{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_12261/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_12261","id":"gutenberg_12261","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12261","summary":null,"tags":["Anthropology","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Magic","Mythology","Religion","Superstition"],"text":"A STUDY IN MAGIC AND RELIGION\n\n_THIRD EDITION_\n\nPART VII\n\nBALDER THE BEAUTIFUL\n\nVOL. I\n\nBALDER\nTHE BEAUTIFUL\n\nTHE FIRE-FESTIVALS OF EUROPE\nAND THE DOCTRINE OF THE EXTERNAL SOUL\n\nJ.G. FRAZER, D.C.L., LL.D., Litt.D.\n\nFELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE\nPROFESSOR OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL.\n\nIN TWO VOLUMES\nVOL. I\n\n1913\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nIn this concluding part of _The Golden Bough_ I have discussed the\nproblem which gives its title to the whole work. If I am right, the\nGolden Bough over which the King of the Wood, Diana's priest at Aricia,\nkept watch and ward was no other than a branch of mistletoe growing on\nan oak within the sacred grove; and as the plucking of the bough was a\nnecessary prelude to the slaughter of the priest, I have been led to\ninstitute a parallel between the King of the Wood at Nemi and the Norse\ngod Balder, who was worshipped in a sacred grove beside the beautiful\nSogne fiord of Norway and was said to have perished by a stroke of\nmistletoe, which alone of all things on earth or in heaven could wound\nhim. On the theory here suggested both Balder and the King of the Wood\npersonified in a sense the sacred oak of our Aryan forefathers, and both\nhad deposited their lives or souls for safety in the parasite which\nsometimes, though rarely, is found growing on an oak and by the very\nrarity of its appearance excites the wonder and stimulates the devotion\nof ignorant men. Though I am now less than ever disposed to lay weight\non the analogy between the Italian priest and the Norse god, I have\nallowed it to stand because it furnishes me with a pretext for\ndiscussing not only the general question of the external soul in popular\nsuperstition, but also the fire-festivals of Europe, since fire played a\npart both in the myth of Balder and in the ritual of the Arician grove.\nThus Balder the Beautiful in my hands is little more than a\nstalking-horse to carry two heavy pack-loads of facts. And what is true\nof Balder applies equally to the priest of Nemi himself, the nominal\nhero of the long tragedy of human folly and suffering which has unrolled\nitself before the readers of these volumes, and on which the curtain is\nnow about to fall. He, too, for all the quaint garb he wears and the\ngravity with which he stalks across the stage, is merely a puppet, and\nit is time to unmask him before laying him up in the box.\n\nTo drop metaphor, while nominally investigating a particular problem of\nancient mythology, I have really been discussing questions of more\ngeneral interest which concern the gradual evolution of human thought\nfrom savagery to civilization. The enquiry is beset with difficulties of\nmany kinds, for the record of man's mental development is even more\nimperfect than the record of his physical development, and it is harder\nto read, not only by reason of the incomparably more subtle and complex\nnature of the subject, but because the reader's eyes are apt to be\ndimmed by thick mists of passion and prejudice, which cloud in a far\nless degree the fields of comparative anatomy and geology. My\ncontribution to the history of the human mind consists of little more\nthan a rough and purely provisional classification of facts gathered\nalmost entirely from printed sources. If there is one general conclusion\nwhich seems to emerge from the mass of particulars, I venture to think\nthat it is the essential similarity in the working of the less developed\nhuman mind among all races, which corresponds to the essential\nsimilarity in their bodily frame revealed by comparative anatomy. But\nwhile this general mental similarity may, I believe, be taken as\nestablished, we must always be on our guard against tracing to it a\nmultitude of particular resemblances which may be and often are due to\nsimple diffusion, since nothing is more certain than that the various\nraces of men have borrowed from each other many of their arts and\ncrafts, their ideas, customs, and institutions. To sift out the elements\nof culture which a race has independently evolved and to distinguish\nthem accurately from those which it has derived from other races is a\ntask of extreme difficulty and delicacy, which promises to occupy\nstudents of man for a long time to come; indeed so complex are the facts\nand so imperfect in most cases is the historical record that it may be\ndoubted whether in regard to many of the lower races we shall ever\narrive at more than probable conjectures.\n\nSince the last edition of _The Golden Bough_ was published some thirteen\nyears ago, I have seen reason to change my views on several matters\ndiscussed in this concluding part of the work, and though I have called\nattention to these changes in the text, it may be well for the sake of\nclearness to recapitulate them here.\n\nIn the first place, the arguments of Dr. Edward Westermarck have\nsatisfied me that the solar theory of the European fire-festivals, which\nI accepted from W. Mannhardt, is very slightly, if at all, supported by\nthe evidence and is probably erroneous. The true explanation of the\nfestivals I now believe to be the one advocated by Dr. Westermarck\nhimself, namely that they are purificatory in intention, the fire being\ndesigned not, as I formerly held, to reinforce the sun's light and heat\nby sympathetic magic, but merely to burn or repel the noxious things,\nwhether conceived as material or spiritual, which threaten the life of\nman, of animals, and of plants. This aspect of the fire-festivals had\nnot wholly escaped me in former editions; I pointed it out explicitly,\nbut, biassed perhaps by the great authority of Mannhardt, I treated it\nas secondary and subordinate instead of primary and dominant. Out of\ndeference to Mannhardt, for whose work I entertain the highest respect,\nand because the evidence for the purificatory theory of the fires is\nperhaps not quite conclusive, I have in this edition repeated and even\nreinforced the arguments for the solar theory of the festivals, so that\nthe reader may see for himself what can be said on both sides of the\nquestion and may draw his own conclusion; but for my part I cannot but\nthink that the arguments for the purificatory theory far outweigh the\narguments for the solar theory. Dr. Westermarck based his criticisms\nlargely on his own observations of the Mohammedan fire-festivals of\nMorocco, which present a remarkable resemblance to those of Christian\nEurope, though there seems no reason to assume that herein Africa has\nborrowed from Europe or Europe from Africa. So far as Europe is\nconcerned, the evidence tends strongly to shew that the grand evil which\nthe festivals aimed at combating was witchcraft, and that they were\nconceived to attain their end by actually burning the witches, whether\nvisible or invisible, in the flames. If that was so, the wide prevalence\nand the immense popularity of the fire-festivals provides us with a\nmeasure for estimating the extent of the hold which the belief in\nwitchcraft had on the European mind before the rise of Christianity or\nrather of rationalism; for Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant,\naccepted the old belief and enforced it in the old way by the faggot and\nthe stake. It was not until human reason at last awoke after the long\nslumber of the Middle Ages that this dreadful obsession gradually passed\naway like a dark cloud from the intellectual horizon of Europe.\n\nYet we should deceive ourselves if we imagined that the belief in\nwitchcraft is even now dead in the mass of the people; on the contrary\nthere is ample evidence to show that it only hibernates under the\nchilling influence of rationalism, and that it would start into active\nlife if that influence were ever seriously relaxed. The truth seems to\nbe that to this day the peasant remains a pagan and savage at heart; his\ncivilization is merely a thin veneer which the hard knocks of life soon\nabrade, exposing the solid core of paganism and savagery below. The\ndanger created by a bottomless layer of ignorance and superstition under\nthe crust of civilized society is lessened, not only by the natural\ntorpidity and inertia of the bucolic mind, but also by the progressive\ndecrease of the rural as compared with the urban population in modern\nstates; for I believe it will be found that the artisans who congregate\nin towns are far less retentive of primitive modes of thought than their\nrustic brethren. In every age cities have been the centres and as it\nwere the lighthouses from which ideas radiate into the surrounding\ndarkness, kindled by the friction of mind with mind in the crowded\nhaunts of men; and it is natural that at these beacons of intellectual\nlight all should partake in some measure of the general illumination. No\ndoubt the mental ferment and unrest of great cities have their dark as\nwell as their bright side; but among the evils to be apprehended from\nthem the chances of a pagan revival need hardly be reckoned.\n\nAnother point on which I have changed my mind is the nature of the great\nAryan god whom the Romans called Jupiter and the Greeks Zeus. Whereas I\nformerly argued that he was primarily a personification of the sacred\noak and only in the second place a personification of the thundering\nsky, I now invert the order of his divine functions and believe that he\nwas a sky-god before he came to be associated with the oak. In fact, I\nrevert to the traditional view of Jupiter, recant my heresy, and am\ngathered like a lost sheep into the fold of mythological orthodoxy. The\ngood shepherd who has brought me back is my friend Mr. W. Warde Fowler.\nHe has removed the stone over which I stumbled in the wilderness by\nexplaining in a simple and natural way how a god of the thundering sky\nmight easily come to be afterwards associated with the oak. The\nexplanation turns on the great frequency with which, as statistics\nprove, the oak is struck by lightning beyond any other tree of the wood\nin Europe. To our rude forefathers, who dwelt in the gloomy depths of\nthe primaeval forest, it might well seem that the riven and blackened\noaks must indeed be favourites of the sky-god, who so often descended on\nthem from the murky cloud in a flash of lightning and a crash of\nthunder.\n\nThis change of view as to the great Aryan god necessarily affects my\ninterpretation of the King of the Wood, the priest of Diana at Aricia,\nif I may take that discarded puppet out of the box again for a moment.\nOn my theory the priest represented Jupiter in the flesh, and\naccordingly, if Jupiter was primarily a sky-god, his priest cannot have\nbeen a mere incarnation of the sacred oak, but must, like the deity\nwhose commission he bore, have been invested in the imagination of his\nworshippers with the power of overcasting the heaven with clouds and\neliciting storms of thunder and rain from the celestial vault. The\nattribution of weather-making powers to kings or priests is very common\nin primitive society, and is indeed one of the principal levers by which\nsuch personages raise themselves to a position of superiority above\ntheir fellows. There is therefore no improbability in the supposition\nthat as a representative of Jupiter the priest of Diana enjoyed this\nreputation, though positive evidence of it appears to be lacking.\n\nLastly, in the present edition I have shewn some grounds for thinking\nthat the Golden Bough itself, or in common parlance the mistletoe on the\noak, was supposed to have dropped from the sky upon the tree in a flash\nof lightning and therefore to contain within itself the seed of\ncelestial fire, a sort of smouldering thunderbolt. This view of the\npriest and of the bough which he guarded at the peril of his life has\nthe advantage of accounting for the importance which the sanctuary at\nNemi acquired and the treasure which it amassed through the offerings of\nthe faithful; for the shrine would seem to have been to ancient what\nLoreto has been to modern Italy, a place of pilgrimage, where princes\nand nobles as well as commoners poured wealth into the coffers of Diana\nin her green recess among the Alban hills, just as in modern times kings\nand queens vied with each other in enriching the black Virgin who from\nher Holy House on the hillside at Loreto looks out on the blue Adriatic\nand the purple Apennines. Such pious prodigality becomes more\nintelligible if the greatest of the gods was indeed believed to dwell in\nhuman shape with his wife among the woods of Nemi.\n\nThese are the principal points on which I have altered my opinion since\nthe last edition of my book was published. The mere admission of such\nchanges may suffice to indicate the doubt and uncertainty which attend\nenquiries of this nature. The whole fabric of ancient mythology is so\nforeign to our modern ways of thought, and the evidence concerning it is\nfor the most part so fragmentary, obscure, and conflicting that in our\nattempts to piece together and interpret it we can hardly hope to reach\nconclusions that will completely satisfy either ourselves or others. In\nthis as in other branches of study it is the fate of theories to be\nwashed away like children's castles of sand by the rising tide of\nknowledge, and I am not so presumptuous as to expect or desire for mine\nan exemption from the common lot. I hold them all very lightly and have\nused them chiefly as convenient pegs on which to hang my collections of\nfacts. For I believe that, while theories are transitory, a record of\nfacts has a permanent value, and that as a chronicle of ancient customs\nand beliefs my book may retain its utility when my theories are as\nobsolete as the customs and beliefs themselves deserve to be.\n\nI cannot dismiss without some natural regret a task which has occupied\nand amused me at intervals for many years. But the regret is tempered by\nthankfulness and hope. I am thankful that I have been able to conclude\nat least one chapter of the work I projected a long time ago. I am\nhopeful that I may not now be taking a final leave of my indulgent\nreaders, but that, as I am sensible of little abatement in my bodily\nstrength and of none in my ardour for study, they will bear with me yet\na while if I should attempt to entertain them with fresh subjects of\nlaughter and tears drawn from the comedy and the tragedy of man's\nendless quest after happiness and truth.\n\nJ.G. FRAZER.\n\nCAMBRIDGE, 17_th October_ 1913.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nPREFACE, Pp. v-xii\n\nCHAPTER I.--BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH, Pp. 1-21\n\n\u00a7 1. _Not to touch the Earth_, pp. 1-18.--The priest of Aricia and the\nGolden Bough, 1 _sq._; sacred kings and priests forbidden to touch the\nground with their feet, 2-4; certain persons on certain occasions\nforbidden to touch the ground with their feet, 4-6; sacred persons\napparently thought to be charged with a mysterious virtue which will run\nto waste or explode by contact with the ground, 6 _sq._; things as well\nas persons charged with the mysterious virtue of holiness or taboo and\ntherefore kept from contact with the ground, 7; festival of the wild\nmango, which is not allowed to touch the earth, 7-11; other sacred\nobjects kept from contact with the ground, 11 _sq._; sacred food not\nallowed to touch the earth, 13 _sq._; magical implements and remedies\nthought to lose their virtue by contact with the ground, 14 _sq._;\nserpents' eggs or snake stones, 15 _sq._; medicinal plants, water, etc.,\nnot allowed to touch the earth, 17 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 2. _Not to see the Sun_, pp. 18-21.--Sacred persons not allowed to see\nthe sun, 18-20; tabooed persons not allowed to see the sun, 20; certain\npersons forbidden to see fire, 20 _sq._; the story of Prince Sunless,\n21.\n\nCHAPTER II.--THE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT PUBERTY, Pp. 22-100\n\n\u00a7 1. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa_, pp. 22-32.--Girls at\npuberty forbidden to touch the ground and see the sun, 22; seclusion of\ngirls at puberty among the Zulus and kindred tribes, 22; among the\nA-Kamba of British East Africa, 23; among the Baganda of Central Africa,\n23 _sq._; among the tribes of the Tanganyika plateau, 24 _sq._; among\nthe tribes of British Central Africa, 25 _sq._; abstinence from salt\nassociated with a rule of chastity in many tribes, 26-28; seclusion of\ngirls at puberty among the tribes about Lake Nyassa and on the Zambesi,\n28 _sq._; among the Thonga of Delagoa Bay, 29 _sq._; among the Caffre\ntribes of South Africa, 30 _sq._; among the Bavili of the Lower Congo,\n31 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 2. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, and\nIndonesia_, pp. 32-36.--Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland,\n32-34; in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram, and the Caroline Islands, 35 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 3. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands and\nNorthern Australia_, pp. 36-41.--Seclusion of girls at puberty in\nMabuiag, Torres Straits, 36 _sq._; in Northern Australia, 37-39; in the\nislands of Torres Straits, 39-41.\n\n\u00a7 4. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of North America_,\npp. 41-55.--Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of\nCalifornia, 41-43; among the Indians of Washington State, 43; among the\nNootka Indians of Vancouver Island, 43 _sq._; among the Haida Indians of\nthe Queen Charlotte Islands, 44 _sq._; among the Tlingit Indians of\nAlaska, 45 _sq._; among the Tsetsaut and Bella Coola Indians of British\nColumbia, 46 _sq._; among the Tinneh Indians of British Columbia, 47\n_sq._; among the Tinneh Indians of Alaska, 48 _sq._; among the Thompson\nIndians of British Columbia, 49-52; among the Lillooet Indians of\nBritish Columbia, 52 _sq._; among the Shuswap Indians of British\nColumbia, 53 _sq._; among the Delaware and Cheyenne Indians, 54 _sq._;\namong the Esquimaux, 55 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 5. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of South America_,\npp. 56-68.--Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Guaranis,\nChiriguanos, and Lengua Indians, 56 _sq._; among the Yuracares of\nBolivia, 57 _sq._; among the Indians of the Gran Chaco, 58 _sq._; among\nthe Indians of Brazil, 59 _sq._; among the Indians of Guiana, 60 _sq._;\nbeating the girls and stinging them with ants, 61; stinging young men\nwith ants and wasps as an initiatory rite, 61-63; stinging men and women\nwith ants to improve their character or health or to render them\ninvulnerable, 63 _sq._; in such cases the beating or stinging was\noriginally a purification, not a test of courage and endurance, 65\n_sq._; this explanation confirmed by the beating of girls among the\nBanivas of the Orinoco to rid them of a demon, 66-68; symptoms of\npuberty in a girl regarded as wounds inflicted on her by a demon, 68.\n\n\u00a7 6. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in India and Cambodia_, pp.\n68-70.--Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Hindoos, 68; in Southern\nIndia, 68-70; in Cambodia, 70.\n\n\u00a7 7. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Folk-tales_, pp. 70-76.--Danish\nstory of the girl who might not see the sun, 70-72; Tyrolese story of\nthe girl who might not see the sun, 72; modern Greek stories of the maid\nwho might not see the sun, 72 _sq._; ancient Greek story of Danae and\nits parallel in a Kirghiz legend, 73 _sq._; impregnation of women by the\nsun in legends, 74 _sq._; traces in marriage customs of the belief that\nwomen can be impregnated by the sun, 75; belief in the impregnation of\nwomen by the moon, 75 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 8. _Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty_, pp. 76-100.--The\nreason for the seclusion of girls at puberty is the dread of menstruous\nblood, 76; dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the aborigines\nof Australia, 76-78; in Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea, Galela, and\nSumatra, 78 _sq._; among the tribes of South Africa, 79 _sq._; among the\ntribes of Central and East Africa, 80-82; among the tribes of West\nAfrica, 82; powerful influence ascribed to menstruous blood in Arab\nlegend, 82 _sq._; dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Jews\nand in Syria, 83 _sq._; in India, 84 _sq._; in Annam, 85; among the\nIndians of Central and South America, 85 _sq._; among the Indians of\nNorth America, 87-94; among the Creek, Choctaw, Omaha and Cheyenne\nIndians, 88 _sq._; among the Indians of British Columbia, 89 _sq._;\namong the Chippeway Indians, 90 _sq._; among the Tinneh or D\u00e9n\u00e9 Indians,\n91; among the Carrier Indians, 91-94; similar rules of seclusion\nenjoined on menstruous women in ancient Hindoo, Persian, and Hebrew\ncodes, 94-96; superstitions as to menstruous women in ancient and modern\nEurope, 96 _sq._; the intention of secluding menstruous women is to\nneutralize the dangerous influences which are thought to emanate from\nthem in that condition, 97; suspension between heaven and earth, 97; the\nsame explanation applies to the similar rules of seclusion observed by\ndivine kings and priests, 97-99; stories of immortality attained by\nsuspension between heaven and earth, 99 _sq._\n\nCHAPTER III.--THE MYTH OF BALDER, Pp. 101-105\n\nHow Balder, the good and beautiful god, was done to death by a stroke of\nmistletoe, 101 _sq._; story of Balder in the older _Edda_, 102 _sq._;\nstory of Balder as told by Saxo Grammaticus, 103; Balder worshipped in\nNorway, 104; legendary death of Balder resembles the legendary death of\nIsfendiyar in the epic of Firdusi, 104 _sq._; the myth of Balder perhaps\nacted as a magical ceremony; the two main incidents of the myth, namely\nthe pulling of the mistletoe and the burning of the god, have perhaps\ntheir counterpart in popular ritual, 105.\n\nCHAPTER IV.--THE FIRE FESTIVALS OF EUROPE, Pp. 106-327\n\n\u00a7 1. _The Lenten Fires_, pp. 106-120.--European custom of kindling\nbonfires on certain days of the year, dancing round them, leaping over\nthem, and burning effigies in the flames, 106; seasons of the year at\nwhich the bonfires are lit, 106 _sq._; bonfires on the first Sunday in\nLent in the Belgian Ardennes, 107 _sq._; in the French department of the\nArdennes, 109 _sq._; in Franche-Comt\u00e9, 110 _sq._; in Auvergne, 111-113;\nFrench custom of carrying lighted torches (_brandons_) about the\norchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent,\n113-115; bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Germany and Austria,\n115 _sq._; \"burning the witch,\" 116; burning discs thrown into the air,\n116 _sq._; burning wheels rolled down hill, 117 _sq._; bonfires on the\nfirst Sunday in Lent in Switzerland, 118 _sq._; burning discs thrown\ninto the air, 119; connexion of these fires with the custom of \"carrying\nout Death,\" 119 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 2. _The Easter Fires_, 120-146.--Custom in Catholic countries of\nkindling a holy new fire on Easter Saturday, marvellous properties\nascribed to the embers of the fire, 121; effigy of Judas burnt in the\nfire, 121; Easter fires in Bavaria and the Abruzzi, 122; water as well\nas fire consecrated at Easter in Italy, Bohemia, and Germany, 122-124;\nnew fire at Easter in Carinthia, 124; Thomas Kirchmeyer's account of the\nconsecration of fire and water by the Catholic Church at Easter, 124\n_sq._; the new fire on Easter Saturday at Florence, 126 _sq._; the new\nfire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Mexico and South\nAmerica, 127 _sq._; the new fire on Easter Saturday in the Church of the\nHoly Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 128-130; the new fire and the burning of\nJudas on Easter Saturday in Greece, 130 _sq._; the new fire at Candlemas\nin Armenia, 131; the new fire and the burning of Judas at Easter are\nprobably relics of paganism, 131 _sq._; new fire at the summer solstice\namong the Incas of Peru, 132; new fire among the Indians of Mexico and\nNew Mexico, the Iroquois, and the Esquimaux, 132-134; new fire in Wadai,\namong the Swahili, and in other parts of Africa, 134-136; new fires\namong the Todas and Nagas of India, 136; new fire in China and Japan,\n137 _sq._; new fire in ancient Greece and Rome, 138; new fire at\nHallowe'en among the old Celts of Ireland, 139; new fire on the first of\nSeptember among the Russian peasants, 139; the rite of the new fire\nprobably common to many peoples of the Mediterranean area before the\nrise of Christianity, 139 _sq._; the pagan character of the Easter fire\nmanifest from the superstitions associated with it, such as the belief\nthat the fire fertilizes the fields and protects houses from\nconflagration and sickness, 140 _sq._; the Easter fires in M\u00fcnsterland,\nOldenburg, the Harz Mountains, and the Altmark, 141-143; Easter fires\nand the burning of Judas or the Easter Man in Bavaria, 143 _sq._; Easter\nfires and \"thunder poles\" in Baden, 145; Easter fires in Holland and\nSweden, 145 _sq._; the burning of Judas in Bohemia, 146.\n\n\u00a7 3. _The Beltane Fires_, pp. 146-160.--The Beltane fires on the first\nof May in the Highlands of Scotland, 146-154; John Ramsay of Ochtertyre,\nhis description of the Beltane fires and cakes and the Beltane carline,\n146-149; Beltane fires and cakes in Perthshire, 150-153; Beltane fires\nin the north-east of Scotland to burn the witches, 153 _sq._; Beltane\nfires and cakes in the Hebrides, 154; Beltane fires and cakes in Wales,\n155-157; in the Isle of Man to burn the witches, 157; in\nNottinghamshire, 157; in Ireland, 157-159; fires on the Eve of May Day\nin Sweden, 159; in Austria and Saxony to burn the witches, 159 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 4. _The Midsummer Fires_, pp. 160-219.--The great season for\nfire-festivals in Europe is Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day, which the\nchurch has dedicated to St. John the Baptist, 160 _sq._; the bonfires,\nthe torches, and the burning wheels of the festival, 161; Thomas\nKirchmeyer's description of the Midsummer festival, 162 _sq._; the\nMidsummer fires in Germany, 163-171; burning wheel rolled down hill at\nKonz on the Moselle, 163 _sq._; Midsummer fires in Bavaria, 164-166; in\nSwabia, 166 _sq._; in Baden, 167-169; in Alsace, Lorraine, the Eifel,\nthe Harz district, and Thuringia, 169; Midsummer fires kindled by the\nfriction of wood, 169 _sq._; driving away the witches and demons, 170;\nMidsummer fires in Silesia, scaring away the witches, 170 _sq._;\nMidsummer fires in Denmark and Norway, keeping off the witches, 171;\nMidsummer fires in Sweden, 172; Midsummer fires in Switzerland and\nAustria, 172 _sq._; in Bohemia, 173-175; in Moravia, Austrian Silesia,\nand the district of Cracow, 175; among the Slavs of Russia, 176; in\nPrussia and Lithuania as a protection against witchcraft, thunder, hail,\nand cattle disease, 176 _sq._; in Masuren the fire is kindled by the\nrevolution of a wheel, 177; Midsummer fires among the Letts of Russia,\n177 _sq._; among the South Slavs, 178; among the Magyars, 178 _sq._;\namong the Esthonians, 179 _sq._; among the Finns and Cheremiss of\nRussia, 180 _sq._; in France, 181-194; Bossuet on the Midsummer\nfestival, 182; the Midsummer fires in Brittany, 183-185; in Normandy,\nthe Brotherhood of the Green Wolf at Jumi\u00e8ges, 185 _sq._; Midsummer\nfires in Picardy, 187 _sq._; in Beauce and Perche, 188; the fires a\nprotection against witchcraft, 188; the Midsummer fires in the Ardennes,\nthe Vosges, and the Jura, 188 _sq._; in Franche-Comt\u00e9, 189; in Berry and\nother parts of Central France, 189 _sq._; in Poitou, 190 _sq._; in the\ndepartments of Vienne and Deux-S\u00e8vres and in the provinces of Saintonge\nand Aunis, 191 _sq._; in Southern France, 192 _sq._; Midsummer festival\nof fire and water in Provence, 193 _sq._; Midsummer fires in Belgium,\n194-196; in England, 196-200; Stow's description of the Midsummer fires\nin London, 196 _sq._; John Aubrey on the Midsummer fires, 197; Midsummer\nfires in Cumberland, Northumberland, and Yorkshire, 197 _sq._; in\nHerefordshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, 199 _sq._; in\nWales and the Isle of Man, 200 _sq._; in Ireland, 201-205; holy wells\nresorted to on Midsummer Eve in Ireland, 205 _sq._; Midsummer fires in\nScotland, 206 _sq._; Midsummer fires and divination in Spain and the\nAzores, 208 _sq._; Midsummer fires in Corsica and Sardinia, 209; in the\nAbruzzi, 209 _sq._; in Sicily, 210; in Malta, 210 _sq._; in Greece and\nthe Greek islands, 211 _sq._; in Macedonia and Albania, 212; in South\nAmerica, 212 _sq._; among the Mohammedans of Morocco and Algeria,\n213-216; the Midsummer festival in North Africa comprises rites of water\nas well as fire, 216; similar festival of fire and water at New Year in\nNorth Africa, 217 _sq._; the duplication of the festival probably due to\na conflict between the solar calendar of the Romans and the lunar\ncalendar of the Arabs, 218 _sg._; the Midsummer festival in Morocco\napparently of Berber origin, 219.\n\n\u00a7 5. _The Autumn Fires_, pp. 220-222.--Festivals of fire in August, 220;\n\"living fire\" made by the friction of wood, 220; feast of the Nativity\nof the Virgin on the eighth of September at Capri and Naples, 220-222.\n\n\u00a7 6. _The Halloween Fires_, pp. 222-246.--While the Midsummer festival\nimplies observation of the solstices, the Celts appear to have divided\ntheir year, without regard to the solstices, by the times when they\ndrove their cattle to and from the summer pasture on the first of May\nand the last of October (Hallowe'en), 222-224; the two great Celtic\nfestivals of Beltane (May Day) and Hallowe'en (the last of October),\n224; Hallowe'en seems to have marked the beginning of the Celtic year,\n224 _sq._; it was a season of divination and a festival of the dead, 225\n_sq._; fairies and hobgoblins let loose at Hallowe'en, 226-228;\ndivination in Celtic countries at Hallowe'en, 228 _sq._; Hallowe'en\nbonfires in the Highlands of Scotland, 229-232; Hallowe'en fires in\nBuchan to burn the witches, 232 _sq._; processions with torches at\nHallowe'en in the Braemar Highlands, 233 _sq._; divination at Hallowe'en\nin the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland, 234-239; Hallowe'en fires in\nWales, omens drawn from stones cast into the fires, 239 _sq._;\ndivination at Hallowe'en in Wales, 240 _sq._; divination at Hallowe'en\nin Ireland, 241-243; Hallowe'en fires and divination in the Isle of Man,\n243 _sq._; Hallowe'en fires and divination in Lancashire, 244 _sq._;\nmarching with lighted candles to keep off the witches, 245; divination\nat Hallowe'en in Northumberland, 245; Hallowe'en fires in France, 245\n_sq._\n\n\u00a7 7. _The Midwinter Fires_, pp. 246-269.--Christmas the continuation of\nan old heathen festival of the sun, 246; the Yule log the Midwinter\ncounterpart of the Midsummer bonfire, 247; the Yule log in Germany,\n247-249; in Switzerland, 249; in Belgium, 249; in France, 249-255;\nFrench superstitions as to the Yule log, 250; the Yule log at Marseilles\nand in Perigord, 250 _sq._; in Berry, 251 _sq._; in Normandy and\nBrittany, 252 _sq._; in the Ardennes, 253 _sq._; in the Vosges, 254; in\nFranche-Comt\u00e9, 254 _sq._; the Yule log and Yule candle in England,\n255-258; the Yule log in the north of England and Yorkshire, 256 _sq._;\nin Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire, 257 _sq._;\nin Wales, 258; in Servia, 258-262; among the Servians of Slavonia, 262\n_sq._; among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro, 263\n_sq._; in Albania, 264; belief that the Yule log protects against fire\nand lightning, 264 _sq._; public fire-festivals at Midwinter, 265-269;\nChristmas bonfire at Schweina in Thuringia, 265 _sq._; Christmas\nbonfires in Normandy, 266; bonfires on St. Thomas's Day in the Isle of\nMan, 266; the \"Burning of the Clavie\" at Burghead on the last day of\nDecember, 266-268; Christmas procession with burning tar-barrels at\nLerwick, 268 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 8. _The Need-fire_, pp. 269-300.--Need-fire kindled not at fixed\nperiods but on occasions of distress and calamity, 269; the need-fire in\nthe Middle Ages and down to the end of the sixteenth century, 270 _sq._;\nmode of kindling the need-fire by the friction of wood, 271 _sq_.; the\nneed-fire in Central Germany, particularly about Hildesheim, 272 _sq._;\nthe need-fire in the Mark, 273; in Mecklenburg, 274 _sq._; in Hanover,\n275 _sq._; in the Harz Mountains, 276 _sq._; in Brunswick, 277 _sq._; in\nSilesia and Bohemia, 278 _sq._; in Switzerland, 279 _sq._; in Sweden and\nNorway, 280; among the Slavonic peoples, 281-286; in Russia and Poland,\n281 _sq._; in Slavonia, 282; in Servia, 282-284; in Bulgaria, 284-286;\nin Bosnia and Herzegovina, 286; in England, 286-289; in Yorkshire,\n286-288; in Northumberland, 288 _sq._; in Scotland, 289-297; Martin's\naccount of it in the Highlands, 289; the need-fire in Mull, 289 _sq._;\nin Caithness, 290-292; W. Grant Stewart's account of the need-fire, 292\n_sq._; Alexander Carmichael's account, 293-295; the need-fire in\nAberdeenshire, 296; in Perthshire, 296 _sq._; in Ireland, 297; the use\nof need-fire a relic of the time when all fires were similarly kindled\nby the friction of wood, 297 _sq._; the belief that need-fire cannot\nkindle if any other fire remains alight in the neighbourhood, 298 _sq._;\nthe need-fire among the Iroquois of North America, 299 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 9. _The Sacrifice of an Animal to stay a Cattle-plague_, pp.\n300-327.--The burnt sacrifice of a calf in England and Wales, 300 _sq._;\nburnt sacrifices of animals in Scotland, 301 _sq._; calf burnt in order\nto break a spell which has been cast on the herd, 302 _sq._; mode in\nwhich the burning of a bewitched animal is supposed to break the spell,\n303-305; in burning the bewitched animal you burn the witch herself,\n305; practice of burning cattle and sheep as sacrifices in the Isle of\nMan, 305-307; by burning a bewitched animal you compel the witch to\nappear, 307; magic sympathy between the witch and the bewitched animal,\n308; similar sympathy between a were-wolf and his or her human shape,\nwounds inflicted on the animal are felt by the man or woman, 308;\nwere-wolves in Europe, 308-310; in China, 310 _sq._; among the Toradjas\nof Central Celebes, 311-313 _sq._; in the Egyptian Sudan, 313 _sq._; the\nwere-wolf story in Petronius, 313 _sq._; witches like were-wolves can\ntemporarily transform themselves into animals, and wounds inflicted on\nthe transformed animals appear on the persons of the witches, 315 _sq._;\ninstances of such transformations and wounds in Scotland, England,\nIreland, France, and Germany, 316-321; hence the reason for burning\nbewitched animals is either to burn the witch herself or at all events\nto compel her to appear, 321 _sq._; the like reason for burning\nbewitched things, 322 _sq._; similarly by burning alive a person whose\nlikeness a witch has assumed you compel the witch to disclose herself,\n323; woman burnt alive as a witch in Ireland at the end of the\nnineteenth century, 323 _sq._; bewitched animals sometimes buried alive\ninstead of being burned, 324-326; calves killed and buried to save the\nrest of the herd, 326 _sq_.\n\nCHAPTER V.--THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRE-FESTIVALS, Pp. 328-346\n\n\u00a7 1. _On the Fire-festivals in general_ pp. 328-331.--General\nresemblance of the fire-festivals to each other, 328 _sq._; two\nexplanations of the festivals suggested, one by W. Mannhardt that they\nare sun-charms, the other by Dr. E. Westermarck that they are\npurificatory, 329 _sq._; the two explanations perhaps not mutually\nexclusive, 330 _sq._\n\n\u00a7 2. _The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals_, pp. 331-341.--Theory that\nthe fire-festivals are charms to ensure a supply of sunshine, 331;\ncoincidence of two of the festivals with the solstices, 331 _sq._;\nattempt of the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in midwinter by\nkindling sticks, 332 _sq._; the burning wheels and discs of the\nfire-festivals may be direct imitations of the sun, 334; the wheel which\nis sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may also be an\nimitation of the sun, 334-336; the influence which the bonfires are\nsupposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may be thought to be due\nto an increase of solar heat produced by the fires, 336-338; the effect\nwhich the bonfires are supposed to have in fertilizing cattle and women\nmay also be attributed to an increase of solar heat produced by the\nfires, 338 _sq._; the carrying of lighted torches about the country at\nthe festivals may be explained as an attempt to diffuse the sun's heat,\n339-341.\n\n\u00a7 3. _The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals_, pp.\n341-346.--Theory that the fires at the festivals are purificatory, being\nintended to burn up all harmful things, 341; the purificatory or\ndestructive effect of the fires is often alleged by the people who light\nthem, and there is no reason to reject this explanation, 341 _sq._; the\ngreat evil against which the fire at the festivals appears to be\ndirected is witchcraft, 342; among the evils for which the\nfire-festivals are deemed remedies the foremost is cattle-disease, and\ncattle-disease is often supposed to be an effect of witchcraft, 343\n_sq._; again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, thunder,\nlightning, and various maladies, all of which are attributed to the\nmaleficent arts of witches, 344 _sq._; the burning wheels rolled down\nhill and the burning discs thrown into the air may be intended to burn\nthe invisible witches, 345 _sq._; on this view the fertility supposed to\nfollow the use of fire results indirectly from breaking the spells of\nwitches, 346; on the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructive\nintention of the fire-festivals seems the more probable, 346.\n\n[Transcriber's Note: The brief descriptions often found enclosed in\nsquare brackets are \"sidenotes\", which appeared in the original book in\nthe margins of the paragraph following the \"sidenote.\" Footnotes were\noriginally at the bottoms of the printed pages.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nBETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH\n\n\n\u00a7 1. _Not to touch the Earth_\n\n\n[The priest of Aricia and the Golden Bough]\n\nWe have travelled far since we turned our backs on Nemi and set forth in\nquest of the secret of the Golden Bough. With the present volume we\nenter on the last stage of our long journey. The reader who has had the\npatience to follow the enquiry thus far may remember that at the outset\ntwo questions were proposed for answer: Why had the priest of Aricia to\nslay his predecessor? And why, before doing so, had he to pluck the\nGolden Bough?[1] Of these two questions the first has now been answered.\nThe priest of Aricia, if I am right, was one of those sacred kings or\nhuman divinities on whose life the welfare of the community and even the\ncourse of nature in general are believed to be intimately dependent. It\ndoes not appear that the subjects or worshippers of such a spiritual\npotentate form to themselves any very clear notion of the exact\nrelationship in which they stand to him; probably their ideas on the\npoint are vague and fluctuating, and we should err if we attempted to\ndefine the relationship with logical precision. All that the people\nknow, or rather imagine, is that somehow they themselves, their cattle,\nand their crops are mysteriously bound up with their divine king, so\nthat according as he is well or ill the community is healthy or sickly,\nthe flocks and herds thrive or languish with disease, and the fields\nyield an abundant or a scanty harvest. The worst evil which they can\nconceive of is the natural death of their ruler, whether he succumb to\nsickness or old age, for in the opinion of his followers such a death\nwould entail the most disastrous consequences on themselves and their\npossessions; fatal epidemics would sweep away man and beast, the earth\nwould refuse her increase, nay the very frame of nature itself might be\ndissolved. To guard against these catastrophes it is necessary to put\nthe king to death while he is still in the full bloom of his divine\nmanhood, in order that his sacred life, transmitted in unabated force to\nhis successor, may renew its youth, and thus by successive transmissions\nthrough a perpetual line of vigorous incarnations may remain eternally\nfresh and young, a pledge and security that men and animals shall in\nlike manner renew their youth by a perpetual succession of generations,\nand that seedtime and harvest, and summer and winter, and rain and\nsunshine shall never fail. That, if my conjecture is right, was why the\npriest of Aricia, the King of the Wood at Nemi, had regularly to perish\nby the sword of his successor.\n\n[What was the Golden Bough?]\n\nBut we have still to ask, What was the Golden Bough? and why had each\ncandidate for the Arician priesthood to pluck it before he could slay\nthe priest? These questions I will now try to answer.\n\n[Sacred kings and priests forbidden to touch the ground with their\nfeet.]\n\nIt will be well to begin by noticing two of those rules or taboos by\nwhich, as we have seen, the life of divine kings or priests is\nregulated. The first of the rules to which I desire to call the reader's\nattention is that the divine personage may not touch the ground with his\nfoot. This rule was observed by the supreme pontiff of the Zapotecs in\nMexico; he profaned his sanctity if he so much as touched the ground\nwith his foot.[2] Montezuma, emperor of Mexico, never set foot on the\nground; he was always carried on the shoulders of noblemen, and if he\nlighted anywhere they laid rich tapestry for him to walk upon.[3] For\nthe Mikado of Japan to touch the ground with his foot was a shameful\ndegradation; indeed, in the sixteenth century, it was enough to deprive\nhim of his office. Outside his palace he was carried on men's shoulders;\nwithin it he walked on exquisitely wrought mats.[4] The king and queen\nof Tahiti might not touch the ground anywhere but within their\nhereditary domains; for the ground on which they trod became sacred. In\ntravelling from place to place they were carried on the shoulders of\nsacred men. They were always accompanied by several pairs of these\nsanctified attendants; and when it became necessary to change their\nbearers, the king and queen vaulted on to the shoulders of their new\nbearers without letting their feet touch the ground.[5] It was an evil\nomen if the king of Dosuma touched the ground, and he had to perform an\nexpiatory ceremony.[6] Within his palace the king of Persia walked on\ncarpets on which no one else might tread; outside of it he was never\nseen on foot but only in a chariot or on horseback.[7] In old days the\nking of Siam never set foot upon the earth, but was carried on a throne\nof gold from place to place.[8] Formerly neither the kings of Uganda,\nnor their mothers, nor their queens might walk on foot outside of the\nspacious enclosures in which they lived. Whenever they went forth they\nwere carried on the shoulders of men of the Buffalo clan, several of\nwhom accompanied any of these royal personages on a journey and took it\nin turn to bear the burden. The king sat astride the bearer's neck with\na leg over each shoulder and his feet tucked under the bearer's arms.\nWhen one of these royal carriers grew tired he shot the king on to the\nshoulders of a second man without allowing the royal feet to touch the\nground. In this way they went at a great pace and travelled long\ndistances in a day, when the king was on a journey. The bearers had a\nspecial hut in the king's enclosure in order to be at hand the moment\nthey were wanted.[9] Among the Bakuba or rather Bushongo, a nation in\nthe southern region of the Congo, down to a few years ago persons of the\nroyal blood were forbidden to touch the ground; they must sit on a hide,\na chair, or the back of a slave, who crouched on hands and feet; their\nfeet rested on the feet of others. When they travelled they were carried\non the backs of men; but the king journeyed in a litter supported on\nshafts.[10] Among the Ibo people about Awka, in Southern Nigeria, the\npriest of the Earth has to observe many taboos; for example, he may not\nsee a corpse, and if he meets one on the road he must hide his eyes with\nhis wristlet. He must abstain from many foods, such as eggs, birds of\nall sorts, mutton, dog, bush-buck, and so forth. He may neither wear nor\ntouch a mask, and no masked man may enter his house. If a dog enters his\nhouse, it is killed and thrown out. As priest of the Earth he may not\nsit on the bare ground, nor eat things that have fallen on the ground,\nnor may earth be thrown at him.[11] According to ancient Brahmanic\nritual a king at his inauguration trod on a tiger's skin and a golden\nplate; he was shod with shoes of boar's skin, and so long as he lived\nthereafter he might not stand on the earth with his bare feet.[12]\n\n[Certain persons on certain occasions forbidden to touch the ground with\ntheir feet.]\n\nBut besides persons who are permanently sacred or tabooed and are\ntherefore permanently forbidden to touch the ground with their feet,\nthere are others who enjoy the character of sanctity or taboo only on\ncertain occasions, and to whom accordingly the prohibition in question\nonly applies at the definite seasons during which they exhale the odour\nof sanctity. Thus among the Kayans or Bahaus of Central Borneo, while\nthe priestesses are engaged in the performance of certain rites they may\nnot step on the ground, and boards are laid for them to tread on.[13] At\na funeral ceremony observed by night among the Michemis, a Tibetan tribe\nnear the northern frontier of Assam, a priest fantastically bedecked\nwith tiger's teeth, many-coloured plumes, bells, and shells, executed a\nwild dance for the purpose of exorcising the evil spirits; then all\nfires were extinguished and a new light was struck by a man suspended by\nhis feet from a beam in the ceiling; \"he did not touch the ground,\" we\nare told, \"in order to indicate that the light came from heaven.\"[14]\nAgain, newly born infants are strongly tabooed; accordingly in Loango\nthey are not allowed to touch the earth.[15] Among the Iluvans of\nMalabar the bridegroom on his wedding-day is bathed by seven young men\nand then carried or walks on planks from the bathing-place to the\nmarriage booth; he may not touch the ground with his feet.[16] With the\nDyaks of Landak and Tajan, two districts of Dutch Borneo, it is a custom\nthat for a certain time after marriage neither bride nor bridegroom may\ntread on the earth.[17] Warriors, again, on the war-path are surrounded,\nso to say, by an atmosphere of taboo; hence some Indians of North\nAmerica might not sit on the bare ground the whole time they were out on\na warlike expedition.[18] In Laos the hunting of elephants gives rise to\nmany taboos; one of them is that the chief hunter may not touch the\nearth with his foot. Accordingly, when he alights from his elephant, the\nothers spread a carpet of leaves for him to step upon.[19] German\nwiseacres recommended that when witches were led to the block or the\nstake, they should not be allowed to touch the bare earth, and a reason\nsuggested for the rule was that if they touched the earth they might\nmake themselves invisible and so escape. The sagacious author of _The\nStriped-petticoat Philosophy_ in the eighteenth century ridicules the\nidea as mere silly talk. He admits, indeed, that the women were conveyed\nto the place of execution in carts; but he denies that there is any deep\nsignificance in the cart, and he is prepared to maintain this view by a\nchemical analysis of the timber of which the cart was built. To clinch\nhis argument he appeals to plain matter of fact and his own personal\nexperience. Not a single instance, he assures us with apparent\nsatisfaction, can be produced of a witch who escaped the axe or the fire\nin this fashion. \"I have myself,\" says he, \"in my youth seen divers\nwitches burned, some at Arnstadt, some at Ilmenau, some at Schwenda, a\nnoble village between Arnstadt and Ilmenau, and some of them were\npardoned and beheaded before being burned. They were laid on the earth\nin the place of execution and beheaded like any other poor sinner;\nwhereas if they could have escaped by touching the earth, not one of\nthem would have failed to do so.\"[20]\n\n[Sacred or tabooed persons apparently thought to be charged with a\nmysterious virtue like a fluid, which will run to waste or explode if it\ntouches the ground.]\n\nApparently holiness, magical virtue, taboo, or whatever we may call that\nmysterious quality which is supposed to pervade sacred or tabooed\npersons, is conceived by the primitive philosopher as a physical\nsubstance or fluid, with which the sacred man is charged just as a\nLeyden jar is charged with electricity; and exactly as the electricity\nin the jar can be discharged by contact with a good conductor, so the\nholiness or magical virtue in the man can be discharged and drained away\nby contact with the earth, which on this theory serves as an excellent\nconductor for the magical fluid. Hence in order to preserve the charge\nfrom running to waste, the sacred or tabooed personage must be carefully\nprevented from touching the ground; in electrical language he must be\ninsulated, if he is not to be emptied of the precious substance or fluid\nwith which he, as a vial, is filled to the brim. And in many cases\napparently the insulation of the tabooed person is recommended as a\nprecaution not merely for his own sake but for the sake of others; for\nsince the virtue of holiness or taboo is, so to say, a powerful\nexplosive which the smallest touch may detonate, it is necessary in the\ninterest of the general safety to keep it within narrow bounds, lest\nbreaking out it should blast, blight, and destroy whatever it comes into\ncontact with.\n\n[Things as well as persons can be charged with the mysterious quality of\nholiness or taboo; and when so charged they must be kept from contact\nwith the ground.]\n\nBut things as well as persons are often charged with the mysterious\nquality of holiness or taboo; hence it frequently becomes necessary for\nsimilar reasons to guard them also from coming into contact with the\nground, lest they should in like manner be drained of their valuable\nproperties and be reduced to mere commonplace material objects, empty\nhusks from which the good grain has been eliminated. Thus, for example,\nthe most sacred object of the Arunta tribe in Central Australia is, or\nrather used to be, a pole about twenty feet high, which is completely\nsmeared with human blood, crowned with an imitation of a human head, and\nset up on the ground where the final initiatory ceremonies of young men\nare performed. A young gum-tree is chosen to form the pole, and it must\nbe cut down and transported in such a way that it does not touch the\nearth till it is erected in its place on the holy ground. Apparently the\npole represents some famous ancestor of the olden time.[21]\n\n[Festival of the wild manog tree in British New Guinea.]\n\nAgain, at a great dancing festival celebrated by the natives of Bartle\nBay, in British New Guinea, a wild mango tree plays a prominent part.\nThe tree must be self-sown, that is, really wild and so young that it\nhas never flowered. It is chosen in the jungle some five or six weeks\nbefore the festival, and a circle is cleared round its trunk. From that\ntime the master of the ceremonies and some eight to twenty other men,\nwho have aided him in choosing the tree and in clearing the jungle,\nbecome strictly holy or tabooed. They sleep by themselves in a house\ninto which no one else may intrude: they may not wash or drink water,\nnor even allow it accidentally to touch their bodies: they are forbidden\nto eat boiled food and the fruit of mango trees: they may drink only the\nmilk of a young coco-nut which has been baked, and they may eat certain\nfruits and vegetables, such as paw-paws (_Carica papaya_) and\nsugar-cane, but only on condition that they have been baked. All refuse\nof their food is kept in baskets in their sleeping-house and may not be\nremoved from it till the festival is over. At the time when the men\nbegin to observe these rules of abstinence, some six to ten women,\nmembers of the same clan as the master of the ceremonies, enter on a\nlike period of mortification, avoiding the company of the other sex, and\nrefraining from water, all boiled food, and the fruit of the mango tree.\nThese fasting men and women are the principal dancers at the festival.\nThe dancing takes place on a special platform in a temporary village\nwhich has been erected for the purpose. When the platform is about to be\nset up, the fasting men rub the stepping posts and then suck their hands\nfor the purpose of extracting the ghost of any dead man that might\nchance to be in the post and might be injured by the weight of the\nplatform pressing down on him. Having carefully extracted these poor\nsouls, the men carry them away tenderly and set them free in the forest\nor the long grass.\n\n[The wild mango tree not allowed to touch the ground.]\n\nOn the day before the festival one of the fasting men cuts down the\nchosen mango tree in the jungle with a stone adze, which is never\nafterwards put to any other use; an iron tool may not be used for the\npurpose, though iron tools are now common enough in the district. In\ncutting down the mango they place nets on the ground to catch any leaves\nor twigs that might fall from the tree as it is being felled and they\nsurround the trunk with new mats to receive the chips which fly out\nunder the adze of the woodman; for the chips may not drop on the earth.\nOnce the tree is down, it is carried to the centre of the temporary\nvillage, the greatest care being taken to prevent it from coming into\ncontact with the ground. But when it is brought into the village, the\nhouses are connected with the top of the mango by means of long vines\ndecorated with the streamers. In the afternoon the fasting men and women\nbegin to dance, the men bedizened with gay feathers, armlets, streamers,\nand anklets, the women flaunting in parti-coloured petticoats and sprigs\nof croton leaves, which wave from their waistbands as they dance. The\ndancing stops at sundown, and when the full moon rises over the shoulder\nof the eastern hill (for the date of the festival seems to be determined\nwith reference to the time of the moon), two chiefs mount the gables of\ntwo houses on the eastern side of the square, and, their dusky figures\nstanding sharply out against the moonlight, pray to the evil spirits to\ngo away and not to hurt the people. Next morning pigs are killed by\nbeing speared as slowly as possible in order that they may squeal loud\nand long; for the people believe that the mango trees hear the\nsquealing, and are pleased at the sound, and bear plenty of fruit,\nwhereas if they heard no squeals they would bear no fruit. However, the\ntrees have to content themselves with the squeals; the flesh of the pigs\nis eaten by the people. This ends the festival.\n\n[Final disposition of the wild mango tree.]\n\nNext day the mango is taken down from the platform, wrapt in new mats,\nand carried by the fasting men to their sleeping house, where it is hung\nfrom the roof. But after an interval, it may be of many months, the tree\nis brought forth again. As to the reason for its reappearance in public\nopinions are divided; but some say that the tree itself orders the\nmaster of the ceremonies to bring it forth, appearing to him in his\ndreams and saying, \"Let me smell the smoking fat of pigs. So will your\npigs be healthy and your crops will grow.\" Be that as it may, out it\ncomes, conducted by the fasting men in their dancing costume; and with\nit come in the solemn procession all the pots, spoons, cups and so forth\nused by the fasting men during their period of holiness or taboo, also\nall the refuse of their food which has been collected for months, and\nall the fallen leaves and chips of the mango in their bundles of mats.\nThese holy relics are carried in front and the mango tree itself brings\nup the rear of the procession. While these sacred objects are being\nhanded out of the house, the men who are present rush up, wipe off the\nhallowed dust which has accumulated on them, and smear it over their own\nbodies, no doubt in order to steep themselves in their blessed\ninfluence. Thus the tree is carried as before to the centre of the\ntemporary village, care being again taken not to let it touch the\nground. Then one of the fasting men takes from a basket a number of\nyoung green mangoes, cuts them in pieces, and places them with his own\nhands in the mouths of his fellows, the other fasting men, who chew the\npieces small and turning round spit the morsels in the direction of the\nsetting sun, in order that \"the sun should carry the mango bits over the\nwhole country and everyone should know.\" A portion of the mango tree is\nthen broken off and in the evening it is burnt along with the bundles of\nleaves, chips, and refuse of food, which have been stored up. What\nremains of the tree is taken to the house of the master of the\nceremonies and hung over the fire-place; it will be brought out again at\nintervals and burned bit by bit, till all is consumed, whereupon a new\nmango will be cut down and treated in like manner. The ashes of the holy\nfire on each occasion are gathered by the people and preserved in the\nhouse of the master of the ceremonies.[22]\n\n[The ceremony apparently intended to fertilize the mango trees.]\n\nThe meaning of these ceremonies is not explained by the authorities who\ndescribe them; but we may conjecture that they are intended to fertilize\nthe mango trees and cause them to bear a good crop of fruit. The central\nfeature of the whole ritual is a wild mango tree, so young that it has\nnever flowered: the men who cut it down, carry it into the village, and\ndance at the festival, are forbidden to eat mangoes: pigs are killed in\norder that their dying squeals may move the mango trees to bear fruit:\nat the end of the ceremonies pieces of young green mangoes are solemnly\nplaced in the mouths of the fasting men and are by them spurted out\ntowards the setting sun in order that the luminary may carry the\nfragments to every part of the country; and finally when after a longer\nor shorter interval the tree is wholly consumed, its place is supplied\nby another. All these circumstances are explained simply and naturally\nby the supposition that the young mango tree is taken as a\nrepresentative of mangoes generally, that the dances are intended to\nquicken it, and that it is preserved, like a May-pole of old in England,\nas a sort of general fund of vegetable life, till the fund being\nexhausted by the destruction of the tree it is renewed by the\nimportation of a fresh young tree from the forest. We can therefore\nunderstand why, as a storehouse of vital energy, the tree should be\ncarefully kept from contact with the ground, lest the pent-up and\nconcentrated energy should escape and dribbling away into the earth be\ndissipated to no purpose.\n\n[Sacred objects of various sorts not allowed to touch the ground.]\n\nTo take other instances of what we may call the conservation of energy\nin magic or religion by insulating sacred bodies from the ground, the\nnatives of New Britain have a secret society called the Duk-duk, the\nmembers of which masquerade in petticoats of leaves and tall headdresses\nof wickerwork shaped like candle extinguishers, which descend to the\nshoulders of the wearers, completely concealing their faces. Thus\ndisguised they dance about to the awe and terror, real or assumed, of\nthe women and uninitiated, who take, or pretend to take, them for\nspirits. When lads are being initiated into the secrets of this august\nsociety, the adepts cut down some very large and heavy bamboos, one for\neach lad, and the novices carry them, carefully wrapt up in leaves, to\nthe sacred ground, where they arrive very tired and weary, for they may\nnot let the bamboos touch the ground nor the sun shine on them. Outside\nthe fence of the enclosure every lad deposits his bamboo on a couple of\nforked sticks and covers it up with nut leaves.[23] Among the Carrier\nIndians of North-Western America, who burned their dead, the ashes of a\nchief used to be placed in a box and set on the top of a pole beside his\nhut: the box was never allowed to touch the ground.[24] In the Omaha\ntribe of North American Indians the sacred clam shell of the Elk clan\nwas wrapt up from sight in a mat, placed on a stand, and never suffered\nto come in contact with the earth.[25] The Cherokees and kindred Indian\ntribes of the United States used to have certain sacred boxes or arks,\nwhich they regularly took with them to war. Such a holy ark consisted of\na square wooden box, which contained \"certain consecrated vessels made\nby beloved superannuated women, and of such various antiquated forms, as\nwould have puzzled Adam to have given significant names to each.\" The\nleader of a war party and his attendant bore the ark by turns, but they\nnever set it on the ground nor would they themselves sit on the bare\nearth while they were carrying it against the enemy. Where stones were\nplentiful they rested the ark on them; but where no stones were to be\nfound, they deposited it on short logs. \"The Indian ark is deemed so\nsacred and dangerous to be touched, either by their own sanctified\nwarriors, or the spoiling enemy, that they durst not touch it upon any\naccount. It is not to be meddled with by any, except the war chieftain\nand his waiter, under the penalty of incurring great evil. Nor would the\nmost inveterate enemy touch it in the woods, for the very same reason.\"\nAfter their return home they used to hang the ark on the leader's\nred-painted war pole.[26] At Sipi, near Simla, in Northern India, an\nannual fair is held, at which men purchase wives. A square box with a\ndomed top figures prominently at the fair. It is fixed on two poles to\nbe carried on men's shoulders, and long heavily-plaited petticoats hang\nfrom it nearly to the ground. Three sides of the box are adorned with\nthe head and shoulders of a female figure and the fourth side with a\nblack yak's tail. Four men bear the poles, each carrying an axe in his\nright hand. They dance round, with a swinging rhythmical step, to the\nmusic of drums and a pipe. The dance goes on for hours and is thought to\navert ill-luck from the fair. It is said that the box is brought to\nSimla from a place sixty miles off by relays of men, who may not stop\nnor set the box on the ground the whole way.[27] In Scotland, when water\nwas carried from sacred wells to sick people, the water-vessel might not\ntouch the earth.[28] In some parts of Aberdeenshire the last bunch of\nstanding corn, which is commonly viewed as very sacred, being the last\nrefuge of the corn-spirit retreating before the reapers, is not suffered\nto touch the ground; the master or \"gueedman\" sits down and receives\neach handful of corn as it is cut on his lap.[29]\n\n[Sacred food not allowed to touch the earth.]\n\nAgain, sacred food may not under certain circumstances be brought into\ncontact with the earth. Some of the aborigines of Victoria used to\nregard the fat of the emu as sacred, believing that it had once been the\nfat of the black man. In taking it from the bird or giving it to another\nthey handled it reverently. Any one who threw away the fat or flesh of\nthe emu was held accursed. \"The late Mr. Thomas observed on one\noccasion, at Nerre-nerre-Warreen, a remarkable exhibition of the effects\nof this superstition. An aboriginal child--one attending the\nschool--having eaten some part of the flesh of an emu, threw away the\nskin. The skin fell to the ground, and this being observed by his\nparents, they showed by their gestures every token of horror. They\nlooked upon their child as one utterly lost. His desecration of the bird\nwas regarded as a sin for which there was no atonement.\"[30] The\nRoumanians of Transylvania believe that \"every fresh-baked loaf of\nwheaten bread is sacred, and should a piece inadvertently fall to the\nground, it is hastily picked up, carefully wiped and kissed, and if\nsoiled, thrown into the fire--partly as an offering to the dead, and\npartly because it were a heavy sin to throw away or tread upon any\nparticle of it.\"[31] At certain festivals in south-eastern Borneo the\nfood which is consumed in the common house may not touch the ground;\nhence, a little before the festivals take place, foot-bridges made of\nthin poles are constructed from the private dwellings to the common\nhouse.[32] When Hall was living with the Esquimaux and grew tired of\neating walrus, one of the women brought the head and neck of a reindeer\nfor him to eat. This venison had to be completely wrapt up before it was\nbrought into the house, and once in the house it could only be placed on\nthe platform which served as a bed. \"To have placed it on the floor or\non the platform behind the fire-lamp, among the walrus, musk-ox, and\npolar-bear meat which occupy a goodly portion of both of these places,\nwould have horrified the whole town, as, according to the actual belief\nof the Innuits, not another walrus could be secured this year, and there\nwould ever be trouble in catching any more.\"[33] But in this case the\nreal scruple appears to have been felt not so much at placing the\nvenison on the ground as at bringing it into contact with walrus\nmeat.[34]\n\n[Magical implements and remedies thought to lose their virtue by contact\nwith the ground.]\n\nSometimes magical implements and remedies are supposed to lose their\nvirtue by contact with the ground, the volatile essence with which they\nare impregnated being no doubt drained off into the earth. Thus in the\nBoulia district of Queensland the magical bone, which the native\nsorcerer points at his victim as a means of killing him, is never by any\nchance allowed to touch the earth.[35] The wives of rajahs in Macassar,\na district of southern Celebes, pride themselves on their luxuriant\ntresses and are at great pains to oil and preserve them. Should the hair\nbegin to grow thin, the lady resorts to many devices to stay the ravages\nof time; among other things she applies to her locks a fat extracted\nfrom crocodiles and venomous snakes. The unguent is believed to be very\nefficacious, but during its application the woman's feet may not come\ninto contact with the ground, or all the benefit of the nostrum would be\nlost.[36] Some people in antiquity believed that a woman in hard labour\nwould be delivered if a spear, which had been wrenched from a man's body\nwithout touching the ground, were thrown over the house where the\nsufferer lay. Again, according to certain ancient writers, arrows which\nhad been extracted from a body without coming into contact with the\nearth and laid under sleepers, acted as a love-charm.[37] Among the\npeasantry of the north-east of Scotland the prehistoric weapons called\ncelts went by the name of \"thunderbolts\" and were coveted as the sure\nbringers of success, always provided that they were not allowed to fall\nto the ground.[38]\n\n[Serpents eggs or Snake Stones.]\n\nIn ancient Gaul certain glass or paste beads attained great celebrity as\namulets under the name of serpents' eggs; it was believed that serpents,\ncoiling together in a wriggling, writhing mass, generated them from\ntheir slaver and shot them into the air from their hissing jaws. If a\nman was bold and dexterous enough to catch one of these eggs in his\ncloak before it touched the ground, he rode off on horseback with it at\nfull speed, pursued by the whole pack of serpents, till he was saved by\nthe interposition of a river, which the snakes could not pass. The proof\nof the egg being genuine was that if it were thrown into a stream it\nwould float up against the current, even though it were hooped in gold.\nThe Druids held these beads in high esteem; according to them, the\nprecious objects could only be obtained on a certain day of the moon,\nand the peculiar virtue that resided in them was to secure success in\nlaw suits and free access to kings. Pliny knew of a Gaulish knight who\nwas executed by the emperor Claudius for wearing one of these\namulets.[39] Under the name of Snake Stones (_glain neidr_) or Adder\nStones the beads are still known in those parts of our own country where\nthe Celtic population has lingered, with its immemorial superstitions,\ndown to the present or recent times; and the old story of the origin of\nthe beads from the slaver of serpents was believed by the modern\npeasantry of Cornwall, Wales, and Scotland as by the Druids of ancient\nGaul. In Cornwall the time when the serpents united to fashion the beads\nwas commonly said to be at or about Midsummer Eve; in Wales it was\nusually thought to be spring, especially the Eve of May Day, and even\nwithin recent years persons in the Principality have affirmed that they\nwitnessed the great vernal congress of the snakes and saw the magic\nstone in the midst of the froth. The Welsh peasants believe the beads to\npossess medicinal virtues of many sorts and to be particularly\nefficacious for all maladies of the eyes. In Wales and Ireland the beads\nsometimes went by the name of the Magician's or Druid's Glass (_Gleini\nna Droedh_ and _Glaine nan Druidhe_). Specimens of them may be seen in\nmuseums; some have been found in British barrows. They are of glass of\nvarious colours, green, blue, pink, red, brown, and so forth, some plain\nand some ribbed. Some are streaked with brilliant hues. The beads are\nperforated, and in the Highlands of Scotland the hole is explained by\nsaying that when the bead has just been conflated by the serpents\njointly, one of the reptiles sticks his tail through the still viscous\nglass. An Englishman who visited Scotland in 1699 found many of these\nbeads in use throughout the country. They were hung from children's\nnecks to protect them from whooping cough and other ailments. Snake\nStones were, moreover, a charm to ensure prosperity in general and to\nrepel evil spirits. When one of these priceless treasures was not on\nactive service, the owner kept it in an iron box to guard it against\nfairies, who, as is well known, cannot abide iron.[40]\n\n[Medicinal plants, water, are not allowed to touch the earth.]\n\nPliny mentions several medicinal plants, which, if they were to retain\ntheir healing virtue, ought not to be allowed to touch the earth.[41]\nThe curious medical treatise of Marcellus, a native of Bordeaux in the\nfourth century of our era, abounds with prescriptions of this sort; and\nwe can well believe the writer when he assures us that he borrowed many\nof his quaint remedies from the lips of common folk and peasants rather\nthan from the books of the learned.[42] Thus he tells us that certain\nwhite stones found in the stomachs of young swallows assuage the most\npersistent headache, always provided that their virtue be not impaired\nby contact with the ground.[43] Another of his cures for the same malady\nis a wreath of fleabane placed on the head, but it must not touch the\nearth.[44] On the same condition a decoction of the root of elecampane\nin wine kills worms; a fern, found growing on a tree, relieves the\nstomach-ache; and the pastern-bone of a hare is an infallible remedy for\ncolic, provided, first, it be found in the dung of a wolf, second, that\nit docs not touch the ground, and, third, that it is not touched by a\nwoman.[45] Another cure for colic is effected by certain hocus-pocus\nwith a scrap of wool from the forehead of a first-born lamb, if only the\nlamb, instead of being allowed to fall to the ground, has been caught by\nhand as it dropped from its dam.[46] In Andjra, a district of Morocco,\nthe people attribute many magical virtues to rain-water which has fallen\non the twenty-seventh day of April, Old Style; accordingly they collect\nit and use it for a variety of purposes. Mixed with tar and sprinkled on\nthe door-posts it prevents snakes and scorpions from entering the house:\nsprinkled on heaps of threshed corn it protects them from the evil eye:\nmixed with an egg, henna, and seeds of cress it is an invaluable\nmedicine for sick cows: poured over a plate, on which a passage of the\nKoran has been written, it strengthens the memory of schoolboys who\ndrink it; and if you mix it with cowdung and red earth and paint rings\nwith the mixture round the trunks of your fig-trees at sunset on\nMidsummer Day, you may depend on it that the trees will bear an\nexcellent crop and will not shed their fruit untimely on the ground. But\nin order to preserve these remarkable properties it is absolutely\nessential that the water should on no account be allowed to touch the\nground; some say too that it should not be exposed to the sun nor\nbreathed upon by anybody.[47] Again, the Moors ascribe great magical\nefficacy to what they call \"the sultan of the oleander,\" which is a\nstalk of oleander with a cluster of four pairs of leaves springing from\nit. They think that the magical virtue is greatest if the stalk has been\ncut immediately before midsummer. But when the plant is brought into the\nhouse, the branches may not touch the ground, lest they should lose\ntheir marvellous qualities.[48] In the olden days, before a Lithuanian\nor Prussian farmer went forth to plough for the first time in spring, he\ncalled in a wizard to perform a certain ceremony for the good of the\ncrops. The sage seized a mug of beer with his teeth, quaffed the liquor,\nand then tossed the mug over his head. This signified that the corn in\nthat year should grow taller than a man. But the mug might not fall to\nthe ground; it had to be caught by somebody stationed at the wizard's\nback, for if it fell to the ground the consequence naturally would be\nthat the corn also would be laid low on the earth.[49]\n\n\n\u00a7 2. _Not to see the Sun_\n\n\n[Sacred persons not allowed to see the sun.]\n\nThe second rule to be here noted is that the sun may not shine upon the\ndivine person. This rule was observed both by the Mikado and by the\npontiff of the Zapotecs. The latter \"was looked upon as a god whom the\nearth was not worthy to hold, nor the sun to shine upon.\"[50] The\nJapanese would not allow that the Mikado should expose his sacred person\nto the open air, and the sun was not thought worthy to shine on his\nhead.[51] The Indians of Granada, in South America, \"kept those who were\nto be rulers or commanders, whether men or women, locked up for several\nyears when they were children, some of them seven years, and this so\nclose that they were not to see the sun, for if they should happen to\nsee it they forfeited their lordship, eating certain sorts of food\nappointed; and those who were their keepers at certain times went into\ntheir retreat or prison and scourged them severely.\"[52] Thus, for\nexample, the heir to the throne of Bogota, who was not the son but the\nsister's son of the king, had to undergo a rigorous training from his\ninfancy: he lived in complete retirement in a temple, where he might not\nsee the sun nor eat salt nor converse with a woman: he was surrounded by\nguards who observed his conduct and noted all his actions: if he broke a\nsingle one of the rules laid down for him, he was deemed infamous and\nforfeited all his rights to the throne.[53] So, too, the heir to the\nkingdom of Sogamoso, before succeeding to the crown, had to fast for\nseven years in the temple, being shut up in the dark and not allowed to\nsee the sun or light.[54] The prince who was to become Inca of Peru had\nto fast for a month without seeing light.[55] On the day when a Brahman\nstudent of the Veda took a bath, to signify that the time of his\nstudentship was at an end, he entered a cow-shed before sunrise, hung\nover the door a skin with the hair inside, and sat there; on that day\nthe sun should not shine upon him.[56]\n\n[Tabooed persons not allowed to see the sun; certain persons forbidden\nto see fire.]\n\nAgain, women after childbirth and their offspring are more or less\ntabooed all the world over; hence in Corea the rays of the sun are\nrigidly excluded from both mother and child for a period of twenty-one\nor a hundred days, according to their rank, after the birth has taken\nplace.[57] Among some of the tribes on the north-west coast of New\nGuinea a woman may not leave the house for months after childbirth. When\nshe does go out, she must cover her head with a hood or mat; for if the\nsun were to shine upon her, it is thought that one of her male relations\nwould die.[58] Again, mourners are everywhere taboo; accordingly in\nmourning the Ainos of Japan wear peculiar caps in order that the sun may\nnot shine upon their heads.[59] During a solemn fast of three days the\nIndians of Costa Rica eat no salt, speak as little as possible, light no\nfires, and stay strictly indoors, or if they go out during the day they\ncarefully cover themselves from the light of the sun, believing that\nexposure to the sun's rays would turn them black.[60] On Yule Night it\nhas been customary in parts of Sweden from time immemorial to go on\npilgrimage, whereby people learn many secret things and know what is to\nhappen in the coming year. As a preparation for this pilgrimage, \"some\nsecrete themselves for three days previously in a dark cellar, so as to\nbe shut out altogether from the light of heaven. Others retire at an\nearly hour of the preceding morning to some out-of-the-way place, such\nas a hay-loft, where they bury themselves in the hay, that they may\nneither see nor hear any living creature; and here they remain, in\nsilence and fasting, until after sundown; whilst there are those who\nthink it sufficient if they rigidly abstain from food on the day before\ncommencing their wanderings. During this period of probation a man ought\nnot to see fire, but should this have happened, he must strike a light\nwith flint and steel, whereby the evil that would otherwise have ensued\nwill be obviated.\"[61] During the sixteen days that a Pima Indian is\nundergoing purification for killing an Apache he may not see a blazing\nfire.[62]\n\n[The story of Prince Sunless.]\n\nAcarnanian peasants tell of a handsome prince called Sunless, who would\ndie if he saw the sun. So he lived in an underground palace on the site\nof the ancient Oeniadae, but at night he came forth and crossed the\nriver to visit a famous enchantress who dwelt in a castle on the further\nbank. She was loth to part with him every night long before the sun was\nup, and as he turned a deaf ear to all her entreaties to linger, she hit\nupon the device of cutting the throats of all the cocks in the\nneighbourhood. So the prince, whose ear had learned to expect the shrill\nclarion of the birds as the signal of the growing light, tarried too\nlong, and hardly had he reached the ford when the sun rose over the\nAetolian mountains, and its fatal beams fell on him before he could\nregain his dark abode.[63]\n\n\nNotes:\n\n[1] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 44.\n\n[2] H.H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London,\n1875-1876), ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des Nations\ncivilis\u00e9es du Mexique et de l'Am\u00e9rique-Centrale_ (Paris, 1857-1859),\niii. 29.\n\n[3] _Manuscrit Ramirez, Histoire de l'origine des Indiens_, publi\u00e9 par\nD. Charnay (Paris, 1903), p. 108; J. de Acosta, _The Natural and Moral\nHistory of the Indies_, bk. vii. chap. 22, vol. ii. p. 505 of E.\nGrimston's translation, edited by (Sir) Clements R. Markham (Hakluyt\nSociety, London, 1880).\n\n[4] _Memorials of the Empire of Japon in the XVI. and XVII. Centuries_,\nedited by T. Rundall (Hakluyt Society, London, 1850), pp. 14, 141; B.\nVarenius, _Descriptio regni Japoniae et Siam_ (Cambridge, 1673), p. 11;\nCaron, \"Account of Japan,\" in John Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_\n(London, 1808-1814), vii. 613; Kaempfer, \"History of Japan,\" in _id._\nvii. 716.\n\n[5] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, Second Edition (London,\n1832-1836), iii. 102 _sq._; Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to\nthe Southern Pacific Ocean_ (London, 1799), p. 329.\n\n[6] A. Bastian, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_ (Leipsic, 1860), iii. 81.\n\n[7] Athenaeus, xii. 8, p. 514 c.\n\n[8] _The Voiages and Travels of John Struys_ (London, 1684), p. 30.\n\n[9] Rev. J. Roscoe, \"Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the\nBaganda,\" _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp.\n62, 67; _id., The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 154 _sq._ Compare L.\nDecle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ (London, 1898), p. 445 note:\n\"Before horses had been introduced into Uganda the king and his mother\nnever walked, but always went about perched astride the shoulders of a\nslave--a most ludicrous sight. In this way they often travelled hundreds\nof miles.\" The use both of horses and of chariots by royal personages\nmay often have been intended to prevent their sacred feet from touching\nthe ground.\n\n[10] E. Torday et T.A. Joyce, _Les Bushongo_ (Brussels, 1910), p. 61.\n\n[11] Northcote W. Thomas, _Anthropological Report on the Ibo-speaking\nPeoples of Nigeria_ (London, 1913), i. 57 _sq._\n\n[12] _Satapatha Br\u00e2hmana_, translated by Julius Eggeling, Part iii.\n(Oxford, 1894) pp. 81, 91, 92, 102, 128 _sq. (Sacred Books of the East_,\nvol. xli.).\n\n[13] A.W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_ (Leyden, 1904-1907), i. 172.\n\n[14] Letter of Missionary Krick, in _Annales de la Propagation de la\nFoi_, xxvi. (1854) pp. 86-88.\n\n[15] Pechuel-Loesche, \"Indiscretes aus Loango,\" _Zeitschrift f\u00fcr\nEthnologie_, x. (1878) pp. 29 _sq._\n\n[16] Edgar Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_ (Madras,\n1906), p. 70.\n\n[17] M.C. Schadee, \"Het familieleven en familierecht der Dajaks van\nLandak en Tajan,\" _Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land en Volkenkunde van\nNederlandsch-Indi\u00e9_, lxiii. (1910) p. 433.\n\n[18] James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), p.\n382; _Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner_ (London,\n1830), p. 123. As to the taboos to which warriors are subject see _Taboo\nand the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 157 _sqq._\n\n[19] Etienne Aymonier, _Notes sur le Laos_ (Saigon, 1885), p. 26.\n\n[20] _Die gestritgelte Rockenphilosophie_*[5] (Chemnitz, 1759), pp. 586\n_sqq._\n\n[21] Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central\nAustralia_ (London, 1899), pp. 364, 370 _sqq._, 629; _id., Across\nAustralia_ (London, 1912), ii. 280, 285 _sq._\n\n[22] C.G. Seligmann, M.D., _The Melanesians of British New Guinea_\n(Cambridge, 1910), pp. 589-599.\n\n[23] George Brown, D.D., _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910),\npp. 60 _sq._, 64. As to the Duk-duk society, see below, vol. ii. pp. 246\n_sq._\n\n[24] John Keast Lord, _The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and British\nColumbia_ (London, 1866), ii. 237.\n\n[25] Edwin James, _Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky\nMountains_ (London, 1823), ii. 47; Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, \"Omaha\nSociology,\" _Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_\n(Washington, 1884), p. 226.\n\n[26] James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), pp.\n161-163.\n\n[27] (Sir) Henry Babington Smith, in _Folk-lore_, v. (1894) p. 340.\n\n[28] Miss C.F. Gordon Cumming, _In the Hebrides_ (London, 1883), p. 211.\n\n[29] W. Gregor, \"Quelques coutumes du Nord-est du Comt\u00e9 d'Aberdeen,\"\n_Revue des Traditions populaires_, iii. (1888) p. 485 B. Compare\n_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 158 _sq._\n\n[30] R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_ (Melbourne and London,\n1878), i. 450.\n\n[31] E. Gerard, _The Land beyond the Forest_ (Edinburgh and London,\n1888), ii. 7.\n\n[32] F. Grabowsky, \"Der Distrikt Dusson Timor in S\u00fcdost-Borneo und seine\nBewohner,\" _Das Ausland_, 1884, No. 24, p. 470.\n\n[33] _Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition made by Charles F.\nHall_, edited by Prof. J.E. Nourse (Washington, 1879), pp. 110 _sq._\n\n[34] See _Taboo and Perils of the Soul_, pp. 207 _sqq._\n\n[35] Walter E. Roth, _Ethnological Studies among the North-West-Central\nQueensland Aborigines_ (Brisbane and London, 1897), p. 156, \u00a7 265. The\ncustom of killing a man by pointing a bone or stick at him, while the\nsorcerer utters appropriate curses, is common among the tribes of\nCentral Australia; but amongst them there seems to be no objection to\nplace the bone or stick on the ground; on the contrary, an Arunta wizard\ninserts the bone or stick in the ground while he invokes death and\ndestruction on his enemy. See Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen, _Native\nTribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1899), pp. 534 _sqq.; id.,\nNorthern Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1904), pp. 455 _sqq._\n\n[36] Hugh Low, _Sarawak_ (London, 1848), pp. 145 _sq._\n\n[37] Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_ xxviii. 33 _sq._\n\n[38] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of\nScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 184. As to the superstitions attaching to\nstone arrowheads and axeheads (celts), commonly known as \"thunderbolts,\"\nin the British Islands, see W.W. Skeat, \"Snakestones and Stone\nThunderbolts,\" _Folklore_, xxiii. (1912) pp. 60 _sqq._; and as to such\nsuperstitions in general, see Chr. Blinkenberg, _The Thunderweapon in\nReligion and Folklore_ (Cambridge, 1911).\n\n[39] Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_, xxix. 52-54.\n\n[40] W. Borlase, _Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County\nof Cornwall_ (London, 1769), pp. 142 _sq._; J. Brand, _Popular\nAntiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 322; J.G. Dalyell,\n_Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 140 _sq._;\nDaniel Wilson, _The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_\n(Edinburgh, 1851), pp. 303 _sqq._; Lieut.-Col. Forbes Leslie, _The Early\nRaces of Scotland and their Monuments_ (Edinburgh, 1866), i. 75 _sqq._;\nJ.G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands\nof Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 84-88; Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and\nFolk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 170 _sq._; J.C. Davies,\n_Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76. Compare\nW.W. Skeat, \"Snakestones and Stone Thunderbolts,\" _Folk-lore,_ xxiii.\n(1912) pp. 45 _sqq._ The superstition is described as follows by Edward\nLhwyd in a letter quoted by W. Borlase (_op. cit._ p. 142): \"In most\nparts of Wales, and throughout all Scotland, and in Cornwall, we find it\na common opinion of the vulgar, that about Midsummer-Eve (though in the\ntime they do not all agree) it is usual for snakes to meet in companies;\nand that, by joining heads together, and hissing, a kind of bubble is\nformed, which the rest, by continual hissing, blow on till it passes\nquite through the body, and then it immediately hardens, and resembles a\nglass-ring, which whoever finds (as some old women and children are\npersuaded) shall prosper in all his undertakings. The rings thus\ngenerated, are called _Gleineu Nadroeth_; in English, Snake-stones. They\nare small glass amulets, commonly about half as wide as our\nfinger-rings, but much thicker, of a green colour usually, though\nsometimes blue, and waved with red and white.\"\n\n[41] Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_ xxiv. 12 and 68, xxv. 171.\n\n[42] Marcellus, _De medicamentis_, ed. G. Helmreich (Leipsic, 1889),\npreface, p. i.: \"_Nec solum veteres medicinae artis auctores Latino\ndumtaxat sermone perscriptos ... lectione scrutatus sum, sed etiam ab\nagrestibus et plebeis remedia fortuita atque simplicia, quae\nexperimentis probaverant didici_.\" As to Marcellus and his work, see\nJacob Grimm, \"Ueber Marcellus Burdigalensis,\" _Abhandlungen der\nkoniglichen Akademie der Wissenschaft zu Berlin_, 1847, pp. 429-460;\n_id._, \"Ueber die Marcellischen Formeln,\" _ibid._. 1855, pp. 50-68.\n\n[43] Marcellus, _De medicamentis_, i. 68.\n\n[44] Marcellus, _op. cit._ i. 76.\n\n[45] Marcellus, _op. cit._ xxviii. 28 and 71, xxix. 35.\n\n[46] Marcellus, _op. cit._ xxix. 51.\n\n[47] Edward Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folklore_,\nxvi. (1905) pp. 32 _sq._; _id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with\nAgriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in\nMorocco_ (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 75 _sq._\n\n[48] E. Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folk-lore_, xvi.\n(1905) p. 35 _id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture,\ncertain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco_\n(Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 88 _sq._\n\n[49] Matth\u00e4us Pr\u00e4torius, _Deliciae Prussicae_, herausgegeben von Dr. W.\nPierson (Berlin, 1871), p. 54.\n\n[50] H.H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London,\n1875-1876), ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des Nations\ncivilis\u00e9es du Mexique et de l'Am\u00e9rique Centrale_ (Paris, 1857-1859),\niii. 29.\n\n[51] Kaempfer, \"History of Japan,\" in J. Pinkerton's _Voyages and\nTravels_, vii. 717; Caron, \"Account of Japan,\" _ibid._ vii. 613; B.\nVarenius, _Descriptio regni Japoniae et Siam_ (Cambridge, 1673), p. 11:\n_\"Radiis solis caput nunquam illustrabatur: in apertum acrem non\nprocedebat.\"_\n\n[52] A. de Herrera, _General History of the vast Continent and Islands\nof America,_ trans, by Capt. John Stevens (London, 1725-1726), v. 88.\n\n[53] H. Ternaux-Compans, _Essai sur l'ancien Cundinamarca_ (Paris,\nN.D.), p. 56; Theodor Waitz, _Anthropologie der Naturv\u00f6lker_ iv.\n(Leipsic, 1864) p. 359.\n\n[54] Alonzo de Zurita, \"Rapport sur les differentes classes de chefs de\nla Nouvelle-Espagne,\" p. 30, in H. Ternaux-Compans's _Voyages, Relations\net M\u00e9moires originaux, pour servir \u00e0 l'Histoire de la D\u00e9couvertede\nl'Am\u00e9rique_ (Paris, 1840); Th. Waitz, _l.c._; A. Bastian, _Die\nCulturl\u00e4nder des alten Amerika_ (Berlin, 1878), ii. 204.\n\n[55] Cieza de Leon, _Second Part of the Chronicle of Peru_ (Hakluyt\nSociety, London, 1883), p. 18.\n\n[56] _The Grihya S\u00fbtras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part ii. (Oxford,\n1892) pp. 165, 275 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xxx.). Umbrellas\nappear to have been sometimes used in ritual for the purpose of\npreventing the sunlight from falling on sacred persons or things. See W.\nCaland, _Altindisches Zauberritual_ (Amsterdam, 1900), p. 110 note 12.\nAt an Athenian festival called Scira the priestess of Athena, the priest\nof Poseidon, and the priest of the Sun walked from the Acropolis under\nthe shade of a huge white umbrella which was borne over their heads by\nthe Eteobutads. See Harpocration and Suidas, _s.v._ [Greek: Skiron];\nScholiast on Aristophanes, _Eccles._ 18.\n\n[57] Mrs. Bishop, _Korea and her Neighbours_ (London, 1898), ii. 248.\n\n[58] J.L. van Hasselt, \"Eenige aanteekeningen aangaande de bewoners der\nN. Westkust van Nieuw Guinea,\" _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-Landen\nVolkenkunde_, xxxi. (1886) p. 587.\n\n[59] A. Bastian, _Die V\u00f6lker des \u00f6stlichen Asien_, v. (Jena, 1869) p.\n366.\n\n[60] W.M. Gabb, \"On the Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica,\"\n_Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at\nPhiladelphia_, xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876), p. 510.\n\n[61] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), p. 194.\n\n[62] H.H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, i. 553. See\n_Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, p. 182.\n\n[63] L. Heuzey, _Le Mont Olympe et l'Acarnanie_ (Paris, 1860), pp. 458\n_sq._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT PUBERTY\n\n\n\u00a7 1. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa_\n\n\n[Girls at puberty forbidden to touch the ground and to see the sun;\nseclusion of girls at puberty among the A-Kamba; seclusion of girls at\npuberty among the Baganda.]\n\nNow it is remarkable that the foregoing two rules--not to touch the\nground and not to see the sun--are observed either separately or\nconjointly by girls at puberty in many parts of the world. Thus amongst\nthe negroes of Loango girls at puberty are confined in separate huts,\nand they may not touch the ground with any part of their bare body.[64]\nAmong the Zulus and kindred tribes of South Africa, when the first signs\nof puberty shew themselves \"while a girl is walking, gathering wood, or\nworking in the field, she runs to the river and hides herself among the\nreeds for the day, so as not to be seen by men. She covers her head\ncarefully with her blanket that the sun may not shine on it and shrivel\nher up into a withered skeleton, as would result from exposure to the\nsun's beams. After dark she returns to her home and is secluded\" in a\nhut for some time.[65] During her seclusion, which lasts for about a\nfortnight, neither she nor the girls who wait upon her may drink any\nmilk, lest the cattle should die. And should she be overtaken by the\nfirst flow while she is in the fields, she must, after hiding in the\nbush, scrupulously avoid all pathways in returning home.[66] A reason\nfor this avoidance is assigned by the A-Kamba of British East Africa,\nwhose girls under similar circumstances observe the same rule. \"A girl's\nfirst menstruation is a very critical period of her life according to\nA-Kamba beliefs. If this condition appears when she is away from the\nvillage, say at work in the fields, she returns at once to her village,\nbut is careful to walk through the grass and not on a path, for if she\nfollowed a path and a stranger accidentally trod on a spot of blood and\nthen cohabited with a member of the opposite sex before the girl was\nbetter again, it is believed that she would never bear a child.\" She\nremains at home till the symptoms have ceased, and during this time she\nmay be fed by none but her mother. When the flux is over, her father and\nmother are bound to cohabit with each other, else it is believed that\nthe girl would be barren all her life.[67] Similarly, among the Baganda,\nwhen a girl menstruated for the first time she was secluded and not\nallowed to handle food; and at the end of her seclusion the kinsman with\nwhom she was staying (for among the Baganda young people did not reside\nwith their parents) was obliged to jump over his wife, which with the\nBaganda is regarded as equivalent to having intercourse with her. Should\nthe girl happen to be living near her parents at the moment when she\nattained to puberty, she was expected on her recovery to inform them of\nthe fact, whereupon her father jumped over her mother. Were this custom\nomitted, the Baganda, like the A-Kamba, thought that the girl would\nnever have children or that they would die in infancy.[68] Thus the\npretence of sexual intercourse between the parents or other relatives of\nthe girl was a magical ceremony to ensure her fertility. It is\nsignificant that among the Baganda the first menstruation was often\ncalled a marriage, and the girl was spoken of as a bride.[69] These\nterms so applied point to a belief like that of the Siamese, that a\ngirl's first menstruation results from her defloration by one of a host\nof aerial spirits, and that the wound thus inflicted is repeated\nafterwards every month by the same ghostly agency.[70] For a like\nreason, probably, the Baganda imagine that a woman who does not\nmenstruate exerts a malign influence on gardens and makes them\nbarren[71] if she works in them. For not being herself fertilized by a\nspirit, how can she fertilize the garden?\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes of the Tanganyika\nplateau.]\n\nAmong the Amambwe, Winamwanga, Alungu, and other tribes of the great\nplateau to the west of Lake Tanganyika, \"when a young girl knows that\nshe has attained puberty, she forthwith leaves her mother's hut, and\nhides herself in the long grass near the village, covering her face with\na cloth and weeping bitterly. Towards sunset one of the older\nwomen--who, as directress of the ceremonies, is called _nachimbusa_--\nfollows her, places a cooking-pot by the cross-roads, and boils therein\na concoction of various herbs, with which she anoints the neophyte. At\nnightfall the girl is carried on the old woman's back to her mother's\nhut. When the customary period of a few days has elapsed, she is allowed\nto cook again, after first whitewashing the floor of the hut. But, by\nthe following month, the preparations for her initiation are complete.\nThe novice must remain in her hut throughout the whole period of\ninitiation, and is carefully guarded by the old women, who accompany her\nwhenever she leaves her quarters, veiling her head with a native cloth.\nThe ceremonies last for at least one month.\" During this period of\nseclusion, drumming and songs are kept up within the mother's hut by the\nvillage women, and no male, except, it is said, the father of twins, is\nallowed to enter. The directress of the rites and the older women\ninstruct the young girl as to the elementary facts of life, the duties\nof marriage, and the rules of conduct, decorum, and hospitality to be\nobserved by a married woman. Amongst other things the damsel must submit\nto a series of tests such as leaping over fences, thrusting her head\ninto a collar made of thorns, and so on. The lessons which she receives\nare illustrated by mud figures of animals and of the common objects of\ndomestic life. Moreover, the directress of studies embellishes the walls\nof the hut with rude pictures, each with its special significance and\nsong, which must be understood and learned by the girl.[72] In the\nforegoing account the rule that a damsel at puberty may neither see the\nsun nor touch the ground seems implied by the statement that on the\nfirst discovery of her condition she hides in long grass and is carried\nhome after sunset on the back of an old woman.\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes of British Central\nAfrica.]\n\nAmong the Nyanja-speaking tribes of Central Angoniland, in British\nCentral Africa, when a young girl finds that she has become a woman, she\nstands silent by the pathway leading to the village, her face wrapt in\nher calico. An old woman, finding her there, takes her off to a stream\nto bathe; after that the girl is secluded for six days in the old\nwoman's hut. She eats her porridge out of an old basket and her relish,\nin which no salt is put, from a potsherd. The basket is afterwards\nthrown away. On the seventh day the aged matrons gather together, go\nwith the girl to a stream, and throw her into the water. In returning\nthey sing songs, and the old woman, who directs the proceedings, carries\nthe maiden on her back. Then they spread a mat and fetch her husband and\nset the two down on the mat and shave his head. When it is dark, the old\nwomen escort the girl to her husband's hut. There the _ndiwo_ relish is\ncooking on the fire. During the night the woman rises and puts some salt\nin the pot. Next morning, before dawn, while all is dark and the\nvillagers have not yet opened their doors, the young married woman goes\noff and gives some of the relish to her mother and to the old woman who\nwas mistress of the ceremony. This relish she sets down at the doors of\ntheir houses and goes away. And in the morning, when the sun has risen\nand all is light in the village, the two women open their doors, and\nthere they find the relish with the salt in it; and they take of it and\nrub it on their feet and under their arm-pits; and if there are little\nchildren in the house, they eat of it. And if the young wife has a\nkinsman who is absent from the village, some of the relish is put on a\nsplinter of bamboo and kept against his return, that when he comes he,\ntoo, may rub his feet with it. But if the woman finds that her husband\nis impotent, she does not rise betimes and go out in the dark to lay the\nrelish at the doors of her mother and the old woman. And in the morning,\nwhen the sun is up and all the village is light, the old women open\ntheir doors, and see no relish there, and they know what has happened,\nand so they go wilily to work. For they persuade the husband to consult\nthe diviner that he may discover how to cure his impotence; and while he\nis closeted with the wizard, they fetch another man, who finishes the\nceremony with the young wife, in order that the relish may be given out\nand that people may rub their feet with it. But if it happens that when\na girl comes to maturity she is not yet betrothed to any man, and\ntherefore has no husband to go to, the matrons tell her that she must go\nto a lover instead. And this is the custom which they call _chigango_.\nSo in the evening she takes her cooking pot and relish and hies away to\nthe quarters of the young bachelors, and they very civilly sleep\nsomewhere else that night. And in the morning the girl goes back to the\n_kuka_ hut.[73]\n\n[Abstinence from salt associated with a rule of chastity in many\ntribes.]\n\nFrom the foregoing account it appears that among these tribes no sooner\nhas a girl attained to womanhood than she is expected and indeed\nrequired to give proof of her newly acquired powers by cohabiting with a\nman, whether her husband or another. And the abstinence from salt during\nthe girl's seclusion is all the more remarkable because as soon as the\nseclusion is over she has to use salt for a particular purpose, to which\nthe people evidently attach very great importance, since in the event of\nher husband proving impotent she is even compelled, apparently, to\ncommit adultery in order that the salted relish may be given out as\nusual. In this connexion it deserves to be noted that among the Wagogo\nof German East Africa women at their monthly periods may not sleep with\ntheir husbands and may not put salt in food.[74] A similar rule is\nobserved by the Nyanja-speaking tribes of Central Angoniland, with whose\npuberty customs we are here concerned. Among them, we are told, \"some\nsuperstition exists with regard to the use of salt. A woman during her\nmonthly sickness must on no account put salt into any food she is\ncooking, lest she give her husband or children a disease called _tsempo_\n(_chitsoko soko_) but calls a child to put it in, or, as the song goes,\n'_Natira nichere ni bondo chifukwa n'kupanda mwana_' and pours in the\nsalt by placing it on her knee, because there is no child handy. Should\na party of villagers have gone to make salt, all sexual intercourse is\nforbidden among the people of the village, until the people who have\ngone to make the salt (from grass) return. When they do come back, they\nmust make their entry into the village at night, and no one must see\nthem. Then one of the elders of the village sleeps with his wife. She\nthen cooks some relish, into which she puts some of the salt. This\nrelish is handed round to the people who went to make the salt, who rub\nit on their feet and under their armpits.\"[75] Hence it would seem that\nin the mind of these people abstinence from salt is somehow associated\nwith the idea of chastity. The same association meets us in the customs\nof many peoples in various parts of the world. For example, ancient\nHindoo ritual prescribed that for three nights after a husband had\nbrought his bride home, the two should sleep on the ground, remain\nchaste, and eat no salt.[76] Among the Baganda, when a man was making a\nnet, he had to refrain from eating salt and meat and from living with\nhis wife; these restrictions he observed until the net took its first\ncatch of fish. Similarly, so long as a fisherman's nets or traps were in\nthe water, he must live apart from his wife, and neither he nor she nor\ntheir children might eat salt or meat.[77] Evidence of the same sort\ncould be multiplied,[78] but without going into it further we may say\nthat for some reason which is not obvious to us primitive man connects\nsalt with the intercourse of the sexes and therefore forbids the use of\nthat condiment in a variety of circumstances in which he deems\ncontinence necessary or desirable. As there is nothing which the savage\nregards as a greater bar between the sexes than the state of\nmenstruation, he naturally prohibits the use of salt to women and girls\nat their monthly periods.\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes about Lake Nyassa and on\nthe Zambesi.]\n\nWith the Awa-nkonde, a tribe at the northern end of Lake Nyassa, it is a\nrule that after her first menstruation a girl must be kept apart, with a\nfew companions of her own sex, in a darkened house. The floor is covered\nwith dry banana leaves, but no fire may be lit in the house, which is\ncalled \"the house of the Awasungu,\" that is, \"of maidens who have no\nhearts.\"[79] When a girl reaches puberty, the Wafiomi of Eastern Africa\nhold a festival at which they make a noise with a peculiar kind of\nrattle. After that the girl remains for a year in the large common hut\n(_tembe_), where she occupies a special compartment screened off from\nthe men's quarters. She may not cut her hair or touch food, but is fed\nby other women. At night, however, she quits the hut and dances with\nyoung men.[80] Among the Barotse or Marotse of the upper Zambesi, \"when\na girl arrives at the age of puberty she is sent into the fields, where\na hut is constructed far from the village. There, with two or three\ncompanions, she spends a month, returning home late and starting before\ndawn in order not to be seen by the men. The women of the village visit\nher, bringing food and honey, and singing and dancing to amuse her. At\nthe end of a month her husband comes and fetches her. It is only after\nthis ceremony that women have the right to smear themselves with\nochre.\"[81] We may suspect that the chief reason why the girl during her\nseclusion may visit her home only by night is a fear, not so much lest\nshe should be seen by men, as that she might be seen by the sun. Among\nthe Wafiomi, as we have just learned, the young woman in similar\ncircumstances is even free to dance with men, provided always that the\ndance is danced at night. The ceremonies among the Barotse or Marotse\nare somewhat more elaborate for a girl of the royal family. She is shut\nup for three months in a place which is kept secret from the public;\nonly the women of her family know where it is. There she sits alone in\nthe darkness of the hut, waited on by female slaves, who are strictly\nforbidden to speak and may communicate with her and with each other only\nby signs. During all this time, though she does nothing, she eats much,\nand when at last she comes forth, her appearance is quite changed, so\nfat has she grown. She is then led by night to the river and bathed in\npresence of all the women of the village. Next day she flaunts before\nthe public in her gayest attire, her head bedecked with ornaments and\nher face mottled with red paint. So everybody knows what has\nhappened.[82]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Thonga on Delagoa Bay.]\n\nAmong the northern clans of the Thonga tribe, in South-Eastern Africa,\nabout Delagoa Bay, when a girl thinks that the time of her nubility is\nnear, she chooses an adoptive mother, perhaps in a neighbouring village.\nWhen the symptoms appear, she flies away from her own village and\nrepairs to that of her adopted mother \"to weep near her.\" After that she\nis secluded with several other girls in the same condition for a month.\nThey are shut up in a hut, and whenever they come outside they must wear\na dirty greasy cloth over their faces as a veil. Every morning they are\nled to a pool and plunged in the water up to their necks. Initiated\ngirls or women accompany them, singing obscene songs and driving away\nwith sticks any man who meets them; for no man may see a girl during\nthis time of seclusion. If he saw her, it is said that he would be\nstruck blind. On their return from the river, the girls are again\nimprisoned in the hut, where they remain wet and shivering, for they may\nnot go near the fire to warm themselves. During their seclusion they\nlisten to lascivious songs sung by grown women and are instructed in\nsexual matters. At the end of the month the adoptive mother brings the\ngirl home to her true mother and presents her with a pot of beer.[83]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Caffre tribes of South Africa.]\n\nAmong the Caffre tribes of South Africa the period of a girl's seclusion\nat puberty varies with the rank of her father. If he is a rich man, it\nmay last twelve days; if he is a chief, it may last twenty-four\ndays.[84] And when it is over, the girl rubs herself over with red\nearth, and strews finely powdered red earth on the ground, before she\nleaves the hut where she has been shut up. Finally, though she was\nforbidden to drink milk all the days of her separation, she washes out\nher mouth with milk, and is from that moment regarded as a full-grown\nwoman.[85] Afterwards, in the dusk of the evening, she carries away all\nthe objects with which she came into contact in the hut during her\nseclusion and buries them secretly in a sequestered spot.[86] When the\ngirl is a chief's daughter the ceremonies at her liberation from the hut\nare more elaborate than usual. She is led forth from the hut by a son of\nher father's councillor, who, wearing the wings of a blue crane, the\nbadge of bravery, on his head, escorts her to the cattle kraal, where\ncows are slaughtered and dancing takes place. Large skins full of milk\nare sent to the spot from neighbouring villages; and after the dances\nare over the girl drinks milk for the first time since the day she\nentered into retreat. But the first mouthful is drunk by the girl's aunt\nor other female relative who had charge of her during her seclusion; and\na little of it is poured on the fire-place.[87] Amongst the Zulus, when\nthe girl was a princess royal, the end of her time of separation was\ncelebrated by a sort of saturnalia: law and order were for the time\nbeing in abeyance: every man, woman, and child might appropriate any\narticle of property: the king abstained from interfering; and if during\nthis reign of misrule he was robbed of anything he valued he could only\nrecover it by paying a fine.[88] Among the Basutos, when girls at\npuberty are bathed as usual by the matrons in a river, they are hidden\nseparately in the turns and bends of the stream, and told to cover their\nheads, as they will be visited by a large serpent. Their limbs are then\nplastered with clay, little masks of straw are put on their faces, and\nthus arrayed they daily follow each other in procession, singing\nmelancholy airs, to the fields, there to learn the labours of husbandry\nin which a great part of their adult life will be passed.[89] We may\nsuppose, though we are not told, that the straw masks which they wear in\nthese processions are intended to hide their faces from the gaze of men\nand the rays of the sun.\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty in the Lower Congo.]\n\nAmong the tribes in the lower valley of the Congo, such as the Bavili,\nwhen a girl arrives at puberty, she has to pass two or three months in\nseclusion in a small hut built for the purpose. The hair of her head is\nshaved off, and every day the whole of her body is smeared with a red\npaint (_takulla_) made from a powdered wood mixed with water. Some of\nher companions reside in the hut with her and prepare the paint for her\nuse. A woman is appointed to take charge of the hut and to keep off\nintruders. At the end of her confinement she is taken to water by the\nwomen of her family and bathed; the paint is rubbed off her body, her\narms and legs are loaded with brass rings, and she is led in solemn\nprocession under an umbrella to her husband's house. If these ceremonies\nwere not performed, the people believe that the girl would be barren or\nwould give birth to monsters, that the rain would cease to fall, the\nearth to bear fruit, and the fishing to be successful.[90] Such serious\nimportance do these savages ascribe to the performance of rites which to\nus seem so childish.\n\n\n\u00a7 2. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, and\nIndonesia_\n\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland.]\n\nIn New Ireland girls are confined for four or five years in small cages,\nbeing kept in the dark and not allowed to set foot on the ground. The\ncustom has been thus described by an eye-witness. \"I heard from a\nteacher about some strange custom connected with some of the young girls\nhere, so I asked the chief to take me to the house where they were. The\nhouse was about twenty-five feet in length, and stood in a reed and\nbamboo enclosure, across the entrance to which a bundle of dried grass\nwas suspended to show that it was strictly '_tabu_.' Inside the house\nwere three conical structures about seven or eight feet in height, and\nabout ten or twelve feet in circumference at the bottom, and for about\nfour feet from the ground, at which point they tapered off to a point at\nthe top. These cages were made of the broad leaves of the pandanus-tree,\nsewn quite close together so that no light and little or no air could\nenter. On one side of each is an opening which is closed by a double\ndoor of plaited cocoa-nut tree and pandanus-tree leaves. About three\nfeet from the ground there is a stage of bamboos which forms the floor.\nIn each of these cages we were told there was a young woman confined,\neach of whom had to remain for at least four or five years, without ever\nbeing allowed to go outside the house. I could scarcely credit the story\nwhen I heard it; the whole thing seemed too horrible to be true. I spoke\nto the chief, and told him that I wished to see the inside of the cages,\nand also to see the girls that I might make them a present of a few\nbeads. He told me that it was '_tabu_,' forbidden for any men but their\nown relations to look at them; but I suppose the promised beads acted as\nan inducement, and so he sent away for some old lady who had charge, and\nwho alone is allowed to open the doors. While we were waiting we could\nhear the girls talking to the chief in a querulous way as if objecting\nto something or expressing their fears. The old woman came at length and\ncertainly she did not seem a very pleasant jailor or guardian; nor did\nshe seem to favour the request of the chief to allow us to see the\ngirls, as she regarded us with anything but pleasant looks. However, she\nhad to undo the door when the chief told her to do so, and then the\ngirls peeped out at us, and, when told to do so, they held out their\nhands for the beads. I, however, purposely sat at some distance away and\nmerely held out the beads to them, as I wished to draw them quite\noutside, that I might inspect the inside of the cages. This desire of\nmine gave rise to another difficulty, as these girls were not allowed to\nput their feet to the ground all the time they were confined in these\nplaces. However, they wished to get the beads, and so the old lady had\nto go outside and collect a lot of pieces of wood and bamboo, which she\nplaced on the ground, and then going to one of the girls, she helped her\ndown and held her hand as she stepped from one piece of wood to another\nuntil she came near enough to get the beads I held out to her. I then\nwent to inspect the inside of the cage out of which she had come, but\ncould scarcely put my head inside of it, the atmosphere was so hot and\nstifling. It was clean and contained nothing but a few short lengths of\nbamboo for holding water. There was only room for the girl to sit or lie\ndown in a crouched position on the bamboo platform, and when the doors\nare shut it must be nearly or quite dark inside. The girls are never\nallowed to come out except once a day to bathe in a dish or wooden bowl\nplaced close to each cage. They say that they perspire profusely. They\nare placed in these stifling cages when quite young, and must remain\nthere until they are young women, when they are taken out and have each\na great marriage feast provided for them. One of them was about fourteen\nor fifteen years old, and the chief told us that she had been there for\nfive years, but would soon be taken out now. The other two were about\neight and ten years old, and they have to stay there for several years\nlonger.\"[91] A more recent observer has described the custom as it is\nobserved on the western coast of New Ireland. He says: \"A _buck_ is the\nname of a little house, not larger than an ordinary hen-coop, in which a\nlittle girl is shut up, sometimes for weeks only, and at other times for\nmonths.... Briefly stated, the custom is this. Girls, on attaining\npuberty or betrothal, are enclosed in one of these little coops for a\nconsiderable time. They must remain there night and day. We saw two of\nthese girls in two coops; the girls were not more than ten years old,\nstill they were lying in a doubled-up position, as their little houses\nwould not admit of them lying in any other way. These two coops were\ninside a large house; but the chief, in consideration of a present of a\ncouple of tomahawks, ordered the ends to be torn out of the house to\nadmit the light, so that we might photograph the _buck_. The occupant\nwas allowed to put her face through an opening to be photographed, in\nconsideration of another present.\"[92] As a consequence of their long\nenforced idleness in the shade the girls grow fat and their dusky\ncomplexion bleaches to a more pallid hue. Both their corpulence and\ntheir pallor are regarded as beauties.[93]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram and Yap.]\n\nIn Kabadi, a district of British New Guinea, \"daughters of chiefs, when\nthey are about twelve or thirteen years of age, are kept indoors for two\nor three years, never being allowed, under any pretence, to descend from\nthe house, and the house is so shaded that the sun cannot shine on\nthem.\"[94] Among the Yabim and Bukaua, two neighbouring and kindred\ntribes on the coast of German New Guinea, a girl at puberty is secluded\nfor some five or six weeks in an inner part of the house; but she may\nnot sit on the floor, lest her uncleanness should cleave to it, so a log\nof wood is placed for her to squat on. Moreover, she may not touch the\nground with her feet; hence if she is obliged to quit the house for a\nshort time, she is muffled up in mats and walks on two halves of a\ncoconut shell, which are fastened like sandals to her feet by creeping\nplants. During her seclusion she is in charge of her aunts or other\nfemale relatives. At the end of the time she bathes, her person is\nloaded with ornaments, her face is grotesquely painted with red stripes\non a white ground, and thus adorned she is brought forth in public to be\nadmired by everybody. She is now marriageable.[95] Among the Ot Danoms\nof Borneo girls at the age of eight or ten years are shut up in a little\nroom or cell of the house, and cut off from all intercourse with the\nworld for a long time. The cell, like the rest of the house, is raised\non piles above the ground, and is lit by a single small window opening\non a lonely place, so that the girl is in almost total darkness. She may\nnot leave the room on any pretext whatever, not even for the most\nnecessary purposes. None of her family may see her all the time she is\nshut up, but a single slave woman is appointed to wait on her. During\nher lonely confinement, which often lasts seven years, the girl occupies\nherself in weaving mats or with other handiwork. Her bodily growth is\nstunted by the long want of exercise, and when, on attaining womanhood,\nshe is brought out, her complexion is pale and wax-like. She is now\nshewn the sun, the earth, the water, the trees, and the flowers, as if\nshe were newly born. Then a great feast is made, a slave is killed, and\nthe girl is smeared with his blood.[96] In Ceram girls at puberty were\nformerly shut up by themselves in a hut which was kept dark.[97] In Yap,\none of the Caroline Islands, should a girl be overtaken by her first\nmenstruation on the public road, she may not sit down on the earth, but\nmust beg for a coco-nut shell to put under her. She is shut up for\nseveral days in a small hut at a distance from her parents' house, and\nafterwards she is bound to sleep for a hundred days in one of the\nspecial houses which are provided for the use of menstruous women.[98]\n\n\n\u00a7 3. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands and\nNorthern Australia_\n\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Mabuiag, Torres Straits.]\n\nIn the island of Mabuiag, Torres Straits, when the signs of puberty\nappear on a girl, a circle of bushes is made in a dark corner of the\nhouse. Here, decked with shoulder-belts, armlets, leglets just below the\nknees, and anklets, wearing a chaplet on her head, and shell ornaments\nin her ears, on her chest, and on her back, she squats in the midst of\nthe bushes, which are piled so high round about her that only her head\nis visible. In this state of seclusion she must remain for three months.\nAll this time the sun may not shine upon her, but at night she is\nallowed to slip out of the hut, and the bushes that hedge her in are\nthen changed. She may not feed herself or handle food, but is fed by one\nor two old women, her maternal aunts, who are especially appointed to\nlook after her. One of these women cooks food for her at a special fire\nin the forest. The girl is forbidden to eat turtle or turtle eggs during\nthe season when the turtles are breeding; but no vegetable food is\nrefused her. No man, not even her own father, may come into the house\nwhile her seclusion lasts; for if her father saw her at this time he\nwould certainly have bad luck in his fishing, and would probably smash\nhis canoe the very next time he went out in it. At the end of the three\nmonths she is carried down to a fresh-water creek by her attendants,\nhanging on to their shoulders in such a way that her feet do not touch\nthe ground, while the women of the tribe form a ring round her, and thus\nescort her to the beach. Arrived at the shore, she is stripped of her\nornaments, and the bearers stagger with her into the creek, where they\nimmerse her, and all the other women join in splashing water over both\nthe girl and her bearers. When they come out of the water one of the two\nattendants makes a heap of grass for her charge to squat upon. The other\nruns to the reef, catches a small crab, tears off its claws, and hastens\nback with them to the creek. Here in the meantime a fire has been\nkindled, and the claws are roasted at it. The girl is then fed by her\nattendants with the roasted claws. After that she is freshly decorated,\nand the whole party marches back to the village in a single rank, the\ngirl walking in the centre between her two old aunts, who hold her by\nthe wrists. The husbands of her aunts now receive her and lead her into\nthe house of one of them, where all partake of food, and the girl is\nallowed once more to feed herself in the usual manner. A dance follows,\nin which the girl takes a prominent part, dancing between the husbands\nof the two aunts who had charge of her in her retirement.[99]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Northern Australia.]\n\nAmong the Yaraikanna tribe of Cape York Peninsula, in Northern\nQueensland, a girl at puberty is said to live by herself for a month or\nsix weeks; no man may see her, though any woman may. She stays in a hut\nor shelter specially made for her, on the floor of which she lies\nsupine. She may not see the sun, and towards sunset she must keep her\neyes shut until the sun has gone down, otherwise it is thought that her\nnose will be diseased. During her seclusion she may eat nothing that\nlives in salt water, or a snake would kill her. An old woman waits upon\nher and supplies her with roots, yams, and water.[100] Some tribes are\nwont to bury their girls at such seasons more or less deeply in the\nground, perhaps in order to hide them from the light of the sun. Thus\nthe Larrakeeyah tribe in the northern territory of South Australia used\nto cover a girl up with dirt for three days at her first monthly\nperiod.[101] In similar circumstances the Otati tribe, on the east coast\nof the Cape York Peninsula, make an excavation in the ground, where the\ngirl squats. A bower is then built over the hole, and sand is thrown on\nthe young woman till she is covered up to the hips. In this condition\nshe remains for the first day, but comes out at night. So long as the\nperiod lasts, she stays in the bower during the day-time, but is not\nagain covered with sand. Afterwards her body is painted red and white\nfrom the head to the hips, and she returns to the camp, where she squats\nfirst on the right side, then on the left side, and then on the lap of\nher future husband, who has been previously selected for her.[102] Among\nthe natives of the Pennefather River, in the Cape York Peninsula,\nQueensland, when a girl menstruates for the first time, her mother takes\nher away from the camp to some secluded spot, where she digs a circular\nhole in the sandy soil under the shade of a tree. In this hole the girl\nsquats with crossed legs and is covered with sand from the waist\ndownwards. A digging-stick is planted firmly in the sand on each side of\nher, and the place is surrounded by a fence of bushes except in front,\nwhere her mother kindles a fire. Here the girl stays all day, sitting\nwith her arms crossed and the palms of her hands resting on the sand.\nShe may not move her arms except to take food from her mother or to\nscratch herself; and in scratching herself she may not touch herself\nwith her own hands, but must use for the purpose a splinter of wood,\nwhich, when it is not in use, is stuck in her hair. She may speak to\nnobody but her mother; indeed nobody else would think of coming near\nher. At evening she lays hold of the two digging-sticks and by their\nhelp frees herself from the superincumbent weight of sand and returns to\nthe camp. Next morning she is again buried in the sand under the shade\nof the tree and remains there again till evening. This she does daily\nfor five days. On her return at evening on the fifth day her mother\ndecorates her with a waist-band, a forehead-band, and a necklet of\npearl-shell, ties green parrot feathers round her arms and wrists and\nacross her chest, and smears her body, back and front, from the waist\nupwards with blotches of red, white, and yellow paint. She has in like\nmanner to be buried in the sand at her second and third menstruations,\nbut at the fourth she is allowed to remain in camp, only signifying her\ncondition by wearing a basket of empty shells on her back.[103] Among\nthe Kia blacks of the Prosperine River, on the east coast of Queensland,\na girl at puberty has to sit or lie down in a shallow pit away from the\ncamp; a rough hut of bushes is erected over her to protect her from the\ninclemency of the weather. There she stays for about a week, waited on\nby her mother and sister, the only persons to whom she may speak. She is\nallowed to drink water, but may not touch it with her hands; and she may\nscratch herself a little with a mussel-shell. This seclusion is repeated\nat her second and third monthly periods, but when the third is over she\nis brought to her husband bedecked with savage finery. Eagle-hawk or\ncockatoo feathers are stuck in her hair: a shell hangs over her\nforehead: grass bugles encircle her neck and an apron of opossum skin\nher waist: strings are tied to her arms and wrists; and her whole body\nis mottled with patterns drawn in red, white, and yellow pigments and\ncharcoal.[104]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty in the islands of Torres Straits.]\n\nAmong the Uiyumkwi tribe in Red Island the girl lies at full length in a\nshallow trench dug in the foreshore, and sand is lightly thrown over her\nlegs and body up to the breasts, which appear not to be covered. A rough\nshelter of boughs is then built over her, and thus she remains lying for\na few hours. Then she and her attendant go into the bush and look for\nfood, which they cook at a fire close to the shelter. They sleep under\nthe boughs, the girl remaining secluded from the camp but apparently not\nbeing again buried. At the end of the symptoms she stands over hot\nstones and water is poured over her, till, trickling from her body on\nthe stones, it is converted into steam and envelops her in a cloud of\nvapour. Then she is painted with red and white stripes and returns to\nthe camp. If her future husband has already been chosen, she goes to him\nand they eat some food together, which the girl has previously brought\nfrom the bush.[105] In Prince of Wales Island, Torres Strait, the\ntreatment of the patient is similar, but lasts for about two months.\nDuring the day she lies covered up with sand in a shallow hole on the\nbeach, over which a hut is built. At night she may get out of the hole,\nbut she may not leave the hut. Her paternal aunt looks after her, and\nboth of them must abstain from eating turtle, dugong, and the heads of\nfish. Were they to eat the heads of fish no more fish would be caught.\nDuring the time of the girl's seclusion, the aunt who waits upon her has\nthe right to enter any house and take from it anything she likes without\npayment, provided she does so before the sun rises. When the time of her\nretirement has come to an end, the girl bathes in the sea while the\nmorning star is rising, and after performing various other ceremonies is\nreadmitted to society.[106] In Saibai, another island of Torres Straits,\nat her first monthly sickness a girl lives secluded in the forest for\nabout a fortnight, during which no man may see her; even the women who\nhave spoken to her in the forest must wash in salt water before they\nspeak to a man. Two girls wait upon and feed the damsel, putting the\nfood into her mouth, for she is not allowed to touch it with her own\nhands. Nor may she eat dugong and turtle. At the end of a fortnight the\ngirl and her attendants bathe in salt water while the tide is running\nout. Afterwards they are clean, may again speak to men without ceremony,\nand move freely about the village. In Yam and Tutu a girl at puberty\nretires for a month to the forest, where no man nor even her own mother\nmay look upon her. She is waited on by women who stand to her in a\ncertain relationship (_mowai_), apparently her paternal aunts. She is\nblackened all over with charcoal and wears a long petticoat reaching\nbelow her knees. During her seclusion the married women of the village\noften assemble in the forest and dance, and the girl's aunts relieve the\ntedium of the proceedings by thrashing her from time to time as a useful\npreparation for matrimony. At the end of a month the whole party go into\nthe sea, and the charcoal is washed off the girl. After that she is\ndecorated, her body blackened again, her hair reddened with ochre, and\nin the evening she is brought back to her father's house, where she is\nreceived with weeping and lamentation because she has been so long\naway.[107]\n\n\n\u00a7 4. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of North America_\n\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of California]\n\nAmong the Indians of California a girl at her first menstruation \"was\nthought to be possessed of a particular degree of supernatural power,\nand this was not always regarded as entirely defiling or malevolent.\nOften, however, there was a strong feeling of the power of evil inherent\nin her condition. Not only was she secluded from her family and the\ncommunity, but an attempt was made to seclude the world from her. One of\nthe injunctions most strongly laid upon her was not to look about her.\nShe kept her head bowed and was forbidden to see the world and the sun.\nSome tribes covered her with a blanket. Many of the customs in this\nconnection resembled those of the North Pacific Coast most strongly,\nsuch as the prohibition to the girl to touch or scratch her head with\nher hand, a special implement being furnished her for the purpose.\nSometimes she could eat only when fed and in other cases fasted\naltogether. Some form of public ceremony, often accompanied by a dance\nand sometimes by a form of ordeal for the girl, was practised nearly\neverywhere. Such ceremonies were well developed in Southern California,\nwhere a number of actions symbolical of the girl's maturity and\nsubsequent life were performed.\"[108] Thus among the Maidu Indians of\nCalifornia a girl at puberty remained shut up in a small separate hut.\nFor five days she might not eat flesh or fish nor feed herself, but was\nfed by her mother or other old woman. She had a basket, plate, and cup\nfor her own use, and a stick with which to scratch her head, for she\nmight not scratch it with her fingers. At the end of five days she took\na warm bath and, while she still remained in the hut and plied the\nscratching-stick on her head, was privileged to feed herself with her\nown hands. After five days more she bathed in the river, after which her\nparents gave a great feast in her honour. At the feast the girl was\ndressed in her best, and anybody might ask her parents for anything he\npleased, and they had to give it, even if it was the hand of their\ndaughter in marriage. During the period of her seclusion in the hut the\ngirl was allowed to go by night to her parents' house and listen to\nsongs sung by her friends and relations, who assembled for the purpose.\nAmong the songs were some that related to the different roots and seeds\nwhich in these tribes it is the business of women to gather for food.\nWhile the singers sang, she sat by herself in a corner of the house\nmuffled up completely in mats and skins; no man or boy might come near\nher.[109] Among the Hupa, another Indian tribe of California, when a\ngirl had reached maturity her male relatives danced all night for nine\nsuccessive nights, while the girl remained apart, eating no meat and\nblindfolded. But on the tenth night she entered the house and took part\nin the last dance.[110] Among the Wintun, another Californian tribe, a\ngirl at puberty was banished from the camp and lived alone in a distant\nbooth, fasting rigidly from animal food; it was death to any person to\ntouch or even approach her.[111]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of Washington State.]\n\nIn the interior of Washington State, about Colville, \"the customs of the\nIndians, in relation to the treatment of females, are singular. On the\nfirst appearance of the menses, they are furnished with provisions, and\nsent into the woods, to remain concealed for two days; for they have a\nsuperstition, that if a man should be seen or met with during that time,\ndeath will be the consequence. At the end of the second day, the woman\nis permitted to return to the lodge, when she is placed in a hut just\nlarge enough for her to lie in at full length, in which she is compelled\nto remain for twenty days, cut off from all communication with her\nfriends, and is obliged to hide her face at the appearance of a man.\nProvisions are supplied her daily. After this, she is required to\nperform repeated ablutions, before she can resume her place in the\nfamily. At every return, the women go into seclusion for two or more\ndays.\"[112] Among the Chinook Indians who inhabited the coast of\nWashington State, from Shoalwater Bay as far as Grey's Harbour, when a\nchief's daughter attained to puberty, she was hidden for five days from\nthe view of the people; she might not look at them nor at the sky, nor\nmight she pick berries. It was believed that if she were to look at the\nsky, the weather would be bad; that if she picked berries, it would\nrain; and that when she hung her towel of cedar-bark on a spruce-tree,\nthe tree withered up at once. She went out of the house by a separate\ndoor and bathed in a creek far from the village. She fasted for some\ndays, and for many days more she might not eat fresh food.[113]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Nootka Indians of Vancouver\nIsland.]\n\nAmongst the Aht or Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island, when girls reach\npuberty they are placed in a sort of gallery in the house \"and are there\nsurrounded completely with mats, so that neither the sun nor any fire\ncan be seen. In this cage they remain for several days. Water is given\nthem, but no food. The longer a girl remains in this retirement the\ngreater honour is it to the parents; but she is disgraced for life if it\nis known that she has seen fire or the sun during this initiatory\nordeal.\"[114] Pictures of the mythical thunder-bird are painted on the\nscreens behind which she hides. During her seclusion she may neither\nmove nor lie down, but must always sit in a squatting posture. She may\nnot touch her hair with her hands, but is allowed to scratch her head\nwith a comb or a piece of bone provided for the purpose. To scratch her\nbody is also forbidden, as it is believed that every scratch would leave\na scar. For eight months after reaching maturity she may not eat any\nfresh food, particularly salmon; moreover, she must eat by herself, and\nuse a cup and dish of her own.[115]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Haida Indians of the Queen\nCharlotte Islands.]\n\nAmong the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands girls at puberty\nwere secluded behind screens in the house for about twenty days. In some\nparts of the islands separate fires were provided for the girls, and\nthey went out and in by a separate door at the back of the house. If a\ngirl at such a time was obliged to go out by the front door, all the\nweapons, gambling-sticks, medicine, and other articles had to be removed\nfrom the house till her return, for otherwise it was thought that they\nwould be unlucky; and if there was a good hunter in the house, he also\nhad to go out at the same time on pain of losing his good luck if he\nremained. During several months or even half a year the girl was bound\nto wear a peculiar cloak or hood made of cedar-bark, nearly conical in\nshape and reaching down below the breast, but open before the face.\nAfter the twenty days were over the girl took a bath; none of the water\nmight be spilled, it had all to be taken back to the woods, else the\ngirl would not live long. On the west coast of the islands the damsel\nmight eat nothing but black cod for four years; for the people believed\nthat other kinds of fish would become scarce if she partook of them. At\nKloo the young woman at such times was forbidden to look at the sea, and\nfor forty days she might not gaze at the fire; for a whole year she\nmight not walk on the beach below high-water mark, because then the tide\nwould come in, covering part of the food supply, and there would be bad\nweather. For five years she might not eat salmon, or the fish would be\nscarce; and when her family went to a salmon-creek, she landed from the\ncanoe at the mouth of the creek and came to the smoke-house from behind;\nfor were she to see a salmon leap, all the salmon might leave the creek.\nAmong the Haidas of Masset it was believed that if the girl looked at\nthe sky, the weather would be bad, and that if she stepped over a\nsalmon-creek, all the salmon would disappear.[116]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tlingit Indians of Alaska.]\n\nAmongst the Tlingit (Thlinkeet) or Kolosh Indians of Alaska, when a girl\nshewed signs of womanhood she used to be confined to a little hut or\ncage, which was completely blocked up with the exception of a small\nair-hole. In this dark and filthy abode she had to remain a year,\nwithout fire, exercise, or associates. Only her mother and a female\nslave might supply her with nourishment. Her food was put in at the\nlittle window; she had to drink out of the wing-bone of a white-headed\neagle. The time of her seclusion was afterwards reduced in some places\nto six or three months or even less. She had to wear a sort of hat with\nlong flaps, that her gaze might not pollute the sky; for she was thought\nunfit for the sun to shine upon, and it was imagined that her look would\ndestroy the luck of a hunter, fisher, or gambler, turn things to stone,\nand do other mischief. At the end of her confinement her old clothes\nwere burnt, new ones were made, and a feast was given, at which a slit\nwas cut in her under lip parallel to the mouth, and a piece of wood or\nshell was inserted to keep the aperture open.[117]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tsetsaut and Bella Coola\nIndians of British Columbia.]\n\nIn the Tsetsaut tribe of British Columbia a girl at puberty wears a\nlarge hat of skin which comes down over her face and screens it from the\nsun. It is believed that if she were to expose her face to the sun or to\nthe sky, rain would fall. The hat protects her face also against the\nfire, which ought not to strike her skin; to shield her hands she wears\nmittens. In her mouth she carries the tooth of an animal to prevent her\nown teeth from becoming hollow. For a whole year she may not see blood\nunless her face is blackened; otherwise she would grow blind. For two\nyears she wears the hat and lives in a hut by herself, although she is\nallowed to see other people. At the end of two years a man takes the hat\nfrom her head and throws it away.[118] In the Bilqula or Bella Coola\ntribe of British Columbia, when a girl attains puberty she must stay in\nthe shed which serves as her bedroom, where she has a separate\nfireplace. She is not allowed to descend to the main part of the house,\nand may not sit by the fire of the family. For four days she is bound to\nremain motionless in a sitting posture. She fasts during the day, but is\nallowed a little food and drink very early in the morning. After the\nfour days' seclusion she may leave her room, but only through a separate\nopening cut in the floor, for the houses are raised on piles. She may\nnot yet come into the chief room. In leaving the house she wears a large\nhat which protects her face against the rays of the sun. It is believed\nthat if the sun were to shine on her face her eyes would suffer. She may\npick berries on the hills, but may not come near the river or sea for a\nwhole year. Were she to eat fresh salmon she would lose her senses, or\nher mouth would be changed into a long beak.[119]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tinneh Indians of British\nColumbia.]\n\nAmong the Tinneh Indians about Stuart Lake, Babine Lake, and Fraser Lake\nin British Columbia \"girls verging on maturity, that is when their\nbreasts begin to form, take swans' feathers mixed with human hair and\nplait bands, which they tie round their wrists and ankles to secure long\nlife. At this time they are careful that the dishes out of which they\neat, are used by no other person, and wholly devoted to their own use;\nduring this period they eat nothing but dog fish, and starvation _only_\nwill drive them to eat either fresh fish or meat. When their first\nperiodical sickness comes on, they are fed by their mothers or nearest\nfemale relation by _themselves_, and on no account will they touch their\nfood with their own hands. They are at this time also careful not to\ntouch their heads with their hands, and keep a small stick to scratch\ntheir heads with. They remain outside the lodge, all the time they are\nin this state, in a hut made for the purpose. During all this period\nthey wear a skull-cap made of skin to fit very tight; this is never\ntaken off until their first monthly sickness ceases; they also wear a\nstrip of black paint about one inch wide across their eyes, and wear a\nfringe of shells, bones, etc., hanging down from their foreheads to\nbelow their eyes; and this is never taken off till the second monthly\nperiod arrives and ceases, when the nearest male relative makes a feast;\nafter which she is considered a fully matured woman; but she has to\nrefrain from eating anything fresh for one year after her first monthly\nsickness; she may however eat partridge, but it must be cooked in the\ncrop of the bird to render it harmless. I would have thought it\nimpossible to perform this feat had I not seen it done. The crop is\nblown out, and a small bent willow put round the mouth; it is then\nfilled with water, and the meat being first minced up, put in also, then\nput on the fire and boiled till cooked. Their reason for hanging fringes\nbefore their eyes, is to hinder any bad medicine man from harming them\nduring this critical period: they are very careful not to drink whilst\nfacing a medicine man, and do so only when their backs are turned to\nhim. All these habits are left off when the girl is a recognised woman,\nwith the exception of their going out of the lodge and remaining in a\nhut, every time their periodical sickness comes on. This is a rigidly\nobserved law with both single and married women.\"[120]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tinneh Indians of Alaska.]\n\nAmong the Hareskin Tinneh a girl at puberty was secluded for five days\nin a hut made specially for the purpose; she might only drink out of a\ntube made from a swan's bone, and for a month she might not break a\nhare's bones, nor taste blood, nor eat the heart or fat of animals, nor\nbirds' eggs.[121] Among the Tinneh Indians of the middle Yukon valley,\nin Alaska, the period of the girl's seclusion lasts exactly a lunar\nmonth; for the day of the moon on which the symptoms first occur is\nnoted, and she is sequestered until the same day of the next moon. If\nthe season is winter, a corner of the house is curtained off for her use\nby a blanket or a sheet of canvas; if it is summer, a small tent is\nerected for her near the common one. Here she lives and sleeps. She\nwears a long robe and a large hood, which she must pull down over her\neyes whenever she leaves the hut, and she must keep it down till she\nreturns. She may not speak to a man nor see his face, much less touch\nhis clothes or anything that belongs to him; for if she did so, though\nno harm would come to her, he would grow unmanly. She has her own dishes\nfor eating out of and may use no other; at Kaltag she must suck the\nwater through a swan's bone without applying her lips to the cup. She\nmay eat no fresh meat or fish except the flesh of the porcupine. She may\nnot undress, but sleeps with all her clothes on, even her mittens. In\nher socks she wears, next to the skin, the horny soles cut from the feet\nof a porcupine, in order that for the rest of her life her shoes may\nnever wear out. Round her waist she wears a cord to which are tied the\nheads of femurs of a porcupine; because of all animals known to the\nTinneh the porcupine suffers least in parturition, it simply drops its\nyoung and continues to walk or skip about as if nothing had happened.\nHence it is easy to see that a girl who wears these portions of a\nporcupine about her waist, will be delivered just as easily as the\nanimal. To make quite sure of this, if anybody happens to kill a\nporcupine big with young while the girl is undergoing her period of\nseparation, the foetus is given to her, and she lets it slide down\nbetween her shirt and her body so as to fall on the ground like an\ninfant.[122] Here the imitation of childbirth is a piece of homoeopathic\nor imitative magic designed to facilitate the effect which it\nsimulates.[123]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Thompson Indians of British\nColumbia.]\n\nAmong the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, when a girl attained\npuberty, she was at once separated from all the people. A conical hut of\nfir branches and bark was erected at some little distance from the other\nhouses, and in it the girl had to squat on her heels during the day.\nOften a deep circular hole was dug in the hut and the girl squatted in\nthe hole, with her head projecting above the surface of the ground. She\nmight quit the hut for various purposes in the early morning, but had\nalways to be back at sunrise. On the first appearance of the symptoms\nher face was painted red all over, and the paint was renewed every\nmorning during her term of seclusion. A heavy blanket swathed her body\nfrom top to toe, and during the first four days she wore a conical cap\nmade of small fir branches, which reached below the breast but left an\nopening for the face. In her hair was fastened an implement made of\ndeer-bone with which she scratched herself. For the first four days she\nmight neither wash nor eat, but a little water was given her in a\nbirch-bark cup painted red, and she sucked up the liquid through a tube\nmade out of the leg of a crane, a swan, or a goose, for her lips might\nnot touch the surface of the water. After the four days she was allowed,\nduring the rest of the period of isolation, to eat, to wash, to lie\ndown, to comb her hair, and to drink of streams and springs. But in\ndrinking at these sources she had still to use her tube, otherwise the\nspring would dry up. While her seclusion lasted she performed by night\nvarious ceremonies, which were supposed to exert a beneficial influence\non her future life. For example, she ran as fast as she could, praying\nat the same time to the Earth or Nature that she might be fleet of foot\nand tireless of limb. She dug trenches, in order that in after life she\nmight be able to dig well and to work hard. These and other ceremonies\nshe repeated for four nights or mornings in succession, four times each\nmorning, and each time she supplicated the Dawn of the Day. Among the\nLower Thompson Indians she carried a staff for one night; and when the\nday was breaking she leaned the staff against the stump of a tree and\nprayed to the Dawn that she might be blessed with a good husband, who\nwas symbolized by the staff. She also wandered some nights to lonely\nparts of the mountains, where she would dance, imploring the spirits to\npity and protect her during her future life; then, the dance and prayer\nover, she would lie down on the spot and fall asleep. Again, she carried\nfour stones in her bosom to a spring, where she spat upon the stones and\nthrew them one after the other into the water, praying that all disease\nmight leave her, as these stones did. Also she ran four times in the\nearly morning with two small stones in her bosom; and as she ran the\nstones slipped down between her bare body and her clothes and fell to\nthe ground. At the same time she prayed to the Dawn that when she should\nbe with child, she might be delivered as easily as she was delivered of\nthese stones. But whatever exercises she performed or prayers she\noffered on the lonely mountains during the hours of darkness or while\nthe morning light was growing in the east, she must always be back in\nher little hut before the sun rose. There she often passed the tedious\nhours away picking the needles, one by one, from the cones on two large\nbranches of fir, which hung from the roof of her hut on purpose to\nprovide her with occupation. And as she picked she prayed to the\nfir-branch that she might never be lazy, but always quick and active at\nwork. During her seclusion, too, she had to make miniatures of all the\narticles that Indian women make, or used to make, such as baskets, mats,\nropes, and thread. This she did in order that afterwards she might be\nable to make the real things properly. Four large fir-branches also were\nplaced in front of the hut, so that when she went out or in, she had to\nstep over them. The branches were renewed every morning and the old ones\nthrown away into the water, while the girl prayed, \"May I never bewitch\nany man, nor my fellow-women! May it never happen!\" The first four times\nthat she went out and in, she prayed to the fir-branches, saying, \"If\never I step into trouble or difficulties or step unknowingly inside the\nmagical spell of some person, may you help me, O Fir-branches, with your\npower!\" Every day she painted her face afresh, and she wore strings of\nparts of deer-hoofs round her ankles and knees, and tied to her\nwaistband on either side, which rattled when she walked or ran. Even the\nshape of the hut in which she lived was adapted to her future rather\nthan to her present needs and wishes. If she wished to be tall, the hut\nwas tall; if she wished to be short, it was low, sometimes so low that\nthere was not room in it for her to stand erect, and she would lay the\npalm of her hand on the top of her head and pray to the Dawn that she\nmight grow no taller. Her seclusion lasted four months. The Indians say\nthat long ago it extended over a year, and that fourteen days elapsed\nbefore the girl was permitted to wash for the first time. The dress\nwhich she wore during her time of separation was afterwards taken to the\ntop of a hill and burned, and the rest of her clothes were hung up on\ntrees.[124]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Lillooet Indians of British\nColumbia.]\n\nAmong the Lillooet Indians of British Columbia, neighbours of the\nThompsons, the customs observed by girls at puberty were similar. The\ndamsels were secluded for a period of not less than one year nor more\nthan four years, according to their own inclination and the wishes of\ntheir parents. Among the Upper Lillooets the hut in which the girl\nlodged was made of bushy fir-trees set up like a conical tent, the inner\nbranches being lopped off, while the outer branches were closely\ninterwoven and padded to form a roof. Every month or half-month the hut\nwas shifted to another site or a new one erected. By day the girl sat in\nthe hut; for the first month she squatted in a hole dug in the middle of\nit; and she passed the time making miniature baskets of birch-bark and\nother things, praying that she might be able to make the real things\nwell in after years. At the dusk of the evening she left the hut and\nwandered about all night, but she returned before the sun rose. Before\nshe quitted the hut at nightfall to roam abroad, she painted her face\nred and put on a mask of fir-branches, and in her hand, as she walked,\nshe carried a basket-rattle to frighten ghosts and guard herself from\nevil. Among the Lower Lillooets, the girl's mask was often made of\ngoat-skin, covering her head, neck, shoulders and breast, and leaving\nonly a narrow opening from the brow to the chin. During the nocturnal\nhours she performed many ceremonies. Thus she put two smooth stones in\nher bosom and ran, and as they fell down between her body and her\nclothes, she prayed, saying, \"May I always have easy child-births!\" Now\none of these stones represented her future child and the other\nrepresented the afterbirth. Also she dug trenches, praying that in the\nyears to come she might be strong and tireless in digging roots; she\npicked leaves and needles from the fir-trees, praying that her fingers\nmight be nimble in picking berries; and she tore sheets of birch-bark\ninto shreds, dropping the shreds as she walked and asking that her hands\nmight never tire and that she might make neat and fine work of\nbirch-bark. Moreover, she ran and walked much that she might be light of\nfoot. And every evening, when the shadows were falling, and every\nmorning, when the day was breaking, she prayed to the Dusk of the\nEvening or to the Dawn of Day, saying, \"O Dawn of Day!\" or \"O Dusk,\" as\nit might be, \"may I be able to dig roots fast and easily, and may I\nalways find plenty!\" All her prayers were addressed to the Dusk of the\nEvening or the Dawn of Day. She supplicated both, asking for long life,\nhealth, wealth, and happiness.[125]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Shuswap Indians of British\nColumbia.]\n\nAmong the Shuswap Indians of British Columbia, who are neighbours of the\nThompsons and Lillooets, \"a girl on reaching maturity has to go through\na great number of ceremonies. She must leave the village and live alone\nin a small hut on the mountains. She cooks her own food, and must not\neat anything that bleeds. She is forbidden to touch her head, for which\npurpose she uses a comb with three points. Neither is she allowed to\nscratch her body, except with a painted deer-bone. She wears the bone\nand the comb suspended from her belt. She drinks out of a painted cup of\nbirch-bark, and neither more nor less than the quantity it holds. Every\nnight she walks about her hut, and plants willow twigs, which she has\npainted, and to the ends of which she has attached pieces of cloth, into\nthe ground. It is believed that thus she will become rich in later life.\nIn order to become strong she should climb trees and try to break off\ntheir points. She plays with _lehal_ sticks that her future husbands\nmight have good luck when gambling.\"[126] During the day the girl stays\nin her hut and occupies herself in making miniature bags, mats, and\nbaskets, in sewing and embroidery, in manufacturing thread, twine, and\nso forth; in short she makes a beginning of all kinds of woman's work,\nin order that she may be a good housewife in after life. By night she\nroams the mountains and practises running, climbing, carrying burdens,\nand digging trenches, so that she may be expert at digging roots. If she\nhas wandered far and daylight overtakes her, she hides herself behind a\nveil of fir branches; for no one, except her instructor or nearest\nrelatives, should see her face during her period of seclusion. She wore\na large robe painted red on the breast and sides, and her hair was done\nup in a knot at each ear.[127]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Delaware and Cheyenne Indians.]\n\nCeremonies of the same general type were probably observed by girls at\npuberty among all the Indian tribes of North America. But the record of\nthem is far less full for the Central and Eastern tribes, perhaps\nbecause the settlers who first came into contact with the Red Man in\nthese regions were too busy fighting him to find leisure, even if they\nhad the desire, to study his manners and customs. However, among the\nDelaware Indians, a tribe in the extreme east of the continent, we read\nthat \"when a Delaware girl has her first monthly period, she must\nwithdraw into a hut at some distance from the village. Her head is\nwrapped up for twelve days, so that she can see nobody, and she must\nsubmit to frequent vomits and fasting, and abstain from all labor. After\nthis she is washed and new clothed, but confined to a solitary life for\ntwo months, at the close of which she is declared marriageable.\"[128]\nAgain, among the Cheyennes, an Indian tribe of the Missouri valley, a\ngirl at her first menstruation is painted red all over her body and\nsecluded in a special little lodge for four days. However, she may\nremain in her father's lodge provided that there are no charms\n(\"medicine\"), no sacred bundle, and no shield in it, or that these and\nall other objects invested with a sacred character have been removed.\nFor four days she may not eat boiled meat; the flesh of which she\npartakes must be roasted over coals. Young men will not eat from the\ndish nor drink from the pot, which has been used by her; because they\nbelieve that were they to do so they would be wounded in the next fight.\nShe may not handle nor even touch any weapon of war or any sacred\nobject. If the camp moves, she may not ride a horse, but is mounted on a\nmare.[129]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Esquimaux.]\n\nAmong the Esquimaux also, in the extreme north of the continent, who\nbelong to an entirely different race from the Indians, the attainment of\npuberty in the female sex is, or used to be, the occasion of similar\nobservances. Thus among the Koniags, an Esquimau people of Alaska, a\ngirl at puberty was placed in a small hut in which she had to remain on\nher hands and knees for six months; then the hut was enlarged a little\nso as to allow her to straighten her back, but in this posture she had\nto remain for six months more. All this time she was regarded as an\nunclean being with whom no one might hold intercourse. At the end of the\nyear she was received back by her parents and a great feast held.[130]\nAgain, among the Malemut, and southward from the lower Yukon and\nadjacent districts, when a girl reaches the age of puberty she is\nconsidered unclean for forty days and must therefore live by herself in\na corner of the house with her face to the wall, always keeping her hood\nover her head and her hair hanging dishevelled over her eyes. But if it\nis summer, she commonly lives in a rough shelter outside the house. She\nmay not go out by day, and only once at night, when every one else is\nasleep. At the end of the period she bathes and is clothed in new\ngarments, whereupon she may be taken in marriage. During her seclusion\nshe is supposed to be enveloped in a peculiar atmosphere of such a sort\nthat were a young man to come near enough for it to touch him, it would\nrender him visible to every animal he might hunt, so that his luck as a\nhunter would be gone.[131]\n\n\n\u00a7 5. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of South America_\n\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Guaranis, Chiriguanos, and\nLengua Indians of South America.]\n\nWhen symptoms of puberty appeared on a girl for the first time, the\nGuaranis of Southern Brazil, on the borders of Paraguay, used to sew her\nup in her hammock, leaving only a small opening in it to allow her to\nbreathe. In this condition, wrapt up and shrouded like a corpse, she was\nkept for two or three days or so long as the symptoms lasted, and during\nthis time she had to observe a most rigorous fast. After that she was\nentrusted to a matron, who cut the girl's hair and enjoined her to\nabstain most strictly from eating flesh of any kind until her hair\nshould be grown long enough to hide her ears. Meanwhile the diviners\ndrew omens of her future character from the various birds or animals\nthat flew past or crossed her path. If they saw a parrot, they would say\nshe was a chatterbox; if an owl, she was lazy and useless for domestic\nlabours, and so on.[132] In similar circumstances the Chiriguanos of\nsoutheastern Bolivia hoisted the girl in her hammock to the roof, where\nshe stayed for a month: the second month the hammock was let half-way\ndown from the roof; and in the third month old women, armed with sticks,\nentered the hut and ran about striking everything they met, saying they\nwere hunting the snake that had wounded the girl.[133] The Lengua\nIndians of the Paraguayan Chaco under similar circumstances hang the\ngirl in her hammock from the roof of the house, but they leave her there\nonly three days and nights, during which they give her nothing to eat\nbut a little Paraguay tea or boiled maize. Only her mother or\ngrandmother has access to her; nobody else approaches or speaks to her.\nIf she is obliged to leave the hammock for a little, her friends take\ngreat care to prevent her from touching the _Boyrusu_, which is an\nimaginary serpent that would swallow her up. She must also be very\ncareful not to set foot on the droppings of fowls or animals, else she\nwould suffer from sores on the throat and breast. On the third day they\nlet her down from the hammock, cut her hair, and make her sit in a\ncorner of the room with her face turned to the wall. She may speak to\nnobody, and must abstain from flesh and fish. These rigorous observances\nshe must practise for nearly a year. Many girls die or are injured for\nlife in consequence of the hardships they endure at this time. Their\nonly occupations during their seclusion are spinning and weaving.[134]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Yuracares of Bolivia.]\n\nAmong the Yuracares, an Indian tribe of Bolivia, at the eastern foot of\nthe Andes, when a girl perceives the signs of puberty, she informs her\nparents. The mother weeps and the father constructs a little hut of palm\nleaves near the house. In this cabin he shuts up his daughter so that\nshe cannot see the light, and there she remains fasting rigorously for\nfour days. Meantime the mother, assisted by the women of the\nneighbourhood, has brewed a large quantity of the native intoxicant\ncalled _chicha_, and poured it into wooden troughs and palm leaves. On\nthe morning of the fourth day, three hours before the dawn, the girl's\nfather, having arrayed himself in his savage finery, summons all his\nneighbours with loud cries. The damsel is seated on a stone, and every\nguest in turn cuts off a lock of her hair, and running away hides it in\nthe hollow trunk of a tree in the depths of the forest. When they have\nall done so and seated themselves again gravely in the circle, the girl\noffers to each of them a calabash full of very strong _chicha_. Before\nthe wassailing begins, the various fathers perform a curious operation\non the arms of their sons, who are seated beside them. The operator\ntakes a very sharp bone of an ape, rubs it with a pungent spice, and\nthen pinching up the skin of his son's arm he pierces it with the bone\nthrough and through, as a surgeon might introduce a seton. This\noperation he repeats till the young man's arm is riddled with holes at\nregular intervals from the shoulder to the wrist. Almost all who take\npart in the festival are covered with these wounds, which the Indians\ncall _culucute_. Having thus prepared themselves to spend a happy day,\nthey drink, play on flutes, sing and dance till evening. Rain, thunder,\nand lightning, should they befall, have no effect in damping the general\nenjoyment or preventing its continuance till after the sun has set. The\nmotive for perforating the arms of the young men is to make them skilful\nhunters; at each perforation the sufferer is cheered by the promise of\nanother sort of game or fish which the surgical operation will\ninfallibly procure for him. The same operation is performed on the arms\nand legs of the girls, in order that they may be brave and strong; even\nthe dogs are operated on with the intention of making them run down the\ngame better. For five or six months afterwards the damsel must cover her\nhead with bark and refrain from speaking to men. The Yuracares think\nthat if they did not submit a young girl to this severe ordeal, her\nchildren would afterwards perish by accidents of various kinds, such as\nthe sting of a serpent, the bite of a jaguar, the fall of a tree, the\nwound of an arrow, or what not.[135]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of the Gran Chaco.]\n\nAmong the Matacos or Mataguayos, an Indian tribe of the Gran Chaco, a\ngirl at puberty has to remain in seclusion for some time. She lies\ncovered up with branches or other things in a corner of the hut, seeing\nno one and speaking to no one, and during this time she may eat neither\nflesh nor fish. Meantime a man beats a drum in front of the house.[136]\nSimilarly among the Tobas, another Indian tribe of the same region, when\na chief's daughter has just attained to womanhood, she is shut up for\ntwo or three days in the house, all the men of the tribe scour the\ncountry to bring in game and fish for a feast, and a Mataco Indian is\nengaged to drum, sing, and dance in front of the house without\ncessation, day and night, till the festival is over. As the merrymaking\nlasts for two or three weeks, the exhaustion of the musician at the end\nof it may be readily conceived. Meat and drink are supplied to him on\nthe spot where he pays his laborious court to the Muses. The proceedings\nwind up with a saturnalia and a drunken debauch.[137] Among the Yaguas,\nan Indian tribe of the Upper Amazon, a girl at puberty is shut up for\nthree months in a lonely hut in the forest, where her mother brings her\nfood daily.[138] When a girl of the Peguenches tribe perceives in\nherself the first signs of womanhood, she is secluded by her mother in a\ncorner of the hut screened off with blankets, and is warned not to lift\nup her eyes on any man. Next day, very early in the morning and again\nafter sunset, she is taken out by two women and made to run till she is\ntired; in the interval she is again secluded in her corner. On the\nfollowing day she lays three packets of wool beside the path near the\nhouse to signify that she is now a woman.[139] Among the Passes, Mauhes,\nand other tribes of Brazil the young woman in similar circumstances is\nhung in her hammock from the roof and has to fast there for a month or\nas long as she can hold out.[140] One of the early settlers in Brazil,\nabout the middle of the sixteenth century, has described the severe\nordeal which damsels at puberty had to undergo among the Indians on the\nsouth-east coast of that country, near what is now Rio de Janeiro. When\na girl had reached this critical period of life, her hair was burned or\nshaved off close to the head. Then she was placed on a flat stone and\ncut with the tooth of an animal from the shoulders all down the back,\ntill she ran with blood. Next the ashes of a wild gourd were rubbed into\nthe wounds; the girl was bound hand and foot, and hung in a hammock,\nbeing enveloped in it so closely that no one could see her. Here she had\nto stay for three days without eating or drinking. When the three days\nwere over, she stepped out of the hammock upon the flat stone, for her\nfeet might not touch the ground. If she had a call of nature, a female\nrelation took the girl on her back and carried her out, taking with her\na live coal to prevent evil influences from entering the girl's body.\nBeing replaced in her hammock, she was now allowed to get some flour,\nboiled roots, and water, but might not taste salt or flesh. Thus she\ncontinued to the end of the first monthly period, at the expiry of which\nshe was gashed on the breast and belly as well as all down the back.\nDuring the second month she still stayed in her hammock, but her rule of\nabstinence was less rigid, and she was allowed to spin. The third month\nshe was blackened with a certain pigment and began to go about as\nusual.[141]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of Guiana; custom of\nbeating the girls and of causing them to be stung by ants.]\n\nAmongst the Macusis of British Guiana, when a girl shews the first signs\nof puberty, she is hung in a hammock at the highest point of the hut.\nFor the first few days she may not leave the hammock by day, but at\nnight she must come down, light a fire, and spend the night beside it,\nelse she would break out in sores on her neck, throat, and other parts\nof her body. So long as the symptoms are at their height, she must fast\nrigorously. When they have abated, she may come down and take up her\nabode in a little compartment that is made for her in the darkest corner\nof the hut. In the morning she may cook her food, but it must be at a\nseparate fire and in a vessel of her own. After about ten days the\nmagician comes and undoes the spell by muttering charms and breathing on\nher and on the more valuable of the things with which she has come in\ncontact. The pots and drinking-vessels which she used are broken and the\nfragments buried. After her first bath, the girl must submit to be\nbeaten by her mother with thin rods without uttering a cry. At the end\nof the second period she is again beaten, but not afterwards. She is now\n\"clean,\" and can mix again with people.[142] Other Indians of Guiana,\nafter keeping the girl in her hammock at the top of the hut for a month,\nexpose her to certain large ants, whose bite is very painful.[143]\nSometimes, in addition to being stung with ants, the sufferer has to\nfast day and night so long as she remains slung up on high in her\nhammock, so that when she comes down she is reduced to a skeleton. The\nintention of stinging her with ants is said to be to make her strong to\nbear the burden of maternity.[144] Amongst the Uaupes of Brazil a girl\nat puberty is secluded in the house for a month, and allowed only a\nsmall quantity of bread and water. Then she is taken out into the midst\nof her relations and friends, each of whom gives her four or five blows\nwith pieces of _sipo_ (an elastic climber), till she falls senseless or\ndead. If she recovers, the operation is repeated four times at intervals\nof six hours, and it is considered an offence to the parents not to\nstrike hard. Meantime, pots of meats and fish have been made ready; the\n_sipos_ are dipped into them and then given to the girl to lick, who is\nnow considered a marriageable woman.[145]\n\n[Custom in South America of causing young men to be stung with ants as\nan initiatory rite.]\n\nThe custom of stinging the girl at such times with ants or beating her\nwith rods is intended, we may be sure, not as a punishment or a test of\nendurance, but as a purification, the object being to drive away the\nmalignant influences with which a girl in this condition is believed to\nbe beset and enveloped. Examples of purification, by beating, by\nincisions in the flesh, and by stinging with ants, have already come\nbefore us.[146] In some Indian tribes of Brazil and Guiana young men do\nnot rank as warriors and may not marry till they have passed through a\nterrible ordeal, which consists in being stung by swarms of venomous\nants whose bite is like fire. Thus among the Mauhes on the Tapajos\nriver, a southern tributary of the Amazon, boys of eight to ten years\nare obliged to thrust their arms into sleeves stuffed with great\nferocious ants, which the Indians call _tocandeira_ (_Cryptocerus\natratus_, F.). When the young victim shrieks with pain, an excited mob\nof men dances round him, shouting and encouraging him till he falls\nexhausted to the ground. He is then committed to the care of old women,\nwho treat his fearfully swollen arms with fresh juice of the manioc; and\non his recovery he has to shew his strength and skill in bending a bow.\nThis cruel ordeal is commonly repeated again and again, till the lad has\nreached his fourteenth year and can bear the agony without betraying any\nsign of emotion. Then he is a man and can marry. A lad's age is reckoned\nby the number of times he has passed through the ordeal.[147] An\neye-witness has described how a young Mauhe hero bore the torture with\nan endurance more than Spartan, dancing and singing, with his arms cased\nin the terrible mittens, before every cabin of the great common house,\ntill pallid, staggering, and with chattering teeth he triumphantly laid\nthe gloves before the old chief and received the congratulations of the\nmen and the caresses of the women; then breaking away from his friends\nand admirers he threw himself into the river and remained in its cool\nsoothing water till nightfall.[148] Similarly among the Ticunas of the\nUpper Amazon, on the border of Peru, the young man who would take his\nplace among the warriors must plunge his arm into a sort of basket full\nof venomous ants and keep it there for several minutes without uttering\na cry. He generally falls backwards and sometimes succumbs to the fever\nwhich ensues; hence as soon as the ordeal is over the women are prodigal\nof their attentions to him, and rub the swollen arm with a particular\nkind of herb.[149] Ordeals of this sort appear to be in vogue among the\nIndians of the Rio Negro as well as of the Amazon.[150] Among the\nRucuyennes, a tribe of Indians in the north of Brazil, on the borders of\nGuiana, young men who are candidates for marriage must submit to be\nstung all over their persons not only with ants but with wasps, which\nare applied to their naked bodies in curious instruments of trellis-work\nshaped like fantastic quadrupeds or birds. The patient invariably falls\ndown in a swoon and is carried like dead to his hammock, where he is\ntightly lashed with cords. As they come to themselves, they writhe in\nagony, so that their hammocks rock violently to and fro, causing the hut\nto shake as if it were about to collapse. This dreadful ordeal is called\nby the Indians a _marak\u00e9_.[151]\n\n[Custom of causing men and women to be stung with ants to improve their\ncharacter and health or to render them invulnerable.]\n\nThe same ordeal, under the same name, is also practised by the Wayanas,\nan Indian tribe of French Guiana, but with them, we are told, it is no\nlonger deemed an indispensable preliminary to marriage; \"it is rather a\nsort of national medicine administered chiefly to the youth of both\nsexes.\" Applied to men, the _marak\u00e9_, as it is called, \"sharpens them,\nprevents them from being heavy and lazy, makes them active, brisk,\nindustrious, imparts strength, and helps them to shoot well with the\nbow; without it the Indians would always be slack and rather sickly,\nwould always have a little fever, and would lie perpetually in their\nhammocks. As for the women, the _marak\u00e9_ keeps them from going to sleep,\nrenders them active, alert, brisk, gives them strength and a liking for\nwork, makes them good housekeepers, good workers at the stockade, good\nmakers of _cachiri_. Every one undergoes the _marak\u00e9_ at least twice in\nhis life, sometimes thrice, and oftener if he likes. It may be had from\nthe age of about eight years and upward, and no one thinks it odd that a\nman of forty should voluntarily submit to it.\"[152] Similarly the\nIndians of St. Juan Capistrano in California used to be branded on some\npart of their bodies, generally on the right arm, but sometimes on the\nleg also, not as a proof of manly fortitude, but because they believed\nthat the custom \"added greater strength to the nerves, and gave a better\npulse for the management of the bow.\" Afterwards \"they were whipped with\nnettles, and covered with ants, that they might become robust, and the\ninfliction was always performed in summer, during the months of July and\nAugust, when the nettle was in its most fiery state. They gathered small\nbunches, which they fastened together, and the poor deluded Indian was\nchastised, by inflicting blows with them upon his naked limbs, until\nunable to walk; and then he was carried to the nest of the nearest and\nmost furious species of ants, and laid down among them, while some of\nhis friends, with sticks, kept annoying the insects to make them still\nmore violent. What torments did they not undergo! What pain! What\nhellish inflictions! Yet their faith gave them power to endure all\nwithout a murmur, and they remained as if dead. Having undergone these\ndreadful ordeals, they were considered as invulnerable, and believed\nthat the arrows of their enemies could no longer harm them.\"[153] Among\nthe Alur, a tribe inhabiting the south-western region of the upper Nile,\nto bury a man in an ant-hill and leave him there for a while is the\nregular treatment for insanity.[154]\n\n[In such cases the beating or stinging was originally a purification; at\na later time it is interpreted as a test of courage and endurance.]\n\nIn like manner it is probable that beating or scourging as a religious\nor ceremonial rite was originally a mode of purification. It was meant\nto wipe off and drive away a dangerous contagion, whether personified as\ndemoniacal or not, which was supposed to be adhering physically, though\ninvisibly, to the body of the sufferer.[155] The pain inflicted on the\nperson beaten was no more the object of the beating than it is of a\nsurgical operation with us; it was a necessary accident, that was all.\nIn later times such customs were interpreted otherwise, and the pain,\nfrom being an accident, became the prime object of the ceremony, which\nwas now regarded either as a test of endurance imposed upon persons at\ncritical epochs of life, or as a mortification of the flesh well\npleasing to the god. But asceticism, under any shape or form, is never\nprimitive. The savage, it is true, in certain circumstances will\nvoluntarily subject himself to pains and privations which appear to us\nwholly needless; but he never acts thus unless he believes that some\nsolid temporal advantage is to be gained by so doing. Pain for the sake\nof pain, whether as a moral discipline in this life or as a means of\nwinning a glorious immortality hereafter, is not an object which he sets\nhimself deliberately to pursue.\n\n[This explanation confirmed with reference to the beating of girls at\npuberty among the South American Indians; treatment of a girl at puberty\namong the Banivas of the Orinoco; symptoms of puberty in a girl regarded\nas wounds inflicted by a demon.]\n\nIf this view is correct, we can understand why so many Indian tribes of\nSouth America compel the youth of both sexes to submit to these painful\nand sometimes fatal ordeals. They imagine that in this way they rid the\nyoung folk of certain evils inherent in youth, especially at the\ncritical age of puberty; and when they picture to themselves the evils\nin a personal form as dangerous spirits or demons, the ceremony of their\nexpulsion may in the strict sense be termed an exorcism. This certainly\nappears to be the interpretation which the Banivas of the Orinoco put\nupon the cruel scourgings which they inflict on girls at puberty. At her\nfirst menstruation a Baniva girl must pass several days and nights in\nher hammock, almost motionless and getting nothing to eat and drink but\nwater and a little manioc. While she lies there, the suitors for her\nhand apply to her father, and he who can afford to give most for her or\ncan prove himself the best man, is promised the damsel in marriage. The\nfast over, some old men enter the hut, bandage the girl's eyes, cover\nher head with a bonnet of which the fringes fall on her shoulders, and\nthen lead her forth and tie her to a post set up in an open place. The\nhead of the post is carved in the shape of a grotesque face. None but\nthe old men may witness what follows. Were a woman caught peeping and\nprying, it would go ill with her; she would be marked out for the\nvengeance of the demon, who would make her expiate her crime at the very\nnext moon by madness or death. Every participant in the ceremony comes\narmed with a scourge of cords or of fish skins; some of them reinforce\nthe virtue of the instrument by tying little sharp stones to the end of\nthe thongs. Then, to the dismal and deafening notes of shell-trumpets\nblown by two or three supernumeraries, the men circle round and round\nthe post, every one applying his scourge as he passes to the girl's\nback, till it streams with blood. At last the musicians, winding\ntremendous blasts on their trumpets against the demon, advance and touch\nthe post in which he is supposed to be incorporate. Then the blows cease\nto descend; the girl is untied, often in a fainting state, and carried\naway to have her wounds washed and simples applied to them. The youngest\nof the executioners, or rather of the exorcists, hastens to inform her\nbetrothed husband of the happy issue of the exorcism. \"The spirit,\" he\nsays, \"had cast thy beloved into a sleep as deep almost as that of\ndeath. But we have rescued her from his attacks, and laid her down in\nsuch and such a place. Go seek her.\" Then going from house to house\nthrough the village he cries to the inmates, \"Come, let us burn the\ndemon who would have taken possession of such and such a girl, our\nfriend.\" The bridegroom at once carries his wounded and suffering bride\nto his own house; and all the people gather round the post for the\npleasure of burning it and the demon together. A great pile of firewood\nhas meanwhile been heaped up about it, and the women run round the pyre\ncursing in shrill voices the wicked spirit who has wrought all this\nevil. The men join in with hoarser cries and animate themselves for the\nbusiness in hand by deep draughts of an intoxicant which has been\nprovided for the occasion by the parents-in-law. Soon the bridegroom,\nhaving committed the bride to the care of his mother, appears on the\nscene brandishing a lighted torch. He addresses the demon with bitter\nmockery and reproaches; informs him that the fair creature on whom he,\nthe demon, had nefarious designs, is now his, the bridegroom's, blooming\nspouse; and shaking his torch at the grinning head on the post, he\nscreams out, \"This is how the victims of thy persecution take vengeance\non thee!\" With these words he puts a light to the pyre. At once the\ndrums strike up, the trumpets blare, and men, women, and children begin\nto dance. In two long rows they dance, the men on one side, the women on\nthe other, advancing till they almost touch and then retiring again.\nAfter that the two rows join hands, and forming a huge circle trip it\nround and round the blaze, till the post with its grotesque face is\nconsumed in the flames and nothing of the pyre remains but a heap of red\nand glowing embers. \"The evil spirit has been destroyed. Thus delivered\nfrom her persecutor, the young wife will be free from sickness, will not\ndie in childbed, and will bear many children to her husband.\"[156] From\nthis account it appears that the Banivas attribute the symptoms of\npuberty in girls to the wounds inflicted on them by an amorous devil,\nwho, however, can be not only exorcised but burnt to ashes at the stake.\n\n\n\u00a7 6. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in India and Cambodia_\n\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Hindoos; seclusion of girls at\npuberty in Southern India.]\n\nWhen a Hindoo maiden reaches maturity she is kept in a dark room for\nfour days, and is forbidden to see the sun. She is regarded as unclean;\nno one may touch her. Her diet is restricted to boiled rice, milk,\nsugar, curd, and tamarind without salt. On the morning of the fifth day\nshe goes to a neighbouring tank, accompanied by five women whose\nhusbands are alive. Smeared with turmeric water, they all bathe and\nreturn home, throwing away the mat and other things that were in the\nroom.[157] The Rarhi Brahmans of Bengal compel a girl at puberty to live\nalone, and do not allow her to see the face of any male. For three days\nshe remains shut up in a dark room, and has to undergo certain penances.\nFish, flesh, and sweetmeats are forbidden her; she must live upon rice\nand ghee.[158] Among the Tiyans of Malabar a girl is thought to be\npolluted for four days from the beginning of her first menstruation.\nDuring this time she must keep to the north side of the house, where she\nsleeps on a grass mat of a particular kind, in a room festooned with\ngarlands of young coco-nut leaves. Another girl keeps her company and\nsleeps with her, but she may not touch any other person, tree or plant.\nFurther, she may not see the sky, and woe betide her if she catches\nsight of a crow or a cat! Her diet must be strictly vegetarian, without\nsalt, tamarinds, or chillies. She is armed against evil spirits by a\nknife, which is placed on the mat or carried on her person.[159] Among\nthe Kappiliyans of Madura and Tinnevelly a girl at her first monthly\nperiod remains under pollution for thirteen days, either in a corner of\nthe house, which is screened off for her use by her maternal uncle, or\nin a temporary hut, which is erected by the same relative on the common\nland of the village. On the thirteenth day she bathes in a tank, and, on\nentering the house, steps over a pestle and a cake. Near the entrance\nsome food is placed and a dog is allowed to partake of it; but his\nenjoyment is marred by suffering, for while he eats he receives a sound\nthrashing, and the louder he howls the better, for the larger will be\nthe family to which the young woman will give birth; should there be no\nhowls, there will be no children. The temporary hut in which the girl\npassed the days of her seclusion is burnt down, and the pots which she\nused are smashed to shivers.[160] Similarly among the Parivarams of\nMadura, when a girl attains to puberty she is kept for sixteen days in a\nhut, which is guarded at night by her relations; and when her\nsequestration is over the hut is burnt down and the pots she used are\nbroken into very small pieces, because they think that if rain-water\ngathered in any of them, the girl would be childless.[161] The Pulayars\nof Travancore build a special hut in the jungle for the use of a girl at\npuberty; there she remains for seven days. No one else may enter the\nhut, not even her mother. Women stand a little way off and lay down food\nfor her. At the end of the time she is brought home, clad in a new or\nclean cloth, and friends are treated to betel-nut, toddy, and\narack.[162] Among the Singhalese a girl at her first menstruation is\nconfined to a room, where she may neither see nor be seen by any male.\nAfter being thus secluded for two weeks she is taken out, with her face\ncovered, and is bathed by women at the back of the house. Near the\nbathing-place are kept branches of any milk-bearing tree, usually of the\n_jak_-tree. In some cases, while the time of purification or uncleanness\nlasts, the maiden stays in a separate hut, which is afterwards burnt\ndown.[163]\n\n[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Cambodia.]\n\nIn Cambodia a girl at puberty is put to bed under a mosquito curtain,\nwhere she should stay a hundred days. Usually, however, four, five, ten,\nor twenty days are thought enough; and even this, in a hot climate and\nunder the close meshes of the curtain, is sufficiently trying.[164]\nAccording to another account, a Cambodian maiden at puberty is said to\n\"enter into the shade.\" During her retirement, which, according to the\nrank and position of her family, may last any time from a few days to\nseveral years, she has to observe a number of rules, such as not to be\nseen by a strange man, not to eat flesh or fish, and so on. She goes\nnowhere, not even to the pagoda. But this state of seclusion is\ndiscontinued during eclipses; at such times she goes forth and pays her\ndevotions to the monster who is supposed to cause eclipses by catching\nthe heavenly bodies between his teeth.[165] This permission to break her\nrule of retirement and appear abroad during an eclipse seems to shew how\nliterally the injunction is interpreted which forbids maidens entering\non womanhood to look upon the sun.\n\n\n\u00a7 7. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Folk-tales_\n\n\n[Traces of the seclusion of girls at puberty in folk-tales. Danish story\nof the girl who might not see the sun.]\n\nA superstition so widely diffused as this might be expected to leave\ntraces in legends and folk-tales. And it has done so. In a Danish story\nwe read of a princess who was fated to be carried off by a warlock if\never the sun shone on her before she had passed her thirtieth year; so\nthe king her father kept her shut up in the palace, and had all the\nwindows on the east, south, and west sides blocked up, lest a sunbeam\nshould fall on his darling child, and he should thus lose her for ever.\nOnly at evening, when the sun was down, might she walk for a little in\nthe beautiful garden of the castle. In time a prince came a-wooing,\nfollowed by a train of gorgeous knights and squires on horses all ablaze\nwith gold and silver. The king said the prince might have his daughter\nto wife on condition that he would not carry her away to his home till\nshe was thirty years old but would live with her in the castle, where\nthe windows looked out only to the north. The prince agreed, so married\nthey were. The bride was only fifteen, and fifteen more long weary years\nmust pass before she might step out of the gloomy donjon, breathe the\nfresh air, and see the sun. But she and her gallant young bridegroom\nloved each other and they were happy. Often they sat hand in hand at the\nwindow looking out to the north and talked of what they would do when\nthey were free. Still it was a little dull to look out always at the\nsame window and to see nothing but the castle woods, and the distant\nhills, and the clouds drifting silently over them. Well, one day it\nhappened that all the people in the castle had gone away to a\nneighbouring castle to witness a tournament and other gaieties, and the\ntwo young folks were left as usual all alone at the window looking out\nto the north. They sat silent for a time gazing away to the hills. It\nwas a grey sad day, the sky was overcast, and the weather seemed to draw\nto rain. At last the prince said, \"There will be no sunshine to-day.\nWhat if we were to drive over and join the rest at the tournament?\" His\nyoung wife gladly consented, for she longed to see more of the world\nthan those eternal green woods and those eternal blue hills, which were\nall she ever saw from the window. So the horses were put into the coach,\nand it rattled up to the door, and in they got and away they drove. At\nfirst all went well. The clouds hung low over the woods, the wind sighed\nin the trees, a drearier day you could hardly imagine. So they joined\nthe rest at the other castle and took their seats to watch the jousting\nin the lists. So intent were they in watching the gay spectacle of the\nprancing steeds, the fluttering pennons, and the glittering armour of\nthe knights, that they failed to mark the change, the fatal change, in\nthe weather. For the wind was rising and had begun to disperse the\nclouds, and suddenly the sun broke through, and the glory of it fell\nlike an aureole on the young wife, and at once she vanished away. No\nsooner did her husband miss her from his side than he, too, mysteriously\ndisappeared. The tournament broke up in confusion, the bereft father\nhastened home, and shut himself up in the dark castle from which the\nlight of life had departed. The green woods and the blue hills could\nstill be seen from the window that looked to the north, but the young\nfaces that had gazed out of it so wistfully were gone, as it seemed, for\never.[166]\n\n[Tyrolese story of the girl who might not see the sun.]\n\nA Tyrolese story tells how it was the doom of a lovely maiden with\ngolden hair to be transported into the belly of a whale if ever a\nsunbeam fell on her. Hearing of the fame of her beauty the king of the\ncountry sent for her to be his bride, and her brother drove the fair\ndamsel to the palace in a carefully closed coach, himself sitting on the\nbox and handling the reins. On the way they overtook two hideous\nwitches, who pretended they were weary and begged for a lift in the\ncoach. At first the brother refused to take them in, but his\ntender-hearted sister entreated him to have compassion on the two poor\nfootsore women; for you may easily imagine that she was not acquainted\nwith their true character. So down he got rather surlily from the box,\nopened the coach door, and in the two witches stepped, laughing in their\nsleeves. But no sooner had the brother mounted the box and whipped up\nthe horses, than one of the two wicked witches bored a hole in the\nclosed coach. A sunbeam at once shot through the hole and fell on the\nfair damsel. So she vanished from the coach and was spirited away into\nthe belly of a whale in the neighbouring sea. You can imagine the\nconsternation of the king, when the coach door opened and instead of his\nblooming bride out bounced two hideous hags![167]\n\n[Modern Greek stories of the maid who might not see the sun.]\n\nIn a modern Greek folk-tale the Fates predict that in her fifteenth year\na princess must be careful not to let the sun shine on her, for if this\nwere to happen she would be turned into a lizard.[168] In another modern\nGreek tale the Sun bestows a daughter upon a childless woman on\ncondition of taking the child back to himself when she is twelve years\nold. So, when the child was twelve, the mother closed the doors and\nwindows, and stopped up all the chinks and crannies, to prevent the Sun\nfrom coming to fetch away her daughter. But she forgot to stop up the\nkey-hole, and a sunbeam streamed through it and carried off the\ngirl.[169] In a Sicilian story a seer foretells that a king will have a\ndaughter who, in her fourteenth year, will conceive a child by the Sun.\nSo, when the child was born, the king shut her up in a lonely tower\nwhich had no window, lest a sunbeam should fall on her. When she was\nnearly fourteen years old, it happened that her parents sent her a piece\nof roasted kid, in which she found a sharp bone. With this bone she\nscraped a hole in the wall, and a sunbeam shot through the hole and got\nher with child.[170]\n\n[The story of Danae and its parallel in a Kirghiz legend.]\n\nThe old Greek story of Danae, who was confined by her father in a\nsubterranean chamber or a brazen tower, but impregnated by Zeus, who\nreached her in the shape of a shower of gold,[171] perhaps belongs to\nthe same class of tales. It has its counterpart in the legend which the\nKirghiz of Siberia tell of their ancestry. A certain Khan had a fair\ndaughter, whom he kept in a dark iron house, that no man might see her.\nAn old woman tended her; and when the girl was grown to maidenhood she\nasked the old woman, \"Where do you go so often?\" \"My child,\" said the\nold dame, \"there is a bright world. In that bright world your father and\nmother live, and all sorts of people live there. That is where I go.\"\nThe maiden said, \"Good mother, I will tell nobody, but shew me that\nbright world.\" So the old woman took the girl out of the iron house. But\nwhen she saw the bright world, the girl tottered and fainted; and the\neye of God fell upon her, and she conceived. Her angry father put her in\na golden chest and sent her floating away (fairy gold can float in\nfairyland) over the wide sea.[172] The shower of gold in the Greek\nstory, and the eye of God in the Kirghiz legend, probably stand for\nsunlight and the sun.\n\n[Impregnation of women by the sun in legends.]\n\nThe idea that women may be impregnated by the sun is not uncommon in\nlegends. Thus, for example, among the Indians of Guacheta in Colombia,\nit is said, a report once ran that the sun would impregnate one of their\nmaidens, who should bear a child and yet remain a virgin. The chief had\ntwo daughters, and was very desirous that one of them should conceive in\nthis miraculous manner. So every day he made them climb a hill to the\neast of his house in order to be touched by the first beams of the\nrising sun. His wishes were fulfilled, for one of the damsels conceived\nand after nine months gave birth to an emerald. So she wrapped it in\ncotton and placed it in her bosom, and in a few days it turned into a\nchild, who received the name of Garanchacha and was universally\nrecognized as a son of the sun.[173] Again, the Samoans tell of a woman\nnamed Mangamangai, who became pregnant by looking at the rising sun. Her\nson grew up and was named \"Child of the Sun.\" At his marriage he applied\nto his mother for a dowry, but she bade him apply to his father, the\nsun, and told him how to go to him. So one morning he took a long vine\nand made a noose in it; then climbing up a tree he threw the noose over\nthe sun and caught him fast. Thus arrested in his progress, the luminary\nasked him what he wanted, and being told by the young man that he wanted\na present for his bride, the sun obligingly packed up a store of\nblessings in a basket, with which the youth descended to the earth.[174]\n\n[Traces in marriage customs of the belief that women can be impregnated\nby the sun.]\n\nEven in the marriage customs of various races we may perhaps detect\ntraces of this belief that women can be impregnated by the sun. Thus\namongst the Chaco Indians of South America a newly married couple used\nto sleep the first night on a mare's or bullock's skin with their heads\ntowards the west, \"for the marriage is not considered ratified till the\nrising sun shines on their feet the succeeding morning.\"[175] At old\nHindoo marriages the first ceremony was the \"Impregnation-rite\"\n(_Garbh[=a]dh[=a]na_); during the previous day the bride was made to\nlook towards the sun or to be in some way exposed to its rays.[176]\nAmongst the Turks of Siberia it was formerly the custom on the morning\nafter the marriage to lead the young couple out of the hut to greet the\nrising sun. The same custom is said to be still practised in Iran and\nCentral Asia under a belief that the beams of the rising sun are the\nsurest means of impregnating the new bride.[177]\n\n[Belief in the impregnation of women by the moon.]\n\nAnd as some people think that women may be gotten with child by the sun,\nso others imagine that they can conceive by the moon. According to the\nGreenlanders the moon is a young man, and he \"now and then comes down to\ngive their wives a visit and caress them; for which reason no woman dare\nsleep lying upon her back, without she first spits upon her fingers and\nrubs her belly with it. For the same reason the young maids are afraid\nto stare long at the moon, imagining they may get a child by the\nbargain.\"[178] Similarly Breton peasants are reported to believe that\nwomen or girls who expose their persons to the moonlight may be\nimpregnated by it and give birth to monsters.[179]\n\n\n\u00a7 8. _Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty_\n\n\n[The reason for the seclusion of women at puberty is the dread of\nmenstruous blood.]\n\nThe motive for the restraints so commonly imposed on girls at puberty is\nthe deeply engrained dread which primitive man universally entertains of\nmenstruous blood. He fears it at all times but especially on its first\nappearance; hence the restrictions under which women lie at their first\nmenstruation are usually more stringent than those which they have to\nobserve at any subsequent recurrence of the mysterious flow. Some\nevidence of the fear and of the customs based on it has been cited in an\nearlier part of this work;[180] but as the terror, for it is nothing\nless, which the phenomenon periodically strikes into the mind of the\nsavage has deeply influenced his life and institutions, it may be well\nto illustrate the subject with some further examples.\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the aborigines of\nAustralia.]\n\nThus in the Encounter Bay tribe of South Australia there is, or used to\nbe, a \"superstition which obliges a woman to separate herself from the\ncamp at the time of her monthly illness, when, if a young man or boy\nshould approach, she calls out, and he immediately makes a circuit to\navoid her. If she is neglectful upon this point, she exposes herself to\nscolding, and sometimes to severe beating by her husband or nearest\nrelation, because the boys are told from their infancy, that if they see\nthe blood they will early become grey-headed, and their strength will\nfail prematurely.\"[181] And of the South Australian aborigines in\ngeneral we read that there is a \"custom requiring all boys and\nuninitiated young men to sleep at some distance from the huts of the\nadults, and to remove altogether away in the morning as soon as daylight\ndawns, and the natives begin to move about. This is to prevent their\nseeing the women, some of whom may be menstruating; and if looked upon\nby the young males, it is supposed that dire results will follow.\"[182]\nAnd amongst these tribes women in their courses \"are not allowed to eat\nfish of any kind, or to go near the water at all; it being one of their\nsuperstitions, that if a female, in that state, goes near the water, no\nsuccess can be expected by the men in fishing.\"[183] Similarly, among\nthe natives of the Murray River, menstruous women \"were not allowed to\ngo near water for fear of frightening the fish. They were also not\nallowed to eat them, for the same reason. A woman during such periods\nwould never cross the river in a canoe, or even fetch water for the\ncamp. It was sufficient for her to say _Thama_, to ensure her husband\ngetting the water himself.\"[184] The Dieri of Central Australia believe\nthat if women at these times were to eat fish or bathe in a river, the\nfish would all die and the water would dry up. In this tribe a mark made\nwith red ochre round a woman's mouth indicates that she has her courses;\nno one would offer fish to such a woman.[185] The Arunta of Central\nAustralia forbid menstruous women to gather the _irriakura_ bulbs, which\nform a staple article of diet for both men and women. They believe that\nwere a woman to break this rule, the supply of bulbs would fail.[186]\nAmong the aborigines of Victoria the wife at her monthly periods had to\nsleep on the opposite side of the fire from her husband; she might\npartake of nobody's food, and nobody would partake of hers, for people\nthought that if they ate or drank anything that had been touched by a\nwoman in her courses, it would make them weak or ill. Unmarried girls\nand widows at such times had to paint their heads and the upper parts of\ntheir bodies red,[187] no doubt as a danger signal.\n\n[Severe penalties inflicted for breaches of the custom of seclusion.]\n\nIn some Australian tribes the seclusion of menstruous women was even\nmore rigid, and was enforced by severer penalties than a scolding or a\nbeating. Thus with regard to certain tribes of New South Wales and\nSouthern Queensland we are told that \"during the monthly illness, the\nwoman is not allowed to touch anything that men use, or even to walk on\na path that any man frequents, on pain of death.\"[188] Again, \"there is\na regulation relating to camps in the Wakelbura tribe which forbids the\nwomen coming into the encampment by the same path as the men. Any\nviolation of this rule would in a large camp be punished with death. The\nreason for this is the dread with which they regard the menstrual period\nof women. During such a time, a woman is kept entirely away from the\ncamp, half a mile at least. A woman in such a condition has boughs of\nsome tree of her totem tied round her loins, and is constantly watched\nand guarded, for it is thought that should any male be so unfortunate as\nto see a woman in such a condition, he would die. If such a woman were\nto let herself be seen by a man, she would probably be put to death.\nWhen the woman has recovered, she is painted red and white, her head\ncovered with feathers, and returns to the camp.\"[189]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women in the Torres Straits Islands,\nNew Guinea, Galela, and Sumatra.]\n\nIn Muralug, one of the Torres Straits Islands, a menstruous woman may\nnot eat anything that lives in the sea, else the natives believe that\nthe fisheries would fail. Again, in Mabuiag, another of these islands,\nwomen who have their courses on them may not eat turtle flesh nor turtle\neggs, probably for a similar reason. And during the season when the\nturtles are pairing the restrictions laid on such a woman are much\nseverer. She may not even enter a house in which there is turtle flesh,\nnor approach a fire on which the flesh is cooking; she may not go near\nthe sea and she should not walk on the beach below high-water mark. Nay,\nthe infection extends to her husband, who may not himself harpoon or\notherwise take an active part in catching turtle; however, he is\npermitted to form one of the crew on a turtling expedition, provided he\ntakes the precaution of rubbing his armpits with certain leaves, to\nwhich no doubt a disinfectant virtue is ascribed.[190] Among the Kai of\nGerman New Guinea women at their monthly sickness must live in little\nhuts built for them in the forest; they may not enter the cultivated\nfields, for if they did go to them, and the pigs were to taste of the\nblood, it would inspire the animals with an irresistible desire to go\nlikewise into the fields, where they would commit great depredations on\nthe growing crops. Hence the issue from women at these times is\ncarefully buried to prevent the pigs from getting at it. And conversely,\nif the pigs often break into the fields, the blame is laid on the women\nwho by the neglect of these elementary precautions have put temptation\nin the way of the swine.[191] In Galela, to the west of New Guinea,\nwomen at their monthly periods may not enter a tobacco-field, or the\nplants would be attacked by disease.[192] The Minangkabauers of Sumatra\nare persuaded that if a woman in her unclean state were to go near a\nrice-field, the crop would be spoiled.[193]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of South\nAfrica.]\n\nThe Bushmen of South Africa think that, by a glance of a girl's eye at\nthe time when she ought to be kept in strict retirement, men become\nfixed in whatever position they happen to occupy, with whatever they\nwere holding in their hands, and are changed into trees that talk.[194]\nCattle-rearing tribes of South Africa hold that their cattle would die\nif the milk were drunk by a menstruous woman;[195] and they fear the\nsame disaster if a drop of her blood were to fall on the ground and the\noxen were to pass over it. To prevent such a calamity women in general,\nnot menstruous women only, are forbidden to enter the cattle enclosure;\nand more than that, they may not use the ordinary paths in entering the\nvillage or in passing from one hut to another. They are obliged to make\ncircuitous tracks at the back of the huts in order to avoid the ground\nin the middle of the village where the cattle stand or lie down. These\nwomen's tracks may be seen at every Caffre village.[196]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of Central and\nEast Africa.]\n\nSimilarly among the Bahima, a cattle-breeding tribe of Ankole, in\nCentral Africa, no menstruous woman may drink milk, lest by so doing she\nshould injure the cows; and she may not lie on her husband's bed, no\ndoubt lest she should injure him. Indeed she is forbidden to lie on a\nbed at all and must sleep on the ground. Her diet is restricted to\nvegetables and beer.[197] Among the Baganda, in like manner, no\nmenstruous woman might drink milk or come into contact with any\nmilk-vessel;[198] and she might not touch anything that belonged to her\nhusband, nor sit on his mat, nor cook his food. If she touched anything\nof his at such a time it was deemed equivalent to wishing him dead or to\nactually working magic for his destruction.[199] Were she to handle any\narticle of his, he would surely fall ill; were she to handle his\nweapons, he would certainly be killed in the next battle. Even a woman\nwho did not menstruate was believed by the Baganda to be a source of\ndanger to her husband, indeed capable of killing him. Hence, before he\nwent to war, he used to wound her slightly with his spear so as to draw\nblood; this was thought to ensure his safe return.[200] Apparently the\nnotion was that if the wife did not lose blood in one way or another,\nher husband would be bled in war to make up for her deficiency; so by\nway of guarding against this undesirable event, he took care to relieve\nher of a little superfluous blood before he repaired to the field of\nhonour. Further, the Baganda would not suffer a menstruous woman to\nvisit a well; if she did so, they feared that the water would dry up,\nand that she herself would fall sick and die, unless she confessed her\nfault and the medicine-man made atonement for her.[201] Among the\nAkikuyu of British East Africa, if a new hut is built in a village and\nthe wife chances to menstruate in it on the day she lights the first\nfire there, the hut must be broken down and demolished the very next\nday. The woman may on no account sleep a second night in it; there is a\ncurse (_thahu_) both on her and on it.[202] In the Suk tribe of British\nEast Africa warriors may not eat anything that has been touched by\nmenstruous women. If they did so, it is believed that they would lose\ntheir virility; \"in the rain they will shiver and in the heat they will\nfaint.\" Suk men and women take their meals apart, because the men fear\nthat one or more of the women may be menstruating.[203] The Anyanja of\nBritish Central Africa, at the southern end of Lake Nyassa, think that a\nman who should sleep with a woman in her courses would fall sick and\ndie, unless some remedy were applied in time. And with them it is a rule\nthat at such times a woman should not put any salt into the food she is\ncooking, otherwise the people who partook of the food salted by her\nwould suffer from a certain disease called _tsempo_; hence to obviate\nthe danger she calls a child to put the salt into the dish.[204]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of West\nAfrica.]\n\nAmong the Hos, a tribe of Ewe negroes of Togoland in West Africa, so\nlong as a wife has her monthly sickness she may not cook for her\nhusband, nor lie on his bed, nor sit on his stool; an infraction of\nthese rules would assuredly, it is believed, cause her husband to die.\nIf her husband is a priest, or a magician, or a chief, she may not pass\nthe days of her uncleanness in the house, but must go elsewhere till she\nis clean.[205] Among the Ewe negroes of this region each village has its\nhuts where women who have their courses on them must spend their time\nsecluded from intercourse with other people. Sometimes these huts stand\nby themselves in public places; sometimes they are mere shelters built\neither at the back or front of the ordinary dwelling-houses. A woman is\npunishable if she does not pass the time of her monthly sickness in one\nof these huts or shelters provided for her use. Thus, if she shews\nherself in her own house or even in the yard of the house, she may be\nfined a sheep, which is killed, its flesh divided among the people, and\nits blood poured on the image of the chief god as a sin-offering to\nexpiate her offence. She is also forbidden to go to the place where the\nvillagers draw water, and if she breaks the rule, she must give a goat\nto be killed; its flesh is distributed, and its blood, diluted with\nwater and mixed with herbs, is sprinkled on the watering-place and on\nthe paths leading to it. Were any woman to disregard these salutary\nprecautions, the chief fetish-man in the village would fall sick and\ndie, which would be an irreparable loss to society.[206]\n\n[Powerful influence ascribed to menstruous blood in Arab legend.]\n\nThe miraculous virtue ascribed to menstruous blood is well illustrated\nin a story told by the Arab chronicler Tabari. He relates how Sapor,\nking of Persia, besieged the strong city of Atrae, in the desert of\nMesopotamia, for several years without being able to take it. But the\nking of the city, whose name was Daizan, had a daughter, and when it was\nwith her after the manner of women she went forth from the city and\ndwelt for a time in the suburb, for such was the custom of the place.\nNow it fell out that, while she tarried there, Sapor saw her and loved\nher, and she loved him; for he was a handsome man and she a lovely maid.\nAnd she said to him, \"What will you give me if I shew you how you may\ndestroy the walls of this city and slay my father?\" And he said to her,\n\"I will give you what you will, and I will exalt you above my other\nwives, and will set you nearer to me than them all.\" Then she said to\nhim, \"Take a greenish dove with a ring about its neck, and write\nsomething on its foot with the menstruous blood of a blue-eyed maid;\nthen let the bird loose, and it will perch on the walls of the city, and\nthey will fall down.\" For that, says the Arab historian, was the\ntalisman of the city, which could not be destroyed in any other way. And\nSapor did as she bade him, and the city fell down in a heap, and he\nstormed it and slew Daizan on the spot.[207]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Jews and in Syria.]\n\nAccording to the Talmud, if a woman at the beginning of her period\npasses between two men, she thereby kills one of them; if she passes\nbetween them towards the end of her period, she only causes them to\nquarrel violently.[208] Maimonides tells us that down to his time it was\na common custom in the East to keep women at their periods in a separate\nhouse and to burn everything on which they had trodden; a man who spoke\nwith such a woman or who was merely exposed to the same wind that blew\nover her, became thereby unclean.[209] Peasants of the Lebanon think\nthat menstruous women are the cause of many misfortunes; their shadow\ncauses flowers to wither and trees to perish, it even arrests the\nmovements of serpents; if one of them mounts a horse, the animal might\ndie or at least be disabled for a long time.[210] In Syria to this day a\nwoman who has her courses on her may neither salt nor pickle, for the\npeople think that whatever she pickled or salted would not keep.[211]\nThe Toaripi of New Guinea, doubtless for a similar reason, will not\nallow women at such times to cook.[212]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women in India.]\n\nThe Bhuiyars, a Dravidian tribe of South Mirzapur, are said to feel an\nintense dread of menstrual pollution. Every house has two doors, one of\nwhich is used only by women in this condition. During her impurity the\nwife is fed by her husband apart from the rest of the family, and\nwhenever she has to quit the house she is obliged to creep out on her\nhands and knees in order not to defile the thatch by her touch.[213] The\nKharwars, another aboriginal tribe of the same district, keep their\nwomen at such seasons in the outer verandah of the house for eight days,\nand will not let them enter the kitchen or the cowhouse; during this\ntime the unclean woman may not cook nor even touch the cooking vessels.\nWhen the eight days are over, she bathes, washes her clothes, and\nreturns to family life.[214] Hindoo women seclude themselves at their\nmonthly periods and observe a number of rules, such as not to drink\nmilk, not to milk cows, not to touch fire, not to lie on a high bed, not\nto walk on common paths, not to cross the track of animals, not to walk\nby the side of flowering plants, and not to observe the heavenly\nbodies.[215] The motive for these restrictions is not mentioned, but\nprobably it is a dread of the baleful influence which is supposed to\nemanate from women at these times. The Parsees, who reverence fire, will\nnot suffer menstruous women to see it or even to look on a lighted\ntaper;[216] during their infirmity the women retire from their houses to\nlittle lodges in the country, whither victuals are brought to them\ndaily; at the end of their seclusion they bathe and send a kid, a fowl,\nor a pigeon to the priest as an offering.[217] In Annam a woman at her\nmonthly periods is deemed a centre of impurity, and contact with her is\navoided. She is subject to all sorts of restrictions which she must\nobserve herself and which others must observe towards her. She may not\ntouch any food which is to be preserved by salting, whether it be fish,\nflesh, or vegetables; for were she to touch it the food would putrefy.\nShe may not enter any sacred place, she may not be present at any\nreligious ceremony. The linen which she wears at such times must be\nwashed by herself at sunrise, never at night. On reaching puberty girls\nmay not touch flowers or the fruits of certain trees, for touched by\nthem the flowers would fade and the fruits fall to the ground. \"It is on\naccount of their reputation for impurity that the women generally live\nisolated. In every house they have an apartment reserved for them, and\nthey never eat at the same table as the men. For the same reason they\nare excluded from all religious ceremonies. They may only be present at\nfamily ceremonies, but without ever officiating in them.\"[218]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of South and\nCentral America.]\n\nThe Guayquiries of the Orinoco think that when a woman has her courses,\neverything upon which she steps will die, and that if a man treads on\nthe place where she has passed, his legs will immediately swell up.[219]\nAmong the Guaraunos of the same great river, women at their periods are\nregarded as unclean and kept apart in special huts, where all that they\nneed is brought to them.[220] In like manner among the Piapocos, an\nIndian tribe on the Guayabero, a tributary of the Orinoco, a menstruous\nwoman is secluded from her family every month for four or five days. She\npasses the time in a special hut, whither her husband brings her food;\nand at the end of the time she takes a bath and resumes her usual\noccupations.[221] So among the Indians of the Mosquito territory in\nCentral America, when a woman is in her courses, she must quit the\nvillage for seven or eight days. A small hut is built for her in the\nwood, and at night some of the village girls go and sleep with her to\nkeep her company. Or if the nights are dark and jaguars are known to be\nprowling in the neighbourhood, her husband will take his gun or bow and\nsleep in a hammock near her. She may neither handle nor cook food; all\nis prepared and carried to her. When the sickness is over, she bathes in\nthe river, puts on clean clothes, and returns to her household\nduties.[222] Among the Bri-bri Indians of Costa Rica a girl at her first\nmenstruation retires to a hut built for the purpose in the forest, and\nthere she must stay till she has been purified by a medicine-man, who\nbreathes on her and places various objects, such as feathers, the beaks\nof birds, the teeth of beasts, and so forth, upon her body. A married\nwoman at her periods remains in the house with her husband, but she is\nreckoned unclean (_bukuru_) and must avoid all intimate relations with\nhim. She uses for plates only banana leaves, which, when she has done\nwith them, she throws away in a sequestered spot; for should a cow find\nand eat them, the animal would waste away and perish. Also she drinks\nonly out of a special vessel, because any person who should afterwards\ndrink out of the same vessel would infallibly pine away and die.[223]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of North\nAmerica.]\n\nAmong most tribes of North American Indians the custom was that women in\ntheir courses retired from the camp or the village and lived during the\ntime of their uncleanness in special huts or shelters which were\nappropriated to their use. There they dwelt apart, eating and sleeping\nby themselves, warming themselves at their own fires, and strictly\nabstaining from all communications with men, who shunned them just as if\nthey were stricken with the plague. No article of furniture used in\nthese menstrual huts might be used in any other, not even the flint and\nsteel with which in the old days the fires were kindled. No one would\nborrow a light from a woman in her seclusion. If a white man in his\nignorance asked to light his pipe at her fire, she would refuse to grant\nthe request, telling him that it would make his nose bleed and his head\nache, and that he would fall sick in consequence. If an Indian's wooden\npipe cracked, his friends would think that he had either lit it at one\nof these polluted fires or had held some converse with a woman during\nher retirement, which was esteemed a most disgraceful and wicked thing\nto do. Decent men would not approach within a certain distance of a\nwoman at such times, and if they had to convey anything to her they\nwould stand some forty or fifty paces off and throw it to her.\nEverything which was touched by her hands during this period was deemed\nceremonially unclean. Indeed her touch was thought to convey such\npollution that if she chanced to lay a finger on a chief's lodge or his\ngun or anything else belonging to him, it would be instantly destroyed.\nIf she crossed the path of a hunter or a warrior, his luck for that day\nat least would be gone. Were she not thus secluded, it was supposed that\nthe men would be attacked by diseases of various kinds, which would\nprove mortal. In some tribes a woman who infringed the rules of\nseparation might have to answer with her life for any misfortunes that\nmight happen to individuals or to the tribe in consequence, as it was\nsupposed, of her criminal negligence. When she quitted her tent or hut\nto go into retirement, the fire in it was extinguished and the ashes\nthrown away outside of the village, and a new fire was kindled, as if\nthe old one had been defiled by her presence. At the end of their\nseclusion the women bathed in running streams and returned to their\nusual occupations.[224]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Creek, Choctaw,\nOmaha, and Cheyenne Indians.]\n\nThus, to take examples, the Creek and kindred Indians of the United\nStates compelled women at menstruation to live in separate huts at some\ndistance from the village. There the women had to stay, at the risk of\nbeing surprised and cut off by enemies. It was thought \"a most horrid\nand dangerous pollution\" to go near the women at such times; and the\ndanger extended to enemies who, if they slew the women, had to cleanse\nthemselves from the pollution by means of certain sacred herbs and\nroots.[225] Similarly, the Choctaw women had to quit their huts during\ntheir monthly periods, and might not return till after they had been\npurified. While their uncleanness lasted they had to prepare their own\nfood. The men believed that if they were to approach a menstruous woman,\nthey would fall ill, and that some mishap would overtake them when they\nwent to the wars.[226] When an Omaha woman has her courses on her, she\nretires from the family to a little shelter of bark or grass, supported\nby sticks, where she kindles a fire and cooks her victuals alone. Her\nseclusion lasts four days. During this time she may not approach or\ntouch a horse, for the Indians believe that such contamination would\nimpoverish or weaken the animal.[227] Among the Potawatomis the women at\ntheir monthly periods \"are not allowed to associate with the rest of the\nnation; they are completely laid aside, and are not permitted to touch\nany article of furniture or food which the men have occasion to use. If\nthe Indians be stationary at the time, the women are placed outside of\nthe camp; if on a march, they are not allowed to follow the trail, but\nmust take a different path and keep at a distance from the main\nbody.\"[228] Among the Cheyennes menstruous women slept in special\nlodges; the men believed that if they slept with their wives at such\ntimes, they would probably be wounded in their next battle. A man who\nowned a shield had very particularly to be on his guard against women in\ntheir courses. He might not go into a lodge where one of them happened\nto be, nor even into a lodge where one of them had been, until a\nceremony of purification had been performed. Sweet grass and juniper\nwere burnt in the tent, and the pegs were pulled up and the covering\nthrown back, as if the tent were about to be struck. After this pretence\nof decamping from the polluted spot the owner of the shield might enter\nthe tent.[229]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of British\nColumbia.]\n\nThe Stseelis Indians of British Columbia imagined that if a menstruous\nwoman were to step over a bundle of arrows, the arrows would thereby be\nrendered useless and might even cause the death of their owner; and\nsimilarly that if she passed in front of a hunter who carried a gun, the\nweapon would never shoot straight again. Neither her husband nor her\nfather would dream of going out to hunt while she was in this state; and\neven if he had wished to do so, the other hunters would not go with him.\nHence to keep them out of harm's way, the women, both married and\nunmarried, were secluded at these times for four days in shelters.[230]\nAmong the Thompson Indians of British Columbia every woman had to\nisolate herself from the rest of the people during every recurring\nperiod of menstruation, and had to live some little way off in a small\nbrush or bark lodge made for the purpose. At these times she was\nconsidered unclean, must use cooking and eating utensils of her own, and\nwas supplied with food by some other woman. If she smoked out of a pipe\nother than her own, that pipe would ever afterwards be hot to smoke. If\nshe crossed in front of a gun, that gun would thenceforth be useless for\nthe war or the chase, unless indeed the owner promptly washed the weapon\nin \"medecine\" or struck the woman with it once on each principal part of\nher body. If a man ate or had any intercourse with a menstruous woman,\nnay if he merely wore clothes or mocassins made or patched by her, he\nwould have bad luck in hunting and the bears would attack him fiercely.\nBefore being admitted again among the people, she had to change all her\nclothes and wash several times in clear water. The clothes worn during\nher isolation were hung on a tree, to be used next time, or to be\nwashed. For one day after coming back among the people she did not cook\nfood. Were a man to eat food cooked by a woman at such times, he would\nhave incapacitated himself for hunting and exposed himself to sickness\nor death.[231]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Chippeway Indians.]\n\nAmong the Chippeways and other Indians of the Hudson Bay Territory,\nmenstruous women are excluded from the camp, and take up their abode in\nhuts of branches. They wear long hoods, which effectually conceal the\nhead and breast. They may not touch the household furniture nor any\nobjects used by men; for their touch \"is supposed to defile them, so\nthat their subsequent use would be followed by certain mischief or\nmisfortune,\" such as disease or death. They must drink out of a swan's\nbone. They may not walk on the common paths nor cross the tracks of\nanimals. They \"are never permitted to walk on the ice of rivers or\nlakes, or near the part where the men are hunting beaver, or where a\nfishing-net is set, for fear of averting their success. They are also\nprohibited at those times from partaking of the head of any animal, and\neven from walking in or crossing the track where the head of a deer,\nmoose, beaver, and many other animals have lately been carried, either\non a sledge or on the back. To be guilty of a violation of this custom\nis considered as of the greatest importance; because they firmly believe\nthat it would be a means of preventing the hunter from having an equal\nsuccess in his future excursions.\"[232] So the Lapps forbid women at\nmenstruation to walk on that part of the shore where the fishers are in\nthe habit of setting out their fish;[233] and the Esquimaux of Bering\nStrait believe that if hunters were to come near women in their courses\nthey would catch no game.[234]\n\n[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Tinneh or D\u00e9n\u00e9\nIndians; customs and beliefs of the Carrier Indians in regard to\nmenstruous women.]\n\nBut the beliefs and superstitions of this sort that prevail among the\nwestern tribes of the great D\u00e9n\u00e9 or Tinneh stock, to which the\nChippeways belong, have been so well described by an experienced\nmissionary, that I will give his description in his own words. Prominent\namong the ceremonial rites of these Indians, he says, \"are the\nobservances peculiar to the fair sex, and many of them are remarkably\nanalogous to those practised by the Hebrew women, so much so that, were\nit not savouring of profanity, the ordinances of the D\u00e9n\u00e9 ritual code\nmight be termed a new edition 'revised and considerably augmented' of\nthe Mosaic ceremonial law. Among the Carriers,[235] as soon as a girl\nhas experienced the first flow of the menses which in the female\nconstitution are a natural discharge, her father believed himself under\nthe obligation of atoning for her supposedly sinful condition by a small\nimpromptu distribution of clothes among the natives. This periodical\nstate of women was considered as one of legal impurity fateful both to\nthe man who happened to have any intercourse, however indirect, with\nher, and to the woman herself who failed in scrupulously observing all\nthe rites prescribed by ancient usage for persons in her condition.\n\n[Seclusion of Carrier girls at puberty.]\n\n\"Upon entering into that stage of her life, the maiden was immediately\nsequestered from company, even that of her parents, and compelled to\ndwell in a small branch hut by herself away from beaten paths and the\ngaze of passers-by. As she was supposed to exercise malefic influence on\nany man who might inadvertently glance at her, she had to wear a sort of\nhead-dress combining in itself the purposes of a veil, a bonnet, and a\nmantlet. It was made of tanned skin, its forepart was shaped like a long\nfringe completely hiding from view the face and breasts; then it formed\non the head a close-fitting cap or bonnet, and finally fell in a broad\nband almost to the heels. This head-dress was made and publicly placed\non her head by a paternal aunt, who received at once some present from\nthe girl's father. When, three or four years later, the period of\nsequestration ceased, only this same aunt had the right to take off her\nniece's ceremonial head-dress. Furthermore, the girl's fingers, wrists,\nand legs at the ankles and immediately below the knees, were encircled\nwith ornamental rings and bracelets of sinew intended as a protection\nagainst the malign influences she was supposed to be possessed\nwith.[236] To a belt girding her waist were suspended two bone\nimplements called respectively _Tsoenkuz_ (bone tube) and _Tsiltsoet_\n(head scratcher). The former was a hollowed swan bone to drink with, any\nother mode of drinking being unlawful to her. The latter was fork-like\nand was called into requisition whenever she wanted to scratch her\nhead--immediate contact of the fingers with the head being reputed\ninjurious to her health. While thus secluded, she was called _asta_,\nthat is 'interred alive' in Carrier, and she had to submit to a rigorous\nfast and abstinence. Her only allowed food consisted of dried fish\nboiled in a small bark vessel which nobody else must touch, and she had\nto abstain especially from meat of any kind, as well as fresh fish. Nor\nwas this all she had to endure; even her contact, however remote, with\nthese two articles of diet was so dreaded that she could not cross the\npublic paths or trails, or the tracks of animals. Whenever absolute\nnecessity constrained her to go beyond such spots, she had to be packed\nor carried over them lest she should contaminate the game or meat which\nhad passed that way, or had been brought over these paths; and also for\nthe sake of self-preservation against tabooed, and consequently to her,\ndeleterious food. In the same way she was never allowed to wade in\nstreams or lakes, for fear of causing death to the fish.\n\n\"It was also a prescription of the ancient ritual code for females\nduring this primary condition to eat as little as possible, and to\nremain lying down, especially in course of each monthly flow, not only\nas a natural consequence of the prolonged fast and resulting weakness;\nbut chiefly as an exhibition of a becoming penitential spirit which was\nbelieved to be rewarded by long life and continual good health in after\nyears.\n\n[Seclusion of Carrier women at their monthly periods; reasons for the\nseclusion of menstruous women among the Indians.]\n\n\"These mortifications or seclusion did not last less than three or four\nyears. Useless to say that during all that time marriage could not be\nthought of, since the girl could not so much as be seen by men. When\nmarried, the same sequestration was practised relatively to husband and\nfellow-villagers--without the particular head-dress and rings spoken\nof--on the occasion of every recurring menstruation. Sometimes it was\nprotracted as long as ten days at a time, especially during the first\nyears of cohabitation. Even when she returned to her mate, she was not\npermitted to sleep with him on the first nor frequently on the second\nnight, but would choose a distant corner of the lodge to spread her\nblanket, as if afraid to defile him with her dread uncleanness.\"[237]\nElsewhere the same writer tells us that most of the devices to which\nthese Indians used to resort for the sake of ensuring success in the\nchase \"were based on their regard for continence and their excessive\nrepugnance for, and dread of, menstruating women.\"[238] But the strict\nobservances imposed on Tinneh or D\u00e9n\u00e9 women at such times were designed\nat the same time to protect the women themselves from the evil\nconsequences of their dangerous condition. Thus it was thought that\nwomen in their courses could not partake of the head, heart, or hind\npart of an animal that had been caught in a snare without exposing\nthemselves to a premature death through a kind of rabies. They might not\ncut or carve salmon, because to do so would seriously endanger their\nhealth, and especially would enfeeble their arms for life. And they had\nto abstain from cutting up the grebes which are caught by the Carriers\nin great numbers every spring, because otherwise the blood with which\nthese fowls abound would occasion haemorrhage or an unnaturally\nprolonged flux in the transgressor.[239] Similarly Indian women of the\nThompson tribe abstained from venison and the flesh of other large game\nduring menstruation, lest the animals should be displeased and the\nmenstrual flow increased.[240] For a similar reason, probably, Shuswap\ngirls during their seclusion at puberty are forbidden to eat anything\nthat bleeds.[241] The same principle may perhaps partly explain the\nrule, of which we have had some examples, that women at such times\nshould refrain from fish and flesh, and restrict themselves to a\nvegetable diet.\n\n[Similar rules of seclusion enjoined on menstruous women in ancient\nHindoo, Persian, and Hebrew codes.]\n\nThe philosophic student of human nature will observe, or learn, without\nsurprise that ideas thus deeply ingrained in the savage mind reappear at\na more advanced stage of society in those elaborate codes which have\nbeen drawn up for the guidance of certain peoples by lawgivers who claim\nto have derived the rules they inculcate from the direct inspiration of\nthe deity. However we may explain it, the resemblance which exists\nbetween the earliest official utterances of the deity and the ideas of\nsavages is unquestionably close and remarkable; whether it be, as some\nsuppose, that God communed face to face with man in those early days,\nor, as others maintain, that man mistook his wild and wandering thoughts\nfor a revelation from heaven. Be that as it may, certain it is that the\nnatural uncleanness of woman at her monthly periods is a conception\nwhich has occurred, or been revealed, with singular unanimity to several\nancient legislators. The Hindoo lawgiver Manu, who professed to have\nreceived his institutes from the creator Brahman, informs us that the\nwisdom, the energy, the strength, the sight, and the vitality of a man\nwho approaches a woman in her courses will utterly perish; whereas, if\nhe avoids her, his wisdom, energy, strength, sight, and vitality will\nall increase.[242] The Persian lawgiver Zoroaster, who, if we can take\nhis word for it, derived his code from the mouth of the supreme being\nAhura Mazda, devoted special attention to the subject. According to him,\nthe menstrous flow, at least in its abnormal manifestations, is a work\nof Ahriman, or the devil. Therefore, so long as it lasts, a woman \"is\nunclean and possessed of the demon; she must be kept confined, apart\nfrom the faithful whom her touch would defile, and from the fire which\nher very look would injure; she is not allowed to eat as much as she\nwishes, as the strength she might acquire would accrue to the fiends.\nHer food is not given her from hand to hand, but is passed to her from a\ndistance, in a long leaden spoon.\"[243] The Hebrew lawgiver Moses, whose\ndivine legation is as little open to question as that of Manu and\nZoroaster, treats the subject at still greater length; but I must leave\nto the reader the task of comparing the inspired ordinances on this head\nwith the merely human regulations of the Carrier Indians which they so\nclosely resemble.\n\n[Superstitions as to menstruous women in ancient and modern Europe.]\n\nAmongst the civilized nations of Europe the superstitions which cluster\nround this mysterious aspect of woman's nature are not less extravagant\nthan those which prevail among savages. In the oldest existing\ncyclopaedia--the _Natural History_ of Pliny--the list of dangers\napprehended from menstruation is longer than any furnished by mere\nbarbarians. According to Pliny, the touch of a menstruous woman turned\nwine to vinegar, blighted crops, killed seedlings, blasted gardens,\nbrought down the fruit from trees, dimmed mirrors, blunted razors,\nrusted iron and brass (especially at the waning of the moon), killed\nbees, or at least drove them from their hives, caused mares to miscarry,\nand so forth.[244] Similarly, in various parts of Europe, it is still\nbelieved that if a woman in her courses enters a brewery the beer will\nturn sour; if she touches beer, wine, vinegar, or milk, it will go bad;\nif she makes jam, it will not keep; if she mounts a mare, it will\nmiscarry; if she touches buds, they will wither; if she climbs a cherry\ntree, it will die.[245] In Brunswick people think that if a menstruous\nwoman assists at the killing of a pig, the pork will putrefy.[246] In\nthe Greek island of Calymnos a woman at such times may not go to the\nwell to draw water, nor cross a running stream, nor enter the sea. Her\npresence in a boat is said to raise storms.[247]\n\n[The intention of secluding menstruous women is to neutralize the\ndangerous influences which are thought to emanate from them in that\ncondition; suspension between heaven and earth.]\n\nThus the object of secluding women at menstruation is to neutralize the\ndangerous influences which are supposed to emanate from them at such\ntimes. That the danger is believed to be especially great at the first\nmenstruation appears from the unusual precautions taken to isolate girls\nat this crisis. Two of these precautions have been illustrated above,\nnamely, the rules that the girl may not touch the ground nor see the\nsun. The general effect of these rules is to keep her suspended, so to\nsay, between heaven and earth. Whether enveloped in her hammock and\nslung up to the roof, as in South America, or raised above the ground in\na dark and narrow cage, as in New Ireland, she may be considered to be\nout of the way of doing mischief, since, being shut off both from the\nearth and from the sun, she can poison neither of these great sources of\nlife by her deadly contagion. In short, she is rendered harmless by\nbeing, in electrical language, insulated. But the precautions thus taken\nto isolate or insulate the girl are dictated by a regard for her own\nsafety as well as for the safety of others. For it is thought that she\nherself would suffer if she were to neglect the prescribed regimen. Thus\nZulu girls, as we have seen, believe that they would shrivel to\nskeletons if the sun were to shine on them at puberty, and in some\nBrazilian tribes the young women think that a transgression of the rules\nwould entail sores on the neck and throat. In short, the girl is viewed\nas charged with a powerful force which, if not kept within bounds, may\nprove destructive both to herself and to all with whom she comes in\ncontact. To repress this force within the limits necessary for the\nsafety of all concerned is the object of the taboos in question.\n\n[The same explanation applies to the similar rules of seclusion observed\nby divine kings and priests; suspension between heaven and earth.]\n\nThe same explanation applies to the observance of the same rules by\ndivine kings and priests. The uncleanness, as it is called, of girls at\npuberty and the sanctity of holy men do not, to the primitive mind,\ndiffer materially from each other. They are only different\nmanifestations of the same mysterious energy which, like energy in\ngeneral, is in itself neither good nor bad, but becomes beneficent or\nmaleficent according to its application.[248] Accordingly, if, like\ngirls at puberty, divine personages may neither touch the ground nor see\nthe sun, the reason is, on the one hand, a fear lest their divinity\nmight, at contact with earth or heaven, discharge itself with fatal\nviolence on either; and, on the other hand, an apprehension that the\ndivine being, thus drained of his ethereal virtue, might thereby be\nincapacitated for the future performance of those magical functions,\nupon the proper discharge of which the safety of the people and even of\nthe world is believed to hang. Thus the rules in question fall under the\nhead of the taboos which we examined in the second part of this\nwork;[249] they are intended to preserve the life of the divine person\nand with it the life of his subjects and worshippers. Nowhere, it is\nthought, can his precious yet dangerous life be at once so safe and so\nharmless as when it is neither in heaven nor in earth, but, as far as\npossible, suspended between the two.[250]\n\n[Stories of immortality attained by suspension between heaven and\nearth.]\n\nIn legends and folk-tales, which reflect the ideas of earlier ages, we\nfind this suspension between heaven and earth attributed to beings who\nhave been endowed with the coveted yet burdensome gift of immortality.\nThe wizened remains of the deathless Sibyl are said to have been\npreserved in a jar or urn which hung in a temple of Apollo at Cumae; and\nwhen a group of merry children, tired, perhaps, of playing in the sunny\nstreets, sought the shade of the temple and amused themselves by\ngathering underneath the familiar jar and calling out, \"Sibyl, what do\nyou wish?\" a hollow voice, like an echo, used to answer from the urn, \"I\nwish to die.\"[251] A story, taken down from the lips of a German peasant\nat Thomsdorf, relates that once upon a time there was a girl in London\nwho wished to live for ever, so they say:\n\n\"_London, London is a fine town.\nA maiden prayed to live for ever._\"\n\nAnd still she lives and hangs in a basket in a church, and every St.\nJohn's Day, about the hour of noon, she eats a roll of bread.[252]\nAnother German story tells of a lady who resided at Danzig and was so\nrich and so blest with all that life can give that she wished to live\nalways. So when she came to her latter end, she did not really die but\nonly looked like dead, and very soon they found her in a hollow of a\npillar in the church, half standing and half sitting, motionless. She\nstirred never a limb, but they saw quite plainly that she was alive, and\nshe sits there down to this blessed day. Every New Year's Day the\nsacristan comes and puts a morsel of the holy bread in her mouth, and\nthat is all she has to live on. Long, long has she rued her fatal wish\nwho set this transient life above the eternal joys of heaven.[253] A\nthird German story tells of a noble damsel who cherished the same\nfoolish wish for immortality. So they put her in a basket and hung her\nup in a church, and there she hangs and never dies, though many a year\nhas come and gone since they put her there. But every year on a certain\nday they give her a roll, and she eats it and cries out, \"For ever! for\never! for ever!\" And when she has so cried she falls silent again till\nthe same time next year, and so it will go on for ever and for\never.[254] A fourth story, taken down near Oldenburg in Holstein, tells\nof a jolly dame that ate and drank and lived right merrily and had all\nthat heart could desire, and she wished to live always. For the first\nhundred years all went well, but after that she began to shrink and\nshrivel up, till at last she could neither walk nor stand nor eat nor\ndrink. But die she could not. At first they fed her as if she were a\nlittle child, but when she grew smaller and smaller they put her in a\nglass bottle and hung her up in the church. And there she still hangs,\nin the church of St. Mary, at L\u00fcbeck. She is as small as a mouse, but\nonce a year she stirs.[255]\n\nNotes:\n\n[64] Pechuel-Loesche, \"Indiscretes aus Loango,\" _Zeitschrift f\u00fcr\nEthnologie_, x. (1878) p. 23.\n\n[65] Rev. J. Macdonald, \"Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and Religions\nof South African Tribes,\" _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_,\nxx. (1891) p. 118.\n\n[66] Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), p. 209. The\nprohibition to drink milk under such circumstances is also mentioned,\nthough without the reason for it, by L. Alberti (_De Kaffersaan de\nZuidkust van Afrika_, Amsterdam, 1810, p. 79), George Thompson (_Travels\nand Adventures in Southern Africa_, London, 1827, ii. 354 _sq._), and\nMr. Warner (in Col. Maclean's _Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs_;\nCape Town, 1866, p. 98). As to the reason for the prohibition, see\nbelow, p. 80.\n\n[67] C.W. Hobley, _Ethnology of A-Kamba and other East African Tribes_\n(Cambridge, 1910), p. 65.\n\n[68] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 80. As to the\ninterpretation which the Baganda put on the act of jumping or stepping\nover a woman, see _id._, pp. 48, 357 note 1. Apparently some of the\nLower Congo people interpret the act similarly. See J.H. Weeks, \"Notes\non some Customs of the Lower Congo People,\" _Folk-lore_, xix. (1908) p.\n431. Among the Baganda the separation of children from their parents\ntook place after weaning; girls usually went to live either with an\nelder married brother or (if there was none such) with one of their\nfather's brothers; boys in like manner went to live with one of their\nfather's brothers. See J. Roscoe, _op. cit._ p. 74. As to the\nprohibition to touch food with the hands, see _Taboo and the Perils of\nthe Soul_, pp. 138 _sqq._, 146 _sqq._, etc.\n\n[69] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 80.\n\n[70] De la Loubere, _Du royaume de Siam_ (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 203. In\nTravancore it is believed that women at puberty and after childbirth are\npeculiarly liable to be attacked by demons. See S. Mateer, _The Land of\nCharity_ (London, 1871), p. 208.\n\n[71] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 80.\n\n[72] C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _The Great Plateau of Northern\nNigeria_ (London, 1911), pp. 158-160.\n\n[73] R. Sutherland Rattray, _Some Folk-lore, Stories and Songs in\nChinyanja_ (London, 1907), pp. 102-105.\n\n[74] Rev. H. Cole, \"Notes on the Wagogo of German East Africa,\" _Journal\nof the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 309 _sq._\n\n[75] R. Sutherland Rattray, _op. cit._ pp. 191 _sq._\n\n[76] _The Grihya Sutras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part i. p. 357,\nPart ii. p. 267 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vols. xxix., xxx.).\n\n[77] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 393 _sq._,\ncompare pp. 396, 398.\n\n[78] See _Totemism and Exogamy_, iv. 224 _sqq._\n\n[79] Sir Harry H. Johnston, _British Central Africa_ (London, 1897), p.\n411.\n\n[80] Oscar Baumann, _Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle_ (Berlin, 1894), p.\n178.\n\n[81] Lionel Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ (London, 1898), p. 78.\nCompare E. Jacottet, _\u00c9tudes sur les Langues du Haut-Zamb\u00e8ze_, Troisi\u00e8me\nPartie (Paris, 1901), pp. 174 _sq._ (as to the A-Louyi).\n\n[82] E. B\u00e9guin, _Les Ma-rots\u00e9_ (Lausanne and Fontaines, 1903), p. 113.\n\n[83] Henri A. Junod, _The Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchatel,\n1912-1913), i. 178 _sq._\n\n[84] G. McCall Theal, _Kaffir Folk-lore_ (London, 1886), p. 218.\n\n[85] L. Alberti, _De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika_ (Amsterdam,\n1810), pp. 79 _sq._; H. Lichtenstein, _Reisen im s\u00fcdlichen Africa_\n(Berlin, 1811-1812), i. 428.\n\n[86] Gustav Fritsch, _Die Eingeborenen S\u00fcd-Afrika's_ (Breslau, 1872), p.\n112. This statement applies especially to the Ama-Xosa.\n\n[87] G. McCall Theal, _Kaffir Folk-lore_, p. 218.\n\n[88] Rev. Canon Henry Callaway, _Nursery Tales, Traditions, and\nHistories of the Zulus_ (Natal and London, 1868), p. 182, note 20. From\none of the Zulu texts which the author edits and translates (p. 189) we\nmay infer that during the period of her seclusion a Zulu girl may not\nlight a fire. Compare above, p. 28.\n\n[89] E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), p. 268.\n\n[90] J. Merolla, \"Voyage to Congo,\" in J. Pinkerton's _Voyages and\nTravels_ (London, 1808-1814), xvi. 238; Father Campana, \"Congo; Mission\nCatholique de Landana,\" _Les Missions Catholiques_, xxvii. (1895) p.\n161; R.E. Dennett, _At the Back of the Black Man's Mind_ (London, 1906),\npp. 69 _sq._. According to Merolla, it is thought that if girls did not\ngo through these ceremonies, they would \"never be fit for procreation.\"\nThe other consequences supposed to flow from the omission of the rites\nare mentioned by Father Campana. From Mr. Dennett's account (_op. cit._\npp. 53, 67-71) we gather that drought and famine are thought to result\nfrom the intercourse of a man with a girl who has not yet passed through\nthe \"paint-house,\" as the hut is called where the young women live in\nseclusion. According to O. Dapper, the women of Loango paint themselves\nred on every recurrence of their monthly sickness; also they tie a cord\ntightly round their heads and take care neither to touch their husband's\nfood nor to appear before him (_Description de l'Afrique_, Amsterdam,\n1686, p. 326).\n\n[91] The Rev. G. Brown, quoted by the Rev. B. Danks, \"Marriage Customs\nof the New Britain Group,\" _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_,\nxviii. (1889) pp. 284. _sq.; id., Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London,\n1910), pp. 105-107. Compare _id._, \"Notes on the Duke of York Group, New\nBritain, and New Ireland,\" _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_,\nxlvii. (1877) pp. 142 _sq._; A. Hahl, \"Das mittlere Neumecklenburg,\"\n_Globus_, xci. (1907) p. 313. Wilfred Powell's description of the New\nIreland custom is similar (_Wanderings in a Wild Country_, London, 1883,\np. 249). According to him, the girls wear wreaths of scented herbs round\nthe waist and neck; an old woman or a little child occupies the lower\nfloor of the cage; and the confinement lasts only a month. Probably the\nlong period mentioned by Dr. Brown is that prescribed for chiefs'\ndaughters. Poor people could not afford to keep their children so long\nidle. This distinction is sometimes expressly stated. See above, p. 30.\nAmong the Goajiras of Colombia rich people keep their daughters shut up\nin separate huts at puberty for periods varying from one to four years,\nbut poor people cannot afford to do so for more than a fortnight or a\nmonth. See F.A. Simons, \"An Exploration of the Goajira Peninsula,\"\n_Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society_, N.S., vii. (1885) p.\n791. In Fiji, brides who were being tattooed were kept from the sun\n(Thomas Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_, Second Edition, London, 1860,\ni. 170). This was perhaps a modification of the Melanesian custom of\nsecluding girls at puberty. The reason mentioned by Mr. Williams, \"to\nimprove her complexion,\" can hardly have been the original one.\n\n[92] Rev. R.H. Rickard, quoted by Dr. George Brown, _Melanesians and\nPolynesians_, pp. 107 _sq._. His observations were made in 1892.\n\n[93] R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der S\u00fcdsee_ (Stuttgart, 1907), p.\n272. The natives told Mr. Parkinson that the confinement of the girls\nlasts from twelve to twenty months. The length of it may have been\nreduced since Dr. George Brown described the custom in 1876.\n\n[94] J. Chalmers and W. Wyatt Gill, _Work and Adventure in New Guinea_\n(London, 1885), p. 159.\n\n[95] H. Zahn and S. Lehner, in R. Neuhauss's _Deutsch New-Guinea_\n(Berlin, 1911), iii. 298, 418-420. The customs of the two tribes seem to\nbe in substantial agreement, and the accounts of them supplement each\nother. The description of the Bukaua practice is the fuller.\n\n[96] C.A.L.M. Schwaner, _Borneo, Beschrijving van het stroomgebied van\nden Barito_ (Amsterdam, 1853-1854), ii. 77 _sq._; W.F.A. Zimmermann,\n_Die Inseln des Indischen und Stillen Meeres_ (Berlin, 1864-1865), ii.\n632 _sq._; Otto Finsch, _Neu Guinea und seine Bewohner_ (Bremen, 1865),\npp. 116 _sq._.\n\n[97] J.G.F. Riedel, _De sluik--en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes\nen Papua_ (The Hague, 1886), p. 138.\n\n[98] A. Senfft, \"Ethnographische Beitr\u00e4ge \u00fcber die Karolineninsel Yap,\"\n_Petermanns Mitteilungen_, xlix. (1903) p. 53; _id._, \"Die Rechtssitten\nder Jap-Eingeborenen,\" _Globus_, xci. (1907) pp. 142 _sq._.\n\n[99] Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_,\nxxix. (1899) pp. 212 _sq.; id._, in _Reports of the Cambridge\nAnthropological Expedition to Torres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp.\n203 _sq._\n\n[100] Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge Expedition to\nTorres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) p. 205.\n\n[101] L. Crauford, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxiv.\n(1895) p. 181.\n\n[102] Dr. C.G. Seligmann, _op. cit._ v. 206.\n\n[103] Walter E. Roth, _North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 5,\nSuperstition, Magic, and Medicine_ (Brisbane, 1903), pp. 24 _sq._\n\n[104] Walter E. Roth, _op. cit._ p. 25.\n\n[105] Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological\nExpedition to Torres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904), p. 205.\n\n[106] From notes kindly sent me by Dr. C.G. Seligmann. The practice of\nburying a girl at puberty was observed also by some Indian tribes of\nCalifornia, but apparently rather for the purpose of producing a sweat\nthan for the sake of concealment. The treatment lasted only twenty-four\nhours, during which the patient was removed from the ground and washed\nthree or four times, to be afterwards reimbedded. Dancing was kept up\nthe whole time by the women. See H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of\nthe United States_ (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 215.\n\n[107] Dr. C.G. Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological\nExpedition to Torres Straits_, v. 201 _sq._\n\n[108] A.L. Kroeber, \"The Religion of the Indians of California,\"\n_University of California Publications in American Archaeology and\nEthnology_, vol. iv. No. 6 (September, 1907), p. 324.\n\n[109] Roland B. Dixon, \"The Northern Maidu,\" _Bulletin of the American\nMuseum of Natural History_, vol. xvii. Part iii. (May 1905) pp. 232\n_sq._, compare pp. 233-238.\n\n[110] Stephen Powers, _Tribes of California_ (Washington, 1877), p. 85\n(_Contributions to North American Ethnology_, vol. iii.).\n\n[111] Stephen Powers, _op. cit._ p. 235.\n\n[112] Charles Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring\nExpedition_, New Edition (New York, 1851), iv. 456.\n\n[113] Franz Boas, _Chinook Texts_ (Washington, 1894), pp. 246 _sq._ The\naccount, taken down from the lips of a Chinook Indian, is not perfectly\nclear; some of the restrictions were prolonged after the girl's second\nmonthly period.\n\n[114] G.M. Sproat, _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_ (London, 1868),\npp. 93 _sq._\n\n[115] Franz Boas, in _Sixth Report on the North-Western Tribes of\nCanada_, pp. 40-42 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British\nAssociation for the Advancement of Science_, Leeds meeting, 1890). The\nrule not to lie down is observed also during their seclusion at puberty\nby Tsimshian girls, who always sit propped up between boxes and mats;\ntheir heads are covered with small mats, and they may not look at men\nnor at fresh salmon and olachen. See Franz Boas, in _Fifth Report on the\nNorth-Western Tribes of Canada_, p. 41 (separate reprint from the\n_Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science_,\nNewcastle-upon-Tyne meeting, 1889); G.M. Dawson, _Report on the Queen\nCharlotte Islands, 1878_ (Montreal, 1880), pp. 130 B _sq._ Some divine\nkings are not allowed to lie down. See _Taboo and the Perils of the\nSoul_, p. 5.\n\n[116] George M. Dawson, _Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands, 1878_\n(Montreal, 1880), p. 130 B; J.R. Swanton, _Contributions to the\nEthnology of the Haida_ (Leyden and New York, 1905), pp. 48-50 (_The\nJesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural\nHistory_, New York). Speaking of the customs observed at Kloo, where the\ngirls had to abstain from salmon for five years, Mr. Swanton says (p.\n49): \"When five years had passed, the girl came out, and could do as she\npleased.\" This seems to imply that the girl was secluded in the house\nfor five years. We have seen (above, p. 32) that in New Ireland the\ngirls used sometimes to be secluded for the same period.\n\n[117] G.H. von Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_ (Frankfort, 1812), ii.\n114 _sq._; H.J. Holmberg, \"Ethnographische Skizzen \u00fcber die V\u00f6lker des\nRussischen Amerika,\" _Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae_, iv.\n(Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 319 _sq._; T. de Pauly, _Description\nEthnographique des Peuples de la Russie_ (St. Petersburg, 1862),\n_Peuples de l'Am\u00e9rique Russe_, p. 13; A. Erman, \"Ethnographische\nWahrnehmungen und Erfahrungen an den K\u00fcsten des Berings-Meeres,\"\n_Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Ethnologie_, ii. (1870) pp. 318 _sq._; H.H. Bancroft,\n_Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London, 1875-1876), i. 110 _sq._;\nRev. Sheldon Jackson, \"Alaska and its Inhabitants,\" _The American\nAntiquarian_, ii. (Chicago, 1879-1880) pp. 111 _sq._; A. Woldt, _Captain\nJacobsen's Reise an der Nordwestkiiste Americas, 1881-1883_ (Leipsic,\n1884), p. 393; Aurel Krause, _Die Tlinkit-Indianer_ (Jena, 1885), pp.\n217 _sq._; W.M. Grant, in _Journal of American Folk-lore_, i. (1888) p.\n169; John R. Swanton, \"Social Conditions, Beliefs, and Linguistic\nRelationship of the Tlingit Indians,\" _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the\nBureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1908), p. 428.\n\n[118] Franz Boas, in _Tenth Report of the Committee on the North-Western\nTribes of Canada_, p. 45 (separate reprint from the _Report of the\nBritish Association for the Advancement of Science_, Ipswich meeting,\n1895).\n\n[119] Franz Boas, in _Fifth Report of the Committee on the North-Western\nTribes of Canada_, p. 42 (separate reprint from the _Report of the\nBritish Association for the Advancement of Science_, Newcastle-upon-Tyne\nmeeting, 1889); _id._, in _Seventh Report_, etc., p. 12 (separate\nreprint from the _Report of the British Association for the Advancement\nof Science_, Cardiff meeting, 1891).\n\n[120] \"Customs of the New Caledonian women belonging to the Nancaushy\nTine, or Stuart's Lake Indians, Natotin Tine, or Babine's and Nantley\nTine, or Fraser Lake Tribes,\" from information supplied by Gavin\nHamilton, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company's service, who has\nbeen for many years among these Indians, both he and his wife speaking\ntheir languages fluently (communicated by Dr. John Rae), _Journal of the\nAnthropological Institute_, vii. (1878) pp. 206 _sq._\n\n[121] \u00c9mile Petitot, _Traditions Indiennes du Canada Nord-ouest_ (Paris,\n1886), pp. 257 _sq._\n\n[122] Fr. Julius Jett\u00e9, S.J., \"On the Superstitions of the Ten'a\nIndians,\" _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. 700-702.\n\n[123] Compare _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 70 _sqq._\n\n[124] James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, pp.\n311-317 (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American\nMuseum of Natural History_, New York, April, 1900). As to the customs\nobserved among these Indians by the father of a girl at such times in\norder not to lose his luck in hunting, see _Spirits of the Corn and of\nthe Wild_, ii. 268.\n\n[125] James Teit, _The Lillooet Indians_ (Leyden and New York, 1906),\npp. 263-265 (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American\nMuseum of Natural History_, New York). Compare C. Hill Tout, \"Report on\nthe Ethnology of the Stlatlumh of British Columbia,\" _Journal of the\nAnthropological Institute_, xxxv. (1905) p. 136.\n\n[126] Franz Boas, in _Sixth Report of the Committee on the North-Western\nTribes of Canada_, pp. 89 _sq_. (separate reprint from the _Report of\nthe British Association for the Advancement of Science_, Leeds meeting,\n1890).\n\n[127] James Teit, _The Shuswap_ (Leyden and New York, 1909), pp. 587\n_sq._ (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American\nMuseum of Natural History_, New York).\n\n[128] G.H. Loskiel, _History of the Mission of the United Brethren among\nthe Indians of North America_ (London, 1794), Part i. pp. 56 _sq_.\n\n[129] G.B. Grinnell, \"Cheyenne Woman Customs,\" _American\nAnthropologist_, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) pp. 13 _sq_. The\nCheyennes appear to have been at first settled on the Mississippi, from\nwhich they were driven westward to the Missouri. See _Handbook of\nAmerican Indians north of Mexico_, edited by F.W. Hodge (Washington,\n1907-1910), i. 250 _sqq_.\n\n[130] H.J. Holmberg, \"Ueber die V\u00f6lker des Russischen Amerika,\" _Acta\nSocietatis Scientiarum Fennicae_, iv. (Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 401 _sq._;\nIvan Petroff, _Report on the Population, Industries and Resources of\nAlaska_, p. 143.\n\n[131] E.W. Nelson, \"The Eskimo about Bering Strait,\" _Eighteenth Annual\nReport of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1899)\np. 291.\n\n[132] Jose Guevara, \"Historia del Paraguay, Rio de la Plata, y Tucuman,\"\npp. 16 _sq._, in Pedro de Angelis, _Coleccion de Obras y Documentos\nrelativos a la Historia antigua y moderna de las Provincias del Rio de\nla Plata_, vol. ii. (Buenos-Ayres, 1836); J.F. Lafitau, _Moeurs des\nSauvages Ameriquains_ (Paris, 1724), i. 262 _sq._\n\n[133] Father Ignace Chom\u00e9, in _Lettres \u00c9difiantes et Curieuses_,\nNouvelle Edition (Paris, 1780-1783), viii. 333. As to the Chiriguanos,\nsee C.F. Phil. von Martius, _Zur Ethnographie Amerika's, zumal\nBrasiliens_ (Leipsic, 1867), pp. 212 _sqq._; Colonel G.E. Church,\n_Aborigines of South America_ (London, 1912), pp. 207-227.\n\n[134] A. Thouar, _Explorations dans l'Am\u00e9rique du Sud_ (Paris, 1891),\npp. 48 _sq._; G. Kurze, \"Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche der Lengua-Indianer,\"\n_Mitteilungen der Geographischen Gesellschaft zu Jena_, xxiii. (1905)\npp. 26 _sq._ The two accounts appear to be identical; but the former\nattributes the custom to the Chiriguanos, the latter to the Lenguas. As\nthe latter account is based on the reports of the Rev. W.B. Grubb, a\nmissionary who has been settled among the Indians of the Chaco for many\nyears and is our principal authority on them, I assume that the\nascription of the custom to the Lenguas is correct. However, in the\nvolume on the Lengua Indians, which has been edited from Mr. Grubb's\npapers (_An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_, London, 1911), these\ndetails as to the seclusion of girls at puberty are not mentioned,\nthough what seems to be the final ceremony is described (_op. cit._ pp.\n177 _sq._). From the description we learn that boys dressed in ostrich\nfeathers and wearing masks circle round the girl with shrill cries, but\nare repelled by the women.\n\n[135] Alcide d'Orbigny, _Voyage dans l'Am\u00e9rique M\u00e9ridionale_ vol. iii.\n1to Partie (Paris and Strasburg, 1844), pp. 205 _sq_.\n\n[136] A. Thouar, _Explorations dans l'Am\u00e9rique du Sud_ (Paris, 1891) pp.\n56 _sq._; Father Cardus, quoted in J. Pelleschi's _Los Indios Matacos_\n(Buenos Ayres, 1897), pp. 47 _sq._\n\n[137] A. Thouar, _op. cit._ p. 63.\n\n[138] Francis de Castelnau, _Exp\u00e9dition dans les parties centrales de\nl'Am\u00e9rique du Sud_ (Paris, 1850-1851), v. 25.\n\n[139] D. Luis de la Cruz, \"Descripcion de la Naturaleza de los Terrenos\nque se comprenden en los Andes, poseidos por los Peguenches y los demas\nespacios hasta el rio de Chadileuba,\" p. 62, in Pedro de Angelis,\n_Coleccion de Obras y Documentos relativos a la Historia antigua y\nmoderna de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata_, vol. i. (Buenos-Ayres,\n1836). Apparently the Peguenches are an Indian tribe of Chili.\n\n[140] J.B. von Spix und C.F. Ph. von Martius, _Reise in Brasilien_\n(Munich, 1823-1831), iii. 1186, 1187, 1318.\n\n[141] Andr\u00e9 Thevet, _Cosmographie Universelle_ (Paris, 1575), ii. 946 B\n[980] _sq._; _id., Les Singularites de la France Antarctique, autrement\nnomm\u00e9e Amerique_ (Antwerp, 1558), p. 76; J.F. Lafitau, _Moeurs des\nSauvages Ameriquains_ (Paris, 1724), i. 290 _sqq_.\n\n[142] R. Schomburgk, _Reisen in Britisch Guiana_ (Leipsic, 1847-1848),\nii. 315 _sq._; C.F.Ph. von Martius, _Zur Ethnographie Amerika's, zumal\nBrasiliens_ (Leipsic, 1867), p. 644.\n\n[143] Labat, _Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guin\u00e9e, Isles\nvoisines, et \u00e0 Cayenne_, iv. 365 _sq._ (Paris, 1730), pp. 17 _sq._\n(Amsterdam, 1731).\n\n[144] A. Caulin, _Historia Coro-graphica natural y evangelica dela Nueva\nAndalucia_ (1779), p. 93. A similar custom, with the omission of the\nstinging, is reported of the Tamanaks in the region of the Orinoco. See\nF.S. Gilij, _Saggio di Storia Americana_, ii. (Rome, 1781), p. 133.\n\n[145] A.R. Wallace, _Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro_,\np. 496 (p. 345 of the Minerva Library edition, London, 1889).\n\n[146] _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 105 _sqq._; _The\nScapegoat_> pp. 259 _sqq._\n\n[147] J.B. von Spix and C.F.Ph. von Martius, _Reise in Brasilien_\n(Munich, 1823-1831), iii. 1320.\n\n[148] W. Lewis Herndon, _Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon_\n(Washington, 1854), pp. 319 _sq._ The scene was described to Mr. Herndon\nby a French engineer and architect, M. de Lincourt, who witnessed it at\nManduassu, a village on the Tapajos river. Mr. Herndon adds: \"The\n_Tocandeira_ ants not only bite, but are also armed with a sting like\nthe wasp; but the pain felt from it is more violent. I think it equal to\nthat occasioned by the sting of the black scorpion.\" He gives the name\nof the Indians as Mahues, but I assume that they are the same as the\nMauhes described by Spix and Martius.\n\n[149] Francis de Castelnau, _Exp\u00e9dition dans les parties centrals de\nl'Am\u00e9rique du Sud_ (Paris, 1850-1851), v. 46.\n\n[150] L'Abb\u00e9 Durand, \"Le Rio Negro du Nord et son bassin,\" _Bulletin de\nla Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie_ (Paris), vi. S\u00e9rie, iii. (1872) pp. 21 _sq._\nThe writer says that the candidate has to keep his arms plunged up to\nthe shoulders in vessels full of ants, \"as in a bath of vitriol,\" for\nhours. He gives the native name of the ant as _issauba_.\n\n[151] J. Crevaux, _Voyages dans l'Am\u00e9rique du Sud_ (Paris, 1883), pp.\n245-250.\n\n[152] H. Coudreau, _Chez nos Indiens: quatre ann\u00e9es dans la Guyane\nFran\u00e7aise_ (Paris, 1895), p. 228. For details as to the different modes\nof administering the _marak\u00e9_ see _ibid._ pp. 228-235.\n\n[153] Father Geronimo Boscana, \"Chinigchinich,\" in _Life in California\nby an American_ [A. Robinson] (New York, 1846), pp. 273 _sq._\n\n[154] F. Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika_ (Berlin,\n1894), p. 506.\n\n[155] As a confirmation of this view it may be pointed out that beating\nor scourging is inflicted on inanimate objects expressly for the purpose\nindicated in the text. Thus the Indians of Costa Rica hold that there\nare two kinds of ceremonial uncleanness, _nya_ and _bu-ku-r\u00fa_. Anything\nthat has been connected with a death is _nya_. But _bu-ku-r\u00fa_ is much\nmore virulent. It can not only make one sick but kill. \"_Bu-ku-r\u00fa_\nemanates in a variety of ways; arms, utensils, even houses become\naffected by it after long disuse, and before they can be used again must\nbe purified. In the case of portable objects left undisturbed for a long\ntime, the custom is to beat them with a stick before touching them. I\nhave seen a woman take a long walking-stick and beat a basket hanging\nfrom the roof of a house by a cord. On asking what that was for, I was\ntold that the basket contained her treasures, that she would probably\nwant to take something out the next day, and that she was driving off\nthe _bu-ku-r\u00fa_. A house long unused must be swept, and then the person\nwho is purifying it must take a stick and beat not only the movable\nobjects, but the beds, posts, and in short every accessible part of the\ninterior. The next day it is fit for occupation. A place not visited for\na long time or reached for the first time is _bu-ku-r\u00fa_. On our return\nfrom the ascent of Pico Blanco, nearly all the party suffered from\nlittle calenturas, the result of extraordinary exposure to wet and cold\nand of want of food. The Indians said that the peak was especially\n_bu-ku-r\u00fa_ since nobody had ever been on it before.\" One day Mr. Gabb\ntook down some dusty blow-guns amid cries of _bu-ku-r\u00fa_ from the\nIndians. Some weeks afterwards a boy died, and the Indians firmly\nbelieved that the _bu-ku-r\u00fa_ of the blow-guns had killed him. \"From all\nthe foregoing, it would seem that _bu-ku-r\u00fa_ is a sort of evil spirit\nthat takes possession of the object, and resents being disturbed; but I\nhave never been able to learn from the Indians that they consider it so.\nThey seem to think of it as a property the object acquires. But the\nworst _bu-ku-r\u00fa_ of all, is that of a young woman in her first\npregnancy. She infects the whole neighbourhood. Persons going from the\nhouse where she lives, carry the infection with them to a distance, and\nall the deaths or other serious misfortunes in the vicinity are laid to\nher charge. In the old times, when the savage laws and customs were in\nfull force, it was not an uncommon thing for the husband of such a woman\nto pay damages for casualties thus caused by his unfortunate wife.\" See\nWm. M. Gabb, \"On the Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica,\"\n_Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at\nPhiladelphia_, xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876) pp. 504 _sq._\n\n[156] J. Chaffanjon, _L'Or\u00e9noque et le Caura_ (Paris, 1889), pp.\n213-215.\n\n[157] Shib Chunder Bose, _The Hindoos as they are_ (London and Calcutta,\n1881), p. 86. Similarly, after a Brahman boy has been invested with the\nsacred thread, he is for three days strictly forbidden to see the sun.\nHe may not eat salt, and he is enjoined to sleep either on a carpet or a\ndeer's skin, without a mattress or mosquito curtain (_ibid._ p. 186). In\nBali, boys who have had their teeth filed, as a preliminary to marriage,\nare kept shut up in a dark room for three days (R. Van Eck, \"Schetsen\nvan het eiland Bali,\" _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indi\u00eb_, N.S., ix.\n(1880) pp. 428 _sq._).\n\n[158] (Sir) H.H. Risley, _Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Ethnographic\nGlossary_ (Calcutta, 1891-1892), i. 152.\n\n[159] Edgar Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_ (Madras,\n1909), vii. 63 _sq._\n\n[160] Edgar Thurston, _op. cit._ iii. 218.\n\n[161] Edgar Thurston, _op. cit._ vi. 157.\n\n[162] S. Mateer, _Native Life in Travancore_ (London, 1883), p. 45.\n\n[163] Arthur A. Perera, \"Glimpses of Singhalese Social Life,\" _Indian\nAntiquary_ xxxi, (1902) p. 380.\n\n[164] J. Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_ (Paris, 1883), i. 377.\n\n[165] \u00c9tienne Aymonier, \"Notes sur les coutumes et croyances\nsuperstitieuses des Cambodgiens,\" _Cochinchine Fran\u00e7aise: Excursions et\nReconnaissances_, No. 16 (Saigon, 1883), pp. 193 _sq._ Compare _id.,\nNotice sur le Cambodge_ (Paris, 1875), p. 50 _id., Notes sur le Laos_\n(Saigon, 1885), p. 177.\n\n[166] Svend Grundtvig, _D\u00e4nische Volks-m\u00e4rchen_, \u00fcbersetzt von A.\nStrodtmann, Zweite Sammlung (Leipsic, 1879), pp. 199 _sqq._\n\n[167] Christian Schneller, _M\u00e4rchen und Sagen aus W\u00e4lschtirol_\n(Innsbruck, 1867), No. 22, pp. 51 _sqq._\n\n[168] Bernbard Schmidt, _Griechische M\u00e4rchen, Sagen und Volkslieder_\n(Leipsic, 1877), p. 98.\n\n[169] J.G. von Hahn, _Griechische und albanesische M\u00e4rchen_ (Leipsic,\n1864), No. 41, vol. i. pp. 245 _sqq._\n\n[170] Laura Gonzenbach, _Sicilianische M\u00e4rchen_ (Leipsic, 1870), No. 28,\nvol. i. pp. 177 _sqq._ The incident of the bone occurs in other\nfolk-tales. A prince or princess is shut up for safety in a tower and\nmakes his or her escape by scraping a hole in the wall with a bone which\nhas been accidentally conveyed into the tower; sometimes it is expressly\nsaid that care was taken to let the princess have no bones with her meat\n(J.G. von Hahn, _op. cit._ No. 15; L. Gonzenbach, _op. cit._ Nos. 26,\n27; _Der Pentamerone, aus dem Neapolitanischen \u00fcbertragen_ von Felix\nLiebrecht (Breslau, 1846), No. 23, vol. i. pp. 294 _sqq._). From this we\nshould infer that it is a rule with savages not to let women handle the\nbones of animals during their monthly seclusions. We have already seen\nthe great respect with which the savage treats the bones of game\n(_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_ ii. 238 _sqq._, 256 _sqq._); and\nwomen in their courses are specially forbidden to meddle with the hunter\nor fisher, as their contact or neighbourhood would spoil his sport (see\nbelow, pp. 77, 78 _sq._, 87, 89 _sqq._). In folk-tales the hero who uses\nthe bone is sometimes a boy; but the incident might easily be\ntransferred from a girl to a boy after its real meaning had been\nforgotten. Amongst the Tinneh Indians a girl at puberty is forbidden to\nbreak the bones of hares (above, p. 48). On the other hand, she drinks\nout of a tube made of a swan's bone (above, pp. 48, 49), and the same\ninstrument is used for the same purpose by girls of the Carrier tribe of\nIndians (see below, p. 92). We have seen that a Tlingit (Thlinkeet) girl\nin the same circumstances used to drink out of the wing-bone of a\nwhite-headed eagle (above, p. 45), and that among the Nootka and Shuswap\ntribes girls at puberty are provided with bones or combs with which to\nscratch themselves, because they may not use their fingers for this\npurpose (above, pp. 44, 53).\n\n[171] Sophocles, _Antigone_, 944 _sqq._; Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, ii.\n4. I; Horace, _Odes_, iii. 16. I _sqq._; Pausanias, ii. 23. 7.\n\n[172] W. Radloff, _Proben der Volks-litteratur der t\u00fcrkischen St\u00e4mme\nS\u00fcd-Siberiens,_ iii. (St. Petersburg, 1870) pp. 82 _sq._\n\n[173] H. Ternaux-Compans, _Essai sur l'ancien Cundinamarca_ (Paris,\nN.D.), p. 18.\n\n[174] George Turner, LL.D., _Samoa, a Hundred Years ago and long before_\n(London, 1884), p. 200. For other examples of such tales, see Adolph\nBastian, _Die Voelker des Oestlichen Asien_, i. 416, vi. 25; _Panjab\nNotes and Queries_, ii. p. 148, \u00a7 797 (June, 1885); A. Pfizmaier,\n\"Nachrichten von den alten Bewohnern des heutigen Corea,\"\n_Sitzungsberichte der philosoph. histor. Classe der kaiser. Akademie der\nWissenschaften_ (Vienna), lvii. (1868) pp. 495 _sq._\n\n[175] Thomas J. Hutchinson, \"On the Chaco and other Indians of South\nAmerica,\" _Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London_, N.S.\niii. (1865) p. 327. Amongst the Lengua Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco\nthe marriage feast is now apparently extinct. See W. Barbrooke Grubb,\n_An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London, 1911), p. 179.\n\n[176] Monier Williams, _Religious Thought and Life in India_ (London,\n1883), p. 354.\n\n[177] H. Vambery, _Das T\u00fcrkenvolk_ (Leipsic, 1885), p. 112.\n\n[178] Hans Egede, _A Description of Greenland_ (London, 1818), p. 209.\n\n[179] _Revue des Traditions Populaires_, xv. (1900) p. 471.\n\n[180] _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 145 _sqq._\n\n[181] H.E.A. Meyer, \"Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the\nEncounter Bay Tribe, South Australia,\" _The Native Tribes of South\nAustralia_ (Adelaide, 1879), p. 186.\n\n[182] E.J. Eyre, _Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central\nAustralia_ (London, 1845), ii. 304.\n\n[183] E.J. Eyre, _op. cit._ ii. 295.\n\n[184] R. Brough Smyth, _The Aborigines of Victoria_ (Melbourne and\nLondon, 1878), i. 236.\n\n[185] Samuel Gason, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxiv.\n(1895) p. 171.\n\n[186] Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central\nAustralia_ (London, 1899), p. 473; _idem, Northern Tribes of Central\nAustralia_ (London, 1904), p. 615.\n\n[187] James Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_ (Melbourne, Sydney, and\nAdelaide, 1881), pp. ci. _sq._\n\n[188] Rev. William Ridley, \"Report on Australian Languages and\nTraditions,\" _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, ii. (1873) p.\n268. Compare _id., Kamilaroi and other Australian Languages_ (Sydney,\n1875), p. 157.\n\n[189] A.W. Howitt, _The Native Tribes of South-East Australia_ (London,\n1904.), pp. 776 _sq._, on the authority of Mr. J.C. Muirhead. The\nWakelbura are in Central Queensland. Compare Captain W.E. Armit, quoted\nin _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, ix. (1880) pp. 459 _sq._\n\n[190] _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres\nStraits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 196, 207.\n\n[191] Ch. Keysser, \"Aus dem Leben der Kaileute,\" in R. Neuhauss's\n_Deutsch Neu-Guinea_ (Berlin, 1911), iii. 91.\n\n[192] M.J. van Baarda, \"Fabelen, Verhalen en Overleveringen der\nGalelareezen,\" _Bijdragen tot de Taal-Landen Volkenkinde van\nNederlandsch-Indi\u00eb_, xlv. (1895) p. 489.\n\n[193] J.L. van der Toorn, \"Het animisme bij den Minangkabauer der\nPadangsche Bovenlanden,\" _Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land- en Volkenkunde van\nNederlandsch-Indi\u00eb_, xxxix. (1890) p. 66.\n\n[194] W.H.I. Bleek, _A Brief Account of Bushman Folk-lore_ (London,\n1875), p. 14; compare _ibid._, p. 10.\n\n[195] Rev. James Macdonald, \"Manners, Customs, Superstitions and\nReligions of South African Tribes,\" _Journal of the Anthropological\nInstitute_, xx. (1891) p. 138; _id., Light in Africa_, Second Edition\n(London, 1890), p. 221.\n\n[196] Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), p. 238; Mr.\nWarren's Notes, in Col. Maclean's _Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs_\n(Cape Town, 1866), p. 93; Rev. J. Macdonald, _Light in Africa_, p. 221;\n_id., Religion and Myth_ (London, 1893), p. 198. Compare Henri A. Junod,\n\"Les conceptions physiologiques des Bantou Sud-Africains et leurs\ntabous,\" _Revue d'Ethnographie et de Sociologie_, i. (1910) p. 139. The\ndanger of death to the cattle from the blood of women is mentioned only\nby Mr. Kidd. The part of the village which is frequented by the cattle,\nand which accordingly must be shunned by women, has a special name,\n_inkundhla_ (Mr. Warner's Notes, _l.c._).\n\n[197] Rev. J. Roscoe, \"The Bahima, a Cow Tribe of Enkole,\" _Journal of\nthe Royal Anthropological Institute_, xxxvii. (1907) p. 106.\n\n[198] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 419.\n\n[199] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 96.\n\n[200] Rev. J. Roscoe, \"Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,\"\n_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) p. 121; _id._,\n\"Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,\" _Journal of\nthe Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 39; _id., The Baganda_,\np. 352.\n\n[201] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 459.\n\n[202] C.W. Hobley, \"Further Researches into Kikuyu and Kamba Religious\nBeliefs and Customs,\" _Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_,\nxli. (1911) p. 409.\n\n[203] Mervyn W.H. Beech, _The Suk, their Language and Folklore_ (Oxford,\n1911), p. 11.\n\n[204] H.S. Stannus, \"Notes on some Tribes of British Central Africa,\"\n_Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_, xl. (1910) p. 305; R.\nSutherland Rattray, _Some Folk-lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanja_\n(London, 1907), p. 191. See above, p. 27.\n\n[205] Jakob Spieth, _Die Ewe-St\u00e4mme_ (Berlin, 1906), p. 192.\n\n[206] Anton Witte, \"Menstruation und Pubert\u00e4tsfeier der M\u00e4dchen in\nKpandugebiet Togo,\" _Baessler-Archiv_, i. (1911) p. 279.\n\n[207] Th. N\u00f6ldeke, _Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der\nSassaniden, aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari \u00fcbersetzt_ (Leyden,\n1879), pp. 33-38. I have to thank my friend Professor A.A. Bevan for\npointing out to me this passage. Many ancient cities had talismans on\nthe preservation of which their safety was believed to depend. The\nPalladium of Troy is the most familiar instance. See Chr. A. Lobeck,\n_Aglaophamus_ (K\u00f6nigsberg, 1829), pp. 278 _sqq._, and my note on\nPausanias, viii. 47. 5 (vol. iv. pp. 433 _sq._).\n\n[208] J. Mergel, _Die Medezin der Talmudisten_ (Leipsic and Berlin,\n1885), pp. 15 _sq._\n\n[209] Maimonides, quoted by D. Chwolsohn, _Die Ssabier und der\nSsabismus_ (St. Petersburg, 1856), ii. 483. According to the editor (p.\n735) by the East Maimonides means India and eastern countries generally.\n\n[210] L'abb\u00e9 B\u00e9chara Ch\u00e9mali, \"Naissance et premier \u00e2ge au Liban,\"\n_Anthropos_, v. (1910) p. 735.\n\n[211] Eijub Abela, \"Beitr\u00e4ge zur Kenntniss abergl\u00e4ubischer Gebr\u00e4uche in\nSyrien,\" _Zeitschrift des deutschen Palaestina-Vereins_, vii. (1884) p.\n111.\n\n[212] J. Chalmers, \"Toaripi,\" _Journal of the Anthropological\nInstitute_, xxvii. (1898) p. 328.\n\n[213] W. Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and\nQudh_ (Calcutta, 1896), ii. 87.\n\n[214] W. Crooke, in _North Indian Notes and Queries_, i. p. 67, \u00a7 467\n(July, 1891).\n\n[215] L.K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, _The Cochin Tribes and Castes_, i.\n(Madras, 1909) pp. 201-203. As to the seclusion of menstruous women\namong the Hindoos, see also Sonnerat, _Voyage aux Indes Orientates et \u00e0\nla Chine_ (Paris, 1782), i. 31; J.A. Dubois, _Moeurs, Institutions et\nC\u00e9r\u00e9monies des Peuples de l'Inde_ (Paris, 1825), i. 245 _sq._ Nair women\nin Malabar seclude themselves for three days at menstruation and prepare\ntheir food in separate pots and pans. See Duarte Barbosa, _Description\nof the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the beginning of the\nSixteenth Century_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), pp. 132 _sq._\n\n[216] G. Hoffman, _Ausz\u00fcge aus Syrischen Akten persisischer Martyrer\n\u00fcbersetzt_ (Leipsic, 1880), p. 99. This passage was pointed out to me by\nmy friend Professor A.A. Bevan.\n\n[217] J.B. Tavernier, _Voyages en Turquie, en Perse, et aux Indes_ (The\nHague, 1718), i. 488.\n\n[218] Paul Giran, _Magie et Religion Annamites_ (Paris, 1912), pp. 107\n_sq._, 112.\n\n[219] Joseph Gumilla, _Histoire Naturelle, Civile, et G\u00e9ographique de\nl'Orenoque_ (Avignon, 1758), i. 249.\n\n[220] Dr. Louis Plassard, \"Les Guaraunos et le delta de l'Or\u00e9noque,\"\n_Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie_ (Paris), v. S\u00e9rie, xv. (1868) p.\n584.\n\n[221] J. Crevaux, _Voyages dans l'Am\u00e9rique du Sud_ (Paris, 1883), p.\n526. As to the customs observed at menstruation by Indian women in South\nAmerica, see further A. d'Orbigny, _L'Homme Americain_ (Paris, 1839), i.\n237.\n\n[222] Chas. N. Bell, \"The Mosquito Territory,\" _Journal of the Royal\nGeographical Society_, xxxii. (1862) p. 254.\n\n[223] H. Pittier de Fabrega, \"Die Sprache der Bribri-Indianer in Costa\nRica,\" _Sitztungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen Classe der\nKaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften_ (Vienna), cxxxviii. (1898) pp.\n19 _sq._\n\n[224] Gabriel Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, Nouvelle\n\u00c9dition (Paris, 1865), p. 54 (original edition, Paris, 1632); J.F.\nLafitau, _Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains_ (Paris, 1724), i. 262;\nCharlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_ (Paris, 1744), v. 423\n_sq._; Captain Jonathan Carver, _Travels through the Interior Parts of\nNorth America_, Third Edition (London, 1781), pp. 236 _sq._; Captains\nLewis and Clark, _Expedition to the Sources of the Missouri_, etc.\n(London, 1905), iii. 90 (original edition, 1814); Rev. Jedidiah Morse,\n_Report to the Secretary of War of the United States on Indian Affairs_\n(New Haven, 1822), pp. 136 _sq._; _Annales de l'Association de la\nPropagation de la Foi_, iv, (Paris and Lyons, 1830) pp. 483, 494 _sq._;\nGeorge Catlin, _Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition\nof the North American Indians_, Fourth Edition (London, 1844), ii. 233;\nH.R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_ (Philadelphia,\n1853-1856), v. 70; A.L. Kroeber, \"The Religion of the Indians of\nCalifornia,\" _University of California Publication in American\nArchaeology and Ethnology_, vol. iv. No. 6 (Berkeley, September, 1907),\npp. 323 _sq._; Frank G. Speck, _Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians_\n(Philadelphia, 1909), p. 96. Among the Hurons of Canada women at their\nperiods did not retire from the house or village, but they ate from\nsmall dishes apart from the rest of the family at these times (Gabriel\nSagard, _l.c._).\n\n[225] James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), pp.\n123 _sq._\n\n[226] Bossu, _Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes occidentales_ (Paris, 1768),\nii. 105.\n\n[227] Edwin James, _Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the\nRocky Mountains_ (London, 1823), i. 214.\n\n[228] William H. Keating, _Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of\nSt. Peter's River_ (London, 1825), i. 132.\n\n[229] G.B. Grinnell, \"Cheyenne Woman Customs,\" _American\nAnthropologist_, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) p. 14.\n\n[230] C. Hill Tout, \"Ethnological Report on the Stseelis and Skaulits\nTribes of the Halokmelem Division of the Salish of British Columbia,\"\n_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxiv. (1904) p. 320.\n\n[231] James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, pp. 326\n_sq._ (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American\nMuseum of Natural History_, New York, April, 1900).\n\n[232] Samuel Hearne, _Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's\nBay to the Northern Ocean_ (London, 1795), pp. 314 _sq._; Alex.\nMackenzie, _Voyages through the Continent of North America_ (London,\n1801), p. cxxiii.; E. Petitot, _Monographic des D\u00e9n\u00e9-Dindji\u00e9_ (Paris,\n1876), pp. 75 _sq._\n\n[233] C. Leemius, _De Lapponibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua vita et\nreligione pristina_ (Copenhagen, 1767), p. 494.\n\n[234] E.W. Nelson, \"The Eskimo about Bering Strait,\" _Eighteenth Annual\nReport of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1899)\np. 440.\n\n[235] The Carriers are a tribe of D\u00e9n\u00e9 or Tinneh Indians who get their\nname from a custom observed among them by widows, who carry, or rather\nused to carry, the charred bones of their dead husbands about with them\nin bundles.\n\n[236] Hence we may conjecture that the similar ornaments worn by Mabuiag\ngirls in similar circumstances are also amulets. See above, p. 36. Among\nthe aborigines of the Upper Yarra river in Victoria, a girl at puberty\nused to have cords tied very tightly round several parts of her body.\nThe cords were worn for several days, causing the whole body to swell\nvery much and inflicting great pain. The girl might not remove them till\nshe was clean. See R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_ (Melbourne\nand London, 1878), i. 65. Perhaps the cords were intended to arrest the\nflow of blood.\n\n[237] Rev. Father A.G. Morice, \"The Western D\u00e9n\u00e9s, their Manners and\nCustoms,\" _Proceedings of the Canadian Institute, Toronto_, Third\nSeries, vii. (1888-89) pp. 162-164. The writer has repeated the\nsubstance of this account in a later work, _Au pays de l'Ours Noir: chez\nles sauvages de la Colombia Britannique_ (Paris and Lyons, 1897), pp. 72\n_sq._\n\n[238] A.G. Morice, \"Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, and Sociological,\non the Western D\u00e9n\u00e9s,\" _Transactions of the Canadian Institute_, iv.\n(1892-93) pp. 106 _sq._ Compare Rev. Father Julius Jett\u00e9, \"On the\nSuperstitions of the Ten'a Indians,\" _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. 703\n_sq._, who tells us that Tinneh women at these times may not lift their\nown nets, may not step over other people's nets, and may not pass in a\nboat or canoe near a place where nets are being set.\n\n[239] A.G. Morice, in _Transactions of the Canadian Institute_, iv.\n(1892-93) pp. 107, 110.\n\n[240] James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, p. 327\n(_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of\nNatural History_, New York, April 1900).\n\n[241] See above, p. 53.\n\n[242] _Laws of Manu_, translated by G. Buhler (Oxford, 1886), ch. iv. 41\n_sq._, p. 135 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xxv.).\n\n[243] _The Zend-Avesta_, translated by J. Darmesteter, i. (Oxford, 1880)\np. xcii. (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. iv.). See _id._, pp. 9,\n181-185, _Fargard_, i. 18 and 19, xvi. 1-18.\n\n[244] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ vii. 64 _sq._, xxviii. 77 _sqq._ Compare\n_Geoponica_, xii. 20. 5 and 25. 2; Columella, _De re rustica_, xi. 357\n_sqq._\n\n[245] August Schleicher, _Volkst\u00fcmliches aus Sonnenberg_ (Weimar, 1858),\np. 134; B. Souch\u00e9, _Croyances, Pr\u00e9sages et Traditions diverses_ (Niort,\n1880), p. 11; A. Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes L\u00e9gendes et Contes des\nArdennes_ (Charleville, 1890), p. 171; V. Fossel, _Volksmedicin und\nmedicinischer Aberglaube in Steiermark[2]_ (Graz, 1886), p. 124. A\ncorrespondent, who withholds her name, writes to me that in a Suffolk\nvillage, where she used to live some twenty or thirty years ago, \"every\none pickled their own beef, and it was held that if the pickling were\nperformed by a woman during her menstrual period the meat would not\nkeep. If the cook were incapacitated at the time when the pickling was\ndue, another woman was sent for out of the village rather than risk what\nwas considered a certainty.\" Another correspondent informs me that in\nsome of the dales in the north of Yorkshire a similar belief prevailed\ndown to recent years with regard to the salting of pork. Another\ncorrespondent writes to me: \"The prohibition that a menstruating woman\nmust not touch meat that is intended for keeping appears to be common\nall over the country; at least I have met with it as a confirmed and\nactive custom in widely separated parts of England.... It is in regard\nto the salting of meat for bacon that the prohibition is most usual,\nbecause that is the commonest process; but it exists in regard to any\nmeat food that is required to be kept.\"\n\n[246] R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 291.\n\n[247] W.R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 524.\n\n[248] The Greeks and Romans thought that a field was completely\nprotected against insects if a menstruous woman walked round it with\nbare feet and streaming hair (Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvii. 266, xxviii. 78;\nColumella, _De re rustica_, x. 358 _sq._, xi. 3. 64; Palladius, _De re\nrustica_, i. 35. 3; _Geoponica_, xii. 8. 5 _sq._; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._\nvi. 36). A similar preventive is employed for the same purpose by North\nAmerican Indians and European peasants. See H.R. Schoolcraft, _Indian\nTribes of the United States_ (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 70; F.J.\nWiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und a\u00fcssern Leben der Ehsten_ (St.\nPetersburg, 1876), p. 484. Compare J. Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde der\nSiebenb\u00fcrger Sachsen_ (Vienna, 1885), p. 280; Adolph Heinrich,\n_Agrarische Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche unter den Sachsen Siebenb\u00fcrgens_\n(Hermannstadt, 1880), p. 14; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] iii.\n468; G. Lammert, _Volksmedizin und medizinischer Aberglaube aus Bayern_\n(W\u00fcrzburg, 1869), p. 147. Among the Western D\u00e9n\u00e9s it is believed that\none or two transverse lines tattooed on the arms or legs of a young man\nby a pubescent girl are a specific against premature weakness of these\nlimbs. See A.G. Morice, \"Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, and\nSociological, on the Western D\u00e9n\u00e9s,\" _Transactions of the Canadian\nInstitute_, iv. (1892-93) p. 182. The Thompson Indians of British\nColumbia thought that the Dawn of Day could and would cure hernia if\nonly an adolescent girl prayed to it to do so. Just before daybreak the\ngirl would put some charcoal in her mouth, chew it fine, and spit it out\nfour times on the diseased place. Then she prayed: \"O Day-dawn! thy\nchild relies on me to obtain healing from thee, who art mystery. Remove\nthou the swelling of thy child. Pity thou him, Day-Dawn!\" See James\nTeit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, pp. 345 _sq._ (_The\nJesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural\nHistory_, New York, April, 1900). To cure the painful and dangerous\nwound inflicted by a ray-fish, the Indians of the Gran Chaco smoke the\nwounded limb and then cause a woman in her courses to sit astride of it.\nSee G. Pelleschi, _Eight Months on the Gran Chaco of the Argentine\nRepublic_ (London, 1886), p. 106. An ancient Hindoo method of securing\nprosperity was to swallow a portion of the menstruous fluid. See W.\nCaland, _Altindisches Zauberritual_ (Amsterdam, 1900), pp. 57 _sq._ To\npreserve a new cow from the evil eye Scottish Highlanders used to\nsprinkle menstruous blood on the animal; and at certain seasons of the\nyear, especially at Beltane (the first of May) and Lammas (the first of\nAugust) it was their custom to sprinkle the same potent liquid on the\ndoorposts and houses all round to guard them from harm. The fluid was\napplied by means of a wisp of straw, and the person who discharged this\nsalutary office went round the house in the direction of the sun. See\nJ.G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_\n(Glasgow, 1900), p. 248. These are examples of the beneficent\napplication of the menstruous energy.\n\n[249] _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 1 _sqq._\n\n[250] For a similar reason, perhaps, ancient Hindoo ritual prescribed\nthat when the hair of a child's head was shorn in the third year, the\nclippings should be buried in a cow-stable, or near an _udumbara_ tree,\nor in a clump of _darbha_ grass, with the words, \"Where Pushan,\nBrihaspati, Savitri, Soma, Agni dwell, they have in many ways searched\nwhere they should deposit it, between heaven and earth, the waters and\nheaven.\" See _The Grihya-S\u00fbtras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part ii.\n(Oxford, 1892) p. 218 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xxx.).\n\n[251] Petronius, _Sat._ 48; Pausanias, x. 12: 8; Justin Martyr, _Cohort\nad Graecos_, 37, p. 34 c (ed. 1742). According to another account, the\nremains of the Sibyl were enclosed in an iron cage which hung from a\npillar in an ancient temple of Hercules at Argyrus (Ampelius, _Liber\nMemorialis_, viii. 16).\n\n[252] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Nord-deutsche Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und\nGebr\u00e4uche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 70, No. 72. i. This and the following\nGerman parallels to the story of the Sibyl's wish were first indicated\nby Dr. M.R. James (_Classical Review_, vi. (1892) p. 74). I have already\ngiven the stories at length in a note on Pausanias, x. 12. 8 (vol. v.\npp. 292 _sq._).\n\n[253] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _op. cit._ pp. 70 _sq._, No. 72. 2.\n\n[254] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _op. cit._ p. 71, No. 72. 3.\n\n[255] Karl M\u00fcllenhoff, _Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Lieder der Herzogth\u00fcmer\nHolstein und Lauenburg_ (Kiel, 1845), pp. 158 _sg._, No. 217.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE MYTH OF BALDER\n\n\n[How Balder, the good and beautiful god, was done to death by a stroke\nof the mistletoe.]\n\nA deity whose life might in a sense be said to be neither in heaven nor\non earth but between the two, was the Norse Balder, the good and\nbeautiful god, the son of the great god Odin, and himself the wisest,\nmildest, best beloved of all the immortals. The story of his death, as\nit is told in the younger or prose _Edda_, runs thus. Once on a time\nBalder dreamed heavy dreams which seemed to forebode his death.\nThereupon the gods held a council and resolved to make him secure\nagainst every danger. So the goddess Frigg took an oath from fire and\nwater, iron and all metals, stones and earth, from trees, sicknesses and\npoisons, and from all four-footed beasts, birds, and creeping things,\nthat they would not hurt Balder. When this was done Balder was deemed\ninvulnerable; so the gods amused themselves by setting him in their\nmidst, while some shot at him, others hewed at him, and others threw\nstones at him. But whatever they did, nothing could hurt him; and at\nthis they were all glad. Only Loki, the mischief-maker, was displeased,\nand he went in the guise of an old woman to Frigg, who told him that the\nweapons of the gods could not wound Balder, since she had made them all\nswear not to hurt him. Then Loki asked, \"Have all things sworn to spare\nBalder?\" She answered, \"East of Walhalla grows a plant called mistletoe;\nit seemed to me too young to swear.\" So Loki went and pulled the\nmistletoe and took it to the assembly of the gods. There he found the\nblind god Hother standing at the outside of the circle. Loki asked him,\n\"Why do you not shoot at Balder?\" Hother answered, \"Because I do not see\nwhere he stands; besides I have no weapon.\" Then said Loki, \"Do like the\nrest and shew Balder honour, as they all do. I will shew you where he\nstands, and do you shoot at him with this twig.\" Hother took the\nmistletoe and threw it at Balder, as Loki directed him. The mistletoe\nstruck Balder and pierced him through and through, and he fell down\ndead. And that was the greatest misfortune that ever befell gods and\nmen. For a while the gods stood speechless, then they lifted up their\nvoices and wept bitterly. They took Balder's body and brought it to the\nsea-shore. There stood Balder's ship; it was called Ringhorn, and was\nthe hugest of all ships. The gods wished to launch the ship and to burn\nBalder's body on it, but the ship would not stir. So they sent for a\ngiantess called Hyrrockin. She came riding on a wolf and gave the ship\nsuch a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the earth shook.\nThen Balder's body was taken and placed on the funeral pile upon his\nship. When his wife Nanna saw that, her heart burst for sorrow and she\ndied. So she was laid on the funeral pile with her husband, and fire was\nput to it. Balder's horse, too, with all its trappings, was burned on\nthe pile.[256]\n\n[Tale of Balder in the older _Edda_.]\n\nIn the older or poetic _Edda_ the tragic tale of Balder is hinted at\nrather than told at length. Among the visions which the Norse Sibyl sees\nand describes in the weird prophecy known as the _Voluspa_ is one of the\nfatal mistletoe. \"I behold,\" says she, \"Fate looming for Balder, Woden's\nson, the bloody victim. There stands the Mistletoe slender and delicate,\nblooming high above the ground. Out of this shoot, so slender to look\non, there shall grow a harmful fateful shaft. Hod shall shoot it, but\nFrigga in Fen-hall shall weep over the woe of Wal-hall.\"[257] Yet\nlooking far into the future the Sibyl sees a brighter vision of a new\nheaven and a new earth, where the fields unsown shall yield their\nincrease and all sorrows shall be healed; then Balder will come back to\ndwell in Odin's mansions of bliss, in a hall brighter than the sun,\nshingled with gold, where the righteous shall live in joy for ever\nmore.[258]\n\n[The story of Balder as related by Saxo Grammaticus.]\n\nWriting about the end of the twelfth century, the old Danish historian\nSaxo Grammaticus tells the story of Balder in a form which professes to\nbe historical. According to him, Balder and Hother were rival suitors\nfor the hand of Nanna, daughter of Gewar, King of Norway. Now Balder was\na demigod and common steel could not wound his sacred body. The two\nrivals encountered each other in a terrific battle, and though Odin and\nThor and the rest of the gods fought for Balder, yet was he defeated and\nfled away, and Hother married the princess. Nevertheless Balder took\nheart of grace and again met Hother in a stricken field. But he fared\neven worse than before; for Hother dealt him a deadly wound with a magic\nsword, which he had received from Miming, the Satyr of the woods; and\nafter lingering three days in pain Balder died of his hurt and was\nburied with royal honours in a barrow.[259]\n\n[Balder worshipped in Norway.]\n\nWhether he was a real or merely a mythical personage, Balder was\nworshipped in Norway. On one of the bays of the beautiful Sogne Fiord,\nwhich penetrates far into the depths of the solemn Norwegian mountains,\nwith their sombre pine-forests and their lofty cascades dissolving into\nspray before they reach the dark water of the fiord far below, Balder\nhad a great sanctuary. It was called Balder's Grove. A palisade enclosed\nthe hallowed ground, and within it stood a spacious temple with the\nimages of many gods, but none of them was worshipped with such devotion\nas Balder. So great was the awe with which the heathen regarded the\nplace that no man might harm another there, nor steal his cattle, nor\ndefile himself with women. But women cared for the images of the gods in\nthe temple; they warmed them at the fire, anointed them with oil, and\ndried them with cloths.[260]\n\n[The legendary death of Balder resembles the legendary death of the\nPersian hero Isfendiyar in the epic of Firdusi.]\n\nIt might be rash to affirm that the romantic figure of Balder was\nnothing but a creation of the mythical fancy, a radiant phantom conjured\nup as by a wizard's wand to glitter for a time against the gloomy\nbackground of the stern Norwegian landscape. It may be so; yet it is\nalso possible that the myth was founded on the tradition of a hero,\npopular and beloved in his lifetime, who long survived in the memory of\nthe people, gathering more and more of the marvellous about him as he\npassed from generation to generation of story-tellers. At all events it\nis worth while to observe that a somewhat similar story is told of\nanother national hero, who may well have been a real man. In his great\npoem, _The Epic of Kings_, which is founded on Persian traditions, the\npoet Firdusi tells us that in the combat between Rustem and Isfendiyar\nthe arrows of the former did no harm to his adversary, \"because Zerdusht\nhad charmed his body against all dangers, so that it was like unto\nbrass.\" But Simurgh, the bird of God, shewed Rustem the way he should\nfollow in order to vanquish his redoubtable foe. He rode after her, and\nthey halted not till they came to the sea-shore. There she led him into\na garden, where grew a tamarisk, tall and strong, and the roots thereof\nwere in the ground, but the branches pierced even unto the sky. Then the\nbird of God bade Rustem break from the tree a branch that was long and\nslender, and fashion it into an arrow, and she said, \"Only through his\neyes can Isfendiyar be wounded. If, therefore, thou wouldst slay him,\ndirect this arrow unto his forehead, and verily it shall not miss its\naim.\" Rustem did as he was bid; and when next he fought with Isfendiyar,\nhe shot the arrow at him, and it pierced his eye, and he died. Great was\nthe mourning for Isfendiyar. For the space of one year men ceased not to\nlament for him, and for many years they shed bitter tears for that\narrow, and they said, \"The glory of Iran hath been laid low.\"[261]\n\n[The myth of Balder was perhaps acted as a magical ceremony. The two\nchief incidents of the myth, namely the pulling of the mistletoe and the\ndeath and burning of the god, have perhaps their counterparts in popular\nritual.]\n\nWhatever may be thought of an historical kernel underlying a mythical\nhusk in the legend of Balder, the details of the story suggest that it\nbelongs to that class of myths which have been dramatized in ritual, or,\nto put it otherwise, which have been performed as magical ceremonies for\nthe sake of producing those natural effects which they describe in\nfigurative language. A myth is never so graphic and precise in its\ndetails as when it is, so to speak, the book of the words which are\nspoken and acted by the performers of the sacred rite. That the Norse\nstory of Balder was a myth of this sort will become probable if we can\nprove that ceremonies resembling the incidents in the tale have been\nperformed by Norsemen and other European peoples. Now the main incidents\nin the tale are two--first, the pulling of the mistletoe, and second,\nthe death and burning of the god; and both of them may perhaps be found\nto have had their counterparts in yearly rites observed, whether\nseparately or conjointly, by people in various parts of Europe. These\nrites will be described and discussed in the following chapters. We\nshall begin with the annual festivals of fire and shall reserve the\npulling of the mistletoe for consideration later on.\n\nNotes:\n\n[256] _Die Edda_, \u00fcbersetzt von K. Simrock*[8] (Stuttgart, 1882), pp.\n286-288. Compare pp. 8, 34, 264. Balder's story is told in a professedly\nhistorical form by the old Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in his\nthird book. See below, p. 103. In English the story is told at length by\nProfessor (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh,\n1888), pp. 529 _sqq._ It is elaborately discussed by Professor F.\nKnuffmann in a learned monograph, _Balder, Mythus und Sage_ (Strasburg,\n1902).\n\n[257] Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell, _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_,\ni. (Oxford, 1883) p. 197. Compare _Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo\nSaemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) pp. 39 _sq._; _Die\nEdda_, \u00fcbersetzt von K. Simrock*[8] (Stuttgart, 1882), p. 8; K.\nM\u00fcllenhoff, _Deutsche Altertumskunde_, v. Zweite Abteilung (Berlin,\n1891), pp. 78 _sq._; Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder, Mythus und Sage_, pp. 20\n_sq._ In this passage the words translated \"bloody victim\" (_blaupom\ntivor_) and \"fate looming\" (_\u00f8rlog f\u00f3lgen_) are somewhat uncertain and\nhave been variously interpreted. The word _tivor_, usually understood to\nmean \"god,\" seems to be found nowhere else. Professor H.M. Chadwick has\nkindly furnished me with the following literal translation of the\npassage: \"I saw (or 'have seen') held in safe keeping the life of\nBalder, the bloody god, Othin's son. High above the fields (i.e. the\nsurface of the earth) grew a mistletoe, slender and very beautiful. From\na shaft (or 'stem') which appeared slender, came a dangerous\nsorrow-bringing missile (i.e. the shaft became a ... missile); Hodr\nproceeded to shoot. Soon was a brother of Balder born. He, Othin's son,\nproceeded to do battle when one day old. He did not wash his hands or\ncomb his head before he brought Balder's antagonist on to the pyre. But\nFrigg in Fen-salir (i.e. the Fen-abode) lamented the trouble of\nVal-holl.\" In translating the words _\u00f8rlog f\u00f3lgen_ \"held in safe keeping\nthe life\" Professor Chadwick follows Professor F. Kauffmann's rendering\n(\"_das Leben verwahrt_\"); but he writes to me that he is not quite\nconfident about it, as the word _\u00f8rlog_ usually means \"fate\" rather than\n\"life.\" Several sentences translated by Professor Chadwick (\"Soon was a\nbrother of Balder born ... he brought Balder's antagonist on the pyre\")\nare omitted by some editors and translators of the _Edda_.\n\n[258] G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, i. 200\n_sq._; _Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii.\npp. 51-54; _Die Edda_, \u00fcbersetzt von K. Simrock,*[8] p. 10 _sq._; K.\nM\u00fcllenhoff, _Deutsche Altertumskunde_, v. Zweite Abteilung, pp. 84 _sq._\n\n[259] Saxo Grammaticus, _Historia Danica_, ed. P.E. M\u00fcller (Copenhagen,\n1839-1858), _lib._ iii. vol. i. pp. 110 _sqq._; _The First Nine Books of\nthe Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus_, translated by Oliver Elton\n(London, 1894), pp. 83-93.\n\n[260] _Fridthjofs Saga, aus dem Alt-isl\u00e4ndischen_, von J.C. Poestion,\n(Vienna, 1879), pp. 3 _sq._, 14-17, 45-52.\n\n[261] _The Epic of Kings, Stories retold from Firdusi_, by Helen Zimmern\n(London, 1883), pp. 325-331. The parallel between Balder and Isfendiyar\nwas pointed out in the \"Lexicon Mythologicum\" appended to the _Edda\nRhythmifa seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen,\n1828) p. 513 note, with a reference to _Schah Namech, verdeutscht von\nG\u00f6rres_, ii. 324, 327 _sq._ It is briefly mentioned by Dr. P. Wagler,\n_Die Eiche in alter und neuer Zeit_, ii. Teil (Berlin, 1891), p. 40.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTHE FIRE-FESTIVALS OF EUROPE\n\n\n\u00a7 1. _The Lenten Fires_\n\n\n[European custom of kindling bonfires on certain days of the year,\ndancing round them and leaping over them. Effigies are sometimes burnt\nin the fires.]\n\nAll over Europe the peasants have been accustomed from time immemorial\nto kindle bonfires on certain days of the year, and to dance round or\nleap over them. Customs of this kind can be traced back on historical\nevidence to the Middle Ages,[262] and their analogy to similar customs\nobserved in antiquity goes with strong internal evidence to prove that\ntheir origin must be sought in a period long prior to the spread of\nChristianity. Indeed the earliest proof of their observance in Northern\nEurope is furnished by the attempts made by Christian synods in the\neighth century to put them down as heathenish rites.[263] Not uncommonly\neffigies are burned in these fires, or a pretence is made of burning a\nliving person in them; and there are grounds for believing that\nanciently human beings were actually burned on these occasions. A\ngeneral survey of the customs in question will bring out the traces of\nhuman sacrifice, and will serve at the same time to throw light on their\nmeaning.[264]\n\n[Seasons of the year at which the bonfires are lit.]\n\nThe seasons of the year when these bonfires are most commonly lit are\nspring and midsummer; but in some places they are kindled also at the\nend of autumn or during the course of the winter, particularly on Hallow\nE'en (the thirty-first of October), Christmas Day, and the Eve of\nTwelfth Day. We shall consider them in the order in which they occur in\nthe calendar year. The earliest of them is the winter festival of the\nEve of Twelfth Day (the fifth of January); but as it has been already\ndescribed in an earlier part of this work[265] we shall pass it over\nhere and begin with the fire-festivals of spring, which usually fall on\nthe first Sunday of Lent (_Quadragesima_ or _Invocavit_),[266] Easter\nEve, and May Day.\n\n[Custom of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in the Belgian\nArdennes.]\n\nThe custom of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent has\nprevailed in Belgium, the north of France, and many parts of Germany.\nThus in the Belgian Ardennes for a week or a fortnight before the \"day\nof the great fire,\" as it is called, children go about from farm to farm\ncollecting fuel. At Grand Halleux any one who refuses their request is\npursued next day by the children, who try to blacken his face with the\nashes of the extinct fire. When the day has come, they cut down bushes,\nespecially juniper and broom, and in the evening great bonfires blaze on\nall the heights. It is a common saying that seven bonfires should be\nseen if the village is to be safe from conflagrations. If the Meuse\nhappens to be frozen hard at the time, bonfires are lit also on the ice.\nAt Grand Halleux they set up a pole called _makral_ or \"the witch,\" in\nthe midst of the pile, and the fire is kindled by the man who was last\nmarried in the village. In the neighbourhood of Morlanwelz a straw man\nis burnt in the fire. Young people and children dance and sing round the\nbonfires, and leap over the embers to secure good crops or a happy\nmarriage within the year, or as a means of guarding themselves against\ncolic. In Brabant on the same Sunday, down to the beginning of the\nnineteenth century, women and men disguised in female attire used to go\nwith burning torches to the fields, where they danced and sang comic\nsongs for the purpose, as they alleged, of driving away \"the wicked\nsower,\" who is mentioned in the Gospel for the day. At Maeseyck and in\nmany villages of Limburg, on the evening of the day children run through\nthe streets carrying lighted torches; then they kindle little fires of\nstraw in the fields and dance round them. At Ensival old folks tell\nyoung folks that they will have as many Easter eggs as they see bonfires\non this day.[267] At P\u00e2turages, in the province of Hainaut, down to\nabout 1840 the custom was observed under the name of _Escouvion_ or\n_Scouvion_. Every year on the first Sunday of Lent, which was called the\nDay of the Little Scouvion, young folks and children used to run with\nlighted torches through the gardens and orchards. As they ran they cried\nat the pitch of their voices,\n\n\"_Bear apples, bear pears\nAnd cherries all black\n  To Scouvion!_\"\n\nAt these words the torch-bearer whirled his blazing brand and hurled it\namong the branches of the apple-trees, the pear-trees, and the\ncherry-trees. The next Sunday was called the Day of the Great Scouvion,\nand the same race with lighted torches among the trees of the orchards\nwas repeated in the afternoon till darkness fell. The same custom was\nobserved on the same two days at Wasmes.[268] In the neighbourhood of\nLi\u00e8ge, where the Lenten fires were put down by the police about the\nmiddle of the nineteenth century, girls thought that by leaping over the\nfires without being smirched they made sure of a happy marriage.\nElsewhere in order to get a good husband it was necessary to see seven\nof the bonfires from one spot. In Famenne, a district of Namur, men and\ncattle who traversed the Lenten fires were thought to be safe from\nsickness and witchcraft. Anybody who saw seven such fires at once had\nnothing to fear from sorcerers. An old saying ran, that if you do not\nlight \"the great fire,\" God will light it for you; which seems to imply\nthat the kindling of the bonfires was deemed a protection against\nconflagrations throughout the year.[269]\n\n[Bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in the French department of the\nArdennes.]\n\nIn the French department of the Ardennes the whole village used to dance\nand sing round the bonfires which were lighted on the first Sunday in\nLent. Here, too, it was the person last married, sometimes a man and\nsometimes a woman, who put the match to the fire. The custom is still\nkept up very commonly in the district. Cats used to be burnt in the fire\nor roasted to death by being held over it; and while they were burning\nthe shepherds drove their flocks through the smoke and flames as a sure\nmeans of guarding them against sickness and witchcraft. In some communes\nit was believed that the livelier the dance round the fire, the better\nwould be the crops that year.[270] In the Vosges Mountains it is still\ncustomary to light great fires on the heights and around the villages on\nthe first Sunday in Lent; and at Rupt and elsewhere the right of\nkindling them belongs to the person who was last married. Round the\nfires the people dance and sing merrily till the flames have died out.\nThen the master of the fire, as they call the man who kindled it,\ninvites all who contributed to the erection of the pile to follow him to\nthe nearest tavern, where they partake of good cheer. At Dommartin they\nsay that, if you would have the hemp tall, it is absolutely necessary\nthat the women should be tipsy on the evening of this day.[271] At\n\u00c9pinal in the Vosges, on the first Sunday in Lent, bonfires used to be\nkindled at various places both in the town and on the banks of the\nMoselle. They consisted of pyramids of sticks and faggots, which had\nbeen collected some days earlier by young folks going from door to door.\nWhen the flames blazed up, the names of various couples, whether young\nor old, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, were called out, and the persons\nthus linked in mock marriage were forced, whether they liked it or not,\nto march arm in arm round the fire amid the laughter and jests of the\ncrowd. The festivity lasted till the fire died out, and then the\nspectators dispersed through the streets, stopping under the windows of\nthe houses and proclaiming the names of the _f\u00e9chenots_ and\n_f\u00e9chenottes_ or Valentines whom the popular voice had assigned to each\nother. These couples had to exchange presents; the mock bridegroom gave\nhis mock bride something for her toilet, while she in turn presented him\nwith a cockade of coloured ribbon. Next Sunday, if the weather allowed\nit, all the couples, arrayed in their best attire and attended by their\nrelations, repaired to the wood of Saint Antony, where they mounted a\nfamous stone called the _danserosse_ or _danseresse_. Here they found\ncakes and refreshments of all sorts, and danced to the music of a couple\nof fiddlers. The evening bell, ringing the Angelus, gave the signal to\ndepart. As soon as its solemn chime was heard, every one quitted the\nforest and returned home. The exchange of presents between the\nValentines went by the name of ransom or redemption (_rachat_), because\nit was supposed to redeem the couple from the flames of the bonfire. Any\npair who failed thus to ransom themselves were not suffered to share the\nmerrymaking at the great stone in the forest; and a pretence was made of\nburning them in small fires kindled before their own doors.[272]\n\n[Bonfires on the First Sunday of Lent in Franche-Comt\u00e9.]\n\nIn the French province of Franche-Comt\u00e9, to the west of the Jura\nMountains, the first Sunday of Lent is known as the Sunday of the\nFirebrands (_Brandons_), on account of the fires which it is customary\nto kindle on that day. On the Saturday or the Sunday the village lads\nharness themselves to a cart and drag it about the streets, stopping at\nthe doors of the houses where there are girls and begging for a faggot.\nWhen they have got enough, they cart the fuel to a spot at some little\ndistance from the village, pile it up, and set it on fire. All the\npeople of the parish come out to see the bonfire. In some villages, when\nthe bells have rung the Angelus, the signal for the observance is given\nby cries of, \"To the fire! to the fire!\" Lads, lasses, and children\ndance round the blaze, and when the flames have died down they vie with\neach other in leaping over the red embers. He or she who does so without\nsingeing his or her garments will be married within the year. Young folk\nalso carry lighted torches about the streets or the fields, and when\nthey pass an orchard they cry out, \"More fruit than leaves!\" Down to\nrecent years at Laviron, in the department of Doubs, it was the young\nmarried couples of the year who had charge of the bonfires. In the midst\nof the bonfire a pole was planted with a wooden figure of a cock\nfastened to the top. Then there were races, and the winner received the\ncock as a prize.[273]\n\n[Bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Auvergne; the Granno invoked at\nthese bonfires may be the old Celtic god Grannus, who was identified\nwith Apollo.]\n\nIn Auvergne fires are everywhere kindled on the evening of the first\nSunday in Lent. Every village, every hamlet, even every ward, every\nisolated farm has its bonfire or _figo_, as it is called, which blazes\nup as the shades of night are falling. The fires may be seen flaring on\nthe heights and in the plains; the people dance and sing round about\nthem and leap through the flames. Then they proceed to the ceremony of\nthe _Grannas-mias_. A _granno-mio_[274] is a torch of straw fastened to\nthe top of a pole. When the pyre is half consumed, the bystanders kindle\nthe torches at the expiring flames and carry them into the neighbouring\norchards, fields, and gardens, wherever there are fruit-trees. As they\nmarch they sing at the top of their voices,\n\n\"_Granno, mo mio,\nGranno, mon pou\u00e8re,\nGranno, mo mou\u00e8re!_\"\n\nthat is, \"Grannus my friend, Grannus my father, Grannus my mother.\" Then\nthey pass the burning torches under the branches of every tree, singing,\n\n\"_Brando, brandounci\nTsaque brantso, in plan panei!_\"\n\nthat is, \"Firebrand burn; every branch a basketful!\" In some villages\nthe people also run across the sown fields and shake the ashes of the\ntorches on the ground; also they put some of the ashes in the fowls'\nnests, in order that the hens may lay plenty of eggs throughout the\nyear. When all these ceremonies have been performed, everybody goes home\nand feasts; the special dishes of the evening are fritters and\npancakes.[275] Here the application of the fire to the fruit-trees, to\nthe sown fields, and to the nests of the poultry is clearly a charm\nintended to ensure fertility; and the Granno to whom the invocations are\naddressed, and who gives his name to the torches, may possibly be, as\nDr. Pommerol suggests,[276] no other than the ancient Celtic god\nGrannus, whom the Romans identified with Apollo, and whose worship is\nattested by inscriptions found not only in France but in Scotland and on\nthe Danube.[277] If the name Grannus is derived, as the learned tell us,\nfrom a root meaning \"to glow, burn, shine,\"[278] the deity who bore the\nname and was identified with Apollo may well have been a sun-god; and in\nthat case the prayers addressed to him by the peasants of the Auvergne,\nwhile they wave the blazing, crackling torches about the fruit-trees,\nwould be eminently appropriate. For who could ripen the fruit so well as\nthe sun-god? and what better process could be devised to draw the\nblossoms from the bare boughs than the application to them of that\ngenial warmth which is ultimately derived from the solar beams? Thus the\nfire-festival of the first Sunday in Lent, as it is observed in\nAuvergne, may be interpreted very naturally and simply as a religious or\nrather perhaps magical ceremony designed to procure a due supply of the\nsun's heat for plants and animals. At the same time we should remember\nthat the employment of fire in this and kindred ceremonies may have been\ndesigned originally, not so much to stimulate growth and reproduction,\nas to burn and destroy all agencies, whether in the shape of vermin,\nwitches, or what not, which threatened or were supposed to threaten the\ngrowth of the crops and the multiplication of animals. It is often\ndifficult to decide between these two different interpretations of the\nuse of fire in agricultural rites. In any case the fire-festival of\nAuvergne on the first Sunday in Lent may date from Druidical times.\n\n[French custom of carrying lighted torches (_brandons_) about the\norchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent.]\n\nThe custom of carrying lighted torches of straw (_brandons_) about the\norchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent seems\nto have been common in France, whether it was accompanied with the\npractice of kindling bonfires or not. Thus in the province of Picardy\n\"on the first Sunday of Lent people carried torches through the fields,\nexorcising the field-mice, the darnel, and the smut. They imagined that\nthey did much good to the gardens and caused the onions to grow large.\nChildren ran about the fields, torch in hand, to make the land more\nfertile. All that was done habitually in Picardy, and the ceremony of\nthe torches is not entirely forgotten, especially in the villages on\nboth sides the Somme as far as Saint-Valery.\"[279] \"A very agreeable\nspectacle, said the curate of l'\u00c9toile, is to survey from the portal of\nthe church, situated almost on the top of the mountain, the vast plains\nof Vimeux all illuminated by these wandering fires. The same pastime is\nobserved at Poix, at Conty, and in all the villages round about.\"[280]\nAgain, in the district of Beauce a festival of torches (_brandons_ or\n_brandelons_) used to be held both on the first and on the second Sunday\nin Lent; the first was called \"the Great Torches\" and the second \"the\nLittle Torches.\" The torches were, as usual, bundles of straw wrapt\nround poles. In the evening the village lads carried the burning brands\nthrough the country, running about in disorder and singing,\n\n      \"_Torches burn\nAt these vines, at this wheat_;\n       _Torches burn\nFor the maidens that shall wed_!\"\n\nFrom time to time the bearers would stand still and smite the earth all\ntogether with the blazing straw of the torches, while they cried, \"A\nsheaf of a peck and a half!\" (_Gearbe \u00e0 boissiaux_). If two torchbearers\nhappened to meet each other on their rounds, they performed the same\nceremony and uttered the same words. When the straw was burnt out, the\npoles were collected and a great bonfire made of them. Lads and lasses\ndanced round the flames, and the lads leaped over them. Afterwards it\nwas customary to eat a special sort of hasty-pudding made of wheaten\nflour. These usages were still in vogue at the beginning of the\nnineteenth century, but they have now almost disappeared. The peasants\nbelieved that by carrying lighted torches through the fields they\nprotected the crops from field-mice, darnel, and smut.[281] \"At Dijon,\nin Burgundy, it is the custom upon the first Sunday in Lent to make\nlarge fires in the streets, whence it is called Firebrand Sunday. This\npractice originated in the processions formerly made on that day by the\npeasants with lighted torches of straw, to drive away, as they called\nit, the bad air from the earth.\"[282] In some parts of France, while the\npeople scoured the country with burning brands on the first Sunday in\nLent, they warned the fruit-trees that if they did not take heed and\nbear fruit they would surely be cut down and cast into the fire.[283] On\nthe same day peasants in the department of Loiret used to run about the\nsowed fields with burning torches in their hands, while they adjured the\nfield-mice to quit the wheat on pain of having their whiskers\nburned.[284] In the department of Ain the great fires of straw and\nfaggots which are kindled in the fields at this time are or were\nsupposed to destroy the nests of the caterpillars.[285] At Verges, a\nlonely village surrounded by forests between the Jura and the Combe\nd'Ain, the torches used at this season were kindled in a peculiar\nmanner. The young people climbed to the top of a mountain, where they\nplaced three nests of straw in three trees. These nests being then set\non fire, torches made of dry lime-wood were lighted at them, and the\nmerry troop descended the mountain to their flickering light, and went\nto every house in the village, demanding roasted peas and obliging all\ncouples who had been married within the year to dance.[286] In Berry, a\ndistrict of central France, it appears that bonfires are not lighted on\nthis day, but when the sun has set the whole population of the villages,\narmed with blazing torches of straw, disperse over the country and scour\nthe fields, the vineyards, and the orchards. Seen from afar, the\nmultitude of moving lights, twinkling in the darkness, appear like\nwill-o'-the-wisps chasing each other across the plains, along the\nhillsides, and down the valleys. While the men wave their flambeaus\nabout the branches of the fruit-trees, the women and children tie bands\nof wheaten-straw round the tree-trunks. The effect of the ceremony is\nsupposed to be to avert the various plagues from which the fruits of the\nearth are apt to suffer; and the bands of straw fastened round the stems\nof the trees are believed to render them fruitful.[287] In the peninsula\nof La Manche the Norman peasants used to spend almost the whole night of\nthe first Sunday in Lent rushing about the country with lighted torches\nfor the purpose, as they supposed, of driving away the moles and\nfield-mice; fires were also kindled on some of the dolmens.[288]\n\n[Bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in Germany and Austria; burning\nthe witch; burning discs thrown into the air; burning wheels rolled down\nhill; bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in Switzerland.]\n\nIn Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at the same season similar customs\nhave prevailed. Thus in the Eifel Mountains, Rhenish Prussia, on the\nfirst Sunday in Lent young people used to collect straw and brushwood\nfrom house to house. These they carried to an eminence and piled up\nround a tall, slim beech-tree, to which a piece of wood was fastened at\nright angles to form a cross. The structure was known as the \"hut\" or\n\"castle.\" Fire was set to it and the young people marched round the\nblazing \"castle\" bareheaded, each carrying a lighted torch and praying\naloud. Sometimes a straw-man was burned in the \"hut.\" People observed\nthe direction in which the smoke blew from the fire. If it blew towards\nthe corn-fields, it was a sign that the harvest would be abundant. On\nthe same day, in some parts of the Eifel, a great wheel was made of\nstraw and dragged by three horses to the top of a hill. Thither the\nvillage boys marched at nightfall, set fire to the wheel, and sent it\nrolling down the slope. Two lads followed it with levers to set it in\nmotion again, in case it should anywhere meet with a check. At\nOberstattfeld the wheel had to be provided by the young man who was last\nmarried.[289] About Echternach in Luxemburg the same ceremony is called\n\"burning the witch\"; while it is going on, the older men ascend the\nheights and observe what wind is blowing, for that is the wind which\nwill prevail the whole year.[290] At Voralberg in the Tyrol, on the\nfirst Sunday in Lent, a slender young fir-tree is surrounded with a pile\nof straw and firewood. To the top of the tree is fastened a human figure\ncalled the \"witch,\" made of old clothes and stuffed with gunpowder. At\nnight the whole is set on fire and boys and girls dance round it,\nswinging torches and singing rhymes in which the words \"corn in the\nwinnowing-basket, the plough in the earth\" may be distinguished.[291] In\nSwabia on the first Sunday in Lent a figure called the \"witch\" or the\n\"old wife\" or \"winter's grandmother\" is made up of clothes and fastened\nto a pole. This is stuck in the middle of a pile of wood, to which fire\nis applied. While the \"witch\" is burning, the young people throw blazing\ndiscs into the air. The discs are thin round pieces of wood, a few\ninches in diameter, with notched edges to imitate the rays of the sun or\nstars. They have a hole in the middle, by which they are attached to the\nend of a wand. Before the disc is thrown it is set on fire, the wand is\nswung to and fro, and the impetus thus communicated to the disc is\naugmented by dashing the rod sharply against a sloping board. The\nburning disc is thus thrown off, and mounting high into the air,\ndescribes a long fiery curve before it reaches the ground. A single lad\nmay fling up forty or fifty of these discs, one after the other. The\nobject is to throw them as high as possible. The wand by which they are\nhurled must, at least in some parts of Swabia, be of hazel. Sometimes\nthe lads also leap over the fire brandishing lighted torches of\npine-wood. The charred embers of the burned \"witch\" and discs are taken\nhome and planted in the flaxfields the same night, in the belief that\nthey will keep vermin from the fields.[292] At Wangen, near Molsheim in\nBaden, a like custom is observed on the first Sunday in Lent. The young\npeople kindle a bonfire on the crest of the mountain above the village;\nand the burning discs which they hurl into the air are said to present\nin the darkness the aspect of a continual shower of falling stars. When\nthe supply of discs is exhausted and the bonfire begins to burn low, the\nboys light torches and run with them at full speed down one or other of\nthe three steep and winding paths that descend the mountain-side to the\nvillage. Bumps, bruises, and scratches are often the result of their\nefforts to outstrip each other in the headlong race.[293] In the Rh\u00f6n\nMountains, situated on the borders of Hesse and Bavaria, the people used\nto march to the top of a hill or eminence on the first Sunday in Lent.\nChildren and lads carried torches, brooms daubed with tar, and poles\nswathed in straw. A wheel, wrapt in combustibles, was kindled and rolled\ndown the hill; and the young people rushed about the fields with their\nburning torches and brooms, till at last they flung them in a heap, and\nstanding round them, struck up a hymn or a popular song. The object of\nrunning about the fields with the blazing torches was to \"drive away the\nwicked sower.\" Or it was done in honour of the Virgin, that she might\npreserve the fruits of the earth throughout the year and bless\nthem.[294] In neighbouring villages of Hesse, between the Rh\u00f6n and the\nVogel Mountains, it is thought that wherever the burning wheels roll,\nthe fields will be safe from hail and storm.[295] At Konz on the\nMoselle, on the Thursday before the first Sunday in Lent, the two guilds\nof the butchers and the weavers used to repair to the Marxberg and there\nset up an oak-tree with a wheel fastened to it. On the following Sunday\nthe people ascended the hill, cut down the oak, set fire to the wheel,\nand sent both oak and wheel rolling down the hillside, while a guard of\nbutchers, mounted on horses, fired at the flaming wheel in its descent.\nIf the wheel rolled down into the Moselle, the butchers were rewarded\nwith a waggon-load of wine by the archbishop of Treves.[296]\n\n[Burning discs thrown into the air.]\n\nIn Switzerland, also, it is or used to be customary to kindle bonfires\non high places on the evening of the first Sunday in Lent, and the day\nis therefore popularly known as Spark Sunday. The custom prevailed, for\nexample, throughout the canton of Lucerne. Boys went about from house to\nhouse begging for wood and straw, then piled the fuel on a conspicuous\nmountain or hill round about a pole, which bore a straw effigy called\n\"the witch.\" At nightfall the pile was set on fire, and the young folks\ndanced wildly round it, some of them cracking whips or ringing bells;\nand when the fire burned low enough, they leaped over it. This was\ncalled \"burning the witch.\" In some parts of the canton also they used\nto wrap old wheels in straw and thorns, put a light to them, and send\nthem rolling and blazing down hill. The same custom of rolling lighted\nwheels down hill is attested by old authorities for the cantons of\nAargau and B\u00e2le. The more bonfires could be seen sparkling and flaring\nin the darkness, the more fruitful was the year expected to be; and the\nhigher the dancers leaped beside or over the fire, the higher, it was\nthought, would grow the flax. In the district of Freiburg and at Birseck\nin the district of B\u00e2le it was the last married man or woman who must\nkindle the bonfire. While the bonfires blazed up, it was customary in\nsome parts of Switzerland to propel burning discs of wood through the\nair by means of the same simple machinery which is used for the purpose\nin Swabia. Each lad tried to send his disc fizzing and flaring through\nthe darkness as far as possible, and in discharging it he mentioned the\nname of the person to whose honour it was dedicated. But in Pr\u00e4ttigau\nthe words uttered in launching the fiery discs referred to the abundance\nwhich was apparently expected to follow the performance of the ceremony.\nAmong them were, \"Grease in the pan, corn in the fan, and the plough in\nthe earth!\"[297]\n\n[Connexion of these bonfires with the custom of \"carrying out Death;\"\neffigies burnt on Shrove Tuesday.]\n\nIt seems hardly possible to separate from these bonfires, kindled on the\nfirst Sunday in Lent, the fires in which, about the same season, the\neffigy called Death is burned as part of the ceremony of \"carrying out\nDeath.\" We have seen that at Spachendorf, in Austrian Silesia, on the\nmorning of Rupert's Day (Shrove Tuesday?), a straw-man, dressed in a fur\ncoat and a fur cap, is laid in a hole outside the village and there\nburned, and that while it is blazing every one seeks to snatch a\nfragment of it, which he fastens to a branch of the highest tree in his\ngarden or buries in his field, believing that this will make the crops\nto grow better. The ceremony is known as the \"burying of Death.\"[298]\nEven when the straw-man is not designated as Death, the meaning of the\nobservance is probably the same; for the name Death, as I have tried to\nshew, does not express the original intention of the ceremony. At Cobern\nin the Eifel Mountains the lads make up a straw-man on Shrove Tuesday.\nThe effigy is formally tried and accused of having perpetrated all the\nthefts that have been committed in the neighbourhood throughout the\nyear. Being condemned to death, the straw-man is led through the\nvillage, shot, and burned upon a pyre. They dance round the blazing\npile, and the last bride must leap over it.[299] In Oldenburg on the\nevening of Shrove Tuesday people used to make long bundles of straw,\nwhich they set on fire, and then ran about the fields waving them,\nshrieking, and singing wild songs. Finally they burned a straw-man on\nthe field.[300] In the district of D\u00fcsseldorf the straw-man burned on\nShrove Tuesday was made of an unthreshed sheaf of corn.[301] On the\nfirst Monday after the spring equinox the urchins of Zurich drag a\nstraw-man on a little cart through the streets, while at the same time\nthe girls carry about a May-tree. When vespers ring, the straw-man is\nburned.[302] In the district of Aachen on Ash Wednesday a man used to be\nencased in peas-straw and taken to an appointed place. Here he slipped\nquietly out of his straw casing, which was then burned, the children\nthinking that it was the man who was being burned.[303] In the Val di\nLedro (Tyrol) on the last day of the Carnival a figure is made up of\nstraw and brushwood and then burned. The figure is called the Old Woman,\nand the ceremony \"burning the Old Woman.\"[304]\n\n\n\u00a7 2. _The Easter Fires_\n\n\n[Fire-festivals on Easter Eve. Custom in Catholic countries of kindling\na holy new fire at the church on Easter Saturday; marvellous properties\nascribed to the embers of the fire; the burning of Judas.]\n\nAnother occasion on which these fire-festivals are held is Easter Eve,\nthe Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that day it has been customary in\nCatholic countries to extinguish all the lights in the churches, and\nthen to make a new fire, sometimes with flint and steel, sometimes with\na burning-glass. At this fire is lit the great Paschal or Easter candle,\nwhich is then used to rekindle all the extinguished lights in the\nchurch. In many parts of Germany a bonfire is also kindled, by means of\nthe new fire, on some open space near the church. It is consecrated, and\nthe people bring sticks of oak, walnut, and beech, which they char in\nthe fire, and then take home with them. Some of these charred sticks are\nthereupon burned at home in a newly-kindled fire, with a prayer that God\nwill preserve the homestead from fire, lightning, and hail. Thus every\nhouse receives \"new fire.\" Some of the sticks are kept throughout the\nyear and laid on the hearth-fire during heavy thunder-storms to prevent\nthe house from being struck by lightning, or they are inserted in the\nroof with the like intention. Others are placed in the fields, gardens,\nand meadows, with a prayer that God will keep them from blight and hail.\nSuch fields and gardens are thought to thrive more than others; the corn\nand the plants that grow in them are not beaten down by hail, nor\ndevoured by mice, vermin, and beetles; no witch harms them, and the ears\nof corn stand close and full. The charred sticks are also applied to the\nplough. The ashes of the Easter bonfire, together with the ashes of the\nconsecrated palm-branches, are mixed with the seed at sowing. A wooden\nfigure called Judas is sometimes burned in the consecrated bonfire, and\neven where this custom has been abolished the bonfire itself in some\nplaces goes by the name of \"the burning of Judas.\"[305]\n\n[Easter fires in Bavaria and the Abruzzi.]\n\nIn the Hollertau, Bavaria, the young men used to light their lanterns at\nthe newly-kindled Easter candle in the church and then race to the\nbonfire; he who reached it first set fire to the pile, and next day,\nEaster Sunday, was rewarded at the church-door by the housewives, who\npresented him with red eggs. Great was the jubilation while the effigy\nof the traitor was being consumed in the flames. The ashes were\ncarefully collected and thrown away at sunrise in running water.[306] In\nmany parts of the Abruzzi, also, pious people kindle their fires on\nEaster Saturday with a brand brought from the sacred new fire in the\nchurch. When the brand has thus served to bless the fire on the domestic\nhearth, it is extinguished, and the remainder is preserved, partly in a\ncranny of the outer wall of the house, partly on a tree to which it is\ntied. This is done for the purpose of guarding the homestead against\ninjury by storms. At Campo di Giove the people say that if you can get a\npiece of one of the three holy candles which the priest lights from the\nnew fire, you should allow a few drops of the wax to fall into the crown\nof your hat; for after that, if it should thunder and lighten, you have\nnothing to do but to clap the hat on your head, and no flash of\nlightning can possibly strike you.[307]\n\n[Water as well as fire consecrated in the Abruzzi on Easter Saturday;\nwater consecrated in Calabria on Easter Saturday; water and fire\nconsecrated on Easter Saturday among the Germans of Bohemia; Easter\nrites of fire and water at Hildesheim.]\n\nFurther, it deserves to be noted that in the Abruzzi water as well as\nfire is, as it were, renewed and consecrated on Easter Saturday. Most\npeople fetch holy water on that day from the churches, and every member\nof the family drinks a little of it, believing that it has power to\nprotect him or her against witchcraft, fever, and stomach-aches of all\nsorts. And when the church bells ring again after their enforced\nsilence, the water is sprinkled about the house, and especially under\nthe beds, with the help of a palm-branch. Some of this blessed water is\nalso kept in the house for use in great emergencies, when there is no\ntime to fetch a priest; thus it may be employed to baptize a newborn\ninfant gasping for life or to sprinkle a sick man in the last agony;\nsuch a sprinkling is reckoned equal to priestly absolution.[308] In\nCalabria the customs with regard to the new water, as it is called, on\nEaster Saturday are similar; it is poured into a new vessel, adorned\nwith ribbons and flowers, is blessed by the priest, and is tasted by\nevery one of the household, beginning with the parents. And when the air\nvibrates with the glad music of the church bells announcing the\nresurrection, the people sprinkle the holy water about the houses,\nbidding in a loud voice all evil things to go forth and all good things\nto come in. At the same time, to emphasize the exorcism, they knock on\ndoors, window-shutters, chests, and other domestic articles of\nfurniture. At Cetraro people who suffer from diseases of the skin bathe\nin the sea at this propitious moment; at Pietro in Guarano they plunge\ninto the river on the night of Easter Saturday before Easter Sunday\ndawns, and while they bathe they utter never a word. Moreover, the\nCalabrians keep the \"new water\" as a sacred thing. They believe that it\nserves as a protection against witchcraft if it is sprinkled on a fire\nor a lamp, when the wood crackles or the wick sputters; for they regard\nit as a bad omen when the fire talks, as they say.[309] Among the\nGermans of Western Bohemia, also, water as well as fire is consecrated\nby the priest in front of the church on Easter Saturday. People bring\njugs full of water to the church and set them beside the holy fire;\nafterwards they use the water to sprinkle on the palm-branches which are\nstuck in the fields. Charred sticks of the Judas fire, as it is\npopularly called, are supposed to possess a magical and healing virtue;\nhence the people take them home with them, and even scuffle with each\nother for the still glowing embers in order to carry them, still\nglimmering, to their houses and so obtain \"the light\" or \"the holy\nlight.\"[310] At Hildesheim, also, and the neighbouring villages of\ncentral Germany rites both of fire and water are or were till lately\nobserved at Easter. Thus on Easter night many people fetch water from\nthe Innerste river and keep it carefully, believing it to be a remedy\nfor many sorts of ailments both of man and beast. In the villages on the\nLeine river servant men and maids used to go silently on Easter night\nbetween the hours of eleven and twelve and silently draw water in\nbuckets from the river; they mixed the water with the fodder and the\ndrink of the cattle to make the animals thrive, and they imagined that\nto wash in it was good for human beings. Many were also of opinion that\nat the same mystic hour the water turned to wine as far as the crowing\nof a cock could be heard, and in this belief they laid themselves flat\non their stomachs and kept their tongues in the water till the\nmiraculous change occurred, when they took a great gulp of the\ntransformed water. At Hildesheim, too, and the neighbouring villages\nfires used to blaze on all the heights on Easter Eve; and embers taken\nfrom the bonfires were dipped in the cattle troughs to benefit the\nbeasts and were kept in the houses to avert lightning.[311]\n\n[New fire at Easter in Carinthia; consecration of fire and water by the\nCatholic Church at Easter.]\n\nIn the Lesachthal, Carinthia, all the fires in the houses used to be\nextinguished on Easter Saturday, and rekindled with a fresh fire brought\nfrom the churchyard, where the priest had lit it by the friction of\nflint and steel and had bestowed his blessing on it.[312] Such customs\nwere probably widespread. In a Latin poem of the sixteenth century,\nwritten by a certain Thomas Kirchmeyer and translated into English by\nBarnabe Googe, we read:--\n\n\"_On Easter Eve the fire all is quencht in every place,\nAnd fresh againe from out the flint is fetcht with solemne grace:\nThe priest doth halow this against great daungers many one,\nA brande whereof doth every man with greedie mind take home,\nThat when the fearefull storme appeares, or tempest black arise,\nBy lighting this he safe may be from stroke of hurtful skies:\nA taper great, the Paschall namde, with musicke then they blesse,\nAnd franckensence herein they pricke, for greater holynesse:\nThis burneth night and day as signe of Christ that conquerde hell,\nAs if so be this foolish toye suffiseth this to tell.\nThen doth the Bishop or the Priest, the water halow straight,\nThat for their baptisme is reservde: for now no more of waight\nIs that they usde the yeare before, nor can they any more,\nYong children christen with the same, as they have done before.\nWith wondrous pompe and furniture, amid the Church they go,\nWith candles, crosses, banners, Chrisme, and oyle appoynted tho:\nNine times about the font they marche, and on the saintes doe call,\nThen still at length they stande, and straight the Priest begins withall,\nAnd thrise the water doth he touche, and crosses thereon make,\nHere bigge and barbrous wordes he speakes, to make the devill quake:\nAnd holsome waters conjureth, and foolishly doth dresse,\nSupposing holyar that to make, which God before did blesse:\nAnd after this his candle than, he thrusteth in the floode,\nAnd thrise he breathes thereon with breath, that stinkes of former foode:\nAnd making here an ende, his Chrisme he poureth thereupon,\nThe people staring hereat stande, amazed every one;\nBeleeving that great powre is given to this water here,\nBy gaping of these learned men, and such like trifling gere.\nTherefore in vessels brought they draw, and home they carie some,\nAgainst the grieves that to themselves, or to their beastes may come.\nThen Clappers ceasse, and belles are set againe at libert\u00e9e,\nAnd herewithall the hungrie times of fasting ended b\u00e9e.\"_[313]\n\nIt is said that formerly all the fires in Rome were lighted afresh from\nthe holy fire kindled in St. Peter's on Easter Saturday.[314]\n\n[The new fire on Easter Saturday at Florence.]\n\nIn Florence the ceremony of kindling the new fire on Easter Eve is\npeculiar. The holy flame is elicited from certain flints which are said\nto have been brought by a member of the Pazzi family from the Holy Land.\nThey are kept in the church of the Holy Apostles on the Piazza del\nLimbo, and on the morning of Easter Saturday the prior strikes fire from\nthem and lights a candle from the new flame. The burning candle is then\ncarried in solemn procession by the clergy and members of the\nmunicipality to the high altar in the cathedral. A vast crowd has\nmeanwhile assembled in the cathedral and the neighbouring square to\nwitness the ceremony; amongst the spectators are many peasants drawn\nfrom the surrounding country, for it is commonly believed that on the\nsuccess or failure of the ceremony depends the fate of the crops for the\nyear. Outside the door of the cathedral stands a festal car drawn by two\nfine white oxen with gilded horns. The body of the car is loaded with a\npyramid of squibs and crackers and is connected by a wire with a pillar\nset up in front of the high altar. The wire extends down the middle of\nthe nave at a height of about six feet from the ground. Beneath it a\nclear passage is left, the spectators being ranged on either side and\ncrowding the vast interior from wall to wall. When all is ready, High\nMass is celebrated, and precisely at noon, when the first words of the\n_Gloria_ are being chanted, the sacred fire is applied to the pillar,\nwhich like the car is wreathed with fireworks. A moment more and a fiery\ndove comes flying down the nave, with a hissing sound and a sputter of\nsparks, between the two hedges of eager spectators. If all goes well,\nthe bird pursues its course along the wire and out at the door, and in\nanother moment a prolonged series of fizzes, pops and bangs announces to\nthe excited crowd in the cathedral that the fireworks on the car are\ngoing off. Great is the joy accordingly, especially among the bumpkins,\nwho are now sure of an abundant harvest. But if, as sometimes happens,\nthe dove stops short in its career and fizzles out, revealing itself as\na stuffed bird with a packet of squibs tied to its tail, great is the\nconsternation, and deep the curses that issue from between the set teeth\nof the clodhoppers, who now give up the harvest for lost. Formerly the\nunskilful mechanician who was responsible for the failure would have\nbeen clapped into gaol; but nowadays he is thought sufficiently punished\nby the storm of public indignation and the loss of his pay. The disaster\nis announced by placards posted about the streets in the evening; and\nnext morning the newspapers are full of gloomy prognostications.[315]\n\n[The new fire and burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Mexico.]\n\nSome of these customs have been transported by the Catholic Church to\nthe New World. Thus in Mexico the new fire is struck from a flint early\nin the morning of Easter Saturday, and a candle which has been lighted\nat the sacred flame is carried through the church by a deacon shouting\n\"_Lumen Christi_.\" Meantime the whole city, we are informed, has been\nconverted into a vast place of execution. Ropes stretch across the\nstreets from house to house, and from every house dangles an effigy of\nJudas, made of paper pulp. Scores or hundreds of them may adorn a single\nstreet. They are of all shapes and sizes, grotesque in form and garbed\nin strange attire, stuffed with gunpowder, squibs and crackers,\nsometimes, too, with meat, bread, soap, candy, and clothing, for which\nthe crowd will scramble and scuffle while the effigies are burning.\nThere they hang grim, black, and sullen in the strong sunshine, greeted\nwith a roar of execration by the pious mob. A peal of bells from the\ncathedral tower on the stroke of noon gives the signal for the\nexecution. At the sound a frenzy seizes the crowd. They throw themselves\nfuriously on the figures of the detested traitor, cut them down, hurl\nthem with curses into the fire, and fight and struggle with each other\nin their efforts to tear the effigies to tatters and appropriate their\ncontents. Smoke, stink, sputter of crackers, oaths, curses, yells are\nnow the order of the day. But the traitor does not perish unavenged. For\nthe anatomy of his frame has been cunningly contrived so as in burning\nto discharge volleys of squibs into his assailants; and the wounds and\nburns with which their piety is rewarded form a feature of the morning's\nentertainment. The English Jockey Club in Mexico used to improve on this\npopular pastime by suspending huge figures of Judas, stuffed with copper\ncoins, from ropes in front of their clubhouse. These were ignited at the\nproper moment and lowered within reach of the expectant rabble, and it\nwas the privilege of members of the club, seated in the balcony, to\nwatch the grimaces and to hear the shrieks of the victims, as they\nstamped and capered about with the hot coppers sticking to their hands,\ndivided in their minds between an acute sense of pain and a thirst for\nfilthy lucre.[316]\n\n[The burning of Judas at Easter in South America.]\n\nScenes of the same sort, though on a less ambitious scale, are witnessed\namong the Catholics of South America on the same day. In Brazil the\nmourning for the death of Christ ceases at noon on Easter Saturday and\ngives place to an extravagant burst of joy at his resurrection. Shots\nare fired everywhere, and effigies of Judas are hung on trees or dragged\nabout the streets, to be finally burned or otherwise destroyed.[317] In\nthe Indian villages scattered among the wild valleys of the Peruvian\nAndes figures of the traitor, made of pasteboard and stuffed with squibs\nand crackers, are hanged on gibbets before the door of the church on\nEaster Saturday. Fire is set to them, and while they crackle and\nexplode, the Indians dance and shout for joy at the destruction of their\nhated enemy.[318] Similarly at Rio Hacha, in Colombia, Judas is\nrepresented during Holy Week by life-sized effigies, and the people fire\nat them as if they were discharging a sacred duty.[319]\n\n[The new fire on Easter Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at\nJerusalem.]\n\nBut usages of this sort are not confined to the Latin Church; they are\ncommon to the Greek Church also. Every year on the Saturday before\nEaster Sunday a new fire is miraculously kindled at the Holy Sepulchre\nin Jerusalem. It descends from heaven and ignites the candles which the\npatriarch holds in his hands, while with closed eyes he wrestles in\nprayer all alone in the chapel of the Angel. The worshippers meanwhile\nwait anxiously in the body of the church, and great are their transports\nof joy when at one of the windows of the chapel, which had been all dark\na minute before, there suddenly appears the hand of an angel, or of the\npatriarch, holding a lighted taper. This is the sacred new fire; it is\npassed out to the expectant believers, and the desperate struggle which\nensues among them to get a share of its blessed influence is only\nterminated by the intervention of the Turkish soldiery, who restore\npeace and order by hustling the whole multitude impartially out of the\nchurch. In days gone by many lives were often lost in these holy\nscrimmages. For example, in the year 1834, the famous Ibrahim Pasha\nwitnessed the frantic scene from one of the galleries, and, being moved\nwith compassion at the sight, descended with a few guards into the arena\nin the chimerical hope of restoring peace and order among the contending\nChristians. He contrived to force his way into the midst of the dense\ncrowd, but there the heat and pressure were so great that he fainted\naway; a body of soldiers, seeing his danger, charged straight into the\nthrong and carried him out of it in their arms, trampling under foot the\ndying and dead in their passage. Nearly two hundred people were killed\nthat day in the church. The fortunate survivors on these occasions who\nsucceeded in obtaining a portion of the coveted fire applied it freely\nto their faces, their beards, and their garments. The theory was that\nthe fire, being miraculous, could only bless and not burn them; but the\npractical results of the experiment were often disappointing, for while\nthe blessings were more or less dubious, there could be no doubt\nwhatever about the burns.[320] The history of the miracle has been\ncarefully investigated by a Jesuit father. The conclusions at which he\narrives are that the miracle was a miracle indeed so long as the\nCatholics had the management of it; but that since it fell into the\nhands of the heretics it has been nothing but a barefaced trick and\nimposture.[321] Many people will be disposed to agree with the latter\nconclusion who might hesitate to accept the former.\n\n[The new fire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Greece.]\n\nAt Athens the new fire is kindled in the cathedral at midnight on Holy\nSaturday. A dense crowd with unlit candles in their hands fills the\nsquare in front of the cathedral; the king, the archbishop, and the\nhighest dignitaries of the church, arrayed in their gorgeous robes,\noccupy a platform; and at the exact moment of the resurrection the bells\nring out, and the whole square bursts as by magic into a blaze of light.\nTheoretically all the candles are lit from the sacred new fire in the\ncathedral, but practically it may be suspected that the matches which\nbear the name of Lucifer have some share in the sudden\nillumination.[322] Effigies of Judas used to be burned at Athens on\nEaster Saturday, but the custom has been forbidden by the Government.\nHowever, firing goes on more or less continuously all over the city both\non Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, and the cartridges used on this\noccasion are not always blank. The shots are aimed at Judas, but\nsometimes they miss him and hit other people. Outside of Athens the\npractice of burning Judas in effigy still survives in some places. For\nexample, in Cos a straw image of the traitor is made on Easter Day, and\nafter being hung up and shot at it is burned.[323] A similar custom\nappears to prevail at Thebes;[324] it used to be observed by the\nMacedonian peasantry, and it is still kept up at Therapia, a fashionable\nsummer resort of Constantinople.[325]\n\n[The new fire at Candlemas in Armenia.]\n\nIn the Armenian Church the sacred new fire is kindled not at Easter but\nat Candlemas, that is, on the second of February, or on the eve of that\nfestival. The materials of the bonfire are piled in an open space near a\nchurch, and they are generally ignited by young couples who have been\nmarried within the year. However, it is the bishop or his vicar who\nlights the candles with which fire is set to the pile. All young married\npairs are expected to range themselves about the fire and to dance round\nit. Young men leap over the flames, but girls and women content\nthemselves with going round them, while they pray to be preserved from\nthe itch and other skin-diseases. When the ceremony is over, the people\neagerly pick up charred sticks or ashes of the fire and preserve them or\nscatter them on the four corners of the roof, in the cattle-stall, in\nthe garden, and on the pastures; for these holy sticks and ashes protect\nmen and cattle against disease, and fruit-trees against worms and\ncaterpillars. Omens, too, are drawn from the direction in which the wind\nblows the flames and the smoke: if it carries them eastward, there is\nhope of a good harvest; but if it inclines them westward, the people\nfear that the crops will fail.[326]\n\n[The new fire and the burning of Judas at Easter are probably relics of\npaganism.]\n\nIn spite of the thin cloak of Christianity thrown over these customs by\nrepresenting the new fire as an emblem of Christ and the figure burned\nin it as an effigy of Judas, we can hardly doubt that both practices are\nof pagan origin. Neither of them has the authority of Christ or of his\ndisciples; but both of them have abundant analogies in popular custom\nand superstition. Some instances of the practice of annually\nextinguishing fires and relighting them from a new and sacred flame have\nalready come before us;[327] but a few examples may here be cited for\nthe sake of illustrating the wide diffusion of a custom which has found\nits way into the ritual both of the Eastern and of the Western Church.\n\n[The new fire at the summer solstice among the Incas of Peru;\nthe new fire among the Indians of Mexico and New Mexico; the new fire\namong the Esquimaux.]\n\nThe Incas of Peru celebrated a festival called Raymi, a word which their\nnative historian Garcilasso de la Vega tells us was equivalent to our\nEaster. It was held in honour of the sun at the solstice in June. For\nthree days before the festival the people fasted, men did not sleep with\ntheir wives, and no fires were lighted in Cuzco, the capital. The sacred\nnew fire was obtained direct from the sun by concentrating his beams on\na highly polished concave plate and reflecting them on a little cotton\nwool. With this holy fire the sheep and lambs offered to the sun were\nconsumed, and the flesh of such as were to be eaten at the festival was\nroasted. Portions of the new fire were also conveyed to the temple of\nthe sun and to the convent of the sacred virgins, where they were kept\nburning all the year, and it was an ill omen if the holy flame went\nout.[328] At a festival held in the last month of the old Mexican year\nall the fires both in the temples and in the houses were extinguished,\nand the priest kindled a new fire by rubbing two sticks against each\nother before the image of the fire-god.[329] The Zuni Indians of New\nMexico kindle a new fire by the friction of wood both at the winter and\nthe summer solstice. At the winter solstice the chosen fire-maker\ncollects a faggot of cedar-wood from every house in the village, and\neach person, as he hands the wood to the fire-maker, prays that the\ncrops may be good in the coming year. For several days before the new\nfire is kindled, no ashes or sweepings may be removed from the houses\nand no artificial light may appear outside of them, not even a burning\ncigarette or the flash of firearms. The Indians believe that no rain\nwill fall on the fields of the man outside whose house a light has been\nseen at this season. The signal for kindling the new fire is given by\nthe rising of the Morning Star. The flame is produced by twirling an\nupright stick between the hands on a horizontal stick laid on the floor\nof a sacred chamber, the sparks being caught by a tinder of cedar-dust.\nIt is forbidden to blow up the smouldering tinder with the breath, for\nthat would offend the gods. After the fire has thus been ceremonially\nkindled, the women and girls of all the families in the village clean\nout their houses. They carry the sweepings and ashes in baskets or bowls\nto the fields and leave them there. To the sweepings the woman says: \"I\nnow deposit you as sweepings, but in one year you will return to me as\ncorn.\" And to the ashes she says: \"I now deposit you as ashes, but in\none year you will return to me as meal.\" At the summer solstice the\nsacred fire which has been procured by the friction of wood is used to\nkindle the grass and trees, that there may be a great cloud of smoke,\nwhile bull-roarers are swung and prayers offered that the Rain-makers up\naloft will water the earth.[330] From this account we see how intimately\nthe kindling of a new fire at the two turning-points of the sun's course\nis associated in the minds of these Indians with the fertility of the\nland, particularly with the growth of the corn. The rolling smoke is\napparently an imitation of rain-clouds designed, on the principle of\nhomoeopathic magic, to draw showers from the blue sky. Once a year the\nIroquois priesthood supplied the people with a new fire. As a\npreparation for the annual rite the fires in all the huts were\nextinguished and the ashes scattered about. Then the priest, wearing the\ninsignia of his office, went from hut to hut relighting the fires by\nmeans of a flint.[331] Among the Esquimaux with whom C.F. Hall resided,\nit was the custom that at a certain time, which answered to our New\nYear's Day, two men went about from house to house blowing out every\nlight in the village. One of the men was dressed to represent a woman.\nAfterwards the lights were rekindled from a fresh fire. An Esquimau\nwoman being asked what all this meant, replied, \"New sun--new\nlight.\"[332] Among the Esquimaux of Iglulik, when the sun first rises\nabove the horizon after the long night of the Arctic winter, the\nchildren who have watched for his reappearance run into the houses and\nblow out the lamps. Then they receive from their mothers presents of\npieces of wick.[333]\n\n[The new fire in Wadai, among the Swahili, and in other parts of\nAfrica.]\n\nIn the Sudanese kingdom of Wadai all the fires in the villages are put\nout and the ashes removed from the houses on the day which precedes the\nNew Year festival. At the beginning of the new year a new fire is lit by\nthe friction of wood in the great straw hut where the village elders\nlounge away the sultry hours together; and every man takes thence a\nburning brand with which he rekindles the fire on his domestic\nhearth.[334] In the Bahr-el-Ghazal province of the Egyptian Sudan the\npeople extinguish their old fires at the Arab New Year and bring in new\nfire. On the same occasion they beat the walls of their huts, the grass\nthatches, and the walls of their enclosures in order to drive away the\ndevil or evil spirits. The beating of the walls and roofs is accompanied\nby the firing of guns, the shouting of men, and the shriller cries of\nthe women.[335] Thus these people combine an annual expulsion of demons\nwith an annual lighting of a new fire. Among the Swahili of East Africa\nthe greatest festival is that of the New Year, which falls in the second\nhalf of August. At a given moment all the fires are extinguished with\nwater and afterwards relit by the friction of two dry pieces of wood.\nThe ashes of the old fires are carried out and deposited at cross-roads.\nAll the people get up very early in the morning and bathe in the sea or\nsome other water, praying to be kept in good health and to live that\nthey may bathe again next year. Sham-fights form part of the amusements\nof the day; sometimes they pass into grim reality. Indeed the day was\nformerly one of general license; every man did that which was good in\nhis own eyes. No awkward questions were asked about any crimes committed\non this occasion, so some people improved the shining hour by knocking a\nfew poor devils on the head. Shooting still goes on during the whole\nday, and at night the proceedings generally wind up with a great\ndance.[336] The King of Benametapa, as the early Portuguese traders\ncalled him, in East Africa used to send commissioners annually to every\ntown in his dominions; on the arrival of one of these officers the\ninhabitants of each town had to put out all their fires and to receive a\nnew fire from him. Failure to comply with this custom was treated as\nrebellion.[337] Some tribes of British Central Africa carefully\nextinguish the fires on the hearths at the beginning of the hoeing\nseason and at harvest; the fires are afterwards rekindled by friction,\nand the people indulge in dances of various kinds.[338]\n\n[The new fire among the Todas of Southern India and among the Nagas of\nNorth-Eastern India.]\n\nThe Todas of the Neilgheny Hills, in Southern India, annually kindle a\nsacred new fire by the friction of wood in the month which begins with\nthe October moon. The ceremony is performed by two holy dairymen at the\nfoot of a high hill. When they have lighted the fire by rubbing two dry\nsticks together, and it begins to burn well, they stand a little way off\nand pray, saying, \"May the young grass flower! May honey flourish! May\nfruit ripen!\" The purpose of the ceremony is to make the grass and honey\nplentiful. In ancient times the Todas lived largely on wild fruits, and\nthen the rite of the new fire was very important. Now that they subsist\nchiefly on the milk of their buffaloes, the ceremony has lost much of\nits old significance.[339] When the Nagas of North-Eastern India have\nfelled the timber and cut down the scrub in those patches of jungle\nwhich they propose to cultivate, they put out all the fires in the\nvillage and light a new fire by rubbing two dry pieces of wood together.\nThen having kindled torches at it they proceed with them to the jungle\nand ignite the felled timber and brushwood. The flesh of a cow or\nbuffalo is also roasted on the new fire and furnishes a sacrificial\nmeal.[340] Near the small town of Kahma in Burma, between Prome and\nThayetmyo, certain gases escape from a hollow in the ground and burn\nwith a steady flame during the dry season of the year. The people regard\nthe flame as the forge of a spectral smith who here carried on his\nbusiness after death had removed him from his old smithy in the village.\nOnce a year all the household fires in Kahma are extinguished and then\nlighted afresh from the ghostly flame.[341]\n\n[The new fire in China and Japan.]\n\nIn China every year, about the beginning of April, certain officials,\ncalled _Sz'h\u00fcen_, used of old to go about the country armed with wooden\nclappers. Their business was to summon the people and command them to\nput out every fire. This was the beginning of a season called\n_Han-shih-tsieh_, or \"eating cold food.\" For three days all household\nfires remained extinct as a preparation for the solemn renewal of the\nfire, which took place on the fifth or sixth day of April, being the\nhundred and fifth day after the winter solstice. The ceremony was\nperformed with great pomp by the same officials, who procured the new\nfire from heaven by reflecting the sun's rays either from a metal mirror\nor from a crystal on dry moss. Fire thus obtained is called by the\nChinese heavenly fire, and its use is enjoined in sacrifices; whereas\nfire elicited by the friction of wood is termed by them earthly fire,\nand its use is prescribed for cooking and other domestic purposes. When\nonce the new fire had thus been drawn from the sun, all the people were\nfree to rekindle their domestic hearths; and, as a Chinese distich has\nit--\n\n\"_At the festival of the cold food there are a thousand white stalks\n    among the flowers;\nOn the day Tsing-ming, at sunrise, you may see the smoke of ten\nthousand houses_.\"\n\nAccording to a Chinese philosopher, the reason for thus renewing fire\nperiodically is that the vital principle grows weaker and weaker in old\nfire, whereas in new fire it is young and vigorous. This annual renewal\nof fire was a ceremony of very great antiquity in China, since it is\nknown to have been observed in the time of the first dynasty, about two\nthousand years before Christ. Under the Tcheou dynasty a change in the\ncalendar led to shifting the fire-festival from spring to the summer\nsolstice, but afterwards it was brought back to its original date.\nAlthough the custom appears to have long fallen into disuse, the\nbarbarous inhabitants of Hainan, an island to the south of China, still\ncall a year \"a fire,\" as if in memory of the time when the years were\nreckoned by the annually recurring ceremony of rekindling the sacred\nfire.[342] \"A Japanese book written two centuries ago informs us that\nsticks resembling the wands used for offerings at the purification\nceremony were part shaven and set up in bundles at the four corners of\nthe Gion shrine on the last day of the year. The priests, after prayers\nwere recited, broke up the bundles and set fire to the sticks, which the\npeople then carried home to light their household fires with for the New\nYear. The object of this ceremony was to avert pestilence.\"[343]\n\n[The new fire in ancient Greece and Rome.]\n\nIn classical antiquity the Greek island of Lemnos was devoted to the\nworship of the smith-god Hephaestus, who was said to have fallen on it\nwhen Zeus hurled him from heaven.[344] Once a year every fire in the\nisland was extinguished and remained extinct for nine days, during which\nsacrifices were offered to the dead and to the infernal powers. New fire\nwas brought in a ship from the sacred isle of Delos, and with it the\nfires in the houses and the workshops were relit. The people said that\nwith the new fire they made a new beginning of life. If the ship that\nbore the sacred flame arrived too soon, it might not put in to shore,\nbut had to cruise in the offing till the nine days were expired.[345] At\nRome the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta was kindled anew every year\non the first of March, which used to be the beginning of the Roman\nyear;[346] the task of lighting it was entrusted to the Vestal Virgins,\nand they performed it by drilling a hole in a board of lucky wood till\nthe flame was elicited by friction. The new fire thus produced was\ncarried into the temple of Vesta by one of the virgins in a bronze\nsieve.[347]\n\n[The new fire at Hallow E'en among the old Celts of Ireland; the new\nfire on September 1st among the Russian peasants.]\n\nAmong the Celts of Ireland a new fire was annually kindled on Hallowe'en\nor the Eve of Samhain, as they called it, the last day of October, from\nwhich the Irish new year began; and all the hearths throughout the\ncountry are said to have been relighted from the fresh fire. The place\nwhere this holy flame was lit bore the name of Tlachtga or Tlactga; it\nhas been identified with a rath or native fort on the Hill of Ward near\nAthboy in the county of Meath. \"It was there,\" says the old Irish\nhistorian, Geoffrey Keating, \"that the Festival of the Fire of Tlactga\nwas ordered to be held, and it was thither that the Druids of Ireland\nwere wont to repair and to assemble, in solemn meeting, on the eve of\nSamhain, for the purpose of making a sacrifice to all the gods. It was\nin that fire at Tlactga, that their sacrifice was burnt; and it was made\nobligatory, under pain of punishment, to extinguish all the fires of\nIreland, on that eve; and the men of Ireland were allowed to kindle no\nother fire but that one; and for each of the other fires, which were all\nto be lighted from it, the king of Munster was to receive a tax of a\n_sgreball_, that is, of three pence, because the land, upon which\nTlactga was built, belongs to the portion of Meath which had been taken\nfrom Munster.\"[348] In the villages near Moscow at the present time the\npeasants put out all their fires on the eve of the first of September,\nand next morning at sunrise a wise man or a wise woman rekindles them\nwith the help of muttered incantations and spells.[349]\n\n[Thus the ceremony of the new fire in the Eastern and Western Church is\nprobably a relic of an old heathen rite.]\n\nInstances of such practices might doubtless be multiplied, but the\nforegoing examples may suffice to render it probable that the\necclesiastical ceremony of lighting a sacred new fire on Easter Saturday\nhad originally nothing to do with Christianity, but is merely one case\nof a world-wide custom which the Church has seen fit to incorporate in\nits ritual. It might be supposed that in the Western Church the custom\nwas merely a survival of the old Roman usage of renewing the fire on the\nfirst of March, were it not that the observance by the Eastern Church of\nthe custom on the same day seems to point back to a still older period\nwhen the ceremony of lighting a new fire in spring, perhaps at the\nvernal equinox, was common to many peoples of the Mediterranean area. We\nmay conjecture that wherever such a ceremony has been observed, it\noriginally marked the beginning of a new year, as it did in ancient Rome\nand Ireland, and as it still does in the Sudanese kingdom of Wadai and\namong the Swahili of Eastern Africa.\n\n[The pagan character of the Easter fire appears from the superstitions\nassociated with it, such as the belief that the fire fertilizes the\nfields and protects houses from conflagration and sickness.]\n\nThe essentially pagan character of the Easter fire festival appears\nplainly both from the mode in which it is celebrated by the peasants and\nfrom the superstitious beliefs which they associate with it. All over\nnorthern and central Germany, from Altmark and Anhalt on the east,\nthrough Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg, the Harz district, and Hesse to\nWestphalia the Easter bonfires still blaze simultaneously on the\nhill-tops. As many as forty may sometimes be counted within sight at\nonce. Long before Easter the young people have been busy collecting\nfirewood; every farmer contributes, and tar-barrels, petroleum cases,\nand so forth go to swell the pile. Neighbouring villages vie with each\nother as to which shall send up the greatest blaze. The fires are always\nkindled, year after year, on the same hill, which accordingly often\ntakes the name of Easter Mountain. It is a fine spectacle to watch from\nsome eminence the bonfires flaring up one after another on the\nneighbouring heights. As far as their light reaches, so far, in the\nbelief of the peasants, the fields will be fruitful, and the houses on\nwhich they shine will be safe from conflagration or sickness. At\nVolkmarsen and other places in Hesse the people used to observe which\nway the wind blew the flames, and then they sowed flax seed in that\ndirection, confident that it would grow well. Brands taken from the\nbonfires preserve houses from being struck by lightning; and the ashes\nincrease the fertility of the fields, protect them from mice, and mixed\nwith the drinking-water of cattle make the animals thrive and ensure\nthem against plague. As the flames die down, young and old leap over\nthem, and cattle are sometimes driven through the smouldering embers. In\nsome places tar-barrels or wheels wrapt in straw used to be set on fire,\nand then sent rolling down the hillside. In others the boys light\ntorches and wisps of straw at the bonfires and rush about brandishing\nthem in their hands. Where the people are divided between Protestantism\nand Catholicism, as in Hildesheim, it has been observed that among\nProtestants the Easter bonfires are generally left to the boys, while in\nCatholic districts they are cared for by grown-up persons, and here the\nwhole population will gather round the blazing pile and join in singing\nchoral hymns, which echo far and wide in the stillness of night.[350]\n\n[The Easter fires in M\u00fcnsterland, Oldenburg, the Harz Mountains and the\nAltmark.]\n\nIn M\u00fcnsterland these Easter fires are always kindled upon certain\ndefinite hills, which are hence known as Easter or Paschal Mountains.\nThe whole community assembles about the fire. Fathers of families form\nan inner circle round it. An outer circle is composed of the young men\nand maidens, who, singing Easter hymns, march round and round the fire\nin the direction of the sun, till the blaze dies down. Then the girls\njump over the fire in a line, one after the other, each supported by two\nyoung men who hold her hands and run beside her. When the fire has\nburned out, the whole assembly marches in solemn procession to the\nchurch, singing hymns. They go thrice round the church, and then break\nup. In the twilight boys with blazing bundles of straw run over the\nfields to make them fruitful.[351] At Delmenhorst, in Oldenburg, it used\nto be the custom to cut down two trees, plant them in the ground side by\nside, and pile twelve tar-barrels, one above the other, against each of\nthe trees. Brushwood was then heaped about the trees, and on the evening\nof Easter Saturday the boys, after rushing about with blazing beanpoles\nin their hands, set fire to the whole. At the end of the ceremony the\nurchins tried to blacken each other and the clothes of grown-up\npeople.[352] In Schaumburg the Easter bonfires may be seen blazing on\nall the mountains around for miles. They are made with a tar-barrel\nfastened to a pine-tree, which is wrapt in straw. The people dance\nsinging round them.[353] In the Harz Mountains the fire is commonly made\nby piling brushwood about a tree and setting it on fire. At Osterode\nevery one tries to snatch a brand from the bonfire and runs about with\nit; the better it burns, the more lucky it is. In Grund there are\ntorch-races.[354] In the Altmark the Easter bonfires are composed of\ntar-barrels, bee-hives, and so forth, piled round a pole. The young folk\ndance round the fire; and when it has died out, the old folk come and\ncollect the ashes, which they preserve as a remedy for the ailments of\nbees. It is also believed that as far as the blaze of the bonfire is\nvisible, the corn will grow well throughout the year, and no\nconflagration will break out.[355] At Braunr\u00f6de, in the Harz Mountains,\nit was the custom to burn squirrels in the Easter bonfire.[356] In the\nAltmark, bones were burned in it.[357]\n\n[The Easter fires in Bavaria; the burning of Judas; burning the Easter\nMan.]\n\nFurther south the Easter fires are, or used to be, lit in many districts\nof Bavaria. Thus on Easter Monday in some parts of Middle Franken the\nschoolboys collect all the old worn-out besoms they can lay hands on,\nand march with them in a long procession to a neighbouring height. When\nthe first chime of the evening bell comes up from the dale they set fire\nto the brooms, and run along the ridges waving them, so that seen from\nbelow the hills appear to be crested with a twinkling and moving chain\nof fire.[358] In some parts of Upper Bavaria at Easter burning arrows or\ndiscs of wood were shot from hill-tops high into the air, as in the\nSwabian and Swiss customs already described.[359] At Oberau, instead of\nthe discs, an old cart-wheel was sometimes wrapt in straw, ignited, and\nsent rolling and blazing down the mountain. The lads who hurled the\ndiscs received painted Easter eggs from the girls.[360] Near Forchheim,\nin Upper Franken, a straw-man called the Judas used to be burned in the\nchurchyards on Easter Saturday. The whole village contributed wood to\nthe pyre on which he perished, and the charred sticks were afterwards\nkept and planted in the fields on Walpurgis Day (the first of May) to\npreserve the wheat from blight and mildew.[361] About a hundred years\nago or more the custom at Althenneberg, in Upper Bavaria, used to be as\nfollows. On the afternoon of Easter Saturday the lads collected wood,\nwhich they piled in a cornfield, while in the middle of the pile they\nset up a tall wooden cross all swathed in straw. After the evening\nservice they lighted their lanterns at the consecrated candle in the\nchurch, and ran with them at full speed to the pyre, each striving to\nget there first. The first to arrive set fire to the heap. No woman or\ngirl might come near the bonfire, but they were allowed to watch it from\na distance. As the flames rose the men and lads rejoiced and made merry,\nshouting, \"We are burning the Judas!\" Two of them had to watch the\nglowing embers the whole night long, lest people should come and steal\nthem. Next morning at sunrise they carefully collected the ashes, and\nthrew them into the running water of the R\u00f6ten brook. The man who had\nbeen the first to reach the pyre and to kindle it was rewarded on Easter\nSunday by the women, who gave him coloured eggs at the church door.\nWell-to-do women gave him two; poorer women gave him only one. The\nobject of the whole ceremony was to keep off the hail. About a century\nago the Judas fire, as it was called, was put down by the police.[362]\nAt Giggenhausen and Aufkirchen, two other villages of Upper Bavaria, a\nsimilar custom prevailed, yet with some interesting differences. Here\nthe ceremony, which took place between nine and ten at night on Easter\nSaturday, was called \"burning the Easter Man.\" On a height about a mile\nfrom the village the young fellows set up a tall cross enveloped in\nstraw, so that it looked like a man with his arms stretched out. This\nwas the Easter Man. No lad under eighteen years of age might take part\nin the ceremony. One of the young men stationed himself beside the\nEaster Man, holding in his hand a consecrated taper which he had brought\nfrom the church and lighted. The rest stood at equal intervals in a\ngreat circle round the cross. At a given signal they raced thrice round\nthe circle, and then at a second signal ran straight at the cross and at\nthe lad with the lighted taper beside it; the one who reached the goal\nfirst had the right of setting fire to the Easter Man. Great was the\njubilation while he was burning. When he had been consumed in the\nflames, three lads were chosen from among the rest, and each of the\nthree drew a circle on the ground with a stick thrice round the ashes.\nThen they all left the spot. On Easter Monday the villagers gathered the\nashes and strewed them on their fields; also they planted in the fields\npalm-branches which had been consecrated on Palm Sunday, and sticks\nwhich had been charred and hallowed on Good Friday, all for the purpose\nof protecting their fields against showers of hail. The custom of\nburning an Easter Man made of straw on Easter Saturday was observed also\nat Abensberg, in Lower Bavaria.[363] In some parts of Swabia the Easter\nfires might not be kindled with iron or steel or flint, but only by the\nfriction of wood.[364]\n\n[The Easter fires in Baden; \"Thunder poles.\"]\n\nIn Baden bonfires are still kindled in the churchyards on Easter\nSaturday, and ecclesiastical refuse of various sorts, such as\ncandle-ends, old surplices, and the wool used by the priest in the\napplication of extreme unction, is consumed in the flames. At Zoznegg\ndown to about 1850 the fire was lighted by the priest by means of a\nflint which had never been used before. People bring sticks, especially\noaken sticks, char them in the fire, and then carry them home and keep\nthem in the house as a preservative against lightning. At Zoznegg these\noaken sticks were sword-shaped, each about an ell and a half long, and\nthey went by the name of \"weather or thunder poles\" (_Wetterpf\u00e4hle_).\nWhen a thunderstorm threatened to break out, one of the sticks was put\ninto a small fire, in order that the hallowed smoke, ascending to the\nclouds, might ward off the lightning from the house and the hail from\nthe fields and gardens. At Sch\u00f6llbronn the oaken sticks, which are thus\ncharred in the Easter bonfire and kept in the house as a protective\nagainst thunder and lightning, are three in number, perhaps with an\nallusion to the Trinity; they are brought every Easter to be consecrated\nafresh in the bonfire, till they are quite burnt away. In the lake\ndistrict of Baden it is also customary to burn one of these holy sticks\nin the fire when a heavy thunderstorm is raging.[365] Hence it seems\nthat the ancient association of the oak with the thunder[366] persists\nin the minds of German peasants to the present day.\n\n[Easter fires in Holland and Sweden; the burning of Judas in Bohemia.]\n\nThus the custom of the Easter fires appears to have prevailed all over\ncentral and western Germany from north to south. We find it also in\nHolland, where the fires were kindled on the highest eminences, and the\npeople danced round them and leaped through the flames or over the\nglowing embers. Here too, as so often in Germany, the materials for the\nbonfire were collected by the young folk from door to door.[367] In many\nparts of Sweden firearms are, as at Athens, discharged in all directions\non Easter eve, and huge bonfires are lighted on hills and eminences.\nSome people think that the intention is to keep off the Troll and other\nevil spirits who are especially active at this season.[368] When the\nafternoon service on Good Friday is over, German children in Bohemia\ndrive Judas out of the church by running about the sacred edifice and\neven the streets shaking rattles and clappers. Next day, on Easter\nSaturday, the remains of the holy oil are burnt before the church door\nin a fire which must be kindled with flint and steel. This fire is\ncalled \"the burning of Judas,\" but in spite of its evil name a\nbeneficent virtue is ascribed to it, for the people scuffle for the\ncinders, which they put in the roofs of their houses as a safeguard\nagainst fire and lightning.[369]\n\n\n\u00a7 3. _The Beltane Fires_\n\n\n[The Beltane fires on the first of May in the Highlands of Scotland;\ndescription of the Beltane fires by John Ramsay of Ochtertyre in the\neighteenth century.]\n\nIn the central Highlands of Scotland bonfires, known as the Beltane\nfires, were formerly kindled with great ceremony on the first of May,\nand the traces of human sacrifices at them were particularly clear and\nunequivocal. The custom of lighting the bonfires lasted in various\nplaces far into the eighteenth century, and the descriptions of the\nceremony by writers of that period present such a curious and\ninteresting picture of ancient heathendom surviving in our own country\nthat I will reproduce them in the words of their authors. The fullest of\nthe descriptions, so far as I know, is the one bequeathed to us by John\nRamsay, laird of Ochtertyre, near Crieff, the patron of Burns and the\nfriend of Sir Walter Scott. From his voluminous manuscripts, written in\nthe last quarter of the eighteenth century, a selection was published in\nthe latter part of the nineteenth century. The following account of\nBeltane is extracted from a chapter dealing with Highland superstitions.\nRamsay says: \"But the most considerable of the Druidical festivals is\nthat of Beltane, or May-day, which was lately observed in some parts of\nthe Highlands with extraordinary ceremonies. Of later years it is\nchiefly attended to by young people, persons advanced in years\nconsidering it as inconsistent with their gravity to give it any\ncountenance. Yet a number of circumstances relative to it may be\ncollected from tradition, or the conversation of very old people, who\nwitnessed this feast in their youth, when the ancient rites were better\nobserved.\n\n[Need-fire.]\n\n\"This festival is called in Gaelic _Beal-tene_--i.e., the fire of\nBel.... Like the other public worship of the Druids, the Beltane feast\nseems to have been performed on hills or eminences. They thought it\ndegrading to him whose temple is the universe, to suppose that he would\ndwell in any house made with hands. Their sacrifices were therefore\noffered in the open air, frequently upon the tops of hills, where they\nwere presented with the grandest views of nature, and were nearest the\nseat of warmth and order. And, according to tradition, such was the\nmanner of celebrating this festival in the Highlands within the last\nhundred years. But since the decline of superstition, it has been\ncelebrated by the people of each hamlet on some hill or rising ground\naround which their cattle were pasturing. Thither the young folks\nrepaired in the morning, and cut a trench, on the summit of which a seat\nof turf was formed for the company. And in the middle a pile of wood or\nother fuel was placed, which of old they kindled with _tein-eigin_--\ni.e., forced-fire or _need-fire_. Although, for many years past, they\nhave been contented with common fire, yet we shall now describe the\nprocess, because it will hereafter appear that recourse is still had to\nthe _tein-eigin_ upon extraordinary emergencies.\n\n[Need-fire kindled by the friction of oak wood.]\n\n\"The night before, all the fires in the country were carefully\nextinguished, and next morning the materials for exciting this sacred\nfire were prepared. The most primitive method seems to be that which was\nused in the islands of Skye, Mull, and Tiree. A well-seasoned plank of\noak was procured, in the midst of which a hole was bored. A wimble of\nthe same timber was then applied, the end of which they fitted to the\nhole. But in some parts of the mainland the machinery was different.\nThey used a frame of green wood, of a square form, in the centre of\nwhich was an axle-tree. In some places three times three persons, in\nothers three times nine, were required for turning round by turns the\naxle-tree or wimble. If any of them had been guilty of murder, adultery,\ntheft, or other atrocious crime, it was imagined either that the fire\nwould not kindle, or that it would be devoid of its usual virtue. So\nsoon as any sparks were emitted by means of the violent friction, they\napplied a species of agaric which grows on old birch-trees, and is very\ncombustible. This fire had the appearance of being immediately derived\nfrom heaven, and manifold were the virtues ascribed to it. They esteemed\nit a preservative against witchcraft, and a sovereign remedy against\nmalignant diseases, both in the human species and in cattle; and by it\nthe strongest poisons were supposed to have their nature changed.\n\n[The Beltane cake and the Beltane carline (_cailleach_).]\n\n\"After kindling the bonfire with the _tein-eigin_ the company prepared\ntheir victuals. And as soon as they had finished their meal, they amused\nthemselves a while in singing and dancing round the fire. Towards the\nclose of the entertainment, the person who officiated as master of the\nfeast produced a large cake baked with eggs and scalloped round the\nedge, called _am bonnach beal-tine--i.e._ the Beltane cake. It was\ndivided into a number of pieces, and distributed in great form to the\ncompany. There was one particular piece which whoever got was called\n_cailleach beal-tine--i.e._, the Beltane _carline_, a term of great\nreproach. Upon his being known, part of the company laid hold of him and\nmade a show of putting him into the fire; but the majority interposing,\nhe was rescued. And in some places they laid him flat on the ground,\nmaking as if they would quarter him. Afterwards, he was pelted with\negg-shells, and retained the odious appellation during the whole year.\nAnd while the feast was fresh in people's memory, they affected to speak\nof the _cailleach beal-tine_ as dead.\n\n\"This festival was longest observed in the interior Highlands, for\ntowards the west coast the traces of it are faintest. In Glenorchy and\nLorne, a large cake is made on that day, which they consume in the\nhouse; and in Mull it has a large hole in the middle, through which each\nof the cows in the fold is milked. In Tiree it is of a triangular form.\nThe more elderly people remember when this festival was celebrated\nwithout-doors with some solemnity in both these islands. There are at\npresent no vestiges of it in Skye or the Long Island, the inhabitants of\nwhich have substituted the _connach Micheil_ or St. Michael's cake. It\nis made at Michaelmas with milk and oatmeal, and some eggs are sprinkled\non its surface. Part of it is sent to the neighbours.\n\n\"It is probable that at the original Beltane festival there were two\nfires kindled near one another. When any person is in a critical\ndilemma, pressed on each side by unsurmountable difficulties, the\nHighlanders have a proverb, _The e' eada anda theine bealtuin_--i.e., he\nis between the two Beltane fires. There are in several parts small round\nhills, which, it is like, owe their present names to such solemn uses.\nOne of the highest and most central in Icolmkil is called\n_Cnoch-nan-ainneal_--i.e., the hill of the fires. There is another of\nthe same name near the kirk of Balquhidder; and at Killin there is a\nround green eminence which seems to have been raised by art. It is\ncalled _Tom-nan-ainneal_--i.e., the eminence of the fires. Around it\nthere are the remains of a circular wall about two feet high. On the top\na stone stands upon end. According to the tradition of the inhabitants,\nit was a place of Druidical worship; and it was afterwards pitched on as\nthe most venerable spot for holding courts of justice for the country of\nBreadalbane. The earth of this eminence is still thought to be possessed\nof some healing virtue, for when cattle are observed to be diseased some\nof it is sent for, which is rubbed on the part affected.\"[370]\n\n[Local differences in the Beltane cakes; evidence of two fires at\nBeltane; Beltane pies and cakes in the parish of Callander.]\n\nIn the parish of Callander, a beautiful district of western Perthshire,\nthe Beltane custom was still in vogue towards the end of the eighteenth\ncentury. It has been described as follows by the parish minister of the\ntime: \"Upon the first day of May, which is called _Beltan_, or\n_Bal-tein_ day, all the boys in a township or hamlet, meet in the moors.\nThey cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by casting a\ntrench in the ground, of such circumference as to hold the whole\ncompany. They kindle a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk in the\nconsistence of a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted\nat the embers against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they\ndivide the cake into so many portions, as similar as possible to one\nanother in size and shape, as there are persons in the company. They\ndaub one of these portions all over with charcoal, until it be perfectly\nblack. They put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet. Every one,\nblindfold, draws out a portion. He who holds the bonnet, is entitled to\nthe last bit. Whoever draws the black bit, is the _devoted_ person who\nis to be sacrificed to _Baal_[371] whose favour they mean to implore, in\nrendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and beast. There\nis little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices having been once offered in\nthis country, as well as in the east, although they now pass from the\nact of sacrificing, and only compel the _devoted_ person to leap three\ntimes through the flames; with which the ceremonies of this festival are\nclosed.\"[372]\n\n[Pennant's description of the Beltane fires and cakes in Perthshire.]\n\nThomas Pennant, who travelled in Perthshire in the year 1769, tells us\nthat \"on the first of May, the herdsmen of every village hold their\nBel-tien, a rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench on the ground,\nleaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a fire of wood, on\nwhich they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk; and\nbring besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky;\nfor each of the company must contribute something. The rites begin with\nspilling some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation: on that\nevery one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square\nknobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver\nof their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the real\ndestroyer of them: each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks\noff a knob, and flinging it over his shoulders, says, 'This I give to\nthee, preserve thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep; and\nso on,' After that, they use the-same ceremony to the noxious animals:\n'This I give to thee, O fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O hooded\ncrow! this to thee, O eagle!' When the ceremony is over, they dine on\nthe caudle; and after the feast is finished, what is left is hid by two\npersons deputed for that purpose; but on the next Sunday they\nre-assemble, and finish the reliques of the first entertainment\"[373]\n\n[Beltane cakes and fires in the parishes of Logierait and Kirkmichael;\nomens drawn from the cakes.]\n\nAnother writer of the eighteenth century has described the Beltane\nfestival as it was held in the parish of Logierait in Perthshire. He\nsays: \"On the first of May, O.S., a festival called _Beltan_ is annually\nheld here. It is chiefly celebrated by the cow-herds, who assemble by\nscores in the fields, to dress a dinner for themselves, of boiled milk\nand eggs. These dishes they eat with a sort of cakes baked for the\noccasion, and having small lumps in the form of _nipples_, raised all\nover the surface.\"[374] In this last account no mention is made of\nbonfires, but they were probably lighted, for a contemporary writer\ninforms us that in the parish of Kirkmichael, which adjoins the parish\nof Logierait on the east, the custom of lighting a fire in the fields\nand baking a consecrated cake on the first of May was not quite obsolete\nin his time.[375] We may conjecture that the cake with knobs was\nformerly used for the purpose of determining who should be the \"Beltane\ncarline\" or victim doomed to the flames. A trace of this custom\nsurvived, perhaps, in the custom of baking oatmeal cakes of a special\nkind and rolling them down hill about noon on the first of May; for it\nwas thought that the person whose cake broke as it rolled would die or\nbe unfortunate within the year. These cakes, or bannocks as we call them\nin Scotland, were baked in the usual way, but they were washed over with\na thin batter composed of whipped egg, milk or cream, and a little\noatmeal. This custom appears to have prevailed at or near Kingussie in\nInverness-shire. At Achterneed, near Strathpeffer in Ross-shire, the\nBeltane bannocks were called _tcharnican_ or hand-cakes, because they\nwere kneaded entirely in the hand, and not on a board or table like\ncommon cakes; and after being baked they might not be placed anywhere\nbut in the hands of the children who were to eat them.[376]\n\n[Beltane fires in the north-east of Scotland to burn the witches; the\nBeltane cake.]\n\nIn the north-east of Scotland the Beltane fires were still kindled in\nthe latter half of the eighteenth century; the herdsmen of several farms\nused to gather dry wood, kindle it, and dance three times \"southways\"\nabout the burning pile.[377] But in this region, according to a later\nauthority, the Beltane fires were lit not on the first but on the second\nof May, Old Style. They were called bone-fires. The people believed that\non that evening and night the witches were abroad and busy casting\nspells on cattle and stealing cows' milk. To counteract their\nmachinations, pieces of rowan-tree and woodbine, but especially of\nrowan-tree, were placed over the doors of the cow-houses, and fires were\nkindled by every farmer and cottar. Old thatch, straw, furze, or broom\nwas piled in a heap and set on fire a little after sunset. While some of\nthe bystanders kept tossing the blazing mass, others hoisted portions of\nit on pitchforks or poles and ran hither and thither, holding them as\nhigh as they could. Meantime the young people danced round the fire or\nran through the smoke shouting, \"Fire! blaze and burn the witches; fire!\nfire! burn the witches.\" In some districts a large round cake of oat or\nbarley meal was rolled through the ashes. When all the fuel was\nconsumed, the people scattered the ashes far and wide, and till the\nnight grew quite dark they continued to run through them, crying, \"Fire!\nburn the witches.\"[378]\n\n[Beltane cakes and fires in the Hebrides.]\n\nIn the Hebrides \"the Beltane bannock is smaller than that made at St.\nMichael's, but is made in the same way; it is no longer made in Uist,\nbut Father Allan remembers seeing his grandmother make one about\ntwenty-five years ago. There was also a cheese made, generally on the\nfirst of May, which was kept to the next Beltane as a sort of charm\nagainst the bewitching of milk-produce. The Beltane customs seem to have\nbeen the same as elsewhere. Every fire was put out and a large one lit\non the top of the hill, and the cattle driven round it sunwards\n(_dessil_), to keep off murrain all the year. Each man would take home\nfire wherewith to kindle his own.\"[379]\n\n[Beltane fires and cakes in Wales.]\n\nIn Wales also the custom of lighting Beltane fires at the beginning of\nMay used to be observed, but the day on which they were kindled varied\nfrom the Eve of May Day to the third of May. The flame was sometimes\nelicited by the friction of two pieces of oak, as appears from the\nfollowing description. \"The fire was done in this way. Nine men would\nturn their pockets inside out, and see that every piece of money and all\nmetals were off their persons. Then the men went into the nearest woods,\nand collected sticks of nine different kinds of trees. These were\ncarried to the spot where the fire had to be built. There a circle was\ncut in the sod, and the sticks were set crosswise. All around the circle\nthe people stood and watched the proceedings. One of the men would then\ntake two bits of oak, and rub them together until a flame was kindled.\nThis was applied to the sticks, and soon a large fire was made.\nSometimes two fires were set up side by side. These fires, whether one\nor two, were called _coelcerth_ or bonfire. Round cakes of oatmeal and\nbrown meal were split in four, and placed in a small flour-bag, and\neverybody present had to pick out a portion. The last bit in the bag\nfell to the lot of the bag-holder. Each person who chanced to pick up a\npiece of brown-meal cake was compelled to leap three times over the\nflames, or to run thrice between the two fires, by which means the\npeople thought they were sure of a plentiful harvest. Shouts and screams\nof those who had to face the ordeal could be heard ever so far, and\nthose who chanced to pick the oatmeal portions sang and danced and\nclapped their hands in approval, as the holders of the brown bits leaped\nthree times over the flames, or ran three times between the two fires.\nAs a rule, no danger attended these curious celebrations, but\noccasionally somebody's clothes caught fire, which was quickly put out.\nThe greatest fire of the year was the eve of May, or May first, second,\nor third. The Midsummer Eve fire was more for the harvest. Very often a\nfire was built on the eve of November. The high ground near the Castle\nDitches at Llantwit Major, in the Vale of Glamorgan, was a familiar spot\nfor the Beltane on May third and on Midsummer Eve.... Sometimes the\nBeltane fire was lighted by the flames produced by stone instead of wood\nfriction. Charred logs and faggots used in the May Beltane were\ncarefully preserved, and from them the next fire was lighted. May fires\nwere always started with old faggots of the previous year, and midsummer\nfrom those of the last summer. It was unlucky to build a midsummer fire\nfrom May faggots. People carried the ashes left after these fires to\ntheir homes, and a charred brand was not only effectual against\npestilence, but magical in its use. A few of the ashes placed in a\nperson's shoes protected the wearer from any great sorrow or woe.\"[380]\n\n[Welsh belief that passage over or between the fires ensured good\ncrops.]\n\nFrom the foregoing account we learn that bonfires were kindled in Wales\non Midsummer Eve and Hallowe'en (the thirty-first of October), as well\nas at the beginning of May, but that the Beltane fires in May were\ndeemed the most important. To the Midsummer Eve and Hallowe'en fires we\nshall return presently. The belief of the people that by leaping thrice\nover the bonfires or running thrice between them they ensured a\nplentiful harvest is worthy of note. The mode in which this result was\nsupposed to be brought about is indicated by another writer on Welsh\nfolk-lore, according to whom it used to be held that \"the bonfires\nlighted in May or Midsummer protected the lands from sorcery, so that\ngood crops would follow. The ashes were also considered valuable as\ncharms.\"[381] Hence it appears that the heat of the fires was thought to\nfertilize the fields, not directly by quickening the seeds in the\nground, but indirectly by counteracting the baleful influence of\nwitchcraft or perhaps by burning up the persons of the witches.\n\n[Beltane fires in the Isle of Man to burn the witches; Beltane fires in\nNottinghamshire.]\n\n\"The Druidical anniversary of Beil or Baal is still celebrated in the\nIsle of Man. On the first of May, 1837, the Baal fires were, as usual on\nthat day, so numerous as to give the island the appearance of a general\nconflagration.\"[382] By May Day in Manx folk-lore is meant May Day Old\nStyle, or _Shenn Laa Boaldyn_, as it is called in Manx. The day was one\non which the power of elves and witches was particularly dreaded, and\nthe people resorted to many precautions in order to protect themselves\nagainst these mischievous beings. Hence at daybreak they set fire to the\nling or gorse, for the purpose of burning out the witches, who are wont\nto lurk in the form of hares.[383] On the Hemlock Stone, a natural\npillar of sandstone standing on Stapleford Hill in Nottinghamshire, a\nfire used to be solemnly kindled every year on Beltane Eve. The custom\nseems to have survived down to the beginning of the nineteenth century;\nold people could remember and describe the ceremony long after it had\nfallen into desuetude.[384]\n\n[Beltane fires in Ireland.]\n\nThe Beltane fires appear to have been kindled also in Ireland, for\nCormac, \"or somebody in his name, says that _belltaine_, May-day, was so\ncalled from the 'lucky fire,' or the 'two fires,' which the druids of\nErin used to make on that day with great incantations; and cattle, he\nadds, used to be brought to those fires, or to be driven between them,\nas a safeguard against the diseases of the year.\"[385] Again, a very\nancient Irish poem, enumerating the May Day celebrations, mentions among\nthem a bonfire on a hill (_tendal ar cnuc_); and another old authority\nsays that these fires were kindled in the name of the idol-god Bel.[386]\nFrom an old life of St. Patrick we learn that on a day in spring the\nheathen of Ireland were wont to extinguish all their fires until a new\nfire was kindled with solemn ceremony in the king's house at Tara. In\nthe year in which St. Patrick landed in Ireland it chanced that the\nnight of the extinguished fires coincided with the Eve of Easter; and\nthe saint, ignorant of this pagan superstition, resolved to celebrate\nhis first Easter in Ireland after the true Christian fashion by lighting\nthe holy Paschal fire on the hill of Slane, which rises high above the\nleft bank of the Boyne, about twelve miles from the mouth of the river.\nSo that night, looking from his palace at Tara across the darkened\nlandscape, the king of Tara saw the solitary fire flaring on the top of\nthe hill of Slane, and in consternation he asked his wise men what that\nlight meant. They warned him of the danger that it betokened for the\nancient faith of Erin.[387] In spite of the difference of date between\nEaster and Beltane, we may suspect that the new fire annually kindled\nwith solemn ceremony about Easter in the king of Ireland's palace at\nTara was no other than the Beltane fire. We have seen that in the\nHighlands of Scotland down to modern times it was customary to\nextinguish all fires in the neighbourhood before proceeding to kindle\nthe sacred flame.[388] The Irish historian Geoffrey Keating, who wrote\nin the first part of the seventeenth century, tells us that the men of\nIreland held a great fair every year in the month of May at Uisnech\n(_Ushnagh_) in the county of Meath, \"and at it they were wont to\nexchange their goods and their wares and their jewels. At it, they were,\nalso, wont to make a sacrifice to the Arch-God that they adored, whose\nname was B\u00e8l (_bayl_). It was, likewise, their usage to light two fires\nto B\u00e8l, in every district of Ireland, at this season, and to drive a\npair of each kind of cattle that the district contained, between those\ntwo fires, as a preservative to guard them against all the diseases of\nthat year. It is from that fire, thus made in honour of B\u00e8l, that the\nday [the first of May] on which the noble feast of the apostles, Philip\nand James, is held, has been called B\u00e8ltaini, or B\u00e8altaine\n(_Bayltinnie_); for Beltaini is the same as B\u00e8il-tein\u00e8, i.e. Tein\u00e9 Bh\u00e8il\n(_Tinnie Vayl_) or B\u00e8l's Fire.\"[389] The custom of driving cattle\nthrough or between fires on May Day or the eve of May Day persisted in\nIreland down to a time within living memory. Thus Sir John Rhys was\ninformed by a Manxman that an Irish cattle-dealer of his acquaintance\nused to drive his cattle through fire on May Day so as to singe them a\nlittle, since he believed that it would preserve them from harm. When\nthe Manxman was asked where the dealer came from, he answered, \"From the\nmountains over there,\" pointing to the Mourne Mountains then looming\nfaintly in the mists on the western horizon.[390]\n\n[Fires on the Eve of May Day in Sweden; fires on the Eve of May Day in\nAustria and Saxony for the purpose of burning the witches.]\n\nThe first of May is a great popular festival in the more midland and\nsouthern parts of Sweden. On the eve of the festival, huge bonfires,\nwhich should be lighted by striking two flints together, blaze on all\nthe hills and knolls. Every large hamlet has its own fire, round which\nthe young people dance in a ring. The old folk notice whether the flames\nincline to the north or to the south. In the former case, the spring\nwill be cold and backward; in the latter, it will be mild and\ngenial.[391] Similarly, in Bohemia, on the eve of May Day, young people\nkindle fires on hills and eminences, at crossways, and in pastures, and\ndance round them. They leap over the glowing embers or even through the\nflames. The ceremony is called \"burning the witches.\" In some places an\neffigy representing a witch used to be burnt in the bonfire.[392] We\nhave to remember that the eve of May Day is the notorious Walpurgis\nNight, when the witches are everywhere speeding unseen through the air\non their hellish errands. On this witching night children in Voigtland\nalso light bonfires on the heights and leap over them. Moreover, they\nwave burning brooms or toss them into the air. So far as the light of\nthe bonfire reaches, so far will a blessing rest on the fields. The\nkindling of the fires on Walpurgis Night is called \"driving away the\nwitches.\"[393] The custom of kindling fires on the eve of May Day\n(Walpurgis Night) for the purpose of burning the witches is, or used to\nbe, widespread in the Tyrol, Moravia, Saxony and Silesia.[394]\n\n\n\u00a7 4. _The Midsummer Fires_\n\n\n[The great season for fire-festivals in Europe is the summer solstice,\nMidsummer Eve or Midsummer Day, which the church has dedicated to St.\nJohn the Baptist; the bonfires, the torches, and the burning wheels of\nthe festival.]\n\nBut the season at which these fire-festivals have been mostly generally\nheld all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is Midsummer Eve (the\ntwenty-third of June) or Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June). A\nfaint tinge of Christianity has been given to them by naming Midsummer\nDay after St. John the Baptist, but we cannot doubt that the celebration\ndates from a time long before the beginning of our era. The summer\nsolstice, or Midsummer Day, is the great turning-point in the sun's\ncareer, when, after climbing higher and higher day by day in the sky,\nthe luminary stops and thenceforth retraces his steps down the heavenly\nroad. Such a moment could not but be regarded with anxiety by primitive\nman so soon as he began to observe and ponder the courses of the great\nlights across the celestial vault; and having still to learn his own\npowerlessness in face of the vast cyclic changes of nature, he may have\nfancied that he could help the sun in his seeming decline--could prop\nhis failing steps and rekindle the sinking flame of the red lamp in his\nfeeble hand. In some such thoughts as these the midsummer festivals of\nour European peasantry may perhaps have taken their rise. Whatever their\norigin, they have prevailed all over this quarter of the globe, from\nIreland on the west to Russia on the east, and from Norway and Sweden on\nthe north to Spain and Greece on the south.[395] According to a medi\u00e6val\nwriter, the three great features of the midsummer celebration were the\nbonfires, the procession with torches round the fields, and the custom\nof rolling a wheel. He tells us that boys burned bones and filth of\nvarious kinds to make a foul smoke, and that the smoke drove away\ncertain noxious dragons which at this time, excited by the summer heat,\ncopulated in the air and poisoned the wells and rivers by dropping their\nseed into them; and he explains the custom of trundling a wheel to mean\nthat the sun, having now reached the highest point in the ecliptic,\nbegins thenceforward to descend.[396]\n\n[T. Kirchmeyer's description of the Midsummer Festival.]\n\nA good general account of the midsummer customs, together with some of\nthe reasons popularly alleged for observing them, is given by Thomas\nKirchmeyer, a writer of the sixteenth century, in his poem _The Popish\nKingdome_:--\n\n\"_Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his turne,\nWhen bonfiers great with loftie flame, in every towne doe burne;\nAnd yong men round about with maides, doe daunce in every streete,\nWith garlands wrought of Motherwort, or else with Vervain sweete,\nAnd many other flowres faire, with Violets in their handes,\nWhereas they all do fondly thinke, that whosoever standes,\nAnd thorow the flowres beholds the flame, his eyes shall feele no paine.\nWhen thus till night they daunced have, they through the fire amaine\nWith striving mindes doe runne, and all their hearbes they cast therin,\nAnd then with wordes devout and prayers, they solemnely begin,\nDesiring God that all their illes may there consumed bee,\nWhereby they thinke through all that yeare from Agues to be free.\nSome others get a rotten wheele, all worne and cast aside,\nWhich covered round about with strawe, and tow, they closely hide:\nAnd caryed to some mountaines top, being all with fire light,\nThey hurle it downe with violence, when darke appeares the night:\nResembling much the Sunne, that from the heavens downe should fal,\nA straunge and monstrous sight it seemes, and fearfull to them all;\nBut they suppose their mischiefes all are likewise throwne to hell,\nAnd that from harmes and daungers now, in safetie here they dwell_.\"[397]\n\nFrom these general descriptions, which to some extent still hold good,\nor did so till lately, we see that the main features of the midsummer\nfire-festival resemble those which we have found to characterize the\nvernal festivals of fire. The similarity of the two sets of ceremonies\nwill plainly appear from the following examples.\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Germany; the celebration at Konz on the Moselle:\nthe rolling of a burning wheel down hill.]\n\nA writer of the first half of the sixteenth century informs us that in\nalmost every village and town of Germany public bonfires were kindled on\nthe Eve of St. John, and young and old, of both sexes, gathered about\nthem and passed the time in dancing and singing. People on this occasion\nwore chaplets of mugwort and vervain, and they looked at the fire\nthrough bunches of larkspur which they held in their hands, believing\nthat this would preserve their eyes in a healthy state throughout the\nyear. As each departed, he threw the mugwort and vervain into the fire,\nsaying, \"May all my ill-luck depart and be burnt up with these.\"[398] At\nLower Konz, a village prettily situated on a hillside overlooking the\nMoselle, in the midst of a wood of walnut-trees and fruit-trees, the\nmidsummer festival used to be celebrated as follows. A quantity of straw\nwas collected on the top of the steep Stromberg Hill. Every inhabitant,\nor at least every householder, had to contribute his share of straw to\nthe pile; a recusant was looked at askance, and if in the course of the\nyear he happened to break a leg or lose a child, there was not a gossip\nin the village but knew the reason why. At nightfall the whole male\npopulation, men and boys, mustered on the top of the hill; the women and\ngirls were not allowed to join them, but had to take up their position\nat a certain spring half-way down the slope. On the summit stood a huge\nwheel completely encased in some of the straw which had been jointly\ncontributed by the villagers; the rest of the straw was made into\ntorches. From each side of the wheel the axle-tree projected about three\nfeet, thus furnishing handles to the lads who were to guide it in its\ndescent. The mayor of the neighbouring town of Sierck, who always\nreceived a basket of cherries for his services, gave the signal; a\nlighted torch was applied to the wheel, and as it burst into flame, two\nyoung fellows, strong-limbed and swift of foot, seized the handles and\nbegan running with it down the slope. A great shout went up. Every man\nand boy waved a blazing torch in the air, and took care to keep it\nalight so long as the wheel was trundling down the hill. Some of them\nfollowed the fiery wheel, and watched with amusement the shifts to which\nits guides were put in steering it round the hollows and over the broken\nground on the mountainside. The great object of the young men who guided\nthe wheel was to plunge it blazing into the water of the Moselle; but\nthey rarely succeeded in their efforts, for the vineyards which cover\nthe greater part of the declivity impeded their progress, and the wheel\nwas often burned out before it reached the river. As it rolled past the\nwomen and girls at the spring, they raised cries of joy which were\nanswered by the men on the top of the mountain; and the shouts were\nechoed by the inhabitants of neighbouring villages who watched the\nspectacle from their hills on the opposite bank of the Moselle. If the\nfiery wheel was successfully conveyed to the bank of the river and\nextinguished in the water, the people looked for an abundant vintage\nthat year, and the inhabitants of Konz had the right to exact a\nwaggon-load of white wine from the surrounding vineyards. On the other\nhand, they believed that, if they neglected to perform the ceremony, the\ncattle would be attacked by giddiness and convulsions and would dance in\ntheir stalls.[399]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Bavaria; Cattle driven through the fire; the new\nfire; omens of the harvest drawn from the fires; burning discs thrown\ninto the air.]\n\nDown at least to the middle of the nineteenth century the midsummer\nfires used to blaze all over Upper Bavaria. They were kindled especially\non the mountains, but also far and wide in the lowlands, and we are told\nthat in the darkness and stillness of night the moving groups, lit up by\nthe flickering glow of the flames, presented an impressive spectacle. In\nsome places the people shewed their sense of the sanctity of the fires\nby using for fuel the trees past which the gay procession had defiled,\nwith fluttering banners, on Corpus Christi Day. In others the children\ncollected the firewood from door to door on the eve of the festival,\nsinging their request for fuel at every house in doggerel verse. Cattle\nwere driven through the fire to cure the sick animals and to guard such\nas were sound against plague and harm of every kind throughout the year.\nMany a householder on that day put out the fire on the domestic hearth\nand rekindled it by means of a brand taken from the midsummer bonfire.\nThe people judged of the height to which the flax would grow in the year\nby the height to which the flames of the bonfire rose; and whoever\nleaped over the burning pile was sure not to suffer from backache in\nreaping the corn at harvest. But it was especially the practice for\nlovers to spring over the fire hand in hand, and the way in which each\ncouple made the leap was the subject of many a jest and many a\nsuperstition. In one district the custom of kindling the bonfires was\ncombined with that of lighting wooden discs and hurling them in the air\nafter the manner which prevails at some of the spring festivals.[400] In\nmany parts of Bavaria it was believed that the flax would grow as high\nas the young people leaped over the fire.[401] In others the old folk\nused to plant three charred sticks from the bonfire in the fields,\nbelieving that this would make the flax grow tall.[402] Elsewhere an\nextinguished brand was put in the roof of the house to protect it\nagainst fire. In the towns about W\u00fcrzburg the bonfires used to be\nkindled in the market-places, and the young people who jumped over them\nwore garlands of flowers, especially of mugwort and vervain, and carried\nsprigs of larkspur in their hands. They thought that such as looked at\nthe fire holding a bit of larkspur before their face would be troubled\nby no malady of the eyes throughout the year.[403] Further, it was\ncustomary at W\u00fcrzburg, in the sixteenth century, for the bishop's\nfollowers to throw burning discs of wood into the air from a mountain\nwhich overhangs the town. The discs were discharged by means of flexible\nrods, and in their flight through the darkness presented the appearance\nof fiery dragons.[404]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Swabia; omens drawn from the leaps over the\nfires; burning wheels rolled down hill; burning the Angel-Man at\nRottenburg.]\n\nIn the valley of the Lech, which divides Upper Bavaria from Swabia, the\nmidsummer customs and beliefs are, or used to be, very similar. Bonfires\nare kindled on the mountains on Midsummer Day; and besides the bonfire a\ntall beam, thickly wrapt in straw and surmounted by a cross-piece, is\nburned in many places. Round this cross as it burns the lads dance with\nloud shouts; and when the flames have subsided, the young people leap\nover the fire in pairs, a young man and a young woman together. If they\nescape unsmirched, the man will not suffer from fever, and the girl will\nnot become a mother within the year. Further, it is believed that the\nflax will grow that year as high as they leap over the fire; and that if\na charred billet be taken from the fire and stuck in a flax-field it\nwill promote the growth of the flax.[405] Similarly in Swabia, lads and\nlasses, hand in hand, leap over the midsummer bonfire, praying that the\nhemp may grow three ells high, and they set fire to wheels of straw and\nsend them rolling down the hill. Among the places where burning wheels\nwere thus bowled down hill at Midsummer were the Hohenstaufen mountains\nin Wurtemberg and the Frauenberg near Gerhausen.[406] At Deffingen, in\nSwabia, as the people sprang over the midsummer bonfire they cried out,\n\"Flax, flax! may the flax this year grow seven ells high!\"[407] At\nRottenburg in Swabia, down to the year 1807 or 1808, the festival was\nmarked by some special features. About mid-day troops of boys went about\nthe town begging for firewood at the houses. In each troop there were\nthree leaders, one of whom carried a dagger, a second a paper banner,\nand a third a white plate covered with a white cloth. These three\nentered each house and recited verses, in which they expressed an\nintention of roasting Martin Luther and sending him to the devil; and\nfor this meritorious service they expected to be paid, the contributions\nbeing received in the cloth-covered plate. In the evening they counted\nup their money and proceeded to \"behead the Angel-man.\" For this\nceremony an open space was chosen, sometimes in the middle of the town.\nHere a stake was thrust into the ground and straw wrapt about it, so as\nto make a rude effigy of human form with arms, head, and face. Every boy\nbrought a handful of nosegays and fastened them to the straw-man, who\nwas thus enveloped in flowers. Fuel was heaped about the stake and set\non fire. When the Angel-man, as the straw-effigy was called, blazed up,\nall the boys of the neighbourhood, who had gathered expectantly around,\nfell upon him with their wooden swords and hewed him to pieces. As soon\nas he had vanished in smoke and flame, the lads leaped backward and\nforward over the glowing embers, and later in the evening they feasted\non the proceeds of their collection.[408] Here the Angel-man burnt in\nthe fire appears to be identified with Martin Luther, to whom, as we\nhave seen, allusion was made during the house-to-house visitation. The\nidentification was probably modern, for we may assume that the custom of\nburning an effigy in the Midsummer bonfire is far older than the time of\nLuther.\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Baden; omens drawn from leaps over the fires;\nburning discs thrown into the air; Midsummer fires in Alsace, Lorraine,\nthe Eifel, the Harz districts and Thuringia; burning barrel swung round\na pole.]\n\nIn Baden the children used to collect fuel from house to house for the\nMidsummer bonfire on St. John's Day; and lads and lasses leaped over the\nfire in couples. Here, as elsewhere, a close connexion was traced\nbetween these bonfires and the harvest. In some places it was thought\nthat those who leaped over the fires would not suffer from backache at\nreaping. Sometimes, as the young folk sprang over the flames, they\ncried, \"Grow, that the hemp may be three ells high!\" This notion that\nthe hemp or the corn would grow as high as the flames blazed or as the\npeople jumped over them, seems to have been widespread in Baden. It was\nheld that the parents of the young people who bounded highest over the\nfire would have the most abundant harvest; and on the other hand, if a\nman contributed nothing to the bonfire, it was imagined that there would\nbe no blessing on his crops, and that his hemp in particular would never\ngrow.[409] In the neighbourhood of B\u00fchl and Achern the St. John's fires\nwere kindled on the tops of hills; only the unmarried lads of the\nvillage brought the fuel, and only the unmarried young men and women\nsprang through the flames. But most of the villagers, old and young,\ngathered round the bonfires, leaving a clear space for the leapers to\ntake their run. One of the bystanders would call out the names of a pair\nof sweethearts; on which the two would step out from the throng, take\neach other by the hand, and leap high and lightly through the swirling\nsmoke and flames, while the spectators watched them critically and drew\nomens of their married life from the height to which each of them\nbounded. Such an invitation to jump together over the bonfire was\nregarded as tantamount to a public betrothal.[410] Near Offenburg, in\nthe Black Forest, on Midsummer Day the village boys used to collect\nfaggots and straw on some steep and conspicuous height, and they spent\nsome time in making circular wooden discs by slicing the trunk of a\npine-tree across. When darkness had fallen, they kindled the bonfire,\nand then, as it blazed up, they lighted the discs at it, and, after\nswinging them to and fro at the end of a stout and supple hazel-wand,\nthey hurled them one after the other, whizzing and flaming, into the\nair, where they described great arcs of fire, to fall at length, like\nshooting-stars, at the foot of the mountain.[411] In many parts of\nAlsace and Lorraine the midsummer fires still blaze annually or did so\nnot very many years ago.[412] At Speicher in the Eifel, a district which\nlies on the middle Rhine, to the west of Coblentz, a bonfire used to be\nkindled in front of the village on St. John's Day, and all the young\npeople had to jump over it. Those who failed to do so were not allowed\nto join the rest in begging for eggs from house to house. Where no eggs\nwere given, they drove a wedge into the keyhole of the door. On this day\nchildren in the Eifel used also to gather flowers in the fields, weave\nthem into garlands, and throw the garlands on the roofs or hang them on\nthe doors of the houses. So long as the flowers remained there, they\nwere supposed to guard the house from fire and lightning.[413] In the\nsouthern Harz district and in Thuringia the Midsummer or St. John's\nfires used to be commonly lighted down to about the middle of the\nnineteenth century, and the custom has probably not died out. At\nEdersleben, near Sangerhausen, a high pole was planted in the ground and\na tar-barrel was hung from it by a chain which reached to the ground.\nThe barrel was then set on fire and swung round the pole amid shouts of\njoy.[414]\n\n[Midsummer fires kindled by the friction of wood in Germany and\nSwitzerland; driving away demons and witches.]\n\nAccording to one account, German tradition required that the midsummer\nfire should be lighted, not from a common hearth, but by the friction of\ntwo sorts of wood, namely oak and fir.[415] In some old farm-houses of\nthe Surenthal and Winenthal, in Switzerland, a couple of holes or a\nwhole row of them may be seen facing each other in the door-posts of the\nbarn or stable. Sometimes the holes are smooth and round; sometimes they\nare deeply burnt and blackened. The explanation of them is this. About\nmidsummer, but especially on Midsummer Day, two such holes are bored\nopposite each other, into which the extremities of a strong pole are\nfixed. The holes are then stuffed with tow steeped in resin and oil; a\nrope is looped round the pole, and two young men, who must be brothers\nor must have the same baptismal name, and must be of the same age, pull\nthe ends of the rope backwards and forwards so as to make the pole\nrevolve rapidly, till smoke and sparks issue from the two holes in the\ndoor-posts. The sparks are caught and blown up with tinder, and this is\nthe new and pure fire, the appearance of which is greeted with cries of\njoy. Heaps of combustible materials are now ignited with the new fire,\nand blazing bundles are placed on boards and sent floating down the\nbrook. The boys light torches at the new fire and run to fumigate the\npastures. This is believed to drive away all the demons and witches that\nmolest the cattle. Finally the torches are thrown in a heap on the\nmeadow and allowed to burn out. On their way back the boys strew the\nashes over the fields, which is supposed to make them fertile. If a\nfarmer has taken possession of a new house, or if servants have changed\nmasters, the boys fumigate the new abode and are rewarded by the farmer\nwith a supper.[416]\n\n[Midsummer fires in Silesia; scaring away the witches.]\n\nIn Silesia, from the south-eastern part of the Sudeten range and\nnorth-westward as far as Lausitz, the mountains are ablaze with bonfires\non Midsummer Eve; and from the valleys and the plains round about\nLeobsch\u00fctz, Neustadt, Z\u00fclz, Oels, and other places answering fires\ntwinkle through the deepening gloom. While they are smouldering and\nsending forth volumes of smoke across the fields, young men kindle\nbroom-stumps, soaked in pitch, at the bonfires and then, brandishing the\nstumps, which emit showers of sparks, they chase one another or dance\nwith the girls round the burning pile. Shots, too, are fired, and shouts\nraised. The fire, the smoke, the shots, and the shouts are all intended\nto scare away the witches, who are let loose on this witching day, and\nwho would certainly work harm to the crops and the cattle, if they were\nnot deterred by these salutary measures. Mere contact with the fire\nbrings all sorts of blessings. Hence when the bonfire is burning low,\nthe lads leap over it, and the higher they bound, the better is the luck\nin store for them. He who surpasses his fellows is the hero of the day\nand is much admired by the village girls. It is also thought to be very\ngood for the eyes to stare steadily at the bonfire without blinking;\nmoreover he who does so will not drowse and fall asleep betimes in the\nlong winter evenings. On Midsummer Eve the windows and doors of houses\nin Silesia are crowned with flowers, especially with the blue\ncornflowers and the bright corn-cockles; in some villages long strings\nof garlands and nosegays are stretched across the streets. The people\nbelieve that on that night St. John comes down from heaven to bless the\nflowers and to keep all evil things from house and home.[417]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Denmark and Norway; keeping off the witches; the\nMidsummer fires in Sweden.]\n\nIn Denmark and Norway also Midsummer fires were kindled on St. John's\nEve on roads, open spaces, and hills. People in Norway thought that the\nfires banished sickness from among the cattle.[418] Even yet the fires\nare said to be lighted all over Norway on the night of June the\ntwenty-third, Midsummer Eve, Old Style. As many as fifty or sixty\nbonfires may often be counted burning on the hills round Bergen.\nSometimes fuel is piled on rafts, ignited, and allowed to drift blazing\nacross the fiords in the darkness of night. The fires are thought to be\nkindled in order to keep off the witches, who are said to be flying from\nall parts that night to the Blocksberg, where the big witch lives.[419]\nIn Sweden the Eve of St. John (St. Hans) is the most joyous night of the\nwhole year. Throughout some parts of the country, especially in the\nprovinces of Bohus and Scania and in districts bordering on Norway, it\nis celebrated by the frequent discharge of firearms and by huge\nbonfires, formerly called Balder's Balefires (_Balder's Balar_), which\nare kindled at dusk on hills and eminences and throw a glare of light\nover the surrounding landscape. The people dance round the fires and\nleap over or through them. In parts of Norrland on St. John's Eve the\nbonfires are lit at the cross-roads. The fuel consists of nine different\nsorts of wood, and the spectators cast into the flames a kind of\ntoad-stool (_B\u00e4ran_) in order to counteract the power of the Trolls and\nother evil spirits, who are believed to be abroad that night; for at\nthat mystic season the mountains open and from their cavernous depths\nthe uncanny crew pours forth to dance and disport themselves for a time.\nThe peasants believe that should any of the Trolls be in the vicinity\nthey will shew themselves; and if an animal, for example a he or she\ngoat, happens to be seen near the blazing, crackling pile, the peasants\nare firmly persuaded that it is no other than the Evil One in\nperson.[420] Further, it deserves to be remarked that in Sweden St.\nJohn's Eve is a festival of water as well as of fire; for certain holy\nsprings are then supposed to be endowed with wonderful medicinal\nvirtues, and many sick people resort to them for the healing of their\ninfirmities.[421]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Switzerland and Austria; effigies burnt in the\nfires; burning wheels rolled down hill.]\n\nIn Switzerland on Midsummer Eve fires are, or used to be, kindled on\nhigh places in the cantons of Bern, Neuchatel, Valais, and Geneva.[422]\nIn Austria the midsummer customs and superstitions resemble those of\nGermany. Thus in some parts of the Tyrol bonfires are kindled and\nburning discs hurled into the air.[423] In the lower valley of the Inn a\ntaterdemalian effigy is carted about the village on Midsummer Day and\nthen burned. He is called the _Lotter_, which has been corrupted into\nLuther. At Ambras, one of the villages where Martin Luther is thus\nburned in effigy, they say that if you go through the village between\neleven and twelve on St. John's Night and wash yourself in three wells,\nyou will see all who are to die in the following year.[424] At Gratz on\nSt. John's Eve (the twenty-third of June) the common people used to make\na puppet called the _Tatermann_, which they dragged to the bleaching\nground, and pelted with burning besoms till it took fire.[425] At\nReutte, in the Tyrol, people believed that the flax would grow as high\nas they leaped over the midsummer bonfire, and they took pieces of\ncharred wood from the fire and stuck them in their flax-fields the same\nnight, leaving them there till the flax harvest had been got in.[426] In\nLower Austria fires are lit in the fields, commonly in front of a cross,\nand the people dance and sing round them and throw flowers into the\nflames. Before each handful of flowers is tossed into the fire, a set\nspeech is made; then the dance is resumed and the dancers sing in chorus\nthe last words of the speech. At evening bonfires are kindled on the\nheights, and the boys caper round them, brandishing lighted torches\ndrenched in pitch. Whoever jumps thrice across the fire will not suffer\nfrom fever within the year. Cart-wheels are often smeared with pitch,\nignited, and sent rolling and blazing down the hillsides.[427]\n\n[Midsummer fires in Bohemia; wreaths thrown across the fire; uses made\nof the singed wreaths; burning wheels rolled down hill; embers of the\nfire stuck in fields, gardens, and houses as a talisman against\nlightning and conflagration; use of mugwort; cattle protected against\nwitchcraft.]\n\nAll over Bohemia bonfires still burn on Midsummer Eve. In the afternoon\nboys go about with handcarts from house to house collecting fuel, such\nas sticks, brushwood, old besoms, and so forth. They make their request\nat each house in rhyming verses, threatening with evil consequences the\ncurmudgeons who refuse them a dole. Sometimes the young men fell a tall\nstraight fir in the woods and set it up on a height, where the girls\ndeck it with nosegays, wreaths of leaves, and red ribbons. Then\nbrushwood is piled about it, and at nightfall the whole is set on fire.\nWhile the flames break out, the young men climb the tree and fetch down\nthe wreaths which the girls had placed on it. After that, lads and\nlasses stand on opposite sides of the fire and look at one another\nthrough the wreaths to see whether they will be true to each other and\nmarry within the year. Also the girls throw the wreaths across the\nflames to the men, and woe to the awkward swain who fails to catch the\nwreath thrown him by his sweetheart. When the blaze has died down, each\ncouple takes hands, and leaps thrice across the fire. He or she who does\nso will be free from ague throughout the year, and the flax will grow as\nhigh as the young folks leap. A girl who sees nine bonfires on Midsummer\nEve will marry before the year is out. The singed wreaths are carried\nhome and carefully preserved throughout the year. During thunderstorms a\nbit of the wreath is burned on the hearth with a prayer; some of it is\ngiven to kine that are sick or calving, and some of it serves to\nfumigate house and cattle-stall, that man and beast may keep hale and\nwell. Sometimes an old cartwheel is smeared with resin, ignited, and\nsent rolling down the hill. Often the boys collect all the worn-out\nbesoms they can get hold of, dip them in pitch, and having set them on\nfire wave them about or throw them high into the air. Or they rush down\nthe hillside in troops, brandishing the flaming brooms and shouting,\nonly however to return to the bonfire on the summit when the brooms have\nburnt out. The stumps of the brooms and embers from the fire are\npreserved and stuck in cabbage gardens to protect the cabbages from\ncaterpillars and gnats. Some people insert charred sticks and ashes from\nthe bonfire in their sown fields and meadows, in their gardens and the\nroofs of their houses, as a talisman against lightning and foul weather;\nor they fancy that the ashes placed in the roof will prevent any fire\nfrom breaking out in the house. In some districts they crown or gird\nthemselves with mugwort while the midsummer fire is burning, for this is\nsupposed to be a protection against ghosts, witches, and sickness; in\nparticular, a wreath of mugwort is a sure preventive of sore eyes.\nSometimes the girls look at the bonfires through garlands of wild\nflowers, praying the fire to strengthen their eyes and eyelids. She who\ndoes this thrice will have no sore eyes all that year. In some parts of\nBohemia they used to drive the cows through the midsummer fire to guard\nthem against witchcraft.[428]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Moravia, Austrian Silesia, and the district of\nCracow; fire kindled by the friction of wood.]\n\nThe Germans of Moravia in like manner still light bonfires on open\ngrounds and high places on Midsummer Eve; and they kindle besoms in the\nflames and then stick the charred stumps in the cabbage-fields as a\npowerful protection against caterpillars. On the same mystic evening\nMoravian girls gather flowers of nine sorts and lay them under their\npillow when they go to sleep; then they dream every one of him who is to\nbe her partner for life. For in Moravia maidens in their beds as well as\npoets by haunted streams have their Midsummer Night's dreams.[429] In\nAustrian Silesia the custom also prevails of lighting great bonfires on\nhilltops on Midsummer Eve, and here too the boys swing blazing besoms or\nhurl them high in the air, while they shout and leap and dance wildly.\nNext morning every door is decked with flowers and birchen\nsaplings.[430] In the district of Cracow, especially towards the\nCarpathian Mountains, great fires are kindled by the peasants in the\nfields or on the heights at nightfall on Midsummer Eve, which among them\ngoes by the name of Kupalo's Night. The fire must be kindled by the\nfriction of two sticks. The young people dance round or leap over it;\nand a band of sturdy fellows run a race with lighted torches, the winner\nbeing rewarded with a peacock's feather, which he keeps throughout the\nyear as a distinction. Cattle also are driven round the fire in the\nbelief that this is a charm against pestilence and disease of every\nsort.[431]\n\n[The Midsummer fires among the Slavs of Russia; cattle protected against\nwitchcraft; the fires lighted by the friction of wood.]\n\nThe name of Kupalo's Night, applied in this part of Galicia to Midsummer\nEve, reminds us that we have now passed from German to Slavonic ground;\neven in Bohemia the midsummer celebration is common to Slavs and\nGermans. We have already seen that in Russia the summer solstice or Eve\nof St. John is celebrated by young men and maidens, who jump over a\nbonfire in couples carrying a straw effigy of Kupalo in their arms.[432]\nIn some parts of Russia an image of Kupalo is burnt or thrown into a\nstream on St. John's Night.[433] Again, in some districts of Russia the\nyoung folk wear garlands of flowers and girdles of holy herbs when they\nspring through the smoke or flames; and sometimes they drive the cattle\nalso through the fire in order to protect the animals against wizards\nand witches, who are then ravenous after milk.[434] In Little Russia a\nstake is driven into the ground on St. John's Night, wrapt in straw, and\nset on fire. As the flames rise the peasant women throw birchen boughs\ninto them, saying, \"May my flax be as tall as this bough!\"[435] In\nRuthenia the bonfires are lighted by a flame procured by the friction of\nwood. While the elders of the party are engaged in thus \"churning\" the\nfire, the rest maintain a respectful silence; but when the flame bursts\nfrom the wood, they break forth into joyous songs. As soon as the\nbonfires are kindled, the young people take hands and leap in pairs\nthrough the smoke, if not through the flames; and after that the cattle\nin their turn are driven through the fire.[436]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Prussia and Lithuania thought to protect against\nwitchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease; the fire kindled by the\nfriction of wood.]\n\nIn many parts of Prussia and Lithuania great fires are kindled on\nMidsummer Eve. All the heights are ablaze with them, as far as the eye\ncan see. The fires are supposed to be a protection against witchcraft,\nthunder, hail, and cattle disease, especially if next morning the cattle\nare driven over the places where the fires burned. Above all, the\nbonfires ensure the farmer against the arts of witches, who try to steal\nthe milk from his cows by charms and spells. That is why next morning\nyou may see the young fellows who lit the bonfire going from house to\nhouse and receiving jugfuls of milk. And for the same reason they stick\nburs and mugwort on the gate or the hedge through which the cows go to\npasture, because that is supposed to be a preservative against\nwitchcraft.[437] In Masuren, a district of Eastern Prussia inhabited by\na branch of the Polish family, it is the custom on the evening of\nMidsummer Day to put out all the fires in the village. Then an oaken\nstake is driven into the ground and a wheel is fixed on it as on an\naxle. This wheel the villagers, working by relays, cause to revolve with\ngreat rapidity till fire is produced by friction. Every one takes home a\nlighted brand from the new fire and with it rekindles the fire on the\ndomestic hearth.[438] In the sixteenth century Martin of Urzedow, a\nPolish priest, denounced the heathen practices of the women who on St.\nJohn's Eve (Midsummer Eve) kindled fires by the friction of wood,\ndanced, and sang songs in honour of the devil.[439]\n\n[The Midsummer fires among the Letts of Russia; Midsummer Day in ancient\nRome.]\n\nAmong the Letts who inhabit the Baltic provinces of Russia the most\njoyful festival of the year is held on Midsummer Day. The people drink\nand dance and sing and adorn themselves and their houses with flowers\nand branches. Chopped boughs of fir are strewn about the rooms, and\nleaves are stuck in the roofs. In every farm-yard a birch tree is set\nup, and every person of the name of John who enters the farm that day\nmust break off a twig from the tree and hang up on its branches in\nreturn a small present for the family. When the serene twilight of the\nsummer night has veiled the landscape, bonfires gleam on all the hills,\nand wild shouts of \"Ligho! Ligho!\" echo from the woods and fields. In\nRiga the day is a festival of flowers. From all the neighbourhood the\npeasants stream into the city laden with flowers and garlands. A market\nof flowers is held in an open square and on the chief bridge over the\nriver; here wreaths of immortelles, which grow wild in the meadows and\nwoods, are sold in great profusion and deck the houses of Riga for long\nafterwards. Roses, too, are now at the prime of their beauty, and masses\nof them adorn the flower-stalls. Till far into the night gay crowds\nparade the streets to music or float on the river in gondolas decked\nwith flowers.[440] So long ago in ancient Rome barges crowned with\nflowers and crowded with revellers used to float down the Tiber on\nMidsummer Day, the twenty-fourth of June,[441] and no doubt the strains\nof music were wafted as sweetly across the water to listeners on the\nbanks as they still are to the throngs of merrymakers at Riga.\n\n[The Midsummer fires among the South Slavs.]\n\nBonfires are commonly kindled by the South Slavonian peasantry on\nMidsummer Eve, and lads and lasses dance and shout round them in the\nusual way. The very names of St. John's Day (_Ivanje_) and the St.\nJohn's fires (_kries_) are said to act like electric sparks on the\nhearts and minds of these swains, kindling a thousand wild, merry, and\nhappy fancies and ideas in their rustic breasts. At Kamenagora in\nCroatia the herdsmen throw nine three-year old vines into the bonfire,\nand when these burst into flames the young men who are candidates for\nmatrimony jump through the blaze. He who succeeds in leaping over the\nfire without singeing himself will be married within the year. At\nVidovec in Croatia parties of two girls and one lad unite to kindle a\nMidsummer bonfire and to leap through the flames; he or she who leaps\nfurthest will soonest wed. Afterwards lads and lasses dance in separate\nrings, but the ring of lads bumps up against the ring of girls and\nbreaks it, and the girl who has to let go her neighbour's hand will\nforsake her true love hereafter.[442] In Servia on Midsummer Eve\nherdsmen light torches of birch bark and march round the sheepfolds and\ncattle-stalls; then they climb the hills and there allow the torches to\nburn out.[443]\n\n[The Midsummer fires among the Magyars of Hungary.]\n\nAmong the Magyars in Hungary the midsummer fire-festival is marked by\nthe same features that meet us in so many parts of Europe. On Midsummer\nEve in many places it is customary to kindle bonfires on heights and to\nleap over them, and from the manner in which the young people leap the\nbystanders predict whether they will marry soon. At Nograd-Ludany the\nyoung men and women, each carrying a truss of straw, repair to a meadow,\nwhere they pile the straw in seven or twelve heaps and set it on fire.\nThen they go round the fire singing, and hold a bunch of iron-wort in\nthe smoke, while they say, \"No boil on my body, no sprain in my foot!\"\nThis holding of the flowers over the flames is regarded, we are told, as\nequally important with the practice of walking through the fire barefoot\nand stamping it out. On this day also many Hungarian swineherds make\nfire by rotating a wheel round a wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and through\nthe fire thus made they drive their pigs to preserve them from\nsickness.[444] In villages on the Danube, where the population is a\ncross between Magyar and German, the young men and maidens go to the\nhigh banks of the river on Midsummer Eve; and while the girls post\nthemselves low down the slope, the lads on the height above set fire to\nlittle wooden wheels and, after swinging them to and fro at the end of a\nwand, send them whirling through the air to fall into the Danube. As he\ndoes so, each lad sings out the name of his sweetheart, and she listens\nwell pleased down below.[445]\n\n[The Midsummer fires among the Esthonians; the Midsummer fires in\nOesel.]\n\nThe Esthonians of Russia, who, like the Magyars, belong to the great\nTuranian family of mankind, also celebrate the summer solstice in the\nusual way. On the Eve of St. John all the people of a farm, a village,\nor an estate, walk solemnly in procession, the girls decked with\nflowers, the men with leaves and carrying bundles of straw under their\narms. The lads carry lighted torches or flaming hoops steeped in tar at\nthe top of long poles. Thus they go singing to the cattle-sheds, the\ngranaries, and so forth, and afterwards march thrice round the\ndwelling-house. Finally, preceded by the shrill music of the bagpipes\nand shawms, they repair to a neighbouring hill, where the materials of a\nbonfire have been collected. Tar-barrels filled with combustibles are\nhung on poles, or the trunk of a felled tree has been set up with a\ngreat mass of juniper piled about it in the form of a pyramid. When a\nlight has been set to the pile, old and young gather about it and pass\nthe time merrily with song and music till break of day. Every one who\ncomes brings fresh fuel for the fire, and they say, \"Now we all gather\ntogether, where St. John's fire burns. He who comes not to St. John's\nfire will have his barley full of thistles, and his oats full of weeds.\"\nThree logs are thrown into the fire with special ceremony; in throwing\nthe first they say, \"Gold of pleasure (a plant with yellow flowers) into\nthe fire!\" in throwing the second they say, \"Weeds to the unploughed\nland!\" but in throwing the third they cry, \"Flax on my field!\" The fire\nis said to keep the witches from the cattle.[446] According to others,\nit ensures that for the whole year the milk shall be \"as pure as silver\nand as the stars in the sky, and the butter as yellow as the sun and the\nfire and the gold.\"[447] In the Esthonian island of Oesel, while they\nthrow fuel into the midsummer fire, they call out, \"Weeds to the fire,\nflax to the field,\" or they fling three billets into the flames, saying,\n\"Flax grow long!\" And they take charred sticks from the bonfire home\nwith them and keep them to make the cattle thrive. In some parts of the\nisland the bonfire is formed by piling brushwood and other combustibles\nround a tree, at the top of which a flag flies. Whoever succeeds in\nknocking down the flag with a pole before it begins to burn will have\ngood luck. Formerly the festivities lasted till daybreak, and ended in\nscenes of debauchery which looked doubly hideous by the growing light of\na summer morning.[448]\n\n[The Midsummer fires among the Finns and Cheremiss of Russia.]\n\nStill farther north, among a people of the same Turanian stock, we learn\nfrom an eye-witness that Midsummer Night used to witness a sort of\nwitches' sabbath on the top of every hill in Finland. The bonfire was\nmade by setting up four tall birches in a square and piling the\nintermediate space with fuel. Round the roaring flames the people sang\nand drank and gambolled in the usual way.[449] Farther east, in the\nvalley of the Volga, the Cheremiss celebrate about midsummer a festival\nwhich Haxthausen regarded as identical with the midsummer ceremonies of\nthe rest of Europe. A sacred tree in the forest, generally a tall and\nsolitary oak, marks the scene of the solemnity. All the males assemble\nthere, but no woman may be present. A heathen priest lights seven fires\nin a row from north-west to south-east; cattle are sacrificed and their\nblood poured in the fires, each of which is dedicated to a separate\ndeity. Afterwards the holy tree is illumined by lighted candles placed\non its branches; the people fall on their knees and with faces bowed to\nthe earth pray that God would be pleased to bless them, their children,\ntheir cattle, and their bees, grant them success in trade, in travel,\nand in the chase, enable them to pay the Czar's taxes, and so\nforth.[450]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in France; Bossuet on the Midsummer festival.]\n\nWhen we pass from the east to the west of Europe we still find the\nsummer solstice celebrated with rites of the same general character.\nDown to about the middle of the nineteenth century the custom of\nlighting bonfires at midsummer prevailed so commonly in France that\nthere was hardly a town or a village, we are told, where they were not\nkindled.[451] Though the pagan origin of the custom may be regarded as\ncertain, the Catholic Church threw a Christian cloak over it by boldly\ndeclaring that the bonfires were lit in token of the general rejoicing\nat the birth of the Baptist, who opportunely came into the world at the\nsolstice of summer, just as his greater successor did at the solstice of\nwinter; so that the whole year might be said to revolve on the golden\nhinges of these two great birthdays.[452] Writing in the seventeenth\ncentury Bishop Bossuet expressly affirms this edifying theory of the\nMidsummer bonfires, and he tells his catechumens that the Church herself\nparticipated in the illumination, since in several dioceses, including\nhis own diocese of Meaux, a number of parishes kindled what were called\necclesiastical fires for the purpose of banishing the superstitions\npractised at the purely mundane bonfires. These superstitions, he goes\non to say, consisted in dancing round the fire, playing, feasting,\nsinging ribald songs, throwing herbs across the fire, gathering herbs at\nnoon or while fasting, carrying them on the person, preserving them\nthroughout the year, keeping brands or cinders of the fire, and other\nsimilar practices.[453] However excellent the intentions of the\necclesiastical authorities may have been, they failed of effecting their\npurpose; for the superstitions as well as the bonfires survived in\nFrance far into the nineteenth century, if indeed they are extinct even\nnow at the beginning of the twentieth. Writing in the latter part of the\nnineteenth century Mr. Ch. Cuissard tells us that he himself witnessed\nin Touraine and Poitou the superstitious practices which he describes as\nfollows: \"The most credulous examine the ways in which the flame burns\nand draw good or bad omens accordingly. Others, after leaping through\nthe flames crosswise, pass their little children through them thrice,\nfully persuaded that the little ones will then be able to walk at once.\nIn some places the shepherds make their sheep tread the embers of the\nextinct fire in order to preserve them from the foot-rot. Here you may\nsee about midnight an old woman grubbing among the cinders of the pyre\nto find the hair of the Holy Virgin or Saint John, which she deems an\ninfallible specific against fever. There, another woman is busy plucking\nthe roots of the herbs which have been burned on the surface of the\nground; she intends to eat them, imagining that they are an infallible\npreservative against cancer. Elsewhere a girl wears on her neck a flower\nwhich the touch of St. John's fire has turned for her into a talisman,\nand she is sure to marry within the year. Shots are fired at the tree\nplanted in the midst of the fire to drive away the demons who might\npurpose to send sicknesses about the country. Seats are set round about\nthe bonfire, in order that the souls of dead relations may come and\nenjoy themselves for a little with the living.\"[454]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Brittany; uses made of the charred sticks and\nflowers.]\n\nIn Brittany, apparently, the custom of the Midsummer bonfires is kept up\nto this day. Thus in Lower Brittany every town and every village still\nlights its _tantad_ or bonfire on St. John's Night. When the flames have\ndied down, the whole assembly kneels round about the bonfire and an old\nman prays aloud. Then they all rise and march thrice round the fire; at\nthe third turn they stop and every one picks up a pebble and throws it\non the burning pile. After that they disperse.[455] In Finist\u00e8re the\nbonfires of St. John's Day are kindled by preference in an open space\nnear a chapel of St. John; but if there is no such chapel, they are\nlighted in the square facing the parish church and in some districts at\ncross-roads. Everybody brings fuel for the fire, it may be a faggot, a\nlog, a branch, or an armful of gorse. When the vespers are over, the\nparish priest sets a light to the pile. All heads are bared, prayers\nrecited, and hymns sung. Then the dancing begins. The young folk skip\nround the blazing pile and leap over it, when the flames have died down.\nIf anybody makes a false step and falls or rolls in the hot embers, he\nor she is greeted with hoots and retires abashed from the circle of\ndancers. Brands are carried home from the bonfire to protect the houses\nagainst lightning, conflagrations, and certain maladies and spells. The\nprecious talisman is carefully kept in a cupboard till St. John's Day of\nthe following year.[456] At Quimper, and in the district of L\u00e9on, chairs\nused to be placed round the midsummer bonfire, that the souls of the\ndead might sit on them and warm themselves at the blaze.[457] At Brest\non this day thousands of people used to assemble on the ramparts towards\nevening and brandish lighted torches, which they swung in circles or\nflung by hundreds into the air. The closing of the town gates put an end\nto the spectacle, and the lights might be seen dispersing in all\ndirections like wandering will-o'-the-wisps.[458] In Upper Brittany the\nmaterials for the midsummer bonfires, which generally consist of bundles\nof furze and heath, are furnished by voluntary contributions, and piled\non the tops of hills round poles, each of which is surmounted by a\nnosegay or a crown. This nosegay or crown is generally provided by a man\nnamed John or a woman named Jean, and it is always a John or a Jean who\nputs a light to the bonfire. While the fire is blazing the people dance\nand sing round it, and when the flames have subsided they leap over the\nglowing embers. Charred sticks from the bonfire are thrown into wells to\nimprove the water, and they are also taken home as a protection against\nthunder.[459] To make them thoroughly effective, however, against\nthunder and lightning you should keep them near your bed, between a bit\nof a Twelfth Night cake and a sprig of boxwood which has been blessed on\nPalm Sunday.[460] Flowers from the nosegay or crown which overhung the\nfire are accounted charms against disease and pain, both bodily and\nspiritual; hence girls hang them at their breast by a thread of scarlet\nwool. In many parishes of Brittany the priest used to go in procession\nwith the crucifix and kindle the bonfire with his own hands; and farmers\nwere wont to drive their flocks and herds through the fire in order to\npreserve them from sickness till midsummer of the following year. Also\nit was believed that every girl who danced round nine of the bonfires\nwould marry within the year.[461]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Normandy; the fires as a protection against\nwitchcraft; the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf at Jumi\u00e8ges; pretence of\nthrowing the Green Wolf into the fire.]\n\nIn Normandy the midsummer fires have now almost disappeared, at least in\nthe district known as the Bocage, but they used to shine on every hill.\nThey were commonly made by piling brushwood, broom, and ferns about a\ntall tree, which was decorated with a crown of moss and sometimes with\nflowers. While they burned, people danced and sang round them, and young\nfolk leaped over the flames or the glowing ashes. In the valley of the\nOrne the custom was to kindle the bonfire just at the moment when the\nsun was about to dip below the horizon; and the peasants drove their\ncattle through the fires to protect them against witchcraft, especially\nagainst the spells of witches and wizards who attempted to steal the\nmilk and butter.[462] At Jumi\u00e8ges in Normandy, down to the first half of\nthe nineteenth century, the midsummer festival was marked by certain\nsingular features which bore the stamp of a very high antiquity. Every\nyear, on the twenty-third of June, the Eve of St. John, the Brotherhood\nof the Green Wolf chose a new chief or master, who had always to be\ntaken from the hamlet of Conihout. On being elected, the new head of the\nbrotherhood assumed the title of the Green Wolf, and donned a peculiar\ncostume consisting of a long green mantle and a very tall green hat of a\nconical shape and without a brim. Thus arrayed he stalked solemnly at\nthe head of the brothers, chanting the hymn of St. John, the crucifix\nand holy banner leading the way, to a place called Chouquet. Here the\nprocession was met by the priest, precentors, and choir, who conducted\nthe brotherhood to the parish church. After hearing mass the company\nadjourned to the house of the Green Wolf, where a simple repast, such as\nis required by the church on fast-days, was served up to them. Then they\ndanced before the door till it was time to light the bonfire. Night\nbeing come, the fire was kindled to the sound of hand-bells by a young\nman and a young woman, both decked with flowers. As the flames rose, the\n_Te Deum_ was sung, and a villager thundered out a parody in the Norman\ndialect of the hymn _ut queant laxis_. Meantime the Green Wolf and his\nbrothers, with their hoods down on their shoulders and holding each\nother by the hand, ran round the fire after the man who had been chosen\nto be the Green Wolf of the following year. Though only the first and\nthe last man of the chain had a hand free, their business was to\nsurround and seize thrice the future Green Wolf, who in his efforts to\nescape belaboured the brothers with a long wand which he carried. When\nat last they succeeded in catching him they carried him to the burning\npile and made as if they would throw him on it. This ceremony over, they\nreturned to the house of the Green Wolf, where a supper, still of the\nmost meagre fare, was set before them. Up till midnight a sort of\nreligious solemnity prevailed. No unbecoming word might fall from the\nlips of any of the company, and a censor, armed with a hand-bell, was\nappointed to mark and punish instantly any infraction of the rule. But\nat the stroke of twelve all this was changed. Constraint gave way to\nlicense; pious hymns were replaced by Bacchanalian ditties, and the\nshrill quavering notes of the village fiddle hardly rose above the roar\nof voices that went up from the merry brotherhood of the Green Wolf.\nNext day, the twenty-fourth of June or Midsummer Day, was celebrated by\nthe same personages with the same noisy gaiety. One of the ceremonies\nconsisted in parading, to the sound of musketry, an enormous loaf of\nconsecrated bread, which, rising in tiers, was surmounted by a pyramid\nof verdure adorned with ribbons. After that the holy handbells,\ndeposited on the step of the altar, were entrusted as insignia of office\nto the man who was to be the Green Wolf next year.[463]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Picardy.]\n\nIn the canton of Breteuil in Picardy (department of Oise) the priest\nused to kindle the midsummer bonfire, and the people marched thrice\nround it in procession. Some of them took ashes of the fire home with\nthem to protect the houses against lightning.[464] The custom is, or was\ndown to recent years, similar at Vorges, near Laon. An enormous pyre,\nsome fifty or sixty feet high, supported in the middle by a tall pole,\nis constructed every year on the twenty-third of June, the Eve of St.\nJohn. It stands at one end of the village, and all the inhabitants\ncontribute fuel to it: a cart goes round the village in the morning, by\norder of the mayor, collecting combustibles from house to house: no one\nwould dream of refusing to comply with the customary obligation. In the\nevening, after a service in honour of St. John has been performed in the\nchurch, the clergy, the mayor, the municipal authorities, the rural\npolice, and the fire-brigade march in procession to the bonfire,\naccompanied by the inhabitants and a crowd of idlers drawn by curiosity\nfrom the neighbouring villages. After addressing the throng in a sermon,\nto which they pay little heed, the parish priest sprinkles the pyre with\nholy water, and taking a lighted torch from the hand of an assistant\nsets fire to the pile. The enormous blaze, flaring up against the dark\nsky of the summer night, is seen for many miles around, particularly\nfrom the hill of Laon. When it has died down into a huge heap of glowing\nembers and grey ashes, every one carries home a charred stick or some\ncinders; and the fire-brigade, playing their hose on what remains,\nextinguishes the smouldering fire. The people preserve the charred\nsticks and cinders throughout the year, believing that these relics of\nSt John's bonfire have power to guard them from lightning and from\ncontagious diseases.[465] At Ch\u00e2teau-Thierry, a town of the department\nof Aisne, between Paris and Reims, the custom of lighting bonfires and\ndancing round them at the midsummer festival of St. John lasted down to\nabout 1850; the fires were kindled especially when June had been rainy,\nand the people thought that the lighting of the bonfires would cause the\nrain to cease.[466]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Beauce and Perche; the fires as a protection\nagainst witchcraft.]\n\nIn Beauce and Perche, two neighbouring districts of France to the\nsouth-west of Paris, the midsummer bonfires have nearly or wholly\ndisappeared, but formerly they were commonly kindled and went by the\nname of the \"fires of St. John.\" The site of the bonfire was either the\nvillage square or beside the cross in the cemetery. Here a great pile of\nfaggots, brushwood, and grass was accumulated about a huge branch, which\nbore at the top a crown of fresh flowers. The priest blessed the bonfire\nand the people danced round it. When it blazed and crackled, the\nbystanders thrust their heads into the puffs of smoke, in the belief\nthat it would preserve them from a multitude of ills; and when the fire\nwas burnt out, they rushed upon the charred embers and ashes and carried\nthem home, imagining that they had a secret virtue to guard their houses\nfrom being struck by lightning or consumed by fire. Some of the Perche\nfarmers in the old days, not content with the public bonfire, used to\nlight little private bonfires in their farmyards and make all their\ncattle pass through the smoke and flames for the purpose of protecting\nthem against witchcraft or disease.[467]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura; the\nMidsummer fires in Franche-Comt\u00e9; the Midsummer fires in Berry and other\nparts of Central France.]\n\nIn the department of the Ardennes every one was wont to contribute his\nfaggot to the midsummer bonfire, and the clergy marched at the head of\nthe procession to kindle it. Failure to light the fires would, in the\npopular belief, have exposed the fields to the greatest danger. At Revin\nthe young folk, besides dancing round the fire to the strains of the\nvillage fiddler, threw garlands of flowers across the flames to each\nother.[468] In the Vosges it is still customary to kindle bonfires upon\nthe hill-tops on Midsummer Eve; the people believe that the fires help\nto preserve the fruits of the earth and ensure good crops.[469] In the\nJura Mountains the midsummer bonfires went by the name of _b\u00e2_ or\n_beau_. They were lit on the most conspicuous points of the\nlandscape.[470] Near St. Jean, in the Jura, it appears that at this\nseason young people still repair to the cross-roads and heights, and\nthere wave burning torches so as to present the appearance of fiery\nwheels in the darkness.[471] In Franche-Comt\u00e9, the province of France\nwhich lies immediately to the west of the Jura mountains, the fires of\nSt. John still shone on the saint's day in several villages down to\nrecent years. They were generally lit on high ground and the young folks\nof both sexes sang and danced round them, and sprang over the dying\nflames.[472] In Bresse bonfires used to be kindled on Midsummer Eve (the\ntwenty-third of June) and the people danced about them in a circle.\nDevout persons, particularly old women, circumambulated the fires\nfourteen times, telling their beads and mumbling seven _Paters_ and\nseven _Aves_ in the hope that thereby they would feel no pains in their\nbacks when they stooped over the sickle in the harvest field.[473] In\nBerry, a district of Central France, the midsummer fire was lit on the\nEve of St. John and went by the name of the _j\u00f4n\u00e9e, joann\u00e9e_, or\n_jouann\u00e9e_. Every family according to its means contributed faggots,\nwhich were piled round a pole on the highest ground in the\nneighbourhood. In the hamlets the office of kindling the fire devolved\non the oldest man, but in the towns it was the priest or the mayor who\ndischarged the duty. Here, as in Brittany, people supposed that a girl\nwho had danced round nine of the midsummer bonfires would marry within\nthe year. To leap several times over the fire was regarded as a sort of\npurification which kept off sickness and brought good luck to the\nleaper. Hence the nimble youth bounded through the smoke and flames, and\nwhen the fire had somewhat abated parents jumped across it with their\nchildren in their arms in order that the little ones might also partake\nof its beneficent influence. Embers from the extinct bonfire were taken\nhome, and after being dipped in holy water were kept as a talisman\nagainst all kinds of misfortune, but especially against lightning.[474]\nThe same virtue was ascribed to the ashes and charred sticks of the\nmidsummer bonfire in P\u00e9rigord, where everybody contributed his share of\nfuel to the pile and the whole was crowned with flowers, especially with\nroses and lilies.[475] On the borders of the departments of Creuse and\nCorr\u00e8ze, in Central France, the fires of St. John used to be lit on the\nEve of the saint's day (the twenty-third of June); the custom seems to\nhave survived till towards the end of the nineteenth century. Men,\nwomen, and children assembled round the fires, and the young people\njumped over them. Children were brought by their parents or elder\nbrothers into contact with the flames in the belief that this would save\nthem from fever. Older people girded themselves with stalks of rye taken\nfrom a neighbouring field, because they fancied that by so doing they\nwould not grow weary in reaping the corn at harvest.[476]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Poitou.]\n\nBonfires were lit in almost all the hamlets of Poitou on the Eve of St.\nJohn. People marched round them thrice, carrying a branch of walnut in\ntheir hand. Shepherdesses and children passed sprigs of mullein\n(_verbascum_) and nuts across the flames; the nuts were supposed to cure\ntoothache, and the mullein to protect the cattle from sickness and\nsorcery. When the fire died down people took some of the ashes home with\nthem, either to keep them in the house as a preservative against thunder\nor to scatter them on the fields for the purpose of destroying\ncorn-cockles and darnel. Stones were also placed round the fire, and it\nwas believed that the first to lift one of these stones next morning\nwould find under it the hair of St. John.[477] In Poitou also it used to\nbe customary on the Eve of St. John to trundle a blazing wheel wrapt in\nstraw over the fields to fertilize them.[478] This last custom is said\nto be now extinct,[479] but it is still usual, or was so down to recent\nyears, in Poitou to kindle fires on this day at cross-roads or on the\nheights. The oldest or youngest person present sets a light to the pile,\nwhich consists of broom, gorse, and heath. A bright and crackling blaze\nshoots up, but soon dies down, and over it the young folk leap. They\nalso throw stones into it, picking the stone according to the size of\nthe turnips that they wish to have that year. It is said that \"the good\nVirgin\" comes and sits on the prettiest of the stones, and next morning\nthey see there her beautiful golden tresses. At Lussac, in Poitou, the\nlighting of the midsummer bonfire is still an affair of some ceremony. A\npyramid of faggots is piled round a tree or tall pole on the ground\nwhere the fair is held; the priest goes in procession to the spot and\nkindles the pile. When prayers have been said and the clergy have\nwithdrawn, the people continue to march round the fire, telling their\nbeads, but it is not till the flames have begun to die down that the\nyouth jump over them. A brand from the midsummer bonfire is supposed to\nbe a preservative against thunder.[480]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in the departments of Vienne and Deux-S\u00e8vres and in\nthe provinces of Saintonge and Aunis.]\n\nIn the department of Vienne the bonfire was kindled by the oldest man,\nand before the dance round the flames began it was the custom to pass\nacross them a great bunch of mullein (_bouillon blanc_) and a branch of\nwalnut, which next morning before sunrise were fastened over the door of\nthe chief cattle-shed.[481] A similar custom prevailed in the\nneighbouring department of Deux-S\u00e8vres; but here it was the priest who\nkindled the bonfire, and old men used to put embers of the fire in their\nwooden shoes as a preservative against many evils.[482] In some towns\nand villages of Saintonge and Aunis, provinces of Western France now\nmostly comprised in the department of Charente Inf\u00e9rieure, the fires of\nSt. John are still kindled on Midsummer Eve, but the custom is neither\nso common nor carried out with so much pomp and ceremony as formerly.\nGreat quantities of wood used to be piled on an open space round about a\nhuge post or a tree stripped of its leaves and branches. Every one took\ncare to contribute a faggot to the pile, and the whole population\nmarched to the spot in procession with the crucifix at their head and\nthe priest bringing up the rear. The squire, or other person of high\ndegree, put the torch to the pyre, and the priest blessed it. In the\nsouthern and eastern parts of Saintonge children and cattle were passed\nthrough the smoke of the bonfires to preserve them from contagious\ndiseases, and when the fire had gone out the people scuffled for the\ncharred fragments of the great post, which they regarded as talismans\nagainst thunder. Next morning, on Midsummer Day, every shepherdess in\nthe neighbourhood was up very early, for the first to drive her sheep\nover the blackened cinders and ashes of the great bonfire was sure to\nhave the best flock all that year. Where the shepherds shrunk from\ndriving their flocks through the smoke and flames of the bonfire they\ncontented themselves with marking the hinder-quarters of the animals\nwith a broom which had been blackened in the ashes.[483]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Southern France; Midsummer festival of fire and\nwater in Provence; bathing in the sea at Midsummer; temporary Midsummer\nkings at Aix and Marseilles.]\n\nIn the mountainous part of Comminges, a province of Southern France, now\ncomprised in the department of Haute Garonne, the midsummer fire is made\nby splitting open the trunk of a tall tree, stuffing the crevice with\nshavings, and igniting the whole. A garland of flowers is fastened to\nthe top of the tree, and at the moment when the fire is lighted the man\nwho was last married has to climb up a ladder and bring the flowers\ndown. In the flat parts of the same district the materials of the\nmidsummer bonfires consist of fuel piled in the usual way; but they must\nbe put together by men who have been married since the last midsummer\nfestival, and each of these benedicts is obliged to lay a wreath of\nflowers on the top of the pile.[484] At the entrance of the valley of\nAran young people set up on the banks of the Garonne a tree covered with\nribbons and garlands; at the end of a year the withered tree and faded\nflowers furnish excellent fuel. So on the Eve of St. John the villagers\nassemble, and an old man or a child kindles the fire which is to consume\ntree and garlands together. While the blaze lasts the people sing and\ndance; and the burnt tree is then replaced by another which will suffer\nthe same fate after the lapse of a year.[485] In some districts of the\nFrench Pyrenees it is deemed necessary to leap nine times over the\nmidsummer fire if you would be assured of prosperity.[486] A traveller\nin Southern France at the beginning of the nineteenth century tells us\nthat \"the Eve of St. John is also a day of joy for the Proven\u00e7als. They\nlight great fires and the young folk leap over them. At Aix they shower\nsquibs and crackers on the passers-by, which has often had disagreeable\nconsequences. At Marseilles they drench each other with scented water,\nwhich is poured from the windows or squirted from little syringes; the\nroughest jest is to souse passers-by with clean water, which gives rise\nto loud bursts of laughter.\"[487] At Draguignan, in the department of\nVar, fires used to be lit in every street on the Eve of St. John, and\nthe people roasted pods of garlic at them; the pods were afterwards\ndistributed to every family. Another diversion of the evening was to\npour cans of water from the houses on the heads of people in the\nstreets.[488] In Provence the midsummer fires are still popular.\nChildren go from door to door begging for fuel, and they are seldom sent\nempty away. Formerly the priest, the mayor, and the aldermen used to\nwalk in procession to the bonfire, and even deigned to light it; after\nwhich the assembly marched thrice round the burning pile, while the\nchurch bells pealed and rockets fizzed and sputtered in the air. Dancing\nbegan later, and the bystanders threw water on each other. At Ciotat,\nwhile the fire was blazing, the young people plunged into the sea and\nsplashed each other vigorously. At Vitrolles they bathed in a pond in\norder that they might not suffer from fever during the year, and at\nSaintes-Maries they watered the horses to protect them from the\nitch.[489] At Aix a nominal king, chosen from among the youth for his\nskill in shooting at a popinjay, presided over the festival. He selected\nhis own officers, and escorted by a brilliant train marched to the\nbonfire, kindled it, and was the first to dance round it. Next day he\ndistributed largesse to his followers. His reign lasted a year, during\nwhich he enjoyed certain privileges. He was allowed to attend the mass\ncelebrated by the commander of the Knights of St. John on St. John's\nDay: the right of hunting was accorded to him; and soldiers might not be\nquartered in his house. At Marseilles also on this day one of the guilds\nchose a king of the _badache_ or double axe; but it does not appear that\nhe kindled the bonfire, which is said to have been lighted with great\nceremony by the pr\u00e9fet and other authorities.[490]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Belgium; bonfires on St. Peter's Day in Brabant;\nthe King and Queen of the Roses; effigies burnt in the Midsummer fires.]\n\nIn Belgium the custom of kindling the midsummer bonfires has long\ndisappeared from the great cities, but it is still kept up in rural\ndistricts and small towns of Brabant, Flanders, and Limburg. People leap\nacross the fires to protect themselves against fever, and in eastern\nFlanders women perform similar leaps for the purpose of ensuring an easy\ndelivery. At Termonde young people go from door to door collecting fuel\nfor the fires and reciting verses, in which they beg the inmates to give\nthem \"wood of St. John\" and to keep some wood for St. Peter's Day (the\ntwenty-ninth of June); for in Belgium the Eve of St. Peter's Day is\ncelebrated by bonfires and dances exactly like those which commemorate\nSt. John's Eve. The ashes of the St. John's fires are deemed by Belgian\npeasants an excellent remedy for consumption, if you take a spoonful or\ntwo of them, moistened with water, day by day. People also burn vervain\nin the fires, and they say that in the ashes of the plant you may find,\nif you look for it, the \"Fool's Stone.\"[491] In many parts of Brabant\nSt. Peter's bonfire used to be much larger than that of his rival St.\nJohn. When it had burned out, both sexes engaged in a game of ball, and\nthe winner became the King of Summer or of the Ball and had the right to\nchoose his Queen. Sometimes the winner was a woman, and it was then her\nprivilege to select her royal mate. This pastime was well known at\nLouvain and it continued to be practised at Grammont and Mespelaer down\nto the second half of the nineteenth century. At Mespelaer, which is a\nvillage near Termonde, a huge pile of eglantine, reeds, and straw was\ncollected in a marshy meadow for the bonfire; and next evening after\nvespers the young folk who had lit it assembled at the \"Good Life\"\ntavern to play the game. The winner was crowned with a wreath of roses,\nand the rest danced and sang in a ring about him. At Grammont, while the\nbonfire was lit and the dances round it took place on St. Peter's Eve,\nthe festival of the \"Crown of Roses\" was deferred till the following\nSunday. The young folk arranged among themselves beforehand who should\nbe King and Queen of the Roses: the rosy wreaths were hung on cords\nacross the street: the dancers danced below them, and at a given moment\nthe wreaths fell on the heads of the chosen King and Queen, who had to\nentertain their fellows at a feast. According to some people the fires\nof St. Peter, like those of St. John, were lighted in order to drive\naway dragons.[492] In French Flanders down to 1789 a straw figure\nrepresenting a man was always burned in the midsummer bonfire, and the\nfigure of a woman was burned on St. Peter's Day.[493] In Belgium people\njump over the midsummer bonfires as a preventive of colic, and they keep\nthe ashes at home to hinder fire from breaking out.[494]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in England; Stow's description of the Midsummer\nfires in London; the Midsummer fires at Eton.]\n\nThe custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has been observed in many\nparts of our own country. \"On the Vigil of Saint John the Baptist,\ncommonly called Midsummer Eve, it was usual in most country places, and\nalso in towns and cities, for the inhabitants, both old and young, and\nof both sexes, to meet together, and make merry by the side of a large\nfire made in the middle of the street, or in some open and convenient\nplace, over which the young men frequently leaped by way of frolic, and\nalso exercised themselves with various sports and pastimes, more\nespecially with running, wrestling, and dancing. These diversions they\ncontinued till midnight, and sometimes till cock-crowing.\"[495] In the\nstreets of London the midsummer fires were lighted in the time of Queen\nElizabeth down to the end of the sixteenth century, as we learn from\nStow's description, which runs thus: \"In the months of June and July, on\nthe vigils of festival days, and on the same festival days in the\nevenings after the sun setting, there were usually made bonfires in the\nstreets, every man bestowing wood or labour towards them; the wealthier\nsort also, before their doors near to the said bonfires, would set out\ntables on the vigils furnished with sweet bread and good drink, and on\nthe festival days with meats and drinks plentifully, whereunto they\nwould invite their neighbours and passengers also to sit and be merry\nwith them in great familiarity, praising God for His benefits bestowed\non them. These were called bonfires as well of good amity amongst\nneighbours that being before at controversy, were there, by the labour\nof others, reconciled, and made of bitter enemies loving friends; and\nalso for the virtue that a great fire hath to purge the infection of the\nair. On the vigil of St. John the Baptist, and on St. Peter and Paul the\nApostles, every man's door being shadowed with green birch, long fennel,\nSt John's wort, orpin, white lilies, and such like, garnished upon with\ngarlands of beautiful flowers, had also lamps of glass, with oil burning\nin them all the night; some hung out branches of iron curiously wrought,\ncontaining hundreds of lamps alight at once, which made a goodly show,\nnamely, in New Fish Street, Thames Street, etc.\"[496] In the sixteenth\ncentury the Eton boys used to kindle a bonfire on the east side of the\nchurch both on St John's Day and on St. Peter's Day.[497] Writing in the\nsecond half of the seventeenth century, the antiquary John Aubrey tells\nus that bonfires were still kindled in many places on St. John's Night,\nbut that the civil wars had thrown many of these old customs out of\nfashion. Wars, he adds, extinguish superstition as well as religion and\nlaws, and there is nothing like gunpowder for putting phantoms to\nflight.[498]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in the north of England; the Midsummer fires in\nNorthumberland.]\n\nIn the north of England these fires used to be lit in the open streets.\nYoung and old gathered round them, and while the young leaped over the\nfires and engaged in games, their elders looked on and probably\nremembered with regret the days when they used to foot it as nimbly.\nSometimes the fires were kindled on the tops of high hills. The people\nalso carried firebrands about the fields.[499] The custom of kindling\nbonfires on Midsummer Eve prevailed all over Cumberland down to the\nsecond half of the eighteenth century.[500] In Northumberland the custom\nseems to have lasted into the first quarter of the nineteenth century;\nthe fires were lit in the villages and on the tops of high hills, and\nthe people sported and danced round them.[501] Moreover, the villagers\nused to run with burning brands round their fields and to snatch ashes\nfrom a neighbour's fire, saying as they did so, \"We have the flower (or\nflour) of the wake.\"[502] At Sandhill bonfires were kindled on the Eve\nof St. Peter as well as on Midsummer Eve; the custom is attested for the\nyear 1575, when it was described as ancient.[503] We are told that \"on\nMidsummer's eve, reckoned according to the old style, it was formerly\nthe custom of the inhabitants, young and old, not only of Whalton, but\nof most of the adjacent villages, to collect a large cartload of whins\nand other combustible materials, which was dragged by them with great\nrejoicing (a fiddler being seated on the top of the cart) into the\nvillage and erected into a pile. The people from the surrounding country\nassembled towards evening, when it was set on fire; and whilst the young\ndanced around it, the elders looked on smoking their pipes and drinking\ntheir beer, until it was consumed. There can be little doubt that this\ncurious old custom dates from a very remote antiquity.\" In a law-suit,\nwhich was tried in 1878, the rector of Whalton gave evidence of the\nconstant use of the village green for the ceremony since 1843. \"The\nbonfire,\" he said, \"was lighted a little to the north-east of the well\nat Whalton, and partly on the footpath, and people danced round it and\njumped through it. That was never interrupted.\" The Rev. G.R. Hall,\nwriting in 1879, says that \"the fire festivals or bonfires of the summer\nsolstice at the Old Midsummer until recently were commemorated on\nChristenburg Crags and elsewhere by leaping through and dancing round\nthe fires, as those who have been present have told me.\"[504] Down to\nthe early part of the nineteenth century bonfires called Beal-fires used\nto be lit on Midsummer Eve all over the wolds in the East Riding of\nYorkshire.[505]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Herefordshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, and\nCornwall; the Cornish fires on Midsummer Eve and St. Peter's Eve.]\n\nIn Herefordshire and Somersetshire the peasants used to make fires in\nthe fields on Midsummer Eve \"to bless the apples.\"[506] In Devonshire\nthe custom of leaping over the midsummer fires was also observed.[507]\n\"In Cornwall, the festival fires, called bonfires, are kindled on the\nEves of St. John Baptist and St. Peter's day; and Midsummer is thence,\nin the Cornish tongue, called _Goluan_, which signifies both light and\nrejoicing. At these fires the Cornish attend with lighted torches,\ntarred and pitched at the end, and make their perambulations round their\nfires, going from village to village and carrying their torches before\nthem; this is certainly the remains of Druid superstition; for, _Faces\npraeferre_, to carry lighted torches was reckoned a kind of gentilism,\nand as such particularly prohibited by the Gallick Councils.\"[508] At\nPenzance and elsewhere in the county the people danced and sang about\nthe bonfires on Midsummer Eve. On Whiteborough, a large tumulus near\nLaunceston, a huge bonfire used to be kindled on Midsummer Eve; a tall\nsummer pole with a large bush at the top was fixed in the centre of the\nbonfire.[509] The Cornish fires at this season appear to have been\ncommonly lit on high and conspicuous hills, such as Tregonan, Godolphin,\nCarnwarth, and Cam Brea. When it grew dusk on Midsummer Eve, old men\nwould hobble away to some height whence they counted the fires and drew\na presage from their number.[510] \"It is the immemorial usage in\nPenzance, and the neighbouring towns and villages, to kindle bonfires\nand torches on Midsummer-eve; and on Midsummer-day to hold a fair on\nPenzance quay, where the country folks assemble from the adjoining\nparishes in great numbers to make excursions on the water. St. Peter's\nEve (the twenty-eighth of June) is distinguished by a similar display of\nbonfires and torches, although the 'quay-fair' on St. Peter's-day (the\ntwenty-ninth of June), has been discontinued upwards of forty years. On\nthese eves a line of tar-barrels, relieved occasionally by large\nbonfires, is seen in the centre of each of the principal streets in\nPenzance. On either side of this line young men and women pass up and\ndown, swinging round their heads heavy torches made of large pieces of\nfolded canvas steeped in tar, and nailed to the ends of sticks between\nthree and four feet long; the flames of some of these almost equal those\nof the tar-barrels. Rows of lighted candles, also, when the air is calm,\nare fixed outside the windows or along the sides of the streets. In St.\nJust, and other mining parishes, the young miners, mimicking their\nfathers' employments, bore rows of holes in the rocks, load them with\ngunpowder, and explode them in rapid succession by trains of the same\nsubstance. As the holes are not deep enough to split the rocks, the same\nlittle batteries serve for many years. On these nights, Mount's Bay has\na most animating appearance, although not equal to what was annually\nwitnessed at the beginning of the present century, when the whole coast,\nfrom the Land's End to the Lizard, wherever a town or a village existed,\nwas lighted up with these stationary or moving fires. In the early part\nof the evening, children may be seen wearing wreaths of flowers--a\ncustom in all probability originating from the ancient use of these\nornaments when they danced around the fires. At the close of the\nfireworks in Penzance, a great number of persons of both sexes, chiefly\nfrom the neighbourhood of the quay, used always, until within the last\nfew years, to join hand in hand, forming a long string, and run through\nthe streets, playing 'thread the needle,' heedless of the fireworks\nshowered upon them, and oftentimes leaping over the yet glowing embers.\nI have on these occasions seen boys following one another, jumping\nthrough flames higher than themselves.\"[511]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Wales and the Isle of Man; burning wheel rolled\ndown hill.]\n\nIn Wales the midsummer fires were kindled on St. John's Eve and on St.\nJohn's Day. Three or nine different kinds of wood and charred faggots\ncarefully preserved from the last midsummer were deemed necessary to\nbuild the bonfire, which was generally done on rising ground. Various\nherbs were thrown into the blaze; and girls with bunches of three or\nnine different kinds of flowers would take the hands of boys, who wore\nflowers in their buttonholes and hats, and together the young couples\nwould leap over the fires. On the same two midsummer days roses and\nwreaths of flowers were hung over the doors and windows. \"Describing a\nmidsummer fire, an old inhabitant, born in 1809, remembered being taken\nto different hills in the Vale of Glamorgan to see festivities in which\npeople from all parts of the district participated. She was at that time\nabout fourteen, and old enough to retain a vivid recollection of the\ncircumstances. People conveyed trusses of straw to the top of the hill,\nwhere men and youths waited for the contributions. Women and girls were\nstationed at the bottom of the hill. Then a large cart-wheel was thickly\nswathed with straw, and not an inch of wood was left in sight. A pole\nwas inserted through the centre of the wheel, so that long ends extended\nabout a yard on each side. If any straw remained, it was made up into\ntorches at the top of tall sticks. At a given signal the wheel was\nlighted, and sent rolling downhill. If this fire-wheel went out before\nit reached the bottom of the hill, a very poor harvest was promised. If\nit kept lighted all the way down, and continued blazing for a long time,\nthe harvest would be exceptionally abundant. Loud cheers and shouts\naccompanied the progress of the wheel.\"[512] At Darowen in Wales small\nbonfires were kindled on Midsummer Eve.[513] On the same day people in\nthe Isle of Man were wont to light fires to the windward of every field,\nso that the smoke might pass over the corn; and they folded their cattle\nand carried blazing furze or gorse round them several times.[514]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Ireland; passage of people and cattle through\nthe fires; cattle driven through the fire; ashes used to fertilize the\nfields; the White Horse at the Midsummer fire.]\n\nA writer of the last quarter of the seventeenth century tells us that in\nIreland, \"on the Eves of St. John Baptist and St. Peter, they always\nhave in every town a bonfire, late in the evenings, and carry about\nbundles of reeds fast tied and fired; these being dry, will last long,\nand flame better than a torch, and be a pleasing divertive prospect to\nthe distant beholder; a stranger would go near to imagine the whole\ncountry was on fire.\"[515] Another writer says of the South of Ireland:\n\"On Midsummer's Eve, every eminence, near which is a habitation, blazes\nwith bonfires; and round these they carry numerous torches, shouting and\ndancing, which affords a beautiful sight.\"[516] An author who described\nIreland in the first quarter of the eighteenth century says: \"On the\nvigil of St. John the Baptist's Nativity, they make bonfires, and run\nalong the streets and fields with wisps of straw blazing on long poles\nto purify the air, which they think infectious, by believing all the\ndevils, spirits, ghosts, and hobgoblins fly abroad this night to hurt\nmankind.\"[517] Another writer states that he witnessed the festival in\nIreland in 1782: \"At the house where I was entertained, it was told me,\nthat we should see, at midnight, the most singular sight in Ireland,\nwhich was the lighting of fires in honour of the sun. Accordingly,\nexactly at midnight, the fires began to appear; and taking the advantage\nof going up to the leads of the house, which had a widely extended view,\nI saw on a radius of thirty miles, all around, the fires burning on\nevery eminence which the country afforded. I had a farther satisfaction\nin learning, from undoubted authority, that the people danced round the\nfires, and at the close went through these fires, and made their sons\nand daughters, together with their cattle, pass through the fire; and\nthe whole was conducted with religious solemnity.\"[518] That the custom\nprevailed in full force as late as 1867 appears from a notice in a\nnewspaper of that date, which runs thus: \"The old pagan fire-worship\nstill survives in Ireland, though nominally in honour of St. John. On\nSunday night bonfires were observed throughout nearly every county in\nthe province of Leinster. In Kilkenny, fires blazed on every hillside at\nintervals of about a mile. There were very many in the Queen's County,\nalso in Kildare and Wexford. The effect in the rich sunset appeared to\ntravellers very grand. The people assemble, and dance round the fires,\nthe children jump through the flames, and in former times live coals\nwere carried into the corn-fields to prevent blight.\"[519] In County\nLeitrim on St. John's Eve, which is called Bonfire Day, fires are still\nlighted after dusk on the hills and along the sides of the roads.[520]\nAll over Kerry the same thing continues to be done, though not so\ncommonly as of old. Small fires were made across the road, and to drive\nthrough them brought luck for the year. Cattle were also driven through\nthe fires. On Lettermore Island, in South Connemara, some of the ashes\nfrom the midsummer bonfire are thrown on the fields to fertilize\nthem.[521] One writer informs us that in Munster and Connaught a bone\nmust always be burned in the fire; for otherwise the people believe that\nthe fire will bring no luck. He adds that in many places sterile beasts\nand human beings are passed through the fire, and that as a boy he\nhimself jumped through the fire \"for luck.\"[522] An eye-witness has\ndescribed as follows a remarkable ceremony observed in Ireland on\nMidsummer Eve: \"When the fire burned for some hours, and got low, an\nindispensable part of the ceremony commenced. Every one present of the\npeasantry passed through it, and several children were thrown across the\nsparkling embers; while a wooden frame, of some eight feet long, with a\nhorse's head fixed to one end, and a large white sheet thrown over it\nconcealing the wood and the man on whose head it was carried, made its\nappearance. This was greeted with loud shouts of 'The white horse!' and\nhaving been safely carried by the skill of its bearer several times\nthrough the fire with a bold leap, it pursued the people, who ran\nscreaming and laughing in every direction. I asked what the horse was\nmeant for, and was told that it represented 'all cattle.'\"[523]\n\n[Lady Wilde's account of the Midsummer fires in Ireland.]\n\nLady Wilde's account of the midsummer festival in Ireland is picturesque\nand probably correct in substance, although she does not cite her\nauthorities. As it contains some interesting features which are not\nnoticed by the other writers on Ireland whom I have consulted, I will\nquote the greater part of it in full. \"In ancient times,\" she says, \"the\nsacred fire was lighted with great ceremony on Midsummer Eve; and on\nthat night all the people of the adjacent country kept fixed watch on\nthe western promontory of Howth, and the moment the first flash was seen\nfrom that spot the fact of ignition was announced with wild cries and\ncheers repeated from village to village, when all the local fires began\nto blaze, and Ireland was circled by a cordon of flame rising up from\nevery hill. Then the dance and song began round every fire, and the wild\nhurrahs filled the air with the most frantic revelry. Many of these\nancient customs are still continued, and the fires are still lighted on\nSt. John's Eve on every hill in Ireland. When the fire has burned down\nto a red glow the young men strip to the waist and leap over or through\nthe flames; this is done backwards and forwards several times, and he\nwho braves the greatest blaze is considered the victor over the powers\nof evil, and is greeted with tremendous applause. When the fire burns\nstill lower, the young girls leap the flame, and those who leap clean\nover three times back and forward will be certain of a speedy marriage\nand good luck in after-life, with many children. The married women then\nwalk through the lines of the burning embers; and when the fire is\nnearly burnt and trampled down, the yearling cattle are driven through\nthe hot ashes, and their back is singed with a lighted hazel twig. These\nrods are kept safely afterwards, being considered of immense power to\ndrive the cattle to and from the watering places. As the fire diminishes\nthe shouting grows fainter, and the song and the dance commence; while\nprofessional story-tellers narrate tales of fairy-land, or of the good\nold times long ago, when the kings and princes of Ireland dwelt amongst\ntheir own people, and there was food to eat and wine to drink for all\ncomers to the feast at the king's house. When the crowd at length\nseparate, every one carries home a brand from the fire, and great virtue\nis attached to the lighted _brone_ which is safely carried to the house\nwithout breaking or falling to the ground. Many contests also arise\namongst the young men; for whoever enters his house first with the\nsacred fire brings the good luck of the year with him.\"[524]\n\n[Holy water resorted to on Midsummer Eve in Ireland.]\n\nIn Ireland, as elsewhere, water was also apparently thought to acquire a\ncertain mystical virtue at midsummer. \"At Stoole, near Downpatrick,\nthere is a ceremony commencing at twelve o'clock at night on Midsummer\nEve. Its sacred mount is consecrated to St. Patrick; the plain contains\nthree wells, to which the most extraordinary virtues are attributed.\nHere and there are heaps of stones, around some of which appear great\nnumbers of people, running with as much speed as possible; around others\ncrowds of worshippers kneel with bare legs and feet as an indispensable\npart of the penance. The men, without coats, with handkerchiefs on their\nheads instead of hats, having gone seven times round each heap, kiss the\nground, cross themselves, and proceed to the hill; here they ascend, on\ntheir bare knees, by a path so steep and rugged that it would be\ndifficult to walk up. Many hold their hands clasped at the back of their\nnecks, and several carry large stones on their heads. Having repeated\nthis ceremony seven times, they go to what is called St. Patrick's\nChair, which are two great flat stones fixed upright in the hill; here\nthey cross and bless themselves as they step in between these stones,\nand, while repeating prayers, an old man, seated for the purpose, turns\nthem round on their feet three times, for which he is paid; the devotee\nthen goes to conclude his penance at a pile of stones, named the Altar.\nWhile this busy scene is continued by the multitude, the wells and\nstreams issuing from them are thronged by crowds of halt, maimed, and\nblind, pressing to wash away their infirmities with water consecrated by\ntheir patron saint, and so powerful is the impression of its efficacy on\ntheir minds, that many of those who go to be healed, and who are not\ntotally blind, or altogether crippled, really believe for a time that\nthey are by means of its miraculous virtues perfectly restored.\"[525]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Scotland; fires on St. Peter's Day (the\ntwenty-ninth of June).]\n\nIn Scotland the traces of midsummer fires are few. We are told by a\nwriter of the eighteenth century that \"the midsummer-even fire, a relict\nof Druidism,\" was kindled in some parts of the county of Perth.[526]\nAnother writer of the same period, describing what he calls the\nDruidical festivals of the Highlanders, says that \"the least\nconsiderable of them is that of midsummer. In the Highlands of\nPerthshire there are some vestiges of it. The cowherd goes three times\nround the fold, according to the course of the sun, with a burning torch\nin his hand. They imagined this rite had a tendency to purify their\nherds and flocks, and to prevent diseases. At their return the landlady\nmakes an entertainment for the cowherd and his associates.\"[527] In the\nnortheast of Scotland, down to the latter half of the eighteenth\ncentury, farmers used to go round their lands with burning torches about\nthe middle of June.[528] On the hill of Cairnshee, in the parish of\nDurris, Kincardineshire, the herdsmen of the country round about\nannually kindle a bonfire at sunset on Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth\nof June); the men or lads collect the fuel and push each other through\nthe smoke and flames. The custom is kept up through the benefaction of a\ncertain Alexander Hogg, a native of the parish, who died about 1790 and\nleft a small sum for the maintenance of a midsummer bonfire on the spot,\nbecause as a boy he had herded cattle on the hill. We may conjecture\nthat in doing so he merely provided for the continuance of an old custom\nwhich he himself had observed in the same place in his youth.[529] At\nthe village of Tarbolton in Ayrshire a bonfire has been annually kindled\nfrom time immemorial on the evening of the first Monday after the\neleventh of June. A noted cattle-market was formerly held at the fair on\nthe following day. The bonfire is still lit at the gloaming by the lads\nand lasses of the village on a high mound or hillock just outside of the\nvillage. Fuel for it is collected by the lads from door to door. The\nyouth dance round the fire and leap over the fringes of it. The many\ncattle-drovers who used to assemble for the fair were wont to gather\nround the blazing pile, smoke their pipes, and listen to the young folk\nsinging in chorus on the hillock. Afterwards they wrapped themselves in\ntheir plaids and slept round the bonfire, which was intended to last all\nnight.[530] Thomas Moresin of Aberdeen, a writer of the sixteenth\ncentury, says that on St. Peter's Day, which is the twenty-ninth of\nJune, the Scotch ran about at night with lighted torches on mountains\nand high grounds, \"as Ceres did when she roamed the whole earth in\nsearch of Proserpine\";[531] and towards the end of the eighteenth\ncentury the parish minister of Loudoun, a district of Ayrshire whose\n\"bonny woods and braes\" have been sung by Burns, wrote that \"the custom\nstill remains amongst the herds and young people to kindle fires in the\nhigh grounds in honour of Beltan. _Beltan_, which in Gaelic signifies\n_Baal_, or _Bel's-fire_, was antiently the time of this solemnity. It is\nnow kept on St. Peter's day.\"[532]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Spain and the Azores; divination on Midsummer\nEve in the Azores; the Midsummer fires in Corsica and Sardinia.]\n\nAll over Spain great bonfires called _lumes_ are still lit on Midsummer\nEve. They are kept up all night, and the children leap over them in a\ncertain rhythmical way which is said to resemble the ancient dances. On\nthe coast, people at this season plunge into the sea; in the inland\ndistricts the villagers go and roll naked in the dew of the meadows,\nwhich is supposed to be a sovereign preservative against diseases of the\nskin. On this evening, too, girls who would pry into the future put a\nvessel of water on the sill outside their window; and when the clocks\nstrike twelve, they break an egg in the water and see, or fancy they\nsee, in the shapes assumed by the pulp, as it blends with the liquid,\nthe likeness of future bridegrooms, castles, coffins, and so forth. But\ngenerally, as might perhaps have been anticipated, the obliging egg\nexhibits the features of a bridegroom.[533] In the Azores, also,\nbonfires are lit on Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve), and boys jump over\nthem for luck. On that night St. John himself is supposed to appear in\nperson and bless all the seas and waters, driving out the devils and\ndemons who had been disporting themselves in them ever since the second\nday of November; that is why in the interval between the second of\nNovember and the twenty-third of June nobody will bathe in the sea or in\na hot spring. On Midsummer Eve, too, you can always see the devil, if\nyou will go into a garden at midnight. He is invariably found standing\nnear a mustard-plant. His reason for adopting this posture has not been\nascertained; perhaps in the chilly air of the upper world he is\nattracted by the genial warmth of the mustard. Various forms of\ndivination are practised by people in the Azores on Midsummer Eve. Thus\na new-laid egg is broken into a glass of water, and the shapes which it\nassumes foreshadow the fate of the person concerned. Again, seven\nsaucers are placed in a row, filled respectively with water, earth,\nashes, keys, a thimble, money, and grass, which things signify travel,\ndeath, widowhood, housekeeping, spinsterhood, riches, and farming. A\nblindfolded person touches one or other of the saucers with a wand and\nso discovers his or her fate. Again, three broad beans are taken; one is\nleft in its skin, one is half peeled, and the third is peeled outright.\nThe three denote respectively riches, competence, and poverty. They are\nhidden and searched for; and he who finds one of them knows accordingly\nwhether he will be rich, moderately well-off, or poor. Again, girls take\nslips of paper and write the names of young men twice over on them.\nThese they fold up and crumple and place one set under their pillows and\nthe other set in a saucer full of water. In the morning they draw one\nslip of paper from under their pillow, and see whether one in the water\nhas opened out. If the names on the two slips are the same, it is the\nname of her future husband. Young men do the same with girls' names.\nOnce more, if a girl rises at sunrise, goes out into the street, and\nasks the first passer-by his Christian name, that will be her husband's\nname.[534] Some of these modes of divination resemble those which are or\nused to be practised in Scotland at Hallowe'en.[535] In Corsica on the\nEve of St. John the people set fire to the trunk of a tree or to a whole\ntree, and the young men and maidens dance round the blaze, which is\ncalled _fucaraia_.[536] We have seen that at Ozieri, in Sardinia, a\ngreat bonfire is kindled on St. John's Eve, and that the young people\ndance round it.[537]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in the Abruzzi; bathing on Midsummer Eve in the\nAbruzzi; the Midsummer fires in Sicily; the witches at Midsummer.]\n\nPassing to Italy, we find that the midsummer fires are still lighted on\nSt. John's Eve in many parts of the Abruzzi. They are commonest in the\nterritory which was inhabited in antiquity by the Vestini; they are\nrarer in the land of the ancient Marsi, and they disappear entirely in\nthe lower valley of the Sangro. For the most part, the fires are fed\nwith straw and dry grass, and are kindled in the fields near the\nvillages or on high ground. As they blaze up, the people dance round or\nover them. In leaping across the flames the boys cry out, \"St. John,\npreserve my thighs and legs!\" Formerly it used to be common to light the\nbonfires also in the towns in front of churches of St. John, and the\nremains of the sacred fire were carried home by the people; but this\ncustom has mostly fallen into disuse. However, at Celano the practice is\nstill kept up of taking brands and ashes from the bonfires to the\nhouses, although the fires are no longer kindled in front of the\nchurches, but merely in the streets.[538] In the Abruzzi water also is\nsupposed to acquire certain marvellous and beneficent properties on St.\nJohn's Night. Hence many people bathe or at least wash their faces and\nhands in the sea or a river at that season, especially at the moment of\nsunrise. Such a bath is said to be an excellent cure for diseases of the\nskin. At Castiglione a Casauria the people, after washing in the river\nor in springs, gird their waists and wreath their brows with sprigs of\nbriony in order to keep them from aches and pains.[539] In various parts\nof Sicily, also, fires are kindled on Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve),\nthe twenty-third of June. On the Madonie mountains, in the north of the\nisland, the herdsmen kindle them at intervals, so that the crests of the\nmountains are seen ablaze in the darkness for many miles. About\nAcireale, on the east coast of the island, the bonfires are lit by boys,\nwho jump over them. At Chiaromonte the witches that night acquire\nextraordinary powers; hence everybody then puts a broom outside of his\nhouse, because a broom is an excellent protective against\nwitchcraft.[540] At Orvieto the midsummer fires were specially excepted\nfrom the prohibition directed against bonfires in general.[541]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Malta ]\n\nIn Malta also the people celebrate Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve) \"by\nkindling great fires in the public streets, and giving their children\ndolls to carry in their arms on this day, in order to make good the\nprophecy respecting the Baptist, _Multi in nativitate ejus gaudebunt_.\nDays and even weeks before this festival, groups of children are seen\ngoing out into the country fields to gather straw, twigs, and all sorts\nof other combustibles, which they store up for St. John's Eve. On the\nnight of the twenty-third of June, the day before the festival of the\nSaint, great fires are kindled in the streets, squares, and market\nplaces of the towns and villages of the Island, and as fire after fire\nblazes out of the darkness of that summer night, the effect is\nsingularly striking. These fires are sometimes kept up for hours, being\ncontinually fed by the scores of bystanders, who take great delight in\nthrowing amidst the flames some old rickety piece of furniture which\nthey consider as lumber in their houses. Lots of happy and reckless\nchildren, and very often men, are seen merrily leaping in succession\nover and through the crackling flames. At the time of the Order of St.\nJohn of Jerusalem, the Grand Master himself, soon after the _Angelus_,\nused to leave his palace, accompanied by the Grand Prior, the Bishop,\nand two bailiffs, to set fire to some pitch barrels which were placed\nfor the occasion in the square facing the sacred Hospital. Great crowds\nused to assemble here in order to assist at this ceremony. The setting\nablaze of the five casks, and later on of the eight casks, by the Grand\nMaster, was a signal for the others to kindle their fires in the\ndifferent parts of the town.\"[542]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in Greece; the Midsummer fires in Macedonia and\nAlbania.]\n\nIn Greece, the custom of kindling fires on St. John's Eve and jumping\nover them is said to be still universal. One reason assigned for it is a\nwish to escape from the fleas.[543] According to another account, the\nwomen cry out, as they leap over the fire, \"I leave my sins behind\nme.\"[544] In Lesbos the fires on St. John's Eve are usually lighted by\nthrees, and the people spring thrice over them, each with a stone on his\nhead, saying, \"I jump the hare's fire, my head a stone!\" On the morning\nof St. John's Day those who dwell near the coast go to bathe in the sea.\nAs they go they gird themselves with osiers, and when they are in the\nwater they let the osiers float away, saying, \"Let my maladies go away!\"\nThen they look for what is called \"the hairy stone,\" which possesses the\nremarkable property not only of keeping moths from clothes but even of\nmultiplying the clothes in the chest where it is laid up, and the more\nhairs on the stone the more will the clothes multiply in the chest.[545]\nIn Calymnos the midsummer fire is supposed to ensure abundance in the\ncoming year as well as deliverance from fleas. The people dance round\nthe fires singing, with stones on their heads, and then jump over the\nblaze or the glowing embers. When the fire is burning low, they throw\nthe stones into it; and when it is nearly out, they make crosses on\ntheir legs and then go straightway and bathe in the sea.[546] In Cos the\nlads and lasses dance round the bonfires on St. John's Eve. Each of the\nlads binds a black stone on his head, signifying that he wishes to\nbecome as strong as the stone. Also they make the sign of the cross on\ntheir feet and legs and jump over the fire.[547] On Midsummer Eve the\nGreeks of Macedonia light fires after supper in front of their gates.\nThe garlands, now faded, which were hung over the doors on May Day, are\ntaken down and cast into the flames, after which the young folk leap\nover the blaze, fully persuaded that St. John's fire will not burn\nthem.[548] In Albania fires of dry herbage are, or used to be, lit\neverywhere on St. John's Eve; young and old leap over them, for such a\nleap is thought to be good for the health.[549]\n\n[The Midsummer fires in America.]\n\nFrom the Old World the midsummer fires have been carried across the\nAtlantic to America. In Brazil people jump over the fires of St. John,\nand at this season they can take hot coals in their mouths without\nburning themselves.[550] In Bolivia on the Eve of St. John it is usual\nto see bonfires lighted on the hills and even in the streets of the\ncapital La Paz. As the city stands at the bottom of an immense ravine,\nand the Indians of the neighbourhood take a pride in kindling bonfires\non heights which might seem inaccessible, the scene is very striking\nwhen the darkness of night is suddenly and simultaneously lit up by\nhundreds of fires, which cast a glare on surrounding objects, producing\nan effect at once weird and picturesque.[551]\n\n[The Midsummer fires among the Mohammedans of Morocco and Algeria.]\n\nThe custom of kindling bonfires on Midsummer Day or on Midsummer Eve is\nwidely spread among the Mohammedan peoples of North Africa, particularly\nin Morocco and Algeria; it is common both to the Berbers and to many of\nthe Arabs or Arabic-speaking tribes. In these countries Midsummer Day\n(the twenty-fourth of June, Old Style) is called [Arabic: _l'ansara_].\nThe fires are lit in the courtyards, at cross-roads, in the fields, and\nsometimes on the threshing-floors. Plants which in burning give out a\nthick smoke and an aromatic smell are much sought after for fuel on\nthese occasions; among the plants used for the purpose are giant-fennel,\nthyme, rue, chervil-seed, camomile, geranium, and penny-royal. People\nexpose themselves, and especially their children, to the smoke, and\ndrive it towards the orchards and the crops. Also they leap across the\nfires; in some places everybody ought to repeat the leap seven times.\nMoreover they take burning brands from the fires and carry them through\nthe houses in order to fumigate them. They pass things through the fire,\nand bring the sick into contact with it, while they utter prayers for\ntheir recovery. The ashes of the bonfires are also reputed to possess\nbeneficial properties; hence in some places people rub their hair or\ntheir bodies with them.[552] For example, the Andjra mountaineers of\nMorocco kindle large fires in open places of their villages on Midsummer\nDay. Men, women, and children jump over the flames or the glowing\nembers, believing that by so doing they rid themselves of all misfortune\nwhich may be clinging to them; they imagine, also, that such leaps cure\nthe sick and procure offspring for childless couples. Moreover, they\nburn straw, together with some marjoram and alum, in the fold where the\ncattle, sheep, and goats are penned for the night; the smoke, in their\nopinion, will make the animals thrive. On Midsummer Day the Arabs of the\nMnasara tribe make fires outside their tents, near their animals, on\ntheir fields, and in their gardens. Large quantities of penny-royal are\nburned in these fires, and over some of them the people leap thrice to\nand fro. Sometimes small fires are also kindled inside the tents. They\nsay that the smoke confers blessings on everything with which it comes\ninto contact. At Salee, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, persons who\nsuffer from diseased eyes rub them with the ashes of the midsummer fire;\nand in Casablanca and Azemmur the people hold their faces over the fire,\nbecause the smoke is thought to be good for the eyes. The Arab tribe\nUlad Bu Aziz, in the Dukkala province of Morocco, kindle midsummer\nbonfires, not for themselves and their cattle, but only for crops and\nfruit; nobody likes to reap his crops before Midsummer Day, because if\nhe did they would lose the benefit of the blessed influence which flows\nfrom the smoke of the bonfires. Again, the Beni Mgild, a Berber tribe of\nMorocco, light fires of straw on Midsummer Eve and leap thrice over them\nto and fro. They let some of the smoke pass underneath their clothes,\nand married women hold their breasts over the fire, in order that their\nchildren may be strong. Moreover, they paint their eyes and lips with\nsome black powder, in which ashes of the bonfire are mixed. And in order\nthat their horses may also benefit by the fires, they dip the right\nforelegs of the animals in the smoke and flames or in the hot embers,\nand they rub ashes on the foreheads and between the nostrils of the\nhorses. Berbers of the Rif province, in northern Morocco, similarly make\ngreat use of fires at midsummer for the good of themselves, their\ncattle, and their fruit-trees. They jump over the bonfires in the belief\nthat this will preserve them in good health, and they light fires under\nfruit-trees to keep the fruit from falling untimely. And they imagine\nthat by rubbing a paste of the ashes on their hair they prevent the hair\nfrom falling off their heads.[553]\n\n[Beneficial effect ascribed to the smoke of the fires; ill luck supposed\nto be burnt in the Midsummer fires; the Midsummer festival in North\nAfrica comprises rites concerned with water as well as with fire; the\nMidsummer festival in North Africa is probably older than\nMohammedanism.]\n\nIn all these Moroccan customs, we are told, the beneficial effect is\nattributed wholly to the smoke, which is supposed to be endued with a\nmagical quality that removes misfortune from men, animals, fruit-trees,\nand crops. But in some parts of Morocco people at midsummer kindle fires\nof a different sort, not for the sake of fumigation, but in order to\nburn up misfortune in the flames. Thus on Midsummer Eve the Berber tribe\nof the Beni Mgild burn three sheaves of unthreshed wheat or barley, \"one\nfor the children, one for the crops, and one for the animals.\" On the\nsame occasion they burn the tent of a widow who has never given birth to\na child; by so doing they think to rid the village of ill luck. It is\nsaid that at midsummer the Zemmur burn a tent, which belongs to somebody\nwho was killed in war during a feast; or if there is no such person in\nthe village, the schoolmaster's tent is burned instead. Among the\nArabic-speaking Beni Ahsen it is customary for those who live near the\nriver Sbu to make a little hut of straw at midsummer, set it on fire,\nand let it float down the river. Similarly the inhabitants of Salee burn\na straw hut on the river which flows past their town.[554]\n\nFurther it deserves to be noticed that in Northern Africa, as in\nSouthern Europe, the midsummer festival comprises rites concerned with\nwater as well as with fire. For example, among the Beni-Snous the women\nlight a fire in an oven, throw perfumes into it, and circumambulate a\ntank, which they also incense after a fashion. In many places on the\ncoast, as in the province of Oran and particularly in the north of\nMorocco, everybody goes and bathes in the sea at midsummer; and in many\ntowns of the interior, such as Fez, Mequinez, and especially Merrakech,\npeople throw water over each other on this day; and where water is\nscarce, earth is used instead, according to the Mohammedan principle\nwhich permits ablutions to be performed with earth or sand when water\ncannot be spared for the purpose.[555] People of the Andjra district in\nMorocco not only bathe themselves in the sea or in rivers at midsummer,\nthey also bathe their animals, their horses, mules, donkeys, cattle,\nsheep, and goats; for they think that on that day water possesses a\nblessed virtue (_baraka_), which removes sickness and misfortune. In\nAglu, again, men, women, and children bathe in the sea or springs or\nrivers at midsummer, alleging that by so doing they protect themselves\nagainst disease for the whole year. Among the Berbers of the Rif\ndistrict the custom of bathing on this day is commonly observed, and\nanimals share the ablutions.[556]\n\n[Some Mohammedans of North Africa kindle fires and observe water\nceremonies at their movable New Year; water ceremonies at New Year in\nMorocco; the rites of fire and water at Midsummer and New Year in\nMorocco seem to be identical in character; the duplication of the\nfestival is probably due to a conflict between the solar calendar of the\nRomans and the lunar calendar of the Arabs.]\n\nThe celebration of a midsummer festival by Mohammedan peoples is\nparticularly remarkable, because the Mohammedan calendar, being purely\nlunar and uncorrected by intercalation, necessarily takes no note of\nfestivals which occupy fixed points in the solar year; all strictly\nMohammedan feasts, being pinned to the moon, slide gradually with that\nluminary through the whole period of the earth's revolution about the\nsun. This fact of itself seems to prove that among the Mohammedan\npeoples of Northern Africa, as among the Christian peoples of Europe,\nthe midsummer festival is quite independent of the religion which the\npeople publicly profess, and is a relic of a far older paganism. There\nare, indeed, independent grounds for thinking that the Arabs enjoyed the\nadvantage of a comparatively well-regulated solar year before the\nprophet of God saddled them with the absurdity and inconvenience of a\npurely lunar calendar.[557] Be that as it may, it is notable that some\nMohammedan people of North Africa kindle fires and bathe in water at the\nmovable New Year of their lunar calendar instead of at the fixed\nMidsummer of the solar year; while others again practise these\nobservances at both seasons. New Year's Day, on which the rites are\ncelebrated, is called _Ashur_; it is the tenth day of Moharram, the\nfirst month of the Mohammedan calendar. On that day bonfires are kindled\nin Tunis and also at Merrakech and among some tribes of the\nneighbourhood.[558] At Demnat, in the Great Atlas mountains, people\nkindle a large bonfire on New Year's Eve and leap to and fro over the\nflames, uttering words which imply that by these leaps they think to\npurify themselves from all kinds of evil. At Aglu, in the province of\nSus, the fire is lighted at three different points by an unmarried girl,\nand when it has died down the young men leap over the glowing embers,\nsaying, \"We shook on you, O Lady Ashur, fleas, and lice, and the\nillnesses of the heart, as also those of the bones; we shall pass\nthrough you again next year and the following years with safety and\nhealth.\" Both at Aglu and Glawi, in the Great Atlas, smaller fires are\nalso kindled, over which the animals are driven. At Demnat girls who\nwish to marry wash themselves in water which has been boiled over the\nNew Year fire; and in Dukkala people use the ashes of that fire to rub\nsore eyes with. New Year fires appear to be commonly kindled among the\nBerbers who inhabit the western portion of the Great Atlas, and also\namong the Arabic-speaking tribes of the plains; but Dr. Westermarck\nfound no traces of such fires among the Arabic-speaking mountaineers of\nNorthern Morocco and the Berbers of the Rif province. Further, it should\nbe observed that water ceremonies like those which are practised at\nMidsummer are very commonly observed in Morocco at the New Year, that\nis, on the tenth day of the first month. On the morning of that day\n(_Ashur_) all water or, according to some people, only spring water is\nendowed with a magical virtue (_baraka_), especially before sunrise.\nHence at that time the people bathe and pour water over each other; in\nsome places they also sprinkle their animals, tents, or rooms. In\nDukkala some of the New Year water is preserved at home till New Year's\nDay (_Ashur_) of next year; some of it is kept to be used as medicine,\nsome of it is poured on the place where the corn is threshed, and some\nis used to water the money which is to be buried in the ground; for the\npeople think that the earth-spirits will not be able to steal the buried\ntreasures which have thus been sanctified with the holy water.[559]\n\n[The Midsummer festival in Morocco seems to be of Berber origin.]\n\nThus the rites of fire and water which are observed in Morocco at\nMidsummer and New Year appear to be identical in character and\nintention, and it seems certain that the duplication of the rites is due\nto a conflict between two calendars, namely the old Julian calendar of\nthe Romans, which was based on the sun, and the newer Mohammedan\ncalendar of the Arabs, which is based on the moon. For not only was the\nJulian calendar in use throughout the whole of Northern Africa under the\nRoman Empire; to this day it is everywhere employed among Mohammedans\nfor the regulation of agriculture and all the affairs of daily life; its\npractical convenience has made it indispensable, and the lunar calendar\nof orthodox Mohammedanism is scarcely used except for purposes of\nchronology. Even the old Latin names of the months are known and\nemployed, in slightly disguised forms, throughout the whole Moslem\nworld; and little calendars of the Julian year circulate in manuscript\namong Mohammedans, permitting them to combine the practical advantages\nof pagan science with a nominal adherence to orthodox absurdity.[560]\nThus the heathen origin of the midsummer festival is too palpable to\nescape the attention of good Mohammedans, who accordingly frown upon the\nmidsummer bonfires as pagan superstitions, precisely as similar\nobservances in Europe have often been denounced by orthodox\nChristianity. Indeed, many religious people in Morocco entirely\ndisapprove of the whole of the midsummer ceremonies, maintaining that\nthey are all bad; and a conscientious schoolmaster will even refuse his\npupils a holiday at midsummer, though the boys sometimes offer him a\nbribe if he will sacrifice his scruples to his avarice.[561] As the\nmidsummer customs appear to flourish among all the Berbers of Morocco\nbut to be unknown among the pure Arabs who have not been affected by\nBerber influence, it seems reasonable to infer with Dr. Westermarck that\nthe midsummer festival has belonged from time immemorial to the Berber\nrace, and that so far as it is now observed by the Arabs of Morocco, it\nhas been learned by them from the Berbers, the old indigenous\ninhabitants of the country. Dr. Westermarck may also be right in holding\nthat, in spite of the close similarity which obtains between the\nmidsummer festival of Europe and the midsummer festival of North Africa,\nthe latter is not a copy of the former, but that both have been handed\ndown independently from a time beyond the purview of history, when such\nceremonies were common to the Mediterranean race.[562]\n\n\n\u00a7 5. _The Autumn Fires_\n\n\n[Festivals of fire in August; Russian feast of Florus and Laurus on\nAugust 18th; \"Living fire\" made by the friction of wood.]\n\nIn the months which elapse between midsummer and the setting in of\nwinter the European festivals of fire appear to be few and unimportant.\nOn the evening of the first day of August, which is the Festival of the\nCross, bonfires are commonly lit in Macedonia and boys jump over them,\nshouting, \"Dig up! bury!\" but whom or what they wish to dig up or bury\nthey do not know.[563] The Russians hold the feast of two martyrs,\nFlorus and Laurus, on the eighteenth day of August, Old Style. \"On this\nday the Russians lead their horses round the church of their village,\nbeside which on the foregoing evening they dig a hole with two mouths.\nEach horse has a bridle made of the bark of the linden-tree. The horses\ngo through this hole one after the other, opposite to one of the mouths\nof which the priest stands with a sprinkler in his hand, with which he\nsprinkles them. As soon as the horses have passed by their bridles are\ntaken off, and they are made to go between two fires that they kindle,\ncalled by the Russians _Givoy Agon_, that is to say, living fires, of\nwhich I shall give an account. I shall before remark, that the Russian\npeasantry throw the bridles of their horses into one of these fires to\nbe consumed. This is the manner of their lighting these _givoy agon_, or\nliving fires. Some men hold the ends of a stick made of the plane-tree,\nvery dry, and about a fathom long. This stick they hold firmly over one\nof birch, perfectly dry, and rub with violence and quickly against the\nformer; the birch, which is somewhat softer than the plane, in a short\ntime inflames, and serves them to light both the fires I have\ndescribed.\"[564]\n\n[Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth of September at Capri\nand Naples.]\n\nThe Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth day of September\nis celebrated at Naples and Capri with fireworks, bonfires, and\nassassinations. On this subject my friend Professor A. E. Housman, who\nwitnessed the celebration in different years at both places, has kindly\nfurnished me with the following particulars: \"In 1906 I was in the\nisland of Capri on September the eighth, the feast of the Nativity of\nthe Virgin. The anniversary was duly solemnised by fire-works at nine or\nten in the evening, which I suppose were municipal; but just after\nsundown the boys outside the villages were making small fires of\nbrushwood on waste bits of ground by the wayside. Very pretty it looked,\nwith the flames blowing about in the twilight; but what took my\nattention was the listlessness of the boys and their lack of interest in\nthe proceeding. A single lad, the youngest, would be raking the fire\ntogether and keeping it alight, but the rest stood lounging about and\nlooking in every other direction, with the air of discharging\nmechanically a traditional office from which all zest had evaporated.\"\n\"The pious orgy at Naples on September the eighth went through the\nfollowing phases when I witnessed it in 1897. It began at eight in the\nevening with an illumination of the fa\u00e7ade of Santa Maria Piedigrotta\nand with the whole population walking about blowing penny trumpets.\nAfter four hours of this I went to bed at midnight, and was lulled to\nsleep by barrel-organs, which supersede the trumpets about that hour. At\nfour in the morning I was waked by detonations as if the British fleet\nwere bombarding the city, caused, I was afterwards told, by dynamite\nrockets. The only step possible beyond this is assassination, which\naccordingly takes place about peep of day: I forget now the number of\nthe slain, but I think the average is eight or ten, and I know that in\nhonour of my presence they murdered a few more than usual.\"\n\n[The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin may have replaced a pagan\nfestival; the coincidence of the Midsummer festival with the summer\nsolstice implies that the founders of the festival regulated their\ncalendar by observation of the sun.]\n\nIt is no doubt possible that these illuminations and fireworks, like the\nassassinations, are merely the natural and spontaneous expressions of\nthat overflowing joy with which the thought of the birth of the Virgin\nmust fill every pious heart; but when we remember how often the Church\nhas skilfully decanted the new wine of Christianity into the old bottles\nof heathendom, we may be allowed to conjecture that the ecclesiastical\nauthorities adroitly timed the Nativity of the Virgin so as to coincide\nwith an old pagan festival of that day, in which fire, noise, and\nuproar, if not broken heads and bloodshed, were conspicuous features.\nThe penny trumpets blown on this occasion recall the like melodious\ninstruments which figure so largely in the celebration of Befana (the\nEve of Epiphany) at Rome.[565]\n\n\n\u00a7 6. _The Hallowe'en Fires_\n\n\n[On the other hand the Celts divided their year, not by the solstices,\nbut by the beginning of summer (the first of May) and the beginning of\nwinter (the first of November).]\n\nFrom the foregoing survey we may infer that among the heathen\nforefathers of the European peoples the most popular and widespread\nfire-festival of the year was the great celebration of Midsummer Eve or\nMidsummer Day. The coincidence of the festival with the summer solstice\ncan hardly be accidental. Rather we must suppose that our pagan\nancestors purposely timed the ceremony of fire on earth to coincide with\nthe arrival of the sun at the highest point of his course in the sky. If\nthat was so, it follows that the old founders of the midsummer rites had\nobserved the solstices or turning-points of the sun's apparent path in\nthe sky, and that they accordingly regulated their festal calendar to\nsome extent by astronomical considerations.\n\n[The division seems to have been neither astronomical nor agricultural\nbut pastoral, being determined by the times when cattle are driven to\nand from their summer pasture.]\n\nBut while this may be regarded as fairly certain for what we may call\nthe aborigines throughout a large part of the continent, it appears not\nto have been true of the Celtic peoples who inhabited the Land's End of\nEurope, the islands and promontories that stretch out into the Atlantic\nocean on the North-West. The principal fire-festivals of the Celts,\nwhich have survived, though in a restricted area and with diminished\npomp, to modern times and even to our own day, were seemingly timed\nwithout any reference to the position of the sun in the heaven. They\nwere two in number, and fell at an interval of six months, one being\ncelebrated on the eve of May Day and the other on Allhallow Even or\nHallowe'en, as it is now commonly called, that is, on the thirty-first\nof October, the day preceding All Saints' or Allhallows' Day. These\ndates coincide with none of the four great hinges on which the solar\nyear revolves, to wit, the solstices and the equinoxes. Nor do they\nagree with the principal seasons of the agricultural year, the sowing in\nspring and the reaping in autumn. For when May Day comes, the seed has\nlong been committed to the earth; and when November opens, the harvest\nhas long been reaped and garnered, the fields lie bare, the fruit-trees\nare stripped, and even the yellow leaves are fast fluttering to the\nground. Yet the first of May and the first of November mark\nturning-points of the year in Europe; the one ushers in the genial heat\nand the rich vegetation of summer, the other heralds, if it does not\nshare, the cold and barrenness of winter. Now these particular points of\nthe year, as has been well pointed out by a learned and ingenious\nwriter,[566] while they are of comparatively little moment to the\nEuropean husbandman, do deeply concern the European herdsman; for it is\non the approach of summer that he drives his cattle out into the open to\ncrop the fresh grass, and it is on the approach of winter that he leads\nthem back to the safety and shelter of the stall. Accordingly it seems\nnot improbable that the Celtic bisection of the year into two halves at\nthe beginning of May and the beginning of November dates from a time\nwhen the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent for their\nsubsistence on their herds, and when accordingly the great epochs of the\nyear for them were the days on which the cattle went forth from the\nhomestead in early summer and returned to it again in early winter.[567]\nEven in Central Europe, remote from the region now occupied by the\nCelts, a similar bisection of the year may be clearly traced in the\ngreat popularity, on the one hand, of May Day and its Eve (Walpurgis\nNight), and, on the other hand, of the Feast of All Souls at the\nbeginning of November, which under a thin Christian cloak conceals an\nancient pagan festival of the dead.[568] Hence we may conjecture that\neverywhere throughout Europe the celestial division of the year\naccording to the solstices was preceded by what we may call a\nterrestrial division of the year according to the beginning of summer\nand the beginning of winter.\n\n[The two great Celtic festivals, Beltane and Hallowe'en.]\n\nBe that as it may, the two great Celtic festivals of May Day and the\nfirst of November or, to be more accurate, the Eves of these two days,\nclosely resemble each other in the manner of their celebration and in\nthe superstitions associated with them, and alike, by the antique\ncharacter impressed upon both, betray a remote and purely pagan origin.\nThe festival of May Day or Beltane, as the Celts called it, which\nushered in summer, has already been described;[569] it remains to give\nsome account of the corresponding festival of Hallowe'en, which\nannounced the arrival of winter.\n\n[Hallowe'en (the evening of October 31st) seems to have marked the\nbeginning of the Celtic year; the many forms of divination resorted to\nat Hallowe'en are appropriate to the beginning of a New Year; Hallowe'en\nalso a festival of the dead.]\n\nOf the two feasts Hallowe'en was perhaps of old the more important,\nsince the Celts would seem to have dated the beginning of the year from\nit rather than from Beltane. In the Isle of Man, one of the fortresses\nin which the Celtic language and lore longest held out against the siege\nof the Saxon invaders, the first of November, Old Style, has been\nregarded as New Year's day down to recent times. Thus Manx mummers used\nto go round on Hallowe'en (Old Style), singing, in the Manx language, a\nsort of Hogmanay song which began \"To-night is New Year's Night,\n_Hog-unnaa_!\"[570] One of Sir John Rhys's Manx informants, an old man of\nsixty-seven, \"had been a farm servant from the age of sixteen till he\nwas twenty-six to the same man, near Regaby, in the parish of Andreas,\nand he remembers his master and a near neighbour of his discussing the\nterm New Year's Day as applied to the first of November, and explaining\nto the younger men that it had always been so in old times. In fact, it\nseemed to him natural enough, as all tenure of land ends at that time,\nand as all servant men begin their service then.\"[571] In ancient\nIreland, as we saw, a new fire used to be kindled every year on\nHallowe'en or the Eve of Samhain, and from this sacred flame all the\nfires in Ireland were rekindled.[572] Such a custom points strongly to\nSamhain or All Saints' Day (the first of November) as New Year's Day;\nsince the annual kindling of a new fire takes place most naturally at\nthe beginning of the year, in order that the blessed influence of the\nfresh fire may last throughout the whole period of twelve months.\nAnother confirmation of the view that the Celts dated their year from\nthe first of November is furnished by the manifold modes of divination\nwhich, as we shall see presently, were commonly resorted to by Celtic\npeoples on Hallowe'en for the purpose of ascertaining their destiny,\nespecially their fortune in the coming year; for when could these\ndevices for prying into the future be more reasonably put in practice\nthan at the beginning of the year? As a season of omens and auguries\nHallowe'en seems to have far surpassed Beltane in the imagination of the\nCelts; from which we may with some probability infer that they reckoned\ntheir year from Hallowe'en rather than Beltane. Another circumstance of\ngreat moment which points to the same conclusion is the association of\nthe dead with Hallowe'en. Not only among the Celts but throughout\nEurope, Hallowe'en, the night which marks the transition from autumn to\nwinter, seems to have been of old the time of year when the souls of the\ndeparted were supposed to revisit their old homes in order to warm\nthemselves by the fire and to comfort themselves with the good cheer\nprovided for them in the kitchen or the parlour by their affectionate\nkinsfolk.[573] It was, perhaps, a natural thought that the approach of\nwinter should drive the poor shivering hungry ghosts from the bare\nfields and the leafless woodlands to the shelter of the cottage with its\nfamiliar fireside.[574] Did not the lowing kine then troop back from the\nsummer pastures in the forests and on the hills to be fed and cared for\nin the stalls, while the bleak winds whistled among the swaying boughs\nand the snow drifts deepened in the hollows? and could the good-man and\nthe good-wife deny to the spirits of their dead the welcome which they\ngave to the cows?\n\n[Fairies and Hobgoblins let loose at Hallowe'en.]\n\nBut it is not only the souls of the departed who are supposed to be\nhovering unseen on the day \"when autumn to winter resigns the pale\nyear.\" Witches then speed on their errands of mischief, some sweeping\nthrough the air on besoms, others galloping along the roads on\ntabby-cats, which for that evening are turned into coal-black\nsteeds.[575] The fairies, too, are all let loose, and hobgoblins of\nevery sort roam freely about In South Uist and Eriskay there is a\nsaying:--\n\n\"_Hallowe'en will come, will come,\nWitchcraft [or divination] will be set agoing,\nFairies will be at full speed,\nRunning in every pass.\nAvoid the road, children, children_.\"[576]\n\n[Dancing with the fairies at Hallowe'en.]\n\nIn Cardiganshire on November Eve a bogie sits on every stile.[577] On\nthat night in Ireland all the fairy hills are thrown wide open and the\nfairies swarm forth; any man who is bold enough may then peep into the\nopen green hills and see the treasures hidden in them. Worse than that,\nthe cave of Cruachan in Connaught, known as \"the Hell-gate of Ireland,\"\nis unbarred on Samhain Eve or Hallowe'en, and a host of horrible fiends\nand goblins used to rush forth, particularly a flock of copper-red\nbirds, which blighted crops and killed animals by their poisonous\nbreath.[578] The Scotch Highlanders have a special name _Samhanach_\n(derived from _Samhain_, \"All-hallows\") for the dreadful bogies that go\nabout that night stealing babies and committing other atrocities.[579]\nAnd though the fairies are a kindlier folk, it is dangerous to see even\nthem at their revels on Hallowe'en. A melancholy case of this sort is\nreported from the Ferintosh district of the Highlands, though others say\nthat it happened at the Slope of Big Stones in Harris. Two young men\nwere coming home after nightfall on Hallowe'en, each with a jar of\nwhisky on his back, when they saw, as they thought, a house all lit up\nby the roadside, from which proceeded the sounds of music and dancing.\nIn reality it was not a house at all but a fairy knoll, and it was the\nfairies who were jigging it about there so merrily. But one of the young\nmen was deceived and stepping into the house joined in the dance,\nwithout even stopping to put down the jar of whisky. His companion was\nwiser; he had a shrewd suspicion that the place was not what it seemed,\nand on entering he took the precaution of sticking a needle in the door.\nThat disarmed the power of the fairies, and he got away safely. Well,\nthat day twelve months he came back to the spot and what should he see\nbut his poor friend still dancing away with the jar of whisky on his\nback? A weary man was he, as you may well believe, but he begged to be\nallowed to finish the reel which he was in the act of executing, and\nwhen they took him out into the open air, there was nothing of him left\nbut skin and bones.[580] Again, the wicked fairies are apt to carry off\nmen's wives with them to fairyland; but the lost spouses can be\nrecovered within a year and a day when the procession of the fairies is\ndefiling past on Hallowe'en, always provided that the mortals did not\npartake of elfin food while they were in elfinland.[581]\n\n[Guleesh and the revels of the fairies at Hallowe'en.]\n\nSometimes valuable information may be obtained from the fairies on\nHallowe'en. There was a young man named Guleesh in the County of Mayo.\nNear his house was a _rath_ or old fort with a fine grass bank running\nround it. One Hallowe'en, when the darkness was falling, Guleesh went to\nthe rath and stood on a gray old flag. The night was calm and still;\nthere was not a breath of wind stirring, nor a sound to be heard except\nthe hum of the insects flitting past, or the whistle of the plovers, or\nthe hoarse scream of the wild geese as they winged their way far\noverhead. Above the white fog the moon rose like a knob of fire in the\neast, and a thousand thousand stars were twinkling in the sky. There was\na little frost in the air, the grass was white and crisp and crackled\nunder foot. Guleesh expected to see the fairies, but they did not come.\nHour after hour wore away, and he was just bethinking him of going home\nto bed, when his ear caught a sound far off coming towards him, and he\nknew what it was in a moment. The sound grew louder and louder; at first\nit was like the beating of waves on a stony shore, then it was like the\nroar of a waterfall, at last it was like a mighty rushing wind in the\ntops of the trees, then the storm burst upon the rath, and sure enough\nthe fairies were in it. The rout went by so suddenly that Guleesh lost\nhis breath; but he came to himself and listened. The fairies were now\ngathered within the grassy bank of the rath, and a fine uproar they\nmade. But Guleesh listened with all his ears, and he heard one fairy\nsaying to another that a magic herb grew by Guleesh's own door, and that\nGuleesh had nothing to do but pluck it and boil it and give it to his\nsweetheart, the daughter of the King of France, and she would be well,\nfor just then she was lying very ill. Guleesh took the hint, and\neverything went as the fairy had said. And he married the daughter of\nthe King of France; and they had never a cark nor a care, a sickness nor\na sorrow, a mishap nor a misfortune to the day of their death.[582]\n\n[Divination resorted to in Celtic countries at Hallowe'en.]\n\nIn all Celtic countries Hallowe'en seems to have been the great season\nof the year for prying into the future; all kinds of divination were put\nin practice that night. We read that Dathi, a king of Ireland in the\nfifth century, happening to be at the Druids' Hill (_Cnoc-nan-druad_) in\nthe county of Sligo one Hallowe'en, ordered his druid to forecast for\nhim the future from that day till the next Hallowe'en should come round.\nThe druid passed the night on the top of the hill, and next morning made\na prediction to the king which came true.[583] In Wales Hallowe'en was\nthe weirdest of all the _Teir Nos Ysbrydion_, or Three Spirit Nights,\nwhen the wind, \"blowing over the feet of the corpses,\" bore sighs to the\nhouses of those who were to die within the year. People thought that if\non that night they went out to a cross-road and listened to the wind,\nthey would learn all the most important things that would befall them\nduring the next twelve months.[584] In Wales, too, not so long ago women\nused to congregate in the parish churches on the night of Hallowe'en and\nread their fate from the flame of the candle which each of them held in\nher hand; also they heard the names or saw the coffins of the\nparishioners who would die within the year, and many were the sad scenes\nto which these gloomy visions gave rise.[585] And in the Highlands of\nScotland anybody who pleased could hear proclaimed aloud the names of\nparishioners doomed to perish within the next twelve months, if he would\nonly take a three-legged stool and go and sit on it at three\ncross-roads, while the church clock was striking twelve at midnight on\nHallowe'en. It was even in his power to save the destined victims from\ntheir doom by taking with him articles of wearing apparel and throwing\nthem away, one by one, as each name was called out by the mysterious\nvoice.[586]\n\n[Hallowe'en bonfires in the Highlands of Scotland; John Ramsay's account\nof the Hallowe'en bonfires; divination from stones at the fire;\nHallowe'en fires in the parishes of Callander and Logierait.]\n\nBut while a glamour of mystery and awe has always clung to Hallowe'en in\nthe minds of the Celtic peasantry, the popular celebration of the\nfestival has been, at least in modern times, by no means of a\nprevailingly gloomy cast; on the contrary it has been attended by\npicturesque features and merry pastimes, which rendered it the gayest\nnight of all the year. Amongst the things which in the Highlands of\nScotland contributed to invest the festival with a romantic beauty were\nthe bonfires which used to blaze at frequent intervals on the heights.\n\"On the last day of autumn children gathered ferns, tar-barrels, the\nlong thin stalks called _g\u00e0inisg_, and everything suitable for a\nbonfire. These were placed in a heap on some eminence near the house,\nand in the evening set fire to. The fires were called _Samhnagan_. There\nwas one for each house, and it was an object of ambition who should have\nthe biggest. Whole districts were brilliant with bonfires, and their\nglare across a Highland loch, and from many eminences, formed an\nexceedingly picturesque scene.\"[587] Like the Beltane fires on the first\nof May, the Hallowe'en bonfires seem to have been kindled most commonly\nin the Perthshire Highlands. Travelling in the parish of Moulin, near\nPitlochrie, in the year 1772, the Englishman Thomas Pennant writes that\n\"Hallow Eve is also kept sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person sets\nfire to a bush of broom fastened round a pole, and, attended with a\ncrowd, runs about the village. He then flings it down, heaps great\nquantity of combustible matters on it, and makes a great bonfire. A\nwhole tract is thus illuminated at the same time, and makes a fine\nappearance.\"[588] The custom has been described more fully by a\nScotchman of the eighteenth century, John Ramsay of Ochtertyre. On the\nevening of Hallowe'en \"the young people of every hamlet assembled upon\nsome eminence near the houses. There they made a bonfire of ferns or\nother fuel, cut the same day, which from the feast was called _Samh-nag_\nor _Savnag_, a fire of rest and pleasure. Around it was placed a circle\nof stones, one for each person of the families to whom they belonged.\nAnd when it grew dark the bonfire was kindled, at which a loud shout was\nset up. Then each person taking a torch of ferns or sticks in his hand,\nran round the fire exulting; and sometimes they went into the adjacent\nfields, where, if there was another company, they visited the bonfire,\ntaunting the others if inferior in any respect to themselves. After the\nfire was burned out they returned home, where a feast was prepared, and\nthe remainder of the evening was spent in mirth and diversions of\nvarious kinds. Next morning they repaired betimes to the bonfire, where\nthe situation of the stones was examined with much attention. If any of\nthem were misplaced, or if the print of a foot could be discerned near\nany particular stone, it was imagined that the person for whom it was\nset would not live out the year. Of late years this is less attended to,\nbut about the beginning of the present century it was regarded as a sure\nprediction. The Hallowe'en fire is still kept up in some parts of the\nLow country; but on the western coast and in the Isles it is never\nkindled, though the night is spent in merriment and\nentertainments.\"[589] In the Perthshire parish of Callander, which\nincludes the now famous pass of the Trossachs opening out on the winding\nand wooded shores of the lovely Loch Katrine, the Hallowe'en bonfires\nwere still kindled down to near the end of the eighteenth century. When\nthe fire had died down, the ashes were carefully collected in the form\nof a circle, and a stone was put in, near the circumference, for every\nperson of the several families interested in the bonfire. Next morning,\nif any of these stones was found to be displaced or injured, the people\nmade sure that the person represented by it was _fey_ or devoted, and\nthat he could not live twelve months from that day.[590] In the parish\nof Logierait, which covers the beautiful valley of the Tummel, one of\nthe fairest regions of all Scotland, the Hallowe'en fire was somewhat\ndifferent. Faggots of heath, broom, and the dressings of flax were\nkindled and carried on poles by men, who ran with them round the\nvillages, attended by a crowd. As soon as one faggot was burnt out, a\nfresh one was lighted and fastened to the pole. Numbers of these blazing\nfaggots were often carried about together, and when the night happened\nto be dark, they formed a splendid illumination.[591]\n\n[Hallowe'en fires on Loch Tay; Hallowe'en fires at Balquhidder.]\n\nNor did the Hallowe'en fires die out in Perthshire with the end of the\neighteenth century. Journeying from Dunkeld to Aberfeldy on Hallowe'en\nin the first half of the nineteenth century, Sheriff Barclay counted\nthirty fires blazing on the hill tops, and saw the figures of the people\ndancing like phantoms round the flames.[592] Again, \"in 1860, I was\nresiding near the head of Loch Tay during the season of the Hallowe'en\nfeast. For several days before Hallowe'en, boys and youths collected\nwood and conveyed it to the most prominent places on the hill sides in\ntheir neighbourhood. Some of the heaps were as large as a corn-stack or\nhayrick. After dark on Hallowe'en, these heaps were kindled, and for\nseveral hours both sides of Loch Tay were illuminated as far as the eye\ncould see. I was told by old men that at the beginning of this century\nmen as well as boys took part in getting up the bonfires, and that, when\nthe fire was ablaze, all joined hands and danced round the fire, and\nmade a great noise; but that, as these gatherings generally ended in\ndrunkenness and rough and dangerous fun, the ministers set their faces\nagainst the observance, and were seconded in their efforts by the more\nintelligent and well-behaved in the community; and so the practice was\ndiscontinued by adults and relegated to school boys.\"[593] At\nBalquhidder down to the latter part of the nineteenth century each\nhousehold kindled its bonfire at Hallowe'en, but the custom was chiefly\nobserved by children. The fires were lighted on any high knoll near the\nhouse; there was no dancing round them.[594]\n\n[Hallowe'en fires in Buchan to burn the witches; processions with\ntorches at Hallowe'en in the Braemar Highlands.]\n\nHallowe'en fires were also lighted in some districts of the north-east\nof Scotland, such as Buchan. Villagers and farmers alike must have their\nfire. In the villages the boys went from house to house and begged a\npeat from each householder, usually with the words, \"Ge's a peat t' burn\nthe witches.\" In some villages the lads collected the peats in a cart,\nsome of them drawing it along and the others receiving the peats and\nloading them on the cart. Along with the peats they accumulated straw,\nfurze, potato haulm, everything that would burn quickly, and when they\nhad got enough they piled it all in a heap and set it on fire. Then each\nof the youths, one after another, laid himself down on the ground as\nnear to the fire as he could without being scorched, and thus lying\nallowed the smoke to roll over him. The others ran through the smoke and\njumped over their prostrate comrade. When the heap was burned down, they\nscattered the ashes. Each one took a share in this part of the ceremony,\ngiving a kick first with the right foot and then with the left; and each\nvied with the other who should scatter the most. After that some of them\nstill continued to run through the scattered ashes and to pelt each\nother with the half-burned peats. At each farm a spot as high as\npossible, not too near the steading, was chosen for the fire, and the\nproceedings were much the same as at the village bonfire. The lads of\none farm, when their own fire was burned down and the ashes scattered,\nsometimes went to a neighbouring fire and helped to kick the ashes\nabout.[595] Referring to this part of Scotland, a writer at the end of\nthe eighteenth century observes that \"the Hallow-even fire, another\nrelict of druidism, was kindled in Buchan. Various magic ceremonies were\nthen celebrated to counteract the influence of witches and demons, and\nto prognosticate to the young their success or disappointment in the\nmatrimonial lottery. These being devoutly finished, the hallow fire was\nkindled, and guarded by the male part of the family. Societies were\nformed, either by pique or humour, to scatter certain fires, and the\nattack and defence were often conducted with art and with fury.\"[596]\nDown to about the middle of the nineteenth century \"the Braemar\nHighlanders made the circuit of their fields with lighted torches at\nHallowe'en to ensure their fertility in the coming year. At that date\nthe custom was as follows: Every member of the family (in those days\nhouseholds were larger than they are now) was provided with a bundle of\nfir 'can'les' with which to go the round. The father and mother stood at\nthe hearth and lit the splints in the peat fire, which they passed to\nthe children and servants, who trooped out one after the other, and\nproceeded to tread the bounds of their little property, going slowly\nround at equal distances apart, and invariably with the sun. To go\n'withershins' seems to have been reserved for cursing and\nexcommunication. When the fields had thus been circumambulated the\nremaining spills were thrown together in a heap and allowed to burn\nout.\"[597]\n\n[Divination at Hallow-e'en in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland;\nthe stolen kail; sowing hemp seed; the winnowing basket; the wet shirt;\nthe thrown shoe.]\n\nIn the Highlands of Scotland, as the evening of Hallowe'en wore on,\nyoung people gathered in one of the houses and resorted to an almost\nendless variety of games, or rather forms of divination, for the purpose\nof ascertaining the future fate of each member of the company. Were they\nto marry or remain single, was the marriage to take place that year or\nnever, who was to be married first, what sort of husband or wife she or\nhe was to get, the name, the trade, the colour of the hair, the amount\nof property of the future spouse--these were questions that were eagerly\ncanvassed and the answers to them furnished never-failing\nentertainment.[598] Nor were these modes of divination at Hallowe'en\nconfined to the Highlands, where the bonfires were kindled; they were\npractised with equal faith and in practically the same forms in the\nLowlands, as we learn, for example, from Burns's poem _Hallowe'en_,\nwhich describes the auguries drawn from a variety of omens by the\nAyrshire peasantry. These Lowlanders of Saxon descent may well have\ninherited the rites from the Celts who preceded them in the possession\nof the south country. A common practice at Hallowe'en was to go out\nstealthily to a neighbour's kailyard and there, with shut eyes, to pull\nup the first kail stock that came to hand. It was necessary that the\nplants should be stolen without the knowledge or consent of their owner;\notherwise they were quite useless for the purpose of divination.\nStrictly speaking, too, the neighbour upon whose garden the raid was\nmade should be unmarried, whether a bachelor or a spinster. The stolen\nkail was taken home and examined, and according to its height, shape,\nand features would be the height, shape, and features of the future\nhusband or wife. The taste of the _custock_, that is, the heart of the\nstem, was an infallible indication of his or her temper; and a clod of\nearth adhering to the root signified, in proportion to its size, the\namount of property which he or she would bring to the common stock. Then\nthe kail-stock or _runt_, as it was called in Ayrshire, was placed over\nthe lintel of the door; and the baptismal name of the young man or woman\nwho first entered the door after the kail was in position would be the\nbaptismal name of the husband or wife.[599] Again, young women sowed\nhemp seed over nine ridges of ploughed land, saying, \"I sow hemp seed,\nand he who is to be my husband, let him come and harrow it.\" On looking\nback over her left shoulder the girl would see the figure of her future\nmate behind her in the darkness. In the north-east of Scotland lint seed\nwas used instead of hemp seed and answered the purpose quite as\nwell.[600] Again, a mode of ascertaining your future husband or wife was\nthis. Take a clue of blue yarn and go to a lime-kiln. Throw the clue\ninto the kiln, but keep one end of the thread in your hand and wind it\non to another clue. As you come near the end somebody or something will\nhold the other end tight in the kiln. Then you call out, \"Who holds?\"\ngiving the thread at the same time a gentle pull. Some one or something\nwill thereupon pull the other end of the thread, and a voice will\nmention the name of your future husband or wife.[601] Another way is\nthis. Go to the barn alone and secretly. Be sure to open both doors and\nif possible take them off their hinges; for if the being who is about to\nappear should catch you in the barn and clap the doors to on you, he or\nshe might do you a mischief. Having done this, take the sieve or\nwinnowing-basket, which in Lowland Scotch is called a _wecht_ or\n_waicht_, and go through the action of winnowing corn. Repeat it thrice,\nand at the third time the apparition of your future husband or wife will\npass through the barn, entering at the windy door and passing out at the\nother.[602] Or this. Go to a southward running stream, where the lands\nof three lairds meet, or to a ford where the dead and living have\ncrossed. Dip the left sleeve of your shirt in the water. Then go home,\ntake off the shirt, hang it up before a fire to dry, and go to bed,\ntaking care that the bed stands so that you can see your shirt hanging\nbefore the fire. Keep awake, and at midnight you will see the form of\nyour future spouse come into the room and turn the other side of the\nsleeve to the fire to dry it.[603] A Highland form of divination at\nHallowe'en is to take a shoe by the tip and throw it over the house,\nthen observe the direction in which the toe points as it lies on the\nground on the other side; for in that direction you are destined to go\nbefore long. If the shoe should fall sole uppermost, it is very unlucky\nfor you.[604]\n\n[The white of eggs in water; the names on the chimney piece; the nuts in\nthe fire; the milk and meal; the apples in the water; the three plates.]\n\nThese ways of prying into the future are practised outside of the house;\nothers are observed in the kitchen or the parlour before the cheerful\nblaze of the fire. Thus the white of eggs, dropped in a glass of pure\nwater, indicates by certain marks how many children a person will have.\nThe impatience and clamour of the children, eager to ascertain the exact\nnumber of their future progeny, often induced the housewife to perform\nthis ceremony for them by daylight; and the kindly mother, standing with\nher face to the window, dropping the white of an egg into a crystal\nglass of clean water, and surrounded by a group of children intently\nwatching her proceedings, made up a pretty picture.[605] When the fun of\nthe evening had fairly commenced, the names of eligible or likely\nmatches were written on the chimney-piece, and the young man who wished\nto try his fortune was led up blindfolded to the list. Whatever name he\nput his finger on would prove that of his future wife.[606] Again, two\nnuts, representing a lad and a lass whose names were announced to the\ncompany, were put side by side in the fire. If they burned quietly\ntogether, the pair would be man and wife, and from the length of time\nthey burned and the brightness of the flame the length and happiness of\nthe married life of the two were augured. But if instead of burning\ntogether one of the nuts leaped away from the other, then there would be\nno marriage, and the blame would rest with the person whose nut had thus\nstarted away by itself.[607] Again, a dish of milk and meal (in Gaelic\n_fuarag_, in Lowland Scotch _crowdie_) or of beat potatoes was made and\na ring was hidden in it. Spoons were served out to the company, who\nsupped the contents of the dish hastily with them, and the one who got\nthe ring would be the first to be married.[608] Again, apples and a\nsilver sixpence were put in a tub of water; the apples naturally floated\non the top and the sixpence sank to the bottom. Whoever could lift an\napple or the sixpence from the water with his mouth, without using his\nteeth, was counted very lucky and got the prize to himself.[609] Again,\nthree plates or basins were placed on the hearth. One was filled with\nclean water, another with dirty water, and the third was empty. The\nenquirer was blindfolded, knelt in front of the hearth, and groped about\ntill he put his finger in one of them. If he lighted on the plate with\nthe clean water, he would wed a maid; if on the plate with the dirty\nwater, he would marry a widow; and if on the empty plate, he would\nremain a bachelor. For a girl the answer of the oracle was analogous;\nshe would marry a bachelor, a widower, or nobody according to the plate\ninto which she chanced to dip her finger. But to make sure, the\noperation had to be repeated thrice, the position of the plates being\nchanged each time. If the enquirer put his or her finger into the same\nplate thrice or even twice, it was quite conclusive.[610]\n\n[The sliced apple; the white of egg in water; the salt cake or salt\nherring.]\n\nThese forms of divination in the house were practised by the company in\na body; but the following had to be performed by the person alone. You\ntook an apple and stood with it in your hand in front of a\nlooking-glass. Then you sliced the apple, stuck each slice on the point\nof the knife, and held it over your left shoulder, while you looked into\nthe glass and combed your hair. The spectre of your future husband would\nthen appear in the mirror stretching forth his hand to take the slices\nof the apple over your shoulder. Some say that the number of slices\nshould be nine, that you should eat the first eight yourself, and only\nthrow the ninth over your left shoulder for your husband; also that at\neach slice you should say, \"In the name of the Father and the Son.\"[611]\nAgain, take an egg, prick it with a pin, and let the white drop into a\nwine-glass nearly full of water. Take some of this in your mouth and go\nout for a walk. The first name you hear called out aloud will be that of\nyour future husband or wife. An old woman told a lady that she had tried\nthis mode of divination in her youth, that the name of Archibald \"came\nup as it were from the very ground,\" and that Archibald sure enough was\nthe name of her husband.[612] In South Uist and Eriskay, two of the\nouter Hebrides, a salt cake called _Bonnach Salainn_ is eaten at\nHallowe'en to induce dreams that will reveal the future. It is baked of\ncommon meal with a great deal of salt. After eating it you may not drink\nwater nor utter a word, not even to say your prayers. A salt herring,\neaten bones and all in three bites, is equally efficacious, always\nprovided that you drink no water and hold your tongue.[613]\n\n[Hallowe'en fires in Wales; omens drawn from stones thrown into the\nfire; divination by stones in the ashes.]\n\nIn the northern part of Wales it used to be customary for every family\nto make a great bonfire called _Coel Coeth_ on Hallowe'en. The fire was\nkindled on the most conspicuous spot near the house; and when it had\nnearly gone out everyone threw into the ashes a white stone, which he\nhad first marked. Then having said their prayers round the fire, they\nwent to bed. Next morning, as soon as they were up, they came to search\nout the stones, and if any one of them was found to be missing, they had\na notion that the person who threw it would die before he saw another\nHallowe'en.[614] A writer on Wales at the beginning of the nineteenth\ncentury says that \"the autumnal fire is still kindled in North Wales,\nbeing on the eve of the first day of November, and is attended by many\nceremonies; such as running through the fire and smoke, each casting a\nstone into the fire, and all running off at the conclusion to escape\nfrom the black short-tailed sow; then supping upon parsnips, nuts, and\napples; catching up an apple suspended by a string with the mouth alone,\nand the same by an apple in a tub of water: each throwing a nut into the\nfire; and those that burn bright, betoken prosperity to the owners\nthrough the following year, but those that burn black and crackle,\ndenote misfortune. On the following morning the stones are searched for\nin the fire, and if any be missing, they betide ill to those who threw\nthem in.\"[615] According to Sir John Rhys, the habit of celebrating\nHallowe'en by lighting bonfires on the hills is perhaps not yet extinct\nin Wales, and men still living can remember how the people who assisted\nat the bonfires would wait till the last spark was out and then would\nsuddenly take to their heels, shouting at the top of their voices, \"The\ncropped black sow seize the hindmost!\" The saying, as Sir John Rhys\njustly remarks, implies that originally one of the company became a\nvictim in dead earnest. Down to the present time the saying is current\nin Carnarvonshire, where allusions to the cutty black sow are still\noccasionally made to frighten children.[616] We can now understand why\nin Lower Brittany every person throws a pebble into the midsummer\nbonfire.[617] Doubtless there, as in Wales and the Highlands of\nScotland,[618] omens of life and death have at one time or other been\ndrawn from the position and state of the pebbles on the morning of All\nSaints' Day. The custom, thus found among three separate branches of the\nCeltic stock, probably dates from a period before their dispersion, or\nat least from a time when alien races had not yet driven home the wedges\nof separation between them.\n\n[Divination as to love and marriage at Hallowe'en in Wales.]\n\nIn Wales, as in Scotland, Hallowe'en was also the great season for\nforecasting the future in respect of love and marriage, and some of the\nforms of divination employed for this purpose resembled those which were\nin use among the Scotch peasantry. Two girls, for example, would make a\nlittle ladder of yarn, without breaking it from the ball, and having\ndone so they would throw it out of the window. Then one of the girls,\nholding the ball in her hand, would wind the yarn back, repeating a\nrhyme in Welsh. This she did thrice, and as she wound the yarn she would\nsee her future husband climbing up the little ladder. Again, three bowls\nor basins were placed on a table. One of them contained clean water, one\ndirty water, and one was empty. The girls of the household, and\nsometimes the boys too, then eagerly tried their fortunes. They were\nblindfolded, led up to the table, and dipped their hands into a bowl. If\nthey happened to dip into the clean water, they would marry maidens or\nbachelors; if into the dirty water, they would be widowers or widows; if\ninto the empty bowl, they would live unmarried. Again, if a girl,\nwalking backwards, would place a knife among the leeks on Hallowe'en,\nshe would see her future husband come and pick up the knife and throw it\ninto the middle of the garden.[619]\n\n[Divination at Hallowe'en in Ireland.]\n\nIn Ireland the Hallowe'en bonfires would seem to have died out, but the\nHallowe'en divination has survived. Writing towards the end of the\neighteenth century, General Vallancey tells us that on Hallowe'en or the\nvigil of Saman, as he calls it, \"the peasants in Ireland assemble with\nsticks and clubs (the emblems of laceration) going from house to house,\ncollecting money, bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., etc., for the\nfeast, repeating verses in honour of the solemnity, demanding\npreparations for the festival, in the name of St. Columb Kill, desiring\nthem to lay aside the fatted calf, and to bring forth the black sheep.\nThe good women are employed in making the griddle cake and candles;\nthese last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and are lighted\nup on the (Saman) next day, before which they pray, or are supposed to\npray, for the departed souls of the donor. Every house abounds in the\nbest viands they can afford: apples and nuts are devoured in abundance:\nthe nut-shells are burnt, and from the ashes many strange things are\nforetold: cabbages are torn up by the root: hemp seed is sown by the\nmaidens, and they believe, that if they look back, they will see the\napparition of the man intended for their future spouse: they hang a\nsmock before the fire, on the close of the feast, and sit up all night,\nconcealed in a corner of the room, convinced that his apparition will\ncome down the chimney and turn the smock: they throw a ball of yarn out\nof the window, and wind it on the reel within, convinced, that if they\nrepeat the _Pater Noster_ backwards, and look at the ball of yarn\nwithout, they will then also see his _sith_ or apparition: they dip for\napples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring one up in the mouth:\nthey suspend a cord with a cross-stick, with apples at one point, and\ncandles lighted at the other, and endeavour to catch the apple, while it\nis in a circular motion, in the mouth. These, and many other\nsuperstitious ceremonies, the remains of Druidism, are observed on this\nholiday, which will never be eradicated, while the name of _Saman_ is\npermitted to remain.\"[620]\n\n[Divination at Hallow-e'en in Queen's County; divination at Hallow-e'en\nin County Leitrim; divination at Hallowe'en in County Roscommon.]\n\nIn Queen's County, Ireland, down to the latter part of the nineteenth\ncentury children practised various of these rites of divination on\nHallowe'en. Girls went out into the garden blindfold and pulled up\ncabbages: if the cabbage was well grown, the girl would have a handsome\nhusband, but if it had a crooked stalk, the future spouse would be a\nstingy old man. Nuts, again, were placed in pairs on the bar of the\nfire, and from their behaviour omens were drawn of the fate in love and\nmarriage of the couple whom they represented. Lead, also, was melted and\nallowed to drop into a tub of cold water, and from the shapes which it\nassumed in the water predictions were made to the children of their\nfuture destiny. Again, apples were bobbed for in a tub of water and\nbrought up with the teeth; or a stick was hung from a hook with an apple\nat one end and a candle at the other, and the stick being made to\nrevolve you made a bite at the apple and sometimes got a mouthful of\ncandle instead.[621] In County Leitrim, also, down to near the end of\nthe nineteenth century various forms of divination were practised at\nHallowe'en. Girls ascertained the character of their future husbands by\nthe help of cabbages just as in Queen's County. Again, if a girl found a\nbranch of a briar-thorn which had bent over and grown into the ground so\nas to form a loop, she would creep through the loop thrice late in the\nevening in the devil's name, then cut the briar and put it under her\npillow, all without speaking a word. Then she would lay her head on the\npillow and dream of the man she was to marry. Boys, also, would dream in\nlike manner of love and marriage at Hallowe'en, if only they would\ngather ten leaves of ivy without speaking, throw away one, and put the\nother nine under their pillow. Again, divination was practised by means\nof a cake called _barm-breac_, in which a nut and a ring were baked.\nWhoever got the ring would be married first; whoever got the nut would\nmarry a widow or a widower; but if the nut were an empty shell, he or\nshe would remain unwed. Again, a girl would take a clue of worsted, go\nto a lime kiln in the gloaming, and throw the clew into the kiln in the\ndevil's name, while she held fast the other end of the thread. Then she\nwould rewind the thread and ask, \"Who holds my clue?\" and the name of\nher future husband would come up from the depth of the kiln. Another way\nwas to take a rake, go to a rick and walk round it nine times, saying,\n\"I rake this rick in the devil's name.\" At the ninth time the wraith of\nyour destined partner for life would come and take the rake out of your\nhand. Once more, before the company separated for the night, they would\nrake the ashes smooth on the hearth, and search them next morning for\ntracks, from which they judged whether anybody should come to the house,\nor leave it, or die in it before another year was out.[622] In County\nRoscommon, which borders on County Leitrim, a cake is made in nearly\nevery house on Hallowe'en, and a ring, a coin, a sloe, and a chip of\nwood are put into it. Whoever gets the coin will be rich; whoever gets\nthe ring will be married first; whoever gets the chip of wood, which\nstands for a coffin, will die first; and whoever gets the sloe will live\nlongest, because the fairies blight the sloes in the hedges on\nHallowe'en, so that the sloe in the cake will be the last of the year.\nAgain, on the same mystic evening girls take nine grains of oats in\ntheir mouths, and going out without speaking walk about till they hear a\nman's name pronounced; it will be the name of their future husband. In\nCounty Roscommon, too, on Hallowe'en there is the usual dipping in water\nfor apples or sixpences, and the usual bites at a revolving apple and\ntallow candle.[623]\n\n[Hallowe'en fires in the Isle of Man; divination at Hallowe'en in the\nIsle of Man.]\n\nIn the Isle of Man also, another Celtic country, Hallow-e'en was\ncelebrated down to modern times by the kindling of fires, accompanied\nwith all the usual ceremonies designed to prevent the baneful influence\nof fairies and witches. Bands of young men perambulated the island by\nnight, and at the door of every dwelling-house they struck up a Manx\nrhyme, beginning\n\n\"_Noght oie howney hop-dy-naw_,\"\n\nthat is to say, \"This is Hollantide Eve.\" For Hollantide is the Manx way\nof expressing the old English _All hallowen tide_, that is, All Saints'\nDay, the first of November. But as the people reckon this festival\naccording to the Old Style, Hollantide in the Isle of Man is our twelfth\nof November. The native Manx name for the day is _Sauin_ or _Laa\nHouney_. Potatoes, parsnips and fish, pounded up together and mixed with\nbutter, formed the proper evening meal (_mrastyr_) on Hallowe'en in the\nIsle of Man.[624] Here, too, as in Scotland forms of divination are\npractised by some people on this important evening. For example, the\nhousewife fills a thimble full of salt for each member of the family and\neach guest; the contents of the thimblefuls are emptied out in as many\nneat little piles on a plate, and left there over night. Next morning\nthe piles are examined, and if any of them has fallen down, he or she\nwhom it represents will die within the year. Again, the women carefully\nsweep out the ashes from under the fireplace and flatten them down\nneatly on the open hearth. If they find next morning a footprint turned\ntowards the door, it signifies a death in the family within the year;\nbut if the footprint is turned in the opposite direction, it bodes a\nmarriage. Again, divination by eavesdropping is practised in the Isle of\nMan in much the same way as in Scotland. You go out with your mouth full\nof water and your hands full of salt and listen at a neighbour's door,\nand the first name you hear will be the name of your husband. Again,\nManx maids bandage their eyes and grope about the room till they dip\ntheir hands in vessels full of clean or dirty water, and so on; and from\nthe thing they touch they draw corresponding omens. But some people in\nthe Isle of Man observe these auguries, not on Hallowe'en or Hollantide\nEve, as they call it, which was the old Manx New Year's Eve, but on the\nmodern New Year's Eve, that is, on the thirty-first of December. The\nchange no doubt marks a transition from the ancient to the modern mode\nof dating the beginning of the year.[625]\n\n[Hallowe'en fires and divination in Lancashire; candles lighted to keep\noff the witches; divination at Hallowe'en in Northumberland; Hallowe'en\nfires in France.]\n\nIn Lancashire, also, some traces of the old Celtic celebration of\nHallowe'en have been reported in modern times. It is said that \"fires\nare still lighted in Lancashire, on Hallowe'en, under the name of\nBeltains or Teanlas; and even such cakes as the Jews are said to have\nmade in honour of the Queen of Heaven, are yet to be found at this\nseason amongst the inhabitants of the banks of the Ribble.... Both the\nfires and the cakes, however, are now connected with superstitious\nnotions respecting Purgatory, etc.\"[626] On Hallowe'en, too, the\nLancashire maiden \"strews the ashes which are to take the form of one or\nmore letters of her lover's name; she throws hemp-seed over her shoulder\nand timidly glances to see who follows her.\"[627] Again, witches in\nLancashire used to gather on Hallowe'en at the Malkin Tower, a ruined\nand desolate farm-house in the forest of Pendle. They assembled for no\ngood purpose; but you could keep the infernal rout at bay by carrying a\nlighted candle about the fells from eleven to twelve o'clock at night.\nThe witches tried to blow out the candle, and if they succeeded, so much\nthe worse for you; but if the flame burned steadily till the clocks had\nstruck midnight, you were safe. Some people performed the ceremony by\ndeputy; and parties went about from house to house in the evening\ncollecting candles, one for each inmate, and offering their services to\n_late_ or _leet_ the witches, as the phrase ran. This custom was\npractised at Longridge Fell in the early part of the nineteenth\ncentury.[628] In Northumberland on Hallowe'en omens of marriage were\ndrawn from nuts thrown into the fire; and the sports of ducking for\napples and biting at a revolving apple and lighted candle were also\npractised on that evening.[629] The equivalent of the Hallowe'en\nbonfires is reported also from France. We are told that in the\ndepartment of Deux-S\u00e8vres, which forms part of the old province of\nPoitou, young people used to assemble in the fields on All Saints' Day\n(the first of November) and kindle great fires of ferns, thorns, leaves,\nand stubble, at which they roasted chestnuts. They also danced round the\nfires and indulged in noisy pastimes.[630]\n\n\n\u00a7 7. _The Midwinter Fires_\n\n\n[A Midwinter festival of fire; Christmas the continuation of an old\nheathen festival of the sun.]\n\nIf the heathen of ancient Europe celebrated, as we have good reason to\nbelieve, the season of Midsummer with a great festival of fire, of which\nthe traces have survived in many places down to our own time, it is\nnatural to suppose that they should have observed with similar rites the\ncorresponding season of Midwinter; for Midsummer and Midwinter, or, in\nmore technical language, the summer solstice and the winter solstice,\nare the two great turning-points in the sun's apparent course through\nthe sky, and from the standpoint of primitive man nothing might seem\nmore appropriate than to kindle fires on earth at the two moments when\nthe fire and heat of the great luminary in heaven begin to wane or to\nwax. In this way the savage philosopher, to whose meditations on the\nnature of things we owe many ancient customs and ceremonies, might\neasily imagine that he helped the labouring sun to relight his dying\nlamp, or at all events to blow up the flame into a brighter blaze.\nCertain it is that the winter solstice, which the ancients erroneously\nassigned to the twenty-fifth of December, was celebrated in antiquity as\nthe Birthday of the Sun, and that festal lights or fires were kindled on\nthis joyful occasion. Our Christmas festival is nothing but a\ncontinuation under a Christian name of this old solar festivity; for the\necclesiastical authorities saw fit, about the end of the third or the\nbeginning of the fourth century, arbitrarily to transfer the nativity of\nChrist from the sixth of January to the twenty-fifth of December, for\nthe purpose of diverting to their Lord the worship which the heathen had\nhitherto paid on that day to the sun.[631]\n\n[The Yule log is the Midwinter counterpart of the Midsummer bonfire.]\n\nIn modern Christendom the ancient fire-festival of the winter solstice\nappears to survive, or to have survived down to recent years, in the old\ncustom of the Yule log, clog, or block, as it was variously called in\nEngland.[632] The custom was widespread in Europe, but seems to have\nflourished especially in England, France, and among the South Slavs; at\nleast the fullest accounts of the custom come from these quarters. That\nthe Yule log was only the winter counterpart of the Midsummer bonfire,\nkindled within doors instead of in the open air on account of the cold\nand inclement weather of the season, was pointed out long ago by our\nEnglish antiquary John Brand;[633] and the view is supported by the many\nquaint superstitions attaching to the Yule log, superstitions which have\nno apparent connexion with Christianity but carry their heathen origin\nplainly stamped upon them. But while the two solstitial celebrations\nwere both festivals of fire, the necessity or desirability of holding\nthe winter celebration within doors lent it the character of a private\nor domestic festivity, which contrasts strongly with the publicity of\nthe summer celebration, at which the people gathered on some open space\nor conspicuous height, kindled a huge bonfire in common, and danced and\nmade merry round it together.\n\n[The Yule log in Germany; the Yule log in Switzerland.]\n\nAmong the Germans the custom of the Yule log is known to have been\nobserved in the eleventh century; for in the year 1184 the parish priest\nof Ahlen, in M\u00fcnsterland, spoke of \"bringing a tree to kindle the festal\nfire at the Lord's Nativity.\"[634] Down to about the middle of the\nnineteenth century the old rite was kept up in some parts of central\nGermany, as we learn from an account of it given by a contemporary\nwriter. After mentioning the custom of feeding the cattle and shaking\nthe fruit-trees on Christmas night, to make them bear fruit, he goes on\nas follows: \"Other customs pointing back to the far-off times of\nheathendom may still be met with among the old-fashioned peasants of the\nmountain regions. Such is in the valleys of the Sieg and Lahn the\npractice of laying a new log as a foundation of the hearth. A heavy\nblock of oak-wood, generally a stump grubbed up from the ground, is\nfitted either into the floor of the hearth, or into a niche made for the\npurpose in the wall under the hook on which the kettle hangs. When the\nfire on the hearth glows, this block of wood glows too, but it is so\nplaced that it is hardly reduced to ashes within a year. When the new\nfoundation is laid, the remains of the old block are carefully taken\nout, ground to powder, and strewed over the fields during the Twelve\nNights. This, so people fancied, promotes the fruitfulness of the year's\ncrops.\"[635] In some parts of the Eifel Mountains, to the west of\nCoblentz, a log of wood called the _Christbrand_ used to be placed on\nthe hearth on Christmas Eve; and the charred remains of it on Twelfth\nNight were put in the corn-bin to keep the mice from devouring the\ncorn.[636] At Weidenhausen and Girkshausen, in Westphalia, the practice\nwas to withdraw the Yule log (_Christbrand_) from the fire so soon as it\nwas slightly charred; it was then kept carefully to be replaced on the\nfire whenever a thunder-storm broke, because the people believed that\nlightning would not strike a house in which the Yule log was\nsmouldering.[637] In some villages near Berleburg in Westphalia the old\ncustom was to tie up the Yule log in the last sheaf cut at harvest.[638]\nOn Christmas Eve the peasantry of the Oberland, in Meiningen, a province\nof Central Germany, used to put a great block of wood called the\n_Christklots_ on the fire before they went to bed; it should burn all\nnight, and the charred remains were believed to guard the house for the\nwhole year against the risk of fire, burglary, and other\nmisfortunes.[639] The Yule log seems to be known only in the\nFrench-speaking parts of Switzerland, where it goes by the usual French\nname of _B\u00fbche de No\u00ebl_. In the Jura mountains of the canton of Bern,\nwhile the log is burning on the hearth the people sing a blessing over\nit as follows:--\n\n\"_May the log burn!\nMay all good come in!\nMay the women have children\nAnd the sheep lambs!\nWhite bread for every one\nAnd the vat full of wine_!\"\n\nThe embers of the Yule log were kept carefully, for they were believed\nto be a protection against lightning.[640]\n\n[The Yule log in Belgium.]\n\n\"The Christmas fires, which were formerly lit everywhere in the Low\nCountries, have fallen into disuse. But in Flanders a great log of wood,\ncalled the _kersavondblok_ and usually cut from the roots of a fir or a\nbeech, is still put on the fire; all the lights in the house are\nextinguished, and the whole family gathers round the log to spend part\nof the night in singing, in telling stories, especially about ghosts,\nwere-wolves, and so on, and also in drinking gin. At Grammont and in the\nneighbourhood of that town, where the Yule log is called _Kersmismot_,\nit is customary to set fire to the remainder of the gin at the moment\nwhen the log is reduced to ashes. Elsewhere a piece of the log is kept\nand put under the bed to protect the house against thunder and\nlightning. The charcoal of the log which burned during Christmas Night,\nif pounded up and mixed with water, is a cure for consumption. In the\ncountry of Limburg the log burns several nights, and the pounded\ncharcoal is kept as a preventive (so they say), of toothache.\"[641]\n\n[The Yule log in France.]\n\nIn several provinces of France, and particularly in Provence, the custom\nof the Yule log or _tr\u00e9foir_, as it was called in many places, was long\nobserved. A French writer of the seventeenth century tells us that on\nChristmas Eve the log was prepared, and when the whole family had\nassembled in the kitchen or parlour of the house, they went and brought\nit in, walking in procession and singing Proven\u00e7al verses to the\nfollowing effect:--\n\n\"_Let the log rejoice,\nTo-morrow is the day of bread;\nLet all good enter here;\nLet the women bear children;\nLet the she-goats bring forth kids;\nLet the ewes drop lambs;\nLet there be much wheat and flour,\nAnd the vat full of wine_.\"\n\nThen the log was blessed by the smallest and youngest child of the\nhouse, who poured a glass of wine over it saying, _In nomine patris_,\netc.; after which the log was set on the fire. The charcoal of the burnt\nwood was kept the whole year, and used as an ingredient in several\nremedies.[642]\n\n[French superstitions as to the Yule log.]\n\nAmongst the superstitions denounced by the same writer is \"the belief\nthat a log called the _trefoir_ or Christmas brand, which you put on the\nfire for the first time on Christmas Eve and continue to put on the fire\nfor a little while every day till Twelfth Night, can, if kept under the\nbed, protect the house for a whole year from fire and thunder; that it\ncan prevent the inmates from having chilblains on their heels in winter;\nthat it can cure the cattle of many maladies; that if a piece of it be\nsteeped in the water which cows drink it helps them to calve; and lastly\nthat if the ashes of the log be strewn on the fields it can save the\nwheat from mildew.\"[643]\n\n[The Yule log at Marseilles and in Perigord; virtues ascribed to the\ncharcoal and ashes of the burnt log; the Yule log in Berry.]\n\nIn Marseilles the Yule log used to be a great block of oak, which went\nby the name of _calendeau_ or _calignau_; it was sprinkled with wine and\noil, and the head of the house kindled it himself.[644] \"The Yule log\nplays a great part at the festival of the winter solstice in Perigord.\nThe countryman thinks that it is best made of plum-tree, cherry, or oak,\nand that the larger it is the better. If it burns well, it is a good\nomen, the blessing of heaven rests upon it. The charcoal and ashes,\nwhich are collected very carefully, are excellent for healing swollen\nglands; the part of the trunk which has not been burnt in the fire is\nused by ploughmen to make the wedge (_t\u00e9coin ou cale_) for their plough,\nbecause they allege that it causes the seeds to thrive better; and the\nwomen keep pieces of it till Twelfth Night for the sake of their\nchickens. Nevertheless if you sit down on the log, you become subject to\nboils, and to cure yourself of them you must pass nine times under a\nbramble branch which happens to be rooted in the ground at both ends.\nThe charcoal heals sheep of a disease called the _goumon_; and the\nashes, carefully wrapt up in white linen, preserve the whole household\nfrom accidents. Some people think that they will have as many chickens\nas there are sparks that fly out of the brands of the log when they\nshake them; and others place the extinct brands under the bed to drive\naway vermin. In Vienne, on Christmas Eve, when supper is over, the\nmaster of the house has a great log--the Christmas brand--brought in,\nand then, surrounded by all the spectators gathered in profound silence,\nhe sprinkles salt and water on the log. It is then put on the fire to\nburn during the three festivals; but they carefully preserve a piece to\nbe kindled every time that it thunders.\"[645] In Berry, a district of\nCentral France, the Yule log was called the _cosse de Nau_, the last\nword being an abbreviation of the usual French word for Christmas\n(No\u00ebl). It consisted of an enormous tree-trunk, so heavy that the united\nstrength of several men was needed to carry it in and place it on the\nhearth, where it served to feed the fire during the three days of the\nChristmas festivity. Strictly speaking, it should be the trunk of an old\noak-tree which had never been lopped and had been felled at midnight. It\nwas placed on the hearth at the moment when the tinkle of the bell\nannounced the elevation of the host at the midnight mass; and the head\nof the family, after sprinkling it with holy water, set it on fire. The\nremains of the log were preserved till the same day next year. They were\nkept under the bed of the master of the house; and whenever thunder was\nheard, one of the family would take a piece of the log and throw it on\nthe fire, which was believed to guard the family against lightning. In\nthe Middle Ages, we are told, several fiefs were granted on condition\nthat the vassal should bring in person a Yule log every year for the\nhearth of his liege lord.[646]\n\n[The Yule log in Normandy and Brittany.]\n\nSimilar customs and beliefs survived till recent years in some of the\nremote country villages of the picturesque district known as the Bocage\nof Normandy. There it was the grandfather or other oldest man of the\nfamily who chose the Yule log in good time and had it ready for\nChristmas Eve. Then he placed it on the hearth at the moment when the\nchurch bell began to ring for the evening service. Kneeling reverently\nat the hearth with the members of his family in a like attitude of\ndevotion, the old man recited three _Pater Nosters_ and three _Aves_,\nand invoked the blessing of heaven on the log and on the cottage. Then\nat the sound of the bell which proclaimed the sacrament of the mass, or,\nif the church was too far off to allow the tinkle of the bell to be\nheard, at the moment when they judged that the priest was elevating the\nhost before the high altar, the patriarch sprinkled the burning log with\nholy water, blessed it in the name of the Father and of the Son and of\nthe Holy Ghost, and drew it out of the fire. The charred log was then\ncarefully kept till the following Christmas as a precious relic which\nwould guard the house against the levin bolt, evil spirits, sorcerers,\nand every misfortune that might befall in the course of the year.[647]\nIn the department of Orne \"the Yule-log is called _trefouet_; holy water\nis poured on it; it should last the three days of the festival, and the\nremains of it are kept to be put on the fire when it thunders. This\nbrand is a protection both against thunder and against sorcerers.\"[648]\nIn Upper Brittany, also, the Yule log is thought to be a safeguard\nagainst thunder and lightning. It is sprinkled with holy water on\nChristmas morning and allowed to burn till evening. If a piece of it is\nthrown into the well, it will ensure a supply of good water.[649]\n\n[The Yule log in the Ardennes.]\n\n\"In almost all the families of the Ardennes,\" we are told, \"at the\npresent day they never fail to put the Yule log on the fireplace, but\nformerly it was the object of a superstitious worship which is now\nobsolete. The charred remains of it, placed under the pillow or under\nthe house, preserved the house from storms, and before it was burned the\nVirgin used to come and sit on it, invisible, swaddling the infant\nJesus. At Nouzon, twenty years ago, the traditional log was brought into\nthe kitchen on Christmas Eve, and the grandmother, with a sprig of box\nin her hand, sprinkled the log with holy water as soon as the clock\nstruck the first stroke of midnight. As she did so she chanted,\n\n'_When Christmas comes,\nEvery one should rejoice,\nFor it is a New Covenant_.'\n\n\"Following the grandmother and joining in the song, the children and the\nrest of the family marched thrice round the log, which was as fine a log\nas could be got.\"[650] We can now, perhaps, understand why in Perigord\npeople who sat on the Yule log suffered from boils,[651] and why in\nLorraine young folks used to be warned that if they sat on it they would\nhave the scab.[652] The reason probably was that the Virgin and child\nwere supposed to be seated, invisible, upon the log and to resent the\nindignity of contact with mortal children.\n\n[The Yule log in the Vosges; the Yule log in Franche-Comt\u00e9 and\nBurgundy.]\n\nOn Christmas Eve the mountaineers of Rupt, in the Vosges, also never\nfail to put on the hearth the largest log which the hearth can hold;\nthey call it _la galeuche de No\u00eb_, that is, the Yule log. Next morning\nthey rake the ashes for any charred fragments and keep them as valuable\ntalismans to guard them against the stroke of lightning. At Vagney and\nother places near it in the Vosges it used to be customary on the same\nevening to grease the hinges and the latches of the doors, that no harsh\ngrating sound should break the slumbers of the infant Christ. In the\nVosges Mountains, too, as indeed in many other places, cattle acquired\nthe gift of speech on Christmas Eve and conversed with each other in the\nlanguage of Christians. Their conversation was, indeed, most\ninstructive; for the future, it seems, had no secret worth mentioning\nfor them. Yet few people cared to be caught eavesdropping at the byre;\nwise folk contented themselves with setting a good store of fodder in\nthe manger, then shut the door, and left the animals to their\nruminations. A farmer of Vecoux once hid in a corner of the byre to\noverhear the edifying talk of the beasts. But it did him little good;\nfor one ox said to another ox, \"What shall we do to-morrow?\" and the\nother replied, \"We shall carry our master to the churchyard.\" Sure\nenough the farmer died that very night and was buried next morning.[653]\nIn Franche-Comt\u00e9, the province of France to the west of the Jura\nmountains, if the Yule log is really to protect a house against thunder\nand lightning, it is essential that it should burn during the midnight\nmass, and that the flame should not go out before the divine service is\nconcluded. Otherwise the log is quite useless for the purpose.[654] In\nBurgundy the log which is placed on the fire on Christmas Eve is called\nthe _suche_. While it is burning, the father of the family, assisted by\nhis wife and children, sings Christmas carols; and when he has finished,\nhe tells the smallest children to go into a corner of the room and pray\nGod that the log may give them sweeties. The prayer is invariably\nanswered.[655]\n\n[The Yule log and the Yule candle in England.]\n\nIn England the customs and beliefs concerning the Yule log, clog, or\nblock, as it was variously called, used to be similar. On the night of\nChristmas Eve, says the antiquary John Brand, \"our ancestors were wont\nto light up candles of an uncommon size, called Christmas Candles, and\nlay a log of wood upon the fire, called a Yule-clog or Christmas-block,\nto illuminate the house, and, as it were, to turn night into day. This\ncustom is, in some measure, still kept up in the North of England. In\nthe buttery of St. John's College, Oxford, an ancient candle-socket of\nstone still remains ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It was\nformerly used to burn the Christmas Candle in, on the high table at\nsupper, during the twelve nights of that festival.\"[656] \"A tall mould\ncandle, called a Yule candle, is lighted and set on the table; these\ncandles are presented by the chandlers and grocers to their customers.\nThe Yule-log is bought of the carpenters' lads. It would be unlucky to\nlight either of them before the time, or to stir the fire or candle\nduring the supper; the candle must not be snuffed, neither must any one\nstir from the table till supper is ended. In these suppers it is\nconsidered unlucky to have an odd number at table. A fragment of the log\nis occasionally saved, and put under a bed, to remain till next\nChristmas: it secures the house from fire; a small piece of it thrown\ninto a fire occurring at the house of a neighbour, will quell the raging\nflame. A piece of the candle should likewise be kept to ensure good\nluck.\"[657] In the seventeenth century, as we learn from some verses of\nHerrick, the English custom was to light the Yule log with a fragment of\nits predecessor, which had been kept throughout the year for the\npurpose; where it was so kept, the fiend could do no mischief.[658]\nIndeed the practice of preserving a piece of the Yule-log of one year to\nlight that of the next was observed by at least one family at Cheadle in\nStaffordshire down to the latter part of the nineteenth century.[659]\n\n[The Yule-log in Yorkshire; the Yule log in Lincolnshire; the Yule log\nin Warwickshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire; the Yule log in Wales.]\n\nIn the North of England farm-servants used to lay by a large knotty\nblock of wood for the Christmas fire, and so long as the block lasted\nthey were entitled by custom to ale at their meals. The log was as large\nas the hearth could hold.[660] At Belford, in Northumberland, \"the lord\nof the manor sends round to every house, on the afternoon of Christmas\nEve, the Yule Logs--four or five large logs--to be burnt on Christmas\nEve and Day. This old custom has always, I am told, been kept up\nhere.\"[661] The custom of burning the Yule log at Christmas used to be\nobserved in Wensleydale and other parts of Yorkshire, and prudent\nhousewives carefully preserved pieces of the log throughout the year. At\nWhitby the portions so kept were stowed away under the bed till next\nChristmas, when they were burnt with the new log; in the interval they\nwere believed to protect the house from conflagration, and if one of\nthem were thrown into the fire, it would quell a raging storm.[662] The\npractice and the belief were similar at Filey on the coast of Yorkshire,\nwhere besides the Yule log a tall Yule candle was lit on the same\nevening.[663] In the West Riding, while the log blazed cheerfully, the\npeople quaffed their ale and sang, \"Yule! Yule! a pack of new cards and\na Christmas stool!\"[664] At Clee, in Lincolnshire, \"when Christmas Eve\nhas come the Yule cake is duly cut and the Yule log lit, and I know of\nsome even middle-class houses where the new log must always rest upon\nand be lighted by the old one, a small portion of which has been\ncarefully stored away to preserve a continuity of light and heat.\"[665]\nAt the village of Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire, down to 1759 at least,\nthe Yule-block, as it was called, was drawn into the house by a horse on\nChristmas Eve \"as a foundation for the fire on Christmas Day, and\naccording to the superstition of those times for the twelve days\nfollowing, as the said block was not to be entirely reduced to ashes\ntill that time had passed by.\"[666] As late as 1830, or thereabout, the\nscene of lighting the hearth-fire on Christmas Eve, to continue burning\nthroughout the Christmas season, might have been witnessed in the\nsecluded and beautiful hill-country of West Shropshire, from Chirbury\nand Worthen to Pulverbatch and Pontesbury. The Christmas brand or brund,\nas they called it, was a great trunk of seasoned oak, holly, yew, or\ncrab-tree, drawn by horses to the farm-house door and thence rolled by\nmeans of rollers and levers to the back of the wide open hearth, where\nthe fire was made up in front of it. The embers were raked up to it\nevery night, and it was carefully tended, that it might not go out\nduring the whole Christmas season. All those days no light might be\nstruck, given, or borrowed. Such was the custom at Worthen in the early\npart of the nineteenth century.[667] In Herefordshire the Christmas\nfeast \"lasted for twelve days, and no work was done. All houses were,\nand are now, decorated with sprigs of holly and ivy, which must not be\nbrought in until Christmas Eve. A Yule log, as large as the open hearth\ncould accommodate, was brought into the kitchen of each farmhouse, and\nsmaller ones were used in the cottages. W---- P---- said he had seen a\ntree drawn into the kitchen at Kingstone Grange years ago by two cart\nhorses; when it had been consumed a small portion was carefully kept to\nbe used for lighting next year's log. 'Mother always kept it very\ncarefully; she said it was lucky, and kept the house from fire and from\nlightning.' It seems to have been the general practice to light it on\nChristmas Eve.\"[668] \"In many parts of Wales it is still customary to\nkeep part of the Yule-log until the following Christmas Eve 'for luck.'\nIt is then put into the fireplace and burnt, but before it is consumed\nthe new log is put on, and thus 'the old fire and the new' burn\ntogether. In some families this is done from force of habit, and they\ncannot now tell why they do it; but in the past the observance of this\ncustom was to keep witches away, and doubtless was a survival of\nfire-worship.\"[669]\n\n[The Yule log in Servia; the cutting of the oak tree to form the Yule\nlog.]\n\nBut nowhere, apparently, in Europe is the old heathen ritual of the Yule\nlog preserved to the present day more perfectly than in Servia. At early\ndawn on Christmas Eve (_Badnyi Dan_) every peasant house sends two of\nits strongest young men to the nearest forest to cut down a young oak\ntree and bring it home. There, after offering up a short prayer or\ncrossing themselves thrice, they throw a handful of wheat on the chosen\noak and greet it with the words, \"Happy _Badnyi_ day to you!\" Then they\ncut it down, taking care that it shall fall towards the east at the\nmoment when the sun's orb appears over the rim of the eastern horizon.\nShould the tree fall towards the west, it would be the worst possible\nomen for the house and its inmates in the ensuing year; and it is also\nan evil omen if the tree should be caught and stopped in its fall by\nanother tree. It is important to keep and carry home the first chip from\nthe fallen oak. The trunk is sawn into two or three logs, one of them\nrather longer than the others. A flat, unleavened cake of the purest\nwheaten flour is brought out of the house and broken on the larger of\nthe logs by a woman. The logs are left for the present to stand outside,\nleaning on one of the walls of the house. Each of them is called a Yule\nlog (_badnyak_).\n\n[Prayers to Colleda.]\n\nMeanwhile the children and young people go from house to house singing\nspecial songs called _Colleda_ because of an old pagan divinity Colleda,\nwho is invoked in every line. In one of them she is spoken of as \"a\nbeautiful little maid\"; in another she is implored to make the cows\nyield milk abundantly. The day is spent in busy preparations. The women\nbake little cakes of a special sort in the shape of lambs, pigs, and\nchickens; the men make ready a pig for roasting, for in every Servian\nhouse roast pig is the principal dish at Christmas. A bundle of straw,\ntied with a rope, is brought into the courtyard and left to stand there\nnear the Yule logs.\n\n[The bringing in of the Yule log.]\n\nAt the moment when the sun is setting all the members of the family\nassemble in the central hall (the great family kitchen) of the principal\nhouse. The mother of the family (or the wife of the chief of the\nZadrooga)[670] gives a pair of woollen gloves to one of the young men,\nwho goes out and presently returns carrying in his gloved hands the\nlargest of the logs. The mother receives him at the threshold, throwing\nat him a handful of wheat, in which the first chip of the oak tree cut\nin the early morning for the Yule log has been kept all day. Entering\nthe central hall with the Yule log the young man greets all present with\nthe words: \"Good evening, and may you have a happy Christmas!\" and they\nall answer in chorus, \"May God and the happy and holy Christmas help\nthee!\" In some parts of Servia the chief of the family, holding a glass\nof red wine in his hand, greets the Yule log as if it were a living\nperson, and drinks to its health. After that, another glass of red wine\nis poured on the log. Then the oldest male member of the family,\nassisted by the young man who brought in the log, places it on the\nburning fire so that the thicker end of the log protrudes for about a\nfoot from the hearth. In some places this end is smeared with honey.\n\n[The ceremony with the straw; the Yule candle.]\n\nNext the mother of the family brings in the bundle of straw which was\nleft standing outside. All the young children arrange themselves behind\nher in a row. She then walks slowly round the hall and the adjoining\nrooms, throwing handfuls of straw on the floor and imitating the\ncackling of a hen, while all the children follow her peeping with their\nlips as if they were chickens cheeping and waddling after the mother\nbird. When the floor is well strewn with straw, the father or the eldest\nmember of the family throws a few walnuts in every corner of the hall,\npronouncing the words: \"In the name of God the Father, and the Son, and\nthe Holy Ghost, Amen!\" A large pot, or a small wooden box, filled with\nwheat is placed high in the east corner of the hall, and a tall candle\nof yellow wax is stuck in the middle of the wheat. Then the father of\nthe family reverently lights the candle and prays God to bless the\nfamily with health and happiness, the fields with a good harvest, the\nbeehives with plenty of honey, the cattle and sheep with young, and the\ncows with abundant milk and rich cream. After that they all sit down to\nsupper, squatting on the floor, for the use of chairs and tables is\nforbidden on this occasion.\n\n[The roast Pig; the drawing of the water.]\n\nBy four o'clock next morning (Christmas Day) the whole village is astir;\nindeed most people do not sleep at all that night. It is deemed most\nimportant to keep the Yule log burning brightly all night long. Very\nearly, too, the pig is laid on the fire to roast, and at the same moment\none of the family goes out into the yard and fires a pistol or gun; and\nwhen the roast pig is removed from the fire the shot is repeated. Hence\nfor several hours in the early morning of Christmas Day such a popping\nand banging of firearms goes on that a stranger might think a stubborn\nskirmish was in progress. Just before the sun rises a girl goes and\ndraws water at the village spring or at the brook. Before she fills her\nvessels, she wishes the water a happy Christmas and throws a handful of\nwheat into it. The first cupfuls of water she brings home are used to\nbake a special Christmas cake (_chesnitsa_), of which all the members\npartake at dinner, and portions are kept for absent relatives. A small\nsilver coin is baked in the cake, and he or she who gets it will be\nlucky during the year.\n\n[The Christmas visiter (_polaznik_).]\n\nAll the family gathered round the blazing Yule log now anxiously expect\nthe arrival of the special Christmas visiter, who bears the title of\n_polaznik_. He is usually a young boy of a friendly family. No other\nperson, not even the priest or the mayor of the village, would be\nallowed to set foot in the house before the arrival of this important\npersonage. Therefore he ought to come, and generally does come, very\nearly in the morning. He carries a woollen glove full of wheat, and when\nthe door is opened at his knock he throws handfuls of wheat on the\nfamily gathered round the hearth, greeting them with the words, \"Christ\nis born!\" They all answer, \"He is born indeed,\" and the hostess flings a\nhandful of wheat over the Christmas visiter, who moreover casts some of\nhis wheat into the corners of the hall as well as upon the people. Then\nhe walks straight to the hearth, takes a shovel and strikes the burning\nlog so that a cloud of sparks flies up the chimney, while he says, \"May\nyou have this year so many oxen, so many horses, so many sheep, so many\npigs, so many beehives full of honey, so much good luck, prosperity,\nprogress, and happiness!\" Having uttered these good wishes, he embraces\nand kisses his host. Then he turns again to the hearth, and after\ncrossing himself falls on his knees and kisses the projecting part of\nthe Yule log. On rising to his feet he places a coin on the log as his\ngift. Meanwhile a low wooden chair has been brought in by a woman, and\nthe visiter is led to it to take his seat. But just as he is about to do\nso, the chair is jerked away from under him by a male member of the\nfamily and he measures his length on the floor. By this fall he is\nsupposed to fix into the ground all the good wishes which he has uttered\nthat morning. The hostess thereupon wraps him in a thick blanket, and he\nsits quietly muffled in it for a few minutes; the thick blanket in which\nhe is swathed is believed, on the principles of homoeopathic magic, to\nensure that the cows will give thick cream next year. While he sits thus\nenriching the milk of the dairy, the lads who are to herd the sheep in\nthe coming year go to the hearth and kneeling down before it kiss each\nother across the projecting end of the Yule log. By this demonstration\nof affection they are thought to seal the love of the ewes for their\nlambs.[671]\n\n[The Yule log among the Servians of Slavonia; the Christmas visiter\n(_polazenik_).]\n\nThe ritual of the Yule log is observed in a similar form by the Servians\nwho inhabit the southern provinces of Austria. Thus in Syrmia, a\ndistrict of Slavonia which borders on Servia, the head of the house\nsends out one or two young men on Christmas Eve to cut the Yule log in\nthe nearest forest. On being brought in, the log is not mixed with the\nordinary fuel but placed by itself, generally leaning against a\nfruit-tree till the evening shadows begin to fall. When a man carries it\ninto the kitchen and lays it on the fire, the master of the house throws\ncorn over him, and the two greet each other solemnly the one saying,\n\"Christ is born,\" and the other answering \"He is born indeed.\" Later in\nthe evening the master of the house pours a glass of wine on the charred\nend of the log, whereupon one of the younger men takes the burnt piece\nof wood, carries it to the orchard, and sets it up against one of the\nfruit-trees. For this service he is rewarded by the master of the house\nwith a piece of money. On Christmas Day, when the family is assembled at\ntable, they expect the arrival of the special Christmas visiter (called\n_polazenik_), the only person who is allowed to enter the house that\nday. When he comes, he goes to the hearth, stirs the fire with the poker\nand says, \"Christ is born. May the family enjoy all good luck and\nhappiness in this year! May the cattle increase in number like the\nsparks I have struck!\" As he says these words, the mistress of the house\npours corn over him and leads him to the parlour, where he takes the\nplace of honour beside the master of the house. He is treated with\nmarked attention and respect. The family are at pains to entertain him;\nthey sing their best songs for his amusement, and after midnight a\nnumerous band of men and maidens escorts him by torchlight, with songs\nand jubilation, to his own house.[672]\n\n[The Yule log among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and\nMontenegro; the Yule log in Albania.]\n\nAmong the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro it is\ncustomary on Christmas Eve (_Badnyi Dan_) to fetch a great Yule log\n(_badnyak_), which serves as a symbol of family luck. It is generally\ncut from an evergreen oak, but sometimes from an olive-tree or a beech.\nAt nightfall the master of the house himself brings in the log and lays\nit on the fire. Then he and all present bare their heads, sprinkle the\nlog with wine, and make a cross on it. After that the master of the\nhouse says, \"Welcome, O log! May God keep you from mishap!\" So saying he\nstrews peas, maize, raisins, and wheat on the log, praying for God's\nblessing on all members of the family living and dead, for heaven's\nblessing on their undertakings, and for domestic prosperity. In\nMontenegro they meet the log with a loaf of bread and a jug of wine,\ndrink to it, and pour wine on it, whereupon the whole family drinks out\nof the same beaker. In Dalmatia and other places, for example in Rizano,\nthe Yule logs are decked by young women with red silk, flowers, laurel\nleaves, ribbons, and even gold wire; and the lights near the doorposts\nare kindled when the log is brought into the house. Among the Morlaks,\nas soon as the master of the house crosses the threshold with the Yule\nlog, one of the family must sprinkle corn on him and say, \"God bless\nyou,\" to which he answers, \"The same to you.\" A piece of the log is kept\ntill New Year's Day to kindle a light with or it is carried out to the\nfields to protect them from hail. It is customary to invite before hand\na Christmas visitor (_polazaynik_) and to admit no one else into the\nhouse on that day. He comes early, carrying in his sleeves a quantity of\ncorn which he throws into the house, saying, \"Christ is born.\" One of\nthe household replies, \"He is born indeed,\" and throws corn on the\nvisiter. Then the newcomer goes up to the hearth, pokes the fire and\nstrikes the burning log with the poker so hard that sparks fly off in\nall directions. At each blow he says, \"I wish the family as many cows,\ncalves, sucking pigs, goats, and sheep, and as many strokes of good\nluck, as the sparks that now fly from the log.\" With these words he\nthrows some small coins into the ashes.[673] In Albania down to recent\nyears it was a common custom to burn a Yule log at Christmas, and with\nit corn, maize, and beans; moreover, wine and _rakia_ were poured on the\nflames, and the ashes of the fire were scattered on the fields to make\nthem fertile.[674] The Huzuls, a Slavonic people of the Carpathians,\nkindle fire by the friction of wood on Christmas Eve (Old Style, the\nfifth of January) and keep it burning till Twelfth Night.[675]\n\n[Belief that the Yule log protects against fire and lightning.]\n\nIt is remarkable how common the belief appears to have been that the\nremains of the Yule-log, if kept throughout the year, had power to\nprotect the house against fire and especially against lightning.[676] As\nthe Yule log was frequently of oak,[677] it seems possible that this\nbelief may be a relic of the old Aryan creed which associated the\noak-tree with the god of thunder.[678] Whether the curative and\nfertilizing virtues ascribed to the ashes of the Yule log, which are\nsupposed to heal cattle as well as men, to enable cows to calve, and to\npromote the fruitfulness of the earth,[679] may not be derived from the\nsame ancient source, is a question which deserves to be considered.\n\n[Public celebrations of the fire-festival at Midwinter; the bonfire on\nChristmas Eve at Schweina in Thuringia.]\n\nThus far we have regarded only the private or domestic celebration of\nthe fire-festival at midwinter. The public celebration of such rites at\nthat season of the year appears to have been rare and exceptional in\nCentral and Northern Europe. However, some instances are on record. Thus\nat Schweina, in Thuringia, down to the second half of the nineteenth\ncentury, the young people used to kindle a great bonfire on the Antonius\nMountain every year on Christmas Eve. Neither the civil nor the\necclesiastical authorities were able to suppress the celebration; nor\ncould the cold, rain, and snow of the season damp or chill the\nenthusiasm of the celebrants. For some time before Christmas the young\nmen and boys were busy building a foundation for the bonfire on the top\nof the mountain, where the oldest church of the village used to stand.\nThe foundation consisted of a pyramidal structure composed of stones,\nturf, and moss. When Christmas Eve came round, a strong pole, with\nbundles of brushwood tied to it, was erected on the pyramid. The young\nfolk also provided themselves with poles to which old brooms or faggots\nof shavings were attached. These were to serve as torches. When the\nevening grew dark and the church bells rang to service, the troop of\nlads ascended the mountain; and soon from the top the glare of the\nbonfire lit up the darkness, and the sound of a hymn broke the stillness\nof night. In a circle round the great fire lesser fires were kindled;\nand last of all the lads ran about swinging their lighted torches, till\nthese twinkling points of fire, moving down the mountain-side, went out\none by one in the darkness. At midnight the bells rang out from the\nchurch tower, mingled with the blast of horns and the sound of singing.\nFeasting and revelry were kept up throughout the night, and in the\nmorning young and old went to early mass to be edified by hearing of the\nlight eternal.[680]\n\n[Bonfires on Christmas Eve in Normandy.]\n\nIn the Bocage of Normandy the peasants used to repair, often from a\ndistance of miles, to the churches to hear the midnight mass on\nChristmas Eve. They marched in procession by torchlight, chanting\nChristmas carols, and the fitful illumination of the woods, the hedges,\nand the fields as they moved through the darkness, presented a\nsuccession of picturesque scenes. Mention is also made of bonfires\nkindled on the heights; the custom is said to have been observed at\nAthis near Cond\u00e9 down to recent years.[681]\n\n[Bonfires on St. Thomas's Day in the Isle of Man; the \"Burning of the\nClavie\" at Burghead on the last day of December; the old rampart at\nBurghead]\n\nIn the Isle of Man, \"on the twenty-first of December, a day dedicated to\nSaint Thomas, the people went to the mountains to catch deer and sheep\nfor Christmas, and in the evenings always kindled a large fire on the\ntop of every _fingan_ or cliff. Hence, at the time of casting peats,\nevery one laid aside a large one, saying, '_Faaid mooar moayney son\noie'l fingan_'; that is, 'a large turf for Fingan Eve.'\"[682] At\nBurghead, an ancient village on the southern shore of the Moray Firth,\nabout nine miles from the town of Elgin, a festival of fire called \"the\nBurning of the Clavie\" has been celebrated from time immemorial on\nHogmanay, the last day of December. A tar-barrel is sawn in two, one\nhalf of it is set on the top of a stout pole, and filled with tar and\nother combustibles. The half-barrel is fastened to the pole by means of\na long nail, which is made for the purpose and furnished gratuitously by\nthe village blacksmith. The nail must be knocked in with a stone; the\nuse of a hammer is forbidden. When the shades of evening have begun to\nfall, the Clavie, as it is called, is set on fire by means of a burning\npeat, which is always fetched from the same house; it may not be kindled\nwith a match. As soon as it is in a blaze, it is shouldered by a man,\nwho proceeds to carry it at a run, flaring and dripping melted tar,\nround the old boundaries of the village; the modern part of the town is\nnot included in the circuit. Close at his heels follows a motley crowd,\ncheering and shouting. One bearer relieves another as each wearies of\nhis burden. The first to shoulder the Clavie, which is esteemed an\nhonour, is usually a man who has been lately married. Should the bearer\nstumble or fall, it is deemed a very ill omen for him and for the\nvillage. In bygone times it was thought necessary that one man should\ncarry it all round the village; hence the strongest man was chosen for\nthe purpose. Moreover it was customary to carry the burning Clavie round\nevery fishing-boat and vessel in the harbour; but this part of the\nceremony was afterwards discontinued. Finally, the blazing tar-barrel is\nborne to a small hill called the Doorie, which rises near the northern\nend of the promontory. Here the pole is fixed into a socket in a pillar\nof freestone, and fresh fuel is heaped upon the flames, which flare up\nhigher and brighter than ever. Formerly the Clavie was allowed to burn\nhere the whole night, but now, after blazing for about half an hour, it\nis lifted from the socket and thrown down the western slope of the hill.\nThen the crowd rushes upon it, demolishes it, and scrambles for the\nburning, smoking embers, which they carry home and carefully preserve as\ncharms to protect them against witchcraft and misfortune.[683] The great\nantiquity of Burghead, where this curious and no doubt ancient festival\nis still annually observed, appears from the remains of a very\nremarkable rampart which formerly encircled the place. It consists of a\nmound of earth faced on both sides with a solid wall of stone and\nstrengthened internally by oak beams and planks, the whole being laid on\na foundation of boulders. The style of the rampart agrees in general\nwith Caesar's description of the mode in which the Gauls constructed\ntheir walls of earth, stone, and logs,[684] and it resembles the ruins\nof Gallic fortifications which have been discovered in France, though it\nis said to surpass them in the strength and solidity of its structure.\nNo similar walls appear to be known in Britain. A great part of this\ninteresting prehistoric fortress was barbarously destroyed in the early\npart of the nineteenth century, much of it being tumbled into the sea\nand many of the stones used to build the harbour piers.[685]\n\n[Procession with burning tar-barrels on Christmas Eve (Old Style) at\nLerwick.]\n\nIn Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, \"on Christmas Eve, the\nfourth of January,--for the old style is still observed--the children go\n_a guizing_, that is to say, they disguising themselves in the most\nfantastic and gaudy costumes, parade the streets, and infest the houses\nand shops, begging for the wherewithal to carry on their Christmas\namusements. One o'clock on Yule morning having struck, the young men\nturn out in large numbers, dressed in the coarsest of garments, and, at\nthe double-quick march, drag huge tar barrels through the town, shouting\nand cheering as they go, or blowing loud blasts with their 'louder\nhorns.' The tar barrel simply consists of several--say from four to\neight--tubs filled with tar and chips, placed on a platform of wood. It\nis dragged by means of a chain, to which scores of jubilant youths\nreadily yoke themselves. They have recently been described by the worthy\nburgh officer of Lerwick as 'fiery chariots, the effect of which is\ntruly grand and terrific.' In a Christmas morning the dark streets of\nLerwick are generally lighted up by the bright glare, and its atmosphere\nblackened by the dense smoke of six or eight tar barrels in succession.\nOn the appearance of daybreak, at six A.M., the morning revellers put\noff their coarse garments--well begrimed by this time--and in their turn\nbecome guizards. They assume every imaginable form of costume--those of\nsoldiers, sailors, Highlanders, Spanish chevaliers, etc. Thus disguised,\nthey either go in pairs, as man and wife, or in larger groups, and\nproceed to call on their friends, to wish them the compliments of the\nseason. Formerly, these adolescent guizards used to seat themselves in\ncrates, and accompanied by fiddlers, were dragged through the\ntown.\"[686]\n\n[Persian festival of fire at the winter solstice.]\n\nThe Persians used to celebrate a festival of fire called _Sada_ or\n_Saza_ at the winter solstice. On the longest night of the year they\nkindled bonfires everywhere, and kings and princes tied dry grass to the\nfeet of birds and animals, set fire to the grass, and then let the birds\nand beasts fly or run blazing through the air or over the fields and\nmountains, so that the whole air and earth appeared to be on fire.[687]\n\n\n\u00a7 8. _The Need-fire_\n\n\n[European festivals of fire in seasons of distress and calamity; the\nneed-fire.]\n\nThe fire-festivals hitherto described are all celebrated periodically at\ncertain stated times of the year. But besides these regularly recurring\ncelebrations the peasants in many parts of Europe have been wont from\ntime immemorial to resort to a ritual of fire at irregular intervals in\nseasons of distress and calamity, above all when their cattle were\nattacked by epidemic disease. No account of the popular European\nfire-festivals would be complete without some notice of these remarkable\nrites, which have all the greater claim on our attention because they\nmay perhaps be regarded as the source and origin of all the other\nfire-festivals; certainly they must date from a very remote antiquity.\nThe general name by which they are known among the Teutonic peoples is\nneed-fire.[688]\n\n[The needfire in the Middle Ages; the needfire at Neustadt in 1598.]\n\nThe history of the need-fire can be traced back to early Middle Ages;\nfor in the reign of Pippin, King of Franks, the practice of kindling\nneed-fires was denounced as a heathen superstition by a synod of\nprelates and nobles held under the presidency of Boniface, Archbishop of\nMainz.[689] Not long afterwards the custom was again forbidden, along\nwith many more relics of expiring paganism, in an \"Index of\nSuperstitions and Heathenish Observances,\" which has been usually\nreferred to the year 743 A.D., though some scholars assign it a later\ndate under the reign of Charlemagne.[690] In Germany the need-fires\nwould seem to have been popular down to the second half of the\nnineteenth century. Thus in the year 1598, when a fatal cattle-plague\nwas raging at Neustadt, near Marburg, a wise man of the name of Joh.\nK\u00f6hler induced the authorities of the town to adopt the following\nremedy. A new waggon-wheel was taken and twirled round an axle, which\nhad never been used before, until the friction elicited fire. With this\nfire a bonfire was next kindled between the gates of the town, and all\nthe cattle were driven through the smoke and flames. Moreover, every\nhouseholder had to rekindle the fire on his hearth by means of a light\ntaken from the bonfire. Strange to say, this salutary measure had no\neffect whatever in staying the cattle-plague, and seven years later the\nsapient Joh. K\u00f6hler himself was burnt as a witch. The farmers, whose\npigs and cows had derived no benefit from the need-fire, perhaps\nassisted as spectators at the burning, and, while they shook their\nheads, agreed among themselves that it served Joh. K\u00f6hler perfectly\nright.[691] According to a writer who published his book about nine\nyears afterwards, some of the Germans, especially in the Wassgaw\nmountains, confidently believed that a cattle-plague could be stayed by\ndriving the animals through a need-fire which had been kindled by the\nviolent friction of a pole on a quantity of dry oak wood; but it was a\nnecessary condition of success that all fires in the village should\npreviously be extinguished with water, and any householder who failed to\nput out his fire was heavily fined.[692]\n\n[Method kindling the need fire.]\n\nThe method of kindling the need-fire is described as follows by a writer\ntowards the end of the seventeenth century: \"When an evil plague has\nbroken out among the cattle, large and small, and the herds have thereby\nsuffered great ravages, the peasants resolve to light a need-fire. On a\nday appointed there must be no single flame in any house nor on any\nhearth. From every house a quantity of straw and water and underwood\nmust be brought forth; then a strong oaken pole is fixed firmly in the\nearth, a hole is bored in it, and a wooden winch, well smeared with\npitch and tar, is inserted in the hole and turned round forcibly till\ngreat heat and then fire is generated. The fire so produced is caught in\nfuel and fed with straw, heath, and underwood till it bursts out into a\nregular need-fire, which must then be somewhat spread out between walls\nor fences, and the cattle and horses driven through it twice or thrice\nwith sticks and whips. Others set up two posts, each with a hole in it,\nand insert a winch, along with old greasy rags, in the holes. Others use\na thick rope, collect nine kinds of wood, and keep them in violent\nmotion till fire leaps forth. Perhaps there may be other ways of\ngenerating or kindling this fire, but they are all directed simply at\nthe cure of the cattle. After passing twice or thrice through the fire\nthe cattle are driven to their stalls or to pasture, and the heap of\nwood that had been collected is destroyed, but in some places every\nhouseholder must take with him a brand, extinguish it in a washing-tub\nor trough, and put it in the manger where the cattle are fed, where it\nmust lie for some time. The poles that were used to make the need-fire,\ntogether with the wood that was employed as a winch, are sometimes\nburned with the rest of the fuel, sometimes carefully preserved after\nthe cattle have been thrice driven through the flames.\"[693]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire about Hildesheim.]\n\nSometimes the need-fire was known as the \"wild fire,\" to distinguish it\nno doubt from the tame fire produced by more ordinary methods. The\nfollowing is Grimm's account of the mode of kindling it which prevailed\nin some parts of Central Germany, particularly about Hildesheim, down\napparently to the first half of the nineteenth century: \"In many places\nof Lower Saxony, especially among the mountains, the custom prevails of\npreparing the so-called 'wild fire' for the purpose of preventing\ncattle-plague; and through it first the pigs, then the cows, and last of\nall the geese are driven. The proceedings on the occasion are as\nfollows. The principal farmers and parishioners assemble, and notice is\nserved to every inhabitant to extinguish entirely all fire in his house,\nso that not even a spark remains alight in the whole village. Then young\nand old repair to a road in a hollow, usually towards evening, the women\ncarrying linen, and the men wood and tow. Two oaken poles are driven\ninto the ground about a foot and a half from each other. Each pole has\nin the side facing the other a socket into which a cross-piece as thick\nas a man's arm is fitted. The sockets are stuffed with linen, and the\ncross-piece is rammed in as tight as possible, while the poles are bound\ntogether at the top by ropes. A rope is wound about the round, smooth\ncross-piece, and the free ends of the rope at both sides are gripped by\nseveral persons, who pull the cross-piece to and fro with the utmost\nrapidity, till through the friction the linen in the sockets takes fire.\nThe sparks of the linen are immediately caught in tow or oakum and waved\nabout in a circle until they burst into a bright glow, when straw is\napplied to it, and the flaming straw used to kindle the brushwood which\nhas been stacked in piles in the hollow way. When this wood has blazed\nup and the fire has nearly died out again, the people hasten to the\nherds, which have been waiting in the background, and drive them\nforcibly, one after the other, through the glow. As soon as all the\nbeasts are through, the young folk rush wildly at the ashes and cinders,\nsprinkling and blackening each other with them; those who have been most\nsprinkled and blackened march in triumph behind the cattle into the\nvillage and do not wash themselves for a long time. If after long\nrubbing the linen should not catch fire, they guess that there is still\nfire somewhere in the village; then a strict search is made from house\nto house, any fire that may be found is put out, and the householder is\npunished or upbraided. The 'wild fire' must be made by prolonged\nfriction; it may not be struck with flint and steel. Some villages do\nnot prepare it yearly as a preventive of cattle-plague, but only kindle\nit when the disease has actually broken out.\"[694] In the Halberstadt\ndistrict the ends of the rope which was used to make the cross-piece\nrevolve in the sockets had to be pulled by two chaste young men.[695]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Mark.]\n\nIn the Mark down to the first half of the nineteenth century the\npractice was similar. We read that \"in many parts of the Mark there\nstill prevails on certain occasions the custom of kindling a need-fire,\nit happens particularly when a farmer has sick pigs. Two posts of dry\nwood are planted in the earth amid solemn silence before the sun rises,\nand round these posts hempen ropes are pulled to and fro till the wood\nkindles; whereupon the fire is fed with dry leaves and twigs and the\nsick beasts are driven through it In some places the fire is produced by\nthe friction of an old cart-wheel.\"[696]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Mecklenburg]\n\nIn Mecklenburg the need-fire used to be lighted by the friction of a\nrope wound about an oaken pole or by rubbing two boards against each\nother. Having been thus elicited, the flame was fed with wood of seven\nkinds. The practice was forbidden by Gustavus Adolphus, Duke of\nMecklenburg, in 1682; but the prohibition apparently had little effect,\nfor down to the end of the eighteenth century the custom was so common\nthat the inhabitants even of large towns made no scruple of resorting to\nit. For example, in the month of July 1792 sickness broke out among the\ncattle belonging to the town of Sternberg; some of the beasts died\nsuddenly, and so the people resolved to drive all the survivors through\na need-fire. On the tenth day of July the magistrates issued a\nproclamation announcing that next morning before sunrise a need-fire\nwould be kindled for the behoof of all the cattle of the town, and\nwarning all the inhabitants against lighting fires in their kitchens\nthat evening. So next morning very early, about two o'clock, nearly the\nwhole population was astir, and having assembled outside one of the\ngates of the town they helped to drive the timid cattle, not without\nmuch ado, through three separate need-fires; after which they dispersed\nto their homes in the unalterable conviction that they had rescued the\ncattle from destruction. But to make assurance doubly sure they deemed\nit advisable to administer the rest of the ashes as a bolus to the\nanimals. However, some people in Mecklenburg used to strew the ashes of\nthe need-fire on fields for the purpose of protecting the crops against\nvermin. As late as June 1868 a traveller in Mecklenburg saw a couple of\npeasants sweating away at a rope, which they were pulling backwards and\nforwards so as to make a tarry roller revolve with great speed in the\nsocket of an upright post. Asked what they were about, they vouchsafed\nno reply; but an old woman who appeared on the scene from a neighbouring\ncottage was more communicative. In the fulness of her heart she confided\nto the stranger that her pigs were sick, that the two taciturn bumpkins\nwere her sons, who were busy extracting a need-fire from the roller, and\nthat, when they succeeded, the flame would be used to ignite a heap of\nrags and brushwood, through which the ailing swine would be driven. She\nfurther explained that the persons who kindle a need-fire should always\nbe two brothers or at least bear the same Christian name.[697]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Hanover.]\n\nIn the summer of 1828 there was much sickness among the pigs and the\ncows of Eddesse, a village near Meinersen, in the south of Hanover. When\nall ordinary measures to arrest the malady failed, the farmers met in\nsolemn conclave on the village green and determined that next morning\nthere should be a need-fire. Thereupon the head man of the village sent\nword from house to house that on the following day nobody should kindle\na fire before sunrise, and that everybody should stand by ready to drive\nout the cattle. The same afternoon all the necessary preparations were\nmade for giving effect to the decision of the collective wisdom. A\nnarrow street was enclosed with planks, and the village carpenter set to\nwork at the machinery for kindling the fire. He took two posts of oak\nwood, bored a hole about three inches deep and broad in each, and set\nthe two poles up facing each other at a distance of about two feet. Then\nhe fitted a roller of oak wood into the two holes of the posts, so that\nit formed a cross-piece between them. About two o'clock next morning\nevery householder brought a bundle of straw and brushwood and laid it\ndown across the street in a prescribed order. The sturdiest swains who\ncould be found were chosen to make the need-fire. For this purpose a\nlong hempen rope was wound twice round the oaken roller in the oaken\nposts: the pivots were well smeared with pitch and tar: a bundle of tow\nand other tinder was laid close at hand, and all was ready. The stalwart\nclodhoppers now seized the two ends of the rope and went to work with a\nwill. Puffs of smoke soon issued from the sockets, but to the\nconsternation of the bystanders not a spark of fire could be elicited.\nSome people openly declared their suspicion that some rascal had not put\nout the fire in his house, when suddenly the tinder burst into flame.\nThe cloud passed away from all faces; the fire was applied to the heaps\nof fuel, and when the flames had somewhat died down, the herds were\nforcibly driven through the fire, first the pigs, next the cows, and\nlast of all the horses. The herdsmen then drove the beasts to pasture,\nand persons whose faith in the efficacy of the need-fire was\nparticularly robust carried home brands.[698]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Harz Mountains.]\n\nAgain, at a village near Quedlinburg, in the Harz Mountains, it was\nresolved to put a herd of sick swine through the need-fire. Hearing of\nthis intention the Superintendent of Quedlinburg hurried to the spot and\nhas described for us what he saw. The beadles went from house to house\nto see that there was no fire in any house; for it is well known that\nshould there be common fire burning in a house the need-fire will not\nkindle. The men made their rounds very early in the morning to make\nquite sure that all lights were out. At two o'clock a night-light was\nstill burning in the parsonage, and this was of course a hindrance to\nthe need-fire. The peasants knocked at the window and earnestly\nentreated that the night-light might be extinguished. But the parson's\nwife refused to put the light out; it still glimmered at the window; and\nin the darkness outside the angry rustics vowed that the parson's pigs\nshould get no benefit of the need-fire. However, as good luck would have\nit, just as the morning broke, the night-light went out of itself, and\nthe hopes of the people revived. From every house bundles of straw, tow,\nfaggots and so forth were now carried to feed the bonfire. The noise and\nthe cheerful bustle were such that you might have thought they were all\nhurrying to witness a public execution. Outside the village, between two\ngarden walls, an oaken post had been driven into the ground and a hole\nbored through it. In the hole a wooden winch, smeared with tar, was\ninserted and made to revolve with such force and rapidity that fire and\nsmoke in time issued from the socket. The collected fuel was then thrown\nupon the fire and soon a great blaze shot up. The pigs were now driven\ninto the upper end of the street. As soon as they saw the fire, they\nturned tail, but the peasants drove them through with shrieks and shouts\nand lashes of whips. At the other end of the street there was another\ncrowd waiting, who chased the swine back through the fire a second time.\nThen the other crowd repeated the manoeuvre, and the herd of swine was\ndriven for the third time through the smoke and flames. That was the end\nof the performance. Many pigs were scorched so severely that they gave\nup the ghost. The bonfire was broken up, and every householder took home\nwith him a brand, which he washed in the water-barrel and laid for some\ntime, as a treasure of great price, in the manger from which the cattle\nwere fed. But the parson's wife had reason bitterly to repent her folly\nin refusing to put out that night-light; for not one of her pigs was\ndriven through the need-fire, so they died.[699]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Brunswick.]\n\nIn Brunswick, also, the need-fire is known to have been repeatedly\nkindled during the nineteenth century. After driving the pigs through\nthe fire, which was kindled by the friction of wood, some people took\nbrands home, dipped them in water, and then gave the water to the pigs\nto drink, no doubt for the purpose of inoculating them still more\neffectually with the precious virtue of the need-fire. In the villages\nof the Dr\u00f6mling district everybody who bore a hand in kindling the \"wild\nfire\" must have the same Christian name; otherwise they laboured in\nvain. The fire was produced by the friction of a rope round the beams of\na door; and bread, corn, and old boots contributed their mites to swell\nthe blaze through which the pigs as usual were driven. In one place,\napparently not far from Wolfenb\u00fcttel, the needfire is said to have been\nkindled, contrary to custom, by the smith striking a spark from the cold\nanvil.[700] At Gandersheim down to about the beginning of the nineteenth\ncentury the need-fire was lit in the common way by causing a cross-bar\nto revolve rapidly on its axis between two upright posts. The rope which\nproduced the revolution of the bar had to be new, but it was if possible\nwoven from threads taken from a gallows-rope, with which people had been\nhanged. While the need-fire was being kindled in this fashion, every\nother fire in the town had to be put out; search was made through the\nhouses, and any fire discovered to be burning was extinguished. If in\nspite of every precaution no flame could be elicited by the friction of\nthe rope, the failure was set down to witchcraft; but if the efforts\nwere successful, a bonfire was lit with the new fire, and when the\nflames had died down, the sick swine were driven thrice through the\nglowing embers.[701] On the lower Rhine the need-fire is said to have\nbeen kindled by the friction of oak-wood on fir-wood, all fires in the\nvillage having been previously extinguished. The bonfires so kindled\nwere composed of wood of nine different sorts; there were three such\nbonfires, and the cattle were driven round them with great gravity and\ndevotion.[702]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Silesia and Bohemia.]\n\nIn Silesia, also, need-fires were often employed for the purpose of\ncuring a murrain or preventing its spread. While all other lights within\nthe boundaries were extinguished, the new fire was produced by the\nfriction of nine kinds of wood, and the flame so obtained was used to\nkindle heaps of brushwood or straw to which every inhabitant had\ncontributed. Through these fires the cattle, both sick and sound, were\ndriven in the confident expectation that thereby the sick would be\nhealed and the sound saved from sickness.[703] When plague breaks out\namong the herds at Dobischwald, in Austrian Silesia, a splinter of wood\nis chipped from the threshold of every house, the cattle are driven to a\ncross-road, and there a tree, growing at the boundary, is felled by a\npair of twin brothers. The wood of the tree and the splinters from the\nthresholds furnish the fuel of a bonfire, which is kindled by the\nrubbing of two pieces of wood together. When the bonfire is ablaze, the\nhorns of the cattle are pared and the parings thrown into the flames,\nafter which the animals are driven through the fire. This is believed to\nguard the herd against the plague.[704] The Germans of Western Bohemia\nresort to similar measures for staying a murrain. You set up a post,\nbore a hole in it, and insert in the hole a stick, which you have first\nof all smeared with pitch and wrapt in inflammable stuffs. Then you wind\na rope round the stick and give the two ends of the rope to two persons\nwho must either be brothers or have the same baptismal name. They haul\nthe rope backwards and forwards so as to make the tarred stick revolve\nrapidly, till the rope first smokes and then emits sparks. The sparks\nare used to kindle a bonfire, through which the cattle are driven in the\nusual way. And as usual no other fire may burn in the village while the\nneed-fire is being kindled; for otherwise the rope could not possibly be\nignited.[705] In Upper Austria sick pigs are reported to have been\ndriven through a need-fire about the beginning of the nineteenth\ncentury.[706]\n\n[The use the need-fire in Switzerland.]\n\nThe need-fire is still in use in some parts of Switzerland, but it seems\nto have degenerated into a children's game and to be employed rather for\nthe dispersal of a mist than for the prevention or cure of\ncattle-plague. In some cantons it goes by the name of \"mist-healing,\"\nwhile in others it is called \"butter-churning.\" On a misty or rainy day\na number of children will shut themselves up in a stable or byre and\nproceed to make fire for the purpose of improving the weather. The way\nin which they make it is this. A boy places a board against his breast,\ntakes a peg pointed at both ends, and, setting one end of the peg\nagainst the board on his breast, presses the other end firmly against a\nsecond board, the surface of which has been flaked into a nap. A string\nis tied round the peg, and two other boys pull it to and fro, till\nthrough the rapid motion of the point of the peg a hole is burnt in the\nflaked board, to which tow or dry moss is then applied as a tinder. In\nthis way fire and smoke are elicited, and with their appearance the\nchildren fancy that the mist will vanish.[707] We may conjecture that\nthis method of dispersing a mist, which is now left to children, was\nformerly practised in all seriousness by grown men in Switzerland. It is\nthus that religious or magical rites dwindle away into the sports of\nchildren. In the canton of the Grisons there is still in common use an\nimprecation, \"Mist, go away, or I'll heal you,\" which points to an old\ncustom of burning up the fog with fire. A longer form of the curse\nlingers in the Vall\u00e9e des Bagnes of the canton Valais. It runs thus:\n\"Mist, mist, fly, fly, or St. Martin will come with a sheaf of straw to\nburn your guts, a great log of wood to smash your brow, and an iron\nchain to drag you to hell.\"[708]\n\n[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Sweden and Norway; the need-fire\nas a protection against witchcraft.]\n\nIn Sweden the need-fire is called, from the mode of its production,\neither _vrid-eld_, \"turned fire,\" or _gnid-eld_, \"rubbed fire.\" Down to\nnear the end of the eighteenth century the need-fire was kindled, as in\nGermany, by the violent rubbing of two pieces of wood against each\nother; sometimes nine different kinds of wood were used for the purpose.\nThe smoke of the fire was deemed salutary; fruit-trees and nets were\nfumigated with it, in order that the trees might bear fruit and the nets\ncatch fish. Cattle were also driven through the smoke.[709] In Sundal, a\nnarrow Norwegian valley, shut in on both sides by precipitous mountains,\nthere lived down to the second half of the nineteenth century an old man\nwho was very superstitious. He set salmon-traps in the river Driva,\nwhich traverses the valley, and he caught many fish both in spring and\nautumn. When his fishing went wrong, he kindled _naueld_ (\"need-fire\")\nor _gnideild_ (\"rubbed fire,\" \"friction fire\") to counteract the\nwitchcraft, which he believed to be the cause of his bad luck. He set up\ntwo planks near each other, bored a hole in each, inserted a pointed rod\nin the holes, and twisted a long cord round the rod. Then he pulled the\ncord so as to make the rod revolve rapidly. Thus by reason of the\nfriction he at last drew fire from the wood. That contented him, for \"he\nbelieved that the witchery was thus rendered powerless, and that good\nluck in his fishing was now ensured.\"[710]\n\n[The need-fire among the Slavonic peoples.]\n\nSlavonic peoples hold the need-fire in high esteem. They call it \"living\nfire,\" and attribute to it a healing virtue. The ascription of medicinal\npower to fire kindled by the friction of wood is said to be especially\ncharacteristic of the Slavs who inhabit the Carpathian Mountains and the\nBalkan peninsula. The mode in which they produce the need-fire differs\nsomewhat in different places. Thus in the Schar mountains of Servia the\ntask is entrusted to a boy and girl between eleven and fourteen years of\nage. They are led into a perfectly dark room, and having stripped\nthemselves naked kindle the fire by rubbing two rollers of lime wood\nagainst each other, till the friction produces sparks, which are caught\nin tinder. The Serbs of Western Macedonia drive two oaken posts into the\nground, bore a round hole in the upper end of each, insert a roller of\nlime wood in the holes, and set it revolving rapidly by means of a cord,\nwhich is looped round the roller and worked by a bow. Elsewhere the\nroller is put in motion by two men, who hold each one end of the cord\nand pull it backwards and forwards forcibly between them. Bulgarian\nshepherds sometimes kindle the need-fire by drawing a prism-shaped piece\nof lime wood to and fro across the flat surface of a tree-stump in the\nforest.[711] But in the neighbourhood of K\u00fcstendil, in Bulgaria, the\nneed-fire is kindled by the friction of two pieces of oak wood and the\ncattle are driven through it.[712]\n\n[The need-fire in Russia and Poland; the need-fire in Slavonia.]\n\nIn many districts of Russia, also, \"living fire\" is made by the friction\nof wood on St. John's Day, and the herds are driven through it, and the\npeople leap over it in the conviction that their health is thereby\nassured; when a cattle-plague is raging, the fire is produced by rubbing\ntwo pieces of oak wood against each other, and it is used to kindle the\nlamps before the holy pictures and the censers in the churches.[713]\nThus it appears that in Russia the need-fire is kindled for the sake of\nthe cattle periodically as well as on special emergencies. Similarly in\nPoland the peasants are said to kindle fires in the village streets on\nSt. Rochus's day and to drive the cattle thrice through them in order to\nprotect the animals against the murrain. The fire is produced by rubbing\na pole of poplar wood on a plank of poplar or fir wood and catching the\nsparks in tow. The embers are carried home to be used as remedies in\nsickness.[714] As practised in Slavonia, the custom of the need-fire\nused to present some interesting features, which are best described in\nthe words of an eyewitness:--\"In the year 1833 I came for the first time\nas a young merchant to Slavonia; it was to Gaj that I went, in the\nPozega district. The time was autumn, and it chanced that a\ncattle-plague was raging in the neighbourhood, which inflicted much loss\non the people. The peasants believed that the plague was a woman, an\nevil spirit (_Kutga_), who was destroying the cattle; so they sought to\nbanish her. I had then occasion to observe the proceedings in the\nvillages of Gaj, Kukunjevac, Brezina, and Brekinjska. Towards evening\nthe whole population of the village was busy laying a ring of brushwood\nround the boundaries of the village. All fires were extinguished\nthroughout the village. Then pairs of men in several places took pieces\nof wood, which had been specially prepared for the purpose, and rubbed\nthem together till they emitted sparks. The sparks were allowed to fall\non tinder and fanned into a flame, with which the dry brushwood was\nkindled. Thus the fire burned all round the village. The peasants\npersuaded themselves that thereupon _Kuga_ must take her\ndeparture.\"[715]\n\n[The need-fire in Servia.]\n\nThis last account leaves no doubt as to the significance of the\nneed-fire in the minds of Slavonian peasantry. They regard it simply as\na barrier interposed between their cattle and the evil spirit, which\nprowls, like a hungry wolf, round the fold and can, like a wolf, be kept\nat bay by fire. The same interpretation of the need-fire comes out,\nhardly less clearly, in the account which another writer gives of a\nceremony witnessed by him at the village of Setonje, at the foot of the\nHomolje mountains in the great forest of Servia. An epidemic was raging\namong the children, and the need-fire was resorted to as a means of\nstaying the plague. It was produced by an old man and an old woman in\nthe first of the ways described above; that is, they made it in the dark\nby rubbing two sticks of lime wood against each other. Before the\nhealing virtue of the fire was applied to the inhabitants of the\nvillage, two old women performed the following ceremony. Both bore the\nname of Stana, from the verb _stati_, \"to remain standing\"; for the\nceremony could not be successfully performed by persons of any other\nname. One of them carried a copper kettle full of water, the other an\nold house-lock with the key. Thus equipped they repaired to a spot\noutside of the village, and there the old dame with the kettle asked the\nold dame with the lock, \"Whither away?\" and the other answered her, \"I\ncame to shut the village against ill-luck.\" With that she locked the\nlock and threw it with the key into the kettle of water. Then they\nmarched thrice round the village, repeating the ceremony of the lock and\nkey at each round. Meantime all the villagers, arrayed in their best\nclothes, were assembled in an open place. All the fires in the houses\nhad been previously extinguished. Two sturdy yokels now dug a tunnel\nthrough a mound beside an oak tree; the tunnel was just high enough to\nlet a man creep through it on all fours. Two fires, lit by the\nneed-fire, were now laid, one at each end of the tunnel; and the old\nwoman with the kettle took her stand at the entrance of the tunnel,\nwhile the one with the lock posted herself at the exit. Facing the\nlatter stood another woman with a great pot of milk before her, and on\nthe other side was set a pot full of melted swine's fat. All was now\nready. The villagers thereupon crawled through the tunnel on hands and\nknees, one behind the other. Each, as he emerged from the tunnel,\nreceived a spoonful of milk from the woman and looked at his face\nreflected in the pot of melted swine's fat. Then another woman made a\ncross with a piece of charcoal on his back. When all the inhabitants had\nthus crept through the tunnel and been doctored at the other end, each\ntook some glowing embers home with him in a pot wherewith to rekindle\nthe fire on the domestic hearth. Lastly they put some of the charcoal in\na vessel of water and drank the mixture in order to be thereby magically\nprotected against the epidemic.[716]\n\nIt would be superfluous to point out in detail how admirably these\nmeasures are calculated to arrest the ravages of disease; but for the\nsake of those, if there are any, to whom the medicinal effect of\ncrawling through a hole on hands and knees is not at once apparent, I\nshall merely say that the procedure in question is one of the most\npowerful specifics which the wit of man has devised for maladies of all\nsorts. Ample evidence of its application will be adduced in a later part\nof this work.[717]\n\n[The need-fire in Bulgaria.]\n\nIn Bulgaria the herds suffer much from the raids of certain\nblood-sucking vampyres called _Ustrels_. An _Ustrel_ is the spirit of a\nChristian child who was born on a Saturday and died unfortunately before\nhe could be baptized. On the ninth day after burial he grubs his way out\nof the grave and attacks the cattle at once, sucking their blood all\nnight and returning at peep of dawn to the grave to rest from his\nlabours. In ten days or so the copious draughts of blood which he has\nswallowed have so fortified his constitution that he can undertake\nlonger journeys; so when he falls in with great herds of cattle or\nflocks of sheep he returns no more to the grave for rest and refreshment\nat night, but takes up his quarters during the day either between the\nhorns of a sturdy calf or ram or between the hind legs of a milch-cow.\nBeasts whose blood he has sucked die the same night. In any herd that he\nmay fasten on he begins with the fattest animal and works his way down\nsteadily through the leaner kine till not one single beast is left\nalive. The carcases of the victims swell up, and when the hide is\nstripped off you can always perceive the livid patch of flesh where the\nmonster sucked the blood of the poor creature. In a single night he may,\nby working hard, kill five cows; but he seldom exceeds that number. He\ncan change his shape and weight very easily; for example, when he is\nsitting by day between the horns of a ram, the animal scarcely feels his\nweight, but at night he will sometimes throw himself on an ox or a cow\nso heavily that the animal cannot stir, and lows so pitifully that it\nwould make your heart bleed to hear. People who were born on a Saturday\ncan see these monsters, and they have described them accurately, so that\nthere can be no doubt whatever about their existence. It is, therefore,\na matter of great importance to the peasant to protect his flocks and\nherds against the ravages of such dangerous vampyres. The way in which\nhe does so is this. On a Saturday morning before sunrise the village\ndrummer gives the signal to put out every fire in the village; even\nsmoking is forbidden. Next all the domestic animals, with the exception\nof fowls, geese, and ducks, are driven out into the open. In front of\nthe flocks and herds march two men, whose names during the ceremony may\nnot be mentioned in the village. They go into the wood, pick two dry\nbranches, and having stript themselves of their clothes they rub the two\nbranches together very hard till they catch fire; then with the fire so\nobtained they kindle two bonfires, one on each side of a cross-road\nwhich is known to be frequented by wolves. After that the herd is driven\nbetween the two fires. Coals from the bonfires are then taken back to\nthe village and used to rekindle the fires on the domestic hearths. For\nseveral days no one may go near the charred and blackened remains of the\nbonfires at the cross-road. The reason is that the vampyre is lying\nthere, having dropped from his seat between the cow's horns when the\nanimals were driven between the two fires. So if any one were to pass by\nthe spot during these days, the monster would be sure to call him by\nname and to follow him to the village; whereas if he is left alone, a\nwolf will come at midnight and strangle him, and in a few days the\nherdsmen can see the ground soaked with his slimy blood. So that is the\nend of the vampyre.[718] In this Bulgarian custom, as in the Slavonian\ncustom described above, the conception of the need-fire as a barrier set\nup between the cattle and a dangerous spirit is clearly worked out. The\nspirit rides the cow till he comes to the narrow pass between the two\nfires, but the heat there is too much for him; he drops in a faint from\nthe saddle, or rather from the horns, and the now riderless animal\nescapes safe and sound beyond the smoke and flame, leaving her\npersecutor prostrate on the ground on the further side of the blessed\nbarrier.\n\n[The need-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina.]\n\nIn Bosnia and Herzegovina there are some local differences in the mode\nof kindling the need-fire, or \"living fire,\" as it is called. Thus at\nJablanica both the uprights and the roller or cross-piece, which by its\nrevolution kindles the fire, are made of cornel-tree wood; whereas at\nDolac, near Sarajevo, the uprights and the cross-piece or roller are all\nmade of lime wood. In Gacko, contrary to the usual custom, the fire is\nmade by striking a piece of iron on an anvil, till sparks are given out,\nwhich are caught in tinder. The \"living fire\" thus produced is employed\nfor purposes of healing. In particular, if any one suffers from wounds\nor sores, ashes of the need-fire are sprinkled on the ailing part. In\nGacko it is also believed that if a pregnant woman witnesses a\nconflagration, her child will either be born with a red eruption on its\nskin or will contract the malady sooner or later afterwards. The only\nremedy consists in ashes of the need-fire, which are mixed with water\nand given to the child to drink.[719]\n\n[The need-fire in England; the need-fire in Yorkshire.]\n\nIn England the earliest notice of the need-fire seems to be contained in\nthe Chronicle of Lanercost for the year 1268. The annalist tells with\npious horror how, when an epidemic was raging in that year among the\ncattle, \"certain beastly men, monks in garb but not in mind, taught the\nidiots of their country to make fire by the friction of wood and to set\nup an image of Priapus, whereby they thought to succour the\nanimals.\"[720] The use of the need-fire is particularly attested for the\ncounties of Yorkshire and Northumberland. Thus in Yorkshire down to the\nmiddle of the eighteenth century \"the favourite remedy of the country\npeople, not only in the way of cure, but of prevention, was an odd one;\nit was to smoke the cattle almost to suffocation, by kindling straw,\nlitter, and other combustible matter about them. The effects of this\nmode of cure are not stated, but the most singular part of it was that\nby which it was reported to have been discovered. An angel (says the\nlegend), descended into Yorkshire, and there set a large tree on fire;\nthe strange appearance of which or else the savour of the smoke, incited\nthe cattle around (some of which were infected) to draw near the\nmiracle, when they all either received an immediate cure or an absolute\nprevention of the disorder. It is not affirmed that the angel staid to\nspeak to anybody, but only that he left a _written_ direction for the\nneighbouring people to catch this supernatural fire, and to communicate\nit from one to another with all possible speed throughout the country;\nand in case it should be extinguished and utterly lost, that then new\nfire, of equal virtue, might be obtained, not by any common method, but\nby rubbing two pieces of wood together till they ignited. Upon what\nfoundation this story stood, is not exactly known, but it put the\nfarmers actually into a hurry of communicating flame and smoke from one\nhouse to another with wonderful speed, making it run like wildfire over\nthe country.\"[721] Again, we read that \"the father of the writer, who\ndied in 1843, in his seventy-ninth year, had a perfect remembrance of a\ngreat number of persons, belonging to the upper and middle classes of\nhis native parish of Bowes, assembling on the banks of the river Greta\nto work for need-fire. A disease among cattle, called the murrain, then\nprevailed to a very great extent through that district of Yorkshire. The\ncattle were made to pass through the smoke raised by this miraculous\nfire, and their cure was looked upon as certain, and to neglect doing so\nwas looked upon as wicked. This fire was produced by the violent and\ncontinued friction of two dry pieces of wood until such time as it was\nthereby obtained. 'To work as though one was working for need-fire' is a\ncommon proverb in the North of England.\"[722] At Ingleton, a small town\nnestling picturesquely at the foot of the high hill of Ingleborough in\nwestern Yorkshire, \"within the last thirty years or so it was a common\npractice to kindle the so-called 'Need-fire' by rubbing two pieces of\nwood briskly together, and setting ablaze a large heap of sticks and\nbrushwood, which were dispersed, and cattle then driven through the\nsmoking brands. This was thought to act as a charm against the spread or\ndevelopement of the various ailments to which cattle are liable, and the\nfarmers seem to have had great faith in it.\"[723] Writing about the\nmiddle of the nineteenth century, Kemble tells us that the will-fire or\nneed-fire had been used in Devonshire for the purpose of staying a\nmurrain within the memory of man.[724]\n\n[The need-fire in Northumberland.]\n\nSo in Northumberland, down to the first half of the nineteenth century,\n\"when a contagious disease enters among cattle, the fires are\nextinguished in the adjacent villages. Two pieces of dried wood are then\nrubbed together until fire be produced; with this a quantity of straw is\nkindled, juniper is thrown into the flame, and the cattle are repeatedly\ndriven through the smoke. Part of the forced fire is sent to the\nneighbours, who again forward it to others, and, as great expedition is\nused, the fires may be seen blazing over a great extent of country in a\nvery short space of time.\"[725] \"It is strange,\" says the antiquary\nWilliam Henderson, writing about 1866, \"to find the custom of lighting\n'need-fires' on the occasion of epidemics among cattle still lingering\namong us, but so it is. The vicar of Stamfordham writes thus respecting\nit: 'When the murrain broke out among the cattle about eighteen years\nago, this fire was produced by rubbing two pieces of dry wood together,\nand was carried from place to place all through this district, as a\ncharm against cattle taking the disease. Bonfires were kindled with it,\nand the cattle driven into the smoke, where they were left for some\ntime. Many farmers hereabouts, I am informed, had the need-fire.'\"[726]\n\n[Martin's account of the need-fire in the Highlands of Scotland.]\n\nIn the earliest systematic account of the western islands of Scotland we\nread that \"the inhabitants here did also make use of a fire called\n_Tin-egin, i.e._ a forced fire, or fire of necessity, which they used as\nan antidote against the plague or murrain in cattle; and it was\nperformed thus: all the fires in the parish were extinguished, and then\neighty-one married men, being thought the necessary number for effecting\nthis design, took two great planks of wood, and nine of them were\nemployed by turns, who by their repeated efforts rubbed one of the\nplanks against the other until the heat thereof produced fire; and from\nthis forced fire each family is supplied with new fire, which is no\nsooner kindled than a pot full of water is quickly set on it, and\nafterwards sprinkled upon the people infected with the plague, or upon\nthe cattle that have the murrain. And this they all say they find\nsuccessful by experience: it was practised in the main land, opposite to\nthe south of Skie, within these thirty years.\"[727]\n\n[The need-fire in the island of Mull; sacrifice of a heifer.]\n\nIn the island of Mull, one of the largest of the Hebrides, the need-fire\nwas kindled as late as 1767. \"In consequence of a disease among the\nblack cattle the people agreed to perform an incantation, though they\nesteemed it a wicked thing. They carried to the top of Carnmoor a wheel\nand nine spindles of oakwood. They extinguished every fire in every\nhouse within sight of the hill; the wheel was then turned from east to\nwest over the nine spindles long enough to produce fire by friction. If\nthe fire were not produced before noon, the incantation lost its effect.\nThey failed for several days running. They attributed this failure to\nthe obstinacy of one householder, who would not let his fires be put out\nfor what he considered so wrong a purpose. However, by bribing his\nservants they contrived to have them extinguished and on that morning\nraised their fire. They then sacrificed a heifer, cutting in pieces and\nburning, while yet alive, the diseased part. They then lighted their own\nhearths from the pile and ended by feasting on the remains. Words of\nincantation were repeated by an old man from Morven, who came over as\nmaster of the ceremonies, and who continued speaking all the time the\nfire was being raised. This man was living a beggar at Bellochroy. Asked\nto repeat the spell, he said, the sin of repeating it once had brought\nhim to beggary, and that he dared not say those words again. The whole\ncountry believed him accursed.\"[728] From this account we see that in\nMull the kindling of the need-fire as a remedy for cattle disease was\naccompanied by the sacrifice of one of the diseased animals; and though\nthe two customs are for the most part mentioned separately by our\nauthorities, we may surmise that they were often, perhaps usually,\npractised together for the purpose of checking the ravages of sickness\nin the herds.[729]\n\n[The need-fire in Caithness.]\n\nIn the county of Caithness, forming the extreme northeast corner of the\nmainland of Scotland, the practice of the need-fire survived down at\nleast to about 1788. We read that \"in those days, when the stock of any\nconsiderable farmer was seized with the murrain, he would send for one\nof the charm-doctors to superintend the raising of a _need-fire_. It was\ndone by friction, thus; upon any small island, where the stream of a\nriver or burn ran on each side, a circular booth was erected, of stone\nand turf, as it could be had, in which a semicircular or highland couple\nof birch, or other hard wood, was set; and, in short, a roof closed on\nit. A straight pole was set up in the centre of this building, the upper\nend fixed by a wooden pin to the top of the couple, and the lower end in\nan oblong _trink_ in the earth or floor; and lastly, another pole was\nset across horizontally, having both ends tapered, one end of which was\nsupported in a hole in the side of the perpendicular pole, and the other\nin a similar hole in the couple leg. The horizontal stick was called the\nauger, having four short arms or levers fixed in its centre, to work it\nby; the building having been thus finished, as many men as could be\ncollected in the vicinity, (being divested of all kinds of metal in\ntheir clothes, etc.), would set to work with the said auger, two after\ntwo, constantly turning it round by the arms or levers, and others\noccasionally driving wedges of wood or stone behind the lower end of the\nupright pole, so as to press it the more on the end of the auger: by\nthis constant friction and pressure, the ends of the auger would take\nfire, from which a fire would be instantly kindled, and thus the\n_needfire_ would be accomplished. The fire in the farmer's house, etc.,\nwas immediately quenched with water, a fire kindled from this needfire,\nboth in the farm-houses and offices, and the cattle brought to feel the\nsmoke of this new and sacred fire, which preserved them from the\nmurrain.\"[730]\n\n[The need-fire in Caithness.]\n\nThe last recorded case of the need-fire in Caithness happened in 1809 or\n1810. At Houstry, Dunbeath, a crofter named David Gunn had made for\nhimself a kail-yard and in doing so had wilfully encroached on one of\nthose prehistoric ruins called _brochs_, which the people of the\nneighbourhood believed to be a fairy habitation. Soon afterwards a\nmurrain broke out among the cattle of the district and carried off many\nbeasts. So the wise men put their heads together and resolved to light a\n_teine-eigin_ or need-fire as the best way of stopping the plague. They\ncut a branch from a tree in a neighbouring wood, stripped it of bark,\nand carried it to a small island in the Houstry Burn. Every fire in the\ndistrict having been quenched, new fire was made by the friction of wood\nin the island, and from this sacred flame all the hearths of the houses\nwere lit afresh. One of the sticks used in making the fire was preserved\ndown to about the end of the nineteenth century; apparently the mode of\noperation was the one known as the fire-drill: a pointed stick was\ntwirled in a hole made in another stick till fire was elicited by the\nfriction.[731]\n\n[Another account of the need-fire in the Highlands.]\n\nAnother account of the use of need-fire in the Highlands of Scotland\nruns as follows: \"When, by the neglect of the prescribed safeguards\n[against witchcraft], the seeds of iniquity have taken root, and a\nperson's means are decaying in consequence, the only alternative, in\nthis case, is to resort to that grand remedy, the _Tein Econuch_, or\n'Forlorn Fire,' which seldom fails of being productive of the best\neffects. The cure for witchcraft, called _Tein Econuch_, is wrought in\nthe following manner:--A consultation being held by the unhappy sufferer\nand his friends as to the most advisable measures of effecting a cure,\nif this process is adopted, notice is privately communicated to all\nthose householders who reside within the nearest of two running streams,\nto extinguish their lights and fires on some appointed morning. On its\nbeing ascertained that this notice has been duly observed, a\nspinning-wheel, or some other convenient instrument, calculated to\nproduce fire by friction, is set to work with the most furious\nearnestness by the unfortunate sufferer, and all who wish well to his\ncause. Relieving each other by turns, they drive on with such\npersevering diligence, that at length the spindle of the wheel, ignited\nby excessive friction, emits 'forlorn fire' in abundance, which, by the\napplication of tow, or some other combustible material, is widely\nextended over the whole neighbourhood. Communicating the fire to the\ntow, the tow communicates it to a candle, the candle to a fir-torch, the\ntorch to a cartful of peats, which the master of the ceremonies, with\npious ejaculations for the success of the experiment, distributes to\nmessengers, who will proceed with portions of it to the different houses\nwithin the said two running streams, to kindle the different fires. By\nthe influence of this operation, the machinations and spells of\nwitchcraft are rendered null and void.\"[732]\n\n[Alexander Carmichael's account of the need-fire in the Highlands of\nScotland during the nineteenth century.]\n\nIn various parts of the Highlands of Scotland the needfire was still\nkindled during the first half of the nineteenth century, as we learn\nfrom the following account:--\n\n\"_Tein-eigin_, neid-fire, need-fire, forced fire, fire produced by the\nfriction of wood or iron against wood.\n\n\"The fire of purification was kindled from the neid-fire, while the\ndomestic fire on the hearth was re-kindled from the purification fire on\nthe knoll. Among other names, the purification fire was called _Teine\nBheuil_, fire of Beul, and _Teine mor Bheuil_, great fire of Beul. The\nfire of Beul was divided into two fires between which people and cattle\nrushed australly for purposes of purification. The ordeal was trying, as\nmay be inferred from phrases still current. _Is teodha so na teine\nteodha Bheuil_, 'Hotter is this than the hot fire of Beul.' Replying to\nhis grandchild, an old man in Lewis said ... 'Mary! sonnie, it were\nworse for me to do that for thee than to go between the two great fires\nof Beul.'\n\n\"The neid-fire was resorted to in imminent or actual calamity upon the\nfirst day of the quarter, and to ensure success in great or important\nevents.\n\n[The needfire in Arran.]\n\n\"The writer conversed with several persons who saw the neid-fire made,\nand who joined in the ceremony. As mentioned elsewhere, a woman in Arran\nsaid that her father, and the other men of the townland, made the\nneid-fire on the knoll on _La buidhe Bealltain_--Yellow Day of Beltane.\nThey fed the fire from _cuaile mor conaidh caoin_--great bundles of\nsacred faggots brought to the knoll on Beltane Eve. When the sacred fire\nbecame kindled, the people rushed home and brought their herds and drove\nthem through and round the fire of purification, to sain them from the\n_bana bhuitseach mhor Nic Creafain Mac Creafain_--the great arch witch\nMac Crauford, now Crawford. That was in the second decade of this\ncentury.\n\n[The need-fire in North Uist.]\n\n\"John Macphail, Middlequarter, North Uist, said that the last occasion\non which the neid-fire was made in North Uist was _bliadhna an\nt-sneachda bhuidhe_--the year of the yellow snow--1829 (?). The snow lay\nso deep and remained so long on the ground, that it became yellow. Some\nsuggest that the snow was originally yellow, as snow is occasionally\nred. This extraordinary continuance of snow caused much want and\nsuffering throughout the Isles. The people of North Uist extinguished\ntheir own fires and generated a purification fire at Sail Dharaich,\nSollas. The fire was produced from an oak log by rapidly boring with an\nauger. This was accomplished by the exertions of _naoi naoinear ciad\nginealach mac_--the nine nines of first-begotten sons. From the\nneid-fire produced on the knoll the people of the parish obtained fire\nfor their dwellings. Many cults and ceremonies were observed on the\noccasion, cults and ceremonies in which Pagan and Christian beliefs\nintermingled. _Sail Dharaich_, Oak Log, obtained its name from the log\nof oak for the neid-fire being there. A fragment of this log riddled\nwith auger holes marks a grave in _Cladh Sgealoir_, the burying-ground\nof _Sgealoir_, in the neighbourhood.\n\n[The need-fire in Reay, Sutherland.]\n\n\"Mr. Alexander Mackay, Edinburgh, a native of Reay, Sutherland,\nsays:--'My father was the skipper of a fishing crew. Before beginning\noperations for the season, the crew of the boat met at night in our\nhouse to settle accounts for the past, and to plan operations for the\nnew season. My mother and the rest of us were sent to bed. I lay in the\nkitchen, and was listening and watching, though they thought I was\nasleep. After the men had settled their past affairs and future plans,\nthey put out the fire on the hearth, not a spark being allowed to live.\nThey then rubbed two pieces of wood one against another so rapidly as to\nproduce fire, the men joining in one after the other, and working with\nthe utmost energy and never allowing the friction to relax. From this\nfriction-fire they rekindled the fire on the hearth, from which all the\nmen present carried away a kindling to their own homes. Whether their\nsuccess was due to their skill, their industry, their perseverance, or\nto the neid-fire, I do not know, but I know that they were much the most\nsuccessful crew in the place. They met on Saturday, and went to church\non Sunday like the good men and the good Christians they were--a little\nof their Pagan faith mingling with their Christian belief. I have reason\nto believe that other crews in the place as well as my father's crew\npractised the neid-fire.'\n\n\"A man at Helmsdale, Sutherland, saw the _tein-eigin_ made in his\nboyhood.\n\n\"The neid-fire was made in North Uist about the year 1829, in Arran\nabout 1820, in Helmsdale about 1818, in Reay about 1830.\"[733]\n\n[The Beltane fire a precaution against witchcraft.]\n\nFrom the foregoing account we learn that in Arran the annual Beltane\nfire was regularly made by the friction of wood, and that it was used to\nprotect men and cattle against a great witch. When we remember that\nBeltane Eve or the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) is the great\nwitching time of the year throughout Europe, we may surmise that\nwherever bonfires have been ceremonially kindled on that day it has been\ndone simply as a precaution against witchcraft; indeed this motive is\nexpressly alleged not only in Scotland, but in Wales, the Isle of Man,\nand many parts of Central Europe.[734] It deserves, further, to be\nnoticed that in North Uist the wood used to kindle the need-fire was\noak, and that the nine times nine men by whose exertions the flame was\nelicited were all first-born sons. Apparently the first-born son of a\nfamily was thought to be endowed with more magical virtue than his\nyounger brothers. Similarly in the Punjaub \"the supernatural power\nascribed to the first born is not due to his being unlucky, but the idea\nunderlying the belief seems to be that being the first product of the\nparents, he inherits the spiritual powers (or magnetism) in a high\ndegree. The success of such persons in stopping rain and hail and in\nstupefying snakes is proverbial. It is believed that a first child born\nwith feet forward can cure backache by kicking the patient in the back,\non a crossing.\"[735]\n\n[The need-fire in Aberdeenshire.]\n\nIn the north-east of Aberdeenshire and the neighbourhood, when the\ncattle-disease known as the \"quarter-ill\" broke out, \"the 'muckle wheel'\nwas set in motion and turned till fire was produced. From this virgin\nflame fires were kindled in the byres. At the same time, if neighbours\nrequested the favour, live coals were given them to kindle fires for the\npurification of their homesteads and turning off the disease. Fumigating\nthe byres with juniper was a method adopted to ward off disease. Such a\nfire was called 'needfyre.' The kindling of it came under the censure of\nthe Presbytery at times.\"[736]\n\n[The need-fire in Perthshire.]\n\nIn Perthshire the need-fire was kindled as a remedy for cattle-disease\nas late as 1826. \"A wealthy old farmer, having lost several of his\ncattle by some disease very prevalent at present, and being able to\naccount for it in no way so rationally as by witchcraft, had recourse to\nthe following remedy, recommended to him by a weird sister in his\nneighbourhood, as an effectual protection from the attacks of the foul\nfiend. A few stones were piled together in the barnyard, and woodcoals\nhaving been laid thereon, the fuel was ignited by _will-fire_, that is\nfire obtained by friction; the neighbours having been called in to\nwitness the solemnity, the cattle were made to pass through the flames,\nin the order of their dignity and age, commencing with the horses and\nending with the swine. The ceremony having been duly and decorously gone\nthrough, a neighbouring farmer observed to the enlightened owner of the\nherd, that he, along with his family, ought to have followed the example\nof the cattle, and the sacrifice to Baal would have been complete.\"[737]\n\n[The need-fire in Ireland.]\n\nIn County Leitrim, Ireland, in order to prevent fever from spreading,\n\"all the fires on the townland, and the two adjoining (one on each\nside), would be put out. Then the men of the three townlands would come\nto one house, and get two large blocks of wood. One would be set in the\nground, and the other one, fitted with two handles, placed on the top of\nit. The men would then draw the upper block backwards and forwards over\nthe lower until fire was produced by friction, and from this the fires\nwould be lighted again. This would prevent the fever from\nspreading,\"[738]\n\n[The use of the need-fire a relic of a time when all fires were kindled\nby the friction of wood.]\n\nThus it appears that in many parts of Europe it has been customary to\nkindle fire by the friction of wood for the purpose of curing or\npreventing the spread of disease, particularly among cattle. The mode of\nstriking a light by rubbing two dry sticks against each other is the one\nto which all over the world savages have most commonly resorted for the\nsake of providing themselves with fire;[739] and we can scarcely doubt\nthat the practice of kindling the need-fire in this primitive fashion is\nmerely a survival from the time when our savage forefathers lit all\ntheir fires in that way. Nothing is so conservative of old customs as\nreligious or magical ritual, which invests these relics of the past with\nan atmosphere of mysterious virtue and sanctity. To the educated mind it\nseems obvious that a fire which a man kindles with the sweat of his brow\nby laboriously rubbing one stick against each other can possess neither\nmore nor less virtue than one which he has struck in a moment by the\nfriction of a lucifer match; but to the ignorant and superstitious this\ntruth is far from apparent, and accordingly they take infinite pains to\ndo in a roundabout way what they might have done directly with the\ngreatest ease, and what, even when it is done, is of no use whatever for\nthe purpose in hand. A vast proportion of the labour which mankind has\nexpended throughout the ages has been no better spent; it has been like\nthe stone of Sisyphus eternally rolled up hill only to revolve eternally\ndown again, or like the water poured for ever by the Danaids into broken\npitchers which it could never fill.\n\n[The belief that the need-fire cannot kindle if any other fire remains\nalight in the neighbourhood.]\n\nThe curious notion that the need-fire cannot kindle if any other fire\nremains alight in the neighbourhood seems to imply that fire is\nconceived as a unity which is broken up into fractions and consequently\nweakened in exact proportion to the number of places where it burns;\nhence in order to obtain it at full strength you must light it only at a\nsingle point, for then the flame will burst out with a concentrated\nenergy derived from the tributary fires which burned on all the\nextinguished hearths of the country. So in a modern city if all the gas\nwere turned off simultaneously at all the burners but one, the flame\nwould no doubt blaze at that one burner with a fierceness such as no\nsingle burner could shew when all are burning at the same time. The\nanalogy may help us to understand the process of reasoning which leads\nthe peasantry to insist on the extinction of all common fires when the\nneed-fire is about to be kindled. Perhaps, too, it may partly explain\nthat ceremonial extinction of all old fires on other occasions which is\noften required by custom as a preliminary to the lighting of a new and\nsacred fire.[740] We have seen that in the Highlands of Scotland all\ncommon fires were extinguished on the Eve of May-day as a preparation\nfor kindling the Beltane bonfire by friction next morning;[741] and no\ndoubt the reason for the extinction was the same as in the case of the\nneed-fire. Indeed we may assume with a fair degree of probability that\nthe need-fire was the parent of the periodic fire-festivals; at first\ninvoked only at irregular intervals to cure certain evils as they\noccurred, the powerful virtue of fire was afterwards employed at regular\nintervals to prevent the occurrence of the same evils as well as to\nremedy such as had actually arisen.\n\n[The needfire among the Iroquois of North America.]\n\nThe need-fire of Europe has its parallel in a ceremony which used to be\nobserved by the Iroquois Indians of North America. \"Formerly when an\nepidemic prevailed among the Iroquois despite the efforts to stay it, it\nwas customary for the principal shaman to order the fires in every cabin\nto be extinguished and the ashes and cinders to be carefully removed;\nfor it was believed that the pestilence was sent as a punishment for\nneglecting to rekindle 'new fire,' or because of the manner in which the\nfire then in use had been kindled. So, after all the fires were out, two\nsuitable logs of slippery elm (_Ulmus fulva_) were provided for the new\nfire. One of the logs was from six to eight inches in diameter and from\neight to ten feet long; the other was from ten to twelve inches in\ndiameter and about ten feet long. About midway across the larger log a\ncuneiform notch or cut about six inches deep was made, and in the\nwedge-shaped notch punk was placed. The other log was drawn rapidly to\nand fro in the cut by four strong men chosen for the purpose until the\npunk was ignited by the friction thus produced. Before and during the\nprogress of the work of igniting the fire the shaman votively sprinkled\n_tcar-hu'-e\u00f1-we_, 'real tobacco,' three several times into the cuneiform\nnotch and offered earnest prayers to the Fire-god, beseeching him 'to\naid, to bless, and to redeem the people from their calamities.' The\nignited punk was used to light a large bonfire, and then the head of\nevery family was required to take home 'new fire' to rekindle a fire in\nhis or her fire-place.\"[742]\n\n\n\u00a7 9. _The Sacrifice of an Animal to stay a Cattle-Plague_\n\n\n[The burnt sacrifice of a calf in England and Wales; burnt sacrifice a\npig in Scotland.]\n\nSometimes apparently in England as well as in Scotland the kindling of a\nneed-fire was accompanied by the sacrifice of a calf. Thus in\nNorthamptonshire, at some time during the first half of the nineteenth\ncentury, \"Miss C---- and her cousin walking saw a fire in a field and a\ncrowd round it. They said, 'What is the matter?' 'Killing a calf.' 'What\nfor?' 'To stop the murrain.' They went away as quickly as possible. On\nspeaking to the clergyman he made enquiries. The people did not like to\ntalk of the affair, but it appeared that when there is a disease among\nthe cows or the calves are born sickly, they sacrifice (i.e. kill and\nburn) one 'for good luck.'\"[743] It is not here said that the fire was a\nneed-fire, of which indeed the two horrified ladies had probably never\nheard; but the analogy of the parallel custom in Mull[744] renders it\nprobable that in Northamptonshire also the fire was kindled by the\nfriction of wood, and that the calf or some part of it was burnt in the\nfire. Certainly the practice of burning a single animal alive in order\nto save all the others would seem to have been not uncommon in England\ndown to the nineteenth century. Thus a farmer in Cornwall about the year\n1800, having lost many cattle by disease, and tried many remedies in\nvain, consulted with some of his neighbours and laying their heads\ntogether \"they recalled to their recollections a tale, which tradition\nhad handed down from remote antiquity, that the calamity would not cease\nuntil he had actually burned alive the finest calf which he had upon his\nfarm; but that, when this sacrifice was made, the murrain would afflict\nhis cattle no more.\" Accordingly, on a day appointed they met, lighted a\nlarge fire, placed the best calf in it, and standing round the blazing\npile drove the animal with pitchforks back into the flames whenever it\nattempted to escape. Thus the victim was burned alive to save the rest\nof the cattle.[745] \"There can be no doubt but that a belief prevailed\nuntil a very recent period, amongst the small farmers in the districts\nremote from towns in Cornwall, that a living sacrifice appeased the\nwrath of God. This sacrifice must be by fire; and I have heard it argued\nthat the Bible gave them warranty for this belief.... While correcting\nthese sheets I am informed of two recent instances of this superstition.\nOne of them was the sacrifice of a calf by a farmer near Portreath, for\nthe purpose of removing a disease which had long followed his horses and\nhis cows. The other was the burning of a living lamb, to save, as the\nfarmer said, 'his flocks from spells which had been cast on 'em.'\"[746]\nIn a recent account of the fire-festivals of Wales we read that \"I have\nalso heard my grandfather and father say that in times gone by the\npeople would throw a calf in the fire when there was any disease among\nthe herds. The same would be done with a sheep if there was anything the\nmatter with a flock. I can remember myself seeing cattle being driven\nbetween two fires to 'stop the disease spreading.' When in later times\nit was not considered humane to drive the cattle between the fires, the\nherdsmen were accustomed to force the animals over the wood ashes to\nprotect them against various ailments.\"[747] Writing about 1866, the\nantiquary W. Henderson says that a live ox was burned near Haltwhistle\nin Northumberland \"only twenty years ago\" to stop a murrain.[748] \"About\nthe year 1850 disease broke out among the cattle of a small farm in the\nparish of Resoliss, Black Isle, Ross-shire. The farmer prevailed on his\nwife to undertake a journey to a wise woman of renown in Banffshire to\nask a charm against the effects of the 'ill eye.' The long journey of\nupwards of fifty miles was performed by the good wife, and the charm was\ngot. One chief thing ordered was to burn to death a pig, and sprinkle\nthe ashes over the byre and other farm buildings. This order was carried\nout, except that the pig was killed before it was burned. A more\nterrible sacrifice was made at times. One of the diseased animals was\nrubbed over with tar, driven forth, set on fire, and allowed to run till\nit fell down and died.\"[749] \"Living animals have been burnt alive in\nsacrifice within memory to avert the loss of other stock. The burial of\nthree puppies 'brandise-wise' in a field is supposed to rid it of weeds.\nThroughout the rural districts of Devon witchcraft is an article of\ncurrent faith, and the toad is thrown into the flames as an emissary of\nthe evil one.\"[750]\n\n[The calf is burnt in order to break a spell which has been cast on the\nherd.]\n\nBut why, we may ask, should the burning alive of a calf or a sheep be\nsupposed to save the rest of the herd or the flock from the murrain?\nAccording to one writer, as we have seen, the burnt sacrifice was\nthought to appease the wrath of God.[751] The idea of appeasing the\nwrath of a ferocious deity by burning an animal alive is probably no\nmore than a theological gloss put on an old heathen rite; it would\nhardly occur to the simple mind of an English bumpkin, who, though he\nmay be stupid, is not naturally cruel and does not conceive of a\ndivinity who takes delight in the contemplation of suffering. To his\nthinking God has little or nothing to do with the murrain, but witches,\nill-wishers, and fairies have a great deal to do with it. The English\nfarmer who burned one of his lambs alive said that he did it \"to save\nhis flocks from spells which had been cast on them\"; and the Scotch\nfarmer who was bidden to burn a pig alive for a similar purpose, but who\nhad the humanity to kill the animal first, believed that this was a\nremedy for the \"evil eye\" which had been cast upon his beasts. Again, we\nread that \"a farmer, who possessed broad acres, and who was in many\nrespects a sensible man, was greatly annoyed to find that his cattle\nbecame diseased in the spring. Nothing could satisfy him but that they\nwere bewitched, and he was resolved to find out the person who had cast\nthe evil eye on his oxen. According to an anciently-prescribed rule, the\nfarmer took one of his bullocks and bled it to death, catching all the\nblood on bundles of straw. The bloody straw was then piled into a heap,\nand set on fire. Burning with a vast quantity of smoke, the farmer\nexpected to see the witch, either in reality or in shadow, amidst the\nsmoke.\"[752] Such reasons express the real beliefs of the peasants.\n\"Cattle, like human beings, were exposed to the influences of the evil\neye, of forespeaking, and of the casting of evil. Witches and warlocks\ndid the work of evil among their neighbours' cattle if their anger had\nbeen aroused in any way. The fairies often wrought injury amongst\ncattle. Every animal that died suddenly was killed by the dart of the\nfairies, or, in the language of the people, was 'shot-a-dead.' Flint\narrows and spear-heads went by the name of 'faery dairts....' When an\nanimal died suddenly the canny woman of the district was sent for to\nsearch for the 'faery dairt,' and in due course she found one, to the\ngreat satisfaction of the owner of the dead animal.\"[753]\n\n[Mode in which the burning of a bewitched animal is supposed to break\nthe spell.]\n\nBut how, we must still ask, can burning an animal alive break the spell\nthat has been cast upon its fellows by a witch or a warlock? Some light\nis thrown on the question by the following account of measures which\nrustic wiseacres in Suffolk are said to have adopted as a remedy for\nwitchcraft. \"A woman I knew forty-three years had been employed by my\npredecessor to take care of his poultry. At the time I came to make her\nacquaintance she was a bedridden toothless crone, with chin and nose all\nbut meeting. She did not discourage in her neighbours the idea that she\nknew more than people ought to know, and had more power than others had.\nMany years before I knew her it happened one spring that the ducks,\nwhich were a part of her charge, failed to lay eggs.... She at once took\nit for granted that the ducks had been bewitched. This misbelief\ninvolved very shocking consequences, for it necessitated the idea that\nso diabolical an act could only be combated by diabolical cruelty. And\nthe most diabolical act of cruelty she could imagine was that of baking\nalive in a hot oven one of the ducks. And that was what she did. The\nsequence of thought in her mind was that the spell that had been laid on\nthe ducks was that of preternaturally wicked wilfulness; that this spell\ncould only be broken through intensity of suffering, in this case death\nby burning; that the intensity of suffering would break the spell in the\none roasted to death; and that the spell broken in one would be\naltogether broken, that is, in all the ducks.... Shocking, however, as\nwas this method of exorcising the ducks, there was nothing in it\noriginal. Just about a hundred years before, everyone in the town and\nneighbourhood of Ipswich had heard, and many had believed, that a witch\nhad been burnt to death in her own house at Ipswich by the process of\nburning alive one of the sheep she had bewitched. It was curious, but it\nwas as convincing as curious, that the hands and feet of this witch were\nthe only parts of her that had not been incinerated. This, however, was\nsatisfactorily explained by the fact that the four feet of the sheep, by\nwhich it had been suspended over the fire, had not been destroyed in the\nflames that had consumed its body.\"[754] According to a slightly\ndifferent account of the same tragic incident, the last of the \"Ipswitch\nwitches,\" one Grace Pett, \"laid her hand heavily on a farmer's sheep,\nwho, in order to punish her, fastened one of the sheep in the ground and\nburnt it, except the feet, which were under the earth. The next morning\nGrace Pett was found burnt to a cinder, except her feet. Her fate is\nrecorded in the _Philosophical Transactions_ as a case of spontaneous\ncombustion.\"[755]\n\n[In burning the bewitched animal you burn the witch herself.]\n\nThis last anecdote is instructive, if perhaps not strictly authentic. It\nshows that in burning alive one of a bewitched flock or herd what you\nreally do is to burn the witch, who is either actually incarnate in the\nanimal or perhaps more probably stands in a relation of sympathy with it\nso close as almost to amount to identity. Hence if you burn the creature\nto ashes, you utterly destroy the witch and thereby save the whole of\nthe rest of the flock or herd from her abominable machinations; whereas\nif you only partially burn the animal, allowing some parts of it to\nescape the flames, the witch is only half-baked, and her power for\nmischief may be hardly, if at all, impaired by the grilling. We can now\nsee that in such matters half-measures are useless. To kill the animal\nfirst and burn it afterwards is a weak compromise, dictated no doubt by\na well-meant but utterly mistaken kindness; it is like shutting the\nstable-door when the steed is stolen, for obviously by leaving the\nanimal's, and therefore the witch's, body nearly intact at the moment of\ndeath, it allows her soul to escape and return safe and sound to her own\nhuman body, which all the time is probably lying quietly at home in bed.\nAnd the same train of reasoning that justifies the burning alive of\nbewitched animals justifies and indeed requires the burning alive of the\nwitches themselves; it is really the only way of destroying them, body\nand soul, and therefore of thoroughly extirpating the whole infernal\ncrew.\n\n[Practice of burning cattle and sheep as sacrifices in the Isle of Man.]\n\nIn the Isle of Man the practice of burning cattle alive in order to stop\na murrain seems to have persisted down to a time within living memory.\nOn this subject I will quote the evidence collected by Sir John Rhys: \"A\nrespectable farmer from Andreas told me that he was driving with his\nwife to the neighbouring parish of Jurby some years ago, and that on the\nway they beheld the carcase of a cow or an ox burning in a field, with a\nwoman engaged in stirring the fire. On reaching the village to which\nthey were going, they found that the burning beast belonged to a farmer\nwhom they knew. They were further told it was no wonder that the said\nfarmer had one of his cattle burnt, as several of them had recently\ndied. Whether this was a case of sacrifice or not I cannot say. But let\nme give you another instance: a man whom I have already mentioned, saw\nat a farm nearer the centre of the island a live calf being burnt. The\nowner bears an English name, but his family has long been settled in\nMan. The farmer's explanation to my informant was that the calf was\nburnt to secure luck for the rest of the herd, some of which were\nthreatening to die. My informant thought there was absolutely nothing\nthe matter with them, except that they had too little to eat. Be that as\nit may, the one calf was sacrificed as a burnt-offering to secure luck\nfor the rest of the cattle. Let me here also quote Mr. Moore's note in\nhis _Manx Surnames_, p. 184, on the place name _Cabbal yn Oural Losht_,\nor the Chapel of the Burnt Sacrifice. 'This name,' he says, 'records a\ncircumstance which took place in the nineteenth century, but which, it\nis to be hoped, was never customary in the Isle of Man. A farmer, who\nhad lost a number of his sheep and cattle by murrain, burned a calf as a\npropitiatory offering to the Deity on this spot, where a chapel was\nafterwards built. Hence the name.' Particulars, I may say, of time,\nplace, and person could be easily added to Mr. Moore's statement,\nexcepting, perhaps as to the deity in question; on that point I have\nnever been informed, but Mr. Moore is probably right in the use of the\ncapital _d_, as the sacrificer is, according to all accounts, a highly\ndevout Christian. One more instance: an octogenarian woman, born in the\nparish of Bride, and now living at Kirk Andreas, saw, when she was a\n'lump of a girl' of ten or fifteen years of age, a live sheep being\nburnt in a field in the parish of Andreas, on May-day, whereby she meant\nthe first of May reckoned according to the Old Style. She asserts very\ndecidedly that it was _son oural_, 'as a sacrifice,' as she put it, and\n'for an object to the public': those were her words when she expressed\nherself in English. Further, she made the statement that it was a custom\nto burn a sheep on old May-day for a sacrifice. I was fully alive to the\ninterest of this evidence, and cross-examined her so far as her age\nallows of it, and I find that she adheres to her statement with all\nfirmness.\"[756]\n\n[By burning a bewitched animal you compel the witch to appear.]\n\nBut Manxmen burn beasts when they are dead as well as when they are\nalive; and their reasons for burning the dead animals may help us to\nunderstand their reasons for burning the living animals. On this subject\nI will again quote Sir John Rhys: \"When a beast dies on a farm, of\ncourse it dies, according to the old-fashioned view of things, as I\nunderstand it, from the influence of the evil eye or the interposition\nof a witch. So if you want to know to whom you are indebted for the loss\nof the beast, you have simply to burn its carcase in the open air and\nwatch who comes first to the spot or who first passes by; that is the\ncriminal to be charged with the death of the animal, and he cannot help\ncoming there--such is the effect of the fire. A Michael woman, who is\nnow about thirty, related to me how she watched while the carcase of a\nbewitched colt was burning, how she saw the witch coming, and how she\nremembers her shrivelled face, with nose and chin in close proximity.\nAccording to another native of Michael, a well-informed middle-aged man,\nthe animal in question was oftenest a calf, and it was wont to be burnt\nwhole, skin and all. The object, according to him, is invariably to\nbring the bewitcher on the spot, and he always comes; but I am not clear\nwhat happens to him when he appears. My informant added, however, that\nit was believed that, unless the bewitcher got possession of the heart\nof the burning beast, he lost all his power of bewitching.\"[757]\n\n[Magic sympathy between the witch and the bewitched animal.]\n\nThese statements shew that in the Isle of Man the sympathetic relation\nbetween the witch and his or her animal victim is believed to be so\nclose that by burning the animal you compel the witch to appear. The\noriginal idea may have been that, by virtue of a magic sympathy which\nbinds the two together, whatever harm you do to the animal is felt by\nthe witch as if it were done to herself. That notion would fully explain\nwhy Manx people used also to burn bewitched animals alive; in doing so\nthey probably imagined that they were simultaneously burning the witch\nwho had cast the spell on their cattle.\n\n[Parallel belief in magic sympathy between the animal shape of a\nwere-wolf and his or her ordinary human shape: by wounding the wolf you\nsimultaneously wound the man or woman.]\n\nThis explanation of the reason for burning a bewitched animal, dead or\nalive, is confirmed by the parallel belief concerning were-wolves. It is\ncommonly supposed that certain men and women can transform themselves by\nmagic art into wolves or other animals, but that any wound inflicted on\nsuch a transformed beast (a were-wolf or other were-animal) is\nsimultaneously inflicted on the human body of the witch or warlock who\nhad transformed herself or himself into the creature. This belief is\nwidely diffused; it meets us in Europe, Asia, and Africa. For example,\nOlaus Magnus tells us that in Livonia, not many years before he wrote, a\nnoble lady had a dispute with her slave on the subject of were-wolves,\nshe doubting whether there were any such things, and he maintaining that\nthere were. To convince her he retired to a room, from which he soon\nappeared in the form of a wolf. Being chased by the dogs into the forest\nand brought to bay, the wolf defended himself fiercely, but lost an eye\nin the struggle. Next day the slave returned to his mistress in human\nform but with only one eye.[758] Again, it happened in the year 1588\nthat a gentleman in a village among the mountains of Auvergne, looking\nout of the window one evening, saw a friend of his going out to hunt. He\nbegged him to bring him back some of his bag, and his friend said that\nhe would. Well, he had not gone very far before he met a huge wolf. He\nfired and missed it, and the animal attacked him furiously, but he stood\non his guard and with an adroit stroke of his hunting knife he cut off\nthe right fore-paw of the brute, which thereupon fled away and he saw it\nno more. He returned to his friend, and drawing from his pouch the\nsevered paw of the wolf he found to his horror that it was turned into a\nwoman's hand with a golden ring on one of the fingers. His friend\nrecognized the ring as that of his own wife and went to find her. She\nwas sitting by the fire with her right arm under her apron. As she\nrefused to draw it out, her husband confronted her with the hand and the\nring on it. She at once confessed the truth, that it was she in the form\nof a were-wolf whom the hunter had wounded. Her confession was confirmed\nby applying the severed hand to the stump of her arm, for the two fitted\nexactly. The angry husband delivered up his wicked wife to justice; she\nwas tried and burnt as a witch.[759] It is said that a were-wolf,\nscouring the streets of Padua, was caught, and when they cut off his\nfour paws he at once turned into a man, but with both his hands and feet\namputated.[760] Again, in a farm of the French district of Beauce, there\nwas once a herdsman who never slept at home. These nocturnal absences\nnaturally attracted attention and set people talking. At the same time,\nby a curious coincidence, a wolf used to prowl round the farm every\nnight and to excite the dogs in the farmyard to fury by thrusting his\nsnout derisively through the cat's hole in the great gate. The farmer\nhad his suspicions and he determined to watch. One night, when the\nherdsman went out as usual, his master followed him quietly till he came\nto a hut, where with his own eyes he saw the man put on a broad belt and\nat once turn into a wolf, which scoured away over the fields. The farmer\nsmiled a sickly sort of smile and went back to the farm. There he took a\nstout stick and sat down at the cat's hole to wait. He had not long to\nwait. The dogs barked like mad, a wolf's snout shewed through the hole,\ndown came the stick, out gushed the blood, and a voice was heard to say\nwithout the gate, \"A good job too. I had still three years to run.\" Next\nday the herdsman appeared as usual, but he had a scar on his brow, and\nhe never went out again at night.[761]\n\n[Werewolves in China.]\n\nIn China also the faith in similar transformation is reflected in the\nfollowing tale. A certain man in Sung-yang went into the mountains to\ngather fuel. Night fell and he was pursued by two tigers, but scrambled\nup a tree out of their reach. Then said the one tiger to the other\ntiger, \"If we can find Chu-Tu-shi, we are sure to catch this man up the\ntree.\" So off went one of them to find Chu-Tu-shi, while the other kept\nwatch at the foot of the tree. Soon after that another tiger, leaner and\nlonger than the other two, appeared on the scene and made a grab at the\nman's coat. But fortunately the moon was shining, the man saw the paw,\nand with a stroke of his axe cut off one of its claws. The tigers roared\nand fled, one after the other, so the man climbed down the tree and went\nhome. When he told his tale in the village, suspicion naturally fell on\nthe said Chu-Tu-shi; next day some men went to see him in his house.\nThey were told that they could not see him; for he had been out the\nnight before and had hurt his hand, and he was now ill in bed. So they\nput two and two together and reported him to the police. The police\narrived, surrounded the house, and set fire to it; but Chu-Tu-shi rose\nfrom his bed, turned into a tiger, charged right through the police, and\nescaped, and to this day nobody ever knew where he went to.[762]\n\n[Werewolves among the Toradjas of Central Celebes.]\n\nThe Toradjas of Central Celebes stand in very great fear of werewolves,\nthat is of men and women, who have the power of transforming their\nspirits into animals such as cats, crocodiles, wild pigs, apes, deer,\nand buffaloes, which roam about battening on human flesh, and especially\non human livers, while the men and women in their own proper human form\nare sleeping quietly in their beds at home. Among them a man is either\nborn a were-wolf or becomes one by infection; for mere contact with a\nwere-wolf, or even with anything that has been touched by his spittle,\nis quite enough to turn the most innocent person into a were-wolf; nay\neven to lean your head against anything against which a were-wolf has\nleaned his head suffices to do it. The penalty for being a were-wolf is\ndeath; but the sentence is never passed until the accused has had a fair\ntrial and his guilt has been clearly demonstrated by an ordeal, which\nconsists in dipping the middle finger into boiling resin. If the finger\nis not burnt, the man is no were-wolf; but if it is burnt, a werewolf he\nmost assuredly is, so they take him away to a quiet spot and hack him to\nbits. In cutting him up the executioners are naturally very careful not\nto be bespattered with his blood, for if that were to happen they would\nof course be turned into were-wolves themselves. Further, they place his\nsevered head beside his hinder-quarters to prevent his soul from coming\nto life again and pursuing his depredations. So great is the horror of\nwere-wolves among the Toradjas, and so great is their fear of\ncontracting the deadly taint by infection, that many persons have\nassured a missionary that they would not spare their own child if they\nknew him to be a were-wolf.[763] Now these people, whose faith in\nwere-wolves is not a mere dying or dead superstition but a living,\ndreadful conviction, tell stories of were-wolves which conform to the\ntype which we are examining. They say that once upon a time a were-wolf\ncame in human shape under the house of a neighbour, while his real body\nlay asleep as usual at home, and calling out softly to the man's wife\nmade an assignation with her to meet him in the tobacco-field next day.\nBut the husband was lying awake and he heard it all, but he said nothing\nto anybody. Next day chanced to be a busy one in the village, for a roof\nhad to be put on a new house and all the men were lending a hand with\nthe work, and among them to be sure was the were-wolf himself, I mean to\nsay his own human self; there he was up on the roof working away as hard\nas anybody. But the woman went out to the tobacco-field, and behind went\nunseen her husband, slinking through the underwood. When they were come\nto the field, he saw the were-wolf make up to his wife, so out he rushed\nand struck at him with a stick. Quick as thought, the were-wolf turned\nhimself into a leaf, but the man was as nimble, for he caught up the\nleaf, thrust it into the joint of bamboo, in which he kept his tobacco,\nand bunged it up tight. Then he walked back with his wife to the\nvillage, carrying the bamboo with the werewolf in it. When they came to\nthe village, the human body of the were-wolf was still on the roof,\nworking away with the rest. The man put the bamboo in a fire. At that\nthe human were-wolf looked down from the roof and said, \"Don't do that.\"\nThe man drew the bamboo from the fire, but a moment afterwards he put it\nin the fire again, and again the human were-wolf on the roof looked down\nand cried, \"Don't do that.\" But this time the man kept the bamboo in the\nfire, and when it blazed up, down fell the human were-wolf from the roof\nas dead as a stone.[764] Again, the following story went round among the\nToradjas not so very many years ago. The thing happened at Soemara, on\nthe Gulf of Tomori. It was evening and some men sat chatting with a\ncertain Hadji Mohammad. When it had grown dark, one of the men went out\nof the house for something or other. A little while afterwards one of\nthe company thought he saw a stag's antlers standing out sharp and clear\nagainst the bright evening sky. So Hadji Mohammad raised his gun and\nfired. A minute or two afterwards back comes the man who had gone out,\nand says he to Hadji Mohammad, \"You shot at me and hit me. You must pay\nme a fine.\" They searched him but found no wound on him anywhere. Then\nthey knew that he was a were-wolf who had turned himself into a stag and\nhad healed the bullet-wound by licking it. However, the bullet had found\nits billet, for two days afterwards he was a dead man.[765]\n\n[Were-wolves in the Egyptian Sudan.]\n\nIn Sennar, a province of the Egyptian Sudan, the Hammeg and Fungi enjoy\nthe reputation of being powerful magicians who can turn themselves into\nhyaenas and in that guise scour the country at night, howling and\ngorging themselves. But by day they are men again. It is very dangerous\nto shoot at such human hyaenas by night. On the Jebel Bela mountain a\nsoldier once shot at a hyaena and hit it, but it dragged itself off,\nbleeding, in the darkness and escaped. Next morning he followed up the\ntrail of blood and it led him straight to the hut of a man who was\neverywhere known for a wizard. Nothing of the hyaena was to be seen, but\nthe man himself was laid up in the house with a fresh wound and died\nsoon afterwards. And the soldier did not long survive him.[766]\n\n[The were-wolf story in Petronius.]\n\nBut the classical example of these stories is an old Roman tale told by\nPetronius. It is put in the mouth of one Niceros. Late at night he left\nthe town to visit a friend of his, a widow, who lived at a farm five\nmiles down the road. He was accompanied by a soldier, who lodged in the\nsame house, a man of Herculean build. When they set out it was near\ndawn, but the moon shone as bright as day. Passing through the outskirts\nof the town, they came amongst the tombs, which lined the highroad for\nsome distance. There the soldier made an excuse for retiring behind a\nmonument, and Niceros sat down to wait for him, humming a tune and\ncounting the tombstones to pass the time. In a little he looked round\nfor his companion, and saw a sight which froze him with horror. The\nsoldier had stripped off his clothes to the last rag and laid them at\nthe side of the highway. Then he performed a certain ceremony over them,\nand immediately was changed into a wolf, and ran howling into the\nforest. When Niceros had recovered himself a little, he went to pick up\nthe clothes, but found that they were turned to stone. More dead than\nalive, he drew his sword, and, striking at every shadow cast by the\ntombstones on the moonlit road, he tottered to his friend's house. He\nentered it like a ghost, to the surprise of the widow, who wondered to\nsee him abroad so late. \"If you had only been here a little ago,\" said\nshe, \"you might have been of some use. For a wolf came tearing into the\nyard, scaring the cattle and bleeding them like a butcher. But he did\nnot get off so easily, for the servant speared him in the neck.\" After\nhearing these words, Niceros felt that he could not close an eye, so he\nhurried away home again. It was now broad daylight, but when he came to\nthe place where the clothes had been turned to stone, he found only a\npool of blood. He reached home, and there lay the soldier in bed like an\nox in the shambles, and the doctor was bandaging his neck. \"Then I\nknew,\" said Niceros, \"that the man was a were-wolf, and never again\ncould I break bread with him, no, not if you had killed me for it.\"[767]\n\n[Witches like were-wolves can temporarily transform themselves into\nanimals.]\n\nThese stories may help us to understand the custom of burning a\nbewitched animal, which has been observed in our own country down to\nrecent times, if indeed it is even now extinct. For a close parallel may\nbe traced in some respects between witches and were-wolves. Like\nwere-wolves, witches are commonly supposed to be able to transform\nthemselves temporarily into animals for the purpose of playing their\nmischievous pranks;[768] and like were-wolves they can in their animal\ndisguise be compelled to unmask themselves to any one who succeeds in\ndrawing their blood. In either case the animal-skin is conceived as a\ncloak thrown round the wicked enchanter; and if you can only pierce the\nskin, whether by the stab of a knife or the shot of a gun, you so rend\nthe disguise that the man or woman inside of it stands revealed in his\nor her true colours. Strictly speaking, the stab should be given on the\nbrow or between the eyes in the case both of a witch and of a\nwere-wolf;[769] and it is vain to shoot at a were-wolf unless you have\nhad the bullet blessed in a chapel of St. Hubert or happen to be\ncarrying about you, without knowing it, a four-leaved clover; otherwise\nthe bullet will merely rebound from the were-wolf like water from a\nduck's back.[770] However, in Armenia they say that the were-wolf, who\nin that country is usually a woman, can be killed neither by shot nor by\nsteel; the only way of delivering the unhappy woman from her bondage is\nto get hold of her wolf's skin and burn it; for that naturally prevents\nher from turning into a wolf again. But it is not easy to find the skin,\nfor she is cunning enough to hide it by day.[771] So with witches, it is\nnot only useless but even dangerous to shoot at one of them when she has\nturned herself into a hare; if you do, the gun may burst in your hand or\nthe shot come back and kill you. The only way to make quite sure of\nhitting a witch-animal is to put a silver sixpence or a silver button in\nyour gun.[772] For example, it happened one evening that a native of the\nisland of Tiree was going home with a new gun, when he saw a black sheep\nrunning towards him across the plain of Reef. Something about the\ncreature excited his suspicion, so he put a silver sixpence in his gun\nand fired at it. Instantly the black sheep became a woman with a drugget\ncoat wrapt round her head. The man knew her quite well, for she was a\nwitch who had often persecuted him before in the shape of a cat.[773]\n\n[Wounds inflicted on an animal into which a witch has transformed\nherself are inflicted on the witch herself.]\n\nAgain, the wounds inflicted on a witch-hare or a witch-cat are to be\nseen on the witch herself, just as the wounds inflicted on a were-wolf\nare to be seen on the man himself when he has doffed the wolfs skin. To\ntake a few instances out of a multitude, a young man in the island of\nLismore was out shooting. When he was near Balnagown loch, he started a\nhare and fired at it. The animal gave an unearthly scream, and then for\nthe first time it occurred to him that there were no real hares in\nLismore. He threw away his gun in terror and fled home; and next day he\nheard that a notorious witch was laid up with a broken leg. A man need\nbe no conjuror to guess how she came by that broken leg.[774] Again, at\nThurso certain witches used to turn themselves into cats and in that\nshape to torment an honest man. One night he lost patience, whipped out\nhis broadsword, and put them to flight. As they were scurrying away he\nstruck at them and cut off a leg of one of the cats. To his astonishment\nit was a woman's leg, and next morning he found one of the witches short\nof the corresponding limb.[775] Glanvil tells a story of \"an old woman\nin Cambridge-shire, whose astral spirit, coming into a man's house (as\nhe was sitting alone at the fire) in the shape of an huge cat, and\nsetting her self before the fire, not far from him, he stole a stroke at\nthe back of it with a fire-fork, and seemed to break the back of it, but\nit scambled from him, and vanisht he knew not how. But such an old\nwoman, a reputed witch, was found dead in her bed that very night, with\nher back broken, as I have heard some years ago credibly reported.\"[776]\nIn Yorkshire during the latter half of the nineteenth century a parish\nclergyman was told a circumstantial story of an old witch named Nanny,\nwho was hunted in the form of a hare for several miles over the\nWesterdale moors and kept well away from the dogs, till a black one\njoined the pack and succeeded in taking a bit out of one of the hare's\nlegs. That was the end of the chase, and immediately afterwards the\nsportsmen found old Nanny laid up in bed with a sore leg. On examining\nthe wounded limb they discovered that the hurt was precisely in that\npart of it which in the hare had been bitten by the black dog and, what\nwas still more significant, the wound had all the appearance of having\nbeen inflicted by a dog's teeth. So they put two and two together.[777]\nThe same sort of thing is often reported in Lincolnshire. \"One night,\"\nsaid a servant from Kirton Lindsey, \"my father and brother saw a cat in\nfront of them. Father knew it was a witch, and took a stone and hammered\nit. Next day the witch had her face all tied up, and shortly afterwards\ndied.\" Again, a Bardney bumpkin told how a witch in his neighbourhood\ncould take all sorts of shapes. One night a man shot a hare, and when he\nwent to the witch's house he found her plastering a wound just where he\nhad shot the hare.[778] So in County Leitrim, in Ireland, they say that\na hare pursued by dogs fled to a house near at hand, but just as it was\nbolting in at the door one of the dogs came up with it and nipped a\npiece out of its leg. The hunters entered the house and found no hare\nthere but only an old woman, and her side was bleeding; so they knew\nwhat to think of her.[779]\n\n[Wounded witches in the Vosges.]\n\nAgain, in the Vosges Mountains a great big hare used to come out every\nevening to take the air at the foot of the Mont des Fourches. All the\nsportsmen of the neighbourhood tried their hands on that hare for a\nmonth, but not one of them could hit it. At last one marksman, more\nknowing than the rest, loaded his gun with some pellets of a consecrated\nwafer in addition to the usual pellets of lead. That did the trick. If\npuss was not killed outright, she was badly hurt, and limped away\nuttering shrieks and curses in a human voice. Later it transpired that\nshe was no other than the witch of a neighbouring village who had the\npower of putting on the shape of any animal she pleased.[780] Again, a\nhunter of Travexin, in the Vosges, fired at a hare and almost shot away\none of its hind legs. Nevertheless the creature contrived to escape into\na cottage through the open door. Immediately a child's cries were heard\nto proceed from the cottage, and the hunter could distinguish these\nwords, \"Daddy, daddy, come quick! Poor mammy has her leg broken.\"[781]\n\n[Wounded witches in Swabia.]\n\nIn Swabia the witches are liable to accidents of the same sort when they\ngo about their business in the form of animals. For example, there was a\nsoldier who was betrothed to a young woman and used to visit her every\nevening when he was off duty. But one evening the girl told him that he\nmust not come to the house on Friday nights, because it was never\nconvenient to her to see him then. This roused his suspicion, and the\nvery next Friday night he set out to go to his sweetheart's house. On\nthe way a white cat ran up to him in the street and dogged his steps,\nand when the animal would not make off he drew his sword and slashed off\none of its paws. On that the cat bolted. The soldier walked on, but when\nhe came to his sweetheart's house he found her in bed, and when he asked\nher what was the matter, she gave a very confused reply. Noticing stains\nof blood on the bed, he drew down the coverlet and saw that the girl was\nweltering in her gore, for one of her feet was lopped off. \"So that's\nwhat's the matter with you, you witch!\" said he, and turned on his heel\nand left her, and within three days she was dead.[782] Again, a farmer\nin the neighbourhood of Wiesensteig frequently found in his stable a\nhorse over and above the four horses he actually owned. He did not know\nwhat to make of it and mentioned the matter to the smith. The smith said\nquietly, \"The next time you see a fifth horse in the stable, just you\nsend for me.\" Well, it was not long before the strange horse was there\nagain, and the farmer at once sent for the smith. He came bringing four\nhorse-shoes with him, and said, \"I'm sure the nag has no shoes; I'll\nshoe her for you.\" No sooner said than done. However, the smith\noverreached himself; for next day when his friend the farmer paid him a\nvisit he found the smith's own wife prancing about with horse-shoes\nnailed on her hands and feet. But it was the last time she ever appeared\nin the shape of a horse.[783]\n\n[The miller's wife and the two grey cats.]\n\nOnce more, in Silesia they tell of a miller's apprentice, a sturdy and\nindustrious young fellow, who set out on his travels. One day he came to\na mill, and the miller told him that he wanted an apprentice but did not\ncare to engage one, because hitherto all his apprentices had run away in\nthe night, and when he came down in the morning the mill was at a stand.\nHowever, he liked the looks of the young chap and took him into his pay.\nBut what the new apprentice heard about the mill and his predecessors\nwas not encouraging; so the first night when it was his duty to watch in\nthe mill he took care to provide himself with an axe and a prayer-book,\nand while he kept one eye on the whirring, humming wheels he kept the\nother on the good book, which he read by the flickering light of a\ncandle set on a table. So the hours at first passed quietly with nothing\nto disturb him but the monotonous drone and click of the machinery. But\non the stroke of twelve, as he was still reading with the axe lying on\nthe table within reach, the door opened and in came two grey cats\nmewing, an old one and a young one. They sat down opposite him, but it\nwas easy to see that they did not like his wakefulness and the\nprayer-book and the axe. Suddenly the old cat reached out a paw and made\na grab at the axe, but the young chap was too quick for her and held it\nfast. Then the young cat tried to do the same for the prayer-book, but\nthe apprentice gripped it tight. Thus balked, the two cats set up such a\nsqualling that the young fellow could hardly say his prayers. Just\nbefore one o'clock the younger cat sprang on the table and fetched a\nblow with her right paw at the candle to put it out. But the apprentice\nstruck at her with his axe and sliced the paw off, whereupon the two\ncats vanished with a frightful screech. The apprentice wrapped the paw\nup in paper to shew it to his master. Very glad the miller was next\nmorning when he came down and found the mill going and the young chap at\nhis post. The apprentice told him what had happened in the night and\ngave him the parcel containing the cat's paw. But when the miller opened\nit, what was the astonishment of the two to find in it no cat's paw but\na woman's hand! At breakfast the miller's young wife did not as usual\ntake her place at the table. She was ill in bed, and the doctor had to\nbe called in to bind up her right arm, because in hewing wood, so they\nsaid, she had made a slip and cut off her own right hand. But the\napprentice packed up his traps and turned his back on that mill before\nthe sun had set.[784]\n\n[The analogy of were-wolves confirms the view that the reason for\nburning bewitched animals is either to burn the witch or to compel her\nto appear.]\n\nIt would no doubt be easy to multiply instances, all equally well\nattested and authentic, of the transformation of witches into animals\nand of the damage which the women themselves have sustained through\ninjuries inflicted on the animals.[785] But the foregoing evidence may\nsuffice to establish the complete parallelism between witches and\nwere-wolves in these respects. The analogy appears to confirm the view\nthat the reason for burning a bewitched animal alive is a belief that\nthe witch herself is in the animal, and that by burning it you either\ndestroy the witch completely or at least unmask her and compel her to\nreassume her proper human shape, in which she is naturally far less\npotent for mischief than when she is careering about the country in the\nlikeness of a cat, a hare, a horse, or what not. This principle is still\nindeed clearly recognized by people in Oldenburg, though, as might be\nexpected, they do not now carry out the principle to its logical\nconclusion by burning the bewitched animal or person alive; instead they\nresort to a feeble and, it must be added, perfectly futile subterfuge\ndictated by a mistaken humanity or a fear of the police. \"When anything\nliving is bewitched in a house, for example, children or animals, they\nburn or boil the nobler inwards of animals, especially the hearts, but\nalso the lungs or the liver. If animals have died, they take the inwards\nof one of them or of an animal of the same kind slaughtered for the\npurpose; but if that is not possible they take the inwards of a cock, by\npreference a black one. The heart, lung, or liver is stuck all over with\nneedles, or marked with a cross cut, or placed on the fire in a tightly\nclosed vessel, strict silence being observed and doors and windows well\nshut. When the heart boils or is reduced to ashes, the witch must\nappear, for during the boiling she feels the burning pain. She either\nbegs to be released or seeks to borrow something, for example, salt or a\ncoal of fire, or she takes the lid off the pot, or tries to induce the\nperson whose spell is on her to speak. They say, too, that a woman comes\nwith a spinning-wheel. If it is a sheep that has died, you proceed in\nthe same way with a tripe from its stomach and prick it with needles\nwhile it is on the boil. Instead of boiling it, some people nail the\nheart to the highest rafter of the house, or lay it on the edge of the\nhearth, in order that it may dry up, no doubt because the same thing\nhappens to the witch. We may conjecture that other sympathetic means of\ndestruction are employed against witchcraft. The following is expressly\nreported: the heart of a calf that has died is stuck all over with\nneedles, enclosed in a bag, and thrown into flowing water before\nsunset.\"[786]\n\n[There is the same reason for burning bewitched things; similarly by\nburning alive a person whose form a witch has assumed, you compel the\nwitch to disclose herself.]\n\nAnd the same thing holds good also of inanimate objects on which a witch\nhas cast her spell. In Wales they say that \"if a thing is bewitched,\nburn it, and immediately afterwards the witch will come to borrow\nsomething of you. If you give what she asks, she will go free; if you\nrefuse it, she will burn, and a mark will be on her body the next\nday.\"[787] So, too, in Oldenburg, \"the burning of things that are\nbewitched or that have been received from witches is another way of\nbreaking the spell. It is often said that the burning should take place\nat a cross-road, and in several places cross-roads are shewn where the\nburning used to be performed.... As a rule, while the things are\nburning, the guilty witches appear, though not always in their own\nshape. At the burning of bewitched butter they often appear as\ncockchafers and can be killed with impunity. Victuals received from\nwitches may be safely consumed if only you first burn a portion of\nthem.\"[788] For example, a young man in Oldenburg was wooing a girl, and\nshe gave him two fine apples as a gift. Not feeling any appetite at the\ntime, he put the apples in his pocket, and when he came home he laid\nthem by in a chest. Two or three days afterwards he remembered the\napples and went to the chest to fetch them. But when he would have put\nhis hand on them, what was his horror to find in their stead two fat\nugly toads in the chest. He hastened to a wise man and asked him what he\nshould do with the toads. The man told him to boil the toads alive, but\nwhile he was doing so he must be sure on no account to lend anything out\nof the house. Well, just as he had the toads in a pot on the fire and\nthe water began to grow nicely warm, who should come to the door but the\ngirl who had given him the apples, and she wished to borrow something;\nbut he refused to give her anything, rated her as a witch, and drove her\nout of the house. A little afterwards in came the girl's mother and\nbegged with tears in her eyes for something or other; but he turned her\nout also. The last word she said to him was that he should at least\nspare her daughter's life; but he paid no heed to her and let the toads\nboil till they fell to bits. Next day word came that the girl was\ndead.[789] Can any reasonable man doubt that the witch herself was\nboiled alive in the person of the toads?\n\n[The burning alive of a supposed witch in Ireland in 1895.]\n\nMoreover, just as a witch can assume the form of an animal, so she can\nassume the form of some other human being, and the likeness is sometimes\nso good that it is difficult to detect the fraud. However, by burning\nalive the person whose shape the witch has put on, you force the witch\nto disclose herself, just as by burning alive the bewitched animal you\nin like manner oblige the witch to appear. This principle may perhaps be\nunknown to science, falsely so called, but it is well understood in\nIreland and has been acted on within recent years. In March 1895 a\npeasant named Michael Cleary, residing at Ballyvadlea, a remote and\nlonely district in the county of Tipperary, burned his wife Bridget\nCleary alive over a slow fire on the kitchen hearth in the presence of\nand with the active assistance of some neighbours, including the woman's\nown father and several of her cousins. They thought that she was not\nBridget Cleary at all, but a witch, and that when they held her down on\nthe fire she would vanish up the chimney; so they cried, while she was\nburning, \"Away she goes! Away she goes!\" Even when she lay quite dead on\nthe kitchen floor (for contrary to the general expectation she did not\ndisappear up the chimney), her husband still believed that the woman\nlying there was a witch, and that his own dear wife had gone with the\nfairies to the old _rath_ or fort on the hill of Kylenagranagh, where he\nwould see her at night riding a grey horse and roped to the saddle, and\nthat he would cut the ropes, and that she would stay with him ever\nafterwards. So he went with some friends to the fort night after night,\ntaking a big table-knife with him to cut the ropes. But he never saw his\nwife again. He and the men who had held the woman on the fire were\narrested and tried at Clonmel for wilful murder in July 1895; they were\nall found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to various terms of penal\nservitude and imprisonment; the sentence passed on Michael Cleary was\ntwenty years' penal servitude.[790]\n\n[Sometimes bewitched animals are buried alive instead of being burned.]\n\nHowever, our British peasants, it must be confessed, have not always\nacted up to the strict logical theory which seems to call for death by\nfire as the proper treatment both of bewitched animals and of witches.\nSometimes, perhaps in moments of weakness, they have merely buried the\nbewitched animals alive instead of burning them. For example, in the\nyear 1643, \"many cattle having died, John Brughe and Neane Nikclerith,\nalso one of the initiated, conjoined their mutual skill for the safety\nof the herd. The surviving animals were drove past a tub of water\ncontaining two enchanted stones: and each was sprinkled from the liquid\ncontents in its course. One, however, being unable to walk, 'was by\nforce drawin out at the byre dure; and the said Johnne with Nikclerith\nsmelling the nois thereof said it wald not leive, caused are hoill to be\nmaid in Maw Greane, quhilk was put quick in the hole and maid all the\nrest of the cattell theireftir to go over that place: and in that\ndevillische maner, be charmeing,' they were cured.\"[791] Again, during\nthe prevalence of a murrain about the year 1629, certain persons\nproposed to stay the plague with the help of a celebrated \"cureing\nstane\" of which the laird of Lee was the fortunate owner. But from this\nthey were dissuaded by one who \"had sene bestiall curet be taking are\nquik seik ox, and making are deip pitt, and bureing him therin, and be\ncalling the oxin and bestiall over that place.\" Indeed Issobell Young,\nthe mother of these persons, had herself endeavoured to check the\nprogress of the distemper by taking \"ane quik ox with ane catt, and ane\ngrit quantitie of salt,\" and proceeding \"to burie the ox and catt quik\nwith the salt, in ane deip hoill in the grund, as ane sacrifice to the\ndevill, that the rest of the guidis might be fred of the seiknes or\ndiseases.\"[792] Writing towards the end of the eighteenth century, John\nRamsay of Ochtertyre tells us that \"the violent death even of a brute is\nin some cases held to be of great avail. There is a disease called the\n_black spauld_, which sometimes rages like a pestilence among black\ncattle, the symptoms of which are a mortification in the legs and a\ncorruption of the mass of blood. Among the other engines of superstition\nthat are directed against this fatal malady, the first cow seized with\nit is commonly buried alive, and the other cattle are forced to pass\nbackwards and forwards over the pit. At other times the heart is taken\nout of the beast alive, and then the carcass is buried. It is remarkable\nthat the leg affected is cut off, and hung up in some part of the house\nor byre, where it remains suspended, notwithstanding the seeming danger\nof infection. There is hardly a house in Mull where these may not be\nseen. This practice seems to have taken its rise antecedent to\nChristianity, as it reminds us of the pagan custom of hanging up\nofferings in their temples. In Breadalbane, when a cow is observed to\nhave symptoms of madness, there is recourse had to a peculiar process.\nThey tie the legs of the mad creature, and throw her into a pit dug at\nthe door of the fold. After covering the hole with earth, a large fire\nis kindled upon it; and the rest of the cattle are driven out, and\nforced to pass through the fire one by one.\"[793] In this latter custom\nwe may suspect that the fire kindled on the grave of the buried cow was\noriginally made by the friction of wood, in other words, that it was a\nneed-fire. Again, writing in the year 1862, Sir Arthur Mitchell tells us\nthat \"for the cure of the murrain in cattle, one of the herd is still\nsacrificed for the good of the whole. This is done by burying it alive.\nI am assured that within the last ten years such a barbarism occurred in\nthe county of Moray.\"[794]\n\n[Calves killed and buried to save the rest of the herd.]\n\nSometimes, however, the animal has not even been buried alive, it has\nbeen merely killed and then buried. In this emasculated form the\nsacrifice, we may say with confidence, is absolutely useless for the\npurpose of stopping a murrain. Nevertheless, it has been tried. Thus in\nLincolnshire, when the cattle plague was so prevalent in 1866, there\nwas, I believe, not a single cowshed in Marshland but had its wicken\ncross over the door; and other charms more powerful than this were in\nsome cases resorted to. I never heard of the use of the needfire in the\nMarsh, though it was, I believe, used on the wolds not many miles off.\nBut I knew of at least one case in which a calf was killed and solemnly\nburied feet pointing upwards at the threshold of the cowshed. When our\ngarthman told me of this, I pointed out to him that the charm had\nfailed, for the disease had not spared that shed. But he promptly\nreplied, \"Yis, but owd Edwards were a soight too cliver; he were that\nmean he slew nobbutt a wankling cauf as were bound to deny anny road; if\nhe had nobbutt tekken his best cauf it wud hev worked reight enuff;\n'tain't in reason that owd skrat 'ud be hanselled wi' wankling\ndraffle.\"[795]\n\nNotes:\n\n[262] See Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_*[4] (Berlin, 1875-1878), i.\n502, 510, 516.\n\n[263] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer\nNachbarst\u00e4mme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 _sq._\n\n[264] In the following survey of these fire-customs I follow chiefly W.\nMannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, kap. vi. pp. 497 _sqq._ Compare also J.\nGrimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 500 _sqq._; Walter E. Kelly,\n_Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London, 1863),\npp. 46 _sqq._; F. Vogt, \"Scheibentreiben und Fr\u00fchlingsfeuer,\"\n_Zeitschrift des Vereins f\u00fcr Volkskunde_, iii. (1893) pp. 349-369;\n_ibid._ iv. (1894) pp. 195-197.\n\n[265] _The Scapegoat_, pp. 316 _sqq._\n\n[266] The first Sunday in Lent is known as _Invocavit_ from the first\nword of the mass for the day (O. Frh. von Reinsberg-D\u00fcringsfeld,\n_Fest-Kalender aus B\u00f6hmen_, p. 67).\n\n[267] Le Baron de Reinsberg-D\u00fcringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels,\n1861-1862), i. 141-143; E. Monseur, _Le Folklore Wallon_ (Brussels,\nN.D.), pp. 124 _sq._\n\n[268] \u00c9mile Hublard, _F\u00eates du Temps Jadis, les Feux du Car\u00eame_ (Mons,\n1899), pp. 25. For the loan of this work I am indebted to Mrs. Wherry of\nSt. Peter's Terrace, Cambridge.\n\n[269] \u00c9. Hublard, _op. cit._ pp. 27 _sq._\n\n[270] A. Meyrac, _Traditions, coutumes, l\u00e9gendes et contes des Ardennes_\n(Charleville, 1890), p. 68.\n\n[271] L.F. Sauv\u00e9, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p. 56.\nThe popular name for the bonfires in the Upper Vosges (_Hautes-Vosges_)\nis _chavandes_.\n\n[272] E. Cortet, _Essai sur les f\u00eates religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp.\n101 _sq._ The local name for these bonfires is _bures_.\n\n[273] Charles Beauquier, _Les mois en Franche-Comt\u00e9_ (Paris, 1900), pp.\n33 _sq._ In Bresse the custom was similar. See _La Bresse Louhannaise,\nBulletin Mensuel, Organe de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d'Agriculture et d'Horticulture\nde l'Arrondissement de Louhans_, Mars, 1906, pp. 111 _sq._; E. Cortet,\n_op. cit._ p. 100. The usual name for the bonfires is _chevannes_ or\n_schvannes_; but in some places they are called _foul\u00e8res, foual\u00e8res,\nfailles_, or _bourdifailles_ (Ch. Beauquier, _op. cit._ p. 34). But the\nSunday is called the Sunday of the _brandons, bures, bordes_, or\n_boid\u00e8s_, according to the place. The _brandons_ are the torches which\nare carried about the streets and the fields; the bonfires, as we have\nseen, bear another name. A curious custom, observed on the same Sunday\nin Franche-Comt\u00e9, requires that couples married within the year should\ndistribute boiled peas to all the young folks of both sexes who demand\nthem at the door. The lads and lasses go about from house to house,\nmaking the customary request; in some places they wear masks or are\notherwise disguised. See Ch. Beauquier, _op. cit._ pp. 31-33.\n\n[274] Curiously enough, while the singular is _granno-mio_, the plural\nis _grannas-mias_.\n\n[275] Dr. Pommerol, \"La f\u00eate des Brandons et le dieu Gaulois Grannus,\"\n_Bulletins et M\u00e9moires de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d'Anthropologie de Paris_, v.\nS\u00e9rie, ii. (1901) pp. 427-429.\n\n[276] _Op. cit._ pp. 428 _sq._\n\n[277] H. Dessau, _Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae_, vol. ii. Pars i.\n(Berlin, 1902) pp. 216 _sq._, Nos. 4646-4652.\n\n[278] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London, 1888), pp. 22-25.\n\n[279] \u00c9mile Hublard, _F\u00eates du Temps Jadis, les Feux du Car\u00eame_ (Mons,\n1899), p. 38, quoting Dom Grenier, _Histoire de la Province de\nPicardie_.\n\n[280] \u00c9. Hublard, _op. cit._ p. 39, quoting Dom Grenier.\n\n[281] M. Desgranges, \"Usages du Canton de Bonneval,\" _M\u00e9moires de la\nSoci\u00e9t\u00e9 Royale des Antiquaires de France_, i. (Paris, 1817) pp. 236-238;\nFelix Chapiseau, _Le folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902),\ni. 315 _sq._\n\n[282] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 100.\n\n[283] E. Cortet, _Essai sur les f\u00eates religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 99\n_sq.; La Bresse Louhannaise_, Mars, 1906, p. 111.\n\n[284] A. de Nore, _Coutumes, mythes et traditions des provinces de\nFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 283 _sq._ A similar, though not\nidentical, custom prevailed at Valenciennes (_ibid._ p. 338).\n\n[285] A. de Nore, _op. cit._ p. 302.\n\n[286] D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Monnier, _Traditions populaires compar\u00e9es_ (Paris, 1854),\npp. 191 _sq._\n\n[287] Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et l\u00e9gendes du centre de la\nFrance_ (Paris, 1875). i. 35 _sqq._\n\n[288] Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Rocage Normand_ (Cond\u00e9-sur-Noireau,\n1887), ii. 131 _sq._ For more evidence of customs of this sort observed\nin various parts of France on the first Sunday in Lent, see Madame\nCl\u00e9ment, _Histoire des F\u00eates civiles et religieuses_, etc., _du\nD\u00e9partement du Nord_*[2] (Cambrai, 1836), pp. 351 _sqq._; \u00c9mile Hublard,\n_F\u00eates du Temps Jadis, les Feux du Car\u00eame_ (Mons, 1899), pp. 33 _sqq._\n\n[289] J.H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Spr\u00fcchw\u00f6rter und R\u00e4thsel\ndes Eifler Volkes_ (Tr\u00e8ves, 1856-1858), i. 21-25; N. Hocker, in\n_Zeitschrift f\u00fcr deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) p. 90;\nW. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarst\u00e4mme_\n(Berlin, 1875), p. 501.\n\n[290] N. Hocker, _op. cit._ pp. 89 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _l.c._\n\n[291] F.J. Vonbun, _Beitr\u00e4ge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Chur, 1862), p.\n20; W. Mannhardt, _l.c._\n\n[292] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Schwaben_\n(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 380 _sqq._; Anton Birlinger, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus\nSchwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 56 _sqq._, 66 _sqq._;\n_Bavaria, Landes-und Volkskunde des K\u00f6nigreichs Bayern_ (Munich,\n1860-1867), ii. 2, pp. 838 _sq._; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen\nMythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. 211, \u00a7 232; W. Mannhardt, _l.c._ One\nof the popular German names for the first Sunday in Lent is White\nSunday, which is not to be confused with the first Sunday after Easter,\nwhich also goes by the name of White Sunday (E. Meier, _op. cit._ p.\n380; A. Birlinger, _op. cit._ ii. 56).\n\n[293] H. Gaidoz, \"Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la\nroue,\" _Revue Arch\u00e9ologique_, iii. s\u00e9rie, iv. (1884) pp. 139 _sq._\n\n[294] August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Th\u00fcringen_\n(Vienna, 1878), p. 189; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_\n(Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 207; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus,_ pp. 500\n_sq._\n\n[295] W. Kolbe, _Hessiche Volks-Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche_*[2] (Marburg,\n1888), p. 36.\n\n[296] Adalbert Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des\nG\u00f6ttertranks_*[2] (G\u00fctersloh, 1886), p. 86, quoting Hocker, _Des\nMosellandes Geschichten, Sagen und Legenden_ (Trier, 1852), pp. 415\n_sqq._ Compare W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 501; and below, pp.\n163 _sq._ Thus it appears that the ceremony of rolling the fiery wheel\ndown hill was observed twice a year at Konz, once on the first Sunday in\nLent, and once at Midsummer.\n\n[297] H. Herzog, _Schweizerische Volksfeste, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche_\n(Aarau, 1884), pp. 214-216; E. Hoffmann-Krayer, \"Fruchtbarkeitsriten im\nschweizerischen Volksbrauch,\" _Schweizerisches Archiv f\u00fcr Volkskunde_,\nxi. (1907) pp. 247-249; _id., Feste und Br\u00e4uche des Schweizervolkes_\n(Zurich, 1913), pp. 135 _sq._\n\n[298] Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen und Br\u00e4uche des Volkes in Oesterreich_\n(Vienna, 1859), pp. 293 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 498.\nSee _The Dying God_, p. 239.\n\n[299] J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Spr\u00fcchw\u00f6rter und R\u00e4thsel\ndes Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 20; W. Mannhardt, _Der\nBaumkultus_, p. 499.\n\n[300] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum\nOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), ii. 39, \u00a7 306; W. Mannhardt, _Der\nBaumkultus_, p. 498.\n\n[301] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 499.\n\n[302] W. Mannhardt, _op. cit._ pp. 498 _sq._\n\n[303] W. Mannhardt, _op. cit._ p. 499.\n\n[304] Christian Schneller, _M\u00e4rchen und Sagen aus W\u00e4lschtirol_\n(Innsbruck, 1867), pp. 234 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _op. cit._ pp. 499 _sq._\n\n[305] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 157 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, pp. 502-505;\nKarl Freiherr von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_ (Munich, 1855), pp.\n172 _sq._; Anton Birlinger, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im\nBreisgau, 1861-1862), i. 472 _sq._; Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste,\nVolksbr\u00e4uche und deutscher Volksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 26; F.\nPanzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 241\n_sq._; Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Schwaben_\n(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 139 _sq._; _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des\nK\u00f6nigreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), i. 371; A. Wuttke, _Der\ndeutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), pp. 68 _sq._, \u00a7 81; Ignaz\nV. Zingerle, _Sitten, Br\u00e4uche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_*[2]\n(Innsbruck, 1871), p. 149, \u00a7\u00a7 1286-1289; W. Kolbe, _Hessische\nVolks-Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche_*[2] (Marburg, 1888), pp. 44 _sqq._; _County\nFolk-lore, Printed Extracts, Leicestershire and Rutland_, collected by\nC.J. Billson (London, 1895), pp. 75 _sq._; A. Tiraboschi, \"Usi pasquali\nnel Bergamasco,\" _Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizione Popolari_, i.\n(1892) pp. 442 _sq._ The ecclesiastical custom of lighting the Paschal\nor Easter candle is very fully described by Mr. H.J. Feasey, _Ancient\nEnglish Holy Week Ceremonial_ (London, 1897), pp. 179 _sqq._ These\ncandles were sometimes of prodigious size; in the cathedrals of Norwich\nand Durham, for example, they reached almost to the roof, from which\nthey had to be lighted. Often they went by the name of the Judas Light\nor the Judas Candle; and sometimes small waxen figures of Judas were\nhung on them. See H.J. Feasey, _op. cit._ pp. 193, 213 _sqq._ As to the\nritual of the new fire at St. Peter's in Rome, see R. Chambers, _The\nBook of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. 421; and as to the early\nhistory of the rite in the Catholic church, see Mgr. L. Duchesne,\n_Origines du Culte Chr\u00e9tien_*[3] (Paris, 1903), pp. 250-257.]\n\n[306] _Bavaria, Landes und Volkskunde des K\u00f6nigreichs Bayern_ (Munich,\n1860-1867), i. 1002 _sq._\n\n[307] Gennaro Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo,\n1890), pp. 122 _sq._\n\n[308] G. Finamore, _op. cit._ pp. 123 _sq._\n\n[309] Vincenzo Dorsa, _La Tradizione Greco-Latina negli Usi e nelle\nCredenze Popolari della Calabria Citeriore_ (Cosenza, 1884), pp. 48\n_sq._\n\n[310] Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen\nWestb\u00f6hmen_ (Prague, 1905), pp. 62 _sq._\n\n[311] K. Seifart, _Sagen, M\u00e4rchen, Schw\u00e4nke und Gebr\u00e4uche aits Stadt und\nStift Hildesheim_*[2] (Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177 _sq._, 179 _sq._\n\n[312] M. Lexer, \"Volks\u00fcberlieferungen aus dem Lesachthal in Karnten,\"\n_Zeitschrift f\u00fcr deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, iii. (1855) p.\n31.\n\n[313] _The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin\nverse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe_, 1570, edited\nby R.C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 52, _recto._ The title of the original\npoem was _Regnum Papisticum_. The author, Thomas Kirchmeyer (Naogeorgus,\nas he called himself), died in 1577. The book is a satire on the abuses\nand superstitions of the Catholic Church. Only one perfect copy of\nGooge's translation is known to exist: it is in the University Library\nat Cambridge. See Mr. R.C. Hope's introduction to his reprint of this\nrare work, pp. xv. _sq._ The words, \"Then Clappers ceasse, and belles\nare set againe at libert\u00e9e,\" refer to the custom in Catholic countries\nof silencing the church bells for two days from noon on Maundy Thursday\nto noon on Easter Saturday and substituting for their music the harsh\nclatter of wooden rattles. See R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London\nand Edinburgh, 1886), i, 412 _sq._ According to another account the\nchurch bells are silent from midnight on the Wednesday preceding Maundy\nThursday till matins on Easter Day. See W. Smith and S. Cheetham,\n_Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_ (London, 1875-1880), ii. 1161,\nreferring to _Ordo Roman_. i. _u.s._\n\n[314] R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i.\n421.\n\n[315] Miss Jessie L. Weston, \"The _Scoppio del Carro_ at Florence,\"\n_Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 182-184; \"Lo Scoppio del Carro,\"\n_Resurrezione, Numero Unico del Sabato Santo_ (Florence, April, 1906),\np. 1 (giving a picture of the car with its pyramid of fire-works). The\nlatter paper was kindly sent to me from Florence by my friend Professor\nW.J. Lewis. I have also received a letter on the subject from Signor\nCarlo Placci, dated 4 (or 7) September, 1905, 1 Via Alfieri, Firenze.\n\n[316] Frederick Starr, \"Holy Week in Mexico,\" _The Journal of American\nFolk-lore_, xii. (1899) pp. 164 _sq._; C. Boyson Taylor, \"Easter in Many\nLands,\" _Everybody's Magazine_, New York, 1903, p. 293. I have to thank\nMr. S.S. Cohen, of 1525 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, for sending me a\ncutting from the latter magazine.\n\n[317] K. von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturv\u00f6lkern Zentral-Brasiliens_\n(Berlin, 1894), pp. 458 _sq._; E. Montet, \"Religion et Superstition dans\nl'Am\u00e9rique du Sud,\" _Revue de l'Histoire des Religions_, xxxii. (1895)\np. 145.\n\n[318] J.J. von Tschudi, _Peru, Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1838-1842_\n(St. Gallen, 1846), ii. 189 _sq._\n\n[319] H. Candelier, _Rio-Hacha et les Indiens Goajires_ (Paris, 1893),\np. 85.\n\n[320] Henry Maundrell, \"A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter,\nA.D. 1697,\" in Bohn's _Early Travellers in Palestine_ (London, 1848),\npp. 462-465; Mgr. Auvergne, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, x.\n(1837) pp. 23 _sq._; A.P. Stanley, _Sinai and Palestine_, Second Edition\n(London, 1856), pp. 460-465; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les F\u00eates\nReligieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 137-139; A.W. Kinglake, _Eothen_,\nchapter xvi. pp. 158-163 (Temple Classics edition); Father N. Abougit,\nS.J., \"Le feu du Saint-S\u00e9pulcre,\" _Les Missions Catholiques_, viii.\n(1876) pp. 518 _sq._; Rev. C.T. Wilson, _Peasant Life in the Holy Land_\n(London, 1906), pp. 45 _sq._; P. Saint-yves, \"Le Renouvellement du Feu\nSacr\u00e9,\" _Revue des Traditions Populaires_, xxvii. (1912) pp. 449 _sqq._\nThe distribution of the new fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is\nthe subject of a picture by Holman Hunt. From some printed notes on the\npicture, with which Mrs. Holman Hunt was so kind as to furnish me, it\nappears that the new fire is carried by horsemen to Bethlehem and Jaffa,\nand that a Russian ship conveys it from Jaffa to Odessa, whence it is\ndistributed all over the country.\n\n[321] Father X. Abougit, S.J., \"Le feu du Saint-S\u00e9pulcre,\" _Les Missions\nCatholiques_, viii. (1876) pp. 165-168.\n\n[322] I have described the ceremony as I witnessed it at Athens, on\nApril 13th, 1890. Compare _Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 275. Having been\nhonoured, like other strangers, with a place on the platform, I did not\nmyself detect Lucifer at work among the multitude below; I merely\nsuspected his insidious presence.\n\n[323] W.H.D. Rouse, \"Folk-lore from the Southern Sporades,\" _Folk-lore_,\nx. (1899) p. 178.\n\n[324] Mrs. A.E. Gardner was so kind as to send me a photograph of a\nTheban Judas dangling from a gallows and partially enveloped in smoke.\nThe photograph was taken at Thebes during the Easter celebration of\n1891.\n\n[325] G.F. Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_ (Cambridge, 1903) p. 37.\n\n[326] Cirbied, \"M\u00e9moire sur la gouvernment et sur la religion des\nanciens Arm\u00e9niens,\" _M\u00e9moires publi\u00e9es par la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Royale des\nAntiquaires de France_, ii. (1820) pp. 285-287; Manuk Abeghian, _Der\narmenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), pp. 72-74. The ceremony is said\nto be merely a continuation of an old heathen festival which was held at\nthe beginning of spring in honour of the fire-god Mihr. A bonfire was\nmade in a public place, and lamps kindled at it were kept burning\nthroughout the year in each of the fire-god's temples.\n\n[327] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 32, ii. 243;\n_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 65, 74, 75, 78, 136.\n\n[328] Garcilasso de la Vega, _Royal Commentaries of the Yncas_\ntranslated by (Sir) Clements R. Markham (Hakluyt Society, London,\n1869-1871), vol. ii. pp. 155-163. Compare Juan de Velasco, \"Histoire du\nRoyaume de Quito,\" in H. Ternaux-Compans's _Voyages, Relations et\nM\u00e9moires originaux pour servir \u00e0 l'Histoire de la D\u00e9couverte de\nl'Am\u00e9rique_, xviii. (Paris, 1840) p. 140.\n\n[329] B. de Sahagun, _Histoire G\u00e9n\u00e9rale des Choses de la Nouvelle\nEspagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon (Paris, 1880), bk. ii.\nchapters 18 and 37, pp. 76, 161; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des\nNations civilis\u00e9es du Mexique et de l'Am\u00e9rique-Centrale_ (Paris,\n1857-1859), iii. 136.\n\n[330] Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, \"The Zu\u00f1i Indians,\" _Twenty-third\nAnnual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1904),\npp. 108-141, 148-162, especially pp. 108, 109, 114 _sq._, 120 _sq._, 130\n_sq._, 132, 148 _sq._, 157 _sq._ I have already described these\nceremonies in _Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 237 _sq._ Among the Hopi\n(Moqui) Indians of Walpi, another pueblo village of this region, new\nfire is ceremonially kindled by friction in November. See Jesse Walter\nFewkes, \"The Tusayan New Fire Ceremony,\" _Proceedings of the Boston\nSociety of Natural History_, xxvi. 422-458; _id._, \"The Group of Tusayan\nCeremonials called _Katcinas,\" Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of\nEthnology_ (Washington, 1897), p. 263; _id._, \"Hopi _Katcinas,\"\nTwenty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_\n(Washington, 1903), p. 24.\n\n[331] Henry R. Schoolcraft, _Notes on the Iroquois_ (Albany, 1847), p.\n137. Schoolcraft did not know the date of the ceremony, but he\nconjectured that it fell at the end of the Iroquois year, which was a\nlunar year of twelve or thirteen months. He says: \"That the close of the\nlunar series should have been the period of putting out the fire, and\nthe beginning of the next, the time of relumination, from new fire, is\nso consonant to analogy in the tropical tribes, as to be probable\" (_op.\ncit._ p. 138).\n\n[332] C.F. Hall, _Life with the Esquimaux_ (London, 1864), ii. 323.\n\n[333] Franz Boas, \"The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay,\" _Bulletin\nof the American Museum of Natural, History_, xv. Part i. (New York,\n1901) p. 151.\n\n[334] G. Nachtigal, _Sahar\u00e2 und S\u00fbd\u00e2n_, iii. (Leipsic, 1889) p. 251.\n\n[335] Major C. Percival, \"Tropical Africa, on the Border Line of\nMohamedan Civilization,\" _The Geographical Journal_, xlii. (1913) pp.\n253 _sq._\n\n[336] Adrien Germain, \"Note sur Zanzibar et la c\u00f4te orientale de\nl'Afrique,\" _Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie_ (Paris), v. S\u00e9rie\nxvi. (1868) p. 557; _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 270;\nCharles New, _Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa_ (London,\n1873), p. 65; Jerome Becker, _La Vie en Afrique_ (Paris and Brussels,\n1887), ii. 36; O. Baumann, _Usambara und seine Nachbargebiele_ (Berlin,\n1891), pp. 55 _sq._; C. Velten, _Sitten und Gebr\u00e4ucheaer Suaheli_\n(G\u00f6ttingen,1903), pp. 342-344.\n\n[337] Duarte Barbosa, _Description of the Coasts of East Africa and\nMalabar_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), p. 8; _id._, in _Records of\nSouth-Eastern Africa_, collected by G. McCall Theal, vol. i. (1898) p.\n96; Dami\u00e3o de Goes, \"Chronicle of the Most Fortunate King Dom Emanuel,\"\nin _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, collected by G. McCall Theal, vol.\niii. (1899) pp. 130 _sq._ The name Benametapa (more correctly\n_monomotapa_) appears to have been the regular title of the paramount\nchief, which the Portuguese took to be the name of the country. The\npeople over whom he ruled seem to have been the Bantu tribe of the\nMakalanga in the neighbourhood of Sofala. See G. McCall Theal, _Records\nof South-Eastern Africa_, vii. (1901) pp. 481-484. It is to their custom\nof annually extinguishing and relighting the fire that Montaigne refers\nin his essay (i. 22, vol. i. p. 140 of Charpentier's edition), though he\nmentions no names.\n\n[338] Sir H.H. Johnson, _British Central Africa_ (London, 1897), pp.\n426, 439.\n\n[339] W.H.R. Rivers, _The Todas_ (London, 1906), pp. 290-292.\n\n[340] Lieut. R. Stewart, \"Notes on Northern Cachar,\" _Journal of the\nAsiatic Society of Bengal_ xxiv. (1855) p. 612.\n\n[341] A. Bastian, _Die V\u00f6lker des \u00f6stlichen Asien_, ii. (Leipsic, 1866)\npp. 49 _sq._; Shway Yoe, _The Burman_ (London, 1882), ii. 325 _sq._\n\n[342] G. Schlegel, _Uranographie Chinoise_ (The Hague and Leyden, 1875),\npp. 139-143; C. Puini, \"Il fuoco nella tradizione degli antichi Cinesi,\"\n_Giornale della Societ\u00e0 Asiatica Italiana_, i. (1887) pp. 20-23; J.J.M.\nde Groot, _Les F\u00e9tes annuellement c\u00e9l\u00e9br\u00e9es \u00e0 \u00c9moui (Amoy)_ (Paris,\n1886), i. 208 _sqq._ The notion that fire can be worn out with age meets\nus also in Brahman ritual. See the _Satapatha Brahmana_, translated by\nJulius Eggeling, Part i. (Oxford, 1882) p. 230 (_Sacred Books of the\nEast_, vol. xii.).\n\n[343] W.G. Aston, _Shinto, The Way of the Gods_ (London, 1905), pp. 258\n_sq._, compare p. 193. The wands in question are sticks whittled near\nthe top into a mass of adherent shavings; they go by the name of\n_kedzurikake_ (\"part-shaved\"), and resemble the sacred _inao_ of the\nAino. See W.G. Aston, _op. cit._ p. 191; and as to the _inao_, see\n_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 185, with note 2.\n\n[344] Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 82; Homer, _Iliad_, i. 590, _sqq._\n\n[345] Philostiatus, _Heroica_, xx. 24.\n\n[346] Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 143 _sq._; Macrobius, _Saturn_, i. 12. 6.\n\n[347] Festus, ed. C.O. M\u00fcller (Leipsic, 1839), p. 106, _s.v._ \"Ignis.\"\nPlutarch describes a method of rekindling the sacred fire by means of\nthe sun's rays reflected from a hollow mirror (_Numa_, 9); but he seems\nto be referring to a Greek rather than to the Roman custom. The rule of\ncelibacy imposed on the Vestals, whose duty it was to relight the sacred\nfire as well as to preserve it when it was once made, is perhaps\nexplained by a superstition current among French peasants that if a girl\ncan blow up a smouldering candle into a flame she is a virgin, but that\nif she fails to do so, she is not. See Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du\nBocage Normand_ (Cond\u00e9-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 27; B. Souch\u00e9,\n_Croyances, Pr\u00e9sages et Traditions diverses_ (Niort, 1880), p. 12. At\nleast it seems more likely that the rule sprang from a superstition of\nthis sort than from a simple calculation of expediency, as I formerly\nsuggested (_Journal of Philology_, xiv. (1885) p. 158). Compare _The\nMagic Art and the Evolution of Kings>_ ii. 234 _sqq._\n\n[348] Geoffrey Keating, D.D., _The History of Ireland, translated from\nthe original Gaelic, and copiously annotated_, by John O'Mahony (New\nYork, 1857), p. 300, with the translator's note. Compare (Sir) John\nRhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London, 1888), pp. 514 _sq._\n\n[349] W.R.S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, Second Edition\n(London, 1872), pp. 254 _sq._\n\n[350] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und\nGebr\u00e4uche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; A. Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebr\u00e4uche und\nM\u00e4rchen aus Westfalen_ (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 134 _sqq.; id., M\u00e4rkische\nSagen und M\u00e4rchen_ (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312 _sq._; J.D.H. Temme, _Die\nVolkssagen der Altmark_ (Berlin, 1839), pp. 75 _sq._; K. Lynker,\n_Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen_*[2] (Cassel and\nG\u00f6ttingen, 1860), p. 240; H. Pr\u00f6hle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p.\n63; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), pp.\n240-242; W. Kolbe, _Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche_ (Marburg,\n1888), pp. 44-47; F.A. Reimann, _Deutsche Volksfeste_ (Weimar, 1839), p.\n37; \"Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche in Duderstadt,\" _Zeitschrift f\u00fcr deutsche\nMythologie und Sitten-kunde_, ii. (1855) p. 107; K. Seifart, _Sagen,\nM\u00e4rchen, Schw\u00e4nke und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Stadt und Stift Hildesheim_*[2]\n(Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177, 180; O. Hartung, \"Zur Volkskunde aus\nAnhalt,\" _Zeitschrift des Vereins f\u00fcr Volkskunde_, vii. (1897) p. 76.\n\n[351] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum\nOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), ii. p. 43 _sq._, \u00a7313; W. Mannhardt, _Der\nBaumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarst\u00e4mme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 505\n_sq._\n\n[352] L. Strackerjan, _op. cit._ ii. p. 43, \u00a7313.\n\n[353] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] (Berlin, 1875-1878), i. 512;\nW. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarst\u00e4mme_, pp.\n506 _sq._\n\n[354] H. Pr\u00f6hle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; _id._, in\n_Zeitschrift f\u00fcr deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) p. 79;\nA. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Gebr\u00e4uche_\n(Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 507.\n\n[355] A. Kuhn, _M\u00e4rkische Sagen und M\u00e4rchen_ (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312\n_sq._; W. Mannhardt, _l.c._\n\n[356] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_ p. 508. Compare J.W. Wolf,\n_Beitr\u00e4ge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (G\u00f6ttingen, 1852-1857), i. 74; J.\nGrimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 512. The two latter writers only\nstate that before the fires were kindled it was customary to hunt\nsquirrels in the woods.\n\n[357] A. Kuhn, _l.c._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 508.\n\n[358] _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des K\u00f6nigreichs Bayern_ (Munich,\n1860-1867), iii. 956.\n\n[359] See above, pp. 116 _sq._, 119.\n\n[360] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),\ni. pp. 211 _sq._, \u00a7 233; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, pp. 507 _sq._\n\n[361] _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des K\u00f6nigreichs Bayern_, iii.\n357.\n\n[362] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),\ni. pp. 212 _sq._, \u00a7 236.\n\n[363] F. Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. pp. 78 _sq._, \u00a7\u00a7 114, 115. The customs\nobserved at these places and at Althenneberg are described together by\nW. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 505.\n\n[364] A. Birlinger, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im\nBreisgau, 1861-1862), ii. p. 82, \u00a7 106; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_,\np. 508.\n\n[365] Elard Hugo Meyer, _Badisches Volksleben_ (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 97\n_sq._\n\n[366] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 349 _sqq._ See\nfurther below, vol. ii. pp. 298 _sqq._\n\n[367] J.W. Wolf, _Beitr\u00e4ge sur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 75 _sq._; W.\nMannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 506.\n\n[368] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), p. 228.\n\n[369] W. M\u00fcller, _Beitr\u00e4ge sur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mahren_\n(Vienna and Olm\u00fctz, 1893), pp. 321, 397 _sq._ In Wagstadt, a town of\nAustrian Silesia, a boy in a red waistcoat used to play the part of\nJudas on the Wednesday before Good Friday. He was chased from before the\nchurch door by the other school children, who pursued him through the\nstreets with shouts and the noise of rattles and clappers till they\nreached a certain suburb, where they always caught and beat him because\nhe had betrayed the Redeemer. See Anton Peter, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus\n\u00f6sterreichisch-Schlesien_ (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 282 _sq._; Paul\nDrechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic,\n1903-1906), i. 77 _sq._\n\n[370] _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, from the MSS.\nof John Ramsay, Esq., of Ochtertyre, edited by Alexander Allardyce\n(Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 439-445. As to the _tein-eigin_ or\nneed-fire, see below, pp. 269 _sqq_. The etymology of the word Beltane\nis uncertain; the popular derivation of the first part from the\nPhoenician Baal is absurd. See, for example, John Graham Dalyell, _The\nDarker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 176 _sq._: \"The\nrecognition of the pagan divinity Baal, or Bel, the Sun, is discovered\nthrough innumerable etymological sources. In the records of Scottish\nhistory, down to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, multiplied\nprohibitions were issued from the fountains of ecclesiastical\nordinances, against kindling _Bailfires_, of which the origin cannot be\nmistaken. The festival of this divinity was commemorated in Scotland\nuntil the latest date.\" Modern scholars are not agreed as to the\nderivation of the name Beltane. See Rev. John Gregorson Campbell,\n_Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_\n(Glasgow, 1902), pp. 268 _sq._; J.A. MacCulloch, _The Religion of the\nAncient Celts_ (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 264.\n\n[371] \"_Bal-tein_ signifies the _fire of Baal. Baal_ or _Ball_ is the\nonly word in Gaelic for _a globe_. This festival was probably in honour\nof the sun, whose return, in his apparent annual course, they\ncelebrated, on account of his having such a visible influence, by his\ngenial warmth, on the productions of the earth. That the Caledonians\npaid a superstitious respect to the sun, as was the practice among many\nother nations, is evident, not only by the sacrifice at Baltein, but\nupon many other occasions. When a Highlander goes to bathe, or to drink\nwaters out of a consecrated fountain, he must always approach by going\nround the place, _from east to west on the south side_, in imitation of\nthe apparent diurnal motion of the sun. When the dead are laid in the\nearth, the grave is approached by going round in the same manner. The\nbride is conducted to her future spouse, in the presence of the\nminister, and the glass goes round a company, in the course of the sun.\nThis is called, in Gaelic, going round the right, or the _lucky way_.\nThe opposite course is the wrong, or the _unlucky_ way. And if a\nperson's meat or drink were to affect the wind-pipe, or come against his\nbreath, they instantly cry out _deisheal_! which is an ejaculation\npraying that it may go by the right way\" (Rev. J. Robertson, in Sir John\nSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xi. 621 note). Compare\nJ.G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_\n(Glasgow, 1900), pp. 229 _sq._: \"_The Right-hand Turn_ (_Deiseal_).--\nThis was the most important of all the observances. The rule is\n'_Deiseal_ (i.e. the right-hand turn) for everything,' and consists in\ndoing all things with a motion corresponding to the course of the sun,\nor from left to right. This is the manner in which screw-nails are\ndriven, and is common with many for no reason but its convenience. Old\nmen in the Highlands were very particular about it. The coffin was taken\n_deiseal_ about the grave, when about to be lowered; boats were turned\nto sea according to it, and drams are given to the present day to a\ncompany. When putting a straw rope on a house or corn-stack, if the\nassistant went _tuaitheal_ (i.e. against the course of the sun), the old\nman was ready to come down and thrash him. On coming to a house the\nvisitor should go round it _deiseal_ to secure luck in the object of his\nvisit. After milking a cow the dairy-maid should strike it _deiseal_\nwith the shackle, saying 'out and home' (_mach 'us dachaigh_). This\nsecures its safe return. The word is from _deas_, right-hand, and _iul_,\ndirection, and of itself contains no allusion to the sun.\" Compare M.\nMartin, \"Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,\" in J.\nPinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_, iii. 612 _sq._: \"There was an ancient\ncustom in the island of Lewis, to make a fiery circle about the houses,\ncorn, cattle, etc., belonging to each particular family: a man carried\nfire in his right hand, and went round, and it was called _dessil_, from\nthe right hand, which in the ancient language is called _dess_.... There\nis another way of the _dessil_, or carrying fire round about women\nbefore they are churched, after child-bearing; and it is used likewise\nabout children until they are christened; both which are performed in\nthe morning and at night. This is only practised now by some of the\nancient midwives: I enquired their reason for this custom, which I told\nthem was altogether unlawful; this disobliged them mightily, insomuch\nthat they would give me no satisfaction. But others, that were of a more\nagreeable temper, told me that fire-round was an effectual means to\npreserve both the mother and the infant from the power of evil spirits,\nwho are ready at such times to do mischief, and sometimes carry away the\ninfant; and when they get them once in their possession, return them\npoor meagre skeletons; and these infants are said to have voracious\nappetites, constantly craving for meat. In this case it was usual with\nthose who believed that their children were thus taken away, to dig a\ngrave in the fields upon quarter-day, and there to lay the fairy\nskeleton till next morning; at which time the parents went to the place,\nwhere they doubted not to find their own child instead of this skeleton.\nSome of the poorer sort of people in these islands retain the custom of\nperforming these rounds sun-ways about the persons of their benefactors\nthree times, when they bless them, and wish good success to all their\nenterprizes. Some are very careful when they set out to sea that the\nboat be first rowed about sun-ways; and if this be neglected, they are\nafraid their voyage may prove unfortunate.\" Probably the superstition\nwas based entirely on the supposed luckiness of the right hand, which\naccordingly, in making a circuit round an object, is kept towards the\ncentre. As to a supposed worship of the sun among the Scottish\nHighlanders, compare J.G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the\nHighlands and Islands of Scotland_, p. 304: \"Both the sun (_a Ghrian_)\nand moon (_a Ghealach_) are feminine in Gaelic, and the names are simply\ndescriptive of their appearance. There is no trace of a Sun-God or\nMoon-Goddess.\" As to the etymology of Beltane, see above, p. 149 note.\n\n[372] Rev. James Robertson (Parish Minister of Callander), in Sir John\nSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xi.\n620 _sq._\n\n[373] Pennant's \"Tour in Scotland,\" in John Pinkerton's _Voyages and\nTravels_ (London, 1808-1814), iii. 49.\n\n[374] Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's _Statistical\nAccount of Scotland_, v. 84.\n\n[375] Rev. Allan Stewart, in Sir John Sinclair's _Statistical Account of\nScotland_, xv. 517 note.\n\n[376] Rev. Walter Gregor, \"Notes on Beltane Cakes,\" _Folk-lore_, vi.\n(1895) pp. 2 _sq._ The Beltane cakes with the nine knobs on them remind\nus of the cakes with twelve knobs which the Athenians offered to Cronus\nand other deities (see _The Scapegoat_, p. 351). The King of the Bean on\nTwelfth Night was chosen by means of a cake, which was broken in as many\npieces as there were persons present, and the person who received the\npiece containing a bean or a coin became king. See J. Boemus, _Mores,\nleges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), p. 222; John Brand,\n_Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 22 _sq.;\nThe Scapegoat_, pp. 313 _sqq._\n\n[377] Shaw, in Pennant's \"Tour in Scotland,\" printed in J. Pinkerton's\n_Voyages and Travels_, iii. 136. The part of Scotland to which Shaw's\ndescription applies is what he calls the province or country of Murray,\nextending from the river Spey on the east to the river Beauly on the\nwest, and south-west to Loch Lochy.\n\n[378] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of\nScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 167.\n\n[379] A. Goodrich-Freer, \"More Folklore from the Hebrides,\" _Folk-lore_,\nxiii. (1902) p. 41. The St. Michael's cake (_Str\u00f9than na h'eill\nMicheil_), referred to in the text, is described as \"the size of a\nquern\" in circumference. \"It is kneaded simply with water, and marked\nacross like a scone, dividing it into four equal parts, and then placed\nin front of the fire resting on a quern. It is not polished with dry\nmeal as is usual in making a cake, but when it is cooked a thin coating\nof eggs (four in number), mixed with buttermilk, is spread first on one\nside, then on the other, and it is put before the fire again. An earlier\nshape, still in use, which tradition associates with the female sex, is\nthat of a triangle with the corners cut off. A _str\u00f9hthan_ or\n_str\u00f9hdhan_ (the word seems to be used for no other kind of cake) is\nmade for each member of the household, including servants and herds.\nWhen harvest is late, an early patch of corn is mown on purpose for the\n_str\u00f9than_\" (A. Goodrich-Freer, _op. cit._ pp. 44. _sq._.)\n\n[380] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,\n1909), pp. 22-24.\n\n[381] Jonathan Ceredig Davies, _Folklore of West and Mid-Wales_\n(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76.\n\n[382] Joseph Train, _An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle\nof Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), i. 314 _sq._\n\n[383] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford,\n1901), i. 309; _id._, \"The Coligny Calendar,\" _Proceedings of the\nBritish Academy, 1909-1910_, pp. 261 _sq._ See further _The Magic Art\nand the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 53 _sq._\n\n[384] Professor Frank Granger, \"Early Man,\" in _The Victoria History of\nthe County of Nottingham_, edited by William Page, i. (London, 1906) pp.\n186 _sq._\n\n[385] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford,\n1901), i. 310; _id._, \"Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions,\" _Folk-lore_,\nii. (1891) pp. 303 _sq._\n\n[386] P.W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903),\ni. 290 _sq._, referring to Kuno Meyer, _Hibernia Minora_, p. 49 and\n_Glossary_, 23.\n\n[387] J.B. Bury, _The Life of St. Patrick_ (London, 1905), pp. 104\n_sqq._\n\n[388] Above, p. 147.\n\n[389] Geoffrey Keating, D.D., _The History of Ireland_, translated by\nJohn O'Mahony (New York, 1857), pp. 300 _sq._\n\n[390] (Sir) John Rhys, \"Manx Folk-lore and Superstition,\" _Folk-lore_,\nii. (1891) p. 303; _id., Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford,\n1901), i. 309. Compare P.W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_\n(London, 1903), i. 291: \"The custom of driving cattle through fires\nagainst disease on the eve of the 1st of May, and on the eve of the 24th\nJune (St. John's Day), continued in Ireland, as well as in the Scottish\nHighlands, to a period within living memory.\" In a footnote Mr. Joyce\nrefers to Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_, ii. 340, for Scotland, and\nadds, \"I saw it done in Ireland.\"\n\n[391] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), pp. 233 _sq._\n\n[392] Reinsberg-D\u00fcringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus B\u00f6hmen_ (Prague, N.D.),\npp. 211 _sq._; Br. Jel\u00ednek, \"Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und\nVolkskunde B\u00f6hmens,\" _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft\nin Wien_, xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois John, _Sitte, Branch, und Volksglaube\nim deutschen Westb\u00f6hmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 71.\n\n[393] J.A.E. K\u00f6hler, _Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte\nUeberlieferungen im Voigtlande_ (Leipsic, 1867), p. 373. The\nsuperstitions relating to witches at this season are legion. For\ninstance, in Saxony and Thuringia any one who labours under a physical\nblemish can easily rid himself of it by transferring it to the witches\non Walpurgis Night. He has only to go out to a cross-road, make three\ncrosses on the blemish, and say, \"In the name of God the Father, the\nSon, and the Holy Ghost.\" Thus the blemish, whatever it may be, is left\nbehind him at the cross-road, and when the witches sweep by on their way\nto the Brocken, they must take it with them, and it sticks to them\nhenceforth. Moreover, three crosses chalked up on the doors of houses\nand cattle-stalls on Walpurgis Night will effectually prevent any of the\ninfernal crew from entering and doing harm to man or beast. See E.\nSommer, _Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Sachsen und Th\u00fcringen_ (Halle,\n1846), pp. 148 _sq.; Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie_ (Chemnitz,\n1759), p. 116.\n\n[394] See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 158 _sqq._\n\n[395] As to the Midsummer Festival of Europe in general see the evidence\ncollected in the \"Specimen Calendarii Gentilis,\" appended to the _Edda\nRhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen,\n1828) pp. 1086-1097.\n\n[396] John Mitchell Kemble, _The Saxons in England_, New Edition\n(London, 1876), i. 361 _sq_., quoting \"an ancient MS. written in\nEngland, and now in the Harleian Collection, No. 2345, fol. 50.\" The\npassage is quoted in part by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great\nBritain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 298 _sq._, by R.T. Hampson, _Medii Aevi\nKalendarium_ (London, 1841), i. 300, and by W. Mannhardt, _Der\nBaumkultus_, p. 509. The same explanations of the Midsummer fires and of\nthe custom of trundling a burning wheel on Midsummer Eve are given also\nby John Beleth, a writer of the twelfth century. See his _Rationale\nDivinorum Officiorum_ (appended to the _Rationale Divinorum Officiorum_\nof G. [W.] Durandus, Lyons, 1584), p. 556 _recto: \"Solent porro hoc\ntempore_ [the Eve of St. John the Baptist] _ex veteri consuetudine\nmortuorum animalium ossa comburi, quod hujusmodi habet originem. Sunt\nenim animalia, quae dracones appellamus.... Haec inquam animalia in aere\nvolant, in aquis natant, in terra ambulant. Sed quando in aere ad\nlibidinem concitantur (quod fere fit) saepe ipsum sperma vel in puteos,\nvel in aquas fluviales ejicunt ex quo lethalis sequitur annus. Adversus\nhaec ergo hujusmodi inventum est remedium, ut videlicet rogus ex ossibus\nconstrueretur, et ita fumus hujusmodi animalia fugaret. Et quia istud\nmaxime hoc tempore fiebat, idem etiam modo ab omnibus observatur....\nConsuetum item est hac vigilia ardentes deferri faculas quod Johannes\nfuerit ardens lucerna, et qui vias Domini praeparaverit. Sed quod etiam\nrota vertatur hinc esse putant quia in eum circulum tunc Sol descenderit\nultra quem progredi nequit, a quo cogitur paulatim descendere_.\" The\nsubstance of the passage is repeated in other words by G. Durandus\n(Wilh. Durantis), a writer of the thirteenth century, in his _Rationale\nDivinorum Officiorum_, lib. vii. cap. 14 (p. 442 _verso_, ed. Lyons,\n1584). Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 516.\n\nWith the notion that the air is poisoned at midsummer we may compare the\npopular belief that it is similarly infected at an eclipse. Thus among\nthe Esquimaux on the Lower Yukon river in Alaska \"it is believed that a\nsubtle essence or unclean influence descends to the earth during an\neclipse, and if any of it is caught in utensils of any kind it will\nproduce sickness. As a result, immediately on the commencement of an\neclipse, every woman turns bottom side up all her pots, wooden buckets,\nand dishes\" (E.W. Nelson, \"The Eskimo about Bering Strait,\" _Eighteenth\nAnnual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington,\n1899) p. 431). Similar notions and practices prevail among the peasantry\nof southern Germany. Thus the Swabian peasants think that during an\neclipse of the sun poison falls on the earth; hence at such a time they\nwill not sow, mow, gather fruit or eat it, they bring the cattle into\nthe stalls, and refrain from business of every kind. If the eclipse\nlasts long, the people get very anxious, set a burning candle on the\nmantel-shelf of the stove, and pray to be delivered from the danger. See\nAnton Birlinger, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau,\n1861-1862), i. 189. Similarly Bavarian peasants imagine that water is\npoisoned during a solar eclipse (F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen\nMythologie_, ii. 297); and Thuringian bumpkins cover up the wells and\nbring the cattle home from pasture during an eclipse either of the sun\nor of the moon; an eclipse is particularly poisonous when it happens to\nfall on a Wednesday. See August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche\naus Th\u00fcringen_ (Vienna, 1878), p. 287. As eclipses are commonly supposed\nby the ignorant to be caused by a monster attacking the sun or moon\n(E.B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_,*[2] London, 1873, i. 328 _sqq._), we\nmay surmise, on the analogy of the explanation given of the Midsummer\nfires, that the unclean influence which is thought to descend on the\nearth at such times is popularly attributed to seed discharged by the\nmonster or possibly by the sun or moon then in conjunction with each\nother.\n\n[397] _The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin\nverse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe, 1570_, edited\nby R.C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 54 _verso_. As to this work see above,\np. 125 note 1.\n\n[398] J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541),\npp. 225 _sq._\n\n[399] Tessier, \"Sur la f\u00eate annuelle de la roue flamboyante de la\nSaint-Jean, \u00e0 Basse-Kontz, arrondissement de Thionville,\" _M\u00e9moires et\ndissertations publi\u00e9s par la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Royale des Antiquaires de France_,\nv. (1823) pp. 379-393. Tessier witnessed the ceremony, 23rd June 1822\n(not 1823, as is sometimes stated). His account has been reproduced more\nor less fully by J. Grimm (_Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 515 _sq._) W.\nMannhardt (_Der Baumkultus_, pp. 510 _sq._), and H. Gaidoz (\"Le dieu\ngaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la Roue,\" _Revue Arch\u00e9ologique_,\niii. S\u00e9rie, iv. (1884) pp. 24 _sq._).\n\n[400] _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des K\u00f6nigreichs Bayern_ (Munich,\n1860-1867), i. 373 _sq_.; compare _id_., iii. 327 _sq_. As to the\nburning discs at the spring festivals, see above, pp. 116 _sq_., 119,\n143.\n\n[401] _Op. cit_. ii. 260 _sq_., iii. 936, 956, iv. 2. p. 360.\n\n[402] _Op. cit_. ii. 260.\n\n[403] _Op. cit._ iv. i. p. 242. We have seen (p. 163) that in the\nsixteenth century these customs and beliefs were common in Germany. It\nis also a German superstition that a house which contains a brand from\nthe midsummer bonfire will not be struck by lightning (J.W. Wolf,\n_Beitr\u00e4ge, zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 217, \u00a7 185).\n\n[404] J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541),\np. 226.\n\n[405] Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_ (Munich, 1855),\npp. 181 _sqq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 510.\n\n[406] A. Birlinger, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im\nBreisgau, 1861-1862), ii. pp. 96 _sqq._, \u00a7 128, pp. 103 _sq._, \u00a7 129;\n_id., Aus Schwaben_ (Wiesbaden, 1874), ii. 116-120; E. Meier, _Deutsche\nSagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Schwaben_ (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 423\n_sqq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 510.\n\n[407] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),\ni. pp. 215 _sq._, \u00a7 242; _id._, ii. 549.\n\n[408] A. Birlinger, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im\nBreisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 99-101.\n\n[409] Elard Hugo Mayer, _Badisches Volksleben_ (Strasburg, 1900), pp.\n103 _sq._, 225 _sq._\n\n[410] W. von Schulenberg, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft\nf\u00fcr Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, Jahrgang 1897_, pp. 494\n_sq._ (bound up with _Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Ethnologie_, xxix. 1897).\n\n[411] H. Gaidoz, \"Le dieu Gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la\nRoue,\" _Revue Arch\u00e9ologique_, iii. S\u00e9rie, iv. (1884) pp. 29 _sq._\n\n[412] Bruno Stehle, \"Volksglauben, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche in Lothringen,\"\n_Globus_, lix. (1891) pp. 378 _sq._; \"Die Sommerwendfeier im St.\nAmarinthale,\" _Der Urquell_, N.F., i. (1897) pp. 181 _sqq._\n\n[413] J.H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen Lieder, Spr\u00fcchw\u00f6rter und R\u00e4thsel\ndes Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 40 _sq._ According to one\nwriter, the garlands are composed of St. John's wort (Montanus, _Die\ndeutschen Volksfeste, Volksbr\u00e4uche und deutscher Volksglaube_, Iserlohn,\nN.D., p. 33). As to the use of St. John's wort at Midsummer, see below,\nvol. ii. pp. 54 _sqq._\n\n[414] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und\nGebr\u00e4uche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 390.\n\n[415] Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbr\u00e4uche und deutscher\nVolksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), pp. 33 _sq._\n\n[416] C.L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii.\n144 _sqq._\n\n[417] Philo vom Walde, _Schlesien in Sage und Brauch_ (Berlin, N.D.), p.\n124; Paul Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch, und Volksglaube in Schlesien_\n(Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 136 _sq._\n\n[418] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie,_*[4] i. 517 _sq._\n\n[419] From information supplied by Mr. Sigurd K. Heiberg, engineer, of\nBergen, Norway, who in his boyhood regularly collected fuel for the\nfires. I have to thank Miss Anderson, of Barskimming, Mauchline,\nAyrshire, for kindly procuring the information for me from Mr. Heiberg.\n\nThe Blocksberg, where German as well as Norwegian witches gather for\ntheir great Sabbaths on the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) and\nMidsummer Eve, is commonly identified with the Brocken, the highest peak\nof the Harz mountains. But in Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and probably\nelsewhere, villages have their own local Blocksberg, which is generally\na hill or open place in the neighbourhood; a number of places in\nPomerania go by the name of the Blocksberg. See J. Grimm, _Deutsche\nMythologie_*[4] ii. 878 _sq._; Ulrich Jahn, _Hexenwesen und Zauberei in\nPommern_ (Breslau, 1886), pp. 4 _sq._; _id._, _Volkssagen aus Pommern\nund R\u00fcgen_ (Stettin, 1886), p. 329.\n\n[420] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), pp. 259, 265.\n\n[421] L. Lloyd, _op. cit._ pp. 261 _sq._ These springs are called\n\"sacrificial fonts\" (_Offer k\u00e4llor_) and are \"so named because in\nheathen times the limbs of the slaughtered victim, whether man or beast,\nwere here washed prior to immolation\" (L. Lloyd, _op. cit._ p. 261).\n\n[422] E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _Feste und Br\u00e4uche des Schweizervolkes_\n(Zurich, 1913), p. 164.\n\n[423] Ignaz V. Zingerle, _Sitten, Br\u00e4uche und Meinungen des Tiroler\nVolkes_*[2] (Innsbruck, 1871), ii. p. 159, \u00a7 1354.\n\n[424] I.V. Zingerle, _op. cit._ p. 159, \u00a7\u00a7 1353, 1355, 1356; W.\nMannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 513.\n\n[425] W. Mannhardt, _l.c._\n\n[426] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),\ni. p. 210, \u00a7 231.\n\n[427] Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen und Br\u00e4uche des Volkes in Oesterreich_\n(Vienna, 1859), pp. 307 _sq._\n\n[428] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_*[4] i. 519; Theodor Vernaleken,\n_Mythen und Br\u00e4uche des Volkes in Oesterreich_ (Vienna, 1859), p. 308;\nJoseph Virgil Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Bohmen und\nM\u00e4hren_ (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 80, \u00a7 636; Reinsberg-D\u00fcringsfeld,\n_Fest-Kalender aus Bohmen_ (Prague, N.D.), pp. 306-311; Br. Jelfnek,\n\"Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde B\u00f6hmens,\" _Mittheilungen\nder anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien>_ xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois\nJohn, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westb\u00f6hmen_ (Prague,\n1905) pp. 84-86.\n\n[429] Willibald M\u00fcller, _Beitr\u00e4ge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in\nM\u00e4hren_ (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. 263-265.\n\n[430] Anton Peter, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus \u00d6sterreichisch-Schlesien_\n(Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 287.\n\n[431] Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Br\u00e4uche des Volkes in Oesterreich_\n(Vienna, 1859), pp. 308 _sq._\n\n[432] _The Dying God_, p. 262. Compare M. Kowalewsky, in _Folk-lore_, i.\n(1890) p. 467.\n\n[433] W.R.S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, Second Edition\n(London, 1872), p. 240.\n\n[434] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 519; W.R.S. Ralston,\n_Songs of the Russian People_ (London, 1872), pp. 240, 391.\n\n[435] W.R.S. Ralston, _op. cit._ p. 240.\n\n[436] W.R.S. Ralston, _l.c._\n\n[437] W.J.A. von Tettau und J.D.H. Temme, _Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens,\nLitthauens und Westpreussens_ (Berlin, 1837), p. 277.\n\n[438] M. T\u00f6ppen, _Aberglauben aus Masuren_*[2] (Danzig, 1867), p. 71.\n\n[439] F.S. Krauss, \"Altslavische Feuergewinnung,\" _Globus_, lix. (1891)\np. 318.\n\n[440] J.G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and\nLeipsic, 1841), i. 178-180, ii. 24 _sq._ Ligho was an old heathen deity,\nwhose joyous festival used to fall in spring.\n\n[441] Ovid, _Fasti_, vi. 775 _sqq._\n\n[442] Friederich S. Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch der S\u00fcdslaven_ (Vienna,\n1885), pp. 176 _sq._\n\n[443] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 519.\n\n[444] H. von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religi\u00f6ser Brauch der Magyar_\n(M\u00fcnster i. W., 1893), pp. 40-44.\n\n[445] A. von Ipolyi, \"Beitr\u00e4ge zur deutschen Mythologie aus Ungarn,\"\n_Zeitschrift f\u00fcr deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) pp. 270\n_sq._\n\n[446] J.G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 268\n_sq._; F.J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und \u00e4usseren Leben der Ehsten_\n(St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 362. The word which I have translated \"weeds\"\nis in Esthonian _kaste-heinad_, in German _Thaugras_. Apparently it is\nthe name of a special kind of weed.\n\n[447] Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, _Mythische und Magische Lieder der\nEhsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 62.\n\n[448] J.B. Holzmayer, \"Osiliana,\" _Verhandlungen der gelehrten\nEstnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. (1872) pp. 62 _sq._ Wiedemann\nalso observes that the sports in which young couples engage in the woods\non this evening are not always decorous (_Aus dem inneren und \u00e4usseren\nLeben der Ehsten_, p. 362).\n\n[449] J.G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 447 _sq._\n\n[450] J.G. Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_\n(St. Petersburg, 1776), p. 36; August Freiherr von Haxthausen, _Studien\n\u00fcber die innere Zust\u00e4nde das Volksleben und insbesondere die l\u00e4ndlichen\nEinrichtungen Russlands_ (Hanover, 1847), i. 446 _sqq._\n\n[451] Alfred de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 19.\n\n[452] It is notable that St. John is the only saint whose birthday the\nChurch celebrates with honours like those which she accords to the\nnativity of Christ. Compare Edmond Doutt\u00e9, _Magie et Religion dans\nl'Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), p. 571 note I.\n\n[453] Bossuet, _Oeuvres_ (Versailles, 1815-1819), vi. 276 (\"Cat\u00e9chisme\ndu dioc\u00e8se de Meaux\"). His description of the superstitions is, in his\nown words, as follows: \"_Danser \u00e0 l'entour du feu, jouer, faire des\nfestins, chanter des chansons deshonn\u00e8tes, jeter des herbes par-dessus\nle feu, en cueillir avant midi ou \u00e0 jeun, en porter sur soi, les\nconserver le long de l'ann\u00e9e, garder des tisons ou des charbons du feu,\net autres semblables._\" This and other evidence of the custom of\nkindling Midsummer bonfires in France is cited by Ch. Cuissard in his\ntract _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884).\n\n[454] Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), pp. 40\n_sq._\n\n[455] A. Le Braz, _La L\u00e9gende de la Mort en Basse-Bretagne_ (Paris,\n1893), p. 279. For an explanation of the custom of throwing a pebble\ninto the fire, see below, p. 240.\n\n[456] M. Quellien, quoted by Alexandre Bertrand, _La Religion des\nGaulois_ (Paris, 1897), pp. 116 _sq._\n\n[457] Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii.\n40; J.W. Wolf, _Beitr\u00e4ge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (G\u00f6ttingen,\n1852-1857), i. p. 217, \u00a7 185; A. Breuil, \"Du Culte de St. Jean\nBaptiste,\" _M\u00e9moires de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii.\n(Amiens, 1845) pp. 189 _sq._\n\n[458] Eugene Cortet, _Essai sur les F\u00eates Religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), p.\n216; Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), p. 24.\n\n[459] Paul S\u00e9billot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris,\n1886), pp. 192-195. In Upper Brittany these bonfires are called _rieux_\nor _raviers_.\n\n[460] A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 219; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les F\u00e9tes\nReligieuses_, p. 216.\n\n[461] A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_, pp. 219, 228, 231; E. Cortet, _op. cit._ pp. 215 _sq._\n\n[462] J. Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Cond\u00e9-sur-Noireau,\n1883-1887), ii. 219-224.\n\n[463] This description is quoted by Madame Cl\u00e9ment (_Histoire des f\u00eates\ncivites et religieuses_, etc., _de la Belgique M\u00e9ridionale_, Avesnes,\n1846, pp. 394-396); F. Liebrecht (_Des Gervasius von Tilbury Otia\nImperialia_, Hanover, 1856, pp. 209 _sq._); and W. Mannhardt (_Antike\nWald und Feldkulte_, Berlin, 1877, pp. 323 _sqq._) from the _Magazin\npittoresque_, Paris, viii. (1840) pp. 287 _sqq._ A slightly condensed\naccount is given, from the same source, by E. Cortet (_Essai sur les\nF\u00eates Religieuses_, pp. 221 _sq._).\n\n[464] Bazin, quoted by Breuil, in _M\u00e9moires de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d' Antiquaires\nde Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 191 note.\n\n[465] Correspondents quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_\n(Paris, 1897), pp. 118, 406.\n\n[466] Correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, _op. cit._ p. 407.\n\n[467] Felix Chapiseau, _Le folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris,\n1902), i. 318-320. In Perche the midsummer bonfires were called\n_marolles_. As to the custom formerly observed at Bullou, near\nChateaudun, see a correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des\nGaulois_ (Paris, 1897), p. 117.\n\n[468] Albert Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, L\u00e9gendes, et Contes des\nArdennes_ (Charleville, 1890), pp. 88 _sq._\n\n[469] L.F. Sauv\u00e9, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p.\n186.\n\n[470] D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Monnier, _Traditions populaires compar\u00e9es_ (Paris, 1854),\npp. 207 _sqq._; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les F\u00eates Religieuses_, pp. 217\n_sq._\n\n[471] B\u00e9renger-F\u00e9raud, _R\u00e9miniscences populaires de la Provence_ (Paris,\n1885), p. 142.\n\n[472] Charles Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comt\u00e9_ (Paris, 1900), p.\n89. The names of the bonfires vary with the place; among them are\n_failles, bourdifailles, b\u00e2s_ or _baux, feul\u00e8res_ or _foli\u00e8res_, and\n_chavannes_.\n\n[473] _La Bresse Louhannaise_, Juin, 1906, p. 207.\n\n[474] Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et L\u00e9gendes du Centre de la\nFrance_ (Paris, 1875), i. 78 _sqq._ The writer adopts the absurd\nderivation of _j\u00f4n\u00e9e_ from Janus. Needless to say that our old friend\nBaal, Bel, or Belus figures prominently in this and many other accounts\nof the European fire-festivals.\n\n[475] A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 150.\n\n[476] Correspondent, quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_\n(Paris, 1897), p. 408.\n\n[477] Guerry, \"Sur les usages et traditions du Poitou,\" _M\u00e9moires et\ndissertations publi\u00e9s par la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Royale des Antiquaires de France_,\nviii. (1829) pp. 451 _sq._\n\n[478] Breuil, in _M\u00e9moires de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Antiquaires de Picardie_,\nviii. (1845) p. 206; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les F\u00eates Religieuses_, p.\n216; Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et L\u00e9gendes du Centre de la\nFrance_, i. 83; J. Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_, ii. 225.\n\n[479] H. Gaidoz, \"Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la\nroue,\" _Revue Arch\u00e9ologique_, iii. S\u00e9rie, iv. (1884) p. 26, note 3.\n\n[480] L. Pineau, _Le Folk-lore du Poitou_ (Paris, 1892), pp. 499 _sq._\nIn P\u00e9rigord the ashes of the midsummer bonfire are searched for the hair\nof the Virgin (E. Cortet, _Essai sur les F\u00eates Religieuses_, p. 219).\n\n[481] A. de Nore, _Coutumes Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_, pp. 149 _sq._; E. Cortet, _op. cit._ pp. 218 _sq._\n\n[482] Dupin, \"Notice sur quelques f\u00eates et divertissemens populaires du\nd\u00e9partement des Deux-S\u00e8vres,\" _M\u00e9moires et Dissertations publi\u00e9s par la\nSoci\u00e9t\u00e9 Royale des Antiquaires de France_, iv. (1823) p. 110.\n\n[483] J.L.M. Nogu\u00e8s, _Les moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_\n(Saintes, 1891), pp. 72, 178 _sq._\n\n[484] H. Gaidoz, \"Le dieu soleil et le symbolisme de la roue,\" _Revue\nArch\u00e9ologique_, iii. S\u00e9rie, iv. (1884) p. 30.\n\n[485] Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), pp. 22\n_sq._\n\n[486] A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_ p. 127.\n\n[487] Aubin-Louis Millin, _Voyage dans les D\u00e9partemens du Midi de la\nFrance_ (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 341 _sq._\n\n[488] Aubin-Louis Millin, _op. cit._ iii. 28.\n\n[489] A. de Nore, _op. cit._ pp. 19 _sq._; B\u00e9renger-F\u00e9raud,\n_Reminiscences populaires de la Provence_ (Paris, 1885), pp. 135-141. As\nto the custom at Toulon, see Poncy, quoted by Breuil, _M\u00e9moires de la\nSoci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 190 note. The\ncustom of drenching people on this occasion with water used to prevail\nin Toulon, as well as in Marseilles and other towns in the south of\nFrance. The water was squirted from syringes, poured on the heads of\npassers-by from windows, and so on. See Breuil, _op. cit._ pp. 237 _sq._\n\n[490] A. de Nore, _op. cit._ pp. 20 _sq._; E. Cortet, _op. cit._ pp.\n218, 219 _sq._\n\n[491] Le Baron de Reinsberg-D\u00fcringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels,\n1861-1862), i. 416 _sq._ 439.\n\n[492] Le Baron de Reinsberg-D\u00fcringsfeld, _op. cit._ i. 439-442.\n\n[493] Madame Cl\u00e9ment, _Histoire des f\u00eates civiles et religieuses_, etc.,\n_du D\u00e9partement du Nord_ (Cambrai, 1836), p. 364; J.W. Wolf, _Beitr\u00e4ge\nzur deutschen Mythologie_ (G\u00f6ttingen, 1852-1857), ii. 392; W. Mannhardt,\n_Der Baumkultus_. p. 513.\n\n[494] E. Monseur, _Folklore Wallon_ (Brussels, N.D.), p. 130, \u00a7\u00a7 1783,\n1786, 1787.\n\n[495] Joseph Strutt, _The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_,\nNew Edition, by W. Hone (London, 1834), p. 359.\n\n[496] John Stow, _A Survay of London_, edited by Henry Morley (London,\nN.D.), pp. 126 _sq._ Stow's _Survay_ was written in 1598.\n\n[497] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 338; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_\n(London, 1876), p. 331. Both writers refer to _Status Scholae Etonensis_\n(A.D. 1560).\n\n[498] John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881),\np. 26.\n\n[499] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 300 _sq._, 318, compare pp. 305, 306, 308 _sq._; W.\nMannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 512. Compare W. Hutchinson, _View of\nNorthumberland_, vol. ii. (Newcastle, 1778), Appendix, p. (15), under\nthe head \"Midsummer\":--\"It is usual to raise fires on the tops of high\nhills and in the villages, and sport and danse around them; this is of\nvery remote antiquity, and the first cause lost in the distance of\ntime.\"\n\n[500] Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, quoted by William Borlase,\n_Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall_\n(London, 1769), p. 135 note.\n\n[501] _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M.C.\nBalfour (London, 1904), p. 76, quoting E. Mackenzie, _An Historical,\nTopographical, and Descriptive View of the County of Northumberland_,\nSecond Edition (Newcastle, 1825), i. 217.\n\n[502] _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M.C.\nBalfour, p. 75.\n\n[503] _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M.C.\nBalfour, p. 75.\n\n[504] _The Denham Tracts_, edited by J. Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii.\n342 _sq._, quoting _Arch\u00e6logia Aeliana_, N.S., vii. 73, and the\n_Proceedings_ of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vi. 242 _sq._;\n_County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M.C. Balfour\n(London, 1904), pp. 75 _sq._ Whalton is a village of Northumberland, not\nfar from Morpeth.\n\n[505] _County Folk-lore_, vol. vi. _East Riding of Yorkshire_, collected\nand edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), p. 102.\n\n[506] John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881),\np. 96, compare _id._, p. 26.\n\n[507] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 311.\n\n[508] William Borlase, LL.D., _Antiquities, Historical and Monumental,\nof the County of Cornwall_ (London, 1769), pp. 135 _sq._ The Eve of St.\nPeter is June 28th. Bonfires have been lit elsewhere on the Eve or the\nday of St. Peter. See above, pp. 194 _sq._ 196 _sq._, and below, pp. 199\n_sq._, 202, 207.\n\n[509] J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 318, 319; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, _British\nPopular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 315.\n\n[510] William Bottrell, _Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West\nCornwall_ (Penzance, 1870), pp. 8 _sq._, 55 _sq._; James Napier,\n_Folk-lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland_ (Paisley,\n1879), p. 173.\n\n[511] Richard Edmonds, _The Land's End District_ (London, 1862), pp. 66\n_sq._; Robert Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_, Third\nEdition (London, 1881), pp. 207 _sq._\n\n[512] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,\n1909), pp. 27 _sq._ Compare Jonathan Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of West\nand Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76.\n\n[513] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 318.\n\n[514] Joseph Train, _Account of the Isle of Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man,\n1845), ii. 120.\n\n[515] Sir Henry Piers, _Description of the County of Westmeath_, written\nin 1682, published by (General) Charles Vallancey, _Collectanea de Rebus\nHibernieis_, i. (Dublin, 1786) pp. 123 _sq._\n\n[516] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 303, quoting the author of the _Survey of the South of\nIreland_, p. 232.\n\n[517] J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 305, quoting the author of the _Comical\nPilgrim's Pilgrimage into Ireland_ (1723), p. 92.\n\n[518] _The Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxv. (London, 1795) pp. 124 _sq._\nThe writer dates the festival on June 21st, which is probably a mistake.\n\n[519] T.F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), pp.\n321 _sq._, quoting the _Liverpool Mercury_ of June 29th, 1867.\n\n[520] L.L. Duncan, \"Further Notes from County Leitrim,\" _Folk-lore_, v.\n(1894) p. 193.\n\n[521] A.C. Haddon, \"A Batch of Irish Folk-lore,\" _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893)\npp. 351, 359.\n\n[522] G.H. Kinahan, \"Notes on Irish Folk-lore,\" _Folk-lore Record_, iv.\n(1881) p. 97.\n\n[523] Charlotte Elizabeth, _Personal Recollections_, quoted by Rev.\nAlexander Hislop, _The Two Babylons_ (Edinburgh, 1853), p. 53.\n\n[524] Lady Wilde, _Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of\nIreland_ (London, 1887), i. 214 _sq._\n\n[525] T.F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), pp.\n322 _sq._, quoting the _Hibernian Magazine_, July 1817. As to the\nworship of wells in ancient Ireland, see P.W. Joyce, _A Social History\nof Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 288 _sq._, 366 _sqq._\n\n[526] Rev. A. Johnstone, describing the parish of Monquhitter in\nPerthshire, in Sir John Sinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_\n(Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xxi. 145. Mr. W. Warde Fowler writes that in\nScotland \"before the bonfires were kindled on midsummer eve, the houses\nwere decorated with foliage brought from the woods\" (_Roman Festivals of\nthe Period of the Republic_, London, 1899, pp. 80 _sq._). For his\nauthority he refers to _Chambers' Journal_, July, 1842.\n\n[527] John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the\nEighteenth Century_, edited by A. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), ii. 436.\n\n[528] Rev. Mr. Shaw, Minister of Elgin, in Pennant's \"Tour in Scotland,\"\nprinted in John Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814),\niii. 136.\n\n[529] A. Macdonald, \"Midsummer Bonfires,\" _Folk-lore_, xv. (1904) pp.\n105 _sq._\n\n[530] From notes kindly furnished to me by the Rev. J.C. Higgins, parish\nminister of Tarbolton. Mr. Higgins adds that he knows of no superstition\nconnected with the fire, and no tradition of its origin. I visited the\nscene of the bonfire in 1898, but, as Pausanias says (viii. 41. 6) in\nsimilar circumstances, \"I did not happen to arrive at the season of the\nfestival.\" Indeed the snow was falling thick as I trudged to the village\nthrough the beautiful woods of \"the Castle o' Montgomery\" immortalized\nby Burns. From a notice in _The Scotsman_ of 26th June, 1906 (p. 8) it\nappears that the old custom was observed as usual that year.\n\n[531] Thomas Moresinus, _Papatus seu Depravatae Religionis Origo et\nIncrementum_ (Edinburgh, 1594), p. 56.\n\n[532] Rev. Dr. George Lawrie, in Sir John Sinclair's _Statistical\nAccount of Scotland_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1792) p. 105.\n\n[533] Letter from Dr. Otero Acevado of Madrid, published in _Le Temps_,\nSeptember 1898. An extract from the newspaper was sent me, but without\nmention of the day of the month when it appeared. The fires on St.\nJohn's Eve in Spain are mentioned also by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities\nof Great Britain_, i. 317. Jacob Grimm inferred the custom from a\npassage in a romance (_Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 518). The custom of\nwashing or bathing on the morning of St. John's Day is mentioned by the\nSpanish historian Diego Duran, _Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espa\u00f1a_,\nedited by J.F. Ramirez (Mexico, 1867-1880), vol. ii. p. 293. To roll in\nthe dew on the morning of St. John's Day is a cure for diseases of the\nskin in Normandy, P\u00e9rigord, and the Abruzzi, as well as in Spain. See J.\nLecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_, ii. 8; A. de Nore, _Coutumes,\nMythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_, p. 150; Gennaro Finamore,\n_Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), p. 157.\n\n[534] M. Longworth Dames and Mrs. E. Seemann, \"Folklore of the Azores,\"\n_Folk-lore_, xiv. (1903) pp. 142 _sq._; Theophilo Braga, _O Povo\nPortuguez nos seus Costumes, Cren\u00e7as e Tradi\u00e7oes_ (Lisbon, 1885), ii.\n304 _sq._, 307 _sq._\n\n[535] See below, pp. 234 _sqq._\n\n[536] Angelo de Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_ (Paris, 1878-1882),\ni. 185 note 1.\n\n[537] _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 202 _sq._\n\n[538] G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890),\npp. 154 _sq._\n\n[539] G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_, pp. 158-160. We\nmay compare the Proven\u00e7al and Spanish customs of bathing and splashing\nwater at Midsummer. See above, pp. 193 _sq._, 208.\n\n[540] Giuseppe Pitr\u00e8, _Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane_ (Palermo,\n1881), pp. 246, 308 _sq._; _id., Usi e Costumi, Credenze e Pregiudizi\ndel Popolo Siciliano_ (Palermo, 1889), pp. 146 _sq._\n\n[541] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 518.\n\n[542] V. Busuttil, _Holiday Customs in Malta, and Sports, Usages,\nCeremonies, Omens, and Superstitions of the Maltese People_ (Malta,\n1894), pp. 56 _sqq._ The extract was kindly sent to me by Mr. H.W.\nUnderwood (letter dated 14th November, 1902, Birbeck Bank Chambers,\nSouthampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.). See _Folk-lore_, xiv.\n(1903) pp. 77 _sq._\n\n[543] W. R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) p. 128. The custom was\nreported to me when I was in Greece in 1890 (_Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p.\n520).\n\n[544] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 519.\n\n[545] G. Georgeakis et L. Pineau, _Le Folk-lore de Lesbos_ (Paris,\n1894), pp. 308 _sq._\n\n[546] W.R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) p. 94. From the stones cast\ninto the fire omens may perhaps be drawn, as in Scotland, Wales, and\nprobably Brittany. See above, p. 183, and below, pp. 230 _sq._, 239,\n240.\n\n[547] W.H.D. Rouse, \"Folklore from the Southern Sporades,\" _Folk-lore_,\nx. (1899) p. 179.\n\n[548] Lucy M.J. Garnett, _The Women of Turkey and their Folk-lore, the\nChristian Women_ (London, 1890), p. 122; G.F. Abbott, _Macedonian\nFolklore_ (Cambridge, 1903), p. 57.\n\n[549] J.G. von Hahn, _Albanesische Studien_ (Jena, 1854), i. 156.\n\n[550] K. von den Steinen, _Unter den Natur-V\u00f6lkern Zentral-Brasiliens_\n(Berlin, 1894), p. 561.\n\n[551] Alcide d'Orbigny, _Voyage dans l'Am\u00e9rique M\u00e9ridionale_, ii. (Paris\nand Strasbourg, 1839-1843), p. 420; D. Forbes, \"On the Aymara Indians of\nBolivia and Peru,\" _Journal of the Ethnological Society of London_, ii.\n(1870) p. 235.\n\n[552] Edmond Doutt\u00e9, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_\n(Algiers, 1908), pp. 566 _sq_. For an older but briefer notice of the\nMidsummer fires in North Africa, see Giuseppe Ferraro, _Superstizioni,\nUsi e Proverbi Monferrini_ (Palermo, 1886), pp. 34 _sq._: \"Also in\nAlgeria, among the Mussalmans, and in Morocco, as Alvise da Cadamosto\nreports in his _Relazione dei viaggi d'Africa_, which may be read in\nRamusio, people used to hold great festivities on St. John's Night; they\nkindled everywhere huge fires of straw (the _Palilia_ of the Romans), in\nwhich they threw incense and perfumes the whole night long in order to\ninvoke the divine blessing on the fruit-trees.\" See also Budgett Meakin,\n_The Moors_ (London, 1902), p. 394: \"The Berber festivals are mainly\nthose of Islam, though a few traces of their predecessors are\nobservable. Of these the most noteworthy is Midsummer or St. John's Day,\nstill celebrated in a special manner, and styled _El Ansarah_. In the\nR\u00eef it is celebrated by the lighting of bonfires only, but in other\nparts there is a special dish prepared of wheat, raisins, etc.,\nresembling the frumenty consumed at the New Year. It is worthy of remark\nthat the Old Style Gregorian calendar is maintained among them, with\ncorruptions of Latin names.\"\n\n[553] Edward Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folklore_,\nxvi. (1905) pp. 28-30; _id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with\nAgriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather_\n(Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 79-83.\n\n[554] E. Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folk-lore_, xvi.\n(1905) pp. 30 _sq._; _id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with\nAgriculture_, etc., pp. 83 _sq._\n\n[555] Edmond Doutt\u00e9, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_\n(Algiers, 1908), pp. 567 _sq._\n\n[556] E. Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folk-lore_, xvi.\n(1905) pp. 31 _sq._; _id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with\nAgriculture_, etc., pp. 84-86.\n\n[557] See K. Vollers, in Dr. James Hastings's _Encyclopaedia of Religion\nand Ethics_ iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) _s.v._ \"Calendar (Muslim),\" pp. 126\n_sq._ However, L. Ideler held that even before the time of Mohammed the\nArab year was lunar and vague, and that intercalation was only employed\nin order to fix the pilgrimage month in autumn, which, on account of the\nmilder weather and the abundance of food, is the best time for pilgrims\nto go to Mecca. See L. Ideler, _Handbuch der mathematischen und\ntechischen Chronologie_ (Berlin, 1825-1826), ii. 495 _sqq._\n\n[558] E. Doutt\u00e9, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_, pp. 496,\n509, 532, 543, 569. It is somewhat remarkable that the tenth, not the\nfirst, day of the first month should be reckoned New Year's Day.\n\n[559] E. Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folk-lore_, xvi.\n(1905) pp. 40-42.\n\n[560] E. Doutt\u00e9, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers,\n1908), pp. 541 _sq._\n\n[561] E. Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folk-lore_, xvi.\n(1905) p. 42; _id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture,\nCertain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco_\n(Helsingfors, 1913), p. 101.\n\n[562] E. Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folk-lore_, xvi.\n(1905), pp. 42 _sq._, 46 _sq.; id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected\nwith Agriculture_, etc., _in Morocco_, pp. 99 _sqq._\n\n[563] G. F. Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_ (Cambridge, 1903), pp. 60\n_sq._\n\n[564] \"Narrative of the Adventures of four Russian Sailors, who were\ncast in a storm upon the uncultivated island of East Spitzbergen,\"\ntranslated from the German of P.L. Le Roy, in John Pinkerton's _Voyages\nand Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), i. 603. This passage is quoted from\nthe original by (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Researches into the Early\nHistory of Mankind_, Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 259 _sq._\n\n[565] See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 166 _sq._\n\n[566] E.K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford, 1903), i. 110 _sqq._\n\n[567] In Eastern Europe to this day the great season for driving out the\ncattle to pasture for the first time in spring is St. George's Day, the\ntwenty-third of April, which is not far removed from May Day. See _The\nMagic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 324 _sqq._ As to the\nbisection of the Celtic year, see the old authority quoted by P.W.\nJoyce, _The Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), ii. 390:\n\"The whole year was [originally] divided into two parts--Summer from 1st\nMay to 1st November, and Winter from 1st November to 1st May.\" On this\nsubject compare (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and\nEdinburgh, 1888), pp. 460, 514 _sqq.; id., Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and\nManx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 _sqq._; J.A. MacCulloch, in Dr. James\nHastings's _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh,\n1910) p. 80.\n\n[568] See below, p. 225.\n\n[569] Above, pp. 146 _sqq._; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_,\nii. 59 _sqq._\n\n[570] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Manx and Welsh_ (Oxford,\n1901), i. 316, 317 _sq._; J.A. MacCulloch, in Dr. James Hastings's\n_Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) _s.v._\n\"Calendar,\" p. 80, referring to Kelly, _English and Manx Dictionary_\n(Douglas, 1866), _s.v._ \"Blein.\" Hogmanay is the popular Scotch name for\nthe last day of the year. See Dr. J. Jamieson, _Etymological Dictionary\nof the Scottish Language_, New Edition (Paisley, 1879-1882), ii. 602\n_sq._\n\n[571] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_, i. 316 _sq._\n\n[572] Above, p. 139.\n\n[573] See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 309-318. As I\nhave there pointed out, the Catholic Church succeeded in altering the\ndate of the festival by one day, but not in changing the character of\nthe festival. All Souls' Day is now the second instead of the first of\nNovember. But we can hardly doubt that the Saints, who have taken\npossession of the first of November, wrested it from the Souls of the\nDead, the original proprietors. After all, the Saints are only one\nparticular class of the Souls of the Dead; so that the change which the\nChurch effected, no doubt for the purpose of disguising the heathen\ncharacter of the festival, is less great than appears at first sight.\n\n[574] In Wales \"it was firmly believed in former times that on All\nHallows' Eve the spirit of a departed person was to be seen at midnight\non every cross-road and on every stile\" (Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and\nFolk-stories of Wales_, London, 1909, p. 254).\n\n[575] E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885),\np. 68.\n\n[576] A. Goodrich-Freer, \"More Folklore from the Hebrides,\" _Folk-lore_,\nxiii. (1902) p. 53.\n\n[577] (Sir) Jolin Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh,\n1888), p. 516.\n\n[578] P.W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903),\ni. 264 _sq._, ii. 556.\n\n[579] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 516.\n\n[580] Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and\nIslands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 61 _sq._\n\n[581] Ch. Rogers, _Social Life in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii.\n258-260.\n\n[582] Douglas Hyde, _Beside the Fire, a Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk\nStories_ (London, 1890), pp. 104, 105, 121-128.\n\n[583] P.W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, i. 229.\n\n[584] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,\n1909), p. 254.\n\n[585] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, pp. 514 _sq._ In order to\nsee the apparitions all you had to do was to run thrice round the parish\nchurch and then peep through the key-hole of the door. See Marie\nTrevelyan, _op. cit._ p. 254; J. C. Davies, _Folk-lore of West and\nMid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77.\n\n[586] Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow,\n1885), p. 75.\n\n[587] Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the\nHighlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 282.\n\n[588] Thomas Pennant, \"Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides in\n1772,\" in John Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London, 1809)\npp. 383 _sq._ In quoting the passage I have corrected what seem to be\ntwo misprints.\n\n[589] John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the\nEighteenth Century_, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh and\nLondon, 1888), ii. 437 _sq._ This account was written in the eighteenth\ncentury.\n\n[590] Rev. James Robertson, Parish minister of Callander, in Sir John\nSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xi. (Edinburgh, 1794), pp.\n621 _sq._\n\n[591] Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's _Statistical\nAccount of Scotland_ v. (Edinburgh, 1793) pp. 84 _sq._\n\n[592] Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow,\n1885), p. 67.\n\n[593] James Napier, _Folk Lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of\nScotland within this Century_ (Paisley, 1879), p. 179.\n\n[594] J. G. Frazer, \"Folk-lore at Balquhidder,\" _The Folk-lore Journal_,\nvi. (1888) p. 270.\n\n[595] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of\nScotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 167 _sq._\n\n[596] Rev. A. Johnstone, as to the parish of Monquhitter, in Sir John\nSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xxi. (Edinburgh, 1799) pp.\n145 _sq._\n\n[597] A. Macdonald, \"Some former Customs of the Royal Parish of Crathie,\nScotland,\" _Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) p. 85. The writer adds: \"In this\nway the 'faulds' were purged of evil spirits.\" But it does not appear\nwhether this expresses the belief of the people or only the\ninterpretation of the writer.\n\n[598] Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the\nHighlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 282 _sq._\n\n[599] Robert Burns, _Hallowe'en_, with the poet's note; Rev. Walter\nGregor, _op. cit._ p. 84; Miss E.J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ p. 69; Rev. J.G.\nCampbell, _op. cit._ p. 287.\n\n[600] R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. Walter Gregor, _l.c._; Miss E.J. Guthrie,\n_op. cit._ pp. 70 _sq._; Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 286.\n\n[601] R. Burns, _l.c._.; Rev. W. Gregor, _l.c._; Miss E.J. Guthrie, _op.\ncit._ p. 73; Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 285; A. Goodrich-Freer,\n\"More Folklore from the Hebrides,\" _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) pp. 54\n_sq._\n\n[602] R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit._ p. 85; Miss E.J.\nGuthrie, _op. cit._ p. 71; Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 285.\nAccording to the last of these writers, the winnowing had to be done in\nthe devil's name.\n\n[603] R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _l.c._; Miss E.J. Guthrie, _op.\ncit._ p. 72; Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 286; A. Goodrich-Freer,\n\"More Folklore from the Hebrides,\" _Folklore_, xiii. (1902) p. 54.\n\n[604] Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 283.\n\n[605] Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ pp. 283 _sq._; A. Goodrich-Freer,\n_l.c._\n\n[606] Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 284.\n\n[607] R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit._ p. 85; Miss E.J.\nGuthrie, _op. cit._ p. 70; Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 284. Where\nnuts were not to be had, peas were substituted.\n\n[608] Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 284.\n\n[609] Rev. J.G. Campbell, _l.c._ According to my recollection of\nHallowe'en customs observed in my boyhood at Helensburgh, in\nDumbartonshire, another way was to stir the floating apples and then\ndrop a fork on them as they bobbed about in the water. Success consisted\nin pinning one of the apples with the fork.\n\n[610] R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit_. pp. 85 _sq_.; Miss\nE.J. Guthrie, _op. cit_. pp. 72 _sq_.; Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit_. p.\n287.\n\n[611] R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit_. p. 85; Miss E.J.\nGuthrie, _op. cit_. pp. 69 _sq_.; Rev. J.G. Campbell, _op. cit_. p. 285.\nIt is the last of these writers who gives what may be called the\nTrinitarian form of the divination.\n\n[612] Miss E.J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow,\n1885), pp. 74 _sq_.\n\n[613] A. Goodrich-Freer, \"More Folklore from the Hebrides,\" _Folk-lore_,\nxiii. (1902) p. 55.\n\n[614] Pennant's manuscript, quoted by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of\nGreat Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 389 _sq_.\n\n[615] Sir Richard Colt Hoare, _The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin\nthrough Wales A.D. MCLXXXVIII. by Giraldus de Barri_ (London, 1806), ii.\n315; J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 390. The passage quoted in the\ntext occurs in one of Hoare's notes on the Itinerary. The dipping for\napples, burning of nuts, and so forth, are mentioned also by Marie\nTrevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp.\n253, 255.\n\n[616] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh, 1888),\npp. 515 _sq._ As to the Hallowe'en bonfires in Wales compare J.C.\nDavies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77.\n\n[617] See above, p. 183.\n\n[618] See above, p. 231.\n\n[619] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,\n1909), pp. 254 _sq._\n\n[620] (General) Charles Vallancey, _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_,\niii. (Dublin, 1786), pp. 459-461.\n\n[621] Miss A. Watson, quoted by A.C. Haddon, \"A Batch of Irish\nFolk-lore,\" _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893) pp. 361 _sq._\n\n[622] Leland L. Duncan, \"Further Notes from County Leitrim,\"\n_Folk-lore_, v. (1894) pp. 195-197.\n\n[623] H.J. Byrne, \"All Hallows Eve and other Festivals in Connaught,\"\n_Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) pp. 437 _sq._\n\n[624] Joseph Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of\nMan_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 123; (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic\nFolk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 _sqq._\n\n[625] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford,\n1901), i. 318-321.\n\n[626] John Harland and T.T. Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk-lore_\n(Manchester and London, 1882), pp. 3 _sq_.\n\n[627] J. Harland and T.T. Wilkinson, _op. cit_. p. 140.\n\n[628] Annie Milner, in William Hone's _Year Book_ (London, preface dated\nJanuary, 1832), coll. 1276-1279 (letter dated June, 1831); R.T. Hampson,\n_Medii Aevi Kalendarium_ (London, 1841), i. 365; T.F. Thiselton Dyer,\n_British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 395.\n\n[629] _County Folk-lore_ vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M.C.\nBalfour (London, 1904), p. 78. Compare W. Henderson, _Notes on the\nFolk-lore of the Northern Counties of England_ (London, 1879), pp. 96\n_sq_.\n\n[630] Baron Dupin, in _M\u00e9moires publi\u00e9es par la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Royale des\nAntiquaires de France_, iv. (1823) p. 108.\n\n[631] The evidence for the solar origin of Christmas is given in\n_Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 254-256.\n\n[632] For the various names (Yu-batch, Yu-block, Yule-log, etc.) see\nFrancis Grose, _Provincial Glossary_, New Edition (London, 1811), p.\n141; Joseph Wright, _The English Dialect Dictionary_ (London,\n1898-1905), vi. 593, _s.v._ \"Yule.\"\n\n[633] \"I am pretty confident that the Yule block will be found, in its\nfirst use, to have been only a counterpart of the Midsummer fires, made\nwithin doors because of the cold weather at this winter solstice, as\nthose in the hot season, at the summer one, are kindled in the open\nair.\" (John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_, London,\n1882-1883, i. 471). His opinion is approved by W. Mannhardt _(Der\nBaumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarst\u00e4mme_, p. 236).\n\n[634] \"_Et arborem in nativitate domini ad festivum ignem suum\nadducendam esse dicebat_\" (quoted by Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,\ni. 522).\n\n[635] Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbrauche und deutscher\nVolksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 12. The Sieg and Lahn are two rivers\nof Central Germany, between Siegen and Marburg.\n\n[636] J.H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Spr\u00fcchw\u00f6rter und R\u00e4thsel\ndes Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 4.\n\n[637] Adalbert Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebr\u00e4uche und M\u00e4rchen aus Westfalen_\n(Leipsic, 1859), ii. \u00a7 319, pp. 103 _sq_.\n\n[638] A. Kuhn, _op. cit._ ii. \u00a7 523, p. 187.\n\n[639] August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Th\u00fcringen_\n(Vienna, 1878), p. 172.\n\n[640] K. Hoffmann-Krayer, _Feste und Br\u00e4uche des Schweizervolkes_\n(Zurich, 1913), pp. 108 _sq._\n\n[641] Le Baron de Reinsberg-D\u00fcringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels,\n1861-1862), ii. 326 _sq._ Compare J.W. Wolf, _Beitr\u00e4gezur deutschen\nMythologie_ (G\u00f6ttingen, 1852-1858), i. 117.\n\n[642] J.B. Thiers, _Trait\u00e9 des Superstitions_*[5] (Paris, 1741), i. 302\n_sq._; Eug\u00e8ne Cortet, _Essai sur les F\u00eates Religieuses_ (Paris, 1867),\npp. _266 sq._\n\n[643] J.B. Thiers, _Trait\u00e9 des Superstitions_ (Paris, 1679), p. 323.\n\n[644] Aubin-Louis Millin, _Voyage dans les D\u00e9partemens du Midi de la\nFrance_ (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 336 _sq._ The fire so kindled was\ncalled _caco fuech_.\n\n[645] Alfred de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 151 _sq._ The three festivals\nduring which the Yule log is expected to burn are probably Christmas Day\n(December 25th), St. Stephen's Day (December 26th), and St. John the\nEvangelist's Day (December 27th). Compare J.L.M. Nogu\u00e8s, _Les Moeurs\nd'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 45-47.\nAccording to the latter writer, in Saintonge it was the mistress of the\nhouse who blessed the Yule log, sprinkling salt and holy water on it; in\nPoitou it was the eldest male who officiated. The log was called the\n_cosse de N\u00f4_.\n\n[646] Laisnel de Salle, _Croyances et L\u00e9gendes du Centres de la France_\n(Paris, 1875), i. 1-3.\n\n[647] Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Cond\u00e9-sur-Noireau,\n1883-1887), ii. 291. The author speaks of the custom as still practised\nin out-of-the-way villages at the time when he wrote. The usage of\npreserving the remains of the Yule-log (called _tr\u00e9fouet_) in Normandy\nis mentioned also by M'elle Am\u00e9lie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque et\nMerveilleuse_ (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 294.\n\n[648] A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 256.\n\n[649] Paul S\u00e9billot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris,\n1886), pp. 217 _sq._\n\n[650] Albert Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, L\u00e9gendes et Contes des\nArdennes_ (Charleville, 1890), pp. 96 _sq._\n\n[651] See above, p. 251.\n\n[652] Lerouze, in _M\u00e9moires de l'Academie Celtique_, iii. (1809) p. 441,\nquoted by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 469 note.\n\n[653] L.F. Sauv\u00e9, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), pp.\n370 _sq._\n\n[654] Charles Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comt\u00e9_ (Paris, 1900), p.\n183.\n\n[655] A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de\nFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 302 _sq._\n\n[656] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London,\n1882-1883), i. 467.\n\n[657] J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 455; _The Denham Tracts_, edited by Dr.\nJames Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 25 _sq._\n\n[658] Herrick, _Hesperides_, \"Ceremonies for Christmasse\":\n\n\"_Come, bring with a noise,\nMy merrie merrie boyes,\nThe Christmas log to the firing_;...\n_With the last yeeres brand\nLight the neiv block_\"\n\nAnd, again, in his verses, \"Ceremonies for Candlemasse Day\":\n\n\"_Kindle the Christmas brand, and then\nTill sunne-set let it burne;\nWhich quencht, then lay it up agen,\nTill Christmas next returne.\nPart must be kept, wherewith to teend\nThe Christmas log next yeare;\nAnd where 'tis safely kept, the fiend\nCan do no mischiefe there_\"\n\nSee _The Works of Robert Herrick_ (Edinburgh, 1823), vol. ii. pp. 91,\n124. From these latter verses it seems that the Yule log was replaced on\nthe fire on Candlemas (the second of February).\n\n[659] Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_\n(London, 1883), p. 398 note 2. See also below, pp. 257, 258, as to the\nLincolnshire, Herefordshire, and Welsh practice.\n\n[660] Francis Grose, _Provincial Glossary_, Second Edition (London,\n1811), pp. 141 _sq._; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_\n(London, 1876), p. 466.\n\n[661] _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M.C.\nBalfour and edited by Northcote W. Thomas (London, 1904), p. 79.\n\n[662] _County Folk-lore,_ vol. ii. _North Riding of Yorkshire, York and\nthe Ainsty,_ collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1901), pp. 273,\n274, 275 _sq_.\n\n[663] _County Folk-lore_, vol. vi. _East Riding of Yorkshire_, collected\nand edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), pp. 23, 118, compare p. 114.\n\n[664] John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881),\np. 5.\n\n[665] _County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs.\nGutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 219. Elsewhere in\nLincolnshire the Yule-log seems to have been called the Yule-clog (_op.\ncit_. pp. 215, 216).\n\n[666] Mrs. Samuel Chandler (Sarah Whateley), quoted in _The Folk-lore\nJournal_, i. (1883) pp. 351 _sq_.\n\n[667] Miss C.S. Burne and Miss G.F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_\n(London, 1883), pp. 397 _sq_. One of the informants of these writers\nsays (_op. cit._ p. 399): \"In 1845 I was at the Vessons farmhouse, near\nthe Eastbridge Coppice (at the northern end of the Stiperstones). The\nfloor was of flags, an unusual thing in this part. Observing a sort of\nroadway through the kitchen, and the flags much broken, I enquired what\ncaused it, and was told it was from the horses' hoofs drawing in the\n'Christmas Brund.'\"\n\n[668] Mrs. Ella Mary Leather, _The Folklore of Herefordshire_ (Hereford\nand London, 1912), p. 109. Compare Miss C.S. Burne, \"Herefordshire\nNotes,\" _The Folk-lore Journal_, iv. (1886) p. 167.\n\n[669] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,\n1909), p. 28.\n\n[670] \"In earlier ages, and even so late as towards the middle of the\nnineteenth century, the Servian village organisation and the Servian\nagriculture had yet another distinguishing feature. The dangers from\nwild beasts in old time, the want of security for life and property\nduring the Turkish rule, or rather misrule, the natural difficulties of\nthe agriculture, more especially the lack in agricultural labourers,\ninduced the Servian peasants not to leave the parental house but to\nremain together on the family's property. In the same yard, within the\nsame fence, one could see around the ancestral house a number of wooden\nhuts which contained one or two rooms, and were used as sleeping places\nfor the sons, nephews and grandsons and their wives. Men and women of\nthree generations could be often seen living in that way together, and\nworking together the land which was considered as common property of the\nwhole family. This expanded family, remaining with all its branches\ntogether, and, so to say, under the same roof, working together,\ndividing the fruits of their joint labours together, this family and an\nagricultural association in one, was called _Zadrooga_ (The\nAssociation). This combination of family and agricultural association\nhas morally, economically, socially, and politically rendered very\nimportant services to the Servians. The headman or chief (called\n_Stareshina_) of such family association is generally the oldest male\nmember of the family. He is the administrator of the common property and\ndirector of work. He is the executive chairman of the association.\nGenerally he does not give any order without having consulted all the\ngrown-up male members of the _Zadroega_\" (Chedo Mijatovich, _Servia and\nthe Servians_, London, 1908, pp. 237 _sq._). As to the house-communities\nof the South Slavs see further Og. M. Utiesenovic, _Die Hauskommunionen\nder S\u00fcdslaven_ (Vienna, 1859); F. Demelic, _Le Droit Coutumier des\nSlaves M\u00e9ridionaux_ (Paris, 1876), pp. 23 _sqq._; F.S. Krauss, _Sitte\nund Brauch der S\u00fcdslaven_ (Vienna, 1885), pp. 64 _sqq._ Since Servia,\nfreed from Turkish oppression, has become a well-regulated European\nstate, with laws borrowed from the codes of France and Germany, the old\nhouse-communities have been rapidly disappearing (Chedo Mijatovich, _op.\ncit._ p. 240).\n\n[671] Chedo Mijatovich, _Servia and the Servians_ (London, 1908), pp.\n98-105.\n\n[672] Baron Rajacsich, _Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche der im\nKaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden S\u00fcdslaven_ (Vienna, 1873), pp. 122-128.\n\n[673] Baron Rajacsich, _Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebrauche der im\nKaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden S\u00fcdslaven_ (Vienna, 1873), pp. 129-131.\nThe Yule log (_badnyak_) is also known in Bulgaria, where the women\nplace it on the hearth on Christmas Eve. See A. Strausz, _Die Bulgaren_\n(Leipsic, 1898), p. 361.\n\n[674] M. Edith Durham, _High Albania_ (London, 1909), p. 129.\n\n[675] R.F. Kaindl, _Die Huzulen_ (Vienna, 1894) p. 71.\n\n[676] See above, pp. 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258.\nSimilarly at Candlemas people lighted candles in the churches, then took\nthem home and kept them, and thought that by lighting them at any time\nthey could keep off thunder, storm, and tempest. See Barnabe Googe, _The\nPopish Kingdom_ (reprinted London, 1880), p. 48 _verso_.\n\n[677] See above, pp. 248, 250, 251, 257, 258, 263.\n\n[678] See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 356 _sqq._\n\n[679] See above, pp. 248, 249, 250, 251, 264.\n\n[680] August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Th\u00fcringen_\n(Vienna, 1878), pp. 171 _sq._\n\n[681] Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Cond\u00e9-sur-Noireau,\n1883-1887), ii. 289 _sq._\n\n[682] Joseph Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of\nMan_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 124, referring to Cregeen's _Manx\nDictionary_, p. 67.\n\n[683] R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), ii.\n789-791, quoting _The Banffshire Journal_; Miss C.F. Gordon Cumming, _In\nthe Hebrides_ (London, 1883), p. 226; Miss E.J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish\nCustoms_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), pp. 223-225; Ch. Rogers, _Social\nLife in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. 244 _sq_.; _The Folk-lore\nJournal_, vii. (1889) pp. 11-14, 46. Miss Gordon Gumming and Miss\nGuthrie say that the burning of the Clavie took place upon Yule Night;\nbut this seems to be a mistake.\n\n[684] Caesar, _De bello Gallico_, vii. 23.\n\n[685] Hugh W. Young, F.S.A. Scot., _Notes on the Ramparts of Burghead as\nrevealed by recent Excavations_ (Edinburgh, 1892), pp. 3 _sqq_.; _Notes\non further Excavations at Burghead_ (Edinburgh, 1893), pp. 7 _sqq_.\nThese papers are reprinted from the _Proceedings of the Society of\nAntiquaries of Scotland_, vols. xxv., xxvii. Mr. Young concludes as\nfollows: \"It is proved that the fort at Burghead was raised by a people\nskilled in engineering, who used axes and chisels of iron; who shot\nbalista stones over 20 lbs. in weight; and whose daily food was the _bos\nlongifrons_. A people who made paved roads, and sunk artesian wells, and\nused Roman beads and pins. The riddle of Burghead should not now be very\ndifficult to read.\" (_Notes on further Excavations at Burghead_, pp. 14\n_sq_.). For a loan of Mr. Young's pamphlets I am indebted to the\nkindness of Sheriff-Substitute David.\n\n[686] Robert Cowie, M.A., M.D., _Shetland, Descriptive and Historical_\n(Aberdeen, 1871), pp. 127 _sq._; _County Folk-lore_, vol. iii. _Orkney\nand Shetland Islands_, collected by G.F. Black and edited by Northcote\nW. Thomas (London, 1903), pp. 203 _sq._ A similar celebration, known as\nUp-helly-a, takes place at Lerwick on the 29th of January, twenty-four\ndays after Old Christmas. See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 167-169. Perhaps the\npopular festival of Up-helly-a has absorbed some of the features of the\nChristmas Eve celebration.\n\n[687] Thomas Hyde, _Historia Religionis veterum Persarum_ (Oxford,\n1700), pp. 255-257.\n\n[688] On the need-fire see Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_*[4] i. 501\n_sqq._; J.W. Wolf, _Beitr\u00e4ge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (G\u00f6ttingen and\nLeipsic, 1852-1857), i. 116 _sq._, ii. 378 _sqq._; Adalbert Kuhn, _Die\nHerabkunjt des Feuers und des G\u00f6ttertranks_*[2] (G\u00fctersloh, 1886), pp.\n41 _sqq._; Walter K. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and\nFolk-lore_ (London, 1863), pp. 48 _sqq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus\nder Germanen und ihrer Nachbarst\u00e4mme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 _sqq._;\nCharles Elton, _Origins of English History_ (London, 1882), pp. 293\n_sqq._; Ulrich Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebr\u00e4uche bei Ackerbau und\nViehzucht_ (Breslau, 1884), pp. 26 _sqq._ Grimm would derive the name\n_need-_fire (German, _niedfyr, nodfyr, nodfeur, nothfeur_) from _need_\n(German, _noth_), \"necessity,\" so that the phrase need-fire would mean\n\"a forced fire.\" This is the sense attached to it in Lindenbrog's\nglossary on the capitularies, quoted by Grimm, _op. cit._ i. p. 502:\n\"_Eum ergo ignem_ nodfeur _et_ nodfyr, _quasi necessarium ignem vocant_\"\nC.L. Rochholz would connect _need_ with a verb _nieten_ \"to churn,\" so\nthat need-fire would mean \"churned fire.\" See C.L. Rochholz, _Deutscher\nGlaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 149 _sq._ This interpretion is\nconfirmed by the name _ankenmilch bohren_, which is given to the\nneed-fire in some parts of Switzerland. See E. Hoffmann-Krayer,\n\"Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen Volksbrauch,\" _Schweizerisches\nArchiv f\u00fcr Volksk\u00fcnde_, xi. (1907) p. 245.\n\n[689] \"_Illos sacrilegos ignes, quos_ niedfyr _vocant_,\" quoted by J.\nGrimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 502; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger\nVolkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 312.\n\n[690] _Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum_, No. XV., \"_De igne\nfricato de ligno i.e._ nodfyr.\" A convenient edition of the _Indiculus_\nhas been published with a commentary by H.A. Saupe (Leipsic, 1891). As\nto the date of the work, see the editor's introduction, pp. 4 _sq_.\n\n[691] Karl Lynker, _Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen_,*[2]\n(Cassel and G\u00f6ttingen, 1860), pp. 252 _sq._, quoting a letter of the\nmayor (_Schultheiss_) of Neustadt to the mayor of Marburg dated 12th\nDecember 1605.\n\n[692] Bartholom\u00e4us Carrichter, _Der Teutschen Speisskammer_ (Strasburg,\n1614), Fol. pag. 17 and 18, quoted by C.L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube\nund Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 148 _sq._\n\n[693] Joh. Reiskius, _Untersuchung des Notfeuers_ (Frankfort and\nLeipsic, 1696), p. 51, quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i.\n502 _sq._; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p.\n313.\n\n[694] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 503 _sq._\n\n[695] J. Grimm, _op. cit._ i. 504.\n\n[696] Adalbert Kuhn, _M\u00e4rkische Sagen und M\u00e4rchen_ (Berlin, 1843), p.\n369.\n\n[697] Karl Bartsch, _Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Mecklenburg_\n(Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 149-151.\n\n[698] Carl und Theodor Colshorn, _M\u00e4rchen und Sagen_ (Hanover, 1854),\npp. 234-236, from the description of an eye-witness.\n\n[699] Heinrich Pr\u00f6hle, _Harzbilder, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus dem\nHarz-gebirge_ (Leipsic, 1855), pp. 74 _sq._ The date of this need-fire\nis not given; probably it was about the middle of the nineteenth\ncentury.\n\n[700] R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), pp. 313\n_sq._\n\n[701] R. Andree, _op. cit._ pp. 314 _sq._\n\n[702] Montanus, _Die deutschen Volks-feste, Volksbr\u00e4uche und deutscher\nVolksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 127.\n\n[703] Paul Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_\n(Leipsic, 1903-1906), ii. 204.\n\n[704] Anton Peter, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus \u00d6sterreichisch-Schlesien_\n(Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 250.\n\n[705] Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen\nWestb\u00f6hmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 209.\n\n[706] C.L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii.\n149.\n\n[707] E. Hoffmann-Krayer, \"Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen\nVolksbrauch,\" _Schweizerisches Archiv fur Volkskunde_, xi. (1907) pp.\n244-246.\n\n[708] E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _op. cit._ p. 246.\n\n[709] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 505.\n\n[710] \"Old-time Survivals in remote Norwegian Dales,\" _Folk-lore_, xx.\n(1909) pp. 314, 322 _sq._ This record of Norwegian folk-lore is\ntranslated from a little work _Sundalen og \u00d6ksendalens Beskrivelse_\nwritten by Pastor Chr. Gl\u00fckstad and published at Christiania \"about\ntwenty years ago.\"\n\n[711] Prof. VI. Titelbach, \"Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven,\"\n_Inter-nationales Archiv f\u00fcr Ethnographie_, xiii. (1900) pp. 2 _sq._ We\nhave seen (above, p. 220) that in Russia the need-fire is, or used to\nbe, annually kindled on the eighteenth of August. As to the need-fire in\nBulgaria see also below, pp. 284 _sq._\n\n[712] F.S. Krauss, \"Altslavische Feuergewinnung,\" _Globus_, lix. (1891)\np. 318, quoting P. Ljiebenov, _Baba Ega_ (Trnovo, 1887), p. 44.\n\n[713] F.S. Krauss, _op. cit._ p. 319, quoting _Wisla_, vol. iv. pp. 1,\n244 _sqq._\n\n[714] F.S. Krauss, _op. cit._ p. 318, quoting Oskar Kolberg, in\n_Mazowsze_, vol. iv. p. 138.\n\n[715] F.S. Krauss, \"Slavische Feuerbohrer,\" _Globus_, lix. (1891) p.\n140. The evidence quoted by Dr. Krauss is that of his father, who often\ntold of his experience to his son.\n\n[716] Prof. Vl. Titelbach, \"Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven,\"\n_Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie_, xiii. (1900) p. 3.\n\n[717] See below, vol. ii. pp. 168 _sqq._\n\n[718] Adolf Strausz, _Die Bulgaren_ (Leipsic, 1898), pp. 194-199.\n\n[719] _Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen aus Bosnien und der Hercegovina_,\nredigirt von Moriz Hoernes, iii. (Vienna, 1895) pp. 574 _sq._\n\n[720] \"_Pro fidei divinae integritate servanda recolat lector quod, cum\nhoc anno in Laodonia pestis grassaretur in pecudes armenti, quam vocant\nusitate Lungessouth, quidam bestiales, habitu claustrales non animo,\ndocebant idiotas patriae ignem confrictione de lignis educere et\nsimulachrum Priapi statuere, et per haec bestiis succurrere_\" quoted by\nJ.M. Kemble, _The Saxons in England_ (London, 1849), i. 358 _sq._; A.\nKuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des G\u00f6ttertranks_*[2] (G\u00fctersloh,\n1886), p. 43; Ulrich Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebr\u00e4uche bei Ackerbau\nund Viehzucht_ (Breslau, 1884) p. 31.\n\n[721] W.G.M. Jones Barker, _The Three Days of Wensleydale_ (London,\n1854), pp. 90 _sq._; _County Folk-lore_, vol. ii., _North Riding of\nYorkshire, York and the Ainsty_, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch\n(London, 1901), p. 181.\n\n[722] _The Denham Tracts, a Collection of Folklore by Michael Aislabie\nDenham_, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 50.\n\n[723] Harry Speight, _Tramps and Drives in the Craven Highlands_\n(London, 1895), p. 162. Compare, _id., The Craven and North-West\nYorkshire Highlands_ (London, 1892), pp. 206 _sq._\n\n[724] J.M. Kemble, _The Saxons in England_ (London, 1849), i. 361 note.\n\n[725] E. Mackenzie, _An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive View\nof the County of Northumberland_, Second Edition (Newcastle, 1825), i.\n218, quoted in _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected\nby M.C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 45. Compare J.T. Brockett, _Glossary\nof North Country Words_, p. 147, quoted by Mrs. M.C. Balfour, _l.c.:\n\"Need-fire_ ... an ignition produced by the friction of two pieces of\ndried wood. The vulgar opinion is, that an angel strikes a tree, and\nthat the fire is thereby obtained. Need-fire, I am told, is still\nemployed in the case of cattle infected with the murrain. They were\nformerly driven through the smoke of a fire made of straw, etc.\" The\nfirst edition of Brockett's _Glossary_ was published in 1825.\n\n[726] W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folklore of the Northern Counties of\nEngland and the Borders_ (London, 1879), pp. 167 _sq._ Compare _County\nFolklore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M.C. Balfour (London,\n1904), p. 45. Stamfordham is in Northumberland. The vicar's testimony\nseems to have referred to the first half of the nineteenth century.\n\n[727] M. Martin, \"Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,\" in J.\nPinkerton's _General Collection of Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London,\n1809), p. 611. The second edition of Martin's book, which Pinkerton\nreprints, was published at London in 1716. For John Ramsay's account of\nthe need-fire, see above, pp. 147 _sq._\n\n[728] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 506, referring to Miss\nAustin as his authority.\n\n[729] As to the custom of sacrificing one of a plague-stricken herd or\nflock for the purpose of saving the rest, see below, pp. 300 _sqq._\n\n[730] John Jamieson, _Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language_,\nNew Edition, revised by J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson, iii. (Paisley,\n1880) pp. 349 _sq._, referring to \"Agr. Surv. Caithn., pp. 200, 201.\"\n\n[731] R.C. Maclagan, \"Sacred Fire,\" _Folk-lore_, ix. (1898) pp. 280\n_sq._ As to the fire-drill see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of\nKings_, ii. 207 _sqq._\n\n[732] W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular Superstitions and Festive\nAmusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1823), pp.\n214-216; Walter K. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and\nFolk-lore_ (London, 1863), pp. 53 _sq._\n\n[733] Alexander Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_ (Edinburgh, 1900), ii.\n340 _sq._\n\n[734] See above, pp. 154, 156, 157, 159 _sq._\n\n[735] _Census of India, 1911_, vol. xiv. _Punjab_, Part i. _Report_, by\nPandit Harikishan Kaul (Lahore, 1912), p. 302. So in the north-east of\nScotland \"those who were born with their feet first possessed great\npower to heal all kinds of sprains, lumbago, and rheumatism, either by\nrubbing the affected part, or by trampling on it. The chief virtue lay\nin the feet. Those who came into the world in this fashion often\nexercised their power to their own profit.\" See Rev. Walter Gregor,\n_Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881),\npp. 45 _sq._\n\n[736] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of\nScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 186. The fumigation of the byres with\njuniper is a charm against witchcraft. See J.G. Campbell, _Witchcraft\nand Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow,\n1902), p. ii. The \"quarter-ill\" is a disease of cattle, which affects\nthe animals only in one limb or quarter. \"A very gross superstition is\nobserved by some people in Angus, as an antidote against this ill. A\npiece is cut out of the thigh of one of the cattle that has died of it.\nThis they hang up within the chimney, in order to preserve the rest of\nthe cattle from being infected. It is believed that as long as it hangs\nthere, it will prevent the disease from approaching the place. It is\ntherefore carefully preserved; and in case of the family removing,\ntransported to the new farm, as one of their valuable effects. It is\nhanded down from one generation to another\" (J. Jamieson, _Etymological\nDictionary of the Scottish Language_, revised by J. Longmuir and D.\nDonaldson, iii. 575, _s.v._ \"Quarter-ill\"). See further Rev. W. Gregor,\n_op. cit._ pp. 186 _sq._: \"The forelegs of one of the animals that had\ndied were cut off a little above the knee, and hung over the fire-place\nin the kitchen. It was thought sufficient by some if they were placed\nover the door of the byre, in the 'crap o' the wa'.' Sometimes the heart\nand part of the liver and lungs were cut out, and hung over the\nfireplace instead of the fore-feet. Boiling them was at times\nsubstituted for hanging them over the hearth.\" Compare W. Henderson,\n_Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the\nBorders_ (London, 1879), p. 167: \"A curious aid to the rearing of cattle\ncame lately to the knowledge of Mr. George Walker, a gentleman of the\ncity of Durham. During an excursion of a few miles into the country, he\nobserved a sort of rigging attached to the chimney of a farmhouse well\nknown to him, and asked what it meant. The good wife told him that they\nhad experienced great difficulty that year in rearing their calves; the\npoor little creatures all died off, so they had taken the leg and thigh\nof one of the dead calves, and hung it in a chimney by a rope, since\nwhich they had not lost another calf.\" In the light of facts cited below\n(pp. 315 _sqq._) we may conjecture that the intention of cutting off the\nlegs or cutting out the heart, liver, and lungs of the animals and\nhanging them up or boiling them, is by means of homoeopathic magic to\ninflict corresponding injuries on the witch who cast the fatal spell on\nthe cattle.\n\n[737] _The Mirror_, 24th June, 1826, quoted by J. M. Kemble, _The Saxons\nin England_ (London, 1849), i. 360 note 2.\n\n[738] Leland L. Duncan, \"Fairy Beliefs and other Folklore Notes from\nCounty Leitrim,\" _Folk-lore_, vii. (1896) pp. 181 _sq._\n\n[739] (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Researches into the Early History of\nMankind_, Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 237 _sqq._; _The Magic Art\nand the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 207 _sqq._\n\n[740] For some examples of such extinctions, see _The Magic Art and the\nEvolution of Kings_, ii. 261 _sqq._, 267 _sq._; _Spirits of the Corn and\nof the Wild_, i. 311, ii. 73 _sq._; and above, pp. 124 _sq._, 132-139.\nThe reasons for extinguishing fires ceremonially appear to vary with the\noccasion. Sometimes the motive seems to be a fear of burning or at least\nsingeing a ghost, who is hovering invisible in the air; sometimes it is\napparently an idea that a fire is old and tired with burning so long,\nand that it must be relieved of the fatiguing duty by a young and\nvigorous flame.\n\n[741] Above, pp. 147, 154. The same custom appears to have been observed\nin Ireland. See above, p. 158.\n\n[742] J.N.B. Hewitt, \"New Fire among the Iroquois,\" _The American\nAnthropologist_, ii. (1889) p. 319.\n\n[743] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 507.\n\n[744] See above, p. 290.\n\n[745] William Hone, _Every-day Book_ (London, preface dated 1827), i.\ncoll. 853 _sq._ (June 24th), quoting Hitchin's _History of Cornwall_.\n\n[746] Hunt, _Romances and Drolls of the West of England_, 1st series, p.\n237, quoted by W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern\nCounties of England and the Borders_ (London, 1879), p. 149. Compare\nJ.G. Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834),\np. 184: \"Here also maybe found a solution of that recent expedient so\nignorantly practised in the neighbouring kingdom, where one having lost\nmany of his herd by witchcraft, as he concluded, burnt a living calf to\nbreak the spell and preserve the remainder.\"\n\n[747] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,\n1909), p. 23.\n\n[748] W. Henderson, _op. cit._ pp. 148 _sq._\n\n[749] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of\nScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 186.\n\n[750] R. N. Worth, _History of Devonshire_, Second Edition (London,\n1886), p. 339. The diabolical nature of the toad probably explains why\npeople in Herefordshire think that if you wear a toad's heart concealed\nabout your person you can steal to your heart's content without being\nfound out. A suspected thief was overheard boasting, \"They never catches\n_me_: and they never ooll neither. I allus wears a toad's heart round my\nneck, _I_ does.\" See Mrs. Ella M. Leather, in _Folk-lore_, xxiv. (1913)\np. 238.\n\n[751] Above, p. 301.\n\n[752] Robert Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_, Third\nEdition (London, 1881), p. 320. The writer does not say where this took\nplace; probably it was in Cornwall or Devonshire.\n\n[753] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of\nScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 184.\n\n[754] _County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk_, collected\nand edited by the Lady Eveline Camilla Gurdon (London, 1893), pp. 190\n_sq._, quoting _Some Materials for the History of Wherstead_ by F.\nBarham Zincke (Ipswich, 1887), p. 168.\n\n[755] _County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk_, p. 191,\nreferring to Murray's _Handbook for Essex, Suffolk_, etc., p. 109.\n\n[756] (Sir) John Rhys, \"Manx Folklore and Superstitions,\" _Folk-lore_,\nii. (1891) pp. 300-302; repeated in his _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and\nManx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 306 _sq._ Sir John Rhys does not doubt that the\nold woman saw, as she said, a live sheep being burnt on old May-day; but\nhe doubts whether it was done as a sacrifice. He adds: \"I have failed to\nfind anybody else in Andreas or Bride, or indeed in the whole island,\nwho will now confess to having ever heard of the sheep sacrifice on old\nMay-day.\" However, the evidence I have adduced of a custom of burnt\nsacrifice among English rustics tends to confirm the old woman's\nstatement, that the burning of the live sheep which she witnessed was\nnot an act of wanton cruelty but a sacrifice per formed for the public\ngood.\n\n[757] (Sir) John Rhys, \"Manx Folklore and Superstitions,\" _Folk-lore_,\nii. (1891) pp. 299 _sq.; id., Celtic Folklore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford,\n1901), i. 304 _sq._ We have seen that by burning the blood of a\nbewitched bullock a farmer expected to compel the witch to appear. See\nabove, p. 303.\n\n[758] Olaus Magnus, _Historia de Gentium Septentrionalium\nConditionibus_, lib xviii. cap. 47, p. 713 (ed. B\u00e2le, 1567).\n\n[759] Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii.\n473 _sq._, referring to Boguet.\n\n[760] Collin de Plancy, _op. cit._ iii. 473.\n\n[761] Felix Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris,\n1902), i. 239 _sq._ The same story is told in Upper Brittany. See Paul\nS\u00e9billot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris,\n1882), i. 292. It is a common belief that a man who has once been\ntransformed into a werewolf must remain a were-wolf for seven years\nunless blood is drawn from him in his animal shape, upon which he at\nonce recovers his human form and is delivered from the bondage and\nmisery of being a were-wolf. See F. Chapiseau, _op. cit._ i. 218-220;\nAm\u00e9lie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Paris and\nRouen, 1845), p. 233. On the belief in were-wolves in general; see W.\nHertz, _Der Werwolf_ (Stuttgart, 1862); J. Grimm, _Deutsche\nMythologie_*[4] i. 915 _sqq._; (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Primitive\nCulture_[2] (London, 1873), i. 308 _sqq._; R. Andree, _Ethnographische\nParallelen und Vergleiche_ (Stuttgart, 1878), pp. 62-80. In North\nGermany it is believed that a man can turn himself into a wolf by\ngirding himself with a strap made out of a wolf's hide. Some say that\nthe strap must have nine, others say twelve, holes and a buckle; and\nthat according to the number of the hole through which the man inserts\nthe tongue of the buckle will be the length of time of his\ntransformation. For example, if he puts the tongue of the buckle through\nthe first hole, he will be a wolf for one hour; if he puts it through\nthe second, he will be a wolf for two days; and so on, up to the last\nhole, which entails a transformation for a full year. But by putting off\nthe girdle the man can resume his human form. The time when were-wolves\nare most about is the period of the Twelve Nights between Christmas and\nEpiphany; hence cautious German farmers will not remove the dung from\nthe cattle stalls at that season for fear of attracting the were-wolves\nto the cattle. See Adalbert Kuhn, _M\u00e4rkische Sagen und M\u00e4rchen_ (Berlin,\n1843), p. 375; Ulrich Jahn, _Volkssagen aus Pommern und R\u00fcgen_ (Stettin,\n1886), pp. 384, 386, Nos. 491, 495. Down to the time of Elizabeth it was\nreported that in the county of Tipperary certain men were annually\nturned into wolves. See W. Camden, _Britain_, translated into English by\nPhilemon Holland (London, 1610), \"Ireland,\" p. 83.\n\n[762] J.J.M. de Groot, _The Religious System of China_, v. (Leyden,\n1907) p. 548.\n\n[763] A. C. Kruijt, \"De weerwolf bij de Toradja's van Midden-Celebes,\"\n_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Landen Volkenkunde,_ xli. (1899) pp.\n548-551, 557-560.\n\n[764] A.C. Kruijt, _op. cit._ pp. 552 _sq._\n\n[765] A.C. Kruijt, _op. cit._ pp. 553. For more evidence of the belief\nin were-wolves, or rather in were-animals of various sorts, particularly\nwere-tigers, in the East Indies, see J.J. M. de Groot, \"De Weertijger in\nonze Koloni\u00ebn en op het oostaziatische Vasteland,\" _Bijdragen tot de\nTaal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indi\u00eb_, xlix. (1898) pp.\n549-585; G.P. Rouffaer, \"Matjan Gadoengan,\" _Bijdragen tot de Taal-\nLand- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indi\u00eb_ 1. (1899) pp. 67-75; J.\nKnebel, \"De Weertijger op Midden-Java, den Javaan naverteld,\"\n_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xli. (1899) pp.\n568-587; L.M.F. Plate, \"Bijdrage tot de kennis van de lykanthropie bij\nde Sasaksche bevolking in Oost-Lombok,\" _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-\nLand- en Volkenkunde_, liv. (1912) pp. 458-469; G.A. Wilken, \"Het\nanimisme bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel,\" _Verspreide\nGeschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iii. 25-30.\n\n[766] Ernst Marno, _Reisen im Gebiete des blauen und weissen Nil_\n(Vienna, 1874), pp. 239 _sq._\n\n[767] Petronius, _Sat._ 61 _sq._ (pp. 40 _sq._, ed. Fr. Buecheler,*[3]\nBerlin, 1882). The Latin word for a were-wolf (_versipellis_) is\nexpressive: it means literally \"skin-shifter,\" and is equally\nappropriate whatever the particular animal may be into which the wizard\ntransforms himself. It is to be regretted that we have no such general\nterm in English. The bright moonlight which figures in some of these\nwere-wolf stories is perhaps not a mere embellishment of the tale but\nhas its own significance; for in some places it is believed that the\ntransformation of were-wolves into their bestial shape takes place\nparticularly at full moon. See A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et\nTraditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 99,\n157; J.L.M. Nogu\u00e8s, _Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_\n(Saintes, 1891), p. 141.\n\n[768] J.G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and\nIslands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 6: \"In carrying out their\nunhallowed cantrips, witches assumed various shapes. They became gulls,\ncormorants, ravens, rats, mice, black sheep, swelling waves, whales, and\nvery frequently cats and hares.\" To this list of animals into which\nwitches can turn themselves may be added horses, dogs, wolves, foxes,\npigs, owls, magpies, wild geese, ducks, serpents, toads, lizards, flies,\nwasps, and butterflies. See A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche\nVolksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 150 \u00a7 217; L. Strackerjan,\n_Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867),\ni. 327 \u00a7 220; Ulrich Jahn, _Hexenwesen und Zauberei in Pommern_\n(Breslau, 1886), p. 7. In his _Topography of Ireland_ (chap. 19), a work\ncompleted in 1187 A.D., Giraldus Cambrensis records that \"it has also\nbeen a frequent complaint, from old times as well as in the present,\nthat certain hags in Wales, as well as in Ireland and Scotland, changed\nthemselves into the shape of hares, that, sucking teats under this\ncounterfeit form, they might stealthily rob other people's milk.\" See\n_The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis_, revised and edited by\nThomas Wright (London, 1887), p. 83.\n\n[769] _The Folk-lore Journal_, iv. (1886) p. 266; Collin de Plancy,\n_Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 475; J.L.M. Nogu\u00e8s,\n_Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), p.\n141. In Scotland the cut was known as \"scoring above the breath.\" It\nconsisted of two incisions made crosswise on the witch's forehead, and\nwas \"confided in all throughout Scotland as the most powerful\ncounter-charm.\" See Sir Walter Scott, _Letters on Demonology and\nWitchcraft_ (London, 1884), p. 272; J.G. Dalyell, _The Darker\nSuperstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 531 _sq._; M.M. Banks,\n\"Scoring a Witch above the Breath,\" _Folk-lore_, xxiii. (1912) p. 490.\n\n[770] J.L.M. Nogu\u00e8s, _l.c._; L.F. Sauv\u00e9, _Le Folk-lore des\nHautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), P. 187.\n\n[771] M. Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), p. 117.\nThe wolf-skin is supposed to fall down from heaven and to return to\nheaven after seven years, if the were-wolf has not been delivered from\nher unhappy state in the meantime by the burning of the skin.\n\n[772] J.G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and\nIslands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 8; compare A. Wuttke, _Der\ndeutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 150 \u00a7 217. Some think\nthat the sixpence should be crooked. See Rev. W. Gregor, _Notes on the\nFolk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 71 _sq._,\n128; _County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch\nand Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75.\n\n[773] J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 30.\n\n[774] J.G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 33.\n\n[775] (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_*[2] (London, 1873), i.\n314.\n\n[776] Joseph Glanvil, _Saducismus Triumphatus or Full and Plain Evidence\nconcerning Witches and Apparitions_ (London, 1681), Part ii. p. 205.\n\n[777] Rev. J.C. Atkinson, _Forty Years in a Moorland Parish_ (London,\n1891), pp. 82-84.\n\n[778] _County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs.\nGutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), pp. 79, 80.\n\n[779] Leland L. Duncan, \"Folk-lore Gleanings from County Leitrim,\"\n_Folklore_, iv. (1893) pp. 183 _sq._\n\n[780] L.F. Sauv\u00e9, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p.\n176.\n\n[781] L.F. Sauv\u00e9, _op. cit._ pp. 176 _sq._\n\n[782] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Schwaben_\n(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 184 _sq._, No. 203.\n\n[783] E. Meier, _op. cit._ pp. 191 _sq._, No. 215. A similar story of\nthe shoeing of a woman in the shape of a horse is reported from Silesia.\nSee R. K\u00fchnau, _Schlesische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. pp. 27\n_sq._, No. 1380.\n\n[784] R. K\u00fchnau, _Schlesische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. pp. 23\n_sq._, No. 1375. Compare _id._, iii. pp. 28 _sq._, No. 1381.\n\n[785] See for example L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem\nHerzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. pp. 328, 329, 334, 339; W.\nvon Schulenburg, _Wendische Volkssagen und Gebr\u00e4uche aus dem Spreewald_\n(Leipsic, 1880), pp. 164, 165 _sq._; H. Pr\u00f6hle, _Harzsagen_ (Leipsic,\n1859), i. 100 _sq._ The belief in such things is said to be universal\namong the ignorant and superstitious in Germany. See A. Wuttke, _Der\ndeutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 150, \u00a7 217. In Wales,\nalso, \"the possibility of injuring or marking the witch in her assumed\nshape so deeply that the bruise remained a mark on her in her natural\nform was a common belief\" (J. Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of West and\nMid-Wales_, Aberystwyth, 1911, p. 243). For Welsh stories of this sort,\nsee J. Ceredig Davies, _l.c._; Rev. Elias Owen, _Welsh Folk-lore_\n(Oswestry and Wrexham, N.D., preface dated 1896), pp. 228 _sq._; M.\nTrevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 214.\n\n[786] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum\nOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 361, \u00a7 239.\n\n[787] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,\n1909), p. 210.\n\n[788] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum\nOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 358, \u00a7 238.\n\n[789] L. Strackerjan, _op. cit._ i. p. 360, \u00a7 238e.\n\n[790] \"The 'Witch-burning' at Clonmell,\" _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) pp.\n373-384. The account there printed is based on the reports of the\njudicial proceedings before the magistrates and the judge, which were\npublished in _The Irish Times_ for March 26th, 27th, and 28th, April\n2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 8th, and July 6th, 1895.\n\n[791] John Graham Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_\n(Edinburgh, 1834), p. 185. In this passage \"quick\" is used in the old\nsense of \"living,\" as in the phrase \"the quick and the dead.\" _Nois_ is\n\"nose,\" _hoill_ is \"hole,\" _quhilk (whilk)_ is \"which,\" and _be_ is\n\"by.\"\n\n[792] J.G. Dalyell, _op. cit._ p. 186. _Bestiall_=animals; _seik_=sick;\n_calling_=driving; _guidis_=cattle.\n\n[793] John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the\nEighteenth Century_, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh and\nLondon, 1888), ii. 446 _sq._ As to the custom of cutting off the leg of\na diseased animal and hanging it up in the house, see above, p. 296,\nnote 1.\n\n[794] (Sir) Arthur Mitchell, A.M., M.D., _On Various Superstitions in\nthe North-West Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1862), p.\n12 (reprinted from the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of\nScotland_, vol. iv.).\n\n[795] _County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs.\nGutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75, quoting Rev. R.M.\nHeanley, \"The Vikings: traces of their Folklore in Marshland,\" a paper\nread before the Viking Club, London, and printed in its _Saga-Book_,\nvol. iii. Part i. Jan. 1902. The wicken-tree is the mountain-ash or\nrowan free, which is a very efficient, or at all events a very popular\nprotective against witchcraft. See _County Folk-lore_, vol. v.\n_Lincolnshire_, pp. 26 _sq._, 98 _sq._; Mabel Peacock, \"The Folklore of\nLincolnshire,\" _Folk-lore_, xii. (1901) p. 175; J.G. Campbell,\n_Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_\n(Glasgow, 1902), pp. 11 _sq._; Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the\nFolk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 188. See\nfurther _The Scapegoat_, pp. 266 _sq_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nTHE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRE-FESTIVALS\n\n\n\u00a7 1. _On the Fire-festivals in general_\n\n\n[General resemblance of the European fire-festivals to each other.]\n\nThe foregoing survey of the popular fire-festivals of Europe suggests\nsome general observations. In the first place we can hardly help being\nstruck by the resemblance which the ceremonies bear to each other, at\nwhatever time of the year and in whatever part of Europe they are\ncelebrated. The custom of kindling great bonfires, leaping over them,\nand driving cattle through or round them would seem to have been\npractically universal throughout Europe, and the same may be said of the\nprocessions or races with blazing torches round fields, orchards,\npastures, or cattle-stalls. Less widespread are the customs of hurling\nlighted discs into the air[796] and trundling a burning wheel down\nhill;[797] for to judge by the evidence which I have collected these\nmodes of distributing the beneficial influence of the fire have been\nconfined in the main to Central Europe. The ceremonial of the Yule log\nis distinguished from that of the other fire-festivals by the privacy\nand domesticity which characterize it; but, as we have already seen,\nthis distinction may well be due simply to the rough weather of\nmidwinter, which is apt not only to render a public assembly in the open\nair disagreeable, but also at any moment to defeat the object of the\nassembly by extinguishing the all-important fire under a downpour of\nrain or a fall of snow. Apart from these local or seasonal differences,\nthe general resemblance between the fire-festivals at all times of the\nyear and in all places is tolerably close. And as the ceremonies\nthemselves resemble each other, so do the benefits which the people\nexpect to reap from them. Whether applied in the form of bonfires\nblazing at fixed points, or of torches carried about from place to\nplace, or of embers and ashes taken from the smouldering heap of fuel,\nthe fire is believed to promote the growth of the crops and the welfare\nof man and beast, either positively by stimulating them, or negatively\nby averting the dangers and calamities which threaten them from such\ncauses as thunder and lightning, conflagration, blight, mildew, vermin,\nsterility, disease, and not least of all witchcraft.\n\n[Two explanations suggested of the fire-festivals. According to W.\nMannhardt, they are charms to secure a supply of sunshine; according to\nDr. E. Westermarck they are purificatory, being intended to burn and\ndestroy all harmful influences.]\n\nBut we naturally ask, How did it come about that benefits so great and\nmanifold were supposed to be attained by means so simple? In what way\ndid people imagine that they could procure so many goods or avoid so\nmany ills by the application of fire and smoke, of embers and ashes? In\nshort, what theory underlay and prompted the practice of these customs?\nFor that the institution of the festivals was the outcome of a definite\ntrain of reasoning may be taken for granted; the view that primitive man\nacted first and invented his reasons to suit his actions afterwards, is\nnot borne out by what we know of his nearest living representatives, the\nsavage and the peasant. Two different explanations of the fire-festivals\nhave been given by modern enquirers. On the one hand it has been held\nthat they are sun-charms or magical ceremonies intended, on the\nprinciple of imitative magic, to ensure a needful supply of sunshine for\nmen, animals, and plants by kindling fires which mimic on earth the\ngreat source of light and heat in the sky. This was the view of Wilhelm\nMannhardt.[798] It may be called the solar theory. On the other hand it\nhas been maintained that the ceremonial fires have no necessary\nreference to the sun but are simply purificatory in intention, being\ndesigned to burn up and destroy all harmful influences, whether these\nare conceived in a personal form as witches, demons, and monsters, or in\nan impersonal form as a sort of pervading taint or corruption of the\nair. This is the view of Dr. Edward Westermarck[799] and apparently of\nProfessor Eugen Mogk.[800] It may be called the purificatory theory.\nObviously the two theories postulate two very different conceptions of\nthe fire which plays the principal part in the rites. On the one view,\nthe fire, like sunshine in our latitude, is a genial creative power\nwhich fosters the growth of plants and the development of all that makes\nfor health and happiness; on the other view, the fire is a fierce\ndestructive power which blasts and consumes all the noxious elements,\nwhether spiritual or material, that menace the life of men, of animals,\nand of plants. According to the one theory the fire is a stimulant,\naccording to the other it is a disinfectant; on the one view its virtue\nis positive, on the other it is negative.\n\n[The two explanations are perhaps not mutually exclusive.]\n\nYet the two explanations, different as they are in the character which\nthey attribute to the fire, are perhaps not wholly irreconcilable. If we\nassume that the fires kindled at these festivals were primarily intended\nto imitate the sun's light and heat, may we not regard the purificatory\nand disinfecting qualities, which popular opinion certainly appears to\nhave ascribed to them, as attributes derived directly from the\npurificatory and disinfecting qualities of sunshine? In this way we\nmight conclude that, while the imitation of sunshine in these ceremonies\nwas primary and original, the purification attributed to them was\nsecondary and derivative. Such a conclusion, occupying an intermediate\nposition between the two opposing theories and recognizing an element of\ntruth in both of them, was adopted by me in earlier editions of this\nwork;[801] but in the meantime Dr. Westermarck has argued powerfully in\nfavour of the purificatory theory alone, and I am bound to say that his\narguments carry great weight, and that on a fuller review of the facts\nthe balance of evidence seems to me to incline decidedly in his favour.\nHowever, the case is not so clear as to justify us in dismissing the\nsolar theory without discussion, and accordingly I propose to adduce the\nconsiderations which tell for it before proceeding to notice those which\ntell against it. A theory which had the support of so learned and\nsagacious an investigator as W. Mannhardt is entitled to a respectful\nhearing.\n\n\n\u00a7 2. _The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals_\n\n\n[Theory that the fire-festivals are charms to ensure a supply of\nsunshine.]\n\nIn an earlier part of this work we saw that savages resort to charms for\nmaking sunshine,[802] and it would be no wonder if primitive man in\nEurope did the same. Indeed, when we consider the cold and cloudy\nclimate of Europe during a great part of the year, we shall find it\nnatural that sun-charms should have played a much more prominent part\namong the superstitious practices of European peoples than among those\nof savages who live nearer the equator and who consequently are apt to\nget in the course of nature more sunshine than they want. This view of\nthe festivals may be supported by various arguments drawn partly from\ntheir dates, partly from the nature of the rites, and partly from the\ninfluence which they are believed to exert upon the weather and on\nvegetation.\n\n[Coincidence of two of the festivals with the solstices.]\n\nFirst, in regard to the dates of the festivals it can be no mere\naccident that two of the most important and widely spread of the\nfestivals are timed to coincide more or less exactly with the summer and\nwinter solstices, that is, with the two turning-points in the sun's\napparent course in the sky when he reaches respectively his highest and\nhis lowest elevation at noon. Indeed with respect to the midwinter\ncelebration of Christmas we are not left to conjecture; we know from the\nexpress testimony of the ancients that it was instituted by the church\nto supersede an old heathen festival of the birth of the sun,[803] which\nwas apparently conceived to be born again on the shortest day of the\nyear, after which his light and heat were seen to grow till they\nattained their full maturity at midsummer. Therefore it is no very far\nfetched conjecture to suppose that the Yule log, which figures so\nprominently in the popular celebration of Christmas, was originally\ndesigned to help the labouring sun of midwinter to rekindle his\nseemingly expiring light.\n\n[Attempt of the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in midwinter by\nkindling sticks.]\n\nThe idea that by lighting a log on earth you can rekindle a fire in\nheaven or fan it into a brighter blaze, naturally seems to us absurd;\nbut to the savage mind it wears a different aspect, and the institution\nof the great fire-festivals which we are considering probably dates from\na time when Europe was still sunk in savagery or at most in barbarism.\nNow it can be shewn that in order to increase the celestial source of\nheat at midwinter savages resort to a practice analogous to that of our\nYule log, if the kindling of the Yule log was originally a magical rite\nintended to rekindle the sun. In the southern hemisphere, where the\norder of the seasons is the reverse of ours, the rising of Sirius or the\nDog Star in July marks the season of the greatest cold instead of, as\nwith us, the greatest heat; and just as the civilized ancients ascribed\nthe torrid heat of midsummer to that brilliant star,[804] so the modern\nsavage of South Africa attributes to it the piercing cold of midwinter\nand seeks to mitigate its rigour by warming up the chilly star with the\ngenial heat of the sun. How he does so may be best described in his own\nwords as follows:--[805]\n\n\"The Bushmen perceive Canopus, they say to a child: 'Give me yonder\npiece of wood, that I may put the end of it in the fire, that I may\npoint it burning towards grandmother, for grandmother carries Bushman\nrice; grandmother shall make a little warmth for us; for she coldly\ncomes out; the sun[806] shall warm grandmother's eye for us.' Sirius\ncomes out; the people call out to one another: 'Sirius comes yonder;'\nthey say to one another: 'Ye must burn a stick for us towards Sirius.'\nThey say to one another: 'Who was it who saw Sirius?' One man says to\nthe other: 'Our brother saw Sirius,' The other man says to him: 'I saw\nSirius.' The other man says to him: 'I wish thee to burn a stick for us\ntowards Sirius; that the sun may shining come out for us; that Sirius\nmay not coldly come out' The other man (the one who saw Sirius) says to\nhis son: 'Bring me the small piece of wood yonder, that I may put the\nend of it in the fire, that I may burn it towards grandmother; that\ngrandmother may ascend the sky, like the other one, Canopus.' The child\nbrings him the piece of wood, he (the father) holds the end of it in the\nfire. He points it burning towards Sirius; he says that Sirius shall\ntwinkle like Canopus. He sings; he sings about Canopus, he sings about\nSirius; he points to them with fire,[807] that they may twinkle like\neach other. He throws fire at them. He covers himself up entirely\n(including his head) in his kaross and lies down. He arises, he sits\ndown; while he does not again lie down; because he feels that he has\nworked, putting Sirius into the sun's warmth; so that Sirius may warmly\ncome out. The women go out early to seek for Bushman rice; they walk,\nsunning their shoulder blades.\"[808] What the Bushmen thus do to temper\nthe cold of midwinter in the southern hemisphere by blowing up the\ncelestial fires may have been done by our rude forefathers at the\ncorresponding season in the northern hemisphere.\n\n[The burning wheels and discs of the fire-festivals may be direct\nimitations of the sun.]\n\nNot only the date of some of the festivals but the manner of their\ncelebration suggests a conscious imitation of the sun. The custom of\nrolling a burning wheel down a hill, which is often observed at these\nceremonies, might well pass for an imitation of the sun's course in the\nsky, and the imitation would be especially appropriate on Midsummer Day\nwhen the sun's annual declension begins. Indeed the custom has been thus\ninterpreted by some of those who have recorded it.[809] Not less\ngraphic, it may be said, is the mimicry of his apparent revolution by\nswinging a burning tar-barrel round a pole.[810] Again, the common\npractice of throwing fiery discs, sometimes expressly said to be shaped\nlike suns, into the air at the festivals may well be a piece of\nimitative magic. In these, as in so many cases, the magic force may be\nsupposed to take effect through mimicry or sympathy: by imitating the\ndesired result you actually produce it: by counterfeiting the sun's\nprogress through the heavens you really help the luminary to pursue his\ncelestial journey with punctuality and despatch. The name \"fire of\nheaven,\" by which the midsummer fire is sometimes popularly known,[811]\nclearly implies a consciousness of a connexion between the earthly and\nthe heavenly flame.\n\n[The wheel sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may also be an\nimitation of the sun.]\n\nAgain, the manner in which the fire appears to have been originally\nkindled on these occasions has been alleged in support of the view that\nit was intended to be a mock-sun. As some scholars have perceived, it is\nhighly probable that at the periodic festivals in former times fire was\nuniversally obtained by the friction of two pieces of wood.[812] We have\nseen that it is still so procured in some places both at the Easter and\nthe midsummer festivals, and that it is expressly said to have been\nformerly so procured at the Beltane celebration both in Scotland and\nWales.[813] But what makes it nearly certain that this was once the\ninvariable mode of kindling the fire at these periodic festivals is the\nanalogy of the need-fire, which has almost always been produced by the\nfriction of wood, and sometimes by the revolution of a wheel. It is a\nplausible conjecture that the wheel employed for this purpose represents\nthe sun,[814] and if the fires at the regularly recurring celebrations\nwere formerly produced in the same way, it might be regarded as a\nconfirmation of the view that they were originally sun-charms. In point\nof fact there is, as Kuhn has indicated,[815] some evidence to shew that\nthe midsummer fire was originally thus produced. We have seen that many\nHungarian swineherds make fire on Midsummer Eve by rotating a wheel\nround a wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and that they drive their pigs\nthrough the fire thus made.[816] At Obermedlingen, in Swabia, the \"fire\nof heaven,\" as it was called, was made on St. Vitus's Day (the fifteenth\nof June) by igniting a cartwheel, which, smeared with pitch and plaited\nwith straw, was fastened on a pole twelve feet high, the top of the pole\nbeing inserted in the nave of the wheel. This fire was made on the\nsummit of a mountain, and as the flame ascended, the people uttered a\nset form of words, with eyes and arms directed heavenward.[817] Here the\nfixing of a wheel on a pole and igniting it suggests that originally the\nfire was produced, as in the case of the need-fire, by the revolution of\na wheel. The day on which the ceremony takes place (the fifteenth of\nJune) is near midsummer; and we have seen that in Masuren fire is, or\nused to be, actually made on Midsummer Day by turning a wheel rapidly\nabout an oaken pole,[818] though it is not said that the new fire so\nobtained is used to light a bonfire. However, we must bear in mind that\nin all such cases the use of a wheel may be merely a mechanical device\nto facilitate the operation of fire-making by increasing the friction;\nit need not have any symbolical significance.\n\n[The influence which the fires are supposed to exert on the weather and\nvegetation may be thought to be due to an increase of solar heat\nproduced by the fires.]\n\nFurther, the influence which these fires, whether periodic or\noccasional, are supposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may be\ncited in support of the view that they are sun-charms, since the effects\nascribed to them resemble those of sunshine. Thus, the French belief\nthat in a rainy June the lighting of the midsummer bonfires will cause\nthe rain to cease[819] appears to assume that they can disperse the dark\nclouds and make the sun to break out in radiant glory, drying the wet\nearth and dripping trees. Similarly the use of the need-fire by Swiss\nchildren on foggy days for the purpose of clearing away the mist[820]\nmay very naturally be interpreted as a sun-charm. Again, we have seen\nthat in the Vosges Mountains the people believe that the midsummer fires\nhelp to preserve the fruits of the earth and ensure good crops.[821] In\nSweden the warmth or cold of the coming season is inferred from the\ndirection in which the flames of the May Day bonfire are blown; if they\nblow to the south, it will be warm, if to the north, cold.[822] No doubt\nat present the direction of the flames is regarded merely as an augury\nof the weather, not as a mode of influencing it. But we may be pretty\nsure that this is one of the cases in which magic has dwindled into\ndivination. So in the Eifel Mountains, when the smoke blows towards the\ncorn-fields, this is an omen that the harvest will be abundant.[823] But\nthe older view may have been not merely that the smoke and flames\nprognosticated, but that they actually produced an abundant harvest, the\nheat of the flames acting like sunshine on the corn. Perhaps it was with\nthis view that people in the Isle of Man lit fires to windward of their\nfields in order that the smoke might blow over them.[824] So in South\nAfrica, about the month of April, the Matabeles light huge fires to the\nwindward of their gardens, \"their idea being that the smoke, by passing\nover the crops, will assist the ripening of them.\"[825] Among the Zulus\nalso \"medicine is burned on a fire placed to windward of the garden, the\nfumigation which the plants in consequence receive being held to improve\nthe crop.\"[826] Again, the idea of our European peasants that the corn\nwill grow well as far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible,[827] may\nbe interpreted as a remnant of the belief in the quickening and\nfertilizing power of the bonfires. The same belief, it may be argued,\nreappears in the notion that embers taken from the bonfires and inserted\nin the fields will promote the growth of the crops,[828] and it may be\nthought to underlie the customs of sowing flax-seed in the direction in\nwhich the flames blow,[829] of mixing the ashes of the bonfire with the\nseed-corn at sowing,[830] of scattering the ashes by themselves over the\nfield to fertilize it,[831] and of incorporating a piece of the Yule log\nin the plough to make the seeds thrive.[832] The opinion that the flax\nor hemp will grow as high as the flames rise or the people leap over\nthem[833] belongs clearly to the same class of ideas. Again, at Konz, on\nthe banks of the Moselle, if the blazing wheel which was trundled down\nthe hillside reached the river without being extinguished, this was\nhailed as a proof that the vintage would be abundant. So firmly was this\nbelief held that the successful performance of the ceremony entitled the\nvillagers to levy a tax upon the owners of the neighbouring\nvineyards.[834] Here the unextinguished wheel might be taken to\nrepresent an unclouded sun, which in turn would portend an abundant\nvintage. So the waggon-load of white wine which the villagers received\nfrom the vineyards round about might pass for a payment for the sunshine\nwhich they had procured for the grapes. Similarly we saw that in the\nVale of Glamorgan a blazing wheel used to be trundled down hill on\nMidsummer Day, and that if the fire were extinguished before the wheel\nreached the foot of the hill, the people expected a bad harvest; whereas\nif the wheel kept alight all the way down and continued to blaze for a\nlong time, the farmers looked forward to heavy crops that summer.[835]\nHere, again, it is natural to suppose that the rustic mind traced a\ndirect connexion between the fire of the wheel and the fire of the sun,\non which the crops are dependent.\n\n[The effect which the bonfires are supposed to have in fertilizing\ncattle and women may also be attributed to an increase of solar heat\nproduced by the fires.]\n\nBut in popular belief the quickening and fertilizing influence of the\nbonfires is not limited to the vegetable world; it extends also to\nanimals. This plainly appears from the Irish custom of driving barren\ncattle through the midsummer fires,[836] from the French belief that the\nYule-log steeped in water helps cows to calve,[837] from the French and\nServian notion that there will be as many chickens, calves, lambs, and\nkids as there are sparks struck out of the Yule log,[838] from the\nFrench custom of putting the ashes of the bonfires in the fowls' nests\nto make the hens lay eggs,[839] and from the German practice of mixing\nthe ashes of the bonfires with the drink of cattle in order to make the\nanimals thrive.[840] Further, there are clear indications that even\nhuman fecundity is supposed to be promoted by the genial heat of the\nfires. In Morocco the people think that childless couples can obtain\noffspring by leaping over the midsummer bonfire.[841] It is an Irish\nbelief that a girl who jumps thrice over the midsummer bonfire will soon\nmarry and become the mother of many children;[842] in Flanders women\nleap over the Midsummer fires to ensure an easy delivery;[843] and in\nvarious parts of France they think that if a girl dances round nine\nfires she will be sure to marry within the year.[844] On the other hand,\nin Lechrain people say that if a young man and woman, leaping over the\nmidsummer fire together, escape unsmirched, the young woman will not\nbecome a mother within twelve months:[845] the flames have not touched\nand fertilized her. In parts of Switzerland and France the lighting of\nthe Yule log is accompanied by a prayer that the women may bear\nchildren, the she-goats bring forth kids, and the ewes drop lambs.[846]\nThe rule observed in some places that the bonfires should be kindled by\nthe person who was last married[847] seems to belong to the same class\nof ideas, whether it be that such a person is supposed to receive from,\nor to impart to, the fire a generative and fertilizing influence. The\ncommon practice of lovers leaping over the fires hand in hand may very\nwell have originated in a notion that thereby their marriage would be\nblessed with offspring; and the like motive would explain the custom\nwhich obliges couples married within the year to dance to the light of\ntorches.[848] And the scenes of profligacy which appear to have marked\nthe midsummer celebration among the Esthonians,[849] as they once marked\nthe celebration of May Day among ourselves, may have sprung, not from\nthe mere license of holiday-makers, but from a crude notion that such\norgies were justified, if not required, by some mysterious bond which\nlinked the life of man to the courses of the heavens at this\nturning-point of the year.\n\n[The custom of carrying lighted torches about the country at the\nfestival may be explained as an attempt to diffuse the Sun's heat.]\n\nAt the festivals which we are considering the custom of kindling\nbonfires is commonly associated with a custom of carrying lighted\ntorches about the fields, the orchards, the pastures, the flocks and the\nherds; and we can hardly doubt that the two customs are only two\ndifferent ways of attaining the same object, namely, the benefits which\nare believed to flow from the fire, whether it be stationary or\nportable. Accordingly if we accept the solar theory of the bonfires, we\nseem bound to apply it also to the torches; we must suppose that the\npractice of marching or running with blazing torches about the country\nis simply a means of diffusing far and wide the genial influence of the\nsunshine, of which these flickering flames are a feeble imitation. In\nfavour of this view it may be said that sometimes the torches are\ncarried about the fields for the express purpose of fertilizing\nthem,[850] and for the same purpose live coals from the bonfires are\nsometimes placed in the fields \"to prevent blight.\"[851] On the Eve of\nTwelfth Day in Normandy men, women, and children run wildly through the\nfields and orchards with lighted torches, which they wave about the\nbranches and dash against the trunks of the fruit-trees for the sake of\nburning the moss and driving away the moles and field mice. \"They\nbelieve that the ceremony fulfils the double object of exorcizing the\nvermin whose multiplication would be a real calamity, and of imparting\nfecundity to the trees, the fields, and even the cattle\"; and they\nimagine that the more the ceremony is prolonged, the greater will be the\ncrop of fruit next autumn.[852] In Bohemia they say that the corn will\ngrow as high as they fling the blazing besoms into the air.[853] Nor are\nsuch notions confined to Europe. In Corea, a few days before the New\nYear festival, the eunuchs of the palace swing burning torches, chanting\ninvocations the while, and this is supposed to ensure bountiful crops\nfor the next season.[854] The custom of trundling a burning wheel over\nthe fields, which used to be observed in Poitou for the express purpose\nof fertilizing them,[855] may be thought to embody the same idea in a\nstill more graphic form; since in this way the mock-sun itself, not\nmerely its light and heat represented by torches, is made actually to\npass over the ground which is to receive its quickening and kindly\ninfluence. Once more, the custom of carrying lighted brands round\ncattle[856] is plainly equivalent to driving the animals through the\nbonfire; and if the bonfire is a sun-charm, the torches must be so also.\n\n\n\u00a7 3. _The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals_\n\n\n[Theory that the fires at the festivals are purificatory, being intended\nto burn up all harmful things.]\n\nThus far we have considered what may be said for the theory that at the\nEuropean fire-festivals the fire is kindled as a charm to ensure an\nabundant supply of sunshine for man and beast, for corn and fruits. It\nremains to consider what may be said against this theory and in favour\nof the view that in these rites fire is employed not as a creative but\nas a cleansing agent, which purifies men, animals, and plants by burning\nup and consuming the noxious elements, whether material or spiritual,\nwhich menace all living things with disease and death.\n\n[The purificatory or destructive effect of the fires is often alleged by\nthe people who light them; the great evil against which the fire at the\nfestivals is directed appears to be witchcraft.]\n\nFirst, then, it is to be observed that the people who practise the\nfire-customs appear never to allege the solar theory in explanation of\nthem, while on the contrary they do frequently and emphatically put\nforward the purificatory theory. This is a strong argument in favour of\nthe purificatory and against the solar theory; for the popular\nexplanation of a popular custom is never to be rejected except for grave\ncause. And in the present case there seems to be no adequate reason for\nrejecting it. The conception of fire as a destructive agent, which can\nbe turned to account for the consumption of evil things, is so simple\nand obvious that it could hardly escape the minds even of the rude\npeasantry with whom these festivals originated. On the other hand the\nconception of fire as an emanation of the sun, or at all events as\nlinked to it by a bond of physical sympathy, is far less simple and\nobvious; and though the use of fire as a charm to produce sunshine\nappears to be undeniable,[857] nevertheless in attempting to explain\npopular customs we should never have recourse to a more recondite idea\nwhen a simpler one lies to hand and is supported by the explicit\ntestimony of the people themselves. Now in the case of the\nfire-festivals the destructive aspect of fire is one upon which the\npeople dwell again and again; and it is highly significant that the\ngreat evil against which the fire is directed appears to be witchcraft.\nAgain and again we are told that the fires are intended to burn or repel\nthe witches;[858] and the intention is sometimes graphically expressed\nby burning an effigy of a witch in the fire.[859] Hence, when we\nremember the great hold which the dread of witchcraft has had on the\npopular European mind in all ages, we may suspect that the primary\nintention of all these fire-festivals was simply to destroy or at all\nevents get rid of the witches, who were regarded as the causes of nearly\nall the misfortunes and calamities that befall men, their cattle, and\ntheir crops.[860]\n\n[Amongst the evils for which the fire-festivals are deemed remedies the\nforemost is cattle-disease, and cattle-disease is often supposed to be\nan effect of witchcraft.]\n\nThis suspicion is confirmed when we examine the evils for which the\nbonfires and torches were supposed to provide a remedy. Foremost,\nperhaps, among these evils we may reckon the diseases of cattle; and of\nall the ills that witches are believed to work there is probably none\nwhich is so constantly insisted on as the harm they do to the herds,\nparticularly by stealing the milk from the cows.[861] Now it is\nsignificant that the need-fire, which may perhaps be regarded as the\nparent of the periodic fire-festivals, is kindled above all as a remedy\nfor a murrain or other disease of cattle; and the circumstance suggests,\nwhat on general grounds seems probable, that the custom of kindling the\nneed-fire goes back to a time when the ancestors of the European peoples\nsubsisted chiefly on the products of their herds, and when agriculture\nas yet played a subordinate part in their lives. Witches and wolves are\nthe two great foes still dreaded by the herdsman in many parts of\nEurope;[862] and we need not wonder that he should resort to fire as a\npowerful means of banning them both. Among Slavonic peoples it appears\nthat the foes whom the need-fire is designed to combat are not so much\nliving witches as vampyres and other evil spirits,[863] and the\nceremony, as we saw, aims rather at repelling these baleful beings than\nat actually consuming them in the flames. But for our present purpose\nthese distinctions are immaterial. The important thing to observe is\nthat among the Slavs the need-fire, which is probably the original of\nall the ceremonial fires now under consideration, is not a sun-charm,\nbut clearly and unmistakably nothing but a means of protecting man and\nbeast against the attacks of maleficent creatures, whom the peasant\nthinks to burn or scare by the heat of the fire, just as he might burn\nor scare wild animals.\n\n[Again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, thunder, lightning, and\nother maladies, all of which are attributed to the maleficent arts of\nwitches.]\n\nAgain, the bonfires are often supposed to protect the fields against\nhail[864] and the homestead against thunder and lightning.[865] But both\nhail and thunderstorms are frequently thought to be caused by\nwitches;[866] hence the fire which bans the witches necessarily serves\nat the same time as a talisman against hail, thunder, and lightning.\nFurther, brands taken from the bonfires are commonly kept in the houses\nto guard them against conflagration;[867] and though this may perhaps be\ndone on the principle of homoeopathic magic, one fire being thought to\nact as a preventive of another, it is also possible that the intention\nmay be to keep witch-incendiaries at bay. Again, people leap over the\nbonfires as a preventive of colic,[868] and look at the flames steadily\nin order to preserve their eyes in good health;[869] and both colic and\nsore eyes are in Germany, and probably elsewhere, set down to the\nmachinations of witches.[870] Once more, to leap over the Midsummer\nfires or to circumambulate them is thought to prevent a person from\nfeeling pains in his back at reaping;[871] and in Germany such pains are\ncalled \"witch-shots\" and ascribed to witchcraft.[872]\n\n[The burning wheels rolled down hills and the burning discs and brooms\nthrown into the air may be intended to burn the invisible witches.]\n\nBut if the bonfires and torches of the fire-festivals are to be regarded\nprimarily as weapons directed against witches and wizards, it becomes\nprobable that the same explanation applies not only to the flaming discs\nwhich are hurled into the air, but also to the burning wheels which are\nrolled down hill on these occasions; discs and wheels, we may suppose,\nare alike intended to burn the witches who hover invisible in the air or\nhaunt unseen the fields, the orchards, and the vineyards on the\nhillside.[873] Certainly witches are constantly thought to ride through\nthe air on broomsticks or other equally convenient vehicles; and if they\ndo so, how can you get at them so effectually as by hurling lighted\nmissiles, whether discs, torches, or besoms, after them as they flit\npast overhead in the gloom? The South Slavonian peasant believes that\nwitches ride in the dark hail-clouds; so he shoots at the clouds to\nbring down the hags, while he curses them, saying, \"Curse, curse\nHerodias, thy mother is a heathen, damned of God and fettered through\nthe Redeemer's blood.\" Also he brings out a pot of glowing charcoal on\nwhich he has thrown holy oil, laurel leaves, and wormwood to make a\nsmoke. The fumes are supposed to ascend to the clouds and stupefy the\nwitches, so that they tumble down to earth. And in order that they may\nnot fall soft, but may hurt themselves very much, the yokel hastily\nbrings out a chair and tilts it bottom up so that the witch in falling\nmay break her legs on the legs of the chair. Worse than that, he cruelly\nlays scythes, bill-hooks and other formidable weapons edge upwards so as\nto cut and mangle the poor wretches when they drop plump upon them from\nthe clouds.[874]\n\n[On this view the fertility supposed to follow the use of fire results\nindirectly from breaking the spells of witches.]\n\nOn this view the fertility supposed to follow the application of fire in\nthe form of bonfires, torches, discs, rolling wheels, and so forth, is\nnot conceived as resulting directly from an increase of solar heat which\nthe fire has magically generated; it is merely an indirect result\nobtained by freeing the reproductive powers of plants and animals from\nthe fatal obstruction of witchcraft. And what is true of the\nreproduction of plants and animals may hold good also of the fertility\nof the human sexes. We have seen that the bonfires are supposed to\npromote marriage and to procure offspring for childless couples. This\nhappy effect need not flow directly from any quickening or fertilizing\nenergy in the fire; it may follow indirectly from the power of the fire\nto remove those obstacles which the spells of witches and wizards\nnotoriously present to the union of man and wife.[875]\n\n[On the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructive intention of\nthe fire-festivals seems the more probable.]\n\nOn the whole, then, the theory of the purificatory virtue of the\nceremonial fires appears more probable and more in accordance with the\nevidence than the opposing theory of their connexion with the sun. But\nEurope is not the only part of the world where ceremonies of this sort\nhave been performed; elsewhere the passage through the flames or smoke\nor over the glowing embers of a bonfire, which is the central feature of\nmost of the rites, has been employed as a cure or a preventive of\nvarious ills. We have seen that the midsummer ritual of fire in Morocco\nis practically identical with that of our European peasantry; and\ncustoms more or less similar have been observed by many races in various\nparts of the world. A consideration of some of them may help us to\ndecide between the conflicting claims of the two rival theories, which\nexplain the ceremonies as sun-charms or purifications respectively.\n\nNotes:\n\n[796] Above, pp. 116 _sq._, 119, 143, 165, 166, 168 _sq._, 172.\n\n[797] Above, pp. 116, 117 _sq._, 119, 141, 143, 161, 162 _sq._, 163\n_sq._, 173, 191, 201.\n\n[798] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer\nNachbarst\u00e4mme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 521 _sqq._\n\n[799] E. Westermarck, \"Midsummer Customs in Morocco,\" _Folk-lore_, xvi.\n(1905) pp. 44 _sqq.; id., The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_\n(London, 1906-1908), i. 56; _id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with\nAgriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in\nMorocco_ (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 93-102.\n\n[800] E. Mogk, \"Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche im Kreislauf des Jahres,\" in R.\nWuttke's _S\u00e4chsische Volkskunde_*[2] (Dresden, 1901), pp. 310 _sq._\n\n[801] _The Golden Bough_, Second Edition (London, 1900), iii. 312: \"The\ncustom of leaping over the fire and driving cattle through it may be\nintended, on the one hand, to secure for man and beast a share of the\nvital energy of the sun, and, on the other hand, to purge them of all\nevil influences; for to the primitive mind fire is the most powerful of\nall purificatory agents\"; and again, _id._ iii. 314: \"It is quite\npossible that in these customs the idea of the quickening power of fire\nmay be combined with the conception of it as a purgative agent for the\nexpulsion or destruction of evil beings, such as witches and the vermin\nthat destroy the fruits of the earth. Certainly the fires are often\ninterpreted in the latter way by the persons who light them; and this\npurgative use of the element comes out very prominently, as we have\nseen, in the general expulsion of demons from towns and villages. But in\nthe present class of cases this aspect of fire may be secondary, if\nindeed it is more than a later misinterpretation of the custom.\"\n\n[802] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 311 _sqq_.\n\n[803] See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 254 _sqq_.\n\n[804] Manilius, _Astronom_. v. 206 _sqq._:\n\n\"_Cum vero in vastos surget Nemeaeus\n     hiatus,\n   Exoriturque Canis, latratque Canicula\n     flammas\n   Et rabit igne suo geminatque incendia\n     solis,\n   Qua subdente facem terris radiosque\n     movente_\" etc.\n\nPliny, _Naturalis Historic_ xviii. 269 _sq_.: \"_Exoritur dein post\ntriduum fere ubique confessum inter omnes sidus ingens quod canis ortum\nvocamus, sole partem primam leonis ingresso. Hoc fit post solstitium\nXXIII. die. Sentiunt id maria et terrae, multae vero et ferae, ut suis\nlocis diximus. Neque est minor ei veneratio quam descriptis in deos\nstellis accendique solem et magnam aestus obtinet causam_.\"\n\n[805] _Specimens of Bushman Folklore_ collected by the late W.H.I.\nBleek, Ph.D., and L.C. Lloyd (London, 1911), pp. 339, 341. In quoting\nthe passage I have omitted the brackets which the editors print for the\npurpose of indicating the words which are implied, but not expressed, in\nthe original Bushman text.\n\n[806] \"The sun is a little warm, when this star appears in winter\"\n(Editors of _Specimens of Bushman Folklore_).\n\n[807] \"With the stick that he had held in the fire, moving it up and\ndown quickly\" (Editors).\n\n[808] \"They take one arm out of the kaross, thereby exposing one\nshoulder blade to the sun\" (Editors).\n\n[809] See above, pp. 161, 162 _sq._ On the wheel as an emblem of the\nsun, see J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] ii. 585; A. Kuhn, _Die\nHerabkunft des Feuers und des G\u00f6ttertranks_*[2] (G\u00fctersloh, 1886), pp.\n45 _sqq._; H. Gaidoz, \"Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la\nroue,\" _Revue Arch\u00e9ologique_, iii. S\u00e9rie, iv. (1884) pp. 14 _sqq._;\nWilliam Simpson, _The Buddhist Praying Wheel_ (London, 1896), pp. 87\n_sqq._ It is a popular Armenian idea that \"the body of the sun has the\nshape of the wheel of a water-mill; it revolves and moves forward. As\ndrops of water sputter from the mill-wheel, so sunbeams shoot out from\nthe spokes of the sun-wheel\" (M. Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_,\nLeipsic, 1899, p. 41). In the old Mexican picture-books the usual\nrepresentation of the sun is \"a wheel, often brilliant with many\ncolours, the rays of which are so many bloodstained tongues, by means of\nwhich the Sun receives his nourishment\" (E.J. Payne, _History of the New\nWorld called America_, Oxford, 1892, i. 521).\n\n[810] Above, p. 169.\n\n[811] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Schwaben_\n(Stuttgart, 1852), p. 225; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_\n(Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 240; Anton Birlinger, _Volksth\u00fcmliches aus\nSchwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 57, 97; W. Mannhardt,\n_Baumkultus_, p. 510.\n\n[812] Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 521; J.W. Wolf,\n_Beitr\u00e4ge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Gottingen und Leipsic, 1852-1857),\nii. 389; Adalbert Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des\nG\u00f6ttertranks_*[2] (G\u00fctersloh, 1886), pp. 41 _sq._, 47; W. Mannhardt,\n_Baumkultus_, p. 521. Lindenbrog in his Glossary on the Capitularies\n(quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 502) expressly says:\n\"The rustics in many parts of Germany, particularly on the festival of\nSt. John the Baptist, wrench a stake from a fence, wind a rope round it,\nand pull it to and fro till it catches fire. This fire they carefully\nfeed with straw and dry sticks and scatter the ashes over the vegetable\ngardens, foolishly and superstitiously imagining that in this way the\ncaterpillar can be kept off. They call such a fire _nodfeur_ or\n_nodfyr_, that is to say need-fire.\"\n\n[813] Above, pp. 144 _sq._, 147 _sq._, 155, 169 _sq._, 175, 177, 179.\n\n[814] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 509; J.W. Wolf, _Beitr\u00e4ge\nzur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 117; A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des\nFeuers_,*[2] pp. 47 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 521; W.E.\nKelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London,\n1863), p. 49.\n\n[815] A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des G\u00f6ttertranks_*[2]\n(G\u00fctersloh, 1886), p. 47.\n\n[816] Above, p. 179.\n\n[817] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),\nii. 240, \u00a7 443.\n\n[818] Above, p. 177.\n\n[819] Above, pp. 187 _sq._\n\n[820] Above, pp. 279 _sq._\n\n[821] Above, p. 188.\n\n[822] Above, p. 159.\n\n[823] Above, p. 116.\n\n[824] Above, p. 201.\n\n[825] L. Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ (London, 1898), pp. 160\n_sq._\n\n[826] Rev. J. Shooter, _The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country_\n(London, 1857), p. 18.\n\n[827] Above, pp. 140, 142.\n\n[828] Above, pp. 119, 165, 166, 173, 203.\n\n[829] Above, p. 140.\n\n[830] Above, p. 121.\n\n[831] Above, pp. 141, 170, 190, 203, 248, 250, 264.\n\n[832] Above, p. 251.\n\n[833] Above, pp. 119, 165, 166, 168, 173, 174.\n\n[834] Above, pp. 118, 163 _sq._\n\n[835] Above, p. 201.\n\n[836] Above, p. 203.\n\n[837] Above, p. 250.\n\n[838] Above, pp. 251, 262, 263, 264.\n\n[839] Above, p. 112.\n\n[840] Above, p. 141.\n\n[841] Above, p. 214.\n\n[842] Above, p. 204.\n\n[843] Above, p. 194.\n\n[844] Above, p. 185, 189; compare p. 174.\n\n[845] Above, p. 166.\n\n[846] Above, pp. 249, 250.\n\n[847] Above, pp. 107, 109, 111, 119; compare pp. 116, 192, 193.\n\n[848] Above, p. 115.\n\n[849] Above, p. 180.\n\n[850] Above, pp. 113, 142, 170, 233. The torches of Demeter, which\nfigure so largely in her myth and on her monuments, are perhaps to be\nexplained by this custom. See _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i.\n57. W. Mannhardt thought (_Baumkultus_, p. 536) that the torches in the\nmodern European customs are imitations of lightning. At some of their\nceremonies the Indians of North-West America imitate lightning by means\nof pitch-wood torches which are flashed through the roof of the house.\nSee J.G. Swan, quoted by Franz Boas, \"The Social Organization and the\nSecret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,\" _Report of the United States\nNational Museum for 1895_ (Washington, 1897), p. 639.\n\n[851] Above, p. 203.\n\n[852] Am\u00e9lie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Paris\nand Rouen, 1845), pp. 295 _sq._; Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage\nNormand_ (Cond\u00e9-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 126-129. See _The\nScapegoat_, pp. 316 _sq._\n\n[853] Br. Jel\u00ednek, \"Materialen zur Vorgeschichte mid Volkskunde\nB\u00f6hmens,\" _Mittheilungen der anthropolog. Gesellschaft in Wien_ xxi.\n(1891) p. 13 note.\n\n[854] Mrs. Bishop, _Korea and her Neighbours_ (London, 1898), ii. 56\n_sq._\n\n[855] Above, pp. 190 _sq._\n\n[856] Above, pp. 178, 205, 206.\n\n[857] See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 311 _sqq._\n\n[858] Above, pp. 108, 109, 116, 118 _sq._, 121, 148, 154, 156, 157, 159,\n160, 170, 171, 174, 175, 176, 180, 183, 185, 188, 232 _sq._, 245, 252,\n253, 280, 292, 293, 295, 297. For more evidence of the use of fire to\nburn or expel witches on certain days of the year, see _The Scapegoat_\npp. 158 _sqq._ Less often the fires are thought to burn or repel evil\nspirits and vampyres. See above, pp. 146, 170, 172, 202, 252, 282, 285.\nSometimes the purpose of the fires is to drive away dragons (above, pp.\n161, 195).\n\n[859] Above, pp. 107, 116, 118 _sq._, 159.\n\n[860] \"In short, of all the ills incident to the life of man, none are\nso formidable as witchcraft, before the combined influence of which, to\nuse the language of an honest man who had himself severely suffered from\nits effects, the great laird of Grant himself could not stand them if\nthey should fairly yoke upon him\" (W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular\nSuperstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_,\nEdinburgh, 1823, pp. 202 _sq._). \"Every misfortune and calamity that\ntook place in the parish, such as ill-health, the death of friends, the\nloss of stock, and the failure of crops; yea to such a length did they\ncarry their superstition, that even the inclemency of the seasons, were\nattributed to the influence of certain old women who were supposed to be\nin league, and had dealings with the Devil. These the common people\nthought had the power and too often the inclination to injure their\nproperty, and torment their persons\" (_County Folklore_, vol. v.\n_Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock, London, 1908,\np. 76). \"The county of Salop is no exception to the rule of\nsuperstition. The late vicar of a parish on the Clee Hills, startled to\nfind that his parishioners still believed in witchcraft, once proposed\nto preach a sermon against it, but he was dissuaded from doing so by the\nparish schoolmaster, who assured him that the belief was so deeply\nrooted in the people's minds that he would be more likely to alienate\nthem from the Church than to weaken their faith in witchcraft\" (Miss\nC.F. Burne and Miss G.F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, London, 1883,\np. 145). \"Wherever a man or any living creature falls sick, or a\nmisfortune of any kind happens, without any natural cause being\ndiscoverable or rather lying on the surface, there in all probability\nwitchcraft is at work. The sudden stiffness in the small of the back,\nwhich few people can account for at the time, is therefore called a\n'witch-shot' and is really ascribed to witchcraft\" (L. Strackerjan,\n_Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, Oldenburg, 1867, i.\np. 298, \u00a7 209). What Sir Walter Scott said less than a hundred years ago\nis probably still true: \"The remains of the superstition sometimes\noccur; there can be no doubt that the vulgar are still addicted to the\ncustom of scoring above the breath (as it is termed), and other\ncounter-spells, evincing that the belief in witchcraft is only asleep,\nand might in remote corners be again awakened to deeds of blood\"\n(_Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft_, London, 1884, p. 272). Compare\nL. Strackerjan, _op. cit._ i. p. 340, \u00a7 221: \"The great power, the\nmalicious wickedness of the witches, cause them to be feared and hated\nby everybody. The hatred goes so far that still at the present day you\nmay hear it said right out that it is a pity burning has gone out of\nfashion, for the evil crew deserve nothing else. Perhaps the hatred\nmight find vent yet more openly, if the fear were not so great.\"\n\n[861] For some evidence, see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_;\nii. 52-55, 330 _sqq._ It is a popular belief, universally diffused in\nGermany, that cattle-plagues are caused by witches (A. Wuttke, _Der\ndeutsche Volksaberglaube_,*[2] Berlin, 1869, p. 149 \u00a7 216). The Scotch\nHighlanders thought that a witch could destroy the whole of a farmer's\nlive stock by hiding a small bag, stuffed with charms, in a cleft of the\nstable or byre (W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular superstitions and Festive\nAmusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 201\n_sq._).\n\n[862] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 330 _sqq._\n\n[863] Above, pp. 282, 284 _sq._\n\n[864] Above, pp. 118, 121, 144, 145, 176.\n\n[865] Above, pp. 121, 122, 124, 140 _sq._, 145, 146, 174, 176, 183, 184,\n187, 188, 190, 191, 192, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 258.\n\n[866] J. Grimm, _Deutsch Mythologie_,*[4] ii. 908 _sqq._; J.V. Grohmann,\n_Aberglauben und Gebr\u00e4uche aus B\u00f6hmen und M\u00e4hren_ (Prague and Leipsic,\n1864), p. 32 \u00a7 182; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2]\n(Berlin, 1869), pp. 149 _sq._, \u00a7216; J. Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of\nWest and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 230; Alois John, _Sitte,\nBranch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westb\u00f6hmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 202.\n\n[867] Above, pp. 108, 121, 140, 146, 165, 183, 188, 196, 250, 255, 256,\n258.\n\n[868] Above, pp. 107, 195 _sq._\n\n[869] Above, pp. 162, 163, 166, 171, 174.\n\n[870] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p.\n351, \u00a7 395.\n\n[871] Above, pp. 165, 168, 189, compare 190.\n\n[872] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p.\n351, \u00a7 395; L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum\nOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 298, \u00a7 209. See above, p. 343 note.\n\n[873] In the Ammerland, a district of Oldenburg, you may sometimes see\nan old cart-wheel fixed over the principal door or on the gable of a\nhouse; it serves as a charm against witchcraft and is especially\nintended to protect the cattle as they are driven out and in. See L.\nStrackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_\n(Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 357, \u00a7 236. Can this use of a wheel as a\ntalisman against witchcraft be derived from the practice of rolling\nfiery wheels down hill for a similar purpose?\n\n[874] F.S. Krauss, _Volksglaube und religi\u00f6ser Brauch der S\u00fcdslaven_\n(M\u00fcnster i. W., 1890), pp. 118 _sq._\n\n[875] In German such spells are called _Nestelkn\u00fcpfen_; in French,\n_nouer l'aiguilette_. See J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] ii. 897,\n983; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p.\n252 \u00a7 396; K. Doutt\u00e9, _Magic et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_\n(Algiers, 1908), pp. 87 _sq._, 294 _sqq._; J.L.M. Nogu\u00e8s, _Les Moeurs\nd'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 171 _sq._","title":"Balder the Beautiful, Volume I.: A Study in Magic and Religion: the Golden Bough, Part VII., The; Fire-Festivals of Europe and the Doctrine of the External Soul","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":161946}