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Folk  -  Lore 


A    QUARTERLY  REVIEW 


OF 


MYTH,  TRADITION,  INSTITUTION,  &  CUSTOM. 


[Licorporating  The  Arch^ological  Review  a?2d 
The  Folk-Lore  Journal.] 


VOL.   IV.— 1893. 


LONDON : 
DAVID    NUTT,    270,    STRAND. 

1893 


LONDON : 
CHAS.    J.    CLARK,    4,    LINCOLN'S    INN    FIELDS,  W.C. 


V.4- 


CONTENTS. 


I.— (March  1893.) 

PAGE 

Annual  Address  by  the  President                  -                 -                 -  i 

Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns,  V.     Hon.  J.  Abercromby                -  27 

May-Day  in  Cheltenham.     W.  H.  D.  RousE.     {Illustrated)     -  50 

Sacred  Wells  in  Wales.     Prof.  J.  Rhys       -                 -                 -  55 
Report  on  Folk-tale  Research,  1892.     E.  Sidney  Hartland, 

F.S.A.      -                -                -                -                -                -  80 

II.— (June  1893.) 

Cinderella  and  Britain.     Alfred  Nutt     -                 -                 -  133 

The  Fal,se  Bride.     Miss  G.  M.  Godden    -                -                -  142 

-lEnglish'Folk-Drama,  II.     T.  Fairman  Ordish      -                 -  149 
Folk-lore     Gleanings    from    County    Leitrim.       Leland     L. 

Duncan                -              -              -              -              -  176 

Balochi  Tales.     M.  Longworth  Dames                  -               -  i95 
Qbeah  Worship  in  East  and  Wes    Indies,     May  Robinson 

■^^    and  M.  J.  Walhouse.     {Illustru  -d)    -                -                -  207 

The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore.     W.  A.  Craigie       -                 -  219 

The  Folk.    Joseph  Jacobs         -               -               -               -  233 

III.— (September  1893.) 

Cinderella  in  Britain.    Joseph  Jacobs      -               -               -  269 

Balochi  Tales,  III.    M.  Longworth  Dames           -               -  285 

The  Cow-Mass.    Edward  Peacock,  F.S.A.           -               -  303 

First-footing  in  Edinburgh.     G.  Hastie     -                 -                 -  309 

First-footing  in  Aberdeenshire.     James  E.  Crombie                -  315 
The  Glass   Mountain.     A  Note  on    Folk-lore  Gleanings  from 

County  Leitrim.     Mabel  Peacock    -               -               -  322 
Szekely  Tales,  I.     Transla.ted  by  Miss  P.  Gaye         -                 -  328 
The  Chicago  Folk-lore  Congress  of  1893.     Hon.  John  Aber- 
cromby  ------  345 

A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore.     Professor  A.  C.  Haddon               -  349 
Celtic   Myth  and  Saga.     Report  of  Research  during  the  years 

1892  and  1893.    Alfred  Nutt           -               -               -  3^5 

IV.— (December  1893.) 

Cinderella  and  the  Diffusion  of  Tales.     Andrew  Lang,  M.A.  413 
Some  Recent  Utterances  of  Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs.     A 

Criticism.     ALFRED  NUTT   -                 -                 -                 -  434 

Pin-Wells  and  Rag-Bushes.     E.  Sidney  Hartland,  F.S.A.  451 
The   Edinburgh    Dinnshenchas.      Edited   and   translated    by 

Whitley  Stokes,  LL.D.     -               -               -               -  47i 


iv  Contents. 

The  Sanctuary  of  Mourie.     Miss  G.  M.  Godden.     {With  two 

Illustrations)  .....  498 

Melanesian  Folk-tales.     R.  H.  CODRINGTON  -  -  509 

Folk-lore  in  Wills.     Leland  L.  Duncan  -  -  513 

Balochi  Tales,  IV.     M.  Longworth  Dames  -  -  518 


Notes  AND  News       -  -  -  110,251,394,529 

Reviews  : 

Comparetti's  Kalevala.     Hon.  J.  Abercromby       -                 -  102 

Troitzky's  Vestiges  de  Paganisme.  Professor  A.  C.  Haddon  105 
General  Pitt-Rivers'  Excavations  in  Bokerly  and  Wansdyke. 

E.  Sidney  Hartland,  F.S.A.             -               -               -  239 

Frederic  Sander,  La  Mythologie  dii  Nord.    Y.  YORK  Powell  388 

Correspondence  : 

Mr.    Hartland's    "  Sin-Eater",    and    Primitive   Sacraments. 

E.  Sidney  Hartland  .  .  .  .  106 
Mouse-Nibbling.  W.  H.  D.  RouSE  -  -  -  106 
"  Bogles"  and  "  Ghosts".  Mrs.  Balfour  -  -  107 
Chained  Images.  Miss  G.  M.  Godden  -  -  108 
Chained  Images.  Major  R.  C.  Temple  -  -  249 
Red-haired  Men.  W.  H.  D.  Rouse  -  -  -  249 
Lenten  Custom  in  the  South  of  Italy.  LuCY  E.  Broad- 
wood  -.-..-  390 
Key  Magic.  W.  B.  Gerish  .  .  -  -  391 
"  The  Sin-Eater."    Gertrude  Hope    -               -               -  392 

Miscellanea  : 

Notes  on  Welsh  Folk-lore.  Mrs.  FRANCES  HOGGAN,  M.D.  122 
Wedding  Dance-Mask  from  Co.  Mayo.  Prof.  A.  C.  Haddon  123 
Drinking  the  Moon.  W.  A.  Clouston  -  -  124 
Sorcery:  Melting  Wax  Images  of  Intended  Victims.  Smell- 
ing the  Head  in  token  of  Affection.  W.  A.  Clouston  -  256 
Naxian  Superstitions.  W.  R.  Paton  -  -  -  257 
Tokens  of  Death.  W.  H.  D.  RouSE  -  -  -  258 
How  to  locate  a  Drowned  Body.  W.  B.  Gerish  -  -  258 
The  Overflowing  of  Magic  Wells.  Margaret  Stuart  -  259 
Immuring  Alive.  M.  J.  Walhouse  -  -  -  259 
Folk-lore    Items    from   North   Indiaji   Notes   a7id  Queries. 

W.  H.  D.  Rouse    ...  -  396,  534 

The  Sin-Eater.  Mrs.  H.  G.  M.  Murray-Aynsley  -  396 
John  Aller.  T.  W.  E.  Higgens  -  -  -396 
The  Flitting  Gnomes  ;  The  Monaciello  of  Naples  ;  Dwarfs  in 

the  East  ;  Dwarfs  in  the  West.      M.  L.  C.  (M.  J.  Walhouse)  400 

May-Day  at  Watford,  Herts.     Percy  Manning  -                -  403 

Smelling  in  Token  of  Affection.  W.  B.  Hope  -  -  537 
Folk-lore  Bibliography               -                 -                 125,  263,  405,  538 

Folk-lore  Society.     Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Council. — 

Proceedings  at  Evening  Meetings         -  -       112,  253,  532 

Index               ...,.-  543 


jfolk*Xorc. 


Vol    IV.]  MARCH,  1893.  [No.  I. 


ANNUAL    ADDRESS   BY    THE 
PRESIDENT. 


LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN,— I  have  the  honour 
to  address  you  a  second  time  from  this  chair — an 
honour  I  feel  all  the  more  keenly  because  I  really  did 
not  anticipate  being  asked  to  keep  better  men  out  of  it 
any  longer,  and  because  there  is  so  much  evidence  that 
the  Society  is  taking  year  by  year  a  more  prominent  place 
among  learned  bodies. 

My  duty  is  to  survey  our  last  year's  work,  and  that  is 
as  difficult  as  it  is  pleasing.  By  this  I  mean  to  say  that 
so  much  good  work  has  been  accomplished,  that  it  is 
really  no  easy  task  to  summarise  it  satisfactorily,  partly  on 
account  of  its  magnitude,  partly  on  account  of  its  excel- 
lence. The  papers  of  the  session  and  the  publications  are 
duly  set  forth  in  the  annual  report,  though,  personally, 
I  demur  to  the  classification  there  adopted,  which  appears 
to  relegate  to  a  minor  order  of  importance  papers  which 
are  short  as  distinguished  from  those  that  are  long. 

Most  of  the  papers  have  been  published  in  the  Society's 
official  organ,  FOLK-LORE,  while  some  have  found  a  home 
elsewhere.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  more  attention  has 
been  paid  this  year  to  custom  and  belief  than  has  hitherto 
been  the  case ;  and,  as  this  has  been  my  own  especial 
department  of  inquiry,  I  cannot  help  expressing  my  pleasure 
at  it — a  pleasure,  however,  damped  to  a  considerable  degree 

VOL.  IV.  B 


2  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

by  the  fact  that  for  the  second  year  we  have  missed  one  of 
those  brilHant  studies  we  were  accustomed  to  look  for  from 
our  Treasurer,  Mr,  Edward  Clodd,  and  for  the  first  time, 
I  think,  we  have  not  been  favoured  by  Mr.  Alfred  Nutt. 
We  have  not  adopted  the  practice  of  taking  down  our 
discussions,  or  allowing  speakers  to  transcribe  for  us  after- 
wards the  observations  they  made  upon  the  papers  ;  and 
I  think  this  is  a  matter  that  we  might  very  well  improve 
upon,  because  I  bear  in  mind  one  or  two  occasions  where 
facts  were  mentioned  by  members  or  their  friends  which 
were  of  some  moment.  A  new  feature  of  the  past  year 
has  been  the  exhibition  of  folk-lore  objects  at  our  meet- 
ings, and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  a  highly 
desirable  part  of  our  proceedings,  to  which  we  might 
perhaps  pay  somewhat  more  attention.  Furthermore,  the 
claims  we  have  upon  amateur  photographers  have  been 
clearly  put  forward  by  Mr.  Ordish,  and  most  significantly 
illustrated  by  Professor  Haddon,  whose  marriage-masks 
from  County  Mayo  are  about  the  most  curious  things  we 
have  yet  had  brought  to  our  notice.  There  arc  numbers 
of  other  things  to  photograph,  and  I  hope  during  the 
coming  year  we  may  be  able  to  form  an  album  of  photo- 
graphs which  might  be  placed  upon  the  table  at  each  of 
our  meetings.  We  are  not  in  the  habit  of  proposing  votes 
of  thanks  to  the  readers  of  papers  at  our  meetings  ;  indeed, 
our  expressions  of  thankfulness  are  singularly  few,  and  in 
this  respect  we  depart  from  the  custom  of  our  compeers. 
I  suppose  it  is  that  our  subject  is  sufficient  return  for 
labour,  and  because,  when  Mr.  Hartland  gives  us  a  brilliant 
study,  when  Mr.  Billson  comes  forward  for  the  first  time 
to  show  that  the  cause  is  extending,  when  Professor  Rhys 
gives  us  what  he  is  pleased  to  call  "  Stray  Notes",  we 
get  exactly  what  we  are  accustomed  to  expect  from  these 
scholars,  and  our  thanks  die  away  with  the  fascination  of 
the  subject.  None  the  less,  however,  we  are  indebted  to 
those  members  who  give  us  the  result  of  their  labours,  and 
personally   I    am   greatly  obliged  that  they  should  have 


Annual  Address  by  the  President.  3 

signalised  my  term  of  office  by  such  sound  contributions 
to  our  science. 

If  I  attempt  to  sum  up  in  one  sentence  what,  so  far  as 
I  have  been  able  to  interpret  it,  is  the  chief  lesson  to  be 
drawn  from  the  past  year's  work  of  our  Society,  and  of 
folk-lore  studies  generally,  I  should  unhesitatingly  affirm  it 
to  be  the  need  for  formulating  the  principles  of  the  science 
of  Folk-lore,  Once  more  there  is  a  move  forward,  and 
our  Society,  in  this  case  as  in  previous  departures  in  the 
methods  of  studying  folk-lore,  takes  the  lead. 

I  want  to  lay  a  little  stress  upon  this,  because  it  really  is 
so  important  for  our  future  progress.  I  will  accordingly 
very  briefly  note  what  strikes  me  as  the  principles  of  folk- 
lore which  have  been  discussed  during  the  past  year.  It 
may  be,  of  course,  that  some  of  our  decisions  will  have 
to  be  surrendered  as  our  science  develops,  nay,  that  all  of 
them  will  have  to  be  surrendered.  But  of  one  thing  I  am 
quite  certain  :  no  true  progress  can  be  made  unless  these 
principles  are  set  forth  and  discussed,  and  if  they  serve 
simply  as  the  stepping-stones  to  the  discovery  of  a  Grimm's 
Law  in  folk-lore,  as  last  year  I  ventured  to  call  it,  I  for  one 
shall  be  very  glad  to  surrender  them  to  that  use,  and  to 
be  proud  if  I  should  happen  to  have  provided  one  of  such 
stepping-stones. 

The  first  principle,  then,  which  appears  to  me  to  have 
been  established  is  that  folk-lore  must  be  studied  item  by 
item  in  its  own  home,  before  it  can  properly  be  applied  to 
other  uses  demanded  by  the  comparative  method  of  scien- 
tific inquiry.  This  principle  has  been  asserted  practically, 
if  not  in  terms,  by  three  different  authorities,  and  quite 
independently  of  each  other — by  Mr.  Abercromby  in  his 
paper  on  "Finnish  Origins",  read  at  one  of  our  meetings  ;  by 
Mr.  Karl  Krohn  in  a  valuable  paper  on  the  "  Geographical 
Distribution  of  Esthonian  Songs",  and  by  myself  in  my 
"  Ethnology  in  Folk-lore".  Each  item  of  folk-lore  has  a 
biography  which  must  be  written.  It  may  happen,  if  we 
are  ignorant  of  this  biography,  that  we  get  hold  of  a  parti- 

V,  2 


4  Animal  Address  by  the  President. 

cular  item,  and  in  the  single  form  in  which  it  has  come  to 
hand,  we  proceed  to  use  it  in  comparison  with  some  foreign 
parallel  or  with  some  savage  parallel.  But  that  comparison 
must  be  imperfect  unless  we  know  that  the  example  is  in 
fact  the  most  perfect  survival  of  the  original  that  is  to  be 
found.  Its  relationship  to  other  examples  of  the  same 
species  must  be  carefully  traced  out,  and  the  particular 
evidence  which  that  relationship  brings  out  must  be  taken 
into  account.  The  work  here  indicated  is  a  laborious  one 
and  a  lengthy  one,  but,  being  necessary  and  being  scientific, 
it  is  a  work  which  I  would  urge  the  Society  in  every  way 
to  encourage,  if  not  to  actually  commence  undertaking  it 
for  our  own  country. 

The  second  principle,  which  I  think  flows  from  the  first, 
is  what  I  would  call  the  measurement  of  the  survival.  To 
some  extent  I  indicated  this  also  in  my  little  book  already 
referred  to ;  but  it  is  to  Mr.  Abercromby  that  we  owe  a 
clear  pronouncement  on  the  subject.  "  Though  the  word 
survival",  says  Mr.  Abercromby,  "strictly  connotes  the 
notion  of  uninterrupted  continuity  between  its  extreme 
terms  it  does  not  involve  any  exact  notion  of  length.  Sur- 
vivals may  therefore  be  of  different  lengths  or  ages.  If  a 
line  A  z  be  taken  to  represent  the  earliest  possible  survival 
down  to  the  present  time,  then  F  z,  s  z,  V  z  will  represent 
shorter  ones,  the  alphabetical  distance  of  F  S  v  and  Z 
showing  their  relative  distances  from  that  point."  These 
are  weighty  words,  and  they  formulate  a  principle  which, 
though  existing  in  many  of  our  minds,  has  not  yet  been 
actually  set  forth  and  expressed.  I  would,  however, 
venture  to  make  an  amendment  upon  Mr.  Abercromby 's 
plan.  I  would  use  figures  up  to  a  hundred,  instead  of 
the  alphabet ;  and  then  our  measurer  would  assume  some- 
what the  form  of  a  barometer,  the  several  stages  being 
marked  according  to  the  circumstances  of  each  country. 
So  that  Mr.  Abercromby's  suggestion  may  not  fall  idly  by, 
I  have  ventured  to  construct,  for  the  purpose  of  criticism, 
what  we  might  call  the  British  measurement  of  the  survival, 


Animal  Address  by  the  President.  5 

and  I  hope  our  Council  will  take  it  up  and  see  if,  by  our 
united  wisdom,  we  cannot  definitely  fix  upon  the  range 
and  terms  to  be  used.  It  would  present  to  the  folk-lore 
student  a  guide  something  like  the  anthropometrical 
standards  have  supplied  to  craniological  students,  and 
other  countries  may  follow  our  example  and  construct  for 
themselves  their  own  measurer  of  survivals. 

It  is  a  magnificent  contemplation  that  we  may  begin 
to  measure  our  items  of  folk-lore ;  to  trace  some  up  to 
the  mediaeval  monastery  or  manorial  lord,  others  to  the 
paganism  of  Scandinavians,  or  Teutons,  others  to  the 
paganism  of  the  Celts,  others  to  a  savagery  which  falls 
into  no  historical  chronology  at  present.  And  then  to 
examine  the  residue  and  endeavour  to  work  out  by  analogy 
and  comparison  their  place  in  the  system.  There  would  be 
such  a  clearance  of  the  unclassified  items  of  folk-lore  that 
we  could  hope  to  see  some  way  out  of  the  immense  diffi- 
culties all  must  feel  in  the  present  chaos  of  materials,  and 
we  could  begin  to  sum  up  the  worthless  items. 

Now,  at  present,  it  is  an  extremely  dangerous  proceeding 
to  suggest  that  folk-lore  possesses  any  worthless  items. 
At  all  events  I  am  not  prepared  to  give  a  catalogue  of 
them  ;  and  I  have  rescued  several  apparently  worthless 
fragments  from  oblivion,  though  it  was  impossible  to 
say  what  their  value  is.  For  instance,  my  friend  Mr. 
Rackham  Mann,  of  Shropham  in  Norfolk,  not  long  since 
told  me  that  the  farming  peasantry  of  his  neighbourhood 
always  throw  the  afterbirth  of  sheep  into  the  trees  ;  and 
during  lambing  time  the  trees  are  to  be  seen  everj-'where 
bedecked  with  these  not  particularly  pleasing  trophies. 
Now  is  this  custom  worthless  or  not  as  an  item  of  folk-lore? 
First;  then,  we  note  that  it  is  commonly  believed  if  the 
performance  were  not  gone  through  ill-luck  would  attend 
the  flock.  Secondly,  by  searching  for  other  examples  of  the 
group  to  which  it  belongs,  we  come  upon  the  most  perfect 
form  in  the  series  of  gradations  which  it  presents,  namely, 
the  Sussex  practice,  noted  by  Mr.  Baring  Gould,  of  hanging 


6  Annual  Address  by  tJic  President. 

up  dead  horses  or  calves  by  the  four  legs  to  the  horizontal 
branch  of  a  tree.  It  is  a  sufficiently  ghastly  sight ;  and  one 
spring  Mr.  Baring  Gould  saw  two  horses  and  three  calves 
hanging  on  a  magnificent  elm  in  Westmeston,  just  under 
the  Ditchling  beacon.  Here,  too,  the  reason  for  the  custom 
is  that  it  was  thought  lucky  for  the  cattle.  What,  then,  is 
the  measurement  of  this  survival?  We  have  it  on  the 
authority  of  Tacitus  that  the  ancient  Germanic  tribes  hung 
the  heads  of  horses  upon  trees  as  offerings  to  Odin  ;  and 
after  the  overthrow  of  Varus,  in  a.d.  15,  the  scene  was 
enlivened  by  examples  of  this  practice.  This  is  the  pagan 
parallel  to  the  survival.  The  clear  connection  between 
the  form  of  sacrifice,  namely,  the  offering  on  the  tree, 
in  both  the  ancient  and  modern  practice,  obviates  the 
necessity  for  seeking  further  ;  and  we  are  justified  in 
concluding  that  the  peasantry  of  Norfolk,  Sussex,  and 
other  parts  of  England  have  kept  for  at  least  ten  centuries 
the  practices  which  their  forefathers  religiously  held  to  be 
necessary  to  their  soul's  salvation. 

Will  anyone  say  that  we  have  not  measured  this  survival 
correctly?  I  think  not,  and,  when  one  considers  the 
enormous  number  of  survivals  that  need  to  undergo  this 
process,  the  sooner  we  put  the  measuring  instrument  to 
use  the  better.  We  get  no  nearer  the  truth  by  simply 
calling  such  customs  "  survivals" — survivals  of  what,  is  the 
real  question ;  and  when  this  has  been  answered  with 
reference  to  the  bulk  of  our  folk-lore,  then  we  may  begin 
to  discuss  the  question  of  origins. 

The  next  principle  is  that  folk-lore  cannot  by  any  possi- 
bility develop.  The  doctrine  of  evolution  is  so  strong  upon 
us  that  we  are  apt  to  apply  its  leading  idea  insensibly  to 
almost  every  branch  of  human  history.  But  folk-lore,  being 
what  it  is,  namely,  the  survival  of  traditional  ideas  or  prac- 
tices among  a  people  whose  principal  members  have  passed 
beyond  the  stage  of  civilisation  which  those  ideas  and  prac- 
tices once  represented,  it  is  impossible  for  it  to  have  any 
development.    When  the  original  ideas  and  practices  which 


Annual  Address  by  the  President.  7 

it  represents  were  current  as  the  standard  form  of  culture, 
their  future  history  was  then  to  be  looked  for  along  the 
lines  of  development.  But  so  soon  as  they  dropped  back 
behind  the  standard  of  culture,  whatever  the  cause  and 
whenever  the  event  happened,  then  their  future  history 
could  only  be  traced  along  the  lines  of  decay  and  disin- 
tegration. We  are  acquainted  with  some  of  the  laws 
which  mark  the  development  of  primitive  culture,  but  we 
know  nothing  of  the  influences  which  mark  the  existence 
of  survivals  in  culture.  For  this  purpose  we  must  be  care- 
ful to  ascertain  what  are  the  component  parts  of  each 
myth,  custom,  or  superstition.  These  will  be  found  to 
consist  of  three  distinct  elements,  which  I  would  distin- 
guish by  the  following  names  : — 

(i)  The  formula. 

(2)  The  purpose. 

(3)  The  penalty  or  result. 

I  am  going  for  a  moment  to  be  a  little  technical,  but  it 
is  necessary.  This  dissecting  analysis  of  folk-lore  is  very 
important  for  the  right  interpretation  of  the  meaning  to  be 
given  to  the  item  undergoing  analysis  ;  for  these  three 
component  parts  are  not  equally  tenacious  of  their  original 
form  in  all  examples.  In  one  example  wc  may  find  the 
formula  either  actually  or  symbolically  perfect,  while  the 
purpose  and  the  penalty  may  not  exist.  In  another 
example  the  formula  may  be  less  perfect,  while  the  pur- 
pose and  penalty  may  be  distinguishable  easily.  Or  it 
may  happen  that  the  formula  remains  fairly  perfect ;  the 
purpose  may  be  set  down  to  the  desire  of  doing  what  has 
always  been  done,  and  the  penalty  may  be  given  as  luck 
or  ill-luck.  Of  course,  further  variations  are  possible,  but 
these  are  usually  the  more  general  forms. 

I  will  give  an  example  or  two  of  these  phases  of  change 
or  degradation  in  folk-lore.  First,  then,  where  the  formula 
is  complete,  or  nearly  so,  and  the  purpose  and  penalty  have 
both  disappeared.     At  Carrickfergus  it  was  formerly  the 


8  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

custom  for  mothers,  when  givhig  then'  child  the  breast  for 
the  last  time,  to  put  an  egg  in  its  hand  and  sit  on  the 
threshold  of  the  outer  door  with  a  leg  on  each  side,  and  this 
ceremony  was  usually  done  on  a  Sunday,  Undoubtedly  I 
think  we  have  here  a  very  nearly  perfect  formula ;  but  what 
is  its  purpose,  and  what  is  the  penalty  for  non-observance  ? 
Upon  both  these  latter  points  the  example  is  silent,  and 
before  they  can  be  restored  we  must  search  among  the 
other  fragments  of  threshold  customs  and  see  whether  they 
exist  either  separately  from  the  formula  or  with  a  less 
perfect  example. 

The  second  phase  of  the  analysis,  where  the  formula  has 
disappeared  and  the  purpose  and  penalty  remain,  covers 
nearly  the  whole  range  of  those  floating  beliefs  and  super- 
stitions which  occupy  so  largely  the  collections  of  folk-lore. 
But  I  will  select  one  example  which  will  be  to  the  point. 
When  the  Manx  cottager  looks  for  the  traces  of  a  foot  in 
the  ashes  of  his  firegrate  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  in  what 
direction  the  toes  point,  the  penalty  being  that,  if  they 
point  to  the  door,  a  death  will  occur,  if  to  the  fireplace,  a 
birth,  there  is  no  trace  of  the  ancient  formula.  It  is  true 
we  may  find  the  missing  formula  in  other  lands,  for  in- 
stance, among  some  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  Bombay.  There 
the  formula  is  elaborate  and  complete,  while  the  piirpose 
and  'C^Q penalty  are  exactly  the  same  as  in  the  Isle  of  Man. 
But  this  hasty  travelling  to  other  lands  is  not,  I  contend, 
legitimate  in  the  first  place.  We  must  begin  by  seeing 
whether  there  is  not  some  other  item  of  folk-lore,  perhaps 
not  now  even  connected  with  the  house-fire  group  of 
customs  and  superstitions,  whose  true  place  is  that  of  the 
lost  formula  of  this  interesting  Manx  custom.  And  when 
once  we  have  taught  ourselves  the  way  to  restore  these 
lost  formulae  to  their  rightful  places,  I  put  it  to  you 
whether  the  explanation  of  the  mere  waifs  and  strays  of 
folk-lore  will  not  be  attended  with  some  approach  to 
scientific  accuracy,  and  whether  we  shall  not  then  be  in  a 
position  to  get  rid  of  that  shibboleth  so  dear  to  the  non- 


Annual  Address  by  the  President.  9 

folklore  critic,  that  all  these  things  we  deal  with  are  "  mere 
superstitions". 

Thirdly,  when  the  formula  is  complete,  or  nearly  so,  and 
the  purpose  and  penalty  become  generalised.  At  St. 
Edmundsbury  a  white  bull,  which  enjoyed  full  ease  and 
plenty  in  the  fields,  and  was  never  yoked  to  the  plough  or 
employed  in  any  service,  was  led  in  procession  through 
the  chief  streets  of  the  town  to  the  principal  gate  of  the 
monastery,  attended  by  all  the  monks  singing  and  a 
shouting  crowd.  Knowing  what  Grimm  has  collected 
concerning  the  worship  of  the  white  bull,  knowing  what 
is  performed  in  India  to  this  day,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
this  formula  of  the  white  bull  at  St.  Edmundsbury  has 
been  preserved  in  very  good  condition.  The  purpose  of 
it  was,  however,  not  so  satisfactory.  It  is  said  to  have 
taken  place  whenever  a  married  woman  wished  to  have  a 
child  ;  and  the  penalty  is  lost  in  the  obvious  generalisation 
that  not  to  perform  the  ceremony  is  not  to  obtain  the 
desired  end. 

In  these  cases  we  have  before  us  examples  of  the 
changes  in  folk-lore,  and  demonstrably  they  are  changes 
of  decay,  not  of  development.  By  grouping  them  and 
arranging  them  it  may  be  possible  to  ascertain  and  set 
down  the  laws  of  change — for  that  there  are  laws  I  am 
nearly  certain,  just  as  there  are  laws  for  word-change.  It 
is  these  laws  which  must  be  discovered  before  we  can  go 
very  far  forward  in  our  studies.  Every  item  of  custom 
and  superstition  must  be  tested  by  analysis  to  find  out 
under  which  power  it  lives  on  in  survival,  and,  according 
to  the  result  in  each  case,  so  may  we  hope  to  find  out 
something  about  the  story  which  folk-lore  has  to  tell  us  of 
ancient  man. 

The  next  principle  relates  to  the  causes  of  the  continua- 
tion of  folk-lore.  And  herein  is  one  of  our  greatest  problems. 
A  custom,  belief,  or  superstition  is  continued  year  after 
year,  when  it  is  barbarous,  sometimes  indecent,  oftentimes 
disgusting  or  brutally  cruel  ;  a  legend,  or  myth,  is  related 


10  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

from  one  generation  to  another,  when  its  central  idea  is 
cannibalism,  incest,  or  impossible  theories  about  life  or  the 
soul  of  man. 

The  determination  of  this  principle  rests  upon  the 
problem  of  continuity.  There  is  and  can  be  no  proof  of 
continuity  from  a  prehistoric  savagery  to  a  survival  of 
savagery  amidst  civilisation,  and  the  theory  of  continuity 
is  therefore  the  most  open  to  attack  and  to  divergency  of 
opinions.  At  present  the  position  of  opinion  on  this  point 
may  be  summed  up  somewhat  as  follows  : — 

(i)  The  continuity  of  custom,  belief,  or  superstition  may 
be  due,  first,  to  the  continuity  of  the  people  with  whom 
originated  the  custom,  belief,  or  superstition,  such  people 
being  isolated,  and  generally  considered  as  outcasts  by 
the  more  cultured  people  ;  secondly,  to  the  generation  of 
custom,  belief,  or  superstition  of  the  same  kind  by  people  at 
the  same  level  of  mental  development,  wherever  they  may 
be  existing,  or  at  whatever  date. 

(2)  The  continuity  of  legend  or  myth  is  due,  first,  to  the 
continuity  of  the  belief  which  generates  the  legend  or  myth  ; 
secondly,  to  the  adaptation  by  a  people  of  a  myth  which 
supplied  them  with  an  explanation  of  some  phenomenon 
that  they  could  not  explain  themselves ;  thirdly,  to  the 
influence  unconsciously  exercised  by  the  art  born  of  the 
countless  tongues  who  have  told  these  legends  so  faithfully 
and  so  long ;  fourthly,  to  the  same  cause  as  that  already 
noted  under  custom,  namely,  the  generation  of  the  same 
thought  by  people  of  the  same  mental  development, 
wherever  they  may  be  existing,  or  at  whatever  date. 

I  think  I  have  stated  the  case  fairly.  It  will  be  seen  by 
examination  that  the  factors  in  both  these  classes  of  folk- 
lore— custom  and  myth — are  practically  the  same,  with  one 
exception,  namely,  the  influence  of  the  art  exercised  by  the 
fairy-tale  independently  of  its  origin. 

Now,  to  every  school  of  folk-lore  thought  this  art  must 
be  admitted  to  be  a  growth  of  civilisation,  using  that  word, 
of  course,  in   its  widest  sense.     So   I  leave  this  element 


Annual  Add^'css  by  the  President.  1 1 

alone,  and  proceed  to  examine  the  other  elements  in  con- 
nection with  this  part  of  our  subject. 

Let  us  subtract  scientific  knowledge  from  our  present 
conception  of  nature,  and  what  remains  to  us  but  the  story 
of  Adam  and  Eve  and  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  ?  These 
have  satisfied  whole  generations  of  our  forefathers,  amply- 
satisfied  them,  simply  because  there  was  nothing  to  take 
their  place,  and  because  they  were  propounded  from  the 
pulpit,  the  college  chair,  and  the  schools.  But  the  wide 
and  universal  acceptance  of  such  a  conception  of  natural 
causes  is  due  to  an  important  factor  in  the  problem  we  are 
discussing,  namely,  the  generation  of  similar  beliefs  by 
people  at  the  same  level  of  culture.  If  this  particular 
form  of  belief  had  not  been  supplied  from  foreign  sources* 
it  would  have  been  found  that  some  other  general  form  of 
belief  would  have  been  supplied  from  a  native  source  ;  for, 
in  the  words  of  Mr.  Clodd's  eloquent  apology  for  not 
including  detailed  references  to  the  successive  stages  of  the 
inquiry  into  myth,  "  the  list  of  ancient  and  modern  vagaries 
would  have  the  monotony  of  a  catalogue,  for,  however 
unlike  on  the  surface,  they  are  fundamentally  the  same.' 
Therefore,  the  acceptance  of  an  outside  myth  by  a  people 
could  never  happen  if  such  a  myth  did  not  meet  a  perfectly 
even  surface  of  mental  culture  upon  which  to  build  its 
home.  It  is  simply  the  converse  of  the  more  generally 
stated  proposition  that  like  conditions  would  generate  like 
beliefs,  and  as  such  it  helps  to  prove  the  truth  of  its 
reverse. 

There  is  one  other  aspect  of  this  branch  of  our  subject 
which  I  want  to  note,  because  it  has  been  attacked  during 
the  past  year  as  almost  an  impossibility.  Finding  that  in 
India  a  group  of  customs,  peculiarly  savage  and  at  a  low 
level  of  culture,  obtains  in  Aryan  villages,  but  at  the 
instance  and  under  the  guidance  of  non-Aryan  inhabitants, 
we  have  an  example  of  the  Aryans  accepting  this  village- 
festival  as  a  part  of  the  religious  duties  of  the  season 
borrowed  from  the  indigenes  of  the  land.     Whether  the 


1 2  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

borrowing  was  a  self-imposed  act  undertaken  in  obedience 
to  their  own  ideas  and  conceptions  of  the  necessities  of  the 
case,  or  whether  it  was  the  result  of  a  forced  acceptance  in 
order  to  conciliate  the  conquered  indigenes,  need  not  be 
discussed  at  this  stage ;  but  there  is  not  wanting  evidence 
that  the  latter  of  the  two  contingencies  may  be  accepted 
as  the  true  interpretation  of  the  events. 

I  think  we  are  now  in  touch  with  a  theory  which  has 
been  formulated  by  folk-lore  students,  and  which  is  known 
as  the  "borrowing  theory".  This  has  long  been  rejected 
by  those  who  cannot  accept  as  evidence  the  somewhat 
plausible  statements  which  have  from  time  to  time  been 
put  forward,  that  the  likeness  so  noticeable  in  the  folk-lore 
of  widely  separated  countries  is  due  to  a  conscious  borrow- 
ing from  a  common  centre.  And  in  its  place  has  been 
set  up  the  theory  that  the  savage  elements  in  folk-lore 
are  but  the  originals  from  which  the  developed  elements 
have  been  derived.  To  meet  this  view,  it  is  necessary  to 
assume  that  primitive  Aryan  conceptions  have  grown  up 
in  several  independent  places,  and  did  not  come  from  a 
common  home.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  accepting 
this  explanation  are  many,  and  so  the  existence  of  a 
primitive  Aryan  race  has  been  called  into  question.  As 
Professor  Rhys,  not  long  since,  wrote  to  me,  because  there 
are  too  many  Aryans  now  to  suit  the  researches  of  specialists, 
the  conclusion  they  would  draw  is  that  there  were  originally 
none  at  all.  But  if  the  preservation  of  rude  and  savage 
custom  side  by  side  with  higher  Aryan  thought  is  proved, 
by  the  evidence  which  has  just  been  noted,  to  have  been 
brought  about  by  the  preservation  of  the  race  with  whom 
such  custom  originated,  and  by  the  adoption  of  it  by  the 
race  who  appear  in  history  as  conquerors,  we  may  accept 
this  borrowing  theory  as  sufficient  to  account  for  many 
apparent  anomalies  in  folk-lore.  We  shall  have  to  push 
back  the  date  when  a  people  can  with  any  plausibility  be 
said  to  borrow  its  folk-lore  to  the  period  when  that  people 
first  settled  in  its  present  home  as  conquerors.     We  shall 


Annual  Address  by  the  President,  13 

have  to  be  careful  in  our  application  of  the  term  "bor- 
rowers". These  are  not  the  peasant-class  of  modern 
Europe  who  have  succeeded  to  the  uncivilisation  of  the 
indigenous  populations.  The  borrowers  are  those  races 
who  appear  as  conquerors,  and  who  adopted  and  adapted 
some  of  the  beliefs  of  the  indigenes  among  whom  they 
settled.  It  is  a  fact,  says  Dalton,  that  while  the  mass  of 
the  Kols  have  not  taken  to  the  worship  of  any  Hindoo 
idols,  the  Hindoos  settled  in  the  province  think  it  expedient 
to  propitiate  the  gods  of  the  Kols.  When  the  Gaulish 
cohort  erected  an  altar  on  the  limits  of  Caledonia,  dedicated 
to  the  field-deities  and  deities  of  Britain,  he  was  borrowing 
from  the  beliefs  of  the  Britons — the  incomer  borrowing  from 
the  indigenous  dweller — and  this  was  a  practice  sanctioned 
by  the  religious  principles  of  Greece  and  Rome.  In  point 
of  fact,  borrowing  in  folk-lore  is  an  ethnic  process,  not  an 
historical  one,  and  it  most  be  studied  from  that  point  of 
view. 

If  this  helps  to  explain  the  borrowing  theory — and  except 
for  modern  days  I  think  it  does — we  may  turn  for  one 
moment  to  the  casualistic  theory,  as  Mr.  Jacobs  in  his  scorn 
has  called  it.  It  is  important  to  bear  this  in  mind,  because 
its  leading  facts  and  influences  are  being  so  constantly  over- 
looked, or  narrowed  down  into  an  impossibly  small  compass 
when  dealing  with  survivals  with  reference  to  their  origin. 
There  is  no  excuse  for  such  forgetfulness  when  the  most 
important  of  all  the  evidence  has  been  so  clearly  set  forth 
from  the  ascertained  facts  of  gesture-language  by  "  a  man 
called  Tylor",  as  Rudyard  Kipling  might  put  it  into  the 
mouth  of  a  folk-lorist  who  is  perpetually  forgetting  his 
masters  in  the  science.  I  allude  to  this  part  of  our  subject 
the  more  particularly,  because  in  the  discussion  which 
followed  Mr.  Stuart-Glennie's  extremely  suggestive  code  of 
queries  on  animism,  I  remember  the  subject  came  to  the 
fore. 

I  first  turn  to  custom.  Near  Inverary,  it  is  the  custom 
among  the  fisher-folk,  and  has  been  so  within  the  memory 


14  Aiimtal  Addj'ess  by  the  President. 

of  the  oldest,  to  place  little  white  stones  or  pebbles  on  the 
graves  of  their  friends.  No  reason  is  now  given  for  the 
practice,  beyond  that  most  potent  and  delightful  of  all 
reasons  in  the  minds  of  folk-lore  students,  namely,  that  it 
has  always  been  done.  Now  there  is  nothing  between  this 
modern  practice  sanctioned  by  traditional  observance  and 
the  practice  of  the  stone-age  people  in  the  same  neighbour- 
hood and  in  others,  as  made  known  to  us  by  their  grave- 
relics.  Thus,  in  a  cairn  at  Achnacrie  opened  by  Dr.  Angus 
Smith,  on  entering  the  innermost  chamber  "  the  first  thing 
that  struck  the  eye  was  a  row  of  quartz  pebbles  larger  than 
a  walnut ;  these  were  arranged  on  the  ledge  of  the  lower 
granite  block  of  the  east  side."  Near  Crinan,  at  Duncraigaig 
and  at  Rudie,  the  same  characteristic  was  observed,  and 
Canon  Greenwell,  who  examined  the  cairns,  says  the  pebbles 
"  must  have  been  placed  there  with  some  intention,  and 
probably  possessed  a  symbolic  meaning". 

If  the  modern  practice  is  a  survival  of  the  stone-age 
practice,  the  measurement  of  the  survival  is  one  of  the 
hundredth  power,  if  I  may  use  the  "  measurer"  I  have 
suggested.  But,  in  the  absence  of  information  about  the 
symbolic  meaning  of  the  white  pebble,  this  measurement 
cannot  be  accepted  with  certainty  ;  and  the  suggestion  of 
Sir  Arthur  Mitchell  that  the  two  identical  practices  might 
be  due  to  perfectly  independent  origins  generated  in  the 
human  mind  at  two  different  epochs,  is  an  important  one  in 
this  instance.  It  is  clearly  just  one  of  those  practices  which 
might  be  due  to  such  a  cause.  There  is  nothing  objection- 
able in  it,  on  the  contrary,  it  might  be  said  to  be  rather  a 
pretty  idea  than  otherwise,  and  until  we  know  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  act  in  both  cases,  we  cannot  fairly  say  that  a  true 
survival  of  the  hundredth  power  is  presented  to  us.  Until 
then  we  must,  provisionally  at  all  events,  classify  this 
modern  custom  as  an  independent  development  unin- 
fluenced by  the  stone-age  custom. 

I  now  pass  to  the  folk-tale.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
story  of  the  Judgment  of  Solomon  is  also  found  in  India, 


Annual  Address  by  the  President.  15 

and  I  exhibit  this  evening  a  curious  collection  of  Indian 

stories,  which  was  sent  me  some  years  ago  by  Captain 
Temple,  who  has,  I  believe,  never  published  them.  The 
first  of  these  stories,  at  the  place  marked,  is  the  story  of 
the  Judgment  of  Solomon.  Of  course,  it  will  be  held  by 
the  borrowing  school  that  one  story  came  from  the  other, 
India,  I  believe,  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  on  the 
question  of  the  original  home.  But  if  we  consider  the  story 
on  its  merits,  why  need  we  trouble  ourselves  about  the 
possibility  of  its  being  borrowed  ?  If  it  shows  the  wisdom  of 
the  Hebrew  king,  it  also  shows  his  savage  barbarity;  because 
it  is  certain  that  the  daioiiement  of  the  story  rests  upon  the 
assumption  that  not  only  had  he  the  power  to  kill  the  child 
by  dividing  it,  but  that  he  had  the  will  and  would  have 
exercised  it.  The  point  of  such  a  story  would  be  entirely 
lost  if  it  were  told  of  one  of  our  own  judges,  and  the  distance 
between  the  culture  of  Solomon's  time  and  people  and  that 
of  our  own  may  be  measured  by  this  simple  fact.  But  with- 
out the  pale  of  civilisation  such  savagery  as  this  is  not 
singular ;  such  a  judgment  as  this  is  not  confined  to  the 
typically  highest  wisdom,  but  extends  to  the  typically 
lowest  savage,  because  Mariner  actually  heard  a  similar 
judgment  delivered  by  the  savage  king  of  the  Tonga 
Islands  to  two  of  his  tribe  who  were  disputing  the  posses- 
sion of  a  woman  for  wife,  and  they  stopped  the  bloodshed 
which  would  actually  have  taken  place  just  as  the  mother 
of  the  child  did  in  Solomon's  judgment.  So  that,  given  the 
necessary  degree  of  savagery,  the  necessary  indifference  to 
the  shedding  of  human  blood,  the  necessary  absolute  power, 
and  such  a  judgment  would  arise  anywhere,  and  anywhen, 
and  frequently. 

Of  course,  along  with  the  casualistic  theory  must  be  con- 
sidered the  possibility  that  the  decadence  of  culture  in  any 
people  would  proceed  back  again  to  some  of  the  stages 
from  which  it  had  previously  developed.  I  advanced  this 
argument  some  few  years  back  in  an  article  in  'Oixo.  At-chcco- 
logical  Revieiv,  and  it  has  since  received  the  adhesion  of 


1 6  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

Mr.  C.  G.  Leland.  I  am  certainly  still  inclined  to  think 
that  it  is  one  of  the  problems  we  must  discuss  in  connec- 
tion with  continuity  of  custom  and  belief,  but  I  do  not 
think  it  will  be  found  to  prove  so  powerful  a  cause  of  con- 
tinuity as  the  continuity  of  older  races  commingled  with 
the  higher. 

In  any  case,  it  is  clear  that  the  continuity  which  is  im- 
plied by  the  traditional    survival    of  custom,  belief,    and 
myth,  whether   through    the    medium   of  the   borrowing 
theory   just   propounded,    or   through    continuity   of  the 
people  who  first  brought  the  custom,  belief,  and  myth  into 
the  country  where  they  now  are  found,  is  an  antagonistic 
hypothesis  to   spontaneous    generation.       Is    it   that   my 
examples  of  this  latter,  and  Mr.  Lang's  examples  grouped 
so  ably  in  his  preface  to  Grimm's  stories,  are  limited  in 
their  nature  and  scope  by  mere  accident,  or  is  it  that  they 
are  not  fairly  represented?     If  they  are  fairly  represented, 
then  the  theory  which  they  illustrate  cannot  account  for 
one  tithe   of  the  survivals  of  ancient  and  purely  savage 
thought  in  folk-lore.     Pretty  or  innocent  ideas  associated 
with  superstition  and  custom  might  be  allowed  to  have 
originated  with  people  living  under  a  civilised  culture  ;  but 
nasty  and  disgusting  customs  cannot  be  so  allowed,  except 
after  the  most  exceptional  proofs,  and  we  must  fall  back  upon 
the  hypothesis  of  continuity  from  the  times  when  savage 
thought  was  represented  by  savage  culture  and  savage  people. 
I  put  this  case  strongly,  because  it  seems  to  be  so  strangely 
objected  to  by  folk-lore  students.    Thus  Mr.  Jevons,  in  his 
beautiful  edition  of  Plutarch's  Roman  Questions,  puts  the 
question  point  blank.    "  Mr.  Gomme",  he  says,  "  argues  that 
the  fear  of  dead  kindred  was  borrowed  by  the  Aryans  from 
the  non-Aryan  inhabitants  of  Europe.     But  why  may  not 
the  pro-ethnic  Aryans,  as  well  as  the  savages,  have  had  at 
one  stage  of  their  development  a  fear  of  dead  kindred  ?" — 
a  question  arising  simply  from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Jevons 
cannot  bring  himself  to  believe  that  the  ancient  Aryans 
ever  borrowed  any  of  the  savage  practices  of  the  peoples 


Aniiual  Address  by  the  President.  17 

they  conquered.  But,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  have  never 
suggested  that  the  Aryans  have  been  wholesale  borrowers 
of  all  the  nasty  and  unpleasant  customs  and  beliefs  which 
are  now  found  to  survive  amongst  the  nations  who  speak 
an  Aryan  language.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  raised  the 
previous  question — were  not  the  ancient  Aryan-speaking 
people  settled  down  in  the  midst  of,  and  over-lording,  a 
non-Aryan  aboriginal  people  ?  and  is  not  the  fear  of  dead 
kindred,  as  a  cult  with  force  enough  at  its  back  to  be  kept 
alive  for  centuries,  more  likely  to  have  been  derived  from 
such  aborigines  than  to  have  been  derived  from  the  sweep- 
ings of  the  Aryan  mind  ?  I  confess  the  problem  as  put  to 
me  by  Mr.  Jevons  and  Mr.  Lang  seems  singularly  unfair 
to  the  Greeks,  and  I  am  on  the  side  of  the  Greeks. 

Once  more  I  must  confess  to  feelings  of  jealousy  that 
folk-lore  is  not  allowed  to  stand  on  its  own  footing.  Mr. 
Jevons,  in  his  brilliant  study  of  Italian  animism,  stops  just 
short  of  his  true  argument.  On  philological  grounds  only 
he  starts  off  with  the  fallacious  assumption  that  the  ancient 
Italians  were  Aryans  ;  he  finds  that  the  ancient  Italians 
were  in  the  animistic  stage  of  culture,  and  he  concludes 
that  therefore  the  pro-ethnic  Aryans  were  in  that  stage. 
This  is  an  unholy  alliance  between  philology  and  folk-lore, 
and,  in  the  name  of  this  Society,  I  forbid  the  banns. 
Finding  the  Italians  to  be  in  the  animistic  stage  of  culture, 
finding  this  to  be  opposed  to  the  myth-making  stage  of 
Aryan  culture,  the  conclusion  would  be  that  the  Italians 
were  in  bulk  non- Aryan,  and  surely  I  have  only  to  suggest 
the  Etruscan  evidence  to  gain  support  for  such  a  propo- 
sition even  on  philological  grounds. 

Well,  then,  it  is  clear  that  this  principle  of  continuity 
needs  much  more  study  at  our  hands.  At  present  we  are  a 
house  divided  against  itself,  but  wc  are  only  at  the  beginning 
of  our  labours  in  this  direction,  and  I  foresee  the  time  when 
a  little  more  study  of  the  principles  of  folk-lore,  a  little 
more  attention  to  the  minuter  details  which  such  a  study 
necessitates,  will  once   more  bring  us  altogether  in  one 

VOL.  IV.  c 


1 8  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

school ;  just  as  most  of  us  now,  with  one  or  two  exceptions, 
against  whom  we  deh'ght  to  rub  our  ideas  in  this  room  and 
elsewhere,  confessedly  belong  to  the  anthropological  as 
distinguished  from  the  literary  school  of  folk-lore  students. 
The  next  principle  of  folk-lore  research  to  which  I  shall 
direct  your  attention  is  the  necessity  for  studying  the 
environment  of  those  who  have  brought  down  these 
traditional  relics  of  earlier  days.  We  who  are  students  only 
of  folk-lore,  not  collectors,  we  who  are  not  partakers  of  the 
instincts  which  keep  folk-lore  alive,  need  to  be  perpetually 
reminded  of  the  possibilities  of  the  survival  of  crude 
traditional  customs,  beliefs,  and  myths  among  a  peasantry 
living  under  the  conditions  of  civilisation.  It  is  so  hard  to 
believe  that  such  things  are ;  so  difficult  to  understand 
that  scientific  knowledge,  or,  indeed,  knowledge  of  any 
sort,  beginning  from  above  does  not  penetrate  far  down, 
and  until  lately  could  not  have  penetrated  far  down.  We 
are  always  apt  to  think  of  others  by  our  own  standard,  look 
at  them  through  our  own  spectacles.  But  such  a  volume 
as  TJie  Derihani  Tracts,  recently  issued,  ought,  if  anything 
can,  to  satisfy  us  that  we  do  not  know  the  people  whose 
lore  we  are  studying.  The  border  chief  who  scorned 
property  in  land,  and  knew  only  property  in  his  horse  and 
sword,  was  not  of  the  eighteenth  century,  he  belonged  to 
the  eighth  or  ninth.  For  all  that  culture  had  done  for  him 
he  might  have  come  over  with  Hengist  and  Horsa.  But 
that  is  just  the  point.  If  there  are  such  survivals  in  flesh 
and  blood,  why  need  we  doubt  the  survivals  in  custom, 
belief,  and  myth  ?  and  we  must  go  on  collecting  our  flesh 
and  blood  evidences  side  by  side  with  our  other  evidence. 
This  evidence  we  get  from  all  sorts  of  places.  Among 
legal  records  and  the  doings  of  municipalities  and  manors 
we  shall  find  plenty.  Apart  from  such  instances  of 
municipal  custom  really  being  folk-lore,  as  Mr.  Hartland 
in  his  Godiva  study  and  Mr.  Billson  in  his  Easter  Hare 
study  have  given  to  us,  we  meet  with  the  evidences  right 
and  left  of  us.     In  a  recently  printed  volume  of  the  County 


Annual  Address  by  the  President.  19 

Records  of  Middlesex — the  county  we  are  now  meeting  in 
■ — there  is  abundant  evidence  of  the  unadulterated  behefs 
of  the  people  in  the  power  of  magical  arts  to  do  I  don't 
know  what,  and  this  is  what  we  want  got  ready  for  us  in 
order  that  we  may  know  who  and  what  the  people  are  and 
were  whose  folk-lore  we  are  putting  under  the  microscope — 
who,  for  instance,  were  the  Cangick  giants,  a  people  who 
by  tradition  are  said  to  have  inhabited  a  certain  district  of 
Somersetshire,  and  of  whom  some  measurements  have  been 
taken  which  would  not,  I  am  afraid,  satisfy  the  scientific 
requirements  of  modern  craniologists — the  top  of  the  skull 
of  one  of  this  giant  race  was  said  to  have  been  i  inch  thick, 
and  one  of  his  teeth  was  3  inches  long  above  the  roots, 
3^  inches  round,  and  weighed  3-^  ounces.  But  these 
measurements  are  the  work  of  a  zealous  antiquary  of  two 
centuries  ago :  the  tradition  is  much  older  and  far  more 
correct. 

And  again,  turning  to  something  more  than  tradition — 
to  tradition  and  physical  type  commingled — there  is  the 
district  of  Barvas  in  Lewis,  which  by  the  Lewis  people 
themselves  is  considered  to  be  inhabited  by  a  race  dis- 
tinct from  those  in  the  rest  of  the  island — that  is,  they  are 
dark,  short,  square,  ugly,  large-bellied,  and  with  much 
cunning  under  a  foolish  exterior  ;  they  are  said  to  be  more 
backward  than  the  rest,  so  that  the  "  west  side",  which 
does  not  include  Uig,  is  proverbially  connected  with  dirt 
and  slovenliness.  In  this  part  of  Lewis  alone  remains  the 
custom  of  leaving  a  hole  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall  for  a 
dormitory  ;  it  is  plugged,  of  course,  about  three  feet  broad 
and  one-and-a-half  foot  high,  and  long  or  deep  enough  for 
a  man  to  lie  in.  Into  this  strange  hole  the  person  who 
would  sleep  gets  in  "  feet  foremost",  sometimes  by  the  help 
of  a  rope  from  above  his  head  lying  to  the  mouth  of  the 
hole,  the  hole  or  dormitory  being  four  or  five  feet  from  the 
floor.  I  cannot  but  presume  that  this  custom  has  a  very 
remote  origin,  enabling  us  to  form  an  idea  of  one  of  the 
domestic  arrangements  of  the  most  ancient  stone  dwellings 

c  3 


20 


A  Jinn  a  I  Address  by  the  President. 


in  our  island,  and  probably  leading  us,  too,  to  the  descend- 
ants of  the  ancient  dwellers. 

Next,  there  is  the  geographical  distribution  of  folk-lore 
to  consider.  Dr.  Kaarle  Krohn  has  lately  published  a 
paper  on  this  subject,  in  connection  with  the  geographical 
distribution  of  Esthonian  ballads,  illustrated  by  a  map.  It 
is  founded  on  an  examination  of  the  enormous  collections 
of  Esthonian  folk-lore  formed  by  different  scholars,  more 
especially  by  Pastor  Hurt,  among  which  no  less  than 
30,000  articles  consist  of  ballads. 

The  distribution  of  the  tales  throughout  the  provinces 
of  Esthonia  is  mapped  out  in  a  very  ingenious  manner,  of 
which  the  following  key-plan  may  be  given  : 


2 

4 

6 

I 

0 

5 

*7 
/ 

8 

I.  Oesel.  2.  Wiek.  3.  Pernau.  4.  Harrien  and  Jerwen. 
5.  Fellin.  6.  Wierland.  7.  Dorpat.  8.  Werro.  9.  Ples- 
kau. 

As  an  example  of  the  application  of  this  table,  I  will 
take  the  ballad  relating  to  the  Gold  and  Silver  Bride  : 


Anmial  Address  by  the  President.  21 

Of  this  story  there  are  fifty-two  variants  obtained 
from  the  various  provinces  of  Esthonia  proper,  and  the 
numbers  in  each  square  indicate  the  number  of  variants 
obtained  from  each  particular  province. 

A  large  map  at  the  end  of  the  paper  shows  the  pro- 
portion of  Esthonian  ballad-literature  in  the  adjoining 
countries,indicated  by  depth  of  red  colour,  and  arrangement 
of  red  lines  and  circles.  They  preponderate  in  Esthonia 
proper,  but  fall  off  in  Werro  and  Pleskau,  and  also  along 
the  south  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland  and  the  west  coast 
of  Lake  Ladoga.  North  of  Ladoga  we  find  them  still  more 
or  less  numerous  throughout  a  great  part  of  Eastern  Fin- 
land and  the  neighbouring  parts  of  Russia,  but  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  Western  Finland  the  Esthonian  element 
appears  to  be  almost  entirely  wanting. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  ingenious  arrangements  which  Dr. 
Krohn  has  used  in  this  paper  may  be  applied  in  many  other 
ways,  and  should  not  be  overlooked  by  any  serious  student 
of  folk-lore. 

I  shall  trouble  you  with  but  one  more  principle  of  our 
science.  If  it  were  not  that  the  subject  is  a  serious  one  I 
should  be  inclined  to  term  this  the  "  human  cussedness" 
principle.  It  is  too  often  the  case  that  in  the  science  of 
man  we  neglect  one  most  important  factor,  namely,  human 
nature.  We  know  how  frequently  it  happens  that,  because 
we  want  a  person,  or  a  group  of  persons,  to  do  one  thing, 
they  deliberately  prefer  to  do  something  else;  and  when  one 
is  considering  some  universal  or  widespread  practice  of 
humanity — totemism,  marriage,  ancestor  worship,  ghost 
theory,  or  what  not — it  is  not  enough  to  study  those  people 
or  those  cases  which  illustrate  the  particular  point  in 
question,  but  it  is  necessary  to  study  those  cases  which 
illustrate  the  exact  opposite  of  that  point. 

We  had  during  the  session  a  very  admirable  study  of 
marriage  customs  by  Mr.  Hartland,  and  a  point  was  raised  as 
to  the  evidence  of  common  residence  on  the  history  of 
human  marriage.      Mr.   Westermarck,  it  is  well  known,  in 


22  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

his  important  work  on  the  subject,  puts  it  that  it  is  a  primi- 
tive rule  that  people  living  together  in  one  residence  do  not 
intermarry,  and  he  gives  many  examples  which  certainly 
tend  to  prove  his  point.  But  what  about  the  cases,  few 
only,  it  is  true,  where  the  opposite  rule  applies,  as,  for 
instance,  amongst  the  Chukckes  mentioned  by  Nordens- 
kiold  ?  If  these  were  studied  I  believe,  they  would  by  some 
special  feature  in  their  practices  do  much  to  explain  their 
relationship  to  the  opposite  group  of  practices.  They 
would  explain  how  far  changes  in  custom  were  changes  due 
to  social  and  economical  development  which  might  have 
taken  place  under  any  conditions  as  to  race,  or  whether 
they  were  due  to  causes  v/hich  were  essentially  bound 
up  with  race,  such  as,  for  instance,  conquest  and  slavery. 
The  change  from  exogamy  to  endogamy,  from  descent 
through  females  to  descent  through  males,  from  marriage 
by  capture  to  marriage  by  purchase,  and  other  changes 
which  are  now  clearly  defined  in  the  history  of  human 
progress,  are  changes  due  more  to  economical  causes  than 
we  are  inclined  to  admit.  And,  if  this  is  so,  they  might 
happen,  or  have  happened,  with  any  people  when  the 
causes  are  in  full  operation. 

But  my  point  is  that  these  contrasts  in  human  sociology 
want  to  be  examined  one  against  the  other,  want  to  be 
set  down  and  stamped  once  for  all  with  the  stamp  of 
scientific  research,  and  not  to  be  brought  up  against  us  at 
all  sorts  of  times  and  occasions  when  their  relevancy  is 
not  always  so  apparent  as  is  the  object  of  some  adverse 
critic,  whom  you  cannot  answer  because  to  do  so  would 
necessitate  the  writing  of  a  separate  treatise  on  a  side 
issue.  And  then,  when  this  has  been  accomplished,  we 
could  estimate  what,  in  the  contrasts  of  human  social  forms 
and  human  thought,  is  due  to  sheer  obstinacy — the  taking 
up  of  a  particular  view  because  one  class  or  one  group  of 
people  take  up  another  view.  Somewhere  in  such  an  in- 
vestigation would  have  to  be  considered  the  long-continued 
obstinacy  with  which  mother-right  has  clung  to  the  ideas 


Animal  Address  by  the  President,  23 

of  people.  It  has  gone  away  from  custom,  except  symbol- 
ically, in  all  European  countries  ;  but  it  has  passed  over  to 
superstition,  as,  for  instance,  where,  in  the  Merlin  legend, 
the  victim  who  alone  can  avert  the  magical  opposition  to 
the  building  of  Vortigern's  castle  is  a  child  who  possesses 
a  mother  only ;  and  in  the  modern  popular  superstition  in 
Yorkshire,  that  a  female  who  has  never  known  her  father 
possesses  magical  powers  over  disease.  In  these  cases 
fatherhood  is  clearly  at  a  discount,  and  its  absence  is 
a  source  of  power.  The  question  is,  does  it  go  back  to 
times  when  descent  was  usually  traced  through  females, 
and  the  marriage-system  was  not  upon  the  system  known 
to  Celts,  Teutons,  and  Northmen  ?  or  is  it  part  and  parcel 
of  the  same  set  of  ideas  indicated  by  the  Somersetshire 
woman,  who,  when  remonstrated  with  for  marrying  a  dis- 
reputable man,  replied :  "  Don't  you  see,  sir,  I  had  got  so 
much  washing  I  was  forced  to  send  it  home,  and  if  I  hadn't 
had  he  I  must  have  bought  a  donkey." 

I  venture  to  express  the  opinion  on  behalf  of  our  Society 
that,  if  we  were  to  cease  work  to-night,  such  a  result  as 
these  principles  represent  may  w^ell  stamp  the  last  year's 
progress  as  a  year  of  profit  to  the  cause  of  science.  But 
we  are  not  going  to  stop  work  to-night,  and  I  pass  on  to 
other  phases  of  our  year's  doings. 

I  do  not  know^  whether  any  of  you  ever  read  evening 
newspapers,  because,  if  so,  it  may  have  happened  to  you  as 
it  did  to  me,  to  read  on  the  i  ith  of  October,  in  the  year  of 
grace  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-two,  a  certain 
question  in  the  pages  of  The  Echo,  a  question  which  very 
nearly  made  me  ill,  and  which  will,  I  think,  similarly  affect 
most  members  of  this  Society,  except  perhaps  my  friend 
Dr.  Gaster.     It  was  as  follows  : 

Fairy  Tales.— Will  any  reader  tell  me  at  what  date 
"  Cinderella"  was  written,  and  to  what  country  its  authorship 
belongs  ? — Felix. 

In  the  presence  of  Miss  Cox  I  am  not  going  to  answer 
that  question,  but  I  quote  it  to  show  that  there  really  do 


24  Annual  Address  by  the  Pre  si  dent. 

exist  people  who  have  not  heard  of  the  Folk-lore  Society. 
Verily,  the  ways  of  ignorance  are  manifold,  but  they  show 
at  least  that  our  work  is  not  ended. 

I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  the  real  grip  of  it  can  be  said 
to  have  really  begun.  But  it  is  in  the  beginning,  at  all 
events,  and  we  shall  want  all  our  energies  and  all  our 
resources  to  keep  it  properly  in  our  own  hands.  We  in 
England  have  no  idea  of  organisation.  We  are  content  to 
do  things  as  they  come  along,  and  when  they  come  along, 
and  where  they  come  along.  So  that  if  at  an  Oriental 
Congress,  or  at  a  Royal  Literary  Society,  or  at  some  other 
gathering,  whose  objects  had  hitherto  been  distinctly  not 
the  objects  of  folk-lore,  the  subject  of  folk-lore  crops  up, 
forthwith  it  is  moved,  seconded,  and  resolved  unanimously 
and  with  cheers,  that  a  committee  shall  be  appointed  to 
investigate  folk-lore  !  This  is  pure  waste  of  energy,  and 
waste  of  opportunity,  and  waste  of  power.  All  that  is 
folk-lore  should  come  to  us — we  are  the  rightful  owners  of 
it ;  and  if  individuals  occasionally  go  to  the  "  wrong  shop", 
societies  properly  organised  and  careful  of  their  own  work 
and  position  should  direct  them  to  the  right  one.  But  I 
suppose  it  is  hopeless  in  England  to  get  people  to  be 
systematic  in  their  labours  and  in  the  proper  placing  of 
their  labours.  And  I  fear  that  our  own  organisation  as  a 
a  society  is  not  so  perfect  that  we  can  too  quickly  call  out 
against  our  neighbours.  The  Annual  Report  this  year 
contains  suggestions  which  show  that  gradually  we  are 
waking  up  to  our  position ;  but  I  do  hope,  now  that  our 
prospects  are  so  bright,  that  we  shall  not  only  not  lag 
behind,  but  shall  be  in  the  absolute  forefront  of  all  en- 
deavours to  bring  about  by  co-operation  what  cannot  be 
done  without  it. 

For,  after  all,  the  great  question  for  us  as  a  society  is. 
Can  we  yet  declare  a  policy  ;  a  policy,  I  mean,  which  will 
guide  our  future  work  and  shape  our  future  organisation  ? 
Last  year,  at  the  close  of  my  address,  I  touched  only  very 
slightly  upon  this  subject,  because  I  was  not  sure  of  my 


Annual  Address  by  the  President.  25 

ground.  This  year  there  is  no  need,  as  it  seems  to  me,  to 
be  so  timid,  because  our  policy  is  already  indicated  by  the 
work  we  are  doing.  We  are  steadily  sweeping  the  counties, 
one  by  one,  and  collecting  into  our  pigeon-holes  and  into 
our  printed  material  all  that  has  been  gathered  by  those 
good  old  people  called  antiquaries,  who  noted  facts  for 
their  own  sake,  and  left  meanings  and  definitions  alone. 
We  should  rearrange  all  these  items  of  folk-lore  in  proper 
scientific  order,  and  write  the  biography  of  each  specific 
item,  whether  it  be  custom,  belief,  superstition,  or  myth. 
This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  true  policy  of  the  future,  and, 
if  we  have  it  steadily  before  us,  I  doubt  not  that  we  should 
find  sufficient  workers  to  co-operate  loyally  in  effecting 
each  year  something  towards  completing  it.  I  know  it 
will  not  be  done  except  by  many  years  of  hard  work 
and  efficient  organisation,  continued  without  a  break 
year  after  year.  For  myself  I  should  be  prepared  to 
advocate  at  the  Council  a  retrenchment  of  expenditure 
in  some  directions,  where  we  may  easily  spend  less, 
in  favour  of  an  increase  of  expenditure  for  the  codifi- 
cation of  British  folk-lore.  I  believe  that  is  our  true 
policy  from  a  scientific  point  of  view  :  I  believe  it  to  be 
equally  true  from  the  point  of  view  of  expediency.  Al- 
ready the  popular  opinion  of  us  and  our  work  is  changing, 
and  changing  rapidly.  We  are  no  longer  considered  to  be 
harmless  lunatics  prettily  chatting  to  each  other  about 
fairies.  Mother  Hubbard,  and  Little  Riding  Hood;  it 
is  a  substantial  testimony  to  this  that,  not  long  since, 
Mr.  Leslie  Stephen,  who  is  not  a  member  of  our  body, 
in  a  popular  lecture  alluded  to  the  scientific  problems 
and  methods  of  folk-lore  in  tones  of  appreciation  which 
his  audience  were  quick  to  recognise  ;  and  it  is  a  gratifying 
compliment  to  our  science  and  our  Society  that  the  Prime 
Minister — who,  by-the-bye,  has  been  one  of  our  members 
from  the  beginning — has  conferred  upon  one  of  our  most 
recent  members,  Miss  Lucy  Garnett,  the  distinction  of  a 
civil  list  pension  on  account  of  her  folk-lore  work. 


26  Annual  Address  by  tJic  President. 

There  is  much  to  indicate  that  folk-lore  has  a  brilliant 
future  before  it.  as  a  philosophical  as  well  as  a  scientific 
subject.  This  is,  perhaps,  too  dangerous  a  topic  to  speak  of 
now,  and  it  is  hardly  yet  within  the  range  of  practical  folk- 
lore objects.  What  we  can  say,  however,  without  danger  to 
individual  opinions,  is  that  no  science  dealing  with  man  is 
quite  perfect  without  the  aid  of  folk-lore.  Anthropology 
is  not  perfect  without  it,  because  folk-lore  is  the  anthropo- 
logy of  the  civilised  races,  and  without  this  complement  the 
anthropology  of  barbarism  and  savagery  is  incomplete,  and 
hence  faulty. 

The  greatest  problem  of  anthropology  is  the  connection 
of  modern  with  prehistoric  man,  and  that  this  is  still  a 
burning  question  is  shown  by  what  Dr.  Tylor  only  last 
year  made  the  subject  of  his  address  at  the  Oriental  Con- 
gress. But  geology,  archaeology,  philology,  and  the  phy- 
sical history  of  man  cannot  get  on  without  the  aid  of 
folk-lore.  To  find  a  savage  custom  in  a  civilised  country, 
and  to  search  out  its  counterpart  among  modern  savagcr}-, 
is  a  scientific  act  only  when  we  have  proved,  as  nearly  as 
proof  is  possible,  that  the  parallel  is  not  represented  by 
one  simple  line  drawn  from  civilisation  to  savagery,  but 
by  the  three  sides  of  a  parallelogram,  the  connecting  line 
between  the  two  vertical  ones  being  the  horizon  of  prehis- 
toric life. 

G.   L.   GOMME. 


MAGIC    SONGS    OF    THE    FINNS, 
V. 


XLi. — The  Origin  of  the  Cowpiouse  Snake  or 

Worm  {Lddvdmato)} 

{a.) 

A  SERVING-GIRL  was  sitting  upon  a  cloud,  a  woman 
upon  the  edge  of  a  [rainjbow.  The  girl  was  comb- 
ing her  head,  was  brushing  her  hair  with  a  copper  comb, 
with  a  silver  brush.  A  hair  loosened  from  the  brush, 
a  tooth  broke  off  the  comb  and  fell  down  to  the  clear  and 
open  sea,  to  the  illimitable  waves.  A  wind  rocked  it  to 
and  fro,  a  current  jolted  it  ashore  into  a  hole  in  a  stone,  to 
the  vicinity  of  a  thick  stone.  Then  it  twisted  itself  into 
a  '  distaff',  changed  itself  into  a  snake,  stretched  itself  out 
towards  a  cattle-shed,  took  its  departure  into  a  cowhouse, 
into  the  litter  of  a  shed,  under  the  scaly  husks  of  hay. 
Then  it  rustled  into  bins,  darted  along  like  a  lizard,  and 
placed  itself  under  rafters,  under  the  milk  of  a  barren  cow 
It  lived  at  the  feet  of  old  women,  was  always  at  the 
women's  heels,  used  to  crawl  to  the  milk-pails,  crept  lightly 
to  the  butter-tubs. 

(^■) 
An  old  woman  that  lived  near  a  sound  was  combing 
her  head  with  a  silver  brush,  with  a  copper  comb.    A  bristle 

^  Lonnrot  in  his  Dictionary  explains  this  word  by  :  a  night  mare  ; 
an  imaginary  four-footed  bird  that  attacked  the  cattle  in  the  cowhouse 
But  in  the  Loitsiirunoja  it  is  portrayed  as  a  white  snake  or  worm, 
addicted  to  stealing  milk. 


28  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

loosened  from  the  brush,  a  tooth  of  the  comb  crashed 
down  to  the  wide  bay,  to  the  open  sea,  to  be  rocked  by 
the  wind,  to  be  drifted  b}'  the  waves.  A  wind  rocked  it, 
a  wave  drifted  it  ashore.  Hence  the  autumn  '  worm' 
originated,  the  winter  snake  obtained  its  habits  \ik  origin], 
that  crawls  about  in  a  cowhouse,  moves  quietly  about 
under  its  corners. 

Moon's  daughter  {Ktiufar)  was  bewailing  her  gold,  vSun's 
daughter  {Paivdtdr)  her  silver.  A  tear  trickled  from  her 
eyes,  a  water-drop  rolled  down  suddenly  to  her  lovely  face, 
from  her  lovely  face  to  her  swelling  breast,  and  thence 
it  rolled  down  into  a  dell.  From  it  a  lovely  oak  sprang 
up,  a  green  shoot  shot  upwards. 

A  little  man  emerged  from  the  sea,  raised  himself  by 
degrees  from  the  waves.  He  was  scarcely  a  quarter-ell 
tall,  his  height  was  a  woman's  span,  in  his  hand  was 
a  tiny  axe  with  an  ornamented  haft.  He,  indeed,  knew 
how  to  fell  the  oak,  to  cut  down  the  splendid  tree.  A  chip 
of  it  that  flew  off  disappeared  in  the  sea,  the  water  bleached 
it  into  foam,  a  wave  drifted  it  ashore. 

A  furious  old  woman  [z'.  a  harlot,  the  mistress  of  Pohjola] 
was  bucking  clothes,  dabbling  at  her  linen  rags,  picked  it 
up,  poked  it  into  her  long-thonged  wallet,  and  carried  it 
home  to  the  farmyard  to  make  it  into  snails,  to  form  it 
into  grubs. 

She  upset  the  foam  from  her  wallet,  flung  it  near  a  cattle- 
shed,  among  the  litter  of  the  byre,  hides  it  in  the  sweep- 
ings of  the  yard,  covered  it  with  the  rubbish  of  the  farm. 
From  that  the  family  was  bred,  the  small  white  snake 
(worm)  grew  up,  that  utters  indistinct  sounds  in  a  cow- 
house, mumbles  in  the  muck,  crawls  over  a  milk-bowl, 
wriggles  over  the  handle  of  a  milk-pail. 

w 

A  wolf  was  running  along  the  ice,  a  pike  was  swimming 
under  the  ice,  slaver  from  the  wolfs  mouth  dripped  down 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  29 

to  the  bones  of  the  dark  grey  pike.  A  wind  wafted  it  to 
land,  a  current  jolted  it,  a  wave  drifted  it  ashore  as  foam 
into  a  hole  in  a  stone. 

Ahimo's  girl,  Annikki,  ever  engaged  at  bucking  clothes, 
gathered  it  into  her  wallet  and  carried  it  into  the  pen  in 
the  cowhouse.  Hence  that  birth  took  place,  that  evil 
thing  originated,  the  tiny  white  wriggling  snow-coloured 
'  worm'. 

A  harlot,  the  mistress  of  Pohjola,  was  combing  her 
head,  brushing  her  hair,  A  hair-plait  fell  from  her  head 
down  to  the  open  sea,  the  wide  and  open  main.  A  wind 
wafted  it  to  land,  a  tempest  bore  it  to  a  rock. 

Hiisi's  little  serving-girl,  a  woman  of  blonde  complexion, 
takes  a  good  look  at  it,  turns  it  over,  and  speaks  in  the 
following  terms :  "  A  harlot,  the  mistress  of  Pohjola,  has 
cast  it  from  her  bosom,  has  flung  some  of  her  wool  this 
way,  has  torn  off  some  hair  upon  the  waters  which  a  wind 
has  drifted  to  land,  a  tempest  has  carried  to  a  rock. 
What  now  might  be  made  of  it,  what  be  fashioned  out  of 
the  shameful  woman's  hair,  out  of  the  hair-plait  of  the 
village  harlot  ?" 

A  wretch  was  sitting  on  the  threshold,  a  lubber  in  the 
centre  of  the  floor,  a  lout  at  the  far  end  of  the  room 
turned  sharply  round.  They  sat  with  their  breasts  towards 
the  east,  they  remain  with  their  heads  to\\ards  the  south. 
The  wretch  upon  the  threshold,  the  lubber  in  the  centre  of 
the  floor,  the  lout  at  the  end  of  the  room  said  :  "  From 
these  might  come  grubs,  earth-worms  might  generate." 

The  girls  spin  out  snakes,  reeled  up  earth-worms  ;  the 
whorl  rotated  steadily,  the  spindle  whirled  rapidly  while 
they  were  producing  earth-worms,  were  spinning  out  snakes. 

That  was  the  origin  of  the  stall  \y.  winter]  grub,  the 
first  appearance  of  the  evil  brood.  It  was  engendered  in 
a  pig-sty,  reared  in  a  sheep-pen  on  an  autumnal  dust-heap, 
on    the  hard   ground    of  winter-time.     This  was  its  first 


30  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

performance,  which  it  attempted  in  a  hurry.  It  bit  Christ's 
horse,  killed  the  Almighty's  foal  right  through  the  floor  of 
a  bony  stall,  through  a  copper-bottomed  manger. 

(/) 
Even  old  Vainamoinen^  \y.  Kullervo],  the  old  son  of 
Kaleva,  when  he  went  to  wage  war  formerly,  used  to 
sharpen  his  spears,  used  to  feather  his  arrows  near  women 
in  a  cattle-shed.  His  spear  was  sharpened  to  a  point,  his 
arrows  were  feathered.  He  brandished  his  spear  and 
threw  it  at  a  clay-bottomed  field.  The  spear  broke  in  two, 
the  'borer'  fell  upon  the  field,  a  tin  nail  fell  suddenly, 
a  copper  ring  slipped  off  and  plumped  into  the  muck,  into 
the  litter  of  a  shed.  From  that,  then,  a  cunning  one  was 
born,  a  '  nimble  bird'  was  bred,  the  very  best  snow- 
coloured  gliding  animal  grew  up. 


XLii. — The  Origin  of  Fire. 

The  Old  man  {Ukko)  of  the  air  struck  fire,  produced 
a  sudden  flash  with  his  fiery-pointed  sword,  his  scintillat- 
ing blade,  in  the  sky  above,  behind  the  starry  firmament 
\v.  in  its  third  story].  With  the  blow  he  obtained  fire, 
conceals  the  spark  in  a  golden  bag,  in  a  silver  box,  and 
gave  it  to  be  rocked  by  a  girl,  swung  to-and-fro  by  an  air- 
maiden. 

A  girl  upon  a  long  cloud,  an  air-maiden  on  the  margin 
of  the  air,  rocks  the  fire  in  a  golden  cradle  suspended  by 
silver  thongs.  The  silver  thongs  creaked  as  they  swang, 
the  golden  cradle  rattled,  the  clouds  moved, the  sky  squeaked, 
the  vaults  of  the  sky  listed  to  one  side  while  fire  was 
being  rocked,  while  the  flame  was  being  swung. 

1  In  LoitsiiriDwja,  p.  135,  the  cowhouse  snake  is  called  the  clasp  of 
old  \'iiin;imoincn,  the  belt  buckle  of  the  son  of  Kaleva. 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  31 

The  maiden  rocked  the  fire,  swung  the  flame  up  and 
down,  arranged  the  fire  with  her  fingers,  tended  the  flame 
with  her  hands.  The  fire  fell  from  the  stupid  careless 
girl,  from  the  hands  of  her  that  dandled  it,  the  fingers  of 
her  that  cherished  it. 

The  fiery  spark  slipped  suddenly,  the  ruddy  drop  whizzed, 
flashed  through  the  heavens,  fell  through  the  clouds  from 
above  the  nine  heavens,  through  the  six  speckled  firma- 
ments. The  fiery  spark  shot,  the  ruddy  drop  fell,  from 
where  the  Creator,  the  Old  man  of  the  air,  had  struck  fire, 
through  the  sooty  chimney-hole,  along  the  side  of  the  dry 
ridge-beam  into  Tuuri's  new  room,  the  roofless  room  of 
Palvonen.  Then,  when  it  had  penetrated  into  Tuuri's  new 
room,  it  set  itself  to  evil  deeds,  turned  itself  to  acts  of 
villainy.  It  tore  his  daughters'  breasts,  the  forearms  of  his 
little  girls,  injured  the  knees  of  the  boys,  burnt  the  beard 
of  the  master  of  the  house.  A  mother  was  suckling 
her  baby  in  a  miserable  cradle  under  the  sooty  chimney- 
hole.  When  the  fire  entered,  it  burnt  the  baby  in  the 
cradle  right  through  the  mother's  breasts. 

Then  it  went  its  way,  pursued  its  course,  first  of  all 
burnt  much  land  and  swamp,  sandy  and  deserted  fields, 
and  secluded  forests  terribly.  Finally,  it  plashed  into 
water,  into  the  waves  of  Lake  Alue  {ik  Alava,  v.  Alimo]. 
Thereby  Lake  Alue  burst  into  flame,  corruscated  with 
sparks,  when  subjected  to  that  raging  fire,  was  stimulated 
to  overflow  its  banks,  welled  over  the  forest  firs  so  that  its 
fish,  its  perch  were  left  high  and  dry  upon  the  dry  bottom. 

Still,  the  fire  was  not  quenched  in  the  waves  of  Lake 
Alue.  It  attacked  a  clump  of  junipers,  so  the  juniper- 
covered  heath  was  burnt.  It  dashed  suddenly  at  a  clump 
of  firs  and  burnt  up  the  lovely  fir-clump.  Still  it  went 
rolling  on,  and  burnt  up  half  Bothnia  \v.  Sweden,  half 
a  mile  of  Russia],  a  projecting  corner  of  the  marches  of 
Saxolax,  and  a  portion  \y.  both  halves]  of  Karelia. 

Then  it  went  into  concealment  to  hide  its  infamy,  threw 
itself  down  to  repose  under  the  root  of  two  stumps,  in  the 


32  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

recess  of  a  rotten  stump,  the  hollow  of  an  alder-trunk. 
Thence  it  was  brought  into  rooms,  into  houses  of  pine,  to 
be  used  by  day  in  a  stone  oven,  to  rest  at  night  upon 
a  hearth  in  a  receptacle  for  charcoal. 

Fire  does  not  originate  from  a  depth,  does  not  grow 
from  a  fearful  depth.  Fire  originated  in  the  sky  on  the 
back  of  the  Seven  stars.  Fire  was  rocked  there,  flame  was 
swayed  to-and-fro  in  a  '  golden'  thicket  on  the  summit  of 
a  'golden'  knoll. 

Lovely  Kasi  \y.  Katrinatar],  a  young  girl,  the  fire-maiden 
of  the  sky,  rocks  fire,  swings  it  to-and-fro  in  the  centre  of 
the  sky  above  the  nine  heavens.  The  silver  cords  vibrated, 
the  golden  hook  creaked  while  the  girl  was  rocking  fire, 
was  swaying  it  to-and-fro. 

The  red  fire  fell,  one  spark  shot  from  the  'golden' 
thicket,  from  the  silver  enclosure,  from  the  ninth  aerial 
region,  from  above  the  eighth  firmament  through  the  level 
sky,  the  far-extending  air,  through  the  latch  of  a  door, 
through  a  child's  bed,  and  burnt  the  knees  of  the  small  boy, 
and  the  breasts  of  his  mother. 

The  child  went  to  Mana,  the  luckless  boy  to  Tuonela, 
as  he  had  been  destined  to  die,  had  been  selected  to 
expire  in  anguish  caused  by  red  fire,  in  the  torments  of 
cruel  fire.  He  went  putrefying  to  Mana,  stumbling  along 
to  Tuonela,  to  be  reviled  by  Tuoni's  daughters,  to  be 
addressed  by  the  children  of  Mana. 

His  mother,  indeed,  did  not  go  to  Mana.  The  old 
woman  was  clever  and  furious,  she  knew  how  to  fascinate 
fire,  to  make  it  sink  down  powerless  through  the  small  eye 
of  a  needle,  through  the  back  of  an  axe,  through  the  tube 
of  a  hot  borer.  She  winds  up  the  fire  into  a  ball,  arranges 
it  into  a  skein,  makes  the  ball  spin  quickly  round  along 
the  headland  of  a  field,  right  through  the  earth,  the  solid 
earth,  and  propelled  it  into  the  river  of  Tuonela,  into  the 
depths  of  Manala. 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  2,1) 

The  origin  of  fire  is  well  known,  its  genesis  can  be 
guessed.  Fire,  a  creation  of  God,  a  creation  of  the  Creator, 
originated  from  the  word  of  Jesus,  from  the  gracious 
mouth  of  God,  above  nine  heavens,  above  nine  heavens 
and  a  half  The  Virgin  Mary,  the  dear  mother,  the  holy 
little  maid  rocks  fire,  nursed  it  in  a  doorless,  wholly 
windowless  room.  She  carried  fire  in  a  birch-bark  vessel 
to  the  point  of  a  fiery  promontory. 

Fire  was  christened  there.  Who  stood  godmother  to 
fire — who  godfather  ?  A  maiden  came  from  Pohjola  \i\ 
the  sky],  from  the  snowy  castle  \y.  the  air],  from  the  centre 
of  an  icy  spring,  from  an  icy  well's  recess.  She  could  bear 
to  touch  it  with  her  hands,  to  hold  it  in  her  fingers. 
Juhannes,  the  very  best  priest,  christened  the  boy.  The 
name  they  gave  him  was  Fire  {Panii),  he  was  entitled 
Darling  Fire  {Tuloneti),  to  be  kept  by  day  in  the  hollow  of 
a  golden  hearth,  to  be  concealed  at  night  in  an  ashy 
tinder-bag. 

{d) 

Hoyhenys^  of  the  Panutars,-  Lemmes  of  the  Lentohatars^ 
carried  a  child  for  about  nine  months.  When  the  time 
drew  near,  the  time  for  lightening,  she  ran  waist-deep  into 
the  water,  up  to  her  girdle  in  the  sea.  There  she  brings 
forth  her  child,  gives  birth  to  a  boy.  She  could  not  bear 
to  touch  him  with  her  hands,  to  hold  him  in  her  grasp. 
From  that  she  knew  him  to  be  fire,  was  warned  that  he 
was  fire. 

Who  indeed  rocked  fire?     The  luckless  girl   of  summer 

^  From  /loyln,  a  feather,  a  snou-flake.  She  was  an  air-maiden  that 
caused  snowflakes,  hoar-frost,  etc.,  and  was  invoked  to  bring  ice  to 
cool  burns  {Loiisitm/wja,  p.  251). 

2  Daughters  of  Panu  (fire),  son  of  the  sun.  A  Panutar  {Loltsicrunoja, 
p.  250)  is  invoked  to  come  and  quench  fire. 

^  A  winged  creature,  from  Icnto^  flight,  flying. 

VOL.  IV.  D 


34  Magic  Songs  of  the  Fiims. 

rocked  fire,  swayed  him  to-and-fro  in  a  copper  boat,  in 
a  copper  skiff,  in  an  iron  barrel  \y.  in  the  belly  of  a  copper 
sheep],  between  iron  hoops  \y.  in  the  bed  of  a  golden 
lamb] ;  she  carried  him  in  it  to  baptism,  hurried  off  with 
him  to  the  christening. 

Ilmarinen  struck  fire,  Vainamoinen  caused  a  flash  at  the 
end  of  an  iron  bench,  the  extremity  of  a  golden  form,  with 
a  living  portent  \v.  with  a  variegated  snake,  v.  with  three 
cock's  feathers],  with  a  burning  \ik  creeping]  land-snake 
\y.  with  five  wings].  He  struck  fire  upon  his  nail,^  caused 
a  crackling  sound  against  his  finger-joints,  struck  fire  with- 
out iron,  without  flint,  without  tinder. 

Red  fire  flew  suddenly,  one  spark  shot  from  the  top  of 
Vainamoinen's  knee,  from  under  Ilmarinen's  hands  to  the 
ground  under  his  feet.  In  its  course  it  then  rolled  along 
long  farmyards,  along  the  headland  of  a  field  to  the  open 
sea,  to  the  illimitable  waves,  burnt  up  a  store-house  of  the 
perch,  a  stone  castle  of  the  ruffs. 

When  Takaturma  Aijo's  son  knew  that  fire  was  coming, 
was  pouring  down,  he  squeezed  fire  tightly  in  his  hands, 
forced  it  into  tinder-spunk,  rolled  it  up  into  birch  fungus. 
Hence  the  genesis  and  origin  of  fire  in  these  poor  border- 
lands, these  wretched  regions  of  the  north. 

(/) 

He  altogether  lies,  speaks  without  rhyme  or  reason,  who 
imagines  fire  to  have  been  struck  by  Vainamoinen.  Fire 
has  come  from  the  sky  \y.  i.  Fire's  origin  is  from  the  sky, 
V.  2.  Fire  has  come  from  the  Creator's  mouth],  Panu  was 

^  The  first  part  of  this  passage  occurs  in  the  Kalci'ala.,  R.  47.  71, 
where  a  note  explains  that 'nail'  here  means  '  Ukko's  nail',  a  folk- 
expression  for  the  old  stone  axes  that  are  sometimes  found,  and  which 
are  attributed  to  Ukko,  the  thunder-god. 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  35 

formed  in  the  clouds  \y.  i.  Panu's  origin  is  from  a  lump  of 
cloud,  V.  2.  from  the  beard  of  the  holy  God],  is  the  son  of 
the  sun,  the  beloved  offspring  of  the  sun,  produced  at  the 
sky's  midpoint,  at  the  shoulder  of  the  Great  Bear, 

There  fire  was  kept  in  check,  was  restrained  near  the 
sun,  in  a  rift  in  the  moon,  in  the  centre  of  a  golden  \y.  blue] 
box,  under  the  mouth  of  gracious  God,  the  beard  of  the 
Blessed  God.  Fire  has  come  from  there  through  red 
clouds  from  the  heavens  above  to  the  earth  beneath.  The 
heavens  rent  into  shreds,  the  whole  atmosphere  into  holes, 
while  fire  was  being  brought,  conducted  by  force  to  the 
earth. 


XLiir. — The  Origin  of  Injuries  caused  by  Spells. 

Louhiatar  \7.iv.  Loviatar,  Lokahatar,  Laveatar,  Launa- 
vatar]  the  powerful  woman,  the  ragged-tailed  old  wife  of 
the  North,  that  has  a  swarthy  countenance,  a  skin  of 
hideous  colour,  was  walking,  creeping  along  a  path.  She 
made  her  bed  her  sleeping-place  upon  the  path,  lay  with 
her  back  to  the  wind,  towards  the  chilly  blast,  her  groin 
towards  a  fearful  storm,  with  her  side  directed  due 
north. 

A  mighty  gust  of  wind,  a  tremendous  blast  came  from 
the  east,  the  wind  raised  the  skirts  of  her  fur  coat,  the 
blast  the  skirts  of  her  petticoat.  The  wind  quickened  her 
on  the  abandoned  naked  field,  on  land  without  a  knoll. 
She  carried  a  bellyful  of  suffering  for  one  month,  for  two, 
for  a  third,  a  fourth,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  over  nine  months, 
by  woman's  ancient  reckoning  she  carried  it  for  nine  months 
and  a  half  At  the  close  of  the  ninth  month,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  tenth  the  time  of  travail  was  already  at  hand, 
She  sought  out  a  place  for  lying-in,  a  spot  for  lightening 
in  the  space  between  two  rocks,  in  a  recess  between  five 
hills.     She  obtained  no  assistance  there,  no  lightening. 

D  2 


36  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

She  therefore  removed  further  off,  betook  herself  else- 
where, to  an  undulating  pool,  to  the  side  of  a  natural 
spring.     The  deliverance  is  not  accomplished. 

She  dragged  herself  to  a  stone  surrounded  by  water, 
into  the  foam  of  '  fiery'  rapids,  under  the  whirlpool  of 
three  rapids,  under  nine  steep  declivities,  but  her  deliver- 
ance is  not  accomplished. 

The  abominable  woman  began  to  weep,  to  shriek,  to 
bewail  herself;  she  knows  not  whither  she  should  go,  in 
what  direction  she  should  move  in  order  to  relieve  her 
pain. 

God  spake  from  a  cloud,  the  Creator  uttered  from  the 
sky  :  "  There  is  a  three-cornered  shelter  on  the  swamp,  on 
the  beach  facing  the  sea  on  gloomy  Pohjola,  at  the  ex- 
tremity of  far-stretching  Lapland.  Depart  thither  to  be 
confined,  to  relieve  thy  pain.  They  have  need  of  thee 
there,  they  await  thy  progeny." 

The  swarthy  old  wife  of  the  North  went  thither  to  be 
confined,  to  relieve  her  pain.  There  the  evil  miscreant 
was  delivered  of  her  progeny,  brought  forth  her  vicious 
children  under  five  woollen  blankets,  nine  woollen  rugs. 
She  was  delivered  of  nine  sons,  the  tenth  being  a  female 
infant,  on  one  summer  night,  all  at  one  birth. 

She  swaddles  her  progeny,  knots  up  her  acquisitions, 
summoned  the  Creator  to  baptise  them,  God  to  give  them 
names.  The  Creator  did  not  baptise  them,  the  Almighty 
did  not  christen  them.  She  sought  for  a  man  to  christen 
them,  for  one  to  baptise  the  evil  brood  :  "  Do  thou,  Juhannes 
the  holy  knight,  come  to  christen  these,  to  baptise  my 
progeny,  to  give  my  offspring  names." 

Juhannes,  the  priest  of  God,  makes  her  a  reply  :  "  Depart, 
harlot,  with  thy  sons,  decamp,  uncreated  pagan,  christen 
thy  cursed  progeny  thyself  I  do  not  christen  the  wicked, 
I  do  not  baptise  the  horrible,  I  have  christened  the  Creator, 
have  baptised  the  Omnipotent." 

The  wicked  pagan  actually  took  on  herself  to  act  as 
priest,  profanely  acted  as  christener,  baptised  her  cursed 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  37 

progeny  herself  on  her  aching  knee-point  with  her  aching 
palm.  She  gave  names  to  her  acquisitions,  arranged  her 
children  as  all  do  with  their  progeny,  with  the  offspring 
they  have  brought  forth.  She  called  the  girl  Tuuletar 
(Wind's  daughter),  gave  her  the  name  of  Vihmatar  (Drizzle's 
daughter),  then  appoints  her  son,  one  for  this,  another 
for  that.  She  squeezed  one  into  a  boil,  made  another 
so  that  he  became  a  scab,  pricked  one  so  that  he  became 
pleurisy  (or  stitch),  formed  another  into  the  gout,  forced 
one  so  that  he  became  the  gripes,  chased  another  so  that 
he  became  fits,  crushed  one  so  that  he  became  the  plague, 
mangled  another  so  that  he  became  rickets.  One  re- 
mained without  having  received  a  name,  a  boy  at  the  very 
bottom  of  the  batch,  a  mouthless,  eyeless  brat.  After- 
wards she  ordered  him  into  the  tremendous  Rutja  rapids, 
into  its  *  fiery'  surge.  From  him  were  bitter  frosts  bred, 
by  him  were  the  Syojatars  (ogresses)  begotten,  from  him 
f»roceed  other  forms  of  harm.  He  begat  the  witches  on 
the  waters,  the  sorcerers  in  every  dell,  the  jealous  ones  in 
every  place,  in  the  tremendous  Rutja  rapids,  in  its  '  fier}-' 
surge. 

(^.) 

A  blind  girl  of  Tuonela  \y.  Pohjola],  a  wholly  blind  one 
of  Ulappala  \ik  a  hideous  child  of  Manala],  the  origin  of 
every  ill,  of  thousands  of  destructive  acts,  sits  with  her 
back  \zK  breast]  towards  the  east,  passes  her  time  with  her 
head  towards  the  south,  her  feet  directed  towards  the 
west,  her  hips  towards  the  north-west.  A  wind  began  to 
blow,  the  horizon  to  storm.  The  wind  blew  against  her 
hips,  a  chill  wind  against  her  lower  limbs.  The  west 
wind  blew,  the  north-west  wind  dashed,  the  north  wind 
crashed  through  her  bones  and  limbs ;  the  wind  blew 
upon  her,  the  chill  wind  \_v.  dawn  of  day]  quickened 
her. 

Thereby  Tuoni's  swarthy  girl  became  big,  became  round 


38  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

and  large.  Thus  she  carried  a  wame  full  of  suffering  for 
two  summers,  for  three,  she  carried  it  for  seven  summers, 
for  eight  years  at  any  rate,  for  nine  years  altogether,  less 
nine  nights.  So  in  the  ninth  year  she  is  seized  with  pains 
of  travail,  is  struck  down  by  woman's  throes,  is  pierced 
with  a  young  woman's  anguish. 

To  find  rest  she  started  off  to  an  iron  rock,  a  steelly 
mountain  at  the  centre  of  the  Hill  of  Pain,  the  summit  of 
Pain  Mountain.  She  could  not  find  rest  there.  She 
shifted  her  position,  tried  to  ease  her  on  the  top  of  a 
silver  mountain,  the  summit  of  a  golden  mountain.  The 
deliverance  is  not  effected,  the  pains  are  not  reduced. 

She  tried  to  reduce  her  wame,  to  lighten  it  by  a  half 
in  the  interval  between  two  rocks,  the  recess  between 
three  boulders,  inside  the  fiery  walls  of  a  stone  oven, 
inside  an  oaken  barrel  with  iron  hoops,  at  the  brink  of 
'  fiery'  rapids,  in  the  eddy  of  a  '  holy'  river.  In  none  of 
these  does  her  wame  reduce,  does  the  wretch's  wame 
become  lighter. 

She  dashed  aside  into  the  sea,  into  the  den  of  a  water 
Hiisi,  the  pen  of  a  hidden  bugbear,  the  huts  of  the  nixies. 
She  ran  knee-deep  into  the  sea,  up  to  her  garter  into  the 
wet,  up  to  her  belt-clasp  into  the  wave.  There  she  shouted 
and  holloed  to  the  perch,  the  roach,  to  all  the  fishes  of 
the  water :  "  O  little  ruff,  bring  thy  slaver,  dear  burbot,  thy 
slime  to  me  that  am  in  *  Hiisi's  sultry  heat'  [z'. 'in  hell  fire'], 
in  the  '  fire'  of  the  evil  power." 

She  begat  nine  sons  in  the  vicinity  of  one  rapid,  the 
proximity  of  one  sound,  on  one  stone  surrounded  by  water, 
all  at  one  birth  from  one  impletion  of  the  womb. 

She  sought  for  some  one  to  christen,  to  baptise  them, 
carried  them  to  the  best  of  priests,  took  them  to  sacristans. 
The  priests  refuse,  the  sacristans  will  not  consent  to  give 
them  names.  The  priests  solemnly  replied,  the  sacristans 
spoke  firmly  :  "  For  this  we  have  not  been  ordained,  we 
have  not  been  assigned  to  christen  the  iniquitous,  to  baptise 
the  horrible." 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  39 

When  she  could  get  no  baptist,  no  priest  that  would 
give  them  names,  she  made  herself  a  christener,  undertook 
the  office  of  baptist.  So  she  christened  her  acquisitions, 
bewitched  her  progeny,  gave  names  to  her  offspring,  in- 
cited them,  transformed  one  into  a  wolf,  turned  another 
into  a  snake,  made  a  third  into  a  cancer,  a  fourth  into  ring- 
worm (F.  forest's  nose),  the  others  into  harmful  things, 
called  one  the  thrush,  formed  another  into  a  cripple,  another 
into  a  tooth-worm,  another  into  a  heart-eater,  another  into 
woman's  enemy. 

The  prodigious  maiden  Akaatar  \y.  Naata,  the  youngest 
of  girls],  whose  hair-plait  reaches  to  her  heels,  whose 
breasts  hang  down  in  IVont  to  her  knees,  caused  her  skirt 
to  flap  on  the  summit  of  Pain  \i>.  Help]  Mountain,  at  the 
centre  of  the  Hill  of  Pain  \y.  Help].  As  no  help  resulted 
from  that  during  the  approach  of  the  pains  of  labour  she 
sprang  aside  into  the  sea,  rushed  sideways  into  the 
waves. 

A  bearded  sea-monster  {tiirsas)  met  the  maiden  on  the 
turgid  foam  of  the  sea,  the  froth  of  the  surging  water. 
He  made  the  girl  his  own,  he  quickened  her.  There- 
upon a  birth  took  place  afterwards,  an  evil  progeny  was 
born. 

When  the  time  of  her  confinement  drew  nigh,  she  came 
to  the  rooms  of  Pohjola,  the  bath-house  floors  of  Sariola, 
to  be  delivered  of  her  children  ;  to  bring  forth  her  off- 
spring at  the  far  end  of  the  bath-room  ridge-pole,  on  the 
bath-room  couch.  She  gave  birth  to  a  swarm  of  boys, 
produced  a  flock  of  children  while  present  in  one  bath- 
room, while  they  raised  a  steam  once,  at  one  heating  of 
the  bath,  by  the  glimmer  of  one  moon,  while  one  cock 
crowed. 

She  hid  her  children,  concealed  her  acquisitions  in  a 
copper  vat,  a  '  fiery'  washing-tub,  under  five  woollen  cover- 


40  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

lets,  eight  long  overcoats.  She  gives  names  to  the  evil 
brats,  attached  a  name  to  each  ;  she  propped  up  one  for 
him  to  become  wind,  poked  another  to  become  fire,  ap- 
pointed one  to  be  sharp  frost,  scattered  another  to  become 
a  fall  of  snow,  tore  one  to  become  rickets,  designated 
another  the  worm,  struck  one  to  become  a  cancrous  sore, 
another  to  become  a  heart-eater,  one  to  eat  furtively, 
another  to  stab  openly,  to  claw  the  limbs  with  violence,  to 
cause  an  aching  in  the  joints,  formed  one  to  become  gout 
and  gave  a  plane  into  his  hands,  pricked  another  to  become 
pleurisy,  putting  arrows  into  his  fist,  spears  into  his  wicker- 
basket,  the  horses  neighed  when  struck  with  their  points, 
when  the  fiends  had  laid  hands  upon  foals.  She  sends 
bitter  frost  away  and  caused  him  to  sweep  the  sea,  to 
brush  the  waves  with  a  besom. 


Tuoni's  girl,  a  stumpy,  swarthy  lassie  with  shaven  head, 
was  crushing  iron  seeds,  pounding  nibs  of  steel  in  an  iron 
mortar  with  a  steel-tipped  pestle  in  a  doorless,  windowless 
smithy.  What  she  had  crushed  she  sifted,  and  raised  up 
a  dust  to  the  sky. 

A  furious  old  crone  \y.  Louhiatar,  the  strong  woman] 
ate  these  groats,  swallowed  the  iron  hail,  the  titurated  bits 
of  steel,  and  carried  a  wame  full  of  sufferings  for  three 
full  years  [7'.  for  thirty  summers],  less  three  days  \y.  and 
for  as  many  winters]. 

She  sought  for  a  lying-in  place  near  an  ornamented 
hundred-planked  church,  in  the  house  of  a  dead  man,  the 
house  of  a  deceased,  but  found  no  place  there.  She 
sought  for  one  here,  sought  for  one  there,  at  last  she  found 
a  suitable  place  in  the  bloody  hut  of  Hiitola,  where  pigs 
were  being  killed.  There  she  reduced  her  wame,  brought 
forth  her  progeny  to  become  all  sorts  of  sicknesses,  a 
thousand  causes  of  injur}'. 


Magic  Soiigs  of  the  Finns.  41 


XLiv. — The  Origin  of  Law  Courts. 

The  devil  made  his  nest,  the  Evil  One  his  lair  in  the 
house  of  a  landed  proprietor,  before  the  dwelling  of  a  judge, 
on  the  rafter  of  a  sheriff,  on  the  floor  of  jurymen,  in  the 
long  sleeves  of  a  bishop,  the  shirt-collar  of  a  priest.  There 
he  engendered  his  children,  begat  his  offspring  to  become 
sources  of  law-suits  for  the  rich,  to  become  law-courts  for 
the  poor  [v.  as  a  means  for  landed  proprietors  to  become 
rich,  as  a  means  for  destroying  the  poor]. 


XLV. — Of  Particles  of  Chaff  that  get  into 
THE  Eyes. 

A  pearl  dropped  from  the  Lord,  fell  with  a  crash  from  the 
Omnipotent,  from  the  sky  above,  from  the  hollow  of  Jesus' 
hand  down  on  the  edge  of  Osmo's  \v.  a  holy]  field,  the  un- 
ploughed  edge  of  Pellervoinen's.  Afterwards  a  birth  took 
place  from  it,  a  family  was  bred,  bent  grass  grew  from  it, 
a  husk  of  chaff  was  formed.  It  rose  from  the  earth  like 
a  strawberry,  grew  like  a  three-branched  one,  being  formed 
to  branch  by  cleared  land  on  which  fir  branches  lie,  made 
to  grow  by  land  that  has  been  cleared,  rocked  to-and  fro 
by  a  whirl  of  wind,  suckled  by  bitter  frost,  drawn  up  by  its 
top  by  the  Creator,  nourished  by  the  Almighty. 


xLvi. — The  Origin  of  Rust  in  Corn. 

A  cold-throated  old  wife  of  the  North  slept  a  long  time 
in  the  cold,  in  a  mossy  swamp.  When  she  awoke  from 
sleep  she  caused  her  petticoat  to  flap,  the  bottom  of  her  dress 
to  twirl,  rubbed  together  her  two  palms,  scrubbed  both  of 
them.     From  that  blood  dropped,  rolled  down  to  the  mossy 


42  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

swamp.  An  evil  brood  came  from  it,  wretched  rust  origi- 
nated from  it,  sprang  up  in  grassy  spots  at  the  steps  of  the 
ploughman. 


xLvii. — The  Origin  of  Salt. 

Whence  is  the  origin  of  Finland's  salt,  the  growth  of 
pungent  rock-salt  (F.  hail)  ?  The  origin  of  Finland's  salt, 
the  growth  of  pungent  rock-salt,  is  this  :  Ukko,  god  of  the 
sky,  the  mighty  lord  of  the  air  himself  struck  fire  in  the 
sky,  a  spark  shot  down  into  the  sea,  was  drifted  by  waves, 
dissolved  into  rock-salt.  Hence  the  great  pieces  of  salt 
originated,  out  of  that  the  heavy  pieces  of  rock-salt  grew. 


XLviii. — The  Origin  of  Salves, 

A  field-boy  living  very  far  to  the  north  started  off  to 
prepare  a  salve.  He  encountered  a  fir-tree,  questioned 
and  addressed  it.  "  Is  there  any  honey  in  thy  boughs,  any 
virgin  honey  beneath  thy  bark  to  serve  as  salve  for  hurts, 
as  embrocation  for  sores  V 

The  fir  hastily  replied  :  "  There  is  no  honey  in  my 
boughs,  no  virgin  honey  beneath  my  bark.  Thrice  in 
summer,  during  this  wretched  summer  season  a  raven 
croaked  upon  my  crown,  a  snake  lay  at  my  root,  winds 
blew  past  me,  the  sun  shone  through  me." 

He  goes  his  way,  keeps  stepping  forwards,  finds  an  oak 
on  a  trampled  plain,  makes  inquiry  of  his  oak :  "  Is  there 
any  honey  in  thy  boughs,  any  virgin  honey  beneath  thy 
bark  to  serve  as  salve  for  hurts,  as  embrocation  for  sores :" 
The  oak  made  answer  intelligently :  "  There  is  honey  in 
my  boughs,  virgin  honey  beneath  my  bark.  Upon  a  pre- 
vious day,  indeed,  virgin  honey  dripped  on  my  boughs,  honey 
trickled  on  my  crown  from  gently  drizzling  clouds,  from 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  45 

fleeting  ^^^.O-cy  clouds  ;  then  from  my  boughs  it  fell  upon 
my  leafy  twigs  and  in  under  my  bark." 

He  gathered  branches  of  the  oak,  peeled  off  the  bark, 
plucked  goodly  herbs,  many  plants  of  diverse  aspect  such 
as  are  never  seen  in  these  lands,  that  do  not  grow  in  every 
place.  He  put  a  pot  upon  the  fire,  brought  to  boiling- 
point  the  brew  w^hich  was  full  of  oak  bark,  of  herbs  of 
diverse  aspect.  The  pot  boiled  and  crackled  for  three 
whole  nights,  for  three  summer  days.  Then  he  tried  the 
salves  to  see  whether  the  unguents  were  efficacious,  the 
charmed  remedies  reliable.  The  salves  are  not  efficacious 
the  charmed  remedies  are  not  reliable. 

He  added  more  herbs,  more  plants  of  diverse  aspect  that 
had  been  brought  from  other  parts  a  hundred  stages  back, 
from  nine  wizards,  from  eight  diviners.  He  boiled  them 
three  nights  more,  three  summer  days,  then  raises  the  pot 
from  the  fire  and  tries  the  salves.  The  unguents  are  not 
efficacious,  the  charmed  remedies  not  reliable. 

He  put  the  pot  upon  the  fire  to  let  it  simmer  anew,  and 
boiled  it  for  three  nights  more,  for  nine  nights  altogether^ 
He  scans  the  salves,  scans  them,  tries  them.  There  w^as 
a  branchy  aspen  growing  on  the  headland  of  a  ploughed 
field  ;  the  brutal  fellow  broke  it  in  two,  divided  it  in  twain, 
then  anointed  it  with  the  salves,  with  the  charmed  remedies. 
The  aspen  was  made  whole  again,  became  better  than 
before.  Again  he  made  trial  of  the  salves,  again  proved 
the  magic  remedies,  tried  them  upon  the  rifts  in  a  stone,, 
upon  the  splinters  of  a  flagstone.  In  a  trice  stones  stick 
to  stones,  flagstones  begin  to  unite  with  flagstones. 

John,  the  priest  of  God,  gathered  herbs,  plucked  plants 
by  the  thousand  such  as  do  not  grow  in  these  lands,  in 
Lapland's  wretched  border-lands,  in  luckless  Bothnia,  where 
they  do  not  know  or  see  the  growth  of  every  herb. 

In   summer  he  prepared   unguents,  in    winter   he    con- 


44  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

cocted  salves  beside  a  variegated  stone,  near  a  thick  flag- 
stone, nine  fathoms  in  circumference  and  seven  fathoms 
wide.  These  are  the  efficacious  salves,  the  reliable  charmed 
remedies  with  which  I  anoint  the  sick  and  heal  a  person 
that  is  hurt. 

An  ointment  made  of  every  sort  of  thing  becomes 
powerful  by  the  ordinance  of  the  Father  and  Creator,  by 
the  permission  of  God.  On  the  earth  there  are  many 
sorts  of  herbs,  there  are  efficacious  plants  which  a  helpless 
man  takes,  a  destitute  person  plucks  to  use  as  salves  for 
the  sick,  as  embrocation  for  wounds. 

Where  are  ointments  prepared,  where  are  honeyed  un- 
guents rightly  confected  to  serve  as  liniment  upon  a  sore, 
as  a  remedy  for  hurts?  Ointments  are  prepared,  honeyed 
unguents  are  rightly  confected  above  the  nine  heavens, 
behind  the  stars  in  the  sky,  near  the  moon,  in  a  crack  in 
the  sun,  on  the  shoulder  of  the  Great  Bear.  Thence  may 
the  ointment  trickle  down,  may  a  drop  of  honey  drip  from 
under  the  mouth  of  gracious  God,  from  under  the  beard  of 
the  Blessed.  It  is  an  efficacious  salve  for  every  kind  of 
injury,  for  the  fearful  traces  left  by  fire,  for  places  wholly 
burnt  by  Panu  (fire),  for  frost-bites  caused  by  bitter  frost, 
for  places  touched  by  cruel  wind  ;  it  is  a  salve  to  put  on 
the  grievous  wounds  caused  by  iron,  on  injuries  produced 
by  steel,  upon  the  stabs  of  Piru's  pike,  upon  the  mark  left 
by  Keito's  spear. 

w 

A  blue  '  cloud'  looms,  a  (rain)bow  is  visible  afar  off, 
-comes  forth  from  the  south,  opens  up  towards  \z).  from] 
the  north-west.  A  little  girl  is  upon  the  *  cloud',  a  maiden 
.on  the  bow's  edge  ;  she  smooths  her  hair,  brushes  her 
locks.  From  her  the  milk  appears,  from  her  breast  it  over- 
flows.    It  flowed  down  upon  the  ground  upon   a  honey- 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  45 

dropping  mead,  upon  the  headland  of  a  honeyed  field. 
From  it  salves  are  obtained  to  serve  as  ointments  for  sores, 
as  embrocations  for  wounds. 

A  girl  was  born  upon  a  field  run  wild,  a  youthful  maiden 
upon  a  grassy  spot.  She  throve  without  being  nursed, 
grew  up  without  being  suckled.  She  sank  down  ex- 
hausted to  repose  upon  a  nameless  meadow,  lay  down  to 
sleep  upon  a  grassy  knoll,  fell  fast  asleep  upon  a  honeyed 
mead.  Unwittingly  she  slept  a  long  time,  sleep  deceived 
her,  she  expired.  Between  the  furrows  a  herb  grew  up,, 
a  triangular  herb.  It  contains  water  and  honey,  and  is 
a  splendid  salve  to  rub  upon  a  wound,  to  use  as  a  liniment 
upon  hurts, 

(/) 

Vuotar,  the  ointment-maker,  concocted  salves  in  summer 
in  the  delightful  Forest  Home  (Metsola),  at  a  steadfast 
mountain's  edge.  There  was  delightful  honey  there,  and 
efficacious  water  from  which  she  prepares  ointment.  Ma}' 
it  now  come  to  hand  to  serve  as  salve  for  wounds,  as 
liniment  for  sores. 

An  ox  grew  up  in  Karelia  \zk  Kainuhu],  a  bull  grew  fat 
in  Finland  ;  its  head  roared  in  Tavastland,  its  tail  wagged 
in  Tormis.  For  a  whole  day  a  swallow  was  flying  from  its 
withers  to  the  end  of  its  tail ;  for  a  whole  month  a  squirrel 
was  running  the  distance  between  the  horns  of  the  ox, 
though  without  reaching  the  end,  without  reaching  the 
goal. 

They  searched  for  someone  to  strike,  made  quest  for 
one  to  slay  the  ox.  A  swarthy  man  rose  from  the  sea,. 
a  full-grown  man  uprose  from  the  wave,  a  quarter  of  an  ell 
in  height,  as  tall  as  a  woman's  span.  Directly  he  saw  his 
prey,  he  of  a  sudden  broke  its  neck,  brought  the  bull  upon 


46  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

its  knees,  made  it  fall  sideways  to  the  ground.  From  it 
•ointments  are  obtained,  charmed  remedies  are  taken  with 
which  sores  are  besprinkled  and  injuries  are  healed. 

(/a) 

Jesus  thither,  Jesus  hither  ;  may  Jesus  come  into  every 
dwelling,  may  lovely  Jesus  be  the  watcher  and  the  best  of 
healers.  The  guiltless  blood  of  Jesus  and  the  sweet  milk 
of  Mary  mingled  together  as  a  liniment  for  sores  is  the 
most  precious  charmed  remedy,  is  the  most  efficient  oint- 
ment, one  that  is  of  value  under  all  circumstances,  and  is 
pleasant  in  food. 


xLix. — The  Origin  of  Sharp  Frost. 

{a) 

Sharp  Frost  !  of  evil  race  and  an  evil-mannered  son,  shall 
I  now  mention  thy  family,  shall  I  announce  thy  character? 
I  know  thy  family  origin,  I  know  thy  bringing  up.  Sharp 
Frost  was  born  among  willow-trees.  Hard  Weather  in 
a  birch  clump  of  an  ever-devastating  sire,  of  a  useless 
mother  at  the  side  of  a  cold  heap  of  stones,  in  the  recess  of 
a  lump  of  ice. 

Who  suckled  Sharp  Frost,  who  nourished  Hard  Weather, 
as  his  mother  had  no  milk  ?  A  snake  suckled  Sharp 
Frost,  Hard  Weather  nourished  him,  a  snake  fed  him,  a 
viper  suckled  him,  a  worm  treated  him  to  milk  from  a 
dry  breast ;  the  North  Wind  rocked  him  to-and-fro.  Chill 
Weather  put  him  to  sleep  near  evil  brooks  lined  with 
willows,  upon  unthawed  morasses.  Hence  he  grew  hard 
and  rough,  grew  exceeding  proud  ;  the  boy  became  evil- 
mannered  and  of  a  destructive  disposition. 

Up  to  this  the  lubberly  boy  had  no  name.  Afterwards 
they  christened  the  child,  carried  him  to  baptism  to  a 
bubbling  spring,  to  the  centre  of  a  golden  rock.     A  name 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  47 

was  given  to  the  wretch,  was  bestowed  upon  the  rascal. 
They  named  him  Sharp  Frost,  Ear-sweller,  Nail-smarter, 
Demander  of  toes. 

The  swarthy  old  wife  of  the  North,  Raani,  the  mother 
of  Sharp  F"rost,  seated  herself  with  her  breast  eastwards, 
lay  with  her  back  windwards.  She  looks  about,  turns 
here  and  there,  glanced  due  north,  and  saw  how  the  moon 
was  rising  to  the  circle  (of  the  sky),  how  the  sun  was 
ascending  to  the  vault  of  heaven.  The  wind  quickened 
her,  the  dawn  of  day  made  her  with  child. 

What  is  she  carrying  within  ?  She  carried  three  boy 
children.  She  gave  birlh  to  her  sons,  was  confined  of  her 
children  at  the  far  end  of  an  outhouse  in  Pohjola,  at  the 
end  of  a  hut  in  Pimentola. 

She  invited  the  Creator  to  baptise  them,  God  to  give 
them  names.  As  the  Creator  never  came,  she  baptised  her 
rascals  herself.  One  she  named  Tuuletar,  another  Viimatar, 
the  last,  a  malignant  boy,  she  named  Sharp  Frost,  who 
demands  (people's)  nails,  who  covets  after  feet. 

The  Hiisi  folk  held  a  wedding,  the  evil  crew  a  drinking- 
bout.  For  the  wedding  they  killed  a  horse,  for  their  feast 
a  long-maned  horse ;  its  blood  was  sprinkled  behind  the 
forge  of  Hiitola;  the  fume  rose  to  the  sky,  the  vapour 
ascended  into  the  air,  then  scattered  into  clouds,  formed 
itself  into  Sharp  Frost. 

The  filly  \v.  Tapio's  daughter],  Snow  White,  suckled 
Sharp  Frost.  Sharp  Frost,  the  evil  offspring,  sucked  so 
that  her  shoulder  split,  that  her  milk  ran  dry. 

The  boy  got  nursed,  was  christened,  was  baptised  in 
a  silver  river  \y.  in  the  river  Jordan],  in  a  golden  ring  [f.  in 
an  eddy  of  the  holy  stream].  The  name  of  Kuljus  \v. 
Kuhjus]    was    given    him,  boy  Kuljus    was  the  name   for 


48  Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns. 

Sharp  Frost.  Sharp  Frost  himself  is  a  Kuljus,  the  rest  of 
his  kinsmen  are  Kuljuses. 

The  Creator  took  him  to  heaven,  but  Kuljus  thought : 
It  is  troublesome  being  in  a  hot  place,  a  great  distress 
living  in  the  heat.  The  Creator  flung  him  into  a  spring,  so 
Kuljus  dwelt  in  the  spring,  sprawled  on  his  back  the  whole 
summer. 

From  the  sky  the  Creator  uttered  :  "  Arise  now,  youth, 
and  get  thee  hence  to  flatten  a  grassy  plain."  Kuljus 
issued  from  the  spring,  began  to  dwell  near  fences,  to 
whirl  himself  about  on  gates.  He  bit  trees  till  they  became 
leafless,  grass  till  they  lost  their  husky  scales,  human 
beings  till  they  became  bloodless. 


L. — The  Origin  of  Stones. 
(«.) 
A  stone  is  the  son  of  Kimmo  Kammo,  is  an  ^^^  of  the 
earth,  a  clod  of  a  ploughed  field,  is  the  offspring  of  Kim- 
mahatar  \i'.  Huorahatar],  the  production  of  Vuolahatar,. 
the  heart's  core  of  Syojatar,  a  slice  of  Mammotar's  liver,. 
a  growth  of  Aijotar,  the  small  spleen  of  Joukahainen. 

{bi) 
Who  knew  a  stone  to  be  a  stone  when  it  was  like 
a  barleycorn,  when  it  rose  as  a  strawberry  from  the  earth, 
as  a  bilberry  from  the  side  \v.  root]  of  a  tree,  or  when  it 
dangled  in  a  fleecy  cloud,  hid  itself  within  the  clouds, 
came  to  the  earth  from  the  sky,  fell  as  a  scarlet  ball  of 
thread,  came  wobbling  like  an  oaten  ball,  came  rolling  like 
a  wheaten  lump  through  banks  of  cloud,  through  red 
(rain)bows?     A  fool  terms  it  a  stone,  names  it  an  earth- 

LI. — The  Origin  of  Water. 
{a) 
The  origin  of  water  is  known  as  well  as  the  genesis  of 


Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns.  49 

dew.  Water  came  from  the  sky,  from  the  clouds  in  small 
drops  ;  then  it  appeared  in  a  mountain,  grew  in  the  crevice 
of  a  rock.  Vesi-viitta  (Water-cloak),  Vaitta's  son,  Suo- 
viitta  (Swamp-cloak),  the  son  of  Kaleva,  dug  water  from 
a  rock,  let  water  gush  from  a  mountain  by  means  of  his 
gold  stick,  his  copper  staff. 

When  it  had  gushed  from  the  mountain,  had  issued 
from  the  cliff,  the  water  wavered  like  a  spring,  ran  off  in 
little  rills.  Afterwards  it  increased  in  size,  began  to  flow 
as  a  river,  to  dash  noisily  along  as  a  stream,  to  thunder  like 
rapids  into  the  huge  sea,  into  the  open  main. 

ibi) 

Fire's  genesis  is  from  the  sky,  iron's  origin  is  from  iron 
ore  (in  Finnish,  rust),  water's  origin  is  from  the  clouds. 
Water  is  the  eldest  of  the  brothers,  fire  the  youngest  of  the 
daughters,  iron  is  intermediate.  This  water  is  from  the 
Jordan,  is  drawn  from  the  river  Jordan,  from  a  rushing 
noisy  stream,  from  roaring  rapids.  With  it  Christ  was 
christened,  the  Almighty  was  baptized. 

Water  is  the  son  of  Vuolamoinen,  the  offspring  of  Vuo- 
lamotar,  is  the  washing-water  of  Jesus,  the  tears  of  the  son 
of  God  which  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  dear  mother,  the  holy 
little  maid,  brought  from  the  river  Jordan,  from  an  eddy  of 
the  holy  stream. 

John  Abercromby. 


VOL.  IV 


MAY-DAY   IN    CHELTENHAM. 


I  GIVE  a  short  account  of  the  May-Day  revels  in 
Cheltenham,  as  1  saw  them  on  the  2nd  of  May  last 
year.  The  ist  being  Sunday,  they  had  been  put  off  till 
the  next  day.  Some  few  facts  which  I  gained  by  inquiry 
I  put  in  their  place,  with  my  informant's  name. 


The  dancers  are  the  chimney-sweeps  of  the  town,  two  of 
whom,  dressed  in  ordinary  clothes,  but  with  faces  blacked, 
play  on  a  fiddle  and  a  tin-whistle  for  the  dancing.  The 
centre  of  the  group  is  formed  by  a  large  bush  :  on  a  frame- 
work of  wood  leaves  are  fastened,  so  as  to  make  a  thick 
cone  of  them,  about  six  feet  high,  topped  with  a  crown 


May-Day  in  Cheltenham.  51 

made  out  of  two  hoops  of  wood  covered  with  flowers, 
fastened  crosswise.  The  mass  of  leaves  is  only  broken  at 
one  place,  where  there  is  an  opening  contained  by  a  straight 
line  and  the  arc  of  a  circle,  like  a  ticket  office,  through 
which  peers  the  face  of  Jack-i'-the-Green,  or  the  Bush- 
carrier.i  Jack  advances  halfway  down  the  street,  and  then 
sets  down  the  bush.  Three  young  men  of  the  party  are 
attached,  so  to  speak,  to  the  bush,  and  now  begin  to  dance 
round  it.  Their  faces  are  blackened  ;  they  are  crowned 
with  complete  caps  (not  garlands)  made  of  all  manner  of 
leaves  and  flowers.  Their  dresses  are  red,  blue,  and  yellow 
respectively,  each  of  one  colour ;  loose-fitting  bodices  and 
trousers  of  calico,  with  flower-patterns  upon  them.  These 
dance  lightly  round  the  bush,  turning  always  towards  their 
left,  in  a  tripping  polka-step,  three  trips  and  a  pause, 
mostly  straight  forward,  but  with  a  turn  round  now  and 
then.  I  am  informed  that  they  always  dance  in  the  same 
direction. 

The  rest  of  the  party  are  two  boys  and  two  men,  most 
fantastically  dressed  :  it  is  almost  impossible  to  describe 
the  dresses.  The  leader  of  the  whole  procession — the 
Clown — wears  a  tall  hat,  whose  crown  has  been  cut  almost 
round,  and  turned  back,  like  the  lid  of  a  meat-tin.  To 
this  flapping  crown  is  fastened  what  looks  like  a  bird  or 
a  bundle  of  feathers,  and  a  few  long  ribbons  hang  from 
it ;  there  is  a  wide  pink  ribbon  fastened  round  the  hat  by 
the  brim,  with  a  large  blue  bird's-wing  in  front,  the  feather 
end  rising  to  the  crown.  Over  a  dress  of  chequered  calico 
and  trousers  of  red  and  black  stripes,  is  a  very  large  white 
pinafore,  reaching  from  the  neck  to  the  knees,  and  fastened 
by  one  or  two  knots  behind.  Across  the  front  run  two 
fringes  of  coloured  stuff,  below  the  waist ;  and  at  the 
bottom  is  a  yellow  frill.  This  he  used  to  flap  and  make 
quaint  gestures  with,  now  and  then  fanning  himself  lan- 
guidly ;     indeed,  this   personage   greatly    fancies   himself 

^  This  is  not  to  be  distinguished  in  the  picture.  The  space  at  the 
top  is  formed  by  the  loops  of  the  crown. 

£  2 


52  May- Day  in   Chclienhajn. 

His  face  is  stained  by  large  black  rings  round  the  eyes, 
and  a  red  dab  over  mouth  and  chin. 

The  second  man  wears  a  red  fool's-cap,  with  a  tassel,  all 
stuck  with  flowers.  On  the  right  and  left  breast  of  his 
white  pinafore  are  stuck  or  painted  black  figures,  meant 
for  human  beings  ;  and  behind,  a  large  black  pattern  in 
the  shape  of  a  gridiron,  with  a  red  bar  crossing  it  diagon- 
ally. 

The  two  boys  have  white  pinafores,  with  similar  figures, 
or  stars,  on  the  breast,  and  a  fish  on  the  back  ;  their  white 
pinafores  are  cut  away  in  the  shape  of  swallow-tail  coats, 
the  tails  flying  out  behind.  One  wore  a  girl's  hat  stuck 
with  flowers. 

Most  or  all  of  these  last  five  carried  in  the  left  hand  an 
iron  ladle  or  spoon  with  holes  pierced  in  the  bowl,  which 
they  held  out  for  contributions  ;  in  the  right  they  had 
a  stick,  with  some  kind  of  a  bladder  hung  on  to  the  end. 
Whirling  this,  they  ran  about,  and  tried  to  strike  the 
passers-by,  who  scampered  off,  shrieking,  as  hard  as  they 
could  go.  They  sometimes  danced,  sometimes  roared,  and 
pretended  to  bite  any  child  who  ventured  too  near.  Their 
faces,  like  their  leader's,  were  painted  in  divers  colours, 
fearful  and  wonderful  to  behold. 

I  received  some  more  information  from  Mr.  Ames,  a 
chimney-sweep  living  in  Swindon  Road,  Cheltenham. 
He  says  he  used  to  go  out  along  with  them,  and  his  father 
before  him.  They  always  wear  the  same  kind  of  dresses  ; 
but  the  details  are  sometimes  different.  The  gridiron  on 
the  cloztm^s  back,  however,  seems  to  be  traditional ;  at  any 
rate,  he  used  to  wear  the  same  when  Ames  had  a  part  in 
the  doings.  Formerly  there  used  to  be  a  song,  but  he 
could  not  remember  the  words.  There  used  to  be  "  pipe 
and  tabbor",  or  even  a  harp,  for  the  music.  There  were 
one  or  more  clowns,  who  poked  fun  at  each  other  and 
played  practical  jokes  on  the  spectators ;  sometimes 
climbing  to  the  upper  windows  and  making  grimaces, 
or  threatening  to  get   inside.      There   was   also  a  inait 


May- Day  in  Cheltenham.  53 

dressed  up  in  zvoman^s  clothes,  who  personated  the  Clowtis 
wife ;  and  the  whole  thing  wound  up  with  a  feast.  He 
recollects  no  maypole  nor  bonfires  in  this  district. 

He  gives  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
custom,  which  is  an  interesting  example  of  the  modern 
myth-making  faculty.  It  is  obviously  made  up  to  account 
for  the  fact  that  the  sweeps  get  up  the  May-Day  revels. 

"  It  was  a  lady  as  gave  'em  those  dresses,  sir ;  that 's 
how  it  was  they  began  to  goo  about  May-Day.  Her  son 
was  stoole  from  her,  as  they  say ;  and  she  was  a  tellin  of 
it  to  a  sweep,  as  his  boy  was  a  climbin  in  the  chimney ; 
that 's  how  they  had  a  used  to  do  it,  you  know.  An'  she 
was  a  lookin  at  the  lad,  an,  says  he — the  sweep,  that  is 
sir — '  Here  's  a  lad  o  mine  up  the  chimney  as  was  found'  ; 
and  down  a  come,  an  she  knawed  'n  be  a  mark  or  sum  mat 
on  'em,  sir.  An  so  she  give  'em  the  dresses,  and  got  up 
the  band  ;  an  'twas  o  the  ist  o  May,  as  they  say,  sir  ;  an 
that 's  how  it  come  so  as  the  sweeps  done  it." 

"  And  do  you  remember  it  ?" 

"  Ah  noo,  sir,  nor  my  father  neyther  ;  but  that 's  how  it 
was,  a  long  time  agoo." 

It  used  to  be  the  custom  in  London  for  the  sweeps  to 
get  up  the  May-Day  dances.  Companies  of  these  would 
make  a  pyramid  of  wicker-work,  of  a  sugar-loaf  shape, 
covered  with  flowers  and  leaves,  and  topped  with  a  crown  of 
flowers  and  ribbons.^  The  chimney-sweeps  appear  again 
in  Bavaria.2  That  the  same  used  to  be  true  of  Cambridge, 
is  shewn  by  the  rhyme  which  the  children  still  sing  about 
the  streets.  They  carry  a  female  doll,  hung  in  the  midst 
of  a  hoop,  which  is  wreathed  with  flowers,  and  they  sing 
withal  the  following  ditty  : 

The  first  of  May  is  garland  day, 
And  chimney-sweepers^  da?icing  day. 
Curl  your  hair  as  I  do  mine, 
One  before  and  one  behind. 

^  Mannhardt,  Baumhultus,  p.  332,  who  cites  authorities. 
2  Id.,  ib.,  p.  352. 


54  May-Day  in  Cheltenham, 

I  add  a  few  notes  jotted  down  in  September  1889  and 
in  1890. 

The  Black  Forest,  In  a  village  near  Fiirtivangeti.  The 
maypole  stands  all  the  year  round  by  the  inn.  When 
I  passed  through,  a  new  landlord  had  just  come  in.  The 
pole  bore  on  the  top  a  faded  wreath,  no  doubt  last 
May's  ;  and  below,  a  cross-tree  had  been  fixed  to  the 
pole,  bearing  upon  it  a  wreath  of  fresher  flowers,  which  I 
take  to  be  the  wreath  set  up  for  the  in-coming ;  while  a 
long  string  of  flowers  wound  about  the  pole  from  the  cross- 
tree  down  to  the  ground.  On  the  cross-tree  were  fixed 
wooden  models  of  a  wine-bottle,  wine-glass,  beer-glass, 
cup  and  saucer,  and  brodchen  ;  and  a  placard  was  affixed, 
reading  :  Glilck  tmd  Segen  dem  nenen  Wirth. 

Oberhannersbach.  Here,  too,  the  inn  had  a  new  land- 
lord. He  had  only  just  come  in,  as  I  well  remember  ;  for 
he  had  no  bed  for  me,  and  sent  me  another  five  miles' 
trudge  to  find  one.  On  the  steps  before  the  door  stood 
a  little  fir,  like  a  Christmas-tree,  the  branches  bound  with 
ribands  and  decked  out  prettily. 

In  Fi'eibtirg  (Baden),  in  the  Vosges,  and  at  Cologne, 
I  saw  instances  of  the  custom  of  placing  a  similar  fir-tree 
on  the  roof-ridge  or  other  part  of  a  house  while  building. 
In  one  instance  the  tree  was  planted  near  the  house  in  the 
ground. 

W.  H.  D.  Rouse. 


SACRED    WELLS  IN   IVALES? 


WHEN  I  suggested,  some  time  ago,  that  I  did  not 
know  that  the  habit  of  tying  rags  and  bits  of  cloth- 
ing to  the  branches  of  a  tree  growing  near  a  holy  well 
existed  in  Wales,  I  was,  as  I  have  discovered  since,  talking 
in  an  ignorance  for  which  I  can  now  find  no  adequate 
excuse.  For  I  have  since  then  obtained  information  to  the 
contrary  ;  the  first  item  being  a  communication  received 
last  June  from  Mr.  J.  H.  Davies  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford, 
relating  to  a  Glamorganshire  holy  well,  situated  near  the 
pathway  leading  from  Coychurch  to  Bridgend.  It  is 
the  custom  there,  he  states,  for  people  suffering  from  any 
malady  to  dip  a  rag  in  the  water,  and  to  bathe  the  affected 
part  of  the  body,  the  rag  being  then  placed  on  a  tree  close 
to  the  well.  When  Mr.  Davies  passed  that  way,  some 
three  years  previously,  there  were,  he  adds,  hundreds  of 
such  shreds  on  the  tree,  some  of  which  distinctly  presented 
the  appearance  of  having  been  placed  there  very  recenth'. 
The  well  is  called  Ffynnon  Cae  Moch;  and  a  later  commu- 
nication from  Mr.  Davies  embodies  his  notes  of  a  conver- 
sation which  he  had  about  the  well,  on  the  i6th  of  December, 
1892,  with  Mr.  J.  T.  Howell  of  Pencoed,  near  Bridgend, 
which  notes  run  thus : — "  Ffynnon  Cae  Illoc/i,  bet\vecn 
Coychurch  and  Bridgend,  is  one  mile  from  Coychurch,  \\ 
from  Bridgend,  near  Tremains.  It  is  within  twelve  or 
fifteen  yards  of  the  high  road,  just  where  the  pathway 
begins.  People  suffering  from  rheumatism  go  there.  They 
bathe  the  part  affected  with  water,  and  afterwards  tie  a 
piece  of  rag  to  the  tree  which  overhangs  the  well.     The 

1  Read  before  a  joint  meeting  of  the  Cymmrodoiion  and  Folk-lore 
Societies,  held  in  the  Cymmrodorion  Library,  Lonsdale  Chambers 
Chancery  Lane,  W.C,  on  Wednesday,  January  nth,  1S93. 


56  Sacred  Wells  in  Wales. 

rag  is  not  put  in  the  water  at  all,  but  is  only  put  on 
the  tree  for  luck.  It  is  a  stunted,  but  very  old  tree,  and  is 
simply  covered  with  rags." 

My  next  informant  is  Mr.  D.  J.  Jones  of  Jesus  College, 
Oxford,  a  native  of  the  Rhondda  Valley,  in  the  same  county 
of  Glamorgan.  His  information  is  to  the  effect  that  he 
knows  of  three  interesting  wells  in  the  county.  The  first 
is  situated  within  two  miles  of  his  home,  and  is  known 
as  Ffynnon  Pett  R/iys,  or  the  Well  of  Pen  Rhys.  The 
custom  there  is  that  the  person  who  wishes  his  health 
to  be  benefited  should  wash  in  the  water  of  the  well,  and 
throw  a  pin  into  it  afterwards.  He  next  mentions  a  well 
at  Llancarvan,  some  five  or  six  miles  from  Cowbridge, 
where  the  custom  prevails  of  tying  rags  to  the  branches 
of  a  tree  growing  close  at  hand.  Lastly,  he  calls  my 
attention  to  a  passage  in  Hanes  Morgamug,  *  The  History 
of  Glamorgan',  written  by  Mr.  D.  W.  Jones,  known  in 
Wales  as  Dafydd  Morgan wg.  In  that  work  the  author 
speaks  of  Ffynnori  Marcros,  '  the  Well  of  Marcros,'  to  the 
following  effect  : — "  It  is  the  custom  for  those  who  are 
healed  in  it  to  tie  a  shred  of  linen  or  cotton  to  the  branches 
of  a  tree  that  stands  close  by  ;  and  there  the  shreds  are, 
almost  as  numerous  as  the  leaves."  Marcros  is,  I  may  say, 
near  Nash  Point,  and  looks  on  the  map  as  if  it  were  about 
eight  miles  distant  from  Bridgend  ;  and  let  me  here  make  it 
clear  that  I  have  been  speaking  of  four  different  wells, 
three  of  which  are  severally  distinguished  by  the  presence 
of  a  tree  adorned  with  rags  left  on  it  by  those  who  seek 
health  in  the  waters  close  by ;  but  they  are  all  three,  as 
you  will  have  doubtless  noticed,  in  the  same  district, 
namely,  that  part  of  Glamorganshire  near  to — north  or  south 
of — the  G.W.R.  as  you  travel  towards  Milford  Haven.^ 

There  is  no  reason,  however,  to  think  that  the  custom  of 
tying  rags  to  a  well-tree  was  peculiar  to  that  part  of  the 
Principality.  I  came  lately,  in  looking  through  some  old 
notes  of  mine,  across  an  entry  bearing  the  date  of  the  7th 

^  On  hese  four  wells  cf.  Folk-Lore,  iii,  380- r 


Sacred  Wells  in   Wales.  57 

day  of  August  1887,  when  I  was  spending  a  few  days  with 
my  friend  Canon  Silvan  Evans,  at  Llanwrin  Rectory,  near 
Machynlleth.     Mrs.  Evans  was    then  alive  and  well,  and 
took  a  keen  interest  in  Welsh  antiquities  and   folk-lore. 
Among   other  things,  she   related   to    me   how    she   had, 
some  twenty  years  before,  visited  a  well  in  the  parish  of 
Llandrillo  yn   Rhos,  namely,  Ffynno7i   Eilian,  or  Elian's 
Well,  near  Abergele  in  Denbighshire,  when  her  attention 
was   directed  to  some  bushes  near  the  well,  which  had 
once  been  covered  with    bits  of  rags    left  by  those  who 
frequented  the  well.     This  was  told  Mrs.  Evans  by  an  old 
woman  of  seventy,  who,  on  being  questioned  by  Mrs.  Evans 
concerning  the  history  of  the  well,  informed  her  that  the 
rags  used  to  be  tied  to  the  bushes  by  means  of  wool.     She 
was  explicit  on  the  point  that  wool  had  to  be  used  for 
the  purpose,  and  that  even  woollen  yarn  would  not  do  :  it 
had  to  be  wool  in  its  natural  state.    The  old  woman  remem- 
bered this  to  have  been  the  rule  ever  since  she  was  a  child. 
Mrs.  Evans  noticed  corks  with  pins  stuck  in  them,  floating 
in  the  well,  and  her  informant  remembered  many  more  in 
years  gone  by  ;  for  Elian's  Well  was  once  in  great  repute 
as  a  ffyjtnon  rcibio,  or  a  well  to  which  people  resorted  for 
the  kindly  purpose  of  bewitching  those  whom  they  hated. 
I  infer,  however,  from  what  Mrs.  Evans  was  told  of  the 
rags,  that  Elian's  Well  was  visited,  not  only  by  the  mali- 
cious, but  also  by  the  sick  and  suffering.     My  note  is  not 
clear  on  the  point  whether  there  were  any  rags  on  the 
bushes  by   the  wxll  when   Mrs.   Evans  visited    the   spot, 
or  whether  she  was  only  told  of  them  by  her  informant. 
Even  in  the  latter  case  it  seems  evident  that  this  habit 
f  tying  rags  on  trees  or  bushes  near  sacred  wells  has  only 
ceased  in  that  part  of  Denbighshire  within  this  century. 
It  is  very  possible  that  it  continued  in  North  Wales  more 
recently  than  this  instance  would   lead  one  to   suppose  ; 
indeed,  I  should  not  be  in  the  least  surprised  to  learn  that 
it  is  still  practised  in  out-of-the-way  places  in  Gwynedd, 
just  as  it  is  in  Glamorgan.     We  want  more  facts. 

I  cannot  say  whether  it  was  customary  in  any  of  the 


58  Sacred  Wells  in   Wales. 

cases  to  which  I   have   called    your   attention,   not   only 
to  tie  rags  to  the  well-tree,  but  also  to  throw  pins  or  other 
small  objects  into  the  well  ;  but  I  cannot  help  adhering  to 
my  view  that  the  distinction  was  probably  an  ancient  one 
between  two  orders  of  things.      In  other  words,  I  am  still 
inclined  to  believe  that  the  rag  was  regarded  as  the  vehicle 
of  the  disease  of  which  the  ailing  visitor  to  the  well  wished  to 
be  rid,  and  that  the  bead,  button,  or  coin  deposited  by  him  in 
the  well,  or  in  a  receptacle  near  the  well,  alone  formed  the 
offering.     When  I  suggested  this  in  connection  with  certain 
wells  in   the  Isle  of  Man,  the  President  of  the  Folk-lore 
Society  remarked  as  follows  (FOLK-LORE,  iii,  89)  : — "There 
is  some  evidence  against  that,  from  the  fact  that  in  the  case 
of  some  wells,  especially  in  Scotland  at  one  time,  the  whole 
garment  was  put  down  as  an  offering.     Gradually  these 
offerings  of  clothes  became   less  and  less,  till  they  came 
down  to  rags.    Also,  in  other  parts,  the  geographical  distri- 
bution of  rag-offerings  coincides  with  the  existence  of  mono- 
liths and  dolmens."     As  to  the  monoliths  and  dolmens,  I 
am  too  little  conversant  with  the  facts  to  feel  sure  that  I 
understand  the  President's  reference  ;  so  perhaps  he  would 
not    mind    amplifying   this    remark    at    some    opportune 
moment.    But  as  to  his  suggestion  that  the  rag  originally 
meant   the  whole    garment,  that  will  suit  my  hypothesis 
admirably ;    in    other  words,   the  whole  garment  was,   as 
I  take  it,  the  vehicle  of  the  disease :  the  whole  garment 
was  accursed,  and  not  merely  a  part  of  it.     The  President 
has  returned  to  the  question  in  his  excellent  address;  and  I 
must  at  once  admit  that  he  has  succeeded  in  proving  that 
a  certain   amount  of  confusion  is  made    between  things 
which  I  regard  as  belonging  originally  to  distinct  categories  : 
witness  the  inimitable  Irish  instance  which  he  quoted  : — 
"  To  St.  Columbkill  I  offer  up  this  button,  a  bit  o'  the  waist- 
band o'  my  own  breeches,  an'  a  taste  o'  my  wife's  petticoat, 
in  remimbrance  of  us  havin'  made  this  holy  station  ;  an' 
may  they  rise  up  in  glory  to  prove  it  for  us  in  the  last 
day."     Here  not  only  the  button  is  treated  as  an  offering, 


Sacred  We  lis  in   Wales.  59 

but  also  the  bits  of  clothing ;  but  the  confusion  of  ideas  I 
should  explain  as  being,  at  least  in  part,  one  of  the  natural 
results  of  substituting  a  portion  of  a  garment  for  the  entire 
garment ;  for  thereby  a  button  or  a  pin  becomes  a  part 
of  the  dress,  and  capable  of  being  interpreted  in  two 
senses.  After  all,  however,  the  ordinary  practices  have 
not,  I  believe,  resulted  in  effacing  the  distinction  alto- 
gether :  the  rag  is  not  left  in  the  well ;  nor  is  the  bead, 
button,  or  pin  suspended  to  a  branch  of  the  tree.  So,  on 
the  whole,  it  seems  to  me  easier  to  explain  the  facts,  taken 
all  together,  on  the  supposition  that  originally  the  rag  was 
regarded  as  the  vehicle  of  the  disease,  and  the  bead,  button, 
or  coin  as  the  offering.  But  on  this  point  I  wish  to  ask 
whether  the  disease  is  ever  regarded  as  attaching  to  a 
bead,  button,  or  coin,  as  it  is  to  the  rag  on  the  tree  ?  I  ask 
this  for  my  own  information  ;  and  I  may  make  the  same 
remark  with  regard  to  the  whole  question  :  I  raise  it  chiefly 
with  a  view  to  promote  its  further  discussion.  Some  of  our 
journalistic  friends  seem  to  imagine,  that,  when  once  one 
makes  a  suggestion,  one  feels  bound  to  fight  for  it  tooth  and 
nail;  but  this  is  entirely  to  misunderstand,  I  take  it,  the 
whole  spirit  of  modern  research:  at  any  rate,  I  should  be 
very  sorry  to  have  to  maintain  all  the  positions  I  have 
taken.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  conjectures  of  some 
men  who  are  seldom  quite  right  have  perhaps  done  more  to 
advance  science  than  the  facts  of  some  other  men  who  have 
never  grievously  blundered  in  their  lives. 

The  great  majority  of  the  Welsh  wells  of  which  I 
have  heard  seem  simply  to  have  pins  thrown  into  them, 
mostly  in  order  to  get  rid  of  warts  from  the  patients'  hands. 
So  I  will  only  mention  one  or  two  of  them  as  being  to  some 
extent  relevant  to  the  question  to  which  your  attention  has 
just  been  called.  Ffymion  Givy7iwy,  or  the  Well  of  Gwynwy, 
near  Llangelynin,  on  the  river  Conwy,  appears  to  be  of  this 
sort ;  for  it  formerly  used  to  be  well  stocked  with  crooked 
pins,  which  nobody  would  touch  lest  he  might  get  from 
them  the  warts  supposed  to  attach  to  them.     There  was  a 


6o  Sacred  Wells  in   Wales. 

well  of  some  repute  at  Cae  Garvv,  in  the  parish  of  Pistyll, 
near  the  foot  of  Carnguwch,  in  Lleyn  or  West  Carnarvon- 
shire. The  water  possessed  virtues  to  cure  one  of  rheuma- 
tism and  warts  ;  but,  in  order  to  be  rid  of  the  latter,  it  was 
requisite  to  throw  a  pin  into  the  well  for  each  individual 
wart.  For  these  two  items  of  information,  and  several 
more  to  be  mentioned  presently,  I  have  to  thank  Mr.  John 
Jones,  better  known  in  Wales  by  his  bardic  name  of  Myrddin 
Fardd,  and  as  an  enthusiastic  collector  of  Welsh  antiqui- 
ties, whether  MSS.  or  unwritten  folk-lore.  On  the  second 
day  of  this  year  I  paid  him  a  visit  at  Chwilog,  on  the  Car- 
narvon and  Avon  Wen  Railway,  and  asked  him  many  ques- 
tions, which  he  not  only  answered  with  the  utmost  willing- 
ness, but  also  showed  me  the  unpublished  materials  that 
he  had  collected.  To  leave  him  for  a  moment,  I  come  to 
the  competition  on  the  folk-lore  of  North  Wales  at  the 
London  Eisteddfod  in  1887,  in  which,  as  one  of  the  adjudi- 
cators, I  observed  that  several  of  the  writers  in  that  compe- 
tition mentioned  the  prevalent  belief  that  every  well  with 
healing  properties  must  have  its  outlet  towards  the  south. 
According  to  one  of  the  writers,  if  you  wished  to  get  rid  of 
warts,  you  should,  on  your  way  to  the  well,  look  for  wool 
which  the  sheep  had  lost.  When  you  had  found  enough 
wool  you  should  prick  each  wart  with  a  pin,  and  then  rub 
the  wart  well  with  the  wool.  The  next  thing  was  to  bend 
the  pin  and  throw  it  into  the  well.  Then  you  should  place 
the  wool  on  the  first  whitethorn  you  could  find,  and  as 
the  wind  scattered  the  wool,  the  warts  would  disappear. 
There  was  a  well  of  the  kind,  the  writer  goes  on  to  say, 
near  his  home;  and  he,  with  three  or  four  other  boys,  went 
from  school  one  day  to  the  well  to  charm  their  warts  away. 
For  he  had  twenty-three  on  one  of  his  hands  ;  so  that  he 
always  tried  to  hide  it,  as  it  was  the  belief  that  if  one 
counted  the  warts  they  would  double  their  number.  He 
forgets  what  became  of  the  other  boys'  warts,  but  his  own 
disappeared  soon  afterwards ;  and  his  grandfather  used  to 
maintain  that  it  was  owing  to  the  virtue  of  the  well.     Such 


Sacred  Wells  in    Wales.  6i 

were  the  words  of  this  writer,  whose  name  is  unknown  to 
me ;  but  I  guess  him  to  have  been  a  native  ot  Carnarvon- 
shire, or  else  of  one  of  the  neighbouring  districts  of  Denbigh- 
shire or  Merionethshire.  To  return  to  Myrddin  Fardd,  he 
mentioned  Ffynnon  Cefn  Lleithfaii,or  the  Well  of  the  Lleith- 
fan  Ridge,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Mynydd  y  Rhiw,  in  the 
parish  of  Bryncroes,  in  the  west  of  Lleyn.  In  the  case  of 
this  well  it  is  necessary,  when  going  to  it  and  coming  from 
it,  to  be  careful  not  to  utter  a  word  to  anybody,  or  to  turn 
to  look  back.  What  one  has  to  do  at  the  well  is  to  bathe 
the  warts  with  a  rag  or  clout  which  has  grease  on  it.  When 
that  is  done,  the  clout  with  the  grease  has  to  be  carefully 
concealed  beneath  the  stone  at  the  mouth  of  the  well. 
This  brings  to  my  mind  the  fact  that  I  have,  more  than 
once,  years  ago,  noticed  rags  underneath  stones  in  the 
water  flowing  from  wells  in  Wales,  and  sometimes  thrust 
into  holes  in  the  walls  of  wells,  but  I  had  no  notion  how 
they  came  there. 

In  the  cliffs  at  the  west  end  of  Lleyn  is  a  wishing-well 
called  Ffynnon  Fair,  or  St.  Mary's  Well ;  where,  to  obtain 
your  wish,  you  have  to  descend  the  steps  to  the  well  and 
walk  up  again  to  the  top  with  your  mouth  full  of  the  water. 
Viewing  the  position  of  the  well  from  the  sea,  I  should  be 
disposed  to  think  that  the  realisation  of  one's  wish  at  that 
price  could  not  be  regarded  as  altogether  cheap.  Myrddin 
Fardd  also  told  me  that  there  used  to  be  a  well  near  Criccieth 
Church,  in  Eifionydd,  West  Carnarvonshire.  It  was  known 
as  Ffynnon  y  Saint,  or  the  Saints'  Well,  and  it  was  the  custom 
to  throw  keys  or  pins  into  it  on  the  morning  of  Easter 
Sunday,  in  order  to  propitiate  St.  Catherine,  who  was  the 
patron  of  the  well.  I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  this 
exactly  means.  Lastly,  a  few  of  the  wells  in  that  part  of 
Gwynedd  may  be  grouped  together  and  described  as 
oracular.  One  of  these,  the  big  well  in  the  parish  of  Llan- 
bedrog  in  Lleyn, as  I  learn  from  Myrddin  Fardd,  required  the 
devotee  to  kneel  by  it  and  avow  his  faith  in  it.  After  this 
was  duly  done,  he  might  proceed  in  this  wise :  to  ascertain 


62  Sacred  Wells  in   Wales. 

the  name  of  the  thief  who  had  stolen  from  him,  he  had  to 
throw  a  bit  of  bread  into  the  well  and  name  the  person 
whom  he  suspected.  At  the  name  of  the  thief  the  bread 
would  sink  ;  so  the  inquirer  went  on  naming  all  the  persons 
he  could  think  of  until  the  bit  of  bread  sank :  then  the 
thief  was  identified.  Another  well  of  the  same  kind  was 
Ffynnon  Saethon,  in  Llanfihangel  Bachellaeth  parish,  also 
in  Lleyn.  Here  it  was  customary,  as  he  had  it  in  writing, 
for  lovers  to  throw  pins  {pmnati)  into  the  well ;  but  these 
pins  appear  to  have  been  the  points  of  the  blackthorn. 
At  any  rate,  they  cannot  well  have  been  of  any  kind  of 
metal,  as  we  are  told  that,  if  they  sank  in  the  water,  one 
concluded  that  one's  lover  was  not  sincere  in  his  or  her 
love.  Ffynnon  Gybi,  or  St.  Cybi's  Well,  in  the  parish  of 
Llangybi,  was  the  scene  of  a  somewhat  similar  practice  ; 
for  there  the  girls  who  wished  to  know  their  lovers' 
intentions  would  spread  their  pocket-handkerchiefs  on 
the  water  of  the  well,  and,  if  the  water  pushed  the  hand- 
kerchiefs to  the  south — in  Welsh  z'V  dc — they  knew  that 
everything  was  right — in  Welsh  o  ddc — and  that  their 
lovers  were  honest  and  honourable  in  their  intentions  ; 
but,  if  the  water  shifted  the  handkerchiefs  northwards,  they 
concluded  the  contrary.  A  reference  to  this  is  made  in 
severe  terms  by  a  modern  Welsh  poet,  as  follows  : — 

Ambell  ddyn,  gwaelddyn,  a  gyrch 
I  bant  goris  Moel  Bentyrch, 
Alewn  gobaith  mai  hen  Gybi 
Glodfawr  sydd  yn  Ihvyddaw'r  Hi. 

Some  folks,  worthless  folks,  visit 
A  hollow  below  Moel  Bentyrch, 
In  hopes  that  ancient  Kybi 
Of  noble  fame  blesses  the  flood 

The  spot  Is  not  far  from  where  Myrddin  Fardd  lives ; 
and  he  mentioned  that  adjoining  the  well  is  a  building 
which  was  probably  intended  for  the  person  in  charge  of 
the  well.     However  that   may  be,  it  has  been  tenanted 


Sacred  Wells  in   Wales.  63 

within  his  memory.  A  well,  bearing  the  remarkable 
name  of  Ffyunon  Gwynedd^  or  the  Well  of  Gwynedd,  is 
situated  near  Mynydd  Mawr,  in  the  parish  of  Abererch, 
and  it  used  to  be  consulted  in  the  same  way  for  a  different 
purpose.  When  it  was  desired  to  discover  whether  an 
ailing  person  would  recover,  a  garment  of  his  would  be 
thrown  into  the  well,  and  according  to  the  side  on  which 
it  sunk  it  was  known  whether  he  would  live  or  die. 
All  these  items  are  based  on  Myrddin  Fardd's  answers 
to  my  questions,  or  on  the  notes  which  he  gave  me  to 
peruse. 

The  next  class  of  wells  to  claim  our  attention  consists 
of  what  I  may  call  magic  wells,  of  which  few  are  mentioned 
in  connection  with  Wales  ;  but  the  legends  about  them 
are  very  curious.  One  of  them  is  in  Myrddin  Fardd's 
neighbourhood,  and  I  questioned  him  a  good  deal  on  the 
subject :  it  is  called  Ffyunon  Grassi,  or  Grace's  Well,  and 
it  occupies,  according  to  him,  a  few  square  feet — he  has 
measured  it  himself — of  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Lake 
of  Glasfryn  Uchaf,  in  the  parish  of  Llangybi.  It  appears 
that  it  was  walled  in,  and  that  the  stone  forming  its  eastern 
side  has  several  holes  in  it,  which  were  intended  to  let 
water  enter  the  well  and  not  issue  from  it.  It  had  a 
door  or  cover  on  its  surface  ;  and  it  was  necessary  to  keep 
the  door  always  shut,  except  when  water  was  being  drawn. 
Through  somebody's  negligence,  however,  it  was  once  on 
a  time  left  open :  the  consequence  was  that  the  water  of 
the  well  flowed  out  and  formed  the  Glasfryn  pool,  which 
is  so  considerable  as  to  be  navigable  for  small  boats. 
Grassi  is  supposed  in  the  locality  to  have  been  the  name 
of  the  owner  of  the  well,  or  at  any  rate  of  a  woman  who 
had  something  to  do  with  it.  Grassi,  or  Grace,  however, 
can  only  be  a  name  which  a  modern  version  of  the  legend 
has  introduced.  It  probably  stands  for  an  older  name 
given  to  the  person  in  charge  of  the  well,  the  one,  in  fact, 
who  neglected  to  shut  the  door;  but  though  this  name 
must  be  comparatively  modern,  the  stor}-,  as  a  whole,  does 


64  Sacred  Wells  in   Wales. 

not  appear  to  be  at  all  modern,  but  very  decidedly  the 
contrary. 

For  the  next  legend  of  this  kind  I  have  to  thank  the 
Rev.  J.  Fisher,  Curate  of  Llanllwchaiarn,  Newtown,  Mont., 
who,  in  spite  of  his  name,  is  a  genuine  Welshman,  and — what 
is  more — a  Welsh  scholar.  The  following  are  his  words  : — 
"  Llyn  Llech  Owen  (the  last  word  is  locally  sounded  w-eii, 
like  00-cn  in  English,  as  is  also  the  personal  name  Owen) 
is  on  Mynydd  Mawr,  in  the  ecclesiastical  parish  of  Gors 
Las,  and  the  civil  parish  of  Llanarthney,  Carmarthenshire. 
It  is  a  small  lake,  forming  the  source  of  the  Gwendraeth 
Fawr.  I  have  heard  the  tradition  about  its  origin  told 
by  several  persons,  and  by  all,  until  quite  recently,  pretty 
much  in  the  same  form.  In  1884  I  took  it  down  from 
my  grandfather,  Mr.  Rees  Thomas  {b.  1809,  d.  1892),  of 
Cil  Coll,  Llandebie — a  very  intelligent  man,  with  a  good 
fund  of  old-world  Welsh  lore — who  had  lived  all  his  life 
in  the  neighbouring  parishes  of  Llandeilo  Fawr  and 
Llandebie. 

"The  following  is  the  version  of  the  story  (translated)  as 
I  had  it  from  him  : — There  was  once  a  man  of  the  name 
of  Owen  living  on  Mynydd  Mawr,  and  he  had  a  well 
('  ffynnon').  Over  this  well  he  kept  a  large  flag  ('  fflagen 
lieu  lech  fawr':  '  fflagen'  is  the  word  in  common  use  now  in 
these  parts  for  a  large  flat  stone),  which  he  was  always 
careful  to  replace  over  its  mouth  after  he  had  satisfied 
himself  or  his  beast  with  water.  It  happened,  however, 
that  one  day  he  went  on  horseback  to  the  well  to  water  his 
horse,  and  forgot  to  put  the  flag  back  in  its  place.  He 
rode  off  leisurely  in  the  direction  of  his  home ;  but,  after 
he  had  gone  some  distance,  he  casually  looked  back,  and,  to 
his  great  astonishment,  saw  that  the  well  had  burst  out 
and  was  overflowing  the  whole  place.  He  suddenly  be- 
thought him  that  he  should  ride  back  and  encompass  the 
overflow  of  the  water  as  fast  as  he  could  ;  and  it  was  the 
horse's  track  in  galloping  round  the  water  that  put  a  stop 
to  its  further  overflowing.     It  is  fully  believed  that,  had  he 


Sacred  Wells  in    Wales.  65 

not  galloped  round  the  flood  in  the  way  he  did,  the  well 
would  have  been  sure  to  inundate  the  whole  district  and 
drown  all.  Hence  the  lake  was  called  the  Lake  of  Owen's 
Flag  C  Llyn  Llech  Owen'). 

"  I  have  always  felt  interested  in  this  story,  as  it  resembled 
that  about  the  formation  of  Lough  Neagh,  etc. ;  and,  hap- 
pening to  meet  the  Rev.  D.  Harwood  Hughes,  B.A.,  the 
Vicar  of  Gors  Las  (St.  Lleian's),  last  August  (1892),  I 
asked  him  to  tell  me  the  legend  as  he  had  heard  it 
in  his  parish.  He  said  that  he  had  been  told  it,  but 
in  a  form  different  from  mine,  where  the  '  Owen'  was  said 
to  have  been  Owen  Glyndwr.  This  is  the  substance  of 
the  legend  as  he  had  heard  it  : — Owen  Glyndwr,  when 
once  passing  through  these  parts,  arrived  here  of  an  even- 
ing. He  came  across  a  well,  and,  having  watered  his 
horse,  placed  a  stone  over  it  in  order  to  find  it  again 
next  morning.  He  then  went  to  lodge  for  the  night  at 
Dyllgoed  Farm,  close  by.  In  the  morning,  before  pro- 
ceeding on  his  journey,  he  took  his  horse  to  the  well 
to  give  him  water,  but  found  to  his  surprise  that  the  well 
had  become  a  lake." 

Mr.  Fisher  goes  on  to  mention  the  later  history  of  the 
lake :  how,  some  eighty  years  ago,  its  banks  were  the  resort 
on  Sunday  afternoons  of  the  young  people  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood, and  how  a  Baptist  preacher  put  an  end  to  their 
amusements  and  various  kinds  of  games  by  preaching 
at  them.  However,  the  lake-side  appears  to  be  still  a 
favourite  spot  for  picnics  and  Sunday-school  gatherings. 

Mr.  Fisher  was  quite  right  in  appending  to  his  own 
version  that  of  his  friend ;  but,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
folk-lore,  I  must  confess  that  I  can  make  nothing  of  the 
latter  :  it  differs  from  the  genuine  one  as  much  as  chalk 
does  from  cheese.  It  would  be  naturally  gratifying  to  the 
pride  of  local  topography  to  be  able  to  connect  with  the 
pool  the  name  of  the  greatest  Owen  known  to  Welsh 
history  ;  but  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  highly  respectable 
attempt  to  rationalise  the  legend  wholly  fails,  as  it  does  not 

VOL.  IV.  F 


66  Sacred  Wells  in   Wales. 

explain  why  there  is  now  a  lake  where  there  was  once  but 
a  well.  In  other  words,  the  euhemerised  version  is  itself 
evidence  corroborative  of  Mr.  Fisher's  older  version.  This, 
in  the  form  in  which  he  got  it  from  his  grandfather,  pro- 
vokes comparison,  as  he  suggests,  with  the  Irish  legend  of 
the  formation  of  Loch  Ree  and  Lough  Neagh  in  the  story 
of  the  Death  of  Eochaid  McMaireda.^  In  that  story  also 
there  is  a  horse,  but  it  is  a  magic  horse,  who  forms  the  well 
which  eventually  overflows  and  becomes  the  large  body  of 
water  known  as  Lough  Neagh.  For  the  magic  well  was 
placed  in  the  charge  of  a  woman  called  Liban  ;  she  one 
day  left  the  cover  of  the  well  open,  and  the  catastrophe 
took  place — the  water  issuing  forth  and  overflowing  the 
country.  Liban  herself,  however,  was  not  drowned,  but 
only  changed  into  a  salmon — a  form  which  she  retained  for 
three  centuries.  In  my  Arthnria7i  Legend,  p.  361,  I  have 
attempted  to  show  that  the  name  Liban  may  have  its  Welsh 
equivalent  in  that  of  Llion,  occurring  in  the  name  of  Llyn 
Llion,  or  Llion's  Lake,  the  bursting  of  which  is  described 
in  the  latest  series  of  Triads  (iii,  13,  97)  as  causing  a  sort  of 
deluge.  I  am  not  certain  as  to  the  nature  of  the  relationship 
between  those  names,  but  it  seems  evident  that  the  stories 
have  a  common  substratum,  though  it  is  to  be  noticed  that 
no  well,  magic  or  otherwise,  figures  in  the  Llyn  Llion 
legend,  which  makes  the  presence  of  the  monster  called  the 
Avanc  the  cause  of  the  waters  bursting  forth.  So  Hu  the 
Mighty,  with  his  team  of  famous  oxen,  is  made  to  drag  the 
monster  out  of  the  lake.  There  is,  however,  another  Welsh 
legend  concerning  a  great  overflow  in  which  a  well  does 
figure  :  I  allude  to  that  of  Cantre'r  Gwaelod,  or  the  Bottom 
Hundred,  a  fine  spacious  country  supposed  to  be  submerged 

^  The  story  may  now  be  consulted  in  O'Grady's  Silva  Gadeltca,  i, 
233-7  ;  translated  in  ii,  265-9.  On  turning  over  the  leaves  of  this 
splendid  collection  of  Irish  lore,  I  chanced  on  an  allusion  to  a  well 
which,  when  uncovered,  was  about  to  drown  the  whole  locality,  but 
for  a  miracle  performed  by  St.  Patrick  to  arrest  the  flow  of  its  waters. 
See  op.  cit.^  i,  174;  ii,  196. 


Sa,.ect   Wells  in    Wales.  67 

in  Cardigan  Bay.  Modern  euhemerism  treats  it  as  defended 
by  embankments  and  sluices,  which,  we  are  told,  were  in 
the  charge  of  the  prince  of  the  country,  named  Seithennin, 
who,  being  one  day  in  his  cups,  forgot  to  shut  the  sluices, 
and  thus  brought  about  the  inundation,  which  was  the 
end  of  his  fertile  realm.  This,  however,  is  not  the  old 
legend ;  which  speaks  of  a  well,  and  lays  the  blame  on  a 
woman — a  pretty  sure  sign  of  antiquity,  as  you  may  judge 
from  other  old  stories  which  will  readily  occur  to  you. 
The  Welsh  legend  to  which  I  allude  is  a  short  poem  in  the 
Black  Book  of  Cannarthen^  consisting  of  eight  triplets,  to 
which  is  added  a  triplet  from  the  Engl}-nion  of  the  Graves 
(also  found  on  fo.  33^  of  the  B.  B.). 

The  following  is  a  tentative  translation  of  it : — 

Seithenhin  sawde  allan. 

?ic  edrychuirde  varanres  mor. 

maes  guitnev  rytoes. 

Seithennin,  stand  thou  forth 

And  see  the  vanguard  of  the  main — 

GwySno's  plain  has  it  covered. 

Boed  emendiceid  y  morvin 
aehellygaut  guj'di  cvin. 
finaun  wenestir  nior  terruin. 

Accursed  be  the  maiden 

Who  after  supping  let  it  loose — 

The  well-servant  of  the  high  sea. 

Boed  emendiceid  y  vachteith. 
ae.  golligaut  guydi  gueith. 
finaun  wenestir  mor  diffeith. 

Accursed  be  the  spinster 
AVho  after  battle  let  it  loose — 
The  well-servant  of  the  main. 

^  See  Evans's  autotype  edition  of  the  Black  Book,  fos.  53(5,  54^. 

F  3 


6S  Sacred  I  Veils  in    WdSi'J. 

Diaspad  vererid  y  ar  vann  caer. 

hid  ar  duu  y  dodir, 

gnaud  guydi  traha  trangc  hir. 

Mererid's  cry  from  a  city's  height 
Even  to  God  is  it  sent  aloft : 
After  pride  comes  long  death. 

Diaspad  mererid  .  y  ar  van  kaer  hetiv. 
hid  ar  duu  y  dadoluch. 
gnaud  guydi  traha  attreguch. 

Mererid's  cry  from  a  city's  height  to-day 
Even  to  God  her  expiation  : 
After  pride  comes  reflection. 

Diaspad  mererid  am  gorchuit  heno. 

ac  nimhaut  gorlluit. 
gnaud  guydi  traha  tramguit. 

Mererid's  cry  fills  me  to-night, 
Nor  can  I  readily  prosper : 
After  pride  comes  a  downfall. 

Diaspad  mererid  \  ar  gwinev  kadir 

kedaul  duv  ae  gorev. 
gnaud  guydi  gormot  eissev. 

Mererid's  cry  over  generous  wines  : 
The  bountiful  man  is  God's  creation  : 
x\fter  excess  comes  privation. 

Diaspad  mererid  .  am  kymhell  heno 

y  urth  uyistauell. 
gnaud  guydi  traha  trangc  pell. 

Mererid's  cry  forces  me  to-night 

Away  from  my  chamber  : 

After  insolence  comes  long  death. 

Bet  seithenhin  synhuir  vann 
Rug  kaer  kenedir  a  glan. 
mor  maurhidic  a  kinran. 

The  grave  of  Seithennin  of  the  feeble  under- 
standing 
(Is)  between  Kenedyr's  Fort  and  the  shore, 
(With  that  of)  Mor  the  Grand  and  Kynran. 


/ 


Sacred  U'^c/ls  in   JJ^a/cs.  69 

The  names  in  these  lines  present  great  difficulties  :  first 
comes  that  of  Mererid,  which  is  no  other  word  than 
Margarita,  '  a  pearl',  borrowed  ;  but  what  does  it  here 
mean  ?  Margarita,  besides  meaning  a  pearl,  was  used  in 
Welsh,  e.g.,  under  the  form  Ma7'ereda}  as  the  proper  name 
written  in  English  Margaret.  That  is  probably  how  it 
is  to  be  taken  here,  namely,  as  the  name  given  to  the 
negligent  guardian  of  the  magic  well.  It  cannot  very 
well  be,  however,  the  name  occurring  in  the  original 
form  of  the  legend  ;  but  we  have  the  parallel  case  of 
Ffynnon  Grassi  or  Grace's  Well.  The  woman  in  question 
plays  the  role  of  Liban  in  the  Irish  story,  and  one  of 
Liban's  names  was  Miiirgen,  which  would  in  Welsh  be 
Morien,  the  earliest  known  form  of  which  is  Morgen,  '  sea- 
born'. I  conjecture  accordingly  that  the  respectable 
Christian  name  Margarita  was  substituted  for  an  original 
Morgen,  partly  because  perhaps  Morgen  was  used  as  the 
name  of  a  man,  namely,  of  the  person  known  to  ecclesias- 
tical history  as  Pelagitis,  which  makes  an  appropriate  trans- 
lation of  Morgen  or  Morien.  I  may  point  out  that  the 
modern  name  Morgan,  standing  as  it  does  for  an  older 
Morcant,  is  an  utterly  different  name,  although  Article  IX  in 
the  Welsh  version  of  the  English  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
gives  its  sanction  to  the  ignorance  which  makes  the 
Pelagians  of  the  original  into  Morganiaid.  This  accounts 
probably  for  what  I  used  to  hear  when  I  was  a  boy,  namely, 
that  families  bearing  the  name  of  Morgan  were  of  a 
mysteriously  uncanny  descent.  What  was  laid  to  their  charge 
I  could  never  discover  ;  but  it  was  probably  the  sin  of 
heresy  of  the  ancient  Morgen  or  Morien — the  name,  as 
some  of  you  know,  selected  as  \\\s  ffugenw  by  the -<4;r//- 
dderzvydd,  or  the  soi-disant  chief  of  the  Druids  of  Wales 
at  the  present  day,  whose  proper  surname  is  Morgan. 
But  to  return  to  the  Bottom  Hundred,  nobody  has  been 
able  to  identify  Caer  Kencdyr,  and  I  have  nothing  to  say 
as  to  Mor  Maurhidic,  except  that  a  person  of  that  name 

^  See  Y  Cynnnrodor,  viii,  88,  No.  xxix,  where  a  Marereda  is  men- 
tioned as  a  daughter  of  Madog  ap  Meredydd  ap  Rhys  Gryg. 


70  Sacred  Wells  in   Wales. 

is  mentioned  in  another  of  the  Englynion  of  the  Graves. 
It  runs  thus  (i).  B.,  fo.  33^) : 

Bet  mor  maurhidic  diessic  unben. 

post  kinhen  kinteic. 
mab  peredur  penwetic. 

The  Grave  of  Mor  the  Grand,  the  Deisi's  prince, 
Pillar  of  the  foremost  (?)  conflict, 
The  son  of  Peredur  of  Penweddig. 

It  is  a  mere  conjecture  of  mine  that  diessic  is  an  adjective 
referring  to  the  people  called  in  Irish  Deisi,  who  invaded 
Dyfed,  and  founded  there  a  dynasty  represented  by  King 
Triphun  and  his  Sons  at  the  time  of  St.  David's  birth ;  later, 
we  find  Elen,  wife  of  Howel  Dda,  to  be  one  of  that  family. 
The  mention  of  Peredur  of  Penweddig  raises  other  questions ; 
but  let  it  suffice  here  to  say  that  Penweddig  was  a  Cantred 
consisting  of  North  Cardiganshire,  which  brings  us  to  the 
vicinity  of  Cantre'r  Gwaelod.  The  last  name  in  the  final 
triplet  of  the  poem  which  I  have  attempted  to  translate 
is  Kiiiraji,  which  is  quite  inexplicable  as  a  Welsh  name; 
but  I  am  inclined  to  identify  it  with  that  of  one  of  the 
three  who  escaped  the  catastrophe  in  the  Irish  legend. 
The  name  there  is  Ournan,  which  was  borne  by  the  idiot 
of  the  family,  who,  like  many  later  idiots,  was  at  the  same 
time  a  prophet.  For  he  is  represented  as  always  prophesy- 
ing that  the  waters  were  going  to  burst  forth,  and  advising 
his  friends  to  prepare  boats.  So  he  may  be  set,  after  a 
fashion,  over  against  our  Scitiicnhin  syjiwyr  wan,  '  S.  of  the 
feeble  mind'.  But  you  will  perhaps  ask  why  I  do  not 
point  out  an  equivalent  in  Irish  for  the  Welsh  Seithennin, 
The  fact  is  that  no  such  equivalent  occurs  in  the  Irish  story 
in  question,  nor,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  any  other. 

That  is  what  I  wrote  when  penning  these  notes ;  but  it 
has  occurred  to  me  since  then  that  there  is  an  Irish  name, 
an  important  Irish  name,  which  is  possibly  related  to  Sei- 
thenJiin,  and  that  is  Setanta,  the  first  name  of  the  Irish 
hero  Cuchulainn.  If  we  put  this  name  back  into  what 
may  be  surmised  to  have  been  its  early  form,  we  arrive  at 


Sacred  Wells  in   Wales.  j\ 

Settntias   or  Settntios,   while    SeitJiennin  or  SeithenJiin — 
both  spellings  occur  in  the  Black  Book — admits  of  being 
restored  to  Seithntinos,     The  nt  in  Setanta,  on  the  other 
hand,    makes    one    suspect  that    it    is    a    name   of  Bry- 
thonic  origin  in  Irish ;  and    I  have  been  in   the  habit  of 
associating  it   with   that  of  the   people   of  the    Setantii,^ 
placed    by    Ptolemy    on    the    coast-land    of    Lancashire. 
The  two  theories  are  possibly  compatible ;  but  in  that  case 
one  would  have  to  consider  both  Setanta  and  Setantii  as 
Brythonic   names,    handed   down   in  forms    more   or   less 
Goidelicised.     Whether  any  legend  has  ever  been  current 
about  a  country  submerged  on  the  coast  of  Lancashire 
I  cannot  say,  but  I  should  be  very  glad  to  be  informed  of 
it  if  any  such  is  known.     I  remember,  however,  reading 
somewhere   as   to   the    Plain  of  Muirthemhne,    of  which 
Cuchulainn,  our  Setanta,  had  special  charge,  that  it  was 
so  called   because  it  had  once  been  covered  by  the  sea  : 
but  that  is  just  the  converse  of  Seithennin's  country  being 
continuously  submerged.     The  latter  is  beneath  Cardigan 
Bay,  while  the  other  fringed  the  opposite  side  of  the  Irish 
Sea,  consisting  as   it  did  of  the  level  portion  of  county 
Louth.     And  on  the  whole  I  am  not  altogether  indisposed 
to  believe  that  we  have  in  these  names  traces  of  an  ancient 
legend  of  a  wider  scope  than  is  represented  by  the  Black 
Book  triplets  which  I  have  essayed  to  translate.     I  think 
that  I  am  right  in  recognising  that  legend  in  the  Mabinogi 
of  Branwen,  daughter  of  Llyr.     There  we  read  that,  when 
Bran  and  his  men  crossed  from  Wales  to  Ireland,  the  inter- 
vening sea  consisted  merely  of  two  navigable  rivers  called 
Lli  and  Archan.     The  story-teller  adds  words,  grievously 
mistranslated  by  Lady  Charlotte  Guest  in  her  Alabznogtoji, 
iii,  117,  to  the  effect  that  it  is  only  since  then  that  the  sea 
has  multiplied  his  realms  between  Ireland  and  the  Isle  of 
the  Mighty,  as  he  calls  this  country. 

These   are   not   all    the   questions   which    such    stories 
suggest  to  me ;  for  Seithennin  is  represented  in  later  Welsh 

^  There  is  another  reading  which  would  make  them  into  Sega7itii, 
and  render  it  irrelevant  to  mention  them  liere. 


72  Sacred  Wells  m   Wales, 

literature  as  the  son  of  one  Seithyn  Saidi^  King  of  Dyfed. 
Saidi  is  obscure  :  a  Mab  Saidi,  '  Saidi's  Son',  is  mentioned 
in  the  Story  of  Kulhwch  and  Ohven  :  see  the  Red  Book 
Mabinogion,  pp.  io6,  no;  and  as  to  Seithyn,  or  Seithin,  a 
person  so  called  is  alluded  to  in  an  obscure  passage  in  the 
Book  ofTaliessin  :  see  Skene's  Foiir  Ancient  Books  of  Wales, 
ii,  2IO.  I  now  shift  to  the  coast  of  Brittany,  as  to  which  I 
learn  from  a  short  paper  by  the  late  M.  Le  Men,  in  the 
Revue  ArcJicologique,  xxiii,  52,  that  the  He  de  Sein  is 
called  in  Breton  Enez-Snn,  in  which  Sun  is  a  dialectic 
shortening  of  Sizun,  which  is  also  met  with  as  SeidJmn. 
That  being  so,  one  can  have  but  little  hesitation  in  regard- 
ing Sizun  as  nearly  related  to  our  Seithyn.  That  is  not  all : 
the  tradition  reminds  one  of  the  Welsh  legend  :  M.  Le 
Men  not  only  referred  to  the  Vie  du  P.  Matmoir  by  Boschet 
(Paris,  1697),  but  added  that,  in  his  own  time,  the  road 
ending  on  the  Pointe  du  Raz  opposite  the  Isle  of  Sein 
"  passe  pour  etre  I'ancien  chemin  qui  conduisait  a  la  ville 
d'ls  {Kacr-a-Is,  la  ville  de  la  partie  basse)."  It  is  my 
own  experience  that  nobody  can  go  about  much  in  Brittany 
without  hearing  over  and  over  again  about  the  submerged 
city  of  Is.  When  pondering  over  the  collective  signifi- 
cance of  these  stories,  I  had  my  attention  directed  to  quite 
another  order  of  facts  by  a  naturalist  who  informed  me 
that  a  well-known  botanist  ranks  as  Iberian  a  certain 
percentage — a  very  considerable  percentage,  I  understood 
him  to  say — of  the  flora  of  our  south-western  peninsulas, 
such  as  Cornwall  and  Kerry.  The  question  suggests  itself 
at  once :  Can  our  British  and  Breton  legends  of  submergence 
have  come  down  to  us  from  so  remote  a  past  as  the  time 
when  the  land  extended  unbroken  from  the  north  of  Spain 
to  the  south  of  Ireland  ?  I  cannot  say  that  such  a  view 
seems  to  me  admissible,  but  the  question  may  prove  worth 
putting. 

To  return  to  magic  wells,  I  have  to  confess  that  I  cannot 
decide  what  may  be  precisely  the  meaning  of  the  notion  of 
a  v/ell  with  a  woman  set  carefully  to  see  that  the  door 


Sacred  Wells  in   Wales.  73 

of  the  well  is  kept  shut.  It  will  occur,  however,  to  every- 
body to  compare  the  well  which  Undine  wished  to  have 
kept  shut,  on  account  of  its  affording  a  ready  access  from 
her  subterranean  country  to  the  castle  of  her  refractory 
knight.  And  in  the  case  of  the  Glasfryn  Lake,  the  walling 
and  cover  that  were  to  keep  the  spring  from  overflowing 
were,  according  to  the  story,  not  water-tight,  seeing  that 
there  were  holes  in  one  of  the  stones.  This  suggests  the 
idea  that  the  cover  was  to  prevent  the  passage  of  some 
such  full-grown  fairies  as  those  with  which  legend  seems  to 
have  once  peopled  all  the  pools  and  tarns  of  Wales.  But, 
in  the  next  place,  is  the  maiden  in  charge  of  the  well  to  be 
regarded  as  priestess  of  the  well  ?  This  idea  of  a  priest- 
hood is  not  wholly  unknown  in  connection  with  wells  in 
Wales. 

In  another  context  (p.  57,  above)  I  have  alluded  to 
Ffynnon  Eilian,  or  St.  Elian's  Well ;  and  I  wish  now 
briefly  to  show  the  bearing  of  its  history  on  this  question. 
We  read  as  follows,  s.  v.  Llmidrillo,  in  Lewis's  Topographical 
Dictionary  of  Wales,  edition  1833:  "  Fynnon  Eilian, 
which,  even  in  the  present  age,  is  annually  visited  by 
hundreds  of  people,  for  the  reprehensible  purpose  of  in- 
voking curses  upon  the  heads  of  those  who  have  grievously 
offended  them.  The  ceremony  is  performed  by  the  appli- 
cant standing  upon  a  certain  spot  near  the  well,  whilst  the 
owner  of  it  reads  a  few  passages  of  the  sacred  scriptures, 
and  then,  taking  a  small  quantity  of  water,  gives  it  to  the 
former  to  drink,  and  throws  the  residue  over  his  head, 
which  is  repeated  three  times,  the  party  continuing  to 
mutter  imprecations  in  whatever  terms  his  vengeance  may 
dictate."  Rice  Rees,  in  his  Essay  on  Welsh  Saints  (London, 
1836),  p.  267,  speaks  of  St.  Elian  as  follows  :  "  Miraculous 
cures  were  lately  supposed  to  be  performed  at  his  shrine  at 
Llanelian,  Anglesey ;  and  near  the  church  of  Llanelian, 
Denbighshire,  is  a  well  called  Ffynnon  Elian,  which  is 
thought  by  the  peasantry  of  the  neighbourhood  to  be 
endued  with  miraculous  powers  even  at  present." 


74  Sacred  Wells  in   Wales. 

Foulkes,  s.v.  Elian,  in  his  E7iivogion  Cyinru,  published  in 
1870,  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  visits  of  the  super- 
stitious to  the  well  had  ceased  for  some  time.  The 
last  man  supposed  to  have  had  charge  of  the  well  was 
a  certain  John  Evans  ;  but  some  of  the  most  amusing 
stories  of  the  shrewdness  of  the  person  looking  after  the 
well  refer  to  a  woman  who  had  charge  of  it  before  Evans' 
time.  A  series  of  articles  on  Ffynnon  Eilian  appeared  in 
1 861  in  a  Welsh  periodical  called  Y  Nofelydd,y^t\n\&6.  by 
Aubrey  at  Llanerch  y  Medd  in  Anglesey.  The  articles 
in  question  were  afterwards  published,  I  believe,  as  a 
shilling  book,  which  I  have  not  seen,  and  they  dealt  with 
the  superstition,  with  the  history  of  John  Evans,  and  his 
confession  and  conversion.  I  have  searched  in  vain  for  any 
account  in  Welsh  of  the  ritual  followed  at  the  well. 

Lewis  calls  the  person  who  took  the  charge  of  the  well 
the  owner ;  and  I  have  always  understood  that,  whether 
owner  or  not,  the  person  in  question  received  gifts  of 
money,  not  only  for  placing  in  the  well  the  names  of 
men  who  were  to  be  cursed,  but  also  from  those  men  for 
taking  their  names  out  again,  so  as  to  relieve  them  from 
the  malediction.  In  fact,  the  trade  in  curses  seems  to 
have  been  a  very  thriving  one  :  its  influence  was  power- 
ful and  wide-spread. 

Here  there  is,  I  think,  very  little  doubt  that  the  owner 
or  guardian  of  the  well  was,  so  to  say,  the  representative 
of  an  ancient  priesthood  of  the  well.  His  function  as 
a  pagan — for  such  we  must  reckon  him,  in  spite  of  his 
employing  in  his  ritual  some  verses  from  the  Bible — was 
analogous  to  that  of  a  parson  or  preacher  who  lets  for  rent 
the  sittings  in  his  church.  We  have,  however,  no  sufficient 
data  in  this  case  to  show  how  the  right  to  the  priesthood 
of  a  sacred  well  was  acquired,  whether  by  inheritance  or 
otherwise ;  but  we  know  that  a  woman  might  have  charge 
of  St.   Elian's  Well. 

Let  me  cite  another  instance,  which  I  suddenly  dis- 
covered last  summer  in  the  course  of  a  ramble  in  quest 


Sacred  Wells  in  Wales.  75 

of  old  inscriptions'  Among  other  places  which  I 
visited  was  Llancjcilo  Llwydarth,  near  Maen  Clochog, 
in  the  northern  part  of  Pembrokeshire.  This  is  one 
of  the  many  churches  bearing  the  name  of  St.  Teilo  in 
South  Wales  :  the  building  is  in  ruins,  but  the  church- 
yard is  still  used,  and  contains  two  of  the  most  ancient 
non-Roman  inscriptions  in  the  Principality.  If  you  ask 
now  for  "Llandeilo"  in  this  district,  you  will  be  understood 
to  be  inquiring  after  the  farm-house  of  that  name,  close 
to  the  old  church  ;  and  I  learnt  from  the  landlady  that 
her  family  has  been  there  for  many  generations,  though 
they  have  not  very  long  been  the  proprietors  of  the 
land.  She  also  told  me  of  St.  Teilo's  Well,  a  little 
above  the  house  ;  adding  that  it  was  considered  to  have 
the  property  of  curing  the  whooping-cough.  I  asked 
if  there  was  any  rite  or  ceremony  necessary  to  be 
performed  in  order  to  derive  benefit  from  the  water. 
Certainly,  I  was  told  ;  the  water  must  be  lifted  out 
of  the  well  and  given  to  the  patient  to  drink  by  some 
member  of  the  family  :  to  be  more  accurate,  I  ought  to 
say  that  this  must  be  done  by  somebody  born  in  the 
house.  One  of  her  sons,  however,  had  told  me  pre- 
viously, when  I  was  busy  with  the  inscriptions,  that  the 
water  must  be  given  to  the  patient  by  the  heir,  not  by 
anybody  else.  Then  came  my  question  how  the  water  was 
lifted,  or  out  of  what  the  patient  had  to  drink,  to  which  I 
was  answered  that  it  was  out  of  the  skull.  "  What  skull  r" 
said  I.  "  St.  Teilo's  skull",  was  the  answer.  "Where  do  you 
get  the  saint's  skull  ?"  I  asked.  "  Here  it  is",  was  the  answer, 
and  I  was  given  it  to  handle  and  examine.  I  know  next  to 
nothing  about  skulls  ;  but  it  struck  me  that  it  was  a  thick, 
strong  skull,  and  it  called  to  my  mind  the  story  of  the 
three  churches  which  contended  for  the  saint's  corpse. 
You  all  know  it,  probably  :  the  contest  became  so  keen 
that  it  had  to  be  settled  by  prayer  and  fasting.  So,  in  the 
morning,  lo  and  behold !  there  were  three  corpses  of  St.  Teilo 
--not  simply  one — and  so  like  were  they  in  features  and 


76  Sacred  Wells  in  Wales. 

stature  that  nobody  could  tell  which  were  the  corpses  made 
to  order  and  which  the  old  one.  I  should  have  guessed 
that  the  skull  which  I  saw  belonged  to  the  former  descrip- 
tion, as  not  having  been  very  much  worn  by  its  owner  ;  but 
this  I  am  forbidden  to  do  by  the  fact  that,  according  to  the 
legend,  this  particular  Llandeilo  was  not  one  of  the  three 
contending  churches  which  bore  away  in  triumph  a  dead 
Teilo  each.  Another  view,  however,  is  possible  :  namely, 
that  the  story  has  been  edited  in  such  a  way  as  to  reduce 
a  larger  number  of  Teilos  into  three,  in  order  to  gratify  the 
Welsh  fondness  for  triads. 

Since  my  visit  to  the  neighbourhood  I  have  been 
favoured  with  an  account  of  the  well  as  it  is  now  current 
there.  My  informant  is  Mr.  Benjamin  Gibby  of  Llangol- 
man  Mill,  who  writes  (in  Welsh)  mentioning,  among  other 
things,  that  the  people  around  call  the  well  Ffynnon  yr 
Ychoi,  or  the  Oxen's  Well,  and  that  the  family  owning 
and  occupying  the  farm-house  of  Llandeilo  have  been  there 
for  centuries.  Their  name,  which  is  Melchior  (pronounced 
Melshor),  is  by  no  means  a  common  one  in  the  Princi- 
pality, so  far  as  I  know  ;  but,  whatever  may  be  its  history 
in  Wales,  the  bearers  of  it  are  excellent  Kymry.  Mr. 
Gibby  informs  me  that  the  current  story  solves  the 
difficulty  as  to  the  saint's  skull  as  follows  : — The  saint 
had  a  favourite  maid-servant  from  the  Pembrokeshire 
Llandeilo :  she  was  a  beautiful  woman,  and  had  the 
privilege  of  attending  on  the  saint  when  he  was  on  his 
death-bed.  As  his  death  was  approaching,  he  gave  his 
maid  a  strict  and  solemn  command  that  at  the  end  of  a 
year's  time  from  the  day  of  his  burial  at  Llandeilo  Fawr 
she  was  to  take  his  skull  to  the  other  Llandeilo,  and  to 
leave  it  there  to  be  a  blessing  to  coming  generations  of 
men,  who,  when  ailing,  would  have  their  health  restored 
by  drinking  water  out  of  it.  So  the  belief  has  been  that 
to  drink  out  of  the  skull  some  of  the  water  of  Teilo's  well 
ensures  health,  especially  against  the  whooping-cough. 
The  faith  of  some  of  those  who  used  to  visit  the  well  was 


Sacred  Wells  in   Wales.  jy 

so  great  in  its  efficacy  that  they  were  wont  to  leave  it,  as 
he  says,  with  their  health  wonderfully  improved  ;  and  he 
mentions  a  story  related  to  him  by  an  old  neighbour, 
Stephen  I  fan,  who  has  been  dead  for  some  years,  to  the 
effect  that  a  carriage,  drawn  by  four  horses,  came  once,  more 
than  half  a  century  ago,  to  Llandeilo.  It  was  full  of  invalids 
coming  from  Pen  Clawdd,  in  Gower,  Glamorganshire,  to  try 
the  water  of  the  well.  They  returned,  however,  no  better 
than  they  came,  for  though  they  had  drunk  of  the  well,  they 
had  neglected  to  do  so  out  of  the  skull.  This  was  after- 
v.'ards  pointed  out  to  them  by  somebody,  and  they  resolved 
to  make  the  long  journey  to  the  well  again.  This  time,  as 
we  are  told,  they  did  the  right  thing,  and  departed  in 
excellent  health. 

Such  are  the  contents  of  Mr.  Gibby's  letter  ;  and  I  would 
now  only  point  out  that  we  have  here  an  instance  of  a  well 
which  was  probably  sacred  before  the  time  of  St.  Teilo  : 
in  fact,  one  would  possibly  be  right  in  supposing  that  the 
sanctity  of  the  well  and  its  immediate  surroundings  was 
one  of  the  causes  of  the  site  being  chosen  by  a  Christian 
missionary.  But  consider  for  a  moment  what  has  happened  : 
the  well-paganism  has  annexed  the  saint,  and  established 
a  belief  ascribing  to  him  the  skull  used  in  the  well-ritual. 
The  landlady  and  her  famil}',  it  is  true,  do  not  believe  in 
the  efficacy  of  the  well,  or  take  gifts  from  those  who  visit 
the  well  ;  but  they  continue,  out  of  kindness,  to  hand  the 
skull  full  of  water  to  those  who  persevere  in  their  belief  in 
it.  In  other  words,  the  faith  in  the  well  continues  in  a 
measure  intact,  when  the  walls  of  the  church  have  fallen 
into  utter  decay.  Such  is  the  great  persistence  of  some 
ancient  beliefs  ;  and  in  this  particular  instance  we  have  a 
succession  which  seems  to  point  unmistakably  to  an  ancient 
priesthood  of  this  spring  of  water. 

John  Rhys. 


In  the  discussion  which  followed  this  paper,  interesting 
particulars  were  mentioned  by  Mr.  T.  E.  Morris,  of  Port- 
madoc  ;   and  in   response  to  an  appeal  by  the  author  of 


yS  Sacred  J  Veils  in   Wales. 

the  paper,  Mr.  Morris  has  been  good  enough  to  write  out 
his  remarks,  as  follows  : — 

"  Professor  Rhys  has  referred  in  his  interesting  paper  to 
three  sacred  wells  which  have  come  within  my  knowledge. 

"I  remember  being  at  Llancarvan  in  July  1887,  seeing 
the  church,  and  visiting  two  old  farmhouses  with  ecclesi- 
astical traditions,  Llanveithin  and  Garn  Lwyd.  I  was  then 
told  that  there  was  a  Ffynnon  Ddyfrig  (St.  Dubricius' 
Well),  or  a  well  with  a  similar  name,  about  a  mile  off,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  the  waters  of  which  possessed  healing 
properties.  Unfortunately,  my  time  was  limited,  and  so  I 
was  unable  to  go  and  see  it. 

"  I  have  seen  Ffynnon  Fair  (St.  Mary's  Well),  on  Uwch 
Fynydd,  near  Aberdaron.  It  occupies  a  hollow  in  the 
cliff,  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  site  of  Eghvys  Fair,  facing 
Bardsey  Island.  It  lies  a  short  distance  down  the  cliff, 
and  is  easily  approached.  The  person  who  could  drink  a 
mouthful  of  its  waters,  then  ascend  the  hill,  and  go  round 
the  ruins  of  the  chapel  once  or  thrice  (I  am  not  sure  on 
this  point),  without  swallowing  or  parting  with  it,  would 
have  his  fondest  wish  gratified.  I  recollect  remarking  at 
the  time  to  a  friend  who  was  with  me,  that  the  feat  would 
be  a  somewhat  difficult  one  to  perform  ;  and  I  fear  we  felt 
no  desire,  under  the  circumstances,  to  wish. 

"  I  was  also  at  Llangybi,  in  Carnarvonshire,  about  two 
years  ago,  and  saw  Ffynnon  Gybi  (St.  Cybi's  Well),  which  lies 
in  a  small  dale  near  the  parish  church,  and  had  been  walled 
in  and  flagged.  It  is  a  large  square  well,  and  was  formerly 
very  much  resorted  to  by  persons  suffering  from  rheumatism 
and  other  complaints.  To  effect  a  cure  it  was  necessary  to 
bathe  in  the  well ;  and  the  building  adjoining,  the  ruins  of 
which  remain,  was  possibly  used  by  the  sufferers. 

"  Reference  was  made  to  the  custom  of  dropping  pins  into 
sacred  wells  in  Wales  as  oft'erings.  I  have  also  heard  that 
it  was  customary  to  drop  coins  ;  but  cannot  speak  definitely 
of  any  well  where  the  custom  prevailed.  I  think  I  have 
been  told  that  copper  coins  were  thrown  into  the  well 
known  as   Ffynnon   Faglan   (St.    Baglan's   Well),   in    the 


Sacred  Wells  in    Wales.  79 

parish  of  Llanfaglan,  Carnarvonshire ;  but  such  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  the  case.  The  well  is  situated  in  an 
open  field  to  the  right  of  the  road  leading  towards  the 
church,  and  close  to  it.  The  church  and  churchyard  form 
an  enclosure  in  the  middle  of  the  same  field.  Mrs.  Roberts, 
of  Cefn-y-coed,  near  Carnarvon,  has  kindly  supplied  me 
with  the  following  information  : — 

" '  The  old  people  who  would  be  likely  to  know  anything 
about  Ffj'iuion  Faglan  have  all  died.  The  two  oldest 
inhabitants,  who  have  always  lived  in  this  parish  (Llan- 
faglan), remember  the  well  being  used  for  healing  purposes. 
One  told  me  his  mother  used  to  take  him  to  it,  when  he  was 
a  child,  for  sore  eyes,  bathe  them  with  the  water,  and  then 
drop  in  a  pin.  The  other  man,  when  he  was  young,  bathed 
in  it  for  rheumatism  ;  and  until  quite  lately  people  used  to 
fetch  away  the  water  for  medicinal  purposes.  The  latter,  who 
lives  near  the  well,  at  Tan-y-graig,  said  that  he  remembered  it 
being  cleaned  out  about  fifty  years  ago,  when  two  basins-full 
of  pins  were  taken  out,  but  no  coin  of  any  kind.  The  pins 
were  all  bent,  and  I  conclude  the  intention  was  to  exorcise 
the  evil  spirit  supposed  to  afflict  the  person  who  dropped 
them  in,  or,  as  the  Welsh  say,  dadzvitsio.  No  doubt  some 
ominous  words  were  also  used.  The  well  is  at  present 
nearly  dry,  the  field  where  it  lies  having  been  drained  some 
years  ago,  and  the  water  in  consequence  withdrawn  from 
it.  It  was  much  used  for  the  cure  of  warts.  The  wart  was 
washed,  then  pricked  with  a  pin,  which,  after  being  bent, 
was  thrown  into  the  well. 

"  '  There  is  a  very  large  and  well  known  well  of  the  kind 
at  Clynnog,  Ffynnon  Beuno^  (St.  Beuno's  Well),  which  was 
considered  to  have  miraculous  healing  powers ;  and  even 
yet,  I  believe,  some  people  have  faith  in  it.  Ffynnoji  Faglan 
is  in  its  construction  an  imitation,  on  a  smaller  scale,  of 
St.  Beuno's  Well  at  Clynnog.' " 

T.  E.  Morris. 

2,  Brick  Court,  Temple,  E.C. 

^  This  is  the  local  pronunciation  ;  but  we  should  expect  to  find 
Ffynnon  Feuno.  So  Ffyniion  Gwyjiwy  (p.  59,  above)  might  mean 
either  '  Gwynwy's'  or  '  Cwynwy's  Well'. 


REPORT   ON  FOLK-TALE   RESEARCH, 

1892, 


1.  The  International  Folk-lore  Congress,  1891.     Papers  and  Trans- 

actions. Edited  by  Joseph  Jacobs  and  Alfred  Nutt,  Chairman 
and  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Literary  Committee.  London  : 
David  Nutt,  1892. 

2.  Die  Fliitsagen.     Ethnographisch  betrachtet  von  Richard  Andree. 

Braunschweig  :  Friedrich  Vieweg  &  Sohn,  1891. 

3.  Miti,   Leggende  e  Supcrstizioni  acl  Medio  Evo.      Arturo  Graf. 

VoL  L     Torino:  Ermanno  Loescher,  1892. 

4.  Ueber  den  lettischcn  Drachen-Mythiis  {Puhkis).      Ein  Beitrag  zur 

lettischen  Mythologie  von  Robert  Auning,  Pastor  zu  Sesswegen. 
Mitau  :  J.  F.  Steffenhagen  &  Sohn,  1892. 

5.  Les  IncideJits  dcs  Contcs  popiilaires  de  la  Hatcte  Bretagne,  par  Paul 

Sebillot.   Vannes  :  Lafolye,  1892. 

6.  Aislinge  nieicConglinne.      The  Visionof  MacConglinJie,  a.'^l\dd\t- 

Irish  Wonder  Tale.  Edited,  with  a  translation  (based  on 
W.  M.  Hennessy's),  notes,  and  a  glossary,  by  Kuno  Meyer, 
with  an  Introduction  by  Wilhelm  Wollner.  London  :  David 
Nutt,  1892. 

7.  Indian  Fairy  Tales,  selected  and  edited  by  Joseph  Jacobs.     Lon- 

don :  D.  Nutt,  1892. 

8.  Santal  Folk-Tales.     Translated  from  the  Santali  by  A.  Campbell, 

Free  Church  of  Scotland  Santal  Mission,  Manbhoom,  India. 
Pokhuria  :  Santal  Mission  Press,  1891. 

9.  Indian   Nights'  Entertainment;   or,  Folk-Tales  from  the  Upper 

Indus.  By  the  Rev.  Charles  Swynnerton,  F.S.A,  London  : 
Elliot  Stock,  1892. 

10.  Mdrchen  nnd  Sagen  dcr  Bukozvinaer  und  Sicbenbiirgcr  Armenier, 

Aus  eigenen  und  fremden  Sammlungen  iibersetzt  von  Dr. 
Heinrich  von  Wlislocki.  Hamburg :  Verlagsanstalt  und 
Druckerei   Actien-Gesellschaft,  1892. 

11.  Traditions  popiilaires  die  Daubs.     Ch.    Thuriet.     Paris:    Emile 

Lechevalier,  1891. 

12.  Contes  Ligurcs.     Traditions  de  la  Riviere  recueillis  entre  Menton 

et  Genes  par  James  Bruyn  Andrews.  Paris  :  Ernest  Leroux, 
1892. 


Report  on  Folk-tale  Research.  8  r 

13.  Le  Folk-lore  du  Poitoti,  par  Leon  Pineau.     Paris  :  Ernest  Leroux, 

1892. 

14.  Sageft  Niederbsterrcichs.     Gesammelt,  erziihlt  und  erlautert    von 

P.  Willebald  Ludwig-  Leeb.  Erster  Band.  Mit  einer  Einbe- 
gleitung  von  Karl  Landsteiner,  inf.  Propst  in  Nikolsburg. 
Wien :    Heinrich  Kirsch,  1892. 

15.  Tradizioni  popolari  Albonesi.     T.   Luciani.    Capodistria :    Tipo- 

grafia  Cobol  &  Priora,  1892. 

16.  Die   Sagen  des  Elsasses :   getreu   nach    der   Volksiiberlieferung, 

den  Chroniken  und  andern  gedruckten  und  handschriftlichen 
Quellen,  gesammelt  von  August  Stober.  Neue  Ausgabe  besorgt 
von  Curt  Mundel.  Erster  Teil  :  Die  Sagen  des  Ober-Elsasses. 
Strassburg :  J.  H.  Ed.  Heitz,  1892. 

17.  Afro- American  Folk-lore  told   round    Cabin    Fires  on   the   Sea 

Islands  of  South  Carolina.  By  A.  M.  H.  Christensen.  Boston  : 
J.  G.  Cupples  Company,  1892, 


A  FASCINATING  volume  for  all  students  of  folk-lore 
is  the  Official  Report  of  the  Second   International 
Congress.     This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  uses  of  a 
Congress  ;  and,  indeed,  when  one  of  the  results  is  the  pro- 
duction of  a  volume  of  nearly  500  pages,  raising  so  many 
questions  of  interest,  opening  so  many  avenues  of  scientific 
speculation,  heaping  together  so  many  new  facts,  and  con- 
taining so  many  hints  towards  the  solution  of  the  problems 
that  already  confront  us,  we  hardly  pause  to  ask  what  are 
the  uses  of  a  Congress.     Students  of  folk-tales  will  turn, 
of  course,  to  the  Folk-tale  Section.      But  the  importance 
of  the  Report  to  them  does  not  stop  there.      M.  Ploix's 
article  on  Le  Mythc  de  t'Odyssee  seems  to  have  lost  its  way 
in  the  Mythological  Section.     Mr.  Hindes  Groome's  paper 
on  The  Influence  of  the  Gipsies  in  the  Institution  and  Cus- 
tom Section,  and  Mr.  Hugh  Nevill's  Sinhalese  Folk-lore  in 
the  General  Theory  and  Classification  Section,  also  overlap 
our  own.      We  can  now  see  how  fierce  the  battle  between 
the  Anthropologists  and  the  Disseminationists  waxed  ;  and, 
sitting  down  quietly  with  the  book  in  hand,  we  can  measure 

VOL.  IV.  G 


82  Report  on  Folk-tale  Resea7xli. 

the  strength  of  the  attack  made  by  Mr.  Newell,  M.  Cosquin^ 
and  Mr.  Jacobs  on  the  anthropological  position.  Their 
papers  and  that  of  Mr.  Nutt  have  brought  into  fresh  pro- 
minence the  extreme  complexity,  as  well  as  the  importance,, 
of  the  issues.  The  editors  indeed  claim,  and  not  without 
justice,  that  "  in  the  burning  question  of  folk-tale  diffusion 
issue  has  rarely  been  joined  by  the  opposing  schools  with 
greater  definiteness".  On  this  question  there  is  a  strong 
temptation  to  agnosticism.  And  indeed,  to  judge  by  some 
of  the  discussions  at  the  Congress,  as  well  as  by  the 
expressions  of  scientific  opinion  outside,  the  problem  of  the 
place  of  origin  of  any  folk-tale  is  by  many  students  re- 
garded as  insoluble.  It  may  be  so,  of  course ;  but  until 
some  serious  attempt  has  been  made  to  trace  a  number  of 
these  stories  back  to  their  cradles,  an  avowal  of  disbelief  in 
the  possibility  of  the  feat  is  premature.  The  resources  of 
modern  inquiry  have  not  yet  been  exhausted  ;  nay,  they 
have  hardly  been  tapped.  M.  Cosquin's  learning,  rein- 
forced by  Mr.  Jacobs'  acuteness,  has  done  little  more  than 
scratch  the  surface. 

The  truth  is  that  before  we  can  make  much  progress  in 
the  work  we  must  have  improved  instruments.  With  two 
of  these  Mr.  Jacobs  in  his  paper  proposes  to  furnish  us — a 
folk-tale  map  and  a  list  of  incidents.  To  speak  to  the  eye 
is  always  an  aid  to  the  understanding.  This  is  Mr.  Jacobs' 
aim  in  the  outline  map  of  Europe  which  accompanies  his 
paper.  Upon  his  map  he  has  marked  the  names  of  a 
number  of  collections,  with  the  dates  of  their  publication, 
over  the  localities  where  the  collections  were  made.  To  be 
effective,  however,  a  map  of  this  kind  must  be  on  a  larger 
scale  than  the  one  before  us,  and  the  political  divisions — 
rather,  if  possible,  the  linguistic  divisions — should  be 
marked.  Having  analysed  the  principal  types  of  a  folk- 
tale, we  could  indicate  on  such  a  map  its  distribution.  A 
map  containing  the  names  of  collections  will  hardly  be 
useful  save  as  a  key-map  for  reference.  But  the  idea  of  a 
map  is  a  good  one,  and  should  not  be  lost  sight  of. 


Report  on  Folk-tale  Research.  8 


v) 


The  list  of  incidents  is  valuable  too.  It  is  the  first 
attempt  to  compile  what  has  long  been  wanted.  If  it  be 
imperfect,  that  is  unavoidable;  and  the  imperfection  cannot 
balance  our  indebtedness  to  the  author.  The  chief  defects 
are,  so  far  as  I  have  tested  it,  of  three  kinds.  First,  in- 
cidents are  defined  too  specifically.  For  example,  the  inci- 
dent, found  in  drolls,  of  the  fool  who  tried  to  get  into  some 
article  of  his  clothing  by  jumping,  should  be  indicated  as 
Jiunping  into  clothes,  rather  than  by  the  mention  of  an 
article  only  found  in  some  variants  as  the  object  of  the 
hero's  perspiring  efforts.  Second,  the  alphabetical  order 
should  be  subordinated  to  some  sort  of  logical  order.  Thus, 
I  find  Candle-lighting  election  under  C,  and  Kingship  test 
under  K.  These  are  both  variant  forms  of  one  incident, 
which  relates  the  supernatural  designation  of  the  hero  to 
the  office  of  king  or  pope ;  and  the  first  may,  in  fact,  be 
included  in  the  second.  What  is  wanted  is  a  general 
heading,  such  as  King,  Designation  [or  Nomination — not 
Election]  of,  to  be  followed  by  sub-divisions  into  By 
animals,  By  bell-ringing.  By  catidle-lighting,  and  so  forth. 
The  third  kind  of  defect  arises,  I  think,  usually  from  too 
great  a  desire  for  compression.  Compression  is  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  chief  matters  to  be  aimed  at,  but 
not  at  the  sacrifice  of  perspicuity.  Who  could  tell  that 
the  Thrown  in  imter  incident  was  that  of  the  hapless 
queen  thrown  into  the  water,  or  otherwise  put  away,  during 
the  king's  absence,  to  make  room  for  her  uglier  step- 
sister ?  Zigzag  transformation  hardly  expresses  the  inci- 
dent better  yclept  by  Mr.  Nutt  Transformation  fight. 
These  blemishes,  however,  are  all  susceptible  of  amend- 
ment; and  a  committee  of  the  Society,  taking  this  list  as  a 
foundation,  could  easily  compile  a  standard  list  adaptable 
to  all  our  wants. 

These  practical  efforts  are  so  important  that  they  will 

perhaps  draw  away  the  student's  attention  from  the  paper 

.  by  which  they  are  preceded.     Such  a  result  is  much  to  be 

deprecated.     Taken    together   with    M.    Cosquin's   paper, 

G2 


$4  Report  on  Folk-tale  Research. 

written  chiefly  in  reply  to  Mr.  Andrew  Lang,  it  constitutes 
a  powerful  statement  of  the  Disseminationist  position. 
Mr.  Jacobs  insists  on  the  artistic  whole  which  a  folk-tale 
forms,  while  M.  Cosquin  examines  some  analogous  stories 
under  the  microscope,  and  finds  minute  and  unexpected 
coincidences.  Both  arguments  converge  upon  the  necessity 
that  the  narrative,  say,  of  Perseus  or  Cinderella,  had  a 
specific  origin  in  a  definite  locality,  if  not  in  the  brain  of 
some  one  conscious  artist,  and  thence  spread  through  the 
world, 

Mr.  Newell  introduces  a  further  limitation.  He  is  of 
opinion  that  uidixhcn^  with  all  their  magic,  all  their  cruelty, 
all  their  absurdities,  originated  among  civilised  nations,  or 
at  least  were  diffused  from  them  to  uncivilised,  and  not 
vice  versa.  The  example  he  has  made  the  text  of  his 
paper  is  an  English  variant  of  a  well-known  type  of 
Swan-maiden  stories;  and  it  is  specially  valuable  as  the 
only  English  variant  known.  It  is  printed  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Congress  Report,  "obtained  from  a  member  of 
a  highly  intelligent  family  in  Massachusetts,  in  which  it 
has  been  traditional."  Mr.  Newell,  its  discoverer,  traces  it 
back  to  the  Hindu  mythology,  where,  he  says,  it  "seems 
clear  and  simple  ;  in  other  parts  of  the  world  it  appears 
as  a  narrative  subject  to  obscurity,  and  not  in  close  connec- 
tion with  national  ideas."  Naturally,  however,  he  finds  a 
difficulty  with  the  variant  made  known  to  us  by  Dr. 
Turner  in  his  book  on  Samoa.  This  variant  is  not  only 
unusually  complete,  but  is  "  highly  characteristic  in  form 
and  scenery",  and,  moreover,  is  in  ballad  form,  consisting 
of  no  fewer  than  twenty-six  stanzas.  Yet  Mr.  Newell 
concludes  "  that  this  ballad  must  have  been  inspired  by  a 
tale  recently  imported  from  Europe".  Must  it?  Samoa 
was  discovered  by  the  Dutch  in  1722.  It  was  next  visited 
by  the  French  in  1768,  and  again  in  1787.  A  quarrel  with 
the  natives  by  the  expedition  under  La  Perouse  in  the 
latter  year  caused  the  island  to  be  shunned  as  the  abode 
of  treacherous  savages  for  nearly  fift}'  }xars,  tb.ough  it  was 


Report  011  Folk-tale  Research.  85 

once  visited  in  the  interval  b}-  a  British  warship.  In  1830 
an  attempt  was  made  by  the  London  Missionary  Society 
to  get  a  footing  on  the  island.  This,  we  may  be  tolerably 
certain,  was  the  earliest  time  at  which  any  real  social  in- 
tercourse with  Europeans  took  place.  After  a  struggle, 
the  missionaries  were  successful,  and  gradually  succeeded 
in  Christianizing  the  people.  Now,  the  Samoan  ballad  re- 
places the  paternal  ogre  by  a  god ;  and  it  bespeaks  a  con- 
dition of  thought  when  gods  are  believed  to  hold  constant 
communion  with  men,  and  are,  indeed,  hardly  distinguish- 
able from  them.  In  view  of  this  fact,  and  of  the  other 
details  of  manners  and  scenery,  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the 
conclusion  that  the  ballad  has  descended  from  the  times 
of  heathen  savagery.  If  this  be  true — and  Dr.  Turner 
indicates  no  doubt  about  it — a  very  heavy  omts  probandi 
lies  upon  Mr.  Newell,  having  regard  to  the  history  of  the 
island — an  onus  to  be  outweighed  by  no  theories  of  what 
must  have  been. 

I  may  digress  a  moment  here  to  mention  that  Dr. 
Turner's  book  affords  other  problems  of  the  same  sort. 
There  is,  for  instance,  a  proverb  in  daily  use  referring  to 
a  fable  familiar  to  us  as  "  The  Hare  and  the  Tortoise". 
The  fable  in  Samoa  relates  a  quarrel  between  a  fowl  and  a 
turtle  for  a  spring  of  fresh  water.  They  agreed  to  decide 
it  by  seeing  which  of  them  was  first  at  the  spring  the  next 
morning.  The  turtle,  of  course,  got  up  early,  and  reached 
the  spring  from  the  sea  before  the  fowl,  in  her  over-confi- 
dence, had  done  roosting.  Note  here  the  complete  assimi- 
lation by  the  native  mind  of  this  apologue,  as  shown  not 
merely  by  its  adaptation  to  the  island  scenery  and  fauna, 
but  also  by  the  proverb  continually  in  the  mouths  of  the 
people.  Can  we  venture  to  assume  that  it,  too, "  must  have 
been"  a  recent  importation  from  Europe? 

Mr.  MacRitchie's  paper  on  The  Historical  Aspect  of  Folk- 
lore calls  attention  to  a  very  difficult  branch  of  the  inquiry 
into  the  meaning  of  the  folk-tale.  Some  of  the  instances  he 
gives  of  the  preservation  of  historical  memory  are  curious, 


86  Report  on  Folk-tale  Research. 

though  the  family  tradition  would  have  been  a  more  con- 
vincing case  had  he  felt  at  liberty  to  mention  names  and 
other  particulars.  Even  more  striking  instances,  however, 
might  have  been  mentioned,  such  as  that  one  referred  to 
by  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins  in  his  Eaidy  Man  m  Britain,  which 
discloses  the  record  of  a  local  fact  handed  down  by  tradi- 
tion for  something  like  two  thousand  years.  A  barrow 
called  Bryn-yr-Ellyllon  (Fairy  Hill),  near  Mold,  was  said 
to  be  haunted  :  a  ghost  clad  in  golden  armour  had  been 
seen  to  enter  it.  The  ghost  was  explained  when  the 
barrow  was  opened,  in  the  year  1832,  by  the  discovery  of  a 
skeleton  wearing  a  corselet  of  gold  of  beautiful  Etruscan 
workmanship.  It  is  very  desirable  that  some  student 
unwarped  by  any  prepossession,  theological  or  historical, 
should  endeavour,  by  a  collection  of  instances  and  their 
comparison  on  scientific  principles,  to  establish  how  far 
reminiscences  of  fact  can  be  preserved  in  folk-lore,  and 
what  amount  of  distortion,  or  transformation,  they  may,  in 
given  circumstances,  be  expected  to  undergo.  I  hardly 
know  any  problem  that  can  be  attacked  with  a  greater 
likelihood  of  practical  results. 

Mr.  Nutt's  paper  on  Problems  of  Heroic  Legend  deals 
with  this  subject  in  its  application  to  the  cycles  of  the 
Celtic  and  Teutonic  heroes.  In  this  limited  field  his 
keen  criticism  is  successful  in  showing  that  the  recollection 
extends  to  little,  if  anything,  more  than  the  mere  names  of 
a  few  of  the  personages.  The  old  mythic  material  of  the 
race  is  the  real  stuff  of  the  legends  to  which  these  names 
attach  themselves.  With  the  mythic  material  are  mingled 
recollections,  more  or  less  vague,  of  the  last  important 
struggle  in  which  the  nation  was  engaged  before  the 
legend  assumed  final  shape.  The  struggle  may  or  may 
not  have  been  that  in  which  the  heroes  whose  names  are 
made  use  of  took  part.  Summing  up  this  part  of  his 
paper,  the  author  says  :  "  Had  we  heroic  legend  alone,  we 
should  know  worse  than  nothing  of  history,  we  could  only 
guess  at  false  history.     History  may  seem  to  give  the  form 


Report  on  Folk-tale  Research.  87 

and  framework  of  heroic  legend,  the  vital  plastic  organic 
-element  is  furnished  by  something  quite  different.     Myth, 
like  a  hermit  crab,  may  creep  into  the  shell  of  history, 
none  the  less  does  it  retain  its  own  nature."     He  then  goes 
■on   to  point    out  that   "it   is  an   open    question    whether 
among  the  races  which  shaped  the  great  heroic  cycles  it 
was    not    precisely    the    impossible    elements    which    won 
credence,  whether  a  hero  could  be  considered  such  unless 
he  was  more  than  a  man,  whether  the  vitality  of  an  heroic 
legend   is  not  directly  proportionate  to  the  more   or  less 
of  myth  which    it    contains."     Taking   two    of  the    many 
mythical,  or  impossible,  incidents  found  alike  in  Celtic  and 
Teutonic  heroic  legend,  Mr.  Nutt  examines  the  Miraculous 
Birth  and  the  Combat  between  Father  and  Son,  ascertain- 
ing the  dates  of  their  appearance  in  literature,  the  character 
of  the  texts  in  which  they  are  found,  and  the  special  forms 
assumed  by  the  incidents  themselves  ;    and  he  not  only 
fails  to  find  any  evidence  of  borrowing,  but  he  urges  with 
much  force  a  psychological  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the 
borrowing    theory   as   applied    to    these   hero-talcs.     "  It 
seems  certain",  he  argues,  "that  the  Irishmen  who  told  of 
Cuchulainn,  the  Germans  who  sang  of  Siegfried,  the  Per- 
sians  who   celebrated    Rustem,  not    only   believed    in  the 
existence  and  deeds  of  these  heroes  (as  firmly  in  the  mythical 
— the  impossible — elements  as  in  the  purely  human  ones), 
but  also  looked  upon  them  as  the  crowning  glory  and  as  the 
standing  exemplar  of  the  race.     The  traditions  connected 
with    them    formed    a    heritage    of    an    especially   sacred 
character,  a  heritage  which  it  was  the  pride  of  the  clan  chief, 
the  duty  of  the  clan  wiseman  and  singer  to  foster.     Is  it 
likely  that  these  traditions  should  to  any  great  extent  be  a 
simple  adaptation  or  echo  of  stories  told  by  strangers  to 
the  clan-sentiment,  this,  too,   at    a    time  when   strangers 
were  almost  invariably  enemies  ?"     Putting  the  borrowing 
hypothesis,    therefore,   aside,    he    explains    the    similarity 
between  certain   incidents  of  the  various  Aryan  races  by 
reference   to    their   divine    legends.     Himself  inclined    to 


88  Report  on  Folk-tale  Researeh. 

regard  such  legends  as  mainly  expressive  of  natural 
phenomena,  he  does  not  pronounce  definitely  against  them 
as  in  some  way  symbolizing  past  events  which  impressed 
the  imagination  and  modified  the  condition  of  the  race, 
nor  would  he  prejudge  the  questions  whether  they  are 
representatives  of  one  common  original  or  independent 
developments  of  common  mythic  germs,  nor  even  whether 
they  are  ultimately  Aryan  at  all,  and  not  rather  borrowed 
from  older  races.  These  questions  he  leaves  for  future 
research,  urging  especially  careful  observation  of  the 
processes  at  work  among  savage  peoples  who  are  still  in 
the  mythopoeic  stage. 

The  same  problem  of  the  historical  value  of  m}'th  is 
dealt  with  by  M.  Ploix  in  his  paper  on  the  myth  of  the 
Odyssey.  He  submits  the  plot,  the  personages,  the  inci- 
dents, and  the  localities  of  the  poem  to  a  careful  examina- 
tion, and  shows  without  difficulty  that  one  and  all  of 
these  are  of  such  stuff  as  popular  tales  are  made  of  The 
most  ingenious  portion  of  his  argument  is  that  in  which  he 
deals  with  the  subject  of  the  Odyssey,  the  search  for  and 
conquest  of  Penelope,  as  identical  with  the  subject  of  the 
ordinary  folk-tale  in  which  the  hero  sets  out  to  obtain  the 
bride,  who  is  only  to  be  won  after  long  wandering  and  the 
performance  of  superhuman  tasks.  Whether  or  not  M, 
Ploix's  dawn-theory  be~accepted  to  explain  the  myth,  his 
analysis  lays  bare  the  same  result  in  the  case  of  the  Greek 
myth  as  that  of  Mr.  Nutt  in  the  Celtic  and  Teutonic 
myths  :  regarded  in  any  sense  as  history,  the  value  of  the 
narrative  is  a  minus  quantity. 

I  have  left  myself  no  space  to  speak  of  Mr.  Hindes. 
Groome's  paper  and  that  of  Mr.  Hugh  Nevill.  Folk-tales 
occupy  but  a  small  portion  of  either.  Mr.  Nevill,  however, 
succeeds  in  awakening  our  curiosity  concerning  the  Sahassa- 
vatthu,  which  he  describes  as  "one  of  the  oldest  historical 
folk-lore  books  in  the  world".  As  to  his  own  collection, 
he  gives  enough  taste  of  its  variety  to  make  us  wish  he 
would    put    it    into    shape    for   publication.       His    official 


Report  on  Folk-tale  Research.  89 

position  in  Ceylon  has  yielded  him  ample  opportunities 
for  scientific  inquiry  in  a  field  hitherto  unwrought.  Will 
he  not  afford  us  a  larger  measure  of  the  results  ? 

Mr.  Jacobs'  contribution  to  the  discussion  of  the  problems 
of  dissemination  does  not  end  with  his  paper  in  the  Con- 
gress Transactions.  In  Indian  Fairy  Talcs  he  has  added 
a  third  to  the  beautiful  series  of  fairy-books  for  children — 
a  third  in  every  way  worthy  of  its  Celtic  and  English 
predecessors.  The  stories  are  as  well  selected  and  adapted, 
and  the  illustrations  as  full  of  charm  as  ever — an  endless 
delight.  But  our  business  is  with  the  notes.  In  them  the 
author  expresses  his  opinion  that  it  has  been  proved  that 
the  incidents  of  drolls  have  been  all  derived  from  India,, 
but  that  as  regards  the  incidents  of  the  "  serious"  tales 
further  inquiry  is  needed.  At  the  same  time  he  asserts 
the  Indian  origin  of  some  of  these,  and  favours  the  pre- 
sumption generally,  "so  far  as  the  incidents  are  marvel- 
lous and  of  true  fairy-tale  character because  of  the 

vitality  of  animism  or  metempsychosis  in  India  through- 
out all  historic  time".  He  is  convinced  that  "  the  fairy- 
tales that  are  common  to  the  Indo-European  world  were 
invented  once  for  all  in  a  certain  locality,  and  thence 
spread  to  all  the  countries  in  culture-contact  with  the 
original  source".  And  he  holds  that  "so  far  as  Europe 
has  a  common  source  of  fairy-tales,  it  owes  this  to  India". 
This  last  statement  he  qualifies  to  some  extent  by  limiting 
the  "  common  stock"  of  European  tales  to  30-50  per  cent, 
of  the  whole,  and  reckoning  them  primarily  as  including 
all  the  beast-tales  and  most  of  the  drolls  ;  but  though  he 
thinks  the  evidence  still  lacking  about  the  more  serious 
fairy-tales,  it  is  increasing  with  e\-ery  fresh  collection  of 
folk-tales  in  India. 

This  is  an  advance  on  the  position  he  took  up  at  the 
Congress :  he  is  now  more  definitely  committed  to  the 
theory  of  Indian,  though  not  necessarilv  of  Buddhist, 
origins.  Let  us  examine  one  or  two  of  the  instances  on 
which  Mr.  Jacobs  relics.     The  stor}^  of  the  Demon  of  the 


-90  Report  on  Folk-tale  Research. 

Matted  Hair  yields  to  none  in  the  collection  for  interest  to 
the  student.  It  has  been  translated  from  a  Jataka  by 
Mr.  W.  H.  D.  Rouse  specially  for  this  volume  (where  it 
appears  for  the  first  time  in  English),  and  is  put  down  by 
Mr.  Jacobs  as  the  original  of  Uncle  Remus'  famous  story 
•of  the  Tar-baby.  The  incident  having  been  found  among 
the  Hottentots,  Mr.  Jacobs  considers  "  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  Jataka"  was  carried  to  Africa  "  possibly  by 
Buddhist  missionaries,  spread  among  the  negroes",  and  was 
by  them  carried  to  the  New  World.  Well,  a  very  plausible 
theory  !  And  yet,  though  "  there  can  be  little  doubt" 
about  it,  that  little  doubt  will  persist  in  making  its  appear- 
ance. The  Buddhist  missionaries  we  may  deal  with  when 
Mr.  Jacobs  produces  his  evidence  of  Buddhistic  influence 
to  be  found  among  the  negroes  ;  for  the  present  we  may 
ignore  them.  There  remains  nothing  more  than  the  con- 
jecture of  transmission  from  India,  disguised  by  the  bold 
words  "  there  can  be  little  doubt".  Now,  what  is  certain 
is  that  the  Hottentots  are,  in  race,  if  not  in  culture  and 
space,  about  as  far  removed  from  true  Negroes  as  Esqui- 
maux from  Aztecs  ;  that  the  Jataka  is  not  the  simplest, 
but  a  highly-developed,  highly-civilised  form  of  the  story, 
while  the  Hottentot  form  is  the  simplest,  the  most  un- 
civilised ;  that  hitherto  the  story  has  nowhere  else  been 
found  on  the  African  continent ;  and  that  it  has  been 
found  outside  of  India  only  where  the  African  race  has 
been  for  a  long  period  in  constant  contact  with  nations  of 
European  origin.  These  facts  do  not  warrant  any  definite 
conclusion  as  yet.  They  point,  however,  decidedly  against 
the  Indian  origin  of  the  incident.  The  African  origin  is 
a  probable  conjecture,  and  that  is  all  :  the  channel  of 
transmission  between  Africa  and  India  is  still  to  seek. 

Again.  In  the  story  of  the  Princess  Labam,  Mr.  Jacobs 
lays  stress  on  "the  sequence  of  incidents  :  Direction  Tabu — 
Aninials — Bride-wager — Tasks."  Now,  the  best  evidence 
of  transmission  occurs,  not  where  the  sequence  is  closely 
interwoven,  but  where  an  apparently  unconnected  incident 


Report  on  Folk-tale  Reseai'eh.  91 

is  found  persistently  as  a  member  of  the  sequence.  Thus 
it  is  the  presence  of  the  Direction  Taboo  that  gives  force 
to  the  argument  in  this  instance.  But,  does  the  Direction 
Taboo  occur  in  the  sequence  elsewhere  than  in  India  ?  I 
do  not  find  it  in  the  stories  referred  to  by  Mr.  Jacobs  ;  and, 
if  I  did,  I  do  not  see  how  it  would  prove  that  Europe  must 
have  borrowed  from  India,  either  at  the  time  of  the  Cru- 
sades or  at  any  other  period.  In  his  note  to  The  Son  of 
Seven  Queens,  Mr.  Jacobs  suggests  that  the  idea  of  a  son 
of  seven  mothers  could  only  arise  in  a  polygamous  country. 
Heimdall,  in  the  Norse  Mythology,  was  the  son  of  nine 
mothers  :  is  this  a  crumb  from  the  Indian  loaf?  Nor  is 
the  stepmother  proper  so  wholly  unknown  to  Indian  tales,  or 
to  Indian  life,  that  there  is  any  probability  in  the  suggestion 
that  the  "  Envious  Stepmother"  of  this  and  other  stories  was 
originally  a  co-wife  (cf  Swynnerton,  /,  N.  E.,  275,  330). 
Mr.  Jacobs  has  certainly  made  a  point  in  urging  that  in 
the  Punchkin  group  not  the  external  soul  but  its  numerous 
wrappers  must  be  evidence  of  transmission.  But  he  really 
does  not  attempt  to  prove  that  the  wrappers  were  borrowed 
from  a  Hindu  lender.  This  at  present  is  pure  assumption. 
To  discuss  the  matter  further  is  impossible.  I  will  merely 
say  that  I  traverse  the  entire  argument  starting  from  the 
"appropriate  atmosphere"  created  by  the  Hindu  dogma  of 
metempsychosis.  It  fails  to  take  adequate  account  of  the 
opinions  and  practices  of  the  European  peasantry,  both 
where  those  opinions  and  practices  have,  and  where,  as  in 
large  tracts  of  the  continent,  they  have  not,  been  frowned 
upon  by  the  higher  orders.  In  view  of  the  classical,  Norse, 
and  Celtic  mythologies  it  is  undeniable  (and  Mr.  Jacobs 
candidly  admits)  that  the  folk  of  Europe  w'ere  possessed  of 
a  stock-in-trade  of  stories  once.  All  that  we  know  of  their 
repertory  vouches  it  of  the  same  character  as  that  of  the 
modern  story-teller.  Its  displacement  must  be  shown  by 
reasoning  from  premises  more  indisputable,  and  with  fewer 
broken  links.  I  ought  to  add  a  caution  to  students  against 
the  text  of  the  tales  in  this  otherwise  admirable  volume. 


92  Report  on  Folk-talc  Research. 

Mr.  Jacobs  has  not  always  indicated  the  adaptations  he  has 
deemed  necessary  for  the  Enghsh  nursery  ;  but  he  has 
happily  and  properly  exhibited  his  sources. 

M.  Sebillot  has  published  an  analytical  table  of  the  in- 
cidents, personages,  and  machinery  of  his  many  and  valu- 
able collections  of  tales  from  Upper  Brittany.  This  is  a 
labour  covering  a  larger  ground  than  Mr.  Jacobs'  list  ;  for  it 
is  intended  primarily  to  serve  the  purpose  of  an  index  to 
the  stories.  It  will  in  effect  do  much  more  :  it  will  enable 
us  to  add  to  the  number  of  incidents  enumerated  by  him, 
and  thus  assist  materially  in  the  preparation  of  a  standard 
list.  Meanwhile,  its  utility  will  be  appreciated  by  the 
readers  of  M.  Sebillot's  volumes — in  other  words,  by  all 
students  of  folk-tales. 

In  M.  Andree's  study  of  the  Deluge  myth  we  are  intro- 
duced to  a  different  region.  The  author  collects  eighty- 
eight  variants  of  the  story  of  the  Flood,  and  discusses  their 
distribution,  transmission,  and  origin.  His  conclusions  are 
that  Flood  sagas,  though  widely  scattered,  are  not  universal, 
the  exceptions  being  those  of  China,  Japan,  Arabia, 
Northern  and  Central  Asia,  the  whole  of  Africa,  and 
the  whole  of  Europe  save  Greece  ;  that  the  traditions 
of  the  other  parts  of  Europe  are  founded  on  the  Bible  ; 
that  many  of  the  traditions  found  elsewhere  have  been 
modified  by  Christian  influence  ;  and  that  there  is  no  com- 
mon foundation  for  the  traditions  where  they  are  found,  but 
that  they  are  due  to  local  catastrophes,  in  the  causes  of 
which  he  considers  earthquake-waves  have  played  a  con- 
siderable part.  Some  of  these  conclusions  are  startling. 
If  local  catastrophes  have  given  rise  to  Flood  sagas,  it  is 
strange  that  a  country  so  devastated  by  floods  as  China 
should  yield  no  variant  :  it  is  enough  of  itself  to  make  us 
doubt  the  theory.  M.  Andree  does  not  discuss  Dr.  Brin- 
ton's  suggestion  (or  is  it  Prescott's,  whom  the  Doctor 
quotes  ?)  that  these  myths  are  the  result  of  an  effort  of  the 
.savage  imagination  to  break  up  the  illimitable  past  into 
distinct  cycles  or  periods  of  time.  And  is  he  not  rather 
hasty  in   assuming  that,  because  he  has    not    found   any 


Rcpoi't  on  Folk-tale  Research.  93 

traditions  of  a  deluge  in  certain  regions,  therefore  there  are 
none  to  be  found  ?  Is  it  certain,  too,  that  he  is  right  in 
rejecting,  for  example,  the  Celtic  and  Norse  myths  as 
founded  on  Christian  teaching? 

The  first  volume  of  the  Miti,  Lcggendc  e  Supcrstiziouidd 
Medio  Evo  deals  chiefly  with  the  myths  discussed  in  their 
literary  shape.  But  the  attention  of  students  ought  to  be 
called  to  the  work,  not  merely  because  its  plan  comprises 
much  of  scientific  interest,  but  also  because  the  subjects  are 
treated  in  an  attractive  manner  ;  the  notes  indicate  many 
works  which  may  be  consulted  with  advantage,  and  the 
appendices  include  a  number  of  mediaeval  texts.  The  sub- 
jects treated  in  this  first  volume  are  The  Earthly  Paradise, 
The  periodical  respite  allowed  to  the  Damned,  and  The 
Belief  in  Fatalism. 

M.  Robert  Auning's  little  work  consists  of  a  collection 
of  Lettish  folk-tales  and  superstitions  concerning  the 
Puhkis,  or  dragon,  myth  current  among  the  people  of 
Livland.  The  texts  are  given  in  Lettish,  and  most  of 
them  are  translated  into  German.  The  collection  is 
followed  by  some  eminently  sane  and  cautious  observations 
on  the  myth,  which  is  identified  with  the  North  German 
Puks  and  the  English  Puck.  The  Puhkis  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  dragon,  or  serpent,  form.  It  appears  at  various 
times  also  as  a  lump  of  charcoal,  a  log  of  wood,  a  bundle,  a 
cat,  a  mouse,  a  bird,  a  toad,  a  whirlwind,  a  ball  of  light, 
a  besom  with  a  fiery  head,  a  thong  of  leather,  the  tail  of  a 
pig.  It  appears  in  the  familiar  capacity  of  "  drudging 
goblin"  who  must  not  be  gifted  with  clothes.  And  the 
reason  for  this  prohibition,  obscure  in  the  German  and 
English  variants,  seems  to  be  that  it  was  the  custom  to 
dismiss  farm-servants  with  new  clothes.  Did  this  custom 
ever  obtain  in  England  ?  The  Puhkis  is  to  be  bought ; 
and  its  life  is  bound  up  with  that  of  its  owner,  so  that  if 
the  former  be  destroyed  the  latter  also  comes  to  an  end. 
It  must  be  fed,  and  indeed  must  be  presented  with  the 
first-fruits  of  its  owner's  produce.  It  is  further  identified 
with  the  dragon  in   tales   of  the  Perseus  group,  of  which 


94  Report  on  Folk-talc  Research. 

several  variants  are  given.  The  book  is  a  contribution  to 
our  knowledge  the  more  precious  because  we  Western 
students  have  all-too-little  information  about  the  teeming 
superstitions  still  at  large  in  the  Russian  empire. 

Of  original  collections  by  far  the  most  remarkable  pub- 
lished during  the  past  year  is  the  Rev.  Charles  Swynnerton's 
Indian  Nights  Entertainment.  The  stories  it  comprises 
were  obtained  in  the  Punjab,  many  of  them  at  Ghazi,  on 
the  Indus,  thirty  miles  above  Attock  ;  and  the  illustrations 
with  which  it  has  been  enriched  are  by  native  artists,  and 
may  be  taken  to  exhibit  the  scenes  of  the  tales  as  they 
present  themselves  to  the  native  mind.  This  is  a  great 
help  to  understanding  the  details.  The  narratives  consist 
as  well  of  apologues,  beast-tales,  and  drolls,  as  of  ordinary 
mdrcJien.  A  marked  characteristic  of  the  volume  is  the 
large  number  of  stories  turning  on  the  cunning,  or  the 
folly,  or  the  fidelity  of  woman.  One  such  is  a  curious 
variant  of  the  snake  who  wanted  to  kill  the  countryman 
who  had  saved  his  life.  Here  the  catastrophe  is  wholly 
different  from  that  of  the  fable  with  which  we  are  acquainted. 
The  story  of  the  man  who  bought  advice  turns  on  the 
inability  of  women  to  keep  secrets.  Here,  again,  the  plot 
is  not  that  usually  found  in  Europe,  and  the  story  has  the 
appearance  of  being  a  modern  combination  of  two  origin- 
ally distinct.  A  story  of  special  interest  is  that  of  Ali  the 
Merchant  and  the  Brahmin.  This  is  the  magician's 
apprentice,  who  after  leaving  his  master  has  a  Transforma- 
tion-fight with  him.  The  apprentice  at  last  becomes  a 
mosquito,  and  hides  in  the  nostrils  of  a  corpse  suspended 
from  a  tree.  The  magician  stops  up  the  nostrils  with  clay, 
and  binds  them  round  to  prevent  his  opponent's  escape. 
He  then  has  to  get  someone  to  cut  down  the  corpse  and 
bring  it  away  secretly.  At  this  point  the  Baital  Pachisi 
(Twenty-five  Tales  of  a  Demon) — or  at  least  its  plot,  for 
happily  the  tale-teller  has  some  sense  of  proportion — is 
interwoven  as  an  episode  in  the  Transformation-fight.  The 
end  of  the  fight,  like  that  in  the  story  of  The  Second 
Calender,  and  unlike  most  other  variants,  is  disastrous  to 


Report  on  Folk-talc  Research,  95 

the  apprentice  as  well  as  to  his  master.  Another  curious 
tale,  The  Friendly  Rat,  is  a  variant  of  Sennacherib's 
Disaster,  It  is,  I  think,  the  first  time  that  famous  incident 
has  appeared  in  modern  folk-lore.  If  still  current  in  the 
East,  as  its  appearance  here  indicates,  we  may  expect  to 
meet  with  other  versions  :  shall  we  be  told  that  they  must 
be  of  Buddhist  origin,  as  witness  the  Beast-helpers  ?  The 
story  of  The  Queen  and  the  Goldsmith  strikes  me  as  of 
literary — not  traditional — provenance.  It  were  much  to 
be  wished  that  Mr.  Swynnerton  had  given  the  name  and 
other  particulars  of  everyone  from  whom  he  obtained  the 
tales,  thus  following  the  examples  of  the  best  recent  col- 
lectors. I  must  add  that  not  the  least  valuable  part  of 
his  work  is  the  inde.x,  in  which  he  has  inserted  a  useful 
series  of  explanatory  notes. 

Another  book  of  Indian  tales  is  Mr.  Campbell's  Santal 
Folk-tales.  Its  importance  lies  in  the  fact  that  its  contents 
have  been  gathered  among  some  of  the  aborigines  of  whose 
traditional  stories  little  has  hitherto  been  known.  It  con- 
sists of  drolls  and  mdrchen,  several  of  which  will  repay 
careful  study.  One  of  them,  The  Magic  Fiddle,  has  been 
made  use  of  by  Mr.  Jacobs  in  his  Indian  Fairy  Tales^ 
This  story  belongs  to  a  type  of  which  three  examples  are 
found  in  Mr.  Campbell's  volume.  The  Singing  Bone  is  its 
nearest  analogue  in  European  folk-lore.  In  these  Santa! 
stories,  however,  the  conclusion  is  not  the  bringing  to 
justice  of  the  murderers,  but  the  reappearance  of  the 
heroine  and  her  marriage  to  a  prince.  The  murdered  girl, 
in  short,  is  Cinderella.  It  is  evident  that  the  European- 
and  Santal  stories  are  two  different  developments  of  the 
same  theme,  though  we  cannot  as  yet  say  whether  they 
are  originally  independent  of  one  another.  One  of  the 
Santal  variants  seems  to  have  a  close  connection  with  the 
Outcast  Child  group.  This  we  might  expect ;  but  a 
curious  incident,  which  we  should  not  have  expected^ 
occurs,  namely,  that  when  the  heroine's  mother  and 
brothers,  grown   poor,  come  to  her,  selling  firewood,  she 


96  Report  on  Folk-tale  Research. 

recognises  them  and  entertains  them.  In  doing  so  she 
makes  a  similar  distinction  between  her  youngest  brother 
and  the  others  to  that  made  by  Joseph  in  favour  of  Ben- 
jamin. The  collection  also  contains  two  variants  of  a 
story  turning  upon  an  incident  identical  with  one  of  the 
incidents  of  the  Egyptian  tale  of  The  Two  Brothers.  The 
hero  in  bathing  loses  one  of  his  hairs,  which  floats  down 
the  stream  and  is  found  by  a  princess.  She  determines  to 
marry  the  man  from  whose  head  it  has  fallen  ;  and  the 
remainder  of  the  narrative  records  her  efforts.  Another 
curious  tale  relates  the  injuries  a  woman  attempts  to  inflict 
on  a  tiger  under  pretence  of  doing  him  good — injuries 
which  always  redound  to  the  tiger's  benefit — and  his  grati- 
tude for  these  favours.  Indeed,  this  little  volume  is  replete 
with  interest  to  the  student. 

A  story  unquestionably  derived  from  Buddhist  sources 
is  to  be  found  in  Dr.  von  Wlislocki's  Mdrchcn,  since  it  is 
no  other  than  the  legend  of  Siddartha's  youth.  Probably 
it  has  passed  into  European  tradition  from  some  literary 
medium.  The  learned  author  refers  in  a  note  to  an  essay 
he  has  written  on  the  subject  of  Barlaam  and  Josaphat 
among  the  Armenians  and  Gipsies  in  a  German  periodical 
which  I  have  not  had  the  advantage  of  seeing.  The  Dis- 
covery of  Iron,  another  of  Dr.  von  Wlislocki's  collection,  is 
a  tale  containing  a  version  of  the  external  soul  incident, 
ivitJwiit  the  wrappers.  A  Cinderella  variant  is  given,  which 
is  declared  to  be  connected  with  the  ancient  Armenian 
mythology.  In  form  the  story  is  more  artistic  and  poetical 
than  is  usual  ;  and  the  king's  name,  Ambanor,  is  stated,  on 
the  authority  of  the  philologist  Hanusch,  to  be  a  form  of 
the  name  of  the  Spring-goddess  Amanora.  Several  other 
-stories  are  highly  curious  ;  and  if  the  contents  of  the 
volume  be  genuine,  unadorned  tradition,  the  Armenians  of 
Hungary,  however  they  came  into  their  present  seats,  are 
a  people  whose  folk-lore  is  of  a  remarkable  character. 

The  authoress  oi  Afro-Avia'ican  Folk-lore  has  produced 
a  thin  volume  whose  importance  greatly  exceeds  its  bulk, 


Report  on  Folk-tale  Research.  97 

because  here  for  the  first  time  we  are  presented  with  tales, 
some  of  which,  at  any  rate,  profess  to  be  derived,  with  but 
one  intermediary,  from  Africa.  We  are  told  in  general 
terms  in  the  preface  that  they  are  all  "verbatim  reports 
from  numerous  sable  story-tellers  of  the  Sea  Islands"  of 
Carolina,  "  some  of  whose  ancestors,  two  generations  back, 
brought  parts  of  the  legends  from  African  forests."  And 
Prince  Baskin,  one  of  these  narrators,  is  represented  as 
saying  that  he  was  told  them  by  his  "  ol'  gran'daddy",  who 
was  kidnapped  as  a  boy  from  his  native  land  where  he  had 
heard  them.  The  personages  brought  on  the  stage  are 
the  beasts  with  which  we  have  been  familiarised  by  Uncle 
Remus ;  and  for  the  most  part  the  tales  correspond  with 
those  admirable  pieces  of  negro  tradition.  For  some  of 
them — The  Tar-baby,  for  instance — the  authoress  claims 
priority  of  publication.  A  version  of  Rhampsinitus' 
Treasury  is  given.  Though  not  absolutely  new  as  a  negro 
tradition,  since  it  occurs  in  Jones'  Negro  Myths  of  the 
Georgia  Coast,  it  is  not  one  of  Uncle  Remus'  tales.  The 
story  of  De  Tiger  an'  de  Nyung  Lady  is  said,  and  perhaps 
not  v/ithout  reason,  to  be  "  unique".  It  points,  however, 
not  as  Miss  Christensen  suggests,  to  a  matriarchal  state  of 
society  as  that  in  which  it  took  shape,  but  to  a  transitional 
state  between  mother-right  and  father-right.  I  think  the 
story  of  AH  Baba  has  never  before  been  found  among  the 
Negroes.  Here  the  Rabbit,  of  course,  plays  the  part  of 
the  astute  Ali  Baba,  the  Wolf  is  Cassim,  and  the  Whale 
the  Robbers.  The  Whale  lays  her  eggs  in  a  house  on  the 
river-bank.  The  Rabbit  watches  her,  and  overhears  her 
say  "  Olawia  !  Olawia  !"  to  open  the  door,  and  "  Olatic-tic- 
tic!"  to  close  it.  I  ventured  at  the  Congress  to  argue  that, 
while  the  words  "  Open  Sesame !"  point  to  a  German 
origin  for  the  tale  of  Ali  Baba,  the  incident  on  which  it  is 
founded  is  derived  from  an  archaic  superstition  known  in 
many  parts  of  the  world,  and  that  the  superstition  has 
given  rise  to  analogous  tales  whose  origin  it  would  be 
difiPcult  to  trace  to  a  single  centre.     In  view  of  the  argu- 

VOL.  IV.  H 


98  Report  on  Folk-talc  Rescli-  h. 

ment  from  the  word  Sesame,  it  is  important  to  track 
Olawia  and  Olatic-tic-tic  to  their  home.  The  authoress 
regrets  her  inability  to  translate  these  and  other  words, 
presumably  African,  and  asks  for  information.  Is  there 
any  philologist,  skilled  in  Nigritian  tongues,  who  can 
throw  light  upon  them  ?  The  Robbers'  attempted  revenge 
does  not  appear  in  this  version,  as  I  believe  it  does  not  in 
any  case,  except  where  the  story  has  probably  come  from 
the  shores  of  the  Levant. 

Mr.  Andrews  has  utilised  his  residence  at  Mentone,  and 
his  knowledge  of  the  dialect  of  the  Riviera,  in  the  service  of 
folk-lore,  and  has  produced  a  capital  collection  of  tales. 
For  the  most  part  they  are  variants  not  widely  different 
from  the  common  European  types.  The  story  of  The 
Invisible  Hen,  and  that  of  The  Royal  Sword,  I  do  not 
recollect  elsewhere.  In  Fleaskin  we  have  the  story  of 
the  hide  usually  assigned  to  a  more  offensive  animal,  told 
with  dry  humour,  and  without  the  Bluebeard  termination. 
Mr.  Andrews  has  given  the  names  of  many  of  the  persons 
from  whom  the  tales  were  obtained  :  why  not  all } 

M.  Pineau's  work,  in  the  same  series  as  Mr.  Andrews',  is 
only  partly  dedicated  to  folk-tales.  They  are,  he  tells  us, 
direct  from  the  illiterate  peasantry  of  Poitou,  without  any 
change  ;  and  he  specifies  the  name,  age,  occupation,  and 
residence  of  the  teller  of  each  tale.  M.  Pineau  is  an 
admirable  collector,  who  has  here  given  proof,  not  for  the 
first  time,  of  his  gift.  Among  his  tales  I  have  only  room 
here  to  notice  a  variant  of  The  Wild  Hunt,  wherein  the 
hero,  hearing  the  racket,  shoots  into  the  air  with  a  ball 
blessed  for  the  purpose.  A  big  beast,  whose  like  had  never 
been  seen,  falls,  and  is  taken  to  the  Jardin  des  Plantes ! 

Few  of  M.  Thuriet's  tales  seem  to  be  traditional.  He 
has  drawn  from  all  sorts  of  sources,  and  unfortunately  has 
expended  no  criticism  upon  the  results  of  his  industry. 
One  of  the  traditional  tales  is  a  variant  of  The  Singing 
Bone,  in  which  the  child  is  killed  by  his  brother  and  sister 
for  his   flute.      The  flute  speaks  of  itself,  without  being 


Me^^rt  on  Folk-tale  Research.  99 

blown,  and  afterwards,  placed  on  its  owner's  lips,  restores 
him  to  life. 

Father  Leeb's  first  volume  of  Sagas  of  Loiuer  Austria  is 
also  a  collection  partly  traditional  and  partly  from  literary 
sources.     It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  custom  of 
appending    particulars    of  the  reciter  of  the    stories  has 
hardly  yet  penetrated  into  German  lands.      Many  of  the 
items,  too,  are  rather  superstitions  than  tales  ;  but  they  are 
none  the  less  interesting  for  that.     Notes  are  frequently 
added,  and,  so  far  as  they  call  attention  to  variants,  they  are 
useful ;    but  they  are  also  sometimes  explanatory.      The 
latter  portions  would    have  been   better  omitted,  as   the 
author    betrays   no   acquaintance   with  recent  researches 
which  have  entirely  changed  the  methods  of  interpretation. 
In  one  respect,  however,  he  sets  an  example  that  ought  to 
be  followed  in  every  such  work  :  he  gives  a  list  of  works 
cited.     What  labour  this  saves  to  the  student !     Many  of 
the   tales   are    noteworthy.      One   of  them    concerns   the 
magician's  half-instructed  apprentice,  who  first  appears  in 
Lucian  ;    he  raises,  but  cannot  lay,  the  devil.      Another 
attributes  the  red  Easter  eggs  to  hens  which  picked  up  the 
sacred  blood  of  Christ  from  under  the  Cross.     Is  this  found 
elsewhere  ?      Another  accounts  for  evil  spirits  being  no 
longer  visible,  by  declaring  that  Pius  IX  banished  them  for 
fifty  years  to  the  Schneeberg  and  Oetscher,    In  the  present 
decade,  however,  the  period  comes  to  an  end,  and  then  — ! 
Herr  Miindel  has  published  a  new  and  enlarged  edition 
of  Stober's  Alsatian  sagas.     Like  the  preceding  work,  it 
is  only  in  part  from  tradition.     It  has  a  somewhat  literary 
air,  though  this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  we  consider 
that  it  was  originally  published  more  than  forty  years  ago, 
and  the  friends  whom  the  author  thanks  in  his  preface  for 
their  assistance  are  all  professional  men.     Many  extracts 
from  continental  chronicles  are  embodied,  which  will  be 
useful  to  English  students.     The  first  volume,   the  only 
one  hitherto  issued,  deals  with  Upper  Elsass,  and  contains 
many  interesting  tales.     A  remarkable  variant  is  given  of 

H  2 


lOO  Report  on  Folk-talc  Research. 

The  Outcast  Child,  Pope  Innocent  type.  The  Pope  is 
identified  with  Leo  IX,  and  the  repentant  father  with 
Hugo  IV,  Count  of  Lower  Elsass  and  nephew  of  the 
Emperor  Conrad.  These  identifications,  not  warranted  by- 
history,  cannot,  it  is  needless  to  say,  be  traditional,  though 
the  story  is  given  as  such.  Similar  difficulties  arise  as  to 
the  traditional  character  of  several  other  stories.  The 
author  has  ingeniously  explained  a  tradition  concerning 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  to  whom  the  building  of  the  church 
at  Kaysersberg  is  ascribed.  It  is  said  that  he  was  about 
to  pledge  his  Empress's  crown  for  the  money  required 
when  two  angels  were  sent  from  heaven  with  a  purse  to 
redeem  it.  On  the  doorway  of  the  church  is  a  sculptured 
group  of  the  coronation  of  the  Virgin,  from  which,  as 
described,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  legend  has 
arisen.  Examples  like  this  of  the  birth  of  tradition  are 
worth  noting. 

In  The  Vision  of  MacCotiglinne  we  have  two  versions  of 
an  ancient  Irish  folk-tale,  from  MSS.  of  the  fourteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  respectively.  Professor  Wollner  con- 
tributes, by  way  of  introduction,  an  exhaustive  analysis  of 
both  versions,  a  discussion  on  the  authorship,  and  an  ac- 
count of  a  few  parallels.  The  theme  is  the  cure  of  Cathal, 
King  of  Munster,  of  a  demon  of  gluttony  which  possessed 
him,  and  includes,  amid  much  girding  at  the  Church  and  the 
monks,  a  Rabelaisian  vision  of  a  land  of  plenty.  The 
recital  of  the  vision,  and  the  sight  and  odour  of  food  which 
the  patient  is  not  allowed  to  touch,  tempt  the  demon  from 
his  stomach  up  into  his  mouth  and  thence  out  to  reach  the 
good  things  it  desired,  when  the  cauldron  is  upset  over  it 
and  it  is  thus  caught.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  we 
have  here  preserved  one  of  the  stories  told  by  the  wander- 
ing gleemen  or  storytellers.  The  attitude  towards  the 
Church  (and  especially  towards  the  monks,  who  are  abused 
in  no  measured  terms),  the  glorification  of  the  story-telling 
profession,  and  the  rewards  demanded  for  the  repetition  of 
the  tale,  all  point   to   the   same    conclusion.      As   often 


Report  on  FoIk-tale  Research.  loi 

happens,  the  later  manuscript  embodies  an  earlier  form  ot 
the  story,  free  from  the  meretricious, and  often  incompatible, 
embellishments  of  the  fourteenth-century  version.  Prof 
Wollner  cites  a  tradition  of  the  Kanderthal  in  the  Bernese 
Oberland,  the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  the  neighbouring 
Simmenthal.  It  speaks  of  a  race  of  giants  who  had  giant 
cattle.  Their  cows  were  milked  into  a  lake  instead  of  a 
pail.  To  skim  the  cream,  people  sailed  on  the  lake  in  an 
oak-trunk,  and  the  butter  was  stored  in  hollow  oak-trunks. 
In  this  tradition  we  appear  to  have  reminiscences  of  the 
dug-out  and  similar  rude  vessels.  The  story  belongs  to 
the  same  order  of  thought  as  the  Irish  vision  ;  but  traits 
like  these  throw  back  the  connection,  if  there  be  one 
between  the  stories,  to  a  very  remote  date.  The  Swiss  plot, 
however,  is  so  different  that  the  one  of  them  can  hardly  be 
derived  from  the  other,  and  the  root-idea  of  a  land  of 
boundless  plenty  is  almost  the  only  link  between  them. 

Signor  Luciani's  little  book  bears  a  very  wide  title  ;  but 
it  consists  simply  of  a  collection  of  some  two  thousand  and 
odd  proverbs,  phrases,  and  sayings.  One  of  the  appendices 
contains  proverbs  illustrated  by  the  anecdotes  and  other 
stories  from  which  they  are  derived,  or  to  which  they  refer. 
It  were  to  be  wished  that  the  author,  or  some  one  with  his 
enthusiasm  and  experience,  would  bestow  his  attention 
upon  the  tales  and  songs  of  his  province. 

E.  Sidney  Hartland. 


REVIEWS. 


IL  KaLEVALA,  O  la  POESIA  TRADIZIONALE  DEI  FiNNI, 
STUDIO  STORICO-CRITICO  SULLE  ORIGINI  DELLE  GRANDI 
EPOPEE  NAZIONALI.  Del  DOMENICO  COMPARETTI. 
Firenze,  1891. 

DeR  KALEVALA,  ODER  DIE  TRADITIONELLE  POESIE  DER 
FiNNEN,  ETC.  Von  DOMENICO  COMPARETTI.  (The 
authorised  German  edition.)     Halle,  1892. 

Professor  D.  Comparetti,  who  is  already  well  known 
to  our  Society  for  his  researches  respecting  the  Book  of 
Sindibad,  has  now  shifted  the  scene  of  his  labours  to  the 
Far  North,  and  presented  his  countrymen  with  a  valuable 
and  interesting  work  on  the  national  epic  of  the  Finns. 
Though  his  critical  investigation  into  the  origin  of  the 
Kakvala  has  chiefly  a  literary  purpose  in  view,  yet  some 
of  his  conclusions  are  of  much  interest  to  folk-lorists.  Our 
author  starts  from  the  assumption  that  the  religion  of  the 
prehistoric  Finns,  before  they  entered  Europe,  was  essen- 
tially shamanistic,  coupled  with  an  animistic  conception  of 
nature.  By  Shamanism  he  understands  a  belief  in  the 
special  power  of  the  Shaman  over  the  good  and  evil 
Beings  that  represent  and  govern  the  operations  of  nature. 
He  acts  upon  them  in  a  twofold  way  :  by  means  of  certain 
actions  and  operations  of  which  he  alone  has  the  secret,  or 
by  means  of  the  spoken  word.  He  is  far  more  than 
a  priest,  he  is  a  factotum  ;  he  can  work  miracles,  raise  or 
lay  a  storm,  cure  or  induce  disease,  ascend  to  heaven,  or 
descend  to  the  regions  of  the  dead.  One  direct  result  of 
this  belief  in  the  power  of  the  Shaman,  combined  with 
a  very  imperfect  social  and  intellectual  development,  was 
that  the  idea  the  people  entertained  of  their  gods  was 
confused  and  insignificant.  Even  at  a  much  later  period, 
after  the  Finns  had  been  influenced  by  contact  with  Euro- 


Reviezvs.  103 

pean  nations,  their  notions  concerning  the  gods  continued 
to  be  nebulous,  and  altogether  wanting  in  firmness  of 
outline.  Their  deities  are  passionless  and  without  socia- 
bility, poetical  images  rather  than  actual  personalities. 

The  epic  and  lyric  poetry  of  the  Finns  is  a  direct 
offshoot  of  the  magic  song.  Nothing  but  their  subject- 
matter  distinguishes  them.  All  three  possess  the  same 
form  and  metre,  including  parallelism  and  alliteration.  The 
magic  song,  which  is  genuine  poetry,  and  quite  different 
from  that  of  other  peoples,  is  the  creation  of  the  tietdjd  or 
wizard.  At  first  it  was  little  more  than  metrical  prose, 
but  finally,  between  the  eighth  and  eleventh  centuries,  it 
assumed  the  stable  and  constant  form  which  is  common  to 
Finnish  poetry.  Though  this  evolution  took  place  only 
after  long  contact  with  European  peoples,  it  is  no  direct 
copy  of  any  Scandinavian  or  other  metre.  It  was  spon- 
taneous and  national,  the  outcome  of  the  surviving  shaman- 
istic  ideas.  This  abiding  memory  of  the  power  of  the 
Shaman  is  reflected  in  Vainitmoinen  and  Ilmarinen,  who 
are  but  personifications  and  types  of  the  wizard  under  two 
different  aspects.  As  the  poets  v/ere  wizards  who  held 
aloof  from  foreigners,  there  is  no  mention  in  the  Kahvala 
of  foreign  nations,  kings,  princes,  courts,  or  fair  ladies. 
All  such  notions  were  entirely  beyond  their  purview.  And 
further,  the  national  epic  is  as  devoid  of  historical  reminis- 
cences as  it  is  of  any  symbolism  of  sun  and  storm,  of 
summer  and  winter.  It  is  pure  poetic  myth  developed 
after  the  Finns  had  been  permeated  by  ideas  belonging  to 
a  superior  civilisation,  yet  without  imitation  of  any  foreign 
original,  and  without  severance  from  the  early  shamanistic 
belief. 

Though  one  may  fully  assent  to  Professor  Comparetti's 
conclusions  as  just  and  reasonable,  a  slight  difference  of 
opinion  may  be  entertained  with  regard  to  his  premises. 
He  seems  to  me  to  attribute  to  the  Shaman  an  influence 
hardly  warranted  by  what  we  know  of  Shamanism  in 
Siberia  from  Radloff  (y'h/.y  Sihcricn,  ii,  pp.  1-67)  and  Castren. 


I04  Revieivs. 

And  it  is  quite  possible  to  realise  very  fully,  as  the  Siberian 
Shamanists  now  do,  the  power  of  a  good  or  evil  deity 
without  conceiving  him  as  a  well-defined  person,  just  as 
nowadays  we  realise  the  force  of  gravity  or  electricity 
without  any  conception  of  them  as  definite  forms  in  space. 
The  prehistoric  and  ancient  Finns  thought  of  their  gods 
more  as  spirits  than  as  anthromorphic  personages,  and 
this  not  because  they  were  Shamanists,  but  because  they 
held  animistic  views  of  nature  while  their  social  state  was 
at  the  lowest  possible  tide-mark  ;  while  a  people  of  hunters 
and  fishers,  without  cohesion  or  social  ties  other  than  of 
the  family,  would  naturally  conceive  their  spirit-gods  as 
isolated  Beings,  without  fellowship  with  each  other,  and 
without  interest  in  the  human  race. 

The  above-mentioned  conclusions  only  torm  part  of  the 
Professor's  labours.  He  gives  an  abstract  of  each  Runo 
in  the  Kalevala,  and  analyses  the  epic  into  its  component 
parts,  following  in  this  the  late  Professor  J.  Krohn,  but 
presenting  the  results  in  a  clearer,  more  methodical  form. 
There  are  also  two  elaborate  chapters  on  the  divine  and 
heroic  myth  of  the  P'inns. 

In  a  work  of  this  sort  it  is  inevitable  that  a  few  small 
mistakes  should  occur.  At  p.  54  the  Jems  are  said  to  be 
first  mentioned  in  1043  ;  it  should  be  1042  (v.  Suomi,  1848, 
p.  19).  At  p.  142  there  is  a  curious  doubtful  rendering  of 
the  Finnish  Jannitti  tuHscn  Jonsen,  korvahan  kovan  tiiliscn, 
which  is  translated  "  Spannte  eilig  seinen  Bogen,  eilig  bei 
der  Feuerhiitte  (?),  instead  of  "  He  drew  his  fiery  bow,  his 
very  fiery  (bow)  to  his  ear".  The  second  line  appears  in  the 
O.  Kalevala,  i,  201.  When,  at  pp.  252-3,  it  is  stated  that 
there  is  no  trace  of  the  magic  drum  left  in  the  language  or 
poetry  of  the  Finns,  and  that  they  have  forgotten  even 
that  the  Lapps  possess  the  instrument,  the  Professor  has 
overlooked  a  passage  {Loitsimui.  p.  29^)  where  the  parallel 
word  to  Lappalainen  is  kiisikannus^  "  he  that  carries  in  his 
hand  a  kannus",  a  word  explained  by  Renvall  as  a  Lapp 
magic  drum,  and  also  that  the  North  Karelians  use  kontakka 
with  the  same  meaning. 


Revieivs.  1C5 

Of  the  two  editions,  Italian  and  German,  the  former  is 

on  better  paper,  with  larger  type  and  margins,  contains 

fewer  typographical  errors,  and  gives  a  literal  translation 

of  the   Finnish  instead  of  a  metrical  one.     In  a  second 

edition,  it  would  be  well,  in  order  to  avoid  ambiguity,  to 

substitute,   at    pp.    loi,    170,    "  seinen    Nagel"   for   ^^  einen 

NageV\ 

John  Abercromby. 


Vestiges   de  Paganisme   dans    la  Region   situ^e 

ENTRE  LES  COURS  SUP^RIEURS  DE  L'OkA  ET  DU  DON. 
Par  N.  Trottzky.  Congrh  international  d'Archcologie 
prehistorique  et  d' Anthropologic.  Moscou,  Aout  1892, 
t.  I. 

In  this  interesting  paper  Troitzky  draws  the  following 
conclusions : — 

{a)  "  The  vestiges  of  paganism  discovered  in  the  region 
situated  between  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Oka  and  Don 
indicate  the  existence  in  this  place  of  a  cult  of  fire,  trees, 
and  stones. 

{b)  "  This  cult  is  based  upon  the  belief  in  the  purifying, 
preserving,  productive,  and  vivifying  power  of  fire,  and  of 
its  action  on  the  individual,  family,  and  social  life  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  the  country. 

(c)  "  The  belief  in  this  power,  and  of  its  action  upon  life, 
is  modified  by  degrees  under  the  influence  of  Christian  ideas, 
and  the  sacrificial  altars  have  given  place  to  the  altars  of 
churches  raised  in  honour  of  the  Saviour  and  of  the 
saints. 

(d)  "  The  cult  of  stones,  which  has  formerly  been  so 
widely  spread  in  this  region,  and  has  left  such  character- 
istic traces  in  the  customs  and  manner  of  life  of  the  present 
inhabitants,  has  been,  without  doubt,  the  primitive  religion 
of  the  ancient  owners  of  the  soil,  the  Finns." 

A  bibliography  is  appended. 

A.  C.  Haddon. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


MR.    HARTLAND'S    "SIN-EATER",    AND 
PRIMITIVE    SACRAMENTS. 

To  the  Editor  of  Folk- LORE. 

Sir, — Miss  Godden's  wide  reading  and  rapid  induction 
have  anticipated  a  conclusion  which,  when  I  wrote  the 
paper  on  "  The  Sin-Eater",  had  definitely  formed  itself  in 
my  mind,  but  which  I  did  not  feel  justified  in  enunciating 
for  want  of  evidence.  The  evidence,  however,  is  accumu- 
lating, and  I  hope  to  deal  with  it  ere  long.  Meantime,  it 
Miss  Godden  would  be  good  enough  to  direct  my  attention 
to  any  facts  of  special  interest  in  this  connection  she  would 
be  conferring  a  favour  upon  me. 

E.  Sidney  Hartland. 


MOUSE-NIBBLING. 

To  the  Editor  of  FOLK-LORE. 

Sir, — A  propos  of  Prof  Rhys's  note  on  the  Welsh 
mouse  (p.  383,  above),  the  following  notes  from  the  East 
may  be  of  interest. 

Jataka,  No.  87  {Fansb.,  1,  371,  ff),  is  introduced  by  the 
story  of  a  superstitious  man.  A  garment  which  lay  in  his 
coffer  was  nibbled  by  a  mouse.  .  .  .  Thought  he  to  himself, 
"  If  this  change  of  raiment  remain  in  the  house,  great  loss 
will  follow.  Unlucky  that  it  is,  like  the  goddess  of  ill-luck 
herself!  I  cannot  give  it  to  my  family  or  my  servants,  for 
whosoever  shall  receive  it  will  be  ruined  miserably ;  it 
shall  be  cast  out  into  the  place  where  dead  bodies  are  left 
to  rot." 


Correspondence.  i  o  7 

Jat,  ii,  p.  181.  A  dishonest  man,  who  has  been  entrusted 
with  some  ploughshares,  excuses  himself  for  not  returning 
them,  on  the  ground  that  the  mice  have  nibbled  them.  The 
word  nibbled  may  be  translated  eaten  ;  no  doubt,  the  mice 
have  7iibbled  it,  would  ordinarily  be  reason  for  throwing 
anything  away. 

(This  may  have  passed  into  a  proverb  very  early :  we 
have  in  Herondas  3.  y6,  ol  ^v<;  6/xoLa)<;  rov  aihr^pov  rpoiyov- 
atv.) 

Lastly,  in  the  Tevijja  Sutta  (trans,  by  Davids,  Sacr. 
Books,  xi,  196),  we  have  a  rebuke  for  such  men  as  get 
a  living  "  by  divinations  from  the  manner  in  which  cloth 
and  other  such  things  have  been  bitten  by  rats". 

W.  H.  D.  Rouse. 


"BOGLES"   AND   "GHOSTS". 
To  the  Editor  of  FOLK-LORE. . 

Sir, — In  the  September  No.  of  FOLK-LORE  I  have 
read  with  interest  Mr.  Stuart-Glennie's  excellent  article  on 
"Animism";  and  as  in  a  footnote  (see  foot  of  page  298, 
vol.  iii,  No.  3)  he  refers  to  one  of  the  Lincolnshire  legends 
contributed  by  me,  I  wish  to  correct  a  slight  misappre- 
hension, for  which  I  am  perhaps  myself  responsible.  I 
write  at  a  disadvantage,  as  I  have  not  the  original  by  me 
to  refer  to ;  but  if  I  said  what  Mr.  Stuart-Glennie  quotes,  I 
expressed  myself  badly.  I  did  not  mean  to  assert  that 
"  bogles"  meant  "  corpses  (or  emanations  from  them),  etc. 
etc.  .  .  .  till  corruption  had  completed  its  work",  for  this 
would  have  been  a  sweeping  assertion,  and  would  have 
inferred  that  these  only  were  "  bogles",  and  "'  bogles"  were 
always  these. 

I  meant  that  these  emanations  were  called  "  bogles" 
certainly  ;  but  the  name  was  also  applied  to  all  kinds  of 
supernatural  appearances,  and  I  have  heard  it  used  where  a 
sound  or  voice  only  was  concerned.     In  fact,  I  heard  no 


loS  Correspondence. 

other  word  employed.  I  think — though  I  do  not  wish  to 
be  too  certain — that  the  "  bogles"  of  persons  recently  dead 
were  more  dreaded,  and  considered  more  generally  un- 
lucky, than  any  other  kind. 

I  have  only  to  add  that  I  quite  confess  my  "  perversity" 
as  regards  the  title ;  I  regretted  having  used  the  word 
afterwards  when  I  realised  its  "  foreign"  look.  I  am  afraid 
that,  as  I  wanted  a  name  of  some  sort,  and  wanted  it  in  a 
hurry,  I  took  the  first  one  that  suggested  itself,  and  the 
result  is,  certainly,  unhappy. 

Clothilde  Balfour. 


CHAINED    IMAGES. 

(Toi'ea  Festival.) 

To  the  Editor  of  FOLK-LORE. 

Sir, — You  kindly  gave  me  space  in  a  recent  number  oi 
FOLK-LORE  in  which  to  ask  for  any  facts  likely  to  throw 
light  on  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  festival  of  the  Tonea, 
and  of  the  appearance  in  ritual  and  myth  oi  chained  gods. 

The  interest  of  this  festival,  and  of  the  curious  myths 
in  question,  and  the  hope  expressed  by  Mr.  Hartland  in 
the  last  number  of  the  Journal  that  the  matter  might  be 
pursued,  will  perhaps  excuse  my  troubling  you  again.  I 
would  now  ask  specially  for  any  custom  of  binding  or 
"fettering"  in  burial  rites,  whether  of  savage  or  peasant  folk. 

The  rites  celebrated  to  Hera  in  the  Tonea  festival  at 
Samos  were,  it  will  be  remembered,  j^«r/j/ /  and  included 
the  hiding  of  the  image  of  the  goddess  "  tightly  bound  in 
willow  branches"  according  to  the  legend  {Athoicciis,  xv, 
c.  13  ;  Bohn  trans.,  p.  1073).  The  nearer  we  approach 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  religious  calendar  of  primitive 
times,  the  more  the  dual  seasons  of  death  and  rebirth,  or 
recall,  seem  to  dominate  the  cycle  of  ritual  worship ;  and 
to  the  period  of  the  death  or  absence  of  the  god,  or,  as 
it  is  generally  called,  the  Chthonic  phase,  belong  of  course 
the  funeral  rites  so  well  known  in  Greek  worship — such, 


Co7n'cs:pondence.  1 09 

for  example,  as  those  of  Adonis  and  Attis,  where  images 
of  the  god  were  "  carried  out  as  to  burial". 

It  seems  probable  that  the  worship  of  Hera  was  per- 
formed in  a  yearly  cycle  of  connected  festivals,  of  which  a 
central  point  would  be  the  celebrated  Holy  Wedding,  the 
tepo?  7a/A09.  That  such  a  festival  year  should  include  a 
day  of  mourning  and  burial,  would  be  in  full  harmony,  not 
only  with  what  we  are  learning  of  ancient  Greek  religion, 
but  with  the  traces  of  primitive  and  religious  thought 
which  survive,  fossilised,  among  European  peasants.  (See 
such  usages  as  the  "Carrying  out  Death" — "  Hinaustragung 
und  Eingrabung" — fully  dealt  with  by  W.  Mannhardt, 
BaumkulUis,  ch.  iv,  pp.  406  sqq.  ;  cf  Golden  Bough,  J.  G. 
Frazer,  i,  253  sqq^  One  must  not  hope,  perhaps,  to  arrive 
at  the  full  meaning  of  her  Samos  festival  ;  but  I  think 
much  interesting  light  might  be  thrown  on  it,  and  through 
it  on  early  Greek  religious  thought,  from  parallel  primitive 
usage,  and,  considering  the  above  probabilities  especially 
from  funeral  rites.  Funeral  rites  of  the  god  one  would 
most  wish  for — or  of  sacred  creatures  or  men  ;  but  also  any 
similar  ceremonies  at  the  burial  of  tribesman  or  peasant. 

The  closest  analogy  that  I  have  yet  been  able  to  note 
is  the  following  Troglodyte  custom,  quoted  by  Strabo 
(Strabo,  c.  "JJ^^  :  "  Some  among  the  Troglodytes,  when 
they  bury  their  dead,  bind  them  firmly  from  back  to  feet 
with  briar  branches."  A  writer  in  the  Zeitschrift  fiir 
Etlinologie  (vol.  vii,  19)  comments  on  this  passage  :  "The 
latter  custom  is  like  that  of  the  Hottentots,  who  formerly 
not  only  bound  their  dead,  like  other  African  races,  but 
ceremonially  swathed  them."  Would  anyone,  learned  in 
African  ways,  tell  us  who  these  races  are,  and  where  one 
may  find  the  references  the  Zeitschrift  omits  to  supply  .-' 

Perhaps  by  such  aid  one  might  arrive  at  the  idea  which 
moved  primitive  man  to  perform  these  ritual  acts  at  the 
burial  of  his  dead  ;  and  at  the  origin  of  the  old  Greek 
festival  at  which  each  year  the  image  of  Hera  was  bound, 
and  carried  away,  to  be  hidden  on  the  Samos  sea-shore. 

Gertrude  M.  Goddex. 


NOTES  AND  NEWS. 


Among  the  articles  in  the  forthcoming  June  number  of 
FOLK-LORE  will  be  Mr.  Ordish's  paper  on  the  English 
Folk-Drama,  a  continuation  of  Mr.  Dames'  Balochi  Tales, 
and  a  series  of  articles  on  Miss  Roalfe  Cox's  variants  of 
Cinderella.  Mr.  Alfred  Nutt  will  open  the  series  at  the 
March  Meeting  of  the  Folk-lore  Society  with  one  entitled 
"  Cinderella  and  Britain". 

The  Transactions  of  the  Folk-lore  Congress  of  1891 
have  been  issued  to  subscribers,  and  will  shortly  be  pub- 
lished. As  there  will  be  a  large  deficit  on  the  Congress, 
which  can  only  be  covered  by  the  sale  of  this  volume,  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  members  of  the  Congress  or  of  the  Folk- 
lore Society  who  have  not  yet  subscribed  to  it  will  do  so 
at  once.     The  price  to  such  members  is  half-a-guinea. 

Mrs.  Gomme's  work  on  British  Games  is  now  passing 
through  the  press,  and  may  be  expected  shortly.  It  will 
be  arranged  alphabetically  under  the  names  of  the  games 
and  will  contain  much  unpublished  material. 

Miss  Roalfe  Cox's  volume  on  Cinderella  has  been 
issued  to  members  of  the  Society  as  the  volume  for  1892. 
It  is  introduced  by  an  essay  by  Mr.  Andrew  Lang, 
defending  his  views  on  Folk-tales  against  recent  criticisms 
by  M.  Cosquin  and  Mr.  Joseph  Jacobs. 

Among  immediately  forthcoming  works  of  interest  to 
folk-lorists  may  be  noted  : — Rev.  James  Macdonald,  Myth 
and  Religion  in  S.  Africa.     G.  B.  Grinnell,  Pawnee  Hero 


Notes  and  News.  1 1 1 

Stones  and  Folk-Tales.     G.   B.   Grinnell,  Blackfoot  Lodge 
Tales. 

The  newly  constituted  Irish  Literary  Society  held  its 
first  meeting  on  March  1st,  the  opening  address  being 
given  by  the  Rev.  Stopford  Brooke,  who  dwelt  on  the 
interest  and  charm  of  the  mythic  and  traditional  literature 
of  the  Celts.  It  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that  the  new 
Society  may  be  able  to  rouse  enthusiasm  for,  and  direct 
energy  towards,  the  collecting  and  preservation  of  Irish 
legend  and  folk-lore.  In  so  doing  it  may  count  upon  the 
sympathy  and  support  of  the  Folk-lore  Society.  The 
Hon,  Sec.  of  the  Irish  Literary  Society  is  Mr,  T.  W, 
Rolleston,  Hart  Street,  Bloomsbury. 

Articles,  etc.,  intended  for  the  next  (June)  number  of 
FOLK-LORE  should  reach  the  Office,  270,  Strand,  W.C, 
on  or  before  May  ist. 


FOLK-LORE   SOCIETY. 


FIFTEENTH    ANNUAL    REPORT    OF    THE 
COUNCIL. 

January  25TH,  1893. 


THE  principal  undertakings  of  the  Society  during  the 
year  1892  have  been:  (i)  The  inauguration  of  the 
work  recommended  by  the  Council  in  their  last  Annual 
Report,  viz.,  collecting  the  Folk-lore  of  the  different 
counties  ;  (2)  closely  allied  with  and  arising  out  of  this 
work  :  the  institution  of  a  joint  conference  of  the  learned 
societies  interested  in  the  subject,  for  the  discussion  of  the 
best  means  of  obtaining  a  complete  ethnographic  survey 
of  the  United  Kingdom. 

As  regards  the  first  point,  the  Council  drew  up  the 
following  recommendation  for  the  guidance  of  the  Local 
Committees,  viz  : — 

I.  That  the  Committee  be  called  the  Local  Committee  for 

Folk-lore. 

II.  That  the  Committee  be  invited  to  attach  itself  to  the  Folk-lore  Society 
as  a  member. 

III.  That  all  items  of  Folk-lore  from  printed  sources,  such  as  Chronicles, 
Local  Histories,  Newspapers,  Notes  and  Queries,  and  Archceological  Publica- 
tions, be  copied  out  by  the  Local  Committee,  to  be  printed  by  the  Folk-lore 
Society. 

IV.  That  the  current  Folk-lore  oi  the  county  be  collected  orally,  to  include 
[a)  Folk  Tales  and  Nursery  Tales  ;  {b)  Hero  Tales  ;  {c)  Traditional  Ballads 
and  Songs ;  (d)  Place  Legends  and  Traditions ;  [e)  Fairy  Lore  and  Goblindom  ; 
(/)  Witchcraft  and  Charms  ;  [g]  Folk  Medicine ;  {/i)  Superstitions;  [i)  Local 
Customs ;  (y)  Festival  Customs ;  [k)  Ceremonial  Customs ;  (/)  Games ; 
(w)  Jingles,  Nursery  Rhymes,  Riddles,  etc.  ;  («)  Proverbs ;  [o)  Old  Saws — 
rhymed  and  unrhymed  ;  (/)  Nicknames,  Place  Names,  and  Sayings  ;  {q)  War 
Cries  ;  (;•)  Folk  Etymologj'. 


Annual  Report  of  the  Council.  1 1 3 

v'  That  each  item,  whether  from  printed  or  oral  sources,  be  clearly  written 
on  one  side  only  of  a  separate  slip  of  paper,  with  a  full  reference  to  the 
authority,  {a)  when  derived  from  a  printed  source,  the  title,  author's  name, 
date,  and  pages  of  reference,  and  [b)  in  the  case  of  items  collected  orally,  a 
note  of  the  name,  age,  occupation,  and  sex  of  the  narrator,  and  of  the  locality 
to  which  the  item  relates. 

VI.  That  a  list  be  drawn  up  of  Folk-lore  objects  in  all  the  Museums  and 
Private  Collections  in  the  county,  such  as  Amulets,  Feasten  Cakes,  Harvest 
Trophies,  Objects  left  at  Holy  Wells,  Specimens  of  Mumming  and  other 
Costumes,  etc. 

VH.  That  in  the  event  of  any  question  or  difficulty  arising  in  carrying  out 
the  work  of  the  Local  Committee,  the  Secretary  of  the  Committee  communi- 
cate with  the  Secretary  of  the  P'olk-lore  Society. 

In  Leicestershire,  thanks  to  the  exertions  of  Mr.  C.  J. 
Billson,  a  Local  Committee  for  the  collection  of  the  folk- 
lore of  the  county  has  been  formed  on  the  lines  sketched 
out  in  the  recommendations,  and  Mr.  Hartland,  who 
attended  the  inauguration  of  the  Committee  to  represent 
the  Council,  reports  most  favourably  on  the  prospect  of 
good  work  being  done  by  them.  In  Gloucestershire,  Mr. 
E.  S.  Hartland  has  transcribed  the  folk-lore  of  the  county 
from  printed  sources,  and  his  collection  has  been  printed 
and  published  for  the  Society,  and  issued  to  members  as 
the  first  instalment  of  a  volume  of  County  Folk-lore.  In 
Suffolk,  Lady  Camilla  Gurdon  has  completed  her  collection 
of  folk-lore  from  printed  sources,  and  it  is  now  in  the 
printer's  hands  for  issue  as  Part  II  of  the  same  series. 
With  reference  to  the  other  counties  of  England,  to  Scot- 
land, Ireland,  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  the  Channel  Islands, 
members  of  the  Society  or  their  friends  are  undertaking 
the  task  of  collecting  from  printed  sources  for  the  Societ}-, 
on  the  understanding  that  the  work,  when  approved  by 
the  Council,  is  to  be  published  as  opportunity  offers.  The 
following  table  shows  what  is  being  done  in  this  direction : 

Name  of  Cotmty.  Name  of  Collector.  Address  of  Collector. 

Northumberland  Mrs.  M.  A.  Balfour    .     .     .  West  Street,  Belford. 

Lancashire    .     .  Miss  M.  Dendy      ....  140,  Upper  Brook  St. ,  Manchester. 

Yorkshire       .     .  Mrs.  Gutch Holgate  Lodge,  York. 

Staffordshire.     •  i  I ,.      ,  '     '               •     •     •     '(  pyebirch,  Eccleshall,  Staffs. 
\  Miss  Keary 1 

VOL.  IV.  1 


114  Annual  Report  oj  the  Council. 


Name  of  County. 


Leicestershire 
Rutland    .     . 


;{ 


John's  Lodge,  Clarendon  Park 
Road,  Leicester. 


Name  of  Collector.  Address  of  Collector. 

The  Folk-Lore  Committee  of 
the  Leicester  Lit.  and 
Soc.  ,c/oC.  J.  Billson 

Miss  Matthews The  Hollies,  Swaffham. 

Grundesburgh  Hall,Woodbridge, 
47,  Gray's  Inn  Road,  W.C. 
Barnwood  Court,  Gloucester. 


itteeof\ 
dPhil.  y^' 

1,  Esq.  ) 


Norfolk    .     .     . 

Suffolk      .     .     .     Lady  Camilla  Gurdon    .     . 
Middlesex     .     .     J.  P.  Emslie,  Esq.      .     . 
Gloucestershire  .     E.  S.  Hartland,  Esq. ,  F.S.  A, 

{County  Folk-Lore,  Vol.  L  Part  i.) 
Surrey 


Kent    .     . 
Hampshire 
Orkney  and 
Shetland  . 
Fifeshire   . 

Nairnshire 
Buteshire  . 
Aberdeenshire    . 
Kincardineshire. 


Stirlingshire 

Clackmannan 

Antrim      .     . 

Tyrone 

Dublin 

Isle  of  Man   . 


•\ 


;  F.  Green,  Esq.  .  .  . 
Lady  Dorothea  Rycroft . 
G.  F.  Black,  Esq.  .  . 
J.  E.  Simpkins,  Esq. 

Dr.  B.  Cruickshank  .     . 
Rev.  J.  King  Hewison   . 

J.  E.  Crombie,  Esq.,  M. P. 
]  Hon.  J.  Abercromby  .     . 

Rev,  S.  A.  Brenan     .     . 

A.  Eraut,  Esq.       .     .     . 
G.  W.  Wood,  Esq.    .     . 


Filstone,    Addiscombe    Grove, 

Croydon. 
EastAnton  Farm,  Andover,  Hants. 
Museum    of    Antiquities,    Edin- 
burgh. 
Museum    of    Antiquities,    Edin- 
burgh. 
Maida  Place,  Nairn. 
The  Manse,  Rothesay. 

Balgownie  Lodge,  Aberdeen. 
62,  Palmerston  Place,  Edinburgh. 

Knocknacarry,  co.  Antrim. 
St.  Columba's  College,  Dublin. 


As  regards  the  second  point,  the  idea  of  a  conference  for 
discussing  the  best  means  of  obtaining  a  complete  ethno- 
graphic survey  of  the  United  Kingdom  emanated  from 
Prof  Haddon,  and,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Council,  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  and  the  Anthropological  Institute 
at  once  appointed  delegates  to  the  Conference,  the  first 
meeting  of  which  was  held  in  July.  In  August,  Mr. 
Brabrook,  at  the  request  of  the  Conference,  very  kindly 
brought  the  subject  forward  at  the  meeting  of  the  British 
Association  in  Edinburgh.  His  observations  were  so 
warmly  received,  that  an  Association  Committee  was  at 
once  appointed,  with  Mr.  Francis  Galton  as  chairman,  and 
Dr.  Garson,  Professor  Haddon,  and  Dr.  Joseph  Anderson 
as  members,  to  which  were  added,  as  representatives  of  this 
Society,  the  President,  the  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  Jacobs. 
Representatives  of  other  bodies  were  also  appointed  and 
the  Council  are  encouraged  to   hope  that  some   definite 


Annual  Report  of  the  Conncil.  115 

steps    may   be   taken    during    the   ensuing   year   towards 
carrying  out  the  objects  they  have  in  view. 

It  is  proposed  to  record  for  certain  typical  villages  and 
the  neighbouring  districts — 

(i)  Physical  Types  of  the  Inhabitants. 

(2)  Current  Traditions  and  Beliefs. 

(3)  Peculiarities  of  Dialect. 

(4)  Monuments  and  other  Remains  of  Ancient  Culture;  and 

(5)  Historical  Evidence  as  to  Continuity  of  Race. 

As  a  first  step,  the  Committee  formed  a  list  of  such 
villages  in  the  United  Kingdom  as  appeared  especially  to 
deserve  ethnographic  study,  out  of  which  a  selection  was 
made  for  the  survey.  The  villages  or  districts  selected 
are  such  as  contain  not  less  than  a  hundred  adults,  the 
large  majority  of  whose  forefathers  have  lived  there  so  far 
back  as  can  be  traced,  and  of  whom  the  desired  physical 
measurements,  with  photographs,  may  be  obtained. 

The  Council  have  had  under  consideration  the  question 
of  the  feasibility  of  securing  in  London  a  permanent 
habitation,  and  of  forming  a  library  and,  if  possible,  a 
museum  of  folk-lore  objects.  Meanwhile  the  Secretary  has 
collected  at  his  rooms  in  Lincoln's  Lin  all  the  books  and 
pamphlets  which  have  from  time  to  time  come  into  the 
possession  of  the  Society,  whether  by  gift,  exchange,  or 
otherwise. 

The  Council  have  also  under  consideration  a  motion  by 
the  President  that  the  annual  meetings  should  be  held  at  a 
different  town  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  each  year,  and 
they  hope  that  suggestions  from  members  may  be  forth- 
coming to  enable  them  to  test  the  advisability  of  this  new 
departure,  and  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  if  this 
plan  should  prove  practicable. 

The  Council  are  again  anxious  to  impress  upon  every 
member  the  urgent  need  of  help  both  in  money  and  work. 
A  larger  share  of  help  in  both  these  directions  is  absolutely 
essential,  and  it  rests  with  members  of  the  Society  to  enlist 
the  sympathy  and  co-operation  of  their  friends,  if  the 
Society  is  to  achieve  the  objects  it  has  in  view. 

I  2 


Ti6  Annual  Report  of  the  Council. 

Evening  meetings  have  been  held  on  the  following  dates: 
January  13th,  Feb.  loth,  March  9th,  April  13th,  May  nth, 
June  15th,  November  23rd,  and  December  21st. 

The  papers  read  at  these  meeting  were — 

The  Sin  Eater.     By  Mr.  E.  S.  Hartland,  F.S.A. 
Fians,  Fairies,  and  Picts.     By  Mr.  D.  MacRitchie. 
The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin.     By  Mrs.  Gutch. 
Divination  among  the  Malagasy,  together  with  Native  Ideas 

as  to  Fate  and  Destiny.     By  the  Rev.  J.  Sibree. 
An    Analysis  of   some  Finnish  Songs  on   the  Origin    of 

Things.     By  the  Hon.  J.  Abercromby. 
Armenian  Folk-lore.     By  Prof  Tcheraz. 
Some  Queries  as  to  Animism.     Mr.  J.  Stuart-Glennie. 
The  Easter  Hare.     By  Mr.  C  J.  Billson. 
On  a  Marriage  Custom  of  the  Aborigines  of  Bengal.     By 

Mr.  E.  S.  Hardand,  F.S.A. 

Short  papers  were  also  read  on  the  First-Foot  Super- 
stition, by  Mr.  T.  W.  E.  Higgens  ;  on  the  Buck's  Leap,  by 
Miss  Burne  ;  on  a  Wedding  Dance  Mask  from  co.  Mayo, 
by  Prof  A.  C.  Haddon  ;  on  Christmas  Mumming  Plays,  by 
Mr.  T.  F.  Ordish,  F.S.A.;  on  Obeah  Worship,  by  Mrs. 
Robinson  ;  on  the  Sin-Eater,  by  Mrs.  Murray  Aynsley  ; 
on  the  Cow  Mass  formerly  held  at  Dunkirk,  by  Mr.  E. 
Peacock,  F.S.i\. ;  and  a  paper  entitled  Miscellanea,  by 
Mr.  M.  J.  Walhouse. 

The  publications  for  the  year  were  :  Folk-Lore,  vol.  iii, 
issued  to  members  as  usual  in  quarterly  parts;  County  Folk- 
lore, Part  I  (Gloucestershire),  and  Cviderclla  Story  Variants, 
edited  by  Miss  Roalfe  Cox,  with  an  Introduction  by 
Mr.  Lang,  which,  it  is  expected,  will  be  ready  for  delivery 
to  members  by  Easter  next.  The  Council  also  have  in 
hand  for  1893  the  Saxo  Grannnaticus,  translated  by 
Mr.  Oliver  Elton,  with  an  Litroduction  by  Mr.  York 
Powell,  which  is  now  in  a  forward  state  of  preparation. 
Such  parts  of  County  Folk-lore  as  may  be  printed  off  will 
also  be  issued  to  members,  and  the  second  volume  of  The 
Dcnluiin  Tracts,  edited  by  Dr.  Hardy,  is  also  partly 
through  the  press. 

During  the  year  the  Society  has  lost  eight  members  by 
death,  and  twenty-five  by  withdrawal  ;   but  the  Council 


Annual  Report  oj  the  Council.  117 

are  glad  to  be  able  to  state  that  these  losses  have  been 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  election  of  forty-three 
new  members. 

The  accounts  of  the  Society  as  audited  are  presented 
herewith.  The  balance  to  the  credit  of  the  Society  stands 
at  much  the  same  figure  as  it  did  a  year  ago,  beyond  which 
there  is  a  sum  of  £"]},  which  has  been  advanced  to  the 
Congress  Committee.  Messrs.  Nutt,  having  represented 
that  the  terms  upon  which  they  undertook  to  publish 
Folk-Lore,  pursuant  to  their  agreement  with  the  Society 
which  expired  on  December  31st,  entailed  a  considerable 
loss,  the  Council  took  the  matter  into  consideration,  and 
resolved  to  increase  the  subsidy  to  Folk-Lore  by  ^^"50  per 
annum  so  long  as  the  size  of  the  Journal  remains  unaltered. 
The  only  practical  alternative  to  this  course  was  to  reduce 
the  size  of  Folk-Lore,  which  appeared  to  be  inexpedient. 
This  arrangement  has  been  entered  into  for  a  year  only, 
and  will  then  be  reconsidered. 

The  Council  recommend  as  President  for  1893  Mr.  G.  L. 
Gomme,  F.S.A. 

As  Vice-Presidents — Mr.  A.  Lang,  Dr.  Tylor,  Sir  J. 
Lubbock,  General  Pitt-Rivers,  Professor  A.  H.  Sa}'ce, 
Professor  Rhys,  and  the  Hon.  J.  Abercromby. 

As  Members  ofConiicil — Mr.  C.  J.  Billson,  Dr.  Karl  Blind, 
Mr.  E.  W.  Brabrook,  Miss  Burne,  Miss  M.  Roalfc  Cox, 
Mr.  J.  W.  Crombie,  Mr.  J.  P.  Emslie,  Mr.  J.  J.  Foster, 
Mr.  J.  G.  Frazer,  Dr.  Gaster,  Professor  A.  C.  Haddon, 
Mr.  E.  S.  Hartland,  Mr.  J.  Jacobs,  Mr.  Brynmor  Jones, 
Mr.  W.  F.  Kirby,  Mr.  T.  W.  E.  Higgcns,  Mr.  J.  T.  Naakc, 
Mr.  A.  Nutt,  Mr.  T.  F.  Ordish,  and  Mr.  PI.  B.  Wheatley. 

As  Treasurer — Mr.  E.  Clodd. 

As  Auditors — Mr.  G.  L.  Apperson  and  Mr.  ¥.  Green. 

As  Secrctarj;  Mr.  F.  A.  Milne. 

G.  Lauren'CE  GOMyiE,  President. 
F.  A.  MiLXE,  Secretary, 

II,  Old  Square, 

Lincoln's  Inn,  W.C. 


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folk-lore  society. 


PROCEEDINGS   AT   EVENING   MEETINGS. 


An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  at  22,  Albemarle  Street,  W.,  on 
Wednesday,  November  23rd,  1892  ;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L. 
Gomme)  in  the  chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  following  new  members  were  elected,  viz.  :  Mr.  H.  Moore, 
Herr  Voss'  Sortiment,  Lady  D.  Rycroft,  Capt.  Oldfield,  Mr.  D.  C. 
Fraser,  Mr.  Belgrave  Ninnis,  Mr.  W.  D.  Freshfield,  Mr.  C.  B.  Balfour, 
Mr.  G.  W.  Ferrington,  Mr.  K.  Varalaksna,  Mr.  W.  G.  Grierson,  Mr. 
T.  Gowland,  Mrs.  Chaworth  Musters,  and  Miss  A.  C.  Sargant. 

On  the  motion  of  Dr.  Gaster,  seconded  by  Mr.  Jacobs,  it  was 
resolved  that  the  Society  convey  to  the  family  of  Dr.  Kohler  the 
expression  of  their  sincere  regret  at  the  loss  of  one  whose  services  in 
the  study  of  Folk-lore  have  been  so  eminent. 

The  Chairman  exhibited  a  Kern  baby  from  Huntingdonshire,  and 
photographs  of  a  Wedding  Dance-Mask  from  Co.  Mayo,  sent  by 
Prof.  Haddon,  with  an  explanatory  paper  which  he  read.  After  some 
observations  by  Dr.  Blind  and  Mr.  Nutt,  it  was  resolved  that  the 
thanks  of  the  Society  be  given  to  the  Professor  for  his  paper,  and 
that  he  be  asked  to  procure  a  mask  for  the  Society  if  possible. 

Mr,  Ordish  read  a  short  paper  on  "  Christmas  Mumming  Plaj-s", 
which  was  followed  by  a  brief  discussion,  in  which  the  Chairman  and 
Mr.  Jacobs  took  part. 

Mr.  M.  J.  Walhouse  read  a  paper  by  JNIrs.  Robinson,  on  "  Obeah 
Superstitions",  and  exhibited  an  Obeah.^  A  discussion  followed,  in 
which  Drs.  Blind  and  Gaster  and  Mr.  Naake  took  part. 

Mr.  Billson  then  read  his  paper  on  "  The  Easter  Hare",  which  gave 
rise  to  an  animated  discussion,  sustained  by  Drs.  Gaster  and  Blind 
Mr.  Nutt,  and  the  Chairman,  who  concluded  his  observations  by 
warmly  thanking  Mr.  Billson  for  his  instructive  and  interesting  paper. 


^  A  drawing  of  this  Obeah,  kindly  executed  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Emslie, 
will  appear  in  the  next  number  of  Folk-Lore. — Ed. 


1 20  Folk-lore  Sociely. 

An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  at  22,  Albemarle  Street,  on  Wed- 
nesday, December  21st,  1892  ;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme)  in 
the  chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  following  new  members  were  elected  :  Mrs.  Fuller  Maitland 
and  Mr.  Egerton  Beck. 

Mrs.  Gomme  exhibited  some  rubbings  of  games  cut  on  stones  found 
at  Norwich  Castle,  and  exhibited  at  the  rooms  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  :  (i)  A  Spiral  Game  (not  at  present  known  to  survive  in 
any  modern  form),  consisting  of  a  long  line  with  a  hole  in  the  centre, 
and  a  series  of  smaller  holes  at  equal  distances  along  the  line.  (2)  A 
roughly-drawn  "  3-squares",  one  inside  the  other.  (3)  The  Fox  and 
Geese  game. 

A  printed  version  of  the  Mummers'  Play,  sent  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Patter- 
son of  Garranard,  Strandtown,  Belfast,  was  also  e.xhibited. 

The  Secretary  read  a  short  paper  by  Mrs.  Murray  Aynsley  on 
"  The  Sin  Eater",  and  a  discussion  followed,  in  which  the  Rev.  C. 
Swynnerton  and  ]\Ir.  E.  S.  Hartland  took  part.  The  Secretary  also 
read  a  short  paper  by  Mr.  E.  Peacock  on  "  The  Cow  Mass  formerly 
held  at  Dunkirk". 

Mr.  E.  S.  Hartland  then  read  his  paper  "  On  a  Marriage  Custom 
of  the  Aborigines  of  Bengal",  and  in  the  discussion  which  followed 
the  Rev.  C.  Swynnerton,  Mr.  Jacobs,  Mr.  J.  Stuart-Glennie,  Mr. 
Nutt,  Mr.  Brynmor  Jones,  and  the  President  took  part. 

Short  papers  by  Dr.  Codrington  ("  The  Story  of  Lata"  from  St. 
Cruz,  and  "  The  Story  of  Hole  in  his  Back"  from  the  Banks  Group) 
and  by  Mr.  E.  Peacock  on  the  Abolition  of  Scenic  Processions,  were 
also  read. 


A  Joint  Meeting  of  the  Folk-lore  Society  and  the  Cymmrodorion 
Society  was  held  in  the  rooms  of  the  latter,  Lonsdale  Chambers,  27, 
Chancery  Lane,  on  Wednesday,  January  nth,  1893;  D.  Brynmor 
Jones,  Esq.,  M.P.  in  the  chair. 

A  paper  was  read  by  Professor  John  Rhys,  M.A.,  on  "The  Folk- 
lore of  certain  Sacred  Wells  in  Wales". 


The  Annual  Meeting  was  held  at  22,  Albemarle  Street,  on  Wed- 
nesday, January  25th,  1893  ;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme)  in  the 
chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  election  of  the  following  new  members  was  announced,  viz,  : 
Dr.  James  Gow,  the  Rev.  C.  Swynnerton,  Mr.  H.  K.  Gow,  Miss 
Lucy  Garnctt,  and  Miss  Constance  Taylcr. 


Folk-lore  Society.  1 2 1 

On  the  motion  of  the  President,  seconded  by  Mr.  Clodd,  it  was 
resolved  that  the  Annual  Report  and  Balance  Sheet  be  received  and 
adopted,  and  that  the  name  of  Mr.  F.  Green  be  added  as  an  auditor 
in  the  place  of  Mr.  J.  Tolhurst,  resigned. 

The  President  then  delivered  his  Annual  Address,  which  was 
followed  by  a  discussion  in  which  Dr.  Gaster  and  ^lessrs.  Clodd, 
Jacobs,  Higgens,  and  Baverstock  took  part. 


An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  at  22,  Albemarle  Street,  on  Wed- 
nesday, February  15th,  1893;  ^^e  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme)  in 
the  chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  President  laid  on  the  table  the  volume  of  Cinderella  Variants, 
by  Miss  Roalfe  Cox;  and  upon  his  motion,  seconded  by  Dr.  Gaster, 
a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  to  Miss  Cox  was  passed  for  the  work  she  had 
done  for  the  Society. 

A  Note,  by  Miss  Lucy  Broadwood,  on  "A  Lenten  Custom  in  the 
South  of  Italy",  was  read  by  the  Secretary,  and  a  discussion  followed, 
in  which  Dr.  Gaster,  Mr.  Baverstock,  and  the  President  took  part. 

The  Secretary  also  read  a  short  paper  by  Miss  Lucy  Garnett, 
entitled  "  The  Merry  Wassailers". 

Mr.  T.  Y.  Ordish  then  read  his  paper  on  "  Folk  Drama",  in  the 
course  of  which  he  exhibited  the  following,  viz.  :  Some  versions  of  the 
Peace  Egg  play  in  chap-book  form  ;  photographs  of  Mummers  from 
Hamble  Cliff,  near  Netley  Abbey,  Hants ;  dresses  worn  and  swords 
used  by  Mummers  at  Sherfield  English,  Hants  ;  MS.  versions  of 
Mumming  Pla)s,  written  by  the  performers  ;  a  Christmas  Rhyme- 
book  ;  dresses  worn  by  Plough- Monday  players  in  the  Vale  of  Belvoir, 
lent  by  Mrs.  Chaworth  Musters  ;  and  photographs  of  the  Horn  Dance, 
as  performed  at  Abbots  Bromley,  Staffordshire,  sent  by  Mr.  Udale  of 
Uttoxeter. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  paper  a  discussion  followed,  in  which  Miss 
Lucy  Broadwood,  Dr.  Gaster,  and  the  President  took  part. 

On  the  motion  of  the  President,  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded 
to  Mrs.  Chaworth  Musters  and  Mr.  Udale  for  the  loan  of  the  exhibits 
sent  by  them  respectively. 


MISCELLANEA, 


Notes  on  Welsh  Folk-Lore. 

{Comi/iumcafed  through  Mr.  J.  G.  Frazer.) 

The  White  Horse.— In  South  Wales,  at  a  time  of  the  early  winter 
not  very  easy  to  determine — m.ost  people  who  remember  it  say  at 
the  end  of  November — young  men  go  round  from  house  to  house 
with  the  white  horse,  expecting  trifling  presents  in  money.  I  remember 
it  well  in  my  young  days,  at  Cowbridge,  in  Glamorganshire.  The 
essential  part  of  the  thing  was  a  framework  in  the  shape  of  a  horse's 
head,  over  which  was  fastened  down  a  white  drapery,  which  fell  like  a 
sheet  over  a  boy's  body.  The  white  horses,  I  remember,  had  gay 
knots  of  coloured  ribbon  stuck  on  the  head.  The  horse  was  led  by  a 
young  man  or  youth,  and  the  great  purpose  of  it  all  seemed  to  be  to 
run  after,  threaten  to  bite,  and  frighten  the  maids  and  children. 
Some  of  the  horses  had  jaws,  which  the  boy  beneath  could  open  and 
shut.  I  was  told,  in  December  last,  that  the  white  horse  was  put 
down  by  the  police  at  Whitland,  in  Carmarthenshire,  only  about  ten 
years  ago,  because  there  had  been  some  servant  girls  frightened  into 
fits  ;  and  another  man  in  the  neighbourhood  told  me  that  some 
very  rough  play  was  carried  on  sometimes  in  connection  with  it.  The 
Principal  of  Cardiff  College,  Mr.  Viriamu  Jones,  remembers  the  white 
horse  in  the  Swansea  Valley,  as  I  do  at  Cowbridge.  He  suggested  it 
might  have  to  do  with  the  invading  and  conquering  white  horse  of 
King  Arthur's  legend.  Is  it  in  any  way  connected  with  the  different 
white  horses  carved  on  chalk  hills,  such  as  the  one  in  the  Vale  of 
White  Horse,  in  Berkshire  ?  Oris  it  connected  with  the  pale  or  white 
horse  of  Death  and  the  Erlkonig  legend  ?  Some  say  that  the  proper 
day  for  the  white  horse  was  the  last  day  of  November;  others  say 
that  it  came  round  shortly  before  Christmas. 

Round,  flat,  white  Loaves  distributed  on  old  New  Year's  Day.— 

In  Pembrokeshire,  on  January  12th  (old  New  Year's  Day),  people  used 
to  go  round  to  neighbours'  houses  to  fetch  a  present  of  a  white  wheaten 
loaf.  My  grandfather  was  a  large  yeoman-farmer  in  South  Pembroke- 
shire ;  and  a  very  intelligent  man  of  60,  who  has  lived  in  the  same  part 
of  the  country  all  his  life,  and  who  worked  as  a  lad  on  my  grand- 
father's farm,  remembers  well  this  distribution  of  round  white  loaves. 
He  says  that  there  was  quite  a  cartload  of  them  piled  up  in  readiness 


Miscellanea.  1 1 3 

m  the  kitchen,  and  that  people  came  sometimes  distances  of  twenty 
or  thirty  miles,  gathering  up  the  loaves  at  the  different  houses  as  they 
went  along.  The  younger  women  and  girls  especially  made  a  great 
holiday  of  it,  and  groups  of  them  would  go  about  together  very 
merrily,  and  clothed  in  their  best.  In  those  days  barley  bread  was 
commonly  eaten,  and  wheaten  bread  was  a  treat  to  the  peasantry. 
But  does  the  date  correspond  with  any  festival  of  Ceres,  and  is  not 
the  round  form  of  the  loaf  an  unconscious  survival  of  the  custom  of 
making  round  cakes  as  offerings  to  or  in  honour  of  Ceres,  Isis,  and 
other  mother  goddesses  ?     The  custom  has  now  quite  died  out. 

The  Neck  Feast. — At  harvest-time,  in  South  Pembrokeshire,  the 
last  ears  of  corn  left  standing  in  the  field  were  tied  together,  and  the 
harvesters  then  tried  to  cut  this  neck  by  throwing  their  hatchets  at  it. 
What  happened  afterwards  appears  to  have  varied  somewhat.  I 
have  been  told  by  one  old  man  that  the  one  who  got  possession  of  the 
neck  would  carry  it  over  into  some  neighbouring  field,  leave  it  there, 
and  take  to  his  heels  as  fast  as  he  could ;  for,  if  caught,  he  had  a  rough 
tim.e  of  it.  The  men  who  caught  him  would  shut  him  up  in  a  barn 
without  food,  or  belabour  him  soundly,  or  perhaps  shoe  him,  as  it  was 
called,  beating  the  soles  of  his  feet  with  rods — a  very  severe  and 
much-dreaded  punishment.  On  my  grandfather's  farm  the  man  used 
to  make  for  the  house  as  fast  as  possible,  and  try  to  carry  in  the  neck. 
The  maids  were  on  the  look  out  for  him,  and  did  their  best  to  drench 
him  with  water.  If  they  succeeded,  they  got  the  present  of  half-a- 
crown,  which  my  grandfather  always  gave,  and  which  was  considered 
a  very  liberal  present  indeed.  If  the  man  was  successful  in  dodging 
the  maids,  and  getting  the  neck  into  the  house  without  receiving  the 
wetting,  the  half-crown  became  his.  The  neck  was  then  hung  up,  and 
kept  until  the  following  year,  at  any  rate,  like  the  bunches  of  flowers 
or  boughs  gathered  at  the  St.  Jean,  in  the  south  of  France.  Some- 
times the  necks  of  many  successive  years  were  to  be  found  hanging 
up  together.  In  these  two  ways  of  disposing  of  the  neck  one  sees  the 
embodiment,  no  doubt,  of  the  two  ways  of  looking  at  the  corn  spirit, 
as  good  (to  be  kept)  or  as  bad  (to  be  passed  on  to  the  neighbour). 
The  drenching  with  water  may  point  to  a  very  early  period  of  origin, 
when  moisture  represented  the  female  principle  in  nature. 

y],  Fitzroy  Square,  JV.C.  FRANCES  HOGG.\N,  M.D. 


A  Wedding  Dance-  Mask  from  Co.  Mayo. — My  friend  the  Rev.  W. 
S.  Green,  H.M.  Inspector  of  Irish  P^isheries,  has  given  me  an  account 
of  a  marriage-custom  at  Erris  in  Co.  Mayo,  which  is  so  remarkable 
that  it  is  worth  a  special  notice. 

Whenever  a  wedding  takes  place,  gangs  of  men  and  boys  appear 


1 24  Miscellanea. 

on  the  scene,  dressed  up  in  women's  dresses,  and  with  straw  masks 
completely  covering  their  heads,  in  order  to  dance  at  the  wedding. 
A  gang  consists  of  twelve  men  ;  the  captain  of  the  gang  asks  the 
bride  to  dance  with  him.  It  is  thought  to  bring  bad  luck  if  anyone 
recognises  the  "  straw-boys",  as  they  are  called.  In  a  letter  dated 
"Belmullet,  Sept.  28,  1892",  Mr.  Green  writes:  "At  a  wedding  our 
fish-curers  were  at  the  other  day,  several  gangs  of  straw-boys  turned 
up  in  succession.  They  drank  very  little,  but  the  dancing  went  on 
till  6  A.M." 

I  immediately  wrote  to  INIr.  Green,  asking  whether  it  was  possible 
to  procure  a  photograph  of  a  dance  or  of  the  men  dressed  up. 
Unfortunately  this  was  impossible,  but  I  do  not  despair  of  obtaining 
one  in  the  future.  However,  Mr.  Green  was  good  enough  to  bring 
me  a  mask.  For  the  present  I  propose  to  deposit  it  in  the  Pitt- 
Rivers  Museum  at  Oxford. 

This  mask,  which  is  entirely  made  of  straw,  is  conical  in  shape,  and 
surmounted  by  three  rings  of  straw.  It  is  oval  in  section,  and  the 
mask  has  a  slight  cant  or  rake.  The  mask  is  21  inches  in  total 
height,  and  the  extreme  length  in  section  is  \i\  inches  ;  the  interior 
dimensions  of  the  opening  are  about  10]  X  5^  inches.  Mr.  Green 
adds,  "the  captain's  mask  or  cap  is  adorned  with  colours,  the  others 
are  plain." 

Alfred  C.  Haddon. 


Drinking  the  Moon. — Mrs.  Meer  Hasan  Ali,  in  her  work  on  the 
Manners  and  Customs  of  tJic  Miisstchnans  of  India^  describes  a  curious 
practice  which  seems  to  have  escaped  notice  by  European  writers  on 
]Moon-lore  :  "A  silver  basin,  being  filled  with  water,  is  held  in  such  a 
situation  that  the  full  moon  may  be  reflected  in  it.  The  person  to  be 
benefited  by  the  draught  is  required  to  look  steadfastly  on  the  moon 
in  the  basin,  then  shut  his  eyes  and  quaff  the  liquid  at  a  draught.  This 
remedy  is  advised  by  medical  professors  in  nervous  cases,  and  also 
for  palpitation  of  the  heart."     (Vol.  i,  275.) 

W.  A.  Clouston. 


FOLK-LORE  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


BOOKS. 

1893,  UNLESS  OTHERWISE  STATED. 

{English  books  published  in  London,  French  books  in  Paris 
unless  otherwise  mentioned?^ 

AUNING  (R.).    Ueber  den  lettischen  Drachen  Mythus  (Pukhis).     Ein 
Beitrag  zur  lettischen  Mythologie.      8vo.  Mitau  :  Steffenhao-en 
1892.  '^     ' 

Cath  Ruis  na  Rig  for  Boinn  (The  Battle  of  Rosnaree),  with 
Preface,  Translation,  and  Indices,  by  Edm.  Hogan,  S.J.  8vo. 
xxxii,  282  pp.     Dublin,  1892.     (Todd  Lecture  Series,  vol.  iv.) 

• .  •  Two  versions  of  the  Irish  text  are  printed  and  translated, 
one  from  the  Book  of  Leinster,  one  from  later  MSS. 
Christian  (J.).     Behar  Proverbs.     Classified  and  arranged  accord- 
ing to  their  subject-matter,   and  translated  into   English,  with 
notes  illustrating  the  Social  Custom,  Popular  Superstition,  and 
Every-day  Life  of  the  People,  and  givirg  the  Tales  and  Folk- 
lore on  which  they  are  founded.     With  an  Appendix  and  two 
Indexes.     8vo.     Kegan  Paul,  Triibner,  and  Co. 
Coffey  (G.).     On  the  Tumuli  and  Inscribed  Stones  at  New  Grano-e, 
Dowth,  and  Knowth.      4to.  94  pp.,  6  plates   and  illustrations. 
[^Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  xxx,   i.)     Dublin 
1892. 

• .  •  A  faithful  description  of  the  most  important  group  of  pre- 
Christian  funereal  monuments  in  Ireland,  with  a  translation  of 
the  mediaeval  legends  respecting  it. 
Cox  (Marian  Roalfe).     Cinderella.     Three   hundred   and  forty-five 
variants  of  Cinderella,  Catskin,  and  Cap  o'  Rushes,  abstracted 
and  tabulated,  with  a  Discussion  of  the  Mediaeval  Analogues 
and  Notes.     With  an  Introduction  by  Andrew  Lang.     Svo.  Ixxx 
536  pp.     (F.-L.  S.  Publications,  No.  xxxi.) 
Gaidoz   (H.).     Un   vieux   rite   medical.      Crown   Svo.   84   pp.      E. 
Rolland. 

• .  •  The  rite  is  that  of  passing  the  patient  through  an  opening 
or  under  an  object. 


126  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

Graf  (A.).  Miti,  leggende  e  superstizioni  del  Medio  Evo.  Vol.  I. 
8vo.     Turin,  1892. 

Harou  (A.).  Contributions  au  Folklore  de  la  Belgique.  i2mo.  xii, 
60  pp.     1892.     [Coll.  iniernat.  de  la  Tradiiion,  vol.  ix.) 

Owen  (Mary  A.),  Old  Rabbit  the  Voodoo  and  other  Sorcerers, 
With  an  Introduction  by  C.  G.  Leland.  Crown  8vo.  xvi,  310  pp. 
Fisher  Unwin. 

Plutarch's  Romane  Questions.  Translated  a.d.  1603  by  Philemon 
Holland.  Now  again  edited  by  F.  B.  Jevons.  With  Disserta- 
tions on  Italian  Cults,  Myths,  Taboos,  Man-Worship,  Aryan 
Marriage,  Sympathetic  Magic,  and  the  Eating  of  Beans.  Crown 
8vo.  cxxviii,  170  pp.  D.  Nutt,  1892.  {BibliotJi.  de  Carabas, 
vol.  vii.) 

Sander  (F.).  La  Mythologie  du  Nord  eclairee  par  les  inscriptions 
latines  en  Germanic,  en  Gaule,  et  dans  la  Bretagne.  8vo.  188  pp. 
Stockholm. 

Schermann  (L.).  Materialien  zur  Geschichte  der  indischen  Visions- 
literatur.     Royal  8vo.  161  pp.     Leipzig,  1892. 

SiLVA  Gaedelica  (i-xxxi).  A  collection  of  tales  in  Irish,  with 
extracts  illustrating  persons  and  places,  edited  from  MSS.  and 
translated  by  Standish  Hayes  O'Grady.  2  vols,  large  8vo.  viii, 
416,  xxxii,  604  pp.     Williams  and  Norgate. 

Contents :  Lives  of  SS.  Kieran,  Molasius,  Magnenn,  Cellach. 
Story  of  Aedh  bacMmh.  Death  of  King  Dermot.  Birth  of 
King  Aedh  Slane.  The  Wooing  of  Becfola.  Disappearance  of 
Caenchomrac.  Panegyric  of  King  Cormac.  Enumeration  of 
Finn's  people.  The  Colloquy.  Death  of  Eochaid  mac  Mairidh. 
Death  of  King  Fergus.  Birth  of  King  Cormac.  Fiachna's  sidh. 
Pursuit  of  the  Gilla  decair.  O'Donnell's  Kern.  The  Carle  in 
the  Drab  Coat.  The  Leeching  of  Clan's  leg.  The  Enchanted 
Cave  of  Keshcorran.  Battle  of  Magh  Mucramha.  Battle  of 
Crinna.  Story  of  King  Eochaid's  sons.  Death  of  King  Crim- 
thann.  The  Little  Brawl  at  Almhain.  Teigue  mac  Cein's 
Adventure.  The  Boromean  Tribute.  Fragmentary  Annals. 
The  Greek  Emperor's  Daughter.     Abacuc  the  Perjurer. 

Swynnerton  (Rev.  Ch.).  Indian  Nights  Entertainment.  Folk- 
Tales  from  the  Upper  Indus.  Small  410.  Illustrated.  Elliot 
Stock,  1892. 

The  International  Folk-Lore  Congress,  1891.  Papers  and 
Transactions.  Edited  by  Joseph  Jacobs  and  Alfred  Nutt.  Demy 
8vo.  xxii,  472  pp.     D.  Nutt,  1892. 

Contents:  Introduction.  A.  Z<7;/o^  Presidential  Address.  E. 
S.  Hartland^  Chairman's  Address  to  Folk-tale  Section.  W.  W. 
Newell,  Lady  Featherflight.    E.  Cosqiiin,  Quelques  observations 


Folk-lore  Bibliography.  127 

sur  les  Incidents  communs  aux  Contes  Europeens  et  aux  Contes 
Orientaux.  J.  Jacobs,  The  Science  of  Folk-tales  and  the  Problem 
of  Dififusion  ;  with  List  of  Folk-tale  Incidents  and  Map.  D. 
MacRitchie,  The  Historical  Aspect  of  Folk-lore.  A.  Niitt, 
Problems  of  Heroic  Legend.  //.  Krohn,  La  chanson  populaire 
en  Finlande.  J.  Rhys,  Chairman's  Address  to  Mythology 
Section.  Ch.  Ploix,  Le  Mythe  de  I'Odyssee.  Ch.  G.  Leland, 
Etrusco-Roman  Remains  in  Modern  Tuscan  Tradition.  IV.  R. 
Paton,  The  Holy  Names  of  the  Eleusinian  Priests.  J.  S.  Stuart- 
Glennie,  The  Origins  of  Mythology.  Mary  A.  Ozuen,  Among 
the  Voodoos.  /.  E.  Crombie,  The  Saliva  Superstition.  Sir  F. 
Pollock,  Chairman's  Address  to  the  Institution  and  Custom 
Section.  M.  \Vititernitz,k.  Comparative  Study  of  Indo-European 
Customs,  with  especial  reference  to  the  Marriage  Customs.  F. 
Hindes  Groonie,  The  Influence  of  the  Gypsies  on  the  Supersti- 
tions of  the  English  Folk.  C.  L.  Tupper,  Indian  Institutions 
and  Feudalism.  F.  B.  Jevons,  The  Testimony  of  Folk-lore  to 
the  European  or  Indian  Origin  of  the  Aryans.  G.  L.  Gomtne, 
The  Non-Aryan  Origin  of  Agricultural  Institutions.  J.  S.  Stuart- 
Glennie,  The  Origins  of  Institutions.  A.  W.  Moore,  The  Tin- 
wald.  E.  B.  Tylor,  Exhibition  of  Charms  and  Amulets.  Lady 
V/elby,  The  Significance  of  Folk-lore.  H.  Nevill,  Sinhalese 
Folk-lore.  \V.  F.  Kirby,  On  the  Progress  of  Folk-lore  Col- 
lections in  Esthonia.  E.  de  Schoultz-Adaievsky,  Courtes  Notices 
sur  feu  le  D.  J.  G.  Schoultz.  Catalogue  of  Exhibits.  Pro- 
gramme of  Entertainment. 
Wlislocki  (H.  von).  Marchen  und  Sagen  der  Bukowinaer  und 
Siebenbiirger  Armenier.  Aus  eigenen  und  fremden  Sammlungen 
iibersetzt.     8vo.     Hamburg,  1892. 


JOURNALS. 

1893,   UNLESS   OTHERWISE   STATED. 

Athaeneum,  Feb.  11,  18.  Letters  from  the  Rev.  Precentor  Vcjiablcs, 
J.  P.  Earivake)-,  and_/.  Bromley,  "Lifting"  at  Easter  in  Lincoln- 
shire. 

Journal  of  American  Folk-lore,  v,  19.  A.  M.  Williams,  Folk-Songs 
of  the  Civil  War,  W.  M.  Beaiichajnp,  Rhymes  from  Old 
Powder-Horns,  ii.  A.  F.  Chamberlain,  A  Mississaga  Legend  of 
Na'niboju'.  J.  Owen  Dorsey,  Nanibozhu  in  Siouan  Mythology. 
D  P.  Penhallow,  Epitaphal  Inscriptions.  Gertrude  Decroiv, 
Folk-lore  from  Maine.     Mary  Chapman,  Notes  on  the  Chinese 


128  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

in  Boston.  W.  IV.  N.,  Old  English  Songs  in  American  Versions. 
Folk-lore  Scrap-Book.  Notes  and  Queries.  Local  Meetings 
and  other  Notices.     Bibliographical  Notes. 

Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  xxii,  i,  2.  H.  Ling  Roth, 
The  Natives  of  Borneo,  edited  from  the  papers  of  the  late 
Brooke  Low,  Esq.,  ii.  Jo/ui  Allen  Brown,  On  the  Continuity  of 
the  Palceolithic  and  Neolithic  Periods.  James  Macdonald, 
East  Central  African  Customs.  J.  Theodore  Bent,  On  the  Finds 
at  the  Great  Zimbabwe  Ruins,  with  a  view  to  elucidating  the 
origin  of  the  race  that  built  them. 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  xiv,  2.  A,  L.  Lewis, 
Notes  on  the  relative  positions  of  certain  hills  and  stone  circles 
in  England  and  Wales.    J.  Theodore  Befit,  Notes  on  Zimbabwe. 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,  xv,  i.  P.  Le 
Page  Retiotif,  The  Egyptian  Book  of  the  Dead,  chaps.  18-20. — 
XV,  2.  P.  Le  Page  Refiotcf,  The  Egyptian  Book  of  the  Dead, 
chaps.  21-25. — XV,  3.  P.  Le  Page  Renottf,  The  Egyptian  Book 
of  the  Dead,  chaps.  26-30B.     E.  Lefcbure,  Etude  sur  Abydos. 

The  Scottish  Review,  April-July-October  1892.  /.  Beddoe,  The 
Anthropological  History  of  Europe. — October.  A.  Grant,  The 
Scottish  Origin  of  the  Merlin  Myth. 

L'Anthropologie,  iii.  Tumulus- Dolmen  de  Marque- Dessus,  Hautes 
Pyrendes.  C.  Lcmire,  Les  anciens  monuments  des  Kiams  en 
Annam  et  au  Tonkin.  C.  Paris,  Les  Ruines  Tjames  dc  la 
province  de  Ouang-nam.  G.  B.  M.  Flamand,  Note  sur  les 
stations  nouvelles  de  Pierres  Ecrites  du  Sud-Oranais.  P. 
Leflvre-Pontalis,  Note  sur  I'ecriture  des  Khas  Indo-Chinois. 
Dr.  Meyners  d''Estrey,  Le  betel  ou  siri  chez  les  peuples  de 
rinsulinde.  S.  Reinach,  L'etain  celtique.  L.  Sirel,  La  fin  de 
I'dpoque  neolithique  en  Espagne.  E.  Cartailhac,  L'age  de  la 
pierre  en  Egypte.  T.  Volkoiv,  Rites  et  usages  nuptiaux  en 
LTkraine.  [The  conclusion  of  a  series  of  most  important  papers 
descriptive  of  marriage  rites  in  the  south  of  Russia.]  Meyners 
d'Estrey,  Etude  ethnographique  sur  le  lezard  chez  les  peuples 
malais  et  polynesiens. 

Melusine,  vi,  6.  Mile.  E.  de  Schoultz-Adaievsky,  Airs  de  danse  du 
Morbihan  {co7it.  in  7).  H.  Gaidoz,  L'operation  d'Esculape ;  La 
Vierge  aux  sept  glaives  ;  Les  Decorations  ;  Le  Plongeur.  J. 
TncJiviann,  La  Fascination,  C.  Therapeutique  [cojit.  in  7).  E. 
Rolland,  Le  Berger  et  la  Bergere. — 7.  G.  Doncieiix,  La  fiUe  qui 
fait  la  morte  pour  son  honneur  garder.  H.  Gaidoz,  Oblations  k 
la  mer  et  presages  ;  Viser  el  atteindre  I'idole  ;  Les  saluts  et  la 


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politesse.     A.  Barih,  Les   Vedas   reduits   h.  leur  juste  valeur, 
E.  Ernault^  Chansons  populaires  de  la  Basse-Bretagne« 

• .  •  M.  Gaidoz'  article  on  la  Vierge  aux  sept  glaives  is  a 
singularly  curious  and  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of  the 
influence  of  plastic  art  upon  the  development  of  religious  ideas. 

Revue  Celtique,  xiii,  4.  D.  Hyde,  Oscar  au  fldau,  legende  ossianique 
(text  and  translation).  Whitley  Stokes,  The  Battle  of  Mag 
Mucrime  (text  and  translation).  /.  Loth,  Des  nouvelles  theories 
sur  Forigine  des  romans  arthuriens  (criticism  of  Zimmer's  views). 
— xiv,  I  (Jan.  1893).  H.  d'Arbois  de  Jitbamville,  Un  prejuge' 
(that  the  French  are  mainly  of  Celtic  blood  ;  nine-tenths  of  the 
French  people  are  pre-Celtic  in  race).  Whitley  Stokes^  The 
Voyage  of  the  Hui  Corra  (text  and  translation). 

Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  Feb.  i  and  15.  G.  Perrot,  La  civilisation 
myce'nienne. 

Revue  des  Traditions  Populaires,  VII,  11.  P.  Sdbillot,  La  mort  dans 
I'iconographie.  R.  Basset,  Les  Meteores  :  i,  Le  feu  Saint-Elme 
{suite).  J.  Tiefsot,  La  chanson  de  Renaud  :  vi-vii,  versions  de  la 
Bresse.  A.  Certciix,  Fevrier  la  lune.  L.  de  la  Sicoticre,  Biblio- 
graphie  des  Usages  et  des  traditions  populaires  du  departement 
de  rOrne.  E.  Maison,  Les  Espadoniers  de  Salbertrand.  C. 
Tisserand,  Gargantua :  ix,  Legende  viroise.  R.-M. Lacuve,  Petites 
Le'gendes  chretiennes :  iii,  L'autel  de  saint  Hilaire ;  iv,  Les 
boeufs  et  le  sarcophage  de  saint  Romain.  L.  ]\Iorin,  Les  outils 
traditionnels  :  ii,  La  Botte.  R.  Basset,  Les  empreintes  mer- 
veilleuses  {suite).  C.  Rubbens,  Coutumes  de  mariage  :  xii,  Com- 
ment on  mariait  en  1497  a  Paris.  L.  Morin,  Les  Esprits  forts 
a  la  campagne  :  iii,  Champagne.  Mine.  Destrichc,  Traditions, 
superstitions  et  coutumes  de  la  Sarthe.  P.  S.,  La  legende 
napoleonienne,  v.  R.  Basset,  Les  rites  de  la  construction,  xx. 
P.  Marchot,  Contes  du  Luxembourg.  Y.  Guyot,  Rites  et  Usages 
funeraires :  xi,  A  Tile  IVIolene.  P.  S.,  Necrologie :  Ernest 
Renan,  Xavier  Marmier.— 12.  H.  Wissefidorf,  E.  Wolter  et  ses 
travaux  concernant  le  peuple  lithuano-Iatavien.  Ahne.  Destrichc, 
Inscriptions  sur  les  livres  d'ecoliers  :  ii,  Maine.  A.  Berthier,  La 
mort  du  soldat,  chanson  limousine.  R.  Basset,  Le  mensonge 
puni.  P.  S.,  Superstitions  et  coutumes  de  pecheurs  :  v,  A  Terre- 
Neuve  vers  1S50.  L.  de  la  Sicoticre,  Bibliographie  des  usages  et 
des  traditions  populaires  du  departement  de  I'Orne  {suite  et 
fin).  L.  Morin,  Traditions  et  superstitions  de  I'imprimerie  :  i, 
ITmprimerie  et  les  sortili'ges.  R.  Basset,  Les  villes  englouties, 
xcvi-cxii.  L.  Sichler,  Devinettes  russes.  R.  Basset,  Allusions  ^ 
des  contes  populaires,  ix-x.  A.  Certeux,  Les  jeux  de  Penfance  : 
VOL.  IV.  "^ 


130  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

le  jeu  du  hanneton.  /.  7".,  Les  traditions  populaires  du  pays 
basque.  Extraits  et  Lectures  :  i,  Legendes  de  Madagascar ; 
ii,  Superstitions  bambara,  P.  S.,  Necrologie  :  Desrousseaux.— 
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i,  Contes  populaires.  F.-M.  Lavcnof,  Traditions  et  superstitions 
de  la  boulangerie :  ii,  He  de  Houat  et  Morbihan.  M/ne.  M.-A. 
Beau,  Chansons  du  renouvellement  de  Ya.nn€&  :  iii,  Pays  de 
Montbeliard.  /".- F.  5<?fo7/£'/,  La  Chanson  de  Bricou  :  xi,  Version 
psalmodiee  ^  Paris.  R.  Basset,  Les  Ordalies  (suite).  J.  Come- 
lissen,  Prieres  populaires  :  vi,  Belgique  flamande.  H.  Lebrun, 
Miettes  de  folk-lore  parisien  :  xxi,  Les  couturieres  et  les  robes 
de  marines.  A.  Ferine,  Contes  recueillis  a  Tunis.  /.  Cornelissen, 
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bourguignonne  ;  ii,  J.  Tiersot,  Ancienne  version.  Abbe  Dynes, 
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Les  saints  et  les  pendus  {suite).  A.  Gorovei,  Ldgendes  des 
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lutins  :  iv,  Normandie  ;  v,  Lorraine;  vi,  Poitou;  vii,  Picardie. 
Morel-Retz,  Les  Charites  :  ii,  A  Bethune.  R.  Basset,  Les  rites 
de  la  construction,  xiv-xv.  J.  Agostini,  Coutumes  et  croyances 
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pasquille  patoise.  M.  de  Zmigrodzki,  Le  Folklore  polonais  :  ii, 
vj.  F.  de  Beaurepaire,  Chansons  du  Ouercy,  xxiii.  H.  Camay, 
Folklore  des  petits  Enfants.  F.  J.  Melville,  La  Courtisane  et 
les  Talismans.  J.  Nicolaides,  Le  Folklore  de  Constantinople  : 
ii,  viij.  S.  Prato,  Contes  moqueurs,  i.  Vic.  de  Colleville, 
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E.  Blemont,  Trois  Legendes  pour  la  Noel.  M.  R.  F.,  Chansons 
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jeu  grec  a  Rodosto.  H.  Carnoy,  Devinettes  picardes.  L.  Combes, 
Une  Legende  mort-nee.  F.  de  Bcaiirepaire^  Chansons  du 
Quercy,  xxvii.  /.  Nicolaides,  Le  Folklore  de  Constantinople,  ii, 
ix.  A.  Harou,  Sorciers  et  sorcieres  en  Belgique.  C.  de  JV., 
Melanges  traditionnistes.  Vtc.  de  Colleville,  Vieilles  chansons, 
xvi.     H.  C,  A.  Desrousseaux. 

Archivio  per  lo  studio  delle  Tradizioni  Popolari,  xi,  i.  KG.  Fiwii, 
Novella  del  Vetala  tradotte  dal  Sanscrito.  A.  T.  Fz'res, 
Tradic'oes  portuguezas.  F.  Vi'Uam's,  Otto  canzoni  popolari 
Zaratine.  Usi  nuziali  israelitici  in  Gibilterra;  Usi  e  costumi 
savojardi  e  francesi.  G.  Curcio,  Canti  popolari  religiosi  in 
Sicilia.  A.  Lumbroso,  Di  alcune  tradizioni  popolari  su  Napo- 
leone  I  e  sui  Bonaparte.  G.  Fcrraro,  Folklore  dell'  Agricoltura. 
L.  Brueyre,  Deuxieme  Congres  des  Traditions  populaires  a 
Londres. — 2.  G.  Ftlrc^  Due  favolette  ed  una  facezia  del  popolo 
genovese.  G.  Giannini,  Canti  popolari  padovani.  S.  Salomone- 
Marino,  La  Rivoluzione  siciliana  del  1848-9  nei  canti  popolari. 
G.  Ferraro.  Folklore  dell'  Agricoltura.  C.  Merkel,  Religione  e 
superstizione  nel  sec.  xvil.  F.  Seves,  Barba  Gironi.  G.  Curcio, 
Canti  popolari  religiosi  in  Sicilia.  L.  De  Pasquale,  Meteorologia, 
Medicina  e  Superstizione  pop.  in  Calabria.  M.  An^clim,  E 
relli(5grete  regine.  T.  Guidotti,  CoUecziun  da  proverbis  rhaeto- 
romanschs.     S.  Frato,  Le  dodici  parole  della  verita. 

Am  Urquell,  III,  xi.  M.  Hojler,  Der  Kultwald  in  der  Volkmedizin 
{cont.  in  xii).  F.  Ben  Mordechai  Braznin,  Der  Dales  {cont.  in 
xii).  Zu  Frankels  Studie  iiber  V.  vSchumann.  K.  Ed.  Haase, 
Sagen  aus  der  Prignitz.  A.  Treichel,  Wo  ist  der  Pferdehimmel  ? 
Bastlosereime.  Eine  Umfrage  von  O.  Schell.  Beitrage  von 
Bohm  und  Glode.  Hexenleiter.  Eine  Umfrage  von  R.  Andree. 
Beitrag  von  H.  Volksmann.  Carstensen.,  Nordfriesische  Ratsel. 
Geheime  Sprachweisen.  Eine  Umfrage  von  Krauss.  Beitrage 
von  Ludmilla  Kisslinger  und  Kaindl.  H.  v.  Wlislocki,  Sieben- 
biirgischdeutsches  Volklied.  Knaiithe  und  6^/c'V/<?,  Kleine  Mit- 
teilungen. — xii.  H.  F.  Feilberg,  Der  Vampyr.  F.  S.  Krauss, 
Der  Eid  im  Volkleben.  Lispelnde  Schwestern.  Eine  Umfrage 
von  A.  Treichel.  Beitrage  von  Anna  Dorfler  und  H.  v.  Wlis- 
locki. Der  Mann  im  Monde.  Eine  Umfrage  von  H.  Volksmann. 
Beitrage  von  Dr.  L.  Friinkel  und  O.  Schell.  K.  Ed.  Haase, 
Sagen  aus  dem  Havellande.  A.  Treichel,  Geheime  Sprachweisen. 
K.  Kftauthe,  Spukgeschichten.  T/i.  Dragicevic,  F.  S.  Krauss 
und  K.  Knauthc,  Kleine  Mitteilungen. 

Internationales  Archiv  fiir  Ethnographie,  v,  i.  Dr.  W.  Joest,  I\Lilay- 
ische  Lieder  und  Tanze  aus  Ambon  und  der  Uliase  (Molukken). 


132  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

Z.  Nuttall^  On  Ancient  Mexican  Shields.  F.  S.  A.  de  Clercq, 
Die  gegenwiirtige  Verbreitung  des  Blaserohrs  und  Bogens  im 
malayischen  Archipel.  Prof.  H.  H.  GiglioH,  A  Ceremonial 
Stone  Adze  from  New  Ireland. — 2.  G.  IV.  IV.  C.  Baron  van 
Hoevell,  Een  Bezweringsfeest  te  Mooeton.  Dr.  A.  Ernst.  Notes 
on  some  Stone-yokes  from  Mexico.  R.  Parkinson.,  UeberTatto- 
wierung  der  Eingebornen  im  District  Siarr.  Dr.  A.  O.  Heikel^ 
Die  Entwickelung  und  Verbreitung  der  Bautypen  im  Gebiet  der 
finnischen  Stiimme.  Z.  Nutiall,  On  Ancient  Mexican  Shields. 
//.  H.  GiglioU.,  An  impoitant  Archseological  Collection  formed  in 
Central  and  South  America. — 3.  G.  van  Floten,  Les  Drapeaux 
en  usage  a  la  Fete  de  Hugein  a  Teheran.  D.  Pector,  Notice  sur 
I'archeologie  du  Salvador  precolombien.  F.  Graboiusky,  Die 
Theogonee  der  Dajaken  auf  Borneo.  H.  Vos,  Verbreitung  der 
Anthropophagie  auf  dem  asiatischen  Festlande. — 4.  Dr.  IV. 
Svobocla,  Die  Bewohner  des  Nikobaren-Archipels.  Dr.  Ed. 
Seler,  Altmexikanische  Schilde.  J.  D.  E.  Schmelfz,  CEufs  con- 
serves du  Tonkin  et  de  la  Chine.  Zeichnenkunst  der  Busch- 
manner.  Dr.  G.  Schlegel.,  Leichenbestattung  auf  Darnley  Island. 
C.  M.  Pleyte  Wzn,  Some  remarks  in  reference  to  "  die  gegen- 
wiirtige Verbreitung  des  Blaserohrs  und  Bogens  im  malayischen 
Archipel".— 5  and  6.  Dr.  W.  Svoboda^  Die  Bewohner  des 
Nikobaren-Archipels.  D.  Pecior,  Ethnographic  de  I'Archipel 
Mangellanique.  Dr.  T.  Achelis,  Ueber  die  psychologische 
Bedeutung  der  Ethnologic.  J.  D.  E.  Scfwielts,  Beitrage  zur 
Ethnographic  von  Borneo.  H.  Messikoimner.,  Aeltere  Masken 
aus  der  Schweiz. — Supplement  zu  Band  iv.  D.  MacRitchie,  The 
A'inos. 

Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fiir  Volkskunde,  II,  4.  Axel  Olrik^  Miirchen 
in  Saxo  Grammaticus,  iii.  Arcndt,  Aus  dem  Aber-  und  Geister- 
glauben  der  Chinesen.  Pigcr,  Handwerksbrauch  in  der  Iglauer 
Sprachinsel.  A.  Tfuanb,  Zur  neugriechisclien  Volkskunde,  iii. 
C.  Jensen.,  Zwergsagen  aus  Nordfriesland.  Erich  Schmidt, 
Reinhold  Kdhler.  K.  Ed.  Haase,  Sprichworter  und  Redens- 
arten.     Kleine  Mitteilungen.     Litteratur  des  Jahres  1S91. 

• .  •  Dr.  Schmidt's  most  sympathetic  notice  of  Reinhold  Kohler 
should  be  read  by  every  folk-lorist.  Appended  is  a  full  list  of 
Kohler's  articles  and  notes. 


jfolk^Xore. 


Vol    IV.]  JUNE,  1893.  [No.  II. 


CINDERELLA    AND    BRITAIN. 


The  following  paper  is  the  first  of  a  series  in  which,  it  is  hoped, 
students  of  folk- tales  will  discuss  and  criticise  the  immense  mass 
of  material  brought  together  by  Miss  M.  Roalfe  Cox  in  her  volume 
Cinderella,  recently  published  by  the  Folk-lore  Society.  As,  in 
spite  of  a  sufficiently  definite  statement  of  the  purport  of  this 
paper  in  the  third  paragraph,  it  seems  to  have  been  misapprehended 
by  some  of  those  who  did  tne  the  honour  of  criticising  it  when  it 
was  read  before  the  Folk-lore  Society,  I  would  agaifi  insist: 
(a)  that  I  deal  not  with  the  Cinderella  tale  as  a  whole,  but  with 
certain  elements  of  it  alone;  (b)  that  I  deal  with  these  briefly,  and 
by  way  of  reference  to  Miss  Cox's  pages,  where  fuller  details 
should  be  sought;  (c)  that,  with  a  few  trifling  exceptions,  I  confine 
myself  to  the  material  brought  together  by  Miss  Cox.  All  refer- 
ences, save  where  explicitly  stated  otherwise,  arc  to  Miss  Cox's 
volume. 

THE  Society,  no  less  than  Miss  Cox,  may  be  proud 
indeed  of  the  noble  volume  in  which  are  retold  the 
varied  chances  and  adventures  that  befell  the  despised 
stay-at-home  sister,  to  whom  in  the  end  came  riches,  and 
power,  and  princely  rank.  Have  we  not  here  a  symbol 
of  our  study's  fate?  Long  relegated  to  the  cinder-heap 
and  the  goose-green,  is  not  Folk-lore  now  essaying  her 
hidden  robes  of  golden  cloth  and  starry  sheen  ?  And  may 
we  not  cherish  the  hope  that  she  shall  be  set  in  her  rightful 
place,  to  which  the  envious  sisters  have  so  long  denied  her 
access  ?  When  that  comes,  we  may,  I  think,  engage  •  -^ 
behalf  that  she  will  act  like  Perrault's  heroine.  •  '^  ^'"  ^"^"^ 
like  those  fiercer  representatives  of  a  prehi-v  "^^'  ^  "'"'^^  '^^^'' 

VOL.   IV.  '  *" 

L  2 


134  Cinderella  and  Britain. 

whom  we  meet  with  outside  Perrault's  influence.  There 
shall  be  no  red-hot  shoes,  nor  spiked  barrels,  but  the  arrogant 
stepsisters  shall  be  wedded  to  gentlemen  of  the  Court  and 
suitably  provided  for. 

May  we  not  carry  this  symbolising  process  somewhat 
further  ?  We  all  know  how  the  Prince  was  twice  deceived  ; 
how,  but  for  the  little  bird,  he  would,  seemingly,  have  con- 
tented himself  with  the  "clipit"  bride.  Is  not  this  the 
picture  of  official  science  and  official  literature  which  have 
so  long  taken  all  manner  of  deceiving  phantoms  for  the 
true  expression  of  what  the  folk  believes  and  fancies? 
And  may  we  not  look  upon  the  folk-lore  student  as  the 
little  bird  whose  duty  it  is  to  denounce  the  pretender  and 
reveal,  no  matter  how  disfiguring  her  disguise,  the  true 
princess  ?  Doubtless,  too,  though  the  history  is  silent 
concerning  them,  there  were  partisans  enough  of  the  false 
brides  to  vilify  the  little  bird  as  a  pedantic  nuisance  who 
couldn't  be  content  with  things  as  they  seemed  to  be,  but 
must  needs  go  grubbing  in  the  ingle-nook  and  other 
obscure  and  unsavoury  places. 

To  duly  synthesize  the  mass  of  facts  Miss  Cox  has 
analysed  is  a  task  to  try  the  hardiest.  Best  perhaps  that 
each  student  should  select  that  aspect  of  the  question  to 
which  he  attaches  special  importance,  and,  neglecting  all 
others,  insist  upon  it  alone.  True,  it  will  be  forced  into 
undue  prominence,  but  amid  the  shock  of  conflicting  pleas 
this  defect  will  be  remedied.  This,  at  any  rate,  is  the 
method  I  would  here  apply  ;  the  point  which  has  struck  me, 
and  which  I  would  impress  upon  you  very  briefly,  and 
utilising  solely  the  material  brought  together  by  Miss  Cox, 
is  the  long  and  close  connection  between  certain  elements 
of  the  Cinderella  story-group  and  the  literature  and 
legendary  history  of  these  islands. 

Miss   Cox's  division    of  the    Cinderella   story-group    is 

■^t-eefold    (p.  xxv),  corresponding   to   the   type-forms    of 

Catskin,   Cap  o'  Rushes.     This  last  form  opens 

'  ""^  being  driven  forth  on  account  of  supposed 


Ciitd^rpJla  aticC  Britain.  i  ^  r 

l^ndutifulness  to  her  father.  As  Mr.  Hartland  showed 
long  ago  (The  Outcast  Child,  Folk-Lore  Journal,  iv)  the 
earhest  medieval  example  of  this  incident  is  Geoffrey  of 
Monmouth's  story  of  Lear  and  his  Daughters,  a  tale  we 
may  regard  with  every  reason  as  drawn  from  then  current 
Welsh  tradition.  So  far,  British  origin  (immediate  origin, 
-^t  least)  of  a  not  unimportant  element  of  the  story-cvcle 
^s  certain.  It  should  be  noted  that  in  this  oldest  example 
the  outcast  heroine,  daughter  of  a  British  king,  weds  a 
i^rench  pnnce,  as  happens  in  so  many  stories  of  the 
second  type-form,  now  about  to  be  discussed 

The  second,  the  Catskin  type-form,  opens  as  a  rule  with 
he  unnatural  marriage  incident.  Moved  by  his  daughter's 
likeness  to,  or  by  her  ability  to  wear  some  special  part  of  the 
dead  mother's  attire,  a  king  seeks  his  daughter  in  marri'age 
She  resists,  and  is  cast  forth  or  flees.  Often,  her  hands  are 
hewed  off  and  she  is  set  adrift  in  a  boat.  The  theme  was 
a  favounte  one  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  numerous  ex- 
amples collected  by  Miss  Cox  (pp.xliii-lxvi)  may  be  grouped 
as  follow.s.  I  cite  the  continental  versions  {d,  sucS  as  are 
not  written  in  England  or  by  Englishmen)  first  •— 

A.  The  father  is  a  king  or  lord  in  France  ;  the  heroine 
seeks  refuge  in  England,  whose  king  she  weds.     Thus  in 
the  fifteenth  century  Spanish  romance  Victorial,  the  stiry 
there  being  told  to  account  for  the  origin   of  the  wars 
between  France  and  England.^     A  fifteenth  century  Italian 
version  of  the  story  by  Bart.  Fazio  avows  the  same  object 
but  the   roles   are   inverted :    the  unnatural    father    is   an 
Edvyard  of  England,  the  heroine  weds  a  French  dauphin^ 
In    the  fifteenth  century  German   romance  of  Hans  der 
Buheler  (p.  Ini)  the  heroine  is  a  French  princess,  and  it  is 
at  London  that  she  weds  the  English  king. 

B.  In  the  oldest^  continental  version,  the  twelfth  century 

(1  \-^^^^^'^  """  '^^  authority  of   Merzdorf,  quoted  by  ]^ss' Cox 
P^  In.),  who  follows,  however,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  a  much  later 
redaction  than  the  alleged  twelfth  century  original 


L  2 


136  Cinderei}''  ^^^  Britain. 

Alexandre  de  Bernai's  French  metrical  romance,  De  la 
belle  Helayne  de  Constatitinople}  the  heroine  is  a  daughter 
of  Antony,  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  and  it  is  a  Henry 
of  England  whom  she  weds.  A  widely-spread  German 
chap-book  goes  back  to  this  romance  (p.  Hi). 

C.  The  father  is  a  king  of  Hungary,  the  daughter  comes 
to  Scotland.  Thus,  the  Roman  de  Manekine^  one  of  the 
most  popular  of  French  thirteenth  century  romances,  from 
which  the  fourteenth  century  French  play,  Un  Miracle  de 
Nostre  Dame,  seems  derived  {p.  lix). 

D.  The  story  of  St.  Dipne  (first  met  with  in  France  at 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century),  daughter  to  a  king  of 
Ireland.  In  accordance  with  the  hagiological  nature  of 
this  story  the  heroine's  fate  is  martyrdom  and  not  wedlock 
(p.  Ixv). 

So  far  the  continental  versions.  I  have  not  cited  the 
forms  from  which  the  connection  with  Britain  is  absent, 
but  these  all  seem  to  be  later  than  and  dependent  upon 
the  type-forms  cited  above. 

On  turning  to  stories  written  in  England  we  are  at 
once  confronted  with  a  remarkable  counterpart^  to  the 
Victorial  version  in  the  Life  of  the  second  Offa  by 
the  thirteenth  century  Matthew  Paris.  This  tells  how  a 
beautiful  but  evil  Frankish  princess,  doomed  to  exposure 
on  the  sea,  reaches  England,  is  seen  and  beloved  of  the 
Angle  king.  Her  explanation  of  her  banishment  is,  it 
should  be  noted,  that  she  was  fleeing  marriage  with  a 
suitor  of  lowly  birth  sought  to  be  forced  upon  her.  Other- 
wise, there  is  no  hint  in  this  story  of  the  unnatural  marriage 
incident,  but  this  is  found,  in  its  orthodox  form,  in  the  same 
Matthew's  Life  of  the  first  Offa,  where  the  erring  father  is 
a  king  of  York.* 

\;Pp.  liii,  Iv.  '  P.  xlix. 

3  I  use  the  word  "counterpart  not  as  implying  any  literary  filiation 
between  the  stories,  but  as  applied  solely  to  the  way  in  which  the 
incidents  of  the  narrative  are  presented. 

*  Some  very  curious  questions  are  raised  by  the  Offa  lives,  questions 


Cinderella  and  Britain.  137 

A  still  more  interesting  English  version  is  the  story  of 
Emare  found  in  the  early  fifteenth  century  MS.,  Caligula, 
Ail.  The  names  of  the  heroine's  father  and  mother — Artyus, 
Erayne — at  once  betray  connection  with  the  Arthurian 
cycle.  Emare  is  put  out  to  nurse  on  her  mother's  death, 
and  it  is  a  chanre  sight  of  her,  dressed  in  a  rich  robe  of 
golden  cloth,  that  routes  the  father's  passion.  She,  too,  is 
exposed  in  a  boat,  lands  in  "  Galys"  {not  France,  which 
country  is  separately  mentioned),  and  weds  its  king 
(pp.  1-li). 

I  think  it  may  be  taken  as  certain  that  the  continental 
versions  are  derived  from  English  sources,  also  that  the 
oldest  English  and  continental  versions  are  not  directly 
connected,  but  both  come  down  from  an  older  stratum  of 

•which  can  only  be  very  briefly  glanced  at  here.  Matthew's  story  of 
the  second  Offa  has  been  connected  with  that  told  in  Beowulf  of  Ofifa 
and  Thrytho,  but  the  Beowulf  Offa  is,  of  course,  the  first,  the  continental 
Offa.  The  Beowulf  story  explicitly,  and  that  told  by  Matthew  of  the 
second  Offa  implicitly,  seem  to  fall  under  the  King  Thrushbeard 
formula,  where  a  haughty  and  fierce  princess,  after  disdainful  and 
savage  treatment  of  many  suitors,  is  at  length  tamed  by  the  right 
wooer. 

This,  the  King  Thrushbeard  formula,  seems  to  be  represented  in 
Miss  Cox's  analogues  by  the  Pecorone  story  (p.  li),  where  the  princess 
is  also  from  France  (the  disagreeable  suitor  being  a  German),  and 
escapes  to  England.  Here  again  it  is  marriage,  and  not  incestuous 
marriage,  that  is  shunned.  But  if  this  is  so,  as  it  would  seem  to  be,  with 
the  Matthew  Paris  second  Offa  story,  how  are  we  to  account  for  the 
fact  of  its  being  such  a  decided  counterpart  to  the  Victorial  version  ? 
Was  that  also  originally  a  Thrushbeard,  rather  than  an  unnatural  mar- 
riage story  ?  If  so,  the  change  must  have  been  of  old  standing  when 
the  story  was  heard  by  its  fifteenth  century  Spanish  narrator,  as  the 
point  of  it  (the  explanation  of  the  enmity  between  France  and  England) 
is  implicated  in  the  unnatural  marriage  opening,  and  could  hardly 
arise  with  the  other.  (As  to  the  Offa  lives,  cf.  Ten  Brink  in  Paul's 
Grundriss,  ii,  534.)  It  should  be  noted  that  the  after  history  of  all  these 
heroines  belongs,  as  a  rule,  to  the  calumniated  wife  or  Genoveva  story- 
group,  a  story  of  great  importance  in  early  English  literature,  if,  as 
seems  likely,  the  eighth-ninth  century  poem,  known  as  The  Wife's 
Complaint,  is  a  dramatic  idyl   based  upon  it. 


138  Cinderella  and  Britain. 

story-telling,  elaborated,  if  not  originating,  in  Britain.  We 
notice,  then,  that  one  English  form,  Matthew's  Life  of  Offa, 
connects  the  incident  with  the  legendary  history  of  the 
Teutonic  race-element  of  our  people,  whilst  the  other  rather 
indicates  a  Celtic  origin.  The  latter,  again,  is  favoured  by 
Alexandre's  version,  which  makes  the  heroine  St.  Helena 
of  Constantinople.  The  part  played  by  Helena,  wife  of 
Constantius  and  mother  of  Constantine,  in  Welsh  legend 
is  too  well  known  to  need  emphasising.  And  Cynewulfs 
poem  of  Elene  shows  that  she  was  popular  also  among  the 
Englishmen.  In  this  connection  it  is  worth  noting  that,  in 
the  version  of  the  Mattekine  story  found  in  the  Anglo- 
Norman  chronicle  of  Nicolas  Trivet,  the  heroine's  name 
is  Constance,  a  name  derived,  I  think,  from  the  Romano- 
British  cycle.  In  this  version  the  Catskin  opening  is 
missing,  as  it  also  is  in  Chaucer  and  Gower,  who  seem 
to  have  followed  Nicolas  Trivet.^  As  regards  Matthew, 
it  has  been  said  that  he  is  influenced  by  Saxo  Gram- 
maticus ;  this  is  possible,  but  it  only  shifts  back  the 
question,  as  any  legends  told  by  Saxo  of  the  Angle 
Offa  are  likely,  to  my  mind,  to  be  the  reflex  of  tales 
heard  by  Saxo's  Danish  fellow-countrymen  during  their 
stay  in  England. 

Personally,  I  see  no  reason  to  postulate  the  exclusive 
attribution  of  the  incident  to  either  Celts  or  Teutons. 
But  those  who  are  so  minded  can  hardly  fail  to  under- 
estimate the  import  of  the  Irish  story  which  I  was  able  to 
communicate  to  Miss  Cox  in  time  to  be  noted  on  the  last 
page  of  her  volume.  This  tells  how  Raghallach,  the 
seventh-century  King  of  Connaught,  being  warned  that 
evil  would  befall  him  from  his  offspring,  charged  his  wife 
to  have  her  child  slain.     But  the  swineherd  to  whom  she 

^  Pp.  1-li.  I  do  not,  of  course,  quote  this  with  any  view  of  connect- 
ing Chaucer's  Man  of  Lawe's  tale  with  the  Cinderella  group.  I  am 
content  if  a  probability  is  shown  that  it,  like  certain  elements  in  the 
Cinderella  stories,  may  be  traced  back,  on  one  side,  to  the  same 
stratum  of  legendary  fiction. 


Cinderella  and  Britain.  139 

gave  the  babe  for  that  purpose  relents,  and  confides  her  to 
a  hermit,  by  whom  she  is  brought  up.  She  becomes  the 
fairest  maid  in  Ireland,  and  her  father,  hearing  of  her 
beauty,  and  not  knowing  who  she  is,  loves  her,  and  takes 
her  to  himself  He  refuses  to  put  her  away  at  the  bidding 
of  the  saints  of  Ireland,  is  cursed  by  them,  and  dies 
a  shameful  death  (p.  535). 

The  MS.  in  which  this  story  is  found  is  of  the  fifteenth 
century  only  ;  but  the  story  forms  a  portion  of  annals 
which  stop  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  century.  Parts  of 
these  same  annals  are  found  in  eleventh  century  MSS., 
and  the  language  of  our  story  is,  as  Professor  Meyer  tells 
me,  twelfth  century  in  character.  We  shall  not,  then,  do 
wrong  in  assigning  the  Raghallach  story,  as  we  have  it, 
to  the  twelfth  or  preceding  century,  ix.,  it  is  at  least  of 
equal  age  with  the  oldest  English  or  continental  tales  in 
which  the  unnatural  marriage-incident  occurs.  But  we 
can,  I  believe,  look  upon  it  as  much  older,  substantially  as 
old  as  the  date  of  the  personages  it  deals  with,  i.e.,  as  the 
seventh  century.  For  the  old  war-chariot  (which  fell  out 
of  use  during  the  period  of  the  Viking  invasions  of  Ire- 
land, during,  that  is,  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries)  is  still 
the  ordinary  vehicle.  We  learn  this  from  a  delightful 
touch  of  the  Irish  story-teller,  who,  when  he  wishes  to 
express  the  extent  of  Raghallach's  passion,  "his  love 
towards  her  was  such",  says  he,  "  that  when  her  chariot 
went  before,  she  must  needs  turn  her  face  backwards  upon 
him  ;  whereas  he,  if  his  chariot  led,  would  set  his  face  to 
her.  It  is  even  thought  that  in  Ireland  none  ever  had 
done  the  like." 

An  interesting  point  in  connection  with  this  story  is  the 
air  of  probability  it  wears.  Grant  the  premiss — the  ex- 
posed child  (a  commonplace  of  early  Irish  story-telling^) — 
and  the  sequence  of  incidents  is  a  possible  one,  involving 
no  such  shock  to  our  moral  sense  as  do  the  other  versions. 

^  Cf.  Folk-Lore.,  ii,  p.  87,  "An  early  Irish  version  of  the  jealous 
stepmother  and  exposed  child." 


140  Cinderella  and  Britain. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  decide  whether  this  is  a  mark  of  age, 
or  the  reverse. 

But,  it  may  be  said,  to  establish  the  fact  that  the 
unnatural  marriage-opening  was  a  commonplace  of  story- 
telling in  the  British  Isles  is  but  a  slight  contribution  to 
the  solution  of  the  Cinderella  problem.  Granted  ;  yet  the 
fact  is  interesting  in  itself,  especially  when  taken  in  con- 
junction with  the  wide  and  long-standing  spread  of  the 
Catskin-Cinderella  form  in  this  country.  If,  now,  we  turn 
to  the  first  of  Miss  Cox's  group-types,  to  Cinderella  proper, 
we  cannot,  it  is  true,  trace  such  early  connection  of  any 
essential  element  with  these  islands,  as  we  have  done  in 
the  case  of  the  Catskin  and  Cap-o'-Eushes  types.^  But  we 
can  show  that  of  all  existing  versions  of  the  true  Cinderella 
tale  it  is  one  collected  in  these  islands  which  presents  obvi- 
ously archaic  features  (which  have  well-nigh  disappeared 
from  the  literary  versions)  in  their  most  crude  and  striking 
form.     I  allude  to  the  remarkable  Gaelic  tale,  "  The  Sheep's 

1  If  we  could,  we  might  safely  regard  the  Cinderella  problem  as 
solved.  What  the  terms  of  that  problem  are  must  be  steadily  borne  in 
mind  by  all  investigators.  The  earliest  recorded  true  Cinderella  story 
appears  in  Italy,  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  (Basile's 
La  Gatta  Cefterentola) ;  before  that  date  we  only  find  recorded  two 
Catskin  stories,  both  of  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  one 
(which  is  without  the  unnatural  marriage  opening)  French  (Bona- 
venture  des  Periers),  one  Italian  (Straparola).  There  is,  so  far  as  we 
at  present  know,  neither  in  Classic,  Oriental,  Teutonic,  or  Celtic  myth 
or  saga,  nor  in  mediaeval  romance  or  legend,  any  definite  sequence  of 
incidents  which  we  could  claim  as  being  the  ultimate  origin  of  the 
Cinderella  group,  or  from  the  existence  of  which  we  could  argue  the 
existence  of  that  group  at  a  date  prior  to  that  of  the  sixteenth-seven- 
teenth century  examples.  There  is,  I  believe,  no  other  folk-tale  of  the 
same  character  and  of  equal  importance  with  Cinderella  of  which  this 
can  be  said.  The  Sleeping  Beauty,  The  Calumniated  Wife,  The  Sup- 
planted Bride,  The  Exposed  Child,  all  the  familiar  dramatis  persona  of 
the  mdrchen,  are  also  familiar  figures  of  pre-mediaeval  and  mediaeval 
myth,  saga,  and  romance.  Not  so  Cinderella.  At  the  same  time  it  is  im- 
possible (or,  rather,  it  is  absurd,  forall  things  are  possible  to  the  paradox- 
mongerer)  to  maintain  that  the  sixteenth-seventeenth  century  versions 
have  originated  the  mass  of  Cinderella  variants  noted  subsequently  ; 


Cinderella  and  Brit  a,.  141 

Daughter,"  which  I  was  only  ab^c  to  communicate  to  Miss 
Cox  in  time  for  her  to  print  it  on  the  last  page  but  one  of 
her  book  (p.  535).  Here  the  animal  parentage  of  the 
heroine,  vaguely  hinted  at  in  so  many  versions,  is  defi- 
nitely affirmed  ,  nere,  too,  and  here  alone  to  my  knowledge, 
hero  and  heroine  are  half-brother  and  sister.  Note,  again, 
that  whilst  the  Cinderella  type  proper  is  absent  from 
England,  rich,  on  the  contrary,  in  Catskin  forms,  an  essen- 
tial feature  of  which  can  be  traced  there  so  far  back, 
Scotland,  which  yields  us  this  archaic  Cinderella,  yields 
also  half-a-dozen  other  Cinderella  variants  (p.  xxvii). 

To  sum  up.  As  regards  two  type-forms  of  the  Cinder- 
ella group  (the  least  important  of  the  group,  it  is  true), 
Britain  yields  the  earliest  literary  treatment  of  essential 
elements  ;  as  regards  the  first  type-form,  it  yields  one  of 
the  most,  if  not  the  most  archaic  example. 

I  refrain  from  any  dogmatic  induction.  May  this  be 
imputed  to  me  for  righteousness,  when  it  is  remembered 
how  many  proudly-soaring  theories  are  built  upon  a  far 
narrower  and  less  solid  basis  !  But  I  do  claim  that  others 
should  refrain  from  dogmatising  likewise.  And  if  any 
patriotic  soul  loves  to  think  of  the  cinder-wench  as  start- 
ing forth  from  our  land  to  conquer  the  world,  I  cannot 
deny  there  are  grounds  for  holding  this  to  be  more  than 
a  mere  pious  opinion. 

on  the  contrary,  although  one  of  these  examples,  Perrault's  Cendrillon 
is  perhaps  the  most  famous  of  all  literaryfolk-tales,  they  have  practically 
not  influenced  this  mass  of  later  variants  at  all  ;  throughout  Europe 
we  still  find  traces  of  a  far  ruder,  wilder,  more  archaic  version  than 
that  which  confronts  us  in  the  pages  of  Bonaventure  or  Basile,  Strapa- 
rola  or  Perrault. 

Thus  we  have  to  account  for  the  non-appearance  in  any  form  of  the 
story,  as  a  whole,  prior  to  the  sixteenth  century  (that  certain  elements 
appear,  and  appear  abundantly,  has  been  shown,  I  trust,  sufficiently), 
and  also  to  account  for  the  singular  peculiarities  of  its  actual  spread 
throughout  Europe. 

Alfred  Nutt. 


THE    FALSE    BRIDE. 


Aai8a\a  and  Grozdanka. 

A  BULGARIAN  story  has  lately  fallen  under  my 
notice  to  which  I  should  be  glad  to  draw  attention,. 
in  relation  to  the  Greek  festival  of  the  Dsedala,  and  to 
some  rites  and  customs  of  the  European  peasantry. 

The  tale  is  widespread  in  Europe,  and  the  following 
version  is  not  perhaps  the  fullest,  but  I  give  it  as  a  typical 
example  ;  the  likeness  between  the  myth  as  told  by 
Plutarch  and  this  Bulgarian  peasant  legend  will  be  at 
at  once  apparent : — 


Grozdanka. 

"  Slunce,  on  St.  George's  Day, 
drew  up  to  him,  as  his  bride, 
Grozdanka  in  a  golden  cradle  ; 
when  for  nine  years  she  became 
dumb. 

"  On  which  account  she  must 
needs  make  way  for  another  bride, 
and  she  herself  appear  at  the 
wedding  as  a  bridesmaid. 

"  Thereat  the  veil  of  the  false 
bride  took  fire,  and  ....  Groz- 
danka regained  her  speech,  and 
became  the  wife  of  Slunce."  (W. 
Mannhardt, "  Lettischen  Sonnen- 
mythen,"  Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethno- 
logie,  vol.  vii,  p.  236.) 

In  a  parallel  legend  given 
by  Hahn,  and  quoted  by  Mann- 
hardt, p.  284,  the  true  bride  is 
called  the  "Laurel-child"  (Lor- 
beerkind)  grows  up  as  a  laurel 
tree,  and  emerges,  Dryad-like, 
from  the  cleft  bark  on  the  appear- 
ance of  her  future  husband. 


DiEDALA. 

"  It  is  better  to  relate  the  primi- 
tive form  of  the  story. 

"  It  is  said  that  Zeus,  when 
Hera  quarrelled  with  him,  wan- 
dered about  till  taught  to  deceive 
her  by  simulating  another  mar- 
riage. 

"  He  adorned  an  oak-tree  like 
a  bride,  shaped  it,  and  called  it 
Daedala.  Then  they  sang  the 
bridal  hymn,  and  brought  lustral 
water ;  when  Hera,  filled  with 
anger,  came  to  Zeus. 

"When  the  trick  was  discovered 
she  was  reconciled  to  Zeus  with 
tears  and  laughter,  and  herself 
led  the  bridal  procession.  The 
image  of  Daedala  she  burnt." 
(Plutarch,  Fragments^  ix,  6.  Cf 
Pausanias,  ix,  3.) 

Pausanias  says  that  Hera  tore 
off  the  False  Bride's  clothes,  and 
found  beneath  a  wooden  image 
instead  of  a  young  bride. 


The  False  Bride.  143 

This  tale  of  a  false  bride  temporarily  supplanting  the 
true  bride  is  common,  with  many  delightful  variations  and 
additions,  to  Bulgaria  (Grozdanka),  Albania  or  Greece  (Lor- 
beerkind),  Denmark  (Allerliebste  Freund),  and  Germany 
(Gansemagd  of  the  Grimms)  ;  and  it  also  occurs  in  the 
thirteenth-century  compilations  of  Saxo  Grammaticus 
(Sigrid),  and  in  the  Italian  collection  of  the  seventeenth 
century  known  as  the  Pentainerone}  It  may  be  possible 
to  sift  and  criticise  this  group  of  .legends  when  fuller 
evidence,  and  especially  evidence  of  the  savage  parallels 
which  probably  exist,  has  come  to  light.  At  present,  I  am 
chiefly  anxious  to  draw  attention  to  their  presence  and 
diffusion.  Any  further  versions  would  be  acceptable,  but 
savage  parallels  would  be  of  the  greatest  value,  and  have 
as  yet  eluded  discovery. 

Any  criticism,  therefore,  of  these  stories,  as  of  a  group 
of  legends,  would  as  yet  seem  premature.  But  their 
literary  interest,  is,  I  think,  their  least  claim  to  attention. 
The  real  interest  of  the  group  seems  to  me  to  lie  in  the 
possibility  of  these  tales  having  originated  in  certain  primi- 
tive ideas  and  usages,  which  at  present  can  be  only  guessed 
at,  but  which  it  may  be  quite  possible  to  trace  and  follow  out 

^  I  owe  to  Dr.  Weinhold,  President  of  the  Verein  fiir  Volkskunde, 
the  reference  to  the  "  False  Bride"  in  the  article  on  Saxo  Gram- 
maticus published  by  Herr  Olrik  in  the  Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fiir 
Volkskuf7de,  vol.  ii.  No.  3,  p.  252  ;  in  Herr  Olrik's  article  will  be 
found  the  Danish  "Allerliebste  Freund",  and  others.  The  remaining 
references  are  :  Kreck,  Trad.  Lit.,  p.  82  ;  Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologie, 
vol.  vii,  p.  236-7,  where  Mannhardt  gives  many  further  references,  and 
speaks  of  the  tale  as  one  widely  diffused  through  South  Europe ;  Hahn, 
Griechische  und  Albanische  Mixrchen,'^.  163,  No.  21;  "Goose  Girl", 
Grimm's  German  Stories,  English  ed.,  Reprint,  p.  151  ;  Pentatnerone, 
iv,  7.  Mr.  Jacobs  informs  me  that  the  mention  in  his  paper  on  the 
"Science  of  Fairy  Tales"  (Folk-lore  Congress,  1891,  Report,  p.  77) 
of  the  Substituted  Bride  as  a  type  in  folk-tales,  referred  to  such 
stories  as  the  Goose-Girl.  The  Handbook  of  Folk-lore  recently  issued 
by  the  Society  classifies,  in  the  section  on  Folk-tale  Types,  the 
Pentamerone  version  as  Type  No.  26,  and  names  it  the  "  Bertha 
Type". 


144  The  False  Bride. 

in  the  light  of  further  knowledge.  Taking,  for  clearness' 
sake,  Grozdanka  as  a  type  of  the  legends,  it  may  be  well 
to  justify  this  appeal  for  more  facts  by  noting  the  chief 
points  of  interest. 

The  Greek  version  has  all  the  appearance  of  that  common- 
est form  of  Greek  myth — technically  known  as  the  aetio- 
logical  myth  ;  in  which  a  popular  story  grows  up  round 
some  ancient  rite,  of  which  rite  the  old  meaning  has 
become  obsolete  in  the  progress  of  thought  and  idea,  but 
of  v/hich  the  prescribed  ritual  is  still  faithfully  observed. 
This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  discuss  the  aetiology 
of  the  Greek  sacred  legend ;  so,  only  noting  that  an  ancient 
religious  rite  {i.e.,  the  Daedala  festival)  will  probably  be 
found  to  stand  behind,  or  beside,  the  Greek  myth,  one 
asks.  Is  there  any  European  rite  or  custom  that  may 
account  for  the  parallel  European  legend  ? 

The  gist  of  Grozdanka's  story  seems  to  be  the  date, 
St.  George's  Day  (April  23rd)  ;  the  nine  years'  dumbness^; 
the  consequent  supplanting  by  the  False  Bride ;  the  dis- 
covery of  the  fraud  ;  and  reunion  of  bride  and  bride- 
groom. 

I  should  like,  first,  to  specially  emphasise  the  time  of 
year,  which  this  version  has  preserved,  scanty  though  its 
other  details  are.  Can  anyone  quote  any  other  legends  of 
False  Brides  discovered,  and  true  brides  reinstated  and 
happily  married,  in  the  spring  or  early  summer  ?  Or — which 
would  be  far  more  valuable — any  temple  or  popular  cere- 
monies where  a  Sacred  Wedding  is  celebrated  with  these 
traits }  I  should  expect  to  find  the  latter  in  India :  can 
anyone  versed  in  Indian  cults  supply  any  clue  or  refer- 
ence? 

The  Spring  Bride  is,  of  course,  of  universal  occurrence 
in  European  peasant  custom  ;  the  Maibraut,  and  our  own 

^  This  tempts  comparison  with  the  exact  parallel  of  the  Greek 
evuaerrjpt^.  See  Handbuch  der  griechischen  Chronologic.,  Adolf 
Schmidt,  i,  §  8,  p.  56  ;  and  p.  420. 


The  False  Bride.  145 

Lady  of  the  May,  will  occur  to  every  reader  of  Mannhardt 
and  of  English  folk-lore.  But  we  want  a  Spring  bride 
temporarily  supplanted.  Is  she  to  be  found  ?^  The  possi- 
bility of  the  Greek  and  European  myths  having  some 
connection  with  Spring  rites  is  of  course  strengthened 
by  the  theory  that  Hera's  Daedala  festival  was  cele- 
brated in  the  Spring  (J.  G.  Frazer,  Golden  Bough,  i,  p. 
lOOj. 

Secondly,  I  would  note  the  separation  of  true  bride  and 
bridegroom — the  wandering  of  Zeus,  and  the  dumbness  of 
Grozdanka.  To  students  of  Greek  cults,  the  wandering 
will  at  once  suggest  a  chthonic  phase  :  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  dumbness  is  regarded  by  H.  D.  Muller^  as 
a  special  attribute  of  deities  of  winter,  night,  death,  and 
the  lower  world — in  other  words,  as  a  chthonic  character- 
istic. Is  there  any  evidence  among  European  or  other  False 
Brides  that  they  ever  enacted  the  "Death"  or  "Winter" 
which  is  almost  as  common  to  peasant  folk-custom  as  the 
May  Bride  or  Queen  of  the  May,  and  which  is  generally 
destroyed,  driven,  or  carried  out,  in  village  festival  early  in 
Spring,  as  a  preliminary  rite  to  the  joyful  fetching  in  of 
the  May  Bride  or  "  Summer"  ?  I  need  not  refer  in  detail 
to  this  universal  custom,  W.  Mannhardt,  J.  G.  Frazer,  and 
all  folk-lore  collections  abound  in  examples.^ 

The    Golden    Cradle    is    a    tempting  detail  to  enlarge 

1  Mannhardt  {^Zeit.  fiir  Ethnologie,  vii,  p.  285),  in  commenting  on 
the  "  Lorbeerkind",  says  '"''the  exchange  of  the  true  bride  for  a  false  one 
is  a  kfwivn  mythical  expression  for  Night  and  Winter^'.  I  do  not  like 
to  lay  stress  on  this  remark,  as  the  essay  was  published  in  1875,  after 
which  date  Mannhardt  reversed  many  of  the  views  he  once  held  ;  but 
the  passage  at  least  seems  to  indicate  the  diffusion  of  the  stories,  and 
to  confirm  in  some  measure  the  above  suggestion. 

^  H.  D.  Miiller,  Mythologic  der griechischen  Stdmnie,  vol.  ii,  p.  52  ; 
vol.  i,  p.  182,  etc. 

^  In  this  connection  may  be  noted  the  burning  of  the  false  bride's 
veil,  and  the  destruction  of  the  Daedala  image;  both  in  the  myth 
as  told  by  Plutarch,  and  in  the  festival  rite  described  by  Pausanias. 


146  The  False  Bride. 

upon,  but  more  evidence  is  needed  to  allow  the  indulgence 
of  theorising  ;  as  also  the  fact  that  Grozdanka  is  drawn  up 
(cf.  the  dvoSo<i  of  Greek  rites)  to  her  bridegroom. 

Thus  it  seems  possible  that  fuller  evidence  may  reveal 
in  the  Daedala  myth,  and  in  the  Grozdanka  group  of 
legends,  primitive  "  May  Brides",  supplanted  by  the  powers 
of  winter,  released  and  wedded  in  triumph  in  the  spring. 
If  this  should  prove  to  be  the  case,  such  an  instance  of 
primitive  ideas  and  rites  centred  round  the  year  and  its 
recurring  seasons,  of  their  dominance  in  Greek  religion, 
and  their  power  of  survival  among  the  European  peasantry, 
would  in  itself  be  of  sufficient  value. 

But  the  False  Bride  hints  at  another  significance.  It  is 
possible  that  she  may  be  simply  a  necessary  part  of  the 
marriage  ceremony  of  our  primitive  Aryan  ancestors,  and 
that  she  has  thus  got  into  the  Greek  myth  of  the  Sacred 
Wedding  {lepb^  fydfio^i),  and  into  the  many  legends  which 
turn  on  the  temporary  separation  of  bride  and  bridegroom 
and  their  final  happy  reunion. 

This,  again,  it  is  impossible  to  discuss  till  fuller  evidence 
is  obtained  ;  and  these  possibilities  and  premature  theories 
are  only  put  forward  in  the  hope  of  thereby  eliciting  fuller 
facts  from  which  light  may  come.  Therefore  I  would 
emphatically  disclaim  any  attempt  at  present  to  demon- 
strate that  in  the  Daedala  festival  and  myth,  and  in  the 
many  European  parallels,  traits  of  a  primitive,  perhaps 
Indo-Aryan,  marriage  ceremony  have  been  preserved, 
with  singular  exactness  ;  or  further,  that  in  the  Daedala 
festival  the  marriage  of  the  god  was  celebrated  in 
this  manner.  But  the  following  incidental  remarks  of 
Dr.  Winternitz,  Prof  Jevons,  and  Mr.  E.  S.  Hartland, 
taken  together  with  the  declared  prevalence  of  the  "  False 
Bride"  legends,  seem  to  justify  a  search  into  both  Aryan 
and  non-Aryan  wedding  customs. 

Dr.  Winternitz  says  :  "  The  custom  of  substituting  an  old 
zvomanfor  the  bride  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  prevalent 


The  False  Bride.  147 

■customs  among  Slavonic,  Teutonic,  and  Romance  peoples."^ 
Mr.  Hartland,  in  discussing  the  paper  by  Dr.  Winternitz, 
spoke  of  the  custom  of  disguising  the  bride  as  found  in 
more  than  one  Indo-European  race,  and  "  notably  in  the 
Balkan  peninsula."^  A  closer  acquaintance  with  this  dis- 
_guised  bride  is  much  to  be  desired. 

Prof  Jevons  says  :  "  The  practice  of  substituting  an 
old  woman  in  disguise  for  the  bride  when  the  groom  comes 
to  take  her  to  the  church,  is  found  in  many  places  in 
Germany,  amongst  the  Poles,  the  Wends,  the  Winds,  the 
Servians,  the  Roumanians,  the  Swiss,  the  French."^ 

Dr.  Schroeder  thinks  that  Usener  has  made  it  probable 
that  the  curious  myth  in  Ovid  {Fasti,  iii,  6'j'])  of  the 
wedding  of  Mars  and  Minerva  (JSferid)  reflects  the  exist- 
ence of  the  custom  among  the  Romans  ;  this  again  looks 
as  if  we  were  on  the  right  track  for  solving  the  Daedala 
riddle." 

Dr.  Schroeder  cites  the  custom  from  all  parts  of  Europe, 
and  gives  some  variations,  the  interest  of  which  only  increases 
the  desire  for  more  details  :  such  as  the  enacting  of  the 
False  Bride  among  the  Esthonians  by  the  bride's  brother 
in  woman's  clothes  ;  in  Bavaria,  by  a  bearded  man  called 
the  "  Wilde  Braut"  ;  in  Poland,  by  an  old  woman  veiled  in 
white,  and  lame ;  again,  among  the  Esthonians,  by  an  old 
woman  with  a  birch-bark  crown  ;  in  Brittany,  where  the 
substitutes  are  first  a  little  girl,  then  the  mistress  of  the 
house,  and  lastly  the  grandmother.^ 

These  rites  and  myths  would,  I  think,  prove  of  interest 
to  all  who  care  for  the  thoughts  and  ways  of  classical  or 

1  Report,  Folk-lore  Congress,  1891,  p.  269. 
^  Report,  Folk-lore  Congress,  1891,  p.  289. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  342. 

*  Dr.  L.  V.  Schroeder,  Die  Hochzeitsbrauche  der  Esten  in  VergL 
mit  denen  der  Indogermanischen  Volker,  1888,  p.  72  ;  H.  Usener, 
Italische  My  then,  Rhein.  Museum,  xxx,  183. 

*  Dr.  Schroeder,  p.  72. 


The  F 
148  The  False  Bride. 

peasant  folk,  could  we  by  help  of  further  evidence  approach 
nearer  to  their  meaning  and  disentangle  their  complexities. 
And  I  would  lay  special  stress  on  the  hope  they  afford 
of  gaining  light  on  (i)  the  primitive  religious  year,  with  its 
successive  seasons  of  ordered  ritual  ;  and  (2)  the  occurrence 
in  sacred  festivals,  and  complex  ritual,  of  ceremonies  belong- 
ing to  the  primitive  social  life. 

Gertrude  M.  Godden. 


ENGLISH  FOLK-DRAMA} 
II. 


BEFORE  plunging  into  the  second  instalment  of  my 
notes  on  what  I  call  English  Folk-Drama,  I  should 
like  to  say  that,  in  addressing  folk-lorists  on  such  a  subject, 
I  lay  claim  to  no  particular  knowledge,  but  fully  recognise 
that  amongst  those  present  at  this  meetingthere  are  probably 
some  whose  knowledge  of  these  traditions  is  more  exten- 
sive than  mine,  whose  insight  into  their  import  is  deeper 
and  more  widely  reaching,  whose  skill  in  handling  the 
instruments  of  the  folk-lore  laboratory  is  more  expert. 
But,  knowing  as  I  do — as  no  doubt  you  all  do — that  these 
traditions,  within  the  last  few  years,  have  been  exhibiting 
signs  of  rapid  decay,  I  am  glad  to  be  the  humble  means 
of  introducing  the  subject  to  the  consideration  of  the 
Society  this  evening,  knowing  well  that  my  deficiencies 
will  be  made  good  from  the  knowledge  of  those  whom 
I  am  addressing.  I  may  say  at  once  that  this  will  be  the 
burden  of  my  remarks — the  value  of  folk-drama  as  a  vehicle 
of  tradition  ;  the  bearing  and  influence — undoubted  in 
my  mind — of  folk-drama  upon  the  evolution  of  the  drama 
of  our  nation  ;  the  very  incomplete  collection  which  has 
been  made  of  the  various  forms  or  phases  of  folk-drama  ; 
their  present  alarmingly  rapid  decay.  I  am  convinced 
that  if  a  systematic  collection  had  been  made  after  Mr. 
Udal  gave  us  his  very  interesting  paper  on  the  Mumming- 
Plays  of  Dorsetshire  in  1880,  much  that  is  now  irretriev- 
ably lost  would  have  been  on  record.  It  is  not  only  that 
the  traditions  have  utterly  died  out  in  so  many  districts, 

^  A  paper  read  before  the  Folk-lore  Society,  February  15th,  1893. 

VOL.  IV.  M 


150  English.  Folk- Drama. 

but  in  other  places  where  they  have  survived  they  have 
become  attenuated,  and  show  an  altogether  feeble  exist- 
ence compared  with  what  they  were  only  a  few  years  ago. 
The  urgency  of  appeal  which  lies  in  these  circumstances 
will,  I  am  sure,  be  felt  by  the  Folk-lore  Society,  and  I  will 
not  harp  upon  the  string  of  lamentation  throughout  the 
short  time  at  my  disposal.  Indeed,  to  show  the  rewards 
which  await  the  collector  even  now,  I  have  a  few  freshly- 
gathered  items  to  bring  before  you  this  evening,  along 
with  two  dresses  worn  by  English  folk-players,  and  some 
photographs.  What  I  shall  have  to  urge  is  that  the 
Society  spread  its  net — which  it  can  now  effectively  do  by 
means  of  its  local  organisation — all  over  the  country,  and 
collect  together  all  the  fragments  of  folk-drama  and  dramatic 
custom  which  remain  to  us. 

It  would  be  taking  a  very  limited  view  of  folk-drama  if 
we  were  to  restrict  our  attention  to  what  are  known  as  the 
mumming-plays  associated  with  Christmastide.  But  they 
are  the  most  generally  known — indeed,  I  fear  that  by 
some  they  are  considered  to  represent  the  whole  stock  of 
English  folk-drama — and  I  will  address  myself  to  this 
class  of  folk-play  first.  Well  known  as  they  are,  I  do  not 
think  the  traditional  import  of  these  plays  is  always  con- 
sidered. When  Mr.  Christopher  Burne,  with  our  esteemed 
Secretary,  and  their  friends,  gave  us  a  reproduction  of  the 
Staffordshire  variant  of  the  mumming,  called  the  Guisers' 
Play,  in  Mercers'  Hall,  it  was  said,  in  my  hearing,  by 
a  distinguished  folk-lorist,  with  a  somewhat  weary  air  of 
disappointment,  "It's  all  St.  George  and  the  Dragon." 
This  seems  to  suggest  the  advisability  of  taking  some 
account  of  the  traditions  which  have  descended  to  us 
through  the  means  of  the  mumming-plays  happily  not  yet 
extinct  in  our  land. 

Throughout  a  long  period  in  our  history,  beginning  as 
far  back  as  the  Conquest,  we  can  trace  the  operation  of 
a  process  by  which  traditional  observances,  at  one  time 
marking   various  stages  in  the  year's  passage,  gradually 


English  Folk- Drama.  1 5 1 

became  concentrated  upon  one  or  more  festivals,  chiefly 
Christmas  and  Easter.  The  result  of  this  process — due  to 
economical  and  political  causes — was  a  mixture  of  rites, 
observances,  and  celebrations  ;  so  that  in  the  mumming- 
plays  we  have  rites  of  Yule-tide,  along  with  dramatic 
reminiscences  of  the  legend  of  St.  George,  which  figures 
more  individually  in  connection  with  Easter.  But,  if  we 
take  the  St.  George  element  of  the  Pace-Egg  and  the 
mumming-plays,  and,  collating  them,  compare  the  result 
with  the  earliest  recorded  dramatic  presentation  of  the 
legend  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  we  find  that  various 
features  have  been  added,  and,  of  these  features,  that  some 
are  common  to  both  types,  while  in  all  important  instances 
they  are  archaic,  and  belong  to  the  earliest  traditions. 

But,  granting  for  the  moment  that  the  main  stem  of  the 
mumming-play  is  the  legend  of  St.  George,  what  does  that 
represent,  to  begin  with  ?  It  is  an  example  of  the  skill 
with  which  the  Church  supplanted  the  pagan  Pantheon. 
Yet  was  the  policy  hardly  so  successful  as  it  appeared  to 
be.  For  whether  St.  George  represents  the  adoption  by 
the  Church  of  an  important  feature  in  the  Northern  myth- 
ology under  another  name,  or  the  legend  were  of  Eastern 
or  Southern  origin,  the  effect  and  result  were  the  same. 
Under  the  first  hypothesis  we  have  Northern  paganism 
thinly  disguised ;  under  the  second  we  have  a  legend 
adopted  in  the  country  because  it  recognisably  repre- 
sented, let  us  say,  Odin  and  his  horse  Sleipner,  and  the 
dragon  suggested  the  dragon  Nidhug,  which  dwelt  by  the 
fountain  Hvergelmer  in  Niflheim.  To  dismiss  the  first 
hypothesis  does  not  dispose  of  the  second  ;  and  to  prove 
that  St.  George  was  a  Christian  product  would  not  dispose 
of  the  circumstance  that,  while  the  missionaries  taught  one 
thing,  the  folk  were  thinking  of  something  else,  super- 
ficially very  much  like  it,  but  in  fact  totally  different.  On 
the  supposition,  then,  that  the  main  stem  of  the  mumming- 
play  is  the  St.  George  and  Dragon  legend,  it  places  us  in 
connection  with  the  earliest  history  of  our  race  in  this 

M  2 


152  English  Folk- Drama. 

country.  Indeed,  if  we  trace  the  course  of  its  descent,  we 
find  that  it  has  reverted  to  its  original  type,  to  use  a  cant 
phrase  in  science ;  more  correctly,  it  has  thrown  off  the 
cloak  fastened  upon  it  by  the  Church,  and  now,  in  this  Jin 
de  Steele  period,  when  Culture  is  cultivating  aesthetic  Pagan- 
ism, the  mumming-play  of  the  backward  class,  as  it  is 
distinguished  by  some  folk-lorists,  has  become  more  pagan. 
The  dragon,  conflict  with  which  may  have  symbolised 
some  spiritual  idea,  has  disappeared,  and  the  mummers 
fight  together  with  high  boasting  ;  they  glory  in  their 
deeds  ;  and  when  they  are  slain  they  do  not  die,  but  live 
to  fight  again.  This  is  a  reversion  to  something  extremely 
like  Valhal.  I  trust  the  folk-lorists  of  a  future  age  will 
not  connect  it  with  the  aesthetic  paganism  of  our  time. 

As  we  are  entering  the  warlike  atmosphere  of  the  North- 
ern mythology,  I  will  not  lack  boldness,  but  will  for  a 
moment  refer  to  the  instances  of  the  pageant  of  St.  George 
in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  mentioned  in  my 
previous  paper,  as  it  was  performed  when  the  Roman 
Church  was  at  the  height  of  its  power,  and  the  St.  George's 
pageant  had  its  place  among  the  miracle-plays  which 
were  an  institution  in  the  land.  In  these  instances  we 
have  the  Christian  knight  rescuing  the  King  of  Egypt's 
daughter  from  the  dragon  ;  but  even  here  there  is  an 
element  that  betrays  the  northern  soil  into  which  the  legend 
was  transplanted.  The  representations  invariably  took 
place  by  a  well  or  water-conduit ;  and  the  association  with 
the  dragon  suggests  the  fountain  Hvergelmer,  and  its 
guardian  or  tenant,  the  dragon  Widhug,  or  possibly  Thor 
overcoming  the  serpent  Midgard,  whom  he  slew  in  the 
waters  ? 

So  much  at  present  for  the  pageant  of  St.  George  and 
the  Dragon,  reminiscences  of  which,  as  it  was  performed  by 
the  Guilds  of  St.  George  on  April  23rd,  we  find  in  the 
Christmas  mumming-plays.  But  how  short  of  the  truth 
it  is  to  say  that  these  plays  consist  of  nothing  but  the  St. 
George  and  Dragon  legend,  will  appear  as  the  analysis 
proceeds. 


English  Folk-Dj-ama.  153 

Of  the  three  important  divisions  or  types  of  English  folk- 
drama,  viz.,  the  Christmas  Mumming-play,  the  Plough- 
Monday  Play,  and  the  Easter  or  Pace-Egg  Play,  the  first 
and  the  last  contain  the  character  of  St.  George,  with 
allusions  to  the  legend,  while  in  the  Plough-Monday  play 
that  element  is  absent.  But  there  is  another  element,  which 
is  common  to  all  three  groups,  and  that  is  the  sword- 
dance.  In  the  northern  counties— Durham,  for  example- 
there  is  a  sword-dancer's  play  or  interlude,  performed  at 
Christmas,  in  which  the  traditional  movements  and  evolu- 
tions of  the  sword-dance  take  place  to  the  accompaniment 
of  a  song  by  the  chief  character,  who  is  strictly  the  chorus 
of  the  piece,  for  he  characterises  each  of  the  characters  as 
they  step  in  and  join  the  performance.  At  the  end  of  the 
dance  the  carefully  concerted  movements  are  abandoned, 
and  fighting  ensues:  the  parish  clergyman  rushes  in  to 
prevent  bloodshed,  receives  a  death-blow,  and  is  cured  by  a 
doctor.  Even  from  this  description  it  is  obvious  that,  in 
spite  of  the  absence  of  St.  George,  this  play  presents  points 
of  resemblance  to  both  the  Mumming  and  the  Pace-Egg 
types.  First,  a  circle  is  drawn  by  one  of  the  characters 
with  his  sword,  and  the  performance  takes  place  within 
that  circle  :  the  mumming  and  Pace- Egg  plays  are  in- 
variably prefaced  by  one  of  the  characters  claiming  a  space 
for  the  performance,  sometimes  with  a  broom  sweeping 
round  a  circle,  sometimes  by  "  footing  it  round",  as  it  was 
called  ;  second,  the  characters  fight  together— in  the  mum- 
ming and  Pace-Egg  types  they  fight  in  couples  successively; 
third,  the  doctor  cures  the  slain— this  feature  is  practically 
the  same  in  the  sword-dance  play,  and  the  mumming  and 
Pace-Egg  plays. 

This  sword-dance  Christmas  play  found  its  way  as  far 
south  as  Devonshire  ;  while  versions  of  the  mumming  and 
Pace-Egg  plays  obtained  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  sword-dance  itself,  which  underlies  them  all,  continued 
Its  traditional  existence  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  in  the 
northern  counties. 


154  English  Folk-Drama. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Christmas  mumming-play  in  its 
various  forms  is  not  all  St.  George  and  the  Dragon.  It  is 
not  all  of  anything — but  an  amalgam.  The  word  "mum- 
ming" itself  puts  us  upon  the  trail  of  another  of  its  elements, 
that  is,  the  disguising  or  masking.  The  masks  were  made 
in  imitation  of  various  animals — goats,  oxen,  deer,  foxes, 
asses,  and  what  not — a  custom  which  found  its  niche  of 
immortality  in  the  palace  of  Shakespeare's  creations,  in  the 
person  of  Bottom  the  weaver.  The  wearing  of  such  masks 
is  essentially  of  savage  origin,  and,  because  their  survival 
has  entered  into  the  pageantry  of  the  dominant  classes  of 
society,  it  has  never  occurred  to  me  to  suppose  that  the 
stationary  portion  of  society  received  them  by  a  process  of 
precipitation  from  the  top  stratum  of  the  social  system — 
although  I  quite  expect  to  hear  that  view  propounded 
presently.  I  should  as  soon  be  convinced  that  heraldry, 
instead  of  being  a  development  from  totemism,  set  the 
fashion  of  wearing  totem  signs,  which  gradually  percolated 
down  to  savagery.  The  wearing  of  masks  by  the  mummers 
has  died  out  to  a  great  extent,  but  I  do  not  think  it  is 
extinct  ;  there  are  several  recorded  cases  within  the  present 
century.  The  disguising,  or  wearing  of  strange  dresses, 
continues  apparently  without  diminution.  In  the  demand 
for  drink  usually  made  by  the  first  mummer  who  enters, 
and  the  songs  sung  in  several  versions,  we  have  the  sur- 
vival of  the  rite  of  the  wassail-bowl. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  structure  of  the 
typical  mumming-play — the  characters  represented,  the 
dialogue,  and  development  of  the  action.  All  this  presents 
only  slight  variations  from  the  Easter  or  Pace-Egg  play. 
By  the  operation  of  that  law  of  concentration  which  we 
have  already  discussed,  the  Pace-Egg  play,  from  being 
performed  at  Christmas,  became  mixed  up  with  the  mum- 
ming or  guizing — that  is,  disguising — and  this  mixture  is 
the  typical  Christmas  mumming-play,  which  is  regarded 
as  being  nothing  more  interesting  than  a  debased  rendering 
of  the  pageant  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon. 


E^iglish  Folk- Drama.  155 

The  Easter,  or  Pace-Egg  play — so  called  from  its  being 
performed  in  connection  with  the  well-known  custom  of 
Pace-Egging — now  calls  for  our  notice,  and  must  take  us 
for  the  time  from  Christmas  and  the  mumming-play. 
Collating  two  versions  of  the  play  (which  have  found  their 
way  into  print,  and  copies  of  which  I  exhibit),  we  find  it 
contains  the  following  characters :  Fool ;  St.  George ; 
Slasher ;  Doctor ;  Prince  of  Paradine  ;  King  of  Egypt ; 
Hector  ;  Beelzebub  ;  Devil-Doubt.  The  action  consists  of 
a  fight  between  St.  George  and  Slasher ;  Slasher  being 
wounded,  is  cured  by  a  doctor.  Then  St.  George  boasts  as 
follows  : 

"I  am  St.  George,  that  noble  champion  bold, 
And  with  my  trusty  sword  I  won  ten  thousand  pounds  in  gold. 
'Twas  I  that  fought  the  fiery  dragon,   and  brought  him  to  the 

slaughter, 
And  by  those  means  I  won  the  King  of  Egypt's  daughter." 

Whereupon  the  Prince  of  Paradine  enters,  and,  after  ex- 
changing defiance,  in  course  of  which  St.  George  calls  the 
prince  "thou  black  Morocco  dog",  they  fight,  and  the 
prince  is  slain.  Then  we  get  a  palpable  interpolation  ;  for 
the  King  of  Egypt  comes  in  and  laments  the  prince  as  his 
son,  calling  upon  Hector  to  come  and  avenge  him.  So  that 
St.  George,  having  won  the  King  of  Egypt's  daughter,  slays 
his  son.  Moreover,  the  king  calls  St.  George  "  cursed 
Christian".  In  this  we  can  perceive  the  clumsy  joinery  of 
the  Crusade  element  and  the  pageant  of  St.  George  and 
the  Dragon.  The  next  point  in  the  action  is  the  fight 
between  St.  George  and  Hector,  who  goes  off  wounded. 
The  Fool  then  challenges  St.  George,  who  says  : 

"  I'll  cross  the  water  at  the  hour  of  five, 
And  meet  you  there,  Sir,  if  I  be  alive," 

and  goes  off,  having  occupied  the  stage  from  the  begin- 
ning. The  play  concludes  with  the  entry  of  Beelzebub, 
whose  business  it  evidently  was  to  raise  a  laugh,  and  little 


156  English  Folk- Drama. 

Devil-Doubt  with  his  broom  comes  in  to  receive  the  largess 
of  the  spectators. 

Now,  at  a  first  glance,  that  looks  as  if  it  were  all  made 
up  of  reminiscences  of  the  St.  George  and  Dragon  pageant 
and  the  Crusades.  People  who  would  hail  that  interpreta- 
tion with  satisfaction,  conceive  all  such  things  as  having  an 
individual  origin.  Some  individual  composed  that  pageant 
of  St.  George ;  some  other  individual  composed  a  play- 
about  the  Crusades  ;  and  the  stupid,  ignorant  people  mixed 
it  all  up.  The  other  method  of  interpretation  takes  a 
wider  view.  It  proceeds  upon  a  generalization  of  all  the 
past  of  human  life,  which  shows  collectively  a  faculty  of 
continuity  throughout  the  generations  of  men  :  a  continuity 
which  leads  to  the  conception  of  the  individuality  of  human 
life  as  a  whole,  and  causes  disbelief  in  sudden  and  arbitrary 
origins.  It  is  a  conception  strictly  in  accord  with  the 
observed  phenomena  of  nature — the  seed,  the  tender  shoot, 
the  sapling,  the  tree,  maturity — the  seed  to  the  ground ; 
the  process  repeated  ;  and  with  this  identity  modifications 
occurring  with  a  slowness  which  it  requires  a  great  effort  to 
realise.  Let  us  look  a  little  deeper  into  this  Easter  play, 
and  not  hastily  accept  an  explanation  because  it  is  obvious 
and  simple.  Let  us  look  for  continuity,  and  not  accept 
modification  for  origin. 

The  Pace-Egg  play  was  performed  at  Easter.  The 
Christian  Easter  was  fastened  upon  the  Aryan  Spring 
festival,  substituting  for  the  celebration  of  the  regeneration 
of  nature  the  more  spiritual  celebration  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  of  man,  so  that  the  (t^^  which  symbolised  the 
one  attained  a  higher  significance  in  the  other.  But  the 
connection  between  them  is  indisputable  :  there  is  con- 
tinuity and  modification.  Similarly,  in  the  Easter  or  Pace- 
Egg  play  the  Aryan  root  of  the  matter  remained  under 
changed  conditions  and  altered  signification,  as  may  be 
illustrated  from  the  Northern  mythology. 

The  Elder  Edda  thus  refers  to  the  death  of  Balder,  the 
personification  of  summer  and  light : 


English  Folk-Drama.  157 

"  I  saw  the  concealed 
Fate  of  Balder, 
The  blood-stained  god, 
The  son  of  Odin. 
In  the  fields 
There  stood  grown  up, 
Slender  and  passing  fair, 
The  mistletoe. 
From  that  shrub  was  made. 
As  to  me  it  seemed, 
A  deadly  noxious  dart ; 
Hoder  shot  it  forth  ; 
But  Frigg  bewailed 
In  Fensal 
Valhal's  calamity. 
Understand  ye  yet,  or  what  ?  " 

In  the  Balder  myth,  Hermod  undertakes  to  ride  to  the 
lower  world  and  offer  a  ransom  to  Hel  if  she  will  permit 
Balder  to  return  to  Asgard.  He  mounts  Odin's  horse 
Sleipner  and  gallops  off  on  his  journey.  Arrived  at  the 
abode  of  Hel,  he  finds  Balder  occupying  the  most  dis- 
tinguished seat  in  the  hall.  To  his  entreaties  for  Balder's 
release,  Hel  replies  that  it  should  now  be  tried  whether 
Balder  was  so  universally  beloved  as  he  was  said  to  be  :  if 
all  things  in  the  world,  animate  and  inanimate,  will  weep 
for  him,  then  he  shall  return  to  the  gods  ;  but,  if  anything 
refuse  to  weep,  Hel  will  keep  him.  Balder  and  his  wife 
Nanna  then  give  Hermod  those  keepsakes  for  Odin  and 
Frigg,  which  are  construed  as  earnests  of  their  return,  and 
Hermod  rides  back  to  Asgard.  The  gods  then  send 
messengers  throughout  the  world,  beseeching  everything  to 
weep,  and  men,  animals,  earth,  stones,  trees,  metals,  all 
willingly  obey,  except  a  giantess,  Thok,  supposed  to  be 
Loke  Laufeyarson  himself  in  another  form,  who  caused 
the  death  of  Balder,  by  the  hand  of  Hoder,  who  threw  the 
fatal  mistletoe  shaft. 

The  contest  between  Thok  and  Balder  was  represented 


15^  English  Folk-Drama. 

at  the  Spring  festival.  Two  champions  were  dressed  up, 
one  in  foHage  and  flowers,  the  other  in  straw  and  moss, 
and  the  conflict  of  course  ended  in  the  victory  of  Balder,  or 
Summer.  This  custom  prevailed  all  over  Norseland,  in 
Germany,  and  in  this  country.  In  the  myth,  the  victory 
over  Thok  is  vague  ;  but  it  seems  to  be  implicated  with 
Odin's  victory  over  Vafthrudner  by  means  of  a  riddle 
which  led  to  the  giant  forfeiting  his  head.  In  the  Easter 
play  St.  George  says  : 

"  I  followed  a  fair  lady  to  a  giant's  gate, 
Confined  in  dungeons  deep  to  meet  her  fate ; 
There  I  resolved,  with  true  knight  errantry, 
To  burst  the  door  and  set  the  prisoner  free, 
When  a  giant  almost  struck  me  dead. 
But  by  my  valour,  I  struck  off  his  head." 

I  merely  note  this  at  present  because,  whether  by  acci- 
dent or  no,  it  contains  allusions  which  appear  to  bear  upon 
the  Balder  myth. 

I  note  next  these  words  spoken  by  Slasher  in  his 
defiance  of  St.  George  : 

"  How  canst  thou  break  my  head  ? 
My  head  is  made  of  iron. 
And  my  body  's  made  of  steel, 
My  hands  and  feet  of  knuckle-bone — 
I  challenge  to  make  thee  feel." 

The  allusion  may  be  to  ^mour.  But  if  the  allusions  in 
the  former  passage  spoken  by  St.  George  were  proved  to 
be  derived  from  the  myth,  we  should  scarcely  hesitate  to 
identify  Slasher  with  the  champion  of  Winter,  interpreting 
the  iron  and  steel  and  knuckle-bone  as  descriptive  of  the 
frost-bound  earth.  We  should  then  have  in  St.  George 
and  Slasher  the  renamed  representatives  of  the  two 
champions.  Summer  and  Winter,  whose  contest  was  a 
principal  feature  in  the  Spring  festival. 

The  next  point  to  be  noted  is  that  the  episode  of  the 
St.  George  and  Slasher  contest  individualises  itself  in  the 


English  Folk-Drama.  159 

Easter  play.  It  ends  in  the  cure  by  the  doctor,  who  does 
not  reappear  to  cure  the  subsequent  combatants.  In  fact, 
so  clearly  is  the  episode  marked  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
play,  that,  having  noted  the  distinction  from  the  internal 
evidence,  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  afterwards 
that  in  the  versions  which  I  exhibit  it  had  been  clearly 
differentiated  by  making  it  a  separate  and  distinct  act, 
the  remainder  of  the  play  being  called  Act  II. 

The  element  of  the  doctor  and  his  cure  of  the  wounded 
or  slain  combatant  is  common  to  the  sword-dance  play,  the 
Plough-Monday  play,  and  the  first  portion  of  the  Easter 
play.  Whatever  the  vagaries  of  nomenclature  may  be — I 
am  stating  as  briefly  as  possible  the  result  of  a  very  wide 
and  extended  collation  of  versions — we  have  here  the 
trunk  of  this  body  of  tradition.  Around  it  all  kinds  of 
mutations  and  changes  occur,  but  itself  persists,  because 
it  is  archaic.  And  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  St.  George 
and  Dragon  pageant,  nothing  to  do  with  the  Crusades. 
Take  the  rest  of  the  Easter  play— the  second  part — and 
you  will  find  it  quite  distinct  and  separate,  a  thing  made 
up  of  the  pageant  of  St.  George  and  the  Crusades,  with 
Beelzebub  and  the  little  Devil  from  some  mediaeval  miracle- 
play.  In  the  Easter  play  we  have  the  elements  of  Pagan 
and  Christian,  as  the  o.^^,  typical  of  the  regeneration  of 
life,  became  the  symbol  of  the  resurrection  after  death. 

Before  recurring  to  the  Christmas  mumming-play,  into 
which  the  Easter  play  was  imported,  let  us  finish  the 
analysis.  We  have  to  account  for  the  doctor  who  cures 
the  wounded  Slasher,  and,  on  our  theory  of  continuity,  we 
have  to  account  for  the  second  portion  of  the  play. 

According  to  the  traditions  of  the  contest  between  the 
Winter  and  Summer  champions,  there  were  other  combat- 
ants, armed  with  staves,  who  also  contended,  how,  or  in 
what  order,  is  not  known.  This  traditional  contest  was 
performed  at  some  date  very  near  St.  George's  Day,  the 
23rd  April,  when  the  pageant  was  performed,  to  be  followed 
a  few  days  later  by  the  May-Day  games,  which  celebrated 


i6o  Eno;lish  Folk-Drama. 


i> 


the  victory  of  Summer.  This  presents  us  with  the  con- 
ditions of  an  amalgamation,  which  seems  to  have  taken 
place  at  about  the  period  of  the  Crusades.  The  Summer 
champion  became  St.  George  ;  St.  George  himself  became 
the  type  or  representative  of  England  ;  and,  in  place  of 
the  dragon  of  the  pageant,  one  or  more  of  the  combatants 
in  the  Winter  and  Summer  contest  represented  Moham- 
medan warriors,  over  whom  the  Christian  St.  George  of 
England  is,  of  course,  victorious.  When  the  dialogue  was 
added  we  do  not  know ;  there  were  probably  spoken 
words  of  defiance  by  the  champions  in  thirteenth-century 
English,  and  on  this  modifications  and  developments  were 
made,  until  the  play  reached  the  shape  in  which  we  know 
it  in  more  or  less  debased  forms.  But  in  the  determination 
of  that  shape  there,  was  a  factor  which  remains  to  be  con- 
sidered, and  that  was  the  sword-dance.  In  this  performance 
a  circle  was  drawn  by  the  Chorus,  called  "  First  Clown"  in 
the  version  given  by  Henderson  in  his  Folk-lore  of  the 
NortJiern  Counties,  and  "  Captain"  in  the  version  in  Sir 
Cuthbert  Sharp's  Bishoprick  Garland,  who,  after  walking 
round  the  circle,  summons  the  other  performers  in  verses  of 
a  song,  as  thus  : 

"  Now,  the  first  that  I  call  on 
Is  George,  our  noble  king ; 
Long  time  he 's  been  at  wars, 
Good  tidings  back  he'll  bring." 

The  introduced  actor  walks  round  the  ring,  and  the  Chorus 
proceeds  : 

"  The  next  that  I  call  on 
He  is" — (so  and  so). 

In  this  way  all  the  characters  are  brought  in  before  the 
concerted  movements  of  the  dance  itself  take  place. 

Now,  the  formula — "  In  comes  I" — spoken  by  the  cha- 
racters as  they  enter  in  the  Plough-Monday  play,  in  which 
the  element  of  the  sword-dance  is  indisputable,  supplies 
us  with  the  development  of  dialogue  from  chorus.     In  the 


English  Folk-Drania.  i6i 

mumming-plays,  the  characters  announce  themselves  in 
the  same  way.  The  sword-dance  has  retained  the  integrity 
of  its  descent  more  clearly  than  any  of  the  other  elements 
of  folk-drama  ;  and  the  association  of  swords  and  fighting 
in  the  Easter  play  suggests  a  connection  with  the  sword- 
dance,  which  becomes  clearer  upon  examination.  The 
Fool  in  the  Easter  play,  who  first  enters  and  claims  room 
for  the  play,  summons  St.  George  to  enter ;  and  this 
equates  with  the  Chorus  of  the  sword-dance,  who  summons 
the  actors  in  turn.  From  this  point  the  Fool  is  silent,  and 
the  characters  announce  themselves,  as  : 

"  I  am  the  Black  Prince  of  Paradine,  born  of  high  renown," 
and  the  familiar : 

*'  In  comes  I,  the  Turkish  Knight," 
of  the  mumming-play. 

It  seems  to  me  we  can  see  the  ground-plan  of  the 
Easter  play  and  the  mumming-play  in  the  sword-dance 
with  its  chorus.  In  fact,  we  have  the  chorus  in  the  Easter 
play,  as  the  Fool,  a  part  taken  by  Father  Christmas  in  the 
mumming-plays. 

I  have  now  exhausted  the  constituents  of  the  Easter 
play,  with  the  exception  of  the  character  of  the  Doctor, 
which  factor  I  leave  over  to  the  Plough-Monday  play, 
with  which  it  is  common. 

That  there  was  some  form  of  dramatic  representation  at 
Christmas,  on  to  which  the  St.  George  or  Easter  play  was 
engrafted,  is  what  the  law  of  continuity  with  modification 
would  lead  us  to  expect ;  and  what  evidence  we  have 
points  to  this  conclusion.  Grimm  tells  us  that  "  at  Christ- 
mas a  sacrificial  play  is  still  performed  in  parts  of  Goth- 
land, acted  by  young  fellows  in  disguise,  who  blacken  and 
rouge  their  faces.  One,  wrapped  in  fur,  sits  in  a  chair  as 
the  victim,  holding  in  his  mouth  a  bunch  of  straw-stalks 
cut  fine,  which  reach  as  far  as  his  ears,  and  have  the 
appearance  of  sow-bristles :  by  this  is  meant  the  boar 
sacrificed  at  Yule,  which  in  England  is  decked  with  laurel 


1 62  English  Folk-D7'ama. 

and  rosemary."  Here  we  have  the  Scandinavian  or  Teu- 
tonic original  of  the  mumming-pla}',  with  which  the  Scandi- 
navian sword-dance  became  combined  after  passing  through 
the  Easter  play.  Henderson  tells  us  that  throughout 
Yorkshire  mummers  go  round  visiting  at  houses  where 
they  know  they  are  likely  to  meet  with  entertainment, 
disguised  in  finery  of  different  sorts,  with  blackened  faces 
or  masks,  and  carrying  with  them  an  image  of  a  white 
horse.  Mr.  Baring  Gould  tells  us  that  "  at  Wakefield  and 
Stanby  the  mummers  enter  a  house,  and,  if  it  be  in  a  foul 
state,  they  proceed  to  sweep  the  hearth  and  clean  the 
kitchen-range,  humming  all  the  time  '  mum-m-m'."  This 
seems  to  suggest  some  connection  with  the  good  fairies 
who  perform  tasks  of  housework  if  properly  propitiated. 
In  Scotland,  where  the  mummers  are  called  Gysards, 
when  a  party  of  these  visitants  enter  a  house,  one  of  them 
precedes  the  rest,  carrying  a  besom,  and  sweeps  a  ring  or 
space  for  the  Gysards  to  dance  in.  This  ceremony  is 
strictly  observed  ;  and  it  has  been  supposed  is  connected 
with  the  tradition  concerning  the  light  dances  of  the 
fairies,  one  of  whom  is  always  represented  as  sweeping  the 
spot  appropriated  to  their  festivity.  This  may  be  so  ;  but 
I  am  inclined  to  connect  it  with  the  sword-dance  circle. 

Summarising  this  analysis  of  the  Christmas  mumming- 
play,  we  find  that  it  consists  of  the  following  elements 
combined  by  the  natural  dramatic  instincts  of  the  folk  : — 

{a)  The  Christmas  Masking  or  Disguising. 

{b)  The  Sword-Dance  :  the  character  of  Father  Christ- 
mas being  a  modification  of  the  Chorus  of  the 
Sword-Dance  Play. 

{c)  The  Pace-Egg  or  Easter  Play. 

id)  The  Wassailing  Rite  or  Custom. 

I  will  now  communicate  some  versions  of  the  Christmas 
mumming  or  masking  play,  which  I  have  been  the  means 
of  collecting  during  the  last  two  years.  I  have  two  versions 
fresh  from  Hampshire  this  last  Christmas,  one  collected  by 


English  Folk-Drama.  165 

myself,  together  with  a  specimen  of  the  dress  worn  i^— take 
actors  of  this  version,  which  I  exhibit,  along  with  wooden 
swords  used  by  them ;  the  other  communicated  to  me  by 
Mr.  S.  Peppier  of  Hamble  Cliff,  near  Southampton,  to- 
gether with  photographs  of  the  actors  in  this  version,  also 
exhibited. 

I  have  also  a  version  from  Northamptonshire,  kindly 
communicated  to  me  by  Miss  Burne  ;  and  two  versions 
communicated  through  Mrs.  Gomme,  one  from  Marl- 
borough, sent  by  Mr.  H.  S.  May,  and  another  from  Romsey, 
sent  by  Miss  E.  L.  Merck. 

[Extracts  were  read  to  the  meeting  ;  and  the  differences 
between  the  versions  were  pointed  out.  The  mummer's 
dress  was  made  in  a  scaly  pattern  throughout;  and  it  was 
suggested  that  this  device  was  intended  to  represent  the 
dragon  which  no  longer  accompanies  the  mummers,  a 
parallel  to  the  dress  of  the  Plough-Monday  players.] 

I  have  not  succeeded  in  getting  a  printed  version  of  the 
mumming-play  in  chap-book  form  like  the  two  Pace- 
Egg  plays  exhibited.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  is  the 
curious  little  book  called  The  New  Christmas  Rhyme 
Book,  from  Belfast,  sent  to  Mrs.  Gomme  by  Mr.  W.  H. 
Patterson.  But  I  believe  the  mumming-play  has  been 
printed  and  sold  as  a  chap-book  ;  and  this  leads  me  to 
propound  a  question,  to  which,  perhaps,  some  of  our  friends 
present  would  give  an  answer  different  from  that  which  I 
should  give.  Does  the  fact  of  writing  down  or  of  printing 
destroy  tradition  .■*  At  the  present  time  the  mumming- 
play  is  performed  in  three  ways — {a)  by  those  who  learn  it 
from  printed  book  ;  (J))  by  those  who  learn  it  from  MS.  ; 
{c)  by  those  who  learn  it  by  oral  tradition.  This  seems  to 
me  to  furnish  an  admirable  test-case  to  the  believers  and 
unbelievers  in  literary  origins. 

The  next  branch  of  folk-drama  on  which  I  have  to  offer 
a  few  notes  is  the  Plough-Monday  play  ;  and  here  I  may 
proceed  more  summarily,  as  I  do  not  conceive  how  the 
champions  of  literary  origin  can  bring  their  battery  to  bear 


EnHish  Folk-Drama. 
162  "^ 

-lis  tradition.  It  has  evolved  and  descended  from 
Aryan  custom,  possibly  some  sacrificial  rite  in  dramatic 
form  to  the  goddess  Gefjun,  the  goddess  of  agriculture — 
Gefjun  personifying  the  ploughed  land  as  Frigg  represents 
the  fruit-bearing  earth.  In  the  myth  of  Thor  and  Hrungner 
we  see  how  the  thunder  god  crushes  the  mountain  of  rock 
to  prepare  the  way  for  agriculture  ;  and  the  Gefjun  myth 
about  the  ploughing  with  four  oxen  represents  the  subse- 
quent tillage.  In  Blomefield's  History  of  Norfolk  we  read  : 
"  Anciently,  a  light  called  the  '  Plough  Light'  was  main- 
tained by  old  and  young  persons  who  were  husbandmen, 
before  images  in  some  churches,  and  on  Plough-Monday 
they  had  a  feast,  and  went  about  with  a  plough  and  dancers 
to  get  money  to  support  the  plough-light.  The  Reforma- 
tion put  out  these  lights,  but  the  practice  of  going  about 
with  the  plough  begging  for  money  remains."  No  doubt 
the  begging  in  the  first  place  was  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  lights,  a  derivation,  possibly,  of  sacrifice  to  the  goddess 
Gefjun. 

The  dancers  alluded  to  by  Blomefield  were  the  sword- 
dancers  ;  and  here  again  we  have  the  phenomena  of  amal- 
gamation and  continuity  with  modification.  The  result 
was  a  play  called  the  Plough-Monday  play,  the  process 
being  analogous  to  that  we  have  already  discussed,  where 
the  sword-dance  entered  into  and  gave  shape  and  coherence 
to  existing  dramatic  traditions. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  do  more  now  than  indicate  the 
outline  of  this  important  branch  of  English  folk-drama. 
With  the  plough  we  get  the  horse,  and  the  horse  again 
places  us  in  connection  with  the  fabulous  horses  of  Aryan 
mythology.  These  godlike  animals,  commemorated  in 
English  traditions,  become  identified  with  the  horses 
familiar  in  agriculture  :  thus  we  get  the  hobby-horse,  and 
a  whole  cycle  of  observance,  of  which  the  ^'i^^y  of  a  horse, 
or  a  horse's  head,  is  the  pivot.  This  element  is  a  common 
factor  in  the  problem  of  folk-drama  ;  this  and  the  doctor 
who  cures  the  wounded  combatants,  or  raises  them  to  life 


English  Folk-Dran,.   .  165 

when  slain,  and  both  of  them — Hke  the  sword-dance — take 
us  straight  back  to  Scandinavia.  By  way  of  illustrating 
this  permanence  of  the  archaic  in  dramatic  tradition,  let  me 
select  two  instances.  A  version  of  the  St.  George  drama 
is  concluded  with  the  introduction  of  a  hobby-horse,  over 
whom  a  song  of  several  verses  is  sung,  the  horse  snapping 
his  jaws  by  way  of  chorus  after  each  verse,  by  a  device 
familiar  on  the  stage,  when  Bottom  in  his  ass's  head  moves 
the  ass's  jaws  when  speaking.  The  fourth  verse  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  Behold  how  this  horse  stands  upon  the  stones ! 
He  is  short  in  the  leg,  but  full  in  the  bone, 
He  has  an  eye  like  a  hawk,  a  ear  like  a  dove ; 
As  many  wrinkles  in  his  forehead  as  there  is  in  an 
acre  of  ploughed  ground." 

That  last  line  is  an  obvious  interpolation,  connecting  the 
horse  with  the  plough.  In  the  whole  song  it  is  the  only 
line  which  utterly  escapes  the  metre.  Counting  the  sylla- 
bles, it  makes  about  two-and-a-half  lines  of  the  verse  in  the 
rest  of  the  piece.  It  is  clearly  an  interpolation  ;  it  belongs 
to  the  traditionary  observance  which  survived  from  the 
sacrificial  rite  to  the  Scandinavian  goddess  of  agriculture. 

Another  instance  :  another  version  of  the  same  song  in 
another  county.  At  the  close  of  the  song,  which  is  one  of 
lamentation  over  the  poor  old  horse,  past  his  prime,  the 
animal,  or  rather  its  representative,  drops  down  as  if  dead. 
Same  dialogue  ensues,  the  upshot  of  which  is  that  the 
horse  gets  a  new  lease  of  life,  like  the  wounded  combatants 
in  the  St.  George  and  mumming  plays  ;  and  the  horse  pro- 
ceeds to  worry  a  blacksmith  who  endeavours  to  shoe  him. 
The  affair  is  concluded  by  the  singing  of  the  following 
stanza  : — 

"  The  man  that  shod  this  horse.  Sir, 
That  was  no  use  at  all, 
He  likened  to  worry  the  blacksmith, 
His  hammer  and  nails  and  all." 

^ese  lines,  says  the  recorder,  are  sung  with  great  noise 

■)L.  IV.  N 


1 66  English  Folk- Drama. 

and  histrionic  display :  for  mentioning  which  fact  I  am 
extremely  obliged  to  him  ;  we  know  that  noise  and  tumult 
were  always  associated  with  the  traditions  of  Thor,  and 
this  episode  presents  in  the  blacksmith  with  his  hammer  a 
pretty  clear  reminiscence  of  Thor's  connection  with  agri- 
culture in  the  Scandinavian  mythology. 

I  have  mentioned  these  instances  because  they  occur  in 
dramatic  songs,  which  at  a  superficial  glance  appear  to  be 
quite  modern  and  commonplace,  for  which  reason  they 
admirably  exemplify  the  survival  of  the  archaic  in  the 
midst  of  later  accretions. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  bring  to  your  notice  now 
a  version  of  the  Plough-Monday  play  which  has  been 
communicated  to  me  by  Mrs.  Chaworth  Musters,  along 
with  the  most  interesting  dress  worn  by  the  actors  of  this 
version  as  repeatedly  witnessed  by  Mrs.  Chaworth  Musters 
at  her  residence, Wiverton  Hall,  near  Bingham,  Nottingham- 
shire. The  version  wears  a  modern  look,  but,  like  the 
hobby-horse  performances  just  noticed,  it  has  its  elements 
of  archaism  which  persist.  I  should  like  first  to  read  an 
extract  from  a  letter  I  received  from  Mrs.  Musters,  as  it  is 
in  effect  a  message  to  the  Society,  and  brings  before  us  the 
aspects  of  the  play  as  they  impressed  themselves  on  an 
eye-witness : — 

"  I  hope  that  if  all  is  well  another  year,  I  may  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  some  members  of  the  Folk-lore  Society  here 
for  Plough-Monday,  and  I  hope  the  play  will  not  die  out  in 
this  neighbourhood  for  long,  as  the  actors  this  time  were  all  youths 
who  had  learnt  their  parts  by  word  of  mouth.  I  had  some 
difficulty  in  getting  a  copy  of  the  words  a  few  years  ago,  as  it  seems 
never  to  have  been  written  down  ;  but  I  did  get  it,  very  ill-spelt 
and  difficult  to  make  out,  except  that  I  had  heard  it  several  times, 
and  I  had  it  printed  in  the  appendix  of  a  Notts  story  I  wrote,  so 
that  it  might  be  preserved.  I  enclose  the  book.  The  same 
version  seems  to  be  known  in  Lincolnshire,  Leicestershire,  anr 
Northamptonshire.  I  wish  I  could  have  got  a  photograph  of  tl 
performers,  but  they  could  only  come  in  the  evening,  being  fa- 


English  Folk-Drama.  167 

labourers.  The  man  who  is  called  '  Hopper  Joe'  has  a  basket 
slung  before  him,  as  if  he  was  going  to  sow  seeds,  in  which  you 
put  any  money  you  like  to  give.  The  sergeant  gets  hold  of  any 
bit  of  old  uniform  he  can  meet  with,  and  the  young  lady  always 
has  a  veil,  Beelzebub  a  blacked  face,  and  either  a  besom  of 
straw  or  a  club  with  a  bladder  fastened  to  the  end  of  it.  The 
chief  feature  of  the  play  is  the  raising  to  life  of  the  old  woman  (who 
is  knocked  down  by  Beelzebub)  by  the  doctor,  who  is  always 
dressed  in  the  smartest  modern  clothes,  with  a  riding-whip  and 
top  hat  if  possible.  This  year  the  men  had  no  cut-out  figures  on 
their  shirts,  only  ribbons  and  rosettes  and  feathers  stuck  in  their 
hats,  and  the  brass  ornaments  of  their  horse's  harness  hanging 
down  in  front.  But  I  have  generally  seen  them  with  small  horses, 
and  ploughs  in  red  and  black,  stuck  on.  They  do  not  bring  a 
plough  with  them  here.  Little  boys  with  ribbons  on  come  round 
begging  in  all  the  villages  in  the  vale  of  Belvoir  here,  on  Plough- 
Monday,  but  no  women  or  girls  ever  seem  to  take  part  in  it." 

Mrs.  Musters  subsequently  sent  me  the  dress  exhibited. 
In  a  letter  which  accompanied  it  she  said  :  "  The  group  of 
men  are  intended  to  represent  the  Plough-Monday  boys. 

The  idea  of  the  man  who  made  it  is  that  all  the 

live  creatures  connected  with  a  farm  ought  to  be  repre- 
sented." Mrs.  Musters  also  sent  me  a  copy  of  the  verses 
sung  on  the  occasion  of  the  play.  These  have  never  before 
been  recorded.  I  exhibit  the  MS.  of  the  Ploughman  who 
sang  them  on  Plough-Monday  last,  and  who  wrote  them 
down  for  Mrs.  Musters, 
j  I  also  exhibit  the  figure  of  a  horse  cut  out  to  be  worn 

I  on  the  dress,  which  I  received  from  Mrs.  Musters  before 
'  I  received  the  dress.  When  I  learnt  from  Mrs.  Musters 
(  the  interesting  fact  that  although  these  players  no  longer 
\  bring  a  plough  with  them  they  figure  it  on  the  dress, 
I  begged  her  to  obtain  a  specimen  of  the  dress  for  exhibi- 
tion this  evening,  a  request  with  which  she  at  once  com- 
plied. It  was  made  by  the  man  from  whom  she  had 
obtained  the  figure  of  the  horse.  The  dress  seems  to 
present  us  with  an  example  of  picture-writing   and  such 

N  2 


1 68  English  Folk-Drama. 


^f> 


a  survival  must  be  very  encouraging  to  the  anthropologist 
and  folk-lore  collector.  I  shall  hope  to  hear  presently 
from  the  President  and  others  their  views  on  this  point. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  execution  of  the  letters 
is  not  superior,  but  rather  the  reverse,  to  that  of  the 
figures. 

[The  scaly  pattern  of  the  mummer's  dress  from  Hamp- 
shire was  again  referred  to,  and  the  likelihood  of  a  similar 
desire  for  representation  having  caused  this  reminiscence 
of  the  dragon  was  pointed  out.] 

It  is  a  curious  fact  to  contemplate  that  at  the  present 
time  we  have  in  this  country,  living  simultaneously  in 
rural  districts,  representatives  of  two  distinct  levels  of 
culture.  There  is  the  younger  generation,  equipped  with 
a  uniform  education  tending  to  make  all  minds  of  one 
type ;  and  there  is  in  the  generation  dying  out  a  quite 
different  mental  aspect — a  culture  varying  in  degree  and 
kind,  but  united  by  an  underlying  system  of  tradition. 
Picture-writing  and  gesture-language  in  the  age  of  Board 
schools  suggest  conditions  which  may  make  us  wonder  if 
the  law  of  continuity  with  modification  is  about  to  cease. 

Quite  recently,  I  heard  of  an  interesting  case  of  an  old 
couple  living  in  Surrey,  between  Woking  and  Guildford, 
which  illustrates  the  use  of  picture-writing  in  the  age  of 
newspapers.  The  old  lady  always  takes  the  Police  News, 
and  she  explained  to  my  friend  that  she  does  this  because 
she  hears  the  news  from  her  neighbours  who  read  the 
newspapers,  and  then  she  can  take  her  picture-paper  and 
make  it  all  out.  This  is  strictly  analogous  to  the  use  of 
picture-writing  by  savage  tribes.  The  old  lady  went  on  to 
explain  that  her  old  man  knew  no  more  about  the  news 
than  she  did,  although  he  could  read  a  bit :  he  knew  that 
"  S-t-o-k-e"  spelt  Guildford,  but  she  could  find  her  way  there 
by  the  direction-post  as  well  as  he. 

With  regard  to  what  was  said  as  to  the  idea  of  the  man 
who  prepared  the  dress,  that  all  the  live  creatures  on 
a  farm  should  be  represented,  this  is  doubtless  the  idea  of 


English  Folk-Drama.  169 

the  tradition.  In  Lincolnshire,  representatives  of  all  the 
branches  of  farming  industry  joined  the  procession.  First 
came  the  plough,  to  which  it  was  not  unusual  to  see  as 
many  as  a  score  of  sons  of  the  soil  yoke  themselves  ; 
hence  the  name  Plough  Bullocks  applied  to  them,  or,  in 
Yorkshire,  Plough  Stotts.  Ploughmen  from  neighbour- 
ing hamlets  joined  the  procession,  dressed  in  clean  smock- 
frocks,  decked  out  with  ribbons  by  the  maids.  Some 
wore  bunches  of  corn  in  their  hats.  Often  "  the  procession 
was  joined  by  threshers  carrying  their  flails,  reapers  with 
sickles,  and  carters  with  their  long  whips,  which  they  were 
ever  cracking  to  add  to  the  noise ;  while  even  the  smith 
and  the  miller  were  among  their  number,  for  the  one 
sharpened  the  ploughshare,  and  the  other  ground  the  corn." 
Here  we  have  the  idea  of  representation  which  we  see  in 
the  dress  exhibited. 

The  same  eye-witness  gives  a  description  of  a  curious 
custom  in  connection  with  Plough-Monday,  which  I  give 
in  his  words,  as  follows  : — "  But  the  great  event  of  the 
day  was  when  they  came  before  some  house  which  bore 
signs  that  the  owner  was  well-to-do  in  the  world,  and 
nothing  was  given  them.  Bessy  rattled  his  box  and  the 
ploughmen  danced,  while  the  country  lads  blew  their 
bullocks'  horns  or  shouted  with  all  their  might ;  but,  if 
there  was  still  no  sign,  no  coming  forth  of  either  bread- 
and-cheese  or  ale,  then  the  word  was  given,  the  plough- 
share driven  into  the  ground  before  the  door  or  window, 
the  whole  twenty  men  yoked  pulling  like  one,  and,  in 
a   minute   or   two,  the   ground   before  the  house  was  as 

brown,  barren,  and  ridgy  as  a  newly-ploughed  field 

We  are  not  aware  that  the  ploughmen  were  ever  sum- 
moned to  answer  for  such  a  breach  of  the  law,  for  they 
believe,  to  use  their  own  expressive  language,  '  they  can 
stand  by  it,  and  no  law  in  the  world  can  touch  'em,  'cause 
it 's  an  old  charter'." 

One  of  the  mummers  in  the  Lincolnshire  Plough-Monday 
procession  usually  wears  a  fox's  skin  in  the  form  of  a  hood  ; 


170  English  Folk-Drama. 

the  Bessy,  a  bullock's  tail  behind,  under  his  gown,  which  he 
held  in  his  hand  while  dancing. 

From  a  rare  book,  dated  in  18 14,  I  have  the  following 
note  of  the  custom  in  Yorkshire  : 

"  The  Fool  Plough. — This  is  the  name  given  to  it  by  Strutt, 
though  it  is  better  known  in  Yorkshire  under  the  title  of  *  Plough 
Stotts'.  Plough-Monday,  or  the  first  Monday  after  Twelfth-Day, 
has  been  considered  as  the  ploughman's  holiday,  and  the  annexed 
plate  represents  a  ludicrous  procession  on  that  day,  not  unlike 
that  of  the  Mummers,  or  Morris-Dancers,  at  Christmas.  The 
principal  characters  in  this  farce  are  the  conductors  of  the  plough  ; 
the  plough-driver,  with  a  blown  bladder  at  the  end  of  a  stick  by 
way  of  whip  ;  the  fiddler ;  a  huge  clown  in  female  attire ;  and  the 
commander-in-chief,  'Captain  Cauf  Tail',  dressed  out  with  a 
cockade  and  a  genuine  calf  s  tail,  fantastically  crossed  with  various 
coloured  ribands.  This  whimsical  hero  is  also  an  orator  and 
a  dancer,  and  is  ably  supported  by  the  manual  wit  of  the 
plough-driver,  who  applies  the  bladder  with  great  and  sounding 
effect  to  the  heads  and  shoulders  of  his  team." 

With  this  formless  procession  and  dance  the  sword-dance 
became  combined,  as  described  in  Young's  History  of 
Whitby,  and  the  result  of  the  union  was  the  Plough- 
Monday  play.  Here  we  have  a  repetition  of  the  process  I 
described  in  connection  with  the  Easter  and  mumming  plays. 
The  shaping  factor  in  folk-drama  was  the  sword-dance,  with 
its  circle,  chorus,  and  carefully  concerted  movements. 

I  will  now  read  the  version  of  the  play,  for  which  we  are 
indebted  to  Mrs.  Chaworth  Musters.  I  do  this  because, 
although  that  lady  has  happily  insured  its  preservation — 
an  act  which  1  feel  this  Society  ought  gratefully  to  acknow- 
ledge— it  is  far  less  familiar  than  the  mumming  or  Easter 
plays  ;  and  I  think  its  communication  this  evening  mav 
strengthen  my  plea  for  the  speedy  and  exhaustive  collec- 
tion of  all  the  remains  of  English  folk-drama  still  surviving. 
Also,  it  is  a  very  pleasant  tradition,  which  seems  to  take  us 
into  the  midst  of  country  life  in  mid-winter,  a  sensation 
which  Mrs.  Musters  has  kindly  offered  to  allow  some  of  us 


English  Folk-Drama.  171 

to  realise  next  January.  I  have  spoken  of  the  modern 
aspect  which  the  piece  bears,  but  the  archaism  of  the  latter 
portion  will  be  evident  from  my  interpretation  of  the 
Easter  and  mumming  plays. 

[Extracts  were  read  to  the  meeting.] 

I  do  not  think  I  need  greatly  insist  on  the  archaism  of 
the  latter  portion  of  this  play — the  episode  of  Beelzebub, 
Dame  Jane,  and  the  Doctor.  It  is  clearly  distinct  in  itself 
— as  distinct  as  the  episode  of  the  fight  between  St.  George 
and  the  Slasher,  and  the  curing  by  the  Doctor  in  the 
Easter  play,  which  we  have  identified  with  the  Summer  and 
Winter  contest  of  the  Spring  festival.  It  is,  in  fact,  the 
same  element,  with  modifications  and  change  of  characters  : 
Beelzebub  enacts  the  part  of  St.  George,  and  Dame  Jane 
that  of  the  Slasher  ;  though  whether  the  episode  has  been 
imported  from  the  Easter  play,  or  is  another  version  of  the 
original,  is  precisely  the  question  for  discussion.  In  the 
absence  of  the  evidence  here  furnished,  I  can  quite  conceive 
that  those  who  object  to  allow  that  we  have  in  English 
tradition  anything  peculiar  to  the  race,  would  give  an 
explanation  of  the  episode  quite  different  from  mine.     The 

words  : 

"  My  head  is  made  of  iron, 
My  body  is  made  of  steel, 
My  hands  and  feet  of  knuckle-bone, 
I  think  nobody  can  make  me  feel," 

which  I  am  disposed  to  regard  as  a  metaphorical  descrip- 
tion of  the  earth  when  possessed  by  winter,  they  would 
doubtless  interpret  as  descriptive  of  armour  worn  by  the 
knight.  But  how  can  that  be,  when  the  words  are  spoken 
by  a  female  character  .-'  We  may  grant  that  in  the  muta- 
tions which  occur  in  folk-drama  the  episode  may  have  been 
imported  from  the  Easter  play  without  much  idea  of  fit- 
ness ;  and  then  the  question  of  interpretation  remains  as 
before.  But  if  the  object  is  to  get  at  the  root  of  the  matter, 
surely  we  have  here  a  good  working  factor  in  the  problem  ; 
and  I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to  get  rid  of  it,  put  it  on 


172  English  Folk-Di'ania. 

one  side,  get  it  out  of  the  way,  by  just  affixing  to  it  a  label 
which  at  a  glance  appears  to  belong  to  it.  I  prefer  to  keep 
the  elements  before  me,  unlabelled,  in  a  state  of  solution, 
ready  to  be  readjusted  in  accordance  with  any  fresh  evi- 
dence that  may  come  to  hand.  If  I  were  asked  to  define 
the  greatest  danger  which  besets  folk-lore,  I  should  say  it 
was  the  obvious.  It  was  the  obvious  which  caused  the 
significance  of  children's  games  to  be  so  long  overlooked. 
It  was  the  obvious  which  dismissed  the  Staffordshire 
Guisers'  play  as  all  St.  George  and  the  Dragon.  It  was  the 
obvious  which  classified  all  the  mumming-plays  and  the 
Easter  plays  as  "versions  of  some  dramatic  piece  written  in 
commemoration  of  the  Holy  Wars".  And  I  suppose  Mr. 
Obvious,  if  he  is  here — or  perhaps  I  should  say  the  Messrs. 
Obvious — will  have  no  patience  with  me  because  I  hint 
that  in  the  Easter  play  and  this  Plough-Monday  play  we 
have  an  episode  which  continues  the  tradition  of  the 
Summer  and  Winter  champions. 

I  have  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the  character  of  the 
Doctor,  which  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  common  denominator 
in  these  traditions  ;  but  I  think  I  must  leave  this  over. 
Perhaps  I  may  have  another  opportunity  of  reading  some 
further  notes  on  this  widely-reaching  subject. 

I  must,  however,  add  a  {q.v^  words  on  another  topic,  the 
Horn-Dance.  I  exhibit  three  copies  of  an  enlargement  of 
the  photograph,  kindly  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Frank  Udale  of 
Uttoxeter.  One  of  these  he  presents  to  the  Society,  the 
others  he  presents  to  me  personally.  I  shall  look  forward 
to  seeing  the  photograph  in  the  collection  of  the  Society  in 
the  proposed  Album.  Mr.  Udale  has  been  extremely  kind 
in  his  response  to  my  requests  :  I  feel  greatly  indebted  to 
him;  and  I  should  feel  gratified  if  a  message  of  recognition 
were  sent  to  him  by  the  Society.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Cox  has 
visited  Abbots  Bromley  to  inspect  the  horns,  and  he  tells 
me  he  has  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  they  are  reindeer 
horns.  This  opens  a  vista  into  which  at  present  I  can  only 
peer  with  the  eyes  of  conjecture.     When  I  have  seen  the' 


English  Folk-Drama.  173 

horns  and  handled  them — as  I  hope  to  do  early  in  the 
coming-  summer — I  will  report  further  on  the  matter.  Not 
that  I  doubt  they  are  reindeer  horns — not  for  a  moment 
would  I  doubt  the  deliberate  opinion  of  Dr.  Cox  on  such  a 
point — but  they  may  possibly  be  fossilised  ;  in  which  case 
one's  imagination  would  run  riot  over  the  time  when  the 
reindeer  was  a  denizen  of  this  land  ;  or,  turning  to  the 
alternative  of  their  importation  from  Norseland,  the  fos- 
silization  would  be  fraught  with  possibilities  of  discovery  as 
to  why  fossilised  horns  should  be  brought  over.  Again, 
one  thinks  of  the  reindeer  tribes  of  France  and  the  dis- 
coveries made  by  M.  Lartet  and  Christy  in  the  caverns  of 
Perigord  ;  and  the  idea  of  relics  of  the  Stone  Age  reaching 
this  country  from  the  south,  without  the  least  regard  for 
one's  predilection  for  northern  origins,  is  quite  distracting. 
Mr.  Udale  says  he  is  "  of  opinion  they  came  over  at  the 
Conquest  with  the  Bagots — now  Lord  Bagot— of  Blithfield, 
near  Abbots  Bromley.  In  his  park  are  some  goats,  huge 
things,  the  descendants  of  a  stock  they  brought  over  with 
them  at  or  near  the  Conquest."  If  so,  they  may  be  relics 
of  the  reindeer  tribes  and  the  Stone  Age  in  France?  All 
.conjecture  :  but  conjecture  is  the  investigator's  lantern.  I 
will  read  an  extract  from  a  letter  which  the  Vicar  of  Abbots 
■Bromley  kindly  sent  me  on  the  subject  : — 

"  I  hardly  know  how  to  begin  about  the  Horn-Dance.     I  know 

yery  little  about  it,  as  I  have  only  been  here  a  short  time ;  and  I 

Ina  sorry  to  say  that  in  the  time  of  my  predecessor  and  his  pre- 

ecessor,  comprising  some  ninety-six  years,  many  interesting  parti- 

ulars  about  this  and  other  matters  have  been  allowed  to  die  out, 

»d  details  cannot  now  be  recovered.     At  present,  the  six  pairs  of 

rns,  with  a  bow  and  arrow,  and  the  frame  of  a  hobby-horse,  are 

tt  in  the  church  tower,  together  with  a  curious  old  pot  with  a 

die,  all  of  wood,  in  which  the  money  is  collected  at  the  dance. 

;  Horn-Dance  takes  place  now  only  on  the  Monday  after  'Wakes' 

.day,  which  is  the  Sunday  next  to  September  4th.    The  tradition 

at,  some  two  hundred  years  ago,  the  dance  took  place  on  several 

*cutive  Sundays,  after  morning  service,  in  the  churchyard — 


174  English  Folk-Drama. 

presumably  in  the  summer  months — and  that  the  money  so 
collected  was  devoted  to  the  rehef  of  the  poor  and  the  repairs  of 
the  church.  When  the  dance  began  is  quite  unknown,  but  there 
were  other  places  in  Staffordshire  where  it  lingered  until  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  or  beginning  of  this  century — notably, 
Stafford  itself,  and  Seighford,  a  small  village  near  it.  There  was 
a  special  tune  played  for  the  Horn-Dance,  by  a  man  with  a  fiddle, 
within  the  memory  of  some  still  living ;  but  the  tune  is  lost,  and 
I  have  quite  failed  to  recover  it :  now  somebody  plays  a  con- 
certina, with  ordinary  dance-music  of  any  kind.  The  under-jaw 
of  the  hobby-horse  is  loose,  and  is  moved  with  a  string,  so  that  it 
'clacks'  against  the  upper-jaw  in  time  with  the  music.  The 
same  is  done  with  the  arrow  and  the  bow.  Six  men  have  each 
a  pair  of  horns ;  then  there  is  a  woman  who  holds  the  pot  and 
collects  the  money — probably  '  Maid  Marian';  a  lad  with  the 
bow  (?  Robin  Hood) ;  a  jester ;  and  another  with  the  hobby- 
horse— ten  in  all.  They  have  a  traditional  sort  of  figure,  which 
they  dance  over  and  over  again.  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  tell  you 
much  else  about  the  dance  :  we  are  on  the  borders  of  what  used 
to  be  '  Needwood  Forest',  and  probably  it  had  some  woodland 
meaning.  But  the  curious  thing  is  that  the  horns  are  reindeer,  i* 
This  has  been  settled  quite  satisfactorily  just  lately  by  Dr.  Cox,  ]c 
the  editor  of  The  Antiquary^  who  came  here  to  see  them.  Two  ,, 
pairs  are  very  large,  larger  than  any  reindeer-horns  I  have  ever  l.: 
seen  myself  in  Russia  or  Norway.  How  they  came  here  is 
a  mystery." 

Whatever  the  origin  of  the  horns  may  be,  I  think  we/" 
need    entertain   little  doubt  that  the  dance  was,  as   Mr  ^n 
Bryant  suggests,  of  some  woodland  character  and  signifi  no 
cance  ;  and  from  the  bow  and  arrow,  and  the  circumstanc  asl 
of  the  gifts  to  the  poor,  it  seems  to  stand  in  relation  to  tJ    r" 
Robin   Hood    epos.      The   presence   of  the   hobby-hor  :oll< 
again,    is    curious.      Like   the    Doctor,   the    Hobby-hc 
requires  a  paper  to  himself.     He  figures  largely  in  the  M 
Day  games,  as  well  as  in  the  winter  plays  ;  and  in  h 
without  doubt — or  so  it  seems  to  me — we  have  the  tradit 
of  Odin's  horse  Sleipner ;    and  probably  his  ubiquitv 
tradition  suggests  reminiscences  of  the  other  fabulous  st^p 
of  Asgard.  ' 


English  Folk- Drama.  175 

Such  is  the  view  that  we  have  been  able  to  take  of 
English  Folk-Drama  so  far  as  is  possible  within  the 
compass  of  a  short  paper.  It  is  a  diminished  heritage  : 
much  had  to  be  lost  before  the  value  of  that  which 
we  are  losing  could  make  itself  felt.  It  is  for  us  to 
make  the  best  and  the  most  of  what  remains  to  us,  and, 
by  analysis  and  careful  study,  make  good,  as  far  as  we 
can,  what  is  now  irrecoverable ;  science,  I  am  sure,  can 
do  much  to  strengthen  the  links  which  have  become  worn 
and  thin  in  the  chain  of  our  traditions  ;  and  truly  it  is 
a  glorious  thing  to  feel  that  we  inherit  a  right  to  the 
mythology  of  the  North,  of  which  that  chain  is  the  evi- 
dence. Thanks  to  the  peasantry  of  England,  who  have 
preserved  the  traditions  which  testify  to  our  birthright ! 
It  has  come  to  us  to  see  and  to  know  and  to  understand, 
and  knowledge  is  sublime  ;  but,  in  the  presence  of  that 
unconscious  perpetuation  by  generation  upon  generation 
of  men  and  women  of  our  race,  in  obedience  to  the  in- 
stincts of  their  blood,  I  feel  myself  in  the  presence  of 
something  ;«<7r^  than  human  knowledge — something  mighty 
and  organic,  in  which  consciousness  and  unconsciousness 
are  simply  phases  of  the  same  thing.  Let  us  not  paralyse 
ourselves  with  doubt,  but  hastily  snatch  up  all  the  frag- 
ments and  scraps  that  have  fallen  from  the  table  of  the 
gods.  Let  us  believe  all  to  be  of  value  rather  than  cast 
aside  one  morsel.  We  shall  have  ages  of  civilisation  in 
which  to  sort  out  and  arrange  the  items  and  squabble 
about  interpretation.  But  we  shall  not  get  another  Norse 
mythology,  nor  another  body  of  English  custom  and  tra- 
dition. It  is  all  vanishing — quietly  dying  out  without 
giving  sign.  I  urge  upon  the  Society  to  undertake  imme- 
diately the  thorough  and  systematic  collection  of  English 
Folk-Dramas. 

T.  Fairman  Ordish. 


FOLK-LORE    GLEANINGS    FROM 
COUNTY  LEI  TRIM. 


THE  district  from  whence  these  notes  are  derived  lies 
to  the  south-east  of  the  lower  end  of  Lough  Allen, 
and  comprises  part  of  the  parishes  of  Kiltubrid  and  Fenagh, 
in  County  Leitrim,  the  latter  better  known  on  account  of 
the  Book  of  Fenagh  and  the  remains  of  St.  Caillin's  Abbey. 
This  part  of  the  county  is  fairly  hilly,  with  wide  stretches 
of  bog,  and  many  lakes  ;  while  towards  the  north  of  Kiltu- 
brid lies  the  wild  mountain  district  of  Slieve-an-iarain.  At 
the  present  time  it  is  devoid  of  timber,  except  such  as  has 
been  planted  round  the  houses  of  the  gentry,  and  this 
absence  of  trees  and  hedges  gives  the  whole  district  a 
rather  desolate  appearance.  Until  the  Cavan,  Leitrim, 
and  Roscommon  Light  Railway  was  constructed,  a  few 
years  ago,  Kiltubrid  was  quite  cut  off  from  outside 
influence.  Carrick-on-Shannon  is  ten  miles  off;  and  Drum- 
shanbo  and  Ballinamore,  five  and  seven  miles  away 
respectively,  are  only  small  country  towns.  The  people, 
therefore,  have  not  yet  lost  the  old  traditions  of  the  place, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  native  tongue  has  almost  died 
out ;  but  they  are  fast  disappearing,  and  it  is  to  be  feared 
will  ere  long  be  extinct,  as  they  have  become  under 
similar  circumstances  elsewhere. 

The  stories  in  English  which  I  have  heard  told  by  the 
peasantry  in  co.  Leitrim  are,  of  course,  not  to  be  compared 
with  those  collected  in  Irish  by  Dr.  Hyde  in  the  next 
county  (Roscommon),  but  they  are  interesting,  I  think,  as 
showing  the  form  that  the  tales  have  taken  at  the  present 
day.  As  regards  the  general  superstitions,  etc.,  current  in 
the  district,  my  informants  were  as  a  rule  people  of  over 


Folk-lo7'e  Gleanings  f7'07n  County  Leitrim.    177 

forty  years  of  age,  who  referred  to  such  matters  as  having 
been  told  them  by  their  parents,  who  were  Irish  speakers. 

The  tales  were  related  to  me  by  a  "  little  lad"  of  four- 
teen, whose  mother,  in  her  turn,  heard  them  in  her  youth 
from  her  father,  John  Tighe,  of  the  townland  of  Cordery 
Peyton,  the  son  of  Peter  Tighe  of  Corrick-beside-Laheen 
Peyton  (co.  Leitrim),  both  of  whom  were  Irish  speakers, 
and  spoken  of  as  great  story-tellers.  The  lad,  Michael 
McManus  by  name,  son  of  Patrick  McManus  of  Aughrim 
in  Kiltubrid,  very  kindly  wrote  the  tales  down  for  me — for 
which  I  owe  him  my  best  thanks — and  I  have  thought  it 
proper  to  put  them  forward  here  in  his  own  words  without 
alteration.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  add  that,  so  far  as 
the  family  knew,  the  tales  had  never  appeared  in  print. 

There  do  not  appear  to  be  any  customs  peculiar  to  the 
immediate  neighbourhood,  but  it  may  here  be  noted  that 
fires  are  still  lighted  on  the  hills  and  along  the  sides  of  the 
roads  on  Saint  John's  Eve. 


The  Good  People. 

That  the  fairies  are  fallen  angels  is  a  widely  spread 
belief,  but  still  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the  ideas  of 
the  people  in  different  localities  on  this  subject.  This  is 
the  Kiltubrid  version  :  "  Who  are  the  fairies  ?"  I  asked  one 
evening  of  a  country  woman.  "  The  Good  People  (God 
speed  them  !)  is  it  ?"  said  she.  "  Well,  I  have  heard  that 
when  there  was  war  in  heaven,  and  the  wicked  angels 
were  being  cast  out,  that  St.  John  asked  the  Almighty 
would  he  waste  the  whole  heavens  and  earth  ?  So  God 
said,  '  Let  everything  stand  as  it  is !'  and  so  everything 
remained  as  it  was  that  instant,  and  that  is  why  there  are 
fairies  in  the  air  (you've  heard  noises  in  the  air,  haven't 
you  ?),  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth." 

A  belief  in  the  "  good  people"  is,  of  course,  very  general. 
Cashels  or  forts  in  the  fields — those  round  earthworks, 
common  in   many  parts  of  the   country — are  held   to  be 


178  Folk-lo7'e  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim. 

specially  the  place  of  meeting,  and  no  one  would  willingly 
disturb  one.  There  are  stories  of  persons  being  struck 
dead  for  even  cutting  bushes  round  a  fort.  It  is  also  said 
to  be  unwise  to  attempt  to  build  on  a  "  walk"  ;  buildings  so 
put  up  are  invariably  thrown  down  during  the  night.  A 
tale  is  told  of  a  man  who  attempted  to  add  an  outbuilding 
to  his  house,  in  spite  of  the  advice  of  a  friend — for  it  is  in 
that  way  the  fairies  dissuade  one  from  building.  What  he 
built  in  the  day  was  promptly  thrown  down  at  night, 
because  the  "  good  people"  had  a  walk  on  that  side  of  the 
house,  and  he  finally  had  to  take  his  friend's  advice  and 
build  on  the  other  side. 

That  the  "good  people"  take  away  infants  from  their 
parents,  and  leave  "  an  old  stick  of  a  thief"  in  the  guise  of 
a  child  in  their  place  is  also  believed.  There  are  several 
tales  of  these  changelings  and  their  doings.  Here  is  one  : 
Once  on  a  time  there  was  a  woman  whose  child  was  taken 
away,  and  an  old  thief  left  in  its  place,  yet  was  he  so  dis- 
guised that  the  woman  never  found  out  the  difference. 
Now,  there  lived  in  the  same  house  a  tailor,  and  one  day 
when  the  woman  had  gone  into  the  town,  to  the  tailor's 
surprise,  the  baby  got  out  some  pipes  and  began  to  play. 
He  played  away  merrily  until  he  thought  the  woman 
would  be  returning,  and  then  he  told  the  tailor  that  he 
must  on  no  account  tell  her,  or  it  would  be  no  more  tunes 
he'd  be  playing  him.  However,  the  tailor  did  tell  the 
woman,  and  sent  her  out  to  the  town  with  directions  to 
return  speedily.  So  she  came  back  in  a  short  time  and 
found  the  "  young  old  man"  sitting  up  in  the  cradle  and 
playing  to  the  tailor  ;  but  when  she  came  in  at  the  door  he 
put  the  pipes  under  the  pillow,  and  was  as  though  he  were 
an  infant  again.  The  woman  was  afraid  when  she  saw 
that  it  was  not  her  child,  for  when  she  heard  the  pipes 
going  she  knew  the  "  good  people"  had  changed  them,  so 
she  took  counsel  with  the  tailor  as  to  what  was  to  be  done. 
"  Take  the  old  man  on  your  back",  said  he,  "  as  though  for 
a  walk,  and  when  you  come  to  the  stream,  go  to  cross  it, 


Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim.   ijc^ 

and  when  you  are  in  the  middle,  throw  him  down  into  the 
water  and  drown  him."  So  she  did  so  ;  but  when  she  got 
halfway  over  the  stream,  and  went  to  throw  the  old  "  thing" 
into  the  water,  he  turned  upon  her  and  threw  her  in  instead, 
and  drowned  her,  and  made  his  escape  !  ^ 

Another  tale  is  told,  showing  how  useless  it  is  to  try  and 
outwit  the  changelings  left  in  the  baby's  place. 

One  night,  a  man  was  returning  home,  when,  as  he 
passed  a  house,  the  window  was  opened,  and  a  baby 
was  pr.shed  into  his  arms.  He  said  nothing,  though 
rather  surprised,  perhaps  guessing  the  truth,  but  made  his 
way  home  and  told  his  wife  what  had  happened,  and  they 
agreed  to  keep  and  take  care  of  the  child  until  its  parents 
should  claim  it.  Now  it  happened  that  the  fairies  had 
made  a  mistake  that  time,  for  they  thought  it  was  to  one 
of  themselves  they  were  giving  the  child.  However,  they, 
as  usual,  left  an  "old  thing"  in  its  place.  The  father  of 
the  child  one  day  happened  to  see  the  people  to  whom  he 
had  been  given,  and  from  them  he  learnt  the  truth.  So 
when  he  went  home  he  made  a  great  fire  on  the  hearth 
and  waited  until  it  was  well  hot,  and  then  he  took  up  the 
supposed  baby  and  threw  it  on  the  fire.  He  was  ill- 
advised,  for  after  a  few  moments  the  old  man  gave  three 
great  puffs  and  blew  the  fire  all  over  the  room,  and  set  the 
house  on  fire,  and  they  were  all  burnt.  The  changeling 
doubtless  made  good  his  escape. 

The  fairies  sometimes  pay  domiciliary  visits,  and  do 
not  hesitate  to  avail  themselves  of  anything  there  may 
be  in  the  house  ;  indeed,  it  is  unlucky  to  have  nothing 
ready  for  them,  as  the  following  story  shows  : — 

One  night,  after  retiring  to  rest,  a  woman  was  disturbed 
by  a  great  noise  in  her  kitchen,  and,  on  going  to  the  door, 
she  found  that  the  "  good  people"  were  in  possession,  some 
toasting  bread  at  the  fire,  others  getting  ready  the  meal. 

^  Kennedy  has  a  tale  about  the  Changeling  and  his  Bagpipes,  but 
it  is  quite  different  from  that  told  here.  Yet  another  will  be  found  in 
Crofton  Croker's  Fairy  Legends. 


I  So  Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim. 

On  attempting  to  enter  the  kitchen,  the  fairies  shouted  to 
her  as  with  one  voice,  "  Go  back  !"  so  there  was  nothing  for 
it  but  to  retire  to  bed  again  and  leave  them  alone.  The 
next  morning  she  found  everything  as  usual,  save  that  one 
pail  was  full  of  blood — "  which  same  was  a  parable  to 
her",  said  my  informant,  "  and  for  that  reason  the  country 
people  always  leave  a  gallon  of  water  in  the  kitchen  at 
night,  lest  the  '  good  people'  should  come  and  want  it." 

The  Lepracaun. 

The  Lepracaun  is  sometimes  to  be  seen,  so  I  am  told  ;  at 
least  some  years  ago,  down  Fenagh  way,  a  man  was  working 
in  a  field  and  heard  a  noise  behind  him,  when,  turning 
round,  what  should  he  see  but  a  Lepracaun  seated  under  a 
big  leaf,  cobbling  away  merrily  at  a  shoe.  Before  the  little 
man  had  time  to  escape  he  found  himself  in  the  peasant's 
grasp,  and  was  frightened  almost  out  of  his  life,  for  the 
Lepracaun  is  always  impressed  with  the  idea  that  if  he  is 
caught  he  will  be  killed.  His  captor,  however,  knew  right 
well  how  to  turn  his  opportunity  to  account,  and  told  the 
little  man  he  would  let  him  go  if  he  would  show  him  where 
treasure  was  hid,  with  the  knowledge  of  which  the  Lepra- 
caun is  credited.  Glad  to  escape,  he  showed  the  man  where 
he  would  find  a  pot  of  gold,  and  was  rewarded  by  being  set 
at  liberty. 

Bewitched  Butter. 

There  are  throughout  Ireland  stories  of  milk  stealing 
and  butter  bewitching.  In  the  district  under  notice  there 
are  many  tales  of  butter  being  taken  from  the  milk,  and 
consequently  of  antidotes  therefor.  One  way  is  to  tie  a 
rope  with  nine  knots  in  it  round  the  churn  :  this  will  bring 
the  butter  back,  supposing  it  to  have  been  stolen  ;  or  you 
may  put  a  harrow-pin  and  a  crooked  sixpence  in  the  four 
corners  of  the  house.  A  common  method  is  to  place  a 
half-burnt  turf  under  the  churn,  or  a  piece  of  heather,  or  a 
branch  of  rowan-berries  (mountain  ash)  is  said  to  be  effica- 
cious. 


Folk-lore  Gleanings Jr07n  County  Leitrim.    i8i 

Once  on  a  time  there  lived  in  the  parish  of  Fenagh  a 
family  whose  supply  of  milk  invariably  turned  sour,  and 
no  butter  was  to  be  obtained.  It  chanced  that  there  came 
to  them  one  day  an  old  traveller  who  asked  for  a  drink. 
"  Well",  said  the  woman  of  the  house,  "  I  cannot  give  you 
milk,  for  all  we  have  is  bad." 

"  How  is  that?"  said  the  traveller. 
So  he  was  told  all  they  knew  about  the  matter. 
"If  you  give  me  a  lodging  this  night",  said  he,  "  I   will 
get  your  butter  back  for  you"  ;  and  thinking  things  could 
not  be  much  worse,  they  let  him  remain. 

After  sunset  the  traveller  barred  every  door  and  window 
in  the  place,  and  made  a  great  fire  of  turf,  and  in  the  fire 
he  placed  nine  irons.  Now,  as  the  irons  got  hot,  a  loud 
roaring  was  heard  without,  and  an  old  woman  who  dwelt 
near  was  seen  beating  at  the  door  and  windows  and  shout- 
ing to  be  let  in. 

"  Take  the  irons  from  the  fire,  they  have  me  burnt !  "  she 
said.  But  the  traveller  answered  that  until  she  brought 
back  the  butter  she  had  taken  the  irons  would  remain  in 
the  fire  to  burn  her.  Then  she  tore  round  the  house  in  a 
fury,  and  got  upon  the  roof  to  try  and  get  in  that  way  to 
take  the  irons  from  the  fire  ;  but  finding  it  was  useless,  she 
went  home,  roaring  all  the  time  for  the  pain  she  was  in,  and 
brought  the  butter  in  a  barrel  to  the  door,  upon  which  the 
irons  were  taken  from  the  fire,  and  she  was  released.  From 
that  time  the  family  had  no  cause  to  complain  of  their 
milk. 

The  Stray  Sod. 

Among  the  minor  superstitions  current  is  that  of  the 
"  stray  sod".  The  old  folk  say  that  wherever  an.unbaptised 
child  is  buried  there  is  a  "  stray  sod",  so  that  at  night,  if 
you  walk  in  that  field  and  chance  upon  the  particular  spot, 
you  have  no  power  but  to  set  off  wandering  all  that  night! 
A  man,  they  say,  whilst  walking  in  the  fields  one  night, 
happened  on  a  "stray  sod",  and  immediately  found  himself 

VOL.  IV. 


1 82  Folk-lo7'e  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim. 

wandering.  He  was  carried  up  and  down  a  "  quick"  or  set 
hedge,  until  he  was  wearied,  and  although  he  turned  his 
coat  and  hat  (said  usually  to  be  an  antidote),  yet  he  could 
not  find  his  way  out,  and  at  last,  when  day  broke,  he  was 
miles  and  miles  away  from  home,  and  had  to  find  his  way 
back  as  best  he  could. 

Holy  Wells. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  parish  of  Kiltubrid,  just  under 
Slieve-an-iarain,  there  is  a  holy  well  dedicated  to  Saint 
Patrick,  regarding  which  a  story  is  told  common  to  many 
other  similar  wells.  The  people  say  that  here  there  dwelt 
a  trout  and  a  salmon,  but  that  one  day  an  impious  angler 
caught  them  both  and  took  them  home.  When,  however, 
they  were  placed  in  the  pan  over  the  fire  they  both  hopped 
out  on  to  the  ground  and  made  their  way  back  to  the 
well. 

Well-dressing. 

On  the  last  Sunday  in  July  every  year,  called  Garland 
Sunday,  the  young  people  still  make  garlands  of  flowers 
and  place  them  round  certain  wells.  One  of  these,  Tober-a- 
dony,  is  in  the  parish  of  Kiltoghert,  and  besides  the  wells 
there  is  a  cavern-like  fissure  in  the  side  of  the  mountain 
above  mentioned,  Slieve-an-iarain,  known  as  Polthicoghlan, 
or  familiarly  as  Polthi,  which  is  similarly  treated.  Into 
this  hole-without-a-bottom  runs  a  stream  of  water  from  the 
mountain  which  is  supposed  to  flow  into  one  of  the  lakes 
some  way  off. 

Behind  Kiltubrid  Church  is  a  small  lake  known  as 
Lough  Caogh  (the  blind  lake),  the  water  of  which  possesses 
medicinal  qualities  and  is  much  resorted  to.  It  is  said  to 
be  especially  good  for  erysipelas,  or  for  swellings  either  on 
man  or  beast.  The  story  is  that  it  was  only  a  small  well, 
just  large  enough  to  put  down  a  gallon  measure,  but  that 
St.  Augustine  came  and  enlarged  it  to  its  present  size. 
Mondays   and  Thursdays  are  best  for  taking  the  water, 


Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim.    183 

which  must  be  fetched  in  three  bottles,  an  Ave  and  a  Pater 
being  said  as  each  bottle  is  filled,  and  on  leaving  the  place 
It  is  strictly  forbidden  to  look  behind  one,  or  the  effect  of 
the  water  will  be  lost. 

It  is  small  wonder  that  all  sorts  of  stories  are  told  about 
the  lake,  and  that  it  is  said  to  be  enchanted,  and  no  one  will 
go  near  it  after  dark.  There  are  also  said  to  be  water-horses 
in  it,  to  which  the  following  bears  witness : 

Once  on  a  time  a  gossoon,  who  was  working  in  the  field 
hard  by  the  lake,  caught  what  he  thought  was  a  tame 
horse,  and  began  to  harrow  with  him.  He  was,  however,  a 
water-horse  in  disguise,  and  presently  he  ran  away,  and 
dragging  harrow,  gossoon,  and  all  after  him,  disappeared 
into  the  lough.  The  unfortunate  lad,  when  he  found  him- 
self going,  cried  out  for  help,  but  when  the  other  men  who 
were  working  there  came  up  to  the  lake,  they  could  see 
nothing  but  blood.  It  is  said  that  the  gossoon  with  the 
horse  and  harrow  is  sometimes  to  be  seen  wandering  round 
the  margin  of  the  lough. 

Fear-Gorta. 
T\\Q  fear-gorta  (hungry  man)  is  usually  said  to  appear  at 
famine  times,  and  to  wander  about  asking  for  food.  In 
Kiltubrid,  however,  the  term  is  applied  to  a  hunger  which 
is  said  to  seize  you  whilst  on  the  mountains,  and  which  is 
fatal  if  not  speedily  satisfied.  There  is  also  said  to  be  a 
fear-gorta  stone  at  the  base  of  Slieve-an-iarain,  upon  which 
if  you  tread  you  are  seized  with  this  unappeasable  hunger. 

Witches. 

Witches  seem  to  have  disappeared  from  this  part  of  the 
country  ;  at  least,  I  could  not  hear  of  any  person  who  was 
regarded  in  the  light  of  one.  There  are  also  few  tales  of 
their  former  performances,  save  a  general  idea  that  they 
assumed  a  hare's  shape  at  times  when  it  suited  them  to  do 
so.  The  story — common  to  many  other  places — is  told  of 
how  a  hare  one  day,  chased  by  dogs,  fled  to  a  house  near  at 

02 


184  Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim. 

hand,  but  as  it  was  entering  the  door,  one  of  the  dogs 
managed  to  tear  a  piece  of  the  skin  from  a  leg.  The 
hunters,  on  entering  the  house,  found  only  an  old  woman 
there  with  her  side  bleeding,  by  which  token  they  knew 
she  was  a  witch. 

There  is  also  a  prejudice  against  eating  hares  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  people,  lest  they  should  turn  out  to  be 
witches.  A  cry  would,  however,  be  heard,  I  was  informed, 
when  the  hare  was  being  cut  up. 


The  following  stories:  (i)  "  Whittlegaire"  ;  (2)  "You're 
a  Liar" ;  (3)  "  The  Glass  Mountains",  were,  as  stated 
above,  written  down  at  my  request  by  the  narrator,  and  are 
in  his  own  language  : — 

Whittlegaire. 

There  were  a  long  time  ago  three  brothers,  and  two  of 
them  went  out  to  seek  their  fortune.  There  was  a  little 
lad,  and  they  were  going  to  leave  him  behind,  as  he  was  no 
use,  and  they  told  him  that  if  he  attempted  to  stir  out  of 
the  house  they  would  kill  him. 

So  they  went  on,  and  it  was  evening,  and  they  looked 
behind  them — they  were  about  twenty  miles  from  home — 
and  they  see  the  little  lad  after  them.  They  went  back 
with  him  and  left  him  in  the  house  again,  and  they  went 
away  the  next  morning.  In  the  evening  he  was  after 
them  again,  and  they  said  that  it  was  better  to  let  him 
come  with  them,  as  it  might  be  in  him  the  luck  was. 

They  went  on  to  a  big  house ;  there  was  no  one  in  it 
but  an  old  woman  and  three  daughters.  They  asked 
lodging.  She  said  she  would  give  them  lodging,  but  the 
two  elder  brothers  would  have  to  lie  on  the  floor ;  "  and  as 
for  you,  Whittlegaire",  said  she,  turning  to  the  little  one, 
"  you  will  have  to  lie  in  the  corner,  for  there  's  no  other 
room  for  you."  They  were  soon  asleep,  except  the  little 
boy,  and  he  was  watching  her,  and  saw  her  tie  two  ribbons 


Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  Cotinty  Leitrim.    185 

on  her  daughters'  necks.  When  the  old  woman  went 
away  he  took  the  ribbons  off  and  tied  them  on  his  two 
brothers'  necks.  So  when  she  came  down  again  she 
killed  her  two  daughters. 

Whittlegaire,  when  she  was  asleep  again,  called  his 
brothers  and  brought  them  out,  and  told  them  to  bring 
their  clothes  and  not  to  wait,  and  when  he  got  them  out 
he  told  them  all.  The  next  morning  they  went  to  a 
farmer's  house.  He  asked  them  where  did  they  lodge  all 
night,  and  they  told  him  "in  that  old  house  there  below"; 
and  he  asked  them  how  they  escaped,  for  no  one  ever  yet 
lodged  in  that  house  but  was  killed.  They  told  the 
farmer  all,  and  how  Whittlegaire  saved  them.  The  farmer 
said  he  would  give  them  work  and  his  eldest  daughter  to 
be  married  to  the  eldest  brother  if  Whittlegaire  would  go 
and  steal  the  Quilt  of  Diamonds  on  the  old  witch's  bed. 
So  Whittlegaire  went  and  got  a  long  crook,  and  put  it 
down  the  chimney,  and  hooked  it  in  the  Quilt,  and  pulled 
it  up  the  chimney,  and  made  off  The  old  woman  followed 
him,  and  she  said  :  "  Whittlegaire,  you  killed  my  two 
daughters,  and  now  you  've  stolen  my  Quilt  of  Diamonds  !" 

"  Go  along,  you  old  rap,  you  killed  them  yourself,"  said 
he  ;  "  and  I  '11  do  more  than  that  to  you." 

The  farmer  said  he  never  knew  a  little  boy  so  good  ; 
and  he  said  that  he  'd  get  his  second  daughter  married  to 
Whittlegaire's  second  brother  if  he  would  go  and  steal  him 
the  Boots  of  Swiftness. 

He  went  to  the  house  and  stole  the  boots,  which  were 
under  the  bed,  and  he  put  the  boots  on.  The  old  woman 
followed  him,  but  he  gave  a  mile  in  every  step,  and  went 
across  a  big  river  and  waited  until  she  came  down,  because, 
as  she  was  a  witch,  she  could  not  cross  the  river. 

"  Whittlegaire,"  she  said,  "  you  killed  my  two  daughters, 
and  stole  my  Quilt  of  Diamonds  and  the  Boots  of  Swift- 
ness !" 

"  Go  along,  you  old  rap,"  said  he  ;  "  I  '11  do  more  than 
that  to  you." 


1 86  Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  Cou7ity  Leitrim. 

He  gave  the  Boots  of  Swiftness  to  the  farmer,  who  said 
he  wouldn't  get  them  married  unless  Whittlegaire  brought 
him  the  Sword  of  Lightning. 

So  Whittlegaire  went,  and  he  brought  a  little  bag  of 
salt  with  him,  and  went  up  on  the  house.  There  was 
a  pot  of  meat  on  the  fire  boiling,  and  he  began  shaking^ 
down  the  salt  until  he  dried  up  all  the  water  and  it  began 
to  burn.  The  old  woman  told  her  daughter  to  go  out  for 
a  gallon  of  water. 

"  Oh !"  said  the  daughter,  "  if  Whittlegaire  catches  me, 
sure  he  will  kill  me." 

"  Oh,  bring  the  Sword  of  Lightning  with  you,"  said  the 
old  woman  ;  "  and  if  he 's  coming,  you  will  surely  see 
him." 

So  when  the  girl  stooped  to  the  well  to  lift  the  gallon 
of  water,  he  threw  her  in  and  drowned  her,  and  snatched 
the  Sword  of  Lightning  and  ran  away  with  it. 

The  old  woman  came  out  and  saw  him  run,  and  when 
he  got  over  the  river  he  waited. 

"  Whittlegaire,"  she  says,  "  you  killed  my  three  daughters, 
you  stole  my  Quilt  of  Diamonds,  and  my  Boots  of  Swift- . 
ness,  and  now  you  have  my  Sword  of  Lightning." 

"  Go  along,  you  old  rap,"  said  he  ;  I  'II  do  more  than 
that  to  you  !" 

So  he  brought  the  Sword  of  Lightning  to  the  farmer. 

The  farmer  then  promised  his  youngest  daughter  to 
Whittlegaire  himself,  and  said  he  would  give  them  a  good 
farm  if  he  would  bring  him  the  Steed  of  Bells  which  was 
in  the  old  woman's  stable.  This  steed  had  his  hair  plaited, 
and  on  every  plait  there  was  a  bell.  Whittlegaire  went 
to  steal  the  steed,  and  the  horse  shook,  and  every  bell 
rang. 

The  old  woman  came  out.  "  Whittlegaire,"  you  're  here," 
said  she  ;  "  and  if  I  get  you,  I  '11  kill  you."  So  she  looked 
through  the  whole  stable,  and  she  couldn't  find  him,  for  he 
hid. 

When    he   got  her  asleep  again   he  went  to  steal  the 


Folk- lore  Gleanings  front  Coufity  Leitrim.    187 

horse,  and  every  bell  rang  again,  and  waked  the  woman. 
She  came  out,  and  she  says  :  "  Whittlegaire,  I  '11  not  go  in 
till  I  get  you."     She  looked,  and  she  got  him. 

"  Whittlegaire,  I  have  you,"  she  says. 

"  Well,  you  have,"  said  he. 

"  I  don't  know  what  death  will  be  hard  enough  to  give 
you." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,  for  I  've  earned  a  hard  death  ;  so 
the  worst  death  you  can  give  me  is  to  put  down  a  pot  and 
boil  a  pot  of  stirabout,  and  put  lots  of  butter  in  it,  and  let 
me  eat  until  I  'm  not  able  to  stir,  and  put  me  into  a  bag» 
tie  me  in,  and  get  a  stick  and  beat  me  until  the  butter 
comes  out  through  the  bag !" 

"  Well,  that 's  the  very  death  I  '11  give  you." 

So  she  put  down  the  pot,  and  boiled  the  stirabout,  and 
put  lots  of  butter  in  it,  and  let  him  eat  it  till  he  wasn't 
able  to  stir,  and  put  him  in  the  bag,  and  tied  him  in. 

She  had  ne'er  a  stick  heavy  enough  to  beat  him,  and 
she  had  to  go  away  to  get  one.  When  he  got  her  away, 
he  took  out  his  knife  and  cut  the  bag,  got  out  and  filled  it 
up  with  stones,  and  tied  it  up  again.  The  old  woman 
came  back  with  the  stick  and  began  to  beat  the  bag,  and 
she  beat  it  a  long  time. 

"  Whittlegaire,"  she  says,  "  I  think  I  have  killed  you 
enough,  though  the  butter  isn't  coming  through  the 
bag."  So  she  opened  the  sack  and  shook  out — all  the 
stones ! 

She  ran  out  to  the  stable,  but  the  steed  was  gone  ;  and 
she  looked  and  saw  Whittlegaire  galloping  with  the  horse, 
which  soon  leaped  the  river.  Then  he  waited.  "  Whittle- 
gaire," she  said,  "  you  killed  my  three  daughters,  you  stole 
my  Quilt  of  Diamonds,  and  Boots  of  Swiftness,  and  Sword 
of  Lightning,  and  now  you  have  my  Steed  of  Bells  ;  you 
have  all  from  me  now." 

He  came  back  a  few  days  after,  and  he  found  the  old 
woman  dead  in  the  house.  He  got  a  room  full  of  gold, 
and  a  room  full  of  silver,  and  a  room  full  of  dead  people 


1 88  Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim. 

she  had  killed.     So  he  married  the  farmer's  daughter,  and 

"  They  put  down  the  kettle  and  made  tay  ; 
And  "if  they  don't  live  happy, 

That  we  may" — 
says  Whittlegaire. 


The  above  ending  is  tacked  on  to  all  tales  in  this  dis- 
trict. 

The  people  were  unable  to  explain  the  name  of  the 
hero  "  Whittlegaire".  Whittle  was  said  to  be  a  corrup- 
tion of  "  Whistle".  Gaire  was  declared  by  one  to  mean 
"  laughter",  while  another  said  it  should  be  giur  (sharp). 

Jack  and  the  King,  or  You're  a  Liar  ! 

Long  ago  there  was  a  king,  and  anyone  that  would  get 
him  to  say  "  You  are  a  liar",  he  would  get  his  daughter 
married  to  him.  So  there  went  hundreds  of  young  men, 
and  none  of  them  could  get  him  to  say  "  You  are  a 
liar". 

There  was  a  servant-boy,  and  he  asked  his  master  to  buy 
him  a  suit  of  clothes  ;  so  the  master  did,  and  he  went  to  the 
king's  house.  He  said  to  the  servant,  "  I  want  to  see  the 
king." 

The  king  came  out  and  asked  what  was  the  matter  with 
him.  He  said  he  came  to  see  if  he  could  get  him  to  say 
"  You  are  a  liar". 

Then  said  the  king,  "  Come  here  until  I  show  you  a 
great  tree  which  grows  here  below."  So  they  went 
down. 

Said  the  king,  "Did  you  ever  see  such  a  tree  in  your 
life  ?"  Replied  Jack,  "  The  smallest  tree  in  our  wood  is 
bigger  than  that." 

Then  said  the  king,  "  Come  down  farther  until  you 
see  the  meadow  that  is  here  below."  So  they  went 
down. 

Said  the  king,  "  Did  you  ever  see  such  grass  as  that  in 


Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim.    189 

your  life?"  Then  said  Jack,  "The  after-grass  in  our 
meadow  is  better  than  that." 

"  Well",  said  the  king,  "  come  here  until  I  show  you  a 
great  turnip  which  grows  here  beyond."  So  they  went 
over. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  turnip  as  that  ?"  said  the  king. 

Then  said  Jack,  "  When  we  were  pulling  our  turnips,  the 
little  ones  we  were  leaving  after  us,  the  smallest  of  them  was 
bigger  than  that.  When  we  had  them  all  pulled  we  let 
in  the  sheep  to  the  turnip-ground.  One  of  them  began  to 
eat  on  the  side  of  a  turnip,  and  in  three  weeks  she  came 
out  on  the  other  side  with  two  lambs !" 

"  Very  good",  said  the  king ;  "  come  up  to  the  garden 
until  you  see  a  beanstalk  which  grows  there."  So  they 
went  up. 

Said  the  king,  "  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  beanstalk  as 
that  in  your  life  ?" 

"  I  did",  said  Jack  ;  "  there  grew  one  in  our  garden. 
When  it  was  two  months  old  you  could  not  see  the  top 
of  it ;  so  I  prepared  one  day  to  climb  the  beanstalk.  I 
was  two  days  climbing,  and  I  sat  down  and  ate  my  supper, 
and  I  slept  all  night  in  the  branches.  I  started  to  climb 
in  the  morning,  and  on  the  approach  of  evening  I  heard  a 
great  noise  over  my  head  ;  what  was  it  but  a  nest  of  bees  ; 
so  I  went  in  on  the  door  of  the  nest.  The  old  queen-bee 
met  me,  she  went  to  sting  me,  I  drew  my  sword  and  cut 
off  her  right  wing,  it  fell  on  me,  and  I  lay  under  it  for  two 
days,  for  1  could  not  get  up  ;  but  the  weather  was  so  very 
warm  the  wing  began  to  decay.  The  third  day  I  got  out 
from  under  it,  so  I  went  on  further.  I  heard  another  great 
noise  over  my  head  ;  what  was  it  but  a  nest  of  wasps.  I 
got  afraid,  and  says  I  to  myself,  '  I  will  leap';  so  I  did,  and 
sank  to  my  shoulders  in  the  rock  !  I  could  not  get  out,  so 
I  cut  off  my  head  and  sent  it  away  for  help  to  take  me  out 
of  the  rock.  A  fox  came  out  of  a  den  and  began  snarling 
at  my  head.  I  gave  one  leap,  and  I  bursted  the  rock  for 
two  miles,  and  I  ran  over  and  hit  the  fox  one  kick,  and  I 


190  Folk-lore  Gleaniit^s  from  County  Leitrim. 

knocked  three  kings  out  of  him,  and  the  worst  of  them  was 
a  better  man  than  you  !"  said  Jack. 

"  You  are  a  Har !"  said  the  king. 

So  Jack  had  to  get  the  king's  daughter  married  to  him, 
and  they  lived  happy  ever  afterwards. 

The  Glass  Mountains. 

Long  ago  there  was  a  young  gentleman,  a  beautiful 
young  man,  he  got  married  to  a  young  lady.  He  was 
enchanted.  He  said  to  her,  "  Which  would  you  rather  I 
would  be,  a  man  at  night  and  a  bull  in  the  daytime,  or  a 
bull  at  night  and  a  man  in  the  daytime  i*"  She  said,  "  I 
would  rather  have  you  a  man  at  night  and  a  bull  in  the 
day." 

When  they  were  one  year  married  there  was  a  young 
son  born  for  them,  and  he  told  her,  if  anything  would 
happen  the  child  not  to  cry  one  tear.  So  a  big  black  dog 
came  down  the  chimney  and  took  the  child  out  of  her 
arms,  and  brought  it  with  him.     She  never  shed  a  tear. 

The  next  year  there  was  another  boy  born  for  them. 
Her  husband  told  her,  if  anything  would  happen  the  second 
child  not  to  shed  a  tear.  The  black  dog  came  a  second 
time,  and  brought  the  other  child  with  him.  She  never 
shed  a  tear. 

The  third  year  there  was  a  daughter  born  for  them. 
The  husband  told  her,  "  If  anything  happens  this  child,  if 
you  shed  one  tear  you  will  never  see  me  again."  The 
black  dog  came  down  the  chimney  and  took  the  daughter 
with  him  out  of  her  mother's  arms.  The  mother  shed  one 
tear,  and  her  husband  never  returned.  She  was  grieved 
and  heart-broken,  and  she  said  she  would  go  in  search  of 
her  husband. 

The  first  day  she  travelled  a  long  journey,  and  she  came 
to  a  little  house.  There  was  only  an  old  man  and  woman 
and  a  little  boy  in  the  house.  She  asked  lodging  for  the 
night,  so  they  gave  her  lodging.     In  the  morning,  when 


Folk-lore  Glemiings  from  Cotmty  Leitrt7?i.    191 

she  was  going  away,  the  little  boy  gave  her  a  comb.  He 
told  her  to  mind  it,  that  any  person  who  combed  their 
hair  with  it  would  be  the  nicest  person  in  the  world. 

The  next  day,  late  in  the  evening,  she  came  to  another 
little  house.  There  was  an  old  man  and  woman  and  a 
little  boy  in  it.  She  asked  lodging  for  the  night.  She 
got  it.  The  next  morning,  when  she  was  going  away,  the 
little  boy  gave  her  a  scissors,  and  he  said,  "  Mind  this,  the 
worst  clothes  you  will  cut  with  this  will  become  the  nicest 
in  the  world." 

The  next  day,  late  in  the  evening,  she  came  to  another 
little  house,  at  the  foot  of  the  Glass  Mountains.  There 
was  an  old  man  and  woman  and  a  pretty  little  girl.  She 
was  blind  of  one  eye.  She  asked  lodging  for  the  night. 
The  old  man  said  he  would  make  a  pair  of  glass  slippers 
for  her,  if  she  would  stop  seven  years  with  him,  and  that 
she  could  climb  the  Glass  Mountains.  The  old  man  told 
her  that  her  husband  was  living  at  the  back  of  the  Glass 
Mountains,  and  that  he  was  married  to  another  lady,  and 
that  all  his  enchantments  were  gone  at  the  end  of  the 
seven  years. 

When  she  was  going  away  the  little  girl  gave  her  an 
^^^y  ^rid  told  her  when  she  would  break  it,  there  would 
come  four  horses  and  a  carriage  out  of  it.  So  she  climbed 
the  Glass  Mountains.  There  was  a  beautiful  castle  at  the 
back  of  them.  She  walked  about  the  avenue,  and  the 
lady  came  out  and  asked  her  what  she  wanted.  She  said 
.she  was  hungry.  She  brought  her  in  and  gave  her  break- 
fast. 

She  took  out  the  comb,  and  said  that  any  person  that 
would  comb  their  hair  with  that  would  be  the  nicest 
person  in  the  world,  and  if  she  let  her  sleep  one  night 
with  her  husband,  she  would  give  her  the  comb.  So  she 
said  she  would. 

So  night  came  on,  and  when  her  husband  went  to  bed 
she  gave  him  a  drink,  and  put  sleeping-drops  on  it,  so  she 
let  her  to  bed  with  him.     She  said  ; 


192  Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim. 

"Three  babes  I  bore  for  thee, 
Three  basin-full  of  tears 
I  shed  for  thee. 
Seven  long  years  I  spent 
Climbing  up  the  glass  mountains, 
And  my  bonny  bull  of  oranges  («V), 
Will  you  not  turn  to  me?" 

She  continued  saying  this  the  whole  night,  but  he  was  so 
fast  asleep  he  never  found  her. 

She  had  to  rise  early  before  he  awoke,  and  the  mistress 
hid  her  until  the  gentleman  went  away  shooting.  She  took 
out  the  scissors,  and  told  her  anything  she  would  cut  with 
that  would  be  the  nicest  thing  in  the  world,  and  she  would 
give  it  to  her  if  she  would  let  her  sleep  another  night  with 
her  husband.  She  said  she  would.  So  she  gave  him  a 
drink  the  next  night,  and  put  sleeping-drops  on  it,  so  she 
let  her  sleep  with  her  husband  the  second  night.  She 
said  : 

"Three  babes  I  bore  for  thee. 

Three  basin-full  of  tears 

I  shed  for  thee. 

Seven  long  years  I  spent 

Climbing  up  the  glass  mountains. 

And  my  bonny  bull  of  oranges  {sic). 

Will  you  turn  to  me  ?" 

He  was  so  fast  asleep  that  he  never  found  her.  She  had  to 
arise  early  before  he  awoke.  The  mistress  hid  her.  The 
gentleman  arose  and  went  away  shooting.  There  was 
another  young  gentleman  that  slept  in  the  next  bedroom 
to  them.  He  said  to  the  gentleman  next  day,  "  There  is  a 
ghost  in  your  bedroom,  did  you  not  hear  it?  I  have  heard 
it  say  for  the  last  two  nights  : 

'  Three  babes  I  bore  for  thee. 
Three  basin-full  of  tears 
I  shed  for  thee. 
Seven  long  years  I  spent 


Folk-lore  Gleani7tgs  frofu  County  Leitrim.   193 

Climbing  up  the  glass  mountains, 
And  my  bonny  bull  of  oranges  {sic). 
Will  you  turn  to  me  ? ' 

I  never  slept  a  wink  for  the  last  two  nights  but  listening 
to  it." 

The  gentleman  said,  "  My  wife  gave  me  a  drink  for  the 
last  two  nights,  it  made  me  sick"  {i.e.,  ill). 

The  other  gentleman  said  to  him,  "  Do  not  take  that 
drink  to-night,  but  try  and  stop  awake  until  you  see  would 
you  find  it." 

The  woman  took  out  the  ^g^  and  broke  it,  and  there 
came  a  coach  and  four  horses  out  of  it.  She  said  she 
would  give  it  to  her  if  she  would  let  her  sleep  the  third 
night  with  her  husband.  She  said  she  would.  When  her 
husband  went  to  bed  she  brought  him  a  drink  with  sleep- 
ing-drops on  it.  He  said  he  would  not  drink  it  until  she 
would  bring  him  a  cut  of  bread.  She  went  for  the  bread,, 
and  he  threw  the  drink  in  the  grate,  and  he  let  on  he  was 
fast  asleep.  She  let  the  woman  go  to  bed  to  him.  She 
said  again  : 

"Three  babes  I  bore  for  three, 
Three  basin-full  of  tears 
I  shed  for  thee. 
Seven  long  years  I  spent 
Climbing  up  the  glass  mountains, 
And  my  bonny  bull  of  oranges  {sic). 
Will  you  turn  to  me  ?" 

The  gentleman  did  not  speak  for  a  long  time  ;  at  last  he 
turned  to  her  and  asked  her  was  she  his  first  wife,  and  she 
said  "Yes".  He  told  her  that  they  were  her  three  children 
that  were  in  the  three  little  houses  ;  and  that  it  was  the 
one  tear  that  she  dropped  that  blinded  the  little  girl's  eye. 
He  told  her  when  she  would  rise  in  the  morning,  and  take 
breakfast,  to  go  away  to  the  foot  of  the  Glass  Mountains, 
and  that  he  would  be  there  as  soon  as  her,  and  so  he  was. 
They  two  crossed  the  Glass  Mountains,  and  brought  their 


194  Folk-lore  Gleanings  from  County  Leitrim. 

three  children  home  to  their  own  castle,  and  lived  happy 
ever  afterwards. 


This  tale  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  in  Mr.  Cur- 
tin's  Irish  Myths  and  Tales,  under  the  name  of  "The  Three 
Daughters  of  Coluath  O'Hara,  King  of  Desmond",  where 
the  enchantment  is  caused  by  the  Queen  of  Tir-na-n-og. 
There  are,  however,  many  differences  between  the  two 
versions.  Mr.  Curtin's  version  makes  no  mention  of  the 
Glass  Mountains,  an  important  incident  here  ;  neither  is  the 
night  song  of  the  wife  given  by  him.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  first  part  of  the  story  is  much  fuller  in  his  version,  and 
that  told  here  has  undoubtedly  suffered  in  the  process  of 
translation  into  English. 

"  My  bonny  bull  of  oranges"  the  narrator  could  not 
explain  ;  it  was  as  he  had  always  heard  it.  It  is  suggested 
that  it  is  a  corruption  of  "  Bull  of  Norroway". 

Leland  L.  Duncan. 


B  A  LOCH  I     TALES. 


VIII. 
The  Three  Fools. 


THREE  foolish  Baloches  went  out  one  day  to  rob. 
When  they  came  to  a  distant  land,  they  met  a  rider. 
The  rider  stopped  some  way  off  and  made  a  salaam.  He 
thought  in  his  heart  :  "They  are  three,  and  I  am  one;  may 
be  they'll  attack  me."  Then  those  three  men  went  on  their 
way,  and  the  rider  went  on  his  way.  The  three  men  on 
foot  began  to  talk  together,  and  each  of  them  said  :  "  The 
horseman  salaamed  to  me,"  and  they  began  to  quarrel 
about  it.  Then  one  of  them  said  :  "  Come  on  !  let  us  ask 
the  horseman  himself  to  which  of  us  he  salaamed."  So 
they  started  off  after  the  horseman,  and  he  thought  they 
were  coming  to  attack  him.  So  he  spurred  on  ahead, 
and  they  followed  behind,  till  he  came  to  a  village,  and, 
as  soon  as  he  stopped  there  to  exchange  greetings,  up 
came  the  foot-men  behind  him,  and  said  :  "  We  want  only 
to  ask  you  one  question  :  to  which  of  us  did  you  salaam  .■'" 
The  horseman  said  :  "  I  salaamed  to  the  biggest  fool  of 
you."  Then  they  said  :  "  Let  us  tell  stories  of  our  foolish- 
ness, and    see   who   is   the  biggest  fool."      The  first  one 

said  : 

THE  FIRST  fool's  STORY. 

One  night  I  was  sleeping  in  my  house  with  my  wife. 
I  told  her  to  get  up  and  shut  the  door,  and  she  said  : 
"  Get  up  and  shut  the  door  yourself"  At  last  we  settled 
it  that  the  one  who  spoke  first  should  have  to  shut  the 
door.  Now  there  was  a  thief  listening  to  what  we  said, 
who  had  made  his  way  into  the  house.  First  he  robbed 
our  house,  and   I   see  him,  and   my  wife  sees   him  ;  but 


196  Balochi  Tales. 

neither  of  us  says  a  word,  lest  we  should  have  to  shut  the 
door.  Then  the  thief  tied  our  things  up  in  a  bundle,  and 
carried  it  out,  and  put  it  down  outside.  Then  he  came 
back  and  rubbed  his  hand  on  the  bottom  of  the  griddle, 
and  came  and  rubbed  it  over  the  faces  of  both  of  us,  man  and 
wife,  and  made  both  our  faces  black,  and  then  went  out  and 
walked  off  with  our  things.  But  we  did  not  say  a  word. 
In  the  morning,  when  it  was  day,  my  wife  called  out : 
"  Man,  your  face  is  black  !"  and  I  called  out  :  "  Well  done, 
wife  !  Now  you  get  up  and  shut  the  door."  This  is  the 
story  of  my  foolishness. 

THE   SECOND   FOOL'S   STORY. 

Then  the  next  one  said  :  My  foolishness  is  as  follows  ! 
I  had  two  wives.  One  day  one  of  my  wives,  who  was 
searching  my  head  for  vermin,  noticed  a  white  hair  in  my 
head,  and  she  pulled  out  that  white  hair.  Then  my  other 
wife  said :  "  I  saw  that  white  hair,  that  you  have  pulled  out, 
every  day  ;  now,  what  have  you  pulled  it  out  for  ?"  Then 
I  said  :  "  Wife,  don't  quarrel ;  you  pull  out  a  black  hair." 
So  she  pulled  out  a  black  hair.  On  this  the  first  wife  said : 
"  I  only  pulled  out  a  white  one,  why  have  you  gone  and 
pulled  out  a  black  one?"  I  said:  "  Don't  quarrel  ;  you  pull 
out  a  black  one,  too."  So  she  also  pulled  out  a  black  one. 
Then  the  second  said  :  I  have  only  pulled  out  one,  and  she 
has  pulled  out  two  !"  I  said  to  her  :  "  You  can  pull  out 
another."  Then  the  first  wife  complained,  saying  :  "  Hers 
are  both  black,  but  mine  are  one  black  and  one  white."  I 
said  :  "  Don't  be  vexed  ;  pull  out  another  black  one."  So 
they  went  on  quarrelling  till  they  pulled  out  all  my  hair, 
and  my  beard,  and  my  love-locks  ;  they  rooted  out  every- 
thing. This  was  my  foolishness,  that  I  would  not  vex  my 
wives,  and  have  lost  all  my  hair,  and  am  left  quite  bald. 

THE   THIRD   FOOL'S   STORY. 

Then  the  third  said  :  My  foolishness  is  as  follows.  I 
had  a  herd  of  cattle,  and  one  day  I  was  grazing  my  herd. 


B  aloe  hi  Tales.  197 

when  a  man  passed  by  me.  I  called  out  to  this  man : 
^'  Look  for  a  wife  for  me."  One  day,  as  fate  would  have  it, 
this  man  came  back  again  while  I  was  grazing  my  herd, 
and  said :  "  I  have  just  come  from  performing  your  be- 
trothal." So  I  divided  my  cattle  into  shares,  and  gave  him 
one-third.  After  a  year  had  passed  the  man  came  back 
again,  and  said  :  "  I  have  now  celebrated  your  wedding." 
On  this  I  gave  him  another  third  part  of  my  herd.  Another 
year  passed,  and  again  he  came  back,  and  said :  "  A  son 
has  been  born  to  you."  I  then  gave  him  the  third  that 
was  left,  and  said  :  "  Take  them  away.  Now  show  me  my 
wife  and  show  me  my  son."  He  went  in  front,  and  I  went 
behind,  till  we  came  to  a  village,  A  woman  was  sitting 
there,  rocking  a  child  in  a  swinging  cradle.  The  man 
said  :  "  Go  on,  that 's  your  wife,  and  that 's  your  son."  So  I 
went  up  close  to  the  woman.  Just  then  the  child  began  to 
cry.  I  said  to  the  woman  :  "  Rock  the  child  !"  She  said 
nothing,  but  went  on  rocking.  The  child  cried  again,  and 
again  I  called  out :  "  Woman  !  why  aren't  you  rocking  the 
child?"  She  said  :  "  My  curse  upon  you  !  who  are  you,  to 
come  chattering  to  me  ?"  I  said  :  "  Woman  !  you  are  my 
wife,  this  is  my  child  ;  I  have  given  a  whole  herd  of  cattle 
for  you  !  Why  do  you  make  a  disturbance  .-•"  On  this 
she  called  out  to  her  husband  and  brother,  and  when  they 
came  up  she  said :  "  This  coward  has  been  calling  me 
names !"  They  seized  me  by  the  arm,  and  said  :  "  Who 
are  you?"  I  said  :  "  I  am  the  master  here;  that's  my  wife 
and  child."  On  this  these  two  men  bound  me  and  dragged 
me  before  the  king,  and  accused  me  of  being  a  thief  I 
was  condemned,  and  lay  in  prison  for  a  year,  and  after  a 
year  I  was  let  out.  This  is  the  story  of  my  foolishness. 
Now  which  of  these  three  was  the  biggest  fool  ?  The 
horseman  said  :  "  The  biggest  fool  was  the  cowherd,  for  he 
■gave  up  all  he  had  without  ever  seeing  wife  or  child.  It 
was  to  him  that  I  salaamed." 


VOL.  IV. 


198  Balochi  Tales. 

IX. 

The  Goatherd  who  became  King. 

A  certain  king  went  out  to  hunt  with  his  followers,  and 
when  they  came  to  a  certain  place  the  king  gave  this 
order :  "  When  any  hunter  puts  up  any  game  he  must 
pursue  it  alone  :  no  one  else  must  go  with  him."  By  God's 
order  it  so  happened  that  the  king  put  up  a  buck.  The 
buck  went  off  and  the  king  after  it ;  no  one  else 
came.  But  the  king's  wazir  followed  a  long  way  behind, 
thinking  to  keep  himself  informed  of  what  the  king  did. 
As  the  buck  bounded  on  he  alighted  in  the  midst  of  a  flock 
of  goats.  The  goatherd  shouted  to  the  king  :  "  Who  are 
you,  scattering  my  herd  ?"  The  king  said  nothing.  Then 
the  goatherd  struck  at  him  with  his  hatchet,  and  hit  him 
on  the  head  ;  the  king  fell  off  his  mare  dead.  Up  came 
the  wazir  on  his  track.  "  You  have  killed  the  king,"  said 
he  to  the  goatherd,  "  I  didn't  know  he  was  the  king,"  said 
the  goatherd  ;  "  he  scattered  my  herd  and  so  I  struck  him, 
and  he  fell  down  dead.  You  can  do  whatever  you  think 
proper,"  *'  Dig  a  hole,"  said  the  wazir,  "  and  let  us  bury 
him."  So  the  goatherd  dug  a  hole.  The  wazir  then  took 
off  the  king's  clothes,  and  he  took  off  his  weapons,  and 
gave  them  to  the  goatherd.  They  buried  the  king  there, 
and  then  the  wazir  said  :  "  Now  you  are  king,  come  now 
and  take  the  king's  place."  So  the  goatherd  hid  his  face 
from  the  army,  and  the  wazir  said  to  the  army  :  "  The  king 
is  not  well ;  he  has  caught  a  fever.  You  are  dismissed  ;  I 
will  take  the  king  home  myself"  So  all  the  king's  fol- 
lowers returned,  each  man  to  his  own  house,  and  the  wazir 
brought  the  king  home.  Now  the  king  had  two  wives, 
and  the  wazir  said  to  them  :  "  Your  former  husband  is 
dead,  now  this  man  is  your  husband."  They  said  :  "  If  this 
is  the  man,  we  accept  him."  Then  the  wazir  said  to  the 
goatherd  :  "  You  must  stay  in  the  house,  and  not  go  out. 
You  are  king,  but  I  will  administer  justice  myself."  So 
for  some  days  he  stayed  in  the  house  and  did  not  go  out. 


Balochi  Tales.  199 

till  one  day  he  said  to  himself :  "  I  have  now  become  a  king, 
let  me  go  to  the  court-house  and  see  what  law  and  justice 
are."  When  he  came  there  he  sees  the  wazir  sitting  on  a 
throne ;  so  he  came  up,  thinking  he  would  sit  on  the 
throne  with  the  wazir,  but  the  wazir  said  :  "  Keep  off !  You 
are  a  goatherd,  and  have  a  goatherd's  wit !"  He  turned 
back  and  went  home.  Next  day  he  went  again  while  the 
wazir  was  seated  on  the  throne,  and  again  the  wazir  told 
him  to  get  away,  and  that  day  also  he  went  home.  The 
third  day  he  came  again,  and  the  wazir  again  spoke  as 
before.  Then  the  goatherd  struck  the  wazir,  and  drove 
him  away,  and  threw  him  off  the  throne,  and  cast  him 
forth  out  of  the  town.  The  wazir  fled  away,  and  the  goat- 
herd exercised  the  royal  sway,  and  sat  upon  the  throne. 
The  wazir  became  poor  and  hungry,  and  one  day  he  went 
out  and  sat  on  the  river-bank.  He  sees  a  flower  come 
floating  down  on  the  water,  and  he  put  out  his  hand  and 
pulled  it  out.  He  saw  it  was  a  flower  of  heavenly  beauty, 
and  thought  he  would  take  it  to  the  king,  and  perchance 
he  would  show  him  some  favour.  So  he  took  it  to  the 
king,  and  the  king  took  it  into  his  house  and  gave  it  to  his 
wives.  The  two  wives  began  to  quarrel  about  the  flower, 
each  one  saying,  "  I  will  have  it."  The  king  came  back 
to  the  wazir,  and  said  :  "  Bring  me  another  flower  like  this 
by  to-morrow  morning,  or  I  will  rip  you  up."  The  wazir 
returned,  and  sat  down  on  the  river-bank,  thinking,  "  Where 
can  I  find  another  such  flower?"  He  sat  there  all  day, 
and  passed  the  night  there  too.  When  the  sun  rose  in  the 
morning,  he  said  to  himself:  "  Now  there  is  no  way  back 
for  me  ;  if  1  go  back  the  king  will  rip  me  up  ;  rather  than 
go  back  to  die,  I  will  here  and  now  jump  into  the  river.'* 
With  that  he  threw  himself  into  the  river.  When  he  got 
to  the  bottom  he  sees  a  heavenly  garden  laid  out,  and, 
going  on,  he  sees  a  lordly  fort  built  there.  He  went  in, 
and  there,  God  be  praised  !  the  Holy  Prophet  was  holding 
his  court,  and  the  goatherd  who  had  become  the  new  king 
was  standing  before  him,  and  fanning  him  to  keep  off  flies! 

p  2 


200  Balochi  Tales. 

When  the  wazir  turned  back  he  filled  a  basketful  of  the 
flowers  and  took  it  with  him.  Then  he  closed  his  eyes,  and 
opening  them  again,  he  sees  that  he  is  still  standing  on 
the  river-bank.  The  wazir  took  up  the  basket  of  flowers, 
and  went  and  presented  them  to  the  king.  The  king 
asked  him  whence  he  had  brought  them,  and  the  wazir 
told  him  how  it  had  happened.  The  king  said:  "  Did  you 
recognise  anyone  there  ?"  "  Yes,  my  lord,"  said  the  wazir, 
"  I  recognised  thee  !"  "  Where  was  I  .-*"  said  he.  "  Thou 
wast  waving  a  fan  before  the  Prophet,"  said  the  wazir. 
"  Then  do  not  call  me  Goatherd,"  said  the  king,  "  for  God 
has  given  me  the  kingdom.  Now  you  can  return  to  your 
own  place  as  wazir,  and  I  will  rule  as  king  myself." 

So  the  king  ruled  as  king,  and  the  wazir  served  as  wazir. 

X. 

Balach  and  the  Bulethis. 

A  certain  Bulethi  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Sangsila  ;  he  had 
much  cattle  but  no  son.  And  in  that  place  he  grew  a  crop 
of  millet.  One  day  he  went  to  stroll  round  the  field,  and 
saw  that  a  herd  of  cattle  had  been  eating  the  millet.  So 
he  looked  for  their  tracks  all  round  the  field  to  see  which 
side  they  had  come  from.  But  he  could  find  no  track 
outside  the  banks,  although  the  herd  had  grazed  down  the 
millet  inside.  The  next  day  when  he  came  he  found  the 
millet  again  grazed  down,  and  again  he  searched  for  the 
tracks,  but  no  track  went  outside  the  bank.  Then  he  made 
a  smoky  fire,  and  left  it  burning  at  the  millet-field  that  the 
cattle  might  come  to  it,  for  it  is  the  custom  of  cattle  to 
collect  round  a  fire.  When  he  came  the  third  day  he  sees 
that  the  cattle,  after  grazing  on  the  millet,  had  come 
and  lain  down  by  the  fire.  Then  he  knew  in  his  heart 
that  this  herd  had  come  from  heaven.  There  were  nine- 
teen cows  in  the  herd  ;  he  drove  them  off  and  brought 
them  home.     His  wife's  name  was  Sammi.     He  gave  the 


B  aloe  hi  Tales.  201 

herd  to  Sammi,  saying  :  "  This  herd  is  yours  ;  for  when  I 

die  the  heir  will  not  give  you  the  rest  of  my  cattle."     After 

this  he  moved  away  and  went  to  live  under  the  protection 

of  Doda  Gorgezh,  and  he  said  to  Doda :  "  When  I  die,  let 

my  heirs  carry  off  all  the  rest  of  my  cattle,  but  this  herd  is 

Sammi's  ;  do  not  then  give  them  up  to  anyone,  for  they 

are  under  your  guardianship."     One  day  Sammi's  husband 

died,  and  the  heirs  came  and  demanded  his  cattle.     Doda 

gave  them  all  the  rest  of  the  cattle,  but  did  not  give  up 

Sammi's  herd.     One  day  soon  after,  the  Bulethis  came  and 

carried  off  that  herd.     Doda  went  in  pursuit,  and  came  up 

with  them  at  Garmaf,  and  there  they  fought.     Doda  was 

slain   by  the  Bulethis,  and  his  tomb  is  still  there.     After 

this   the    Bulethis   came    again,  and    drove  off  a  herd  of 

camels  belonging  to  Rais,  Doda's  cousin.     Rais,  with  his 

brethren    Kauri,  Chandram,  Tota,    Murid,  and    Summen, 

pursued  them,  overtook  them,  and  gave  them  battle,  but 

they  were  all  slain   there  by  the   Bulethis,  together  with 

Rais.     Only  one  brother  was  left,  named  Balach,  who  was 

a  man  of  no  spirit.     Then  Balach  went  to  the  shrine  of 

Sakhi-Sarwar,  and   for  three   years  he  fetched  water  for 

the  visitors  at  the  shrine.     After  three  years  were  passed, 

one  night  he  saw  a  dream  :  Sakhi-Sarwar  came  to  Balach, 

and  roused  him,  saying,  "  Go  and  fight  with  the  Bulethis." 

Getting  up,  he  went  and  bought  a  bow,  and  at  night  he 

took  it  and  unstrung  it.     When  he  arose  next  morning  he 

finds  the  bow  strung.     Then  Sakhi-Sarwar  gave  him  his 

dismissal, — "  Now  thy  bow   is   strung,   go   and  fight  thy 

enemies."     So  Balach  went  and  waged  war  on  the  Bulethis ; 

he  had  only  one  companion,  Nakhifo  by  name  (they  were 

half-brothers,   their   father   being    Hassan,   but    Nakhifo's 

mother  was  a  slave).     No  one  else  was  with  him.     They 

fought  in  the   Sham  and   Nesao  plains,  in   Barkhan,  and 

Syahaf,  and  Kahan,  for   in    those   days   all  that  country 

belonged  to  the  Bulethis.     When  men  lay  down  to  rest  at 

night  they  would  discharge  their  arrows  at  them  ;    three- 

score-and-one  men  they  slew.     Then  the  Bulethis  left  the 


202  Balochi  Tales. 

hill  country,  and  marched  down  into  the  Indus  plains. 
When  Balach  grew  old  he  made  his  dwelling  at  Sangsila, 
and  there  a  band  of  Bulethi  horsemen  fell  upon  him,  and 
slew  him,  and  lost  one  of  their  own  men  too.  This  was  how 
it  happened.  The  Bulethis,  as  they  came  up,  called  out  to 
Balach :  "  Balach !  give  up  that  money  you  carried  off !" 
Balach  said :  "Come  nearer;  I  am  deaf  in  my  ears."  So  they 
came  close  up,  and  again  demanded  it.  Then  Balach  said  : 
'■  In  byegone  days,  when  I  had  the  money  by  me,  you 
never  asked  for  it ;  but  now,  when  it  has  all  melted  away 
from  me,  now  you  come  asking  for  it."  He  had  a  razor  in 
his  hand,  and  he  plunged  it  into  the  belly  of  the  Bulethi, 
saying,  "  There  's  your  money  for  you."  The  Bulethi  fell 
dead,  and  then  they  fell  upon  Balach  and  slew  him.  'Twas 
thus  the  Bulethis  and  the  Gorgezhes  fought. 


XI. 

The  Prince,  the  Wazir,  the  Kotwal,  and  the 

Slave. 

There  was  once  a  king,  and  he  had  no  son,  till,  as  it  fell 
out,  a  fakir  prayed  that  a  son  might  be  born  to  him.  After 
this  a  son  was  born.  When  the  king's  son  grew  up,  they 
made  him  a  bow  and  clay  pellets  to  play  with,  and  one 
day,  when  a  woman  came  to  fetch  a  pot  of  water,  he  let 
jfly  a  pellet  at  her,  and  broke  her  water-pot.  So  he 
went  on  breaking  them,  till  the  whole  tribe  assembled 
and  complained  to  the  king,  saying :  "  Thy  son  fires  pel- 
lets at  us  and  breaks  our  water-pots."  Then  the  king 
issued  orders  to  the  coppersmiths  to  make  copper  water- 
pots  for  all  whose  vessels  were  broken.  So  they  made 
them  copper  water-pots.  On  this  the  king's  son  made 
him  steel  bullets,  and  when  the  women  carried  forth 
their  water-pots  to  fetch  water  he  discharged  these  steel 
bullets  at  them,  and  broke  their  water-pots.  Again  the 
tribe  gathered  together  and  came  to  the  king,  and  said  : 


Balochi  Tales,  203 

"  Either  be  a  friend  to  your  people,  or  a  friend  to  your 
son  !"  The  king  said  :  "  Come  back  to-morrow  ;  I  will 
think  it  over  to-night,  and  to-morrow  I  will  give  you  an 
answer."  On  the  morrow  the  people  came  back,  and  the 
king  answered  and  said  to  them  :  "  I  will  drive  away  my 
son,  but  not  my  people."  Then  he  said  to  a  maidservant : 
"  When  you  take  my  son  his  food,  turn  both  his  shoes 
upside  down  and  leave  them  so."  So,  when  the  maid- 
servant carried  the  prince  his  food  she  turned  his  shoes 
upside  down.  When  he  had  eaten  his  food,  and  got  up, 
he  saw  that  both  his  shoes  were  turned  upside  down,  and 
he  said  in  his  heart  :  "  My  father  has  given  me  my  dis- 
missal." 

There  was  a  great  friendship  between  the  prince  and  the 
wazir's  son,  so,  having  taken  his  leave,  he  went  to  the  wazir's 
son,  and  said  to  him  :  "  My  father  has  turned  me  out,  and, 
as  you  are  my  friend,  I  am  come  to  take  leave  of  you." 
The  wazir's  son  said,  "  I'll  go  with  you,"  and  prepared 
himself  to  depart.  Then  he  said :  "  The  kotwal's  son  is  a 
friend  of  mine  ;  let  us  go  and  say  farewell  to  him."  So 
they  went  to  him,  and  told  him  what  had  happened,  and  he 
said:  "I'm  with  you,  too."  Then  he  said  that  he  had 
a  friend,  a  slave's  son,  to  whom  he  wished  to  say  good-bye ; 
so  they  went  and  told  the  slave's  son,  and  he  also  came 
with  them.  So  these  four  set  out,  and  determined  that 
they  would  go  and  seek  service  in  another  kingdom.  They 
started  off,  and  at  nightfall  they  halted  on  the  bank  of 
a  river.  They  said  to  the  slave  :  "  Fetch  some  water,  and 
we  will  eat  something."  But  when  the  slave  went  down  to 
fill  a  pot  with  water,  a  crocodile  made  a  snap  at  him  and 
carried  him  off  and  ate  him.  Next  day  the  three  others 
went  on,  and  camped  at  nightfall  in  a  desert  place.  They 
told  the  kotwal  to  gather  some  wood  to  cook  their  food. 
He  went  out  to  gather  wood,  when  a  tiger  fell  upon  him 
and  slew  him. 

The  other  two,  the  prince  and  the  wazir's  son,  went  on 
to  a  town,  and  the  wazir  said  :  "  King,  do  you  stop  here 


204  Balochi  Tales. 

while  I  go  on  to  get  some  food."  He  went  to  the  bazaar 
and  bought  bread  and  ghee,  and  then  he  thought  that 
he  would  buy  some  meat,  too.  So  he  went  to  a  butcher 
named  Hanud,  and  asked  for  some  meat.  The  butcher 
said,  "Come  along,  I'll  give  you  some  meat,"  and  he  made 
him  pass  on  into  the  inside  of  his  house,  and  there  he 
bound  him  and  left  him.  Now  the  practice  of  this  butcher 
Hanud  was  this  :  every  day  he  used  to  kill  a  man,  and 
mix  up  his  flesh  with  the  flesh  of  sheep  and  goats,  and 
sell  it. 

Now,  as  the  wazir  was  a  long  time  away,  the  prince 
followed  him,  and  came  into  the  town.  It  so  happened 
that  the  king  of  that  town  had  just  died,  leaving  no  son. 
The  palace  door  was  shut,  and  on  it  this  legend  was 
written  :  "  He  whose  hand  shall  open  this  door  shall  be 
king  of  this  city."  The  prince  came  and  read  this,  and 
then,  saying  "  Bismi'llah",  he  pushed  the  door,  and  the 
door  opened.  The  prince  entered,  and  seated  himself  on 
the  throne,  and  became  king  of  the  land.  The  people 
heard  the  news  that  a  new  king  had  come,  and  the  tidings 
reached  the  wazir,  who  had  been  imprisoned  by  Hanud, 
and  he  said  to  Hanud  :  "  Get  me  an  ell  of  cloth,  and  I  will 
make  a  design  of  a  handkerchief  on  it ;  take  it  and  present 
it  to  the  new  king,  and  he  will  reward  you."  Hanud 
fetched  the  cloth  for  him,  and  he  drew  a  design  on  it,  and 
wrote  these  words  in  it : — 

"  A  wondrous  thing  I  have  to  tell, 

Now  list  to  what  I  say  : 
Four  wanderers  came  unto  a  town 

To  beg  upon  a  day. 
And  one  was  swallowed  by  a  fish, 

A  tiger  one  did  slay, 
And  one  was  seated  on  a  throne, 

And  one  in  prison  lay." 

He  took  the  kerchief  and  carried  it  to  the  king.  The  king 
rewarded  Haniid,  and  then  he  wrote  as  follows  on  the  ker- 
chief, and  gave  it  back  to  him  : — 


B  aloe  hi  Tales.  205 

"  Four  wanderers  came  unto  a  town, 

I  ween,  upon  a  day  : 
Which  one  was  swallowed  by  a  fish  ? 

The  tiger  which  did  slay  ? 
And  which  was  seated  on  a  throne  ? 

And  which  in  prison  lay?" 

Hanud,  full  of  joy,  came  back  to  the  wazir,  who  was 
lying  in  bonds.  The  wazir  looked  at  the  kerchief,  and 
read  what  was  on  it,  and  then  he  wrote  again  on  the  back 
of  it  :— 

"  Four  wanderers  came  unto  a  town 
To  beg,  upon  a  day. 
The  slave  was  swallowed  by  a  fish, 

The  kotwal  did  the  tiger  slay, 
The  king  on  the  throne  was  seated, 
The  wazir  in  prison  lay." 

Hanud  took  the  kerchief  back  and  gave  it  to  the  king. 
When  he  had  read  it,  he  knew  that  his  wazir  was  in  prison. 
He  carried  off  Hanijd  to  the  lock-up,  and  went  to  his 
house  and  loosed  the  wazir  and  the  other  twenty  men 
who  were  tied  up  there.  Hanud  and  all  his  household  he 
wrapped  up  in  straw  mats  and  set  fire  to  them,  and  Hanud 
and  all  his  family  were  burnt.  Then  the  king  made  the 
wazir  his  own  wazir. 

XH. 

The  Three  Wonderful  Gifts. 

There  were  once  two  brothers,  one  of  whom  had  three 
sons,  and  the  other  one  daughter.  The  one  who  had  three 
sons  died,  and  his  sons  said  to  their  uncle  :  "  Give  us 
your  daughter,  betroth  her  to  us."  The  uncle  said  :  "  My 
daughter  is  one  and  you  are  three  ;  to  which  of  you  shall  I 
give  her?  I  will  give  you  three  hundred  rupees:  go  and 
trade  with  it,  and  bring  back  your  merchandise.  Whichever 
one  of  you   makes  the  greatest  profit,  he  shall  have  my 


2o6  B  aloe  hi  Tales. 

daughter."  The  first  went  and  bought  a  bead  with  his 
hundred  rupees.  The  next  went  and  bought  a  flying- 
couch  with  his  hundred  rupees.  The  third  went  and 
bought  a  looking-glass  with  his  hundred  rupees.  The 
three  of  them  all  came  together  in  one  place,  and  they 
asked  the  second  what  his  flying-couch  was  good  for.  He 
said  :  "  My  flying-couch  is  good  for  this  :  if  you  get  up  and 
sit  in  it,  it  will  fly  off  and  carry  you  a  hundred  miles  in  a 
moment."  Then  they  asked  the  first  what  good  his  bead 
was.  He  said  :  "  If  anyone  dies,  take  this  bead  and  wash 
it,  and  put  the  water  it  was  washed  in  into  his  mouth,  and 
he  will  come  to  life."  Then  they  asked  the  third  what  his 
looking-glass  was  good  for.  He  said  :  "  It  is  good  for  this  : 
if  you  look  at  any  place  a  hundred  miles  off  you  will  be 
able  to  see  everything  in  that  looking-glass,  and  all  that 
is  going  on  at  your  home,"  And  with  that  he  looked  in 
his  looking-glass,  and  said  :  "  While  we  have  been  trading 
for  the  sake  of  our  uncle's  daughter,  she  is  lying  dead  ; 
nay,  they  have  lifted  her  up  and  carried  her  away  to  bury 
her !"  Then  they  said  to  the  second  :  "  Bring  your  flying- 
couch,  and  let  us  go  and  assist  at  the  funeral."  So  the 
three  of  them  mounted  in  it,  and  that  moment  they  were 
present  there.  Then  they  took  the  bead,  and  washed  it, 
and  put  the  water  in  her  mouth,  and  she  came  to  life. 
Then  they  went  to  their  uncle,  and  said  :  "  Now  give  us 
your  daughter."  He  said  :  "  Go  to  the  king,  and  get  a 
decision  between  you.  I  will  marry  her  to  the  one  he 
awards  her  to."  The  king  said  :  "  According  to  the  law  I 
give  her  to  him  who  first  saw  her  while  the  women  were 
washing  her,  as  he  saw  her  undressed,  and  she  would  be 
ashamed  in  his  presence  !"  So  he  then  married  her  to  that 
brother  who  saw  her  in  the  looking-glass. 

M.  LoNGWORTH  Dames. 


OBEAH    WORSHIP    IN    EAST   AND 
WEST   INDIES. 


I. — In  Jamaica. 

THE  mystery  with  which  the  professors  of  "  Obeah" 
have  always  surrounded  themselves,  and  the  dread 
negroes  have  always  had,  and  still  have,  of  their  power, 
have  made  it  very  difficult  to  find  out  much  about  the 
worship  or  superstition. 

The  best  account  is  that  contained  in  Edward's  History 
of  the  British  Colonies  in  the  West  Indies,  published  in 
1793,  and  was  transmitted  by  the  Agent  of  Jamaica  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Committee  of  Privy  Council,  and  by  them 
subjoined  to  their  report  on  the  Slave  Trade. 

"  The  term  Obeah  is  now  become  in  Jamaica  the  general 
term  to  denote  those  Africans  who  in  that  island  practise 
witchcraft  or  sorcery,  comprehending  also  the  class  of  what 
are  called  Myal-men,  or  those  who,  by  means  of  a  narcotic 
potion  made  with  the  juice  of  an  herb,  which  occasions  a 
trance  or  profound  sleep  of  a  certain  duration,  endeavour 
to  convince  the  deluded  spectators  of  their  power  to 
reanimate  dead  bodies. 

"  As  far  as  we  are  able  to  decide  from  our  own  experi- 
ence and  information,  when  we  lived  in  the  island,  and 
from  the  current  testimony  of  all  the  negroes  we  have 
ever  conversed  with  on  the  subject,  the  possessors  of  Obi 
are,  and  always  were,  natives  of  Africa  and  none  other  ; 
and  they  have  brought  the  science  with  them  to  Jamaica, 
where  it  is  so  universally  practised  that  we  believe  there 
are  few  of  the  large  estates,  possessing  native  Africans, 
which  have  not  one  or  more  of  them.  The  oldest  and 
most  crafty  are  those  who  attract  the  greatest  devotion 


2o8     Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies. 

and  confidence  ;  those  whose  hoary  heads  and  a  somewhat 
peculiarly  harsh  and  forbidding  aspect,  together  with  some 
skill  in  plants  of  the  medicinal  and  poisonous  species,  have 
qualified  them  for  successful  imposition  on  the  weak  and 
credulous.  The  negroes  in  general,  whether  Africans  or 
Creoles  {i.e.,  born  in  Jamaica),  revere,  consult,  and  fear 
them  ;  to  these  oracles  they  resort,  and  with  the  most 
implicit  faith,  upon  all  occasions,  whether  for  the  cure  of 
disorders,  the  obtaining  revenge  for  injuries  or  insults,  the 
conciliation  of  favours,  the  discovery  and  punishment  of 
the  thief  or  adulterer,  and  the  prediction  of  future  events. 
The  trade  which  these  impostors  carry  on  is  extremely 
lucrative ;  they  manufacture  and  sell  their  Obies,  adapted 
to  different  cases,  and  at  different  prices.  A  veil  of  mystery 
is  studiously  thrown  over  their  incantations,  to  which  the 
midnight  hours  are  allotted,  and  every  precaution  is  taken 
to  conceal  them  from  the  knowledge  and  discovery  of  the 
white  people.  The  deluded  negroes,  who  thoroughly 
believe  in  their  supernatural  power,  become  the  willing 
accomplices  of  their  concealment,  and  the  stoutest  among 
them  tremble  at  the  very  sight  of  the  ragged  bundle,  the 
bottle,  or  the  egg-shells,  which  are  stuck  in  the  thatch,  or 
hung  over  the  door  of  a  hut,  or  upon  the  branch  of  a 
plantation-tree,  to  deter  marauders. 

"  In  cases  of  poison,  the  natural  effects  of  it  are,  by 
the  ignorant  negroes,  ascribed  entirely  to  the  potent  work- 
ings of  Obi.  The  wiser  negroes  hesitate  to  reveal  their 
suspicions  through  a  dread  of  incurring  the  terrible  ven- 
geance which  is  fulminated  by  the  Obeah-men  against  any 
who  should  betray  them.  It  is  very  difficult,  therefore,  for 
the  white  proprietor  to  distinguish  the  Obeah  possessor 
from  any  other  negro  upon  his  plantation  ;  and  so  infatu- 
ated are  the  blacks  in  general  that  but  few  instances  occur 
of  their  having  courage  enough  to  impeach  these  mis- 
creants. With  minds  so  firmly  prepossessed,  they  no 
sooner  find  Obi  set  for  them,  near  the  door  of  their  house, 
or  in  the  path  which  leads  to  it,  than  they  give  themselves 


Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies.    209 

up  for  lost.  When  a  negro  is  robbed  of  a  fowl  or  a  hog  he 
applies  directly  to  the  Obeah-man  or  woman  ;  it  is  then 
made  known  among  his  fellow-blacks  that  Obi  is  set  for 
the  thief,  and  as  soon  as  the  latter  hears  the  dreadful  news 
his  terrified  imagination  begins  to  work  ;  no  resource  is 
left  but  in  the  superior  skill  of  some  more  eminent  black 
man  of  the  neighbourhood,  who  may  counteract  the 
magical  operations  of  the  other ;  but  if  no  one  can  be 
found  of  higher  rank  or  ability,  or  if,  after  gaining  such  an 
ally,  he  should  still  fancy  himself  affected,  he  presently 
falls  into  a  decline,  under  the  incessant  horror  of  impend- 
ing calamities.  The  slightest  painful  sensation  in  the 
head,  or  any  part,  any  casual  loss  or  hurt,  confirms  his 
apprehensions,  and  he  believes  himself  the  devoted  victim 
of  an  invisible  and  irresistible  agency.  Sleep,  appetite, 
and  cheerfulness  forsake  him,  his  strength  decays,  his 
disturbed  imagination  is  haunted  without  respite,  his 
features  wear  the  settled  gloom  of  despondency  ;  dirt,  or 
any  other  unwholesome  substance,  becomes  his  only  food  ; 
he  contracts  a  morbid  habit  of  body,  and  gradually  sinks 
into  the  grave. 

"  A  negro  who  is  taken  ill  inquires  of  the  Obeah-man 
the  cause  of  his  sickness,  whether  it  will  prove  mortal  or 
not,  and  within  what  time  he  shall  die  or  recover.  The 
oracle  generally  ascribes  the  distemper  to  Obi^  the  malice 
of  some   particular  person,  and  advises  to  set  Obi  for  that 

person Considering    the    multitude    of    occasions 

which  may  provoke  the  negroes  to  exercise  the  powers  of 
(^Z-z  against  each  other,  and  the  astonishing  influence  of  the 
superstition  on  their  minds,  we  cannot  but  attribute  a  very 
considerable  portion  of  the  annual  mortality  among  the 
negroes  of  Jamaica  to  this  fascinating  mischief  In  the  year 
1760,  when  a  formidable  insurrection  of  the  Koromantyn,  or 
Gold-Coast  negroes,  broke  out  in  the  parish  of  St.  Mary's, 
and  spread  through  almost  every  other  district  of  the 
island,  an  old  Koromantyn  negro,  the  chief  instigator  and 
oracle  of  the  insurgents  in  that  parish,  who  had  admin- 


2IO     Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  U^est  Indies. 

istered  the  fetish  or  solemn  oath  to  the  conspirators,  and 
furnished  them  with  a  magical  preparation  which  was  to 
render  them  invulnerable,  was  fortunately  apprehended, 
convicted,  and  hung,  with  all  his  feathers  and  trumperies 
about  him,  and  his  execution  struck  the  insurgents  with  a 
general  panic.  The  examinations  which  were  taken  at 
that  time  first  opened  the  eyes  of  the  public  to  the  very 
dangerous  tendency  of  Obeah  practices,  and  gave  birth  to 
the  law  for  their  suppression  and  punishment.  But  neither 
the  terror  of  this  law,  nor  the  strict  investigation  which 
has  ever  since  been  made  after  the  possessors  of  Obi,  nor 
the  many  examples  of  those  who  from  time  to  time  have 
been  hanged  or  transported,  have  hitherto  produced  the 
desired  effect.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  either  this  sect, 
like  others,  has  flourished  under  persecution,  or  that  fresh 
supplies  are  annually  introduced  from  the  African  semi- 
naries. The  Obi  is  usually  composed  of  a  farrago  of 
materials,  most  of  which  are  enumerated  in  the  Jamaica 
law  passed  in  1760,  viz.,  blood,  feathers,  parrots'  beaks, 
dogs'  teeth,  alligators'  teeth,  broken  bottles,  grave-dirt, 
rum,  and  egg-shells." 

Obeah  practices  of  the  present  day  seem  similar  to 
those  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  information  about  them 
has  been  kindly  supplied  to  me  by  Mr.  Thomas,  Inspector 
Jamaica  Constabulary,  and  gleaned  from  his  interesting 
pamphlet.  Something  about  Obeah.  In  addition  to  the 
law  of  1760,  another  law  for  the  suppression  of  Obeah  was 
passed  in  1845,  which  gave  to  the  executive  authorities 
very  comprehensive  powers  to  deal,  not  only  with  the 
Obeah-men  themselves,  but  also  with  those  who  sought 
their  services.  This  Act  was  further  amended,  and  the 
powers  increased.  Under  these  Acts,  prosecutions  are 
brought  up  to  the  present  day.  So  the  fangs  of  the 
Obeah-man  have  been  drawn,  and  cases  of  murder  are 
rare ;  but  he  still  exercises  an  evil  and  wide-spreading 
influence,  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  evidence  against 
them  is  extreme  : — "  A  strong  man  will  turn  the  colour  of 


Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies.     2 1 1 

ashes,  and  sweat  will  run  down  his  cheeks,  while  in  the 
witness-box,  having  the  evidence  wrested  from  him  piece 
by  piece,  and  having  constantly  to  be  ordered  to  look  at 
the  bench  instead  of  at  the  Obeah-man  at  the  bar  fixing 
him  with  a  stony  stare." 

Professional  Obeah-men  may  be  divided  into  two  classes. 
First,  the  grossly  ignorant,  generally  an  African  by  birth 
or  parentage,  who  firmly  believes  in  the  art  which  he 
professes  ;  he  usually  has  a  "  wall  eye",  or  a  "  sore  foot", 
or  some  deformity,  and  is  miserably  poor,  to  outward 
appearance  ;  and  his  fee  is  small,  but  he  does  a  good  trade. 
The  second  class  of  Obeah-man  is  often  of  strikingly  good 
physique,  respectable  appearance,  and  always  decently 
dressed.  He  does  more  in  the  "  duppy-catching"  line,  and 
does  not  accept  a  small  fee ;  and  generally  has  too  much 
intelligence  to  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  his  charm.s,  his 
motives  for  adopting  the  calling  being  the  ease  with 
which  it  earns  for  him  an  ample  competence,  and  the 
facilities  it  affords  him  for  gratifying  his  animal  passions, 
debauchery  being  the  principal  feature  of  his  ceremonial. 
Of  that  ceremonial  little  is  really  known,  and  the  orgies 
on  grand  occasions  are  said  to  be  beyond  description,  and 
any  white  man  venturing  to  intrude  on  them  would  do  so 
at  the  peril  of  his  life.  "  Duppy-catching"  finds  a  great 
many  votaries.  A  child  suffers  from  epileptic  fits,  a  woman 
is  barren,  or  a  man  has  an  incurable  ulcer;  the  "duppy- 
catcher"  is  consulted,  and  they  are  told  so-and-so  has  "  set 
a  duppy"  on  them,  which  he,  for  a  consideration,  under- 
takes to  catch.  A  night  is  fixed  for  the  operation,  rum  is 
provided,  perhaps  a  white  cock  is  killed  (one  of  the  breed 
known  as  "senseh"),  feasting,  drinking,  and  drumming, 
with  occasional  intervals  of  manipulation  of  the  body  of 
the  patient,  continue  all  night,  and,  if  successful,  the  duppy 
is  caught,  enclosed  in  a  bottle,  taken  away,  and  buried. 

This  little  Obeah  figure  was  brought  to  England  in 
1888  by  Com.  Hastings,  R.N.,  and  had  been  taken  from 
a    negro    named    Alexander   Ellis,  who    was    arrested    in 


2 1 2     Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies. 

Morant  Bay,  Jamaica  May  1887.  The  police  had  sus- 
pected him  of  being  an  Obeah-man,  and  his  possession  of 
this  little  figure  proved  it.  Ellis  was  tried  on  the  nth 
May  before  N.  S.  Haughton,  Esq.,  acting  stipendiary 
.magistrate,  under  a  local  statute  which  renders  any  person, 


*'  being  by  habit  or  repute  an  Obeah-  or  Myal-man",  who 
is  found  in  pos.session  of  charms,  liable  to  imprisonment 
for  two  months  with  hard  labour.  Ellis  was  convicted, 
and  sentenced  to  fifteen  days'  imprisonment.  The  figure 
was  regarded  as  a  particularly  powerful  and  evil  Obeah, 


Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies.     2 1 3 

and  no  negro  would  willingly  touch  it,  or  be  in  the  room 
with  it.  It  is  decorated  with  "  senseh"  fowls'  feathers. 
The  figure  was  sent  out  again  to  Jamaica,  to  form  part  of 
Mr.  Thomas's  collection  of  Obeah-charms  at  the  Jamaica 
Exhibition,  where  at  first  it  proved  an  attraction,  and  was 
described,  outside  the  building,  as  "  Amphitrite,  the  living 
Obeah";  but,  after  a  short  time  (ten  days  or  so),  the 
Executive  Committee  requested  it  might  be  removed,  as 
they  considered  it  an  "  undesirable  exhibit" — a  recognition, 
no  doubt,  of  its  malign  influences,  which,  fortunatel}-, 
since  its  return  to  England,  it  no  longer  exerts. 

May  Robinson. 


Examples  of  Obeah  Charms  seized  in  Possession  of 

VARIOUS   ObEAH-MEN. 

1.  Horn  of  a  young  antelope,  filled  with  snake  and  alligator 
fat,  and  a  jegga,  or  small  shell,  with  a  threepenny-piece  on  top. 

2.  A  number  of  blood-stained  pieces  of  calabash  strung  to- 
gether, called  a  "jeggeh". 

3.  A  bag  containing  pieces  of  horse-shoe  nails   and  broken 
bottle. 

4.  Phial  containing  quicksilver,  the  cork  stuck  with  pins. 

5.  Packet  containing  myrrh,  grey  human  hair,  bladder,  assa- 
foetida,  and  herb  roots. 

6.  Doll's  head,  bandaged  with  black  cloth. 


II. — Some  East  Indian  Obeahs. 

The  Nilgiri  mountains,  in  the  south  of  the  Madras  Presi- 
dency, near  the  Western  or  Malabar  Coast,  have  long  been 
interesting  to  the  antiquary  and  anthropologist  as  abound- 
ing in  cairns  and  megalithic  remains,  and  the  abode  of  that 
remarkable  picturesque  race,  the  Todas,  and  other  peculiar 
hill-tribes.  They  include  a  lofty  and  extensive  table-land, 
with  forest-clad  sides  descending  steeply  to  the  plains 
below.      In  1849  I  was  for  some  time  on  these  mountains, 

VOL.  IV.  Q 


2 1 4    Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies, 

and  made  frequent  excursions  amidst  their  ridges  and 
valleys  in  search  of  game,  but  always  with  an  eye  to  any 
prehistoric  remains  I  might  meet  with. 

When  at  the  delightful  station  of  Coonoor,  near  the 
southern  range  of  the  plateau,  and  inquiring  after  cairns 
and  the  like,  I  was  told  by  a  Toda  that  something  of  the 
kind  existed  near  his  mand  or  village.  So  setting  forth 
one  morning,  crossing  a  great  ravine,  and  ascending  the 
other  side,  I  reached  a  cleft  between  two  peaks,  where 
the  Toda  met  and  guided  me  by  an  extremely  steep  and 
difficult  track  for  fully  i,ooo  feet  down  to  a  secluded 
hollow,  where  on  three  sides  the  slopes  descended  pre- 
cipitously, enclosing  a  small  platform  in  front  of  which  the 
mountain-side  fell  steeply  to  the  low  country.  On  the 
middle  of  the  platform  stood  a  large  cromlech,  or  rather 
row  of  cromlechs,  forming  five  compartments  :  three  large 
ones  in  the  centre,  of  equal  height,  covered  with  overlapping 
capstones,  closed  in  with  upright  slabs  at  the  back,  with  the 
front  or  southern  side  open,  and  a  much  smaller  cromlech 
at  each  end.  A  man  could  easily  have  sat  inside  the 
central  compartments,  on  the  supporting  slabs  of  which 
some  indistinct  figures  were  rudely  carved,  and  in  the 
middle  partition  lay  a  polished  piece  of  the  leg-bone  of  the 
large  deer  known  as  the  elk  or  sambur,  apparently  much 
hacked  with  a  knife. 

I  had  some  of  the  hill-people  with  me,  and  whilst  examin- 
ing this  curious  structure  I  noticed  they  all  stood  aloof, 
and  on  telling  them  to  bring  me  out  the  leg-bone,  all  shrank 
back,  looking  aghast.  I  then  found  out  that  the  hollow  and 
cromlech  were  the  haunt  and  abode  of  the  most  dreaded 
and  malignant  of  the  hill-deities,  who  was  believed  to  be 
represented  by  that  bone,  which  carried  her  power,  and  any 
meddling  with  it  would  be  resented. 

The  bone  had  been  laid  there  by  the  Kurumbars,  a  half- 
savage  dwarfish  race,  few  in  number  and  seldom  to  be  seen, 
inhabiting  the  thick,  feverish  jungles  on  the  sides  of  the 
range,  where  only  they  can  live.      They   seem    to   be   a 


Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies.     2 1 5 

remnant  of  the  primitive  possessors  of  the  plains,  driven 
thence  at  some  unknown  period  by  waves  of  invasion  to  the 
almost  inaccessible  jungle  fastnesses.  The  tradition  of  them 
still  survives,  and  all  over  the  low  country  circles  of  stones 
and  entrenched  mounds  are  popularly  called  Kurumbar 
forts. 

The  few  communities  existing  in  the  jungles  are  ex- 
tremely shy,  shunning  intercourse  with  the  people  cultivat- 
ing the  table-land,  who,  whilst  hating,  hold  them  in  great 
awe  as  witches  and  enchanters  having  an  understanding 
and  influence  with  the  malevolent  village  deities.  Yet  at 
the  beginning  of  the  cultivating  season  one  of  this  despised 
race  must  be  called  from  his  jungle  habitation  and  guide 
the  plough  that  turns  the  first  furrow,  and  also  be  present  at 
the  initiation  of  some  other  village  ceremonials.  One  of 
these  Kurumbas  was  believed  to  have  placed  the  bone  in 
the  cromlech,  commissioned  by  the  evil  demon  of  the  spot, 
who  had  invested  it  with  her  power.  On  certain  occasions 
deputations  from  the  villages  on  the  plateau  above  came 
down  and  laid  flowers,  rice,  and  turmeric  before  it.  After 
all  this  I  said  no  more  to  the  Hindu  villagers  with  me,  but 
turned  to  a  Mussulman  shikarri,  who  carried  my  gun,  and 
told  him  to  take  up  the  bone  ;  but  he  too  shuffled  uneasily 
and  hung  back  ;  so  I  said  to  him,  "Why,  Cassim  Sahib,  you 
a  true  believer,  are  you  afraid  of  these  idolators'  devils?" 
He  answered,  "True,  Sahib,  these  are  idolatrous  pigs,  and 
their  shaitans  accursed  ;  but  this  shaitan  is  most  spiteful, 
something  bad  might  happen." 

I  record  this  incident  as  showing  how  the  superstitious 
ideas  of  one  tribe  may  infect  others  of  a  vehemently 
antagonistic  race  and  creed.  The  only  man  who  seemed 
careless  of  the  genius  loci  was  my  Toda  guide,  who  stood 
apart,  wrapt  toga-wise  in  his  mantle,  almost  gigantic  in 
stature,  looking  scornfully  on  the  others.  He  and  his  tribe, 
of  unknown  origin,  immemorially  masters  of  the  Nilgeris, 
acknowledged  as  such  by  the  other  hill-races,  have  their 
own  gods  and  worship,  and  care  nothing  for  other  deities. 

Q  2 


2 1 6    Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies. 

I  proceeded  onwards  ;  most  of  the  people  with  me 
hurrying  on  in  advance  to  escape  from  that  spot  of  ill- 
omen.  I  had,  however,  a  strong  wish  to  get  that  magic 
bone,  and  some  days  after  opened  negotiations  with  my 
Toda  friend,  who,  without  many  words  or  express  agree- 
ment, signified  that  it  might  be  brought  for  a  consideration 
— I  suspect,  too,  with  some  secret  feeling  of  contempt.  In 
effect,  a  few  days  after,  he  met  me  mysteriously,  and  pro- 
duced the  bone  from  under  his  mantle.  I  heard  no  more 
at  the  time,  but,  to  end  the  story,  some  few  years  after  I 
again  visited  the  spot,  and  found  the  curious  cromlech  all 
thrown  down,  broken  and  scattered,  the  work,  I  am  afraid, 
of  European  planters,  who  had  been  opening  a  coffee  estate 
in  a  neighbouring  forest.  The  bone  now  on  the  table 
seems  in  the  days  of  its  power  to  have  been  analogous  to 
the  West  Indian  and  African  Obeahs. 

Human  bones,  too,  are  often  used  in  the  Madras  districts. 
to  form  "  a  spell  of  powerful  trouble"  still  more  resembling 
Obeahs  :  a  bone  must  be  taken  from  a  native  burial-ground, 
where  skulls  and  bones  are  always  lying  about,  and  the 
man  who  desires  to  kill  or  injure  his  enemy  must  take  it 
by  night  to  some  lonely  spot,  and,  holding  it  in  his  right 
hand  and  his  chain  of  rudraksha  beads  {i.e.,  "  tears  of  Siva", 
a  magical  ornament)  in  his  left,  must  recite  a  hundred 
times  over  the  bone  the  powerful  Malayala  Mantra  or  spell, 
"  Om,  Hram  !  Hram  !  Swine-faced  goddess!  seize  him, 
seize  him  as  a  victim  !  Drink,  drink  his  blood  !  Eat,  eat 
his  flesh !  O  image  of  imminent  death,  "Bhagavati  of 
Malayala,  let  his  destruction  be  swift !"  The  bone  thus 
charmed,  thrown  or  hidden  in  an  enemy's  house,  will  cause 
his  death  or  ruin.  Malayala,  or  Malabar,  is  the  land  of 
sorcery  and  magic,  and  the  most  malevolent  demons  reside 
there.  Seven  of  the  most  powerful  and  most  dreaded  have 
their  abode  in  the  Dharmastala  Temple,  in  a  remote  jungle 
tract  of  South  Canara,  where  round  stones,  into  which  the 
power  of  the  demons  is  transfused,  are  sold  by  the  oflficials, 
carrying  the  power  with  them,  and  can  be  used,  it  is  be- 


Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies.     217 

Heved,  with  deadly  effect.  These  stones,  too,  seem  to  rank 
with  Obeahs.  I  can  also  adduce  another  instance  of  how 
an  object  used  for  evil  purposes  may  become  something 
very  like  an  Obeah. 

Whilst  officiating  as  judge  in  the  South  Canara  district 
a  very  cruel  murder-case  was  brought  before  me,  in  which 
a  man  was  proved  to  have  been  held  down  by  three  or 
four  others  and  his  throat  cut  or  sawn  through  with  a  little 
sharp  instrument  five  inches  long — in  fact,  a  steel  spur, 
such  as  is  attached  to  the  heels  of  fighting-cocks.  The 
charge  was  conclusively  proved ;  and  some  time  afterwards 
it  came  to  my  ears  that  the  spur  with  which  the  murder 
(which  was  shown  to  have  been  prompted  by  jealousy) 
had  been  effected,  had  been  abstracted  from  the  Court,  to 
which  all  things  employed  in  murders  were  forfeited,  and 
been  deposited  in  a  Bhutastan  or  Devil-temple,  and  was 
being  much  resorted  to  with  vows  and  offerings  by  persons 
stung  by  jealousy,  especially  women. 

It  should  be  explained  here  that,  though  the  Brahmani- 
cal  gods  are  known  and  reverenced,  demon-worship  is  the 
popular  country  cultus  in  Southern  India.  The  demons 
are  malignant  spirits  or  ghosts,  commonly  known  as 
Bhutas,  and  are  very  generally  the  ghosts  of  notorious 
bad  characters,  robbers,  or  men  dreaded  in  life  for  violence 
and  cruelty.  Such  persons  after  death  become  Bhutas,  as 
dreaded  and  malignant  as  they  were  in  life.  Those,  too, 
who  have  met  with  violent  deaths  in  any  way  are  liable  to 
become  Bhutas,  and  afflict  their  neighbourhoods ;  children 
are  often  named  after  them,  as  it  is  believed  they  will 
spare  any  who  bear  their  names. 

I  remember  an  instance  of  a  notorious  leader  of  dacoits 
in  the  Trichinopoly  and  Madura  borders,  who  had  been 
guilty  of  great  cruelties,  and,  after  being  at  last  captured 
and  executed,  the  children  born  all  over  that  country-side 
for  many  months  were  named  after  him,  as  it  was  believed 
he  would  surely  become  a  most  terrible  Bhiita.  So  in  the 
case  just  described,  the  murdered   man  was  believed   to 


2 1 8     Obeah  Worship  in  East  and  West  Indies. 

have  become  a  Bhuta  as  ruthless  as  the  manner  of  his 
death  had  been,  and  his  power  had  been  concentrated 
in  the  Httle  instrument  with  which  he  had  been  so  cruelly- 
murdered.  So  people  who  wished  to  wreak  revenge  came 
and  made  offerings  at  the  little  shrine  in  which  it  had  been 
placed,  in  the  faith  that  some  evil  would  thereby  befall 
their  enemies.  I  sent  to  bring  the  spur  away,  for  it  pro- 
perly belonged  to  the  Court,  and  so  broke  the  spell. 

I  remember,  too,  a  Brahman  Munshi  attached  to  me,  an 
intelligent  man,  well  versed  in  English,  being  in  great  per- 
turbation at  finding,  on  coming  from  his  house  in  the 
morning,  a  parcel  containing  sticks,  hair,  and  some  other 
objects,  wrapt  in  a  plantain-leaf,  laid  upon  his  threshold. 
He  believed  it  had  been  placed  there  by  an  enemy  with 
incantations  meant  to  bring  misfortune  or  sickness  on 
himself  or  family.  That,  too,  appears  to  have  been  essen- 
tially an  Obeah,  and  on  the  same  lines  as  the  curious 
clay  object,  laid  not  long  ago  with  malicious  intent  upon 
the  threshold  of  a  house  in  Scotland,  and  now  placed  by 
Dr.  Tylor  in  the  Pitt-Rivers  Museum  at  Oxford. 

M.  J.  Walhouse. 


THE 

OLDEST  ICELANDIC  FOLK-LORE. 


THE  Landnamabok,  or  History  of  the  Settlement  of 
Iceland,  a  document  such  as  no  other  country  can 
boast  of,  is  of  value  not  only  for  the  student  of  Northern 
history,  but  also  for  the  folk-lorist.  The  interminable 
genealogies  which  form  the  bulk  of  the  work  (comprising 
over  5,000  names  in  all)  are  relieved  now  and  then  by 
anecdotes  concerning  the  persons  named,  and  in  most 
instances  these  stories,  when  they  are  not  merely  ones  of 
quarrel  and  bloodshed,  contain  some  trait  of  popular  belief, 
which  is  thus  at  least  as  old  as  the  eleventh  century,  and 
may  very  well  go  back  to  the  tenth  or  ninth.  In  general, 
these  tales  agree  with  the  common  folk-lore  of  Scandi- 
navia, at  least  as  we  find  it  in  the  other  sagas  of  Iceland 
and  Norway  ;  and,  beyond  the  few  Christian  elements  in 
connection  with  Christian  settlers  from  the  Hebrides,  etc., 
show  no  trace  of  the  Celtic  influence  which  some  have 
thought  must  have  resulted  from  contact  with  Celts  and 
from  settlers  of  Celtic  descent.  These  latter,  however,  do 
not  number  one  per  cent,  of  the  persons  named  in  the 
Landnama,  and  so  their  influence  was  not  likely  to  be 
very  extensive. 

To  extract  and  arrange  these  tales  is  the  object  of  this 
article,  and,  beyond  the  translation,  few  notes  have  been 
added  ;  but  the  exact  meaning  of  the  original  terms  is 
explained  in  the  index.  In  some  cases  the  stories  appa- 
rently do  not  go  back  to  the  original  version  of  the 
Landnama,  but  have  been  inserted  by  later  scribes,  some- 
times perhaps  from  local  tradition,  but  sometimes  from 


2  20  The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore. 

other  sagas.     The  most  striking  of  these  are  also  included 
in  this  collection.! 

A. — Landing  in  Iceland. 

1.  A  number  of  the  early  settlers  carried  with  them  the  posts 
on  either  side  of  their  "high  seat"  in  the  hall  or  temple  (pndvegis 
stdur),  and,  on  coming  near  to  Iceland,  threw  these  overboard, 
and  afterwards  settled  where  they  found  them  on  the  shore. 
Among  those  mentioned  are  Ingolf  (i.  6),  Thorolf  mostrarskegg 
(2.  12.  Thor  was  carved  on  his^),  Lodmund  (4.  5),  Thord 
skeggi  (4.  7),  and  Hrollaug  (4.  9).  Kveldulf,  who  died  on  the 
voyage,  ordered  them  to  throw  his  coffin  overboard  and  tell 
his  son  Grim  to  settle  where  it  landed  (i.  18).  Floki  hallowed 
three  ravens  before  leaving  Norway  (v.  No.  12),  and  let  them 
off  when  out  at  sea :  the  first  flew  backwards ;  the  second  up  in 
the  air  and  back  to  the  ship  again  ;  the  third  forward  in  the 
direction  of  land  (i.  2). 

2.  In  some  cases  the  settlers  were  directed  beforehand  where 
they  were  to  find  a  home,  as  in  the  case  of  Orlyg,  who  was  told 
by  his  foster-father  Bishop  Patrick,  in  the  Hebrides,  that  he  was 
to  settle  where  he  saw  two  fells  from  the  sea,  with  a  dale  in  each 
of  the  fells,  and  he  was  to  take  up  his  abode  under  the  south- 
most  of  these,  and  there  make  a  church  and  dedicate  it  to 
St.  Columba.^  Some  accounts  add  that,  as  he  was  sailing  along 
the  coast,  an  iron  bell  fell  overboard,  and  was  found  among  the 
seaweed  where  he  landed  (i.  12).  In  other  cases,  wise-women 
were  the  directors  or  foretellers  (v.  No.  24). 

B. — Beliefs  connected  with  religion,  heathen  or  Chris- 
tian. 

3.  The  famous  Aud  the  wealthy  "was  buried  between  high 
and  low  water,  as  she  had  previously  ordered,  because,  having 

!  A  few  of  the  quotations,  along  with  similar  passages  from  the 
Sagas,  are  given  in  Du  Chaillu's  Viking  Age,  vol.  i,  c.  20-22,  etc. 

*  A  longer  account  of  Thorolf's  pillars  is  given  in  Eyrbyggja  Saga, 
C.4. 

*  Some  of  his  friends  are  said  to  have  believed  in  "  Kolumkilla, 
though  they  were  not  baptised".     {Hauksbook.) 


The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore.  22  i 

been    baptised,    she    would    not    lie   in   unconsecrated    earth". 

<2.    19.) 

4.  Thorkell  mani  the  law-speaker  "  had  lived  the  best  life  of 
all  heathen  men  so  far  as  is  known.  During  his  last  illness  he 
made  them  carry  him  out  into  the  sunlight,  and  commended 
himself  to  the  god  who  had  shaped  the  sun"  (i.  9.  So  in  the 
extract  from  Vatnsdsela  Saga  found  in  some  MSS.  "  Thorsteinn 
called  on  him  who  shaped  the  sun,  that  the  berserksgang  should 
pass  off  Thdrir",  3.  4). 

5.  "  When  Hjalti's  sons  went  to  the  thing,  they  were  so  splen- 
didly arrayed  that  men  thought  the  ^sir  were  come.  This 
verse  was  made  on  the  subject : — 

'Never  a  man  thought  anything  else  than  that  the  all- 
glorious  JEsix  fared  there,  when  hardy  Hjalti's  sons  came  to 
Thorskafirth  thing  with  their  helms  of  awe.' "     (3.  10.) 

6.  Helgi  the  lean  went  to  Iceland  with  his  wife  and  children, 
and  his  son-in-law  Hamund  hell-skin.  His  religion  was  rather 
mixed;  he  believed  in  Christ,  but  called  on  Thor  for  seafaring 
and  adventurous  acts.     (3.  12.) 

7.  Thorolf  took  land  from  Stafa  in  as  far  as  Thorsa,  and  called 
all  that  Thorsness.  He  had  so  much  faith  in  the  hill  that  stood 
on  the  ness,  and  which  he  called  Helgafell,  that  no  man  was 
allowed  to  look  on  it  unwashed,  and  it  was  so  great  a  sanctuary 
that  no  harm  could  be  done  to  anything  on  the  fell,  whether  man 
or  beast,  unless  it  left  it  of  its  own  accord.  It  was  the  belief  of 
Thorolf  and  his  kinsmen  that  they  all  passed  into  the  fell  at  death. 
On  the  ness  there,  where  Thor  came  ashore,  Thorolf  held  all 
the  courts,  and  there  was  set  the  district-thing.  While  men  were 
at  the  thing  there  no  one  was  allowed  to  ease  himself^  on  land;  for 
that  purpose  there  was  assigned  the  reef  called  Dritsker,  because 
they  would  not  defile  such  a  sacred  piece  of  ground.  But  when 
Thorolf  was  dead,  and  his  son  Thorsteinn  was  young,  Thorgrim 
Kjallak's  son  and  Asgeirr  his  kinsman  would  not  go  to  the  reef 
for  their  errands ;  the  Thorsness  men  would  not  stand  this,  and 
so  they  fought  with  them  there  at  the  thing,  and  some  fell  and 

^  The  phrase  used  is  hafa  difreka,  elf-drivings,  i.e.,  the  defilement 
drove  away  the  elves. 


22  2  The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore. 

many  were  wounded  before  they  were  separated.  Thord  gellir 
reconciled  them,  but,  since  neither  of  them  would  give  way,  the 
place  was  made  unhallowed  with  blood  of  vengeance.     (2.  12.) 

8.  Aud  had  her  home  at  Cross-knolls,  and  there  she  had 
crosses  set  up,  because  she  was  baptised  and  a  good  believer. 
Her  kinsfolk  after  that  had  great  faith  in  the  knolls.  An  altar 
{horg)  was  raised  there  when  sacrificing  began  :  they  believed,  too, 
that  they  passed  into  the  knolls  at  death.  Thord  gellir  was  led 
into  them  before  he  rose  to  honour,  as  is  said  in  his  saga. 
(2.  16.) 

9.  Thorhadd  the  old  was  temple-priest  at  Thrandheim  in 
Mseri :  he  took  the  idea  to  go  to  Iceland,  but  first  he  took  down, 
the  temple  and  carried  off  with  him  the  temple-earth  and  the 
pillars.  He  came  to  Stodvarfirth  and  laid  the  Maeri  sanctuary  on 
all  the  firth,  and  allowed  nothing  to  be  killed  there  except  home- 
cattle.     (4.  6.) 

10.  Thorir  the  voyager  had  a  ship  built  for  him  in  Sogn 
(in  Norway),  which  was  hallowed  by  Bishop  Sigurd.  From  that 
ship  come  the  beaks  before  the  door  at  Miklagarth  (in  Axarfirth) 
which  foretell  the  weather.     (3.  19.) 

11.  Ketill,  from  the  Hebrides,  a  Christian,  lived  at  Kirkjubse. 
Papar  had  been  there  before,  and  no  heathen  men  could  live 
there.  .  .  .  "Hildir  wished  to  shift  his  homestead  to  Kirkby  after 
Ketill's  death,  thinking  that  a  heathen  could  live  there,  but  when 
he  came  near  to  the  farmyard  enclosure,  he  fell  down  dead." 
(4.  II.) 

C. — Closely  connected  with  the  foregoing  are  the  pas- 
sages referring  to  sacrificial  and  other  religious  ceremonies, 
denoted  by  blot  and  the  verb  biota  (with  accusative  =  to 
worship  or  hallow ;  with  dative  =  to  sacrifice).  A  full 
account  of  the  procedure  at  a  great  blot  is  given  in  the 
Hdkonar  Saga,  c.  14.  18.  When  Hjorleif  is  murdered 
by  his  thralls,  his  friend  Ingolf  attributes  it  to  the  fact  that 
he  would  never  biota,     (i.  7.) 

12.  (Floki  on  his  voyage  to  Iceland)  resorted  to  a  great 
religious  ceremony  {blot),  and  hallowed  three  ravens,  which  should 
show  him  the  way,  because  seafarers  had  no  loadstone  at  that 


The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore.  223 

time  in  the  North.  They  built  up  a  cairn  where  the  sacrifice  had 
been,  and  called  it  Flokavarda :  it  lies  at  the  meeting  of  Horda- 
land  and  Rogaland.  .  .  .  Then  he  sailed  out  to  sea  with  the 
three  ravens  that  he  had  hallowed  in  Norway,  (i.  2.  in  some 
MSS.) 

13.  Hall  the  godless,  son  of  Helgi  the  godless.  Father  and 
son  would  not  worship  {biota),  but  trusted  in  their  own  might, 
(i.  II.) 

14.  Thorolf  Smjor  was  the  son  of  Thorsteinn  Skrofi,  son  of 
that  Grim  who  was  worshipped  after  death  on  account  of  his 
popularity,  and  was  called  Kamban.     (i.  14.) 

15.  There  (on  Thorsness)  stands  still  Thor's  stone,  on  which 
they  broke  the  men  whom  they  sacrificed,  and  near  by  is  the 
judgment-ring  where  sentence  of  sacrifice  was  passed.     (2.  12.) 

16.  Hallstein,  son  of  Thorolf  mostrarskegg,  lived  at  Hallsteins- 
ness.  He  sacrificed  [and  gave  his  son  for  the  purpose]  that 
Thcr  might  send  him  high-seat  pillars.  Thereafter  a  tree  came 
ashore  on  his  land,  sixty-three  ells  long  and  two  fathoms  thick, 
which  he  used  for  his  pillars,  and  from  which  those  in  nearly 
every  farm  there  were  made.     (2.  23.) 

17.  Geirr  was  a  distinguished  man  in  Sogn  (in  Norway)  : 
he  was  called  Vegeirr  (sanctuary-Geirr)  because  he  was  a 
great  bl6t-ma.x\.  (All  his  children  were  called  by  names  begin- 
ning with  Ve-.)  After  his  death  his  son  Vebjorn  quarrelled 
with  Earl  Hakon,  and  so  the  brothers  and  their  sister  went 
to  Iceland.  They  had  a  long  and  hard  voyage,  and  landed  in 
autumn  at  Hloduvik  to  the  west  of  Horn,  and  thereupon  Vebjorn 
began  to  sacrifice  a  great  biof,  for  he  said  Earl  Hakon  was 
that  day  sacrificing  for  misfortune  to  fall  on  them,  but,  as  he  was 
engaged  on  it,  his  brothers  urged  him  to  leave  again ;  he  neglected 
the  blot,  and  they  put  out  to  sea,  and  the  same  day  their  ship  was 
wrecked  in  a  storm  under  great  cliffs.     (2.  29.) 

18.  Thorsteinn  sent  his  attendant  to  As  to  get  information 
(about  Hrolleif) :  he  recited  twelve  verses  before  going  to  the 
doors,  and  saw  a  heap  of  clothes  on  the  door-beaks,  and  a  red 
dress  sticking  out  beneath  them.  Thorsteinn  said  that  Hrolleif 
had  been  there,  and  Ljot  (his  mother)  must  have  sacrificed  for 
long  life  for  him  (v.  No.  25).     (3.  4.) 

19.  Thorsteinn  red-nose  was  a  great  ^/i?/-man :  he  worshipped 


2  24  ^-^^  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore. 

the  waterfall,  and  all  remnants  had  to  be  thrown  into  it :  he  was 
also  very  skilled  in  the  future.  .  .  .  The  night  he  died  all  his 
sheep  drove  down  into  the  waterfall.     (5.  6.) 

20.  Lopt  went  to  Norway  every  third  summer  to  sacrifice, 
on  behalf  of  himself  and  Flosi,  his  mother's  brother,  at  the 
temple  of  which  his  mother's  father,  Thorbjorn  had  been  custo- 
dian. (Flosi  could  not  go  in  person,  being  at  enmity  with  King 
Harald.)     (5.  8.) 

D. — Frequent  mention  is  made  of  magical  arts,  as  prac- 
tised by  witches  {vdlva.fjolkunnigkond),  or  more  rarely  by 
men  {^fjolkunnigr  uiadr).  The  art  itself  is  generally  called 
fjdlkyngi  (much  knowledge),  oxfrodleikr  (wisdom,  learning). 
There  are  also  persons  who  have  the  second-sight  (are 
Sfreskir)  or  have  supernatural  strength  {ramviaukin),  or 
who  can  change  their  shape  {Jiamrainnir).  To  these 
beliefs  the  following  series  relates. 

21.  Asolf  came  from  Ireland  to  the  Eastfirths.  He  was  a 
Christian,  and  would  have  no  dealings  with  heathen  men,  would 
not  even  take  food  from  them.  He  made  a  hut  for  himself  under 
Eyjafell,  and  dealt  with  no  one.  They  were  curious  to  know  what 
he  had  to  eat,  and  saw  many  fish  in  the  hut,  and  on  their  going  to 
the  stream  which  ran  past  the  hut,  they  found  it  full  of  fish,  so  that 
they  thought  they  had  never  seen  such  a  marvel ;  but  when  the 
men  of  the  district  heard  of  it  they  drove  him  away,  and  would  not 
let  him  enjoy  this  good.  Then  Asolf  shifted  his  dwelling  to  Mid- 
skah,  and  stayed  there.  All  the  fish  disappeared  from  the  brook 
when  men  went  to  take  them,  and  when  they  came  to  Asolf  the 
waterfall  beside  his  hut  was  full  of  fish.  Again  he  was  driven 
away,  and  went  to  the  westmost  As61fsskali,  and  things  went  just 
the  same  as  before.  .  .  .  [The  longer  version  adds  :  "  The  settlers 
called  that  sorcery^  but  Thorgeirr  (who  had  driven  Asolf  away)  said 
he  was  of  the  opinion  they  were  good  men."]     (i.  15.  16.) 

22.  A  whale  was  driven  ashore  on  L6n-Einar's  beach,  and  he  had 
cut  up  part  of  it,  when  a  storm  carried  it  off  and  drove  it  ashore  on 
the  land  of  Einarr  Sigmundarson.  L6n-Einarr  attributed  this  to 
the  magic  of  Hildigunn.  (He  went  in  search  of  the  whale,  and 
found  Einarr  with  his  men  cutting  it  up,  and  killed  one  of  them, 
but  retired,  as  he  had  fewer  men.    He  again  came  to  attack  Einarr, 


The  Oldest  Icelaiidic  Folk-lore.  225 

and  found  him  from  home.  Einarr  returned  immediately  and 
pursued  him.)  Then  Einarr  ran  as  hard  as  he  could,  and  as  he 
came  by  Drangar  he  saw  a  troll  carl  sitting  up  there,  rowing  with 
his  feet  so  that  they  struck  the  surf,  and  beating  them  together  so 
that  the  spray  rose  from  them,  and  he  repeated  a  verse.  (The 
verse  is  very  obscure  and  corrupt,  but  to  all  appearance  is  unim- 
portant.) Einarr  gave  no  heed  to  this.  They  met  at  Mannfalls- 
brekkur,  and  fought  there.  No  iron  could  cut  Einarr's  kirtle 
(which  he  had  got  from  Hildigunn).     (2.  7.  in  some  MSS.) 

Einarr  was  buried  a  short  distance  from  Sigmund's  mound,  and 
his  mound  is  always  green,  wdnter  and  summer.     {Ibid.) 

23.  Thorbjorn  the  stout  summoned  Geirri'd,  daughter  of  Bsgi- 
f6t,  on  a  charge  of  witchcraft,  as  his  son  Gunnlaug  had  died  from 
injury  when  he  went  to  learn  (magical)  wisdom  from  Geirrid.  She 
was  the  mother  of  Thorarinn  in  Mafahlid,  .  .  .  who  took  an  oath  by 
the  altar  ring,  and  so  stopped  the  case.     (2.  9.) 

24.  (Of  Ingimund.)  Held  the  witch  predicted  that  they  should 
all  settle  in  a  land  as  yet  undiscovered,  west  over  the  sea.^  Ingi- 
mund said  he  would  take  care  of  that,  but  the  witch  said  he  would 
be  unable  to  prevent  it,  and  told  him  for  a  token  that  a  hlutr  (see 
below)  had  disappeared  out  of  his  purse,  and  would  be  found 
again  when  he  dug  the  holes  for  his  hall-pillars  in  that  land.  [Ingi- 
mund assisted  King  Harald  at  Hafrsfirth ;  the  king  encouraged 
him  to  go  to  Iceland,  as  he  was  discontented  with  Norway.] 
Ingimund  said  he  had  not  intended  to  do  so,  but  he  sent  two 
Finns  in  charmed  shapes  {hafnfarir)  to  Iceland,  to  look  for  his 
hlutr ;  it  was  an  image  of  Freyr,  and  made  of  silver.  The  Finns 
returned,  and  had  discovered  the  hlutr,  but  were  unable  to  get 
hold  of  it.  They  directed  Ingimund  to  a  dale  between  two 
woods,  and  told  him  all  the  lie  of  the  land  where  he  was  to  settle. 
[The  place  was  Hof  in  Vatnsdal,  in  the  N.  of  Iceland.^]     (3.  2.) 

25.  [Thorsteinn  and  his  brothers  attack  HroUeif,  and  chase  him 
away  from  his  own  house.]  By  this  time  Lj6t  (his  mother)  had 
come  out,  and  walked  backwards  with  her  head  between  her  legs 

^  Similarly  it  is  said  of  Thorsteinn  lunan,  "it  was  foretold  him  that 
he  should  die  in  a  land  which  was  then  uninhabited."     (5.  7.) 

^  The  details  of  his  finding  of  the  image  are  given  in  Vainsdala 
Saga,  c.  15. 


2  26  The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore. 

and  her  clothes  over  her  back.  JokuU  cut  off  Hrolleifs  head  and 
threw  it  in  her  face ;  then  she  said  she  had  been  too  late,  or  the 
earth  would  have  turned  round  before  her  eyes/  and  they  would 
all  have  gone  mad  (v.  No.  i8).     (3.  4.) 

26.  Groa  invited  Thorsteinn  aid  his  brothers  to  a  harvest-feast. 
Thorsteinn  dreamed  three  times  that  he  should  not  go.  Then 
Groa  by  witchcraft  brought  down  a  landslip  on  all  the  men  that 
were  there.     (3.  4.) 

27.  Steinnraud  the  strong  .  .  .  who  did  good  to  many  a  man  to 
whom  other  evil  spirits  did  injury.  There  was  a  woman  called 
Geirhild,  a  witch,  and  one  who  injured  others.  Second-sighted 
men  saw  Steinnraud  come  upon  her  unawares,  but  she  turned  her- 
self into  the  shape  of  a  leathern  sack  full  of  water.  Steinnraud 
was  an  ironsmith,  and  had  a  large  iron  rod  in  his  hand.  This 
verse  was  made  about  their  meeting. 

"The  sounder  of  hammers  lets  the  rod  resound  on  the 
water(?)-bag  of  Geirhild  ever  the  more  with  all  his  might. 
The  troll's  ribs  are  swollen  ;  the  high  iron  staff  shapes  a  heavy 
shower  for  the  carline's  side  at  Hjalta-eyri."     (3.  14.) 

28.  Lodmund  the  old  .  .  .  was  superhumanly  strong  and  a 
wizard.  He  threw  his  hall-pillars  overboard  and  said  he  would 
settle  where  they  came  on  shore.  He  took  Lodmund's  firth,  and 
lived  there  that  winter ;  then  he  heard  of  his  hall-pillars  to  the 
southward.  He  put  all  his  possessions  on  board  ship,  and  when  the 
sail  was  drawn  up  he  lay  down  and  said  that  no  one  was  to  venture 
to  pronounce  his  name.  He  had  only  lain  a  short  time  when  a 
loud  noise  was  heard,  and  they  saw  a  great  landslip  rush  down  on 
the  homestead  where  Lodmund  had  lived.  Thereupon  he  sat  up 
and  said,  "That  is  my  spell,  that  the  ship  that  sails  out  here  shall 
never  escape  safe  from  the  sea."  Then  he  held  south  by  Horn, 
and  then  west  along  the  coast,  and  took  the  land  where  his  pillars 
had  come  ashore,  between  Hafr-river  and  Fula-brook,  which  is 
now  called  Jokul-river,  at  Solheimasand.  He  lived  in  Lodmund's 
vale,  and  called  it  Solheimar.  When  he  was  old,  there  lived  in 
Sk6gar  one  Thrasi,  who  was  also  a  wizard.  One  morning  Thrasi 
saw  a  great  rush  of  water  coming  down,  and  by  magic  turned  it 

^  This  power  was  attributed  to  the  Finns.   {Haralds  Saga,  c.  36.) 


The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore.  227 

east  toward  Solheimar.  Lodmund's  thrall  saw  it,  and  said  that  a 
sea  was  coming  down  on  them  from  the  north.  Lodmund  was 
blind  by  this  time,  and  told  the  thrall  to  lead  him  to  this  bucket- 
full  that  he  called  a  sea,  and  when  he  returned,  said,  "I  don't  think 
this  is  a  sea."  Then  he  bade  the  thrall  accompany  him  to  the 
water,  "and  stick  the  point  of  my  staff  into  it."  There  was  a 
ring  on  the  staff,  and  Lodmund  held  the  staff  with  both  hands,  and 
the  ring  in  his  teeth.  Then  the  water  began  to  fall  west  again 
toward  Skogar,  and  so  both  he  and  Thrasi  continued  each  to  turn 
the  water  from  themselves  until  they  met  at  some  deep  clefts,  and 
agreed  that  the  water  should  flow  down  there  the  shortest  way  to 
the  sea.  That  is  now  called  Jokuls-river,  and  separates  the  dis- 
tricts.    (4.  5.) 

Thrasi  was  also  rammaukinn.     (5.  i.) 

29.  Thorarinn  korni  was  very  ^'■hamra?nmr'\     (2.  8.) 

30.  [Arngeirr  had  two  sons,  Thorgils  and  Odd.] 

Arngeirr  and  Thorgils  left  home  in  drift  to  search  for  their 
sheep,  and  did  not  return.  Odd  went  to  look  for  them,  and 
found  them  both  dead,  killed  by  a  white  bear,  which  was  drink- 
ing their  blood  when  he  came  on  it.  Odd  killed  the  bear  and 
took  it  home,  and  it  is  said  that  he  ate  the  whole  of  it,  saying 
that  he  avenged  his  father  in  killing  the  bear  and  his  brother  in 
eating  it.  After  this  he  became  ill-tempered  and  difficult  to  deal 
with ;  he  was  so  hamratmnr^  that  he  left  home  one  time  in  the 
evening,  and  reached  Thjorsardal  next  morning  to  help  his 
sister,  whom  the  Thjorsdale  men  were  going  to  stone  to  death. 
(3.  20.) 

31.  Dufthak  was  very  ^' hamrammr"  (5.  3);  so  was  Thorkell 
bundinfoti  (/^.). 

Dufthak  of  Dufthaksholt  was  the  freedman  of  the  brothers 
Hildir  and  Hallgeirr  (who  came  from  the  British  settlements). 
He  was  very  hamrammr,  and  so  was  Storolf  Haengsson,  who 
lived  at  Hvoll ;  the  two  of  them  quarrelled  about  pasturage. 
A  second-sighted  man  saw  one  evening,  just  about  sunset,  a  huge 
bear  going  from  Hvoll,  and  a  bull  from  Dufthaksholt :  they  met  at 
St6r61fsvoll,  and  fought  fiercely,  but  the  bear  had  the  best  of  it. 
In  the  morning  it  was  seen  that  the  dale  where  they  had  met  was 
as  if  the  earth  had  been  turned  up.  Both  of  them  were  severely 
injured.     (5.  5.) 


2  28  The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore. 

E. — The  following  relate  to  the  landvcettir,  or  guardian 
spirits  of  the  country,  and  other  such  beings.  The  first 
does  not  belong  to  the  Landnama  proper,  but  is  evidently 
of  very  early  origin. 

32.  [It  was  the  beginning  of  the  heathen  law  that  no  one 
should  have  at  sea  a  ship  with  a  carved  head  on  it ;  if  they  did, 
they  were  to  take  it  off  before  they  came  in  sight  of  land,  and  not 
sail  to  land  with  gaping  heads  or  yawning  snouts,  lest  the  land- 
spirits  might  be  frightened.     (4.   7.)] 

33.  Bjorn  dreamed  one  night  that  a  hill-giant  came  to  him  and 
asked  him  to  enter  into  partnership  with  him,  and  he  thought 
that  he  assented.  After  that  a  buck  came  to  his  goats,  and  his 
stock  increased  so  rapidly  that  he  was  soon  very  rich.  Second- 
sighted  men  saw  that  the  land-spirits  followed  Hafr- Bjorn  to  the 
thing,  and  Thorsteinn  and  Thord  his  brothers  when  they  went 
hunting  or  fishing.     (4.  12.) 

34.  Olver,  son  of  Eysteinn,  took  the  land  to  the  east  of  Grims- 
river,  where  no  one  had  ventured  to  settle  since  Hjorleif  was 
killed,  on  account  of  the  land-spirits.     (4.  13.) 

35.  In  the  autumn,  Grim  rowed  out  to  fish  with  his  men  ;  his 
boy  Thorir  lay  in  the  bow  in  a  sealskin  bag,  drawn  close  round 
his  neck.  Grim  caught  a  merman  {marmennil),  and  when  he 
came  up  Grim  asked  :  "What  can  you  tell  us  about  our  future, 
or  where  we  shall  settle  in  Iceland  ?"  The  merman  answers : 
"  There  is  no  need  for  me  to  foretell  about  you  ;  but  as  for  the 
boy  who  lies  in  the  sealskin  bag,  he  shall  settle  and  take  land 
where  Skalm  your  mare  lies  down  under  her  load";  and  no  more 
could  they  get  out  of  him.     (2.  5.) 

36.  In  the  autumn,  Audunn  saw  an  apple-grey  horse  run  down 
from  Hjardarvatn  to  his  stud-horses,  and  overcome  the  stallion. 
Then  Audunn  went  up  and  took  the  grey  horse,  harnessed  him 
to  a  two-ox  sledge,  and  drove  all  his  hay  together  The  horse 
was  easy  to  manage  during  the  middle  of  the  day,  but  as  the  day 
wore  on  he  sank  into  the  field  up  to  his  pasterns,  and  when  the 
sun  had  set  he  broke  all  the  harness,  ran  to  the  water,  and  was 
never  seen  again. 

[In  the  margin  of  one  MS.  is  "  Waterhorse,  which  some  now 
call  Nikur-horse".]     (2.10.) 


The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore.  229 

37.  Thorvald  holbarki  "  went  up  to  Surt's  cave  and  there 
recited  the  poem  he  had  made  about  the  giant  in  the  cave". 
(3-  IO-) 

F. — There  are  few  remarkable  dreams,  but  the  following 
two  may  be  given  : 

38.  When  Asolf  grew  old  he  retired  and  lived  by  himself.  His 
cell  was  where  the  church  now  stands,  and  there  he  died  and  was 
buried  at  Holm.  When  Halldorr,  the  son  of  Illugi  the  red,  lived 
there,  one  of  the  byre-maids  was  in  the  habit  of  wiping  her  feet  on 
the  mound  which  covered  the  grave  of  Asolf  She  dreamed  then 
that  Asolf  came  and  rebuked  her  for  wiping  her  dirty  feet  on  his 
house,  "but  there  will  be  peace  between  us",  he  said,  "  if  you  tell 
Halldorr  your  dream."  She  did  so,  but  he  said  women's  dreams 
were  of  no  importance,  and  never  heeded  it.  'When  Bishop 
Hrodolf  left  Bae,  where  he  had  lived  nineteeen  years,  three  monks 
remained  behind,  and  one  of  these  dreamed  that  Asolf  said  to 
him,  "  Send  your  servant  to  Halldorr  at  Holm,  and  buy  from  him 
the  mound  that  is  on  the  byre-path  ;  give  a  mark  of  silver  for  it." 
The  monk  did  so  ;  the  servant  bought  the  mound,  dug  in  the 
earth,  and  found  a  man's  bones,  which  he  lifted  and  took  home 
with  him.  The  next  night  Halldorr  dreamed  that  Asolf  came  to 
him  and  said  that  both  his  eyes  would  start  out  of  his  head  unless 
he  bought  his  bones  for  the  same  amount  as  he  had  sold  the 
mound  for.  Halldorr  bought  AsolPs  bones,  and  made  a  wooden 
shrine  for  them,  and  placed  it  over  the  altar.  He  sent  his  son 
Illugi  out  to  get  wood  to  build  a  church,  and  on  his  return,  when 
he  came  between  Rekjanes  and  Snjofjallsnes,  the  steersmen  would 
not  let  him  land  where  he  wished.  Then  he  threw  all  [the  wood 
overboard,  and  bade  it  come  ashore  where  Asolf  willed.  The 
night  after  the  wood  came  ashore  at  Kirksand  in  Holm,  except  two 
trees  which  landed  at  Raufarnes.  Halldorr  had  a  church  built, 
30  ells  long,  and  roofed  with  wood,  and  dedicated  it  to  Kolum- 
killa  (St.  Columba).     (i.  15.  in  some  MSS.) 

39.  Hrafnkell  came  out  late  in  the  settlement  time.  The  first 
winter  he  was  in  Broad-dale,  in  the  spring  he  went  up  by'the  fell, 
and  stopped  to  rest  in  Skridudal,  where  he  fell  asleep.  Then  he 
dreamed  that  a  man  came  to  him  and  told  him  to  get  up  and  go 
away  as  fast  as  he  could.      He  woke  up  and  left  the  place,  and 

VOL.  IV,  R 


230  The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore. 

before  he  had  gone  far,  all  the  fell  came  rushing  down,  burying 
under  it  a  boar  and  a  bull  that  he  had.  (Hence  Skridudal  = 
Landslip-dale.)     (4.  3.) 

G. — Most  of  the  settlers  were  pretty  quiet  after  death, 
but  some  of  them,  like  Asolf,  were  not  quite  at  peace.  Other 
two  are  mentioned  besides  him. 

40.  Asmund  was  buried  in  Asmund's-grave,  laid  in  a  ship,  and 
his  thrall  beside  him.  A  man  as  he  went  past  heard  this  verse 
repeated  in  his  grave-mound  : 

"Alone  I  dwell  in  the  stone-heap, 
In  the  sea-raven's  stem-room  ; 
No  throng  on  the  deck  is  standing 
Of  men  :  I  dwell  on  the  sea-steed. 
Room  for  the  brave  one  is  better 
(I  know  how  to  steer  the  wave-deer  ; 
Long  shall  that  be  remembered 
By  men)  than  a  bad  companion." 

Then  they  searched  the  mound,  and  took  the  thrall  out  of  the 
ship.     (2.  6.) 

41.  [Thorkell  farserkr,  who  had  supernatural  strength  {\\2isram- 
maukitifi).  He  crossed  half  a  sea-mile  on  an  old  gelding.]  Th. 
was  buried  in  the  farmyard  in  Hvalseyfirth  (in  Greenland),  and 
has  always  haunted  the  homestead.     (2.  14.) 

H. — In  this  the  croaking  of  a  raven  is  an  omen  of  death. 

42.  One  morning  a  raven  lighted  on  the  light-hole  at  Brekka 
and  croaked  loudly.     Hromund  said  : 

"  Out  in  the  dawn  of  morning 
Croaking  I  hear  the  black-feathered 
Swan  of  the  wound-thorn's  sweat-drops 
(Prey  wakens  the  wary-minded). 
So  came  the  war-hawk  croaking 
Of  old  when  the  princes  of  people 
Were  death-doomed,  and  birds  of  Odin 
Foretold  the  boding  of  battle." 

Thorbjorn  said  : 

"The  mew  of  the  war-heap's  billow 
Cries  with  hail  besprinkled 
When  it  comes  to  seek  the  corpse-sea 


The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk  lo7'e.  231 

(Its  mind  craves  food  at  morning). 

Thus  of  yore  sat  croaking 

The  bird  of  sword-slain  corpses 

On  ancient  tree,  when  ravens 

For  warrior's  mead  were  thirsting."     (2.  33.) 

(These  verses  are  among  the  finest  of  all  those  composed 
in  the  skaldic  metre  drSttkvcett ;  the  first  in  particular  shows 
great  feeling  and  poetic  taste.) 

I. — Two  stories  on  the  common  theme  of  buried 
treasure. 

43.  Thorsteinn  Asgrim's  son. — In  his  days  there  came  a  ship 
into  Rangar6s  with  great  sickness  on  board.  No  one  would  help 
the  crew,  but  Thorsteinn  went  to  them  and  removed  them  to  the 
place  now  called  Tentstead,  and  made  tents  for  them  there,  and 
attended  to  them  himself  so  long  as  they  lived.  All  of  them 
died,  however,  and  the  last  survivor  buried  a  great  quantity  of 
treasure,  which  has  never  been  found  since.     (5.  6.) 

44.  Ketilbjorn  was  so  wealthy  in  money  that  he  offered  his 
sons  to  make  a  cross-tree  of  silver  for  the  temple  that  they  had 
made,  but  they  refused  it.  Then  he  drove  the  silver  up  to  the 
mountain  on  two  oxen,  along  with  Haki,  his  thrall,  and  B6t,  his 
maidservant,  and  there  they  buried  the  money,  so  that  it  has 
never  been  found.  Then  he  killed  flaki  at  Hakaskard  and  Bot 
at  Botarskard.     (5.  12.) 

K. — An  anecdote  of  a  child  protesting  against  being 
exposed  to  die,  a  practice  abolished  at  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  into  Iceland.     {Kristni  Saga,  c.  ii.) 

45.  Thorkatla,  Asgrim's  wife,  gave  birth  to  a  male  child,  which 
Asgrim  ordered  to  be  exposed.  A  thrall  was  sharpening  a  hoe  to 
dig  a  grave  for  it,  and  the  child  was  lying  on  the  floor,  when  they 
all  heard  it  make  this  verse  : 

•'  Let  the  child  to  its  mother  ! 
It  is  cold  for  me  here  on  the  floor. 
Where  for  a  boy  more  fitting 
Than  by  his  father's  hearth  ? 
No  need  to  sharpen  the  iron. 
Nor  to  cut  the  earth-turf 
Cease  from  a  work  so  hateful. 
I  shall  yet  live  among  men." 

R  2 


232  The  Oldest  Icelandic  Folk-lore. 

The  child  was  then  sprinkled  with  water,  and  called  Thorsteinn. 
5.  6.  in  some  MSS.) 


INDEX. 

alag  (on-lay),  a  spell  or  imprecation  pronounced  on  a  place.     (28.) 
dlfreka,  hafa,  to  defile  a  place  so  that  the  elves  are  driven  away  from 

it.     (7.) 
bergbui^  an  inhabitant  of  the  hills,  a  giant.     {Zl)-) 
blot,  a  religious  ceremony,  a  sacrifice,  or  sacrificial  feast  ;  blotmadr, 

one  addicted  to  such  observances  ;  biota,  to  worship,  hallow,  or 

sacrifice  (12-20).     biota  til  othurftar,  to  perform  ceremonies  for 

another's  harm.     (17.) 
brandir  7)edrspair,  ship's  beaks,  which  foretell  the  weather.     (10.  18.) 
bregda  ser,  to  change  one's  shape  by  sorcery.     (27.) 
deyja  ifjall,  i  kola,  to  pass  into  the  fell  (knolls)  at  death.     (7.  8.) 
fjblkytigi  {vci\xc\\.  knowledge),  magic,  knowledge  of  magical  arts  (21. 

22.  23);  also  2i^].  fj'dlkunnigr,  possessed  of  magical  knowledge. 

(27.  28.) 
framsynn,  gifted  with  insight  into  the  future.     (19.) 
fridr,  sanctuary,  inviolability.  Mceri  fridr,  so  named  from  the  Temple 

of  Marl  at  Thrandheim.     (9.) 
frodleikr,  learning,  knowledge,  with  added  idea  of  sorcery.     (23. ) 
hamfarir,  in  the  phrase  i  hatnfdrtein,  travelling  in  an  assumed  shape, 

a  power  possessed  by  wizards.     (24.) 
hamrammr,  having  the  power  of  putting  on  other  shapes.   (29.  30.  31.) 
hlutr,  a  small  image  {e.g.,  of  Freyr  or  Thor)  carried  about  as  a  talis- 
man (24).    Hallfred  was  accused  of  carrying  one  of  Thor  after  he 

had  become  a  Christian  {Flateybk.,  i,  329). 
hbrgr,  a  heathen  place  of  worship,  being  an  altar  erected  on  some 

high  place.     (8.) 
landv(Bttir,  the  guardian  spirits  of  a  country  (fairies,  etc.).    (32.  '})'^.  34.) 
inarntennill,  a  merman,  man  of  the  sea.     (35.) 
jneinvcettir,  spirits  who  do  injury  to  one.     (27,) 
mkurhestr  —  vat)tshestr,  a  river-horse,  "  kelpie".     (36.) 
ofreskr,  second-sighted,  in  the  sense  of  being  able  to  see  things  going 

on  in  the  spiritual  world  which  are  hid  from  ordinary  mortals. 

(27.  31.  32>-) 
rammaukinn,  possessed  of  more  than  mortal  strength.     (28.  41.) 
trollkarl,  a  male-troll,  a  giant.     (22.) 
vblva,  the  general  name  for  a  witch.     (24.) 

W.  A.  Craigie. 


THE    FOLK} 


DURING  the  discussions  which  took  place  some  years 
ago  in  the  Folk-lore  Society  as  to  the  nature  of 
folk-lore,  there  was  one  curious  omission.  Much  was  said 
about  what  the  Folk  believed,  what  the  Folk  did,  and  how 
these  sayings  and  doings  of  the  Folk  should  be  arranged 
and  classified.  But  very  little  indeed  was  said  as  to  what 
the  Folk  was  that  said  and  did  these  things,  and  nothing 
at  all  was  said  as  to  how  they  said  and  did  them,  and 
especially  as  to  how  they  began  to  say  and  do  them.  In 
short,  in  dealing  with  Folk-lore,  much  was  said  of  the  Lore, 
almost  nothing  was  said  of  the  Folk.  I  propose  to  supply 
that  omission  so  far  as  the  short  space  at  my  disposal 
will  allow. 

We  all  know  the  way  in  which  the  currency  of  a  folk- 
custom  is  described.  "  It  has  arisen  among  the  people"; 
"  it  is  universally  the  custom";  "everybody  does  it  or  thinks 
it",  and  so  on.  These  phrases  are  adequate  enough  as  far 
as  they  go,  though  even  here  it  is  worth  while  recording 
that  at  times  the  custom  is  not  universal,  or  has  important 
variations.  Thus  at  times  it  is  unlucky  to  have  a  man 
step  over  your  threshold  first  in  the  New  Year  ;  at  times, 
horrcsco  referens,  it  is  one  of  the  fairer  sex  whom  the  Folk 
are  so  ungallant  as  to  taboo  on  that  occasion.  At  times 
the  first-foot  should  be  of  light  complexion,  at  others  he 
should  be  dark,  and  so  on.  So  that  even  for  purposes 
of  universal  custom  we  have  to  split  up  that  mysterious 
entity,  the  Folk,  into  various  segments  of  mutually  con- 
flicting opinions. 

The  Folk   is    many-headed,  it  would    seem,  and   often 

^  A  paper  read — as  a  stopgap — before  the  Folk-lore  Society. 


234  The  Folk. 

many-minded,  while  often  it  does  not  know  its  own  mind. 
That  is  its  present-day  aspect  when  it  has  nothing  to 
do  but  to  hear  and  remember.  But  I  am  more  concerned 
to  come  to  close  quarters  with  the  Folk  regarded  as 
originator.  For  the  matter  of  that,  everything  must  have 
originated  among  the  Folk,  including  language,  ars  con- 
servatrix  oinniuni  artiuvi.  Yet  when  we  come  to  realise 
what  we  mean  by  saying  a  custom,  a  tale,  a  myth  arose 
from  the  Folk,  I  fear  we  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  said  Folk  is  a  fraud,  a  delusion,  a  myth.  These  be 
bold  words  to  utter  in  the  presence  of  this  honourable 
assembly  of  folk-lorists  ;  but,  as  usual  with  bold  words, 
they  admit  of  explanation  in  a  parliamentary  sense. 

Let  us  try  to  realise  in  imagination  what  must  have 
happened  when,  for  the  first  time,  the  saying  was  uttered 
that  was  afterwards  to  become  a  proverb,  or  a  tale  that 
was  destined  to  be  a  folk-  or  fairy-tale,  was  first  told.  Was 
it  the  Folk  that  said  the  one  or  told  the  other?  Did  the 
collective  Folk  assembled  in  folk-moot  simultaneously  shout, 
"  When  the  wine 's  in,  the  wit 's  out",  or  "  Penny  wise, 
pound  foolish"?  No,  it  was  some  bucolic  wit,  already  the 
chartered  libertine  of  his  social  circle,  who  first  raised 
hearty  guffaws  by  those  homely  pieces  of  wisdom.  The 
proverbial  description  of  a  proverb,  "  The  wisdom  of  many, 
the  wit  of  one",  recognises  that  truth.  George  Eliot  in 
Adam  Bede  records  the  process.  Mrs.  Poyser — her  own 
stepmother,  it  is  said — described  Mr.  Craig,  the  Scotch 
gardener,  as  "  welly  like  the  cock  that  thinks  the  sun  rose 
to  hear  him  crow".  Later  on  in  the  book  Parson  Irwine 
refers  to  the  phrase,  and  calls  it  as  good  as  ^sop.  Pro- 
duction by  the  local  wit,  appreciation  by  the  local  circle, 
record  by  the  social  observer — of  such  is  the  making  of 
proverbs. 

Can  it  have  been  much  different  with  the  initial  produc- 
tion of  folk-tales  ?  Can  we  imagine  the  Folk  inventing 
Cinderella  or  Puss-in-Boots,  or  any  of  the  innumerable 
novelettes  of  the  nursery?      The  process  is  unthinkable. 


The  Folk.  235 

These  little  masterpieces  of  narrative  art  emanated  from 
an  artist,  who  had  the  grin  of  conscious  creation  on  his 
face  as  he  told  Cinderella,  Puss-in-Boots,  or  Ruvipelstiltskin 
for  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history.  Artistry  is  indi- 
vidual :  that  cannot  come  from  the  Folk  no  more  than 
novels  can  arise  spontaneously  and  simultaneously  among 
the  subscribers  of  Messrs.  Mudie  and  Smith. 

Even  when  it  comes  to  custom,  even  custom  which  in- 
volves the  simultaneous  doing  of  some  one  thing  by  two  or 
more  persons,  we  must  search  for  the  individual  among  the 
Folk,  at  least  for  the  initiative.  The  feeling  of  horror  or  of 
worship  may  be  in  common,  but  the  expression  of  that 
feeling  must  in  the  first  instance  have  come  from  the  initia- 
tive of  an  individual.  When  Northumberland  House  still 
existed,  one  of  a  sporting  turn  earned  a  heavy  bet  that  he 
would  cause  a  crowd  in  front  of  it  without  apparent  cause, 
He  simply  stood  on  the  opposite  pavement,  and  stared 
steadily  at  the  lion  that  surmounted  the  edifice.  By-and- 
hyo:  a  crowd  collected,  all  staring  at  the  lion.  A  myth 
arose,  I  have  been  told,  that  the  lion  had  been  seen  to  wag 
his  iron  tail.  But  whether  that  be  so  or  no,  the  sportsman 
had  won  his  wager,  and  incidentally  had  given  an  apt 
illustration  of  the  way  in  which  folk-lore  arises.  The 
sportsman  initiated  the  folk-lore,  the  crowd  was  the 
Folk. 

Here  I  am  at  issue  with  DnTylor  and  his  followers.  They 
would  say  that  at  a  certain  stage  of  social  culture  it  would  be 
natural  for  all  men  in  all  countries  to  look  at  lions  that  did 
not  wag  their  tails  on  tops  of  conspicuous  buildings.  Even 
then  I  would  contend  it  needs  some  one  to  begin  the 
staring  before  the  crowd  collects,  even  though  it  is  the 
crowd  that  makes  the  Folk  and  constitutes  the  staring 
folk-lore.  If  I  heard  of  the  same  joke  being  played  at 
Paris  or  Berlin,  I  should  feel  inclined  to  bet  that  it  had 
been  played  by  one  who  had  heard  of  him  who  had 
twisted  the  tail  of  the  Northumberland  House  lion. 

You  see  where   I  am  pointing.   The  Folk  is  simply  a 


236  The  Folk. 

name  for  our  ignorance :  we  do  not  know  to  whom  a 
proverb,  a  tale,  a  custom,  a  myth  owes  its  origin,  so  we 
say  it  originated  among  the  Folk.  The  author  of  the  myth 
of  Cronus,  of  the  tale  of  Medea  and  Jason,  was  a  Great 
Unknown  ;  "  the  world  knows  nothing  of  its  greatest  men." 
The  Folk  is  a  publishing  syndicate  that  exploits  the 
productions  of  that  voluminous  author.  Anon.  We  have 
under  our  very  noses  a  pertinent  example  of  what  is 
always  going  on.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  or  so,  the 
Folk-lore  Society  has  been  doing  much  for  the  science, 
and  great  has  been  the  fame  of  the  Council  thereof.  But 
I  think  we  could  all  of  us  point  out  the  one  or  two  men 
who  have  initiated,  and  in  large  measure  carried  out  that 
work.  Yes,  I  repeat  it,  the  Folk  is  a  fraud,  a  delusion, 
a  myth. 

"  Yes,"  you  will  say,  "  all  that  is  very  pretty,  and  tolerably 
obvious,  especially  now  that  you  have  pointed  it  out.  But 
what  of  it  ?  What  is  the  practical  application  of  the 
consideration  ?"  Well,  in  the  first  place,  it  would  be  well 
to  realise  the  individual  initiative  in  discussing  origins,  and 
we  are  chiefly  interested  in  origins  nowadays.  When  we 
find  similar  customs  in  far-distant  lands,  we  shall  find  it 
more  difficult  to  suppose  them  to  have  originated  independ- 
ently, if  we  have  to  recognise  that  they  arose  with  indi- 
viduals. The  probabilities  of  borrowing  are  much  greater 
if  this  fact  is  recognised.  Even  assuming  that  the  same 
story  or  custom  could  have  originated  independently,  if  we 
had  all  time  to  deal  with,  it  becomes  more  difficult  to  do 
so  when  prehistoric  time  is,  comparatively  speaking,  limited. 
The  custom  of  junior  right,  say,  could  have  independently 
arisen  in  England,  if  England  had  been  isolated  for  all 
time.  But  if  England  is  in  culture-contact,  mediate  or 
immediate,  with  countries  where  junior  right  exists,  it 
becomes  a  race  between  independent  origin  and  borrowing  ; 
and  to  assume  independent  origin  is  to  bet  against  the 
bank  of  Time  with  its  unlimited  means. 


The  Folk.  237 

Again,  we  shall  have  to  go  more  minutely  into  the 
modus  opera7idi  of  tradition  if  this  conception  of  individual 
origin  of  folk-lore  be  firmly  grasped.  Just  at  present,  we 
are  content  to  say  such  and  such  a  creation  is  spread  from 
John-o'-Groat's  to  Land's  End.  The  assumption  is  usually 
made,  if  only  implicitly,  that  it  arose  independently  in  all 
the  places  of  its  occurrence,  owing  to  the  similarity  of 
social  conditions  and  the  like.  From  the  new  stand- 
point we  shall  want  to  know  Jiow  it  thus  spread,  and 
where  it  took  its  rise,  since  from  that  standpoint  it  must 
have  originated  in  one  mind  in  one  spot.  And  when  we 
learn  how  it  spreads  in  one  country,  we  may  get  to  know 
how  it  spreads  from  one  country  to  another. 

Again,  from  our  individualistic  standpoint  we  shall  have 
to  break  down  the  rather  hard  and  fast  line  we  draw  be- 
tween folk-lore  and  literature.  While  a  story  passes  per 
ora  viruin  we  call  it  folk-lore,  the  moment  it  gets  written 
down  we  call  it  literature,  and  it  ceases  to  have  interest  for 
us  qua  folk-lorists.  I  cannot  recognise  any  such  hard  and 
fast  distinction.  Books  are  but  so  many  telephones  pre- 
serving the  lore  of  the  Folk,  or  more  often  burying  it  and 
embalming  it.  For,  after  all,  we  are  the  Folk  as  well  as 
the  rustic,  though  their  lore  may  be  other  than  ours,  as 
ours  will  be  different  from  that  of  those  that  follow  us. 

And  finally,  recognising  this  initiative  among  the  Folk, 
and  breaking  down  the  distinction  between  the  Folk  of  the 
past  and  of  the  present,  we  shall  be  able  to  study  the  lore 
of  the  present  with  happy  results,  I  am  sure,  for  our  study 
of  the  lore  of  the  past.  Survivals  are  folk-lore,  but  folk-lore 
need  not  be  all  survivals.  We  ought  to  learn  valuable 
hints  as  to  the  spread  of  folk-lore  by  studying  the  Folk  of 
to-day.  The  music-hall,  from  this  point  of  view,  will  have 
its  charm  for  the  folk-lorist,  who  will  there  find  the  Volks- 
lieder  of  to-day.  The  spread  of  popular  sayings,  even  the 
rise  of  new  words,  provided  they  be  folk-words,  should  be 
regarded  as  a  part  of  the  study  of  folk-lore.     It  would  be 


238  The  Folk. 

interesting  in  this  connection  to  find  out  and  put  on  record 
the  whole  folk-lore  of  a  single  person,  so  as  to  ascertain  how 
far  contradictory  conceptions  can  coexist  in  the  popular 
mind. 

Thus,  I  think  that  at  any  rate  in  our  study  of  folk-lore 
we  should  pay  attention  not  alone  to  the  Lore,  but  also  to 
the  Folk. 

Joseph  Jacobs. 


REVIEW. 


Excavations  in  Bokerly  and  Wansdyke,  Dorset 
AND  Wilts,  1888-91.  By  Lieutenant-General  PlTT- 
Rivers,  D.C.L,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  In.^pector  of  Ancient 
Monuments  in  Great  Britain,  etc.  With  Observa- 
tions on  the  Human  Remains,  by  J.  G.  Garson, 
M.D.     Vol.111.     Printed  privately.      1892. 

If  any  apology  were  necessary  for  bringing  under  the 
notice  of  the  readers  of  Folk- LORE  a  work  of  the  national 
importance  of  General  Pitt-Rivers'  Excavations,  it  would 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  first  two  volumes  were 
reviewed  in  the  earh'er  series  of  this  periodical,  when  it 
was  known  as  The  ArchcEological  Review.  There  a  general 
outline  was  given  of  the  results  of  the  excavation  of  two 
Romano-British  villages  on  the  author's  property  at  Gran- 
borne  Chase,  and  of  an  ancient  camp  on  Winkelbury  Hill. 
The  main  interest  of  the  two  former  volumes  undoubtedly 
consisted  in  the  remarkable  discoveries  at  Cranborne  Chase. 
The  two  villages,  called  Woodcuts  and  Rotherley  from 
the  modern  names  of  their  sites,  were  occupied  during 
Roman  times  by  a  people  of  dwarfs,  who  seem  to  have 
lived  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  life,  but  whose  poverty 
had  been  touched  with  a  slight  gleam  of  the  luxury  ()f 
their  conquerors.  Of  their  material  civilisation  the  relics 
told  something.  The  pottery,  the  bronze  and  other  personal 
ornaments,  the  knives  and  spoons,  the  nails,  the  keys, 
locks,  hinges,  horse-shoes,  and  other  articles  of  iron,  the 
quern-stones,  whetstones,  flints — all  told  their  tale.  But 
of  the  mental  and  religious  attainments,  of  the  worship 
and  the  social  rites  and  intercourse  of  these  strange,  for- 
gotten villagers  we  learned  absolutely  nothing.     No  altars. 


240  Review. 

no  images,  no  funeral  urns  were  found— nothing  to  enable 

us  to 

"  throw 
An  arch  across  the  gulf  of  years, 
That  we  may  travel  back,  and  know 
The  brooding  thoughts  and  haunting  fears 
And  clinging  faiths" 

that  occupied  the  minds  and  looked  through  the  eyes 
wherewith  they  surveyed  the  dark  wet  forest  and  upland 
clearing  around  their  rude  homes  of  wattle  and  clay  in 
those  far-off  times. 

General  Pitt-Rivers'  new  volume  is  marked  by  the  same 
admirable  characteristics  as  the  previous  ones.  As  before, 
we  are  impressed  with  his  minute  accuracy,  his  anxiety  to 
lay  before  the  reader  all  the  facts,  independently  of  any 
theory,  so  as  to  put  him  in  a  position  to  judge  for  himself 
on  the  questions  disputed,  his  careful  reasoning,  and  his 
wide  anthropological  learning.  The  volume  is  chiefly 
concerned  with  explorations  of  Bokerly  Dyke  (a  rampart 
about  four  miles  long,  which  yet  throughout  the  greater 
part  of  its  length  forms  the  boundary  between  Dorset- 
shire and  Wiltshire,  and  runs  in  a  south-easterly  direc- 
tion), and  of  Wansdyke  at  places  not  very  far  from  Sil- 
bury.  Both  these  ramparts  have  been  thrown  up  for 
purposes  of  defence  against  the  north  and  north-east. 
The  frontier  defended  by  Wansdyke  seems  to  have  run 
along  the  valley  of  the  Avon  to  a  point  above  Bath, 
where  the  dyke  crosses  the  river  and  appears  to  join  the 
Roman  road  from  Bath  to  Marlborough,  running  con- 
tinuously with  the  latter  until  it  reaches  the  valley  of  the 
Kennet.  Before  the  road  enters  the  valley  the  dyke  parts 
company  with  it,  and  continues  along  the  heights  through 
Savernake  Forest  to  the  borders  of  Berkshire,  where  it 
turns  to  the  south  and  is  lost.  In  point  of  construction,, 
both  Bokerly  and  Wansdyke  are  similar,  consisting  of 
a  ditch  with  a  small  external  mound  and  a  higher  ram- 
part within.     They  are  not  of  uniform   height ;    and  in 


Reviezv.  241 

places  both  are  lost,  without  any  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  loss  is  due  to  effacement  by  agricultural  operations. 
General  Pitt-Rivers  conjectures  that  these  places  may 
have  been  formerly  occupied  by  forest,  and  that  it  was 
there  easier  to  make  an  abattis  of  felled  trees. 

In  all  cases  the  excavations  were  continued  down  to  the 
undisturbed  chalk  beneath  the  ditch  and  the  mounds. 
They  revealed,  both  in  the  rampart  and  on  the  old  surface 
under  it,  pieces  of  Samian  ware,  cleats,  and  other  objects 
of  iron,  and,  in  the  case  of  Bokerly  Dyke,  Roman  coins, 
which  proved  that  both  dykes  were  erected  during,  or 
subsequent  to,  Roman  times.  In  what  circumstances,  or 
during  what  war,  however,  the  dykes  were  built  is  still 
undetermined.  The  object  evidently  was  the  defence  of 
the  south-western  corner  of  the  island  from  enemies  com- 
ing from  the  north  and  east.  But  who  were  the  enemies, 
or  who  the  defenders,  is  a  problem  that  further  researches 
have  yet  to  make  manifest. 

But,  however  interesting  the  problems  connected  with 
the  dykes  may  be,  the  student  of  folk-lore  will  naturally 
turn  rather  to  the  village  at  Woodyates.  This  is  the 
third  ancient  village  discovered  in  the  course  of  the  author's 
excavations.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  race  who 
had  occupied  the  villages  described  in  the  former  volumes 
averaged,  the  men  5  feet  2.6  inches,  and  the  women  4  feet 
10.9  inches  in  height.  The  village  called  Woodyates, 
from  the  name  of  a  modern  cluster  of  buildings  a  short 
distance  to  the  south-west  of  the  site,  was  occupied  by 
a  people  answering  to  a  similar  description.  Bokerly 
Dyke  runs  through  it  at  the  point  where  the  dyke  crosses 
the  Roman  road  from  Badbury  Rings  to  Old  Sarum. 
The  portion  of  the  settlement  examined  is  chiefly  on  the 
outside  of  the  dyke  ;  and  how  much  of  it  was  inside,  or 
how  much  more  outside,  is  yet  unknown.  The  village,  as 
indicated  by  the  turn  just  here  of  the  Roman  road,  appears 
to  have  been  in  existence  before  the  road  was  made  ;  but 
some   of  the   drains   bear   evidence   of  having   been  cut 


242  Review. 

subsequently,  arguing  the  continued  existence  and  pros- 
perity of  the  community.  Lastly,  the  dyke  was  con- 
structed, the  earliest  part  of  it  not  before  the  reign  of 
Maximinus  II,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  as 
is  shown  by  a  coin  of  that  emperor  found  beneath  the 
rampart  on  the  old  surface-line.  At  or  after  the  depar- 
ture of  the  Romans,  a  change,  probably  to  render  it  more 
defensible  at  this  point,  was  made  in  the  direction  of  a 
portion  of  the  dyke  ;  and  we  may  perhaps  be  permitted 
to  surmise  that  the  renewal  of  troubles,  which  this  altera- 
tion indicates,  led  to  the  final  destruction  or  abandon- 
ment of  the  settlement. 

Before  these  excavations  were  begun  not  a  trace  of  the 
village  was  to  be  seen,  and  its  very  existence  had  been  for- 
gotten. In  the  Itinerary  of  Antoninus  the  name  of  Vindo- 
gladia  occurs  on  this  line  of  road,  and  the  distance  between 
it  and  Sorbiodunum  (Old  Sarum)  is  put  down  as  twelve 
Roman  miles.  Where  Vindogladia  was  has  hitherto  been 
a  matter  of  conjecture.  General  Pitt-Rivers  suggests  that 
it  was  precisely  Woodyates,  the  distance  from  Sorbiodunum 
answering  the  requirements  as  nearly  as  possible.  And  he 
points  to  the  fact  that  preceding  antiquaries,  though  un- 
aware of  the  existence  of  Woodyates,  have  interpreted  the 
name  to  mean  the  White  Rampart,  from  two  Celtic  words, 
vint,  white,  and  gladJi,  a  ditch  or  rampart — a  name  very 
suitable  to  Bokerly  Dyke  when  the  chalk  out  of  which  it 
was  cut  was  fresh. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  former  villages,  the  number  and 
size  of  the  drains  are  one  of  its  most  impressive  features.  No 
wells  were  uncovered  like  those  at  Woodcuts  and  Rother- 
ley  ;  but  the  drains  alone  bore  witness  to  a  much  heavier 
rainfall  than  at  present.  Some  of  them  seem  to  have  been 
afterwards  filled  up  while  the  occupation  of  the  site  con- 
tinued. This  was  found  to  have  been  the  case  also  in  the 
other  villages,  and  the  excavator  has  been  much  puzzled  to 
account  for  it.  Whether  these  particular  drains  became 
unnecessary  owing  to  a  diminished  rainfall,  or  whether  the 


Review.  243 

ground  was  wanted  for  other  purposes,  must  be  left  for  the 
present  among  the  many  unsolved  questions  concerning 
these  settlements.  The  general  account  of  the  civilisation 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Woodcuts  and  Rotherley  given  in  the 
second  volume  of  The  ArcJiceological  Reviezv  applies  also  to 
those  of  Woodyates.  But  their  pottery,  which  included 
numerous  specimens  of  Samian  and  other  ornamental  ware, 
their  glass,  their  bronze  fibulae,  brooches,  spoons,  torques, 
bangles,  rings,  their  iron  scythes,  cleats,  nails,  keys,  knives, 
hooks,  and  other  objects  of  both  metals,  and  above  all  the 
hoards  of  money — 1,210  coins  have  been  found  in  all — 
though  chiefly  of  brass,  and  consequently  of  small  intrinsic 
value,  indicate,  as  perhaps  we  might  expect  in  a  station 
upon  an  important  road,  more  trade  and  somewhat  more 
wealth  than  were  known  to  the  remoter  villages  in  what  is 
now  Cranborne  Chase. 

It  is  around  their  burials  that  the  principal  interest  of 
folk-lore  students  will  concentrate  ;  for  here,  if  anywhere, 
we  may  look  for  intimations  of  their  beliefs.  The  relics  of 
material  civilisation  may  be  no  more  than  a  veneer,  entering 
as  little  into  their  real  life  as  the  iron  axes  and  glass  beads 
of  modern  traders  do  into  the  life  of  the  savage  Papuan.  The 
rites  paid  to  the  dead  are  different.  The  supreme  import- 
ance of  the  three  chief  moments  of  human  life — birth, 
marriage,  and  death — in  the  investigation  of  savage  and 
barbarous  culture  is  well  recognised.  We  look  to  the 
ceremonies  attending  them  for  the  expression  of  the  native 
mind,  the  outcome  of  its  inmost  hopes  and  fears,  of  its 
dearest  joys  and  most  poignant  sorrows,  long  after  the 
conditions  that  ordinarily  beset  a  tribe  have  been  modified 
by  an  intrusive  civilisation,  and  even  its  religion  has  been 
changed.  Unfortunately,  in  digging  up  the  relics  of  a 
vanished  barbarism,  we  find  no  record  of  the  ceremonies 
attending  birth  and  marriage,  the  remains  of  funeral  cere- 
monies are  all  that  we  can  recover  ;  and  we  seek  the  more 
eagerly  for  what  they  can  disclose  to  us.  At  Woodcuts 
and  at  Rotherley  we  were  able  to  learn  nothing.     We  are 


244  Review. 

somewhat  better  off  at  Woodyates.  A  smaller  proportion 
of  the  bodies  were  buried  in  a  crouching  position  than  in 
either  of  the  other  villages,  fifteen  out  of  seventeen  having 
been  buried  extended,  some  lying  on  the  back,  others  on  the 
side.  Five  bodies  buried  in  a  square  enclosure,  whose  use 
is  one  of  the  problems  left  open,  were  in  graves  nearly  east 
and  west,  with  their  heads  to  the  west ;  but  it  is  im- 
possible to  say  whether  this  was  done  from  regard  to 
a  religious  motive,  or  simply  from  convenience  of  situa- 
tion. Elsewhere  it  seems  clear  that  convenience  only  was 
consulted.  Some  of  the  bodies  were  buried  in  coffins 
either  of  oak  or  of  some  coniferous  wood,  fragments  of 
which — the  only  fragments  left — were  found  adhering  by 
rust  to  the  nails.  In  several  instances  hobnails  were 
found  about  the  feet,  showing  that  they  must  have  been 
buried  in  boots.  A  bronze  fibula,  which  had  no  doubt 
fastened  the  dress,  was  found  on  the  thigh  of  one  ;  and 
a  portion  of  an  iron  torque  was  on  the  neck  of  a  female 
skeleton,  while  a  bronze  torque  was  also  found  in  the  soil 
of  the  same  grave. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  in  these  observances  we  have 
a  belief  in  future  life  indicated.  Burial  in  boots  may  have 
reference  to  the  journey  which  the  soul  must  take  to  the 
spirit-land  ;  and  the  finery  wherein  the  bodies  were  en- 
veloped, and  the  care  taken  to  preserve  them  as  far  as 
possible  by  the  use  of  coffins,  may  have  been  due  to  a  regard 
for  the  after-life.  As  much  as  this,  however,  was  found  in 
the  village  graves  at  Cranborne  Chase  ;  nor  could  anything 
beyond  the  barest  conjecture  be  based  upon  it.  But  the 
dwellers  at  Woodyates,  in  their  care  for  their  dead,  have 
told  us  more.  Out  of  the  seventeen  skeletons,  three  had  each 
a  coin  in  its  mouth.  Under  the  leg  of  another,  half 
a  brass  coin  was  lying.  A  fifth  skeleton  had  a  coin  on  its 
pelvis.  Some  little  doubt  may  perhaps  attach  to  the  last 
case.  The  skeleton  in  question  was  one  of  two  buried  in 
a  grave  cut  out  partly  from  the  undisturbed  chalk,  and 
partly   in    the    filling    of  the    ditch    of  a    portion    of   the 


Review.  245 

rampart.  They  were  both  buried  lying  on  the  right  side  ; 
and  this  skeleton  had  both  hands  lying  behind  it,  in  such 
a  position  that  they  might  have  been  tied.  Moreover, 
there  were  at  least  four  other  coins  of  the  same  period  in 
adjacent  parts  of  the  silting  of  the  ditch,  two  of  them 
within  the  limits  of  the  grave,  but  far  above  the  bodies'; 
so  that  they  may  all  have  been  dropped  in  by  accident  in 
filling  up  the  ditch  and  the  grave.  The  other  cases, 
however,  may  be  taken  to  be  undoubtedly  instances  of 
coins  having  been  given  to  the  corpse  to  pay  the  fare 
of  the  dead  into  the  other  world,  the  classic  toll  df 
Charon.^ 

Nor  is  this  all.  Pottery,  both  whole  and  broken,  was 
deposited  with  three  of  the  bodies  in  the  square  enclosure. 
The  skeleton  of  a  man  was  found  with  the  fragments  of 
a  small  bowl,  or  tazza,  of  cream-coloured  ware  at  its  feet. 
The  skeleton  of  a  young  person  of  doubtful  sex  had 
fragments  of  a  similar  vessel,  but  of  a  somewhat  more 
elegant  shape  and  of  imitation  Samian  ware,  at  its  right 
foot,  and  under  its  left  leg  a  fragment  of  New  Forest 
cream-coloured  ware.  In  neither  of  these  cases  was  it 
found  possible  to  piece  together  an  entire  vessel  out  of  the 
fragments ;  probably,  therefore,  the  bowls  were  broken 
when  buried.  This  points,  of  course,  to  the  belief  that  it 
was  necessary  to  break  the  vessel,  so  that  its  soul  might 
accompany  the  soul  of  the  dead  into  the  spirit-world.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  small  pitcher,  6.'^  inches  high,  was  found 
entire  in  an  adult  female's  grave.  The  lady  had  been 
buried  in  an  unusually  strong  coffin,  or  covered  bier ;  and 
the  pitcher  was  placed  either  upon  or  beside  the  coffin,  not 
inside   it.     It   is,  however,  well   known  that  it  is  by  no 

^  There  is  some  evidence,  however,  that  the  object  of  giving  the 
corpse  this  money  is  more  general,  namely,  to  provide  for  the  wants 
of  the  dead  in  the  spirit-world,  in  which  case  it  is  probably  a  relic  of 
a  previous  custom  of  putting  more  valuable  coins,  or  other  articles, 
into  the  corpse's  mouth.  See  Dr.  De  Groot's  Religious  System  of 
China,  vol.  i,  pp.  278-g. 

VOL.  IV.  S 


246  Review. 

means  necessary  to  place  the  articles  intended  for  the  use 
of  the  deceased  inside  the  coffin. 

This  lady  was  further  remarkable,  because  upon  her 
breast  lay  a  comb  of  bone,  having  on  one  side  fine  teeth, 
and  on  the  other  coarse  ones.  It  was  evidently  meant  for 
her  toilette  in  the  next  world.  How  necessary  it  was 
considered,  we  may  guess  from  the  frequency  with  which 
combs  are  found,  both  here  and  on  the  Continent,  in  graves 
of  the  period  in  question,  or  later.  In  fact,  no  respectable, 
well-to-do  corpse — of  a  woman,  at  all  events — would  think 
of  being  buried  without  one.  Its  importance  to  the  toilette 
in  the  next  world  would  doubtless  be  measured  by  the 
requirements  of  this.  Of  such  requirements  we  have  ample 
proof  in  the  habits  of  too  many  civilised  peoples  ;  and 
these  requirements  have  left  a  large  impress  on  the  folk- 
lore of  Europe.  We  may  probably  regard  the  owner  of 
the  comb  at  Woodyates  as  being  a  person  of  some  position. 

One  other  interment  only  need  here  be  noticed.  It  was 
that  of  a  body  which  had  been  cremated,  and  the  ashes  of 
which  had  been  enclosed  in  a  dug-out  coffin  and  buried  at 
the  bottom  of  a  drain  after  the  drain  had  been,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  filled  up.  Fragments  of  pottery  of  a  fine 
description  were  found  mixed  with  the  ashes.  This  was 
a  burial  which  could  only  have  taken  place  comparatively 
late  in  the  history  of  the  settlement ;  and  it  affords  evi- 
dence that  the  custom  of  cremation  went  on  side  by  side 
with  that  of  unburnt  inhumation. 

On  the  whole,  as  at  Woodcuts  and  Rotherley,  so  at 
Woodyates,  there  is  no  proof  that  Christianity  had  been 
adopted  by  the  inhabitants.  This  is  the  more  remark- 
able, because  the  latter  place  was  situated  on  one  of  the 
great  highways.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  a  por- 
tion only  of  the  village  has  been  uncovered.  Further 
researches  may  reveal  traces  of  Christian  influence,  though 
not  of  Christian  predominance.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
learn  that  the  dwellers  at  Woodyates  believed  in  the 
existence  of  a  spirit-world,  whither  the  departed  soul  must 


Review.  247 

journey,  for  the  entrance  to  which  he  must  pay  toll,  and 
where  he  would  lead  some  such  life  as  that  of  earth. 
Thus  much  may  be  said  of  their  predecessors  of  the  bronze 
and  stone  ages,  and  of  almost  all  other  races.  At  Wood- 
cuts and  at  Rotherley,  however,  there  were  no  relics  which 
told  us  thus  much.  And  the  manner  in  which  the  dead 
were,  at  those  villages,  often  flung  into  rubbish-pits,  and  in 
one  case  thrust  into  the  flue  of  a  hypocaust,  suggests  small 
reverence  for  their  remains.  Little,  indeed,  it  is  that 
Woodyates  tells  us  on  these  matters.  What  would  we  not 
give  for  more  ?  If  we  could  only  know  what  gods  the 
diminutive  folk  of  the  south  of  Britain  adored,  what  were 
their  tribal  divisions,  their  marriage  customs,  their  solemn 
festivals,  it  would  enable  us  to  rewrite  a  page  of  human 
history  that  has  disappeared.  We  cannot  hope  ever  to 
win  this  knowledge  ;  but  more  light  may  yet  be  thrown  on 
some  of  their  doings,  perhaps  on  some  of  their  beliefs,  by 
further  excavations  conducted  on  the  trulyscientific  methods 
of  General  Pitt-Rivers. 

The  pages  of  FOLK-LORE  are  hardly  the  place  for 
discussing  the  details  of  the  coins,  the  pottery,  and  other 
material  relics  of  art,  native  and  imported,  or  the  human 
and  other  bones,  to  all  of  which  the  most  careful  and 
impartial  attention  has  been  given.  They  belong  rather 
to  other  departments  of  study,  though  by  no  means  with- 
out their  interest  and  their  lessons  for  students  of  tradition. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  evident  that  researches  like  those  before 
us  are  complementary  to  the  work  which  the  Folk-lore 
Society  is  seeking  to  do  throughout  the  counties.  The 
present  population  is  the  descendant  of  the  past ;  and 
excavations  that  illustrate  the  former  populations  and  their 
condition  will  help  us  to  understand  the  peculiarities  of 
the  practices  and  beliefs  of  later  generations.  But  it  is  of 
vital  importance  that  they  be  conducted  by  trained  ex- 
plorers, who  will  both  observe  and  record,  not  merely  what 
seems  important  to  them  at  the  moment,  but  also  what 
seems  trivial  and  uninteresting  ;  for  in  this  way  only  can 

s  2 


248  Review. 

we  have  a  body  of  evidence  preserved  so  as  to  be  avail- 
able for  the  discussion  of  the  fresh  problems  continually- 
arising  with  the  progress  of  our  knowledge.  For  such 
a  band  of  explorers,  and  for  such  modes  of  procedure, 
the  Inspector  of  Ancient  Monuments  has  eloquently 
pleaded  both  in  word  and  deed.  If  Parliament  could  be 
persuaded  to  accord  him  large  and  compulsory  powers  for 
the  preservation  and  investigation  of  the  monuments,  which 
are  a  national  inheritance  and  a  trust,  alas !  too  little 
regarded,  it  would  confer  a  lustre  on  itself,  and  earn  the 
thanks  of  all  who  are  interested,  not  merely  in  British 
history,  but  in  anthropological  science. 

It  only  remains  to  call  attention  again  to  the  museum  at 
Farnham,  organised  on  similar  principles  to  that  at  Ox- 
ford, where  General  Pitt-Rivers  has  deposited  the  bulk  of 
the  objects  recovered  during  his  excavations,  side  by  side 
with  similar  objects  from  foreign  countries,  and  with  a  valu- 
able and  extensive  series  of  models  of  the  villages  and  of 
various  stages  of  the  excavations  (showing  the  positions  of 
the  human  and  other  remains),  as  well  as  of  other  ancient 
monuments.  His  anxiety  to  render  these  things  access- 
ible and  attractive  is  shown  by  the  erection  of  a  small 
hotel  close  at  hand,  and  by  attention  in  other  ways  to  the 
wants  and  comfort  of  persons  who  visit  the  museum.  So 
successful  has  the  effort  proved,  that  last  year  7,000  per- 
sons were  recorded  as  visitors.  His  account  of  it  in  the 
Appendices  to  the  present  volume  is  one  of  justifiable 
pride  and  satisfaction. 

E.  Sidney  Hartland. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


CHAINED  IMAGES.! 
To  the  Editor  of  FOLK-LORE. 

Sir, — There  are  two  instances  in  Burma  to  my  know- 
ledge in  which  a  tradition  remains  of  images  of  Buddha 
having  been  formerly  shackled.  One  is  at  Pegu,  in  the 
Shwenatha  Pagoda,  and  the  other  is  in  the  Mahamuni 
Pagoda  at  Mandalay.  Both  images  are  of  presumably 
foreign  (Indian)  origin.  The  image  in  the  Shwenatha 
Pagoda  is  said  to  have  once  fled  from  Pegu !  And  the 
people  are  said  to  be  afraid  that  the  image  in  the  Maha- 
muni Pagoda  at  Mandalay  will  go  back  to  the  original 
Mahamuni  Pagoda  which  is  at  Mrohaung  in  Arakan,  whence 
it  was  taken  in  1784. 

Rangoon.  R.  C.  Temple. 


RED-HAIRED   MEN. 

To  the  Editor  of  FOLK-LORE. 

Sir, — It  can  hardly  be  that  the  objection  to  red-haired 
men  is  of  Hebrew  origin,  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Clouston  on 
p.  558  of  last  year's  FOLK- LORE.  The  dislike  is  Egyptian  : 
the  Egyptians  heaped  insults  upon  red-haired  men  and 
also  sacrificed  the  ass  to  Set  (Typhon),  because  he  was 
supposed  to  be  red-haired  and  ass-coloured  in  complexion 
(twi/  ^\v  avOpoiTTUiv  Tov<i  'irvppov<;  irpoirrfKaKi^ovre'^,  ovov  ok 
Kcd  KaraKp7]/MVL^ovT€'i,  o)?  KoTTTtrai,  6ia  to  irvppbv  yejovivac 
TOP  Tv(f)(ova  Kol  ovcoSt]  rrjv  XP^"'^>  Plutarch,  Isis  and  Osiris, 

^  See  vol.  iii,  p.  546. 


250  Correspondence. 

chap.  30.  riuppo?  may  fairly  be  taken  to  imply  red  hair. 
A  red  complexion  would  usually  have  reddish  hair  with  it). 
From  a  comparison  of  this  passage  with  chap.  73  and 
Diodorus,  i,  88  (quoted  by  Parthey  ad  loc),  we  may  infer 
that  these  red-haired  men  were  sacrificed  to  Set-Typhon. 

I  do  not  venture  to  suggest  any  reason  why  these  men 
should  be  disliked  :  whether  the  prejudice  was  racial  (we 
are  told  that  only  a  few  of  the  iryppol  were  Egyptians, 
most  foreigners),  or  connected  with  the  colour  (red  asses, 
as  we  saw,  were  sacrificed,  and  so  were  red  oxen) ;  but  it 
would  seem  premature  to  explain  the  European  prejudice 
in  a  way  which  does  not  explain  this.  Did  the  Hebrews 
get  it  from  Egypt  ? 

W.  H.  D.  Rouse. 


NOTES  AND  NEWS. 


The  next  number  of  FOLK-LORE  will  contain,  among 
other  articles,  a  selection  of  Szekely  folk-tales,  a  further 
study  on  Miss  Cox's  Cinderella,  and  a  report  by  Mr. 
Alfred  Nutt  on  recent  research  in  Celtic  myth  and 
saga. 

There  are  two  Folk-lore  Congresses  to  be  held  in 
connection  with  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago  :  one  in  June, 
to  be  held  in  connection  with  Literature ;  the  other  in 
September,  to  be  associated  with  Anthropology.  The  local 
Chicago  committee  is  organising  the  first ;  the  American 
Folk-lore  Society  will  have  much  to  do  with  the  latter. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  the  folk-lore  forces  are  thus  divided. 
It  has  been  decided  by  the  International  Folk-lore  Council 
not  to  interfere  with  either. 

Mr.  Joseph  Jacobs  is  preparing  a  sequel  to  h.\s  English 
Fairy  Tales  for  next  Christmas.  The  book  will  be  illus- 
trated by  Mr.  Batten,  and  will  be  accompanied  by  notes, 
some  reaching  the  length  of  an  excursus,  as  with  the  three 
preceding  volumes  of  the  series. 

It  is  contemplated  holding  the  Annual  Meetings  of  the 
Society  in  provincial  cities  after  the  manner  of  the  British 
Association  and  the  two  Archaeological  Societies. 

Negotiations  are  on  hand  between  the  Folk-lore 
Society  and  the  Anthropological  Institute  with  the  idea  of 
amalgamating  forces  that  are  so  near  allied.  An  opportu- 
nity will  be  afforded  the  members  of  the  Folk-lore  Society 


252  Notes  and  News. 

to    express   their   views   on    any   scheme   which    may  be 
arrived  at  by  the  joint  Councils  of  the  two  bodies. 

The  Folk-lore  of  County  Suffolk  is  now  passing  through 
the  press,  and  will  soon  be  ready  as  a  companion  Part 
to  Mr.  Hartland's  collection  for  Gloucester.  Lady  Camilla 
Gurdon  has  collected  for  Suffolk. 

The  second  volume  of  the  Denham  Tracts  is  passing 
through  the  press  as  well  as  the  Saxo  Grammaticus. 

Articles,  etc.,  for  the  next  (September)  number  of 
FoLK-LORE  should  reach  the  office,  270,  Strand,  on  or 
before  August  ist. 


FOLK-LORE   SOCIETY. 


PROCEEDINGS    AT   EVENING   MEETINGS. 


An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  at  22,  Albemarle  Street,  W.,  on 
Wednesday,  March  15th,  1893;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme) 
in  the  chair. 

The  following  new  members  were  elected,  viz.  :  Mr.  Goddard, 
Mr.  H.  Orpen,  Dr.  J.  Todhunter,  and  Mr.  D.  Fitzgerald. 

Mrs.  Gomme  exhibited  the  following  objects  : — (i)  A  carnival- 
mask  from  Verona ;  (2)  A  trumpet  from  Rome ;  and  (3)  A  cake 
bought  from  a  stall  of  similar  cakes  at  Frascati  on  the  Eve  of  the 
Epiphany. 

Mr.  W.  H.  D.  Rouse,  who  kindly  presents  the  two  former 
objects  to  the  Society's  proposed  Museum,  writes  as  to  the  trum- 
pet : — "  On  the  evening  of  the  Eve  of  the  Epiphany  a  fair  is  held 
at  Rome  in  the  Piazza  Navona.  The  proper  thing  for  everybody 
to  do  is  to  buy  one  of  these  horns  or  trumpets,  and  blow  it  with 
all  his  might.  They  parade  the  streets  to  the  sound  of  it,  often 
carrying  grotesque  lay  figures,  which  they  move  by  means  of 
strings."  As  to  the  cake,  which  was  also  sent  by  Mr.  Rouse,  he 
says  "he  believes  the  shape  to  be  traditional,  although  animals 
and  the  same  cakes  were  for  sale  elsewhere,  because,  at  one  shop 
in  Geuzdas  near  by,  a  stall  of  these  cakes  was  presided  over  by  a 
life-size  figure  of  a  woman  with  curious  open  bosom  to  the  dress 
like  the  cake." 

Mr.  Clodd  read  a  short  paper  by  Mr.  Nutt,  entitled  "Cinderella 
in  Britain",  and  in  the  discussion  which  followed  Dr.  Furnivall, 
Dr.  Gaster,  Messrs.  Jacobs,  Higgens,  and  Clodd,  and  the  Presi- 
dent took  part. 

Mr.  Leland  L.  Duncan  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Folk-lore  of  Co. 
Leitrim",  and  exhibited  a  map  of  the  county  and  some  photo- 
graphs of  the  natives,  and  of  the  country  around  Kiltubrid  and 


2  54  Folk-lore  Society. 

Fenagh.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  paper  there  was  a  short  dis- 
cussion, in  which  Messrs.  Jacobs,  Clodd,  and  Naake,  and  Dr. 
Gaster  took  part,  and  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  to 
Mr.  Duncan. 

Mr.  M.  J.  Walhouse  then  read  a  paper  on  "  Some  Indian 
Obeahs",  and  exhibited  some  photos  of  Kurumbars,  and  a  piece 
of  the  bone  of  an  elk  and  an  iron  cock's  spur,  with  which  a  man 
had  been  murdered,  both  of  which  had  been  regarded  as  Obeahs. 
Mr.  Emslie  also  exhibited  his  drawing  of  the  Obeah  from  Jamaica, 
exhibited  by  Mr.  Robertson  at  a  former  meeting,  and,  after  a  few 
observations  by  Mr.  Clodd,  the  thanks  of  the  meeting  were  duly 
accorded  to  Mr.  Walhouse  for  his  paper. 

A  paper  by  the  Rev.  W.  Gregor  on  "  The  Folk-lore  of  Domes- 
ticated Birds",  and  some  notes  on  "  The  Folk-lore  of  Co.  Antrim", 
by  the  Rev.  S.  A.  Brenan,  were  also  read. 


An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  at  22,  Albemarle  Street,  on 
Wednesday,  April  19th,  1893;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme) 
in  the  chair. 

The  election  of  the  following  new  members  was  announced, 
viz. :  Prof.  B.  A.  C.  Windle,  Mr.  L.  L.  Duncan,  Mr.  H.  Wissen- 
dorf,  and  Miss  E.  Sawyer. 

Mr.  Jacobs  read  a  short  paper,  entitled  "  The  Folk",  which  was 
followed  by  a  discussion,  in  which  Dr.  Gaster,  Mr.  Nutt,  and  the 
President  took  part. 

The  President  read  the  fragment  of  a  story  by  Mrs.  Gommej 
which  she  had  heard  as  a  child,  entitled  "  The  Green  Lady". 

In  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Lach-Syzrma,  the  Secre- 
tary read  his  paper  on  "  Cornish  Folk-lore",  and  a  discussion 
followed,  in  which  Professors  Rhys  and  Haddon,  Dr.  Gaster, 
Messrs.  Nutt,  Higgens,  Baverstock,  and  Jacobs,  and  the  President 
took  part. 

A  letter  from  Miss  Lucy  Broadwood  was  read  by  the  President 
as  to  a  Beltane  Custom  at  Skene  in  Norway. 


Folk-lore  Society.  255 

An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  on  Wednesday,  May  17th,  1893, 
at  22,  Albemarle  Street;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme)  in  the 
chair. 

The  election  of  the  following  new  members  was  announced, 
viz, :  The  Johns  Hopkins^  University,  Mr.  W.  Beer,  and  Mr.  J. 
Trist. 

The  Secretary  read  a  variant  on  the  story  of  "The  Green  Lady", 
sent  by  Mr.  Gerish,  and  told  by  an  old  Norfolk  woman  aged 
ninety-five,  upon  which  Mr.  Jacobs  and  Dr.  Gaster  offered  some 
observations. 

The  President  then  read  a  tale,  entitled  "  The  Enchanted 
Gentleman",  told  in  the  summer  of  1892  by  a  working  woman 
living  at  Deptford  to  a  lady  who  communicated  it  to  Mrs. 
Gomme,  the  tale  having  first  been  written  down  and  read  over  to 
the  narrator,  and  corrected  by  her. 

A  folk-tale  from  Kumaon,  by  Pandit  Bhagwan  Das  Sarma, 
was  also  read. 

Mr.  Baverstock  read  a  short  paper  on  "  Some  May-Day  Obser- 
vances in  a  mountain  village  in  Co.  Sligo",  by  Mr.  Bree,  and 
a  discussion  followed,  in  which  the  President,  Dr.  Gaster,  and 
Mr.  Baverstock  took  part. 

Dr.  Gaster  then  read  his  paper  on  "The  oldest  European 
Fairy  Tale",  and,  subsequently,  the  tale  itself  translated  from  the 
Hebrew.  A  discussion  followed,  in  which  Messrs.  Jacobs  and 
Nutt,  and  the  President  took  part. 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  to  all  the  readers  of  papers. 


MISCELLANEA. 


Sorcery :  Melting  Wax  Images  of  Intended  Victims. — A  more 
•elaborate  form  of  this  widespread  practice  seems  to  be  found  in  the 
Mahdbhdrata^  Book  IX,  "  Calya  Parva",  sect.  41,  pp.  161-3  of  the 
English  translation,  by  Chandra  Roy,  in  the  course  of  periodical 
publication  at  Calcutta. 

An  ascetic  named  Ddlvya-vaka,  who  by  his  austere  penances  had 
acquired  great  supernatural  powers,  having  given  away  all  his  calves 
to  some  rishis,  to  enable  them  to  complete  a  sacrifice,  he  went  to  the 
king  and  requested  some  animals  of  him.  Just  then  a  number  of  the 
king's  cattle  had  died,  without  any  apparent  cause,  and  the  king  told 
the  ascetic  that  he  might  have  the  carcases.  Enraged  at  having  been 
thus  insulted  before  the  king's  courtiers,  the  ascetic  resolves  upon  the 
monarch's  destruction,  and  accepts  the  carcases. 

"  Cutting  the  flesh  from  off  the  dead  animals,  that  best  of  sages, 
having  ignited  a  (sacrificial)  fire  on  the  tirtha  of  the  Saraswati,  poured 
those  pieces  as  libations  for  the  destruction  of  Dhritarishtra's  kingdom. 
Observant  of  rigid  vows,  the  great  Ddlvya-vaka  poured  Dhritar^shtra's 
kingdom  as  a  libation  on  the  fire  with  the  aid  of  those  pieces  of 
meat.  [The  translator  explains  that  '  pouring  a  kingdom  on  the  fire 
means  pouring  libations  on  the  fire,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  a 
kingdom.']  Upon  the  commencement  of  that  fierce  sacrifice,  accord- 
ing to  due  rites,  the  kingdom  of  Dhritar^shtra  began  to  waste  away, 
even  as  a  large  forest  begins  to  disappear  when  men  proceed  to  cut 
it  down." 

The  king's  counsellors  advise  him  to  propitiate  the  ascetic  :  so  he 
goes  and  confesses  his  fault  to  him,  and  Vaka,  feeling  compassion, 
freed  his  kingdom  by  again  pouring  libations  on  the  fire,  and  the  king 
presented  Vaka  with  many  animals. 

W.  A.  Clouston. 


Smelling  the  Head  in  Token  of  Affection. — In  the  Makdbhdrata, 
Book  IX,  "Calya  Parva",  sect.  51,  a  rts/ii,  having  obtained  a  child  by 
a  celestial  damsel,  "through  affection,  that  foremost  of  Brdhmanas 
then  stnelt  the  headoi  his  son,  and  held  him  in  close  embrace  for  some 
time."  So,  too,  in  the  Hindu  drama  of  yT/i^/a//  a7id  Madhava,  opening 
of  Act  iv,  Kdmandaki  smells  the  heads  of  the  hero  and  heroine  as  they 
return  to  consciousness.     Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson,  in  a  note  on  this  incident 


Folk-lore  Miscellanea.  257 

{Theatre  of  the  Hindus),  compares  it  with  that  of  the  patriarch  Isaac 
smelling  his  son  Jacob  (Gen.  xxvii,  27)  ;  but  there  seems  little  analogy, 
I  think,  since  Isaac  was  blind,  and,  not  being  satisfied  with  the  pre- 
tended Esau  having  "  the  voice  of  Jacob",  endeavoured  to  ascertain 
the  fact  by  the  sense  of  smell,  after  which  he  exclaimed,  "  See,  the 
smell  of  my  son  is  as  the  smell  of  the  field  which  the  Lord  hath 
blessed."  It  is  well  known  that  the  senses  are  remarkably  acute 
among  savage  and  semi-civilised  peoples.  American  Indians  (outside 
of  Fenimore  Cooper  and  Capt.  Mayne  Reed)  have  been  known  to 
unerringly  track  an  enemy  after  having  smelt  his  footprints  in  the 
ground. 

W.  A.  CLOU.STON. 

Naxian  Superstitions  {extracted from  an  Article  by  Mr.  Marcopolis 
in  the'Earlafor  May   17th,  1891).—!.   During  the  first  five  days  of 
August  no  woman  must  wash  clothes  in  the  river ;  for  the  wind  hears 
the  noise  of  her  beating  the  clothes,  and  blows  so  strongly,  that  it 
uproots  the  trees.     2.  It  is  a  sin  for  three  men  to  stand  in  the  doorway 
of  the  house  where  a  dead  body  lies ;  for  the  angels  go  in  and  out, 
and  they  are  in  their  way.     3.  When  a  man  dies,  his  soul  goes  about 
inside  the  house  for  three  days ;  so  you  must  put  a  jug  of  water  beside 
a  lighted  candle,  in  order  that  the  soul  may  find  the  water  when  it 
is  thirsty  [formerly  the  custom  in  Calymnos. — W.  R.  Paton.]     4.  None 
of  the  women  who  follow  the  bier  must  turn  round  and  look  behind 
her;  for  if  she  do,  she  will  die  on  the  spot,  or  else  one  of  her  relations 
will  die.     5.  When  anyone  dies  in  your  house  you  must  not  throw  the 
sweepings  out  into  the  street ;  for  the  soul  remains  three  days  in  the 
house,   and   it   may  be  among  the  sweepings  which  you  throw  out 
[formerly  so  in  Calymnos. — W.R.P.].      6.  All  the  while  that  they  are 
boiling  the  koXv^u  (corn  boiled  and  distributed  the  day  after   the 
funeral)  in  the  pot,  the  soul  is  on  its  way  to  paradise;  therefore  a 
woman  must  always  stand  over  the  pot,  holding  the  "  hanging  lamp" 
alight  to  light  the  soul  on  its  way.     If  she  does  not  do  this,  the  soul 
is  tossed  about  like  the  KoXv^a  boiling  in  the  pot.      7.  On  the  vigil  of 
St.  Basil  (the  last  night  of  the  year)  the   oxen  speak ;  whoever  hears 
them  will  die  soon  [common,  I  think,  in  Greece. — W.  R.  P.].    8.  When 
you  first  see  the  swallow,  you  must  stop  and  dig  where  your  left  foot 
rests  ;  you  will  find  a  piece  of  charcoal,  which,  dissolved  in  water 
cures  the  moonstruck.     9.  If  you  have  a  young  child  you  must  not 
throw  out  the  sweepings  into  the  street,  for  the  luck  {Mo7pa)  of  the 
child  may  be   thus    lost.     (Cp.  5.    One   of  the  things  which  is  for- 
bidden in  the  law  of  Juhs  in  Ceos  relating  to  funerals  is  "to  carry 

the    sweepings    to  the   tomb"   \ja  KaWva^iara  (pepetv  ivrl  to  anfia. 

W.  R.  P.] ) 


258  Folk-lo7x  Miscellanea, 

Tokens  of  "DtaAh.— Joseph.  Well,  Sir,  I  do  believe  in  tokens  afore 
death.  1  do,  for  I  sin  em,  Sir.  The  folks  in  this  row  says  as  a  crow 
flyin  over  the  roof  is  a  sign  o  death.     An  a  dog  howlin. 

His  daughter.  Yes,  a  dog  howlin  is  a  token,  I  believe. 

Joseph.  But  I  sin  em,  Sir.  When  I  was  a  lad,  me  an  me  two 
brothers  was  down  be  the  hedge,  when,  "Hullo!"  says  I,  ''tharr's  a 
white  rabbit !"  An  we  chased  un  as  furr  as  the  hedge,  an  then  a  was 
clear  gone — not  a  track  of  him  now  hurr  !  An  up  we  went  to  the 
house,  an  first  thing  we  saw  was  mother  at  the  gate  a  cryin  an  sayin, 
as  how  father  had  been  taken  that  very  hinstant.  Me  an  my  brother, 
we  seed  it,  an  thot  we'd  got  a  prize  ;  an  'twas  but  a  token  o  death.  Sir. 
An  tharr  was  some  lads  in  a  arrchard — a  happle-orchard  {sic) — an 
says  they,  "  Let's  have  a  bit  o  them  apples  !"  So  up  tha  chmbs,  an 
tharr  tha  was,  a  settin  in  the  tree,  on  the  branches  like,  Sir,  when — 
"  Lor  bless  us",  says  one,  "tharr's  a  tame  rabbit,  a  white  'n  !" — an  the 
rabbit  run  right  under  the  tree.  An  'twas  a  token  of  thurr  master's 
death,  an  die  a  did.  I  have  a  heerd  tell  by  men  as  I  knows,  an  they 
sin  it  themselves,  that  a  Christmas  eve,  at  a  certain  hour,  all  the  cattle 
an  beasts,  be  they  what  you  will,  '11  kneel  down  wharr  tha  be.  No, 
Sir,  I  haven't  sin  em  meself,  but  I  knows  them  as  have. — [Taken 
down  from  the  lips  of  Joseph  Pearce,  a  blind  man,  who  lives  at 
Droitwich  in  Worcestershire.] 

W.  H.  D.  Rouse. 


HoTW  to  Locate  a  Drowned  Body. — The  Suffolk  Times  and  Mirror 
of  Friday,  November  4,  1892,  under  the  head  of  "A  Norfolk  Super- 
stition", gives  the  following  account : — "  Last  week  (writes  our  Thet- 
ford  correspondent)  information  was  received  at  Thetford  that  a 
middle-aged  woman  had  been  missing  from  Brandon  since  October 
nth,  and  had  been  seen  at  Thetford.  Her  friends  naturally  became 
alarmed  about  her,  and  had  serious  fears  as  to  her  safety,  and,  as 
they  could  hear  nothing  about  her,  they  asked  that  the  river  between 
Thetford  and  Brandon  might  be  dragged.  Instead  of  this,  recourse 
was  had  to  a  very  curious  procedure,  in  which,  it  appears,  some 
people  really  believe.  On  Tuesday  afternoon  the  Navigation  Super- 
intendent got  a  boat  and  rowed  down  the  river  accompanied  by  a 
policeman,  who  was  mildly  and  slowly  beating  a  big  drum.  It  was 
stated  that,  if  they  came  to  any  part  of  the  river  in  which  there  might 
be  a  dead  body,  a  difference  in  the  sound  of  the  drum  would  be 
distinctly  noticed.  The  experiment,  however,  was  a  failure,  and,  later 
on,  it  was  reported  that  a  person  answering  to  the  description  of  the 
missing  woman  was  at  Elvedon.  This  proved  to  be  correct,  and  she 
was  ultimately  taken  home,  to  the  great  relief  of  her  friends."  I 
fancy  this  belief  is  uncommon  in  Norfolk — at  least,  I  have  never  met 


Folk-lore  Miscellanea.  259 

with  it  in  this  part  of  the  county.      I  should  be  glad  if  any  other 
member  can  give  me  any  information  respecting  it. 

Blythburgh  House,  South  Town,  W.  B.  Gerish. 

Great  Yarmouth. 


The  Overflowing  of  Magic  Wells  (Folk-Lore,  iv,  i,  66). — The 
legends  told  by  Dr.  Rhys  about  the  origin  of  certain  lakes  in  Wales 
and  Ireland  remind  me  of  the  story  in  Campbell's  Tales  of  the  West 
Highlands,  of  the  origin  of  Loch  Ness.  This  tale,  unfortunately,  does 
not  explain  why  the  well  overflowed. 

"  Where  Loch  Ness  now  is,  there  was  long  ago  a  fine  glen.  A 
woman  went  one  day  to  the  well  to  fetch  water,  and  she  found  the 
spring  flowing  so  fast  that  she  got  frightened,  and  left  her  pitcher,  and 
ran  for  her  life  ;  she  never  stopped  till  she  got  to  the  top  of  a  high 
hill  :  and  when  there,  she  turned  about  and  saw  the  glen  filled  with 
water.  Not  a  house  or  a  field  was  to  be  seen  !  'Aha  !'  said  she, 
'tha  Loch  ann  a  nis'  (Ha  Loch  an  a  neesh) — 'There  is  a  lake  in  it 
now' — and  so  the  lake  was  called  Loch  Ness  (neesh)."  (Campbell, 
Tales,  II,  xxxiv,  147.) 

At  p.  145  Campbell  speaks  of  a  witches'  well  in  Islay,  and  of  holy 
healing  wells,  such  as  that  on  an  island  in  Loch  Maree,  and  the  one 
in  the  Black  Isle  of  Cromarty.  Other  magic  and  sacred  Scottish 
wells  are  mentioned  by  Sir  F.  G.  Dalyell  in  his  Darker  Superstitions 
of  Scotland,  and  by  Mr.  W.  G.  Black  in  Folk-Medicine. 

Margaret  Stuart. 


Immuring  Alive. — Mr.  S.  Baring-Gould,  in  his  volume  on  Strange 
Sztrvivals,  has  brought  together  a  very  curious  and  interesting  col- 
lection of  details  and  observances  relative  to  Folk-lore  and  Anthro- 
pology. In  his  chapter  on  Foundations  he  recounts  several  instances 
of  the  irnmurement  of  living  persons,  always  women,  in  the  walls  of 
new  buildings  to  ensure  their  stability.  This  belief,  involving  the 
idea  of  sacrifice,  prevails  in  the  Eastern  as  well  as  in  the  Western  world, 
and  it  may  be  perhaps  worth  while  to  relate  some  instances  within  my 
own  experience. 

Nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  Indian  peninsula,  but  far  southward  in 
the  Madras  Presidency,  two  great  mountain  ranges,  the  Pulneys  and 
the  Arnemallies,  joining  at  the  centre,  run  east  and  west.  It  is  the  water- 
shed of  the  peninsula,  for  the  Ambrawutty  river,  issuing  from  the 
great  gorge  where  the  Pulney  and  Arnemally  ranges  unite,  and  fed 
by  torrents  from  the  slopes  of  both,  flows  to  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and 
another  stream,  descending  from  the  mountains  a  few  miles  to  the 
west,  runs  to  the  Malabar  coast  and  the  Indian  Ocean.     Once,  in  pur- 


26o  Folk-lore  Miscellanea. 

suit  of  game  I  penetrated  far  up  the  gorge  of  the  Ambrawutty  river 
It  was  a  wild  jungle  countrj/^,  overgrown  with  a  thick  thorn-jungle  of 
mimosa-bushes,  close-grown,  painful  and  difficult  to  thread.  Far  up 
in  the  valley  where  it  began  to  narrow,  and  the  great  mountain-slopes 
on  either  side  to  approach,  I  saw  in  the  centre  a  rocky  hill,  rising 
solitary  400  or  500  feet  above  the  jungle,  and  showing  some  indications 
of  building's  on  the  top.  The  people  with  me  said  it  was  an  old  hill- 
fort  of  the  Polygar  days  before  Clive,  where  the  robber  chief  took 
refuge  alike  from  the  wrath  of  native  rajah  and,  later,  from  European 
invaders.  With  difficulty  I  made  way  through  the  jungle  to  the  foot 
of  the  hill :  the  briar-rose  growth  that  guarded  the  approach  to  the 
enchanted  castle  of  the  Sleeping  Princess  was  slight  and  trivial  com- 
pared to  the  thorns  of  that  forest.  The  hill  stood  quite  solitary,  rising 
steeply  all  round  to  the  summit  :  for  two-thirds  of  the  ascent  covered 
with  scrub  jungle  and  masses  of  rock,  then  rising  in  a  cone  of  sheer 
bare  rock,  precipitous  all  round,  except  at  one  point  where  a  narrow 
cleft  or  rift  ran  down,  by  which  it  was  possible  to  climb  with  difficulty. 
Using  hands  and  feet,  by  this  I  climbed  and  reached  the  top,  where  I 
found  a  small  area  with  a  rough  wall  running  round  the  rim,  and 
heaps  of  large  stones  piled  long  ago,  especially  where  the  rift  came 
out  on  the  top,  evidently  to  roll  down  on  any  assailants,  but  now  over- 
grown with  bushes  and  rank  herbage.  There  were  also  some  ruined 
buildings,  a  miniature  tank  to  retain  water,  and  a  small  temple,  long 
since  deserted  and  mostly  fallen.  The  almost  perpendicular  rocky 
sides  of  the  peak  seemed  to  render  the  low  wall  encircling  the  summit 
unnecessary;  indeed, it  was  but  about  four  feet  high,  built  of  loose  lumps 
of  rock,  without  mortar,  and  had  crumbled  and  toppled  over  at  three 
or  four  points.  Close,  however,  above  the  rift  of  access,  it  rose  to  a 
height  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  and  a  kind  of  rounded  buttress  projected 
from  it,  built  more  compactly  with  mortar.  On  this  a  good-sized 
banyan-tree  had  taken  root  and  split  and  displaced  the  masonry, 
showing  that  the  buttress  was  hollow  within.  The  natives  with  me 
then  said  that  it  had  long  been  a  tradition  that  when  the  fort  was  con- 
structed a  living  girl  had  been  built  into  the  wall  to  render  the  Droog- 
impregnable.  In  looking  into  the  fissure  caused  by  the  roots  it  could 
be  seen  that  the  buttress  contained  a  hollow  large  enough  to  hold  a 
small  human  being,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  once  did,  but  had  no 
time  or  means  to  pull  down  and  open  out  the  death-chamber  and 
ascertain  whether  it  contained  any  vestiges. 

Another  instance  of  girl-sacrifice  is  recorded  in  a  curious  chronicle 
named  The  Wars  of  the  Rajahs,  written  in  the  Telugu  language, 
translated  by  the  late  C.  P.  Brown.  The  stoiy  contains  graphic 
details  of  an  incident  very  characteristic  of  Hindu  life  and  thought, 
and  probably  not  unfrecjuent  in  village  history  in  the  little-known  past 


Folk-lore  ]\Iiscellanea,  261 

centuries.  The  passage  runs  thus  . — "While  Bucca  Rayalu  ruled 
Vijayanagar,  his  chief  servant,  in  the  year  Krodhi  (a.d.  1364),  built  a 
tank  near  Bucca  Raya  Samudram,  in  the  present  district  of  Bellary, 
North  Madras.  After  some  time  this  tank  became  so  full  of  water 
that  the  two  sluices  did  not  suffice  to  let  it  off,  and  the  embankment 
was  crumbling  under  the  flood.  While  the  villagers  beheld  this,  a 
goddess  possessed  a  woman, and  she  exclaimed,  'I  am  GangaBhavani ; 
if  you  will  feed  me  with  a  human  sacrifice  I  will  stop  here,  if  not  I  will 
not  stop  ! '  While  the  villagers  and  the  elders  took  counsel  about 
making  the  sacrifice,  Ganga  Devi  possessed  a  girl,  not  yet  grown  up, 
named  Musalamma.  She  was  the  seventh  and  youngest  daughter-in- 
law  of  Basi  Reddi.  The  goddess  said  to  her,  '  Become  thou  the 
sacrifice  ! '  She  accordingly  was  prepared  to  become  a  sacrifice  :  she 
adorned  herself  as  a  bride  with  red  and  yellow  paint,  wearing  a  pure 
vest,  and  holding  a  lime  in  her  hand.  She  set  out  in  a  procession 
from  her  home,  and  came  up  on  the  embankment.  She  adored  the 
feet  of  her  father-in-law,  Basi  Reddi,  and  did  homage  to  the  townsfolk. 
She  said  :  '  I  have  received  the  commands  of  Ganga  Bhavani  ;  I  am 
going  to  become  a  sacrifice  I '  Thirty  feet  from  the  sluice  there  was 
now  a  gap,  between  which  and  the  bank  a  chasm  had  opened.  She 
went  and  stood  in  the  chasm,  and  they  poured  in  earth  and  stones 
upon  her,  so  the  bank  stood  firm.  The  following  day  this  Musalamma, 
who  had  thus  become  a  sacrifice,  possessed  the  females  of  the  village. 
She  said,  '  Make  a  stone  image  of  me,  place  it  under  a  tree,  and  wor- 
ship it  ! '  Accordingly  they  erected  it  and  worship  her,  but  there  is  no 
chapel.  Besides,  if  people  who  passed  near  cried  out  '  Musalamma !' 
she  used  to  reply  '  Hoh  !'  But  one  evening,  as  men  went  for  grass 
and  called  to  her  in  the  usual  manner,  on  her  answering,  they  replied, 
'Though  thou  art  dead,  thou  art  still  proud.'  From  that  time  she 
never  answers,  but  is  still  worshipped."  I  have  never  been  in  the 
Bellary  district,  but  have  ascertained  that  the  tank,  though  much 
silted  up  and  nearly  useless,  still  exists,  and  that  a  mound  on  the  bank 
is  popularly  associated  with  a  remembrance  of  sacrifice. 

One  other  variant  of  sacrificial  burials  may  be  noticed.  In  the 
Coimbatore  district  of  Madras,  where  prehistoric  remains,  circles  of 
stones,  kistvaens,  etc.,  are  especially  numerous,  I  found  in  several 
spots  on  the  v/estern  border  large  flat  stones  laid  on  the  ground,  which 
were  found  to  cover  huge  jars,  usually  five  feet  high  by  four  in  girth, 
wide-mouthed,  and  tapering  to  a  point,  of  thick  red  earthenware. 
These  were  buried  in  the  ground,  with  no  circle  around  or  cairn  above, 
but  only  a  great  flat  stone  laid  over  the  mouth,  by  which  in  time  they 
had  become  cracked  or  crushed  in  :  it  was  rare  to  find  one  perfect. 
The  jars  were  mostly  filled  with  earth  that  had  filtered  in,  and  at 
their  bottom  there  were  some  small  bones  much  broken.     The  natives 

VOL.  IV.  T 


262  Folk-lore  Miscellanea. 

in  Coimbatore  had  no  traditions  or  beliefs  regarding  them,  except 
vaguely  that  they  denoted  burials  ;  but  the  Rev.  Henry  Baker,  of  the 
Travancore  Mission,  informed  me  that  the  same  kind  of  jars  occur  in 
the  Travancore  low  country,  and  are  there  called  Md?ichara^  "  earth- 
jars",  generally  covered  with  heavy  slabs,  and  containing  pieces  of  bone 
and  iron.  There,  however,  the  natives  say  they  contain  the  remains 
of  sacrificed  virgins,  and  that  all  the  petty  Rajahs  in  times  past  used 
to  sacrifice  virgins  on  their  boundaries  to  protect  them,  and  confirm 
treaties  with  neighbouring  chiefs.  The  girls  were  buried  in  these  jars 
on  the  boundaries,  but  whether  buried  alive  or  killed  previously — as 
Mr.  Baker,  from  the  pieces  of  iron  found  with  the  bones,  conjectured 
might  have  been  the  case — there  was  no  tradition  to  show.  Analo- 
gies, however,  would  indicate  that  the  burial  of  only  living  victims 
would  make  the  charm  firm  and  good.  These  jars,  too,  have  been 
often  found  in  the  adjacent  province  of  Malabar.^ 

M.  J.  Walhouse. 

^  An  instance  of  living  entombment  in  pots  is  mentioned  in  Mr. 
Bent's  Journeys  in  Mashonaland.  There,  in  Altoko's  country,  the 
birth  of  twins  is  held  unnatural,  and  the  "  unfortunate  infants  are  put 
into  one  of  their  big  pots,  with  a  stone  on  the  top,  and  left  to  their 
fate"  (p.  277). 


FOLK-LORE  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


BOOKS. 

1893,  UNLESS  OTHERWISE  STATED. 

\Engiish  books  published  in  London,  French  books  in  Paris, 
unless  otherwise  mentionedi\ 

Medieval  Lore  :  An  Epitome  of  the  Science,  Geography,  Animal 
and  Plant  Folk-lore  and  Myth  of  the  Middle  Ages :  being 
Classified  Gleanings  from  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Bartholomew 
Anglicus  on  the  Properties  of  Things.  Edited  by  Robert  Steele. 
With  a  Preface  by  William  Morris.     8vo.  pp.  140.     Elliot  Stock. 

Brown  (J.  C).  People  of  Finland  in  Archaic  Times :  being  sketches 
of  them  given  in  the  Kalewala  and  in  other  national  works. 
Crown  8vo.  pp.  276.     Kegan  Paul,  Triibner. 

GOLTHER  (W.).  Die  Jungfrau  mit  den  goldenen  Haaren  {extr.  from 
Studien  zur  Literaturgeschichte  Michael  Bernays  gewidmet). 
Leipzig :  L.  Voss. 

•.•  Interesting  discussion  oi  the  mdrchen  underlying  Tristan 
and  Hrolf  s  Saga. 

Graf  (A.).  Miti,  leggende  e  superstizioni  del  Medio  Evo.  Vol.  ii. 
La  Leggenda  di  un  Pontefice;  Demonologia  di  Dante;  Un 
monte  di  Pilato  in  Italia  :  P^u  superstizioso  el  Boccaccio  ;  La 
leggenda  di  un  filosofo  :  Artu  nell'  Etna  ;  Un  Mito  geografico. 

Grinnell  (G.  B.).  Pawnee  Hero-stories  and  Folk-tales,  with  Notes 
on  the  Origin,  Customs,  and  Character  of  the  Pawnee  people. 
To  which  is  added  a  chapter  on  the  Pawnee  language  by  J.  B. 
Dunbar.  Crown  8vo.  445  pp.  D.  Nutt.  (Reprint  of  first 
edition.) 

Blackfoot    Lodge    Tales :    the    Story    of   a    Primitive 

People.     Crown  8vo.  310  pp.     D.  Nutt. 

Grunbaum  (M.).  Neue  Beitrage  zur  semitischen  Sagenkunde. 
Leiden;  Brill. 


264  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

KuRTH  (G.).  Histoire  poetique  des  Mdrovingiens.  8vo.  522  pp. 
A.  Picard. 

• .  •  Interesting  study  of  the  historic  and  social  conditions 
underlying  the  oldest  French  epic  poetry. 

Macdonald  (J.).     Myth  and  Religion.     8vo,  xvi,  240  pp.     D.  Nutt. 

Matson  (S.  a.).     St.  George  and  the  Dragon.     Second  edition. 

MONTEFIORE  (C.  G.).  Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of 
Religion,  as  Illustrated  by  the  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews. 
(Hibbert  Lecture,  1892.)     8vo.  pp.  598.     Williams  and  Norgate. 

Morgan  (Owen),  "Morien".  The  Light  of  Britannia:  The  Mys- 
teries of  Ancient  British  Druidism  Unveiled;  The  Original 
Source  of  Phallic  Worship  Revealed  ;  The  Secrets  of  the  Court 
of  King  Arthur  Revealed ;  The  Creed  of  the  Stone  Age 
Restored;  The  Holy  Grael  discovered  in  Wales.  Portrait  and 
Illustrations.     8vo.  pp.  431.     Cardiff:  D.  Owen  and  Co. 

Reissenberger  (K.).  Des  Hmides  Not.  Vienna  :  G.  Gerold's  Sohn. 
[An  edition  of  a  Middle  High-German  poem  from  two  MSS.  of 
the  14th  century,  with  Introduction  and  Notes,  giving  a  list  of 
variants  of  the  story  (of  which  Grimm  No.  58  is  the  best  known) 
and  an  attempt  to  trace  its  pedigree.] 

Russell  (Miss).     A  Recent  Discovery  in  Rome  in  connection  with 
Mythology  and  Symbolism  in  Britain  {exir.  Brit.  Archasol.  Assoc, 
1892). 
• .  •  Discussion  of  cup  and  circle-markings. 

Sturluson  (Snorrie).  The  Stories  of  the  Kings  of  Norway,  called 
the  Round  World  (Heimskringla).  Done  into  English  out  of  the 
Icelandic  by  William  Morris  and  Eirikr  Magnusson.  Vol.  i, 
with  a  large  map  of  Norway.     Crown  8vo.  pp.  386.     Ouaritch. 

SUDRE  (L.).  Les  sources  du  Roman  de  Renart.  8vo.  viii,  356  pp. 
E.  Bouillon. 

•.•  One  of  the  most  important  works  ever  published  on  the 
relations  between  mediaeval  literature  and  the  current  folk-tale. 
Folk-Lore  will  review  it  at  some  length  shortly. 

Transactions  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness,  vol.  xvii 
(1890-91).     8vo.  xvi,  273  PP-     Inverness,  1892. 

•.  •  Among  the  contents  are  :  The  School  of  Birds,  a  Western 
Island  Tale,  by  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell  of  Tiree  (master-thief 
and  transformation- fight  story).  A.  Macdonald,  Observations  on 
Highland  Ethnology,  with  special  reference  to  Inverness  and 
the  district.  'A.  Macbain,  Gaelic  Incantations  (valuable  and 
exhaustive  paper). 


Folk-lore  Bibliography.  265 

JOURNALS. 

1893,   UNLESS   OTHERWISE   STATED. 

American  Antiquarian,  xv,  i.  S.  D.  Peet,  Earliest  Abodes  of  Man. 
H.  W.  Haynes,  Palaeolithic  Man  in  North  America.  C.  A, 
Hirschfelder,  Ancient  Earthworks  in  Ontario. 

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266  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

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Folk-lore  Bibliography.  267 

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bien  faire  le  mal  vient.  M.  de  Zmigrodzki,  Folklore  polonais  : 
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2  6S  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

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folh^%oix. 


Vol    IV.]  SEPTEMBER,  1893.  [No.  III. 


CINDERELLA   IN  BRITAIN. 


THE  first  word  anyone  interested  in  folk-tales  must 
say  about  Miss  Roalfe  Cox's  remarkable  volume  of 
variants  of  Cinderella  is  one  of  congratulation.  Her  industry 
is  scarcely  more  conspicuous  than  her  taste.  It  required 
both  tact  and  knowledge  to  pick  out  in  the  more  elaborate 
analyses  of  the  tales  just  those  points  of  the  original  that 
deserved  particular  attention,  and  at  every  stage  Miss  Cox 
has  shown  that  knowledge  and  tact.  Then  again,  Miss 
Cox  has  obviously  kept  herself  free  from  any  parti  pris, 
and  her  collection  is  thus  absolutely  and  scientifically 
impartial  in  its  tone  and  arrangement.  We  of  the  Folk- 
lore Society  required  a  collection  of  variants  of  a  single 
folk-tale  "radicle"  that  should  be  tolerably  complete, 
absolutely  impartial,  and  conveniently  arranged.  We  have 
got  it. 

I  cannot  say  that  we  are  altogether  happy  now  that  we 
have  got  our  ideal  collection.  In  the  first  place,  it  has 
become  clear  that  some  international  plan  must  be  arrived 
at  for  such  a  collection.  It  is  impossible  for  a  single 
person,  however  loyally  assisted,  as  was  Miss  Cox,  to  cope 
with  a  problem  which  is  essentially  international.  Even 
for  the  British  Isles,  Miss  Cox  has  failed,  as  we  shall  see, 
in  making  her  collection  exhaustive  of  matter  already 
printed,  while  the  remarkable  variant  contributed  at  the 
last  moment  by  Mr.  Macleod  {Cinderella,  p.  534)  will  serve 

VOL.  IV.  u 


270  Cinderella  in  Britain. 

to  show  what  rich  harvests  still  remain  to  be  gleaned  from 
the  folk-memory. 

Again,  Cinderella  has  proved  not  so  desirable  a  choice 
for  the  exercise  of  Miss  Cox's  industry  and  skill  as  might 
have  been  desired.  Among  the  most  pressing  problems 
that  we  should  like  to  solve  by  means  of  such  a  collec- 
tion are:  (i)  Has  there  been  continued  existence  of  folk- 
tales from  pre-historic  times  to  the  present  ?  (2)  Are  folk- 
tales with  "  savage"  elements  necessarily  prior  to  the  same 
without  those  elements,  or  have  those  elements  been 
introduced  ?  (3)  Is  India  the  sole  or  chief  source  of  folk- 
telling? 

Now  with  regard  to  (i),  Cinderella  does  not  happen  to 
be  a  good  type  of  story  to  be  used  as  a  test.  The  essence  of 
the  tale  is  the  rise  in  social  position  of  a  girl  who  makes  a 
fortunate  marriage.  Possibly  there  are  such  cases  in  savage 
or  in  pre-historic  societies ;  but  the  whole  conception 
strikes  one  as  mediaeval,  almost  as  feudal.  It  would 
therefore  be  idle  to  look  for  its  origin  in  societies  where 
there  was  little  variation  of  social  position.  Dr.  Wester- 
marck  has  indeed  shown  that  girls  have  more  freedom  of 
choice  in  savage  or  semi-savage  society  than  we  had  pre- 
viously thought.  But  the  monogamous  condition  which  is 
at  the  root  of  the  slipper-test  does  away  with  the  proba- 
bility that  Cinderella  arose  in  any  but  a  tolerably  advanced 
state  of  civilisation,  and  consequently  its  variants  do  not 
form  a  good  subject  for  dealing  with,  or  deciding  our  first 
question  as  to  the  comparative  age  and  longevity  of  fairy 
tales. 

Then  as  regards  the  vexed  question  of  an  Indian 
origin,  Cinderella  is  specially  unfortunate  as  a  test  case, 
since  India  is  essentially  a  shoeless  country,  and  the 
characteristic  incident  of  the  tale  in  its  present  form  is  the 
shoe  test.  We  need  not  therefore  be  surprised  that  Miss 
Cox's  collection  gives  a  negative  result  as  regards  India. 
I,  for  one,  have  never  contended  that  all  fairy  tales  come 
from  India  ;  and  M,  Cosquin,  in  a  private  communication 


Cinderella  in  Britain.  271 

to  me,  points  out  that  he  has  likewise  guarded  himself 
from  any  assertion  of  the  exclusive  Indian  origin  of  folk- 
tales. I  am  quite  prepared  to  admit  the  possibility  of 
India  borrowing  from  Europe,  and  the  locale  and  character 
of  the  three  Indian  variants  (Nos.  25,  235,  307)  are  suffi- 
cient to  show  the  probability  of  such  borrowing  in  the  case 
of  Cinderella.  Miss  Frere's  collection  was  mainly  from  an 
ayah  from  Goa,  whose  family  had  been  Christian  for 
several  generations  ;  Salsette  has  long  been  open  to 
European  influence,  and  so  has  Bombay. 

With  regard,  however,  to  the  important  methodological 
problem  which  I  have  placed  second  above,  Miss  Cox's 
collection  has  much  instruction  to  give.  The  very  fact  that 
in  its  inception  Cinderella,  as  we  now  have  it,  cannot  have 
arisen  in  a  savage  stage  of  society,  renders  it  certain  that  the 
"  savage"  elements  in  certain  forms  of  it — animal  parentage, 
dead-mother  aid,  bones  together,  and  the  like — may  have 
been  introduced  into  the  story  after  it  had  obtained  cur- 
rency, or,  if  in  the  original  form,  may  have  been  introduced 
as  conventional  episodes  of  the  folk-tale  which  had  a  far 
more  remote  origin.  The  archaeological  value  of  such 
incidents  is  accordingly  much  reduced  by  such  considera- 
tions. 

One  thing,  however,  comes  out  quite  clearly  from  Miss 
Cox's  labours,  and  as  it  is  a  thing  on  which  I  have  insisted 
throughout  my  own  folk-tale  studies,  I  am  naturally  jubi- 
lant over  the  result.  Here  we  have  133  variants  of  type  A 
— the  Cinderella  type  pure  and  simple — scattered  over  all 
the  lands  of  civilisation.  Yet  no  one,  I  take  it,  would  be 
prepared  to  contend  that  any  single  one  of  these  was 
independently  created,  and  was  without  relationship,  cog- 
nate or  agnate,  to  any  one  of  the  rest.  The  Borrowing 
Theory  of  explaining  the  similarities  in  folk-tale  plots 
comes  out  triumphant  as  the  sole  working  hypothesis  that 
will  explain  the  same  story  existing  in  so  many  lands. 
That  in  this  particular  case  the  borrowing  is  not  from  India 
does  not  affect  the  general  question. 

u  2 


272  Cinderella  in  Britain. 

When,  however,  we  come  to  the  question  who  originated 
and  who  borrowed,  we  come  to  the  problem  of  problems 
and  the  further  research  to  which  Miss  Cox's  labours  lead 
us  :  Jiic  labor,  hoc  opus.  It  would  require  more  time  than  I 
could  devote  to  the  subject  at  present,  more  ingenuity  than 
I  could  bring  to  bear  on  it  at  any  time,  to  arrive  at  even  an 
approximate  solution  of  this  intricate  question.  It  is,  in 
fact,  a  case  for  a  European  Concert,  as  indeed  Miss  Cox's 
book  shows.  The  folk-lorists  of  each  country  might  be 
called  upon  to  determine  from  their  local  knowledge  and 
further  collections  what  was  the  original  form  in  the  par- 
ticular country,  and  then  our  problem  would  be  reduced  to 
its  simplest  elements.  We  should  perhaps  be  able  to 
determine  which  was  the  original  form  of  the  tale,  and 
where  it  exists  at  the  present  day  in  a  form  closest  to  the 
original.  Whether  this  locality  could  then  be  fixed  upon 
as  the  original  home  of  the  story  would  then  have  to  be 
determined  by  various  criteria.  All  this,  however,  is  in  the 
future,  though,  thanks  to  Miss  Cox,  it  may  be  no  distant 
future  ;  for  the  present  we  may  content  ourselves  with  the 
first  reduction  of  the  problem  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
British  Isles.  In  other  words,  what  was  the  original  form 
in  which  the  three  types  of  story  dealt  with  in  Miss  Cox's 
book — Cinderella,  Catskin,  Cap  o'  Rushes — appeared  in 
these  islands  .-' 

Before  doing  so,  however,  I  would  venture  to  point  out 
one  aspect  of  our  subject  which  lends  it  considerable 
importance.  We  have  to  deal  here  with  various  versions 
of  a  series  of  incidents  preserved  by  tradition  and  reduced 
to  writing  after  many  days.  Now  this,  to  compare  great 
things  with  small,  is  exactly  the  problem  of  the  Synoptic 
Gospels.  It  is  not  by  any  means  improbable  that  folk-tale 
research,  by  arriving  at  the  laws  governing  the  transmission 
of  narratives  by  tradition,  may  ultimately  come  to  the  aid 
of  theological  science  in  determining  the  relative  age  of  the 
gospels  and  settling  the  amount  and  character  of  the 
alterations  undergone  by  the  narratives  during  the  process 


Cinderella  in  Britain.  273 

of  tradition.  But  this  is  a  digression,  and  we  must  again 
turn  to  the  particular  case  of  folk-tradition  we  have  before 
us  in  the  diffusion  of  tales  of  the  Cinderella  type  through 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

A.  "  Cinderella,  or  the  Fortunate  Marriage  of  a  despised 
Scullery-maid  by  aid  of  an  Animal  Godmother  through 
the  Test  of  a  Slipper" — such  might  be  the  explanatory  title 
of  a  chap-book  dealing  with  the  pure  type  of  Cinderella. 
This  is  represented  in  Miss  Cox's  book,  so  far  as  the 
British  Isles  are  concerned,  by  no  less  than  seven  variants, 
as  follows  : 

(i)  Dr.  Blind,  in  ArchcBological  Revieiv,  iii,  24-7,  "  Ashpi- 
tel"  (from  neighbourhood  of  Glasgow).  (2)  A.  Lang,  in 
Revue  Celtique,  t.  iii,  reprinted  in  FOLK-LORE,  September 
1890,  "  Rashin  Coatie"  (from  Morayshire).  (3)  Mr.  Gregor, 
in  Folk-Lore  Jojirnal,  ii,  72-4  (from  Aberdeenshire),  "  The 
Red  Calf" — all  these  in  Lowland  Scots.  (4)  Campbell, 
Popular  Tales,  No.  XLIII,  ii,  286  seq.,  "  The  Sharp  Grey 
Sheep."  (5)  Mr.  Sinclair,  in  Celtic  Mag.,  xiii,  454-65, 
"  Snow-white  Maiden."  (6)  Mr.  Macleod's  variant  com- 
municated through  Mr.  Nutt  to  Miss  Cox's  volume, 
p.  534;  and  (7)  Curtin,  Myths  of  Ireland,  pp.  78-92, 
"  Fair,  Brown,  and  Trembling" — these  four  in  Gaelic, 
the  last  in  Erse.  To  these  I  would  add  (8,  9)  Chambers' 
two  versions  in  Pop.  Rhymes  of  Scotland,  pp.  66-8,  "  Rashie 
Coat,"  though  Miss  Cox  assimilates  them  to  Type  B.  Cat- 
skin  ;  and  (10)  a  variant  of  Dr.  Blind's  version,  unknown  to 
Miss  Cox,  but  given  in  7  Notes  and  Queries,  xi,  461. 

Now  in  going  over  these  various  versions,  the  first  and 
perhaps  most  striking  thing  that  comes  out  is  the  substan- 
tial agreement  of  the  variants  in  each  language.  The 
English,  i.e.,  Scotch,  variants  go  together  ;  the  Gaelic  ones 
agree  to  differ  from  the  English.  I  can  best  display  this 
important  agreement  and  difference  by  the  accompanying 
two  tables,  which  give,  in  parallel  columns.  Miss  Cox's 
abstracts  of  her  tabulations,  in  which  each  incident  is 
shortly  given  in   technical   phraseology.     These  abstracts 


274 


Cinderella  in  Britain. 


have  proved  fully  as  useful  and  valuable  as  I  anticipated 
in  recommending  them  :  it  is  practically  impossible  to  use 
the  long  tabulations  for  comparative  purposes  without  some 
such  shorthand.  For  the  purpose  of  our  inquiry  we  will 
find  it  more  convenient  to  arrange  the  incidents  vertically, 
and  not,  as  in  Miss  Cox's  book,  finish  the  tabulation  of  one 
story  before  beginning  that  of  another.  By  this  means  we 
are  enabled  to  display  parallelism  graphically. 

ENGLISH   VARIANTS   OF   "CINDERELLA". 


Gregor. 
Ill-treated  heroine 

(by  parents). 
Helpful  animal 

(red  calf). 

Spy  on  heroine. 

Slaying  of  helpful 
animal  threatened. 

Heroine  flight. 

Heroine  disguise 
(rashin  coatie). 

Menial  heroine. 


Magic  dresses 
(given  by  calf). 

Meeting-place 
(church). 

Flight. 

Lost  shoe. 

Shoe  marriage  test. 

Mutilated  foot 

(housewife'sdaugh. 

Bird  witness. 

Happy  marriage. 

House  for  red  calf. 


Lang, 

Calf  given  by  dying 

motheif. 
Ill-treated  heroine 

(by  stepmother 

and  sisters). 
Heroine  disguise 

(rashin  coatie). 
Hearth  abode. 

Helpful  animal. 
Slaying  of  helpful 

animal. 

Revivified  bones. 
Help  at  grave. 
Dinner  cooked 

(by  helpful  animal). 
Magic  dresses. 

Meeting-place 
(church). 
Flight  threefold. 
Lost  shoe. 
Shoe  marriage  test. 
Mutilated  foot. 
\ 

False  bride. 
Bird  witness. 
Happy  marriage. 


Chambers,  I  and  II.i         Blind. 
Heroine  dislikes        Ill-treated  heroine 
husband.^  (by  stepmother). 

Hemvife  aid.  Menial  heroine. 


Countertasks. 

Heroine  disguise. 

Heroine  flight. 
Menial  heroine. 

(Fairy)  aid. 


Magic  dresses. 

Meeting-place 
(church). 
Flight  threefold. 
Lost  shoe. 
Shoe  marriage  test. 
Mutilated  foot. 


Helpful  animal 

(black  sheep). 

Ear  cornucopia. 

Spy  on  heroine. 
Slaying  of  helpful 

animal. 

Old  woman  advice. 
Revivified  bones. 
Task-performing 

animal. 
Meeting-place 

(church). 
Dresses  (not  magic). 

Flight  twofold. 
Lost  shoe. 
Shoe  marriage  test. 
Mutilated  foot. 


False  bride.  False  bride. 

Bird  witness.  Bird  witness  (raven). 

Happy  marriage.        Happy  marriage. 


1  The  second  variant  in  Chambers  does  not  contain  the  incidents 
marked  in  italics. 

2  The  incidents  marked  in  italics  are  clearly  derived  from  some 
version  of  the  Catskin  type  of  story. 


Cinderella  in  Britain. 


275 


CELTIC   VARIANTS   OF   "CINDERELLA". 


MACLEOD. 

Heroine,  daughter 
of  sheep,  king's 
wife. 

Spy  on  heroine. 


Campbell. 
Ill-treated   heroine 
(by  stepmother). 

Menial  heroine. 
Helpful  animal. 
Spy  on  heroine. 


Eye  sleep  threefold.    Eye  sleep. 


Slaying  of  helpful 
animal  mother. 
Revivified  bones. 


Magic  dresses. 

Meeting-place 
(feast). 
Flight  threefold. 

Lost  shoe  (golden). 
Shoe  marriage  test. 

Mutilated  foot. 

Bird  witness. 
Happy  marriage. 


Slaying  of  helpful 
animal. 
Revivified  bones. 

Stepsister  substi- 
tute. 

Golden  shoe  gift 
(from  hero). 

Meeting-place 
(sermon). 

Flight  threefold. 

Lost  shoe. 

Shoe  marriage  test. 

Mutilated  foot. 
False  bride. 
Bird  witness. 
Happy  marriage. 


Sinclair. 
Ill-treated  heroine 

(by  stepmother 

and  sisters). 
Menial  heroine. 
Helpful  cantrips. 
Magic  dresses 

(-1-  starlings  on 

shoulders). 
Meeting-place 

(church). 
Flight  twofold. 

Lost  shoe. 

Shoe  marriage  test. 

Heroine   under 
washtub. 
Happy  marriage. 

Substituted  bride. 

Jonah  heroine. 
Three  reappear- 
ances. 
Reunion. 


CURTIK. 

Ill-treated  heroine 
(by  elder  sisters). 

Menial  heroine. 
Henwife  aid. 
Magic  dresses 

(honey-bird,  finger 

and  stud). 
Meeting-place 

(church). 
Flight  threefold. 

Lost  shoe. 

Shoe  marriage  test. 

Mutilated  foot. 

Happy  marriage. 

Substituted  bride 
(eldest  sister). 

Jonah  heroine. 

Three  reappear- 
ances. 

Reunion. 

Villain  Nemesis. 


Now  in  the  "  English"  versions  there  is  practical  unani- 
mity in  the  concluding  portions  of  the  tale.  Magic  dresses — 
Meeting-place  {Church) — FligJit — Lost  shoe — Shoe  marriage- 
test — Mutilated  foot — False  bride — Bird  witness — Happy 
marriage,  follow  one  another  with  exemplary  regularity 
in  all  four  (six)  versions.^  The  introductory  incidents  vary 
somewhat.  Chambers  has  evidently  a  maimed  version  of 
the  introduction  of  Catskin.  The  remaining  three  enable 
us,  hov/ever,  to  restore  with  some  confidence  the  Ur- 
Cinderella    in    English,     somewhat    as    follows :    Helpful 


1  Chambers,  II,  consists  entirely  and  solely  of  these  incidents. 


276  Cinderella  in\  Britain, 

animal  given  by  dying  mother — Ill-treated  heroine — Mental 
heroine — Ear  cornucopia — Spy  on  heroine — Slaying  by  help- 
ful animal —  Tasks — Revivified  bones.  I  have  attempted  to 
reconstruct  the  "  EngHsh"  Cinderella  according  to  this 
formula  in  my  forthcoming  More  English  Fairy  Tales. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  helpful  animal  is  helpful  in 
two  ways — {a)  in  helping  the  heroine  to  perform  tasks  ; 
{b)  in  providing  her  with  magic  dresses.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  Grimms'  Aschenputtel  and  other  Continental 
variants. 

Turning  to  the  Celtic  variants,  these  divide  into  two  sets. 
Campbell's  and  Macleod's  versions  are  practically  at  one 
with  the  English  formula,  the  latter  with  an  important 
variation  which  will  concern  us  later.  But  the  other  two, 
Curtin's  and  Sinclair's,  one  collected  in  Ireland  and  the 
other  in  Scotland,  both  continue  the  formula  with  the 
conclusion  of  the  Sea  Maiden  tale  (on  which  see  the  notes 
of  my  Celtic  Fairy  Tales,  No.  xvii).  This  is  a  specifically 
Celtic  formula,  and  would  seem  therefore  to  claim  Cinder- 
ella for  the  Celts.  But  the  welding  of  the  Sea  Maiden 
ending  on  to  the  Cinderella  formula  is  clearly  a  later  and 
inartisticjunction,  and  implies  rather  imperfect  assimilation 
of  the  Cinderella  formula.  To  determine  the  question  of 
origin  we  must  turn  to  the  purer  type  given  by  the  other 
two  Celtic  versions. 

Campbell's  tale  can  clearly  lay  no  claim  to  represent  the 
original  type  of  Cinderella.  The  golden  shoes  are  a  gift  of 
the  hero  to  the  heroine  which  destro)'s  the  whole  point  of 
the  Shoe  marriage-test,  and  cannot  have  been  in  the  original, 
wherever  it  originated.  Mr.  Macleod's  version,  however, 
contains  an  incident  which  seems  to  bring  us  nearer  to  the 
original  form  than  any  version  contained  in  Miss  Cox's 
book.  Throughout  the  variants  it  will  be  observed  what 
an  important  function  is  played  by  the  helpful  animal. 
This  in  some  of  the  versions  is  left  as  a  legacy  by  the 
heroine's  dying  mother.  But  in  Mr.  Macleod's  version  the 
helpful  animal,  a  sheep,  is  the  heroine's  mother  herself! 


Cinderella  in  B^ntain.  277 

This  is  indeed  an  archaic  touch  which  seems  to  hark  back 
to  primitive  times  and  totemistic  beHefs.  And  more 
important  still,  it  is  a  touch  which  vitalises  the  other 
variants  in  which  the  helpful  animal  is  rather  dragged  in 
by  the  horns.  Mr.  Nutt's  lucky  find  at  the  last  moment 
seems  to  throw  more  light  on  the  origin  of  the  tale  than 
almost  the  whole  of  the  remaining  collection. 

But  does  this  find  necessarily  prove  an  original  Celtic 
origin  for  Cinderella  ?  Scarcely.  It  remains  to  be  proved 
that  this  introductory  part  of  the  story  with  helpful  animal 
was  necessarily  part  of  the  original.  Having  regard  to  the 
feudal  character  underlying  the  whole  conception,  it  remains 
possible  that  the  earlier  part  was  ingeniously  dovetailed  on 
to  the  latter  from  some  pre-existing  and  more  archaic  tale, 
perhaps  that  represented  by  the  Grimms'  "  One  Eye,  Two 
Eyes  and  Three  Eyes".  The  possibility  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  an  archaic  formula  which  had  become  a  convention 
of  folk-telling  cannot  be  left  out  of  account  when  we 
consider  our  next  type. 

B.  "  Catskin,  or  the  wandering  Gentlewomen",  now  exists 
in  English  only  in  two  chapbook  ballads.  But,  as  can  be 
seen  above,  Chambers'  first  variant  of  Cinderella  begins 
with  the  Catskin  formula  in  a  euphonised  form.  The  full 
formula  may  be  said  to  run,  in  abbreviated  form — Death- 
bed promise — Deceased  wife's  resemblance  marriage  test 
—  Unnatural  father  {dQsxr'mg  to  marry  his  own  daughter) 
— Helpfid  animal  —  Counter-tasks  —  Magic  dresses  — 
Heroine  fligJit — Heroine  disguise — Menial  heroine — Meet- 
ing-place—  Token  objects  named —  TJireefold  flight — Love- 
sick prince — Recognition  ring — Happy  marriage.  Of  these 
the  chapbook  versions  contain  scarcely  anything  of  the 
opening  motifs.  Yet  they  existed  in  England,  for  Miss 
Isabella  Barclay,  in  a  variant  which  Miss  Cox  has  overlooked 
(FOLK-LORE,  i,  App.,  p.  149),  remembers  having  heard  the 
Unnatural  Father  incident  from  a  Cornish  servant-girl. 
Campbell's  two  versions  also  contain  the  incident  from 
which  one  of  them  receives  its  name.    One  wonders  in  what 


278  Cmderella  i?t  Britain. 

form  Mr.Burchell  knew  Catskin.for  "he  gave  the  [Primrose] 
children  the  Buck  of  Beverland^  with  the  History  of 
Patient  Grissel,  the  adventures  of  Catskin  and  the  Fair 
Rosamond's  Bower"  (  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  1766,  c.  vi).  Pity 
that  "  Goldy"  did  not  tell  the  story  himself  as  he  had 
probably  heard  it  in  Ireland,  where  Kennedy  gives  a  poor 
version  in  his  Fireside  Stories. 

Yet,  imperfect  as  the  chapbook  versions  are,  they  yet 
retain  not  a  iev^  archaic  touches.  It  is  clear  from  them  at 
any  rate  that  the  Heroine  was  at  one  time  transformed  into 
a  Cat.  For  when  the  basin  of  water  is  thrown  in  her  face 
she  "shakes  her  ears"  just  as  a  cat  would.  Again,  before 
putting  on  her  magic  dresses  she  bathes  in  a  pellucid  pool. 
Now  Prof  Child  has  pointed  out  in  his  notes  on  Tamlane 
and  elsewhere  {English  and  Scotch  Ballads,  i,  338  ;  ii,  505  ; 
iiij  505)  that  dipping  into  water  or  milk  is  necessary  before 
transformation  can  take  place.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that 
Catskin  was  originally  transformed  into  an  animal  by  the 
spirit  of  her  mother,  also  transformed  into  an  animal. 

If  I  understand  Mr.  Nutt  rightly  (FOLK-LORE,  iv,  iT,i,seq), 
he  is  inclined  to  think,  from  the  evidence  of  the  hero-tales 
which  have  the  unsavoury  motif  of  the  Unnatural  Father, 
that  the  original  home  of  the  story  was  England,  where  most 
of  the  hero-tales  locate  the  incident.  I  would  merely  remark 
on  this  that  there  are  only  very  slight  traces  of  the  story  in 
these  islands  nowadays,  while  it  abounds  in  Italy,  which 
possesses  one  almost  perfect  version  of  the  formula  (Miss 
Cox,  No.  142,  from  Sardinia).  It  is  at  any  rate  an  interest- 
ing result  of  the  abstract  analysis  of  the  story  that  the 
whole  has  to  be  printed  in  Clarendon  type  as  being  entirely 
composed  of  the  formula. 

Mr.  Newell,  on  the  other  hand  {American  Folk-Lore 
Journal,  vi,  160),  considers  Catskin  the  earliest  of  the  three 
types  contained  in  Miss  Cox's  book,  and  considers  that 
Cinderella  was  derived  from  this  as  a   softening   of  the 

^  Who  knows  the  Buck  of  Beverland  nowadays  ? 


Cinderella  in  Britain.  279 

original.  His  chief  reason  appears  to  be  the  earlier 
appearance  of  Catskin  in  Straparola/  1550,  a  hundred 
years  earlier  than  Cinderella  in  Basile,  1636.  This  appears 
to  be  a  somewhat  insufficient  basis  for  such  a  conclusion. 
Nor  is  there,  after  all,  so  close  a  relation  between  the  two 
types  in  their  full  development  as  to  necessitate  the  deriva- 
tion of  one  from  the  other. 

c.  Cap  o'  Rushes  is  chiefly  of  interest  as  being  similar 
to  King  Lear.  Mr.  Newell,  /.  r.,  suggests  a  direct  relation- 
ship. Catskin,  according  to  him,  is  derived  from  Godfrey 
of  Monmouth.  But  the  "  loving  like  salt"  formula  (for 
which  see  Cosquin,  i,  288)  has  a  distinct  folk-flavour  about 
it,  and  I  think  it  more  likely  that  both  Godfrey  and  Cap  o' 
Rushes  are  derived  from  an  English,  perhaps  British,  folk- 
tale. 

D,  "  Tattercoats,"  the  original  of  which  will  appear  in 
my  forthcoming  book,  is  of  interest  chiefly  as  being  with- 
out any  "  fairy"  or  supernatural  elements,  unless  the  Herd- 
boy  with  his  persuasive  pipe  be  regarded  as  such  an  ele- 
ment. It  is  practically  a  prose  variant  of  "  King  Cophetua 
and  the  Beggar  Maid",  and  is  thus  an  instance  of  the  folk- 
novel  pure  and  simple,  without  any  admixture  of  those 
unnatural  incidents  which  transform  the  folk-novel  into  the 
serious  folk-tale  as  we  are  accustomed  to  have  it.  Which 
is  the  prior,  folk-novel  or  tale,  it  would  be  hard  to  say. 

Our  inquiries  into  the  various  forms  of  Cinderella  and 
kindred  types  which  have  been  observed  by  Miss  Cox  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  have  not  led  to  any  definite 
result,  a  result  not  to  be  wondered  at.  What  is  required  is 
that  similar  investigation  should  be  made  for  each  country 
or  linguistic  area,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  the  earliest 
and  most  original  form  of  each  type  in  each  country.  We 
shall  then  be  in  a  position,  perhaps,  to  say  where  the 
story  originated  and  how  it  got  transmitted  to  other 
places. 

^  It  is  practically  in  Des  Periers,  Recreations,  1544. 


28o  Cindeixlla  in  Britain. 


And  now  a  few  words/rc  donio.  Mr.  Andrew  Lang,  in  his 
Preface  to  Miss  Cox's  volume,  has  done  me  the  honour  of 
replying  to  some  remarks  of  mine  on  his  views,  read  before 
the  International  Folk-lore  Congress,  and  published  in  its 
Transaclio?is,  pp.  76-86.  I  there  "  went  for",  with  as  cunning 
a  mixture  of  vigour  and  courtesy  as  I  could  command,  the 
view  that  the  resemblances  in  folk-tales  of  distant  countries 
is  due  to  casual  similarity  arising  independently,  owing  to 
the  similarity  of  minds  in  a  primitive  stage.  I  was  all  for 
the  resemblances  having  arisen  in  the  most  natural  way, 
by  nations  borrowing  one  from  the  other  :  the  other  view 
seemed  to  me  to  overlook  the  improbability  on  the 
doctrine  of  chances  of  a  complicated  series  of  incidents 
occurring  independently  and  casually  in  several  localities. 
Thus,  a  story  of  twelve  incidents  could  only  occur  casually 
with  the  same  order  of  incidents  in  two  different  places 
once  in  479,001,599  times  ;  in  other  words,  it  is,  roughly 
speaking,  five  hundred  millions  to  one  against  its  thus 
occurring  alike  by  chance^  in  two  different  places.  One 
does  not  want  any  greater  certainty  than  that  to  be  against 
the  Casual  Theory  of  the  resemblances  in  folk-tales,  and  I 
therefore  protested  as  vigorously  as  I  could  against  it,  and 
coupled  with  it  the  names  of  Mr.  Lang  and  Mr.  Hartland. 

Well,  it  seems  that,  with  regard  to  Mr.  Lang,  I  was 
altogether  unjustified  in  connecting  such  a  theory  with  his 
name.  He  points  out,  fairly  enough,  that  he  has  never 
unreservedly  pinned  his  faith  to  the  Casual  Theory.  He 
has  "  hedged"  by  granting  that  "  something  may  be  due 
to  transmission",  and  now  further  supplements  this  by 
allowing  that    he    should  have  said  "  much".     Generally 

^  A  modification  would  have  to  be  made,  however,  when,  as  in  most 
cases,  the  incidents  are  to  some  extent  fixed  in  order.  Thus,  in 
Cinderella,  the  Happy  Marriage  cannot  come  before  the  Shoe  Marriage 
Test.  But  Cinderella  has  seventeen  incidents  {supra,  pp.  275-6),  and 
these  Hnkages  would  not  reduce  them  to  less  than  twelve  complex 
incidents. 


Cinderella  in  Britain.  281 

speaking,  he  claims  to  win  on  this  point  whether  obverse 
or  reverse  turns  up.  But  in  making  my  strictures,  I  was 
not  so  much  thinking  of  Mr.  Lang's  general  remarks  on 
this  subject  as  his  specific  treatment  of  definite  tales.  He 
has  given  to  the  world  some  dozen  delightful  studies  of 
special  fairy  tales  :  in  only  two  of  these.  Puss  in  Boots  and 
Jason  ("A  Far-travelled  Tale"  in  Custom  and  Myth),  has  he 
allowed  the  possibility  of  borrowing,  and  in  the  latter  case 
I  still  fail  to  gather  whether  he  would  allow  that  the 
Samoan  variant  must  have  been  borrowed  from  abroad. 
In  the  other  cases  Mr.  Lang  was  chiefly  engaged  in  showing 
the  underlying  savage  ideas  which  might  have  given  rise 
to  the  story,  presumably  independently  in  different  coun- 
tries. It  was  this  I  was  thinking  of  in  fathering  the 
Casual  Theory  on  Mr.  Lang,  and  in  this  I  was  far  from 
being  alone. 

M.  Cosquin  took  the  same  view  of  Mr.  Lang's  theories 
as  I  did.  Professor  Krohn  shares  the  misunderstanding  in 
his  Bar  und  FucJis.  Here  in  England,  among  Mr.  Lang's 
journalistic  friends,  there  is  nothing  to  be  heard  of  but  the 
Casual  Theory.  The  young  lions  of  the  National  Observer 
and  the  more  elderly  lioncels  of  the  Saturday  Review,  are 
sublimely  certain  that  resemblance  in  folk-tales  is  due  to 
chance,  not  transmission.  M.  Sudre,  in  his  recent  study 
of  the  Reynard  cycle,  puts  it  that  "  I'anthropologiste  Lang" 
is  the  author  of  the  view  "  que  tout  conte  est  autochthone 
et  a  des  representants  sur  tous  les  points  du  globe  parce 
que  les  idees  primitives  de  I'humanite  etaient  partout 
semblables"  QLes  Sources  du  Renard,  Paris,  1893,  P-  8). 
M.  Bedier,  in  his  recent  study  of  Les  Fabliaux,  is  quite  the 
casualist,  and  quotes  Mr.  Lang  as  his  authority.  Is  it  not 
too  unkind  of  Mr.  Lang  to  give  away  his  English  friends 
and  French  disciples  with  such  a  cceur  leger  ?  Nay,  even 
after  Mr.  Lang  has  repudiated  casuality  and  all  its  works, 
I  observe  that  Lieutenant  Basset,  in  reviewing  the  Cinderella 
volume,  in  which  his  palinode  appears,  sums  up  Mr.  Lang's 
position  naively:  "Mr.  Lang  frankly  acknowledges  that  he 


282  Cinderella  i7i  Britain. 

believes  the  details  have  been  independently  developed" 
{Folklofzst,  i,  177).  It  is  clear  that  if  I  have  misunderstood 
Mr.  Lang,  I  have  done  so  in  good  company.  He  will 
doubtless  be  deeply  grateful  to  M.  Cosquin  and  myself 
for  giving  him  occasion  to  combat  so  widespread  an 
error. 

But  is  it  an  error?  Is  it  not  rather  an  essential  adjunct 
of  Mr.  Lang's  anthropological  method  of  dealing  with  folk- 
tales to  hold  that  the  savage  elements  have  existed  every- 
where, and  that  therefore  the  tales  that  embody  them 
could  have  arisen  anywhere  independently  ?  If  the  stories 
have  been  imported  into  civilised  countries,  the  savage 
element  in  them  cannot  prove  anything  as  to  the  primitive 
conceptions  of  those  civilised  lands,  and  the  anthropologi- 
cal value  of  folk-tales  is  «z7.  I  have  already  urged  this 
objection  in  these  columns  (FoLK-LORE,  ii,  125),  and  I  was 
not  convinced  by  Mr.  Hartland's  reply  in  his  Chairman's 
Address  at  the  Congress.  Mr.  Lang  seemingly  yields  his 
whole  position  in  granting  the  probabilities  of  diffusion  by 
borrowing,  and  we  would  like  to  know  how  far  he  has  been 
convinced  against  his  will. 

It  was  mainly  for  this  reason  that  I  have  urged  the 
necessity  of  attacking  the  problem  of  diffusion  first,  as,  till 
that  is  solved,  the  anthropological  use  of  the  stories  is 
unjustified.  Mr.  Lang  rebukes  me,  good  humouredly 
enough,  for  not  recognising  his  merits  in  pointing  out 
the  savage  origin  of  the  unnatural  incidents  of  folk-tales. 
I  willingly  do  so,  though  a  word  should  be  said  for  the 
interesting  savage  parallels  drawn  before  Mr,  Lang,  by 
Mr.  J.  A.  Farrer,  in  his  Primitive  Manners  and  Customs} 
But  in  emphasising  these  savage  elements  Mr.  Lang 
has,  in  my  opinion,  diverted  attention  from  the  real 
nature  of  folk-tales,  and  the  true  method  of  dealing 
with  him.  By  laying  stress  on  the  savage  ideas  in  folk- 
tales   Mr.    Lang   has    associated    them    with    myths    and 

1  Mr.   Farrer   is   equally   agnostic   on   the   problem   of  Diffusion, 
Prim.  Man..,  pp.  282-3. 


Cinderella  in  Britain.  283 

customs ;  they  become  with  him  and  his  followers  in 
this  regard,  Mr.  Hartland  and  Mr.  Gomme,  parts  of  primi- 
tive science.  I  contend  that  they  are  literature,  folk-litera- 
ture, if  you  will,  but  still  literature,  and  so  a  part  of  savage 
or  primitive  art.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  I  ventured  to 
express  my  surprise  that  Mr.  Lang,  a  literary  man/«r  excel- 
lence, should  have  seemingly  shown  such  little  interest  in 
fairy  tales  as  literature.  So  far  as  his  researches  showed, 
he  seemed  interested  in  them  not  as  gems  of  folk-literature, 
but  as  containing  "survivals".  Here,  again,  I  appear  to 
have  misunderstood  him,  and  he  is  indebted  to  me  for 
an  opportunity  of  disavowing  such  a  heresy. 

I  know  what  Mr.  Lang  will  reply  to  all  this  ;  he  has  so 
often  explained  his  position  that  it  is  not  difficult  to  apri- 
orise  the  necessary  deductions  from  that  position.  His  chief 
concern  was  with  the  unnatural  incidents  in  folk-tales.  He 
had  to  rescue  these  from  the  mythological  interpretations 
of  the  school  of  Kuhn  and  Max  Muller.  Instead  of  being 
degraded  sun-myths,  he  has  proved — it  is  not  too  strong  a 
word — that  they  are  "  survivals"  of  savage  customs.  These 
he  further  considers  to  have  existed  among  the  European 
peasantry  when  they  were  in  a  savage  state.  With  regard 
to  the  similarity  in  folk-tales,  he  is  frankly  an  agnostic. 
Agnosticism  is  cheap  to-day,  as  they  say  at  the  fruiterers. 
It  may  be  scientific  caution,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may 
be  intellectual  inertia.  At  any  rate,  it  is  particularly  un- 
fortunate that  we  should  be  made  to  halt  between  two  ways 
on  this  question  of  diffusion,  as  upon  it  depends  the  whole 
value  of  the  research  after  "  survivals". 

Mr.  Lang  is  aware  that  for  a  certain  class  of  folk-tales 
the  problem  of  diffusion  has  been  solved,  for  the  derivation  of 
a  certain  number  of  drolls  from  India  has  been,/«<:^  M. 
Bedier,  definitely  proved.  Why  may  we  not  hope  that  we 
can  also  trace  the  paths  of  diffusion  even  when  we  are 
deprived  of  the  aid  of  literary  proof  of  transmission,  as  in 
the  Indian  cases?  At  any  rate,  it  is  in  this  hope  that  col- 
lections like  those  of  Miss  Cox  are  compiled.     They  may 


284  Cinderella  in  Britain. 

not  trace  folk-tales  back  to  India  ;  but  they  will  certainly 
result  in  tracing  each  of  them  back  to  a  probable  birth- 
place, and  it  will  be  only  fo;  that  birth-place  that  the 
doctrine  of  "  survivals"  will  ap^jjy.  For  I  cannot  admit  that 
because  a  peasantry  receives  and  repeats  a  folk-tale  with 
"unnatural  "  incidents,  the  peasants  believe  in  the  real  occur- 
rence of  those  incidents.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  folk-tales 
that  they  are  not  believed  to  be  true.  Those  that  are  so 
believed  are  myths,  sagas,  or  legends,  which  are  thus 
differentiated  from  folk-tales.  Or  is  Mr.  Lang  of  opinion 
that  English  children  believe  in  speaking  frogs  or  con- 
versational tables  because  they  enjoy  The  Well  of  the 
World's  End,  or  Titty  Mouse  and  Tatty  Mouse  ? 

Joseph  Jacobs. 


B  A  LOCH  I    TALES. 


XIII. 

The  Prince,  the  Goatherd,  and  Naina  Bai. 

A  CERTAIN  king,  who  had  no  son,  went  and  turned  his 
bedstead  upside  down,  and  laid  himself  down  on  it 
by  the  gate  of  his  fort.  A  faqlr  passing  by  said  to  him, 
"  How  is  it  that  thou,  the  king  of  this  land,  art  lying  here 
in  this  way?"  He  replied,  "Faqlr,  if  I  tell  you,  what  can 
you  do?"  The  faqlr  said,  "Tell  me."  The  king  said, 
"  The  reason  is  that  I  have  no  son,"  The  faqlr  then  said, 
"  To-morrow  morning  I  will  tell  you  what  to  do."  Next 
morning  the  king  went  to  the  faqlr,  who  handed  him  two 
kunar-fruits,^  saying,  "  Eat  one  yourself  and  give  one  to 
your  wife."  The  king  took  away  the  two  kunars  and  ate 
■one,  and  gave  one  to  his  wife.  His  wife  conceived,  and  in 
the  tenth  month  she  gave  birth  to  a  son. 

Then  the  king  made  a  proclamation  as  follows  :  "If  a 
son  has  to-day  been  born  to  anyone  let  him  bring  him  to 
me,  to  be  brought  up  with  my  own  son."  There  was  a 
Baloch  goatherd  in  whose  house  a  son  had  been  born  that 
day.  He  brought  his  son  to  the  king,  and  the  king  brought 
up  the  two  boys  together.  After  four  or  five  years  had 
passed,  the  Baloch  came  to  the  king,  saying,  "  My  lord,  let 
my  son  go  ;  let  me  take  away  my  own."  The  king  said, 
"  I  will  let  him  go,  and  mine  with  him ;  take  them  both, 
and  let  them  stay  with  you  for  a  year."  So  the  Baloch 
took  the  prince  and  his  own  son  away  to  his  house,  and 
sent  them  out  to  graze  the  kids.  After  two  or  three  years 
the  king  sent  one  of  his  servants  to  fetch  his  son,  but  the 

^  The  ku7iar  is  the  Zizyphus  Jujuba,  well  known  in  Northern  India 
as  the  Ber. 

VOL.  IV.  X 


286  B  aloe  hi  Tales. 

prince  sent  back  a  reply  that  he  would  not  come.     On  this, 
the  king  sent  the  wazir  to  fetch  his  son  ;  but  when  the  wazir 
came,  the  prince  said,  "  I  will  not  leave  my  brother,  I  am  a 
Baloch,  I  will  not  go."     When  the  wazir  came  back  with 
this  answer,  the  king  was  much  grieved,  thinking,  "Have 
I  a  son  or  not .'"'     So  he  made  a  proclamation,  promising 
such  and  such  lands  rent  free  to  anyone  who  should  get 
his  son  back  for  him.     An  old  woman  then  came  forward, 
saying,  "  I'll  bring  him  back  for  you."     The  old  woman 
then  went  to  the  place  where  the  boys  were  grazing  the 
kids,  and  began  to  pick  up  the  goat's  dung  and  put  it  in  a 
basket.     Then  she  called  out, "  One  of  you  boys  come  here,, 
and  help  me  to  collect  the  goat's  dung  ;  I  have  something 
to  whisper  to  you."     The  prince  said  to  his  brother,  "  Go 
and  ask  what  it  is,  and  help  her  to  gather  the  dung."     The 
goatherd  boy  came  and  helped  her,  and  then  said,  "  Tell 
me  what  it  is."     She  put  her  mouth  to  his  ear  and  whispered, 
"  I'll  tell  you  a  fine  thing  to-morrow  morning."     He  went 
back  to  the  prince,  his  brother,  who  said,  "  What  did  she 
tell  you  ?"     The  lad  said,  "  She  told  me  nothing,  but  said 
she   would   tell   me  to-morrow."     This    made    the   prince 
suspicious  ;  and  next  day,  when  the  old  woman  came  back 
and  began  to  gather  dung  as  before,  and  said, "  One  of  you 
come  and  help  me,"  he  said   to  the  Baloch,  "  Go  again  ; 
perhaps  she  will  tell  you  to-day."     So  he  went ;  but  the 
old  woman  again  put  him  off  to  the  next  day.     When  he 
came  back  to  the  flock  of  kids,  the  prince  asked  what  she 
had  told  him,  and  he  said,  "  She  told  me  nothing."     The 
prince's  suspicions  were  strengthened,  and  he  thought  the 
goatherd  was  concealing  something  from  him.     The  third 
day  the  old  woman  came  again  as  before,  and  the  Baloch 
said  to  the  prince,  "  You  go  this  time."     As  soon  as  the 
prince  came  up,  the  old  woman  said  to  him,  "  That  Baloch, 
whom  you  have  made  your  brother,  keeps  urging  me  to 
arrange  a  meeting  with  your  sister  for  him,  as  he  wishes 
to  be  her  lover."     On  this   the  prince   fell   into  a  violent 
ra<^''e,  and  rode  off  to  his  father's  town,  and  when  he  got 


Balochi  Tales.  287 

there  he  sat  down,  and  was  very  sad.  The  king  asked  him 
what  made  him  so  sad.  He  said,  "  I  shall  never  be  happy 
until  you  kill  that  goatherd  boy,  and  pull  out  his  eyes,  and 
put  them  in  a  cup,  and  bring  them  and  show  them  to  me." 
The  king  guessed  this  was  the  result  of  the  old  woman's 
trickery,  so  he  sent  his  wazir  to  warn  the  goatherd  to  hide 
his  son,  and  told  him  to  kill  a  kid  and  take  out  its  eyes,  and 
bring  them  in  a  cup.  The  wazir  went  to  the  Baloch,  who 
did  as  he  was  told  ;  he  killed  a  kid,  and  put  its  eyes  in  a 
cup,  and  took  away  his  son  and  hid  him.  The  wazir 
brought  the  eyes  and  showed  them  to  the  prince,  and 
told  him  they  were  the  eyes  of  the  goatherd  boy ;  and 
the  prince  rejoiced  greatly. 

One  day,  by  chance,  the  prince  went  out  to  hunt  on  the 
river  bank,  and  he  saw  a  boat  go  by.  In  that  boat  a  most 
beautiful  woman  was  sitting.  Her  eyes  met  the  prince's 
eyes,  and  they  fell  in  love  from  that  moment.  For  a  little 
w^hile  the  boat  was  quite  close  to  the  prince,  and  they  con- 
tinued gazing  at  each  other.  Then  the  river-way  led  away 
from  that  bank  towards  the  other  side,  and  the  fair  one 
placed  her  hand  on  her  head  ;  then  again  she  put  her  hand 
on  her  eyes  ;  a  third  time  she  put  her  hand  on  her  other 
arm  ;  thus  she  signalled  to  him.  The  prince  returned 
home  and  was  very  sorrowful  ;  and  when  the  king  asked 
him  what  was  the  matter,  he  said,  "  I  have  seen  a  woman 
in  a  boat,  so  beautiful  that  my  heart  is  set  on  her.  If  I  can 
get  her,  well  ;  if  not,  I  will  kill  myself"  The  king  asked 
the  wazir  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  signs  which  the 
woman  had  made  to  his  son,  but  the  wazir  said  he  knew 
nothing  of  their  meaning.  The  prince  then  cried  out, 
"  If  that  Baloch,  my  brother,  were  well  again,  I  would 
forgive  him  everything ;  bring  him  to  me !"  The  wazir 
brought  the  boy,  who  came  to  the  prince,  and  said,  "Are 
you  ill ;  tell  me  what  it  is  ?"  The  prince  told  him  how  he 
had  seen  a  woman  passing  in  a  boat,  and  described  the 
signs  she  had  made.  Then  the  lad  said,  "  I'll  bring  about 
a  meeting  between  you  ;  by  those  signs  she  told  you  every- 

X  2 


288  Balocki  Tales. 

thing.  Thus,  when  she  put  her  hand  on  her  head,  she 
meant,  '  I  Hve  in  the  town  of  Choti'  ;^  and  when  she  put 
her  hand  on  her  eyes,  she  meant,  '  My  name  is  Naina  Bai'  f 
and  when  she  put  her  hand  on  her  arm,  she  meant,  '  I  am 
by  caste  a  Churlgar.'^  Come,  let  us  start,  and  I  will 
arrange  matters  between  you."  So  they  filled  two  saddle- 
bags, and  mounted  their  mares,  and  came  to  Choti  town, 
inquiring  as  they  went  along.  There  they  made  themselves 
out  to  be  merchants,  and  alighted  at  an  old  woman's  house, 
and  unloaded  their  baggage,  and  went  into  the  town  in  the 
guise  of  Khojas.^  They  got  some  silk  and  women's  goods, 
and  began  selling  them  in  the  town  ;  and,  seeking  as  they 
went,  they  arrived  at  last  at  the  Churlgars'  ward,  and  there 
made  this  proclamation  :  "  We  deal  in  silk,  and  in  beads, 
and  in  thread  ;  who'll  buy?"  The  women-folk  gathered  to 
buy,  and  when  any  of  them  brought  a  rupee's  worth  of 
goods,  they  gave  her  two  rupees'  worth  ;  everyone  got 
double  value.  Naina  Bai  heard  of  this,  and  she,  too,  came 
out  to  buy.  As  soon  as  she  saw  the  prince  she  recognised 
him,  and  at  once  went  home  and  put  back  her  money,  and 
came  back  again  with  her  skirt  full  of  corn,  and  asked  for 
some  silk.  In  pa}-ment  she  gave  him  three  measures  full 
of  corn,  and  the  fourth  only  three-quarters  full.  The  c,c..:- 
herd  saw  who  it  was,  and  immediately  gave  her  all  the 
goods  they  had,  and  said  to  the  prince,  "  Let  us  rise  and  go 
home."  When  they  got  outside  the  town  he  asked  the 
prince  whether  he  had  recognised  anyone.  The  prince 
said  he  had  not.  Then  the  goatherd  said,  "  That  was 
Naina  Bai,  who  brought  the  corn  to  barter  for  goods,  and 

^  The  word  Choti  in  Balochi  means  "  hair",  and  is  also  the  name  of 
a  town  in  the  district  of  Dera  Ghazi  Khan. 

^  Another  punning  allusion  ;  the  word  Nain  meaning  "  eye"  in 
several   Indian  dialects. 

^  The  Churlgar  is  a  maker  of  bangles  of  lac  or  metal,  which  are 
worn  by  women  on  the  forearm.  Naina  Bai  conveys  this  information 
by  placing  her  hand  on  her  arm. 

*  A  Khoja  is  a  Muhammadan  merchant. 


Balochi  Tales.  289 

not  only  that,  but,  by  giving  you  three  measures  full,  and 
the  last  three-quarters  full,  she  meant  to  tell  you  of  a  domed 
tomb  outside  the  town,  which  has  three  minarets  whole, 
and  the  fourth  broken,  and  that  she  will  come  there  to  meet 
you  in  the  evening."  In  the  evening  they  went  to  the 
tomb,  and  sat  there  till  after  midnight,  when  Naina  Bai 
came,  and  went  in.  The  goatherd  came  out,  leaving  the 
prince  and  Naina  Bai  together.  Now,  in  front  of  that 
tomb  there  dwelt  a  faqlr.  The  goatherd  w^ent  to  him  and 
gave  him  three  or  four  rupees,  and  said,  "  Do  this  for  me ; 
if  you  see  anyone  coming  towards  the  tomb,  call  out  thus  : 
'  O  owner  of  the  dun  bull,  if  you  have  understood,  'tis  well, 
and  if  not,  in  the  morning  the  bull  will  become  public 
property,'  and  then  I  shall  know,  but  do  not  call  out  if 
there  is  no  need."  Now,  the  king  of  that  town  was  in  love 
with  Naina  Bai,  and  had  consulted  a  soothsayer,  and  asked 
him  to  tell  by  augury  what  Naina  Bai  was  doing  at  that 
moment,  whether  she  was  asleep,  or  awake,  or  what ;  and 
the  soothsayer,  after  examining  the  omens,  said,  "  O  king ! 
Naina  Bai,  at  this  moment,  is  sitting  with  a  strange  man,  in 
such-and-such  a  tomb."  On  this  the  king  ordered  his  army 
to  go  out  and  surround  that  tomb,  and  let  no  one  pass  in 
or  out,  and  said  he  would  come  himself  in  the  morning  and 
open  the  door,  and  see  for  himself  who  was  there.  The 
army  came  and  surrounded  the  tomb  on  all  four  sides. 
On  this,  the  faqlr  called  out  as  he  had  been  instructed  by 
the  goatherd.  As  soon  as  the  goatherd  heard  the  call,  he 
went  up  to  the  top  of  the  house,  and,  looking  round,  he 
saw  a  merchant's  wife  spinning  thread,  and  said  to  her, 
"  Lend  me  your  jewellery  and  clothes,  and  I'll  leave  a 
thousand  rupees  with  you  as  security.  If  I  bring  them 
back  I'll  give  you  a  hundred  rupees  as  your  profit  on  the 
business,  and  if  I  don't  come,  you  can  keep  the  thousand." 
She  agreed,  and  he  put  on  her  clothes  and  jewels,  and  left 
his  own  clothes  there.  He  then  went  off  to  the  bazaar  and 
bought  some  sweetmeats,  and  an  intoxicating  drug  which 
he   mixed  up   with  the  sweetmeats.     Then  he  placed  the 


290  Balochi  Tales. 

sweetmeats  on  a  tray,  and  lit  a  lamp  and  put  it  on  the 
tray,^  and  went  towards  the  tomb.  The  king's  army  was 
drawn  up  in  front  of  it,  and  the  soldiers  asked  who  he  was. 
He  replied,  "  I  am  a  certain  merchant's  wife  ;  my  husband 
went  away  on  a  journey,  and  I  made  a  vow  on  this  tomb, 
that  if  God  brought  my  husband  back  safe  I  would  have 
no  intercourse  with  him  until  I  had  paid  my  devotions  to  the 
Saint  of  the  Tomb,  and  had  made  a  distribution  of  sweet- 
meats. Now,  after  many  years  my  man  has  come  back, 
allow  me  to  fulfil  my  vow,  and  pay  my  devotions  according 
to  my  faith  as  a  Hindu,  and  then  I  can  go  and  meet  my 
husband." 

One  of  them  said, "  She  is  but  a  Hindu  trader's  wife,  let 
her  go."  So  she  took  her  sweetmeats,  and  distributed 
them  to  the  troops,  and  they  ate  them,  and  immediately 
became  stupefied  by  the  drug. 

The  goatherd  went  into  the  tomb,  and  he  gave  Naina 
Bai  the  clothes  and  the  jewels  and  the  tray,  and  said,  "  Get 
out  at  once  and  go  to  your  home."  Naina  Bai  went  home, 
and  the  two  brothers  lay  down  together  in  the  tomb. 

When  day  broke  the  king  mounted  his  horse  and  came 
to  explore  the  tomb,  but  when  he  explored  it  he  saw 
nothing  but  two  youths  lying  asleep !  Then  he  called  his 
soothsayer,  and  said,  "  You  made  a  false  charge  against 
Naina  Bai  last  night ;  I'll  have  you  ripped  up."  Then  the 
soothsayer  said  :  "  Dig  a  trench,  and  try  her  by  the  fire 
ordeal.  Bring  Naina  Bai  and  make  her  walk  through  the 
trench  (filled  with  live  charcoal),  and  then,  if  she  is  false, 
do  not  blame  me,  and  if  she  is  cleared,  you  are  king  to  do 
what  you  please." 

So  they  dug  a  trench,  and  filled  it  with  charcoal,-  and  lit 

^  The  usual  practice  of  sweetmeat  sellers. 

''■  I  have  met  with  a  case  of  the  ordeal  by  fire  in  the  present  day 
among  the  Bozdars,  a  Baloch  tribe  of  the  Sulaiman  Mountains.  The 
condition  was  that  the  man  should  walk  from  end  to  end  of  the  trench 
without  getting  out  on  either  side.  He  was  not  expected  to  escape 
being  burnt. — M.  L.  D. 


Balochi  Tales.  291 

it,  and  the  king  summoned  Naina  Bai.  All  the  people 
crowded  together  to  see  the  sight  of  Naina  Bai  undergoing 
the  ordeal  by  fire. 

The  goatherd  perceived  that  Naina  Bai,  being  false, 
would  have  to  be  protected  from  the  effects  of  the  fire  by 
some  trick.  So  he  dressed  his  brother  the  prince  in  the 
dress  of  a  faqlr,  he  made  him  like  a  half-witted  beggar,  and 
stationed  him  in  the  crowd,  and  instructed  him,  when 
Naina  Bai  came  to  the  end  of  the  trench,  to  rush  up  like  a 
madman  and  throw  his  arms  round  her,  and  cry  out, 
'"  King,  why  are  you  going  to  throw  such  a  beauty  into  the 
fire  ?" 

When  all  was  ready  Naina  Bai  came  up  to  the  fire,  and 
a  faqir  ran  up  and  threw  his  arms  round  her  neck,  and 
called  out  to  the  king  in  the  words  taught  him  by  the 
goatherd.  Then  Naina  Bai  turned  towards  the  king  and 
said  :  "  I  have  never  been  embraced  by  any  other  than  my 
husband,  and  by  this  faqlr  whom  God  has  sent  me,  and  by 
the  king  my  lover.  No  other  has  touched  me,  and  if  I 
speak  falsely  may  the  fire  burn  me!"  Then  she  entered 
into  the  trench,  and  as  she  spoke  true  she  was  cleared.^ 

The  king  gave  Naina  Bai  leave  to  depart,  and  she  went 
to  her  home.  The  king  returned  to  his  palace  and  sent 
for  the  soothsayer,  and  told  him  to  beware  against  making 
false  charges  against  Naina  Bai  again,  but  pardoned  him 
that  time. 

What  was  the  goatherd's  next  trick,  but  to  dress  up  his 
own  prince  as  a  woman !  He  made  him  into  a  beautiful 
woman,  and  took  him  to  the  house  of  Naina  Bai's  father- 
in-law,  and  said  to  him  :  "  I  have  come  to  this  town  from 
outside,  and  everyone  tells  me  that  yours  is  the  most 
respectable  ward  of  the  town.  This  woman  is  my  brother's 
wife,  and  I  want  you  to  take  charge  of  her,  and  keep  her 
in  your  ward,  and  look  after  her  until  I  come  back  with 
my  brother  to  take  her  away."     The  father-in-law  agreed, 

^  As  long  as  the  words  used  were  literally  true,  her  actual  guilt  or 
innocence  did  not  matter. 


292  Balochi  Tales. 

and  took  her  by  the  hand,  and  led  her  to  Naina  Bai, 
and  said,  "  Take  care  of  her  till  her  husband  and  her 
brother-in-law  come  back."  That  day  they  spent  at  the 
house. 

Then  Naina  Bai's  husband  came  home,  and  seeing  this 
beautiful  woman,  he  said  to  Naina  Bai,  "  You  must  arrange 
for  me  to  get  possession  of  her,  and  if  you  don't  I'll  carry 
her  off  to  another  country."  Naina  Bai  went  to  her  father- 
in-law  and  said,  "  Your  son  is  in  love  with  this  woman  ; 
you  should  know  this." 

Twenty  days  passed,  and  one  day  Naina  Bai's  husband 
began  to  make  advances  to  the  disguised  prince ;  and 
the  prince  gave  him  a  kick.  This  killed  him,  and  the 
prince  dug  a  hole  and  buried  him  inside  his  house,  and 
then  went  off  and  joined  his  brother  the  goatherd.  Naina 
Bai  went  to  her  father-in-law,  and  said,  "  Last  night  your 
son  ran  off  with  that  woman."  Her  father-in-law  begged 
her  to  tell  no  one  of  it.  For  eight  or  nine  days  he  hunted 
for  his  son  and  the  woman,  but  (ound  nothing.  Then  the 
two  brothers,  the  prince  and  the  goatherd,  mounted  their 
mares  and  came  to  the  father-in-law,  and  the  goatherd 
said,  "  I  have  seen  my  brother  and  returned  ;  now  bring 
out  the  woman,  and  we  will  return  to  our  own  country." 

The  father-in-law  saw  that  he  was  in  a  difficult  situation, 
so  he  drew  the  goatherd  aside,  and  said  :  "  My  son  has 
carried  off  the  woman,  and  has  gone  off  to  some  other 
country.  I  know  not  where  he  has  gone.  Attend  to  me 
for  God's  sake,  and  do  not  tell  anyone  else.  The  king  of 
this  place  is  a  dreadful  tyrant,  and  if  he  hears  of  it  he  will 
destroy  me.  There  is  my  son's  wife,  Naina  Bai  her  name 
is  ;  I'll  give  her  to  you,  take  her  instead  of  the  other." 

The  goatherd  was  angry,  and  said  :  "  How  is  it  that  people 
said  you  were  a  trustworthy  man  ?  You  have  done  me 
great  injustice,  and  made  away  with  the  woman  entrusted 
to  you.  I  shall  report  it  to  the  king."  The  father-in-law 
took  off  his  turban  and  threw  it  at  the  goatherd's  feet, 
saying,  "  My  son  has  disgraced  me  ;  take  Naina  Bai,  and 


Balochi  Tales.  293 

put  any  fine  you  like  on  me  as  well,  but  do  not  let  news  of 
it  get  about." 

So  Naina  Bai's  father-in-law  gave  him  a  fine  of  two 
thousand  rupees,  as  well  as  Naina  Bai  herself,  and  the 
goatherd  accepted  it. 

They  set  out  from  the  town,  taking  Naina  Bai  with 
them,  and  at  night  they  made  a  halt.  In  the  night  the 
goatherd  had  a  dream,  and  in  the  dream  he  saw  that  a 
snake  would  bite  his  brother  the  prince,  and  he  would  die  ; 
and  if  he  escaped  that,  then  he  would  drink  some  curds 
and  would  die,  for  the  curds  were  poisoned  ;  and  if  he 
escaped  the  poison,  and  arrived  at  his  home,  he  would  die 
there,  for  a  snake  would  bite  him  the  first  night  ;  and  if  he 
was  saved  from  that,  the  man  who  saved  him  would 
become  a  stone  for  a  year.  And  he  might  be  restored  to 
life  in  this  way :  a  son  would  be  born  to  the  prince  and 
Naina  Bai ;  if  they  were  to  bring  their  son  and  slay  him 
on  the  stone,  and  sprinkle  the  stone  with  his  blood,  it 
would  become  a  living  man. 

Next  morning  they  started  on  their  way,  and  saw  a 
leather  thong  (used  as  a  whip)  lying  on  the  ground.  The 
goatherd  told  the  prince  to  go  on  while  he  picked  it  up. 
He  got  down  and  saw  it  was  a  snake,  and  killed  it.  They 
went  on,  and  a  woman  came  up  bearing  a  bowl  of  curds, 
and  the  prince  bought  it  and  said  he  would  drink  it ;  but 
the  goatherd  said,  "  My  lord,  let  me  carry  it ;  let  us  go  a 
little  further,  and  then  drink  it."  He  took  up  the  bowl, 
and  then  threw  it  down  and  broke  it.  The  prince  said, 
"Why  did  you  break  it?"  But  he  said,  "  It  slipped  out  of 
my  hands,"  Riding  on,  they  came  to  the  prince's  town, 
and  in  the  evening  he  arrived  at  his  home,  and  the  goat- 
herd said,  "  I  made  a  vow  that  when  we  arrived  at  the 
town,  I  myself  would  keep  watch  over  you  the  first  night." 
So  the  prince  and  Naina  Bai  lay  down  to  sleep,  and  the 
goatherd  mounted  guard  over  them.  Towards  midnight 
he  saw  a  black  snake  come  crawling  along  towards  the 
prince  ;  he  struck  it  with  his  sword  and  killed  it.     A  drop 


294  Balochi  Tales. 

of  its  blood  spurting  out,  it  fell  on  Naina  Bai's  face.  The 
goatherd  thought  that  if  the  prince  were  to  awake  and  kiss 
Naina  Bai's  face,  he  would  die  from  the  poison  in  the 
snake's  blood,  so  he  wound  some  cotton  round  his  ramrod, 
and  tried  to  wipe  the  blood  off  her  face  with  it.  On  this 
Naina  Bai  woke  and  roused  the  prince,  and  said,  "  This 
brother  of  yours  was  standing  here  in  front  of  me,  touching 
me  with  his  hand  ;  he  has  become  false  to  you."  The 
prince  arose  and  was  very  angry,  and  accused  him  of  being 
in  love  with  Naina  Bai.  Then  the  goatherd  told  him  the 
whole  story  of  his  dream,  and  showed  him  the  snake  lying 
dead,  and,  said  he,  "  Now  I  have  told  you  all,  and  I  shall 
become  a  stone  for  a  year.  A  son  will  be  born  to  you, 
and  if  you  kill  him  and  sprinkle  his  blood  over  me  I  shall 
be  restored  ;  and  if  not,  1  shall  remain  a  stone,"  Having 
said  this  he  became  a  stone. 

After  this  the  prince  and  Naina  Bai  never  ate  any  food 
till  they  had  first  sprinkled  some  on  the  stone.  After  a 
year  a  son  was  born  to  them,  and  they  took  him  out  and 
slew  him,  and  sprinkled  his  blood  over  the  stone,  and  the 
goatherd  rose  up  alive,  and  all  was  well  again. 

Now  choose  which  did  the  most,  the  prince  or  the  goat- 
herd ? 

XIV. 

The  Prophet  Dris  and  his  Forty  Children. 

[The  name  Dris,  given  to  the  hero  of  this  story,  is  a 
shortened  form  of  Idrls,  a  prophet  of  the  Muhammadans 
often  identified  with  the  Enoch  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  only  resemblance  here  traceable  is  in  the  conclusion 
of  the  narrative,  where  it  is  related  in  what  manner  Dris 
left  the  earth.  The  legend  of  the  exposure  of  the  thirty- 
nine  children  is  related  also  of  Hazrat  Ghaus,  and  localised 
on  Mount  Chihl-tan,  near  Quelta.  See  Masson's  Travels 
in  Baloc/nstan,  ii,  85.] 

There  was  once  a  prophet  named  Dris,  and  though  he 


Balochi  Tales.  295 

possessed  great  abundance  of  cattle,  yet  he  was  childless. 
He  daily  asked  for  the  prayers  of  mendicants,  that  God 
might  give  him  a  son.  One  day  a  faqir  came  along  and 
begged  from  him,  saying,  "  O  prophet  Dris  !  in  God's  name 
give  me  something!"  But  Dris  replied,  "Here  have  I 
been  giving  and  giving  day  by  day,  in  God's  name,  and 
yet  I  have  no  son.  I  will  give  you  nothing."  The  faqlr 
said,  "  I  will  pronounce  a  blessing  on  you,  and  God  will 
give  you  a  son."  Then  he  blessed  him,  and  said,  "  I  have 
presented  you  with  forty  sons  in  one  day." 

The  prophet's  wife  conceived,  and  bore  forty  sons  at  a 
birth.  Then  the  prophet  consulted  with  his  wife,  and  said, 
*'  We  cannot  keep  forty  sons.  This  is  what  we  must  do  : 
keep  one,  and  take  the  other  nine-and-thirty  out  into  the 
wilderness  and  leave  them  there."  So  the  mother  kept 
one,  and  the  nine-and-thirty  he  took  out  and  left  in  the 
wilderness. 

After  a  year  had  passed,  a  goatherd  happened  to  drive 
out  his  flock  to  graze  to  the  spot  where  the  prophet  had 
cast  away  his  offspring,  and  what  should  he  see  but  forty 
children,  save  one,  all  playing  there  together  !  The  goat- 
herd was  frightened,  for,  he  thought,  "  This  place  is  waste 
and  deserted,  who  can  those  children  be?  Are  they  jinns, 
or  some  other  of  God's  mysteries?"  In  the  evening  he 
told  his  master  that  he  had  seen  forty  children  in  the 
wilderness,  and  knew  not  what  they  were.  The  news  of 
this  spread  among  the  people,  and  at  last  came  to  the  ears 
of  Dris  the  prophet.  He  said,  "  I  will  ask  the  goatherd 
about  it,"  but  in  his  own  heart  he  knew  they  were  his 
children.  He  went  and  inquired  of  the  goatherd,  who 
said,  "  I  will  send  away  my  flock,  and  go  myself  with  you, 
and  show  you  the  place."  So  Dris  set  out  with  the  goat- 
herd, and  he  showed  him  the  place ;  but  now  there  was  no 
one  there,  though  their  tracks  could  be  seen.  Dris  sat 
down  there,  and  the  goatherd  drove  away  his  flock.  Dris 
hid  himself  and  waited,  hoping  for  them  to  come.  Then 
he  saw  the  children  coming  towards  him,  and  perceived 


296  B  aloe  hi  Tales. 

that  they  were  indeed  his  children,  and  were  all  one  like 
the  other.  He  came  out  and  showed  himself,  and  said, 
"  I  am  your  father,  you  are  my  children,"  but  the  children 
took  to  flight.  He  called  after  them,  "  Do  not  go  !  come 
back  !"  but  they  would  not  stop,  and  ran  off.  Dris  waited 
there  a  night  and  a  day,  hoping  the}^  would  come  back, 
but  they  did  not  again  come  to  play  in  that  place.  Drls 
then  returned  to  his  home,  and  went  to  a  mulla  and  told 
him  the  whole  story,  and  asked  how  he  could  get  posses- 
sion of  the  children.  The  mulla  said,  "  The  only  way  you 
can  get  them  is  this :  let  their  mother  take  out  their 
brother,  the  one  you  have  with  you,  and  go  to  the  spot 
where  they  play,  and  put  him  down  there  and  hide  herself. 
When  the  children  come  to  play  they  will  see  their  brother, 
and  perhaps  they  m.ay  be  attracted  by  him  and  stay  there. 
If  she  sees  that  they  are  staying,  let  her  show  herself  but 
say  nothing  ;  and  if  they  run  away,  let  her  speak  thus,'  For 
ten  months  I  bore  you  in  my  womb,  now  give  me  my 
rights.'     They  can  be  secured  in  no  other  way." 

The  mother  then  took  her  son,  and  carried  him  out  to 
the  playing-spot,  and  put  him  down  and  hid  herself.  The 
children  appeared,  and  began  to  play  with  their  brother. 
Then  she  came  out  of  her  hiding-place,  and  they  all  ran 
away,  and  she  cried  out,  "  I  bore  you  in  my  womb  for  ten 
months,  do  not  go,  but  give  me  my  rights."  Then  the 
children  came  back,  and  she  petted  them  and  gave  them 
some  sweetmeats  she  had  brought  with  her,  and  made 
them  accustomed  to  her.  When  they  had  got  to  know 
her,  she  took  them  away  with  her  and  brought  them  home. 
The  prophet  Drls  was  very  glad,  and  gave  away  much  in 
charity  in  God's  name.  He  taught  all  the  forty  to  read 
the  Kuran,  and  say  their  prayers  in  the  mosque.  But  the 
angel  Arzall  (Izrall)  received  an  order  from  God  to  take 
the  breath  of  all  the  forty  at  the  same  time  ;  and  a  few 
days  after  their  breath  left  them,  and  they  died,  and  they 
carried  them  out  and  buried  them.  Then  the  prophet 
Drls  said  to  his  wife,  "  I  can  no  longer  stay  in  this  country; 


B  aloe  hi  Tales.  297 

come  with  me  if  you  like,  or  if  not,  I  am  going  myself." 
His  wife  said,  "  I  will  stay  here  by  my  children's  graves  ; 
I  will  not  go  with  you." 

Dris  thereupon  set  out,  and  when  night  fell  he  slept  in 
the  desert,  and  in  the  morning  he  again  went  forward. 
Coming  to  a  field,  he  saw  that  there  was  a  crop  of  water- 
melons there.  He  plucked  one  and  took  it  with  him, 
intending  to  eat  it  further  on,  and  just  then  he  noticed  a 
body  of  horsemen  coming  up  behind  him.  Coming  up  to 
the  prophet  DrIs,  they  salaamed  to  him,  and  asked  him  if 
he  had  seen  anything  of  the  king's  son,  who  was  missing. 
Dris  said  he  had  seen  nothing.  He  had  tied  up  the  water- 
melon in  a  knot  of  his  scarf,  and  seeing  it,  the  horsemen 
asked  him  what  was  tied  up  in  the  knot.  He  said,  "  It  is 
a  water-melon";  and  they  said,  "  Untie  it  and  let  us  see  it." 
When  he  untied  it,  they  saw  the  king's  son's  head  !  On 
this  they  seized  DrIs,  and  said,  "  You  have  killed  the 
prince  ;  you  have  his  head  with  you  !"  They  carried  him 
before  the  king,  and  by  the  king's  order  they  cut  off  his 
hands  and  they  cut  off  his  feet,  and  they  put  out  his  eyes, 
and  cast  him  forth  and  left  him. 

A  certain  potter  saw  him,  and  said,  "  I  am  childless,  and 
if  the  king  gives  me  permission,  I  will  take  this  man  home 
with  me  and  heal  him,  and  look  after  him,  for  God's  sake." 
The  king  said,  "Take  him,  and  look  after  him."  So  the 
potter  took  him  home  and  healed  him,  and  attended  to 
him.  Then  DrIs  said,  "  You  have  cured  me,  and  now  seat 
me  on  the  well-board,  that  I  may  drive  the  oxen  and  work 
the  w^ell."^  So  they  took  him  and  seated  him  there.  Now 
this  well  was  close  to  the  king's  palace,  and  the  king's 
daughter  used  to  rise  early  in  the  morning  and  read  the 
Kuran.  The  prophet  DrIs  used  to  listen  to  her  voice,  and 
he  too,  as  he  worked  the  well,  would  repeat  passages  from 

^  The  allusion  is  to  the  Persian  wheel  for  raising  water  from  a  well. 
It  is  worked  by  oxen,  which  go  round  in  a  circle,  and  are  yoked  to  a 
board  on  which  the  driver  sits.  This  work  could  be  done  by  a  blind 
and  lame  man. 


298  B  aloe  hi  Tales. 

the  Kuran.  The  king's  daughter  then  laid  down  her 
own  Kuran,  and  fixed  the  ears  of  her  heart  on  him,  for 
his  voice  sounded  sweet  to  her.  Every  morning  she  did 
this. 

One  day  the  king's  daughter  said  to  her  father,  "  It  is 
now  time  for  me  to  have  a  husband  ;  let  me  marry.  Get 
the  people  together,  and  let  me  choose  a  husband  for  my- 
self" The  king  called  all  the  people  together,  and  they 
assembled  there.  The  prophet  Dris  asked  the  potter  to 
take  him  also  to  the  assembly.  The  potter  carried  him  to 
the  place  in  an  open  basket,  and  put  him  down  there.  The 
king's  daughter  filled  a  cup  full  of  water,  and  gave  it  to 
her  handmaiden,  saying,  "  Take  this  and  sprinkle  it  over 
that  maimed  man."  The  maidservant  took  it  and  sprinkled 
it  as  ordered.  The  king  was  not  pleased,  and  he  said, 
"  To-day's  assembly  has  turned  out  a  failure.  Let  eVery- 
one  come  again  to-morrow."  The  next  day,  again,  the 
king's  daughter  sent  her  handmaiden  with  orders  to  sprinkle 
water  over  the  maimed  man,  and  she  sprinkled  it.  Then 
the  king  perceived  in  his  mind  that  his  daughter  had  set 
her  heart  on  this  man,  and  said,  "  Let  her  take  him."  So 
he  married  them,  and  took  Dris  into  the  palace,  and  made 
him  an  allowance  for  his  maintenance. 

One  day  three  men  appeared  before  the  king  and  de- 
manded a  judgment  from  him  on  a  certain  case.  The 
king  said,  "  Wait  here  while  I  wash  my  face  and  hands. 
I  will  then  decide  your  case."  Then  they  said  one  to  the 
other,  "  This  king  will  not  settle  our  case  ;  let  us  go  to  the 
prophet  Dris,  and  he  will  settle  it  for  us."  The  king  over- 
heard what  they  said.  They  at  once  started  off,  and  the 
king  sent  a  man  after  them  to  watch  where  they  went  to 
see  the  prophet  Dris.  They  went  straight  to  the  king's 
son-in-law  and  salaamed  to  him,  saying,  "  O  prophet  Dris  ! 
do  us  justice  !"  He  said,  "  Who  are  you,  that  I  should  do 
you  justice?"  The  first  said,  "My  name  is  Health";  and 
the  second  said,  "  My  name  is  Fortune";  and  the  third  said, 
"  My  name  is  Wisdom."     Then   Dris  said,  "  I  have  been 


B  aloe  hi  Tales.  299 

hungering  after  you  ;  now  I  am  happy."  Then  they  em- 
braced Dris,  and  he  became  whole  at  that  very  moment, 
and  with  that  the  three  men  vanished  away. 

People  came  to  offer  their  congratulations  to  the  king, 
saying,  "  Your  son-in-law  is  well  again."  The  king  was 
much  pleased,  and  came  to  see  the  prophet  DrIs.  DrIs 
related  to  him  all  that  had  happened  to  him,  and  said, 
"  Now  dig  up  that  head  which  you  had  buried."  So  they 
went  and  dug  it  up,  and  lo !  it  was  a  water-melon  ! 

Then  the  king  was  very  sad,  thinking,  "  I  have  done  a 
very  unjust  deed."  But  DrIs  said,  "  Do  not  be  sad  ;  what 
was  done  to  me  was  done  by  God  ;  now  pray  yourself,  and 
I  will  pray  that  God  may  restore  your  son  to  you."  They 
both  prayed,  and  after  a  day  or  two  congratulations  came 
to  the  king,  because  his  son  was  coming  home  again, 
bringing  his  bride  with  him.  Then  the  king  was  very 
joyful,  and  he  prayed  that  the  sons  of  the  prophet  DrIs 
might  be  restored  to  life  again. 

DrIs  then  declared  his  intention  of  starting  for  his  own 
country;  and  the  king  said,  "  Go  !  and  my  daughter  will  go 
with  you,  and  I  will  send  a  band  of  horsemen  for  your 
protection."  DrIs  set  out  and  came  to  his  own  land  ;  and, 
on  arriving,  he  found  his  forty  sons  all  alive  and  saying^ 
their  prayers  in  the  mosque.     And  he  was  very  happy. 

God  made  a  promise  to  the  prophet  DrIs,  as  follows  : 
"  One  day  I  will  show  thee  my  face,  but  thou  must  also 
promise  that  having  seen  me  once  thou  wilt  then  depart 
and  go  forth."  Then  DrIs  went  to  pay  his  devotions  to 
God,  and  he  sat  with  God.  And  then  God  said  to  him, 
"  Now  depart !"  He  went  outside,  saying,  "  I  go,"  but  he 
was  not  able  to  leave  God's  presence,  and  having  gone 
outside,  he  came  back  again.  Then  God  said,  "  Why  hast 
thou  returned  ?"  DrIs  said,  "  I  forgot  my  shoes  here,"  but 
he  lied.  He  came  and  sat  down.  Then  God  said,  "  Didst 
thou  not  promise  thou  wouldst  depart  ?  now,  why  dost  thou 
not  go?"  Then  DrIs  said,  "  I  made  one  promise  that  I 
would  depart  and  go  forth,  and  I  have  kept  that  promise. 


2,00  Balochi  Tales. 

I  did  go  out,  and  I  am  come  back  again.  Now  I  will  not 
depart."  Thenceforward  he  sat  there  in  God's  presence, 
and  did  not  return  to  the  earth. 


XV. 

The  King  and  the  Four  Thieves. 

[This  story,  with  slight  variations,  will  be  found  in  the 
collection  of  Pashto  stories  known  as  the  Killd-i- Afghani, 
Story  40,  p.  96.  The  king  in  the  Pashto  version  is  Mahmud 
Ghaznawl.] 

A  certain  king  had  four  watchmen,  who  kept  watch  at 
night.  One  night  a  burglary  took  place  in  the  town,  and 
the  man  who  had  been  robbed  came  and  complained  to 
the  king.  The  king  summoned  his  watchmen,  and  said, 
"  Have  you  seen  any  thief  about  while  you  were  keeping 
watch  ?"  They  replied,  "  My  lord  !  we  have  seen  none." 
Then  the  king  ordered  that  all  four  should  be  taken  out 
and  hanged  ;  so  they  took  them  out  and  hanged  them. 
Then  the  king  thought  to  himself,  "  To-night  I  will  keep 
watch  in  the  town  myself."  He  changed  his  clothes  and 
went  out,  and  at  night  he  patrolled  the  town,  and  while 
doing  so  he  saw  four  men  coming  towards  him.  The 
king  challenged  them,  "  Who  are  you  ?"  They  said,  "  We 
are  thieves.  Who  are  you  ?"  The  king  said,  "  I  am  a  thief 
too."  Then  they  agreed  together  to  break  into  a  house. 
The  king  said,  "  Has  any  of  you  committed  a  burglary  in 
this  town  before  ?"  They  said,  "  Yes,  once  before."  "  Did 
anyone  see  you  ?"  "  No  one  saw  us."  "  Didn't  the  watch- 
men see  you  V  They  said,  "  We  have  a  secret,  by  means 
of  which  they  did  not  see  us."  Then  the  king  said,  "  What 
are  your  secrets?"  One  of  them  said,  "If  I  approach  a 
watchman  and  cough,  the  watchman  becomes  blind."  The 
second  said,  "  I  have  this  gift :  if  I  lay  my  hand  on  a  door, 
the  door  will  open."  The  third  said,  "  I  have  this  gift :  if 
a  jackal  howls,  or  if  a  dog  barks,  I  can  understand  their 


BaLochi  Tales.  301 

meaning."  And  the  fourth  said,  "  I  have  this  gift :  if  I 
ever  see  a  man  in  the  darkest  night,  I  can  recognise  that 
man  again,  if  I  see  him  by  day  amongst  a  hundred  others." 
Then  the  thieves  said,  "  Now  tell  us  what  gift  you  have, 
for  we  have  become  comrades."  The  king  said,  "  If  anyone 
seizes  my  comrades,  I  will  escape,  though  they  may  be 
taken,  and  if  the  king  captures  them,  and  they  are  taken 
away  to  be  hanged,  if  I  shake  my  head  no  one  will  hang 
them,  and  they,  too,  will  go  free."  Then  the  five  of  them 
set  out  in  company  to  commit  a  burglary.  The  king  said, 
"  I  know  where  the  money  is  kept  in  the  king's  palace  ;  let 
us  carxy  off  that  money."  When  they  came  near  the  palace 
they  said  to  the  first  thief,  "  Now  the  watchmen  are  near 
us,  give  a  cough."  He  coughed,  and  the  watchmen  became 
blind.  Then  they  said  to  the  second,  "  Now  show  your 
accomplishment,  and  open  the  door."  He  laid  his  hand  on 
the  door,  and  said,  "  Bismillah,"  and  the  door  opened. 
Then  a  jackal  howled  and  a  dog  barked,  and  one  of  them 
said  to  the  third,  "  What  did  the  jackal  and  dog  say  ?"  He 
said,  "  The  jackal  said  to  the  dog,  '  Thieves  are  breaking 
into  the  king's  palace,  why  do  you  keep  silent  ?'  and  the 
dog  answered,  '  What  can  I  do,  when  the  king  is  breaking 
into  his  own  palace  ?'  "  They  all  said  to  him,  "  Your  power 
is  only  pretence ;  you  understand  nothing ;  how  could  the 
king  break  into  his  own  house  ?"  Then  they  took  two 
boxes  full  of  treasure  out  of  the  palace,  and  carried  them 
out  and  hid  them.  Then  the  king  said,  "  It  is  now  morning, 
go  to  such  and  such  a  faqir's  house,  I  will  go  to  my  own 
house,  which  is  in  the  town,  and  next  night  we  will  come 
and  take  out  the  money  and  divide  it."  They  concealed 
the  money,  and  the  four  thieves  went  to  the  faqir's  house. 
The  king  went  to  his  home,  and  made  a  proclamation  that 
his  palace  had  been  broken  into,  and  summoned  his  men 
to  arrest  the  thieves.  When  the  people  had  assembled, 
the  king  said,  "  My  thieves  are  not  here  ;  go  and  arrest 
four  men  who  are  at  such  and  such  a  faqir's  house."  They 
arrested  the  four  men,  and  brought  them  before  the  king. 

VOL.  IV.  Y 


302  Balochi  Tales. 

The  king  said,  "  Take  them  away  and  hang  them  ;  but  if 
you  hear  them  say  anything  to  one  another,  bring  them 
back  again  to  me."  They  sent  them  off  to  be  hanged,  and 
then  one  of  them  said  to  another,  "  You  said  that  if  you 
saw  a  man  on  a  dark  night  you  would  recognize  him  again 
anywhere  by  day."  The  other  replied,  "  I  have  recognized 
him  ;  our  companion  was  the  king."  They  brought  them 
back  again  to  the  king,  and  he  asked  them  what  they  had 
been  saying  to  one  another.  That  man  said,  "  I  recognized 
our  companion  as  the  king,  but  now  before  the  king  I  can 
say  nothing."  Then  the  king  said,  "  I  promised  my  com- 
panions that  if  I  shook  my  head  the  king  would  not  hang 
them,  and  now  I  have  done  what  I  promised."  He  pre- 
sented them  with  one  box  of  treasure,  and  took  back  the 
other,  and  made  them  promise  never  to  commit  theft 
again,  and  then  let  them  go. 

M.  LONGWORTH  Dames. 


THE  COW -MASS. 


THE  scenic  processions,  half  religious,  half  secular, 
which  were  so  common  in  the  Middle  Ages,  have 
been  abolished,  or  if  in  a  few  cases  they  still  exist,  are  now 
but  a  faint  shadow  of  what  they  once  were.  They  almost 
all  perished  during  the  storms  of  the  sixteenth  century  in 
those  countries  which  accepted  the  teaching  of  the  Re- 
formers ;  for  a  time  they  survived  in  Catholic  lands,  but 
during  the  latter  years  of  the  seventeenth,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  they  had  to  encounter  an 
adversary,  in  the  then  prevalent  Jansenistic  opinions, 
which  were  as  inimical  to  these  traditional  festivals  as  the 
Reformers  themselves  had  been.  The  persistent  dislike  of 
those  things  which  gave  pleasure  to  the  populace  was 
exhibited  in  many  forms.  In  proof  of  what  we  say  we 
may  refer  to  the  warfare  which,  in  the  last  century,  a  large 
and  powerful  section  of  the  French  clergy  waged  on  the 
representations  of  Saint  Christopher.  As  one  example 
of  this,  out  of  the  many  that  might  be  quoted,  we  will 
mention  the  fate  of  the  sculptured  figure  of  this  saint, 
which  once  ornamented  the  Cathedral  Church  of  St. 
Etienne  of  Auxerre.  It  was  destroyed  in  1768  by  the 
Chapter,  because  "  it  was  found  that  it  only  served  as 
an  object  of  entertainment  to  the  common  people".^ 

That  many  of  the  popular  processions  had  been  abolished 
before  the  great  changes  which  took  place  in  consequence 
of  the  wars  following  on  the  French  Revolution  does 
not  admit  of  doubt.  The  few  that  had  vigorous  life 
in  them  up  to  that  time  seem  for  the  most  part  to  have 
been  swept  away  by  those  fierce  storms.     When,  after  the 

^  Louisa  Stuart  Costello,  A  Pilgrimage  to  Auvergne,  1842,  vol.  i^ 
P-  233- 

Y  2 


304  The  Cow- Mass. 

fall  of  the  first  French  Empire,  an  endeavour  was  made  to 
restore  the  old  form  of  things  in  Church  and  State,  the 
popular  festivals  were  for  the  most  part  forgotten,  or  past 
by  unheeded.  Old  laws,  whether  ecclesiastical  or  civil, 
may  be  re-enacted,  but  when  a  popular  rite  has  been 
suspended  for  years,  the  spirit  that  animated  it  has  died 
out,  and  revival  is  impossible.  Such  things  exist  by  living 
tradition.  When  the  cord  that  binds  the  present  with  the 
past  has  once  been  snapped,  no  reunion  is  possible. 

Of  the  Cow-Mass  formerly  held  at  Dunkirk  we  had 
never  heard  until  we  came  upon  the  following  account  of 
it  in  the  October  number  of  TJie  Sporting  Magazine  for 
1799.  We  have  no  idea  who  was  the  writer.  That  he  had 
himself  witnessed  the  festivity  seems  highly  probable,  if 
not  certain,  from  the  way  in  which  he  describes  it.  As  he 
speaks  of  it  as  "  being  continued  till  lately",  it  is  probable 
that  it  went  on  till  the  Revolution.  Why  it  was  called  the 
Cow-Mass  the  writer  does  not  inform  us,  and  we,  of  course, 
cannot  make  a  reasonable  guess  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
name.  Most  likely  it  arose  from  some  local  reason,  which 
nobody  but  one  intimately  acquainted  with  the  social 
history  of  the  place  can  be  in  a  position  to  explain. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  a  rite  of  this  kind  can 
have  been  instituted  by  Charles  the  Fifth.  Its  whole 
character  points  to  an  earlier  origin  ;  it  may  well  be, 
however,  that  the  Emperor  patronised  it  and  added  to  its 
splendour. 

The  writer  makes  a  slight  slip  in  speaking  of  June 
the  24th  as  St.  John's  Day  ;  it  is  really  the  Feast  of  the 
Nativity  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Has  not  he  made  two 
other  errors  ?  Have  not  ideas  become  inverted  in  his 
mind,  when  he  tells  us  of  the  Devil  "leading  St.  Michael 
the  Archangel  in  chains"?  We  apprehend  that  the  saint 
was  represented  as  the  captor  and  Lucifer  as  the  prisoner. 
We  think,  too,  that  the  flight  of  Our  Blessed  Lady  and 
Saint  Joseph  into  Egypt  was  what  was  intended  to  be 
represented,  not  the  return  of  the  Holy  Family  therefrom. 


The  Cow-Mass.  305 

Both  these  subjects  have  been  represented  in  works  of  art, 
but  the  former  occurs  much  the  more  frequently. 

Edward  Peacock. 


"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Sporting  Magazine. 

"Sir, — The  Cow-Mass,  a  show  at  Dunkirk,  scarce  exceeded  by 
any  in  the  known  world,  being  continued  till  lately,  may  not  be 
unamusing  to  your  readers.  It  was  first  instituted  by  Charles  V 
to  amuse  the  turbulent  and  seditious  inhabitants  of  that  place. 

"  This  very  extraordinary  show  is  on  St.  John's  Day,  the  24th 
of  June.  The  morning  is  ushered  in  by  the  merry  peals  of  the 
corillons  (or  bell-pulling).  The  streets  are  very  early  lined  with 
soldiers;  and  by  eight  o'clock  every  house-top  and  window  is 
filled  with  spectators,  at  least  forty  thousand,  exclusive  of  inhabi 
tants ;  and  about  ten  o'clock,  after  High-Mass  at  the  great  church, 
the  show  begins  by  the  townsmen  being  classed  according  to  the 
different  trades,  walking  two-and-two,  each  holding  a  burning 
wax  candle,  at  least  a  yard  long,  and  each  dressed,  not  in  their 
best  apparel,  but  in  the  oldest  and  oddest  fashion  of  their  ances- 
tors. After  the  several  companies  comes  a  pageant,  containing 
an  emblematical  representation  of  its  trade,  and  this  pageant 
is  followed  by  patron  saints,  most  of  which  are  of  solid  silver 
adorned  with  jewels.  Bands  of  music,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
attend  the  companies,  the  choruses  of  which  are  very  solemn  ; 
then  followed  the  friars  and  regular  clergy,  two-and-two,  in  the 
habits  of  their  different  Orders,  slow  in  their  motion,  and  with  the 
appearance  of  solemn  piety.  Then  came  the  abbot  in  a  most 
magnificent  dress,  richly  adorned  with  silver  and  gold,  his  train 
supported  by  two  men  in  the  dress  of  cardinals ;  the  host  was 
borne  before  him  by  an  old  white-bearded  man  of  a  most  vener- 
able aspect,  surrounded  by  a  great  number  of  boys  in  white 
surplices,  who  strewed  frankincense  and  myrrh  under  his  feet, 
and  four  men  supported  a  large  canopy  of  wrought  silver  over  his 
head,  while  four  others  sustained  a  large  silver  lanthorn,  with 
a  light  in  it,  at  the  end  of  a  pole.  They  then  proceeded  to 
the  bottom  of  the  street,  where  there  was  elevated  a  grand  altar, 
ascended  by  a  flight  of  steps,  and  there  the  procession  stopped, 


3o6  The  Cow-Mass. 

while  the  abbot  came  from  under  his  canopy  and  took  the  host 
from  the  old  man ;  then,  ascending  the  altar,  he  held  up  the  host 
in  his  elevated  hands,  and  the  vast  multitude  instantly  fell  on 
their  knees,  from  the  house-tops  down  to  the  dirt  in  the  streets 
below.  After  this  solemnity  was  over,  gaiety  in  the  face  of  every- 
one appeared,  and  the  procession  recommenced ;  other  pageants 
came  forth  from  the  great  church,  followed  by  a  vast  moving 
machine,  consisting  of  several  circular  stages.  On  the  bottom 
stages  appeared  many  friars  and  nuns,  each  holding  white  lilies  in 
their  hands,  and  on  the  uppermost  stage  but  one  were  two  figures, 
representing  Adam  and  Eve,  and  several  winged  angels,  in  white 
flowing  garments.  On  the  uppermost  stage  was  one  figure  only, 
to  represent  God,  on  whom  all  the  eyes  of  the  lower  figures 
were  directed,  with  looks  of  adoration  and  humility ;  and  this 
machine,  drawn  by  horses,  was  to  represent  heaven.  Then 
followed  on  an  enormous  figure  something  like  an  elephant,  with 
a  large  head  and  eyes,  and  a  pair  of  horns,  on  which  several  little 
devils,  or  rather  boys  dressed  like  devils,  were  sitting.  The 
monster  w^as  hollow  within,  and  the  lower  jaw  was  movable,  by 
moving  of  which  it  frequently  exhibited  the  inward  contents, 
which  was  filled  with  full-grown  devils,  and  who  poured  out 
liquid  fire  from  the  jaws  of  hell ;  at  the  same  time  the  figure  was 
surrounded  by  a  great  number  of  external  devils,  dressed  in  crape, 
with  hideous  masks  and  curled  tails.  But  I  should  have  observed 
that  between  the  figures  which  represented  heaven  and  hell 
several  young  ladies  passed  with  wreaths  of  flowers  on  their  heads, 
and  palms  in  their  hands,  riding  in  elegant  carriages.  Then 
followed  old  Lucifer  himself,  armed  with  a  pitchfork,  and  leading 
St.  Michael  the  Archangel  in  chains.  Michael  and  Lucifer  were 
followed  by  a  person  dressed  in  a  harlequin's  coat  hung  round 
with  bells,  holding  a  hoop  in  his  hands,  through  which  he  fre- 
quently jumped,  and  showed  many  other  feats  of  activity ;  but 
what,  or  who,  he  represented,  I  cannot  say.  Then  came  a  grand 
carriage,  covered  with  a  superb  canopy,  from  the  middle  of  which 
hung  a  little  dove;  under  the  dove  was  a  table  covered  with 
a  carpet,  at  which  were  sitting  two  women  dressed  in  white,  and 
with  wings  pointing  upwards  to  the  dove,  and  they  representing 
the  salutation  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Next  followed  a  group  of 
dancing  boys  surrounding  a  stable,  in  which  was  seen  the  Virgin, 


The  Cow-Mass.  307 

Mary  again,  and  the  Child  in  the  manger;  and  this  machine  was 
followed  by  another  fool,  like  the  former,  with  a  hoop  and  bells. 

"  The  next  machine  was  a  fish,  fifteen  feet  long,  moved  by 
men  on  wheels  concealed  within  ;  upon  its  back  sat  a  boy,  richly 
dressed,  and  playing  upon  a  harp.  The  gold,  silver,  and  jewels 
which  decorated  this  fish  were  valued  at  ten  thousand  pounds, 
and  were  furnished  by  the  city  merchants,  whose  sons  and  daugh- 
ters vere  the  principal  actors  in  the  show. 

"After  the  fish  came  another  fool  with  a  hoop,  as  before  ;  then 
appeared  Joseph,  as  flying  from  Egypt — a  woman  representing  a 
virgir.  v/ith  a  young  child  upon  her  lap,  and  mounted  on  an  ass, 
which  was  led  by  Joseph,  who  had  a  basket  of  tools  on  his  back, 
and  a  long  staff  in  his  hand.  Joseph  and  his  spouse  were 
attended  by  several  devils,  who  beat  off  the  people  that  crowded 
too  close  to  the  procession ;  these  two  were  followed  by  a  third 
hoop  dancer. 

"  Then  came  a  large  and  magnificent  carriage,  on  which  sat 
a  penson  representing  the  Grand  Monarch  on  a  throne,  dressed 
in  his  robes,  with  a  crown,  ball,  and  sceptre  lying  before  him  on 
a  taole  covered  with  embroidered  velvet.  His  most  Christian 
Majesty  was  attended  by  several  devils,  hoop-dancers,  and  banner- 
bearers  ;  then  followed  another  machine,  bearing  the  queen,  also 
in  her  royal  robes,  attended  by  a  great  many  ladies  and  maids  of 
honour;  the  jewels  of  her  crown  were  said  to  be  of  vast  value. 
On  this  stage  there  was  a  grand  band  of  music,  and  many  dancers 
richly  attired.  Then  followed  Bacchus,  a  large,  fat  figure,  dressed 
in  coloured  silk,  attended  by  a  great  number  of  Bacchanals  hold- 
ing goblets  up  to  their  mouths  as  in  the  act  of  drinking,  with  a 
few  more  devils  and  hoop-dancers. 

"Then  followed  a  kind  of  a  sea  triumph,  in  front  of  which 
appeared  Neptune,  with  his  trident  and  crown,  in  a  large  shell, 
surrounded  by  boys  dressed  in  white,  who  were  throwing  out  and 
drawing  in  a  deep-sea  lead,  as  sounding  for  land.  After  them  six 
men  followed  in  white  shirts,  with  poles  twenty-five  feet  long, 
decorated  with  bells  and  flowers,  frequently  shaking  their  poles,  or 
endeavouring  to  break  them  :  for  he  who  could  break  one  was 
exempted  a  whole  year  from  all  parish  duty. 

"The  pole-bearers  were  followed  by  a  large  ship,  representing  a 
ship  of  war,  drawn  on  wheels  by  horses,  with  sails  spread,  colours 


3o8  The  Cow-Mass. 

flying,  and  brass  guns  on  board  fired  off  very  briskly.  On  the 
quarter-deck  stood  the  admiral,  captain,  and  boatswain,  who, 
when  he  whistled,  brought  forth  the  sailors,  some  dancing,  others 
heaving  the  log,  and  the  tops  filled  with  boys. 

"  The  ship  was  followed  by  the  representation  of  a  large  wood, 
with  men  in  it  dressed  in  green ;  a  green,  scaly  skin  was  drawn 
over  their  own,  and  their  faces  were  masked,  to  appear  as  savages, 
each  squirting  water  at  the  people  from  large  pewter  syringes. 
This  piece  of  machinery,  which  was  very  noble,  was  the  produc- 
tion of  a  Jesuits'  college,  and  caused  great  jollity  among  the 
common  people.  The  wood  was  followed  by  a  very  tall  man, 
dressed  like  an  infant  in  a  body-coat,  and  walking  in  a  go-cart 
with  a  rattle  in  his  hand ;  and  this  infant  was  followed  by  a  man 
fifty-five  feet  high,  with  a  boy  looking  out  of  his  pocket  shaking 
a  rattle,  and  calling  out,  '  Grandpapa !  grandpapa  !'  He  was 
clothed  in  blue  and  gold,  which  reached  quite  to  the  ground,  and 
concealed  a  body  of  men,  who  moved  it,  and  made  it  dance. 

"After  him  followed  a  figure  nearly  of  the  same  stature, 
mounted  on  a  horse  of  suitable  size  for  the  enormous  rider, 
which  made  a  most  striking  and  elegant  appearance,  both  man 
and  horse  being  executed  in  a  masterly  manner ;  it  was  made  in 
a  moving  posture,  two  of  the  feet  being  raised  from  the  ground. 
Then  followed  a  woman  of  equal  stature,  and  not  inferior  in 
elegance  to  those  which  preceded.  She  had  a  watch  at  her  side 
as  large  as  a  warming-pan,  and  her  head  and  breast  richly  deco- 
rated with  jewels ;  her  eyes  and  head  turned  very  naturally ;  and 
as  she  moved  along  she  frequently  danced,  and  not  inelegantly. 
Thus  ended  the  Cow-Mass." — The  Sporting  Magazhte,  vol.  xv, 
pp.  26-2S. 


FIRST-FOOTING  IN  SCOTLAND. 


FIRST-FOOTING  is  enacted  with  great  glee  and  vivacity 
in  various  parts  of  Scotland,  but  more  especially  so 
in  Edinburgh.  The  origin  of  this  nocturnal  visit  and  wel- 
come, and  subsequent  merrymaking,  arose  from  marriage 
customs,  mostly  in  Galloway  and  Wigtonshires,  where 
marriages  were  generally  celebrated  on  New  Year's  Day. 
About  a  century  ago  the  young  maidens  of  the  district, 
who  might  be  courting,  would,  on  the  approach  of  New 
Year's  Eve,  in  a  coaxing  kind  of  a  way,  invite  their  sweet- 
hearts and  companions  to  be  their  first-foot  on  New  Year's 
morning  ;  of  course  the  hint  was  always  readily  accepted, 
and  generally  ending  in  due  course  by  marriage  on  a 
subsequent  New  Year's  Day  ;  and  even  at  the  present  time 
the  custom  is  still  kept  up  of  domestic  servants  (and 
especially  so  in  Edinburgh)  inviting  their  sweethearts  to 
be  their  first-foot — for  good  luck,  and,  if  need  be,  for 
marriage.  A  dark-complexioned  young  man  was  always 
considered  lucky,  and  a  likely  suitor.  The  mode  and 
hour  of  visit  of  the  first-foot  was,  as  near  as  possible,  just 
after  midnight,  and  in  some  instances  parties  of  young 
people  would  visit  the  favoured  ones,  and  sometimes  quite 
a  carousal  took  place,  drinking,  eating,  singing,  and 
dancing,  and  sometimes  ending  in  a  fight  between  the 
jealous  rivals,  and  thus  breaking  up  the  merry  gathering. 

The  mode  of  visit,  as  I  have  said,  was  just  after  mid- 
night. The  family  visited,  of  course,  expected  someone  to 
be  their  first-foot,  and  had  preparations  made  accordingly, 
in  the  shape  of  refreshments,  and  in  some  instances  the 
household  were  aroused  out  of  bed.  In  others  the  daughter 
or  daughters  were  prepared  for  the  nocturnal  visitor  or 
visitors,   and   thus   the    first-footer    was   not  kept    waiting 


3IO  First- Footing  in  Scotland. 

outside  for  his  welcome  ;    storms  being  considered  of  nO' 
account  on  such  occasions,  but  rather  added  to  the  glee. 

The  first-foot, on  crossing  the  threshold, at  once  announced 
"  A  gude  New  Year  to  ane  and  a',  and  mony  may  ye  see," 
or  "A  happy  New  Year  tae  ye,  and  God's  blessing";  then 
kissing  the  young  woman,  and  shaking  her  by  both  hands, 
they  passed  into  the  household.  If  the  visitor  had  not 
been  seen  for  some  time,  the  news  of  the  families  were 
gone  into,  and  other  matters  of  that  sort ;  then  the  whisky- 
drinking,  with  health-giving  toasts,  eating  of  shortbread, 
currant  loaf,  scones,  oat-cakes,  and  cheese  were  all  heartily 
consumed,  then  song-singing,  sometimes  a  dance,  then 
more  drinking,  and  at  last  came  the  parting,  in  much 
hilarity  and  glee,  the  "toozling"  (or  hugging)  and  kissing 
of  the  young  woman  or  women,  and  then  off  went  the 
nocturnal  visitor  or  visitors  for  other  calls,  until  daylight 
appearing  stopped  their  fun ;  or  else  the  first-footers  kept 
on  making  their  calls,  drinking  and  carousing  all  through 
New  Year's  Day,  and  even  on,  far  on.  New  Year's  Night, 
when,  possibly,  they  were  worn  out,  and  utterly  prostrated 
with  fatigue  and  want  of  sleep.  Of  course  the  first-footing 
only  strengthened  the  courtship,  the  regular  visiting  con- 
tinuing, and  generally  ending  in  marriage  on  a  subsequent 
New  Year's  Day. 

In  "  Auld  Reekie",  the  custom  of  first-footing  ("  first- 
fittin",  in  Scotch)  dates  from  time  immemorial  ;  generally, 
the*  preparations  for  the  midnight  orgies  of  New  Year's 
Eve  begin  to  show  themselves  in  the  early  part  of  the 
evening  in  the  stir  and  bustle  of  the  leading  thorough- 
fares of  the  city ;  groups  of  young  men  moving  list- 
lessly about,  as  evidently  wearying  for  the  fun  to  begin. 
The  church  of  the  Tron  Men,  or  labourers  of  the  city, 
has  long  been  the  gathering-place  or  rendezvous  of  the 
first-footers.  Some  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago,  first- 
footing  in  Edinburgh  required  ingenuity  and  courage  on 
the  part  of  young  men  who  went  first-footing  from  the  Tron 
Church,  owing  to  the  danger   and    rioting    and    fighting; 


First-Footing  in  Scotland.  3 1 1 

amongst  the  first-footers  ;  the  whisky-shops,  as  they  were 
then  called,  being  open  all  night  (and  any  amount  of 
whisky  to  be  had  cheap,  very  cheap,  say  one  shilling  and 
twopence,  or  one  shilling  and  threepence  per  bottle  of  five 
gills,  and  very  good  then),  enabled  the  revellers  to  keep  up 
continued  supplies  in  their  bottles.  Then  there  were 
the  "  Baxters",  or  "  Batchies  Bow  wow  wows"  (as  they 
were  termed  then,  bakers),  and  who  were  known  by  their 
peculiar  trade-signal  or  whistle  (and  who  were  a  powerful 
body  of  men,  requiring  great  strength  of  neck  and  head  to 
carry,  say,  forty  or  forty-five  loaves  on  a  large  board  or 
tray,  placed  on  the  head)  ;  they,  leaving  off  their  work, 
would  sally  forth  into  the  streets,  and  join  in  the  revelry. 
Then  the  students  attending  the  University  would  likewise 
turn  in  and  join  the  crowds,  and  if  perchance  a  wrong  ex- 
pression or  slighting  word  crept  from  one  of  the  students 
towards  a  "batchie",  then  woe  betide  all :  bottles  and  glasses 
were  smashed,  blows  were  exchanged  freely,  a  regular 
melee  occurring,  and  everyone  fleeing  his  or  her  own  way 
out  of  the  shindy,  until  the  row  dwindled  down  or  was 
fought  out,  leaving  many  a  cut  and  scar  to  be  accounted  for. 
This  mode  of  procedure  of  first-footing  is  as  follow^ed  now 
in  Edinburgh.  The  Anglican  element  is  slowly  but  surely 
invading  Scotland  at  this  period  in  Edinburgh  ;  it  begins 
about  the  first  of  December  in  the  display  of  Christmas 
cards  in  shop-windows  and  on  the  counters  of  our  leading 
dry-goods  shops.  Then  on  comes  Christmas  Day,  which 
in  the  New  Town  principal  shops  make  an  afternoon  holi- 
day of  it,  and  in  some  instances  closed  for  the  day.  Some 
of  the  Presbyterian  churches  hold  service,  and  altogether 
the  day  has  an  appearance  of  a  holiday  in  the  city.  The 
festivities  continue  through  the  week,  the  schools  are  closed, 
and  the  people  generally  preparing  for  the  great  event  of 
the  year  in  Scotland,  namely,  the  ushering  in  of  New 
Year's  Day  in  real  earnest  Scotch  fashion.  From  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  leading  thoroughfares,  it  is  evident  there 
is  an  expectancy  of  something  about  to  take  place  in  the 


312  First- Footmg  in  Scotland. 

city  ;  groups  of  young  men  and  maidens  move  listlessly 
about,  others  coming  into  the  city  from  the  country 
districts.  Then,  towards  evening,  the  thoroughfares  become 
thronged  with  the  youth  of  the  city,  and  by  ten  o'clock, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Tron  Church,  small  crowds 
of  young  men  begin  to  gather,  and  to  grow  impatient  for 
the  midnight  hour  of  carousal,  first-footing,  and  general 
welcoming  in  of  the  New  Year,  say  1893.  Next,  as  the 
midnight  hour  approaches,  drinking  of  healths  becomes 
frequent,  and  some  are  already  intoxicated  ;  the  crowds 
become  denser,  the  police  are  moving  actively  about 
regulating  the  traffic,  which  is  fast  becoming  congested  at 
this  point,  namely,  the  North  and  South  Bridge  Streets 
crossing  the  High  Street  at  the  "  Tron".  The  public- 
houses  are  now  closed,  it  is  past  eleven  o'clock,  the  streets 
have  become  darker,  the  crowds  very  dense,  and  the  hum 
of  the  voices  louder  and  louder,  when  suddenly  a  great 
coloured  light  appears  from  some  elevated  point  in  the 
High  Street.  One  after  another  of  these  coloured  lights 
continue,  then  the  bells  or  tubes  of  bronze  of  St.  Giles  now 
begin  to  ring  for  the  midnight  service,  when,  altogether,  the 
scene  is  one  of  a  most  awe-inspiring  nature.  The  eyes  of  the 
immense  crowd  are  ever  being  turned  towards  the  lighted 
clock-face  of  the  "  Auld  and  Faithfu"  Tron,  the  hour 
approaches,  the  hands  seem  to  stand  still,  but  in  one 
second  more  the  hurrahing,  the  cheering,  the  hand-shaking, 
the  health-drinking,  the  swaying  to  and  fro  of  the 
immense  throng,  is  all  kept  up  as  long  as  the  clock 
continues  to  ring  out  the  much-longed-for  midnight  hour. 
Many  a  one  has  there  met  and  shaken  hands  for  the 
first  time  and  the  last  with  the  stranger,  never  to  see  or 
meet  each  other  again.  The  crowds  slowly  disperse,  the 
much  intoxicated  and  helpless  ones  being  hustled  about  a 
good  deal,  the  police  urging  them  on  out  of  harm's  way. 
The  first-footers  are  off  and  away,  flying  in  every  direction 
through  the  city,  singing,  cheering,  and  shaking  hands 
with  all  and  sundry ;  "  A  gude  New  Year  and  mony  o' 


First- Footing  in  Scotland.  313 

them";  "  A  happy  New  Year  and  many  returns";  "  A  guid 
New  Year  and  a'  the  better  than  the  last  yin";  "  A  gude 
New  Year  tae  you  and  yours,  and  may  yere  meal-poke 
ne'er  be  empy"  (empty),  and  so  forth,  and  so  forth,  accord- 
ing as  the  well-wisher  or  first-footer  has  learned  in  his 
or  her  own  local  district  at  such  a  time  the  New  Year's 
good  wishes. 

The  first-footing  has  thus  begun  in  real  earnest  through- 
out the  city,  the  windows  of  some  of  the  houses  are  all 
ablaze  with  light,  and,  to  add  zest  to  all,  away  far  up  on 
the  ramparts  of  the  grand  historical  pile,  the  Castle,  stand 
the  band  of  the  Highland  Regiment  therein  stationed 
at  that  time  ;  then  shaking  hands  and  wishing  each  other 
"  A  gude  New  Year",  you  hear  the  strains  of  "  A  guid  New 
Year  in  Scotia  yet",  "  For  auld  lang  syne",  "  God  save  the 
Queen",  and  a  final  round  of  cheers,  then  all  is  still. 

The  old  Scotch  families  who  keep  up  the  old  customs 
encourage  their  domestics  to  come  in  and  first-foot  them 
for  good  luck  in  their  home^  wishing  them  "  a  lucky  gude" 
New  Year,  generally  accompanied  with  a  gift  of  money  or 
dress.  Then  again,  grandparents  are  pleased  to  have  their 
grandchildren  first-foot  them,  and  in  many,  many  cases  this 
rhyme  was  sung  or  said  by  the  children  visiting  the  old 
people  : 

"  Get  up,  guid  wife,  and  shake  yere  feathers, 
An  dinna  think  that  we  are  beggars, 
For  we  're  yere  bairns  come  oot  the  day, 
So  rise  and  gie  's  oor  Hogmonay ;" 

which  was  accordingly  done  with  great  glee.  The  older 
children  sometimes  were  given  "ginger  cordial",  now  called 
wine,  with  shortbread,  currant  loaf,  scones,  oat-cake,  cheese, 
and  sometimes  an  orange  or  an  apple  added,  with  of  course 
the  New  Year's  penny  for  "guid  luck".  This,  then,  was  a 
child's  first-footing  to  grannie.  Then,  in  the  case  of  the 
seniors,  as  before  described,  there  was  the  nocturnal  wel- 
come, the  love-making,  the  health-drinking,  the  song-sing- 


.314  First- Footing  in  Scotland. 

ing,  the  dancing,  the  toozling,  the  "pairtin"  (or  leave-taking), 
and  at  last  the  "  first-fittin  is  ower"  (is  over). 

Then  out  on  the  streets  all  is  bustle  and  commotion, 
hurrying  to  and  fro  of  young  people,  cheering  and  sing- 
ing, some  drinking  and  health-toasting,  every  possible  and 
conceivable  portable  musical  instrument  brought  into  play  ; 
cheer  after  cheer,  chorus  after  chorus,  rend  the  air  of  the 
early  morn,  and  not  until  daylight  sends  them  home  do  the 
streets  of  Edinburgh  resume  their  usual  wont  and  quiet  ; 
and  thus  all  this  stir,  all  this  commotion,  all  this  hubbub, 
over  the  old,  old  custom  of  "  first-fittin",  the  first  lucky 
foot  to  cross  a  threshold  on  the  New  Year's  morn,  and  to 
be  sure  and  not  to  go  in  "  empty-handed"  (without  a  gift), 
to  some  one,  and  especially  the  loved  one,  else  bad  or  ill 
luck  or  poverty  thereafter. 

Since  the  passing  of  the  Forbes  MacKenzie  Act,  closing 
the  public-houses  at  eleven  o'clock,  the  increase  of  our 
police  forces,  the  action  of  the  Early  Rechabites  and  total 
abstainers,  in  conjunction  with  temperance  societies  of 
every  grade,  and  the  evangelistic  workers  in  all  our 
churches,  all  uniting  in  one  grand  endeavour  to  stay  the 
forces  of  the  evil  of  intoxication  at  such  a  time  as  New 
Year,  and  now  the  inducements  of  recreation  and  amuse- 
ments of  every  description  instead,  is  fast  bringing  into 
disuse  and  distaste  the  "auld,  auld  custom  of '  first-fittin' 
in  Guid  Auld  Scotia". 

G.  Hastie. 


[Mr.  Hastie's  account  of  First-Footing  in  Edinburgh  is  valuable  as 
giving  the  actual  experience  of  an  old  resident  of  the  town,  and  has 
therefore  been  left  untouched. — Ed.  F.-L.] 


FIRST-FOOTING  IN  ABERDEENSHIRE. 


FIRST-FOOTING  is  still  practised  in  some  parts  of  this 
county  on  the  morning  of  the  New  Year ;  but,  as  a 
rule,  little,  if  any,  importance  is  attached  to  the  first-foot. 
It  is  generally  engaged  in  merely  for  the  "  fun  of  the 
thing",  and  sometimes,  perhaps,  for  the  sake  of  the  dram, 
which  is  generally  offered  and  shared  on  those  occasions, 
and  which  it  would  be  unlucky  to  refuse.  The  drinking  is, 
hov/ever,  by  no  means  a  recent  introduction.  One  of  my 
informants,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cock  of  Rathen,  a  parish  in  the 
north-east  of  the  county  of  Aberdeen,  where  he  succeeded 
his  father  as  minister,  tells  me  that  about  sixty  years  ago, 
when  he  was  a  boy,  he  recollects  that  spiced  ale  was 
generally  carried  by  the  first-foot,  and  shared  with  all 
whom  he  met,  or  at  whose  houses  he  visited.  Readers 
of  Chambers's  Book  of  Days  will  find  on  page  28  of  vol.  i 
the  recipe  for  the  spiced  ale,  and  an  account  of  its  use  in 
Edinburgh  by  the  first-foot  on  a  similar  occasion.  The 
whisky-bottle  has  nowadays  entirely  superseded  the 
more  picturesque,  but  probably  hardly  less  intoxicating 
wassail-kettle,  mentioned  by  Chambers,  though  the  reason 
which  prompted  the  carrying  of  either  on  these  first-footing 
visits  was  identical.  Everywhere  it  seems  to  have  been 
■considered  most  important  for  luck  in  the  coming  year 
to  the  family  on  which  he  calls  that  the  first-foot  should 
not  make  his  entry  empty-handed.  A  whisky-bottle 
certainly  met  this  requirement,  inasmuch  as  it  filled  the 
bearer's  hand  ;  and  even  if  its  contents  sometimes  filled 
his  head  also,  before  he  had  gone  his  round,  he  and  his 
bottle  were  still  welcomed  by  the  superstitious  housewife, 
because  they  set  her  mind  at  rest  about  another  super- 


3i6  First-Footing  in  Aberdeenshire. 

stitious  practice,  the  neglect  of  which  was  considered  most 
ominous  of  ill  luck,  and  for  the  carrying  out  of  which  she 
was  mainly  responsible.  This  was  the  belief  that  nothing 
must  be  carried  out  of  a  house  on  the  morning  of  the  New 
Year  till  something  had  been  brought  in. 

An  informant  in  the  parish  of  New  Machar  (Mr.  Wm. 
Porter),  tells  me  that  his  parents  are  still  living,  and  that  they 
can  recollect  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  it 
was  customary  to  go  out  and  bring  grass  and  water  into  a 
house  on  New  Year's  morning,  before  anything  was  taken 
out.  This  was  to  ensure  plenty  of  food  for  man  and  beast 
all  the  ensuing  year.  A  Stonehaven  correspondent  informs 
me  that  a  green  sod  is  brought  in  and  laid  on  the  grate 
cheek.  While  in  the  Tarland  district  of  Aberdeenshire, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Skinner  tells  me  that  there  it  used  to  be 
customary  to  bring  water  from  the  well  and  peats  from 
the  stack  the  moment  the  New  Year  came  in.  The 
fetching  of  water  from  the  well — "  creaming  the  well,"  as  it 
was  called — appears  from  replies  to  my  inquiries  in  different 
parts  of  the  county  to  have  been  almost  universally  the 
first  thing  done  on  New  Year's  Day  morning.  An  early 
call  by  the  first-foot  and  his  whisky-bottle  obviated  much 
of  this  worry. 

Sometimes,  instead  of  a  whisky-bottle,  the  first-foot 
carries  shortbread,  oatcakes,  "  sweeties",  and  last,  but  not 
least,  sowens.  For  the  information  of  such  as  are  un- 
acquainted with  the  delicacies  of  the  Scotch  merm,  I  may 
say  that  sowens  is  a  concoction  something  like  gruel,  but 
is  made  from  the  dust  of  oatmeal,  mixed  with  the  husks  of 
the  corn,  which  are  left  to  steep  till  they  become  sour.  The 
carrying  of  sowens  is  not,  however,  so  much  a  custom  of 
the  first-footing  of  the  present  New  Year's  Day  as  of  a 
parallel  procedure  on  the  eve  of  Old  Yule ;  nor  are  the 
sowens,  like  the  whisky  or  spiced  ale,  for  internal  appli- 
cation only.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Michie  of  Dinnet  writes  me 
as  follows  :  "  The  carrying  of  sowens  on  Old  Yule  was 
mainly  a  token  of  hospitality.     In  this  part  of  the  country 


First-Footing  in  Aberdeenshire.  317 

those  carrying  it  from  house  to  house  were  generally  a 
band  of  young  folks  of  both  sexes  ;  they  approached  each 
house  in  turn  (there  was  no  first-foot  among  them),  chanting 
this  ditty  : 

"  '  Rise  up,  good  wife,  and  shake  your  feathers, 
Rise  up  and  dinna  swear, 
For  here  we've  come  wi'  our  Yule  sowens, 
And  fain  would  taste  your  cheer.' 

If  they  were  refused  admittance,  the  door  was  liberally 
bespattered  with  sowens  in  revenge."  And  this  is  still 
practised  in  the  district. 

In  some  respects  Mr.  Michie's  account  differs  from  the 
other  stories  I  have  heard.  All  whom  I  have  consulted 
do  not  agree  that  the  sowens  were  sprinkled  in  revenge 
for  non-admittance.  For  example,  another  correspondent, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Jamieson  of  Old  Machar,  whose  experience 
of  parish  work  extends  over  half  a  century,  writes  :  "  The 
practice  of  carrying  sowens  by  the  first-foot  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Old  Yule,  to  sprinkle  on  the  doors  of  persons  he 
wishes  well  to,  was  common  enough."  And  he  goes  on  to 
relate  how,  on  one  occasion,  about  fifty  years  ago,  he  went, 
as  a  young  preacher,  to  a  manse  on  the  last  day  of  the  year 
(a  Saturday),  and  was  awakened  after  twelve  o'clock  by 
the  offer  from  the  servants  of  a  bowl  of  sowens. 

From  Tarland  and  Fintray  I  get  further  confirmation  of 
the  carrying  of  sowens  by  the  Old  Yule  first-foot.  My 
Fintray  informant  tells  me  of  how  the  aspersion  was  made  : 
"  The  man  gets  a  pail  like  what  we  use  to  water  horses 
with.  This  he  fills  with  sowens,  and  then  having  procured 
a  brush,  similar  to  those  painters  use  for  whitewashing 
walls,  he  goes  round  the  houses  of  those  he  wishes  well  to, 
sprinkling  doors  and  windows  with  the  concoction." 

Besides  New  Year's  Day  and  Old  Yule,  there  were 
other  occasions  when  some  attention  was  paid  to  the  first 
person  met,  and  omens  drawn  regarding  the  fortune,  or 
misfortune,  that  would  attend  the  enterprise  the  observer 

VOL.  IV.  z 


3i8  First- Footing  in  Aberdeenshire. 

was  engaged  on.  These  were  :  Going  to  or  from  a  wedding; 
after  the  birth  of  a  child  ;  taking  a  child  to  church  to  be 
baptised;  when  "streckan"  the  plough  in  spring,  z>.,  taking 
the  first  yoking  ;  when  going  fishing  or  fowling  ;  generally 
when  undertaking  anything  the  success  of  which  depended 
on  luck. 

In  the  case  of  weddings,  I  am  informed  that  it  was  not 
unusual  for  the  party  to  carry  a  whisky-bottle,  and  treat 
the  first  person  they  met.  I  have  myself  seen  this  done 
near  Braemar,  within  the  last  twenty  years,  but,  as  far  as  I 
remember,  everyone  they  met  got  a  sip. 

In  carrying  a  child  to  be  baptised  I  find  it  was  once  very 
general  for  the  mother  to  carry  bread  and  cheese  or  oat- 
cake, wrapped  up  in  the  folds  of  the  infant's  dress,  to  give 
to  the  first-foot,  partly  with  a  view,  no  doubt,  to  propitiating 
him,  and  partly  from  the  belief  that  lavishness  on  the  part 
of  the  infant  on  this  occasion  would  ensure  his  always 
having  plenty  through  his  life.  Down  near  Coupar  Angus, 
in  Perthshire,  I  have  heard  of  this  christening  custom  having 
been  practised  by  one  family  very  recently,  and  as  the 
mother  was  known  to  carry  sweet  biscuits  in  place  of  oat- 
cake, the  boys  in  the  neighbourhood  used  to  look  forward 
to  the  baptisms  of  successive  members  of  the  family  with 
much  interest,  and  lie  in  ambush  for  the  party,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  good  things. 

My  inquiry  as  to  what  persons  or  things  are  or  were 
considered  lucky  or  unlucky,  as  first-footers  or  to  first- 
footers,  has  resulted  in  a  somewhat  long  list.  The  follow- 
ing were  considered  lucky  :  Friends,  neighbours,  and  all 
well-wishers  ;  a  kind  man ;  a  good  man  ;  a  sweetheart ; 
people  who  spread  out  their  feet  (Old  Machar) ;  those 
who  were  born  with  their  feet  foremost  (Old  Machar) ;  a 
man  on  horseback ;  a  man  with  a  horse  and  cart ;  the 
minister  (?) ;  a  hen. 

One  of  the  clearest  cases  of  the  luck  considered  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  a  horse  and  cart  comes  to  me  from  New 
Machar.     On  the   i6th   December    1841,  the  old   lady  to 


First-Footing  in  Aberdeenshire.  319 

whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  information  had  just  been 
married,  and,  when  proceeding-  along  with  her  husband  to 
her  new  home,  met  a  man  with  a  horse  and  cart  in  a 
narrow  part  of  the  road.  The  man  apologised  for  not 
turning  his  horse  and  cart  at  once,  and  accompanying  the 
party  a  short  distance,  as  was  the  custom,  because  the 
narrowness  of  the  road  prevented  his  so  doing,  but  the 
moment  he  came  to  a  suitable  spot  he  turned  and  followed 
them  part  of  the  way  home. 

That  the  minister  should  be  a  lucky  first-foot  is  perhaps 
to  be  expected  in  Scotland,  but  certainly  the  priest  is  by 
no  means  universally  regarded  in  this  light.  Among  the 
Greek  Women  of  Turkey,  p.  151,  Miss  Garnett  mentions 
that  it  is  considered  most  unlucky  to  meet  a  priest.  She 
couples  him  with  a  funeral  and  a  hare  !  And  Mr.  Rodd 
fully  confirms  this  on  p.  157  of  his  Custom  and  Lore  of 
Modern  Greece.  The  instances  communicated  to  me  illus- 
trative of  the  contrary  view  held  in  Aberdeenshire  regard- 
ing the  minister,  both  occurred  in  ihe  parish  of  Old  Machar 
to  the  present  incumbent.  On  one  occasion,  he  tells  me,  he 
happened  to  be  the  first-foot  when  a  farmer  was  flitting  to 
a  new  farm,  and  he  had  to  turn  and  go  part  of  the  way  with 
the  me'nage.  On  another  occasion  he  was  compelled  by 
the  salmon-fishers  at  the  Bridge  of  Don  to  accompany 
them  in  their  boat  when  they  made  their  next  shot,  for 
precisely  the  same  reason.  Against  that  we  must  set 
the  superstition  current  among  fishermen,  on  the  Kincar- 
dine coast  at  any  rate,  that  it  is  unlucky  to  name  the 
minister  at  sea.  He  is  then  spoken  of  as  "  The  lad  wi'  the 
black  coat."  The  catalogue  of  lucky  persons  or  objects 
is  small  compared  with  the  list  of  unlucky  ones.  The 
business  with  which  I  am  connected  employs  a  large 
number  of  women  as  power-loom  weavers.  The  majority 
of  them  are  young,  but  there  are  one  or  two  old  women 
who  have  been  in  the  service  of  the  firm,  for  a  long  time. 
I  am  told  that  one  of  these  is  considered  most  unlucky^ 
and  some  of  the  other  weavers,  if  they  meet  her  going 

z  2 


320  First -Footing  in  Aberdeenshire. 

down  to  work  in  the  morning,  or  enter  the  factory  gate  at 
the  same  time,  feel  certain  that  they  will  have  trouble  with 
their  work  on  that  day.  I  have  never  succeeded  in  dis- 
covering why  this  should  be  so. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  persons  or  objects  con- 
sidered as  unlucky  for  first-footers  : — Thieves  ;  persons 
who  walked  with  their  toes  turned  in  ;  persons  who  were 
deformed,  or  whose  senses  were  impaired — cripples,  for  in- 
stance ;  a  stingy  man  ;  an  immoral  man  ;  a  false  pretender 
to  religion  ;  the  hangman  ;  the  gravedigger ;  the  midwife 
(New  Machar)  ;  women  generally ;  and  all  who  were  sus- 
pected of  being  addicted  to  witchcraft ;  those  whose  eye- 
brows met,  and  males  who  had  red  hair.  Among  animals, 
the  cat,  the  pig,  and  the  hare. 

The  cat  is  universally  held  in  detestation  by  first-footers 
in  Aberdeenshire.  In  the  parish  of  Rathen,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Cock  tells  me  he  has  heard  of  the  cat  being  immediately 
shut  up  whenever  anyone  dies  in  a  house,  to  prevent  its 
jumping  over  the  corpse ;  because,  if  it  was  allowed  to  do 
so,  and  then  got  out,  the  first  person  who  met  it  would  be 
struck  blind.     So  much  for  the  cat's  first-foot. 

Various  devices  have  been  tried  to  render  innocuous  the 
meeting  with  persons  or  things  of  evil  repute.  If  it  is  a 
person,  the  thing  is  to  "  have  the  first  word  of  him".  Some 
people  spit ;  others  make  a  cross  on  the  road  and  spit.  It 
is  generally  the  custom  to  spit  over  the  track  of  an  unlucky 
animal  when  it  presents  itself  In  Tarland,  two  twigs  of 
rowan  crossed  and  tied  with  a  red  thread  is  used  as  a 
specific.  But  in  a  great  many  places  the  people,  very 
rightly  thinking  that  prevention  is  better  than  cure,  take 
means  to  prevent  an  unlucky  first-foot  presenting  himself 
at  all.  Thus,  in  New  Machar,  when  the  midwife  was  seen 
approaching,  people  shut  their  doors  and  paid  no  attention 
to  her  knocks.  In  some  places  it  was  customary  to  fasten 
the  house  door  of  a,  reputedly  unlucky  person  from  the 
outside.  For  instance,  my  mother  tells  me  that  fifty  years 
ago,  when  she  was  a  girl,  and  went  a  good  deal  to  Fort 


First-Footing  in  Aberdeenshire.  321 

William,  it  was  a  regular  practice  for  those  starting  upon  an 
expedition  of  any  kind  to  go  by  stealth  the  evening  before, 
and  nail  up  the  door  of  the  man  who  performed  as  district- 
hangman,  and  who  was  regarded  as  a  most  ill-omened  first- 
foot. In  some  of  the  fishing  villages  of  the  coast  I  have 
heard  of  a  boat  being  drawn  up  against  the  door  of  a 
churlish  individual  to  prevent  his  getting  out. 

But  generally  speaking  the  belief  in  the  first-foot  has 
vanished,  like  Hans  Breitmann's  famous  party,  and  "goned" 
away,  like  the  lager  beer,  away  to  the  Ewigkeit, 

James  E.  Crombie. 


THE   GLASS  MOUNTAIN. 

A  Note  on  Folk-lore  Gleanings   from  County 
Leitrim. 


THE  following  imperfect  variant  of  TJie  Glass  Mountain 
was  related  to  me  when  I  was  a  child  by  a  rough, 
illiterate,  farmhouse  servant,  a  native  of  Brigg  in  North 
Lincolnshire,  or  of  one  of  the  adjacent  villages.  The  story- 
has  no  point  of  resemblance  with  any  of  our  local  folk- 
beliefs,  so,  I  imagine,  the  girl  heard  it  from  a  member  of 
the  colony  of  Irish  labouring  people  at  Brigg,  an  opinion 
which  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  she  told  the  tale  with 
an  air  of  great  reserve  and  mystery,  as  something  particu- 
larly extraordinary  and  uncanny,  cautioning  me  never  to 
"  let  on"  that  I  was  acquainted  with  it,  which  she  would 
scarcely  have  thought  of  doing  had  one  of  our  own  com- 
monplace traditions  of  boggard,  ghost,  or  wizard  been  in 
question. 

The  legend  ran  in  this  fashion  : 

A  very  long  time  back,  I  don't  know  how  long,  there  was 
a  woman  who  lived  in  a  lone  cottage  with  her  three 
daughters.  Well,  one  evening  when  it  was  getting  on  to 
dusk,  a  man  knocked  at  the  door  and  asked  if  he  could 
not  spend  the  night  there,  as  he  had  come  a  long  way,  and 
no  other  shelter  was  near  at  hand.  The  woman  did  not 
much  like  taking  a  stranger  in,  but  hers  was  the  only 
house  for  miles  round,  so  she  could  not  very  well  turn  him 
away  ;  and  the  end  of  it  was  she  let  him  lie  down  by  the 
fire.  Then,  when  morning  came,  nothing  would  do  for 
him  but  he  must  have  the  youngest  of  the  three  daughters 
for  his  wife  ;  and  the  lass,  she  liked  his  looks  well  enough, 
so  it  was  settled  that  way.     They  were  m.arried,  and  he 


The  Glass  Mountain.  323 

took  her  off  home  with  him.  A  fine,  big  place  she  found 
his  house  was,  with  everything  in  it  anybody  could  want 
so  she  thought  she  should  do  well  enough  there.  But 
there  was  just  one  thing  that  was  out  of  the  way  queer. 
When  the  grey  of  night-time  began  to  come  on,  the  man 
said  to  her  :  "  Now,  you  have  got  to  choose  which  way  it  is 
to  be  :  I  must  take  the  shape  of  a  bull  either  by  day  or  by 
night,  one  or  the  other  ;  how  will  you  have  it  ?"  [See  the 
corresponding  incident  in  Campbell's  Popular  Tales  of  the 
West  Highlands,  vol.  i,  p.  63.] 

"  You  shall  be  a  bull  by  day,  and  a  man  by  night,"  the 
girl  answered  ;  and  so  it  always  was.  At  sunrise  he  turned 
into  a  bull,  then  at  sundown  he  was  a  man  again. 

Well,  use  is  everything,  so  after  a  while  his  wife  got  to 
think  as  much  of  him  as  if  he  had  been  like  other  folks. 
However,  when  a  year  had  gone  by,  and  she  was  likely  to 
have  a  bairn,  she  began  to  think  long  of  seeing  her  mother 
and  sisters  again,  and  asked  her  husband  to  let  her  go 
home  to  them  for  her  confinement.  He  did  not  like  that : 
he  was  quite  against  it,  for  fear  she  should  let  out  what  he 
was.  "If  you  ever  opened  your  mouth  to  anyone  about 
what  you  know,  ill-luck  would  come  of  it,"  he  said. 

But  still  she  hankered  after  her  mother,  and  begged  so 
hard  that,  being  as  she  was,  he  could  not  deny  her,  and  she 
got  her  own  way. 

Well,  that  time  everything  went  as  right  as  could  be. 
The  child  was  a  boy,  and  fine  and  proud  she  was  when 
her  husband  came  to  see  it.  The  only  trouble  she  had 
was  that  her  mother  and  sisters  were  as  curious  as  curious 
to  find  out  why  he  never  came  to  see  her  by  daylight ;  and 
they  had  no  end  to  their  questions.  So  at  last,  when 
she  was  strong  again,  she  was  glad  to  go  away  home  with 
him. 

Still,  the  year  after,  the  same  thing  happened  again. 
She  took  such  a  longing  to  be  nursed  by  her  mother  when 
the  next  bairn  was  to  be  born,  that,  willing  or  not,  her 
husband  had  to  let  her  have  her  liking.     "  But  mind,"  he 


324  The  Glass  Mountain. 

said,  "  we  shall  have  the  blackest  of  trouble  if  you  ever  tell 
what  you  know  of  me."  Then  she  promised  by  all  that 
was  good  to  keep  a  quiet  tongue  about  him  ;  and  she  held 
to  her  word.  Whenever  her  mother  and  sisters  began  to 
wonder  and  to  ask,  she  put  them  off  with  one  thing  or 
another,  so  that  when  she  took  her  second  boy  home  with 
her  she  left  them  no  wiser  than  they  were  before. 

Well,  the  next  year  another  child  was  coming,  and  then 
she  had  just  the  same  tale  to  her  husband  :  she  must  go 
back  to  her  mother,  she  could  not  bide  away  from  her. 

"  If  you  will,  why  you  will,"  said  the  man,  "  but  re- 
member what  will  come  of  it  if  you  speak  ;"  and  then, 
though  it  went  sorely  against  him,  he  let  her  and  the 
children  go. 

This  time,  do  as  she  would,  her  mother  and  sisters  gave 
her  no  peace  ;  they  were  fairly  bursting  with  curiousness  to 
know  the  far-end  of  her  husband's  comings  and  goings  ; 
and  at  last,  on  the  day  her  third  boy  was  born,  they 
plagued  her  so  much  with  their  inquisitiveness  that  she 
could  not  hold  out,  and  just  told  them  the  truth  of  it.  Well, 
when  evening  drew  on,  she  thought  her  husband  would 
be  coming  to  see  the  child,  but  the  sunset  went  by,  and  the 
dusk  went  by,  and  the  night  went  by,  without  a  sight  or 
sign  of  him.  Then,  after  that,  days  and  days  slipped  past, 
but  still  he  stayed  away. 

When  she  was  up  and  about  again  she  grew  that  sick  of 
waiting  and  waiting,  that  she  took  her  bairns  with  her  and 
set  off  to  seek  him 

[Here  the  story  is  defective.  I  believe  the  wife  returned 
to  her  husband's  house,  and,  finding  it  desolate,  wandered 
out  into  the  world  in  search  of  him,  meeting  with  adven- 
tures analogous  to  those  which  befel  the  heroine  of  the 
Leitrim  legend.  My  memory  takes  up  the  tale  at  the 
point  where  she  is  endeavouring  to  release  her  husband 
from  the  spell  which  prevents  him  recognising  her.] 

So  she  sat  down  outside  his  door,  combing  her  hair,  and 
sansr:— 


The  Glass  Mountain.  325 

"  Bare  bull  of  Orange,  return  to  me, 
For  three  fine  babes  I  have  borne  to  thee, 
And  climbed  a  glass  hill  for  thee, 
Bare  bull  of  Orange,  return  to  me." 

[Compare  this  rhyme  with  the  ditty  sung  by  the  wife  in 
the  Welsh  story  told  in  Campbell's  Popular  Tales  of  the 
West  Highlands,  vol.  iv,  p.  295.] 

But  his  stepmother  had  given  him  a  sleeping-drink,  so 
he  never  heard  her.  .  .  .  Then  on  the  second  night  she 
came  to  his  door  again,  and  sat  combing  her  hair,  and 
sang : — 

"  Bare  bull  of  Orange,  return  to  me. 
For  three  fine  babes  I  have  borne  to  thee. 
And  climbed  a  glass  hill  for  thee. 
Bare  bull  of  Orange,  return  to  me." 

And  this  time  he  turned  in  his  bed  and  groaned,  but  his 
stepmother's  sleeping-drink  hindered  him  knowing  that  he 
heard  his  wife's  voice.  .  .  .  Then  on  the  third  night  it  was 
her  Ia.st  chance,  and  she  sat  outside  the  threshold  of  his 
door,  and  combed  her  hair,  and  sang  : — 

"  Bare  bull  of  Orange,  return  to  me. 
For  three  fine  babes  I  have  borne  to  thee, 
And  climbed  a  glass  hill  for  thee. 
Bare  bull  of  Orange,  return  to  me." 

And  he  started  up  and  opened  his  chamber  door  ;  and  so 
the  stepmother's  spells  were  all  broken.  He  had  his  shape 
again  by  day  and  by  night  like  other  men,  and  they  lived 
with  their  three  children  in  peace  and  quietness  ever  after. 

The  invocation,  "  Bare  bull  of  Orange,"  commencing  the 
night-song  of  the  wife,  has  always  puzzled  me ;  but  if  the 
story  is  of  Irish  origin,  it  is  possible  that  the  words  repre- 
sent the  sound  rather  than  the  sense  of  some  phrase 
difficult  to  render  out  of  Erse,  when  the  story  was  put  into 
English  form. 

Another  legend  relating  to  the  "  Bull  of  Orange"  is  to  be 


326  The  Glass  Mountain. 

found  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  Mary  Hallock  Foote's  tale, 
"  The  Last  Assembly  Ball,"  in  The  Century  Magazine, 
1889,  p.  788.  The  story  is  there  quoted  from  a  fairy- 
legend,  originally  related  by  an  Irish  woman  from  County 
Tyrone,  and  is  adapted  by  the  person  to  whom  she  is 
supposed  to  have  recounted  it,  so  as  to  serve  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  a  situation  in  the  novel. 

This  episode  in  the  bull's  career  is  as  follows  : — 

Well,  once  there  was  a  king  who  had  six  beautiful 
daughters  ;  and  in  one  room  of  the  palace  stood  the 
wishing-chair  on  a  dais,  with  a  curtain  before  it,  and  on 
her  sixteenth  birthday  each  of  the  princesses,  in  turn,  was 
allowed  to  sit  in  the  wishing-chair  and  wish  the  wish  of  a 
lifetime.  The  youngest  princess  was  a  mad-cap.  She 
made  fun  of  the  stupid  old  chair,  and  of  her  sisters'  wishes. 
....  She  said,  when  her  turn  came  she  would  wish  a  wish 
that  would  show  what  the  old  chair  could  do. 

There  was  a  prince  in  that  county  of  Ireland  very 
wealthy  and  powerful,  and  he  was  bewitched,  so  that  he 
was  obliged  to  spend  half  his  time  roaming  the  country  in 
the  shape  of  a  terrible  wild  roan  bull,  and  he  was  called 
the  Roan  Bull  of  Orange.  Now,  the  youngest  princess, 
w^hen  she  got  into  the  chair  ....  wished  ....  that  she 
might  be  the  bride  of  the  Roan  Bull  of  Orange,  and  then 
she  flew  out  of  the  chair  ....  and  said  it  was  all  nonsense 
— the  chair  was  as  deaf  as  a  post,  and  the  Roan  Bull 
would  never  hear  of  her  wish. 

However,  he  came  that  night,  trampling  and  bellowing 
about  the  house,  and  demanded  the  princess.  The  prin- 
cess went  and  hid  behind  her  mother's  bed.  They  took 
the  daughter  of  the  hen-wife  instead,  and  dressed  her  up 
in  the  princess's  clothes  .  .  .  .  ;  and  when  the  Bull  had 
carried  her  on  his  back  across  the  hills  and  valleys  to  his 
castle,  he  gave  her  an  ivory  wand,  and  charged  her,  on  her 
life,  to  tell  him  what  she  would  do  with  it,  and  she  sobbed 
out  she  would  "shoo"  her  mother's  hens  to  roost  with  it.    So 


The  Glass  Mountain.  327 

the  Roan  Bull  took  her  on  his  back  again,  and  over  the 
mountains  with  her  ....  and  demanded  his  princess. 
After  they  had  heard  the  hen-wife's  daughter's  story,  they 
took  the  daughter  of  the  swineherd,  and  charged  her,  if 
the  Roan  Bull  gave  her  an  ivory  wand,  she  was  to  say  she 
would  guide  her  milk-white  steeds  with  it  ;  and  so  should 
she  save  the  life  of  her  dear  little  princess.  But  she 
thought  as  much  of  her  own  life,  it  seems,  as  she  did  of  the 
princess's,  or  perhaps  she  was  so  frightened  she  could  not 
speak  anything  but  the  truth  ;  for  when  the  Roan  Bull 
gave  her  the  wand,  and  glared  at  her  with  his  awful  eyes, 
she  ....  whispered  she  would  drive  her  father's  pigs  with 
it.  So  back  she  went,  like  the  first  one  ....  and  this 
time  the  Bull  fairly  raved  for  his  princess.  They  had  an 
awful  night  of  it  in  the  palace,  for  the  princess  had  "  got 
her  mad  up".  .  .  .  She  took  the  Bull  by  the  horns,  as  it 
were,  and  off  she  went  .  .  .  . ;  and  when  the  wand  was 
given  to  her,  she  said,  without  the  least  hesitation,  that 
it  would  be  very  convenient  to  beat  the  maid  with  who  did 
her  hair,  when  she  pulled  the  tangles  in  it.  So  the  Roan 
Bull  knew  he  had  got  the  right  one  at  last. 

In  this  story,  also,  there  is  no  explanation  of  the  word 
"  Orange".  The  hero  was  the  "  Bull  of  Orange",  but  the 
wherefore  remains  enveloped  in  darkness. 

Mabel  Peacock. 


SZEKELY   TALES. 


THE  south-eastern  part  of  the  Hungarian  territory, 
better  known  as  Transylvania,  is  inhabited  by  many 
a  remnant  of  the  old  nationalities  which  played  so  impor- 
tant a  role  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  migration  of  the 
Turanian  peoples  from  their  homes  in  the  East  followed 
certain  distinct  routes  by  which  one  after  the  other  in- 
vaded Europe.  Two  at  least  of  these  routes  lead  through 
the  Carpathian  mountains,  one  from  the  south  and  one 
from  the  north  :  the  first  through  Wallachia  (nowadays 
Roumania),  the  other  through  Moldavia. 

As  soon  as  one  of  those  ancient  tribes  was  dislodged 
from  their  seat  by  the  tribes  that  attacked  them,  and  they 
in  their  turn  were  also  pushed  westwards,  they  invariably 
took  to  one  of  those  routes.  These  offered  a  double  advan- 
tage :  first  they  formed  the  easiest  access  to  the  rich 
countries  behind,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  they  formed 
"  natural  fortresses",  easily  to  be  defended  against  new 
invaders.  Transylvania,  a  mountainous  country,  is  also 
very  rich  in  fastnesses,  to  which  the  dwellers  of  the  plain 
could  retreat  when  overwhelmed  by  the  enemy.  Such 
fastnesses  exist  in  great  numbers,  and  are  almost  impreg- 
nable. Hence  the  peculiar  mixture  of  nationalities  that  are 
crowded  into  that  small  space  of  territory,  and  yet  have 
been  able  to  maintain  their  independence  of  character, 
language,  and  even  religion. 

One  of  the  three  recognised  nationalities  (at  a  Diet  sitting 
in  the  sixteenth  century)  is  the  mysterious  nationality  of 
the  Szekelyek.  The  other  two  separate  nations  were  the 
Hungarians,  and  the  German  Saxons,  settled  there  as 
colonists  in  the  thirteenth  century.     Of  the  unrecognised 


Szdkely  Tales.  329 

nationalities,  I  mention  the  Wallackians,  who  were  after- 
wards reduced  to  serfs. 

The  Szekelyek  were  therefore  recognised  as  totally  differ- 
ing from  the  Hungarians,  forming  a  nationality  apart.  They 
must  have  had  a  language  of  their  own,  as  they  had  a 
distinct  separate  administration  and  organization. 

Various  theories  have  been  advanced  in  order  to  solve 
the  problem  of  the  origin  of  the  Szekelyek.  According  to 
one  theory  they  are  identical  with  the  Hungarians,  and 
belong  to  the  Finno-Altaic  group  ;  according  to  another 
they  belong  to  the  Turko-Tartar  tribes  of  families.  It 
is  this  latter  which  seems  to  be  the  more  probable.  I 
am  inclined  to  see  in  them  the  remnants,  not  of  the  Avars 
(Huns  is  too  collective  a  name  to  designate  a  special 
family),  but  of  the  Qimans  and  of  the  Hasars,  both  un- 
doubtedly Turko-Tartar  tribes.  The  Cumans  had  occupied 
Wallachia  of  to-day  for  many  centuries,  until  the  wave  of 
new-comers  swept  them  across  the  Carpathians.  Cuman 
districts  were  known  to  exist  in  Hungary  for  a  very  long 
time,  and  only  in  the  last  century  died  the  last  man  who 
spoke  Cumanian.  The  Hazars  were  the  next  to  follow, 
and  these,  as  can  be  shown  by  documentary  evidence,  held 
very  high  positions  among  the  Hungarians,  whom  they 
preceded  in  the  invasion  of  Pannonia.  Other  minor  ele- 
ments, driven  thither  by  the  fury  of  the  succeeding  in- 
vasions, may  have  been  absorbed  into  that  new  community 
that  arose  in  the  fastness  of  Transylvania.  Out  of  these 
grew  the  Szekelyek,  who  held  their  own  for  centuries,  often 
waging  war  with  the  Saxons,  Wallachians,  and  Turks. 
Nowadays  they  also  have  succumbed  to  the  influence 
of  the  dominant  race,  and  have  become  almost  entirely 
Hungarians,  considering  themselves,  and  being  considered 
too  by  others,  as  the  aristocratic  and  racially  pure  repre- 
sentatives of  the  ancient  Hungarians.  Their  folk-lore  is, 
therefore,  of  the  highest  interest  to  the  student  of  ethno- 
psychology.     If  the  boast  of  the  Szekelyek  be  true,  one 


330  Sz^kely  Tales. 

ought  to  find  in  their  traditions,  customs,  beliefs,  etc.,  the 
old  Hungarian  or  pre-Hungarian  mythology. 

Without  prejudicing  the  case,  it  is,  however,  noteworthy 
that,  as  far  as  fairy  tales  are  concerned,  the  stock  of  the 
Sz^kely  is  almost  the  same  as  that  which  is  known  to  exist 
among  the  other  nationalities  inhabiting  Transylvania. 
True,  they  are  all  tinged  with  a  national  colouring,  but  the 
substance  is  the  same. 

This  fact  is  prominently  brought  out  by  the  fairy  tales 
which  are  published  here  by  Miss  Gaye,  who  has  translated 
them  from  the  collection  of  Benedek.  A  number  of  Szekely 
fairy  tales  are  included  in  the  valuable  publications  of  Messrs. 
Jones  and  Kropf,  of  Magyar  folk-tales.  They  are  taken 
from  Erdely's  and  Kriza's  collections  ;  whilst  those  pub- 
lished here  for  the  first  time  in  English  translation  are  told 
by  Benedek  Elek,  himself  a  Szekely,  like  Kriza.  In  these 
the  original  form  seems  to  have  been  better  preserved  than 
in  those  two  collections  named  above.  None  of  the  heroes 
has  any  special  modern  name ;  they  are  either  anonymous  or 
bear  popular  names. 

Some  of  Miss  Gaye's  collection  are  variants  of  the  usual 
folk-tales,  and  it  has  been  thought  unnecessary  to  re- 
produce them  here  again ;  others  are  either  totally  different 
or  vary  in  essential  points.  Of  these  the  following  have 
been  selected  for  publication. 

The  importance  of  this  similarity  is  by  no  means  to  be 
undervalued.  It  affords  a  powerful  aid  to  the  theory  of 
migration  of  fairy  tales.  If  fairy  tales  resemble  one  another 
among  nations  that  are  known  to  be  totally  different  from 
one  another,  racially  and  historically,  who  have  nothing 
in  common  with  the  other  nations,  neither  language  nor 
religion,  who  trace  their  descent  from  a  source  entirely 
remote  from  any  of  the  other  nations,  nay,  who  may  be 
the  result  of  an  amalgamation  of  various  nationalities — 
how  could  these  fairy  tales  be  the  heirlooms  of  a  hoary 
antiquity  or  the  residue  of  an  ancient  mythology  ? 

In    the    notes   which    accompany    these    tales    special 


Szekely  Tales.  331 

reference  is  made  to  the  fairy  tales  of  the  surrounding 
nations.  Saxons,  Roumanians,  (Wallachians),  Serbians  or 
Bulgarians,  Albanians  and  Greeks,  represent  as  many  dis- 
tinct nationalities  as  names,  and  still  the  Szekelys,  other- 
wise totally  differing  from  each  of  these,  have  the  same  tales 
in  common.  Only  the  theory  that  tales  are  borrowed  from 
one  nation  and  transmitted  to  another  can  explain  this 
mysterious  coincidence. 

Herein  lies  the  paramount  value  of  the  folk-lore  of  the 
Hungarian,  Szekely,  and  other  similar  nationalities. 
They  throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  problems  of  ethno- 
psychology. 

M.  Gaster. 


I. — The  Genius. 

There  was  once  a  king.  This  king  had  but  one  only 
son ;  but,  the  good  God  alone  knows  why,  he  was  so 
furiously  angry  with  him  one  day  that  he  drove  him  out 
of  the  house  to  go  where  he  liked — up  or  down  !  In  vain 
the  queen  took  his  part,  in  vain  she  made  the  whole  village 
weep  for  the  dear  child  torn  from  her  heart ;  there  was  no 
pardon  ;  the  little  prince  must  go  away. 

The  prince  set  out  then  very  sadly ;  he  went  strolling 
on  over  hill  and  dale.  As  he  goes,  he  hears  someone,  very 
much  out  of  breath,  running  behind  him,  and  calling  out 
his  name.  He  turns  back,  and  sees  a  servant  from  the 
court.  He  has  brought  him  a  watch,  sent  after  him  by  his 
dear  mother.  The  prince  took  the  watch,  put  it  in  his 
pocket,  and  then  went  on. 

As  he  goes  along  he  takes  the  watch  out  and  opens  the 
case,  and  then !  some  invisible  being,  or  something,  speaks, 
and  says :  "  What  are  your  commands,  my  soul,  my  dear 
good  master?" 

The  prince  was  astonished  at  this,  very  much  so ;  his 
astonishment  was  so  great  that  he  did  not  say  a  single 
word,  but  put  the  watch  back  in  his  pocket. 


332  Sz^kely  Tales. 

All  at  once  the  road  branched  off  in  two  directions  ; 
the  one  leading  to  a  huge  great  wood,  the  other  to  a  large 
city.  He  considered  which  he  should  take.  It  would  be 
well  to  go  into  the  tow^n  and  pass  the  night  there,  but  he 
had  not  a  single  stray  kreuzer.  He  therefore  went  towards 
the  wood,  thinking  that  he  can  at  least  make  a  fire  there, 
perhaps,  too,  he  will  be  able  to  catch  a  bird,  then  he  will 
gather  strawberries  and  mushrooms,  and  have  such  a  supper 
that  the  king  himself  can't  do  better. 

He  went  into  the  wood,  therefore,  and  there  chose  out  a 
great  tree,  under  which  he  sat  down.  He  takes  out  his 
watch  to  see  what  o'clock  it  is,  then  that  invisible  being,  or 
something,  speaks  again,  and  asks  him,  "  What  are  your 
commands,  my  soul,  my  dear  good  master  ?" 

Thus  answered  the  prince  :  "  Well,  if  you  want  me  to 
give  commands,  then  make  me  something  to  eat,  and  out 
of  the  ground  too." 

Scarcely  had  the  prince  looked  round  when  there  before 
him  stood  a  table  spread  with  all  sorts  of  good  dainty 
dishes.  The  little  prince  fell  to  manfully;  then  he  lay  down 
in  the  soft  grass,  and  did  not  get  up  till  the  sun  shone  on 
his  stomach. 

He  started  off  again  and  went  strolling  on  until  he  came 
to  such  a  great  high  mountain  that  it  was  impossible  to  see 
either  the  end,  or  the  length,  or  the  top  of  it  He  looked 
right,  he  looked  left,  he  looked  up,  he  went  round  about, 
this  way  and  that,  but  he  could  not  find  any  means  of 
getting  over  it  in  any  way,  it  was  so  lofty  and  so  steep. 
But  he  looked  and  looked  about  until  he  found  a  hole 
which  led  into  the  mountain.  He  entered  this  hole,  but 
he  had  hardly  gone  the  distance  of  a  good  gun-shot  when 
he  got  into  such  intense  darkness  that  he  could  not  move 
either  backwards  or  forwards.  He  puts  his  hand  in  his 
pocket  to  get  a  match,  and  while  he  was  feeling  for  a  match 
the  watch  touched  his  hand,  and  he  took  it  out. 

"  What  are  your  commands,  my  soul,  my  dear  good 
master  ?"  asked  the  genius  again. 


Szdkely  Tales.  ■;}y^'i, 

"  I  command  you",  said  the  prince,  "  to  get  me  some 
light  from  somewhere." 

As  he  gave  the  command,  a  lighted  wax-taper  was 
already  in  his  hand,  and  by  its  light  he  strolled  further 
on.  He  went  deeper  and  deeper  in,  until  all  at  once  the 
passage  began  to  widen  out.  There  he  found  a  house. 
He  pushed  the  door  open,  and  there  finds  an  old  dwarf. 
He  greets  him  in  a  becoming  manner. 

"God  give  you  good  day,  my  dear  Mr.  father  ;  pray  how 
are  you,  how  does  your  precious  health  serve  you  ?"^ 

"Good  day",  answered  the  dwarf;  "  I  am  well ;  but  who 
are  you,  and  what  sort  of  business  are  you  upon  that  you 
come  here,  where  not  even  a  mouse  comes  ?" 

The  prince  told  the  story  of  his  sad  fate  with  very 
bitter  lamentations,  so  that  the  dwarf's  heart  was  sad  for 
him.  He  encouraged  and  comforted  him,  telling  him  not 
to  grieve  at  all,  for  he  will  procure  him  just  such  a  place  as 
the  one  he  has  left.  Then  he  told  him  that  beyond  the 
mountain  there  was  a  powerful  but  good-hearted  king ; 
he,  too,  had  had  an  only  son,  but  he  had  been  lost  in  the 
wars.  Now,  if  he  will  go  to  this  king,  who  will  soon  be 
killed  by  grief,  and  will  say  that  he  is  his  lost  son,  the 
king  would  grieve  no  more,  and  he  would  not  be  a  world- 
wanderer. 

The  prince  resolved  upon  this,  and  the  dwarf  carefully 
instructed  him  what  he  was  to  say  to  the  king.  "  Say  that 
you  are  called  Paul,  that  you  left  home  seven  years  ago, 
and  did  not  write  because  you  were  taken  prisoner,  and 
kept  in  such  grievous  captivity  that  you  were  unable  either 
to  write  a  letter  or  send  a  message.  Then  ask  this,  too, 
whether  the  three  little  sisters  whom  you  left  alive  at  the 
time  of  your  departure  are  still  living." 

The  prince  thanked  him  much  for  his  good  advice,  took 
leave  of  the  dwarf,  and  with  that  set  off  out  of  the  moun- 
tain. When  he  got  out  he  took  out  his  watch  and  gave 
this  command  to  the  genius  :  "  Take  me  to  the  other  side 

^  A  usual  expression,  especially  amongst  the  lower  classes. 

VOL.  IV.  A  A 


334  Sz^kely  Tales. 

of  this  mountain,  to  the  king   whose  only  son   was   lost 
while  soldiering." 

"  Good,  my  soul,  my  dear  good  master",  said  the  genius, 
*'  only  shut  your  eyes." 

The  prince  shut  his  eyes,  and  felt  that  his  feet  did 
not  touch  the  ground,  and  that  he  was  flying  as  quick 
as  thought.  But  this  did  not  last  .long  ;  again  his  feet 
touched  the  ground,  and  then  the  genius  said  : 

"  Now  open  your  eyes  !" 

The  prince  opened  them  and  looked  round  ;  and  then — 
behold  a  wonder ! — he  was  standing  before  the  gateway  of 
a  palace,  which  was  even  more  splendid  than  his  father's. 
When  he  had  taken  a  good  look  round  at  the  palace  and 
its  environs,  he  pushed  the  gate  open  and  went  at  once  to 
the  king.  He  did  not  trouble  himself  much,  to  be  sure, 
but  fell  upon  the  king's  neck  at  once,  embraced  him  and 
kissed  him,  saying,  "  My  precious  dear  good  father,  my 
illustrious  father,  my  lord,  I  have  not  seen  you  for  just 
seven  years,  and  I  began  to  think  I  should  never  see  you 
again  in  this  life  !" 

The  king  was  amazed  and  astounded,  looked  at  the  boy 
from  the  crown  of  his  head  to  the  sole  of  his  foot,  before, 
behind,  and  every  way,  but  still  he  could  not  exactly 
recognise  him  as  his  own  dear  son.  However,  he  answered 
all  questions  in  such  a  way  that  the  king  distrusted  him 
no  longer,  and  in  his  great  joy  he  made  such  a  feast 
that  even  the  Wallachian  parson  had  wine  instead  of 
brandy  with  his  puliszka}  and  even  the  lame  began  to 
dance. 

All  three  princesses  were  living,  and  the  prince  thought 
it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  present  his  "sisters"  with  some 
handsome  gift.  He  took  out  his  watch  and  ordered  the 
genius  to  bring  the  three  girls  three  bouquets  of  golden 
flowers,  such  as  human  eye  had  never  seen.  Not  an  hour 
had  passed,  when  all  three  golden  bouquets  were  there.  He 
sent  them  to  the  rooms  of  the  three  young  ladies  as 
^  Maize-porridge  and  curds. 


Szdkely  Tales.  335 

secretly  as  possible,  so  that  one  knew  nothing  about  the 
other. 

Well,  time  waxes  and  wanes.  One  evening  there  was 
a  great  ball  at  the  royal  palace,  and  the  youngest  princess 
placed  the  beautiful  golden  bouquet  in  her  bosom.  Then, 
all  at  once,  there  was  such  a  brilliant  light  that  they  might 
just  as  well  have  put  out  the  wax  candles.  The  elder 
princesses  did  not  bring  their  bouquets,  and  each  thought 
that  their  sister  had  stolen  hers.  They  set  upon  her 
to  make  her  give  back  their  flowers. 

"  I  shall  certainly  not  give  them  up!"  said  the  little  prin- 
cess. "  If  you  have  any  too,  fetch  them  out;  they  are  sure 
to  be  where  you  put  them." 

At  this  both  the  girls  run  away,  and  come  back  each 
with  a  golden  bouquet.  And  then  there  was  such  a  flood 
of  light  that  not  even  the  sun  could  have  shone  more 
brightly. 

News  of  this  went  through  the  whole  land  ;  everyone 
talked  of  nothing  but  the  wonderful  golden  bouquets. 
The  king  could  not  praise  his  son  enough  for  having 
thought  of  his  sisters  even  in  his  captivity,  and  for  having 
managed  to  be  so  economical  as  to  be  able  to  buy  three 
golden  bouquets.  But  the  major-domo  shook  his  head,  and 
said  to  the  king  : 

"  Now,  my  illustrious  king,  don't  be  angry,  but  there 
is  some  diablerie  in  this,  and  I  wager  that  if  your  Majesty 
commands  that  a  golden  bridge  shall  be  built  from  your 
Majesty's  palace  to  my  palace  by  to-morrow  morning,  the 
duke  will  do  this,  too." 

The  king  laughed  the  major-domo  to  scorn,  but  the  latter 
persisted,  until  at  last  he  promised  to  put  his  son  to  the 
test. 

The  king  had  his  son  up,  and  told  him  of  his  desire. 
He  was  an  old  man,  but  he  liked  what  was  fine,  and 
he  thought  that,  as  a  person  who  had  seen  the  world, 
he  would  perhaps  know  some  possible  way  of  building 
a  golden  bridge. 

A  A  2 


^^6  Szdkely  Tales. 

The  prince  told  him  just  to  wait  till  the  morning,  as  he 
could  not  say  anything  until  then.  Then,  when  they  had 
separated,  the  prince  took  out  his  watch,  and  told  the 
genius  of  the  king's  wish. 

"  It  is  no  matter,  my  soul,  my  dear  good  master",  said 
the  spirit ;  "  the  bridge  will  be  there  by  morning." 

And  so  it  was  !  But  it  was  so  beautiful,  so  glittering, 
that  when  the  king  got  up  and  looked  out  of  window  he 
almost  fell  backwards  in  his  great  astonishment.  He  had 
his  son  called  at  once,  and  said  to  him,  "Well,  you  have 
done  this  well,  my  son  ;  but  if  you  can  do  so  much,  then 
you  can  do  more  also.  If  you  don't  build  a  palace  of  pure, 
fine  gold,  seven  storeys  high,  by  to-morrow  morning,  and 
if  this  palace  does  not  stand  upon  a  slender  diamond  foot, 
I  will  have  your  head  cut  off!" 

The  king  thought,  however,  that  his  son  would  not  be 
able  to  do  this,  and  he  was  already  rejoicing  that  he  would 
be  able  to  put  him  to  death  ;  for  he  was  afraid  that  he 
would  send  him  to  hell  with  his  diablerie.  The  prince 
himself  did  not  believe  that  the  genius  would  be  able 
to  build  such  a  palace  ;  nevertheless,  he  told  him  what  the 
king  wanted.  Thereupon  he  went  to  bed,  and  in  the 
morning  he  got  up.  And  pray,  was  not  the  seven -storeyed 
palace  standing  before  his  window!  He  was  almost  killed 
with  astonishment ;  and  the  king  still  more.  They  were 
obliged  to  sprinkle  him  with  cold  water,  he  was  so  faint 
with  intense  amazement. 

But  the  king  had  still  not  had  wonders  enough.  The 
next  day  a  courtyard  was  wanted  for  the  golden  palace. 
When  he  had  this,  he  wished  for  a  garden,  in  which  all,  even 
to  the  smallest  blade  of  grass,  should  be  of  gold  and 
diamonds.     For  this  he  allowed  three  days. 

"  Good",  thought  the  prince,  "  I  will  do  this,  too  ;  but  if 
he  is  not  satisfied  with  this,  I  will  leave  him,  as  St.  Paul  did 
the  Wallachians." 

For  he  had  only  stayed  till  now  for  the  sake  of  the 
little  princess.     But  the  major-domo  proposed  to  the  king 


Szekely  Tales.  337 

that  they  should  go  out  hunting  until  the  turn  came  for  the 
garden,  and  take  the  duke  with  them ;  for  he  remembered 
that  before  the  war  he  was  very  fond  of  hunting.  They  at 
once  determined  that  they  would  go  hunting.  But  before 
they  set  out,  the  major-domo  told  the  prince  that  it  would  be 
well  for  him  to  leave  that  beautiful  watch  of  his  at  home, 
for  it  might  easily  be  spoilt  in  the  forest,  and  then  there 
was  no  master-workman  to  mend  it  here,  as  there  was 
abroad.  The  prince  took  his  advice,  and  left  the  watch  in 
his  room.  But  they  had  scarcely  reached  the  forest  when 
the  major-domo,  who  had  watched  the  prince  when  he  was 
talking  to  his  watch  one  night,  ran  home,  climbed  up  into 
the  prince's  room  by  the  window,  took  the  watch  out,  and 
opened  it.  The  genius  sprang  out  as  usual,  but  he  asked 
a  different  question.     This  is  what  he  asked  : 

"What  are  your  commands,  you  thief,  my  robber- 
master  ?" 

"  I  command  you  to  take  me  to  a  place  where  even 
the  wind  seldom  goes,  and  no  one  but  a  mouse  ever 
comes." 

In  an  instant  the  major-domo  was  where  he  wished  to 
be,  and  the  prince's  watch  with  him. 

The  prince  comes  home  from  hunting  in  the  evening, 
goes  straight  to  his  room,  and  looks  for  his  watch  the  first 
thing.  He  looks  for  it,  but  does  not  find  it.  He  turns 
over  and  looks  through  everything,  but  in  vain  :  his  watch 
is  gone  !  gone  !  gone  !  Oh,  the  prince  is  sad  !  For  what 
is  he  to  do  without  a  watch  ?  There  will  be  an  end  to 
his  life  if  he  does  not  suddenly  makes  himself  scarce.  As 
quick  as  thought  he  ran  out  of  the  palace,  and  went 
straight  ahead.^ 

For  seven  days  and  seven  nights  he  went  on  and  on 
without  stopping,  he  made  inquiries  in  all  directions,  but 
did  not  come  upon  any  trace  of  the  precious  treasure.  On 
the  eighth  day,  just  at  sundown,  he  reached  a  little  hut. 
He  pushes  the  door  open.     And  then  he  finds  that  the 

^  Lit.,  where  his  eyes  saw. 


33^  Szdkely  Tales. 

Sun  himself  lives  there,  and  was  just  then  about  to  go 
to  bed.  He  wishes  him  good-evening  properly,  and  begs 
pardon  for  disturbing  him  so  late. 

"  Pray  what  is  your  business,  my  son  ?"  the  Sun  asked 
him. 

He  tells  him  that  he  is  looking  for  such  and  such  a 
major-domo. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  son",  answered  the  Sun,  "  I  travel  round 
the  world,  but  only  from  east  to  west,  and  he  whom  you 
seek  does  not  go  that  way,  or  I  should  certainly  have  seen 
him.  But  see,  not  far  from  here  lives  the  King  of  the 
Winds  ;  his  sons  travel  over  all  parts  of  the  world,  he  will 
certainly  know  about  your  major-domo." 

The  prince  thanked  him  for  the  good  advice,  wished  the 
Sun  a  peaceful  good-night,  and  with  that  he  went  to  the 
King  of  the  Winds.  But  he,  too,  only  said  that  neither  he 
nor  his  sons  had  seen  any  such  major-domo,  and  he  must 
certainly  have  crept  into  some  place  such  as  the  wind 
itself  very  seldom  wanders  into.  Perhaps  the  King  of  the 
Mice  would  be  able  to  direct  him. 

He  went  to  the  King  of  the  Mice.  The  King  of  the 
Mice  immediately  summoned  all  the  mice  there  were,  and 
inquired  whether  they  had  not  seen  such  and  such  a 
major-domo. 

"  Might  their  eyes  fall  out  if  they  had  seen  him,"  so 
answered  they  every  one. 

The  prince  was  just  going  to  turn  back  very  sadly,  when 
there  hobbled  forward  a  lame  mouse.  The  King  of  the 
Mice  asks  him,  too,  whether  he  had  not  seen  a  major-domo. 

"  Why,  to  be  sure  I  have  seen  him",  answered  the  lame 
mouse  ;  "  1  have  just  come  from  there  ;  but  he  lives  under- 
ground, in  a  stone  cave,  and  in  such  a  small  hole  that  even 
I  can  scarcely  get  in." 

The  prince  was  delighted,  and  asked  the  mouse  only  to 
take  him  to  the  cave,  and  they  will  soon  contrive  some- 
thing when  they  are  there.  They  came  to  the  cave,  and 
there  they  began  to  consult  what  they  were  to  do  now. 


Szdkely  Tales.  339 

At  last  they  determined  that  the  mouse  should  creep  into 
the  hole,  gnaw  through  the  watch-chain  while  the  major- 
domo  was  asleep,  and  bring  the  watch  out  to  the  prince. 

When  a  good  half-hour  had  passed,  the  mouse  came 
with  the  watch  ;  and  in  return  the  prince  caused  the  genius 
to  fetch  so  much  corn  that  the  mouse  was  able  to  live  like 
a  lord  upon  it  all  his  life.  The  major-domo  they  left  in 
the  cave,  where  he  neither  lived  nor  died,  and  whence  he 
would  never  escape  by  his  own  efforts. 

The  prince  now  went  back  to  the  court  of  his  second 
father,  and  they  were  just  then  burying  him  ! 

The  kingdom  he  had  left  to  his  youngest  daughter,  for 
she  was  the  cleverest.  They  had  only  just  buried  the 
king  when  the  two  elder  girls  married  two  kings'  sons,  and 
he  asked  the  youngest.  We  must  say,  by  the  way,  he  con- 
fessed that  he  was  not  the  princesses'  brother,  and  had  only 
given  himself  out  as  the  king's  son  to  comfort  him,  and  by 
advice  of  the  dwarf 

Well,  the  youngest  princess  did  not  need  much  asking. 
They  quickly  took  boards,  made  benches  and  tables,  and 
held  three  such  wedding-feasts  all  at  once  that,  maybe, 
they  have  not  come  to  an  end  yet. 

Note. — "  Szalmakiraly,"  the  Straw-king,  in  Erdelyi's  A  n^p 
KolUszetc,  2nd  Part,  is  a  longer  version  of  this  story  of  the  "  Genius". 
The  prince  is  a  gardener's  son,  he  marries  the  princess,  and  both  his 
wife  and  watch  are  carried  off  by  the  king's  minister. 

II. — The  Lad  who  knew  Everything. 

There  was  once  a  poor  lad.  All  the  great  efforts  he 
made  were  to  no  purpose,  he  could  not  make  anything  of 
them,  and  he  only  became  more  of  a  beggar  every  day- 
The  poor  lad  was  much  worried  and  very  low-spirited  to 
find  that  he  was  always  unsuccessful  in  everything,  what- 
ever he  attempted,  and  that  he  would  have  to  remain  a 
beggar  all  his  life.  Really  he  would  not  torment  himself 
any  more,  he  would  put  an  end  to  this  miserable  life.     All 


340  Szdkely  Tales. 

that  he  possessed  was  a  rope,  and  with  this  he  went  into 
the  wood,  intending  to  hang  himself. 

While  he  was  wandering  sadly  in  the  huge  wood,  he 
heard  a  sound  of  piteous  lamentation  ;  he  goes  towards  it, 
and  then  he  sees  a  little  tiny  snake  writhing  about  on  the 
top  of  a  tree-trunk,  which  was  on  fire,  but  it  was  unable  to 
escape,  for  it  was  surrounded  by  flames  and  red-hot  embers, 
and  it  would  be  killed  if  it  went  near  them. 

"  But",  said  the  poor  lad  to  himself,  "  I  won't  let  this 
unreasoning  animal  die  an  innocent  death,  though  I  have 
determined  to  die  myself."  With  that  he  went  up  to  the 
burning  trunk,  stretched  out  a  good  firm  bough,  and  lifted 
the  little  snakelet  down  on  it. 

Ha !  how  profusely  the  poor  little  snake  thanked  him  ! 
And  it  would  not  leave  its  life-preserver  any  peace  until 
he  accompanied  it  to  its  father's  home,  and  allowed  him 
also  to  thank  him  for  his  kindness. 

"  God  bless  you",  thought  the  lad,  "  it  will  prolong  my 
life  a  little,  at  all  events." 

For,  words  are  words,  but  the  poor  lad  was  afraid  of 
death.  He  therefore  accompanied  the  little  snakelet  to 
his  father's  home.  They  went  slowly  on  until  they  reached 
a  large  cave.  It  was  here  that  the  young  snake's  father 
lived,  and  he  was  the  very  King  of  the  Snakes  himself. 
Eh  !  behold  a  wonder  !  the  King  of  the  Snakes  was  just  as 
big  as  a  hay-fork,  and  in  his  head  there  shone  such  a 
large  diamond  that  the  poor  lad  almost  lost  the  sight  of 
his  eyes  when  he  stepped  in.  There  lay  the  King  of  the 
Snakes  in  the  middle  of  the  cave,  and  when  the  lad  stepped 
in  he  fixed  his  great  eyes  upon  him. 

"  Well",  thought  the  lad,  "  I  shall  have  no  need  to  hang 
myself,  for  this  snake  will  gobble  me  up  at  once." 

But  when  the  aged  king  knew  that  the  poor  lad  had  pre- 
served his  son's  life,  his  countenance  changed  at  once,  and 
he  said  to  the  lad  :  "  God  bless  you,  you  poor  boy,  for 
saving  my  son's  life.  In  return  I  will  make  you  fortunate 
all  your  life,  and  your  descendants  fortunate  too  ;  only  I 


Sz^kely  Tales.  341 

warn  you  of  this,  not  to  tell  anyone  in  the  world  of  my 
gift,  for  the  very  moment  you  do,  your  life  will  come  to  an 
end." 

Now  the  King  of  the  Snakes  whispered  something  in  the 
lad's  ear,  and  then  the  poor  lad  felt  at  once  that  from  that 
moment  he  was  not  the  same  person  that  he  had  been 
before.  All  at  once  he  knew  everything,  and  he  knew 
everything  in  such  sort  that  he  was  equally  well  able  to 
talk  to  human  beings  and  animals,  and  he  could  even 
understand  the  humming  of  the  flies  besides. 

He  thanked  the  King  of  the  Snakes  over  and  over  again 
for  his  valuable  gift,  and  said  :  "  I  thank  you,  illustrious 
King  of  the  Snakes,  for  your  invisible  gift.  I  saved  your 
child's  life,  and  you  have  saved  mine,  for  I  was  resolved 
upon  dying  a  horrible  death  !  " 

With  that  he  took  his  leave,  commending  the  King  of  the 
Snakes,  with  his  entire  family  and  all  his  people,  to  God, 
and  then  set  out  towards  home.  He  went  sauntering  on 
through  the  wood,  and  all  at  once  he  hears  the  sparrows 
twittering  in  a  tree  overhead.  The  oldest  sparrow  was  just 
then  speaking  and  saying  :  "  Ah !  if  this  poor  lad  could 
know  what  I  know,  he  certainly  would  not  think  of  putting 
an  end  to  his  life,  but  he  would  grow  so  rich  that  he  would 
not  exchange  even  with  the  king." 

"  You  don't  say  so ! "  said  the  other  sparrows.  "  How 
would  it  be  possible  ?" 

"  Why,  this  way,  to  be  sure",  said  the  other  sparrow ; 
"  by  digging  up  the  pan  of  gold  which  is  beneath  the 
hollow  willow-tree,  and  he  would  be  rich  all  his  life,  even 
if  he  were  to  distribute  half  to  the  poor." 

"  Hem",  thinks  the  poor  lad  to  himself,  "  I  will  try,  any- 
how, whether  the  old  sparrow  speaks  the  truth." 

He  went  home,  procured  a  spade  and  hoe,  and  in  the 
evening  returned  to  the  wood,  to  the  hollow  tree.  He 
began  to  dig,  and  he  dug  until  his  spade  clinked  against 
the  pan. 

Hurrah !    he  hurriedly  seized  hold  of  the  pan,  and  the 


342  Sz^kely  Tales. 

sweat  just  dropped  from  his  face  while  he  Hfted  the  pan 
full  of  gold  out  of  the  hole. 

For  indeed  it  was  full  of  gold  to  the  top  ;  the  old  sparrow 
had  not  lied.  He  took  the  gold  home  too  that  same 
evening,  and  the  next  morning  he  began  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  village,  and  did  not  stop  until  he  had  distributed 
half  among  the  poor. 

He  gained  great  esteem  in  the  village,  you  may  be  sure ! 
And  then,  moreover,  when  his  neighbour's  cow  fell  ill,  and  he 
knew  from  its  lowing  what  was  the  miatter  with  it,  and  was 
able  to  cure  it  besides,  the  whole  village  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood too,  for  a  great  distance  round,  came  to  him, 
bringing  all  their  sick  animals,  and  he  cured  them. 

But  when  he  had  nothing  else  to  do,  he  always  wandered 
out  in  the  woods  and  fields,  and  listened  to  what  the  birds 
were  saying.  One  day,  being  very  tired  with  wandering 
about  so  much,  he  sat  down  on  the  roots  of  a  tree.  While 
he  was  lying  there  idly,  a  raven  overhead  spoke  and  said, 
"  Ah !  if  the  person  who  is  dozing  under  the  tree  knew 
what  I  know,  he  would  be  the  king's  son-in-law  in  a  week  1 " 

"  If  he  knew  what,  then  ?"  asked  the  other  ravens. 

"  Why,  this,  that  the  king's  daughter  has  lost  her  precious 
gold  cross,  and  now  she  has  bound  herself  not  to  marry 
anyone  but  the  man  who  shall  produce  the  gold  cross,  for 
it  is  a  keepsake  from  her  dear  mother.  Well,  indeed,  she 
will  keep  her  parta^  all  her  life,  for  the  man  who  can  find 
it  is  not  yet  born  into  this  world.  It  is  in  a  good  place 
here,  in  the  hollow  of  the  tree.  The  old  king,  however,  has 
had  a  proclamation  made  throughout  the  whole  kingdom 
that  he  will  give  his  daughter  and  half  his  kingdom  to 
whoever  produces  the  gold  cross." 

The  lad  laughed  to  himself,  and  thought,  "  You  have 
spoken  just  at  the  right  time,  you  chattering  raven  !" 

He  waited  for  them  to  fly  away,  and  then  he  climbed 
up  the  tree,  and  actually  found  the  gold  cross  in  the 
hollow. 

^  Snood,  ribbon  tying  back  the  hair. 


Szdkely  Tales.  343 

He  hastened  home  immediately,  but  before  he  went 
to  the  king,  he  had  such  a  palace  built  for  him  that  there 
was  not  its  fellow  for  a  distance  of  seventh-seven  lands ; 
then  he  sent  for  a  tailor,  and  ordered  such  a  brilliant  gunya^ 
that  he  might  even  have  been  taken  for  a  duke.  When 
both  the  palace  and  his  cloak  were  ready,  and  he  had 
looked  at  himself  repeatedly  from  head  to  foot  in  the  pier- 
glass  to  see  whether  he  looked  like  a  gentleman  (which  he 
did,  of  course !),  he  took  the  gold  cross  and  set  out  with 
it  to  the  king's  court.  He  went  straight  up  into  the  prin- 
cess's room,  and  told  a  great  lie,  saying  that  he  had  taken 
the  cross  away  from  twelve  robbers. 

Ah!  the  princess  was  so  delighted,  she  could  not  think 
of  anything  in  her  great  delight.  Then,  when  she  had 
had  a  good  look  at  the  lad,  and  saw  that  he  was  a  hand- 
some, knightly-looking  youth,  she  certainly  did  not  take 
back  her  word,  but  said  :  "  Here  is  my  hand,  I  am  yours 
till  death,  till  my  coffin  is  closed  !" 

After  that  there  was  a  wedding,  but  such  a  wedding  that 
the  whole  country  rang  with  it,  and  it  was  talked  of  besides 
more  than  seven  times  seven  lands  off.  The  young  couple 
lived  happily,  only  the  wife  was  not  pleased  at  her  hus- 
band's always  wandering  in  the  woods  and  fields,  nor  at 
his  constantly  forgetting  himself  even  when  they  went  out 
together,  and  listening  to  the  songs  of  all  the  birds.  They 
often  quarrelled  about  this,  but  then  they  made  peace 
again. 

One  day  they  rode  out  on  horseback  into  the  wood. 
For  a  good  while  they  kept  close  together,  but  then  the 
mistress's  horse  lagged  a  little  behind.  The  master's  horse 
neighed  back  at  it : 

"  I  say,  you,  why  are  you  lagging  behind  T 

"  It  is  easy  for  you",  answered  the  mistress's  horse.  "You 
have  only  one  to  go  with  besides  yourself,  and  I  have 
three." 

On  hearing  this  the  master  laughed  very  much. 

1  Short,  peasant's  cloak. 


344  Szdkely  Tales. 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at  so  heartily  ?"  asked  his  wife. 

"  That  I  can't  tell  you",  answered  her  husband. 

There  was  great  wrath  at  this !  "  Her  husband  was 
laughing  at  her !  who  could  tell  what  he  did  not  think 
about  her !  But  she  would  not  leave  him  any  peace  until 
he  told  her." 

"  Very  well",  said  her  husband,  "  I  will  tell  you,  but,  be- 
lieve me,  I  shall  die  that  same  instant.  Do  you  wish  me 
to  die  ?" 

"  Don't  make  game  of  me  !"  burst  forth  the  lady.  "  You 
won't  die  just  for  telling  a  secret  to  your  wife." 

"  Well  then,  I  will  tell  you.  If  you  desire  my  death,  let 
it  be  as  you  wish." 

The  lady  only  laughed.  She  did  not  believe  her  hus- 
band. 

However,  he  told  her  from  beginning  to  end  his  adven- 
ture with  the  snake,  and  when  he  had  come  to  the  end  of 
his  story,  that  moment  he  fell  from  his  horse  and  died 
suddenly. 

Now,  indeed,  the  lady  believed  that  her  husband  was 
right,  but  it  was  too  late.  The  wonder-working  doctor 
who  could  raise  her  husband  up  was  not  yet  born.  She 
was  never  comforted,  not  entirely  even  when  her  beautiful 
little  golden-haired  son  was  born,  and  grew  up  into  just 
such  a  gallant  lad  as  his  father  had  been.  The  one  thing 
she  taught  her  son  was  to  keep  any  promise  once  made 
lest  the  same  thing  should  happen  to  him  as  to  his  dear 
father. 

So  it  was,  that  was  the  end,  it  was  true.  If  anyone 
does  not  believe  it,  let  him  go  and  see. 


THE  CHICAGO  FOLK-LORE   CONGRESS 
OF  iSgj. 


SPACE  prevents  my  giving  more  than  a  very  brief  sum- 
mary of  the  results  of  the  above  Congress,  which  must 
be  pronounced  a  decided  success,  in  spite  of  many  preHmi- 
nary  obstacles.  The  actual  work  began  on  July  1 1,  with  an 
address  by  Lieut.  Bassett,  the  extremely  energetic  Secretary 
of  the  Chicago  Folk-Lore  Society.  The  following  papers, 
forty-nine  in  number,  were  then  read,  though  not  in  every 
instance  by  the  author  : — "  Unspoken",  by  the  Rev.  Walter 
Gregor  of  Pitsligo,  Scotland ;  "  Notes  on  Cinderella",  by  Mr. 
Sidney  Hartland;  "The  Superstitions,  Customs, and  Burial 
Rites  of  the  Tribes  of  North- Western  America",  by  Mr.  J. 
Deans  of  Victoria,  B.C. ;  "  The  Fatality  of  Certain  Places  to 
Certain  Persons",  by  Miss  Hawkins  Dempster;  "The  Rise 
of  Empiricism  in  Savagery",  by  Prof.  Otis  Mason ;  "  The 
Northern  Trolls",  by  Mr.  David  MacRitchie  ;  "  The  Pre- 
historic Worship  of  the  Hop  among  the  Slavs,  and  its 
Relation  to  Soma",  by  Mr.  E.  Majewski  of  Poland ; 
"  Pottery  and  its  Relation  to  Superstition,  with  the  In- 
fluence of  Woman  in  its  Making",  by  Mons.  T.  Bilbaut ; 
"  The  Cliff  Dwellers  of  South-Western  America",  by  Mrs. 
Palmer  Henderson  of  Minneapolis  ;  "  Myths,  Symbols,  and 
Magic  of  the  East  Africans",  by  Mrs.  French  Sheldon  ; 
"  Some  Sacred  Objects  of  Navajo  Rites",  by  Surgeon 
Washington  Matthews,  U.S.A.  ;  "  Sepulchres  and  Funeral 
Rites  among  the  Ancient  and  Modern  South  Slavs",  by 
Vid  Vucasovic  of  Dalmatia  ;  "  Telling  the  Bees",  by  Mr. 
Eugene  Field  ;  "  Comparative  Afro-American  Folk-lore", 
by  Mrs.  Anna  Watson  of  Tennessee  ;  "  Creole  Folk-Songs", 
sung  by  Mr.  George  Cable  of  Massachusetts. 

On  July  1 2  were  read  : — "  The  Symbolism  of  the  Vase  in 


34^      The  Chicago  Folk-lore  Congress  of  i8g^. 

Mythology,  Ideography,  etc.",  by  Dr.  Stanilaus  Prato  of 
Italy ;  "  Sioux  Mythology",  by  Dr.  Chas.  Eastman  of  St. 
Paul,  who  is  himself  a  full-blood  Indian  ;  "  Buried  Alive", 
by  the  Rev.  H.  Feilberg  of  Denmark  ;  "  Modern  Greek 
Mythology",  by  Miss  Lucy  Garnett  of  England ;  "  The 
Magic  Poetry  of  the  Finns,  and  its  Application  in  Practice"* 
by  Myself;  "The  Sign  Language  of  the  Indians,  with 
Demonstrations  on  four  Sioux  Chiefs",  by  Lieut.  Scott, 
U.S.A. ;  "  Voodooism",  by  Miss  Mary  Owen  of  St.  Joseph, 
Miss. ;  "  Bulgarian  Wedding  Ceremonies,  illustrated  with 
costumed  figures",  by  Dr.  V.  Shopoff  of  Bulgaria. 

On  the  following  day  came  "  Japanese  Folk-lore",  by  the 
Rev.  W.  Griffis  of  Ithaca,  N.Y.  ;  "  Maui  the  Prometheus  of 
Hawaii",  by  Dr.  N.  Emerson  of  Honolulu  ;  "  Corean  Folk- 
lore", by  Prof.  Homer  Hulbert  of  Zanesville ;  "  Folk-lore 
of  Bassa,  Liberia",  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Arlis  of  Liberia ; 
"  Tamaro  the  Terrible",  by  the  Rev.  Wyatt  Gill  of  Sydney  ; 
"  Venezuelan  Folk-lore",  by  Dr.  Teofilo  Rodriguez  ;  "  The 
Symbolism  of  Diurnal  Birds  of  Prey  among  the  People 
of  New  Spain",  by  Count  H.  de  Charencey  ;  "  The  Musical 
Instruments  of  British  Guiana",  by  the  Hon.  J.  Quelch, 
British  Commissioner  ;  "  Pigments  in  the  Ceremonial  of 
the  Hopi",  by  Mr.  A.  M.  Stephen  of  Arizona. 

On  Friday,  the  14th,  after  various  Servian  and  Polish 
Folk-Songs,  came  a  paper,  "  How  San  Geronimo  came  to 
Taos",  by  Mrs.  McClurg  of  New  York.  This  was  followed 
by  a  series  of  songs,  chants,  and  prayers  of  the  Navajos, 
reproduced  through  a  phonograph,  by  Dr.  W.  Mathews, 
U.S.A.  In  the  afternoon  the  following  papers  were  read  : — - 
"  Why  Popular  Epics  are  Written  :  a  Study  of  Bosnian  and 
Herzogovinian  Guzlar  Songs",  by  Dr.  Friedrich  Krauss  of 
Vienna ;  "  Marriage  Customs  in  Rumania",  by  Mr.  Arthur 
Gorovei ;  "  A  Lett  Heroic  Epic",  by  Mr.  H.  Wissendorff 
of  St.  Petersburg ;  "  A  Sort  of  Worship  of  Ancestors  in 
Finland",  by  Prof  Kaarle  Krohn  ;  "  On  Excavations  in 
Cyprus",   by    Dr.    Richter    of    Berlin  ;     "  The    Primitive 


The  Chicago  Folk-lore  Congress  of  i8gj.     347 

Horde  :  a  Study  of  the  Rite  of  Circumcision",  by  Ludwig 
Krzywicki ;  "  On  the  Antiquity  of  the  Folk-lore  of  the 
North- American  Indians",  by  Miss  K.  Stanbery  of  Zanes- 
ville. 

On  the  15th  came  "Popular  Tradition  in  France  from 
1889  to  1893",  by  M.  Paul  Sebillot  of  Paris  ;  "  Oral  Litera- 
ture of  the  French  Creoles",  by  the  Marquis  Chasseloup  de 
Laubat ;  "  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew  in  Okraine  Popular 
Tradition",  by  Prof  M.  Dragomanov  ;  "  Certain  Modern 
Egyptian  Superstitions  coming  from  Antiquity",  by  Prof. 
G.  Maspero  ;  "  Customs,  Superstitions,  etc.,  of  the  Argen- 
tine Ganchos",  by  M.  Paul  Groussac  of  Buenos  Ayres  ; 
"  The  Present  State  of  Research  into  Letto-Lithuanian 
Mythology",  by  Mr.  E.  Wolter  of  St.  Petersburg. 

On  the  last  day  a  paper  was  read  on  the  "  History  of  the 
Svastika",  by  Mr.  M.  Smigrodzki  ;  "  Studies  of  the  Lih- 
guotnes :  Songs  of  St.  John's  Eve",  by  Mr.  A.  Jurjan  of 
Kharkov,  with  illustrations  on  the  piano. 

On  the  evening  of  the  14th  an  excellent  concert  of  folk- 
music  and  folk-song  was  given,  in  which  performers  from 
about  twenty  different  countries  took  part,  including 
natives  of  Japan,  Hindustan,  Ceylon,  Turkey,  Ecuador, 
and  other  less  remote  places. 

It  is  not  easy  to  judge  of  the  respective  merits  of  a  series 
of  papers  which  one  has  only  heard  and  not  read.  This  is 
especially  true  in  the  present  instance,  for  it  happened 
unfortunately  that  the  building  where  the  Congress  was 
held  lay  in  very  close  proximity  to  the  Illinois  Central 
Railway,  It  therefore  fell  out  that  every  five  minutes,  or 
thereabouts,  a  most  unearthly  din  of  screeching  engines, 
coupled  with  the  cling-clang  of  their  warning  bells,  made 
hearing  an  impossibility.  Again,  in  other  instances,  the 
voice  of  the  reader  was  inadequate,  and  listening  under 
such  circumstances  is  an  uncomfortable  task.  But  certainly 
the  papers  by  Messrs.  Krzywicki,  Majevvski,  and  Jurjan 
seemed  to  me  more  suggestive  and  interesting  than  the 


348     The  Chicago  Folk-lore  Congress  of  i8gj. 

others,  and  the  first  had  the  merit  of  taking  its  hearers 
back  to  an  extremely  remote  period,  and  giving  an  intelli- 
gible reason  for  the  horrible  initiation  rites  of  the  Austra- 
lians in  a  way  I  have  not  met  with  before. 

John  Abercromby. 


A  BATCH  OF  IRISH  FOLK-LORE. 


FOR  the  past  year  or  two  I  have  been  endeavouring  to 
get  people  to  collect  Irish  folk-lore,  but  hitherto  I 
have  not  obtained  as  much  as  I  had  hoped.  Rather  than 
delay  any  longer,  I  now  publish  what  I  have  received, 
exactly  as  it  was  sent  to  me. 

Miss  Emily  Fitzgerald,  of  Glanleam,  Valencia  Island, 
CO.  Kerry,  was  the  first  to  respond,  and  she  enlisted  the 
assistance  of  Miss  Sinclair,  of  Bonny  Glen,  Donegal. 

Mr.  Daniel  H.  Lane,  of  Cork,  obtained  some  very  inter- 
esting items  from  Connemara,  chiefly  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  a  local  doctor.  Dr.  C.  R.  Browne's  additional 
notes  are  of  great  value,  as  they  extend  over  several 
counties. 

Mr.  G.  C.  Campbell,  of  Londonderry,  gives  a  collection 
of  folk-tales  and  cures  from  Londonderry  and  Donegal, 
which  have  the  additional  value  of  being,  as  far  as  possible,^ 
in  the  narrator's  own  words,  and  he,  with  the  instinct  of  a 
true  collector,  has  added  the  source  of  his  information.  I 
have  to  thank  Mr.  Robert  Patterson,  of  Belfast,  for  interest- 
ing Mr.  Campbell,  and  for  adding  a  few  notes  of  his  own. 

Miss  Alice  Watson,  of  Seapoint,  Dublin,  has  quite 
recently  kindly  sent  me  some  observations  she  has  made 
in  Queen's  County  and  co.  Dublin. 

Some  notes  on  folk-lore  and  customs  will  be  found 
in  a  recently  published  paper  by  Dr.  Browne  and  my- 
self.i 

^  "The  Ethnography  of  the  Aran  Islands,  County  Galway,"  by 
Prof.  A.  C.  Haddon  and  Dr.  C.  R.  Browne,  Proc.  Royal  Irish  Acad.^ 
3rd  Sen,  vol.  ii,  1893,  p.  768. 

\0L.  IV.  B  B 


TtS'^  A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore. 

I  may  as  well  take  this  opportunity  to  record  the  fol- 
lowing : 

In  Innisbofin,  co.  Gal  way,  the  people  have  a  very  firm 
belief  in  fairies.  Mr.  Allies,  who  resides  there,  informed 
me  that  one  old  man  told  him  that  he  saw  a  number  of 
fairy  girls,  dressed  in  brown,  around  him  one  day  when  he 
(Mr.  Allies)  was  shooting  rabbits.  Mr.  Allies  offered  £^Q 
if  a  fairy  could  be  shown  to  him,  and  ;^ioo  if  he  took  a 
photograph  of  one.  Mr.  Allies  has  not  yet  paid  away  any 
money.  Mr.  Allies  and  his  brother  were  quarrying  a  rock 
by  the  side  of  the  harbour,  and  at  last  the  men  refused  to 
work  at  it  any  longer,  as  it  was  so  full  of  the  "  good  people" 
as  to  be  hot.  This  was  two  or  three  years  ago.  Mr.  Lane 
gives  an  amusing  instance  of  the  solicitude  of  the  old 
women  for  Mrs.  Allies'  baby  (see  p.  358). 

My  first  batch  of  folk-notes  are  those  contributed  by 
Miss  Emily  Fitzgerald,  with  the  aid,  for  Donegal,  of  Miss 
Sinclair : — 

Valencia. — In  illness  the  "  old  people"  say  any  improvement 
taking  place  on  Friday  or  Sunday  is  unlucky.  Not  likely  to 
last. 

Cure  for  Erysipelas  (Kerry,  Valencia). — To  arrest  erysipelas, 
the  name  of  the  patient  must  be  written  round  the  part  affected 
in  the  blood  of  a  black  cat,  a  cat  that  has  not  a  single  white 
hair. 

^^ Febrifuge"  (Valencia). — The  first  egg  laid  by  a  little  black 
hen,  eaten  the  very  first  thing  in  the  morning,  will  keep  you  from 
fever  for  the  year. 

Cure  for  Erysipelas  (Donegal). — Rub  the  part  affected  with 
butter  made  from  the  milk  of  the  cows  belonging  to  a  married 
couple,  who  both  had  the  same  name  before  their  marriage. — 
Miss  Sinclair,  Bonny  Glen,  Donegal. 

Cure  for  Erysipelas  (Donegal,  Arranmore). — Send  the  son  or 
daughter  of  a  couple  who  each  had  the  same  name  before  their 
marriage  to  the  bog  for  bog-water,  and  bathe  the  part  affected 
with  it. — Idem. 

Apply  the  blood  of  anyone  of  the  name  of  McCaul  to  the 
affected  part. — Idem. 


A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore.  351 

For  Ulcerated  Sore-throat  (Donegal). — Take  the  patient  by  the 
two  ears  and  "  shake  the  devil  out  of  him  or  her". — Idem. 

(This  Miss  S.  knows  to  be  a  fact,  for  it  was  done  to  one  of 
their  labourer's  sons.) 

Dried  fox's  tongue  has  many  virtues ;  e.g.,  it  will  draw  thorns 
however  deep. — Idem. 

Cure  for  the  Evil. — A  robin's  breast  rubbed  on  the  place. — 
Idem. 

Cure  for  a  Sick  Cow  (Donegal). — Cut  off  the  piece  of  turf  on 
which  the  cow  first  treads  when  getting  up,  and  hang  it  on  the 
wall,  and  the  cow  will  recover. — Idem. 

Cure  for  a  Sore  Mouth  (Donegal). — A  posthumous  child  will 
cure  a  sore  mouth. — Idem. 

Cure  for  Whooping-Cough  (Kerry). — Some  milk  to  be  poured 
into  a  saucer,  a  ferret  to  drink  some  of  it,  and  the  rest  to  be  given 
to  the  patient. — Miss  Butler,  Waterville. 

St.  John's  Eve  Fires  (Kerry). — Fires  were  (and  are  still  in  a 
less  degree)  lighted  all  over  the  country  on  St.  John's  Eve, 
especially  little  fires  across  the  road ;  if  you  drove  through  them 
it  brought  you  luck  for  the  year.  Cattle  were  also  driven 
through  the  fires. 

When  anyone  is  lying  dead  in  a  room  the  walls  must  be 
hung  with  sheets,  and  the  door  left  open  (because  the  spirit 
hovers  in  the  room  after  it  has  left  the  body,  and  must  have  free 
egress),  five  candles  must  be  round  the  coffin,  one  of  which  is 
not  to  be  lighted.  As  the  coffin  is  being  taken  out  of  the 
door  the  sheets  are  to  be  taken  down.  —  Mrs.  O'Connell, 
Darrynane. 

The  first  child  that  dies  in  a  family  must  be  buried  in  the 
children's  burial-ground  (there  are  numbers  of  them  about  the 
country  for  unbaptised  children),  otherwise  two  others  will  follow 
if  the  first  is  buried  in  the  churchyard. 

Water  that  has  been  used  to  bathe  the  feet  must  be  put  out- 
side the  door  at  night  for  fear  of  fairies. 

A  gentleman  I  know  at  Listowel  remembers,  about  eight  years 
ago,  being  very  much  astonished  when  a  cloud  of  dust  was  being 
blown  along  a  road,  seeing  an  old  woman  rush  to  the  side  and 
drag  handfuls  of  grass  out  of  the  fence,  which  she  threw  in  great 
haste  into  the  cloud  of  dust.    He  inquired,  and  learned  that  this  was 

B  B  2 


352  A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore. 

in  order  to  give  something  to  the  fairies  that  were  flying  along  in 
the  dust. 

People  had  assured  him,  and  no  laughing  could  get  them  out 
of  the  belief,  that  they  had  seen  a  field  full  of  fairies — little  people 
two  or  three  feet  high. — Mr.  Creagh. 

A  headless  coach — that  is,  without  horses — was  said  to  career 
about  the  neighbourhood  of  Listowel  when  any  misfortune  was 
about  to  take  place.  Mr.  Creagh  remembers,  as  a  boy,  servants 
assuring  him  that  they  had  seen  it. 

There  was  a  common  belief,  though  it  is  not  much  heard  of 
now,  that  priests  could  turn  people  into  hares. 

Country  people  in  Kerry  don't  eat  hares ;  the  souls  of  their 
grandmothers  are  supposed  to  have  entered  into  them.  (February 
1891.) 

The  following  notes  were  contributed  in  June,  1892,  by 
Mr.  G.  C.  Campbell,  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  actual 
words  of  his  various  informants  : — 

The  Origin  of  the  Fairies  .—The.  fairies  are  fallen  angels.  The 
time  when  Lucifer  was  head-angel,  he  was  cast  out  of  heaven. 
Pride  put  Lucifer  down.  There  was  wans  o'  the  angels  took 
part  wi'  the  Almighty,  and  there  was  wans  took  part  wi'  Lucifer. 
The  wans  that  sided  wi'  the  Almighty,  they  stayed  in  heaven,  an' 
the  wans  that  sided  wi'  Lucifer  they  went  straight  to  hell.  But 
there  was  a  third  party,  wans  that  kep'  silent,  an'  the  Almighty 
sent  them  out  o'  heaven  into  the  rocks,  an'  sea,  an'  bushes,  an' 
land ;  an'  they  are  the  gentry,  the  wee-folk.  They  say  if  there 's 
wan  drap  o'  blood  in  them  at  the  Judgment  Day  they'll  be 
pardoned,  but  I  don't  believe  they  have  wan  drap  o'  blood  in 
them. — Informant,  Katie  Mahon,  Londonderry,  beggar. 

Added  to  this. — They  say  some  are  hanging  by  the  heels  in 
the  elements  yet. — Margaret  Farren,  co.  Derry,  farmer's  wife. 

Fairy  Story. — There  was  a  young  married  lady,  an'  she  was 
very  rich,  an'  the  fairies  took  her  away  the  night  her  first  baby 
was  born ;  so  they  could  not  find  her  no  road.  They  had  a 
coachman,  an'  he  was  always  listenin'  at  the  door  of  the  fairies. 
So  on  Hallowe'en  night  he  went  back  to  the  door ;  with  that  they 
opened  the  door,  an'  got  him  listenin',  and  let  him  in.     So  when 


A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore. 


JOO 


he  went  in,  he  got  his  eye  on  this  one  (the  lady),  he  got  a  hoult 
of  her,  an'  took  her  out  wi'  him ;  he  won  her  from  them,  an'  took 
her  home  to  her  own  house. 

Says  they,  "Ye  have  her  with  ye  now,  but  she  '11  not  be  much  use 
to  ye  now,  for  she 's  both  deaf  an'  dumb.  .  .  ."  That  night  twelve- 
month the  coachman  went  back  to  the  door  again,  an'  he  heard 
them  saying,  "Well,  this  night  twelve-month  we  lost  a  noble  lady ; 
she  was  not  much  service  to  them,  though,  for  we  left  her  both 
deaf  an'  dumb."  "Well,"  says  one  fairy,  speakin'  out,  "it 
wouldn't  be  hard  for  them  to  cure  her,  for  if  they  would  go  to  a 
spring-well  where  the  water-grass  grows,  an'  take  some  water-grass 
an'  squeeze  the  juice  out  of  it,  an'  put  some  of  it  in  her  ears,  an' 
give  her  the  rest  to  drink,  it  would  cure  her." 

The  coachman  then  went  straight  to  a  spring-well  and  got  the 
water-grass,  an'  did  just  what  they  said,  an'  the  lady  got  all  right, 
an'  was  never  bothered  with  the  wee-folk  again. — Nancy  Sweeny, 
Derry,  pedlar. 

Fairy  Story. — I  heard  my  mother  tell  of  a  young  man,  an'  he 
lived  up  bye  there.  One  Hallowe'en  night  he  went  out  for  a  bit 
of  a  daunder  ;  an'  just  as  he  was  comin'  off  the  lane  into  the  road 
he  saw  a  whole  troop  of  fairies  comin'  along  the  road,  an'  what 
had  they  but  a  girl  wi'  them ;  an'  he  seen  she  wasn't  one  of  the 
fairies,  so  he  catched  a  hoult  of  her,  an'  at  that  they  turned  into 
everything — horses,  and  all  that.  But  he  wasn't  feared  o'  any  o' 
them,  an'  kep'  a  hoult  of  her  until  he  got  her  right  intil  his 
mother's.  An'  the  girl  she  could  speak  noan — for  ye  know  the 
wee-folk  puts  a  thmg  in  their  mouth  that  they  can't  speak.  The 
mother  she  came  forrard  an'  shook  hands  wi'  her,  an'  said  she 
was  right  glad  to  see  her,  an'  the  girl  she  laughed,  but  said  nothin'. 
She  stayed  wi'  them,  an'  did  all  the  work  for  them. 

An'  Hallowe'en  night  was  a  twelve-month.  The  young  fellow 
he  was  goin'  out,  an'  his  mother  she  wasn't  for  him  goin'  out,  but 
the  girl  she  was  glad  like  to  see  him  goin',  an'  signed  with  her 
hand  to  him  to  go  on.  An'  when  he  got  forenenst^  the  place  he 
got  the  girl,  he  catched  sight  of  the  fairies  again,  an'  he  kep'  back, 
an'  he  heard  them  talking,  an'  says  one  to  the  other :  "  This  night 

^  Opposite  to. 


354  ^  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore. 

twelve-month  they  got  a  girl  from  us  here."  "  But  not  much  good 
to  them  was  she,"  says  another,  speaking  up,  "for  we  left  her  that 
she  couldn't  speak  a  word."  "An',"  says  another  wee  one, 
speakin'  out,  "  they  could  soon  cure  her  o'  that ;  for  if  they 
would  go  an'  take  that  black  cock  that 's  on  the  roost,  an'  give 
her  three  sopes^  o'  water  out  of  his  skull,  she  would  soon  speak 
for  them." 

So  the  young  fellow  he  started  off  home,  an'  went  straight  an' 
pulled  the  black  cock  off  the  roost  an'  killed  him.  An'  says  his 
mother,  "  What 's  come  on  my  boy  ?  Is  he  losing  his  senses  ?" 
But  the  girl  she  laughed,  an'  he  gave  her  the  three  sopes  o'  water 
out  of  the  black  cock's  skull,  an'  then  she  spoke  rightly,  an'  told 
them  she  w-as  from  Connaught,  an'  that  she  had  just  gone  to  the 
door  for  some  water  when  the  wee-folk  came  an'  carried  her  wi' 
them,  an'  left  a  big  lump  in  her  place  (her  mother  and  all  the 
people  thought  it  was  her  lying  dead,  an'  they  buried  it). 

So  thin  the  young  fellow  an'  his  mother  an'  the  girl  they  all 
went  off  to  Connaught,  an'  left  Moville.  An'  when  they  got  to 
Connaught  they  went  straight  to  her  mother's  house,  an'  asked  if 
she  could  lodge  them  for  a  night.  At  that  she  began  to  cry,  an' 
she  said  she  couldn't  lodge  them.  Says  she,  "  I  can't  help  cryin', 
for  Hallowe'en  night  was  a  twelve-month  my  daughter  dropped 
dead  at  the  door,  an'  I  never  saw  one  that  minded  me  more  on 
her  than  that  girl."  "Oh,"  says  the  young  fellow,  speaking  up, 
"an'  may  be  it  is  her!"  "No,"  says  she,  "how  could  it  be  her, 
for  she's  dead  and  buried."  "Well,"  says  he,  "had  she  any  kind 
of  mark  on  her  ye  would  know  her  by."  "  Yes,"  says  she,  "  she 
had  a  big  mole  on  her  left  shoulder."  "Well,"  says  he  to  the 
girl,  "  show  her  your  left  shoulder."  An'  when  the  woman  saw 
the  mole  she  knew  it  was  her  own  daughter,  an'  then  they  had 
the  great  feasting,  an'  the  young  fellow  he  married  the  girl.  An' 
the  way  the  people  about  here  knew  about  it  was  that  they  wTOte 
an'  told  them  all  that  happened. 

By  the  Holy  that's  true,  for  I  heard  my  mother  telling  it 
many  's  the  time. — Ann  Hegarty,  Moville,  farmer's  wife. 

Fairy  Story. — There  was  a  man  at  Carrowkeel  (co.  Donegal), 
a  n'  he  left  his  own  house  for  Derry  to  buy  something  he  needed. 

1  Drinks. 


A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore.  355 

An'  when  he  went  home,  his  next  door  neighbour  was  dead,  an' 
he  met  the  fairies  coming  along  the  road,  and  this  woman  was 
with  them.  The  fairies  had  taken  her — she  had  just  had  a  baby 
that  night — an'  they  just  left  an  ould  lump  of  wood  in  her  place, 
in  the  shape  of  a  woman.  So  he  heard  one  fairy  sayin'  to  another 
that  such  an  a  man  would  be  sorry  for  his  wife,  "  but  he  has  as 
much  in  her  place  now  as  will  do  him."  With  that  the  man 
threw  an  iron  hoop  round  her  an'  his  own  coat — they  say,  if  you 
can  get  an  iron  hoop  an'  a  man's  coat  roun'  any  one  the  wee-folk 
can't  touch  them — an'  he  got  a  hoult  of  her,  an'  the  fairies  they 
kicked  an'  blackened  him,  but  he  held  on  like  grim  death,  an'  he 
took  her  from  them,  an'  took  her  to  his  own  house.  An'  when  he 
went  in  with  her,  his  own  wife  was  at  the  wake  next  door.  He 
put  her  into  bed  an'  gave  her  a  drap  o'  warm  milk ;  they  were 
both  all  clabber  with  the  wrastling  with  the  wee-folk. 

So  he  took  his  own  supper,  an'  then  he  went  up  to  the  wake ; 
an'  he  took  in  kreels  an'  kreels  of  turf  an'  piled  on  a  big  fire. 
His  own  wife  came  for-ead,  an'  says  she :  '*  In  the  name  of  God, 
are  you  goin'  out  of  your  senses,  an'  what  do  you  mean  at  all 
puttin'  on  such  a  fire  ?  what  do  you  want  ?  sure  the  people 's  too 
warm."  "  Hold  your  tongue,"  says  he;  "if  I  am  goin'  wrong  in 
the  mind  I  '11  be  worse  before  long."  Then  says  he  to  a  boy,  says 
he  :  "  Come  up  here  an'  get  a  hoult  of  this  in  the  bed,  an'  I  '11 
soon  roast  it."  So  the  boy  he  came  up,  an'  got  her  by  the  heels, 
an'  he  got  her  by  the  two  showl'ers,  an'  they  threw  her  into  the 
fire.  She  went  up  the  chimly,  an'  spat  back  at  them.  Says  he  to 
her  husband  :  "  Come  on  down  to  my  house;  your  wife's  safe  an' 
sound  in  my  house."  An'  he  went  an'  got  his  wife  back  safe  an' 
sound. — N.  Sweeny,  Derry,  pedlar. 

Cures  for  Warts. — Cut  a  potato,  and  cut  it  into  ten  sUces 
count  out  nine,  and  throw  away  the  tenth.  Rub  the  warts  with 
the  nine,  then  bury  them,  and  as  they  rot  the  warts  will  go  away. — 
Mary  Deeny,  co.  Derry,  domestic  servant,  and  others. 

Look  at  the  new  moon.  As  you  keep  your  eye  on  her,  stoop 
down  an'  lift  some  dust  from  under  your  right  foot,  an'  rub  the 
wart  with  it,  an'  as  the  moon  wanes  the  wart  dies. — Wm,  Fleming, 
CO.  Derry,  labourer. 

If  you  see  a  funeral  passing,  stoop  down  an'  lift  some  clay  from 
under   your   right  foot,  an'  throw  it  in  the  same  road  that  the 


356  A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore. 

funeral  is  going,  an' say,  "Corpse  of  clay,  carry  my  warts  away," 
an'  do  this  three  times,  an'  as  the  corpse  decays  in  the  grave,  your 
warts  will  go  away. — Mary  Feeney,  co.  Donegal,  old  beggar. 

Get  ten  knots  of  barley  straw,  count  out  nine  and  throw  away 
the  tenth ;  rub  the  wart  with  the  nine  of  them,  then  roll  them  up 
in  a  bit  of  paper  an'  throw  them  before  a  funeral,  an'  then  the  wart 
will  wear  away.*  ^ — Katie  Mahon,  Londonderry,  beggar,  and 
others. 

If  you  were  goin'  along  the  road,  an'  happen  on  a  wee  drap  o' 
water  in  the  hollow  of  a  stone,  where  you  would  not  expect  to 
find  it,  take  an'  wash  the  wart  with  it  three  times,  an'  the  wart  will 
wear  away.* — Mary  Dick,  Londonderry,  beggar,  and  many  others. 

If  you  happen  to  come  on  a  big  black  snail,  rub  it  across  your 
wart  an'  stick  it  on  a  thorn,  an'  as  the  snail  withers  so  will  the 
wart.* — M.  Farren,  co.  Derry,  farmer's  wife,  and  many  others. 

Take  a  wee  bit  of  raw  beef  an'  rub  it  across  the  wart,  an'  then 
bury  it.  Be  sure  an'  let  no  one  see  it,  an'  as  the  beef  rots  so  will 
the  wart.f^ — Nancy  Sweeney,  Londonderry,  pedlar. 

Cures  for  Whooping- Cough  or  Chin-Coi/gh.— Take  the  child  to  a 
donkey,  an'  pass  it  under  a  jackass  three  times.  Then  give  the 
donkey  a  bit  of  oaten  bread,  an'  give  what  the  donkey  doesn't  eat 
to  the  child,  an'  if  the  child  is  too  young  to  eat  it,  soften  it  down 
an'  give  it  to  it,  and  this  will  cure  the  chin-cough.* — M.  Farren, 
CO.  Derry,  farmer's  wife,  and  others. 

Lots  of  people  come  to  our  Jane  for  a  bit  of  bread,  for  she  an' 
her  husband  are  of  the  one  name;  for  if  you  can  get  a  bit  of  bread 
from  a  couple  of  the  one  name  it  will  cure  the  whooping-cough.* — 
M.  Farren,  co.  Derry,  farmer's  wife,  and  others. 

Cure  for  Sty  on  the  Eye. — Take  ten  gooseberry  jags,  throw  the 
tenth  away,  an'  point  the  nine  at  the  sty,  an'  throw  them  away,  an' 
this  will  cure  it.*^ — M.  Farren,  co.  Derry,  farmer's  wife,  and 
others. 

^  *  =  from  Glenavy,  co.  Antrim. 

^  f  =  from  Strangford,  co.  Down. 

^  Mr.  Robert  Patterson  of  Belfast,  who  asked  Mr.  Campbell  to 
collect  folk-lore,  adds  that  "those  cures  which  I  mark  with*  or  t  I  have 
been  told  by  two  of  my  servants  in  the  same  words,  so  they  are  known 
in  Antrim  and  Down,  as  well  as  in  Donegal  and  Derry." 


A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore.  357 

The  following  items  were  forwarded  to  me  b}-  Mr.  Daniel 
H.  Lane  of  Cork  ;  most  of  them  were  given  to  him  by  the 
doctor  of  Kilkeiran  and  Carna,  South  Connemara.  (April 
1892.) 

1.  Immediately  after  birth  the  child  is  sometimes  spat  on  by 
the  father. 

2.  Child  very  generally  given  a  piece  of  sugar  after  birth. 

3.  On  May  ist,  Shrove  Tuesday,  and  certain  Mondays  in  the 
year,  the  country  people  will  not  give  food  or  fire  or  any  com- 
modity out  of  their  houses. 

4.  Woman,  before  childbirth,  Gccasionally  wears  coat  of  father  of 
expected  child,  with  the  idea  that  he  should  share  in  the  pains  of 
childbirth. 

5.  There  is  a  witch  of  great  repute  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Carna.  When  consulted  by  a  rich  person  she  goes  into  the  fields, 
collects  certain  herbs  not  known  to  anyone  but  herself,  performs 
secret  rites  and  incantations,  and,  when  these  are  over,  the  first 
living  thing  she  sees  is  affected  by  the  malady  of  the  sick  person, 
who  immediately  recovers.  A  man  who  saw  her  performing  the 
incantations  crawled  away  on  his  face  and  hands,  to  avoid  being 
the  first  living  thing  seen  by  her. 

6.  At  Letterard,  two  sisters  tried  to  cure  a  sick  brother  by  walk- 
ing three  times  round  three  houses  adjacent  to  one  another,  the 
tenants  of  which  all  had  the  same  name. 

7.  A  posthumous  son  (not  daughter)  is  supposed  to  have  healing 
power  by  breathing  or  expectorating  on  part  affected. 

8.  A  seventh  son  is  also  supposed  to  possess  the  power  of  heal- 
ing by  stepping  across  the  body  of  diseased  person. 

9.  A  pregnant  woman  will  not  take  an  oath  in  a  Court  of 
Justice.     This  custom  is  recognised  by  the  local  magistrates. 

10.  A  pregnant  woman  considers  it  unlucky  to  meet  a 
hare. 

1 1 .  A  drowned  body  is  searched  for  by  floating  a  bundle  of 
straws  on  the  surface  of  the  water ;  it  is  supposed  to  stop  and 
quiver  over  the  body. 

12.  When  anyone  dies  a  violent  death,  a  heap  of  stones  is 
placed  on  the  spot,  and  passers-by  keep  adding  to  it. 

13.  Bodies  always  carried  not  by  the  shortest  way  to  the  grave- 


35S  A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore. 

yard  ;  the  same  custom  has  come  under  my  observation  occasion- 
ally in  Cork. 

14.  No  grave  allowed  to  be  dug  on  Monday. 

15.  The  gravediggers,  once  having  commenced,  must  finish  the 
digging,  no  change  of  diggers  being  allowed. 

16.  On  Handsel  Monday  (first  Monday  in  the  year)  the  country 
people  will  not  pay  any  money  for  anything  if  possible. 

17.  Doctor  not  allowed  to  take  lymph  from  arm  of  child  until 
he  gives  it  some  present,  however  trifling. 

18.  Chalking  the  backs  of  unmarried  girls  is  practised  on  the 
last  Sunday  before  Lent  at  Gahvay  and  elsewhere. 

19.  If  a  child  falls  accidentally,  an  old  women  makes  him  take 
three  tastes  of  salt ;  the  idea  being  that  the  fairies  caused  the  fall 
in  trying  to  run  away  with  the  child,  and  salt  is  an  antidote  against 
fairies. 

20.  Weasels,  so-called  (properly  stoats),  are  greatly  respected, 
and  addressed  as  "  Pretty  Lady"  in  Irish,  with  raised  hat. 

21.  Dwarf  or  misshapen  children  are  held  to  be  given  to  a 
mother  by  the  fairies  in  place  of  a  healthy  child  they  have  stolen 
from  her  to  renew  the  stock  of  fairies,  and  who,  while  the  dwarf 
lives,  is  supposed  to  be  a  sort  of  fairy  apprentice.  When  the 
dwarf  dies,  the  healthy  child  it  supplanted  is  supposed  to  have 
been  admitted  into  the  fairy  band,  and  mothers  assert  at  death  of 
dwarf  that  they  see  the  healthy  child  that  should  have  been  theirs. 

22.  When  in  a  graveyard  it  is  customary  to  walk  as  much  as 
possible  "  with  the  sun",  with  the  right  hand  towards  centre  of 
circle. 

23.  At  Innisbofin,  when  the  old  women  natives  meet  Mrs. 
Allies'  baby  out  with  its  nurse,  they  spit  on  the  ground  all  round 
it  in  a  circle,  to  keep  fairies  from  it ;  an  interesting  but  disagree- 
able custom. 

The  following  were  given  to  Mr.  Lane  by  Dr.  T.  V. 
Costello  of  Bealadangan  : — 

On  Lettermore  Island,  which  also  is  in  South  Connemara, 
immediately  after  the  birth  of  a  child — which,  by  the  way,  is 
always  delivered  with  the  mother  in  a  kneeling  posture — the  father 
throws  (counting  as  he  does  so)  ?iine  articles  of  clothing  over  the 
mother  :  the  number  never  varies. 


A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore.  359 

A  piece  of  the  ash  from  the  remains  of  the  peat-fire  is  tied  up 
in  a  red  rag  and  attached  to  the  cow's  tail,  to  prevent  the  fairies 
milking  her  during  night. 

Part  of  the  ashes  from  the  bonfire  on  the  24th  June  is  thrown 
into  sown  fields  to  make  their  produce  abundant. 

After  marriage,  the  bride  and  bridegroom  go  out  of  the  church 
door  simultaneously,  as,  if  one  went  in  front  of  the  other,  the 
former  would  be  the  first  to  die.  I  have  heard  of  this  custom 
elsewhere. 

There  also  exist  "  knowledgeable  women"  and  "herb  women", 
which  are  the  meanings  of  their  Irish  names,  who  live  by  fortune- 
telling  and  herb-healing.  The  Doctor  is  going  to  collect  par- 
ticulars of  their  remedies,  and  how  they  are  applied. 

Dr.  C.  R.  Browne,  as  I  have  mentioned  above,  was  good 
enough  to  give  me  the  accompanying  notes  on  most  of  Mr. 
Lane's  items.  They  are  derived  from  an  exceptionally 
wide  experience.     (May  1892.) 

1.  This  custom  must  be  local,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
the  father  is  carefully  kept  well  out  of  the  way  on  these  occasions. 

2.  Child  is  given  sugar  after  birth  if  it  is  in  danger  of  death ; 
also  on  the  way  to  chapel  when  taken  to  be  christened,  in  the  same 
case  (Wicklow  and  Dublin).  Child  after  birth  sometimes  given 
salt  for  luck.  Salt  is  considered  very  lucky,  and  no  poor  person 
ever  refuses  salt  to  a  neighbour,  even  though  it  may  be  the  last  in 
the  house,  which  it  is  unlucky  to  give  away,  as  it  brings  want  to 
the  house,  but  it  would  bring  worse  luck  to  refuse,  as  giving  is  a 
charitable  act  (Tipperary). 

3.  On  Shrove  Tuesday  and  All  Souls'  Day  souls  of  the  departed 
come  out  of  Purgatory.  Lamps  and  fires  are  lit  for  them,  and 
chairs  set,  and  no  one  will  give  food  or  fire  out  of  the  house,  as 
that  would  bring  great  misfortune  (Wicklow).  In  Tipperary  and 
Limerick  the  country  people  object  to  giving  away  anything  on  a 
Monday,  or  going  into  a  new  situation  on  that  day. 

4.  In  the  counties  mentioned,  women  in  childbirth  often  wear 
the  trousers  of  the  father  of  child  round  the  neck,  the  effect  of 
which  is  supposed  to  be  the  lightening  of  the  pains  of  labour.  I 
have  myself  seen  a  case  of  this  in  Dublin,  about  two  years  ago. 

I  have  come  across  a  case  in  which  a  county  Wicklow  witch  is 


3^o  A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lo7'e. 

supposed  to  have  cured  a  girl  by  gathering  carrabone-beg  and 
other  herbs  and  making  use  of  incantations.  Witch,  loo  years 
old,  still  alive. 

8.  A  seventh  son  is  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  curing  "  St. 
Anthony's  fire"  by  touch  ;  also  to  be  able  to  cure  tubercular 
affections  by  bleeding  his  gums  and  rubbing  the  blood  on  part 
affected  (Wicklow).  In  Tipperary,  the  seventh  son  of  a  seventh 
son  is  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  healing  many  affections  by 
touch,  or  in  case  of  cross-birth  to  be  able  to  bring  about  a  happy 
result  by  lifting  the  woman  in  his  arms  three  times,  and  shaking 
her  gently.  It  is  especially  lucky  if  he  has  red  hair  or  is  left- 
handed. 

9.  No  information  on  this  point. 

10.  Pregnant  woman  is  afraid  to  meet  a  hare  for  fear  of  the 
child  being  born  with  a  hare-lip. 

11.  The  custom  of  floating  straw  down  a  river,  in  the  expecta- 
tion that  it  will  stop  over  a  drowned  body  and  indicate  the  spot, 
prevails  in  Cork  and  Tipperary.  I  have  (when  a  school-boy)  seen 
it  done  at  Cork. 

12.  Cairn  custom  used  to  prevail  in  Tipperary;  I  am  not  sure 
whether  it  is  still  kept  up.  In  the  counties  of  Dublin  and  Wick- 
low, the  spot  where  a  man  meets  with  a  violent  death  is  marked 
by  scooping  a  cross  out  of  the  earth,  into  which  passers-by  throw 
pebbles.  Sometimes  the  branches  of  a  hedge,  if  there  be  one  at 
the  spot,  are  twisted  into  the  form  of  a  cross.  In  Cork  I  have 
seen  the  spot  where  a  man  was  shot  by  the  police  in  a  fight, 
marked  with  a  cross.  The  people  pray  at  the  spot  for  the  rest  of 
the  soul  of  departed,  especially  on  moonlight  nights. 

13.  I  believe  it  is  a  custom  in  most,  if  not  all,  small  towns  in 
the  south  for  a  body  to  be  carried,  on  its  way  to  the  graveyard, 
round  the  town  by  the  longest  way  to  bid  its  last  farewell  to  the 
place.  If  the  body  be  that  of  a  murdered  man,  it  is,  if  possible, 
carried  past  the  house  of  the  murderer.  In  county  Wicklow,  if 
an  old  church  lies  on  way  to  the  grave  the  body  is  borne  round  it 
three  times. 

15.  This  custom  prevails  in  Wicklow.  In  a  case  I  know  of,  the 
gravedigger  became  ill  while  digging  a  grave;  no  one  else  could 
finish  it ;  so  he  had  to  get  out  of  his  bed  to  do  so. 

16.  Hansel  Monday  custom  obtains  in  most  parts  of  Ireland. 


A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore.  'i^6\ 

Paying  money  on  that  day  supposed  to  bring  poverty  for  the  year. 
Any  money  the  people  receive  on  this  day  they  spit  on  for  luck. 

17.  When  I  was  vaccinated  (in  co.  Tipperary)  my  nurse  said 
that  my  arm  kept  inflamed  because  doctor  did  not  put  silver  in 
my  hand  when  taking  lymph  from  me. 

18.  In  Tipperary  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent  is  called  Chalk 
Sunday,  and  men  and  boys  chalk  a  cross  on  the  back  of  any 
unmarried  person  who  may  pass.  This  sometimes  gives  rise  to 
very  amusing  scenes. 

19.  This  custom  prevails  in  Tipperary  and  Wicklow. 

20-  Weasels  in  Tipperary  and  Wicklow  hunted  down  and 
dreaded,  and  they  are  supposed  to  be  able  to  spit  fire  and 
injure  men  and  beasts.  They  are  supposed  to  steal  the  milk 
from  cows. 

21.  Belief  in  changelings  was  very  common  in  Munster.  If 
child  was  weak  and  pining  it  was  supposed  to  be  a  changeling, 
and  was  put  out  at  night  on  a  hot  shovel.  A  case  occurred  in 
Tipperary  some  years  ago,  but  parents  were  acquitted. 

23.  In  Wicklow  they  spit  on  a  child  for  good  luck,  the  first  day 
it  is  brought  out  after  birth. 

I  hope  to  be  able  to  give  you  some  notes  on  other  points  soon. 
I  forgot  to  mention  that  a  case  of  the  cross  in  the  hedge  at  scene 
of  death  may  be  seen  near  Rathfarnham,  co.  Dublin.  Hansel 
custom,  not  confined  to  Hansel  Monday,  but  silver  is  spit  upon 
and  considered  specially  lucky  on  Monday.  Bargains  are  con- 
cluded by  spitting  on  hand  or  luck-penny ;  a  match  is  made  by 
breaking  a  stick  and  spitting  on  the  hands  of  the  matchmakers. 
If  a  thing  or  animal  is  sold  on  a  Sunday,  the  Wicklow  people  will 
not  take  a  luck-penny. 

Finally,  I  may  add  some  notes  kindly  forwarded  to  me 
by  Miss  A.  Watson.     (May  1893.) 

Queeii's  County. — When  we  were  children  Hallow  Eve  was 
always  an  occasion  for  practising  mysterious  rites,  the  end  and 
aim  of  each  being  to  foretell  the  future.  The  first  thing  always 
was  to  get  an  old  iron  spoon,  filled  with  lead  in  scraps ;  this  was 
held  over  a  hot  fire  till  it  melted.  Then  a  key,  which  itmst  be 
the  hall-door  key,  was  held  over  a  tub  of  cold  water,  and  the  hot 
lead  was  poured  through  the  wards  of  the  key.     The  lead  cooled 


362  A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-loi'e. 

in  falling  through  the  water,  and  when  it  had  all  settled  in  the 
bottom  of  the  tub,  the  old  nurse  proceeded  to  read  its  surface.  I 
don't  know  whether  there  was  originally  one  especial  story  of  the 
"  willow  pattern"  description,  but  I  do  know  that  the  many  I  have 
heard  all  bore  a  family  likeness.  There  was  always  a  castle  with 
a  tower  here,  and  a  narrow  window  there,  and  a  knight  riding  to 
the  door  to  deliver  a  beautiful  lady  who  was  imprisoned  there. 
And  of  course  the  lady  was  the  round-eyed  child  who  was  listening 
with  bated  breath,  and  who  was  eventually  to  marry  said  knight. 
(If  anyone  likes  to  try  the  experiment,  he  will  find  that  the  lead 
falls  in  wriggles  like  snakes,  with  no  possible  pretensions  to  any 
shape  or  form.) 

There  was  also  something  we  did  with  salt,  earth,  and  water, 
which  I  have  quite  forgotten. 

Then  there  was  bobbing  for  apples,  which  sometimes  consisted 
in  an  apple  being  put  at  the  bottom  of  a  tub  of  water,  to  be 
fetched  up  by  the  teeth ;  and  sometimes  by  suspending  a  piece  of 
wood  from  a  hook,  with  an  apple  at  one  end  and  a  candle  at  the 
other.  The  wood  was  set  revolving,  and  the  victim,  with  open 
mouth,  endeavoured  to  get  a  bite  from  the  apple ;  he  sometimes 
bit  the  candle  instead. 

Then  you  go  out  to  the  garden  blindfolded,  and  each  pull  up  a 
cabbage.  If  the  cabbage  was  well  grown  the  girl  was  to  have 
a  handsome  husband,  but  woe  betide  the  unlucky  damsel  who 
got  one  with  a  crooked  stalk ;  her  husband  would  be  a  stingy 
old  man. 

Then  comes  nut-burning,  as  an  antidote  to  all  this  boisterous 
fun.  You  put  two  nuts  on  the  bar  and  name  them,  but  must  not 
mention  the  names  or  all  luck  will  vanish.  If  one  hops  off,  then 
that  pair  will  not  marry ;  if  one  burns  to  a  cinder  and  not  the 
other,  it  is  a  case  of  unrequited  love;  but  if  both  burn  away 
steadily,  they  will  marry  and  live  happy  ever  after. 

County  Dublin. — You  must  always  bow  when  you  meet  a 
sweep,  or  even  see  one  in  the  distance.  If  you  don't,  you  will 
never  have  any  luck. 

You  must  bow  when  you  see  a  magpie ;  if  it  flies  off,  turn  and 
bow  in  that  direction,  and  say,  "  How  do  you  do  ?"  This  will 
avert  all  ill-luck. 


A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore.  36 


0^0 

Magpie  Rhyine. — "  One  for  sorrow, 
Two  for  joy, 
Three  for  a  girl, 
Four  for  a  boy, 
Five  for  heaven, 
Six  for  hell, 
Seven  's  the  de'il's  own  sel ! 

It  is  very  unlucky  to  meet  a  red-haired  person  first  thing  in  the 
morning. 

If  you  pass  a  house  where  there  is  building  or  painting  going 
on,  you  must  never  walk  underneath  a  ladder ;  always  go  out  in 
the  road. 

If  you  find  a  little  spider  on  any  article  of  dress,  or  in  the 
china  closet,  etc.,  don't  brush  it  off.  If  you  leave  it  alone 
someone  may  give  you  a  new  one  of  whatever  the  spider  was  on, 

It  is  a  common  superstition  amongst  the  Irish  peasantry  that 
the  last  person  who  has  been  buried  has  no  rest,  as  they  have  to 
keep  watch  over  the  rest.  Consequently,  when  two  deaths  occur 
near  together,  their  friends  make  a  great  rush  to  see  who  shall  be 
buried  first.  Near  Renvyle,  co.  Galway,  the  relatives  provide  a 
quantity  of  new  pipes  and  parcels  of  tobacco,  which  are  dis- 
tributed amongst  those  who  attend  the  funeral,  who  sit  about  and 
smoke  while  the  grave  is  being  dug.  They  believe  that  the 
departed  spirit,  while  watching  the  other  graves,  might  like  the 
solace  of  a  little  tobacco,  so  that  all  unused  pipes  and  parcels 
of  tobacco  are  left  in  the  graveyard,  but  the  j)eople  are  at  liberty 
to  take  away  the  pipes  they  have  used. 

A  thread  is  sometimes  tied  round  a  toe  of  a  corpse. 

I  don't  know  if  the  following  can  be  included  in  folk-lore; 
it  is  more  curious  than  edifying,  but  I  can  vouch  for  it  absolutely, 
as  my  cousin  has  seen  a  seventh  son  do  what  follows.  The 
seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son  has  always  been  dowered  with 
miraculous  powers  \  in  the  co.  Meath  they  do  this  :  When  the 
child  is  born,  the  nurse  puts  a  worm  in  a  piece  of  muslin  into  each 
hand,  and  ties  the  hand  up  till  the  worm  dies.  One  worm  must 
be  male,  the  other  female.  When  the  worms  die  they  are  thrown 
away  and  nothing  more  is  done.  When  the  boy  grows  up,  you 
may  get  him  to  draw  a  line  or  a  circle  or  any  mark  in  the  road, 


364  A  Batch  of  Irish  Folk-lore. 

put  a  worm  near  that  mark,  it  will  crawl  towards  the  mark  and 
then  draw  back  as  if  terrified,  repeating  this  action  again  and 
again  till  it  really  crosses  the  line  and  remains  motionless.  If  you 
examine  it  you  will  find  it  is  dead.  The  actions  of  the  worm  are 
described  as  giving  you  the  impression  that  it  is  mesmerised.  If 
that  same  boy  puts  his  finger  into  a  pail  of  worms,  every  single  one 
will  die  almost  at  once.  My  cousin  says  that  the  country  people, 
having  got  a  pail  of  worms  for  fishing  with,  will  avoid  meeting  the 
seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son  (who  are  sure  to  be  well  known)  lest 
their  trouble  should  go  for  nothing  and  the  worms  should  die. 

A.  C.  Haddon. 


CELTIC  MYTH  AND   SAGA. 


Report    of    Research    during    the    Years 
1892  AND   1893. 

1.  Todd  Lectures^  No.  IV.     Cath  Ruis  na  Rig^  with  Preface,  Trans- 

lation, and  Indices,  by  E.  Hogan,  S.J. 

2.  The  Tumult  ajtd  Inscribed  Stones  at  New  Grange,  Doivth,  and 

Knowth,  by  G.  Coffey. 

3.  Silva   Gadelica  (i-xxxi).      A   collection   of    Tales    in    Irish,   with 

Extracts  illustrating  Persons  and  Places.     Edited  from  MSS. 
and  translated  by  Standish  Hayes  O'Grady. 

4.  Nennius  Vindicattcs.     Ueber  Entstehung,  Geschichte  und  Quellen 

der  Historia  Brittonum,  von  Heinrich  Zimmer. 

5.  Love-Songs  of  Connaught.     Collected,  edited,  and  translated  by 

Douglas  Hyde. 

IT  is  but  fitting  that  Folk- LORE,  the  one  review 
published  in  England  which  concerns  itself  with  the 
history  and  literature  of  the  Celtic  races,  should  pay  its 
tribute  of  sorrowful  respect  to  the  memory  of  two  veterans 
of  Celtic  study  departed  within  the  last  year. 

Hector  Maclean  was  the  right-hand  man  of  Campbell  of 
Islay  in  his  admirably  achieved  task  of  collecting  and 
preserving  the  oral  literature  of  the  Gaelic  Highlanders. 
He  had  all  the  qualifications  of  a  great  collector,  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  people,  mastery  of  and  sympathy  with 
their  modes  of  thought  and  expression,  keen  enthusiasm, 
and  untiring  patience.  No  higher  praise  can  be  given  him 
than  that  he  was  worthy  to  be  Campbell's  lieutenant.^ 

Hector  Maclean  was  a  collector.  Geheimrath  Albert 
Schulz,  better  known  by  his  pseudonym  of  San  Marte, 
was  a  book-scholar.     He  shared  with  Maclean  a  keen  and 

1  A  full  and  sympathetic  account  of  Hector  Maclean  appeared  in 
the  Celtic  Monthly  for  March  1893.     To  this  I  would  refer  the  reader 
who  wishes  to  know  more  of  a  singularly  fine  and  brave  character. 
VOL.  IV.  C  C 


366  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

lasting  interest  in  all  that  related  to  the  legendary  past  of 
the  Celt.  It  was  but  the  other  day  (FOLK-LORE,  1890, 
p.  255,  note)  that  I  noticed  the  last  work  of  the  veteran,  a 
contribution  to  that  elucidation  of  Wolfram's  great  Grail 
poem  which  he  had  begun  sixty  years  previously,  and 
which  engaged  his  best  energies  throughout  his  life.  In 
addition  to  his  work  on  Wolfram,  he  first  made  the 
Mabinogion  known  on  the  Continent ;  he  edited  Gildas, 
Nennius,  and  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  ;  he  collected  and 
edited  the  texts  relating  to  or  connected  with  Merlin  ;  he 
was  one  of  the  first  to  systematically  investigate  the  origin 
and  development  of  the  Arthur  romantic  cycle.  His 
works,  outgrown  in  many  respects  as  they  are  by  the  pro- 
gress of  study,  will  always  remain  landmarks  in  the  history 
of  Celtic  scholarship,  and  even  if  they  cease  to  be  con- 
sulted, will  be  kept  alive  by  the  generous  and  lofty 
enthusiasm  which  inspires  them. 


The  important  text  edited  by  Father  Hogan  raises 
afresh  the  question  of  the  origin,  date,  and  development 
of  the  Irish  epic  romances.  It  should  be  premised 
that  the  tale  in  question,  the  Battle  of  Ruis  na  Rig,  is 
obviously  a  sequel  to  the  Tain  bo  Cuailgne,  intended  to 
satisfy  the  curiosity,  felt  at  all  times  and  in  all  countries, 
concerning  the  after  history  of  the  heroes  of  a  famous 
story.  The  existence  of  a  considerable  mass  of  heroic 
saga,  as  well  as  that  of  a  school  of  epic  narrators,  are 
thus  presupposed  by  our  text,  and  any  results  which 
legitimately  arise  from  a  consideration  of  the  way  in 
which  it  has  come  down  to  us  apply  with  far  greater 
force  to  the  older  stratum  of  storytelling.  Two  versions 
are  known,  that  of  the  Book  of  Leinster  (the  redaction 
of  which  cannot  be  later  than  1 1 50)  and  that  of  a 
number  of  modern  MSS.  belonging  to  the  I7th-i8th 
centuries.  These  latter  represent  a  form  of  the  saga 
differing  from  that  in  the  Book  of  Leinster^  a  form  which, 
as  shown  by  the  details  of  life  and  customs,  must  have 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  367 

been  redacted  at  a  considerably  later  date.  But  the  MSS. 
of  this  later  version,  although  of  comparatively  recent  date, 
"exhibit  many  archaic  inflexions,  old  vocables,  and  Middle- 
Irish  survivals"  which,  in  the  editor's  opinion,  "  seem  to 
show  that  this  version  represents  one  coeval  with  that 
found  in  the  Book  of  Leinster." 

We  thus  have  two  texts  substantially  dating  back  to 
the  1 2th  century,  and  neither  of  which,  in  its  present 
form,  can  have  been  redacted  before  the  i  ith  century,  as 
is  proved  both  by  the  texture  of  the  language  and  the 
occurrence  of  personal  and  geographical  names  unknown 
in  Ireland  much  before  that  time.  But  one  of  these  texts, 
that  preserved  by  the  later  MSS.,  must,  substantially,  be 
considerably  younger  than  the  other,  as  facts  to  be 
adduced  presently  amply  prove.  What  follows  ?  That 
the  Book  of  Leinster  version,  although  in  language,  and 
occasionally  in  geographical  and  historical  nomenclature, 
a  product  of  the  iith-i2th  centuries,  belongs,  so  far  as  the 
matter  is  concerned,  to  a  far  earlier  period. 

What  then  are  the  differences  between  the  two  versions 
which  warrant  their  assignment  to  different  periods  of 
national  development?  In  the  younger  version  the  heroes 
wear  coats  of  mail,  "stout  wonderful  foreign  armour"; 
"  foreign  cavalry"  form  a  part  of  the  forces  ;  the  war 
chariots,  though  mentioned,  play  no  part.  In  the  Book  of 
Leinster  version,  on  the  contrary,  the  chariot  is  still  the 
material  unit  of  the  army  ;  the  hero  is  practically  armour- 
less,  and  covers  himself  solely  with  shield  and  sword.  In 
fact,  the  one  version  pictures  the  fighting  of  pre-Viking 
[i.e.,  pre-800  A.D.),  the  other  that  of  post- Viking  Ireland. 

Thus  we  see  how,  when  the  stress  of  the  Viking  incur- 
sions had  died  away,  the  storytellers  and  scribes  who 
gathered  up  the  tales  of  olden  time  went  to  work.  In 
some  cases — e.g.,  the  Book  of  Leinster  version  of  our  tale — 
they  contented  themselves  with  putting  the  old  saga  into 
language  of  the  day  and  embellishing  it  with  foreign 
names,  in  others  they  translated  the  material  conditions  as 

c  c  2 


o 


68  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 


well  as  the  language  of  their  models.  In  this  instance  the 
second  mode  approved  itself  the  more  acceptable.  The 
Book  of  Lcinster  version  was  apparently  neglected  by 
later  copyists,  whereas  the  rival  one  must  have  been 
transcribed  frequently  before  reaching  the  1 7th- 1 8th  cen- 
tury texts  which  alone  have  come  down  to  us. 

The  literary  problems  which  the  story  raises  are  perhaps 
more  interesting  than  the  tale  itself,  yet  it  contains  some 
picturesque  and  admirable  touches  ;  we  assist  at  the 
bivouac  of  the  invading  Ulstermen  :  "  their  fires  were 
kindled,  cooking  of  food  and  drink  was  made  ;  baths 
of  clean-bathing  were  made  by  them,  and  their  hair 
was  smooth-combed  ;  their  persons  were  cleansed,  and 
tunes  and  merry  songs  and  eulogies  were  sung  by  them." 
Nor  can  we  easily  find  a  finer  example  of  old  Irish 
chivalry  of  feeling  (by  the  modern  editor  rightly  and 
characteristically  condemned  as  foolishness)  than  the  state- 
ment :  "  for  Conchobar  concealed  not  even  from  his  enemy 
the  place  in  which  he  would  take  station  or  camp,  that  they 
might  not  say  that  it  was  fear  or  dread  that  caused  him 
ot  to  say  it."  Most  characteristic,  too,  is  the  way  in 
which  the  heroes  revile  their  adversaries  and  belaud  them- 
selves, as  well  the  habit  of  rapid  sententious  dialogue,  so 
pithy  that  each  phrase  is  almost  a  proverb. 

Like  many  of  the  oldest  examples  of  Irish  storytelling, 
the  Battle  of  Ruis  na  Rig  is  in  alternate  prose  and  verse, 
the  great  variety  and  complexity  of  metre  in  the  latter 
being  remarkable.  But  it  is  noticeable  that  the  apparently 
oldest  verse  portions  are  in  the  so-called  rose,  a  measure 
distinguished  by  no  stanzaic  form  and  no  rhyme,  but  by 
alliteration  and  a  "  certain  laconic  and  oracular  diction". 
In  this  measure  have  likewise  come  down  to  us  pieces  that 
profess  and  approve  themselves  among  the  oldest  remains 
of  Irish  speech,  such  as  the  so-called  lorica  of  Patrick,  the 
formulae  of  the  Brehon  laws,  etc.  It  has  generally  been 
held  that  metrical  complexity  and  rhyme  are  both  early 
characteristics  of  Irish  verse  which  in  these  respects,  it  has 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  369 

been  maintained,  has  influenced  both  Latin  and  Scandina- 
vian versification.  But  rose  would  seem  to  be  the  proto- 
plasm out  of  which  the  very  complex  Irish  metres 
developed,  and  its  persistence  in  texts  so  comparatively 
modern  as  the  iith-i2th  century  would  show  either  that 
the  complex  metres  are  younger  than  is  generally  sup- 
posed, or  throws  back  the  date  of  the  rose  poems  to  a  very 
early  period,  proving,  moreover,  that  there  must  have  been 
a  written  or  a  very  strong  oral  tradition  to  allow  of  their 
preservation. 

Mr.  Coftey's  admirable  monograph  upon  the  great  group 
of  funereal  tumuli  and  inscribed  stones  at  New  Grange 
forms,  though  only  incidentally,  one  of  the  most  important 
contributions  ever  made  from  the  archaeological  side  to  the 
study  of  Irish  legend  and  romance.  It  would  be  important 
merely  for  the  fact  that  it  prints  and  translates  a  number 
of  loth-iith  century  texts  relating  to  these  monuments. 
But  it  does  far  more  than  this.  Mr.  Coffey's  archaeological 
inquiry  defines  with  as  much  precision  as  is  likely  to  be 
obtained  the  nature  and  date  of  these  monuments,  and 
thus  furnishes  a  series  of  fixed  points  by  which  we  can 
estimate  the  nature  of  the  traditions  he  prints  from 
mediaeval  Irish  sources.  Mr.  Coffey,  on  purely  archaeologi- 
cal grounds,  is  inclined  to  date  the  New  Grange  tumulus 
"  approximately  about  the  first  century  (A.D.)",  the  Dowth 
tumulus  being  possibly  somewhat  earlier.  Now  the  pas- 
sages quoted  by  Mr.  Coffey  from  texts  which  eannot 
be  later  than  the  early  loth  century  show  that  the 
antiquaries  of  the  time  had  a  tradition  that  the  burial- 
place  at  Brugh  was  used  by  the  kings  of  Ireland  from  the 
days  of  Crimthann  Niadh-nar  to  that  of  Loeghaire,  son  of 
Niall,  with  the  exception  of  three  kings,  Art  mac  Conn, 
Cormac  mac  Art,  and  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages.  Ela- 
borate stories  are  told  to  account  for  the  absence  of  the 
first  two  of  these  monarchs  from  the  customary  burial- 
place  of  their  race,  the  purport  of  which  is  to  connect  them 
with  Christianity,  and  thus,  implicitly,  to  insist  upon  the 


370  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

pagan  nature  and  associations  of  the  New  Grange  monu- 
ments. 

The  date  of  Crimthann  is  given  by  the  Four  Masters 
as  A.D.  9,  that  of  Loeghaire  (the  contemporary  of  St. 
Patrick)  as  A.D.  429.  As  Mr.  Coffey  remarks,  "the  evidence 
discussed  in  regard  to  New  Grange  would  bring  some  of 
the  tumuli  in  question  within  that  period." 

Here  we  have  apparently  a  very  remarkable  convergence 
of  testimony  archaeological  and  historical,  and  there  would 
seem  good  warrant  for  asserting  both  that  the  New  Grange 
graveyard  was  started  in  the  early  years  of  the  Christian 
era  by  the  high-kings  of  Ireland,  and  also  that  the  dates 
ascribed  to  these  kings  by  the  ioth-i2th  century  annalists 
are  substantially  correct.  But  the  question  is  a  great  deal 
more  complicated  than  appears  at  first  sight.  For  the 
very  same  texts  which  mention  the  fact  that  Crimthann 
was  the  first  high-king  of  Ireland  buried  at  New  Grange, 
also  insist  most  strongly  upon  the  importance  of  the 
district  as  the  burial-place  of  the  Tuatha  de  Danann,  that 
euhemerised  race  of  ancient  deities  who,  in  the  ioth-i2th 
century  annals,  figure  as  genuine  kings  and  heroes  A.M. 
3300-500.  Indeed,  Crimthann  is  definitely  stated  to  have 
fixed  his  burial-place  at  Brugh,  instead  of  at  Cruachan, 
where  his  ancestors  were  interred,  because  his  wife  Nar 
was  of  the  Tuatha  De. 

All  later  romantic  tradition  in  Ireland  connected  with 
the  Brugh  district  is  concerned,  not  with  what  we  may 
provisionally  assume  to  be  historic,  the  first-fifth  century 
burial-place  of  the  high-kings  of  Ireland,  but  solely  with 
the  legendary  burial-place  of  the  Tuatha  De. 

Mr.  Coffey  would  account  for  these  facts  as  follows.  "The 
association  of  particular  monuments  with  the  Dagda  and 
other  divinities  and  heroes  of  Irish  mythology  implies  that 
the  actual  persons  for  whom  they  were  erected  had  been 
forgotten,  the  pagan  traditions  being  probably  broken  by 
the  introduction  of  Christianity.  The  mythical  ancestors 
of  the  heroes  and  kings  interred  at  Brugh,  who,  probably, 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  371 

were  even  contemporarily  associated  with  the  cemetery,  no 
doubt  subsequently  overshadowed  in  tradition  the  actual 
persons  interred  there"  (p.  82). 

But  is  it  likely  that  the  "contemporary  association",  which 
Mr.  Coffey  assumes,  existed  unless  there  was  some  basis  of 
fact  for  it,  unless,  that  is,  Crimthann  really  did  choose  an 
ancient  hallowed  spot  for  his  burial-place?  And  is  it  not 
strange  that  the  introduction  of  Christianity  should,  ex 
hypothesis  have  ^^  broken  the  pagan  traditions"  connected 
with  the  high-kings  of  Ireland  and  left  whole  the  far  more 
pagan  traditions  connected  with  the  Tuatha  de  Danann  ? 

Future  archaeological  investigation  may  perhaps  tell  us 
if  there  are  in  the  Brugh  district  traces  of  older  burial  than 
that  of  the  first  century  Irish  kings,  or  of  an  overlapping 
or  mixture  of  races  such  as  would  seem  to  be  implied  by 
the  historical  tradition. 

One  point  should  be  noted  in  view  of  recent  controversies 
as  to  the  origin  of  the  belief  in  fairies.  This  belief,  as  still 
held  by  the  Gaelic-speaking  peasants  of  Ireland  and  Scot- 
land, is,  essentially,  the  same  as  that  found  in  the  Irish  pre- 
mediaeval  and  mediaeval  romances  concerning  the  Tuatha 
de  Danann.  As  early  as  the  loth  century  at  least,  and 
probably  very  much  earlier,  the  Tuatha  De  were  pro- 
minently associated  with  the  monuments  in  the  Brugh 
district,  and  these  monuments  are  not  the  dwelling-places 
of  any  former  dwarf  races,  but,  without  doubt,  served  as  a 
burial-place  to  the  ancestors  of  present  Irishmen. 

To  praise.  Mr.  Standish  Hayes  O'Grady's  Silva  Gadelica 
is  an  easy  matter.  The  first  requisite  in  the  study  of 
Celtic  antiquity  and  literature  is  still  the  publication  and 
translation  of  texts,  so  that  the  bringer  of  such  a  stately 
pile  of  sheaves  gathered  from  eight  centuries  of  Irish 
storytelling  and  comprising  many  of  the  remains  of  Irish 
romance  most  interesting  to  the  artist,  most  valuable  to 
the  historian,  cannot  but  be  sure  of  a  hearty  welcome. 
And  when  the  gathering  is  made  by  a  scholar  who  joins 
to  a  native  knowledge  of  the  Irish  language  and  literature 


Z7^  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

greater  than  that  of  any  other  Hving  man,  wide  familiarity 
with  literature  at  large,  and  acquaintance  with  the  methods 
and  results  of  historical  and  philological  criticism,  the 
welcome  is  intensified.  A  work  such  as  Mr.  O'Grady's  at 
once  takes  rank  as  a  classic  in  its  line  of  study,  and  the 
critic  best  pays  his  due  of  admiration  and  respect  when  he 
treats  it  as  a  classic  to  be  studied  with  minute  and  searching 
attention.  In  the  remarks  that  follow  I  shall  take  it  for 
granted  that  the  book  is  in  the  hands  of  every  serious 
student  of  Celtic  lore,  to  whom  I  shall  endeavour  to  be  of 
use  by  supplementing  the  information  to  be  found  therein 
or  by  challenging  statements  and  conclusions  for  which 
there  seems  to  me  to  be  insufficient  warrant. 

As  it  is  probable  that  Mr.  O'Grady's  version  will  for  some 
time  to  come  be  the  standard  of  quotation  for  non- 
specialist  students  of  Celtic  matters,  it  is  necessary  to  say  a 
few  words  as  to  the  way  in  which  he  has  dealt  with  his 
texts.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  Irish  original ;  I  must  needs, 
it  is  true,  point  out  that  in  the  opinion  of  other  Irish 
scholars  Mr.  O'Grady  has  deprived  his  collection  of  value 
to  the  philological  student  of  Irish  by  his  practice  of  largely 
modernising  the  texts  he  draws  from  MSS.  ranging  in  date 
from  the  nth  to  the  i8th  centuries.  He  has,  in  fact,  edited 
his  Irish  on  the  system  used  by  Mr.  Henry  Craik  in  his 
recently  published  English  Prose  from  the  i^th  to  the  \6th 
Century.  The  system  is  a  defensible  one,  and  as  folk- 
lorists  the  matter  does  not  affect  us  save  remotely.  But 
if  an  editor  deliberately  discards  philological  merit  for 
his  texts,  is  it  too  much  to  ask  that  he  should  also 
discard  the  shackles  which  strict  philological  accuracy 
imposes!  Of  what  use  is  it  to  print  an  imperfect  iith- 
eentury  text  when  a  perfect  14th-century  one  exists,  save 
as  a  specimen  of  11th-century  form  of  speech?  Yet 
Mr.  O'Grady,  while  refusing  to  supplement  the  iith- 
eentury  scribe  even  where  the  latter  can  be  proved  to 
have  skipped  a  couple  of  lines  in  his  transcript  from  an 
earlier  MS.,  as  steadily  refuses  to  give  the  exact  grammatical 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  2)11 

forms  of  the  version  he  in  other  respects  slavishly  follows  ! 
An  example  will  make  this  plain. 

The  Boroina  is  one  of  the  most  important  tales  edited 
and  translated  by  Mr.  O'Grady.  It  so  happens  that  Mr. 
Whitley  Stokes,  whilst  Silva  Gadelica  was  passing  through 
the  press,  published  text  and  version  of  the  same  tale 
in  vol.  xii  of  the  Revue  Celtique.  Means  is  thus  afforded 
to  the  non-Celtic  student  of  testing  the  method  of  editing 
and  translating  of  both  scholars.  One  singularly  reassuring 
result  of  the  comparison  between  the  two  versions  is  that 
for  practical  purposes  Middle  Irish  has  been  mastered ;  sub- 
stantially, the  two  renderings,  made  independently  of  each 
other,  agree.i  The  Boroma,  which  tells  of  the  tribute  levied 
upon  Leinster  by  an  over-king  of  Ireland  in  the  second 
century,  and  continued  by  his  successors  until  the  seventh 
century,  is  preserved  mainly  in  two  MSS.,the  12th-century 
Book  of  Leinster  and  the  15th-century  Book  of  Lecan. 
Mr.  O'Grady  prints  the  former  version,  which  is  incomplete, 
at  the  end,  and  leaves  out  a  number  of  passages  found 
in  Lecan.  Mr.  Stokes  supplies  all  deficiences  in  the 
Leinster  text  from  that  in  Lecan,  bracketing  the  passages 
thus  dealt  with.  I  select  a  few  of  the  passages  to  show 
what  is  lost  in  Mr.  O'Grady's  version. 

In  the  course  of  the  tale  it  is  told  how  Aed,  son  of 
Ainmire,  is  defeated  and  slain  in  his  attempt  to  levy  the 
tribute.  Lecan  adds  :  "  but  though  Aed  fell  on  account  of 
the  Boroina  he  had  levied  it  twice  without  a  battle."  Now 
whether  this  be  addition  to  the  original  text  by  a  non- 
Leinster  scribe,  or  its  absence  in  the  Book  of  Leinster  be 
due  to  deliberate  omission  from  patriotic  motives,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  importance  of  the  passage  for 
estimating  the  historic  value  of  the  narrative.  When  Aed 
dies  his  wife  laments  as  follows : 


^  This  applies  to  the  prose.     Very  considerable  differences  exist  in 
the  renderings  of  the  verse. 


374  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

"  Dear  to  me  were  the  three  sides 
Whereon  I  shall  never  look  again : 
Telltown's  little  side,  Tara's  side. 
And  the  side  of  Aed,  son  of  Ainmire." 

Telltown  being,  so  to  say,  the  religious,  and  Tara  the 
political  headquarters  of  the  Irish  kings.  This  exquisite 
quatrain  is  only  found  in  Lecan,  and  is  thus  absent 
from  Mr.  O'Grady's  pages,  the  chief  object  of  which  is 
to  bring  the  beauty  of  Irish  romance  home  to  the  English 
reader ! 

The  next  passage  is  of  greater  importance  and  of  special 
interest  to  folk-lorists  as  presenting  the  oldest  example  of 
a  familiar  incident  of  Gaelic  story-telling — the  counterspell. 
It  is  told  how  Cummascach,  son  of  the  high-king  of  Ireland,, 
starts  forth  on  a  "free  circuit  of  youth"  throughout  Ireland. 
It  was  the  custom  of  the  free  circuiter  to  "sleep  one  night 
with  the  wife  of  every  king  of  Erin",  whence  it  may  be 
gathered  that  the  "  free  circuit"  was  not  an  institution 
favourably  beheld  of  the  under-kings.  Cummascach  comes 
to  the  court  of  Leinster's  king,  Brandub,  and,  to  quote 
from  Mr.  Whitley  Stokes'  version  {Rev.  Celt.,  xii,  p.  59)  : 
"Then  said  the  king  of  Erin's  son,  '  Where  is  Brandub's 
wife?'  A  message  was  sent  by  him  to  the  queen.  The 
queen  came  to  converse  with  him,  and  bade  welcome  to  the 
king  of  Erin's  son. 

["Then  the  king  of  Erin's  son  said  to  Brandub's  wife, '  Let 
a  boon  be  granted  by  thee  to  me.'  '  What  boon  dost  thou 
ask?'  says  the  lady.  '  Not  hard  to  say,'  quoth  he.  '  Thou 
to  stay  with  me  that  I  may  sleep  with  thee.' "] 

"  'Grant  thou  a  boon  to  me,'  she  saith.  '  What  boon  doth 
thou  ask  ?'  says  the  king  of  Erin's  son. 

"  '  Not  hard  to  say,'  she  replied.  '  A  respite,  not  to  detain 
me  until  I  have  finished  distributing  food  to  the  host,  so 
that  I  may  purchase  my  honour  from  them.'" 

Of  course  the  queen  escapes,  and  Cummascach  is  slain 
by  Brandub's  men. 

The  bracketed  passage  in  above  extract  is  omitted  by 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  375 

the  Leinster  scribe,  obviously  owing  to  his  having  skipped 
the  first  boon  through  inattention  in  copying.  As  Lecan 
gives  the  full  passage  we  have  here  ample  proof  that  the 
15th  century  MS.  is  not  copied  from  the  12th  century  one, 
but  goes  back  to  the  common  original,  a  fact  in  itself  of  the 
utmost  interest  and  import.  Again,  without  the  omitted 
phrases  the  whole  passage  loses  all  point  and  meaning. 
Yet  Mr.  O'Grady  prints  the  Leinster  text,  nonsense  though 
it  be,  and  takes  no  account  of  the  omitted  passage,  precious 
as  it  is  to  the  folk-lorist  and  the  textual  critic. 

These  examples  will  suffice,  I  think,  to  justify  regret  that 
Mr.  O'Grady  should  have  given  forth  an  incomplete  and 
mutilated  version  when  better  ones  lay  ready  to  his  hands. 
Unfortunately,  I  have  to  add  that  Mr.  O'Grady  does  not 
even  translate  the  whole  of  the  text  he  prints.  A  single 
example  will  show  this.  The  cause  of  the  levying  of  the 
Boroma  tribute  was  this  :  the  king  of  Leinster's  son  weds 
one  of  the  two  daughters  of  the  over-king  of  Ireland.  After 
a  while,  pretending  she  was  dead,  he  sought  for  and  obtained 
the  other  in  marriage.  The  two  sisters  meet,  and  to  quote 
from  Mr.  Stokes'  translation  :  "  But  when  Fithir  beheld 
Darfine  she  dies  at  once  of  shame.  When  Darfine  beheld 
her  sister's  death  she  dies  of  grief  [Thereafter  the  washing 
of  the  two  maidens  was  performed  in  Ath  Toncha,  so  that 
everyone  said  '  Rough  is  this  washing'.  Hence  the  neigh- 
bouring fortress  '  Rough  Washing'  is  so  called.]" 

Mr.  O'Grady  prints  the  Irish  of  the  bracketed  portion, 
but  does  not  translate  it,  nor  does  he  in  any  way  indicate 
that  he  has  omitted  a  very  curious  and  important  passage. 
In  the  first  place  we  have  plainly  here  an  interpolation  from 
the  Dinnshenchas,  that  remarkable  early  mediaeval  list  of 
Irish  topographical  legends,  a  portion  of  which  recently 
appeared  in  these  pages,  which  is  thus  proved  to  have 
existed  before  the  composition  of  the  Boroma  ;  in  the 
second  place  we  have  an  allusion  to  an  incident  no  trace  of 
which  survives  otherwise  in  the  story. 

It  is  not  necessary  to   multiply  examples  of  this  most 


^^6  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

regrettable  practice,  nor  would  I  have  mentioned  this  one 
were  it  not  that  important  questions  of  Irish  literary  his- 
tory are  concerned.  Some  of  Mr.  O'Grady's  omissions 
seem  due  to  a  mistaken  standard  of  delicacy.  The  few 
naturalistic  touches  of  the  original  might  well  have  been 
left  entire,  considering  the  cost  and  bulk  of  Mr.  O'Grady's 
work. 

For  the  student  not  the  least  important  section  of  Silva 
Gadelica  consists  of  the  illustrative  extracts,  occupying,  in 
English,  forty-eight   closely  printed  pages.     An  immense 
amount  of  valuable  matter  is  here  brought  together  and 
for   the  first   time    rendered  accessible   to  the  non-Irish- 
speaking  student.     But  here,  even  more  than  in  the  body 
of  the  work,  there  are  grave  defects  of  editing,  the  effect  of 
which  is  to  seriously  diminish  the  value  and  utility  of  this 
section  to  the  mass  of  readers.     How  is  the  non-specialist 
to  know  that  MD  at  the  end  of  an  extract  means  that  it  is 
from  the  Martyrology  of  Donegal?     A  number  of  passages 
are  quoted  from  the  Kilbride  MSS.  3  and  16,  in  the  Advo- 
cates' Library  at  Edinburgh,  but  no  information  is  given  as 
to  the  date  of  these  MSS.  ;  nor,  more  important  still,  is  one 
told  from  what  tracts  the  passages  are  taken.      Now  both 
of  these,  like  nearly  every  other  early  Irish  MS.,  are  libraries 
in  themselves,  made  up  of  pieces  of  various  date  and  pro- 
venance.    To  refer  simply  to  the  MS.  is  much   as  if  an 
English  editor  should  refer  to  Pari.  Deb.  or  Stat,  at  Large., 
without  vouchsafing  a  hint  as  to  the  date  and  nature  of  the 
passages   referred    to.     The  same  remark  applies  to  the 
citation  from  the  Books  of  Leinster,  Lecan,  and  Ballyniote  ; 
but  of  these  MSS.  facsimile  editions  exist,  and  it  is  possible 
by  an  expenditure  of  £ii)  and  several  hours'  work  to  trace 
the  passages  quoted  by  Mr.  O'Grady  and  to  form  some  idea 
as  to  their  nature  and  value.     One  class  of  references  to  the 
Books  of  Leinster  and  Ballymote  requires  special  mention. 
Mr.  O'Grady  has — and  one  cannot  be  too  thankful  to  him 
for  it — translated  a  considerable  portion  o{\\\^Dinnshenchas, 
but  this  is  a  fact  the  ordinary  reader  would  never  find  out, 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  2>n 

as  the  references  are  simply  to  LL  or  BB,  the  quotations 
being  impartially  drawn  sometimes  from  the  12th  century 
and  sometimes  from  the  14th  century  text.^ 

In  other  respects  the  student  is  left  in  the  lurch  just 
where  he  requires  the  expert  editor's  guidance.  Thus, 
p.  522,  Mr.  O'Grady  quotes  as  follows  respecting  Ossian  : 
'' Blae  Dherg  from  the  rushing  Banba,  the  formidable 
Ossian's  mother.  In  a  doe's  shape  she  used  to  come 
and  join  the  outlawed  band ;  and  thus  it  was  that  Ossian 
was  begotten  upon  B/ae  Dherg  disguised  as  a  doe, 
LL.  164,  marg.  sup."  It  is  evident  that  the  value  of  this 
passage  for  the  criticism  of  the  Ossianic  romance  generally 
depends  largely  upon  its  date.  The  ordinary  reader, 
knowing  that  LL  stands  for  the  12th  century  Book  of 
Leinster,  naturally  concludes  that  we  have  here  a  genuine 
1 2th  century  testimony  to  the  animal  parentage  of  Ossian. 
It  may  well  be  so  ;  on  the  other  hand  it  may  possibly 
not  be  so.  For  the  quotation  comes  from  a  marginal  note, 
and  what  one  expects  of  the  editor  is  that  he  should  give 
us  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge  as  to  the  date  of  this  gloss. 
Is  it  in  the  same  handwriting  as  the  body  of  the  MS.  ?  does 
it  present  the  same  linguistic  features  as  the  text  to  which 
it  is  appended  ?  These  are  questions  Mr.  O'Grady  could 
answer  but  does  not,  and  in  the  meantime  the  reference 
is  useless,  or  misleading,  to  anyone  ignorant  of  Irish 
palaeography  and  linguistics. 

The  criticisms  I  have  felt  bound  to  make  could,  it  will 
be  seen,  have  been  obviated  by  more  definite  ideas  of  the 
editorial  function,  and  by  a  very  slight  extra  expenditure 
of  time,  work,  and  space.  It  is  earnestl}'  to  be  hoped  that 
Mr.  O'Grady  and  his  publishers  will  receive  sufficient 
encouragement  to  continue  the  issue  of  Si'lva  Gadelica, 
and  that  the  editor  will,  in  future,  bear  the  requirements  of 
the  ordinary  student  more  fully  in  mind  than  he  has  done 
in  the  present  volume. 

1  These  extracts  can  as  a  rule  be  identified  by  their  beginning  with 
"Whence";  e.g.^  p.  512  (No.  vii),  "Whence  Loch  Con,"  etc. 


378  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

The  contents  of  the  volume  (already  given  in  full,  FOLK- 
LORE, ii,  p.  125)  are  of  too  miscellaneous  a  character  to 
allow  of  detailed  criticism.  Saffice  to  say  that  whilst  the 
earliest  stratum  of  Irish  story-telling  is  practically  un- 
represented, the  middle  and  1  iter  stages  are  fully  illustrated. 
These  stages  are  of  especial  interest  to  the  student  of  oral 
literature  still  surviving  among  the  Celtic-speaking  popu- 
lations of  these  islands.  The  wonderful  continuity  of  mode 
of  thought  and  expression,  upon  which  I  have  so  often 
insisted,  is  once  more  brought  into  relief  The  Gaelic 
story-tellers  of  to-day  work  in  a  convention  which  has 
subsisted  for  over  a  thousand  years. 

Undoubtedly  the  most  important  text  translated  by 
Mr.  O'Grady  is  the  Agallanih  na  Senorach,  or  Colloquy  with 
the  Ancients,  the  chief  representative  of  the  second  stage  of 
the  Ossianic  romance,  and  one  of  the  most  characteristic 
specimens  extant  of  Irish  story-telling,  with  its  fondness 
for  annalistic  and  topographical  minuticc,  its  mingling  of 
dreamy  romance  and  would-be  historic  accuracy.  Renewed 
acquaintance  with  this  text  has  not  led  me  to  modify  the 
opinions  I  expressed  concerning  its  nature  and  date  three 
years  ago  (Maclnnes,  p.  41 1),  nor  to  view  with  added  favour 
Prof  Zimmer's  hypothesis  concerning  the  origin  of  the 
Fenian  cycle. 

Mr.  O'Grady  has  been  as  chary  of  exegetical  as  of 
critical  comment,  and  this  is  greatly  to  be  regretted.  A 
romantic  literature  such  as  is  the  Irish,  singularly  self- 
contained  and  cast  in  a  traditional  mould  equally  familiar 
to  reciter  and  to  hearer,  offers  many  pitfalls  to  the  outsider. 
It  is  so  easy  to  attach  undue  importance  to  an  expression 
or  an  epithet  in  a  particular  passage  before  one  learns  that 
it  is  merely  a  conventional  cliche.  Mr.  O'Grady 's  unrivalled 
knowledge  of  Irish  romance  would  enable  him,  if  he  but 
would,  to  give  precious  assistance  to  the  student.  The  few 
obiter  dicta  scattered  through  the  volume  are  pregnant  and 
illuminating.  But  I  must  confess  my  disbelief  in  the 
soundness  of  one,  and  as  the  question  is  of  interest  to  the 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  379 

student  of  Celtic  belief  and  custom,  I  will  briefly  set 
forth  Mr.  O'Grady's  view  and  my  grounds  for  taking 
exception  to  it. 

A  number  of  stories  are  extant  in  which  the  Irish  saints 
play  a  part  that  assorts  singularly  ill  with  our  idea  of  the 
saintly  character  ;    they  show   themselves  vehement  and 
unscrupulous  partisans,  they  resort  to  trick  and  dodge  to 
achieve  their  ends.     But  the  interesting  point  is  that  whilst 
they  approve  themselves  to  be  on  the  same  moral  level  as 
the  pagan  Druid,  they  likewise  approve  themselves  to  be 
on  the  same  intellectual  level.     There  is  the  same  belief  in 
the    irresistible  power  of  the  formula,  in   the  irrevocable 
nature  of  the  oath,  in  the  efficacy  of  symbol  and  spell. 
Mr.  O'Grady  is  much  chagrined  by  these  stories,  and,  says 
he,  "  it  is  idle  to  suppose  that  the  native  Irish  writers  of 
remote  times,  whose  general  tone  indubitably  is  that  of 
gentlemen  writing  for  gentlemen,  knew  no  better  than  to 
seriously  credit  men  like  S.  Columbkill  and  Adamnan,  for 
instance,  with  conduct  worthy  of  Til  Eulenspiegel"  (p.  xviii). 
So  he  concludes  "  these  episodes  have  all  the  appearance 
of  broad  caricatures  drawn  to  raise  a  laugh."     That  the 
mediaeval  Irishman  was  quite  capable  of  enjoying  a  laugh 
at  the  expense  of  an  eminent  saint  I  am  willing  to  believe, 
but  is  it  certain  that  he  would  have  seen  anything  laughable 
in  the  trick  by  which  Moiling  procured  the  remission  of 
the  Boroma  owing  to   the  double  meaning  of  the  word 
Luath   (Monday  and    Doomsday),  or    in  how    Adamnan 
outwitted  the  King  of  Ireland }     The  two,  namely,  were 
fasting  and  performing  penance  against  each  other,  and 
neither  got  ahead  of  the  other.     So   Adamnan   dressed  up 
one  of  his  clerics  in  his  semblance,  and  when  the  king,  who 
was  averse  to  works  of  supererogation,  sent  to  ask  the  saint 
what   he   was  doing  that  night,  the  cleric  answered,  "  I 
banquet  and  sleep."  The  king  felt  he  could  do  likewise.  But 
meanwhile  Adamnan  kept  fast  and  vigil,  and  tarried  all  night 
in  the  river,  and  so  got  power  over  the  king.     The  story  is 
a  delightful   one — to  us — but   would    it   have   struck    the 


380  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

mediaeval  Irishman  as  a  joke,  and  would  he  have  considered 
the  trick  as  ungentlemanly  ?  I  doubt  it  exceedingly,  but 
what  I  chiefly  doubt  is  that  an  Irish  story-teller  would 
have  woven  these  jokes  into  historic  and  hagiological  tales 
which  were  obviously  meant  to  be  taken  au  sirieux,  if  not 
to  edify.  Yet  such  is  the  case  with  nearly  all  the  tales  that 
exercise  Mr.  O'Grady.  I  submit  that  it  is  far  simpler  to 
treat  these  stories  as  evidences  of  the  fact,  in  itself  most 
probable,  that  the  early  Irish  saints  were  just  tribal 
medicine-men  with  a  Christian  instead  of  a  pagan  bag  of 
tricks,  and  to  regard  them  as  surviving  by  force  of  tradi- 
tion, than  to  imagine  that  several  generations  of  Irish 
story-tellers,  after  centuries  of  Christianity,  went  out  of 
their  way  to  vilify  their  national  saints  by  harking  back 
to  archaic  and  pre-Christian  modes  of  thought  and  act. 

What  makes  it  still  more  unlikely  that  these  stories,  in 
which  no  trace  of  humorous  intent  is  perceptible,  were 
meant  by  way  of  caricature,  is  the  existence  of  a  mediaeval 
Irish  tale  conceived  in  the  truest  and  broadest  vein  of 
caricature.  I  allude  to  the  Vision  of  Mac  Coiiglinne.  The 
parodist  .spares  neither  heroic  saga,  nor  saint's  legend,  nor 
even  the  gospel  narrative,  and  his  work,  precious  as  testi- 
fying to  the  existence  in  serious  literature  of  the  incidents 
and  modes  of  expression  which  he  caricatures,  is  still  more 
precious  as  affording  conclusive  proof  that  the  mediaeval 
Irishman's  appreciation  and  expression  of  grotesque  humour 
were  essentially  the  same  as  our  own. 

Hitherto  we  have  been  considering  collections  of  new 
material,  and  have  had  little  to  discuss  in  way  of  contri- 
butions to  a  constructive  criticism  of  the  mythic  literature 
of  the  Irish.  But  Professor  Zimmer,  in  the  important  work 
on  Nennius^  which  he  has  just  published,  amongst  many 
valuable  hints  towards  the  proper  understanding  of  the 
Irish  literary  records  in  the  pre-mediseval  and  mediaeval 
periods,  makes  two  suggestions  the  effect  of  which  upon 

*  Fully  summarised  by  me  in  The  Academy^  Aug.   12th  and  19th, 
1893. 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  381 

current  views  of  Irish  myth  and  saga  cannot  easily  be  over- 
estimated. There  is  a  well-known  legend  to  the  effect  that 
the  bards  of  the  early  seventh  century  were  unable  to  recall 
in  its  entirety  the  greatest  of  Irish  epic  tales,  the  Tain  bo 
Ciiailgne ;  so  they  sent  to  Brittany  "to  learn  the  Tain,  which 
that  wise  man  (Jnsui)  had  taken  to  the  East  in  exchange 
for  the  Cuilmenn."  This  story  has  generally  been  interpreted 
in  the  sense  which  critics  attach  to  the  finding  of  the  Law 
under  Josiah,  i.e.,  as  implying  that  the  Tain  assumed  its 
definite  shape  in  the  early  seventh  century.  But  Prof. 
Zimmer  seems  inclined  to  take  it  au  pied  de  la  lettre.  For 
him  insui,  "  that  wise  man",  can  only  apply  to  Gildas,  with 
his  standing  epithet  of  Sapiens,  who  did  come  from  Brittany 
(returning  thither  to  die)  to  Ireland  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century,  and  who,  he  conjectures,  carried  off  a  MS.  of 
the  Tain  in  exchange  for  the  Cuilmenn,  an  historical  work 
dealing  with  the  early  history  of  mankind  in  supplement 
of  the  biblical  account,  which  was  held  in  high  esteem  in 
mediaeval  Ireland. 

If  this  is  really  so,  our  MS.  tradition  for  the  Tain,  and 
inferentially  for  other  portions  of  the  Ultonian  cycle,  is 
thrown  back  to  the  early  sixth  century,  and  we  have  the 
proof  that,  probably  following  the  firm  establishment  of 
Christianity  in  Ireland,  the  old  heroic  literature  suffered  an 
eclipse  during  the  sixth  century  and  experienced  a  revival 
in  the  seventh  century,  thanks  to  King  Guaire  of  Connaught 
and  to  the  chief  bard  Senchan  Torpeist.  The  prominence 
of  both  these  personages  in  the  romantic  history  of  the 
period  is  clear  evidence  that  they  did  take  part  in  a  bardic 
movement  of  some  sort,  and  perhaps  the  hypothesis  that 
they  represented  a  national  and  semi-pagan  reaction 
against  Christian  culture  best  fits  in  with  all  the  facts  ot 
the  case. 

The  possibilities  of  the  other  suggestion  are  even  more 
pregnant.  Prof.  Zimmer  has  always  insisted  upon  the 
Viking  period  (800-950  A.D.)  as  forming  a  chasm  in  the 
social    and    intellectual    development   of    Ireland.      The 

VOL.  IV.  D  D 


382  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

intense  and  vigorous  culture  of  the  sixth-eighth  centuries 
was  wrecked  and  shattered,  and  the  renaissance  of  the 
late  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  is  a  building  anew  the 
ancient  fabric  with  the  scattered  fragments  remaining,  and 
also  with  much  that  had  worked  itself  into  the  national 
consciousness  during  the  years  of  storm  and  stress.  It  is, 
as  a  rule,  the  renaissance  post-Viking  recension  of  the 
monuments  of  early  Irish  culture  that  has  been  preserved 
to  us,  amongst  others  of  the  Lebor  Gabala,  the  legendary 
pre-history  of  Ireland.  But  with  the  aid  of  Nennius,  who 
at  the  end  of  the  eighth  century  had  access  to  an  older 
form  of  the  L.  G.  than  any  which  has  comedown  to  us,  we 
can  form  an  idea  of  the  pre-Viking  recension  of  this  text. 
The  section  concerning  the  Tuatha  de  Danann  was,  so  Prof. 
Zimmer  asserts,  much  less  detailed.  The  ordinary,  post- 
Viking,  recension  describes  them  as  addicted  to  "druidism, 
heathendom,  and  devil's  lore,  skilled  in  every  art,  wrapped 
in  cloud  caps  and  dark  mists."  Here  we  have  the  trace 
of  stories  concerning  the  spell-crafty  Norsemen  and  the 
invisible-capped  Siegfried.  So  at  least  it  seems  to  Prof 
Zimmer. 

The  suggestion  is  thrown  out  casually,  and  is  not  followed 
up.  But  it  is  easy  to  see  to  what  far-reaching  consequences 
it  might  lead.  The  Tuatha  de  Danann  represent  what  at 
first  sight  seems  to  be  the  only  genuine  mythological 
portion  of  Irish  romance ;  the  beliefs  concerning  them 
have  practically  survived  to  the  present  day  as  the  fairy 
mythology  of  the  Gaelic-speaking  peasant.  It  would 
indeed  be  a  triumph  for  the  "  revelationist"  could  it  be 
proved  that  the  vast  structure  of  romance  connected  with 
the  Tuath  Dea  had  its  basis  in  tenth-eleventh  century 
amplifications  of  monkish  imaginings  drawn  from  biblical 
and  classic  fable  with  matter  derived  from  the  heathen 
Norsemen  invaders.  There  would  not  be  wanting  peculi- 
arities in  the  tradition  of  these  stories  to  lend  countenance 
to  such  a  view.  The  fact  which  I  instanced  in  dis- 
cussing   Mr.    Coffey's    monograph    on    the    New    Grange 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  385 

monuments,  namely,  that  the  historic  connection  with 
the  kings  of  the  early  centuries  of  our  era  had  faded 
from  the  popular  memory,  whilst  the,  according  to  the 
usual  view,  far  older  connection  with  the  Tuatha  De 
retained  its  full  vitality,  this  fact  would  be  explained 
at  once  ;  the  alleged  earlier  set  of  traditions  would  be,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  hundreds  of  years  younger  than  the  other. 
Nor  need  we  be  puzzled,  as  we  must  be  now,  by  the 
curious  way  in  which  considerable  masses  of  the  so-called 
mythological  cycle  stand  aloof  in  literary  tradition  from 
any  sort  of  connection  with  the  oldest  heroic  cycle,  that  of 
Conchobor  and  Cuchulainn.  Smaller  difficulties,such  as  the 
curious  parallelism  between  a  passage  in  the  Second  Battle 
of  Moytura  and  one  in  the  Voluspa,  to  which  I  called  atten- 
tion in  these  pages  {ante,  iii,  p.  391),  would  also  disappear. 

I  may  say  at  once  that  I  do  not  think  a  theory,  such  as 
I  have  sketched,  likely  to  be  true.  I  believe  it  will  be 
found  that  the  Irish  mythological  cycle  is  made  up  of  old 
and  genuine  Gaelic  elements.  None  the  less  do  I  think  that 
a  searching  examination,  starting  from  the  hypothesis  of  a 
late  and  largely  foreign  origin  of  this  most  Interesting  and 
problematic  portion  of  Gaelic  legend,  would  throw  much 
light  upon  it. 

A  passage  in  Prof.  Zimmer's  book  is  instructive,  if  the 
facts  and  inferences  contained  in  it  be  admitted,  as  to  the 
possibility  of  apparently  genuine  and  archaic  tradition 
being  originated  by  late  and  erroneous  views  of  history. 
In  the  Red  Book  Triads,  in  a  poem  of  the  Book  of  Taliessin, 
and  in  other  mediaeval  Welsh  texts,  we  find  mention  of 
Beli  maivr  ab  Mynogan,  obviously  the  Bellmus  jilius 
Minocanni  of  Nennius.  Nennius  obtained  this  personage 
from  Orosius,  who  mentions  a  Minocenobellinus,  which 
the  Welsh  scribe  misread  as  Minocanni  bellinus  {i.e.,  Bel- 
linus  son  of  Minocannus).  But  the  mention  of  Orosius 
rests  upon  a  mistranscribed  and  misunderstood  passage  of 
Suetonius  (Caligula  44)  relating  to  "  Adtninio  Cynobelli)it 
filio".    Thus  the  carelessness  of  copyists  and  the  ignorance 

D  D  2 


384  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

of  compilers  have  combined  to  invent  a  British  worthy 
who  might,  had  the  Hterary  conditions  been  favourable, 
have  become  the  centre  of  a  great  romantic  cycle. 

Beli  the  Great  takes  us  from  Ireland  to  Britain.  Prof. 
Zimmer's  work  is  chiefly  valuable  to  the  student  of  Welsh 
history  and  literary  history  ;  its  importance  for  the  student 
of  romance  lies  in  the  insistence  on  the  early  and  long- 
continued  relations  between  Gael  and  Cymry,  relations 
which  have  suddenly  been  carried  backwards  in  point  of 
time  and  eastwards  in  point  of  territory  by  the  unexpected 
discovery  of  an  Ogham  inscription  at  Silchester.^  What 
Prof  Zimmer  says  about  the  historic  Arthur  is  sound,  but 
neither  novel  nor  concerned  with  the  serious  difficulties  of 
the  orthodox  view.- 

In  the  preceding  Reports  I  sketched  Prof.  Zimmer's  theory 
of  the  specific  Breton  origin  of  the  Arthurian  romance  as 
we  find  it  in  the  French  romances  of  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries.  That  theory  was  complicated — and 
compromised — by  connection  with  Prof  Forster's  attack 
upon  M.  Gaston  Paris  for  arguing  that  the  North-French 
romance  writers  received  their  material  from  Anglo-Norman 
intermediaries.  Not  a  trace  of  these  hypothetical  inter- 
mediaries survives,  urged  Prof  Forster ;  the  French  poets  got 
their  material  from  Brittany,  urged  Prof  Zimmer.  M.  Loth, 
in  the  Revue  Celtique  for  October  1892,  has  to  my  mind 
conclusively  disproved  the  Forsterian  side  of  the  argu- 
ment. His  reasons  can  be  appreciated  by  those  who  are 
unfamiliar  with  the  minutiae  of  historical  phonology.  He 
urges  that  the  name  Yvains  in  the  French  romances  can 
only  go  back  to  a  written  Welsh  Ywein.  If  the  name  had 
come  to  the  French  orally  they  would  have  attempted  to 

^  See  Prof.  Rhys  in  The  Academy  for  Aug.  19. 

2  Difficulties  which  would  be  singularly  lessened  (though  still 
graver  ones  would  make  their  appearance)  if  Mr.  Anscombe's  start- 
ling ascription  of  Gildas'  Epistola  to  the  year  498  be  correct. 
(A.  Anscombe,  Chron.  Tracts^  No.  ii  :  St.  Gildas  of  Ruys  and  the  Irish 
Regal  Chronology  of  the  6th  Century.) 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  385 

render  the  sound  of  the    Cymric  y,  which    is  something 
between    a   French  e   inuet   and  a  short   0  (Ywein  =  the 
modern  Welsh  Owen),  and  would  have  written  something 
like    Ewen  ;    their   retention    of    the  y   (which   they    un- 
doubtedly sounded  like  a  long  e)  conclusively  shows  that 
they  only  knew  the  name  by  sight,  and  not  by  ear.    Again, 
the   French   romance  writers,   finding   a  written  Caradoc 
Breich-Bras   {i.e.,  in   Welsh,  C.  of  the  strong  arms),  and 
misled  by  similarity  of  look  between  Welsh  Bras  =  strong, 
and   French  Bras  =  arm,  transcribed    it    as    C.  Brie-Bras 
(or,  in  French,  C.  short  arms),  which  they  never  could  have 
done  had  they  heard  the  word  pronouneed,  for  in  accord- 
ance with  the  rules  of  Cymric  phonology  the  initial  con- 
sonants suffered  change,  so  that  the  epithet  was  sounded 
Vreichvras.    The  demonstration  seems  conclusive  as  against 
Professor  Forster,  for  it  is  obvious  that  the  French  romance 
writers  had  no  access  to  Welsh  MSS.,  and  could  only  have 
derived  the  Welsh  forms  from  Anglo-Norman  sources  ;  but 
Prof.  Zimmer  might  retort  that  these  Welsh  written  versions 
came  into  existence  after  the  Norman  Conquest  had  brought 
the  Breton  romances  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Welsh,  but 
before   the    French  romance  writers    knew    of  them.     M. 
Loth,  however,  whilst  cordially  recognising,  as  every  true 
student  must  do,  that  Prof  Zimmer  has  successfully  vindi- 
cated for  Brittany  many  features  of  the  Arthurian  romance 
as  we  possess  it,  has  little  difficulty  in  showing  that  he  has, 
more  suo,  driven  his  theory  too  hard,  and  altogether  under- 
rated   the     Welsh   element    in    the     romance.      For   the 
moment  at  least  the  centre  of  gravity  of  Arthurian  study 
has  been  shifted  back  from  Brittany  to  Britain.     But  little 
has    been   done   towards    that    adequate   solution   of   the 
Arthurian  problem  which  must,  I  think,  take  into  account 
the  following  factors  :  {a)  the   relation  of  the  legendary 
account,  preserved  by  the  Welsh   sources    alone,  to  that 
found  in  the  French  romances  ;   {b)  the  relation  of  both 
accounts  to  the  substratum  of  fact  connected  with  the  histori- 
cal Arthur  ;  {c)  the  nature,  whether  in  its  origin  racial  and 


386  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga. 

mythological,  or  borrowed  and  literary,  of  this  legendary 
portion  ;  {d)  the  relation  of  Cymric  and  Gaelic  legend 
generally.  Professor  Rhys  has  made  many  acute  sugges- 
tions under  head  {d)\  M.  Gaston  Paris,  under  head  (c),  has, 
in  his  study  of  the  Lancelot  story,  made  the  most  valuable 
existing  contribution  towards  the  explanation  of  the 
Arthurian  romance  ;  under  head  {d')  there  are  scattered 
suggestions  due  to  Prof  Zimmer,  M.  Loth,  and  myself,  and 
I  may  claim  to  have  clearly  seen  from  the  outset  the 
importance  of  the  factor.  But  much  remains  to  be  done, 
and  no  more  fascinating  field  of  study  could  be  chosen. 

I  may  here  note  a  pamphlet  on  the  Grail  story,  which  I 
have  unfortunately  mislaid,  sent  to  me  from  America  by,  I 
think,  a  Mr.  Maclean.  In  addition  to  some  spirited  render- 
ings from  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach's  Parzival  it  contained 
one  ingenious  suggestion — a  comparison  of  Peredur's  ad- 
venture with  the  Addanc  of  the  lake,  as  told  in  the  Welsh 
story  of  Peredur,  son  of  Evrawc,  and  Sigurd's  adventures 
with  Fafnir  and  Sigrdrifa,  as  told  in  the  Volsunga  saga. 

The  foregoing  Report  has  been  largely  concerned  with 
critical  questions,  but  I  have,  I  trust,  succeeded  in  bringing 
out  the  importance  of  what  may  appear  at  first  blush  to  be 
mere  dry-as-dust  exhibitions  of  pedantry.  It  is  only  by 
the  most  exact  and  searching  examination,  conducted  with 
all  the  appliances  of  the  philologist,  the  paleographer,  the 
historian,  and  the  archaeologist,  of  all  the  remains  written, 
figured,  and  oral  of  Celtic  romance,  that  we  can  hope  to 
trace  its  development  and  to  set  forth  its  true  nature. 
The  truth  at  which  we  thus  arrive,  by  means  which  maybe 
deemed  pedantic  and  wearisome,  is  far  more  beautiful 
than  those  lazy  imaginings  we  spin  out  of  our  own  con- 
sciousness. And  meanwhile  we  have  the  spring  of  as  fair 
and  clear  a  stream  of  romance  as  ever  welled  forth  from 
the  imagination  of  man  to  cheer  and  refresh  us  in  our 
march  through  the  Sahara  of  criticism.  Merely  as  a 
story-book  Mr.  O'Grady's  Silva  Gadelica  is  excellent 
reading,   and   if  one   takes  it  up    side   by  side  with  the 


Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.  387 

exquisite  little  volume  devoted  to  the  love-songs  of  Con- 
naught  which  Dr.  Hyde  has  just  brought  out,  the  oneness 
of  the  Celtic  genius  throughout  the  reach  of  centuries,  as 
well  as  its  unique  and  penetrating  charm,  are  borne  in  upon 
the  mind  with  irresistible  force.  The  Celtic  folk-muse 
greets  us  from  Dr.  Hyde's  pages  like  one  of  her  own 
heroines  : 

"  The  taste  of  her  kisses  is  sweeter  than  the  honey  of  the  bees 
on  the  table, 
And  to  be  drinking  it  in  berry-red  brandy." 

Whoso  has  tasted  those  kisses,  whoso  has  heard  her  fairy- 
song,  like  Connla  Ruad,  will  not  stay  afar  from  her,  but  if 
he  may,  will  follow  and  dwell  with  her  in  the  land  where 
she  is  queen. 

Alfred  Nutt. 


REVIEW. 


La  Mythologie  du  Nord,  eclairee  par  des  Inscriptions 
latines  en  Germanic,  en  Gaule  et  dans  la  Bretagne 
ancienne  des  premiers  siecles  de  notre  ere,  etudes 
par  Frederic  Sander.  8vo.  Stockholm:  Norstedt. 
N.D.  [1893.] 

It  is  useless  to  do  more  than  give  a  few  specimens  of  the 
method  and  manner  of  this  book,  nor,  since  it  is  an  honest 
but  ineffectual  attempt  to  treat  a  difficult  subject,  is  it 
desirable  to  say  more  about  it,  save  to  warn  students  that 
they  will  not  find  their  knowledge  increased  by  reading  it. 
The  following  citations,  chosen  almost  at  hazard,  are  fair 
examples  of  its  author's  work  : — 

C.I.L.,  No.  1064  Addenda.  Deo  Marti  tari  Pirumestu. 
"  Tares  de  ahd  :  tara  .  .  .  cf.  ahd  :  tamjan  .  .  ,  d'ou  Farn- 
kut,  tarn-kappe.  Piru-mes-tumari,  celui  qui  abuse  de  la 
poire,  de/zV«  poire,  mes  =  missi,  et  ahd:  ^/w^^rz,  histrion, 
comedien,  aventurier." 

C.I.L.,  xii.  No.  248.  L.  Valerius  Ouartus  Carpanto 
V.S.L.M.  "  Le  nom  celtique  du  dieu  Carpantus  me  parait 
deriver  de  car^  cher,  precieux,  et  de  bannetJi,  bennath,  bennet 
(benediction)  :  le  cher  benisseur  ou  bienfaiteur,  qui  peut 
etre  difficilement  un  autre  que  Balder.  .  .  ." 

C.I.L.,  xii.  No.  5848.  Alambrimae  Seuerus  Perpetui  fil. 
exs.  not. 

"  Une  inscription  celtique  en  honneur  d'Idune  6.&  lamh 
main  et  brime  correspondant  au  Grec  ^ptfiri  colere,  A- 
lam-brima  la  courroucee  prise  par  la  main.  .  .  ." 

C.I.L.,  vii.  No.  140.     Deus  nodenti  Silulanus,  etc. 

Nodentes  is  made  the  nominative  =  nodenter  =  nau^r, 
need,  and  enten'^r  from  endjan  to  end.     "  Silulanus  est  sans 


Review.  389 

aucun  doute  la  vraie  lecon,  et  le  nom  vient  de  silv  =  silf, 
self  rnQVCiQ,  et  de  lan-us  de  Imen^  linefi,  Jilincn,  compter  sur; 
cf.  isl :  lane  coupir,  preter,  done  :  celui  qui  compte  sur  lui- 
meme.  Seyticianiis  est  una  latinisation  de  snikjaner  part, 
de  ags.     Snikja  etre  avide  du  bien  d'autrui." 

The  Julia  Alpinula  inscription  (Orelli,  No.  400)  is  genuine 
according  to  our  author,  and  dates  from  the  year  70  A.D. 
The  common  British  Deo  Viteri  or  Veteri  is  interpreted  as 
referring  to  the  god  Widar,  brother  of  Wale. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  regret  the  pains  spent  in  the 
composition  of  this  book,  for  of  such  theories  as  it  exposes 
the  sad  and  disappointed  folk-lorist  can  only  say  with 
Vanini's  pupil,  "  Rationem  banc  nisi  exemplis  et  experi- 
mento  confirmes,  non  admitto." 

F.  York  Powell. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


LENTExN   CUSTOM  IN  THE  SOUTH  OF  ITALY. 

To  the  Editor  ^/FOLK-LORE. 

Sir, — Seven  years  ago,  whilst  I  was  at  Castellamare 
(below  Naples),  I  noticed  in  the  old  town  that  a  cord  was 
hanging  from  one  side  of  the  narrow  street  to  the  other, 
fastened  to  the  upper  part  of  the  many-storied  houses. 
From  the  middle  of  the  cord  hung  a  roughly-made  puppet, 
about  a  foot  long,  dressed  all  in  black,  rather  like  a  nun  in 
general  appearance,  and  from  the  skirts  of  the  puppet  came 
five  or  six  hen's  feathers,  rather  like  feather  legs  in  arrange- 
ment. I  asked  a  peasant  what  was  the  meaning  of  the  doll, 
and  he  said,  with  true  Italian  vagueness,  "  It  is  merely 
Lent."  However,  by  means  of  questions,  in  my  very 
limited  Italian,  I  found  that,  at  the  expiration  of  every 
week  throughout  Lent,  one  feather  leg  was  pulled  off  the 
puppet,  and  that  it  was  finally  destroyed  on  the  last  day  of 
Lent.  If  I  remember  well,  Mr.  Story,  the  sculptor,  refers 
to  a  similar  custom  in  his  Saints  and  Superstitions,  which 
I  have  not  got  by  me,  but  he  does  not  mention  the  feather 
legs.  Mr.  Story  wrote  of  the  custom  a  good  many  years 
ago  as  being  one  which  was  fast  dying  out  in  Italy. 

Could  any  folk-lorist  explain  why  feathers  should  be 
used  ?  Would  there  be  any  connection  between  them  and 
the  Easter  hens  and  Easter  eggs  which  are  so  much  seen 
in  Italy?  The  destruction  of  the  black  doll  no  doubt  has 
the  same  meaning  as  the  Easter  customs  mentioned  in  Mr. 
Frazer's  Golden  Bough,  as  being  so  widely  spread,  and,  I 
suppose,  typifies  the  destruction  of  Winter  and  Death  ? 

Lucy  E.  Broadwood. 


Correspondence.  39 1 

KEY   MAGIC. 

To  the  Editor  of  FOLK-LORE. 

Sir, — The  key,  either  in  conjunction  with  the  Bible  or 
alone,  played  an  important  part  in  our  East-Anglian 
divination  ceremonies.  But  a  use  to  which  it  was  put  is, 
I  think,  almost  unique,  namely,  to  influence  wind  and  tide 
on  behalf  of  a  vessel  coming  into  or  leaving  port. 

The  following  is  a  brief  account  supplied  by  our  friend 
and  representative  for  Norfolk,  Miss  Matthews  ;  and  it  is 
the  more  interesting  as  it  is  corroborated  by  a  friend  at 
Lynn,  who  states  in  a  letter  to  me  that  he  well  remembers 
seeing  the  action,  but  did  not  attach  any  value  or  interest 
to  it  at  the  time  (not  being  a  folk-lorist,  perhaps).  But 
since  I  told  him  of  the  information  I  had  received  he 
called  it  to  mind  ;  but,  though  he  has  since  been  on  the 
look-out  at  intervals  for  its  recurrence,  he  has  not  been 
able  to  trace  even  an  isolated  instance  of  its  survival  at 
this  date.  If  it  does  still  exist  he  has  not  been  fortunate 
enough  to  observe  it.  Possibly  the  decrease  in  the  ship- 
ping may  partly  account  for  this  ;  or  possibly  it  has  been 
proved  to  be  ineffectual  in  its  results.  But  in  any  case  it 
does  not  appear  popular  with  the  younger  generation 
of  seamen's  wives,  and  will  probably  be,  ere  long,  entirely 
forgotten.  The  following  is  the  account  supplied  to 
Miss  Matthews  by  a  friend. 

"  At  a  time  when  there  were  no  docks  at  Lynn,  and  all 
ships  trading  to  the  port  moored  in  the  harbour,  I  have 
seen  groups  of  women,  no  doubt  the  wives  and  sweethearts 
of  the  sailors,  assembled  on  the  quay,  watching  for  the 
arrival  or  departure  of  a  ship,  in  the  crew  of  which  one  or 
all  might  have  an  interest.  Each  carried  in  her  hand  a 
key,  generally  apparently  the  key  of  the  house-door  ;  and 
if  she  was  watching  for  a  vessel  expected  'up  with  the 
tide'  she  would,  by  inserting  one  finger  in  the  bow  of  it, 


392  Correspondence. 

and  placing  a  finger  of  the  other  hand  in  the  angle  of  the 
wards  and  the  stem,  continue  turning  the  key  towards 
herself  until  the  vessel  arrived,  or  until  the  tide  turned  and 
its  coming  was,  for  a  time,  hopeless.  The  object  of  the 
winding  motion  was  to  bring  the  vessel  home.  If,  how- 
ever, the  person  was  watching  the  departure  of  a  ship,  the 
key  would  be  turned  in  the  same  manner,  but  in  the 
contrary  direction,  viz.,  from  the  holder,  which  act  was 
supposed  to  invoke  good  luck  for  the  vessel  and  the  crew. 
I  have  little  doubt  that  the  custom  is  still  (1891)  observed, 
though  now  probably  to  only  a  very  limited  extent." 

I  should  be  glad  if  any  member  could  give  other 
examples  of  a  similar  custom  elsewhere. 

Great  Yarmouth.  W.  B.  Gerish. 


"THE    SIN-EATER." 

To  the  Editor  of  FoLK-LoRE. 

Sir, — In  connection  with  Mr.  Hartland's  article  on  "The 
Sin-Eater"  in  Folk- Lore  for  June  1892,  the  following 
occurrence  at  a  funeral  near  Market  Drayton  in  Shrop- 
shire may  interest  you. 

The  funeral  took  place  on  the  first  of  this  present  month. 

The  minister  of  the  chapel  where  the  deceased  woman 
had  been  a  regular  attendant  held  a  short  service  in  the 
cottage  before  the  coffin  was  removed. 

The  lady,  who  gave  ms  the  particulars,  arrived  rather 
early,  and  found  the  bearers  enjoying  a  good  lunch  in  the 
only  downstairs  room.  Shortly  afterwards  the  coffin  was 
brought  down  and  placed  on  two  chairs  in  the  centre  of 
the  room,  and  the  mourners  having  gathered  round  it  the 
service  proceeded.  Directly  the  minister  ended,  the  woman 
in  charge  of  the  arrangements  poured  out  four  glasses  of 
wine  and  handed  one  to  each  bearer  present  across  the 
coffin,  with  a  biscuit  called  a  "  funeral  biscuit". 


Correspondence.  393 

One  of  the  bearers  being  absent  at  the  moment,  the 
fourth  glass  of  wine  and  biscuit  were  offered  to  the  eldest 
son  of  the  deceased  woman,  who,  however,  refused  to  take 
them,  and  was  not  obliged  to  do  so. 

The  biscuits  were  ordinary  sponge  biscuits,  usually- 
called  "  sponge  fingers"  or  "  lady's  fingers".  They  are, 
however,  also  known  in  the  shops  of  Market  Drayton  as 
"  funeral  biscuits". 

The  minister,  who  had  lately  come  from  Pembrokeshire, 
remarked  to  my  informant  that  he  was  sorry  to  see  that 
pagan  custom  still  observed.  He  had  been  able  to  put  an 
end  to  it  in  the  Pembrokeshire  village  where  he  had 
formerly  been. 
July  27,  1893.  Gertrude  Hope. 


NOTES  AND   NEWS. 


Among  the  papers  in  the  forthcoming  number  will  be 
one  by  Mr.  Duncan  on  "  Folk-lore  in  Wills"  ;  by  Mr.  E. 
Sidney  Hartland  on  "  Pin-wells  and  Rag-bushes";  by  Miss 
Godden  on  "  Holy  Islands"  ;  and  a  Report  on  Recent 
Research  on  Animal  Tales,  by  Mr.  Joseph  Jacobs. 

The  forthcoming  publishing  season  does  not  offer  the 
usual  prospects  of  any  large  number  of  works  relating  to 
Folk-lore.     The  following  seem  to  exhaust  the  list  : 

Mrs.  Gomme,  English  Singing  Games.     (Nutt.) 
Sir  D.  Campbell,  Scots  Folk-Tales.     (Scott.) 
A.  M.  Fielde,  Chinese  Fairy  Tales.     (S.P.CK.) 
J.  Jacobs,  Afore  English  Fairy  Tales.     (Nutt.) 

As  far  as  yet  settled,  the  following  is  the  programme  of 
the  forthcoming  session  of  the  Folk-lore  Society  : — 

1893. 
Nov.    15th. — On  Indian  Village  Festivals.     By  Fred.  Fawcett. 

Manx  Proverbs.     By  G.  W.  Wood,  F.C.S. 

Dec.    20th. — Old  Northern  Folk-Lore  and  Folk-Faith.     By  F.  York 

Powell,  F.S.A. 

Scripture  Tableaux  in  Italian  Churches,  with  notes  on 

1894.  Italian  Votive  Offerings.     By  W.  H.  D.  Rouse. 

Jan.     17th.  —Annual  Meeting  and  Annual  Address  by  the  President. 

Feb.    2 1st. — Gipsy  Fairy  Tales  from  Roumania.     By  Rev.  Dr.  Gaster. 

Mar.    2 1st. — Polish  and  Serbian  Demonology  as  exemplified  in  their 

Folk-Tales.     By  J.  T.  Naake. 
April  18th. — The  Western   Folk  of  Ireland  and  their  Lore.     (Illus- 
trated by  Lantern  Slides.)     By  Prof.  A.  C.  Haddon, 
F.L.S. 
May    23rd. — The  Omens  of  the  Thugs  and  their  relation  to  European 
Folk-Lore  of  Birds  and  Beasts.     By  F.  Sessions. 
The  Sacred  Wells  of  Man.     By  A.  W.  Moore. 
Ditto.     G.  W.  Wood,  F.C.S. 


Notes  and  News.  395 

June    20th. — The  Old  Norwegian  Speculum  Regale.     By  Prof.  Kuno 
Meyer. 
Armenian  Folk-Lore.     By  Prof.  M.  Tcheraz. 

Besides  the  more  special  Congress  devoted  to  Folk- 
lore at  Chicago  in  July,  the  Anthropological  Congress  of 
September  had  a  section  devoted  to  Folk-lore,  the  organi- 
sation of  which  was  entrusted  to  the  capable  hands  of 
Messrs.  W.  W.  Newell  and  F.  Boas. 

The  section  of  county  Folk-lore  relating  to  Suffolk,  and 
compiled  by  Lady  Camilla  Gurdon,  will  be  issued  at  once 
to  members  of  the  Folk-lore  Society.  Mr.  E.  Clodd 
contributes  a  Preface,  pointing  out  the  interest  and  im- 
portance of  the  county  collection. 

The  Report  on  the  Ethnographic  Survey  of  the  British 
Isles,  presented  at  the  Nottingham  meeting  of  the  British 
Association,  contained  a  section  dealing  with  Folk-lore, 
which  is  thus  recognised  as  one  of  the  means  of  ethno- 
graphic research. 

The  volume  of  translation  of  the  mythical  portions  of 
Saxo  Graminaticus,  translated  by  Mr.  O.  Elton  and  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  F.  York  Powell,  is  almost  through  the  press, 
and  will  be  issued  to  the  Society  as  the  volume  for  1893. 

Mr.  W.  W.  Newell  has  been  for  some  time  collecting 
the  English  Folk-tales  that  are  still  current  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  anticipated  that  his  collection  will  be  pub- 
lished during  the  course  of  1894. 

Papers  and  other  communications  for  the  next  number 
of  Folk-Lore  must  be  sent  to  the  Office,  270,  Strand, 
on  or  before  November  i,  1893. 


FOLK-LORE  MISCELLANEA. 


Folk-lore  Items  from  Nortli  Indian  Notes  and  Queries^  edited  by 
William  Crooke,  B.A.     (Constable  and  Co.) 

( The  references  are  by  volume  a7id  paragraph.     The  current  volume  is 
II,  and  these  notes  begin  with  January  of  the  present  year.) 

Popular  Religion. — 6ii.  N.W.  Provinces.  A  long  song,  text  and 
translation.  Sahu  Salar,  in  digging  the  foundations  of  a  watch-house, 
unearths  a  demon.  [This  throws  light  on  the  human  sacrifice  so 
often  used  in  beginning  a  building,  which  must  be  propitiatory.] 

613.  Customs  of  the  Sultani  Sikhs.  (Those  who  cannot  go  on  the 
great  pilgrimage  of  these  people  sleep  at  home  at  least  one  night  on 
the  ground  as  a  substitute. ) 

717.  Hindu  annual  festival  of  snake-worship  or  appeasing,  and  fast 
on  Feb.  i6th. 

726.  Instances  of  Mother  Satti,  mothers  dying  by  satti  with  their 
sons,  not  their  husbands  (Rajputana). 

729.  Yearly  ceremony  of  snake-worship,  and  charm  against  snake- 
bite (Agarwala  Banyas).  [The  Atharva  Veda  has  numbers  of 
charms  against  snake-bites.] 

Sociology. — 615,  627,  680.  Hoshiarpur.     Marriage  regulations. 
616.  Ludhiana.     Birth  ceremonies.     (Midwife  ties  iron  ring  over 
the  door.) 

623.  Ludhiana.  Jat  betrothal  ceremonies.  (Brides  are  often 
purchased.) 

624.  Marriage  ceremonies  among  the  Jats  of  Ludhiana.  (Walking 
round  the  fire.) 

626.  Muhammadan  marriage  customs  :  Jalandhar. 

681.  „  „                 „  Ludhiana. 
687.  „                     „                 „  Agarwalas. 
695.  ,,                      ,,       (polyandry)  Dehra  Dun. 
708.  „                     „                 „  the  Khurwars. 

682.  Land  tenure. 

691.  Manorial  dues  :  Garhwal. 
693,  694.  Death  ceremonies. 
731.  Couvade  in  India. 


Folk-lore  Miscellanea.  397 

732.  Birth,  betrothal,  and  marriage  among  the  Agarwala  Banyas. 
(The  clothes  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom  are  tied  in  a  knot.) 

T})-}).  Tattooing  of  women  (N.W.  Prov.).  Conciliates  the  mysterious 
opponents  who  beset  the  path  traversed  after  death.  Imitations  of 
ornaments,  since  no  other  ornament  can  be  taken  to  the  next  world. 
Remedy  for  disease  and  barrenness. 

738.  Procedure  of  sorcerers  to  cure  disease  (Kumaon).  The  usual 
ecstasies,  and  instances  of  second-sight  more  or  less  correct.  The 
writer  vouches  for  one  of  them  ;  he  tested  the  man  himself. 

Folk-lore. — 633.  The  Princess  who  got  the  gift  of  patience.  The 
tale  contains  incidents  like  that  of  Psyche.  The  fairy  prince  visits  his 
bride  only  at  night,  when  she  turns  a  magic  fan  upside  down. 
Envious  sisters  grind  glass  fine,  and  lay  it  under  the  sheet.  The 
prince  falls  into  horrible  pain,  and  the  princess  finds  out  what  is  the 
matter,  and  how  to  cure  it,  by  hearing  birds  talk. 

634.  Superstitions  of  husbandry. 

643.  Another  version  of  the  Fairy  Gift  legend.  A  saint  gives  a 
herdsman  a  handful  of  barley,  which  turns  into  gold  at  home. 

699.  Tale  of  an  ass  which  dropped  money. 

703.  "  Scapegoat"  animal  carries  off  disease. 

704.  The  Magic  Ring  of  Lord  Solomon.  Contains  the  following 
incidents  :  Wishing  Ring  (cp.  Lang's  Blue  Fairy  Tale  Book,  No.  i)  ; 
prince  leaves  a  cup  of  milk  with  his  mother,  saying,  "  As  long  as  this 
milk  does  not  turn  sour,  know  that  I  am  alive."  The  princess  throws 
three  hairs  into  the  river,  and  a  king  who  finds  them  falls  in  love 
with  her.  A  witch  gets  the  ring,  and  spirits  the  princess  away.  A 
dog  and  cat  get  the  ring  back  by  aid  of  a  mouse.  [Almost  the  same 
story  from    South  India  in  Clouston's  Popular  Tales  and  Fictions 

739.  The  pranks  of  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  (Alirzapur). 

740.  Shekh  Chilli  and  the  Thieves  :  "  four  corners  and  one  above." 

742.  A  monster  who  boiled  boys  in  oil.  The  hero  throws  him  in, 
boils  him,  and  sprinkles  the  oil  on  the  bones  which  lie  about.  The 
boys  previously  boiled  come  to  life  again  (Mirzapur). 

743.  The  Man  who  Fought  with  God.  Three  questions  asked  on 
the  way  by  people  whom  he  came  across,  which  he  gets  answered 
(Mirzapur). 

744.  Princess  Pomegranate.  Prince  plucks  a  pomegranate  off  a 
tree,  but  is  told  to  take  no  more.  He  at  first  does  so,  and  is  killed  ; 
then  he  only  took  one,  and  it  burst,  and  a  princess  came  out.  Envious 
woman,  who  kills  the  princess,  and  takes  her  place  ;  princess  returns 
in  form  of  a  flower,  which  is  pricked  to  pieces,  from  which  a  pome- 
granate-tree grew,  and  bore  one  fruit,  from  which  the  princess  came 

VOL.  IV.  E  E 


39^  Folk-lore  Miscellanea. 

out  again.     Envious  woman  had  her  killed,  and  ate  her  liver.     At 
length  she  is  restored,  and  marries  her  prince  (Mirzapur). 

745.  Tasks  of  the  Witch  Queen.  The  witch  maligns  a  young  queen, 
and,  after  many  misfortunes  have  befallen  the  young  queen,  her  son 
learns  that  the  witch's  life  rests  in  a  parrot,  which  he  kills. 

Ethnolog'y. — 651.  (Goat-butchers  will  not  kill  cows,  and  vice  versd.) 
654.  Montgomery — loya  Tribe,     "/i;?/ means  a  wife,  and  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  tribe  got  its  name  from  no  one  knowing  who  their  male 
ancestor  was." 

648,  705.  Physical  differences  between  Europeans  and  Asiatics 
worked  out  in  great  detail.  The  writer  holds  that  "  in  using  force, 
even  to  the  most  trifling  matter,  the  European  appears  to  depend 
chiefly  on  his  extensoral  development,  and  the  Asiatic  on  h\sJlexoral. 

W.  H.  D.  Rouse. 


The  Sin-Eater. — In  his  work  on  Turkestan,^  Dr.  Schuyler  speaks 
of  a  custom  existing  in  that  country  which  is  worth  noting  in  connec- 
tion with  Mr.  Sidney  Hartland's  paper  on  this  subject  in  the  June 
number  of  FOLK-LORE,  1892.  "Life  in  Ach  Kurgan",  Dr.  S.  says, 
"  was  rather  dull,  amusement  there  was  none,  all  games  being  strictly 
forbidden.  Such  things  as  jugglery,  dancing,  and  comic  performances 
are,  I  am  told,  forbidden  in  the  Kanate,  the  licentious  Khan  having 
seen  the  error  of  his  ways,  and  having  put  on,  for  his  people  at  least, 
the  semblance  of  virtue.  Of  praying  there  was  very  little  ;  occasion- 
ally in  the  afternoon  at  sunset  some  few  pious  individuals  would  spread 
out  a  rug  and  make  their  supplications  to  Allah.  One  poor  old  man, 
however,  I  noticed,  who  seemed  constantly  engaged  in  prayer.  On 
calling  attention  to  him,  I  was  told  that  he  was  an  iskachi,  a  person 
who  makes  his  living  by  taking  upon  himself  the  sins  of  the  dead,  and 
thenceforward  devoting  his  life  to  prayer  for  their  souls.  He  corre- 
sponds to  the  sin-eater  of  the  Welsh  border." 

In  Kashmir,  on  the  borders  of  Central  Asia,  where  the  present 
writer  now  is,  it  is  the  living,  apparently,  who  need  a  j'/w-eater. 

We  have  just  passed  through  a  terrible  visitation  of  cholera  ;  when 
the  outbreak  was  at  its  worst,  the  deaths  in  the  native  city  rose  to 
nearly  three  hundred  daily.  An  order  then  came  from  the  Maharaja 
(who  was  at  Jamu,  his  second  capital*)  that  a  couple  or  more  bulls 

1  Vol.  ii,  p.  28. 

2  The  chief  town  of  a  fief  belonging  to  the  Maharaja  of  Kashmir's 
progenitors  for  two  or  more  generations  before  Kashmir  was  given 
over  to  that  family. 


Folk-lore  Miscellanea.  399 

were  to  be  bought,  and  driven  for  some  hours  round  and  about  the 
streets  and  the  lanes  of  the  city,  and  then  turned  out  loose  to  wander 
at  will,  in  order  to  remove  the  pestilence. 

It  was  accordingly  done,  and  the  effect  this  would  seem  to  have 
had  on  the  minds  of  the  people  was  something  marvellous  ;  the  seizures 
diminished,  and  the  death-rate  suddenly  declined  in  a  most  marked 
manner.  It  would  appear  that  the  Kashmiris  believed  either  that 
these  animals  bore  away  the  disease,  or  the  sins  and  shortcomings 
which  had  brought  this  scourge  upon  them. 

At  Jamu  itself,  some  years  ago,  the  writer  saw  numerous  ownerless 
cattle  wandering  about  the  native  city  and  its  environs,  and  was  then 
told  that  these  were  animals  which,  by  a  particular  ceremony,  had  had 
the  sins  of  certain  persons  laid  upon  them;  they  looked  sleek  and  well- 
fed,  living  most  probably  upon  the  charity  of  the  general  public. 

The  notion  regax'ding  the  j-z«-eater  in  Southern  Italy  becomes  even 
more  directly  personal,  as  the  following  anecdote  serves  to  show. 
The  writer  had  it  from  a  Roman  lady  who  had  then  resided  some 
years  in  Naples,  she  knew  one  of  the  parties  concerned,  and  spoke  of 
it  as  a  singular  piece  of  superstition.  A  family  of  her  acquaintance 
had  settled  themselves  down  in  an  apartment  in  that  city  ;  not  long 
afterwards  another  flat  in  the  same  house  was  taken  by  a  lady  whom 
the  first-comers  believed  possessed  the  MaP  Occhio  —  i\\&  Evil  Eye. 
They  were  in  despair,  and,  in  order  to  avert  any  bad  consequences 
v/hich  might  result  to  themselves,  they  caused  a  bull  to  be  brought  to 
the  house,  and  had  it  driven  through  the  entrance  archway,  and  led 
round  and  round  the  courtyard  for  some  hours.  There  seems  a 
remarkable  connection  between  the  sin-eater  of  Central  Asia  and  of 
the  Welsh  border,  the  bull  of  Kashmir,  and  the  Neapolitan  custom. 

H.  G.  M.  Murray-Aynsley. 

Srinagar,  Kashmir,  July  28,  1893. 


John  Aller. — The  following  story  was  told  me  in  the  summer  of  1885 
by  a  farmer  at  Aller  in  Somersetshire  (Mr.  Dudridge),  to  account  for 
the  origin  of  the  name  of  the  village. 

He  also  informed  me  that  there  was  a  monument  to  Aller  in  the 
church,  but  this  was  incorrect. 

The  village  of  Aller  is  distant  about  two  miles  from  Curry  Rivell, 
both  villages  are  on  the  sides  of  hills,  and  the  intervening  country  is 
flat  and  marshy. 

The  spot  pointed  out  to  me  as  the  site  of  the  encounter  is  a  bare 
patch  of  sand,  very  noticeable  on  the  green  hill-side  as  you  approach 
by  the  Langport  road. 

The  rector  of  Aller  had  ne\er  heard  the  story. 

K  E  2 


400  Folk-lore  Miscellanea. 

"  Many  years  ago  a  fiery  flying  dragon  lived  at  Curry  Rivell.  At 
certain  times  it  used  to  fly  across  the  marsh  to  Aller  and  destroy  the 
crops  and  all  it  came  near,  with  its  fiery  breath.  This  continued  for 
a  long  time.  At  last  one  John  Aller,  a  brave  and  valiant  man,  who 
lived  at  Aller,  vowed  that  he  would  kill  it.  He  laid  in  wait,  and  when 
next  the  dragon  flew  across  to  Aller  hill  he  attacked  it,  and,  after  a 
fierce  struggle,  slevv  it,  and  cut  off  its  head.  Then  its  fiery  blood  ran 
out,  and  scorched  up  all  the  grass  around,  and  from  that  day  to  this 
grass  has  never  grown  on  the  spot.  John  Aller  was  so  burnt  by  the 
dragon's  breath  that  he  died  almost  at  the  same  moment  as  the  dragon. 
The  people  took  up  his  body,  buried  it  in  the  church,  and  called  the 
village  after  him." 

T.  W.  E.  HiGGENS. 


The  Flitting  Gnomes. — It  may  be  assumed  that  folk-lonsts  are 
acquainted  with  Crofton  Cookes's  delightful  Fairy  Legends  and 
Traditions  of  the  South  of  Ireland,  and  will  remember,  in  the  section 
devoted  to  "The  Clericaune"  (vol.  ii,  p.  163),  how  an  old  Quaker 
gentleman,  haunted  by  one  of  these  fairies,  desired  to  get  rid  of  him, 
and  for  that  purpose  took  another  house,  and  had  all  his  furniture 
packed  on  carts,  when,  as  the  last  casks  were  being  put  on,  the  Cleri- 
caune was  seen  to  jump  on  to  the  car,  and  into  the  bunghole  of  an 
empty  cask,  and  cry  :  "  Here,  master,  here  we  all  go  together."  Where- 
upon the  Quaker  said  :  "  In  that  case  let  the  cars  be  unpacked  ;  we 
are  just  as  well  where  we  are  !"  Another  similar  instance  of  the 
Danish  Nis  is  also  adduced.  In  Tlie  Land  of  Manfred,  by  Miss 
Janet  Ross,  a  book  rich  in  folk-lore,  a  like  being  with  the  same  stoiy 
is  described  as  popularly  believed  in  in  the  extreme  South  of  Italy. 
"When  near  Tasanto,  Miss  Ross  relates  (pp.  127-8),  "  I  observed  that 
some  of  the  flock  an  old  shepherd  was  guarding  looked  tired,  and 
hung  their  heads  wearily.  I  asked  whether  they  were  ill,  and  he 
answered  :  '  No,  but  I  must  get  rid  of  them,  because  the  Laiiro  has 
taken  an  antipathy  to  them.'  On  further  inquiry  he  told  me  that  the 
Laiiro  was  a  little  man,  only  thirty  centimetres  high,  always  dressed 
in  velvet,  and  wearing  a  Calabreze  hat  with  a  feather  stuck  into  it. 
The  Laiiro  is  most  capricious  :  to  some  who  ask  him  for  money  he 
gives  a  sackful  of  broken  potsherds  ;  to  others  who  ask  for  sand  he 
give  old  coins.  He  took  a  particular  dislike  to  a  cousin  of  the  old 
shepherd,  sitting  on  her  chest  at  night  and  giving  her  terrible  dreams. 
At  last  she  was  so  worried  by  the  Lauro  that  she  determined  to  leave 
her  house.  All  the  household  goods  and  chattels  were  on  the  cart ; 
nothing  was  left  but  an  old  broom,  and  when  the  goodwife  went  to 
fetch  it  the  Lauro  suddenly  appeared,  saying  :  '  I'll  take  that ;  let  us 
be  off  to  the  new  house.'     His  antipathies  or  likings  are  unaccount- 


Folk-lore  Miscellanea.  401 

able  ;  he  will  steal  corn  from  one  horse  or  mule  to  give  it  to  another  ; 
twist  up  their  manes  and  tails  in  a  fantastic  way,  or  shave  them  in 
queer  patterns.  The  Lauro  could  not  allow  the  sheep  I  had  asked 
about  to  rest  at  night,  and  any  animal  he  hated  had  to  be  sold." 
Thus  a  being  with  the  same  attributes  and  story  attached  is  known  in 
Denmark,  Ireland,  and  the  far  South  of  Italy. 

The  Monaciello  of  Naples.— Belief  in  the  Monaciello,  or  Little 
Monk,  still  prevails  all  around  the  Bay  of  Naples  ;  he  is  described  as 
broad,  sturdy,  and  dwarfish  ;  wearing  a  monk's  dress,  but  a  broad- 
brimmed  hat.  He  is  mischievous  and  tricky,  sometimes  spiteful  ; 
often  alluded  to  in  the  Pentameroiie.  In  one  of  the  tales,  "  Vardiello," 
a  house  is  mentioned  that  had  been  deserted  on  account  of  the  annoy- 
ances occasioned  by  the  Monaciello.  Except  that  he  is  never  associ- 
ated with  the  Will-o'-the-Wisp  he  would  seem  to  be  somewhat  akin  to 
the  English  Friar  Rush.  It  is,  however,  in  Sorrento  that  the  Mona- 
cielli  appear  to  have  their  headquarters.  Visitors  to  Sorrento  will 
remember  the  extraordinarily  deep,  narrow  ravines  which  traverse  the 
town  ;  these  are  at  the  present  day  believed  to  be  peopled  by  Mona- 
cielli,  who  elsewhere  appear  to  be  of  solitary  habits.  When  at  Sor- 
rento, four  years  ago,  I  had  a  fancy  of  trying  to  get  to  the  bottom  of 
one  of  those  very  deep  precipitous  clefts.  No  one,  however,  would  go 
with  me,  and  I  was  strongly  dissuaded  from  the  attempt,  as  there  was 
no  telling  what  might  befall  an  intruder  in  those  haunted  depths. 
Beside  the  Monaciello,  one  hears  stories  of  a  sort  of  house-spirit 
known  as  the  Bella 'Mbriana,  that  tenants  many  of  the  houses  in  St. 
Agata,  Massa,  and  other  villages  near  Sorrento.  It  is  not  easy  to  get 
any  distinct  idea  of  this  being.  Unlike  house-spirits  in  general,  she  is 
female  and  never  seen  ;  but  her  presence  in  the  house  is  always 
acknowledged  and  spoken  of  with  great  deference,  and  the  epithet 
"  bella"  is  no  doubt  placatory,  like  the  "  good  people"  applied  to  the 
fairies;  for,  though  generally  beneficent,  she  can  be  malicious,  and, 
while  exacting  the  greatest  courtesy,  dislikes  being  spoken  of  directly. 
The  village  people  may  have  clearer  ideas  of  her,  but  it  is  difficult  for 
strangers  to  get  at  them. 

Dwarfs  in  the  East.—  Mr.  Keightley,  in  his  Fairy  Mythology^  ex- 
pressed his  conviction  that  the  ancients  knew  of  no  diminutive  beings 
like  British  Fairies  or  Northern  Duergar.  Neither  does  popular 
belief  know  of  any  such  throughout  the  East.  In  India  rings  are  not 
uncommonly  seen  in  the  grass  after  rain,  but  no  popular  superstition 
is  connected  with  them  ;  no  beings,  like  elves  or  fairies,  find  place  in 
village  traditions  or  belief.  The  Hindu  mind  inclines  more  to  the  idea 
of  hideous  malevolent  demons,  especially  female.     A  belief  in  dwarfs. 


402  Folk-lore  Miscellanea. 

not  unlike  the  Duergar,  is,  however,  much  more  familiar,  for  dwarfs  hold 
a  distinct  place  in  Hindu  mythology  ;  they  appear  sculptured  on  all 
temples.  Siva  is  accompanied  by  a  bodyguard  of  dwarfs,  one  of 
whom,  the  three-legged  Bhringi,  dances  nimbly.  But  coming  nearer 
to  Northern  legend,  the  cromlechs  and  kistvaens  which  abound  over 
Southern  India  are  believed  to  have  been  built  by  a  dwarf  race,  a 
cubit  high,  who  could  nevertheless  move  and  handle  the  huge  stones 
easily.  The  villagers  call  them  Pdndayar.  In  the  Chingalpat  dis- 
trict, near  Madras,  there  is  a  large  mound  said  to  be  inhabited  by 
a  bearded  race  of  Pandayar,  three  feet  high,  whose  king  lives  in  the 
top  of  the  mound.  This  nearly  approaches  the  traditions  of  hill-dwarfs 
in  Norway  ;  but  no  skill  or  habit  of  working  in  metal  is  associated 
with  them.  The  late  Mr.  Fergusson  {Tree  and  Serpent  Worship, 
p.  79)  held  that  "  all  the  Fairy  Mythology  of  East  and  West  belongs 
to  the  Turanian  races";  and  the  late  learned  Bishop  Caldwell,  who 
laboured  for  a  lifetime  amongst  the  people  in  Southern  India,  suggested 
that  the  Tamil  word  pey — demon  or  goblin — may  be  the  origin  of  the 
word  "fairy",  but  their  attributes  respectively,  as  popularly  understood, 
seem  too  widely  diverse.  It  may  be  noted,  however,  that  in  Scan- 
dinavian mythology  we  hear  of  the  dark  Alfar,  or  malignant  elves. 
Brotier  thinks  the  word  "Alf"  may  be  derived  from  the  Teutonic  deity 
Alcis,  mentioned  by  Tacitus  {Ger?nanza,  43),  identified  by  him  with 
Castor  and  Pollux  in  their  jack-o'-lantern  appearances. 

Dwarfs  in  the  West.— The  Rev.  Baring  Gould,  in  his  pleasant 
and  instructive  volume, /«  Troubadour  Land,  published  in  the  present 
year,  relates  a  curious  experience  of  his  boyish  days.  While  sitting 
on  the  box  of  his  father's  carriage  crossing  the  Cran,  a  wide, 
desolate,  stony  tract  in  Provence,  he  suddenly  saw  a  number  of 
little  figures  of  men  with  peaked  caps,  running  about  the  horses  and 
making  attempts  to  scramble  up  them.  For  some  time  he  continued 
to  see  these  dwarfs  running  among  the  pebbles  of  the  Cran,  jumping 
over  tufts  of  grass,  or  careering  along  the  road  by  the  carriage,  making 
faces  at  him  ;  but  gradually  their  number  decreased,  and  he  failed  to 
see  any  more  (pp.  65-6).  They  were  visible  only  to  him,  and  on  say- 
ing something  about  it  to  his  father,  he  was  sent  inside  the  carriage, 
on  the  supposition  that  the  sun  was  too  hot  for  his  head.  Mr.  Gould 
adds  an  anecdote  of  his  wife,  "  who  never  deviated  from  the  truth  in 
her  Hfe,  and  who  walking  one  day,  when  a  girl  of  thirteen,  beside  a 
quickset  hedge,  her  brother  on  the  other  side  looking  for  birds'  nests, 
all  at  once  saw  a  little  man  dressed  entirely  in  green,  with  jacket 
and  high  peaked  hat,  seated  in  the  hedge  staring  at  her.  She  was 
paralysed  with  terror  for  a  moment,  then  called  her  brother  to  come 
round  and  see  the  little  green  man.     When  he  arrived  the  dwarf  had 


Folk-lo7r  Miscdlanea.  403 

disappeared."  Mr.  Gould  supposes  this  vision,  too,  would  be  ascribed 
to  a  too  hot  sun  on  the  head,  but  is  evidently  dissatisfied  with  that 
explanation,  and  asks  why  a  hot  sun  should  call  up  visions  of  dwarfs 
and  fairies.  It  is  the  fashion  now  to  make  light  of  the  tone  and 
sensible  avouch  of  our  own  eyes,  but,  railways  notwithstanding, 
fairies  may  still  exist  for  those  who  have  the  gift  of  seeing  them. 
Mrs.  Baring  Gould's  experience,  however,  recalls  a  story  current  on 
the  eastern  border  of  the  Dartmoor,  where  still  stands  a  farm-house, 
of  which  it  is  told  that  some  years  ago  the  farmer  who  lived  there  was 
:oming  home  from  market  rather  late,  and  saw  in  the  hedge,  not  far 
rom  his  house,  a  tiny  little  woman  sitting  dressed  all  in  green.  She 
vas  a  pixy,  and  the  farmer,  probably  bold  after  sundr)'  drops  at 
he  market-town,  picked  her  up  and  carried  her  home.  There  he  told 
lis  wife,  who  had  gone  to  bed,  what  he  had  found,  and  asked  what  he 
5hould  do  with  her.  The  wife  answered,  sleepily  :  "  Tie  her  to  the 
)ed-post  with  your  garter."  The  farmer  did  so,  and  went  off  to  sleep. 
In  the  morning  he  looked  at  once  at  the  bed-post,  and  there  was  his 
jarter  as  he  had  tied  it  the  evening  before,  but  no  little  green  lady  in 
t,  only  a  long  green  leek  I  Disgusted  at  this,  he  seized  the  leek,  and 
opening  the  door,  threw  it  out  into  the  yard,  when,  as  it  left  his  hand, 
it  changed  back  into  the  woman  in  green,  and  he  saw  himself  sud- 
denly surrounded  by  a  swarm  of  tiny  beings,  mounted  on  little  horses, 
who  presently  vanished,  clapping  their  hands,  and  crying:  "We  have 
got  her  again  !  we  have  got  her  again  !" 

M.   L.  C. 


May-Day  at  Watford,  Herts. — On  May-Day,  in  this  parish,  groups 
of  children,  almost  entirely  girls,  go  about  the  streets  from  door  to 
door,  and  sing  the  accompanying  verses.  They  are  dressed  in  white 
for  preference,  and  decorate  themselves  with  gay  ribbons  and  sashes 
of  various  colours  ;  I  cannot  find  that  any  particular  colours  are 
prescribed  by  tradition.  Two  of  the  girls  carry  between  them  on  a 
stick  what  they  call  "the  garland",  which,  in  its  simplest  forni,  is 
made  of  two  circular  hoops,  intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles  ; 
a  more  elaborate  form  has,  in  addition,  smaller  semicircles  inserted 
in  the  four  angles  formed  by  the  meeting  of  the  hoops  at  the  top  of 
"  the  garland".  These  hoops  are  covered  with  any  wild-flowers  in 
season,  and  are  further  ornamented  with  ribbons.  The  "  garland"  in 
shape  reminds  me  of  the  "Christmas"  which  used  to  form  the  centre 
of  the  Christmas  decorations  in  Yorkshire  some  few  years  ago,  except 
that  the  latter  had  a  bunch  of  mistletoe  inside  the  hoops. 

One  of  the  children  generally  carries  a  purse  or  small  bag  to  hold 
the  coppers  which  may  be  collected.  The  group,  of  which  I  have  a 
photograph,  was    one   taken  quite  at  hap-hazard,   as    it    passed  the 


404  Folk-lore  Miscellanea. 

photographer's  door.     In  this  a  boy  with  a  bunch  of  flowers  on  a  stick 
accompanies  them,  but  this  is  not  very  usual. 

Verses  sttng  by  Children  at  Watford,  Herts,  on  May-Day. 

1.  Here  begins  the  merry  month  of  May, 

The  bright  time  of  the  year. 
When  Christ  our  Saviour  died  for  us, 
Who  loved  us  so  dear. 

2.  So  dear,  so  dear,  Christ  loved  us. 

And  all  our  sins  to  save  ; 
We  'd  better  leave  off  our  wickedness, 
And  turn  to  the  Lord  again. 

3.  I  have  been  travelling  all  this  night, 

And  best  part  of  this  day, 
And  now  I  have  returned  again, 
I  've  brought  you  a  branch  of  May  ; 

4.  A  branch  of  May  I  have  brought  you, 

And  at  your  door  I  stand. 
It  is  but  a  bud,  but  it 's  well  spreaded  out, 
By  the  work  of  our  Lord's  hand. 

5.  A  garland,  a  garland,  a  very  pretty  garland, 

As  ever  you  wish  to  see, 

'Tis  fit  for  the  Queen  Victoria, 

So  please  remember  me. 

6.  I  have  a  little  purse  within  my  pocket, 

Dressed  up  in  silk  and  string. 
And  all  I  want  is  a  little  piece  of  money. 
So  please  to  put  within. 

7.  My  song  is  done — I  must  be  gone. 

No  longer  can  I  stay  ; 
God  bless  you  all,  both  great  and  small ; 
I  wish  you  a  merry  month  of  May. 

Va7'ta7tts. 

3.  We  have  been  walking  all  the  night, 

And  the  best  part  of  this  day  ; 
And  now  returning  back  again, 
We  bring  you  a  branch  of  May. 

4.  A  branch  of  May  we  have  brought  you. 

And  at  your  door  it  stands  ; 
It  is  but  a  sprout,  but  it 's  well  budded  out, 
In  the  shape  of  our  Lord's  hands. 
Watford.  PERCY  MANNING. 


FOLK-LORE  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


BOOKS. 

1893,  UNLESS  OTHERWISE  STATED. 

\English  books  pziblished  in  London^  French  hooks  in  Paris, 
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d'histoire  litteraire  du  Moyen  Age.  8vo.  pp.  xxviii,  485. 
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• .  •  Admirable  and  important  work,  to  be  noticed  fully  in  a 
forthcoming  number  of  Folk-Lore. 

Bellorini  (E.).  Canti  popolari  Amorosi  raccolte  a  Nuova 
(Sardinia).     8vo.  pp.  336.     Bergamo  :  Cattaneo. 

Folk-lore  Sardo.     8vo,  14  pp.     Cagliari. 

Broadwood  (Lucy)  and  Fuller  Maitland  (J.  A.).  English 
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FISON  (L.  A.).  Uncle  Mike  :  an  old  Suffolk  Fairy  Tale.  4to.  pp.  34. 
Jarrold. 

• .  •  An  illustrated  reprint  in  Suffolk  dialect  of  an  admirably 
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GiGLl  (G.).  Superstizioni,  pregiudici  e  tradizioni  in  terra  d'Otranto, 
con  un  aggiunta  di  Canti  e  Fiabe  popolari.  8vo.  pp.  290. 
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Pecorone.) 


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Grundriss  der  germanischen  Philologie,  Vol.  II,  ii,  3  (con- 
clusion of  the  work).  Strassburg  :  Triibner.  Contains,  mter 
alia,  E.  MOGK,  Die  Behandlung  der  volkstiimlichen  Sitte  der 
Gegenwart.  (Slighter  than  I  had  hoped  from  this  distinguished 
author,  and  singularly  incomplete  as  regards  the  English  biblio- 
graphy of  the  subject. — A.  N.) 

Hardy  (E.).  Die  Vedisch-brahm.anische  Periode  der  Religion  des 
alten  Indiens,  nach  den  Ouellen  dargestellt.  8vo.  Miinster  : 
Aschendorff. 

Harou  (A.).  Me'langes  de  Traditionnisme  de  la  Belgique.  i6mo. 
pp.  151.     Paris  :  Bureau  de  La  Tradition. 

■ .  •  Vol.  X  of  the  "  Collection  Internationale  de  La  Tradition^'' 
edited  by  MM.  Blemont  and  Catnoy. 

Haurigot  (G.).  Littdrature  orale  de  la  Guyane  fran^aise.  Contes, 
devinettes,  proverbes.  {Extr.  Revue  des  Traditions  populaires, 
vol.  viii.) 

Heim  (R.).  Incantamentamagica  groeca,  latina  ;  collecta,  disposita  et 
edita.     8vo.  pp.  no.     Leipzig,  1892. 

Hoops  (Joh.).  Pflanzenaberglaube  bei  den  Angelsachsen.  {Ex-ir- 
Globus,  vol.  63,  Nos.  19,  20.) 

■ .  •  Excellent  attempt  to  disentangle  and  date  the  component 
elements  of  Anglo-Saxon  "  Wortcunning". 

Hope  (R.  C).  The  Legendary  Lore  of  the  Holy  Wells  of  England, 
including  rivers,  lakes,  fountains,  and  springs.     8vo.     E.  Stock. 

Hyde  (Douglas).  Love  Songs  of  Connacht  (being  the  fourth  chapter 
of  the  "  Songs  of  Connacht"),  now  for  the  first  time  collected, 
edited,  and  translated.     i6mo.  pp.  158.     Dublin  :  Gill. 

Kirk  (R.).  The  Secret  Commonwealth  of  Elves,  Fauns,  and  Fairies. 
A  Study  in  Folk-lore  and  Psychical  Research.  Text  by  Robert 
Kirk,  M.A.,  Minister  of  Aberfoyle,  a.d.  1691.  Comment  by 
Andrew  Lang,  M.A.,  a.d.  1893.  8vo.  Ixvi,  92  pp.  (Bibl.  de 
Carabas,  No.  ix). 

Kl^LE  (J.).  Hexenvvahn  und  Hexenprozesse  in  der  ehemaligen 
Reichsstadt  und  Landvogtei  Hagenau.  8vo.  Hagenau  :  Riick- 
stuhl. 

KONOW  (S.).  Das  Samavidhanabrahmana.  Ein  altindisches  Hand- 
buch  der  Zauberei,  eingeleitet  und  iibersetzt.  8vo.  viii,  82  pp. 
Halle  :  Viemeyer. 

• ,  •  According  to  the  editor,  the  oldest  known  book  of  magic 


Folk-lore  Bibliography.  407 

Krauss  (F.  S.)-  Bohmische  Korallen  aus  der  Gotterwelt.  8vo. 
pp.  147.     Vienna  :  Rubinstein. 

'.  •  A  caustic  attack  upon  the  ''cooking  school"  of  folk-lore  and 
mythology  writers.  Useful  to  students  of  Slavonic  folk-lore 
obliged  to  rely  upon  the  works  of  Messrs.  Veckenstedt,  Krek, 
e  tutti  qiianti. 

Le  Braz  (A.).  La  legende  de  la  mort  en  Basse-Bretagne;  croyances 
populaires.     8vo.     Rennes. 

Merkens  (H.).  Was  sich  das  Volk  erzahlt  :  Deutscher  Volkshumor. 
8vo.  pp.  xii,  280.     Jena  :  Costenoble. 

■ .  •  Versions  of  the  German  Joe  Millers  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  from  modern  chapbooks. 

RiSLEY  (H.  H.).  The  Tribes  and  Castes  of  Bengal.  Ethnographic 
Glossary.  Vol.  i,  1891  ;  vol.  ii,  1892.  Calcutta  :  Bengal  Secre- 
tarial Press. 

• .  '  An  account  in  dictionary-form  of  the  Tribes  and  Castes  of 
Bengal,  preceded  by  an  important  Introductory  Essay  on  Caste  in 
relation  to  Marriage.  This  is  a  preliminary  official  edition,  of 
which  criticism  is  invited  with  the  object  of  supplying  omissions 
and  correcting  mistakes. 

ZiMMER  (H.).  Nennius  vindicatus.  Ueber  Entstehung,  Geschichte 
und  Quellen  der  Historia  Brittonum.  8vo.  pp.  viii,  342.  Berlin  : 
Weidmann. 


4o8  Folk-lore  Bibliography . 

JOURNALS. 

1893,   UNLESS  OTHERWISE   STATED. 

Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  xxii,  4.  Arthu)  J.  Evans, 
Prehistoric  Interments  of  the  Balzi  Rossi  Caves.  H.  CoUey 
March,  M.D.,  Polynesian  Ornament  a  Mythography.  A.  W. 
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P.  Le  Page  Renouf,  The  Book  of  the  Dead,  chapters  xhi-lvi. 
Prof.  Dr.  F.  Ho7)wiell,  Gish-dubarra,  Gibil-gamish,  Nimrod. 
W.  Max  Mailer,  The  Story  of  the  Peasant. — xv,  8.  P.  Le  Page 
Re7iotif,  The  Book  of  the  Dead,  chapters  Ivii-lxiii  B.  Same,  The 
Gods  Akar  and  Seb.  E.  Towey  White,  Notes  on  Pectorals 
[Breath  Plates  of  Mummies].  T.  G.  Pinches,  A  Babylonian 
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The  Folk-Lorist,  Chicago,  I,  2-3.  A.  M.  Stephen,  Description  of  a 
Hopi  Ti-hu.  E.  L.  Huggi7is,  Story  of  Hepi  and  Winona.  H. 
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Journal  of  American  Folk-lore,  vi,  21.  /.  G.  Bourke,  The  Miracle 
Play  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  Diffusion  of  Song-Games. 
A.  M.  Earle,  Old-Time  Marriage-Customs  in  New  England. 
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Fetter's  Southern  Magazine.  C.  C.  Penick,  The  Devil  Bush  of  West 
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Modern  Language  Notes,  viii,  4,  April  1893.  A.  Gerber,  Cor- 
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St.  Alexis  Legend.  G.  M.  Harper,  Correspondence :  The 
Legend  of  the  Holy  Grail.     Baltimore. 

Popular  Science  Monthly,  xliii,  2,  June  1893.  The  Ceremonial 
Use  of  Tobacco.     Ethnology  of  the  Yunaks.     New  York. 

The  American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental  Journal,  May  1893.  M.  N. 
Wilson,  Blackfoot  Star  Myths :  The  Pleiades.  Folk-lore  of 
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L' Anthropologic,  iv,  i.  Dr.  A.  Hagen,  Les  Indigenes  des  lies 
Salomon.  Theodore  Reinach,  De  quelques  faits  relatifs  k  I'Histoire 
de  la  Concision  chez  les  peuples  de  la  Syrie.  Salomon  Reinach^ 
Le  ChSne  dans  la  Medicine  populaire. — 2.  Dr.  Eiiel,  Les  Hak-ka 
[a  Chinese  tribe].  S.  Reinach,  La  Situle  de  Kuffarn  at  les  vases 
d'CEdenburg.     Dr.  A.  Hagen,  Les  Indigenes  des  lies  Salomon. 

Melusine,  vi,  9.  //.  Gaidoz,  Le  grand  diable  d'Argent,  Un  livre  sur 
Cendrillon. — 10.  Nigra,  Loquin  et  Doncieux,  La  fille  qui  fait  la 
morte  pour  son  honneur  garder.  Pedrizet  et  Gaidoz,  La  mensu- 
ration du  cou.  J.  Tuch}nan?t,  La  fascination  {sniie).  E.  Rolland, 
Le  petit  chaperon  rouge. 

Revue  des  Traditions  Populaires,  VIII,  6.  R.  Basset,  Les  Oiseaux 
de  Psaphon.  O.  Beauregard,  Une  caricature  egyptienne.  R. 
Stiebel,  Navires  et  marins,  vii  {suite).  G.  Georgeakis  et  L. 
Pineau,  Le  folk-lore  de  Lesbos.  A.  Certeux,  Les  Outils  tradi- 
tionnels :    iii,    Outils    des   sabotiers.      R.  Basset,    Les    Ordalies 


4IO  Folk-lore  BibliogiapJiy. 

{suite,  also  in  August  number).  IV.  de  Wissukuok,  Notes  sur  la 
mythologie  des  Lataviens,  iv  {suite).  L.  Desaivre,  Mddicine 
superstitieuse  :  viii,  Les  Ongles  de  lievre. — 7.  A.  Dido,  Litterature 
orale  des  Estoniens  :  i,  Bibliographic  des  principales  publications 
de  I'Estonie  et  en  particulier  de  celles  de  Kreutzwald  :  ii,  Analyse 
des  contes  de  Kreutzwald.  E.  Dubus,  Poesies  sur  des  themes 
populaires,  xxviii.  A.  Certeux,  Le  Pourquoi  Ixxx-lxxxi  :  Le 
pourquoi  des  metiers.  F.  Duynes,  Traditions,  legendes  et  super- 
stitions du  pays  de  Dol.  R.  Basset,  Les  Ongles.  Mme.  L. 
Marillier,  Les  noms  des  doigts  :  xvi,  Formulette  bretonne. 
Morel-Reiz,  L'obstination  des  femmes  :  iv,  La  femme  obstinee, 
conte  bourguignon.  P.  S.,  Le  petit  homme  rouge  et  Napoleon 
{with  illustration  apart).  T.  Volkov,  La  legende  Napoleonienne  : 
vi,  En  Russie.  Vte.  de  Colleville  et  F.  de  Zepellin,  Legendes 
danoises  {suite).  O.  Colson,  Coutumes  de  mariage  :  xv,  Cadeaux 
k  la  mariee.  G.  Haurigot,  Litterature  orale  de  la  Guyane 
frangaise :  iii,  Proverbes.  A.  Harou,  Rites  et  sacrifices  con- 
temporains  :  i,  En  Belgique. — 8-9.  G.  Dumoidtier,  Folk-lore 
annamite  :  Le  mariage.  A.  Millieti  et  C.  Pe7tavaire,  La  Fiancee 
du  prince  :  i-ii.  Versions  du  Nivernais.  R.  Basset,  La  legende 
de  Didon,  iii  {suite).  Delimitation  par  la  cloture.  L.  Dounia, 
Legendes,  croyances  et  superstitions  de  la  Macedoine  {suite). 
C.  Beauquier,  Le  Rossignolet  :  iii.  Version  de  la  Franche-Comte. 
B.  Souche\  Rites  et  usages  funeraires  :  xii,  Poitou.  F.  Fertiault, 
Velay,  xiii.  A.  Huron,  Superstitions  et  coutumes  des  mariniers, 
viii.  J.  Chossat,  Traditions  et  superstitions  des  Ponts  et 
Chaussees  :  vii,  Les  Ponts  {suite).  Les  Ponts  du  Diable.  R. 
Basset,  Les  Ponts  merveilleux.  C.  Beauquier,  La  chanson  de 
Bricou  :  xii,  Version  de  la  Franche-Comte.  H.  W.de  Wissukuok, 
Notes  sur  la  mythologie  des  Lataviens  {suite).  F.-M.  Lusel, 
Noms,  formes  et  gestes  des  lutins  :  viii,  He  de  Brdhat.  R. 
Basset,  Les  Metdores  :  Le  feu  St.-Elme,  iii.  Fragments  de 
chansons  populaires  dans  les  Mille  et  une  Nuits.  T.  Volkov, 
Legendes  et  superstitions  prehistoriques  :  xviii,  Le  menhir  de 
Pierre- Frite  et  le  mariage.  A.  Vire,  La  quille  du  bon  Dieu  et  le 
Palet  du  diable,  xix.  R.  Basset,  Les  Rites  de  la  construction  : 
xvii,  Cadavres  sous  les  fondations.     Parall^les,  iv. 

La  Tradition,  March,  April,  May  1893.  T.  Davidson,  La  Magie,  i. 
M.  de  Zmigrodzki,  Folklore  polonais,  vii  {suite).  B.  de  Baizieux, 
Superstitions  Hindoues,  ii.  /.  Lemoine,  Noels  wallons,  ii.  /. 
Nicolaides,  Dilsiz-Hatoun  :  La  Princesse  muette.  Vic.  de  Colle- 
^'///(?,  Vieilles  Chansons,  xxvii.  P.  Ristelhuber,  Le  Jeu  du  Disque 
a    Dieffenthal.     M.   Guignet,   Religion    des    Indiens   du    Br^sil. 


Folk-lore  Bibliogi'aphy.  411 

C.  de  IVarloy^  Devinettes  picardes,  II,  i.  R.  Stiibel^  Ivan  le  bien 
Avisd.     G.  Carnoy,  Les   Relevailles.     H.  Carnoy^  Le  Careme,  i. 

E.  Ozenfant,  Les  proverbes  de  Jacob  Cats,  iv.  A.  Harou,  Folk- 
lore de  la  Belgique.  R.  Stiebel^  Devinette  russe.  F.  de  Beaure- 
paire,  Chansons  du  Quercy,  xxxi.  G.  Carnoy^  Chante  de  Quete 
en  Normandie.  H.  Cartioy^  Folklore  des  Arabes  :  i,  Legendes, 
xiii.  J.  Karlowics,  Le  Lavement  des  Pieds.  M.  Dragomanov, 
Une  legende  universaliste  de  I'Ukraine.  S.  Prato,  A  propos 
du  Petit  Chaperon  rouge.     A.  Ledieii^  Les  Rebus  de  Picardie. 

F.  Orioli^  Sur  la  taille  de  Roland.  H.  Carnoy,  Usages  et 
coutumes  des  Esquimaux.  A.  Haroit,  Le  Vendredi-Saint  a 
Bruxelles.  P.  Ristelhuber,  Usages  de  Pentecote  en  Alsace. 
T.  Ca?iizzaro,  Chansons  populaires  de  la  Sicile,  ii.  F.  de 
Beaurepaire,  Chansons  du  Quercy,  xxxiii.  E.  Ozenfant,  Les 
proverbes  de  Jacob  Cats,  v.  J.  Nicolaides,  Le  Folklore  de 
Constantinople,  ii,  8.  L.  Pineau,  Le  Chateau  suspendu.  A. 
Millien,  Le  Jardin  du  Diable.  /.  Salles,  La  Faveur  du  Sort. 
A.  Nicot,  Fetes  traditionnelles. 

Archivio,  xii,  i.  S.  Salamone- Marino,  La  festa  di  Sant'  Agata  in 
Catania.  A.  T.  Pries,  Conceito  pop.  do  casamento.  G. 
Ungarelli,  De'  Giuochi  pop.  e  fanciulleschi  specialmente  in 
Bologna  fino  al  secolo  XVI.  St.  Prato,  Le  dodici  parole  della 
veritdi.  G.  Ferraro,  Gli  allilidos  nel  Ramajana.  M.  Pasquarelli, 
Proverb:  e  frasi  nel  dialetto  di  Marsico  Nuovo.  G.  Ungarelli, 
Le  dodici  parole  della  verita  in  Bologna.  G.  Giannini,  Le 
befanate  del  Contado  Lucchese.  Fallucchieria  in  Firenze. — 
2.  G.  Gian7iini,  Le  befanate  del  Contado  Lucchese.  Maria 
Carmi,  Canti  pop.  Emiliani.  M.  Di  Martina,  Sfruottuli,  aneddoti 
pop.  Siciliani.  G.  Ferraro,  11  culto  degli  alberi  nell'  Alto 
Monferrato.  M.  Raszi,  11  Palio,  o  le  Corse  di  Siena  nel  1893. 
G.  Piire,  II  Mastro  di  Campo,  mascherata  carnevalesca  di 
Sicilia.  P.  Nurra,  Canti  pop.  in  dialetto  Sassarese.  A.  Luni- 
broso,  Alcuni  soprannomi  pop.  negli  eserciti  del  primo  Impero 
Napoleonico.  G.  Di  Giovanni,  Aneddoti  e  spigolature  folk- 
loriche.  Dragomanov,  "Un  uomo  bruciato  e  poi  regenerato," 
legende  serbo-croate.  V.  Cian,  La  poesia  pop.  nella  storia 
letteraria.  G.  Di  Mattia,  San  Paolino  III  e  la  secolare  festa  dei 
gigli  in  Nola. 

Ethnologische  Mittheilungen  aus  Ungarn,  III,  1-2.  Erzherzog 
Joseph,  Mitteilungen  iiber  die  in  Alcsuth  angesiedelten  Zelt- 
Zigeuner.  A.  von  Torbk,  Der  palaeolithische  Fund  aus  Miskolez 
und  die  Frage  des  diluvischen  Menschen  in  Ungarn  {cont.  in  34). 
H.  V.  Wlislocki,  Neue  Beitrage  zur  Volkskunde  der  Siebenbiirger 


412  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

Sachsen.  F.  S.  Krauss,  Konig  Mathias  und  Peter  Gereb,  ein 
bulgarisches  Guslarenlied  {co7it.  in  3-4). — 3-4.  B.  Munkast,  Ueber 
die  heidnische  Religion  der  Wogulen.  L.  Kabnany,  Nachlese 
zu  den  cosmogonischen  Spuren  in  der  magyarischen  Volksiiber- 
.  lieferung.  K.  Papai,  Eine  Heldensage  der  Sud  Ostjaken. 
Marchen  der  Siebenbiirger  Armenier.  H.  Jannsen,  Estnische 
Volksmarchen.  B.  Statisko,  Sammeln  ungarischer  Volksweisen. 
G.  Versenyi,  Deutsche  Kinderreime  aus  der  Gegend  von  Kor- 
moczbanya.  A.  H.,  Aus  dem  Dobsiner  Volksglauben.  Zur 
Zigeunerkunde.     Zigeunersagen  iiber  Erzherzog  Josef. 

Internationales  Archiv  fiir  Ethnographie,  vi,  2.  Herman  Strebel, 
Studien  iiber  Steinjoche. — 3.  Prof.  Dr.  Albert  Griinwedel,  Sin- 
halesische  Masken.  S.  K.  Kuznezow,  Ueber  den  Glauben  vom 
Jenseits  und  den  Todten-Cultus  der  Tscheremissen.  Suppl.  to 
V.  Prof.  Dr.  W.  Joest,  Ethnographisches  und  Verwandtes  aus 
Guayana. 

Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fiir  Volkskunde,  Heft  3.  T.  Siebs,  Das  Sater- 
land.  F.  Ilwof  Allerlei  Inschriften  aus  den  Alpenlandern. 
V.  U.  Hammershai/nb,  Bilder  aus  dem  faeroischen  Volksleben  ; 
iibertragen  von  Jiriczek  {Schluss).  O.  Schell,  Volksratsel  aus  dem 
Bergischen.  J.  J.  Aniinatin,  Das  Leben  Jesu  von  P.  Martinus 
von  Cochem  als  Quelle  geistlicher  Volksschauspiele  {Schluss). 
Dr.  E.  Schatsmayr,  Villotte  friulane  (Friaulische  Dorflieder)., 


jfolk^Xorc 


Vol.  IV.]  DECEMBER,  1893.  [No.  IV. 

CINDERELLA    AND    THE    DIFFUSION 
OF   TALES. 


"  \V/E  mortal  millions  live  alone",  and,  at  best,  can  only 
W  make  ourselves  approximately  understood.  In 
the  question  as  to  the  origin  and  distribution  of  Popular 
Tales,  I  feel,  for  one,  as  if  I  were  speaking  into  a  telephone 
to  other  antiquaries  very  remote  in  space,  and,  may  I  say, 
a  little  hard  of  hearing.  Some  words  in  the  message  seem 
to  *be  caught,  others  are  obviously  inaudible,  others  are 
misconceived.     Perhaps  the  voice  is  indistinct. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  perhaps,  that  I  have  been  very 
generally  supposed  to  deny  that  inlircJien  can  be  borrowed 
by  one  people  from  another,  very  generally  believed  to 
maintain  that  mdrchen,  in  each  country,  are  indigenous 
growths,  blossoming  out  of  the  same  soil  of  human  fancy. 
Even  my  friend,  M.  Henri  Gaidoz,  reviewing  Miss  Cox's 
Cinderella,  says  that  I  am  not  a  foe  of  transmission, 
aujourd hui.  But  when  was  I  ?  Perhaps  in  1872,  not  since. 
How  far  I  am  thought  to  carry  the  Casual  Theory,  I  know 
not.  Perhaps  I  am  credited  with  disbelieving  that  a  tale  can 
pass  from  Fife  to  Galloway,  or  from  Scotland  to  England, 
or  from  France  to  Italy,  from  Russia  to  the  Lapps,  or 
vice  versa.  Well,  these  are  not,  and  never  have  been  my 
ideas,  though,  of  course,  in  thirty  long  years,  those  ideas 
have    been     modified  in    many  ways.      But    M.   Cosquin 

VOL.  IV.  F  F 


414  Cinderella  and  the 

thinks,  or  thought,  that  I  believed  in  the  "  Casual  Theory" 
exclusively  ;  so  it  seems  does  Professor  Krohn.  M.  Bedier 
was  of  the  same  mind,  but  M.  Bedier  is  not  a  Casualist,  for 
he  employed  against  me  certain  smooth  pebbles  from  the 
wallet  of  M.  Cosquin.  Mr.  Jacobs,  indeed  (FOLK-LORE, 
iv,  3,  281),  calls  M.  Bedier  "  quite  the  casualist".  Tcte  de 
Monsieur  Bedier!  as  Gyp  says.  The  young  savant  was 
rebuking  me  for  being  a  Casualist,  and  he  is  accused  of 
being  a  Casualist  himself  ! 

So  far,  I  am  not  alone  in  misfortune.  He  "  quotes  Mr. 
Lang  as  his  authority".  Why,  on  this  point,  he  assails  me, 
and  would  assail  me  justly,  if  only  I  held  the  opinions 
which  he  believed  to  be  mine.  M.  Sudre,  whom  I  have  not 
read,  says  (it  seems)  that,  to  my  mind,  tout  conte  est 
autochthone.  I  am  not  certain  that  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  an  autochthonous  man,  still  less  an  autochthonous  conte^ 
on  the  globe  at  this  moment.  The  race  has  been  shuffled 
and  cut  too  often.  Finally,  Lieutenant  Basset,  with  whose 
works  and  name  I  have  the  misfortune  to  be  unacquainted, 
says  that  I  "  frankly  acknowledge  that  I  believe  the  details 
have  been  independently  developed". 

Lieutenant  Basset  is  perfectly  right ;  I  do  believe  that 
many  of  the  details  of  story  have  been,  or  may  have  been, 
independently  invented.  But  that  has  nothing,  or  nothing 
very  obvious,  to  do  with  the  question  of  the  diffusion  of 
story-plots.  The  details — magic,  cannibalism,  talking  trees, 
helpful  beasts,  or  heavenly  bodies,  many  items  of  custom, 
and  so  forth — I  certainly  believe  to  have  been  evolved  by 
human  fancy  everywhere,  to  have  been  part  of  the  universal 
stuff  of  Belief.  Of  course  man  may  have  spread  from  a 
single  centre,  he  may  have  developed  the  characteristic  fea- 
tures of  savage  metaphysics,  and  opinion,  and  custom  (the 
matter  that  marchen  are  made  of)  before  he  left  that  centre. 
These  questions  belong  to  a  different  science.  If  man 
had  these  intellectual  opinions,  and  told  tales,  before  he  left 
the  one  cradle  of  the  race,  then  there  is  no  question  of  the 
separate  invention,  in  different  lands,  of  all    the  matters 


Diffusion  of  Talcs.  4 1  5 

into  which  we  are  inquiring.  If  man  was  created,  or 
evolved,  in  several  places,  or  if  he  left  his  one  centre  before 
he  had  developed  the  ideas  of  magic,  of  a  personal  and 
animated  nature,  and  various  odd  customs,  then,  to  my 
mind,  many  of  these  "details"  were  of  independent  invention. 
The  details  of  Pawnee  and  Attic  ritual  (in  the  Bouphonid) 
can  hardly  be  so  similar  because  they  were  diffused,  or 
borrowed  from  the  old  Greek,  by  the  western  world.  That 
similarity,  I  think,  arises  from  the  existence  of  similar 
ideas  in  similar  minds.  Nature-myths,  also,  myths  expla- 
natory of  the  world,  and  myths  explanatory  of  customs, 
are  like  each  other  in  the  remotest  lands,  I  imagine, 
because  similar  minds  were  at  work  on  similar  matter  : 
on  nature,  and  on  analogous  customs. 

Thus  I  have  ever  tried  to  explain  those  similarities, 
though  imitation  must  also  be  allowed  for.  Thus  I 
explain  the  similarity  of  many  details  in  stories,  they  are 
simply  examples  of  early  belief  everywhere.  But  the 
details  are  not  the  tale.  The  problem  of  stories  is  different  ; 
we  have  to  account,  not  for  similar  details,  but  for  a  similar 
arrangement  of  those  details.  If  we  find  a  story  in  Samoa 
and  in  ancient  Greece,  with  a  very  close  resemblance  in 
the  arrangement  of  details,  in  the  development  of  plot, 
then  the  hypothesis  of  diffusion,  of  transmission,  is  in- 
finitely the  more  probable.  This  I  alleged  in  1884  (in 
Custom  and  Myth),  when  discussing  the  widely-spread 
stories  akin  to  the  Jason  legend.  I  have  often  done  more, 
I  have  pointed  out  many  methods,  many  channels,  by 
which  a  story  might  be  diffused.  In  1886,  in  Jf)///;,  Ritual, 
and  Religion  (ii,  320),  I  said  :  "  Wherever  human  commu- 
nication is,  or  has  been  possible,  there  the  story  may  go, 
and  the  space  of  time  during  which  the  courses  of  the  sea 
and  the  paths  of  the  land  have  been  open  to  story  is 
dateless  and  unknown."  I  say  much  the  same  thing  in 
Perrault,  p.  cxv  (1888) ;  and  in  Mrs.  Hunt's  Grimm, 
p.  Ixx  (1884):  "The  diffusion  of  plots  is  much  more 
difficult  to  explain"  (than   that  of  details),  "  nor   do  we 

F  F  2 


41 6  Cinderella  and  the 

venture  to  explain  it,  except  by  the  chances  of  trans- 
mission, in  the  long  past  of  the  human  race."  Now  I 
challenge  any  reasonable  being  to  read  these  words, 
written  nine,  seven,  and  five  years  ago,  and  to  maintain 
that  I  deny  the  possibility  of  the  diffusion  of  stories,  of 
the  borrowing  of  stories  by  one  race  from  another.  In 
Myth,  Ritual,  and  Religion  (ii,  312),  I  show  how  an  ancient 
Egyptian  indrchen  may  have  reached  Greece,  Libya,  the 
Great  Lakes,  and  ultimately  arrived  among  the  ancestors 
of  the  Amazulu.  M.  Cosquin  wonders  that  I  find  so  much 
difficulty  in  conceiving  transmission  to  the  Zulus.  What  I 
doubt  is  recent  transmission  from  Europeans.  M.  Cosquin 
suggests  Islamite  influence,  and  may  be  right,  but  pre- 
historic diffusion  is  very  probable. 

Of  course  people  need  not  read  one's  writings,  but  how, 
if  they  do  read  them,  they  can  regard  me  as  a  Casualist, 
or  rather,  as  exclusively  a  Casualist,  I  fail  to  understand. 
But  Mr.  Jacobs  holds  the  same  opinion  about  poor  M. 
Bedier  ;  ^^  is  a  Casualist,  though  he  actually  assails  the 
Casual  Theory  in  my  person.  And  I  am  not  a  Casualist, 
or  only  at  once  a  Casualist,  and  a  "  Diffusionist",  to  coin  a 
hideous  word.  That  Mr.  Jacobs  should  rebuke  M.  Bedier 
for  being  a  Casualist,  when  M.  Bedier  is  rebuking  me 
for  the  same  crime,  while  neither  M.  Bedier  nor  I  be 
Casualists,  is — casual. 

How  the  myth  that  I  am  a  hard  and  fast  Casualist 
arose,  is  a  question  for  the  mythologist.  Generally  the 
belief  rests  on  the  fact  that  I  once  said  "  something  is  due 
to   transmission".^     A    man    denies   transmission,   that   is 

1  I  have  burned  my  faggot  as  to  this  remark.  "  Something"  is  due 
to  transmission — I  should  have  said  "much",  or  even  "most"  is  due 
to  transmission.  The  remark  is  in  Mrs.  Hunt's  Grimm,  and  qualifies 
too  much  the  passage  from  it  already  quoted,  I  here  seemed  to  limit 
the  chances  of  diffusion  more  than  I  should  have  done,  more  than, 
perhaps,  I  intended.  But  the  whole  drift  of  the  passages  I  cite  from 
Custom  a7id  Myth,  and  Myih,  Ritual,  and  Religion,  might,  perhaps, 
have  been  allowed  by  my  critics  to  have  weight  against  an  isolated 


Diffusion  of  Tales.  417 

plain,  for  does  he  not  say  openly  that  "  something  is  due  to 
transmission"  ?  This  is  a  quaint  logic.  But  the  origin  of 
the  myth  which  makes  me  a  Casual  hero  I  take  to  be 
this  :  I  have  tried  to  explain  many  curious  similarities  in 
human  culture  by  the  theory  of  similar  minds  working  on 
similar  matter.  Therefore  the  scholars  who  did  me  the 
honour  to  dip  into  my  books,  expected  to  find  me  explain- 
ing the  similarity  of  mdrchen  by  that  theory,  and  by  no 
other.  It  was  a  case  of  "expectant  attention" — or  inatten- 
tion. What  they  expected  to  find,  they  found,  only,  as  it 
happened,  what  they  expected  to  find  was  not  there,  or, 
if  there,  was  greatly  qualified,  as  I  have  shown.  They 
did  find  my  statement  "wherever  human  communication 
is  or  has  been  possible,  there  the  story  can  go"  (1886). 
They  did  find  similar  remarks,  about  the  drifting  of  a  tale 
as  far  as  Samoa,  in  Custom  and  Myth  (p.  97,  1884).  But 
that  was  not  what  they  had  expected  to  find,  so  "they 
heard  as  if  they  heard  me  not",  and  found  something  else. 
Thus  "  expectant  inattention"  explains  the  myth  in  part, 
but  not  wholly.  For  scholars  who  looked  into  my  arid  pages 
also  discovered  that  I  was  not  prepared  to  deny  the  possi- 
bilities of  independent  evolution.  In  MytJi,  Ritual,  ana 
Religion  (ii,  319)  I  say  that  "it  is  better  to  confess  ignor- 
ance of  the  original  centre  of  the  mdrchen,  and  inability  to 
decide  dogmatically  which  stories  must  have  been  invented, 
only  once  for  all,  and  which  may  have  come  together  by 
the  mere  blending  of  the  universal  elements  of  imagina- 
tion." Here,  of  course,  there  is  no  assertion  of  the  Casual 
Theory  as  absolute,  I  only  confess  that  I  was  (or  that  we 
were?)  in  1886,  unable  to  say  which  tales  were  diffused  by 
borrowing,  and  which  were  separately  evolved.  Now  I 
may  think  that  I  can  discriminate  better,  though,  in  face 
of  modern  coincidences,  not  positively.  I  went  on  to 
remark  that  only  one  thing  was  certain,  namely,  that  "  no 

phrase.  Other  admissions  of  phrases  dubious,  or  misleading,  or  no 
longer  expressive  of  my  views,  I  have  made  in  the  Preface  to  Miss 
Cox's  Cinderella. 


41 8  Cinderella  and  the 

limit  can  be  put  to  a  story's  flight,  vivu'  per  ora  virum" 
Mr.  Jacobs  says,  "  I  still  fail  to  gather  whether  Mr.  Lang 
would  allow  that  the  Samoan  variety"  (of  the  Jason  myth) 
"  must  have  been  borrowed  from  abroad."  I  am  sorry  to 
have  been  so  indistinct.  I  sdiy  {Custom  and  Myth,  "p.  gy), 
"  Our  position  is  that,  in  the  shiftings  and  migrations  of 
peoples,  the  Jason  tale  has  somehow  been  swept,  like  a  piece 
of  driftwood,  on  to  the  coasts  of  Samoa."^  This  is  a  strong 
expression  for  a  Casualist,  for  one  who  denies  the  possi- 
bility of  transmission.  On  p.  loi  I  give  all  three  con- 
ceivable alternatives — spread  from  a  single  human  centre 
— coincidence — and  transmission.  On  p.  7  I  say,  "  There 
seems  no  reason  why  it  should  have  been  invented  sepa- 
rately."    And  my  "  position"  is  that  stated  on  p.  97. 

Here,  then,  and  elsewhere,  I  left  a  place  for  the  possibili- 
ties of  the  "  Casual"  Theory,  for  possible  independent  evolu- 
tion. Mr.  Jacobs  now  says  that  I  have  "  never  unreservedly 
pinned  my  faith  to  the  Casual  Theory".  Apparently  I  have 
not,  as  I  have  distinctly  said  that  no  limit  can  be  set  to 
the  chances  of  diffusion.  I  have  "  hedged",  it  is  asserted, 
and  I  "claim  to  win  on  this  point  whether  obverse  or  reverse 
turns  up".  If  this  means  that  I  believe  in  the  possibility  of 
independent  development,  in  certain  cases,  I  do.  I  hold 
that  both  causes,  transmission  and  separate  evolution,  may 
have  been  at  work.  Of  transmission  I  feel  certain  ;  we 
sometimes  (as  M.  Bedier  proves  by  an  interesting  example) 
catch  transmission  in  the  act.  Of  independent  evolution  I 
am  less  assured,  but  I  am  very  strongly  of  opinion  that  it 
occurs.  The  difficulty  is  to  prove  a  negative,  to  prove  that 
this  or  the  other  analogous  story  has  not  been  borrowed. 
We  can  never  be  certain  of  this,  as  we  can  be  certain  of  the 
positive  fact  that  transmission  occurs.    Mr.  Jacobs  observes 

1  By  the  Jason  tale  I  meant,  not  a  form  of  the  Greek  myth,  but  a 
similar  story  of  a  hero  helped  by  the  daughter  of  a  hostile  father.  I 
am  not  prejudging  the  question  whether  the  Samoans  acquired  the 
Greek  myth,  or  whether  Greek  poets  and  Samoans  worked  up  an 
earlier  folk-tale  independently. 


Diffusion  of  Tales.  419 

tliat  I  "  practically  yield  my  whole  position  in  granting  the 
probabilities  of  diffusion  by  borrowing,  and  we  would  gladly 
know  how  far  he  has  been  convinced  against  his  will."  As 
to  "yielding  my  position",  we  shall  see  whether  I  door 
not,  and  as  to  being  "  convinced  against  my  will'',  to  the 
best  of  my  belief  I  have  always  allowed  for  borrowing.^ 
My  will,  my  taste,  has  never  been  set  against  it.  I  have 
argued  {^M.  R.  R.,  ii,  316)  against  the  probability  of  recent 
borrowing,  in  cases  like  that  of  the  Huarochiris.  But  the 
hypothesis  of  prehistoric  diffusion,  in  the  unknown  past, 
seems  to  my  taste  attractive  and  romantic.  I  conceive  that 
many  Algonquin  mdrclien  really  are  of  quite  recent  intro- 
duction :  about  the  Zulu  case  I  doubt ;  about  the  Huaro- 
chiris and  Samoans  I  feel  nearly  convinced  that  the  borrow- 
ing was  not  done  in  recent  ages,  say  since  1540,  in  the 
former  case.  The  remote  Eskimo  are  so  distant  that,  as 
their  tales  rarely  resemble  ours,  we  may  doubt  if  they  have 
borrowed  much  from  recent  Europeans. 

My  first  writing  on  the  subject  was  done  about  1863, 
when  I  was  an  undergraduate  at  St.  Andrew's.  Then 
I  merely  published  two  tales,  which  I  call  Scotch,  in  the 
St.  Andrew s  University  Magazijte.  I  had  only  read  Mr. 
Max  Miiller,  Perrault,  Dasent,  and  Chambers,  and,  on  the 
problem  as  it  now  stands,  had  no  right  to  an  opinion.  But 
about  1871-72  I  wrote  an  article  for  The  Fortnightly  Review, 
There  I  stated  my  whole  theory  :  Mdrchen  were  of  extreme 
antiquity,  of  savage  origin,  and  were  the  stuff  of  the  great 
classical  epics.  This  essay  was  published  five  or  six  years 
before  Mr.  Farrer  advocated  similar  ideas  in  The  Gentle- 
man s  Magazi^ie  (1878),  and  in  his  Primitive  Manners  and 
Customs  (1879).     In  the  prose  translation   of  the  Odyssey 

1  This  was  written  before  I  read  again  my  old  Fortnightly  Review 
article  published  in  May,  1873.  There  I  say  that  mythologists  do  not 
accept  the  theory  of  borrowing.  A  remark  of  Mr.  Max  Midler's  was  in 
my  mind:  twenty  years  ago  I  knew  little,  and  thought  that  Urvasi 
was — the  Dawn  !  But  I  do  not  suppose  that  my  critics  will  pin  me 
down  to  opinions  so  long  ago  abandoned. 


420  Cinderella  and  the 

(1879)  I  again  stated  some  of  my  notions.  I  had  published 
them,  between  1872  and  1879,  in  many  periodicals,  notably 
The  Saturday  Review}  It  is  thus  hardly  correct  to  say 
that  the  "  savage  parallels  were  drawn  before  Mr.  Lang  by 
Mr.  Farrer".  My  friend,  Mr.  Farrer,  was  writing,  however, 
in  complete  independence  of  me.  It  was  not  a  case  of 
borrowing,  but  of  independent  evolution.  Now,  in  1872, 
I  was  probably  more  under  the  influence  of  Hegel  than  at 
present,  and  I  may  have,  somehow,  been  inclined  to  a 
mystic  theory  of  mdrchen-iorms,  everywhere  present  in  the 
human  intellect. 

The  more  I  have  reflected  on  these  matters,  the  more 
has  borrowing  seemed  to  me  the  general  and  prevalent 
cause  of  the  likeness  in  the  vidrchen  of  the  world.  In  Custom 
and  Myth  (pp.  101-2),  writing  in  1883-84, 1  give  the  methods 
in  which  diffusion  might  be  effected — by  traders,  slaves, 
captives  in  war,  and  women  :  comparing  an  Oriental  and 
European  story,  found  in  Samoa  or  Peru,  to  an  Indian 
Ocean  shell,  said  to  have  been  discovered  in  a  Polish  cave, 
among  prehistoric  remains.  Wherever  the  shell  could  be 
handed  on,  the  story  might  go  :  yet  I  am  a  hard  and  fast 
Casualist,  according  to  many  British  and  foreign  folk- 
lorists. 

One  is  not  all  Transmissionist,  however  ;  one  still 
maintains  a  belief  that  casual,  or  independent  evolution 
may  account  for  some  cases  of  resemblance.  Thus  {Custom 
and  Myth,  p.  85),  one  says,  "  We  think  it  a  reasonable 
hypothesis  that  tales  07i  the  pattern  of  'Cupid  and  Psyche' 
might  have  been  evolved  wherever  a  curious  nuptial  taboo 
required  to  be  sanctioned,  or  explained,  by  a  myth."  Now 
to  say  this   is  not  to  say  that   the   legend,  exactly  as  in 

^  Mr.  Jacobs  says  that  the  "  elderly  lioncels  of  The  Saturday  Review 
are  sublimely  certain  that  resemblance  in  folk-tales  is  due  to  chance, 
not  to  transmission."  As  one  of  those  animals,  I  think  it  doubtful  that 
I  am  "  sublimely  certain",  in  The  Saturday  Review,  of  what  I  do 
not  hold  (except  in  the  modified  form  to  be  explained)  in  my  own 
books. 


Diffusion  of  Tales.  421 

Apuleius,  or  exactly  as  in  our  European  form,  might  be 
independently  developed.  Every  detail  in  the  story  is 
either  universally  human,  or  universal  in  early  society. 
That  all  the  details  should  be  accidentally  shaken,  by 
Red  Men  and  Greeks,  into  exactly  the  same  pattern,  is 
beyond  my  belief,  and  the  fact  does  not  occur.  But  that 
there  should  be  developed,  without  borrowing,  a  tale  of  a 
broken  marriage  taboo,  and  of  its  consequences,  wherever 
such  a  taboo  existed,  is  well  within  my  belief.  I  gave  an 
Ojibway  example  and  a  Zulu  example.  They  are  so  far 
on  the  classical  pattern  that  the  central  situations  of  the 
transformed  husband,  in  Zulu,  and  of  the  broken  taboo  and 
lost  bride,  in  Ojibway,  occur.  But  the  details,  in  all  other 
respects,  vary  from  the  legend  in  Apuleius  so  much,  that 
transmission  and  corruption  can  scarcely  account  for  the 
analogy.  At  the  same  time  I  add,  even  here,  that  "  there 
is  also  a  chance"  of  transmission  by  borrowing,  "in  the 
unknown  past  of  our  scattered  and  wandering  race."  Mr. 
Jacobs  observes  that  "  in  only  two"  out  of  some  dozen  of 
tales  which  I  have  analyzed,  have  I  "  allowed  the  possibility 
of  borrowing".  A  man  who  has  allowed  the  possibility  in 
even  two  cases  out  of  twelve  (not  denying  it  in  the  ten) 
is,  of  course,  no  foe  of  transmission.  But  Mr.  Jacobs  is 
inaccurate.  In  treating  of  "  Cupid  and  Psyche",  I  repeat 
{Custom  and  Myth,  p.  85,  1884),  I  especially  allow  for  the 
chance  of  transmission,  yet  tales  analogous  to  "  Cupid 
and  Psyche"  are,  I  think,  of  all  others  the  least  unlikely  to 
have  been  independently  evolved.  This  was  not  meant  as 
a  "  hedge",  but  as  a  scientific  statement.  I  believe  that 
the  Zulu  and  Ojibway  stories  are  not  corrupted  forms  of 
the  legend  of  *'  Cupid  and  Psyche",  but  I  cannot  dogmatise. 
By  the  way,  to  suppose  that  a  taboo  may  have  given 
rise  to  part  of  a  mlirchen,  is  not  to  maintain  that,  wherever 
this  mdrchen  is  now  found,  there  the  taboo  has  existed. 
The  tale  might  reach  a  people  who  had  never  possessed 
such  a  taboo.  The  tale  merely  raises  a  presumption  that, 
wherever  it  was  first    developed,  there   a   taboo   was    in 


42  2  Cinderella  and  the 

force.  Wc  know  that  it  has  been  in  force  in  many  places  ; 
we  do  not  suggest  that  it  has  been  in  force  wherever  the 
story  now  encounters  us.  It  may  have  been  in  force,  in 
each  case,  thousands  of  years  ago,  we  do  not  pretend  to 
say  that  it  has  been.  The  curious  may  also  notice  the 
Iroquois  form  of  the  Eurydice  legend,  published  by  Mrs. 
Erminie  Smith  in  the  series  of  the  Smithsonian  Bureau  of 
Ethnology.  One  fancies  that  this  pathetic  tale  may  have 
grown  out  of  the  loves,  and  regrets,  and  beliefs  of  a  rude 
American  tribe,  quite  independently  of  any  transmission 
from  Greece,  at  any  period.  I  have  examined  the  Turkish, 
mediaeval,  and  Iroquois  versions,  in  Mui'i'ay's  Magazine, 
and  here,  too,  I  must  remain  in  a  balance  of  opinion.  The 
story  deserves  the  attention  of  students. 

Thus  far  I  am  guilty  of  the  Casual  hypothesis,  and  I 
think  no  further,  since  my  Fortnightly  article.  But  I  am 
not  prepared  to  assert  dogmatically  that  all  is  plain  sailing 
even  in  the  case  of  Cinderella.  I  only  throw  out  a  few 
hints  of  difficulties  even  here.  Let  us  examine  Mr.  Jacobs' 
remarks.  He  does  not  think  (i)  Cinderella  a  good  test  of 
the  continued  existence  of  folk-tales  from  prehistoric 
times  to  the  present.  Certainly  better  tests  might  be 
chosen.  The  essence  of  the  tale,  he  says,  "  is  the  rise  in 
social  condition  of  a  girl  who  makes  a  fortunate  marriage. 
Possibly  there  are  such  cases  in  savage  or  in  prehistoric 
societies,  ....  but  it  would  be  idle  to  look  for  its  origin  in 
societies  where  there  was  little  variation  of  social  position. 
In  its  inception,  Cinderella,  as  we  now  have  it,  can- 
not have  arisen  in  a  savage  society"  {F.-L.,  iv,  3,  pp.  270- 
271).  Mr.  Jacobs'  argument  is,  Cinderella,  \n  essence  (in 
the  matter  of  the  marriage),  is  not  savage,  but  feudal  or 
mediaeval,  for  savages  have  not  the  necessary  distinctions 
of  rank.  The  savage  details  may  have  been  introduced 
later,  or  carried  on  into  the  original  form,  not  as  things 
contemporary,  when  that  form  was  invented,  but  as  con- 
ventional episodes  of  far  more  remote  origin.  Still,  these 
details  would  be,  originally,  savage.     But    we   shall    see 


Diffusion  of  Tales.  423 

whether  the  argument  from  distinction  of  rank  is  valid. 
In  any  case,  certainly,  the  tale  could  not  have  been  invented 
by  shoeless  savages,  as  we  now  have  it.  But  we  have  it  in 
many  forms,  from  Perrault's  refinements  to  the  almost 
Totemistic  rudeness  of  Mr.  McLeod's  Celtic  form,  where 
the  heroine  is  the  daughter  of  an  ewe.  Who  can  tell  what 
form  of  Cinderella  existed  behind  that  wild  shape  ?  The 
tales  (in  my  belief)  have  filtered  down  through  uncounted 
generations,  clearly  not  unaltered.  Perrault,  for  instance, 
drops  the  helpful  beast,  the  talking  birds  ;  and  Scotch  and 
Celtic  forms,  apart  from  Mr.  McLeod's,  drop  the  bestial 
mother.  The  inference  is  obvious.  Cinderella,  as  we  Jiozv 
have  it,  cannot  have  arisen  in  a  shoeless  country  ;  mocassins, 
at  lowest,  had  been  invented  when  the  tale,  as  we  now 
possess  it,  was  told.  But  in  Kaffir  and  Santhal,  as  in  old 
Egyptian,  the  place  of  the  "  Shoe-recognition"  is  taken  by 
recognition  of  a  lock  of  hair.  There  is  no  reason  why 
Cinderella  should  not  once  have  included  recognition  by  a 
lock  of  hair ;  the  shoe  may  be  no  more  ancient  than  the 
tale  of  Rhodopis.  Say  that  the  hero  cuts  a  lock  of  the 
girl's  hair — will  marry  a  girl  whose  hair  answers  to  that. 
This  involves  many  alterations,  but  my  argument  is  that 
long  ages  do  and  must  alter  a  story. 

Again,  the  essence  (as  we  now  have  it)  is  the  rise  in 
social  life,  or  the  restoration  to  an  order  from  which  she 
has  fallen,  of  a  girl  who  makes  a  fortunate  marriage.  But 
why  should  this  not  occur  in  savage  or  prehistoric  life  ?  Ex- 
cept Australians,  Eskimo,  Bushmen,  and  Fuegians,  I  know 
of  few  savages  who  are  not  aristocratic.  There  is  not 
"  little  variation"  (variety  ?),  but  great  variety  of  hereditary 
social  status  among  Zulus,  and,  eminently,  among  Maoris. 
Thus  it  is  not  "  idle"  to  look  for  the  origin  of  the  tale  in 
such  societies.  A  Rangatira  Maori  is  more  remote  from  a 
slave,  or  a  simple  freeman,  than  a  marquis  from  a  dustman. 
"  But  Cinderella  is  monogamous."  The  change  from  poly- 
gamy or  polyandry  to  monogamy  is  so  ancient,  in  civilised 
countries,  that,  if  the  tale  arose  among  a  polygamous  people, 


424  Cinde7'ella  and  the 

which  became  civih'sed,  the  necessary  alteration  in  the  story- 
is  not  beyond  the  possibihty  of  change.  Further,  in  some 
tales,  as  in  Santhal  and  Kaffir,  not  to  mention  others  from 
Europe,  in  Miss  Roalfe  Cox's  book,  we  have  Cinderellus,  not 
Cinderella,  a  boy,  not  a  girl.  On  the  whole,  then,  Mr. 
Jacobs'  argument  that  Cinderella  "  cannot  have  arisen  in  a 
savage  stage  of  society"  seems  inconclusive,  as  far  as  it  is 
based  on  a  belief  that  savages  have  little  distinction  of  rank. 
As  to  shoes,  again,  the  tale  could  get  on  without  shoes,  and 
the  differences  of  rank  exist  in  great  force,  in  some  shoeless 
societies.  It  would  not  be  the  tale  "  as  we  have  it"  without 
the  shoe,  but  what  proves  that  the  tale  as  we  have  it  (in 
which  version  ?)  is  the  original  form  ?  We  have  shown  that, 
even  in  the  tale  as  we  have  it,  there  are  different  degrees 
of  barbarism.  But  we  should  remember  that  as  the  incident 
of  the  ewe  mother,  in  Mr.  McLeod's  version,  viay  be  the 
freak,  or  the  confusion,  of  a  modern  narrator,  it  were  un- 
wise to  lay  much  stress  on  it. 

If  we  attempt  to  get  back  to  the  original  tale,  we  are 
lost.  Take  the  Santhal  and  Kaffir  varieties.  These  may 
be  very  remote  from  our  time,  may  be  comparatively  near 
the  beginning  ;  or  they  may  be  very  much  depraved  from 
the  central,  the  prevalent  type  of  the  tale.  Here  I  must 
"  hedge",  I  do  not  know  which  alternative  is  right.  But,  if 
these  forms  are  comparatively  near  the  beginning,  then 
those  forms  are  in  a  nebulous  undecided  state.  We  can 
hardly  say  whether  the  tale  is  more  akin  to  Cinderella,  or 
to  TJie  Black  Bull  d  Norroway.  It  looks  as  if  it  might 
develop  either  way,  and  there  is  much  of  The  Black  Bull  in 
some  Scandinavian  \2iX\z.vA.so{  Cinderella.  Were  I  to  hazard 
a  hypothesis,  it  would  be  that  the  story  was,  originally,  thus 
nebulous  and  indeterminate.  It  might  take  many  forms,  the 
hero  or  heroine  might  follow  many  of  the  diverging  paths 
in  the  forest  of  romance.  But  at  some  time,  somewhere, 
the  prevalent  type  was  hit  upon,  and,  being  the  fittest,  it 
survived  and  spread,  remaining  more  savage  among  the 
Celts  and  people  of  the  Levant,  becoming  more  domestic 


Diffusio7t  of  Tales.  425 

and  kindly,  in  Lowland  Scotland  and  in  France,  for 
example.  Meanwhile,  the  very  nature  of  the  incidents — a 
bestial  mother  (totemism,  or  worse  ?),  a  helpful  beast 
(Manitou),  a  magical  tree,  a  talking  bird — are  of  that  kind 
which  the  savage  fancy  undeniably  and  universally  evolves. 
These  things,  as  Sainte-Beuve  says,  would  not  be  intro- 
duced now,  could  not  be  invented  now,  without  the  old 
examples,  inherited,  as  I  suggest,  from  a  period  of  bar- 
barism. "  But",  it  may  be  urged,  "  if  you  allow  that  poly- 
gamous might  be  altered  into  monogamous  details,  why 
should  men  have  retained  beast-mothers,  talking  birds, 
helpful  animals,  revivified  bones  ?"  Well,  first,  even  poly- 
gamous peoples  have  romantic  love  affairs.  The  polygamy 
need  never  have  been  conspicuous  in  the  story,  and,  at 
most,  a  jealous  co-wife  could  easily  become  a  jealous  step- 
mother. Secondly,  without  the  talking  birds,  helpful 
animals,  revivified  bones,  talking  trees,  you  no  longer  have 
the  story.  You  have  to  do  what  Perrault  did,  and  to  intro- 
duce a  new  "  machinery",  a  fairy  godmother  (new,  here), 
transformed  rats  (even  that,  in  essence,  is  as  old  as  Circe), 
and  though  Monsieur  Perrault  could  do  all  this,  it  was  a 
task  rather  beyond  peasant  grandmothers.  To  drop  poly- 
gamy, if  ever  there  was  a  trace  of  it  in  the  tale,  was  very 
much  more  easy.  But,  even  in  a  polygamous  country, 
the  institution  need  not  have  been  introduced  into 
Cinderella. 

Thus  I  see  no  proof  that  a  tale  full  of  savage  fancy,  most 
manifest  in  the  forms  which  seem  oldest,  and  are  rudest, 
did  not  arise  in  a  savage  state  of  society.  I  admit  that  the 
tale  has  been  diffused,  the  tale  as  it  stands  in  most 
versions,  shoe  and  all,  but,  as  Mr.  Jacobs  allows,  this 
present  version  may  not  be  the  original.  He  suggests  "  a 
later  and  inartistic  junction  of  the  sea  maiden  formula"  in 
the  conclusion  of  some  Celtic  versions,  and  an  ingenious 
dovetailing  in  of  elements  from  another  and  more  archaic 
tale,  in  "  the  earlier  part".  How  much  then  is  left  of  the 
original .''     What  is  the  original  ?     In  truth,  any  tale  may 


4^6  Cinderella  and  the 

shift  into  any  other,  almost ;   Cinderella  probably  began  as 
an  inchoate  shape,  and  even  now  many  variants  wander  a 
good  deal  from  the  type,  as  it  were,  of  the  tale.     A  type  we 
have,  somewhat  vague,  indeed,  but  still  a  type.    That  must, 
to  my  mind,  have  been  evolved,  once  for  all,  out  of  some- 
thing less  definite,  and  must  have  wandered  far  and  wide. 
But,  if  so,  it  is  urged,  "  if  the  stories  have  been  imported 
into  civilised  lands,  the  savage  element  in  them   cannot 
prove  anything  as  to  the  primitive  conceptions  of  these 
civilised   lands."      When  a  civilised  land  had  "  primitive 
conceptions",    I    fancy  that   those   were   very    like   other 
primitive  conceptions.     A  land  of  primitive  conceptions  is 
hardly  a  civilised  land.     The  United  States  are  a  civilised 
land,   but   the    primitive  conceptions    of    the    land    were 
such    as    arise    in    the    minds    of    Hurons    and   Eskimo. 
Again,    I  never  supposed    that  savage  tales    were   pitch- 
forked, except  as  recognised   folk-lore,  into  the  midst  of 
a  civilised  people,   and  that  the  savage    element    in    the 
tales  took  root    there.      To  my  mind    the    chief  of   the 
borrowing,  say  the  drifting  of  a  tale  from  ancient  Egypt, 
or  where  you  will,  to  Samoa,  or   Lake   Superior,  was  done 
very  long  ago.     The   Germans  may  well  have  handed,  for 
example,  their  form  of  Cinderella  to  the  Gauls,  long  before 
the  days  of  Arminius,  or  the  Gauls  may  have  given  it  to 
the  Celts,  or  both  may  have  known  it  before  the  "Aryan 
separation".  Long  ere  Germany  was  civilised  these  tales  were 
old  in  the  Egypt  of  the  Ramessids.     Palaeolithic  man  may 
have  had  his  own  forms  of  them.     Diffusion,  in  such  times, 
was  not  like  the   importation  of  Callaway's  Tales  from  the 
Zulu  into   England.     That  does  not  infect  us  with  savage 
ideas  ;    the    old     borrowers     and     lenders,    our     remote 
ancestors,  were  on  a  very  different  footing.     This  seems 
obvious.     There  are  very  {^.^n  considerable  cases  of  modern 
borrowing  in  civilised  times.     England  took  over  Perrault, 
wholesale ;  that  is  a  rare  instance.     But  England  had  no 
Cinderella  of  her  own,  no    Sleeping  Beauty,   no   Puss   in 
Boots ;  she  was  obliged  to  borrow. 


Diffusion  of  Tales.  427 

Not  much  remains  to  say.  I  am  not  a  Casualist,  as  to 
tales,  but  a  Diffusionist,  who  believes  that  there  has  also, 
probably,  been  independent  development.  As  to  centre  of 
origin,  I  am  an  "  Agnostic".  I  don't  know  where  the  tales 
first  arose,  nor  where  language  was  first  spoken,  and  flints 
first  chipped,  and  fire  first  intentionally  kindled  by  man. 
It  is  a  very  ancient  art :  I  shall  be  interested  in  the  place 
of  discovery,  and  manner  of  diffusion  of  the  fire-stick,^ 
when  the  truth  is  known. 

Mr.  Jacobs  asks  whether  I  think  that  English  children 
believe  in  speaking  frogs  or  conversational  tables,  because 
they  like  tales  of  such  things  ?  The  question  shows  how 
remote  the  querist  is  from  comprehending  the  subject  of 
discussion  as  I  "  envisage"  it.  I  do  not  say  that  savages, 
or  peasants,  believe  their  folk-tales,  though  some  may.  I 
say  (Mr.  Jacobs  cannot,  I  know,  see  the  difference)  that 
many  incidents  in  these  tales  were  invented  when  men 
were  capable  of  believing  in  Balaam's  ass,  when  sorcerers 
could  understand  the  speech  of  birds,  as  in  Zululand,  when 
people,  like  the  modern  Australian  black  fellows,  put 
questions  to  and  took  answers  from  the  brutes.  What 
in  the  world  has  this  to  do  with  asserting  that  a  peasant, 
who  inherits  a  tale  composed  when  all  nature  was  per- 
sonal, believes  the  tale  ?  Yet,  when  he  tells  the  bees  of  a 
death,  he  is  not  very  remote  from  the  condition  in  which 
bees  might  tell  him  something.  Nor  are  children  remote 
from  that  frame  of  mind.  Living  in  fastasy  as  they  do, 
talking  to  animals,  making  appointments  with  familiar 
spirits,  their  playfellows,  who  can  say  what  a  child  does,  at 
certain  moments,  and  in  certain  moods,  believe,  or  dis- 
believe ? 

As  to  belief  in  "  conversational  tables",  ask  the  Psychical 
Society  ! 

There  seems  to  exist,  in  some  minds,  the  notion  that 
persons  who  do  not  recognise  India  as  the  fountain-head 
of  the  majority  of  folk-tales,  are  Casualists.  Thus  M. 
Bedier,  in  his  work  on  the  Fabliaux^  deals  what  seems  a 


428  Cinde7'-ella  and  the  ' 

death-blow  to  the  Indian  hypothesis.  No  doubt  the  friends 
of  the  hypothesis  are  insensible  of  the  wound.  But 
M.  Bedier,  so  far  from  being  a  Casualist  (as  has  been  said), 
replies  to  my  supposed  Casualism  with  the  arguments  of 
M.  Cosquin.  It  is,  apparently,  because  he  rejects  the 
Indian  theory,  that  the  charge  of  Casualism,  and  of  quoting 
me  (whom  he  here  rejects)  as  his  authority,  is  brought 
against  M.  Bedier.  He  says  that  I  put  aside  the  Indian 
theory,  without  argument.  In  fact,  he  employs,  only  far 
more  successfully  than  I,  many  of  my  own  arguments. 
He  shows,  as  I  have  often  shown,  that  ancient  Egypt 
and  pre-Homeric  Greece  were  rich  in  nidrcJien  of  the 
common  type,  while  nothing  suggests  that  Egypt  and 
Greece  borrowed  from  an  India  of  which  they  probably 
knew  nothing.  Though  they  knew  not  India,  tales  may 
have  filtered  to  them  thence,  but  there  is  no  proof  of  it  : 
we  cannot  say  that  there  were  tale-tellers  of  the  usual 
type  in  India  before  the  age  of  the  Ramessids.  Probably 
there  were,  but  it  is  just  as  likely  that  their  stories  had 
come  to  them  from  Egypt,  or  anywhere  else,  as  the 
reverse.  This  argument,  combined  with  the  utter  absence 
of  features  peculiarly  Indian  in  the  diffused  tales  (where  all 
is  characteristic  of  early  humanity  in  general),  is,  by  itself, 
fatal  to  the  Indian  theory.  It  used  to  be  alleged  that  the 
contes,  everywhere,  contained  traces  of  ideas  purely  Indian. 
I  have  shown  that  the  ideas  are  universal.  "  It  is  possible", 
says  M.  Cosquin,  (indeed  it  is  certain),  "  but  the  true  argu- 
ment against  the  Indian  origin  would  be  to  prove  that  they 
are  in  contradiction  with  Indian  ideas."  To  say  this  is  to 
confess  defeat.  Why  should  the  ideas  be  in  contradiction 
with  early  Indian  ideas?  They,  too,  are  human.  But  one 
does  not  expect  this  to  be  recognised  by  the  advocates  of 
that  hypothesis.  If  they  will  not  hear  M.  Bedier,  certainly 
they  will  not  hear  me. 

As  to  the  propriety  of  calling  a  tale  "  English",  which 
occurs  six  or  seven  times  in  Scotland,  in  England  (so  far) 
never,  it   is  needless  to  argue.     The  Lowland  Scots  and 


Difiusion  of  Tales.  429 

Celtic  variants  of  Cinderella  are,  to  my  mind,  closel}^ 
akin,  though  one  Celtic  version  seems  more  primitive,  and 
others  are  "  contaminated"  by  "  One  Eye,  Two  Eyes,  and 
Three  Eyes",  or  wander  into  a  conclusion  derived  from 
another  formula.  These  peculiarities  occur  elsewhere  in 
Europe,  not  in  the  Highlands  alone.  The  exclusive 
believers  in  borrowing,  of  all  people,  should  not  deny  that 
the  Lowland  Scots  may  have  borrowed  from  their  High- 
land neighbours  and  kindred,  tales  which,  whether  they 
were  ever  popular  in  England  or  not,  are  now,  in  England, 
conspicuous  by  their  absence.  I  have  little  doubt  that  the 
English  people,  at  one  time,  possessed  a  Cinderella  and  a 
Nicht,  Nought,  Nothing.  To  have  lost  them,  if  they  are 
really  lost,  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  characteristic  misfortune  of 
the  English  people.  To  have  kept  them,  is  a  characteristic 
good  fortune  of  the  Scotch  people.  About  origins,  I  know 
nothing.  But,  if  the  Lowland  Scots  never  had  these  tales, 
or,  having  had  them,  lost  them,  they  might,  more  readily 
than  the  English,  acquire  or  recover  them  from  the  Celts. 
The  two  tales  which  I  collected  as  a  boy,  the  Scotch 
Cinderella,  the  Scotch  Jason,  were  told  by  my  maternal 
great-aunt,  Miss  Margaret  Craig,  of  Darliston,  Elgin,  and 
.she  had  forgotten,  or  imperfectly  remembered  others. 
Her  family  was  Lowland,  connected,  I  believe,  with  the 
Craigs  of  Riccarton.  But,  behind  Miss  Craig,  comes  the 
Celtic  figure  of  Miss  Nelly  McWilliam,  whose  young 
romance  was  stained  with  loyal  blood  in  the  Forty-Five. 
Miss  Nelly  was  the  family  heroine,  a  Celte  Celtisante,  and 
it  would  not  be  surprising  if  these  particular  versions  of 
two  tales  came  into  a  Lowland  Scots  household  from  a 
Celtic  source.  I  am  not  Casualist  enough,  at  least,  to  deny 
this  possibility.  In  Galloway,  too,  we  have  found  the 
Hesione  mdrchen  connected  with  the  tumulus  of  St.  John's 
town  of  Dairy  ;  the  Whuppity  Stoorie  tale,  and  others, 
published  some  years  ago  in  The  Academy.  Galloway  is 
full  of  Celtic  blood,  and  it  is  said  that  Gaelic  has  only 
been  extinct  for  some  two  hundred  years.     For  all  that  I 

VOL.  IV.  G  G 


430  Cinderella  and  the 

know,  Celtic  may  be  the  source  of  Lowland  Scots  tales  as 
they  now  exist. 

Finally,  my  own  position  has  been  marked,  since  1872, 
by  a  growing  tendency  towards  the  Borrowing  Theory. 
Argument  and  reflection  convince  me  that,  being  vera 
causa,  it  is  the  better  cause,  the  cause  on  which  most 
stress  should  be  laid.  I  conceive  that  the  details,  the 
incredible  incidents,  are  universal,  are  the  natural  evolu- 
tion of  the  human  mind  everywhere.  And  everywhere, 
I  think,  since  men  began  the  art  of  romantic  compo- 
sition, those  details  have  been  diversely  combined.  In 
this  or  that  place,  at  this  or  that  remote  period,  the 
more  fortunate  and  artistic  combinations  of  details  were 
made,  and,  being  the  fittest,  survived,  and  were  diffused. 
But  these  forms  could,  at  any  moment,  shift  and  glide 
into  other  forms,  like  the  visionary  faces  which  we  see 
between  asleep  and  awake,  in  illusions  hypnagogiques. 
Miss  Cox's  volume  is  full  of  such  fluid,  shifting,  only  par- 
tially successful  faces  of  Cinderella,  or  of  Cinderellus,  who, 
for  all  that  we  can  certainly  say,  may  be  older  than  his 
sister.  The  Marquis  de  Carabas  is  brother  of  Cendrillon. 
A  lass  makes  a  good  marriage  by  aid  of  a  helpful  beast : 
a  lad  makes  a  good  marriage  by  aid  of  a  helpful  beast. 
But  it  must  be  very  long  ago  that  the  Marquis  and 
Cendrillon  took  separate  paths,  his  course  more  ruse  and 
morally  reckless,  hers  more  kindly,  more  feminine.  Thus 
the  details  are  everywhere,  while,  more  and  more  clearly, 
since  1872,  1  have  seen  that  the  combination  of  details, 
where  it  is  prolonged,  and  keeps  closely  to  a  type, 
must  descend,  must  almost  beyond  possibility  of  chance 
descend,  from  a  type.  In  face  of  the  coincident  inventions 
of  modern  novelists,  I  cannot  absolutely  deny  the  possibili- 
ties of  the  least  probable  coincidences.  But,  at  least  as 
early  as  1884,  I  made  the  most  strenuous  assertion  of  the 
limitless  freedom  in  which  a  story  may  have  wandered 
round  the  world,  and,  at  the  same  time,  distinguished, 
in   "  Cupid    and    Psyche",    the    cases   in    which    a    similar 


Diffusion  of  Tales.  431 

custom,  a  similar  point  de  repcre,  may  stimulate  to  a 
similar,  or  partially  similar,  picture  in  the  crystal  ball  of 
imagination. 

As  to  priority  in  the  theory  of  savage  invention  of 
mdrchen,  it  is  perhaps  enough  to  say  that,  in  my  early 
Fortnightly  zxWcXq,  I  pointed  out  the  possibility  of ///;?^j"/^« 
Recht  suggesting  the  preference  for  the  youngest  child,  in 
mdrchen^  a  thing  to  which  I  now  attach  no  value.  I  also 
showed  how  the  birth  of  the  Wiinder-Kind,  in  some  tales, 
corresponds  to  certain  savage  magical  methods  of  actually 
making  a  supernatural  being,  and  I  gave  other  instances. 
Very  likely,  or  certainly,  all  this  had  been  said  many  times 
before  :  without  the  work  of  Mr.  Tylor  and  Mr.  McLennan 
the  whole  hypothesis  would  never  have  occurred  to 
me.  Yet  I  cannot  grant  that  my  friend,  Mr.  Farrer,  was 
before  me  in  this  little  matter,  for  chronology  does  not 
admit  of  that  conclusion.  Were  it  correct,  I  should  have 
been  singularly  ungrateful  to  Mr.  Farrer,  whose  desertion 
of  fields  in  which  he  is  such  a  skilled  workman  I  always 
regret.  Nay,  I  believe  his  book  is  out  of  print,  and  this  is 
a  hardship  for  folk-lorists.  But  my  critics  cannot  be  basing 
the  charge  of  Casualism  on  my  ancient  article.  Probably 
they  never  heard  of  it ;  Mr.  Jacobs  certainly  has  not, 
otherwise  he  could  not  think  that  I  plough  with  Mr.  Farrer's 
heifer. 

I  am  charged  with  diverting  attention  from  the  real 
nature  of  folk-tales,  which  are  "  literature",  are  "  art".  The 
Odyssey  is  art,  but  one  does  not  divert  attention  from  that 
pretty  obvious  truth  by  pointing  out  that  it  is  a  congeries 
of  folk-tales.  In  editing  Perrault,  in  a  place  where  literary 
criticism  was  appropriate,  I  did  speak  my  mind  about  the 
charm  of  folk-tales,  quoting  the  apt  and  elegant  praises  of 
Nodier  and  of  Saint-Victor,  and  adding  my  own  humble 
but  hearty  applause.  The  tales  need  no  such  eulogium  ; 
we  can  do  no  more  than  repeat,  as  men,  our  expressions  of 
pleasure,  uttered  when  we  were  children.  Now,  no  doubt, 
we  can  praise  more  subtly,  but  not  more  sincerely.     But 

G  G  2 


432  Cinderella  and  the 

why  should  we  be  always  doing  this,  not  only  in  place 
(where  we  speak  as  literary  critics),  but  also  out  of  place, 
where  our  object  is,  so  to  say,  scientific?  It  is  hard  for  us 
to  improve  on  the  garlands  which  Nodier,  Sainte-Beuve, 
Saint-Victor,  have  thrown  to  the  Fairy  Queen.  But  it  has 
not  been  so  hard  to  push  the  science  of  the  subject  further 
than  they  pushed  it.  If  anyone  thinks  that  to  be  interested 
in  the  science  of  the  fairy  world  is  to  neglect  its  enchant- 
ments, I  may  refer  him,  for  my  own  part,  to  my  edition  oi 
Perrault,  and  to  the  preface  of  my  Red  Fairy  Book  (large 
paper  edition).  But  better  words  far  than  mine  for  the 
fairy  folk,  he  will  find  in  the  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke, 
the  biographer  of  the  Wesleys.  There  the  good  man 
acknowledges  his  debt,  not  for  amusement  alone,  nor  for 
imaginative  delight  alone,  but  for  the  courage  and  chivalry 
in  his  character,  to  the  ancient  tales  of  fairyland,  to  the 
old  indomitable  boy  heroes  of  those  earliest  romances. 
Being  partly  responsible  for  their  circulation  as  school- 
books,  I  trust  that  the  new  generation  may  know  some- 
thing about  fairies,  as  well  as  too  much  "  about  their  own 
insides".  In  any  case  I  do  not  observe  that  other  folk- 
lorists,  M.  Sebillot,  M.  Cosquin,  M.  Gaidoz,  Professor 
Rhys,  think  it  necessary  to  cry  "  How  good  !  how  artistic  ! 
how  literary  !  "  over  each  fairy  tale,  before  analysing  it  and 
comparing  it  with  others.  "  The  most  literary  fellow  in 
the  world",  the  successor  of  Mr.  Chevy  Slime,  might  find 
these  praises  out  of  place,  if  frequently  repeated  in  works 
which,  after  all,  take  it  for  granted  that  we  regard  popular 
tales  as  good  reading,  and  in  which  we  endeavour  to 
show  what  they  are,  in  addition  to  being  "art"  and 
"  literature". 

I  am  naturally  grateful  to  all  the  distinguished  students 
who  have  given  me  such  copious  opportunities  of  disavow- 
ing heresies  which  I  do  not  hold.  But  I  would  have  been  still 
more  grateful  if  they  had  not,  somehow,  evolved  the  myths 
that  I  am  a  Casualist,  pur  sang,  and  indifferent  to  literary 
merit  in  ludrchen.     If  a  gentleman  says  that  one  robbed 


Di^usion  of  Tales.  433 

a  church,  or  strangled  one's  grandmother,  he  certainly 
gives  one  a  chance  of  disavowing  such  solecisms.  The 
newspapers,  when  they  have  brought  accusations  not  wholly 
correct  against  anyone,  always  take  refuge  in  the  cliche 
about  our  "  opportunity  of  denying"  the  charge.  But  Folk- 
lore would  really  benefit  by  the  practice  of  not  making,  for 
the  innocent,  these  enviable  opportunities  of  clearing  their 
character.  To  be  less  personal,  I  wish  all  good  fortune  to 
the  spirited  and  courageous  quest  for  the  place  of  origin. 
In  Puss  in  Boots,  I  have  suggested  Arabia,  and  my  argu- 
ments are  as  valid  as  many  other  antiquarian  arguments. 
But  I  am  not  my  own  dupe.  Others  may  be  more  fortu- 
nate, or  more  amenable  to  self-suggestion. 

A.  Lang. 


SOME    RECENT     UTTERANCES     OF 
MR.  NEWELL  AND  MR.  JACOBS. 

A  CRITICISM.i 


IT  is  the  merit  of  every  considerable  body  of  facts, 
arranged  methodically,  to  further  the  cause  of  study, 
not  only  by  stimulating  fresh  research,  but  by  crystallising 
theory  as  to  the  explanation  of  the  facts.  Such  crystallisa- 
tion is  indispensable  to  that  searching  criticism  of  theory 
the  outcome  of  which  is  a  closer  approximation  to  truth. 
That  Miss  Cox's  Cinderella  has  this  merit  few  will  deny 
who  have  read  Mr.  Newell's  brief  but  pregnant  review 
{Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  No.  xxi),  and  Mr.  Jacobs' 
article  in  the  September  number  of  FOLK-LORE.-  Both 
scholars  have,  it  seems  to  me,  put  their  theory,  I  will  not 
say  into  a  more  definite  form  than  heretofore,  but  into  one 
more  definitely  correlated  with  particular  facts,  and  thereby 
more  susceptible  of  profitable  discussion.  Whilst  differing 
from  each  other  in  important  respects,  both  scholars  are 
agreed  as  to  the  correct  solution  of  certain  elements  in  the 
folk-tale  problem.  Their  utterances  may  therefore  be  con- 
sidered together  with  advantage,  although  I  would  premise 
that,  owing  to  the  differences  I  have  just  spoken  of,  points 
scored  against  the  one  are  by  no  means  necessarily  scored 
against  both. 

I  assume  that  Mr.  Newell's  views,  fully  set  forth  in  his 
"  Lady  Featherflight"  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Second 
International  Folk-Congress,  are  familiar  to  my  hearers. 
He  regards  the  folk-tale  as  originating  from  the  more 
intellectual  and  artistic  minds  of  the  race,  after  it  has 
already  attained  a,  relatively,  high  level  of  intellectual  and 

1  Read  before  the  Folk-lore  Society,  15th  Nov.  1893. 
^  All  references  to  Mr.  Jacobs,  unless  otherwise  stated,  are  to  this 
paper. 


Some  Recent  Utterances.  435 

artistic  culture,  and  as  percolating  downwards  both  among 
the  ruder,  less  advanced  members  of  the  particular  section  of 
the  race  to  which  its  originators  belonged,  and  among  such 
ruder  and  less  advanced  sections  of  the  race  generally  as 
may  come  into  culture  contact  with  the  centre  of  origina- 
tion. In  the  course  of  this  process,  the  tale,  which  in  its 
first  shape  may  be  comparatively  free  from  what  we  call 
archaic  features,  acquires  them,  and  it  is  this  acquisition 
by  degradation  that  gives  them  a  false  look  of  primitive- 
ness  to  the  eye  of  the  modern  folk-lorist. 

Mr.  Jacobs  has  certainly  not  formulated  his  views  in  an 
equally  uncompromising  way,  but  I  think  I  am  not  doing 
him  an  injustice  in  saying  that  he  shares  with  Mr.  Newell 
the  belief  in  a  comparatively  late  origin  of  the  bulk  of 
our  folk-tales,  in  a  definite  centre  of  origin  for  each  tale, 
and  in  an  absolutely  late  period  of  dispersion  for  a  very 
considerable  proportion  of  tales.  Moreover,  for  him  India 
is  certainly  the  centre  of  origin  in  a  large  number  of  cases, 
and  the  period  of  dispersion  is  that  during  which  India  has 
been  in  culture  contact  with  Europe.  Such  contact  has 
been  intermittent,  and  successive  phases  of  contact  have 
introduced  successive  strata  of  folk-literature  from  India 
into  Europe,  or,  at  all  events  as  far  as  the  later  phases 
are  concerned,  from  Europe  into  India. 

It  is  worth  while  pausing  a  moment  to  ask  why  these 
particular  explanations  of  an  exceedingly  complex  group 
of  facts  should  have  commended  themselves  to  these  two 
scholars,  neither  of  whom  would  deny  that  alternative 
explanations  have  much  in  their  favour.  In  the  case  of 
Mr.  Newell  I  cannot  doubt  that  he  has  been  influenced 
by  his  work  on  games,  on  the  merit  of  which  it  would  be 
superfluous  to  enlarge.  In  a  large  number  of  cases  the 
origin  of  children's  games  has  been  successfully  sought  for 
in  the  imitation  of  rites  and  customs  of  grown-up  people, 
rites  and  customs  which  may  often  have  completely  died 
out  save  in  the  survival  due  to  the  imitative  propensity  of 
the  child.      Substitute  "  folk"  for  "  child",  and  generalise 


436  Some  Recent  Utterances  of 

from  games  to  folk-lore  (or  rather  folk-literature)  at  large, 
and  one  approximates  to  Mr.  Newell's  theory.  But 
a  more  potent  factor  with  Mr.  Newell,  as  certainly  it  is 
the  most  potent  factor  with  Mr.  Jacobs,  is  what  may  be 
termed,  in  no  invidious  sense,  the  "  literary-historical  idol". 
In  dealing  with  the  history  of  individualistic,  consciously 
artistic  literature  we  attach,  and  rightly,  extreme  import- 
ance to  questions  of  date.  In  the  case  of  two  writers 
dealing  with  the  same  theme,  dependence  of  the  later  upon 
the  earlier  writer  is  the  obvious  explanation  of  any  simi- 
larity. The  same  principle  is  applied  to  folk-literature;  the 
date  of  appearance  of  a  folk-theme  is  treated  as  its  date  of 
origin,  the  earliest  recorded  version  is,  half  unconsciously, 
regarded  as  being  in  some  way  the  fount  of  later  versions. 
That  I  am  not  overstating  the  case  is,  I  think,  evident  from 
an  admission  of  Mr.  Newell's.  In  speaking  of  the  Cinder- 
ella story  he  says  :  "  The  separate  incidents  are,  of  course, 
of  indefinite  antiquity."  But  if  this  be  so,  why  must  the 
combination  be  regarded  as  modern  ?  Simply  because,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  recorded  as  a  whole  until  modern 
times,  and  the  literary  student  is  not  willing  to  go  behind 
his  chronological  data.  For  there  is  obviously  no  reason  in 
the  nature  of  things  why  a  story  first  recorded  in  modern 
times,  and  presenting  a  mixture  of  modern  and  archaic 
elements,  should  not  have  acquired  its  modern  features 
in  the  course  of  the  ages.  The  prejudice  of  the  literary 
student  in  favour  of  the  simultaneity  of  origin  and  record 
causes  him  to  reject  this,  the  natural  explanation,  and  leads 
him  to  look  upon  the  archaic  as  the  extraneous  element. 
So, too,  with  regard  to  the  "Indian"  hypothesis.  No  one  will 
deny  that,  whatever  reasons  it  may  rest  upon  now,  it  was  at 
first  due  to  observation  of  the  prior  publication,  so  to  say, 
of  Indian  tale  collections,  and  was  in  fact  nothing  but  a 
gigantic  exemplification  of  the  "^xxncv^Xt. post  hoc  ergo  propter 
hoc. 

Bearing  all  these  facts  in  mind,  let  us  see  how  the  two 
scholars  approach  the  Cinderella  problem.     Mr.  Newell  is 


Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs.  437 

inclined  to  look  upon  the  Catskin  form  as  the  eldest,  and 
to  hold  that  it  originated  in  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth 
century  somewhere  in  Central  Europe,  whence  it  has 
spread  over  the  world.  Here  I  note  at  once  a  tacit  admis- 
sion. The  earliest  recorded  version  goes  back  to  the  early 
sixteenth  century,  yet  the  origin  is  dated  back  to  the  four- 
teenth or  thirteenth  century.  So  that  during  a  period  of  two 
or  three  centuries  it  must  have  been  current  orally.  To 
this  I  have  of  course  no  objection,  but  how  does  it  fit  in 
with  Mr.  Newell's  theory  ?  According  to  him,  the  story 
is  a  definite  combination  of  incidents  due  to  a  definite 
thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century  minstrel.  But  there  is 
absolutely  no  traceable  literary  connection  between  this 
unknown  minstrel  and  the  sixteenth  century  Straparola  or 
Bonaventure.  His  tale  must  therefore  have  gone  at  once 
into  the  popular  story-store,  and  there  remained  buried 
until  it  was  dug  forth  again  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Yet 
if  this  is  admitted,  who  does  not  see  that  the  attribution  to 
the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century  rests  upon  no  certain 
foundation,  and  that  we  might  substitute  fifth  or  fifteenth 
without  either  strengthening  or  invalidating  the  argument  ? 
The  point  to  note  is  that  Mr.  Newell  is  forced  to  postulate 
a  lengthened  period  of  purely  oral  transmission,  the  deter- 
mination of  that  period  being  purely  arbitrary,  and  that  he 
deprives  himself  of  any,  to  him,  secure  foothold  for  working 
back  to  the  original  form  of  the  story  ;  for  who  can  tell 
what  modification  it  may  not  have  undergone  during  its 
two  hundred  years  of  oral  life  ? 

Mr.  Jacobs'  conclusions  are  in  general  agreement  with 
those  of  Mr.  Newell.  He  detects  a  "  feudal  character 
underlying  the  whole  conception"  (of  the  Cinderella  story), 
which  would  fall  in  with  Mr.  Newell's  dates.  Is  this 
"  feudal"  character  due  to  the  fact  that  the  hero  is  a  king's 
son,  and  that  he  has  apparently  unlimited  rights  in  the  way 
of  throwing  the  handkerchief?  But,  centuries  before 
feudalism.  Psyche  was  the  daughter  of  a  king  and  queen 
who  lived  once  upon  a  time,  and  we  have  the  testimony  of 


43^  Some  Recent  Utterances  of 

Irish  and  Scandinavian  sagas  quite  unaffected  by  feudal- 
ism properly  so  called,  that  the  chiefs  son  was  of  as  much 
interest  to  the  maidens  of  his  day  as  he  would  be  in  the 
Middle  Ages  or  at  the  present  time.  Indeed,  it  might 
rather  be  argued  that  the  mediaeval  story-teller  would  insist 
upon  good  blood  in  his  heroine — beautiful,  of  course,  she 
must  needs  be,  or  she  were  not  a  heroine  at  all,  but  in 
addition  she  must  also  turn  out  to  be  a  king's  daughter, 
or  else  she  were  no  mate  for  a  king's  son.  So  that 
internal  evidence  seems  to  me  rather  against  than  in  favour 
of  the  "  feudal"  origin  of  the  story,  if  "  feudal"  is  used  to 
design  a  definite  historical  period  characterised  by  definite 
political  andsocial  institutions.  Again,inhis  comment  on  the 
"  Tattercoats"  variant,  Mr.  Jacobs  says  :  "  It  is  an  instance 
of  the  folk-novel  pure  and  simple,  without  any  admixture 
of  those  unnatural  incidents  which  transform  the  folk-novel 
into  the  serious  folk-tale  as  we  are  accustomed  to  have  it. 
Which  is  the  prior,  folk-novel  or  tale,  it  would  be  hard  to 
say."  Mr.  Newell  would  probably  disavow  the  dubitative 
turn  of  the  last  sentence,  and  would  unhesitatingly  assert 
the  priority  of  the  folk-novel  "transformed  by  the  ad- 
mixture of  unnatural  incidents"  into  the  fairy  tale  we  all 
know. 

Here  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  real  crux  of 
the  mdrcJien  or  "  serious  folk-tale",  namely,  the  presence  of 
"  unnatural  incidents".  How  skilfully  does  Mr.  Jacobs 
suggest  that  this  element  is  extraneous  by  his  use  of  the 
word  "  admixture"  !  Yet  that  is  the  very  point  that  has  to 
be  decided,  and  the  word  is  a  wholly  question-begging  one. 
How  then  is  the  crux  dealt  with  ?  It  need  hardly  be  said 
that  in  Cinderella,  almost  more  than  in  any  other  folk-tale, 
it  is  indeed  the  crux.  For  in  the  Cinderella  group  we  find 
animal  parentage,  animal  help,  speaking  animals,  resuscita- 
tion from  bones,  magic  dresses,  transformation,  mutilation, 
all  of  which  are  certainly  "  unnatural"  incidents,  if  by  un- 
natural is  meant  out  of  accord  with  the  observed  facts  of 
life. 


Mr.  Newell  a7id  Mr.  Jacobs.  439 

Mr.  Newell  has  no  doubt  upon  the  subject  :  "  Archaic 
additions",  says  he,  "  are  always  made  by  savage  races  to 
tales  which  they  have  received  from  civilised  peoples." 
Whence  we  may  conclude  that  the  "  unnatural"  incidents  I 
have  just  cited  are  additions  made  by  the  "  savage"  folk  of 
Central  Europe  to  the  tale  of  the  "  civilised"  thirteenth  or 
fourteenth  century  minstrel.  Nay,  we  can  determine  the 
date  of  this  "admixture"  yet  more  closely  ;  for,  as  I  have 
shown,  Mr..  Newell's  view  postulates  the  oral  transmission 
of  the  proto-Catskin  (the  earliest  form  of  the  whole  group, 
according  to  him)  during  a  period  of  some  200  years. 
And  during  this  period  the  admixture  cannot  have  taken 
place,  for  the  tale  as  we  find  it  in  Bonaventure  and  Strapa- 
rola  is  singularly  free  from  "  archaic"  incidents.  Nor  will  it 
be  denied  that  the  "  fairy  godmother"  of  Perrault  is  less 
archaic  than  the  mother  transformed  after  death  into  an 
animal  of  countless  modern  versions.  Ergo,  in  Perrault's 
time  the  full  archaisation  of  the  tale  had  not  taken 
place,  and  this  must  be  ascribed  to  the  West  European 
savages  of  the  last  two  centuries. 

I  had  almost  added  the  Euclidean  "which  is  absurd".  Yet 
the  conclusion  flows  logically  from  Mr.  Newell's  premises. 
For  him  Cinderella  starts  with  a  Catskin  story  of  the 
thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century  ;  for  him  archaism  is  no 
test  of  age,  savage  races  receiving  their  tales  from  civilised 
peoples  and  spicing  them  with  archaic  traits  ;  for  him 
Cinderella,  as  a  whole,  is  a  purely  European  creation,  the 
few  non-European  variants  being  due  to  quite  recent 
transmission.  What  explanation  remains,  then,  save  that 
the  "  unnatural"  incidents  have  been  foisted  in  during  the 
century  of  reason  and  enlightenment  which  lies  between 
Perrault  and  the  Grimms  ? 

Mr.  Jacobs  has  thought  the  matter  out  more  warily. 
He  refuses  assent  to  Mr.  Newell's  postulate  of  the  priority 
of  Catskin  over  all  other  forms  of  the  Cinderella,  justly 
observing  that  the  appearance  of  Catskin  in  Straparola 
100  years  earlier  than  the  first  recorded  true  Cinderella  in 


440  Some  Recent  Utterances  of 

Basile  is  a  "  somewhat  insufficent  basis  for  such  a  con- 
clusion". For  a  moment  he  hesitates,  but  only  for  a 
moment.  "It  remains  to  be  proved",  says  he,  "that  the 
introductory  part  of  the  story  with  the  helpful  animal  was 
necessarily  part  of  the  original."  Heretical  doctrine  this 
from  an  adherent  of  the  principle  that  a  tale  is  a  definite 
combination  of  incidents;  but  let  that  pass.  He  then  goes 
on  :  "  The  possibility  of  the  introduction  of  an  archaic 
formula  which  had  become  a  convention  of  folk-telling 
cannot  be  left  out  of  account." 

It  is  amazing  that  a  scholar  of  Mr.  Jacobs'  acuteness 
should  not  see  that  this  argument  from  convention  not 
only  gives  away  his  own  case  but  practically  establishes 
that  of  his  opponents.  What  is  a  convention  ?  A  form 
of  incident  or  wording  accepted  as  appropriate  in  a 
given  situation  owing  to  long  use  in  similar  situations. 
It  must  be  accepted  as  appropriate  by  both  reciter  and 
hearers,  and  acceptance  is  mainly  determined  by  famili- 
arity due  to  long  use.  The  rapidity  with  which  a  new 
convention  establishes  itself  depends  chiefly  upon  the 
degree  of  advance  and  variation  in  a  society.  In  a  back- 
ward, conservative  society  such  as  that  of  the  peasantry 
in  many  parts  of  modern  Europe,  conventions  live  long 
and  die  hard  ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Gaelic  story-teller 
of  to-day,  both  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  habitually  uses 
conventions  which  we  know  to  have  been  in  force  for 
over  a  thousand  years.  If,  therefore,  the  archaic  traits  in 
Cinderella  are  really  due  to  conventional  analogy,  the 
existence  of  a  folk-literature  of  immemorial  antiquity 
is  thereby  amply  and  irrefragably  proved.  You  cannot 
have  conventions  without  literature,  whether  written  and 
conscious,  or  oral  and  unconscious.  The  theory  to  which 
Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs  have,  with  varying  degrees  of 
confidence,  pinned  their  faith  may  be  stated  as  follows  : 
Fairy  tales  are  not  really  old,  but  are  stuffed  full  of 
imitations  of  old  fairy  tales  which  have  disappeared.  One 
is  reminded  of  the  famous  theory  that  Shakspeare's  plays 


Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs.  441 

were  not  written  by  Shakespeare,  but  by  another  fellow 
of  the  same  name. 

Thus,  accept  the  convention  theory,  and  the  main  point 
in  dispute  between  Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs  on  the 
one  hand,  and  numerous  folk-lorists,  myself  amongst  them, 
on  the  other,  is  conceded  in  our  favour  :  there  has  existed 
from  of  very  old  in  Europe  a  body  of  folk-literature 
presenting  archaic  traits.  But  more  follows.  Mr.  Jacobs' 
favourite  grievance  against  the  anthropologists  is  deprived 
of  all  point,  though,  strangely  enough,  he  is  blind  to  the 
fact.  You  use  folk-tales,  says  he,  as  evidence  of  the 
social  and  intellectual  condition  of  a  race  ;  error !  the  race 
may  have  borrowed  its  tales.  But  if  the  tales  came  to 
the  borrowing  race  destitute  of  those  traits  upon  which 
the  anthropologist  relies,  and  if  these  were  so  engrained  in 
the  mental  and  artistic  equipment  of  the  race  that  it  could 
not  refrain  from  introducing  them  into  its  borrowed  litera- 
ture, surely  "  the  archaeological  value  of  such  traits  is  much 
enhanced" — no,  says  Mr.  Jacobs,  reduced — "  by  such  con- 
siderations." 

Is  it  possible,  I  ask,  to  go  farther  astray  ?  Yet  Mr.  Jacobs' 
errements  are  almost  inevitable  consequences  from  his 
acceptance  of  a  postulate  not  only  false  but  unnecessary. 
And  I  am  not  without  hopes  that  by  setting  forth  the 
straits  into  which  he  is  driven  he  may  be  induced  to  see 
that  his  starting-point  is  false.  Let  yourself  be  dominated 
by  the  idea  that  the  folk-tale  is  a  conscious  creation,  the 
origin  of  which  is  more  or  less  contemporaneous  with  its 
first  appearance  in  literature,  and  at  every  step  you  will 
be  driven  to  such  expedients  as  I  have  just  discussed  ; 
accept,  on  the  other  hand,  the  theory  that  the  folk-tale  is 
merely  a  new  combination  of  extremely  familiar  incidents 
of  great  antiquity,  and  that  citation  in  literature,  whilst  of 
the  highest  value  in  enabling  us  to  determine  a  terminus  ad 
quern,  is  of  absolutely  no  value  whatever  (if  I  could  use 
stronger  words  I  would)  in  determining  a  terminus  a  quo — 
questions  of  origin  and  diffusion  assume  a  new  aspect,  and 


442  Some  Recent  Utterances  of 

such  difficulties  as  beset  Mr.  Newell  in  his  attempt  to 
account  for  the  development  of  the  Cinderella  group  within 
the  last  500  years,  simply  do  not  arise  at  all. 

I  confess  that  Mr.  Jacobs'  polemic  against  the  anthro- 
pologists leaves  me  as  cold  as  does  much  of  Mr.  Lang's 
polemic  against  the  nature  mythologists.  It  is  so  largely 
unnecessary.  What  is  the  utmost  claim  of  the  anthro- 
pologist? That  a  number  of  tales  originate  in  a  social 
and  intellectual  stage  out  of  which  our  own  race  has 
emerged,  and  in  which  other  races  have  remained.  Had 
we  only  the  evidence  of  nursery  tales  as  to  this  stage,  I 
could  understand  the  pother,  but  their  evidence  is,  at  the 
best,  subsidiary.  We  have  so  much  more  evidence,  and 
evidence  of  such  infinitely  greater  cogency,  that  I  cannot 
understand  why  Mr.  Jacobs  who  accepts  that  evidence, 
w^ho  is,  in  sociology,  an  evolutionist,  should  hesitate  to 
accept  evolution  in  folk-literature,  should  range  himself  on 
the  side  of  the  revelationist  and  "  degradationist",  if  I  may 
coin  an  ugly  word  for  an  irrational  thing.^  Has  man 
struggled  upwards  from  savagery  ?  If  so,  then  most 
assuredly  his  tales  have  struggled  upwards  with  him.  If 
not,  let  us  frankly  confess  we  have  all  been  wrong,  and  that 
Bryant  and  Mr.  Casaubon  are  in  the  right. 

The  error,  if  I  may  venture  to  say  so,  lies  in  considering 
folk-literature  apart  from  folk-lore  at  large,  and  folk-lore 
itself  apart  from  the  history  of  all  the  various  phases 
of  man's  activity.  I  would  fain  for  a  moment  glance  at 
universal  history  from  the  sole  standpoint  of  our  studies. 
From  the  earliest  date  to  which  we  can  penetrate  back- 
wards in  the  story  of  our  race  down  to  the  appearance  of 
Christianity,  we  find  man  governed  by  certain  religious  and 
social  conceptions,  manifesting  themselves  in  divers  forms 
according  to  the  varying  genius  of  each  race,  but  all 
animated  by  a  common   spirit.     Parallels  and  similars  to 

1  I  do  not,  of  course,  deny  the  possibility  of  degradation,  I  merely 
refuse  to  look  upon  it  as  the  sole,  or  even  the  chief,  or  even  a  very 
influential  factor  in  the  formation  of  folk-literature. 


Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs.  443 

these  conceptions,  manifestations  of  this  common  spirit, 
are  furnished  at  the  present  day  by  races  and  classes 
wholly  or  partially  unaffected  by  Christian  civilisation. 
That  the  spirit  was  one,  though  the  forms  of  its  manifesta- 
tion were  diverse,  explains  the  ease  with  which  these  acted 
and  reacted  upon  each  other.  Grasp  this  point,  and  much 
discussion  about  the  borrowed  nature  of  Hellenic  myth- 
ology, for  instance,  becomes  meaningless.  No  psycho- 
logical obstacle  forbade  the  attribution  to  Zeus  of  that 
which  elsewhere  was  attributed  to  Ammon  Ra  or  to  Bel ; 
all  three  were  resultants  of  man's  fancy  working  from  a 
common  set  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  artistic  data.  To 
assign  mythology  to  any  one  race,  to  treat  all  other  races 
as  its  debtors  in  this  respect,  is  irrational.  We  can  only 
note  that  each  race  puts  its  ov/n  impress  upon  the  common 
hoard  of  mythic  material. 

The  common  spirit  underlying  and  animating  a  number 
of  closely  related  conceptions  of  the  universe  may  be 
styled  the  antique,  in  contradistinction  to  the  modern, 
which  is  partly  the  result  of  Christianity,  partly  the  result  of 
forces  independent  of  Christianity.  Prior  to  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  the  antique  spirit  had  its  strongest 
support  in  religious  organisation.  The  State  had  already 
begun  to  discard  it,  to  introduce  new  conceptions.  For 
the  antique  theory  of  the  world  flourished  best,  as  it  still 
does,  in  small  communities  strongly  individualised  against 
other  communities,  but  internally  socialistic ;  whereas  the 
tendency  of  the  State  is  to  fuse  small  communities  into 
one,  and,  by  freeing  the  individual  from  socialistic  shackles, 
to  increase  his  taxable  value.  This  tendency,  which  in 
the  ancient  world  culminated  in  the  Roman  Empire, 
received  tremendous  impetus  from  the  establishment  of 
Christianity.  For  the  first  time,  so  far  as  we  know 
certainly,  the  might  of  religion  was  arrayed  against  the 
antique  theory  of  things  ;  the  local  sanctuary,  the  strongest 
bulwark  of  the  small  community  against  the  centralising 
State,    was    menaced    with    destruction.       The    Church, 


444  Some  Recent  Utterances  of 

indeed,  outstripped  the  State,  and  for  a  time  there  was 
fierce  antagonism,  but  with  the  acceptance  of  Chris- 
tianity by  the  Empire  the  two  dominating  forces  that 
shape  the  fate  of  mankind  were  again,  after  a  divorce 
of  centuries,  animated  by  a  common  theory  of  Hfe. 
Then,  however,  the  forces  of  the  older  world  were  re- 
inforced, all  at  once  and  incalculably,  by  the  barbarian 
invasions.  Church  and  State  had  to  compromise  all  along 
the  line,  to  what  extent  as  regards  Christianity  we  can 
trace  in  saints'  lives  and  local  festivals,  whilst  decrees  of 
councils,  episcopal  charges,  penitentials,  witness  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  struggle  against  paganism.  As  regards  the 
Empire,  the  compromise  resulted  in  feudalism,  a  state  of 
society  resembling  in  many  and  not  unimportant  respects 
that  which  had  formerly  obtained  both  among  the  barbarian 
conquerors  of  the  Empire  and  among  the  ancestors  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  :  a  state  of  society  singularly  favour- 
able to  the  growth  of  heroic  romance.  As  regards  Chris- 
tianity, there  came  into  existence  a  common  stock  of 
legendary  romance,  the  scope  and  framework  of  which 
were  as  rigidly  determined  by  psychological  considera- 
tions as  had  been  those  of  the  mythological  romance  of 
antiquity,  and  the  diverse  forms  of  which  acted  and  reacted 
upon  each  as  freely  as  had  the  diverse  forms  of  pre- 
Christian  mythology. 

The  compromise  was,  upon  the  whole,  more  permanently 
satisfying  to  the  Church,  which  indeed  contrived  to  embody 
under  its  sway  an  ideal  singularly  beautiful  and  achieved,  than 
to  the  State  ;  although  the  Reformation  may  be  regarded 
as  a  step  onwards  in  the  strife  of  Christian  and  pre-Christian 
theories  of  life,  so  that  Puritanism,  the  most  logical  expo- 
nent of  the  Reformation,  became  of  necessity  the  deadly  foe 
of  folk-lore.  But  at  the  present  day  it  is  the  modern  State, 
with  its  centralised,  uniformitarian  system  of  education, 
that  threatens  with  imminent  destruction  that  older  inter- 
pretation of  the  universe  which  more  than  any  other 
partially  fulfils  the  test  of  catholicity,  for  it  has,  so  far  as 


Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs.  445 

we  can  learn,  been  held  of  all  peoples  and  from  immemorial 
antiquity. 

Correlate  these  broad  groupings  of  historic  fact  with  the 
record  of  literature.  This,  in  its  earliest  forms,  is  wholly- 
mythic  and  heroic  ;  it  has  a  common  fund  of  personages 
and  situations  which  are  differentiated  chiefly  by  association 
with  the  origin  andfortunesof  small,  strongly  individualised 
communities.  The  vital  power  of  this  literature  had  well- 
nigh  faded  away  by  the  time  Christianity  established  itself, 
though  it  lived  on  as  a  subject  of  literary  or  academic 
exercise.  During  the  first  seven  or  eight  centuries  of 
Christianity  mythico-heroic  literature  disappears.  The 
classic  form  died  away  owing  to  the  divorce  between  the 
highest  thought  and  fancy  of  dying  paganism  and  the 
conceptions  upon  which  the  older  literature  was  based  ;  the 
barbaric  forms  could  not  attain  to  expression  so  long  as 
the  strife  between  the  invaders  and  the  Empire  was  engaging 
all  the  energies  of  both  sides.  They  emerged  as  soon  as  the 
compromise  in  Church  and  State  had  finally  been  settled, 
and  then  proved  to  be  essentially  of  the  same  character 
as  the  mythico-heroic  literature  of  classic  and  oriental 
antiquity.  Mingling  with  the  scattered  remnants  of  this 
latter  that  had  survived  the  shocks  of  the  invasion  period, 
mingling  with  and  influenced  by  Christian  legendary 
romance,  they  formed  the  staple  of  the  highest  literary  art 
so  long  as  the  feudal  state  of  society  lasted.  With  the 
waning  of  feudalism,  with  the  advent  of  the  modern  State, 
mediaeval  romance  waned  also,  gradually  deserted  as  it 
was  by  the  best  imaginative  and  creative  thought  and 
fancy  of  the  race. 

The  agreement  between  the  historic  and  the  literary 
record  is  perfect  down  to  a  comparatively  recent  period. 
Then,  apparently  without  originating  cause,  an  immense 
mass  of  popular  literature,  mythic  and  heroic  in  its  essence, 
clad  in  comparatively  novel  form,  comes  to  light.  This 
phenomenon  it  is  that  has  led  to  the  false  theory  I  have 
endeavoured  to  combat  ;  observed  of  late,  it  must,  so  it  is 

VOL.  IV.  H  H 


44^  Sojue  Recent  Utterances  of 

held,  be  of  recent  origin,  and  that  origin  must  be  external, 
and,  being  of  foreign  introduction,  the  phenomenon  cannot 
be  correlated  with  intellectual  and  artistic  conceptions  to 
the  existence  of  which  on  European  soil  we  have  unbroken 
testimony  of  3,000  years'  standing.  So  easily  does  an 
unnecessary  postulate  lead  to  circular  reasoning. 

That  the  postulate  is  unnecessary  seems  to  me  hardly  to 
require  demonstration.  The  explanation  of  the  phenomenon 
is  so  simple.  As  long  as  the  whole  of  literature  was 
mythico-heroic  in  essence  and  spirit,  the  lower  forms  were 
inevitably  disregarded.  To  the  men  who  told  of  Apollo 
the  Python  Slayer,  or  of  Sigurd  Fafnerbane,  a  story  such 
as  Jack  the  Giant  Killer  must  have  seemed  an  inferior 
variant  of  what  they  possessed  in  perfect  form.  Not  until 
the  divorce  between  culture  and  traditional  literature  was 
complete  could  the  folk-version  of  that  literature  stand  a 
chance  of  recognition.^  And  then  it  shared  the  attention 
bestowed  for  the  first  time  upon  folk-lore  generally,  because 
for  the  first  time  that  lore,  ceasing  to  be  a  living  factor  in 
the  higher  ethics  and  philosophy,  became  susceptible  of 
disinterested  scientific  examination.  But  the  apparent  new 
birth  of  folk-literature  was  chiefly  determined  by  a  rebirth 
of  artistic  literature.  The  consideration  of  this  point  will, 
I  trust,  enable  me  to  make  my  peace  both  with  Mr.  Newell 
and  with  Mr.  Jacobs. 

The  antique  theory  of  life,  whether  as  a  mere  survival, 
or  still  in  full  force,  manifests  itself  in  three  ways  :  in  re- 
ligion, politico-legal  organisation,  and  literature.  But  whilst 
polity,  whether  spiritual  or  secular,  having  once  discarded 
the  antique  conceptions,  became  actually  hostile  to  them, 
it  was  otherwise  with  literature.  For  this  aims  at  depict- 
ing man  in  the  sum  total  of  his  activities  and  emotions, 
whilst  religion  and  law  aim  at  disciplining  and  modifying 

^  This  is  as  true  of  classic  antiquity  as  of  modern  times.  In  the 
second  century  the  ancients  were  feeling  their  way  to  an  independent 
interest  in  and  study  of  folk-literature  and  folk-lore  generally.  Apuleius 
is  a  fifteen  century  earlier  precursor  of  Basile  and  Perrault. 


Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs.  447 

him.  Literature  then  cannot  disassociate  itself  from  the 
past  of  the  race :  for  the  artist,  what  has  been,  is.  Nay 
more  ;  literature  by  its  nature  is  bound  to  be,  in  the  Miltonic 
phrase,  simple,  sensuous,  and  passionate,  conditions  ful- 
filled far  more  perfectly  in  the  antique  societies  which  gave 
birth  to  romance  than  in  the  present  day.  The  greatest 
literature  of  the  world  has  its  roots  in  myth  and  romance, 
and  these  are  the  spring-heads  at  which  modern  literature 
drinks  when  it  would  fain  renew  its  youth  and  strength. 

Thus  a  survival  in  folk-literature  cannot  be  treated  in 
the  same  way  as  a  survival  in  folk-belief  or  folk-custom. 
In  the  one  case  the  communion  between  the  folk-spirit  and 
the  higher  culture  has  been  broken,  in  the  other  it  still 
exists,  and  were  it  to  disappear,  one  might  almost  predict 
the  disappearance  of  literature  itself.  This  much  I  admit, 
but  not  that  folk-literature  must  therefore  be  investigated 
by  the  same  critical  method  as  artistic  conscious  litera- 
ture. Here  I  join  issue  with  Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs, 
as  well  as  with  other  scholars. 

As  regards  Cinderella  I  am  not  without  hopes  that 
further  discussion  as  to  whether  the  tale  has  sprung  fully 
equipped  into  existence  during  the  last  six  centuries  may 
be  held  unnecessary.  But  I  may  also  illustrate  the 
difference  in  point  of  view  between  Mr.  Jacobs  and  myself 
by  reference  to  a  couple  of  stories  included  in  his  More 
Ejiglish  Fairy  Tales.  One  is  a  version  of  the  Pied  Piper, 
located  at  Newport  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  on  the  authority 
of  Abraham  Elder,  who  wrote  in  1830.  Mr.  Jacobs  would 
hold  this  to  be  a  forged  transfer,  so  to  say,  of  the  well- 
known  Hamein  legend.  The  utmost  he  admits  is  that  a 
local  disappearance  of  children  legend  may  have  suggested 
to  Elder  the  idea  of  giving  a  new  home  to  the  Hamein 
story.  I  cannot  agree,  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  had 
the  Hamein  story  never  become  famous,  never  worked  its 
way  through  Howell  and  Verstegan  into  English  literature, 
we  should  not  have  had  the  Newport  version  of  the  Pied 
Piper  legend.      But  this,  because    Elder  would   not  have 


4-48  Some  Recent  Utterances  of 

transcribed  it,  not  because  it  would  not  have  existed.  For 
the  collector  is  often  a  professed  man  of  letters,  and  he 
is  naturally  attracted  by  anything  at  all  akin  to  what  is 
familiar  to  him  from  his  reading.  And  I  also  admit 
that  Elder,  in  shaping  for  the  press  the  story,  whatever 
it  was,  that  he  heard  at  Newport,  was  in  all  probability 
largely  influenced  by  the  Hameln  legend.  But  it  seems  to 
me  extremely  unlikely  that  he  simply  transferred  the 
story,  body  and  bones,  from  the  pages  of  Howell  or  Verste- 
gan  to  the  shores  of  the  Solent.  Mr.  Jacobs'  proof  of  this 
seems  to  me  a  disproof.  He  knew  and  cited  Verstegan, 
says  Mr.  Jacobs.  Just  so.  Would  he  have  cited  Verstegan 
had  the  latter  been  his  sole  authority  ?  Would  he  not, 
had  he  been  a  mere  forger,  have  endeavoured  to  cover  his 
tracks  ? 

No  better  instance  of  two  diverse  methods  in  storio- 
logical  investigation  could  be  well  chosen  than  Mr.  Jacobs' 
and  Mr.  Baring  Gould's  treatment  of  the  Pied  Piper.  The 
latter  accumulates  a  vast  mass  of  interesting  legendary 
parallels,  but  the  whole  discussion  hangs  in  the  air,  and  is 
never  brought  to  the  touch  of  historic  or  literary  criticism  ; 
the  former  establishes  to  his  own  satisfaction  the  depend- 
ence of  the  English  upon  the  German  version,  and  there 
leaves  the  matter.  Neither  method  seems  to  me  satis- 
factory. 

Mr.  Jacobs  finds  in  England  a  version  of  the  Blinded 
Giant  story.  For  him  "  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  is 
ultimately  to  be  traced  back  to  the  Odyssey\  I  see  no 
reason  to  assume  this.  For  it  further  involves  the  assump- 
tion that  the  Odyssey  version  is  the  origin  of  the  legend,  an 
assumption  to  which  I  emphatically  demur.  The  story 
existed  before  the  author  of  the  Odyssey  worked  it  into  his 
epic  ;  it  would  have  gone  on  existing  had  he  not  done  so; 
in  the  latter  case  it  probably  would  not  have  been  so  widely 
spread  as  it  now  is,  but  even  this  is  conjectural,  a  point 
upon  which  dogmatism  is  impossible. 

In    both    these  cases    the   defect  of  tlic   purely   literary 


Mr.  Newell  and  Mr,  Jacobs.  449 

method  is  patent ;  concerned  solely  with  the  literary  record 
of  the  story,  it  neglects  the  really  interesting  and  important 
point,  the  sociological  and  ethnologic  significance. 

Mr.  Jacobs  made  an  undoubted  hit  with  the  epithet 
"  casual"  applied  to  the  anthropological  school.  Prof.  Rhys, 
as  maybe  remembered,  was  converted  on  the  spot,  and  Mr. 
Lang  has,  seemingly,  felt  his  withers  wrung,  though,  if  an 
outsider  may  guess,  because  he  denied  rather  than  because 
he  admitted  the  justice  of  the  taunt.  A  fair  retort  is  to 
style  Mr.  Jacobs'  the  "  spontaneous  generation"  school. 
Practically,  it  postulates  creation  ex  nihilo  by  the  exercise 
of  individual  fancy.  It  thus  ignores  the  fact  that  every 
story  has  a  past  far  older  than  the  first  recorded  example, 
that  the  first  combination  into  a  story  is  merely  the 
grouping  together  of  incidents  and  conceptions  familiar 
both  to  tellers  and  hearers ;  and,  by  insistence  solely  upon 
the  combination  and  the  tracking  of  its  possible  wanderings, 
it  obscures  for  us  the  earlier  history  and  real  meaning  of 
those  incidents  and  conceptions. 

Finally,  I  would  note  Mr.  Jacobs'  assertion  concerning 
Cinderella:  "The  Borrowing  Theory .  .  .  comes  out  triumph- 
ant as  the  sole  working  hypothesis  that  will  explain  the 
same  story  existing  in  so  many  lands.  That  in  this  par- 
ticular case  the  borrowing  is  not  from  India  does  not  affect 
the  general  question."  Does  it  not  ?  I  should  have  thought 
it  did.i     But  I  accept  Mr.  Jacobs'  assertion,  for  it  reduces 

1  For  Mr.  Jacobs,  that  is.  For  he,  to  his  great  credit  be  it  said,  was 
the  first  of  the  Indianists  to  perceive  that  the  ordinary  explanations  of 
the  school  lacked  a  scientific  basis.  A  fact  was  stated,  the  priority  of 
certain  Indian  collections,  but  no  theory  of  causation  was  suggested,  yet 
if  India  had  a  complete  or  practical  monopoly  of  tale  invention  there 
must  be  a  cause.  Mr.  Jacobs  sought  this  "  in  the  vitality  of  animism 
or  metempsychosis  in  India  throughout  all  historic  i\m€'  {Indian  Fairy 
Tales,  p.  234).  Yet  here  we  have  an  "animistic" fairy  tale  apparently 
wholly  unconnected  with  India.  Does  not  this  cut  the  ground  from 
under  Mr.  Jacobs'  feet  ?  So  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  enquire 
whether  India  has  the  monopoly  of  an  unbroken  belief  in  "  animism  or 
metempsychosis". 


450  Some  Recent  Utterances. 

the  Borrowing  Theory  to  the  statement  that  tales  can  and 
do  spread.  With  that  statement,  provided  it  be  added — so 
long  as  the  sociological  and  psychological  conditions  are 
favourable — I  have  no  quarrel.  What  I  have  always  opposed 
is  the  theory,  whether  openly  or  tacitly  maintained,  that  all 
tales  are  borrowed  from  one  country.  The  moment  it  is 
admitted  that  tales  may  spring  up  everywhere,  provided 
the  conditions   be  favourable,  the  question   of  borrowing 

becomes  a  secondary  one. 

A.   NUTT. 

Note. — I  have  not  dealt  with  a  number  of  subsidiary  assertions 
made  either  by  Mr.  Newell  or  Mr.  Jacobs,  preferring  not  to  obscure 
the  issue  between  us  ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  be  held  to  assent  to 
whatever  I  have  not  formally  challenged.  Mr.  Newell's  notice  of 
Cinderella  in  especial  contains  many  statements  which  seem  to  me 
very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  prove. 


PIN-WELLS  AND  RAG-BUSHES} 


THE  customs  of  throwing  pins  into  sacred  wells  and  of 
tying  rags  to  bushes,  especially  to  bushes  growing 
about  sacred  wells,  have  exercised  students  of  folk-lore  ever 
since  folk-lore  came  to  be  studied.  They  seem  such  odd, 
senseless  practices  that,  until  one  has  learned  that  most 
human  practices,  however  odd  and  senseless  they  appear, 
have  their  reasons  and  are  not  mere  caprices,  it  is  not  easy 
to  suppose  they  ever  had  a  reasonable  basis.  And  even 
when  one  is  assured  that  there  is  an  underlying  reason,  the 
question,  What  is  that  reason  ?  has  been  found  a  very  per- 
plexing one.  During  the  last  year  or  two  it  has  been 
brought  into  prominence  by  the  enquiries  of  Professor  Dr. 
Rhys  in  Wales  and  the  Isle  of  Man  ;  and  he  has  discussed 
it  with  the  Folk-lore  Society  and  elsewhere  without  arriving 
at  any  satisfactory  conclusion.  If  I  offer  a  suggestion  for 
which  I  have  looked  in  vain  in  the  reported  discussions,  it 
is  hardly  in  the  hope  of  settling  the  matter,  so  much  as  of 
drawing  attention  to  a  habit  of  archaic  thought  running 
through  many  a  habit  of  archaic  practice,  and  possibly 
therefore  affecting  these  customs. 

Let  us  first  endeavour  to  obtain  a  clear  idea  of  the  cus- 
toms with  which  we  are  dealing.  One  or  two  examples 
will  suffice  for  this  purpose.  I  take  them  from  Professor 
Rhys'  paper,  read  before  a  joint  meeting  of  the  Cymmro- 
dorion  and  Folk-lore  Societies,  on  the  nth  January  1893. 
He  quotes  a  correspondent  as  saying  of  Ffynnon  Cae  Moch, 
about  halfway  between  Coychurch  and  Bridgend  in  Gla- 
morganshire :  "  People  suffering  from  rheumatism  go  there. 

^  A  paper  read  to  the  British  Association  (Section  H)  at  its  meeting 
at  Nottingham,  September  1893. 


452  Pin- We  lis  and  Rag-Bushes. 

They  bathe  the  part  affected  with  water,  and  afterwards  tie 
a  piece  of  rag  to  the  tree  which  overhangs  the  well.  The 
rag  is  not  put  in  the  water  at  all,  but  is  only  put  on  the  tree 
for  luck.  It  is  a  stunted  but  very  old  tree,  and  is  simply 
covered  with  rags."  In  another  case,  that  of  Ffynnon 
Eilian  (Elian's  Well),  near  Abergele  in  Denbighshire,  of 
which  Professor  Rhys  was  informed  by  Mrs.  Evans,  the  late 
wife  of  Canon  Silvan  Evans,  some  bushes  near  the  well  had 
once  been  covered  with  bits  of  rag  left  by  those  who  fre- 
quented it.  The  rags  used  to  be  tied  to  the  bushes  by 
means  of  wool — not  woollen  yarn,  but  wool  in  its  natural 
state.  Corks  with  pins  stuck  in  them  were  floating  in  the 
well  when  Mrs.  Evans  visited  it,  though  the  rags  had  appa- 
rently disappeared  from  the  bushes.  The  well  in  question, 
it  is  noted,  had  once  been  in  great  repute  as  "  a  well  to 
which  people  resorted  for  the  kindly  purpose  of  bewitching 
those  whom  they  hated".  The  Ffynnon  Cefn  Lleithfan,  or 
Well  of  the  Lleithfan  Ridge,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Myn- 
ydd  y  Rhiw,  in  the  parish  of  Bryncroes,  in  the  west  of 
Carnarvonshire,  is  a  resort  for  the  cure  of  warts.  The 
sacred  character  of  the  well  may  be  inferred  from  the 
silence  in  which  it  is  necessary  to  go  and  come,  and  from 
the  prohibition  to  turn  or  look  back.  The  wart  is  to  be 
bathed  at  the  well  with  a  rag  or  clout,  which  has  grease  on 
it.  The  clout  must  then  be  carefully  concealed  beneath 
the  stone  at  the  mouth  of  the  well.  The  Professor,  repeat- 
ing this  account  of  the  well,  given  him  by  a  Welsh  collector 
of  folk-lore,  says  :  "  This  brings  to  my  mind  the  fact  that  I 
have,  more  than  once,  years  ago,  noticed  rags  underneath 
stones  in  the  water  flowing  from  wells  in  Wales,  and 
sometimes  thrust  into  holes  in  the  walls  of  wells,  but  I  had 
no  notion  how  they  came  there."  This  is  an  experience 
we  have  probably  all  shared. 

Professor  Rhys  mentions  several  wells  wherein  it  was 
usual  to  drop  pins  ;  but  the  most  detailed  account  was 
afterwards  furnished  by  Mr.  T.  E.  Morris,  from  a  corre- 
spondent who  supplied  him  with  the  following  information 


Pin- Wei  Is  mid  Rag-Bushes.  453 

relating  to  Ffynnon  Faglan  (St.  Baglan's  Well)  in  the  parish 
of  Llanfaglan,  Carnarvonshire  :  "  The  old  people  who  would 
be  likely  to  know  anything  about  Ffynnon  Faglan  have  all 
died.  The  two  oldest  inhabitants,  who  have  always  lived 
in  this  parish  (Llanfaglan),  remember  the  well  being  used 
for  healing  purposes.  One  told  me  his  mother  used  to  take 
him  to  it,  when  he  was  a  child,  for  sore  eyes,  bathe  them 
with  the  water,  and  then  drop  in  a  pin.  The  other  man, 
when  he  was  young,  bathed  in  it  for  rheumatism,  and  until 
quite  lately  people  used  to  fetch  away  the  water  for 
medicinal  purposes.  The  latter,  who  lives  near  the  well  at 
Tan-y-graig,  said  that  he  remembered  it  being  cleared  out 
about  fifty  years  ago,  when  two  basins-full  of  pins  were 
taken  out,  but  no  coin  of  any  kind.  The  pins  were  all  bent, 
and  I  conclude  the  intention  was  to  exorcise  the  evil  spirit 
supposed  to  afflict  the  person  who  dropped  them  in,  or,  as 
the  Welsh  say,  dadwitsio.  No  doubt  some  ominous  words 
were  also  used.  The  well  is  at  present  nearly  dry,  the  field 
where  it  lies  having  been  drained  some  years  ago,  and  the 
water  in  consequence  withdrawn  from  it.  It  was  much 
used  for  the  cure  of  warts.  The  wart  was  washed,  then 
pricked  with  a  pin,  which,  after  being  bent,  was  thrown  into 
the  well."i 

Such  being  the  rites,  we  will  next  attempt  to  sketch  the 
geographical  distribution  of  these  and  some  apparently 
analogous  superstitions.  Pin-wells  and  Rag-bushes  are 
found  all  over  the  British  Isles.  The  observances,  however, 
are  not  confined  to  the  exact  form  described  by  Professor 
Rhys  and  his  correspondents.  Sir  Arthur  Mitchell  mentions 
a  well  renowned  for  the  cure  of  insanity  on  the  island  of 
Maelrubha  in  Loch  Maree.  Near  the  well  is  an  oak  tree 
covered  with  nails,  to  each  of  which  was  formerly  attached 
a  portion  of  the  clothing  of  an  afflicted  person  who  had  been 
brought  thither  ;  and  a  few  ribbons  are  said  to  be  still  flying 

1  Professor  Rhys'  paper  is  printed  in  FOLK-LORE,  iv,  55,  and  Mr. 
Morris'  observations  follow  it.  For  other  wells  in  the  British  Isles 
see  Brand  and  Ellis,  Popttlar  Antiquities,  ii,  259  et  scqq. 


454  Pin-  Wells  and  Rao;- Bushes. 

from  one  or  two  of  them.  Two  gilt  buttons  and  two 
buckles  are  also  nailed  to  the  tree.  Many  of  the  nails  are 
believed  to  be  covered  with  the  bark,  which  appears  to  be 
growing  over  them  all.^  This  resembles  the  ceremony  pre- 
scribed for  hernia  in  Mecklenburg.  A  cross  is  made  over 
the  affected  part  with  a  nail  on  a  Friday  ;  and  the  nail  is 
then  driven,  in  unbroken  silence,  into  a  young  beech  or  oak 
The  operation  is  repeated  on  the  two  Fridays  following.  A 
variant  prescription  directs  the  part  to  be  touched  with  a 
coffin-nail,  which  is  then  to  be  driven  over  its  head  into  the 
tree  by  the  sufferer,  barefoot  and  silent.  As  the  nail  is 
overgrown  by  the  bark,  the  hernia  will  be  healed.^ 

In  Belgium,  halfway  between  Braine  I'Alleud  and  the 
wood  of  Le  Foriet,  two  hollow,  and  therefore  doubtless  very 
ancient,  roads  cross  one  another.  Two  aged  pine-trees  are 
planted  at  the  top  of  the  bank  at  one  of  the  corners  ;  and 
formerly  there  stood  between  them  a  cross,  which  has  dis- 
appeared for  some  thirty  years.  It  was  a  very  ancient 
custom  to  bury  in  the  pines,  and  even  in  the  cross,  pins  or 
nails,  in  order  to  obtain  the  cure  of  persons  attacked  by 
fevers  of  various  kinds.  The  pins  and  nails  thus  employed 
must  have  been  previously  in  contact  with  the  patient  or 
his  clothes.  If  anyone  took  out  one  of  these  pins  or  nails 
from  the  pines  or  the  cross,  and  carried  it  home,  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  disease  would  certainly  have  been  communi- 
cated to  some  member  of  his  family.  The  custom  is  said 
to  have  fallen  out  of  use.  Yet  M.  Schepers,  who  visited 
the  place  in  September  1891,  and  to  whose  article  on  the 
subject  in  Wallonia,  a  periodical  published  at  Liege,  I  am 
indebted  for  these  particulars,  found  not  only  rusty  nails  in 
the  pines,  but  also  pins  quite  recently  planted.  He  was 
told  that  it  was  equally  customary  to  roll  round  the  pines, 
or  the  arms  of  the  cross,  some  band  of  cloth  or  other  stuff 
which  had  touched  the  sufferer.  As  soon  as  the  nail  or  pin 
had  been  driven  in,  or  the  ribbon  fastened,  the  operator 

1  Pfoc.  Soc.  Ant.  Scot.,  iv,  253,  cited  by  Gaidoz,  Melusme,  vi,  156. 

2  Bartsch,  Sage?!,  etc.,  aus  Meklenburg,  ii,  104. 


Pill  -  We  Us  a  n  d  Rag-Btishes.  455 

used  to  run  away  as  hard  as  he  could  go.  The  spot  was 
called  A  Pcrzue  Saint  Ze,  St.  Etto's  Cross,  or  Atix  deux 
Sapins,  The  two  pine-trees.  Saint  Etto,  it  seems,  was  an 
Irish  missionary  to  these  parts  in  the  seventh  century.^ 

At  Croisic,  in  Upper  Brittany,  there  is  a  well,  called  the 
well  of  Saint  Goustan,  into  which  pins  are  thrown  by  those 
who  wish  to  be  married  during  the  year.  If  the  wish  be 
granted,  the  pin  will  fall  straight  to  the  bottom.  Similar 
practices  are  said  to  be  performed  in  Lower  Brittany,  and 
in  Poitou  and  Elsass.-  Girls  used  to  resort  to  the  little 
shrine  of  Saint  Guirec,  which  stands  on  an  isolated  rock 
below  high-water-mark  on  the  beach  at  Perros  Guirec  in 
Lower  Brittany,  to  pray  for  husbands.  The  worshipper, 
her  prayer  concluded,  stuck  a  pin  into  the  wooden  statue  of 
the  saint  ;  and  when  I  saw  the  shrine,  in  the  year  1 889,  the 
figure  was  riddled  from  top  to  toe  with  pinholes.  It  was 
said  that  the  prayer  for  a  husband  would  infallibly  be 
granted  within  a  year.  On  the  other  side  of  Brittany,  in 
the  Morbihan,  there  is  a  chapel  dedicated  to  Saint  Uferier, 
credited  with  a  similar  reputation.  The  saint's  foot,  if  1 
may  be  guilty  of  a  bull,  is  almost  entirely  composed  of 
holes.  It  is,  however,  necessary  here  that  the  pin  should 
be  a  new  one  and  quite  straight  ;  not  that  the  prayer  will 
not  be  granted  otherwise,  but  the  husband  will  be  crooked, 
hump-backed,  and  lame.  In  Upper  Brittany,  at  Saint 
Lawrence's  Chapel  near  Quintin,  and  elsewhere,  the  con- 
dition is  that  the  pin  be  planted  at  the  first  blow  ;  the 
marriage  will  then  take  place  within  the  year.^ 

All  over  France  the  like  practices  exist,  or  have  died 
out  only  within  comparatively  recent  years.  In  the 
Protestant  villages  of  Montbeliard,  between  the  Vosges 
and  the  Jura,  at  the  moment  of  celebration  of  a  wedding 
a  nail  was  planted  in  the  gallery  (or,  in  some  places,  in  the 

1  IVallonia,  No.  3,  1893. 

2  Sebillot,  Coutumes  de  la  Haute  Bretagne,  96. 

3  Ibid.,  c)-j,  quoting  Fouquet,  Legendes  du  Morbihan.  As  to  .St. 
Guirec's  shrine,  see  also  Arch.  Camb.,  5th  Sen,  vii,  175. 


45^  Pin-  Wells  and  Rag- Bushes. 

floor)  of  the  church,  to  "  nail"  or  fasten  the  marriage.  In 
various  parts  of  the  country  there  are  stone  or  iron  crosses 
which  have  doubtless  replaced  wooden  ones.  In  the  new 
crosses  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  hammer  nails,  or  stick 
pins.  Devotees,  therefore,  content  themselves  with  deposit- 
ing pins  upon  the  arms  or  pedestal,  or  in  the  joints.^  The 
well  of  Monies  in  the  department  of  Tarn  had,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  a  great  renown  for  the 
cure  of  various  diseases.  The  rags  which  had  been  used 
in  bathing  with  the  sacred  water  the  diseased  members 
were  left  stretched  out  on  the  neighbouring  bushes.^  An 
instance  where  the  honour  and  glory,  not  to  say  the 
substantial  gains  attendant  on  the  superstition,  were  early 
annexed  by  the  Church  is  that  of  St.  Michel-la-Riviere  in 
the  diocese  of  Bordeaux.  Both  the  honour  and  the  gains 
were  considerable  in  the  seventeenth  century,  as  appears 
from  orders  made,  and  quarrels  between  the  curi  and  the 
fabriqueur  of  the  church  decided,  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Bordeaux.  The  sick  man  was  required  to  pass  through  a 
hole  called  a  veyrine  at  the  end  of  the  apse ;  and  the  patients 
left  offerings  not  merely  of  linen,  but  also  of  money,  wax, 
and  other  things.^  Nor  was  this  case  at  all  singular  ;  for 
similar  practices  obtained  wherever  in  the  diocese  was  a 
church  dedicated  to  St.  Michael.  In  a  North-German 
example  the  object  of  veneration  was  an  oak-tree  ;  and  the 
pilgrim,  after  creeping  through  the  hole  in  the  prescribed 
manner,  completed  the  performance  by  burying  a  piece  of 
money  under  the  roots.  As  many  as  a  hundred  patients 
a  day  are  said  to  have  visited  it.*  Here  the  Church  had 
neglected  her  opportunities. 

Passing  the  Pyrenees,  let  us  note  that  in  the  seventeenth 

^  Gaidoz,  in  Rev.  de  Vhist.  des  RcL,  vi,  lo,  12.  See  also  Notes  and 
Queries,  8th  Ser.,  iv,  186. 

2  Gaidoz,  Un  vieux  rite  medical,  29,  quoting  Clos,  Meinoires  de  la 
Societe  des  A?ttiquaires  de  France. 

^  Ibid.,  41,  quoting  Memoires  de  la  Societe  Archcologique  de 
Bordeaux.  ■*  Bartsch,  i,  418. 


Pin-Wells  and  Rag-Bushes.  457 

century  it  was  usual  to  stick  needles  or  pins  in  a  certain 
tree  belonging  to  the  church  of  Saint  Christopher,  situated 
on  a  high  mountain  near  the  city  of  Pampeluna.^  In 
Mediterranean  lands  we  must  not  forget  the  rite  practised 
from  very  early  times  at  Rome.  From  the  date  of  the 
erection  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  it  was  the 
custom  on  the  festival  of  the  dedication,  the  Ides  of 
September,  for  the  highest  person  of  the  state  to  drive 
a  nail  into  the  right  wall  of  the  Cella  Jovis.  This  was 
usually  done  by  the  consuls  or  prsetor  ;  but  in  case  of  the 
appointment  of  a  dictator  the  latter  performed  the 
ceremony.  After  it  was  dropped  as  an  annual  perform- 
ance, recourse  was  occasionally  had  to  it  for  the  staying  of 
a  pestilence,  or  as  an  atonement  for  crime."^  Two  curious 
parallels  to  this  Roman  custom  existed  almost  down  to 
the  present  day  in  modern  Europe.  Near  Angers  was  an 
oak  which  bore  the  singular  name  of  Lapalud.  It  was 
regarded  as  of  the  same  antiquity  as  the  town,  and  was 
covered  with  nails  to  the  height  of  ten  feet  or  thereabouts. 
From  time  immemorial  every  journeyman  carpenter,  joiner, 
or  mason  who  passed  it,  used  to  stick  a  nail  in  it.  Near 
the  cathedral  at  Vienna  was  the  stock  of  an  old  tree,  called 
the  Stock  im  Risen,  said  to  be  the  last  remnant  of  an 
ancient  forest  which  covered  the  neighbourhood.  Every 
workman  who  passed  through  Vienna  was  expected  to 
fasten  a  nail  in  it  ;  and  it  was  in  fact  covered  with  a  com- 
plete coat  of  mail,  consisting  entirely  of  the  heads  of  the 
nails  it  had  thus  received.^ 

At  Athens,  mothers  bring  their  sick  children  to  the  little 
church  of  Santa  Marina,  under  the  Observatory  Hill,  and 
there  undress  them,  leaving  the  old  clothes  behind.  There 
is  a  dripping  well  near  Kotzanes,  in  Macedonia,  "  said  to 
issue  from  the  Nereids'  breasts,  and  to  cure  all  human  ills. 

1  Liebrecht,  Gcrv.  Tilb.,  244,  quoting  Jean  Baptiste  Thiers,  Traite 
des  Superstitions  (Paris,  1697). 

2  Preller,  R6m.  Myth.,  i,  258. 

3  Gaidoz,  Rev.  de  Vhist.  des  ReL,  vii,  9. 


458  Pin-  Wells  and  Rag-Bushes. 

Those  who  would  drink  of  it  must  enter  the  cave  with  a 
torch  or  lamp  in  one  hand  and  pitcher  in  the  other,  which 
they  must  fill  with  the  water,  and,  leaving  some  scrap  of 
their  clothing  behind  them,  must  turn  round  without  being 
scared  by  the  noises  they  may  hear  within,  and  quit  the 
cave  without  ever  looking  back."^ 

In  the  district  of  Vynnytzia,  government  of  Podolia  in 
Ukrainia,  there  is  a  mineral  spring  much  resorted  to.  The 
sick,  after  bathing,  hang  to  the  branches  of  the  trees  their 
shirts,  handkerchiefs,  and  other  articles,  "  as  a  mark",  says 
M.  Volkov,  who  reports  the  case,  "  that  their  diseases  are 
left  there".-  Whether  this  be  the  original  notion  we  shall 
consider  presently. 

Parallel  superstitions  exist  in  India.  A  festival  called 
Mela  is  held  at  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  Magha 
(about  the  middle  of  January)  at  the  island  of  Sagar,  atthe 
mouth  of  the  Hugh.  A  temple  of  Kapila,  who  is  held  to  be 
an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  stands  on  the  island,  and  in  front 
of  it  is  (or  was)  a  Bur  tree,  beneath  which  were  images  of 
Rama  and  Hanuman,  while  an  image  of  Kapila,  nearly  of 
life-size,  was  within  the  temple.  The  pilgrims  who  crowd 
thither  at  the  festival  commonly  write  their  names  on  the 
walls,  with  a  short  prayer  to  Kapila,  or  suspend  a  piece  of 
earth  or  brick  to  a  bough  of  the  tree,  offering  at  the  same 
time  a  prayer  and  a  promise,  if  the  prayer  be  granted,  to 
make  a  gift  to  some  divinity.^  Elsewhere  in  India,  as  well 
as  in  Arabia  and  Persia,  strips  of  cloth  are  suspended  from 
shrubs  and  trees,  which,  for  some  reason  or  other,  are 
venerated  ;  and,  in  Persia  at  all  events,  not  only  are  rags, 
amulets,  and  other  votive  offerings  found  upon  the  trees, 
but  the  trees  are  also  covered  with  nails.^ 

Mr.  J.  F.  Campbell  records  having  found  in  Japan  "  strips 

1  Rodd,  The  Customs  and  Lore  of  Modern  Greece,  165,  176. 

2  Rev.  des  Trad.  Pop.,  vii,  56,  citing  Bo\]do\vsky, Kievskai'aSiarina. 

3  H.  H,  Wilson,  Works,  ii,  169. 

*  Burton,  Sindh,  lyj  ;  Gaidoz,  Rev.  de  Vhist.  dcs  ReL,  vii,  9,  quoting 
Ouseley,  Travels  in  Various  Countries  of  the  East. 


Pin-  Wells  and  Rag- Bushes.  459 

of  cloth,  bits  of  rope,  slips  of  paper,  writings,  bamboo 
strings,  flags,  tags,  and  prayers  hanging  from  every  temple", 
and  small  piles  of  stones  at  the  foot  of  every  image  and 
m.emorial  stone,  and  on  every  altar  by  the  wayside  ;  and 
he  draws  attention  to  the  similarity  of  the  practices  implied 
to  those  of  his  native  country.^  Another  traveller  in  Japan 
states  that  women  who  desire  children  go  to  a  certain 
sacred  stone  on  the  holy  hill  of  Nikko,  and  throw  pebbles 
at  it.  If  they  succeed  in  hitting  it  their  wish  is  granted. 
They  seem  very  clever  at  the  game,  he  says  maliciously. 
Further,  the  same  writer  speaks  of  a  seated  statue  of  Buddha 
in  the  park  of  Uyeno  at  Tokio,  on  whose  knees  women 
flung  stones  with  the  same  object.  Describing  a  temple 
elsewhere,  he  records  that  the  grotesque  figures  placed  at 
the  door  were  covered — or,  as  he  more  accurately  puts  it, 
constellated — with  pellets  of  chewed  paper  shot  through 
the  railing  that  surrounded  them  by  persons  who  had  some 
wish  to  be  fulfilled.  A  successful  shot  implied  the  proba- 
bility of  the  attainment  of  the  shooter's  desire.- 

As  might  be  anticipated,  practices  of  this  kind  are  not 
confined  to  Europe  and  Asia.  A  French  traveller  in  the 
region  of  the  Congo  relates  with  astonishment  concerning 
the  ridoke — which  he  portrays  as  "  fetishes  important 
enough  to  occupy  a  special  hut,  and  confided  to  the  care  of 
a  sort  of  priests,  who  alone  are  reputed  to  have  the  means 
of  making  them  speak" — that  when  it  is  desired  to  invoke 
the  fetish,  one  or  more  pieces  of  native  cloth,  and  the  like, 
are  offered  to  the  fetish,  or  to  the  fetish  priest ;  and  the 
worshipper  is  then  admitted  to  plant  a  nail  in  the  statue, 
the  priest  meanwhile,  or  the  worshipper  himself,  formulat- 
ing his  prayer  or  his  desires.^ 

To  sum  up.  We  find  widely  spread  in  Europe  the 
practice  of  throwing  pins  into  sacred  wells,  or  sticking  pins 

^  Campbell,  My  Circular  Notes,  i,  350. 

2  Melusine,  vi,  154,  155,  quoting  the  Temps. 

3  Gaidoz,  Rev.  de  Vhist.  des  Rel.^xW,  7,  quoting  Charles  de  Rouvre, 
Bull,  de  la  Soc.  de  Ge'og.^  Oct.  1880. 


460  Pin-  Wells  and  Rag-Bushes, 

or  nails  into  sacred  images  or  trees,  or  into  the  wall  of  a 
temple,  or  floor  of  a  church,  and — sometimes  accompanying 
this,  more  usually  alone — a  practice  of  tying  rags  or  leaving 
portions  of  clothing  upon  a  sacred  tree  or  bush,  or  a  tree  or 
bush  overhanging,  or  adjacent  to,  a  sacred  well,  or  of  deposit- 
ing them  in  or  about  the  well.  The  object  of  this  rite  is 
generally  the  attainment  of  some  wish,  or  the  granting  of 
some  prayer,  as  for  a  husband,  or  for  recovery  from  sick- 
ness. In  the  Roman  instance  it  was  a  solemn  religious 
act,  to  which  (in  historical  times  at  least)  no  definite  mean- 
ing seems  to  have  been  attached  ;  and  the  last  semblance 
of  a  religious  character  has  vanished  from  the  analogous 
performances  at  Angers  and  Vienna.  In  Asia  we  have  the 
corresponding  customs  of  writing  the  name  on  the  walls  of 
a  temple,  suspending  some  apparently  trivial  article  upon 
the  boughs  of  a  sacred  tree,  flinging  pellets  of  chewed  paper 
or  stones  at  sacred  images  and  cairns,  and  attaching  rags, 
writings,  and  other  things  to  the  temples.  On  the  Congo 
the  practice  is  that  of  driving  a  nail  into  an  idol,  in  the 
Breton  manner.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  purpose 
and  origin  of  all  these  customs  are  identical,  and  that  an 
explanation  of  one  will  explain  all. 

The  most  usual  explanations  are,  first,  that  the  articles 
left  are  offerings  to  the  god  or  presiding  spirit,  and, 
secondly,  that  they  contain  the  disease  of  which  one  desires 
to  be  rid,  and  transfer  it  to  anyone  who  touches  or 
removes  them.  These  two  explanations  appear  to  be 
mutually  exclusive,  though  Professor  Rhys  suggests  that 
a  distinction  is  to  be  drawn  between  the  pins  and  the  rags. 
The  pins,  he  thinks,  may  be  offerings  ;  and  it  is  noteworthy 
that  in  some  cases  they  are  replaced  by  buttons  or  small 
coins.  The  rags,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be,  in  his  view, 
the  vehicles  of  the  disease.  If  this  opinion  were  correct, 
one  would  expect  to  find  both  ceremonies  performed  by 
the  same  patient  at  the  same  well  :  he  would  throw  in  the 
pin  and  also  place  the  rag  on  the  bush,  or  wherever  its 
proper  place  might  be.     The    performance   of  both  cere- 


Pin-  Wells  and  Rag-Bushes.  46 1 

monies  is,  however,  I  think,  exceptional.  Where  the  pin 
or  button  is  dropped  into  the  well,  the  patient  does  not 
trouble  about  the  rag,  and  vice  versa.  Professor  Rhys  only 
cites  one  case  to  the  contrary.  There  the  visit  to  the 
well  was  prescribed  as  a  remedy  for  warts.  Each  wart 
was  to  be  pricked  with  a  pin,  and  the  pin  bent  and  thrown 
into  the  well.  The  warts  were  then  to  be  rubbed  with 
tufts  of  wool  collected  on  the  way  to  the  well,  and  the 
wool  was  to  be  put  on  the  first  whitethorn  the  patient 
could  find.  As  the  wind  scattered  the  wool  the  warts 
would  disappear.  Upon  this  one  or  two  observations  may 
be  made.  It  may  be  assumed  that,  when  any  tree,  or  any 
tree  of  a  special  kind,  is  prescribed,  rather  than  some 
particular  tree,  for  the  doing  of  such  an  act  as  this,  the  rite 
only  survives  in  a  degraded  form,  and  that  originally  some 
definite  sacred  tree  was  its  object.  If  this  be  so,  the  rite 
is  here  duplicated.  For  if  the  pins  were  really  offerings, 
to  be  distinguished  in  character  from  the  deposits  of  wool, 
the  prescription  to  touch  the  warts  with  them  would  be 
meaningless.  But  we  must  surely  deem  that  whatever 
value  attached  to  the  rubbing  of  the  warts  with  wool  would 
equally  attach  to  their  pricking  with  the  pins. 

Moreover,  the  curious  detail  mentioned  by  Mrs.  Evans 
in  reference  to  the  rags  tied  on  the  bushes  at  Elian's  Well 
— namely,  that  they  must  be  tied  on  with  wool — points  to 
a  further  degradation  of  the  rite  in  the  case  we  are  now 
examining.  Probably  at  one  time  rags  were  used,  and 
simply  tied  to  the  sacred  tree  with  wool.  What  may  have 
been  the  reason  for  using  wool  remains  to  be  discovered. 
But  it  is  easy  to  see  how,  if  the  reason  were  lost,  the  wool 
might  be  looked  upon  as  the  essential  condition  of  the  due 
performance  of  the  ceremony,  and  so  continue  after  the 
disuse  of  the  rags. 

Nor  can  we  stop  here.  From  all  we  know  of  the  process 
of  ceremonial  decay,  we  may  be  tolerably  sure  that  the 
rags  represent  entire  articles  of  clothing,  which  were  at 
an  earlier  period  deposited.     There  is  no  need  to  discuss 

VOL.   IV.  I  I 


462  Pin- Wells  and  Rag- Bushes. 

the  principle  of  substitution  and  representation,  so  familiar 
to  all  students  of  folk-lore.  It  is  sufficient  to  point  out 
that,  since  the  rite  is  almost  everywhere  in  a  state  of 
decay,  the  presumption  is  in  favour  of  entire  garments 
having  been  originally  deposited  ;  and  that,  in  fact,  we  do 
find  this  original  form  of  the  rite  in  the  Ukrainian  example 
I  have  cited  and  (as  I  read  the  record)  at  Saint  Michel- 
la-Riviere  and  elsewhere  in  the  diocese  of  Bordeaux, 
under  the  fostering  care  of  ecclesiastical  officials.  If  we 
may  trust  the  somewhat  slovenly  compilation  of  Mr.  R.  C. 
Hope  on  the  holy  wells  of  Scotland,  a  traveller  in  1798 
relates  of  the  Holy  Pool  of  Strathfillan  in  Perthshire,  that 
"  each  person  gathers  up  nine  stones  in  the  pool,  and,  after 
bathing,  walks  to  a  hill  near  the  water,  where  there  are 
three  cairns,  round  each  of  which  he  performs  three  turns, 
at  each  turn  depositing  a  stone  ;  and  if  it  is  for  any  bodily 
pain,  fractured  limb,  or  sore,  that  they  are  bathing,  they 
throw  upon  one  of  those  cairns  that  part  of  their  clothing 
which  covered  the  part  affected  ;  also,  if  they  have  at  home 
any  beast  that  is  diseased,  they  have  only  to  bring  some 
of  the  meal  which  it  feeds  upon,  and  make  it  into  paste 
with  these  waters,  and  afterwards  give  it  to  him  to  eat, 
which  will  prove  an  infallible  cure  ;  but  they  must  likewise 
throw  upon  the  cairn  the  rope  or  halter  with  which  he  was 
led.  Consequently  the  cairns  are  covered  with  old  halters, 
gloves,  shoes,  bonnets,  night-caps,  rags  of  all  sorts,  kilts, 
petticoats,  garters,  and  smocks.  Sometimes  they  go  as 
far  as  to  throw  away  their  halfpence."^  From  this  account 
it  appears  that  stones  from  the  pool,  rags,  garments  which 
had  covered  the  diseased  parts  of  the  devotees,  and  half- 
pence, had  all  the  same  value.  The  stones  could  not  have 
been  offerings,  and  it  was  evidently  not  usual  to  throw 
away  halfpence.  The  gifts  of  rags  and  articles  of  clothing 
are  ambiguous.     If  we  must    choose   between    regarding 

^  Antiquary  (April  1893),  xxvii,  169.  Yi&xoVkS  Joiir7iey  is  quoted  in 
a  note,  Brand  and  Ellis,  ii,  268,  in  reference  to  the  same  pool  and  its 
reputed  cures  of  lunacy. 


Pin-Wells  and  Rag-Bushes.  463 

them  as  offerings  and  as  vehicles  of  disease,  the  analogy 
of  the  gifts  at  the  shrine  of  Saint  Michel-la-Riviere 
favours  the  former.  Under  ecclesiastical  patronage,  how- 
ever, the  rite  had  doubtless  been  manipulated  to  the 
benefit  of  the  officials  ;  and  we  can  use  the  instance  no 
further  than  as  proof  that  the  deposit  of  garments  was 
ambiguous  enough  to  develop  sometimes  into  pious  gifts, 
if  it  developed  at  other  times  into  devices  for  the  shuffling 
of  disease  off  the  patient  on  another  person. 

M.  Monseur,  fixing  his  attention  on  instances  like  those 
of  the  Croix  Saint  Ze  and  Saint  Guirec,  in  which  pins  or 
nails  were  stuck  into  the  cross,  or  tree,  or  figure  of  the 
saint,  suggests  that  the  aim  was,  by  causing  pain  or 
inconvenience  to  the  object  of  worship,  to  keep  in  his 
memory  the  worshipper's  prayer.  And  he  refers,  by  way 
of  illustration,  to  the  tortures  inflicted  on  children  at  the 
beating  of  boundaries,  and  to  the  flogging  said  to  have  been 
given  to  children  in  Lorraine  on  the  occasion  of  a  capital 
punishment,  the  intention  of  which  incontestably  was  to 
preserve  a  recollection  of  the  place  or  the  incident.^  M. 
Gaidoz,  dealing  with  similar  cases,  and  similar  cases  only, 
propounded  ten  years  ago  a  theory  somewhat  different.  In 
replying  recently  to  M.  Monseur,  he  recalls  his  previous 
exposition,  and  reiterates  it  in  these  words  :  "  The  idol  is  a 
god  who  always  appears  somewhat  stupid  ;  it  moves  not, 
it  speaks  not,  and,  peradventure,  it  does  not  hear  very  well. 
It  must  be  made  to  understand  by  a  sign,  and  a  sign  which 
will  be  at  the  same  time  a  memento.  In  touching  the  idol, 
especially  in  touching  the  member  corresponding  to  that 
which  suffers,  its  attention  is  directed  to  the  prayer.  i\nd 
more  than  that  is  done  in  leaving  a  nail  or  a  pin  in  its  body, 
for  this  is  a  material  memento  for  the  idol."  In  putting  it 
in  this  way,  the  learned  professor  does  not  desire  to  exclude 
the  ideas  of  an  offering  and  a  transfer  of  disease,  for  he 
expressly  adds  that  both  these  ideas  are  mingled  with  that 
of  a  memento.'^ 

1  Bulletin  de  Folklore,  i,  250.  ^  Me'lusine,  vi,  155. 

I  I  2 


464  Pin-  Wells  and  Rag-Buskes. 

Let  us  take  stock  of  the  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  in  order 
to  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem.  It  must  be 
equally  applicable  to  sacred  images,  crosses,  trees,  wells, 
cairns,  and  temples.  It  must  account  not  merely  for  the 
pins  in  wells  and  the  rags  on  trees,  but  also  for  the  nails  in 
trees,  the  pins  in  images,  the  earth  or  bricks  hung  on  the 
sacred  tree  in  India,  the  stones  or  cairns,  the  pellets  which 
constellate  Japanese  idols,  the  strips  of  cloth  and  other 
articles  which  decorate  Japanese  temples,  the  pilgrims' 
names  written  on  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Kapila,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Hugli,  the  nails  fixed  by  the  consuls  in  the 
Cella  Jovis  at  Rome,  and  those  driven  into  the  galleries  or 
floors  of  Protestant  churches  in  Eastern  France.  These 
are  the  outcome  of  equivalent  practices,  and  the  solution  of 
their  meaning,  if  a  true  one,  must  fit  them  all.  M.  Gaidoz' 
suggestion  of  a  memento  comes  nearer  to  this  ideal  than 
any  other  hitherto  put  forward.  But  does  it  touch  cases 
like  those  of  the  Lapalud,  the  Stock  im  Eisen,  and  the 
Cella  Jovis,  where  the  rite  was  unaccompanied  by  any 
prayer  ?  The  two  former  cases,  indeed,  if  they  stood  alone, 
might  be  deemed  worn  and  degraded  relics  of  a  rite  once 
gracious  with  adoration,  prayer,  and  thanksgiving.  But 
nothing  of  the  sort  accompanied  the  driving  of  a  nail  into 
the  wall  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  nor,  so  far  as  we  can 
learn,  the  yet  older  custom  observed  by  the  Etruscans  at 
Vulsinii,  of  sticking  a  nail  every  year  in  the  temple  of 
Nortia,  the  fate-goddess.  On  the  contrary,  in  both  these 
classical  instances  was  the  rite  so  bare  and  so  ill-understood, 
that  it  was  looked  upon  merely  as  an  annual  register  or 
record.  Almost  as  little  does  M.  Gaidoz'  explanation 
seem  to  fit  the  throwing  of  pins  into  a  well,  the  burial  of  a 
coin,  as  in  Mecklenburg,  under  a  tree,  or  the  marriage- 
nails  of  Montbeliard.  Like  M.  Monseur's  theory,  it  is 
applicable  in  its  full  significance  only  to  examples  of  the 
rite  as  practised  on  statues,  and  it  assumes  that  trees  and 
crosses  and  other  rude  forms  are  mere  makeshifts  for  the 
carven    image,  deteriorated   survivals   of  idols  strictly  so 


Pin- Wells  and  Rag-Bushes.  465 

called.  But  this  is  to  put  the  cart  before  the  horse.  There 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  practices  I  have  described 
originated  later  than  the  carving  of  sacred  images,  and 
were  at  first  a  peculiarity  of  their  worship.  There  is  every 
reason  to  suppose  exactly  the  reverse.  And  in  this  con- 
nection it  is  significant  that  neither  at  Rome  nor  at  Vul- 
sinii  (the  earliest  examples  we  have  in  point  of  time)  were 
the  nails  fastened  into  the  image,  but  into  the  temple  wall. 
I  believe  that  a  profounder  thought  forms  the  common 
ground  in  which  all  the  customs  we  are  discussing — or,  as 
I  should  prefer  to  say,  all  the  variations  of  a  single  custom 
— are  rooted.  When  a  witch  is  desirous  of  injuring  a 
person,  the  first  step  is  to  get  hold  of  something  that 
once  formed  part  of  her  foe's  body,  such  as  hair,  finger- 
nails, or  excrement.  Upon  this  she  may  work  her  will  ; 
and  whatsoever  she  does  to  it  will  be  done  to  the  body 
of  which  it  once  formed  part.  Wherefore  men  every- 
where burn,  or  hide,  the  combings  or  the  cuttings  of  their 
hair,  the  shavings  of  their  nails,  the  teeth  extracted  from 
their  heads.  Failing  these  things,  however,  the  earth 
from  their  footprints,  the  remnants  of  their  food,  any 
articles  of  clothing  they  have  once  worn,  or  indeed  any 
other  portions  of  their  property,  are  obnoxious  to  the 
same  danger.  Even  their  names  may  be  used  for  the 
same  end.  A  rough  image  is  made  :  it  is  identified 
with  the  person  who  is  to  be  bewitched  by  being  dubbed 
with  his  name :  any  injury  thenceforth  inflicted  on  the 
image  is  inflicted  on  the  bearer  of  the  name,  wherever  he 
may  be.  These  are  means  and  methods  of  witchcraft  all 
over  the  world.  And  they  are  based  upon  the  hypothesis 
that,  although  the  hair,  the  nails,  the  clothing,  or  property 
may  be  to  all  appearance  severed  from  the  object  of  the 
witch's  wrath,  yet  there  is,  notwithstanding,  a  subtle 
physical  connection  still  subsisting  between  the  one  and 
the  other,  just  as  if  no  severance  had  taken  place. 
Equality  of  reasoning  applies  to  the  name,  which  is  looked 
upon  as  a  part  of  its  owner,  and,  being  conferred  on  an 


466  Pi7i-  Wells  a7id  Rao-Bushes 


v> 


&^gy^  identifies  the  effigy  with  the  real  owner  of  the  name 
I  will  not  waste  time  in  illustrating  either  the  practices 
or  the  hypothesis.  What  I  want  to  suggest  is  that,  in  the 
customs  to  which  I  have  called  your  attention  at  wells 
and  trees  and  temples,  we  have  simply  another  application 
of  the  same  reasoning  as  that  which  underlies  the  practices 
of  witchcraft.  If  an  article  of  my  clothing  in  a  witch's 
hands  may  cause  me  to  suffer,  the  same  article  in  contact 
with  a  beneficent  power  may  relieve  my  pain,  restore  me  to 
health,  or  promote  my  general  prosperity.  A  pin  that 
has  pricked  my  wart,  even  if  not  covered  with  my  blood,  has 
by  its  contact,  by  the  wound  it  has  inflicted,  acquired  a 
peculiar  bond  with  the  wart ;  the  rag  that  has  rubbed  the 
wart  has  by  that  friction  acquired  a  similar  bond  ;  so  that 
whatever  is  done  to  the  pin  or  the  rag,  whatever  influences 
the  pin  or  the  rag  may  undergo,  the  same  influences  are  by 
that  very  act  brought  to  bear  upon  the  wart.  If,  instead 
of  using  a  rag,  or  making  a  pilgrimage  to  a  sacred  well, 
I  rub  my  warts  with  raw  meat  and  then  bury  the  meat 
the  wart  will  decay  and  disappear  with  the  decay  and 
dissolution  of  the  meat.  The  principle  was  once  exalted 
into  serious  surgery,  when,  three  centuries  ago,  the  learned 
chirurgeon  used  to  anoint  and  dress  the  weapon,  instead  of 
the  wound  which  the  weapon  had  caused.  In  like  manner 
my  shirt  or  stocking,  or  a  rag  to  represent  it,  placed  upon 
a  sacred  bush,  or  thrust  into  a  sacred  well — my  name 
written  upon  the  walls  of  a  temple — a  stone  or  a  pellet 
from  my  hand  cast  upon  a  sacred  image  or  a  sacred  cairn 
— is  thenceforth  in  continual  contact  with  divinity ;  and 
the  effluence  of  divinity,  reaching  and  involving  it,  will 
reach  and  involve  me.  In  this  way  I  may  become  per- 
manently united  with  the  god. 

This  is  an  explanation  which  I  think  will  cover  every 
case.  Of  course,  I  cannot  deny  that  there  are  instances, 
like  some  of  the  Japanese  and  Breton  cases,  where,  the 
real  object  of  the  rite  having  been  forgotten,  the  practice 
has  become  to  a  slight  extent  deflected  from  its  earlier 


Pin-Wells  and  Ra(^-BiLs!ies.  467 

form.  But  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  steps  whereby 
the  idea  and  practice  of  divination  became  substituted  for 
that  of  union  with  the  object  of  devotion.  Still  less  can  I 
deny  that,  where  the  practice  has  not  been  deflected,  the 
real  intention  has  in  most  places  been  obscured.  These 
phenomena  are  familiar  to  us  everywhere,  and  will  mislead 
no  one  who  understands  that  the  real  meaning  is  not  what 
the  people  who  practise  a  rite  say  about  it,  but  that 
which  emerges  from  a  comparison  of  analogous  observ- 
ances. 

Let  me,  before  closing,  refer  to  one  or  two  other  practices 
having  some  bearing  on  those  we  have  been  discussing. 
The  Athenian  women  who  for  the  first  time  became  preg- 
nant used  to  hang  up  their  girdles  in  the  temple  of 
Artemis.  Here  surely  the  meaning  is  clear,  if  read  in  the 
light  of  the  ceremonies  of  witchcraft  And  not  less  clear  is 
the  meaning  of  the  converse  case  of  the  Ursuline  nuns  of 
Quintin.  They  keep  one  of  the  principal  schools  in 
Brittany.  When  a  girl  who  has  been  their  pupil  marries 
and  enters  the  interesting  situation  of  the  Athenian  women 
just  referred  to,  the  pious  nuns  send  her  a  white  silken 
ribbon,  painted  in  blue  (the  Virgin's  colour)  with  the  words: 
"  Notre  Dame  de  Delivrance,  protegez-nous."  Before 
sending  it  off,  they  touch  with  it  the  reliquary  of  the  parish 
church,  which  contains  a  fragment  of  the  Virgin  Mary's 
zone.  The  recipient  hastens  to  put  the  ribbon  around  her 
waist,  and  does  not  cease  to  wear  it  until  her  baby  is  born.^ 
For  the  ribbon,  having  thus  been  in  contact  with  divinity, 
though  that  contact  has  ceased  to  outward  appearance,  is 
still  in  some  subtle  connection  with  the  goddess. 

This  is  a  method  of  conveying  the  divine  effluence 
parallel  to  one  which  was  a  favourite  during  the  Middle 
Ages.  The  latter  consisted  in  measuring  with  a  string  or 
fillet  the  body  of  a  saint,  and  passing  the  string  afterwards 
round  the  patient.  Many  miracles  performed  in  this  way 
were  attributed  to  Simon  de  Montfort.  Pope  Clement  VIII 
1  Ploss,  Das  Weib,  i,  504. 


468  Pin-  Wells  and  Rag-Bushes. 

is  said  to  have  given  his  sanction  to  a  similar  measurement 
purporting  to  be  the  "  true  and  correct  length  of  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ",  found  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Copies  of  this 
measurement  were  current  in  Germany  up  to  a  compara- 
tively late  date.^ 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  ask  whether  the  offerings  of  the 
worshippers'  own  blood,  as  practised  by  the  peoples  of 
Central  America,  had  not  for  their  object  not  so  much  the 
gratification  of  the  gods  as  the  union  of  the  worshippers 
with  the  deity.  Dr.  Stoll  describes  the  priest  in  Guatemala 
as  drawing  blood  from  his  tongue  and  other  members  and 
anointing  with  it  the  feet  and  hands  of  the  image.^  1  am 
led  to  put  this  question  because  I  find  that,  among  the 
ceremonies  of  purification  imposed  by  some  of  the  non- 
Aryan  tribes  of  Bengal  upon  women  after  childbirth,  is  that 
of  smearing  with  vermilion  the  edge  of  the  village  well.^ 
Now  the  vermilion  in  use  in  the  wedding  and  other  cere- 
monies of  these  peoples  is,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  a 
substitute  for  blood.  It  would  seem  probable,  therefore, 
that  the  well  was  originally  smeared  with  blood,  and  that 
blood  drawn  from  the  offerer's  veins.  Other  ceremonies 
point  to  the  sacred  character  of  the  well,  and  I  can  only 
suggest  that  the  smearing  with  blood  had  the  same  object 
as  that  I  have  ascribed  to  the  observances  at  holy  wells  in 
Europe.  By  the  ceremonial  union  thus  effected  with  the 
divinity  the  woman  would  be  purified. 

A  German  writer,  whose  authority  for  the  statement  I 
have  been  unable  to  trace,  mentions  another  ceremony 
performed  at  wells  in  Wales.  He  says  it  is  the  custom  for 
a  bride  and  bridegroom  to  go  and  lie  down  beside  a  well  or 
fountain  and  throw  in  pins  as  a  pledge  of  the  new  relation 
into  which  they  have  entered.  And  he  adds  that  in  clear- 
ing out  an  old  Roman  well  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  some  forty 

1  Zeits.  des  Vereins  fiir  Volksk.,  ii,  168. 

2  Stoll,  Ethnologic  der  Indianerstdmme  von  Guatemala^  47. 

^  Risley,  The  Tribes  atid  Castes  of  Betigal,  i,  504,  535,  and  other 
places. 


Pin-  Wells  and  Rag-Btishes,  469 

or  fifty  years  ago,  a  number  of  ancient  British  pins  for  the 
clothes  was  found.^  Whether  or  not  the  British  pins  are  to 
be  connected  with  the  alleged  custom  in  Wales,  it  is 
difficult  to  account  for  a  collection  of  pins  in  such  a  situa- 
tion except  upon  the  supposition  that  they  were  purposely 
thrown  into  the  well.  At  Gumfreyston,  in  Pembrokeshire, 
there  is  a  holy  w^ell  to  which  the  villagers  used  to  repair  on 
Easter  Day,  when  each  of  them  would  throw  a  crooked  pin 
into  the  water.  This  was  called  "  throwing  Lent  away"- — 
a  name  which  has  probably  arisen  since  the  original  mean- 
ing of  the  ceremony  has  been  forgotten.  Both  these  Welsh 
practices  (if  the  former  be  a  genuine  one)  point  to  the 
interpretation  I  have  placed  upon  the  observances  at  pin- 
wells.  For  it  will  be  observed  that  in  neither  case  is  there 
any  disease  to  be  got  rid  of,  nor  any  prayer  offered.  If  we 
could  find  the  early  shape  of  the  former,  we  should  pro- 
bably recognise  a  solemn  consecration  of  the  one  spouse  to 
the  domestic  divinity  of  the  other,  a  ritual  reception  into 
the  kin.  The  analogy  with  the  marriage  custom  of  the 
Montbeliard  Protestants  is  obvious,  and  may  help  to 
explain  it.  The  Pembrokeshire  custom  may  be  conjectured 
to  be  a  periodical  renewal  of  union  with  the  divinity, 
removed  under  Christian  influences  from  the  day  of  the 
pagan  festival  (perhaps  May-day)  to  the  nearest  great 
feast-day  of  the  Church. 

I  venture  to  submit,  then,  that  the  practices  of  throwing 
pins  into  wells,  of  tying  rags  on  bushes  and  trees,  of  driving 
nails  into  trees  and  stocks,  and  the  analogous  practices 
throughout  the  Old  World,  are  to  be  interpreted  as  acts  of 
ceremonial  union  with  the  spirit  identified  with  well,  with 
tree,  or  stock.  In  course  of  time,  as  the  real  intention  of 
the  rite  has  been  forgotten,  it  has  been  resorted  to  (notably 
in  Christian  countries)  chiefly  for  the  cure  of  diseases,  and 
the  meaning  has  been  overlaid  by  the  idea  of  the  transfer 
of  the  disease.     This  idea  belongs  to  the  same  category  as 

^  Kolbe,  Hessische  Volks-Sitten,    163. 
2  Folk-Lore  Journal^  ii,  349. 


470  Pin-  Wells  and  Rag- Bushes. 

that  of  the  union  by  means  of  the  nail  or  the  rag  with 
divinity,  but  apparently  to  a  somewhat  later  stratum  of 
thought.  Since  the  spread  of  Christianity  the  reason  for 
the  sacredness  of  many  trees  or  wells  has  passed  from 
memory  ;  and  it  has  consequently  been  natural  to  substitute 
any  tree  or  any  well  for  a  particular  one.  This  substitution 
has  favoured  the  idea  of  transfer  of  disease,  which  has  thus 
become  the  ordinary  intention  of  the  rite  in  later  times. 

E.  Sidney  Hartland. 


THE  EDINBURGH  DINNSHENCHAS. 


AMONG  the  little-known  Gaelic  manuscripts  preserved 
in  the  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh,  M.  Henri 
Gaidoz^  discovered  five  leaves  of  a  vellum  copy  of  the 
Dinnshenchas,  written  (I  should  say)  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  now  marked  XVI  Kilbride.  For 
a  loan  of  these  leaves  I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of 
the  Curators  and  the  Librarian,  Mr.  J.  T.  Clark.  Like 
all  the  other  copies  of  this  curious  collection  of  topo- 
graphical legends,  XVI  Kilbride  is  imperfect ;  but,  so  far 
as  it  goes,  it  agrees  closely,  both  in  contents  and  arrange- 
ment, with  the  Oxford  Dinnshenchas  published  in  Folk- 
Lore,  vol.  iii,  pp.  469-515.  The  articles  still  remaining  in 
the  Edinburgh  copy  are  as  follows  : 

fo.  I^  The  Introduction,  and  part  of  Cuan  O'Lochan's 
poem,  Temair,  Taillti,  tir  n-oenaig,  etc.,  both 
now  almost  wholly  illegible. 

i^  I.  End  of  Cuan  O'Lochan's  poem  —  Teamhair  — 
Magh  mBreagh. 

i^  2.  Laighin,  incomplete.     Here  a  leaf  is  lost. 

2^  I.  Nine  quatrains  of  Eochu  Eolach's  poem  on  Loch 
Garman,  of  which  there  is  a  complete  copy  in 
the  Book  of  Leinster,  p.  196 — Fidh  nGaible. 

2^  2.  Midhe— Ethne. 

2^  I.  Bri  Leith — Tond  Clidhna. 

2^  2.  Sli'abh  Bladma. 

3^  I.  Magh  Roigne — Tebtha  [leg.  Tethba] — Loch  n- 
Ainnind. 

^  See  the  Revue  Celtique,  vi,  113. 


472  The  Edinbtirgh  DhiJishenchas. 

3-'  2.  Berbha — Magh  Femhin — Sliabh  Mis — Loch  L6in. 

3''  I.  Sliabh  Cua — Luimnech — SHabh  n-Echtga, 

3'^  2.  Magh    n-Aighni    [leg.     n-Aidhni]  —  Port     Lairgi. 

Here,  probably,  three  leaves  are  lost. 
4^  I,  The  final  quatrain  of  the   article  Tuagh   Inbhir; 

Bard  Maile's  poem  about  Tuagh  Inbir,  also  in 

the  Book  of  Leinster,  pp.   152'',  153% — Beann 

Bogaine. 
4=*  2.  Magh  Coraind — Loch  n-Echach. 
4^  I.  Loch  n-Eirne — Sliabh  Beatha. 
4b  2.  Coire  mBrecan — Beann  Foibhne — Ard  Fothaidh 

— Ard  Macha. 
5=^  I.  Magh  Coba— SHabh  Callainn— Sliabh  Fuait. 
5=*  2.  Lia  Lindgadain — Magh  Mughna. 
5^  I.  Findloch  Cera — Magh  Tailten — Beand  Bairchi — 

— Traigh  Tuirbhe — Lusmagh. 
5b  2.  Beand  Codhail — Tlachtga — Inbher  Cichmaini. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Oxford  Dinnshenchas  does  not 
contain  the  last  twenty-two  of  these  articles,  and  the 
primary  object  of  this  paper  is  to  print  the  twenty-two 
faithfully,  with  literal  translations  and  such  notes  as  seem 
likely  to  elucidate  what  often,  in  spite  of  all  my  efforts, 
remains  obscure.  I  have  added,  by  way  of  supplement, 
three  other  articles  found  in  Egerton  1781,  a  vellum  in 
the  British  Museum,  and  hitherto,  so  far  as  I  know,  un- 
published. The  articles  now  printed  are  numbered  con- 
secutively, in  continuation  of  the  fifty-two  already  published 
in  this  Journal.  Those  most  likely  to  interest  folklorists  are 
Nos.  55,  61,  64,  6j,  69,  70,  J  I.  In  the  notes,  "  BB."  means 
the  Book  of  Ballymote ;  "H."  the  Dublin  vellum  H.  3.  3  ; 
"  Lee."  the  Book  of  Lecan  ;  "  LL."  the  Book  of  Leinster ; 
and  "R."  the  Irish  MS.  at  Rennes. 

W.  S. 


The  Edinbui'gh  Dinnshenchas.  473 

The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

(Kilbride  xvi,  fo.  4^  i.) 

[53.  Benn  Boguine.] — Beand  Bogaine,  cid  dia  ta? 

Beand  Bogaine  .  i .  bo  di  bhuaib  Flidaisi  mna  Oi//llrt  Find 
adruUai  ind,  [f.  42];]  fiadhaigheastar  ann  sil  na  bo  sin  go  rugastar 
da  Iffig  .  I .  Isegh  fireand  ^  laegh  boineand,  go  silastar  ^  go 
fiadhaigsedar^  annsin  a  sil  go  nach  feta  ni  doib.  in  tarbh  robai 
aco  intan  rogeisead  dothigdis  buar  YAenti  fua  ;j  noreithdi's  go 
maidheadh  a  cndhe.  Robi  Findchad  m^c  Neill  ior  altrom  la 
hinghin  n-Uatha.  Luid  in  bo  bai  'na  beolo  sein  fo  gheim  in  tairb 
isin  sliab.  Luidh  mac  Neill  ina  deghaidh-  a  buair,  ^  gonais  a  buair 
^  gonais  go  slegaib  na  bu,  conaca.  imbi  in  martghail  sin,  con-thert 
"  is  boghuine  so",  ol  se,  diamba^  Beand  Boghuine  go  so. 

Beand  Boghuine  is  de  dotha 
rocualadar  fir  is  mna, 
don  martgail[s]e,  go  lin  ngal, 
rognidh  go  fir  la  Findchad. 
Benn  Boguine,  whence  is  it  ? 

Benn  Boguine,  to  wit,  thither  escaped  a  cow  of  the  kine  of  Flidais, 
wife  of  Ailil  the  Fair,  and  the  offspring  of  that  cow  became 
wild.  And  the  cow  brought  forth  two  calves,  a  male  calf  and  a 
female  calf,  and  her  offspring  went  wild  therein  so  that  nought 
could  be  done  with  them.  When  the  bull  they  had  would  bellow 
(all)  the  cattle  of  Ireland  would  go  to  him,  and  run  so  that  their 
hearts  were  broken. 

Finnchad,  son  of  Niall,  was  in  fosterage  with  Ane,  daughter  of 
Uath.  The  cow  that  was  feeding  him  went  at  the  roar  of  the 
bull  to  the  mountain.  Niall's  son  (at  his  foster-mother's  com- 
mand) followed  the  cattle  and  killed  the  kine  with  spears.  And 
when  he  saw  that  ox-slaughter,  he  said :  "  This  a  killing  of 
kine,"  quoth  he.  Whence  Benn  Bog/mine,  "  Peak  of  Kine- 
killing,"  hitherto. 

Benn  Boguine,  hence  it  is. 

Men  and  women  have  heard, 

From  this  ox-slaughter,  with  a  number  of  fights, 

Which  was  wrought  truly  by  Finnchad. 

Also  in  LL.  165  a  45,  and,  more  fully,  in  BB.  397  a  ;  H.   55  b ;  and  L.  504  b. 
Benn  Boguine  has  not,  so  far  as  I  know,  been  identified.    A  man's  name  Bogaine 
occurs,  LU.  70  b  14. 
As  to  Flidais,  see  LL.  247  a  33 — 248  a  11. 


[54.  Mag  Corainn.] — Mag  Coraind,  cid  dia  ta  ?     Ni  ansa. 
Corand  cruitire  sidhe  do  Dianche[ch]d,  mac  in  Dag[hd]ai,  go 
roghart  sein  asa  croit  Caelcheis  do  mhuccaibh  Dreibrinde.     Roraith 


^  MS.  fiagaigsedar.  ^  MS.  deghaigh.  'MS.  ciamba. 


474  '^^^^  Ediiibtirgh  Dinnskenchas. 

fothuaidh^  a  niurt  a  chnamh,  roraith  a  niurt  retha  Isechradh 
Ollnegmar/z/  3  a  chuanart  'na  deghaidh,  go  rige  Ceis  Coraind.  Un</i? 
Ceis  [Coraind]  3  Mag  Coraing.     ^wde  poeta  cecinit : 

Corand  cruitire  creachach, 
mac  in  Dagh[d]a  dianbhreathach. 
ba  guirt  ir\  feis  di'anim  sluind'-^ 
triana  chruit  go  ceis  Coraind. 

Magh  Coraind,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Corann,  he  was  harper  to  the  Dagda's  son, 
Dianchecht,  and  out  of  his  harp  he  summoned  Caelcheis,  one 
of  the  swine  of  Drebrenn.  Northwards  it  ran  with  (all)  the 
strength  of  its  limbs.  After  it  ran  the  champions  of  Connaught 
with  (all)  their  strength  of  running,  their  hounds  following  them 
as  far  as  Ceis  Coraind.  Whence  Ceis  Coraind  and  Magh  Coraind. 
Whence  (also)  a  poet  sang  : 

Corand,  a  plundering  harper. 

The  swift-judging  son  of  Diancecht, 

Through  his  harp  to  Ceis  Corann. 

Also  in  LL.  165  a  35  ;  BB.  389  a  17  ;  H.  47  a  ;  Lee.  494  b ;  R.  114  b  2  ;  Ver- 
sified, LL.  212  a  14.     See,  too,  Silva  Gadelica,  ii,  536. 

Ciis  Coraind  is  a  hill  in  the  barony  of  Corran,  county  of  Sligo.  Magh  Coramd 
is,  I  suppose,  the  plain  from  which  it  rises. 

Dian-chicht  was  the  leech,  and  the  Dagdae  was  the  king,  of  the  Tuatha  D^ 
Danann,  who  gave  Corand  a  grant  of  land  for  his  excellent  harping  {Tucsat  Tuatk 
De  .   .  .   .  ferand  diles  ar  degsheiiim,  LL.  212  a  16). 

As  to  the  swine  of  Drebrenn,  see  Folk-Lore,  iii,  495. 


[55.  Loch  n-Echach.] — Loch  n-Eachach,  canas  rohainmnigh- 
eadh? 

Ri[b]  mac  Maireada  3  Echo  mac  Ma/readha  dolodar  anneas 
a  hirluachair  andis  for  imirce  3  rodeagails^t  andis  og  Beluch  da 
Liag.  Luidh  indalanai  siar  .  i .  Eocho  ior  Breogha  go  rogabh  for 
Brugh^  yieiz  in  Og.  Doluid  sein  chucu  ir-richt  tjrughad,  3  a 
gerran  ina  laimh, ;]  dlomais  doib  cond.  bedis  isin  Brugh.^  Atb^rtadar 
fris  nad  bai  acu  cumang  do  imachur  in  ealma  ellaig  bai  oga  gen 
chaipliu.  "  Cuiridhsi,"  ol  se,  "  Ian  in  maighe  i  taid  do  eiribh 
coudL  n-irsibh  ar  in  gearran  sa  ^  beraidh  libh  go  maigin  i  laigfe  foa." 
Dochodar  as  iarumh  go  rangadar  Liathmuine.  Laighid  leo  an 
gerran  i  suidhiu  j  Coheir  a  mun  ann,  co  ndt'rna  tobar  dhe,  go  tanic 
thairsiu,  coti\(\  e  Loch  nEachach  .1.  Eochu  in  ri  3  fual  a  eich 
roleath  ann. 

Doluid  xmmorro  Rib  fein  timcheall  siar  gor'  gabh  i  maigh  Fhind  r 

1  MS.  fothuaigh.  '^  This  line  is  corrupt.     In  LL.  165a  it  is  : 

rogart  in  muicc  fri  seis  slaind.         ^  MS.  brudh. 


The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas.  475 

ba  head  on  Tir  Cluichi  Midhir  3  Ma/c  in  Og.  Luid^  fon  indas 
cetna  Midhir  ■]  [fo.  4^  i]  cucu  ^  capall  cengalta  lais,  gon  rallsat  a 
crod  fair,  gonos-rug  leo  gorigi  Mag  nDairbthean  fi^rsa  ta  in  loch. 
Laighid  in  gerran  ann  ]  Coheir  a  mhun  gor'bo  tiprat,  gor'  muidh 
tairsib.  Ribh  ainm  in  rig.  baiter  in  Rib.  \}inde  Loch  Ri[bh]  3 
Loch  nEchach  nowinata  sunt. 

Baidhis  M.v\gus  Eocho  uais 
tre  fhual  a  eich  go  n-athluais, 
doluidh  Midhir,  brigh  ro«-lean, 
gor'  baidh  Rib  i  Maigh  Dairbthenn. 

Loch  n-Echach,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Ribh,  son  of  Mairid,  and  Eocho,  son  of  Mairid,  the  twain  went 
from  the  south  out  of  Irluachair  on  a  flitting,  and  separated  at 
Belach  da  Liacc,  "  the  Pass  of  the  two  Flagstones".  One  of  the 
twain,  even  Eocho,  went  westward  on  Bregia  and  set  up  on  the 
Plain  of  Mac  ind  Oc.  He  (the  Mac  ind  Oc)  went  to  them  in  the 
shape  of  a  land-holder,  with  his  nag  in  his  hand,  and  told  them 
that  they  should  not  bide  on  the  Plain.  They  said  to  him  that  they 
had  no  power  to  carry  their  load  of  goods  (?)  without  pack-horses. 
"  Put,"  says  he,  "the  full  of  the  plain  wherein  ye  stand  into  bundles 
with  their  straps  upon  this  nag,  and  he  will  carry  them  with  you  to 
the  place  where  he  will  lie  down  thereunder."  So  they  went 
thence  till  they  reached  Liathmuine.  Therein  the  nag  lies  down 
beside  them,  and  there  he  stales,  and  made  of  his  urine  a  well 
which  came  over  them.  So  that  is  Loch  n-Echach,  to  wit,  Eochu 
the  king  and  his  horse's  water,  which  there  spread  out. 

Howbeit  Ribh  himself  went  around  westward  and  set  up  on 
Magh  Find  :  now  that  was  the  Playing-ground  of  Midir  and  of  Mac 
ind  Oc.  In  the  same  way  Midir  went  to  them,  having  a  haltered 
horse  with  him,  and  they  put  their  wealth  upon  the  horse,  and  he 
carried  it  off  with  them  as  far  as  Magh  Dairbthenn,  whereon  the  lake 
now  lies.  There  the  nag  lies  down  and  passes  his  urine  until  it 
became  a  well,  which  broke  over  them.  Ribh  is  the  king's  name. 
Ribh  is  drowned. 

Whence  Loch  Ribh  and  Loch  nEchach  were  (so)  called. 

Oengus  drowned  haughty  Echo 

By  means  of  his  steed's  urine,  with  great  speed : 

Midir  went — force  followed  him — 

And  drowned  Ribh  on  Magh  Dairbthenn. 

Also  in  BB.  390  a  31  ;  H.  49  a ;  and  Lee.  496  a,  where  the  story  is  more  fully 
told.  Printed,  without  a  translation,  in  Silva  Gadelica,  ii,  484,  532.  See  also 
Aided  Echach  mate  Maireda,  LL.  39  a — 39  b,  edited  by  Crowe  in  1870,  from  which 
it  appears  that  the  "flitting"  was  an  elopement  with  Eochaid's  stepmother 
Ebliu. 

Irluachair,  in  the  south-east  of  the  county  of  Kerry. 

1  MS.  Luig. 


476  The  Edinburgh  D inns henc has. 

Belach  dd  Liacc.  Not  identified.  Breg-mag,  a  plain  in  East  Meath. 
Brug  (or  Mag)  Maic  ind  Oc,  the  plain  through  which  the  Boyne  runs. 
Liathmuine,  "  grey  brake,"  somewhere  in  Ulster. 

Lock  n-Echach,  now  Lough  Neagh,  between  the  counties  of  Antrim,  London- 
derry, Down,  .Armagh,  and  Tyrone. 

Ocngus,  also  called  Mac  ind  Oc,  son  of  the  Dagda.     See  Folk-Lore,  iii,  479. 
Midir  oi  Bri  Leith.     See  Folk-Lore,  iii,  493. 


[56.  Loch  n-Erne.] — Loch  nEirne,  cid  dia  ta  ? 

Eirne  ingen  Buirg  Buireadhaigh  vueic  Manchin,  banchoimhedaid 
do  chir  comraraib  Meadbha  Cruachan,  3  bantaiseach  ingenraidhe 
ier  011negmrt<r/i/.  Intan  iarumh  doluidh  Olca  ai  a  huaimh  Cruachan 
do  chomrag  ir\  Amhairghin  larghiundach  rochroith  a  ulcha  ann^ 
doibh  [;j  roben  a  deta,]  go  ndeachadar  ior  dasacht  macrada  ~^ 
ingenradha  in  tiri,  go  nd^rnadh  a  n-aidhead  ann  ar  a  omhon.  Da 
reith  da/vt?  Eirne  con'x  hingenraidh  go  Loch  nEirne,  go  ros-baidh 
in  loch.     Is  desin  ata  Loch  nEirne. 

Eirne  go  n-uaill,  comoU  nglain, 
inghean  Buirg  buain  Buireadhaich, 
si  rotheich,  ni  gnim  n-uabhair, 
fo  loch  Erne  ar  imuamain.^ 

No  ba  ferann  do  Ernaib  itcht  n-aile  go  robris  Fiacho  Labrainne 
m«c  Senbotha  m.eic  Tighernmais  cath  forro  goros-dilgend,^ 
ri'/ndh  iarsin  do  mebhaidh  in  loch  fo  tir  nE.x.etin.  Vtnde  est  Loch 
nEirne,  et  quod  u^Hus  est. 

Lough  Erne,  whence  is  it  ? 

Erne,  daughter  of  Borg  the  Bellowing,  son  of  Manchin, 
was  the  keeperess  of  Medb  of  Cruachu's  comb-caskets,  and  leader 
of  the  maidens  of  the  men  of  Connaught.  Now  when  Olca  Ai  went 
out  of  the  cave  of  Cruachu  to  contend  against  Amargen  the 
Black-haired,  he  shook  his  beard  at  them  and  gnashed  his  teeth, 
so  that  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  country  went  mad,  and  their 
tragical  death  was  caused  by  dread  of  him.  Then  Erne  with  her 
maidens  ran  to  Lough  Erne, ,  and  the  lough  drowned  them. 
Thence  is  (the  name)  Loch  n-Erne. 

Erne  with  pride,  a  pure  union, 
Daughter  of  good  Borg  the  Bellowing, 
She  fled — no  deed  to  boast  of — 
Under  Lough  Erne  for  exceeding  fear. 

Or  it  [the  bed  of  Lough  Erne]  was  once  the  territory  of  the 
Ernai,  until  Fiacha  Lahrainne,  son  of  Senboth,  son  of  Tigernmas, 
routed  them  in  battle  and  destroyed  them  ;  and  thereafter  the 

^  MS.  rochraith  a  chulcan;/.  ^  In  the  MS.  this  quatrain  is  at 

the  end  of  the  article.  ^  MS.  -dligeandh. 


The  Edinburgh  Dimishenchas.  477 

lake  burst  throughout  the  land  of  Erin.     Whence  is  Loch  7tErne, 
and  this  is  truer. 

The  first  paragraph  is  also  in  BB.  391  a  18  ;  H.  49  b  ;  and  Lee.  498  a. 
Lock  nS.rne,  now  Lough  Erne,  in  the  county  of  Fermanagh. 
Medb  of  Cruachu,  the  famous  queen  of  Connaught. 
Amar^e7i,  father  of  Conall  Cernach. 


[57.  SL1.A.B  Betha.] — Sliabh  Beatha,  cidh  di'a  ta  ? 

Eith  mac  Nai  xxmc  Lamhiach  j  Cessair  ingen  Betha  3  Ladru  a 
luamh  ;]  Findtan  mac  Bochra  a  maccaem  dolodar  for  teicheadh 
cethrachad  laithi  ria  ndilind  fodeigh  doruimenadar  na  badh  do 
airimh  in  betha  in  t-innserad  iartharach  don  bith  o  muir  Thorrian^ 
siar,  ^  asb^rt  Nse  xviac  Lamhiach  nis-leicfeadh  son  i  n-airc. 
Dolodar  a  ceathair  ar  imgabhail  na  dilend  sin  go  torachtadar 
Erinn  ^  ros-baidh  in  dili  anifz/l  dos-tarraidh  in  gach  aird  .1.  Bith  i 
Sliabh  Betha,  Ladru  i  nArd  Ladrann,  Cessair  i  Cuil  Cessra,Finntan 
i  Yerl  Findtain  os  Tul  Tuinde.  Robi  blia^a;?  Ian  i  mbadhud  comA 
iarum  ron-athnai  arisi,  •]  in  bare  i  tudchadar-  isi  go  mbrui  in 
lear  imon  carraig  ig  Dun  Bare  iarna  dusgudh  a  huisa  dia  cind 
hXxzdne.     Vnde  Sli-[fo.  4^  2]-ab  Beatha. 

Rofhuair  Bit[h]  bas  iorsin  t[s]leib 
mac  Lamhiach  luchair  lainfeil, 
rombaidh^  in  dili  dedla 
ua  Malalei«  mor  echta. 

Sliab  Betha,  whence  is  it? 

Bith,  son  of  Noah,  son  of  Lamech,  and  Cessair,  Bith's  daugh- 
ter, and  Ladru  his  pilot,  and  Finntan,  son  of  Bochra,  his  boy,  went 
in  flight,  forty  days  before  the  Deluge,  because  they  thought  that 
the  western  islands  of  the  world,  from  the  Tyrrhene  sea  westward, 
would  not  be  counted  as  belonging  to  the  world,  and  Noah, 
son  of  Lamech,  had  said  that  he  would  not  let  them  into  the  ark. 
To  avoid  that  flood  the  four  fared  on  till  they  reached  Erin,  and 
the  Flood  drowned  them  as  it  overtook  them  at  each  point,  to 
wit,  Bith  on  Sliab  Betha,  Ladru  on  Ard  Ladrann,  Cessair  in  Ciiil 
Cessra,  and  Finntan  in  Fert  Finntain  over  Tul  Tuinne.  (Each) 
was  for  a  whole  year  beneath  the  waves,^  and  then  (the  sea)  gave 
them  up  again  ;  but  as  to  the  ship  wherein  they  had  arrived  the  sea 
dashed  it  on  a  rock  at  Dun  Bare  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  after 
it  had  been  raised  out  of  the  water.     Whence  is  S/t'ad  Betha. 

Bith  found  death  on  the  mountain. 
(Bith),  son  [leg.  grandson  ?]  of  Lamech  the  bright,  fully- 
hospitable, 


^  MS.  thorriam.  '^  MS.  tudchaidhar.  ^  MS.  rombaigh. 

^  Literally,  "  in  drowning." 

VOL.  IV.  K  K 


4/8  The  Edinburgh  Dmnshenchas. 

The  bold  Flood  drowned  him, 

The  grandson  of  great-deeded  Methusalem. 

The  corresponding  story  in  BB.  397  b  18 ;  H.  56  b;  and  Lee.  505  a,  is  much 
briefer.  Keating  (p.  107  of  O'NIahony's  version)  gives  a  tale  more  nearly 
resembling  ours.     See  also  BB.  22  b,  and  the  Four  Masters,  A.M.  2242. 

Sliab  Betha,  "  Bith's  Mountain,"  now  Slieve  Beagh,  a  mountain  on  the  confines 
of  Fermanagh  and  Monaghan. 

Ard  Ladrann,  somewhere  on  the  sea-coast  of  the  co.  Wexford. 

Ciiil  Ccssra,  "  Cessair's  Recess,"  said  to  be  Coolcasragh,  near  Knockmea,  in 
the  CO.  of  Clare.  In  BB.  22  b  15,  we  have  Ceassair  0  ta  Cam  Cuili  Ceasrac  i 
Connachtaibh  ;  but  see  O'Donovan's  note  h.  Four  Masters,  A.M.  2242. 

Fei-t  Finntain,  "  Finntan's  Grave,"  in  the  territory  of  Lough  Derg. 

Dun  Bare,  also  Diin  na  mbarc,  now  Dunamark,  in  the  barony  of  Bantry  and 
county  of  Cork. 


[58.  CoiRE  mBreccain.] — Coire  mBrecan,  can  as  rohainmn- 
\ged? 

Brecan  mac  Partholoin  dochuaidh  ar  uaill  ~\  ingaire  go  triu« 
sloig  Cretin  umi  fo  chumcha  inbeatha  ior  dimus.  Is  eadh  leath  rola, 
forsin  fairrgi  mbaileadhaigh  fothuaidh,^  gorige  in  ssebchoiri,  ~\  go 
robaidhead  ann,  comd  de  ata  Coire  mBrecain. 

Mac  Parrtholoin,  gnim  gen  gloir, 

rofhiiair  samthoghail-  sirbroin. 

Brecan  na  Isechraidhe  ille 

ron-sluig  ssebhchoire  suighthe.^ 

No  gomad  Brecan  mac  Maine  meic  Neill  robaidhedh  ann.  Is  e 
a  asna  adra<r/^/  fo  churach  Coluim  chilli  dia  ndeb^rt:  "Iscondalbh 
sin,  a  shen-Brecain,"  et  quod  est  uerius. 

Coire  mBreccain,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Breccan,  son  of  Partholan,  went,  for  pride  and  impiety  (?),  with 
a  third  of  the  host  of  Erin  around  him,  throughout  the  world's 
straits.  This  is  the  direction  in  which  he  went,  northwards  over 
the  furious  sea,  as  far  as  the  whirlpool  (so  called),  and  there  he 
was  drowned.  So  thence  is  the  name  Coire  mBreccain,  "Breccan's 
Caldron." 

Partholan's  son,  deed  without  glory. 
Found  a  very  mournful  destruction. 
Breccan  of  the  heroes  hither, 
A  whirlpool  sucking  down  swallowed  him. 

Or  it  may  be  that  Breccan,  son  of  Maine,  son  of  Niall  (of  the 
Nine  Hostages),  was  drowned  therein.  It  is  his  rib  that  rose  up 
under  Colomb  cille's  boat,  when  the  saint  said :  "That  is  friendly, 
thou  old  Breccan,"  and  this  is  truer. 

Similar  tales  are  in  BB.  398  a,  and  Lee.  505  b.     They  are  translated  in  Reeves' 
Vita  Columbae,  pp.  262,  263.     See  also  Cormac's  Glossary,  s.  v.  Coire  Brecain. 
The  Coire  mBreccain  here  mentioned  is,  according  to  Reeves,  the  dangerous  sea 

1  MS.  fothuaigh.  2  ^g  samhthodhail.  Mn  the  MS.  this 

quatrain  is  at  the  end  of  the  article. 


The  Edinbtirgh  Dinnshenchas.  479 

between  Rathlin  Island  and  the  north  coast  of  Ireland,  and  not  the  strait  between 
Scarba  and  Jura,  which  is  now  called  Corryvreckan,  Vita  Columbae,  pp.  29,  121. 
As  to  Partholan,  see  LL.  127  a,  and  O'Mahony's  Keating,  pp.  83,  114-116. 


[59.  Benn  Foibni.] — Beann  Foibhne,  can  as  rohainmnigheadh  ? 
Ni  ansa. 

Foibne  feinnidh,  is  e  rombuail  Illand  mac  Erclaim^  m^/c 
Doithre  ior  lar  Temrach  os  gualaind  Eachach  Ailtleathain  me/c 
Ailella  Caisfhiaclaich.  Luidh  iarum  fothuaidh-  arfud  Breag.  Ros- 
lac  Feargna  Fear  Ga[i]  Leatha[i]n  ina  dhiaidh,  j  immusracht^ 
remhi  as  gach  beinn  in-aroilego  riacht  in  beind  ud,  ^<?«idh  ann  sin 
rodoimeart.     Xinde  Bean  Foibhne. 

Foibhne  feinnidh,  fuachdha  in  fear, 
luidh  o  Themhraigh  i  ti'r  mBreagh. 
i  cinaidh  lUaind  na  n-ead 
rombi  Fearghna,  ba  fnthbhed. 

Benn  Foibni,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Foibne  the  champion,  'tis  he  who  struck 
Illann,  son  of  Erclam,  son  of  Doithre  (the  king  of  SHab  Moduirn), 
in  the  midst  of  Tara,  above  the  shoulder  of  Eochaid  of  th6  Broad 
Joints,  son  of  Ailill  of  the  Twisted  Teeth.  Then  he  went  north- 
ward throughout  Bregia.  Fergna  Fer  Gai  Leathain,  "  the  Man  of 
the  Broad  Spear,"  hurled  himself  after  him,  and  drove  Foibne 
before  him  from  one  peak  to  another,  till  he  reached  that  peak, 
and  there  Fergna  killed  him.  Whence  Benn  Foibni,  "Foibne's 
Peak." 

Foibne  the  champion,  surly  was  the  man. 

Went  from  Tara  into  the  land  of  Bregia. 

In  revenge  for  Illann  of  the  jealousies 

Fergna  slew  him — 'twas  a  counter-hurt. 

Also  in  BB.  399  a  ;  H.  57  b  ;  Lee.  506  b. 

Benn  Foibni  has  not  been  identified. 

Foibne  is  described  in  the  other  MSS.  as  Eochaid  Altlethan's  cupbearer 
(deogbaire). 

Eochaid  Altleihan,  said  to  have  been  over-king  of  Ireland  from  A.M.  4788  to 
A.M.  4804,  as  was  his  father,  Ailill  Casfhiaclach,  from  .\.m.  4758  to  A.M.  4782. 


[60.  Ard  Fothaid.] — Ard  Fothaidh,^  cid  dia  ta  ?     Ni  ansa. 
Fothadh  gonatuil  ann  go  ceand  nai  mi's  fri  foghur  circi  Boirci 
dia  mbai  ior  a  er/ztra.     Un^(?  Ard  Fothaid. 

^  MS.  is  e  rombai  il  laim  lam.       ^  MS.  fothuaigh.      '  MS.  imriacht, 
but  BB.  has  iuiusracht,  and  H.  has  tnusracht.  ^  MS.  fothaigh, 

K  K  2 


480  The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

Fothad  Airg[th]each,  glan  a  gluais, 
ro  thuil  ann  co?idi  athluais, 
fri  re  nai  mis,  monor  ngle, 
ir\  fogor  circi  Boirche. 

Ard  Fothaid,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Fothad  slept  there  till  the  end  of  nine 
months  at  the  sound  of  Boirche's  hen,  when  he  was  on  his  adven- 
ture.    Whence  is  Ard  Fothaid,  "  Fothad's  Height." 

Fothad  Airgthech,  clear  his  movement, 
Slept  there  with  his  great  speed. 
For  nine  months'  space,  brilliant  deed, 
At  the  sound  of  Boirche's  hen. 

Also  in  BB.  399  a  32  ;  H.  58  a ;  Lee.  506  b  ;  and  Rennes  116  a  2,  where  the 
"nine  months"  is  reduced  to  "three  fortnights".  See,  too,  Silva  Gadelica, 
ii,  531. 

Ard  Fothaid.  This  seems  the  same  as  the  Ard  Fothadh  of  the  Four  Masters, 
A.D.  639,  "the  name  of  a  fort  on  a  hill  near  Ballymagrorty  ....  in  the  co.  of 
Donegal"  (?).  See  also  Reeves,  Vita  Columbae,  p.  38,  note.  It  is  spelt  Ard 
Fothaid  in  the  Tripartite  Life,  Rolls  ed.,  p.  148,  and  Ardd  Fothid  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh,  fo.  18  b  2. 

Fothad  Airgthech,  a  son  of  Mac-con,  was  slain  in  battle  A.D.  285.  There  is  a 
story  about  the  identification  of  his  tomb  in  LU.  133  b,  which  is  printed  and 
translated  in  Petrie's  Round  Towers,  pp.  107,  108.  The  allusion  to  Boirche's  hen 
is  to  me  obscure. 


[61.  Ard  Macha.] — Ard  Macha,  cid  dia  ta?     Ni  a?isa. 

Macha  ben  Nemidh  vaeio.  Agnomain  atbath  ann,  ^  ba  he  in  dara 
magh  deg  roslecht  la  Nemhead,  3  do  breatha  dia  mhnai  go  mbeith 
a  ainm  uasa,  3  is  i  adrhownairc  i  n-aislinge  foda  reimhe  a  \&cht  ina 
ndernad  do  ulc  im  Thain  bho  Cuailngi  ina  cotludh  tarfas  di  uile 
ann  rocesad  do  ulc  and  do  dz-oibhelaib  ^  do  midhrennaib,  go  ro- 
mhuidh  a  cndhe  inti.     UnaV  Ard  Macha. 

No  Macha  ingen  yEdha  Ruaidh  m^/c  Baduirnn,  is  le  rotoirneadh 
Eo-[fo.  5^  i]-muin^  Macha,  ^  is  and  roadnacht  dia  ros-marbh 
Rer/ztaid-  Rigd^rg,  is  dia  gubhu  rognidh  senach  Macha.  \^nde 
Macha  xaagh. 

Ailit^r,  Macha  da«(?  bean  Cruind  \\\eic  Agnomhain  doriacht  ann 
do  comrith  ann  ri  heocho  C^iwchobair,  ar  atbifrt  a  fear  ba  luathe 
a  bean  inaid  na  heocho.  Amlaidh  da«t?bai  in  bean  sin,  inbhadach, 
go  ro  chuindigh  cairde  go  ro  th^ed  abru, ;]  ni  tugadh  di, ;]  dogni  in 
comhrith  iarum  •]  ba  luaithiamh  si,  ■^  o  roshiacht  cend  in  chede  bmd 
mac  ■]  ingin.  Fir  3  Fial  a  n-anmann,  ^  dXherX.  go  mbeidis  Ulaidh  fo 
cheas-'  oitedh  in  gach  uair  dos-figead  eigin,  cojixd.  de  bai  in  cheas 
ior  Ultu  fri  re  nomaide'*  o  re  C^iwchobhair  go  "^aith  Mail  mi?/c  Roc- 
raide,  ~^^  adb^rar  ba  si  Grian  Banchz/r^  ingean  Midhir  Bn  \.eith,  3 


1  M.S.  iwui.     -  MS.  rosumarl)  rechtaig.     ^  M.S.  inserts  ~y.     *  MS.  xx^e. 


The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas,  481 

adbeb    iar    suidhiu   ;j  focreas  a  Urt  i  nArd  Macha,   j    focer   a 
gubha,  ^  roclannad  a  lia.     X^nde  Ard  Macha. 

AtA^/mairc  Mc7(^/^a  marglic 
tri  fhis,  ratha  na  raidmid, 
tuirthe^>^/a  trimsa  Cuailghne 
fa  gnim  ndimsa  nimuaibre. 

Ard  Macha,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Macha,  wife  of  Named,  son  of  Agnoman, 
died  there,  and  it  was  the  twelfth  plain  which  was  cleared  by 
Nemed,  and  it  was  bestowed  on  his  wife  that  her  name  might  be 
over  it,  and  'tis  she  that  saw  in  a  dream,  long  before  it  came  to 
pass,  all  the  evil  that  was  done  in  the  Driving  of  the  Kine  of 
Cualnge.  In  her  sleep  there  was  shown  to  her  all  the  evil  that 
was  suffered  therein,  and  the  hardships  and  the  wicked  quarrels  : 
so  that  her  heart  broke  in  her.  Whence  Ard  Macha,  "  Macha's 
Height." 

Macha,  the  very  shrewd,  beheld 
Through  a  vision — graces  which  we  say  not — 
Descriptions  of  the  times  (?)  of  Cualgne — 
Twas  a  deed  of  pride,  not  of  boasting. 

Or,  Macha,  daughter  of  Aed  the  Red,  son  of  Badurn  :  'tis  by 
her  that  Emain  Macha  was  marked  out,  and  there  she  was  buried 
when  Rechtaid  Red-arm  killed  her.  To  lament  her  Oenach 
Macha,  "  Macha's  Assembly,"  was  held.     Whence  Macha  Magh. 

Aliier.  Macha,  now,  wife  of  Crunn,  son  of  Agnoman,  came 
there  to  run  against  the  horses  of  King  Conor.  For  her  husband 
had  declared  that  his  wife  was  swifter  than  the  horses.  Thus 
then  was  that  woman  pregnant  :  so  she  asked  a  respite  till  her 
womb  had  fallen,  and  this  was  not  granted  to  her.  So  then  she 
ran  the  race,  and  she  was  the  swiftest.  And  when  she  reached 
the  end  of  the  green  she  brings  forth  a  boy  and  a  girl — Fir  and 
Fi'al  were  their  names — and  she  said  that  the  Ulaid  would  abide 
under  debility  of  childbed  whensoever  need  should  befall  them. 
So  thence  was  the  debility  on  the  Ulaid  for  the  space  of  five 
days  and  four  nights  (at  a  time)  from  the  era  of  Conor  to  the  reign 
of  Mai,  son  of  Rochraide  (a.d.  T07).  And  'tis  said  that  she  was 
Grian  Banchure,  "  the  Sun  of  Womanfolk,"  daughter  of  Midir  of 
Bri  Leith.  And  after  this  she  died,  and  her  tomb  was  raised  on 
Ard  Macha,  and  her  lamentation  was  made,  and  her  pillar-stone 
was   planted.     Whence  is -4 rd?yl/rt^//<2,  "  Macha's  Height." 

Also  in  BB.  400  b  49  ;  H.  61  b  ;  Lee.  510  b  ;  and  R.  117  b  i.  But  none  of  these 
copies  contain  the  account  of  the  first  Macha's  dream,  or  the  quatrain  referring 
thereto.  That  the  second  Macha  marked  out  Emain  is  told  also  in  Cormac's 
Glossary,  and  LL.  20  b  48.  The  story  of  the  third  Macha's  race  with  Conor's 
horses,  and  of  the  birth  of  her  twins,  is  related  more  fully  in  LL.  125  b  42,  whence 
it  has  been  published  by  the  late  Sir  Samuel  Ferguson  in  a  note  to  his  Congal,  pp. 
189,  190,  with  a  Latin  version,  and  by  Prof.  Windisch  in  the  Bcrichtt-  of  the  Royal 
Saxon  Gesellschaft  derWissenschaften,  1884,  pp.  336-347,  with  a  German  translation. 


482  The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

[62.  Mag  Coba.] — Mag  Coba,  cid  di'a  ta?     Ni  ansa. 

Mag  Coba  cuthchaire.  No  Coba  cuthchaire  feisin  .1.  cuth- 
chaire  Eremoin  m^/c  Mileadh,  is  e  Cifrtia  roindlestair  cuithigh  i 
wYjxinn.  Atnaigh  a  chois  indi  d?^i-  in  bad  doith  ina  cuithigh,  go 
romuidh  buinde  a  sHasta  ;]  a  da  dhoid,  ^6'«-ablad  de.  Is  de  sin  ata 
Mag  Cobha.     \]nde  poeta  d/.Tit  : 

Cobha  cuthcaire  go  ngloir 
ardri[g]  Erend  Eremhoin, 
is  e  rosdeadhlad  de 
Coba  cennmhar  cuthchaire. 

Mag  Coba,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  to  say.  The  plain  of  Coba  the  pitfall-maker.  Or, 
Coba  the  pitfall-maker  himself,  that  is,  the  pitfall-maker  of 
Eremon,  son  of  Mil.  He  first  in  Erin  arranged  a  pitfall.  And 
he  put  his  foot  into  it  to  see  whether  it  wa^  ...  in  his  pitfall, 
whereupon  his  thighbone  (?)  broke,  and  his  two  forearms,  so  that 
he  died  thereof     Thence  is  Mag  Coba,  and  hence  the  poet  said : 

Coba  the  glorious  pitfall-maker, 

Of  Erin's  over-king  Eremon  : 

'Tis  he  that  would  sever  himself  from  him. 

Great-headed  Coba  the  pitfall-maker. 

Also  in  BB.  400  b  34  ;  H.  6i  b;  Lee.  510  b  ;  and  Rennes  117  a  2. 

Mag  Coba  seems  to  have  been  the  old  name  for  a  portion  of  the  baronies  of 
Iveagh  in  Ulster.  See  Reeves,  Eccl.  Antiquities  of  Down,  Conor,  and  Dromore, 
p.  349,  where  mthchaire  is  misrendered  by  "  huntsman". 

As  to  Eremon,  son  of  Mil,  see  the  Four  Masters,  A.M.  3501,  and  infra.  No.  76. 


[63.  Sliap.  Callainn.] — Sliab  Kalian,  cid  dia  ta  ?     Ni  a;/i-<^. 

Callann  r<?;?bhuachaill  Buidhe  meic  Bain  blaidh  meic  F<9/^amhna 
f^robar[t]  in  Don;z  Cuailghni  in  mi  riana  re  coir  .i.  dairi  in- 
t[s]easgraidhi  imbi  forrobartar  -]  in  cu  [oc  cosnam  in  tsescraigh 
CO  torcair  in  cu  di  sodain — BB.'\  No  gomadh  ig  taba/rt  na  tana 
comcomult  in  choin  arin  talamh.     \]nde  Sliab  Kalland. 

Calland  (r(?;/bhuachaill  crethaigh  [leg.  crethaidh  ?] 

Buidhe  mac  Bain  bithbreathaig. 

glecais  frissin  nDonn  Cuailghne 

ba  f^Honn  fri  heduailghne  [leg.  etuailngi  ?]. 

Sliab  Callann,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Callann  the  sheep-dog  of  Buide,  son  of 
Ban  blaith,  son  of  Forgamuin.  The  Donn  of  Cualgne,  the  month 
before  his  proper  time,  proceeded  to  bull  the  dry  cows  around 
him.  He  and  the  dog  began  to  contend  for  the  dry  cows,  till  the 
dog  fell  by  him.  Or  it  may  be  that  at  the  taking  the  drove  he 
crushed  the  dog  on  the  ground.     Whence  Sliab  Callann. 


The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas.  483 

Callann,  the  skilful  (?)  sheep-dog 
Of  Buide,  son  of  ever-judging  Ban, 
Fought  with  the  Brown  Bull  of  Cualgne. 
He  was  savage  at  wrong. 

Also  in  BB.  404  b  i  ;  H.  64  b  ;  Lee.  514  b  ;  and  R.  119  b  2,  where  there  is  an 
additional  paragraph  stating  that  the  dog  was  a  pup  of  Daol,  the  hound  of 
Celtchar,  which  had  been  found  in  the  skull  of  Conganchnes  {"  Hornskin"),  along 
with  the  hounds  of  Culann  the  Brazier  and  Mac  da  Th6.  As  to  this  see  the  note 
in  the  left  margin  of  LU.  6r  a. 

The  Edinburgh  codex  is  here  so  corrupt  and  incomplete  that  I  have  not  ventured 
to  punctuate,  and  my  version  is  merely  tentative. 

Sliab  Callann  is  now  Slieve  Gallion,  a  mountain  in  the  county  of  Londonderry, 
on  the  borders  of  Tyrone. 

The  Donn  of  Cualgne  (now  Cooley  in  the  co.  of  Louth)  is  the  famous  brown 
bull  to  obtain  which  was  the  object  of  the  e-xpedition  known  as  the  Tain  bo 
Cualngi,  "  Driving  of  the  kine  of  Cualnge." 


[64.  SuAB  FuAiT.] — Sliab  Fuait,  canas  rohainmnig?^? 
Fuad  mac  Bile  meic  Breoghain,  is  e  robo  ri  Ua  mBreoghain. 
Taraill  inse^  ar  in  fairrge  [oc  tuidecht  la  macaib  Miled]  dochum 
nErend,  ~\  gach  sen  nofuirmheadh  a  bond  iuirrx  ni  abrad  gai  no 
breig.  Tug  fod  firindi  lais  [fo.  5^  2]  asin  indsi.  intan  adb(?readh  gai 
dochuiredh-  a  fsesgul  suas,  -]  intan  atbfread  firindi  dochuireadh 
a  chain  suas.  Ata  in  fod  sin  isin  tshleib  heus,  -]  is  fair  dorochair 
in  graindi  o  gherran  Padraic,  comdh  adrad  sruith[i]  ardaigh  na 
firinde  do  choimhet.     \]nde  Sliabh  Fuait. 

No  gomad  in  [leg.  6n]  fod  doradad  ior  Ceand  niB^n-idi  do 
imarchur,  ar  rothairgseadUk/^righe  don  senfhir  noberadhcorpC^w- 
chobhair  go  hEamain  oda  Mag  Lamhraidhe  gen  fhuirmeadh,  go 
rogabh  Ceann  B^nride  fair,  go  roisead  Sliabh  Fuait,  go  tard  a  bonn 
fri  lar  i  Sleib  Fuait.  Adb^rtadar  Ulaid  na  bad  ri  aire  sin  e. 
Atb^rt  som  fod  go  leithead  a  bonn  do  thabairt  fair.  Doradadhon 
go  voacht  Emhain.  Co?i\d  ann  dobhath,  conid\\  desin  ata  "  righe 
Chind  B^rride". 

Fuat  mac  Bile  choeimh  cruadhaigh,-^ 

ua  Breaguin  buirr  bithbuadaig,* 

tuc  ar  rod  fear  luchta  ille 

fod  f^rs'tuc[tha]  firinde. 

Sliab  Fuait,  whence  was  it  named? 

Fuat,  son  of  Bile,  son  of  Breogan,  'tis  he  that  was  king  of  Hdi 
Kreogain.  As  he  was  coming  to  Erin  with  the  sons  of  Mil  he 
landed  on  an  island  in  the  ocean,  and  no  one  who  set  his  sole 
thereon  would  utter  a  lie  or  a  falsehood.  Out  of  the  island  he 
brought  difot  (sod)  of  truth,  whereon  he  sat  when  dealing  doom 
and  deciding  questions.     When  he  uttered  falsehood  it  would  put 

1  For  inse  the  MS.  has  (corruptly)  for  in  fairgecA/.  *  Here  the 

MS.  inserts:  a  chain  suas  ata  \n  fod.  *  MS.  cruaghaigh. 

*  MS.  blthbuagaig. 


484  The  EdinbiLrgk  Dinnshenchas. 

its  earthy  side  upwards,  and  when  he  uttered  truth  it  would  put 
its  grassy  side  upwards.  That  sod  is  still  on  the  mountain,  and 
'tis  on  it  the  single  grain  fell  from  St.  Patrick's  nag.  Wherefore 
sages  honour  it  because  of  preserving  the  truth. 

Or  it  may  be  from  the/^/  (sod)  which  was  put  upon  Cenn 
Berridi  to  be  carried ;  for  the  Ulaid  had  promised  the  realm 
to  the  one  man  who  should  carry  (King)  Conor's  corpse  from 
Magh  Lamraide  to  Emain  without  laying  it  down.  So  Cenn 
Berridi  took  it  up  and  reached  Sliab  Fuait,  and  on  Sliab  Fuait  he 
put  his  sole  to  the  ground.  For  that  reason  the  Ulaid  declared 
that  he  should  not  be  king.  He  told  them  to  put  upon  him  a 
sod  as  broad  as  his  sole.  This  was  done,  and  he  got  to  Emain, 
but  there  he  (straightway)  died.  Whence  is  (the  proverb),  "  Cenn 
Berride's  Kingdom." 

Fuat,  son  of  dear  hardy  Bile, 
Grandson  of  rough,  ever-victorious  Breogan, 
The  man  of  the  burden  brought  hither  on  a  road 
A  sod  whereon  truth  was  put. 

Also  in  BB.  404  a  31  ;  Lee.  514  a  ;  and  R.  iig  b  2,  where  the  name  of  the  island 
is  given  as  Inis  Magdena,  or  Aloagdeda,  id  est  mdr,  dg,  diada,  "great,  perfect, 
divine";  and  where  the  mountain's  name  is  also  derived  from  that  of  Fuat.  See 
also  Silva  Gadelica,  ii,  521. 

H.  adds  the  story  of  Cenn  Berridhe.  See  as  to  this  LL.  124  a  32-37,  and 
O'Mahony's  Keating,  p.  273. 

Emain,  now  the  Navan  Fort,  near  Armagh.  Sliab  Fuait,  a  mountain  near 
Newtown  Hamilton,  in  the  county  of  Armagh. 

Other  ancient  Irish  ordeals  are  described  in  Irische  Tcxte,  3.  Serie,  i  Heft, 
pp.  185  et  seq. 

The  story  of  the  grain  of  wheat  is  told  in  the  Tripartite  Life,  Rolls  ed., 
p.  240. 


[65.   LiA  LiNDGADAiN.] — Lia  Lindghadain,  cid  dia  ta  ? 

Li[ngadan  Labar,  isse  no  chosced  sliijagh  Y^xetin  i  flaith  Find 
m^/c  Findtain,  ^  ni  lamtha  labhrad  leis  ior  muir  na  for  ti'r  gan 
iarfaighidh  do  son,  ar  is  e  robo  sluag-re^/i/aire  ier  nEre?m.  Rolab- 
rasdar  (ec/ii  n-and  fria  di  chulaidh  asin  carraig  [in]  mac  alia  a 
gotha.  Imsai^  fris  anall  do  dhighail  a  gotha  fair.  Dan-arraidh 
barr^  na  murthuinde  ;]  ran-esart  fnsin  carraig,  conidh  romarbh  fo- 
diadh.3    is  and  bai  ceand  a  shseghail.     Vnde  dictum  est : 

Linga  labor,  fear  go  mblaid, 
robai  i  n-aimsir  Fhindtain. 
rofsn  in[fh]airrgi  go  foil 
ria  thsebh  chairrgi  gan  chomhlaind. 

Lia  Lingadain,  whence  is  it  ? 

Lingadan  the  Arrogant,  'tis  he  that  used  to  control  the  host  of 
Erin  in  the  reign  of  Find,   son  of  Finntan,  and  no  one  durst 

^  MS.  imrai.  ^  MS.  danearraidh  bara.  ^  MS.  fodiagh. 


The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas.  485 

speak  with  him,  on  sea  or  on  land,  without  being  asked  by  him, 
for  he  was  the  host-steward  of  the  men  of  Erin.  Once  upon 
a  time  the  echo  of  his  (own)  voice  spoke  out  of  the  crag  behind 
him.  He  turned  towards  it  to  take  vengeance  upon  it  for 
speaking,  and  the  crest  of  the  sea-wave  overtook  him  and  dashed 
him  against  the  crag,  so  that,  finally,  he  died.  There  was  the 
end  of  his  life.     Whence  was  said  : 

Linga  the  Arrogant,  a  man  with  fame, 
Lived  in  the  time  of  Finntan, 
The  sea  threw  him  backwards  violently,^ 
Against  the  side  of  a  crag,  without  conflict. 

Also  in  LL.  165  b  25  ;  BB.  407  b  3  ;  H.  (I  omitted  to  note  the  page) ;  and  Lee. 
519  b. 
Of  "Find,  son  of  Finntan",  I  know  nothing. 


[66.  Mag  Mugna.] — Magh  Mughna,  canas  rohainmnigheadh  ? 
Maighnia  71b  Mairgnia  .1.  morgnimh  feadha  daurbhile  mora 
roasai  ann,  comti'r  coimhleathna  a  mbarr  fnssin  magh.  teora  toirthi 
fodocheardais  in  gach  bliaa'rt/w  [.i.  dearcain  3  ubla  ;]  cnai.]  Intan 
dothuitead  in  dearcu  dedhenach  is  and  nofhasadh  blaith  na 
ce[t]derca;?  dib,  r^;ndh  taibhdeisdear  Ninne  eigeas,  go  ro  leagh 
riamh  condergan  ailind  de  .1.  nith  nemhannach,  ^  is  desin  ata 
Magh  Mugna. 

Mughna  durbhile  gan  on 

forsa.  mbid  meas  is  torudh. 

ba  comhleathan  a  barr  hec/it 

fnsin  magh  mor  gan  eigeart     .1.  aine  orda. 

Mag  Mughna,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Maighnia  or  mair-gnia,  "great  sister's  son,"  to  wit,  a  great 
deed.     Ifere  there  is  a  lacuna. 

Wood.s,  great  oak-trees  grew  there,  so  that  their  tops  were  as 
broad  as  the  plain.  Three  fruits  they  used  to  yield  in  every 
year,  to  wit,  acorns  and  apples,  and  nuts.  When  the  last  acorn 
fell,  then  the  blossom  of  the  first  of  these  acorns  would  grow,  so 

that  Ninine  the  poet 

and  thence  is  Magh  Mugna. 

Mughna's  oak-tree  without  blemish, 
Whereon  were  mast  and  fruit. 
Its  top  was  as  broad  precisely 
As  the  great  plain  without  .... 

Also  in  BB.  368  b  26  ;  H.  23  a  ;  Lee.  466  a  ;  and  R.  loi  b.  All  the  copies  are 
obscure,  and  the  Edinburgh  copy  is  incomplete. 

In  a  note  to  the  Calendar  of  Ocngus,  Dee.    11,  Mugna  is  said  to  have  been  a 

^  This  line  is  a  mere  guess.  I  take  rofaen  to  be  3rd  sg.  pret.  of  a 
denominative  from  faeii  =  Lat.  supinus,  and  foil  to  be  oil  .1.  mor 
(O'Cl.),  with  prothetic/     The  compar. /-/c///;^  occurs  in  LU.  22^  40. 


486  The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

tree  30  cubits  in  girth  and  300  cubits  in  height,  which  bore  fruit  thrice  a  year, 
and  remained  hidden  from  the  Deluge  till  the  birth  of  Conn  of  the  Hundred 
Battles.  And  in  LL.  200  a  12,  we  read  that  it  fell  southwards  over  Mag  n-Ailbi, 
that  it  bore  900  sacks  of  acorns,  and  yielded  three  crops  every  year — "apples, 
wonderful,  marvellous;  nuts,  round,  blood-red  ;  and  acorns,  brown,  ridgy." 


[67.  FiNDLOCH  Cera.] — [fo.  5'^  i]  Find  loch  Cera,  cid  dia 
ta  ?     Ni  ansa. 

Enlaith  tiri  tairngiri  dodheachadar  and  do  fhailte  fri  Pad/aig  dia 
mbai  i  Cruaich  Aigle.  Rofearsat  gles  forsin  loch  goma  findithir 
lemnrtr///,  -^  rochansat  ceol  ann  gen  bhai  Padraic  forsin  cruaich. 
C^«idh  de  sin  ata  Findloch  Ceara.  Doluidhset  tar  muir  alle 
enlaith  tire  tairngire  gor  gellsad  in  loch  darlibh  i  coindi  Padraig 
portghil. 

Findloch  ["White  Lake"]  of  Cera,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  A  flock  of  birds  of  the  Land  of  Promise 
came  there  to  welcome  St.  Patrick  when  he  was  on  Cruach 
Aigle.  They  struck  the  lake  (with  their  wings)  till  it  was  white  as 
new  milk,  and  they  sang  music  there  so  long  as  Patrick  remained 
on  the  Cruach.  So  thence  is  Findloch  ("White-lake")  of  Cera. 
The  birds  of  the  Land  of  Promise  fared  hither  over  sea 

Also  in  H.  44  b;  Lee.  487  a;  and  R.  112  b  2.  Versified  LL.  158  b.  The 
last  sentence  I  cannot  translate. 

Findloch  Cera,  now  Lough  Carra,  in  the  co.  of  Mayo. 
The  Land  of  Promise,  one  of  the  Irish  names  for  Fairyland. 
Cruach  Aigle,  now  Croaghpatrick  in  Connaught. 


[68.  Mag  Tailten.]— Mag  Tailden,  cid  dia  ta  ?  Ni  ansa. 
Tailltiu  inghen  Maghmhoir  rig  Espaine,  ben  Eachar/i  Gairbh 
vi\eic  Duach  Teimhin.  Ba  si  mumi  Loga  nWc  Eithleann,  ^  isi  ro- 
claidheadh  in  niagh.  No  is  and  atbath.  Dia  taide  fogumhair 
roladh  a  ier\.  3  doronadh  a  gubha  3  xoacht  2}  nasad  la  Lugh  [unde 
Lugnasa(d)  dicimus.  Coic  cet  bliadan  im/norro  j  mili  ria  ngein 
Crist  andsin,  ;]  nognithe  ind  aenach  la  each  rig  nogeibed  Eiri  co 
tainic  Patraic,  3  coic  cet  aenach  i  Tailltin  o  Patraic  co  Duboenach 
Dondchada  (meic  Flaind)  meic  Mail-sechlainn].  Ocus  it  e  teora 
gesa  Tailtean  :  tec/if  tairse  gen  tairleim,  a  deagsain  tara  ghualaind 
cli  ig  taidher///-  uaithi,  faisdibhrugudh  f«/rri  iar  fuineadh  ngreine. 
Unde  Magh  TaiVfen. 

Tailltiu  ingean  Magmhoir  mhoill, 

is  i  sin  ro  ben  in  choill, 

bumi  Logha  luaidhit  fir, 

baile  in  teidi-sea  im  Thailltin. 

Mag  Tailten,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).     Tailltiu,  daughter  of  Maghmor,   King  of 

*  an  erased.  ^  MS.  taighecht. 


The  Edinburgh  Dmnshenchas.  487 

Spain,  wife  of  Eochaid  the  Rough,  son  of  Dua  the  Dark-grey. 
She  was  Lugh  mac  Ethlenn's  foster-mother,  and  'tis  she  that  used 
to  dig  the  plain. 1  Or  'tis  there  that  she  died.  On  the  first  day 
of  autumn  her  tomb  was  built,  and  her  lamentation  was  made 
and  her  funeral  game  was  held  by  Lugh  [whence  we  say  Lugh- 
nasadh,  "  Lammastide".  Five  hundred  years  and  a  thousand 
before  Christ's  birth  was  that,  and  that  assembly  was  held  by 
every  king  who  took  Ireland  until  Patrick  came,  and  there  were 
five  hundred  assemblies  in  Tailtiu  from  Patrick  down  to  the  Black 
Assembly  of  Donnchad,  son  of  Flann,  son  of  Maelsechlainn]. 
And  these  are  the  three  tabus  of  Tailtiu  :  crossing  it  without 
alighting;  looking  at  it  over  one's  left  shoulder  when  coming 
from  it ;  idly  casting  at  it  after  sunset.  Whence  Magh  Tailten, 
"  Taltiu's  Plain." 

Taltiu,  slow  Magmor's  daughter, 

'Tis  she  that  cut  down  the  forest. 

Lugh's  foster-mother,  men  declare, 

The  place  of  this  assembly  (is)  round  Tailtiu. 

Also  in  BB.  403  a  30  ;  H.  10  b;  Lee.  513  a  ;  and  R.  119  a  i,  from  which  the 
words  in  brackets  have  been  taken.     See  also  Silva  Gadelica,  ii,  514. 

Tailtiu,  now  Teltown.  in  Meath.  For  traditions  relating  to  the  assembly  or 
fair  held  there,  see  O'Mahony's  Keatirrg,  p.  301,  and  the  Four  Masters,  A.M.  3370. 

The  above  etymologvof  Luglinasadh  is  also  in  Cormac's  Glossary. 

Donnchad,  son  of  Flann  Sirina,  sonof  Mael-shechlainn,  was  over-king  of  Ireland 
from  A.D.  918  to  A.D.  942.  The  "  Black  Assembly"  means,  perhaps,  the  assembly 
which,  in  A.D.  925,  was  prevented  by  Muirchertach,  son  of  Niall. 


[69.  Benn  Bairchi.] — Beand  Bairchi,  cidh  dia  ta?     Ni  ansa. 

.1.  Bairche  boaire  Rosa  Ruaidhbuidhi,  ba  headh  a  shuidhi 
mbuachalla,  in  bheand,  ^  is  cuma  argairead  gach  niboin  oda  Dun 
Sobairce  go  rige  in  mBoaind,  3  ni  geilead  mil  dib  mir  fc^roil  seach 
araile,  «:^«aidh  desin  ata  Beand  Bairchi,  zxcvail  asb(?rt : 

Bairchi  boaire  gu  mbladh- 

bai  ag  Rosa  [leg.  Ross]  Ruadh  roneartmhar 

in  beand,  nach  tlaith  re  duba, 

a  suidhi  blaith  buachalla. 

Benn  Bairchi,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Bairche,  Ross  Ruddy-yellow's  cowherd, 
this  was  his  herdsman's  seat,  the  Benn,  and  (there)  equally  would 
he  herd  every  cow  from  Dunseverick  to  the  Boyne :  and  no  (one) 
beast  of  them  would  graze  a  bit  in  excess  of  another.  So  thence 
is  Bom  Bairchi^  "  Bairche's  Peak,"  as  said  (the  poet) : 


1  I.e.,  to  dig  up  the  roots  of  the  trees  with  which  the  plain  was 
covered.  ^  MS.  mblaidh. 


488  The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

Bairche,  the  famous  cowherd, 
Who  belonged  to  very  mighty  Ross  the  Red  : 
The  peak  was  the  soft  seat  of  the  herdsman, 
Who  was  not  weak  against  sadness. 

Also  in  BB.  403  a;  H.  64  a  ;  Lee.  512  b;  and  R.  118  b  2.  See  also  Silva 
Gadelica,  li,  527.      BB. ,  H.,  and  Lee.  add  the  following: 

Aliter,  liennAn  mac  niBricc,  hind  romarb  Ibelmac  Manannan  i  ndul  coa  mhnai 
.1.  Leccon  bigen  Lodair  a  hainm  sen,  cuniA  he  sin  fath  darroleic  Manan«a«  a  Iri 
lomniand  cumad  dia  cridiu  .1.  Loch  Ruide,  'Loch  Cuan,  'Loch  Dachsech,  7  romarb 
Bendan  iarsin  ior  a  benn  ut.     Unde  Benn  Yienjiaiti  dicitur. 

"Otherwise  :  Bennan,  son  of  Brec  :  thereon  he  killed  Ibel,  son  of  Manannan,  for 
going  to  his  wife,  whose  name  was  Leccon,  daughter  of  Lodar.  So  this  was  the 
cause  why  Manannan  cast  from  his  heart  his  three  draughts  of  grief,  (which 
became)  Loch  Ruide,  Strangford  Lough,  Waterford  Harbour.  And  he  after- 
wards killed  Bennan  on  yon  peak.  Hence  it  is  called  Benn  Bennain,  "  Bennan's 
Peak." 

Beanna  Boirche,  the  Peaks  of  Boirche,  "is  still  applied  to  that  part  of  the 
Mourne  Mountains,  in  the  county  of  Down,  in  which  the  river  Bann  has  its  source," 
Four  Masters,  1493,  notey. 

Lock  Ruide  not  identified. 

Ross  Ruad-buide  {or Rigbuide,  "yellow-forearmed"),  King  of  U laid  in  the  third 
century. 


[70.  Traig  Tuirbl] — Traig  Tuirbe,  cidh  dia  ta?     Ni  ansa. 

Turbe  Traghmar,  athair  Gobain  sair,  [is  e  rodon-seilb.  Is  on 
forbbai — BB.']  is  e  focheirdeadh  a  urchur  dia  biaiP  i-  Telaigh  Bela 
inaghaidh  in  tuile,  co  «-ergaradh  in  fairrgi  [^  ni  tuidchead  tairis — 
BB.\  Ocics  ni  feas  a  geinelach^  ar/z/masa  dinibh  teasbadhchaibh 
?esa  dana  atrulHath  a  Temraigh  ria  Sam-ildanach  fail  i  ndiamraib 
Breagh.     Un^^  Traig  Tuir^ye. 

Tuirbe  tragmar*  ba  fear  feimh,^ 
athair  Gobain  go  nglainmhein, 
ni  fes  a  geinelach'^'  gle  : 
uad  ainmnigt//^r  Traig  Turbe. 

Traig  Tuirbi,  whence  is  it? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Tuirbe  Tragmar,  father  of  Gobban  the 
Wright,  'tis  he  that  owned  it.  'Tis  from  that  heritage  he, 
(standing)  on  Telach  Bela  ("the  Hill  of  the  Axe"),  would  hurl  a 
cast  of  his  axe  in  the  face  of  the  floodtide,  so  that  he  forbade  the 
sea,  which  then  would  not  come  over  the  axe.  And  his  pedigree 
is  not  known,  unless  he  be  one  of  the  defectives  of  the  men  of 
art  who  fled  out  of  Tara  before  Samildanach,  (and  whose  posterity) 
is  in  the  secret  parts  of  Bregia.  Whence  Traig  Tuirbi,  "Turbe's 
Strand." 


'  MS.  biailli.        ^  MS.  ai.        ^  ms.  geinedhlach.         *  MS.  tradmar. 
'•'  fcimh  \\e.g./eiinh  .^]  negligent,  neglectful,  O'Reilly.  "  MS. 

geineadhlach. 


The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas.  489 

Tuirbe  Tragmar  was  a  negligent  man, 
Father  of  Gobban  with  pure  desire. 
Unknown  is  his  bright  pedigree, 
From  him  Traig  Tuirbi  is  named. 

Also  in  BB.  408  b  ;  H.  68  a  ;  Lee.  520  b  ;  and  R.  124  b  i.  See  also  Petrie's 
Round  Toivcrs,  pp.  382,  383 ;  O'Curry's  Manners  and  Customs,  iii,  41  ;  and 
O'Grady's  Silva  Gadelica,  ii,  518. 

According  to  Petrie,  Trdig  Tuirbi  is  now  Turvey,  on  the  northern  coast  of  the 
CO.  of  Dublin,  and  the  Diamra  Breagh  are  now  Diamor  in  Meath. 

The  Gobban  Saer  was  an  architect  who  flourished  (according  to  Petrie)  early  in 
the  seventh  century. 

Samilddiiach,  "skilled-in-many-arts-together,"  trvfiiroXvrexi'os,  if  one  may  coin 
a  Greek  word,  was  a  name  for  Lugh  mac  Ethlenn.  See  "  The  Second  Battle  of 
Moytura",  Kev.  Celtique,  xii,  pp.  74,  76,  78,  80. 

The  tale  of  Tuirbe  and  his  a.xe  is  a  tolerably  close  parallel  to  that  of  Para9u- 
rima.  "This  hero,  after  the  destruction  of  the  Kshatriya  race,  bestowed  the 
earth  upon  the  Brahmans,  who  repaid  the  obligation  by  banishing  him  as  a  homi- 
cide from  amongst  them.  Being  thus  at  a  loss  for  a  domicile,  he  solicited  one  of 
the  ocean,  and  its  regent-deity  consented  to  yield  him  as  much  land  as  he  could 
hurl  his  battle-axe^  along.  Para9urama  threw  the  weapon  from  Gokernam  to 
Kumari,  and  the  retiring  ocean  yielded  him  the  coast  of  Malabar,  below  the 
latitude  of  15°,"  H.  H.  Wilson,  Catalogue  of  tlie  Mackenzie  Collection,  2nded., 
Madras,  1882,  p.  56. 

So  in  his  Glossary  of  Judicial  and  Reve7iue  Terms,  London,  1855,  p.  401  : 
"  PARAguRAMA  ....  An  avatar  of  Vishwu,  to  whom  is  ascribed  the  recovery  from 
the  sea  of  Kerala,  or  Malabar,  by  casting  his  axe  from  a  point  of  the  coast. 
Mount  Dilli  ....  to  the  extreme  south  ;  the  sea  retiring  from  the  part  over 
which  the  axe  flew." 


[71.  LusMAG.] — Lusmag,  cid  dia  ta  ?     YW  ansa. 

IS  as  tug  Diancecht  g^ch  \us  n-i'ce  conammalt  ar-  thip;>-ait 
Slain[gi  i  n-Achad  Abla]  ir'\  Mag  T///red  aniarthuaith,  intan  bai 
cath  etir  Tuatha  De  Danann  [fo.  S*'  2]  3  Fomhoire.  [Gach  aen 
do  Thuatha/Z'  De  Danann  no  laigtis  fon  Und  Iwsraid  sin  atraiged 
slemun  slancrechtac[h] — BJ5.]     Vnde  Lusmag. 

Diancecht  dorat  leis  alle 

gach  lus  o  Lusmhaigh  luaidhe  [leg.  luaighne  ?], 

go  tiprait  na  slainti  suaill 

fH  Magh  Tuiread  aniarthuaidh.^ 

Lusmag,  whence  is  it  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  'Tis  thence  that  Diancecht  brought  every 
herb  of  healing  and  grated  them  on  Slainge's  Well  in  Achad 
Abla,  north-west  of  Moytura,  when  there  was  a  battle  between 
the  Tuatha  De  Danann  and  the  Fomorians.  Every  one  of  the 
Tuatha  De  Danann  whom  they  would  lay  under  that  water  of 
herbs  would  arise  smooth  and  healed  of  his  wounds.  Whence 
Ztfsmag,  "  Herb-plain." 


^  paraqn-s  =  Gr.    ireXeKv^,   cognate    perhaps    with    Welsh    elech,. 
saxum".         *  MS.  3ms  a.         ^  MS.  -thuaigh. 


490  The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

Diancecht  brought  with  him  hither 
Every  herb  from  precious^  Lusmag 
To  the  well  of  the  little  healths, 
North-west  of  Moytura. 

Also  in  BB.  406  a  ;  H.  44  b  ;  Lee.  488  a  ;  and  R.  112  b  2. 

Lusmag,  "  Herb-plain,"  now  perhaps  Lusmagh  in  King's  County.  The  Achad 
Abla,  "  Field  of  the  Apple-tree,"  here  mentioned,  has  not,  so  far  as  I  know,  been 
identified.  Northern  Magh  Tuiredh,  the  battlefield  here  mentioned,  is  now  a  town- 
land  in  the  barony  of  Tirerrell,  co.  of  Sligo.  For  a  romantic  account  of  the 
battle,  see  Revue  Celtique,  xii,  56-110.  The  healing-well  is  mentioned  ibid.,  pp. 
94,  96. 


[72.  Benn  Codail.] — Beand  Codhail  can  a[s]  rohainmnigeadh  ? 
Ni  ansa. 

Codhol  Coirrchicheach  is  e  rob^  aide  do  Eirind  diata  Inis 
"Erefifi,  3  is  arm  tairbreadh  a  dalta  ior  in  beind  ud,  3  nach  tairb^rt 
dobeiread  iurxi  r(?//ogbhadh  in  talamh  foaib,  ;]  mairb^read  Eiriu 
atumadar  suas  go  tiagat  a  goth  gaeithe  fu  domhnaib  a  cluass 
man[i]abrad  (si)  sm  ;j  nofhasfadh  gomadh  reil  Eire  uile  as, '}  an  la 
domela  comarba  'Erenn  no  ri  Temrach  tuara  Codhail  no  ni 
d'enlaith  no  d'fiaduch^  no  di  iasc,  fi^rbraid  a  ghal  j  a  slainte. 
Unde  Beand  Codhail. 

Codhal  Coirrchicheach  go  n-aibh 
topghais  Erind  abradchain, 
manbadh  Eriu  cjemh  monur 
cia  cia  bad  leiriu  ciemhchodhul. 

Benn  Codail,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Codal,  the  Round-breasted,  'tis  he  that 
was  fosterer  to  Eriu,  from  whom  is  the  island  of  Erin,  and  on  yon 
peak  he  used  to  feed  (?)  his  fosterling,  and  with  every  ....  he 
would  put  upon  her  the  ground  would  rise  up  under  them,  and 
Eriu  ....  And  the  day  that  Erin's  coard  (successor)  or  Tara's 
king  shall  partake  of  Codal's  food,  or  aught  of  birds  or  venison  or 
fish,  his  valour  and  his  health  increase.  Whence  Benn  CodaiV, 
"  Codal's  Peak." 

The  rest  of  the  prose,  and  the  quatrain,  are  so  corrupt  and  obscure  in  the 
Edinburgh  code.x  and  the  other  MSS.  (BB.  406  a;  H.  13  b;  L.  516  a;  and  R. 
121  a  i)  that  I  do  not  venture  to  translate  them. 

Benn  Codail  has  not  been  identified. 

Eriu  is  perhaps  the  queen  of  the  Tuatha  D6  Danann,  mentioned  in  LL.  10  a, 
and  O'Mahony's  Keating,  pp.  82,  141,  198. 


[73.  Tl.\chtga.] — Tlachtghacanas  rohainmnigheadh?  ^'xansa. 

Tlachtgha  ingean  Mogha'*  Roith  f^rdos-reibleangadar  tri  vcveic 

Simoin  druadh^  dia  luidh  le  hat[h]air  da  foglaim  druidhefr/i/a  i 

Muaigne  .1.  logmar,0'Dav.         2  j^is.  romb.         ^  ;viS.  dfiaguch,  the 
/inserted  by  the  corrector.  *  MS.  modha.      ^  MS.  druagh. 


The  Edinburgh  Dmiishenchas.  491 

n-airth/«r  in  betha,  fodeigh  is  i  doroighni  in  Roth  Ramach  do 
Thriun  3  in  lia  i  Fi^rcarthu  ^  in  coir[th]i  i  Cnamhchaill.  Ternai 
iaramh  anair  [;]]  in  dedha  sin  le  go  \.orxacht  tealaigh  Tlac/^/ga. 
FordosJamnad  annsin  iarum  go  mb^rdais  tri  marcu  .1.  Doirb, 
dia  ta  Magh  nDoirbi,  ]  Cuma,  dia  ta  Magh  Cuma,  ;)  Muach,  dia  ta 
Magh  Mu[a]ich.  I  cein  da-^«?  beid  in[na]  anmand  sin  i  cuimni 
fear  nErenn  ni  thora  di'gal  n-e^r/z/rann  docum  nErenn.  Ocus 
atbath  dia  hassaid/  i  is  uirri  dorindeadh  in  dun.    \lnde  Tlachtga. 

Tlachtga  inghen  Modha  moir 
ros-lebhlan[g]adar  nxeic  Simoin. 
onn  uair  thanic  dar  muir  mas 
is  di  ata  Tlar/z/gha  tsebghlas. 

Tlachtga,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Tlachtga,  daughter  of  Mogh  Ruith,  three 
sons  of  Simon  Magus  ravished  her  when  she  went  with  her 
father  to  learn  wizardry  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  world,  because 
'tis  she  that  had  made  the  Rowing  Wheel  for  Trian  (?)  and  the 
Stone  in  Forcarthu,  and  the  Pillar-stone  in  Cnamchoill. 

Then  she  escaped  from  the  east,  bringing  those  two  things  with 
her  till  she  reached  the  hill  of  Tlachtga.  There,  then,  she  lay  in, 
and  three  sons  were  born,  to  wit,  Doirb,  from  whom  Mag  nDoirbe 
(is  named).  Gumma,  from  whom  is  Mag  Curnma,  and  Muach,  from 
whom  is  Mag  Muaich.  So  long  as  these  names  shall  remain 
in  the  memory  of  the  men  of  Erin,  foreigners'  vengeance  shall  not 
visit  Ireland.  And  she  died  in  childbed,  and  over  her  the 
fortress  was  built,  whence  Tlachtga. 

Tlachtga,  daughter  of  great  Mogh, 

Simon's  sons  ravished  her. 

From  the  hour  that  she  came  over  the  beautiful  sea 

After  her  green-sided  Tlachtga  is  (named). 

Also  in  BB.  406  b  ;  H.  13  b  ;  Lee.  516  b  ;  and  R.  121  a.  See  also  Stlva 
Gadelica,  ii,  511. 

Tlachtga  is  now  the  Hill  of  Ward,  near  Alhboy  in  Meath,  Four  Masters,  a.d. 
1172,  note  :',  and  Book  of  Rights,  p.  10,  note  t. 

Forcharthu  is  near  Rathcoole  and  Cnamchaill  in  Tipperary. 

.\s  to  the  wizard  Mogh  Ruith  and  the  Rowing  Wheel,  which  is  to  roU  over 
Europe  before  Doomsday,  see  the  Bodleian  MS.  Laud  610,  fo.  109  a  i,  and 
O'Curry's  Lectures,  pp.  272,  385,  401,  421,  423,  428.  Of  the  Pillar-stone  of 
Cnamchoill  it  is  said  in  Laud  610,  fo.  109  a  2 :  Dall  each  oen  notn-aicfe,  bodar 
each  oen  nod-cluinfe,  marb  each  oen  risi  mbenfa.  "Blind  (will  be)  every  one  who 
shall  see  it ;  deaf  every  one  who  shall  hear  it ;  and  dead  every  one  against  whom 
it  shall  strike." 

Mag  Gumma  (in  Hiii  Neill,  Four  Masters,  A.M.  3529),  Uke  Mag  nDoirbe  and 
Mag  Muaich,  is  now  unknown. 


[74.  Inber  Cich.maini.] — INb(fr  Cichmaine  can  as  rohainm- 
Tiigheadh?     Ni  ansa. 

^  MS.  hassaidh. 


492  The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

Cich-maine^  Adhnai  vaac  Ailella  ^  Meadhbha,  ar  ba  Maine 
Adnai  in  sechtvcvxA  mac  do  Ai//ll  3  do  Meidhbh,  ut  supra  diximz^s. 
IS  e  da«<?  in  Maine  sin  forruidbigh  Feargna  mac  Finnchoime  oc 
cosnam-  churaigh  forsin  tracht. 

No  Cichmuine  m«c  Ai/dla  find  fuaradar  araile  iasgaire  ic 
telach^  [al  lin  ^  a  cocholl,  coro  marbsat  isin  inb/«r  (ucut),  Unde 
\nber  C\c/ifnaim.'\ 

Inber  Cichmaini,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Cich-maine  Adnoe,  son  of  Ailill  and  Medb, 
for  Maine  Adnoe  was  the  seventh  son  of  AiUll  and  Medb,  as  we 
said  above.  'Tis  that  Maine,  then,  that  Fergna,  son  of  Find- 
choem,  slew  (?)  while  contending  for  a  boat  on  the  strand. 

Or  Cich-maine,  son  of  Ailill  the  Fair,  certain  fishermen  found 
loosing  their  nets  and  their  hoods.*  So  they  killed  him  in  yon 
estuary,  and  hence  Inber  Cichmaiiii  is  named. 

Also  in  BB.  405  a  ;  H.  12  a  ;  L.  515  a;  and  R.  120  a  2.  From  R.  the  words  ire 
brackets  have  been  taken. 

Inber  Cichmaini  has  not,  so  far  as  I  know,  been  identified.  O'Curry,  Manners 
and  Customs,  iii,  162,  188,  says  it  is  on  the  east  coast  of  Ulster.  Etain  was  reared 
there,  LU.  129  a  23. 


(Egerton  1781,  fo.  ys''.) 

[75.  Loch  Ce.] — Loch  Ce,  canz/^  rohainmnigh^^h ? 

Ni  ansa.  Ce  .1.  drai  Nuadhrt/"  Airg^/laim  \x\eic  Eir/^/aigh  m«'c 
Et^rlaim  rotaet  a  cath  Maige  T?/;-edh  iarna  guin  isin  cath  co  rainic 
Cam  Coirrsl^^hi  3  co  rainic  in  Magh  Airni  a  full  in  loch,  3  docer 
Cae  ann  sin,  con'id  ica  idhnacal  ro  mehat'dh.  in  \oc/i.     \Jnde  Loch 

Loch  Ce,  whence  was  it  named? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  Ce,  the  wizard  of  Nuada  Silverhand, 
entered  the  battle  of  Magh  Turedh.  Having  been  wounded  in  the 
fight,  he  went  to  Corrshlebhe,  and  (then)  he  went  to  Magh  Airni, 
where  the  lake  is.  And  there  Ce  fell,  and  at  his  burial  the  lake 
burst  forth.     Whence  is  Zoc/i  Ce,  "Ce's  Lake." 

Also  in  H.  66  b  ;  and  Lee.  490.  Edited  (with  a  translation)  from  the  latter  MS. 
by  Hennessy,  in  the  preface  to  his  Annals  of  Loch  Cc',  pp.  xxxvi-xxxi.x.  The  copy 
in  H.  66  b  has  never  been  published,  and  is  as  follows  : 

Loch  Ce,  CdiVias  xoainmnigedl 

Ni  ansa.  Antan  rofechta  cath  Muighi  Tuiredh  eter  Fomor- 
chaib  et  Toatha  D^  Y)anann,  rogonadh  dno  ann  drui  Nuadat 
Arccetlaim  xx\aic  ^chta.\g  a  fritguin  an  imair[i]g.  Ce  a  ainm-s/^e. 
La  sodain  doriecht  roimi    sierdes  on  muigh    co    torracht  Carn 


^  MS.  ciachmhaine.         ^  MS.  finnchoinne  ochosnam.         ^  telach  .1. 
sgaoileadh,  O'Clery.  *  cocholl,  borrowed  from  Lat.  ciicuUus. 

P.  O'Connell  has  cochall,  a  net,  a  fishing  net. 


The  Edinburgh  D inns henc has.  493 

Corrslebe,  co  ndeissed  as-suid/«  iar  scis  ghona  et  uamain  ^  im- 
ter/i/ai  acht  chena  is  suaill  nar  'bo  marb  focetoir.  asiu  rofaccadh  in 
earn  forar'  dheiss(?i3r.  Rosill  uaid  sairtuaidh  caAndireach  co  facca 
in  mag  minscothach.  Ba  lainn  lais  rochtain  an  muighe  atconnairc. 
Jjuid  rome  for  an  amthai'  fon  ind«^  sin  co  larmheddn  in  muighe, 
ait  a  mbui  carrac  cobscz/^h  comadb«/,  conadh  [6n]  drai  rohainm- 
nigthe  .1.  Carrac  Ce,  ^(?;;adh  fon  cairn  roladh  fo  talmain  iarna 
eibelt.  Intan  iarum  roclas  a  ierx.  is  ann  [ba]  tomaidm  an  locha 
taris  et  tar[s]in  magh  olchena.     Unde  Loch  Ce. 

Loch  Ce,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  When  the  battle  of  Magh  Tuiredh  was 
fought  between  the  Fomorians  and  the  Tuatha  De  Danann  the 
wizard  of  Nuada  Silverhand,  son  of  Echtach,  was  wounded  there 
in  the  brunt  of  the  contest.  Ce  was  his  name.  Thereat  he 
fared  forward  south-west  from  the  plain  till  he  reached  Cam 
Corrslebe,  and  sat  down  thereon  (so)  wearied  with  his  wounding 
and  fear  and  travel,  that  he  almost  died  forthwith.  From  this 
was  seen  the  cairn  on  which  he  sat.  He  looked  due  north-east, 
and  he  saw  the  smooth  and  flowerful  plain.  Fain  was  he  to 
reach  the  plain  that  he  saw.  On  he  went  on  the  ....  in  that 
wise  to  the  very  centre  of  the  plain,  where  there  was  a  rock,  firm 
and  huge,  which  was  (afterwards)  named  from  the  wizard,  to  wit 
Carrac  Ce.  And  under  the  cairn  he  was  interred  after  he  had 
perished.  Now  when  his  tomb  was  dug  there  was  an  outburst  of 
the  lake  over  it,  and  over  the  rest  of  the  plain.  Whence  is  Loch 
Ce. 

Loch  Cd,  now  Lough  Key,  is  a  lake  in  the  county  of  Roscommon,  near  the 
town  of  Boyle.     Corrshliabh,  the  Curlew  Mountains,  also  near  Boyle. 

As  to  the  battle  of  Magh  Tuiredh,  see  supra.  No.  71,  and  Rev.  Celtique,  xii, 
52  et  seq. 

As  to  Nuada  and  his  silvern  hand,  ibid.,  58,  66  ;  LL.  9  a,  127  a  ;  and  the 
Four  Masters,  A.  M.  3303. 


[76.  Mag  nDUiMach.] — Magh  nDumach,  cidh  dia  ta? 

Ni  ansa.  Cath  dorat^^h  inma  tri  drnxmnibh  ada  deck  bai  a 
nEr/««  .1.  Druim  Crtcht  [fo.  76^'  2]  •]  Druim  B^/ach  a  ^v^it  Eremoin 
^  Druim  Fingin  a  cn\t  Eb/r.  Ba  bee  la  YiEher  aendruim  isin  \eth. 
thes^  a  do  sa  iir  tuaidh,  ^  atbert  Erimon  na  had  athroinn  uad  dia 
cuit.  Fifrtar  caf/i  etarru.  Romehaid  tra  for  Eher,  condorcair  ann 
Eher  -j  Palap  mac  Eremon  la  C6'/mi£el  mac  Caihhad,  -]  rogniad 
dumad[a]  ar  in  \:&c\\raidh.  annsin.  \]nde  Magh  nDuniach,  -]  Tend- 
ais  a  ainm  ar  tus.     Vnde  dicitur  : 

San  cath  ior  Tenndais  na  treabh 
sin  muigh  a  dorchair  Eher, 
a  dt'rcradar  ann  malle 
Goij/in,^  Setga  ocus  Suirge. 

^  MS.  gorif.$-tin. 
VOL.  IV.  L   L 


494  ^'^^  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 


A  tochar  elir  da  magh 
in  cl.  fri  bothar  n-air 
Yher  VL\ac  M^xXed  cohechi 
is  ed  a  \eacht  anasb. 

Vnde  Mag  nDumach  d/V//[ur]. 

Magh  nDumach,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  A  battle  was  there  dehvered  (between 
Eber  and  Eremon,  two  sons  of  Mil)  concerning  the  three  ridges 
which  were  best  in  Ireland,  to  wit,  Druim  Crecht  [Cresach — Z. 
Clasaigh — K  M.]  and  Druim  Bethach  in  Eremon's  portion,  and 
Druim  Fingin  in  Eber's  portion.  To  Eber  it  seemed  petty  to 
have  one  ridge  in  the  southern  half  and  two  in  the  northern 
country.  And  Eremon  said  that  there  would  be  no  repartition  by 
him  of  his  share.  (So)  a  battle  is  fought  between  them.  Eber  was 
routed,  and  therein  fell  Eber  and  Palap,  son  of  Eremon,  by  Con- 
mael,  son  of  Cathbad,  and  mounds  were  built  over  the  heroes 
there,  whence  Magh  nDuffiach,  "the  mounded  Plain,"  and  Tendais 
had  been  its  name  originally,     ^^'hence  is  said: 

In  the  battle  on  Tendais  of  the  habitations, 
In  the  plain  where  Eber  fell. 
There  fell  together 
Goisten,  Sdtga,  and  Suirge.^ 

On  a  causeway  between  two  plains 

to  the  east  of  a  road, 

Eber,  son  of  Mil,  certainly 
This  is  his  grave  .... 

Also  in  Lee.  524  b,  but,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  nowhere  else. 

Mag  nDumach  is  perhaps  the  place  called  by  the  Four  Masters,  A  D.  858,  Magh 
Duma,  which  O'Donovan  says  is  now  called  Moy,  adjoining  Charlemont,  on  the 
Tyrone  side  of  the  Blackwater. 

As  to  Eber  and  Eremon  and  their  dispute,  see  the  Fotir  Masters,  A.M.  3501. 

Druim  Clasaigh  is  a  long  hill  in  Hy-Many,  between  Lough  Ree  and  the  river 
Suck.  Dridm  Beathaigh  was  the  name  of  a  ridge  across  the  plain  of  ALienmagh, 
near  the  town  of  Loughrea,  in  the  county  of  Galway.  Druim  Finghin  is  a  ridge 
extending  from  near  Castle-Lyons  in  the  co.  of  Cork  to  the  south  side  of  the  Bay 
of  Dungarvan. 


[77.  Cnucha.] — Cnucha,  can^ri-  rohainmnighedh  ? 

Ni  ansa.  Dia  tangatar  .u.  mf/c  Dela  nxeic  Loith  cho  Eu'nn, 
Gann  3  Genann  3  Rudraige  j  Sengann  -j  Slaine,  doratsat  .u. 
righna  leo  .1.  Fuat  ben  Slaine  a  quo  (sic)  nominatur  Slw/'h  Fuait 
3   inisin   Fuata,  Etar  hen  Gainn,   isi  atbath  i  nEtwr,  -)  is  uaithi 

^  These  were,  according  to  the  Fou7-  Masters^  "  three  distinguished 
chieftains  of  the  people  of  Eremon."  I  cannot  translate  the  following 
quatrain. 


The  Edinburgh  D inns kenc has.  495 

a.mran\gther  Etar,  An«^t  hen  S(?«gainn,  Li  ben  'K\i^raigi,  Cnuca 
ben  Genainn,  is  i  cowdi^aid  'sin  tilaig  sin,  3  is  inti  ro^dhnocht, 
conxdh.  uaithi  ainmni^//?^r  Cnucha. 

Coig  mna  tz/rsatar  aleth  [leg.  ille] 
coig  vaeic  DaXa  can  duilgi, 
da  ninai  dibh  Cnucha  co  xnhXadh. 
is  Et//r  o  irocht  imgla^;. 

Atbath  Cnucha  sunna  tra 
san  cnuc  ria  n-abar  Cnucha, 
atbath  Et«/-  hen  Gainn  gluair 
a  mBen[n]  Etrt/V  re  henuair. 

De  sin  ata  £tar  an 

is  Cnucha  C(?/'ach  coml^///, 

is  inis  Fuata  can  ail 

ocus  ?)\iabh.  Fuait  co  rwovhXaidh. 

No  Cnucha  ingen  Connaidh.  a  hiathaz'^h  Luimn/^h,  buime 
C«inn  C€icathaig  docoid  ann  do  tham  ina  tigh  fen  [■]  do  hadh- 
naicedh  la  Connaidh  (?)  isin  chnuc  ugad  .1.  Cnucha.  Unde 
Cnucha  dicitur]. 

Cnucha,  whence  was  it  named  ? 

Not  hard  (to  say).  When  the  five  sons  of  Dela,  son  of  Loth, 
came  to  Erin,  (to  wit)  Gann,  Genann,  Rudraige,  Sengann,  and 
Slaine,  they  brought  five  queens  with  them,  to  wit,  Fuat, 
Slaine's  wife  (from  whom  is  named  Sliab  Fuait  and  Inis  Fuata), 
Etar,  Gann's  wife — 'tis  she  that  died  on  Etar,  and  from  her  it  is 
named — Anust,  wife  of  Sengann,  Li,  wife  of  Rudraige,  and 
Cnucha,  wife  of  Genann.  'Tis  she  that  died  on  that  hill,  and 
therein  she  was  buried.     Wherefore  from  her  Cnucha  is  named. 

Dela's  five  sons  without  trouble 
Brought  hither  five  wives  : 
Two  of  them  were  famous  Cnucha 
And  Etar  from  the  very  clear  strand. 

Now  Cnucha  died  here 
On  the  hill  called  Cnucha, 
And  Etar,  wife  of  pure  Gann, 
On  Benn  Etair  at  the  same  hour. 

Thence  is  splendid  Etar 
And  Cnucha,  the  very  full. 
And  Inis  Fuata  without  shame. 
And  Sliab  Fuait  with  great  renown. 

Or  Cnucha,  daughter  of  Connad  from  the  lands  of  Luimnech, 
fostermother  of  Conn  of  the  Hundred  Battles.     She  died  there 

L  L  2 


496  The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 

of  the  plague  in  her  own  house,  [and  she  was  buried  by  Conaing 
[leg.  Connad  ?]  in  yon  hill,  namely,  Cnucha.  Whence  Cnuclia  is 
said. 

The  last  paragraph  (but  not  the  first,  nor  the  verses)  is  contained  in  Lee.  525  a. 
I  know  of  no  other  copy. 

Cnucha  is  probably  now  Castleknock,  near  Dublin.  See  O'Donovan's  note/", 
Four  Masters,  A.M.  3579. 

As  to  the  five  sons  of  Dela,  ibid.,  A.m.  3266,  and  LL.  127  a.  As  to  their  wives, 
BB.  283  a  5-8. 

Benn  Etair,  now  Howth. 

For  Sliab  Fuait  a  different  etymology  is  given  supra.  No.  64.  hits  Fiiafa  not 
identified. 


CORRIGENDA    AND     ADDENDA. 

Folk-Lore^  Vol.  iii,  pp.  470-516. 

F.  470,  1.  13,  read  Bregh[d]a. 

,,      1.  29,yb;'Teaof  Bregia  rea^f  Bregian  Tea. 
P.  473,  1.  \o,for  the  read  its. 
P.  475,  1.    4,  for  6nd  read  6n  dub. 
,,      1.  i<^,for  came  read  was  let. 
, ,      1.  22,  before  river  insert  dark. 
P.  476,  1.  15, /or  Hateful  read  A  bad  smoke  ;  and  in  note  3,  for  from  .   .   .   meiden, 
read  made  up,  for  the  nonce,  from  the  prefix  mi-  and  di  "  smoke". 
P.  481,  1.    7,  for  in  dail  read  ind  ail. 
,,      1.  22,  for  beauty  read  defence  (?). 
,,      1.  26,  for  worded  doom  read  shameful  word. 
P.  482,  1.  18,  after  an«u  insert  leg.  a  ndii. 

■  •      1-  39if'"'  to-day  read  (is)  their  place. 
P.  483,  1.  21,  for  breast  read  Iselly. 
P.  484,  1.  30,  after  Miandais  insert  leg.  Anais. 
P.  485,  1.     5,  after  other  insert  (now  Slievemish). 

P.  486,  1.  14,  after  Samaisce  insert  [Ac  Boibli  da.no  robatar  sain — LL.]. 
,,      1.  25,  after  Samaisce  insert  Now  those  belonged  to  Boible. 
,,      1.  37,  for  hardly  .  .  .   Ulster  read  in  Kerry  ;  see  the  Four  Masters,  ed. 
O'Donovan,  i,  p.  86. 
P.  487,  1.    2,  muccada  should  perhaps  be  corrected  into  muchtha,  "of  smothering". 
The  contest  was,  apparently,  to  see  which  of  the  two  combatants 
could  drown  the  other.     Compare  Rev.  Celt. ,  v,  200. 
P.  488,  1.  17,  after  toeb  insert  Side. 

,,      1.  35,  before  Nenta  i?isert  Sid. 
P.  489,  1.  13,  add  Sid  Nenta  was  a  fairy  mansion  in  Connaught,  O'Curry,  Lectures, 
286,  591. 
,,      1.  22,  for  a\h  read  a.\hda. 
P.  491,  1.  16,  add  Perhaps  the  latter  is  Magh  Mossaidh,  which  O'Curry  (Lectures, 
pp.  485,  486)  says  is  part  of  the  barony  of  Eliogarty,  not  far  from 
Cashel. 
P.  495,  11.  3,  4,  >-ead  They,  both  hounds  and  men,  drove  the  swine  before  them. 
,,      11.  28,  2^,  for  hounds  read  wolves. 
,,      1.  42, /<?r  hounds  r<'a^  wolves. 
P.  502,  1.  16,  for  Duiublind  read  Duiuhlind. 
P.  505,  1.  II,  read  thahaht  dochum. 

,,      1.  19,/e/- cre[d]umai  forsin  curuch  read  {v/'nh  the  corrector  of  LL.)forsin 
curuch  credumai,  "  on  the  boat  of  bronze". 
P.  509,  1.  20,  for  then  read  there. 
P.  510,  1.  10,  for  doamg  read  do[d]aing. 
P.  516,  col.  2,  insert  Mag  Luirg,  30. 


The  Edinburgh  Dinnshenchas. 


497 


INDEX   OF   PLACES. 


Achad  Abla,  71 
Ard  Fothaid,  60 
Ard  Ladrann,  57 
Ard  Macha,  61 
Belach  di  Liacc,  55 
Benn  Bairchi,  69 
Benn  Bogfuine,  53 
Benn  Codail,  72 
Benn  Etair,  77 
Benn  Foibni,  59 
Bri  L^ith,  61 
Carn  Corrshl^be,  75 
Carrac  C6,  75 
C6is  Corainn,  54 
Cera,  67 
Cnamchoill,  73 
Cnucha,  77 
Coire  mBreccain,  58 
Corrshliab,  75 
Cruach  Aigle,  67 
Cruachu,  56 
Cualnge,  61,  63 


Cuil  Cesra,  57 
Druim  Bethaig,  76 
Druim  Clasaig,  76 
Druim  Fingin,  76 
Diin  na  mBarc,  57 
Dun  Sobairchi,  69 
Emain,  61,  64 
Fert  Finntain,  57 
Findloch  Cera,  67 
Forcarthu,  73 
Inber  Cichmaini,  74 
Inis  Fuata,  77 
Lia  Lindgadain,  65 
Loch  C6,  75 
Loch  Cuan,  69 
Loch  da  Caech,  69 
Loch  n-Echach,  55 
Loch  n-Eirne,  56 
Loch  Rfb,  55 
Loch  Ruide,  69 
Lusmag,  71 
Mag  nAilbi,  66 


Mag  nAirne,  75 
Mag  Coba,  62 
Mag  Corainn,  54 
Mag  Ciima,  73 
Mag  nDairbthenn,  55 
Mag  nDoirbe,  73 
Mag  nDumach,  76 
Mag  Find,  55 
Mag  Lamraide,  57 
Mag  Muaich,  73 
Mag  Mugna,  66 
Mag  Tailten,  68 
Mag  Tuired,  75 
Shab  Betha ,  57 
Sliab  Callainn,  63 
Sliab  Fuait,  64,  77 
Tailtiu,  68 
Telach  Bela,  70 
Tendais,  76 
Tlachtga,  73 
Trdig  Tuirbi,  70 
Tul  Tuinne,  57 


Whitley  Stokes. 


THE  SANCTUARY  OF  MOURIE. 


"  When  holy  were  the  haunted  forest  boughs, 
Holy  the  air,  the  water,  and  the  fire." 

MOST  people  who  have  fished  over  Northern  Scotland 
are  acquainted  with  Loch  Maree.  For  the  skilful 
angler  the  waters  are  full  of  silver-sided  trout  and  possible 
salmon  ;  he  knows  the  haunts  of  the  big  fish  in  the  deep 
channels  and  still  pools  of  the  islands,  and  among  the  wild 
bays  of  the  southern  shore.  But  the  loch  has  also  a  human 
interest,  dating  far  back  into  the  unknown  past  of  human 
thought,  and  still  in  evidence. 

A  bleak  mountain  chain  overhangs  the  northern  shore — 
a  barrier  of  grey  and  treeless  rock.  Storm-gusts  sweep 
down  the  narrow  clefts  and  corries,  blowing  mist,  and  rain, 
and  sunshine  over  the  wide  water  ;  cloud  masses  drift  over 
the  dark  shoulders,  and  fill  the  valleys,  of  the  hills  ;  the  cry 
of  the  white  gulls  alone  breaks  the  silence  of  untilled  shores 
and  of  water  where  no  sail  ventures.  Here  and  there  the 
lower  ground  is  covered  by  a  mile  or  two  of  wood,  but  only 
as  a  passing  break  in  the  monotony  of  barrenness. 

Under  this  northern  rock  wall  is  a  small  island,  so 
covered  with  luxuriant  foliage  that  a  fragment  of  green 
forest  seems  to  have  been  carved  out  and  placed  in  the 
loch,  set  in  a  border  of  golden  sand.  This  is  the  island  of 
St.  Maree,  or  Mourie — his  names  are  many — beneath  whose 
groves  lie  the  sacred  tree  and  healing  well,  the  traditions 
of  old  rites,  and  legendary  graves,  which  have  made  the 
place  famous  far  over  Scotland. 

I  will  roughly  sketch  it  as  it  now  is,  with  such  notes  as 
I  can  gather  of  its  observances,  past  and  present.  The 
illustration  is  from  a  photograph  taken  last  August ;  the 
wooded  island  in  the  middle-distance  is  "  Eilean  Maree". 


Holy  Tree,  Loch  Maree. 

{From  a  Photograph,  1893.) 


The  Saiictuayy  of  Mourie.  499 

If  your  gillie  is  told  to  take  you  to  The  Tree — you  need 
not  define  it  further — he  rows  you  over  to  the  southern 
side  of  the  island,  where  the  tangled  wood  meets  the  water's 
edge.  From  a  landing-rock  a  narrow  path  is  trodden 
through  damp  undergrowth,  and  trees  linked  bough  in 
bough,  till  you  step  out  into  an  open  circle,  whence  the  dark 
covert  draws  back  on  every  side.  In  the  centre  of  this 
space  rises  a  slight  white  trunk — bare,  branchless,  leafless, 
with  spreading  foot,  and  jagged  and  broken  top.  The 
cracks  and  clefts  in  the  stem  are  studded  with  coins,  nails, 
screws,  and  rusty  iron  fragments.  No  sign  of  leaf  or  shoot 
remains  to  give  the  gaunt  shaft  any  touch  of  common 
vegetation.  It  stands  alone  and  inviolate — a  Sacred  Tree. 
In  the  damp  ground  at  the  tree's  foot  is  a  small  dark 
hole,  the  sides  of  which  are  roughly  formed  by  stones  over- 
hung with  moss  and  grass.  A  cover  of  unwrought  stone 
lies  beside  it,  and  it  is  filled  up  with  dead  leaves.  This  is 
the  healing-well  "  of  power  unspeakable  in  cases  of  lunacy". 
All  the  brief  space  is  circled  round  by  an  impenetrable 
mesh  of  dripping  bough  and  briar  ;  ferns  and  grass 
luxuriate  in  the  dim  light ;  ivy  and  honeysuckle  strands 
cling  and  fall  ;  and  damp  depths  of  fallen  leaves  silence 
every  step. 

The  tree  is  now  a  Wishing  Tree,  and  the  driving  in  of  a 
bit  of  metal  is  the  only  necessary  act.  The  accompanying 
reproduction  of  a  photograph,  taken  by  us  this  summer, 
shows  the  form  of  the  stem  as  it  now  is,  but  brings  the 
surrounding  vegetation  much  too  near.  Writing  in  1886, 
Mr.  Dixon  says  :  "  It  is  said  that  if  anyone  removes  an 
offering  that  has  been  attached  to  the  tree,  some  misfortune, 
probably  the  taking  fire  of  the  house  of  the  desecrator,  is 
sure  to  follow."^  From  which  it  appears  that  this  tree 
can  exercise  retributive  powers  as  sternly  as  any  of  the 
dread  tree-dwelling  spirits  of  Teutonic  forest  or  savage 
grove. 

In  i860.  Sir  A.  Mitchell  saw  a  faded  ribbon  attached  to 

1  Cairloch,  J.  A.  Dixon,  F.S.A.Scot.     Edinburgh,  1886. 


500  The  Sanctimry  of  Mourie. 

one  of  the  nails,  the  last  relic  of  the  countless  offerings  of 
sufferers  who  had  been  brought  to  the  holy  waters  at  its 
foot.^  To  each  of  the  hundreds  of  nails,  he  says,  "  was 
originally  attached  a  piece  of  the  clothing  of  some  patient 
who  had  visited  the  spot." 

The  earliest  allusion  to  the*healing  powers  of  the  well  is 
the  mention  of  it  in  1656  as  the  resort  of  the  lunatic-  In 
1774,  Thomas  Pennant  describes  how  the  patient  "is 
brought  into  the  sacred  island,  is  made  to  kneel  before  the 
altar,  where  his  attendants  leave  an  offering  in  money.  He 
is  then  brought  to  the  well,  and  sips  some  of  the  holy  water. 
A  second  offering  is  made  ;  that  done,  he  is  thrice  dipped 
in  the  lake."^  The  last  recorded  appeal  to  the  well  was 
made  about  1857.  Sir  A.  Mitchell,  writing  in  i860,  says: 
"  In  our  own  day,  belief  in  the  healing  virtues  of  the  well  on 
Inch  (Island)  Maree,  is  general  over  all  Ross-shire,  but  more 
especially  over  the  western  district.  The  lunatic  is  taken 
there  without  consideration  of  consent.  As  he  leaves  the 
island  he  is  suddenly  pitched  out  of  the  boat  into  the 
loch,  a  rope  having  been  made  fast  to  him  ;  by  this  he  is 
drawn  into  the  boat  again,  to  be  a  second,  third,  or  fourth 
time  unexpectedly  thrown  overboard  during  the  boat's 
course  round  the  island.  He  is  then  landed,  made  to 
drink  of  the  waters,  and  an  offering  is  attached  to  the 
tree."* 

We  asked  our  gillies  how  the  healing  waters  had  dried 
up,  and  were  told  of  a  man  who  desecrated  the  well  by 
bringing  a  mad  dog  for  cure.  This  incident  Mr.  Dixon 
relates  in  detail  as  told  him  by  a  Kirkton  man.^  The  date 
given  was  1830.     The  dog  died  the  day  following,  and  the 

^  Sir  A.  Mitchell,  "The  Various  Superstitions  in  the  N.W.  High- 
lands and  Islands  of  Scotland,  especially  in  relation  to  Lunacy," 
Proceedings  Antiquarian  Soc.  Scotland,  vol.  iv.     Edinburgh,  1862. 

^  Sir  A.  Mitchell,  op.  cit.,  p.  11. 

^  A  Tour  in  Scotland  aitd  Voyage  to  the  Hebrides,  Thomas 
Pennant,  1772-4.     Part  11,  p.  330. 

*  Mitchell,  op.  cii.,  p.  14.  ^  Dixon,  op.  cit.,  p.  157. 


The  Sanctuary  of  Mourie.  501 

shepherd  the  week  after  ;  so  the  waters  were  potent  for 
vengeance  sixty  years  ago.  Sir  A.  Mitchell's  informant 
gave  him  a  different  version,  viz.,  that  the  dog  was  cured 
and  the  healing  virtue  lost  only  for  a  time,  and  his  account 
dates  the  occurrence  as  about  1845  or  1840.  It  is  instruc- 
tive to  note  the  rapid  growth  and  variation  of  popular 
explanatory  legend.  Pennant  notes  that  the  well  possessed 
oracular  as  well  as  healing  powers  :  "  The  visitants  draw 
from  the  state  of  the  well  an  omen  of  the  disposition  of  St. 
Maree  :  if  his  well  is  full  they  suppose  he  will  be  propitious  ; 
if  not,  they  proceed  in  their  operations  with  fears  and 
doubts."^  This  belief  continued  to  recent  times.  In  1836, 
the  New  Statistical  Account  says  "  it  is  considered  a 
hopeful  sign  if  the  well  is  full."- 

Who  were  the  folk  who  first  found  at  this  oak-stem  a 
meeting-place  with  unseen  powers  ?  Who  first  brought 
their  sick  for  healing  to  the  grove  of  Mourie  ?  The  loch 
is  called  the  Loch  of  Mourie  in  local  records  of  the 
seventeenth  century;  the  25th  August  is  mentioned  as 
"  dedicate  to  St.  Mourie"  ;  and  one  entry,  to  be  quoted 
below,  speaks  of  the  "  iland  of  St.  Ruffus  commonly 
called  Elian  (island)  Moury".  The  name  also  occurs  as 
Maelrubha,  Malrubius,  Malrube,  Mulray,  "  and  as  the  last 
corruption,  Maree. "^ 

The  life  and  acts  of  the  saint  are  related  by  the  annalist 
Tighernach,  and  in  the  ancient  Irish  MSS.  and  records.'^ 
I  am  indebted  for  references,  and  for  the  following  brief 
outline,  to  the  paper  by  Dr.  Reeves  on  "  Saint  Maelrubha : 
His  History  and  Churches",  published  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  vol.  iii,  Part  2 
1861. 

Saint  Maelrubha  belongs  to  the  roll  of  Ulster  saints  by 

^  Pennant,  ii,  p.  330.  -  New  Stat.  Ac,  xiv,  2,  p.  92,  note. 

3  Sir  A.  Mitchell,  p.  6. 

*  Book  of  Lecan,  ioX.'^jbc;  Book  of  Bally  mote,  fol.  119^.2;  Annals 
of  the  Four  Masters,  vol.  i  ;  Annals  of  Ulster,  s.  a.  yi6  ;  The  Feilire, 
or  Festival-book  of  Aengus  the  Ctildee j  Calendar  of  Do7tegall. 


502  The  Sanctuary  of  Mourie. 

both  lines  of  descent.  On  his  father's  side  he  is  stated 
to  be  descended  from  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  Sove- 
reign of  Ireland  ;  on  his  mother's  side  he  was  akin  to 
Saint  Comgall,  the  great  Abbot  of  Bangor  in  county 
Down.  He  was  born  in  642,  and  became  a  member  of 
St.  Comgall's  Society  at  Bangor,  and  possibly  abbot  of 
that  church.  When  almost  a  youth,  in  670  or  671,  he 
crossed  to  Scotland,  and  after  two  years,  according  to 
Tighernach,  "  fundavit  ecclesiam  Apporcrosan."  Here  he 
ruled  as  abbot  for  fifty-one  years,  acquiring  a  reputation  for 
sanctity  that  spread  over  all  Ross-shire  and  the  surround- 
ing country  and  islands.  "  Eighty  years  was  his  age  when 
he  resigned  his  spirit",  the  Calendar  of  Donegall  S2,ys.  He 
died  in  722, at  .A  pplecross,  where  he  was  interred.  Dr.  Reeves 
writes  in  1859  :  "  The  spot  which  is  supposed  to  be  his 
grave  is  marked  by  a  little  hillock  called  the  Claodh  Maree. 
His  tombstone,  it  is  said,  was  sent  from  Norw^ay  by  the 
king's  daughter,  and  its  material  was  red  granite."  He 
adds  that  some  fragments  of  it  were  at  that  time  lying  about 
the  churchyard,  that  it  was  broken  when  the  manse  was 
building,  and  with  the  debris  of  the  old  ruins  was  carted 
away  for  the  w^alls  of  the  dwelling-house.  But  in  the 
midst  of  the  proceedings  the  work  was  suspended  in 
consequence  of  a  dream  which  the  master-mason  had, 
warning  him  not  to  touch  that  stone.  Soon  after,  he  was 
thrown  from  the  scaffolding,  and  on  the  stone  his  skull 
was  fractured.  In  the  faith  of  his  countrymen  the  holy 
Malrubius  can  still  punish  modern  sacrilege. 

Dr.  Reeves  notes  that  "  it  is  believed  that  a  man  who 
takes  about  his  person  a  little  earth  from  this  churchyard 
may  travel  the  w^orld  round,  and  that  he  will  safely  return 
to  the  neighbouring  bay  ;  also,  that  no  one  can  commit 
suicide  or  otherwise  injure  himself  when  within  view  of 
this  spot." 

All  the  ancient  Irish  records  expressly  state  that  Mal- 
rubius died  on  April  21st.  "  It  is  in  Alba  he  is — in  Confur 
Crossan  ;  and  this  (is)  the  festival  of  his  death",  is  the  gloss 


The  Sanctuary  of  Mourie.  503 

against  this  date  in  the  loth-iith  century  Fetltre,  or 
Festival-book  of  Aengus. 

The  Scotch  accounts  vary  considerably  from  those  of 
the  Irish  documents.  All  the  Scotch  calendars  and  writers, 
with  one  exception,  date  the  saint's  festival  on  the  27th 
August.  The  Breviary  of  Aberdeen  records  his  martyrdom 
at  the  hands  of  the  pagan  Norwegians  on  the  eastern  shores 
of  Ross  ;  that  at  the  place  where  he  suffered  a  chapel  was 
erected,  afterwards  the  church  of  Ferintosh  ;  that  his  body 
was  removed  to  Applecross,  and  that  the  lands  of  Apple- 
cross  six  miles  round  the  church  were  sacred,  as  certain 
desecrating  Danes  found  to  their  cost.  The  Breviary  also 
tells  how  the  saint  succoured  his  worshippers  when  attacked 
by  the  "  Islanders",  who  burnt  his  church  at  Contan  with  a 
hundred  men  and  women  in  it,  and  of  his  power  to  enforce 
the  holiness  of  his  day.  "  It  happened  that  one  year  some 
people  .  .  .  neglected  to  observe  the  saint's  festival,  being 
busily  occupied  in  reaping,  for  which  their  houses  took  fire 
and  were  consumed."^ 

Dr.  Reeves  suggests  that  the  double  date  of  April  21st 
and  August  27th  may  have  arisen  from  a  connection  or 
confusion  that  seems  to  have  existed  between  St.  Mael- 
rubha  and  a  St.  Ruffus  of  the  Scotch  and  Irish  calendars, 
the  Ruphin  of    the  beautiful    quatrain   in    the  Fcilire   of 

Aengus : — 

"that  pure  martyr, 
Ruphin  the  gentle  and  sweet : 
To  the  king  of  the  Hmitless  clouds 
He  went  through  a  field  of  spears." 

This  confusion  may  account  for  the  Scotch  attribution  of 
martyrdom  to  St.  Maelrubha,  and  for  the  mention  of  Isle 
Maree  as  "  the  iland  of  St.  Ruffus",  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury record. 

Dr.  Reeves  says  that  on  Isle  Maree  "there  formerly 
existed  an  oratory  of  the  saint".^    There  appears  also  to  be 

^  Breviarii  Aberdonettsis,  Part.  Estiv.  Propr.  Sand.,  foil.  89^^- 
9iaa  (Reprint).  ^  Dr.  Reeves,  p.  286. 


504  The  Sa7ictuary  of  Mourie. 

a  record  of  his  having  founded  a  church  in  the  island.  Sir 
A.  Mitchell  found  in  the  centre  of  the  island  "  the  remains 
of  a  small  chapel".^ 

That  the  local  saint  succeeded  to  the  rites  of  a  local 
god  seems  scarcely  doubtful.  The  name  of  Maree  or 
Mourie  is  over  all  the  country-side,  always  with  primitive 
associations.  Sir  A.  Mitchell,  writing  in  i860,  says  :  "The 
people  of  the  place  speak  often  of  the  god  Mourie  instead 
of  St.  Mourie."  An  old  man  in  the  district  told  him  the 
island's  name  "was  originally  Eilean  mo  Righ  (the  Island 
of  my  King),  or  Eilean-a-Mhor-Righ  (the  Island  of  the 
Great  King),  and  that  this  king  was  long  ago  worshipped 
as  a  god  in  the  district."^  Near  the  head  of  Loch  Maree 
"is  a  small  well  that  still  bears  the  name  of  Tobar  Mhoire, 
or  '  Mourie's  Well'."^ 

Pennant,  in  1774,  says  of  Saint  Maree  :"  The  common 
oath  of  the  country  is  by  his  name  ;  if  a  traveller  passes 
by  any  of  his  resting-places,  they  never  neglect  to  leave  an 
offering  ;  but  the  saint  is  so  moderate  as  not  to  put  him  to 
any  expense — a  stone,  a  stick,  a  bit  of  rag  contents  him."* 
In  a  note  on  this  passage  Dr.  Reeves  refers  to  a  place,  about 
two  miles  from  the  church  of  Applecross,  "  called  Suidhe 
Maree,  '  Maelrubha's  Seat',  which  is  said  to  have  been 
a  resting-place  of  the  saint."^  He  also  mentions  a  "  Suidhe 
Maree"  in  the  parish  of  Gairloch.  There  is  a  local  tradition 
that  his  body  was  translated  with  miraculous  ease  from 
Ferintosh  to  Applecross,  the  bearers  resting  but  twice  on 
the  way,  at  a  place  called  Suidhe  at  Rennlochewe,  and 
at  Bealach  an  tsnidJie,  between  Shieldag  and  Applecross. 
It  is  tantalising  to  have  no  description  of  these  "  resting- 
places".  The  usage  is  identical  with  the  well-known  and 
world-wide  savage  rite  of  leaving  offerings  at  appointed 
places  on  the  way. 

Dr.  Reeves  mentions  that,  in  the  Ross-shire  parish  of 

1  Sir  A.  Mitchell,  p.  6.  ^  /^/,/. 

'  Dixon,  p.  415.  *  Pennant,  op.  cit. 

^  Dr.  Reeves,  1859,  op.  cit..,  pp.  279,  281,  and  289. 


The  Sanctuary  of  Moitrie.  505 

Contin,  a  fair  called  the  Fell  Maree  was  formerly  held  on 
the  last  Wednesday  of  August,  O.  S.  ;  he  also  cites  a  fair 
called  after  the  saint  at  Portree,  in  Skye  ;  a  commemora- 
tion of  the  saint's  festival  at  Forres,  in  the  north  of  Elgin 
or  Morayshire  by  a  fair  held  on  the  27th  of  August ; 
a  "  Summaruff's  Fair"  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  August  at 
Fordyce,  in  Banff;  and  a  great  fair  at  Keith,  in  Banff, 
called  the  Samarevis  Fair,  and  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  in 
September/ 

In  the  parish  of  Contin  is  a  burying-ground  called 
"  Praes  Maree",  or  Maelrubha's  Bush.  In  the  parish  of 
Strath,  in  Skye,  there  is  a  local  tradition  that  here  St. 
Maree  used  to  preach,  and  "  that  he  hung  a  bell  in  a  tree, 
where  it  remained  for  centuries.  It  was  dumb  all  the 
week  till  sunrise  on  Sunday  morning,  when  it  rang  of  its 
own  accord  till  sunset.  It  was  subsequently  removed  to 
the  old  church  of  Strath,  where  it  ever  afterwards  re- 
mained dumb  ;  and  the  tree  on  which  it  had  so  long  hung 
soon  after  withered  away."^ 

But  the  most  interesting  record  of  the  local  cult  is  in 
the  seventeenth-century  observances.  In  1656,  the  Ding- 
wall presbytery  made  a  strenuous  effort  to  put  down  the 
^'  abhominable  and  heathenishe  practices  of  the  district", 
and  inscribed  a  full  account  of  their  measures  in  the  Pres- 
bytery Records. 

On  the  5th  September  1656,  "the  presbyterie  of  Ding- 
Avall,  according  to  the  appoyntment  of  Synode  for  search- 
ing and  censuring  such  principalis  and  superstitions  as 
should  be  discovered  thaire — having  met  at  Appilcross, 
and  findeing,  amongst  uther  abhominable  and  heathenishe 
practices,  that  the  people  in  that  place  were  accustomed 
to  sacrifice  bulls  at  a  certaine  tyme  uppon  the  25  of 
August,  which  day  is  dedicate,  as  they  conceive,  to  St. 
Mourie,  as  they  call  him  ;  and  that  there  were  frequent 
approaches  to  some  ruinous  chappells  and  circulateing  of 
them  ;  and  that  future  events,  in  reference  especiallie  to 
'  Dr.  Reeves,  p.  289  sqq.  '  Ibid.^  op.  cit. 


5o6  The  Sanctuary  of  Mourie. 

lyfe  and  death,  in  takeing  of  Journeyis,  was  exspect  to  be 
manifested  by  a  holl  of  a  round  stone  quherein  they  tried 
the  entering  of  their  heade,  which  (if  they)  could  doe,  to 
witt,  be  able  to  put  in  thair  heade,  they  exspect  thair 
returning  to  that  place,  and  failing,  they  considered  it 
ominous  ;  and  withall  their  adoring  of  wells  and  uther 
superstitious  monuments  and  stones,  tedious  to  rehearse, 
Have  appoynted  as  followes — That  quhosoever  sail  be  found 
to  commit  such  abhominations,  especiallie  Sacrifices  of 
any  kynd,  or  at  any  tyme,  sail  publickly  appear  and  be 
rebuked."  The  opening  of  this  minute  specially  mentions, 
among  the  "  maine  enormities"  of  the  district,  the  "  sacri- 
ficeing  at  certaine  tymes  at  the  Loch  of  Mourie",  On 
the  9th  September  1656  :  "  The  brethren,  taking  to  their 
consideratione  the  abhominationes  within  the  parochia 
of  Garloch,  in  sacrificing  of  beasts  upon  the  25  August,  as 
also  in  pouring  of  milk  upon  hills  as  oblationes,  quhose 
names  ar  not  particularly  signified  as  yit,  refers  to  the 
diligence  of  the  minister  to  mak  search  of  thease  persons 

and  withall  that  by  his  private  dilligence  he  have 

searchers   and   tryers   in    everie   corner    of    the    country, 

especiallie  about  the  Lochmourie and  that  such 

as  are  his  elders  be  particularly  poseit,  concerning  former 
practices  in  qwhat  they  knowe  of  these  poore  ones  who 
are  called  Mourie  his  derilans,  and  ownes  thease  titles, 
quho  receaves  the  sacrifices  and  offerings  upon  accompt 

of  Mourie  his  poore  ones  ; and  such  as  heve  boats 

about  the  loch  to  transport  themselves  or  uthers  to  the  He 
of  Mourie,  quherein  ar  monuments  of  Idolatrie,  without 
warrand  from  the  superiour  and  minister  towards  lawful 

ends The  brethren  heiring  be  report  that  Miurie 

has  his  monuments  and  remembrances  in  severall  paroches 
within  the  province,  but  more  particularly  in  the  paroches 
of  Loch  canon.  Loch  alse,  Kintaile,  Contan,  and  Follertie 
and  Lochbroome." 

Both  these  records  refer  to  strangers  and  "  thease  that 
comes  from  forren  countreycs"  as  sharing  in  the  "  abhomi- 


The  Sanctuary  of  Moiirie.  507 

nable  practices".  The  list  of  districts  covers  some  fifty 
miles  of  the  western  coast. 

In  the  second  extract  the  "  derilans"  appear  to  receive 
the  sacrifices.  If  this  could  be  proved — the  wording  of 
the  record  is  vague  at  the  very  point  of  interest — and  if 
Mr.  Dixon's  suggested  derivation  from  the  Gaelic  deireoil, 
"  afflicted"/  is  correct,  the  lunatics  would  seem  to  have 
served  as  priests  to  the  grove — a  completely  primitive 
conception  of  the  holiness  of  the  possessed  man — and  to 
have  received  the  gifts  of  ordinary  sufferers,  the  "  poor 
ones"  of  Mourie.  More  accurate  information  is  greatly  to 
be  desired  on  this  curious  point. 

Twenty  years  later,  in  1678,  the  mystic  healing  powers 
of  the  island  are  thus  acknowledged  :  "  At  Dingwall,  6 
August  1678.  Inter  alia,  that  Mr.  Roderick  Mackenzie, 
minister  of  Gerloch  .  .  .  summoned  by  his  officer  to  this 
prebrie  day  Hector  Mackenzie  ...  in  the  parish  of  Gerloch, 
as  also  Johne  Murdoch  and  Duncan  Mackenzies,  sons  to 
the  said  Hector,  as  also  Kenneth  McKenzie  his  grandson, 
for  sacrificing  a  bull  in  ane  heathenish  manner  in  the 
iland  of  St.  Ruffus,  commonly  called  Elian  Moury  ...  for 
the  recovering  of  the  health  of  Cirstane  Mackenzie,  spouse 
to  the  said  Hector  Mackenzie,  who  was  formerlie  sicke 
and  valetudinaire."^ 

With  so  little  definite  knowledge,  it  is  impossible  to  say 
whether  the  saint  took  over  some  powerful  local  cult  with 
its  many  sanctuaries,  or  whether  all  the  varying  strands 
and  relics  of  the  primitive  worship  of  local  powers, 
approached  on  mountain-tops,  or  in  sacred  groves,  or  by 
holy  wells,  were  gradually  gathered  up  into  his  dominant 
name  ;  but  the  power  of  one  personality,  the  tendency  to 
unify  belief,  seems  strangely  hinted  at  in  these  records  of 
the  tenacious  worships  of  "  Mourie". 

The  beautiful  legend  of  the  two  graves  marked  with  the 

^  Dixon,  p.  411. 

*  Records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Dingwall,  cited  by  Mr.  Dixon. 
Appendix  F. 


5o8  The  Sanctuary  of  Mourie. 

runic  cross,  round  which  the  thickly-set  tombs  of  the 
centre  of  the  island  cluster,  is  in  itself  worth  quoting  in  full. 
I  have  no  means  of  analysing  the  early  and  late,  and  the 
religious  and  secular  elements,  and  therefore  refrain  from 
conjecture.  The  burying-ground  covers  the  centre  of  the 
island  ;  is  deep  in  the  damp  profusion  of  grass  and  under- 
growth ;  and  is  surrounded  by  an  oval  dyke,  now  over- 
grown— in  Pennant's  time  "  a  dyke  of  stones,  with  a 
regular,  narrow  entrance".  Within  the  enclosure  are  two 
mounds,  which  would  probably  reward  excavation. 

I  give  Mr.  Dixon's  version  of  the  legend,  slightly  con- 
densed : — After  the  death  of  St.  Maree,  his  cell  on  the 
island  continued  to  be  the  resort  of  holy  men.  During 
the  time  of  the  Norwegian  power  in  the  district,  a  prince 
and  princess  of  Norway  were  married  by  the  island 
hermit,  and  here  the  prince  left  his  bride  when  called  away 
to  war.  Before  parting  they  agreed  that,  when  the  prince 
returned,  a  white  flag  should  be  displayed  from  his  barge 
if  all  was  well,  if  not,  a  black  flag  ;  the  princess  was  to 
meet  her  husband  with  like  signals  of  good  or  evil  fate. 
The  prince  remained  away,  and  meanwhile  jealousy  and 
doubt  entered  the  heart  of  the  princess.  She  determined 
to  test  his  constancy,  and  when  the  prince's  barge,  flying 
the  white  flag,  at  length  entered  the  loch,  she  commanded 
her  barge  to  be  launched.  A  black  flag  hung  from  the 
stern,  a  bier  was  placed  on  the  centre,  on  which  she  lay 
counterfeiting  death,  her  maidens  mourning  round  her,  and 
the  barge  was  rowed  slowly  down  the  loch  to  meet  the 
prince.  Seeing  the  black  flag,  he  leapt  from  his  own  deck, 
and,  raising  the  shroud,  seemed  to  see  the  tace  of  his  dead 
bride.  In  an  agony  of  grief  he  stabbed  himself;  and  the 
princess,  rising  with  a  cry,  drew  the  dagger  from  his  heart 
and  thrust  it  in  her  own.  The  two  lovers  were  buried  on 
the  island,  where  their  graves  still  lie,  foot  to  foot,  in  the 
silence  of  the  woodland,  each  marked  by  the  runic  cross. 

Gertrude  M.  Godden. 


MELANESIAN  FOLK-TALES. 


Story  of  Lata. 
(Sta.  Cruz.) 

BEFORE  Lata  was  born,  an  eel  foretold  that  he  would 
eat  it.  After  his  birth,  his  father  caught  the  eel,  cut 
off  its  tail,  and  gave  it  to  the  child  to  suck.  When  Lata 
was  two  days  old,  his  father  and  mother  went  kite-fishing, 
and  left  the  child  covered  under  a  wooden  bowl.  The 
parents  were  blown  away  out  to  sea,  and  the  child  grew  by 
himself  alone  under  the  bowl.  When  he  was  grown,  he 
saw  the  light  under  the  edge  of  the  bowl,  threw  it  off,  and 
came  out  into  the  light.  Then  he  made  himself  toy 
canoes  with  larger  and  larger  leaves  in  succession,  till  he 
made  one  in  which  he  could  sail  about,  and  then,  seeing 
a  tree,  began  to  cut  it  down  for  a  real  canoe.  Every  day, 
as  he  ceased  working,  one  Ginota  came  and  replaced  what 
he  had  cut.  At  last  he  was  unable  to  do  so,  because 
a  chip  had  fallen  into  Lata's  bag  ;  so  he  waited  till  Lata 
came  back  in  the  morning,  when  the  rattling  of  the  chip 
in  his  bag  betrayed  him,  and  the  two  agreed  to  work 
together.  The  tree  was  properly  shaped  and  carried 
down  to  the  village,  the  various  parts  and  sails  made  and 
fitted,  and  the  proper  feasts  given  to  the  people.  When 
the  canoe  was  launched,  Lata's  mother  cautioned  him 
against  certain  fish  which  would  jump  into  it  and  break 
it ;  but  these  he  caught  in  a  net  and  brought  back  for  her 
to  cook.  Next  she  warned  him  against  a  shark,  and  this 
he  killed  with  a  sharp  stake.  Then  she  warned  him 
against  a  giant  clam,  and  in  his  next  voyage  he  found  his 
canoe  being  carried  by  a  current  into  the  jaws  of  an 
enormous  shell.     He  saved  himself  by  thrusting  an  upright 

VOL.  IV.  M  IV 


5IO  Melanesian  Folk-Tales, 

log  between  the  jaws,  dug  out  the  fish,  and  carried  it  to 
his  mother  to  cook.  Next  she  cautioned  him  against 
a  bird  which  would  swoop  upon  him  and  pierce  him  with 
its  beak.  He  saved  himself  from  this  by  setting  up 
a  banana-stalk  in  the  canoe,  while  he  hid  himself  below  ; 
the  bird  swooped  and  fastened  its  beak  in  the  banana, 
Lata  seized  it,  broke  its  wings,  and  took  it  to  his  mother 
to  cook.  His  mother  then  warned  him  of  one  thing  more, 
a  huge  sea  monster,  like  a  whale,  which  swallowed  down 
canoes.  Into  this  monster's  stomach  Lata  was  carried  by 
a  current  which  sucked  in  his  canoe  with  sail  standing ; 
and  in  it  he  found  a  man  and  woman  who  had  eaten  their 
clothes  and  their  hair  for  hunger.  To  feed  them  he  made 
a  fire  with  the  wrecks  of  the  canoes  lying  about,  and  cut 
ofif  some  of  the  whale's  liver  to  roast.  Lavalu,  the  monster, 
cried  out  that  he  was  killing  him  ;  and  Lata  answered, 
that  if  he  wished  to  live  he  must  carry  him  home.  This 
he  did,  making  so  high  a  tide  that  he  was  stranded  on  the 
shore  of  Sta.  Cruz.  Lata  dragged  out  his  canoe,  and  gave 
Lavalu  over  to  the  crabs.  His  mother  next  warned  him 
of  a  tide  that  would  break  his  canoe  ;  but  he  took  out 
hermit  crabs,  which  bit  the  waves,  so  that  he  passed 
through  safely.  Then  his  mother  warned  him  of  the 
Tapakola  at  Nupani.  He  sailed,  therefore,  immediately 
to  Nupani,  and  was  invited  by  the  Tapakola  to  her  house, 
where  she  sat  in  ambush  for  him  over  the  only  door  left 
open,  intending  to  kill  him  as  he  stooped  to  enter.  He 
pushed  open  another  door,  and  came  in  unhurt.  All  the 
night  she  watched  to  kill  him  when  asleep,  but,  though  he 
slept,  he  had  covered  his  eyes  with  shining  shells,  which 
made  him  appear  to  be  awake.  In  the  morning  he 
invited  Tapakola  to  come  with  him  in  his  canoe,  and 
drowned  her  on  the  voyage  home. 

The  next  adventure  of  Lata,  in  which  he  deceived  a  snake, 
is  not  of  much  interest. 

After  that  his  mother  bade  him  remember  that  there 
remained  the  great  Land  Crab  at  Netepa  (Taumako  in 


Melanesian  Folk-  Tales.  5 1 1 

the  Duff  group).  He  sailed  thither,  and  was  invited  by 
the  Crab  into  its  house,  where,  as  before  with  the  Tapakola, 
he  escaped  the  ambush  set  for  him  by  pushing  open  one 
of  the  shut  doors.  Then  Lata,  seeing  the  skulls  of  men 
devoured  by  the  Crab,  painted  himself  red,  white,  and 
black,  so  much  to  the  Crab's  admiration  that  it  desired  to 
know  how  it  could  be  done.  He  undertook  to  produce 
the  same  beautiful  effect,  and  persuaded  the  Crab  to 
mount  on  the  stage  over  the  hearth,  and  to  sit  there  while 
he  lighted  the  fire  and  heaped  on  wood.  The  Crab  turned 
red  with  the  heat — the  first  stage,  as  Lata  assured  it,  in  the 
beautifying  process  ;  then  the  claws  dropped  off,  and  the 
Crab  died.  One  claw  he  ate,  the  other  he  took  home  to 
his  mother. 

His  further  adventures,  as  he  sailed  about  escaping  from 
dangers  and  deceiving  enemies,  are  very  numerous. 


The  Story  of  Hole-in-his-Back. 
(Saddle  Isle,  Banks'  Group.) 
A  party  of  boys  were  up  in  a  tree  eating  the  fruit.  All 
went  off  but  two  brothers,  the  elder  of  whom  warned  the 
younger  not  to  throw  the  kernels  on  the  ground,  lest  that 
should  happen  of  which  their  father  had  warned  them  ; 
but  he  let  a  fruit  drop  himself,  and  immediately  appeared 
under  the  tree  Hole-in-his-Back  himself,  and  begged  the 
boys  to  throw  him  down  some  fruit.  At  first  they  were 
afraid,  but  after  a  while  threw  him  down  a  bunch,  which 
he  caught  in  the  hole  in  his  back  as  in  a  sack.  In  this 
way  he  received  all  the  fruit  on  the  tree  ;  then  he  begged 
them  to  come  down  to  him,  and,  with  much  fear,  they 
consented.  He  took  them  to  his  abode,  a  cave  without  an 
entrance  ;  and,  when  he  came  to  it,  they  heard  him  say  : 
"  Close,  cave !  be  open,  cave !"  The  cave  opened,  and 
they  went  in.  He  bade  them  stay  while  he  went  to  get 
them  food,  and,  as  he  went  out,  they  heard  him  say: 
"  Open,  cave  !  be  close,  cave  !"  and  the  mouth  of  the  cave 

M  M  2 


5^2  Melanesian  Folk-Tales. 

shut  close  upon  them.  On  his  return,  they  heard  him 
open  the  cave's  mouth  with  the  same  words,  and  he  brought 
out  of  the  hole  in  his  back,  in  which  he  had  stowed  them, 
a  pig  and  yams,  which  they  cooked,  and  he  ate  raw. 
Thus  they  lived  in  the  cave,  while  their  parents  and 
friends  in  the  village  counted  the  days  for  their  death,  ate 
the  death-meals,  and  then  forgot  them.  One  day,  when 
he  was  longer  absent  than  usual,  they  agreed  to  try  whether 
the  cave  would  open  and  shut  for  them,  as  it  did  for  him, 
at  the  sound  of  the  same  words,  and  they  found  that  it 
would. 

Now  there  was  one  part  of  the  cave  which  Hole-in-his- 
Back  always,  when  he  went  out,  forbade  them  to  go  near  ; 
and  here,  when  at  last  they  ventured  to  approach,  they 
found  a  heap  of  conch  trumpets  ;  and  this  was  the  reason 
why  he  had  forbidden  them  to  go  there,  because,  being 
a  Vui,  he  was  afraid  of  the  sound  of  a  conch-shell  trumpet. 
The  boys  began  to  plan  a  way  of  escape,  and  accordingly 
prepared  for  themselves  tamate  dresses,  in  which  they 
proposed  to  show  themselves  in  the  village  blowing  shell 
trumpets,  after  the  fashion  of  the  tainates  whose  dress  they 
were  assuming.  Accordingly,  when  all  was  ready,  they 
put  on  each  his  tamate  hat,  and  took  each  his  conch 
trumpet  in  his  hand,  and  waited  for  the  return  of  Hole-in- 
his-Back  with  his  pig  and  food.  They  heard  him  coming  ; 
they  heard  him  saying  :  "  Close,  cave !  be  open,  cave  !'' 
and,  as  the  cave's  mouth  opened,  before  he  could  say 
a  word,  they  ran  out  blowing  their  trumpets.  He  ran 
away  affrighted,  and  they  chased  him  into  the  village, 
through  the  village  to  the  beach  and  on  to  the  reef, 
blowing  their  trumpets  as  they  ran  ;  from  the  reef  he 
leapt  into  the  sea,  the  water  poured  into  the  hollow  in  his 
back,  and  he  was  drowned.  The  boys  returned  and  made 
themselves  known  again  to  their  parents  in  the  village. 

R.    W.    CODRINGTON. 


FOLK-LORE  IN    WILLS. 


Notes  from  West  Kent. 

THOSE  members  of  this  Society  who  may  have  occa- 
sion to  consult  the  wills  at  Somerset  House  or  in 
the  various  District  Probate  Registries  will  doubtless  have 
observed  how  full  of  local  allusion  many  of  these  docu- 
ments are  ;  not  only  bequests  to  every  saint's  light  in  the 
church,  but  sometimes  each  field  the  testator  owned  is  duly 
bequeathed  by  name.  I  take  this  opportunity  of  suggest- 
ing that,  when  opportunity  offers,  special  note  should  be 
m.ade  of  any  reference  to  local  customs.  The  harvest  will 
not  be  a  very  full  one,  but  such  notes,  when  they  do  occur, 
will  always  be  of  interest,  and  may  be  of  considerable 
value  in  tracing  the  continuity  of  a  custom  in  a  given  dis- 
trict. I  have  lately  been  paying  some  attention  to  the 
wills  of  persons  formerly  resident  in  West  Kent,  and  proved 
in  the  Consistory  Court  of  Rochester,  the  records  of  which 
begin  in  1440.  The  earlier  wills  are,  of  course,  in  Latin, 
but  about  1480  English  is  more  general,  and  the  wills  are 
not  always  in  a  stiff,  legal  mold,  but  frequently  bear 
evidence  of  having  been  set  down  from  the  actual  words 
used  by  the  testators. 

From  them  I  have  noted  the  following  bequests  for  the 
keeping  up  of  Ales  : — 

Stephen  Jacobe,  of  St.  Wereburge  in  Hoo,  in  his  will, 
dated  i8th  August  1480  [Book  III,  fo.  265],  says  : 

"  Also  I  will  that  rayne  heirs  shall  haue  v  yerdis  of  land  lieing 
in  longefeld  and  v  yerdis  of  land  in  pettefild  upon  this  condicon 
folowyng  that  thes  shall  make  or  doo  make  yerly  a  yefale  on 
Trinite  Eve  and  on  the  Tnnite  Sondaye  and  beryng  chargis  yerly 
V  buschell   of  wethe  and  i  seue  of  malt  and  y!\]d.  in  chese  too 


514  Folk-lore  in  Wills. 

distribut  at  my  place  in  the  worship  of  the  Trinite,  and  on  euery 
Trinite  Sondaye  yerly  myne  heris  to  offer  j  masse  peny  in  the 
worship  of  the  Trinite.  And  in  case  be  that  myne  heirs  refuse 
to  make  that  said  yefale  and  the  chargis  aforsaid  then  the  for  said 
yefale  is  to  be  sold  by  my  feffo''s  and  with  the  money  therof 
resceyvid  be  disposid  to  the  reparacon  of  the  Trinite  Yle  by  the 
discrecon  of  my  feffo''s." 

They  were  apparently  rich  in  Yevales,  or  Giveales,  in 
Hoo,  for  in  1528  Thomas  Bedell  has  the  following  bequest 
in  his  will  [Book  VIII,  fo.  193;^]  : 

"Also  Crystyan  my  wiff  to  haue  the  howse  callid  the  Yevall 
howse  at  Grenhill  w'  all  the  lands  thereto  belonging,  sufferyng  the 
wardaynes  and  bredryen  of  the  Yevall  off  Saynt  Warborows  to 
haue  y^  liberte  there  in  w'  frey  goyng  and  fre  comyng  to  occupye 
in  the  said  howse  xiiij  days  a  fore  Seynt  Warborow  day  [either  3rd 
Feb.  or  21st  June]  and  xiiij  days  after,  to  holde  there  in  y^  yevall 
as  hit  haith  been  used  and  customed  in  tymes  past,  w'  owt  any 
interrupcion,  and  after  the  decess  off  y^  said  Crystian  the  said 
howse  called  ye  yevall  house  w'  y^  londez  holye  remayne  vnto 
Jone  my  doughter  and  to  suffer  the  wardaynes  and  bredren  a  fore- 
seid  to  haue  fre  liberte  in  y=  same  as  a  for  is  rehersed,  and  if  she 
dye  w*  owt  heyres  then  my  feoffes  to  infeoffe  certayn  persones  of 
y^  seid  parishe  in  y*  same  howse  and  londs  to  y'  use,  that  is  to 
say,  y'  y^  wardanes  and  bredryn  off  Seynt  Warborow  affore  said 
shall  haue  y«  lettyng  oughte  of  y^  said  tenement  and  londes  callid 
ye  yevall  house  for  their  yevall  as  afore  is  rehershede  and  to  kepe 
an  obitt  for  me,  and  Crystian,  and  all  crysten  soulls  in  my  seid 
pariche  church  in  y=  day  of  Ashe  Wedynesday." 

Katherine  Tutor  of  Stoke,  widow,  in  1491  [Book  V,  fo. 
176/^],  left  "a  quarter  of  whete  and  a  quarter  of  malt  to 
make  w'  an  ale." 

In  the  will  of  Thomasyn  Sheby,  wydow,  of  East  Grene- 
wych,  dated  1506  [Book  vi,  fo.  191  (5-],  is  the  following 
bequest : 

"  I  bequeth  to  the  church  of  Seynt  Alphe  a  standyng  cuppe, 
syluer  and  gylte  w'  a  keueryng,  weyyng  xxiiij  on",  vnder  this  con- 
dicion  that  euery  bryde  that  shalbe  mareid  in  the  church  of  Seynt 


Folk-lore  in  Wills.  515 

Alphe  a  forseyde  shal  haue  the  seyde  cuppe  to  be  boryn  a  fore 
them  att  the  manage  yff  they  come  to  the  church  wardens  and 
dezier  itt." 

I  should  be  glad  to  know  whether  any  other  such  be- 
quests are  on  record,  and  also  what  special  significance  the 
bearing  of  a  cup  before  the  bride  could  have  had. 

One  of  the  ancient  revenues  of  the  king  was  the  lathe- 
silver,  collected  by  lathes  from  each  hundred  of  the  county, 
the  lathe  for  this  purpose  being  sometimes  farmed  out  by 
the  sheriff.  Its  origin  has,  I  believe,  not  been  settled,  and 
although  it  was  a  very  small  burden,  it  was — like  most 
other  taxes — considered  a  grievance.  John  Passey  of 
Eltham,  in  his  will,  dated  5th  July  1509  [Book  VI,  fo. 
2'^2b\  consequently  thought  to  do  his  friends  a  good  turn, 
and  so  bequeaths 

"  after  the  death  of  Agnes  my  wife  xiijj-.  iiij^.  to  the  borowsolder 
of  Eltham  for  the  tyme  beyng  for  thuse  of  our  souerayne  lord 
the  kynge  toward  the  discharge  yerly  of  the  seruants,  inhabitants 
of  Eltham,  for  euer,  of  and  for  a  certen  some  of  money  callid 
hedesiluer  other  wise  callid  the  coman  fyne,  payable  yerly  at 
Mihilmass  lawdaye  in  Eltham,  which  usually  is  and  in  tymes  passd 
hath  be  lovyed  by  the  borowsolder  ther  yerly  of  the  said  inhabit- 
ants." 

This  lathe-silver  has  ceased  to  be  paid  in  Kent  for  about 
a  century. 

In  the  will  of  William  Colt  of  Sent  Warborugh,  Hoo, 
dated  15 16  [Book  VII,  fo.  83^],  is  a  bequest  for  distributing 
cakes.     He  desires  that 

"  On  accar  of  land  lyng  in  Northefeld,  callyd  Longland,  shall 
remayn  to  John  my  son  and  to  his  heyrys  on  thys  condycon,  that 
he,  hys  heyrys,  &c.,  euery  Goode  Fryday  for  euermore,  do  bake 
or  cause  to  be  bakyn,  a  bushell  of  goode  whete  in  Wastell  breede, 
and  euery  Wastell  in  valo'^  of  a  ob.,  and  so  to  be  delyuered  to 
poure  people  where  ned  ys  most  or  shalbe  in  the  chyrche  of  Hoo." 

It  was,  I  conclude,  some  such  bequest  as  this  which  led 


5i6  Folk-lore  in  Wills. 

to  the  celebrated  cakes  at  Biddenden,  in  this  same  county, 
on  Easter  Sunday. 

I  have  only  found  one  reference  to  fairs,  viz.,  in  the  will 
of  John  Wadman  of  Milton  next  Gravesend,  dated  2nd 
March  1549  [Book  XI,  fo.  ^\b\.  He  leaves  to  Johan  his 
daughter 

"  furty  pounds  to  be  payed  vnto  the  said  Johan,  xx//.  at  the 
feast  of  Saynt  Edward  called  Gravisende  Faire  nexte  comyng  and 
at  mydsomer  than  nexte  following  other  xx//." 

Gravesend  Fair  is  (according  to  Whitaker)  now  held  on 
24th  October,  whereas  the  Feast  of  the  Translation  of 
Saint  Edward  is  13th  October. 

Edward  Nevyll,  in  15 14  [Book  Vll,  fo.  2(^a\  had  left  a 
banner  with  Our  Lady  on  one  side  and  St.  Edward  on  the 
other,  to  the  church  of  Gravesend,  but  I  cannot  find  any 
other  connection  of  that  Saint  with  the  town.  The  parish 
church  was,  in  mediaeval  times,  dedicated  to  St.  Mary,  and 
there  was  a  chapel  in  the  town  dedicated  to  St.  George, 
which  is  now  the  parish  church. 

We  now  come  to  the  will  of  Roger  Leche  of  Eltham, 
dated  14th  June  15 17  [Book  vii,  87<5],  which  contains 
perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  any  of  these  bequests  : 

"  Also  I  will  Rauff  Letham  shall  kepe  or  cause  to  be  kept  yerly 
the  Wedynsday  in  the  crosse  weke  at  the  crose  before  his  dur, 
when  the  procession  cumyth  in  brede  and  ale  \]d. ;  and  vpon 
Saint  Thomas  nyght  after  the  fest  of  Seint  John  Baptyst  at  the 
bonefyre  in  bred  and  ale  vj^." 

Eltham  Church  is  dedicated  to  St.  John  Baptist,  and 
24th  June  was  doubtless  observed  with  full  honours  by  the 
good  folk  of  that  parish,  who  would  not  have  forgotten  the 
"  bonefyre"  ;  but  there  was  apparently  another  lighted  on 
"  Seint  Thomas  nyght",  i.e.,  7th  July.  Do  any  other 
instances  of  this  occur? 

Besides  the  ordinary  Church  seasons  I  have  not  found 
many  references  to  days  by  local  names.  Robert  Dan  of 
Brenchley,  in  15 11,  says:  "Item   lego  pro  torche  at  hok 


Folk-lore  in  Wills.  517 

tyme  xijV."  Hock  Monday  was  the  second  Monday  after 
Easter,  and  certain  dues  were  then  paid  to  the  church- 
wardens, as  appears  by  the  Accounts  of  St.  Dunstan's, 
Canterbury,  printed  m  ArchcEologia  Cantiana;  but  whether 
the  torch  was  for  use  in  church,  or  at  some  revel,  is  not 
certain. 

Richard  Longeman  of  Halstow,  in  his  will,  dated  1493 
[Book  V,  fo.  224a],  mentions  Shere  Thursday.  The  will  is 
curious  as  showing  the  custom  of  proclaiming,  or  posting 
up,  secular  matters  in  church  : 

"  I  will  the  curates  in  eueri  church  of  the  ?aide  hundrede  [HooJ 
shewe  in  their  churches  that  yff  ther  be  any  yoman  any 
yomans  felow  or  womens  son  in  the  saide  hundrede  thatwilbye  all 
the  londes  and  tenements  sumtyme  Richarde  Longeman  of 
Halgesto,  and  geve  for  them  as  they  be  worth  and  sonest  paye 
and  content  their  for,  shall  haue  them  wyth  the  folde  table,  chayre 
and  fourme  in  the  hall ;  a  ladder,  the  queern  stones  w'  the  bed- 
dyng  and  a  cawdron  in  a  foarneys  to  be  w'  the  sale  of  the  saide 
londes  and  tenements,  and  eueri  curate  to  haue  for  the  proclamyng 
of  yf  same  n]d.,  and  I  will  my  obyte  be  kepte  yerely  on  Shere 
Thursdaye  w'  prestes  and  clarkes  syngyng,  redyng  and  prayeyng, 
and  at  after  noone  that  same  day  at  the  washeyng  of  the  auters 
there  to  haue  bred  and  ale." 

Into  the  religious  side  of  all  the  above  (and  they  all  had 
a  religious  significance  in  the  minds  of  the  testators)  I  do 
not  wish  to  enter,  but  I  should  like  to  direct  the  attention 
of  members  to  the  field  that  is  open  to  them,  especially  in 
the  District  Probate  Registries,  which  contain  for  the  most 
part  the  wills  of  yeomen,  small  farmers,  and  persons  of  the 
labouring  classes,  and  therefore  all  the  more  likely  to  refer 
to  such  matters  as  I  have  brought  before  you. 

Leland  L.  Duncan. 


B  A  LOCH  I    TALES. 


XVI. 

The  Abduction  of  Samri. 

['Abdullah  Khan  was  the  Brahoi  Chief  or  Khan  of 
Kilat  at  the  end  of  the  last  century.  His  dominions 
extended  into  the  Indus  Valley,  and  included  a  tract 
known  as  Harrand-Dajil,  which  adjoined  the  territory 
under  the  Mirrani  Nawab  of  Dera  Ghazi  Khan,  all 
nominally  forming  part  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Durannis. 
Jampur  is  the  chief  place  in  the  Nawab's  dominions,  near 
the  boundary  of  what  was  then  the  Khan  of  Kilat's  country. 
'Abdullah  Khan  invaded  the  Nawab's  country,  and  during 
this  invasion  the  adventure  of  Samri  is  supposed  to  have 
occurred.] 

WHEN  'Abdullah  Khan  was  Khan  of  Kilat,  he  went 
to  war  with  the  Nawab  of  Dera  Ghazi  Khan.  He 
assembled  an  army,  and  came  down  by  the  way  of  Syahaf 
At  that  time  the  chief  of  the  Mazari  tribe  was  Mitha  Khan. 
'Abdullah  Khan  sent  for  him,  and  told  him  to  bring  his 
armed  followers  also,  and  Mitha  Khan  joined  the  Khan 
with  a  hundred  horsemen.  All  the  Balochistan  chiefs  and 
feudatories,  Highlanders  and  Lowlandcrs  (Sarawan  and 
Jahlawan),  were  with  him,  but  the  Gorchanis  and  Drishaks, 
and  other  tribes  of  the  Indus  Valley,  did  not  join  him. 
He  marched  by  the  Syah-Tankh  Pass,  by  the  Sham  plain, 
and  by  the  Chachar  Pass,  and  came  out  into  the  plains  at 
Harrand.  There  he  heard  that  the  Nawab  had  fixed  on 
Jampur  as  the  place  at  which  his  army  was  to  assemble, 
so  he  gathered  together  all  his  Amirs  for  a  consultation. 


Balochi  Tales.  519 

Mitha  Khan  advised  him  to  strike  direct  at  Dera  Ghazi 
Khan,  "  for",  he  said,  "  when  they  hear  that  your  army  is 
marching  on  Dera,  everyone  will  hurry  away  to  protect  his 
home  and  wife  and  children,  and  the  Nawab's  army  will 
melt  away.  Then  turn  and  fall  upon  Jampur,  and  seize 
it."  'Abdullah  Khan  said  this  was  good  advice,  and  he 
would  follow  it,  so  he  set  his  face  towards  Dera,  and  the 
Nawab's  army  went  to  pieces.  Then  'Abdullah  Khan 
attacked  Jampur  and  took  it,  and  remained  there  for  a 
month. 

A  certain  Mochi  (leather-dresser)  who  lived  at  Jampur 
had  a  very  beautiful  wife  named  Samri,  and  she  was  taken 
prisoner  by  Muhabbat  Khan  ('Abdullah  Khan's  son). 
After  the  victory,  the  army  went  back  again  to  Khorasan,^ 
and  Muhabbat  Khan  took  away  Samri  with  him,  and  made 
her  his  concubine,  and  loved  her  greatly.  Samri's  husband 
followed  her  up,  and  went  to  'Abdullah  Khan  at  Kilat  to 
complain,  and  begged  him,  in  God's  name,  to  give  him 
Samri  back  again  ;  but  'Abdullah  Khan  said  :  "  Muhabbat 
Khan  is  that  sort  of  man,  that  if  he  hears  that  Samri's 
husband  has  come,  he  will  just  kill  you  ;  but  this  I  will  do 
for  you.  Go  round  all  through  my  country  as  far  as  my 
Khanship  extends,  and  look  round  till  you  find  a  maiden 
to  suit  you,  and  I  give  you  my  word  I  will  marry  her  to 
you."  But  the  Mochi  said,  "  I  care  for  no  other  but 
Samri." 

He  stayed  for  a  year  at  Kilat,  but  at  last  he  was 
told  to  go,  and  he  went  away,  and  came  down  to  the 
plains  to  the  Shrine  of  Jive  Lal,"-^  and  there  he  stayed  for 
a  year  as  a  petitioner  at  the  shrine,  and  fetched  water 
for  the  pilgrims  to  the  shrine.  After  a  year  had  passed, 
one  night  an  order  came  to  him  from  Jive  Lai  as  follows  : 
"  In  Jampur  there  live  certain  eunuchs,  and  with  them  is  a 
poor  faqlr  who  takes  out  their  donkeys  to  graze.     Go  to 

^  That  is,  the  plateau  above  the  .Sulamian  Mountains ;  what  is  now 
Northern  Balochistan  and  Southern  Afghanistan,  not  the  Khorassan 
of  our  maps.  ^  At  Schwan  in  Sindh. 


520  Balochi  Tales. 

him  ;  he  will  get  Samri  back  for  you."  So  he  returned 
thence,  and  came  to  Jampur,  and  went  to  look  for  the 
faqlr,  and  saw  him  grazing  the  donkeys.  The  faqlr  saw 
the  Mochi,  and  without  waiting  for  him  to  speak,  he  said, 
"  Had  not  Jive  Lai  power  enough  to  do  it  himself,  that 
he  must  send  you  to  me  ?"  The  Mochi  said,  "  He  did 
send  me  to  you."  Then  the  faqlr  said,  "  Now  go  home, 
and  take  your  ease  at  your  house,  and  come  to  me  again 
on  the  day  of  the  eunuchs'  sports  at  Jampur.  When  I 
am  dancing  in  the  middle  of  them,  and  am  happy,  come 
up  and  give  a  pull  at  the  hem  of  my  garment."  One  day, 
when  the  eunuchs  had  a  great  dance,  and  the  faqlr  was 
intoxicated,  and  was  dancing  in  the  midst  of  them,  the 
Mochi  came  up  to  him  and  pulled  the  hem  of  his  garment. 
On  this  the  faqlr  clapped  his  hands  and  cried  out, "  Samri 
is  come  !  Samri  is  come  !"  Just  then  a  number  of  people 
came  running  up  to  congratulate  the  Mochi  on  Samri's 
return,  and  said,  "  Samri  has  come  back,  and  is  sitting  at 
your  house."  The  Mochi  comes  home  and  finds  Samri 
sitting  there  with  moist  dough  on  her  hands.  They  asked 
her  how  she  had  come,  and  she  said,  "  I  was  at  Kilat,  and 
was  kneading  the  dough  for  Muhabbat  Khan's  bread,  for 
he  loved  me  so  that  he  would  eat  no  bread  made  by  the 
hands  of  anyone  else,  but  I  must  bake  it  for  him.  As  I 
kneaded,  a  green  fly  came  flying  round  in  front  of  my 
eyes.  I  closed  my  eyes  and  waved  my  hand  to  drive  it 
away,  and  I  know  nothing  more  but  that  I  found  myself 
back  in  my  house  at  Jampur." 

And  so  the  Mochi  and  Samri  lived  happy  together,  and 
Muhabbat  Khan  was  left  at  Kilat. 

XVH. 
KiSMAT  Pari. 

A  king  who  was  childless,  and  asked  for  the  prayers  of 
holy  men,  was  told  by  one  of  them  to  send  his  wife  to  the 
bank  of  the  river,  and  let  her  sit  there  and  pray,  and  God 


Balochi  Tales.  521 

would  grant  him  a  son.  So  the  king  said  to  his  wife  : 
"  Go  and  sit  for  a  night  on  the  river-bank  ;  perchance 
God  may  grant  our  desire."  The  queen  went  out  and  sat 
by  the  river-side,  and  as  she  sat  and  as  she  prayed  a  white- 
bearded  man^  came  forth  from  the  waters  of  the  river,  and 
clapped  her  on  the  back  with  his  hand,  and  said  :  "  Go 
hom.e  and  be  happy ;  God  will  give  you  a  son."  The 
queen  went  home,  and  in  full  time  she  conceived  and  bore 
a  son.  After  several  years,  the  prince  grew  up,  and  by 
day  he  used  to  go  out  to  hunt,  and  in  the  evening  he 
would  take  the  air  in  the  garden.  One  day,  while  wander- 
ing round,  he  heard  a  splashing  sound,  as  if  some  one  was 
bathing  in  the  pond.  Coming  closer  up,  he  saw  a  Pari 
who  had  been  bathing,  and  was  putting  on  her  clothes. 
The  prince  said,  "  Who  are  you  ?"  and  she  replied,  "  I  am 
a  Pari.  My  name  is  Kismat  Pari"  ;  and,  saying  this,  she 
spread  her  wings  and  flew  away  towards  the  sky.  The 
prince  came  home  and  said  nothing,  but  lay  down  to  rest. 
Some  days  after  the  Wazir  said  to  the  king,  "  Why  is 
your  son  so  sad  ?"  The  king  sent  for  his  son  and  asked 
what  was  the  matter  with  him  ;  but  the  prince  only  said, 
"  Oh,  Kismat  Pari !"  Not  another  word  would  he  say. 
Then  the  king  said  :  "  There  is  a  faqlr  who  lives  outside 
the  town  ;  he  will  tell  you  about  her."  The  prince  went 
out  to  where  the  faqlr  lived,  and  found  him  with  little 
boys  playing  all  round  him.  Some  were  jumping  over 
him,  and  others  pushing  him,  and  others  pulling  him  by 
the  ear.  The  prince  stood  there  and  said  nothing.  The 
faqlr  said,  "  Prince,  why  don't  you  come  and  play  with  me 
like  the  others  ?"  But  the  prince  only  said,  "  Oh,  show 
me  Kismat  Pari."  Then  the  faqlr  pointed  with  his  hand 
and  said,  "  Do  you  see  that  town  ?"  The  prince  looked 
in  that  direction,  and  a  town  became  visible  to  him. 
Then  the  faqlr  said,  "  Go  there"  ;  and  the  prince  started 
off  It  was  a  long  way  off,  though  the  faqlr,  by  his  magic, 
had  made  it  appear  near  ;  and  it  took  him  eight  days  to 

^  This  is  Kliwaja  Khizr,  the  river-saint  of  the  Indus. 


522  Balochi  Tales. 

get  there.  He  went  wandering  round  till  he  came  to 
a  garden,  and  in  the  garden  he  saw  a  bed,  and  bedding 
spread  out  upon  it.  The  prince  lay  down  on  the  bed  and 
went  to  sleep.  Now  that  bed  belonged  to  Kismat  Pari. 
She  came  up  and  saw  a  man  sleeping  on  her  bed.  She 
woke  him  up,  and  said,  "  Who  are  you,  sleeping  on  my 
bed .''"  The  prince  said  :  "  I  am  the  son  of  a  king." 
Kismat  Pari  was  delighted  at  hearing  this,  and  said  : 
"  I  made  a  vow  that  I  would  marry  the  man  who  came 
and  lay  down  on  my  bed.  Now  I  am  very  happy,  because 
a  king's  son  has  come,  and  I  will  marry  you."  She  went 
to  her  father  and  mother,  and  demanded  that  they  should 
marry  her  to  the  prince  at  once.  But  they  said  :  "  We 
will  not  marry  you  to  him,  for  these  mortals  have  but 
a  short  life,  while  we  Paris  live  for  two  thousand  years." 
Kismat  Pari  said  :  "  I  made  a  vow  I  would  marry  no 
other  ;  but  her  father  replied,  "  But  I  say,  and  your  mother 
says,  that  we  will  never  give  you  to  him."  Kismat  Pari 
said  :  "  I  am  ready  to  marry  him  according  to  the  law  of 
the  Kuran  :  it  is  not  for  you  to  stop  me.  Come  with  me, 
and  let  us  go  before  the  Prophet  and  obtain  a  judgment 
from  him.  If  the  Prophet  permits  me,  I  will  marry  him  ; 
and  if  he  does  not  permit  me,  I  will  not  marry  him."  Her 
father  said  :  "  Come,  I  will  go  with  you."  So  Kismat 
Pari,  and  her  father  and  mother,  all  started  off  and  came 
before  the  Prophet's  judgment-seat ;  and  she  stated  her 
case,  and  her  parents  stated  theirs.  Just  at  that  time 
a  horse  harnessed  with  golden  trappings  came  to  the 
prince  and  stood  before  him,  and  said:  "Mount  on  my 
back,  and  I  will  show  you  a  grand  sight."  The  prince 
mounted,  and  the  horse  flew  straight  up  to  the  Prophet's 
hall  of  judgment,  and  he  saw  Kismat  Pari  and  her  parents 
standing  before  the  Prophet. 

Then  the  horse  turned  round  and  came  back  to  the  place 
he  started  from.  The  prince  alighted  and  sat  down  on  the 
bed.  Looking  up,  he  saw  that  the  horse  had  gone,  and  a 
donkey   ready   saddled    was    standing    in    its  place.     The 


B  aloe  hi  Tales.  523 

donkey  said  :  "  The  horse  showed  you  a  fine  sight,  now 
mount  on  my  back,  and  I'll  show  you  a  sight,  too."  He 
mounted  the  donkey,  and  it  flew  off  with  him  to  his  own 
father's  town,  and  there  he  got  down.  The  prince  and 
Kismat  Pari  never  met  again,  but  they  say  they  are  still 
wandering  about  the  world  looking  for  each  other. 


XVIII. 

A  Legend  of  Shah-Jehan. 

[This  and  the  following  story  are  related  of  Shah-Jehan, 
the  celebrated  Mughal  Emperor,  son  of  Jehangir  and  father 
of  Aurangzeb.  The  first  story  is  merely  an  example  of  the 
way  in  which  old  legends  attach  themselves  to  well-known 
names.  The  second  story,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  popular 
version  of  an  actual  historical  fact,  the  rebellion  of  Aurang- 
zeb against  his  father.  The  allusion  to  Nur-Jehan,  and 
the  mysterious  influence  she  had  over  her  husband,  is 
worth  notice  as  a  popular  explanation  of  the  power  she 
exercised  over  her  husband.  Shah-Jehan  is  here  substi- 
tuted for  his  father  Jehangir,  who  was  Nur-Jehan's  real 
husband.] 

A  certain  man  who  had  no  son  was  accosted  by  a  faqlr, 
who  begged  for  alms,  but  he  said  :  "  I  have  nothing  to  give 
you  ;  you  faqirs  plunder  the  country.  But  if  you  will  pray 
that  I  may  have  a  son  I  will  give  you  whatever  you  ask 
for."  The  faqlr  said  :  "  To-night  I  will  rest  at  your  house, 
and  if  I  see  anything  I  will  pray  for  you,  and  if  not,  I  will 
go  my  way."  That  night  the  faqlr  slept  there,  and  in  the 
morning  he  arose  and  said  :  "  By  the  divine  order  a  son 
will  be  born  to  you,  but  when  your  son  grows  up,  King 
Shah-Jehan  will  kill  him."  The  other  replied,  "  I  cannot 
hide  him  from  God,  but  I  can  hide  him  from  King  Shah- 
Jehan";  and  with  that  he  gave  the  faqlr  a  present,  and  he 
went  his  way. 

By  God's  mercy  a  son  was  born  to  him,  and  he  told  his 


524  Balochi  Tales. 

wife  and  her  handmaidens  to  carry  the  boy  out  into  the 
wilderness  and  make  a  dwelling-place  for  him  there.  So 
they  went  into  the  wilderness  and  dug  out  a  hollow  place 
underground,  and  there  they  made  his  home.  The  father 
having  arranged  for  their  maintenance,  left  them  there  and 
came  home. 

Some  years  passed,  and  one  day  it  so  happened  that  two 
men  had  a  dispute.  One  of  them  said  that  God  could 
only  do  to  each  man  what  was  written  upon  his  forehead 
on  the  day  of  his  birth,  and  the  other  said  that  God  was 
bound  by  no  writing,  but  could  act  according  as  He 
thought  best.  At  last  they  said  :  "  Come,  let  us  go  before 
King  Shah-Jehan,  and  get  a  decision  on  this  point."  They 
came  before  the  king,  and  cried  out:  "O  King,  judge 
between  us."  The  king  said  :  "  State  your  case,"  and  they 
told  him  all  about  their  dispute.  King  Shah-Jehan  said  to 
them  :  "  Wait  here,  while  I  go  and  wash  my  face  and  hands, 
and  say  my  prayers  ;  I  will  then  come  back  and  decide 
your  case."  The  king  took  up  a  basin  of  water  and  went 
out.  He  put  down  the  basin,  and  then  he  saw  a  most 
beautiful  bird  perched  close  by.  The  king  thought  to 
himself,  "  Before  I  wash  I  must  catch  that  bird  and  look  at 
it."  He  caught  the  bird  by  the  leg,  and  it  immediately 
soared  into  the  air  and  carried  Shah-Jehan  with  it  up 
to  the  sky,  and  at  last  descended  at  a  place  in  the  midst  of 
a  barren  wilderness.  The  bird  flew  off,  and  left  the  king 
there  bewildered.  The  king  began  to  walk  about,  and 
spied  the  tracks  of  men,  and,  following  these  tracks,  he 
came  upon  a  place  hollowed  out  under  the  ground,  and  he 
saw  a  man  sitting  there.  The  place  was  fitted  up  as  a 
dwelling-place,  with  a  bedstead  and  other  furniture.  The 
man  hailed  him  with  "  Welcome,  King  Shah-Jehan  !"  The 
king  was  astonished,  and  wondered  how  this  man,  whom 
he  did  not  know,  could  recognise  him.  The  man  again 
called  out,  "  King  !  come  in  here."  The  king  went  in,  and 
said  :  "  How  did  you  know  me  ?"  The  man  replied,  "  You 
are  my  death-angel,  and  have  come  here  to  slay  me."    The 


B  aloe  hi  Tales.  525 

king  replied,  "  Why  should  I  slay  you  ?  Have  I  any 
quarrel  with  you  ?"  The  man  then  prepared  some  food, 
and  laid  it  out,  and  they  ate  together.  Shah-Jehan  had  a 
pair  of  scissors  with  which  he  ate  his  food,  and  put  morsels 
into  his  companion's  mouth  also,  but  while  he  was  doing 
this  the  man  sneezed  and  the  scissors  ran  into  the  back  of 
his  mouth,  and  he  fell  down  dead.  The  king  was  much 
distressed  that  this  man  had  met  his  death  at  his  hands, 
and  he  immediately  came  out  of  the  underground  chamber, 
and  saw  the  same  bird  which  had  brought  him  there  stand- 
ing by.  Again  he  caught  it  by  the  leg,  and  again  it  flew 
up,  carrying  the  king  with  it,  and  put  him  down  at  his 
own  palace. 

The  basin  filled  with  water  was  lying  there,  and  the  two 
men  were  waiting  for  the  decision  of  their  dispute.  On 
seeing  the  king  they  said  :  "  O  king  !  how  is  it  that  you 
have  been  able  to  say  your  prayers  and  come  back 
again  so  quickly?"  The  king  thought  to  himself,  "  I  have 
been  carried  away  by  a  bird,  and  thrown  down  in  the 
desert,  and  I  have  killed  a  man,  and  come  all  the  way  back 
again,  and  yet  they  say,  '  How  quick  you  have  been  about 
your  prayers  !'  "  Then  he  said  to  them  :  "  What  have  you 
to  do  with  my  prayers  ?  Attend  to  your  own  suit."  On 
this  they  asked  him  for  his  decision,  and  Shah-Jehan  said  : 
"  To  every  man  that  fate  will  come  which  was  written  on 
his  first  day,"  and  so  the  suit  was  decided. 


XIX. 

Shah-Jehan  and  Aurangzeb. 

Shah-Jehan  had  a  wife  named  Nur-Jehan,^  whom  he 
loved  greatly.  Whenever  the  king  sat  down  to  deliver 
judgments  Nur-Jehan  used  to  come  and  place  her  hand  on 
the  middle  of  his  back  (and  so  influence  him).     One  day  a 

^  Nur-Jehan  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  wife  of  the  Emperor 
Jehangir.     She  is  Moore's  ''  Nourmahal''. 

VOL.  IV,  N  N 


526  Balochi  Tales. 

poor  man  came  and  complained  that  Nur-Jehan's  brother 
had  robbed  him  of  his  wife.  Shah-Jehan  ordered  two 
chaldrons  of  oil  to  be  heated  over  a  fire,  and  when  the  oil 
began  to  boil,  and  was  as  hot  as  fire,  he  sent  for  Nur- 
Jehan's  brother,  and  asked  him,  "  Did  you  carry  off  this 
poor  man's  wife  ?"  "  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  I  carried  her  off." 
Then  the  king  said  to  his  followers  :  "  Take  him  and  throw 
him  into  the  oil ;  let  him  burn."  When  this  had  been  done, 
Nur-Jehan  said  :  "  The  king  has  done  well,  in  that  he  has 
thrown  him  into  boiling  oil."  Then  the  king  said  to  Nur- 
Jehan,  "The  other  chaldron  was  prepared  for  thee,  and 
hadst  thou  said  a  word  for  thy  brother,  I  had  thrown  thee 
into  it."     That  was  a  judgment  of  King  Shah-Jehan's  ! 

Many  years  passed,  and  Shah-Jehan  had  three  sons, 
whom  he  stationed  each  in  a  separate  city.  One  day  the 
king  said  to  his  wazir :  "  Go  on  a  tour  round  the  country, 
and  see  my  sons  also,  and  report  to  me  which  of  them 
should  be  king  after  me."  The  wazir  started  off  towards 
the  town  where  the  eldest  son  was  stationed.  The  prince 
sent  out  his  army  to  meet  him,  and  received  him  honour- 
ably, and  feasted  and  flattered  him,  thinking,  "  He  may 
praise  me  to  the  king."  The  second  prince,  also,  when  the 
wazir  came  to  him,  served  him  in  every  way,  and  gave  him 
presents.  Then  the  wazir  went  off  to  Aurangzeb,  the  third 
prince.  Aurangzeb  neither  sent  out  his  troops  to  meet 
him,  nor  did  him  any  honour.  The  wazir  came  and 
alighted  outside  the  town,  and  sent  this  message  to  Aurang- 
zeb :  "  I  have  come  to  visit  you,  and  whenever  it  is  your 
pleasure  1  will  pay  you  my  respects."  Aurangzeb  sent 
back,  saying  :  "  I  will  send  for  you  myself  in  two  days." 
When  the  next  day  but  one  arrived,  Aurangzeb  had  all 
the  ground  round  his  palace  inundated,  and  he  sat  in  his 
palace  in  the  middle,  reading  the  Kuran.  Then  he  sent  to 
the  wazir  to  come  and  pay  his  respects.  The  wazir  came 
in  a  carriage  from  his  camping-ground,  and  when  he  ap- 
proached the  palace  he  had  to  get  down  and  wade  through 
the  water.     When  he  was  announced,  Aurangzeb  said:  "I 


Balochi  Tales.  527 

have  not  finished  my  reading  of  the  Kuran  yet.  He  can- 
not come  in  ;  let  him  wait."  The  staff-bearers  stopped  the 
wazir, saying:  "Prince  Aurangzeb  has  not  done  reading  the 
Kuran  yet  ;  when  he  has  finished  we  will  let  you  in."  The 
wazir  had  to  stand  in  the  mud  and  water,  and  could  not 
sit  down  for  fear  of  dirtying  his  clothes.  When  Aurangzeb 
had  had  enough  of  the  Kuran,  he  said  :  "  Let  the  wazir 
come  in."  The  wazir  came  in,  and  the  prince  took  him  by 
the  hand,  and  greeted  him,  and,  after  a  little  conversation, 
he  gave  him  his  dismissal.  The  wazir  went  by  forced 
marches,  lading  and  unlading,  to  where  King  Shah-Jehan 
was.  The  king  asked  him  which  of  the  princes  he  thought 
would  rule  after  him,  and  he  replied  :  "  Your  youngest  son, 
Aurangzeb." 

A  year  afterwards  Aurangzeb  wTOte  to  his  father,  say- 
ing :  "  I  am  at  the  point  of  death,  come  to  see  me,  for  you 
are  my  father."  Shah-Jehan  prepared  to  go  ;  saying :  "  My 
son  is  ill,  I  must  go  to  see  him."  The  wazir  said  :  "  Do 
not  go,  O  king ;  I  will  not  allow  you  to  go,  Aurangzeb  will 
seize  you."  But  the  king  said  :  "  Aurangzeb  writes  that 
he  is  very  ill,  and  at  the  point  of  death.  I  will  go  to  see 
him."  The  wazir  still  said  :  "  x'\nd  I  tell  you,  do  not  go." 
The  king  said  :  "  I  certainly  will  go."  Then  the  wazir 
said :  "  Since  you  are  not  to  be  stopped,  but  are  determined 
to  go,  give  me  a  letter  to  say  that  I  warned  you  not 
to  go,  but  you  did  not  take  my  advice."  The  king  then 
wrote  a  paper  to  this  effect,  and  gave  it  to  the  wazir, 
and  set  out.  Marching  daily,  he  arrived  at  Aurangzeb's 
town.  Aurangzeb  had  instructed  his  followers  to  say  to 
the  king,  on  his  arrival,  "Aurangzeb  is  very  ill."  On  hearing 
this,  the  king  came  to  Aurangzeb's  palace.  Aurangzeb 
directed  his  troops  to  surround  the  palace  on  all  four  sides. 
He  came  to  meet  his  father,  bringing  with  him  some  fetters 
of  gold,  and  he  said  to  his  father :  "  Put  these  fetters  on 
your  feet  respectfully,  or  I  will  have  you  killed."  Shah- 
Jehan  took  the  fetters  and  put  them  on  his  feet,  and 
Aurangzeb  kept  him  as  a  prisoner.     He  had    the   royal 

N  N  2 


528  Balochi  Tales. 

kettle-drums  beaten,  and  made  a  proclamation  that  Shah- 
Jehan  was  a  prisoner,  and  Aurangzebwas  king  of  the  land. 
So  x^urangzeb  became  king,  and  all  the  royal  army  and 
possessions  came  into  his  hands.  He  sent  for  the  wazir 
and  said  :  "  I  am  going  to  have  you  hanged,  because  you 
had  seen  me  and  knew  me,  and  yet  you  did  not  stop  the 
king,  but  allowed  him  to  come  to  visit  me."  The  wazir 
replied,  saying :  "  I  told  his  majesty  not  to  go,  but  he 
would  not  listen  to  me,  and  this  paper  which  the  king 
wrote  and  gave  to  me  will  prove  it."  Aurangzeb  read  it, 
and  then  said  :  "  There  is  no  doubt  that  you  did  warn 
him,  and  you  are  to  be  praised  for  it.  I  therefore  appoint 
you  my  wazir." 

M.  LoNGwoRTH  Dames. 


NOTES  AND  NEWS. 


The  present  is  the  last  number  of  FOLK-LORE  which 
will  appear  under  the  joint  direction  of  Messrs.  Nutt  and 
the  Society.  Henceforth  the  Journal  will  be  the  sole 
property  of  the  Society,  and  will  consist  almost  entirely 
of  the  Transactions  and  Proceedings  of  the  Society.  It 
is  intended,  however,  to  continue  the  Bibliography  on  the 
same  lines  as  at  present,  and  it  is  hoped  to  extend  the 
reviews  of  folk-lore  books, 

Mr.  Joseph  Jacobs  finding  himself  unable  by  pressure 
of  work  to  continue  the  editorship  of  FOLK-LORE,  his 
place  has  been  taken  by  Mr.  Alfred  Nutt,  who  will  be 
assisted  by  a  committee  consisting  of  the  President,  the 
Treasurer,  Miss  Roalfe  Cox,  Mr.  Jacobs,  and  Mr.  W.  F. 
Kirby.  All  communications  with  regard  to  Papers,  etc., 
should  be  sent  to  Mr.  Alfred  Nutt,  270,  Strand,  London, 
and  should  bear  on  the  envelope  or  wrapper,  "  re  FOLK- 
LORE." 

Still  another  Folk-lore  Society  has  come  into  existence 
at  the  initiative  of  Professor  Angelo  de  Gubernatis,  the 
author  of  Zoological  Mythology.  It  is  termed  Societd 
nazionale  del  Folk-lot-e  italiano,  and  has  already  a  member- 
ship roll  of  over  600.  It  is  to  publish  a  review,  Revista  delle 
Tradizioni popolari  italiane,  and  a  Biblioteca  of  independent 
treatises,  which  the  members  will  be  able  to  buy  at  a 
reduced  price.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  new  Society 
will  restrict  its  operations  to  Italy  proper,  Dr.  Pitre  doing 
all  that  is  necessary  for  Sicily. 

The  Italian  Society  has  already  set  to  work,  and  has 
been    lucky  enough   to   obtain    the    co-operation    of    the 


530  Notes  mid  News. 

Italian  Government.  Under  its  auspices  Italy  has  been 
parcelled  out  into  sections,  the  folk-lore  of  which  is  to  be 
collected  by  local  committees.  Queen  Margherita  has 
accepted  the  presidency  of  one  of  these  committees,  and  is 
now  working  submissively  under  Professor  de  Gubernatis. 
Fancy  Mr.  Asquith  issuing  the  circulars  of  the  Folk- 
lore Society,  and  the  Princess  of  Wales  reporting  to 
Mr.  Gomme! 

Among  forthcoming  folk-tale  collections  is  one  of  great 
interest  to  the  student  of  Celtic  folk-literature.  Mr.  Lar- 
minie's  Irish  folk-tales  (E.  Stock)  have  been  directly 
collected  from  the  folk  ;  the  Irish  text  is  transcribed 
phonetically,  and  the  translation  aims  at  reproducing  all 
the  characteristic  features  of  the  original. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gomme's  Dictionary  of  British  Gaines 
will  be  a  larger  work  than  was  at  first  anticipated,  and  will 
appear  in  two  volumes,  the  first  of  which  will  be  issued 
early  in  1894. 


Among  the  journals  noticed  in  our  bibliographical  sum- 
mary from  time  to  time,  the  Internationales  ArcJiiv  fiir 
EthnograpJiie  has  found  a  place.  It  is  published  at  Leyden 
six  times  a  year,  under  the  editorship  of  Dr.  Kern  and 
Dr.  Schlegel,  professors  at  the  University,  Dr.  Dozy,  and 
Mr.  Schmeltz,  the  learned  Curator  of  the  Ethnographical 
Museum  ;  and  contains  articles  in  Dutch,  English,  and 
German.  Two  out  of  the  three  chief  articles  in  the  present 
number  are  in  English,  that  of  Prof.  Haddon  being  of 
special  interest.  It  is  now  completing  its  sixth  year,  and 
so  far,  we  regret  to  say,  it  has  been  carried  on  at  a  loss.  The 
expense  attending  the  production  of  the  numerous  beautiful 
and  accurate  plates  and  other  illustrations  has  probably 
contributed  largely  to  this  result.  Both  the  illustrations 
and  the  letterpress  are  of  the  highest  value  to  all  who  are 
interested  in  folk-lore  researches.     The  editors  and  pub- 


Notes  and  News.  531 

Ushers  are  appealing  for  subscriptions  to  enable  them  to 
continue  the  publication.  They  desire  to  form  a  fund  by 
means  of  subscriptions  of  £2  per  annum  for  this  purpose. 
A  contribution  of  this  sum  will  entitle  every  subscriber  to 
a  copy  of  the  Archiv,  and  of  all  supplements  published 
during  the  year.  A  supplement  is  generally  published 
every  year,  varying  in  price  according  to  its  size  ;  and  to 
ordinary  subscribers  this  price  is  in  addition  to  the  cost  of 
the  Archiv.  The  ordinary  subscription  \s  £i  is.  {£l  2s.6d., 
post  free)  plus  the  supplement. 

Dr.  Krauss,  the  editor  of  Am-Urquell/\s  also  appealing 
in  a  similar  way  for  help  to  continue  that  periodical.  Its 
principal  value  to  folk-lore  students  lies  in  the  details  it 
publishes  on  the  customs  and  beliefs  of  the  various  peoples 
of  the  Austrian  Empire,  which  are  but  little  known  in 
England.  The  ordinary  annual  subscription  is  5^-.  post 
free.  Any  additional  help  to  the  special  fund  recently 
started  will  also  be  welcomed. 

We  desire  to  commend  both  these  periodicals  to  the 
notice  of  English  students.  It  would  be  a  loss  to  science 
if  they  were  to  be  discontinued.  Mr.  David  Nutt  will  be 
glad  to  take  charge  of  subscriptions,  either  to  the  periodi- 
cals themselves  or  to  the  special  funds. 


FOLK-LORE  SOCIETY, 


PROCEEDINGS   AT   EVENING   MEETINGS. 


An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  on  Wednesday,  June  21st,  at 
22,  Albemarle  Street;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme)  in  the 
chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  following  announcements  were  made  :  Death,  Mr.  J.  H. 
Plowes.     New  member,  Mr.  J.  H.  Rossall. 

Short  papers  on  "  Key  Magic",  sent  by  Miss  E.  Matthews,  and 
on  "  May  Day  at  Watford",  by  Mr.  P.  Manning,  were  read  by  the 
Secretary. 

Mr.  Leland  L.  Duncan  read  a  paper  on  "Folk-lore  in  Wills", 
and  a  discussion  ensued,  in  which  the  President,  Mr.  Baverstock, 
and  Mr.  Higgens  took  part. 

Professor  Tcheraz  then  read  his  paper  "  On  Armenian  Folk- 
lore", and  in  the  discussion  which  followed,  the  President, 
Mr.  Clodd,  Miss  Hawkins  Dempster,  Mr.  Andrews,  and  Miss 
Lucy  Garnett  took  part. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  discussion  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks 
was  accorded  to  all  who  had  read  or  sent  papers. 


An  Evening  Meeting  was  held  on  Wednesday,  November  15th, 
at  22,  Albemarle  Street;  the  President  (Mr.  G.  L.  Gomme)  in 
the  chair. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  following  announcements  were  made,  viz. :  The  resignation 
of  Mrs.  Rae,  Mr.  R.  H.  Wood,  Mr.  J.  Curtis,  Mr.  J.  C.  Miles, 
Lady  D.  Rycroft,  The  Chicago  Folk-lore  Society,  Mr.  N.  E. 
Hamilton,  and  M.  Henri  Barnes ;  and  the  election  of  the  fol- 
lowing new  members.  Miss  Goodrich  Freer,  Mr.  J.  L.  Morgan,  jun., 
Mr.  Alexander  Wood,   Prof.   Kuno  Meyer,  M.  Axel  Olrik,  Mr.  P. 


Folk-lore  Society.  533 

Merrick,  Mr.  G.  F.  Aston,  The  Aberdeen  Public  Library,   Miss 
K.  S.  Stanbery,  and  The  Meyrick  Library. 

A  note  on  "Rescuing  a  Person  from  Drowning",  by  Mr.  W.  B. 
Gerish,  was  read  by  the  Secretary. 

Mr.  E.  Sewell,  District  and  Sessions  Judge  of  Chittoor  (North 
Arcot),  read  a  note  on  some  incidents  in  two  trials  for  murder 
which  had  taken  place  before  him  in  S.  India,  and  exhibited  a 
photograph  of  a  magic  charm  for  causing  the  death  of  a  person. 

A  short  discussion  followed,  in  which  the  President,  Dr.  Gaster, 
Miss  Lucy  Broadwood,  and  Miss  Burne  took  part. 

Mr.  Fred  Fawcett  then  read  his  paper  "  On  some  of  the  Earliest 
Existing  Races  of  S.  India",  and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  paper 
some  questions  were  put  to  him  by  the  President,  Mr.  Nutt,  and 
Miss  Burne,  and  answered. 

In  the  course  of  reading  his  paper  Mr.  Fawcett  exhibited  the 
following  articles,  viz.,  a  Hindu  marriage  card,  showing  the 
trident-like  marks  of  Vishnu  ;  a  string  of  beads  ;  a  silver  orna- 
ment embossed  with  gold,  worn  by  KuUen  women  and  no  other 
caste ;  heavy  earrings ;  Kullen  bomerangs,  and  an  Australian 
bomerang  for  comparison ;  short  drawers  used  by  the  Kullens 
during  certain  festivals ;  Kullen  handkerchief  tied  round  loins  or 
head,  and  other  Kullen  cloths. 

Mr.  Nutt  then  read  his  paper  on  "  Some  recent  Utterances  of 
Mr.  Newell  and  Mr.  Jacobs",  and  a  short  discussion  ensued,  in 
which  Dr.  Gaster,  Mr.  Kirby,  Mr.  Higgens,  Mr.  Abercromby,  and 
the  President  took  part. 

Papers  by  Mr.  E.  Peacock  on  "Magpie  Folk-lore";  by  Miss 
Burne  on  "  The  5th  of  November";  and  by  Mrs.  Murray  Aynsley 
on  "  Masock",  a  game  played  by  Cinghalese  fisher-boys,  near 
Colombo,  were  also  read. 

The  Meeting  terminated  with  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  to 
Mr.  Sewell,  Mr.  Fawcett,  and  Mr.  Nutt  for  their  respective 
papers. 


FOLK-LORE  MISCELLANEA. 


Folk-lore  Items  from  North  India)i  Notes  and  Queries  (vol.  iii), 
April-June,  1893. 

Popular  Religion. 

2.  Mirzapiir.  Worship  of  Birnath. — Protector  of  cattle.  Small 
platforms,  on  which  are  one,  three,  or  five  wooden  posts  with  rude 
human  head,  on  which  oil  or  ghee  is  continually  poured.  Rice, 
milk,  and  cakes  are  also  offered.  Worship  is  always  done  in  the 
morning. 

5.  Dog-Worship. — In  W.  India  it  is  the  custom  to  feed  dogs 
as  a  sacred  duty  "each  day  in  each  month".  Crows  are  also  some- 
times fed. 

7.  Legc7id  of  the  Origin  of  the  Seven  Sub-classes  of  Sweepers  .,■&.'=>  told 
by  a  Sweeper.  (The  hero  becomes  a  Thug,  and  "every  Brahman 
traveller  he  throttled,  and  hung  his  caste-thread  on  a  holy  fig-tree".) 

43.  Fire-7naki7ig,  part  of  the  ceremonial  of  Brahmanism.  Still 
done  by  rubbing  sticks. 

44.  Jain  Rosaries,  their  make  and  meaning.  56,  57.  Rosaries 
of  snake-bones  and  other  objects,  and  their  comparative  value. 
84.  More  about  Rosaries. 

85.  Minor  Gods  worshipped  by  Hifidus  in  Mirzapur. — Amongst  many 
curious  things  is  mentioned  that  sometimes  rice  and  pulse  are  put  on 
the  head  of  the  victim  [like  Homer's  uvKo-^vTaC^.  One  deity  is 
simply  a  cloth  twisted  up  roughly  in  form  of  a  woman. 

14.  Gorakhpur.  Magahiya  Doms. — Their  two  chief  deities.  They 
offer  milk  to  snakes.  Their  only  sacred  tree  is  the  pipal,  and  no  M. 
will  pick  its  leaves.  Special  superstition  about  iron,  which  they  will 
not  use  for  certain  purposes.  Any  M.  who  breaks  open  a  house 
with  iron  is  outcast,  and  some  day  or  other  his  eyes  are  put  out. 
Mode  of  taking  a  solemn  oath  (iron,  water,  pipal  leaves,  charcoal,  a 
certain  grass,  and  a  wheel).  Subdivided  into  seven  clans,  which 
intermarry.  Each  is  headed  by  hereditary  chief,  succeeded  on  death 
by  the  eldest  male  kinsman.  It  is  a  crime  to  bring  in  a  woman  from 
an  outside  tribe.  Adoption  is  practised.  Polygamy  ;  no  polyandry  ; 
they  bury  the  dead.     (An  interesting  piece.) 


Miscellanea.  535 

46.  A  criminal  tribe  in  Madras  consecrate  their  "jemmy"  to  Perumal 
before  setting  out,  and  crave  his  aid. 

47.  Sacred  Arms  at  Amritsar. 

48.  Marriage  by  Capture  in  tJie  House  of  Taimur.  60.  Same  in 
Tibet  (and  a  trace  of  matriarchate). 

49.  Khamars. — Worship  of  Muchak  Rani,  a  small  oblong  stone, 
daubed  with  red  lead.  They  marry  it  every  three  years  (formerly  it 
was  once  a  year)  with  many  ceremonies  to  a  bridegroom  who  is 
supposed  to  reside  in  a  cave,  into  which  they  drop  it. 

53.  Two  boys'  games. 

86-94.  A  variety  of  children's  games,  with  the  rhymes  sung  at  them. 
Mention  is  made  of  the  following  curious  fact :  "  On  the  3rd  of 
Sawan  the  women  swing  each  other  as  a  sort  of  religious  ceremony." 
[Similar  to  the  alwpa  in  Greece.] 

95.  Aboriginal  houses. 

96.  Menstruation. 

97.  Details  as  to  the  Nat  tribe. 

99.  If  a  woman  loses  her  sons,  she  gets  the  nose  of  a  newborn  son 
bored,  to  pretend  he  is  a  girl.  The  nose-ring  is  worn  till  marriage, 
when  it  is  removed  by  the  bride's  mother. 

Anthropology. 

8.  Kumaun  Sorcery. — Mode  of  "medicine"  for  disease,  as  practised 
on  the  writer's  cousin.  A  formula  is  given.  The  usual  noise  is  made. 
A  light  is  lit,  and  must  be  kept  burning  during  the  whole  period  of 
treatment.  A  net  is  brought,  and  cut  bit  by  bit  by  the  family  and 
bystanders  (symbolical). 

Cow's  urine  used  for  purification  by  a  Brahman. 

9.  South  Mirzapur;  Aborigines;  Death-Ceremonies. — Trace  of  the 
deceased  shows  itself  in  the  footmark  of  a  rat  or  weasel.  Offerings 
of  food  to  deceased  spirit.  Worship  of  the  soul  of  the  deceased,  done 
(with  offerings)  in  the  family  cooking-house  (so  elsewhere).  The  Bhiii- 
yars  put  up  the  ridge-pole  of  the  house  always  on  a  Friday.  After  it 
is  put  up,  if  a  bird  sits  on  it,  or  a  crackling  noise  is  heard  in  the  wood, 
it  is  very  unlucky.  If  this  happens,  they  take  down  the  ridge-pole, 
and  will  not  use  it  again.  [Cp.  Hesiod,  Op.  742  :  fir^hk  bofiov  troiwv 
aveTrt^eaTov  icaraXenreii',  /j.rj  toi  ifpe^o^ei'rj  Kptv^rj  Xaicepvt^a  Kopivptj.l 
— Khar-wars.  No  one  sits  on  the  threshold  of  the  house,  or  touches  it 
(so  others).  At  marriages,  they  tie  on  house-doors  and  wedding-shed 
a  string  of  mango  leaves,  which,  after  the  wedding',  is  thrown  into  a 
running  stream.  In  epidemic  of  cholera  and  small-pox  they  hang 
before  the  door  an  old  shoe  or  old  broom. 

II.  A  Imonds  used  as  money. 


536  Miscellanea. 


Folk-Tales. 

15.  The  Merchant,  the  Pri7tcess,  and  the  Grateful  Animals. — Hero 
saves  animals'  lives,  who  reward  him.  Magic  ring,  with  four  attendant 
demons.  Sympathetic  plant  (life  index),  which  withers  if  the  hero 
falls  in  misfortune.  Four  tasks  for  a  suitor.  Wife's  shoe  falls  in  the 
water,  and  a  king  finding  it  falls  in  love  with  its  owner.  The  wife  is 
tricked  into  yielding  her  husband's  magic  ring.  This  is  recovered 
and  the  pair  come  together  again  by  aid  of  the  grateful  beasts. 

16.  How  the  Jackal  got  the  Weaver  married. 

1 7.  Hoiv  the  Manjhi  won  his  Wife. 

1 8.  The  Brahinan  attd  Mother  Ganges. 

61.   The  Tiger,  the  Brahmaft,  and  the  Covetous  Goldsmith. 

63.  The  Rival  Queens.  ("  Cruel  step-mother  replaced  by  cruel  co- 
wife.")     A  Nudity  spell. 

64.  The  Four  Fools  (two  versions).  Mention  of  "  birth-present" 
given  by  husband  to  wife.     The  "  Silent  Couple". 

loi.   The  Frog  a7td  the  Snake.      102.  Mr.  Good  and  Mr.  Evil. 

103.  The  White  Witch. 

104.  Variant  of  the  "Lament  for  Nothing"  (Titty  Mouse  and 
Tatty  Mouse,  Jacobs,  Eng.  F.-T,  p.  77). 

105.  How  silly  a  Woman  can  be. 

106.  The  Parrot  and  the  Mina  (a  "  cumulative  cycle,"  like  the  House 
that  Jack  Buih). 

107.  The  Prince  and  Sadliu  (contains  a  forbidden  room). 

Miscellanea. 

22.  Lucknow ;  Preservation  of  last  Tree  in  the  Groi'e. 

it\.  Charm  for  wasp-bite.      26.  For  snake-bite. 

27.  A  wild  man,  covered  with  hair,  shot  in  the  grass. 

21.  Some  jungle-tribes  dig  up  corpses  some  time  after  burial,  and 
hold  a  sort  of  wake. 

32.  Superstitions  touching  horses. 

33.  Punjab  :  Periodical  re-distribution  of  Fields. 
35.  Legend  of  Creation  of  Man. 

y].  "Apparently  a  form  of  the  Beth  Gelert  story." 
40.  Symbolic  charms  on  the  homoeopathic  principle. 

66.  Cradle  Songs  of  Hindustan. 

67.  The  Swastika. 

68.  N.-  W.P. :  Meafis  of  discovering  the  animal  form  into  which 
the  soul  of  a  deceased  human  being  migrates. 

69.  Marriage  Custom :  Manipur.  On  roof  of  parent's  house  are 
placed  earthen  pots  with  holes  cut  in  them  of  various  patterns,  vary- 
ing according  to  taste. 


Miscellanea. .  537 

71.  N.-W.P. — Barren  woman  prays  for  a  child  as  she  stands  naked 
facing  the  sun. 

75.  Those  who  die  at  Ramnagar  (near  Benares),  or  in  the  Nagadha 
country,  become  asses. 

76-83.  Proverbs  and  saws. 

Ill,  112,  114,  115.  Various  charms  and  spells,  some  consisting  of 
arrangement  of  magic  numbers. 

W.  H.  D.  Rouse. 


Smelling  in  Token  of  Affection. — This  custom  still  prevails  amongst 
the  Sinhalese,  and  takes  the  place  of  "kissing"  amongst  ourselves. 
They  emigrated  from  Bengal  to  Ceylon  about  two  thousand  years  ago, 
and,  doubtless,  brought  the  custom  with  them.  I  have  never  observed 
it  among  the  Tamils. 

W.  B.  Hope. 


FOLK-LORE  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


BOOKS. 

1893,  UNLESS   OTHERWISE  STATED. 

\English  books  published  vi  Lottdoii,  French  books  in  Paris, 
iiftless  othei'wise  mentioned?^ 

BOHNENBERGER  (K.).  Der  altindische  Gott  Varuna  nach  den 
Liedern  des  Rigveda.     Tubingen  :  Laupp. 

County  Folk-Lore.  Printed  Extracts.  No.  2 :  Suffolk.  Collected 
and  edited  by  the  Lady  E.  C.  Gurdon.  Demy  8vo.  202  pp. 
D.  Nutt. 

Earle  (A.  M.).  Customs  and  Fashions  in  Old  New  England.  8vo. 
pp.  387.     D.  Nutt. 

Contefits : — Child-Life.  Courtship  and  Marriage  Customs. 
Domestic  Service.  Home  Interiors.  Table  Plenishings.  Sup- 
plies of  the  Larder.  Old  Colonial  Drinks  and  Drinkers.  Travel, 
Tavern,  and  Turnpike.  Holidays  and  Festivals.  Sports  and 
Diversions.  Books  and  Bookmakers.  Artifices  of  Handsome- 
ness. Raiment  and  Vesture.  Doctors  and  Patients.  Funeral 
and  Burial  Customs. 

Hertz  (W.).  Die  Sage  vom  Giftmadchen.  4to.  Munich.  {Exir. 
Abh.  d.  Miinch.  Akad.  d.  Wissenschaften.) 

• .  •  The  fullest  study  ever  made  of  the  "  poisonous  leman" 
theme. 

Inwards  (R.).  Weather-Lore  :  a  collection  of  proverbs,  sayings, 
and  rules  concerning  the  weather.     Pp.  xii,  190.     Stock. 

•.•  With  bibliography  at  end,  but  no  definite  statement  of 
sources  with  each  item. 

Jacobs  (J.).  More  English  Fairy  Tales  (Nos.  44-87),  collected  and 
edited  by  J.  J.  Illustrated  by  J.  D.  Batten  (8  full-page  plates,  40 
cuts  in  the  text),  xii,  243  pp.  (pp.  215-243,  Notes  and  Refer- 
ences), cloth.     D.  Nutt. 


Folk-lore  Bibliography.  539 

Krause  (E.).  Die  Trojaburgen  Nordeuropas,  ihr  Zusammenhang 
mit  der  indogermanischen  Trojasage  von  der  entfiihrten  und 
gefangenen  Sonnenfrau  (Syrith,  Brunhild,  Ariadne,  Helena),  den 
Trojaspielen,  Schwert-  und  Labyrinthtanzen  zur  Feier  ihren  Lenz- 
befreiung.     8vo.  xxxii,  300  pp.,  26  cuts.     Glogau  :  Flemming. 

Krumbacher  (K.).  Mittelgriechische  Sprichworter.  8vo.  272  pp. 
Munich  :  J.  G.  Franz, 

• .  •  Greek  text,  with  German  translation,  critical  and  compara- 
tive commentary. 

O'DONOGHUE  (Rev.  D.).  Brendaniana  :  St.  Brendan  the  Voyager  in 
Story  and  Legend.     Cr.  8vo.     Dublin  :  Browne  and  Nolan. 

•,•  Useful,  but  uncritical  compilation.  The  author  is  un- 
familiar with  the  latest  Continental  investigations. 

OSBORN  (M.).  Die  Teufel  literatur  des  16.  Jahrh.  Berlin  :  Mayer 
und  Mullen 

Pentreath  (D.).  In  a  Cornish  Township  with  Old  Vogue  Folk, 
Illustrated  by  Percy  R.  Craft.     8vo.  pp.  243.     T.  Fisher  Unwin. 

RUNZE  (G.).  Studien  zur  vergleichenden  Religionswissenchaft.  II. 
Berlin  :  Gaertner. 

Salisbury  (J.).  A  Glossary  of  the  Words  and  Phrases  used  in 
S.E.  Worcestershire,  together  with  some  of  the  sayings,  customs, 
superstitions,  charms,  etc.,  common  in  that  district.  Cr.  8vo.  viii, 
92  pp.     J.  Salisbury. 

Sander  (F.).  Rigveda  und  Edda.  Eine  vergleichende  Unter- 
suchung  der  alten  arischen  und  der  germanischen  oder  nord- 
ischen  Mythen.     8vo.  pp.  72.     Stockholm  :  Norstedt  und  Soner. 

SCHURTZ  (H.).  Katechismus  der  Volkerkunde.  i2mo.  xiv,  370  pp., 
67  cuts.     Leipzig  :  Weber. 

Scottish  Ballad  Poetry,  edited  by  George  Eyre  Todd.  (Abbots- 
ford  Series  of  Scottish  Poets.)  Cr.  8vo.  vi,  316  pp.  Glasgow  : 
Hodge. 

•  .•  It  is  a  pity  this  otherwise  excellent  collection  should  be 
marred  by  the  inclusion  of  a  trumpery  modern  doggerel  forgery 
entitled  the  "  Bluidy  Stair". 

Stanley  (H.  M.).  My  Dark  Companions  and  their  Strange  Stories. 
Small  demy  8vo.     Illustrated.     S.  Low  and  Co. 

Vierzon  (Paul).  Le  livre  de  la  destinee.  Les  prdsages  de  bonheur 
et  de  malheur.  Ce  qu'il  faut  faire — Ce  qu'il  faut  eviter,  ou  I'art 
d'etre  heureux.     8vo.  pp.  xviii,  327.     E.  Kolb. 


540  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

JOURNALS. 

1S93,    UNLESS    OTHERWISE   STATED. 

Classical  Review,  VII,  9.  E.  S.  Sikes,  Folk-lore  in  the  Works  and 
Days  of  Hesiod. 

Eighth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1886-7.  V- 
xMindeleJ/]  A  Study  of  Pueblo  Architecture.  /.  Slez'enson,  Cere- 
monial of  Hasjelti  Dailjis  and  Mythical  Sand-Painting  of  the 
Navajo  Indians. 

Journal  of  American  Folk-lore,  xxii.  /.  Maclean,  Blackfoot  Myth- 
ology. W.  M.  Beauchampy  Onondaga  Tales;  Notes  on  Onon- 
daga Dances.  C.  A.  Eraser^  Scottish  Myths  from  Ontario. 
G.  T.  Kercheval,  An  Otoe  and  an  Omaha  Tale.  S.  Culin^ 
Exhibit  of  Games  in  the  Columbian  Exposition. 

Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  xxiii,  i.  Lieut.  Boyle  T. 
Soinerville,  R.N .,  Notes  on  some  Islands  of  the  New  Hebrides. 
E.  H.  Man,  Nicobar  Pottery.  Prof.  N.  G.  Politis,  On  the 
Breaking  of  Vessels  as  a  Funeral  Rite  in  Modern  Greece.  Rev. 
J.  Mathew,  The  Cave-Paintings  of  Australia.  G.  F.  Scott 
Elliot,  Notes  on  Native  West  African  Customs.  Z.  Decle,  On 
some  Matabele  Customs.  E.  A.  Swettenhain,  Note  on  the 
Jacoons.  /.  /.  Atkinson,  Notes  on  Pointed  Forms  of  Pottery 
among  Primitive  Peoples. 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  xiv,  3.  E.  Peacock^  Cus- 
toms for  Tithing  in  Lincolnshire. 

Report  of  the  British  Association,  1892.  Report  of  Committee  for 
Investigating  the  Ruins  of  Mashonaland  and  the  Habits  and 
Customs  of  the  Inhabitants.  English  Report  of  the  Committee 
on  the  North-Western  Tribes  of  Canada.  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Natives  of  India. 

American  Antiquarian,  xv,  2.  S.  D.  Peet,  The  Tribal  Record  in  the 
Effigies. — 4,  T.  L.  Gaertner,  The  Age  of  the  Mound- Builders. 
R.  N.  Wilson,  Blackfoot  Star-Myths.  /.  A.  Watkins,  Legend  of 
Cumberland  Mountain.  C.  N.  Bell,  Mounds  and  Relics  in  Mani- 
toba. S.  D.  Peet,  Ethnographic  Religions  and  Ancestor  Wor- 
ship.— 5.  S.  D.  Peet,  Commemorative  Columns  and  Ancestor 
Worship.    J.  Deans,  Totem  Posts  at  the  World's  Fair. 


Folk-lore  Bibliography.  541 

Melusine,  vi,  11.  G.  Doncieux,  La  Pernette.  H.  Gaidos,  L'etymo- 
logie  populaire  et  le  folklore;  Les  decorations;  Viser  et  atteindre 
I'ldole  ;  Les  vaisseaux  fantastiques  ;  Les  serments  et  les  jurons; 
Jean  de  I'Ours  ;  Bibliographie.  /.  Tzichmann,  La  fascination 
{suite).  E.  Er7tmdt,  Chansons  populaires  de  la  Basse-Bretagne. 
P.  Perdrizet,  L'herbe  de  science.  E.  de  Schotcliz-Adaievsky, 
Les  objets  egares. 

Museon,  1893,  No.  i.  Terrien  de  la  Coiiperte,  Premiere  introduction 
de  la  civilisation  occidental  en  Chine  d'apres  les  legendes  et  les 
traditions.  A.  van  Hoonaeker,  Le  voeu  de  Jephte'.  P.  Colinet, 
La  deesse  Aditi.— 2.  A.  Roussel,  Les  idees  religieuses  du  Maha- 
bharata. 

L'Anthropologie,  iv,  3.  M.  Kovalevsky,  La  Famille  matriarcale  au 
Caucase.     P.  Topinard,  L'Anthropologie  aux  Etats-Unis. 

Revue  des  Traditions  Populaires,  viii,  10.  /.  de  Lapotterie,  Jeux 
et  Fetes  des  saisons  :  1,  Les  Jeux  de  I'Esperouquere  dans  la 
Chalosse.  F.  Fertiaidt,  L'Aubade  de  la  St.-Laurent  en  Cham- 
pagne, ii.  /.  F.  Blade,  Le  portrait  de  la  maitresse  :  vi,  Version 
de  la  Gascogne.  H.  Lebrun,  Miettes  de  Folklore  parisien  : 
xxvi,  Randonnde  enfantine.  R.  Basset,  Les  villes  englouties, 
cxiii-cxxvi.  Mine.  H.  Murray- Aynsley,  Le  feu  :  ii,  Le  symbol- 
isme  du  soleil  et  du  feu.  Ch.  Beauquier,  La  Belle  au  jardin 
d'amour  :  Version  de  la  Franche-Comt^.  A.  Dido,  Contes 
estoniens  :    ii,   Analyse   de   Kreutzwald ;   iii,    Contes   estoniens. 

D.  Bottrchenin  et  P.  S.,  Les  pastiches  de  chansons  populaires, 
IV.  F.  Duynes,  Les  Pourquoi  :  Ixxxvii,  Pourquoi  Ste.-Anne  est 
patronne  des  menuisiers.  R.  Basset,  Les  empreintes  merveil- 
leuses,  xxiv-xxxix. 

La  Tradition,  June,  July,  August,  1893.  H.  Camay,  Folklore  des 
Arabes  de  I'Alge'rie,  ii.  /.  Nicolaides,  Le  Folklore  de  Constanti- 
nople, ii,  ix.     C.  de  IV.,  Les  Eddas  et  les  Sagas  scandinaves. 

E.  Maison,  Le  tribut  des  cinq  maravedis  d'or.  G.  Thomson, 
Chants  populaires  Serbes.  E.  Ozenfant,  Les  proverbes  de  Jacob 
Cats.  H.  Memi,  Les  Dictons  de  I'annee.  /.  S.,  Rimes  gasconnes. 
B.  Feratid,  Contes  provengaux.  F.  Ortoli,  Sacrifices  humains. 
A.  Harou,  Marie,  I'enfant  de  la  fe'e.  M.  Thiery,  Croyances  des 
Muongs.  Z.  Brunei,  L'ane  dans  les  Proverbes  provengaux.  H. 
Carnoy,  Les  fetes  de  Paques.  F.  de  Beaurepaire,  Chansons  du 
Quercy,  xxxiii. 

Revue  Archeologique,  May,  June.  S.  Reinach,  Les  monuments  de 
pierre  brute  dans  le  langage  et  les  croyances  populaires. 

Revue  de  I'Histoire  des  Religions,  xxviii,  i.  L.  Knappert,  De  I'etat 
actuel  des  etudes  sur  la  mythologie  germanique. 


VOL,  IV. 


O  o 


542  Folk-lore  Bibliography. 

Archivio,  xii,  2.  G.  Gia/mini.,  Le  Befanate  del  Contado  Lucchese. 
M.  Carmi,  Canti  pop.  Emiliani.  M.  Di  Martino^  Sfruottuli, 
aneddoti  pop.  Siciliani.  G.  Ferraro,  II  Culto  degli  Alberi  nell' 
Alto  Monferrato.  M.  Razzi,  Le  Corse  di  Siena.  G.  Pitre^  II 
Mastro  di  Campo.  P-  Nurra,  Canti  pop.  in  dialetto  Sassarese. 
A.  Lumbroso,  Alcuni  soprannomi  pop.  negli  Eserciti  del  primo 
Impero  Napoleonico.  G.  Di  Giovanni,  Aneddoti  e  spigolature 
folklor.  Dragomanov,  "  Un  uomo  bruciato  e  poi  regenerate," 
legende  serbo-croate.  V.  Cian,  La  Poesia  popolaresca  nella 
Storia  letteraria.  G.  Di  Mattia,  San  Paolino  III  e  la  secolare 
festa  dei  Gigli  in  Nola. — 3.  G.  Ungarelli,  De'  Giuochi  pop. 
e  fanciuUeschi  in  Bologna.  G.  Ferraro,  II  Fuoco.  G.  Pitre,  La 
Befana  in  Italia.  C.  Merkel,  Due  Leggende  intorno  a  Beatrice 
Cenci.  M.  Di  Martino,  Leggende  Siciliane  sul  Diavolo.  A. 
Mocci,  Canti  bambineschi  Sardi.  La  Fattura  in  procedimento 
penale  in  Palermo.  F.  Valla,  Le  dodici  Parole  della  Verita. 
G.  Dumontier,  Une  Cendrillon  Annamite.  L.  D'Amato,  Canti 
pop.  Molisani  di  Montechiaro.  G.  Bellucci,  Saggio  di  Canti  pop. 
Romagnoli.  G.  Pitre,  Del  Contrasto  pop.  Siciliano  "  Li  multi 
voci''.     St.  Prato,  Le  dodici  Parole  della  Veritk. 

Beitraege  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Sprache  und  Literatur,  xviii,  i. 
Detter,  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Ynglingasaga.  E.  H.  Meyer, 
Hercules  Saxanus.  F.  Kauffmann,  Germanische  Mythologie  in 
den  romischen  Inschriften  (Dea  Hludana,  Deus  Requalivahanus). 
Detter,  Die  Siegfriedsage. 

Internationales  Archiv  fiir  Ethnographie,  vi,  4,  5.  Prof.  Dr.  H.  H. 
Giglioli,  Notes  on  the  Ethnographical  Collections  formed  by  Dr. 
Elis  Modigliani  in  Sumatra  and  Engano.  Prof.  A.  C.  Haddon^ 
The  Secular  and  Ceremonial  Dances  of  Torres  Straits.  Prof. 
Dr.  W.  Joest,  AUerlei  Spielzeug. 

Mittheilungen  der  anthropologischen  Gesellschaft  in  Wien,  xxiii,  4-5. 
Freiherr  v.  Loeffclholz,  Die  Zoreisch-Indianer  der  Trinidad-Bai 
(Californien).  Dr.  R.  Meringer,  Studien  zur  germanischen  Volks- 
kunde,  II. 

Niederlausitzer  Mittheilungen,  iii,  1-2.  Schwartz,  Sagen  und  Brauche. 

Zeitschrift  fiir  deutsche  Philologie,  xxvi,  i.  O.-L.  firiczek,  Island- 
ische  Mythen  und  Sagen  des  15.  und  16.  Jahrhunderts.  H. 
Gering.,  Die  Merseburger  Spriiche. 

Zeitschrift  fur  deutsches  Alterthum,  xxvii,  i.  R.-M.  Meyer,  Der 
eddische  Bericht  von  der  WeUschopfung.— 3.  Koegel,  Beowulf. 

Wiener  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Kunde  des  Morgenlandes,  vii,  3.  G.  van 
Vloten,  Demonen,  Geister  und  Zauberspriiche  bei  den  alten 
Arabern. 


INDEXES. 


SUBJECT-INDEX. 


Abduction  of  Samri,  Balochi  tale,  518-20 
Abercromby,    Hon.    J.,  Chicago   Folk- 
lore Congress  of  1893,  34S"8  I    Magic 
Songs  of  the  Finns,  v,  27-49 

Review  of  Prof.  Comparetti  on 

Kalevala,  102-5 
Aberdeenshire,  First-footing  in,  315-22 
Abererch,  sacred  well  near,  63 
Abergele,  sacred  well  near,  57 
Abstract  qualities  personified  in  Balochi 

folk-tale.  298 
Afterbirth   of   sheep,  superstition   con- 
nected with,  5 
Ale,  spiced,  on  New  Year's  Day,  315 
Ales,  mentioned  in  medireval  wills,  513- 

14 

Aller,  John,  legend  about,  399 

Alsace,  folk-tales  from,  99 

Animal,  helpful,  276 

Animal  mother,  276 

Animals,  language  of,  in  Sz6kely  folk- 
tale, 344 

Annual  Address  by  President,  1-26 

Annual  Report  of  Council,  112-18 

Annual  Meeting  in  Provinces,  115 

Anthropological  method  of  folk-tale  re- 
search, 282 

Apples,  bobbing  for,  362 

Archaism  in  folk-tales,  438  et  seq. 

Arthurian  saga,  Welsh  element  in,  385  ; 
Loth's  criticism  of  Zimmer's  views  on, 
384-85  ;  factors  in  Arthurian  problem, 
385-86 

Assignation  by  signs  in  folk-tales,  287 

Balance-Sheet     of    Folk-lore     Society, 

1892,  118 
Balder    myth     and    the     Pace-egg    or 

Easter  play,  156-58 
Balfour,  Mrs.,  on  Bogles  and  Ghosts, 

107 
Balochi  Tales,    by  M.   L.    Dames,   iii, 

285-302  ;  iv,  518  ei  seq. 
"  Bare  Bull  of  Orange,"  325 
Barvas,  Lewis,  wall  dormitories  in,  19 
Barlaam  and  Josaphat,  Armenian  ver- 
sion of,  96 
Baxters  or  bakers  at  first-footing,  311 
Bear,  Great,  Finnish  myth  about,  44 
Beli  Mawr,  Zimmer's  theory  concerning, 

383 
Bewitched  butter,  180-81 


Bhuta  =  malignant    vampire-like  ghost 

in  South  India,  217-18 
Bogles  and  Ghosts,  107 
Bones  as  talismans  in  South  Indies,  216 
"  Boroma"  Irish  saga,  variations  in  text 

of,  373 
Borrowing  theory,  12,  449-50 
Braemar,  wedding  custom  at,  318 
Bride,  cup  borne  before,  515 
Bridgend,  sacred  well  near,  55 
Brittany,  incidents  and  folk-tales  of,  92 
Broadwood,    Miss    L.    E. ,   on    Lenten 

custom  in  South  Italy,  390 
Brugh,  tumuli  at,  370 
Bryncroes,  sacred  well  near,  61 
Burial  customs  of  prehistoric  population 

of  Dorset  and  Wilts,  244 
Buried  treasure  in  ancient  Iceland,  231 
Bush-carrier  in  May-Day  festivities,  51 

Cairn  for  murdered  person,  357 
"  Cap  o'  Rushes"  story,  279 
Carrickfergus,    mother's  custom    anent 

last  breast,  8 
Carolina,  negro  legends  of,  96 
Casual  theory  of  folk-tale  resemblances, 

280,  449 
Cat  as  first-foot,  320 
Catskin,  story  of,  272,  277  ;  Goldsmith 

knew  it,  278 
Celtic    Myth   and   Saga,    A.    Nutt   on, 

365-87 
Celtic  variants  of  Cinderella,  273,  275, 

276 
Ceremonial  union  with  god,  root  idea 

of  pin  and  rag-offering,  469  ei  seq. 
Chaff"  in  Eyes,  origin  of,   Finnish  magic 

song  about,  41 
Chained  Images,  Miss  Godden  on,  108; 

Major  Temple  on,  in  Burma,  247 
Changelings,  358 
Cheltenham,  May-Day  in,  50-54 
Chicago  Folk-lore  Congress,  345-48 
Child-exposure  in  heathen  Iceland,  231 
Children's  burial-ground  in  Ireland,  351 
Chimney  sweeps,  connection  with  May- 
Day,  53 
Christmas  plays,  119 
Cinderella   and  Armenian   Mythology, 
96;  in   Britain,  A.    Nutt  on,   133-41; 
J.  Jacobs  on,  269-84;  and  the  Diffu- 
sion of  Tales,  A.   Lang,  415-33  ;  Mr, 


544 


Ind, 


c.w 


Newell's  and  Mr.  Jacobs'  views  on, 
criticised,  434-50  ;  Cinderella  problem 
defined,  140  ;  classification  of  English 
forms  of,  274 

Cinderella  shoe  incident  in  India,  536 

Clouston,  W.  A.,  on  drinking  the 
moon,  124  ;  on  Mahabharata  form  of 
melted  images  superstition,  256;  on 
smelling  the  head,  256-57 

Codrington,  R.  W. ,  Melanesian  folk- 
lore, 509-12 

Coffey,  J.,  views  on  the  Brugh  tumuli 
discussed,  370-71 

"  Colloquy  of  Ancients,"  Irish  Ossianic 
saga,  378 

Combat  between  Father  and  Son, 
legends  about,  87 

Comparetti,  Prof.  D. ,  on  the  Kakvala, 
102-5 

Congress  Transactions,  81-9  ;  Chicago, 
345-48 

Connaught,  love-songs  of,  386 

Connemara,  folk-lore  in,  357 

Continuity  of  custom,  10,  17 

Convention  in  folk-literature,  440-41 

County  folk-lore,  collection  of,  25,  112- 
14  ;  list  of  counties  taken  up,  113 

Couvade  in  Ireland,  357 

Crowbridge,  white  horse  at,  122 

Cow  Mass,  by  E.  Peacock,  303-8 

Cox,  Miss  Roalfe,  Cinderella  variants 
analysed  by,  269 

Craigie,  W.  A.,  on  Oldest  Icelandic 
folk-lore,  219-32 

Crombie,  J.  E. ,  on  First-footing  in  Aber- 
deenshire, 315-22 

Cuchulainn  Setanta,  first  name  of,  71 

Curiosity  in  folk-tale,  324 

Cycle  of  ritual  worship,  108 

Daedala,  myth  of,  compared  with  folk- 
tale of  False  Bride,  142-47 
Dames,  M.    L. ,  on  Balochi  Tales,  285- 

302,  518  f/  seq. 
Dark  first-foot  lucky,  309 
Dead  kindred,  fear  of,  16 
Death,  carrying  out,  109 
Death,  old  Icelandic  beliefs  concerning 

life  after,  221-2 
Death-omen  in  ancient  Iceland,  230-31 
Death-tokens  from  Droitwich,  258 
Degradation  in  folk-lore,  7,  436-42 
Devil-siones,    round,    in    South    India, 

216-17 
Dinnshenchas,     largely     translated    in 
Silva  Gadelica,  377  ;    25  articles  of, 
edited    and    translated    by    Whitley 
Stokes,  471-97  ;  index  to  place-names 
cited  in  497 
Deluge  myth,  Andree  upon,  92 
Dreams  in  ancient  Iceland,  229 
Dris   and   his  Forty  Children,    Balochi 

folk-tale,  293 
Drowned  body,  Norfolk  belief  concern- 
ing. 258 


Duncan,  L,  L. ,  Folk-lore  from  Leitrim, 
176-194  ;  Folk-lore  in  Wills,  513-17 

Dunkirk,  Cow  Mass  at,  304 

Dwarfs  in  the  East,  401  ;  in  the  West, 
402 

Earthly  Paradise,  work  on,  93 
Edinburgh,  First-footing  in,  309-14 
Elian's  Well,  near  Abergele,  57,  73 
Ellis,  Alexander,  an  Obeah  man,  211-12 
Erris,   co.    Mayo,    marriage-custom  in, 

123 
Erysipelas,  folk-remedy  for,  350 
Ethnographic  survey,  114 
European  fairy-tales,  Indian  origin  of, 

89,  449 
External  Soul,  91 
Extraordinary     comrades    in     Balochi 

folk-tales,  301 

Fairies,  origin  of,  352 

Fairy-story,  Irish,  352-54 

Faithful  John  in  Balochi  folk-tale,  293 

False  Bride  and  myth  of  Dtedala,  142- 
47 ;  and  Indo-European  marriage- 
customs,  146-47 ;  connection  with 
May-bride  rites,  145 

Fear-Gorta  =  hungry  man,  in  Leitrim, 
183 

Y  inns.  Magic  Songs  of,  27-49 

Fire,  godfather  of,  33 

Fire,   origin   of,    Finnish  songs   about, 

30-35 

First-footing  in  Scotland,  309-114;  in 
Aberdeenshire,  315-22 

Flight  from  Egypt  in  Cow-Mass  pro- 
cession, 307 

Folk-drama,  English,  possible  archaic 
origin  of,  149-75 

Folk-lore,  local  study  of,  3 

Folk-medicine  in  Ireland,  350-53 

Folk-tale  incidents,  list  of,  83,  92 

Folk-tale  map,  82 

Folk-tale  Research,  report  on,  by  E.  S. 
Hartland,  80-101 

Folk-tales,  savage  elements  in,  270-71 

Forty  sons  at  a  birth  in  Balochi  folk- 
tale, 295 

Fre;  circuit  of  youth  (droit  du  seigneur), 

3 '4 
Frost,  origin  of,   Finnish   magic  songs 
about,  46-8 

Gaidoz,  M.    H.,   on    pin-offerings,    463 

et  seq. 
Garments  as  offerings  at  sacred  wells, 

58,  451-70 
Gaster,  Dr.,  remarks  on  Sz^kely  tales, 

328-29 
Gaye,  Miss  P.,  on  Sz^kely  tales,  i,  328- 

44 
Gefjun  myth  and  the   Plough-Monday 

play,  163-65 
Genius,  the,  Sz6kely  folk-tale,  331-39 
Geographical  distribution  of  folk-lore,  2q 


Index. 


545 


Gerish,  W.  B. ,  on  Key  Magic,  391;  a 

Norfolk   belief  concerning    drowned 

bodies,  258-59 
Gesture  language  in  folk-tales,  287 
Glamorganshire,  sacred  wells  in,  56 
Glasfryn  Lake,  legend  about,  73 
"Glass   Mountain"    folk-tale  (=  Black 

Bull  o' Norroway),   190-94;  Miss  M. 

Peacock  on,  322-27 
Godden,  Miss  G.  M. ,  Chained  Images, 

108-9 ;      the    False     Bride,     142-48  ; 

Sanctuary  of  Mourie,  408-508 
Good  Friday  Wastell  bread,  515 
Good  people  =  fairies,  in   Leitrim,   177- 

80 
Gnomes,  flying,  400 
God,   anthropomorphic  ideas  about,  in 

Balochi  folk-tale,  299 
Godfather  and  godmother  of  fire,  33 
Goldsmith  on  Catskin,  278 
Gomme,    G.    L.,   Annual   Address    as 

President,  1-26 
Gospel  problem  one  of  tradition,  272 
Grass  brought  in  as  first-foot,  316 
Grateful  snake  in  Sz^kely  folk-tale,  340 
Graves    marked    by   white  pebbles   in 

Scotland,  14 

Haddon,  Prof.  A.  C,  review  of  work 
by  Troitzky,  105  ;  marriage- mask,  co. 
Mayo,  124 ;  batch  of  Irish  folk-lore, 

349-64 

Hare,  Easter,  119 

Hartland,  E.  S. ,  Report  on  Folk-tale 
Research,  1892, 80-101;  on  Sin-Eaters, 
106  ;  Pin-Wells  and  Rag- Bushes,  new 
theory  of,  451-470  ;  Review  of  General 
Pitt-Rivers'  Bokerly  and  IVansdyke, 
239-48 

Harvest  custom  in  Pembrokeshire,  123 

Hastie,  G.  ,on  First-footing  in  Scotland, 
309-14 

Helpful  animal  in  Cinderella,  276 

Hera,  rites  of,  108 

History,  European,  from  folk-lore  stand- 
point, 442-45 

Hock  Monday  torch,  517 

Hoggan,  Dr.  F.  ,on  Welsh  folk-lore,  122 

Hole-in-his-Back,  Melanesian  tale,  511- 
12 

Holidays  in  Scotland,  311 

Hope,  Miss  G. ,  on  Sin-Eater,  392 

Horn  dance,  172-75 

Horse,  magic,  66  ;  sacred,  6 

Iberians,  relics  of,  in  folk-lore,  72 

Iceland,  oldest  folk-lore  of,  219-32  ; 
index  to  folk-lore  terms,  232 

Images,  chained,  MissGodden  on,  108  ; 
Major  Temple  on,  249 

Images,  wax,  melted  with  injurious  in- 
tent, in  Mahabharata,  256 

Immuring  alive  in  Madras,  259-61  ;  of 
twins  in  Mashonaland,  262 

incidents,  folk-tale,  83,  92 


Indian  Fairy  Tales,  89,  94 
Indian  folk-lore  items,  397,  536 
Indian  origin  of  folk-tales,  89,  270,  449 
Innisbofin,  co.  Gahvay,  belief  in  fairies, 

etc.,  350 
International  Folk-lore  Congress,  review 

of  transactions,  byMr.  Hartland,  81-98 
Ireland,  folk-medicine  in,  350  ;  Viking 

era  in,  367  ;  topographical  legends  of, 

471-97 
Irish  folk-lore,  batch  of,  by  Prof.  A.  C. 

Haddon,  349-64 
Irish  epic  romance,  origin  and  date  of, 

.366    . 
Irish  Literary  Society,  iii 

Jack  and  King,  folk-tale  of  (lying  story), 
188-190 

Jacobs,  J.,  on  Cinderella  in  Britain,  269- 
84  ;  views  concerning  Cinderella  criti- 
cised by  A.  Lang,  413-33;  by  A. 
Nutt,  434-50;  discussion  of  the  term 
"  the  folk",  235-38  ;  review  of  his 
contributions  to  Congress  vol. ,  and  of 
"  Indian  Fairy  Tales", by  Mr.  Hartland, 
81-91 

Jatakas,  go,  106 

Jevons,  F.  B. ,  on  Italian  Animism,  criti- 
cised by  Mr.  Gomme,  17 

Judgment  of  Solomon,  15 

Kakvala,  Prof.  Coniparetti  on,  102-5 

Kern  baby,  119 

Key  Magic,  by  W.  B.  Gerish,  391 

Kismat  Pari,  Balochi  tale,  520-23 

Kohler,  Dr.,  vote  of  condolence  on 
death  of,  119 

Krohn,  Dr.  K. ,  a  geographical  study  of 
folk-lore,  20 

Kurumbars  of  Nilgiri  district,  supersti- 
tions of,  214-15 

Land-spirits  in  Old  Iceland,  228 
Lang,  A.,  views  on  Transmission,  280; 
discussion  on  Cinderella  and  Diftusion 
of  Tales  in  answer  to  Mr.  Jacobs,  413- 
31  ;  priority  over  Mr.  Farrer,  431 
Language  of  animals  in   Sz^kely  folk- 
tales, 344 
Lata,  Melanesian  tale  of,  509-11 
Law-Courts,  origin  of,    Finnish    magic 

song  about,  41 
Lear  story,  source  of,  279 
Legends  of  submergence,  72,  259 
Leiuster,  Book  of,  Irish  saga  in,  367 
Leitrim,  folk-lore  from,  174-94 
Lenten   Custom    in   South    Italy,    MifS 

Broad  wood  on,  390 
Lepracaun,  180 

Literature  and  the  folk-spirit,  447 
Llancarvan,  sacred  well  near,  56,  78 
Llangelynin,  sacred  well  near,  59 
Llangybi,  sacred  well  near,  63,  78 
Lleyn,  sacred  well  in,  61 


546 


Index. 


Loth,  M.,  on  Zinimer,  384-85 
Loving  like  salt  incident,  279 

Maclean,  Hector,  death  of,  365 

Magic  Fiddle,  story  of,  among  Santals, 

95. 
Magic  watch  in  Sz^kely  folk-tale,  331 ; 

flight  in  same,  334  ;  bridge,  336 
Map  of  folk-tales,  82 
Magic,    old    Icelandic,    224-27 ;     West 

Indian  and  Southern  Indian,  208-18 
Magic  Songs  of  the  Finns,  by  Hon.  J. 

Abercromby,  27-49 
Marcros,  sacred  well  near,  56 
Marriage-mask   from    Ireland,    2,    119, 

124 
Marriage  and  common  residence,  21,  22 
May-Day  in  Cheltenham,  by  W.  H.  D. 

Rouse,  50-54;  at  Watford,  403 
May-bride,    the,    and   the   False   Bride 

folk-tale,  145 
May-poles  in  Germany,  54 
Measurement  of  survival,  4 
Melanesian  Folk-tales,  509-12 
Mice,  king  of,  in  Szt^kely  folk-tale,  338 
Minister  as  first-foot,  319 
Miraculous  Birth,  legends  about,  87 
Miraculous  cure,  297 
Moon,  drmking  the,  124 
Monaciello  of  Naples,  401 
Money  not  paid  on  Handsel  Monday, 

358 
Monseur,  M.  Eug. ,  on  pin-trees,  463 
Morgan,  name  of,  69 
Mother-right,  survivals  of,  23 
Mourie,  sanctuary  of,  at   Loch  Maree, 

453"S4>  498-508 
Mouse-nibbling,    letter   by   W.    H.   D. 

Rouse,  156 
Musters,  Mrs.  Ch. ,  on  Plough  Monday 

observance,  166-67 
Mynydd  Mawr,  tradition  of  the  origin  of 

the  well,  64 
Myth,  Celtic,  A.  Nutt  on,  365-87 
Myth,  historical  value  of,  88 

Naxos,  superstitions  from,  257 

Neck- feast,  123 

Negro  legends  of  Carolina,  97 

Nennius,  Prof  Zimmer  on,  380  et  seg. 

Neptune  in  Cow-Mass  procession,  307 

New  Grange,  tumuli  at,  369 

New  Machar,  first-footing  in,  316,  318 

New  Year's  Day  in  Scotland,  312 

New  Year's  Day,  loaves  distributed  on, 
122 

Newell,  views  on  Cinderella  and  folk- 
tale development  criticised,  434-50 

Nilgiri  Hills,  prehistoric  remains  in,  and 
superstitions  of,  213  ct  stq. 

Nine  articles  of  clothing  thrown  on 
women  after  childbirth,  358 

North  Indian  Notes  &^  Q7ieries,  folk- 
lore items  from,  397,  536 

Nostrums  for  conception,  285,  520-21 


Nut-burning  as  anti-spell,  362 
Nutt,  A.,  on  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga, 
365-87;  on  Cinderella  in  Britain,  133- 
41  ;  criticism  of  Mr.  Newell  and  Mr. 
Jacobs,  434-50  ;  sketch  of  European 
history  from  folk-lore  standpoint,  442- 
46 

Oath   not   taken   of  pregnant  women, 

357 
Oaths,  efficacy  of,  in  Irish  legend,  379 
Obeah-worship  in  East  and  West  Indies, 

207-18 
Offa  stories,  136-37 

O'Grady,    S.    H.,    Silva   Gadelica  re- 
viewed, 371-80  ;  views  on  Irish  saints 
legends,  379 
Opposition,  principle  of,  22 
Orange,  Bull  of,  igo-94,  325 
Ordeal  by  fire  in  Balochi  folk-tale,  291 
Ordish,  T.  F. ,  on  English  Folk-drama, 

149-75 
Origins,  Finnish  magic  songs  about,  27- 

49 
Ossian,  animal  parentage  of,  377 

Pace-egg  or  Easter-play,  153-56 
Papers  read  at  Evening  Meetings,  1891- 

92,  116,  119-21,  253-55,  532 
Para9uraraa,  story  of,  parallel  to  Irish 

story  of  Tuirbe,  488-89 
Paton,  W.  R. ,  on  Naxian  superstitions, 

257 
Peacock,  E. ,  on  the  Cow-Mass,  303-8 
Peacock,  Miss  M. ,  on  Glass  Mountain, 

322-27 
Pembrokeshire,  harvest  custom  in,  123 
Peredur  and  Sigurd,  386 
Pied  Piper  in  England,  447-8 
Pin-offering  for  marriage,  455 
Pin- Wells  and  Rag-Bushes,  Mr.  Hart- 
land  on,  451-70 
Plough-Monday  play,  164-75 
Polyphemus  in  England,  448 
Powell,    F.    York,    review   of  work  by 

Sander,  388 
Pregnancy  amulets,  467 
Priest  as  first-foot,  319 
Priesthood  of  wells,  74 
Prince  promised  to  demon,  285 
Prince  Goatherd  and  Naina  Bai,  Balochi 

tale,  285 
Principles  of  folk-lore,  3 
Proceedings  at  Evening  Meetings,  119- 

21.  253-55,  532 
Procession  at  Dunkirk,  306 
Programme  of  Session  of  F.-L.  Society 

for  1893-4,  394 
Publications  of  Folk-lore  Society,  118 
Puhkis,  Lettish  legends  about,  93 

Rags  tied  on  trees,  55,  451  et  seg. 
Rathen,  funeral-custom  at,  320 
Rationalisation  of  legend,  65 
Red-haired  first-foot  unlucky,  363 


Index. 


M 


Red-haired  men,  Mr.  Rouse  on  Egyptian 
dislike  of,  247 

Report,  Annual,  of  Council,  112-18 

Rhys,  Prof.  J.,  on  Sacred  Wells  in 
Wales,  55-79 

Riviera,  folk-tales  from,  98 

Robinson,  Mrs.,  on  West  Indian 
Obeahs,  207-13 

Rouse,  W.  H.  D. ,  on  May-Day  in 
Cheltenham,  50-54  ;  letter  on  mouse- 
nibbling,  106  ;  folk-lore  items  from 
A^.  Indian  N.  b'  Q. ,  396,  536  ;  on  red- 
haired  men  in  Egypt,  249  ;  on  carni- 
val mask  and  trumpet  from  Italy,  253  : 
a  death-token  from  Droitwich,  258 

Rowan  as  anti-spell,  320 

Rust  in  Corn,  origin  of,  Finnish  magic 
song  about,  41 


St.  Christopher,  popular  in  France,  303 
St.  Edmundsbury  white  bull,  9 
St.    George   element    in    English    folk- 
drama,  150-53 
St.  John's  Day,  304,  305 
St.  John's  Night  bonfire,  516 
St.    Michael  in   Cow-Mass   procession, 

306 
St.  Teilo's  Well,  75 
St.  Thomas'  Night  bonfire,  516 
Sacred   Wells    in   Wales,    by    Prof.    J. 

Rhys,  55-79 
Salmon,  woman  transformed  into,  66 
Salt,    origin    of,    Finnish    magic    song 

about,  42 
Salves,  origin  of,  Finnish  magic  songs 

about,  42-6 
Samoa,  transmission  of  folk-tales  to,  84, 

418 
Savage  elements  in  folk-tales,  270,  271, 

282,  438  et  seq. 
Schepers  on  pin-trees,  454 
Schulz,  Albert,  death  of,  366 
Sebillot's,  M.,  folk-tale  incident  inde.x, 

92 
Shah-Jehan,  Balochi  tale  about,  523 
Shamanism  among  Finns,  102-3 
Silence  tabu,  61 
Sin-Eater,    Miss   Hope  on,   392 ;    Mrs. 

Murray-.\ynsley  on,  398 
Skull  used  to  drink  with,  75 
Soul,  external,  in  folk-tales,  91 
SmeUing  the  head  m  Mahabharata,  256- 

57;  in  token  of  affection  in  Ceylon, 

537 
Snake,    origin    of    cow-house,     Finnish 

song  about,  27-30 
South,  sacred  wells  with  outlet  towards, 

60 
Spells,    origin    of    injuries   caused   by, 

magic  song  on,  35-40 
Spider,  lucky,  363 
Spittle  as  anti-spell,  320 
Stokes,  Whitley,  on  Dinnshenchas,  471- 

97 


Stones,  origin  of,  Finnish  magic  songs 

about,  48,  49 
Stonehaven,  first-footing  in,  316 
Stray  sod,  181-82 
Sun  in  folk-tale,  338 
Survivals,  4,  18 
Swansea,  white  horse  at,  122 
Sz^kely  Tales,  i,  by  Miss  P.  Gaye,  328- 

44 
Sz^kelyek,    ethnographic    affinities    of, 

329 


Tabus,  silence,  61 

Tain  b6  Cuailgne,   Zimmer's  date  for, 

381 
Tar-baby,  story  of,  90,  97 
Tarland,  first-footing  in,  316,  317 
Temple,    Major,    on   Chained   Images, 

249 
Thieves,    expert,    in    Balochi   folk-tale, 

301 
Tradition,  2,000  years  old,  86 
Troglodyte  custom,  109 
Troitzky's    Vestiges    of    Paganism     in 

Southern   Russia,  reviewed  by  A.  C. 

Haddon,  105 
Tuatha  De  Danann  and  Brugh  monu- 
ments, 370  ;  alleged  Viking  origin  of, 

382 

Udale,    Mr.    F. ,  on  the  Horn   Dance, 
172-73 

Unnatural  father  incident,  277 
Unnatural  incidents  in  folk-tales,  438 

Valencia,  folk-lore  at,  350 
Viking  era  in  Ireland,  367-81 
Vision  of  MacConglinne,  100 


Wales,  sacred  wells  in,  55,  79 

Walhouse,  M.  J. ,  on  Magic  in  South 
India,  213-18  ;  gnomes  and  dwarfs, 
400-402  ;  immuring  alive  in  Madras, 
259-62 

Warts,  cured  by  dropping  pins  in  wells, 
59,  453  ;  Irish  cure  for,  355 

Wassail  kettle,  315 

Water,  dipping  into,  necessary  before 
transformation,  278 

Watford,  May-Day  at,  403 

Weddings,  first-foot  at,  318 

Well-dress'ng  in  Leitrim,  182-83.  ^1^^ 
also  Wells 

Wells,  sacred,  in  Wales,  55-79  ;  priest- 
hood of,  74;  in  Leitrim,  182  ;  observ- 
ances at,  451-70 ;  on  Loch  Maree, 
498-50  ;  in  Scotland,  259 

Welsh    element    in     Arthurian    saga, 

385 
Welsh  folk-lore,  notes  on,  122-23 


548 


Index. 


Wends,  king  of,  in  Sz^kely  folk-talc,  338 
White  horse  in  Wales,  122 
Whitland,  white  horse  at,  122 
Whittlegaire,  folk-tale  of,  184-88 
Wills,  Folk-lore  in,  513-517 


Witches  in  Lritrini,  183 
Wizards,  Finnish,  103 

Zininicr,    Prof.,   on  Nennius,   380      on 
origin  of  the  Arthur  cycle,  384-85 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   INDEX. 

( This  Index  comprises  the  Names  of  Aidhors  of  Articles  in  Periodicals  in  ordinary 

roman  type,  of  Authors  of  Books  and  titles  of  Books  in  italic,  and  the 

titles  of  Periodicals  in  small  capitals.) 


Achelis,  Dr.  T. ,  132 

Agostini,  F. ,  130 

D'Aniato,  L. ,  268,  541 

American  Antiquarian  and  Orien- 
tal Journal,  265,  409,  540 

Ammann,  J.  J.,  412 

Am-Urquell,  131,  268 

Angelini,  M.,  131 

Annales  de  Bretagne,  265 

Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of 
Ethnology,  265,  540 

L'Anthropologie,  128,  409,  541 

Antiquary,  The,  408 

d'Arbois  de  Jubainville,  H.,  129 

Archivio,  131,  268,  411,  542 

Arendt,  132 

Athen^kum,  127 

Atkinson,  J.  J.,  540 

Augier,  267 

Aiming,  R.,  125 

de  Baizieux,  B. ,  267,  410 

Baret,  L.  J.  E. ,  266 

Barham,  C.  N.,408 

Barth,  A.,  129 

Basset,  R.,  129,  130,  266,  267,  409,  410, 

541 
Bassett,  F.  S. ,  130 
Bassett,  W.  W. ,  409 
Bay on,  R. , 267 
Beau,  Mme.  M.-A.,  130 
Beauchamp,  W.  M. ,  127,  540 
Beauquier,  C.  ,410,  541 
Beauregard,  O. ,  409 
Beaurepaire,  F.  de,  130,  131,  267,  411, 

541 
Beddoe,  J.,  128 
BMicr,  J. ,  405 

Beitraege(Paul  und  Braune's),  542 
Bell,  C.  N.,  540 
Bellorini,  E.,  405 
Bellucci,  G. ,  542 
Benczer,  B. ,  268 
Ben  Mordechai  Brainin,  R. ,  131 
Bent,  J.  Theodore,  128 
BtSrenger-F^raud,  130,  130,  267,  541 
Bergen,  F.  D. ,  409 
Berthier,  A.,  129 
Blad(5,  J.  F.,  541 
B16mont,  E. ,  130 


Boas,  F. ,  265 
Bogisic,  v.,  267 
Buhnenbergcr,  K. ,  538 
Bolton,  H.  C.,265 
Bonnemere,  L.,  130 
Bourchenin,  D. ,  266,  267,  541 
Bourke,  J.  G. ,  40:^ 
Brabrook,  E.  W. ,  265 
Broadwood,  Lucy,  405 
Bromley,  J.,  127 
Brown,  John  Allen,  128 
Brown ,  J.  C. ,  263 
Brueyre,  L. ,  131 
Brunei,  M.,  541 
Buckland,  A.  W.,  408 
Bulletin  de  Folklore,  266 

C. ,  A. ,  266 

C(arnoy),  H.,  130,  131 

Canizzaro,  T. ,  411 

Carlo,  J.,  266,  267 

Carnii,  Maria,  411,  541 

Carnoy,  G.  ,411,  411 

Carnoy,  H.,  130,  131,  267,  411,  541 

Carstensen,  131 

Cartailhac,  E. ,  128 

Cartwright,  W. ,  408 

Cath  Puis  na  RigforBoinn,  125 

Celtic  Magazine,  265,  408 

Certeux,  A.,  129.   129,   230,    266,    267, 

409,  410 
Chamberlain,  A.  F.,  127,  205,  268 
Chamberlain,  B.  H.,408 
Chapman,  Mary,  127 
Chase,  W.  G.,  265 
Chossat,  J.,  410 
Christian,  J.,  125 
Cian,  v.,  411,  541 
Cimegotto,  C.  ,268 
Classical  Review,  540 
Clements,  E.  W. ,  409 
de  Clercq,  F.  S.  A.,  132 
Cobern,  Rev.  Camden  M.,  408 
Cxffey,  G.,  125 
Cole,  P.  M. ,  409 

CoUeville,  Vic.  de,  130,  131,  26; ,  410 
Colson,  O. ,  268,  410 
Combes,  L. ,  131 
Cornelissen,  J.,  130 
Cox,  Marian  Roalfe,  125 


Index. 


549 


Crawley,  A.  E. ,  267 
Culin,  S. ,  540 
Curcio,  G. ,  131,  268 

Davidson,  T. ,  130,  410 
Decle,  L.,  540 
Deans,  J.,  540 
Decrow,  Gertrude,  127 
Desaivre,  L.,  410 
Desrousseux,  A.,  130,  266 
Destrich^,  Mme. ,  129,  267 
Detter,  S42 
Dido,  A.,  410,  542 
Di  Giovanni,  G. ,  268,  411,  542 
Di  Martino,  M. ,  411,  542 
Di  Mania,  G. ,  411,  542 
Doncieux,  G. ,  128,  409,  541 
Dorsey,  J.  Owen,  127,  265 
Dorville.  M.,  130 
Dottin,  G. ,  266 
Douglas,  Prof.  R.  K.,  265 
Douma,  L. ,  410 
Doutrepont,  G. ,  266,  266 
Dragicevic,  Th.,  131 
Dragomanov,  M.,  411,  542 
Dubus,  E. ,  410 
Dumontier,  G. ,  410,  542 
Duynes,  P.,  410,  541 
Dynes,  Abbe,  130 

Earle,  A.  M. ,  409 

Rarle,A.  J/.,  538 

Eanvaker,  J.  P. ,  127 

Edmunds,  L.  W. ,  409 

Eitel,  Dr.,  409 

Elliott,  G.  F.  Scott   540 

Ernault,  E. ,  129,  541 

Ernst,  Dr.  A.,  132 

Estienne,  H. ,  266 

Ethnologische  Mittheilungen  aus 

Ung.^rn,  411 
Evans,  Arthur  T. ,  408 

F.,  M.  R.,  130 

Feilberg,  H.  F. ,  131,  268 

Ferm6,  A.,  130,  266 

Ferraro,  G.,  131,  268,  411,  541 

Fertiault,  F. ,  267,  410,  541 

Fetter's  Southern  Magazine,  409 

Finucci-Giannini,  F. ,  268 

Fionn,  265 

Fison,  L.  A.,  405 

Flamand,  G.  B.  M.,  128 

Floten.G.  van,  132 

FoLK-LoRiST,  The,  408 

Fouju,  G. ,  266,  267 

France,  A.,  130 

Eraser,  C.  A.,  540 

French-Sheldon,  Mrs.,  409 

Fuller  Maitland,  J.  A.,  405 

Fumi,  F.  G. ,  131 

Gaertner,  T.  L. ,  540 

Gaidoz,  H.,  125 

Gaidoz,  H.,  128,  266,  409,  541 

VOL.  IV. 


Gatschet,  A.  S.,  409 

Georgeakis,  G. ,  409 

Gerber,  A. ,  409 

Gering,  H.,  542 

Giannini,  G.,  131,  268,  411,  542 

Gigli,  G. ,  405 

Giglioli,  Prof.  H.  H.,  132,  542 

Gitt^e,  A. ,  405 

Glode,  131,  268 

Golther,   W.,  263,  405 

Gorovei,  A.,  130 

Gorra,  E. ,  405 

Grabowsky,  F. ,  132 

Graf,  A.,  126,  263 

Grant,  A.,  128 

Gras,  Mme.  C,  266 

Griffis,  W.  E.,  409 

Grinnell,  G.  B.,  263 

Grinnell,  G.  B. ,  265,  409 

Grundaum,  M. ,  263 

Gnmdriss  der  germanischai  Philologie, 

406 
Griinwedel,  Prof.,  Dr.  Albert,  412 
Gsarik,  A.  F. ,  409 
Guidotti,  T. ,  131,  268 
Guignet,  M.,  130,  410 
Gurdon,  Lady  C.,  538 
Guyot,  Y. ,  129 

H.,A.,412 

Haase,  K.  Ed.,  131,  132 

Haddon,  A.  C. ,  542 

Hagen,  Dr.  A.,  409 

Hammershaimb,  V.  U.  ,412 

Hamy,  E.-T. ,  267 

Hardy,  E. ,  406 

Harou,  A.,  406 

Harou,  A.,  130,  131,  266,  267,  410,  411, 

541 
Harper,  G.  M. ,  409 
Hartland,  E.  S.,408 
Haurigot,  G.,  406 
Haurigot,  G. ,  130,  266,  410 
Haynes,  H.  W. ,  265 
Heikel,  Dr.  A.  O.,  132 
Heim,  R.,  406 
Heinecke,  H.,  267 
Hertz,   W.,  538 
Highland  Monthly,  265 
Hirschfelder,  C.  A.  ,265 
Hoevell,  G.  W.  W.  C.  Baron  van,  132 
Hoffman,  W.  J.,  265 
Hofler,  M. ,  131 
Hommel,  Prof.  Dr.  F.,408 
Hoonaeker,  A.  van,  541 
Hoops,  Joh. ,  406 
Hope,  R.  f.,406 
Hopper,  Nora,  408 
Huggins,  E.  L. ,  408 
Hulbert,  H.  B..408 
Hyde,  Douglas,  406 
Hyde,  D. ,  129,  266 

Illustrated  Arch^-eologist,  408 
Ilroof,  F. ,  412 

P  P 


550 


Index. 


Internationales  Akchiv  fOr  Eth- 

nographie,  131,  268,  412,  542 
International  Folk-lore  Congress,  126 
Inwards,  R.,  538 

Jacobs,  J.,  538 

Jamison,  Mrs.  C.  V.,  265 

Jannsen,  H.,  412 

Jensen,  C. ,  132 

/evens,  F.  D.,  126 

Jiriczek,  O.-L. ,  542 

Joest,  Prof.  Dr.  W.,  131,  412,  542 

Joseph,  Erzherzog,  411 

Journal  of  American    Ethnology 

AND  Archaeology,  265 
Journal  of  American  Folk-lore, 

127,  265,  409,  540 
Journal  of  the  Anthropological 

Institute, 128,  265,  408,  540 

Kalniany,  L. ,  268,  412 
Karlowicz,  J.,  411 
Kauffmann,  F.,  542 
Keidel,  G.  C. ,  409 
Kercheval,  G.  T. ,  540 
Kirk,  R. ,  406 
KIM,  J. ,  406 
Knappert,  L. ,  542 
Knauthe,  K.,  131 
Knoop,  O. ,  268 
Koegel,  542 
Konow,  S. ,  406 
Kovalevsky,  M.,  541 
Krause,  E.,  539 
Krauss,  F.  S.,  131,  412 
Krauss,  F.  S.,  407 
Kruinbacher,  K.,  539 
Kurth,  G.,  264 
Kuznezow,  S.  K.,412 

Lacuve,  R.  M.,  129 

Lang,  Andrew,  406 

Laporterie,  J.  de,  541 

De  Launay,  G. ,  266 

Lavenot,  P.  M.,  130,  266,  267 

Le  Braz,  A.,  265 

Le  Braz,  A.,  407 

Lebrun,  H.,  130,  541 

Lecocq,  C,  130,  267 

Le  Dieu,  A.,  411 

Lef^bure,  Prof.  E.,  128,  408 

Lefevre-Pontalis,  P.,  128 

Lemire,  C. ,  128 

Lemoine,  J.,  130,  267,  410 

Lcmoinc,  J. ,  405 

Le  Page  Renouf,  P.,  128,  265,408 

Lewis,  A.  L. ,  128 

Ling-Roth,  H.,  128,  265 

Lober,  F.  von,  268 

Loeffelholz,  Freih.  v.,  542 

Loquin,  A.,  266,  409 

Loth,  J.,  129 

Lumbroso,  A.,  131,  268,  411 

Luzel,  F.  M.,  265,  267,  410 


M.,  D.,  265 

Macdonald,  James,  128,  264 

Mackinnon,  265 

Maclean,  J.,  540 

MacRitchie,  D. ,  132 

Maison,  E. ,  129,  266,  541 

Man,  E.  H.,  ^i,o 

Mandl,  L. ,  268 

Mango,  F. ,  268 

March,  H.  Colley,  M.D.,  408 

Marchot,  P.,  129 

MariUier,  Mme.  L. ,  410 

Mathew,  J.,  540 

Mat  son,  S.  A.,  264 

McdicBval  Lore,  263 

MiiLUSiNE,  128,  2b6,  409,  541 

Melville,  F.  J. ,  130 

Mendes,  Catulle,  130 

Menu,  H.,  267,  541 

Meringer,  H.,  542 

Merkel,  C.,  131,  542 

Merkens,  H.,  268 

Merkens,  H. ,  407 

Messikommer,  H.,  132 

Meyer,  E.  H. ,  542 

Meyer,  R.  M. ,  542 

Mcyners,  d'Estrey,  Dr.,  128 

Millien,  A.,  267,  410,  411 

Mindeleff,  V.,  540 

Mitteilungen    der    anthrop.   Ge- 

sellschaft  in  Wien,  542 
Mocci,  A. ,  268,  541 
Modern  Language  Notes,  409 
Alogk,  E. ,  406 
Monseur,  E. ,  266 
Motitejiore,  C.  G. ,  264 
Mooney,  J.,  265,  268 
Morel-Retz,  130,  410 
Morgan,  Owen,  264 
Morin,  L. ,  129,  267 
Miiller,  F.  Max,  408 
Munckacsi,  B. ,  268,  412 
Murray-Aynsley,  Mme.  H.,  541 
MusiioN,  541 


N(ewell),  W.  W.,  128 

Nagelberg,  A.,  268 

Newell,  W.  W.,  265 

Nicolaides,  J.,  130,  131,  410,  411,  541 

Nicot,  A.,  411 

Niederlausitzer  Mitth.,  542 

Nigra,  409 

Nurra,  P.,  411,  541 

Nuttall,  Z.,  132' 


O'Donoghne,  D. ,  539 

O' Grady,  \'2h 

Olrik,  Axel,  132 

Ortoh,  F. ,  130,  411,  541 

O shorn,  M.,  539 

Owen,  Mary  A.,  126,  408 

Owen,  M.  A.,  408 

Ozenfant,  E. ,  130,  267,  411,  541 


Index. 


551 


Papai,  K. ,  412 

Paris,  C. ,  128 

Parkinson,  R.,  132 

De  Pasquale,  L. ,  131 

Pasquarelli,  M.,  26S,  411 

Peacock,  E. ,  540 

Peal,  S.  E.,265 

Pector,  D. ,  132 

Pedrizet,  409,  541 

Peat,  S.  D.,  265,  540 

Penavaire,  C. ,  410 

Penhallow,  D.  P.,  127 

Pentrcath,  D.,  539 

Penick,  C.  C. ,  409 

Perrot,  G. ,  129 

Philpot,  E.,  265 

Piger,  132 

Pinches,  T.  G. ,  408 

Pineau,  L.,409,  411 

Pires,  A.  T.,  131,  268 

Pitr6,  G.,  131,  268,  411,  542 

Pleyte  Wzn,  C.  M. ,  132 

Ploix,  C. ,  266 

Plume,  La,  266 

Plutarch,  126 

Polain,  E.,266 

Politis,  N.  G.,  540 

Popular  Science  Monthly,  409 

Powell,  J.  W.,265 

Prato,  S.,  130,  131,  268,  411,  542 

Pries,  A.  T.,  411 

Proceedings    of    the    Society    of 

Antiquaries,  128,  540 
Proceedings    of   the    Society    of 

Biblical   Arch^^.ology,   128,   265, 

408 

Rademacher,  C. ,  268 

Rammelmeyer,  A. ,  266 

Razzi,  M. ,  411,  541 

Reinach,  S. ,  128,  409,  541 

Reinach,  Theodore,  409 

Reissenberge?',  K. ,  264 

Report  of  the  British  Association, 

540 
Revue  Archeologique,  541 
Revue  Celtique,  129 
Revue  de  l'Histoire  des  Religions, 

541 
Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  129 
Revue  des  Traditions  Populaires, 

129,  266,  409,  541 
Risky,  H.  H. ,  407 
Ristelhuber,  P.,  267,  410,  411 
Rocca,  P.  M. ,  268 
Rolland,  E. ,  128,  409 
Roussel,  A.,  541 
Rubbens,  C. ,  129 
Rimze,  G. ,  539 
Russell,  Miss,  264 

S(^billot),  P.,  129,  130,  267,  410 
de  la  Salle,  L. ,  266,  267 
Salles,  J.,  411 
Salomone-Marino,  S.,  131,  411 


Sander,  F.,  126,  539 

Schatzmayr,  Dr.  E. ,  412 

Schell,  O, ,  412 

Schepers,  C.  J. ,  268 

Schermann ,  L.,  126 

Schiffer,  B.  W. ,  268 

Schlesfel,  Dr.  G. ,  132 

Schmeltz,  J.  D.  E. ,  132 

Schmidt,  Erich,  132 

Schoultz-Adaievsky,  Mile.  E.  de,  128,  541 

Schurtz,  H. ,  539 

Schwartz,  W. ,  542 

Scottish  Ballad  Poetry,  539 

Scottish  Review,  128 

Si^billot,  F.,  266 

S^billot,  P.,  129,  130,  266,  267 

S^billot,  P.-Y.,  130,  267 

Seler,  Dr.  Ed.,  132 

Saves,  F. ,  131 

Sichler,  L. ,  129,  267 

Sicotiere,  L.  de  la,  129 

Siebs,  T. ,  412 

Sikes,  E.  S. ,  540 

Silva  Gadclica,  126 

Simon,  J.  M. ,  267 

Simpson,  W. ,  408 

Sirel,  L. ,  128 

Somerville,  T.  Boyle,  540 

Souch^,  B.  ,410 

Sprenger,  R. ,  268 

Stanley,  H.  M.,  539 

Stanzko,  B. ,  412 

Stephen,  A.  M.,  408 

Stevenson,  J.,  540 

Sti^bel,  R. ,  409,  411 

Stokes,  Whitley,  129 

Strebel,  Herman,  412 

Sturluson,  Snorric,  264 

Svoboda,  Dr.  W. ,  132,  268 

Sudre,  L. ,  264 

Swettenham,  F.  A.,  540 

Swyiinerton,  Rev.  Ch.,  126 


T.,  J.,  130 

Tausserat,  A.,  266 

Terrien  de  Lacouperie,  541 

Thi(5ry,  M. ,  267,  541 

Thoyte,  E.  E.,  408 

Thumb,  A.,  132 

im  Thurn,  E.  F. ,  265 

Tiersot,  J.,  129,  130,  266 

Tisserand,  C. ,  129 

Topinard,  P.,  541 

Torok,  A.  von,  411 

Tradition,  La,  230,  267,  410,  541 

Transactions  of  the  Gaelic  So- 
ciety OF  Lnverness,  264 

Transactions  of  the  Society  of 
BiBL.  Arcil-kology,  408 

Treichel,  A.,  131,  268 

Tuchmann,  J.,  128,  409,  541 


Ungarelli,  G.,  268,  411,  541 


552 


Index. 


Valla,  L.,  541 

Vance,  L.  C,  409 

Venables,  Rev.  Precentor,  127 

Versenyi,  G.,  412 

Vierzon,  P.,  539 

Villanis,  P.,  131 

Vingtrinier,  A.,  267 

Vir^,  A.,  410 

Vloten,  G.  van,  542 

Volkow,  T. ,  128,  267,  410 

Vos,  H.,  132 

Voth,  H.  R.,  408 


W(arloy),  C.  de,  131,  541 
Wallonia,  268 
Warloy,  C.  de,  130,  267,  411 
Watkins,  J.  A.,  540 
Watson,  A.  R.,  408 
White,  E.  Towey,  408 
Wiedemann,  A.,  268 
Williams,  A.  M.,  127 


Wilmotte,  M.,  266 

Wilson,  M.  N.,  409 

Wilson,  R.  M.,  540 

Wissendorf    de  Wissukuok,    H.,    129, 

266,  267,  410 
Wlislocki,  H.  v.,  127,  131,  268,  411 


ben  Yakar,  I,  409 


Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fUr  Volks- 

KUNDE,   132,  412 

Zeitschrift  fOr   Deutsche   Philo- 

LOGIE,  542 

Zeitschrift  fUr  deutsches  Alter- 

thum,  542 
Zeitschrift  (Wiener)  f.  die  Kunde 

DES  MoRGENLANDES,  542 

Zepellin,  F.  de,  410 

Zimmer,  H. .  407 

Zmigrodzki,  M.  de,  130,  167,  410 


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