus +rendered powerless, and that good luck in his fishing was +now ensured.</q><note place='foot'><q>Old-time Survivals in remote Norwegian +Dales,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xx. (1909) pp. +314, 322 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> This record of Norwegian +folk-lore is translated from a +little work <hi rend='italic'>Sundalen og Öksendalens +Beskrivelse</hi> written by Pastor Chr. +Glükstad and published at Christiania +<q>about twenty years ago.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +among +the +Slavonic +peoples.</note> +Slavonic peoples hold the need-fire in high esteem. +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> +They call it <q>living fire,</q> and attribute to it a healing virtue. +The ascription of medicinal power to fire kindled by the +friction of wood is said to be especially characteristic of the +Slavs who inhabit the Carpathian Mountains and the Balkan +peninsula. The mode in which they produce the need-fire +differs somewhat in different places. Thus in the Schar +mountains of Servia the task is entrusted to a boy and girl +between eleven and fourteen years of age. They are led +into a perfectly dark room, and having stripped themselves +naked kindle the fire by rubbing two rollers of lime wood +against each other, till the friction produces sparks, which +are caught in tinder. The Serbs of Western Macedonia +drive two oaken posts into the ground, bore a round hole +in the upper end of each, insert a roller of lime wood in the +holes, and set it revolving rapidly by means of a cord, which +is looped round the roller and worked by a bow. Elsewhere +the roller is put in motion by two men, who hold each one +end of the cord and pull it backwards and forwards forcibly +between them. Bulgarian shepherds sometimes kindle the +need-fire by drawing a prism-shaped piece of lime wood to +and fro across the flat surface of a tree-stump in the forest.<note place='foot'>Prof. Vl. Titelbach, <q>Das heilige +Feuer bei den Balkanslaven,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Internationales +Archiv für Ethnographie</hi>, +xiii. (1900) pp. 2 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> We have seen +(above, p. <ref target='Pg220'>220</ref>) that in Russia the +need-fire is, or used to be, annually +kindled on the eighteenth of August. +As to the need fire in Bulgaria see also +below, pp. <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +But in the neighbourhood of Küstendil, in Bulgaria, the +need-fire is kindled by the friction of two pieces of oak wood +and the cattle are driven through it.<note place='foot'>F. S. Krauss, <q>Altslavische Feuergewinnung,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lix. (1891) p. +318, quoting P. Ljiebenov, <hi rend='italic'>Baba Ega</hi> +(Trnovo, 1887), p. 44.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Russia, +Poland, and +Slavonia..</note> +In many districts of Russia, also, <q>living fire</q> is made by +the friction of wood on St. John's Day, and the herds are +driven through it, and the people leap over it in the conviction +that their health is thereby assured; when a cattle-plague is +raging, the fire is produced by rubbing two pieces of oak wood +against each other, and it is used to kindle the lamps before +the holy pictures and the censers in the churches.<note place='foot'>F. S. Krauss, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 319, +quoting <hi rend='italic'>Wisla</hi>, vol. iv. pp. 1, 244 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> Thus it +appears that in Russia the need-fire is kindled for the sake +of the cattle periodically as well as on special emergencies. +Similarly in Poland the peasants are said to kindle fires in +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> +the village streets on St. Rochus's day and to drive the cattle +thrice through them in order to protect the animals against +the murrain. The fire is produced by rubbing a pole of +poplar wood on a plank of poplar or fir wood and catching +the sparks in tow. The embers are carried home to be used +as remedies in sickness.<note place='foot'>F. S. Krauss, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 318, +quoting Oskar Kolberg, in <hi rend='italic'>Mazowsze</hi>, +vol. iv. p. 138.</note> As practised in Slavonia, the +custom of the need-fire used to present some interesting +features, which are best described in the words of an eye-witness:—<q>In +the year 1833 I came for the first time as a +young merchant to Slavonia; it was to Gaj that I went, in +the Požega district. The time was autumn, and it chanced +that a cattle-plague was raging in the neighbourhood, which +inflicted much loss on the people. The peasants believed +that the plague was a woman, an evil spirit (<foreign rend='italic'>Kuga</foreign>), who was +destroying the cattle; so they sought to banish her. I had +then occasion to observe the proceedings in the villages of +Gaj, Kukunjevac, Brezina, and Brekinjska. Towards evening +the whole population of the village was busy laying a ring +of brushwood round the boundaries of the village. All fires +were extinguished throughout the village. Then pairs of +men in several places took pieces of wood, which had been +specially prepared for the purpose, and rubbed them together +till they emitted sparks. The sparks were allowed to fall +on tinder and fanned into a flame, with which the dry brushwood +was kindled. Thus the fire burned all round the village. +The peasants persuaded themselves that thereupon <foreign rend='italic'>Kuga</foreign> +must take her departure.</q><note place='foot'>F. S. Krauss, <q>Slavische Feuerbohrer,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Globus</hi>, lix. (1891) p. 140. +The evidence quoted by Dr. Krauss is +that of his father, who often told of his +experience to his son.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Servia.</note> +This last account leaves no doubt as to the significance +of the need-fire in the minds of Slavonian peasantry. They +regard it simply as a barrier interposed between their cattle +and the evil spirit, which prowls, like a hungry wolf, round +the fold and can, like a wolf, be kept at bay by fire. The +same interpretation of the need-fire comes out, hardly less +clearly, in the account which another writer gives of a ceremony +witnessed by him at the village of Setonje, at the foot +of the Homolje mountains in the great forest of Servia. An +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/> +epidemic was raging among the children, and the need-fire +was resorted to as a means of staying the plague. It was +produced by an old man and an old woman in the first of +the ways described above; that is, they made it in the dark +by rubbing two sticks of lime wood against each other. +Before the healing virtue of the fire was applied to the inhabitants +of the village, two old women performed the +following ceremony. Both bore the name of Stana, from the +verb <foreign lang='sr' rend='italic'>stati</foreign>, <q>to remain standing</q>; for the ceremony could +not be successfully performed by persons of any other name. +One of them carried a copper kettle full of water, the other +an old house-lock with the key. Thus equipped they repaired +to a spot outside of the village, and there the old dame with +the kettle asked the old dame with the lock, <q>Whither +away?</q> and the other answered her, <q>I came to shut the +village against ill-luck.</q> With that she locked the lock and +threw it with the key into the kettle of water. Then they +marched thrice round the village, repeating the ceremony of +the lock and key at each round. Meantime all the villagers, +arrayed in their best clothes, were assembled in an open +place. All the fires in the houses had been previously extinguished. +Two sturdy yokels now dug a tunnel through +a mound beside an oak tree; the tunnel was just high enough +to let a man creep through it on all fours. Two fires, lit by +the need-fire, were now laid, one at each end of the tunnel; +and the old woman with the kettle took her stand at +the entrance of the tunnel, while the one with the lock +posted herself at the exit. Facing the latter stood another +woman with a great pot of milk before her, and on the +other side was set a pot full of melted swine's fat. All +was now ready. The villagers thereupon crawled through +the tunnel on hands and knees, one behind the other. Each, +as he emerged from the tunnel, received a spoonful of milk +from the woman and looked at his face reflected in the pot +of melted swine's fat. Then another woman made a cross +with a piece of charcoal on his back. When all the inhabitants +had thus crept through the tunnel and been doctored +at the other end, each took some glowing embers home with +him in a pot wherewith to rekindle the fire on the domestic +hearth. Lastly they put some of the charcoal in a vessel +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> +of water and drank the mixture in order to be thereby +magically protected against the epidemic.<note place='foot'>Prof. Vl. Titelbach, <q>Das heilige +Feuer bei den Balkanslaven,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Internationales +Archiv für Ethnographie</hi>, +xiii. (1900) p. 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It would be superfluous to point out in detail how +admirably these measures are calculated to arrest the ravages +of disease; but for the sake of those, if there are any, to +whom the medicinal effect of crawling through a hole on +hands and knees is not at once apparent, I shall merely +say that the procedure in question is one of the most powerful +specifics which the wit of man has devised for maladies +of all sorts. Ample evidence of its application will be +adduced in a later part of this work.<note place='foot'>See below, vol. ii. pp. 168 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Bulgaria.</note> +In Bulgaria the herds suffer much from the raids of +certain blood-sucking vampyres called <foreign lang='bg' rend='italic'>Ustrels</foreign>. An <foreign lang='bg' rend='italic'>Ustrel</foreign> +is the spirit of a Christian child who was born on a Saturday +and died unfortunately before he could be baptized. On +the ninth day after burial he grubs his way out of the grave +and attacks the cattle at once, sucking their blood all night +and returning at peep of dawn to the grave to rest from his +labours. In ten days or so the copious draughts of blood +which he has swallowed have so fortified his constitution that +he can undertake longer journeys; so when he falls in with +great herds of cattle or flocks of sheep he returns no more +to the grave for rest and refreshment at night, but takes up +his quarters during the day either between the horns of a +sturdy calf or ram or between the hind legs of a milch-cow. +Beasts whose blood he has sucked die the same night. In +any herd that he may fasten on he begins with the fattest +animal and works his way down steadily through the leaner +kine till not one single beast is left alive. The carcases of +the victims swell up, and when the hide is stripped off you can +always perceive the livid patch of flesh where the monster +sucked the blood of the poor creature. In a single night +he may, by working hard, kill five cows; but he seldom +exceeds that number. He can change his shape and weight +very easily; for example, when he is sitting by day between +the horns of a ram, the animal scarcely feels his weight, but +at night he will sometimes throw himself on an ox or a cow +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/> +so heavily that the animal cannot stir, and lows so pitifully +that it would make your heart bleed to hear. People who +were born on a Saturday can see these monsters, and they +have described them accurately, so that there can be no +doubt whatever about their existence. It is, therefore, a +matter of great importance to the peasant to protect his +flocks and herds against the ravages of such dangerous +vampyres. The way in which he does so is this. On a Saturday +morning before sunrise the village drummer gives the +signal to put out every fire in the village; even smoking is +forbidden. Next all the domestic animals, with the exception +of fowls, geese, and ducks, are driven out into the open. +In front of the flocks and herds march two men, whose +names during the ceremony may not be mentioned in the +village. They go into the wood, pick two dry branches, and +having stript themselves of their clothes they rub the two +branches together very hard till they catch fire; then with +the fire so obtained they kindle two bonfires, one on each +side of a cross-road which is known to be frequented by +wolves. After that the herd is driven between the two fires. +Coals from the bonfires are then taken back to the village +and used to rekindle the fires on the domestic hearths. For +several days no one may go near the charred and blackened +remains of the bonfires at the cross-road. The reason is that +the vampyre is lying there, having dropped from his seat between +the cow's horns when the animals were driven between +the two fires. So if any one were to pass by the spot during +these days, the monster would be sure to call him by name +and to follow him to the village; whereas if he is left alone, +a wolf will come at midnight and strangle him, and in a few +days the herdsmen can see the ground soaked with his slimy +blood. So that is the end of the vampyre.<note place='foot'>Adolf Strausz, <hi rend='italic'>Die Bulgaren</hi> (Leipsic, 1898), pp. 194-199.</note> In this Bulgarian +custom, as in the Slavonian custom described above, the +conception of the need-fire as a barrier set up between the +cattle and a dangerous spirit is clearly worked out. The +spirit rides the cow till he comes to the narrow pass between +the two fires, but the heat there is too much for him; +he drops in a faint from the saddle, or rather from the +horns, and the now riderless animal escapes safe and sound +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/> +beyond the smoke and flame, leaving her persecutor prostrate +on the ground on the further side of the blessed +barrier. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Bosnia and +Herzegovina.</note> +In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are some local differences +in the mode of kindling the need-fire, or <q>living fire,</q> +as it is called. Thus at Jablanica both the uprights and the +roller or cross-piece, which by its revolution kindles the fire, +are made of cornel-tree wood; whereas at Dolac, near Sarajevo, +the uprights and the cross-piece or roller are all made +of lime wood. In Gacko, contrary to the usual custom, the +fire is made by striking a piece of iron on an anvil, till +sparks are given out, which are caught in tinder. The +<q>living fire</q> thus produced is employed for purposes of +healing. In particular, if any one suffers from wounds or +sores, ashes of the need-fire are sprinkled on the ailing part. +In Gacko it is also believed that if a pregnant woman witnesses +a conflagration, her child will either be born with a +red eruption on its skin or will contract the malady sooner +or later afterwards. The only remedy consists in ashes of +the need-fire, which are mixed with water and given to the +child to drink.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen +aus Bosnien und der Hercegovina</hi>, +redigirt von Moriz Hoernes, iii. +(Vienna, 1895) pp. 574 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +England, +in +Yorkshire.</note> +In England the earliest notice of the need-fire seems to +be contained in the Chronicle of Lanercost for the year +1268. The annalist tells with pious horror how, when an +epidemic was raging in that year among the cattle, <q>certain +beastly men, monks in garb but not in mind, taught the +idiots of their country to make fire by the friction of wood +and to set up an image of Priapus, whereby they thought to +succour the animals.</q><note place='foot'><q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Pro fidei divinae integritate servanda +recolat lector quod, cum hoc anno +in Laodonia pestis grassaretur in +pecudes armenti, quam vocant usitate +Lungessouth, quidam bestiales, habitu +claustrales non animo, docebant idiotas +patriae ignem confrictione de lignis +educere et simulachrum Priapi statuere, +et per haec bestiis succurrere</foreign>,</q> quoted +by J. M. Kemble, <hi rend='italic'>The Saxons in +England</hi> (London, 1849), i. 358 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Die Herabkunft des Feuers +und des Güttertranks</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Gütersloh, +1886), p. 43; Ulrich Jahn, <hi rend='italic'>Die +deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau +und Viehzucht</hi> (Breslau, 1884) p. 31.</note> The use of the need-fire is particularly +attested for the counties of Yorkshire and Northumberland. +Thus in Yorkshire down to the middle of the +eighteenth century <q>the favourite remedy of the country +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/> +people, not only in the way of cure, but of prevention, was +an odd one; it was to smoke the cattle almost to suffocation, +by kindling straw, litter, and other combustible matter about +them. The effects of this mode of cure are not stated, but +the most singular part of it was that by which it was +reported to have been discovered. An angel (says the +legend), descended into Yorkshire, and there set a large tree +on fire; the strange appearance of which or else the savour +of the smoke, incited the cattle around (some of which were +infected) to draw near the miracle, when they all either +received an immediate cure or an absolute prevention of the +disorder. It is not affirmed that the angel staid to speak to +anybody, but only that he left a <emph>written</emph> direction for the +neighbouring people to catch this supernatural fire, and to +communicate it from one to another with all possible speed +throughout the country; and in case it should be extinguished +and utterly lost, that then new fire, of equal virtue, +might be obtained, not by any common method, but by +rubbing two pieces of wood together till they ignited. Upon +what foundation this story stood, is not exactly known, but +it put the farmers actually into a hurry of communicating +flame and smoke from one house to another with wonderful +speed, making it run like wildfire over the country.</q><note place='foot'>W. G. M. Jones Barker, <hi rend='italic'>The +Three Days of Wensleydale</hi> (London, +1854), pp. 90 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, +vol. ii., <hi rend='italic'>North Riding of Yorkshire, +York and the Ainsty</hi>, collected and +edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1901), +p. 181.</note> Again, +we read that <q>the father of the writer, who died in 1843, in +his seventy-ninth year, had a perfect remembrance of a great +number of persons, belonging to the upper and middle +classes of his native parish of Bowes, assembling on the +banks of the river Greta to work for need-fire. A disease +among cattle, called the murrain, then prevailed to a very +great extent through that district of Yorkshire. The cattle +were made to pass through the smoke raised by this +miraculous fire, and their cure was looked upon as certain, +and to neglect doing so was looked upon as wicked. This +fire was produced by the violent and continued friction of +two dry pieces of wood until such time as it was thereby +obtained. <q>To work as though one was working for need-fire</q> +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/> +is a common proverb in the North of England.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Denham Tracts, a Collection +of Folklore by Michael Aislabie Denham</hi>, +edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, +1892-1895), ii. 50.</note> At +Ingleton, a small town nestling picturesquely at the foot of +the high hill of Ingleborough in western Yorkshire, <q>within +the last thirty years or so it was a common practice to +kindle the so-called <q>Need-fire</q> by rubbing two pieces of +wood briskly together, and setting ablaze a large heap of +sticks and brushwood, which were dispersed, and cattle then +driven through the smoking brands. This was thought to +act as a charm against the spread or developement of the +various ailments to which cattle are liable, and the farmers +seem to have had great faith in it.</q><note place='foot'>Harry Speight, <hi rend='italic'>Tramps and +Drives in the Craven Highlands</hi> (London, +1895), p. 162. Compare, <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>The Craven and North-West Yorkshire +Highlands</hi> (London, 1892), pp. 206 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Writing about the +middle of the nineteenth century, Kemble tells us that the +will-fire or need-fire had been used in Devonshire for the +purpose of staying a murrain within the memory of man.<note place='foot'>J. M. Kemble, <hi rend='italic'>The Saxons in +England</hi> (London, 1849), i. 361 note.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Northumberland.</note> +So in Northumberland, down to the first half of the +nineteenth century, <q>when a contagious disease enters among +cattle, the fires are extinguished in the adjacent villages. Two +pieces of dried wood are then rubbed together until fire be +produced; with this a quantity of straw is kindled, juniper +is thrown into the flame, and the cattle are repeatedly driven +through the smoke. Part of the forced fire is sent to the +neighbours, who again forward it to others, and, as great +expedition is used, the fires may be seen blazing over a great +extent of country in a very short space of time.</q><note place='foot'>E. Mackenzie, <hi rend='italic'>An Historical, +Topographical and Descriptive View +of the County of Northumberland</hi>, +Second Edition (Newcastle, 1825), i. +218, quoted in <hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. +iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, collected by M. +C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 45. +Compare J. T. Brockett, <hi rend='italic'>Glossary of +North Country Words</hi>, p. 147, quoted +by Mrs. M. C. Balfour, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>: <q><emph>Need-fire</emph> +... an ignition produced by the +friction of two pieces of dried wood. +The vulgar opinion is, that an angel +strikes a tree, and that the fire is +thereby obtained. Need-fire, I am +told, is still employed in the case of +cattle infected with the murrain. They +were formerly driven through the +smoke of a fire made of straw, etc.</q> +The first edition of Brockett's <hi rend='italic'>Glossary</hi> +was published in 1825.</note> <q>It is +strange,</q> says the antiquary William Henderson, writing +about 1866, <q>to find the custom of lighting <q>need-fires</q> on +the occasion of epidemics among cattle still lingering among +us, but so it is. The vicar of Stamfordham writes thus +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> +respecting it: <q>When the murrain broke out among the +cattle about eighteen years ago, this fire was produced by +rubbing two pieces of dry wood together, and was carried from +place to place all through this district, as a charm against +cattle taking the disease. Bonfires were kindled with it, +and the cattle driven into the smoke, where they were left +for some time. Many farmers hereabouts, I am informed, +had the need-fire.</q></q><note place='foot'>W. Henderson, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Folk-lore +of the Northern Counties of England +and the Borders</hi> (London, 1879), +pp. 167 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Compare <hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, +vol. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Northumberland</hi>, collected +by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. +45. Stamfordham is in Northumberland. +The vicar's testimony seems to +have referred to the first half of the +nineteenth century.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Martin's +account of +the need-fire +in the +Highlands +of Scotland.</note> +In the earliest systematic account of the western islands +of Scotland we read that <q>the inhabitants here did also make +use of a fire called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Tin-egin</foreign>, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> a forced fire, or fire of necessity, +which they used as an antidote against the plague or +murrain in cattle; and it was performed thus: all the fires +in the parish were extinguished, and then eighty-one married +men, being thought the necessary number for effecting this +design, took two great planks of wood, and nine of them +were employed by turns, who by their repeated efforts rubbed +one of the planks against the other until the heat thereof +produced fire; and from this forced fire each family is +supplied with new fire, which is no sooner kindled than a +pot full of water is quickly set on it, and afterwards sprinkled +upon the people infected with the plague, or upon the cattle +that have the murrain. And this they all say they find +successful by experience: it was practised in the main +land, opposite to the south of Skie, within these thirty +years.</q><note place='foot'>M. Martin, <q>Description of the +Western Islands of Scotland,</q> in J. +Pinkerton's <hi rend='italic'>General Collection of +Voyages and Travels</hi>, iii. (London, +1809), p. 611. The second edition +of Martin's book, which Pinkerton +reprints, was published at London in +1716. For John Ramsay's account of +the need-fire, see above, pp. <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in the +island of +Mull. Sacrifice of +a heifer.</note> +In the island of Mull, one of the largest of the Hebrides, +the need-fire was kindled as late as 1767. <q>In consequence +of a disease among the black cattle the people agreed to +perform an incantation, though they esteemed it a wicked +thing. They carried to the top of Cammoor a wheel and +nine spindles of oakwood. They extinguished every fire in +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/> +every house within sight of the hill; the wheel was then +turned from east to west over the nine spindles long enough +to produce fire by friction. If the fire were not produced +before noon, the incantation lost its effect. They failed for +several days running. They attributed this failure to the +obstinacy of one householder, who would not let his fires +be put out for what he considered so wrong a purpose. +However, by bribing his servants they contrived to have +them extinguished and on that morning raised their fire. +They then sacrificed a heifer, cutting in pieces and burning, +while yet alive, the diseased part. They then lighted their +own hearths from the pile and ended by feasting on the +remains. Words of incantation were repeated by an old +man from Morven, who came over as master of the ceremonies, +and who continued speaking all the time the fire was +being raised. This man was living a beggar at Bellochroy. +Asked to repeat the spell, he said, the sin of repeating it +once had brought him to beggary, and that he dared not +say those words again. The whole country believed him +accursed.</q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 506, referring to Miss Austin as his +authority.</note> From this account we see that in Mull the +kindling of the need-fire as a remedy for cattle disease +was accompanied by the sacrifice of one of the diseased +animals; and though the two customs are for the most part +mentioned separately by our authorities, we may surmise +that they were often, perhaps usually, practised together +for the purpose of checking the ravages of sickness in the +herds.<note place='foot'>As to the custom of sacrificing one +of a plague-stricken herd or flock for +the purpose of saving the rest, see +below, pp. <ref target='Pg300'>300</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Caithness.</note> +In the county of Caithness, forming the extreme north-east +corner of the mainland of Scotland, the practice of the +need-fire survived down at least to about 1788. We read +that <q>in those days, when the stock of any considerable +farmer was seized with the murrain, he would send for one +of the charm-doctors to superintend the raising of a <emph>need-fire</emph>. +It was done by friction, thus; upon any small island, where +the stream of a river or burn ran on each side, a circular +booth was erected, of stone and turf, as it could be had, in +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/> +which a semicircular or highland couple of birch, or other +hard wood, was set; and, in short, a roof closed on it. A +straight pole was set up in the centre of this building, the +upper end fixed by a wooden pin to the top of the couple, +and the lower end in an oblong <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>trink</foreign> in the earth or floor; +and lastly, another pole was set across horizontally, having +both ends tapered, one end of which was supported in a +hole in the side of the perpendicular pole, and the other in +a similar hole in the couple leg. The horizontal stick was +called the auger, having four short arms or levers fixed in +its centre, to work it by; the building having been thus +finished, as many men as could be collected in the vicinity, +(being divested of all kinds of metal in their clothes, etc.), +would set to work with the said auger, two after two, constantly +turning it round by the arms or levers, and others +occasionally driving wedges of wood or stone behind the +lower end of the upright pole, so as to press it the more +on the end of the auger: by this constant friction and +pressure, the ends of the auger would take fire, from which +a fire would be instantly kindled, and thus the <emph>need-fire</emph> +would be accomplished. The fire in the farmer's house, etc., +was immediately quenched with water, a fire kindled from +this need-fire, both in the farm-houses and offices, and the +cattle brought to feel the smoke of this new and sacred fire, +which preserved them from the murrain.</q><note place='foot'>John Jamieson, <hi rend='italic'>Etymological Dictionary +of the Scottish Language</hi>, New +Edition, revised by J. Longmuir and +D. Donaldson, iii. (Paisley, 1880) pp. +349 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, referring to <q>Agr. Surv. +Caithn., pp. 200, 201.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Caithness.</note> +The last recorded case of the need-fire in Caithness +happened in 1809 or 1810. At Houstry, Dunbeath, a crofter +named David Gunn had made for himself a kail-yard and in +doing so had wilfully encroached on one of those prehistoric +ruins called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>brochs</foreign>, which the people of the neighbourhood +believed to be a fairy habitation. Soon afterwards a murrain +broke out among the cattle of the district and carried off +many beasts. So the wise men put their heads together and +resolved to light a <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>teine-eigin</foreign> or need-fire as the best way +of stopping the plague. They cut a branch from a tree +in a neighbouring wood, stripped it of bark, and carried it +to a small island in the Houstry Burn. Every fire in the +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/> +district having been quenched, new fire was made by the +friction of wood in the island, and from this sacred flame +all the hearths of the houses were lit afresh. One of the +sticks used in making the fire was preserved down to about +the end of the nineteenth century; apparently the mode of +operation was the one known as the fire-drill: a pointed +stick was twirled in a hole made in another stick till fire +was elicited by the friction.<note place='foot'>R. C. Maclagan, <q>Sacred Fire,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, ix. (1898) pp. 280 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> As +to the fire-drill see <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and +the Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 207 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Another +account of +the need-fire +in the +Highlands.</note> +Another account of the use of need-fire in the Highlands +of Scotland runs as follows: <q>When, by the neglect of the +prescribed safeguards [against witchcraft], the seeds of iniquity +have taken root, and a person's means are decaying in consequence, +the only alternative, in this case, is to resort to that +grand remedy, the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Tein Econuch</foreign>, or <q>Forlorn Fire,</q> which +seldom fails of being productive of the best effects. The +cure for witchcraft, called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Tein Econuch</foreign>, is wrought in the +following manner:—A consultation being held by the unhappy +sufferer and his friends as to the most advisable measures of +effecting a cure, if this process is adopted, notice is privately +communicated to all those householders who reside within +the nearest of two running streams, to extinguish their lights +and fires on some appointed morning. On its being ascertained +that this notice has been duly observed, a spinning-wheel, +or some other convenient instrument, calculated to +produce fire by friction, is set to work with the most furious +earnestness by the unfortunate sufferer, and all who wish +well to his cause. Relieving each other by turns, they drive +on with such persevering diligence, that at length the spindle +of the wheel, ignited by excessive friction, emits <q>forlorn fire</q> +in abundance, which, by the application of tow, or some +other combustible material, is widely extended over the whole +neighbourhood. Communicating the fire to the tow, the tow +communicates it to a candle, the candle to a fir-torch, the +torch to a cartful of peats, which the master of the ceremonies, +with pious ejaculations for the success of the +experiment, distributes to messengers, who will proceed with +portions of it to the different houses within the said two +running streams, to kindle the different fires. By the influence +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/> +of this operation, the machinations and spells of witchcraft +are rendered null and void.</q><note place='foot'>W. Grant Stewart, <hi rend='italic'>The Popular +Superstitions and Festive Amusements +of the Highlanders of Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, +1823), pp. 214-216; Walter K. +Kelly, <hi rend='italic'>Curiosities of Indo-European +Tradition and Folk-lore</hi> (London, 1863), +pp. 53 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Alexander +Carmichael's +account +of the +need-fire in +the Highlands +of +Scotland +during the +nineteenth +century.</note> +In various parts of the Highlands of Scotland the need-fire +was still kindled during the first half of the nineteenth +century, as we learn from the following account:— +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><emph>Tein-eigin</emph>, neid-fire, need-fire, forced fire, fire produced +by the friction of wood or iron against wood.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>The fire of purification was kindled from the neid-fire, +while the domestic fire on the hearth was re-kindled from +the purification fire on the knoll. Among other names, the +purification fire was called <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Teine Bheuil</foreign>, fire of Beul, and +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Teine mor Bheuil</foreign>, great fire of Beul. The fire of Beul was +divided into two fires between which people and cattle +rushed australly for purposes of purification. The ordeal +was trying, as may be inferred from phrases still current. +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Is teodha so na teine teodha Bheuil</foreign>, <q>Hotter is this than the +hot fire of Beul.</q> Replying to his grandchild, an old man +in Lewis said ... <q>Mary! sonnie, it were worse for me to +do that for thee than to go between the two great fires +of Beul.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>The neid-fire was resorted to in imminent or actual +calamity upon the first day of the quarter, and to ensure +success in great or important events.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Arran.</note> +<q rend='pre'>The writer conversed with several persons who saw the +neid-fire made, and who joined in the ceremony. As +mentioned elsewhere, a woman in Arran said that her father, +and the other men of the townland, made the neid-fire on +the knoll on <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>La buidhe Bealltain</foreign>—Yellow Day of Beltane. +They fed the fire from <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>cuaile mor conaidh caoin</foreign>—great +bundles of sacred faggots brought to the knoll on Beltane +Eve. When the sacred fire became kindled, the people +rushed home and brought their herds and drove them +through and round the fire of purification, to sain them +from the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>bana bhuitseach mhor Nic Creafain Mac Creafain</foreign>—the +great arch witch Mac Crauford, now Crawford. That +was in the second decade of this century.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +North +Uist.</note> +<q rend='pre'>John Macphail, Middlequarter, North Uist, said that +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/> +the last occasion on which the neid-fire was made in North +Uist was <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>bliadhna an t-sneachda bhuidhe</foreign>—the year of the +yellow snow—1829 (?). The snow lay so deep and +remained so long on the ground, that it became yellow. +Some suggest that the snow was originally yellow, as snow +is occasionally red. This extraordinary continuance of +snow caused much want and suffering throughout the Isles. +The people of North Uist extinguished their own fires and +generated a purification fire at Sail Dharaich, Sollas. The +fire was produced from an oak log by rapidly boring with +an auger. This was accomplished by the exertions of <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>naoi +naoinear ciad ginealach mac</foreign>—the nine nines of first-begotten +sons. From the neid-fire produced on the knoll the people +of the parish obtained fire for their dwellings. Many cults +and ceremonies were observed on the occasion, cults and +ceremonies in which Pagan and Christian beliefs intermingled. +<foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Sail Dharaich</foreign>, Oak Log, obtained its name from the log of +oak for the neid-fire being there. A fragment of this log +riddled with auger holes marks a grave in <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Cladh Sgealoir</foreign>, +the burying-ground of <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>Sgealoir</foreign>, in the neighbourhood.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Reay, +Sutherland.</note> +<q rend='pre'>Mr. Alexander Mackay, Edinburgh, a native of Reay, +Sutherland, says:—<q>My father was the skipper of a fishing +crew. Before beginning operations for the season, the crew +of the boat met at night in our house to settle accounts for +the past, and to plan operations for the new season. My +mother and the rest of us were sent to bed. I lay in the +kitchen, and was listening and watching, though they +thought I was asleep. After the men had settled their past +affairs and future plans, they put out the fire on the hearth, +not a spark being allowed to live. They then rubbed two +pieces of wood one against another so rapidly as to produce +fire, the men joining in one after the other, and working +with the utmost energy and never allowing the friction to +relax. From this friction-fire they rekindled the fire on the +hearth, from which all the men present carried away a +kindling to their own homes. Whether their success was +due to their skill, their industry, their perseverance, or to +the neid-fire, I do not know, but I know that they were +much the most successful crew in the place. They met on +Saturday, and went to church on Sunday like the good men +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> +and the good Christians they were—a little of their Pagan +faith mingling with their Christian belief. I have reason to +believe that other crews in the place as well as my father's +crew practised the neid-fire.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>A man at Helmsdale, Sutherland, saw the <foreign lang='gd' rend='italic'>tein-eigin</foreign> +made in his boyhood.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The neid-fire was made in North Uist about the year +1829, in Arran about 1820, in Helmsdale about 1818, in +Reay about 1830.</q><note place='foot'>Alexander Carmichael, <hi rend='italic'>Carmina +Gadelica</hi> (Edinburgh, 1900), ii. 340 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The Beltane +fires a +precaution +against +witchcraft.</note> +From the foregoing account we learn that in Arran the +annual Beltane fire was regularly made by the friction of +wood, and that it was used to protect men and cattle against +a great witch. When we remember that Beltane Eve or +the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) is the great +witching time of the year throughout Europe, we may +surmise that wherever bonfires have been ceremonially +kindled on that day it has been done simply as a precaution +against witchcraft; indeed this motive is expressly alleged +not only in Scotland, but in Wales, the Isle of Man, and +many parts of Central Europe.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref>, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref>, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref>, +<ref target='Pg159'>159</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> It deserves, further, to be +noticed that in North Uist the wood used to kindle the +need-fire was oak, and that the nine times nine men by +whose exertions the flame was elicited were all first-born +sons. Apparently the first-born son of a family was thought +to be endowed with more magical virtue than his younger +brothers. Similarly in the Punjaub <q>the supernatural power +ascribed to the first born is not due to his being unlucky, +but the idea underlying the belief seems to be that being +the first product of the parents, he inherits the spiritual +powers (or magnetism) in a high degree. The success of +such persons in stopping rain and hail and in stupefying +snakes is proverbial. It is believed that a first child born +with feet forward can cure backache by kicking the patient +in the back, on a crossing.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Census of India, 1911</hi>, vol. xiv. +<hi rend='italic'>Punjab</hi>, Part i. <hi rend='italic'>Report</hi>, by Pandit +Harikishan Kaul (Lahore, 1912), p. +302. So in the north-east of Scotland +<q>those who were born with their feet +first possessed great power to heal all +kinds of sprains, lumbago, and rheumatism, +either by rubbing the affected +part, or by trampling on it. The chief +virtue lay in the feet. Those who came +into the world in this fashion often +exercised their power to their own +profit.</q> See Rev. Walter Gregor, +<hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East +of Scotland</hi> (London, 1881), pp. +45 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Aberdeenshire.</note> +In the north-east of Aberdeenshire and the neighbourhood, +when the cattle-disease known as the <q>quarter-ill</q> +broke out, <q>the <q>muckle wheel</q> was set in motion and +turned till fire was produced. From this virgin flame +fires were kindled in the byres. At the same time, if +neighbours requested the favour, live coals were given them +to kindle fires for the purification of their homesteads and +turning off the disease. Fumigating the byres with juniper +was a method adopted to ward off disease. Such a fire was +called <q>needfyre.</q> The kindling of it came under the censure +of the Presbytery at times.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. Walter Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the +Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland</hi> +(London, 1881), p. 186. The fumigation +of the byres with juniper is a charm +against witchcraft. See J. G. Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and Second Sight in +the Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Glasgow, 1902), p. 11. The <q>quarter-ill</q> +is a disease of cattle, which affects +the animals only in one limb or quarter. +<q>A very gross superstition is observed +by some people in Angus, as an antidote +against this ill. A piece is cut +out of the thigh of one of the cattle +that has died of it. This they hang up +within the chimney, in order to preserve +the rest of the cattle from being +infected. It is believed that as long +as it hangs there, it will prevent the +disease from approaching the place. It +is therefore carefully preserved; and in +case of the family removing, transported +to the new farm, as one of their valuable +effects. It is handed down from +one generation to another</q> (J. Jamieson, +<hi rend='italic'>Etymological Dictionary of the +Scottish Language</hi>, revised by J. Longmuir +and D. Donaldson, iii. 575, <hi rend='italic'>s.v.</hi> +<q>Quarter-ill</q>). See further Rev. W. +Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 186 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>: <q>The fore-legs +of one of the animals that had died +were cut off a little above the knee, and +hung over the fire-place in the kitchen. +It was thought sufficient by some if they +were placed over the door of the byre, +in the <q>crap o' the wa'.</q> Sometimes +the heart and part of the liver and lungs +were cut out, and hung over the fireplace +instead of the fore-feet. Boiling +them was at times substituted for hanging +them over the hearth.</q> Compare W. +Henderson, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Folk-lore of the +Northern Counties of England and the +Borders</hi> (London, 1879), p. 167: <q>A +curious aid to the rearing of cattle +came lately to the knowledge of Mr. +George Walker, a gentleman of the +city of Durham. During an excursion +of a few miles into the country, he +observed a sort of rigging attached to +the chimney of a farmhouse well known +to him, and asked what it meant. The +good wife told him that they had +experienced great difficulty that year +in rearing their calves; the poor little +creatures all died off, so they had taken +the leg and thigh of one of the dead +calves, and hung it in a chimney by a +rope, since which they had not lost +another calf.</q> In the light of facts cited +below (pp. <ref target='Pg315'>315</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>) we may conjecture +that the intention of cutting off the legs +or cutting out the heart, liver, and lungs +of the animals and hanging them up +or boiling them, is by means of +homoeopathic magic to inflict corresponding +injuries on the witch who +cast the fatal spell on the cattle.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Perthshire.</note> +In Perthshire the need-fire was kindled as a remedy for +cattle-disease as late as 1826. <q>A wealthy old farmer, +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> +having lost several of his cattle by some disease very prevalent +at present, and being able to account for it in no way so +rationally as by witchcraft, had recourse to the following +remedy, recommended to him by a weird sister in his neighbourhood, +as an effectual protection from the attacks of the +foul fiend. A few stones were piled together in the barnyard, +and woodcoals having been laid thereon, the fuel was +ignited by <emph>will-fire</emph>, that is fire obtained by friction; the +neighbours having been called in to witness the solemnity, +the cattle were made to pass through the flames, in the order +of their dignity and age, commencing with the horses and +ending with the swine. The ceremony having been duly +and decorously gone through, a neighbouring farmer observed +to the enlightened owner of the herd, that he, along with his +family, ought to have followed the example of the cattle, and +the sacrifice to Baal would have been complete.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Mirror</hi>, 24th June, 1826, +quoted by J. M. Kemble, <hi rend='italic'>The Saxons +in England</hi> (London, 1849), i. 360 +note 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +in +Ireland.</note> +In County Leitrim, Ireland, in order to prevent fever +from spreading, <q>all the fires on the townland, and the two +adjoining (one on each side), would be put out. Then the +men of the three townlands would come to one house, and +get two large blocks of wood. One would be set in the +ground, and the other one, fitted with two handles, placed on +the top of it. The men would then draw the upper block +backwards and forwards over the lower until fire was produced +by friction, and from this the fires would be lighted +again. This would prevent the fever from spreading.</q><note place='foot'>Leland L. Duncan, <q>Fairy Beliefs +and other Folklore Notes from County +Leitrim,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, vii. (1896) pp. +181 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The use of +the need-fire +a relic +of a time +when all +fires were +kindled by +the friction +of wood.</note> +Thus it appears that in many parts of Europe it has +been customary to kindle fire by the friction of wood for the +purpose of curing or preventing the spread of disease, +particularly among cattle. The mode of striking a light by +rubbing two dry sticks against each other is the one to which +all over the world savages have most commonly resorted for +the sake of providing themselves with fire;<note place='foot'>(Sir) Edward B. Tylor, <hi rend='italic'>Researches +into the Early History of Mankind</hi>, +Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 237 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 207 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> and we can +scarcely doubt that the practice of kindling the need-fire +in this primitive fashion is merely a survival from the time +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/> +when our savage forefathers lit all their fires in that way. +Nothing is so conservative of old customs as religious or +magical ritual, which invests these relics of the past with +an atmosphere of mysterious virtue and sanctity. To the +educated mind it seems obvious that a fire which a man +kindles with the sweat of his brow by laboriously rubbing one +stick against each other can possess neither more nor less +virtue than one which he has struck in a moment by the +friction of a lucifer match; but to the ignorant and superstitious +this truth is far from apparent, and accordingly they +take infinite pains to do in a roundabout way what they +might have done directly with the greatest ease, and what, +even when it is done, is of no use whatever for the purpose in +hand. A vast proportion of the labour which mankind has +expended throughout the ages has been no better spent; it +has been like the stone of Sisyphus eternally rolled up +hill only to revolve eternally down again, or like the water +poured for ever by the Danaids into broken pitchers which it +could never fill. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The belief +that the +need-fire +cannot +kindle if +any other +fire remains +alight in +the neighbourhood.</note> +The curious notion that the need-fire cannot kindle if +any other fire remains alight in the neighbourhood seems to +imply that fire is conceived as a unity which is broken up +into fractions and consequently weakened in exact proportion +to the number of places where it burns; hence in order to +obtain it at full strength you must light it only at a single +point, for then the flame will burst out with a concentrated +energy derived from the tributary fires which burned on all +the extinguished hearths of the country. So in a modern city +if all the gas were turned off simultaneously at all the burners +but one, the flame would no doubt blaze at that one burner +with a fierceness such as no single burner could shew when +all are burning at the same time. The analogy may help +us to understand the process of reasoning which leads the +peasantry to insist on the extinction of all common fires when +the need-fire is about to be kindled. Perhaps, too, it may +partly explain that ceremonial extinction of all old fires +on other occasions which is often required by custom as a +preliminary to the lighting of a new and sacred fire.<note place='foot'>For some examples of such extinctions, +see <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the +Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 261 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, 267 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>Spirits of the Corn and of the +Wild</hi>, i. 311, ii. 73 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; and above, +pp. <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg132'>132-139</ref>. The reasons +for extinguishing fires ceremonially +appear to vary with the occasion. +Sometimes the motive seems to be a +fear of burning or at least singeing a +ghost, who is hovering invisible in the +air; sometimes it is apparently an +idea that a fire is old and tired with +burning so long, and that it must be +relieved of the fatiguing duty by a +young and vigorous flame.</note> We +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> +have seen that in the Highlands of Scotland all common +fires were extinguished on the Eve of May-day as a preparation +for kindling the Beltane bonfire by friction next +morning;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref>, <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref>. The same +custom appears to have been observed +in Ireland. See above, p. <ref target='Pg158'>158</ref>.</note> and no doubt the reason for the extinction was +the same as in the case of the need-fire. Indeed we may +assume with a fair degree of probability that the need-fire +was the parent of the periodic fire-festivals; at first invoked +only at irregular intervals to cure certain evils as they +occurred, the powerful virtue of fire was afterwards employed +at regular intervals to prevent the occurrence of the same +evils as well as to remedy such as had actually arisen. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The need-fire +among +the Iroquois +of +North +America.</note> +The need-fire of Europe has its parallel in a ceremony +which used to be observed by the Iroquois Indians of North +America. <q>Formerly when an epidemic prevailed among +the Iroquois despite the efforts to stay it, it was customary +for the principal shaman to order the fires in every cabin to +be extinguished and the ashes and cinders to be carefully +removed; for it was believed that the pestilence was sent as +a punishment for neglecting to rekindle <q>new fire</q> or because +of the manner in which the fire then in use had been kindled. +So, after all the fires were out, two suitable logs of slippery +elm (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Ulmus fulva</foreign>) were provided for the new fire. One of +the logs was from six to eight inches in diameter and from +eight to ten feet long; the other was from ten to twelve +inches in diameter and about ten feet long. About midway +across the larger log a cuneiform notch or cut about six +inches deep was made, and in the wedge-shaped notch punk +was placed. The other log was drawn rapidly to and fro in +the cut by four strong men chosen for the purpose until the +punk was ignited by the friction thus produced. Before and +during the progress of the work of igniting the fire the +shaman votively sprinkled <foreign rend='italic'>tcar-hŭ'-ĕñ-wĕ</foreign>, <q>real tobacco,</q> three +several times into the cuneiform notch and offered earnest +prayers to the Fire-god, beseeching him <q>to aid, to bless, and +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/> +to redeem the people from their calamities.</q> The ignited +punk was used to light a large bonfire, and then the head of +every family was required to take home <q>new fire</q> to rekindle +a fire in his or her fire-place.</q><note place='foot'>J. N. B. Hewitt, <q>New Fire +among the Iroquois,</q> <hi rend='italic'>The American +Anthropologist</hi>, ii. (1889) p. 319.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='9. The Sacrifice of an Animal to stay a Cattle-Plague.'/> +<head>§ 9. The Sacrifice of an Animal to stay a Cattle-Plague.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The burnt +sacrifice of +a calf in +England +and Wales. Burnt +sacrifice of +a pig in +Scotland.</note> +Sometimes apparently in England as well as in Scotland +the kindling of a need-fire was accompanied by the sacrifice of +a calf. Thus in Northamptonshire, at some time during the +first half of the nineteenth century, <q>Miss C—— and her +cousin walking saw a fire in a field and a crowd round it. +They said, <q>What is the matter?</q> <q>Killing a calf.</q> <q>What +for?</q> <q>To stop the murrain.</q> They went away as quickly as +possible. On speaking to the clergyman he made enquiries. +The people did not like to talk of the affair, but it appeared +that when there is a disease among the cows or the calves are +born sickly, they sacrifice (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> kill and burn) one <q>for good +luck.</q></q><note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 507.</note> It is not here said that the fire was a need-fire, of +which indeed the two horrified ladies had probably never +heard; but the analogy of the parallel custom in Mull<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg290'>290</ref>.</note> +renders it probable that in Northamptonshire also the fire +was kindled by the friction of wood, and that the calf or +some part of it was burnt in the fire. Certainly the practice +of burning a single animal alive in order to save all the +others would seem to have been not uncommon in England +down to the nineteenth century. Thus a farmer in Cornwall +about the year 1800, having lost many cattle by +disease, and tried many remedies in vain, consulted with +some of his neighbours and laying their heads together +<q>they recalled to their recollections a tale, which tradition +had handed down from remote antiquity, that the calamity +would not cease until he had actually burned alive the finest +calf which he had upon his farm; but that, when this sacrifice +was made, the murrain would afflict his cattle no more.</q> +Accordingly, on a day appointed they met, lighted a large +fire, placed the best calf in it, and standing round the blazing +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/> +pile drove the animal with pitchforks back into the flames +whenever it attempted to escape. Thus the victim was +burned alive to save the rest of the cattle.<note place='foot'>William Hone, <hi rend='italic'>Every-day Book</hi> +(London, preface dated 1827), i. coll. +853 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (June 24th), quoting Hitchin's +<hi rend='italic'>History of Cornwall</hi>.</note> <q>There can be +no doubt but that a belief prevailed until a very recent +period, amongst the small farmers in the districts remote +from towns in Cornwall, that a living sacrifice appeased the +wrath of God. This sacrifice must be by fire; and I have +heard it argued that the Bible gave them warranty for this +belief.... While correcting these sheets I am informed of +two recent instances of this superstition. One of them was +the sacrifice of a calf by a farmer near Portreath, for the +purpose of removing a disease which had long followed his +horses and his cows. The other was the burning of a living +lamb, to save, as the farmer said, <q>his flocks from spells +which had been cast on 'em.</q></q><note place='foot'>Hunt, <hi rend='italic'>Romances and Drolls of the +West of England</hi>, 1st series, p. 237, +quoted by W. Henderson, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the +Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of +England and the Borders</hi> (London, +1879), p. 149. Compare J. G. Dalyell, +<hi rend='italic'>The Darker Superstitions of Scotland</hi> +(Edinburgh, 1834), p. 184: +<q>Here also may be found a solution +of that recent expedient so ignorantly +practised in the neighbouring kingdom, +where one having lost many of his herd +by witchcraft, as he concluded, burnt +a living calf to break the spell and preserve +the remainder.</q></note> In a recent account of the +fire-festivals of Wales we read that <q>I have also heard my +grandfather and father say that in times gone by the people +would throw a calf in the fire when there was any disease +among the herds. The same would be done with a sheep +if there was anything the matter with a flock. I can remember +myself seeing cattle being driven between two fires +to <q>stop the disease spreading.</q> When in later times it was +not considered humane to drive the cattle between the fires, the +herdsmen were accustomed to force the animals over the wood +ashes to protect them against various ailments.</q><note place='foot'>Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), +p. 23.</note> Writing +about 1866, the antiquary W. Henderson says that a live ox +was burned near Haltwhistle in Northumberland <q>only twenty +years ago</q> to stop a murrain.<note place='foot'>W. Henderson, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 148 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> <q>About the year 1850 disease +broke out among the cattle of a small farm in the parish of +Resoliss, Black Isle, Ross-shire. The farmer prevailed on +his wife to undertake a journey to a wise woman of renown +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/> +in Banffshire to ask a charm against the effects of the <q>ill +ee.</q> The long journey of upwards of fifty miles was performed +by the good wife, and the charm was got. One +chief thing ordered was to burn to death a pig, and sprinkle +the ashes over the byre and other farm buildings. This +order was carried out, except that the pig was killed before +it was burned. A more terrible sacrifice was made at times. +One of the diseased animals was rubbed over with tar, driven +forth, set on fire, and allowed to run till it fell down and +died.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. Walter Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the +Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland</hi> +(London, 1881), p. 186.</note> <q>Living animals have been burnt alive in sacrifice +within memory to avert the loss of other stock. The +burial of three puppies <q>brandise-wise</q> in a field is supposed +to rid it of weeds. Throughout the rural districts +of Devon witchcraft is an article of current faith, and the +toad is thrown into the flames as an emissary of the evil +one.</q><note place='foot'>R. N. Worth, <hi rend='italic'>History of Devonshire</hi>, +Second Edition (London, 1886), +p. 339. The diabolical nature of the +toad probably explains why people in +Herefordshire think that if you wear +a toad's heart concealed about your +person you can steal to your heart's +content without being found out. A +suspected thief was overheard boasting, +<q>They never catches <emph>me</emph>: and they +never ooll neither. I allus wears a +toad's heart round my neck, <emph>I</emph> does.</q> +See Mrs. Ella M. Leather, in <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xxiv. (1913) p. 238.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The calf is +burnt in +order to +break a +spell which +has been +cast on +the herd.</note> +But why, we may ask, should the burning alive of a calf +or a sheep be supposed to save the rest of the herd or the +flock from the murrain? According to one writer, as we +have seen, the burnt sacrifice was thought to appease the +wrath of God.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg301'>301</ref>.</note> The idea of appeasing the wrath of a +ferocious deity by burning an animal alive is probably +no more than a theological gloss put on an old heathen rite; +it would hardly occur to the simple mind of an English +bumpkin, who, though he may be stupid, is not naturally +cruel and does not conceive of a divinity who takes delight +in the contemplation of suffering. To his thinking +God has little or nothing to do with the murrain, +but witches, ill-wishers, and fairies have a great deal to +do with it. The English farmer who burned one of +his lambs alive said that he did it <q>to save his flocks +from spells which had been cast on them</q>; and the Scotch +farmer who was bidden to burn a pig alive for a similar +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/> +purpose, but who had the humanity to kill the animal first, +believed that this was a remedy for the <q>evil eye</q> which +had been cast upon his beasts. Again, we read that <q>a +farmer, who possessed broad acres, and who was in many +respects a sensible man, was greatly annoyed to find that +his cattle became diseased in the spring. Nothing could +satisfy him but that they were bewitched, and he was +resolved to find out the person who had cast the evil eye on +his oxen. According to an anciently-prescribed rule, the +farmer took one of his bullocks and bled it to death, catching +all the blood on bundles of straw. The bloody straw was +then piled into a heap, and set on fire. Burning with a vast +quantity of smoke, the farmer expected to see the witch, +either in reality or in shadow, amidst the smoke.</q><note place='foot'>Robert Hunt, <hi rend='italic'>Popular Romances +of the West of England</hi>, Third Edition +(London, 1881), p. 320. The writer +does not say where this took place; +probably it was in Cornwall or Devonshire.</note> Such +reasons express the real beliefs of the peasants. <q>Cattle, +like human beings, were exposed to the influences of the +evil eye, of forespeaking, and of the casting of evil. Witches +and warlocks did the work of evil among their neighbours' +cattle if their anger had been aroused in any way. The +fairies often wrought injury amongst cattle. Every animal +that died suddenly was killed by the dart of the fairies, or, +in the language of the people, was <q>shot-a-dead.</q> Flint +arrows and spear-heads went by the name of <q>faery dairts.</q> +... When an animal died suddenly the canny woman of +the district was sent for to search for the <q>faery dairt,</q> and +in due course she found one, to the great satisfaction of the +owner of the dead animal.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. Walter Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the +Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland</hi> +(London, 1881), p. 184.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Mode in +which the +burning of +a bewitched +animal is +supposed +to break +the spell.</note> +But how, we must still ask, can burning an animal alive +break the spell that has been cast upon its fellows by a +witch or a warlock? Some light is thrown on the question +by the following account of measures which rustic wiseacres +in Suffolk are said to have adopted as a remedy for witchcraft. +<q>A woman I knew forty-three years had been employed by +my predecessor to take care of his poultry. At the time I +came to make her acquaintance she was a bedridden toothless +crone, with chin and nose all but meeting. She did +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/> +not discourage in her neighbours the idea that she knew +more than people ought to know, and had more power than +others had. Many years before I knew her it happened one +spring that the ducks, which were a part of her charge, +failed to lay eggs.... She at once took it for granted that +the ducks had been bewitched. This misbelief involved +very shocking consequences, for it necessitated the idea that +so diabolical an act could only be combated by diabolical +cruelty. And the most diabolical act of cruelty she could +imagine was that of baking alive in a hot oven one of the +ducks. And that was what she did. The sequence of +thought in her mind was that the spell that had been laid +on the ducks was that of preternaturally wicked wilfulness; +that this spell could only be broken through intensity of +suffering, in this case death by burning; that the intensity +of suffering would break the spell in the one roasted to +death; and that the spell broken in one would be altogether +broken, that is, in all the ducks.... Shocking, however, +as was this method of exorcising the ducks, there was +nothing in it original. Just about a hundred years before, +everyone in the town and neighbourhood of Ipswich had +heard, and many had believed, that a witch had been burnt +to death in her own house at Ipswich by the process of +burning alive one of the sheep she had bewitched. It was +curious, but it was as convincing as curious, that the hands +and feet of this witch were the only parts of her that had +not been incinerated. This, however, was satisfactorily explained +by the fact that the four feet of the sheep, by which +it had been suspended over the fire, had not been destroyed +in the flames that had consumed its body.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, +No. 2, Suffolk</hi>, collected and +edited by the Lady Eveline Camilla +Gurdon (London, 1893), pp. 190 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +quoting <hi rend='italic'>Some Materials for the History +of Wherstead</hi> by F. Barham Zincke +(Ipswich, 1887), p. 168.</note> According to +a slightly different account of the same tragic incident, the +last of the <q>Ipswitch witches,</q> one Grace Pett, <q>laid her +hand heavily on a farmer's sheep, who, in order to punish +her, fastened one of the sheep in the ground and burnt it, +except the feet, which were under the earth. The next +morning Grace Pett was found burnt to a cinder, except her +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/> +feet. Her fate is recorded in the <hi rend='italic'>Philosophical Transactions</hi> +as a case of spontaneous combustion.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, +No. 2, Suffolk</hi>, p. 191, referring +to Murray's <hi rend='italic'>Handbook for Essex, +Suffolk</hi>, etc., p. 109.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>In burning +the bewitched +animal you +burn the +witch +herself.</note> +This last anecdote is instructive, if perhaps not strictly +authentic. It shews that in burning alive one of a bewitched +flock or herd what you really do is to burn the witch, who +is either actually incarnate in the animal or perhaps more +probably stands in a relation of sympathy with it so close as +almost to amount to identity. Hence if you burn the creature +to ashes, you utterly destroy the witch and thereby save the +whole of the rest of the flock or herd from her abominable +machinations; whereas if you only partially burn the animal, +allowing some parts of it to escape the flames, the witch is +only half-baked, and her power for mischief may be hardly, +if at all, impaired by the grilling. We can now see that in such +matters half-measures are useless. To kill the animal first +and burn it afterwards is a weak compromise, dictated no +doubt by a well-meant but utterly mistaken kindness; it is +like shutting the stable-door when the steed is stolen, for +obviously by leaving the animal's, and therefore the witch's, +body nearly intact at the moment of death, it allows her soul +to escape and return safe and sound to her own human +body, which all the time is probably lying quietly at home +in bed. And the same train of reasoning that justifies +the burning alive of bewitched animals justifies and indeed +requires the burning alive of the witches themselves; it is +really the only way of destroying them, body and soul, +and therefore of thoroughly extirpating the whole infernal +crew. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Practice +of burning +cattle and +sheep as +sacrifices +in the Isle +of Man.</note> +In the Isle of Man the practice of burning cattle alive +in order to stop a murrain seems to have persisted down to +a time within living memory. On this subject I will quote +the evidence collected by Sir John Rhys: <q>A respectable +farmer from Andreas told me that he was driving with his +wife to the neighbouring parish of Jurby some years ago, +and that on the way they beheld the carcase of a cow or an +ox burning in a field, with a woman engaged in stirring the +fire. On reaching the village to which they were going, +they found that the burning beast belonged to a farmer +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/> +whom they knew. They were further told it was no wonder +that the said farmer had one of his cattle burnt, as several +of them had recently died. Whether this was a case of +sacrifice or not I cannot say. But let me give you another +instance: a man whom I have already mentioned, saw at a +farm nearer the centre of the island a live calf being burnt. +The owner bears an English name, but his family has long +been settled in Man. The farmer's explanation to my +informant was that the calf was burnt to secure luck for the +rest of the herd, some of which were threatening to die. +My informant thought there was absolutely nothing the +matter with them, except that they had too little to eat. +Be that as it may, the one calf was sacrificed as a burnt-offering +to secure luck for the rest of the cattle. Let me +here also quote Mr. Moore's note in his <hi rend='italic'>Manx Surnames</hi>, p. +184, on the place name <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Cabbal yn Oural Losht</foreign>, or the +Chapel of the Burnt Sacrifice. <q>This name,</q> he says, +<q>records a circumstance which took place in the nineteenth +century, but which, it is to be hoped, was never customary +in the Isle of Man. A farmer, who had lost a number of +his sheep and cattle by murrain, burned a calf as a propitiatory +offering to the Deity on this spot, where a chapel +was afterwards built. Hence the name.</q> Particulars, I +may say, of time, place, and person could be easily added to +Mr. Moore's statement, excepting, perhaps as to the deity in +question; on that point I have never been informed, but +Mr. Moore is probably right in the use of the capital <emph>d</emph>, as +the sacrificer is, according to all accounts, a highly devout +Christian. One more instance: an octogenarian woman, +born in the parish of Bride, and now living at Kirk Andreas, +saw, when she was a <q>lump of a girl</q> of ten or fifteen years +of age, a live sheep being burnt in a field in the parish +of Andreas, on May-day, whereby she meant the first of +May reckoned according to the Old Style. She asserts +very decidedly that it was <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>son oural</foreign>, <q>as a sacrifice,</q> as she +put it, and <q>for an object to the public</q>: those were her +words when she expressed herself in English. Further, she +made the statement that it was a custom to burn a sheep +on old May-day for a sacrifice. I was fully alive to the +interest of this evidence, and cross-examined her so far as +<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/> +her age allows of it, and I find that she adheres to her +statement with all firmness.</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <q>Manx Folk-lore +and Superstitions,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, ii. +(1891) pp. 300-302; repeated in his +<hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx</hi> +(Oxford, 1901), i. 306 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> Sir John +Rhys does not doubt that the old +woman saw, as she said, a live sheep +being burnt on old May-day; but he +doubts whether it was done as a +sacrifice. He adds: <q>I have failed +to find anybody else in Andreas or +Bride, or indeed in the whole island, +who will now confess to having ever +heard of the sheep sacrifice on old +May-day.</q> However, the evidence I +have adduced of a custom of burnt +sacrifice among English rustics tends +to confirm the old woman's statement, +that the burning of the live sheep +which she witnessed was not an act of +wanton cruelty but a sacrifice performed +for the public good.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>By burning +a bewitched +animal you +compel the +witch to +appear.</note> +But Manxmen burn beasts when they are dead as well +as when they are alive; and their reasons for burning the +dead animals may help us to understand their reasons for +burning the living animals. On this subject I will again +quote Sir John Rhys: <q>When a beast dies on a farm, of +course it dies, according to the old-fashioned view of things, +as I understand it, from the influence of the evil eye or the +interposition of a witch. So if you want to know to whom +you are indebted for the loss of the beast, you have simply +to burn its carcase in the open air and watch who comes +first to the spot or who first passes by; that is the criminal +to be charged with the death of the animal, and he cannot +help coming there—such is the effect of the fire. A Michael +woman, who is now about thirty, related to me how she +watched while the carcase of a bewitched colt was burning, +how she saw the witch coming, and how she remembers her +shrivelled face, with nose and chin in close proximity. +According to another native of Michael, a well-informed +middle-aged man, the animal in question was oftenest a calf, +and it was wont to be burnt whole, skin and all. The object, +according to him, is invariably to bring the bewitcher on +the spot, and he always comes; but I am not clear what +happens to him when he appears. My informant added, +however, that it was believed that, unless the bewitcher got +possession of the heart of the burning beast, he lost all his +power of bewitching.</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) John Rhys, <q>Manx Folk-lore +and Superstitions,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, ii. +(1891) pp. 299 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Celtic Folk-lore, +Welsh and Manx</hi> (Oxford, 1901), +i. 304 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> We have seen that by +burning the blood of a bewitched +bullock a farmer expected to compel +the witch to appear. See above, +p. <ref target='Pg303'>303</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Magic +sympathy +between +the witch +and the +bewitched +animal.</note> +These statements shew that in the Isle of Man the +sympathetic relation between the witch and his or her +animal victim is believed to be so close that by burning the +animal you compel the witch to appear. The original idea +may have been that, by virtue of a magic sympathy which +binds the two together, whatever harm you do to the animal +is felt by the witch as if it were done to herself. That notion +would fully explain why Manx people used also to burn +bewitched animals alive; in doing so they probably imagined +that they were simultaneously burning the witch who had +cast the spell on their cattle. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Parallel +belief in +magic +sympathy +between +the animal +shape of a +were-wolf +and his or +her ordinary +human +shape: by +wounding +the wolf +you simultaneously +wound the +man or +woman.</note> +This explanation of the reason for burning a bewitched +animal, dead or alive, is confirmed by the parallel belief +concerning were-wolves. It is commonly supposed that +certain men and women can transform themselves by magic +art into wolves or other animals, but that any wound +inflicted on such a transformed beast (a were-wolf or other +were-animal) is simultaneously inflicted on the human body +of the witch or warlock who had transformed herself or +himself into the creature. This belief is widely diffused; it +meets us in Europe, Asia, and Africa. For example, Olaus +Magnus tells us that in Livonia, not many years before he +wrote, a noble lady had a dispute with her slave on the +subject of were-wolves, she doubting whether there were +any such things, and he maintaining that there were. To +convince her he retired to a room, from which he soon +appeared in the form of a wolf. Being chased by the dogs +into the forest and brought to bay, the wolf defended himself +fiercely, but lost an eye in the struggle. Next day the +slave returned to his mistress in human form but with only +one eye.<note place='foot'>Olaus Magnus, <hi rend='italic'>Historia de Gentium Septentrionalium Conditionibus</hi>, lib +xviii. cap. 47, p. 713 (ed. Bâle, 1567).</note> Again, it happened in the year 1588 that a +gentleman in a village among the mountains of Auvergne, +looking out of the window one evening, saw a friend of his +going out to hunt. He begged him to bring him back +some of his bag, and his friend said that he would. Well, +he had not gone very far before he met a huge wolf. He +fired and missed it, and the animal attacked him furiously, +but he stood on his guard and with an adroit stroke of his +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/> +hunting knife he cut off the right fore-paw of the brute, +which thereupon fled away and he saw it no more. He +returned to his friend, and drawing from his pouch the +severed paw of the wolf he found to his horror that it was +turned into a woman's hand with a golden ring on one of +the fingers. His friend recognized the ring as that of his +own wife and went to find her. She was sitting by the fire +with her right arm under her apron. As she refused to +draw it out, her husband confronted her with the hand and +the ring on it. She at once confessed the truth, that it was +she in the form of a were-wolf whom the hunter had +wounded. Her confession was confirmed by applying the +severed hand to the stump of her arm, for the two fitted +exactly. The angry husband delivered up his wicked wife +to justice; she was tried and burnt as a witch.<note place='foot'>Collin de Plancy, <hi rend='italic'>Dictionnaire +Infernal</hi> (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 473 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, referring to Boguet.</note> It is said +that a were-wolf, scouring the streets of Padua, was caught, +and when they cut off his four paws he at once turned into +a man, but with both his hands and feet amputated.<note place='foot'>Collin de Plancy, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> iii. +473.</note> Again, +in a farm of the French district of Beauce, there was once +a herdsman who never slept at home. These nocturnal +absences naturally attracted attention and set people talking. +At the same time, by a curious coincidence, a wolf used to +prowl round the farm every night and to excite the dogs +in the farmyard to fury by thrusting his snout derisively +through the cat's hole in the great gate. The farmer had +his suspicions and he determined to watch. One night, +when the herdsman went out as usual, his master followed +him quietly till he came to a hut, where with his own eyes +he saw the man put on a broad belt and at once turn into +a wolf, which scoured away over the fields. The farmer +smiled a sickly sort of smile and went back to the farm. +There he took a stout stick and sat down at the cat's hole +to wait. He had not long to wait. The dogs barked like +mad, a wolf's snout shewed through the hole, down came +the stick, out gushed the blood, and a voice was heard to +say without the gate, <q>A good job too. I had still three +years to run.</q> Next day the herdsman appeared as usual, +<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/> +but he had a scar on his brow, and he never went out again +at night.<note place='foot'>Felix Chapiseau, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore de +la Beauce et du Perche</hi> (Paris, 1902), +i. 239 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The same story is told in +Upper Brittany. See Paul Sébillot, +<hi rend='italic'>Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne</hi> +(Paris, 1882), i. 292. It is +a common belief that a man who has +once been transformed into a were-wolf +must remain a were-wolf for seven +years unless blood is drawn from him +in his animal shape, upon which he at +once recovers his human form and is +delivered from the bondage and misery +of being a were-wolf. See F. Chapiseau, +<hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. 218-220; Amélie +Bosquet, <hi rend='italic'>La Normandie Romanesque +et Merveilleuse</hi> (Paris and Rouen, +1845), p. 233. On belief in +were-wolves in general, see W. Hertz, +<hi rend='italic'>Der Werwolf</hi> (Stuttgart, 1862); J. +Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 915 +<hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, <hi rend='italic'>Primitive +Culture</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (London, 1873), i. 308 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +R. Andree, <hi rend='italic'>Ethnographische Parallelen +und Vergleiche</hi> (Stuttgart, 1878), pp. +62-80. In North Germany it is +believed that a man can turn himself +into a wolf by girding himself with +a strap made out of a wolf's hide. +Some say that the strap must have +nine, others say twelve, holes and a +buckle; and that according to the +number of the hole through which the +man inserts the tongue of the buckle +will be the length of time of his transformation. +For example, if he puts +the tongue of the buckle through the +first hole, he will be a wolf for one +hour; if he puts it through the second, +he will be a wolf for two days; and so +on, up to the last hole, which entails a +transformation for a full year. But by +putting off the girdle the man can +resume his human form. The time +when were-wolves are most about is +the period of the Twelve Nights +between Christmas and Epiphany; +hence cautious German farmers will +not remove the dung from the cattle-stalls +at that season for fear of attracting +the were-wolves to the cattle. See +Adalbert Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Märkische Sagen und +Märchen</hi> (Berlin, 1843), p. 375; Ulrich +Jahn, <hi rend='italic'>Volkssagen aus Pommern und +Rügen</hi> (Stettin, 1886), pp. 384, 386, +Nos. 491, 495. Down to the time of +Elizabeth it was reported that in the +county of Tipperary certain men were +annually turned into wolves. See +W. Camden, <hi rend='italic'>Britain</hi>, translated into +English by Philemon Holland (London, +1610), <q>Ireland,</q> p. 83.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Were-wolves +in +China.</note> +In China also the faith in similar transformations is +reflected in the following tale. A certain man in Sungyang +went into the mountains to gather fuel. Night fell and +he was pursued by two tigers, but scrambled up a tree out +of their reach. Then said the one tiger to the other tiger, +<q>If we can find Chu-Tu-shi, we are sure to catch this man +up the tree.</q> So off went one of them to find Chu-Tu-shi, +while the other kept watch at the foot of the tree. Soon +after that another tiger, leaner and longer than the other +two, appeared on the scene and made a grab at the man's +coat. But fortunately the moon was shining, the man saw +the paw, and with a stroke of his axe cut off one of its claws. +The tigers roared and fled, one after the other, so the man +climbed down the tree and went home. When he told his tale +in the village, suspicion naturally fell on the said Chu-Tu-shi; +and next day some men went to see him in his house. They +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/> +were told that they could not see him; for he had been out the +night before and had hurt his hand, and he was now ill in +bed. So they put two and two together and reported him +to the police. The police arrived, surrounded the house, and +set fire to it; but Chu-Tu-shi rose from his bed, turned into a +tiger, charged right through the police, and escaped, and to +this day nobody ever knew where he went to.<note place='foot'>J. J. M. de Groot, <hi rend='italic'>The Religious +System of China</hi>, v. (Leyden, 1907) +P. 548.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Were-wolves +among the +Toradjas +of Central +Celebes. The were-wolf +in +human +shape.</note> +The Toradjas of Central Celebes stand in very great fear +of were-wolves, that is of men and women, who have the +power of transforming their spirits into animals such as cats, +crocodiles, wild pigs, apes, deer, and buffaloes, which roam +about battening on human flesh, and especially on human +livers, while the men and women in their own proper human +form are sleeping quietly in their beds at home. Among +them a man is either born a were-wolf or becomes one by +infection; for mere contact with a were-wolf, or even with +anything that has been touched by his spittle, is quite +enough to turn the most innocent person into a were-wolf; +nay even to lean your head against anything against which a +were-wolf has leaned his head suffices to do it. The penalty +for being a were-wolf is death; but the sentence is never passed +until the accused has had a fair trial and his guilt has been +clearly demonstrated by an ordeal, which consists in dipping +the middle finger into boiling resin. If the finger is not +burnt, the man is no were-wolf; but if it is burnt, a were-wolf +he most assuredly is, so they take him away to a quiet +spot and hack him to bits. In cutting him up the executioners +are naturally very careful not to be bespattered +with his blood, for if that were to happen they would of +course be turned into were-wolves themselves. Further, +they place his severed head beside his hinder-quarters to +prevent his soul from coming to life again and pursuing +his depredations. So great is the horror of were-wolves +among the Toradjas, and so great is their fear of contracting +the deadly taint by infection, that many persons have assured +a missionary that they would not spare their own child if +they knew him to be a were-wolf.<note place='foot'>A. C. Kruijt, <q>De weerwolf bij +de Toradja's van Midden-Celebes,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- +en Volkenkunde</hi>, xli. (1899) pp. 548-551, +557-560.</note> Now these people, +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/> +whose faith in were-wolves is not a mere dying or dead +superstition but a living, dreadful conviction, tell stories of +were-wolves which conform to the type which we are examining. +They say that once upon a time a were-wolf came +in human shape under the house of a neighbour, while his +real body lay asleep as usual at home, and calling out softly +to the man's wife made an assignation with her to meet him +in the tobacco-field next day. But the husband was lying +awake and he heard it all, but he said nothing to anybody. +Next day chanced to be a busy one in the village, for a roof +had to be put on a new house and all the men were lending +a hand with the work, and among them to be sure was the +were-wolf himself, I mean to say his own human self; there +he was up on the roof working away as hard as anybody. +But the woman went out to the tobacco-field, and behind +went unseen her husband, slinking through the underwood. +When they were come to the field, he saw the were-wolf +make up to his wife, so out he rushed and struck at him +with a stick. Quick as thought, the were-wolf turned himself +into a leaf, but the man was as nimble, for he caught up the +leaf, thrust it into the joint of bamboo, in which he kept his +tobacco, and bunged it up tight. Then he walked back with +his wife to the village, carrying the bamboo with the were-wolf +in it. When they came to the village, the human body +of the were-wolf was still on the roof, working away with the +rest. The man put the bamboo in a fire. At that the human +were-wolf looked down from the roof and said, <q>Don't do +that.</q> The man drew the bamboo from the fire, but a +moment afterwards he put it in the fire again, and again the +human were-wolf on the roof looked down and cried, <q>Don't +do that.</q> But this time the man kept the bamboo in the +fire, and when it blazed up, down fell the human were-wolf +from the roof as dead as a stone.<note place='foot'>A. C. Kruijt, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 552 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Again, the following +story went round among the Toradjas not so very +many years ago. The thing happened at Soemara, on +the Gulf of Tomori. It was evening and some men sat +chatting with a certain Hadji Mohammad. When it had +grown dark, one of the men went out of the house for something +or other. A little while afterwards one of the company +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/> +thought he saw a stag's antlers standing out sharp and +clear against the bright evening sky. So Hadji Mohammad +raised his gun and fired. A minute or two afterwards back +comes the man who had gone out, and says he to Hadji +Mohammad, <q>You shot at me and hit me. You must pay +me a fine.</q> They searched him but found no wound on +him anywhere. Then they knew that he was a were-wolf +who had turned himself into a stag and had healed the +bullet-wound by licking it. However, the bullet had +found its billet, for two days afterwards he was a dead +man.<note place='foot'>A. C. Kruijt, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 553. +For more evidence of the belief in +were-wolves, or rather in were-animals +of various sorts, particularly were-tigers, +in the East Indies, see J. J. +M. de Groot, <q>De Weertijger in +onze Kolonien en op het oostaziatische +Vasteland,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen tot de +Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van +Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, xlix. (1898) pp. +549-585; G. P. Rouffaer, <q>Matjan +Gadoengan,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Bijdragen tot de Taal- +Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië</hi>, +l. (1899) pp. 67-75; +J. Knebel, <q>De Weertijger op Midden-Java, +den Javaan naverteld,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift +voor Indische Taal- Land- en +Volkenkunde</hi>, xli. (1899) pp. 568-587; +L. M. F. Plate, <q>Bijdrage tot de +kennis van de lykanthropie bij de +Sasaksche bevolking in Oost-Lombok,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- +en Volkenkunde</hi>, liv. (1912) pp. 458-469; +G. A. Wilken, <q>Het animisme +bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Verspreide Geschriften</hi> (The +Hague, 1912), iii. 25-30.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Were-wolves +in +the Egyptian +Sudan.</note> +In Sennar, a province of the Egyptian Sudan, the Hammeg +and Fungi enjoy the reputation of being powerful +magicians who can turn themselves into hyaenas and in +that guise scour the country at night, howling and gorging +themselves. But by day they are men again. It is very +dangerous to shoot at such human hyaenas by night. On +the Jebel Bela mountain a soldier once shot at a hyaena and +hit it, but it dragged itself off, bleeding, in the darkness and +escaped. Next morning he followed up the trail of blood +and it led him straight to the hut of a man who was everywhere +known for a wizard. Nothing of the hyaena was to +be seen, but the man himself was laid up in the house with +a fresh wound and died soon afterwards. And the soldier +did not long survive him.<note place='foot'>Ernst Marno, <hi rend='italic'>Reisen im Gebiete +des blauen und weissen Nil</hi> (Vienna, +1874), pp. 239 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The were-wolf +story +in Petronius.</note> +But the classical example of these stories is an old Roman +tale told by Petronius. It is put in the mouth of one Niceros. +Late at night he left the town to visit a friend of his, a +widow, who lived at a farm five miles down the road. He +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/> +was accompanied by a soldier, who lodged in the same house, +a man of Herculean build. When they set out it was near +dawn, but the moon shone as bright as day. Passing through +the outskirts of the town, they came amongst the tombs, which +lined the highroad for some distance. There the soldier +made an excuse for retiring behind a monument, and Niceros +sat down to wait for him, humming a tune and counting +the tombstones to pass the time. In a little he looked +round for his companion, and saw a sight which froze him +with horror. The soldier had stripped off his clothes to the +last rag and laid them at the side of the highway. Then he +performed a certain ceremony over them, and immediately was +changed into a wolf, and ran howling into the forest. When +Niceros had recovered himself a little, he went to pick up the +clothes, but found that they were turned to stone. More +dead than alive, he drew his sword, and, striking at every +shadow cast by the tombstones on the moonlit road, he tottered +to his friend's house. He entered it like a ghost, to the +surprise of the widow, who wondered to see him abroad so +late. <q>If you had only been here a little ago,</q> said she, +<q>you might have been of some use. For a wolf came tearing +into the yard, scaring the cattle and bleeding them like +a butcher. But he did not get off so easily, for the servant +speared him in the neck.</q> After hearing these words, Niceros +felt that he could not close an eye, so he hurried away +home again. It was now broad daylight, but when he came +to the place where the clothes had been turned to stone, he +found only a pool of blood. He reached home, and there +lay the soldier in bed like an ox in the shambles, and the +doctor was bandaging his neck. <q>Then I knew,</q> said +Niceros, <q>that the man was a were-wolf, and never again +could I break bread with him, no, not if you had killed me +for it.</q><note place='foot'><p>Petronius, <hi rend='italic'>Sat.</hi> 61 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (pp. 40 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +ed. Fr. Buecheler,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>3</hi> Berlin, 1882). The +Latin word for a were-wolf (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>versipellis</foreign>) +is expressive: it means literally <q>skin-shifter,</q> +and is equally appropriate +whatever the particular animal may +be into which the wizard transforms +himself. It is to be regretted that we +have no such general term in English. +</p> +<p> +The bright moonlight which figures +in some of these were-wolf stories is +perhaps not a mere embellishment of +the tale but has its own significance; +for in some places it is believed that +the transformation of were-wolves into +their bestial shape takes place particularly +at full moon. See A. de +Nore, <hi rend='italic'>Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions +des Provinces de France</hi> (Paris and +Lyons, 1846), pp. 99, 157; J. L. M. +Noguès, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mœurs d'autrefois en +Saintonge et en Aunis</hi> (Saintes, 1891), +p. 141.</p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Witches +like were-wolves +can +temporarily +transform +themselves +into +animals.</note> +These stories may help us to understand the custom of +burning a bewitched animal, which has been observed in our +own country down to recent times, if indeed it is even now +extinct. For a close parallel may be traced in some respects +between witches and were-wolves. Like were-wolves, witches +are commonly supposed to be able to transform themselves +temporarily into animals for the purpose of playing their +mischievous pranks;<note place='foot'>J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and +Second Sight in the Highlands and +Islands of Scotland</hi> (Glasgow, 1902), +p. 6: <q>In carrying out their unhallowed +cantrips, witches assumed +various shapes. They became gulls, +cormorants, ravens, rats, mice, black +sheep, swelling waves, whales, and +very frequently cats and hares.</q> To +this list of animals into which witches +can turn themselves may be added +horses, dogs, wolves, foxes, pigs, owls, +magpies, wild geese, ducks, serpents, +toads, lizards, flies, wasps, and butterflies. +See A. Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche +Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Berlin, 1869), p. +150 § 217; L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube +und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi> +(Oldenburg, 1867), i. 327 § 220; +Ulrich Jahn, <hi rend='italic'>Hexenwesen und Zauberei +in Pommern</hi> (Breslau, 1886), p. 7. In +his <hi rend='italic'>Topography of Ireland</hi> (chap. 19), a +work completed in 1187 <hi rend='smallcaps'>a.d.</hi>, Giraldus +Cambrensis records that <q>it has also +been a frequent complaint, from old +times as well as in the present, that +certain hags in Wales, as well as in +Ireland and Scotland, changed themselves +into the shape of hares, that, +sucking teats under this counterfeit +form, they might stealthily rob other +people's milk.</q> See <hi rend='italic'>The Historical +Works of Giraldus Cambrensis</hi>, revised +and edited by Thomas Wright (London, +1887), p. 83.</note> and like were-wolves they can in their +animal disguise be compelled to unmask themselves to any +one who succeeds in drawing their blood. In either case the +animal-skin is conceived as a cloak thrown round the wicked +enchanter; and if you can only pierce the skin, whether by +the stab of a knife or the shot of a gun, you so rend the +disguise that the man or woman inside of it stands revealed +in his or her true colours. Strictly speaking, the stab should +be given on the brow or between the eyes in the case both of +a witch and of a were-wolf;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Folk-lore Journal</hi>, iv. (1886) +p. 266; Collin de Plancy, <hi rend='italic'>Dictionnaire +Infernal</hi> (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. +475; J. L. M. Noguès, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mœurs +d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis</hi> +(Saintes, 1891), p. 141. In Scotland +the cut was known as <q>scoring above +the breath.</q> It consisted of two incisions +made crosswise on the witch's +forehead, and was <q>confided in all +throughout Scotland as the most powerful +counter-charm.</q> See Sir Walter +Scott, <hi rend='italic'>Letters on Demonology and +Witchcraft</hi> (London, 1884), p. 272; +J. G. Dalyell, <hi rend='italic'>The Darker Superstitions +of Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, 1834), +pp. 531 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; M. M. Banks, <q>Scoring +a Witch above the Breath,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xxiii. (1912) p. 490.</note> and it is vain to shoot at a +were-wolf unless you have had the bullet blessed in a chapel +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/> +of St. Hubert or happen to be carrying about you, without +knowing it, a four-leaved clover; otherwise the bullet will +merely rebound from the were-wolf like water from a duck's +back.<note place='foot'>J. L. M. Noguès, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; L. F. +Sauvé, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges</hi> +(Paris, 1889), p. 187.</note> However, in Armenia they say that the were-wolf, +who in that country is usually a woman, can be killed neither +by shot nor by steel; the only way of delivering the unhappy +woman from her bondage is to get hold of her wolf's skin +and burn it; for that naturally prevents her from turning +into a wolf again. But it is not easy to find the skin, for +she is cunning enough to hide it by day.<note place='foot'>M. Abeghian, <hi rend='italic'>Der armenische +Volksglaube</hi> (Leipsic, 1899), p. 117. +The wolf-skin is supposed to fall down +from heaven and to return to heaven +after seven years, if the were-wolf has +not been delivered from her unhappy +state in the meantime by the burning +of the skin.</note> So with witches, +it is not only useless but even dangerous to shoot at one of +them when she has turned herself into a hare; if you do, the +gun may burst in your hand or the shot come back and kill +you. The only way to make quite sure of hitting a witch-animal +is to put a silver sixpence or a silver button in your +gun.<note place='foot'>J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and +Second Sight in the Highlands and +Islands of Scotland</hi> (Glasgow, 1902), +p. 8; compare A. Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche +Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Berlin, 1869), p. 150 +§ 217. Some think that the sixpence +should be crooked. See Rev. W. +Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Folk-lore of the +North-East of Scotland</hi> (London, 1881), +pp. 71 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 128; <hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, +vol. v. <hi rend='italic'>Lincolnshire</hi>, collected by Mrs. +Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, +1908), p. 75.</note> For example, it happened one evening that a native +of the island of Tiree was going home with a new gun, when +he saw a black sheep running towards him across the plain +of Reef. Something about the creature excited his suspicion, +so he put a silver sixpence in his gun and fired at it. +Instantly the black sheep became a woman with a drugget +coat wrapt round her head. The man knew her quite well, +for she was a witch who had often persecuted him before in +the shape of a cat.<note place='foot'>J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 30.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wounds +inflicted on +an animal +into which +a witch has +transformed +herself are +inflicted on +the witch +herself.</note> +Again, the wounds inflicted on a witch-hare or a witch-cat +are to be seen on the witch herself, just as the wounds inflicted +on a were-wolf are to be seen on the man himself when he +has doffed the wolf's skin. To take a few instances out of +a multitude, a young man in the island of Lismore was +out shooting. When he was near Balnagown loch, he started +<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/> +a hare and fired at it. The animal gave an unearthly scream, +and then for the first time it occurred to him that there were +no real hares in Lismore. He threw away his gun in terror +and fled home; and next day he heard that a notorious +witch was laid up with a broken leg. A man need be no +conjuror to guess how she came by that broken leg.<note place='foot'>J. G. Campbell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 33.</note> Again, +at Thurso certain witches used to turn themselves into cats +and in that shape to torment an honest man. One night he +lost patience, whipped out his broadsword, and put them to +flight. As they were scurrying away he struck at them and +cut off a leg of one of the cats. To his astonishment it was +a woman's leg, and next morning he found one of the witches +short of the corresponding limb.<note place='foot'>(Sir) Edward B. Tylor, <hi rend='italic'>Primitive +Culture</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (London, 1873), i. 314.</note> Glanvil tells a story of +<q>an old woman in Cambridge-shire, whose astral spirit, +coming into a man's house (as he was sitting alone at the +fire) in the shape of an huge cat, and setting her self before +the fire, not far from him, he stole a stroke at the back of it +with a fire-fork, and seemed to break the back of it, but it +scambled from him, and vanisht he knew not how. But +such an old woman, a reputed witch, was found dead in her +bed that very night, with her back broken, as I have heard +some years ago credibly reported.</q><note place='foot'>Joseph Glanvil, <hi rend='italic'>Saducismus +Triumphatus or Full and Plain +Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions</hi> +(London, 1681), Part ii. p. +205.</note> In Yorkshire during the +latter half of the nineteenth century a parish clergyman was +told a circumstantial story of an old witch named Nanny, +who was hunted in the form of a hare for several miles over +the Westerdale moors and kept well away from the dogs, +till a black one joined the pack and succeeded in taking a +bit out of one of the hare's legs. That was the end of the +chase, and immediately afterwards the sportsmen found old +Nanny laid up in bed with a sore leg. On examining the +wounded limb they discovered that the hurt was precisely in +that part of it which in the hare had been bitten by the +black dog and, what was still more significant, the wound had +all the appearance of having been inflicted by a dog's teeth. +So they put two and two together.<note place='foot'>Rev. J. C. Atkinson, <hi rend='italic'>Forty Years +in a Moorland Parish</hi> (London, 1891), +pp. 82-84.</note> The same sort of thing +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/> +is often reported in Lincolnshire. <q>One night,</q> said a servant +from Kirton Lindsey, <q>my father and brother saw a cat +in front of them. Father knew it was a witch, and took a stone +and hammered it. Next day the witch had her face all tied +up, and shortly afterwards died.</q> Again, a Bardney bumpkin +told how a witch in his neighbourhood could take all sorts +of shapes. One night a man shot a hare, and when he went +to the witch's house he found her plastering a wound just +where he had shot the hare.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. v. <hi rend='italic'>Lincolnshire</hi>, +collected by Mrs. Gutch and +Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), pp. +79, 80.</note> So in County Leitrim, in +Ireland, they say that a hare pursued by dogs fled to a +house near at hand, but just as it was bolting in at the door +one of the dogs came up with it and nipped a piece out of its +leg. The hunters entered the house and found no hare there +but only an old woman, and her side was bleeding; so they +knew what to think of her.<note place='foot'>Leland L. Duncan, <q>Folk-lore +Gleanings from County Leitrim,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +iv. (1893) pp. 183 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wounded +witches in +the Vosges.</note> +Again, in the Vosges Mountains a great big hare used +to come out every evening to take the air at the foot +of the Mont des Fourches. All the sportsmen of the +neighbourhood tried their hands on that hare for a month, +but not one of them could hit it. At last one marksman, +more knowing than the rest, loaded his gun with +some pellets of a consecrated wafer in addition to the usual +pellets of lead. That did the trick. If puss was not killed +outright, she was badly hurt, and limped away uttering +shrieks and curses in a human voice. Later it transpired +that she was no other than the witch of a neighbouring +village who had the power of putting on the shape of any +animal she pleased.<note place='foot'>L. F. Sauvé, <hi rend='italic'>Le Folk-lore des +Hautes-Vosges</hi> (Paris, 1889), p. 176.</note> Again, a hunter of Travexin, in the +Vosges, fired at a hare and almost shot away one of its hind +legs. Nevertheless the creature contrived to escape into a +cottage through the open door. Immediately a child's cries +were heard to proceed from the cottage, and the hunter +could distinguish these words, <q>Daddy, daddy, come quick! +Poor mammy has her leg broken.</q><note place='foot'>L. F. Sauvé, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 176 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Wounded +witches in +Swabia.</note> +In Swabia the witches are liable to accidents of the +same sort when they go about their business in the form +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/> +of animals. For example, there was a soldier who was betrothed +to a young woman and used to visit her every +evening when he was off duty. But one evening the girl +told him that he must not come to the house on Friday +nights, because it was never convenient to her to see him +then. This roused his suspicion, and the very next Friday +night he set out to go to his sweetheart's house. On the +way a white cat ran up to him in the street and dogged +his steps, and when the animal would not make off he +drew his sword and slashed off one of its paws. On +that the cat bolted. The soldier walked on, but when he +came to his sweetheart's house he found her in bed, and +when he asked her what was the matter, she gave a very +confused reply. Noticing stains of blood on the bed, he +drew down the coverlet and saw that the girl was weltering +in her gore, for one of her feet was lopped off. <q>So that's +what's the matter with you, you witch!</q> said he, and turned +on his heel and left her, and within three days she was dead.<note place='foot'>Ernst Meier, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, +Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben</hi> +(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 184 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, No. +203.</note> +Again, a farmer in the neighbourhood of Wiesensteig +frequently found in his stable a horse over and above the +four horses he actually owned. He did not know what to +make of it and mentioned the matter to the smith. The +smith said quietly, <q>The next time you see a fifth horse in +the stable, just you send for me.</q> Well, it was not long +before the strange horse was there again, and the farmer at +once sent for the smith. He came bringing four horse-shoes +with him, and said, <q>I'm sure the nag has no shoes; I'll +shoe her for you.</q> No sooner said than done. However, the +smith overreached himself; for next day when his friend the +farmer paid him a visit he found the smith's own wife +prancing about with horse-shoes nailed on her hands and +feet. But it was the last time she ever appeared in the +shape of a horse.<note place='foot'>E. Meier, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> pp. 191 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +No. 215. A similar story of the +shoeing of a woman in the shape of +a horse is reported from Silesia. See +R. Kühnau, <hi rend='italic'>Schlesische Sagen</hi> (Berlin, +1910-1913), iii. pp. 27 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, No. 1380.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +miller's +wife and +the two +grey cats.</note> +Once more, in Silesia they tell of a miller's apprentice, +a sturdy and industrious young fellow, who set out on his +travels. One day he came to a mill, and the miller told +<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/> +him that he wanted an apprentice but did not care to engage +one, because hitherto all his apprentices had run away in +the night, and when he came down in the morning the mill +was at a stand. However, he liked the looks of the +young chap and took him into his pay. But what the +new apprentice heard about the mill and his predecessors +was not encouraging; so the first night when it was his duty +to watch in the mill he took care to provide himself with an +axe and a prayer-book, and while he kept one eye on the +whirring, humming wheels he kept the other on the good +book, which he read by the flickering light of a candle set +on a table. So the hours at first passed quietly with nothing +to disturb him but the monotonous drone and click of the +machinery. But on the stroke of twelve, as he was still +reading with the axe lying on the table within reach, the +door opened and in came two grey cats mewing, an old one +and a young one. They sat down opposite him, but it was +easy to see that they did not like his wakefulness and the +prayer-book and the axe. Suddenly the old cat reached out +a paw and made a grab at the axe, but the young chap was +too quick for her and held it fast. Then the young cat +tried to do the same for the prayer-book, but the apprentice +gripped it tight. Thus balked, the two cats set up such a +squalling that the young fellow could hardly say his prayers. +Just before one o'clock the younger cat sprang on the table +and fetched a blow with her right paw at the candle to put +it out. But the apprentice struck at her with his axe and +sliced the paw off, whereupon the two cats vanished with a +frightful screech. The apprentice wrapped the paw up in +paper to shew it to his master. Very glad the miller was +next morning when he came down and found the mill going +and the young chap at his post. The apprentice told him +what had happened in the night and gave him the parcel +containing the cat's paw. But when the miller opened it, +what was the astonishment of the two to find in it no cat's +paw but a woman's hand! At breakfast the miller's young +wife did not as usual take her place at the table. She was +ill in bed, and the doctor had to be called in to bind up +her right arm, because in hewing wood, so they said, she +had made a slip and cut off her own right hand. But +<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/> +the apprentice packed up his traps and turned his back +on that mill before the sun had set.<note place='foot'>R. Kühnau, <hi rend='italic'>Schlesische Sagen</hi> +(Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. pp. 23 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +No. 1375. Compare <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, iii. pp. 28 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, No. 1381.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +analogy +of were-wolves +confirms +the +view that +the reason +for burning +bewitched +animals is +either to +burn the +witch or to +compel her +to appear.</note> +It would no doubt be easy to multiply instances, all equally +well attested and authentic, of the transformation of witches +into animals and of the damage which the women themselves +have sustained through injuries inflicted on the animals.<note place='foot'>See for example L. Strackerjan, +<hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum +Oldenburg</hi> (Oldenburg, 1867), i. +pp. 328, 329, 334, 339; W. von +Schulenburg, <hi rend='italic'>Wendische Volkssagen +und Gebräuche aus dem Spreewald</hi> +(Leipsic, 1880), pp. 164, 165 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +H. Pröhle, <hi rend='italic'>Harzsagen</hi> (Leipsic, 1859), +i. 100 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> The belief in such things is +said to be universal among the ignorant +and superstitious in Germany. See A. +Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Berlin, 1869), p. 150, § 217. In +Wales, also, <q>the possibility of injuring +or marking the witch in her assumed +shape so deeply that the bruise remained +a mark on her in her natural form was +a common belief</q> (J. Ceredig Davies, +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</hi>, +Aberystwyth, 1911, p. 243). For +Welsh stories of this sort, see J. +Ceredig Davies, <hi rend='italic'>l.c.</hi>; Rev. Elias +Owen, <hi rend='italic'>Welsh Folk-lore</hi> (Oswestry and +Wrexham, <hi rend='smallcaps'>n.d.</hi>, preface dated 1896), +pp. 228 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; M. Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore +and Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, +1909), p. 214.</note> But +the foregoing evidence may suffice to establish the complete +parallelism between witches and were-wolves in these +respects. The analogy appears to confirm the view that the +reason for burning a bewitched animal alive is a belief that +the witch herself is in the animal, and that by burning it +you either destroy the witch completely or at least unmask +her and compel her to reassume her proper human shape, in +which she is naturally far less potent for mischief than when +she is careering about the country in the likeness of a cat, +a hare, a horse, or what not. This principle is still indeed +clearly recognized by people in Oldenburg, though, as might +be expected, they do not now carry out the principle to its +logical conclusion by burning the bewitched animal or person +alive; instead they resort to a feeble and, it must be added, +perfectly futile subterfuge dictated by a mistaken humanity +or a fear of the police. <q>When anything living is bewitched +in a house, for example, children or animals, they burn or +boil the nobler inwards of animals, especially the hearts, but +also the lungs or the liver. If animals have died, they take +the inwards of one of them or of an animal of the same kind +slaughtered for the purpose; but if that is not possible they +take the inwards of a cock, by preference a black one. The +<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/> +heart, lung, or liver is stuck all over with needles, or marked +with a cross cut, or placed on the fire in a tightly closed +vessel, strict silence being observed and doors and windows +well shut. When the heart boils or is reduced to ashes, the +witch must appear, for during the boiling she feels the +burning pain. She either begs to be released or seeks to +borrow something, for example, salt or a coal of fire, or she +takes the lid off the pot, or tries to induce the person whose +spell is on her to speak. They say, too, that a woman +comes with a spinning-wheel. If it is a sheep that has died, +you proceed in the same way with a tripe from its stomach +and prick it with needles while it is on the boil. Instead of +boiling it, some people nail the heart to the highest rafter +of the house, or lay it on the edge of the hearth, in order +that it may dry up, no doubt because the same thing +happens to the witch. We may conjecture that other +sympathetic means of destruction are employed against +witchcraft. The following is expressly reported: the heart +of a calf that has died is stuck all over with needles, +enclosed in a bag, and thrown into flowing water before +sunset.</q><note place='foot'>L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube und +Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi> +(Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 361, § 239.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>There is +the same +reason for +burning +bewitched +things.</note> +And the same thing holds good also of inanimate objects +on which a witch has cast her spell. In Wales they say that +<q>if a thing is bewitched, burn it, and immediately afterwards +the witch will come to borrow something of you. If you +give what she asks, she will go free; if you refuse it, she +will burn, and a mark will be on her body the next day.</q><note place='foot'>Marie Trevelyan, <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore and +Folk-stories of Wales</hi> (London, 1909), +p. 210.</note> +So, too, in Oldenburg, <q>the burning of things that are +bewitched or that have been received from witches is +another way of breaking the spell. It is often said that +the burning should take place at a cross-road, and in several +places cross-roads are shewn where the burning used to be +performed.... As a rule, while the things are burning, the +guilty witches appear, though not always in their own shape. +At the burning of bewitched butter they often appear as +cockchafers and can be killed with impunity. Victuals +received from witches may be safely consumed if only you +<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/> +first burn a portion of them.</q><note place='foot'>L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube und +Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi> +(Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 358, § 238.</note> For example, a young man +in Oldenburg was wooing a girl, and she gave him two fine +apples as a gift. Not feeling any appetite at the time, he +put the apples in his pocket, and when he came home he +laid them by in a chest. Two or three days afterwards he +remembered the apples and went to the chest to fetch them. +But when he would have put his hand on them, what was +his horror to find in their stead two fat ugly toads in the +chest! He hastened to a wise man and asked him what he +should do with the toads. The man told him to boil the +toads alive, but while he was doing so he must be sure on no +account to lend anything out of the house. Well, just as he +had the toads in a pot on the fire and the water began to +grow nicely warm, who should come to the door but the girl +who had given him the apples, and she wished to borrow +something; but he refused to give her anything, rated her +as a witch, and drove her out of the house. A little afterwards +in came the girl's mother and begged with tears in her +eyes for something or other; but he turned her out also. +The last word she said to him was that he should at least +spare her daughter's life; but he paid no heed to her and +let the toads boil till they fell to bits. Next day word came +that the girl was dead.<note place='foot'>L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. p. 360, +§ 238e.</note> Can any reasonable man doubt +that the witch herself was boiled alive in the person of the +toads? +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Similarly +by burning +alive a +person +whose +form a +witch has +assumed, +you compel +the witch +to disclose +herself. +The burning +alive of +a supposed +witch in +Ireland in +1895.</note> +Moreover, just as a witch can assume the form of an +animal, so she can assume the form of some other human +being, and the likeness is sometimes so good that it is +difficult to detect the fraud. However, by burning alive +the person whose shape the witch has put on, you force +the witch to disclose herself, just as by burning alive the +bewitched animal you in like manner oblige the witch to +appear. This principle may perhaps be unknown to science, +falsely so called, but it is well understood in Ireland and has +been acted on within recent years. In March 1895 a peasant +named Michael Cleary, residing at Ballyvadlea, a remote and +lonely district in the county of Tipperary, burned his wife +<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/> +Bridget Cleary alive over a slow fire on the kitchen hearth +in the presence of and with the active assistance of some +neighbours, including the woman's own father and several of +her cousins. They thought that she was not Bridget Cleary +at all, but a witch, and that when they held her down on the +fire she would vanish up the chimney; so they cried, while +she was burning, <q>Away she goes! Away she goes!</q> Even +when she lay quite dead on the kitchen floor (for contrary +to the general expectation she did not disappear up the +chimney), her husband still believed that the woman lying +there was a witch, and that his own dear wife had gone +with the fairies to the old <foreign rend='italic'>rath</foreign> or fort on the hill of Kylenagranagh, +where he would see her at night riding a grey horse +and roped to the saddle, and that he would cut the ropes, +and that she would stay with him ever afterwards. So he +went with some friends to the fort night after night, taking a +big table-knife with him to cut the ropes. But he never saw +his wife again. He and the men who had held the woman +on the fire were arrested and tried at Clonmel for wilful +murder in July 1895; they were all found guilty of manslaughter +and sentenced to various terms of penal servitude +and imprisonment; the sentence passed on Michael Cleary +was twenty years' penal servitude.<note place='foot'><q>The <q>Witch-burning</q> at Clonmell,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, vi. (1895) pp. 373-384. +The account there printed is +based on the reports of the judicial +proceedings before the magistrates and +the judge, which were published in +<hi rend='italic'>The Irish Times</hi> for March 26th, +27th, and 28th, April 2nd, 3rd, 6th, +and 8th, and July 6th, 1895.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sometimes +bewitched +animals are +buried alive +instead of +being +burned.</note> +However, our British peasants, it must be confessed, have +not always acted up to the strict logical theory which seems +to call for death by fire as the proper treatment both of +bewitched animals and of witches. Sometimes, perhaps in +moments of weakness, they have merely buried the bewitched +animals alive instead of burning them. For example, in +the year 1643, <q>many cattle having died, John Brughe +and Neane Nikclerith, also one of the initiated, conjoined +their mutual skill for the safety of the herd. The surviving +animals were drove past a tub of water containing +two enchanted stones: and each was sprinkled from the +liquid contents in its course. One, however, being unable +to walk, <q>was by force drawin out at the byre dure; +<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/> +and the said Johnne with Nikclerith smelling the nois +thereof said it wald not leive, caused ane hoill to be maid +in Maw Greane, quhilk was put quick in the hole and +maid all the rest of the cattell theireftir to go over that +place: and in that devillische maner, be charmeing,</q> they +were cured.</q><note place='foot'>John Graham Dalyell, <hi rend='italic'>The Darker +Superstitions of Scotland</hi> (Edinburgh, +1834), p. 185. In this passage <q>quick</q> +is used in the old sense of <q>living,</q> as +in the phrase <q>the quick and the dead.</q> +<foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Nois</foreign> is <q>nose,</q> <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>hoill</foreign> is <q>hole,</q> <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>quhilk</foreign> +(<foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>whilk</foreign>) is <q>which,</q> and <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>be</foreign> is <q>by.</q></note> Again, during the prevalence of a murrain +about the year 1629, certain persons proposed to stay the +plague with the help of a celebrated <q>cureing stane</q> of +which the laird of Lee was the fortunate owner. But from +this they were dissuaded by one who <q>had sene bestiall +curet be taking ane quik seik ox, and making ane deip pitt, +and bureing him therin, and be calling the oxin and bestiall +over that place.</q> Indeed Issobell Young, the mother of these +persons, had herself endeavoured to check the progress of the +distemper by taking <q>ane quik ox with ane catt, and ane +grit quantitie of salt,</q> and proceeding <q>to burie the ox and +catt quik with the salt, in ane deip hoill in the grund, as ane +sacrifice to the devill, that the rest of the guidis might be +fred of the seiknes or diseases.</q><note place='foot'>J. G. Dalyell, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> p. 186. +<foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>Bestiall</foreign> = animals; <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>seik</foreign> = sick; <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>calling</foreign> += driving; <foreign lang='gv' rend='italic'>guidis</foreign> = cattle.</note> Writing towards the end +of the eighteenth century, John Ramsay of Ochtertyre tells +us that <q>the violent death even of a brute is in some cases +held to be of great avail. There is a disease called the +<emph>black spauld</emph>, which sometimes rages like a pestilence among +black cattle, the symptoms of which are a mortification in +the legs and a corruption of the mass of blood. Among +the other engines of superstition that are directed against +this fatal malady, the first cow seized with it is commonly +buried alive, and the other cattle are forced to pass backwards +and forwards over the pit. At other times the heart +is taken out of the beast alive, and then the carcass is +buried. It is remarkable that the leg affected is cut off, and +hung up in some part of the house or byre, where it remains +suspended, notwithstanding the seeming danger of infection. +There is hardly a house in Mull where these may not be +seen. This practice seems to have taken its rise antecedent +to Christianity, as it reminds us of the pagan custom of +<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/> +hanging up offerings in their temples. In Breadalbane, +when a cow is observed to have symptoms of madness, there +is recourse had to a peculiar process. They tie the legs of +the mad creature, and throw her into a pit dug at the door +of the fold. After covering the hole with earth, a large fire +is kindled upon it; and the rest of the cattle are driven out, +and forced to pass through the fire one by one.</q><note place='foot'>John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, <hi rend='italic'>Scotland +and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth +Century</hi>, edited by Alexander Allardyce +(Edinburgh and London, 1888), +ii. 446 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> As to the custom of cutting +off the leg of a diseased animal and +hanging it up in the house, see above, +p. <ref target='Pg296'>296</ref>, note 1.</note> In this +latter custom we may suspect that the fire kindled on the +grave of the buried cow was originally made by the friction +of wood, in other words, that it was a need-fire. Again, +writing in the year 1862, Sir Arthur Mitchell tells us that +<q>for the cure of the murrain in cattle, one of the herd is +still sacrificed for the good of the whole. This is done by +burying it alive. I am assured that within the last ten years +such a barbarism occurred in the county of Moray.</q><note place='foot'>(Sir) Arthur Mitchell, A.M., M.D., +<hi rend='italic'>On Various Superstitions in the North-West +Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Edinburgh, 1862), p. 12 (reprinted +from the <hi rend='italic'>Proceedings of the Society of +Antiquaries of Scotland</hi>, vol. iv.).</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Calves +killed and +buried to +save the +rest of +the herd.</note> +Sometimes, however, the animal has not even been buried +alive, it has been merely killed and then buried. In this +emasculated form the sacrifice, we may say with confidence, +is absolutely useless for the purpose of stopping a murrain. +Nevertheless, it has been tried. Thus in Lincolnshire, <q>when +the cattle plague was so prevalent in 1866, there was, I believe, +not a single cowshed in Marshland but had its wicken cross +over the door; and other charms more powerful than this were +in some cases resorted to. I never heard of the use of the +needfire in the Marsh, though it was, I believe, used on the +wolds not many miles off. But I knew of at least one case +in which a calf was killed and solemnly buried feet pointing +upwards at the threshold of the cowshed. When our garthman +told me of this, I pointed out to him that the charm +had failed, for the disease had not spared that shed. But +he promptly replied, <q>Yis, but owd Edwards were a soight +too cliver; he were that mean he slew nobbutt a wankling +cauf as were bound to deny anny road; if he had nobbutt +tekken his best cauf it wud hev worked reight enuff; 'tain't +<pb n='327'/><anchor id='Pg327'/> +in reason that owd skrat 'ud be hanselled wi' wankling +draffle.</q></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. v. <hi rend='italic'>Lincolnshire</hi>, +collected by Mrs. Gutch and +Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75, +quoting Rev. R. M. Heanley, <q>The +Vikings: traces of their Folklore in +Marshland,</q> a paper read before the +Viking Club, London, and printed in +its <hi rend='italic'>Saga-Book</hi>, vol. iii. Part i. Jan. 1902. +The wicken-tree is the mountain-ash +or rowan tree, which is a very efficient, +or at all events a very popular +protective against witchcraft. See +<hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, vol. v. <hi rend='italic'>Lincolnshire</hi>, +pp. 26 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 98 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Mabel Peacock, +<q>The Folklore of Lincolnshire,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, +xii. (1901) p. 175; J. G. Campbell, +<hi rend='italic'>Witchcraft and Second Sight in the +Highlands and Islands of Scotland</hi> +(Glasgow, 1902), pp. 11 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Rev. +Walter Gregor, <hi rend='italic'>Notes on the Folk-lore +of the North-East of Scotland</hi> (London, +1881), p. 188. See further <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, +pp. 266 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='328'/><anchor id='Pg328'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter V. The Interpretation of the Fire-Festivals.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='1. On the Fire-festivals in general.'/> +<head>§ 1. On the Fire-festivals in general.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>General resemblance +of the +European +fire-festivals to +each other.</note> +The foregoing survey of the popular fire-festivals of Europe +suggests some general observations. In the first place we +can hardly help being struck by the resemblance which the +ceremonies bear to each other, at whatever time of the +year and in whatever part of Europe they are celebrated. +The custom of kindling great bonfires, leaping over them, +and driving cattle through or round them would seem to +have been practically universal throughout Europe, and the +same may be said of the processions or races with blazing +torches round fields, orchards, pastures, or cattle-stalls. Less +widespread are the customs of hurling lighted discs into the +air<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>, <ref target='Pg143'>143</ref>, +<ref target='Pg165'>165</ref>, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg172'>172</ref>.</note> and trundling a burning wheel down hill;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>, <ref target='Pg117'>117</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>, +<ref target='Pg141'>141</ref>, <ref target='Pg143'>143</ref>, <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, +<ref target='Pg173'>173</ref>, <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref>, <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref>.</note> for to judge +by the evidence which I have collected these modes of +distributing the beneficial influence of the fire have been +confined in the main to Central Europe. The ceremonial +of the Yule log is distinguished from that of the other fire-festivals +by the privacy and domesticity which characterize +it; but, as we have already seen, this distinction may well +be due simply to the rough weather of midwinter, which is +apt not only to render a public assembly in the open air disagreeable, +but also at any moment to defeat the object of +the assembly by extinguishing the all-important fire under a +downpour of rain or a fall of snow. Apart from these local +or seasonal differences, the general resemblance between +<pb n='329'/><anchor id='Pg329'/> +the fire-festivals at all times of the year and in all places is +tolerably close. And as the ceremonies themselves resemble +each other, so do the benefits which the people expect to +reap from them. Whether applied in the form of bonfires +blazing at fixed points, or of torches carried about from +place to place, or of embers and ashes taken from the +smouldering heap of fuel, the fire is believed to promote the +growth of the crops and the welfare of man and beast, either +positively by stimulating them, or negatively by averting the +dangers and calamities which threaten them from such causes +as thunder and lightning, conflagration, blight, mildew, vermin, +sterility, disease, and not least of all witchcraft. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Two explanations +suggested +of the fire-festivals. +According +to W. +Mannhardt, +they +are charms +to secure a +supply of +sunshine; +according +to Dr. E. +Westermarck +they are +purificatory, +being intended +to +burn and +destroy all +harmful +influences.</note> +But we naturally ask, How did it come about that benefits +so great and manifold were supposed to be attained by +means so simple? In what way did people imagine that +they could procure so many goods or avoid so many ills by +the application of fire and smoke, of embers and ashes? In +short, what theory underlay and prompted the practice of +these customs? For that the institution of the festivals +was the outcome of a definite train of reasoning may be +taken for granted; the view that primitive man acted first +and invented his reasons to suit his actions afterwards, is +not borne out by what we know of his nearest living representatives, +the savage and the peasant. Two different +explanations of the fire-festivals have been given by modern +enquirers. On the one hand it has been held that they are +sun-charms or magical ceremonies intended, on the principle +of imitative magic, to ensure a needful supply of sunshine +for men, animals, and plants by kindling fires which mimic +on earth the great source of light and heat in the sky. This +was the view of Wilhelm Mannhardt.<note place='foot'>W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme</hi> +(Berlin, 1875), pp. 521 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> It may be called the +solar theory. On the other hand it has been maintained +that the ceremonial fires have no necessary reference to the +sun but are simply purificatory in intention, being designed +to burn up and destroy all harmful influences, whether these +are conceived in a personal form as witches, demons, and +monsters, or in an impersonal form as a sort of pervading +taint or corruption of the air. This is the view of Dr. +<pb n='330'/><anchor id='Pg330'/> +Edward Westermarck<note place='foot'>E. Westermarck, <q>Midsummer +Customs in Morocco,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore</hi>, xvi. +(1905) pp. 44 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>The Origin +and Development of the Moral Ideas</hi> +(London, 1906-1908), i. 56; <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with +Agriculture, certain Dates of the Solar +Year, and the Weather in Morocco</hi> +(Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 93-102.</note> and apparently of Professor Eugen +Mogk.<note place='foot'>E. Mogk, <q>Sitten und Gebräuche +im Kreislauf des Jahres,</q> in R. +Wuttke's <hi rend='italic'>Sächsische Volkskunde</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Dresden, 1901), pp. 310 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> It may be called the purificatory theory. Obviously +the two theories postulate two very different conceptions +of the fire which plays the principal part in the rites. +On the one view, the fire, like sunshine in our latitude, is a +genial creative power which fosters the growth of plants and +the development of all that makes for health and happiness; +on the other view, the fire is a fierce destructive power +which blasts and consumes all the noxious elements, whether +spiritual or material, that menace the life of men, of animals, +and of plants. According to the one theory the fire is a +stimulant, according to the other it is a disinfectant; on the +one view its virtue is positive, on the other it is negative. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The two +explanations +are +perhaps +not +mutually +exclusive.</note> +Yet the two explanations, different as they are in the +character which they attribute to the fire, are perhaps not +wholly irreconcilable. If we assume that the fires kindled +at these festivals were primarily intended to imitate the +sun's light and heat, may we not regard the purificatory and +disinfecting qualities, which popular opinion certainly appears +to have ascribed to them, as attributes derived directly from +the purificatory and disinfecting qualities of sunshine? In +this way we might conclude that, while the imitation of +sunshine in these ceremonies was primary and original, the +purification attributed to them was secondary and derivative. +Such a conclusion, occupying an intermediate position between +the two opposing theories and recognizing an element +of truth in both of them, was adopted by me in earlier +editions of this work;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Golden Bough</hi>, Second Edition +(London, 1900), iii. 312: <q>The +custom of leaping over the fire +and driving cattle through it may be +intended, on the one hand, to secure +for man and beast a share of the vital +energy of the sun, and, on the other +hand, to purge them of all evil influences; +for to the primitive mind fire +is the most powerful of all purificatory +agents</q>; and again, <hi rend='italic'>id.</hi> iii. 314: <q>It +is quite possible that in these customs +the idea of the quickening power of +fire may be combined with the conception +of it as a purgative agent for +the expulsion or destruction of evil +beings, such as witches and the vermin +that destroy the fruits of the earth. +Certainly the fires are often interpreted +in the latter way by the persons +who light them; and this purgative +use of the element comes out very +prominently, as we have seen, in the +general expulsion of demons from +towns and villages. But in the present +class of cases this aspect of fire may +be secondary, if indeed it is more +than a later misinterpretation of the +custom.</q></note> but in the meantime Dr. Westermarck +<pb n='331'/><anchor id='Pg331'/> +has argued powerfully in favour of the purificatory +theory alone, and I am bound to say that his arguments +carry great weight, and that on a fuller review of the facts +the balance of evidence seems to me to incline decidedly in +his favour. However, the case is not so clear as to justify +us in dismissing the solar theory without discussion, and +accordingly I propose to adduce the considerations which +tell for it before proceeding to notice those which tell +against it. A theory which had the support of so learned +and sagacious an investigator as W. Mannhardt is entitled +to a respectful hearing. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='2. The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals.'/> +<head>§ 2. The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Theory +that the +fire-festivals +are charms +to ensure a +supply of +sunshine.</note> +In an earlier part of this work we saw that savages +resort to charms for making sunshine,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 311 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> and it would be no +wonder if primitive man in Europe did the same. Indeed, +when we consider the cold and cloudy climate of Europe +during a great part of the year, we shall find it natural that +sun-charms should have played a much more prominent +part among the superstitious practices of European peoples +than among those of savages who live nearer the equator +and who consequently are apt to get in the course of nature +more sunshine than they want. This view of the festivals +may be supported by various arguments drawn partly +from their dates, partly from the nature of the rites, and +partly from the influence which they are believed to exert +upon the weather and on vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Coincidence +of +two of the +festivals +with the +solstices.</note> +First, in regard to the dates of the festivals it can be no +mere accident that two of the most important and widely +spread of the festivals are timed to coincide more or less +exactly with the summer and winter solstices, that is, with +the two turning-points in the sun's apparent course in the +sky when he reaches respectively his highest and his lowest +elevation at noon. Indeed with respect to the midwinter +celebration of Christmas we are not left to conjecture; we +<pb n='332'/><anchor id='Pg332'/> +know from the express testimony of the ancients that it was +instituted by the church to supersede an old heathen festival +of the birth of the sun,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Adonis, Attis, Osiris</hi>, Second +Edition, pp. 254 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> which was apparently conceived to +be born again on the shortest day of the year, after which +his light and heat were seen to grow till they attained their +full maturity at midsummer. Therefore it is no very far-fetched +conjecture to suppose that the Yule log, which +figures so prominently in the popular celebration of Christmas, +was originally designed to help the labouring sun of midwinter +to rekindle his seemingly expiring light. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Attempt of +the Bushmen +to +warm up +the fire of +Sirius in +midwinter +by kindling +sticks.</note> +The idea that by lighting a log on earth you can rekindle +a fire in heaven or fan it into a brighter blaze, naturally +seems to us absurd; but to the savage mind it wears a +different aspect, and the institution of the great fire-festivals +which we are considering probably dates from a time when +Europe was still sunk in savagery or at most in barbarism. +Now it can be shewn that in order to increase the celestial +source of heat at midwinter savages resort to a practice +analogous to that of our Yule log, if the kindling of the +Yule log was originally a magical rite intended to rekindle +the sun. In the southern hemisphere, where the order of +the seasons is the reverse of ours, the rising of Sirius or +the Dog Star in July marks the season of the greatest cold +instead of, as with us, the greatest heat; and just as the +civilized ancients ascribed the torrid heat of midsummer to +that brilliant star,<note place='foot'><p>Manilius, <hi rend='italic'>Astronom.</hi> v. 206 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>: +</p> +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Cum vero in vastos surget Nemeaeus hiatus,<lb/> +Exoriturque Canis, latratque Canicula flammas<lb/> +Et rabit igne suo geminatque incendia solis,<lb/> +Qua subdente facem terris radiosque movente</hi>,</q> etc. +</p> +<p> +Pliny, <hi rend='italic'>Naturalis Historia</hi>, xviii. 269 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>: <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Exoritur dein post triduum fere +ubique confessum inter omnes sidus +ingens quod canis ortum vocamus, sole +partem primam leonis ingresso. Hoc +fit post solstitium XXIII. die. Sentiunt +id maria et terrae, multae vero et ferae, +ut suis locis diximus. Neque est minor +ei veneratio quam descriptis in deos +stellis, accenditque solem et magnam +aestus obtinet causam.</foreign></q></p></note> so the modern savage of South Africa +attributes to it the piercing cold of midwinter and seeks +to mitigate its rigour by warming up the chilly star with +the genial heat of the sun. How he does so may be best +described in his own words as follows:—<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Specimens of Bushman Folklore</hi>, +collected by the late W. H. I. Bleek, +Ph.D., and L. C. Lloyd (London, +1911), pp. 339, 341. In quoting the +passage I have omitted the brackets +which the editors print for the purpose +of indicating the words which are +implied, but not expressed, in the +original Bushman text.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='333'/><anchor id='Pg333'/> + +<p> +<q>The Bushmen perceive Canopus, they say to a child: +<q>Give me yonder piece of wood, that I may put the end of +it in the fire, that I may point it burning towards grandmother, +for grandmother carries Bushman rice; grandmother +shall make a little warmth for us; for she coldly comes out; +the sun<note place='foot'><q>The sun is a little warm, when +this star appears in winter</q> (Editors of +<hi rend='italic'>Specimens of Bushman Folklore</hi>).</note> shall warm grandmother's eye for us.</q> Sirius comes +out; the people call out to one another: <q>Sirius comes +yonder;</q> they say to one another: <q>Ye must burn a stick for +us towards Sirius.</q> They say to one another: <q>Who was it +who saw Sirius?</q> One man says to the other: <q>Our brother +saw Sirius.</q> The other man says to him: <q>I saw Sirius.</q> +The other man says to him: <q>I wish thee to burn a stick +for us towards Sirius; that the sun may shining come out +for us; that Sirius may not coldly come out.</q> The other +man (the one who saw Sirius) says to his son: <q>Bring me +the small piece of wood yonder, that I may put the end +of it in the fire, that I may burn it towards grandmother; +that grandmother may ascend the sky, like the other one, +Canopus.</q> The child brings him the piece of wood, he (the +father) holds the end of it in the fire. He points it burning +towards Sirius; he says that Sirius shall twinkle like +Canopus. He sings; he sings about Canopus, he sings +about Sirius; he points to them with fire,<note place='foot'><q>With the stick that he had held +in the fire, moving it up and down +quickly</q> (Editors).</note> that they may +twinkle like each other. He throws fire at them. He +covers himself up entirely (including his head) in his kaross +and lies down. He arises, he sits down; while he does not +again lie down; because he feels that he has worked, putting +Sirius into the sun's warmth; so that Sirius may warmly +come out. The women go out early to seek for Bushman +rice; they walk, sunning their shoulder blades.</q><note place='foot'><q>They take one arm out of the +kaross, thereby exposing one shoulder +blade to the sun</q> (Editors).</note> What the +Bushmen thus do to temper the cold of midwinter in the +southern hemisphere by blowing up the celestial fires may +have been done by our rude forefathers at the corresponding +season in the northern hemisphere. +</p> + +<pb n='334'/><anchor id='Pg334'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The burning +wheels +and discs +of the fire-festivals +may be +direct +imitations +of the sun.</note> +Not only the date of some of the festivals but the +manner of their celebration suggests a conscious imitation +of the sun. The custom of rolling a burning wheel down a +hill, which is often observed at these ceremonies, might well +pass for an imitation of the sun's course in the sky, and the +imitation would be especially appropriate on Midsummer +Day when the sun's annual declension begins. Indeed the +custom has been thus interpreted by some of those who +have recorded it.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> On +the wheel as an emblem of the sun, +see J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +ii. 585; A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Die Herabkunft +des Feuers und des Göttertranks</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 45 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; H. +Gaidoz, <q>Le dieu gaulois du soleil et +le symbolisme de la roue,</q> <hi rend='italic'>Revue +Archéologique</hi>, iii. Série, iv. (1884) +pp. 14 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; William Simpson, <hi rend='italic'>The +Buddhist Praying Wheel</hi> (London, +1896), pp. 87 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> It is a popular +Armenian idea that <q>the body of the +sun has the shape of the wheel of a +water-mill; it revolves and moves +forward. As drops of water sputter +from the mill-wheel, so sunbeams shoot +out from the spokes of the sun-wheel</q> +(M. Abeghian, <hi rend='italic'>Der armenische Volksglaube</hi>, +Leipsic, 1899, p. 41). In the +old Mexican picture-books the usual +representation of the sun is <q>a wheel, +often brilliant with many colours, the +rays of which are so many blood-stained +tongues, by means of which +the Sun receives his nourishment</q> +(E. J. Payne, <hi rend='italic'>History of the New World +called America</hi>, Oxford, 1892, i. 521).</note> Not less graphic, it may be said, is the +mimicry of his apparent revolution by swinging a burning +tar-barrel round a pole.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg169'>169</ref>.</note> Again, the common practice of +throwing fiery discs, sometimes expressly said to be shaped +like suns, into the air at the festivals may well be a piece +of imitative magic. In these, as in so many cases, the +magic force may be supposed to take effect through mimicry +or sympathy: by imitating the desired result you actually +produce it: by counterfeiting the sun's progress through the +heavens you really help the luminary to pursue his celestial +journey with punctuality and despatch. The name <q>fire of +heaven,</q> by which the midsummer fire is sometimes popularly +known,<note place='foot'>Ernst Meier, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Sagen, +Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben</hi> +(Stuttgart, 1852), p. 225; F. Panzer, +<hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie</hi> +(Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 240; +Anton Birlinger, <hi rend='italic'>Volksthümliches aus +Schwaben</hi> (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), +ii. 57, 97; W. Mannhardt, +<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. 510.</note> clearly implies a consciousness of a connexion +between the earthly and the heavenly flame. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The wheel +sometimes +used to +kindle the +fire by +friction +may also +be an +imitation +of the sun.</note> +Again, the manner in which the fire appears to have +been originally kindled on these occasions has been alleged +in support of the view that it was intended to be a mock-sun. +As some scholars have perceived, it is highly probable +<pb n='335'/><anchor id='Pg335'/> +that at the periodic festivals in former times fire was +universally obtained by the friction of two pieces of wood.<note place='foot'>Compare J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche +Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 521; J. W. Wolf, +<hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie</hi> +(Göttingen und Leipsic, 1852-1857), +ii. 389; Adalbert Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Die Herabkunft +des Feuers und des Göttertranks</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 41 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 47; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. 521. +Lindenbrog in his Glossary on the +Capitularies (quoted by J. Grimm, +<hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> i. 502) expressly +says: <q>The rustics in many parts of +Germany, particularly on the festival of +St. John the Baptist, wrench a stake +from a fence, wind a rope round it, +and pull it to and fro till it catches +fire. This fire they carefully feed with +straw and dry sticks and scatter the +ashes over the vegetable gardens, +foolishly and superstitiously imagining +that in this way the caterpillar can be +kept off. They call such a fire <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>nodfeur</foreign> +or <foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>nodfyr</foreign>, that is to say need-fire.</q></note> +We have seen that it is still so procured in some places both +at the Easter and the midsummer festivals, and that it is +expressly said to have been formerly so procured at the +Beltane celebration both in Scotland and Wales.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg144'>144</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg147'>147</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg155'>155</ref>, +<ref target='Pg169'>169</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg175'>175</ref>, <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref>, <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref>.</note> But what +makes it nearly certain that this was once the invariable +mode of kindling the fire at these periodic festivals is the +analogy of the need-fire, which has almost always been +produced by the friction of wood, and sometimes by the +revolution of a wheel. It is a plausible conjecture that the +wheel employed for this purpose represents the sun,<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> +i. 509; J. W. Wolf, <hi rend='italic'>Beiträge zur +deutschen Mythologie</hi>, i. 117; A. Kuhn, +<hi rend='italic'>Die Herabkunft des Feuers</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> pp. 47 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +W. Mannhardt, <hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, p. 521; +W. E. Kelly, <hi rend='italic'>Curiosities of Indo-European +Tradition and Folk-lore</hi> +(London, 1863), p. 49.</note> and if +the fires at the regularly recurring celebrations were formerly +produced in the same way, it might be regarded as a confirmation +of the view that they were originally sun-charms. +In point of fact there is, as Kuhn has indicated,<note place='foot'>A. Kuhn, <hi rend='italic'>Die Herabkunft des +Feuers und des Göttertranks</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Gütersloh, +1886), p. 47.</note> some +evidence to shew that the midsummer fire was originally +thus produced. We have seen that many Hungarian swine-herds +make fire on Midsummer Eve by rotating a wheel +round a wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and that they drive +their pigs through the fire thus made.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref>.</note> At Obermedlingen, +in Swabia, the <q>fire of heaven,</q> as it was called, was made +on St. Vitus's Day (the fifteenth of June) by igniting a cart-wheel, +which, smeared with pitch and plaited with straw, +was fastened on a pole twelve feet high, the top of the pole +being inserted in the nave of the wheel. This fire was +<pb n='336'/><anchor id='Pg336'/> +made on the summit of a mountain, and as the flame +ascended, the people uttered a set form of words, with eyes +and arms directed heavenward.<note place='foot'>F. Panzer, <hi rend='italic'>Beitrag zur deutschen +Mythologie</hi> (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. +240, § 443.</note> Here the fixing of a wheel +on a pole and igniting it suggests that originally the fire +was produced, as in the case of the need-fire, by the revolution +of a wheel. The day on which the ceremony takes +place (the fifteenth of June) is near midsummer; and we +have seen that in Masuren fire is, or used to be, actually +made on Midsummer Day by turning a wheel rapidly about +an oaken pole,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg177'>177</ref>.</note> though it is not said that the new fire so +obtained is used to light a bonfire. However, we must +bear in mind that in all such cases the use of a wheel may +be merely a mechanical device to facilitate the operation of +fire-making by increasing the friction; it need not have +any symbolical significance. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The influence +which the +fires are +supposed +to exert on +the weather +and vegetation +may be +thought to +be due to +an increase +of solar +heat produced +by +the fires.</note> +Further, the influence which these fires, whether periodic +or occasional, are supposed to exert on the weather and +vegetation may be cited in support of the view that they are +sun-charms, since the effects ascribed to them resemble +those of sunshine. Thus, the French belief that in a rainy +June the lighting of the midsummer bonfires will cause the +rain to cease<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> appears to assume that they can disperse the +dark clouds and make the sun to break out in radiant glory, +drying the wet earth and dripping trees. Similarly the use +of the need-fire by Swiss children on foggy days for the +purpose of clearing away the mist<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg279'>279</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> may very naturally be +interpreted as a sun-charm. Again, we have seen that in +the Vosges Mountains the people believe that the midsummer +fires help to preserve the fruits of the earth and +ensure good crops.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref>.</note> In Sweden the warmth or cold of the +coming season is inferred from the direction in which the +flames of the May Day bonfire are blown; if they blow to +the south, it will be warm, if to the north, cold.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref>.</note> No doubt +at present the direction of the flames is regarded merely as +an augury of the weather, not as a mode of influencing it. +But we may be pretty sure that this is one of the cases in +which magic has dwindled into divination. So in the Eifel +<pb n='337'/><anchor id='Pg337'/> +Mountains, when the smoke blows towards the corn-fields, +this is an omen that the harvest will be abundant.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>.</note> But the +older view may have been not merely that the smoke and +flames prognosticated, but that they actually produced an +abundant harvest, the heat of the flames acting like sunshine +on the corn. Perhaps it was with this view that people +in the Isle of Man lit fires to windward of their fields +in order that the smoke might blow over them.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref>.</note> So in +South Africa, about the month of April, the Matabeles +light huge fires to the windward of their gardens, <q>their +idea being that the smoke, by passing over the crops, +will assist the ripening of them.</q><note place='foot'>L. Decle, <hi rend='italic'>Three Years in Savage +Africa</hi> (London, 1898), pp. 160 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Among the Zulus also +<q>medicine is burned on a fire placed to windward of the +garden, the fumigation which the plants in consequence +receive being held to improve the crop.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. J. Shooter, <hi rend='italic'>The Kafirs of +Natal and the Zulu Country</hi> (London, +1857), p. 18.</note> Again, the idea +of our European peasants that the corn will grow well as +far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref>, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref>.</note> may be interpreted +as a remnant of the belief in the quickening and fertilizing +power of the bonfires. The same belief, it may be argued, +reappears in the notion that embers taken from the bonfires +and inserted in the fields will promote the growth of the +crops,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref>, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg173'>173</ref>, +<ref target='Pg203'>203</ref>.</note> and it may be thought to underlie the customs of +sowing flax-seed in the direction in which the flames blow,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref>.</note> +of mixing the ashes of the bonfire with the seed-corn at +sowing,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref>.</note> of scattering the ashes by themselves over the field +to fertilize it,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref>, <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref>, <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref>, +<ref target='Pg248'>248</ref>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>, <ref target='Pg264'>264</ref>.</note> and of incorporating a piece of the Yule +log in the plough to make the seeds thrive.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg251'>251</ref>.</note> The +opinion that the flax or hemp will grow as high as +the flames rise or the people leap over them<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>, <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref>, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref>, +<ref target='Pg173'>173</ref>, <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref>.</note> belongs +clearly to the same class of ideas. Again, at Konz, on +the banks of the Moselle, if the blazing wheel which +was trundled down the hillside reached the river without +being extinguished, this was hailed as a proof that the +<pb n='338'/><anchor id='Pg338'/> +vintage would be abundant. So firmly was this belief held +that the successful performance of the ceremony entitled the +villagers to levy a tax upon the owners of the neighbouring +vineyards.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref>, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> Here the unextinguished wheel might be taken +to represent an unclouded sun, which in turn would portend +an abundant vintage. So the waggon-load of white wine +which the villagers received from the vineyards round about +might pass for a payment for the sunshine which they had +procured for the grapes. Similarly we saw that in the Vale +of Glamorgan a blazing wheel used to be trundled down hill +on Midsummer Day, and that if the fire were extinguished +before the wheel reached the foot of the hill, the people +expected a bad harvest; whereas if the wheel kept alight +all the way down and continued to blaze for a long time, +the farmers looked forward to heavy crops that summer.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg201'>201</ref>.</note> +Here, again, it is natural to suppose that the rustic mind +traced a direct connexion between the fire of the wheel and +the fire of the sun, on which the crops are dependent. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The effect +which the +bonfires +are supposed +to +have in +fertilizing +cattle and +women +may also be +attributed +to an +increase of +solar heat +produced +by the fires.</note> +But in popular belief the quickening and fertilizing influence +of the bonfires is not limited to the vegetable world; +it extends also to animals. This plainly appears from the +Irish custom of driving barren cattle through the mid-summer +fires,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref>.</note> from the French belief that the Yule-log +steeped in water helps cows to calve,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>.</note> from the French and +Servian notion that there will be as many chickens, calves, +lambs, and kids as there are sparks struck out of the Yule log,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg251'>251</ref>, <ref target='Pg262'>262</ref>, <ref target='Pg263'>263</ref>, <ref target='Pg264'>264</ref>.</note> +from the French custom of putting the ashes of the bonfires +in the fowls' nests to make the hens lay eggs,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg112'>112</ref>.</note> and from the +German practice of mixing the ashes of the bonfires with +the drink of cattle in order to make the animals thrive.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg141'>141</ref>.</note> +Further, there are clear indications that even human fecundity +is supposed to be promoted by the genial heat of the fires. +In Morocco the people think that childless couples can +obtain offspring by leaping over the midsummer bonfire.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg214'>214</ref>.</note> +It is an Irish belief that a girl who jumps thrice over the +midsummer bonfire will soon marry and become the mother +<pb n='339'/><anchor id='Pg339'/> +of many children;<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg204'>204</ref>.</note> in Flanders women leap over the Midsummer +fires to ensure an easy delivery;<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg194'>194</ref>.</note> and in various +parts of France they think that if a girl dances round +nine fires she will be sure to marry within the year.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref>, <ref target='Pg189'>189</ref>; compare +p. <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref>.</note> On +the other hand, in Lechrain people say that if a young +man and woman, leaping over the midsummer fire together, +escape unsmirched, the young woman will not become +a mother within twelve months:<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>.</note> the flames have not +touched and fertilized her. In parts of Switzerland and +France the lighting of the Yule log is accompanied by +a prayer that the women may bear children, the she-goats +bring forth kids, and the ewes drop lambs.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>.</note> The rule +observed in some places that the bonfires should be kindled +by the person who was last married<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref>, <ref target='Pg109'>109</ref>, <ref target='Pg111'>111</ref>, <ref target='Pg119'>119</ref>; +compare pp. <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref>, <ref target='Pg193'>193</ref>.</note> seems to belong to the +same class of ideas, whether it be that such a person is supposed +to receive from, or to impart to, the fire a generative +and fertilizing influence. The common practice of lovers +leaping over the fires hand in hand may very well have +originated in a notion that thereby their marriage would be +blessed with offspring; and the like motive would explain +the custom which obliges couples married within the year to +dance to the light of torches.<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg115'>115</ref>.</note> And the scenes of profligacy +which appear to have marked the midsummer celebration +among the Esthonians,<note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref>.</note> as they once marked the celebration +of May Day among ourselves, may have sprung, not from +the mere license of holiday-makers, but from a crude notion +that such orgies were justified, if not required, by some +mysterious bond which linked the life of man to the courses +of the heavens at this turning-point of the year. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The +custom of +carrying +lighted +torches +about the +country at +the festivals +may be +explained +as an +attempt to +diffuse the +sun's heat.</note> +At the festivals which we are considering the custom of +kindling bonfires is commonly associated with a custom of +carrying lighted torches about the fields, the orchards, the +pastures, the flocks and the herds; and we can hardly doubt +that the two customs are only two different ways of attaining +the same object, namely, the benefits which are believed +to flow from the fire, whether it be stationary or portable. +<pb n='340'/><anchor id='Pg340'/> +Accordingly if we accept the solar theory of the bonfires, +we seem bound to apply it also to the torches; we must +suppose that the practice of marching or running with blazing +torches about the country is simply a means of diffusing +far and wide the genial influence of the sunshine, of which +these flickering flames are a feeble imitation. In favour of +this view it may be said that sometimes the torches are +carried about the fields for the express purpose of fertilizing +them,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg113'>113</ref>, <ref target='Pg142'>142</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref>, <ref target='Pg233'>233</ref>. +The torches of Demeter, which figure +so largely in her myth and on her +monuments, are perhaps to be explained +by this custom. See <hi rend='italic'>Spirits +of the Corn and of the Wild</hi>, i. +57. W. Mannhardt thought (<hi rend='italic'>Baumkultus</hi>, +p. 536) that the torches in the +modern European customs are imitations +of lightning. At some of their +ceremonies the Indians of North-West +America imitate lightning by means of +pitch-wood torches which are flashed +through the roof of the house. See +J. G. Swan, quoted by Franz Boas, +<q>The Social Organization and the +Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Report of the United States +National Museum for 1895</hi> (Washington, +1897), p. 639.</note> and for the same purpose live coals from the bonfires +are sometimes placed in the fields <q>to prevent blight.</q><note place='foot'>Above, p. <ref target='Pg203'>203</ref>.</note> On +the Eve of Twelfth Day in Normandy men, women, and +children run wildly through the fields and orchards with +lighted torches, which they wave about the branches and +dash against the trunks of the fruit-trees for the sake of +burning the moss and driving away the moles and field +mice. <q>They believe that the ceremony fulfils the double +object of exorcizing the vermin whose multiplication would +be a real calamity, and of imparting fecundity to the trees, +the fields, and even the cattle</q>; and they imagine that the +more the ceremony is prolonged, the greater will be the +crop of fruit next autumn.<note place='foot'>Amélie Bosquet, <hi rend='italic'>La Normandie +Romanesque et Merveilleuse</hi> (Paris and +Rouen, 1845), pp. 295 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; Jules Lecœur, +<hi rend='italic'>Esquisses du Bocage Normand</hi> +(Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. +126-129. See <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. +316 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> In Bohemia they say that the +corn will grow as high as they fling the blazing besoms into +the air.<note place='foot'>Br. Jelínek, <q>Materialen zur +Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Mittheilungen der anthropolog. +Gesellschaft in Wien</hi>, xxi. (1891) p. +13 note.</note> Nor are such notions confined to Europe. In +Corea, a few days before the New Year festival, the eunuchs +of the palace swing burning torches, chanting invocations +the while, and this is supposed to ensure bountiful crops for +the next season.<note place='foot'>Mrs. Bishop, <hi rend='italic'>Korea and her +Neighbours</hi> (London, 1898), ii. 56 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> The custom of trundling a burning wheel +<pb n='341'/><anchor id='Pg341'/> +over the fields, which used to be observed in Poitou for the +express purpose of fertilizing them,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> may be thought to +embody the same idea in a still more graphic form; since +in this way the mock-sun itself, not merely its light and +heat represented by torches, is made actually to pass over +the ground which is to receive its quickening and kindly +influence. Once more, the custom of carrying lighted +brands round cattle<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg178'>178</ref>, <ref target='Pg205'>205</ref>, <ref target='Pg206'>206</ref>.</note> is plainly equivalent to driving the +animals through the bonfire; and if the bonfire is a sun-charm, +the torches must be so also. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='3. The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals.'/> +<head>§ 3. The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Theory +that the +fires at the +festivals are +purificatory, +being +intended to +burn up all +harmful +things.</note> +Thus far we have considered what may be said for the +theory that at the European fire-festivals the fire is kindled +as a charm to ensure an abundant supply of sunshine for +man and beast, for corn and fruits. It remains to consider +what may be said against this theory and in favour of the +view that in these rites fire is employed not as a creative +but as a cleansing agent, which purifies men, animals, and +plants by burning up and consuming the noxious elements, +whether material or spiritual, which menace all living things +with disease and death. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The purificatory +or +destructive +effect of the +fires is often +alleged by +the people +who light +them. The great +evil against +which the +fire at the +festivals is +directed +appears +to be +witchcraft.</note> +First, then, it is to be observed that the people who +practise the fire-customs appear never to allege the solar +theory in explanation of them, while on the contrary they +do frequently and emphatically put forward the purificatory +theory. This is a strong argument in favour of the purificatory +and against the solar theory; for the popular explanation +of a popular custom is never to be rejected except +for grave cause. And in the present case there seems to be +no adequate reason for rejecting it. The conception of fire +as a destructive agent, which can be turned to account for +the consumption of evil things, is so simple and obvious +that it could hardly escape the minds even of the rude +peasantry with whom these festivals originated. On the +other hand the conception of fire as an emanation of the +sun, or at all events as linked to it by a bond of physical +sympathy, is far less simple and obvious; and though the +<pb n='342'/><anchor id='Pg342'/> +use of fire as a charm to produce sunshine appears to be +undeniable,<note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, i. 311 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> nevertheless in attempting to explain popular +customs we should never have recourse to a more recondite +idea when a simpler one lies to hand and is supported by +the explicit testimony of the people themselves. Now in +the case of the fire-festivals the destructive aspect of fire is +one upon which the people dwell again and again; and it +is highly significant that the great evil against which the +fire is directed appears to be witchcraft. Again and again +we are told that the fires are intended to burn or repel the +witches;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref>, <ref target='Pg109'>109</ref>, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref> +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref>, <ref target='Pg148'>148</ref>, <ref target='Pg154'>154</ref>, <ref target='Pg156'>156</ref>, <ref target='Pg157'>157</ref>, <ref target='Pg159'>159</ref>, +<ref target='Pg160'>160</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref>, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref>, <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref>, <ref target='Pg175'>175</ref>, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref>, <ref target='Pg180'>180</ref>, +<ref target='Pg183'>183</ref>, <ref target='Pg185'>185</ref>, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref>, <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target='Pg245'>245</ref>, <ref target='Pg252'>252</ref>, <ref target='Pg253'>253</ref>, +<ref target='Pg280'>280</ref>, <ref target='Pg292'>292</ref>, <ref target='Pg293'>293</ref>, <ref target='Pg295'>295</ref>, <ref target='Pg297'>297</ref>. For more +evidence of the use of fire to burn or +expel witches on certain days of the +year, see <hi rend='italic'>The Scapegoat</hi>, pp. 158 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> +Less often the fires are thought to burn +or repel evil spirits and vampyres. See +above, pp. <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref>, <ref target='Pg170'>170</ref>, <ref target='Pg172'>172</ref>, <ref target='Pg202'>202</ref>, <ref target='Pg252'>252</ref>, +<ref target='Pg282'>282</ref>, <ref target='Pg285'>285</ref>. Sometimes the purpose of +the fires is to drive away dragons +(above, pp. <ref target='Pg161'>161</ref>, <ref target='Pg195'>195</ref>).</note> and the intention is sometimes graphically expressed +by burning an effigy of a witch in the fire.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref>, <ref target='Pg116'>116</ref>, <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +<ref target='Pg159'>159</ref>.</note> Hence, +when we remember the great hold which the dread of witchcraft +has had on the popular European mind in all ages, we +may suspect that the primary intention of all these fire-festivals +was simply to destroy or at all events get rid of +the witches, who were regarded as the causes of nearly all +the misfortunes and calamities that befall men, their cattle, +and their crops.<note place='foot'><q>In short, of all the ills incident +to the life of man, none are so formidable +as witchcraft, before the combined +influence of which, to use the language +of an honest man who had himself +severely suffered from its effects, the +great laird of Grant himself could not +stand them if they should fairly yoke +upon him</q> (W. Grant Stewart, <hi rend='italic'>The +Popular Superstitions and Festive +Amusements of the Highlanders of +Scotland</hi>, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 202 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>). <q>Every misfortune and calamity +that took place in the parish, such as +ill-health, the death of friends, the loss +of stock, and the failure of crops; yea +to such a length did they carry their +superstition, that even the inclemency +of the seasons, were attributed to the +influence of certain old women who +were supposed to be in league, and +had dealings with the Devil. These +the common people thought had the +power and too often the inclination +to injure their property, and +torment their persons</q> (<hi rend='italic'>County Folk-lore</hi>, +vol. v. <hi rend='italic'>Lincolnshire</hi>, collected +by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock, +London, 1908, p. 76). <q>The county of +Salop is no exception to the rule of +superstition. The late vicar of a parish +on the Clee Hills, startled to find that +his parishioners still believed in witchcraft, +once proposed to preach a sermon +against it, but he was dissuaded from +doing so by the parish schoolmaster, +who assured him that the belief was so +deeply rooted in the people's minds that +he would be more likely to alienate them +from the Church than to weaken their +faith in witchcraft</q> (Miss C. F. Burne +and Miss G. F. Jackson, <hi rend='italic'>Shropshire +Folk-lore</hi>, London, 1883, p. 145). +<q>Wherever a man or any living +creature falls sick, or a misfortune +of any kind happens, without any +natural cause being discoverable or +rather lying on the surface, there +in all probability witchcraft is at +work. The sudden stiffness in the +small of the back, which few people +can account for at the time, is therefore +called a <q>witch-shot</q> and is really +ascribed to witchcraft</q> (L. Strackerjan, +<hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem +Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi>, Oldenburg, +1867, i. p. 298, § 209). What Sir +Walter Scott said less than a hundred +years ago is probably still true: <q>The +remains of the superstition sometimes +occur; there can be no doubt +that the vulgar are still addicted to the +custom of scoring above the breath (as +it is termed), and other counter-spells, +evincing that the belief in witchcraft +is only asleep, and might in remote +corners be again awakened to deeds of +blood</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Letters on Demonology and +Witchcraft</hi>, London, 1884, p. 272). +Compare L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>op. cit.</hi> i. p. +340, § 221: <q>The great power, the +malicious wickedness of the witches, +cause them to be feared and hated by +everybody. The hatred goes so far +that still at the present day you may +hear it said right out that it is a pity +burning has gone out of fashion, for +the evil crew deserve nothing else. +Perhaps the hatred might find vent yet +more openly, if the fear were not so +great.</q></note> +</p> + +<pb n='343'/><anchor id='Pg343'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Amongst +the evils +for which +the fire-festivals +are deemed +remedies +the fore-most +is +cattle-disease, +and cattle-disease +is +often supposed +to be +an effect of +witchcraft.</note> +This suspicion is confirmed when we examine the evils +for which the bonfires and torches were supposed to provide +a remedy. Foremost, perhaps, among these evils we may +reckon the diseases of cattle; and of all the ills that witches +are believed to work there is probably none which is so +constantly insisted on as the harm they do to the herds, +particularly by stealing the milk from the cows.<note place='foot'>For some evidence, see <hi rend='italic'>The Magic +Art and the Evolution of Kings</hi>, ii. 52-55, +330 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> It is a popular belief, +universally diffused in Germany, that +cattle-plagues are caused by witches +(A. Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +Berlin, 1869, p. 149 § 216). +The Scotch Highlanders thought that +a witch could destroy the whole of a +farmer's live stock by hiding a small +bag, stuffed with charms, in a cleft of +the stable or byre (W. Grant Stewart, +<hi rend='italic'>The Popular Superstitions and Festive +Amusements of the Highlanders of +Scotland</hi>, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 201 +<hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>).</note> Now it is +significant that the need-fire, which may perhaps be regarded +as the parent of the periodic fire-festivals, is kindled above +all as a remedy for a murrain or other disease of cattle; +and the circumstance suggests, what on general grounds seems +probable, that the custom of kindling the need-fire goes back +to a time when the ancestors of the European peoples +subsisted chiefly on the products of their herds, and when +agriculture as yet played a subordinate part in their lives. +Witches and wolves are the two great foes still dreaded by +the herdsman in many parts of Europe;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Magic Art and the Evolution +of Kings</hi>, ii. 330 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi></note> and we need not +wonder that he should resort to fire as a powerful means of +<pb n='344'/><anchor id='Pg344'/> +banning them both. Among Slavonic peoples it appears that +the foes whom the need-fire is designed to combat are not so +much living witches as vampyres and other evil spirits,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg282'>282</ref>, <ref target='Pg284'>284</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> and +the ceremony, as we saw, aims rather at repelling these +baleful beings than at actually consuming them in the +flames. But for our present purpose these distinctions are +immaterial. The important thing to observe is that among +the Slavs the need-fire, which is probably the original of all +the ceremonial fires now under consideration, is not a sun-charm, +but clearly and unmistakably nothing but a means of +protecting man and beast against the attacks of maleficent +creatures, whom the peasant thinks to burn or scare by the +heat of the fire, just as he might burn or scare wild animals. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Again, the +bonfires are +thought to +avert hail, +thunder, +lightning, +and other +maladies, +all of +which are +attributed +to the +maleficent +arts of +witches.</note> +Again, the bonfires are often supposed to protect the +fields against hail<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg118'>118</ref>, <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref>, <ref target='Pg144'>144</ref>, <ref target='Pg145'>145</ref>, +<ref target='Pg176'>176</ref>.</note> and the homestead against thunder and +lightning.<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref>, <ref target='Pg122'>122</ref>, <ref target='Pg124'>124</ref>, <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, +<ref target='Pg145'>145</ref>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref>, <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref>, <ref target='Pg176'>176</ref>, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref>, <ref target='Pg184'>184</ref>, <ref target='Pg187'>187</ref>, +<ref target='Pg188'>188</ref>, <ref target='Pg190'>190</ref>, <ref target='Pg191'>191</ref>, <ref target='Pg192'>192</ref>, <ref target='Pg249'>249</ref>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>, <ref target='Pg252'>252</ref>, +<ref target='Pg253'>253</ref>, <ref target='Pg254'>254</ref>, <ref target='Pg258'>258</ref>.</note> But both hail and thunderstorms are frequently +thought to be caused by witches;<note place='foot'>J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> ii. +908 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; J. V. Grohmann, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglauben +und. Gebräuche aus Böhmen und +Mähren</hi> (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), +p. 32 § 182; A. Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche +Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Berlin, 1869), pp. +149 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, § 216; J. Ceredig Davies, +<hi rend='italic'>Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales</hi> +(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 230; Alois +John, <hi rend='italic'>Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im +deutschen Westböhmen</hi> (Prague, 1905), +p. 202.</note> hence the fire which +bans the witches necessarily serves at the same time as a +talisman against hail, thunder, and lightning. Further, +brands taken from the bonfires are commonly kept in +the houses to guard them against conflagration;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg108'>108</ref>, <ref target='Pg121'>121</ref>, <ref target='Pg140'>140</ref>, <ref target='Pg146'>146</ref>, +<ref target='Pg165'>165</ref>, <ref target='Pg183'>183</ref>, <ref target='Pg188'>188</ref>, <ref target='Pg196'>196</ref>, <ref target='Pg250'>250</ref>, <ref target='Pg255'>255</ref>, <ref target='Pg256'>256</ref>, +<ref target='Pg258'>258</ref>.</note> and +though this may perhaps be done on the principle of +homoeopathic magic, one fire being thought to act as a +preventive of another, it is also possible that the intention +may be to keep witch-incendiaries at bay. Again, people +leap over the bonfires as a preventive of colic,<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg107'>107</ref>, <ref target='Pg195'>195</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> and look +at the flames steadily in order to preserve their eyes in +good health;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg162'>162</ref>, <ref target='Pg163'>163</ref>, <ref target='Pg166'>166</ref>, <ref target='Pg171'>171</ref>, +<ref target='Pg174'>174</ref>.</note> and both colic and sore eyes are in Germany, +and probably elsewhere, set down to the machinations of +witches.<note place='foot'>A. Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Berlin, 1869), p. 351, +§ 395.</note> Once more, to leap over the Midsummer fires or +<pb n='345'/><anchor id='Pg345'/> +to circumambulate them is thought to prevent a person from +feeling pains in his back at reaping;<note place='foot'>Above, pp. <ref target='Pg165'>165</ref>, <ref target='Pg168'>168</ref>, <ref target='Pg189'>189</ref>, compare +<ref target='Pg190'>190</ref>.</note> and in Germany such +pains are called <q>witch-shots</q> and ascribed to witchcraft.<note place='foot'>A. Wuttke, <hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> +(Berlin, 1869), p. 351, § 395; +L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube und Sagen +aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi> +(Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 298, § 209. +See above, p. <ref target='Pg343'>343</ref> note.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>The burning +wheels +rolled down +hills and +the burning +discs and +brooms +thrown into +the air may +be intended +to burn the +invisible +witches.</note> +But if the bonfires and torches of the fire-festivals are to +be regarded primarily as weapons directed against witches +and wizards, it becomes probable that the same explanation +applies not only to the flaming discs which are hurled into +the air, but also to the burning wheels which are rolled down +hill on these occasions; discs and wheels, we may suppose, +are alike intended to burn the witches who hover invisible in +the air or haunt unseen the fields, the orchards, and the +vineyards on the hillside.<note place='foot'>In the Ammerland, a district of +Oldenburg, you may sometimes see an +old cart-wheel fixed over the principal +door or on the gable of a house; it +serves as a charm against witchcraft +and is especially intended to protect +the cattle as they are driven out and +in. See L. Strackerjan, <hi rend='italic'>Aberglaube +und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg</hi> +(Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 357, +§ 236. Can this use of a wheel as a +talisman against witchcraft be derived +from the practice of rolling fiery wheels +down hill for a similar purpose?</note> Certainly witches are constantly +thought to ride through the air on broomsticks or other +equally convenient vehicles; and if they do so, how can you +get at them so effectually as by hurling lighted missiles, +whether discs, torches, or besoms, after them as they flit +past overhead in the gloom? The South Slavonian peasant +believes that witches ride in the dark hail-clouds; so he +shoots at the clouds to bring down the hags, while he +curses them, saying, <q>Curse, curse Herodias, thy mother +is a heathen, damned of God and fettered through the +Redeemer's blood.</q> Also he brings out a pot of glowing +charcoal on which he has thrown holy oil, laurel leaves, and +wormwood to make a smoke. The fumes are supposed to +ascend to the clouds and stupefy the witches, so that they +tumble down to earth. And in order that they may not +fall soft, but may hurt themselves very much, the yokel +hastily brings out a chair and tilts it bottom up so that the +witch in falling may break her legs on the legs of the chair. +Worse than that, he cruelly lays scythes, bill-hooks and other +formidable weapons edge upwards so as to cut and mangle +<pb n='346'/><anchor id='Pg346'/> +the poor wretches when they drop plump upon them from +the clouds.<note place='foot'>F. S. Krauss, <hi rend='italic'>Volksglaube und +religiöser Brauch der Südslaven</hi> (Münster +i. W., 1890), pp. 118 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> + +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>On this +view the +fertility +supposed +to follow +the use of +fire results +indirectly +from +breaking +the spells +of witches.</note> +On this view the fertility supposed to follow the application +of fire in the form of bonfires, torches, discs, +rolling wheels, and so forth, is not conceived as resulting +directly from an increase of solar heat which the fire has +magically generated; it is merely an indirect result obtained +by freeing the reproductive powers of plants and +animals from the fatal obstruction of witchcraft. And what +is true of the reproduction of plants and animals may hold +good also of the fertility of the human sexes. We have +seen that the bonfires are supposed to promote marriage and +to procure offspring for childless couples. This happy effect +need not flow directly from any quickening or fertilizing +energy in the fire; it may follow indirectly from the power +of the fire to remove those obstacles which the spells of witches +and wizards notoriously present to the union of man and wife.<note place='foot'>In German such spells are called +<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>Nestelknüpfen</foreign>; in French, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>nouer l'aiguilette</foreign>. +See J. Grimm, <hi rend='italic'>Deutsche +Mythologie</hi>,<hi rend='vertical-align: super'>4</hi> ii. 897, 983; A. Wuttke, +<hi rend='italic'>Der deutsche Volksaberglaube</hi><hi rend='vertical-align: super'>2</hi> (Berlin, +1869), p. 252 § 396; E. Doutté, <hi rend='italic'>Magie +et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord</hi> +(Algiers, 1908), pp. 87 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, 294 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>; +J.L.M. Noguès, <hi rend='italic'>Les Mœurs d'autrefois +en Saintonge et en Aunis</hi> (Saintes, 1891), +pp. 171 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> + +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>On the +whole the +theory of +the purificatory +or +destructive +intention of +the fire-festivals +seems the +more +probable.</note> +On the whole, then, the theory of the purificatory virtue +of the ceremonial fires appears more probable and more +in accordance with the evidence than the opposing theory +of their connexion with the sun. But Europe is not +the only part of the world where ceremonies of this sort +have been performed; elsewhere the passage through the +flames or smoke or over the glowing embers of a bonfire, +which is the central feature of most of the rites, has been +employed as a cure or a preventive of various ills. We have +seen that the midsummer ritual of fire in Morocco is practically +identical with that of our European peasantry; and customs +more or less similar have been observed by many races in +various parts of the world. A consideration of some of +them may help us to decide between the conflicting claims +of the two rival theories, which explain the ceremonies as +sun-charms or purifications respectively. +</p> + +</div> + +</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/43049-tei/images/cover.jpg b/43049-tei/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e034c9b --- /dev/null +++ b/43049-tei/images/cover.jpg |
