A STUDY IN MAGIC AND RELIGION

_THIRD EDITION_

PART VII

BALDER THE BEAUTIFUL

VOL. I

BALDERTHE BEAUTIFUL

THE FIRE-FESTIVALS OF EUROPEAND THE DOCTRINE OF THE EXTERNAL SOUL

J. G. FRAZER, D. C. L. , LL. D. , Litt. D. 

FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGEPROFESSOR OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL. 

IN TWO VOLUMESVOL. I

1913

PREFACE

In this concluding part of _The Golden Bough_ I have discussed theproblem which gives its title to the whole work. If I am right, theGolden Bough over which the King of the Wood, Diana's priest at Aricia, kept watch and ward was no other than a branch of mistletoe growing onan oak within the sacred grove; and as the plucking of the bough was anecessary prelude to the slaughter of the priest, I have been led toinstitute a parallel between the King of the Wood at Nemi and the Norsegod Balder, who was worshipped in a sacred grove beside the beautifulSogne fiord of Norway and was said to have perished by a stroke ofmistletoe, which alone of all things on earth or in heaven could woundhim. On the theory here suggested both Balder and the King of the Woodpersonified in a sense the sacred oak of our Aryan forefathers, and bothhad deposited their lives or souls for safety in the parasite whichsometimes, though rarely, is found growing on an oak and by the veryrarity of its appearance excites the wonder and stimulates the devotionof ignorant men. Though I am now less than ever disposed to lay weighton the analogy between the Italian priest and the Norse god, I haveallowed it to stand because it furnishes me with a pretext fordiscussing not only the general question of the external soul in popularsuperstition, but also the fire-festivals of Europe, since fire played apart both in the myth of Balder and in the ritual of the Arician grove. Thus Balder the Beautiful in my hands is little more than astalking-horse to carry two heavy pack-loads of facts. And what is trueof Balder applies equally to the priest of Nemi himself, the nominalhero of the long tragedy of human folly and suffering which has unrolleditself before the readers of these volumes, and on which the curtain isnow about to fall. He, too, for all the quaint garb he wears and thegravity with which he stalks across the stage, is merely a puppet, andit is time to unmask him before laying him up in the box. 

To drop metaphor, while nominally investigating a particular problem ofancient mythology, I have really been discussing questions of moregeneral interest which concern the gradual evolution of human thoughtfrom savagery to civilization. The enquiry is beset with difficulties ofmany kinds, for the record of man's mental development is even moreimperfect than the record of his physical development, and it is harderto read, not only by reason of the incomparably more subtle and complexnature of the subject, but because the reader's eyes are apt to bedimmed by thick mists of passion and prejudice, which cloud in a farless degree the fields of comparative anatomy and geology. Mycontribution to the history of the human mind consists of little morethan a rough and purely provisional classification of facts gatheredalmost entirely from printed sources. If there is one general conclusionwhich seems to emerge from the mass of particulars, I venture to thinkthat it is the essential similarity in the working of the less developedhuman mind among all races, which corresponds to the essentialsimilarity in their bodily frame revealed by comparative anatomy. Butwhile this general mental similarity may, I believe, be taken asestablished, we must always be on our guard against tracing to it amultitude of particular resemblances which may be and often are due tosimple diffusion, since nothing is more certain than that the variousraces of men have borrowed from each other many of their arts andcrafts, their ideas, customs, and institutions. To sift out the elementsof culture which a race has independently evolved and to distinguishthem accurately from those which it has derived from other races is atask of extreme difficulty and delicacy, which promises to occupystudents of man for a long time to come; indeed so complex are the factsand so imperfect in most cases is the historical record that it may bedoubted whether in regard to many of the lower races we shall everarrive at more than probable conjectures. 

Since the last edition of _The Golden Bough_ was published some thirteenyears ago, I have seen reason to change my views on several mattersdiscussed in this concluding part of the work, and though I have calledattention to these changes in the text, it may be well for the sake ofclearness to recapitulate them here. 

In the first place, the arguments of Dr. Edward Westermarck havesatisfied me that the solar theory of the European fire-festivals, whichI accepted from W. Mannhardt, is very slightly, if at all, supported bythe evidence and is probably erroneous. The true explanation of thefestivals I now believe to be the one advocated by Dr. Westermarckhimself, namely that they are purificatory in intention, the fire beingdesigned not, as I formerly held, to reinforce the sun's light and heatby sympathetic magic, but merely to burn or repel the noxious things, whether conceived as material or spiritual, which threaten the life ofman, of animals, and of plants. This aspect of the fire-festivals hadnot wholly escaped me in former editions; I pointed it out explicitly, but, biassed perhaps by the great authority of Mannhardt, I treated itas secondary and subordinate instead of primary and dominant. Out ofdeference to Mannhardt, for whose work I entertain the highest respect, and because the evidence for the purificatory theory of the fires isperhaps not quite conclusive, I have in this edition repeated and evenreinforced the arguments for the solar theory of the festivals, so thatthe reader may see for himself what can be said on both sides of thequestion and may draw his own conclusion; but for my part I cannot butthink that the arguments for the purificatory theory far outweigh thearguments for the solar theory. Dr. Westermarck based his criticismslargely on his own observations of the Mohammedan fire-festivals ofMorocco, which present a remarkable resemblance to those of ChristianEurope, though there seems no reason to assume that herein Africa hasborrowed from Europe or Europe from Africa. So far as Europe isconcerned, the evidence tends strongly to shew that the grand evil whichthe festivals aimed at combating was witchcraft, and that they wereconceived to attain their end by actually burning the witches, whethervisible or invisible, in the flames. If that was so, the wide prevalenceand the immense popularity of the fire-festivals provides us with ameasure for estimating the extent of the hold which the belief inwitchcraft had on the European mind before the rise of Christianity orrather of rationalism; for Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant, accepted the old belief and enforced it in the old way by the faggot andthe stake. It was not until human reason at last awoke after the longslumber of the Middle Ages that this dreadful obsession gradually passedaway like a dark cloud from the intellectual horizon of Europe. 

Yet we should deceive ourselves if we imagined that the belief inwitchcraft is even now dead in the mass of the people; on the contrarythere is ample evidence to show that it only hibernates under thechilling influence of rationalism, and that it would start into activelife if that influence were ever seriously relaxed. The truth seems tobe that to this day the peasant remains a pagan and savage at heart; hiscivilization is merely a thin veneer which the hard knocks of life soonabrade, exposing the solid core of paganism and savagery below. Thedanger created by a bottomless layer of ignorance and superstition underthe crust of civilized society is lessened, not only by the naturaltorpidity and inertia of the bucolic mind, but also by the progressivedecrease of the rural as compared with the urban population in modernstates; for I believe it will be found that the artisans who congregatein towns are far less retentive of primitive modes of thought than theirrustic brethren. In every age cities have been the centres and as itwere the lighthouses from which ideas radiate into the surroundingdarkness, kindled by the friction of mind with mind in the crowdedhaunts of men; and it is natural that at these beacons of intellectuallight all should partake in some measure of the general illumination. Nodoubt the mental ferment and unrest of great cities have their dark aswell as their bright side; but among the evils to be apprehended fromthem the chances of a pagan revival need hardly be reckoned. 

Another point on which I have changed my mind is the nature of the greatAryan god whom the Romans called Jupiter and the Greeks Zeus. Whereas Iformerly argued that he was primarily a personification of the sacredoak and only in the second place a personification of the thunderingsky, I now invert the order of his divine functions and believe that hewas a sky-god before he came to be associated with the oak. In fact, Irevert to the traditional view of Jupiter, recant my heresy, and amgathered like a lost sheep into the fold of mythological orthodoxy. Thegood shepherd who has brought me back is my friend Mr. W. Warde Fowler. He has removed the stone over which I stumbled in the wilderness byexplaining in a simple and natural way how a god of the thundering skymight easily come to be afterwards associated with the oak. Theexplanation turns on the great frequency with which, as statisticsprove, the oak is struck by lightning beyond any other tree of the woodin Europe. To our rude forefathers, who dwelt in the gloomy depths ofthe primaeval forest, it might well seem that the riven and blackenedoaks must indeed be favourites of the sky-god, who so often descended onthem from the murky cloud in a flash of lightning and a crash ofthunder. 

This change of view as to the great Aryan god necessarily affects myinterpretation of the King of the Wood, the priest of Diana at Aricia, if I may take that discarded puppet out of the box again for a moment. On my theory the priest represented Jupiter in the flesh, andaccordingly, if Jupiter was primarily a sky-god, his priest cannot havebeen a mere incarnation of the sacred oak, but must, like the deitywhose commission he bore, have been invested in the imagination of hisworshippers with the power of overcasting the heaven with clouds andeliciting storms of thunder and rain from the celestial vault. Theattribution of weather-making powers to kings or priests is very commonin primitive society, and is indeed one of the principal levers by whichsuch personages raise themselves to a position of superiority abovetheir fellows. There is therefore no improbability in the suppositionthat as a representative of Jupiter the priest of Diana enjoyed thisreputation, though positive evidence of it appears to be lacking. 

Lastly, in the present edition I have shewn some grounds for thinkingthat the Golden Bough itself, or in common parlance the mistletoe on theoak, was supposed to have dropped from the sky upon the tree in a flashof lightning and therefore to contain within itself the seed ofcelestial fire, a sort of smouldering thunderbolt. This view of thepriest and of the bough which he guarded at the peril of his life hasthe advantage of accounting for the importance which the sanctuary atNemi acquired and the treasure which it amassed through the offerings ofthe faithful; for the shrine would seem to have been to ancient whatLoreto has been to modern Italy, a place of pilgrimage, where princesand nobles as well as commoners poured wealth into the coffers of Dianain her green recess among the Alban hills, just as in modern times kingsand queens vied with each other in enriching the black Virgin who fromher Holy House on the hillside at Loreto looks out on the blue Adriaticand the purple Apennines. Such pious prodigality becomes moreintelligible if the greatest of the gods was indeed believed to dwell inhuman shape with his wife among the woods of Nemi. 

These are the principal points on which I have altered my opinion sincethe last edition of my book was published. The mere admission of suchchanges may suffice to indicate the doubt and uncertainty which attendenquiries of this nature. The whole fabric of ancient mythology is soforeign to our modern ways of thought, and the evidence concerning it isfor the most part so fragmentary, obscure, and conflicting that in ourattempts to piece together and interpret it we can hardly hope to reachconclusions that will completely satisfy either ourselves or others. Inthis as in other branches of study it is the fate of theories to bewashed away like children's castles of sand by the rising tide ofknowledge, and I am not so presumptuous as to expect or desire for minean exemption from the common lot. I hold them all very lightly and haveused them chiefly as convenient pegs on which to hang my collections offacts. For I believe that, while theories are transitory, a record offacts has a permanent value, and that as a chronicle of ancient customsand beliefs my book may retain its utility when my theories are asobsolete as the customs and beliefs themselves deserve to be. 

I cannot dismiss without some natural regret a task which has occupiedand amused me at intervals for many years. But the regret is tempered bythankfulness and hope. I am thankful that I have been able to concludeat least one chapter of the work I projected a long time ago. I amhopeful that I may not now be taking a final leave of my indulgentreaders, but that, as I am sensible of little abatement in my bodilystrength and of none in my ardour for study, they will bear with me yeta while if I should attempt to entertain them with fresh subjects oflaughter and tears drawn from the comedy and the tragedy of man'sendless quest after happiness and truth. 

J. G. FRAZER. 

CAMBRIDGE, 17_th October_ 1913. 

CONTENTS

PREFACE, Pp. V-xii

CHAPTER I. --BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH, Pp. 1-21

§ 1. _Not to touch the Earth_, pp. 1-18. --The priest of Aricia and theGolden Bough, 1 _sq. _; sacred kings and priests forbidden to touch theground with their feet, 2-4; certain persons on certain occasionsforbidden to touch the ground with their feet, 4-6; sacred personsapparently thought to be charged with a mysterious virtue which will runto waste or explode by contact with the ground, 6 _sq. _; things as wellas persons charged with the mysterious virtue of holiness or taboo andtherefore kept from contact with the ground, 7; festival of the wildmango, which is not allowed to touch the earth, 7-11; other sacredobjects kept from contact with the ground, 11 _sq. _; sacred food notallowed to touch the earth, 13 _sq. _; magical implements and remediesthought to lose their virtue by contact with the ground, 14 _sq. _;serpents' eggs or snake stones, 15 _sq. _; medicinal plants, water, etc. , not allowed to touch the earth, 17 _sq. _

§ 2. _Not to see the Sun_, pp. 18-21. --Sacred persons not allowed to seethe sun, 18-20; tabooed persons not allowed to see the sun, 20; certainpersons forbidden to see fire, 20 _sq. _; the story of Prince Sunless, 21. 

CHAPTER II. --THE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT PUBERTY, Pp. 22-100

§ 1. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa_, pp. 22-32. --Girls atpuberty forbidden to touch the ground and see the sun, 22; seclusion ofgirls at puberty among the Zulus and kindred tribes, 22; among theA-Kamba of British East Africa, 23; among the Baganda of Central Africa, 23 _sq. _; among the tribes of the Tanganyika plateau, 24 _sq. _; amongthe tribes of British Central Africa, 25 _sq. _; abstinence from saltassociated with a rule of chastity in many tribes, 26-28; seclusion ofgirls at puberty among the tribes about Lake Nyassa and on the Zambesi, 28 _sq. _; among the Thonga of Delagoa Bay, 29 _sq. _; among the Caffretribes of South Africa, 30 _sq. _; among the Bavili of the Lower Congo, 31 _sq. _

§ 2. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, andIndonesia_, pp. 32-36. --Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland, 32-34; in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram, and the Caroline Islands, 35 _sq. _

§ 3. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands andNorthern Australia_, pp. 36-41. --Seclusion of girls at puberty inMabuiag, Torres Straits, 36 _sq. _; in Northern Australia, 37-39; in theislands of Torres Straits, 39-41. 

§ 4. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of North America_, pp. 41-55. --Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians ofCalifornia, 41-43; among the Indians of Washington State, 43; among theNootka Indians of Vancouver Island, 43 _sq. _; among the Haida Indians ofthe Queen Charlotte Islands, 44 _sq. _; among the Tlingit Indians ofAlaska, 45 _sq. _; among the Tsetsaut and Bella Coola Indians of BritishColumbia, 46 _sq. _; among the Tinneh Indians of British Columbia, 47_sq. _; among the Tinneh Indians of Alaska, 48 _sq. _; among the ThompsonIndians of British Columbia, 49-52; among the Lillooet Indians ofBritish Columbia, 52 _sq. _; among the Shuswap Indians of BritishColumbia, 53 _sq. _; among the Delaware and Cheyenne Indians, 54 _sq. _;among the Esquimaux, 55 _sq. _

§ 5. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of South America_, pp. 56-68. --Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Guaranis, Chiriguanos, and Lengua Indians, 56 _sq. _; among the Yuracares ofBolivia, 57 _sq. _; among the Indians of the Gran Chaco, 58 _sq. _; amongthe Indians of Brazil, 59 _sq. _; among the Indians of Guiana, 60 _sq. _;beating the girls and stinging them with ants, 61; stinging young menwith ants and wasps as an initiatory rite, 61-63; stinging men and womenwith ants to improve their character or health or to render theminvulnerable, 63 _sq. _; in such cases the beating or stinging wasoriginally a purification, not a test of courage and endurance, 65_sq. _; this explanation confirmed by the beating of girls among theBanivas of the Orinoco to rid them of a demon, 66-68; symptoms ofpuberty in a girl regarded as wounds inflicted on her by a demon, 68. 

§ 6. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in India and Cambodia_, pp. 68-70. --Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Hindoos, 68; in SouthernIndia, 68-70; in Cambodia, 70. 

§ 7. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Folk-tales_, pp. 70-76. --Danishstory of the girl who might not see the sun, 70-72; Tyrolese story ofthe girl who might not see the sun, 72; modern Greek stories of the maidwho might not see the sun, 72 _sq. _; ancient Greek story of Danae andits parallel in a Kirghiz legend, 73 _sq. _; impregnation of women by thesun in legends, 74 _sq. _; traces in marriage customs of the belief thatwomen can be impregnated by the sun, 75; belief in the impregnation ofwomen by the moon, 75 _sq. _

§ 8. _Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty_, pp. 76-100. --Thereason for the seclusion of girls at puberty is the dread of menstruousblood, 76; dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the aboriginesof Australia, 76-78; in Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea, Galela, andSumatra, 78 _sq. _; among the tribes of South Africa, 79 _sq. _; among thetribes of Central and East Africa, 80-82; among the tribes of WestAfrica, 82; powerful influence ascribed to menstruous blood in Arablegend, 82 _sq. _; dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Jewsand in Syria, 83 _sq. _; in India, 84 _sq. _; in Annam, 85; among theIndians of Central and South America, 85 _sq. _; among the Indians ofNorth America, 87-94; among the Creek, Choctaw, Omaha and CheyenneIndians, 88 _sq. _; among the Indians of British Columbia, 89 _sq. _;among the Chippeway Indians, 90 _sq. _; among the Tinneh or Déné Indians, 91; among the Carrier Indians, 91-94; similar rules of seclusionenjoined on menstruous women in ancient Hindoo, Persian, and Hebrewcodes, 94-96; superstitions as to menstruous women in ancient and modernEurope, 96 _sq. _; the intention of secluding menstruous women is toneutralize the dangerous influences which are thought to emanate fromthem in that condition, 97; suspension between heaven and earth, 97; thesame explanation applies to the similar rules of seclusion observed bydivine kings and priests, 97-99; stories of immortality attained bysuspension between heaven and earth, 99 _sq. _

CHAPTER III. --THE MYTH OF BALDER, Pp. 101-105

How Balder, the good and beautiful god, was done to death by a stroke ofmistletoe, 101 _sq. _; story of Balder in the older _Edda_, 102 _sq. _;story of Balder as told by Saxo Grammaticus, 103; Balder worshipped inNorway, 104; legendary death of Balder resembles the legendary death ofIsfendiyar in the epic of Firdusi, 104 _sq. _; the myth of Balder perhapsacted as a magical ceremony; the two main incidents of the myth, namelythe pulling of the mistletoe and the burning of the god, have perhapstheir counterpart in popular ritual, 105. 

CHAPTER IV. --THE FIRE FESTIVALS OF EUROPE, Pp. 106-327

§ 1. _The Lenten Fires_, pp. 106-120. --European custom of kindlingbonfires on certain days of the year, dancing round them, leaping overthem, and burning effigies in the flames, 106; seasons of the year atwhich the bonfires are lit, 106 _sq. _; bonfires on the first Sunday inLent in the Belgian Ardennes, 107 _sq. _; in the French department of theArdennes, 109 _sq. _; in Franche-Comté, 110 _sq. _; in Auvergne, 111-113;French custom of carrying lighted torches (_brandons_) about theorchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent, 113-115; bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Germany and Austria, 115 _sq. _; "burning the witch, " 116; burning discs thrown into the air, 116 _sq. _; burning wheels rolled down hill, 117 _sq. _; bonfires on thefirst Sunday in Lent in Switzerland, 118 _sq. _; burning discs throwninto the air, 119; connexion of these fires with the custom of "carryingout Death, " 119 _sq. _

§ 2. _The Easter Fires_, 120-146. --Custom in Catholic countries ofkindling a holy new fire on Easter Saturday, marvellous propertiesascribed to the embers of the fire, 121; effigy of Judas burnt in thefire, 121; Easter fires in Bavaria and the Abruzzi, 122; water as wellas fire consecrated at Easter in Italy, Bohemia, and Germany, 122-124;new fire at Easter in Carinthia, 124; Thomas Kirchmeyer's account of theconsecration of fire and water by the Catholic Church at Easter, 124_sq. _; the new fire on Easter Saturday at Florence, 126 _sq. _; the newfire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Mexico and SouthAmerica, 127 _sq. _; the new fire on Easter Saturday in the Church of theHoly Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 128-130; the new fire and the burning ofJudas on Easter Saturday in Greece, 130 _sq. _; the new fire at Candlemasin Armenia, 131; the new fire and the burning of Judas at Easter areprobably relics of paganism, 131 _sq. _; new fire at the summer solsticeamong the Incas of Peru, 132; new fire among the Indians of Mexico andNew Mexico, the Iroquois, and the Esquimaux, 132-134; new fire in Wadai, among the Swahili, and in other parts of Africa, 134-136; new firesamong the Todas and Nagas of India, 136; new fire in China and Japan, 137 _sq. _; new fire in ancient Greece and Rome, 138; new fire atHallowe'en among the old Celts of Ireland, 139; new fire on the first ofSeptember among the Russian peasants, 139; the rite of the new fireprobably common to many peoples of the Mediterranean area before therise of Christianity, 139 _sq. _; the pagan character of the Easter firemanifest from the superstitions associated with it, such as the beliefthat the fire fertilizes the fields and protects houses fromconflagration and sickness, 140 _sq. _; the Easter fires in Münsterland, Oldenburg, the Harz Mountains, and the Altmark, 141-143; Easter firesand the burning of Judas or the Easter Man in Bavaria, 143 _sq. _; Easterfires and "thunder poles" in Baden, 145; Easter fires in Holland andSweden, 145 _sq. _; the burning of Judas in Bohemia, 146. 

§ 3. _The Beltane Fires_, pp. 146-160. --The Beltane fires on the firstof May in the Highlands of Scotland, 146-154; John Ramsay of Ochtertyre, his description of the Beltane fires and cakes and the Beltane carline, 146-149; Beltane fires and cakes in Perthshire, 150-153; Beltane firesin the north-east of Scotland to burn the witches, 153 _sq. _; Beltanefires and cakes in the Hebrides, 154; Beltane fires and cakes in Wales, 155-157; in the Isle of Man to burn the witches, 157; inNottinghamshire, 157; in Ireland, 157-159; fires on the Eve of May Dayin Sweden, 159; in Austria and Saxony to burn the witches, 159 _sq. _

§ 4. _The Midsummer Fires_, pp. 160-219. --The great season forfire-festivals in Europe is Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day, which thechurch has dedicated to St. John the Baptist, 160 _sq. _; the bonfires, the torches, and the burning wheels of the festival, 161; ThomasKirchmeyer's description of the Midsummer festival, 162 _sq. _; theMidsummer fires in Germany, 163-171; burning wheel rolled down hill atKonz on the Moselle, 163 _sq. _; Midsummer fires in Bavaria, 164-166; inSwabia, 166 _sq. _; in Baden, 167-169; in Alsace, Lorraine, the Eifel, the Harz district, and Thuringia, 169; Midsummer fires kindled by thefriction of wood, 169 _sq. _; driving away the witches and demons, 170;Midsummer fires in Silesia, scaring away the witches, 170 _sq. _;Midsummer fires in Denmark and Norway, keeping off the witches, 171;Midsummer fires in Sweden, 172; Midsummer fires in Switzerland andAustria, 172 _sq. _; in Bohemia, 173-175; in Moravia, Austrian Silesia, and the district of Cracow, 175; among the Slavs of Russia, 176; inPrussia and Lithuania as a protection against witchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease, 176 _sq. _; in Masuren the fire is kindled by therevolution of a wheel, 177; Midsummer fires among the Letts of Russia, 177 _sq. _; among the South Slavs, 178; among the Magyars, 178 _sq. _;among the Esthonians, 179 _sq. _; among the Finns and Cheremiss ofRussia, 180 _sq. _; in France, 181-194; Bossuet on the Midsummerfestival, 182; the Midsummer fires in Brittany, 183-185; in Normandy, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf at Jumièges, 185 _sq. _; Midsummerfires in Picardy, 187 _sq. _; in Beauce and Perche, 188; the fires aprotection against witchcraft, 188; the Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura, 188 _sq. _; in Franche-Comté, 189; in Berry andother parts of Central France, 189 _sq. _; in Poitou, 190 _sq. _; in thedepartments of Vienne and Deux-Sèvres and in the provinces of Saintongeand Aunis, 191 _sq. _; in Southern France, 192 _sq. _; Midsummer festivalof fire and water in Provence, 193 _sq. _; Midsummer fires in Belgium, 194-196; in England, 196-200; Stow's description of the Midsummer firesin London, 196 _sq. _; John Aubrey on the Midsummer fires, 197; Midsummerfires in Cumberland, Northumberland, and Yorkshire, 197 _sq. _; inHerefordshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, 199 _sq. _; inWales and the Isle of Man, 200 _sq. _; in Ireland, 201-205; holy wellsresorted to on Midsummer Eve in Ireland, 205 _sq. _; Midsummer fires inScotland, 206 _sq. _; Midsummer fires and divination in Spain and theAzores, 208 _sq. _; Midsummer fires in Corsica and Sardinia, 209; in theAbruzzi, 209 _sq. _; in Sicily, 210; in Malta, 210 _sq. _; in Greece andthe Greek islands, 211 _sq. _; in Macedonia and Albania, 212; in SouthAmerica, 212 _sq. _; among the Mohammedans of Morocco and Algeria, 213-216; the Midsummer festival in North Africa comprises rites of wateras well as fire, 216; similar festival of fire and water at New Year inNorth Africa, 217 _sq. _; the duplication of the festival probably due toa conflict between the solar calendar of the Romans and the lunarcalendar of the Arabs, 218 _sg. _; the Midsummer festival in Moroccoapparently of Berber origin, 219. 

§ 5. _The Autumn Fires_, pp. 220-222. --Festivals of fire in August, 220;"living fire" made by the friction of wood, 220; feast of the Nativityof the Virgin on the eighth of September at Capri and Naples, 220-222. 

§ 6. _The Halloween Fires_, pp. 222-246. --While the Midsummer festivalimplies observation of the solstices, the Celts appear to have dividedtheir year, without regard to the solstices, by the times when theydrove their cattle to and from the summer pasture on the first of Mayand the last of October (Hallowe'en), 222-224; the two great Celticfestivals of Beltane (May Day) and Hallowe'en (the last of October), 224; Hallowe'en seems to have marked the beginning of the Celtic year, 224 _sq. _; it was a season of divination and a festival of the dead, 225_sq. _; fairies and hobgoblins let loose at Hallowe'en, 226-228;divination in Celtic countries at Hallowe'en, 228 _sq. _; Hallowe'enbonfires in the Highlands of Scotland, 229-232; Hallowe'en fires inBuchan to burn the witches, 232 _sq. _; processions with torches atHallowe'en in the Braemar Highlands, 233 _sq. _; divination at Hallowe'enin the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland, 234-239; Hallowe'en fires inWales, omens drawn from stones cast into the fires, 239 _sq. _;divination at Hallowe'en in Wales, 240 _sq. _; divination at Hallowe'enin Ireland, 241-243; Hallowe'en fires and divination in the Isle of Man, 243 _sq. _; Hallowe'en fires and divination in Lancashire, 244 _sq. _;marching with lighted candles to keep off the witches, 245; divinationat Hallowe'en in Northumberland, 245; Hallowe'en fires in France, 245_sq. _

§ 7. _The Midwinter Fires_, pp. 246-269. --Christmas the continuation ofan old heathen festival of the sun, 246; the Yule log the Midwintercounterpart of the Midsummer bonfire, 247; the Yule log in Germany, 247-249; in Switzerland, 249; in Belgium, 249; in France, 249-255;French superstitions as to the Yule log, 250; the Yule log at Marseillesand in Perigord, 250 _sq. _; in Berry, 251 _sq. _; in Normandy andBrittany, 252 _sq. _; in the Ardennes, 253 _sq. _; in the Vosges, 254; inFranche-Comté, 254 _sq. _; the Yule log and Yule candle in England, 255-258; the Yule log in the north of England and Yorkshire, 256 _sq. _;in Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire, 257 _sq. _;in Wales, 258; in Servia, 258-262; among the Servians of Slavonia, 262_sq. _; among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro, 263_sq. _; in Albania, 264; belief that the Yule log protects against fireand lightning, 264 _sq. _; public fire-festivals at Midwinter, 265-269;Christmas bonfire at Schweina in Thuringia, 265 _sq. _; Christmasbonfires in Normandy, 266; bonfires on St. Thomas's Day in the Isle ofMan, 266; the "Burning of the Clavie" at Burghead on the last day ofDecember, 266-268; Christmas procession with burning tar-barrels atLerwick, 268 _sq. _

§ 8. _The Need-fire_, pp. 269-300. --Need-fire kindled not at fixedperiods but on occasions of distress and calamity, 269; the need-fire inthe Middle Ages and down to the end of the sixteenth century, 270 _sq. _;mode of kindling the need-fire by the friction of wood, 271 _sq_. ; theneed-fire in Central Germany, particularly about Hildesheim, 272 _sq. _;the need-fire in the Mark, 273; in Mecklenburg, 274 _sq. _; in Hanover, 275 _sq. _; in the Harz Mountains, 276 _sq. _; in Brunswick, 277 _sq. _; inSilesia and Bohemia, 278 _sq. _; in Switzerland, 279 _sq. _; in Sweden andNorway, 280; among the Slavonic peoples, 281-286; in Russia and Poland, 281 _sq. _; in Slavonia, 282; in Servia, 282-284; in Bulgaria, 284-286;in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 286; in England, 286-289; in Yorkshire, 286-288; in Northumberland, 288 _sq. _; in Scotland, 289-297; Martin'saccount of it in the Highlands, 289; the need-fire in Mull, 289 _sq. _;in Caithness, 290-292; W. Grant Stewart's account of the need-fire, 292_sq. _; Alexander Carmichael's account, 293-295; the need-fire inAberdeenshire, 296; in Perthshire, 296 _sq. _; in Ireland, 297; the useof need-fire a relic of the time when all fires were similarly kindledby the friction of wood, 297 _sq. _; the belief that need-fire cannotkindle if any other fire remains alight in the neighbourhood, 298 _sq. _;the need-fire among the Iroquois of North America, 299 _sq. _

§ 9. _The Sacrifice of an Animal to stay a Cattle-plague_, pp. 300-327. --The burnt sacrifice of a calf in England and Wales, 300 _sq. _;burnt sacrifices of animals in Scotland, 301 _sq. _; calf burnt in orderto break a spell which has been cast on the herd, 302 _sq. _; mode inwhich the burning of a bewitched animal is supposed to break the spell, 303-305; in burning the bewitched animal you burn the witch herself, 305; practice of burning cattle and sheep as sacrifices in the Isle ofMan, 305-307; by burning a bewitched animal you compel the witch toappear, 307; magic sympathy between the witch and the bewitched animal, 308; similar sympathy between a were-wolf and his or her human shape, wounds inflicted on the animal are felt by the man or woman, 308;were-wolves in Europe, 308-310; in China, 310 _sq. _; among the Toradjasof Central Celebes, 311-313 _sq. _; in the Egyptian Sudan, 313 _sq. _; thewere-wolf story in Petronius, 313 _sq. _; witches like were-wolves cantemporarily transform themselves into animals, and wounds inflicted onthe transformed animals appear on the persons of the witches, 315 _sq. _;instances of such transformations and wounds in Scotland, England, Ireland, France, and Germany, 316-321; hence the reason for burningbewitched animals is either to burn the witch herself or at all eventsto compel her to appear, 321 _sq. _; the like reason for burningbewitched things, 322 _sq. _; similarly by burning alive a person whoselikeness a witch has assumed you compel the witch to disclose herself, 323; woman burnt alive as a witch in Ireland at the end of thenineteenth century, 323 _sq. _; bewitched animals sometimes buried aliveinstead of being burned, 324-326; calves killed and buried to save therest of the herd, 326 _sq_. 

CHAPTER V. --THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRE-FESTIVALS, Pp. 328-346

§ 1. _On the Fire-festivals in general_ pp. 328-331. --Generalresemblance of the fire-festivals to each other, 328 _sq. _; twoexplanations of the festivals suggested, one by W. Mannhardt that theyare sun-charms, the other by Dr. E. Westermarck that they arepurificatory, 329 _sq. _; the two explanations perhaps not mutuallyexclusive, 330 _sq. _

§ 2. _The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals_, pp. 331-341. --Theory thatthe fire-festivals are charms to ensure a supply of sunshine, 331;coincidence of two of the festivals with the solstices, 331 _sq. _;attempt of the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in midwinter bykindling sticks, 332 _sq. _; the burning wheels and discs of thefire-festivals may be direct imitations of the sun, 334; the wheel whichis sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may also be animitation of the sun, 334-336; the influence which the bonfires aresupposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may be thought to be dueto an increase of solar heat produced by the fires, 336-338; the effectwhich the bonfires are supposed to have in fertilizing cattle and womenmay also be attributed to an increase of solar heat produced by thefires, 338 _sq. _; the carrying of lighted torches about the country atthe festivals may be explained as an attempt to diffuse the sun's heat, 339-341. 

§ 3. _The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals_, pp. 341-346. --Theory that the fires at the festivals are purificatory, beingintended to burn up all harmful things, 341; the purificatory ordestructive effect of the fires is often alleged by the people who lightthem, and there is no reason to reject this explanation, 341 _sq. _; thegreat evil against which the fire at the festivals appears to bedirected is witchcraft, 342; among the evils for which thefire-festivals are deemed remedies the foremost is cattle-disease, andcattle-disease is often supposed to be an effect of witchcraft, 343_sq. _; again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, thunder, lightning, and various maladies, all of which are attributed to themaleficent arts of witches, 344 _sq. _; the burning wheels rolled downhill and the burning discs thrown into the air may be intended to burnthe invisible witches, 345 _sq. _; on this view the fertility supposed tofollow the use of fire results indirectly from breaking the spells ofwitches, 346; on the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructiveintention of the fire-festivals seems the more probable, 346. 

[Transcriber's Note: The brief descriptions often found enclosed insquare brackets are "sidenotes", which appeared in the original book inthe margins of the paragraph following the "sidenote. " Footnotes wereoriginally at the bottoms of the printed pages. ]

CHAPTER I

BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

§ 1. _Not to touch the Earth_

[The priest of Aricia and the Golden Bough]

We have travelled far since we turned our backs on Nemi and set forth inquest of the secret of the Golden Bough. With the present volume weenter on the last stage of our long journey. The reader who has had thepatience to follow the enquiry thus far may remember that at the outsettwo questions were proposed for answer: Why had the priest of Aricia toslay his predecessor? And why, before doing so, had he to pluck theGolden Bough?[1] Of these two questions the first has now been answered. The priest of Aricia, if I am right, was one of those sacred kings orhuman divinities on whose life the welfare of the community and even thecourse of nature in general are believed to be intimately dependent. Itdoes not appear that the subjects or worshippers of such a spiritualpotentate form to themselves any very clear notion of the exactrelationship in which they stand to him; probably their ideas on thepoint are vague and fluctuating, and we should err if we attempted todefine the relationship with logical precision. All that the peopleknow, or rather imagine, is that somehow they themselves, their cattle, and their crops are mysteriously bound up with their divine king, sothat according as he is well or ill the community is healthy or sickly, the flocks and herds thrive or languish with disease, and the fieldsyield an abundant or a scanty harvest. The worst evil which they canconceive of is the natural death of their ruler, whether he succumb tosickness or old age, for in the opinion of his followers such a deathwould entail the most disastrous consequences on themselves and theirpossessions; fatal epidemics would sweep away man and beast, the earthwould refuse her increase, nay the very frame of nature itself might bedissolved. To guard against these catastrophes it is necessary to putthe king to death while he is still in the full bloom of his divinemanhood, in order that his sacred life, transmitted in unabated force tohis successor, may renew its youth, and thus by successive transmissionsthrough a perpetual line of vigorous incarnations may remain eternallyfresh and young, a pledge and security that men and animals shall inlike manner renew their youth by a perpetual succession of generations, and that seedtime and harvest, and summer and winter, and rain andsunshine shall never fail. That, if my conjecture is right, was why thepriest of Aricia, the King of the Wood at Nemi, had regularly to perishby the sword of his successor. 

[What was the Golden Bough?]

But we have still to ask, What was the Golden Bough? and why had eachcandidate for the Arician priesthood to pluck it before he could slaythe priest? These questions I will now try to answer. 

[Sacred kings and priests forbidden to touch the ground with theirfeet. ]

It will be well to begin by noticing two of those rules or taboos bywhich, as we have seen, the life of divine kings or priests isregulated. The first of the rules to which I desire to call the reader'sattention is that the divine personage may not touch the ground with hisfoot. This rule was observed by the supreme pontiff of the Zapotecs inMexico; he profaned his sanctity if he so much as touched the groundwith his foot. [2] Montezuma, emperor of Mexico, never set foot on theground; he was always carried on the shoulders of noblemen, and if helighted anywhere they laid rich tapestry for him to walk upon. [3] Forthe Mikado of Japan to touch the ground with his foot was a shamefuldegradation; indeed, in the sixteenth century, it was enough to deprivehim of his office. Outside his palace he was carried on men's shoulders;within it he walked on exquisitely wrought mats. [4] The king and queenof Tahiti might not touch the ground anywhere but within theirhereditary domains; for the ground on which they trod became sacred. Intravelling from place to place they were carried on the shoulders ofsacred men. They were always accompanied by several pairs of thesesanctified attendants; and when it became necessary to change theirbearers, the king and queen vaulted on to the shoulders of their newbearers without letting their feet touch the ground. [5] It was an evilomen if the king of Dosuma touched the ground, and he had to perform anexpiatory ceremony. [6] Within his palace the king of Persia walked oncarpets on which no one else might tread; outside of it he was neverseen on foot but only in a chariot or on horseback. [7] In old days theking of Siam never set foot upon the earth, but was carried on a throneof gold from place to place. [8] Formerly neither the kings of Uganda, nor their mothers, nor their queens might walk on foot outside of thespacious enclosures in which they lived. Whenever they went forth theywere carried on the shoulders of men of the Buffalo clan, several ofwhom accompanied any of these royal personages on a journey and took itin turn to bear the burden. The king sat astride the bearer's neck witha leg over each shoulder and his feet tucked under the bearer's arms. When one of these royal carriers grew tired he shot the king on to theshoulders of a second man without allowing the royal feet to touch theground. In this way they went at a great pace and travelled longdistances in a day, when the king was on a journey. The bearers had aspecial hut in the king's enclosure in order to be at hand the momentthey were wanted. [9] Among the Bakuba or rather Bushongo, a nation inthe southern region of the Congo, down to a few years ago persons of theroyal blood were forbidden to touch the ground; they must sit on a hide, a chair, or the back of a slave, who crouched on hands and feet; theirfeet rested on the feet of others. When they travelled they were carriedon the backs of men; but the king journeyed in a litter supported onshafts. [10] Among the Ibo people about Awka, in Southern Nigeria, thepriest of the Earth has to observe many taboos; for example, he may notsee a corpse, and if he meets one on the road he must hide his eyes withhis wristlet. He must abstain from many foods, such as eggs, birds ofall sorts, mutton, dog, bush-buck, and so forth. He may neither wear nortouch a mask, and no masked man may enter his house. If a dog enters hishouse, it is killed and thrown out. As priest of the Earth he may notsit on the bare ground, nor eat things that have fallen on the ground, nor may earth be thrown at him. [11] According to ancient Brahmanicritual a king at his inauguration trod on a tiger's skin and a goldenplate; he was shod with shoes of boar's skin, and so long as he livedthereafter he might not stand on the earth with his bare feet. [12]

[Certain persons on certain occasions forbidden to touch the ground withtheir feet. ]

But besides persons who are permanently sacred or tabooed and aretherefore permanently forbidden to touch the ground with their feet, there are others who enjoy the character of sanctity or taboo only oncertain occasions, and to whom accordingly the prohibition in questiononly applies at the definite seasons during which they exhale the odourof sanctity. Thus among the Kayans or Bahaus of Central Borneo, whilethe priestesses are engaged in the performance of certain rites they maynot step on the ground, and boards are laid for them to tread on. [13] Ata funeral ceremony observed by night among the Michemis, a Tibetan tribenear the northern frontier of Assam, a priest fantastically bedeckedwith tiger's teeth, many-coloured plumes, bells, and shells, executed awild dance for the purpose of exorcising the evil spirits; then allfires were extinguished and a new light was struck by a man suspended byhis feet from a beam in the ceiling; "he did not touch the ground, " weare told, "in order to indicate that the light came from heaven. "[14]Again, newly born infants are strongly tabooed; accordingly in Loangothey are not allowed to touch the earth. [15] Among the Iluvans ofMalabar the bridegroom on his wedding-day is bathed by seven young menand then carried or walks on planks from the bathing-place to themarriage booth; he may not touch the ground with his feet. [16] With theDyaks of Landak and Tajan, two districts of Dutch Borneo, it is a customthat for a certain time after marriage neither bride nor bridegroom maytread on the earth. [17] Warriors, again, on the war-path are surrounded, so to say, by an atmosphere of taboo; hence some Indians of NorthAmerica might not sit on the bare ground the whole time they were out ona warlike expedition. [18] In Laos the hunting of elephants gives rise tomany taboos; one of them is that the chief hunter may not touch theearth with his foot. Accordingly, when he alights from his elephant, theothers spread a carpet of leaves for him to step upon. [19] Germanwiseacres recommended that when witches were led to the block or thestake, they should not be allowed to touch the bare earth, and a reasonsuggested for the rule was that if they touched the earth they mightmake themselves invisible and so escape. The sagacious author of _TheStriped-petticoat Philosophy_ in the eighteenth century ridicules theidea as mere silly talk. He admits, indeed, that the women were conveyedto the place of execution in carts; but he denies that there is any deepsignificance in the cart, and he is prepared to maintain this view by achemical analysis of the timber of which the cart was built. To clinchhis argument he appeals to plain matter of fact and his own personalexperience. Not a single instance, he assures us with apparentsatisfaction, can be produced of a witch who escaped the axe or the firein this fashion. "I have myself, " says he, "in my youth seen diverswitches burned, some at Arnstadt, some at Ilmenau, some at Schwenda, anoble village between Arnstadt and Ilmenau, and some of them werepardoned and beheaded before being burned. They were laid on the earthin the place of execution and beheaded like any other poor sinner;whereas if they could have escaped by touching the earth, not one ofthem would have failed to do so. "[20]

[Sacred or tabooed persons apparently thought to be charged with amysterious virtue like a fluid, which will run to waste or explode if ittouches the ground. ]

Apparently holiness, magical virtue, taboo, or whatever we may call thatmysterious quality which is supposed to pervade sacred or tabooedpersons, is conceived by the primitive philosopher as a physicalsubstance or fluid, with which the sacred man is charged just as aLeyden jar is charged with electricity; and exactly as the electricityin the jar can be discharged by contact with a good conductor, so theholiness or magical virtue in the man can be discharged and drained awayby contact with the earth, which on this theory serves as an excellentconductor for the magical fluid. Hence in order to preserve the chargefrom running to waste, the sacred or tabooed personage must be carefullyprevented from touching the ground; in electrical language he must beinsulated, if he is not to be emptied of the precious substance or fluidwith which he, as a vial, is filled to the brim. And in many casesapparently the insulation of the tabooed person is recommended as aprecaution not merely for his own sake but for the sake of others; forsince the virtue of holiness or taboo is, so to say, a powerfulexplosive which the smallest touch may detonate, it is necessary in theinterest of the general safety to keep it within narrow bounds, lestbreaking out it should blast, blight, and destroy whatever it comes intocontact with. 

[Things as well as persons can be charged with the mysterious quality ofholiness or taboo; and when so charged they must be kept from contactwith the ground. ]

But things as well as persons are often charged with the mysteriousquality of holiness or taboo; hence it frequently becomes necessary forsimilar reasons to guard them also from coming into contact with theground, lest they should in like manner be drained of their valuableproperties and be reduced to mere commonplace material objects, emptyhusks from which the good grain has been eliminated. Thus, for example, the most sacred object of the Arunta tribe in Central Australia is, orrather used to be, a pole about twenty feet high, which is completelysmeared with human blood, crowned with an imitation of a human head, andset up on the ground where the final initiatory ceremonies of young menare performed. A young gum-tree is chosen to form the pole, and it mustbe cut down and transported in such a way that it does not touch theearth till it is erected in its place on the holy ground. Apparently thepole represents some famous ancestor of the olden time. [21]

[Festival of the wild manog tree in British New Guinea. ]

Again, at a great dancing festival celebrated by the natives of BartleBay, in British New Guinea, a wild mango tree plays a prominent part. The tree must be self-sown, that is, really wild and so young that ithas never flowered. It is chosen in the jungle some five or six weeksbefore the festival, and a circle is cleared round its trunk. From thattime the master of the ceremonies and some eight to twenty other men, who have aided him in choosing the tree and in clearing the jungle, become strictly holy or tabooed. They sleep by themselves in a houseinto which no one else may intrude: they may not wash or drink water, nor even allow it accidentally to touch their bodies: they are forbiddento eat boiled food and the fruit of mango trees: they may drink only themilk of a young coco-nut which has been baked, and they may eat certainfruits and vegetables, such as paw-paws (_Carica papaya_) andsugar-cane, but only on condition that they have been baked. All refuseof their food is kept in baskets in their sleeping-house and may not beremoved from it till the festival is over. At the time when the menbegin to observe these rules of abstinence, some six to ten women, members of the same clan as the master of the ceremonies, enter on alike period of mortification, avoiding the company of the other sex, andrefraining from water, all boiled food, and the fruit of the mango tree. These fasting men and women are the principal dancers at the festival. The dancing takes place on a special platform in a temporary villagewhich has been erected for the purpose. When the platform is about to beset up, the fasting men rub the stepping posts and then suck their handsfor the purpose of extracting the ghost of any dead man that mightchance to be in the post and might be injured by the weight of theplatform pressing down on him. Having carefully extracted these poorsouls, the men carry them away tenderly and set them free in the forestor the long grass. 

[The wild mango tree not allowed to touch the ground. ]

On the day before the festival one of the fasting men cuts down thechosen mango tree in the jungle with a stone adze, which is neverafterwards put to any other use; an iron tool may not be used for thepurpose, though iron tools are now common enough in the district. Incutting down the mango they place nets on the ground to catch any leavesor twigs that might fall from the tree as it is being felled and theysurround the trunk with new mats to receive the chips which fly outunder the adze of the woodman; for the chips may not drop on the earth. Once the tree is down, it is carried to the centre of the temporaryvillage, the greatest care being taken to prevent it from coming intocontact with the ground. But when it is brought into the village, thehouses are connected with the top of the mango by means of long vinesdecorated with the streamers. In the afternoon the fasting men and womenbegin to dance, the men bedizened with gay feathers, armlets, streamers, and anklets, the women flaunting in parti-coloured petticoats and sprigsof croton leaves, which wave from their waistbands as they dance. Thedancing stops at sundown, and when the full moon rises over the shoulderof the eastern hill (for the date of the festival seems to be determinedwith reference to the time of the moon), two chiefs mount the gables oftwo houses on the eastern side of the square, and, their dusky figuresstanding sharply out against the moonlight, pray to the evil spirits togo away and not to hurt the people. Next morning pigs are killed bybeing speared as slowly as possible in order that they may squeal loudand long; for the people believe that the mango trees hear thesquealing, and are pleased at the sound, and bear plenty of fruit, whereas if they heard no squeals they would bear no fruit. However, thetrees have to content themselves with the squeals; the flesh of the pigsis eaten by the people. This ends the festival. 

[Final disposition of the wild mango tree. ]

Next day the mango is taken down from the platform, wrapt in new mats, and carried by the fasting men to their sleeping house, where it is hungfrom the roof. But after an interval, it may be of many months, the treeis brought forth again. As to the reason for its reappearance in publicopinions are divided; but some say that the tree itself orders themaster of the ceremonies to bring it forth, appearing to him in hisdreams and saying, "Let me smell the smoking fat of pigs. So will yourpigs be healthy and your crops will grow. " Be that as it may, out itcomes, conducted by the fasting men in their dancing costume; and withit come in the solemn procession all the pots, spoons, cups and so forthused by the fasting men during their period of holiness or taboo, alsoall the refuse of their food which has been collected for months, andall the fallen leaves and chips of the mango in their bundles of mats. These holy relics are carried in front and the mango tree itself bringsup the rear of the procession. While these sacred objects are beinghanded out of the house, the men who are present rush up, wipe off thehallowed dust which has accumulated on them, and smear it over their ownbodies, no doubt in order to steep themselves in their blessedinfluence. Thus the tree is carried as before to the centre of thetemporary village, care being again taken not to let it touch theground. Then one of the fasting men takes from a basket a number ofyoung green mangoes, cuts them in pieces, and places them with his ownhands in the mouths of his fellows, the other fasting men, who chew thepieces small and turning round spit the morsels in the direction of thesetting sun, in order that "the sun should carry the mango bits over thewhole country and everyone should know. " A portion of the mango tree isthen broken off and in the evening it is burnt along with the bundles ofleaves, chips, and refuse of food, which have been stored up. Whatremains of the tree is taken to the house of the master of theceremonies and hung over the fire-place; it will be brought out again atintervals and burned bit by bit, till all is consumed, whereupon a newmango will be cut down and treated in like manner. The ashes of the holyfire on each occasion are gathered by the people and preserved in thehouse of the master of the ceremonies. [22]

[The ceremony apparently intended to fertilize the mango trees. ]

The meaning of these ceremonies is not explained by the authorities whodescribe them; but we may conjecture that they are intended to fertilizethe mango trees and cause them to bear a good crop of fruit. The centralfeature of the whole ritual is a wild mango tree, so young that it hasnever flowered: the men who cut it down, carry it into the village, anddance at the festival, are forbidden to eat mangoes: pigs are killed inorder that their dying squeals may move the mango trees to bear fruit:at the end of the ceremonies pieces of young green mangoes are solemnlyplaced in the mouths of the fasting men and are by them spurted outtowards the setting sun in order that the luminary may carry thefragments to every part of the country; and finally when after a longeror shorter interval the tree is wholly consumed, its place is suppliedby another. All these circumstances are explained simply and naturallyby the supposition that the young mango tree is taken as arepresentative of mangoes generally, that the dances are intended toquicken it, and that it is preserved, like a May-pole of old in England, as a sort of general fund of vegetable life, till the fund beingexhausted by the destruction of the tree it is renewed by theimportation of a fresh young tree from the forest. We can thereforeunderstand why, as a storehouse of vital energy, the tree should becarefully kept from contact with the ground, lest the pent-up andconcentrated energy should escape and dribbling away into the earth bedissipated to no purpose. 

[Sacred objects of various sorts not allowed to touch the ground. ]

To take other instances of what we may call the conservation of energyin magic or religion by insulating sacred bodies from the ground, thenatives of New Britain have a secret society called the Duk-duk, themembers of which masquerade in petticoats of leaves and tall headdressesof wickerwork shaped like candle extinguishers, which descend to theshoulders of the wearers, completely concealing their faces. Thusdisguised they dance about to the awe and terror, real or assumed, ofthe women and uninitiated, who take, or pretend to take, them forspirits. When lads are being initiated into the secrets of this augustsociety, the adepts cut down some very large and heavy bamboos, one foreach lad, and the novices carry them, carefully wrapt up in leaves, tothe sacred ground, where they arrive very tired and weary, for they maynot let the bamboos touch the ground nor the sun shine on them. Outsidethe fence of the enclosure every lad deposits his bamboo on a couple offorked sticks and covers it up with nut leaves. [23] Among the CarrierIndians of North-Western America, who burned their dead, the ashes of achief used to be placed in a box and set on the top of a pole beside hishut: the box was never allowed to touch the ground. [24] In the Omahatribe of North American Indians the sacred clam shell of the Elk clanwas wrapt up from sight in a mat, placed on a stand, and never sufferedto come in contact with the earth. [25] The Cherokees and kindred Indiantribes of the United States used to have certain sacred boxes or arks, which they regularly took with them to war. Such a holy ark consisted ofa square wooden box, which contained "certain consecrated vessels madeby beloved superannuated women, and of such various antiquated forms, aswould have puzzled Adam to have given significant names to each. " Theleader of a war party and his attendant bore the ark by turns, but theynever set it on the ground nor would they themselves sit on the bareearth while they were carrying it against the enemy. Where stones wereplentiful they rested the ark on them; but where no stones were to befound, they deposited it on short logs. "The Indian ark is deemed sosacred and dangerous to be touched, either by their own sanctifiedwarriors, or the spoiling enemy, that they durst not touch it upon anyaccount. It is not to be meddled with by any, except the war chieftainand his waiter, under the penalty of incurring great evil. Nor would themost inveterate enemy touch it in the woods, for the very same reason. "After their return home they used to hang the ark on the leader'sred-painted war pole. [26] At Sipi, near Simla, in Northern India, anannual fair is held, at which men purchase wives. A square box with adomed top figures prominently at the fair. It is fixed on two poles tobe carried on men's shoulders, and long heavily-plaited petticoats hangfrom it nearly to the ground. Three sides of the box are adorned withthe head and shoulders of a female figure and the fourth side with ablack yak's tail. Four men bear the poles, each carrying an axe in hisright hand. They dance round, with a swinging rhythmical step, to themusic of drums and a pipe. The dance goes on for hours and is thought toavert ill-luck from the fair. It is said that the box is brought toSimla from a place sixty miles off by relays of men, who may not stopnor set the box on the ground the whole way. [27] In Scotland, when waterwas carried from sacred wells to sick people, the water-vessel might nottouch the earth. [28] In some parts of Aberdeenshire the last bunch ofstanding corn, which is commonly viewed as very sacred, being the lastrefuge of the corn-spirit retreating before the reapers, is not sufferedto touch the ground; the master or "gueedman" sits down and receiveseach handful of corn as it is cut on his lap. [29]

[Sacred food not allowed to touch the earth. ]

Again, sacred food may not under certain circumstances be brought intocontact with the earth. Some of the aborigines of Victoria used toregard the fat of the emu as sacred, believing that it had once been thefat of the black man. In taking it from the bird or giving it to anotherthey handled it reverently. Any one who threw away the fat or flesh ofthe emu was held accursed. "The late Mr. Thomas observed on oneoccasion, at Nerre-nerre-Warreen, a remarkable exhibition of the effectsof this superstition. An aboriginal child--one attending theschool--having eaten some part of the flesh of an emu, threw away theskin. The skin fell to the ground, and this being observed by hisparents, they showed by their gestures every token of horror. Theylooked upon their child as one utterly lost. His desecration of the birdwas regarded as a sin for which there was no atonement. "[30] TheRoumanians of Transylvania believe that "every fresh-baked loaf ofwheaten bread is sacred, and should a piece inadvertently fall to theground, it is hastily picked up, carefully wiped and kissed, and ifsoiled, thrown into the fire--partly as an offering to the dead, andpartly because it were a heavy sin to throw away or tread upon anyparticle of it. "[31] At certain festivals in south-eastern Borneo thefood which is consumed in the common house may not touch the ground;hence, a little before the festivals take place, foot-bridges made ofthin poles are constructed from the private dwellings to the commonhouse. [32] When Hall was living with the Esquimaux and grew tired ofeating walrus, one of the women brought the head and neck of a reindeerfor him to eat. This venison had to be completely wrapt up before it wasbrought into the house, and once in the house it could only be placed onthe platform which served as a bed. "To have placed it on the floor oron the platform behind the fire-lamp, among the walrus, musk-ox, andpolar-bear meat which occupy a goodly portion of both of these places, would have horrified the whole town, as, according to the actual beliefof the Innuits, not another walrus could be secured this year, and therewould ever be trouble in catching any more. "[33] But in this case thereal scruple appears to have been felt not so much at placing thevenison on the ground as at bringing it into contact with walrusmeat. [34]

[Magical implements and remedies thought to lose their virtue by contactwith the ground. ]

Sometimes magical implements and remedies are supposed to lose theirvirtue by contact with the ground, the volatile essence with which theyare impregnated being no doubt drained off into the earth. Thus in theBoulia district of Queensland the magical bone, which the nativesorcerer points at his victim as a means of killing him, is never by anychance allowed to touch the earth. [35] The wives of rajahs in Macassar, a district of southern Celebes, pride themselves on their luxurianttresses and are at great pains to oil and preserve them. Should the hairbegin to grow thin, the lady resorts to many devices to stay the ravagesof time; among other things she applies to her locks a fat extractedfrom crocodiles and venomous snakes. The unguent is believed to be veryefficacious, but during its application the woman's feet may not comeinto contact with the ground, or all the benefit of the nostrum would belost. [36] Some people in antiquity believed that a woman in hard labourwould be delivered if a spear, which had been wrenched from a man's bodywithout touching the ground, were thrown over the house where thesufferer lay. Again, according to certain ancient writers, arrows whichhad been extracted from a body without coming into contact with theearth and laid under sleepers, acted as a love-charm. [37] Among thepeasantry of the north-east of Scotland the prehistoric weapons calledcelts went by the name of "thunderbolts" and were coveted as the surebringers of success, always provided that they were not allowed to fallto the ground. [38]

[Serpents eggs or Snake Stones. ]

In ancient Gaul certain glass or paste beads attained great celebrity asamulets under the name of serpents' eggs; it was believed that serpents, coiling together in a wriggling, writhing mass, generated them fromtheir slaver and shot them into the air from their hissing jaws. If aman was bold and dexterous enough to catch one of these eggs in hiscloak before it touched the ground, he rode off on horseback with it atfull speed, pursued by the whole pack of serpents, till he was saved bythe interposition of a river, which the snakes could not pass. The proofof the egg being genuine was that if it were thrown into a stream itwould float up against the current, even though it were hooped in gold. The Druids held these beads in high esteem; according to them, theprecious objects could only be obtained on a certain day of the moon, and the peculiar virtue that resided in them was to secure success inlaw suits and free access to kings. Pliny knew of a Gaulish knight whowas executed by the emperor Claudius for wearing one of theseamulets. [39] Under the name of Snake Stones (_glain neidr_) or AdderStones the beads are still known in those parts of our own country wherethe Celtic population has lingered, with its immemorial superstitions, down to the present or recent times; and the old story of the origin ofthe beads from the slaver of serpents was believed by the modernpeasantry of Cornwall, Wales, and Scotland as by the Druids of ancientGaul. In Cornwall the time when the serpents united to fashion the beadswas commonly said to be at or about Midsummer Eve; in Wales it wasusually thought to be spring, especially the Eve of May Day, and evenwithin recent years persons in the Principality have affirmed that theywitnessed the great vernal congress of the snakes and saw the magicstone in the midst of the froth. The Welsh peasants believe the beads topossess medicinal virtues of many sorts and to be particularlyefficacious for all maladies of the eyes. In Wales and Ireland the beadssometimes went by the name of the Magician's or Druid's Glass (_Gleinina Droedh_ and _Glaine nan Druidhe_). Specimens of them may be seen inmuseums; some have been found in British barrows. They are of glass ofvarious colours, green, blue, pink, red, brown, and so forth, some plainand some ribbed. Some are streaked with brilliant hues. The beads areperforated, and in the Highlands of Scotland the hole is explained bysaying that when the bead has just been conflated by the serpentsjointly, one of the reptiles sticks his tail through the still viscousglass. An Englishman who visited Scotland in 1699 found many of thesebeads in use throughout the country. They were hung from children'snecks to protect them from whooping cough and other ailments. SnakeStones were, moreover, a charm to ensure prosperity in general and torepel evil spirits. When one of these priceless treasures was not onactive service, the owner kept it in an iron box to guard it againstfairies, who, as is well known, cannot abide iron. [40]

[Medicinal plants, water, are not allowed to touch the earth. ]

Pliny mentions several medicinal plants, which, if they were to retaintheir healing virtue, ought not to be allowed to touch the earth. [41]The curious medical treatise of Marcellus, a native of Bordeaux in thefourth century of our era, abounds with prescriptions of this sort; andwe can well believe the writer when he assures us that he borrowed manyof his quaint remedies from the lips of common folk and peasants ratherthan from the books of the learned. [42] Thus he tells us that certainwhite stones found in the stomachs of young swallows assuage the mostpersistent headache, always provided that their virtue be not impairedby contact with the ground. [43] Another of his cures for the same maladyis a wreath of fleabane placed on the head, but it must not touch theearth. [44] On the same condition a decoction of the root of elecampanein wine kills worms; a fern, found growing on a tree, relieves thestomach-ache; and the pastern-bone of a hare is an infallible remedy forcolic, provided, first, it be found in the dung of a wolf, second, thatit docs not touch the ground, and, third, that it is not touched by awoman. [45] Another cure for colic is effected by certain hocus-pocuswith a scrap of wool from the forehead of a first-born lamb, if only thelamb, instead of being allowed to fall to the ground, has been caught byhand as it dropped from its dam. [46] In Andjra, a district of Morocco, the people attribute many magical virtues to rain-water which has fallenon the twenty-seventh day of April, Old Style; accordingly they collectit and use it for a variety of purposes. Mixed with tar and sprinkled onthe door-posts it prevents snakes and scorpions from entering the house:sprinkled on heaps of threshed corn it protects them from the evil eye:mixed with an egg, henna, and seeds of cress it is an invaluablemedicine for sick cows: poured over a plate, on which a passage of theKoran has been written, it strengthens the memory of schoolboys whodrink it; and if you mix it with cowdung and red earth and paint ringswith the mixture round the trunks of your fig-trees at sunset onMidsummer Day, you may depend on it that the trees will bear anexcellent crop and will not shed their fruit untimely on the ground. Butin order to preserve these remarkable properties it is absolutelyessential that the water should on no account be allowed to touch theground; some say too that it should not be exposed to the sun norbreathed upon by anybody. [47] Again, the Moors ascribe great magicalefficacy to what they call "the sultan of the oleander, " which is astalk of oleander with a cluster of four pairs of leaves springing fromit. They think that the magical virtue is greatest if the stalk has beencut immediately before midsummer. But when the plant is brought into thehouse, the branches may not touch the ground, lest they should losetheir marvellous qualities. [48] In the olden days, before a Lithuanianor Prussian farmer went forth to plough for the first time in spring, hecalled in a wizard to perform a certain ceremony for the good of thecrops. The sage seized a mug of beer with his teeth, quaffed the liquor, and then tossed the mug over his head. This signified that the corn inthat year should grow taller than a man. But the mug might not fall tothe ground; it had to be caught by somebody stationed at the wizard'sback, for if it fell to the ground the consequence naturally would bethat the corn also would be laid low on the earth. [49]

§ 2. _Not to see the Sun_

[Sacred persons not allowed to see the sun. ]

The second rule to be here noted is that the sun may not shine upon thedivine person. This rule was observed both by the Mikado and by thepontiff of the Zapotecs. The latter "was looked upon as a god whom theearth was not worthy to hold, nor the sun to shine upon. "[50] TheJapanese would not allow that the Mikado should expose his sacred personto the open air, and the sun was not thought worthy to shine on hishead. [51] The Indians of Granada, in South America, "kept those who wereto be rulers or commanders, whether men or women, locked up for severalyears when they were children, some of them seven years, and this soclose that they were not to see the sun, for if they should happen tosee it they forfeited their lordship, eating certain sorts of foodappointed; and those who were their keepers at certain times went intotheir retreat or prison and scourged them severely. "[52] Thus, forexample, the heir to the throne of Bogota, who was not the son but thesister's son of the king, had to undergo a rigorous training from hisinfancy: he lived in complete retirement in a temple, where he might notsee the sun nor eat salt nor converse with a woman: he was surrounded byguards who observed his conduct and noted all his actions: if he broke asingle one of the rules laid down for him, he was deemed infamous andforfeited all his rights to the throne. [53] So, too, the heir to thekingdom of Sogamoso, before succeeding to the crown, had to fast forseven years in the temple, being shut up in the dark and not allowed tosee the sun or light. [54] The prince who was to become Inca of Peru hadto fast for a month without seeing light. [55] On the day when a Brahmanstudent of the Veda took a bath, to signify that the time of hisstudentship was at an end, he entered a cow-shed before sunrise, hungover the door a skin with the hair inside, and sat there; on that daythe sun should not shine upon him. [56]

[Tabooed persons not allowed to see the sun; certain persons forbiddento see fire. ]

Again, women after childbirth and their offspring are more or lesstabooed all the world over; hence in Corea the rays of the sun arerigidly excluded from both mother and child for a period of twenty-oneor a hundred days, according to their rank, after the birth has takenplace. [57] Among some of the tribes on the north-west coast of NewGuinea a woman may not leave the house for months after childbirth. Whenshe does go out, she must cover her head with a hood or mat; for if thesun were to shine upon her, it is thought that one of her male relationswould die. [58] Again, mourners are everywhere taboo; accordingly inmourning the Ainos of Japan wear peculiar caps in order that the sun maynot shine upon their heads. [59] During a solemn fast of three days theIndians of Costa Rica eat no salt, speak as little as possible, light nofires, and stay strictly indoors, or if they go out during the day theycarefully cover themselves from the light of the sun, believing thatexposure to the sun's rays would turn them black. [60] On Yule Night ithas been customary in parts of Sweden from time immemorial to go onpilgrimage, whereby people learn many secret things and know what is tohappen in the coming year. As a preparation for this pilgrimage, "somesecrete themselves for three days previously in a dark cellar, so as tobe shut out altogether from the light of heaven. Others retire at anearly hour of the preceding morning to some out-of-the-way place, suchas a hay-loft, where they bury themselves in the hay, that they mayneither see nor hear any living creature; and here they remain, insilence and fasting, until after sundown; whilst there are those whothink it sufficient if they rigidly abstain from food on the day beforecommencing their wanderings. During this period of probation a man oughtnot to see fire, but should this have happened, he must strike a lightwith flint and steel, whereby the evil that would otherwise have ensuedwill be obviated. "[61] During the sixteen days that a Pima Indian isundergoing purification for killing an Apache he may not see a blazingfire. [62]

[The story of Prince Sunless. ]

Acarnanian peasants tell of a handsome prince called Sunless, who woulddie if he saw the sun. So he lived in an underground palace on the siteof the ancient Oeniadae, but at night he came forth and crossed theriver to visit a famous enchantress who dwelt in a castle on the furtherbank. She was loth to part with him every night long before the sun wasup, and as he turned a deaf ear to all her entreaties to linger, she hitupon the device of cutting the throats of all the cocks in theneighbourhood. So the prince, whose ear had learned to expect the shrillclarion of the birds as the signal of the growing light, tarried toolong, and hardly had he reached the ford when the sun rose over theAetolian mountains, and its fatal beams fell on him before he couldregain his dark abode. [63]

Notes:

[1] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 44. 

[2] H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London, 1875-1876), ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des Nationscivilisées du Mexique et de l'Amérique-Centrale_ (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 29. 

[3] _Manuscrit Ramirez, Histoire de l'origine des Indiens_, publié parD. Charnay (Paris, 1903), p. 108; J. De Acosta, _The Natural and MoralHistory of the Indies_, bk. Vii. Chap. 22, vol. Ii. P. 505 of E. Grimston's translation, edited by (Sir) Clements R. Markham (HakluytSociety, London, 1880). 

[4] _Memorials of the Empire of Japon in the XVI. And XVII. Centuries_, edited by T. Rundall (Hakluyt Society, London, 1850), pp. 14, 141; B. Varenius, _Descriptio regni Japoniae et Siam_ (Cambridge, 1673), p. 11;Caron, "Account of Japan, " in John Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_(London, 1808-1814), vii. 613; Kaempfer, "History of Japan, " in _id. _vii. 716. 

[5] W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_, Second Edition (London, 1832-1836), iii. 102 _sq. _; Captain James Wilson, _Missionary Voyage tothe Southern Pacific Ocean_ (London, 1799), p. 329. 

[6] A. Bastian, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_ (Leipsic, 1860), iii. 81. 

[7] Athenaeus, xii. 8, p. 514 c. 

[8] _The Voiages and Travels of John Struys_ (London, 1684), p. 30. 

[9] Rev. J. Roscoe, "Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of theBaganda, " _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 62, 67; _id. , The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 154 _sq. _ Compare L. Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ (London, 1898), p. 445 note:"Before horses had been introduced into Uganda the king and his mothernever walked, but always went about perched astride the shoulders of aslave--a most ludicrous sight. In this way they often travelled hundredsof miles. " The use both of horses and of chariots by royal personagesmay often have been intended to prevent their sacred feet from touchingthe ground. 

[10] E. Torday et T. A. Joyce, _Les Bushongo_ (Brussels, 1910), p. 61. 

[11] Northcote W. Thomas, _Anthropological Report on the Ibo-speakingPeoples of Nigeria_ (London, 1913), i. 57 _sq. _

[12] _Satapatha Brâhmana_, translated by Julius Eggeling, Part iii. (Oxford, 1894) pp. 81, 91, 92, 102, 128 _sq. (Sacred Books of the East_, vol. Xli. ). 

[13] A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_ (Leyden, 1904-1907), i. 172. 

[14] Letter of Missionary Krick, in _Annales de la Propagation de laFoi_, xxvi. (1854) pp. 86-88. 

[15] Pechuel-Loesche, "Indiscretes aus Loango, " _Zeitschrift fürEthnologie_, x. (1878) pp. 29 _sq. _

[16] Edgar Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_ (Madras, 1906), p. 70. 

[17] M. C. Schadee, "Het familieleven en familierecht der Dajaks vanLandak en Tajan, " _Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land en Volkenkunde vanNederlandsch-Indié_, lxiii. (1910) p. 433. 

[18] James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), p. 382; _Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner_ (London, 1830), p. 123. As to the taboos to which warriors are subject see _Tabooand the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 157 _sqq. _

[19] Etienne Aymonier, _Notes sur le Laos_ (Saigon, 1885), p. 26. 

[20] _Die gestritgelte Rockenphilosophie_*[5] (Chemnitz, 1759), pp. 586_sqq. _

[21] Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of CentralAustralia_ (London, 1899), pp. 364, 370 _sqq. _, 629; _id. , AcrossAustralia_ (London, 1912), ii. 280, 285 _sq. _

[22] C. G. Seligmann, M. D. , _The Melanesians of British New Guinea_(Cambridge, 1910), pp. 589-599. 

[23] George Brown, D. D. , _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), pp. 60 _sq. _, 64. As to the Duk-duk society, see below, vol. Ii. Pp. 246_sq. _

[24] John Keast Lord, _The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and BritishColumbia_ (London, 1866), ii. 237. 

[25] Edwin James, _Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the RockyMountains_ (London, 1823), ii. 47; Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, "OmahaSociology, " _Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_(Washington, 1884), p. 226. 

[26] James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), pp. 161-163. 

[27] (Sir) Henry Babington Smith, in _Folk-lore_, v. (1894) p. 340. 

[28] Miss C. F. Gordon Cumming, _In the Hebrides_ (London, 1883), p. 211. 

[29] W. Gregor, "Quelques coutumes du Nord-est du Comté d'Aberdeen, "_Revue des Traditions populaires_, iii. (1888) p. 485 B. Compare_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 158 _sq. _

[30] R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_ (Melbourne and London, 1878), i. 450. 

[31] E. Gerard, _The Land beyond the Forest_ (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 7. 

[32] F. Grabowsky, "Der Distrikt Dusson Timor in Südost-Borneo und seineBewohner, " _Das Ausland_, 1884, No. 24, p. 470. 

[33] _Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition made by Charles F. Hall_, edited by Prof. J. E. Nourse (Washington, 1879), pp. 110 _sq. _

[34] See _Taboo and Perils of the Soul_, pp. 207 _sqq. _

[35] Walter E. Roth, _Ethnological Studies among the North-West-CentralQueensland Aborigines_ (Brisbane and London, 1897), p. 156, § 265. Thecustom of killing a man by pointing a bone or stick at him, while thesorcerer utters appropriate curses, is common among the tribes ofCentral Australia; but amongst them there seems to be no objection toplace the bone or stick on the ground; on the contrary, an Arunta wizardinserts the bone or stick in the ground while he invokes death anddestruction on his enemy. See Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _NativeTribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1899), pp. 534 _sqq. ; id. , Northern Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, 1904), pp. 455 _sqq. _

[36] Hugh Low, _Sarawak_ (London, 1848), pp. 145 _sq. _

[37] Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_ xxviii. 33 _sq. _

[38] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East ofScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 184. As to the superstitions attaching tostone arrowheads and axeheads (celts), commonly known as "thunderbolts, "in the British Islands, see W. W. Skeat, "Snakestones and StoneThunderbolts, " _Folklore_, xxiii. (1912) pp. 60 _sqq. _; and as to suchsuperstitions in general, see Chr. Blinkenberg, _The Thunderweapon inReligion and Folklore_ (Cambridge, 1911). 

[39] Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_, xxix. 52-54. 

[40] W. Borlase, _Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the Countyof Cornwall_ (London, 1769), pp. 142 _sq. _; J. Brand, _PopularAntiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 322; J. G. Dalyell, _Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 140 _sq. _;Daniel Wilson, _The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_(Edinburgh, 1851), pp. 303 _sqq. _; Lieut. -Col. Forbes Leslie, _The EarlyRaces of Scotland and their Monuments_ (Edinburgh, 1866), i. 75 _sqq. _;J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islandsof Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 84-88; Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore andFolk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 170 _sq. _; J. C. Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76. CompareW. W. Skeat, "Snakestones and Stone Thunderbolts, " _Folk-lore, _ xxiii. (1912) pp. 45 _sqq. _ The superstition is described as follows by EdwardLhwyd in a letter quoted by W. Borlase (_op. Cit. _ p. 142): "In mostparts of Wales, and throughout all Scotland, and in Cornwall, we find ita common opinion of the vulgar, that about Midsummer-Eve (though in thetime they do not all agree) it is usual for snakes to meet in companies;and that, by joining heads together, and hissing, a kind of bubble isformed, which the rest, by continual hissing, blow on till it passesquite through the body, and then it immediately hardens, and resembles aglass-ring, which whoever finds (as some old women and children arepersuaded) shall prosper in all his undertakings. The rings thusgenerated, are called _Gleineu Nadroeth_; in English, Snake-stones. Theyare small glass amulets, commonly about half as wide as ourfinger-rings, but much thicker, of a green colour usually, thoughsometimes blue, and waved with red and white. "

[41] Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_ xxiv. 12 and 68, xxv. 171. 

[42] Marcellus, _De medicamentis_, ed. G. Helmreich (Leipsic, 1889), preface, p. I. : "_Nec solum veteres medicinae artis auctores Latinodumtaxat sermone perscriptos . .. Lectione scrutatus sum, sed etiam abagrestibus et plebeis remedia fortuita atque simplicia, quaeexperimentis probaverant didici_. " As to Marcellus and his work, seeJacob Grimm, "Ueber Marcellus Burdigalensis, " _Abhandlungen derkoniglichen Akademie der Wissenschaft zu Berlin_, 1847, pp. 429-460;_id. _, "Ueber die Marcellischen Formeln, " _ibid. _. 1855, pp. 50-68. 

[43] Marcellus, _De medicamentis_, i. 68. 

[44] Marcellus, _op. Cit. _ i. 76. 

[45] Marcellus, _op. Cit. _ xxviii. 28 and 71, xxix. 35. 

[46] Marcellus, _op. Cit. _ xxix. 51. 

[47] Edward Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folklore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 32 _sq. _; _id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connected withAgriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather inMorocco_ (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 75 _sq. _

[48] E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) p. 35 _id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco_(Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 88 _sq. _

[49] Matthäus Prätorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_, herausgegeben von Dr. W. Pierson (Berlin, 1871), p. 54. 

[50] H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London, 1875-1876), ii. 142; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des Nationscivilisées du Mexique et de l'Amérique Centrale_ (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 29. 

[51] Kaempfer, "History of Japan, " in J. Pinkerton's _Voyages andTravels_, vii. 717; Caron, "Account of Japan, " _ibid. _ vii. 613; B. Varenius, _Descriptio regni Japoniae et Siam_ (Cambridge, 1673), p. 11:_"Radiis solis caput nunquam illustrabatur: in apertum acrem nonprocedebat. "_

[52] A. De Herrera, _General History of the vast Continent and Islandsof America, _ trans, by Capt. John Stevens (London, 1725-1726), v. 88. 

[53] H. Ternaux-Compans, _Essai sur l'ancien Cundinamarca_ (Paris, N. D. ), p. 56; Theodor Waitz, _Anthropologie der Naturvölker_ iv. (Leipsic, 1864) p. 359. 

[54] Alonzo de Zurita, "Rapport sur les differentes classes de chefs dela Nouvelle-Espagne, " p. 30, in H. Ternaux-Compans's _Voyages, Relationset Mémoires originaux, pour servir à l'Histoire de la Découvertedel'Amérique_ (Paris, 1840); Th. Waitz, _l. C. _; A. Bastian, _DieCulturländer des alten Amerika_ (Berlin, 1878), ii. 204. 

[55] Cieza de Leon, _Second Part of the Chronicle of Peru_ (HakluytSociety, London, 1883), p. 18. 

[56] _The Grihya Sûtras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part ii. (Oxford, 1892) pp. 165, 275 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. Xxx. ). Umbrellasappear to have been sometimes used in ritual for the purpose ofpreventing the sunlight from falling on sacred persons or things. See W. Caland, _Altindisches Zauberritual_ (Amsterdam, 1900), p. 110 note 12. At an Athenian festival called Scira the priestess of Athena, the priestof Poseidon, and the priest of the Sun walked from the Acropolis underthe shade of a huge white umbrella which was borne over their heads bythe Eteobutads. See Harpocration and Suidas, _s. V. _ [Greek: Skiron];Scholiast on Aristophanes, _Eccles. _ 18. 

[57] Mrs. Bishop, _Korea and her Neighbours_ (London, 1898), ii. 248. 

[58] J. L. Van Hasselt, "Eenige aanteekeningen aangaande de bewoners derN. Westkust van Nieuw Guinea, " _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-LandenVolkenkunde_, xxxi. (1886) p. 587. 

[59] A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, v. (Jena, 1869) p. 366. 

[60] W. M. Gabb, "On the Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica, "_Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held atPhiladelphia_, xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876), p. 510. 

[61] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), p. 194. 

[62] H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, i. 553. See_Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, p. 182. 

[63] L. Heuzey, _Le Mont Olympe et l'Acarnanie_ (Paris, 1860), pp. 458_sq. _

CHAPTER II

THE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT PUBERTY

§ 1. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa_

[Girls at puberty forbidden to touch the ground and to see the sun;seclusion of girls at puberty among the A-Kamba; seclusion of girls atpuberty among the Baganda. ]

Now it is remarkable that the foregoing two rules--not to touch theground and not to see the sun--are observed either separately orconjointly by girls at puberty in many parts of the world. Thus amongstthe negroes of Loango girls at puberty are confined in separate huts, and they may not touch the ground with any part of their bare body. [64]Among the Zulus and kindred tribes of South Africa, when the first signsof puberty shew themselves "while a girl is walking, gathering wood, orworking in the field, she runs to the river and hides herself among thereeds for the day, so as not to be seen by men. She covers her headcarefully with her blanket that the sun may not shine on it and shrivelher up into a withered skeleton, as would result from exposure to thesun's beams. After dark she returns to her home and is secluded" in ahut for some time. [65] During her seclusion, which lasts for about afortnight, neither she nor the girls who wait upon her may drink anymilk, lest the cattle should die. And should she be overtaken by thefirst flow while she is in the fields, she must, after hiding in thebush, scrupulously avoid all pathways in returning home. [66] A reasonfor this avoidance is assigned by the A-Kamba of British East Africa, whose girls under similar circumstances observe the same rule. "A girl'sfirst menstruation is a very critical period of her life according toA-Kamba beliefs. If this condition appears when she is away from thevillage, say at work in the fields, she returns at once to her village, but is careful to walk through the grass and not on a path, for if shefollowed a path and a stranger accidentally trod on a spot of blood andthen cohabited with a member of the opposite sex before the girl wasbetter again, it is believed that she would never bear a child. " Sheremains at home till the symptoms have ceased, and during this time shemay be fed by none but her mother. When the flux is over, her father andmother are bound to cohabit with each other, else it is believed thatthe girl would be barren all her life. [67] Similarly, among the Baganda, when a girl menstruated for the first time she was secluded and notallowed to handle food; and at the end of her seclusion the kinsman withwhom she was staying (for among the Baganda young people did not residewith their parents) was obliged to jump over his wife, which with theBaganda is regarded as equivalent to having intercourse with her. Shouldthe girl happen to be living near her parents at the moment when sheattained to puberty, she was expected on her recovery to inform them ofthe fact, whereupon her father jumped over her mother. Were this customomitted, the Baganda, like the A-Kamba, thought that the girl wouldnever have children or that they would die in infancy. [68] Thus thepretence of sexual intercourse between the parents or other relatives ofthe girl was a magical ceremony to ensure her fertility. It issignificant that among the Baganda the first menstruation was oftencalled a marriage, and the girl was spoken of as a bride. [69] Theseterms so applied point to a belief like that of the Siamese, that agirl's first menstruation results from her defloration by one of a hostof aerial spirits, and that the wound thus inflicted is repeatedafterwards every month by the same ghostly agency. [70] For a likereason, probably, the Baganda imagine that a woman who does notmenstruate exerts a malign influence on gardens and makes thembarren[71] if she works in them. For not being herself fertilized by aspirit, how can she fertilize the garden?

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes of the Tanganyikaplateau. ]

Among the Amambwe, Winamwanga, Alungu, and other tribes of the greatplateau to the west of Lake Tanganyika, "when a young girl knows thatshe has attained puberty, she forthwith leaves her mother's hut, andhides herself in the long grass near the village, covering her face witha cloth and weeping bitterly. Towards sunset one of the olderwomen--who, as directress of the ceremonies, is called _nachimbusa_--follows her, places a cooking-pot by the cross-roads, and boils thereina concoction of various herbs, with which she anoints the neophyte. Atnightfall the girl is carried on the old woman's back to her mother'shut. When the customary period of a few days has elapsed, she is allowedto cook again, after first whitewashing the floor of the hut. But, bythe following month, the preparations for her initiation are complete. The novice must remain in her hut throughout the whole period ofinitiation, and is carefully guarded by the old women, who accompany herwhenever she leaves her quarters, veiling her head with a native cloth. The ceremonies last for at least one month. " During this period ofseclusion, drumming and songs are kept up within the mother's hut by thevillage women, and no male, except, it is said, the father of twins, isallowed to enter. The directress of the rites and the older womeninstruct the young girl as to the elementary facts of life, the dutiesof marriage, and the rules of conduct, decorum, and hospitality to beobserved by a married woman. Amongst other things the damsel must submitto a series of tests such as leaping over fences, thrusting her headinto a collar made of thorns, and so on. The lessons which she receivesare illustrated by mud figures of animals and of the common objects ofdomestic life. Moreover, the directress of studies embellishes the wallsof the hut with rude pictures, each with its special significance andsong, which must be understood and learned by the girl. [72] In theforegoing account the rule that a damsel at puberty may neither see thesun nor touch the ground seems implied by the statement that on thefirst discovery of her condition she hides in long grass and is carriedhome after sunset on the back of an old woman. 

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes of British CentralAfrica. ]

Among the Nyanja-speaking tribes of Central Angoniland, in BritishCentral Africa, when a young girl finds that she has become a woman, shestands silent by the pathway leading to the village, her face wrapt inher calico. An old woman, finding her there, takes her off to a streamto bathe; after that the girl is secluded for six days in the oldwoman's hut. She eats her porridge out of an old basket and her relish, in which no salt is put, from a potsherd. The basket is afterwardsthrown away. On the seventh day the aged matrons gather together, gowith the girl to a stream, and throw her into the water. In returningthey sing songs, and the old woman, who directs the proceedings, carriesthe maiden on her back. Then they spread a mat and fetch her husband andset the two down on the mat and shave his head. When it is dark, the oldwomen escort the girl to her husband's hut. There the _ndiwo_ relish iscooking on the fire. During the night the woman rises and puts some saltin the pot. Next morning, before dawn, while all is dark and thevillagers have not yet opened their doors, the young married woman goesoff and gives some of the relish to her mother and to the old woman whowas mistress of the ceremony. This relish she sets down at the doors oftheir houses and goes away. And in the morning, when the sun has risenand all is light in the village, the two women open their doors, andthere they find the relish with the salt in it; and they take of it andrub it on their feet and under their arm-pits; and if there are littlechildren in the house, they eat of it. And if the young wife has akinsman who is absent from the village, some of the relish is put on asplinter of bamboo and kept against his return, that when he comes he, too, may rub his feet with it. But if the woman finds that her husbandis impotent, she does not rise betimes and go out in the dark to lay therelish at the doors of her mother and the old woman. And in the morning, when the sun is up and all the village is light, the old women opentheir doors, and see no relish there, and they know what has happened, and so they go wilily to work. For they persuade the husband to consultthe diviner that he may discover how to cure his impotence; and while heis closeted with the wizard, they fetch another man, who finishes theceremony with the young wife, in order that the relish may be given outand that people may rub their feet with it. But if it happens that whena girl comes to maturity she is not yet betrothed to any man, andtherefore has no husband to go to, the matrons tell her that she must goto a lover instead. And this is the custom which they call _chigango_. So in the evening she takes her cooking pot and relish and hies away tothe quarters of the young bachelors, and they very civilly sleepsomewhere else that night. And in the morning the girl goes back to the_kuka_ hut. [73]

[Abstinence from salt associated with a rule of chastity in manytribes. ]

From the foregoing account it appears that among these tribes no soonerhas a girl attained to womanhood than she is expected and indeedrequired to give proof of her newly acquired powers by cohabiting with aman, whether her husband or another. And the abstinence from salt duringthe girl's seclusion is all the more remarkable because as soon as theseclusion is over she has to use salt for a particular purpose, to whichthe people evidently attach very great importance, since in the event ofher husband proving impotent she is even compelled, apparently, tocommit adultery in order that the salted relish may be given out asusual. In this connexion it deserves to be noted that among the Wagogoof German East Africa women at their monthly periods may not sleep withtheir husbands and may not put salt in food. [74] A similar rule isobserved by the Nyanja-speaking tribes of Central Angoniland, with whosepuberty customs we are here concerned. Among them, we are told, "somesuperstition exists with regard to the use of salt. A woman during hermonthly sickness must on no account put salt into any food she iscooking, lest she give her husband or children a disease called _tsempo_(_chitsoko soko_) but calls a child to put it in, or, as the song goes, '_Natira nichere ni bondo chifukwa n'kupanda mwana_' and pours in thesalt by placing it on her knee, because there is no child handy. Shoulda party of villagers have gone to make salt, all sexual intercourse isforbidden among the people of the village, until the people who havegone to make the salt (from grass) return. When they do come back, theymust make their entry into the village at night, and no one must seethem. Then one of the elders of the village sleeps with his wife. Shethen cooks some relish, into which she puts some of the salt. Thisrelish is handed round to the people who went to make the salt, who rubit on their feet and under their armpits. "[75] Hence it would seem thatin the mind of these people abstinence from salt is somehow associatedwith the idea of chastity. The same association meets us in the customsof many peoples in various parts of the world. For example, ancientHindoo ritual prescribed that for three nights after a husband hadbrought his bride home, the two should sleep on the ground, remainchaste, and eat no salt. [76] Among the Baganda, when a man was making anet, he had to refrain from eating salt and meat and from living withhis wife; these restrictions he observed until the net took its firstcatch of fish. Similarly, so long as a fisherman's nets or traps were inthe water, he must live apart from his wife, and neither he nor she northeir children might eat salt or meat. [77] Evidence of the same sortcould be multiplied, [78] but without going into it further we may saythat for some reason which is not obvious to us primitive man connectssalt with the intercourse of the sexes and therefore forbids the use ofthat condiment in a variety of circumstances in which he deemscontinence necessary or desirable. As there is nothing which the savageregards as a greater bar between the sexes than the state ofmenstruation, he naturally prohibits the use of salt to women and girlsat their monthly periods. 

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes about Lake Nyassa and onthe Zambesi. ]

With the Awa-nkonde, a tribe at the northern end of Lake Nyassa, it is arule that after her first menstruation a girl must be kept apart, with afew companions of her own sex, in a darkened house. The floor is coveredwith dry banana leaves, but no fire may be lit in the house, which iscalled "the house of the Awasungu, " that is, "of maidens who have nohearts. "[79] When a girl reaches puberty, the Wafiomi of Eastern Africahold a festival at which they make a noise with a peculiar kind ofrattle. After that the girl remains for a year in the large common hut(_tembe_), where she occupies a special compartment screened off fromthe men's quarters. She may not cut her hair or touch food, but is fedby other women. At night, however, she quits the hut and dances withyoung men. [80] Among the Barotse or Marotse of the upper Zambesi, "whena girl arrives at the age of puberty she is sent into the fields, wherea hut is constructed far from the village. There, with two or threecompanions, she spends a month, returning home late and starting beforedawn in order not to be seen by the men. The women of the village visither, bringing food and honey, and singing and dancing to amuse her. Atthe end of a month her husband comes and fetches her. It is only afterthis ceremony that women have the right to smear themselves withochre. "[81] We may suspect that the chief reason why the girl during herseclusion may visit her home only by night is a fear, not so much lestshe should be seen by men, as that she might be seen by the sun. Amongthe Wafiomi, as we have just learned, the young woman in similarcircumstances is even free to dance with men, provided always that thedance is danced at night. The ceremonies among the Barotse or Marotseare somewhat more elaborate for a girl of the royal family. She is shutup for three months in a place which is kept secret from the public;only the women of her family know where it is. There she sits alone inthe darkness of the hut, waited on by female slaves, who are strictlyforbidden to speak and may communicate with her and with each other onlyby signs. During all this time, though she does nothing, she eats much, and when at last she comes forth, her appearance is quite changed, sofat has she grown. She is then led by night to the river and bathed inpresence of all the women of the village. Next day she flaunts beforethe public in her gayest attire, her head bedecked with ornaments andher face mottled with red paint. So everybody knows what hashappened. [82]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Thonga on Delagoa Bay. ]

Among the northern clans of the Thonga tribe, in South-Eastern Africa, about Delagoa Bay, when a girl thinks that the time of her nubility isnear, she chooses an adoptive mother, perhaps in a neighbouring village. When the symptoms appear, she flies away from her own village andrepairs to that of her adopted mother "to weep near her. " After that sheis secluded with several other girls in the same condition for a month. They are shut up in a hut, and whenever they come outside they must weara dirty greasy cloth over their faces as a veil. Every morning they areled to a pool and plunged in the water up to their necks. Initiatedgirls or women accompany them, singing obscene songs and driving awaywith sticks any man who meets them; for no man may see a girl duringthis time of seclusion. If he saw her, it is said that he would bestruck blind. On their return from the river, the girls are againimprisoned in the hut, where they remain wet and shivering, for they maynot go near the fire to warm themselves. During their seclusion theylisten to lascivious songs sung by grown women and are instructed insexual matters. At the end of the month the adoptive mother brings thegirl home to her true mother and presents her with a pot of beer. [83]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Caffre tribes of South Africa. ]

Among the Caffre tribes of South Africa the period of a girl's seclusionat puberty varies with the rank of her father. If he is a rich man, itmay last twelve days; if he is a chief, it may last twenty-fourdays. [84] And when it is over, the girl rubs herself over with redearth, and strews finely powdered red earth on the ground, before sheleaves the hut where she has been shut up. Finally, though she wasforbidden to drink milk all the days of her separation, she washes outher mouth with milk, and is from that moment regarded as a full-grownwoman. [85] Afterwards, in the dusk of the evening, she carries away allthe objects with which she came into contact in the hut during herseclusion and buries them secretly in a sequestered spot. [86] When thegirl is a chief's daughter the ceremonies at her liberation from the hutare more elaborate than usual. She is led forth from the hut by a son ofher father's councillor, who, wearing the wings of a blue crane, thebadge of bravery, on his head, escorts her to the cattle kraal, wherecows are slaughtered and dancing takes place. Large skins full of milkare sent to the spot from neighbouring villages; and after the dancesare over the girl drinks milk for the first time since the day sheentered into retreat. But the first mouthful is drunk by the girl's auntor other female relative who had charge of her during her seclusion; anda little of it is poured on the fire-place. [87] Amongst the Zulus, whenthe girl was a princess royal, the end of her time of separation wascelebrated by a sort of saturnalia: law and order were for the timebeing in abeyance: every man, woman, and child might appropriate anyarticle of property: the king abstained from interfering; and if duringthis reign of misrule he was robbed of anything he valued he could onlyrecover it by paying a fine. [88] Among the Basutos, when girls atpuberty are bathed as usual by the matrons in a river, they are hiddenseparately in the turns and bends of the stream, and told to cover theirheads, as they will be visited by a large serpent. Their limbs are thenplastered with clay, little masks of straw are put on their faces, andthus arrayed they daily follow each other in procession, singingmelancholy airs, to the fields, there to learn the labours of husbandryin which a great part of their adult life will be passed. [89] We maysuppose, though we are not told, that the straw masks which they wear inthese processions are intended to hide their faces from the gaze of menand the rays of the sun. 

[Seclusion of girls at puberty in the Lower Congo. ]

Among the tribes in the lower valley of the Congo, such as the Bavili, when a girl arrives at puberty, she has to pass two or three months inseclusion in a small hut built for the purpose. The hair of her head isshaved off, and every day the whole of her body is smeared with a redpaint (_takulla_) made from a powdered wood mixed with water. Some ofher companions reside in the hut with her and prepare the paint for heruse. A woman is appointed to take charge of the hut and to keep offintruders. At the end of her confinement she is taken to water by thewomen of her family and bathed; the paint is rubbed off her body, herarms and legs are loaded with brass rings, and she is led in solemnprocession under an umbrella to her husband's house. If these ceremonieswere not performed, the people believe that the girl would be barren orwould give birth to monsters, that the rain would cease to fall, theearth to bear fruit, and the fishing to be successful. [90] Such seriousimportance do these savages ascribe to the performance of rites which tous seem so childish. 

§ 2. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, andIndonesia_

[Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland. ]

In New Ireland girls are confined for four or five years in small cages, being kept in the dark and not allowed to set foot on the ground. Thecustom has been thus described by an eye-witness. "I heard from ateacher about some strange custom connected with some of the young girlshere, so I asked the chief to take me to the house where they were. Thehouse was about twenty-five feet in length, and stood in a reed andbamboo enclosure, across the entrance to which a bundle of dried grasswas suspended to show that it was strictly '_tabu_. ' Inside the housewere three conical structures about seven or eight feet in height, andabout ten or twelve feet in circumference at the bottom, and for aboutfour feet from the ground, at which point they tapered off to a point atthe top. These cages were made of the broad leaves of the pandanus-tree, sewn quite close together so that no light and little or no air couldenter. On one side of each is an opening which is closed by a doubledoor of plaited cocoa-nut tree and pandanus-tree leaves. About threefeet from the ground there is a stage of bamboos which forms the floor. In each of these cages we were told there was a young woman confined, each of whom had to remain for at least four or five years, without everbeing allowed to go outside the house. I could scarcely credit the storywhen I heard it; the whole thing seemed too horrible to be true. I spoketo the chief, and told him that I wished to see the inside of the cages, and also to see the girls that I might make them a present of a fewbeads. He told me that it was '_tabu_, ' forbidden for any men but theirown relations to look at them; but I suppose the promised beads acted asan inducement, and so he sent away for some old lady who had charge, andwho alone is allowed to open the doors. While we were waiting we couldhear the girls talking to the chief in a querulous way as if objectingto something or expressing their fears. The old woman came at length andcertainly she did not seem a very pleasant jailor or guardian; nor didshe seem to favour the request of the chief to allow us to see thegirls, as she regarded us with anything but pleasant looks. However, shehad to undo the door when the chief told her to do so, and then thegirls peeped out at us, and, when told to do so, they held out theirhands for the beads. I, however, purposely sat at some distance away andmerely held out the beads to them, as I wished to draw them quiteoutside, that I might inspect the inside of the cages. This desire ofmine gave rise to another difficulty, as these girls were not allowed toput their feet to the ground all the time they were confined in theseplaces. However, they wished to get the beads, and so the old lady hadto go outside and collect a lot of pieces of wood and bamboo, which sheplaced on the ground, and then going to one of the girls, she helped herdown and held her hand as she stepped from one piece of wood to anotheruntil she came near enough to get the beads I held out to her. I thenwent to inspect the inside of the cage out of which she had come, butcould scarcely put my head inside of it, the atmosphere was so hot andstifling. It was clean and contained nothing but a few short lengths ofbamboo for holding water. There was only room for the girl to sit or liedown in a crouched position on the bamboo platform, and when the doorsare shut it must be nearly or quite dark inside. The girls are neverallowed to come out except once a day to bathe in a dish or wooden bowlplaced close to each cage. They say that they perspire profusely. Theyare placed in these stifling cages when quite young, and must remainthere until they are young women, when they are taken out and have eacha great marriage feast provided for them. One of them was about fourteenor fifteen years old, and the chief told us that she had been there forfive years, but would soon be taken out now. The other two were abouteight and ten years old, and they have to stay there for several yearslonger. "[91] A more recent observer has described the custom as it isobserved on the western coast of New Ireland. He says: "A _buck_ is thename of a little house, not larger than an ordinary hen-coop, in which alittle girl is shut up, sometimes for weeks only, and at other times formonths. .. . Briefly stated, the custom is this. Girls, on attainingpuberty or betrothal, are enclosed in one of these little coops for aconsiderable time. They must remain there night and day. We saw two ofthese girls in two coops; the girls were not more than ten years old, still they were lying in a doubled-up position, as their little houseswould not admit of them lying in any other way. These two coops wereinside a large house; but the chief, in consideration of a present of acouple of tomahawks, ordered the ends to be torn out of the house toadmit the light, so that we might photograph the _buck_. The occupantwas allowed to put her face through an opening to be photographed, inconsideration of another present. "[92] As a consequence of their longenforced idleness in the shade the girls grow fat and their duskycomplexion bleaches to a more pallid hue. Both their corpulence andtheir pallor are regarded as beauties. [93]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram and Yap. ]

In Kabadi, a district of British New Guinea, "daughters of chiefs, whenthey are about twelve or thirteen years of age, are kept indoors for twoor three years, never being allowed, under any pretence, to descend fromthe house, and the house is so shaded that the sun cannot shine onthem. "[94] Among the Yabim and Bukaua, two neighbouring and kindredtribes on the coast of German New Guinea, a girl at puberty is secludedfor some five or six weeks in an inner part of the house; but she maynot sit on the floor, lest her uncleanness should cleave to it, so a logof wood is placed for her to squat on. Moreover, she may not touch theground with her feet; hence if she is obliged to quit the house for ashort time, she is muffled up in mats and walks on two halves of acoconut shell, which are fastened like sandals to her feet by creepingplants. During her seclusion she is in charge of her aunts or otherfemale relatives. At the end of the time she bathes, her person isloaded with ornaments, her face is grotesquely painted with red stripeson a white ground, and thus adorned she is brought forth in public to beadmired by everybody. She is now marriageable. [95] Among the Ot Danomsof Borneo girls at the age of eight or ten years are shut up in a littleroom or cell of the house, and cut off from all intercourse with theworld for a long time. The cell, like the rest of the house, is raisedon piles above the ground, and is lit by a single small window openingon a lonely place, so that the girl is in almost total darkness. She maynot leave the room on any pretext whatever, not even for the mostnecessary purposes. None of her family may see her all the time she isshut up, but a single slave woman is appointed to wait on her. Duringher lonely confinement, which often lasts seven years, the girl occupiesherself in weaving mats or with other handiwork. Her bodily growth isstunted by the long want of exercise, and when, on attaining womanhood, she is brought out, her complexion is pale and wax-like. She is nowshewn the sun, the earth, the water, the trees, and the flowers, as ifshe were newly born. Then a great feast is made, a slave is killed, andthe girl is smeared with his blood. [96] In Ceram girls at puberty wereformerly shut up by themselves in a hut which was kept dark. [97] In Yap, one of the Caroline Islands, should a girl be overtaken by her firstmenstruation on the public road, she may not sit down on the earth, butmust beg for a coco-nut shell to put under her. She is shut up forseveral days in a small hut at a distance from her parents' house, andafterwards she is bound to sleep for a hundred days in one of thespecial houses which are provided for the use of menstruous women. [98]

§ 3. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands andNorthern Australia_

[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Mabuiag, Torres Straits. ]

In the island of Mabuiag, Torres Straits, when the signs of pubertyappear on a girl, a circle of bushes is made in a dark corner of thehouse. Here, decked with shoulder-belts, armlets, leglets just below theknees, and anklets, wearing a chaplet on her head, and shell ornamentsin her ears, on her chest, and on her back, she squats in the midst ofthe bushes, which are piled so high round about her that only her headis visible. In this state of seclusion she must remain for three months. All this time the sun may not shine upon her, but at night she isallowed to slip out of the hut, and the bushes that hedge her in arethen changed. She may not feed herself or handle food, but is fed by oneor two old women, her maternal aunts, who are especially appointed tolook after her. One of these women cooks food for her at a special firein the forest. The girl is forbidden to eat turtle or turtle eggs duringthe season when the turtles are breeding; but no vegetable food isrefused her. No man, not even her own father, may come into the housewhile her seclusion lasts; for if her father saw her at this time hewould certainly have bad luck in his fishing, and would probably smashhis canoe the very next time he went out in it. At the end of the threemonths she is carried down to a fresh-water creek by her attendants, hanging on to their shoulders in such a way that her feet do not touchthe ground, while the women of the tribe form a ring round her, and thusescort her to the beach. Arrived at the shore, she is stripped of herornaments, and the bearers stagger with her into the creek, where theyimmerse her, and all the other women join in splashing water over boththe girl and her bearers. When they come out of the water one of the twoattendants makes a heap of grass for her charge to squat upon. The otherruns to the reef, catches a small crab, tears off its claws, and hastensback with them to the creek. Here in the meantime a fire has beenkindled, and the claws are roasted at it. The girl is then fed by herattendants with the roasted claws. After that she is freshly decorated, and the whole party marches back to the village in a single rank, thegirl walking in the centre between her two old aunts, who hold her bythe wrists. The husbands of her aunts now receive her and lead her intothe house of one of them, where all partake of food, and the girl isallowed once more to feed herself in the usual manner. A dance follows, in which the girl takes a prominent part, dancing between the husbandsof the two aunts who had charge of her in her retirement. [99]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Northern Australia. ]

Among the Yaraikanna tribe of Cape York Peninsula, in NorthernQueensland, a girl at puberty is said to live by herself for a month orsix weeks; no man may see her, though any woman may. She stays in a hutor shelter specially made for her, on the floor of which she liessupine. She may not see the sun, and towards sunset she must keep hereyes shut until the sun has gone down, otherwise it is thought that hernose will be diseased. During her seclusion she may eat nothing thatlives in salt water, or a snake would kill her. An old woman waits uponher and supplies her with roots, yams, and water. [100] Some tribes arewont to bury their girls at such seasons more or less deeply in theground, perhaps in order to hide them from the light of the sun. Thusthe Larrakeeyah tribe in the northern territory of South Australia usedto cover a girl up with dirt for three days at her first monthlyperiod. [101] In similar circumstances the Otati tribe, on the east coastof the Cape York Peninsula, make an excavation in the ground, where thegirl squats. A bower is then built over the hole, and sand is thrown onthe young woman till she is covered up to the hips. In this conditionshe remains for the first day, but comes out at night. So long as theperiod lasts, she stays in the bower during the day-time, but is notagain covered with sand. Afterwards her body is painted red and whitefrom the head to the hips, and she returns to the camp, where she squatsfirst on the right side, then on the left side, and then on the lap ofher future husband, who has been previously selected for her. [102] Amongthe natives of the Pennefather River, in the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, when a girl menstruates for the first time, her mother takesher away from the camp to some secluded spot, where she digs a circularhole in the sandy soil under the shade of a tree. In this hole the girlsquats with crossed legs and is covered with sand from the waistdownwards. A digging-stick is planted firmly in the sand on each side ofher, and the place is surrounded by a fence of bushes except in front, where her mother kindles a fire. Here the girl stays all day, sittingwith her arms crossed and the palms of her hands resting on the sand. She may not move her arms except to take food from her mother or toscratch herself; and in scratching herself she may not touch herselfwith her own hands, but must use for the purpose a splinter of wood, which, when it is not in use, is stuck in her hair. She may speak tonobody but her mother; indeed nobody else would think of coming nearher. At evening she lays hold of the two digging-sticks and by theirhelp frees herself from the superincumbent weight of sand and returns tothe camp. Next morning she is again buried in the sand under the shadeof the tree and remains there again till evening. This she does dailyfor five days. On her return at evening on the fifth day her motherdecorates her with a waist-band, a forehead-band, and a necklet ofpearl-shell, ties green parrot feathers round her arms and wrists andacross her chest, and smears her body, back and front, from the waistupwards with blotches of red, white, and yellow paint. She has in likemanner to be buried in the sand at her second and third menstruations, but at the fourth she is allowed to remain in camp, only signifying hercondition by wearing a basket of empty shells on her back. [103] Amongthe Kia blacks of the Prosperine River, on the east coast of Queensland, a girl at puberty has to sit or lie down in a shallow pit away from thecamp; a rough hut of bushes is erected over her to protect her from theinclemency of the weather. There she stays for about a week, waited onby her mother and sister, the only persons to whom she may speak. She isallowed to drink water, but may not touch it with her hands; and she mayscratch herself a little with a mussel-shell. This seclusion is repeatedat her second and third monthly periods, but when the third is over sheis brought to her husband bedecked with savage finery. Eagle-hawk orcockatoo feathers are stuck in her hair: a shell hangs over herforehead: grass bugles encircle her neck and an apron of opossum skinher waist: strings are tied to her arms and wrists; and her whole bodyis mottled with patterns drawn in red, white, and yellow pigments andcharcoal. [104]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty in the islands of Torres Straits. ]

Among the Uiyumkwi tribe in Red Island the girl lies at full length in ashallow trench dug in the foreshore, and sand is lightly thrown over herlegs and body up to the breasts, which appear not to be covered. A roughshelter of boughs is then built over her, and thus she remains lying fora few hours. Then she and her attendant go into the bush and look forfood, which they cook at a fire close to the shelter. They sleep underthe boughs, the girl remaining secluded from the camp but apparently notbeing again buried. At the end of the symptoms she stands over hotstones and water is poured over her, till, trickling from her body onthe stones, it is converted into steam and envelops her in a cloud ofvapour. Then she is painted with red and white stripes and returns tothe camp. If her future husband has already been chosen, she goes to himand they eat some food together, which the girl has previously broughtfrom the bush. [105] In Prince of Wales Island, Torres Strait, thetreatment of the patient is similar, but lasts for about two months. During the day she lies covered up with sand in a shallow hole on thebeach, over which a hut is built. At night she may get out of the hole, but she may not leave the hut. Her paternal aunt looks after her, andboth of them must abstain from eating turtle, dugong, and the heads offish. Were they to eat the heads of fish no more fish would be caught. During the time of the girl's seclusion, the aunt who waits upon her hasthe right to enter any house and take from it anything she likes withoutpayment, provided she does so before the sun rises. When the time of herretirement has come to an end, the girl bathes in the sea while themorning star is rising, and after performing various other ceremonies isreadmitted to society. [106] In Saibai, another island of Torres Straits, at her first monthly sickness a girl lives secluded in the forest forabout a fortnight, during which no man may see her; even the women whohave spoken to her in the forest must wash in salt water before theyspeak to a man. Two girls wait upon and feed the damsel, putting thefood into her mouth, for she is not allowed to touch it with her ownhands. Nor may she eat dugong and turtle. At the end of a fortnight thegirl and her attendants bathe in salt water while the tide is runningout. Afterwards they are clean, may again speak to men without ceremony, and move freely about the village. In Yam and Tutu a girl at pubertyretires for a month to the forest, where no man nor even her own mothermay look upon her. She is waited on by women who stand to her in acertain relationship (_mowai_), apparently her paternal aunts. She isblackened all over with charcoal and wears a long petticoat reachingbelow her knees. During her seclusion the married women of the villageoften assemble in the forest and dance, and the girl's aunts relieve thetedium of the proceedings by thrashing her from time to time as a usefulpreparation for matrimony. At the end of a month the whole party go intothe sea, and the charcoal is washed off the girl. After that she isdecorated, her body blackened again, her hair reddened with ochre, andin the evening she is brought back to her father's house, where she isreceived with weeping and lamentation because she has been so longaway. [107]

§ 4. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of North America_

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of California]

Among the Indians of California a girl at her first menstruation "wasthought to be possessed of a particular degree of supernatural power, and this was not always regarded as entirely defiling or malevolent. Often, however, there was a strong feeling of the power of evil inherentin her condition. Not only was she secluded from her family and thecommunity, but an attempt was made to seclude the world from her. One ofthe injunctions most strongly laid upon her was not to look about her. She kept her head bowed and was forbidden to see the world and the sun. Some tribes covered her with a blanket. Many of the customs in thisconnection resembled those of the North Pacific Coast most strongly, such as the prohibition to the girl to touch or scratch her head withher hand, a special implement being furnished her for the purpose. Sometimes she could eat only when fed and in other cases fastedaltogether. Some form of public ceremony, often accompanied by a danceand sometimes by a form of ordeal for the girl, was practised nearlyeverywhere. Such ceremonies were well developed in Southern California, where a number of actions symbolical of the girl's maturity andsubsequent life were performed. "[108] Thus among the Maidu Indians ofCalifornia a girl at puberty remained shut up in a small separate hut. For five days she might not eat flesh or fish nor feed herself, but wasfed by her mother or other old woman. She had a basket, plate, and cupfor her own use, and a stick with which to scratch her head, for shemight not scratch it with her fingers. At the end of five days she tooka warm bath and, while she still remained in the hut and plied thescratching-stick on her head, was privileged to feed herself with herown hands. After five days more she bathed in the river, after which herparents gave a great feast in her honour. At the feast the girl wasdressed in her best, and anybody might ask her parents for anything hepleased, and they had to give it, even if it was the hand of theirdaughter in marriage. During the period of her seclusion in the hut thegirl was allowed to go by night to her parents' house and listen tosongs sung by her friends and relations, who assembled for the purpose. Among the songs were some that related to the different roots and seedswhich in these tribes it is the business of women to gather for food. While the singers sang, she sat by herself in a corner of the housemuffled up completely in mats and skins; no man or boy might come nearher. [109] Among the Hupa, another Indian tribe of California, when agirl had reached maturity her male relatives danced all night for ninesuccessive nights, while the girl remained apart, eating no meat andblindfolded. But on the tenth night she entered the house and took partin the last dance. [110] Among the Wintun, another Californian tribe, agirl at puberty was banished from the camp and lived alone in a distantbooth, fasting rigidly from animal food; it was death to any person totouch or even approach her. [111]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of Washington State. ]

In the interior of Washington State, about Colville, "the customs of theIndians, in relation to the treatment of females, are singular. On thefirst appearance of the menses, they are furnished with provisions, andsent into the woods, to remain concealed for two days; for they have asuperstition, that if a man should be seen or met with during that time, death will be the consequence. At the end of the second day, the womanis permitted to return to the lodge, when she is placed in a hut justlarge enough for her to lie in at full length, in which she is compelledto remain for twenty days, cut off from all communication with herfriends, and is obliged to hide her face at the appearance of a man. Provisions are supplied her daily. After this, she is required toperform repeated ablutions, before she can resume her place in thefamily. At every return, the women go into seclusion for two or moredays. "[112] Among the Chinook Indians who inhabited the coast ofWashington State, from Shoalwater Bay as far as Grey's Harbour, when achief's daughter attained to puberty, she was hidden for five days fromthe view of the people; she might not look at them nor at the sky, normight she pick berries. It was believed that if she were to look at thesky, the weather would be bad; that if she picked berries, it wouldrain; and that when she hung her towel of cedar-bark on a spruce-tree, the tree withered up at once. She went out of the house by a separatedoor and bathed in a creek far from the village. She fasted for somedays, and for many days more she might not eat fresh food. [113]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Nootka Indians of VancouverIsland. ]

Amongst the Aht or Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island, when girls reachpuberty they are placed in a sort of gallery in the house "and are theresurrounded completely with mats, so that neither the sun nor any firecan be seen. In this cage they remain for several days. Water is giventhem, but no food. The longer a girl remains in this retirement thegreater honour is it to the parents; but she is disgraced for life if itis known that she has seen fire or the sun during this initiatoryordeal. "[114] Pictures of the mythical thunder-bird are painted on thescreens behind which she hides. During her seclusion she may neithermove nor lie down, but must always sit in a squatting posture. She maynot touch her hair with her hands, but is allowed to scratch her headwith a comb or a piece of bone provided for the purpose. To scratch herbody is also forbidden, as it is believed that every scratch would leavea scar. For eight months after reaching maturity she may not eat anyfresh food, particularly salmon; moreover, she must eat by herself, anduse a cup and dish of her own. [115]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Haida Indians of the QueenCharlotte Islands. ]

Among the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands girls at pubertywere secluded behind screens in the house for about twenty days. In someparts of the islands separate fires were provided for the girls, andthey went out and in by a separate door at the back of the house. If agirl at such a time was obliged to go out by the front door, all theweapons, gambling-sticks, medicine, and other articles had to be removedfrom the house till her return, for otherwise it was thought that theywould be unlucky; and if there was a good hunter in the house, he alsohad to go out at the same time on pain of losing his good luck if heremained. During several months or even half a year the girl was boundto wear a peculiar cloak or hood made of cedar-bark, nearly conical inshape and reaching down below the breast, but open before the face. After the twenty days were over the girl took a bath; none of the watermight be spilled, it had all to be taken back to the woods, else thegirl would not live long. On the west coast of the islands the damselmight eat nothing but black cod for four years; for the people believedthat other kinds of fish would become scarce if she partook of them. AtKloo the young woman at such times was forbidden to look at the sea, andfor forty days she might not gaze at the fire; for a whole year shemight not walk on the beach below high-water mark, because then the tidewould come in, covering part of the food supply, and there would be badweather. For five years she might not eat salmon, or the fish would bescarce; and when her family went to a salmon-creek, she landed from thecanoe at the mouth of the creek and came to the smoke-house from behind;for were she to see a salmon leap, all the salmon might leave the creek. Among the Haidas of Masset it was believed that if the girl looked atthe sky, the weather would be bad, and that if she stepped over asalmon-creek, all the salmon would disappear. [116]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tlingit Indians of Alaska. ]

Amongst the Tlingit (Thlinkeet) or Kolosh Indians of Alaska, when a girlshewed signs of womanhood she used to be confined to a little hut orcage, which was completely blocked up with the exception of a smallair-hole. In this dark and filthy abode she had to remain a year, without fire, exercise, or associates. Only her mother and a femaleslave might supply her with nourishment. Her food was put in at thelittle window; she had to drink out of the wing-bone of a white-headedeagle. The time of her seclusion was afterwards reduced in some placesto six or three months or even less. She had to wear a sort of hat withlong flaps, that her gaze might not pollute the sky; for she was thoughtunfit for the sun to shine upon, and it was imagined that her look woulddestroy the luck of a hunter, fisher, or gambler, turn things to stone, and do other mischief. At the end of her confinement her old clotheswere burnt, new ones were made, and a feast was given, at which a slitwas cut in her under lip parallel to the mouth, and a piece of wood orshell was inserted to keep the aperture open. [117]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tsetsaut and Bella CoolaIndians of British Columbia. ]

In the Tsetsaut tribe of British Columbia a girl at puberty wears alarge hat of skin which comes down over her face and screens it from thesun. It is believed that if she were to expose her face to the sun or tothe sky, rain would fall. The hat protects her face also against thefire, which ought not to strike her skin; to shield her hands she wearsmittens. In her mouth she carries the tooth of an animal to prevent herown teeth from becoming hollow. For a whole year she may not see bloodunless her face is blackened; otherwise she would grow blind. For twoyears she wears the hat and lives in a hut by herself, although she isallowed to see other people. At the end of two years a man takes the hatfrom her head and throws it away. [118] In the Bilqula or Bella Coolatribe of British Columbia, when a girl attains puberty she must stay inthe shed which serves as her bedroom, where she has a separatefireplace. She is not allowed to descend to the main part of the house, and may not sit by the fire of the family. For four days she is bound toremain motionless in a sitting posture. She fasts during the day, but isallowed a little food and drink very early in the morning. After thefour days' seclusion she may leave her room, but only through a separateopening cut in the floor, for the houses are raised on piles. She maynot yet come into the chief room. In leaving the house she wears a largehat which protects her face against the rays of the sun. It is believedthat if the sun were to shine on her face her eyes would suffer. She maypick berries on the hills, but may not come near the river or sea for awhole year. Were she to eat fresh salmon she would lose her senses, orher mouth would be changed into a long beak. [119]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tinneh Indians of BritishColumbia. ]

Among the Tinneh Indians about Stuart Lake, Babine Lake, and Fraser Lakein British Columbia "girls verging on maturity, that is when theirbreasts begin to form, take swans' feathers mixed with human hair andplait bands, which they tie round their wrists and ankles to secure longlife. At this time they are careful that the dishes out of which theyeat, are used by no other person, and wholly devoted to their own use;during this period they eat nothing but dog fish, and starvation _only_will drive them to eat either fresh fish or meat. When their firstperiodical sickness comes on, they are fed by their mothers or nearestfemale relation by _themselves_, and on no account will they touch theirfood with their own hands. They are at this time also careful not totouch their heads with their hands, and keep a small stick to scratchtheir heads with. They remain outside the lodge, all the time they arein this state, in a hut made for the purpose. During all this periodthey wear a skull-cap made of skin to fit very tight; this is nevertaken off until their first monthly sickness ceases; they also wear astrip of black paint about one inch wide across their eyes, and wear afringe of shells, bones, etc. , hanging down from their foreheads tobelow their eyes; and this is never taken off till the second monthlyperiod arrives and ceases, when the nearest male relative makes a feast;after which she is considered a fully matured woman; but she has torefrain from eating anything fresh for one year after her first monthlysickness; she may however eat partridge, but it must be cooked in thecrop of the bird to render it harmless. I would have thought itimpossible to perform this feat had I not seen it done. The crop isblown out, and a small bent willow put round the mouth; it is thenfilled with water, and the meat being first minced up, put in also, thenput on the fire and boiled till cooked. Their reason for hanging fringesbefore their eyes, is to hinder any bad medicine man from harming themduring this critical period: they are very careful not to drink whilstfacing a medicine man, and do so only when their backs are turned tohim. All these habits are left off when the girl is a recognised woman, with the exception of their going out of the lodge and remaining in ahut, every time their periodical sickness comes on. This is a rigidlyobserved law with both single and married women. "[120]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Tinneh Indians of Alaska. ]

Among the Hareskin Tinneh a girl at puberty was secluded for five daysin a hut made specially for the purpose; she might only drink out of atube made from a swan's bone, and for a month she might not break ahare's bones, nor taste blood, nor eat the heart or fat of animals, norbirds' eggs. [121] Among the Tinneh Indians of the middle Yukon valley, in Alaska, the period of the girl's seclusion lasts exactly a lunarmonth; for the day of the moon on which the symptoms first occur isnoted, and she is sequestered until the same day of the next moon. Ifthe season is winter, a corner of the house is curtained off for her useby a blanket or a sheet of canvas; if it is summer, a small tent iserected for her near the common one. Here she lives and sleeps. Shewears a long robe and a large hood, which she must pull down over hereyes whenever she leaves the hut, and she must keep it down till shereturns. She may not speak to a man nor see his face, much less touchhis clothes or anything that belongs to him; for if she did so, thoughno harm would come to her, he would grow unmanly. She has her own dishesfor eating out of and may use no other; at Kaltag she must suck thewater through a swan's bone without applying her lips to the cup. Shemay eat no fresh meat or fish except the flesh of the porcupine. She maynot undress, but sleeps with all her clothes on, even her mittens. Inher socks she wears, next to the skin, the horny soles cut from the feetof a porcupine, in order that for the rest of her life her shoes maynever wear out. Round her waist she wears a cord to which are tied theheads of femurs of a porcupine; because of all animals known to theTinneh the porcupine suffers least in parturition, it simply drops itsyoung and continues to walk or skip about as if nothing had happened. Hence it is easy to see that a girl who wears these portions of aporcupine about her waist, will be delivered just as easily as theanimal. To make quite sure of this, if anybody happens to kill aporcupine big with young while the girl is undergoing her period ofseparation, the foetus is given to her, and she lets it slide downbetween her shirt and her body so as to fall on the ground like aninfant. [122] Here the imitation of childbirth is a piece of homoeopathicor imitative magic designed to facilitate the effect which itsimulates. [123]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Thompson Indians of BritishColumbia. ]

Among the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, when a girl attainedpuberty, she was at once separated from all the people. A conical hut offir branches and bark was erected at some little distance from the otherhouses, and in it the girl had to squat on her heels during the day. Often a deep circular hole was dug in the hut and the girl squatted inthe hole, with her head projecting above the surface of the ground. Shemight quit the hut for various purposes in the early morning, but hadalways to be back at sunrise. On the first appearance of the symptomsher face was painted red all over, and the paint was renewed everymorning during her term of seclusion. A heavy blanket swathed her bodyfrom top to toe, and during the first four days she wore a conical capmade of small fir branches, which reached below the breast but left anopening for the face. In her hair was fastened an implement made ofdeer-bone with which she scratched herself. For the first four days shemight neither wash nor eat, but a little water was given her in abirch-bark cup painted red, and she sucked up the liquid through a tubemade out of the leg of a crane, a swan, or a goose, for her lips mightnot touch the surface of the water. After the four days she was allowed, during the rest of the period of isolation, to eat, to wash, to liedown, to comb her hair, and to drink of streams and springs. But indrinking at these sources she had still to use her tube, otherwise thespring would dry up. While her seclusion lasted she performed by nightvarious ceremonies, which were supposed to exert a beneficial influenceon her future life. For example, she ran as fast as she could, prayingat the same time to the Earth or Nature that she might be fleet of footand tireless of limb. She dug trenches, in order that in after life shemight be able to dig well and to work hard. These and other ceremoniesshe repeated for four nights or mornings in succession, four times eachmorning, and each time she supplicated the Dawn of the Day. Among theLower Thompson Indians she carried a staff for one night; and when theday was breaking she leaned the staff against the stump of a tree andprayed to the Dawn that she might be blessed with a good husband, whowas symbolized by the staff. She also wandered some nights to lonelyparts of the mountains, where she would dance, imploring the spirits topity and protect her during her future life; then, the dance and prayerover, she would lie down on the spot and fall asleep. Again, she carriedfour stones in her bosom to a spring, where she spat upon the stones andthrew them one after the other into the water, praying that all diseasemight leave her, as these stones did. Also she ran four times in theearly morning with two small stones in her bosom; and as she ran thestones slipped down between her bare body and her clothes and fell tothe ground. At the same time she prayed to the Dawn that when she shouldbe with child, she might be delivered as easily as she was delivered ofthese stones. But whatever exercises she performed or prayers sheoffered on the lonely mountains during the hours of darkness or whilethe morning light was growing in the east, she must always be back inher little hut before the sun rose. There she often passed the tedioushours away picking the needles, one by one, from the cones on two largebranches of fir, which hung from the roof of her hut on purpose toprovide her with occupation. And as she picked she prayed to thefir-branch that she might never be lazy, but always quick and active atwork. During her seclusion, too, she had to make miniatures of all thearticles that Indian women make, or used to make, such as baskets, mats, ropes, and thread. This she did in order that afterwards she might beable to make the real things properly. Four large fir-branches also wereplaced in front of the hut, so that when she went out or in, she had tostep over them. The branches were renewed every morning and the old onesthrown away into the water, while the girl prayed, "May I never bewitchany man, nor my fellow-women! May it never happen!" The first four timesthat she went out and in, she prayed to the fir-branches, saying, "Ifever I step into trouble or difficulties or step unknowingly inside themagical spell of some person, may you help me, O Fir-branches, with yourpower!" Every day she painted her face afresh, and she wore strings ofparts of deer-hoofs round her ankles and knees, and tied to herwaistband on either side, which rattled when she walked or ran. Even theshape of the hut in which she lived was adapted to her future ratherthan to her present needs and wishes. If she wished to be tall, the hutwas tall; if she wished to be short, it was low, sometimes so low thatthere was not room in it for her to stand erect, and she would lay thepalm of her hand on the top of her head and pray to the Dawn that shemight grow no taller. Her seclusion lasted four months. The Indians saythat long ago it extended over a year, and that fourteen days elapsedbefore the girl was permitted to wash for the first time. The dresswhich she wore during her time of separation was afterwards taken to thetop of a hill and burned, and the rest of her clothes were hung up ontrees. [124]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Lillooet Indians of BritishColumbia. ]

Among the Lillooet Indians of British Columbia, neighbours of theThompsons, the customs observed by girls at puberty were similar. Thedamsels were secluded for a period of not less than one year nor morethan four years, according to their own inclination and the wishes oftheir parents. Among the Upper Lillooets the hut in which the girllodged was made of bushy fir-trees set up like a conical tent, the innerbranches being lopped off, while the outer branches were closelyinterwoven and padded to form a roof. Every month or half-month the hutwas shifted to another site or a new one erected. By day the girl sat inthe hut; for the first month she squatted in a hole dug in the middle ofit; and she passed the time making miniature baskets of birch-bark andother things, praying that she might be able to make the real thingswell in after years. At the dusk of the evening she left the hut andwandered about all night, but she returned before the sun rose. Beforeshe quitted the hut at nightfall to roam abroad, she painted her facered and put on a mask of fir-branches, and in her hand, as she walked, she carried a basket-rattle to frighten ghosts and guard herself fromevil. Among the Lower Lillooets, the girl's mask was often made ofgoat-skin, covering her head, neck, shoulders and breast, and leavingonly a narrow opening from the brow to the chin. During the nocturnalhours she performed many ceremonies. Thus she put two smooth stones inher bosom and ran, and as they fell down between her body and herclothes, she prayed, saying, "May I always have easy child-births!" Nowone of these stones represented her future child and the otherrepresented the afterbirth. Also she dug trenches, praying that in theyears to come she might be strong and tireless in digging roots; shepicked leaves and needles from the fir-trees, praying that her fingersmight be nimble in picking berries; and she tore sheets of birch-barkinto shreds, dropping the shreds as she walked and asking that her handsmight never tire and that she might make neat and fine work ofbirch-bark. Moreover, she ran and walked much that she might be light offoot. And every evening, when the shadows were falling, and everymorning, when the day was breaking, she prayed to the Dusk of theEvening or to the Dawn of Day, saying, "O Dawn of Day!" or "O Dusk, " asit might be, "may I be able to dig roots fast and easily, and may Ialways find plenty!" All her prayers were addressed to the Dusk of theEvening or the Dawn of Day. She supplicated both, asking for long life, health, wealth, and happiness. [125]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Shuswap Indians of BritishColumbia. ]

Among the Shuswap Indians of British Columbia, who are neighbours of theThompsons and Lillooets, "a girl on reaching maturity has to go througha great number of ceremonies. She must leave the village and live alonein a small hut on the mountains. She cooks her own food, and must noteat anything that bleeds. She is forbidden to touch her head, for whichpurpose she uses a comb with three points. Neither is she allowed toscratch her body, except with a painted deer-bone. She wears the boneand the comb suspended from her belt. She drinks out of a painted cup ofbirch-bark, and neither more nor less than the quantity it holds. Everynight she walks about her hut, and plants willow twigs, which she haspainted, and to the ends of which she has attached pieces of cloth, intothe ground. It is believed that thus she will become rich in later life. In order to become strong she should climb trees and try to break offtheir points. She plays with _lehal_ sticks that her future husbandsmight have good luck when gambling. "[126] During the day the girl staysin her hut and occupies herself in making miniature bags, mats, andbaskets, in sewing and embroidery, in manufacturing thread, twine, andso forth; in short she makes a beginning of all kinds of woman's work, in order that she may be a good housewife in after life. By night sheroams the mountains and practises running, climbing, carrying burdens, and digging trenches, so that she may be expert at digging roots. If shehas wandered far and daylight overtakes her, she hides herself behind aveil of fir branches; for no one, except her instructor or nearestrelatives, should see her face during her period of seclusion. She worea large robe painted red on the breast and sides, and her hair was doneup in a knot at each ear. [127]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Delaware and Cheyenne Indians. ]

Ceremonies of the same general type were probably observed by girls atpuberty among all the Indian tribes of North America. But the record ofthem is far less full for the Central and Eastern tribes, perhapsbecause the settlers who first came into contact with the Red Man inthese regions were too busy fighting him to find leisure, even if theyhad the desire, to study his manners and customs. However, among theDelaware Indians, a tribe in the extreme east of the continent, we readthat "when a Delaware girl has her first monthly period, she mustwithdraw into a hut at some distance from the village. Her head iswrapped up for twelve days, so that she can see nobody, and she mustsubmit to frequent vomits and fasting, and abstain from all labor. Afterthis she is washed and new clothed, but confined to a solitary life fortwo months, at the close of which she is declared marriageable. "[128]Again, among the Cheyennes, an Indian tribe of the Missouri valley, agirl at her first menstruation is painted red all over her body andsecluded in a special little lodge for four days. However, she mayremain in her father's lodge provided that there are no charms("medicine"), no sacred bundle, and no shield in it, or that these andall other objects invested with a sacred character have been removed. For four days she may not eat boiled meat; the flesh of which shepartakes must be roasted over coals. Young men will not eat from thedish nor drink from the pot, which has been used by her; because theybelieve that were they to do so they would be wounded in the next fight. She may not handle nor even touch any weapon of war or any sacredobject. If the camp moves, she may not ride a horse, but is mounted on amare. [129]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Esquimaux. ]

Among the Esquimaux also, in the extreme north of the continent, whobelong to an entirely different race from the Indians, the attainment ofpuberty in the female sex is, or used to be, the occasion of similarobservances. Thus among the Koniags, an Esquimau people of Alaska, agirl at puberty was placed in a small hut in which she had to remain onher hands and knees for six months; then the hut was enlarged a littleso as to allow her to straighten her back, but in this posture she hadto remain for six months more. All this time she was regarded as anunclean being with whom no one might hold intercourse. At the end of theyear she was received back by her parents and a great feast held. [130]Again, among the Malemut, and southward from the lower Yukon andadjacent districts, when a girl reaches the age of puberty she isconsidered unclean for forty days and must therefore live by herself ina corner of the house with her face to the wall, always keeping her hoodover her head and her hair hanging dishevelled over her eyes. But if itis summer, she commonly lives in a rough shelter outside the house. Shemay not go out by day, and only once at night, when every one else isasleep. At the end of the period she bathes and is clothed in newgarments, whereupon she may be taken in marriage. During her seclusionshe is supposed to be enveloped in a peculiar atmosphere of such a sortthat were a young man to come near enough for it to touch him, it wouldrender him visible to every animal he might hunt, so that his luck as ahunter would be gone. [131]

§ 5. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of South America_

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Guaranis, Chiriguanos, andLengua Indians of South America. ]

When symptoms of puberty appeared on a girl for the first time, theGuaranis of Southern Brazil, on the borders of Paraguay, used to sew herup in her hammock, leaving only a small opening in it to allow her tobreathe. In this condition, wrapt up and shrouded like a corpse, she waskept for two or three days or so long as the symptoms lasted, and duringthis time she had to observe a most rigorous fast. After that she wasentrusted to a matron, who cut the girl's hair and enjoined her toabstain most strictly from eating flesh of any kind until her hairshould be grown long enough to hide her ears. Meanwhile the divinersdrew omens of her future character from the various birds or animalsthat flew past or crossed her path. If they saw a parrot, they would sayshe was a chatterbox; if an owl, she was lazy and useless for domesticlabours, and so on. [132] In similar circumstances the Chiriguanos ofsoutheastern Bolivia hoisted the girl in her hammock to the roof, whereshe stayed for a month: the second month the hammock was let half-waydown from the roof; and in the third month old women, armed with sticks, entered the hut and ran about striking everything they met, saying theywere hunting the snake that had wounded the girl. [133] The LenguaIndians of the Paraguayan Chaco under similar circumstances hang thegirl in her hammock from the roof of the house, but they leave her thereonly three days and nights, during which they give her nothing to eatbut a little Paraguay tea or boiled maize. Only her mother orgrandmother has access to her; nobody else approaches or speaks to her. If she is obliged to leave the hammock for a little, her friends takegreat care to prevent her from touching the _Boyrusu_, which is animaginary serpent that would swallow her up. She must also be verycareful not to set foot on the droppings of fowls or animals, else shewould suffer from sores on the throat and breast. On the third day theylet her down from the hammock, cut her hair, and make her sit in acorner of the room with her face turned to the wall. She may speak tonobody, and must abstain from flesh and fish. These rigorous observancesshe must practise for nearly a year. Many girls die or are injured forlife in consequence of the hardships they endure at this time. Theironly occupations during their seclusion are spinning and weaving. [134]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Yuracares of Bolivia. ]

Among the Yuracares, an Indian tribe of Bolivia, at the eastern foot ofthe Andes, when a girl perceives the signs of puberty, she informs herparents. The mother weeps and the father constructs a little hut of palmleaves near the house. In this cabin he shuts up his daughter so thatshe cannot see the light, and there she remains fasting rigorously forfour days. Meantime the mother, assisted by the women of theneighbourhood, has brewed a large quantity of the native intoxicantcalled _chicha_, and poured it into wooden troughs and palm leaves. Onthe morning of the fourth day, three hours before the dawn, the girl'sfather, having arrayed himself in his savage finery, summons all hisneighbours with loud cries. The damsel is seated on a stone, and everyguest in turn cuts off a lock of her hair, and running away hides it inthe hollow trunk of a tree in the depths of the forest. When they haveall done so and seated themselves again gravely in the circle, the girloffers to each of them a calabash full of very strong _chicha_. Beforethe wassailing begins, the various fathers perform a curious operationon the arms of their sons, who are seated beside them. The operatortakes a very sharp bone of an ape, rubs it with a pungent spice, andthen pinching up the skin of his son's arm he pierces it with the bonethrough and through, as a surgeon might introduce a seton. Thisoperation he repeats till the young man's arm is riddled with holes atregular intervals from the shoulder to the wrist. Almost all who takepart in the festival are covered with these wounds, which the Indianscall _culucute_. Having thus prepared themselves to spend a happy day, they drink, play on flutes, sing and dance till evening. Rain, thunder, and lightning, should they befall, have no effect in damping the generalenjoyment or preventing its continuance till after the sun has set. Themotive for perforating the arms of the young men is to make them skilfulhunters; at each perforation the sufferer is cheered by the promise ofanother sort of game or fish which the surgical operation willinfallibly procure for him. The same operation is performed on the armsand legs of the girls, in order that they may be brave and strong; eventhe dogs are operated on with the intention of making them run down thegame better. For five or six months afterwards the damsel must cover herhead with bark and refrain from speaking to men. The Yuracares thinkthat if they did not submit a young girl to this severe ordeal, herchildren would afterwards perish by accidents of various kinds, such asthe sting of a serpent, the bite of a jaguar, the fall of a tree, thewound of an arrow, or what not. [135]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of the Gran Chaco. ]

Among the Matacos or Mataguayos, an Indian tribe of the Gran Chaco, agirl at puberty has to remain in seclusion for some time. She liescovered up with branches or other things in a corner of the hut, seeingno one and speaking to no one, and during this time she may eat neitherflesh nor fish. Meantime a man beats a drum in front of the house. [136]Similarly among the Tobas, another Indian tribe of the same region, whena chief's daughter has just attained to womanhood, she is shut up fortwo or three days in the house, all the men of the tribe scour thecountry to bring in game and fish for a feast, and a Mataco Indian isengaged to drum, sing, and dance in front of the house withoutcessation, day and night, till the festival is over. As the merrymakinglasts for two or three weeks, the exhaustion of the musician at the endof it may be readily conceived. Meat and drink are supplied to him onthe spot where he pays his laborious court to the Muses. The proceedingswind up with a saturnalia and a drunken debauch. [137] Among the Yaguas, an Indian tribe of the Upper Amazon, a girl at puberty is shut up forthree months in a lonely hut in the forest, where her mother brings herfood daily. [138] When a girl of the Peguenches tribe perceives inherself the first signs of womanhood, she is secluded by her mother in acorner of the hut screened off with blankets, and is warned not to liftup her eyes on any man. Next day, very early in the morning and againafter sunset, she is taken out by two women and made to run till she istired; in the interval she is again secluded in her corner. On thefollowing day she lays three packets of wool beside the path near thehouse to signify that she is now a woman. [139] Among the Passes, Mauhes, and other tribes of Brazil the young woman in similar circumstances ishung in her hammock from the roof and has to fast there for a month oras long as she can hold out. [140] One of the early settlers in Brazil, about the middle of the sixteenth century, has described the severeordeal which damsels at puberty had to undergo among the Indians on thesouth-east coast of that country, near what is now Rio de Janeiro. Whena girl had reached this critical period of life, her hair was burned orshaved off close to the head. Then she was placed on a flat stone andcut with the tooth of an animal from the shoulders all down the back, till she ran with blood. Next the ashes of a wild gourd were rubbed intothe wounds; the girl was bound hand and foot, and hung in a hammock, being enveloped in it so closely that no one could see her. Here she hadto stay for three days without eating or drinking. When the three dayswere over, she stepped out of the hammock upon the flat stone, for herfeet might not touch the ground. If she had a call of nature, a femalerelation took the girl on her back and carried her out, taking with hera live coal to prevent evil influences from entering the girl's body. Being replaced in her hammock, she was now allowed to get some flour, boiled roots, and water, but might not taste salt or flesh. Thus shecontinued to the end of the first monthly period, at the expiry of whichshe was gashed on the breast and belly as well as all down the back. During the second month she still stayed in her hammock, but her rule ofabstinence was less rigid, and she was allowed to spin. The third monthshe was blackened with a certain pigment and began to go about asusual. [141]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of Guiana; custom ofbeating the girls and of causing them to be stung by ants. ]

Amongst the Macusis of British Guiana, when a girl shews the first signsof puberty, she is hung in a hammock at the highest point of the hut. For the first few days she may not leave the hammock by day, but atnight she must come down, light a fire, and spend the night beside it, else she would break out in sores on her neck, throat, and other partsof her body. So long as the symptoms are at their height, she must fastrigorously. When they have abated, she may come down and take up herabode in a little compartment that is made for her in the darkest cornerof the hut. In the morning she may cook her food, but it must be at aseparate fire and in a vessel of her own. After about ten days themagician comes and undoes the spell by muttering charms and breathing onher and on the more valuable of the things with which she has come incontact. The pots and drinking-vessels which she used are broken and thefragments buried. After her first bath, the girl must submit to bebeaten by her mother with thin rods without uttering a cry. At the endof the second period she is again beaten, but not afterwards. She is now"clean, " and can mix again with people. [142] Other Indians of Guiana, after keeping the girl in her hammock at the top of the hut for a month, expose her to certain large ants, whose bite is very painful. [143]Sometimes, in addition to being stung with ants, the sufferer has tofast day and night so long as she remains slung up on high in herhammock, so that when she comes down she is reduced to a skeleton. Theintention of stinging her with ants is said to be to make her strong tobear the burden of maternity. [144] Amongst the Uaupes of Brazil a girlat puberty is secluded in the house for a month, and allowed only asmall quantity of bread and water. Then she is taken out into the midstof her relations and friends, each of whom gives her four or five blowswith pieces of _sipo_ (an elastic climber), till she falls senseless ordead. If she recovers, the operation is repeated four times at intervalsof six hours, and it is considered an offence to the parents not tostrike hard. Meantime, pots of meats and fish have been made ready; the_sipos_ are dipped into them and then given to the girl to lick, who isnow considered a marriageable woman. [145]

[Custom in South America of causing young men to be stung with ants asan initiatory rite. ]

The custom of stinging the girl at such times with ants or beating herwith rods is intended, we may be sure, not as a punishment or a test ofendurance, but as a purification, the object being to drive away themalignant influences with which a girl in this condition is believed tobe beset and enveloped. Examples of purification, by beating, byincisions in the flesh, and by stinging with ants, have already comebefore us. [146] In some Indian tribes of Brazil and Guiana young men donot rank as warriors and may not marry till they have passed through aterrible ordeal, which consists in being stung by swarms of venomousants whose bite is like fire. Thus among the Mauhes on the Tapajosriver, a southern tributary of the Amazon, boys of eight to ten yearsare obliged to thrust their arms into sleeves stuffed with greatferocious ants, which the Indians call _tocandeira_ (_Cryptocerusatratus_, F. ). When the young victim shrieks with pain, an excited mobof men dances round him, shouting and encouraging him till he fallsexhausted to the ground. He is then committed to the care of old women, who treat his fearfully swollen arms with fresh juice of the manioc; andon his recovery he has to shew his strength and skill in bending a bow. This cruel ordeal is commonly repeated again and again, till the lad hasreached his fourteenth year and can bear the agony without betraying anysign of emotion. Then he is a man and can marry. A lad's age is reckonedby the number of times he has passed through the ordeal. [147] Aneye-witness has described how a young Mauhe hero bore the torture withan endurance more than Spartan, dancing and singing, with his arms casedin the terrible mittens, before every cabin of the great common house, till pallid, staggering, and with chattering teeth he triumphantly laidthe gloves before the old chief and received the congratulations of themen and the caresses of the women; then breaking away from his friendsand admirers he threw himself into the river and remained in its coolsoothing water till nightfall. [148] Similarly among the Ticunas of theUpper Amazon, on the border of Peru, the young man who would take hisplace among the warriors must plunge his arm into a sort of basket fullof venomous ants and keep it there for several minutes without utteringa cry. He generally falls backwards and sometimes succumbs to the feverwhich ensues; hence as soon as the ordeal is over the women are prodigalof their attentions to him, and rub the swollen arm with a particularkind of herb. [149] Ordeals of this sort appear to be in vogue among theIndians of the Rio Negro as well as of the Amazon. [150] Among theRucuyennes, a tribe of Indians in the north of Brazil, on the borders ofGuiana, young men who are candidates for marriage must submit to bestung all over their persons not only with ants but with wasps, whichare applied to their naked bodies in curious instruments of trellis-workshaped like fantastic quadrupeds or birds. The patient invariably fallsdown in a swoon and is carried like dead to his hammock, where he istightly lashed with cords. As they come to themselves, they writhe inagony, so that their hammocks rock violently to and fro, causing the hutto shake as if it were about to collapse. This dreadful ordeal is calledby the Indians a _maraké_. [151]

[Custom of causing men and women to be stung with ants to improve theircharacter and health or to render them invulnerable. ]

The same ordeal, under the same name, is also practised by the Wayanas, an Indian tribe of French Guiana, but with them, we are told, it is nolonger deemed an indispensable preliminary to marriage; "it is rather asort of national medicine administered chiefly to the youth of bothsexes. " Applied to men, the _maraké_, as it is called, "sharpens them, prevents them from being heavy and lazy, makes them active, brisk, industrious, imparts strength, and helps them to shoot well with thebow; without it the Indians would always be slack and rather sickly, would always have a little fever, and would lie perpetually in theirhammocks. As for the women, the _maraké_ keeps them from going to sleep, renders them active, alert, brisk, gives them strength and a liking forwork, makes them good housekeepers, good workers at the stockade, goodmakers of _cachiri_. Every one undergoes the _maraké_ at least twice inhis life, sometimes thrice, and oftener if he likes. It may be had fromthe age of about eight years and upward, and no one thinks it odd that aman of forty should voluntarily submit to it. "[152] Similarly theIndians of St. Juan Capistrano in California used to be branded on somepart of their bodies, generally on the right arm, but sometimes on theleg also, not as a proof of manly fortitude, but because they believedthat the custom "added greater strength to the nerves, and gave a betterpulse for the management of the bow. " Afterwards "they were whipped withnettles, and covered with ants, that they might become robust, and theinfliction was always performed in summer, during the months of July andAugust, when the nettle was in its most fiery state. They gathered smallbunches, which they fastened together, and the poor deluded Indian waschastised, by inflicting blows with them upon his naked limbs, untilunable to walk; and then he was carried to the nest of the nearest andmost furious species of ants, and laid down among them, while some ofhis friends, with sticks, kept annoying the insects to make them stillmore violent. What torments did they not undergo! What pain! Whathellish inflictions! Yet their faith gave them power to endure allwithout a murmur, and they remained as if dead. Having undergone thesedreadful ordeals, they were considered as invulnerable, and believedthat the arrows of their enemies could no longer harm them. "[153] Amongthe Alur, a tribe inhabiting the south-western region of the upper Nile, to bury a man in an ant-hill and leave him there for a while is theregular treatment for insanity. [154]

[In such cases the beating or stinging was originally a purification; ata later time it is interpreted as a test of courage and endurance. ]

In like manner it is probable that beating or scourging as a religiousor ceremonial rite was originally a mode of purification. It was meantto wipe off and drive away a dangerous contagion, whether personified asdemoniacal or not, which was supposed to be adhering physically, thoughinvisibly, to the body of the sufferer. [155] The pain inflicted on theperson beaten was no more the object of the beating than it is of asurgical operation with us; it was a necessary accident, that was all. In later times such customs were interpreted otherwise, and the pain, from being an accident, became the prime object of the ceremony, whichwas now regarded either as a test of endurance imposed upon persons atcritical epochs of life, or as a mortification of the flesh wellpleasing to the god. But asceticism, under any shape or form, is neverprimitive. The savage, it is true, in certain circumstances willvoluntarily subject himself to pains and privations which appear to uswholly needless; but he never acts thus unless he believes that somesolid temporal advantage is to be gained by so doing. Pain for the sakeof pain, whether as a moral discipline in this life or as a means ofwinning a glorious immortality hereafter, is not an object which he setshimself deliberately to pursue. 

[This explanation confirmed with reference to the beating of girls atpuberty among the South American Indians; treatment of a girl at pubertyamong the Banivas of the Orinoco; symptoms of puberty in a girl regardedas wounds inflicted by a demon. ]

If this view is correct, we can understand why so many Indian tribes ofSouth America compel the youth of both sexes to submit to these painfuland sometimes fatal ordeals. They imagine that in this way they rid theyoung folk of certain evils inherent in youth, especially at thecritical age of puberty; and when they picture to themselves the evilsin a personal form as dangerous spirits or demons, the ceremony of theirexpulsion may in the strict sense be termed an exorcism. This certainlyappears to be the interpretation which the Banivas of the Orinoco putupon the cruel scourgings which they inflict on girls at puberty. At herfirst menstruation a Baniva girl must pass several days and nights inher hammock, almost motionless and getting nothing to eat and drink butwater and a little manioc. While she lies there, the suitors for herhand apply to her father, and he who can afford to give most for her orcan prove himself the best man, is promised the damsel in marriage. Thefast over, some old men enter the hut, bandage the girl's eyes, coverher head with a bonnet of which the fringes fall on her shoulders, andthen lead her forth and tie her to a post set up in an open place. Thehead of the post is carved in the shape of a grotesque face. None butthe old men may witness what follows. Were a woman caught peeping andprying, it would go ill with her; she would be marked out for thevengeance of the demon, who would make her expiate her crime at the verynext moon by madness or death. Every participant in the ceremony comesarmed with a scourge of cords or of fish skins; some of them reinforcethe virtue of the instrument by tying little sharp stones to the end ofthe thongs. Then, to the dismal and deafening notes of shell-trumpetsblown by two or three supernumeraries, the men circle round and roundthe post, every one applying his scourge as he passes to the girl'sback, till it streams with blood. At last the musicians, windingtremendous blasts on their trumpets against the demon, advance and touchthe post in which he is supposed to be incorporate. Then the blows ceaseto descend; the girl is untied, often in a fainting state, and carriedaway to have her wounds washed and simples applied to them. The youngestof the executioners, or rather of the exorcists, hastens to inform herbetrothed husband of the happy issue of the exorcism. "The spirit, " hesays, "had cast thy beloved into a sleep as deep almost as that ofdeath. But we have rescued her from his attacks, and laid her down insuch and such a place. Go seek her. " Then going from house to housethrough the village he cries to the inmates, "Come, let us burn thedemon who would have taken possession of such and such a girl, ourfriend. " The bridegroom at once carries his wounded and suffering brideto his own house; and all the people gather round the post for thepleasure of burning it and the demon together. A great pile of firewoodhas meanwhile been heaped up about it, and the women run round the pyrecursing in shrill voices the wicked spirit who has wrought all thisevil. The men join in with hoarser cries and animate themselves for thebusiness in hand by deep draughts of an intoxicant which has beenprovided for the occasion by the parents-in-law. Soon the bridegroom, having committed the bride to the care of his mother, appears on thescene brandishing a lighted torch. He addresses the demon with bittermockery and reproaches; informs him that the fair creature on whom he, the demon, had nefarious designs, is now his, the bridegroom's, bloomingspouse; and shaking his torch at the grinning head on the post, hescreams out, "This is how the victims of thy persecution take vengeanceon thee!" With these words he puts a light to the pyre. At once thedrums strike up, the trumpets blare, and men, women, and children beginto dance. In two long rows they dance, the men on one side, the women onthe other, advancing till they almost touch and then retiring again. After that the two rows join hands, and forming a huge circle trip itround and round the blaze, till the post with its grotesque face isconsumed in the flames and nothing of the pyre remains but a heap of redand glowing embers. "The evil spirit has been destroyed. Thus deliveredfrom her persecutor, the young wife will be free from sickness, will notdie in childbed, and will bear many children to her husband. "[156] Fromthis account it appears that the Banivas attribute the symptoms ofpuberty in girls to the wounds inflicted on them by an amorous devil, who, however, can be not only exorcised but burnt to ashes at the stake. 

§ 6. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in India and Cambodia_

[Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Hindoos; seclusion of girls atpuberty in Southern India. ]

When a Hindoo maiden reaches maturity she is kept in a dark room forfour days, and is forbidden to see the sun. She is regarded as unclean;no one may touch her. Her diet is restricted to boiled rice, milk, sugar, curd, and tamarind without salt. On the morning of the fifth dayshe goes to a neighbouring tank, accompanied by five women whosehusbands are alive. Smeared with turmeric water, they all bathe andreturn home, throwing away the mat and other things that were in theroom. [157] The Rarhi Brahmans of Bengal compel a girl at puberty to livealone, and do not allow her to see the face of any male. For three daysshe remains shut up in a dark room, and has to undergo certain penances. Fish, flesh, and sweetmeats are forbidden her; she must live upon riceand ghee. [158] Among the Tiyans of Malabar a girl is thought to bepolluted for four days from the beginning of her first menstruation. During this time she must keep to the north side of the house, where shesleeps on a grass mat of a particular kind, in a room festooned withgarlands of young coco-nut leaves. Another girl keeps her company andsleeps with her, but she may not touch any other person, tree or plant. Further, she may not see the sky, and woe betide her if she catchessight of a crow or a cat! Her diet must be strictly vegetarian, withoutsalt, tamarinds, or chillies. She is armed against evil spirits by aknife, which is placed on the mat or carried on her person. [159] Amongthe Kappiliyans of Madura and Tinnevelly a girl at her first monthlyperiod remains under pollution for thirteen days, either in a corner ofthe house, which is screened off for her use by her maternal uncle, orin a temporary hut, which is erected by the same relative on the commonland of the village. On the thirteenth day she bathes in a tank, and, onentering the house, steps over a pestle and a cake. Near the entrancesome food is placed and a dog is allowed to partake of it; but hisenjoyment is marred by suffering, for while he eats he receives a soundthrashing, and the louder he howls the better, for the larger will bethe family to which the young woman will give birth; should there be nohowls, there will be no children. The temporary hut in which the girlpassed the days of her seclusion is burnt down, and the pots which sheused are smashed to shivers. [160] Similarly among the Parivarams ofMadura, when a girl attains to puberty she is kept for sixteen days in ahut, which is guarded at night by her relations; and when hersequestration is over the hut is burnt down and the pots she used arebroken into very small pieces, because they think that if rain-watergathered in any of them, the girl would be childless. [161] The Pulayarsof Travancore build a special hut in the jungle for the use of a girl atpuberty; there she remains for seven days. No one else may enter thehut, not even her mother. Women stand a little way off and lay down foodfor her. At the end of the time she is brought home, clad in a new orclean cloth, and friends are treated to betel-nut, toddy, andarack. [162] Among the Singhalese a girl at her first menstruation isconfined to a room, where she may neither see nor be seen by any male. After being thus secluded for two weeks she is taken out, with her facecovered, and is bathed by women at the back of the house. Near thebathing-place are kept branches of any milk-bearing tree, usually of the_jak_-tree. In some cases, while the time of purification or uncleannesslasts, the maiden stays in a separate hut, which is afterwards burntdown. [163]

[Seclusion of girls at puberty in Cambodia. ]

In Cambodia a girl at puberty is put to bed under a mosquito curtain, where she should stay a hundred days. Usually, however, four, five, ten, or twenty days are thought enough; and even this, in a hot climate andunder the close meshes of the curtain, is sufficiently trying. [164]According to another account, a Cambodian maiden at puberty is said to"enter into the shade. " During her retirement, which, according to therank and position of her family, may last any time from a few days toseveral years, she has to observe a number of rules, such as not to beseen by a strange man, not to eat flesh or fish, and so on. She goesnowhere, not even to the pagoda. But this state of seclusion isdiscontinued during eclipses; at such times she goes forth and pays herdevotions to the monster who is supposed to cause eclipses by catchingthe heavenly bodies between his teeth. [165] This permission to break herrule of retirement and appear abroad during an eclipse seems to shew howliterally the injunction is interpreted which forbids maidens enteringon womanhood to look upon the sun. 

§ 7. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Folk-tales_

[Traces of the seclusion of girls at puberty in folk-tales. Danish storyof the girl who might not see the sun. ]

A superstition so widely diffused as this might be expected to leavetraces in legends and folk-tales. And it has done so. In a Danish storywe read of a princess who was fated to be carried off by a warlock ifever the sun shone on her before she had passed her thirtieth year; sothe king her father kept her shut up in the palace, and had all thewindows on the east, south, and west sides blocked up, lest a sunbeamshould fall on his darling child, and he should thus lose her for ever. Only at evening, when the sun was down, might she walk for a little inthe beautiful garden of the castle. In time a prince came a-wooing, followed by a train of gorgeous knights and squires on horses all ablazewith gold and silver. The king said the prince might have his daughterto wife on condition that he would not carry her away to his home tillshe was thirty years old but would live with her in the castle, wherethe windows looked out only to the north. The prince agreed, so marriedthey were. The bride was only fifteen, and fifteen more long weary yearsmust pass before she might step out of the gloomy donjon, breathe thefresh air, and see the sun. But she and her gallant young bridegroomloved each other and they were happy. Often they sat hand in hand at thewindow looking out to the north and talked of what they would do whenthey were free. Still it was a little dull to look out always at thesame window and to see nothing but the castle woods, and the distanthills, and the clouds drifting silently over them. Well, one day ithappened that all the people in the castle had gone away to aneighbouring castle to witness a tournament and other gaieties, and thetwo young folks were left as usual all alone at the window looking outto the north. They sat silent for a time gazing away to the hills. Itwas a grey sad day, the sky was overcast, and the weather seemed to drawto rain. At last the prince said, "There will be no sunshine to-day. What if we were to drive over and join the rest at the tournament?" Hisyoung wife gladly consented, for she longed to see more of the worldthan those eternal green woods and those eternal blue hills, which wereall she ever saw from the window. So the horses were put into the coach, and it rattled up to the door, and in they got and away they drove. Atfirst all went well. The clouds hung low over the woods, the wind sighedin the trees, a drearier day you could hardly imagine. So they joinedthe rest at the other castle and took their seats to watch the joustingin the lists. So intent were they in watching the gay spectacle of theprancing steeds, the fluttering pennons, and the glittering armour ofthe knights, that they failed to mark the change, the fatal change, inthe weather. For the wind was rising and had begun to disperse theclouds, and suddenly the sun broke through, and the glory of it felllike an aureole on the young wife, and at once she vanished away. Nosooner did her husband miss her from his side than he, too, mysteriouslydisappeared. The tournament broke up in confusion, the bereft fatherhastened home, and shut himself up in the dark castle from which thelight of life had departed. The green woods and the blue hills couldstill be seen from the window that looked to the north, but the youngfaces that had gazed out of it so wistfully were gone, as it seemed, forever. [166]

[Tyrolese story of the girl who might not see the sun. ]

A Tyrolese story tells how it was the doom of a lovely maiden withgolden hair to be transported into the belly of a whale if ever asunbeam fell on her. Hearing of the fame of her beauty the king of thecountry sent for her to be his bride, and her brother drove the fairdamsel to the palace in a carefully closed coach, himself sitting on thebox and handling the reins. On the way they overtook two hideouswitches, who pretended they were weary and begged for a lift in thecoach. At first the brother refused to take them in, but histender-hearted sister entreated him to have compassion on the two poorfootsore women; for you may easily imagine that she was not acquaintedwith their true character. So down he got rather surlily from the box, opened the coach door, and in the two witches stepped, laughing in theirsleeves. But no sooner had the brother mounted the box and whipped upthe horses, than one of the two wicked witches bored a hole in theclosed coach. A sunbeam at once shot through the hole and fell on thefair damsel. So she vanished from the coach and was spirited away intothe belly of a whale in the neighbouring sea. You can imagine theconsternation of the king, when the coach door opened and instead of hisblooming bride out bounced two hideous hags![167]

[Modern Greek stories of the maid who might not see the sun. ]

In a modern Greek folk-tale the Fates predict that in her fifteenth yeara princess must be careful not to let the sun shine on her, for if thiswere to happen she would be turned into a lizard. [168] In another modernGreek tale the Sun bestows a daughter upon a childless woman oncondition of taking the child back to himself when she is twelve yearsold. So, when the child was twelve, the mother closed the doors andwindows, and stopped up all the chinks and crannies, to prevent the Sunfrom coming to fetch away her daughter. But she forgot to stop up thekey-hole, and a sunbeam streamed through it and carried off thegirl. [169] In a Sicilian story a seer foretells that a king will have adaughter who, in her fourteenth year, will conceive a child by the Sun. So, when the child was born, the king shut her up in a lonely towerwhich had no window, lest a sunbeam should fall on her. When she wasnearly fourteen years old, it happened that her parents sent her a pieceof roasted kid, in which she found a sharp bone. With this bone shescraped a hole in the wall, and a sunbeam shot through the hole and gother with child. [170]

[The story of Danae and its parallel in a Kirghiz legend. ]

The old Greek story of Danae, who was confined by her father in asubterranean chamber or a brazen tower, but impregnated by Zeus, whoreached her in the shape of a shower of gold, [171] perhaps belongs tothe same class of tales. It has its counterpart in the legend which theKirghiz of Siberia tell of their ancestry. A certain Khan had a fairdaughter, whom he kept in a dark iron house, that no man might see her. An old woman tended her; and when the girl was grown to maidenhood sheasked the old woman, "Where do you go so often?" "My child, " said theold dame, "there is a bright world. In that bright world your father andmother live, and all sorts of people live there. That is where I go. "The maiden said, "Good mother, I will tell nobody, but shew me thatbright world. " So the old woman took the girl out of the iron house. Butwhen she saw the bright world, the girl tottered and fainted; and theeye of God fell upon her, and she conceived. Her angry father put her ina golden chest and sent her floating away (fairy gold can float infairyland) over the wide sea. [172] The shower of gold in the Greekstory, and the eye of God in the Kirghiz legend, probably stand forsunlight and the sun. 

[Impregnation of women by the sun in legends. ]

The idea that women may be impregnated by the sun is not uncommon inlegends. Thus, for example, among the Indians of Guacheta in Colombia, it is said, a report once ran that the sun would impregnate one of theirmaidens, who should bear a child and yet remain a virgin. The chief hadtwo daughters, and was very desirous that one of them should conceive inthis miraculous manner. So every day he made them climb a hill to theeast of his house in order to be touched by the first beams of therising sun. His wishes were fulfilled, for one of the damsels conceivedand after nine months gave birth to an emerald. So she wrapped it incotton and placed it in her bosom, and in a few days it turned into achild, who received the name of Garanchacha and was universallyrecognized as a son of the sun. [173] Again, the Samoans tell of a womannamed Mangamangai, who became pregnant by looking at the rising sun. Herson grew up and was named "Child of the Sun. " At his marriage he appliedto his mother for a dowry, but she bade him apply to his father, thesun, and told him how to go to him. So one morning he took a long vineand made a noose in it; then climbing up a tree he threw the noose overthe sun and caught him fast. Thus arrested in his progress, the luminaryasked him what he wanted, and being told by the young man that he wanteda present for his bride, the sun obligingly packed up a store ofblessings in a basket, with which the youth descended to the earth. [174]

[Traces in marriage customs of the belief that women can be impregnatedby the sun. ]

Even in the marriage customs of various races we may perhaps detecttraces of this belief that women can be impregnated by the sun. Thusamongst the Chaco Indians of South America a newly married couple usedto sleep the first night on a mare's or bullock's skin with their headstowards the west, "for the marriage is not considered ratified till therising sun shines on their feet the succeeding morning. "[175] At oldHindoo marriages the first ceremony was the "Impregnation-rite"(_Garbh[=a]dh[=a]na_); during the previous day the bride was made tolook towards the sun or to be in some way exposed to its rays. [176]Amongst the Turks of Siberia it was formerly the custom on the morningafter the marriage to lead the young couple out of the hut to greet therising sun. The same custom is said to be still practised in Iran andCentral Asia under a belief that the beams of the rising sun are thesurest means of impregnating the new bride. [177]

[Belief in the impregnation of women by the moon. ]

And as some people think that women may be gotten with child by the sun, so others imagine that they can conceive by the moon. According to theGreenlanders the moon is a young man, and he "now and then comes down togive their wives a visit and caress them; for which reason no woman daresleep lying upon her back, without she first spits upon her fingers andrubs her belly with it. For the same reason the young maids are afraidto stare long at the moon, imagining they may get a child by thebargain. "[178] Similarly Breton peasants are reported to believe thatwomen or girls who expose their persons to the moonlight may beimpregnated by it and give birth to monsters. [179]

§ 8. _Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty_

[The reason for the seclusion of women at puberty is the dread ofmenstruous blood. ]

The motive for the restraints so commonly imposed on girls at puberty isthe deeply engrained dread which primitive man universally entertains ofmenstruous blood. He fears it at all times but especially on its firstappearance; hence the restrictions under which women lie at their firstmenstruation are usually more stringent than those which they have toobserve at any subsequent recurrence of the mysterious flow. Someevidence of the fear and of the customs based on it has been cited in anearlier part of this work;[180] but as the terror, for it is nothingless, which the phenomenon periodically strikes into the mind of thesavage has deeply influenced his life and institutions, it may be wellto illustrate the subject with some further examples. 

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the aborigines ofAustralia. ]

Thus in the Encounter Bay tribe of South Australia there is, or used tobe, a "superstition which obliges a woman to separate herself from thecamp at the time of her monthly illness, when, if a young man or boyshould approach, she calls out, and he immediately makes a circuit toavoid her. If she is neglectful upon this point, she exposes herself toscolding, and sometimes to severe beating by her husband or nearestrelation, because the boys are told from their infancy, that if they seethe blood they will early become grey-headed, and their strength willfail prematurely. "[181] And of the South Australian aborigines ingeneral we read that there is a "custom requiring all boys anduninitiated young men to sleep at some distance from the huts of theadults, and to remove altogether away in the morning as soon as daylightdawns, and the natives begin to move about. This is to prevent theirseeing the women, some of whom may be menstruating; and if looked uponby the young males, it is supposed that dire results will follow. "[182]And amongst these tribes women in their courses "are not allowed to eatfish of any kind, or to go near the water at all; it being one of theirsuperstitions, that if a female, in that state, goes near the water, nosuccess can be expected by the men in fishing. "[183] Similarly, amongthe natives of the Murray River, menstruous women "were not allowed togo near water for fear of frightening the fish. They were also notallowed to eat them, for the same reason. A woman during such periodswould never cross the river in a canoe, or even fetch water for thecamp. It was sufficient for her to say _Thama_, to ensure her husbandgetting the water himself. "[184] The Dieri of Central Australia believethat if women at these times were to eat fish or bathe in a river, thefish would all die and the water would dry up. In this tribe a mark madewith red ochre round a woman's mouth indicates that she has her courses;no one would offer fish to such a woman. [185] The Arunta of CentralAustralia forbid menstruous women to gather the _irriakura_ bulbs, whichform a staple article of diet for both men and women. They believe thatwere a woman to break this rule, the supply of bulbs would fail. [186]Among the aborigines of Victoria the wife at her monthly periods had tosleep on the opposite side of the fire from her husband; she mightpartake of nobody's food, and nobody would partake of hers, for peoplethought that if they ate or drank anything that had been touched by awoman in her courses, it would make them weak or ill. Unmarried girlsand widows at such times had to paint their heads and the upper parts oftheir bodies red, [187] no doubt as a danger signal. 

[Severe penalties inflicted for breaches of the custom of seclusion. ]

In some Australian tribes the seclusion of menstruous women was evenmore rigid, and was enforced by severer penalties than a scolding or abeating. Thus with regard to certain tribes of New South Wales andSouthern Queensland we are told that "during the monthly illness, thewoman is not allowed to touch anything that men use, or even to walk ona path that any man frequents, on pain of death. "[188] Again, "there isa regulation relating to camps in the Wakelbura tribe which forbids thewomen coming into the encampment by the same path as the men. Anyviolation of this rule would in a large camp be punished with death. Thereason for this is the dread with which they regard the menstrual periodof women. During such a time, a woman is kept entirely away from thecamp, half a mile at least. A woman in such a condition has boughs ofsome tree of her totem tied round her loins, and is constantly watchedand guarded, for it is thought that should any male be so unfortunate asto see a woman in such a condition, he would die. If such a woman wereto let herself be seen by a man, she would probably be put to death. When the woman has recovered, she is painted red and white, her headcovered with feathers, and returns to the camp. "[189]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women in the Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea, Galela, and Sumatra. ]

In Muralug, one of the Torres Straits Islands, a menstruous woman maynot eat anything that lives in the sea, else the natives believe thatthe fisheries would fail. Again, in Mabuiag, another of these islands, women who have their courses on them may not eat turtle flesh nor turtleeggs, probably for a similar reason. And during the season when theturtles are pairing the restrictions laid on such a woman are muchseverer. She may not even enter a house in which there is turtle flesh, nor approach a fire on which the flesh is cooking; she may not go nearthe sea and she should not walk on the beach below high-water mark. Nay, the infection extends to her husband, who may not himself harpoon orotherwise take an active part in catching turtle; however, he ispermitted to form one of the crew on a turtling expedition, provided hetakes the precaution of rubbing his armpits with certain leaves, towhich no doubt a disinfectant virtue is ascribed. [190] Among the Kai ofGerman New Guinea women at their monthly sickness must live in littlehuts built for them in the forest; they may not enter the cultivatedfields, for if they did go to them, and the pigs were to taste of theblood, it would inspire the animals with an irresistible desire to golikewise into the fields, where they would commit great depredations onthe growing crops. Hence the issue from women at these times iscarefully buried to prevent the pigs from getting at it. And conversely, if the pigs often break into the fields, the blame is laid on the womenwho by the neglect of these elementary precautions have put temptationin the way of the swine. [191] In Galela, to the west of New Guinea, women at their monthly periods may not enter a tobacco-field, or theplants would be attacked by disease. [192] The Minangkabauers of Sumatraare persuaded that if a woman in her unclean state were to go near arice-field, the crop would be spoiled. [193]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of SouthAfrica. ]

The Bushmen of South Africa think that, by a glance of a girl's eye atthe time when she ought to be kept in strict retirement, men becomefixed in whatever position they happen to occupy, with whatever theywere holding in their hands, and are changed into trees that talk. [194]Cattle-rearing tribes of South Africa hold that their cattle would dieif the milk were drunk by a menstruous woman;[195] and they fear thesame disaster if a drop of her blood were to fall on the ground and theoxen were to pass over it. To prevent such a calamity women in general, not menstruous women only, are forbidden to enter the cattle enclosure;and more than that, they may not use the ordinary paths in entering thevillage or in passing from one hut to another. They are obliged to makecircuitous tracks at the back of the huts in order to avoid the groundin the middle of the village where the cattle stand or lie down. Thesewomen's tracks may be seen at every Caffre village. [196]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of Central andEast Africa. ]

Similarly among the Bahima, a cattle-breeding tribe of Ankole, inCentral Africa, no menstruous woman may drink milk, lest by so doing sheshould injure the cows; and she may not lie on her husband's bed, nodoubt lest she should injure him. Indeed she is forbidden to lie on abed at all and must sleep on the ground. Her diet is restricted tovegetables and beer. [197] Among the Baganda, in like manner, nomenstruous woman might drink milk or come into contact with anymilk-vessel;[198] and she might not touch anything that belonged to herhusband, nor sit on his mat, nor cook his food. If she touched anythingof his at such a time it was deemed equivalent to wishing him dead or toactually working magic for his destruction. [199] Were she to handle anyarticle of his, he would surely fall ill; were she to handle hisweapons, he would certainly be killed in the next battle. Even a womanwho did not menstruate was believed by the Baganda to be a source ofdanger to her husband, indeed capable of killing him. Hence, before hewent to war, he used to wound her slightly with his spear so as to drawblood; this was thought to ensure his safe return. [200] Apparently thenotion was that if the wife did not lose blood in one way or another, her husband would be bled in war to make up for her deficiency; so byway of guarding against this undesirable event, he took care to relieveher of a little superfluous blood before he repaired to the field ofhonour. Further, the Baganda would not suffer a menstruous woman tovisit a well; if she did so, they feared that the water would dry up, and that she herself would fall sick and die, unless she confessed herfault and the medicine-man made atonement for her. [201] Among theAkikuyu of British East Africa, if a new hut is built in a village andthe wife chances to menstruate in it on the day she lights the firstfire there, the hut must be broken down and demolished the very nextday. The woman may on no account sleep a second night in it; there is acurse (_thahu_) both on her and on it. [202] In the Suk tribe of BritishEast Africa warriors may not eat anything that has been touched bymenstruous women. If they did so, it is believed that they would losetheir virility; "in the rain they will shiver and in the heat they willfaint. " Suk men and women take their meals apart, because the men fearthat one or more of the women may be menstruating. [203] The Anyanja ofBritish Central Africa, at the southern end of Lake Nyassa, think that aman who should sleep with a woman in her courses would fall sick anddie, unless some remedy were applied in time. And with them it is a rulethat at such times a woman should not put any salt into the food she iscooking, otherwise the people who partook of the food salted by herwould suffer from a certain disease called _tsempo_; hence to obviatethe danger she calls a child to put the salt into the dish. [204]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the tribes of WestAfrica. ]

Among the Hos, a tribe of Ewe negroes of Togoland in West Africa, solong as a wife has her monthly sickness she may not cook for herhusband, nor lie on his bed, nor sit on his stool; an infraction ofthese rules would assuredly, it is believed, cause her husband to die. If her husband is a priest, or a magician, or a chief, she may not passthe days of her uncleanness in the house, but must go elsewhere till sheis clean. [205] Among the Ewe negroes of this region each village has itshuts where women who have their courses on them must spend their timesecluded from intercourse with other people. Sometimes these huts standby themselves in public places; sometimes they are mere shelters builteither at the back or front of the ordinary dwelling-houses. A woman ispunishable if she does not pass the time of her monthly sickness in oneof these huts or shelters provided for her use. Thus, if she shewsherself in her own house or even in the yard of the house, she may befined a sheep, which is killed, its flesh divided among the people, andits blood poured on the image of the chief god as a sin-offering toexpiate her offence. She is also forbidden to go to the place where thevillagers draw water, and if she breaks the rule, she must give a goatto be killed; its flesh is distributed, and its blood, diluted withwater and mixed with herbs, is sprinkled on the watering-place and onthe paths leading to it. Were any woman to disregard these salutaryprecautions, the chief fetish-man in the village would fall sick anddie, which would be an irreparable loss to society. [206]

[Powerful influence ascribed to menstruous blood in Arab legend. ]

The miraculous virtue ascribed to menstruous blood is well illustratedin a story told by the Arab chronicler Tabari. He relates how Sapor, king of Persia, besieged the strong city of Atrae, in the desert ofMesopotamia, for several years without being able to take it. But theking of the city, whose name was Daizan, had a daughter, and when it waswith her after the manner of women she went forth from the city anddwelt for a time in the suburb, for such was the custom of the place. Now it fell out that, while she tarried there, Sapor saw her and lovedher, and she loved him; for he was a handsome man and she a lovely maid. And she said to him, "What will you give me if I shew you how you maydestroy the walls of this city and slay my father?" And he said to her, "I will give you what you will, and I will exalt you above my otherwives, and will set you nearer to me than them all. " Then she said tohim, "Take a greenish dove with a ring about its neck, and writesomething on its foot with the menstruous blood of a blue-eyed maid;then let the bird loose, and it will perch on the walls of the city, andthey will fall down. " For that, says the Arab historian, was thetalisman of the city, which could not be destroyed in any other way. AndSapor did as she bade him, and the city fell down in a heap, and hestormed it and slew Daizan on the spot. [207]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Jews and in Syria. ]

According to the Talmud, if a woman at the beginning of her periodpasses between two men, she thereby kills one of them; if she passesbetween them towards the end of her period, she only causes them toquarrel violently. [208] Maimonides tells us that down to his time it wasa common custom in the East to keep women at their periods in a separatehouse and to burn everything on which they had trodden; a man who spokewith such a woman or who was merely exposed to the same wind that blewover her, became thereby unclean. [209] Peasants of the Lebanon thinkthat menstruous women are the cause of many misfortunes; their shadowcauses flowers to wither and trees to perish, it even arrests themovements of serpents; if one of them mounts a horse, the animal mightdie or at least be disabled for a long time. [210] In Syria to this day awoman who has her courses on her may neither salt nor pickle, for thepeople think that whatever she pickled or salted would not keep. [211]The Toaripi of New Guinea, doubtless for a similar reason, will notallow women at such times to cook. [212]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women in India. ]

The Bhuiyars, a Dravidian tribe of South Mirzapur, are said to feel anintense dread of menstrual pollution. Every house has two doors, one ofwhich is used only by women in this condition. During her impurity thewife is fed by her husband apart from the rest of the family, andwhenever she has to quit the house she is obliged to creep out on herhands and knees in order not to defile the thatch by her touch. [213] TheKharwars, another aboriginal tribe of the same district, keep theirwomen at such seasons in the outer verandah of the house for eight days, and will not let them enter the kitchen or the cowhouse; during thistime the unclean woman may not cook nor even touch the cooking vessels. When the eight days are over, she bathes, washes her clothes, andreturns to family life. [214] Hindoo women seclude themselves at theirmonthly periods and observe a number of rules, such as not to drinkmilk, not to milk cows, not to touch fire, not to lie on a high bed, notto walk on common paths, not to cross the track of animals, not to walkby the side of flowering plants, and not to observe the heavenlybodies. [215] The motive for these restrictions is not mentioned, butprobably it is a dread of the baleful influence which is supposed toemanate from women at these times. The Parsees, who reverence fire, willnot suffer menstruous women to see it or even to look on a lightedtaper;[216] during their infirmity the women retire from their houses tolittle lodges in the country, whither victuals are brought to themdaily; at the end of their seclusion they bathe and send a kid, a fowl, or a pigeon to the priest as an offering. [217] In Annam a woman at hermonthly periods is deemed a centre of impurity, and contact with her isavoided. She is subject to all sorts of restrictions which she mustobserve herself and which others must observe towards her. She may nottouch any food which is to be preserved by salting, whether it be fish, flesh, or vegetables; for were she to touch it the food would putrefy. She may not enter any sacred place, she may not be present at anyreligious ceremony. The linen which she wears at such times must bewashed by herself at sunrise, never at night. On reaching puberty girlsmay not touch flowers or the fruits of certain trees, for touched bythem the flowers would fade and the fruits fall to the ground. "It is onaccount of their reputation for impurity that the women generally liveisolated. In every house they have an apartment reserved for them, andthey never eat at the same table as the men. For the same reason theyare excluded from all religious ceremonies. They may only be present atfamily ceremonies, but without ever officiating in them. "[218]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of South andCentral America. ]

The Guayquiries of the Orinoco think that when a woman has her courses, everything upon which she steps will die, and that if a man treads onthe place where she has passed, his legs will immediately swell up. [219]Among the Guaraunos of the same great river, women at their periods areregarded as unclean and kept apart in special huts, where all that theyneed is brought to them. [220] In like manner among the Piapocos, anIndian tribe on the Guayabero, a tributary of the Orinoco, a menstruouswoman is secluded from her family every month for four or five days. Shepasses the time in a special hut, whither her husband brings her food;and at the end of the time she takes a bath and resumes her usualoccupations. [221] So among the Indians of the Mosquito territory inCentral America, when a woman is in her courses, she must quit thevillage for seven or eight days. A small hut is built for her in thewood, and at night some of the village girls go and sleep with her tokeep her company. Or if the nights are dark and jaguars are known to beprowling in the neighbourhood, her husband will take his gun or bow andsleep in a hammock near her. She may neither handle nor cook food; allis prepared and carried to her. When the sickness is over, she bathes inthe river, puts on clean clothes, and returns to her householdduties. [222] Among the Bri-bri Indians of Costa Rica a girl at her firstmenstruation retires to a hut built for the purpose in the forest, andthere she must stay till she has been purified by a medicine-man, whobreathes on her and places various objects, such as feathers, the beaksof birds, the teeth of beasts, and so forth, upon her body. A marriedwoman at her periods remains in the house with her husband, but she isreckoned unclean (_bukuru_) and must avoid all intimate relations withhim. She uses for plates only banana leaves, which, when she has donewith them, she throws away in a sequestered spot; for should a cow findand eat them, the animal would waste away and perish. Also she drinksonly out of a special vessel, because any person who should afterwardsdrink out of the same vessel would infallibly pine away and die. [223]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of NorthAmerica. ]

Among most tribes of North American Indians the custom was that women intheir courses retired from the camp or the village and lived during thetime of their uncleanness in special huts or shelters which wereappropriated to their use. There they dwelt apart, eating and sleepingby themselves, warming themselves at their own fires, and strictlyabstaining from all communications with men, who shunned them just as ifthey were stricken with the plague. No article of furniture used inthese menstrual huts might be used in any other, not even the flint andsteel with which in the old days the fires were kindled. No one wouldborrow a light from a woman in her seclusion. If a white man in hisignorance asked to light his pipe at her fire, she would refuse to grantthe request, telling him that it would make his nose bleed and his headache, and that he would fall sick in consequence. If an Indian's woodenpipe cracked, his friends would think that he had either lit it at oneof these polluted fires or had held some converse with a woman duringher retirement, which was esteemed a most disgraceful and wicked thingto do. Decent men would not approach within a certain distance of awoman at such times, and if they had to convey anything to her theywould stand some forty or fifty paces off and throw it to her. Everything which was touched by her hands during this period was deemedceremonially unclean. Indeed her touch was thought to convey suchpollution that if she chanced to lay a finger on a chief's lodge or hisgun or anything else belonging to him, it would be instantly destroyed. If she crossed the path of a hunter or a warrior, his luck for that dayat least would be gone. Were she not thus secluded, it was supposed thatthe men would be attacked by diseases of various kinds, which wouldprove mortal. In some tribes a woman who infringed the rules ofseparation might have to answer with her life for any misfortunes thatmight happen to individuals or to the tribe in consequence, as it wassupposed, of her criminal negligence. When she quitted her tent or hutto go into retirement, the fire in it was extinguished and the ashesthrown away outside of the village, and a new fire was kindled, as ifthe old one had been defiled by her presence. At the end of theirseclusion the women bathed in running streams and returned to theirusual occupations. [224]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Creek, Choctaw, Omaha, and Cheyenne Indians. ]

Thus, to take examples, the Creek and kindred Indians of the UnitedStates compelled women at menstruation to live in separate huts at somedistance from the village. There the women had to stay, at the risk ofbeing surprised and cut off by enemies. It was thought "a most horridand dangerous pollution" to go near the women at such times; and thedanger extended to enemies who, if they slew the women, had to cleansethemselves from the pollution by means of certain sacred herbs androots. [225] Similarly, the Choctaw women had to quit their huts duringtheir monthly periods, and might not return till after they had beenpurified. While their uncleanness lasted they had to prepare their ownfood. The men believed that if they were to approach a menstruous woman, they would fall ill, and that some mishap would overtake them when theywent to the wars. [226] When an Omaha woman has her courses on her, sheretires from the family to a little shelter of bark or grass, supportedby sticks, where she kindles a fire and cooks her victuals alone. Herseclusion lasts four days. During this time she may not approach ortouch a horse, for the Indians believe that such contamination wouldimpoverish or weaken the animal. [227] Among the Potawatomis the women attheir monthly periods "are not allowed to associate with the rest of thenation; they are completely laid aside, and are not permitted to touchany article of furniture or food which the men have occasion to use. Ifthe Indians be stationary at the time, the women are placed outside ofthe camp; if on a march, they are not allowed to follow the trail, butmust take a different path and keep at a distance from the mainbody. "[228] Among the Cheyennes menstruous women slept in speciallodges; the men believed that if they slept with their wives at suchtimes, they would probably be wounded in their next battle. A man whoowned a shield had very particularly to be on his guard against women intheir courses. He might not go into a lodge where one of them happenedto be, nor even into a lodge where one of them had been, until aceremony of purification had been performed. Sweet grass and juniperwere burnt in the tent, and the pegs were pulled up and the coveringthrown back, as if the tent were about to be struck. After this pretenceof decamping from the polluted spot the owner of the shield might enterthe tent. [229]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Indians of BritishColumbia. ]

The Stseelis Indians of British Columbia imagined that if a menstruouswoman were to step over a bundle of arrows, the arrows would thereby berendered useless and might even cause the death of their owner; andsimilarly that if she passed in front of a hunter who carried a gun, theweapon would never shoot straight again. Neither her husband nor herfather would dream of going out to hunt while she was in this state; andeven if he had wished to do so, the other hunters would not go with him. Hence to keep them out of harm's way, the women, both married andunmarried, were secluded at these times for four days in shelters. [230]Among the Thompson Indians of British Columbia every woman had toisolate herself from the rest of the people during every recurringperiod of menstruation, and had to live some little way off in a smallbrush or bark lodge made for the purpose. At these times she wasconsidered unclean, must use cooking and eating utensils of her own, andwas supplied with food by some other woman. If she smoked out of a pipeother than her own, that pipe would ever afterwards be hot to smoke. Ifshe crossed in front of a gun, that gun would thenceforth be useless forthe war or the chase, unless indeed the owner promptly washed the weaponin "medecine" or struck the woman with it once on each principal part ofher body. If a man ate or had any intercourse with a menstruous woman, nay if he merely wore clothes or mocassins made or patched by her, hewould have bad luck in hunting and the bears would attack him fiercely. Before being admitted again among the people, she had to change all herclothes and wash several times in clear water. The clothes worn duringher isolation were hung on a tree, to be used next time, or to bewashed. For one day after coming back among the people she did not cookfood. Were a man to eat food cooked by a woman at such times, he wouldhave incapacitated himself for hunting and exposed himself to sicknessor death. [231]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Chippeway Indians. ]

Among the Chippeways and other Indians of the Hudson Bay Territory, menstruous women are excluded from the camp, and take up their abode inhuts of branches. They wear long hoods, which effectually conceal thehead and breast. They may not touch the household furniture nor anyobjects used by men; for their touch "is supposed to defile them, sothat their subsequent use would be followed by certain mischief ormisfortune, " such as disease or death. They must drink out of a swan'sbone. They may not walk on the common paths nor cross the tracks ofanimals. They "are never permitted to walk on the ice of rivers orlakes, or near the part where the men are hunting beaver, or where afishing-net is set, for fear of averting their success. They are alsoprohibited at those times from partaking of the head of any animal, andeven from walking in or crossing the track where the head of a deer, moose, beaver, and many other animals have lately been carried, eitheron a sledge or on the back. To be guilty of a violation of this customis considered as of the greatest importance; because they firmly believethat it would be a means of preventing the hunter from having an equalsuccess in his future excursions. "[232] So the Lapps forbid women atmenstruation to walk on that part of the shore where the fishers are inthe habit of setting out their fish;[233] and the Esquimaux of BeringStrait believe that if hunters were to come near women in their coursesthey would catch no game. [234]

[Dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Tinneh or DénéIndians; customs and beliefs of the Carrier Indians in regard tomenstruous women. ]

But the beliefs and superstitions of this sort that prevail among thewestern tribes of the great Déné or Tinneh stock, to which theChippeways belong, have been so well described by an experiencedmissionary, that I will give his description in his own words. Prominentamong the ceremonial rites of these Indians, he says, "are theobservances peculiar to the fair sex, and many of them are remarkablyanalogous to those practised by the Hebrew women, so much so that, wereit not savouring of profanity, the ordinances of the Déné ritual codemight be termed a new edition 'revised and considerably augmented' ofthe Mosaic ceremonial law. Among the Carriers, [235] as soon as a girlhas experienced the first flow of the menses which in the femaleconstitution are a natural discharge, her father believed himself underthe obligation of atoning for her supposedly sinful condition by a smallimpromptu distribution of clothes among the natives. This periodicalstate of women was considered as one of legal impurity fateful both tothe man who happened to have any intercourse, however indirect, withher, and to the woman herself who failed in scrupulously observing allthe rites prescribed by ancient usage for persons in her condition. 

[Seclusion of Carrier girls at puberty. ]

"Upon entering into that stage of her life, the maiden was immediatelysequestered from company, even that of her parents, and compelled todwell in a small branch hut by herself away from beaten paths and thegaze of passers-by. As she was supposed to exercise malefic influence onany man who might inadvertently glance at her, she had to wear a sort ofhead-dress combining in itself the purposes of a veil, a bonnet, and amantlet. It was made of tanned skin, its forepart was shaped like a longfringe completely hiding from view the face and breasts; then it formedon the head a close-fitting cap or bonnet, and finally fell in a broadband almost to the heels. This head-dress was made and publicly placedon her head by a paternal aunt, who received at once some present fromthe girl's father. When, three or four years later, the period ofsequestration ceased, only this same aunt had the right to take off herniece's ceremonial head-dress. Furthermore, the girl's fingers, wrists, and legs at the ankles and immediately below the knees, were encircledwith ornamental rings and bracelets of sinew intended as a protectionagainst the malign influences she was supposed to be possessedwith. [236] To a belt girding her waist were suspended two boneimplements called respectively _Tsoenkuz_ (bone tube) and _Tsiltsoet_(head scratcher). The former was a hollowed swan bone to drink with, anyother mode of drinking being unlawful to her. The latter was fork-likeand was called into requisition whenever she wanted to scratch herhead--immediate contact of the fingers with the head being reputedinjurious to her health. While thus secluded, she was called _asta_, that is 'interred alive' in Carrier, and she had to submit to a rigorousfast and abstinence. Her only allowed food consisted of dried fishboiled in a small bark vessel which nobody else must touch, and she hadto abstain especially from meat of any kind, as well as fresh fish. Norwas this all she had to endure; even her contact, however remote, withthese two articles of diet was so dreaded that she could not cross thepublic paths or trails, or the tracks of animals. Whenever absolutenecessity constrained her to go beyond such spots, she had to be packedor carried over them lest she should contaminate the game or meat whichhad passed that way, or had been brought over these paths; and also forthe sake of self-preservation against tabooed, and consequently to her, deleterious food. In the same way she was never allowed to wade instreams or lakes, for fear of causing death to the fish. 

"It was also a prescription of the ancient ritual code for femalesduring this primary condition to eat as little as possible, and toremain lying down, especially in course of each monthly flow, not onlyas a natural consequence of the prolonged fast and resulting weakness;but chiefly as an exhibition of a becoming penitential spirit which wasbelieved to be rewarded by long life and continual good health in afteryears. 

[Seclusion of Carrier women at their monthly periods; reasons for theseclusion of menstruous women among the Indians. ]

"These mortifications or seclusion did not last less than three or fouryears. Useless to say that during all that time marriage could not bethought of, since the girl could not so much as be seen by men. Whenmarried, the same sequestration was practised relatively to husband andfellow-villagers--without the particular head-dress and rings spokenof--on the occasion of every recurring menstruation. Sometimes it wasprotracted as long as ten days at a time, especially during the firstyears of cohabitation. Even when she returned to her mate, she was notpermitted to sleep with him on the first nor frequently on the secondnight, but would choose a distant corner of the lodge to spread herblanket, as if afraid to defile him with her dread uncleanness. "[237]Elsewhere the same writer tells us that most of the devices to whichthese Indians used to resort for the sake of ensuring success in thechase "were based on their regard for continence and their excessiverepugnance for, and dread of, menstruating women. "[238] But the strictobservances imposed on Tinneh or Déné women at such times were designedat the same time to protect the women themselves from the evilconsequences of their dangerous condition. Thus it was thought thatwomen in their courses could not partake of the head, heart, or hindpart of an animal that had been caught in a snare without exposingthemselves to a premature death through a kind of rabies. They might notcut or carve salmon, because to do so would seriously endanger theirhealth, and especially would enfeeble their arms for life. And they hadto abstain from cutting up the grebes which are caught by the Carriersin great numbers every spring, because otherwise the blood with whichthese fowls abound would occasion haemorrhage or an unnaturallyprolonged flux in the transgressor. [239] Similarly Indian women of theThompson tribe abstained from venison and the flesh of other large gameduring menstruation, lest the animals should be displeased and themenstrual flow increased. [240] For a similar reason, probably, Shuswapgirls during their seclusion at puberty are forbidden to eat anythingthat bleeds. [241] The same principle may perhaps partly explain therule, of which we have had some examples, that women at such timesshould refrain from fish and flesh, and restrict themselves to avegetable diet. 

[Similar rules of seclusion enjoined on menstruous women in ancientHindoo, Persian, and Hebrew codes. ]

The philosophic student of human nature will observe, or learn, withoutsurprise that ideas thus deeply ingrained in the savage mind reappear ata more advanced stage of society in those elaborate codes which havebeen drawn up for the guidance of certain peoples by lawgivers who claimto have derived the rules they inculcate from the direct inspiration ofthe deity. However we may explain it, the resemblance which existsbetween the earliest official utterances of the deity and the ideas ofsavages is unquestionably close and remarkable; whether it be, as somesuppose, that God communed face to face with man in those early days, or, as others maintain, that man mistook his wild and wandering thoughtsfor a revelation from heaven. Be that as it may, certain it is that thenatural uncleanness of woman at her monthly periods is a conceptionwhich has occurred, or been revealed, with singular unanimity to severalancient legislators. The Hindoo lawgiver Manu, who professed to havereceived his institutes from the creator Brahman, informs us that thewisdom, the energy, the strength, the sight, and the vitality of a manwho approaches a woman in her courses will utterly perish; whereas, ifhe avoids her, his wisdom, energy, strength, sight, and vitality willall increase. [242] The Persian lawgiver Zoroaster, who, if we can takehis word for it, derived his code from the mouth of the supreme beingAhura Mazda, devoted special attention to the subject. According to him, the menstrous flow, at least in its abnormal manifestations, is a workof Ahriman, or the devil. Therefore, so long as it lasts, a woman "isunclean and possessed of the demon; she must be kept confined, apartfrom the faithful whom her touch would defile, and from the fire whichher very look would injure; she is not allowed to eat as much as shewishes, as the strength she might acquire would accrue to the fiends. Her food is not given her from hand to hand, but is passed to her from adistance, in a long leaden spoon. "[243] The Hebrew lawgiver Moses, whosedivine legation is as little open to question as that of Manu andZoroaster, treats the subject at still greater length; but I must leaveto the reader the task of comparing the inspired ordinances on this headwith the merely human regulations of the Carrier Indians which they soclosely resemble. 

[Superstitions as to menstruous women in ancient and modern Europe. ]

Amongst the civilized nations of Europe the superstitions which clusterround this mysterious aspect of woman's nature are not less extravagantthan those which prevail among savages. In the oldest existingcyclopaedia--the _Natural History_ of Pliny--the list of dangersapprehended from menstruation is longer than any furnished by merebarbarians. According to Pliny, the touch of a menstruous woman turnedwine to vinegar, blighted crops, killed seedlings, blasted gardens, brought down the fruit from trees, dimmed mirrors, blunted razors, rusted iron and brass (especially at the waning of the moon), killedbees, or at least drove them from their hives, caused mares to miscarry, and so forth. [244] Similarly, in various parts of Europe, it is stillbelieved that if a woman in her courses enters a brewery the beer willturn sour; if she touches beer, wine, vinegar, or milk, it will go bad;if she makes jam, it will not keep; if she mounts a mare, it willmiscarry; if she touches buds, they will wither; if she climbs a cherrytree, it will die. [245] In Brunswick people think that if a menstruouswoman assists at the killing of a pig, the pork will putrefy. [246] Inthe Greek island of Calymnos a woman at such times may not go to thewell to draw water, nor cross a running stream, nor enter the sea. Herpresence in a boat is said to raise storms. [247]

[The intention of secluding menstruous women is to neutralize thedangerous influences which are thought to emanate from them in thatcondition; suspension between heaven and earth. ]

Thus the object of secluding women at menstruation is to neutralize thedangerous influences which are supposed to emanate from them at suchtimes. That the danger is believed to be especially great at the firstmenstruation appears from the unusual precautions taken to isolate girlsat this crisis. Two of these precautions have been illustrated above, namely, the rules that the girl may not touch the ground nor see thesun. The general effect of these rules is to keep her suspended, so tosay, between heaven and earth. Whether enveloped in her hammock andslung up to the roof, as in South America, or raised above the ground ina dark and narrow cage, as in New Ireland, she may be considered to beout of the way of doing mischief, since, being shut off both from theearth and from the sun, she can poison neither of these great sources oflife by her deadly contagion. In short, she is rendered harmless bybeing, in electrical language, insulated. But the precautions thus takento isolate or insulate the girl are dictated by a regard for her ownsafety as well as for the safety of others. For it is thought that sheherself would suffer if she were to neglect the prescribed regimen. ThusZulu girls, as we have seen, believe that they would shrivel toskeletons if the sun were to shine on them at puberty, and in someBrazilian tribes the young women think that a transgression of the ruleswould entail sores on the neck and throat. In short, the girl is viewedas charged with a powerful force which, if not kept within bounds, mayprove destructive both to herself and to all with whom she comes incontact. To repress this force within the limits necessary for thesafety of all concerned is the object of the taboos in question. 

[The same explanation applies to the similar rules of seclusion observedby divine kings and priests; suspension between heaven and earth. ]

The same explanation applies to the observance of the same rules bydivine kings and priests. The uncleanness, as it is called, of girls atpuberty and the sanctity of holy men do not, to the primitive mind, differ materially from each other. They are only differentmanifestations of the same mysterious energy which, like energy ingeneral, is in itself neither good nor bad, but becomes beneficent ormaleficent according to its application. [248] Accordingly, if, likegirls at puberty, divine personages may neither touch the ground nor seethe sun, the reason is, on the one hand, a fear lest their divinitymight, at contact with earth or heaven, discharge itself with fatalviolence on either; and, on the other hand, an apprehension that thedivine being, thus drained of his ethereal virtue, might thereby beincapacitated for the future performance of those magical functions, upon the proper discharge of which the safety of the people and even ofthe world is believed to hang. Thus the rules in question fall under thehead of the taboos which we examined in the second part of thiswork;[249] they are intended to preserve the life of the divine personand with it the life of his subjects and worshippers. Nowhere, it isthought, can his precious yet dangerous life be at once so safe and soharmless as when it is neither in heaven nor in earth, but, as far aspossible, suspended between the two. [250]

[Stories of immortality attained by suspension between heaven andearth. ]

In legends and folk-tales, which reflect the ideas of earlier ages, wefind this suspension between heaven and earth attributed to beings whohave been endowed with the coveted yet burdensome gift of immortality. The wizened remains of the deathless Sibyl are said to have beenpreserved in a jar or urn which hung in a temple of Apollo at Cumae; andwhen a group of merry children, tired, perhaps, of playing in the sunnystreets, sought the shade of the temple and amused themselves bygathering underneath the familiar jar and calling out, "Sibyl, what doyou wish?" a hollow voice, like an echo, used to answer from the urn, "Iwish to die. "[251] A story, taken down from the lips of a German peasantat Thomsdorf, relates that once upon a time there was a girl in Londonwho wished to live for ever, so they say:

"_London, London is a fine town. A maiden prayed to live for ever. _"

And still she lives and hangs in a basket in a church, and every St. John's Day, about the hour of noon, she eats a roll of bread. [252]Another German story tells of a lady who resided at Danzig and was sorich and so blest with all that life can give that she wished to livealways. So when she came to her latter end, she did not really die butonly looked like dead, and very soon they found her in a hollow of apillar in the church, half standing and half sitting, motionless. Shestirred never a limb, but they saw quite plainly that she was alive, andshe sits there down to this blessed day. Every New Year's Day thesacristan comes and puts a morsel of the holy bread in her mouth, andthat is all she has to live on. Long, long has she rued her fatal wishwho set this transient life above the eternal joys of heaven. [253] Athird German story tells of a noble damsel who cherished the samefoolish wish for immortality. So they put her in a basket and hung herup in a church, and there she hangs and never dies, though many a yearhas come and gone since they put her there. But every year on a certainday they give her a roll, and she eats it and cries out, "For ever! forever! for ever!" And when she has so cried she falls silent again tillthe same time next year, and so it will go on for ever and forever. [254] A fourth story, taken down near Oldenburg in Holstein, tellsof a jolly dame that ate and drank and lived right merrily and had allthat heart could desire, and she wished to live always. For the firsthundred years all went well, but after that she began to shrink andshrivel up, till at last she could neither walk nor stand nor eat nordrink. But die she could not. At first they fed her as if she were alittle child, but when she grew smaller and smaller they put her in aglass bottle and hung her up in the church. And there she still hangs, in the church of St. Mary, at Lübeck. She is as small as a mouse, butonce a year she stirs. [255]

Notes:

[64] Pechuel-Loesche, "Indiscretes aus Loango, " _Zeitschrift fürEthnologie_, x. (1878) p. 23. 

[65] Rev. J. Macdonald, "Manners, Customs, Superstitions, and Religionsof South African Tribes, " _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xx. (1891) p. 118. 

[66] Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), p. 209. Theprohibition to drink milk under such circumstances is also mentioned, though without the reason for it, by L. Alberti (_De Kaffersaan deZuidkust van Afrika_, Amsterdam, 1810, p. 79), George Thompson (_Travelsand Adventures in Southern Africa_, London, 1827, ii. 354 _sq. _), andMr. Warner (in Col. Maclean's _Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs_;Cape Town, 1866, p. 98). As to the reason for the prohibition, seebelow, p. 80. 

[67] C. W. Hobley, _Ethnology of A-Kamba and other East African Tribes_(Cambridge, 1910), p. 65. 

[68] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 80. As to theinterpretation which the Baganda put on the act of jumping or steppingover a woman, see _id. _, pp. 48, 357 note 1. Apparently some of theLower Congo people interpret the act similarly. See J. H. Weeks, "Noteson some Customs of the Lower Congo People, " _Folk-lore_, xix. (1908) p. 431. Among the Baganda the separation of children from their parentstook place after weaning; girls usually went to live either with anelder married brother or (if there was none such) with one of theirfather's brothers; boys in like manner went to live with one of theirfather's brothers. See J. Roscoe, _op. Cit. _ p. 74. As to theprohibition to touch food with the hands, see _Taboo and the Perils ofthe Soul_, pp. 138 _sqq. _, 146 _sqq. _, etc. 

[69] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 80. 

[70] De la Loubere, _Du royaume de Siam_ (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 203. InTravancore it is believed that women at puberty and after childbirth arepeculiarly liable to be attacked by demons. See S. Mateer, _The Land ofCharity_ (London, 1871), p. 208. 

[71] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 80. 

[72] C. Gouldsbury and H. Sheane, _The Great Plateau of NorthernNigeria_ (London, 1911), pp. 158-160. 

[73] R. Sutherland Rattray, _Some Folk-lore, Stories and Songs inChinyanja_ (London, 1907), pp. 102-105. 

[74] Rev. H. Cole, "Notes on the Wagogo of German East Africa, " _Journalof the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 309 _sq. _

[75] R. Sutherland Rattray, _op. Cit. _ pp. 191 _sq. _

[76] _The Grihya Sutras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part i. P. 357, Part ii. P. 267 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vols. Xxix. , xxx. ). 

[77] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 393 _sq. _, compare pp. 396, 398. 

[78] See _Totemism and Exogamy_, iv. 224 _sqq. _

[79] Sir Harry H. Johnston, _British Central Africa_ (London, 1897), p. 411. 

[80] Oscar Baumann, _Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle_ (Berlin, 1894), p. 178. 

[81] Lionel Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ (London, 1898), p. 78. Compare E. Jacottet, _Études sur les Langues du Haut-Zambèze_, TroisièmePartie (Paris, 1901), pp. 174 _sq. _ (as to the A-Louyi). 

[82] E. Béguin, _Les Ma-rotsé_ (Lausanne and Fontaines, 1903), p. 113. 

[83] Henri A. Junod, _The Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchatel, 1912-1913), i. 178 _sq. _

[84] G. McCall Theal, _Kaffir Folk-lore_ (London, 1886), p. 218. 

[85] L. Alberti, _De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika_ (Amsterdam, 1810), pp. 79 _sq. _; H. Lichtenstein, _Reisen im südlichen Africa_(Berlin, 1811-1812), i. 428. 

[86] Gustav Fritsch, _Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika's_ (Breslau, 1872), p. 112. This statement applies especially to the Ama-Xosa. 

[87] G. McCall Theal, _Kaffir Folk-lore_, p. 218. 

[88] Rev. Canon Henry Callaway, _Nursery Tales, Traditions, andHistories of the Zulus_ (Natal and London, 1868), p. 182, note 20. Fromone of the Zulu texts which the author edits and translates (p. 189) wemay infer that during the period of her seclusion a Zulu girl may notlight a fire. Compare above, p. 28. 

[89] E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), p. 268. 

[90] J. Merolla, "Voyage to Congo, " in J. Pinkerton's _Voyages andTravels_ (London, 1808-1814), xvi. 238; Father Campana, "Congo; MissionCatholique de Landana, " _Les Missions Catholiques_, xxvii. (1895) p. 161; R. E. Dennett, _At the Back of the Black Man's Mind_ (London, 1906), pp. 69 _sq. _. According to Merolla, it is thought that if girls did notgo through these ceremonies, they would "never be fit for procreation. "The other consequences supposed to flow from the omission of the ritesare mentioned by Father Campana. From Mr. Dennett's account (_op. Cit. _pp. 53, 67-71) we gather that drought and famine are thought to resultfrom the intercourse of a man with a girl who has not yet passed throughthe "paint-house, " as the hut is called where the young women live inseclusion. According to O. Dapper, the women of Loango paint themselvesred on every recurrence of their monthly sickness; also they tie a cordtightly round their heads and take care neither to touch their husband'sfood nor to appear before him (_Description de l'Afrique_, Amsterdam, 1686, p. 326). 

[91] The Rev. G. Brown, quoted by the Rev. B. Danks, "Marriage Customsof the New Britain Group, " _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) pp. 284. _sq. ; id. , Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), pp. 105-107. Compare _id. _, "Notes on the Duke of York Group, NewBritain, and New Ireland, " _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, xlvii. (1877) pp. 142 _sq. _; A. Hahl, "Das mittlere Neumecklenburg, "_Globus_, xci. (1907) p. 313. Wilfred Powell's description of the NewIreland custom is similar (_Wanderings in a Wild Country_, London, 1883, p. 249). According to him, the girls wear wreaths of scented herbs roundthe waist and neck; an old woman or a little child occupies the lowerfloor of the cage; and the confinement lasts only a month. Probably thelong period mentioned by Dr. Brown is that prescribed for chiefs'daughters. Poor people could not afford to keep their children so longidle. This distinction is sometimes expressly stated. See above, p. 30. Among the Goajiras of Colombia rich people keep their daughters shut upin separate huts at puberty for periods varying from one to four years, but poor people cannot afford to do so for more than a fortnight or amonth. See F. A. Simons, "An Exploration of the Goajira Peninsula, "_Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society_, N. S. , vii. (1885) p. 791. In Fiji, brides who were being tattooed were kept from the sun(Thomas Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_, Second Edition, London, 1860, i. 170). This was perhaps a modification of the Melanesian custom ofsecluding girls at puberty. The reason mentioned by Mr. Williams, "toimprove her complexion, " can hardly have been the original one. 

[92] Rev. R. H. Rickard, quoted by Dr. George Brown, _Melanesians andPolynesians_, pp. 107 _sq. _. His observations were made in 1892. 

[93] R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee_ (Stuttgart, 1907), p. 272. The natives told Mr. Parkinson that the confinement of the girlslasts from twelve to twenty months. The length of it may have beenreduced since Dr. George Brown described the custom in 1876. 

[94] J. Chalmers and W. Wyatt Gill, _Work and Adventure in New Guinea_(London, 1885), p. 159. 

[95] H. Zahn and S. Lehner, in R. Neuhauss's _Deutsch New-Guinea_(Berlin, 1911), iii. 298, 418-420. The customs of the two tribes seem tobe in substantial agreement, and the accounts of them supplement eachother. The description of the Bukaua practice is the fuller. 

[96] C. A. L. M. Schwaner, _Borneo, Beschrijving van het stroomgebied vanden Barito_ (Amsterdam, 1853-1854), ii. 77 _sq. _; W. F. A. Zimmermann, _Die Inseln des Indischen und Stillen Meeres_ (Berlin, 1864-1865), ii. 632 _sq. _; Otto Finsch, _Neu Guinea und seine Bewohner_ (Bremen, 1865), pp. 116 _sq. _. 

[97] J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik--en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebesen Papua_ (The Hague, 1886), p. 138. 

[98] A. Senfft, "Ethnographische Beiträge über die Karolineninsel Yap, "_Petermanns Mitteilungen_, xlix. (1903) p. 53; _id. _, "Die Rechtssittender Jap-Eingeborenen, " _Globus_, xci. (1907) pp. 142 _sq. _. 

[99] Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxix. (1899) pp. 212 _sq. ; id. _, in _Reports of the CambridgeAnthropological Expedition to Torres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 203 _sq. _

[100] Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge Expedition toTorres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) p. 205. 

[101] L. Crauford, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxiv. (1895) p. 181. 

[102] Dr. C. G. Seligmann, _op. Cit. _ v. 206. 

[103] Walter E. Roth, _North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 5, Superstition, Magic, and Medicine_ (Brisbane, 1903), pp. 24 _sq. _

[104] Walter E. Roth, _op. Cit. _ p. 25. 

[105] Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge AnthropologicalExpedition to Torres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904), p. 205. 

[106] From notes kindly sent me by Dr. C. G. Seligmann. The practice ofburying a girl at puberty was observed also by some Indian tribes ofCalifornia, but apparently rather for the purpose of producing a sweatthan for the sake of concealment. The treatment lasted only twenty-fourhours, during which the patient was removed from the ground and washedthree or four times, to be afterwards reimbedded. Dancing was kept upthe whole time by the women. See H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes ofthe United States_ (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 215. 

[107] Dr. C. G. Seligmann, in _Reports of the Cambridge AnthropologicalExpedition to Torres Straits_, v. 201 _sq. _

[108] A. L. Kroeber, "The Religion of the Indians of California, "_University of California Publications in American Archaeology andEthnology_, vol. Iv. No. 6 (September, 1907), p. 324. 

[109] Roland B. Dixon, "The Northern Maidu, " _Bulletin of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History_, vol. Xvii. Part iii. (May 1905) pp. 232_sq. _, compare pp. 233-238. 

[110] Stephen Powers, _Tribes of California_ (Washington, 1877), p. 85(_Contributions to North American Ethnology_, vol. Iii. ). 

[111] Stephen Powers, _op. Cit. _ p. 235. 

[112] Charles Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States ExploringExpedition_, New Edition (New York, 1851), iv. 456. 

[113] Franz Boas, _Chinook Texts_ (Washington, 1894), pp. 246 _sq. _ Theaccount, taken down from the lips of a Chinook Indian, is not perfectlyclear; some of the restrictions were prolonged after the girl's secondmonthly period. 

[114] G. M. Sproat, _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_ (London, 1868), pp. 93 _sq. _

[115] Franz Boas, in _Sixth Report on the North-Western Tribes ofCanada_, pp. 40-42 (separate reprint from the _Report of the BritishAssociation for the Advancement of Science_, Leeds meeting, 1890). Therule not to lie down is observed also during their seclusion at pubertyby Tsimshian girls, who always sit propped up between boxes and mats;their heads are covered with small mats, and they may not look at mennor at fresh salmon and olachen. See Franz Boas, in _Fifth Report on theNorth-Western Tribes of Canada_, p. 41 (separate reprint from the_Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science_, Newcastle-upon-Tyne meeting, 1889); G. M. Dawson, _Report on the QueenCharlotte Islands, 1878_ (Montreal, 1880), pp. 130 B _sq. _ Some divinekings are not allowed to lie down. See _Taboo and the Perils of theSoul_, p. 5. 

[116] George M. Dawson, _Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands, 1878_(Montreal, 1880), p. 130 B; J. R. Swanton, _Contributions to theEthnology of the Haida_ (Leyden and New York, 1905), pp. 48-50 (_TheJesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of NaturalHistory_, New York). Speaking of the customs observed at Kloo, where thegirls had to abstain from salmon for five years, Mr. Swanton says (p. 49): "When five years had passed, the girl came out, and could do as shepleased. " This seems to imply that the girl was secluded in the housefor five years. We have seen (above, p. 32) that in New Ireland thegirls used sometimes to be secluded for the same period. 

[117] G. H. Von Langsdorff, _Reise um die Welt_ (Frankfort, 1812), ii. 114 _sq. _; H. J. Holmberg, "Ethnographische Skizzen über die Völker desRussischen Amerika, " _Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae_, iv. (Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 319 _sq. _; T. De Pauly, _DescriptionEthnographique des Peuples de la Russie_ (St. Petersburg, 1862), _Peuples de l'Amérique Russe_, p. 13; A. Erman, "EthnographischeWahrnehmungen und Erfahrungen an den Küsten des Berings-Meeres, "_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, ii. (1870) pp. 318 _sq. _; H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_ (London, 1875-1876), i. 110 _sq. _;Rev. Sheldon Jackson, "Alaska and its Inhabitants, " _The AmericanAntiquarian_, ii. (Chicago, 1879-1880) pp. 111 _sq. _; A. Woldt, _CaptainJacobsen's Reise an der Nordwestkiiste Americas, 1881-1883_ (Leipsic, 1884), p. 393; Aurel Krause, _Die Tlinkit-Indianer_ (Jena, 1885), pp. 217 _sq. _; W. M. Grant, in _Journal of American Folk-lore_, i. (1888) p. 169; John R. Swanton, "Social Conditions, Beliefs, and LinguisticRelationship of the Tlingit Indians, " _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of theBureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1908), p. 428. 

[118] Franz Boas, in _Tenth Report of the Committee on the North-WesternTribes of Canada_, p. 45 (separate reprint from the _Report of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science_, Ipswich meeting, 1895). 

[119] Franz Boas, in _Fifth Report of the Committee on the North-WesternTribes of Canada_, p. 42 (separate reprint from the _Report of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science_, Newcastle-upon-Tynemeeting, 1889); _id. _, in _Seventh Report_, etc. , p. 12 (separatereprint from the _Report of the British Association for the Advancementof Science_, Cardiff meeting, 1891). 

[120] "Customs of the New Caledonian women belonging to the NancaushyTine, or Stuart's Lake Indians, Natotin Tine, or Babine's and NantleyTine, or Fraser Lake Tribes, " from information supplied by GavinHamilton, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company's service, who hasbeen for many years among these Indians, both he and his wife speakingtheir languages fluently (communicated by Dr. John Rae), _Journal of theAnthropological Institute_, vii. (1878) pp. 206 _sq. _

[121] Émile Petitot, _Traditions Indiennes du Canada Nord-ouest_ (Paris, 1886), pp. 257 _sq. _

[122] Fr. Julius Jetté, S. J. , "On the Superstitions of the Ten'aIndians, " _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. 700-702. 

[123] Compare _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 70 _sqq. _

[124] James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, pp. 311-317 (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History_, New York, April, 1900). As to the customsobserved among these Indians by the father of a girl at such times inorder not to lose his luck in hunting, see _Spirits of the Corn and ofthe Wild_, ii. 268. 

[125] James Teit, _The Lillooet Indians_ (Leyden and New York, 1906), pp. 263-265 (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History_, New York). Compare C. Hill Tout, "Report onthe Ethnology of the Stlatlumh of British Columbia, " _Journal of theAnthropological Institute_, xxxv. (1905) p. 136. 

[126] Franz Boas, in _Sixth Report of the Committee on the North-WesternTribes of Canada_, pp. 89 _sq_. (separate reprint from the _Report ofthe British Association for the Advancement of Science_, Leeds meeting, 1890). 

[127] James Teit, _The Shuswap_ (Leyden and New York, 1909), pp. 587_sq. _ (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History_, New York). 

[128] G. H. Loskiel, _History of the Mission of the United Brethren amongthe Indians of North America_ (London, 1794), Part i. Pp. 56 _sq_. 

[129] G. B. Grinnell, "Cheyenne Woman Customs, " _AmericanAnthropologist_, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) pp. 13 _sq_. TheCheyennes appear to have been at first settled on the Mississippi, fromwhich they were driven westward to the Missouri. See _Handbook ofAmerican Indians north of Mexico_, edited by F. W. Hodge (Washington, 1907-1910), i. 250 _sqq_. 

[130] H. J. Holmberg, "Ueber die Völker des Russischen Amerika, " _ActaSocietatis Scientiarum Fennicae_, iv. (Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 401 _sq. _;Ivan Petroff, _Report on the Population, Industries and Resources ofAlaska_, p. 143. 

[131] E. W. Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait, " _Eighteenth AnnualReport of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1899)p. 291. 

[132] Jose Guevara, "Historia del Paraguay, Rio de la Plata, y Tucuman, "pp. 16 _sq. _, in Pedro de Angelis, _Coleccion de Obras y Documentosrelativos a la Historia antigua y moderna de las Provincias del Rio dela Plata_, vol. Ii. (Buenos-Ayres, 1836); J. F. Lafitau, _Moeurs desSauvages Ameriquains_ (Paris, 1724), i. 262 _sq. _

[133] Father Ignace Chomé, in _Lettres Édifiantes et Curieuses_, Nouvelle Edition (Paris, 1780-1783), viii. 333. As to the Chiriguanos, see C. F. Phil. Von Martius, _Zur Ethnographie Amerika's, zumalBrasiliens_ (Leipsic, 1867), pp. 212 _sqq. _; Colonel G. E. Church, _Aborigines of South America_ (London, 1912), pp. 207-227. 

[134] A. Thouar, _Explorations dans l'Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1891), pp. 48 _sq. _; G. Kurze, "Sitten und Gebräuche der Lengua-Indianer, "_Mitteilungen der Geographischen Gesellschaft zu Jena_, xxiii. (1905)pp. 26 _sq. _ The two accounts appear to be identical; but the formerattributes the custom to the Chiriguanos, the latter to the Lenguas. Asthe latter account is based on the reports of the Rev. W. B. Grubb, amissionary who has been settled among the Indians of the Chaco for manyyears and is our principal authority on them, I assume that theascription of the custom to the Lenguas is correct. However, in thevolume on the Lengua Indians, which has been edited from Mr. Grubb'spapers (_An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_, London, 1911), thesedetails as to the seclusion of girls at puberty are not mentioned, though what seems to be the final ceremony is described (_op. Cit. _ pp. 177 _sq. _). From the description we learn that boys dressed in ostrichfeathers and wearing masks circle round the girl with shrill cries, butare repelled by the women. 

[135] Alcide d'Orbigny, _Voyage dans l'Amérique Méridionale_ vol. Iii. 1to Partie (Paris and Strasburg, 1844), pp. 205 _sq_. 

[136] A. Thouar, _Explorations dans l'Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1891) pp. 56 _sq. _; Father Cardus, quoted in J. Pelleschi's _Los Indios Matacos_(Buenos Ayres, 1897), pp. 47 _sq. _

[137] A. Thouar, _op. Cit. _ p. 63. 

[138] Francis de Castelnau, _Expédition dans les parties centrales del'Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1850-1851), v. 25. 

[139] D. Luis de la Cruz, "Descripcion de la Naturaleza de los Terrenosque se comprenden en los Andes, poseidos por los Peguenches y los demasespacios hasta el rio de Chadileuba, " p. 62, in Pedro de Angelis, _Coleccion de Obras y Documentos relativos a la Historia antigua ymoderna de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata_, vol. I. (Buenos-Ayres, 1836). Apparently the Peguenches are an Indian tribe of Chili. 

[140] J. B. Von Spix und C. F. Ph. Von Martius, _Reise in Brasilien_(Munich, 1823-1831), iii. 1186, 1187, 1318. 

[141] André Thevet, _Cosmographie Universelle_ (Paris, 1575), ii. 946 B[980] _sq. _; _id. , Les Singularites de la France Antarctique, autrementnommée Amerique_ (Antwerp, 1558), p. 76; J. F. Lafitau, _Moeurs desSauvages Ameriquains_ (Paris, 1724), i. 290 _sqq_. 

[142] R. Schomburgk, _Reisen in Britisch Guiana_ (Leipsic, 1847-1848), ii. 315 _sq. _; C. F. Ph. Von Martius, _Zur Ethnographie Amerika's, zumalBrasiliens_ (Leipsic, 1867), p. 644. 

[143] Labat, _Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, Islesvoisines, et à Cayenne_, iv. 365 _sq. _ (Paris, 1730), pp. 17 _sq. _(Amsterdam, 1731). 

[144] A. Caulin, _Historia Coro-graphica natural y evangelica dela NuevaAndalucia_ (1779), p. 93. A similar custom, with the omission of thestinging, is reported of the Tamanaks in the region of the Orinoco. SeeF. S. Gilij, _Saggio di Storia Americana_, ii. (Rome, 1781), p. 133. 

[145] A. R. Wallace, _Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro_, p. 496 (p. 345 of the Minerva Library edition, London, 1889). 

[146] _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 105 _sqq. _; _TheScapegoat_> pp. 259 _sqq. _

[147] J. B. Von Spix and C. F. Ph. Von Martius, _Reise in Brasilien_(Munich, 1823-1831), iii. 1320. 

[148] W. Lewis Herndon, _Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon_(Washington, 1854), pp. 319 _sq. _ The scene was described to Mr. Herndonby a French engineer and architect, M. De Lincourt, who witnessed it atManduassu, a village on the Tapajos river. Mr. Herndon adds: "The_Tocandeira_ ants not only bite, but are also armed with a sting likethe wasp; but the pain felt from it is more violent. I think it equal tothat occasioned by the sting of the black scorpion. " He gives the nameof the Indians as Mahues, but I assume that they are the same as theMauhes described by Spix and Martius. 

[149] Francis de Castelnau, _Expédition dans les parties centrals del'Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1850-1851), v. 46. 

[150] L'Abbé Durand, "Le Rio Negro du Nord et son bassin, " _Bulletin dela Société de Géographie_ (Paris), vi. Série, iii. (1872) pp. 21 _sq. _The writer says that the candidate has to keep his arms plunged up tothe shoulders in vessels full of ants, "as in a bath of vitriol, " forhours. He gives the native name of the ant as _issauba_. 

[151] J. Crevaux, _Voyages dans l'Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1883), pp. 245-250. 

[152] H. Coudreau, _Chez nos Indiens: quatre années dans la GuyaneFrançaise_ (Paris, 1895), p. 228. For details as to the different modesof administering the _maraké_ see _ibid. _ pp. 228-235. 

[153] Father Geronimo Boscana, "Chinigchinich, " in _Life in Californiaby an American_ [A. Robinson] (New York, 1846), pp. 273 _sq. _

[154] F. Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika_ (Berlin, 1894), p. 506. 

[155] As a confirmation of this view it may be pointed out that beatingor scourging is inflicted on inanimate objects expressly for the purposeindicated in the text. Thus the Indians of Costa Rica hold that thereare two kinds of ceremonial uncleanness, _nya_ and _bu-ku-rú_. Anythingthat has been connected with a death is _nya_. But _bu-ku-rú_ is muchmore virulent. It can not only make one sick but kill. "_Bu-ku-rú_emanates in a variety of ways; arms, utensils, even houses becomeaffected by it after long disuse, and before they can be used again mustbe purified. In the case of portable objects left undisturbed for a longtime, the custom is to beat them with a stick before touching them. Ihave seen a woman take a long walking-stick and beat a basket hangingfrom the roof of a house by a cord. On asking what that was for, I wastold that the basket contained her treasures, that she would probablywant to take something out the next day, and that she was driving offthe _bu-ku-rú_. A house long unused must be swept, and then the personwho is purifying it must take a stick and beat not only the movableobjects, but the beds, posts, and in short every accessible part of theinterior. The next day it is fit for occupation. A place not visited fora long time or reached for the first time is _bu-ku-rú_. On our returnfrom the ascent of Pico Blanco, nearly all the party suffered fromlittle calenturas, the result of extraordinary exposure to wet and coldand of want of food. The Indians said that the peak was especially_bu-ku-rú_ since nobody had ever been on it before. " One day Mr. Gabbtook down some dusty blow-guns amid cries of _bu-ku-rú_ from theIndians. Some weeks afterwards a boy died, and the Indians firmlybelieved that the _bu-ku-rú_ of the blow-guns had killed him. "From allthe foregoing, it would seem that _bu-ku-rú_ is a sort of evil spiritthat takes possession of the object, and resents being disturbed; but Ihave never been able to learn from the Indians that they consider it so. They seem to think of it as a property the object acquires. But theworst _bu-ku-rú_ of all, is that of a young woman in her firstpregnancy. She infects the whole neighbourhood. Persons going from thehouse where she lives, carry the infection with them to a distance, andall the deaths or other serious misfortunes in the vicinity are laid toher charge. In the old times, when the savage laws and customs were infull force, it was not an uncommon thing for the husband of such a womanto pay damages for casualties thus caused by his unfortunate wife. " SeeWm. M. Gabb, "On the Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica, "_Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held atPhiladelphia_, xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876) pp. 504 _sq. _

[156] J. Chaffanjon, _L'Orénoque et le Caura_ (Paris, 1889), pp. 213-215. 

[157] Shib Chunder Bose, _The Hindoos as they are_ (London and Calcutta, 1881), p. 86. Similarly, after a Brahman boy has been invested with thesacred thread, he is for three days strictly forbidden to see the sun. He may not eat salt, and he is enjoined to sleep either on a carpet or adeer's skin, without a mattress or mosquito curtain (_ibid. _ p. 186). InBali, boys who have had their teeth filed, as a preliminary to marriage, are kept shut up in a dark room for three days (R. Van Eck, "Schetsenvan het eiland Bali, " _Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, N. S. , ix. (1880) pp. 428 _sq. _). 

[158] (Sir) H. H. Risley, _Tribes and Castes of Bengal, EthnographicGlossary_ (Calcutta, 1891-1892), i. 152. 

[159] Edgar Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_ (Madras, 1909), vii. 63 _sq. _

[160] Edgar Thurston, _op. Cit. _ iii. 218. 

[161] Edgar Thurston, _op. Cit. _ vi. 157. 

[162] S. Mateer, _Native Life in Travancore_ (London, 1883), p. 45. 

[163] Arthur A. Perera, "Glimpses of Singhalese Social Life, " _IndianAntiquary_ xxxi, (1902) p. 380. 

[164] J. Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_ (Paris, 1883), i. 377. 

[165] Étienne Aymonier, "Notes sur les coutumes et croyancessuperstitieuses des Cambodgiens, " _Cochinchine Française: Excursions etReconnaissances_, No. 16 (Saigon, 1883), pp. 193 _sq. _ Compare _id. , Notice sur le Cambodge_ (Paris, 1875), p. 50 _id. , Notes sur le Laos_(Saigon, 1885), p. 177. 

[166] Svend Grundtvig, _Dänische Volks-märchen_, übersetzt von A. Strodtmann, Zweite Sammlung (Leipsic, 1879), pp. 199 _sqq. _

[167] Christian Schneller, _Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol_(Innsbruck, 1867), No. 22, pp. 51 _sqq. _

[168] Bernbard Schmidt, _Griechische Märchen, Sagen und Volkslieder_(Leipsic, 1877), p. 98. 

[169] J. G. Von Hahn, _Griechische und albanesische Märchen_ (Leipsic, 1864), No. 41, vol. I. Pp. 245 _sqq. _

[170] Laura Gonzenbach, _Sicilianische Märchen_ (Leipsic, 1870), No. 28, vol. I. Pp. 177 _sqq. _ The incident of the bone occurs in otherfolk-tales. A prince or princess is shut up for safety in a tower andmakes his or her escape by scraping a hole in the wall with a bone whichhas been accidentally conveyed into the tower; sometimes it is expresslysaid that care was taken to let the princess have no bones with her meat(J. G. Von Hahn, _op. Cit. _ No. 15; L. Gonzenbach, _op. Cit. _ Nos. 26, 27; _Der Pentamerone, aus dem Neapolitanischen übertragen_ von FelixLiebrecht (Breslau, 1846), No. 23, vol. I. Pp. 294 _sqq. _). From this weshould infer that it is a rule with savages not to let women handle thebones of animals during their monthly seclusions. We have already seenthe great respect with which the savage treats the bones of game(_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_ ii. 238 _sqq. _, 256 _sqq. _); andwomen in their courses are specially forbidden to meddle with the hunteror fisher, as their contact or neighbourhood would spoil his sport (seebelow, pp. 77, 78 _sq. _, 87, 89 _sqq. _). In folk-tales the hero who usesthe bone is sometimes a boy; but the incident might easily betransferred from a girl to a boy after its real meaning had beenforgotten. Amongst the Tinneh Indians a girl at puberty is forbidden tobreak the bones of hares (above, p. 48). On the other hand, she drinksout of a tube made of a swan's bone (above, pp. 48, 49), and the sameinstrument is used for the same purpose by girls of the Carrier tribe ofIndians (see below, p. 92). We have seen that a Tlingit (Thlinkeet) girlin the same circumstances used to drink out of the wing-bone of awhite-headed eagle (above, p. 45), and that among the Nootka and Shuswaptribes girls at puberty are provided with bones or combs with which toscratch themselves, because they may not use their fingers for thispurpose (above, pp. 44, 53). 

[171] Sophocles, _Antigone_, 944 _sqq. _; Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, ii. 4. I; Horace, _Odes_, iii. 16. I _sqq. _; Pausanias, ii. 23. 7. 

[172] W. Radloff, _Proben der Volks-litteratur der türkischen StämmeSüd-Siberiens, _ iii. (St. Petersburg, 1870) pp. 82 _sq. _

[173] H. Ternaux-Compans, _Essai sur l'ancien Cundinamarca_ (Paris, N. D. ), p. 18. 

[174] George Turner, LL. D. , _Samoa, a Hundred Years ago and long before_(London, 1884), p. 200. For other examples of such tales, see AdolphBastian, _Die Voelker des Oestlichen Asien_, i. 416, vi. 25; _PanjabNotes and Queries_, ii. P. 148, § 797 (June, 1885); A. Pfizmaier, "Nachrichten von den alten Bewohnern des heutigen Corea, "_Sitzungsberichte der philosoph. Histor. Classe der kaiser. Akademie derWissenschaften_ (Vienna), lvii. (1868) pp. 495 _sq. _

[175] Thomas J. Hutchinson, "On the Chaco and other Indians of SouthAmerica, " _Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London_, N. S. Iii. (1865) p. 327. Amongst the Lengua Indians of the Paraguayan Chacothe marriage feast is now apparently extinct. See W. Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London, 1911), p. 179. 

[176] Monier Williams, _Religious Thought and Life in India_ (London, 1883), p. 354. 

[177] H. Vambery, _Das Türkenvolk_ (Leipsic, 1885), p. 112. 

[178] Hans Egede, _A Description of Greenland_ (London, 1818), p. 209. 

[179] _Revue des Traditions Populaires_, xv. (1900) p. 471. 

[180] _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 145 _sqq. _

[181] H. E. A. Meyer, "Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of theEncounter Bay Tribe, South Australia, " _The Native Tribes of SouthAustralia_ (Adelaide, 1879), p. 186. 

[182] E. J. Eyre, _Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into CentralAustralia_ (London, 1845), ii. 304. 

[183] E. J. Eyre, _op. Cit. _ ii. 295. 

[184] R. Brough Smyth, _The Aborigines of Victoria_ (Melbourne andLondon, 1878), i. 236. 

[185] Samuel Gason, in _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxiv. (1895) p. 171. 

[186] Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of CentralAustralia_ (London, 1899), p. 473; _idem, Northern Tribes of CentralAustralia_ (London, 1904), p. 615. 

[187] James Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_ (Melbourne, Sydney, andAdelaide, 1881), pp. Ci. _sq. _

[188] Rev. William Ridley, "Report on Australian Languages andTraditions, " _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, ii. (1873) p. 268. Compare _id. , Kamilaroi and other Australian Languages_ (Sydney, 1875), p. 157. 

[189] A. W. Howitt, _The Native Tribes of South-East Australia_ (London, 1904. ), pp. 776 _sq. _, on the authority of Mr. J. C. Muirhead. TheWakelbura are in Central Queensland. Compare Captain W. E. Armit, quotedin _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, ix. (1880) pp. 459 _sq. _

[190] _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to TorresStraits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 196, 207. 

[191] Ch. Keysser, "Aus dem Leben der Kaileute, " in R. Neuhauss's_Deutsch Neu-Guinea_ (Berlin, 1911), iii. 91. 

[192] M. J. Van Baarda, "Fabelen, Verhalen en Overleveringen derGalelareezen, " _Bijdragen tot de Taal-Landen Volkenkinde vanNederlandsch-Indië_, xlv. (1895) p. 489. 

[193] J. L. Van der Toorn, "Het animisme bij den Minangkabauer derPadangsche Bovenlanden, " _Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land- en Volkenkunde vanNederlandsch-Indië_, xxxix. (1890) p. 66. 

[194] W. H. I. Bleek, _A Brief Account of Bushman Folk-lore_ (London, 1875), p. 14; compare _ibid. _, p. 10. 

[195] Rev. James Macdonald, "Manners, Customs, Superstitions andReligions of South African Tribes, " _Journal of the AnthropologicalInstitute_, xx. (1891) p. 138; _id. , Light in Africa_, Second Edition(London, 1890), p. 221. 

[196] Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), p. 238; Mr. Warren's Notes, in Col. Maclean's _Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs_(Cape Town, 1866), p. 93; Rev. J. Macdonald, _Light in Africa_, p. 221;_id. , Religion and Myth_ (London, 1893), p. 198. Compare Henri A. Junod, "Les conceptions physiologiques des Bantou Sud-Africains et leurstabous, " _Revue d'Ethnographie et de Sociologie_, i. (1910) p. 139. Thedanger of death to the cattle from the blood of women is mentioned onlyby Mr. Kidd. The part of the village which is frequented by the cattle, and which accordingly must be shunned by women, has a special name, _inkundhla_ (Mr. Warner's Notes, _l. C. _). 

[197] Rev. J. Roscoe, "The Bahima, a Cow Tribe of Enkole, " _Journal ofthe Royal Anthropological Institute_, xxxvii. (1907) p. 106. 

[198] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 419. 

[199] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 96. 

[200] Rev. J. Roscoe, "Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda, "_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) p. 121; _id. _, "Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda, " _Journal ofthe Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 39; _id. , The Baganda_, p. 352. 

[201] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_, p. 459. 

[202] C. W. Hobley, "Further Researches into Kikuyu and Kamba ReligiousBeliefs and Customs, " _Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_, xli. (1911) p. 409. 

[203] Mervyn W. H. Beech, _The Suk, their Language and Folklore_ (Oxford, 1911), p. 11. 

[204] H. S. Stannus, "Notes on some Tribes of British Central Africa, "_Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_, xl. (1910) p. 305; R. Sutherland Rattray, _Some Folk-lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanja_(London, 1907), p. 191. See above, p. 27. 

[205] Jakob Spieth, _Die Ewe-Stämme_ (Berlin, 1906), p. 192. 

[206] Anton Witte, "Menstruation und Pubertätsfeier der Mädchen inKpandugebiet Togo, " _Baessler-Archiv_, i. (1911) p. 279. 

[207] Th. Nöldeke, _Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit derSassaniden, aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari übersetzt_ (Leyden, 1879), pp. 33-38. I have to thank my friend Professor A. A. Bevan forpointing out to me this passage. Many ancient cities had talismans onthe preservation of which their safety was believed to depend. ThePalladium of Troy is the most familiar instance. See Chr. A. Lobeck, _Aglaophamus_ (Königsberg, 1829), pp. 278 _sqq. _, and my note onPausanias, viii. 47. 5 (vol. Iv. Pp. 433 _sq. _). 

[208] J. Mergel, _Die Medezin der Talmudisten_ (Leipsic and Berlin, 1885), pp. 15 _sq. _

[209] Maimonides, quoted by D. Chwolsohn, _Die Ssabier und derSsabismus_ (St. Petersburg, 1856), ii. 483. According to the editor (p. 735) by the East Maimonides means India and eastern countries generally. 

[210] L'abbé Béchara Chémali, "Naissance et premier âge au Liban, "_Anthropos_, v. (1910) p. 735. 

[211] Eijub Abela, "Beiträge zur Kenntniss abergläubischer Gebräuche inSyrien, " _Zeitschrift des deutschen Palaestina-Vereins_, vii. (1884) p. 111. 

[212] J. Chalmers, "Toaripi, " _Journal of the AnthropologicalInstitute_, xxvii. (1898) p. 328. 

[213] W. Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces andQudh_ (Calcutta, 1896), ii. 87. 

[214] W. Crooke, in _North Indian Notes and Queries_, i. P. 67, § 467(July, 1891). 

[215] L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, _The Cochin Tribes and Castes_, i. (Madras, 1909) pp. 201-203. As to the seclusion of menstruous womenamong the Hindoos, see also Sonnerat, _Voyage aux Indes Orientates et àla Chine_ (Paris, 1782), i. 31; J. A. Dubois, _Moeurs, Institutions etCérémonies des Peuples de l'Inde_ (Paris, 1825), i. 245 _sq. _ Nair womenin Malabar seclude themselves for three days at menstruation and preparetheir food in separate pots and pans. See Duarte Barbosa, _Descriptionof the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the beginning of theSixteenth Century_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), pp. 132 _sq. _

[216] G. Hoffman, _Auszüge aus Syrischen Akten persisischer Martyrerübersetzt_ (Leipsic, 1880), p. 99. This passage was pointed out to me bymy friend Professor A. A. Bevan. 

[217] J. B. Tavernier, _Voyages en Turquie, en Perse, et aux Indes_ (TheHague, 1718), i. 488. 

[218] Paul Giran, _Magie et Religion Annamites_ (Paris, 1912), pp. 107_sq. _, 112. 

[219] Joseph Gumilla, _Histoire Naturelle, Civile, et Géographique del'Orenoque_ (Avignon, 1758), i. 249. 

[220] Dr. Louis Plassard, "Les Guaraunos et le delta de l'Orénoque, "_Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), v. Série, xv. (1868) p. 584. 

[221] J. Crevaux, _Voyages dans l'Amérique du Sud_ (Paris, 1883), p. 526. As to the customs observed at menstruation by Indian women in SouthAmerica, see further A. D'Orbigny, _L'Homme Americain_ (Paris, 1839), i. 237. 

[222] Chas. N. Bell, "The Mosquito Territory, " _Journal of the RoyalGeographical Society_, xxxii. (1862) p. 254. 

[223] H. Pittier de Fabrega, "Die Sprache der Bribri-Indianer in CostaRica, " _Sitztungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen Classe derKaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften_ (Vienna), cxxxviii. (1898) pp. 19 _sq. _

[224] Gabriel Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, NouvelleÉdition (Paris, 1865), p. 54 (original edition, Paris, 1632); J. F. Lafitau, _Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains_ (Paris, 1724), i. 262;Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_ (Paris, 1744), v. 423_sq. _; Captain Jonathan Carver, _Travels through the Interior Parts ofNorth America_, Third Edition (London, 1781), pp. 236 _sq. _; CaptainsLewis and Clark, _Expedition to the Sources of the Missouri_, etc. (London, 1905), iii. 90 (original edition, 1814); Rev. Jedidiah Morse, _Report to the Secretary of War of the United States on Indian Affairs_(New Haven, 1822), pp. 136 _sq. _; _Annales de l'Association de laPropagation de la Foi_, iv, (Paris and Lyons, 1830) pp. 483, 494 _sq. _;George Catlin, _Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditionof the North American Indians_, Fourth Edition (London, 1844), ii. 233;H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_ (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 70; A. L. Kroeber, "The Religion of the Indians ofCalifornia, " _University of California Publication in AmericanArchaeology and Ethnology_, vol. Iv. No. 6 (Berkeley, September, 1907), pp. 323 _sq. _; Frank G. Speck, _Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians_(Philadelphia, 1909), p. 96. Among the Hurons of Canada women at theirperiods did not retire from the house or village, but they ate fromsmall dishes apart from the rest of the family at these times (GabrielSagard, _l. C. _). 

[225] James Adair, _History of the American Indians_ (London, 1775), pp. 123 _sq. _

[226] Bossu, _Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes occidentales_ (Paris, 1768), ii. 105. 

[227] Edwin James, _Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to theRocky Mountains_ (London, 1823), i. 214. 

[228] William H. Keating, _Narrative of an Expedition to the Source ofSt. Peter's River_ (London, 1825), i. 132. 

[229] G. B. Grinnell, "Cheyenne Woman Customs, " _AmericanAnthropologist_, New Series, iv. (New York, 1902) p. 14. 

[230] C. Hill Tout, "Ethnological Report on the Stseelis and SkaulitsTribes of the Halokmelem Division of the Salish of British Columbia, "_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxiv. (1904) p. 320. 

[231] James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, pp. 326_sq. _ (_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History_, New York, April, 1900). 

[232] Samuel Hearne, _Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson'sBay to the Northern Ocean_ (London, 1795), pp. 314 _sq. _; Alex. Mackenzie, _Voyages through the Continent of North America_ (London, 1801), p. Cxxiii. ; E. Petitot, _Monographic des Déné-Dindjié_ (Paris, 1876), pp. 75 _sq. _

[233] C. Leemius, _De Lapponibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua vita etreligione pristina_ (Copenhagen, 1767), p. 494. 

[234] E. W. Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait, " _Eighteenth AnnualReport of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1899)p. 440. 

[235] The Carriers are a tribe of Déné or Tinneh Indians who get theirname from a custom observed among them by widows, who carry, or ratherused to carry, the charred bones of their dead husbands about with themin bundles. 

[236] Hence we may conjecture that the similar ornaments worn by Mabuiaggirls in similar circumstances are also amulets. See above, p. 36. Amongthe aborigines of the Upper Yarra river in Victoria, a girl at pubertyused to have cords tied very tightly round several parts of her body. The cords were worn for several days, causing the whole body to swellvery much and inflicting great pain. The girl might not remove them tillshe was clean. See R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_ (Melbourneand London, 1878), i. 65. Perhaps the cords were intended to arrest theflow of blood. 

[237] Rev. Father A. G. Morice, "The Western Dénés, their Manners andCustoms, " _Proceedings of the Canadian Institute, Toronto_, ThirdSeries, vii. (1888-89) pp. 162-164. The writer has repeated thesubstance of this account in a later work, _Au pays de l'Ours Noir: chezles sauvages de la Colombia Britannique_ (Paris and Lyons, 1897), pp. 72_sq. _

[238] A. G. Morice, "Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, and Sociological, on the Western Dénés, " _Transactions of the Canadian Institute_, iv. (1892-93) pp. 106 _sq. _ Compare Rev. Father Julius Jetté, "On theSuperstitions of the Ten'a Indians, " _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. 703_sq. _, who tells us that Tinneh women at these times may not lift theirown nets, may not step over other people's nets, and may not pass in aboat or canoe near a place where nets are being set. 

[239] A. G. Morice, in _Transactions of the Canadian Institute_, iv. (1892-93) pp. 107, 110. 

[240] James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, p. 327(_The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum ofNatural History_, New York, April 1900). 

[241] See above, p. 53. 

[242] _Laws of Manu_, translated by G. Buhler (Oxford, 1886), ch. Iv. 41_sq. _, p. 135 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. Xxv. ). 

[243] _The Zend-Avesta_, translated by J. Darmesteter, i. (Oxford, 1880)p. Xcii. (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. Iv. ). See _id. _, pp. 9, 181-185, _Fargard_, i. 18 and 19, xvi. 1-18. 

[244] Pliny, _Nat. Hist. _ vii. 64 _sq. _, xxviii. 77 _sqq. _ Compare_Geoponica_, xii. 20. 5 and 25. 2; Columella, _De re rustica_, xi. 357_sqq. _

[245] August Schleicher, _Volkstümliches aus Sonnenberg_ (Weimar, 1858), p. 134; B. Souché, _Croyances, Présages et Traditions diverses_ (Niort, 1880), p. 11; A. Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes Légendes et Contes desArdennes_ (Charleville, 1890), p. 171; V. Fossel, _Volksmedicin undmedicinischer Aberglaube in Steiermark[2]_ (Graz, 1886), p. 124. Acorrespondent, who withholds her name, writes to me that in a Suffolkvillage, where she used to live some twenty or thirty years ago, "everyone pickled their own beef, and it was held that if the pickling wereperformed by a woman during her menstrual period the meat would notkeep. If the cook were incapacitated at the time when the pickling wasdue, another woman was sent for out of the village rather than risk whatwas considered a certainty. " Another correspondent informs me that insome of the dales in the north of Yorkshire a similar belief prevaileddown to recent years with regard to the salting of pork. Anothercorrespondent writes to me: "The prohibition that a menstruating womanmust not touch meat that is intended for keeping appears to be commonall over the country; at least I have met with it as a confirmed andactive custom in widely separated parts of England. .. . It is in regardto the salting of meat for bacon that the prohibition is most usual, because that is the commonest process; but it exists in regard to anymeat food that is required to be kept. "

[246] R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 291. 

[247] W. R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 524. 

[248] The Greeks and Romans thought that a field was completelyprotected against insects if a menstruous woman walked round it withbare feet and streaming hair (Pliny, _Nat. Hist. _ xvii. 266, xxviii. 78;Columella, _De re rustica_, x. 358 _sq. _, xi. 3. 64; Palladius, _De rerustica_, i. 35. 3; _Geoponica_, xii. 8. 5 _sq. _; Aelian, _Nat. Anim. _vi. 36). A similar preventive is employed for the same purpose by NorthAmerican Indians and European peasants. See H. R. Schoolcraft, _IndianTribes of the United States_ (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 70; F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und aüssern Leben der Ehsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 484. Compare J. Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde derSiebenbürger Sachsen_ (Vienna, 1885), p. 280; Adolph Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen Siebenbürgens_(Hermannstadt, 1880), p. 14; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] iii. 468; G. Lammert, _Volksmedizin und medizinischer Aberglaube aus Bayern_(Würzburg, 1869), p. 147. Among the Western Dénés it is believed thatone or two transverse lines tattooed on the arms or legs of a young manby a pubescent girl are a specific against premature weakness of theselimbs. See A. G. Morice, "Notes, Archaeological, Industrial, andSociological, on the Western Dénés, " _Transactions of the CanadianInstitute_, iv. (1892-93) p. 182. The Thompson Indians of BritishColumbia thought that the Dawn of Day could and would cure hernia ifonly an adolescent girl prayed to it to do so. Just before daybreak thegirl would put some charcoal in her mouth, chew it fine, and spit it outfour times on the diseased place. Then she prayed: "O Day-dawn! thychild relies on me to obtain healing from thee, who art mystery. Removethou the swelling of thy child. Pity thou him, Day-Dawn!" See JamesTeit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, pp. 345 _sq. _ (_TheJesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of NaturalHistory_, New York, April, 1900). To cure the painful and dangerouswound inflicted by a ray-fish, the Indians of the Gran Chaco smoke thewounded limb and then cause a woman in her courses to sit astride of it. See G. Pelleschi, _Eight Months on the Gran Chaco of the ArgentineRepublic_ (London, 1886), p. 106. An ancient Hindoo method of securingprosperity was to swallow a portion of the menstruous fluid. See W. Caland, _Altindisches Zauberritual_ (Amsterdam, 1900), pp. 57 _sq. _ Topreserve a new cow from the evil eye Scottish Highlanders used tosprinkle menstruous blood on the animal; and at certain seasons of theyear, especially at Beltane (the first of May) and Lammas (the first ofAugust) it was their custom to sprinkle the same potent liquid on thedoorposts and houses all round to guard them from harm. The fluid wasapplied by means of a wisp of straw, and the person who discharged thissalutary office went round the house in the direction of the sun. SeeJ. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_(Glasgow, 1900), p. 248. These are examples of the beneficentapplication of the menstruous energy. 

[249] _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 1 _sqq. _

[250] For a similar reason, perhaps, ancient Hindoo ritual prescribedthat when the hair of a child's head was shorn in the third year, theclippings should be buried in a cow-stable, or near an _udumbara_ tree, or in a clump of _darbha_ grass, with the words, "Where Pushan, Brihaspati, Savitri, Soma, Agni dwell, they have in many ways searchedwhere they should deposit it, between heaven and earth, the waters andheaven. " See _The Grihya-Sûtras_, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part ii. (Oxford, 1892) p. 218 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. Xxx. ). 

[251] Petronius, _Sat. _ 48; Pausanias, x. 12: 8; Justin Martyr, _Cohortad Graecos_, 37, p. 34 c (ed. 1742). According to another account, theremains of the Sibyl were enclosed in an iron cage which hung from apillar in an ancient temple of Hercules at Argyrus (Ampelius, _LiberMemorialis_, viii. 16). 

[252] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Nord-deutsche Sagen, Märchen undGebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 70, No. 72. I. This and the followingGerman parallels to the story of the Sibyl's wish were first indicatedby Dr. M. R. James (_Classical Review_, vi. (1892) p. 74). I have alreadygiven the stories at length in a note on Pausanias, x. 12. 8 (vol. V. Pp. 292 _sq. _). 

[253] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _op. Cit. _ pp. 70 _sq. _, No. 72. 2. 

[254] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _op. Cit. _ p. 71, No. 72. 3. 

[255] Karl Müllenhoff, _Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der HerzogthümerHolstein und Lauenburg_ (Kiel, 1845), pp. 158 _sg. _, No. 217. 

CHAPTER III

THE MYTH OF BALDER

[How Balder, the good and beautiful god, was done to death by a strokeof the mistletoe. ]

A deity whose life might in a sense be said to be neither in heaven noron earth but between the two, was the Norse Balder, the good andbeautiful god, the son of the great god Odin, and himself the wisest, mildest, best beloved of all the immortals. The story of his death, asit is told in the younger or prose _Edda_, runs thus. Once on a timeBalder dreamed heavy dreams which seemed to forebode his death. Thereupon the gods held a council and resolved to make him secureagainst every danger. So the goddess Frigg took an oath from fire andwater, iron and all metals, stones and earth, from trees, sicknesses andpoisons, and from all four-footed beasts, birds, and creeping things, that they would not hurt Balder. When this was done Balder was deemedinvulnerable; so the gods amused themselves by setting him in theirmidst, while some shot at him, others hewed at him, and others threwstones at him. But whatever they did, nothing could hurt him; and atthis they were all glad. Only Loki, the mischief-maker, was displeased, and he went in the guise of an old woman to Frigg, who told him that theweapons of the gods could not wound Balder, since she had made them allswear not to hurt him. Then Loki asked, "Have all things sworn to spareBalder?" She answered, "East of Walhalla grows a plant called mistletoe;it seemed to me too young to swear. " So Loki went and pulled themistletoe and took it to the assembly of the gods. There he found theblind god Hother standing at the outside of the circle. Loki asked him, "Why do you not shoot at Balder?" Hother answered, "Because I do not seewhere he stands; besides I have no weapon. " Then said Loki, "Do like therest and shew Balder honour, as they all do. I will shew you where hestands, and do you shoot at him with this twig. " Hother took themistletoe and threw it at Balder, as Loki directed him. The mistletoestruck Balder and pierced him through and through, and he fell downdead. And that was the greatest misfortune that ever befell gods andmen. For a while the gods stood speechless, then they lifted up theirvoices and wept bitterly. They took Balder's body and brought it to thesea-shore. There stood Balder's ship; it was called Ringhorn, and wasthe hugest of all ships. The gods wished to launch the ship and to burnBalder's body on it, but the ship would not stir. So they sent for agiantess called Hyrrockin. She came riding on a wolf and gave the shipsuch a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the earth shook. Then Balder's body was taken and placed on the funeral pile upon hisship. When his wife Nanna saw that, her heart burst for sorrow and shedied. So she was laid on the funeral pile with her husband, and fire wasput to it. Balder's horse, too, with all its trappings, was burned onthe pile. [256]

[Tale of Balder in the older _Edda_. ]

In the older or poetic _Edda_ the tragic tale of Balder is hinted atrather than told at length. Among the visions which the Norse Sibyl seesand describes in the weird prophecy known as the _Voluspa_ is one of thefatal mistletoe. "I behold, " says she, "Fate looming for Balder, Woden'sson, the bloody victim. There stands the Mistletoe slender and delicate, blooming high above the ground. Out of this shoot, so slender to lookon, there shall grow a harmful fateful shaft. Hod shall shoot it, butFrigga in Fen-hall shall weep over the woe of Wal-hall. "[257] Yetlooking far into the future the Sibyl sees a brighter vision of a newheaven and a new earth, where the fields unsown shall yield theirincrease and all sorrows shall be healed; then Balder will come back todwell in Odin's mansions of bliss, in a hall brighter than the sun, shingled with gold, where the righteous shall live in joy for evermore. [258]

[The story of Balder as related by Saxo Grammaticus. ]

Writing about the end of the twelfth century, the old Danish historianSaxo Grammaticus tells the story of Balder in a form which professes tobe historical. According to him, Balder and Hother were rival suitorsfor the hand of Nanna, daughter of Gewar, King of Norway. Now Balder wasa demigod and common steel could not wound his sacred body. The tworivals encountered each other in a terrific battle, and though Odin andThor and the rest of the gods fought for Balder, yet was he defeated andfled away, and Hother married the princess. Nevertheless Balder tookheart of grace and again met Hother in a stricken field. But he faredeven worse than before; for Hother dealt him a deadly wound with a magicsword, which he had received from Miming, the Satyr of the woods; andafter lingering three days in pain Balder died of his hurt and wasburied with royal honours in a barrow. [259]

[Balder worshipped in Norway. ]

Whether he was a real or merely a mythical personage, Balder wasworshipped in Norway. On one of the bays of the beautiful Sogne Fiord, which penetrates far into the depths of the solemn Norwegian mountains, with their sombre pine-forests and their lofty cascades dissolving intospray before they reach the dark water of the fiord far below, Balderhad a great sanctuary. It was called Balder's Grove. A palisade enclosedthe hallowed ground, and within it stood a spacious temple with theimages of many gods, but none of them was worshipped with such devotionas Balder. So great was the awe with which the heathen regarded theplace that no man might harm another there, nor steal his cattle, nordefile himself with women. But women cared for the images of the gods inthe temple; they warmed them at the fire, anointed them with oil, anddried them with cloths. [260]

[The legendary death of Balder resembles the legendary death of thePersian hero Isfendiyar in the epic of Firdusi. ]

It might be rash to affirm that the romantic figure of Balder wasnothing but a creation of the mythical fancy, a radiant phantom conjuredup as by a wizard's wand to glitter for a time against the gloomybackground of the stern Norwegian landscape. It may be so; yet it isalso possible that the myth was founded on the tradition of a hero, popular and beloved in his lifetime, who long survived in the memory ofthe people, gathering more and more of the marvellous about him as hepassed from generation to generation of story-tellers. At all events itis worth while to observe that a somewhat similar story is told ofanother national hero, who may well have been a real man. In his greatpoem, _The Epic of Kings_, which is founded on Persian traditions, thepoet Firdusi tells us that in the combat between Rustem and Isfendiyarthe arrows of the former did no harm to his adversary, "because Zerdushthad charmed his body against all dangers, so that it was like untobrass. " But Simurgh, the bird of God, shewed Rustem the way he shouldfollow in order to vanquish his redoubtable foe. He rode after her, andthey halted not till they came to the sea-shore. There she led him intoa garden, where grew a tamarisk, tall and strong, and the roots thereofwere in the ground, but the branches pierced even unto the sky. Then thebird of God bade Rustem break from the tree a branch that was long andslender, and fashion it into an arrow, and she said, "Only through hiseyes can Isfendiyar be wounded. If, therefore, thou wouldst slay him, direct this arrow unto his forehead, and verily it shall not miss itsaim. " Rustem did as he was bid; and when next he fought with Isfendiyar, he shot the arrow at him, and it pierced his eye, and he died. Great wasthe mourning for Isfendiyar. For the space of one year men ceased not tolament for him, and for many years they shed bitter tears for thatarrow, and they said, "The glory of Iran hath been laid low. "[261]

[The myth of Balder was perhaps acted as a magical ceremony. The twochief incidents of the myth, namely the pulling of the mistletoe and thedeath and burning of the god, have perhaps their counterparts in popularritual. ]

Whatever may be thought of an historical kernel underlying a mythicalhusk in the legend of Balder, the details of the story suggest that itbelongs to that class of myths which have been dramatized in ritual, or, to put it otherwise, which have been performed as magical ceremonies forthe sake of producing those natural effects which they describe infigurative language. A myth is never so graphic and precise in itsdetails as when it is, so to speak, the book of the words which arespoken and acted by the performers of the sacred rite. That the Norsestory of Balder was a myth of this sort will become probable if we canprove that ceremonies resembling the incidents in the tale have beenperformed by Norsemen and other European peoples. Now the main incidentsin the tale are two--first, the pulling of the mistletoe, and second, the death and burning of the god; and both of them may perhaps be foundto have had their counterparts in yearly rites observed, whetherseparately or conjointly, by people in various parts of Europe. Theserites will be described and discussed in the following chapters. Weshall begin with the annual festivals of fire and shall reserve thepulling of the mistletoe for consideration later on. 

Notes:

[256] _Die Edda_, übersetzt von K. Simrock*[8] (Stuttgart, 1882), pp. 286-288. Compare pp. 8, 34, 264. Balder's story is told in a professedlyhistorical form by the old Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in histhird book. See below, p. 103. In English the story is told at length byProfessor (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 529 _sqq. _ It is elaborately discussed by Professor F. Knuffmann in a learned monograph, _Balder, Mythus und Sage_ (Strasburg, 1902). 

[257] Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell, _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, i. (Oxford, 1883) p. 197. Compare _Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgoSaemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) pp. 39 _sq. _; _DieEdda_, übersetzt von K. Simrock*[8] (Stuttgart, 1882), p. 8; K. Müllenhoff, _Deutsche Altertumskunde_, v. Zweite Abteilung (Berlin, 1891), pp. 78 _sq. _; Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder, Mythus und Sage_, pp. 20_sq. _ In this passage the words translated "bloody victim" (_blaupomtivor_) and "fate looming" (_ørlog fólgen_) are somewhat uncertain andhave been variously interpreted. The word _tivor_, usually understood tomean "god, " seems to be found nowhere else. Professor H. M. Chadwick haskindly furnished me with the following literal translation of thepassage: "I saw (or 'have seen') held in safe keeping the life ofBalder, the bloody god, Othin's son. High above the fields (i. E. Thesurface of the earth) grew a mistletoe, slender and very beautiful. Froma shaft (or 'stem') which appeared slender, came a dangeroussorrow-bringing missile (i. E. The shaft became a . .. Missile); Hodrproceeded to shoot. Soon was a brother of Balder born. He, Othin's son, proceeded to do battle when one day old. He did not wash his hands orcomb his head before he brought Balder's antagonist on to the pyre. ButFrigg in Fen-salir (i. E. The Fen-abode) lamented the trouble ofVal-holl. " In translating the words _ørlog fólgen_ "held in safe keepingthe life" Professor Chadwick follows Professor F. Kauffmann's rendering("_das Leben verwahrt_"); but he writes to me that he is not quiteconfident about it, as the word _ørlog_ usually means "fate" rather than"life. " Several sentences translated by Professor Chadwick ("Soon was abrother of Balder born . .. He brought Balder's antagonist on the pyre")are omitted by some editors and translators of the _Edda_. 

[258] G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, i. 200_sq. _; _Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii. Pp. 51-54; _Die Edda_, übersetzt von K. Simrock, *[8] p. 10 _sq. _; K. Müllenhoff, _Deutsche Altertumskunde_, v. Zweite Abteilung, pp. 84 _sq. _

[259] Saxo Grammaticus, _Historia Danica_, ed. P. E. Müller (Copenhagen, 1839-1858), _lib. _ iii. Vol. I. Pp. 110 _sqq. _; _The First Nine Books ofthe Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus_, translated by Oliver Elton(London, 1894), pp. 83-93. 

[260] _Fridthjofs Saga, aus dem Alt-isländischen_, von J. C. Poestion, (Vienna, 1879), pp. 3 _sq. _, 14-17, 45-52. 

[261] _The Epic of Kings, Stories retold from Firdusi_, by Helen Zimmern(London, 1883), pp. 325-331. The parallel between Balder and Isfendiyarwas pointed out in the "Lexicon Mythologicum" appended to the _EddaRhythmifa seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) p. 513 note, with a reference to _Schah Namech, verdeutscht vonGörres_, ii. 324, 327 _sq. _ It is briefly mentioned by Dr. P. Wagler, _Die Eiche in alter und neuer Zeit_, ii. Teil (Berlin, 1891), p. 40. 

CHAPTER IV

THE FIRE-FESTIVALS OF EUROPE

§ 1. _The Lenten Fires_

[European custom of kindling bonfires on certain days of the year, dancing round them and leaping over them. Effigies are sometimes burntin the fires. ]

All over Europe the peasants have been accustomed from time immemorialto kindle bonfires on certain days of the year, and to dance round orleap over them. Customs of this kind can be traced back on historicalevidence to the Middle Ages, [262] and their analogy to similar customsobserved in antiquity goes with strong internal evidence to prove thattheir origin must be sought in a period long prior to the spread ofChristianity. Indeed the earliest proof of their observance in NorthernEurope is furnished by the attempts made by Christian synods in theeighth century to put them down as heathenish rites. [263] Not uncommonlyeffigies are burned in these fires, or a pretence is made of burning aliving person in them; and there are grounds for believing thatanciently human beings were actually burned on these occasions. Ageneral survey of the customs in question will bring out the traces ofhuman sacrifice, and will serve at the same time to throw light on theirmeaning. [264]

[Seasons of the year at which the bonfires are lit. ]

The seasons of the year when these bonfires are most commonly lit arespring and midsummer; but in some places they are kindled also at theend of autumn or during the course of the winter, particularly on HallowE'en (the thirty-first of October), Christmas Day, and the Eve ofTwelfth Day. We shall consider them in the order in which they occur inthe calendar year. The earliest of them is the winter festival of theEve of Twelfth Day (the fifth of January); but as it has been alreadydescribed in an earlier part of this work[265] we shall pass it overhere and begin with the fire-festivals of spring, which usually fall onthe first Sunday of Lent (_Quadragesima_ or _Invocavit_), [266] EasterEve, and May Day. 

[Custom of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in the BelgianArdennes. ]

The custom of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent hasprevailed in Belgium, the north of France, and many parts of Germany. Thus in the Belgian Ardennes for a week or a fortnight before the "dayof the great fire, " as it is called, children go about from farm to farmcollecting fuel. At Grand Halleux any one who refuses their request ispursued next day by the children, who try to blacken his face with theashes of the extinct fire. When the day has come, they cut down bushes, especially juniper and broom, and in the evening great bonfires blaze onall the heights. It is a common saying that seven bonfires should beseen if the village is to be safe from conflagrations. If the Meusehappens to be frozen hard at the time, bonfires are lit also on the ice. At Grand Halleux they set up a pole called _makral_ or "the witch, " inthe midst of the pile, and the fire is kindled by the man who was lastmarried in the village. In the neighbourhood of Morlanwelz a straw manis burnt in the fire. Young people and children dance and sing round thebonfires, and leap over the embers to secure good crops or a happymarriage within the year, or as a means of guarding themselves againstcolic. In Brabant on the same Sunday, down to the beginning of thenineteenth century, women and men disguised in female attire used to gowith burning torches to the fields, where they danced and sang comicsongs for the purpose, as they alleged, of driving away "the wickedsower, " who is mentioned in the Gospel for the day. At Maeseyck and inmany villages of Limburg, on the evening of the day children run throughthe streets carrying lighted torches; then they kindle little fires ofstraw in the fields and dance round them. At Ensival old folks tellyoung folks that they will have as many Easter eggs as they see bonfireson this day. [267] At Pâturages, in the province of Hainaut, down toabout 1840 the custom was observed under the name of _Escouvion_ or_Scouvion_. Every year on the first Sunday of Lent, which was called theDay of the Little Scouvion, young folks and children used to run withlighted torches through the gardens and orchards. As they ran they criedat the pitch of their voices, "_Bear apples, bear pearsAnd cherries all black To Scouvion!_"

At these words the torch-bearer whirled his blazing brand and hurled itamong the branches of the apple-trees, the pear-trees, and thecherry-trees. The next Sunday was called the Day of the Great Scouvion, and the same race with lighted torches among the trees of the orchardswas repeated in the afternoon till darkness fell. The same custom wasobserved on the same two days at Wasmes. [268] In the neighbourhood ofLiège, where the Lenten fires were put down by the police about themiddle of the nineteenth century, girls thought that by leaping over thefires without being smirched they made sure of a happy marriage. Elsewhere in order to get a good husband it was necessary to see sevenof the bonfires from one spot. In Famenne, a district of Namur, men andcattle who traversed the Lenten fires were thought to be safe fromsickness and witchcraft. Anybody who saw seven such fires at once hadnothing to fear from sorcerers. An old saying ran, that if you do notlight "the great fire, " God will light it for you; which seems to implythat the kindling of the bonfires was deemed a protection againstconflagrations throughout the year. [269]

[Bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in the French department of theArdennes. ]

In the French department of the Ardennes the whole village used to danceand sing round the bonfires which were lighted on the first Sunday inLent. Here, too, it was the person last married, sometimes a man andsometimes a woman, who put the match to the fire. The custom is stillkept up very commonly in the district. Cats used to be burnt in the fireor roasted to death by being held over it; and while they were burningthe shepherds drove their flocks through the smoke and flames as a suremeans of guarding them against sickness and witchcraft. In some communesit was believed that the livelier the dance round the fire, the betterwould be the crops that year. [270] In the Vosges Mountains it is stillcustomary to light great fires on the heights and around the villages onthe first Sunday in Lent; and at Rupt and elsewhere the right ofkindling them belongs to the person who was last married. Round thefires the people dance and sing merrily till the flames have died out. Then the master of the fire, as they call the man who kindled it, invites all who contributed to the erection of the pile to follow him tothe nearest tavern, where they partake of good cheer. At Dommartin theysay that, if you would have the hemp tall, it is absolutely necessarythat the women should be tipsy on the evening of this day. [271] AtÉpinal in the Vosges, on the first Sunday in Lent, bonfires used to bekindled at various places both in the town and on the banks of theMoselle. They consisted of pyramids of sticks and faggots, which hadbeen collected some days earlier by young folks going from door to door. When the flames blazed up, the names of various couples, whether youngor old, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, were called out, and the personsthus linked in mock marriage were forced, whether they liked it or not, to march arm in arm round the fire amid the laughter and jests of thecrowd. The festivity lasted till the fire died out, and then thespectators dispersed through the streets, stopping under the windows ofthe houses and proclaiming the names of the _féchenots_ and_féchenottes_ or Valentines whom the popular voice had assigned to eachother. These couples had to exchange presents; the mock bridegroom gavehis mock bride something for her toilet, while she in turn presented himwith a cockade of coloured ribbon. Next Sunday, if the weather allowedit, all the couples, arrayed in their best attire and attended by theirrelations, repaired to the wood of Saint Antony, where they mounted afamous stone called the _danserosse_ or _danseresse_. Here they foundcakes and refreshments of all sorts, and danced to the music of a coupleof fiddlers. The evening bell, ringing the Angelus, gave the signal todepart. As soon as its solemn chime was heard, every one quitted theforest and returned home. The exchange of presents between theValentines went by the name of ransom or redemption (_rachat_), becauseit was supposed to redeem the couple from the flames of the bonfire. Anypair who failed thus to ransom themselves were not suffered to share themerrymaking at the great stone in the forest; and a pretence was made ofburning them in small fires kindled before their own doors. [272]

[Bonfires on the First Sunday of Lent in Franche-Comté. ]

In the French province of Franche-Comté, to the west of the JuraMountains, the first Sunday of Lent is known as the Sunday of theFirebrands (_Brandons_), on account of the fires which it is customaryto kindle on that day. On the Saturday or the Sunday the village ladsharness themselves to a cart and drag it about the streets, stopping atthe doors of the houses where there are girls and begging for a faggot. When they have got enough, they cart the fuel to a spot at some littledistance from the village, pile it up, and set it on fire. All thepeople of the parish come out to see the bonfire. In some villages, whenthe bells have rung the Angelus, the signal for the observance is givenby cries of, "To the fire! to the fire!" Lads, lasses, and childrendance round the blaze, and when the flames have died down they vie witheach other in leaping over the red embers. He or she who does so withoutsingeing his or her garments will be married within the year. Young folkalso carry lighted torches about the streets or the fields, and whenthey pass an orchard they cry out, "More fruit than leaves!" Down torecent years at Laviron, in the department of Doubs, it was the youngmarried couples of the year who had charge of the bonfires. In the midstof the bonfire a pole was planted with a wooden figure of a cockfastened to the top. Then there were races, and the winner received thecock as a prize. [273]

[Bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Auvergne; the Granno invoked atthese bonfires may be the old Celtic god Grannus, who was identifiedwith Apollo. ]

In Auvergne fires are everywhere kindled on the evening of the firstSunday in Lent. Every village, every hamlet, even every ward, everyisolated farm has its bonfire or _figo_, as it is called, which blazesup as the shades of night are falling. The fires may be seen flaring onthe heights and in the plains; the people dance and sing round aboutthem and leap through the flames. Then they proceed to the ceremony ofthe _Grannas-mias_. A _granno-mio_[274] is a torch of straw fastened tothe top of a pole. When the pyre is half consumed, the bystanders kindlethe torches at the expiring flames and carry them into the neighbouringorchards, fields, and gardens, wherever there are fruit-trees. As theymarch they sing at the top of their voices, "_Granno, mo mio, Granno, mon pouère, Granno, mo mouère!_"

that is, "Grannus my friend, Grannus my father, Grannus my mother. " Thenthey pass the burning torches under the branches of every tree, singing, "_Brando, brandounciTsaque brantso, in plan panei!_"

that is, "Firebrand burn; every branch a basketful!" In some villagesthe people also run across the sown fields and shake the ashes of thetorches on the ground; also they put some of the ashes in the fowls'nests, in order that the hens may lay plenty of eggs throughout theyear. When all these ceremonies have been performed, everybody goes homeand feasts; the special dishes of the evening are fritters andpancakes. [275] Here the application of the fire to the fruit-trees, tothe sown fields, and to the nests of the poultry is clearly a charmintended to ensure fertility; and the Granno to whom the invocations areaddressed, and who gives his name to the torches, may possibly be, asDr. Pommerol suggests, [276] no other than the ancient Celtic godGrannus, whom the Romans identified with Apollo, and whose worship isattested by inscriptions found not only in France but in Scotland and onthe Danube. [277] If the name Grannus is derived, as the learned tell us, from a root meaning "to glow, burn, shine, "[278] the deity who bore thename and was identified with Apollo may well have been a sun-god; and inthat case the prayers addressed to him by the peasants of the Auvergne, while they wave the blazing, crackling torches about the fruit-trees, would be eminently appropriate. For who could ripen the fruit so well asthe sun-god? and what better process could be devised to draw theblossoms from the bare boughs than the application to them of thatgenial warmth which is ultimately derived from the solar beams? Thus thefire-festival of the first Sunday in Lent, as it is observed inAuvergne, may be interpreted very naturally and simply as a religious orrather perhaps magical ceremony designed to procure a due supply of thesun's heat for plants and animals. At the same time we should rememberthat the employment of fire in this and kindred ceremonies may have beendesigned originally, not so much to stimulate growth and reproduction, as to burn and destroy all agencies, whether in the shape of vermin, witches, or what not, which threatened or were supposed to threaten thegrowth of the crops and the multiplication of animals. It is oftendifficult to decide between these two different interpretations of theuse of fire in agricultural rites. In any case the fire-festival ofAuvergne on the first Sunday in Lent may date from Druidical times. 

[French custom of carrying lighted torches (_brandons_) about theorchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent. ]

The custom of carrying lighted torches of straw (_brandons_) about theorchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent seemsto have been common in France, whether it was accompanied with thepractice of kindling bonfires or not. Thus in the province of Picardy"on the first Sunday of Lent people carried torches through the fields, exorcising the field-mice, the darnel, and the smut. They imagined thatthey did much good to the gardens and caused the onions to grow large. Children ran about the fields, torch in hand, to make the land morefertile. All that was done habitually in Picardy, and the ceremony ofthe torches is not entirely forgotten, especially in the villages onboth sides the Somme as far as Saint-Valery. "[279] "A very agreeablespectacle, said the curate of l'Étoile, is to survey from the portal ofthe church, situated almost on the top of the mountain, the vast plainsof Vimeux all illuminated by these wandering fires. The same pastime isobserved at Poix, at Conty, and in all the villages round about. "[280]Again, in the district of Beauce a festival of torches (_brandons_ or_brandelons_) used to be held both on the first and on the second Sundayin Lent; the first was called "the Great Torches" and the second "theLittle Torches. " The torches were, as usual, bundles of straw wraptround poles. In the evening the village lads carried the burning brandsthrough the country, running about in disorder and singing, "_Torches burnAt these vines, at this wheat_; _Torches burnFor the maidens that shall wed_!"

From time to time the bearers would stand still and smite the earth alltogether with the blazing straw of the torches, while they cried, "Asheaf of a peck and a half!" (_Gearbe à boissiaux_). If two torchbearershappened to meet each other on their rounds, they performed the sameceremony and uttered the same words. When the straw was burnt out, thepoles were collected and a great bonfire made of them. Lads and lassesdanced round the flames, and the lads leaped over them. Afterwards itwas customary to eat a special sort of hasty-pudding made of wheatenflour. These usages were still in vogue at the beginning of thenineteenth century, but they have now almost disappeared. The peasantsbelieved that by carrying lighted torches through the fields theyprotected the crops from field-mice, darnel, and smut. [281] "At Dijon, in Burgundy, it is the custom upon the first Sunday in Lent to makelarge fires in the streets, whence it is called Firebrand Sunday. Thispractice originated in the processions formerly made on that day by thepeasants with lighted torches of straw, to drive away, as they calledit, the bad air from the earth. "[282] In some parts of France, while thepeople scoured the country with burning brands on the first Sunday inLent, they warned the fruit-trees that if they did not take heed andbear fruit they would surely be cut down and cast into the fire. [283] Onthe same day peasants in the department of Loiret used to run about thesowed fields with burning torches in their hands, while they adjured thefield-mice to quit the wheat on pain of having their whiskersburned. [284] In the department of Ain the great fires of straw andfaggots which are kindled in the fields at this time are or weresupposed to destroy the nests of the caterpillars. [285] At Verges, alonely village surrounded by forests between the Jura and the Combed'Ain, the torches used at this season were kindled in a peculiarmanner. The young people climbed to the top of a mountain, where theyplaced three nests of straw in three trees. These nests being then seton fire, torches made of dry lime-wood were lighted at them, and themerry troop descended the mountain to their flickering light, and wentto every house in the village, demanding roasted peas and obliging allcouples who had been married within the year to dance. [286] In Berry, adistrict of central France, it appears that bonfires are not lighted onthis day, but when the sun has set the whole population of the villages, armed with blazing torches of straw, disperse over the country and scourthe fields, the vineyards, and the orchards. Seen from afar, themultitude of moving lights, twinkling in the darkness, appear likewill-o'-the-wisps chasing each other across the plains, along thehillsides, and down the valleys. While the men wave their flambeausabout the branches of the fruit-trees, the women and children tie bandsof wheaten-straw round the tree-trunks. The effect of the ceremony issupposed to be to avert the various plagues from which the fruits of theearth are apt to suffer; and the bands of straw fastened round the stemsof the trees are believed to render them fruitful. [287] In the peninsulaof La Manche the Norman peasants used to spend almost the whole night ofthe first Sunday in Lent rushing about the country with lighted torchesfor the purpose, as they supposed, of driving away the moles andfield-mice; fires were also kindled on some of the dolmens. [288]

[Bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in Germany and Austria; burningthe witch; burning discs thrown into the air; burning wheels rolled downhill; bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in Switzerland. ]

In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at the same season similar customshave prevailed. Thus in the Eifel Mountains, Rhenish Prussia, on thefirst Sunday in Lent young people used to collect straw and brushwoodfrom house to house. These they carried to an eminence and piled upround a tall, slim beech-tree, to which a piece of wood was fastened atright angles to form a cross. The structure was known as the "hut" or"castle. " Fire was set to it and the young people marched round theblazing "castle" bareheaded, each carrying a lighted torch and prayingaloud. Sometimes a straw-man was burned in the "hut. " People observedthe direction in which the smoke blew from the fire. If it blew towardsthe corn-fields, it was a sign that the harvest would be abundant. Onthe same day, in some parts of the Eifel, a great wheel was made ofstraw and dragged by three horses to the top of a hill. Thither thevillage boys marched at nightfall, set fire to the wheel, and sent itrolling down the slope. Two lads followed it with levers to set it inmotion again, in case it should anywhere meet with a check. AtOberstattfeld the wheel had to be provided by the young man who was lastmarried. [289] About Echternach in Luxemburg the same ceremony is called"burning the witch"; while it is going on, the older men ascend theheights and observe what wind is blowing, for that is the wind whichwill prevail the whole year. [290] At Voralberg in the Tyrol, on thefirst Sunday in Lent, a slender young fir-tree is surrounded with a pileof straw and firewood. To the top of the tree is fastened a human figurecalled the "witch, " made of old clothes and stuffed with gunpowder. Atnight the whole is set on fire and boys and girls dance round it, swinging torches and singing rhymes in which the words "corn in thewinnowing-basket, the plough in the earth" may be distinguished. [291] InSwabia on the first Sunday in Lent a figure called the "witch" or the"old wife" or "winter's grandmother" is made up of clothes and fastenedto a pole. This is stuck in the middle of a pile of wood, to which fireis applied. While the "witch" is burning, the young people throw blazingdiscs into the air. The discs are thin round pieces of wood, a fewinches in diameter, with notched edges to imitate the rays of the sun orstars. They have a hole in the middle, by which they are attached to theend of a wand. Before the disc is thrown it is set on fire, the wand isswung to and fro, and the impetus thus communicated to the disc isaugmented by dashing the rod sharply against a sloping board. Theburning disc is thus thrown off, and mounting high into the air, describes a long fiery curve before it reaches the ground. A single ladmay fling up forty or fifty of these discs, one after the other. Theobject is to throw them as high as possible. The wand by which they arehurled must, at least in some parts of Swabia, be of hazel. Sometimesthe lads also leap over the fire brandishing lighted torches ofpine-wood. The charred embers of the burned "witch" and discs are takenhome and planted in the flaxfields the same night, in the belief thatthey will keep vermin from the fields. [292] At Wangen, near Molsheim inBaden, a like custom is observed on the first Sunday in Lent. The youngpeople kindle a bonfire on the crest of the mountain above the village;and the burning discs which they hurl into the air are said to presentin the darkness the aspect of a continual shower of falling stars. Whenthe supply of discs is exhausted and the bonfire begins to burn low, theboys light torches and run with them at full speed down one or other ofthe three steep and winding paths that descend the mountain-side to thevillage. Bumps, bruises, and scratches are often the result of theirefforts to outstrip each other in the headlong race. [293] In the RhönMountains, situated on the borders of Hesse and Bavaria, the people usedto march to the top of a hill or eminence on the first Sunday in Lent. Children and lads carried torches, brooms daubed with tar, and polesswathed in straw. A wheel, wrapt in combustibles, was kindled and rolleddown the hill; and the young people rushed about the fields with theirburning torches and brooms, till at last they flung them in a heap, andstanding round them, struck up a hymn or a popular song. The object ofrunning about the fields with the blazing torches was to "drive away thewicked sower. " Or it was done in honour of the Virgin, that she mightpreserve the fruits of the earth throughout the year and blessthem. [294] In neighbouring villages of Hesse, between the Rhön and theVogel Mountains, it is thought that wherever the burning wheels roll, the fields will be safe from hail and storm. [295] At Konz on theMoselle, on the Thursday before the first Sunday in Lent, the two guildsof the butchers and the weavers used to repair to the Marxberg and thereset up an oak-tree with a wheel fastened to it. On the following Sundaythe people ascended the hill, cut down the oak, set fire to the wheel, and sent both oak and wheel rolling down the hillside, while a guard ofbutchers, mounted on horses, fired at the flaming wheel in its descent. If the wheel rolled down into the Moselle, the butchers were rewardedwith a waggon-load of wine by the archbishop of Treves. [296]

[Burning discs thrown into the air. ]

In Switzerland, also, it is or used to be customary to kindle bonfireson high places on the evening of the first Sunday in Lent, and the dayis therefore popularly known as Spark Sunday. The custom prevailed, forexample, throughout the canton of Lucerne. Boys went about from house tohouse begging for wood and straw, then piled the fuel on a conspicuousmountain or hill round about a pole, which bore a straw effigy called"the witch. " At nightfall the pile was set on fire, and the young folksdanced wildly round it, some of them cracking whips or ringing bells;and when the fire burned low enough, they leaped over it. This wascalled "burning the witch. " In some parts of the canton also they usedto wrap old wheels in straw and thorns, put a light to them, and sendthem rolling and blazing down hill. The same custom of rolling lightedwheels down hill is attested by old authorities for the cantons ofAargau and Bâle. The more bonfires could be seen sparkling and flaringin the darkness, the more fruitful was the year expected to be; and thehigher the dancers leaped beside or over the fire, the higher, it wasthought, would grow the flax. In the district of Freiburg and at Birseckin the district of Bâle it was the last married man or woman who mustkindle the bonfire. While the bonfires blazed up, it was customary insome parts of Switzerland to propel burning discs of wood through theair by means of the same simple machinery which is used for the purposein Swabia. Each lad tried to send his disc fizzing and flaring throughthe darkness as far as possible, and in discharging it he mentioned thename of the person to whose honour it was dedicated. But in Prättigauthe words uttered in launching the fiery discs referred to the abundancewhich was apparently expected to follow the performance of the ceremony. Among them were, "Grease in the pan, corn in the fan, and the plough inthe earth!"[297]

[Connexion of these bonfires with the custom of "carrying out Death;"effigies burnt on Shrove Tuesday. ]

It seems hardly possible to separate from these bonfires, kindled on thefirst Sunday in Lent, the fires in which, about the same season, theeffigy called Death is burned as part of the ceremony of "carrying outDeath. " We have seen that at Spachendorf, in Austrian Silesia, on themorning of Rupert's Day (Shrove Tuesday?), a straw-man, dressed in a furcoat and a fur cap, is laid in a hole outside the village and thereburned, and that while it is blazing every one seeks to snatch afragment of it, which he fastens to a branch of the highest tree in hisgarden or buries in his field, believing that this will make the cropsto grow better. The ceremony is known as the "burying of Death. "[298]Even when the straw-man is not designated as Death, the meaning of theobservance is probably the same; for the name Death, as I have tried toshew, does not express the original intention of the ceremony. At Cobernin the Eifel Mountains the lads make up a straw-man on Shrove Tuesday. The effigy is formally tried and accused of having perpetrated all thethefts that have been committed in the neighbourhood throughout theyear. Being condemned to death, the straw-man is led through thevillage, shot, and burned upon a pyre. They dance round the blazingpile, and the last bride must leap over it. [299] In Oldenburg on theevening of Shrove Tuesday people used to make long bundles of straw, which they set on fire, and then ran about the fields waving them, shrieking, and singing wild songs. Finally they burned a straw-man onthe field. [300] In the district of Düsseldorf the straw-man burned onShrove Tuesday was made of an unthreshed sheaf of corn. [301] On thefirst Monday after the spring equinox the urchins of Zurich drag astraw-man on a little cart through the streets, while at the same timethe girls carry about a May-tree. When vespers ring, the straw-man isburned. [302] In the district of Aachen on Ash Wednesday a man used to beencased in peas-straw and taken to an appointed place. Here he slippedquietly out of his straw casing, which was then burned, the childrenthinking that it was the man who was being burned. [303] In the Val diLedro (Tyrol) on the last day of the Carnival a figure is made up ofstraw and brushwood and then burned. The figure is called the Old Woman, and the ceremony "burning the Old Woman. "[304]

§ 2. _The Easter Fires_

[Fire-festivals on Easter Eve. Custom in Catholic countries of kindlinga holy new fire at the church on Easter Saturday; marvellous propertiesascribed to the embers of the fire; the burning of Judas. ]

Another occasion on which these fire-festivals are held is Easter Eve, the Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that day it has been customary inCatholic countries to extinguish all the lights in the churches, andthen to make a new fire, sometimes with flint and steel, sometimes witha burning-glass. At this fire is lit the great Paschal or Easter candle, which is then used to rekindle all the extinguished lights in thechurch. In many parts of Germany a bonfire is also kindled, by means ofthe new fire, on some open space near the church. It is consecrated, andthe people bring sticks of oak, walnut, and beech, which they char inthe fire, and then take home with them. Some of these charred sticks arethereupon burned at home in a newly-kindled fire, with a prayer that Godwill preserve the homestead from fire, lightning, and hail. Thus everyhouse receives "new fire. " Some of the sticks are kept throughout theyear and laid on the hearth-fire during heavy thunder-storms to preventthe house from being struck by lightning, or they are inserted in theroof with the like intention. Others are placed in the fields, gardens, and meadows, with a prayer that God will keep them from blight and hail. Such fields and gardens are thought to thrive more than others; the cornand the plants that grow in them are not beaten down by hail, nordevoured by mice, vermin, and beetles; no witch harms them, and the earsof corn stand close and full. The charred sticks are also applied to theplough. The ashes of the Easter bonfire, together with the ashes of theconsecrated palm-branches, are mixed with the seed at sowing. A woodenfigure called Judas is sometimes burned in the consecrated bonfire, andeven where this custom has been abolished the bonfire itself in someplaces goes by the name of "the burning of Judas. "[305]

[Easter fires in Bavaria and the Abruzzi. ]

In the Hollertau, Bavaria, the young men used to light their lanterns atthe newly-kindled Easter candle in the church and then race to thebonfire; he who reached it first set fire to the pile, and next day, Easter Sunday, was rewarded at the church-door by the housewives, whopresented him with red eggs. Great was the jubilation while the effigyof the traitor was being consumed in the flames. The ashes werecarefully collected and thrown away at sunrise in running water. [306] Inmany parts of the Abruzzi, also, pious people kindle their fires onEaster Saturday with a brand brought from the sacred new fire in thechurch. When the brand has thus served to bless the fire on the domestichearth, it is extinguished, and the remainder is preserved, partly in acranny of the outer wall of the house, partly on a tree to which it istied. This is done for the purpose of guarding the homestead againstinjury by storms. At Campo di Giove the people say that if you can get apiece of one of the three holy candles which the priest lights from thenew fire, you should allow a few drops of the wax to fall into the crownof your hat; for after that, if it should thunder and lighten, you havenothing to do but to clap the hat on your head, and no flash oflightning can possibly strike you. [307]

[Water as well as fire consecrated in the Abruzzi on Easter Saturday;water consecrated in Calabria on Easter Saturday; water and fireconsecrated on Easter Saturday among the Germans of Bohemia; Easterrites of fire and water at Hildesheim. ]

Further, it deserves to be noted that in the Abruzzi water as well asfire is, as it were, renewed and consecrated on Easter Saturday. Mostpeople fetch holy water on that day from the churches, and every memberof the family drinks a little of it, believing that it has power toprotect him or her against witchcraft, fever, and stomach-aches of allsorts. And when the church bells ring again after their enforcedsilence, the water is sprinkled about the house, and especially underthe beds, with the help of a palm-branch. Some of this blessed water isalso kept in the house for use in great emergencies, when there is notime to fetch a priest; thus it may be employed to baptize a newborninfant gasping for life or to sprinkle a sick man in the last agony;such a sprinkling is reckoned equal to priestly absolution. [308] InCalabria the customs with regard to the new water, as it is called, onEaster Saturday are similar; it is poured into a new vessel, adornedwith ribbons and flowers, is blessed by the priest, and is tasted byevery one of the household, beginning with the parents. And when the airvibrates with the glad music of the church bells announcing theresurrection, the people sprinkle the holy water about the houses, bidding in a loud voice all evil things to go forth and all good thingsto come in. At the same time, to emphasize the exorcism, they knock ondoors, window-shutters, chests, and other domestic articles offurniture. At Cetraro people who suffer from diseases of the skin bathein the sea at this propitious moment; at Pietro in Guarano they plungeinto the river on the night of Easter Saturday before Easter Sundaydawns, and while they bathe they utter never a word. Moreover, theCalabrians keep the "new water" as a sacred thing. They believe that itserves as a protection against witchcraft if it is sprinkled on a fireor a lamp, when the wood crackles or the wick sputters; for they regardit as a bad omen when the fire talks, as they say. [309] Among theGermans of Western Bohemia, also, water as well as fire is consecratedby the priest in front of the church on Easter Saturday. People bringjugs full of water to the church and set them beside the holy fire;afterwards they use the water to sprinkle on the palm-branches which arestuck in the fields. Charred sticks of the Judas fire, as it ispopularly called, are supposed to possess a magical and healing virtue;hence the people take them home with them, and even scuffle with eachother for the still glowing embers in order to carry them, stillglimmering, to their houses and so obtain "the light" or "the holylight. "[310] At Hildesheim, also, and the neighbouring villages ofcentral Germany rites both of fire and water are or were till latelyobserved at Easter. Thus on Easter night many people fetch water fromthe Innerste river and keep it carefully, believing it to be a remedyfor many sorts of ailments both of man and beast. In the villages on theLeine river servant men and maids used to go silently on Easter nightbetween the hours of eleven and twelve and silently draw water inbuckets from the river; they mixed the water with the fodder and thedrink of the cattle to make the animals thrive, and they imagined thatto wash in it was good for human beings. Many were also of opinion thatat the same mystic hour the water turned to wine as far as the crowingof a cock could be heard, and in this belief they laid themselves flaton their stomachs and kept their tongues in the water till themiraculous change occurred, when they took a great gulp of thetransformed water. At Hildesheim, too, and the neighbouring villagesfires used to blaze on all the heights on Easter Eve; and embers takenfrom the bonfires were dipped in the cattle troughs to benefit thebeasts and were kept in the houses to avert lightning. [311]

[New fire at Easter in Carinthia; consecration of fire and water by theCatholic Church at Easter. ]

In the Lesachthal, Carinthia, all the fires in the houses used to beextinguished on Easter Saturday, and rekindled with a fresh fire broughtfrom the churchyard, where the priest had lit it by the friction offlint and steel and had bestowed his blessing on it. [312] Such customswere probably widespread. In a Latin poem of the sixteenth century, written by a certain Thomas Kirchmeyer and translated into English byBarnabe Googe, we read:--

"_On Easter Eve the fire all is quencht in every place, And fresh againe from out the flint is fetcht with solemne grace:The priest doth halow this against great daungers many one, A brande whereof doth every man with greedie mind take home, That when the fearefull storme appeares, or tempest black arise, By lighting this he safe may be from stroke of hurtful skies:A taper great, the Paschall namde, with musicke then they blesse, And franckensence herein they pricke, for greater holynesse:This burneth night and day as signe of Christ that conquerde hell, As if so be this foolish toye suffiseth this to tell. Then doth the Bishop or the Priest, the water halow straight, That for their baptisme is reservde: for now no more of waightIs that they usde the yeare before, nor can they any more, Yong children christen with the same, as they have done before. With wondrous pompe and furniture, amid the Church they go, With candles, crosses, banners, Chrisme, and oyle appoynted tho:Nine times about the font they marche, and on the saintes doe call, Then still at length they stande, and straight the Priest begins withall, And thrise the water doth he touche, and crosses thereon make, Here bigge and barbrous wordes he speakes, to make the devill quake:And holsome waters conjureth, and foolishly doth dresse, Supposing holyar that to make, which God before did blesse:And after this his candle than, he thrusteth in the floode, And thrise he breathes thereon with breath, that stinkes of former foode:And making here an ende, his Chrisme he poureth thereupon, The people staring hereat stande, amazed every one;Beleeving that great powre is given to this water here, By gaping of these learned men, and such like trifling gere. Therefore in vessels brought they draw, and home they carie some, Against the grieves that to themselves, or to their beastes may come. Then Clappers ceasse, and belles are set againe at libertée, And herewithall the hungrie times of fasting ended bée. "_[313]

It is said that formerly all the fires in Rome were lighted afresh fromthe holy fire kindled in St. Peter's on Easter Saturday. [314]

[The new fire on Easter Saturday at Florence. ]

In Florence the ceremony of kindling the new fire on Easter Eve ispeculiar. The holy flame is elicited from certain flints which are saidto have been brought by a member of the Pazzi family from the Holy Land. They are kept in the church of the Holy Apostles on the Piazza delLimbo, and on the morning of Easter Saturday the prior strikes fire fromthem and lights a candle from the new flame. The burning candle is thencarried in solemn procession by the clergy and members of themunicipality to the high altar in the cathedral. A vast crowd hasmeanwhile assembled in the cathedral and the neighbouring square towitness the ceremony; amongst the spectators are many peasants drawnfrom the surrounding country, for it is commonly believed that on thesuccess or failure of the ceremony depends the fate of the crops for theyear. Outside the door of the cathedral stands a festal car drawn by twofine white oxen with gilded horns. The body of the car is loaded with apyramid of squibs and crackers and is connected by a wire with a pillarset up in front of the high altar. The wire extends down the middle ofthe nave at a height of about six feet from the ground. Beneath it aclear passage is left, the spectators being ranged on either side andcrowding the vast interior from wall to wall. When all is ready, HighMass is celebrated, and precisely at noon, when the first words of the_Gloria_ are being chanted, the sacred fire is applied to the pillar, which like the car is wreathed with fireworks. A moment more and a fierydove comes flying down the nave, with a hissing sound and a sputter ofsparks, between the two hedges of eager spectators. If all goes well, the bird pursues its course along the wire and out at the door, and inanother moment a prolonged series of fizzes, pops and bangs announces tothe excited crowd in the cathedral that the fireworks on the car aregoing off. Great is the joy accordingly, especially among the bumpkins, who are now sure of an abundant harvest. But if, as sometimes happens, the dove stops short in its career and fizzles out, revealing itself asa stuffed bird with a packet of squibs tied to its tail, great is theconsternation, and deep the curses that issue from between the set teethof the clodhoppers, who now give up the harvest for lost. Formerly theunskilful mechanician who was responsible for the failure would havebeen clapped into gaol; but nowadays he is thought sufficiently punishedby the storm of public indignation and the loss of his pay. The disasteris announced by placards posted about the streets in the evening; andnext morning the newspapers are full of gloomy prognostications. [315]

[The new fire and burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Mexico. ]

Some of these customs have been transported by the Catholic Church tothe New World. Thus in Mexico the new fire is struck from a flint earlyin the morning of Easter Saturday, and a candle which has been lightedat the sacred flame is carried through the church by a deacon shouting"_Lumen Christi_. " Meantime the whole city, we are informed, has beenconverted into a vast place of execution. Ropes stretch across thestreets from house to house, and from every house dangles an effigy ofJudas, made of paper pulp. Scores or hundreds of them may adorn a singlestreet. They are of all shapes and sizes, grotesque in form and garbedin strange attire, stuffed with gunpowder, squibs and crackers, sometimes, too, with meat, bread, soap, candy, and clothing, for whichthe crowd will scramble and scuffle while the effigies are burning. There they hang grim, black, and sullen in the strong sunshine, greetedwith a roar of execration by the pious mob. A peal of bells from thecathedral tower on the stroke of noon gives the signal for theexecution. At the sound a frenzy seizes the crowd. They throw themselvesfuriously on the figures of the detested traitor, cut them down, hurlthem with curses into the fire, and fight and struggle with each otherin their efforts to tear the effigies to tatters and appropriate theircontents. Smoke, stink, sputter of crackers, oaths, curses, yells arenow the order of the day. But the traitor does not perish unavenged. Forthe anatomy of his frame has been cunningly contrived so as in burningto discharge volleys of squibs into his assailants; and the wounds andburns with which their piety is rewarded form a feature of the morning'sentertainment. The English Jockey Club in Mexico used to improve on thispopular pastime by suspending huge figures of Judas, stuffed with coppercoins, from ropes in front of their clubhouse. These were ignited at theproper moment and lowered within reach of the expectant rabble, and itwas the privilege of members of the club, seated in the balcony, towatch the grimaces and to hear the shrieks of the victims, as theystamped and capered about with the hot coppers sticking to their hands, divided in their minds between an acute sense of pain and a thirst forfilthy lucre. [316]

[The burning of Judas at Easter in South America. ]

Scenes of the same sort, though on a less ambitious scale, are witnessedamong the Catholics of South America on the same day. In Brazil themourning for the death of Christ ceases at noon on Easter Saturday andgives place to an extravagant burst of joy at his resurrection. Shotsare fired everywhere, and effigies of Judas are hung on trees or draggedabout the streets, to be finally burned or otherwise destroyed. [317] Inthe Indian villages scattered among the wild valleys of the PeruvianAndes figures of the traitor, made of pasteboard and stuffed with squibsand crackers, are hanged on gibbets before the door of the church onEaster Saturday. Fire is set to them, and while they crackle andexplode, the Indians dance and shout for joy at the destruction of theirhated enemy. [318] Similarly at Rio Hacha, in Colombia, Judas isrepresented during Holy Week by life-sized effigies, and the people fireat them as if they were discharging a sacred duty. [319]

[The new fire on Easter Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre atJerusalem. ]

But usages of this sort are not confined to the Latin Church; they arecommon to the Greek Church also. Every year on the Saturday beforeEaster Sunday a new fire is miraculously kindled at the Holy Sepulchrein Jerusalem. It descends from heaven and ignites the candles which thepatriarch holds in his hands, while with closed eyes he wrestles inprayer all alone in the chapel of the Angel. The worshippers meanwhilewait anxiously in the body of the church, and great are their transportsof joy when at one of the windows of the chapel, which had been all darka minute before, there suddenly appears the hand of an angel, or of thepatriarch, holding a lighted taper. This is the sacred new fire; it ispassed out to the expectant believers, and the desperate struggle whichensues among them to get a share of its blessed influence is onlyterminated by the intervention of the Turkish soldiery, who restorepeace and order by hustling the whole multitude impartially out of thechurch. In days gone by many lives were often lost in these holyscrimmages. For example, in the year 1834, the famous Ibrahim Pashawitnessed the frantic scene from one of the galleries, and, being movedwith compassion at the sight, descended with a few guards into the arenain the chimerical hope of restoring peace and order among the contendingChristians. He contrived to force his way into the midst of the densecrowd, but there the heat and pressure were so great that he faintedaway; a body of soldiers, seeing his danger, charged straight into thethrong and carried him out of it in their arms, trampling under foot thedying and dead in their passage. Nearly two hundred people were killedthat day in the church. The fortunate survivors on these occasions whosucceeded in obtaining a portion of the coveted fire applied it freelyto their faces, their beards, and their garments. The theory was thatthe fire, being miraculous, could only bless and not burn them; but thepractical results of the experiment were often disappointing, for whilethe blessings were more or less dubious, there could be no doubtwhatever about the burns. [320] The history of the miracle has beencarefully investigated by a Jesuit father. The conclusions at which hearrives are that the miracle was a miracle indeed so long as theCatholics had the management of it; but that since it fell into thehands of the heretics it has been nothing but a barefaced trick andimposture. [321] Many people will be disposed to agree with the latterconclusion who might hesitate to accept the former. 

[The new fire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Greece. ]

At Athens the new fire is kindled in the cathedral at midnight on HolySaturday. A dense crowd with unlit candles in their hands fills thesquare in front of the cathedral; the king, the archbishop, and thehighest dignitaries of the church, arrayed in their gorgeous robes, occupy a platform; and at the exact moment of the resurrection the bellsring out, and the whole square bursts as by magic into a blaze of light. Theoretically all the candles are lit from the sacred new fire in thecathedral, but practically it may be suspected that the matches whichbear the name of Lucifer have some share in the suddenillumination. [322] Effigies of Judas used to be burned at Athens onEaster Saturday, but the custom has been forbidden by the Government. However, firing goes on more or less continuously all over the city bothon Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, and the cartridges used on thisoccasion are not always blank. The shots are aimed at Judas, butsometimes they miss him and hit other people. Outside of Athens thepractice of burning Judas in effigy still survives in some places. Forexample, in Cos a straw image of the traitor is made on Easter Day, andafter being hung up and shot at it is burned. [323] A similar customappears to prevail at Thebes;[324] it used to be observed by theMacedonian peasantry, and it is still kept up at Therapia, a fashionablesummer resort of Constantinople. [325]

[The new fire at Candlemas in Armenia. ]

In the Armenian Church the sacred new fire is kindled not at Easter butat Candlemas, that is, on the second of February, or on the eve of thatfestival. The materials of the bonfire are piled in an open space near achurch, and they are generally ignited by young couples who have beenmarried within the year. However, it is the bishop or his vicar wholights the candles with which fire is set to the pile. All young marriedpairs are expected to range themselves about the fire and to dance roundit. Young men leap over the flames, but girls and women contentthemselves with going round them, while they pray to be preserved fromthe itch and other skin-diseases. When the ceremony is over, the peopleeagerly pick up charred sticks or ashes of the fire and preserve them orscatter them on the four corners of the roof, in the cattle-stall, inthe garden, and on the pastures; for these holy sticks and ashes protectmen and cattle against disease, and fruit-trees against worms andcaterpillars. Omens, too, are drawn from the direction in which the windblows the flames and the smoke: if it carries them eastward, there ishope of a good harvest; but if it inclines them westward, the peoplefear that the crops will fail. [326]

[The new fire and the burning of Judas at Easter are probably relics ofpaganism. ]

In spite of the thin cloak of Christianity thrown over these customs byrepresenting the new fire as an emblem of Christ and the figure burnedin it as an effigy of Judas, we can hardly doubt that both practices areof pagan origin. Neither of them has the authority of Christ or of hisdisciples; but both of them have abundant analogies in popular customand superstition. Some instances of the practice of annuallyextinguishing fires and relighting them from a new and sacred flame havealready come before us;[327] but a few examples may here be cited forthe sake of illustrating the wide diffusion of a custom which has foundits way into the ritual both of the Eastern and of the Western Church. 

[The new fire at the summer solstice among the Incas of Peru;the new fire among the Indians of Mexico and New Mexico; the new fireamong the Esquimaux. ]

The Incas of Peru celebrated a festival called Raymi, a word which theirnative historian Garcilasso de la Vega tells us was equivalent to ourEaster. It was held in honour of the sun at the solstice in June. Forthree days before the festival the people fasted, men did not sleep withtheir wives, and no fires were lighted in Cuzco, the capital. The sacrednew fire was obtained direct from the sun by concentrating his beams ona highly polished concave plate and reflecting them on a little cottonwool. With this holy fire the sheep and lambs offered to the sun wereconsumed, and the flesh of such as were to be eaten at the festival wasroasted. Portions of the new fire were also conveyed to the temple ofthe sun and to the convent of the sacred virgins, where they were keptburning all the year, and it was an ill omen if the holy flame wentout. [328] At a festival held in the last month of the old Mexican yearall the fires both in the temples and in the houses were extinguished, and the priest kindled a new fire by rubbing two sticks against eachother before the image of the fire-god. [329] The Zuni Indians of NewMexico kindle a new fire by the friction of wood both at the winter andthe summer solstice. At the winter solstice the chosen fire-makercollects a faggot of cedar-wood from every house in the village, andeach person, as he hands the wood to the fire-maker, prays that thecrops may be good in the coming year. For several days before the newfire is kindled, no ashes or sweepings may be removed from the housesand no artificial light may appear outside of them, not even a burningcigarette or the flash of firearms. The Indians believe that no rainwill fall on the fields of the man outside whose house a light has beenseen at this season. The signal for kindling the new fire is given bythe rising of the Morning Star. The flame is produced by twirling anupright stick between the hands on a horizontal stick laid on the floorof a sacred chamber, the sparks being caught by a tinder of cedar-dust. It is forbidden to blow up the smouldering tinder with the breath, forthat would offend the gods. After the fire has thus been ceremoniallykindled, the women and girls of all the families in the village cleanout their houses. They carry the sweepings and ashes in baskets or bowlsto the fields and leave them there. To the sweepings the woman says: "Inow deposit you as sweepings, but in one year you will return to me ascorn. " And to the ashes she says: "I now deposit you as ashes, but inone year you will return to me as meal. " At the summer solstice thesacred fire which has been procured by the friction of wood is used tokindle the grass and trees, that there may be a great cloud of smoke, while bull-roarers are swung and prayers offered that the Rain-makers upaloft will water the earth. [330] From this account we see how intimatelythe kindling of a new fire at the two turning-points of the sun's courseis associated in the minds of these Indians with the fertility of theland, particularly with the growth of the corn. The rolling smoke isapparently an imitation of rain-clouds designed, on the principle ofhomoeopathic magic, to draw showers from the blue sky. Once a year theIroquois priesthood supplied the people with a new fire. As apreparation for the annual rite the fires in all the huts wereextinguished and the ashes scattered about. Then the priest, wearing theinsignia of his office, went from hut to hut relighting the fires bymeans of a flint. [331] Among the Esquimaux with whom C. F. Hall resided, it was the custom that at a certain time, which answered to our NewYear's Day, two men went about from house to house blowing out everylight in the village. One of the men was dressed to represent a woman. Afterwards the lights were rekindled from a fresh fire. An Esquimauwoman being asked what all this meant, replied, "New sun--newlight. "[332] Among the Esquimaux of Iglulik, when the sun first risesabove the horizon after the long night of the Arctic winter, thechildren who have watched for his reappearance run into the houses andblow out the lamps. Then they receive from their mothers presents ofpieces of wick. [333]

[The new fire in Wadai, among the Swahili, and in other parts ofAfrica. ]

In the Sudanese kingdom of Wadai all the fires in the villages are putout and the ashes removed from the houses on the day which precedes theNew Year festival. At the beginning of the new year a new fire is lit bythe friction of wood in the great straw hut where the village elderslounge away the sultry hours together; and every man takes thence aburning brand with which he rekindles the fire on his domestichearth. [334] In the Bahr-el-Ghazal province of the Egyptian Sudan thepeople extinguish their old fires at the Arab New Year and bring in newfire. On the same occasion they beat the walls of their huts, the grassthatches, and the walls of their enclosures in order to drive away thedevil or evil spirits. The beating of the walls and roofs is accompaniedby the firing of guns, the shouting of men, and the shriller cries ofthe women. [335] Thus these people combine an annual expulsion of demonswith an annual lighting of a new fire. Among the Swahili of East Africathe greatest festival is that of the New Year, which falls in the secondhalf of August. At a given moment all the fires are extinguished withwater and afterwards relit by the friction of two dry pieces of wood. The ashes of the old fires are carried out and deposited at cross-roads. All the people get up very early in the morning and bathe in the sea orsome other water, praying to be kept in good health and to live thatthey may bathe again next year. Sham-fights form part of the amusementsof the day; sometimes they pass into grim reality. Indeed the day wasformerly one of general license; every man did that which was good inhis own eyes. No awkward questions were asked about any crimes committedon this occasion, so some people improved the shining hour by knocking afew poor devils on the head. Shooting still goes on during the wholeday, and at night the proceedings generally wind up with a greatdance. [336] The King of Benametapa, as the early Portuguese traderscalled him, in East Africa used to send commissioners annually to everytown in his dominions; on the arrival of one of these officers theinhabitants of each town had to put out all their fires and to receive anew fire from him. Failure to comply with this custom was treated asrebellion. [337] Some tribes of British Central Africa carefullyextinguish the fires on the hearths at the beginning of the hoeingseason and at harvest; the fires are afterwards rekindled by friction, and the people indulge in dances of various kinds. [338]

[The new fire among the Todas of Southern India and among the Nagas ofNorth-Eastern India. ]

The Todas of the Neilgheny Hills, in Southern India, annually kindle asacred new fire by the friction of wood in the month which begins withthe October moon. The ceremony is performed by two holy dairymen at thefoot of a high hill. When they have lighted the fire by rubbing two drysticks together, and it begins to burn well, they stand a little way offand pray, saying, "May the young grass flower! May honey flourish! Mayfruit ripen!" The purpose of the ceremony is to make the grass and honeyplentiful. In ancient times the Todas lived largely on wild fruits, andthen the rite of the new fire was very important. Now that they subsistchiefly on the milk of their buffaloes, the ceremony has lost much ofits old significance. [339] When the Nagas of North-Eastern India havefelled the timber and cut down the scrub in those patches of junglewhich they propose to cultivate, they put out all the fires in thevillage and light a new fire by rubbing two dry pieces of wood together. Then having kindled torches at it they proceed with them to the jungleand ignite the felled timber and brushwood. The flesh of a cow orbuffalo is also roasted on the new fire and furnishes a sacrificialmeal. [340] Near the small town of Kahma in Burma, between Prome andThayetmyo, certain gases escape from a hollow in the ground and burnwith a steady flame during the dry season of the year. The people regardthe flame as the forge of a spectral smith who here carried on hisbusiness after death had removed him from his old smithy in the village. Once a year all the household fires in Kahma are extinguished and thenlighted afresh from the ghostly flame. [341]

[The new fire in China and Japan. ]

In China every year, about the beginning of April, certain officials, called _Sz'hüen_, used of old to go about the country armed with woodenclappers. Their business was to summon the people and command them toput out every fire. This was the beginning of a season called_Han-shih-tsieh_, or "eating cold food. " For three days all householdfires remained extinct as a preparation for the solemn renewal of thefire, which took place on the fifth or sixth day of April, being thehundred and fifth day after the winter solstice. The ceremony wasperformed with great pomp by the same officials, who procured the newfire from heaven by reflecting the sun's rays either from a metal mirroror from a crystal on dry moss. Fire thus obtained is called by theChinese heavenly fire, and its use is enjoined in sacrifices; whereasfire elicited by the friction of wood is termed by them earthly fire, and its use is prescribed for cooking and other domestic purposes. Whenonce the new fire had thus been drawn from the sun, all the people werefree to rekindle their domestic hearths; and, as a Chinese distich hasit--

"_At the festival of the cold food there are a thousand white stalks among the flowers;On the day Tsing-ming, at sunrise, you may see the smoke of tenthousand houses_. "

According to a Chinese philosopher, the reason for thus renewing fireperiodically is that the vital principle grows weaker and weaker in oldfire, whereas in new fire it is young and vigorous. This annual renewalof fire was a ceremony of very great antiquity in China, since it isknown to have been observed in the time of the first dynasty, about twothousand years before Christ. Under the Tcheou dynasty a change in thecalendar led to shifting the fire-festival from spring to the summersolstice, but afterwards it was brought back to its original date. Although the custom appears to have long fallen into disuse, thebarbarous inhabitants of Hainan, an island to the south of China, stillcall a year "a fire, " as if in memory of the time when the years werereckoned by the annually recurring ceremony of rekindling the sacredfire. [342] "A Japanese book written two centuries ago informs us thatsticks resembling the wands used for offerings at the purificationceremony were part shaven and set up in bundles at the four corners ofthe Gion shrine on the last day of the year. The priests, after prayerswere recited, broke up the bundles and set fire to the sticks, which thepeople then carried home to light their household fires with for the NewYear. The object of this ceremony was to avert pestilence. "[343]

[The new fire in ancient Greece and Rome. ]

In classical antiquity the Greek island of Lemnos was devoted to theworship of the smith-god Hephaestus, who was said to have fallen on itwhen Zeus hurled him from heaven. [344] Once a year every fire in theisland was extinguished and remained extinct for nine days, during whichsacrifices were offered to the dead and to the infernal powers. New firewas brought in a ship from the sacred isle of Delos, and with it thefires in the houses and the workshops were relit. The people said thatwith the new fire they made a new beginning of life. If the ship thatbore the sacred flame arrived too soon, it might not put in to shore, but had to cruise in the offing till the nine days were expired. [345] AtRome the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta was kindled anew every yearon the first of March, which used to be the beginning of the Romanyear;[346] the task of lighting it was entrusted to the Vestal Virgins, and they performed it by drilling a hole in a board of lucky wood tillthe flame was elicited by friction. The new fire thus produced wascarried into the temple of Vesta by one of the virgins in a bronzesieve. [347]

[The new fire at Hallow E'en among the old Celts of Ireland; the newfire on September 1st among the Russian peasants. ]

Among the Celts of Ireland a new fire was annually kindled on Hallowe'enor the Eve of Samhain, as they called it, the last day of October, fromwhich the Irish new year began; and all the hearths throughout thecountry are said to have been relighted from the fresh fire. The placewhere this holy flame was lit bore the name of Tlachtga or Tlactga; ithas been identified with a rath or native fort on the Hill of Ward nearAthboy in the county of Meath. "It was there, " says the old Irishhistorian, Geoffrey Keating, "that the Festival of the Fire of Tlactgawas ordered to be held, and it was thither that the Druids of Irelandwere wont to repair and to assemble, in solemn meeting, on the eve ofSamhain, for the purpose of making a sacrifice to all the gods. It wasin that fire at Tlactga, that their sacrifice was burnt; and it was madeobligatory, under pain of punishment, to extinguish all the fires ofIreland, on that eve; and the men of Ireland were allowed to kindle noother fire but that one; and for each of the other fires, which were allto be lighted from it, the king of Munster was to receive a tax of a_sgreball_, that is, of three pence, because the land, upon whichTlactga was built, belongs to the portion of Meath which had been takenfrom Munster. "[348] In the villages near Moscow at the present time thepeasants put out all their fires on the eve of the first of September, and next morning at sunrise a wise man or a wise woman rekindles themwith the help of muttered incantations and spells. [349]

[Thus the ceremony of the new fire in the Eastern and Western Church isprobably a relic of an old heathen rite. ]

Instances of such practices might doubtless be multiplied, but theforegoing examples may suffice to render it probable that theecclesiastical ceremony of lighting a sacred new fire on Easter Saturdayhad originally nothing to do with Christianity, but is merely one caseof a world-wide custom which the Church has seen fit to incorporate inits ritual. It might be supposed that in the Western Church the customwas merely a survival of the old Roman usage of renewing the fire on thefirst of March, were it not that the observance by the Eastern Church ofthe custom on the same day seems to point back to a still older periodwhen the ceremony of lighting a new fire in spring, perhaps at thevernal equinox, was common to many peoples of the Mediterranean area. Wemay conjecture that wherever such a ceremony has been observed, itoriginally marked the beginning of a new year, as it did in ancient Romeand Ireland, and as it still does in the Sudanese kingdom of Wadai andamong the Swahili of Eastern Africa. 

[The pagan character of the Easter fire appears from the superstitionsassociated with it, such as the belief that the fire fertilizes thefields and protects houses from conflagration and sickness. ]

The essentially pagan character of the Easter fire festival appearsplainly both from the mode in which it is celebrated by the peasants andfrom the superstitious beliefs which they associate with it. All overnorthern and central Germany, from Altmark and Anhalt on the east, through Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg, the Harz district, and Hesse toWestphalia the Easter bonfires still blaze simultaneously on thehill-tops. As many as forty may sometimes be counted within sight atonce. Long before Easter the young people have been busy collectingfirewood; every farmer contributes, and tar-barrels, petroleum cases, and so forth go to swell the pile. Neighbouring villages vie with eachother as to which shall send up the greatest blaze. The fires are alwayskindled, year after year, on the same hill, which accordingly oftentakes the name of Easter Mountain. It is a fine spectacle to watch fromsome eminence the bonfires flaring up one after another on theneighbouring heights. As far as their light reaches, so far, in thebelief of the peasants, the fields will be fruitful, and the houses onwhich they shine will be safe from conflagration or sickness. AtVolkmarsen and other places in Hesse the people used to observe whichway the wind blew the flames, and then they sowed flax seed in thatdirection, confident that it would grow well. Brands taken from thebonfires preserve houses from being struck by lightning; and the ashesincrease the fertility of the fields, protect them from mice, and mixedwith the drinking-water of cattle make the animals thrive and ensurethem against plague. As the flames die down, young and old leap overthem, and cattle are sometimes driven through the smouldering embers. Insome places tar-barrels or wheels wrapt in straw used to be set on fire, and then sent rolling down the hillside. In others the boys lighttorches and wisps of straw at the bonfires and rush about brandishingthem in their hands. Where the people are divided between Protestantismand Catholicism, as in Hildesheim, it has been observed that amongProtestants the Easter bonfires are generally left to the boys, while inCatholic districts they are cared for by grown-up persons, and here thewhole population will gather round the blazing pile and join in singingchoral hymns, which echo far and wide in the stillness of night. [350]

[The Easter fires in Münsterland, Oldenburg, the Harz Mountains and theAltmark. ]

In Münsterland these Easter fires are always kindled upon certaindefinite hills, which are hence known as Easter or Paschal Mountains. The whole community assembles about the fire. Fathers of families forman inner circle round it. An outer circle is composed of the young menand maidens, who, singing Easter hymns, march round and round the firein the direction of the sun, till the blaze dies down. Then the girlsjump over the fire in a line, one after the other, each supported by twoyoung men who hold her hands and run beside her. When the fire hasburned out, the whole assembly marches in solemn procession to thechurch, singing hymns. They go thrice round the church, and then breakup. In the twilight boys with blazing bundles of straw run over thefields to make them fruitful. [351] At Delmenhorst, in Oldenburg, it usedto be the custom to cut down two trees, plant them in the ground side byside, and pile twelve tar-barrels, one above the other, against each ofthe trees. Brushwood was then heaped about the trees, and on the eveningof Easter Saturday the boys, after rushing about with blazing beanpolesin their hands, set fire to the whole. At the end of the ceremony theurchins tried to blacken each other and the clothes of grown-uppeople. [352] In Schaumburg the Easter bonfires may be seen blazing onall the mountains around for miles. They are made with a tar-barrelfastened to a pine-tree, which is wrapt in straw. The people dancesinging round them. [353] In the Harz Mountains the fire is commonly madeby piling brushwood about a tree and setting it on fire. At Osterodeevery one tries to snatch a brand from the bonfire and runs about withit; the better it burns, the more lucky it is. In Grund there aretorch-races. [354] In the Altmark the Easter bonfires are composed oftar-barrels, bee-hives, and so forth, piled round a pole. The young folkdance round the fire; and when it has died out, the old folk come andcollect the ashes, which they preserve as a remedy for the ailments ofbees. It is also believed that as far as the blaze of the bonfire isvisible, the corn will grow well throughout the year, and noconflagration will break out. [355] At Braunröde, in the Harz Mountains, it was the custom to burn squirrels in the Easter bonfire. [356] In theAltmark, bones were burned in it. [357]

[The Easter fires in Bavaria; the burning of Judas; burning the EasterMan. ]

Further south the Easter fires are, or used to be, lit in many districtsof Bavaria. Thus on Easter Monday in some parts of Middle Franken theschoolboys collect all the old worn-out besoms they can lay hands on, and march with them in a long procession to a neighbouring height. Whenthe first chime of the evening bell comes up from the dale they set fireto the brooms, and run along the ridges waving them, so that seen frombelow the hills appear to be crested with a twinkling and moving chainof fire. [358] In some parts of Upper Bavaria at Easter burning arrows ordiscs of wood were shot from hill-tops high into the air, as in theSwabian and Swiss customs already described. [359] At Oberau, instead ofthe discs, an old cart-wheel was sometimes wrapt in straw, ignited, andsent rolling and blazing down the mountain. The lads who hurled thediscs received painted Easter eggs from the girls. [360] Near Forchheim, in Upper Franken, a straw-man called the Judas used to be burned in thechurchyards on Easter Saturday. The whole village contributed wood tothe pyre on which he perished, and the charred sticks were afterwardskept and planted in the fields on Walpurgis Day (the first of May) topreserve the wheat from blight and mildew. [361] About a hundred yearsago or more the custom at Althenneberg, in Upper Bavaria, used to be asfollows. On the afternoon of Easter Saturday the lads collected wood, which they piled in a cornfield, while in the middle of the pile theyset up a tall wooden cross all swathed in straw. After the eveningservice they lighted their lanterns at the consecrated candle in thechurch, and ran with them at full speed to the pyre, each striving toget there first. The first to arrive set fire to the heap. No woman orgirl might come near the bonfire, but they were allowed to watch it froma distance. As the flames rose the men and lads rejoiced and made merry, shouting, "We are burning the Judas!" Two of them had to watch theglowing embers the whole night long, lest people should come and stealthem. Next morning at sunrise they carefully collected the ashes, andthrew them into the running water of the Röten brook. The man who hadbeen the first to reach the pyre and to kindle it was rewarded on EasterSunday by the women, who gave him coloured eggs at the church door. Well-to-do women gave him two; poorer women gave him only one. Theobject of the whole ceremony was to keep off the hail. About a centuryago the Judas fire, as it was called, was put down by the police. [362]At Giggenhausen and Aufkirchen, two other villages of Upper Bavaria, asimilar custom prevailed, yet with some interesting differences. Herethe ceremony, which took place between nine and ten at night on EasterSaturday, was called "burning the Easter Man. " On a height about a milefrom the village the young fellows set up a tall cross enveloped instraw, so that it looked like a man with his arms stretched out. Thiswas the Easter Man. No lad under eighteen years of age might take partin the ceremony. One of the young men stationed himself beside theEaster Man, holding in his hand a consecrated taper which he had broughtfrom the church and lighted. The rest stood at equal intervals in agreat circle round the cross. At a given signal they raced thrice roundthe circle, and then at a second signal ran straight at the cross and atthe lad with the lighted taper beside it; the one who reached the goalfirst had the right of setting fire to the Easter Man. Great was thejubilation while he was burning. When he had been consumed in theflames, three lads were chosen from among the rest, and each of thethree drew a circle on the ground with a stick thrice round the ashes. Then they all left the spot. On Easter Monday the villagers gathered theashes and strewed them on their fields; also they planted in the fieldspalm-branches which had been consecrated on Palm Sunday, and stickswhich had been charred and hallowed on Good Friday, all for the purposeof protecting their fields against showers of hail. The custom ofburning an Easter Man made of straw on Easter Saturday was observed alsoat Abensberg, in Lower Bavaria. [363] In some parts of Swabia the Easterfires might not be kindled with iron or steel or flint, but only by thefriction of wood. [364]

[The Easter fires in Baden; "Thunder poles. "]

In Baden bonfires are still kindled in the churchyards on EasterSaturday, and ecclesiastical refuse of various sorts, such ascandle-ends, old surplices, and the wool used by the priest in theapplication of extreme unction, is consumed in the flames. At Zozneggdown to about 1850 the fire was lighted by the priest by means of aflint which had never been used before. People bring sticks, especiallyoaken sticks, char them in the fire, and then carry them home and keepthem in the house as a preservative against lightning. At Zoznegg theseoaken sticks were sword-shaped, each about an ell and a half long, andthey went by the name of "weather or thunder poles" (_Wetterpfähle_). When a thunderstorm threatened to break out, one of the sticks was putinto a small fire, in order that the hallowed smoke, ascending to theclouds, might ward off the lightning from the house and the hail fromthe fields and gardens. At Schöllbronn the oaken sticks, which are thuscharred in the Easter bonfire and kept in the house as a protectiveagainst thunder and lightning, are three in number, perhaps with anallusion to the Trinity; they are brought every Easter to be consecratedafresh in the bonfire, till they are quite burnt away. In the lakedistrict of Baden it is also customary to burn one of these holy sticksin the fire when a heavy thunderstorm is raging. [365] Hence it seemsthat the ancient association of the oak with the thunder[366] persistsin the minds of German peasants to the present day. 

[Easter fires in Holland and Sweden; the burning of Judas in Bohemia. ]

Thus the custom of the Easter fires appears to have prevailed all overcentral and western Germany from north to south. We find it also inHolland, where the fires were kindled on the highest eminences, and thepeople danced round them and leaped through the flames or over theglowing embers. Here too, as so often in Germany, the materials for thebonfire were collected by the young folk from door to door. [367] In manyparts of Sweden firearms are, as at Athens, discharged in all directionson Easter eve, and huge bonfires are lighted on hills and eminences. Some people think that the intention is to keep off the Troll and otherevil spirits who are especially active at this season. [368] When theafternoon service on Good Friday is over, German children in Bohemiadrive Judas out of the church by running about the sacred edifice andeven the streets shaking rattles and clappers. Next day, on EasterSaturday, the remains of the holy oil are burnt before the church doorin a fire which must be kindled with flint and steel. This fire iscalled "the burning of Judas, " but in spite of its evil name abeneficent virtue is ascribed to it, for the people scuffle for thecinders, which they put in the roofs of their houses as a safeguardagainst fire and lightning. [369]

§ 3. _The Beltane Fires_

[The Beltane fires on the first of May in the Highlands of Scotland;description of the Beltane fires by John Ramsay of Ochtertyre in theeighteenth century. ]

In the central Highlands of Scotland bonfires, known as the Beltanefires, were formerly kindled with great ceremony on the first of May, and the traces of human sacrifices at them were particularly clear andunequivocal. The custom of lighting the bonfires lasted in variousplaces far into the eighteenth century, and the descriptions of theceremony by writers of that period present such a curious andinteresting picture of ancient heathendom surviving in our own countrythat I will reproduce them in the words of their authors. The fullest ofthe descriptions, so far as I know, is the one bequeathed to us by JohnRamsay, laird of Ochtertyre, near Crieff, the patron of Burns and thefriend of Sir Walter Scott. From his voluminous manuscripts, written inthe last quarter of the eighteenth century, a selection was published inthe latter part of the nineteenth century. The following account ofBeltane is extracted from a chapter dealing with Highland superstitions. Ramsay says: "But the most considerable of the Druidical festivals isthat of Beltane, or May-day, which was lately observed in some parts ofthe Highlands with extraordinary ceremonies. Of later years it ischiefly attended to by young people, persons advanced in yearsconsidering it as inconsistent with their gravity to give it anycountenance. Yet a number of circumstances relative to it may becollected from tradition, or the conversation of very old people, whowitnessed this feast in their youth, when the ancient rites were betterobserved. 

[Need-fire. ]

"This festival is called in Gaelic _Beal-tene_--i. E. , the fire ofBel. .. . Like the other public worship of the Druids, the Beltane feastseems to have been performed on hills or eminences. They thought itdegrading to him whose temple is the universe, to suppose that he woulddwell in any house made with hands. Their sacrifices were thereforeoffered in the open air, frequently upon the tops of hills, where theywere presented with the grandest views of nature, and were nearest theseat of warmth and order. And, according to tradition, such was themanner of celebrating this festival in the Highlands within the lasthundred years. But since the decline of superstition, it has beencelebrated by the people of each hamlet on some hill or rising groundaround which their cattle were pasturing. Thither the young folksrepaired in the morning, and cut a trench, on the summit of which a seatof turf was formed for the company. And in the middle a pile of wood orother fuel was placed, which of old they kindled with _tein-eigin_--i. E. , forced-fire or _need-fire_. Although, for many years past, theyhave been contented with common fire, yet we shall now describe theprocess, because it will hereafter appear that recourse is still had tothe _tein-eigin_ upon extraordinary emergencies. 

[Need-fire kindled by the friction of oak wood. ]

"The night before, all the fires in the country were carefullyextinguished, and next morning the materials for exciting this sacredfire were prepared. The most primitive method seems to be that which wasused in the islands of Skye, Mull, and Tiree. A well-seasoned plank ofoak was procured, in the midst of which a hole was bored. A wimble ofthe same timber was then applied, the end of which they fitted to thehole. But in some parts of the mainland the machinery was different. They used a frame of green wood, of a square form, in the centre ofwhich was an axle-tree. In some places three times three persons, inothers three times nine, were required for turning round by turns theaxle-tree or wimble. If any of them had been guilty of murder, adultery, theft, or other atrocious crime, it was imagined either that the firewould not kindle, or that it would be devoid of its usual virtue. Sosoon as any sparks were emitted by means of the violent friction, theyapplied a species of agaric which grows on old birch-trees, and is verycombustible. This fire had the appearance of being immediately derivedfrom heaven, and manifold were the virtues ascribed to it. They esteemedit a preservative against witchcraft, and a sovereign remedy againstmalignant diseases, both in the human species and in cattle; and by itthe strongest poisons were supposed to have their nature changed. 

[The Beltane cake and the Beltane carline (_cailleach_). ]

"After kindling the bonfire with the _tein-eigin_ the company preparedtheir victuals. And as soon as they had finished their meal, they amusedthemselves a while in singing and dancing round the fire. Towards theclose of the entertainment, the person who officiated as master of thefeast produced a large cake baked with eggs and scalloped round theedge, called _am bonnach beal-tine--i. E. _ the Beltane cake. It wasdivided into a number of pieces, and distributed in great form to thecompany. There was one particular piece which whoever got was called_cailleach beal-tine--i. E. _, the Beltane _carline_, a term of greatreproach. Upon his being known, part of the company laid hold of him andmade a show of putting him into the fire; but the majority interposing, he was rescued. And in some places they laid him flat on the ground, making as if they would quarter him. Afterwards, he was pelted withegg-shells, and retained the odious appellation during the whole year. And while the feast was fresh in people's memory, they affected to speakof the _cailleach beal-tine_ as dead. 

"This festival was longest observed in the interior Highlands, fortowards the west coast the traces of it are faintest. In Glenorchy andLorne, a large cake is made on that day, which they consume in thehouse; and in Mull it has a large hole in the middle, through which eachof the cows in the fold is milked. In Tiree it is of a triangular form. The more elderly people remember when this festival was celebratedwithout-doors with some solemnity in both these islands. There are atpresent no vestiges of it in Skye or the Long Island, the inhabitants ofwhich have substituted the _connach Micheil_ or St. Michael's cake. Itis made at Michaelmas with milk and oatmeal, and some eggs are sprinkledon its surface. Part of it is sent to the neighbours. 

"It is probable that at the original Beltane festival there were twofires kindled near one another. When any person is in a criticaldilemma, pressed on each side by unsurmountable difficulties, theHighlanders have a proverb, _The e' eada anda theine bealtuin_--i. E. , heis between the two Beltane fires. There are in several parts small roundhills, which, it is like, owe their present names to such solemn uses. One of the highest and most central in Icolmkil is called_Cnoch-nan-ainneal_--i. E. , the hill of the fires. There is another ofthe same name near the kirk of Balquhidder; and at Killin there is around green eminence which seems to have been raised by art. It iscalled _Tom-nan-ainneal_--i. E. , the eminence of the fires. Around itthere are the remains of a circular wall about two feet high. On the topa stone stands upon end. According to the tradition of the inhabitants, it was a place of Druidical worship; and it was afterwards pitched on asthe most venerable spot for holding courts of justice for the country ofBreadalbane. The earth of this eminence is still thought to be possessedof some healing virtue, for when cattle are observed to be diseased someof it is sent for, which is rubbed on the part affected. "[370]

[Local differences in the Beltane cakes; evidence of two fires atBeltane; Beltane pies and cakes in the parish of Callander. ]

In the parish of Callander, a beautiful district of western Perthshire, the Beltane custom was still in vogue towards the end of the eighteenthcentury. It has been described as follows by the parish minister of thetime: "Upon the first day of May, which is called _Beltan_, or_Bal-tein_ day, all the boys in a township or hamlet, meet in the moors. They cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by casting atrench in the ground, of such circumference as to hold the wholecompany. They kindle a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk in theconsistence of a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toastedat the embers against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, theydivide the cake into so many portions, as similar as possible to oneanother in size and shape, as there are persons in the company. Theydaub one of these portions all over with charcoal, until it be perfectlyblack. They put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet. Every one, blindfold, draws out a portion. He who holds the bonnet, is entitled tothe last bit. Whoever draws the black bit, is the _devoted_ person whois to be sacrificed to _Baal_[371] whose favour they mean to implore, inrendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and beast. Thereis little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices having been once offered inthis country, as well as in the east, although they now pass from theact of sacrificing, and only compel the _devoted_ person to leap threetimes through the flames; with which the ceremonies of this festival areclosed. "[372]

[Pennant's description of the Beltane fires and cakes in Perthshire. ]

Thomas Pennant, who travelled in Perthshire in the year 1769, tells usthat "on the first of May, the herdsmen of every village hold theirBel-tien, a rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench on the ground, leaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a fire of wood, onwhich they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk; andbring besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky;for each of the company must contribute something. The rites begin withspilling some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation: on thatevery one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine squareknobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserverof their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the realdestroyer of them: each person then turns his face to the fire, breaksoff a knob, and flinging it over his shoulders, says, 'This I give tothee, preserve thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep; andso on, ' After that, they use the-same ceremony to the noxious animals:'This I give to thee, O fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O hoodedcrow! this to thee, O eagle!' When the ceremony is over, they dine onthe caudle; and after the feast is finished, what is left is hid by twopersons deputed for that purpose; but on the next Sunday theyre-assemble, and finish the reliques of the first entertainment"[373]

[Beltane cakes and fires in the parishes of Logierait and Kirkmichael;omens drawn from the cakes. ]

Another writer of the eighteenth century has described the Beltanefestival as it was held in the parish of Logierait in Perthshire. Hesays: "On the first of May, O. S. , a festival called _Beltan_ is annuallyheld here. It is chiefly celebrated by the cow-herds, who assemble byscores in the fields, to dress a dinner for themselves, of boiled milkand eggs. These dishes they eat with a sort of cakes baked for theoccasion, and having small lumps in the form of _nipples_, raised allover the surface. "[374] In this last account no mention is made ofbonfires, but they were probably lighted, for a contemporary writerinforms us that in the parish of Kirkmichael, which adjoins the parishof Logierait on the east, the custom of lighting a fire in the fieldsand baking a consecrated cake on the first of May was not quite obsoletein his time. [375] We may conjecture that the cake with knobs wasformerly used for the purpose of determining who should be the "Beltanecarline" or victim doomed to the flames. A trace of this customsurvived, perhaps, in the custom of baking oatmeal cakes of a specialkind and rolling them down hill about noon on the first of May; for itwas thought that the person whose cake broke as it rolled would die orbe unfortunate within the year. These cakes, or bannocks as we call themin Scotland, were baked in the usual way, but they were washed over witha thin batter composed of whipped egg, milk or cream, and a littleoatmeal. This custom appears to have prevailed at or near Kingussie inInverness-shire. At Achterneed, near Strathpeffer in Ross-shire, theBeltane bannocks were called _tcharnican_ or hand-cakes, because theywere kneaded entirely in the hand, and not on a board or table likecommon cakes; and after being baked they might not be placed anywherebut in the hands of the children who were to eat them. [376]

[Beltane fires in the north-east of Scotland to burn the witches; theBeltane cake. ]

In the north-east of Scotland the Beltane fires were still kindled inthe latter half of the eighteenth century; the herdsmen of several farmsused to gather dry wood, kindle it, and dance three times "southways"about the burning pile. [377] But in this region, according to a laterauthority, the Beltane fires were lit not on the first but on the secondof May, Old Style. They were called bone-fires. The people believed thaton that evening and night the witches were abroad and busy castingspells on cattle and stealing cows' milk. To counteract theirmachinations, pieces of rowan-tree and woodbine, but especially ofrowan-tree, were placed over the doors of the cow-houses, and fires werekindled by every farmer and cottar. Old thatch, straw, furze, or broomwas piled in a heap and set on fire a little after sunset. While some ofthe bystanders kept tossing the blazing mass, others hoisted portions ofit on pitchforks or poles and ran hither and thither, holding them ashigh as they could. Meantime the young people danced round the fire orran through the smoke shouting, "Fire! blaze and burn the witches; fire!fire! burn the witches. " In some districts a large round cake of oat orbarley meal was rolled through the ashes. When all the fuel wasconsumed, the people scattered the ashes far and wide, and till thenight grew quite dark they continued to run through them, crying, "Fire!burn the witches. "[378]

[Beltane cakes and fires in the Hebrides. ]

In the Hebrides "the Beltane bannock is smaller than that made at St. Michael's, but is made in the same way; it is no longer made in Uist, but Father Allan remembers seeing his grandmother make one abouttwenty-five years ago. There was also a cheese made, generally on thefirst of May, which was kept to the next Beltane as a sort of charmagainst the bewitching of milk-produce. The Beltane customs seem to havebeen the same as elsewhere. Every fire was put out and a large one liton the top of the hill, and the cattle driven round it sunwards(_dessil_), to keep off murrain all the year. Each man would take homefire wherewith to kindle his own. "[379]

[Beltane fires and cakes in Wales. ]

In Wales also the custom of lighting Beltane fires at the beginning ofMay used to be observed, but the day on which they were kindled variedfrom the Eve of May Day to the third of May. The flame was sometimeselicited by the friction of two pieces of oak, as appears from thefollowing description. "The fire was done in this way. Nine men wouldturn their pockets inside out, and see that every piece of money and allmetals were off their persons. Then the men went into the nearest woods, and collected sticks of nine different kinds of trees. These werecarried to the spot where the fire had to be built. There a circle wascut in the sod, and the sticks were set crosswise. All around the circlethe people stood and watched the proceedings. One of the men would thentake two bits of oak, and rub them together until a flame was kindled. This was applied to the sticks, and soon a large fire was made. Sometimes two fires were set up side by side. These fires, whether oneor two, were called _coelcerth_ or bonfire. Round cakes of oatmeal andbrown meal were split in four, and placed in a small flour-bag, andeverybody present had to pick out a portion. The last bit in the bagfell to the lot of the bag-holder. Each person who chanced to pick up apiece of brown-meal cake was compelled to leap three times over theflames, or to run thrice between the two fires, by which means thepeople thought they were sure of a plentiful harvest. Shouts and screamsof those who had to face the ordeal could be heard ever so far, andthose who chanced to pick the oatmeal portions sang and danced andclapped their hands in approval, as the holders of the brown bits leapedthree times over the flames, or ran three times between the two fires. As a rule, no danger attended these curious celebrations, butoccasionally somebody's clothes caught fire, which was quickly put out. The greatest fire of the year was the eve of May, or May first, second, or third. The Midsummer Eve fire was more for the harvest. Very often afire was built on the eve of November. The high ground near the CastleDitches at Llantwit Major, in the Vale of Glamorgan, was a familiar spotfor the Beltane on May third and on Midsummer Eve. .. . Sometimes theBeltane fire was lighted by the flames produced by stone instead of woodfriction. Charred logs and faggots used in the May Beltane werecarefully preserved, and from them the next fire was lighted. May fireswere always started with old faggots of the previous year, and midsummerfrom those of the last summer. It was unlucky to build a midsummer firefrom May faggots. People carried the ashes left after these fires totheir homes, and a charred brand was not only effectual againstpestilence, but magical in its use. A few of the ashes placed in aperson's shoes protected the wearer from any great sorrow or woe. "[380]

[Welsh belief that passage over or between the fires ensured goodcrops. ]

From the foregoing account we learn that bonfires were kindled in Waleson Midsummer Eve and Hallowe'en (the thirty-first of October), as wellas at the beginning of May, but that the Beltane fires in May weredeemed the most important. To the Midsummer Eve and Hallowe'en fires weshall return presently. The belief of the people that by leaping thriceover the bonfires or running thrice between them they ensured aplentiful harvest is worthy of note. The mode in which this result wassupposed to be brought about is indicated by another writer on Welshfolk-lore, according to whom it used to be held that "the bonfireslighted in May or Midsummer protected the lands from sorcery, so thatgood crops would follow. The ashes were also considered valuable ascharms. "[381] Hence it appears that the heat of the fires was thought tofertilize the fields, not directly by quickening the seeds in theground, but indirectly by counteracting the baleful influence ofwitchcraft or perhaps by burning up the persons of the witches. 

[Beltane fires in the Isle of Man to burn the witches; Beltane fires inNottinghamshire. ]

"The Druidical anniversary of Beil or Baal is still celebrated in theIsle of Man. On the first of May, 1837, the Baal fires were, as usual onthat day, so numerous as to give the island the appearance of a generalconflagration. "[382] By May Day in Manx folk-lore is meant May Day OldStyle, or _Shenn Laa Boaldyn_, as it is called in Manx. The day was oneon which the power of elves and witches was particularly dreaded, andthe people resorted to many precautions in order to protect themselvesagainst these mischievous beings. Hence at daybreak they set fire to theling or gorse, for the purpose of burning out the witches, who are wontto lurk in the form of hares. [383] On the Hemlock Stone, a naturalpillar of sandstone standing on Stapleford Hill in Nottinghamshire, afire used to be solemnly kindled every year on Beltane Eve. The customseems to have survived down to the beginning of the nineteenth century;old people could remember and describe the ceremony long after it hadfallen into desuetude. [384]

[Beltane fires in Ireland. ]

The Beltane fires appear to have been kindled also in Ireland, forCormac, "or somebody in his name, says that _belltaine_, May-day, was socalled from the 'lucky fire, ' or the 'two fires, ' which the druids ofErin used to make on that day with great incantations; and cattle, headds, used to be brought to those fires, or to be driven between them, as a safeguard against the diseases of the year. "[385] Again, a veryancient Irish poem, enumerating the May Day celebrations, mentions amongthem a bonfire on a hill (_tendal ar cnuc_); and another old authoritysays that these fires were kindled in the name of the idol-god Bel. [386]From an old life of St. Patrick we learn that on a day in spring theheathen of Ireland were wont to extinguish all their fires until a newfire was kindled with solemn ceremony in the king's house at Tara. Inthe year in which St. Patrick landed in Ireland it chanced that thenight of the extinguished fires coincided with the Eve of Easter; andthe saint, ignorant of this pagan superstition, resolved to celebratehis first Easter in Ireland after the true Christian fashion by lightingthe holy Paschal fire on the hill of Slane, which rises high above theleft bank of the Boyne, about twelve miles from the mouth of the river. So that night, looking from his palace at Tara across the darkenedlandscape, the king of Tara saw the solitary fire flaring on the top ofthe hill of Slane, and in consternation he asked his wise men what thatlight meant. They warned him of the danger that it betokened for theancient faith of Erin. [387] In spite of the difference of date betweenEaster and Beltane, we may suspect that the new fire annually kindledwith solemn ceremony about Easter in the king of Ireland's palace atTara was no other than the Beltane fire. We have seen that in theHighlands of Scotland down to modern times it was customary toextinguish all fires in the neighbourhood before proceeding to kindlethe sacred flame. [388] The Irish historian Geoffrey Keating, who wrotein the first part of the seventeenth century, tells us that the men ofIreland held a great fair every year in the month of May at Uisnech(_Ushnagh_) in the county of Meath, "and at it they were wont toexchange their goods and their wares and their jewels. At it, they were, also, wont to make a sacrifice to the Arch-God that they adored, whosename was Bèl (_bayl_). It was, likewise, their usage to light two firesto Bèl, in every district of Ireland, at this season, and to drive apair of each kind of cattle that the district contained, between thosetwo fires, as a preservative to guard them against all the diseases ofthat year. It is from that fire, thus made in honour of Bèl, that theday [the first of May] on which the noble feast of the apostles, Philipand James, is held, has been called Bèltaini, or Bèaltaine(_Bayltinnie_); for Beltaini is the same as Bèil-teinè, i. E. Teiné Bhèil(_Tinnie Vayl_) or Bèl's Fire. "[389] The custom of driving cattlethrough or between fires on May Day or the eve of May Day persisted inIreland down to a time within living memory. Thus Sir John Rhys wasinformed by a Manxman that an Irish cattle-dealer of his acquaintanceused to drive his cattle through fire on May Day so as to singe them alittle, since he believed that it would preserve them from harm. Whenthe Manxman was asked where the dealer came from, he answered, "From themountains over there, " pointing to the Mourne Mountains then loomingfaintly in the mists on the western horizon. [390]

[Fires on the Eve of May Day in Sweden; fires on the Eve of May Day inAustria and Saxony for the purpose of burning the witches. ]

The first of May is a great popular festival in the more midland andsouthern parts of Sweden. On the eve of the festival, huge bonfires, which should be lighted by striking two flints together, blaze on allthe hills and knolls. Every large hamlet has its own fire, round whichthe young people dance in a ring. The old folk notice whether the flamesincline to the north or to the south. In the former case, the springwill be cold and backward; in the latter, it will be mild andgenial. [391] Similarly, in Bohemia, on the eve of May Day, young peoplekindle fires on hills and eminences, at crossways, and in pastures, anddance round them. They leap over the glowing embers or even through theflames. The ceremony is called "burning the witches. " In some places aneffigy representing a witch used to be burnt in the bonfire. [392] Wehave to remember that the eve of May Day is the notorious WalpurgisNight, when the witches are everywhere speeding unseen through the airon their hellish errands. On this witching night children in Voigtlandalso light bonfires on the heights and leap over them. Moreover, theywave burning brooms or toss them into the air. So far as the light ofthe bonfire reaches, so far will a blessing rest on the fields. Thekindling of the fires on Walpurgis Night is called "driving away thewitches. "[393] The custom of kindling fires on the eve of May Day(Walpurgis Night) for the purpose of burning the witches is, or used tobe, widespread in the Tyrol, Moravia, Saxony and Silesia. [394]

§ 4. _The Midsummer Fires_

[The great season for fire-festivals in Europe is the summer solstice, Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day, which the church has dedicated to St. John the Baptist; the bonfires, the torches, and the burning wheels ofthe festival. ]

But the season at which these fire-festivals have been mostly generallyheld all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is Midsummer Eve (thetwenty-third of June) or Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June). Afaint tinge of Christianity has been given to them by naming MidsummerDay after St. John the Baptist, but we cannot doubt that the celebrationdates from a time long before the beginning of our era. The summersolstice, or Midsummer Day, is the great turning-point in the sun'scareer, when, after climbing higher and higher day by day in the sky, the luminary stops and thenceforth retraces his steps down the heavenlyroad. Such a moment could not but be regarded with anxiety by primitiveman so soon as he began to observe and ponder the courses of the greatlights across the celestial vault; and having still to learn his ownpowerlessness in face of the vast cyclic changes of nature, he may havefancied that he could help the sun in his seeming decline--could prophis failing steps and rekindle the sinking flame of the red lamp in hisfeeble hand. In some such thoughts as these the midsummer festivals ofour European peasantry may perhaps have taken their rise. Whatever theirorigin, they have prevailed all over this quarter of the globe, fromIreland on the west to Russia on the east, and from Norway and Sweden onthe north to Spain and Greece on the south. [395] According to a mediævalwriter, the three great features of the midsummer celebration were thebonfires, the procession with torches round the fields, and the customof rolling a wheel. He tells us that boys burned bones and filth ofvarious kinds to make a foul smoke, and that the smoke drove awaycertain noxious dragons which at this time, excited by the summer heat, copulated in the air and poisoned the wells and rivers by dropping theirseed into them; and he explains the custom of trundling a wheel to meanthat the sun, having now reached the highest point in the ecliptic, begins thenceforward to descend. [396]

[T. Kirchmeyer's description of the Midsummer Festival. ]

A good general account of the midsummer customs, together with some ofthe reasons popularly alleged for observing them, is given by ThomasKirchmeyer, a writer of the sixteenth century, in his poem _The PopishKingdome_:--

"_Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his turne, When bonfiers great with loftie flame, in every towne doe burne;And yong men round about with maides, doe daunce in every streete, With garlands wrought of Motherwort, or else with Vervain sweete, And many other flowres faire, with Violets in their handes, Whereas they all do fondly thinke, that whosoever standes, And thorow the flowres beholds the flame, his eyes shall feele no paine. When thus till night they daunced have, they through the fire amaineWith striving mindes doe runne, and all their hearbes they cast therin, And then with wordes devout and prayers, they solemnely begin, Desiring God that all their illes may there consumed bee, Whereby they thinke through all that yeare from Agues to be free. Some others get a rotten wheele, all worne and cast aside, Which covered round about with strawe, and tow, they closely hide:And caryed to some mountaines top, being all with fire light, They hurle it downe with violence, when darke appeares the night:Resembling much the Sunne, that from the heavens downe should fal, A straunge and monstrous sight it seemes, and fearfull to them all;But they suppose their mischiefes all are likewise throwne to hell, And that from harmes and daungers now, in safetie here they dwell_. "[397]

From these general descriptions, which to some extent still hold good, or did so till lately, we see that the main features of the midsummerfire-festival resemble those which we have found to characterize thevernal festivals of fire. The similarity of the two sets of ceremonieswill plainly appear from the following examples. 

[The Midsummer fires in Germany; the celebration at Konz on the Moselle:the rolling of a burning wheel down hill. ]

A writer of the first half of the sixteenth century informs us that inalmost every village and town of Germany public bonfires were kindled onthe Eve of St. John, and young and old, of both sexes, gathered aboutthem and passed the time in dancing and singing. People on this occasionwore chaplets of mugwort and vervain, and they looked at the firethrough bunches of larkspur which they held in their hands, believingthat this would preserve their eyes in a healthy state throughout theyear. As each departed, he threw the mugwort and vervain into the fire, saying, "May all my ill-luck depart and be burnt up with these. "[398] AtLower Konz, a village prettily situated on a hillside overlooking theMoselle, in the midst of a wood of walnut-trees and fruit-trees, themidsummer festival used to be celebrated as follows. A quantity of strawwas collected on the top of the steep Stromberg Hill. Every inhabitant, or at least every householder, had to contribute his share of straw tothe pile; a recusant was looked at askance, and if in the course of theyear he happened to break a leg or lose a child, there was not a gossipin the village but knew the reason why. At nightfall the whole malepopulation, men and boys, mustered on the top of the hill; the women andgirls were not allowed to join them, but had to take up their positionat a certain spring half-way down the slope. On the summit stood a hugewheel completely encased in some of the straw which had been jointlycontributed by the villagers; the rest of the straw was made intotorches. From each side of the wheel the axle-tree projected about threefeet, thus furnishing handles to the lads who were to guide it in itsdescent. The mayor of the neighbouring town of Sierck, who alwaysreceived a basket of cherries for his services, gave the signal; alighted torch was applied to the wheel, and as it burst into flame, twoyoung fellows, strong-limbed and swift of foot, seized the handles andbegan running with it down the slope. A great shout went up. Every manand boy waved a blazing torch in the air, and took care to keep italight so long as the wheel was trundling down the hill. Some of themfollowed the fiery wheel, and watched with amusement the shifts to whichits guides were put in steering it round the hollows and over the brokenground on the mountainside. The great object of the young men who guidedthe wheel was to plunge it blazing into the water of the Moselle; butthey rarely succeeded in their efforts, for the vineyards which coverthe greater part of the declivity impeded their progress, and the wheelwas often burned out before it reached the river. As it rolled past thewomen and girls at the spring, they raised cries of joy which wereanswered by the men on the top of the mountain; and the shouts wereechoed by the inhabitants of neighbouring villages who watched thespectacle from their hills on the opposite bank of the Moselle. If thefiery wheel was successfully conveyed to the bank of the river andextinguished in the water, the people looked for an abundant vintagethat year, and the inhabitants of Konz had the right to exact awaggon-load of white wine from the surrounding vineyards. On the otherhand, they believed that, if they neglected to perform the ceremony, thecattle would be attacked by giddiness and convulsions and would dance intheir stalls. [399]

[The Midsummer fires in Bavaria; Cattle driven through the fire; the newfire; omens of the harvest drawn from the fires; burning discs throwninto the air. ]

Down at least to the middle of the nineteenth century the midsummerfires used to blaze all over Upper Bavaria. They were kindled especiallyon the mountains, but also far and wide in the lowlands, and we are toldthat in the darkness and stillness of night the moving groups, lit up bythe flickering glow of the flames, presented an impressive spectacle. Insome places the people shewed their sense of the sanctity of the firesby using for fuel the trees past which the gay procession had defiled, with fluttering banners, on Corpus Christi Day. In others the childrencollected the firewood from door to door on the eve of the festival, singing their request for fuel at every house in doggerel verse. Cattlewere driven through the fire to cure the sick animals and to guard suchas were sound against plague and harm of every kind throughout the year. Many a householder on that day put out the fire on the domestic hearthand rekindled it by means of a brand taken from the midsummer bonfire. The people judged of the height to which the flax would grow in the yearby the height to which the flames of the bonfire rose; and whoeverleaped over the burning pile was sure not to suffer from backache inreaping the corn at harvest. But it was especially the practice forlovers to spring over the fire hand in hand, and the way in which eachcouple made the leap was the subject of many a jest and many asuperstition. In one district the custom of kindling the bonfires wascombined with that of lighting wooden discs and hurling them in the airafter the manner which prevails at some of the spring festivals. [400] Inmany parts of Bavaria it was believed that the flax would grow as highas the young people leaped over the fire. [401] In others the old folkused to plant three charred sticks from the bonfire in the fields, believing that this would make the flax grow tall. [402] Elsewhere anextinguished brand was put in the roof of the house to protect itagainst fire. In the towns about Würzburg the bonfires used to bekindled in the market-places, and the young people who jumped over themwore garlands of flowers, especially of mugwort and vervain, and carriedsprigs of larkspur in their hands. They thought that such as looked atthe fire holding a bit of larkspur before their face would be troubledby no malady of the eyes throughout the year. [403] Further, it wascustomary at Würzburg, in the sixteenth century, for the bishop'sfollowers to throw burning discs of wood into the air from a mountainwhich overhangs the town. The discs were discharged by means of flexiblerods, and in their flight through the darkness presented the appearanceof fiery dragons. [404]

[The Midsummer fires in Swabia; omens drawn from the leaps over thefires; burning wheels rolled down hill; burning the Angel-Man atRottenburg. ]

In the valley of the Lech, which divides Upper Bavaria from Swabia, themidsummer customs and beliefs are, or used to be, very similar. Bonfiresare kindled on the mountains on Midsummer Day; and besides the bonfire atall beam, thickly wrapt in straw and surmounted by a cross-piece, isburned in many places. Round this cross as it burns the lads dance withloud shouts; and when the flames have subsided, the young people leapover the fire in pairs, a young man and a young woman together. If theyescape unsmirched, the man will not suffer from fever, and the girl willnot become a mother within the year. Further, it is believed that theflax will grow that year as high as they leap over the fire; and that ifa charred billet be taken from the fire and stuck in a flax-field itwill promote the growth of the flax. [405] Similarly in Swabia, lads andlasses, hand in hand, leap over the midsummer bonfire, praying that thehemp may grow three ells high, and they set fire to wheels of straw andsend them rolling down the hill. Among the places where burning wheelswere thus bowled down hill at Midsummer were the Hohenstaufen mountainsin Wurtemberg and the Frauenberg near Gerhausen. [406] At Deffingen, inSwabia, as the people sprang over the midsummer bonfire they cried out, "Flax, flax! may the flax this year grow seven ells high!"[407] AtRottenburg in Swabia, down to the year 1807 or 1808, the festival wasmarked by some special features. About mid-day troops of boys went aboutthe town begging for firewood at the houses. In each troop there werethree leaders, one of whom carried a dagger, a second a paper banner, and a third a white plate covered with a white cloth. These threeentered each house and recited verses, in which they expressed anintention of roasting Martin Luther and sending him to the devil; andfor this meritorious service they expected to be paid, the contributionsbeing received in the cloth-covered plate. In the evening they countedup their money and proceeded to "behead the Angel-man. " For thisceremony an open space was chosen, sometimes in the middle of the town. Here a stake was thrust into the ground and straw wrapt about it, so asto make a rude effigy of human form with arms, head, and face. Every boybrought a handful of nosegays and fastened them to the straw-man, whowas thus enveloped in flowers. Fuel was heaped about the stake and seton fire. When the Angel-man, as the straw-effigy was called, blazed up, all the boys of the neighbourhood, who had gathered expectantly around, fell upon him with their wooden swords and hewed him to pieces. As soonas he had vanished in smoke and flame, the lads leaped backward andforward over the glowing embers, and later in the evening they feastedon the proceeds of their collection. [408] Here the Angel-man burnt inthe fire appears to be identified with Martin Luther, to whom, as wehave seen, allusion was made during the house-to-house visitation. Theidentification was probably modern, for we may assume that the custom ofburning an effigy in the Midsummer bonfire is far older than the time ofLuther. 

[The Midsummer fires in Baden; omens drawn from leaps over the fires;burning discs thrown into the air; Midsummer fires in Alsace, Lorraine, the Eifel, the Harz districts and Thuringia; burning barrel swung rounda pole. ]

In Baden the children used to collect fuel from house to house for theMidsummer bonfire on St. John's Day; and lads and lasses leaped over thefire in couples. Here, as elsewhere, a close connexion was tracedbetween these bonfires and the harvest. In some places it was thoughtthat those who leaped over the fires would not suffer from backache atreaping. Sometimes, as the young folk sprang over the flames, theycried, "Grow, that the hemp may be three ells high!" This notion thatthe hemp or the corn would grow as high as the flames blazed or as thepeople jumped over them, seems to have been widespread in Baden. It washeld that the parents of the young people who bounded highest over thefire would have the most abundant harvest; and on the other hand, if aman contributed nothing to the bonfire, it was imagined that there wouldbe no blessing on his crops, and that his hemp in particular would nevergrow. [409] In the neighbourhood of Bühl and Achern the St. John's fireswere kindled on the tops of hills; only the unmarried lads of thevillage brought the fuel, and only the unmarried young men and womensprang through the flames. But most of the villagers, old and young, gathered round the bonfires, leaving a clear space for the leapers totake their run. One of the bystanders would call out the names of a pairof sweethearts; on which the two would step out from the throng, takeeach other by the hand, and leap high and lightly through the swirlingsmoke and flames, while the spectators watched them critically and drewomens of their married life from the height to which each of thembounded. Such an invitation to jump together over the bonfire wasregarded as tantamount to a public betrothal. [410] Near Offenburg, inthe Black Forest, on Midsummer Day the village boys used to collectfaggots and straw on some steep and conspicuous height, and they spentsome time in making circular wooden discs by slicing the trunk of apine-tree across. When darkness had fallen, they kindled the bonfire, and then, as it blazed up, they lighted the discs at it, and, afterswinging them to and fro at the end of a stout and supple hazel-wand, they hurled them one after the other, whizzing and flaming, into theair, where they described great arcs of fire, to fall at length, likeshooting-stars, at the foot of the mountain. [411] In many parts ofAlsace and Lorraine the midsummer fires still blaze annually or did sonot very many years ago. [412] At Speicher in the Eifel, a district whichlies on the middle Rhine, to the west of Coblentz, a bonfire used to bekindled in front of the village on St. John's Day, and all the youngpeople had to jump over it. Those who failed to do so were not allowedto join the rest in begging for eggs from house to house. Where no eggswere given, they drove a wedge into the keyhole of the door. On this daychildren in the Eifel used also to gather flowers in the fields, weavethem into garlands, and throw the garlands on the roofs or hang them onthe doors of the houses. So long as the flowers remained there, theywere supposed to guard the house from fire and lightning. [413] In thesouthern Harz district and in Thuringia the Midsummer or St. John'sfires used to be commonly lighted down to about the middle of thenineteenth century, and the custom has probably not died out. AtEdersleben, near Sangerhausen, a high pole was planted in the ground anda tar-barrel was hung from it by a chain which reached to the ground. The barrel was then set on fire and swung round the pole amid shouts ofjoy. [414]

[Midsummer fires kindled by the friction of wood in Germany andSwitzerland; driving away demons and witches. ]

According to one account, German tradition required that the midsummerfire should be lighted, not from a common hearth, but by the friction oftwo sorts of wood, namely oak and fir. [415] In some old farm-houses ofthe Surenthal and Winenthal, in Switzerland, a couple of holes or awhole row of them may be seen facing each other in the door-posts of thebarn or stable. Sometimes the holes are smooth and round; sometimes theyare deeply burnt and blackened. The explanation of them is this. Aboutmidsummer, but especially on Midsummer Day, two such holes are boredopposite each other, into which the extremities of a strong pole arefixed. The holes are then stuffed with tow steeped in resin and oil; arope is looped round the pole, and two young men, who must be brothersor must have the same baptismal name, and must be of the same age, pullthe ends of the rope backwards and forwards so as to make the polerevolve rapidly, till smoke and sparks issue from the two holes in thedoor-posts. The sparks are caught and blown up with tinder, and this isthe new and pure fire, the appearance of which is greeted with cries ofjoy. Heaps of combustible materials are now ignited with the new fire, and blazing bundles are placed on boards and sent floating down thebrook. The boys light torches at the new fire and run to fumigate thepastures. This is believed to drive away all the demons and witches thatmolest the cattle. Finally the torches are thrown in a heap on themeadow and allowed to burn out. On their way back the boys strew theashes over the fields, which is supposed to make them fertile. If afarmer has taken possession of a new house, or if servants have changedmasters, the boys fumigate the new abode and are rewarded by the farmerwith a supper. [416]

[Midsummer fires in Silesia; scaring away the witches. ]

In Silesia, from the south-eastern part of the Sudeten range andnorth-westward as far as Lausitz, the mountains are ablaze with bonfireson Midsummer Eve; and from the valleys and the plains round aboutLeobschütz, Neustadt, Zülz, Oels, and other places answering firestwinkle through the deepening gloom. While they are smouldering andsending forth volumes of smoke across the fields, young men kindlebroom-stumps, soaked in pitch, at the bonfires and then, brandishing thestumps, which emit showers of sparks, they chase one another or dancewith the girls round the burning pile. Shots, too, are fired, and shoutsraised. The fire, the smoke, the shots, and the shouts are all intendedto scare away the witches, who are let loose on this witching day, andwho would certainly work harm to the crops and the cattle, if they werenot deterred by these salutary measures. Mere contact with the firebrings all sorts of blessings. Hence when the bonfire is burning low, the lads leap over it, and the higher they bound, the better is the luckin store for them. He who surpasses his fellows is the hero of the dayand is much admired by the village girls. It is also thought to be verygood for the eyes to stare steadily at the bonfire without blinking;moreover he who does so will not drowse and fall asleep betimes in thelong winter evenings. On Midsummer Eve the windows and doors of housesin Silesia are crowned with flowers, especially with the bluecornflowers and the bright corn-cockles; in some villages long stringsof garlands and nosegays are stretched across the streets. The peoplebelieve that on that night St. John comes down from heaven to bless theflowers and to keep all evil things from house and home. [417]

[The Midsummer fires in Denmark and Norway; keeping off the witches; theMidsummer fires in Sweden. ]

In Denmark and Norway also Midsummer fires were kindled on St. John'sEve on roads, open spaces, and hills. People in Norway thought that thefires banished sickness from among the cattle. [418] Even yet the firesare said to be lighted all over Norway on the night of June thetwenty-third, Midsummer Eve, Old Style. As many as fifty or sixtybonfires may often be counted burning on the hills round Bergen. Sometimes fuel is piled on rafts, ignited, and allowed to drift blazingacross the fiords in the darkness of night. The fires are thought to bekindled in order to keep off the witches, who are said to be flying fromall parts that night to the Blocksberg, where the big witch lives. [419]In Sweden the Eve of St. John (St. Hans) is the most joyous night of thewhole year. Throughout some parts of the country, especially in theprovinces of Bohus and Scania and in districts bordering on Norway, itis celebrated by the frequent discharge of firearms and by hugebonfires, formerly called Balder's Balefires (_Balder's Balar_), whichare kindled at dusk on hills and eminences and throw a glare of lightover the surrounding landscape. The people dance round the fires andleap over or through them. In parts of Norrland on St. John's Eve thebonfires are lit at the cross-roads. The fuel consists of nine differentsorts of wood, and the spectators cast into the flames a kind oftoad-stool (_Bäran_) in order to counteract the power of the Trolls andother evil spirits, who are believed to be abroad that night; for atthat mystic season the mountains open and from their cavernous depthsthe uncanny crew pours forth to dance and disport themselves for a time. The peasants believe that should any of the Trolls be in the vicinitythey will shew themselves; and if an animal, for example a he or shegoat, happens to be seen near the blazing, crackling pile, the peasantsare firmly persuaded that it is no other than the Evil One inperson. [420] Further, it deserves to be remarked that in Sweden St. John's Eve is a festival of water as well as of fire; for certain holysprings are then supposed to be endowed with wonderful medicinalvirtues, and many sick people resort to them for the healing of theirinfirmities. [421]

[The Midsummer fires in Switzerland and Austria; effigies burnt in thefires; burning wheels rolled down hill. ]

In Switzerland on Midsummer Eve fires are, or used to be, kindled onhigh places in the cantons of Bern, Neuchatel, Valais, and Geneva. [422]In Austria the midsummer customs and superstitions resemble those ofGermany. Thus in some parts of the Tyrol bonfires are kindled andburning discs hurled into the air. [423] In the lower valley of the Inn ataterdemalian effigy is carted about the village on Midsummer Day andthen burned. He is called the _Lotter_, which has been corrupted intoLuther. At Ambras, one of the villages where Martin Luther is thusburned in effigy, they say that if you go through the village betweeneleven and twelve on St. John's Night and wash yourself in three wells, you will see all who are to die in the following year. [424] At Gratz onSt. John's Eve (the twenty-third of June) the common people used to makea puppet called the _Tatermann_, which they dragged to the bleachingground, and pelted with burning besoms till it took fire. [425] AtReutte, in the Tyrol, people believed that the flax would grow as highas they leaped over the midsummer bonfire, and they took pieces ofcharred wood from the fire and stuck them in their flax-fields the samenight, leaving them there till the flax harvest had been got in. [426] InLower Austria fires are lit in the fields, commonly in front of a cross, and the people dance and sing round them and throw flowers into theflames. Before each handful of flowers is tossed into the fire, a setspeech is made; then the dance is resumed and the dancers sing in chorusthe last words of the speech. At evening bonfires are kindled on theheights, and the boys caper round them, brandishing lighted torchesdrenched in pitch. Whoever jumps thrice across the fire will not sufferfrom fever within the year. Cart-wheels are often smeared with pitch, ignited, and sent rolling and blazing down the hillsides. [427]

[Midsummer fires in Bohemia; wreaths thrown across the fire; uses madeof the singed wreaths; burning wheels rolled down hill; embers of thefire stuck in fields, gardens, and houses as a talisman againstlightning and conflagration; use of mugwort; cattle protected againstwitchcraft. ]

All over Bohemia bonfires still burn on Midsummer Eve. In the afternoonboys go about with handcarts from house to house collecting fuel, suchas sticks, brushwood, old besoms, and so forth. They make their requestat each house in rhyming verses, threatening with evil consequences thecurmudgeons who refuse them a dole. Sometimes the young men fell a tallstraight fir in the woods and set it up on a height, where the girlsdeck it with nosegays, wreaths of leaves, and red ribbons. Thenbrushwood is piled about it, and at nightfall the whole is set on fire. While the flames break out, the young men climb the tree and fetch downthe wreaths which the girls had placed on it. After that, lads andlasses stand on opposite sides of the fire and look at one anotherthrough the wreaths to see whether they will be true to each other andmarry within the year. Also the girls throw the wreaths across theflames to the men, and woe to the awkward swain who fails to catch thewreath thrown him by his sweetheart. When the blaze has died down, eachcouple takes hands, and leaps thrice across the fire. He or she who doesso will be free from ague throughout the year, and the flax will grow ashigh as the young folks leap. A girl who sees nine bonfires on MidsummerEve will marry before the year is out. The singed wreaths are carriedhome and carefully preserved throughout the year. During thunderstorms abit of the wreath is burned on the hearth with a prayer; some of it isgiven to kine that are sick or calving, and some of it serves tofumigate house and cattle-stall, that man and beast may keep hale andwell. Sometimes an old cartwheel is smeared with resin, ignited, andsent rolling down the hill. Often the boys collect all the worn-outbesoms they can get hold of, dip them in pitch, and having set them onfire wave them about or throw them high into the air. Or they rush downthe hillside in troops, brandishing the flaming brooms and shouting, only however to return to the bonfire on the summit when the brooms haveburnt out. The stumps of the brooms and embers from the fire arepreserved and stuck in cabbage gardens to protect the cabbages fromcaterpillars and gnats. Some people insert charred sticks and ashes fromthe bonfire in their sown fields and meadows, in their gardens and theroofs of their houses, as a talisman against lightning and foul weather;or they fancy that the ashes placed in the roof will prevent any firefrom breaking out in the house. In some districts they crown or girdthemselves with mugwort while the midsummer fire is burning, for this issupposed to be a protection against ghosts, witches, and sickness; inparticular, a wreath of mugwort is a sure preventive of sore eyes. Sometimes the girls look at the bonfires through garlands of wildflowers, praying the fire to strengthen their eyes and eyelids. She whodoes this thrice will have no sore eyes all that year. In some parts ofBohemia they used to drive the cows through the midsummer fire to guardthem against witchcraft. [428]

[The Midsummer fires in Moravia, Austrian Silesia, and the district ofCracow; fire kindled by the friction of wood. ]

The Germans of Moravia in like manner still light bonfires on opengrounds and high places on Midsummer Eve; and they kindle besoms in theflames and then stick the charred stumps in the cabbage-fields as apowerful protection against caterpillars. On the same mystic eveningMoravian girls gather flowers of nine sorts and lay them under theirpillow when they go to sleep; then they dream every one of him who is tobe her partner for life. For in Moravia maidens in their beds as well aspoets by haunted streams have their Midsummer Night's dreams. [429] InAustrian Silesia the custom also prevails of lighting great bonfires onhilltops on Midsummer Eve, and here too the boys swing blazing besoms orhurl them high in the air, while they shout and leap and dance wildly. Next morning every door is decked with flowers and birchensaplings. [430] In the district of Cracow, especially towards theCarpathian Mountains, great fires are kindled by the peasants in thefields or on the heights at nightfall on Midsummer Eve, which among themgoes by the name of Kupalo's Night. The fire must be kindled by thefriction of two sticks. The young people dance round or leap over it;and a band of sturdy fellows run a race with lighted torches, the winnerbeing rewarded with a peacock's feather, which he keeps throughout theyear as a distinction. Cattle also are driven round the fire in thebelief that this is a charm against pestilence and disease of everysort. [431]

[The Midsummer fires among the Slavs of Russia; cattle protected againstwitchcraft; the fires lighted by the friction of wood. ]

The name of Kupalo's Night, applied in this part of Galicia to MidsummerEve, reminds us that we have now passed from German to Slavonic ground;even in Bohemia the midsummer celebration is common to Slavs andGermans. We have already seen that in Russia the summer solstice or Eveof St. John is celebrated by young men and maidens, who jump over abonfire in couples carrying a straw effigy of Kupalo in their arms. [432]In some parts of Russia an image of Kupalo is burnt or thrown into astream on St. John's Night. [433] Again, in some districts of Russia theyoung folk wear garlands of flowers and girdles of holy herbs when theyspring through the smoke or flames; and sometimes they drive the cattlealso through the fire in order to protect the animals against wizardsand witches, who are then ravenous after milk. [434] In Little Russia astake is driven into the ground on St. John's Night, wrapt in straw, andset on fire. As the flames rise the peasant women throw birchen boughsinto them, saying, "May my flax be as tall as this bough!"[435] InRuthenia the bonfires are lighted by a flame procured by the friction ofwood. While the elders of the party are engaged in thus "churning" thefire, the rest maintain a respectful silence; but when the flame burstsfrom the wood, they break forth into joyous songs. As soon as thebonfires are kindled, the young people take hands and leap in pairsthrough the smoke, if not through the flames; and after that the cattlein their turn are driven through the fire. [436]

[The Midsummer fires in Prussia and Lithuania thought to protect againstwitchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease; the fire kindled by thefriction of wood. ]

In many parts of Prussia and Lithuania great fires are kindled onMidsummer Eve. All the heights are ablaze with them, as far as the eyecan see. The fires are supposed to be a protection against witchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease, especially if next morning the cattleare driven over the places where the fires burned. Above all, thebonfires ensure the farmer against the arts of witches, who try to stealthe milk from his cows by charms and spells. That is why next morningyou may see the young fellows who lit the bonfire going from house tohouse and receiving jugfuls of milk. And for the same reason they stickburs and mugwort on the gate or the hedge through which the cows go topasture, because that is supposed to be a preservative againstwitchcraft. [437] In Masuren, a district of Eastern Prussia inhabited bya branch of the Polish family, it is the custom on the evening ofMidsummer Day to put out all the fires in the village. Then an oakenstake is driven into the ground and a wheel is fixed on it as on anaxle. This wheel the villagers, working by relays, cause to revolve withgreat rapidity till fire is produced by friction. Every one takes home alighted brand from the new fire and with it rekindles the fire on thedomestic hearth. [438] In the sixteenth century Martin of Urzedow, aPolish priest, denounced the heathen practices of the women who on St. John's Eve (Midsummer Eve) kindled fires by the friction of wood, danced, and sang songs in honour of the devil. [439]

[The Midsummer fires among the Letts of Russia; Midsummer Day in ancientRome. ]

Among the Letts who inhabit the Baltic provinces of Russia the mostjoyful festival of the year is held on Midsummer Day. The people drinkand dance and sing and adorn themselves and their houses with flowersand branches. Chopped boughs of fir are strewn about the rooms, andleaves are stuck in the roofs. In every farm-yard a birch tree is setup, and every person of the name of John who enters the farm that daymust break off a twig from the tree and hang up on its branches inreturn a small present for the family. When the serene twilight of thesummer night has veiled the landscape, bonfires gleam on all the hills, and wild shouts of "Ligho! Ligho!" echo from the woods and fields. InRiga the day is a festival of flowers. From all the neighbourhood thepeasants stream into the city laden with flowers and garlands. A marketof flowers is held in an open square and on the chief bridge over theriver; here wreaths of immortelles, which grow wild in the meadows andwoods, are sold in great profusion and deck the houses of Riga for longafterwards. Roses, too, are now at the prime of their beauty, and massesof them adorn the flower-stalls. Till far into the night gay crowdsparade the streets to music or float on the river in gondolas deckedwith flowers. [440] So long ago in ancient Rome barges crowned withflowers and crowded with revellers used to float down the Tiber onMidsummer Day, the twenty-fourth of June, [441] and no doubt the strainsof music were wafted as sweetly across the water to listeners on thebanks as they still are to the throngs of merrymakers at Riga. 

[The Midsummer fires among the South Slavs. ]

Bonfires are commonly kindled by the South Slavonian peasantry onMidsummer Eve, and lads and lasses dance and shout round them in theusual way. The very names of St. John's Day (_Ivanje_) and the St. John's fires (_kries_) are said to act like electric sparks on thehearts and minds of these swains, kindling a thousand wild, merry, andhappy fancies and ideas in their rustic breasts. At Kamenagora inCroatia the herdsmen throw nine three-year old vines into the bonfire, and when these burst into flames the young men who are candidates formatrimony jump through the blaze. He who succeeds in leaping over thefire without singeing himself will be married within the year. AtVidovec in Croatia parties of two girls and one lad unite to kindle aMidsummer bonfire and to leap through the flames; he or she who leapsfurthest will soonest wed. Afterwards lads and lasses dance in separaterings, but the ring of lads bumps up against the ring of girls andbreaks it, and the girl who has to let go her neighbour's hand willforsake her true love hereafter. [442] In Servia on Midsummer Eveherdsmen light torches of birch bark and march round the sheepfolds andcattle-stalls; then they climb the hills and there allow the torches toburn out. [443]

[The Midsummer fires among the Magyars of Hungary. ]

Among the Magyars in Hungary the midsummer fire-festival is marked bythe same features that meet us in so many parts of Europe. On MidsummerEve in many places it is customary to kindle bonfires on heights and toleap over them, and from the manner in which the young people leap thebystanders predict whether they will marry soon. At Nograd-Ludany theyoung men and women, each carrying a truss of straw, repair to a meadow, where they pile the straw in seven or twelve heaps and set it on fire. Then they go round the fire singing, and hold a bunch of iron-wort inthe smoke, while they say, "No boil on my body, no sprain in my foot!"This holding of the flowers over the flames is regarded, we are told, asequally important with the practice of walking through the fire barefootand stamping it out. On this day also many Hungarian swineherds makefire by rotating a wheel round a wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and throughthe fire thus made they drive their pigs to preserve them fromsickness. [444] In villages on the Danube, where the population is across between Magyar and German, the young men and maidens go to thehigh banks of the river on Midsummer Eve; and while the girls postthemselves low down the slope, the lads on the height above set fire tolittle wooden wheels and, after swinging them to and fro at the end of awand, send them whirling through the air to fall into the Danube. As hedoes so, each lad sings out the name of his sweetheart, and she listenswell pleased down below. [445]

[The Midsummer fires among the Esthonians; the Midsummer fires inOesel. ]

The Esthonians of Russia, who, like the Magyars, belong to the greatTuranian family of mankind, also celebrate the summer solstice in theusual way. On the Eve of St. John all the people of a farm, a village, or an estate, walk solemnly in procession, the girls decked withflowers, the men with leaves and carrying bundles of straw under theirarms. The lads carry lighted torches or flaming hoops steeped in tar atthe top of long poles. Thus they go singing to the cattle-sheds, thegranaries, and so forth, and afterwards march thrice round thedwelling-house. Finally, preceded by the shrill music of the bagpipesand shawms, they repair to a neighbouring hill, where the materials of abonfire have been collected. Tar-barrels filled with combustibles arehung on poles, or the trunk of a felled tree has been set up with agreat mass of juniper piled about it in the form of a pyramid. When alight has been set to the pile, old and young gather about it and passthe time merrily with song and music till break of day. Every one whocomes brings fresh fuel for the fire, and they say, "Now we all gathertogether, where St. John's fire burns. He who comes not to St. John'sfire will have his barley full of thistles, and his oats full of weeds. "Three logs are thrown into the fire with special ceremony; in throwingthe first they say, "Gold of pleasure (a plant with yellow flowers) intothe fire!" in throwing the second they say, "Weeds to the unploughedland!" but in throwing the third they cry, "Flax on my field!" The fireis said to keep the witches from the cattle. [446] According to others, it ensures that for the whole year the milk shall be "as pure as silverand as the stars in the sky, and the butter as yellow as the sun and thefire and the gold. "[447] In the Esthonian island of Oesel, while theythrow fuel into the midsummer fire, they call out, "Weeds to the fire, flax to the field, " or they fling three billets into the flames, saying, "Flax grow long!" And they take charred sticks from the bonfire homewith them and keep them to make the cattle thrive. In some parts of theisland the bonfire is formed by piling brushwood and other combustiblesround a tree, at the top of which a flag flies. Whoever succeeds inknocking down the flag with a pole before it begins to burn will havegood luck. Formerly the festivities lasted till daybreak, and ended inscenes of debauchery which looked doubly hideous by the growing light ofa summer morning. [448]

[The Midsummer fires among the Finns and Cheremiss of Russia. ]

Still farther north, among a people of the same Turanian stock, we learnfrom an eye-witness that Midsummer Night used to witness a sort ofwitches' sabbath on the top of every hill in Finland. The bonfire wasmade by setting up four tall birches in a square and piling theintermediate space with fuel. Round the roaring flames the people sangand drank and gambolled in the usual way. [449] Farther east, in thevalley of the Volga, the Cheremiss celebrate about midsummer a festivalwhich Haxthausen regarded as identical with the midsummer ceremonies ofthe rest of Europe. A sacred tree in the forest, generally a tall andsolitary oak, marks the scene of the solemnity. All the males assemblethere, but no woman may be present. A heathen priest lights seven firesin a row from north-west to south-east; cattle are sacrificed and theirblood poured in the fires, each of which is dedicated to a separatedeity. Afterwards the holy tree is illumined by lighted candles placedon its branches; the people fall on their knees and with faces bowed tothe earth pray that God would be pleased to bless them, their children, their cattle, and their bees, grant them success in trade, in travel, and in the chase, enable them to pay the Czar's taxes, and soforth. [450]

[The Midsummer fires in France; Bossuet on the Midsummer festival. ]

When we pass from the east to the west of Europe we still find thesummer solstice celebrated with rites of the same general character. Down to about the middle of the nineteenth century the custom oflighting bonfires at midsummer prevailed so commonly in France thatthere was hardly a town or a village, we are told, where they were notkindled. [451] Though the pagan origin of the custom may be regarded ascertain, the Catholic Church threw a Christian cloak over it by boldlydeclaring that the bonfires were lit in token of the general rejoicingat the birth of the Baptist, who opportunely came into the world at thesolstice of summer, just as his greater successor did at the solstice ofwinter; so that the whole year might be said to revolve on the goldenhinges of these two great birthdays. [452] Writing in the seventeenthcentury Bishop Bossuet expressly affirms this edifying theory of theMidsummer bonfires, and he tells his catechumens that the Church herselfparticipated in the illumination, since in several dioceses, includinghis own diocese of Meaux, a number of parishes kindled what were calledecclesiastical fires for the purpose of banishing the superstitionspractised at the purely mundane bonfires. These superstitions, he goeson to say, consisted in dancing round the fire, playing, feasting, singing ribald songs, throwing herbs across the fire, gathering herbs atnoon or while fasting, carrying them on the person, preserving themthroughout the year, keeping brands or cinders of the fire, and othersimilar practices. [453] However excellent the intentions of theecclesiastical authorities may have been, they failed of effecting theirpurpose; for the superstitions as well as the bonfires survived inFrance far into the nineteenth century, if indeed they are extinct evennow at the beginning of the twentieth. Writing in the latter part of thenineteenth century Mr. Ch. Cuissard tells us that he himself witnessedin Touraine and Poitou the superstitious practices which he describes asfollows: "The most credulous examine the ways in which the flame burnsand draw good or bad omens accordingly. Others, after leaping throughthe flames crosswise, pass their little children through them thrice, fully persuaded that the little ones will then be able to walk at once. In some places the shepherds make their sheep tread the embers of theextinct fire in order to preserve them from the foot-rot. Here you maysee about midnight an old woman grubbing among the cinders of the pyreto find the hair of the Holy Virgin or Saint John, which she deems aninfallible specific against fever. There, another woman is busy pluckingthe roots of the herbs which have been burned on the surface of theground; she intends to eat them, imagining that they are an infalliblepreservative against cancer. Elsewhere a girl wears on her neck a flowerwhich the touch of St. John's fire has turned for her into a talisman, and she is sure to marry within the year. Shots are fired at the treeplanted in the midst of the fire to drive away the demons who mightpurpose to send sicknesses about the country. Seats are set round aboutthe bonfire, in order that the souls of dead relations may come andenjoy themselves for a little with the living. "[454]

[The Midsummer fires in Brittany; uses made of the charred sticks andflowers. ]

In Brittany, apparently, the custom of the Midsummer bonfires is kept upto this day. Thus in Lower Brittany every town and every village stilllights its _tantad_ or bonfire on St. John's Night. When the flames havedied down, the whole assembly kneels round about the bonfire and an oldman prays aloud. Then they all rise and march thrice round the fire; atthe third turn they stop and every one picks up a pebble and throws iton the burning pile. After that they disperse. [455] In Finistère thebonfires of St. John's Day are kindled by preference in an open spacenear a chapel of St. John; but if there is no such chapel, they arelighted in the square facing the parish church and in some districts atcross-roads. Everybody brings fuel for the fire, it may be a faggot, alog, a branch, or an armful of gorse. When the vespers are over, theparish priest sets a light to the pile. All heads are bared, prayersrecited, and hymns sung. Then the dancing begins. The young folk skipround the blazing pile and leap over it, when the flames have died down. If anybody makes a false step and falls or rolls in the hot embers, heor she is greeted with hoots and retires abashed from the circle ofdancers. Brands are carried home from the bonfire to protect the housesagainst lightning, conflagrations, and certain maladies and spells. Theprecious talisman is carefully kept in a cupboard till St. John's Day ofthe following year. [456] At Quimper, and in the district of Léon, chairsused to be placed round the midsummer bonfire, that the souls of thedead might sit on them and warm themselves at the blaze. [457] At Breston this day thousands of people used to assemble on the ramparts towardsevening and brandish lighted torches, which they swung in circles orflung by hundreds into the air. The closing of the town gates put an endto the spectacle, and the lights might be seen dispersing in alldirections like wandering will-o'-the-wisps. [458] In Upper Brittany thematerials for the midsummer bonfires, which generally consist of bundlesof furze and heath, are furnished by voluntary contributions, and piledon the tops of hills round poles, each of which is surmounted by anosegay or a crown. This nosegay or crown is generally provided by a mannamed John or a woman named Jean, and it is always a John or a Jean whoputs a light to the bonfire. While the fire is blazing the people danceand sing round it, and when the flames have subsided they leap over theglowing embers. Charred sticks from the bonfire are thrown into wells toimprove the water, and they are also taken home as a protection againstthunder. [459] To make them thoroughly effective, however, againstthunder and lightning you should keep them near your bed, between a bitof a Twelfth Night cake and a sprig of boxwood which has been blessed onPalm Sunday. [460] Flowers from the nosegay or crown which overhung thefire are accounted charms against disease and pain, both bodily andspiritual; hence girls hang them at their breast by a thread of scarletwool. In many parishes of Brittany the priest used to go in processionwith the crucifix and kindle the bonfire with his own hands; and farmerswere wont to drive their flocks and herds through the fire in order topreserve them from sickness till midsummer of the following year. Alsoit was believed that every girl who danced round nine of the bonfireswould marry within the year. [461]

[The Midsummer fires in Normandy; the fires as a protection againstwitchcraft; the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf at Jumièges; pretence ofthrowing the Green Wolf into the fire. ]

In Normandy the midsummer fires have now almost disappeared, at least inthe district known as the Bocage, but they used to shine on every hill. They were commonly made by piling brushwood, broom, and ferns about atall tree, which was decorated with a crown of moss and sometimes withflowers. While they burned, people danced and sang round them, and youngfolk leaped over the flames or the glowing ashes. In the valley of theOrne the custom was to kindle the bonfire just at the moment when thesun was about to dip below the horizon; and the peasants drove theircattle through the fires to protect them against witchcraft, especiallyagainst the spells of witches and wizards who attempted to steal themilk and butter. [462] At Jumièges in Normandy, down to the first half ofthe nineteenth century, the midsummer festival was marked by certainsingular features which bore the stamp of a very high antiquity. Everyyear, on the twenty-third of June, the Eve of St. John, the Brotherhoodof the Green Wolf chose a new chief or master, who had always to betaken from the hamlet of Conihout. On being elected, the new head of thebrotherhood assumed the title of the Green Wolf, and donned a peculiarcostume consisting of a long green mantle and a very tall green hat of aconical shape and without a brim. Thus arrayed he stalked solemnly atthe head of the brothers, chanting the hymn of St. John, the crucifixand holy banner leading the way, to a place called Chouquet. Here theprocession was met by the priest, precentors, and choir, who conductedthe brotherhood to the parish church. After hearing mass the companyadjourned to the house of the Green Wolf, where a simple repast, such asis required by the church on fast-days, was served up to them. Then theydanced before the door till it was time to light the bonfire. Nightbeing come, the fire was kindled to the sound of hand-bells by a youngman and a young woman, both decked with flowers. As the flames rose, the_Te Deum_ was sung, and a villager thundered out a parody in the Normandialect of the hymn _ut queant laxis_. Meantime the Green Wolf and hisbrothers, with their hoods down on their shoulders and holding eachother by the hand, ran round the fire after the man who had been chosento be the Green Wolf of the following year. Though only the first andthe last man of the chain had a hand free, their business was tosurround and seize thrice the future Green Wolf, who in his efforts toescape belaboured the brothers with a long wand which he carried. Whenat last they succeeded in catching him they carried him to the burningpile and made as if they would throw him on it. This ceremony over, theyreturned to the house of the Green Wolf, where a supper, still of themost meagre fare, was set before them. Up till midnight a sort ofreligious solemnity prevailed. No unbecoming word might fall from thelips of any of the company, and a censor, armed with a hand-bell, wasappointed to mark and punish instantly any infraction of the rule. Butat the stroke of twelve all this was changed. Constraint gave way tolicense; pious hymns were replaced by Bacchanalian ditties, and theshrill quavering notes of the village fiddle hardly rose above the roarof voices that went up from the merry brotherhood of the Green Wolf. Next day, the twenty-fourth of June or Midsummer Day, was celebrated bythe same personages with the same noisy gaiety. One of the ceremoniesconsisted in parading, to the sound of musketry, an enormous loaf ofconsecrated bread, which, rising in tiers, was surmounted by a pyramidof verdure adorned with ribbons. After that the holy handbells, deposited on the step of the altar, were entrusted as insignia of officeto the man who was to be the Green Wolf next year. [463]

[The Midsummer fires in Picardy. ]

In the canton of Breteuil in Picardy (department of Oise) the priestused to kindle the midsummer bonfire, and the people marched thriceround it in procession. Some of them took ashes of the fire home withthem to protect the houses against lightning. [464] The custom is, or wasdown to recent years, similar at Vorges, near Laon. An enormous pyre, some fifty or sixty feet high, supported in the middle by a tall pole, is constructed every year on the twenty-third of June, the Eve of St. John. It stands at one end of the village, and all the inhabitantscontribute fuel to it: a cart goes round the village in the morning, byorder of the mayor, collecting combustibles from house to house: no onewould dream of refusing to comply with the customary obligation. In theevening, after a service in honour of St. John has been performed in thechurch, the clergy, the mayor, the municipal authorities, the ruralpolice, and the fire-brigade march in procession to the bonfire, accompanied by the inhabitants and a crowd of idlers drawn by curiosityfrom the neighbouring villages. After addressing the throng in a sermon, to which they pay little heed, the parish priest sprinkles the pyre withholy water, and taking a lighted torch from the hand of an assistantsets fire to the pile. The enormous blaze, flaring up against the darksky of the summer night, is seen for many miles around, particularlyfrom the hill of Laon. When it has died down into a huge heap of glowingembers and grey ashes, every one carries home a charred stick or somecinders; and the fire-brigade, playing their hose on what remains, extinguishes the smouldering fire. The people preserve the charredsticks and cinders throughout the year, believing that these relics ofSt John's bonfire have power to guard them from lightning and fromcontagious diseases. [465] At Château-Thierry, a town of the departmentof Aisne, between Paris and Reims, the custom of lighting bonfires anddancing round them at the midsummer festival of St. John lasted down toabout 1850; the fires were kindled especially when June had been rainy, and the people thought that the lighting of the bonfires would cause therain to cease. [466]

[The Midsummer fires in Beauce and Perche; the fires as a protectionagainst witchcraft. ]

In Beauce and Perche, two neighbouring districts of France to thesouth-west of Paris, the midsummer bonfires have nearly or whollydisappeared, but formerly they were commonly kindled and went by thename of the "fires of St. John. " The site of the bonfire was either thevillage square or beside the cross in the cemetery. Here a great pile offaggots, brushwood, and grass was accumulated about a huge branch, whichbore at the top a crown of fresh flowers. The priest blessed the bonfireand the people danced round it. When it blazed and crackled, thebystanders thrust their heads into the puffs of smoke, in the beliefthat it would preserve them from a multitude of ills; and when the firewas burnt out, they rushed upon the charred embers and ashes and carriedthem home, imagining that they had a secret virtue to guard their housesfrom being struck by lightning or consumed by fire. Some of the Perchefarmers in the old days, not content with the public bonfire, used tolight little private bonfires in their farmyards and make all theircattle pass through the smoke and flames for the purpose of protectingthem against witchcraft or disease. [467]

[The Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura; theMidsummer fires in Franche-Comté; the Midsummer fires in Berry and otherparts of Central France. ]

In the department of the Ardennes every one was wont to contribute hisfaggot to the midsummer bonfire, and the clergy marched at the head ofthe procession to kindle it. Failure to light the fires would, in thepopular belief, have exposed the fields to the greatest danger. At Revinthe young folk, besides dancing round the fire to the strains of thevillage fiddler, threw garlands of flowers across the flames to eachother. [468] In the Vosges it is still customary to kindle bonfires uponthe hill-tops on Midsummer Eve; the people believe that the fires helpto preserve the fruits of the earth and ensure good crops. [469] In theJura Mountains the midsummer bonfires went by the name of _bâ_ or_beau_. They were lit on the most conspicuous points of thelandscape. [470] Near St. Jean, in the Jura, it appears that at thisseason young people still repair to the cross-roads and heights, andthere wave burning torches so as to present the appearance of fierywheels in the darkness. [471] In Franche-Comté, the province of Francewhich lies immediately to the west of the Jura mountains, the fires ofSt. John still shone on the saint's day in several villages down torecent years. They were generally lit on high ground and the young folksof both sexes sang and danced round them, and sprang over the dyingflames. [472] In Bresse bonfires used to be kindled on Midsummer Eve (thetwenty-third of June) and the people danced about them in a circle. Devout persons, particularly old women, circumambulated the firesfourteen times, telling their beads and mumbling seven _Paters_ andseven _Aves_ in the hope that thereby they would feel no pains in theirbacks when they stooped over the sickle in the harvest field. [473] InBerry, a district of Central France, the midsummer fire was lit on theEve of St. John and went by the name of the _jônée, joannée_, or_jouannée_. Every family according to its means contributed faggots, which were piled round a pole on the highest ground in theneighbourhood. In the hamlets the office of kindling the fire devolvedon the oldest man, but in the towns it was the priest or the mayor whodischarged the duty. Here, as in Brittany, people supposed that a girlwho had danced round nine of the midsummer bonfires would marry withinthe year. To leap several times over the fire was regarded as a sort ofpurification which kept off sickness and brought good luck to theleaper. Hence the nimble youth bounded through the smoke and flames, andwhen the fire had somewhat abated parents jumped across it with theirchildren in their arms in order that the little ones might also partakeof its beneficent influence. Embers from the extinct bonfire were takenhome, and after being dipped in holy water were kept as a talismanagainst all kinds of misfortune, but especially against lightning. [474]The same virtue was ascribed to the ashes and charred sticks of themidsummer bonfire in Périgord, where everybody contributed his share offuel to the pile and the whole was crowned with flowers, especially withroses and lilies. [475] On the borders of the departments of Creuse andCorrèze, in Central France, the fires of St. John used to be lit on theEve of the saint's day (the twenty-third of June); the custom seems tohave survived till towards the end of the nineteenth century. Men, women, and children assembled round the fires, and the young peoplejumped over them. Children were brought by their parents or elderbrothers into contact with the flames in the belief that this would savethem from fever. Older people girded themselves with stalks of rye takenfrom a neighbouring field, because they fancied that by so doing theywould not grow weary in reaping the corn at harvest. [476]

[The Midsummer fires in Poitou. ]

Bonfires were lit in almost all the hamlets of Poitou on the Eve of St. John. People marched round them thrice, carrying a branch of walnut intheir hand. Shepherdesses and children passed sprigs of mullein(_verbascum_) and nuts across the flames; the nuts were supposed to curetoothache, and the mullein to protect the cattle from sickness andsorcery. When the fire died down people took some of the ashes home withthem, either to keep them in the house as a preservative against thunderor to scatter them on the fields for the purpose of destroyingcorn-cockles and darnel. Stones were also placed round the fire, and itwas believed that the first to lift one of these stones next morningwould find under it the hair of St. John. [477] In Poitou also it used tobe customary on the Eve of St. John to trundle a blazing wheel wrapt instraw over the fields to fertilize them. [478] This last custom is saidto be now extinct, [479] but it is still usual, or was so down to recentyears, in Poitou to kindle fires on this day at cross-roads or on theheights. The oldest or youngest person present sets a light to the pile, which consists of broom, gorse, and heath. A bright and crackling blazeshoots up, but soon dies down, and over it the young folk leap. Theyalso throw stones into it, picking the stone according to the size ofthe turnips that they wish to have that year. It is said that "the goodVirgin" comes and sits on the prettiest of the stones, and next morningthey see there her beautiful golden tresses. At Lussac, in Poitou, thelighting of the midsummer bonfire is still an affair of some ceremony. Apyramid of faggots is piled round a tree or tall pole on the groundwhere the fair is held; the priest goes in procession to the spot andkindles the pile. When prayers have been said and the clergy havewithdrawn, the people continue to march round the fire, telling theirbeads, but it is not till the flames have begun to die down that theyouth jump over them. A brand from the midsummer bonfire is supposed tobe a preservative against thunder. [480]

[The Midsummer fires in the departments of Vienne and Deux-Sèvres and inthe provinces of Saintonge and Aunis. ]

In the department of Vienne the bonfire was kindled by the oldest man, and before the dance round the flames began it was the custom to passacross them a great bunch of mullein (_bouillon blanc_) and a branch ofwalnut, which next morning before sunrise were fastened over the door ofthe chief cattle-shed. [481] A similar custom prevailed in theneighbouring department of Deux-Sèvres; but here it was the priest whokindled the bonfire, and old men used to put embers of the fire in theirwooden shoes as a preservative against many evils. [482] In some townsand villages of Saintonge and Aunis, provinces of Western France nowmostly comprised in the department of Charente Inférieure, the fires ofSt. John are still kindled on Midsummer Eve, but the custom is neitherso common nor carried out with so much pomp and ceremony as formerly. Great quantities of wood used to be piled on an open space round about ahuge post or a tree stripped of its leaves and branches. Every one tookcare to contribute a faggot to the pile, and the whole populationmarched to the spot in procession with the crucifix at their head andthe priest bringing up the rear. The squire, or other person of highdegree, put the torch to the pyre, and the priest blessed it. In thesouthern and eastern parts of Saintonge children and cattle were passedthrough the smoke of the bonfires to preserve them from contagiousdiseases, and when the fire had gone out the people scuffled for thecharred fragments of the great post, which they regarded as talismansagainst thunder. Next morning, on Midsummer Day, every shepherdess inthe neighbourhood was up very early, for the first to drive her sheepover the blackened cinders and ashes of the great bonfire was sure tohave the best flock all that year. Where the shepherds shrunk fromdriving their flocks through the smoke and flames of the bonfire theycontented themselves with marking the hinder-quarters of the animalswith a broom which had been blackened in the ashes. [483]

[The Midsummer fires in Southern France; Midsummer festival of fire andwater in Provence; bathing in the sea at Midsummer; temporary Midsummerkings at Aix and Marseilles. ]

In the mountainous part of Comminges, a province of Southern France, nowcomprised in the department of Haute Garonne, the midsummer fire is madeby splitting open the trunk of a tall tree, stuffing the crevice withshavings, and igniting the whole. A garland of flowers is fastened tothe top of the tree, and at the moment when the fire is lighted the manwho was last married has to climb up a ladder and bring the flowersdown. In the flat parts of the same district the materials of themidsummer bonfires consist of fuel piled in the usual way; but they mustbe put together by men who have been married since the last midsummerfestival, and each of these benedicts is obliged to lay a wreath offlowers on the top of the pile. [484] At the entrance of the valley ofAran young people set up on the banks of the Garonne a tree covered withribbons and garlands; at the end of a year the withered tree and fadedflowers furnish excellent fuel. So on the Eve of St. John the villagersassemble, and an old man or a child kindles the fire which is to consumetree and garlands together. While the blaze lasts the people sing anddance; and the burnt tree is then replaced by another which will sufferthe same fate after the lapse of a year. [485] In some districts of theFrench Pyrenees it is deemed necessary to leap nine times over themidsummer fire if you would be assured of prosperity. [486] A travellerin Southern France at the beginning of the nineteenth century tells usthat "the Eve of St. John is also a day of joy for the Provençals. Theylight great fires and the young folk leap over them. At Aix they showersquibs and crackers on the passers-by, which has often had disagreeableconsequences. At Marseilles they drench each other with scented water, which is poured from the windows or squirted from little syringes; theroughest jest is to souse passers-by with clean water, which gives riseto loud bursts of laughter. "[487] At Draguignan, in the department ofVar, fires used to be lit in every street on the Eve of St. John, andthe people roasted pods of garlic at them; the pods were afterwardsdistributed to every family. Another diversion of the evening was topour cans of water from the houses on the heads of people in thestreets. [488] In Provence the midsummer fires are still popular. Children go from door to door begging for fuel, and they are seldom sentempty away. Formerly the priest, the mayor, and the aldermen used towalk in procession to the bonfire, and even deigned to light it; afterwhich the assembly marched thrice round the burning pile, while thechurch bells pealed and rockets fizzed and sputtered in the air. Dancingbegan later, and the bystanders threw water on each other. At Ciotat, while the fire was blazing, the young people plunged into the sea andsplashed each other vigorously. At Vitrolles they bathed in a pond inorder that they might not suffer from fever during the year, and atSaintes-Maries they watered the horses to protect them from theitch. [489] At Aix a nominal king, chosen from among the youth for hisskill in shooting at a popinjay, presided over the festival. He selectedhis own officers, and escorted by a brilliant train marched to thebonfire, kindled it, and was the first to dance round it. Next day hedistributed largesse to his followers. His reign lasted a year, duringwhich he enjoyed certain privileges. He was allowed to attend the masscelebrated by the commander of the Knights of St. John on St. John'sDay: the right of hunting was accorded to him; and soldiers might not bequartered in his house. At Marseilles also on this day one of the guildschose a king of the _badache_ or double axe; but it does not appear thathe kindled the bonfire, which is said to have been lighted with greatceremony by the préfet and other authorities. [490]

[The Midsummer fires in Belgium; bonfires on St. Peter's Day in Brabant;the King and Queen of the Roses; effigies burnt in the Midsummer fires. ]

In Belgium the custom of kindling the midsummer bonfires has longdisappeared from the great cities, but it is still kept up in ruraldistricts and small towns of Brabant, Flanders, and Limburg. People leapacross the fires to protect themselves against fever, and in easternFlanders women perform similar leaps for the purpose of ensuring an easydelivery. At Termonde young people go from door to door collecting fuelfor the fires and reciting verses, in which they beg the inmates to givethem "wood of St. John" and to keep some wood for St. Peter's Day (thetwenty-ninth of June); for in Belgium the Eve of St. Peter's Day iscelebrated by bonfires and dances exactly like those which commemorateSt. John's Eve. The ashes of the St. John's fires are deemed by Belgianpeasants an excellent remedy for consumption, if you take a spoonful ortwo of them, moistened with water, day by day. People also burn vervainin the fires, and they say that in the ashes of the plant you may find, if you look for it, the "Fool's Stone. "[491] In many parts of BrabantSt. Peter's bonfire used to be much larger than that of his rival St. John. When it had burned out, both sexes engaged in a game of ball, andthe winner became the King of Summer or of the Ball and had the right tochoose his Queen. Sometimes the winner was a woman, and it was then herprivilege to select her royal mate. This pastime was well known atLouvain and it continued to be practised at Grammont and Mespelaer downto the second half of the nineteenth century. At Mespelaer, which is avillage near Termonde, a huge pile of eglantine, reeds, and straw wascollected in a marshy meadow for the bonfire; and next evening aftervespers the young folk who had lit it assembled at the "Good Life"tavern to play the game. The winner was crowned with a wreath of roses, and the rest danced and sang in a ring about him. At Grammont, while thebonfire was lit and the dances round it took place on St. Peter's Eve, the festival of the "Crown of Roses" was deferred till the followingSunday. The young folk arranged among themselves beforehand who shouldbe King and Queen of the Roses: the rosy wreaths were hung on cordsacross the street: the dancers danced below them, and at a given momentthe wreaths fell on the heads of the chosen King and Queen, who had toentertain their fellows at a feast. According to some people the firesof St. Peter, like those of St. John, were lighted in order to driveaway dragons. [492] In French Flanders down to 1789 a straw figurerepresenting a man was always burned in the midsummer bonfire, and thefigure of a woman was burned on St. Peter's Day. [493] In Belgium peoplejump over the midsummer bonfires as a preventive of colic, and they keepthe ashes at home to hinder fire from breaking out. [494]

[The Midsummer fires in England; Stow's description of the Midsummerfires in London; the Midsummer fires at Eton. ]

The custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has been observed in manyparts of our own country. "On the Vigil of Saint John the Baptist, commonly called Midsummer Eve, it was usual in most country places, andalso in towns and cities, for the inhabitants, both old and young, andof both sexes, to meet together, and make merry by the side of a largefire made in the middle of the street, or in some open and convenientplace, over which the young men frequently leaped by way of frolic, andalso exercised themselves with various sports and pastimes, moreespecially with running, wrestling, and dancing. These diversions theycontinued till midnight, and sometimes till cock-crowing. "[495] In thestreets of London the midsummer fires were lighted in the time of QueenElizabeth down to the end of the sixteenth century, as we learn fromStow's description, which runs thus: "In the months of June and July, onthe vigils of festival days, and on the same festival days in theevenings after the sun setting, there were usually made bonfires in thestreets, every man bestowing wood or labour towards them; the wealthiersort also, before their doors near to the said bonfires, would set outtables on the vigils furnished with sweet bread and good drink, and onthe festival days with meats and drinks plentifully, whereunto theywould invite their neighbours and passengers also to sit and be merrywith them in great familiarity, praising God for His benefits bestowedon them. These were called bonfires as well of good amity amongstneighbours that being before at controversy, were there, by the labourof others, reconciled, and made of bitter enemies loving friends; andalso for the virtue that a great fire hath to purge the infection of theair. On the vigil of St. John the Baptist, and on St. Peter and Paul theApostles, every man's door being shadowed with green birch, long fennel, St John's wort, orpin, white lilies, and such like, garnished upon withgarlands of beautiful flowers, had also lamps of glass, with oil burningin them all the night; some hung out branches of iron curiously wrought, containing hundreds of lamps alight at once, which made a goodly show, namely, in New Fish Street, Thames Street, etc. "[496] In the sixteenthcentury the Eton boys used to kindle a bonfire on the east side of thechurch both on St John's Day and on St. Peter's Day. [497] Writing in thesecond half of the seventeenth century, the antiquary John Aubrey tellsus that bonfires were still kindled in many places on St. John's Night, but that the civil wars had thrown many of these old customs out offashion. Wars, he adds, extinguish superstition as well as religion andlaws, and there is nothing like gunpowder for putting phantoms toflight. [498]

[The Midsummer fires in the north of England; the Midsummer fires inNorthumberland. ]

In the north of England these fires used to be lit in the open streets. Young and old gathered round them, and while the young leaped over thefires and engaged in games, their elders looked on and probablyremembered with regret the days when they used to foot it as nimbly. Sometimes the fires were kindled on the tops of high hills. The peoplealso carried firebrands about the fields. [499] The custom of kindlingbonfires on Midsummer Eve prevailed all over Cumberland down to thesecond half of the eighteenth century. [500] In Northumberland the customseems to have lasted into the first quarter of the nineteenth century;the fires were lit in the villages and on the tops of high hills, andthe people sported and danced round them. [501] Moreover, the villagersused to run with burning brands round their fields and to snatch ashesfrom a neighbour's fire, saying as they did so, "We have the flower (orflour) of the wake. "[502] At Sandhill bonfires were kindled on the Eveof St. Peter as well as on Midsummer Eve; the custom is attested for theyear 1575, when it was described as ancient. [503] We are told that "onMidsummer's eve, reckoned according to the old style, it was formerlythe custom of the inhabitants, young and old, not only of Whalton, butof most of the adjacent villages, to collect a large cartload of whinsand other combustible materials, which was dragged by them with greatrejoicing (a fiddler being seated on the top of the cart) into thevillage and erected into a pile. The people from the surrounding countryassembled towards evening, when it was set on fire; and whilst the youngdanced around it, the elders looked on smoking their pipes and drinkingtheir beer, until it was consumed. There can be little doubt that thiscurious old custom dates from a very remote antiquity. " In a law-suit, which was tried in 1878, the rector of Whalton gave evidence of theconstant use of the village green for the ceremony since 1843. "Thebonfire, " he said, "was lighted a little to the north-east of the wellat Whalton, and partly on the footpath, and people danced round it andjumped through it. That was never interrupted. " The Rev. G. R. Hall, writing in 1879, says that "the fire festivals or bonfires of the summersolstice at the Old Midsummer until recently were commemorated onChristenburg Crags and elsewhere by leaping through and dancing roundthe fires, as those who have been present have told me. "[504] Down tothe early part of the nineteenth century bonfires called Beal-fires usedto be lit on Midsummer Eve all over the wolds in the East Riding ofYorkshire. [505]

[The Midsummer fires in Herefordshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, andCornwall; the Cornish fires on Midsummer Eve and St. Peter's Eve. ]

In Herefordshire and Somersetshire the peasants used to make fires inthe fields on Midsummer Eve "to bless the apples. "[506] In Devonshirethe custom of leaping over the midsummer fires was also observed. [507]"In Cornwall, the festival fires, called bonfires, are kindled on theEves of St. John Baptist and St. Peter's day; and Midsummer is thence, in the Cornish tongue, called _Goluan_, which signifies both light andrejoicing. At these fires the Cornish attend with lighted torches, tarred and pitched at the end, and make their perambulations round theirfires, going from village to village and carrying their torches beforethem; this is certainly the remains of Druid superstition; for, _Facespraeferre_, to carry lighted torches was reckoned a kind of gentilism, and as such particularly prohibited by the Gallick Councils. "[508] AtPenzance and elsewhere in the county the people danced and sang aboutthe bonfires on Midsummer Eve. On Whiteborough, a large tumulus nearLaunceston, a huge bonfire used to be kindled on Midsummer Eve; a tallsummer pole with a large bush at the top was fixed in the centre of thebonfire. [509] The Cornish fires at this season appear to have beencommonly lit on high and conspicuous hills, such as Tregonan, Godolphin, Carnwarth, and Cam Brea. When it grew dusk on Midsummer Eve, old menwould hobble away to some height whence they counted the fires and drewa presage from their number. [510] "It is the immemorial usage inPenzance, and the neighbouring towns and villages, to kindle bonfiresand torches on Midsummer-eve; and on Midsummer-day to hold a fair onPenzance quay, where the country folks assemble from the adjoiningparishes in great numbers to make excursions on the water. St. Peter'sEve (the twenty-eighth of June) is distinguished by a similar display ofbonfires and torches, although the 'quay-fair' on St. Peter's-day (thetwenty-ninth of June), has been discontinued upwards of forty years. Onthese eves a line of tar-barrels, relieved occasionally by largebonfires, is seen in the centre of each of the principal streets inPenzance. On either side of this line young men and women pass up anddown, swinging round their heads heavy torches made of large pieces offolded canvas steeped in tar, and nailed to the ends of sticks betweenthree and four feet long; the flames of some of these almost equal thoseof the tar-barrels. Rows of lighted candles, also, when the air is calm, are fixed outside the windows or along the sides of the streets. In St. Just, and other mining parishes, the young miners, mimicking theirfathers' employments, bore rows of holes in the rocks, load them withgunpowder, and explode them in rapid succession by trains of the samesubstance. As the holes are not deep enough to split the rocks, the samelittle batteries serve for many years. On these nights, Mount's Bay hasa most animating appearance, although not equal to what was annuallywitnessed at the beginning of the present century, when the whole coast, from the Land's End to the Lizard, wherever a town or a village existed, was lighted up with these stationary or moving fires. In the early partof the evening, children may be seen wearing wreaths of flowers--acustom in all probability originating from the ancient use of theseornaments when they danced around the fires. At the close of thefireworks in Penzance, a great number of persons of both sexes, chieflyfrom the neighbourhood of the quay, used always, until within the lastfew years, to join hand in hand, forming a long string, and run throughthe streets, playing 'thread the needle, ' heedless of the fireworksshowered upon them, and oftentimes leaping over the yet glowing embers. I have on these occasions seen boys following one another, jumpingthrough flames higher than themselves. "[511]

[The Midsummer fires in Wales and the Isle of Man; burning wheel rolleddown hill. ]

In Wales the midsummer fires were kindled on St. John's Eve and on St. John's Day. Three or nine different kinds of wood and charred faggotscarefully preserved from the last midsummer were deemed necessary tobuild the bonfire, which was generally done on rising ground. Variousherbs were thrown into the blaze; and girls with bunches of three ornine different kinds of flowers would take the hands of boys, who woreflowers in their buttonholes and hats, and together the young coupleswould leap over the fires. On the same two midsummer days roses andwreaths of flowers were hung over the doors and windows. "Describing amidsummer fire, an old inhabitant, born in 1809, remembered being takento different hills in the Vale of Glamorgan to see festivities in whichpeople from all parts of the district participated. She was at that timeabout fourteen, and old enough to retain a vivid recollection of thecircumstances. People conveyed trusses of straw to the top of the hill, where men and youths waited for the contributions. Women and girls werestationed at the bottom of the hill. Then a large cart-wheel was thicklyswathed with straw, and not an inch of wood was left in sight. A polewas inserted through the centre of the wheel, so that long ends extendedabout a yard on each side. If any straw remained, it was made up intotorches at the top of tall sticks. At a given signal the wheel waslighted, and sent rolling downhill. If this fire-wheel went out beforeit reached the bottom of the hill, a very poor harvest was promised. Ifit kept lighted all the way down, and continued blazing for a long time, the harvest would be exceptionally abundant. Loud cheers and shoutsaccompanied the progress of the wheel. "[512] At Darowen in Wales smallbonfires were kindled on Midsummer Eve. [513] On the same day people inthe Isle of Man were wont to light fires to the windward of every field, so that the smoke might pass over the corn; and they folded their cattleand carried blazing furze or gorse round them several times. [514]

[The Midsummer fires in Ireland; passage of people and cattle throughthe fires; cattle driven through the fire; ashes used to fertilize thefields; the White Horse at the Midsummer fire. ]

A writer of the last quarter of the seventeenth century tells us that inIreland, "on the Eves of St. John Baptist and St. Peter, they alwayshave in every town a bonfire, late in the evenings, and carry aboutbundles of reeds fast tied and fired; these being dry, will last long, and flame better than a torch, and be a pleasing divertive prospect tothe distant beholder; a stranger would go near to imagine the wholecountry was on fire. "[515] Another writer says of the South of Ireland:"On Midsummer's Eve, every eminence, near which is a habitation, blazeswith bonfires; and round these they carry numerous torches, shouting anddancing, which affords a beautiful sight. "[516] An author who describedIreland in the first quarter of the eighteenth century says: "On thevigil of St. John the Baptist's Nativity, they make bonfires, and runalong the streets and fields with wisps of straw blazing on long polesto purify the air, which they think infectious, by believing all thedevils, spirits, ghosts, and hobgoblins fly abroad this night to hurtmankind. "[517] Another writer states that he witnessed the festival inIreland in 1782: "At the house where I was entertained, it was told me, that we should see, at midnight, the most singular sight in Ireland, which was the lighting of fires in honour of the sun. Accordingly, exactly at midnight, the fires began to appear; and taking the advantageof going up to the leads of the house, which had a widely extended view, I saw on a radius of thirty miles, all around, the fires burning onevery eminence which the country afforded. I had a farther satisfactionin learning, from undoubted authority, that the people danced round thefires, and at the close went through these fires, and made their sonsand daughters, together with their cattle, pass through the fire; andthe whole was conducted with religious solemnity. "[518] That the customprevailed in full force as late as 1867 appears from a notice in anewspaper of that date, which runs thus: "The old pagan fire-worshipstill survives in Ireland, though nominally in honour of St. John. OnSunday night bonfires were observed throughout nearly every county inthe province of Leinster. In Kilkenny, fires blazed on every hillside atintervals of about a mile. There were very many in the Queen's County, also in Kildare and Wexford. The effect in the rich sunset appeared totravellers very grand. The people assemble, and dance round the fires, the children jump through the flames, and in former times live coalswere carried into the corn-fields to prevent blight. "[519] In CountyLeitrim on St. John's Eve, which is called Bonfire Day, fires are stilllighted after dusk on the hills and along the sides of the roads. [520]All over Kerry the same thing continues to be done, though not socommonly as of old. Small fires were made across the road, and to drivethrough them brought luck for the year. Cattle were also driven throughthe fires. On Lettermore Island, in South Connemara, some of the ashesfrom the midsummer bonfire are thrown on the fields to fertilizethem. [521] One writer informs us that in Munster and Connaught a bonemust always be burned in the fire; for otherwise the people believe thatthe fire will bring no luck. He adds that in many places sterile beastsand human beings are passed through the fire, and that as a boy hehimself jumped through the fire "for luck. "[522] An eye-witness hasdescribed as follows a remarkable ceremony observed in Ireland onMidsummer Eve: "When the fire burned for some hours, and got low, anindispensable part of the ceremony commenced. Every one present of thepeasantry passed through it, and several children were thrown across thesparkling embers; while a wooden frame, of some eight feet long, with ahorse's head fixed to one end, and a large white sheet thrown over itconcealing the wood and the man on whose head it was carried, made itsappearance. This was greeted with loud shouts of 'The white horse!' andhaving been safely carried by the skill of its bearer several timesthrough the fire with a bold leap, it pursued the people, who ranscreaming and laughing in every direction. I asked what the horse wasmeant for, and was told that it represented 'all cattle. '"[523]

[Lady Wilde's account of the Midsummer fires in Ireland. ]

Lady Wilde's account of the midsummer festival in Ireland is picturesqueand probably correct in substance, although she does not cite herauthorities. As it contains some interesting features which are notnoticed by the other writers on Ireland whom I have consulted, I willquote the greater part of it in full. "In ancient times, " she says, "thesacred fire was lighted with great ceremony on Midsummer Eve; and onthat night all the people of the adjacent country kept fixed watch onthe western promontory of Howth, and the moment the first flash was seenfrom that spot the fact of ignition was announced with wild cries andcheers repeated from village to village, when all the local fires beganto blaze, and Ireland was circled by a cordon of flame rising up fromevery hill. Then the dance and song began round every fire, and the wildhurrahs filled the air with the most frantic revelry. Many of theseancient customs are still continued, and the fires are still lighted onSt. John's Eve on every hill in Ireland. When the fire has burned downto a red glow the young men strip to the waist and leap over or throughthe flames; this is done backwards and forwards several times, and hewho braves the greatest blaze is considered the victor over the powersof evil, and is greeted with tremendous applause. When the fire burnsstill lower, the young girls leap the flame, and those who leap cleanover three times back and forward will be certain of a speedy marriageand good luck in after-life, with many children. The married women thenwalk through the lines of the burning embers; and when the fire isnearly burnt and trampled down, the yearling cattle are driven throughthe hot ashes, and their back is singed with a lighted hazel twig. Theserods are kept safely afterwards, being considered of immense power todrive the cattle to and from the watering places. As the fire diminishesthe shouting grows fainter, and the song and the dance commence; whileprofessional story-tellers narrate tales of fairy-land, or of the goodold times long ago, when the kings and princes of Ireland dwelt amongsttheir own people, and there was food to eat and wine to drink for allcomers to the feast at the king's house. When the crowd at lengthseparate, every one carries home a brand from the fire, and great virtueis attached to the lighted _brone_ which is safely carried to the housewithout breaking or falling to the ground. Many contests also ariseamongst the young men; for whoever enters his house first with thesacred fire brings the good luck of the year with him. "[524]

[Holy water resorted to on Midsummer Eve in Ireland. ]

In Ireland, as elsewhere, water was also apparently thought to acquire acertain mystical virtue at midsummer. "At Stoole, near Downpatrick, there is a ceremony commencing at twelve o'clock at night on MidsummerEve. Its sacred mount is consecrated to St. Patrick; the plain containsthree wells, to which the most extraordinary virtues are attributed. Here and there are heaps of stones, around some of which appear greatnumbers of people, running with as much speed as possible; around otherscrowds of worshippers kneel with bare legs and feet as an indispensablepart of the penance. The men, without coats, with handkerchiefs on theirheads instead of hats, having gone seven times round each heap, kiss theground, cross themselves, and proceed to the hill; here they ascend, ontheir bare knees, by a path so steep and rugged that it would bedifficult to walk up. Many hold their hands clasped at the back of theirnecks, and several carry large stones on their heads. Having repeatedthis ceremony seven times, they go to what is called St. Patrick'sChair, which are two great flat stones fixed upright in the hill; herethey cross and bless themselves as they step in between these stones, and, while repeating prayers, an old man, seated for the purpose, turnsthem round on their feet three times, for which he is paid; the devoteethen goes to conclude his penance at a pile of stones, named the Altar. While this busy scene is continued by the multitude, the wells andstreams issuing from them are thronged by crowds of halt, maimed, andblind, pressing to wash away their infirmities with water consecrated bytheir patron saint, and so powerful is the impression of its efficacy ontheir minds, that many of those who go to be healed, and who are nottotally blind, or altogether crippled, really believe for a time thatthey are by means of its miraculous virtues perfectly restored. "[525]

[The Midsummer fires in Scotland; fires on St. Peter's Day (thetwenty-ninth of June). ]

In Scotland the traces of midsummer fires are few. We are told by awriter of the eighteenth century that "the midsummer-even fire, a relictof Druidism, " was kindled in some parts of the county of Perth. [526]Another writer of the same period, describing what he calls theDruidical festivals of the Highlanders, says that "the leastconsiderable of them is that of midsummer. In the Highlands ofPerthshire there are some vestiges of it. The cowherd goes three timesround the fold, according to the course of the sun, with a burning torchin his hand. They imagined this rite had a tendency to purify theirherds and flocks, and to prevent diseases. At their return the landladymakes an entertainment for the cowherd and his associates. "[527] In thenortheast of Scotland, down to the latter half of the eighteenthcentury, farmers used to go round their lands with burning torches aboutthe middle of June. [528] On the hill of Cairnshee, in the parish ofDurris, Kincardineshire, the herdsmen of the country round aboutannually kindle a bonfire at sunset on Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourthof June); the men or lads collect the fuel and push each other throughthe smoke and flames. The custom is kept up through the benefaction of acertain Alexander Hogg, a native of the parish, who died about 1790 andleft a small sum for the maintenance of a midsummer bonfire on the spot, because as a boy he had herded cattle on the hill. We may conjecturethat in doing so he merely provided for the continuance of an old customwhich he himself had observed in the same place in his youth. [529] Atthe village of Tarbolton in Ayrshire a bonfire has been annually kindledfrom time immemorial on the evening of the first Monday after theeleventh of June. A noted cattle-market was formerly held at the fair onthe following day. The bonfire is still lit at the gloaming by the ladsand lasses of the village on a high mound or hillock just outside of thevillage. Fuel for it is collected by the lads from door to door. Theyouth dance round the fire and leap over the fringes of it. The manycattle-drovers who used to assemble for the fair were wont to gatherround the blazing pile, smoke their pipes, and listen to the young folksinging in chorus on the hillock. Afterwards they wrapped themselves intheir plaids and slept round the bonfire, which was intended to last allnight. [530] Thomas Moresin of Aberdeen, a writer of the sixteenthcentury, says that on St. Peter's Day, which is the twenty-ninth ofJune, the Scotch ran about at night with lighted torches on mountainsand high grounds, "as Ceres did when she roamed the whole earth insearch of Proserpine";[531] and towards the end of the eighteenthcentury the parish minister of Loudoun, a district of Ayrshire whose"bonny woods and braes" have been sung by Burns, wrote that "the customstill remains amongst the herds and young people to kindle fires in thehigh grounds in honour of Beltan. _Beltan_, which in Gaelic signifies_Baal_, or _Bel's-fire_, was antiently the time of this solemnity. It isnow kept on St. Peter's day. "[532]

[The Midsummer fires in Spain and the Azores; divination on MidsummerEve in the Azores; the Midsummer fires in Corsica and Sardinia. ]

All over Spain great bonfires called _lumes_ are still lit on MidsummerEve. They are kept up all night, and the children leap over them in acertain rhythmical way which is said to resemble the ancient dances. Onthe coast, people at this season plunge into the sea; in the inlanddistricts the villagers go and roll naked in the dew of the meadows, which is supposed to be a sovereign preservative against diseases of theskin. On this evening, too, girls who would pry into the future put avessel of water on the sill outside their window; and when the clocksstrike twelve, they break an egg in the water and see, or fancy theysee, in the shapes assumed by the pulp, as it blends with the liquid, the likeness of future bridegrooms, castles, coffins, and so forth. Butgenerally, as might perhaps have been anticipated, the obliging eggexhibits the features of a bridegroom. [533] In the Azores, also, bonfires are lit on Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve), and boys jump overthem for luck. On that night St. John himself is supposed to appear inperson and bless all the seas and waters, driving out the devils anddemons who had been disporting themselves in them ever since the secondday of November; that is why in the interval between the second ofNovember and the twenty-third of June nobody will bathe in the sea or ina hot spring. On Midsummer Eve, too, you can always see the devil, ifyou will go into a garden at midnight. He is invariably found standingnear a mustard-plant. His reason for adopting this posture has not beenascertained; perhaps in the chilly air of the upper world he isattracted by the genial warmth of the mustard. Various forms ofdivination are practised by people in the Azores on Midsummer Eve. Thusa new-laid egg is broken into a glass of water, and the shapes which itassumes foreshadow the fate of the person concerned. Again, sevensaucers are placed in a row, filled respectively with water, earth, ashes, keys, a thimble, money, and grass, which things signify travel, death, widowhood, housekeeping, spinsterhood, riches, and farming. Ablindfolded person touches one or other of the saucers with a wand andso discovers his or her fate. Again, three broad beans are taken; one isleft in its skin, one is half peeled, and the third is peeled outright. The three denote respectively riches, competence, and poverty. They arehidden and searched for; and he who finds one of them knows accordinglywhether he will be rich, moderately well-off, or poor. Again, girls takeslips of paper and write the names of young men twice over on them. These they fold up and crumple and place one set under their pillows andthe other set in a saucer full of water. In the morning they draw oneslip of paper from under their pillow, and see whether one in the waterhas opened out. If the names on the two slips are the same, it is thename of her future husband. Young men do the same with girls' names. Once more, if a girl rises at sunrise, goes out into the street, andasks the first passer-by his Christian name, that will be her husband'sname. [534] Some of these modes of divination resemble those which are orused to be practised in Scotland at Hallowe'en. [535] In Corsica on theEve of St. John the people set fire to the trunk of a tree or to a wholetree, and the young men and maidens dance round the blaze, which iscalled _fucaraia_. [536] We have seen that at Ozieri, in Sardinia, agreat bonfire is kindled on St. John's Eve, and that the young peopledance round it. [537]

[The Midsummer fires in the Abruzzi; bathing on Midsummer Eve in theAbruzzi; the Midsummer fires in Sicily; the witches at Midsummer. ]

Passing to Italy, we find that the midsummer fires are still lighted onSt. John's Eve in many parts of the Abruzzi. They are commonest in theterritory which was inhabited in antiquity by the Vestini; they arerarer in the land of the ancient Marsi, and they disappear entirely inthe lower valley of the Sangro. For the most part, the fires are fedwith straw and dry grass, and are kindled in the fields near thevillages or on high ground. As they blaze up, the people dance round orover them. In leaping across the flames the boys cry out, "St. John, preserve my thighs and legs!" Formerly it used to be common to light thebonfires also in the towns in front of churches of St. John, and theremains of the sacred fire were carried home by the people; but thiscustom has mostly fallen into disuse. However, at Celano the practice isstill kept up of taking brands and ashes from the bonfires to thehouses, although the fires are no longer kindled in front of thechurches, but merely in the streets. [538] In the Abruzzi water also issupposed to acquire certain marvellous and beneficent properties on St. John's Night. Hence many people bathe or at least wash their faces andhands in the sea or a river at that season, especially at the moment ofsunrise. Such a bath is said to be an excellent cure for diseases of theskin. At Castiglione a Casauria the people, after washing in the riveror in springs, gird their waists and wreath their brows with sprigs ofbriony in order to keep them from aches and pains. [539] In various partsof Sicily, also, fires are kindled on Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve), the twenty-third of June. On the Madonie mountains, in the north of theisland, the herdsmen kindle them at intervals, so that the crests of themountains are seen ablaze in the darkness for many miles. AboutAcireale, on the east coast of the island, the bonfires are lit by boys, who jump over them. At Chiaromonte the witches that night acquireextraordinary powers; hence everybody then puts a broom outside of hishouse, because a broom is an excellent protective againstwitchcraft. [540] At Orvieto the midsummer fires were specially exceptedfrom the prohibition directed against bonfires in general. [541]

[The Midsummer fires in Malta ]

In Malta also the people celebrate Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve) "bykindling great fires in the public streets, and giving their childrendolls to carry in their arms on this day, in order to make good theprophecy respecting the Baptist, _Multi in nativitate ejus gaudebunt_. Days and even weeks before this festival, groups of children are seengoing out into the country fields to gather straw, twigs, and all sortsof other combustibles, which they store up for St. John's Eve. On thenight of the twenty-third of June, the day before the festival of theSaint, great fires are kindled in the streets, squares, and marketplaces of the towns and villages of the Island, and as fire after fireblazes out of the darkness of that summer night, the effect issingularly striking. These fires are sometimes kept up for hours, beingcontinually fed by the scores of bystanders, who take great delight inthrowing amidst the flames some old rickety piece of furniture whichthey consider as lumber in their houses. Lots of happy and recklesschildren, and very often men, are seen merrily leaping in successionover and through the crackling flames. At the time of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the Grand Master himself, soon after the _Angelus_, used to leave his palace, accompanied by the Grand Prior, the Bishop, and two bailiffs, to set fire to some pitch barrels which were placedfor the occasion in the square facing the sacred Hospital. Great crowdsused to assemble here in order to assist at this ceremony. The settingablaze of the five casks, and later on of the eight casks, by the GrandMaster, was a signal for the others to kindle their fires in thedifferent parts of the town. "[542]

[The Midsummer fires in Greece; the Midsummer fires in Macedonia andAlbania. ]

In Greece, the custom of kindling fires on St. John's Eve and jumpingover them is said to be still universal. One reason assigned for it is awish to escape from the fleas. [543] According to another account, thewomen cry out, as they leap over the fire, "I leave my sins behindme. "[544] In Lesbos the fires on St. John's Eve are usually lighted bythrees, and the people spring thrice over them, each with a stone on hishead, saying, "I jump the hare's fire, my head a stone!" On the morningof St. John's Day those who dwell near the coast go to bathe in the sea. As they go they gird themselves with osiers, and when they are in thewater they let the osiers float away, saying, "Let my maladies go away!"Then they look for what is called "the hairy stone, " which possesses theremarkable property not only of keeping moths from clothes but even ofmultiplying the clothes in the chest where it is laid up, and the morehairs on the stone the more will the clothes multiply in the chest. [545]In Calymnos the midsummer fire is supposed to ensure abundance in thecoming year as well as deliverance from fleas. The people dance roundthe fires singing, with stones on their heads, and then jump over theblaze or the glowing embers. When the fire is burning low, they throwthe stones into it; and when it is nearly out, they make crosses ontheir legs and then go straightway and bathe in the sea. [546] In Cos thelads and lasses dance round the bonfires on St. John's Eve. Each of thelads binds a black stone on his head, signifying that he wishes tobecome as strong as the stone. Also they make the sign of the cross ontheir feet and legs and jump over the fire. [547] On Midsummer Eve theGreeks of Macedonia light fires after supper in front of their gates. The garlands, now faded, which were hung over the doors on May Day, aretaken down and cast into the flames, after which the young folk leapover the blaze, fully persuaded that St. John's fire will not burnthem. [548] In Albania fires of dry herbage are, or used to be, liteverywhere on St. John's Eve; young and old leap over them, for such aleap is thought to be good for the health. [549]

[The Midsummer fires in America. ]

From the Old World the midsummer fires have been carried across theAtlantic to America. In Brazil people jump over the fires of St. John, and at this season they can take hot coals in their mouths withoutburning themselves. [550] In Bolivia on the Eve of St. John it is usualto see bonfires lighted on the hills and even in the streets of thecapital La Paz. As the city stands at the bottom of an immense ravine, and the Indians of the neighbourhood take a pride in kindling bonfireson heights which might seem inaccessible, the scene is very strikingwhen the darkness of night is suddenly and simultaneously lit up byhundreds of fires, which cast a glare on surrounding objects, producingan effect at once weird and picturesque. [551]

[The Midsummer fires among the Mohammedans of Morocco and Algeria. ]

The custom of kindling bonfires on Midsummer Day or on Midsummer Eve iswidely spread among the Mohammedan peoples of North Africa, particularlyin Morocco and Algeria; it is common both to the Berbers and to many ofthe Arabs or Arabic-speaking tribes. In these countries Midsummer Day(the twenty-fourth of June, Old Style) is called [Arabic: _l'ansara_]. The fires are lit in the courtyards, at cross-roads, in the fields, andsometimes on the threshing-floors. Plants which in burning give out athick smoke and an aromatic smell are much sought after for fuel onthese occasions; among the plants used for the purpose are giant-fennel, thyme, rue, chervil-seed, camomile, geranium, and penny-royal. Peopleexpose themselves, and especially their children, to the smoke, anddrive it towards the orchards and the crops. Also they leap across thefires; in some places everybody ought to repeat the leap seven times. Moreover they take burning brands from the fires and carry them throughthe houses in order to fumigate them. They pass things through the fire, and bring the sick into contact with it, while they utter prayers fortheir recovery. The ashes of the bonfires are also reputed to possessbeneficial properties; hence in some places people rub their hair ortheir bodies with them. [552] For example, the Andjra mountaineers ofMorocco kindle large fires in open places of their villages on MidsummerDay. Men, women, and children jump over the flames or the glowingembers, believing that by so doing they rid themselves of all misfortunewhich may be clinging to them; they imagine, also, that such leaps curethe sick and procure offspring for childless couples. Moreover, theyburn straw, together with some marjoram and alum, in the fold where thecattle, sheep, and goats are penned for the night; the smoke, in theiropinion, will make the animals thrive. On Midsummer Day the Arabs of theMnasara tribe make fires outside their tents, near their animals, ontheir fields, and in their gardens. Large quantities of penny-royal areburned in these fires, and over some of them the people leap thrice toand fro. Sometimes small fires are also kindled inside the tents. Theysay that the smoke confers blessings on everything with which it comesinto contact. At Salee, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, persons whosuffer from diseased eyes rub them with the ashes of the midsummer fire;and in Casablanca and Azemmur the people hold their faces over the fire, because the smoke is thought to be good for the eyes. The Arab tribeUlad Bu Aziz, in the Dukkala province of Morocco, kindle midsummerbonfires, not for themselves and their cattle, but only for crops andfruit; nobody likes to reap his crops before Midsummer Day, because ifhe did they would lose the benefit of the blessed influence which flowsfrom the smoke of the bonfires. Again, the Beni Mgild, a Berber tribe ofMorocco, light fires of straw on Midsummer Eve and leap thrice over themto and fro. They let some of the smoke pass underneath their clothes, and married women hold their breasts over the fire, in order that theirchildren may be strong. Moreover, they paint their eyes and lips withsome black powder, in which ashes of the bonfire are mixed. And in orderthat their horses may also benefit by the fires, they dip the rightforelegs of the animals in the smoke and flames or in the hot embers, and they rub ashes on the foreheads and between the nostrils of thehorses. Berbers of the Rif province, in northern Morocco, similarly makegreat use of fires at midsummer for the good of themselves, theircattle, and their fruit-trees. They jump over the bonfires in the beliefthat this will preserve them in good health, and they light fires underfruit-trees to keep the fruit from falling untimely. And they imaginethat by rubbing a paste of the ashes on their hair they prevent the hairfrom falling off their heads. [553]

[Beneficial effect ascribed to the smoke of the fires; ill luck supposedto be burnt in the Midsummer fires; the Midsummer festival in NorthAfrica comprises rites concerned with water as well as with fire; theMidsummer festival in North Africa is probably older thanMohammedanism. ]

In all these Moroccan customs, we are told, the beneficial effect isattributed wholly to the smoke, which is supposed to be endued with amagical quality that removes misfortune from men, animals, fruit-trees, and crops. But in some parts of Morocco people at midsummer kindle firesof a different sort, not for the sake of fumigation, but in order toburn up misfortune in the flames. Thus on Midsummer Eve the Berber tribeof the Beni Mgild burn three sheaves of unthreshed wheat or barley, "onefor the children, one for the crops, and one for the animals. " On thesame occasion they burn the tent of a widow who has never given birth toa child; by so doing they think to rid the village of ill luck. It issaid that at midsummer the Zemmur burn a tent, which belongs to somebodywho was killed in war during a feast; or if there is no such person inthe village, the schoolmaster's tent is burned instead. Among theArabic-speaking Beni Ahsen it is customary for those who live near theriver Sbu to make a little hut of straw at midsummer, set it on fire, and let it float down the river. Similarly the inhabitants of Salee burna straw hut on the river which flows past their town. [554]

Further it deserves to be noticed that in Northern Africa, as inSouthern Europe, the midsummer festival comprises rites concerned withwater as well as with fire. For example, among the Beni-Snous the womenlight a fire in an oven, throw perfumes into it, and circumambulate atank, which they also incense after a fashion. In many places on thecoast, as in the province of Oran and particularly in the north ofMorocco, everybody goes and bathes in the sea at midsummer; and in manytowns of the interior, such as Fez, Mequinez, and especially Merrakech, people throw water over each other on this day; and where water isscarce, earth is used instead, according to the Mohammedan principlewhich permits ablutions to be performed with earth or sand when watercannot be spared for the purpose. [555] People of the Andjra district inMorocco not only bathe themselves in the sea or in rivers at midsummer, they also bathe their animals, their horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, sheep, and goats; for they think that on that day water possesses ablessed virtue (_baraka_), which removes sickness and misfortune. InAglu, again, men, women, and children bathe in the sea or springs orrivers at midsummer, alleging that by so doing they protect themselvesagainst disease for the whole year. Among the Berbers of the Rifdistrict the custom of bathing on this day is commonly observed, andanimals share the ablutions. [556]

[Some Mohammedans of North Africa kindle fires and observe waterceremonies at their movable New Year; water ceremonies at New Year inMorocco; the rites of fire and water at Midsummer and New Year inMorocco seem to be identical in character; the duplication of thefestival is probably due to a conflict between the solar calendar of theRomans and the lunar calendar of the Arabs. ]

The celebration of a midsummer festival by Mohammedan peoples isparticularly remarkable, because the Mohammedan calendar, being purelylunar and uncorrected by intercalation, necessarily takes no note offestivals which occupy fixed points in the solar year; all strictlyMohammedan feasts, being pinned to the moon, slide gradually with thatluminary through the whole period of the earth's revolution about thesun. This fact of itself seems to prove that among the Mohammedanpeoples of Northern Africa, as among the Christian peoples of Europe, the midsummer festival is quite independent of the religion which thepeople publicly profess, and is a relic of a far older paganism. Thereare, indeed, independent grounds for thinking that the Arabs enjoyed theadvantage of a comparatively well-regulated solar year before theprophet of God saddled them with the absurdity and inconvenience of apurely lunar calendar. [557] Be that as it may, it is notable that someMohammedan people of North Africa kindle fires and bathe in water at themovable New Year of their lunar calendar instead of at the fixedMidsummer of the solar year; while others again practise theseobservances at both seasons. New Year's Day, on which the rites arecelebrated, is called _Ashur_; it is the tenth day of Moharram, thefirst month of the Mohammedan calendar. On that day bonfires are kindledin Tunis and also at Merrakech and among some tribes of theneighbourhood. [558] At Demnat, in the Great Atlas mountains, peoplekindle a large bonfire on New Year's Eve and leap to and fro over theflames, uttering words which imply that by these leaps they think topurify themselves from all kinds of evil. At Aglu, in the province ofSus, the fire is lighted at three different points by an unmarried girl, and when it has died down the young men leap over the glowing embers, saying, "We shook on you, O Lady Ashur, fleas, and lice, and theillnesses of the heart, as also those of the bones; we shall passthrough you again next year and the following years with safety andhealth. " Both at Aglu and Glawi, in the Great Atlas, smaller fires arealso kindled, over which the animals are driven. At Demnat girls whowish to marry wash themselves in water which has been boiled over theNew Year fire; and in Dukkala people use the ashes of that fire to rubsore eyes with. New Year fires appear to be commonly kindled among theBerbers who inhabit the western portion of the Great Atlas, and alsoamong the Arabic-speaking tribes of the plains; but Dr. Westermarckfound no traces of such fires among the Arabic-speaking mountaineers ofNorthern Morocco and the Berbers of the Rif province. Further, it shouldbe observed that water ceremonies like those which are practised atMidsummer are very commonly observed in Morocco at the New Year, thatis, on the tenth day of the first month. On the morning of that day(_Ashur_) all water or, according to some people, only spring water isendowed with a magical virtue (_baraka_), especially before sunrise. Hence at that time the people bathe and pour water over each other; insome places they also sprinkle their animals, tents, or rooms. InDukkala some of the New Year water is preserved at home till New Year'sDay (_Ashur_) of next year; some of it is kept to be used as medicine, some of it is poured on the place where the corn is threshed, and someis used to water the money which is to be buried in the ground; for thepeople think that the earth-spirits will not be able to steal the buriedtreasures which have thus been sanctified with the holy water. [559]

[The Midsummer festival in Morocco seems to be of Berber origin. ]

Thus the rites of fire and water which are observed in Morocco atMidsummer and New Year appear to be identical in character andintention, and it seems certain that the duplication of the rites is dueto a conflict between two calendars, namely the old Julian calendar ofthe Romans, which was based on the sun, and the newer Mohammedancalendar of the Arabs, which is based on the moon. For not only was theJulian calendar in use throughout the whole of Northern Africa under theRoman Empire; to this day it is everywhere employed among Mohammedansfor the regulation of agriculture and all the affairs of daily life; itspractical convenience has made it indispensable, and the lunar calendarof orthodox Mohammedanism is scarcely used except for purposes ofchronology. Even the old Latin names of the months are known andemployed, in slightly disguised forms, throughout the whole Moslemworld; and little calendars of the Julian year circulate in manuscriptamong Mohammedans, permitting them to combine the practical advantagesof pagan science with a nominal adherence to orthodox absurdity. [560]Thus the heathen origin of the midsummer festival is too palpable toescape the attention of good Mohammedans, who accordingly frown upon themidsummer bonfires as pagan superstitions, precisely as similarobservances in Europe have often been denounced by orthodoxChristianity. Indeed, many religious people in Morocco entirelydisapprove of the whole of the midsummer ceremonies, maintaining thatthey are all bad; and a conscientious schoolmaster will even refuse hispupils a holiday at midsummer, though the boys sometimes offer him abribe if he will sacrifice his scruples to his avarice. [561] As themidsummer customs appear to flourish among all the Berbers of Moroccobut to be unknown among the pure Arabs who have not been affected byBerber influence, it seems reasonable to infer with Dr. Westermarck thatthe midsummer festival has belonged from time immemorial to the Berberrace, and that so far as it is now observed by the Arabs of Morocco, ithas been learned by them from the Berbers, the old indigenousinhabitants of the country. Dr. Westermarck may also be right in holdingthat, in spite of the close similarity which obtains between themidsummer festival of Europe and the midsummer festival of North Africa, the latter is not a copy of the former, but that both have been handeddown independently from a time beyond the purview of history, when suchceremonies were common to the Mediterranean race. [562]

§ 5. _The Autumn Fires_

[Festivals of fire in August; Russian feast of Florus and Laurus onAugust 18th; "Living fire" made by the friction of wood. ]

In the months which elapse between midsummer and the setting in ofwinter the European festivals of fire appear to be few and unimportant. On the evening of the first day of August, which is the Festival of theCross, bonfires are commonly lit in Macedonia and boys jump over them, shouting, "Dig up! bury!" but whom or what they wish to dig up or burythey do not know. [563] The Russians hold the feast of two martyrs, Florus and Laurus, on the eighteenth day of August, Old Style. "On thisday the Russians lead their horses round the church of their village, beside which on the foregoing evening they dig a hole with two mouths. Each horse has a bridle made of the bark of the linden-tree. The horsesgo through this hole one after the other, opposite to one of the mouthsof which the priest stands with a sprinkler in his hand, with which hesprinkles them. As soon as the horses have passed by their bridles aretaken off, and they are made to go between two fires that they kindle, called by the Russians _Givoy Agon_, that is to say, living fires, ofwhich I shall give an account. I shall before remark, that the Russianpeasantry throw the bridles of their horses into one of these fires tobe consumed. This is the manner of their lighting these _givoy agon_, orliving fires. Some men hold the ends of a stick made of the plane-tree, very dry, and about a fathom long. This stick they hold firmly over oneof birch, perfectly dry, and rub with violence and quickly against theformer; the birch, which is somewhat softer than the plane, in a shorttime inflames, and serves them to light both the fires I havedescribed. "[564]

[Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth of September at Capriand Naples. ]

The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth day of Septemberis celebrated at Naples and Capri with fireworks, bonfires, andassassinations. On this subject my friend Professor A. E. Housman, whowitnessed the celebration in different years at both places, has kindlyfurnished me with the following particulars: "In 1906 I was in theisland of Capri on September the eighth, the feast of the Nativity ofthe Virgin. The anniversary was duly solemnised by fire-works at nine orten in the evening, which I suppose were municipal; but just aftersundown the boys outside the villages were making small fires ofbrushwood on waste bits of ground by the wayside. Very pretty it looked, with the flames blowing about in the twilight; but what took myattention was the listlessness of the boys and their lack of interest inthe proceeding. A single lad, the youngest, would be raking the firetogether and keeping it alight, but the rest stood lounging about andlooking in every other direction, with the air of dischargingmechanically a traditional office from which all zest had evaporated. ""The pious orgy at Naples on September the eighth went through thefollowing phases when I witnessed it in 1897. It began at eight in theevening with an illumination of the façade of Santa Maria Piedigrottaand with the whole population walking about blowing penny trumpets. After four hours of this I went to bed at midnight, and was lulled tosleep by barrel-organs, which supersede the trumpets about that hour. Atfour in the morning I was waked by detonations as if the British fleetwere bombarding the city, caused, I was afterwards told, by dynamiterockets. The only step possible beyond this is assassination, whichaccordingly takes place about peep of day: I forget now the number ofthe slain, but I think the average is eight or ten, and I know that inhonour of my presence they murdered a few more than usual. "

[The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin may have replaced a paganfestival; the coincidence of the Midsummer festival with the summersolstice implies that the founders of the festival regulated theircalendar by observation of the sun. ]

It is no doubt possible that these illuminations and fireworks, like theassassinations, are merely the natural and spontaneous expressions ofthat overflowing joy with which the thought of the birth of the Virginmust fill every pious heart; but when we remember how often the Churchhas skilfully decanted the new wine of Christianity into the old bottlesof heathendom, we may be allowed to conjecture that the ecclesiasticalauthorities adroitly timed the Nativity of the Virgin so as to coincidewith an old pagan festival of that day, in which fire, noise, anduproar, if not broken heads and bloodshed, were conspicuous features. The penny trumpets blown on this occasion recall the like melodiousinstruments which figure so largely in the celebration of Befana (theEve of Epiphany) at Rome. [565]

§ 6. _The Hallowe'en Fires_

[On the other hand the Celts divided their year, not by the solstices, but by the beginning of summer (the first of May) and the beginning ofwinter (the first of November). ]

From the foregoing survey we may infer that among the heathenforefathers of the European peoples the most popular and widespreadfire-festival of the year was the great celebration of Midsummer Eve orMidsummer Day. The coincidence of the festival with the summer solsticecan hardly be accidental. Rather we must suppose that our paganancestors purposely timed the ceremony of fire on earth to coincide withthe arrival of the sun at the highest point of his course in the sky. Ifthat was so, it follows that the old founders of the midsummer rites hadobserved the solstices or turning-points of the sun's apparent path inthe sky, and that they accordingly regulated their festal calendar tosome extent by astronomical considerations. 

[The division seems to have been neither astronomical nor agriculturalbut pastoral, being determined by the times when cattle are driven toand from their summer pasture. ]

But while this may be regarded as fairly certain for what we may callthe aborigines throughout a large part of the continent, it appears notto have been true of the Celtic peoples who inhabited the Land's End ofEurope, the islands and promontories that stretch out into the Atlanticocean on the North-West. The principal fire-festivals of the Celts, which have survived, though in a restricted area and with diminishedpomp, to modern times and even to our own day, were seemingly timedwithout any reference to the position of the sun in the heaven. Theywere two in number, and fell at an interval of six months, one beingcelebrated on the eve of May Day and the other on Allhallow Even orHallowe'en, as it is now commonly called, that is, on the thirty-firstof October, the day preceding All Saints' or Allhallows' Day. Thesedates coincide with none of the four great hinges on which the solaryear revolves, to wit, the solstices and the equinoxes. Nor do theyagree with the principal seasons of the agricultural year, the sowing inspring and the reaping in autumn. For when May Day comes, the seed haslong been committed to the earth; and when November opens, the harvesthas long been reaped and garnered, the fields lie bare, the fruit-treesare stripped, and even the yellow leaves are fast fluttering to theground. Yet the first of May and the first of November markturning-points of the year in Europe; the one ushers in the genial heatand the rich vegetation of summer, the other heralds, if it does notshare, the cold and barrenness of winter. Now these particular points ofthe year, as has been well pointed out by a learned and ingeniouswriter, [566] while they are of comparatively little moment to theEuropean husbandman, do deeply concern the European herdsman; for it ison the approach of summer that he drives his cattle out into the open tocrop the fresh grass, and it is on the approach of winter that he leadsthem back to the safety and shelter of the stall. Accordingly it seemsnot improbable that the Celtic bisection of the year into two halves atthe beginning of May and the beginning of November dates from a timewhen the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent for theirsubsistence on their herds, and when accordingly the great epochs of theyear for them were the days on which the cattle went forth from thehomestead in early summer and returned to it again in early winter. [567]Even in Central Europe, remote from the region now occupied by theCelts, a similar bisection of the year may be clearly traced in thegreat popularity, on the one hand, of May Day and its Eve (WalpurgisNight), and, on the other hand, of the Feast of All Souls at thebeginning of November, which under a thin Christian cloak conceals anancient pagan festival of the dead. [568] Hence we may conjecture thateverywhere throughout Europe the celestial division of the yearaccording to the solstices was preceded by what we may call aterrestrial division of the year according to the beginning of summerand the beginning of winter. 

[The two great Celtic festivals, Beltane and Hallowe'en. ]

Be that as it may, the two great Celtic festivals of May Day and thefirst of November or, to be more accurate, the Eves of these two days, closely resemble each other in the manner of their celebration and inthe superstitions associated with them, and alike, by the antiquecharacter impressed upon both, betray a remote and purely pagan origin. The festival of May Day or Beltane, as the Celts called it, whichushered in summer, has already been described;[569] it remains to givesome account of the corresponding festival of Hallowe'en, whichannounced the arrival of winter. 

[Hallowe'en (the evening of October 31st) seems to have marked thebeginning of the Celtic year; the many forms of divination resorted toat Hallowe'en are appropriate to the beginning of a New Year; Hallowe'enalso a festival of the dead. ]

Of the two feasts Hallowe'en was perhaps of old the more important, since the Celts would seem to have dated the beginning of the year fromit rather than from Beltane. In the Isle of Man, one of the fortressesin which the Celtic language and lore longest held out against the siegeof the Saxon invaders, the first of November, Old Style, has beenregarded as New Year's day down to recent times. Thus Manx mummers usedto go round on Hallowe'en (Old Style), singing, in the Manx language, asort of Hogmanay song which began "To-night is New Year's Night, _Hog-unnaa_!"[570] One of Sir John Rhys's Manx informants, an old man ofsixty-seven, "had been a farm servant from the age of sixteen till hewas twenty-six to the same man, near Regaby, in the parish of Andreas, and he remembers his master and a near neighbour of his discussing theterm New Year's Day as applied to the first of November, and explainingto the younger men that it had always been so in old times. In fact, itseemed to him natural enough, as all tenure of land ends at that time, and as all servant men begin their service then. "[571] In ancientIreland, as we saw, a new fire used to be kindled every year onHallowe'en or the Eve of Samhain, and from this sacred flame all thefires in Ireland were rekindled. [572] Such a custom points strongly toSamhain or All Saints' Day (the first of November) as New Year's Day;since the annual kindling of a new fire takes place most naturally atthe beginning of the year, in order that the blessed influence of thefresh fire may last throughout the whole period of twelve months. Another confirmation of the view that the Celts dated their year fromthe first of November is furnished by the manifold modes of divinationwhich, as we shall see presently, were commonly resorted to by Celticpeoples on Hallowe'en for the purpose of ascertaining their destiny, especially their fortune in the coming year; for when could thesedevices for prying into the future be more reasonably put in practicethan at the beginning of the year? As a season of omens and auguriesHallowe'en seems to have far surpassed Beltane in the imagination of theCelts; from which we may with some probability infer that they reckonedtheir year from Hallowe'en rather than Beltane. Another circumstance ofgreat moment which points to the same conclusion is the association ofthe dead with Hallowe'en. Not only among the Celts but throughoutEurope, Hallowe'en, the night which marks the transition from autumn towinter, seems to have been of old the time of year when the souls of thedeparted were supposed to revisit their old homes in order to warmthemselves by the fire and to comfort themselves with the good cheerprovided for them in the kitchen or the parlour by their affectionatekinsfolk. [573] It was, perhaps, a natural thought that the approach ofwinter should drive the poor shivering hungry ghosts from the barefields and the leafless woodlands to the shelter of the cottage with itsfamiliar fireside. [574] Did not the lowing kine then troop back from thesummer pastures in the forests and on the hills to be fed and cared forin the stalls, while the bleak winds whistled among the swaying boughsand the snow drifts deepened in the hollows? and could the good-man andthe good-wife deny to the spirits of their dead the welcome which theygave to the cows?

[Fairies and Hobgoblins let loose at Hallowe'en. ]

But it is not only the souls of the departed who are supposed to behovering unseen on the day "when autumn to winter resigns the paleyear. " Witches then speed on their errands of mischief, some sweepingthrough the air on besoms, others galloping along the roads ontabby-cats, which for that evening are turned into coal-blacksteeds. [575] The fairies, too, are all let loose, and hobgoblins ofevery sort roam freely about In South Uist and Eriskay there is asaying:--

"_Hallowe'en will come, will come, Witchcraft [or divination] will be set agoing, Fairies will be at full speed, Running in every pass. Avoid the road, children, children_. "[576]

[Dancing with the fairies at Hallowe'en. ]

In Cardiganshire on November Eve a bogie sits on every stile. [577] Onthat night in Ireland all the fairy hills are thrown wide open and thefairies swarm forth; any man who is bold enough may then peep into theopen green hills and see the treasures hidden in them. Worse than that, the cave of Cruachan in Connaught, known as "the Hell-gate of Ireland, "is unbarred on Samhain Eve or Hallowe'en, and a host of horrible fiendsand goblins used to rush forth, particularly a flock of copper-redbirds, which blighted crops and killed animals by their poisonousbreath. [578] The Scotch Highlanders have a special name _Samhanach_(derived from _Samhain_, "All-hallows") for the dreadful bogies that goabout that night stealing babies and committing other atrocities. [579]And though the fairies are a kindlier folk, it is dangerous to see eventhem at their revels on Hallowe'en. A melancholy case of this sort isreported from the Ferintosh district of the Highlands, though others saythat it happened at the Slope of Big Stones in Harris. Two young menwere coming home after nightfall on Hallowe'en, each with a jar ofwhisky on his back, when they saw, as they thought, a house all lit upby the roadside, from which proceeded the sounds of music and dancing. In reality it was not a house at all but a fairy knoll, and it was thefairies who were jigging it about there so merrily. But one of the youngmen was deceived and stepping into the house joined in the dance, without even stopping to put down the jar of whisky. His companion waswiser; he had a shrewd suspicion that the place was not what it seemed, and on entering he took the precaution of sticking a needle in the door. That disarmed the power of the fairies, and he got away safely. Well, that day twelve months he came back to the spot and what should he seebut his poor friend still dancing away with the jar of whisky on hisback? A weary man was he, as you may well believe, but he begged to beallowed to finish the reel which he was in the act of executing, andwhen they took him out into the open air, there was nothing of him leftbut skin and bones. [580] Again, the wicked fairies are apt to carry offmen's wives with them to fairyland; but the lost spouses can berecovered within a year and a day when the procession of the fairies isdefiling past on Hallowe'en, always provided that the mortals did notpartake of elfin food while they were in elfinland. [581]

[Guleesh and the revels of the fairies at Hallowe'en. ]

Sometimes valuable information may be obtained from the fairies onHallowe'en. There was a young man named Guleesh in the County of Mayo. Near his house was a _rath_ or old fort with a fine grass bank runninground it. One Hallowe'en, when the darkness was falling, Guleesh went tothe rath and stood on a gray old flag. The night was calm and still;there was not a breath of wind stirring, nor a sound to be heard exceptthe hum of the insects flitting past, or the whistle of the plovers, orthe hoarse scream of the wild geese as they winged their way faroverhead. Above the white fog the moon rose like a knob of fire in theeast, and a thousand thousand stars were twinkling in the sky. There wasa little frost in the air, the grass was white and crisp and crackledunder foot. Guleesh expected to see the fairies, but they did not come. Hour after hour wore away, and he was just bethinking him of going hometo bed, when his ear caught a sound far off coming towards him, and heknew what it was in a moment. The sound grew louder and louder; at firstit was like the beating of waves on a stony shore, then it was like theroar of a waterfall, at last it was like a mighty rushing wind in thetops of the trees, then the storm burst upon the rath, and sure enoughthe fairies were in it. The rout went by so suddenly that Guleesh losthis breath; but he came to himself and listened. The fairies were nowgathered within the grassy bank of the rath, and a fine uproar theymade. But Guleesh listened with all his ears, and he heard one fairysaying to another that a magic herb grew by Guleesh's own door, and thatGuleesh had nothing to do but pluck it and boil it and give it to hissweetheart, the daughter of the King of France, and she would be well, for just then she was lying very ill. Guleesh took the hint, andeverything went as the fairy had said. And he married the daughter ofthe King of France; and they had never a cark nor a care, a sickness nora sorrow, a mishap nor a misfortune to the day of their death. [582]

[Divination resorted to in Celtic countries at Hallowe'en. ]

In all Celtic countries Hallowe'en seems to have been the great seasonof the year for prying into the future; all kinds of divination were putin practice that night. We read that Dathi, a king of Ireland in thefifth century, happening to be at the Druids' Hill (_Cnoc-nan-druad_) inthe county of Sligo one Hallowe'en, ordered his druid to forecast forhim the future from that day till the next Hallowe'en should come round. The druid passed the night on the top of the hill, and next morning madea prediction to the king which came true. [583] In Wales Hallowe'en wasthe weirdest of all the _Teir Nos Ysbrydion_, or Three Spirit Nights, when the wind, "blowing over the feet of the corpses, " bore sighs to thehouses of those who were to die within the year. People thought that ifon that night they went out to a cross-road and listened to the wind, they would learn all the most important things that would befall themduring the next twelve months. [584] In Wales, too, not so long ago womenused to congregate in the parish churches on the night of Hallowe'en andread their fate from the flame of the candle which each of them held inher hand; also they heard the names or saw the coffins of theparishioners who would die within the year, and many were the sad scenesto which these gloomy visions gave rise. [585] And in the Highlands ofScotland anybody who pleased could hear proclaimed aloud the names ofparishioners doomed to perish within the next twelve months, if he wouldonly take a three-legged stool and go and sit on it at threecross-roads, while the church clock was striking twelve at midnight onHallowe'en. It was even in his power to save the destined victims fromtheir doom by taking with him articles of wearing apparel and throwingthem away, one by one, as each name was called out by the mysteriousvoice. [586]

[Hallowe'en bonfires in the Highlands of Scotland; John Ramsay's accountof the Hallowe'en bonfires; divination from stones at the fire;Hallowe'en fires in the parishes of Callander and Logierait. ]

But while a glamour of mystery and awe has always clung to Hallowe'en inthe minds of the Celtic peasantry, the popular celebration of thefestival has been, at least in modern times, by no means of aprevailingly gloomy cast; on the contrary it has been attended bypicturesque features and merry pastimes, which rendered it the gayestnight of all the year. Amongst the things which in the Highlands ofScotland contributed to invest the festival with a romantic beauty werethe bonfires which used to blaze at frequent intervals on the heights. "On the last day of autumn children gathered ferns, tar-barrels, thelong thin stalks called _gàinisg_, and everything suitable for abonfire. These were placed in a heap on some eminence near the house, and in the evening set fire to. The fires were called _Samhnagan_. Therewas one for each house, and it was an object of ambition who should havethe biggest. Whole districts were brilliant with bonfires, and theirglare across a Highland loch, and from many eminences, formed anexceedingly picturesque scene. "[587] Like the Beltane fires on the firstof May, the Hallowe'en bonfires seem to have been kindled most commonlyin the Perthshire Highlands. Travelling in the parish of Moulin, nearPitlochrie, in the year 1772, the Englishman Thomas Pennant writes that"Hallow Eve is also kept sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person setsfire to a bush of broom fastened round a pole, and, attended with acrowd, runs about the village. He then flings it down, heaps greatquantity of combustible matters on it, and makes a great bonfire. Awhole tract is thus illuminated at the same time, and makes a fineappearance. "[588] The custom has been described more fully by aScotchman of the eighteenth century, John Ramsay of Ochtertyre. On theevening of Hallowe'en "the young people of every hamlet assembled uponsome eminence near the houses. There they made a bonfire of ferns orother fuel, cut the same day, which from the feast was called _Samh-nag_or _Savnag_, a fire of rest and pleasure. Around it was placed a circleof stones, one for each person of the families to whom they belonged. And when it grew dark the bonfire was kindled, at which a loud shout wasset up. Then each person taking a torch of ferns or sticks in his hand, ran round the fire exulting; and sometimes they went into the adjacentfields, where, if there was another company, they visited the bonfire, taunting the others if inferior in any respect to themselves. After thefire was burned out they returned home, where a feast was prepared, andthe remainder of the evening was spent in mirth and diversions ofvarious kinds. Next morning they repaired betimes to the bonfire, wherethe situation of the stones was examined with much attention. If any ofthem were misplaced, or if the print of a foot could be discerned nearany particular stone, it was imagined that the person for whom it wasset would not live out the year. Of late years this is less attended to, but about the beginning of the present century it was regarded as a sureprediction. The Hallowe'en fire is still kept up in some parts of theLow country; but on the western coast and in the Isles it is neverkindled, though the night is spent in merriment andentertainments. "[589] In the Perthshire parish of Callander, whichincludes the now famous pass of the Trossachs opening out on the windingand wooded shores of the lovely Loch Katrine, the Hallowe'en bonfireswere still kindled down to near the end of the eighteenth century. Whenthe fire had died down, the ashes were carefully collected in the formof a circle, and a stone was put in, near the circumference, for everyperson of the several families interested in the bonfire. Next morning, if any of these stones was found to be displaced or injured, the peoplemade sure that the person represented by it was _fey_ or devoted, andthat he could not live twelve months from that day. [590] In the parishof Logierait, which covers the beautiful valley of the Tummel, one ofthe fairest regions of all Scotland, the Hallowe'en fire was somewhatdifferent. Faggots of heath, broom, and the dressings of flax werekindled and carried on poles by men, who ran with them round thevillages, attended by a crowd. As soon as one faggot was burnt out, afresh one was lighted and fastened to the pole. Numbers of these blazingfaggots were often carried about together, and when the night happenedto be dark, they formed a splendid illumination. [591]

[Hallowe'en fires on Loch Tay; Hallowe'en fires at Balquhidder. ]

Nor did the Hallowe'en fires die out in Perthshire with the end of theeighteenth century. Journeying from Dunkeld to Aberfeldy on Hallowe'enin the first half of the nineteenth century, Sheriff Barclay countedthirty fires blazing on the hill tops, and saw the figures of the peopledancing like phantoms round the flames. [592] Again, "in 1860, I wasresiding near the head of Loch Tay during the season of the Hallowe'enfeast. For several days before Hallowe'en, boys and youths collectedwood and conveyed it to the most prominent places on the hill sides intheir neighbourhood. Some of the heaps were as large as a corn-stack orhayrick. After dark on Hallowe'en, these heaps were kindled, and forseveral hours both sides of Loch Tay were illuminated as far as the eyecould see. I was told by old men that at the beginning of this centurymen as well as boys took part in getting up the bonfires, and that, whenthe fire was ablaze, all joined hands and danced round the fire, andmade a great noise; but that, as these gatherings generally ended indrunkenness and rough and dangerous fun, the ministers set their facesagainst the observance, and were seconded in their efforts by the moreintelligent and well-behaved in the community; and so the practice wasdiscontinued by adults and relegated to school boys. "[593] AtBalquhidder down to the latter part of the nineteenth century eachhousehold kindled its bonfire at Hallowe'en, but the custom was chieflyobserved by children. The fires were lighted on any high knoll near thehouse; there was no dancing round them. [594]

[Hallowe'en fires in Buchan to burn the witches; processions withtorches at Hallowe'en in the Braemar Highlands. ]

Hallowe'en fires were also lighted in some districts of the north-eastof Scotland, such as Buchan. Villagers and farmers alike must have theirfire. In the villages the boys went from house to house and begged apeat from each householder, usually with the words, "Ge's a peat t' burnthe witches. " In some villages the lads collected the peats in a cart, some of them drawing it along and the others receiving the peats andloading them on the cart. Along with the peats they accumulated straw, furze, potato haulm, everything that would burn quickly, and when theyhad got enough they piled it all in a heap and set it on fire. Then eachof the youths, one after another, laid himself down on the ground asnear to the fire as he could without being scorched, and thus lyingallowed the smoke to roll over him. The others ran through the smoke andjumped over their prostrate comrade. When the heap was burned down, theyscattered the ashes. Each one took a share in this part of the ceremony, giving a kick first with the right foot and then with the left; and eachvied with the other who should scatter the most. After that some of themstill continued to run through the scattered ashes and to pelt eachother with the half-burned peats. At each farm a spot as high aspossible, not too near the steading, was chosen for the fire, and theproceedings were much the same as at the village bonfire. The lads ofone farm, when their own fire was burned down and the ashes scattered, sometimes went to a neighbouring fire and helped to kick the ashesabout. [595] Referring to this part of Scotland, a writer at the end ofthe eighteenth century observes that "the Hallow-even fire, anotherrelict of druidism, was kindled in Buchan. Various magic ceremonies werethen celebrated to counteract the influence of witches and demons, andto prognosticate to the young their success or disappointment in thematrimonial lottery. These being devoutly finished, the hallow fire waskindled, and guarded by the male part of the family. Societies wereformed, either by pique or humour, to scatter certain fires, and theattack and defence were often conducted with art and with fury. "[596]Down to about the middle of the nineteenth century "the BraemarHighlanders made the circuit of their fields with lighted torches atHallowe'en to ensure their fertility in the coming year. At that datethe custom was as follows: Every member of the family (in those dayshouseholds were larger than they are now) was provided with a bundle offir 'can'les' with which to go the round. The father and mother stood atthe hearth and lit the splints in the peat fire, which they passed tothe children and servants, who trooped out one after the other, andproceeded to tread the bounds of their little property, going slowlyround at equal distances apart, and invariably with the sun. To go'withershins' seems to have been reserved for cursing andexcommunication. When the fields had thus been circumambulated theremaining spills were thrown together in a heap and allowed to burnout. "[597]

[Divination at Hallow-e'en in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland;the stolen kail; sowing hemp seed; the winnowing basket; the wet shirt;the thrown shoe. ]

In the Highlands of Scotland, as the evening of Hallowe'en wore on, young people gathered in one of the houses and resorted to an almostendless variety of games, or rather forms of divination, for the purposeof ascertaining the future fate of each member of the company. Were theyto marry or remain single, was the marriage to take place that year ornever, who was to be married first, what sort of husband or wife she orhe was to get, the name, the trade, the colour of the hair, the amountof property of the future spouse--these were questions that were eagerlycanvassed and the answers to them furnished never-failingentertainment. [598] Nor were these modes of divination at Hallowe'enconfined to the Highlands, where the bonfires were kindled; they werepractised with equal faith and in practically the same forms in theLowlands, as we learn, for example, from Burns's poem _Hallowe'en_, which describes the auguries drawn from a variety of omens by theAyrshire peasantry. These Lowlanders of Saxon descent may well haveinherited the rites from the Celts who preceded them in the possessionof the south country. A common practice at Hallowe'en was to go outstealthily to a neighbour's kailyard and there, with shut eyes, to pullup the first kail stock that came to hand. It was necessary that theplants should be stolen without the knowledge or consent of their owner;otherwise they were quite useless for the purpose of divination. Strictly speaking, too, the neighbour upon whose garden the raid wasmade should be unmarried, whether a bachelor or a spinster. The stolenkail was taken home and examined, and according to its height, shape, and features would be the height, shape, and features of the futurehusband or wife. The taste of the _custock_, that is, the heart of thestem, was an infallible indication of his or her temper; and a clod ofearth adhering to the root signified, in proportion to its size, theamount of property which he or she would bring to the common stock. Thenthe kail-stock or _runt_, as it was called in Ayrshire, was placed overthe lintel of the door; and the baptismal name of the young man or womanwho first entered the door after the kail was in position would be thebaptismal name of the husband or wife. [599] Again, young women sowedhemp seed over nine ridges of ploughed land, saying, "I sow hemp seed, and he who is to be my husband, let him come and harrow it. " On lookingback over her left shoulder the girl would see the figure of her futuremate behind her in the darkness. In the north-east of Scotland lint seedwas used instead of hemp seed and answered the purpose quite aswell. [600] Again, a mode of ascertaining your future husband or wife wasthis. Take a clue of blue yarn and go to a lime-kiln. Throw the clueinto the kiln, but keep one end of the thread in your hand and wind iton to another clue. As you come near the end somebody or something willhold the other end tight in the kiln. Then you call out, "Who holds?"giving the thread at the same time a gentle pull. Some one or somethingwill thereupon pull the other end of the thread, and a voice willmention the name of your future husband or wife. [601] Another way isthis. Go to the barn alone and secretly. Be sure to open both doors andif possible take them off their hinges; for if the being who is about toappear should catch you in the barn and clap the doors to on you, he orshe might do you a mischief. Having done this, take the sieve orwinnowing-basket, which in Lowland Scotch is called a _wecht_ or_waicht_, and go through the action of winnowing corn. Repeat it thrice, and at the third time the apparition of your future husband or wife willpass through the barn, entering at the windy door and passing out at theother. [602] Or this. Go to a southward running stream, where the landsof three lairds meet, or to a ford where the dead and living havecrossed. Dip the left sleeve of your shirt in the water. Then go home, take off the shirt, hang it up before a fire to dry, and go to bed, taking care that the bed stands so that you can see your shirt hangingbefore the fire. Keep awake, and at midnight you will see the form ofyour future spouse come into the room and turn the other side of thesleeve to the fire to dry it. [603] A Highland form of divination atHallowe'en is to take a shoe by the tip and throw it over the house, then observe the direction in which the toe points as it lies on theground on the other side; for in that direction you are destined to gobefore long. If the shoe should fall sole uppermost, it is very unluckyfor you. [604]

[The white of eggs in water; the names on the chimney piece; the nuts inthe fire; the milk and meal; the apples in the water; the three plates. ]

These ways of prying into the future are practised outside of the house;others are observed in the kitchen or the parlour before the cheerfulblaze of the fire. Thus the white of eggs, dropped in a glass of purewater, indicates by certain marks how many children a person will have. The impatience and clamour of the children, eager to ascertain the exactnumber of their future progeny, often induced the housewife to performthis ceremony for them by daylight; and the kindly mother, standing withher face to the window, dropping the white of an egg into a crystalglass of clean water, and surrounded by a group of children intentlywatching her proceedings, made up a pretty picture. [605] When the fun ofthe evening had fairly commenced, the names of eligible or likelymatches were written on the chimney-piece, and the young man who wishedto try his fortune was led up blindfolded to the list. Whatever name heput his finger on would prove that of his future wife. [606] Again, twonuts, representing a lad and a lass whose names were announced to thecompany, were put side by side in the fire. If they burned quietlytogether, the pair would be man and wife, and from the length of timethey burned and the brightness of the flame the length and happiness ofthe married life of the two were augured. But if instead of burningtogether one of the nuts leaped away from the other, then there would beno marriage, and the blame would rest with the person whose nut had thusstarted away by itself. [607] Again, a dish of milk and meal (in Gaelic_fuarag_, in Lowland Scotch _crowdie_) or of beat potatoes was made anda ring was hidden in it. Spoons were served out to the company, whosupped the contents of the dish hastily with them, and the one who gotthe ring would be the first to be married. [608] Again, apples and asilver sixpence were put in a tub of water; the apples naturally floatedon the top and the sixpence sank to the bottom. Whoever could lift anapple or the sixpence from the water with his mouth, without using histeeth, was counted very lucky and got the prize to himself. [609] Again, three plates or basins were placed on the hearth. One was filled withclean water, another with dirty water, and the third was empty. Theenquirer was blindfolded, knelt in front of the hearth, and groped abouttill he put his finger in one of them. If he lighted on the plate withthe clean water, he would wed a maid; if on the plate with the dirtywater, he would marry a widow; and if on the empty plate, he wouldremain a bachelor. For a girl the answer of the oracle was analogous;she would marry a bachelor, a widower, or nobody according to the plateinto which she chanced to dip her finger. But to make sure, theoperation had to be repeated thrice, the position of the plates beingchanged each time. If the enquirer put his or her finger into the sameplate thrice or even twice, it was quite conclusive. [610]

[The sliced apple; the white of egg in water; the salt cake or saltherring. ]

These forms of divination in the house were practised by the company ina body; but the following had to be performed by the person alone. Youtook an apple and stood with it in your hand in front of alooking-glass. Then you sliced the apple, stuck each slice on the pointof the knife, and held it over your left shoulder, while you looked intothe glass and combed your hair. The spectre of your future husband wouldthen appear in the mirror stretching forth his hand to take the slicesof the apple over your shoulder. Some say that the number of slicesshould be nine, that you should eat the first eight yourself, and onlythrow the ninth over your left shoulder for your husband; also that ateach slice you should say, "In the name of the Father and the Son. "[611]Again, take an egg, prick it with a pin, and let the white drop into awine-glass nearly full of water. Take some of this in your mouth and goout for a walk. The first name you hear called out aloud will be that ofyour future husband or wife. An old woman told a lady that she had triedthis mode of divination in her youth, that the name of Archibald "cameup as it were from the very ground, " and that Archibald sure enough wasthe name of her husband. [612] In South Uist and Eriskay, two of theouter Hebrides, a salt cake called _Bonnach Salainn_ is eaten atHallowe'en to induce dreams that will reveal the future. It is baked ofcommon meal with a great deal of salt. After eating it you may not drinkwater nor utter a word, not even to say your prayers. A salt herring, eaten bones and all in three bites, is equally efficacious, alwaysprovided that you drink no water and hold your tongue. [613]

[Hallowe'en fires in Wales; omens drawn from stones thrown into thefire; divination by stones in the ashes. ]

In the northern part of Wales it used to be customary for every familyto make a great bonfire called _Coel Coeth_ on Hallowe'en. The fire waskindled on the most conspicuous spot near the house; and when it hadnearly gone out everyone threw into the ashes a white stone, which hehad first marked. Then having said their prayers round the fire, theywent to bed. Next morning, as soon as they were up, they came to searchout the stones, and if any one of them was found to be missing, they hada notion that the person who threw it would die before he saw anotherHallowe'en. [614] A writer on Wales at the beginning of the nineteenthcentury says that "the autumnal fire is still kindled in North Wales, being on the eve of the first day of November, and is attended by manyceremonies; such as running through the fire and smoke, each casting astone into the fire, and all running off at the conclusion to escapefrom the black short-tailed sow; then supping upon parsnips, nuts, andapples; catching up an apple suspended by a string with the mouth alone, and the same by an apple in a tub of water: each throwing a nut into thefire; and those that burn bright, betoken prosperity to the ownersthrough the following year, but those that burn black and crackle, denote misfortune. On the following morning the stones are searched forin the fire, and if any be missing, they betide ill to those who threwthem in. "[615] According to Sir John Rhys, the habit of celebratingHallowe'en by lighting bonfires on the hills is perhaps not yet extinctin Wales, and men still living can remember how the people who assistedat the bonfires would wait till the last spark was out and then wouldsuddenly take to their heels, shouting at the top of their voices, "Thecropped black sow seize the hindmost!" The saying, as Sir John Rhysjustly remarks, implies that originally one of the company became avictim in dead earnest. Down to the present time the saying is currentin Carnarvonshire, where allusions to the cutty black sow are stilloccasionally made to frighten children. [616] We can now understand whyin Lower Brittany every person throws a pebble into the midsummerbonfire. [617] Doubtless there, as in Wales and the Highlands ofScotland, [618] omens of life and death have at one time or other beendrawn from the position and state of the pebbles on the morning of AllSaints' Day. The custom, thus found among three separate branches of theCeltic stock, probably dates from a period before their dispersion, orat least from a time when alien races had not yet driven home the wedgesof separation between them. 

[Divination as to love and marriage at Hallowe'en in Wales. ]

In Wales, as in Scotland, Hallowe'en was also the great season forforecasting the future in respect of love and marriage, and some of theforms of divination employed for this purpose resembled those which werein use among the Scotch peasantry. Two girls, for example, would make alittle ladder of yarn, without breaking it from the ball, and havingdone so they would throw it out of the window. Then one of the girls, holding the ball in her hand, would wind the yarn back, repeating arhyme in Welsh. This she did thrice, and as she wound the yarn she wouldsee her future husband climbing up the little ladder. Again, three bowlsor basins were placed on a table. One of them contained clean water, onedirty water, and one was empty. The girls of the household, andsometimes the boys too, then eagerly tried their fortunes. They wereblindfolded, led up to the table, and dipped their hands into a bowl. Ifthey happened to dip into the clean water, they would marry maidens orbachelors; if into the dirty water, they would be widowers or widows; ifinto the empty bowl, they would live unmarried. Again, if a girl, walking backwards, would place a knife among the leeks on Hallowe'en, she would see her future husband come and pick up the knife and throw itinto the middle of the garden. [619]

[Divination at Hallowe'en in Ireland. ]

In Ireland the Hallowe'en bonfires would seem to have died out, but theHallowe'en divination has survived. Writing towards the end of theeighteenth century, General Vallancey tells us that on Hallowe'en or thevigil of Saman, as he calls it, "the peasants in Ireland assemble withsticks and clubs (the emblems of laceration) going from house to house, collecting money, bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc. , etc. , for thefeast, repeating verses in honour of the solemnity, demandingpreparations for the festival, in the name of St. Columb Kill, desiringthem to lay aside the fatted calf, and to bring forth the black sheep. The good women are employed in making the griddle cake and candles;these last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and are lightedup on the (Saman) next day, before which they pray, or are supposed topray, for the departed souls of the donor. Every house abounds in thebest viands they can afford: apples and nuts are devoured in abundance:the nut-shells are burnt, and from the ashes many strange things areforetold: cabbages are torn up by the root: hemp seed is sown by themaidens, and they believe, that if they look back, they will see theapparition of the man intended for their future spouse: they hang asmock before the fire, on the close of the feast, and sit up all night, concealed in a corner of the room, convinced that his apparition willcome down the chimney and turn the smock: they throw a ball of yarn outof the window, and wind it on the reel within, convinced, that if theyrepeat the _Pater Noster_ backwards, and look at the ball of yarnwithout, they will then also see his _sith_ or apparition: they dip forapples in a tub of water, and endeavour to bring one up in the mouth:they suspend a cord with a cross-stick, with apples at one point, andcandles lighted at the other, and endeavour to catch the apple, while itis in a circular motion, in the mouth. These, and many othersuperstitious ceremonies, the remains of Druidism, are observed on thisholiday, which will never be eradicated, while the name of _Saman_ ispermitted to remain. "[620]

[Divination at Hallow-e'en in Queen's County; divination at Hallow-e'enin County Leitrim; divination at Hallowe'en in County Roscommon. ]

In Queen's County, Ireland, down to the latter part of the nineteenthcentury children practised various of these rites of divination onHallowe'en. Girls went out into the garden blindfold and pulled upcabbages: if the cabbage was well grown, the girl would have a handsomehusband, but if it had a crooked stalk, the future spouse would be astingy old man. Nuts, again, were placed in pairs on the bar of thefire, and from their behaviour omens were drawn of the fate in love andmarriage of the couple whom they represented. Lead, also, was melted andallowed to drop into a tub of cold water, and from the shapes which itassumed in the water predictions were made to the children of theirfuture destiny. Again, apples were bobbed for in a tub of water andbrought up with the teeth; or a stick was hung from a hook with an appleat one end and a candle at the other, and the stick being made torevolve you made a bite at the apple and sometimes got a mouthful ofcandle instead. [621] In County Leitrim, also, down to near the end ofthe nineteenth century various forms of divination were practised atHallowe'en. Girls ascertained the character of their future husbands bythe help of cabbages just as in Queen's County. Again, if a girl found abranch of a briar-thorn which had bent over and grown into the ground soas to form a loop, she would creep through the loop thrice late in theevening in the devil's name, then cut the briar and put it under herpillow, all without speaking a word. Then she would lay her head on thepillow and dream of the man she was to marry. Boys, also, would dream inlike manner of love and marriage at Hallowe'en, if only they wouldgather ten leaves of ivy without speaking, throw away one, and put theother nine under their pillow. Again, divination was practised by meansof a cake called _barm-breac_, in which a nut and a ring were baked. Whoever got the ring would be married first; whoever got the nut wouldmarry a widow or a widower; but if the nut were an empty shell, he orshe would remain unwed. Again, a girl would take a clue of worsted, goto a lime kiln in the gloaming, and throw the clew into the kiln in thedevil's name, while she held fast the other end of the thread. Then shewould rewind the thread and ask, "Who holds my clue?" and the name ofher future husband would come up from the depth of the kiln. Another waywas to take a rake, go to a rick and walk round it nine times, saying, "I rake this rick in the devil's name. " At the ninth time the wraith ofyour destined partner for life would come and take the rake out of yourhand. Once more, before the company separated for the night, they wouldrake the ashes smooth on the hearth, and search them next morning fortracks, from which they judged whether anybody should come to the house, or leave it, or die in it before another year was out. [622] In CountyRoscommon, which borders on County Leitrim, a cake is made in nearlyevery house on Hallowe'en, and a ring, a coin, a sloe, and a chip ofwood are put into it. Whoever gets the coin will be rich; whoever getsthe ring will be married first; whoever gets the chip of wood, whichstands for a coffin, will die first; and whoever gets the sloe will livelongest, because the fairies blight the sloes in the hedges onHallowe'en, so that the sloe in the cake will be the last of the year. Again, on the same mystic evening girls take nine grains of oats intheir mouths, and going out without speaking walk about till they hear aman's name pronounced; it will be the name of their future husband. InCounty Roscommon, too, on Hallowe'en there is the usual dipping in waterfor apples or sixpences, and the usual bites at a revolving apple andtallow candle. [623]

[Hallowe'en fires in the Isle of Man; divination at Hallowe'en in theIsle of Man. ]

In the Isle of Man also, another Celtic country, Hallow-e'en wascelebrated down to modern times by the kindling of fires, accompaniedwith all the usual ceremonies designed to prevent the baneful influenceof fairies and witches. Bands of young men perambulated the island bynight, and at the door of every dwelling-house they struck up a Manxrhyme, beginning

"_Noght oie howney hop-dy-naw_, "

that is to say, "This is Hollantide Eve. " For Hollantide is the Manx wayof expressing the old English _All hallowen tide_, that is, All Saints'Day, the first of November. But as the people reckon this festivalaccording to the Old Style, Hollantide in the Isle of Man is our twelfthof November. The native Manx name for the day is _Sauin_ or _LaaHouney_. Potatoes, parsnips and fish, pounded up together and mixed withbutter, formed the proper evening meal (_mrastyr_) on Hallowe'en in theIsle of Man. [624] Here, too, as in Scotland forms of divination arepractised by some people on this important evening. For example, thehousewife fills a thimble full of salt for each member of the family andeach guest; the contents of the thimblefuls are emptied out in as manyneat little piles on a plate, and left there over night. Next morningthe piles are examined, and if any of them has fallen down, he or shewhom it represents will die within the year. Again, the women carefullysweep out the ashes from under the fireplace and flatten them downneatly on the open hearth. If they find next morning a footprint turnedtowards the door, it signifies a death in the family within the year;but if the footprint is turned in the opposite direction, it bodes amarriage. Again, divination by eavesdropping is practised in the Isle ofMan in much the same way as in Scotland. You go out with your mouth fullof water and your hands full of salt and listen at a neighbour's door, and the first name you hear will be the name of your husband. Again, Manx maids bandage their eyes and grope about the room till they diptheir hands in vessels full of clean or dirty water, and so on; and fromthe thing they touch they draw corresponding omens. But some people inthe Isle of Man observe these auguries, not on Hallowe'en or HollantideEve, as they call it, which was the old Manx New Year's Eve, but on themodern New Year's Eve, that is, on the thirty-first of December. Thechange no doubt marks a transition from the ancient to the modern modeof dating the beginning of the year. [625]

[Hallowe'en fires and divination in Lancashire; candles lighted to keepoff the witches; divination at Hallowe'en in Northumberland; Hallowe'enfires in France. ]

In Lancashire, also, some traces of the old Celtic celebration ofHallowe'en have been reported in modern times. It is said that "firesare still lighted in Lancashire, on Hallowe'en, under the name ofBeltains or Teanlas; and even such cakes as the Jews are said to havemade in honour of the Queen of Heaven, are yet to be found at thisseason amongst the inhabitants of the banks of the Ribble. .. . Both thefires and the cakes, however, are now connected with superstitiousnotions respecting Purgatory, etc. "[626] On Hallowe'en, too, theLancashire maiden "strews the ashes which are to take the form of one ormore letters of her lover's name; she throws hemp-seed over her shoulderand timidly glances to see who follows her. "[627] Again, witches inLancashire used to gather on Hallowe'en at the Malkin Tower, a ruinedand desolate farm-house in the forest of Pendle. They assembled for nogood purpose; but you could keep the infernal rout at bay by carrying alighted candle about the fells from eleven to twelve o'clock at night. The witches tried to blow out the candle, and if they succeeded, so muchthe worse for you; but if the flame burned steadily till the clocks hadstruck midnight, you were safe. Some people performed the ceremony bydeputy; and parties went about from house to house in the eveningcollecting candles, one for each inmate, and offering their services to_late_ or _leet_ the witches, as the phrase ran. This custom waspractised at Longridge Fell in the early part of the nineteenthcentury. [628] In Northumberland on Hallowe'en omens of marriage weredrawn from nuts thrown into the fire; and the sports of ducking forapples and biting at a revolving apple and lighted candle were alsopractised on that evening. [629] The equivalent of the Hallowe'enbonfires is reported also from France. We are told that in thedepartment of Deux-Sèvres, which forms part of the old province ofPoitou, young people used to assemble in the fields on All Saints' Day(the first of November) and kindle great fires of ferns, thorns, leaves, and stubble, at which they roasted chestnuts. They also danced round thefires and indulged in noisy pastimes. [630]

§ 7. _The Midwinter Fires_

[A Midwinter festival of fire; Christmas the continuation of an oldheathen festival of the sun. ]

If the heathen of ancient Europe celebrated, as we have good reason tobelieve, the season of Midsummer with a great festival of fire, of whichthe traces have survived in many places down to our own time, it isnatural to suppose that they should have observed with similar rites thecorresponding season of Midwinter; for Midsummer and Midwinter, or, inmore technical language, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, are the two great turning-points in the sun's apparent course throughthe sky, and from the standpoint of primitive man nothing might seemmore appropriate than to kindle fires on earth at the two moments whenthe fire and heat of the great luminary in heaven begin to wane or towax. In this way the savage philosopher, to whose meditations on thenature of things we owe many ancient customs and ceremonies, mighteasily imagine that he helped the labouring sun to relight his dyinglamp, or at all events to blow up the flame into a brighter blaze. Certain it is that the winter solstice, which the ancients erroneouslyassigned to the twenty-fifth of December, was celebrated in antiquity asthe Birthday of the Sun, and that festal lights or fires were kindled onthis joyful occasion. Our Christmas festival is nothing but acontinuation under a Christian name of this old solar festivity; for theecclesiastical authorities saw fit, about the end of the third or thebeginning of the fourth century, arbitrarily to transfer the nativity ofChrist from the sixth of January to the twenty-fifth of December, forthe purpose of diverting to their Lord the worship which the heathen hadhitherto paid on that day to the sun. [631]

[The Yule log is the Midwinter counterpart of the Midsummer bonfire. ]

In modern Christendom the ancient fire-festival of the winter solsticeappears to survive, or to have survived down to recent years, in the oldcustom of the Yule log, clog, or block, as it was variously called inEngland. [632] The custom was widespread in Europe, but seems to haveflourished especially in England, France, and among the South Slavs; atleast the fullest accounts of the custom come from these quarters. Thatthe Yule log was only the winter counterpart of the Midsummer bonfire, kindled within doors instead of in the open air on account of the coldand inclement weather of the season, was pointed out long ago by ourEnglish antiquary John Brand;[633] and the view is supported by the manyquaint superstitions attaching to the Yule log, superstitions which haveno apparent connexion with Christianity but carry their heathen originplainly stamped upon them. But while the two solstitial celebrationswere both festivals of fire, the necessity or desirability of holdingthe winter celebration within doors lent it the character of a privateor domestic festivity, which contrasts strongly with the publicity ofthe summer celebration, at which the people gathered on some open spaceor conspicuous height, kindled a huge bonfire in common, and danced andmade merry round it together. 

[The Yule log in Germany; the Yule log in Switzerland. ]

Among the Germans the custom of the Yule log is known to have beenobserved in the eleventh century; for in the year 1184 the parish priestof Ahlen, in Münsterland, spoke of "bringing a tree to kindle the festalfire at the Lord's Nativity. "[634] Down to about the middle of thenineteenth century the old rite was kept up in some parts of centralGermany, as we learn from an account of it given by a contemporarywriter. After mentioning the custom of feeding the cattle and shakingthe fruit-trees on Christmas night, to make them bear fruit, he goes onas follows: "Other customs pointing back to the far-off times ofheathendom may still be met with among the old-fashioned peasants of themountain regions. Such is in the valleys of the Sieg and Lahn thepractice of laying a new log as a foundation of the hearth. A heavyblock of oak-wood, generally a stump grubbed up from the ground, isfitted either into the floor of the hearth, or into a niche made for thepurpose in the wall under the hook on which the kettle hangs. When thefire on the hearth glows, this block of wood glows too, but it is soplaced that it is hardly reduced to ashes within a year. When the newfoundation is laid, the remains of the old block are carefully takenout, ground to powder, and strewed over the fields during the TwelveNights. This, so people fancied, promotes the fruitfulness of the year'scrops. "[635] In some parts of the Eifel Mountains, to the west ofCoblentz, a log of wood called the _Christbrand_ used to be placed onthe hearth on Christmas Eve; and the charred remains of it on TwelfthNight were put in the corn-bin to keep the mice from devouring thecorn. [636] At Weidenhausen and Girkshausen, in Westphalia, the practicewas to withdraw the Yule log (_Christbrand_) from the fire so soon as itwas slightly charred; it was then kept carefully to be replaced on thefire whenever a thunder-storm broke, because the people believed thatlightning would not strike a house in which the Yule log wassmouldering. [637] In some villages near Berleburg in Westphalia the oldcustom was to tie up the Yule log in the last sheaf cut at harvest. [638]On Christmas Eve the peasantry of the Oberland, in Meiningen, a provinceof Central Germany, used to put a great block of wood called the_Christklots_ on the fire before they went to bed; it should burn allnight, and the charred remains were believed to guard the house for thewhole year against the risk of fire, burglary, and othermisfortunes. [639] The Yule log seems to be known only in theFrench-speaking parts of Switzerland, where it goes by the usual Frenchname of _Bûche de Noël_. In the Jura mountains of the canton of Bern, while the log is burning on the hearth the people sing a blessing overit as follows:--

"_May the log burn!May all good come in!May the women have childrenAnd the sheep lambs!White bread for every oneAnd the vat full of wine_!"

The embers of the Yule log were kept carefully, for they were believedto be a protection against lightning. [640]

[The Yule log in Belgium. ]

"The Christmas fires, which were formerly lit everywhere in the LowCountries, have fallen into disuse. But in Flanders a great log of wood, called the _kersavondblok_ and usually cut from the roots of a fir or abeech, is still put on the fire; all the lights in the house areextinguished, and the whole family gathers round the log to spend partof the night in singing, in telling stories, especially about ghosts, were-wolves, and so on, and also in drinking gin. At Grammont and in theneighbourhood of that town, where the Yule log is called _Kersmismot_, it is customary to set fire to the remainder of the gin at the momentwhen the log is reduced to ashes. Elsewhere a piece of the log is keptand put under the bed to protect the house against thunder andlightning. The charcoal of the log which burned during Christmas Night, if pounded up and mixed with water, is a cure for consumption. In thecountry of Limburg the log burns several nights, and the poundedcharcoal is kept as a preventive (so they say), of toothache. "[641]

[The Yule log in France. ]

In several provinces of France, and particularly in Provence, the customof the Yule log or _tréfoir_, as it was called in many places, was longobserved. A French writer of the seventeenth century tells us that onChristmas Eve the log was prepared, and when the whole family hadassembled in the kitchen or parlour of the house, they went and broughtit in, walking in procession and singing Provençal verses to thefollowing effect:--

"_Let the log rejoice, To-morrow is the day of bread;Let all good enter here;Let the women bear children;Let the she-goats bring forth kids;Let the ewes drop lambs;Let there be much wheat and flour, And the vat full of wine_. "

Then the log was blessed by the smallest and youngest child of thehouse, who poured a glass of wine over it saying, _In nomine patris_, etc. ; after which the log was set on the fire. The charcoal of the burntwood was kept the whole year, and used as an ingredient in severalremedies. [642]

[French superstitions as to the Yule log. ]

Amongst the superstitions denounced by the same writer is "the beliefthat a log called the _trefoir_ or Christmas brand, which you put on thefire for the first time on Christmas Eve and continue to put on the firefor a little while every day till Twelfth Night, can, if kept under thebed, protect the house for a whole year from fire and thunder; that itcan prevent the inmates from having chilblains on their heels in winter;that it can cure the cattle of many maladies; that if a piece of it besteeped in the water which cows drink it helps them to calve; and lastlythat if the ashes of the log be strewn on the fields it can save thewheat from mildew. "[643]

[The Yule log at Marseilles and in Perigord; virtues ascribed to thecharcoal and ashes of the burnt log; the Yule log in Berry. ]

In Marseilles the Yule log used to be a great block of oak, which wentby the name of _calendeau_ or _calignau_; it was sprinkled with wine andoil, and the head of the house kindled it himself. [644] "The Yule logplays a great part at the festival of the winter solstice in Perigord. The countryman thinks that it is best made of plum-tree, cherry, or oak, and that the larger it is the better. If it burns well, it is a goodomen, the blessing of heaven rests upon it. The charcoal and ashes, which are collected very carefully, are excellent for healing swollenglands; the part of the trunk which has not been burnt in the fire isused by ploughmen to make the wedge (_técoin ou cale_) for their plough, because they allege that it causes the seeds to thrive better; and thewomen keep pieces of it till Twelfth Night for the sake of theirchickens. Nevertheless if you sit down on the log, you become subject toboils, and to cure yourself of them you must pass nine times under abramble branch which happens to be rooted in the ground at both ends. The charcoal heals sheep of a disease called the _goumon_; and theashes, carefully wrapt up in white linen, preserve the whole householdfrom accidents. Some people think that they will have as many chickensas there are sparks that fly out of the brands of the log when theyshake them; and others place the extinct brands under the bed to driveaway vermin. In Vienne, on Christmas Eve, when supper is over, themaster of the house has a great log--the Christmas brand--brought in, and then, surrounded by all the spectators gathered in profound silence, he sprinkles salt and water on the log. It is then put on the fire toburn during the three festivals; but they carefully preserve a piece tobe kindled every time that it thunders. "[645] In Berry, a district ofCentral France, the Yule log was called the _cosse de Nau_, the lastword being an abbreviation of the usual French word for Christmas(Noël). It consisted of an enormous tree-trunk, so heavy that the unitedstrength of several men was needed to carry it in and place it on thehearth, where it served to feed the fire during the three days of theChristmas festivity. Strictly speaking, it should be the trunk of an oldoak-tree which had never been lopped and had been felled at midnight. Itwas placed on the hearth at the moment when the tinkle of the bellannounced the elevation of the host at the midnight mass; and the headof the family, after sprinkling it with holy water, set it on fire. Theremains of the log were preserved till the same day next year. They werekept under the bed of the master of the house; and whenever thunder washeard, one of the family would take a piece of the log and throw it onthe fire, which was believed to guard the family against lightning. Inthe Middle Ages, we are told, several fiefs were granted on conditionthat the vassal should bring in person a Yule log every year for thehearth of his liege lord. [646]

[The Yule log in Normandy and Brittany. ]

Similar customs and beliefs survived till recent years in some of theremote country villages of the picturesque district known as the Bocageof Normandy. There it was the grandfather or other oldest man of thefamily who chose the Yule log in good time and had it ready forChristmas Eve. Then he placed it on the hearth at the moment when thechurch bell began to ring for the evening service. Kneeling reverentlyat the hearth with the members of his family in a like attitude ofdevotion, the old man recited three _Pater Nosters_ and three _Aves_, and invoked the blessing of heaven on the log and on the cottage. Thenat the sound of the bell which proclaimed the sacrament of the mass, or, if the church was too far off to allow the tinkle of the bell to beheard, at the moment when they judged that the priest was elevating thehost before the high altar, the patriarch sprinkled the burning log withholy water, blessed it in the name of the Father and of the Son and ofthe Holy Ghost, and drew it out of the fire. The charred log was thencarefully kept till the following Christmas as a precious relic whichwould guard the house against the levin bolt, evil spirits, sorcerers, and every misfortune that might befall in the course of the year. [647]In the department of Orne "the Yule-log is called _trefouet_; holy wateris poured on it; it should last the three days of the festival, and theremains of it are kept to be put on the fire when it thunders. Thisbrand is a protection both against thunder and against sorcerers. "[648]In Upper Brittany, also, the Yule log is thought to be a safeguardagainst thunder and lightning. It is sprinkled with holy water onChristmas morning and allowed to burn till evening. If a piece of it isthrown into the well, it will ensure a supply of good water. [649]

[The Yule log in the Ardennes. ]

"In almost all the families of the Ardennes, " we are told, "at thepresent day they never fail to put the Yule log on the fireplace, butformerly it was the object of a superstitious worship which is nowobsolete. The charred remains of it, placed under the pillow or underthe house, preserved the house from storms, and before it was burned theVirgin used to come and sit on it, invisible, swaddling the infantJesus. At Nouzon, twenty years ago, the traditional log was brought intothe kitchen on Christmas Eve, and the grandmother, with a sprig of boxin her hand, sprinkled the log with holy water as soon as the clockstruck the first stroke of midnight. As she did so she chanted, '_When Christmas comes, Every one should rejoice, For it is a New Covenant_. '

"Following the grandmother and joining in the song, the children and therest of the family marched thrice round the log, which was as fine a logas could be got. "[650] We can now, perhaps, understand why in Perigordpeople who sat on the Yule log suffered from boils, [651] and why inLorraine young folks used to be warned that if they sat on it they wouldhave the scab. [652] The reason probably was that the Virgin and childwere supposed to be seated, invisible, upon the log and to resent theindignity of contact with mortal children. 

[The Yule log in the Vosges; the Yule log in Franche-Comté andBurgundy. ]

On Christmas Eve the mountaineers of Rupt, in the Vosges, also neverfail to put on the hearth the largest log which the hearth can hold;they call it _la galeuche de Noë_, that is, the Yule log. Next morningthey rake the ashes for any charred fragments and keep them as valuabletalismans to guard them against the stroke of lightning. At Vagney andother places near it in the Vosges it used to be customary on the sameevening to grease the hinges and the latches of the doors, that no harshgrating sound should break the slumbers of the infant Christ. In theVosges Mountains, too, as indeed in many other places, cattle acquiredthe gift of speech on Christmas Eve and conversed with each other in thelanguage of Christians. Their conversation was, indeed, mostinstructive; for the future, it seems, had no secret worth mentioningfor them. Yet few people cared to be caught eavesdropping at the byre;wise folk contented themselves with setting a good store of fodder inthe manger, then shut the door, and left the animals to theirruminations. A farmer of Vecoux once hid in a corner of the byre tooverhear the edifying talk of the beasts. But it did him little good;for one ox said to another ox, "What shall we do to-morrow?" and theother replied, "We shall carry our master to the churchyard. " Sureenough the farmer died that very night and was buried next morning. [653]In Franche-Comté, the province of France to the west of the Juramountains, if the Yule log is really to protect a house against thunderand lightning, it is essential that it should burn during the midnightmass, and that the flame should not go out before the divine service isconcluded. Otherwise the log is quite useless for the purpose. [654] InBurgundy the log which is placed on the fire on Christmas Eve is calledthe _suche_. While it is burning, the father of the family, assisted byhis wife and children, sings Christmas carols; and when he has finished, he tells the smallest children to go into a corner of the room and prayGod that the log may give them sweeties. The prayer is invariablyanswered. [655]

[The Yule log and the Yule candle in England. ]

In England the customs and beliefs concerning the Yule log, clog, orblock, as it was variously called, used to be similar. On the night ofChristmas Eve, says the antiquary John Brand, "our ancestors were wontto light up candles of an uncommon size, called Christmas Candles, andlay a log of wood upon the fire, called a Yule-clog or Christmas-block, to illuminate the house, and, as it were, to turn night into day. Thiscustom is, in some measure, still kept up in the North of England. Inthe buttery of St. John's College, Oxford, an ancient candle-socket ofstone still remains ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It wasformerly used to burn the Christmas Candle in, on the high table atsupper, during the twelve nights of that festival. "[656] "A tall mouldcandle, called a Yule candle, is lighted and set on the table; thesecandles are presented by the chandlers and grocers to their customers. The Yule-log is bought of the carpenters' lads. It would be unlucky tolight either of them before the time, or to stir the fire or candleduring the supper; the candle must not be snuffed, neither must any onestir from the table till supper is ended. In these suppers it isconsidered unlucky to have an odd number at table. A fragment of the logis occasionally saved, and put under a bed, to remain till nextChristmas: it secures the house from fire; a small piece of it throwninto a fire occurring at the house of a neighbour, will quell the ragingflame. A piece of the candle should likewise be kept to ensure goodluck. "[657] In the seventeenth century, as we learn from some verses ofHerrick, the English custom was to light the Yule log with a fragment ofits predecessor, which had been kept throughout the year for thepurpose; where it was so kept, the fiend could do no mischief. [658]Indeed the practice of preserving a piece of the Yule-log of one year tolight that of the next was observed by at least one family at Cheadle inStaffordshire down to the latter part of the nineteenth century. [659]

[The Yule-log in Yorkshire; the Yule log in Lincolnshire; the Yule login Warwickshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire; the Yule log in Wales. ]

In the North of England farm-servants used to lay by a large knottyblock of wood for the Christmas fire, and so long as the block lastedthey were entitled by custom to ale at their meals. The log was as largeas the hearth could hold. [660] At Belford, in Northumberland, "the lordof the manor sends round to every house, on the afternoon of ChristmasEve, the Yule Logs--four or five large logs--to be burnt on ChristmasEve and Day. This old custom has always, I am told, been kept uphere. "[661] The custom of burning the Yule log at Christmas used to beobserved in Wensleydale and other parts of Yorkshire, and prudenthousewives carefully preserved pieces of the log throughout the year. AtWhitby the portions so kept were stowed away under the bed till nextChristmas, when they were burnt with the new log; in the interval theywere believed to protect the house from conflagration, and if one ofthem were thrown into the fire, it would quell a raging storm. [662] Thepractice and the belief were similar at Filey on the coast of Yorkshire, where besides the Yule log a tall Yule candle was lit on the sameevening. [663] In the West Riding, while the log blazed cheerfully, thepeople quaffed their ale and sang, "Yule! Yule! a pack of new cards anda Christmas stool!"[664] At Clee, in Lincolnshire, "when Christmas Evehas come the Yule cake is duly cut and the Yule log lit, and I know ofsome even middle-class houses where the new log must always rest uponand be lighted by the old one, a small portion of which has beencarefully stored away to preserve a continuity of light and heat. "[665]At the village of Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire, down to 1759 at least, the Yule-block, as it was called, was drawn into the house by a horse onChristmas Eve "as a foundation for the fire on Christmas Day, andaccording to the superstition of those times for the twelve daysfollowing, as the said block was not to be entirely reduced to ashestill that time had passed by. "[666] As late as 1830, or thereabout, thescene of lighting the hearth-fire on Christmas Eve, to continue burningthroughout the Christmas season, might have been witnessed in thesecluded and beautiful hill-country of West Shropshire, from Chirburyand Worthen to Pulverbatch and Pontesbury. The Christmas brand or brund, as they called it, was a great trunk of seasoned oak, holly, yew, orcrab-tree, drawn by horses to the farm-house door and thence rolled bymeans of rollers and levers to the back of the wide open hearth, wherethe fire was made up in front of it. The embers were raked up to itevery night, and it was carefully tended, that it might not go outduring the whole Christmas season. All those days no light might bestruck, given, or borrowed. Such was the custom at Worthen in the earlypart of the nineteenth century. [667] In Herefordshire the Christmasfeast "lasted for twelve days, and no work was done. All houses were, and are now, decorated with sprigs of holly and ivy, which must not bebrought in until Christmas Eve. A Yule log, as large as the open hearthcould accommodate, was brought into the kitchen of each farmhouse, andsmaller ones were used in the cottages. W---- P---- said he had seen atree drawn into the kitchen at Kingstone Grange years ago by two carthorses; when it had been consumed a small portion was carefully kept tobe used for lighting next year's log. 'Mother always kept it verycarefully; she said it was lucky, and kept the house from fire and fromlightning. ' It seems to have been the general practice to light it onChristmas Eve. "[668] "In many parts of Wales it is still customary tokeep part of the Yule-log until the following Christmas Eve 'for luck. 'It is then put into the fireplace and burnt, but before it is consumedthe new log is put on, and thus 'the old fire and the new' burntogether. In some families this is done from force of habit, and theycannot now tell why they do it; but in the past the observance of thiscustom was to keep witches away, and doubtless was a survival offire-worship. "[669]

[The Yule log in Servia; the cutting of the oak tree to form the Yulelog. ]

But nowhere, apparently, in Europe is the old heathen ritual of the Yulelog preserved to the present day more perfectly than in Servia. At earlydawn on Christmas Eve (_Badnyi Dan_) every peasant house sends two ofits strongest young men to the nearest forest to cut down a young oaktree and bring it home. There, after offering up a short prayer orcrossing themselves thrice, they throw a handful of wheat on the chosenoak and greet it with the words, "Happy _Badnyi_ day to you!" Then theycut it down, taking care that it shall fall towards the east at themoment when the sun's orb appears over the rim of the eastern horizon. Should the tree fall towards the west, it would be the worst possibleomen for the house and its inmates in the ensuing year; and it is alsoan evil omen if the tree should be caught and stopped in its fall byanother tree. It is important to keep and carry home the first chip fromthe fallen oak. The trunk is sawn into two or three logs, one of themrather longer than the others. A flat, unleavened cake of the purestwheaten flour is brought out of the house and broken on the larger ofthe logs by a woman. The logs are left for the present to stand outside, leaning on one of the walls of the house. Each of them is called a Yulelog (_badnyak_). 

[Prayers to Colleda. ]

Meanwhile the children and young people go from house to house singingspecial songs called _Colleda_ because of an old pagan divinity Colleda, who is invoked in every line. In one of them she is spoken of as "abeautiful little maid"; in another she is implored to make the cowsyield milk abundantly. The day is spent in busy preparations. The womenbake little cakes of a special sort in the shape of lambs, pigs, andchickens; the men make ready a pig for roasting, for in every Servianhouse roast pig is the principal dish at Christmas. A bundle of straw, tied with a rope, is brought into the courtyard and left to stand therenear the Yule logs. 

[The bringing in of the Yule log. ]

At the moment when the sun is setting all the members of the familyassemble in the central hall (the great family kitchen) of the principalhouse. The mother of the family (or the wife of the chief of theZadrooga)[670] gives a pair of woollen gloves to one of the young men, who goes out and presently returns carrying in his gloved hands thelargest of the logs. The mother receives him at the threshold, throwingat him a handful of wheat, in which the first chip of the oak tree cutin the early morning for the Yule log has been kept all day. Enteringthe central hall with the Yule log the young man greets all present withthe words: "Good evening, and may you have a happy Christmas!" and theyall answer in chorus, "May God and the happy and holy Christmas helpthee!" In some parts of Servia the chief of the family, holding a glassof red wine in his hand, greets the Yule log as if it were a livingperson, and drinks to its health. After that, another glass of red wineis poured on the log. Then the oldest male member of the family, assisted by the young man who brought in the log, places it on theburning fire so that the thicker end of the log protrudes for about afoot from the hearth. In some places this end is smeared with honey. 

[The ceremony with the straw; the Yule candle. ]

Next the mother of the family brings in the bundle of straw which wasleft standing outside. All the young children arrange themselves behindher in a row. She then walks slowly round the hall and the adjoiningrooms, throwing handfuls of straw on the floor and imitating thecackling of a hen, while all the children follow her peeping with theirlips as if they were chickens cheeping and waddling after the motherbird. When the floor is well strewn with straw, the father or the eldestmember of the family throws a few walnuts in every corner of the hall, pronouncing the words: "In the name of God the Father, and the Son, andthe Holy Ghost, Amen!" A large pot, or a small wooden box, filled withwheat is placed high in the east corner of the hall, and a tall candleof yellow wax is stuck in the middle of the wheat. Then the father ofthe family reverently lights the candle and prays God to bless thefamily with health and happiness, the fields with a good harvest, thebeehives with plenty of honey, the cattle and sheep with young, and thecows with abundant milk and rich cream. After that they all sit down tosupper, squatting on the floor, for the use of chairs and tables isforbidden on this occasion. 

[The roast Pig; the drawing of the water. ]

By four o'clock next morning (Christmas Day) the whole village is astir;indeed most people do not sleep at all that night. It is deemed mostimportant to keep the Yule log burning brightly all night long. Veryearly, too, the pig is laid on the fire to roast, and at the same momentone of the family goes out into the yard and fires a pistol or gun; andwhen the roast pig is removed from the fire the shot is repeated. Hencefor several hours in the early morning of Christmas Day such a poppingand banging of firearms goes on that a stranger might think a stubbornskirmish was in progress. Just before the sun rises a girl goes anddraws water at the village spring or at the brook. Before she fills hervessels, she wishes the water a happy Christmas and throws a handful ofwheat into it. The first cupfuls of water she brings home are used tobake a special Christmas cake (_chesnitsa_), of which all the memberspartake at dinner, and portions are kept for absent relatives. A smallsilver coin is baked in the cake, and he or she who gets it will belucky during the year. 

[The Christmas visiter (_polaznik_). ]

All the family gathered round the blazing Yule log now anxiously expectthe arrival of the special Christmas visiter, who bears the title of_polaznik_. He is usually a young boy of a friendly family. No otherperson, not even the priest or the mayor of the village, would beallowed to set foot in the house before the arrival of this importantpersonage. Therefore he ought to come, and generally does come, veryearly in the morning. He carries a woollen glove full of wheat, and whenthe door is opened at his knock he throws handfuls of wheat on thefamily gathered round the hearth, greeting them with the words, "Christis born!" They all answer, "He is born indeed, " and the hostess flings ahandful of wheat over the Christmas visiter, who moreover casts some ofhis wheat into the corners of the hall as well as upon the people. Thenhe walks straight to the hearth, takes a shovel and strikes the burninglog so that a cloud of sparks flies up the chimney, while he says, "Mayyou have this year so many oxen, so many horses, so many sheep, so manypigs, so many beehives full of honey, so much good luck, prosperity, progress, and happiness!" Having uttered these good wishes, he embracesand kisses his host. Then he turns again to the hearth, and aftercrossing himself falls on his knees and kisses the projecting part ofthe Yule log. On rising to his feet he places a coin on the log as hisgift. Meanwhile a low wooden chair has been brought in by a woman, andthe visiter is led to it to take his seat. But just as he is about to doso, the chair is jerked away from under him by a male member of thefamily and he measures his length on the floor. By this fall he issupposed to fix into the ground all the good wishes which he has utteredthat morning. The hostess thereupon wraps him in a thick blanket, and hesits quietly muffled in it for a few minutes; the thick blanket in whichhe is swathed is believed, on the principles of homoeopathic magic, toensure that the cows will give thick cream next year. While he sits thusenriching the milk of the dairy, the lads who are to herd the sheep inthe coming year go to the hearth and kneeling down before it kiss eachother across the projecting end of the Yule log. By this demonstrationof affection they are thought to seal the love of the ewes for theirlambs. [671]

[The Yule log among the Servians of Slavonia; the Christmas visiter(_polazenik_). ]

The ritual of the Yule log is observed in a similar form by the Servianswho inhabit the southern provinces of Austria. Thus in Syrmia, adistrict of Slavonia which borders on Servia, the head of the housesends out one or two young men on Christmas Eve to cut the Yule log inthe nearest forest. On being brought in, the log is not mixed with theordinary fuel but placed by itself, generally leaning against afruit-tree till the evening shadows begin to fall. When a man carries itinto the kitchen and lays it on the fire, the master of the house throwscorn over him, and the two greet each other solemnly the one saying, "Christ is born, " and the other answering "He is born indeed. " Later inthe evening the master of the house pours a glass of wine on the charredend of the log, whereupon one of the younger men takes the burnt pieceof wood, carries it to the orchard, and sets it up against one of thefruit-trees. For this service he is rewarded by the master of the housewith a piece of money. On Christmas Day, when the family is assembled attable, they expect the arrival of the special Christmas visiter (called_polazenik_), the only person who is allowed to enter the house thatday. When he comes, he goes to the hearth, stirs the fire with the pokerand says, "Christ is born. May the family enjoy all good luck andhappiness in this year! May the cattle increase in number like thesparks I have struck!" As he says these words, the mistress of the housepours corn over him and leads him to the parlour, where he takes theplace of honour beside the master of the house. He is treated withmarked attention and respect. The family are at pains to entertain him;they sing their best songs for his amusement, and after midnight anumerous band of men and maidens escorts him by torchlight, with songsand jubilation, to his own house. [672]

[The Yule log among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, andMontenegro; the Yule log in Albania. ]

Among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro it iscustomary on Christmas Eve (_Badnyi Dan_) to fetch a great Yule log(_badnyak_), which serves as a symbol of family luck. It is generallycut from an evergreen oak, but sometimes from an olive-tree or a beech. At nightfall the master of the house himself brings in the log and laysit on the fire. Then he and all present bare their heads, sprinkle thelog with wine, and make a cross on it. After that the master of thehouse says, "Welcome, O log! May God keep you from mishap!" So saying hestrews peas, maize, raisins, and wheat on the log, praying for God'sblessing on all members of the family living and dead, for heaven'sblessing on their undertakings, and for domestic prosperity. InMontenegro they meet the log with a loaf of bread and a jug of wine, drink to it, and pour wine on it, whereupon the whole family drinks outof the same beaker. In Dalmatia and other places, for example in Rizano, the Yule logs are decked by young women with red silk, flowers, laurelleaves, ribbons, and even gold wire; and the lights near the doorpostsare kindled when the log is brought into the house. Among the Morlaks, as soon as the master of the house crosses the threshold with the Yulelog, one of the family must sprinkle corn on him and say, "God blessyou, " to which he answers, "The same to you. " A piece of the log is kepttill New Year's Day to kindle a light with or it is carried out to thefields to protect them from hail. It is customary to invite before handa Christmas visitor (_polazaynik_) and to admit no one else into thehouse on that day. He comes early, carrying in his sleeves a quantity ofcorn which he throws into the house, saying, "Christ is born. " One ofthe household replies, "He is born indeed, " and throws corn on thevisiter. Then the newcomer goes up to the hearth, pokes the fire andstrikes the burning log with the poker so hard that sparks fly off inall directions. At each blow he says, "I wish the family as many cows, calves, sucking pigs, goats, and sheep, and as many strokes of goodluck, as the sparks that now fly from the log. " With these words hethrows some small coins into the ashes. [673] In Albania down to recentyears it was a common custom to burn a Yule log at Christmas, and withit corn, maize, and beans; moreover, wine and _rakia_ were poured on theflames, and the ashes of the fire were scattered on the fields to makethem fertile. [674] The Huzuls, a Slavonic people of the Carpathians, kindle fire by the friction of wood on Christmas Eve (Old Style, thefifth of January) and keep it burning till Twelfth Night. [675]

[Belief that the Yule log protects against fire and lightning. ]

It is remarkable how common the belief appears to have been that theremains of the Yule-log, if kept throughout the year, had power toprotect the house against fire and especially against lightning. [676] Asthe Yule log was frequently of oak, [677] it seems possible that thisbelief may be a relic of the old Aryan creed which associated theoak-tree with the god of thunder. [678] Whether the curative andfertilizing virtues ascribed to the ashes of the Yule log, which aresupposed to heal cattle as well as men, to enable cows to calve, and topromote the fruitfulness of the earth, [679] may not be derived from thesame ancient source, is a question which deserves to be considered. 

[Public celebrations of the fire-festival at Midwinter; the bonfire onChristmas Eve at Schweina in Thuringia. ]

Thus far we have regarded only the private or domestic celebration ofthe fire-festival at midwinter. The public celebration of such rites atthat season of the year appears to have been rare and exceptional inCentral and Northern Europe. However, some instances are on record. Thusat Schweina, in Thuringia, down to the second half of the nineteenthcentury, the young people used to kindle a great bonfire on the AntoniusMountain every year on Christmas Eve. Neither the civil nor theecclesiastical authorities were able to suppress the celebration; norcould the cold, rain, and snow of the season damp or chill theenthusiasm of the celebrants. For some time before Christmas the youngmen and boys were busy building a foundation for the bonfire on the topof the mountain, where the oldest church of the village used to stand. The foundation consisted of a pyramidal structure composed of stones, turf, and moss. When Christmas Eve came round, a strong pole, withbundles of brushwood tied to it, was erected on the pyramid. The youngfolk also provided themselves with poles to which old brooms or faggotsof shavings were attached. These were to serve as torches. When theevening grew dark and the church bells rang to service, the troop oflads ascended the mountain; and soon from the top the glare of thebonfire lit up the darkness, and the sound of a hymn broke the stillnessof night. In a circle round the great fire lesser fires were kindled;and last of all the lads ran about swinging their lighted torches, tillthese twinkling points of fire, moving down the mountain-side, went outone by one in the darkness. At midnight the bells rang out from thechurch tower, mingled with the blast of horns and the sound of singing. Feasting and revelry were kept up throughout the night, and in themorning young and old went to early mass to be edified by hearing of thelight eternal. [680]

[Bonfires on Christmas Eve in Normandy. ]

In the Bocage of Normandy the peasants used to repair, often from adistance of miles, to the churches to hear the midnight mass onChristmas Eve. They marched in procession by torchlight, chantingChristmas carols, and the fitful illumination of the woods, the hedges, and the fields as they moved through the darkness, presented asuccession of picturesque scenes. Mention is also made of bonfireskindled on the heights; the custom is said to have been observed atAthis near Condé down to recent years. [681]

[Bonfires on St. Thomas's Day in the Isle of Man; the "Burning of theClavie" at Burghead on the last day of December; the old rampart atBurghead]

In the Isle of Man, "on the twenty-first of December, a day dedicated toSaint Thomas, the people went to the mountains to catch deer and sheepfor Christmas, and in the evenings always kindled a large fire on thetop of every _fingan_ or cliff. Hence, at the time of casting peats, every one laid aside a large one, saying, '_Faaid mooar moayney sonoie'l fingan_'; that is, 'a large turf for Fingan Eve. '"[682] AtBurghead, an ancient village on the southern shore of the Moray Firth, about nine miles from the town of Elgin, a festival of fire called "theBurning of the Clavie" has been celebrated from time immemorial onHogmanay, the last day of December. A tar-barrel is sawn in two, onehalf of it is set on the top of a stout pole, and filled with tar andother combustibles. The half-barrel is fastened to the pole by means ofa long nail, which is made for the purpose and furnished gratuitously bythe village blacksmith. The nail must be knocked in with a stone; theuse of a hammer is forbidden. When the shades of evening have begun tofall, the Clavie, as it is called, is set on fire by means of a burningpeat, which is always fetched from the same house; it may not be kindledwith a match. As soon as it is in a blaze, it is shouldered by a man, who proceeds to carry it at a run, flaring and dripping melted tar, round the old boundaries of the village; the modern part of the town isnot included in the circuit. Close at his heels follows a motley crowd, cheering and shouting. One bearer relieves another as each wearies ofhis burden. The first to shoulder the Clavie, which is esteemed anhonour, is usually a man who has been lately married. Should the bearerstumble or fall, it is deemed a very ill omen for him and for thevillage. In bygone times it was thought necessary that one man shouldcarry it all round the village; hence the strongest man was chosen forthe purpose. Moreover it was customary to carry the burning Clavie roundevery fishing-boat and vessel in the harbour; but this part of theceremony was afterwards discontinued. Finally, the blazing tar-barrel isborne to a small hill called the Doorie, which rises near the northernend of the promontory. Here the pole is fixed into a socket in a pillarof freestone, and fresh fuel is heaped upon the flames, which flare uphigher and brighter than ever. Formerly the Clavie was allowed to burnhere the whole night, but now, after blazing for about half an hour, itis lifted from the socket and thrown down the western slope of the hill. Then the crowd rushes upon it, demolishes it, and scrambles for theburning, smoking embers, which they carry home and carefully preserve ascharms to protect them against witchcraft and misfortune. [683] The greatantiquity of Burghead, where this curious and no doubt ancient festivalis still annually observed, appears from the remains of a veryremarkable rampart which formerly encircled the place. It consists of amound of earth faced on both sides with a solid wall of stone andstrengthened internally by oak beams and planks, the whole being laid ona foundation of boulders. The style of the rampart agrees in generalwith Caesar's description of the mode in which the Gauls constructedtheir walls of earth, stone, and logs, [684] and it resembles the ruinsof Gallic fortifications which have been discovered in France, though itis said to surpass them in the strength and solidity of its structure. No similar walls appear to be known in Britain. A great part of thisinteresting prehistoric fortress was barbarously destroyed in the earlypart of the nineteenth century, much of it being tumbled into the seaand many of the stones used to build the harbour piers. [685]

[Procession with burning tar-barrels on Christmas Eve (Old Style) atLerwick. ]

In Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, "on Christmas Eve, thefourth of January, --for the old style is still observed--the children go_a guizing_, that is to say, they disguising themselves in the mostfantastic and gaudy costumes, parade the streets, and infest the housesand shops, begging for the wherewithal to carry on their Christmasamusements. One o'clock on Yule morning having struck, the young menturn out in large numbers, dressed in the coarsest of garments, and, atthe double-quick march, drag huge tar barrels through the town, shoutingand cheering as they go, or blowing loud blasts with their 'louderhorns. ' The tar barrel simply consists of several--say from four toeight--tubs filled with tar and chips, placed on a platform of wood. Itis dragged by means of a chain, to which scores of jubilant youthsreadily yoke themselves. They have recently been described by the worthyburgh officer of Lerwick as 'fiery chariots, the effect of which istruly grand and terrific. ' In a Christmas morning the dark streets ofLerwick are generally lighted up by the bright glare, and its atmosphereblackened by the dense smoke of six or eight tar barrels in succession. On the appearance of daybreak, at six A. M. , the morning revellers putoff their coarse garments--well begrimed by this time--and in their turnbecome guizards. They assume every imaginable form of costume--those ofsoldiers, sailors, Highlanders, Spanish chevaliers, etc. Thus disguised, they either go in pairs, as man and wife, or in larger groups, andproceed to call on their friends, to wish them the compliments of theseason. Formerly, these adolescent guizards used to seat themselves incrates, and accompanied by fiddlers, were dragged through thetown. "[686]

[Persian festival of fire at the winter solstice. ]

The Persians used to celebrate a festival of fire called _Sada_ or_Saza_ at the winter solstice. On the longest night of the year theykindled bonfires everywhere, and kings and princes tied dry grass to thefeet of birds and animals, set fire to the grass, and then let the birdsand beasts fly or run blazing through the air or over the fields andmountains, so that the whole air and earth appeared to be on fire. [687]

§ 8. _The Need-fire_

[European festivals of fire in seasons of distress and calamity; theneed-fire. ]

The fire-festivals hitherto described are all celebrated periodically atcertain stated times of the year. But besides these regularly recurringcelebrations the peasants in many parts of Europe have been wont fromtime immemorial to resort to a ritual of fire at irregular intervals inseasons of distress and calamity, above all when their cattle wereattacked by epidemic disease. No account of the popular Europeanfire-festivals would be complete without some notice of these remarkablerites, which have all the greater claim on our attention because theymay perhaps be regarded as the source and origin of all the otherfire-festivals; certainly they must date from a very remote antiquity. The general name by which they are known among the Teutonic peoples isneed-fire. [688]

[The needfire in the Middle Ages; the needfire at Neustadt in 1598. ]

The history of the need-fire can be traced back to early Middle Ages;for in the reign of Pippin, King of Franks, the practice of kindlingneed-fires was denounced as a heathen superstition by a synod ofprelates and nobles held under the presidency of Boniface, Archbishop ofMainz. [689] Not long afterwards the custom was again forbidden, alongwith many more relics of expiring paganism, in an "Index ofSuperstitions and Heathenish Observances, " which has been usuallyreferred to the year 743 A. D. , though some scholars assign it a laterdate under the reign of Charlemagne. [690] In Germany the need-fireswould seem to have been popular down to the second half of thenineteenth century. Thus in the year 1598, when a fatal cattle-plaguewas raging at Neustadt, near Marburg, a wise man of the name of Joh. Köhler induced the authorities of the town to adopt the followingremedy. A new waggon-wheel was taken and twirled round an axle, whichhad never been used before, until the friction elicited fire. With thisfire a bonfire was next kindled between the gates of the town, and allthe cattle were driven through the smoke and flames. Moreover, everyhouseholder had to rekindle the fire on his hearth by means of a lighttaken from the bonfire. Strange to say, this salutary measure had noeffect whatever in staying the cattle-plague, and seven years later thesapient Joh. Köhler himself was burnt as a witch. The farmers, whosepigs and cows had derived no benefit from the need-fire, perhapsassisted as spectators at the burning, and, while they shook theirheads, agreed among themselves that it served Joh. Köhler perfectlyright. [691] According to a writer who published his book about nineyears afterwards, some of the Germans, especially in the Wassgawmountains, confidently believed that a cattle-plague could be stayed bydriving the animals through a need-fire which had been kindled by theviolent friction of a pole on a quantity of dry oak wood; but it was anecessary condition of success that all fires in the village shouldpreviously be extinguished with water, and any householder who failed toput out his fire was heavily fined. [692]

[Method kindling the need fire. ]

The method of kindling the need-fire is described as follows by a writertowards the end of the seventeenth century: "When an evil plague hasbroken out among the cattle, large and small, and the herds have therebysuffered great ravages, the peasants resolve to light a need-fire. On aday appointed there must be no single flame in any house nor on anyhearth. From every house a quantity of straw and water and underwoodmust be brought forth; then a strong oaken pole is fixed firmly in theearth, a hole is bored in it, and a wooden winch, well smeared withpitch and tar, is inserted in the hole and turned round forcibly tillgreat heat and then fire is generated. The fire so produced is caught infuel and fed with straw, heath, and underwood till it bursts out into aregular need-fire, which must then be somewhat spread out between wallsor fences, and the cattle and horses driven through it twice or thricewith sticks and whips. Others set up two posts, each with a hole in it, and insert a winch, along with old greasy rags, in the holes. Others usea thick rope, collect nine kinds of wood, and keep them in violentmotion till fire leaps forth. Perhaps there may be other ways ofgenerating or kindling this fire, but they are all directed simply atthe cure of the cattle. After passing twice or thrice through the firethe cattle are driven to their stalls or to pasture, and the heap ofwood that had been collected is destroyed, but in some places everyhouseholder must take with him a brand, extinguish it in a washing-tubor trough, and put it in the manger where the cattle are fed, where itmust lie for some time. The poles that were used to make the need-fire, together with the wood that was employed as a winch, are sometimesburned with the rest of the fuel, sometimes carefully preserved afterthe cattle have been thrice driven through the flames. "[693]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire about Hildesheim. ]

Sometimes the need-fire was known as the "wild fire, " to distinguish itno doubt from the tame fire produced by more ordinary methods. Thefollowing is Grimm's account of the mode of kindling it which prevailedin some parts of Central Germany, particularly about Hildesheim, downapparently to the first half of the nineteenth century: "In many placesof Lower Saxony, especially among the mountains, the custom prevails ofpreparing the so-called 'wild fire' for the purpose of preventingcattle-plague; and through it first the pigs, then the cows, and last ofall the geese are driven. The proceedings on the occasion are asfollows. The principal farmers and parishioners assemble, and notice isserved to every inhabitant to extinguish entirely all fire in his house, so that not even a spark remains alight in the whole village. Then youngand old repair to a road in a hollow, usually towards evening, the womencarrying linen, and the men wood and tow. Two oaken poles are driveninto the ground about a foot and a half from each other. Each pole hasin the side facing the other a socket into which a cross-piece as thickas a man's arm is fitted. The sockets are stuffed with linen, and thecross-piece is rammed in as tight as possible, while the poles are boundtogether at the top by ropes. A rope is wound about the round, smoothcross-piece, and the free ends of the rope at both sides are gripped byseveral persons, who pull the cross-piece to and fro with the utmostrapidity, till through the friction the linen in the sockets takes fire. The sparks of the linen are immediately caught in tow or oakum and wavedabout in a circle until they burst into a bright glow, when straw isapplied to it, and the flaming straw used to kindle the brushwood whichhas been stacked in piles in the hollow way. When this wood has blazedup and the fire has nearly died out again, the people hasten to theherds, which have been waiting in the background, and drive themforcibly, one after the other, through the glow. As soon as all thebeasts are through, the young folk rush wildly at the ashes and cinders, sprinkling and blackening each other with them; those who have been mostsprinkled and blackened march in triumph behind the cattle into thevillage and do not wash themselves for a long time. If after longrubbing the linen should not catch fire, they guess that there is stillfire somewhere in the village; then a strict search is made from houseto house, any fire that may be found is put out, and the householder ispunished or upbraided. The 'wild fire' must be made by prolongedfriction; it may not be struck with flint and steel. Some villages donot prepare it yearly as a preventive of cattle-plague, but only kindleit when the disease has actually broken out. "[694] In the Halberstadtdistrict the ends of the rope which was used to make the cross-piecerevolve in the sockets had to be pulled by two chaste young men. [695]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Mark. ]

In the Mark down to the first half of the nineteenth century thepractice was similar. We read that "in many parts of the Mark therestill prevails on certain occasions the custom of kindling a need-fire, it happens particularly when a farmer has sick pigs. Two posts of drywood are planted in the earth amid solemn silence before the sun rises, and round these posts hempen ropes are pulled to and fro till the woodkindles; whereupon the fire is fed with dry leaves and twigs and thesick beasts are driven through it In some places the fire is produced bythe friction of an old cart-wheel. "[696]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Mecklenburg]

In Mecklenburg the need-fire used to be lighted by the friction of arope wound about an oaken pole or by rubbing two boards against eachother. Having been thus elicited, the flame was fed with wood of sevenkinds. The practice was forbidden by Gustavus Adolphus, Duke ofMecklenburg, in 1682; but the prohibition apparently had little effect, for down to the end of the eighteenth century the custom was so commonthat the inhabitants even of large towns made no scruple of resorting toit. For example, in the month of July 1792 sickness broke out among thecattle belonging to the town of Sternberg; some of the beasts diedsuddenly, and so the people resolved to drive all the survivors througha need-fire. On the tenth day of July the magistrates issued aproclamation announcing that next morning before sunrise a need-firewould be kindled for the behoof of all the cattle of the town, andwarning all the inhabitants against lighting fires in their kitchensthat evening. So next morning very early, about two o'clock, nearly thewhole population was astir, and having assembled outside one of thegates of the town they helped to drive the timid cattle, not withoutmuch ado, through three separate need-fires; after which they dispersedto their homes in the unalterable conviction that they had rescued thecattle from destruction. But to make assurance doubly sure they deemedit advisable to administer the rest of the ashes as a bolus to theanimals. However, some people in Mecklenburg used to strew the ashes ofthe need-fire on fields for the purpose of protecting the crops againstvermin. As late as June 1868 a traveller in Mecklenburg saw a couple ofpeasants sweating away at a rope, which they were pulling backwards andforwards so as to make a tarry roller revolve with great speed in thesocket of an upright post. Asked what they were about, they vouchsafedno reply; but an old woman who appeared on the scene from a neighbouringcottage was more communicative. In the fulness of her heart she confidedto the stranger that her pigs were sick, that the two taciturn bumpkinswere her sons, who were busy extracting a need-fire from the roller, andthat, when they succeeded, the flame would be used to ignite a heap ofrags and brushwood, through which the ailing swine would be driven. Shefurther explained that the persons who kindle a need-fire should alwaysbe two brothers or at least bear the same Christian name. [697]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Hanover. ]

In the summer of 1828 there was much sickness among the pigs and thecows of Eddesse, a village near Meinersen, in the south of Hanover. Whenall ordinary measures to arrest the malady failed, the farmers met insolemn conclave on the village green and determined that next morningthere should be a need-fire. Thereupon the head man of the village sentword from house to house that on the following day nobody should kindlea fire before sunrise, and that everybody should stand by ready to driveout the cattle. The same afternoon all the necessary preparations weremade for giving effect to the decision of the collective wisdom. Anarrow street was enclosed with planks, and the village carpenter set towork at the machinery for kindling the fire. He took two posts of oakwood, bored a hole about three inches deep and broad in each, and setthe two poles up facing each other at a distance of about two feet. Thenhe fitted a roller of oak wood into the two holes of the posts, so thatit formed a cross-piece between them. About two o'clock next morningevery householder brought a bundle of straw and brushwood and laid itdown across the street in a prescribed order. The sturdiest swains whocould be found were chosen to make the need-fire. For this purpose along hempen rope was wound twice round the oaken roller in the oakenposts: the pivots were well smeared with pitch and tar: a bundle of towand other tinder was laid close at hand, and all was ready. The stalwartclodhoppers now seized the two ends of the rope and went to work with awill. Puffs of smoke soon issued from the sockets, but to theconsternation of the bystanders not a spark of fire could be elicited. Some people openly declared their suspicion that some rascal had not putout the fire in his house, when suddenly the tinder burst into flame. The cloud passed away from all faces; the fire was applied to the heapsof fuel, and when the flames had somewhat died down, the herds wereforcibly driven through the fire, first the pigs, next the cows, andlast of all the horses. The herdsmen then drove the beasts to pasture, and persons whose faith in the efficacy of the need-fire wasparticularly robust carried home brands. [698]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Harz Mountains. ]

Again, at a village near Quedlinburg, in the Harz Mountains, it wasresolved to put a herd of sick swine through the need-fire. Hearing ofthis intention the Superintendent of Quedlinburg hurried to the spot andhas described for us what he saw. The beadles went from house to houseto see that there was no fire in any house; for it is well known thatshould there be common fire burning in a house the need-fire will notkindle. The men made their rounds very early in the morning to makequite sure that all lights were out. At two o'clock a night-light wasstill burning in the parsonage, and this was of course a hindrance tothe need-fire. The peasants knocked at the window and earnestlyentreated that the night-light might be extinguished. But the parson'swife refused to put the light out; it still glimmered at the window; andin the darkness outside the angry rustics vowed that the parson's pigsshould get no benefit of the need-fire. However, as good luck would haveit, just as the morning broke, the night-light went out of itself, andthe hopes of the people revived. From every house bundles of straw, tow, faggots and so forth were now carried to feed the bonfire. The noise andthe cheerful bustle were such that you might have thought they were allhurrying to witness a public execution. Outside the village, between twogarden walls, an oaken post had been driven into the ground and a holebored through it. In the hole a wooden winch, smeared with tar, wasinserted and made to revolve with such force and rapidity that fire andsmoke in time issued from the socket. The collected fuel was then thrownupon the fire and soon a great blaze shot up. The pigs were now driveninto the upper end of the street. As soon as they saw the fire, theyturned tail, but the peasants drove them through with shrieks and shoutsand lashes of whips. At the other end of the street there was anothercrowd waiting, who chased the swine back through the fire a second time. Then the other crowd repeated the manoeuvre, and the herd of swine wasdriven for the third time through the smoke and flames. That was the endof the performance. Many pigs were scorched so severely that they gaveup the ghost. The bonfire was broken up, and every householder took homewith him a brand, which he washed in the water-barrel and laid for sometime, as a treasure of great price, in the manger from which the cattlewere fed. But the parson's wife had reason bitterly to repent her follyin refusing to put out that night-light; for not one of her pigs wasdriven through the need-fire, so they died. [699]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Brunswick. ]

In Brunswick, also, the need-fire is known to have been repeatedlykindled during the nineteenth century. After driving the pigs throughthe fire, which was kindled by the friction of wood, some people tookbrands home, dipped them in water, and then gave the water to the pigsto drink, no doubt for the purpose of inoculating them still moreeffectually with the precious virtue of the need-fire. In the villagesof the Drömling district everybody who bore a hand in kindling the "wildfire" must have the same Christian name; otherwise they laboured invain. The fire was produced by the friction of a rope round the beams ofa door; and bread, corn, and old boots contributed their mites to swellthe blaze through which the pigs as usual were driven. In one place, apparently not far from Wolfenbüttel, the needfire is said to have beenkindled, contrary to custom, by the smith striking a spark from the coldanvil. [700] At Gandersheim down to about the beginning of the nineteenthcentury the need-fire was lit in the common way by causing a cross-barto revolve rapidly on its axis between two upright posts. The rope whichproduced the revolution of the bar had to be new, but it was if possiblewoven from threads taken from a gallows-rope, with which people had beenhanged. While the need-fire was being kindled in this fashion, everyother fire in the town had to be put out; search was made through thehouses, and any fire discovered to be burning was extinguished. If inspite of every precaution no flame could be elicited by the friction ofthe rope, the failure was set down to witchcraft; but if the effortswere successful, a bonfire was lit with the new fire, and when theflames had died down, the sick swine were driven thrice through theglowing embers. [701] On the lower Rhine the need-fire is said to havebeen kindled by the friction of oak-wood on fir-wood, all fires in thevillage having been previously extinguished. The bonfires so kindledwere composed of wood of nine different sorts; there were three suchbonfires, and the cattle were driven round them with great gravity anddevotion. [702]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Silesia and Bohemia. ]

In Silesia, also, need-fires were often employed for the purpose ofcuring a murrain or preventing its spread. While all other lights withinthe boundaries were extinguished, the new fire was produced by thefriction of nine kinds of wood, and the flame so obtained was used tokindle heaps of brushwood or straw to which every inhabitant hadcontributed. Through these fires the cattle, both sick and sound, weredriven in the confident expectation that thereby the sick would behealed and the sound saved from sickness. [703] When plague breaks outamong the herds at Dobischwald, in Austrian Silesia, a splinter of woodis chipped from the threshold of every house, the cattle are driven to across-road, and there a tree, growing at the boundary, is felled by apair of twin brothers. The wood of the tree and the splinters from thethresholds furnish the fuel of a bonfire, which is kindled by therubbing of two pieces of wood together. When the bonfire is ablaze, thehorns of the cattle are pared and the parings thrown into the flames, after which the animals are driven through the fire. This is believed toguard the herd against the plague. [704] The Germans of Western Bohemiaresort to similar measures for staying a murrain. You set up a post, bore a hole in it, and insert in the hole a stick, which you have firstof all smeared with pitch and wrapt in inflammable stuffs. Then you winda rope round the stick and give the two ends of the rope to two personswho must either be brothers or have the same baptismal name. They haulthe rope backwards and forwards so as to make the tarred stick revolverapidly, till the rope first smokes and then emits sparks. The sparksare used to kindle a bonfire, through which the cattle are driven in theusual way. And as usual no other fire may burn in the village while theneed-fire is being kindled; for otherwise the rope could not possibly beignited. [705] In Upper Austria sick pigs are reported to have beendriven through a need-fire about the beginning of the nineteenthcentury. [706]

[The use the need-fire in Switzerland. ]

The need-fire is still in use in some parts of Switzerland, but it seemsto have degenerated into a children's game and to be employed rather forthe dispersal of a mist than for the prevention or cure ofcattle-plague. In some cantons it goes by the name of "mist-healing, "while in others it is called "butter-churning. " On a misty or rainy daya number of children will shut themselves up in a stable or byre andproceed to make fire for the purpose of improving the weather. The wayin which they make it is this. A boy places a board against his breast, takes a peg pointed at both ends, and, setting one end of the pegagainst the board on his breast, presses the other end firmly against asecond board, the surface of which has been flaked into a nap. A stringis tied round the peg, and two other boys pull it to and fro, tillthrough the rapid motion of the point of the peg a hole is burnt in theflaked board, to which tow or dry moss is then applied as a tinder. Inthis way fire and smoke are elicited, and with their appearance thechildren fancy that the mist will vanish. [707] We may conjecture thatthis method of dispersing a mist, which is now left to children, wasformerly practised in all seriousness by grown men in Switzerland. It isthus that religious or magical rites dwindle away into the sports ofchildren. In the canton of the Grisons there is still in common use animprecation, "Mist, go away, or I'll heal you, " which points to an oldcustom of burning up the fog with fire. A longer form of the curselingers in the Vallée des Bagnes of the canton Valais. It runs thus:"Mist, mist, fly, fly, or St. Martin will come with a sheaf of straw toburn your guts, a great log of wood to smash your brow, and an ironchain to drag you to hell. "[708]

[The mode of kindling the need-fire in Sweden and Norway; the need-fireas a protection against witchcraft. ]

In Sweden the need-fire is called, from the mode of its production, either _vrid-eld_, "turned fire, " or _gnid-eld_, "rubbed fire. " Down tonear the end of the eighteenth century the need-fire was kindled, as inGermany, by the violent rubbing of two pieces of wood against eachother; sometimes nine different kinds of wood were used for the purpose. The smoke of the fire was deemed salutary; fruit-trees and nets werefumigated with it, in order that the trees might bear fruit and the netscatch fish. Cattle were also driven through the smoke. [709] In Sundal, anarrow Norwegian valley, shut in on both sides by precipitous mountains, there lived down to the second half of the nineteenth century an old manwho was very superstitious. He set salmon-traps in the river Driva, which traverses the valley, and he caught many fish both in spring andautumn. When his fishing went wrong, he kindled _naueld_ ("need-fire")or _gnideild_ ("rubbed fire, " "friction fire") to counteract thewitchcraft, which he believed to be the cause of his bad luck. He set uptwo planks near each other, bored a hole in each, inserted a pointed rodin the holes, and twisted a long cord round the rod. Then he pulled thecord so as to make the rod revolve rapidly. Thus by reason of thefriction he at last drew fire from the wood. That contented him, for "hebelieved that the witchery was thus rendered powerless, and that goodluck in his fishing was now ensured. "[710]

[The need-fire among the Slavonic peoples. ]

Slavonic peoples hold the need-fire in high esteem. They call it "livingfire, " and attribute to it a healing virtue. The ascription of medicinalpower to fire kindled by the friction of wood is said to be especiallycharacteristic of the Slavs who inhabit the Carpathian Mountains and theBalkan peninsula. The mode in which they produce the need-fire differssomewhat in different places. Thus in the Schar mountains of Servia thetask is entrusted to a boy and girl between eleven and fourteen years ofage. They are led into a perfectly dark room, and having strippedthemselves naked kindle the fire by rubbing two rollers of lime woodagainst each other, till the friction produces sparks, which are caughtin tinder. The Serbs of Western Macedonia drive two oaken posts into theground, bore a round hole in the upper end of each, insert a roller oflime wood in the holes, and set it revolving rapidly by means of a cord, which is looped round the roller and worked by a bow. Elsewhere theroller is put in motion by two men, who hold each one end of the cordand pull it backwards and forwards forcibly between them. Bulgarianshepherds sometimes kindle the need-fire by drawing a prism-shaped pieceof lime wood to and fro across the flat surface of a tree-stump in theforest. [711] But in the neighbourhood of Küstendil, in Bulgaria, theneed-fire is kindled by the friction of two pieces of oak wood and thecattle are driven through it. [712]

[The need-fire in Russia and Poland; the need-fire in Slavonia. ]

In many districts of Russia, also, "living fire" is made by the frictionof wood on St. John's Day, and the herds are driven through it, and thepeople leap over it in the conviction that their health is therebyassured; when a cattle-plague is raging, the fire is produced by rubbingtwo pieces of oak wood against each other, and it is used to kindle thelamps before the holy pictures and the censers in the churches. [713]Thus it appears that in Russia the need-fire is kindled for the sake ofthe cattle periodically as well as on special emergencies. Similarly inPoland the peasants are said to kindle fires in the village streets onSt. Rochus's day and to drive the cattle thrice through them in order toprotect the animals against the murrain. The fire is produced by rubbinga pole of poplar wood on a plank of poplar or fir wood and catching thesparks in tow. The embers are carried home to be used as remedies insickness. [714] As practised in Slavonia, the custom of the need-fireused to present some interesting features, which are best described inthe words of an eyewitness:--"In the year 1833 I came for the first timeas a young merchant to Slavonia; it was to Gaj that I went, in thePozega district. The time was autumn, and it chanced that acattle-plague was raging in the neighbourhood, which inflicted much losson the people. The peasants believed that the plague was a woman, anevil spirit (_Kutga_), who was destroying the cattle; so they sought tobanish her. I had then occasion to observe the proceedings in thevillages of Gaj, Kukunjevac, Brezina, and Brekinjska. Towards eveningthe whole population of the village was busy laying a ring of brushwoodround the boundaries of the village. All fires were extinguishedthroughout the village. Then pairs of men in several places took piecesof wood, which had been specially prepared for the purpose, and rubbedthem together till they emitted sparks. The sparks were allowed to fallon tinder and fanned into a flame, with which the dry brushwood waskindled. Thus the fire burned all round the village. The peasantspersuaded themselves that thereupon _Kuga_ must take herdeparture. "[715]

[The need-fire in Servia. ]

This last account leaves no doubt as to the significance of theneed-fire in the minds of Slavonian peasantry. They regard it simply asa barrier interposed between their cattle and the evil spirit, whichprowls, like a hungry wolf, round the fold and can, like a wolf, be keptat bay by fire. The same interpretation of the need-fire comes out, hardly less clearly, in the account which another writer gives of aceremony witnessed by him at the village of Setonje, at the foot of theHomolje mountains in the great forest of Servia. An epidemic was ragingamong the children, and the need-fire was resorted to as a means ofstaying the plague. It was produced by an old man and an old woman inthe first of the ways described above; that is, they made it in the darkby rubbing two sticks of lime wood against each other. Before thehealing virtue of the fire was applied to the inhabitants of thevillage, two old women performed the following ceremony. Both bore thename of Stana, from the verb _stati_, "to remain standing"; for theceremony could not be successfully performed by persons of any othername. One of them carried a copper kettle full of water, the other anold house-lock with the key. Thus equipped they repaired to a spotoutside of the village, and there the old dame with the kettle asked theold dame with the lock, "Whither away?" and the other answered her, "Icame to shut the village against ill-luck. " With that she locked thelock and threw it with the key into the kettle of water. Then theymarched thrice round the village, repeating the ceremony of the lock andkey at each round. Meantime all the villagers, arrayed in their bestclothes, were assembled in an open place. All the fires in the houseshad been previously extinguished. Two sturdy yokels now dug a tunnelthrough a mound beside an oak tree; the tunnel was just high enough tolet a man creep through it on all fours. Two fires, lit by theneed-fire, were now laid, one at each end of the tunnel; and the oldwoman with the kettle took her stand at the entrance of the tunnel, while the one with the lock posted herself at the exit. Facing thelatter stood another woman with a great pot of milk before her, and onthe other side was set a pot full of melted swine's fat. All was nowready. The villagers thereupon crawled through the tunnel on hands andknees, one behind the other. Each, as he emerged from the tunnel, received a spoonful of milk from the woman and looked at his facereflected in the pot of melted swine's fat. Then another woman made across with a piece of charcoal on his back. When all the inhabitants hadthus crept through the tunnel and been doctored at the other end, eachtook some glowing embers home with him in a pot wherewith to rekindlethe fire on the domestic hearth. Lastly they put some of the charcoal ina vessel of water and drank the mixture in order to be thereby magicallyprotected against the epidemic. [716]

It would be superfluous to point out in detail how admirably thesemeasures are calculated to arrest the ravages of disease; but for thesake of those, if there are any, to whom the medicinal effect ofcrawling through a hole on hands and knees is not at once apparent, Ishall merely say that the procedure in question is one of the mostpowerful specifics which the wit of man has devised for maladies of allsorts. Ample evidence of its application will be adduced in a later partof this work. [717]

[The need-fire in Bulgaria. ]

In Bulgaria the herds suffer much from the raids of certainblood-sucking vampyres called _Ustrels_. An _Ustrel_ is the spirit of aChristian child who was born on a Saturday and died unfortunately beforehe could be baptized. On the ninth day after burial he grubs his way outof the grave and attacks the cattle at once, sucking their blood allnight and returning at peep of dawn to the grave to rest from hislabours. In ten days or so the copious draughts of blood which he hasswallowed have so fortified his constitution that he can undertakelonger journeys; so when he falls in with great herds of cattle orflocks of sheep he returns no more to the grave for rest and refreshmentat night, but takes up his quarters during the day either between thehorns of a sturdy calf or ram or between the hind legs of a milch-cow. Beasts whose blood he has sucked die the same night. In any herd that hemay fasten on he begins with the fattest animal and works his way downsteadily through the leaner kine till not one single beast is leftalive. The carcases of the victims swell up, and when the hide isstripped off you can always perceive the livid patch of flesh where themonster sucked the blood of the poor creature. In a single night he may, by working hard, kill five cows; but he seldom exceeds that number. Hecan change his shape and weight very easily; for example, when he issitting by day between the horns of a ram, the animal scarcely feels hisweight, but at night he will sometimes throw himself on an ox or a cowso heavily that the animal cannot stir, and lows so pitifully that itwould make your heart bleed to hear. People who were born on a Saturdaycan see these monsters, and they have described them accurately, so thatthere can be no doubt whatever about their existence. It is, therefore, a matter of great importance to the peasant to protect his flocks andherds against the ravages of such dangerous vampyres. The way in whichhe does so is this. On a Saturday morning before sunrise the villagedrummer gives the signal to put out every fire in the village; evensmoking is forbidden. Next all the domestic animals, with the exceptionof fowls, geese, and ducks, are driven out into the open. In front ofthe flocks and herds march two men, whose names during the ceremony maynot be mentioned in the village. They go into the wood, pick two drybranches, and having stript themselves of their clothes they rub the twobranches together very hard till they catch fire; then with the fire soobtained they kindle two bonfires, one on each side of a cross-roadwhich is known to be frequented by wolves. After that the herd is drivenbetween the two fires. Coals from the bonfires are then taken back tothe village and used to rekindle the fires on the domestic hearths. Forseveral days no one may go near the charred and blackened remains of thebonfires at the cross-road. The reason is that the vampyre is lyingthere, having dropped from his seat between the cow's horns when theanimals were driven between the two fires. So if any one were to pass bythe spot during these days, the monster would be sure to call him byname and to follow him to the village; whereas if he is left alone, awolf will come at midnight and strangle him, and in a few days theherdsmen can see the ground soaked with his slimy blood. So that is theend of the vampyre. [718] In this Bulgarian custom, as in the Slavoniancustom described above, the conception of the need-fire as a barrier setup between the cattle and a dangerous spirit is clearly worked out. Thespirit rides the cow till he comes to the narrow pass between the twofires, but the heat there is too much for him; he drops in a faint fromthe saddle, or rather from the horns, and the now riderless animalescapes safe and sound beyond the smoke and flame, leaving herpersecutor prostrate on the ground on the further side of the blessedbarrier. 

[The need-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ]

In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are some local differences in the modeof kindling the need-fire, or "living fire, " as it is called. Thus atJablanica both the uprights and the roller or cross-piece, which by itsrevolution kindles the fire, are made of cornel-tree wood; whereas atDolac, near Sarajevo, the uprights and the cross-piece or roller are allmade of lime wood. In Gacko, contrary to the usual custom, the fire ismade by striking a piece of iron on an anvil, till sparks are given out, which are caught in tinder. The "living fire" thus produced is employedfor purposes of healing. In particular, if any one suffers from woundsor sores, ashes of the need-fire are sprinkled on the ailing part. InGacko it is also believed that if a pregnant woman witnesses aconflagration, her child will either be born with a red eruption on itsskin or will contract the malady sooner or later afterwards. The onlyremedy consists in ashes of the need-fire, which are mixed with waterand given to the child to drink. [719]

[The need-fire in England; the need-fire in Yorkshire. ]

In England the earliest notice of the need-fire seems to be contained inthe Chronicle of Lanercost for the year 1268. The annalist tells withpious horror how, when an epidemic was raging in that year among thecattle, "certain beastly men, monks in garb but not in mind, taught theidiots of their country to make fire by the friction of wood and to setup an image of Priapus, whereby they thought to succour theanimals. "[720] The use of the need-fire is particularly attested for thecounties of Yorkshire and Northumberland. Thus in Yorkshire down to themiddle of the eighteenth century "the favourite remedy of the countrypeople, not only in the way of cure, but of prevention, was an odd one;it was to smoke the cattle almost to suffocation, by kindling straw, litter, and other combustible matter about them. The effects of thismode of cure are not stated, but the most singular part of it was thatby which it was reported to have been discovered. An angel (says thelegend), descended into Yorkshire, and there set a large tree on fire;the strange appearance of which or else the savour of the smoke, incitedthe cattle around (some of which were infected) to draw near themiracle, when they all either received an immediate cure or an absoluteprevention of the disorder. It is not affirmed that the angel staid tospeak to anybody, but only that he left a _written_ direction for theneighbouring people to catch this supernatural fire, and to communicateit from one to another with all possible speed throughout the country;and in case it should be extinguished and utterly lost, that then newfire, of equal virtue, might be obtained, not by any common method, butby rubbing two pieces of wood together till they ignited. Upon whatfoundation this story stood, is not exactly known, but it put thefarmers actually into a hurry of communicating flame and smoke from onehouse to another with wonderful speed, making it run like wildfire overthe country. "[721] Again, we read that "the father of the writer, whodied in 1843, in his seventy-ninth year, had a perfect remembrance of agreat number of persons, belonging to the upper and middle classes ofhis native parish of Bowes, assembling on the banks of the river Gretato work for need-fire. A disease among cattle, called the murrain, thenprevailed to a very great extent through that district of Yorkshire. Thecattle were made to pass through the smoke raised by this miraculousfire, and their cure was looked upon as certain, and to neglect doing sowas looked upon as wicked. This fire was produced by the violent andcontinued friction of two dry pieces of wood until such time as it wasthereby obtained. 'To work as though one was working for need-fire' is acommon proverb in the North of England. "[722] At Ingleton, a small townnestling picturesquely at the foot of the high hill of Ingleborough inwestern Yorkshire, "within the last thirty years or so it was a commonpractice to kindle the so-called 'Need-fire' by rubbing two pieces ofwood briskly together, and setting ablaze a large heap of sticks andbrushwood, which were dispersed, and cattle then driven through thesmoking brands. This was thought to act as a charm against the spread ordevelopement of the various ailments to which cattle are liable, and thefarmers seem to have had great faith in it. "[723] Writing about themiddle of the nineteenth century, Kemble tells us that the will-fire orneed-fire had been used in Devonshire for the purpose of staying amurrain within the memory of man. [724]

[The need-fire in Northumberland. ]

So in Northumberland, down to the first half of the nineteenth century, "when a contagious disease enters among cattle, the fires areextinguished in the adjacent villages. Two pieces of dried wood are thenrubbed together until fire be produced; with this a quantity of straw iskindled, juniper is thrown into the flame, and the cattle are repeatedlydriven through the smoke. Part of the forced fire is sent to theneighbours, who again forward it to others, and, as great expedition isused, the fires may be seen blazing over a great extent of country in avery short space of time. "[725] "It is strange, " says the antiquaryWilliam Henderson, writing about 1866, "to find the custom of lighting'need-fires' on the occasion of epidemics among cattle still lingeringamong us, but so it is. The vicar of Stamfordham writes thus respectingit: 'When the murrain broke out among the cattle about eighteen yearsago, this fire was produced by rubbing two pieces of dry wood together, and was carried from place to place all through this district, as acharm against cattle taking the disease. Bonfires were kindled with it, and the cattle driven into the smoke, where they were left for sometime. Many farmers hereabouts, I am informed, had the need-fire. '"[726]

[Martin's account of the need-fire in the Highlands of Scotland. ]

In the earliest systematic account of the western islands of Scotland weread that "the inhabitants here did also make use of a fire called_Tin-egin, i. E. _ a forced fire, or fire of necessity, which they used asan antidote against the plague or murrain in cattle; and it wasperformed thus: all the fires in the parish were extinguished, and theneighty-one married men, being thought the necessary number for effectingthis design, took two great planks of wood, and nine of them wereemployed by turns, who by their repeated efforts rubbed one of theplanks against the other until the heat thereof produced fire; and fromthis forced fire each family is supplied with new fire, which is nosooner kindled than a pot full of water is quickly set on it, andafterwards sprinkled upon the people infected with the plague, or uponthe cattle that have the murrain. And this they all say they findsuccessful by experience: it was practised in the main land, opposite tothe south of Skie, within these thirty years. "[727]

[The need-fire in the island of Mull; sacrifice of a heifer. ]

In the island of Mull, one of the largest of the Hebrides, the need-firewas kindled as late as 1767. "In consequence of a disease among theblack cattle the people agreed to perform an incantation, though theyesteemed it a wicked thing. They carried to the top of Carnmoor a wheeland nine spindles of oakwood. They extinguished every fire in everyhouse within sight of the hill; the wheel was then turned from east towest over the nine spindles long enough to produce fire by friction. Ifthe fire were not produced before noon, the incantation lost its effect. They failed for several days running. They attributed this failure tothe obstinacy of one householder, who would not let his fires be put outfor what he considered so wrong a purpose. However, by bribing hisservants they contrived to have them extinguished and on that morningraised their fire. They then sacrificed a heifer, cutting in pieces andburning, while yet alive, the diseased part. They then lighted their ownhearths from the pile and ended by feasting on the remains. Words ofincantation were repeated by an old man from Morven, who came over asmaster of the ceremonies, and who continued speaking all the time thefire was being raised. This man was living a beggar at Bellochroy. Askedto repeat the spell, he said, the sin of repeating it once had broughthim to beggary, and that he dared not say those words again. The wholecountry believed him accursed. "[728] From this account we see that inMull the kindling of the need-fire as a remedy for cattle disease wasaccompanied by the sacrifice of one of the diseased animals; and thoughthe two customs are for the most part mentioned separately by ourauthorities, we may surmise that they were often, perhaps usually, practised together for the purpose of checking the ravages of sicknessin the herds. [729]

[The need-fire in Caithness. ]

In the county of Caithness, forming the extreme northeast corner of themainland of Scotland, the practice of the need-fire survived down atleast to about 1788. We read that "in those days, when the stock of anyconsiderable farmer was seized with the murrain, he would send for oneof the charm-doctors to superintend the raising of a _need-fire_. It wasdone by friction, thus; upon any small island, where the stream of ariver or burn ran on each side, a circular booth was erected, of stoneand turf, as it could be had, in which a semicircular or highland coupleof birch, or other hard wood, was set; and, in short, a roof closed onit. A straight pole was set up in the centre of this building, the upperend fixed by a wooden pin to the top of the couple, and the lower end inan oblong _trink_ in the earth or floor; and lastly, another pole wasset across horizontally, having both ends tapered, one end of which wassupported in a hole in the side of the perpendicular pole, and the otherin a similar hole in the couple leg. The horizontal stick was called theauger, having four short arms or levers fixed in its centre, to work itby; the building having been thus finished, as many men as could becollected in the vicinity, (being divested of all kinds of metal intheir clothes, etc. ), would set to work with the said auger, two aftertwo, constantly turning it round by the arms or levers, and othersoccasionally driving wedges of wood or stone behind the lower end of theupright pole, so as to press it the more on the end of the auger: bythis constant friction and pressure, the ends of the auger would takefire, from which a fire would be instantly kindled, and thus the_needfire_ would be accomplished. The fire in the farmer's house, etc. , was immediately quenched with water, a fire kindled from this needfire, both in the farm-houses and offices, and the cattle brought to feel thesmoke of this new and sacred fire, which preserved them from themurrain. "[730]

[The need-fire in Caithness. ]

The last recorded case of the need-fire in Caithness happened in 1809 or1810. At Houstry, Dunbeath, a crofter named David Gunn had made forhimself a kail-yard and in doing so had wilfully encroached on one ofthose prehistoric ruins called _brochs_, which the people of theneighbourhood believed to be a fairy habitation. Soon afterwards amurrain broke out among the cattle of the district and carried off manybeasts. So the wise men put their heads together and resolved to light a_teine-eigin_ or need-fire as the best way of stopping the plague. Theycut a branch from a tree in a neighbouring wood, stripped it of bark, and carried it to a small island in the Houstry Burn. Every fire in thedistrict having been quenched, new fire was made by the friction of woodin the island, and from this sacred flame all the hearths of the houseswere lit afresh. One of the sticks used in making the fire was preserveddown to about the end of the nineteenth century; apparently the mode ofoperation was the one known as the fire-drill: a pointed stick wastwirled in a hole made in another stick till fire was elicited by thefriction. [731]

[Another account of the need-fire in the Highlands. ]

Another account of the use of need-fire in the Highlands of Scotlandruns as follows: "When, by the neglect of the prescribed safeguards[against witchcraft], the seeds of iniquity have taken root, and aperson's means are decaying in consequence, the only alternative, inthis case, is to resort to that grand remedy, the _Tein Econuch_, or'Forlorn Fire, ' which seldom fails of being productive of the besteffects. The cure for witchcraft, called _Tein Econuch_, is wrought inthe following manner:--A consultation being held by the unhappy suffererand his friends as to the most advisable measures of effecting a cure, if this process is adopted, notice is privately communicated to allthose householders who reside within the nearest of two running streams, to extinguish their lights and fires on some appointed morning. On itsbeing ascertained that this notice has been duly observed, aspinning-wheel, or some other convenient instrument, calculated toproduce fire by friction, is set to work with the most furiousearnestness by the unfortunate sufferer, and all who wish well to hiscause. Relieving each other by turns, they drive on with suchpersevering diligence, that at length the spindle of the wheel, ignitedby excessive friction, emits 'forlorn fire' in abundance, which, by theapplication of tow, or some other combustible material, is widelyextended over the whole neighbourhood. Communicating the fire to thetow, the tow communicates it to a candle, the candle to a fir-torch, thetorch to a cartful of peats, which the master of the ceremonies, withpious ejaculations for the success of the experiment, distributes tomessengers, who will proceed with portions of it to the different houseswithin the said two running streams, to kindle the different fires. Bythe influence of this operation, the machinations and spells ofwitchcraft are rendered null and void. "[732]

[Alexander Carmichael's account of the need-fire in the Highlands ofScotland during the nineteenth century. ]

In various parts of the Highlands of Scotland the needfire was stillkindled during the first half of the nineteenth century, as we learnfrom the following account:--

"_Tein-eigin_, neid-fire, need-fire, forced fire, fire produced by thefriction of wood or iron against wood. 

"The fire of purification was kindled from the neid-fire, while thedomestic fire on the hearth was re-kindled from the purification fire onthe knoll. Among other names, the purification fire was called _TeineBheuil_, fire of Beul, and _Teine mor Bheuil_, great fire of Beul. Thefire of Beul was divided into two fires between which people and cattlerushed australly for purposes of purification. The ordeal was trying, asmay be inferred from phrases still current. _Is teodha so na teineteodha Bheuil_, 'Hotter is this than the hot fire of Beul. ' Replying tohis grandchild, an old man in Lewis said . .. 'Mary! sonnie, it wereworse for me to do that for thee than to go between the two great firesof Beul. '

"The neid-fire was resorted to in imminent or actual calamity upon thefirst day of the quarter, and to ensure success in great or importantevents. 

[The needfire in Arran. ]

"The writer conversed with several persons who saw the neid-fire made, and who joined in the ceremony. As mentioned elsewhere, a woman in Arransaid that her father, and the other men of the townland, made theneid-fire on the knoll on _La buidhe Bealltain_--Yellow Day of Beltane. They fed the fire from _cuaile mor conaidh caoin_--great bundles ofsacred faggots brought to the knoll on Beltane Eve. When the sacred firebecame kindled, the people rushed home and brought their herds and drovethem through and round the fire of purification, to sain them from the_bana bhuitseach mhor Nic Creafain Mac Creafain_--the great arch witchMac Crauford, now Crawford. That was in the second decade of thiscentury. 

[The need-fire in North Uist. ]

"John Macphail, Middlequarter, North Uist, said that the last occasionon which the neid-fire was made in North Uist was _bliadhna ant-sneachda bhuidhe_--the year of the yellow snow--1829 (?). The snow layso deep and remained so long on the ground, that it became yellow. Somesuggest that the snow was originally yellow, as snow is occasionallyred. This extraordinary continuance of snow caused much want andsuffering throughout the Isles. The people of North Uist extinguishedtheir own fires and generated a purification fire at Sail Dharaich, Sollas. The fire was produced from an oak log by rapidly boring with anauger. This was accomplished by the exertions of _naoi naoinear ciadginealach mac_--the nine nines of first-begotten sons. From theneid-fire produced on the knoll the people of the parish obtained firefor their dwellings. Many cults and ceremonies were observed on theoccasion, cults and ceremonies in which Pagan and Christian beliefsintermingled. _Sail Dharaich_, Oak Log, obtained its name from the logof oak for the neid-fire being there. A fragment of this log riddledwith auger holes marks a grave in _Cladh Sgealoir_, the burying-groundof _Sgealoir_, in the neighbourhood. 

[The need-fire in Reay, Sutherland. ]

"Mr. Alexander Mackay, Edinburgh, a native of Reay, Sutherland, says:--'My father was the skipper of a fishing crew. Before beginningoperations for the season, the crew of the boat met at night in ourhouse to settle accounts for the past, and to plan operations for thenew season. My mother and the rest of us were sent to bed. I lay in thekitchen, and was listening and watching, though they thought I wasasleep. After the men had settled their past affairs and future plans, they put out the fire on the hearth, not a spark being allowed to live. They then rubbed two pieces of wood one against another so rapidly as toproduce fire, the men joining in one after the other, and working withthe utmost energy and never allowing the friction to relax. From thisfriction-fire they rekindled the fire on the hearth, from which all themen present carried away a kindling to their own homes. Whether theirsuccess was due to their skill, their industry, their perseverance, orto the neid-fire, I do not know, but I know that they were much the mostsuccessful crew in the place. They met on Saturday, and went to churchon Sunday like the good men and the good Christians they were--a littleof their Pagan faith mingling with their Christian belief. I have reasonto believe that other crews in the place as well as my father's crewpractised the neid-fire. '

"A man at Helmsdale, Sutherland, saw the _tein-eigin_ made in hisboyhood. 

"The neid-fire was made in North Uist about the year 1829, in Arranabout 1820, in Helmsdale about 1818, in Reay about 1830. "[733]

[The Beltane fire a precaution against witchcraft. ]

From the foregoing account we learn that in Arran the annual Beltanefire was regularly made by the friction of wood, and that it was used toprotect men and cattle against a great witch. When we remember thatBeltane Eve or the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) is the greatwitching time of the year throughout Europe, we may surmise thatwherever bonfires have been ceremonially kindled on that day it has beendone simply as a precaution against witchcraft; indeed this motive isexpressly alleged not only in Scotland, but in Wales, the Isle of Man, and many parts of Central Europe. [734] It deserves, further, to benoticed that in North Uist the wood used to kindle the need-fire wasoak, and that the nine times nine men by whose exertions the flame waselicited were all first-born sons. Apparently the first-born son of afamily was thought to be endowed with more magical virtue than hisyounger brothers. Similarly in the Punjaub "the supernatural powerascribed to the first born is not due to his being unlucky, but the ideaunderlying the belief seems to be that being the first product of theparents, he inherits the spiritual powers (or magnetism) in a highdegree. The success of such persons in stopping rain and hail and instupefying snakes is proverbial. It is believed that a first child bornwith feet forward can cure backache by kicking the patient in the back, on a crossing. "[735]

[The need-fire in Aberdeenshire. ]

In the north-east of Aberdeenshire and the neighbourhood, when thecattle-disease known as the "quarter-ill" broke out, "the 'muckle wheel'was set in motion and turned till fire was produced. From this virginflame fires were kindled in the byres. At the same time, if neighboursrequested the favour, live coals were given them to kindle fires for thepurification of their homesteads and turning off the disease. Fumigatingthe byres with juniper was a method adopted to ward off disease. Such afire was called 'needfyre. ' The kindling of it came under the censure ofthe Presbytery at times. "[736]

[The need-fire in Perthshire. ]

In Perthshire the need-fire was kindled as a remedy for cattle-diseaseas late as 1826. "A wealthy old farmer, having lost several of hiscattle by some disease very prevalent at present, and being able toaccount for it in no way so rationally as by witchcraft, had recourse tothe following remedy, recommended to him by a weird sister in hisneighbourhood, as an effectual protection from the attacks of the foulfiend. A few stones were piled together in the barnyard, and woodcoalshaving been laid thereon, the fuel was ignited by _will-fire_, that isfire obtained by friction; the neighbours having been called in towitness the solemnity, the cattle were made to pass through the flames, in the order of their dignity and age, commencing with the horses andending with the swine. The ceremony having been duly and decorously gonethrough, a neighbouring farmer observed to the enlightened owner of theherd, that he, along with his family, ought to have followed the exampleof the cattle, and the sacrifice to Baal would have been complete. "[737]

[The need-fire in Ireland. ]

In County Leitrim, Ireland, in order to prevent fever from spreading, "all the fires on the townland, and the two adjoining (one on eachside), would be put out. Then the men of the three townlands would cometo one house, and get two large blocks of wood. One would be set in theground, and the other one, fitted with two handles, placed on the top ofit. The men would then draw the upper block backwards and forwards overthe lower until fire was produced by friction, and from this the fireswould be lighted again. This would prevent the fever fromspreading, "[738]

[The use of the need-fire a relic of a time when all fires were kindledby the friction of wood. ]

Thus it appears that in many parts of Europe it has been customary tokindle fire by the friction of wood for the purpose of curing orpreventing the spread of disease, particularly among cattle. The mode ofstriking a light by rubbing two dry sticks against each other is the oneto which all over the world savages have most commonly resorted for thesake of providing themselves with fire;[739] and we can scarcely doubtthat the practice of kindling the need-fire in this primitive fashion ismerely a survival from the time when our savage forefathers lit alltheir fires in that way. Nothing is so conservative of old customs asreligious or magical ritual, which invests these relics of the past withan atmosphere of mysterious virtue and sanctity. To the educated mind itseems obvious that a fire which a man kindles with the sweat of his browby laboriously rubbing one stick against each other can possess neithermore nor less virtue than one which he has struck in a moment by thefriction of a lucifer match; but to the ignorant and superstitious thistruth is far from apparent, and accordingly they take infinite pains todo in a roundabout way what they might have done directly with thegreatest ease, and what, even when it is done, is of no use whatever forthe purpose in hand. A vast proportion of the labour which mankind hasexpended throughout the ages has been no better spent; it has been likethe stone of Sisyphus eternally rolled up hill only to revolve eternallydown again, or like the water poured for ever by the Danaids into brokenpitchers which it could never fill. 

[The belief that the need-fire cannot kindle if any other fire remainsalight in the neighbourhood. ]

The curious notion that the need-fire cannot kindle if any other fireremains alight in the neighbourhood seems to imply that fire isconceived as a unity which is broken up into fractions and consequentlyweakened in exact proportion to the number of places where it burns;hence in order to obtain it at full strength you must light it only at asingle point, for then the flame will burst out with a concentratedenergy derived from the tributary fires which burned on all theextinguished hearths of the country. So in a modern city if all the gaswere turned off simultaneously at all the burners but one, the flamewould no doubt blaze at that one burner with a fierceness such as nosingle burner could shew when all are burning at the same time. Theanalogy may help us to understand the process of reasoning which leadsthe peasantry to insist on the extinction of all common fires when theneed-fire is about to be kindled. Perhaps, too, it may partly explainthat ceremonial extinction of all old fires on other occasions which isoften required by custom as a preliminary to the lighting of a new andsacred fire. [740] We have seen that in the Highlands of Scotland allcommon fires were extinguished on the Eve of May-day as a preparationfor kindling the Beltane bonfire by friction next morning;[741] and nodoubt the reason for the extinction was the same as in the case of theneed-fire. Indeed we may assume with a fair degree of probability thatthe need-fire was the parent of the periodic fire-festivals; at firstinvoked only at irregular intervals to cure certain evils as theyoccurred, the powerful virtue of fire was afterwards employed at regularintervals to prevent the occurrence of the same evils as well as toremedy such as had actually arisen. 

[The needfire among the Iroquois of North America. ]

The need-fire of Europe has its parallel in a ceremony which used to beobserved by the Iroquois Indians of North America. "Formerly when anepidemic prevailed among the Iroquois despite the efforts to stay it, itwas customary for the principal shaman to order the fires in every cabinto be extinguished and the ashes and cinders to be carefully removed;for it was believed that the pestilence was sent as a punishment forneglecting to rekindle 'new fire, ' or because of the manner in which thefire then in use had been kindled. So, after all the fires were out, twosuitable logs of slippery elm (_Ulmus fulva_) were provided for the newfire. One of the logs was from six to eight inches in diameter and fromeight to ten feet long; the other was from ten to twelve inches indiameter and about ten feet long. About midway across the larger log acuneiform notch or cut about six inches deep was made, and in thewedge-shaped notch punk was placed. The other log was drawn rapidly toand fro in the cut by four strong men chosen for the purpose until thepunk was ignited by the friction thus produced. Before and during theprogress of the work of igniting the fire the shaman votively sprinkled_tcar-hu'-eñ-we_, 'real tobacco, ' three several times into the cuneiformnotch and offered earnest prayers to the Fire-god, beseeching him 'toaid, to bless, and to redeem the people from their calamities. ' Theignited punk was used to light a large bonfire, and then the head ofevery family was required to take home 'new fire' to rekindle a fire inhis or her fire-place. "[742]

§ 9. _The Sacrifice of an Animal to stay a Cattle-Plague_

[The burnt sacrifice of a calf in England and Wales; burnt sacrifice apig in Scotland. ]

Sometimes apparently in England as well as in Scotland the kindling of aneed-fire was accompanied by the sacrifice of a calf. Thus inNorthamptonshire, at some time during the first half of the nineteenthcentury, "Miss C---- and her cousin walking saw a fire in a field and acrowd round it. They said, 'What is the matter?' 'Killing a calf. ' 'Whatfor?' 'To stop the murrain. ' They went away as quickly as possible. Onspeaking to the clergyman he made enquiries. The people did not like totalk of the affair, but it appeared that when there is a disease amongthe cows or the calves are born sickly, they sacrifice (i. E. Kill andburn) one 'for good luck. '"[743] It is not here said that the fire was aneed-fire, of which indeed the two horrified ladies had probably neverheard; but the analogy of the parallel custom in Mull[744] renders itprobable that in Northamptonshire also the fire was kindled by thefriction of wood, and that the calf or some part of it was burnt in thefire. Certainly the practice of burning a single animal alive in orderto save all the others would seem to have been not uncommon in Englanddown to the nineteenth century. Thus a farmer in Cornwall about the year1800, having lost many cattle by disease, and tried many remedies invain, consulted with some of his neighbours and laying their headstogether "they recalled to their recollections a tale, which traditionhad handed down from remote antiquity, that the calamity would not ceaseuntil he had actually burned alive the finest calf which he had upon hisfarm; but that, when this sacrifice was made, the murrain would afflicthis cattle no more. " Accordingly, on a day appointed they met, lighted alarge fire, placed the best calf in it, and standing round the blazingpile drove the animal with pitchforks back into the flames whenever itattempted to escape. Thus the victim was burned alive to save the restof the cattle. [745] "There can be no doubt but that a belief prevaileduntil a very recent period, amongst the small farmers in the districtsremote from towns in Cornwall, that a living sacrifice appeased thewrath of God. This sacrifice must be by fire; and I have heard it arguedthat the Bible gave them warranty for this belief. .. . While correctingthese sheets I am informed of two recent instances of this superstition. One of them was the sacrifice of a calf by a farmer near Portreath, forthe purpose of removing a disease which had long followed his horses andhis cows. The other was the burning of a living lamb, to save, as thefarmer said, 'his flocks from spells which had been cast on 'em. '"[746]In a recent account of the fire-festivals of Wales we read that "I havealso heard my grandfather and father say that in times gone by thepeople would throw a calf in the fire when there was any disease amongthe herds. The same would be done with a sheep if there was anything thematter with a flock. I can remember myself seeing cattle being drivenbetween two fires to 'stop the disease spreading. ' When in later timesit was not considered humane to drive the cattle between the fires, theherdsmen were accustomed to force the animals over the wood ashes toprotect them against various ailments. "[747] Writing about 1866, theantiquary W. Henderson says that a live ox was burned near Haltwhistlein Northumberland "only twenty years ago" to stop a murrain. [748] "Aboutthe year 1850 disease broke out among the cattle of a small farm in theparish of Resoliss, Black Isle, Ross-shire. The farmer prevailed on hiswife to undertake a journey to a wise woman of renown in Banffshire toask a charm against the effects of the 'ill eye. ' The long journey ofupwards of fifty miles was performed by the good wife, and the charm wasgot. One chief thing ordered was to burn to death a pig, and sprinklethe ashes over the byre and other farm buildings. This order was carriedout, except that the pig was killed before it was burned. A moreterrible sacrifice was made at times. One of the diseased animals wasrubbed over with tar, driven forth, set on fire, and allowed to run tillit fell down and died. "[749] "Living animals have been burnt alive insacrifice within memory to avert the loss of other stock. The burial ofthree puppies 'brandise-wise' in a field is supposed to rid it of weeds. Throughout the rural districts of Devon witchcraft is an article ofcurrent faith, and the toad is thrown into the flames as an emissary ofthe evil one. "[750]

[The calf is burnt in order to break a spell which has been cast on theherd. ]

But why, we may ask, should the burning alive of a calf or a sheep besupposed to save the rest of the herd or the flock from the murrain?According to one writer, as we have seen, the burnt sacrifice wasthought to appease the wrath of God. [751] The idea of appeasing thewrath of a ferocious deity by burning an animal alive is probably nomore than a theological gloss put on an old heathen rite; it wouldhardly occur to the simple mind of an English bumpkin, who, though hemay be stupid, is not naturally cruel and does not conceive of adivinity who takes delight in the contemplation of suffering. To histhinking God has little or nothing to do with the murrain, but witches, ill-wishers, and fairies have a great deal to do with it. The Englishfarmer who burned one of his lambs alive said that he did it "to savehis flocks from spells which had been cast on them"; and the Scotchfarmer who was bidden to burn a pig alive for a similar purpose, but whohad the humanity to kill the animal first, believed that this was aremedy for the "evil eye" which had been cast upon his beasts. Again, weread that "a farmer, who possessed broad acres, and who was in manyrespects a sensible man, was greatly annoyed to find that his cattlebecame diseased in the spring. Nothing could satisfy him but that theywere bewitched, and he was resolved to find out the person who had castthe evil eye on his oxen. According to an anciently-prescribed rule, thefarmer took one of his bullocks and bled it to death, catching all theblood on bundles of straw. The bloody straw was then piled into a heap, and set on fire. Burning with a vast quantity of smoke, the farmerexpected to see the witch, either in reality or in shadow, amidst thesmoke. "[752] Such reasons express the real beliefs of the peasants. "Cattle, like human beings, were exposed to the influences of the evileye, of forespeaking, and of the casting of evil. Witches and warlocksdid the work of evil among their neighbours' cattle if their anger hadbeen aroused in any way. The fairies often wrought injury amongstcattle. Every animal that died suddenly was killed by the dart of thefairies, or, in the language of the people, was 'shot-a-dead. ' Flintarrows and spear-heads went by the name of 'faery dairts. .. . ' When ananimal died suddenly the canny woman of the district was sent for tosearch for the 'faery dairt, ' and in due course she found one, to thegreat satisfaction of the owner of the dead animal. "[753]

[Mode in which the burning of a bewitched animal is supposed to breakthe spell. ]

But how, we must still ask, can burning an animal alive break the spellthat has been cast upon its fellows by a witch or a warlock? Some lightis thrown on the question by the following account of measures whichrustic wiseacres in Suffolk are said to have adopted as a remedy forwitchcraft. "A woman I knew forty-three years had been employed by mypredecessor to take care of his poultry. At the time I came to make heracquaintance she was a bedridden toothless crone, with chin and nose allbut meeting. She did not discourage in her neighbours the idea that sheknew more than people ought to know, and had more power than others had. Many years before I knew her it happened one spring that the ducks, which were a part of her charge, failed to lay eggs. .. . She at once tookit for granted that the ducks had been bewitched. This misbeliefinvolved very shocking consequences, for it necessitated the idea thatso diabolical an act could only be combated by diabolical cruelty. Andthe most diabolical act of cruelty she could imagine was that of bakingalive in a hot oven one of the ducks. And that was what she did. Thesequence of thought in her mind was that the spell that had been laid onthe ducks was that of preternaturally wicked wilfulness; that this spellcould only be broken through intensity of suffering, in this case deathby burning; that the intensity of suffering would break the spell in theone roasted to death; and that the spell broken in one would bealtogether broken, that is, in all the ducks. .. . Shocking, however, aswas this method of exorcising the ducks, there was nothing in itoriginal. Just about a hundred years before, everyone in the town andneighbourhood of Ipswich had heard, and many had believed, that a witchhad been burnt to death in her own house at Ipswich by the process ofburning alive one of the sheep she had bewitched. It was curious, but itwas as convincing as curious, that the hands and feet of this witch werethe only parts of her that had not been incinerated. This, however, wassatisfactorily explained by the fact that the four feet of the sheep, bywhich it had been suspended over the fire, had not been destroyed in theflames that had consumed its body. "[754] According to a slightlydifferent account of the same tragic incident, the last of the "Ipswitchwitches, " one Grace Pett, "laid her hand heavily on a farmer's sheep, who, in order to punish her, fastened one of the sheep in the ground andburnt it, except the feet, which were under the earth. The next morningGrace Pett was found burnt to a cinder, except her feet. Her fate isrecorded in the _Philosophical Transactions_ as a case of spontaneouscombustion. "[755]

[In burning the bewitched animal you burn the witch herself. ]

This last anecdote is instructive, if perhaps not strictly authentic. Itshows that in burning alive one of a bewitched flock or herd what youreally do is to burn the witch, who is either actually incarnate in theanimal or perhaps more probably stands in a relation of sympathy with itso close as almost to amount to identity. Hence if you burn the creatureto ashes, you utterly destroy the witch and thereby save the whole ofthe rest of the flock or herd from her abominable machinations; whereasif you only partially burn the animal, allowing some parts of it toescape the flames, the witch is only half-baked, and her power formischief may be hardly, if at all, impaired by the grilling. We can nowsee that in such matters half-measures are useless. To kill the animalfirst and burn it afterwards is a weak compromise, dictated no doubt bya well-meant but utterly mistaken kindness; it is like shutting thestable-door when the steed is stolen, for obviously by leaving theanimal's, and therefore the witch's, body nearly intact at the moment ofdeath, it allows her soul to escape and return safe and sound to her ownhuman body, which all the time is probably lying quietly at home in bed. And the same train of reasoning that justifies the burning alive ofbewitched animals justifies and indeed requires the burning alive of thewitches themselves; it is really the only way of destroying them, bodyand soul, and therefore of thoroughly extirpating the whole infernalcrew. 

[Practice of burning cattle and sheep as sacrifices in the Isle of Man. ]

In the Isle of Man the practice of burning cattle alive in order to stopa murrain seems to have persisted down to a time within living memory. On this subject I will quote the evidence collected by Sir John Rhys: "Arespectable farmer from Andreas told me that he was driving with hiswife to the neighbouring parish of Jurby some years ago, and that on theway they beheld the carcase of a cow or an ox burning in a field, with awoman engaged in stirring the fire. On reaching the village to whichthey were going, they found that the burning beast belonged to a farmerwhom they knew. They were further told it was no wonder that the saidfarmer had one of his cattle burnt, as several of them had recentlydied. Whether this was a case of sacrifice or not I cannot say. But letme give you another instance: a man whom I have already mentioned, sawat a farm nearer the centre of the island a live calf being burnt. Theowner bears an English name, but his family has long been settled inMan. The farmer's explanation to my informant was that the calf wasburnt to secure luck for the rest of the herd, some of which werethreatening to die. My informant thought there was absolutely nothingthe matter with them, except that they had too little to eat. Be that asit may, the one calf was sacrificed as a burnt-offering to secure luckfor the rest of the cattle. Let me here also quote Mr. Moore's note inhis _Manx Surnames_, p. 184, on the place name _Cabbal yn Oural Losht_, or the Chapel of the Burnt Sacrifice. 'This name, ' he says, 'records acircumstance which took place in the nineteenth century, but which, itis to be hoped, was never customary in the Isle of Man. A farmer, whohad lost a number of his sheep and cattle by murrain, burned a calf as apropitiatory offering to the Deity on this spot, where a chapel wasafterwards built. Hence the name. ' Particulars, I may say, of time, place, and person could be easily added to Mr. Moore's statement, excepting, perhaps as to the deity in question; on that point I havenever been informed, but Mr. Moore is probably right in the use of thecapital _d_, as the sacrificer is, according to all accounts, a highlydevout Christian. One more instance: an octogenarian woman, born in theparish of Bride, and now living at Kirk Andreas, saw, when she was a'lump of a girl' of ten or fifteen years of age, a live sheep beingburnt in a field in the parish of Andreas, on May-day, whereby she meantthe first of May reckoned according to the Old Style. She asserts verydecidedly that it was _son oural_, 'as a sacrifice, ' as she put it, and'for an object to the public': those were her words when she expressedherself in English. Further, she made the statement that it was a customto burn a sheep on old May-day for a sacrifice. I was fully alive to theinterest of this evidence, and cross-examined her so far as her ageallows of it, and I find that she adheres to her statement with allfirmness. "[756]

[By burning a bewitched animal you compel the witch to appear. ]

But Manxmen burn beasts when they are dead as well as when they arealive; and their reasons for burning the dead animals may help us tounderstand their reasons for burning the living animals. On this subjectI will again quote Sir John Rhys: "When a beast dies on a farm, ofcourse it dies, according to the old-fashioned view of things, as Iunderstand it, from the influence of the evil eye or the interpositionof a witch. So if you want to know to whom you are indebted for the lossof the beast, you have simply to burn its carcase in the open air andwatch who comes first to the spot or who first passes by; that is thecriminal to be charged with the death of the animal, and he cannot helpcoming there--such is the effect of the fire. A Michael woman, who isnow about thirty, related to me how she watched while the carcase of abewitched colt was burning, how she saw the witch coming, and how sheremembers her shrivelled face, with nose and chin in close proximity. According to another native of Michael, a well-informed middle-aged man, the animal in question was oftenest a calf, and it was wont to be burntwhole, skin and all. The object, according to him, is invariably tobring the bewitcher on the spot, and he always comes; but I am not clearwhat happens to him when he appears. My informant added, however, thatit was believed that, unless the bewitcher got possession of the heartof the burning beast, he lost all his power of bewitching. "[757]

[Magic sympathy between the witch and the bewitched animal. ]

These statements shew that in the Isle of Man the sympathetic relationbetween the witch and his or her animal victim is believed to be soclose that by burning the animal you compel the witch to appear. Theoriginal idea may have been that, by virtue of a magic sympathy whichbinds the two together, whatever harm you do to the animal is felt bythe witch as if it were done to herself. That notion would fully explainwhy Manx people used also to burn bewitched animals alive; in doing sothey probably imagined that they were simultaneously burning the witchwho had cast the spell on their cattle. 

[Parallel belief in magic sympathy between the animal shape of awere-wolf and his or her ordinary human shape: by wounding the wolf yousimultaneously wound the man or woman. ]

This explanation of the reason for burning a bewitched animal, dead oralive, is confirmed by the parallel belief concerning were-wolves. It iscommonly supposed that certain men and women can transform themselves bymagic art into wolves or other animals, but that any wound inflicted onsuch a transformed beast (a were-wolf or other were-animal) issimultaneously inflicted on the human body of the witch or warlock whohad transformed herself or himself into the creature. This belief iswidely diffused; it meets us in Europe, Asia, and Africa. For example, Olaus Magnus tells us that in Livonia, not many years before he wrote, anoble lady had a dispute with her slave on the subject of were-wolves, she doubting whether there were any such things, and he maintaining thatthere were. To convince her he retired to a room, from which he soonappeared in the form of a wolf. Being chased by the dogs into the forestand brought to bay, the wolf defended himself fiercely, but lost an eyein the struggle. Next day the slave returned to his mistress in humanform but with only one eye. [758] Again, it happened in the year 1588that a gentleman in a village among the mountains of Auvergne, lookingout of the window one evening, saw a friend of his going out to hunt. Hebegged him to bring him back some of his bag, and his friend said thathe would. Well, he had not gone very far before he met a huge wolf. Hefired and missed it, and the animal attacked him furiously, but he stoodon his guard and with an adroit stroke of his hunting knife he cut offthe right fore-paw of the brute, which thereupon fled away and he saw itno more. He returned to his friend, and drawing from his pouch thesevered paw of the wolf he found to his horror that it was turned into awoman's hand with a golden ring on one of the fingers. His friendrecognized the ring as that of his own wife and went to find her. Shewas sitting by the fire with her right arm under her apron. As sherefused to draw it out, her husband confronted her with the hand and thering on it. She at once confessed the truth, that it was she in the formof a were-wolf whom the hunter had wounded. Her confession was confirmedby applying the severed hand to the stump of her arm, for the two fittedexactly. The angry husband delivered up his wicked wife to justice; shewas tried and burnt as a witch. [759] It is said that a were-wolf, scouring the streets of Padua, was caught, and when they cut off hisfour paws he at once turned into a man, but with both his hands and feetamputated. [760] Again, in a farm of the French district of Beauce, therewas once a herdsman who never slept at home. These nocturnal absencesnaturally attracted attention and set people talking. At the same time, by a curious coincidence, a wolf used to prowl round the farm everynight and to excite the dogs in the farmyard to fury by thrusting hissnout derisively through the cat's hole in the great gate. The farmerhad his suspicions and he determined to watch. One night, when theherdsman went out as usual, his master followed him quietly till he cameto a hut, where with his own eyes he saw the man put on a broad belt andat once turn into a wolf, which scoured away over the fields. The farmersmiled a sickly sort of smile and went back to the farm. There he took astout stick and sat down at the cat's hole to wait. He had not long towait. The dogs barked like mad, a wolf's snout shewed through the hole, down came the stick, out gushed the blood, and a voice was heard to saywithout the gate, "A good job too. I had still three years to run. " Nextday the herdsman appeared as usual, but he had a scar on his brow, andhe never went out again at night. [761]

[Werewolves in China. ]

In China also the faith in similar transformation is reflected in thefollowing tale. A certain man in Sung-yang went into the mountains togather fuel. Night fell and he was pursued by two tigers, but scrambledup a tree out of their reach. Then said the one tiger to the othertiger, "If we can find Chu-Tu-shi, we are sure to catch this man up thetree. " So off went one of them to find Chu-Tu-shi, while the other keptwatch at the foot of the tree. Soon after that another tiger, leaner andlonger than the other two, appeared on the scene and made a grab at theman's coat. But fortunately the moon was shining, the man saw the paw, and with a stroke of his axe cut off one of its claws. The tigers roaredand fled, one after the other, so the man climbed down the tree and wenthome. When he told his tale in the village, suspicion naturally fell onthe said Chu-Tu-shi; next day some men went to see him in his house. They were told that they could not see him; for he had been out thenight before and had hurt his hand, and he was now ill in bed. So theyput two and two together and reported him to the police. The policearrived, surrounded the house, and set fire to it; but Chu-Tu-shi rosefrom his bed, turned into a tiger, charged right through the police, andescaped, and to this day nobody ever knew where he went to. [762]

[Werewolves among the Toradjas of Central Celebes. ]

The Toradjas of Central Celebes stand in very great fear of werewolves, that is of men and women, who have the power of transforming theirspirits into animals such as cats, crocodiles, wild pigs, apes, deer, and buffaloes, which roam about battening on human flesh, and especiallyon human livers, while the men and women in their own proper human formare sleeping quietly in their beds at home. Among them a man is eitherborn a were-wolf or becomes one by infection; for mere contact with awere-wolf, or even with anything that has been touched by his spittle, is quite enough to turn the most innocent person into a were-wolf; nayeven to lean your head against anything against which a were-wolf hasleaned his head suffices to do it. The penalty for being a were-wolf isdeath; but the sentence is never passed until the accused has had a fairtrial and his guilt has been clearly demonstrated by an ordeal, whichconsists in dipping the middle finger into boiling resin. If the fingeris not burnt, the man is no were-wolf; but if it is burnt, a werewolf hemost assuredly is, so they take him away to a quiet spot and hack him tobits. In cutting him up the executioners are naturally very careful notto be bespattered with his blood, for if that were to happen they wouldof course be turned into were-wolves themselves. Further, they place hissevered head beside his hinder-quarters to prevent his soul from comingto life again and pursuing his depredations. So great is the horror ofwere-wolves among the Toradjas, and so great is their fear ofcontracting the deadly taint by infection, that many persons haveassured a missionary that they would not spare their own child if theyknew him to be a were-wolf. [763] Now these people, whose faith inwere-wolves is not a mere dying or dead superstition but a living, dreadful conviction, tell stories of were-wolves which conform to thetype which we are examining. They say that once upon a time a were-wolfcame in human shape under the house of a neighbour, while his real bodylay asleep as usual at home, and calling out softly to the man's wifemade an assignation with her to meet him in the tobacco-field next day. But the husband was lying awake and he heard it all, but he said nothingto anybody. Next day chanced to be a busy one in the village, for a roofhad to be put on a new house and all the men were lending a hand withthe work, and among them to be sure was the were-wolf himself, I mean tosay his own human self; there he was up on the roof working away as hardas anybody. But the woman went out to the tobacco-field, and behind wentunseen her husband, slinking through the underwood. When they were cometo the field, he saw the were-wolf make up to his wife, so out he rushedand struck at him with a stick. Quick as thought, the were-wolf turnedhimself into a leaf, but the man was as nimble, for he caught up theleaf, thrust it into the joint of bamboo, in which he kept his tobacco, and bunged it up tight. Then he walked back with his wife to thevillage, carrying the bamboo with the werewolf in it. When they came tothe village, the human body of the were-wolf was still on the roof, working away with the rest. The man put the bamboo in a fire. At thatthe human were-wolf looked down from the roof and said, "Don't do that. "The man drew the bamboo from the fire, but a moment afterwards he put itin the fire again, and again the human were-wolf on the roof looked downand cried, "Don't do that. " But this time the man kept the bamboo in thefire, and when it blazed up, down fell the human were-wolf from the roofas dead as a stone. [764] Again, the following story went round among theToradjas not so very many years ago. The thing happened at Soemara, onthe Gulf of Tomori. It was evening and some men sat chatting with acertain Hadji Mohammad. When it had grown dark, one of the men went outof the house for something or other. A little while afterwards one ofthe company thought he saw a stag's antlers standing out sharp and clearagainst the bright evening sky. So Hadji Mohammad raised his gun andfired. A minute or two afterwards back comes the man who had gone out, and says he to Hadji Mohammad, "You shot at me and hit me. You must payme a fine. " They searched him but found no wound on him anywhere. Thenthey knew that he was a were-wolf who had turned himself into a stag andhad healed the bullet-wound by licking it. However, the bullet had foundits billet, for two days afterwards he was a dead man. [765]

[Were-wolves in the Egyptian Sudan. ]

In Sennar, a province of the Egyptian Sudan, the Hammeg and Fungi enjoythe reputation of being powerful magicians who can turn themselves intohyaenas and in that guise scour the country at night, howling andgorging themselves. But by day they are men again. It is very dangerousto shoot at such human hyaenas by night. On the Jebel Bela mountain asoldier once shot at a hyaena and hit it, but it dragged itself off, bleeding, in the darkness and escaped. Next morning he followed up thetrail of blood and it led him straight to the hut of a man who waseverywhere known for a wizard. Nothing of the hyaena was to be seen, butthe man himself was laid up in the house with a fresh wound and diedsoon afterwards. And the soldier did not long survive him. [766]

[The were-wolf story in Petronius. ]

But the classical example of these stories is an old Roman tale told byPetronius. It is put in the mouth of one Niceros. Late at night he leftthe town to visit a friend of his, a widow, who lived at a farm fivemiles down the road. He was accompanied by a soldier, who lodged in thesame house, a man of Herculean build. When they set out it was neardawn, but the moon shone as bright as day. Passing through the outskirtsof the town, they came amongst the tombs, which lined the highroad forsome distance. There the soldier made an excuse for retiring behind amonument, and Niceros sat down to wait for him, humming a tune andcounting the tombstones to pass the time. In a little he looked roundfor his companion, and saw a sight which froze him with horror. Thesoldier had stripped off his clothes to the last rag and laid them atthe side of the highway. Then he performed a certain ceremony over them, and immediately was changed into a wolf, and ran howling into theforest. When Niceros had recovered himself a little, he went to pick upthe clothes, but found that they were turned to stone. More dead thanalive, he drew his sword, and, striking at every shadow cast by thetombstones on the moonlit road, he tottered to his friend's house. Heentered it like a ghost, to the surprise of the widow, who wondered tosee him abroad so late. "If you had only been here a little ago, " saidshe, "you might have been of some use. For a wolf came tearing into theyard, scaring the cattle and bleeding them like a butcher. But he didnot get off so easily, for the servant speared him in the neck. " Afterhearing these words, Niceros felt that he could not close an eye, so hehurried away home again. It was now broad daylight, but when he came tothe place where the clothes had been turned to stone, he found only apool of blood. He reached home, and there lay the soldier in bed like anox in the shambles, and the doctor was bandaging his neck. "Then Iknew, " said Niceros, "that the man was a were-wolf, and never againcould I break bread with him, no, not if you had killed me for it. "[767]

[Witches like were-wolves can temporarily transform themselves intoanimals. ]

These stories may help us to understand the custom of burning abewitched animal, which has been observed in our own country down torecent times, if indeed it is even now extinct. For a close parallel maybe traced in some respects between witches and were-wolves. Likewere-wolves, witches are commonly supposed to be able to transformthemselves temporarily into animals for the purpose of playing theirmischievous pranks;[768] and like were-wolves they can in their animaldisguise be compelled to unmask themselves to any one who succeeds indrawing their blood. In either case the animal-skin is conceived as acloak thrown round the wicked enchanter; and if you can only pierce theskin, whether by the stab of a knife or the shot of a gun, you so rendthe disguise that the man or woman inside of it stands revealed in hisor her true colours. Strictly speaking, the stab should be given on thebrow or between the eyes in the case both of a witch and of awere-wolf;[769] and it is vain to shoot at a were-wolf unless you havehad the bullet blessed in a chapel of St. Hubert or happen to becarrying about you, without knowing it, a four-leaved clover; otherwisethe bullet will merely rebound from the were-wolf like water from aduck's back. [770] However, in Armenia they say that the were-wolf, whoin that country is usually a woman, can be killed neither by shot nor bysteel; the only way of delivering the unhappy woman from her bondage isto get hold of her wolf's skin and burn it; for that naturally preventsher from turning into a wolf again. But it is not easy to find the skin, for she is cunning enough to hide it by day. [771] So with witches, it isnot only useless but even dangerous to shoot at one of them when she hasturned herself into a hare; if you do, the gun may burst in your hand orthe shot come back and kill you. The only way to make quite sure ofhitting a witch-animal is to put a silver sixpence or a silver button inyour gun. [772] For example, it happened one evening that a native of theisland of Tiree was going home with a new gun, when he saw a black sheeprunning towards him across the plain of Reef. Something about thecreature excited his suspicion, so he put a silver sixpence in his gunand fired at it. Instantly the black sheep became a woman with a druggetcoat wrapt round her head. The man knew her quite well, for she was awitch who had often persecuted him before in the shape of a cat. [773]

[Wounds inflicted on an animal into which a witch has transformedherself are inflicted on the witch herself. ]

Again, the wounds inflicted on a witch-hare or a witch-cat are to beseen on the witch herself, just as the wounds inflicted on a were-wolfare to be seen on the man himself when he has doffed the wolfs skin. Totake a few instances out of a multitude, a young man in the island ofLismore was out shooting. When he was near Balnagown loch, he started ahare and fired at it. The animal gave an unearthly scream, and then forthe first time it occurred to him that there were no real hares inLismore. He threw away his gun in terror and fled home; and next day heheard that a notorious witch was laid up with a broken leg. A man needbe no conjuror to guess how she came by that broken leg. [774] Again, atThurso certain witches used to turn themselves into cats and in thatshape to torment an honest man. One night he lost patience, whipped outhis broadsword, and put them to flight. As they were scurrying away hestruck at them and cut off a leg of one of the cats. To his astonishmentit was a woman's leg, and next morning he found one of the witches shortof the corresponding limb. [775] Glanvil tells a story of "an old womanin Cambridge-shire, whose astral spirit, coming into a man's house (ashe was sitting alone at the fire) in the shape of an huge cat, andsetting her self before the fire, not far from him, he stole a stroke atthe back of it with a fire-fork, and seemed to break the back of it, butit scambled from him, and vanisht he knew not how. But such an oldwoman, a reputed witch, was found dead in her bed that very night, withher back broken, as I have heard some years ago credibly reported. "[776]In Yorkshire during the latter half of the nineteenth century a parishclergyman was told a circumstantial story of an old witch named Nanny, who was hunted in the form of a hare for several miles over theWesterdale moors and kept well away from the dogs, till a black onejoined the pack and succeeded in taking a bit out of one of the hare'slegs. That was the end of the chase, and immediately afterwards thesportsmen found old Nanny laid up in bed with a sore leg. On examiningthe wounded limb they discovered that the hurt was precisely in thatpart of it which in the hare had been bitten by the black dog and, whatwas still more significant, the wound had all the appearance of havingbeen inflicted by a dog's teeth. So they put two and two together. [777]The same sort of thing is often reported in Lincolnshire. "One night, "said a servant from Kirton Lindsey, "my father and brother saw a cat infront of them. Father knew it was a witch, and took a stone and hammeredit. Next day the witch had her face all tied up, and shortly afterwardsdied. " Again, a Bardney bumpkin told how a witch in his neighbourhoodcould take all sorts of shapes. One night a man shot a hare, and when hewent to the witch's house he found her plastering a wound just where hehad shot the hare. [778] So in County Leitrim, in Ireland, they say thata hare pursued by dogs fled to a house near at hand, but just as it wasbolting in at the door one of the dogs came up with it and nipped apiece out of its leg. The hunters entered the house and found no harethere but only an old woman, and her side was bleeding; so they knewwhat to think of her. [779]

[Wounded witches in the Vosges. ]

Again, in the Vosges Mountains a great big hare used to come out everyevening to take the air at the foot of the Mont des Fourches. All thesportsmen of the neighbourhood tried their hands on that hare for amonth, but not one of them could hit it. At last one marksman, moreknowing than the rest, loaded his gun with some pellets of a consecratedwafer in addition to the usual pellets of lead. That did the trick. Ifpuss was not killed outright, she was badly hurt, and limped awayuttering shrieks and curses in a human voice. Later it transpired thatshe was no other than the witch of a neighbouring village who had thepower of putting on the shape of any animal she pleased. [780] Again, ahunter of Travexin, in the Vosges, fired at a hare and almost shot awayone of its hind legs. Nevertheless the creature contrived to escape intoa cottage through the open door. Immediately a child's cries were heardto proceed from the cottage, and the hunter could distinguish thesewords, "Daddy, daddy, come quick! Poor mammy has her leg broken. "[781]

[Wounded witches in Swabia. ]

In Swabia the witches are liable to accidents of the same sort when theygo about their business in the form of animals. For example, there was asoldier who was betrothed to a young woman and used to visit her everyevening when he was off duty. But one evening the girl told him that hemust not come to the house on Friday nights, because it was neverconvenient to her to see him then. This roused his suspicion, and thevery next Friday night he set out to go to his sweetheart's house. Onthe way a white cat ran up to him in the street and dogged his steps, and when the animal would not make off he drew his sword and slashed offone of its paws. On that the cat bolted. The soldier walked on, but whenhe came to his sweetheart's house he found her in bed, and when he askedher what was the matter, she gave a very confused reply. Noticing stainsof blood on the bed, he drew down the coverlet and saw that the girl wasweltering in her gore, for one of her feet was lopped off. "So that'swhat's the matter with you, you witch!" said he, and turned on his heeland left her, and within three days she was dead. [782] Again, a farmerin the neighbourhood of Wiesensteig frequently found in his stable ahorse over and above the four horses he actually owned. He did not knowwhat to make of it and mentioned the matter to the smith. The smith saidquietly, "The next time you see a fifth horse in the stable, just yousend for me. " Well, it was not long before the strange horse was thereagain, and the farmer at once sent for the smith. He came bringing fourhorse-shoes with him, and said, "I'm sure the nag has no shoes; I'llshoe her for you. " No sooner said than done. However, the smithoverreached himself; for next day when his friend the farmer paid him avisit he found the smith's own wife prancing about with horse-shoesnailed on her hands and feet. But it was the last time she ever appearedin the shape of a horse. [783]

[The miller's wife and the two grey cats. ]

Once more, in Silesia they tell of a miller's apprentice, a sturdy andindustrious young fellow, who set out on his travels. One day he came toa mill, and the miller told him that he wanted an apprentice but did notcare to engage one, because hitherto all his apprentices had run away inthe night, and when he came down in the morning the mill was at a stand. However, he liked the looks of the young chap and took him into his pay. But what the new apprentice heard about the mill and his predecessorswas not encouraging; so the first night when it was his duty to watch inthe mill he took care to provide himself with an axe and a prayer-book, and while he kept one eye on the whirring, humming wheels he kept theother on the good book, which he read by the flickering light of acandle set on a table. So the hours at first passed quietly with nothingto disturb him but the monotonous drone and click of the machinery. Buton the stroke of twelve, as he was still reading with the axe lying onthe table within reach, the door opened and in came two grey catsmewing, an old one and a young one. They sat down opposite him, but itwas easy to see that they did not like his wakefulness and theprayer-book and the axe. Suddenly the old cat reached out a paw and madea grab at the axe, but the young chap was too quick for her and held itfast. Then the young cat tried to do the same for the prayer-book, butthe apprentice gripped it tight. Thus balked, the two cats set up such asqualling that the young fellow could hardly say his prayers. Justbefore one o'clock the younger cat sprang on the table and fetched ablow with her right paw at the candle to put it out. But the apprenticestruck at her with his axe and sliced the paw off, whereupon the twocats vanished with a frightful screech. The apprentice wrapped the pawup in paper to shew it to his master. Very glad the miller was nextmorning when he came down and found the mill going and the young chap athis post. The apprentice told him what had happened in the night andgave him the parcel containing the cat's paw. But when the miller openedit, what was the astonishment of the two to find in it no cat's paw buta woman's hand! At breakfast the miller's young wife did not as usualtake her place at the table. She was ill in bed, and the doctor had tobe called in to bind up her right arm, because in hewing wood, so theysaid, she had made a slip and cut off her own right hand. But theapprentice packed up his traps and turned his back on that mill beforethe sun had set. [784]

[The analogy of were-wolves confirms the view that the reason forburning bewitched animals is either to burn the witch or to compel herto appear. ]

It would no doubt be easy to multiply instances, all equally wellattested and authentic, of the transformation of witches into animalsand of the damage which the women themselves have sustained throughinjuries inflicted on the animals. [785] But the foregoing evidence maysuffice to establish the complete parallelism between witches andwere-wolves in these respects. The analogy appears to confirm the viewthat the reason for burning a bewitched animal alive is a belief thatthe witch herself is in the animal, and that by burning it you eitherdestroy the witch completely or at least unmask her and compel her toreassume her proper human shape, in which she is naturally far lesspotent for mischief than when she is careering about the country in thelikeness of a cat, a hare, a horse, or what not. This principle is stillindeed clearly recognized by people in Oldenburg, though, as might beexpected, they do not now carry out the principle to its logicalconclusion by burning the bewitched animal or person alive; instead theyresort to a feeble and, it must be added, perfectly futile subterfugedictated by a mistaken humanity or a fear of the police. "When anythingliving is bewitched in a house, for example, children or animals, theyburn or boil the nobler inwards of animals, especially the hearts, butalso the lungs or the liver. If animals have died, they take the inwardsof one of them or of an animal of the same kind slaughtered for thepurpose; but if that is not possible they take the inwards of a cock, bypreference a black one. The heart, lung, or liver is stuck all over withneedles, or marked with a cross cut, or placed on the fire in a tightlyclosed vessel, strict silence being observed and doors and windows wellshut. When the heart boils or is reduced to ashes, the witch mustappear, for during the boiling she feels the burning pain. She eitherbegs to be released or seeks to borrow something, for example, salt or acoal of fire, or she takes the lid off the pot, or tries to induce theperson whose spell is on her to speak. They say, too, that a woman comeswith a spinning-wheel. If it is a sheep that has died, you proceed inthe same way with a tripe from its stomach and prick it with needleswhile it is on the boil. Instead of boiling it, some people nail theheart to the highest rafter of the house, or lay it on the edge of thehearth, in order that it may dry up, no doubt because the same thinghappens to the witch. We may conjecture that other sympathetic means ofdestruction are employed against witchcraft. The following is expresslyreported: the heart of a calf that has died is stuck all over withneedles, enclosed in a bag, and thrown into flowing water beforesunset. "[786]

[There is the same reason for burning bewitched things; similarly byburning alive a person whose form a witch has assumed, you compel thewitch to disclose herself. ]

And the same thing holds good also of inanimate objects on which a witchhas cast her spell. In Wales they say that "if a thing is bewitched, burn it, and immediately afterwards the witch will come to borrowsomething of you. If you give what she asks, she will go free; if yourefuse it, she will burn, and a mark will be on her body the nextday. "[787] So, too, in Oldenburg, "the burning of things that arebewitched or that have been received from witches is another way ofbreaking the spell. It is often said that the burning should take placeat a cross-road, and in several places cross-roads are shewn where theburning used to be performed. .. . As a rule, while the things areburning, the guilty witches appear, though not always in their ownshape. At the burning of bewitched butter they often appear ascockchafers and can be killed with impunity. Victuals received fromwitches may be safely consumed if only you first burn a portion ofthem. "[788] For example, a young man in Oldenburg was wooing a girl, andshe gave him two fine apples as a gift. Not feeling any appetite at thetime, he put the apples in his pocket, and when he came home he laidthem by in a chest. Two or three days afterwards he remembered theapples and went to the chest to fetch them. But when he would have puthis hand on them, what was his horror to find in their stead two fatugly toads in the chest. He hastened to a wise man and asked him what heshould do with the toads. The man told him to boil the toads alive, butwhile he was doing so he must be sure on no account to lend anything outof the house. Well, just as he had the toads in a pot on the fire andthe water began to grow nicely warm, who should come to the door but thegirl who had given him the apples, and she wished to borrow something;but he refused to give her anything, rated her as a witch, and drove herout of the house. A little afterwards in came the girl's mother andbegged with tears in her eyes for something or other; but he turned herout also. The last word she said to him was that he should at leastspare her daughter's life; but he paid no heed to her and let the toadsboil till they fell to bits. Next day word came that the girl wasdead. [789] Can any reasonable man doubt that the witch herself wasboiled alive in the person of the toads?

[The burning alive of a supposed witch in Ireland in 1895. ]

Moreover, just as a witch can assume the form of an animal, so she canassume the form of some other human being, and the likeness is sometimesso good that it is difficult to detect the fraud. However, by burningalive the person whose shape the witch has put on, you force the witchto disclose herself, just as by burning alive the bewitched animal youin like manner oblige the witch to appear. This principle may perhaps beunknown to science, falsely so called, but it is well understood inIreland and has been acted on within recent years. In March 1895 apeasant named Michael Cleary, residing at Ballyvadlea, a remote andlonely district in the county of Tipperary, burned his wife BridgetCleary alive over a slow fire on the kitchen hearth in the presence ofand with the active assistance of some neighbours, including the woman'sown father and several of her cousins. They thought that she was notBridget Cleary at all, but a witch, and that when they held her down onthe fire she would vanish up the chimney; so they cried, while she wasburning, "Away she goes! Away she goes!" Even when she lay quite dead onthe kitchen floor (for contrary to the general expectation she did notdisappear up the chimney), her husband still believed that the womanlying there was a witch, and that his own dear wife had gone with thefairies to the old _rath_ or fort on the hill of Kylenagranagh, where hewould see her at night riding a grey horse and roped to the saddle, andthat he would cut the ropes, and that she would stay with him everafterwards. So he went with some friends to the fort night after night, taking a big table-knife with him to cut the ropes. But he never saw hiswife again. He and the men who had held the woman on the fire werearrested and tried at Clonmel for wilful murder in July 1895; they wereall found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to various terms of penalservitude and imprisonment; the sentence passed on Michael Cleary wastwenty years' penal servitude. [790]

[Sometimes bewitched animals are buried alive instead of being burned. ]

However, our British peasants, it must be confessed, have not alwaysacted up to the strict logical theory which seems to call for death byfire as the proper treatment both of bewitched animals and of witches. Sometimes, perhaps in moments of weakness, they have merely buried thebewitched animals alive instead of burning them. For example, in theyear 1643, "many cattle having died, John Brughe and Neane Nikclerith, also one of the initiated, conjoined their mutual skill for the safetyof the herd. The surviving animals were drove past a tub of watercontaining two enchanted stones: and each was sprinkled from the liquidcontents in its course. One, however, being unable to walk, 'was byforce drawin out at the byre dure; and the said Johnne with Nikclerithsmelling the nois thereof said it wald not leive, caused are hoill to bemaid in Maw Greane, quhilk was put quick in the hole and maid all therest of the cattell theireftir to go over that place: and in thatdevillische maner, be charmeing, ' they were cured. "[791] Again, duringthe prevalence of a murrain about the year 1629, certain personsproposed to stay the plague with the help of a celebrated "cureingstane" of which the laird of Lee was the fortunate owner. But from thisthey were dissuaded by one who "had sene bestiall curet be taking arequik seik ox, and making are deip pitt, and bureing him therin, and becalling the oxin and bestiall over that place. " Indeed Issobell Young, the mother of these persons, had herself endeavoured to check theprogress of the distemper by taking "ane quik ox with ane catt, and anegrit quantitie of salt, " and proceeding "to burie the ox and catt quikwith the salt, in ane deip hoill in the grund, as ane sacrifice to thedevill, that the rest of the guidis might be fred of the seiknes ordiseases. "[792] Writing towards the end of the eighteenth century, JohnRamsay of Ochtertyre tells us that "the violent death even of a brute isin some cases held to be of great avail. There is a disease called the_black spauld_, which sometimes rages like a pestilence among blackcattle, the symptoms of which are a mortification in the legs and acorruption of the mass of blood. Among the other engines of superstitionthat are directed against this fatal malady, the first cow seized withit is commonly buried alive, and the other cattle are forced to passbackwards and forwards over the pit. At other times the heart is takenout of the beast alive, and then the carcass is buried. It is remarkablethat the leg affected is cut off, and hung up in some part of the houseor byre, where it remains suspended, notwithstanding the seeming dangerof infection. There is hardly a house in Mull where these may not beseen. This practice seems to have taken its rise antecedent toChristianity, as it reminds us of the pagan custom of hanging upofferings in their temples. In Breadalbane, when a cow is observed tohave symptoms of madness, there is recourse had to a peculiar process. They tie the legs of the mad creature, and throw her into a pit dug atthe door of the fold. After covering the hole with earth, a large fireis kindled upon it; and the rest of the cattle are driven out, andforced to pass through the fire one by one. "[793] In this latter customwe may suspect that the fire kindled on the grave of the buried cow wasoriginally made by the friction of wood, in other words, that it was aneed-fire. Again, writing in the year 1862, Sir Arthur Mitchell tells usthat "for the cure of the murrain in cattle, one of the herd is stillsacrificed for the good of the whole. This is done by burying it alive. I am assured that within the last ten years such a barbarism occurred inthe county of Moray. "[794]

[Calves killed and buried to save the rest of the herd. ]

Sometimes, however, the animal has not even been buried alive, it hasbeen merely killed and then buried. In this emasculated form thesacrifice, we may say with confidence, is absolutely useless for thepurpose of stopping a murrain. Nevertheless, it has been tried. Thus inLincolnshire, when the cattle plague was so prevalent in 1866, therewas, I believe, not a single cowshed in Marshland but had its wickencross over the door; and other charms more powerful than this were insome cases resorted to. I never heard of the use of the needfire in theMarsh, though it was, I believe, used on the wolds not many miles off. But I knew of at least one case in which a calf was killed and solemnlyburied feet pointing upwards at the threshold of the cowshed. When ourgarthman told me of this, I pointed out to him that the charm hadfailed, for the disease had not spared that shed. But he promptlyreplied, "Yis, but owd Edwards were a soight too cliver; he were thatmean he slew nobbutt a wankling cauf as were bound to deny anny road; ifhe had nobbutt tekken his best cauf it wud hev worked reight enuff;'tain't in reason that owd skrat 'ud be hanselled wi' wanklingdraffle. "[795]

Notes:

[262] See Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_*[4] (Berlin, 1875-1878), i. 502, 510, 516. 

[263] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrerNachbarstämme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 _sq. _

[264] In the following survey of these fire-customs I follow chiefly W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, kap. Vi. Pp. 497 _sqq. _ Compare also J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 500 _sqq. _; Walter E. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London, 1863), pp. 46 _sqq. _; F. Vogt, "Scheibentreiben und Frühlingsfeuer, "_Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, iii. (1893) pp. 349-369;_ibid. _ iv. (1894) pp. 195-197. 

[265] _The Scapegoat_, pp. 316 _sqq. _

[266] The first Sunday in Lent is known as _Invocavit_ from the firstword of the mass for the day (O. Frh. Von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, p. 67). 

[267] Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 141-143; E. Monseur, _Le Folklore Wallon_ (Brussels, N. D. ), pp. 124 _sq. _

[268] Émile Hublard, _Fêtes du Temps Jadis, les Feux du Carême_ (Mons, 1899), pp. 25. For the loan of this work I am indebted to Mrs. Wherry ofSt. Peter's Terrace, Cambridge. 

[269] É. Hublard, _op. Cit. _ pp. 27 _sq. _

[270] A. Meyrac, _Traditions, coutumes, légendes et contes des Ardennes_(Charleville, 1890), p. 68. 

[271] L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p. 56. The popular name for the bonfires in the Upper Vosges (_Hautes-Vosges_)is _chavandes_. 

[272] E. Cortet, _Essai sur les fêtes religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 101 _sq. _ The local name for these bonfires is _bures_. 

[273] Charles Beauquier, _Les mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), pp. 33 _sq. _ In Bresse the custom was similar. See _La Bresse Louhannaise, Bulletin Mensuel, Organe de la Société d'Agriculture et d'Horticulturede l'Arrondissement de Louhans_, Mars, 1906, pp. 111 _sq. _; E. Cortet, _op. Cit. _ p. 100. The usual name for the bonfires is _chevannes_ or_schvannes_; but in some places they are called _foulères, foualères, failles_, or _bourdifailles_ (Ch. Beauquier, _op. Cit. _ p. 34). But theSunday is called the Sunday of the _brandons, bures, bordes_, or_boidès_, according to the place. The _brandons_ are the torches whichare carried about the streets and the fields; the bonfires, as we haveseen, bear another name. A curious custom, observed on the same Sundayin Franche-Comté, requires that couples married within the year shoulddistribute boiled peas to all the young folks of both sexes who demandthem at the door. The lads and lasses go about from house to house, making the customary request; in some places they wear masks or areotherwise disguised. See Ch. Beauquier, _op. Cit. _ pp. 31-33. 

[274] Curiously enough, while the singular is _granno-mio_, the pluralis _grannas-mias_. 

[275] Dr. Pommerol, "La fête des Brandons et le dieu Gaulois Grannus, "_Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris_, v. Série, ii. (1901) pp. 427-429. 

[276] _Op. Cit. _ pp. 428 _sq. _

[277] H. Dessau, _Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae_, vol. Ii. Pars i. (Berlin, 1902) pp. 216 _sq. _, Nos. 4646-4652. 

[278] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London, 1888), pp. 22-25. 

[279] Émile Hublard, _Fêtes du Temps Jadis, les Feux du Carême_ (Mons, 1899), p. 38, quoting Dom Grenier, _Histoire de la Province dePicardie_. 

[280] É. Hublard, _op. Cit. _ p. 39, quoting Dom Grenier. 

[281] M. Desgranges, "Usages du Canton de Bonneval, " _Mémoires de laSociété Royale des Antiquaires de France_, i. (Paris, 1817) pp. 236-238;Felix Chapiseau, _Le folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902), i. 315 _sq. _

[282] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 100. 

[283] E. Cortet, _Essai sur les fêtes religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 99_sq. ; La Bresse Louhannaise_, Mars, 1906, p. 111. 

[284] A. De Nore, _Coutumes, mythes et traditions des provinces deFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 283 _sq. _ A similar, though notidentical, custom prevailed at Valenciennes (_ibid. _ p. 338). 

[285] A. De Nore, _op. Cit. _ p. 302. 

[286] Désiré Monnier, _Traditions populaires comparées_ (Paris, 1854), pp. 191 _sq. _

[287] Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et légendes du centre de laFrance_ (Paris, 1875). I. 35 _sqq. _

[288] Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Rocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1887), ii. 131 _sq. _ For more evidence of customs of this sort observedin various parts of France on the first Sunday in Lent, see MadameClément, _Histoire des Fêtes civiles et religieuses_, etc. , _duDépartement du Nord_*[2] (Cambrai, 1836), pp. 351 _sqq. _; Émile Hublard, _Fêtes du Temps Jadis, les Feux du Carême_ (Mons, 1899), pp. 33 _sqq. _

[289] J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthseldes Eifler Volkes_ (Trèves, 1856-1858), i. 21-25; N. Hocker, in_Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) p. 90;W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_(Berlin, 1875), p. 501. 

[290] N. Hocker, _op. Cit. _ pp. 89 _sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _l. C. _

[291] F. J. Vonbun, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Chur, 1862), p. 20; W. Mannhardt, _l. C. _

[292] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 380 _sqq. _; Anton Birlinger, _Volksthümliches ausSchwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 56 _sqq. _, 66 _sqq. _;_Bavaria, Landes-und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), ii. 2, pp. 838 _sq. _; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschenMythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. 211, § 232; W. Mannhardt, _l. C. _ Oneof the popular German names for the first Sunday in Lent is WhiteSunday, which is not to be confused with the first Sunday after Easter, which also goes by the name of White Sunday (E. Meier, _op. Cit. _ p. 380; A. Birlinger, _op. Cit. _ ii. 56). 

[293] H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de laroue, " _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 139 _sq. _

[294] August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_(Vienna, 1878), p. 189; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_(Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 207; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus, _ pp. 500_sq. _

[295] W. Kolbe, _Hessiche Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche_*[2] (Marburg, 1888), p. 36. 

[296] Adalbert Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und desGöttertranks_*[2] (Gütersloh, 1886), p. 86, quoting Hocker, _DesMosellandes Geschichten, Sagen und Legenden_ (Trier, 1852), pp. 415_sqq. _ Compare W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 501; and below, pp. 163 _sq. _ Thus it appears that the ceremony of rolling the fiery wheeldown hill was observed twice a year at Konz, once on the first Sunday inLent, and once at Midsummer. 

[297] H. Herzog, _Schweizerische Volksfeste, Sitten und Gebräuche_(Aarau, 1884), pp. 214-216; E. Hoffmann-Krayer, "Fruchtbarkeitsriten imschweizerischen Volksbrauch, " _Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde_, xi. (1907) pp. 247-249; _id. , Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes_(Zurich, 1913), pp. 135 _sq. _

[298] Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_(Vienna, 1859), pp. 293 _sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 498. See _The Dying God_, p. 239. 

[299] J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthseldes Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 20; W. Mannhardt, _DerBaumkultus_, p. 499. 

[300] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem HerzogthumOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), ii. 39, § 306; W. Mannhardt, _DerBaumkultus_, p. 498. 

[301] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 499. 

[302] W. Mannhardt, _op. Cit. _ pp. 498 _sq. _

[303] W. Mannhardt, _op. Cit. _ p. 499. 

[304] Christian Schneller, _Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol_(Innsbruck, 1867), pp. 234 _sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _op. Cit. _ pp. 499 _sq. _

[305] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 157 _sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, pp. 502-505;Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_ (Munich, 1855), pp. 172 _sq. _; Anton Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg imBreisgau, 1861-1862), i. 472 _sq. _; Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N. D. ), p. 26; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 241_sq. _; Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 139 _sq. _; _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde desKönigreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), i. 371; A. Wuttke, _Derdeutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), pp. 68 _sq. _, § 81; IgnazV. Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_*[2](Innsbruck, 1871), p. 149, §§ 1286-1289; W. Kolbe, _HessischeVolks-Sitten und Gebräuche_*[2] (Marburg, 1888), pp. 44 _sqq. _; _CountyFolk-lore, Printed Extracts, Leicestershire and Rutland_, collected byC. J. Billson (London, 1895), pp. 75 _sq. _; A. Tiraboschi, "Usi pasqualinel Bergamasco, " _Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizione Popolari_, i. (1892) pp. 442 _sq. _ The ecclesiastical custom of lighting the Paschalor Easter candle is very fully described by Mr. H. J. Feasey, _AncientEnglish Holy Week Ceremonial_ (London, 1897), pp. 179 _sqq. _ Thesecandles were sometimes of prodigious size; in the cathedrals of Norwichand Durham, for example, they reached almost to the roof, from whichthey had to be lighted. Often they went by the name of the Judas Lightor the Judas Candle; and sometimes small waxen figures of Judas werehung on them. See H. J. Feasey, _op. Cit. _ pp. 193, 213 _sqq. _ As to theritual of the new fire at St. Peter's in Rome, see R. Chambers, _TheBook of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. 421; and as to the earlyhistory of the rite in the Catholic church, see Mgr. L. Duchesne, _Origines du Culte Chrétien_*[3] (Paris, 1903), pp. 250-257. ]

[306] _Bavaria, Landes und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), i. 1002 _sq. _

[307] Gennaro Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), pp. 122 _sq. _

[308] G. Finamore, _op. Cit. _ pp. 123 _sq. _

[309] Vincenzo Dorsa, _La Tradizione Greco-Latina negli Usi e nelleCredenze Popolari della Calabria Citeriore_ (Cosenza, 1884), pp. 48_sq. _

[310] Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschenWestböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), pp. 62 _sq. _

[311] K. Seifart, _Sagen, Märchen, Schwänke und Gebräuche aits Stadt undStift Hildesheim_*[2] (Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177 _sq. _, 179 _sq. _

[312] M. Lexer, "Volksüberlieferungen aus dem Lesachthal in Karnten, "_Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, iii. (1855) p. 31. 

[313] _The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latinverse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe_, 1570, editedby R. C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 52, _recto. _ The title of the originalpoem was _Regnum Papisticum_. The author, Thomas Kirchmeyer (Naogeorgus, as he called himself), died in 1577. The book is a satire on the abusesand superstitions of the Catholic Church. Only one perfect copy ofGooge's translation is known to exist: it is in the University Libraryat Cambridge. See Mr. R. C. Hope's introduction to his reprint of thisrare work, pp. Xv. _sq. _ The words, "Then Clappers ceasse, and bellesare set againe at libertée, " refer to the custom in Catholic countriesof silencing the church bells for two days from noon on Maundy Thursdayto noon on Easter Saturday and substituting for their music the harshclatter of wooden rattles. See R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (Londonand Edinburgh, 1886), i, 412 _sq. _ According to another account thechurch bells are silent from midnight on the Wednesday preceding MaundyThursday till matins on Easter Day. See W. Smith and S. Cheetham, _Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_ (London, 1875-1880), ii. 1161, referring to _Ordo Roman_. I. _u. S. _

[314] R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), i. 421. 

[315] Miss Jessie L. Weston, "The _Scoppio del Carro_ at Florence, "_Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 182-184; "Lo Scoppio del Carro, "_Resurrezione, Numero Unico del Sabato Santo_ (Florence, April, 1906), p. 1 (giving a picture of the car with its pyramid of fire-works). Thelatter paper was kindly sent to me from Florence by my friend ProfessorW. J. Lewis. I have also received a letter on the subject from SignorCarlo Placci, dated 4 (or 7) September, 1905, 1 Via Alfieri, Firenze. 

[316] Frederick Starr, "Holy Week in Mexico, " _The Journal of AmericanFolk-lore_, xii. (1899) pp. 164 _sq. _; C. Boyson Taylor, "Easter in ManyLands, " _Everybody's Magazine_, New York, 1903, p. 293. I have to thankMr. S. S. Cohen, of 1525 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, for sending me acutting from the latter magazine. 

[317] K. Von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens_(Berlin, 1894), pp. 458 _sq. _; E. Montet, "Religion et Superstition dansl'Amérique du Sud, " _Revue de l'Histoire des Religions_, xxxii. (1895)p. 145. 

[318] J. J. Von Tschudi, _Peru, Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1838-1842_(St. Gallen, 1846), ii. 189 _sq. _

[319] H. Candelier, _Rio-Hacha et les Indiens Goajires_ (Paris, 1893), p. 85. 

[320] Henry Maundrell, "A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, A. D. 1697, " in Bohn's _Early Travellers in Palestine_ (London, 1848), pp. 462-465; Mgr. Auvergne, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, x. (1837) pp. 23 _sq. _; A. P. Stanley, _Sinai and Palestine_, Second Edition(London, 1856), pp. 460-465; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les FêtesReligieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 137-139; A. W. Kinglake, _Eothen_, chapter xvi. Pp. 158-163 (Temple Classics edition); Father N. Abougit, S. J. , "Le feu du Saint-Sépulcre, " _Les Missions Catholiques_, viii. (1876) pp. 518 _sq. _; Rev. C. T. Wilson, _Peasant Life in the Holy Land_(London, 1906), pp. 45 _sq. _; P. Saint-yves, "Le Renouvellement du FeuSacré, " _Revue des Traditions Populaires_, xxvii. (1912) pp. 449 _sqq. _The distribution of the new fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre isthe subject of a picture by Holman Hunt. From some printed notes on thepicture, with which Mrs. Holman Hunt was so kind as to furnish me, itappears that the new fire is carried by horsemen to Bethlehem and Jaffa, and that a Russian ship conveys it from Jaffa to Odessa, whence it isdistributed all over the country. 

[321] Father X. Abougit, S. J. , "Le feu du Saint-Sépulcre, " _Les MissionsCatholiques_, viii. (1876) pp. 165-168. 

[322] I have described the ceremony as I witnessed it at Athens, onApril 13th, 1890. Compare _Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 275. Having beenhonoured, like other strangers, with a place on the platform, I did notmyself detect Lucifer at work among the multitude below; I merelysuspected his insidious presence. 

[323] W. H. D. Rouse, "Folk-lore from the Southern Sporades, " _Folk-lore_, x. (1899) p. 178. 

[324] Mrs. A. E. Gardner was so kind as to send me a photograph of aTheban Judas dangling from a gallows and partially enveloped in smoke. The photograph was taken at Thebes during the Easter celebration of1891. 

[325] G. F. Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_ (Cambridge, 1903) p. 37. 

[326] Cirbied, "Mémoire sur la gouvernment et sur la religion desanciens Arméniens, " _Mémoires publiées par la Société Royale desAntiquaires de France_, ii. (1820) pp. 285-287; Manuk Abeghian, _Derarmenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), pp. 72-74. The ceremony is saidto be merely a continuation of an old heathen festival which was held atthe beginning of spring in honour of the fire-god Mihr. A bonfire wasmade in a public place, and lamps kindled at it were kept burningthroughout the year in each of the fire-god's temples. 

[327] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 32, ii. 243;_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 65, 74, 75, 78, 136. 

[328] Garcilasso de la Vega, _Royal Commentaries of the Yncas_translated by (Sir) Clements R. Markham (Hakluyt Society, London, 1869-1871), vol. Ii. Pp. 155-163. Compare Juan de Velasco, "Histoire duRoyaume de Quito, " in H. Ternaux-Compans's _Voyages, Relations etMémoires originaux pour servir à l'Histoire de la Découverte del'Amérique_, xviii. (Paris, 1840) p. 140. 

[329] B. De Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des Choses de la NouvelleEspagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon (Paris, 1880), bk. Ii. Chapters 18 and 37, pp. 76, 161; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire desNations civilisées du Mexique et de l'Amérique-Centrale_ (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 136. 

[330] Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, "The Zuñi Indians, " _Twenty-thirdAnnual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1904), pp. 108-141, 148-162, especially pp. 108, 109, 114 _sq. _, 120 _sq. _, 130_sq. _, 132, 148 _sq. _, 157 _sq. _ I have already described theseceremonies in _Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 237 _sq. _ Among the Hopi(Moqui) Indians of Walpi, another pueblo village of this region, newfire is ceremonially kindled by friction in November. See Jesse WalterFewkes, "The Tusayan New Fire Ceremony, " _Proceedings of the BostonSociety of Natural History_, xxvi. 422-458; _id. _, "The Group of TusayanCeremonials called _Katcinas, " Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau ofEthnology_ (Washington, 1897), p. 263; _id. _, "Hopi _Katcinas, "Twenty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_(Washington, 1903), p. 24. 

[331] Henry R. Schoolcraft, _Notes on the Iroquois_ (Albany, 1847), p. 137. Schoolcraft did not know the date of the ceremony, but heconjectured that it fell at the end of the Iroquois year, which was alunar year of twelve or thirteen months. He says: "That the close of thelunar series should have been the period of putting out the fire, andthe beginning of the next, the time of relumination, from new fire, isso consonant to analogy in the tropical tribes, as to be probable" (_op. Cit. _ p. 138). 

[332] C. F. Hall, _Life with the Esquimaux_ (London, 1864), ii. 323. 

[333] Franz Boas, "The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, " _Bulletinof the American Museum of Natural, History_, xv. Part i. (New York, 1901) p. 151. 

[334] G. Nachtigal, _Saharâ und Sûdân_, iii. (Leipsic, 1889) p. 251. 

[335] Major C. Percival, "Tropical Africa, on the Border Line ofMohamedan Civilization, " _The Geographical Journal_, xlii. (1913) pp. 253 _sq. _

[336] Adrien Germain, "Note sur Zanzibar et la côte orientale del'Afrique, " _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), v. Sériexvi. (1868) p. 557; _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 270;Charles New, _Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa_ (London, 1873), p. 65; Jerome Becker, _La Vie en Afrique_ (Paris and Brussels, 1887), ii. 36; O. Baumann, _Usambara und seine Nachbargebiele_ (Berlin, 1891), pp. 55 _sq. _; C. Velten, _Sitten und Gebräucheaer Suaheli_(Göttingen, 1903), pp. 342-344. 

[337] Duarte Barbosa, _Description of the Coasts of East Africa andMalabar_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), p. 8; _id. _, in _Records ofSouth-Eastern Africa_, collected by G. McCall Theal, vol. I. (1898) p. 96; Damião de Goes, "Chronicle of the Most Fortunate King Dom Emanuel, "in _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, collected by G. McCall Theal, vol. Iii. (1899) pp. 130 _sq. _ The name Benametapa (more correctly_monomotapa_) appears to have been the regular title of the paramountchief, which the Portuguese took to be the name of the country. Thepeople over whom he ruled seem to have been the Bantu tribe of theMakalanga in the neighbourhood of Sofala. See G. McCall Theal, _Recordsof South-Eastern Africa_, vii. (1901) pp. 481-484. It is to their customof annually extinguishing and relighting the fire that Montaigne refersin his essay (i. 22, vol. I. P. 140 of Charpentier's edition), though hementions no names. 

[338] Sir H. H. Johnson, _British Central Africa_ (London, 1897), pp. 426, 439. 

[339] W. H. R. Rivers, _The Todas_ (London, 1906), pp. 290-292. 

[340] Lieut. R. Stewart, "Notes on Northern Cachar, " _Journal of theAsiatic Society of Bengal_ xxiv. (1855) p. 612. 

[341] A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, ii. (Leipsic, 1866)pp. 49 _sq. _; Shway Yoe, _The Burman_ (London, 1882), ii. 325 _sq. _

[342] G. Schlegel, _Uranographie Chinoise_ (The Hague and Leyden, 1875), pp. 139-143; C. Puini, "Il fuoco nella tradizione degli antichi Cinesi, "_Giornale della Società Asiatica Italiana_, i. (1887) pp. 20-23; J. J. M. De Groot, _Les Fétes annuellement célébrées à Émoui (Amoy)_ (Paris, 1886), i. 208 _sqq. _ The notion that fire can be worn out with age meetsus also in Brahman ritual. See the _Satapatha Brahmana_, translated byJulius Eggeling, Part i. (Oxford, 1882) p. 230 (_Sacred Books of theEast_, vol. Xii. ). 

[343] W. G. Aston, _Shinto, The Way of the Gods_ (London, 1905), pp. 258_sq. _, compare p. 193. The wands in question are sticks whittled nearthe top into a mass of adherent shavings; they go by the name of_kedzurikake_ ("part-shaved"), and resemble the sacred _inao_ of theAino. See W. G. Aston, _op. Cit. _ p. 191; and as to the _inao_, see_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 185, with note 2. 

[344] Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 82; Homer, _Iliad_, i. 590, _sqq. _

[345] Philostiatus, _Heroica_, xx. 24. 

[346] Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 143 _sq. _; Macrobius, _Saturn_, i. 12. 6. 

[347] Festus, ed. C. O. Müller (Leipsic, 1839), p. 106, _s. V. _ "Ignis. "Plutarch describes a method of rekindling the sacred fire by means ofthe sun's rays reflected from a hollow mirror (_Numa_, 9); but he seemsto be referring to a Greek rather than to the Roman custom. The rule ofcelibacy imposed on the Vestals, whose duty it was to relight the sacredfire as well as to preserve it when it was once made, is perhapsexplained by a superstition current among French peasants that if a girlcan blow up a smouldering candle into a flame she is a virgin, but thatif she fails to do so, she is not. See Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses duBocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 27; B. Souché, _Croyances, Présages et Traditions diverses_ (Niort, 1880), p. 12. Atleast it seems more likely that the rule sprang from a superstition ofthis sort than from a simple calculation of expediency, as I formerlysuggested (_Journal of Philology_, xiv. (1885) p. 158). Compare _TheMagic Art and the Evolution of Kings>_ ii. 234 _sqq. _

[348] Geoffrey Keating, D. D. , _The History of Ireland, translated fromthe original Gaelic, and copiously annotated_, by John O'Mahony (NewYork, 1857), p. 300, with the translator's note. Compare (Sir) JohnRhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London, 1888), pp. 514 _sq. _

[349] W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, Second Edition(London, 1872), pp. 254 _sq. _

[350] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen undGebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; A. Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebräuche undMärchen aus Westfalen_ (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 134 _sqq. ; id. , MärkischeSagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312 _sq. _; J. D. H. Temme, _DieVolkssagen der Altmark_ (Berlin, 1839), pp. 75 _sq. _; K. Lynker, _Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen_*[2] (Cassel andGöttingen, 1860), p. 240; H. Pröhle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), pp. 240-242; W. Kolbe, _Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche_ (Marburg, 1888), pp. 44-47; F. A. Reimann, _Deutsche Volksfeste_ (Weimar, 1839), p. 37; "Sitten und Gebräuche in Duderstadt, " _Zeitschrift für deutscheMythologie und Sitten-kunde_, ii. (1855) p. 107; K. Seifart, _Sagen, Märchen, Schwänke und Gebräuche aus Stadt und Stift Hildesheim_*[2](Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177, 180; O. Hartung, "Zur Volkskunde ausAnhalt, " _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, vii. (1897) p. 76. 

[351] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem HerzogthumOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), ii. P. 43 _sq. _, §313; W. Mannhardt, _DerBaumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 505_sq. _

[352] L. Strackerjan, _op. Cit. _ ii. P. 43, §313. 

[353] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] (Berlin, 1875-1878), i. 512;W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_, pp. 506 _sq. _

[354] H. Pröhle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; _id. _, in_Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) p. 79;A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_(Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 507. 

[355] A. Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312_sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _l. C. _

[356] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_ p. 508. Compare J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1857), i. 74; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 512. The two latter writers onlystate that before the fires were kindled it was customary to huntsquirrels in the woods. 

[357] A. Kuhn, _l. C. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 508. 

[358] _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), iii. 956. 

[359] See above, pp. 116 _sq. _, 119. 

[360] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. Pp. 211 _sq. _, § 233; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, pp. 507 _sq. _

[361] _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, iii. 357. 

[362] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. Pp. 212 _sq. _, § 236. 

[363] F. Panzer, _op. Cit. _ ii. Pp. 78 _sq. _, §§ 114, 115. The customsobserved at these places and at Althenneberg are described together byW. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 505. 

[364] A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg imBreisgau, 1861-1862), ii. P. 82, § 106; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 508. 

[365] Elard Hugo Meyer, _Badisches Volksleben_ (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 97_sq. _

[366] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 349 _sqq. _ Seefurther below, vol. Ii. Pp. 298 _sqq. _

[367] J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge sur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 75 _sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 506. 

[368] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), p. 228. 

[369] W. Müller, _Beiträge sur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mahren_(Vienna and Olmütz, 1893), pp. 321, 397 _sq. _ In Wagstadt, a town ofAustrian Silesia, a boy in a red waistcoat used to play the part ofJudas on the Wednesday before Good Friday. He was chased from before thechurch door by the other school children, who pursued him through thestreets with shouts and the noise of rattles and clappers till theyreached a certain suburb, where they always caught and beat him becausehe had betrayed the Redeemer. See Anton Peter, _Volksthümliches ausösterreichisch-Schlesien_ (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 282 _sq. _; PaulDrechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 77 _sq. _

[370] _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, from the MSS. Of John Ramsay, Esq. , of Ochtertyre, edited by Alexander Allardyce(Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 439-445. As to the _tein-eigin_ orneed-fire, see below, pp. 269 _sqq_. The etymology of the word Beltaneis uncertain; the popular derivation of the first part from thePhoenician Baal is absurd. See, for example, John Graham Dalyell, _TheDarker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 176 _sq. _: "Therecognition of the pagan divinity Baal, or Bel, the Sun, is discoveredthrough innumerable etymological sources. In the records of Scottishhistory, down to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, multipliedprohibitions were issued from the fountains of ecclesiasticalordinances, against kindling _Bailfires_, of which the origin cannot bemistaken. The festival of this divinity was commemorated in Scotlanduntil the latest date. " Modern scholars are not agreed as to thederivation of the name Beltane. See Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_(Glasgow, 1902), pp. 268 _sq. _; J. A. MacCulloch, _The Religion of theAncient Celts_ (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 264. 

[371] "_Bal-tein_ signifies the _fire of Baal. Baal_ or _Ball_ is theonly word in Gaelic for _a globe_. This festival was probably in honourof the sun, whose return, in his apparent annual course, theycelebrated, on account of his having such a visible influence, by hisgenial warmth, on the productions of the earth. That the Caledonianspaid a superstitious respect to the sun, as was the practice among manyother nations, is evident, not only by the sacrifice at Baltein, butupon many other occasions. When a Highlander goes to bathe, or to drinkwaters out of a consecrated fountain, he must always approach by goinground the place, _from east to west on the south side_, in imitation ofthe apparent diurnal motion of the sun. When the dead are laid in theearth, the grave is approached by going round in the same manner. Thebride is conducted to her future spouse, in the presence of theminister, and the glass goes round a company, in the course of the sun. This is called, in Gaelic, going round the right, or the _lucky way_. The opposite course is the wrong, or the _unlucky_ way. And if aperson's meat or drink were to affect the wind-pipe, or come against hisbreath, they instantly cry out _deisheal_! which is an ejaculationpraying that it may go by the right way" (Rev. J. Robertson, in Sir JohnSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xi. 621 note). CompareJ. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_(Glasgow, 1900), pp. 229 _sq. _: "_The Right-hand Turn_ (_Deiseal_). --This was the most important of all the observances. The rule is'_Deiseal_ (i. E. The right-hand turn) for everything, ' and consists indoing all things with a motion corresponding to the course of the sun, or from left to right. This is the manner in which screw-nails aredriven, and is common with many for no reason but its convenience. Oldmen in the Highlands were very particular about it. The coffin was taken_deiseal_ about the grave, when about to be lowered; boats were turnedto sea according to it, and drams are given to the present day to acompany. When putting a straw rope on a house or corn-stack, if theassistant went _tuaitheal_ (i. E. Against the course of the sun), the oldman was ready to come down and thrash him. On coming to a house thevisitor should go round it _deiseal_ to secure luck in the object of hisvisit. After milking a cow the dairy-maid should strike it _deiseal_with the shackle, saying 'out and home' (_mach 'us dachaigh_). Thissecures its safe return. The word is from _deas_, right-hand, and _iul_, direction, and of itself contains no allusion to the sun. " Compare M. Martin, "Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, " in J. Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_, iii. 612 _sq. _: "There was an ancientcustom in the island of Lewis, to make a fiery circle about the houses, corn, cattle, etc. , belonging to each particular family: a man carriedfire in his right hand, and went round, and it was called _dessil_, fromthe right hand, which in the ancient language is called _dess_. .. . Thereis another way of the _dessil_, or carrying fire round about womenbefore they are churched, after child-bearing; and it is used likewiseabout children until they are christened; both which are performed inthe morning and at night. This is only practised now by some of theancient midwives: I enquired their reason for this custom, which I toldthem was altogether unlawful; this disobliged them mightily, insomuchthat they would give me no satisfaction. But others, that were of a moreagreeable temper, told me that fire-round was an effectual means topreserve both the mother and the infant from the power of evil spirits, who are ready at such times to do mischief, and sometimes carry away theinfant; and when they get them once in their possession, return thempoor meagre skeletons; and these infants are said to have voraciousappetites, constantly craving for meat. In this case it was usual withthose who believed that their children were thus taken away, to dig agrave in the fields upon quarter-day, and there to lay the fairyskeleton till next morning; at which time the parents went to the place, where they doubted not to find their own child instead of this skeleton. Some of the poorer sort of people in these islands retain the custom ofperforming these rounds sun-ways about the persons of their benefactorsthree times, when they bless them, and wish good success to all theirenterprizes. Some are very careful when they set out to sea that theboat be first rowed about sun-ways; and if this be neglected, they areafraid their voyage may prove unfortunate. " Probably the superstitionwas based entirely on the supposed luckiness of the right hand, whichaccordingly, in making a circuit round an object, is kept towards thecentre. As to a supposed worship of the sun among the ScottishHighlanders, compare J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in theHighlands and Islands of Scotland_, p. 304: "Both the sun (_a Ghrian_)and moon (_a Ghealach_) are feminine in Gaelic, and the names are simplydescriptive of their appearance. There is no trace of a Sun-God orMoon-Goddess. " As to the etymology of Beltane, see above, p. 149 note. 

[372] Rev. James Robertson (Parish Minister of Callander), in Sir JohnSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xi. 620 _sq. _

[373] Pennant's "Tour in Scotland, " in John Pinkerton's _Voyages andTravels_ (London, 1808-1814), iii. 49. 

[374] Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's _StatisticalAccount of Scotland_, v. 84. 

[375] Rev. Allan Stewart, in Sir John Sinclair's _Statistical Account ofScotland_, xv. 517 note. 

[376] Rev. Walter Gregor, "Notes on Beltane Cakes, " _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) pp. 2 _sq. _ The Beltane cakes with the nine knobs on them remindus of the cakes with twelve knobs which the Athenians offered to Cronusand other deities (see _The Scapegoat_, p. 351). The King of the Bean onTwelfth Night was chosen by means of a cake, which was broken in as manypieces as there were persons present, and the person who received thepiece containing a bean or a coin became king. See J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), p. 222; John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 22 _sq. ;The Scapegoat_, pp. 313 _sqq. _

[377] Shaw, in Pennant's "Tour in Scotland, " printed in J. Pinkerton's_Voyages and Travels_, iii. 136. The part of Scotland to which Shaw'sdescription applies is what he calls the province or country of Murray, extending from the river Spey on the east to the river Beauly on thewest, and south-west to Loch Lochy. 

[378] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East ofScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 167. 

[379] A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides, " _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) p. 41. The St. Michael's cake (_Strùthan na h'eillMicheil_), referred to in the text, is described as "the size of aquern" in circumference. "It is kneaded simply with water, and markedacross like a scone, dividing it into four equal parts, and then placedin front of the fire resting on a quern. It is not polished with drymeal as is usual in making a cake, but when it is cooked a thin coatingof eggs (four in number), mixed with buttermilk, is spread first on oneside, then on the other, and it is put before the fire again. An earliershape, still in use, which tradition associates with the female sex, isthat of a triangle with the corners cut off. A _strùhthan_ or_strùhdhan_ (the word seems to be used for no other kind of cake) ismade for each member of the household, including servants and herds. When harvest is late, an early patch of corn is mown on purpose for the_strùthan_" (A. Goodrich-Freer, _op. Cit. _ pp. 44. _sq. _. )

[380] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 22-24. 

[381] Jonathan Ceredig Davies, _Folklore of West and Mid-Wales_(Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76. 

[382] Joseph Train, _An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isleof Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), i. 314 _sq. _

[383] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 309; _id. _, "The Coligny Calendar, " _Proceedings of theBritish Academy, 1909-1910_, pp. 261 _sq. _ See further _The Magic Artand the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 53 _sq. _

[384] Professor Frank Granger, "Early Man, " in _The Victoria History ofthe County of Nottingham_, edited by William Page, i. (London, 1906) pp. 186 _sq. _

[385] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 310; _id. _, "Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions, " _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) pp. 303 _sq. _

[386] P. W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 290 _sq. _, referring to Kuno Meyer, _Hibernia Minora_, p. 49 and_Glossary_, 23. 

[387] J. B. Bury, _The Life of St. Patrick_ (London, 1905), pp. 104_sqq. _

[388] Above, p. 147. 

[389] Geoffrey Keating, D. D. , _The History of Ireland_, translated byJohn O'Mahony (New York, 1857), pp. 300 _sq. _

[390] (Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folk-lore and Superstition, " _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) p. 303; _id. , Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 309. Compare P. W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_(London, 1903), i. 291: "The custom of driving cattle through firesagainst disease on the eve of the 1st of May, and on the eve of the 24thJune (St. John's Day), continued in Ireland, as well as in the ScottishHighlands, to a period within living memory. " In a footnote Mr. Joycerefers to Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_, ii. 340, for Scotland, andadds, "I saw it done in Ireland. "

[391] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), pp. 233 _sq. _

[392] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_ (Prague, N. D. ), pp. 211 _sq. _; Br. Jelínek, "Materialien zur Vorgeschichte undVolkskunde Böhmens, " _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaftin Wien_, xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois John, _Sitte, Branch, und Volksglaubeim deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 71. 

[393] J. A. E. Köhler, _Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alteUeberlieferungen im Voigtlande_ (Leipsic, 1867), p. 373. Thesuperstitions relating to witches at this season are legion. Forinstance, in Saxony and Thuringia any one who labours under a physicalblemish can easily rid himself of it by transferring it to the witcheson Walpurgis Night. He has only to go out to a cross-road, make threecrosses on the blemish, and say, "In the name of God the Father, theSon, and the Holy Ghost. " Thus the blemish, whatever it may be, is leftbehind him at the cross-road, and when the witches sweep by on their wayto the Brocken, they must take it with them, and it sticks to themhenceforth. Moreover, three crosses chalked up on the doors of housesand cattle-stalls on Walpurgis Night will effectually prevent any of theinfernal crew from entering and doing harm to man or beast. See E. Sommer, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen_ (Halle, 1846), pp. 148 _sq. ; Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie_ (Chemnitz, 1759), p. 116. 

[394] See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 158 _sqq. _

[395] As to the Midsummer Festival of Europe in general see the evidencecollected in the "Specimen Calendarii Gentilis, " appended to the _EddaRhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) pp. 1086-1097. 

[396] John Mitchell Kemble, _The Saxons in England_, New Edition(London, 1876), i. 361 _sq_. , quoting "an ancient MS. Written inEngland, and now in the Harleian Collection, No. 2345, fol. 50. " Thepassage is quoted in part by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of GreatBritain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 298 _sq. _, by R. T. Hampson, _Medii AeviKalendarium_ (London, 1841), i. 300, and by W. Mannhardt, _DerBaumkultus_, p. 509. The same explanations of the Midsummer fires and ofthe custom of trundling a burning wheel on Midsummer Eve are given alsoby John Beleth, a writer of the twelfth century. See his _RationaleDivinorum Officiorum_ (appended to the _Rationale Divinorum Officiorum_of G. [W. ] Durandus, Lyons, 1584), p. 556 _recto: "Solent porro hoctempore_ [the Eve of St. John the Baptist] _ex veteri consuetudinemortuorum animalium ossa comburi, quod hujusmodi habet originem. Suntenim animalia, quae dracones appellamus. .. . Haec inquam animalia in aerevolant, in aquis natant, in terra ambulant. Sed quando in aere adlibidinem concitantur (quod fere fit) saepe ipsum sperma vel in puteos, vel in aquas fluviales ejicunt ex quo lethalis sequitur annus. Adversushaec ergo hujusmodi inventum est remedium, ut videlicet rogus ex ossibusconstrueretur, et ita fumus hujusmodi animalia fugaret. Et quia istudmaxime hoc tempore fiebat, idem etiam modo ab omnibus observatur. .. . Consuetum item est hac vigilia ardentes deferri faculas quod Johannesfuerit ardens lucerna, et qui vias Domini praeparaverit. Sed quod etiamrota vertatur hinc esse putant quia in eum circulum tunc Sol descenderitultra quem progredi nequit, a quo cogitur paulatim descendere_. " Thesubstance of the passage is repeated in other words by G. Durandus(Wilh. Durantis), a writer of the thirteenth century, in his _RationaleDivinorum Officiorum_, lib. Vii. Cap. 14 (p. 442 _verso_, ed. Lyons, 1584). Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 516. 

With the notion that the air is poisoned at midsummer we may compare thepopular belief that it is similarly infected at an eclipse. Thus amongthe Esquimaux on the Lower Yukon river in Alaska "it is believed that asubtle essence or unclean influence descends to the earth during aneclipse, and if any of it is caught in utensils of any kind it willproduce sickness. As a result, immediately on the commencement of aneclipse, every woman turns bottom side up all her pots, wooden buckets, and dishes" (E. W. Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait, " _EighteenthAnnual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1899) p. 431). Similar notions and practices prevail among the peasantryof southern Germany. Thus the Swabian peasants think that during aneclipse of the sun poison falls on the earth; hence at such a time theywill not sow, mow, gather fruit or eat it, they bring the cattle intothe stalls, and refrain from business of every kind. If the eclipselasts long, the people get very anxious, set a burning candle on themantel-shelf of the stove, and pray to be delivered from the danger. SeeAnton Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), i. 189. Similarly Bavarian peasants imagine that water ispoisoned during a solar eclipse (F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschenMythologie_, ii. 297); and Thuringian bumpkins cover up the wells andbring the cattle home from pasture during an eclipse either of the sunor of the moon; an eclipse is particularly poisonous when it happens tofall on a Wednesday. See August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräucheaus Thüringen_ (Vienna, 1878), p. 287. As eclipses are commonly supposedby the ignorant to be caused by a monster attacking the sun or moon(E. B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, *[2] London, 1873, i. 328 _sqq. _), wemay surmise, on the analogy of the explanation given of the Midsummerfires, that the unclean influence which is thought to descend on theearth at such times is popularly attributed to seed discharged by themonster or possibly by the sun or moon then in conjunction with eachother. 

[397] _The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latinverse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe, 1570_, editedby R. C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 54 _verso_. As to this work see above, p. 125 note 1. 

[398] J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), pp. 225 _sq. _

[399] Tessier, "Sur la fête annuelle de la roue flamboyante de laSaint-Jean, à Basse-Kontz, arrondissement de Thionville, " _Mémoires etdissertations publiés par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, v. (1823) pp. 379-393. Tessier witnessed the ceremony, 23rd June 1822(not 1823, as is sometimes stated). His account has been reproduced moreor less fully by J. Grimm (_Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 515 _sq. _) W. Mannhardt (_Der Baumkultus_, pp. 510 _sq. _), and H. Gaidoz ("Le dieugaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la Roue, " _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 24 _sq. _). 

[400] _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), i. 373 _sq_. ; compare _id_. , iii. 327 _sq_. As to theburning discs at the spring festivals, see above, pp. 116 _sq_. , 119, 143. 

[401] _Op. Cit_. Ii. 260 _sq_. , iii. 936, 956, iv. 2. P. 360. 

[402] _Op. Cit_. Ii. 260. 

[403] _Op. Cit. _ iv. I. P. 242. We have seen (p. 163) that in thesixteenth century these customs and beliefs were common in Germany. Itis also a German superstition that a house which contains a brand fromthe midsummer bonfire will not be struck by lightning (J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge, zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. P. 217, § 185). 

[404] J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), p. 226. 

[405] Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_ (Munich, 1855), pp. 181 _sqq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 510. 

[406] A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg imBreisgau, 1861-1862), ii. Pp. 96 _sqq. _, § 128, pp. 103 _sq. _, § 129;_id. , Aus Schwaben_ (Wiesbaden, 1874), ii. 116-120; E. Meier, _DeutscheSagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_ (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 423_sqq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 510. 

[407] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. Pp. 215 _sq. _, § 242; _id. _, ii. 549. 

[408] A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg imBreisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 99-101. 

[409] Elard Hugo Mayer, _Badisches Volksleben_ (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 103 _sq. _, 225 _sq. _

[410] W. Von Schulenberg, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaftfür Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, Jahrgang 1897_, pp. 494_sq. _ (bound up with _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xxix. 1897). 

[411] H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu Gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de laRoue, " _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 29 _sq. _

[412] Bruno Stehle, "Volksglauben, Sitten und Gebräuche in Lothringen, "_Globus_, lix. (1891) pp. 378 _sq. _; "Die Sommerwendfeier im St. Amarinthale, " _Der Urquell_, N. F. , i. (1897) pp. 181 _sqq. _

[413] J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthseldes Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 40 _sq. _ According to onewriter, the garlands are composed of St. John's wort (Montanus, _Diedeutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_, Iserlohn, N. D. , p. 33). As to the use of St. John's wort at Midsummer, see below, vol. Ii. Pp. 54 _sqq. _

[414] A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen undGebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 390. 

[415] Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscherVolksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N. D. ), pp. 33 _sq. _

[416] C. L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 144 _sqq. _

[417] Philo vom Walde, _Schlesien in Sage und Brauch_ (Berlin, N. D. ), p. 124; Paul Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch, und Volksglaube in Schlesien_(Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 136 _sq. _

[418] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie, _*[4] i. 517 _sq. _

[419] From information supplied by Mr. Sigurd K. Heiberg, engineer, ofBergen, Norway, who in his boyhood regularly collected fuel for thefires. I have to thank Miss Anderson, of Barskimming, Mauchline, Ayrshire, for kindly procuring the information for me from Mr. Heiberg. 

The Blocksberg, where German as well as Norwegian witches gather fortheir great Sabbaths on the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) andMidsummer Eve, is commonly identified with the Brocken, the highest peakof the Harz mountains. But in Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and probablyelsewhere, villages have their own local Blocksberg, which is generallya hill or open place in the neighbourhood; a number of places inPomerania go by the name of the Blocksberg. See J. Grimm, _DeutscheMythologie_*[4] ii. 878 _sq. _; Ulrich Jahn, _Hexenwesen und Zauberei inPommern_ (Breslau, 1886), pp. 4 _sq. _; _id. _, _Volkssagen aus Pommernund Rügen_ (Stettin, 1886), p. 329. 

[420] L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), pp. 259, 265. 

[421] L. Lloyd, _op. Cit. _ pp. 261 _sq. _ These springs are called"sacrificial fonts" (_Offer källor_) and are "so named because inheathen times the limbs of the slaughtered victim, whether man or beast, were here washed prior to immolation" (L. Lloyd, _op. Cit. _ p. 261). 

[422] E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes_(Zurich, 1913), p. 164. 

[423] Ignaz V. Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des TirolerVolkes_*[2] (Innsbruck, 1871), ii. P. 159, § 1354. 

[424] I. V. Zingerle, _op. Cit. _ p. 159, §§ 1353, 1355, 1356; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 513. 

[425] W. Mannhardt, _l. C. _

[426] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. P. 210, § 231. 

[427] Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_(Vienna, 1859), pp. 307 _sq. _

[428] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_*[4] i. 519; Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_ (Vienna, 1859), p. 308;Joseph Virgil Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Bohmen undMähren_ (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 80, § 636; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Bohmen_ (Prague, N. D. ), pp. 306-311; Br. Jelfnek, "Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens, " _Mittheilungender anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien>_ xxi. (1891) p. 13; AloisJohn, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905) pp. 84-86. 

[429] Willibald Müller, _Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen inMähren_ (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. 263-265. 

[430] Anton Peter, _Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch-Schlesien_(Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 287. 

[431] Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_(Vienna, 1859), pp. 308 _sq. _

[432] _The Dying God_, p. 262. Compare M. Kowalewsky, in _Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 467. 

[433] W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, Second Edition(London, 1872), p. 240. 

[434] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 519; W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_ (London, 1872), pp. 240, 391. 

[435] W. R. S. Ralston, _op. Cit. _ p. 240. 

[436] W. R. S. Ralston, _l. C. _

[437] W. J. A. Von Tettau und J. D. H. Temme, _Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und Westpreussens_ (Berlin, 1837), p. 277. 

[438] M. Töppen, _Aberglauben aus Masuren_*[2] (Danzig, 1867), p. 71. 

[439] F. S. Krauss, "Altslavische Feuergewinnung, " _Globus_, lix. (1891)p. 318. 

[440] J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden andLeipsic, 1841), i. 178-180, ii. 24 _sq. _ Ligho was an old heathen deity, whose joyous festival used to fall in spring. 

[441] Ovid, _Fasti_, vi. 775 _sqq. _

[442] Friederich S. Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1885), pp. 176 _sq. _

[443] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 519. 

[444] H. Von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Magyar_(Münster i. W. , 1893), pp. 40-44. 

[445] A. Von Ipolyi, "Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie aus Ungarn, "_Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) pp. 270_sq. _

[446] J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 268_sq. _; F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten_(St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 362. The word which I have translated "weeds"is in Esthonian _kaste-heinad_, in German _Thaugras_. Apparently it isthe name of a special kind of weed. 

[447] Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, _Mythische und Magische Lieder derEhsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 62. 

[448] J. B. Holzmayer, "Osiliana, " _Verhandlungen der gelehrtenEstnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. (1872) pp. 62 _sq. _ Wiedemannalso observes that the sports in which young couples engage in the woodson this evening are not always decorous (_Aus dem inneren und äusserenLeben der Ehsten_, p. 362). 

[449] J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 447 _sq. _

[450] J. G. Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_(St. Petersburg, 1776), p. 36; August Freiherr von Haxthausen, _Studienüber die innere Zustände das Volksleben und insbesondere die ländlichenEinrichtungen Russlands_ (Hanover, 1847), i. 446 _sqq. _

[451] Alfred de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 19. 

[452] It is notable that St. John is the only saint whose birthday theChurch celebrates with honours like those which she accords to thenativity of Christ. Compare Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dansl'Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), p. 571 note I. 

[453] Bossuet, _Oeuvres_ (Versailles, 1815-1819), vi. 276 ("Catéchismedu diocèse de Meaux"). His description of the superstitions is, in hisown words, as follows: "_Danser à l'entour du feu, jouer, faire desfestins, chanter des chansons deshonnètes, jeter des herbes par-dessusle feu, en cueillir avant midi ou à jeun, en porter sur soi, lesconserver le long de l'année, garder des tisons ou des charbons du feu, et autres semblables. _" This and other evidence of the custom ofkindling Midsummer bonfires in France is cited by Ch. Cuissard in histract _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884). 

[454] Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), pp. 40_sq. _

[455] A. Le Braz, _La Légende de la Mort en Basse-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1893), p. 279. For an explanation of the custom of throwing a pebbleinto the fire, see below, p. 240. 

[456] M. Quellien, quoted by Alexandre Bertrand, _La Religion desGaulois_ (Paris, 1897), pp. 116 _sq. _

[457] Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 40; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1857), i. P. 217, § 185; A. Breuil, "Du Culte de St. JeanBaptiste, " _Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (Amiens, 1845) pp. 189 _sq. _

[458] Eugene Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), p. 216; Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), p. 24. 

[459] Paul Sébillot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1886), pp. 192-195. In Upper Brittany these bonfires are called _rieux_or _raviers_. 

[460] A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 219; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les FétesReligieuses_, p. 216. 

[461] A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_, pp. 219, 228, 231; E. Cortet, _op. Cit. _ pp. 215 _sq. _

[462] J. Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 219-224. 

[463] This description is quoted by Madame Clément (_Histoire des fêtescivites et religieuses_, etc. , _de la Belgique Méridionale_, Avesnes, 1846, pp. 394-396); F. Liebrecht (_Des Gervasius von Tilbury OtiaImperialia_, Hanover, 1856, pp. 209 _sq. _); and W. Mannhardt (_AntikeWald und Feldkulte_, Berlin, 1877, pp. 323 _sqq. _) from the _Magazinpittoresque_, Paris, viii. (1840) pp. 287 _sqq. _ A slightly condensedaccount is given, from the same source, by E. Cortet (_Essai sur lesFêtes Religieuses_, pp. 221 _sq. _). 

[464] Bazin, quoted by Breuil, in _Mémoires de la Société d' Antiquairesde Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 191 note. 

[465] Correspondents quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_(Paris, 1897), pp. 118, 406. 

[466] Correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, _op. Cit. _ p. 407. 

[467] Felix Chapiseau, _Le folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902), i. 318-320. In Perche the midsummer bonfires were called_marolles_. As to the custom formerly observed at Bullou, nearChateaudun, see a correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion desGaulois_ (Paris, 1897), p. 117. 

[468] Albert Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes, et Contes desArdennes_ (Charleville, 1890), pp. 88 _sq. _

[469] L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p. 186. 

[470] Désiré Monnier, _Traditions populaires comparées_ (Paris, 1854), pp. 207 _sqq. _; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, pp. 217_sq. _

[471] Bérenger-Féraud, _Réminiscences populaires de la Provence_ (Paris, 1885), p. 142. 

[472] Charles Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 89. The names of the bonfires vary with the place; among them are_failles, bourdifailles, bâs_ or _baux, feulères_ or _folières_, and_chavannes_. 

[473] _La Bresse Louhannaise_, Juin, 1906, p. 207. 

[474] Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de laFrance_ (Paris, 1875), i. 78 _sqq. _ The writer adopts the absurdderivation of _jônée_ from Janus. Needless to say that our old friendBaal, Bel, or Belus figures prominently in this and many other accountsof the European fire-festivals. 

[475] A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 150. 

[476] Correspondent, quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_(Paris, 1897), p. 408. 

[477] Guerry, "Sur les usages et traditions du Poitou, " _Mémoires etdissertations publiés par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, viii. (1829) pp. 451 _sq. _

[478] Breuil, in _Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 206; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, p. 216; Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de laFrance_, i. 83; J. Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_, ii. 225. 

[479] H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de laroue, " _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. 26, note 3. 

[480] L. Pineau, _Le Folk-lore du Poitou_ (Paris, 1892), pp. 499 _sq. _In Périgord the ashes of the midsummer bonfire are searched for the hairof the Virgin (E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, p. 219). 

[481] A. De Nore, _Coutumes Mythes et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_, pp. 149 _sq. _; E. Cortet, _op. Cit. _ pp. 218 _sq. _

[482] Dupin, "Notice sur quelques fêtes et divertissemens populaires dudépartement des Deux-Sèvres, " _Mémoires et Dissertations publiés par laSociété Royale des Antiquaires de France_, iv. (1823) p. 110. 

[483] J. L. M. Noguès, _Les moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_(Saintes, 1891), pp. 72, 178 _sq. _

[484] H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu soleil et le symbolisme de la roue, " _RevueArchéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. 30. 

[485] Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), pp. 22_sq. _

[486] A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_ p. 127. 

[487] Aubin-Louis Millin, _Voyage dans les Départemens du Midi de laFrance_ (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 341 _sq. _

[488] Aubin-Louis Millin, _op. Cit. _ iii. 28. 

[489] A. De Nore, _op. Cit. _ pp. 19 _sq. _; Bérenger-Féraud, _Reminiscences populaires de la Provence_ (Paris, 1885), pp. 135-141. Asto the custom at Toulon, see Poncy, quoted by Breuil, _Mémoires de laSociété des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 190 note. Thecustom of drenching people on this occasion with water used to prevailin Toulon, as well as in Marseilles and other towns in the south ofFrance. The water was squirted from syringes, poured on the heads ofpassers-by from windows, and so on. See Breuil, _op. Cit. _ pp. 237 _sq. _

[490] A. De Nore, _op. Cit. _ pp. 20 _sq. _; E. Cortet, _op. Cit. _ pp. 218, 219 _sq. _

[491] Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 416 _sq. _ 439. 

[492] Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _op. Cit. _ i. 439-442. 

[493] Madame Clément, _Histoire des fêtes civiles et religieuses_, etc. , _du Département du Nord_ (Cambrai, 1836), p. 364; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträgezur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1857), ii. 392; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_. P. 513. 

[494] E. Monseur, _Folklore Wallon_ (Brussels, N. D. ), p. 130, §§ 1783, 1786, 1787. 

[495] Joseph Strutt, _The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_, New Edition, by W. Hone (London, 1834), p. 359. 

[496] John Stow, _A Survay of London_, edited by Henry Morley (London, N. D. ), pp. 126 _sq. _ Stow's _Survay_ was written in 1598. 

[497] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 338; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_(London, 1876), p. 331. Both writers refer to _Status Scholae Etonensis_(A. D. 1560). 

[498] John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881), p. 26. 

[499] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 300 _sq. _, 318, compare pp. 305, 306, 308 _sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 512. Compare W. Hutchinson, _View ofNorthumberland_, vol. Ii. (Newcastle, 1778), Appendix, p. (15), underthe head "Midsummer":--"It is usual to raise fires on the tops of highhills and in the villages, and sport and danse around them; this is ofvery remote antiquity, and the first cause lost in the distance oftime. "

[500] Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, quoted by William Borlase, _Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall_(London, 1769), p. 135 note. 

[501] _County Folk-lore_, vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 76, quoting E. Mackenzie, _An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County of Northumberland_, Second Edition (Newcastle, 1825), i. 217. 

[502] _County Folk-lore_, vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour, p. 75. 

[503] _County Folk-lore_, vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour, p. 75. 

[504] _The Denham Tracts_, edited by J. Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 342 _sq. _, quoting _Archælogia Aeliana_, N. S. , vii. 73, and the_Proceedings_ of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vi. 242 _sq. _;_County Folk-lore_, vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour(London, 1904), pp. 75 _sq. _ Whalton is a village of Northumberland, notfar from Morpeth. 

[505] _County Folk-lore_, vol. Vi. _East Riding of Yorkshire_, collectedand edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), p. 102. 

[506] John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881), p. 96, compare _id. _, p. 26. 

[507] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 311. 

[508] William Borlase, LL. D. , _Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall_ (London, 1769), pp. 135 _sq. _ The Eve of St. Peter is June 28th. Bonfires have been lit elsewhere on the Eve or theday of St. Peter. See above, pp. 194 _sq. _ 196 _sq. _, and below, pp. 199_sq. _, 202, 207. 

[509] J. Brand, _op. Cit. _ i. 318, 319; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _BritishPopular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 315. 

[510] William Bottrell, _Traditions and Hearthside Stories of WestCornwall_ (Penzance, 1870), pp. 8 _sq. _, 55 _sq. _; James Napier, _Folk-lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland_ (Paisley, 1879), p. 173. 

[511] Richard Edmonds, _The Land's End District_ (London, 1862), pp. 66_sq. _; Robert Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_, ThirdEdition (London, 1881), pp. 207 _sq. _

[512] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 27 _sq. _ Compare Jonathan Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of Westand Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76. 

[513] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 318. 

[514] Joseph Train, _Account of the Isle of Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 120. 

[515] Sir Henry Piers, _Description of the County of Westmeath_, writtenin 1682, published by (General) Charles Vallancey, _Collectanea de RebusHibernieis_, i. (Dublin, 1786) pp. 123 _sq. _

[516] J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 303, quoting the author of the _Survey of the South ofIreland_, p. 232. 

[517] J. Brand, _op. Cit. _ i. 305, quoting the author of the _ComicalPilgrim's Pilgrimage into Ireland_ (1723), p. 92. 

[518] _The Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. Lxv. (London, 1795) pp. 124 _sq. _The writer dates the festival on June 21st, which is probably a mistake. 

[519] T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), pp. 321 _sq. _, quoting the _Liverpool Mercury_ of June 29th, 1867. 

[520] L. L. Duncan, "Further Notes from County Leitrim, " _Folk-lore_, v. (1894) p. 193. 

[521] A. C. Haddon, "A Batch of Irish Folk-lore, " _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893)pp. 351, 359. 

[522] G. H. Kinahan, "Notes on Irish Folk-lore, " _Folk-lore Record_, iv. (1881) p. 97. 

[523] Charlotte Elizabeth, _Personal Recollections_, quoted by Rev. Alexander Hislop, _The Two Babylons_ (Edinburgh, 1853), p. 53. 

[524] Lady Wilde, _Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions ofIreland_ (London, 1887), i. 214 _sq. _

[525] T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), pp. 322 _sq. _, quoting the _Hibernian Magazine_, July 1817. As to theworship of wells in ancient Ireland, see P. W. Joyce, _A Social Historyof Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 288 _sq. _, 366 _sqq. _

[526] Rev. A. Johnstone, describing the parish of Monquhitter inPerthshire, in Sir John Sinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_(Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xxi. 145. Mr. W. Warde Fowler writes that inScotland "before the bonfires were kindled on midsummer eve, the houseswere decorated with foliage brought from the woods" (_Roman Festivals ofthe Period of the Republic_, London, 1899, pp. 80 _sq. _). For hisauthority he refers to _Chambers' Journal_, July, 1842. 

[527] John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in theEighteenth Century_, edited by A. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), ii. 436. 

[528] Rev. Mr. Shaw, Minister of Elgin, in Pennant's "Tour in Scotland, "printed in John Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), iii. 136. 

[529] A. Macdonald, "Midsummer Bonfires, " _Folk-lore_, xv. (1904) pp. 105 _sq. _

[530] From notes kindly furnished to me by the Rev. J. C. Higgins, parishminister of Tarbolton. Mr. Higgins adds that he knows of no superstitionconnected with the fire, and no tradition of its origin. I visited thescene of the bonfire in 1898, but, as Pausanias says (viii. 41. 6) insimilar circumstances, "I did not happen to arrive at the season of thefestival. " Indeed the snow was falling thick as I trudged to the villagethrough the beautiful woods of "the Castle o' Montgomery" immortalizedby Burns. From a notice in _The Scotsman_ of 26th June, 1906 (p. 8) itappears that the old custom was observed as usual that year. 

[531] Thomas Moresinus, _Papatus seu Depravatae Religionis Origo etIncrementum_ (Edinburgh, 1594), p. 56. 

[532] Rev. Dr. George Lawrie, in Sir John Sinclair's _StatisticalAccount of Scotland_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1792) p. 105. 

[533] Letter from Dr. Otero Acevado of Madrid, published in _Le Temps_, September 1898. An extract from the newspaper was sent me, but withoutmention of the day of the month when it appeared. The fires on St. John's Eve in Spain are mentioned also by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquitiesof Great Britain_, i. 317. Jacob Grimm inferred the custom from apassage in a romance (_Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 518). The custom ofwashing or bathing on the morning of St. John's Day is mentioned by theSpanish historian Diego Duran, _Historia de las Indias de Nueva España_, edited by J. F. Ramirez (Mexico, 1867-1880), vol. Ii. P. 293. To roll inthe dew on the morning of St. John's Day is a cure for diseases of theskin in Normandy, Périgord, and the Abruzzi, as well as in Spain. See J. Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_, ii. 8; A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_, p. 150; Gennaro Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), p. 157. 

[534] M. Longworth Dames and Mrs. E. Seemann, "Folklore of the Azores, "_Folk-lore_, xiv. (1903) pp. 142 _sq. _; Theophilo Braga, _O PovoPortuguez nos seus Costumes, Crenças e Tradiçoes_ (Lisbon, 1885), ii. 304 _sq. _, 307 _sq. _

[535] See below, pp. 234 _sqq. _

[536] Angelo de Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_ (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 185 note 1. 

[537] _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 202 _sq. _

[538] G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), pp. 154 _sq. _

[539] G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_, pp. 158-160. Wemay compare the Provençal and Spanish customs of bathing and splashingwater at Midsummer. See above, pp. 193 _sq. _, 208. 

[540] Giuseppe Pitrè, _Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane_ (Palermo, 1881), pp. 246, 308 _sq. _; _id. , Usi e Costumi, Credenze e Pregiudizidel Popolo Siciliano_ (Palermo, 1889), pp. 146 _sq. _

[541] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 518. 

[542] V. Busuttil, _Holiday Customs in Malta, and Sports, Usages, Ceremonies, Omens, and Superstitions of the Maltese People_ (Malta, 1894), pp. 56 _sqq. _ The extract was kindly sent to me by Mr. H. W. Underwood (letter dated 14th November, 1902, Birbeck Bank Chambers, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W. C. ). See _Folk-lore_, xiv. (1903) pp. 77 _sq. _

[543] W. R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) p. 128. The custom wasreported to me when I was in Greece in 1890 (_Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 520). 

[544] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 519. 

[545] G. Georgeakis et L. Pineau, _Le Folk-lore de Lesbos_ (Paris, 1894), pp. 308 _sq. _

[546] W. R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) p. 94. From the stones castinto the fire omens may perhaps be drawn, as in Scotland, Wales, andprobably Brittany. See above, p. 183, and below, pp. 230 _sq. _, 239, 240. 

[547] W. H. D. Rouse, "Folklore from the Southern Sporades, " _Folk-lore_, x. (1899) p. 179. 

[548] Lucy M. J. Garnett, _The Women of Turkey and their Folk-lore, theChristian Women_ (London, 1890), p. 122; G. F. Abbott, _MacedonianFolklore_ (Cambridge, 1903), p. 57. 

[549] J. G. Von Hahn, _Albanesische Studien_ (Jena, 1854), i. 156. 

[550] K. Von den Steinen, _Unter den Natur-Völkern Zentral-Brasiliens_(Berlin, 1894), p. 561. 

[551] Alcide d'Orbigny, _Voyage dans l'Amérique Méridionale_, ii. (Parisand Strasbourg, 1839-1843), p. 420; D. Forbes, "On the Aymara Indians ofBolivia and Peru, " _Journal of the Ethnological Society of London_, ii. (1870) p. 235. 

[552] Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_(Algiers, 1908), pp. 566 _sq_. For an older but briefer notice of theMidsummer fires in North Africa, see Giuseppe Ferraro, _Superstizioni, Usi e Proverbi Monferrini_ (Palermo, 1886), pp. 34 _sq. _: "Also inAlgeria, among the Mussalmans, and in Morocco, as Alvise da Cadamostoreports in his _Relazione dei viaggi d'Africa_, which may be read inRamusio, people used to hold great festivities on St. John's Night; theykindled everywhere huge fires of straw (the _Palilia_ of the Romans), inwhich they threw incense and perfumes the whole night long in order toinvoke the divine blessing on the fruit-trees. " See also Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), p. 394: "The Berber festivals are mainlythose of Islam, though a few traces of their predecessors areobservable. Of these the most noteworthy is Midsummer or St. John's Day, still celebrated in a special manner, and styled _El Ansarah_. In theRîf it is celebrated by the lighting of bonfires only, but in otherparts there is a special dish prepared of wheat, raisins, etc. , resembling the frumenty consumed at the New Year. It is worthy of remarkthat the Old Style Gregorian calendar is maintained among them, withcorruptions of Latin names. "

[553] Edward Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folklore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 28-30; _id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connected withAgriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather_(Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 79-83. 

[554] E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 30 _sq. _; _id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connected withAgriculture_, etc. , pp. 83 _sq. _

[555] Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_(Algiers, 1908), pp. 567 _sq. _

[556] E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 31 _sq. _; _id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connected withAgriculture_, etc. , pp. 84-86. 

[557] See K. Vollers, in Dr. James Hastings's _Encyclopaedia of Religionand Ethics_ iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) _s. V. _ "Calendar (Muslim), " pp. 126_sq. _ However, L. Ideler held that even before the time of Mohammed theArab year was lunar and vague, and that intercalation was only employedin order to fix the pilgrimage month in autumn, which, on account of themilder weather and the abundance of food, is the best time for pilgrimsto go to Mecca. See L. Ideler, _Handbuch der mathematischen undtechischen Chronologie_ (Berlin, 1825-1826), ii. 495 _sqq. _

[558] E. Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_, pp. 496, 509, 532, 543, 569. It is somewhat remarkable that the tenth, not thefirst, day of the first month should be reckoned New Year's Day. 

[559] E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 40-42. 

[560] E. Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), pp. 541 _sq. _

[561] E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) p. 42; _id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco_(Helsingfors, 1913), p. 101. 

[562] E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905), pp. 42 _sq. _, 46 _sq. ; id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connectedwith Agriculture_, etc. , _in Morocco_, pp. 99 _sqq. _

[563] G. F. Abbott, _Macedonian Folklore_ (Cambridge, 1903), pp. 60_sq. _

[564] "Narrative of the Adventures of four Russian Sailors, who werecast in a storm upon the uncultivated island of East Spitzbergen, "translated from the German of P. L. Le Roy, in John Pinkerton's _Voyagesand Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), i. 603. This passage is quoted fromthe original by (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Researches into the EarlyHistory of Mankind_, Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 259 _sq. _

[565] See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 166 _sq. _

[566] E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford, 1903), i. 110 _sqq. _

[567] In Eastern Europe to this day the great season for driving out thecattle to pasture for the first time in spring is St. George's Day, thetwenty-third of April, which is not far removed from May Day. See _TheMagic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 324 _sqq. _ As to thebisection of the Celtic year, see the old authority quoted by P. W. Joyce, _The Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), ii. 390:"The whole year was [originally] divided into two parts--Summer from 1stMay to 1st November, and Winter from 1st November to 1st May. " On thissubject compare (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London andEdinburgh, 1888), pp. 460, 514 _sqq. ; id. , Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh andManx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 _sqq. _; J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. JamesHastings's _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) p. 80. 

[568] See below, p. 225. 

[569] Above, pp. 146 _sqq. _; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 59 _sqq. _

[570] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Manx and Welsh_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 316, 317 _sq. _; J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. James Hastings's_Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) _s. V. _"Calendar, " p. 80, referring to Kelly, _English and Manx Dictionary_(Douglas, 1866), _s. V. _ "Blein. " Hogmanay is the popular Scotch name forthe last day of the year. See Dr. J. Jamieson, _Etymological Dictionaryof the Scottish Language_, New Edition (Paisley, 1879-1882), ii. 602_sq. _

[571] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_, i. 316 _sq. _

[572] Above, p. 139. 

[573] See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 309-318. As Ihave there pointed out, the Catholic Church succeeded in altering thedate of the festival by one day, but not in changing the character ofthe festival. All Souls' Day is now the second instead of the first ofNovember. But we can hardly doubt that the Saints, who have takenpossession of the first of November, wrested it from the Souls of theDead, the original proprietors. After all, the Saints are only oneparticular class of the Souls of the Dead; so that the change which theChurch effected, no doubt for the purpose of disguising the heathencharacter of the festival, is less great than appears at first sight. 

[574] In Wales "it was firmly believed in former times that on AllHallows' Eve the spirit of a departed person was to be seen at midnighton every cross-road and on every stile" (Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore andFolk-stories of Wales_, London, 1909, p. 254). 

[575] E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), p. 68. 

[576] A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides, " _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) p. 53. 

[577] (Sir) Jolin Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh, 1888), p. 516. 

[578] P. W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 264 _sq. _, ii. 556. 

[579] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 516. 

[580] Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands andIslands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 61 _sq. _

[581] Ch. Rogers, _Social Life in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. 258-260. 

[582] Douglas Hyde, _Beside the Fire, a Collection of Irish Gaelic FolkStories_ (London, 1890), pp. 104, 105, 121-128. 

[583] P. W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, i. 229. 

[584] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 254. 

[585] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, pp. 514 _sq. _ In order tosee the apparitions all you had to do was to run thrice round the parishchurch and then peep through the key-hole of the door. See MarieTrevelyan, _op. Cit. _ p. 254; J. C. Davies, _Folk-lore of West andMid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77. 

[586] Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), p. 75. 

[587] Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in theHighlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 282. 

[588] Thomas Pennant, "Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides in1772, " in John Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London, 1809)pp. 383 _sq. _ In quoting the passage I have corrected what seem to betwo misprints. 

[589] John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in theEighteenth Century_, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh andLondon, 1888), ii. 437 _sq. _ This account was written in the eighteenthcentury. 

[590] Rev. James Robertson, Parish minister of Callander, in Sir JohnSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xi. (Edinburgh, 1794), pp. 621 _sq. _

[591] Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's _StatisticalAccount of Scotland_ v. (Edinburgh, 1793) pp. 84 _sq. _

[592] Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), p. 67. 

[593] James Napier, _Folk Lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West ofScotland within this Century_ (Paisley, 1879), p. 179. 

[594] J. G. Frazer, "Folk-lore at Balquhidder, " _The Folk-lore Journal_, vi. (1888) p. 270. 

[595] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East ofScotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 167 _sq. _

[596] Rev. A. Johnstone, as to the parish of Monquhitter, in Sir JohnSinclair's _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xxi. (Edinburgh, 1799) pp. 145 _sq. _

[597] A. Macdonald, "Some former Customs of the Royal Parish of Crathie, Scotland, " _Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) p. 85. The writer adds: "In thisway the 'faulds' were purged of evil spirits. " But it does not appearwhether this expresses the belief of the people or only theinterpretation of the writer. 

[598] Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in theHighlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 282 _sq. _

[599] Robert Burns, _Hallowe'en_, with the poet's note; Rev. WalterGregor, _op. Cit. _ p. 84; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit. _ p. 69; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 287. 

[600] R. Burns, _l. C. _; Rev. Walter Gregor, _l. C. _; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit. _ pp. 70 _sq. _; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 286. 

[601] R. Burns, _l. C. _. ; Rev. W. Gregor, _l. C. _; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit. _ p. 73; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 285; A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides, " _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) pp. 54_sq. _

[602] R. Burns, _l. C. _; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. Cit. _ p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit. _ p. 71; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 285. According to the last of these writers, the winnowing had to be done inthe devil's name. 

[603] R. Burns, _l. C. _; Rev. W. Gregor, _l. C. _; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit. _ p. 72; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 286; A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides, " _Folklore_, xiii. (1902) p. 54. 

[604] Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 283. 

[605] Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ pp. 283 _sq. _; A. Goodrich-Freer, _l. C. _

[606] Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 284. 

[607] R. Burns, _l. C. _; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. Cit. _ p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit. _ p. 70; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 284. Wherenuts were not to be had, peas were substituted. 

[608] Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 284. 

[609] Rev. J. G. Campbell, _l. C. _ According to my recollection ofHallowe'en customs observed in my boyhood at Helensburgh, inDumbartonshire, another way was to stir the floating apples and thendrop a fork on them as they bobbed about in the water. Success consistedin pinning one of the apples with the fork. 

[610] R. Burns, _l. C. _; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. Cit_. Pp. 85 _sq_. ; MissE. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit_. Pp. 72 _sq_. ; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit_. P. 287. 

[611] R. Burns, _l. C. _; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. Cit_. P. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. Cit_. Pp. 69 _sq_. ; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit_. P. 285. It is the last of these writers who gives what may be called theTrinitarian form of the divination. 

[612] Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), pp. 74 _sq_. 

[613] A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides, " _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) p. 55. 

[614] Pennant's manuscript, quoted by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities ofGreat Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 389 _sq_. 

[615] Sir Richard Colt Hoare, _The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwinthrough Wales A. D. MCLXXXVIII. By Giraldus de Barri_ (London, 1806), ii. 315; J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 390. The passage quoted in thetext occurs in one of Hoare's notes on the Itinerary. The dipping forapples, burning of nuts, and so forth, are mentioned also by MarieTrevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 253, 255. 

[616] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 515 _sq. _ As to the Hallowe'en bonfires in Wales compare J. C. Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77. 

[617] See above, p. 183. 

[618] See above, p. 231. 

[619] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 254 _sq. _

[620] (General) Charles Vallancey, _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_, iii. (Dublin, 1786), pp. 459-461. 

[621] Miss A. Watson, quoted by A. C. Haddon, "A Batch of IrishFolk-lore, " _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893) pp. 361 _sq. _

[622] Leland L. Duncan, "Further Notes from County Leitrim, "_Folk-lore_, v. (1894) pp. 195-197. 

[623] H. J. Byrne, "All Hallows Eve and other Festivals in Connaught, "_Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) pp. 437 _sq. _

[624] Joseph Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle ofMan_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 123; (Sir) John Rhys, _CelticFolk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 _sqq. _

[625] (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 318-321. 

[626] John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk-lore_(Manchester and London, 1882), pp. 3 _sq_. 

[627] J. Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, _op. Cit_. P. 140. 

[628] Annie Milner, in William Hone's _Year Book_ (London, preface datedJanuary, 1832), coll. 1276-1279 (letter dated June, 1831); R. T. Hampson, _Medii Aevi Kalendarium_ (London, 1841), i. 365; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 395. 

[629] _County Folk-lore_ vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 78. Compare W. Henderson, _Notes on theFolk-lore of the Northern Counties of England_ (London, 1879), pp. 96_sq_. 

[630] Baron Dupin, in _Mémoires publiées par la Société Royale desAntiquaires de France_, iv. (1823) p. 108. 

[631] The evidence for the solar origin of Christmas is given in_Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 254-256. 

[632] For the various names (Yu-batch, Yu-block, Yule-log, etc. ) seeFrancis Grose, _Provincial Glossary_, New Edition (London, 1811), p. 141; Joseph Wright, _The English Dialect Dictionary_ (London, 1898-1905), vi. 593, _s. V. _ "Yule. "

[633] "I am pretty confident that the Yule block will be found, in itsfirst use, to have been only a counterpart of the Midsummer fires, madewithin doors because of the cold weather at this winter solstice, asthose in the hot season, at the summer one, are kindled in the openair. " (John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_, London, 1882-1883, i. 471). His opinion is approved by W. Mannhardt _(DerBaumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_, p. 236). 

[634] "_Et arborem in nativitate domini ad festivum ignem suumadducendam esse dicebat_" (quoted by Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, i. 522). 

[635] Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbrauche und deutscherVolksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N. D. ), p. 12. The Sieg and Lahn are two riversof Central Germany, between Siegen and Marburg. 

[636] J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthseldes Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 4. 

[637] Adalbert Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen_(Leipsic, 1859), ii. § 319, pp. 103 _sq_. 

[638] A. Kuhn, _op. Cit. _ ii. § 523, p. 187. 

[639] August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_(Vienna, 1878), p. 172. 

[640] K. Hoffmann-Krayer, _Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes_(Zurich, 1913), pp. 108 _sq. _

[641] Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels, 1861-1862), ii. 326 _sq. _ Compare J. W. Wolf, _Beiträgezur deutschenMythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1858), i. 117. 

[642] J. B. Thiers, _Traité des Superstitions_*[5] (Paris, 1741), i. 302_sq. _; Eugène Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. _266 sq. _

[643] J. B. Thiers, _Traité des Superstitions_ (Paris, 1679), p. 323. 

[644] Aubin-Louis Millin, _Voyage dans les Départemens du Midi de laFrance_ (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 336 _sq. _ The fire so kindled wascalled _caco fuech_. 

[645] Alfred de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 151 _sq. _ The three festivalsduring which the Yule log is expected to burn are probably Christmas Day(December 25th), St. Stephen's Day (December 26th), and St. John theEvangelist's Day (December 27th). Compare J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Moeursd'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 45-47. According to the latter writer, in Saintonge it was the mistress of thehouse who blessed the Yule log, sprinkling salt and holy water on it; inPoitou it was the eldest male who officiated. The log was called the_cosse de Nô_. 

[646] Laisnel de Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centres de la France_(Paris, 1875), i. 1-3. 

[647] Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 291. The author speaks of the custom as still practisedin out-of-the-way villages at the time when he wrote. The usage ofpreserving the remains of the Yule-log (called _tréfouet_) in Normandyis mentioned also by M'elle Amélie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque etMerveilleuse_ (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 294. 

[648] A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 256. 

[649] Paul Sébillot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1886), pp. 217 _sq. _

[650] Albert Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes et Contes desArdennes_ (Charleville, 1890), pp. 96 _sq. _

[651] See above, p. 251. 

[652] Lerouze, in _Mémoires de l'Academie Celtique_, iii. (1809) p. 441, quoted by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 469 note. 

[653] L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), pp. 370 _sq. _

[654] Charles Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 183. 

[655] A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces deFrance_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 302 _sq. _

[656] John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 467. 

[657] J. Brand, _op. Cit. _ i. 455; _The Denham Tracts_, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 25 _sq. _

[658] Herrick, _Hesperides_, "Ceremonies for Christmasse":

"_Come, bring with a noise, My merrie merrie boyes, The Christmas log to the firing_;. .. _With the last yeeres brandLight the neiv block_"

And, again, in his verses, "Ceremonies for Candlemasse Day":

"_Kindle the Christmas brand, and thenTill sunne-set let it burne;Which quencht, then lay it up agen, Till Christmas next returne. Part must be kept, wherewith to teendThe Christmas log next yeare;And where 'tis safely kept, the fiendCan do no mischiefe there_"

See _The Works of Robert Herrick_ (Edinburgh, 1823), vol. Ii. Pp. 91, 124. From these latter verses it seems that the Yule log was replaced onthe fire on Candlemas (the second of February). 

[659] Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_(London, 1883), p. 398 note 2. See also below, pp. 257, 258, as to theLincolnshire, Herefordshire, and Welsh practice. 

[660] Francis Grose, _Provincial Glossary_, Second Edition (London, 1811), pp. 141 _sq. _; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_(London, 1876), p. 466. 

[661] _County Folk-lore_, vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour and edited by Northcote W. Thomas (London, 1904), p. 79. 

[662] _County Folk-lore, _ vol. Ii. _North Riding of Yorkshire, York andthe Ainsty, _ collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1901), pp. 273, 274, 275 _sq_. 

[663] _County Folk-lore_, vol. Vi. _East Riding of Yorkshire_, collectedand edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), pp. 23, 118, compare p. 114. 

[664] John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881), p. 5. 

[665] _County Folk-lore_, vol. V. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 219. Elsewhere inLincolnshire the Yule-log seems to have been called the Yule-clog (_op. Cit_. Pp. 215, 216). 

[666] Mrs. Samuel Chandler (Sarah Whateley), quoted in _The Folk-loreJournal_, i. (1883) pp. 351 _sq_. 

[667] Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_(London, 1883), pp. 397 _sq_. One of the informants of these writerssays (_op. Cit. _ p. 399): "In 1845 I was at the Vessons farmhouse, nearthe Eastbridge Coppice (at the northern end of the Stiperstones). Thefloor was of flags, an unusual thing in this part. Observing a sort ofroadway through the kitchen, and the flags much broken, I enquired whatcaused it, and was told it was from the horses' hoofs drawing in the'Christmas Brund. '"

[668] Mrs. Ella Mary Leather, _The Folklore of Herefordshire_ (Herefordand London, 1912), p. 109. Compare Miss C. S. Burne, "HerefordshireNotes, " _The Folk-lore Journal_, iv. (1886) p. 167. 

[669] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 28. 

[670] "In earlier ages, and even so late as towards the middle of thenineteenth century, the Servian village organisation and the Servianagriculture had yet another distinguishing feature. The dangers fromwild beasts in old time, the want of security for life and propertyduring the Turkish rule, or rather misrule, the natural difficulties ofthe agriculture, more especially the lack in agricultural labourers, induced the Servian peasants not to leave the parental house but toremain together on the family's property. In the same yard, within thesame fence, one could see around the ancestral house a number of woodenhuts which contained one or two rooms, and were used as sleeping placesfor the sons, nephews and grandsons and their wives. Men and women ofthree generations could be often seen living in that way together, andworking together the land which was considered as common property of thewhole family. This expanded family, remaining with all its branchestogether, and, so to say, under the same roof, working together, dividing the fruits of their joint labours together, this family and anagricultural association in one, was called _Zadrooga_ (TheAssociation). This combination of family and agricultural associationhas morally, economically, socially, and politically rendered veryimportant services to the Servians. The headman or chief (called_Stareshina_) of such family association is generally the oldest malemember of the family. He is the administrator of the common property anddirector of work. He is the executive chairman of the association. Generally he does not give any order without having consulted all thegrown-up male members of the _Zadroega_" (Chedo Mijatovich, _Servia andthe Servians_, London, 1908, pp. 237 _sq. _). As to the house-communitiesof the South Slavs see further Og. M. Utiesenovic, _Die Hauskommunionender Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1859); F. Demelic, _Le Droit Coutumier desSlaves Méridionaux_ (Paris, 1876), pp. 23 _sqq. _; F. S. Krauss, _Sitteund Brauch der Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1885), pp. 64 _sqq. _ Since Servia, freed from Turkish oppression, has become a well-regulated Europeanstate, with laws borrowed from the codes of France and Germany, the oldhouse-communities have been rapidly disappearing (Chedo Mijatovich, _op. Cit. _ p. 240). 

[671] Chedo Mijatovich, _Servia and the Servians_ (London, 1908), pp. 98-105. 

[672] Baron Rajacsich, _Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebräuche der imKaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1873), pp. 122-128. 

[673] Baron Rajacsich, _Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebrauche der imKaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1873), pp. 129-131. The Yule log (_badnyak_) is also known in Bulgaria, where the womenplace it on the hearth on Christmas Eve. See A. Strausz, _Die Bulgaren_(Leipsic, 1898), p. 361. 

[674] M. Edith Durham, _High Albania_ (London, 1909), p. 129. 

[675] R. F. Kaindl, _Die Huzulen_ (Vienna, 1894) p. 71. 

[676] See above, pp. 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258. Similarly at Candlemas people lighted candles in the churches, then tookthem home and kept them, and thought that by lighting them at any timethey could keep off thunder, storm, and tempest. See Barnabe Googe, _ThePopish Kingdom_ (reprinted London, 1880), p. 48 _verso_. 

[677] See above, pp. 248, 250, 251, 257, 258, 263. 

[678] See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 356 _sqq. _

[679] See above, pp. 248, 249, 250, 251, 264. 

[680] August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_(Vienna, 1878), pp. 171 _sq. _

[681] Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 289 _sq. _

[682] Joseph Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle ofMan_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 124, referring to Cregeen's _ManxDictionary_, p. 67. 

[683] R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), ii. 789-791, quoting _The Banffshire Journal_; Miss C. F. Gordon Cumming, _Inthe Hebrides_ (London, 1883), p. 226; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old ScottishCustoms_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), pp. 223-225; Ch. Rogers, _SocialLife in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. 244 _sq_. ; _The Folk-loreJournal_, vii. (1889) pp. 11-14, 46. Miss Gordon Gumming and MissGuthrie say that the burning of the Clavie took place upon Yule Night;but this seems to be a mistake. 

[684] Caesar, _De bello Gallico_, vii. 23. 

[685] Hugh W. Young, F. S. A. Scot. , _Notes on the Ramparts of Burghead asrevealed by recent Excavations_ (Edinburgh, 1892), pp. 3 _sqq_. ; _Noteson further Excavations at Burghead_ (Edinburgh, 1893), pp. 7 _sqq_. These papers are reprinted from the _Proceedings of the Society ofAntiquaries of Scotland_, vols. Xxv. , xxvii. Mr. Young concludes asfollows: "It is proved that the fort at Burghead was raised by a peopleskilled in engineering, who used axes and chisels of iron; who shotbalista stones over 20 lbs. In weight; and whose daily food was the _boslongifrons_. A people who made paved roads, and sunk artesian wells, andused Roman beads and pins. The riddle of Burghead should not now be verydifficult to read. " (_Notes on further Excavations at Burghead_, pp. 14_sq_. ). For a loan of Mr. Young's pamphlets I am indebted to thekindness of Sheriff-Substitute David. 

[686] Robert Cowie, M. A. , M. D. , _Shetland, Descriptive and Historical_(Aberdeen, 1871), pp. 127 _sq. _; _County Folk-lore_, vol. Iii. _Orkneyand Shetland Islands_, collected by G. F. Black and edited by NorthcoteW. Thomas (London, 1903), pp. 203 _sq. _ A similar celebration, known asUp-helly-a, takes place at Lerwick on the 29th of January, twenty-fourdays after Old Christmas. See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 167-169. Perhaps thepopular festival of Up-helly-a has absorbed some of the features of theChristmas Eve celebration. 

[687] Thomas Hyde, _Historia Religionis veterum Persarum_ (Oxford, 1700), pp. 255-257. 

[688] On the need-fire see Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_*[4] i. 501_sqq. _; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen andLeipsic, 1852-1857), i. 116 _sq. _, ii. 378 _sqq. _; Adalbert Kuhn, _DieHerabkunjt des Feuers und des Göttertranks_*[2] (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 41 _sqq. _; Walter K. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition andFolk-lore_ (London, 1863), pp. 48 _sqq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultusder Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 _sqq. _;Charles Elton, _Origins of English History_ (London, 1882), pp. 293_sqq. _; Ulrich Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau undViehzucht_ (Breslau, 1884), pp. 26 _sqq. _ Grimm would derive the name_need-_fire (German, _niedfyr, nodfyr, nodfeur, nothfeur_) from _need_(German, _noth_), "necessity, " so that the phrase need-fire would mean"a forced fire. " This is the sense attached to it in Lindenbrog'sglossary on the capitularies, quoted by Grimm, _op. Cit. _ i. P. 502:"_Eum ergo ignem_ nodfeur _et_ nodfyr, _quasi necessarium ignem vocant_"C. L. Rochholz would connect _need_ with a verb _nieten_ "to churn, " sothat need-fire would mean "churned fire. " See C. L. Rochholz, _DeutscherGlaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 149 _sq. _ This interpretion isconfirmed by the name _ankenmilch bohren_, which is given to theneed-fire in some parts of Switzerland. See E. Hoffmann-Krayer, "Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen Volksbrauch, " _SchweizerischesArchiv für Volkskünde_, xi. (1907) p. 245. 

[689] "_Illos sacrilegos ignes, quos_ niedfyr _vocant_, " quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 502; R. Andree, _BraunschweigerVolkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 312. 

[690] _Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum_, No. XV. , "_De ignefricato de ligno i. E. _ nodfyr. " A convenient edition of the _Indiculus_has been published with a commentary by H. A. Saupe (Leipsic, 1891). Asto the date of the work, see the editor's introduction, pp. 4 _sq_. 

[691] Karl Lynker, _Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen_, *[2](Cassel and Göttingen, 1860), pp. 252 _sq. _, quoting a letter of themayor (_Schultheiss_) of Neustadt to the mayor of Marburg dated 12thDecember 1605. 

[692] Bartholomäus Carrichter, _Der Teutschen Speisskammer_ (Strasburg, 1614), Fol. Pag. 17 and 18, quoted by C. L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaubeund Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 148 _sq. _

[693] Joh. Reiskius, _Untersuchung des Notfeuers_ (Frankfort andLeipsic, 1696), p. 51, quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 502 _sq. _; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 313. 

[694] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 503 _sq. _

[695] J. Grimm, _op. Cit. _ i. 504. 

[696] Adalbert Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), p. 369. 

[697] Karl Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_(Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 149-151. 

[698] Carl und Theodor Colshorn, _Märchen und Sagen_ (Hanover, 1854), pp. 234-236, from the description of an eye-witness. 

[699] Heinrich Pröhle, _Harzbilder, Sitten und Gebräuche aus demHarz-gebirge_ (Leipsic, 1855), pp. 74 _sq. _ The date of this need-fireis not given; probably it was about the middle of the nineteenthcentury. 

[700] R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), pp. 313_sq. _

[701] R. Andree, _op. Cit. _ pp. 314 _sq. _

[702] Montanus, _Die deutschen Volks-feste, Volksbräuche und deutscherVolksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N. D. ), p. 127. 

[703] Paul Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_(Leipsic, 1903-1906), ii. 204. 

[704] Anton Peter, _Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch-Schlesien_(Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 250. 

[705] Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschenWestböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 209. 

[706] C. L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 149. 

[707] E. Hoffmann-Krayer, "Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischenVolksbrauch, " _Schweizerisches Archiv fur Volkskunde_, xi. (1907) pp. 244-246. 

[708] E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _op. Cit. _ p. 246. 

[709] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 505. 

[710] "Old-time Survivals in remote Norwegian Dales, " _Folk-lore_, xx. (1909) pp. 314, 322 _sq. _ This record of Norwegian folk-lore istranslated from a little work _Sundalen og Öksendalens Beskrivelse_written by Pastor Chr. Glükstad and published at Christiania "abouttwenty years ago. "

[711] Prof. VI. Titelbach, "Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven, "_Inter-nationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, xiii. (1900) pp. 2 _sq. _ Wehave seen (above, p. 220) that in Russia the need-fire is, or used tobe, annually kindled on the eighteenth of August. As to the need-fire inBulgaria see also below, pp. 284 _sq. _

[712] F. S. Krauss, "Altslavische Feuergewinnung, " _Globus_, lix. (1891)p. 318, quoting P. Ljiebenov, _Baba Ega_ (Trnovo, 1887), p. 44. 

[713] F. S. Krauss, _op. Cit. _ p. 319, quoting _Wisla_, vol. Iv. Pp. 1, 244 _sqq. _

[714] F. S. Krauss, _op. Cit. _ p. 318, quoting Oskar Kolberg, in_Mazowsze_, vol. Iv. P. 138. 

[715] F. S. Krauss, "Slavische Feuerbohrer, " _Globus_, lix. (1891) p. 140. The evidence quoted by Dr. Krauss is that of his father, who oftentold of his experience to his son. 

[716] Prof. Vl. Titelbach, "Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven, "_Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie_, xiii. (1900) p. 3. 

[717] See below, vol. Ii. Pp. 168 _sqq. _

[718] Adolf Strausz, _Die Bulgaren_ (Leipsic, 1898), pp. 194-199. 

[719] _Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen aus Bosnien und der Hercegovina_, redigirt von Moriz Hoernes, iii. (Vienna, 1895) pp. 574 _sq. _

[720] "_Pro fidei divinae integritate servanda recolat lector quod, cumhoc anno in Laodonia pestis grassaretur in pecudes armenti, quam vocantusitate Lungessouth, quidam bestiales, habitu claustrales non animo, docebant idiotas patriae ignem confrictione de lignis educere etsimulachrum Priapi statuere, et per haec bestiis succurrere_" quoted byJ. M. Kemble, _The Saxons in England_ (London, 1849), i. 358 _sq. _; A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_*[2] (Gütersloh, 1886), p. 43; Ulrich Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbauund Viehzucht_ (Breslau, 1884) p. 31. 

[721] W. G. M. Jones Barker, _The Three Days of Wensleydale_ (London, 1854), pp. 90 _sq. _; _County Folk-lore_, vol. Ii. , _North Riding ofYorkshire, York and the Ainsty_, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch(London, 1901), p. 181. 

[722] _The Denham Tracts, a Collection of Folklore by Michael AislabieDenham_, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 50. 

[723] Harry Speight, _Tramps and Drives in the Craven Highlands_(London, 1895), p. 162. Compare, _id. , The Craven and North-WestYorkshire Highlands_ (London, 1892), pp. 206 _sq. _

[724] J. M. Kemble, _The Saxons in England_ (London, 1849), i. 361 note. 

[725] E. Mackenzie, _An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive Viewof the County of Northumberland_, Second Edition (Newcastle, 1825), i. 218, quoted in _County Folk-lore_, vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collectedby M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 45. Compare J. T. Brockett, _Glossaryof North Country Words_, p. 147, quoted by Mrs. M. C. Balfour, _l. C. :"Need-fire_ . .. An ignition produced by the friction of two pieces ofdried wood. The vulgar opinion is, that an angel strikes a tree, andthat the fire is thereby obtained. Need-fire, I am told, is stillemployed in the case of cattle infected with the murrain. They wereformerly driven through the smoke of a fire made of straw, etc. " Thefirst edition of Brockett's _Glossary_ was published in 1825. 

[726] W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folklore of the Northern Counties ofEngland and the Borders_ (London, 1879), pp. 167 _sq. _ Compare _CountyFolklore_, vol. Iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 45. Stamfordham is in Northumberland. The vicar's testimonyseems to have referred to the first half of the nineteenth century. 

[727] M. Martin, "Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, " in J. Pinkerton's _General Collection of Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London, 1809), p. 611. The second edition of Martin's book, which Pinkertonreprints, was published at London in 1716. For John Ramsay's account ofthe need-fire, see above, pp. 147 _sq. _

[728] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 506, referring to MissAustin as his authority. 

[729] As to the custom of sacrificing one of a plague-stricken herd orflock for the purpose of saving the rest, see below, pp. 300 _sqq. _

[730] John Jamieson, _Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, New Edition, revised by J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson, iii. (Paisley, 1880) pp. 349 _sq. _, referring to "Agr. Surv. Caithn. , pp. 200, 201. "

[731] R. C. Maclagan, "Sacred Fire, " _Folk-lore_, ix. (1898) pp. 280_sq. _ As to the fire-drill see _The Magic Art and the Evolution ofKings_, ii. 207 _sqq. _

[732] W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular Superstitions and FestiveAmusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1823), pp. 214-216; Walter K. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition andFolk-lore_ (London, 1863), pp. 53 _sq. _

[733] Alexander Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_ (Edinburgh, 1900), ii. 340 _sq. _

[734] See above, pp. 154, 156, 157, 159 _sq. _

[735] _Census of India, 1911_, vol. Xiv. _Punjab_, Part i. _Report_, byPandit Harikishan Kaul (Lahore, 1912), p. 302. So in the north-east ofScotland "those who were born with their feet first possessed greatpower to heal all kinds of sprains, lumbago, and rheumatism, either byrubbing the affected part, or by trampling on it. The chief virtue layin the feet. Those who came into the world in this fashion oftenexercised their power to their own profit. " See Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 45 _sq. _

[736] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East ofScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 186. The fumigation of the byres withjuniper is a charm against witchcraft. See J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraftand Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. Ii. The "quarter-ill" is a disease of cattle, which affectsthe animals only in one limb or quarter. "A very gross superstition isobserved by some people in Angus, as an antidote against this ill. Apiece is cut out of the thigh of one of the cattle that has died of it. This they hang up within the chimney, in order to preserve the rest ofthe cattle from being infected. It is believed that as long as it hangsthere, it will prevent the disease from approaching the place. It istherefore carefully preserved; and in case of the family removing, transported to the new farm, as one of their valuable effects. It ishanded down from one generation to another" (J. Jamieson, _EtymologicalDictionary of the Scottish Language_, revised by J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson, iii. 575, _s. V. _ "Quarter-ill"). See further Rev. W. Gregor, _op. Cit. _ pp. 186 _sq. _: "The forelegs of one of the animals that haddied were cut off a little above the knee, and hung over the fire-placein the kitchen. It was thought sufficient by some if they were placedover the door of the byre, in the 'crap o' the wa'. ' Sometimes the heartand part of the liver and lungs were cut out, and hung over thefireplace instead of the fore-feet. Boiling them was at timessubstituted for hanging them over the hearth. " Compare W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and theBorders_ (London, 1879), p. 167: "A curious aid to the rearing of cattlecame lately to the knowledge of Mr. George Walker, a gentleman of thecity of Durham. During an excursion of a few miles into the country, heobserved a sort of rigging attached to the chimney of a farmhouse wellknown to him, and asked what it meant. The good wife told him that theyhad experienced great difficulty that year in rearing their calves; thepoor little creatures all died off, so they had taken the leg and thighof one of the dead calves, and hung it in a chimney by a rope, sincewhich they had not lost another calf. " In the light of facts cited below(pp. 315 _sqq. _) we may conjecture that the intention of cutting off thelegs or cutting out the heart, liver, and lungs of the animals andhanging them up or boiling them, is by means of homoeopathic magic toinflict corresponding injuries on the witch who cast the fatal spell onthe cattle. 

[737] _The Mirror_, 24th June, 1826, quoted by J. M. Kemble, _The Saxonsin England_ (London, 1849), i. 360 note 2. 

[738] Leland L. Duncan, "Fairy Beliefs and other Folklore Notes fromCounty Leitrim, " _Folk-lore_, vii. (1896) pp. 181 _sq. _

[739] (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Researches into the Early History ofMankind_, Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 237 _sqq. _; _The Magic Artand the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 207 _sqq. _

[740] For some examples of such extinctions, see _The Magic Art and theEvolution of Kings_, ii. 261 _sqq. _, 267 _sq. _; _Spirits of the Corn andof the Wild_, i. 311, ii. 73 _sq. _; and above, pp. 124 _sq. _, 132-139. The reasons for extinguishing fires ceremonially appear to vary with theoccasion. Sometimes the motive seems to be a fear of burning or at leastsingeing a ghost, who is hovering invisible in the air; sometimes it isapparently an idea that a fire is old and tired with burning so long, and that it must be relieved of the fatiguing duty by a young andvigorous flame. 

[741] Above, pp. 147, 154. The same custom appears to have been observedin Ireland. See above, p. 158. 

[742] J. N. B. Hewitt, "New Fire among the Iroquois, " _The AmericanAnthropologist_, ii. (1889) p. 319. 

[743] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 507. 

[744] See above, p. 290. 

[745] William Hone, _Every-day Book_ (London, preface dated 1827), i. Coll. 853 _sq. _ (June 24th), quoting Hitchin's _History of Cornwall_. 

[746] Hunt, _Romances and Drolls of the West of England_, 1st series, p. 237, quoted by W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the NorthernCounties of England and the Borders_ (London, 1879), p. 149. CompareJ. G. Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), p. 184: "Here also maybe found a solution of that recent expedient soignorantly practised in the neighbouring kingdom, where one having lostmany of his herd by witchcraft, as he concluded, burnt a living calf tobreak the spell and preserve the remainder. "

[747] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 23. 

[748] W. Henderson, _op. Cit. _ pp. 148 _sq. _

[749] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East ofScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 186. 

[750] R. N. Worth, _History of Devonshire_, Second Edition (London, 1886), p. 339. The diabolical nature of the toad probably explains whypeople in Herefordshire think that if you wear a toad's heart concealedabout your person you can steal to your heart's content without beingfound out. A suspected thief was overheard boasting, "They never catches_me_: and they never ooll neither. I allus wears a toad's heart round myneck, _I_ does. " See Mrs. Ella M. Leather, in _Folk-lore_, xxiv. (1913)p. 238. 

[751] Above, p. 301. 

[752] Robert Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_, ThirdEdition (London, 1881), p. 320. The writer does not say where this tookplace; probably it was in Cornwall or Devonshire. 

[753] Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East ofScotland_ (London, 1881), p. 184. 

[754] _County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk_, collectedand edited by the Lady Eveline Camilla Gurdon (London, 1893), pp. 190_sq. _, quoting _Some Materials for the History of Wherstead_ by F. Barham Zincke (Ipswich, 1887), p. 168. 

[755] _County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk_, p. 191, referring to Murray's _Handbook for Essex, Suffolk_, etc. , p. 109. 

[756] (Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folklore and Superstitions, " _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) pp. 300-302; repeated in his _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh andManx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 306 _sq. _ Sir John Rhys does not doubt that theold woman saw, as she said, a live sheep being burnt on old May-day; buthe doubts whether it was done as a sacrifice. He adds: "I have failed tofind anybody else in Andreas or Bride, or indeed in the whole island, who will now confess to having ever heard of the sheep sacrifice on oldMay-day. " However, the evidence I have adduced of a custom of burntsacrifice among English rustics tends to confirm the old woman'sstatement, that the burning of the live sheep which she witnessed wasnot an act of wanton cruelty but a sacrifice per formed for the publicgood. 

[757] (Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folklore and Superstitions, " _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) pp. 299 _sq. ; id. , Celtic Folklore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 304 _sq. _ We have seen that by burning the blood of abewitched bullock a farmer expected to compel the witch to appear. Seeabove, p. 303. 

[758] Olaus Magnus, _Historia de Gentium SeptentrionaliumConditionibus_, lib xviii. Cap. 47, p. 713 (ed. Bâle, 1567). 

[759] Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 473 _sq. _, referring to Boguet. 

[760] Collin de Plancy, _op. Cit. _ iii. 473. 

[761] Felix Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902), i. 239 _sq. _ The same story is told in Upper Brittany. See PaulSébillot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1882), i. 292. It is a common belief that a man who has once beentransformed into a werewolf must remain a were-wolf for seven yearsunless blood is drawn from him in his animal shape, upon which he atonce recovers his human form and is delivered from the bondage andmisery of being a were-wolf. See F. Chapiseau, _op. Cit. _ i. 218-220;Amélie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Paris andRouen, 1845), p. 233. On the belief in were-wolves in general; see W. Hertz, _Der Werwolf_ (Stuttgart, 1862); J. Grimm, _DeutscheMythologie_*[4] i. 915 _sqq. _; (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _PrimitiveCulture_[2] (London, 1873), i. 308 _sqq. _; R. Andree, _EthnographischeParallelen und Vergleiche_ (Stuttgart, 1878), pp. 62-80. In NorthGermany it is believed that a man can turn himself into a wolf bygirding himself with a strap made out of a wolf's hide. Some say thatthe strap must have nine, others say twelve, holes and a buckle; andthat according to the number of the hole through which the man insertsthe tongue of the buckle will be the length of time of histransformation. For example, if he puts the tongue of the buckle throughthe first hole, he will be a wolf for one hour; if he puts it throughthe second, he will be a wolf for two days; and so on, up to the lasthole, which entails a transformation for a full year. But by putting offthe girdle the man can resume his human form. The time when were-wolvesare most about is the period of the Twelve Nights between Christmas andEpiphany; hence cautious German farmers will not remove the dung fromthe cattle stalls at that season for fear of attracting the were-wolvesto the cattle. See Adalbert Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), p. 375; Ulrich Jahn, _Volkssagen aus Pommern und Rügen_ (Stettin, 1886), pp. 384, 386, Nos. 491, 495. Down to the time of Elizabeth it wasreported that in the county of Tipperary certain men were annuallyturned into wolves. See W. Camden, _Britain_, translated into English byPhilemon Holland (London, 1610), "Ireland, " p. 83. 

[762] J. J. M. De Groot, _The Religious System of China_, v. (Leyden, 1907) p. 548. 

[763] A. C. Kruijt, "De weerwolf bij de Toradja's van Midden-Celebes, "_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Landen Volkenkunde, _ xli. (1899) pp. 548-551, 557-560. 

[764] A. C. Kruijt, _op. Cit. _ pp. 552 _sq. _

[765] A. C. Kruijt, _op. Cit. _ pp. 553. For more evidence of the beliefin were-wolves, or rather in were-animals of various sorts, particularlywere-tigers, in the East Indies, see J. J. M. De Groot, "De Weertijger inonze Koloniën en op het oostaziatische Vasteland, " _Bijdragen tot deTaal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, xlix. (1898) pp. 549-585; G. P. Rouffaer, "Matjan Gadoengan, " _Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_ 1. (1899) pp. 67-75; J. Knebel, "De Weertijger op Midden-Java, den Javaan naverteld, "_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xli. (1899) pp. 568-587; L. M. F. Plate, "Bijdrage tot de kennis van de lykanthropie bijde Sasaksche bevolking in Oost-Lombok, " _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-Land- en Volkenkunde_, liv. (1912) pp. 458-469; G. A. Wilken, "Hetanimisme bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel, " _VerspreideGeschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iii. 25-30. 

[766] Ernst Marno, _Reisen im Gebiete des blauen und weissen Nil_(Vienna, 1874), pp. 239 _sq. _

[767] Petronius, _Sat. _ 61 _sq. _ (pp. 40 _sq. _, ed. Fr. Buecheler, *[3]Berlin, 1882). The Latin word for a were-wolf (_versipellis_) isexpressive: it means literally "skin-shifter, " and is equallyappropriate whatever the particular animal may be into which the wizardtransforms himself. It is to be regretted that we have no such generalterm in English. The bright moonlight which figures in some of thesewere-wolf stories is perhaps not a mere embellishment of the tale buthas its own significance; for in some places it is believed that thetransformation of were-wolves into their bestial shape takes placeparticularly at full moon. See A. De Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes etTraditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 99, 157; J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_(Saintes, 1891), p. 141. 

[768] J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands andIslands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 6: "In carrying out theirunhallowed cantrips, witches assumed various shapes. They became gulls, cormorants, ravens, rats, mice, black sheep, swelling waves, whales, andvery frequently cats and hares. " To this list of animals into whichwitches can turn themselves may be added horses, dogs, wolves, foxes, pigs, owls, magpies, wild geese, ducks, serpents, toads, lizards, flies, wasps, and butterflies. See A. Wuttke, _Der deutscheVolksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 150 § 217; L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. 327 § 220; Ulrich Jahn, _Hexenwesen und Zauberei in Pommern_(Breslau, 1886), p. 7. In his _Topography of Ireland_ (chap. 19), a workcompleted in 1187 A. D. , Giraldus Cambrensis records that "it has alsobeen a frequent complaint, from old times as well as in the present, that certain hags in Wales, as well as in Ireland and Scotland, changedthemselves into the shape of hares, that, sucking teats under thiscounterfeit form, they might stealthily rob other people's milk. " See_The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis_, revised and edited byThomas Wright (London, 1887), p. 83. 

[769] _The Folk-lore Journal_, iv. (1886) p. 266; Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 475; J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), p. 141. In Scotland the cut was known as "scoring above the breath. " Itconsisted of two incisions made crosswise on the witch's forehead, andwas "confided in all throughout Scotland as the most powerfulcounter-charm. " See Sir Walter Scott, _Letters on Demonology andWitchcraft_ (London, 1884), p. 272; J. G. Dalyell, _The DarkerSuperstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 531 _sq. _; M. M. Banks, "Scoring a Witch above the Breath, " _Folk-lore_, xxiii. (1912) p. 490. 

[770] J. L. M. Noguès, _l. C. _; L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore desHautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), P. 187. 

[771] M. Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), p. 117. The wolf-skin is supposed to fall down from heaven and to return toheaven after seven years, if the were-wolf has not been delivered fromher unhappy state in the meantime by the burning of the skin. 

[772] J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands andIslands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 8; compare A. Wuttke, _Derdeutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 150 § 217. Some thinkthat the sixpence should be crooked. See Rev. W. Gregor, _Notes on theFolk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 71 _sq. _, 128; _County Folk-lore_, vol. V. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutchand Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75. 

[773] J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 30. 

[774] J. G. Campbell, _op. Cit. _ p. 33. 

[775] (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_*[2] (London, 1873), i. 314. 

[776] Joseph Glanvil, _Saducismus Triumphatus or Full and Plain Evidenceconcerning Witches and Apparitions_ (London, 1681), Part ii. P. 205. 

[777] Rev. J. C. Atkinson, _Forty Years in a Moorland Parish_ (London, 1891), pp. 82-84. 

[778] _County Folk-lore_, vol. V. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), pp. 79, 80. 

[779] Leland L. Duncan, "Folk-lore Gleanings from County Leitrim, "_Folklore_, iv. (1893) pp. 183 _sq. _

[780] L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p. 176. 

[781] L. F. Sauvé, _op. Cit. _ pp. 176 _sq. _

[782] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 184 _sq. _, No. 203. 

[783] E. Meier, _op. Cit. _ pp. 191 _sq. _, No. 215. A similar story ofthe shoeing of a woman in the shape of a horse is reported from Silesia. See R. Kühnau, _Schlesische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. Pp. 27_sq. _, No. 1380. 

[784] R. Kühnau, _Schlesische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. Pp. 23_sq. _, No. 1375. Compare _id. _, iii. Pp. 28 _sq. _, No. 1381. 

[785] See for example L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus demHerzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. Pp. 328, 329, 334, 339; W. Von Schulenburg, _Wendische Volkssagen und Gebräuche aus dem Spreewald_(Leipsic, 1880), pp. 164, 165 _sq. _; H. Pröhle, _Harzsagen_ (Leipsic, 1859), i. 100 _sq. _ The belief in such things is said to be universalamong the ignorant and superstitious in Germany. See A. Wuttke, _Derdeutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 150, § 217. In Wales, also, "the possibility of injuring or marking the witch in her assumedshape so deeply that the bruise remained a mark on her in her naturalform was a common belief" (J. Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of West andMid-Wales_, Aberystwyth, 1911, p. 243). For Welsh stories of this sort, see J. Ceredig Davies, _l. C. _; Rev. Elias Owen, _Welsh Folk-lore_(Oswestry and Wrexham, N. D. , preface dated 1896), pp. 228 _sq. _; M. Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 214. 

[786] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem HerzogthumOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. P. 361, § 239. 

[787] Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 210. 

[788] L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem HerzogthumOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. P. 358, § 238. 

[789] L. Strackerjan, _op. Cit. _ i. P. 360, § 238e. 

[790] "The 'Witch-burning' at Clonmell, " _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) pp. 373-384. The account there printed is based on the reports of thejudicial proceedings before the magistrates and the judge, which werepublished in _The Irish Times_ for March 26th, 27th, and 28th, April2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 8th, and July 6th, 1895. 

[791] John Graham Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_(Edinburgh, 1834), p. 185. In this passage "quick" is used in the oldsense of "living, " as in the phrase "the quick and the dead. " _Nois_ is"nose, " _hoill_ is "hole, " _quhilk (whilk)_ is "which, " and _be_ is"by. "

[792] J. G. Dalyell, _op. Cit. _ p. 186. _Bestiall_=animals; _seik_=sick;_calling_=driving; _guidis_=cattle. 

[793] John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in theEighteenth Century_, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh andLondon, 1888), ii. 446 _sq. _ As to the custom of cutting off the leg ofa diseased animal and hanging it up in the house, see above, p. 296, note 1. 

[794] (Sir) Arthur Mitchell, A. M. , M. D. , _On Various Superstitions inthe North-West Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1862), p. 12 (reprinted from the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries ofScotland_, vol. Iv. ). 

[795] _County Folk-lore_, vol. V. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75, quoting Rev. R. M. Heanley, "The Vikings: traces of their Folklore in Marshland, " a paperread before the Viking Club, London, and printed in its _Saga-Book_, vol. Iii. Part i. Jan. 1902. The wicken-tree is the mountain-ash orrowan free, which is a very efficient, or at all events a very popularprotective against witchcraft. See _County Folk-lore_, vol. V. _Lincolnshire_, pp. 26 _sq. _, 98 _sq. _; Mabel Peacock, "The Folklore ofLincolnshire, " _Folk-lore_, xii. (1901) p. 175; J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_(Glasgow, 1902), pp. 11 _sq. _; Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on theFolk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 188. Seefurther _The Scapegoat_, pp. 266 _sq_. 

CHAPTER V

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRE-FESTIVALS

§ 1. _On the Fire-festivals in general_

[General resemblance of the European fire-festivals to each other. ]

The foregoing survey of the popular fire-festivals of Europe suggestssome general observations. In the first place we can hardly help beingstruck by the resemblance which the ceremonies bear to each other, atwhatever time of the year and in whatever part of Europe they arecelebrated. The custom of kindling great bonfires, leaping over them, and driving cattle through or round them would seem to have beenpractically universal throughout Europe, and the same may be said of theprocessions or races with blazing torches round fields, orchards, pastures, or cattle-stalls. Less widespread are the customs of hurlinglighted discs into the air[796] and trundling a burning wheel downhill;[797] for to judge by the evidence which I have collected thesemodes of distributing the beneficial influence of the fire have beenconfined in the main to Central Europe. The ceremonial of the Yule logis distinguished from that of the other fire-festivals by the privacyand domesticity which characterize it; but, as we have already seen, this distinction may well be due simply to the rough weather ofmidwinter, which is apt not only to render a public assembly in the openair disagreeable, but also at any moment to defeat the object of theassembly by extinguishing the all-important fire under a downpour ofrain or a fall of snow. Apart from these local or seasonal differences, the general resemblance between the fire-festivals at all times of theyear and in all places is tolerably close. And as the ceremoniesthemselves resemble each other, so do the benefits which the peopleexpect to reap from them. Whether applied in the form of bonfiresblazing at fixed points, or of torches carried about from place toplace, or of embers and ashes taken from the smouldering heap of fuel, the fire is believed to promote the growth of the crops and the welfareof man and beast, either positively by stimulating them, or negativelyby averting the dangers and calamities which threaten them from suchcauses as thunder and lightning, conflagration, blight, mildew, vermin, sterility, disease, and not least of all witchcraft. 

[Two explanations suggested of the fire-festivals. According to W. Mannhardt, they are charms to secure a supply of sunshine; according toDr. E. Westermarck they are purificatory, being intended to burn anddestroy all harmful influences. ]

But we naturally ask, How did it come about that benefits so great andmanifold were supposed to be attained by means so simple? In what waydid people imagine that they could procure so many goods or avoid somany ills by the application of fire and smoke, of embers and ashes? Inshort, what theory underlay and prompted the practice of these customs?For that the institution of the festivals was the outcome of a definitetrain of reasoning may be taken for granted; the view that primitive manacted first and invented his reasons to suit his actions afterwards, isnot borne out by what we know of his nearest living representatives, thesavage and the peasant. Two different explanations of the fire-festivalshave been given by modern enquirers. On the one hand it has been heldthat they are sun-charms or magical ceremonies intended, on theprinciple of imitative magic, to ensure a needful supply of sunshine formen, animals, and plants by kindling fires which mimic on earth thegreat source of light and heat in the sky. This was the view of WilhelmMannhardt. [798] It may be called the solar theory. On the other hand ithas been maintained that the ceremonial fires have no necessaryreference to the sun but are simply purificatory in intention, beingdesigned to burn up and destroy all harmful influences, whether theseare conceived in a personal form as witches, demons, and monsters, or inan impersonal form as a sort of pervading taint or corruption of theair. This is the view of Dr. Edward Westermarck[799] and apparently ofProfessor Eugen Mogk. [800] It may be called the purificatory theory. Obviously the two theories postulate two very different conceptions ofthe fire which plays the principal part in the rites. On the one view, the fire, like sunshine in our latitude, is a genial creative powerwhich fosters the growth of plants and the development of all that makesfor health and happiness; on the other view, the fire is a fiercedestructive power which blasts and consumes all the noxious elements, whether spiritual or material, that menace the life of men, of animals, and of plants. According to the one theory the fire is a stimulant, according to the other it is a disinfectant; on the one view its virtueis positive, on the other it is negative. 

[The two explanations are perhaps not mutually exclusive. ]

Yet the two explanations, different as they are in the character whichthey attribute to the fire, are perhaps not wholly irreconcilable. If weassume that the fires kindled at these festivals were primarily intendedto imitate the sun's light and heat, may we not regard the purificatoryand disinfecting qualities, which popular opinion certainly appears tohave ascribed to them, as attributes derived directly from thepurificatory and disinfecting qualities of sunshine? In this way wemight conclude that, while the imitation of sunshine in these ceremonieswas primary and original, the purification attributed to them wassecondary and derivative. Such a conclusion, occupying an intermediateposition between the two opposing theories and recognizing an element oftruth in both of them, was adopted by me in earlier editions of thiswork;[801] but in the meantime Dr. Westermarck has argued powerfully infavour of the purificatory theory alone, and I am bound to say that hisarguments carry great weight, and that on a fuller review of the factsthe balance of evidence seems to me to incline decidedly in his favour. However, the case is not so clear as to justify us in dismissing thesolar theory without discussion, and accordingly I propose to adduce theconsiderations which tell for it before proceeding to notice those whichtell against it. A theory which had the support of so learned andsagacious an investigator as W. Mannhardt is entitled to a respectfulhearing. 

§ 2. _The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals_

[Theory that the fire-festivals are charms to ensure a supply ofsunshine. ]

In an earlier part of this work we saw that savages resort to charms formaking sunshine, [802] and it would be no wonder if primitive man inEurope did the same. Indeed, when we consider the cold and cloudyclimate of Europe during a great part of the year, we shall find itnatural that sun-charms should have played a much more prominent partamong the superstitious practices of European peoples than among thoseof savages who live nearer the equator and who consequently are apt toget in the course of nature more sunshine than they want. This view ofthe festivals may be supported by various arguments drawn partly fromtheir dates, partly from the nature of the rites, and partly from theinfluence which they are believed to exert upon the weather and onvegetation. 

[Coincidence of two of the festivals with the solstices. ]

First, in regard to the dates of the festivals it can be no mereaccident that two of the most important and widely spread of thefestivals are timed to coincide more or less exactly with the summer andwinter solstices, that is, with the two turning-points in the sun'sapparent course in the sky when he reaches respectively his highest andhis lowest elevation at noon. Indeed with respect to the midwintercelebration of Christmas we are not left to conjecture; we know from theexpress testimony of the ancients that it was instituted by the churchto supersede an old heathen festival of the birth of the sun, [803] whichwas apparently conceived to be born again on the shortest day of theyear, after which his light and heat were seen to grow till theyattained their full maturity at midsummer. Therefore it is no very farfetched conjecture to suppose that the Yule log, which figures soprominently in the popular celebration of Christmas, was originallydesigned to help the labouring sun of midwinter to rekindle hisseemingly expiring light. 

[Attempt of the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in midwinter bykindling sticks. ]

The idea that by lighting a log on earth you can rekindle a fire inheaven or fan it into a brighter blaze, naturally seems to us absurd;but to the savage mind it wears a different aspect, and the institutionof the great fire-festivals which we are considering probably dates froma time when Europe was still sunk in savagery or at most in barbarism. Now it can be shewn that in order to increase the celestial source ofheat at midwinter savages resort to a practice analogous to that of ourYule log, if the kindling of the Yule log was originally a magical riteintended to rekindle the sun. In the southern hemisphere, where theorder of the seasons is the reverse of ours, the rising of Sirius or theDog Star in July marks the season of the greatest cold instead of, aswith us, the greatest heat; and just as the civilized ancients ascribedthe torrid heat of midsummer to that brilliant star, [804] so the modernsavage of South Africa attributes to it the piercing cold of midwinterand seeks to mitigate its rigour by warming up the chilly star with thegenial heat of the sun. How he does so may be best described in his ownwords as follows:--[805]

"The Bushmen perceive Canopus, they say to a child: 'Give me yonderpiece of wood, that I may put the end of it in the fire, that I maypoint it burning towards grandmother, for grandmother carries Bushmanrice; grandmother shall make a little warmth for us; for she coldlycomes out; the sun[806] shall warm grandmother's eye for us. ' Siriuscomes out; the people call out to one another: 'Sirius comes yonder;'they say to one another: 'Ye must burn a stick for us towards Sirius. 'They say to one another: 'Who was it who saw Sirius?' One man says tothe other: 'Our brother saw Sirius, ' The other man says to him: 'I sawSirius. ' The other man says to him: 'I wish thee to burn a stick for ustowards Sirius; that the sun may shining come out for us; that Siriusmay not coldly come out' The other man (the one who saw Sirius) says tohis son: 'Bring me the small piece of wood yonder, that I may put theend of it in the fire, that I may burn it towards grandmother; thatgrandmother may ascend the sky, like the other one, Canopus. ' The childbrings him the piece of wood, he (the father) holds the end of it in thefire. He points it burning towards Sirius; he says that Sirius shalltwinkle like Canopus. He sings; he sings about Canopus, he sings aboutSirius; he points to them with fire, [807] that they may twinkle likeeach other. He throws fire at them. He covers himself up entirely(including his head) in his kaross and lies down. He arises, he sitsdown; while he does not again lie down; because he feels that he hasworked, putting Sirius into the sun's warmth; so that Sirius may warmlycome out. The women go out early to seek for Bushman rice; they walk, sunning their shoulder blades. "[808] What the Bushmen thus do to temperthe cold of midwinter in the southern hemisphere by blowing up thecelestial fires may have been done by our rude forefathers at thecorresponding season in the northern hemisphere. 

[The burning wheels and discs of the fire-festivals may be directimitations of the sun. ]

Not only the date of some of the festivals but the manner of theircelebration suggests a conscious imitation of the sun. The custom ofrolling a burning wheel down a hill, which is often observed at theseceremonies, might well pass for an imitation of the sun's course in thesky, and the imitation would be especially appropriate on Midsummer Daywhen the sun's annual declension begins. Indeed the custom has been thusinterpreted by some of those who have recorded it. [809] Not lessgraphic, it may be said, is the mimicry of his apparent revolution byswinging a burning tar-barrel round a pole. [810] Again, the commonpractice of throwing fiery discs, sometimes expressly said to be shapedlike suns, into the air at the festivals may well be a piece ofimitative magic. In these, as in so many cases, the magic force may besupposed to take effect through mimicry or sympathy: by imitating thedesired result you actually produce it: by counterfeiting the sun'sprogress through the heavens you really help the luminary to pursue hiscelestial journey with punctuality and despatch. The name "fire ofheaven, " by which the midsummer fire is sometimes popularly known, [811]clearly implies a consciousness of a connexion between the earthly andthe heavenly flame. 

[The wheel sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may also be animitation of the sun. ]

Again, the manner in which the fire appears to have been originallykindled on these occasions has been alleged in support of the view thatit was intended to be a mock-sun. As some scholars have perceived, it ishighly probable that at the periodic festivals in former times fire wasuniversally obtained by the friction of two pieces of wood. [812] We haveseen that it is still so procured in some places both at the Easter andthe midsummer festivals, and that it is expressly said to have beenformerly so procured at the Beltane celebration both in Scotland andWales. [813] But what makes it nearly certain that this was once theinvariable mode of kindling the fire at these periodic festivals is theanalogy of the need-fire, which has almost always been produced by thefriction of wood, and sometimes by the revolution of a wheel. It is aplausible conjecture that the wheel employed for this purpose representsthe sun, [814] and if the fires at the regularly recurring celebrationswere formerly produced in the same way, it might be regarded as aconfirmation of the view that they were originally sun-charms. In pointof fact there is, as Kuhn has indicated, [815] some evidence to shew thatthe midsummer fire was originally thus produced. We have seen that manyHungarian swineherds make fire on Midsummer Eve by rotating a wheelround a wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and that they drive their pigsthrough the fire thus made. [816] At Obermedlingen, in Swabia, the "fireof heaven, " as it was called, was made on St. Vitus's Day (the fifteenthof June) by igniting a cartwheel, which, smeared with pitch and plaitedwith straw, was fastened on a pole twelve feet high, the top of the polebeing inserted in the nave of the wheel. This fire was made on thesummit of a mountain, and as the flame ascended, the people uttered aset form of words, with eyes and arms directed heavenward. [817] Here thefixing of a wheel on a pole and igniting it suggests that originally thefire was produced, as in the case of the need-fire, by the revolution ofa wheel. The day on which the ceremony takes place (the fifteenth ofJune) is near midsummer; and we have seen that in Masuren fire is, orused to be, actually made on Midsummer Day by turning a wheel rapidlyabout an oaken pole, [818] though it is not said that the new fire soobtained is used to light a bonfire. However, we must bear in mind thatin all such cases the use of a wheel may be merely a mechanical deviceto facilitate the operation of fire-making by increasing the friction;it need not have any symbolical significance. 

[The influence which the fires are supposed to exert on the weather andvegetation may be thought to be due to an increase of solar heatproduced by the fires. ]

Further, the influence which these fires, whether periodic oroccasional, are supposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may becited in support of the view that they are sun-charms, since the effectsascribed to them resemble those of sunshine. Thus, the French beliefthat in a rainy June the lighting of the midsummer bonfires will causethe rain to cease[819] appears to assume that they can disperse the darkclouds and make the sun to break out in radiant glory, drying the wetearth and dripping trees. Similarly the use of the need-fire by Swisschildren on foggy days for the purpose of clearing away the mist[820]may very naturally be interpreted as a sun-charm. Again, we have seenthat in the Vosges Mountains the people believe that the midsummer fireshelp to preserve the fruits of the earth and ensure good crops. [821] InSweden the warmth or cold of the coming season is inferred from thedirection in which the flames of the May Day bonfire are blown; if theyblow to the south, it will be warm, if to the north, cold. [822] No doubtat present the direction of the flames is regarded merely as an auguryof the weather, not as a mode of influencing it. But we may be prettysure that this is one of the cases in which magic has dwindled intodivination. So in the Eifel Mountains, when the smoke blows towards thecorn-fields, this is an omen that the harvest will be abundant. [823] Butthe older view may have been not merely that the smoke and flamesprognosticated, but that they actually produced an abundant harvest, theheat of the flames acting like sunshine on the corn. Perhaps it was withthis view that people in the Isle of Man lit fires to windward of theirfields in order that the smoke might blow over them. [824] So in SouthAfrica, about the month of April, the Matabeles light huge fires to thewindward of their gardens, "their idea being that the smoke, by passingover the crops, will assist the ripening of them. "[825] Among the Zulusalso "medicine is burned on a fire placed to windward of the garden, thefumigation which the plants in consequence receive being held to improvethe crop. "[826] Again, the idea of our European peasants that the cornwill grow well as far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible, [827] maybe interpreted as a remnant of the belief in the quickening andfertilizing power of the bonfires. The same belief, it may be argued, reappears in the notion that embers taken from the bonfires and insertedin the fields will promote the growth of the crops, [828] and it may bethought to underlie the customs of sowing flax-seed in the direction inwhich the flames blow, [829] of mixing the ashes of the bonfire with theseed-corn at sowing, [830] of scattering the ashes by themselves over thefield to fertilize it, [831] and of incorporating a piece of the Yule login the plough to make the seeds thrive. [832] The opinion that the flaxor hemp will grow as high as the flames rise or the people leap overthem[833] belongs clearly to the same class of ideas. Again, at Konz, onthe banks of the Moselle, if the blazing wheel which was trundled downthe hillside reached the river without being extinguished, this washailed as a proof that the vintage would be abundant. So firmly was thisbelief held that the successful performance of the ceremony entitled thevillagers to levy a tax upon the owners of the neighbouringvineyards. [834] Here the unextinguished wheel might be taken torepresent an unclouded sun, which in turn would portend an abundantvintage. So the waggon-load of white wine which the villagers receivedfrom the vineyards round about might pass for a payment for the sunshinewhich they had procured for the grapes. Similarly we saw that in theVale of Glamorgan a blazing wheel used to be trundled down hill onMidsummer Day, and that if the fire were extinguished before the wheelreached the foot of the hill, the people expected a bad harvest; whereasif the wheel kept alight all the way down and continued to blaze for along time, the farmers looked forward to heavy crops that summer. [835]Here, again, it is natural to suppose that the rustic mind traced adirect connexion between the fire of the wheel and the fire of the sun, on which the crops are dependent. 

[The effect which the bonfires are supposed to have in fertilizingcattle and women may also be attributed to an increase of solar heatproduced by the fires. ]

But in popular belief the quickening and fertilizing influence of thebonfires is not limited to the vegetable world; it extends also toanimals. This plainly appears from the Irish custom of driving barrencattle through the midsummer fires, [836] from the French belief that theYule-log steeped in water helps cows to calve, [837] from the French andServian notion that there will be as many chickens, calves, lambs, andkids as there are sparks struck out of the Yule log, [838] from theFrench custom of putting the ashes of the bonfires in the fowls' neststo make the hens lay eggs, [839] and from the German practice of mixingthe ashes of the bonfires with the drink of cattle in order to make theanimals thrive. [840] Further, there are clear indications that evenhuman fecundity is supposed to be promoted by the genial heat of thefires. In Morocco the people think that childless couples can obtainoffspring by leaping over the midsummer bonfire. [841] It is an Irishbelief that a girl who jumps thrice over the midsummer bonfire will soonmarry and become the mother of many children;[842] in Flanders womenleap over the Midsummer fires to ensure an easy delivery;[843] and invarious parts of France they think that if a girl dances round ninefires she will be sure to marry within the year. [844] On the other hand, in Lechrain people say that if a young man and woman, leaping over themidsummer fire together, escape unsmirched, the young woman will notbecome a mother within twelve months:[845] the flames have not touchedand fertilized her. In parts of Switzerland and France the lighting ofthe Yule log is accompanied by a prayer that the women may bearchildren, the she-goats bring forth kids, and the ewes drop lambs. [846]The rule observed in some places that the bonfires should be kindled bythe person who was last married[847] seems to belong to the same classof ideas, whether it be that such a person is supposed to receive from, or to impart to, the fire a generative and fertilizing influence. Thecommon practice of lovers leaping over the fires hand in hand may verywell have originated in a notion that thereby their marriage would beblessed with offspring; and the like motive would explain the customwhich obliges couples married within the year to dance to the light oftorches. [848] And the scenes of profligacy which appear to have markedthe midsummer celebration among the Esthonians, [849] as they once markedthe celebration of May Day among ourselves, may have sprung, not fromthe mere license of holiday-makers, but from a crude notion that suchorgies were justified, if not required, by some mysterious bond whichlinked the life of man to the courses of the heavens at thisturning-point of the year. 

[The custom of carrying lighted torches about the country at thefestival may be explained as an attempt to diffuse the Sun's heat. ]

At the festivals which we are considering the custom of kindlingbonfires is commonly associated with a custom of carrying lightedtorches about the fields, the orchards, the pastures, the flocks and theherds; and we can hardly doubt that the two customs are only twodifferent ways of attaining the same object, namely, the benefits whichare believed to flow from the fire, whether it be stationary orportable. Accordingly if we accept the solar theory of the bonfires, weseem bound to apply it also to the torches; we must suppose that thepractice of marching or running with blazing torches about the countryis simply a means of diffusing far and wide the genial influence of thesunshine, of which these flickering flames are a feeble imitation. Infavour of this view it may be said that sometimes the torches arecarried about the fields for the express purpose of fertilizingthem, [850] and for the same purpose live coals from the bonfires aresometimes placed in the fields "to prevent blight. "[851] On the Eve ofTwelfth Day in Normandy men, women, and children run wildly through thefields and orchards with lighted torches, which they wave about thebranches and dash against the trunks of the fruit-trees for the sake ofburning the moss and driving away the moles and field mice. "Theybelieve that the ceremony fulfils the double object of exorcizing thevermin whose multiplication would be a real calamity, and of impartingfecundity to the trees, the fields, and even the cattle"; and theyimagine that the more the ceremony is prolonged, the greater will be thecrop of fruit next autumn. [852] In Bohemia they say that the corn willgrow as high as they fling the blazing besoms into the air. [853] Nor aresuch notions confined to Europe. In Corea, a few days before the NewYear festival, the eunuchs of the palace swing burning torches, chantinginvocations the while, and this is supposed to ensure bountiful cropsfor the next season. [854] The custom of trundling a burning wheel overthe fields, which used to be observed in Poitou for the express purposeof fertilizing them, [855] may be thought to embody the same idea in astill more graphic form; since in this way the mock-sun itself, notmerely its light and heat represented by torches, is made actually topass over the ground which is to receive its quickening and kindlyinfluence. Once more, the custom of carrying lighted brands roundcattle[856] is plainly equivalent to driving the animals through thebonfire; and if the bonfire is a sun-charm, the torches must be so also. 

§ 3. _The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals_

[Theory that the fires at the festivals are purificatory, being intendedto burn up all harmful things. ]

Thus far we have considered what may be said for the theory that at theEuropean fire-festivals the fire is kindled as a charm to ensure anabundant supply of sunshine for man and beast, for corn and fruits. Itremains to consider what may be said against this theory and in favourof the view that in these rites fire is employed not as a creative butas a cleansing agent, which purifies men, animals, and plants by burningup and consuming the noxious elements, whether material or spiritual, which menace all living things with disease and death. 

[The purificatory or destructive effect of the fires is often alleged bythe people who light them; the great evil against which the fire at thefestivals is directed appears to be witchcraft. ]

First, then, it is to be observed that the people who practise thefire-customs appear never to allege the solar theory in explanation ofthem, while on the contrary they do frequently and emphatically putforward the purificatory theory. This is a strong argument in favour ofthe purificatory and against the solar theory; for the popularexplanation of a popular custom is never to be rejected except for gravecause. And in the present case there seems to be no adequate reason forrejecting it. The conception of fire as a destructive agent, which canbe turned to account for the consumption of evil things, is so simpleand obvious that it could hardly escape the minds even of the rudepeasantry with whom these festivals originated. On the other hand theconception of fire as an emanation of the sun, or at all events aslinked to it by a bond of physical sympathy, is far less simple andobvious; and though the use of fire as a charm to produce sunshineappears to be undeniable, [857] nevertheless in attempting to explainpopular customs we should never have recourse to a more recondite ideawhen a simpler one lies to hand and is supported by the explicittestimony of the people themselves. Now in the case of thefire-festivals the destructive aspect of fire is one upon which thepeople dwell again and again; and it is highly significant that thegreat evil against which the fire is directed appears to be witchcraft. Again and again we are told that the fires are intended to burn or repelthe witches;[858] and the intention is sometimes graphically expressedby burning an effigy of a witch in the fire. [859] Hence, when weremember the great hold which the dread of witchcraft has had on thepopular European mind in all ages, we may suspect that the primaryintention of all these fire-festivals was simply to destroy or at allevents get rid of the witches, who were regarded as the causes of nearlyall the misfortunes and calamities that befall men, their cattle, andtheir crops. [860]

[Amongst the evils for which the fire-festivals are deemed remedies theforemost is cattle-disease, and cattle-disease is often supposed to bean effect of witchcraft. ]

This suspicion is confirmed when we examine the evils for which thebonfires and torches were supposed to provide a remedy. Foremost, perhaps, among these evils we may reckon the diseases of cattle; and ofall the ills that witches are believed to work there is probably nonewhich is so constantly insisted on as the harm they do to the herds, particularly by stealing the milk from the cows. [861] Now it issignificant that the need-fire, which may perhaps be regarded as theparent of the periodic fire-festivals, is kindled above all as a remedyfor a murrain or other disease of cattle; and the circumstance suggests, what on general grounds seems probable, that the custom of kindling theneed-fire goes back to a time when the ancestors of the European peoplessubsisted chiefly on the products of their herds, and when agricultureas yet played a subordinate part in their lives. Witches and wolves arethe two great foes still dreaded by the herdsman in many parts ofEurope;[862] and we need not wonder that he should resort to fire as apowerful means of banning them both. Among Slavonic peoples it appearsthat the foes whom the need-fire is designed to combat are not so muchliving witches as vampyres and other evil spirits, [863] and theceremony, as we saw, aims rather at repelling these baleful beings thanat actually consuming them in the flames. But for our present purposethese distinctions are immaterial. The important thing to observe isthat among the Slavs the need-fire, which is probably the original ofall the ceremonial fires now under consideration, is not a sun-charm, but clearly and unmistakably nothing but a means of protecting man andbeast against the attacks of maleficent creatures, whom the peasantthinks to burn or scare by the heat of the fire, just as he might burnor scare wild animals. 

[Again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, thunder, lightning, andother maladies, all of which are attributed to the maleficent arts ofwitches. ]

Again, the bonfires are often supposed to protect the fields againsthail[864] and the homestead against thunder and lightning. [865] But bothhail and thunderstorms are frequently thought to be caused bywitches;[866] hence the fire which bans the witches necessarily servesat the same time as a talisman against hail, thunder, and lightning. Further, brands taken from the bonfires are commonly kept in the housesto guard them against conflagration;[867] and though this may perhaps bedone on the principle of homoeopathic magic, one fire being thought toact as a preventive of another, it is also possible that the intentionmay be to keep witch-incendiaries at bay. Again, people leap over thebonfires as a preventive of colic, [868] and look at the flames steadilyin order to preserve their eyes in good health;[869] and both colic andsore eyes are in Germany, and probably elsewhere, set down to themachinations of witches. [870] Once more, to leap over the Midsummerfires or to circumambulate them is thought to prevent a person fromfeeling pains in his back at reaping;[871] and in Germany such pains arecalled "witch-shots" and ascribed to witchcraft. [872]

[The burning wheels rolled down hills and the burning discs and broomsthrown into the air may be intended to burn the invisible witches. ]

But if the bonfires and torches of the fire-festivals are to be regardedprimarily as weapons directed against witches and wizards, it becomesprobable that the same explanation applies not only to the flaming discswhich are hurled into the air, but also to the burning wheels which arerolled down hill on these occasions; discs and wheels, we may suppose, are alike intended to burn the witches who hover invisible in the air orhaunt unseen the fields, the orchards, and the vineyards on thehillside. [873] Certainly witches are constantly thought to ride throughthe air on broomsticks or other equally convenient vehicles; and if theydo so, how can you get at them so effectually as by hurling lightedmissiles, whether discs, torches, or besoms, after them as they flitpast overhead in the gloom? The South Slavonian peasant believes thatwitches ride in the dark hail-clouds; so he shoots at the clouds tobring down the hags, while he curses them, saying, "Curse, curseHerodias, thy mother is a heathen, damned of God and fettered throughthe Redeemer's blood. " Also he brings out a pot of glowing charcoal onwhich he has thrown holy oil, laurel leaves, and wormwood to make asmoke. The fumes are supposed to ascend to the clouds and stupefy thewitches, so that they tumble down to earth. And in order that they maynot fall soft, but may hurt themselves very much, the yokel hastilybrings out a chair and tilts it bottom up so that the witch in fallingmay break her legs on the legs of the chair. Worse than that, he cruellylays scythes, bill-hooks and other formidable weapons edge upwards so asto cut and mangle the poor wretches when they drop plump upon them fromthe clouds. [874]

[On this view the fertility supposed to follow the use of fire resultsindirectly from breaking the spells of witches. ]

On this view the fertility supposed to follow the application of fire inthe form of bonfires, torches, discs, rolling wheels, and so forth, isnot conceived as resulting directly from an increase of solar heat whichthe fire has magically generated; it is merely an indirect resultobtained by freeing the reproductive powers of plants and animals fromthe fatal obstruction of witchcraft. And what is true of thereproduction of plants and animals may hold good also of the fertilityof the human sexes. We have seen that the bonfires are supposed topromote marriage and to procure offspring for childless couples. Thishappy effect need not flow directly from any quickening or fertilizingenergy in the fire; it may follow indirectly from the power of the fireto remove those obstacles which the spells of witches and wizardsnotoriously present to the union of man and wife. [875]

[On the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructive intention ofthe fire-festivals seems the more probable. ]

On the whole, then, the theory of the purificatory virtue of theceremonial fires appears more probable and more in accordance with theevidence than the opposing theory of their connexion with the sun. ButEurope is not the only part of the world where ceremonies of this sorthave been performed; elsewhere the passage through the flames or smokeor over the glowing embers of a bonfire, which is the central feature ofmost of the rites, has been employed as a cure or a preventive ofvarious ills. We have seen that the midsummer ritual of fire in Moroccois practically identical with that of our European peasantry; andcustoms more or less similar have been observed by many races in variousparts of the world. A consideration of some of them may help us todecide between the conflicting claims of the two rival theories, whichexplain the ceremonies as sun-charms or purifications respectively. 

Notes:

[796] Above, pp. 116 _sq. _, 119, 143, 165, 166, 168 _sq. _, 172. 

[797] Above, pp. 116, 117 _sq. _, 119, 141, 143, 161, 162 _sq. _, 163_sq. _, 173, 191, 201. 

[798] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrerNachbarstämme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 521 _sqq. _

[799] E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco, " _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 44 _sqq. ; id. , The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_(London, 1906-1908), i. 56; _id. , Ceremonies and Beliefs connected withAgriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather inMorocco_ (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 93-102. 

[800] E. Mogk, "Sitten und Gebräuche im Kreislauf des Jahres, " in R. Wuttke's _Sächsische Volkskunde_*[2] (Dresden, 1901), pp. 310 _sq. _

[801] _The Golden Bough_, Second Edition (London, 1900), iii. 312: "Thecustom of leaping over the fire and driving cattle through it may beintended, on the one hand, to secure for man and beast a share of thevital energy of the sun, and, on the other hand, to purge them of allevil influences; for to the primitive mind fire is the most powerful ofall purificatory agents"; and again, _id. _ iii. 314: "It is quitepossible that in these customs the idea of the quickening power of firemay be combined with the conception of it as a purgative agent for theexpulsion or destruction of evil beings, such as witches and the verminthat destroy the fruits of the earth. Certainly the fires are ofteninterpreted in the latter way by the persons who light them; and thispurgative use of the element comes out very prominently, as we haveseen, in the general expulsion of demons from towns and villages. But inthe present class of cases this aspect of fire may be secondary, ifindeed it is more than a later misinterpretation of the custom. "

[802] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 311 _sqq_. 

[803] See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 254 _sqq_. 

[804] Manilius, _Astronom_. V. 206 _sqq. _:

"_Cum vero in vastos surget Nemeaeus hiatus, Exoriturque Canis, latratque Canicula flammas Et rabit igne suo geminatque incendia solis, Qua subdente facem terris radiosque movente_" etc. 

Pliny, _Naturalis Historic_ xviii. 269 _sq_. : "_Exoritur dein posttriduum fere ubique confessum inter omnes sidus ingens quod canis ortumvocamus, sole partem primam leonis ingresso. Hoc fit post solstitiumXXIII. Die. Sentiunt id maria et terrae, multae vero et ferae, ut suislocis diximus. Neque est minor ei veneratio quam descriptis in deosstellis accendique solem et magnam aestus obtinet causam_. "

[805] _Specimens of Bushman Folklore_ collected by the late W. H. I. Bleek, Ph. D. , and L. C. Lloyd (London, 1911), pp. 339, 341. In quotingthe passage I have omitted the brackets which the editors print for thepurpose of indicating the words which are implied, but not expressed, inthe original Bushman text. 

[806] "The sun is a little warm, when this star appears in winter"(Editors of _Specimens of Bushman Folklore_). 

[807] "With the stick that he had held in the fire, moving it up anddown quickly" (Editors). 

[808] "They take one arm out of the kaross, thereby exposing oneshoulder blade to the sun" (Editors). 

[809] See above, pp. 161, 162 _sq. _ On the wheel as an emblem of thesun, see J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] ii. 585; A. Kuhn, _DieHerabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_*[2] (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 45 _sqq. _; H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de laroue, " _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 14 _sqq. _;William Simpson, _The Buddhist Praying Wheel_ (London, 1896), pp. 87_sqq. _ It is a popular Armenian idea that "the body of the sun has theshape of the wheel of a water-mill; it revolves and moves forward. Asdrops of water sputter from the mill-wheel, so sunbeams shoot out fromthe spokes of the sun-wheel" (M. Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_, Leipsic, 1899, p. 41). In the old Mexican picture-books the usualrepresentation of the sun is "a wheel, often brilliant with manycolours, the rays of which are so many bloodstained tongues, by means ofwhich the Sun receives his nourishment" (E. J. Payne, _History of the NewWorld called America_, Oxford, 1892, i. 521). 

[810] Above, p. 169. 

[811] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_(Stuttgart, 1852), p. 225; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_(Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 240; Anton Birlinger, _Volksthümliches ausSchwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 57, 97; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 510. 

[812] Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 521; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Gottingen und Leipsic, 1852-1857), ii. 389; Adalbert Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und desGöttertranks_*[2] (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 41 _sq. _, 47; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 521. Lindenbrog in his Glossary on the Capitularies(quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 502) expressly says:"The rustics in many parts of Germany, particularly on the festival ofSt. John the Baptist, wrench a stake from a fence, wind a rope round it, and pull it to and fro till it catches fire. This fire they carefullyfeed with straw and dry sticks and scatter the ashes over the vegetablegardens, foolishly and superstitiously imagining that in this way thecaterpillar can be kept off. They call such a fire _nodfeur_ or_nodfyr_, that is to say need-fire. "

[813] Above, pp. 144 _sq. _, 147 _sq. _, 155, 169 _sq. _, 175, 177, 179. 

[814] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] i. 509; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträgezur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 117; A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft desFeuers_, *[2] pp. 47 _sq. _; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 521; W. E. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London, 1863), p. 49. 

[815] A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_*[2](Gütersloh, 1886), p. 47. 

[816] Above, p. 179. 

[817] F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 240, § 443. 

[818] Above, p. 177. 

[819] Above, pp. 187 _sq. _

[820] Above, pp. 279 _sq. _

[821] Above, p. 188. 

[822] Above, p. 159. 

[823] Above, p. 116. 

[824] Above, p. 201. 

[825] L. Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ (London, 1898), pp. 160_sq. _

[826] Rev. J. Shooter, _The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country_(London, 1857), p. 18. 

[827] Above, pp. 140, 142. 

[828] Above, pp. 119, 165, 166, 173, 203. 

[829] Above, p. 140. 

[830] Above, p. 121. 

[831] Above, pp. 141, 170, 190, 203, 248, 250, 264. 

[832] Above, p. 251. 

[833] Above, pp. 119, 165, 166, 168, 173, 174. 

[834] Above, pp. 118, 163 _sq. _

[835] Above, p. 201. 

[836] Above, p. 203. 

[837] Above, p. 250. 

[838] Above, pp. 251, 262, 263, 264. 

[839] Above, p. 112. 

[840] Above, p. 141. 

[841] Above, p. 214. 

[842] Above, p. 204. 

[843] Above, p. 194. 

[844] Above, p. 185, 189; compare p. 174. 

[845] Above, p. 166. 

[846] Above, pp. 249, 250. 

[847] Above, pp. 107, 109, 111, 119; compare pp. 116, 192, 193. 

[848] Above, p. 115. 

[849] Above, p. 180. 

[850] Above, pp. 113, 142, 170, 233. The torches of Demeter, whichfigure so largely in her myth and on her monuments, are perhaps to beexplained by this custom. See _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 57. W. Mannhardt thought (_Baumkultus_, p. 536) that the torches in themodern European customs are imitations of lightning. At some of theirceremonies the Indians of North-West America imitate lightning by meansof pitch-wood torches which are flashed through the roof of the house. See J. G. Swan, quoted by Franz Boas, "The Social Organization and theSecret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, " _Report of the United StatesNational Museum for 1895_ (Washington, 1897), p. 639. 

[851] Above, p. 203. 

[852] Amélie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Parisand Rouen, 1845), pp. 295 _sq. _; Jules Lecoeur, _Esquisses du BocageNormand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 126-129. See _TheScapegoat_, pp. 316 _sq. _

[853] Br. Jelínek, "Materialen zur Vorgeschichte mid VolkskundeBöhmens, " _Mittheilungen der anthropolog. Gesellschaft in Wien_ xxi. (1891) p. 13 note. 

[854] Mrs. Bishop, _Korea and her Neighbours_ (London, 1898), ii. 56_sq. _

[855] Above, pp. 190 _sq. _

[856] Above, pp. 178, 205, 206. 

[857] See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 311 _sqq. _

[858] Above, pp. 108, 109, 116, 118 _sq. _, 121, 148, 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 170, 171, 174, 175, 176, 180, 183, 185, 188, 232 _sq. _, 245, 252, 253, 280, 292, 293, 295, 297. For more evidence of the use of fire toburn or expel witches on certain days of the year, see _The Scapegoat_pp. 158 _sqq. _ Less often the fires are thought to burn or repel evilspirits and vampyres. See above, pp. 146, 170, 172, 202, 252, 282, 285. Sometimes the purpose of the fires is to drive away dragons (above, pp. 161, 195). 

[859] Above, pp. 107, 116, 118 _sq. _, 159. 

[860] "In short, of all the ills incident to the life of man, none areso formidable as witchcraft, before the combined influence of which, touse the language of an honest man who had himself severely suffered fromits effects, the great laird of Grant himself could not stand them ifthey should fairly yoke upon him" (W. Grant Stewart, _The PopularSuperstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 202 _sq. _). "Every misfortune and calamity thattook place in the parish, such as ill-health, the death of friends, theloss of stock, and the failure of crops; yea to such a length did theycarry their superstition, that even the inclemency of the seasons, wereattributed to the influence of certain old women who were supposed to bein league, and had dealings with the Devil. These the common peoplethought had the power and too often the inclination to injure theirproperty, and torment their persons" (_County Folklore_, vol. V. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock, London, 1908, p. 76). "The county of Salop is no exception to the rule ofsuperstition. The late vicar of a parish on the Clee Hills, startled tofind that his parishioners still believed in witchcraft, once proposedto preach a sermon against it, but he was dissuaded from doing so by theparish schoolmaster, who assured him that the belief was so deeplyrooted in the people's minds that he would be more likely to alienatethem from the Church than to weaken their faith in witchcraft" (MissC. F. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, London, 1883, p. 145). "Wherever a man or any living creature falls sick, or amisfortune of any kind happens, without any natural cause beingdiscoverable or rather lying on the surface, there in all probabilitywitchcraft is at work. The sudden stiffness in the small of the back, which few people can account for at the time, is therefore called a'witch-shot' and is really ascribed to witchcraft" (L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, Oldenburg, 1867, i. P. 298, § 209). What Sir Walter Scott said less than a hundred years agois probably still true: "The remains of the superstition sometimesoccur; there can be no doubt that the vulgar are still addicted to thecustom of scoring above the breath (as it is termed), and othercounter-spells, evincing that the belief in witchcraft is only asleep, and might in remote corners be again awakened to deeds of blood"(_Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft_, London, 1884, p. 272). CompareL. Strackerjan, _op. Cit. _ i. P. 340, § 221: "The great power, themalicious wickedness of the witches, cause them to be feared and hatedby everybody. The hatred goes so far that still at the present day youmay hear it said right out that it is a pity burning has gone out offashion, for the evil crew deserve nothing else. Perhaps the hatredmight find vent yet more openly, if the fear were not so great. "

[861] For some evidence, see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_;ii. 52-55, 330 _sqq. _ It is a popular belief, universally diffused inGermany, that cattle-plagues are caused by witches (A. Wuttke, _Derdeutsche Volksaberglaube_, *[2] Berlin, 1869, p. 149 § 216). The ScotchHighlanders thought that a witch could destroy the whole of a farmer'slive stock by hiding a small bag, stuffed with charms, in a cleft of thestable or byre (W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular superstitions and FestiveAmusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 201_sq. _). 

[862] _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 330 _sqq. _

[863] Above, pp. 282, 284 _sq. _

[864] Above, pp. 118, 121, 144, 145, 176. 

[865] Above, pp. 121, 122, 124, 140 _sq. _, 145, 146, 174, 176, 183, 184, 187, 188, 190, 191, 192, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 258. 

[866] J. Grimm, _Deutsch Mythologie_, *[4] ii. 908 _sqq. _; J. V. Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_ (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 32 § 182; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2](Berlin, 1869), pp. 149 _sq. _, §216; J. Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore ofWest and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 230; Alois John, _Sitte, Branch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 202. 

[867] Above, pp. 108, 121, 140, 146, 165, 183, 188, 196, 250, 255, 256, 258. 

[868] Above, pp. 107, 195 _sq. _

[869] Above, pp. 162, 163, 166, 171, 174. 

[870] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 351, § 395. 

[871] Above, pp. 165, 168, 189, compare 190. 

[872] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 351, § 395; L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem HerzogthumOldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. P. 298, § 209. See above, p. 343 note. 

[873] In the Ammerland, a district of Oldenburg, you may sometimes seean old cart-wheel fixed over the principal door or on the gable of ahouse; it serves as a charm against witchcraft and is especiallyintended to protect the cattle as they are driven out and in. See L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_(Oldenburg, 1867), i. P. 357, § 236. Can this use of a wheel as atalisman against witchcraft be derived from the practice of rollingfiery wheels down hill for a similar purpose?

[874] F. S. Krauss, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Südslaven_(Münster i. W. , 1890), pp. 118 _sq. _

[875] In German such spells are called _Nestelknüpfen_; in French, _nouer l'aiguilette_. See J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, *[4] ii. 897, 983; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_*[2] (Berlin, 1869), p. 252 § 396; K. Doutté, _Magic et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord_(Algiers, 1908), pp. 87 _sq. _, 294 _sqq. _; J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Moeursd'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 171 _sq. _