THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE
VOLUME VIII
6
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BOSTON AND NEW YORK
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Copyright, 1895,
Bv The American Folk-Lorb Society.
All rights reserved.
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TAe Riverside Press, Cambrid^^e, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotypcd and printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.'
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THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
Vol. VIII.— JANUARY-MARCH, 1895. — No. XXVIII.
SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-
LORE SOCIETY.
The Sixth Annual Meeting was held at the Columbian University,
Washington, D. C, on December 27 and 28. ^ ^^ , ^ .
The Society was called to order at 1 1 a. m. In the absence of
Prif Alcle F^ortier, President of the Society, Prof. Otis T. Mason
'^Thf Secretary read a letter from the President. In this commu-
nication Professor Fortier expressed his regret at bemg deprived of
the pleasure he had anticipated in meeting his colleagues, his ab-
sence being rendered necessary by sickness and death in his family.
No person took a greater interest in the welfare of the American
Folk-Lore Society, the establishment of which had given a remark-
able impulse to research and study in this department. O the in-
terest thus awakened, he was made aware by letters from different
parts of the country. It was to be desired that this branch of know-
iedo-e should be included in the course of studies of colleges and
reading circles. The Society, he thought, had reason to be satisfied
with its Journal and with the reception of the first volume of its
memoirs. Professor Fortier referred to other existing folk-lore soci-
eties and their progress, and concluded by expressing his regards to
members present at the meeting.
On motion of Prof. H. Carrington Bolton, the Secretary was di-
rected to express the regrets of the Society at the enforced absence
of its President.
The Report of the Council for the year 1893 was read, as tol-
lows : —
The financial disturbances of the year 1894 have been so serious
that the American Folk-Lore Society seems to have reason for selt-
congratulation in the successful accomplishment of its seventh year.
The number of annual members, by whose fees the operations of the
2 Jouryia I of American Folk-Lorc.
Society arc mainly supijorted, remains about the same as at the
close of the previous year, something more than five hundred names,
according to the report of the Secretary, now standing on the books
of the Society.
This number, however, is altogether inadequate for the purposes
to be accomplished. It would seem that it ought to be possible to
increase the membership to one thousand, a support which would
enable the Society to carry out at least a part of the ends which it
ought to promote. Members are urged, individually, to do all in
their power to make known the existence and work of the organiza-
tion.
During the present year the series of Memoirs of the American
Folk-Lore Society has been begun with the publication of the "Folk-
Tales of Angola," by Mr. Heli Chatelain. The Council feel that the
Society has every reason to be satisfied with this first volume, which
in their opinion is thoroughly creditable. The relation of these Af-
rican myths to those of American negroes makes such an introduc-
tion to the series appropriate as an indication of the broad objects
of the Society.
The second volume of the Memoirs, " Louisiana Folk-Tales, in
French Dialect and English Translation," collected and edited by Prof,
Alcee Fortier, with English translation, is now in the press, and will
shortly be ready for distribution. Subscribers to the Publication
Fund will therefore obtain in return for their contribution for 1894
two volumes of the series.
The fees of annual members are at present only sufficient to prop-
erly publish the organ of the Society, the "Journal of American
Folk-Lore." The publication of the Memoirs must therefore stand
on an independent financial basis. In order, therefore, to allow of
such publication, an annual subscription of ten dollars has been in-
stituted, the Society thus obtaining from each such contributor seven
dollars for the Publication Fund, in addition to the regular fee of
three dollars, which entitles him to a copy of the Journal. During
the year 1894 have been received subscriptions, insuring about six
hundred dollars for additional publication. In producing two vol-
umes of the Memoirs, by the aid of this sum and of its reserve funds,
the Society has done all in its power.
The work of the Society, however, ought not absolutely to be
confined to publication. Constant opportunities occur, in which a
doubtful subject could be elucidated by research, provided that it
were possible to defray the inevitable expenses of the obsei'ver.
Whether among negroes of the United States, in French Canada, or
Spanish Mexico, or even among the white population of isolated dis-
tricts, interesting material is lost, because there is no adequate means
Annual Meeting of tJie American Folk-Lore Society. 3
of providing for its record. The Journal, with small outlay, could
be made very much more creditable to American scholarship. If
the number of ten-dollar subscribers could be increased to three
hundred, the Society would then be in possession of a revenue
enabling it to accomplish a work in some measure proportional to
the extent of the field.
Persons interested in primitive life and in the study of oral tradi-
tion are earnestly urged to assist in forwarding the plans of the So-
ciety. As the scope of its labors include the whole continent, the
assistance of persons interested in Americana, in all parts of the
United States and Canada, may fairly be urged to aid in its support.
Whatever help is given to this Society, and to its publications, will
assist in giving an impulse to both private and public research.
In order to maintain the publications of the Society, and to in-
crease popular interest in the subject, it is desirable to promote local
meetings. It would seem, that in any large city, it ought to be
possible to hold at least a few such meetings in the course of the
winter, in which subjects connected with folk-lore might be discussed.
On motion, the report was adopted.
The Annual Report for the year 1894, made by the Treasurer to
the Council, was read in abstract.
RECEIPTS.
Balance, January i, 1894 $1,677.05
Annual fees received 1,248.90
Subscriptions to Publication Fund 673.00
Sales of " Folk-Tales of Angola " to members . . 7900
" " volumes of Journal " " , . . 30.00
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., sales of Journal . . . 141.96
« «« '< " " " " Folk-Tales of Angola " 348.69
$4,198.60
DISBURSEMENTS.
To Houghton, Mifflin & Co., manufacturing five num-
bers of the Journal, mailing expenses, circularization,
etc $1,609.40
" Folk-Tales of Angola " circularization, etc. . . 1,211.20
Necessary expenses of Secretary and Treasurer, for print-
ing, etc 74-40
$2,895.00
Balance to new account 1,30300
$4,198.60
4 jfourtial of American Folk-Lorc.
The next business being the election of officers, it was moved
that the Chair appoint a committee to report nominations. The
Chair named Miss Alice C. Fletcher. Capt. J. G. Bourke, Mr. W. W.
Newell.
This concluded the business of the morning session.
At 2 p. M. the Society was called to order, the chair being occu-
pied by Rev. J. Owen Dorsey. The Society proceeded to the read-
ing of papers, as follows : —
Washington Matthews, Major and Surgeon, U. S. A. : "A Navajo
Myth."
R. R. Moten, Hampton, Va. : " Negro Folk-Songs."
William Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass. : "Theories of the Diffu-
sion of Folk-Tales."
Prof. J. Walter Fewkes, Boston, Mass. : "Illustrations of the
Codex of Cortez."
In the evening, from 8 to lo, the Society was tendered a recep-
tion in the Washington Club, by the Anthropological Society of
Washington, and the Woman's Anthropological Society. The re-
ceiving committee consisted of Prof. O. T. Mason, Miss Alice C.
Fletcher, Dr. J. Owen Dorsey. The programme consisted of the
rendition, by the phonograph and vocally, of selections from the
music of the North American Indians. Major J. W. Powell intro-
duced the speakers, making remarks on the study of Indian music,
and on the collectors connected with the Bureau of Ethnology, who
had devoted time to its examination. Dr. J. Washington Matthews
presented, by means of the phonograph, Navajo songs, explaining
the character and use of the several pieces. Mr. Frank Hamilton
Gushing sang several Zuni songs, and Rev. J. Owen Dorsey those
of Sioux. Miss Alice C. Fletcher, with Mr. La Flesche, sang
Omaha songs connected with the ritual of the Peace Pipe. Professor
Mason made remarks on the value of the investigations now in
progress, as connected with the theory of the musical scale, and
with ethnologic research.
On Friday, December 28, the Society was called to order at 10
A. M., and sat until one, the afternoon session being at 2 p. m., and
the reading of papers continued in the evening, from eight to ten.
The papers presented w-ere as follows : —
Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, Washington, D. C. : " Kwapa Folk-Lore."
Frank Hamilton Cushing, Washington, D. C. : "Ritualistic and
Calendaric Nature of the Central American Codices."
Anmial Meetmg of the America7i Folk-Lorc Society. 5
John G. Bourke, Captain 3d Cavalry, U. S. A. : " Remarks on
Mexican Folk-Foods."
Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, Cambridge, Mass. : " Burial and Holiday
Customs and Beliefs of the Irish Peasantry."
Dr. Thomas Wilson, Washington, D. C. : "The Swastika."
Prof. H. Carrington Bolton, New York, N. Y. : " The Game of
Goose, with Examples from England, Holland, Germany, and Italy."
Major J. W. Powell, Washington, D. C. : " Interpretation of
American Indian Folk-Tales."
Prof. DanielG. Brinton, M. D., Philadelphia, Pa. : -'The Interpre-
tation of Analogies in Folk-Lore."
Marshall K. Saville, New York, N. Y. : " Opportunities for PZth-
nological Investigation on the Eastern Coast of Yucatan."
Homer H. Kidder, Cambridge, Mass. : " Origin of the Mide-
wiwin." (Ojibwa Folk-Tale.)
Zelia Nuttall, Philadelphia, Pa. : " A Note on Ancient Mexican
Folk-Lore."
J. N. B. Hewitt, Washington, D. C. : " Iroquoian Concepts of
the Soul."
Albert S. Gatschet, Washington, D. C. : " Manito."
In the evening, by request. Prof. J. Walter Fewkes continued his
paper, which was discussed by Mr. F. H. Gushing and Dr. D. G.
Brinton.
During the afternoon the committee appointed for the purpose
reported the following nominations for 1895 : —
President : Washington Matthews, Washington, D. C. ; First Vice-
President : J. Owen Dorsey, Washington, D. C. ; Second Vice-Presi-
dent : John G. Bourke, Fort Ethan Allen, Vt.
Councillors, for three years : W. M. Beauchamp, Baldwinsville,
N. Y. ; D. G. Brinton, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Alice C. Fletcher, Wash-
ington, D. C. For two years : Gardner P. Stickney, Milwaukee,
Wis. For one year : George Bird Grinnell, New York, N. Y.
The following were nominated by the Council, and elected by the
Society to be Honorary Members : —
Prof. Francis James Child, Cambridge, Mass.
Prof. Angelo de Gubernatis, Rome, Italy.
Prof. James G. Frazer, Cambridge, England.
The following publications were announced to have been au-
thorized by the Council as the volumes of Memoirs in preparation,
and hereafter to be included in the series : —
Current Superstitions collected from the Oral Tradition of English-
Speaking Folk in America, by Mrs. F^anny D. Bergen,
Navajo Myths, with Introduction and Notes, by Washington Mat-
thews, Major and Surgeon, U. S. A.
6 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
The annual meeting for 1895 was appointed to be held in Phila-
delphia, December 29 and 30.
At the motion of Mr. F. H. Gushing, a resolution of thanks was
offered to the presiding officers of the meeting.
At the motion of Mr. W. W. Newell, the thanks of the Society
were voted to the Anthropological Society of Washington, the
Woman's Anthropological Society, and to the friends of the Society
in the city who had been instrumental in the success of the meet-
ing.
Theories of Diffusioii of Folk- Tales.
THEORIES OF DIFFUSION OF FOLK-TALES.
At an Annual Meeting, general papers may be in order. With
the view of eliciting expressions of opinion, and of urging the im-
portance of research, I may be allowed, without profession of ori-
ginality, to offer some account of theoretical conclusions in regard to
the dissemination of popular traditions.
I. The brothers Grimm, and other German investigators of the
first half of the century, considered that the legends and customs
surviving among any given people were, for the most part, a racial
heritage, transmitted from remote prehistoric epochs ; these, it was
thought, were subject to the mental alterations of successive ages,
but by a process of internal change more than by foreign contact.
The traditions of any folk were regarded as truly expressive of its
own distinct national genius, its peculiar way of assimilating nature
and life. Thus warm patriotism gave color and vitality to scientific
discussion ; these writers desired to show that Germany, divided in
political relations, was one in respect of ancestral belief. It was the
ambition of Jacob Grimm to demonstrate that to the Teuton be-
longed a faith as sincere, a mythology as essentially poetic, though
not as artistically elaborate, as had been the possession of classic
Greece ; this task he accomplished in his immortal " Deutsche My-
thologie" (1835) ; he began by stating that all legend (sage) was de-
pendent on belief in deities ; in the course of his examination, with
stories of ancient gods, preserved in Norse song, he correlated their
survivals in modern superstition, — the Wild Hunt with Woden, the
ladybird (Marienkafer) with Freya, Thus, existing legendary lore
was viewed as in great measure the transformation of primitive
piety.
The conception of primitive religion present to the mind of the
Grimms was, that an original monotheism had been followed by
polytheistic subdivision, and that the mental character of the first
period was that of a naive and poetical innocence. Following the
same generally accepted doctrine, Max Miiller, in the Oxford lec-
tures of 1856, introduced, with great wealth of poetical diction, a
peculiar theory of symbolism, which found rapid acceptance. Re-
ferring to Plato's opinion that symbolic interpretation of myths was
uncertain, and scarce worth the trouble, Miiller declared that com-
parative linguistics had now found the key. Primitive man, a'child
and philosopher, expressed in figurative language, the sole means of
description at his command, the relations of the visible universe; a
succeeding generation, only half understanding words now obsoles-
cent, and literally misinterpreting the older poetry, took facts to be
8 Jouriial of Avicricaii Folk-Lo7'€.
intended ; hence a mytho-poetic age, in which legends had their
birth. The vanishing of the dawn at the rising of the sun, for ex-
ample, gave rise to tales such as the Sanscrit legend of Urva^I, who
IS obliged to take her departure after she has looked on her unclad
spouse. The greater part of the myths thus born, to use a later
expression, as "a disease of language," belonged to the various phe-
nomena connected with the orb of day; hence the title of "sun-
myth," under which this system, recommended by its ability to
supply a master-key to all locks, has had a rapid and extraordinary
currency in the popular thought of our generation ; early history,
theology, and fiction have all been reduced to this category, and so
made to form a halo about the source of light, which thus became
the cultus hero and poetic tutor of mankind in a greater degree than
affirmed by the ancient representation of that orb under the name of
Apollo. An essential part of the doctrine, to which has been given
the title of "Aryan origins," maintained that the history of ideas
was kindred to the history of language. Investigators had sought
out common roots preserved in the various Indo-Germanic tongues,
Hindu, Iranian, Greek, Roman, Lithuanian, Slavic, Celtic, Teutonic;
in like manner, to determine the mental possessions of the common
ancestor, it was only essential to decide what myths, traditions,
usages, belonged to Aryan lands ; while the individual character of
each of these offshoots could be fixed by observing the additions or
changes made to the universal heritage. In the hands of the follow-
ers of Mijller, a similar view was extended to the minor elements of
folk-lore, games, nursery rhymes, and the like, now being presumed
to have originated in the Aryan family. This way of looking at the
problem has continued to be the fashionable and orthodox view of
most modern English writers on the. subject, and has been pretty
well assimilated by the public. The resemblance of the elements of
modern folk-lore is thus explained by the doctrine that these are
inheritances from common ancestors.
The great German scholars, however, had not denied the contin-
ued diffusion of tales, although they considered that this process was
slow ; that any race retained its traditions with great pertinacity,
and that the main body of its legends and customs were truly racial
in origin. That such diffusion had taken place was quite evident
by the admitted introduction of Christian legends. In notes to
"Kinder- und Hausmarchen" (1856), Wilhelm Grimm expressed
himself very much as many writers of the present day would do.
The connection between stories separated in space and time was to
be explained variously ; as certain thoughts may occur everywhere,
so similar marchen may arise independently ; on the other hand,
where this principle cannot be applied, the likeness appears to arise
Theories of Difftisio7i of Folk-Tales. q
out of the presence of the influence of a remote common tradition ;
the resemblance of myths of foreign stocks is to be explained by
their reception of Indo-Germanic influences, as for example the
Arabs have adopted Hindu traditions.
11. Quite different had been the opinion expressed by Walter
Scott. In a note to the "Lady of the Lake" (1810), he observed: —
A work of great interest might be compiled upon the origin of popular
fiction, and the transmission of similar tales from age to age, and from
country to country. The mythology of one period would then appear to
pass into the romance of the next century, and that into the nursery-tale of
the subsequent ages. Such an investigation, while it went greatly to di-
minish our ideas of the richness of human invention, would also show that
these fictions, however wild and childish, possess such charms for the pop-
ulace, as enable them to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners
and language, and having no apparent intercourse, to afford the means of
transmission. It would carry me far beyond my bounds to produce in-
stances of this community of fable, among nations who never borrowed
from each other anything intrinsically worth learning. Indeed, the wide
diffusion of popular fictions may be compared to the facility with which
straws and feathers are dispersed abroad by the wind, while valuable met-
als cannot be transported without trouble and labor.
Leaving aside the contemptuous character of Scott's allusion to
popular traditions, thoroughly unscientific in tone, the doctrine here
set forth, before the serious attention of modern learning had been
brought to bear on the question, has been strongly confirmed by re-
cent research. Resemblances among folk-tales, in especial, are such
as cannot be accounted for on the principle of remote hereditary
transmission. In 1865, R. Kohler wrote, in a semi-popular article,
printed in " Weimarische Beitrage : " —
If we review European household tales (marchen) so far as now known,
we shall discover that few are the property of any one people, and that
on the contrary the same story is found in widely separated countries in
nearly the same form. . . . The tales are for the most part only remnants
of a comparatively small number of types. One may say, that any one
familiar with the collection of Grimm, or any other equally rich, would find
little that would be new to him in other collections of European marchen.
... If we ask how this correspondence is to be explained, extending as
it does to times so widely separated, we might be led to the conclusion
that these tales originated independently, and that the agreement is the re-
sult of the uniform character of the human mind, or of accident. But this
assumption is generally impossible, since the similarities are of such a char-
acter that it may with certainty be said that they could not possibly so
have come into being, either in themselves or in the connection in which
they are found ; the tales must, on the contrary, have been invented at one
time, and by one person, and thereafter transmitted by oral tradition.
lO yournal of American Folk- Lore.
When and where each stoty was produced requires in each case a separate
investigation, and it is not out of the question that tales exist everywhere,
in countries the most widely separated, and have, from the place of their
birth, been orally diffused.
This opinion of Kohler's, founded on wide knowledge, has, since
the date of his writing, been confirmed by such a variety of evidence,
that to me it appears no longer contestable. That the doctrine
applies not only to tales, but to songs, is shown by the work of S.
Grundtvig on Danish ballads, and by that of F. J. Child on English
ballads ; that it applies to the games of children has been proved
by the writer in " Games and Songs of American Children " (1883) ;
a forthcoming volume of Mr. Stewart Culin, on the " Games of Co-
rea," will, as I am given to understand, furnish testimony in regard
to the identity of many of these games with those of the Western
world.
At the International Folk-Lore Congress of 1891, the writer of
this article pointed out, that in inquiring into the origin of tales, dis-
tinction should be made between the incidents, which might well be
of indefinite antiquity, and the story-wholes, which were composed
by uniting those incidents. He concluded : —
The origin and history of a folk-tale common to many countries, such as
the one which has been the subject of discussion, may be figuratively rep-
resented by the illustration of a species of vegetable which has originated
in an early civilization at a time so remote that from the first moment of
its discernible history it possesses a cultivated character. This vegetable,
again, under the influence of civilization, is differentiated into new varie-
ties, arising in different localities, each one of which, on account of advan-
tages which it appears to offer, may in its turn be introduced into distant
regions, and even supersede the original out of which it was developed,
this dissemination following the routes of commerce, and ordinarily pro-
ceeding from the more highly organized countries to those inferior in the
scale of culture.
At this meeting, Mr. Andrew Lang emphatically disagreed with
the view that the tales had received their form among races possess-
ing a certain degree of cultivation, declaring that he held exactly the
opposite opinion ; while Mr. J. Jacobs well pointed out that marchen
were works of art, which could not be supposed the products of un-
conscious cerebt:ation, and Mr. E. Sidney Hartland developed the
view that the anthropological value of folk-lore is in no degree
affected by theories respecting its transmission.
III. If modern marchen are to be considered as brief novels, ori-
ginally composed by some one narrator, at some one time, and subse-
quently modified by oral currency, what answer can be given to ques-
tions concerning their authors and countries t
Tfieories of Diffusioti of Folk- Tales. 1 1
In 1859 appeared the celebrated work of T. Benfey, " Pantscha-
tantra," being a version of the Hindu collection of that name (by
significance, the "five books"), together with elaborate notes and
comparisons. In a brief introduction, Benfey set forth his results.
Beast fables, as he considered, had reached India from Greece, being
more or less transformations of those of ^sop. Marchen, on the
contrary, were originally of Hindu origin, and from India had trav-
elled over the world ; in the tenth century and later, they reached
Europe, through the Mongols and Arabs of Spain, as well as in in-
dividual cases by the routes of commerce; in this transmission Islam
was the main factor, as Buddhism had been in an earlier communi-
cation with China and Thibet. In virtue of their superior excellence
these stories absorbed all that existed among the nations to which
they were carried ; hence an apparently kaleidoscopic admixture of
forms and motives, although in reality the tales were reducible to a
small number of types.
This opinion was based almost entirely on literary material ; the
manner was shown in which the Sanscrit collection, to which the
Panchatantra belonged, through Pali, Arab, Persian, Spanish, and
Hebrew translations, had reached Europe; that the existing Euro-
pean marchen were developments produced under the influence of
this literary contact was assumed on very insufficient evidence, and
comparative folk-lore has not substantiated that part of the doctrine.
Notwithstanding, Benfey's opinion has had an immense currency,
was entirely indorsed by R. Kohler in the article referred to, and
had been adopted by E. Cosquin, to whom we owe the best series of
comparative notes on European marchen (" Contes populaires de
Lorraine," 1886).
In spite of objectors, Benfey's views have had a great influence in
disposing historians of literature to the assumption that the intro-
duction of Oriental material into the West has played an important
part in the development of mediaeval literature ; it is a commonplace
of text-books, that contact with the East, from the time of the Cru-
sades, is directly connected with the outburst of literary genius,
which, in the twelfth century, we find suddenly appearing in West-
ern Europe.
IV. To Edward B. Tylor, comparative anthropology, on the moral
side, that science which undertakes to investigate the develop-
ment of the human mind, through its various stages of animal,
savage, and civilized life, owes more than to any other man. In his
work on " Primitive Culture " (1873), he devoted a considerable space
to an examination of mythology (cc. viii.-x.). With the moderation
and breadth of view proper to a master, he pointed out that mythic
fancy was of necessity based on experience ; that the significance of
1 2 yournal of A mericari Folk-Lore.
myths, delivered to us in the literary form of ancient traditions,
ought to be compared with the present existence of similar fancies
among savages and barbarians, who still, in rude form, produce simi-
lar mythic representations of nature, which are therefore not merely
aberrations of language ; that while sun-myths do exist, any inter-
pretation of a particular story on such principles must cautiously
be applied ; that animism, that is the spontaneous and involuntary
attribution of human intelligence to beings and objects to which intel-
ligence does not really belong, is the true creative principle of my-
thology. By no means denying the continual transmission of legend
by oral tradition, he pointed out, with great force, that this con-
sideration does not of necessity affect the theory of myth, inasmuch
as from an anthropological point of view, antiquity is to be meas-
ured, not by lapse of years, but by states of mind, so that an opinion
of yesterday, adopted among a savage race, even though the basis of
the idea should be derived from a recent borrowing, might belong to
a time earlier than ancient civilization, just as Maori adzes are older
than the bronzes of ancient Egypt (vol. ii. p. 325).
In an essay on "The Method of Folk-Lore " (printed in " Custom
and Myth," 1884), Mr. Andrew Lang substantially repeated Tylor's
view. He did not deny the possible filtration of tales from one
country to another, during the long period of human history ; but
he also suggested the alternative possibility, that myths had been
independently developed, as flint arrowheads had been, " to meet
the same needs out of the same material." In his " Myth, Ritual,
and Religion " (1887), ^e devoted a chapter (c. xviii.) to " Heroic and
Romantic Myths." Discussing the problem of accounting for the
resemblance of traditions, he was inclined to consider " the diffusion
of stories practically identical in every quarter of the globe as the
result of the prevalence in every quarter, at one time or another, of
similar mental traditions and ideas ; " explaining, however, that this
hypothesis was provisional, and must not be carried so far as to
apply to the world-wide distribution of long mythic plots. In the
latter case, we did not know whether such stories were independ-
ently developed, or had been carried round the world from a com-
mon centre.
As to the theory of myths, Lang followed Tylor in applying the
principle that these were to be considered in connection with living
savage ideas, and were not to be explained merely on symbolic prin-
ciples ; but this doctrine he set forth without the reserves of his
model, and in an unnecessarily combative tone. To this general way
of viewing the subject he gave the name of the " Anthropological
method," an expression applicable as regards Tylor's principles, but
not as applied to a special way of interpretation of myths, which
Theories of Difftcsion of Folk- Tales. 1 3
leaves out of account savage or barbarous symbolism, which Tylor
had expressly recognized. Where Muller had explained the swan-
maiden or Urvagl story as an allegory of the dawn, Lang interpreted
it as founded on the early taboo, which prohibited wives from look-
ing on the face of their husbands ; the talcs, however, give no coun-
tenance to either explanation.
V. Granting that folk-tales, like books, are to be regarded as
originally the inventions of one mind, of a mind reshaping older
material, is there a single source from which they are derived .•'
This question Benfey had answered in favor of India. So far as a
certain class of tales was concerned, this statement had met with
general acceptance. It was generally considered by students of
French medixval literature that the fabliaux, or rhymed poems in-
tended for amusement, produced in great number during the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries, owed their inspiration to Oriental sources.
It has become a commonplace that contact with the sprightliness
and liveliness of Eastern imagination, a contact possible only after
the beginning of the Crusades, gave birth to the productions in ques-
tion. Joseph Bedier, however, in his work " Les Fabliaux" (1893),
comparatively examining these compositions, has arrived at a result
altogether different.
He finds, in the first place, that not one of the poets in question
used or knew the translations of the Oriental collections. Adding
to the stories of the French fabliaux the preserved German medi-
aeval tales, and the Latin exempla, or anecdotes intended especially
for the use of preachers, he estimates the number of recorded
mediaeval stories of this sort at 400 ; of these, in the collections ulti-
mately derived from the Orient, such as Dolopathos, the Seven
Sages, versions of the Kalila and Dimna, he finds but thirteen ; and
he has been able to identify only eleven additional fabliaux with
stories found in Eastern collections not known to have been trans-
lated.
Examining further the character of these narratives, he traverses
all the assertions of writers who have referred these to an original
Oriental form ; the tales do not represent Buddhist ideas ; the East-
ern variants do not exhibit evidence of superior originality ; on the
contrary, the Occidental versions are more logical, vital, and vari-
able. The influence of literary communication appears to be nil ;
writers of fabliaux, he thinks, obtained their material from Euro-
pean folk-lore, such as it had been circulating in Europe for unknown
periods. Thus in this department also, the Oriental hypothesis is
declared to be inapplicable.
All that I am now entitled to say of this statement is, that on the
face it appears eminently sensible and probable. At all events, the
1 4 journal of A merican Folk-Lore.
burden of proof falls upon those who desire to make out the Eastern
source. It is not to be forgotten that Oriental collections certainly
did have a great literary influence, and that some semi-popular
stories, like those relating to Merlin, are almost certainly influenced
by them ; but it is not proven that they greatly affected the oral
tradition, the folk-lore of Europe. Herein was Benfey's error • pre-
suming that oral and written literature followed the same track, he
was led from his demonstration of the course of the latter to infer
that of the former.
The suggestion once in the mind, the expectation existin- the
judgment was easily led to see in superficial resemblances identities
to find in oral similar tales, expansions of the written ones It is
possible that some of the European marchen do owe their orio-in to
hmts given m the Oriental collections, furnishing forms which as
Benfey thought, absorbed preexisting European elements ; but that
IS not proven for any one of these compositions, and certainly is not
true for all. Oral tradition went its own independent way, and the
same resemblances exist in departments in which no learned inter-
course was possible; it is only needful to mention the counting-out
rhyme of children.
VI. Taking up the general question, B6dier entirely agrees with
the view of Kohler, the view which I have stated to be with present
knowledge self-evident, that these stories were composed each at
one time, in one country, by one person, and communicated to other
countries and peoples, not by inheritance, but by oral transmission,
mdependent of language or race, and controlled solely by the op-
portunities of culture contact. But in regard to the possibility of
mdicating where or when any tale was formed, he is incredulous.
Greater antiquity of record does not imply superior age of the
variant ; the method hitherto in vogue, of laboriously collecting and
examining all varieties of any tale, is completely sterile. These tales
having nothing pecuHar to mark them, belong to all times and
places ; therefore there can be no certainty as to the date of any one
It is only when we find an ethnic element which has obviously been
present at the creation of the narratives, —as for instance in the
Arthurian legend, — that any statement can be made respecting
origins. Otherwise, no answer can be given ; nor is this important^
since the anthropological value of the material is unaffected, and it is
still open to ask as to the meaning of any particular trait. Thus
the latest writer on the theory of folk-tales ends his discussion with
a profession of nescience.
So far as the conclusion of Mr. Bedier denies the propriety of
formulating any general proposition relative to all folk-tales, I am
entirely in sympathy, and in this Journal have repeatedly previously
Theory of Diffusion of Folk- Lore. 1 5
expressed the same view ; but I cannot altogether coincide with this
author as to the inutiUty of the comparative examination of particu-
lar tales. If we wish to understand any object of nature or art, we
investigate its life history by attending to its varieties. Let his
results^be valuable or not. a writer on a folk-tale viust study that
tale in all its forms. It is not then worthy of the talents of this
critic to decry such patient investigation. Nor, as I think, is it
true that it is not possible, with respect to particular tales, to draw
probable conclusions.
Take, for example, the most widely distributed of all human com-
positions the tale of the swan-maiden, who is won by the seizure of
her magic plumage, and who finally deserts her husband, who is
sou-ht in another world, and regained by the performance of tasks
in which she assists ; this novel, diffused through the whole world
and with its numerous variants forming a considerable portion of
existino- European marchen, consists of two portions : the first part
is found in the Rig-Veda, the second part has analogies m the
heroic Greek story of the Argonautic expedition. In both Greece
and India, however, the classic tales are of a character to make it
clear that the tale as a whole did not then exist. What must be the
conclusion .? That the story, as we possess it, is not prehistoric, but
a composition produced, after the Greek classic period, by the com-
bination of motives previously existing. It sprang into being,
doubtless, either in India or in Greece of the later time ; from one
or other of these sources it has wandered over the globe, assuming
the most various forms, curiously uniting itself with savage myth,
and probably also with savage cultus. Comparative examination
shows that it underwent successive modifications, each of which
became in turn the centre of a new propagation, and was carried to
countries remote in language and race. It appears to me that such
a history exhibits the force of the comparison which I have already
cited, and also exhibits the complexity of the problem. (See in
Transactions of the International Folk-Lore Congress, 1891, "Lady
Featherfii-ht," with remarks by W. W. Newell, pp. 40^6.)
Very different is the result of comparative investigation into the
tale of Cinderella. Assisted by the recent work of Miss Cox, exhibit-
ing the variants of that popular tale, I have been led to the opinion
that this is not, as has hitherto been generally supposed, and as M.
Bedier thinks, a survival of a world-old narrative alluded o by
Strabo, but, on the contrary, an adaptation of a familiar mediaeval
novel; starting, as it would seem, less than four centuries ago, from
central Europe, this marchen has been received with enthusiasm
equally by the blacks of Angola and by the Indians of America.
Whether or not these particular interpretations are correct, it
^ ^ Journal of A merican Folk- Lore.
appears to me that the method of comparative examination will not
be found fruitless.
What is the order of the communication of folk-lore ? Do tales
and superstitions proceed from the uncivilized races to the civilized
or vice versa ? '
The answer, I think, must be, that in almost all cases folk-thought
and folk-practice are imposed by cultured races on the more barbar-
ous, and that very little passes from the savage to the civilized The
reasons are obvious, but need not here be given. I doubt whether
a single instance can be cited of the adoption and assimilation, by a
highly cultivated race, of any considerable body of barbarous ideas
Where two races are mixed together, as in America negroes and
whites, the case is more complicated ; yet here, also, the influence of
the civilized part of the community is immeasurably in excess Of
American Indian legends, during three hundred years of culture
contact scarce anything has been passed to the whites. In Ireland
the Gaelic population has been in contact with the English for seven
hundred years, but Fenian narrations have not been adopted by the
latter. When a less cultured community is constantly in contact
with more cultured ones, it eventually altogether loses its ancestral
stock. The Basques of Spain, the Celts of Wales and of Brittany
are examples. -^
This process, however, is not peculiar to modern civilization It
has gone on from a time before the beginnings of history. Lone
previous to conditions of which we have record, the populations of
western Europe and of Asia were in continual exchange of ideas
usages, beliefs, tales, rites. Before the foundation of the great his'
tone religions of the East, before the Egyptian Book of the Dead
was written, before Troy was besieged, before Hebrew character and
aith was formed, this process went on in the same manner as at a
later time. Thus arose two movements : on the one hand, the ten-
dency toward uniformity, resulting from perpetual exchange of ideas •
on the other hand, new ethnic developments, depending on condi-
tions belonging to each special region. The resemblance of human
conceptions, the worid over, may be due to the common reaction of
the human mind on nature ; but the resemblance of ideas, in culture
areas, can only be explained by the integrating process described •
in particular, the similarity of modern folk-lore in the countries of
Europe and Asia must be explained by this continual diffusion
never more active than within the latter centuries. Tales, or vari!
ants of tales, originating, as it would seem, in countries at any given
t'^old World.""'"'' '"' '''^ '^^" distributed. over all pa^ts of
Once more : in comparing two forms of a story, it is usual to as-
Theories of Diffiision of Folk-Lore. 1 7
sume that that is the oldest which exhibits the most barbarous traits.
Such is the method commonly applied by scholars in the examma-
tion of the relative priority of medieval narratives. But this sup-
posed criterion is delusive. It continually happens that a simple
and civilized narrative assumes savage traits, and this in two ways :
either, in the case of htcrature, by intentional archaization, or, in the
case of folk-lore, by absorbing the savage ideas of the folk by which
it is received. To employ a figure, the gold of civilized tradition,
fallino- into the underlying stratum of barbarism, becomes an amalgam.
The Tava-e elements attached to some versions ot Cinderella by no
means shmv that the versions in question are more primitive ; they
are, on the contrary, only degradations of the original comparatively
gentle and lucid form.
It appears to me probable, in spite of the unquestionable resem-
blances between incidents of the tales of the ancient world and our
own marchen, that the latter are not immediate traditional descend-
ants of the former, but that they descend from romanticized narra-
tives of a much later date ; according to analogy, for the origin of
these tales as we have them, we should look to a period, after the
classic heroic age, in which such tales were in the tashion, being
orally produced and orally circulated ; these conditions would be
fulfilled by India of the pre-Christian time. It is, however, also
true as Mr. Bedier forcibly points out, that later Greek literature
exhibits similar taste, and that very likely the deficiency of collec-
tions prevents us from recognizing many of our romantic marchen
as belonging also to Greece. In the Egyptian talc of "The Two
Brothers " we possess a folk-tale of 1400 years before our era. Ihe
narrative shows that many of the incidents which enter into the
composition of these novels were familiar at this date; yet the nar-
rative does not, to my mind, exactly correspond to. our marchen ; 1
should suppose that in the process of continual reconstruction and
recomposition of kindred materials, the originals of the tales we now
possess were formed at a later day. As already remarked, a distinc-
tion is to be made between incidents and story-wholes, and the per-
petual superseding of older forms by new, although related, types is
to be taken into account. Yet it is quite possible that some of our
modern tales may be connected with those recited in the early civili-
zations of Assyria or of Egypt. , 1 , 1
From centres of culture, in modern times to our knowledge, and
doubtless in ancient times beyond our knowledge, folk-tales have
spread to all parts of the earth, where conditions allowed exchange,
mingled with the stock already present, and modified m ways now
untraceable the ideas of every country accessible to the comniuni-
cation of thought. In Europe, Asia, and probably in all parts of
VOL. VIII. — NO. 28. 2
1 8 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
Africa, also, is to be found no such thing as a people not so af-
fected.
In America only, thanks to the separation of the continents, this
principle may not have applied. That the great mass of pre-Colum-
bian tradition was unaffected by that of the Old World appears at
least probable. This advantage of presumable independence ought
to stimulate research, for it is on this continent alone that we can
hope to obtain evidence of an absolutely independent development
of thought. It can hardly be doubted that numerous collections of
all varieties of myth and tale from North and South America would
render possible the determination of pre-Columbian ideas and fan-
cies. The existence of such collections, sufficient in number and
accuracy, would certainly be of advantage to every branch of philo-
sophy.
In the preceding remarks, made with especial reference to the
folk-tales of Europe, regard has been had only to those narratives
which belong to several countries, and are not the peculiar property
of any one race. The traditional stock of any people consists of two
parts : first, those elements which are peculiar to the ethnic group ;
secondly, those which belong also to other groups, and which may
probably have been a loan from abroad. In the folk-lore of Central
and Western Europe, almost the whole mass of traditional story is
comprehended in the latter division. In proportion as we approach
more isolated areas, a larger proportion of the oral literature exhibits
original characteristics, or at least is not so closely connected with
European ideas. How large a portion of the folk-narratives of
Siberia, China, or Japan, for example, is to be classified with ideas,
themes, and plots, which occur also in Europe, and which have
reached those countries by dissemination from the civilizations of
different periods, how much is really distinctive and a product of
the soil, there exist at present no means to conclude, neither collec-
tions nor discussions being adequate. In Africa the collections
show an imported element ; but relatively how great, in comparison
with the native contribution, the means at hand are not yet suffi-
cient to determine.
Problems of folk-lore diffusion must be considered independently,
on their merits ; neither general theoretic assumptions, nor analo-
gies of archaeology or of language, can be invoked in order to settle
the questions at issue. In especial, it has been amply demonstrated
that the history of ideas is not parallel to that of speech.
W. W. Newell.
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 31
P«//^r along, an old English form, still in use in New England,
for " potter," to walk languidly, or labor inefficiently.
Rampike, a dead spruce or pine tree still standing. It is used in
the same sense by the lumbermen of the Maritime Provinces and
probably of New England. It is probably the same as the old Eng-
lish word rampuk, an adjective "applied to the bough o a tree
which has lesser branches standing out at its extremity (Wnght).
Rams horn, a wooden pound for washing fish in. But Wright
gives it as a Somerset word, denoting a sort of net to inclose fish
that come in with the tide.
Randy \^ used, both as a noun and a verb, of the amusement of
coastin<T "Give us a randy," or "The boys are randying. In
Anc^lo-Saxon it means boisterous, and " on the randy meant living
in debauchery. The word is retained in Scotland, where it means a
romp or frolic, but generally in an unfavorable sense. The diction-
aries however, give randon, both as a noun and a verb, in old Eng-
lish and old French, as denoting rapid and violent motion, or going
''2t'.L. is an old English word used by Milton, the same in
meaning as "robust." originally used in a favorable sense, but coming
To mean violent and unruly. Hence it became a term o reproach,
and f^^ally fell out of use. But the Newfoundlanders stil use it. or
the similar word robnstic, in its original ^^^'^'^'^''^ fY^^'^T"' ..
Sard a piece or fragment, seems the same as "shred, the Anglo-
Saxon scrcadc. Webster gives Provincial English screed
Scennn,, judgment or opinion. Given by Johnson and Web t^
as obsolete, but used by the best writers of the past. Thus Milton
has : — , . J
The persuasive words impregna
With reason to her seeming.
And Hooker says : —
Nothing more clear to their seeming.
In Newfoundland the sled or sleigh of the Continent, the sledge
of the English, is called a slide, but according to Wright th.s is the
original form in old English. Shard is used, as in Shakespeare s
time, to denote broken pieces of pottery.
Sfancel, a noun, denoting " a rope to tie a cow's hmd legs^^ am^
a verb, " to tie with a rope." By Webster it .s given as Provinaal
English, and an English gentleman informs me that the word .s
^"sZrthe^tsl'piles of a wharf, which are larger and
strongrthLn the inner ones, which are called shore. According to
Wright, in Somerset dialect it denotes "anything that projects.
32 7our7ial of American Folk-Lore.
^ Stat-ve, viz., with cold or frost. I have heard the same in Nova
Scotia. Johnson gives it as a verb neuter, with one of its mean-
ings, "to be killed with cold," and as active, with the meaning to
/•kill with cold," and quotes Milton's line : —
From beds of raging fire to starve in ice.
Webster gives this meaning as common in England, but not in
the United States, though he quotes W. Irving as writing " starv-
ing w'xth. cold as well as hunger."
Tilt, a log-house such as lumberers use ; a rough, temporary shel-
ter, like a shanty in Canada, only, instead of being built of logs laid
horizontally one on the other, it is usually composed of spruce or
fir sticks placed vertically and covered with bark. In Anglo-Saxon
it appears as telt and telde, from telden, to cover. According to the
dictionaries, from Johnson onward, it is used to denote a tent, an
awning or canopy, as over a boat.
Troth plight, one espoused or affianced. So Shakespeare : —
This your son-in-law
Is troth plight to your daughter.— Winter's Tale.
Ttissock, a bunch or tuft of grass, is marked in the dictionaries as
obsolete, but it is still in use in Newfoundland to denote the matted
tufts of grass found on the bogs.
It is well known that the word girl is not found in the Anglo-
Saxon or other languages of the North of Europe, and that it o'nly
occurs in two places in the authorized English version of the Bible,
showing that it was then only beginning to be introduced into Eng-
lish. In Newfoundland it is only where the people have been inter-
mixed with persons from other quarters that it has been used, and
in more remote places it is perhaps not used yet, the word " maid,"
pronounced m'y-id, being almost universally employed instead.
A number of words are pronounced so differently as to seem to be
almost different words. Thus " seal " is pronounced as if written
swile, a sealer is a swiler, and seal hunting is swile hunting. A
hoe is a how, the fir is var, snuffing is sjioffiiig, and "never" is naar,
which is equivalent to "not," "naar a bit" being a favorite expres-
sion to denote a strong negative.
There are also remains of old English usage in their use of the
pronouns. Thus every object is spoken of as either masculine or
feminine, and has either " he " or " she " applied to it. " It " seems
only to be used where it has been acquired by intercourse with
others. A man speaking of his head will say " he aches." Entering
the court-house, I heard a witness asked to describe a cod-trap that
was in dispute. He immediately replied, " He was about seventy-
five fathoms long," etc. Other objects are spoken of as "she," not
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 33
only boats and vessels, but a locomotive. I see no principle upon
which the distinction is made. But of this old usage we have a
remnant in the universal use of the feminine for ships.
Another old form still common is the use of the singular tJiee
and tlioit instead of the plural j^//. With this is joined what is still
common in parts of England, — the use of the nominative for the
objective, and to some extent the reverse.
Some peculiarities may be noticed also in the formation of the
past tense of verbs. Thus the present save has the past sove, and
dive is dove. But the very general usage is to follow the old Eng-
lish practice of adding "ed." Thus they say named lor ran, sid ior
saw, hiirted for hurt, failed for fell, coined for came, even sen^d for
sent, and goed for went. This last, however, is true English, re-
tained in Scotland in gaed, while we?it does not belong to the verb
at all, but is the past of another verb to wend. More curious still is
the use of doticd for did or done.
The use of the letter a, as a prefix to participles or participial
nouns, to express an action still going on, is still retained ; as, a-walk-
ing, a-hunting, etc.
Again, in some places there is retained in some words the sound
of e at the end where it is now omitted in English, Thus " hand "
and "hands" are pronounced as if written "hand^" and "handes."
This is old English. We find it in Coverdale's version of the Bible,
Tyndale's New Testament, which, however, sometimes has " honde "
and "hondes," and Cranmer's. The same usage appears in some
other words, but I do not know to what extent it prevails.
The word or syllable am is afifixed seemingly only as an expletive,
perhaps for the purpose of emphasis. My conjecture is that it is a
corruption of the word same. Thus ^^ thisain" and '' thesam" were
probably originally "this same " and "these same."
A number of words written with ay, and with most English-speak-
ing people having the long sound of a, are in Newfoundland sounded
as if written with a j. Thus they say w'y, aw'y, pr'y. pr'yer, b'y for
way, away, pray, prayer, bay. So n'yebor for neighbor. This pro-
nunciation is still retained in Scotland, and R. Lowell refers to it
as in Chaucer, and quotes it as an example of the lastingness of
linguistic peculiarities.
In their names of objects of natural history we find the retention
of a number of old English words. Thus whortleberries or blue-
berries are called hurts, nearly the same as the old English whurts
or whorts, marked in the dictionaries as obsolete. Then they call a
flea a lop, the Anglo-Saxon loppe, from hpe, to leap ; and wasps they
call waps, which is the same with the Anglo-Saxon waps and the
Low German wepsk. A large vicious fly is called stout, but accord-
VOL. vni. — NO. 28. 3
^A yournal of American Folk-Lore.
inf to Wright this is the Westmoreland name for the gadfly. Then
the snipe is called a suite, which is the old English form : "The wit-
less woodcock and his neighbor snitcy (Drayton's "Owl.") Earth-
worms are termed ycsses, which Wright gives as Dorsetshire, and
which is found in dictionaries as late as Walker's.
Some names are retained, but altered in form or differently ap-
plied. Thus grepe seems unquestionably the same word as grebe ;
but it is used in Newfoundland to denote the sea eagle, while the
original word is used to denote certain kinds of waterfowl. Then
stoat is used for shoat, a young pig, and the American brown thrush
or robin is called the blackbird.
They have a number of other names whose origin I cannot trace,
some of which may have originated among themselves, but most
of which were probably brought with them. Thus the medusae, or
sea-nettles, are called squidsguads, sometimes sqiddsqualls ; the echi-
nus or sea-urchin, ox eggs ; freshwater clams, cocks atid hens ; and to
the westward smelts are known as ministers. The black fly is known
as the mosquito, and the mosquito as the nipper.
II. A number of English words are used in peculiar senses, and it
is often interesting to trace the process of the change. Perhaps in
this respect the stranger is most frequently struck by the use of the
viords plant dind planter. He reads of administration of the estate of
A. B., planter, or sees the name of C. D., planter, as a candidate for
the legislature, and he hears the words in connection with all their
fishing operations. A planter is a man who undertakes fishing on
his own account, a sort of middleman between the merchants and
the fishermen. He owns or charters a vessel, obtains all supplies
from the merchants, hires the men, deals with them, superintends
the fishing, and on his return deals with the merchants for the fruits
of the adventure. A man will speak of going on a plant, that is,
going fishing on his own account. On the West Coast, a man who
owns a boat and hires another man is called a small planter.
It is easy to see the origin of this. When England began to plant
colonies, they were called plantations, and those who formed them
were called planters. In general they were really engaged in culti-
vating the soil, as the planters of Jamaica, the planters of Virginia,
etc. But in Newfoundland the settlers or planters had, indeed, land
assigned them, but for a length of time only for carrying on their
fishing, but they still retained the name of planters.
The word clever, it is well known, is used in different senses in
England and New England. In the former it expresses mental
power, and means talented or skilful ; in the latter it describes the
disposition, and means generous or good-natured. In Newfoundland
it is used in quite a distinct sense. It there means large and hand-
Notes on the Dialect of tlie People of Newfound la7td. 35
some It is applied not only to men, but to animals and inanimate
things A fisherman will speak of a "clever-built boat," meanmg
thatlt'is large and shapely. The dictionaries, from Johnson onward
ffive as one meaning of the word, "well-shaped or handsome. But
he describes it as " a low word, scarcely ever used but m burlesque
or in conversation, and applied to anything a man likes, without a
settled meaning." But Wright gives it as in the East of England
meaning good-looking, and in Lancashire as denotmg l^^^^Y; -^f ;s
nearly the Newfoundland idea, and probably the nearest to the old
Enghsh.
Siirn 'in the phrase " a sign of." is used to denote a small quan-
tity One at table, being asked if he would have any more of a dish,
reolied " Just a sign." This I have no doubt originated in the use
of the term on the fishing grounds in something of its proper mean-
in^ When, on reaching them and seeking spots where the fish were
to%e found, they first caught some, it afforded a sign of their pres-
ence ust as a gold-miner^speaks of a " show " of gold. When they
caucrht them in greater abundance, they spoke of it as "a ^..^ sign
oi fish '• Hence the term came to express the quantity, without
reference to what it indicated, and in this sense to be applied to any
"""^^Urt, or atort, is the same as athwart, but it is used as equivalent
to across. Thus they say " atert the road," or "atort the harbor.
Tert is also used for thwart. r u 1 i
Bread, with a Newfoundlander, means hard biscuit, and soft-baked
bread is called loaf. The origin of this is easily understood. For a
len-th of time the coast was frequented by fishermen, who made no
permanent settlement on shore, and whose only bread was hard bis-
cuit In a similar way fish came to mean codfish.
^'Goincr into the country'' is used to express going into the woods.
A man going for an outing, taking a tent to encamp in the woods,
will be said to have gone into the country. We can easily under-
stand how this could have arisen. In Newfoundland there are
really no settlers or settlements away from the shore. Therefore to
go into the country is in reality to go into the woods. On the other
hand, the people of St. Johns speak of persons coming in from the
outp;sts a's "coming out of ^he country." ^ye find the san.e form
in the authorized version of the English Bible (Mark xv. 21), where
the Revised has simply " coming /r^^« the country.
The xvord fodder is not used to denote cattie-feed m general, but
is limited to oats cut green to be used for that purpose. This use
of the word. I am informed, is found in New England So the words
/«««./ and /....///;/.- are used in Nexvfoundland. and also m some
parts of the United States, for stove-pipe. It is common in both to
36 J'oiirnaL of American Folk-Lore.
hear such expressions as "The funnels are wrong," or " He bought
so many feet of funnelling."' This sense of the word has gone out
pf use elsewhere, except as regards a steamer's funnel.
Hatchet is used for an axe. This is a little singular, as the word
was not originally English, but is the French hachettc, the diminu-
tive of hache, and really meaning a small axe or hatchet.
A Newfoundlander cannot pass you a higher compliment than to
say you are a knoivledgahle man. This word, however, I understand
is common in Ireland, and I suppose was brought here by the Irish
settlers.
TAveyers, a name applied by the Newfoundland fishermen to those
who permanently reside on the Labrador coast, in contrast with
those who come there during summer. It seems simply the word
livers, but curiously altered in the pronunciation.
Lodge is used in an active transitive sense, as equivalent to place
or put, as "I lodged the book on the shelf," "She lodged the dish in
the closet." This was the original meaning of the word, but this
use of it in common life has almost entirely ceased. We have, how-
ever, a survival of it in such expressions as, " lodging money in the
bank."
Marsh, often pronounced mesh or mish, is the usual name for a
bog, of which there are many throughout the island, So pond \s, the
name for a lake. Even the largest on the island (fifty-six miles long)
is known as Grand Pond. This usage prevails to some extent in
New England, where, however, both terms are used without any
clear distinction between them, but in Newfoundland " pond " alone
is used. In this connection it may be also noted that a rapid in a
river is usually known as a rattle. I do not find this elsewhere,
but I regard it as very expressive.
Model, sometimes pronounced morel, is used in general for a
pattern. Thus a person entering a shop asked for "cloth of that
model," exhibiting a small piece.
Ralls, a word applied to riots that took place some years ago.
Robert Lowell, in his work, " The New Priest of Conception Bay,"
supposes that the word means ''rallies," but Judge Bennett informs
me that it is a corruption of " radicals," and was applied to those
enfrasfed in these disturbances as enemies to civil and ecclesiastical
authorities.
Rind, as a noun, is invariably used to denote the bark of a tree, and,
as a verb, to strip it off. The word bark, on the other hand, is only
used as a noun to denote the tan which the fisherman applies to his
net and sails, and as a verb to denote such an application of it.
Thus he will say, " I have been getting some juniper or black spruce
rind to make tan bark," or "I have been barking my net or sails,"
meaning that he has been applying the tannin extract to them.
Notes 071 the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 37
One of the most singular peculiarities, however, of the dialect of
Newfoundlanders is the use of the word room to denote the whole
premises of a merchant, planter, or fisherman. On the pnncipal
harbors the land on the shore was granted in small sections, measur-
ino- so many yards in front, and running back two or three hundred
yards with a lane between. Each of these allotments was called a
r^^w,'and, according to the way in which it was employed, was known
as a merchant's room, a planter's room, or a fisherman's room. Thus
we will hear of Mr. M.'s upper room, his lower room, and his beach
room ; or we have Mr. H.'s room, the place where he does busmess,
at Labrador. One of these places, descending from father to son,
will be called a family room.
Shall, probably the same as shell, but we find it as shale used by
older writers. Johnson defines it as "a husk, the case of seeds m
siliquous plants," quoting Shakespeare's line, " Leaving them but the
shales and husks of men," and later writers use it as a verb to de-
note the stripping off this husk. In Newfoundland it is used in
both ways, and in addition to denote the hulling of strawberries and
such fruit.
The word skipper is in universal use, and so commonly applied as
almost to have lost its original meaning of the master of a small ves-
sel It is used toward every person whom one wishes to address
with respect, and is almost as common as " Mr." is elsewhere. Gener-
ally the Christian name is used after it, as Skipper Jan, Skipper Kish.
In like manner the word wide is used without regard to relationship
In a community every respectable man of say si.xty years of age will
be so called by all the other people in it. „ u
Spurt, meaning a short time. " Excuse me for a spurt. " How
loner did you stay .? " " A short spurt."
Having much to do with the weather, as might be expected, they
have peculiar words and expressions regarding it.' Thus a calm day
is civil, and a stormy one is eoarse. This last I think I have heard
among Scotch people. A very sharp, cutting wind driving small
particles of ice, which strike the face in a painful manner, is expres-
sively called a barber. A Newfoundlander will also speak of the
wind being scatit when it may be blowing something of a gale. He
means that it is too nearly ahead for him to make the course which
he wishes. I find, however, the same use of the word among seamen
in Nova Scotia. This I think must be a corruption of the word
askant From this perhaps comes the word scaritalize or scandalize.
A gentleman heard a captain, on bringing a vessel to anchor, give an
order to "scantalize the mainsail." The command was obeyed by
lettin- the peak drop and gathering up the sail as far as was neces-
sary to take the wind out of it. The word, however, does not appear
to be in common use.
38 y our nal of American Folk-Lore.
It will be seen that several of the old English words in use in
Newfoundland are also found in New England. The question has
been raised, whether each derived them from their common English
parentage, or whether the Newfoundlanders received them by inter-
course with New England fishermen visiting their coast. I am
decidedly of opinion that most if not all the old English words used
in Newfoundland were an original importation from the mother
country. The intercourse of New England fishermen was too
limited and too transient to have so generally affected their lan-
guage. Still there are a few words in use which seem to have
come in that way, for example callibogiis, a mixture of spruce beer
and rum ; a scalawag, a scamp ; tomahazuk, the name by which the
American shingling hatchet is known ; cataviaran, a word originally
denoting a raft of three logs lashed together, used first in the East
and afterward in the West Indies, but in Newfoundland used to de-
note a wood-sled, and, when side sleighs were first introduced, applied
to them ; and scrod, in New England escrod, a fresh young codfish
broiled.
III. There are a large number of words the origin of which is to
me unknown or uncertain. Thus a species of white bean is adver-
tised commonly and sold under the name of callivances. Eggleston,
in an article in the " Century Magazine" for 1894, mentions " galli-
vaiices and potatoes " as given in 1782 among the products of Penn-
sylvania ; and in the same year, in " A Complete Discovery of the
State of Carolina," a list is made of several sorts of pulse grown in the
colony, to wit, " beans, pease, callavaiiccs" etc. He is puzzled about
the word, and supposes it to mean pumpkins, and to be from the
Spanish calabaza (gourd). But this would not be pulse. Probably it
meant there, as it does now in Newfoundland, the small v/hite bean,
in contrast with the broad English bean. But what is the origin of
the word, and how did it come to be found in places so distant, and
circumstances so different, as in Carolina and Newfoundland? And
is it not singular to find it surviving in the latter place, when it has
so entirely disappeared elsewhere that the learned are unable to
ascertain its meaning .-*
Of other words of to me unknown origin I may mention chronic,
an old stump ; cockeying at Harbor Grace, copying in St. Johns, de-
scribing an amusement of boys in spring, when the ice is breaking up,
of jumping from cake to cake, in supposed imitation of the sealers ;
cracky, a little dog ; dido, a bitch ; gaudy, the fisherman's name for a
pancake ; mucksy, muddy, doubtless from muck, but I do not find it
in any dictionary within my reach ; ^ scrape, a rough road down the
' Since the above was written, I observe that the author of Lorna Doom gives
" muck " and " mucksy " as Devonshire for mud and muddy.
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfotmdland. 39
face of a bank or steep hill, used specially in regard to such as arc
formed by sliding or hauling logs down ; shimmick, used on the west
coast as a term of contempt for one who, born of English parents,
attempts to conceal or deny his birth in Newfoundland ; sprayed,
describing chapped hands or arms ; iolt, a solitary hill, usually some-
what conkal, rising by itself above the surrounding country ; truckly-
vinck, a small two-handed car for dogs, with a handle for a man to
keep 'it straight ; and tuckamore, in some places tuckaviil, a clump of
spruce, growing almost flat on the ground and matted together,
found on the barrens and bleak, exposed places.
To these may be added the following words : droke, c. g. of wood,
denotin- a wood extending from one side of a valley to the other.
In old English the word denotes a filmy weed on the surface of stag-
nant waters, but I cannot trace any connection of this with the use
of it in Newfoundland. , , .,
Dwy, a mist or slight shower. " Is it going to ram to-day }
" No it is only a dwy," a Newfoundlander may reply.
siarrigan, a young fir-tree, which is neither good for firewood nor
large enough to be used for timber, hence applied with contempt to
anything constructed of unsuitable materials. The word sounds as
if it were from the Irish. .
sprawls of snow, heavy drifts ; the origin and proper meanmg of
the word I am unable to trace.
Under this head we may also notice a number of technical terms
connected with their fishing, which may be used by fishermen else-
where, but of most of which I am unable to trace the origin. Thus
we have collar, a mooring laid down for the purpose of fastening
the fishing punt or skiff to it: the rope has a loop at the end for
pulling over the stern of the boat, and this rope gives its name to
the mooring ; faggots, small piles of fish on the flakes ; high rat, a
boat with a board along the edge to prevent the water coming over,
called a zvashboard, a term applied to objects which have a simi-
lar arrangement ; thus a man boarding in town complained that he
had to sleep in a bed without any washboard ; pew, an instrument
consistincr of a shaft with a sharp piece of iron, like one prong of a
fork at the end of it, used for throwing fish from the boats on to the
stao-es, hence the verb to pew, to cast them up in this manner, but
this seems to be the French word pieu, which is defined as meaning
a stake or pale, but which I am informed is used by the French
Canadians to denote a fork ; rode, the hemp cable by which the ves-
sel boat or punt rides on the fishing ground ; sivatching, watching
open holes in the ice for seals to come up to shoot them ; and water-
horse, a pile of fish after being washed, usually three or four feet
wide,Vabout the same height, and as long as may be.
40 your7ial of American Folk-Lore.
The hunting of seals on the ice has produced a number of techni-
cal words which seem peculiar to that employment. Thus a cake of
ice is uniformly known as a paii of ice, and to pan is to gather at
one place a quantity say of seals. This last, however, seems a survi-
val of an obsolete English word meaning to join or close together.
Ice ground fine is known as swish ice, but broken into larger pieces
it is called slob ice. Large cakes of ice like small icebergs floating
about are called growlers ; and when, by the pressure of sea and
storm, the ice is piled in layers one upon the other, it is said to be
rafted. The process of separating the skin with the fat adhering to
it from the rest of the carcass is called sculping, and the part thus
separated is called the sculp.
Like all uneducated people, Newfoundlanders have phrases, or a
sort of proverbial expressions, based on the circumstances of their
daily life, which are frequently very telling. Thus they will describe
a simpleton or greenhorn as " not well-baked " or only "half-baked."
They will also describe a man as having " a slate off," indicating the
same as is meant by a man having something wrong in his upper
story. This saying was doubtless brought with them from the old
country ; but as slates are not used among them for the covering of
houses, they have adapted the saying to the country by speaking of
such a man as having "a shingle loose." An increase of cold may be
described as the weather being "a jacket colder," and when feeling
its severity they will speak of being "nipped with cold." Again, a
man describing his poverty said he had had nothing to eat but " a
bare-legged herring," meaning a herring without anything to eat
with it. But one of the most amusing uses of a word is that of
" miserable," simply as intensive. Thus a person will speak of " a
miserable fine day." I believe that similar words are used in a
similar manner, and that one may be described as "terrible good."
George Patterson.
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
Burial Customs a7id Beliefs of the Irish Peasantry. 2 1
passing over his head. But the gaze of one in sin caused such dis-
turbance that two stones from the church dropped to the earth, and
to this day lie in sight in the field where they fell. Some say that it
was to place the graves near the road so that the occupants might
have the prayers of the passers-by that the miracle was performed,
for in its present situation the churchyard is only separated from
the road by a wall, but in its old site it was not bordered by any road.
The field reputed to be the former place occupied by the graves is
never tilled. It is said that slight elevations, and now and then a
footstone, yet- show where graves used to be.
When cottagers die it is usual to preserve with care their best
clothes, and for the relatives to wear such garments from time to
time in going to mass. It is thought that the dead may unseen,
probably during the night, return and wish to put on their former
garments. I knew of the following incident : A servant girl went
back from America for a visit at her home in County Cork. Just
before her arrival her eldest sister had died. Upon her coming back
to America the mother gave her an almost new woollen petticoat
belonging to her deceased sister, but this she told me would be at
once replaced by another of the same sort. The mother also was
about to buy and make another petticoat for Sunday wear to place
among the clothes of her dead daughter, as the latter had requested
her so to do a short time before she died. Clothes belonging to the
dead are supposed to decay very rapidly, not lasting nearly as long
as those belonging to the living. Photographs also fade, change,
and look as if the original were ill, after the death of the latter. It
is believed that the departed sometimes come back to earth and
attend mass. A path is always left open down the aisle of a country
chapel. The peasants believe that this is done in order that invisi-
ble spirits of the dead who may wish to enter shall not be impeded
by the kneeling worshippers.
Visitors from the grave are, however, by no means always invisi-
ble, for instances are related of persons long dead appearing as if
alive, in broad daylight. Then too it is implicitly believed that the
dead often rise from their graves and amuse themselves during
uncanny hours of the night at "goaling," a favorite and somewhat
boisterous national ball game. More than one individual has told
me that such merry-makings among the dead have been frequently
witnessed in fields neighboring to churchyards, by persons return-
ing home very late at night. The players have even been heard to
laugh in their sport.
One should never throw water out of doors late at night. If it
be absolutely necessary to empty water, that has been used for
bathing, or for any domestic purpose, it should be carried out and
2 2 Journal of A inerican Folk-Lore.
very gently poured upon the earth. If flung out with violence, '* It
might fall upon some one from the other world," I was told when
I asked the reason of this rule. It is counted most unlucky not to
heed this saying.^ One should never go to bed without having a
supply of clean water in the house. The good people, or " those
from the other world," may come in to drink, and will not like it if
there be no water.^ Water kept in the house over night should not
be used next day lest these ghostly visitors may have tasted of it.
The bottle containing holy water brought home from mass, or
water brought home to use medicinally, from a blessed well, when
one has been "paying rounds," should never be corked. It is
said that holy water will keep pure in an uncorked bottle, no matter
how long it stands. A woman once, not knowing that it was w^rong,
corked her vial of holy water after paying rounds, and when she
reached home the bottle was empty. This showed that it was not
right. When I asked why it was wrong, the answer was, " I suppose
it should be left open so that if any people from the other world
should pass by and want any of the holy water it would be free and
open to them."
This is another illustration of the popular belief in the constant
presence about the living, of unseen spirits.
At a christening, if either the godfather or godmother fail to
repeat verbatim after the priest the prayers and promises, the child
christened will always have the power to see fairies or ghosts. This
is counted unfortunate.
Gradually there has come to me, directly from Irish girls, a large
and interesting accumulation of lore concerning fairies and their
subterranean homes, the " lises," but this matter is so great in
amount as to need a separate paper.
The small cloth used by the priest in the christening rites, which
becomes more or less moistened with the holy water, is reputed to
possess great curative virtues and if, as occasionally occurs, the
priest gives it to the mother or some other near relative of the babe,
it is preserved with the greatest care.
It is disastrous to fill up an old well, — even one long disused
should still be left open so that, if those now dead, who when living
used to come there for water, should return in the night to drav/
water they may find it. Not infrequent instances are related of ill-
^ This suggests an Arab custom of apologizing to any possible unseen spirit
who by chance may be hit if a stone be thrown into the empty air. See, also, in
the Journal of American Folk-Lore, July-September, 1890, pp. 206, 207.
^ The negroes on the Eastern Shore of Maryland also believe it to be wrong
and most unlucky to retire without leaving a pail of drinking water in the house.
Trows require that plenty of clean water shall be left in the house on Saturday
night. Shetland Islands, Edmonston's Home of a Nahiralist, p. 209.
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 27
NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE PEOPLE OF
NEWFOUNDLAND.!
In recently visiting Newfoundland, I had not more than begun to
associate with her people till I observed them using English words
in a sense different from what I had ever heard elsewhere. This
was the case, to some extent, in the speech of the educated, in their
law proceedings, and in the public press, but of course was more
marked among the uneducated. Among them, particularly, I found
in addition words in use which were entirely new to me. Further
intercourse convinced me that these peculiarities presented an inter-
esting subject of study, and during the short time at my disposal,
with the assistance of kind friends, among whom I must specially
mention Judge Bennett of Harbor Grace, I made as full a collection
as circumstances would permit, of words in use strange to me, or
used in peculiar senses.
In explanation of the origin of these peculiarities, I may mention
that the most of the original settlers of Newfoundland came either
from Ireland or the west of England. In consequence, the present
generation very generally speak with an Irish accent. But they
seem to have adopted few words from this source. P'rom a very
early period, the coasts were frequented by fishermen of all nations,
and thus may have been introduced words, whose genesis we find it
difficult to trace. This influence, however, has been very limited, and
their language is almost entirely English. Even the peculiarities
which we are to consider will, I think, be seen by the following col-
lection to be survivals of older forms of the language in many cases,
I. We find English words which are either obsolete or used only
in some limited sense. We note the following :. —
Baji'c/, sometimes pronounced barbel^ a tanned sheepskin used by
fishermen, and also by splitters, as an apron to keep the legs dry,
but since oilskin clothes have come into use, not now generally em-
ployed. Wright, in his " Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial Eng-
lish," marks it as Kentish, denoting " a short leather apron worn by
washerwomen, or a slabbering bib."
Barm has now generally given way to the word yeast, but it is
still commonly, if not exclusively, used in Newfoundland. So billets,
for small sticks of wood, has now, with most English-speaking peo-
ple, gone out of use. But it is quite usual in Newfoundland to hear
of buying or selling billets, putting in billets, etc. The word, how-
ever, seems to have come from the French.
^ Read at a meeting of the Montreal branch of the American Folk-Lore Society,
2 1 St May, 1894.
28 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
Brctvs. This is a dish which occupies almost the same place at a
Newfoundlander's breakfast-table that baked beans are supposed
to do on that of a Bostonian. It consists of pieces of hard biscuit
soaked over night, warmed in the morning, and then eaten with
boiled codfish and butter. This is plainly the old English word
usually written brczvis, variously explained. Johnson defines it as
"a piece of bread soaked in boiling fat pottage made of salted meat."
Worcester derives it from Gaelic bmthas, VV. brhv, a fragment or
morsel, and represents it as denoting small pieces of bread in broth.
But Webster properly, we think, gives it as from the Anglo-Saxon
brizvy broth, and represents it as obsolete in the sense of broth or
pottage (" What an ocean of breivis shall I swim in," Beaumont and
Fletcher), but as still used to denote "bread soaked in gravy, or
prepared in water and butter." This is the relative New England
dish. Wright gives it in various forms, brcwct, brewis, etc., as
denoting pottage, but says that in the north of England they still
have " a brczvis made of slices of bread with fat broth poured over
them."
Child is used to denote a female child. This is probably going
out of use, as gentlemen who have resided for some time on the
island say they have never heard it, but I am assured by others that
on the occasion of a birth they have heard at once the inquiry,
" Is it a boy or a child } " Wright gives it as Devonshire, and it
was in use in Shakespeare's time, " Winter's Tale," iii. 3, " A boy
or a childe, I wonder."
DresJi, to go round visiting. A man said of a minister, " He 's
na'ar a bit of good for dreshing round." In old English the word is
the same with the modern threshing or thrashing. This peculiar
use of the word may have originated in the practice before thresh-
ing mills were in use, of men going round among farmers threshing
their grain.
Dnmg, a narrow lane. Wright gives it under the form of driin, as
Wiltshire, with the same signification.
Dzvoll, a state between sleeping and waking, a dozing. A man
will say, " I got no sleep last night, I had only a dwoU." This seems
kindred to the Scotch word dzvavi, which means a swoon. " He is
no deid, he is only in a dwam." Wright gives a similar, if not the
same word, as dzaale, originally meaning the plant nightshade, and
then a lethargic disease, or a sleeping potion.
Flazv, a strong and sudden gust of wind. Norwegian, Jlage or
flaag. The word is used by Shakespeare and Milton : —
Should patch a wall, to expel the winter's ^aic. — Hatnlet.
And snow and hail and stormy gust andyfaw. — Paradise Lost.
Burial Customs and Beliefs of the Irish Peasaiitry. 1 9
BURIAL AND HOLIDAY CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS OF
THE IRISH PEASANTRY.!
The following customs and beliefs were communicated to me by
Irish girls from County Cork. With few exceptions they have been
heard from more than one individual. The two girls from whom I
collected nearly all were both from the parish of Cannavee, a few
miles from the town of Macroom.
All Roman -Catholics who have been enrolled in a certain order,
called the Order of the Blessed Virgin, have the right to be buried
in a garment called a " habit." These garments of brown cloth are
usually made by nuns, have been blessed by a priest, and may be
purchased at a convent by members of the above-mentioned order.
Elderly or infirm persons often have the habit laid away ready for use
if death come suddenly. If one is thought to be dying this garment
is brought forth, if in the house, if not it is sent for, and is put on
the dying man or woman. If the latter be too ill or in too great pain
to be dressed, a sleeve is slipped on one arm, and the robe thrown
over the person in order that he may die in the blessed garment, for
it is believed that one so clad when dying may thus escape the fires
of purgatory. Persons enrolled in this religious order usually wear
about the neck an emblem called a scapular (popularly pronounced
scafra). This consists of two small quadrangular cloth-covered
objects attached to a ribbon. Each is supposed to contain, within,
the blessed sacrament. When the outside covering wears away it
may be re-covered, or if too much worn for this it may be replaced
by a new "scafra." In this case the fragments of the old one
should be burned, never thrown away. Many persons wear about
the neck another sacred emblem, an Agnus del, of similar make. It
is said if one of these be thrown out upon a storniy sea a calming of
the storm will follow.
It is usual, though not universal, for the wife to be buried with
her own people and the husband with his. Therefore the graves
of the husband and wife are rarely together. Often they are in dif-
ferent parishes, or even more widely separated. The children of a
family are interred according to their expressed desire, either in the
family burial-place of the father or the mother, but when there has
not been any especial request made by the deceased, the children's
natural burial-place is with the tribe of the father. As far as I can
learn there seems to be a decided preference on the part of daugh-
ters to rest with the kin of their mother. Any number of persons
may be buried in the same grave, but it is not allowable to open a
1 Read at the Sixth Annnal Meeting, Washington, I). C, Dec. 28, 1894.
20 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
grave to admit another occupant until one year has elapsed. Often-
times one irrecoverably ill requests to be put to rest in a certain
grave, so as to be near a favorite relative. My own servant tells me
that she has often wished that when she comes to die it might be
possible for her to be buried with her mother. The peasantry very
commonly believe that it is possible for the dead to hold converse
with one another, hence it is quite natural that they have decided
choice with whom they shall neighbor after death. This notion of
possible sociability among the buried dead is of a very vivid, realistic
character. The idea seems to be that every day gossiping, visiting
may go on, just as in life. If one be buried where he ought not,
as by accident in the burial-place of another family, his spirit will
appear to his living relatives, and continue to appear until his body
be disinterred and placed in the right grave.
A grave should not be disturbed except at the time of an inter-
ment. If a headstone is to be erected, or a new one put in place of
an old one, it must be done at the time the grave has to be opened
because of death, or very soon afterwards.
It is counted an ill omen to stumble in a graveyard, or to fall
from a car at a funeral. It is said that the last person buried in any
churchyard will have to draw water for all the others there sleeping,
until there is another burial. Hence if it chance that two or more
funerals occur in the same place, at about the same hour, the great-
est haste is made by each funeral procession approaching the gate
to the graveyard, and if two funeral trains actually meet at the
entrance, not infrequently there is an impromptu fight to settle
which corpse shall be first allowed to enter and be interred, and
thereby to escape the labor of drawing water. If there is a burial
in any week it is believed that there will be two others during that
week in the same graveyard, i. e., that there will be three funerals in
a week if there are any.
The mother should never go to the grave with the body of her
first child. It would be unfortunate. Irish immigrants in America,
to my knowledge, follow this custom to some considerable extent, if
not universally. It is not thought to be right to enter a churchyard
save at the time of a funeral, therefore people do not walk there, or
even go to visit the graves of their relatives. It is customary in
passing a graveyard to pause and pray for the souls of those therein
buried. There is a current tradition that the church of Cannavee
and the graveyard about it many years ago were, during the night,
removed by the saints to the present site from a place a short
distance (perhaps a quarter of a mile) away. The story is that a
man who had risen before dawn, to attend to some farm work, look-
ing upward, saw the church, graves, tombstones, and so on quietly
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 29
It is still used by English seamen, and Tennyson also uses it : —
\J\\it^ flatus in summer laying lusty corn.
FrorCy for froze or frozen. This is used by Milton : —
The parching air
Burns y>-(3r6' and cold performs the effect of fire.
Clutch, to swallow. " My throat is so sore that I cannot glutch
anything." Wright gives it as old English in the same sense, and
adds the word gliitcher, as meaning the throat.
Gulch. The dictionaries give the similar word giilcJi as an obso-
lete word, which meant to swallow ravenously, and Wright gives it
as Westmoreland for to swallow. In this sense I do not hear of its
being used in Newfoundland. As a noun it is used as in other parts
of America, as denoting a ravine or small hollow. It is also applied
to those hollows made by vehicles in snow roads, known in Canada
as pitches. But as a verb it has come, on the Labrador coast, to
have a meaning peculiar to that region and to those who frequent it.
In summer, men, women, and children from Newfoundland spend
some weeks there at the fishing, living in a very promiscuous way.
As there is no tree for shelter for hundreds of miles of islands and
shores, parties resort to the hollows for secret indulgence. Hence
gulching has, among them, become a synonym for living a wanton
life.
Hat, a quantity, a bunch, or a heap. A hat of trees means a
clump of trees. According to Jamieson's " Scottish Dictionary," in
some parts of Scotland the word means a small heap of any kind,
carelessly thrown together.
Heft, as a verb, to raise up, but especially to prove or try the
weight of a thing by raising it, is marked in dictionaries as Provin-
cial English and Colloquial United States, but it, is still used in the
same sense in Newfoundland. Thus one returning home with a
good basket of fish may say to a friend, "heft that," feel the weight
of it. And so, as a noun, it is used with the relative meaning of
weight.
House place, the kitchen. In old English, according to Wright, it
meant the hall, the first large room after entering the house. It is
still in common use in Scotland.
yo7inick, in Newfoundland, means honest, but according to Wright,
in the Northamptonshire dialect it means "kind or hospitable."
Kilter, regular order or condition ; "out of kilter," disordered or
disarranged. It is common in old English, but generally spelled
kelter. Thus Barrow says, " If the organs of prayer be oiit of kelter,
or out of tune, how can we pray .^ " Under the spelling "kilter "
it is common in New England.
30 yournal of America7i Folk-Lore.
Knap, a knoll or protuberance above surrounding land. It ap-
pears in Anglo-Saxon as knappc, and in kindred languages as denot-
ing a knob or button, but in old English it denotes " the top of a
hill or a rising ground " (Wright).
Linney, a small building built against a bank or another building.
In New England it is generally linter or lenter. This is commonly-
regarded as a corruption of Ican-to. But Eggleston, in an article in
the "Century Magazine" for April, 1894, doubts this. At all
events, Wright gives linhay as, in the Westmoreland dialect, denot-
ing an open shed. In this form, also, it appears in " Lorna Doone,"
a novel written in the Devonshire dialect.
Mare-browed. The word mare, in Anglo-Saxon, means a demon
or goblin, and we have a remnant of this in the word "nightmare."
But there is in Newfoundland a curious survival of it in the term
7?ia7'e-hxo'VfQd, applied to a man whose eyebrows extend across his
forehead, and who is dreaded as possessed of supernatural powers.
Mouch, to play truant, and also applied to one shirking work or
duty. This is the same old English word, variously spelled meech,
tncach, and micJie, to lie hid or to skulk, hence to cower or to be ser-
vilely humble or mean. The form mouch is still retained in the
North of Ireland, and is also common in Scotland. I lately observed
it as used by the tramps in New York to denote concealing or dis-
guising one's self. I find it also used by schoolboys in some places in
Nova Scotia.
Ahmch, the refreshment men take with them on going to the
woods. It is an old form of the word "lunch," as " nuncheon " for
"luncheon" (Wright). It is said, in old English, to denote a thick
lump of bread or other edible. But by others it is regarded, we think
not so probably, as referring to noon, and meaning the refreshment
that the laborers partook of at that hour.
Then a Newfoundlander speaks of his head as his /<?//. Elsewhere
the word is only used in reference to numbering persons, as for poll
tax, or holding a poll. Shakespeare, however, uses it in its original
signification, — "All flaxen was his poll."
Peck, to peep, common in New England. Thus we have in
Lowell's poems : —
Zekle crep' up, quite unbeknown,
An' peeked in thru the winder.
Pook, a haycock, Wright gives it as having the.same meaning in
the Westmoreland dialect.
Prong, a hay or fish fork. This is the meaning given by Johnson,
who does not mention it as denoting one tine of a fork. So Wright
gives it as an old English word denoting a hayfork.
Burial Customs a?id Beliefs of the Irish Peasantry, 23
ness, paralysis, or death being sent as a punishment upon those who
have violated this custom.
On New Year's eve pancakes are baked and thrown against the
inside of the house-door "to keep off hunger" through the coming
year. It is an Irish saying that if you do not eat enough food on
New Year's day you will not have sufficient throughout the year.
It is customary on Candlemas day to take candles to church for
the priest to bless. Such candles are kept on hand by provident
people, ready for use, if the priest has to come, in case of dangerous
illness, to administer extreme unction.
There is what is called "a black fast" on Ash Wednesday. No
milk is allowed by the church, and it is a popular saying that a nurs-
ing baby should be allow^ed to cry three times that day before it is
fed. There is also "a black fast" on Good Friday, and the same
rule holds good for feeding young children on that day. Children
tell one another that if one taste milk on Ash Wednesday, the ear
of the offender will be cut off during the night. It is unlucky to
move on Ash Wednesday, therefore if there be a wedding the day
before, care is taken to leave the bride's home, for the new one,
before midnight.
On St. Bridget's night the young people have much sport in going
about from house to house, bearing dummies called " Biddies," which
are dressed up amusingly. One of these figures is quietly placed
against the outside door of each house, so leaning that when the
door is opened from within the Biddy falls to the floor.
The old rule of never permitting fire to be carried out of the
house on May day still survives. Also on that day one should never
allow milk to be borne off his premises lest the buyer might be
possessed of the evil eye or be a witch and by some spell be able
to transfer the yield of butter for the next year from the cows of the
one selling the milk to her own cows. A pretty courtesy among the
peasantry makes the cottagers careful not to go for milk on May day
to the farm where they get their daily supplies. Even when they
know they would not be refused if they called for milk May morning,
they, respecting the old custom, prefer to get what milk is needed
the night before, thus protecting the dairyman from any risk. It is
believed that witches may transform themselves into animals, and
thus disguised go about th. :r pranks. The following story is current
in Cannavee, and the house is yet pointed out where the witch-
woman lived. " Not many years ago a certain farmer found that his
cows gave scarcely any milk, and apparently had been milked early,
before the morning milking. He concealed himself to watch for the
thief, who might visit the cows in the field before they were driven
into the barn-yard. Soon he saw a hare come among the cows and
24 yoiirnal of Ameyicaii Folk-Lore.
go from one to another, sucking each in turn. He ran out, giving
chase to the hare, which lied and at length jumped into a bush, but
when the man reached the bush he could find nothing. Next day he
watched, and when the hare again appeared he brought his hounds,
which chased the hare until she approached a neighboring farm-
house. At last the foremost dog reached the hare just as she dis-
appeared through a window of this house, but not until she had been
bitten in one hip. Next day it was known that the farm-wife there
living was lame, and it is said that while she lived she bore the mark
of the injury. P^rom that time on she was known by an Irish nick-
name, which interpreted means ' little old hare-woman.' Some years
after, this suspected witch died. At her funeral the span of horses
attached to the hearse seemed frightened, reared, snapped their
traces, and ran a full mile before stopping. A second pair of horses
were harnessed to the hearse, but were so unruly that they could not
be driven, and finally the coffin had to be borne to the grave by the
friends of the deceased. It was supposed by man}'- people that the
horses felt the presence of the devil, who had come to claim his
own."
The old custom among boys of carrying a wren about, from house
to house, singing the familiar old verses, often with local modifica-
tions, and begging alms for a holiday treat, is regularly kept up on
St. Stephen's day. The bird is usually caught the day before St.
Stephen's day, and many believe that the wrens are wise enough to
know that it is a dangerous time for them, so that in consequence
they hide in the furze and other bushes, trying thus to escape the
wren-boys. The bird is rarely secured alive. The lads from each
parish claim that district as their own, and if the little band march-
ing, carrying their wren on a pole decked out with ribbons, chance
to meet a set of boys from another parish intruding on their premises
a battle then and there ensues. The wren is buried at the close of
the day's sport, but without any particular rites. A County Ros-
common girl told me that in her neighborhood, if any one refused
alms to the wren-bearers it was customary to bury the bird on the
premises as a charm to bring ill luck. It is believed that any one so
conjured will never see another lucky day. The peasants are familiar
with the well-known legend telling how their little wren came to be
the king of birds.
I append a few items of animal folk-lore collected from the same
sources as the usages and beliefs above given.
Horses can see the wind.^ They can also perceive many things
^ Negroes on the Eastern Shore of Maryland believe that botJi cows and swine
" can see the wind." They say that if a human being will " suck a sow " he may
become endowed with the same power.
Burial Customs and Beliefs of the Irish Peasantry. 25
invisible to men. Instances are frequently related of horses becom-
ing frightened suddenly, when their riders could see nothing. It
was supposed that either spirits or some of the good people were
near, and that their presence was felt by the animal.
If a cow be ill after calving it is customary to give her raw eggs
to eat, first breaking each egg on the cow's horn. The eggs, shell
and all, are forced down the cow's throat. If the cow is not doing
well, the "bestins," the first milking, is also administered. Another
custom common among the farmers is to light a holy candle and by
passing it under the cow to singe off the hair, which has grown long,
about the udder. The cow is counted among the blessed animals.
It is thought to be a sin to kill a frog, as the frog also is a blessed
animal. " They say that long ago, in very old times, they [frogs]
were Christians." ^
When the proprietor of a home dies, especially if such an one be
very old, both the bees and hens will desert the place.
The cock is blessed, and one usually roosts over the door in the
farmhouses and cottages, on a flat perch called a stage. It is es-
teemed as an oracle, and its warnings are much heeded and obeyed.
It is not thought wise or lucky to sit up very late at night, for dis-
embodied spirits may wish to enter the house, perhaps " people from
the other world " who once lived in that house. Therefore, if people
sit up late, until near midnight, say, sewing or busy at other work,
the cock often warns them, by crowing, to put out the light and make
the house quiet. Also at times, when some of a family have risen at
an unusual hour in the morning in order to make an early start for
their market-town or city, the cock warns them by crowing not to set
forth, and if his warning is not heeded he repeats it until the prep-
arations going on are stopped and such members of the household
as have risen sit down to wait for dawn. There is.a proverb in Irish
which literally means " Never be a night without a cock in the
house." A hen that crows is usually killed.
Fanny D. Bergen.
^ The word Christian is much used popularly as synonymous with human being.
On the Eastern Shore of Maryland there is a saying among the negroes that
'• moles are old-time people."
26 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
WEATHER-SIGNS FROM CONNECTICUT.
As is the weather the last Friday of every month, so will be the
majority of days during the next month.
Add the day of the month and the age of the moon, at the time
of the fall of the first snow, and the sum will tell the number of
snows which will fall during the winter.
If the equinoctial or line storm, which occurs about September
20, clears off cold, every storm for six months will clear off cold.
A warm November is a sign of a cold winter. " Winter never
rots in the sky."
When the sun sets clear on Friday night, it will storm before
Sunday.
Wind from the east
Is bad for man and beast ;
Wind from the west
Is softest and best.
When the cat runs about the house and plays, it is a sign of high
winds.
If the rooster crows : —
When the rooster crows on the ground,
The rain will fall down ;
When he crows on the fence,
The rain will depart hence.
After a storm from the east, if the wind goes round by the north
to the northwest, it will be warm ; but if it goes round by the south,
it will clear off cold.
Wild geese passing over is a sign of a storm.
A white frost is a sign of rain.
Three successive cloudy mornings, and it will rain on the third.
Smoke falling from the chimney is a sign of rain.
Wasps coming out thick, in the fall, is a sign that winter is about
to set in.
If on a cloudy morning blue sky is seen sufficient to make a pair
of pants, the sun will come out,
Emma Backus.
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 4 1
THE FOLK-FOODS OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY
AND OF NORTHERN MEXICO.^
It was with no intention of invading the hterary province which
Brillat Savarin has made so eminently his own that I began the
compilation of this series of notes upon the habits of life of the race
which almost exclusively populates our southern boundary ; my pur-
poses were more strictly military than those which animated the
brilliant author of " La Phisiologie du Gout." I figured to myself
that should history repeat itself, and an army from Europe attempt
to overthrow the government of Mexico, it should be again the pol-
icy and duty of the Americans of the north to push to the rescue
of the sister to the south, and aid her in her struggle upward and
onward in the path of civilization. It might perhaps happen that an
officer would find himself beleaguered, and supply trains cut off, in
which case there would be no alternative of surrender or retreat,
unless he could provide food for his troops from the resources of the
country.
Could all this thorny jungle and chaparral have been created in
vain } No, I answered to myself, the more we examine into the
great scheme of nature, the more do we see that nothing has been
made without some purpose. What all these woods can supply I
will try to discover. And thus I began, and continued in a more or
less desultory way, to learn little by little, and not always with intel-
ligent certainty, what that vast country was good for, and then the
thought came to me that after all man's noblest pastime is not in
constant and irritating preparation for war, but in adding all in his
power to knowledge which might, to some extent, make men wiser
and happier.
It is only necessary here to say that most of the cultivated fruits
of Mexico were introduced principally by the Franciscan monks, who
^ This article was intended to be a comprehensive treatise on the Mexican cui-
sine; but the portions particularly relating to the dishes of the restaurants, to bills
of fare at hotels and inns, and to foods obtained by cultivation, have of necessity
been here omitted.
There is reason for believing that this is the first description of the foods of the
people of Mexico or any other former colony of the Spanish crown.
A previous effort, of limited scope, seems to treat solely of materials which may
be utilized as breads ; never having seen the work, I am not in a position to remark
upon its merits: Esteban Boutelou, De las sustancias vcgetales que piieder servir
para hacer pan. Madrid, 1819. D. 116, 4, 8, of Ticknor collection in the Boston
Public Library.
A careful examination of Cactus Ctilturefor Ainateicrs, by W. Watson, Assist-
ant Curator of Kew Gardens, London, 1889, brings nothing to light which, in my
opinion, could add to clearness of description in these pages. — J. G. B.
42 Jotirnal of American Folk- Lore.
established missions everywhere in the days immediately succeeding
the conquest. They brought over peaches, apples, pears, plums,
cherries, quinces, figs, dates, pomegranates, walnuts, olives, nec-
tarines, apricots, paper-shelled walnuts, almonds, sugar-cane, cof-
fee, Spanish grapes, oranges, and perhaps lemons and bananas, as
well as horses, donkeys, cows, sheep, chickens, and goats, together
with wheat, oats, and barley, and many vegetables. About 1581 the
Jesuits entered upon missionary work in that country, and followed
the rule established by the Franciscans. Both these bodies gave
earnest attention to the study of native foods, and improved upon
the cooking of the natives. Chocolate, which plays so important a
part in our domestic economy to-day, was obtained from the Aztecs,
and so were the tomato and the pineapple. The potato grows wild
in the higher altitudes of Mexico, but has never attained, in the diet-
ary of the people, the importance it merits. There is in existence
a quaint volume entitled, " A New Survey of the West Indies," by
Thomas Gage, an English Dominican monk, who spent some four-
teen years of his life in Guatemala and Mexico. He upbraids his
brother monks for being addicted to the inordinate use of candied
pineapple. The Carmelite nuns, who had convent schools for girls
in nearly all towns of any size, seem to have been great cake and
candy makers, and vestiges of their skill remain to our own day in
the name of a Mexican candy much in favor, known as " Carmencillo
de leche." Perhaps our own toothsome caramels may perpetuate
the experiments with chocolate of some gentle, discalced Caramel-ite,
who now occupies a long-forgotten grave.
In the equable climate of Mexico, wherever irrigation is applicable,
all forms of vegetable life yield abundant returns.
With the rapid extension of her great railroad systems, and espe-
cially with the completion of the Trans-Continental line across the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico must soon become the polar star for
thousands of immigrants from the congested agricultural regions of
Europe.
The great depreciation of silver may act as a temporary draw-
back to the prosperity of Mexico, but in no country are the rights of
invested capital more jealously guarded, while the fullest protection
is guaranteed the laboring classes. General Porfirio Diaz, the pres-
ent President, is a man of extended experience, fertility of resources,
broad-minded sagacity, and uncompromising firmness of character.
Under his administration Mexico has made wonderful advances, and
the limit of her prosperity no man can predict.
In arranging a list of the aboriginal fruits and vegetables of Mex-
ico and the Mexican portion of the United States, it seems to me to
be proper to begin with those which have become cultivated, at least
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 43
since the advent of the Castilian. h2ach of these will be described
in its turn ; and then the fruits which are still gathered in the wild
state, and receive no attention from the hand of man, will be set
down in as careful and complete a manner as I was able to obtain
them.
The Pinon and Pecan, although indigenous to Mexico, may now
be fairly classed among its cultivated foods. The pecan, which is
said to be found in places from Wisconsin and Northern Virginia
clear down to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is the best of all nuts,
the almond not" excepted. The Mexicans are very fond of a candy
made from it with sugar caramel ; this candy in appearance closely
resembles our own ground-nut candy, which is also known to the
Mexicans under the name of " Dulce de cacahuate." The Pecan-
tree is one of the most beautiful of all that grow ; it is tall, graceful,
and umbrageous ; some of the most graceful are to be seen in that
part of San Antonio, Texas, called Maverick Park or Grove, in the
lawns surrounding the residences of Hon. B. G. Duval and other
prominent citizens. One of the most interesting, historically con-
sidered, is still in full vigor in the old city of Monclova, in the Mex-
ican State of Coahuila ; the people there call it " El arbol del Padre "
(the Priest's or the Father's tree) ; because when the Spaniards had
taken the patriot priest, Hidalgo, prisoner, and were carrying him off
to Chihuahua to be executed, they passed through this old city with
their prisoner, and remained here one day. Father Hidalgo wrapped
himself in his cloak and went to sleep under the branches of the
pecan which records this incident in its name.
Then come the Sapotes, Chirimoyas, Chilcoyotes, Guayavas,
Tunas, or Cardones, the fruit of the Nopal, or Indian Fig Cactus,
Bananas, Mangoes, Jicamas de agua, Chie, Chile, Chilchipin, Ali-
cochis, improperly called pitahaya, Coyotillo, Granjeno, Sunflowers,
Squash, with its seeds. Watermelon, Chapote, Mame, Spanish Bay-
onet, Mango, Aguacates, Black Ebony beans. Acorns, Anacahuita
nuts, Frijoles, another plant also called Frijol, Guadalupan, Mescal,
Sotol, Tomato, Biznaga, Chicharrones, Mezquite, Guayacan, Lechu-
guilla, Amole, Onions, Sauco, Tejocote, Grapes, Socoyonostre, Pita-
haya, Maguey, Corn, Strawberries, Mangostins, Ciruela, and also
the true Plum (in certain districts), Cocoanuts (seen in Morelia only ;
all others were brought up from Tampico or Vera Cruz by rail, and
need not be discussed).
There are several kinds of Sapotes, but they bear no resemblance
to any northern fruits with which I am acquainted.
The Chirimoya is a large, dark green fruit, about as big as one of
our Duchesse pears, and somewhat of the same shape, full of black
seeds, with a pith the consistency of custard, which tastes like a
mixture of pineapples, strawberries, and raspberries.
44 y our 71 a L of American Folk-Lore.
CJiilcoyotc looks much like the Chirimoya ; if eaten by a person
who is heated, will bring on chills and fever.
. The Guayava or Guava is sufficiently well known to American
readers through the palatable jelly made from it in Havana and im-
ported into our country.
The Ttma or Nopal grows wild and is also cultivated ; in the
wild state it can be found, in an attenuated and shrivelled form, as
far north almost as vegetation exists south of the Arctic Circle ; in
Mexico it seems to claim possession of the whole country, and is
properly accepted as the principal figure of the present national
coat-of-arms, as it was, we might say, in that of the Aztecs. It
figures in the myths, traditions, and life of the country. The wild
varieties bear fruit of different colors, generally red and purple and
yellow. The cultivated variety bears a yellow fruit, very much
larger and very much sweeter than the wild ; it is piled up in the
market-places and sold in quantities at all hours of the day and
night. The Apaches say that the use of this fruit must be attended
with some precautions, as it predisposes to fevers ; their women col-
lect it in great baskets carried on their backs, suspended from bands
which pass around the forehead, and spread the split fruit out on
rocks in the sun to dry. The outer skin being liberally supplied
with acutely pointed thorns, the squaws have devised a brush of stiff
hay, with which they knock off these spines before taking the fruit
in the hand. Both wild and cultivated kinds are eaten raw, dried,
baked, or boiled down into a stiff marmalade, which is sold in all
the plazas under the name of " Oueso de Tuna," — Tuna Cheese.
This is most agreeable to the taste, and might be mistaken by one
ignorant of its true nature for a piece of preserved quince.
Not only is the fruit eaten ; the large plate-shaped leaf is brought
into use for both man and beast. Grated down into a coarse powder,
after having been skinned, the meat of this leaf is added to soups
to give a mucilaginous thickening. Travellers through the southern
portions of Texas, and almost all parts of Mexico, can see in the
earliest hours of the morning fantastic figures dancing about in the
smoke and flames of fires kindled for the sole purpose of burning
off the spines of the nopal and letting draught oxen feed upon the
leaves. Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and horses, running at large in
the chaparral, do not wait for any such preparatory process, but take
the plant as they find it. It is one of the sights of the Rio Grande
to come suddenly upon a large, patriarchal, white goat with beard
and breast dyed a blood red, from the juice of the tuna, and nos-
trils filled with the thorns of the fruit and leaf. Indeed, so well
known is this peculiarity of all domestic animals in that region,
especially during seasons of great drouth, that butchers will not
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 45
accept orders to supply beef tongues, saying frankly that the meat is
so full of ligneous fibre that it would be impossible to carve it upon
the table.
Anti-scorbutic properties have been attributed to the nopal, and I
have eaten the leaves fried, but am not able to express myself very
warmly upon its merits, either as a medicine or an addition to the
bill of fare.
Cut into strips, and thrown into a bucketful of turbid water, the
nopal will cause the sedimentary matter in suspension to be precip-
itated to the bottom. This expedient was resorted to with success
during our expedition to explore the Black Hills of Dakota in 1875.
The juice of the nopal mixed with a small quantity of lime and a
sufficiency of bullock's blood and river sand will form a cement
finely adapted for flooring, as I have seen tried a number of times in
Arizona and Texas.
Finally, the leaf, after being peeled of its thorny coat, is consid-
ered a valuable remedy as an embrocation in rheumatism, or as a
plaster.
Whether or not bananas are indigenous to Mexico, I am unable
to say, but I incline to the opinion that they were introduced by the
Europeans ; be that as it may, they grow wild in many parts, espe-
cially on the Rio Panuco, and do excellently in every place with a
very slight amount of attention.
The same remarks apply to the sugar-cane ; it becomes a reed,
and one need not pay any attention to it ; replanting is necessary
only once in nine or ten years.
Mangoes might be mistaken for a small canteloupe ; the fruit is
rather insipid to my taste.
Chie is a peculiar seed, not unlike our linseed, but possessing
properties worthy of commemoration. Several years since, I was pay-
ing a visit to the ruins of the grand old monastery of Atotonilco, and
was received most cordially by the priest in charge. Padre Silva,
who, seeing my heated and exhausted condition, — I had made a long
ride over from San Miguel de Allende, — declined, to my great sur-
prise, to let me have a drink of cool water from the "aljibe" (cis-
tern).
" That is always the way with you Americanos," he said gently ;
"you come down here and rush all over the country in the hot sun
and dust, and when you reach a house the first thing you do is to
call for cold water, and drink a quantity of it ; the stomach cannot
stand such treatment and rebels against it, and the sick man blames
our climate. Now let me show you how we Mexicans do ; take it
easy ; take off your coat and collar and cool off, while I send P6pe
here after some chi-e."
46 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
Pepe soon performed his errand, and brought back from one of the
old Indian women a small package of the seeds, which the padre
immersed in a cup filled with water ; the seeds swelled up and the
water became slightly mucilaginous.
"Now," said the padre, "you must not gulp down this mixture
all at once ; it would give you a chill if you did ; take one third at
this moment ; another third in ten minutes, and the remainder in
ten minutes more."
The results surprised me very much ; not only were my feverish
symptoms alleviated, but my voice became very clear and strong.
What this chi-e was I never could ascertain. The Padre told me that
the plant grew all over northern Mexico and, he thought, in south-
ern Texas also, but I never had another opportunity to learn any-
thing about it.^
The Chiricahua Apaches, who have lived nearly always in Mexico,
and pretty far down in the Sierra Madre, have a gens named the
"Chi-e," a word which I never could get interpreted to my satisfac-
tion ; it has probably some connection with the plant which I am
here attempting to describe.
Atotonilco is one of the out-of-the-way spots in America well wor-
thy of a visit from the scholarly or the curious ; it would be well to
remember that one must go provided with food and blankets, as the
padre may have other guests, and in that case a dependence upon
the kind-hearted Indians of the adjacent village would be attended
with most unsatisfactory consequences.
Chile, called "Aji" and " Quauhchilli" by the Aztecs, was the
condiment used in all the. feasts of the aborigines at the time of
the landing of Cortez; there are several varieties, — the red, white,
green, sweet, and bitter. No Mexican dish of meat or vegetables is
deemed complete without it, and its supremacy as a table adjunct is
conceded by both garlic and tomato, which also bob up serenely in
nearly every effort of the culinary art.
The Chilchipin is the fiery berry forming the basis of Tabasco
sauce; it can be found in a wild state just after you cross the
Nueces, going south, and from that on no jungle is without it ; the
bush is of the same general size and shape as one of our rosebushes,
1 In her interesting and charming work, Life in Mexico (London, 1843), Ma-
dame Calderon de la Barca has much to say in regard to a drink called " chia,"
which possibly is the same with " chi^." But unfortunately she leaves much to
be inferred. She speaks of the crowds in the city of Mexico who " were quench-
ing their thirst with orgeat, chia, lemonade, or pulque," and says that chia is " a
drink made of the seed of the plant of that name " (page r 10). See again on page
228. Again, on page 292, it is alluded to as one of the drinks used for cooling pur-
poses in very warm weather : " Booths, with ices and chia, were erected all down
the lane leading from the church." Lzfe in Mexico, pages 292 and 295.
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 47
with foliage light green in color. It is used both in the green and
ripe, or red, state.
The Alicochis, to which many people persist in giving the name
of Pitahaya, is a cactus, resembling the Biznaga, or Turk's Head,
but much smaller, and growing close to the ground ; it yields, in the
early days of summer, a fruit the size of a small plum, green in color,
filled with fine black seeds ; the skin is quite thin. This is generally
regarded as the most delicious of all the wild fruits. It rivals the
strawberry or the raspberry in delicacy of flavor and in the gracious-
ness with which it submits to every mode of treatment. It seems
to be equally good whether served raw, stewed, in pies and puddings,
or in ice-cream ; it makes an acceptable addition to juleps and lem-
onades.
The Coyotillo is a small bush, the sweet black berry of which is an
agreeable food, but if the little seeds be swallowed, paralysis of the
lower limbs results.
It is well known that the kernels of the delicious peach, plum,
almond, and nectarine contain the deadly poison hydrocyanic acid,
and something of the same nature may be the explanation of this
peculiarity of the coyotillo. Mr. MacAllan, who was educated at
Columbia College, New York, and at the University of Virginia,
stated to me that he had made experiments at his father's ranch
(Hidalgo County, on the Rio Grande, Texas), which proves the pop-
ular belief in regard to the Coyotillo, to be true ; it paralyzed the
hind extremities of goats, sheep, and pigs, upon which he experi-
mented.
The Coma is a small, black, or deep blue berry, much like our own
whortleberry, but dead sweet in taste ; it grows on a stunted bush,
and is ready for use from June to August.
The Granjeno is a parasitic bush, which entwines itself about a
tree or larger bush, and grows, whenever possible, in the shape of a
corkscrew ; from the odd shapes often assumed under these condi-
tions, it is a favorite wood for canes ; the small, pinkish-red berries
are not unpalatable, but the most that I feel at liberty to say in their
favor is that they are not poisonous.
Sunflowers are not, to my knowledge, used as a food by any part
of the Mexican population claiming an infiltration of Caucasian
blood, but they are a favorite article of diet with many, if not all
of the Indian tribes, in both Mexico and the United States. So
much was this the case, that a quarter of a century ago, or less,
the Moquis, Apaches, Navajoes, and Pueblos used to plant them ;
under cultivation, the seed-disk attained enormous dimensions ; I
have seen them in the fields of the Moquis and Ava-Supais at least
a foot in diameter ; the seeds, when mixed with corn and ground
48 yournal of A7nerican Folk-Lore.
into a meal, make a cake which is believed to be highly nutri-
tious.^
' Not only are squashes and watermelons eaten by the Mexicans,
but the seeds also are utilized as a food in many districts, especially
by the Indian element.
The Chapote is the Mexican persimmon ; the tree is small, with a
smooth, white bark ; the fruit, dead sweet to the taste, the size of
a cherry, black and pulpy.
Ma7n^ looks like a Nellis pear ; has a smooth, russet skin, and an
insipid pulp of firm, creamy, red matter, tasting much like a boiled
sweet potato, and has a large black kernel.
The Spanish Bayonet, called Datil, or sometimes Sotol. The fruit,
shaped like a banana, has a sweet, rather thick skin, and is filled
with a mushy pulp, in which are imbedded a great number of black
seeds, arranged symmetrically about the vertical axis. In Arizona,
where it fills wide areas, it is much used by the Apaches, and the
squaws dry it in the sun to keep for winter's use. It has a decidedly
pleasant taste. The Rio Grande Mexicans do not make much use
of the fruit, but take the young central shoot and bake it in live
coals ; it is not unlike a watery half-boiled sweet potato in flavor.
From this same baked shoot they distil a variety of mescal, said by
experts to be even more soul-destroying than the genuine.
Mango resembles a yellowish large cucumber.
Agiiacate, or Alligator Pear. So much has been written about this
that only a word seems to be necessary here. When the custard-like
pulp is beaten up with egg, oil, vinegar, and spices, it makes a most
delicious salad, and when sliced seems to be equally good. This
fruit resembles a pear in shape ; is purple in color ; the pulp is sweet-
ish and can be eaten raw.
The Black Ebony grows all over the country now under discussion ;
the beans, when in the milk, are highly considered as a vegetable
when boiled with milk, pepper, and salt ; after becoming hard and
black a coffee is made of them, but I am in no humor to say much
in its praise. It has a rather unpleasant, terebinthine taste.
Acorns, which enter so largely into the dietary of the native tribes
of the Pacific coast and the interior basin from Utah down to Texas,
are used, to a slight extent, by the Mexicans of Caucasian deriva-
tion, and can occasionally be seen in the markets, but hardly in quan-
tity sufficient to attract attention ; allusion to them seems to be
proper in an article of this kind.
The AnacaJiuita, a variety of the dogwood, bears a nut highly rel-
ished by pigs and goats, and used, to some extent, by the Mexicans;
it is light-greenish in color, and grows in clusters.
^ Francis Parkman {Pioneers of Frajtce in the New World) says that the
Indians of Canada made a hair-oil from the seeds of the sunflower.
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 49
The Frijole, or Mexican Bean, of both red and black varieties, is a
plant indigenous to this continent, but all American readers are now
so well acquainted with it, that reference only seems to be neces-
sary ; it is by far the most toothsome of all the pulse, and is cooked
by the Mexicans in a half dozen different ways ; stewed or boiled to
a pulpy paste, it appears at almost every meal, and well deserves its
title of " El plato nacional," the national dish.
There is another plant called "Frijol," which attains the dimen-
sions of a tall bush ; the long, thick pods are stewed in milk or water
and eaten like the true bean. Some specimens which I sent to Pro-
fessor Otis T. Mason, of the United States National Museum, Wash-
ington, D. C, were identified by Mr. George Vasey as the Canivalia
obtJisifolia.
Guadaliipan is a plant which I have never personally tried; I re-
late only what others have told me. In appearance, as I saw it first,
growing at the Rancho " La Grulla," Starr County, Texa.s, in 1891,
it is of the size of a rosebush, with a bright red, pulpy fruit.
Of the Mescal, I have written so much, at so many different times,
that I may well be excused from adding another line upon the sub-
ject. Those who wish to learn more than is here related may con-
sult the pages of the "Anthropologist" for the month of January,
1893, "On the Border with Crook," "An Apache Campaign," and
other writings.
As a food, it has for centuries been in high repute among the no-
madic tribes depredating along the northern border of Mexico. Dr.
Gustav Bruhl has identified the word "chichimec" as a compound
of two words, meaning " mescal eaters," which would do something
in the way of demonstrating that the wild tribes included under that
designation, from whom the Aztecs, and after them the Spaniards,
suffered so much, were of the same general type as our Apaches,
Navajoes, and Comanches.
The Apaches used to make regular pits or ovens of heated stones,
covered with earth, in which the stalk and leaves of the mescal were
buried for three days, and when then taken out yielded a sweet, pal-
atable, and nourishing but slightly laxative food. The laxative qual-
ity is accounted for readily, the Mescal, like its big brother, the
Maguey, being a member of the Aloe family.
When these cooked leaves are bruised and allowed to ferment, a
fiery liquor can be distilled from the mass, although the same result
is obtained in another way by collecting the juice from the pit left
after extracting the central shoot, allowing that "miel" or juice to
ferment, and then distilling.
The whole process, as described by me among the Tarascoes of
southwestern Mexico, was so crude that it opened my mind to the
VOL. VIII. — xo. 28. 4
50 yotirnal of American Folk-Lore.
suggestion that distillation was a primitive art, and must have been
known to the aborigines of Mexico prior to the coming of the Euro-
peans. The grated root of this plant is also used as food.
A North American who has never traversed the vast areas cov-
ered by the Mescal and the Maguey in the wild state, cannot com-
prehend how valuable they were, and are, to the people as a source
of food supply. Besides this, the central shoot was utilized as a
lance-shaft, or was used to form the side walls of huts, while the
leaves made a fair to middling good thatch, and the strong thorn at
the end of a leaf, with the attached filament, served the Apache
squaw, or warrior on the trail, with a substitute for needle and
thread. Of the central shoot of the Mescal the Apaches made their
fiddles.
The Tomato, in the wild state, is not very much bigger than a
cherry, but in both green and red state is made to enter into salads
and sauces of all kinds. It is also dried in the sun.
The Biznaga, or Turk's Head Cactus, cut in small, slender strips,
and boiled for several hours in syrup, makes a candy of which the
people are very fond and which is on sale at every street corner, in
almost every town.
Chicharrones are a variety of peas, and need no description.
The Mezqiiite has been recognized as a food of the American
aborigines ever since the Spaniard Alarcon ascended the Rio Colo-
rado, in 1 541 ; the form of the loaf of bread made from its meal re-
mains the same among the Apaches to-day as it was when he wrote
his notes. Some of the tribes, the Pimas, Opatas, Papagoes, and
others, used to make a kind of effervescent beer from the beans, but
this does not seem to be much in demand of late years.
There are two varieties of the Mezquite ; that with the screw pod,
which grows only in the valley of the Colorado, and that with the
flat pod, of more extended distribution. Both are palatable, and are
very fattening to horses and other live stock.
These are the American representatives of the Acacia family, and
the gum exuded from the trunk equals the best gum arable.
Giiayacan (lignum vitae), lechuguilla, and amole are spoken of
here, not as foods, but as important aids in the Mexican household
economy ; their powdered roots are detersive, and supply the place
of soap, and possess the valuable peculiarity of not shrinking flan-
nel; they make a good dentifrice and a fine hair wash. The use of
the Guayacan root is avoided, when possible, because it burns the
hands.
Onions grow wild in parts of Mexico, as they do everywhere in the
great West of our country ; they are, however, so far as my experi-
ence goes, much more plentiful in the extended plains near the Yel-
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grayide Valley. 5 1
lowstone than they are in the regions farther to the south. In size
they are very diminutive, not much bigger than a cherry, and very
pungent. When General George Crook made his celebrated " Star-
vation March" down from the Yellowstone to the Niobrara, in 1876,
his officers and men were glad to discover patches of these onions,
which furnished a most agreeable addition to the stews made of the
horse meat captured from the hostile savages.
Of the Sauco, or elderberry, I have not much to say beyond the
fact that it is edible.
The Tejocotc; or bud of the wild rose, is eaten by Indians and
Mexicans, and is on sale in the markets.
The Grape may be regarded either as a wild fruit or as one of the
cultivated sort ; when Spanish missionaries and explorers first pene-
trated into Northern Coahuila and Chihuahua, they were surprised
by the luxuriant growth and fine flavor of the wild grape, and one
locality, Parras, in Coahuila, derives its name from this fact. Here
for more than two hundred years has been made a wine which is
highly considered by the Mexicans, and has a taste intermediate
between that of port and sherry, with a decided body.
This district, as well as its close neighbor, El Paso, or, as it is now
styled, Ciudad Juarez, in Chihuahua, is noted for its crop of fruits
of all kinds ; the El Paso grapes and onions have no superior any-
where in the world, but of course I do not wish to be understood
as saying that these are the wild varieties. In all likelihood, after
it was learned that these two localities, Parras and El Paso, were
naturally well adapted for viticulture, the Spaniards brought over
cuttings from Xeres and the Madeira and Canary Islands.
The Socoyonostre is a variety of cactus much appreciated for its
juice, which makes an especially good candy ; the Mexicans, particu-
larly those living well towards the centre of the republic, say that
this is the best kind of cactus candy, but, so far as I could deter-
mine from the taste, it is no better than the biznaga, perhaps not
quite so good.
In the beginning of this article, it was shown that the Mexicans
of the Rio Grande Valley improperly applied the name Pitahaya to the
cactus, which should be known as the Alicochis, and which yields a
fruit of surpassing sweetness and delicacy. The true Pitahaya is
the Candelabrum, the Organ, the Giant, or the Saguara cactus of
various writers ; it has sometimes been called the umbrella cactus.
There are two varieties : that growing in Arizona attains a height
of from twenty-five to thirty-five feet, although, in extreme cases,
the height has been put at as much as fifty-five feet, as deter-
mined by myself and other officers who measured one by its shadow
near old Camp McDowell, Arizona, in 1870.
52 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
The difference between the two varieties is very slight ; each
shows in cross-section a number of ribs arranged at equal distances
ground the vertical axis of the stems or arms, the intermediate
spaces being filled with a watery, stringy pith, the whole encased in
a thick green skin, bristling with curvated spines.
From rib to rib, in the Arizona variety, the skin bulges outward,
or assumes a convex surface, but in the variety found more to the
south, in the Mexican States of Michoacan and Guadalajara, this
same surface is concave.
The fruit, which grows at the very top of the high branches, is a
big pear-shaped greenish pod, which, opening at the time of ripe-
ness, discloses an interior filled with a ruby red pulp, in which are
many tiny black seeds. The ripening of the pitahaya in Arizona used
to be the signal for the arrival of great flocks of chattering birds,
which fought for the rich spoil of the fruit, and of the downcoming
from the mountains of bands of Apache Indians, who gathered the
dainty feast and at the same time made war upon their hereditary
enemies, the Pimas and Papagoes.
My first trip with Apache Indians was to assist them in a hunt
for several jars of the preserve which their squaws knev/ how to
make by boiling down this pulp of the pitahaya ; in the present
instance it had been necessary to hurry up matters and bury the
jars containing the preserve, as a large war-party of Pimas had dis-
covered the presence of the Apaches in the Pima country, and com-
pelled them to take flight.
Maguey. All that has been said of mescal applies to its relative
the maguey, excepting that when the central stock or shoot of the
latter is cut out, the cavity made rapidly fills with a very sweet
juice, which, under the name of " miel " (honey), is sold in all the
market-places of Mexico.
Cor)i should be discussed under the title of cooked foods ; the shucks
carefully dried and rubbed smooth make the favorite wrapping for
the Mexican cigarrittos. Corn-meal parched with a trifle of "pe-
lonce," or coarse brown sugar, is one of the staple Mexican foods.
Without the sugar, it was in use among the Aztecs. A similar
preparation of parched wheat is called "atole." The nourishing
properties of both these have been highly praised by writers who
knew little about them. I had once to live on pinole for three days,
and have never been able to arouse myself to enthusiasm over it.
Strazuberries grow wild in the mountains, and are also carefully
cultivated ; in the neighborhood of Celaya and Oueretaro they yield
all the year round, or almost all the year, and a trade of some
importance is springing up with the American cities to the north.
The Mexican strawberry, as a rule, is of extremely delicious flavor,
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 53
and growers have not fallen into our error of sacrificing taste and
aroma to size and color.
Mangostins seem to be a variety of the mangoes.
Ciruela. Under the name of plum, one finds in the neighborhood
of Toluca, Mexico, and in other places, a fruit which possesses very
little merit, although not bad to the taste. It is yellow in color, of
size of an egg, with a large stone inside.
Plums. The true plum, the same as that with which we are
familiar in the United States, can be found in the vicinity of Li-
nares and other small cities along " the Tampico Route," in Morelia
and other places. The climate and soil of Mexico and Texas would
seem to be very well adapted to the cultivation of the prune and the
green gage, but no great amount of attention has thus far been paid
to them.
Cocoaiuits. Very few of these grow in the region which I am de-
scribing in this article ; they do grow in Morelia, and in the country
not far from Tampico, from which places they find their way on rail-
road trains and by wagon transportation to points farther inland
and farther to the north, but without offering any peculiarities worth
mentioning.
Sicajuas. These are also called Xicamas de Agua ; they look
like a ruta baga ; after being skinned they can be eaten raw, but
should be followed by a drink of mescal to ward off chills and fever.
Having attempted to lay before my readers a list of the more
prominent articles of food which attracted my attention while serv-
ing in this southern border country, it may not be amiss to venture
upon a few references to the modes of preparing them which are pe-
culiar to the people, beginning with those presented for sale at every
street corner, and advancing from those to the supposedly more
elaborate collations of the various "fondas," and the confessedly
more cleanly and tempting refreshments offered in the hospitality of
private houses.
The abominations of Mexican cookery have been for years a
favorite theme with travelers rushing hastily through the republic,
and pages have been filled with growls at the wretchedness and
inadequacy of the accommodations offered in the hotels and restau-
rants.
I certainly have no desire to appear as the champion of the Mexi-
can hotel, be its guise or its title what it may ; not even when, as
was the case with a small affair at which I was obliged to put up
near Oueretaro, it may be under the patronage of Our Lady of
Guadaloupe, whose picture hung in the " zaguan " or main hall.
Neither shall I rush impetuously to the defence of Mexican cook-
54 yonrnal of American Folk-Lorc.
ery in the abstract, or in its entirety ; as a general rule, there is an
appalling liberality in the matter of garlic, a recklessness in the use
•of the chile Colorado or chile verde, and an indifference to the exist-
ence of dirt and grease, which will find no apology in these pages.
These drawbacks are attributable directly to the illiteracy of the
poorer classes, from which the cooks are drawn, and to some extent
to depravity of taste due to long usage.
Once, when I had strongly urged upon a landlady in Camargo
that the presence of garlic was inexpressibly repugnant to me at
all times, she promised implicit obedience in the preparation of the
dinner ordered for myself and friends, but when it appeared upon
the table, "ajo" seemed to be the main feature of every dish.
Perhaps my temper got the better of my judgment, and led me to
hasty expressions, which I would now gladly recall ; but Senora Or-
nelas remained imperturbable. " Caramba ! " she exclaimed, " one
must have some garlic ! "
But after all these disagreeable features have been conceded, there
remain not a few excellences in Mexican cookery which occupy
pleasant niches in the memory, and are deserving of preservation
and imitation.
I will go farther than this, and say that the natural aptitude of the
Mexicans in the culinary art is so pronounced, that I think it would
be a wise policy for the general or state governments of that
country to institute cooking-schools, and instruct classes in the
chemistry and preservation of foods, with a view to aiding in the
future establishment of factories for the canning of fruits, meats,
and vegetables, or the making of the delicious "cajetes," "almi-
bares," and " jaleatines," which will be referred to in other pages of
this paper.
In justice to the cooks of Mexico, we should also remember that
they are hampered by lack of proper utensils ; as a general thing,
food is prepared with a minimum of appliances, and the modest
array of pots, pans, and kettles to be seen even in very well to do
"fondas" and private houses throughout the republic would empty
half the establishments of New York of their servants without a
moment's warning.
A cazuela (stew-pan) or two, an asador (spit), a aicharron, or ladle,
a tencdor, or big fork, a bundle of twigs for stirring atole, one or two
bricks upon which to support a pan, and perhaps, but only in the
case of families of some social pretensions, a hornito or Dutch oven,
and you have the sum and substance of the paraphernalia of the
Mexican kitchen.
Even in the most opulent houses in the City of Mexico itself,
stoves and ranges are unheard of, their place being supplied by an
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 55
architectural contrivance of brick, arranged for burning cliarcoal,
the draught being regulated by an energetic use of a fan of feathers
in the hands of a sweltering cook.
This was the cooking-stove of the Romans, although sheet iron
boxes exhumed from Herculaneum and Pompeii are to be seen in
the Museum of Naples.
The Mexican is tenacious of old usages ; this because he is the
descendant of five different races, each in its way conservative of all
that had been handed down from its ancestors ; these races, it needs
no words to show, were the Roman, the Teuton, the Arab, the Celt,
and the Aztec.
From no source did I receive greater help or encouragement in
the preparation of this article than from the ladies of Mexico and
southern Texas whom it was my great good fortune to meet ; I
found them eager to impart information, ready to concede deficien-
cies, anxious for the introduction of accessories of which they have
heard more than most Americans would imagine, and possessed in
an eminent degree of that true home spirit which impels every lady
to the desire of becoming a "laf-dig," lady, or loaf-divider.
He who has "nosed around" Mexican towns, as I have, without
guide-book, and generally without a companion, is sure to yield to
the temptation of indulging in historical retrospection and con-
juring up in memory those centuries when the Spaniard was essen-
tially the Roman, and the Roman had degenerated into a creature
of " panem et circenses."
Bread and circuses are the mainstays of the Mexican population
to-day, and no municipality is so poor that it does not attempt to
provide open air concerts of some kind twice or thrice a week for all
of its citizens.
The music is never really bad, and very frequently is as good as
can be found anywhere, and no words of praise seem to me to be
excessive for a policy which affords to the poor as well as the rich
the most refining of all enjoyments, as well as an opportunity of
coming in contact with one's neighbors. But to this policy we can-
not give more than brief reference, and must pass on to describe the
venders of street foods, who on such occasion throng the streets,
and afford the traveler, the anthropologist, and the folk-lorist a
never-ending source of interest and reflection in thcir-wares, their
usages, and their cries.
While there were many exceptions to the rule, yet the rule seerhed
to me to be that each street vender confined himself to some par-
ticular line of goods ; there were those who dealt in candies only,
while their neighbors hawked cakes of many kinds ; some dispensed
liquid hospitality, and others again had little portable ovens near their
56 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
tables, and kept in readiness all sorts of savory compounds of meat,
eggs, coffee, pastry, and vegetables.
It will be convenient for our purposes to consider this rule as ab-
solute, and describe each in its turn.
Morelia may be selected as the typical Mexican town in this con-
nection, but all such selections are matters of taste, and I should have
no cause of complaint or dissent were some reader of these pages,
experienced in Mexican matters, to take issue with me and defend
the superior claims of Toluca, Patzcuaro, Chihuahua, Hermosillo,
Oueretaro, San Miguel de Allendo, Cclaya, or San Luis Potosi.
In the streets of Morelia one finds no less than thirty kinds of
candy carried about by the " dulceros ; " this list includes all those
to be seen in the cities farther to the north, such as San Antonio de
Bexar in Texas, Laredo in the same state, Matamoros in Tamauli-
pas, Monterey, Monclova, and Chihuahua.
The number of cakes seems to go on pari passu, with that of the
candies. The reason for this preeminence in the matter of tooth-
some confections, as given to me by an intelligent Mexican gentle-
man whom 1 met, is that in Morelia and some other cities there were
in olden days convents of Carmelite nuns, who devoted much atten-
tion to the making of cakes and candies, and instructed many of the
young native women in the same art ; the same rule would apply
to the beautiful "drawn work," or "perfilada," for which many of
these towns are famous ; but in each case there is good reason for
supposing that there was a substratum of native knowledge and
aptitude upon which to build.
Included in the list of candies, we can fairly place candied fruits,
and of these Morelia has to sell delicious candied bananas, apricots,
figs, oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples, pears, apples, and almonds.
There are also candied slices of Cainotes (sweet potatoes) and
Calaba:jas, or pumpkins ; and the favorite bizjiaga and socoyonostre
candies are really nothing more or less than candied cactus.
Then come the candies of the pecan, //;7c;/, and ground-nut, caca-
huate, of which mention has already been made.
In the line of dried fruits sold by these peddlers of small wares,
we find tortas de Jiigo, a sort of fig paste, not at all bad, the qiieso de
tima, already fully described, platanos pasados, or dried bananas,
but none of the dried Spanish bayonet fruit, so often seen among
the Apaches, and none of the dried tuna itself; dried peaches,
apples, and quinces are frequent, but rather among the street ven-
ders of groceries and the small tendajones than among the " dulceros "
proper. The name orejaies (big ears) is commonly bestowed upon,
dried fruit of all kinds, from a supposed resemblance to the human
ear.
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 5 7
Whether it be considered as a candied fruit or a cake by itself, I
think I should here introduce the name of the chaloupa (sloop) or
sweet potato hollowed out in shape of a small boat, fried in syrup
and filled with a cargo of slices of the same material. It is very
palatable and much relished by the Mexican viiicJiacho, into whose
good graces I have on several occasions forced my way by a diplo-
matic presentation of a mouthful.
With such an infinitude of material, I may be pardoned for select-
ing only those things which appear to me to be the most important.
These are the Carmaiicilla de leche, a striated cream candy which
will hold its own with any that can be found farther north. Next
comes Torreon de almcndra, a nougat of almond, and the Charaviiisca,
a kind of sugar taffy, of all three of which, as of the pecan candy,
my children sent me enthusiastic and appreciative praise from
Omaha.
Charanmsca is also applied to a cake much resembling our old-
fashioned horse-cakes or gingerbread.
Marcasotas are a variety of tea buns, quite good in their way.
The anise-seeded little cakes of our own tables are known to the
Mexicans.
Piichcs are identical with our doughnuts, and viarranios and
ojarrosca in general resemble our cakes, but I cannot recall exactly
which ones.
In the larger cities and towns there are pretentious didcerias and
jievcrias for the sale of sweetmeats of all kinds and of ice-creams.
In these can be found about the same class of goods to be seen in
New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, or St. Louis. The
prices are reasonable, and every attention is given to patrons ; but for
me these places possessed only slight attraction, as my desire was to
watch the doings of the half-clad candy men of the street corners ; so
beyond acknowledging gratefully that the cream puffs which I found
in Monterey, the City of Mexico, and other cities, were equal to the
best anywhere, I will escort my reader back to the company of our
friend, Don Procopio Ramirez, whom I should say we left dozing at
the corner of the plaza soothed into a half slumber by the strams
of the military band, which was rendering "En Sueno seductor "
while the somnolent Procopio was trying to drive away the buzzing
flies with a fly-flapper of paper.
Boys are boys the world over ; those of Mexico are as mischievous
as any, and a band of them, promenading restlessly around the
plaza, listening to the music, soon espies the unfortunate Procopio,
and is on him in a minute, flinging the greasy caps of unwary com-
rades in his face, and yelling in his ears the soul-disturbing epithet
of Cucaruckero ! or cockroach breeder, in allusion to the supersti-
58 yoiiriial of America^i Folk-Lorc.
tion prevalent among the boys of Mexico that all these street candies
are made for the purpose of raising that domestic insect.
' Don Procopio takes after them with an energy which does him
great credit, but it is written in the annals of fate that rheumatic
legs never shall catch the bad boy, and so poor old Procopio soon is
back at his little table, under the flickering oil lamp, mechanically
waving his ''flapper'' and droning out his monotonous song : —
" Charamusca ! Charamusca ! Carmencillo de leche ! de leche !
Torreon de almendra ! Almendra ! Algo de Fruta ! Algo de dulce ! "
When the sun is in the dog-star, when the days seem to be at
their hottest, little tables are erected everywhere, and old men and
women, and sometimes young ones too, engage in a lively trade in
selling every conceivable kind of liquid refreshment. There is the
inevitable p^dque, smelling much like half-turned buttermilk, byt
cooling, palatable, refreshing, and nutritious. One penny will buy a
big glassful. Alongside of it comes the pink colojicJie or cider of the
tuna ; this is an exceptionally good drink. Then you can buy lem-
onades, limeades, orangeades, pineappleades, and sometimes a pome-
granateade, but all made with brown sugar or pelonce, white sugar
not being any too plentiful in Mexico. The lemonade may be
colored with rose, and is then called " limonada rosa," or it may, per-
chance, have a strawberry or two thrown in just for luck. More
rarely, you may find fresh milk, of which I saw great quantities
going by train from Lerma to the markets of the City of Mexico,
or the acidulous lecJic de manteqinlla, called joconie in the State
of Michoacan, and known to us as buttermilk.
A fair to middling good ginger ale is made in Monterey, but it
strikes upon the American palate with a peculiar taste, because it is
nearly all flavored with rose or strawberry.
In the same city, and in Toluca and Patzcuaro, beer is made which
as yet is only mediocre in quality ; time will certainly improve it, and
a great trade be developed, because the Mexicans are very fond of.
beer, and import quantities of it from Germany and Scandinavia ; of
late years, the American breweries of St. Louis and Milwaukee
have had things all their own way, and send down train loads of
their bottled product which commands a ready sale, despite the
duty. Indeed,. in the States of Sonora and Nuevo Leon I have seen
Mexicans drinking beer for breakfast ; but it is well to remember that
the Mexican custom is much like that of the French in the matter of
breakfast, and these people were travelling.
In the extravagant use of all these lemonade and other " ades,' .
the Mexicans reveal the Moorish strain in their blood, and this is
still further shown by the variety of orchatas (orgeats), which, of
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 59
course, are not of American origin. Orchatas are made of the seeds
of the melon, when those of the almond are not obtainable, and
flavored with anything that suits the taste ; they are pleasant and
cooling and sold in great quantities, especially on such occasions as
"La noche del Grito " (i5th-i6th of September), in the City of
Mexico.
If one be not satisfied with these mild beverages, or with the
honey water of the maguey, {agjia dc mid), he can enter the near-
est pidqueria or cantina, and drink to his heart's content of pulque
itself, or the more alcoholic mescal, of the brands " Legitimo Baca-
nora," " Legitimo San Carlos," " Legitimo Apam," all the while gaz-
ing upon the walls covered with highly colored representations of
the Sacred Heart, the Good Shepherd, and other holy subjects, this
being a perpetuation of the custom introduced by pious friars in the
early days immediately succeeding the Conquest, the idea being that
the sight of these sacred themes would distract the liquor-inflamed
mind from thoughts of strife and blood.
Pulque and mescal are often "curado " or flavored with juice of
the strawberry, pineapple, or orange, and with the peel of the last
and of lemon ; sometimes with the juice of pomegranate.
As I have shown in a paper on the Rio Grande, published in the
" Anthropologist " of Washington, the mescal is adulterated with
lime-water, a practice which was sternly prohibited by the Emperor
Charles V. as far back as 1528.
The mescal " curado " with the orange peel and lemon is very
palatable, and loses much of its fiery taste, which is also diminished
by the curious Mexican custom of placing a pinch of salt upon the
tongue before swallowing the draught of liquor. In all the canti-
nas in Sonora, Guadalajara, and Michoacan the proprietor of the
catitifia offers to each patron a scoopful of salt to use with his
drink.
On the streets in the towns one can see conveyances passing from
point to point loaded with pigskins filled with pulque or mescal ; at
times, bladders are used for the same purpose. A good-sized pig-
skin will hold from twenty-five to thirty gallons.
Very little American whiskey is to be found, and that nearly al-
ways of the poorest quality and heavily adulterated ; but there are
the heavy native wine of Parras, already mentioned, the "aguardi-
ente de cana," or sugar rum, and the " aguardiente de uva," or color-
less grape brandy, also of Parras, and the fearful, fiery Catalan. The
last had better be avoided.
French brandy, none too good, is on sale in many places, but it is
not deserving of much attention, excepting in Matamoros, where it
can always be found of excellent quality.
6o yo7irnal of A^nerican Folk-Lore.
Mexicans of wealth are extremely fond of liqueurs, and many are
in use among them which are unknown to Americans ; among them
may be mentioned " Creme de Rose," "Dcssertine," "Creme de
Menthe," " Creme de Nougat," and the Arabian liqueur prepared
from wormwood, called "Byrrh."
In the centre of the plaza — that is to say of the principal plaza, if
there be more than one, in a Mexican town — can always be seen rows
of tables set out with some care, lighted with rather dingy oil lamps,
and provided with hot coffee, hot chocolate, excellent bread, and
many dishes, hot or cold, which are retailed in liberal portions at a
moderate price ; so moderate, indeed, that during the hotter months
these tables serve all the purposes of the "trattoria " of Venice, and
supply to families excellent food, already cooked, at prices which
make it cheaper to patronize them than to depend upon servants.
Few tourists can have forgotten the " chile stands " of San Anto-
nio, Texas, once a most interesting feature of the life of that charm-
ing city, but abolished within the past two or three years in deference
to the "progressive" spirit of certain councilmen.
At these one was always tolerably sure of getting a cup of excel-
lent hot coffee, or one of equally good chocolate, for the making of
which the Mexicans are deservedly famous ; tea, strange to relate,
was never to be had, and milk only infrequently.
But "chile con carne," " tamales," "tortillas," "chile rellenos,"
" huevos revultos," " lengua lampreada," many other kinds of "pu-
cheros" and " ollas," with leathery cheese, burning peppers, stewed
tomatoes, and many other items too numerous to m.ention at this
time, were always on sale.
The farther to the south one went, the more elaborate was the
spread to be noted on these street tables, until at or near San Luis
Potosi it might be called a banquet for the poor.
I may save time and space by condensing my remarks and refer-
ring to what my note-books relate of the display upon the Grand
Plaza of the City of Mexico, during the great n2X\ox\2S. fiesta of Sep-
tember 15th and 1 6th, 1891.
It may be well to say that on this particular night of the year the
fullest liberty is given to the boys and young men to make all the
noise they wish, and a more conscientious discharge of a semi-con-
stitutional privilege it has never been my fortune to witness. The
walls of the public buildings seemed about to crack with the din of
horns, the shrieks of miichacJioSy the howls of sandal-shod Indians
saturated with pulque, and the cries of the men and women at the
stands, imploring passers-by — - 1 should not say passers-by, because
no one could pass by, the jam being so fearful, but let us say stand-
ers-by — to walk right up and buy their wares.
Folk-Foods of the Rio Granae Valley. 6 1
" Do you not hear me ? I am selling the best pulque in the
republic of Mexico, and it is only a centavo a glass ; come right up
and taste it."
" This mescal comes from Apam ; you '11 never drink any other if
you once try this."
" Arroz con leche ! Arroz con leche ! "
" Nieve ! Nieve ! para regalarse ! "
" Algo de Dulce ! Algo de Fruta ! "
" Charamusca ! Charamusca ! Carmencillo de leche ! Torreon
de almendra! "-
" Agua fresca ! "
" Limonada rosa ! "
And a thousand other yells, cat-calls, shrieks, whistles, snorts,
blowing on horns, ringing of bells, and other diabolical noises which
the small boy the world over can be relied upon to furnish if he be
given half a chance.
To come to the tables or stands : they were loaded with chocolate,
coffee, agua de miel, pulque, mescal, orchatas of several kinds, all
the lemon and other " ades " already described, as well as all the
cakes and candies, chile con carne, tamales, tortillas, fresh bread,
rolls, cheese, fruits, sandwiches of all kinds, spare-ribs, stewed kid-
neys, stewed heart, fried liver, pork chops, hogs' head cheese, salad of
the aguacate, and another salad made of boiled potatoes, sliced, with
shredded ham, lettuce, beets, and sardines. There were enchiladas,
chaloupas, fried chicken, cold turkey, and I dare not say what else ;
there were so many things on exhibition, the sight became bewil-
dered.
There was anvz con leche, or rice stewed to a pulp in rich milk, of
which the Mexicans never seem to become tired ; it is sold in little
cups as custard, made into pies and cakes, and also without any addi-
tion at all ; I found it very agreeable in all its forms, and I believe
it to be a most nourishing food.
Sausages are very much in favor in Mexico ; they are possibly the
only "survival " now discernible of the Teutonic part of the lineage
of the Mexican people. They bear names differing according to
some peculiarity of shape or composition ; the " longaniza " is the
long thin variety most resembling our own "link" sausage; the
" chorrizo " sells in largest quantity ; it is made by boiling pork in
strong vinegar, and then chopping it up with chile Colorado and
onions.
Chile coji carne is meat prepared in a savory stew with chile Colo-
rado, tomato, grease, and generally, although not always, with gar-
lic. Chile sauce is a sauce 'made of chile Colorado, tomato, and lard.
Chilchipin sauce is made on the same general principle.
62 yournal of America7i Folk-Lore.
Enchiladas are practically corn fritters allowed to simmer for a
moment in chile sauce, and then served hot with a sprinkling of
g,ratcd cheese and onion.
Taviales, a dish derived from the Aztecs, are croquettes of beef or
chicken boiled in corn-husks.
Tortillas, as is well known, are corn cakes prepared by soaking
maize in lime-water until the outer skin comes off, and then rubbing
the softened kernels to a paste on a " metate " or stone mill.^
PncJiero is a stew of any kind ; it resembles an " olla ; " when made
of tripe, it is called by the name " menudo."
Boiled squash is sold and eaten seeds and all, just as is the case
among the Yumas and Cocopahs of Lower California.
Huevos reviieltos are eggs fried on both sides, and served with
chile sauce.
Cabra lampreada and " lengua lampreada " are goat meat or tongue
fried in ^g^.
Frijoles, it goes without saying, appear on every one of these
tables.
The Mexicans have very excellent taste in the matter of pre-
serves ; several cities, notably Celaya and Morelia, make great quan-
tities of the "cajetes," or wooden boxes of conser\'es of guavas,
quinces, " leche quemado," and others which, in my opinion, will
command a good market among the Americans as soon as they
become acquainted with them.
In Monterey there are made three or four kinds of preserves such
as were in vogue in the United States in our grandmothers' days :
peaches, quinces, and pears, in glass jars ; they are exceedingly
good. The bread of Mexico is equal to any in the world ; the " pana-
derias," or bakeries, are well patronized, very few families in the
towns baking their own supply.
Coffee, in many sections, is made in the original Moorish or
Arabic manner, as an "extracto," and in Michoacan, in the coffee
districts, the servants do not ask you to take coffee, but to take
"extracto." This " extracto " is kept in glass bottles, and a tea-
spoonful is enough, when mixed with hot milk, to make a cup of
palatable coffee. The coffee of Mexico possesses both strength and
fine flavor.
Chocolate is usually served with an Qgg foam on the top of the
1 Among the rustic Mexicans, especially those living in the remoter mountain
regions, knives, forks, and spoons are dear and scarce; food is generally dipped
out of the dish with a piece of folded tortilla. The above described custom of
the rural Mexicans of dipping their tortillas into the dish is certainly Asiatic in
origin; perhaps our Lord himself knew of it: -'And he answered and said unto
them : it is one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the dish." Mark xiv. 20.
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 6
:>
vessel ; this is produced by rapidly rev^olving between the hands an
instrument of wood made for that special purpose, and kept on sale
in the market-places.
At Celaya and Morelia can be found a peculiar dish called y^/^-tz-
tin, or jelly, made by stewing pigs' feet in red wine ; it is like our
calves'-foot jelly, and is both cooling and refreshing.
In the early hours of morning, and especially of Sunday morning,
a run through the markets of a Mexican town will always be found
replete with interest and information.
The more prosperous tradesmen occupy large stalls or booths, but
the poorer brethren are content with a mat or two upon which to
spread piles of grapes, oranges, "cardones," " aguacates," " queso
de tuna," and other fruits, vegetables, and table necessaries.
Each tries to drown the voice of his neighbor ; but the Mexican
men and women coming out to make purchases pass through the
din apparently unmindful of the bawling of the vociferous coster-
mongers who surround them on every side, or line the streets along
which they are to pass.
"Will you look at me } Here I am throwing away the finest car-
dones in San Luis ; six for five cents ! "
" Perrones ! Perrones ! [big pears] here, only a medio for six ;
come up and carry them away ! "
" Don't keep me here all day : I want to go home ; I am throwing
onions, fine, fine onions in the street ; I am not selling them ; I am
giving them away ! " and much more of like import.
But suddenly all this tumult was hushed, not a voice was raised,
and every shouting street vender was kneeling on the stones of the
street, and most of them with bent heads, devoutly crossing them-
selves.
" What is the matter .-* " I asked of the man nearest me.
" Senor, do you not see that carriage coming down the street ; it
contains a padre, who is bearing the last sacrament to a dying
man."
" Is he a friend of yours } "
" Ah, no, senor, I don't even know where he lives ; but it is some
pobrecito who is about to die."
I confess to having been deeply touched by this proof of the ex-
istence, in all this fierce struggle for bread, of a bond of common
humanity, but I was not left much time for indulgence in such re-
flections ; the carriage, with closed curtains, rolled slowly by, and
the noise of traffic became worse than ever.
"Will you never listen to me.'' Sixteen great big pears for a
shilling, and the finest cardones and tomatoes thrown in the street ;
I am not selling, I am giving things away," etc.
64 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
Before leaving these street venders, who always possessed a par-
ticular attraction for me, mention should be made of the " nevero,"
or ice-cream man who passes along the streets at certain hours of
the day selling a palatable ice-cream, in those towns large enough to
possess ice machines, or in communication by rail with their more
fortunate neighbors.
They carry their wares on top of their heads in buckets, which
are frequently painted in the national colors, green, white, and red.
This cream is as good as one could expect from frozen milk, which
is all it usually is ; sometimes the maker seeks to enrich it by the
addition of butter and cinnamon ; it is then called " Amantequil-
lado," and is a trial to both palate and stomach.
Once, in Monterey, a great fimcion was in progress, and elabo-
rate preparations had been made by all these dealers in street cakes,
candies, fruits, and other refreshment.s, but a cold north wind com-
ing up unexpectedly, with a shower or two of rain, proved a great
disappointment. However, I was one of those who determined to
make the effort of getting down to the Plaza Cinco de Mayo, where
the most of the entertainment was to be held. At the entrance
stood a "nevero," who manifested great distress on account of the
heat of the weather ; he was vigorously mopping his forehead with
a red bandana, which might have been cleaner without hurting any-
body's feelings, and at the same time calling out in a loud tone
of voice : —
" Caliente ! Caliente ! Ah, que caliente hay ! Pero aqui 'sta nieve
tan dulce para resfrescarse, para regalarse ! "
(Oh ! how hot it is ! Oh ! how hot it is ! But here you have
sweet ice-cream with which to refresh yourself, with which to regale
yourself !)
His language was so emphatic and vociferous, his acting so life-
like, that like numbers of others I was deluded into believing that
the weather was indeed hot, and forgetting the " Norte," I bought
cinco centavos' worth of his compound, and had nearly finished it
before I realized that I had been duped.
In my contact with the street peddlers, and the keepers of the
small stores or tendajones, I became impressed with the wonderful
fact that the smaller and more insignificant the latter appeared to be
to my unpracticed eye, the more consequential was the name borne
upon its sign, because I wish to inform such of my readers as may
never have had the opportunity to travel among- Mexicans, that
every store and magazine bears a title ; it used to amuse me to see
that the Store of the Two Hemispheres was probably not over two
yards square of our measurement, and that the Magazine of the Globe
was carrying a stock worth not a cent more than twenty-five dollars
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley, 65
at the outside ; but one must accept each country as he finds it, and I
am compelled to say that in the larger cities of Mexico there are
numbers of finely stocked emporia of different classes of goods.
The position of clerk in one of these great mercantile establish-
ments is much in demand, for what reason it would be hard to say,
excepting that the comparative seclusion of the young women makes
it somewhat difficult to meet them often, unless one be a special
attendant in a dry-goods store, in which case conversation is allowed
to flow unreservedly.
If the clerk be young, handsome, well-mannered, bright, and of
good family, it generally takes about four hours for a young lady to
buy a paper of pins ; an intelligent clerk may have a great amount
of information to impart upon the subject of pins if the intending
customer have dove-like eyes, a gentle voice, tiny, soft hands, and
a rich old daddy. There are long pins, short pins, black pins, white
pins, American pins, English pins, French pins, and many other
varieties, all of which I have heard described at length, but I never
found it in my heart to grumble at the delay, and always have mur-
mured, "Bless you, my children, bless you," leaving the more ear-
nest expressions of disapproval to the cross old " dueiias," for whom
my antagonism dates back to the days when I was a lieutenant in
Arizona, ever so many years ago.
Sometimes one will enter into a gorgeous establishment and feel
a vague sensation of distrust at seeing some such firm name as
that of "Patricio O'Dowd Hijos" (Patrick O'Dowd's Sons, Mon-
terey).
The original Patrick has long since been gathered to his fathers,
but his prosperous business is energetically carried on by descend-
ants of decidedly Castilian appearance, whose only sign of a Celtic
derivation lies in their name. And so with the, banking firms of
MacManus in Chihuahua, and Milmo in Monterey, or MacElroy in
Tamaulipas, founded by enterprising, intelligent, quick-witted Irish
and Scotch ancestors, who married among the natives and left influ-
ential families behind them.
In all these mercantile establishments there is the singular cus-
tom oi pelon, which apparently counterbalances any attempt at over-
charging on the part of the proprietors. When you become a
regular customer, a tiny tin cylinder is provided and hung up in the
store in full view of everybody, marked with your name and number.
Every time that you make a purchase, a bean is dropped down into
the cylinder, and at stated times these are all counted, and for every
sixteen or eighteen, depending upon the commercial generosity of
the firm, you are allowed six cents in money or goods.
This custom must be one of great antiquity ; the word "pelon "
VOL. vni. — NO. 28. 5
66 yournal of A7nerica7i Folk-Lore.
means a stone, or other crude weight, with which in Spain it was in
ancient days customary to balance the scales used in the markets.
> Under the name of " I'agniappe," the very same thing exists
among the Creole French in Louisiana. Perhaps the Romans had
in their " bonus " a custom of similar import.
Once a week the beggars, the lame, blind, deaf and dumb, take
possession of Mexican stores ; there being very little, if any, organ-
ized charity in the republic, such a system is undoubtedly as good
as any that could be devised. The merchants good-naturedly sub-
mit to the tax, and an employee doles out to each mendicant the
" limosnita " determined upon in his case.
But I was astonished and amused one day, after listening to a
beggar's whine : —
" Limosnita, seiiores, limosnita, por el amor de Dios, y de Nuestra
Santa Madre, Maria Santissima, siempre Virgen, concebida sin pe-
cado, madre de Dios, y de los santos Apostolos Pedro y Paulo, y
Santo Tomas, San Buenaventura, San Antonio de Padua y San
Juan de Dios. Dios se lo pague, senores," etc., and so on to the end
of the recitation, which is always carefully committed to memory by
the suppliant.
(" Alms, just a trifle of alms, gentlemen, for the love of God, and
of Our Blessed Mother, Mary, Most Holy, ever Virgin, conceived
without sin, Mother of God, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and
Paul, and Saint Thomas, Saint Buenaventura, Saint Anthony of
Padua, and Saint John of God," etc.)
" Get out of here, you scoundrel," shouted the irate proprietor.
" Get out of here, and go where you belong ; you get your alms over
at Samaniego's."
From the Mexican restaurant to the Mexican home is only a step,
but a big step. There may not be such a great difference in the
dishes served or in the manner of cooking, but a Mexican home pre-
sents a warm-hearted hospitality which he who has once been fortu-
nate enough to encounter finds hard to forget. While much could
be written upon this part of the subject, there are reasons why much
must be left unsaid for fear of wounding the sensibilities of people
whose homes have been visited. Then much that might properly be
said here has been anticipated in the earlier paragraphs, such as
those which treat of the stoves and kitchen furniture, as well as the
character of the bread to be found on all Mexican. tables.
The Mexican housewife does not copy the extravagant habits of her
sister to the north of the Rio Grande ; all nations belonging wholly
or in part to the so-called Latin stock adhere to the one plan of food
supply for domestic purposes. Only the amount needed for each
Folk- Foods of tlie Rio Grande Valley. 67
day's use is purchased at one time, and very generally just the
quantity required for the particular meal ; in Teutonic or Northern
nations, on the contrary, there is a more apparent tendency to pur-
chase supplies in gross and lay them aside for a rainy day. But
Italy, France, Spain, and Mexico never have a rainy day ; theirs are
the lands of perpetual sunshine ; they have little, if any ice ; and
not being possessed of means of preserving food for more than a
a few hours, buy exactly what is needed for the occasion. With
Northern nations, the reverse obtains : snow and ice and cold may
be looked for at any time after winter has once begun. Food if
bought can be preserved indefinitely, and unnecessary journeying to
and fro avoided. So, our prudent little Mexican housewife sends
her " Maria " or '' Manuela" to buy in the plaza or from a passing
vender a small bunch of fresh onions, tomatoes, and parsnips, with
a diminutive slice of pumpkin and one of cabbage ; all of which will
cost her five centavos. This would be the duplicate of the pack-
age which I bought in Monterey, greatly to the surprise of the
dealer, who could not altogether make out what a man wanted with
such things. Or, she may do as I did in San Luis Potosi and buy
for six cents a small-sized collection embracing juicy, sweet, scarlet
tunas, with one or more each of chirimoyas, bananas, figs, apples,
oranges, grapes, and mangoes, with a small slice of "queso de tuna."
But when she sends out for meat, she will scarcely be so fortunate ;
it is true that she may be offered a choice of ham, goat, kid, sheep,
beef, or hog meat, but it will be butchered in a way that will scarcely
commend it even to an Apache Indian. The Mexican butcher is
generally a fraud, a delusion, and a snare. He worries himself very
little about questions of roasts, joints, and chops, but boldly cuts his
meat in a manner to suit himself. "This piece you can have for a
medio ; that one will cost you a real, and that lomo will come to
two reales." In the outlying districts beef is very frequently used
as "carne seca," or jerked, a form which is far from agreeable to
the American palate. Four and one half pounds of lean, fresh meat,
free from bone, will make one pound of "carne seca," which has
about as much taste as an equal bulk of shavings dipped in bullocks'
blood.
Most of the dishes to be found on the tables of private families
resemble our own sufficiently well to pass without special descrip-
tion ; where there has been a difference, it has been indicated in the
reference to foods on sale in the streets and plazas.
Some of the Mexicans have four meals daily, somewhat in the
French style ; there is a desayuno or early breakfast of strong coffee
and rolls, or sweetened bread ; the more elaborate alimicrzo, which
is a full meat breakfast at noon, after which follows the afternoon
68 Jou^mal of Anierica7i Folk-Lore.
siesta ; then vicriaida or collacion at about five in the evening, con^
sisting of chocolate, sweet cakes, and milk, and the cena at 8.30 or
9>p. M., in which figure chile con carne, frijoles, tortillas, cabbage
(soup made with onions and tomatoes), cheese, preserved peaches,
guavas, quinces, or tunas, and black coffee.
At a fashionable wedding in Saltillo, Mexico, which I witnessed
in company with my friend. Captain Francis Hardie, in 1891, there
was a very unique procession of servants bearing to the house of the
bride great platters upon which were chickens and ducks, roasted,
but with the heads replaced and gilded, and decidedly barbaric and
Oriental in their magnificence. At the wedding of the beautiful Miss
Varrios and Mr. Yturri, in Laredo, the banquet, served in the open
air, under canvas sheeting, was very much in the style of such things
in the United States. There were cold dishes of turkey, chicken,
ham, fried oysters and fish from the Gulf of Mexico, salads, fruits
and vegetables of several kinds, cakes of a dozen kinds, rolls, bread,
coffee, chocolate, sherry, claret, brandy, whiskey punch, champagne,
and cigars. The bride very graciously sent for all the gentlemen who
approached in single file and were made the recipients of rosebuds
from the bridal bouquet. In the cathedral, the groom, at the words
"With all my worldly goods I do thee endow," presented his bride
with thirteen coins, in memory, so the local Solons assured us, of
the twelve Apostles and their Master, but this is not so ; the cus-
tom, called by a word of Arabic derivation the "jarras," came into
Spain with the Moors, and is still known in Algeria and Morocco, as
I find stated by an English writer in a late number of "All the Year
Round."
The above will, no doubt, give a fairly clear idea of the foods
and culinary methods of the Mexican people and the Americans liv-
ing nearest to them ; much more might be added, but it would be
in the nature of surplusage. There remain to be described only two
or three dishes which are peculiar to the country and somewhat dif-
ferent from those to be found in the United States. One is made of
chicken, first parboiled and then roasted and stuffed with chopped
onion, chile, tomatoes, and seeded raisins. Another is a salad of
cucumbers sliced very thin and served with an Italian dressing to
which are added hard boiled eggs, chile, a pinch of curry, and some
chopped onion. This salad may have been introduced from the
Creole portion of Louisiana. During the holy season of Christmas,
the women on the Rio Grande make the " bunuelps," a fritter or fried
pancake, moulded into form on the cook's knee ; in " The Medicine-
Men of the Apache," in volume ix. Annual Report of Bureau of
Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, I made an attempt to demon-
strate the identity of this cake with the " Crispillae " of the Normans
Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 69
and Romans, as described by Ducange in his " Glossarium." Some-
thing of the same sort is still prepared among the Algerians, but
without regard to seasons.^
To make this article perfectly complete, there should be added
some few paragraphs descriptive of the great love borne by the Mex-
icans for birds and flowers, but an elaborate extension of the subject
would demand too much space.
There are very few houses in Mexico proper which cannot boast
of half a dozen cages filled with mocking-birds or some others of the
feathery tribe-, and rarely can one pass through the "zaguan" or
main entrance hall of a Mexican residence, and not see in the " pa-
tio" or inner court more than a dozen different varieties of flowers
in successful cultivation and bloom.
The flower market of the City of Mexico will suffer but little, if
any, in comparison with that of the Madeleine in Paris, or Covent
^ Lack of space must be offered as an apology for failure to refer to various
game birds which resort in great numbers to portions of Mexican territory : ducks,
geese, turkeys, quails, doves and " Chachalacas," or to fishes which, of the finest
flavor, throng the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Where, in all the world, for
example, can one pass in review such a list of delicate fish ? All along that gulf
coast from Tampico, in Mexico, clear to the Capes of Florida, the waters are the
chosen home of the oyster (Ostion), the shrimp (Cameron), the red snapper) Cor-
bina), the sheepshead (Sargo), the rock (Robalo), the croker (Grufiate), and many
others, not omitting exceptionally large and fat green turtles (which are abundant
in the estuaries), and frequent catches of the delicious "pompano," and the Jew
fish. The last named is as tender as the most delicate spring chicken. In the
City of Mexico itself, there is encountered a totally different kind of fish in the
" Charrara,'' or tiny white fish, which I have seen caught by hundreds in the nets
of the Tarasco Indians of Lake Patzcuaro, who immediately dry them on rocks in
the sun, and ship them in crates of matting to the capital ; the taste is much like
that of a sardine. They were a favorite food of Montezuma.
The banks of the Rio Grande are lined with the soft-shelled tortoise, and its
waters yield liberally of the " Piltonte," or cat-fish, in great demand among pious
and impious Mexicans of the border states during Lent, when (at least in Holy
Week) squads of young men start for the river banks at night, marching to the
music of guitars. Speaking of fishing, the Mexicans are also fishers of men, as I
had occasion to learn several years since, when a little boy was drowned while
bathing in the treacherous current of the swollen Bravo del Norte. No trace of his
body could be found, as his young comrades were too frightened to give a very
intelligible account of the sad accident. " But why can't these Gringo Americanos
get the body of the defuncto .'"' queried the indignant old Mexican women;
"does n't everybody of any sense know that all you have to do is to get a blessed
candle, light it, and put it on a shingle, and the shingle will surely float to the
spot where the boy's body is, and there remain ? Caramba ! what stupidity ! "
Well, they did take the candle, light and place it upon a shingle, and the shingle
did circle around over the concealed whirlpool, which had sucked the little boy
down into its death-dealing embrace, and his body was recovered and buried, to
the lasting and triumphant gratification of the "viejas," who wanted to know
what the " Americanos " had to say to that ?
70 Jouriial of American Folk- Lore.
Garden, London ; there is always a fine display of Jacqueminots,
Marshal Neils, tuberoses, mignonettes, pansies, "no me olvides"
(forget-me-nots), orange blossoms, and other beautiful and fragrant
flowers, to be had at your own prices. For example, an irreproach-
able bouquet of all the above flowers made up sells for two bits in
Mexican money, equivalent to about sixteen cents American.
The same agreeable exuberance of floral vegetation is manifest in
Morelia, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Hermosillo, and nearly every
other town of any consequence in Mexico, although from the fact
that Mexican houses are built to mclose the garden or " patio," the
transient visitor to a town may not always promptly see what is to
be seen of this kind.
But there are very few towns which do not maintain public flower
gardens in the main plazas ; some of these, notably that of Her-
mosillo, in Sonora, when I was last there ; that of Chihuahua, and
those of San Luis Potosi, Linares, and many other places, were well
worthy of imitation ; there were growing maguey, bananas, dates,
oranges, and lemons, roses, oleanders, jasmins, lilies, and many oth-
ers.^
This rule obtains not only in the southern and central parts of the
republic, but in the extreme northern boundary as well ; the Jagous,
MacManuses, Lcals, Isaguirris, Young-MacAllans, and Biscayas, of
the Rio Grande valley, make commendable efforts to raise everything
in the floral line worth raising. In the Biscaya garden, Matamoros,
I noted pinks, roses, bananas, geraniums, jasmins, oranges, lilies,
mignonettes, lemons, peaches, grapes, forget-me-nots, tulipans, mag-
nolias, heliotropes, carnations, and such exquisite flowers, all at their
best.
In all that part of Texas where the Mexicans once had settlements
the same rule holds good, although I am far from attributing it to
former occupancy solely.
San Antonio, Houston, Victoria, San Diego, Laredo, Corpus
Christi, each claims the banner. The " Battle of Flowers," in San
Antonio, held on the first day of May or the last of April, is a sight
well worth miles of travel to see. All equipages are decorated from
pole to hind wheel with beautiful buds and foliage ; the horses are
equally favored, and the ladies and gentlemen driving wear bouton-
ni^res and bouquets, or wreaths or parasols of flowers. It is one of
the great attractions of Texas.
Most interesting of all these gardens, to my mind, was the Cactus
1 Madame Calderon de la Barca alludes to the tenacity with which the Mexi-
cans adhere to the Aztec custom of using flowers on all occasions, and the deco-
rating of the church altars with them. See her Life in Mexico, London, 1843,
page 95.
Folk- Foods of the Rio Grande Valley. 7 1
garden of Mrs. Miller, near the Havana ranch, on the Rio Grande,
in Starr County, Texas. This indefatigable and intelligent lady
keeps under cultivation no less than seventy-eight different varieties
of this wonderful family. I was astonished at what she had to show,
and would certainly enter into a longer relation of all that I there
noted, did I not know that the more prominent cactologists of the
United States and Canada are now in correspondence with her.
The great zone of territory of which I have been trying to make
a description — from the river Nueces, in Texas, to and below San
Luis Potosi, in" Mexico, about a thousand miles in a direct line from
north to south — has, until within the past few years, been a sealed
book to the botanist, the folk-lorist, the anthropologist, and the ex-
plorer generally, and even with the construction of the International,
the "Tampico Route," the Mexican National, and other lines, much
remains to be desired in the way of easy communication, and great
districts can as yet be traversed only by pack-mules, or slow-moving
" carretas."
There is good reason for believing that within the next two or
three years further extensions of existing lines, or the construction
of new ones, will be made a matter of state expediency ; and once
begun, there is no telling where the work of progress will stop,
since the more the country is known, the better will it be appreci-
ated.
Colonization on a large scale is not to be recommended, except in
the one case of sericulture, where the superior knowledge of the
Japanese might be used to excellent advantage.
Colonies will always be looked upon, in any country, with a good
deal of suspicion and mistrust. Where they do well, the natives
feel that they are losing profits which belong to them by the right of
prior occupation. Where they fail, they become a menace to exist-
ing institutions.
Small bands, or small colonies of skilled laborers, will be just what
Mexico wants. If composed of such trades as that of the carpenter,
the iron-worker, blacksmith or machinist, the painter, the stone-cut-
ter and builder, the telegraph operator, the railroad and bridge engi-
neers, they will enter at once into the nation's life, as they supply
exactly what it needs, and if composed, to some extent, of young
men who will seek wives among the respectable families of the
neighborhood in which they settle, so much the better.
John G. Bourke.
72 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
MEMOIRS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.^
VOL. II., 1895, LOUISIANA FOLK-TALES.
II.
The second volume of the Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore
Society contains twenty-seven tales in French Creole dialect and
English translation, together with fourteen tales in English only.
The divisions are into Part First, Animal Tales (pp. 3-53), and
Part Second, Marchen (pp. 57-93), together with an Appendix (pp.
98-122).
A considerable part of the interest of negro animal tales, which
are chiefly derived from Africa, consists in their close correspond-
ence to variants existing in all countries. A complete study of
their diffusion is yet to be made. Professor A, Gerber, in this
Journal (vol. vi. pp. 245-267), in an article entitled " Uncle Remus
traced to the Old World," has offered valuable remarks on the sub-
ject.
The Marchen, that is, fairy-tales, come either directly or indirectly
from Europe.
The tales are to be considered, also, from a philological point of
view, as furnishing texts of a curious dialect. In mouths used to
African speech, French has been singularly modified. An example
will show the character of the dialect.
In fois yavait in madame qui te si joli, si joli, que li te jamin ovM marie.
Tou cila qui X.€ vini, li td trouvd quichoge pou di. — Oh, toi to trop laide. —
Oh, toi, to trop piti. Oh, toi, to la bouche trop grand. Enfin chacunne te
gaingin qui te pas drete. Asteur ein jou in vaillant michie vini. Li te
dans in carrosse tout en or, et yavait huite choals blancs qui te ape' trainin
carrosse la. Li mande' madame la pou marie. Li te jamin oule.
The story is that of the beautiful but proud damsel who would
accept no suitors. Readers will notice the idiom : " She was in a
carriage all in gold, and she had eight white horses who were after
drawing her chariot."
The price of the book is tv/o dollars. Members of this Society
can obtain the volume of the publishers, at the trade discount, by
forwarding to the publishers one dollar and fifty cents.
^ Louisiana Folk-Tales, in French dialect and English translation, collected and
edited by Alcde Fortier, D. Lit., Professor of Romance Languages in the Tulane
University of Louisiana. Boston and New York : Published for the American
Folk-Lore Society by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1895. Pp. xi, 122.
I
The Porta Magic a, Rome. 73
THE PORTA MAGICA, ROME/
When Christina of Sweden entered the city of Rome through the
Porta del Popolo, on horseback, in the costume of an Amazon, she
was received by the Papal magnates with great pomp, and created a
sensation quite in keeping with her eccentric character.
A short time before this she had abdicated the throne, which she
had occupied twenty-three years, although only twenty-nine years of
age, and she had abandoned the religion of her distinguished father,
Gustavus Adolphus, the northern champion of Protestantism, to cm-
brace that of which the Eternal City was the fountain-head. With
the exception of occasional visits to the north of Europe, Christina
spent the remaining thirty-four years of her life in Rome, occupied
with court intrigues, and with the cultivation of those branches of
learning for which her masculine education had early given her a
taste. Her mind was disciplined by contact with men of intellectual
vigor, and gifted with an excellent memory, she showed aptitude for
the severer studies of mathematics and the sciences, as well as belles-
lettres and the fine arts. She made collections of works of art, of
antiquities, and of rare books in every department of literature, and
she assembled in her palatial villa the most learned men and witty
women of the Papal Court.
In the garden of her villa she gathered poets, essayists, and phi-
losophers of both sexes, who arrayed themselves in the costumes of
shepherds and shepherdesses, to imitate the pastoral simplicity of
Arcadia. One year after her death, this society was formally organ-
ized as the Arcadian Academy, by Gravina (1690).
In the large salon of her villa, another group assembled for " sci-
entific discourse on all useful and agreeable, erudite and celestial
subjects." In this group were the natural philosophers, mathemati-
cians, astronomers, and naturalists, who later developed into the
Clementine Academy, instituted on plans drawn up by Jean Justin
Ciampini. Not only were all the meetings held in Queen Christina's
palace, but she was the perpetual president and patron ; she chose
the members, appointed the officers, and drew up the laws which
governed this unique society.
Christina's activity knew no bounds ; she kept up correspondence
with many savants of Europe, including Torricelli, the distinguished
physicist, Alessandro Marchetti, the poet and astronomer, Dominico
Cassini, Director of the Astronomical Observatory at Paris, and
Viviani, the pupil of Galileo ; she engaged the services of Vitale
^ Read at a meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, New York Branch,
November 9, 1894.
74 y ournal of A7ne7'ica7i Folk- Lore.
Giordani and Alfonso Borclli, paying them stipends for making
researches in science. When the son of Burgomaster Gucricke sent
Ghristina a copy of the well illustrated folio containing an account
of experiments on the vacuum conducted in Magdeburg, she replied
in a gracious and flattering epistle.
In the seventeenth century, science and philosophy were still en-
cumbered with false doctrines and superstitious beliefs, which for
hundreds of years held in bondage even the most enlightened minds.
Mathematicians gravely discussed the squaring of the circle and per-
petual motion, and were occupied in calculating future events by
juggling with Biblical numbers. Astronomers, even v/hile discover-
ing fundamental laws of the motions of celestial orbs, gained a live-
lihood by casting horoscopes for the credulous rich, and practising
astrology in its various phases. Physicians were dosing their un-
happy patients with nauseous nostrums, and writing treatises on
sympathetic powders and cures by transplantation. Naturalists dis-
coursed of salamanders, phoenixes, barnacle geese, apparitions, and
monsters. Alchemists wasted their means and energy in attempts
to make a universal solvent, an elixir of life, and to transmute base
metals into silver and gold. Traditions still lingered of the glories
of the Gold House of Augustus, Elector of Saxony, and the triumphs
of alchemy accomplished therein ; memories still survived of the
transmutation effected before Rudolph II., the Hermes of Germany,
and his pseudo-scientific court at Prague. Dr. Dee, the Englishman,
and Sendivogius, the Pole, had terminated their careers of imposture
but a short time before.
Although the chemists of this period, Kunckel, Becher, and Hom-
berg, in Germany, and Lemery in France, were developing a utilita-
rian science, the philosophy of chemistry was as yet unborn, and the
mysterious art of alchemy still formed a legitimate portion of polite
learning. Many eminent persons gave credence to the claims of its
votaries, — Sir Isaac Newton dabbled in it when a youth, the Hon.
Robert Boyle, " the Father of Chemistry and Brother to the Earl of
Cork," thought its theories reasonable ; Leibnitz was secretary of
the German Alchemical Society founded at Nuremberg in 1654;
and Dr. Helvetius, the noted physician of Lcyden, had recently pub-
lished his " Brief of the Golden Calf," narrating the curious circum-
stances leading to his conversion. Similar literature abounded.
In Christina's northern home, alchemy had shown much vigor and
was patronized by the crowned heads of the two political divisions
of Scandinavia. Ferdinand III., King of Norway and Denmark, was
zealous in cultivating hermetic science, and had employed an Italian
alchemist, Borri, to conduct a search for the Philosophers' Stone.
The Porta Magica, Rome. 75
This Borri pretended to be assisted by a demon who appeared at his
command, and he caused his patron extravagant outlays in time and
money. After Ferdinand's death, in 1670, Borri fled to Rome, and
as Christina had already employed his services when temporarily
sojourning in Hamburg, it is highly probable the clever knave sought
her in the Italian Capital.
Christina's father, the great Gustavus Adolphus, had favored al-
chemists and their pretensions. In the very year in which Christina
succeeded to the throne, Ambrosius Muller had made a successful
projection in the Royal presence, manufacturing, it is said, silver and
gold to the value of 30,000 ducats, and to commemorate this the
King caused to be struck coins of both metals, bearing alchemical
symbols.
With such precedents, and in such an atmosphere, it is not sur-
prising that the ex-queen followed the fashionable foible, and culti-
vated the pseudo-sciences of astrology and alchemy. She collected
the rarest books on alchemy, and corresponded with the disciples of
Hermes of high reputation. Johann Kunckel, who was afterwards
invited to the Swedish capital by Charles XII., to superintend the
mines of the kingdom, had discovered, in 1669, the marvelous sub-
stance, phosphorus, and for a while the process was kept secret.
Knowing this, Christina wrote to the Elector of Brandenburg, to
obtain for her the composition of the light-giving element.
Thus we see the mental attitude of this talented and eccentric
woman towards alchemy. A short time before the year 1680, while
residing in the Villa Palombara, situated on the Esquiline Hill, she
was waited upon by an alchemist from Scandinavia, perhaps the very
Borri mentioned above. This man hinted darkly at his mysterious
knowledge, and showed her an antique illuminated manuscript, con-
taining the secret of transmutation, expressed in symbolic charac-
ters. After much persuasion, the Queen obtained from the alchemist
a promise to exhibit his powers, and at an appointed day and hour
he actually accomplished a transmutation in her presence. The de-
lighted Queen was speedily doomed to great disappointment, for the
alchemist never appeared again in her circle, nor was any trace of
him found. She had, however, retained the manuscript with its se-
cret symbols, and this she studied, in hopes of learning the hermetic
art. As, however, neither she nor her learned Academicians were
able to interpret the symbols, she caused them to be engraved on
the white marble gateway leading to her villa, in hopes that some
passer-by might decipher them.
Though the Villa Palombara has long ago disappeared, this gate-
way, known as the Porta Magica, is still preserved in a locality
76 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
formerly occupied by the gardens. The following description of the
monument is from notes made by the writer, on the spot, in Janu-
ary, 1894. In a corner of the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele, a square
surrounded by modern buildings of no interest, arc the lofty ruins of
the so-called Trophies of Marius, but in reality they are the remains
of the water-tower of the Aqua Julia, in the niches of which the tro-
phies formerly stood. This ruin is now converted, in part, into a
picturesque fountain, and is overgrown with shrubs and evergreens ;
opposite this, and separated only by a gravelled walk, are remains of
the brick wall of the Villa Palombara, in which is built the Porta
Magica. On each side of the gateway are grotesque marble statues
in a mutilated state. At the base and in front are large, rough
rocks, covered with shrubs and vines, and on top of the v/all flour-
ishes a tree of considerable size.
On the top, sides, and tread of the white marble doorway are
carved alchemical symbols, with one Hebrew and twelve Latin in-
scriptions.^ These symbols are partly simple signs of the metals
and partly arbitrary combinations of these signs with each other,
and with cabalistic characters. The inscriptions and symbols can
be only partly interpreted, and it is hardly necessary to add they
are entirely without real significance, either to the chemist or the
philosopher.
Surmounting the doorway is carved a large ring within which are
two crossed triangles, and within one of the triangles is a sign com-
posed of a Latin cross joined to a ring itself containing a small circle.
In the exterior large ring are the words : —
(A.) Tria sunt mirabilia Deus et hoino, inater et virgo, trinus et unus.
"Three things are wonderful: [He who is] God and Man; [She who is]
Mother and Virgin ; [God who is] three and one."
In the smaller ring at base of the cross : —
(B.) Centrtan in trigone centri.
" The centre in the triangle of the centre."
On the doorway itself, at top of the jamb, are the Hebrew
words : —
" The Spirit of God."
The first letter may have originally had a short projection, in
which case it would be \ Lamedh instead of -! Resh, and the
inscription would then read : —
" The Tablet of God."
^ Cancellieri, Francesco. Diss, epist. sopra la statua del Discobolo scoperte
nella Villa Palombara. Rome, 1806.
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The Porta Magica, Rotne. 'jj
On the door jamb, beneath the Hebrew words, is the inscrip-
tion : —
(C.) Horti 7/iagici ingressum Hesperiiis aistodit draco et sine Alcide Colchicas
delicias non gustasset Jason,
''A dragon guards the entrance to the magic garden of Hesperius; and without
the aid of Alcides [Hercules] Jason would not have tasted the delights of
Colchis."
Alchemistic authors were wont to claim that the Argonautic ex-
pedition symbolized the search for the Philosophers' Stone. This
theory is as old as Dionysius of Mitylene, who lived about 50 b. c.
Glauber, the German physician, records this interpretation in the
following quaint language : " When ancient Philosophers by poetical
parables described the laborious navigation of Jason to the island
Colchos, where resided a huge dragon vomiting fire, which with
eyes never closed, diligently watched the golden fleece, they added
this, viz., that Jason was taught by his wife Medea to cast to this
waking dragon an edible medicine to be swallowed, whereby he
should be killed and burst ; and that Jason should presently take
the dragon (thus slain) and totally submerge him in the Stygian
lake. Jason in this ingenious fable hieroglyphically represents the
philosophers ; Medea accurate meditations ; the laborious and peril-
ous navigation signifies manifold chymical labours ; the watching
dragon vomiting fire denotes salt-nitre and sulphur ; and the golden
fleece is the tincture or soul of sulphur, by the help of which Jason
restored health to his aged father, and acquired to himself immense
riches. By the pills of Medea is understood the preparation of
sulphur and sal mirabile} By the total submersion of the dragon in
the Stygian lake is intimated the fixation of sulphur by Stygian
water, that is, Aqna Fo7'tis. Whence it is sufficiently clear how
obscurely the ancient Philosophers did describe their fixation of
sulphur by nitre, and how secretly they hid it from the eyes of the
unworthy."
The left hand post of the gateway has three symbols and three
inscriptions ; the first symbol is an alchemical sign not easily inter-
preted, beneath which we read : —
(D.) Quando in tua dome nigri corui parturient albas columbas tunc vocaberis
sapiens.
" Whenever in your house black ravens shall hatch white doves then you shall
be called wise."
In the centre of the left door-post is the symbol for iron, supposed
to denote the shield and buckler of Mars ; but it is not correctly
* Glauber's own discovery, the substance still familiarly known as Glauber's
Salts.
78 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
graven, for the arrow should be inclined to the circle thus $ . Be-
neath is the inscription : —
> (E.) Qui cit cotnburere aqua el lavare igni facit de terra ccslufn et dc calo ter-
rain pretiosam.
Reading " scit " for '' cit ; " He who knows how to burn with water and to wash
with fire, makes heaven out of earth and precious earth out of heaven."
The third symbol on the left door-post is compounded of the
sign for silver (a crescent) and that for gold (a circle with a cen-
tral point), to which a small cross is attached, which signifies any
corrosive substance. Beneath are the words : —
(F.) Azot et ignis de albando Latonam veniet sine veste Diana.
" Azoth and fire from the whitening of Latona will come an unclad Diana."
At the right hand upper corner of the doorway is an obscure sign
with this inscription : —
(G.) Diameter spherce thau circtdi crux orbis non orbis pro sttnt.
" The diameter of a sphere, the tau of a circle, the cross of an orb not an orb,
these things avail."
Midway, on the right hand post, is the symbol for copper, some-
times called the looking-glass of Venus, with these words, in part
obliterated : —
(H.) Si feceris volar e terrani super caput tuum us pentiis 7ias ior-
rentujn convertes in petram.
"If you shall make the earth to fly above your head . . . with wings, you will
turn ... of torrents into rock."
At the lower right hand corner is a complex symbol composed of
the silver crescent, the gold circle and the corrosive, together with
an obscure addition. Beneath this is the inscription : —
(J.) Filius noster mortuis vivit et ab igne redit i cotijugio gaudet occulis.
" Our dead son lives and returns from the fire . . . rejoices in marriage with
his eyes " (?).
On the bottom of the doorway is a complex symbol not resolvable,
and an inscription partly to the left and partly to the right of the
character: —
(K.) Est opus occultum veri sophi aperire terrain ut germinet salutein pro
populo.
"It is the hidden work of a truly wise man to open the earth and to cause sal-
vation \or health] to bud forth for the people."
On the tread of the doorway are the barely legible words : —
(L.) Sesedes nonis (?), which are undecipherable.
I am indebted to the Rev. Prof. Samuel Hart, D. D., for assist-
ance in translating the Hebrew and Latin inscriptions, and to Mr.
Reginald Bolton, C. E., for the accompanying drawing made from a
rough sketch by the writer.
Henry Carrington Bolton.
In Mcmoriam. 79
IN MEMORIAM.
Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, First Vice-President of the American Folk-
Lore Society, died in Washington February 4. Members of the
Society who attended the annual meeting held at the national cap-
ital during the Christmas holidays will remember that, in the absence
of the President, Dr. Alcee Fortier, Mr. Dorsey presided with signal
tact and success, laboring constantly, in the chair, on the rostrum,
and in committee, to promote the interests of the Society. This
was his last public work in science. A few weeks previously he
removed from his home in Takoma Park to Washington, for the
double purpose of being near his work in the office of the Bureau
of American Ethnology and affording his daughter school facilities.
For some months his health, never vigorous, ran below his normal,
partly by reason of arduous work in Indian linguistics. During
December he spent a brief vacation out of Washington with apparent
benefit, though it seems probable that he then contracted the germs
of typhoid ; and under the stress of administrative and committee
labor his vitality was lowered, and even before the work of the
meeting was completed the fever had secured so firm a hold that
medical skill failed to arrest its course. In the death of Mr. Dor-
sey the American Folk-Lore Society has lost a founder and one of its
most distinguished and efficient workers.
James Owen Dorsey was born in Baltimore, Maryland, October
31, 1848. He attended the Central High School (now City College)
in 1862 and 1863, taking the classical course, which was interrupted
by illness. He acquired business training in a counting-room during
1 864- 1 866, and afterward engaged in teaching. He entered the
preparatory department of the Theological Seminary of Virginia in
1867, and the junior class in 1869. In 1871 he was ordained a
deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and soon began mis-
sionary work among the Ponka Indians in what was then Dakota
Territory. Illness interrupted this work in 1872, and again in 1873,
when he returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work until
1878. As a child he was remarkably precocious, learning the He-
brew alphabet at six and reading the language at ten ; and this
precocity was combined with an exceptional vocal range and capa-
city for discriminating and imitating vocal sounds. With this nat-
ural aptitude went a decided taste for linguistics, and his early
studies and his subsequent researches as a missionary were largely
devoted to language. His linguistic skill early attracted the atten-
tion of Joseph Henry, who introduced him to Major Powell, then
engaged in ethnologic researches in connection with the scientific
8o y ournal of American Folk-Lore.
surveys of the Rocky Mountain region ; and when the Bureau of
American Ethnology was organized in 1879, Mr, Dorsey was one
of the first to be enrolled on the staff. Under the auspices of the
Bureau he resumed his studies of the Indian languages, giving
special attention to those of the Siouan stock. During subsequent
years these studies, combined with researches relating to the cus-
toms, myths, and lore of the Indians, were carried forward with
indefatigable zeal and constant success. Although numerous pub-
lications were made under his name, the greater part of the material
collected and created during his active career remains unpublished.
Fortunately this rich store of manuscripts is preserved, under the
systemic arrangement of their author, in the vaults of the Bureau of
American Ethnology, where it is accessible to students. A con-
siderable amount of the material was nearly ready for publication
at the time of his death, and this will doubtless be printed at no
distant day.
Mr. Dorsey's published works include memoirs on " Omaha So-
ciology," "Osage Traditions," "A Study of Siouan Cults," and
" Omaha Dwellings, Furniture, and Implements," printed in the
annual reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology ; " Omaha and
Ponka Letters," a bulletin of the same bureau ; and " The 0egiha
Language," forming volume vi. of the Contributions to North
American Ethnology. In addition he edited an English-Dakota dic-
tionary and a volume on Dakota grammar, texts, and ethnography,
both by the late Rev. S. R. Riggs, published in two volumes of the
last named series. Numerous minor articles were published in dif-
ferent anthropologic journals.
One of the most conscientious, painstaking, and modest of stu-
dents, Mr. Dorsey inspired the respect of all scientific men with
whom he came in contact ; and by reason of his unfailing kindliness
and unselfish purity of motive he was loved by his fellows as are
few in the guild of science. A leader in the field of Indian lin-
guists and one of the best of men has ended his work.
W. J. McGee.
Folk-Lorc Scrap-Book.
FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.
NoMiNiES, — Among his papers, the editor of this Journal finds in the
(London) "Globe," April 28, 1890, an article on the poetic formulas used
by the country-folk in England, which is not only charming in itself, but
contains information throwing a new light on some of the common rhymes
still in use also on this side of the ocean. It appears to him that the inter-
est of the paper justifies its reproduction in a form more accessible.
The author obser\'es that the old-fashioned idea was to put into rhyme
anything that should be committed to memory ; in Yorkshire " nominy " is
the name given to this class of verse, an appellation very likely derived
from the church formula " in nomine Patris " (in the name of the Father,
etc.). In the Midlands, " say your speech " is used when any prescribed
form is demanded, while farther north " say your nominy " means the same
thing. Of these " nominies " the writer gives a collection, observing that
it is only in the heart of the country that a garland can be gathered.
When Northamptonshire girls are knitting in company it is usual to
say : —
Needle to needle, and stitch to stitch,
Pull the old woman out of the ditch.
If you ain't out by the time I 'm in,
I 'U rap your knuckles with my knitting pin.
The " old woman " " out " and " in " are the arrangements of the wool
over and under the knitting pins.
Readers of Southey's " Doctor " will remember the affecting story of
Betty Yewdale given in inter-chapter xxiv. She tells us how she and her
sister were sent to learn the art of knitting socks from Langdale to Dents-
dale in Yorks — " Than we ust at sing a mack of a sang, whilk we were
at git at t' end on at every needle, ca'ing ower t' neams of o' t' fwoak in
t' Deal — but Sally an' me wad never ca' Dent Fwoak — sea we ca'ed
Langdon Fwoak. T' sang was : —
Sally an' I, Sally an' I,
For a good pudding pye,
Taa hoaf wheat, and tudder hoaf rye,
Sally an' I for a good pudding pye.
" We sang this (altering t' neams at every needle) ; and when com
at t' end cried ' off ' and begain again. An' sae we strave on o' t' day
through."
In Curnberland the wool-carders have a rhyme which has formed the
basis of several north country songs. It runs : —
Taary woo', taary woo', taar^' woo', is ill to spin.
Card it well, card it well, card it well ere you begin,
For when carded, row'd and spun.
Then the work is hofelins (half) done ;
But when woven, drest, and clean.
It may be cleading (clothing) for a queen.
VOL. VIII. — NO. 28. 6
82 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
Butter is said to "come'" at the moment the cream begins to clot, and
the nominy is : —
Come, butter, come ; come, butter, come ;
Peter stands at the gate waiting for a butter'd cake.
Come, butter, come.
This was in use in the days of Mary Tudor, and is still used with slight
variation in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire. In the latter county
folks sometimes say : —
Churn, butter, churn, in a cow's horn ;
I never seed such butter sin' I was born.
In country parts the bird-scarer or shooer shakes his wooden clappers
and shouts : —
Pigeons and crows, take care of your toes.
Or I '11 pick up my crackers and knock you down backards.
Shoo all away, shoo away, shoo !
This is Northamptonshire ; in the southern counties there is a distinct
variant : —
Vlee away, blackie cap.
Don't ye hurt measter's crap,
While I vill my tatie-trap (mouth)
And lie down and teak a nap.
A doggerel — in some counties called the hog's prayer — is in constant
use among the boys who tend the pigs in the stubble fields after harvest.
Its use is to keep a correct account of the porkers, and is read off notches
cut on the handles of their whips : —
Two before one, three before five,
Here one, there one. Jack is alive ;
Here two, there two. Jack at the cross.
Here one, there one. Jack is the last.
The notches would be arranged thus (or variated ad lib.) : —
ii i iii v, i, i, x,
ii ii X, i, i, x.
In the neighborhood of Huddersfield, boys, while beating wetted bark
with a clasp-knife handle to make it slip off easily to form the case of a
whistle, say : —
Sip, sap, say ; sip, sap, say,
Lig in a nettle bed while (until) May Day.
Children, flower gathering, have suitable nominies. A village name for
the " Shepherd's purse " is " pickpocket." While culling it they say : —
Pickpocket, penny nail.
Put the rogue in the jail.
The Lazida campestris, vulg. " Chimney-sweeper," is thus addressed by
Cheshire children : —
Chimney-sweeper, all in black.
Go to the brook and wash your back ;
Folk- Lore Scrap-Book. 83
Wash it well or wash it none,
Chimney-sweeper, have you clone ?
And in most counties the following jingle is repeated on the appearance
of the daffodil : —
Daffadowndilly has come to town
In a yellow petticoat and a green gown.
In Derbj'shire "■' Lucy Locket " signifies the Cuckoo-flower. When the
children gather it, they say : —
Lucy Locket lost her pocket in a shower of rain,
- Milner fun' it, Milner gnm' it in a peck of grain.
In his treatment of living small things the village boy is frequently
wantonly cruel. The well-known lines, " Harry Harry Longlegs could n't
say his prayers," addressed to the cranefly, sometimes called Daddy Long-
leo-s, are usually accompanied with torture ; and the Dorsetshire children
wickedly torment any large white moth they may catch, to the following
verse : —
Millery, millery, dousty poll.
How many zacks hast thee a-stole ?
Vowr-an'-twenty an' a peck,
Hang the miller up by 's neck.
In West Somerset they say on seeing a snail : —
Snarley-'orn put out your corn,
Father and mother 's dead ;
Zister 'n brither's out to back door,
Bakin o' barley bread.
They then throw a great stone to crush the poor creatures. The more
usual rhyme is : —
Snail, snail, come out of your hole,
Or else I '11 make (or beat) you as black as a coal.
In West Cornwall the boys anger turkeys by shouting in a harsh
voice : —
Lubber, lubber leet, look at your dirty feet-;
and in South Cheshire they irritate bulls by continually shouting: —
Billy, Billy Belder, suck'd the cow's elder (udder).
It is pleasant to turn to examples of a kind appreciation of living things,
The little insect called ladybird, ladycow, goldenbug, etc., is generally
ordered to fly from the hand unharmed, and the lines beginning " Ladycow.
ladycow, fly away home " are well known : but in Hampshire the lines are
entirely different, running : —
God A'mighty's collycow, fly up to heaven ;
Carry up ten pound, and bring down eleven.
In East Cornwall the bat is addressed so : —
Ar)'-mouse, ary-mouse, fly over my head,
And you shall ha' a crust a bread,
And when I brew and when I bake.
You shall ha' a piece of my wedding-cake,
84 youriial of American Folk-Lore.
It is no idle request, for if a bat '' pitches "' on to a person's face, it
needs a knife to cut the creature off again. Variants are used in other
cpuntries. The bird called Peggy Whitethroat is entreated to remain,
with —
Pretty Peggy Whitethroat, come stop and give us a note.
Popular Formulas in Massachusetis. — The following mention is
made of formulas of speech in Massachusetts, by a writer in the " Adams
Freeman," January 12, 1895.
The people of Adams for two generations were really by themselves.
The newspaper was a rare visitor, and when it came it was generally read
by one to a company. Letter postage was too high to promote correspond-
ence.
A visit to Troy, the market town, was a notable event of rare occur-
rence, but to Boston or New York there were tearful leave-takings as
though it were forever.
The great world was a sealed book to a majority of the people. Each
farm almost wholly supplied the family needs, while from necessity every
member of the family who could do so took some part in working out the
family problem.
The good sense of this people clung to manners of speech their parents
brought to Adams, and which their ancestors brought from over the sea, —
old world sayings with new world application ; strong Saxon words and
phrases.
Thus, in speaking of one in whom they lacked confidence — "I have a
poor conceit, or no conceit, of him " (pronounced consait). To be low
spirited was to have the " hypos."
Strength of character was " grit " or " gritty," and to be unstable was
" flighty." One capable could " turn himself " or " turn his hand " or " had
gumption." Of some girls it was said " they go through the wood, and at
last take up with a crooked stick," and of a loving couple, " they live
together like two birds in one neast " (nest). " Quit," or "you quit," was
a common word with boys. " Pudding-head " was for dull persons. " Too
much pudding will choke a dog " phrased a determination to resist impor-
tunity to eat more food.
" Puff " with its derivations was used in many ways. Idleness, shiftless-
ness, and strolling were sharply derided under the head of " poor critters,"
" spinners of street yearn," " pesky varmints," and other broad terms.
'• Praise to the face is an open disgrace," was a common expression.
Children early learned to puncture shams and foolish talkers in rhyme.
The following seemed to be a complete overthrow for big talk : —
Nigger in the wood-pile,
Don't you hear him holler?
Come down to my house to-night,
I '11 give j'ou half a dollar.
Admonition to piety and the penalty of disobedience : —
Notes and Queries. 85
Grandfather long legs
Would n't say his prayers ;
Took him by the hind leg
And threw him down stairs.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Custom of Wearing Gold Beads. — In the older New England towns
will still be found women who retain necklaces of gold beads, which have
belonged to them from youth, and with which they are reluctant to part,
sometimes declining considerable offers. In former time it was usual with
thrifty damsels to procure such necklaces, purchasing them bead by bead,
as savings enabled ; they were regarded as a form of investment, and a
provision against marriage, being always convertible into coin. Perhaps
the habit was a survival of the ancient use of gold chains as money, the
links being easily separable, and coin being scarce. However, other mo-
tives seem to be connected with the practice. A writer on the folk-lore
of Adams, Mass., in a paper cited above, says : " Gold beads were a pro-
tection against the ' King's Evil ' (scrofula), and nearly every fair maiden
and matron wore ample strings of beautiful large beads." This feeling is
not wholly extinct ; a friend endeavoring to purchase such a necklace, in
Laconia, N. H., of an elderly woman, was refused on the ground that it
secured her against sickness.
W. W. iVeivell.
Customs and Superstitions of the Rio Grande. — The article having
this title, by Capt. J. G. Bourke, U. S. A., printed in No. xxv. pp. 1 19-146,
has elicited correspondence, from which extracts are here presented.
R. Peirce, of Laredo, Texas, writes in reference to Cat, that the " pelon "
dog, of the Rio Grande, has been used by the Mexican people of that
valley to effect cures for rheumatism, in much the same way that Cap-
tain Bourke describes the cat as doing in the cure of consumption (p. 123).
With reference to the credulity of Mexicans, an English correspondent
gives an account of the state of mind of friends of his own, country people
of excellent social position, and fairly educated on general subjects, who
made remarks which he treated as simply intended for amusement, until,
to his surprise, he found that these ladies verily believed in witches and
witchcraft. He observes that, if this be the case in the England of 1894,
we must not be too hard on Maria Antonia. The same writer remarks that
the belief in the virtues of the urine of a babe as a cosmetic (p. 124) -ex-
isted, in England, to his own knowledge, as late as 185 1, and not among per-
sons of the lower orders only. He observes that against cross-eyes men
(P- 125), spitting, or making the sign of the cross is in England thought to
be a protection, but that neither action should be obtrusive, as the spitter
is thought to dislike them.
86 Journal of Avterican Folk-Lore.
Mr. C. G. Leland, from his knowledge of Italian sorcery, gives examples
of Italian parallels to the Mexican use of love philters. He cites a supersti-
tion, in which the snake or lizard figures in a way similar to the axolotl in
Captain Eourke's account (p. 120).
With respect to properties popularly attributed to the lizard, Mr, Leland
cites a passage from the " Animalium Historia Sacra," of F. Wolfgang,
Amsterdam, 1654: —
" Lacerta animal tam est notum quam quod notissimum esse potest. In
Aegypto est quoddam genus lacertae, quod vocant Sciuncum, seu scincum,
et ex Aegypto solet ad nos deferri falcus scincus, propinarique magnatibus
ad excitandum venerem et videtur nihil aliud esse nisi genus crocodili
terrestris quod habet squamas versas ad caput, autem tenuem et candidam.
Porro noster lacertus seu lacerta valde amat Iiominem et conspectu ipso
mirifice est gesticulosa," etc.
As respects the use of the poker, when laid against the grate, for the
purpose of brightening fires, cited as an example of a fire superstition
(p. 127), Mr. William Corner, San Antonio, Texas, remarks that in this case
he thinks no superstitious idea is connected with the practice. He has
seen it applied only to coal fires, where it seems to have utility, and has
never heard it associated with superstition, although west of England people
who employ it for this purpose abound in superstitions.
The Lode-Stone. — (See p. 130). John Baptista Porta (" Natural Magic,"
Eng. trans., London, 1685), speaking " Of the Wonders of the Lode-stone,"
says that this stone is " Male or Female " (p. 191). He cites Plutarch and
Ptolemy to the effect that garlic neutralized the virtues of the lode-stone,
whence, he says, in his own time, it was believed by many mariners that
the steersman of a ship should not eat onions or garlic, but he himself,
after careful experiments, pronounces the story false (Book 7, p. 211). He
goes on to say that a lode-stone which has lost its virtues may have them
restored by being fed with iron-filings (idem, p. 212). (Which is just as my
old witch, Maria Antonia Cabazos de Garza, often told me on the Rio
Grande. Porta also says that Paracelsus taught that its virtues might be
increased by dipping it in the oil of iron (sulphuric acid ?) ; but Porta's
own experiments in that line showed him that such a process rather tended
to decrease the power of the lode-stone, as did heating it to a red heat
(p. 212). Neither is it true, as asserted by Saint Augustine, that the mere
presence of a diamond will deprive the lode-stone of its virtues (idem,
p. 213). Porta also disproves the statements of certain Latin writers that
goats' blood would dissolve the diamond, and restore the lost powers of
the lode-stone (p. 214). He quotes Marbodius to the effect that this stone
will reconcile husband and wife, when separated, and also serve as a test
of chastity.
yohn G. Bourke.
An Accumulative Lullaby. — In the " Games and Songs of American
Children," p. iii, is given an accumulative rhyme entitled, "There was a
Notes and Queries. ^'j
Tree stood in the Ground." It is there stated that the words seem not to
have been known in the North. The following lullaby, however, used by
an elderly friend whose childhood was spent in the neighborhood of Bos-
ton, is a variant ; it proceeds as follows : —
Out in a beautiful field
There stands a pretty pear-tree,
Pretty pear-tree with leaves.
What is there on the tree ?
A very pretty bough.
Bough on the tree,
Tree in the ground,
Out in a beautiful field, etc.
What is there on the bough ?
A very pretty branch.
Branch on bough,
Bough on tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in a beautiful field, etc.
What is there on the branch ?
A very pretty nest.
Nest on branch,
Branch on bough,
Bough on tree,
Tree in the ground,
Out in a beautiful field, etc.
What is there in the nest?
A very pretty egg.
Egg in nest.
Nest on branch.
Branch on bough,
Bough on tree,
Tree in the ground.
Out in a beautiful field, etc.
Out in a beautiful field
There stands a pretty pear-tree,
Pretty pear-tree with leaves.
What is there on the egg ?
A very pretty bird.
Bird on egg,
Egg in nest.
Nest on branch.
Branch on bough.
Bough on tree,
Tree in the ground.
88 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
The melody is very soothing, but I am not sure whether it is the same as
that printed in the work referred to.
Ellen Chase.
> Brookline, Mass.
Corrections to be made in Vol. VII. — The following corrections
are to be made in the volume of the Journal of American Folk-Lore for
1894: —
P. 150, 1. 24. For "French" read "Trench." "A select glossary of
English words used formerly in senses different from their present," by
Richard Chevenix Trench, sub. voc.
P. 320, 1. penult. For " Mserobius," read " Macrobius."
P. 320, 1. ult. Add In Somnium Scipionis, comment., lib. i. cap. xiv.
H. W. Haynes.
LOCAL MEETINGS AND OTHER NOTICES.
Boston Branch. — December 2\, 1894. The regular meeting was held
at the house of Miss Kelly, Channing Street, Cambridge, Prof. F. W. Put-
nam, President of the Branch, presiding. Mad. Sigridr Magnusson, of
Cambridge, England, a native of Iceland, made an address on " Icelandic
Folk-Lore and Superstitions." She observed that the first settlers in Ice-
land found already present higher powers whom they considered it a duty to
propitiate. Even blood feuds arose out of supposed defilements of places
which this or that chief man supposed to be a favorite haunt of some
special deity. Their religious feeling found expression in an enactment
of the year 930, which forbade ships to sail to Iceland with prows repre-
senting gaping snouts or throats of beasts of prey, lest the guardian spirits
of the land should be frightened. The early settlers chose their places of
abode under the supposed guidance of some tutelar deity, and many of
these peculiar superstitions still exist in the country. Mad. Magnusson
particularly described the belief that certain families are followed by the
family ghost, which appears to them on the eve of important events ; these
spirits are known by name, and possess a history connected with the family.
She gave examples of other Icelandic superstitions, and sang folk-songs
used during the carding of wool and spinning.
January 18, 1895. The monthly meeting was held at the house of Miss
Mixter, 219 Beacon Street, Boston, Prof. F. W. Putnam, presiding. The
paper of the evening was by Mr. W. C. Bates, whose subject was the
" Creole Folk-Lore of Jamaica." This was said both to savor of Africa
and to have been affected by white influence ; also reflecting the peculiar
character of the island and its tropic life, its gorges and beaches. Par-
ticular attention was given to the characteristic proverbs, of which the
speaker had formed a collection, which will probably appear in the Jour-
nal of American Folk-Lore. Examples were given of the Creole nursery
tales, called " Nancy Stories," that is to say, tales of the ananzi or spider.
Local Meetings and Other Notices. 89
These stories, which are often mere expansions of proverbs, enibrace all
peculiarities of Creole life ; they often point a moral, and are accompanied
by a proverb which they explain.
Hdeji Leah Reed, Secretary.
New York Branch. — A meeting was held on Friday, December 14, in
Hamilton Hall, Columbia College. Mr. John La Farge gave an address
on " South Sea Stories, Customs, and Scenes." Dr. Titus Munson Coan
presented a paper on '' Hawaiian Customs."
Cambridge Branch. — December 4, 1894. The Branch met at the home
of Miss Hyatt on Francis Avenue, the President, Mr. Schofield, in the chair,
and listened with delight to an address by Prof. Edward S. Morse on
"The Games of Japanese Children." Professor Morse said that the purely
natural games and tricks, keeping store, making mud pies, and the like,
where children merely imitate the behavior of their elders, are essentially
the same in Japan and America. But complex games restricted in their
distribution are more common in Japan. Their kite-flying has become an
art ; the kites are elaborately made, and so large as often to require two or
three men to control them. Kite-fighting is a sport among the men, the
object being to cut the opponent's kite loose, by means of a sharp instru-
ment attached to the kite string.
In Japanese chess every man taken becomes a prisoner who can be used
in any position by his captor, thus making a long and puzzling game. The
laborers often carry pocket chessboards with them, and amuse themselves
while waiting for employment, much as an American laborer would play
cards. " Go " is a much more complicated game, which may last for many
days.
The children are encouraged in gentle games and sports, and public
bake-houses are established where children can make diminutive cakes.
Seeds are peddled on the street that the children may feed the birds and
fishes, and soap suds is commonly sold for the blowing of bubbles. The
Japanese show great skill in carving their gods, landscape, and temples in
snow. In their fencing a soft plate is worn on top of the head, the object
being to break the plate. The forfeit games played with the hands require
extreme dexterity.
Mr. Scudder spoke of laborers in India scratching out a chessboard on
the ground and playing with impromptu men of mud.
Mr. Holcombe called attention to a game in the streets of New York,
almost identical with the Japanese game of snapping sugar-plums.
The remainder of the evening was spent socially.
January 8, 1895. The monthly meeting was held at the house of Prof.
I. N. HoUis on Lowell Street, and was conducted entirely by members of
the Branch.
Mr. A. R. Tisdale read stories by various travellers describing some
quaint customs and superstitions among the French of Lower Canada,
where, not many years ago, it was the custom for a newly-married couple to
90 yournal of Avicricau Folk-Lore.
receive a visit from their neighbors, who were disguised and bore a coffin
and lanterns. After performing a mock ceremony over the coffin, and in
other ways addding to the pleasures of the young couple, the visitors de-
manded treat of the bridegroom. Attention was called to the prevalence
of maritime expressions among the people of this part of Canada. Mr.
Tisdale also read an account of six Maliseets outwitting a large band of
Mohawks by continually paddling their canoes around the point of an
island just visible from the Mohawk camp ; and gave a description of the
interesting St. Anne's Festival among the Indians on Cape Breton,
Miss Yerxa read an Irish story, " Domnaill Na Pooka," showing the
happy influence of the fairies.
Domnaill, the hero, driving home from the city, drops to sleep, and is sud-
denly roused by a man who tells him he is wanted. Dan follows his com-
rade, and is directed to take part in a match game of hurley. He
becomes the hero of the game, and, on going back to his cart, receives
some gold pieces from his new friend. Dan then drives on towards home,
stopping on his way to drink to the health of the gentle people.
Mr. Fernald spoke of some of the commoner superstitions of Central
Maine, and recited a number of impromptu rhymes found among Maine
school-children, as well as some of the more general counting-rhymes.
After discussion of the different subjects presented, the meeting became
informal.
M. L. Fernald^ Secretary.
Montreal Branch. — The annual meeting of this Branch was held
January 12, at the residence of Lady Van Horn, Sherbrook Street, Mon-
treal. The election of officers took place with the following results : Hon.
President, Professor Penhallow ; President, Mr. W. F. White ; ist Vice-
President, Mrs. Robert Reid ; 2d Vice-President, Mr. Came ; Treasurer,
Mr. Boisevain ; Secretary, Miss Blanche Macdonell. Ladies' Com7tiittee. —
Convenor, Mrs. Penhallow ; Secretary, Miss Saxe ; Misses Derrick and
Flora Macdonell, Mrs. Shelton.
A paper entitled " Village Skeletons " was read by Miss Fraser, and Pro-
fessor Penhallow communicated some valuable information concerning the
Ainu of Japan.
Blanche L. Macdonell, Secretary.
Baltimore. — A meeting of gentlemen and ladies of this city, interested
in the study of folk-lore, was held in the house of Mrs. Lee, 18 East Frank-
lin Street, on February 20, for the purpose of organizing a Baltimore branch
of the Americari Folk-Lore Society. Prof. Henry Wood, of Johns Hopkins
University, who presided, made brief remarks explanatory of the object of
the meeting. The chairman introduced Dr. Washington Matthews, U. S. A.,
president of the American Folk-Lore Society, who made an address, illus-
trated with Navajo songs by means of a phonograph. He observed that
the study of folk-lore did not resemble the natural sciences, which might
be left to natural and gradual development, but must be taken up at once,
Local Meetings a7id Other Notices. 9^
and urged the importance of immediate work. Education and civilization
were destroying the material, and the longer the delay the less complete
would be the understanding of the subject. In Baltimore were to be
found opportunities that should not be neglected. Dr. J. H. McCormick,
secretary of the Washington branch, explained the objects of the Society
and conditions of membership, pointing out that an annual payment of
three dollars entitled persons to membership and to a copy of the Journal
of American Folk-Lore, the organ of the Society. An organization was
effected by the election of Ur. Henry Wood as president and Miss Annie
Weston Whitney as secretary. Of the persons present, seventeen became
members of the branch.
Proposed Testimonial to G. Laurence Gomme. — We are glad to
learn that the English Society intends to express gratitude for the invalu-
able services of its President in the most graceful way, by raising a fund for
the forwarding of the study which he has had at heart, and which he
has so well served. A circular letter recites : —
The expiration of Mr. Gomme's term of office as President of the Folk-
Lore Society has evoked among the members of the Council a strong feel-
ing that his invaluable services, both to the science of Folk-Lore and to the
Folk-Lore Society, during the whole existence of that Society, of which he
and the late Mr. W. J. Thoms were the founders in 1878, call for some
special and public recognition in which all the members of the Folk-Lore
Society could join. With a view to carrying out w'hat they are sure is a
general wish, those members of the Council whose names appear below
have formed themselves into a committee for the purpose of organizing a
testimonial to be presented to Mr. Gomme.
Mr. Gomme's devotion to the cause of Folk-Lore in general, and (as
Honorary Secretary, as Director, as Councillor, and as President) to the
prosperity of the Folk-Lore Society in particular, is so universally appre-
ciated that the committee feel that the proposal now made needs no recom-
mendation from them.
In considering the most appropriate and acceptable shape which the
testimonial could take, the committee are unanimously of opinion that it
should at once testify to the personal regard felt for Mr. Gomme by all
members of the Society, and that it shall also further the cause of those
studies which he has had so long at heart. It is, therefore, suggested that
in addition to an illuminated address and a personal gift, to be publicly
presented to Mr. Gomme, there shall be started, under the name of the
Gomme Testimonal Fund, a fund for the encouragement and assistance of
research and study in Folk-Lore.
It is confidentially anticipated that the general body of members will
approve the decision of the committee, and will respond in a way adequate
to the services of Mr. Gomme, and to the great and daily growing im-
portance of Folk-Lore research.
Subscriptions will be received by the Hon. Secretary J. P. Emslie, 153
92 y our 7ia I of American Folk-Lore.
Grove Lane, Cambervvell, London, S. E., or can be paid direct to the
London Joint Stock Bank, Limited, 123 Chancery Lane, W. C, to the
credit of the "Gomme Testimonial Fund."
> The fund will be in the hands of the treasurer of the Society. A list of
subscribers and statement of account will be printed and issued in due
course.
Committee : Hon. John Abercromby ; E. W. Brabrook, F. S. A, ; Ed-
ward Clodd, Treasurer 3 Miss M. Roalfe Cox ; Leland L. Duncan, F. S. A. ;
J. P. Enislie, Hon. Secretary ; The Rev. Dr. M. Gaster ; Prof. A. C Had-
don, M. A. ; E. Sidney Hartland, F. S. A.; T. W. E. Higgens; Joseph
Jacobs, B, A. ; W, F. Kirby ; Andrew Lang, M. A. ; J. T. Naakd ; Alfred
Nutt; T. Fairman Ordish, F. S. A.; F. York Powell, F. S. A.; Prof. J.
Rhys, M. A. ; Henry B. Wheatley, F. S. A., Chairman.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
BOOKS.
Picture-Writing of the American Indians. By Garrick Mallery.
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of Ethnology. Tenth Annual Report,
1888-1889. Washington, 1893. Pp. 3-822. 4to.
The consecration of an entire report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the
studies of Colonel Mallery on the picture-writing of the American Indians,
a subject already touched upon by the author in his " Sign Language of
the North American Indians" (1879-1880), and the preliminary paper on
" Pictographs" (1882-1883), is a suitable recognition of the labors of the
distinguished scientist whose recent death the anthropological world has so
much cause to regret. This last volume, the magmim opus of Colonel Mal-
lery, is invaluable to the psychologist and the historian of human writing, as
it is also for those who are interested in the relations between symbolic
and oral speech. Enriching his discussion of the picture-writings of Amer-
ica with comparative illustrations from all quarters of the globe, the author
has given us the result of years of patient investigation and research in a
form which it is a pleasure to peruse. The 54 plates and the 1,290 figures,
with which the text is embellished, conduce to the clear understanding of
the subjects at issue, while the explanatory remarks are always clear and to
the point.
Both North and South America come under the author's view, although,
naturally enough, the former comes in for the lion's share of attention.
Among the topics treated of are : Petroglyphs, Cup-sculptures, Pictographs
(in their numerous divisions), Ideography, Gesture and Posture, Conven-
tionalizing, Homomorphs and Symmorphs, Composite Forms, Means of
Interpretation. Under the head of Pictographs we have discussions of the
materials on which they are made (human body, stone, bone, skins, feathers
and quills, gourds, shells, earth and sand, copper, wood, fictile and textile
Bibliographical Notes. 93
fabrics), the instruments and materials by which they are made (instru-
ments for carving, drawing, painting, coloring matter, knotted cords, and
tied objects, notched and marked sticks, wampum, etc.), chronological
devices, notices, " counts " and numeration, communications of peace and
war, social and religious missives, totems, titles and names, tribal designa-
tions, gentile and clan designations, tattoo, individual designations, reli-
gious and mythological symbols, social and historical records, biography,
color-symbolism, etc. For the folk-lorist the most important chapters of
the work are ix-xxiii, which are concerned with mnemonic, chronological,
communicative, totemic, religious, mythological, social, historical, biographi-
cal and kindred forms of pictography, with considerations of their origin,
development, psychical content, artistic form, and interpretation in terms of
speech. Worthy of special notice are the discussion of Ojibwa songs and
traditions (pp. 231-257), the counts of the Dakota Indians (pp. 266-328),
the section on the significance of tattoo (pp. 391-416), and the sections
devoted to religion and totemism, where Colonel Mallery appears at his
best.
The author remarks " a surprising resemblance between the typical
forms among the petroglyphs found in Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Guiana, part
of Mexico, and those in the Pacific slope of North America," and thinks
" this similarity includes the forms in Guatemala and Alaska, which, on
account of the material used, are of less assured antiquity. Indeed, it
would be safe to include Japan and New Zealand in this general class."
Colonel Mallery, however, fights shy of migrations from Asia, trusting
rather to the rapid and wide diffusion of symbols with touches from occa-
sional accidental visits of shipwrecked Japanese and Chinese (p. 772). He
finds " not the slightest evidence that an alphabet or syllabary was ever
used in pre-Columbian America by the aborigines, though there is some
trace of Runic inscriptions." The Maya and the Aztecs were, however,
rapidly approaching alphabetism, and the Dakotas and the Ojibwa had made
a good beginning in the same direction. As to whether sign-language pre-
ceded articulate speech the author feels no call to decide, though he seems
to favor Sayce's declaration that man was a drawing animal before he
became a speaking animal. From the more modern picture-writing on
skins, bark, pottery, etc., much important tribal, social, ethnological infor-
mation is being obtained, while from most of the older petroglyphs it is
doubtful if much of value will be gleaned.
In the necessarily brief treatment of each section of the continent,
Canada comes in for less than her proper share, probably because her
numerous petroglyphs and other pictographs have not yet been fully
studied. The apparent absence of petroglyphs in some parts of British
Columbia is curious. Colonel Mallery justly points out that conventionaliz-
ing, starting with entirely different concepts, may in the end reach exactly
the same result, a fact which ought to prevent the mistakes so common
with those who write unscientifically of symbols and their distribution.
Noticeable is the tendency to pictographic expression of certain tribes of
Indians, Zuhi, Navajo, Ojibwa, Dakota, Abnaki, Micmac, as compared
with, for example, the Kootenay of British Columbia, from whom no such
94 yo7irnal of America7i Folk-Lore,
records appear to have been obtained, although the latter are excellent
draughtsmen, for Indians. The author is inclined to believe that "prob-
ably more distinctive examples of evolution in ideography and in other
details of picture-writing are found still extant among the Dakota than
among any other North American tribe " (p. 203). Of the pictographic
song-records we are told: "A simple mode of explaining the amount of
symbolism necessarily contained in the charts of the order of songs is by
likening them to the illustrated songs and ballads lately published in
popular magazines, where every stanza has at least one appropriate illus-
tration " (p. 232). The brief notice of topographical pictographs (pp. 341-
353) might have been extended, — the reviewer is able to add the Kootenay
Indians of British Columbia to the list of those primitive peoples who seem
to have grasped the idea of map-making. As to tattooing, Colonel Mallery
considers that, after careful study, for the theory of its origin as tribal
marks " less positive and conclusive authority is found . . . than was ex-
pected, considering its general admission " (p. 392). Under the heads of
symbols of the supernatural, myths and mythic animals, shamanism,
charms and amulets, religious ceremonies, mortuary practices (pp. 461-
527) we are given a mass of information regarding the Micmacs, Haidas,
Ojibwa, Dakotas, Moki, etc. Customs, cult-societies, daily life and habits,
games, take up pages 529-550, perhaps the most interesting plates in the
book being those from the old Mexican MSS., depicting the education of
children. In the discussion of historical pictographs, prominence is given
the records of the battles between the whites and the Sioux, especially Cus-
ter's fights. The symbolism of color, which has grown in importance in the
last few years, occupies pages 618-637, and the author inclines to trace
the use of color in pictography to the practice of painting on the surface of
the human body, and thinks that the symbolic colors of the cardinal
points must necessarily be in a state of confusion, from considerations of
topographic relations to the ocean, climatic conditions, etc. An authori-
tative discussion of the " Micmac Hieroglyphs" (pp. 666-671) is welcome ;
the author compares, the exploit of Father Kauder to that of Landa in
Yucatan. The treatment of special forms is very interesting, and much
of a comparative nature might perhaps be added. In conclusion, the book
is like the rest of Colonel Mallery's work, absolutely impartial, scientific,
readable.
A. F. Chafftberlain.
Studies in Folk-Song and Popular Poetry. By Alfred M. Wil-
liams. Pp. 329. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
1894.
This volume is a collection of separate essays, several of which have
previously appeared in periodicals. One of the papers, on American Folk-
Songs of the Civil War, was printed in this Journal. The titles of the
other articles are : American Sea-Songs, English and Scottish Popular
Ballads, Lady Mairne and her Songs, Sir Samuel Ferguson and Celtic
Poetry, William Thorn the Weaver Poet, Folk-Songs of Lower Brittany,
Bibliographical Notes. 95
The Folk-Songs of Poitou, Some Ancient Portuguese Ballads, Hungarian
Folk-Songs, Folk-Songs of Roumania. The variety of subjects will illus-
trate the scope of the literary studies connected with oral tradition ; in
this place, space serves us to do little more than indicate the titles.
The article on Sea-Songs, or the " shanties " (from French chanter), sung
by American sailors, gives some examples which seem to be taken from an
original collection. The following is given as a specimen of the bowline
chants : —
Solo. I wish I was in Mobile Bay,
Chorus. Way-hay, knock a man down !
Solo. A-rolling cotton night and day.
Chorus. This is the time to knock a man down !
And so on ad infinitum, until ended by the hoarse " Belay " of the mate
or the "bosun."
Of the melodies, the most interesting part of these songs, the writer
observes that their peculiar cadence and inflection can be comprehended
only through the ear, and that, " like the chants of the negro slaves, which in
many respects they resemble, musical notes would give only the skeleton
of the melody, which depends for its execution upon an element which it
defies the powers of art to symbolize." This is doubtless true ; neverthe-
less, it is discreditable to modern musical science that no method of com-
plete indication of the human voice has come into use. Even as it is, a
full collection of these "shanties" and their melodies would doubtless be
curious, and even musically valuable, if it be not now too late. As to
Breton folk-song, Mr. Williams uses the works of F. M. Luzel, properly
discarding the forgeries of Hersart de la Villemarque, the true character of
whose contributions to the poetry of Brittany has hardly even yet been
estimated by English writers at its proper worthlessness. If there were
room, it would be agreeable to offer some remarks in connection with the
paper on Celtic poetry. It has recently been contended by H. Zimmer
that there never was any such thing as Celtic epos, the poetical productions
of the Fenian cycle being relatively late compositions, based on imitation
of the Norse. But this opinion must be received with distrust.
W. IV. M
Diary of Anna Green Winslow. A Boston Schoolgirl of 1771. Ed-
ited by Alice Morse Earle. Boston and New York: Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. 1894. Pp. xx, 121.
If one wished to frame a paradox it might be said that the best part of
history is what history omits. If on the one hand biography is the soul of
history, so on the other hand popular ideas, habits, methods of dress and
behavior, in a word, folk-lore, form its scheme of color, without which the
picture is but black and white. Contributions to this essential element of
interest are diaries like the present, written by a little Nova Scotian at
school in Boston in 1770, which has the Pickwickian criterion of excellence,
that one wishes there were more of it. This bright little girl of ten, as the
editor observes, has left a brief record interesting to New England families
96 journal of A 77zerica7t Folk-Lore.
as a " presentment of the childish life of their great grandmothers, her
companions." Notes from the hand of Mrs. Earle add value to the docu-
ment. The extract we here insert has been repeatedly copied by reviewers,
but that shall not prevent its insertion : —
" I took a walk with cousin Sally to see the goof folks in Sudbury Street,
«Sc found them all well. I had my HEDDUS roll on, aunt Storer said it
ought to be made less, Aunt Deming said it ought not to be made at all.
It makes my head itch, & ach, & burn like anything Mamma. This famous
roll is not made wholly of a red cow Tail, but is a mixture of that, &
horsehair (very course) & a little human hair of yellow hue, that I suppose
was taken out of the back part of an old wig. But D made it (our
head) all carded together and twisted up. When it first came home, aunt
put it on, & my new cap on it, a she then took up her apron & measur'd
me, & from the roots of my hair on my forehead to the top of my notions,
I measur'd above an inch longer than I did downwards from the roots of
my hair to the top of my chin. Nothing renders a young person more
amiable than virtue and modesty without the help of fals hair, red cow tail,
or D the barber."
The editor observes that a roll frequently weighed fourteen ounces. Rea-
sons could be given for the statement that the Colonial dressing of those
days was, in the eyes of English people, tawdry and over-gaudy.
W. W. N.
Korean Games. Mr. Stewart Culin, Director of the Museum of Ar-
chaeology and Paleeontology of the University of Pennsylvania, has in
preparation a work to be entitled : " Korean Games, with Notes on the
Corresponding Games of China and Japan." A Commentary will be
furnished by Mr, Frank Hamilton Gushing, of the Bureau of American
Ethnology. The work, Avhich will include also plays and toys of the
Koreans, will consist of about 200 finely printed pages, on choice paper,
with 22 full-page colored plates, reproduced from the quaint illustrative
paintings of a native Korean artist, and with numerous text pictures, many
also from native drawings. Edition 550 copies, numbered. Price by sub-
scription, $5.00, payable on the delivery of the book.
SUBSCRIBERS TO THE PUBLICATION FUND (Additional List).
1894.
Daniel G. Brinton, Philadelphia, Pa.
Stuyvesant Fish, New York, N. Y.
Thomas Ewing Moore, Weimar, Germany.
MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY (Addftional List).
1S94.
Henrietta Irving Bolton, New York, N. Y.
John L. Earll, Utica, N. Y.
Herbert M. Richards, Cambridge, Mass.
THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
Vol. VIII. — APRIL-JUNE, 1895. — No. XXIX.
THE INTERPRETATION OF FOLK-LORE.i
Mr. President : In the late decades there has been much activity
in the scientific study of mankind. The endeavor is to discover the
course of the progress of mankind in culture — the evolution, the
development, the becoming of the activities of mankind. At one
moment we see man laboring in the arts of industry, at another
moment in striving for pleasure, at another in expression by speech,
and again in the development of institutions for the control of con-
duct, and finally in learning, the acquisition of knowledge. Men
pass from one of these highways to another in the journey of life,
engage in the five great human activities, the five great arts, the
five Humanities. In the arts of industry the purpose is welfare,
in the arts of pleasure the purpose is happiness, in the arts of speech
the purpose is expression, in the arts of government the purpose is
justice, in the arts of learning the purpose is knowledge. In pass-
ing along the great highway of learning in the pursuit of knowledge,
man has held many opinions, some true, some erroneous. The
origin and development of these opinions now presents a vast field
of research, in which many scientific men are engaged. The subject
is often called "Folk-lore." And this is a folk-lore society. The
term folk-lore is often restricted to a narrower part of the great field.
Permit me to further describe this more limited field, which is yet a
vast region.
This Society is devoting itself to the study of the origin and the
development of human opinions. All of the five great classes of
arts are studied from a variety of sources, which may be classified in
the same manner. I will speak of these sources as the five great
Books of Humanity. We study the history of man as it is found in
these books. We may study the rock-leaved book of geology. In
the development of the world, Nature seemed to pause at the very
^ Address delivered at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore
Society, Washington, December 28, 1894.
98 yotirnal of American Folk-Lore.
last of her works, to write a postscript devoted to man. And so we
find evidences of man in the records of very late geologic time.
Then we may study mankind in the Tomb-book. Men have buried
their dead everywhere ; the burial-mounds of America are scattered
over all its surface ; so the tombs and mounds and sepulchres of
men are discovered all over the habitable earth. The earth is really
one great burial-place of antiquity. In these tombs have been
placed the ornaments and the possessions of the dead, for reasons
which I must not stop to explain ; so that in examining the tombs
of antiquity we discover evidence of the culture of the days when
the tombs were made. So we have the Tomb-book. Then, scattered
all over the earth, on every plain, every plateau, every mountain-
side, and in every valley, we find ruins of huts and houses and
palaces, of villages and towns and cities ; and so we have the Ruin-
book. Then along with this Stone-book and this Tomb-book and
this Ruin-book, we have a fourth book of very great interest, the
Folk-book. All savage peoples, all barbaric peoples, all the lower
classes of mediaeval civilization, and all mankind in the higher
stages of civilization, have ideas and opinions which they have inher-
ited from the past, — something more than that which has been
delivered to them by Science, — and these ideas and opinions we
study in the folk-lore or mythology of the past ; and this gives us a
Folk-book, which is read by studying the peoples themselves and
observing their activities as they are organized in tribes and nations.
Ever since the dawn of civilization, man has recorded his opinions
on rocks, on the skins of animals, on the bark of trees, and on parch-
ments made of many different fibres. All of these tomes may be
considered as the great Scripture-book of the world. Thus we have
the Stone-book, the Tomb-book, the Ruin-book, the Folk-book, and
the Scripture-book, to study in our researches into the origin and
growth of the Humanities.
But let us pause a moment to speak of the Folk-book, for this
Society is engaged in deciphering the meaning of the tales of the
Folk-book for the purpose of discovering the development of human
opinions. How shall we gather these tales and interpret the opin-
ions therein expressed .-' In gathering the tales, a multitude of
languages must be learned, for the tales as they are told can only be
obtained from the languages in which they are told. Having col-
lected the lore, how shall we interpret it t How shall we discover
the lessons which it teaches ? How shall we have a scientific know-
ledge of the opinions embodied in the tales .■' It is to this problem
of interpretation that I address myself in the remarks which I offer
you. In the study of all of the books, for all purposes in the widely
diversified activities of mankind, especially during the latter half of
The Interpretation of Folk-Lore. 99
the century, some most wonderful facts have been discovered and
some most wonderful generalizations have been made, and it is to
these that I first propose to call your attention. The grandest fact
of all is that the human race is one. We have discovered the intel-
lectual unity of the human race. That which distinguishes man
from the lower animals is superior intellect, resulting in superior
activities of all the five classes. That superior intellect is every-
where constructed upon the same plan. In every land and among
every people, two and two make four. In every land and among
every people, wherever there are human eyes to see it, the moon is
round, and then gibbous, and then crescent. Wherever we go among
all mankind, we find the same force in gravity, the same force of
heat, the same force of light. Everywhere throughout the world
these forces are the same. Again, in every forest plants grow from
seed, trees grow from scions, and branches from twigs. The four
great elements of the subject-matter of thought, number, form,
cause, and evolution are the same everywhere. All minds are en-
gaged on the same great problems of number, form, force, and gen-
esis, and the truth which all minds seek is the same everywhere. So
all minds must grow in the same direction toward the truth, and as
mentality is the highest attribute of man, as his soul is the highest
characteristic — in this highest attribute, in this chief characteristic,
men are necessarily of one race. There can never be but one class
of men, but one race, when we logically consider the fundamental
attributes of men. Because of the preponderance of the psychic
factor in mankind, they have not differentiated into species.
Among the lower animals we find a wonderful evolution, a marvel-
lous development of different forms and structures ; among mankind
we find, from the highest to the lowest, a tendency to involution or
unification or integration. And while among the. earlier peoples
there was a tendency toward differentiation into species, they never
fell into species but remained interfertile with one another.
The second conclusion that has been reached is th^ mankind was
distributed throughout the habitable world at an early stage of
culture, and his development every\vhere can be traced back to the
very beginning of the five great activities. All the progress made
by men from the commencement of these five great activities up to
the present time has been accomplished since they have been dis-
persed over the whole habitable globe. We must not forget that
man with his rude arts was scattered everywhere between the walls
of ice. He may have been excluded from the ice-zone of the north
and from the ice-zone of the south, but between these barriers
human beings were scattered over all the earth. The Garden of
Eden was walled by ice. Let us look a little into the meaning of
lOO jfournal of American Folk-Lore.
this fact. In no valley, on no plain, on no mountain-side, through-
out the habitable globe, can we travel without finding rude evidences
«of the earliest arts ; everywhere we find them. Scattered through-
out the world were small tribes, each speaking its own language.
There was a time — in the beginning of the science of philology
— when it was hoped that all languages might be traced to one.
The progress of research has destroyed that hope. As we go
back in the study of languages, they are multiplied, they are mul-
tiplied everywhere. Mr. Gushing, who has just been speaking to
you, comes from the study of one little tribe, the Zuni, and finds
its speech made up from two or more tongues which have co-
alesced. And so I might illustrate from the many languages in
North America, and show that no speech has been found that is
not made up of other tongues ; all are compound. So we must
think of mankind as scattered everywhere throughout the world in
little tribes, at the beginning of culture, — a tribe on this plain, a
tribe by that bay, a tribe on that shore of the ocean ; little tribes
scattered over the whole of the habitable earth, all beginning their
industries, mainly in stone art ; beginning their speech, mainly in
mimic words ; beginning their pleasures in the same childish sports,
in the same athletic exercises, in the same games of divination and
chance. So place this picture clearly before your mind : the whole
habitable earth covered with tribes, not closely crowding one another,
perchance, but covered with little tribes, each speaking its own
language and engaging in its own activities of all classes. Now,
then, consider that their civil organization, that their institutions,
grew out of the family relation. These things are deeply imbedded
in the biotic constitution of mankind. There must be husbands and
wives, parents and children. Then we get kinships, and then speech
develops names for the relationships of consanguinity and affinity ;
and institutions are formed upon the plan that age gives authority,
and so their words are framed in such a manner that it is impossible
to address a man except by expressing his relative age, and either
claiming or yielding authority. We have these languages, then,
spread all over the country ; but tribes unite with tribes, and it is
found that the union is accompanied by a compact that one little
tribe shall intermarry with another, that the maids of one shall be
given to the other, and vice versa. Then we have tribal divisions
recognized as clans and as kinship clans ; then these unite. So
this coalescence goes on and on, and little tribes speaking different
languages unite their streams of blood, their languages and institu-
tions, and still the coalescence goes on, the compounding continues
and continues, until what .-' Until genealogies are lost. Remember
that a time comes when by the admixture and coalescence, by the com-
The Interpretation of Fo Ik-Lore. loi
pounding and the dividing, the streams of blood are lost ; and then
men learn to organize upon a territorial basis instead of on a family
basis; and so we have nations instead of tribes. And why is this
organization made ? Because genealogies are lost — all gone. It is
no longer possible to trace the genealogy of tribes. After nations
are recognized, we cannot trace them back to an original tribe, but
only to a confusion of many tribes swallowed up in nations. Tribal
genealogies are lost.
When we come to consider activities, we must remember that no
man ever completely invents anything himself ; he may add some
little to the invention of others, but all inventions of industries,
pleasures, institutions, speech, and opinions — and these are all in-
ventions — primarily all of these inventions are inherited. The child
as he enters on the stage of life inherits all that comes from his
ancestors. Now all activities are accultural with the individual ;
what he does is very little. Arts, of whichever of the five classes
they may be, are at first autogenous, not by individual, but by tribe,
and as the tribe enlarges, they inherit more and more by the union
of tribes, until at last a peculiar thing happens to man, by which
arts can be borrowed ; and arts are rarely borrowed until man has
reached this particular stage. The arts of speech, the arts of
government, the arts of opinion, are never borrowed until man
reaches a peculiar condition, until he attains written speech, which
may travel beyond the tribe and the nation. Then these arts are
borrowed, but all such arts prior to that period must be held as
autogenous by tribes and accultural to individuals by heredity.
The arts of these classes can be borrowed from one people by an-
other only when they have acquired written language.
Arts of industry and arts of pleasure seem to have traveled to a
very limited extent anterior to the development of written language.
They are expressed to some extent in material objects whose use
can be easily learned ; they are themselves object-lessons ; yet it is
ever a matter of surprise to the scientific man engaged in these
branches of research to discover how little has been borrowed and
passed from people to people beyond the boundaries of intelligible
speech. Ever it appears that the same materials under like condi-
tions are used in like manner, because of the unity of the human
mind. Wherever stones were naturally quarried and easily accessi-
ble, men learned to build their houses of stone ; where the forest
presented wind-riven trees, there men learned to build houses of
wood ; where reeds and tules were abundant and more easily fash-
ioned, they made their houses by weaving wattles and mats ; where
other material failed, they covered their houses with earth ; and such
arts were developed by the tribes severally. Scattered far and wide,
I02 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
the same thoughts came to all under the same conditions. Let us
understand this by an example which has been brought before you
> at this session of the Society. Everywhere tribal man supposed the
earth to be flat ; nearly everywhere nature clearly marked out the
east and the west, the north and the south, by the rising of the sun
and moon and the motions of the orbs of heaven. So man early
learned to speak of the four quarters of the earth, and symbolized
these four quarters by two lines crossing each other. Thus every
tribe developed the symbol of the cross as a world symbol of the
four quarters. Sometimes they added to this a symbol for the zenith
and another for the nadir, and rarely they added a seventh symbol for
the here as the centre of the world. Now having a world symbol,
as a cross, whenever it was desirable to express world-wide facts,
this cross was used as a basis, and to the arms of the cross were
added variations to express the winds of the world, to express the
gods of the world, and to express many other world-wide concepts.
So the diversified cross everywhere grew into a Swastika, and the
cross and its variations were thus autogenous with many tribes.
Again, when man developed picture-writing to some extent, so that
he could express forms with a little skill, he learned to engrave
and to paint the outlines of the human form, sometimes in action,
sometimes standing still, and sometimes sitting upon the ground.
In that early time men sat squat on the earth, for stools and chairs
were not used, or rarely used, and the attitude of rest, attention, and
contemplation was that in which the form was seated on the ground.
Buddha is thus represented, but everywhere among the North and
South American Indians seated figures are found in this manner,
and it is not necessary that occidental tribes should be taught this
method of representation by oriental peoples ; they learned it for
themselves, and it came along as an autogenous growth with all our
tribes. The symbols of speech were examined, and it was said that
the tongues of mankind were borrowed ; they have tried to make
this tribe or that come from the Norsemen, because of similarity of
speech, or to represent the lost tribes of Israel ; they have tried to
bring them from all over the world, by inference from these simi-
larities. But now this is all wiped out ; philologists never dream of
these things any more in this country. The same is true of insti-
tutions. When we found among the North American Indians such
customs and traits as are described in Scripture and in Hebrew
literature, when the patriarchal institutions were seen among the
North American Indians, there arose a large school of anthropolo-
gists which thought that the Indians were the lost tribes of Israel.
So as to their ideas of decoration, they have been derived from
Egypt, and from this land and from that land.
The Interpretation of Folk-Lore. 103
Now the point I wish to make is this : Do not fall into the same
class of errors in interpreting the folk-lore of the world ; keep out of
this mire. Remember that when we find abundant similarity, it is
because of the unity of the human soul, the unity of the human
mind. You will always find abundant similarity ; you will find the
same inventions here and everywhere. Then do not conclude that
you have found some far, far away people from whom they have
come, that they come from the Ind, or from Greece or from China
or from Japan ; and more than that, do not believe without evidence
that the thing is" borrowed. The presumption is that, when we can-
not understand the concept behind a thing, it is some world-wide
concept that we have found ; and whenever a thing is asserted to be
borrowed, it must be proved to be such, before we have a right to
believe it such. Some things have been borrowed. In later civili-
zation, when arts go through the world in printed speech, the proba-
bility of borrowing increases. But ever bear in mind that nothing
should be supposed to be borrowed until it is proved to be bor-
rowed.
And now I want to speak of two other things, one of which relates
to the interpretation especially of folk-lore itself. There are four
stages of thought, four methods of explaining things, which accom-
pany language from savage society to scientific society. Let us
understand these four methods. Among the lowest peoples of man-
kind everything is explained by imputation. Let us see what that
signifies. The savage hears a sound, and it becomes to him a
symbol of a body or a bird ; or it may be the creaking of a tree,
and then he will impute animal life to the tree ; he hears the thun-
der, and imputes that to some person, to some individual, animal
or human like himself. Wherever you take up North American
mythology, among all of our tribes, you find that the chief method
of interpreting the unknown is to impute it to something like man
himself — the method of interpreting by imputation. He does not
invent new beings, but he gives new attributes, new characteris-
tics, to the beings that he does know. He gives animal life to trees,
and in various ways imputes to things attributes which do not belong
to them. The sky above us is blue, and I think you will recognize
that we sometimes call it the cerulean firmament, the cerulean solid.
We inherit that expression ; we know it is not a solid or a firma-
ment, but our forefathers entertained the idea that the sky was a
solid ; and you may go everywhere among the North American In-
dians and find that it is a solid of various substances, generally of
ice. They impute solidity to the sky, and when they find crystals
scattered over the earth they say that pieces of the sky have fallen.
When it rains or snows, they will tell you that the rain god or some
I04 Journal of American Folk- Lore.
other god is scattering it from the sky. We find these ideas every-
where — in Australia and in India ; but do not consider that the idea
is borrowed. The idea is universal in one stage of culture that the
sky is a solid, a blue solid of some kind, a firmament. The air is
unseen and practically unknown to the savage mind as an ambient
transparent fluid ; but he knows of the winds and he knows of the
human breath ; so he interprets the wind as the breath of beasts,
especially of great beasts who live in the four quarters of the earth.
Then he discovers fannings that are much like breathings, and he
may interpret the winds as the fannings of great birds. Then he dis-
covers that the air may be pressed out of skin sacks, and that they
also breathe, and so he concludes that winds may be carried in sacks.
All of these are methods of imputation by which attributes are
assigned to various things, which properly do not belong to them.
At last a second method of interpretation arises. By and by it
comes to be discovered that there is an error in the first interpreta-
tion, and then mankind begins to personify attributes. So the light-
ning becomes a person or, as we say, a god. So there is a rain god
and a lightning god, and a morning god and an evening god, and a
god of light and a god of darkness, and many other personified
attributes. So there arises a vast system of personified properties,
which is usually called mythology. The second method, then, is by
personification, the first is by imputation.
The third, to which I must come at once without explaining further,
is by reification, making a thing out of an attribute, making an abstract
thing into a subtle material thing ; and this follows all the way down
to the present time. All of these methods are found more or less
in savagery, but imputation prevails ; in barbarism personification
prevails ; in early civilization reification is the more common error
of interpretation. So we have essences and principles and all sorts
of abstractions reified, made into real, material things, or interpreted
as some strange metaphysical being which is supposed to be not yet
fully understood. What is two.' Who shall explain the number
two ? Ah, we have it ! It is the principle of duplicity. Triplicity
is the principle by which the number three is explained, multiplicity
is the principle by which the many are explained. Then plants have
mysterious virtues, and various mysterious principles are discovered
in all the world — mere names for phenomena not understood. This
is the method of interpretation by reification.
There is a fourth. All the way down the history of mankind, from
the earliest savagery to the present time, some' knowledge has been
current ; but the unknown has been more and more revealed and
knowledge has increased. In this increase four great class of proper-
ties or attributes are discovered : the properties of number, the prop-
The Interpretation of Folk-Lore. 105
erties of form, the properties of force, and the properties of genesis.
When we understand any body in the world numerically or classifi-
cally, formally or morphologically, causally or dynamically, and genet-
ically, we are supposed to fully understand it, and the mind rests
satisfied with the knowledge ; but as long as any attribute of number,
form, force, or genesis remains unexplained, the human mind is
unsatisfied and refuses to rest in peace. This is the scientific
interpretation of the facts, and depends upon the true facts. In the
study of folk-lore, then, we should endeavor to discover by which
of the methods- of interpretation the opinions have been developed.
Considered from this point of view, it will be understood that the
Folk-lore Society has an important function to perform — no less
than the investigation of the history of human philosophy.
J. IV. Pozvell,
Bureau of American Ethnology,
Washington, D. C.
io6 yotcr7ial of American Folk-Lore,
PLANTATION COURTSHIP.
II.
In an interesting article having this title, and printed in the
number of this Journal for April-June, 1894 (vol. vii, pp. 147-149),
Mr. F. D. Banks, of Hampton, Va., made a valuable contribution to
the social history of Southern negroes, pointing out that courtship
formerly was conducted by means of a series of formulas. The sen-
tences which he gave are mostly of a high-flown and bombastic char-
acter; but the custom still survives, and an additional collection is
given in the " Southern Workman," and will be found reproduced
in the Folk-Lore Scrap-Book (p. 155, below). These latter formulas
are of a riddling nature, and it is observable that the riddle is usu-
ally put by the suitor. In one of the tales collected by Mr. Chate-
lain, " Folk-Tales of Angola," No. X. p. 1 10, the youth addresses
the girls whom he visits by an enigmatical series of proverbial ex-
pressions (vol. vii. p. 314). It would seem very probable that the
American custom is a modification of the African one; further
African collection would cast light on this relation.
That the negro wooer should put riddles to the girl makes the
usage a curious parallel to the folk-tales and folk-songs which treat
of the use of riddles in European courtship. In the first volume of his
great work, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads," Professor
F. J. Child has brought together examples of the class of songs in
which a man is described as winning a wife, or a lady a husband, by
guessing riddles. To the latter class belongs the ballad of " The
Elfin Knight," of which an American version has been printed in this
Journal (vol. vii. p. 228). By comparative examination. Professor
Child is led to the conclusion that the ballad in question depends
on an ancient and simple tale, having originally some historical
sequence (see vol. vii. p. 231). But the negro parallel suggests the
possibility that the use of riddles in courtship, described in European
folk-lore, may refer to a primitive custom ; similarly, the obliga-
tion of the wooer to justify his suit by the performance of tasks, a
trait familiar in folk-tales, seems to depend on an actual usage, in
which the bridegroom was obliged to prove his ability by such
accomplishment. At all events, the practice is worthy of attention.
W. W. N.
The Iroquoian Concept of the Soul. 107
THE IROQUOIAN CONCEPT OF THE SOUL.i
" Cyllenius now to Pluto's dreary reign
Conveys the dead, a lamentable train.
Trembling the spectres glide, and plaintive vent
Thin, hollow screams, along the deep descent.
As in the cavern of some rifted den.
Where flock nocturnal bats, and birds obscene ;
Cluster'd they hang, till at some sudden shock
They move, and murmurs run through all the rock :
So cowering fled the sable heaps of ghosts,
And such a scream fill'd all the dismal coasts.''
Pope's Hovier's Odyssey, book xxiv.
In savagery, in barbarism, and in civilization, a large and vitally
important part of the rites, customs, and institutions pertaining to
these planes of culture has its basis in motives arising from the con-
cepts of the soul and the psychic phenomena in man and animals,
current at these different periods.
Many of the rites, ceremonies, and observances of deep and vital
consequence to the present and future welfare of the barbaric Iro-
quois depended for their right to be directly on the concepts held
by them concerning the nature and characteristics of the psychic
potences quickening their own persons. Among the most impor-
tant and interesting of these observances may be mentioned the
acts performed to expel and drive from their cabins and their vicin-
ity the souls of murdered enemies, sorcerers, or of those who have
died unnatural, suicidal, or violent deaths ; the custom of performing
acts and of making self-assessed gifts to fulfil the behests and
requirements of dreams ; the scrupulous dispersion of birds and
animals of evil portent under the impression that these represent
through metempsychosis wizards and sorcerers ; the setting apart
unused and other food for the benefit of souls subject to hunger;
the provision made at burial for the welfare and contentment of the
soul on its journey to the land of disembodied spirits, by furnishing
the corpse with food, arms, tools, raiment, etc. ; the ordinances and
ceremonies required to discover, and, if need be, to destroy the souls
of sorcerers, which these evil and sinister persons conceal in some
place and in some object quite foreign to the body, as in a magical
boat at the top of a sky-piercing tree, so that the destruction of the
body of these persons does not result in their death, since so long
as its soul is intact, the body may be renewed, even from a portion of
* Paper read at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society,
Washington, D. C, December 29, 1894.
io8 Joiirnal of America7i Folk-Lore.
the body ; lastly, the barbaric and turbulent annual Dream Feast or
Ceremonial, called Ka-nc"-hiua-ro-ri, held in midwinter and lasting
iive days. All this, and more too, becomes matter of interest and of
deep import so soon as a definite and clear insight into the Iroquoian
concept of the soul is gained.
It is too much, of course, to expect to find these psychologic ideas
of the Iroquoian philosophers logical and free from difficulties and
contradictions, the more so, since such concepts among the most
highly cultured races are far less positive and self-consistent than
they are usually represented. With rare exceptions, no one person
possesses a definite and persistent conception of the soul and the
future life, — the idea of immortality.
According to the most common opinion among Iroquoian sages,
man is endowed with one sensitive soul which is the animating prin-
ciple of the body, and with one or more reasonable or intelligent
souls or psychic entities, some persons being reputed at times to
have four or five of the latter class at one and the same period, while
at other times the same persons may not have one of this class of
souls.
The Iroquois carefully discriminated between the soul which ani-
mates the body, and which after death, it is claimed, resides in the
skeleton, and that which is regarded as the reasonable and intelli-
gent soul. When there is in any individual a superfluity of souls,
they are those only which are endowed with reason and intelligence,
for the sensitive or animating soul is never duplicated.
The genesis of the concept of a soul or psychic potence in man
distinct from his body appears to be one of the earliest in regard to
the economy of the human body. This dualism of body and spirit
was, perhaps, partly suggested by the phenomena of death, the
cessation of breathing, the dissolution of the animal body. Whence
it comes that in many languages the word for soul is cognate with
that which is denotive of breath or thing breathed, — the absence
of this from the body being the most striking and unfailing sign
of death. This deduction was also very probably strengthened, if
not partly suggested, by other striking phenomena of the psychic
powers in the living human body, — cases of seeming detachment of
the intellectual faculties, dreams, visions, apparitions, longings, and
desires regarded as the manifestations of diverse indwelling potences
or spirits. When once the Iroquois had discovered in themselves a
soul, a living thing, distinct from the body, they inferred, in accord-
ance with their subjective philosophy, that not only they themselves
but animals also and things inanimate by nature were endowed with
souls, and that all these souls would exist in a future life.
Iroquoian psychic philosophy represented the soul as exceedingly
The Iroquoian Concept of the Soul. 109
subtile and refined, yet material withal, since it could be inclosed
in a gourd bottle ; as dark and sombre like a shadow in color ; as
possessing the form of the body, with a head, teeth, body, arms, legs,
feet, etc. ; as partially blind by day but sharp-sighted by night ;
as immortal by some, but as subject to death and even annihilation
by others ; as specifically carnivorous, but also eating the things
which constitute the ordinary food of the living ; as having the abil-
ity of uttering sounds, speech, sometimes resembling the whistling
or the trilled note of the cricket, and sometimes resembling that
plaintive and doleful exclamation so largely used and imitated in
the chants of death and of public and private condolence and mourn-
ing.
In regard to the state and condition of the soul after death there
were several well-defined though inconsistent beliefs, among which
the following may be noticed here : —
That the soul abode in and about the corpse, whether it lay in the
grave or on a scaffold, promenading by night through the villages,
entering their lodges and cabins to share in the feasts by eating what
remained in the pots ; that after the decennial Feast of the Dead it
remained quiescent and contented, unless it came forth to be reem-
bodied by being born again of some woman, in proof of which the
Iroquoian philosophers adduced the striking fact of the remarkable
resemblance of certain living persons with others who had been long
dead ; that after the Feast of the Dead, the soul, robed in beautiful
fur mantles and adorned with bracelets and necklaces, took up its
journey westward, towards the setting sun, to reach the spirit land,
where each tribe or nation has its own particular village, to which
the soul hailing from another tribe or nation was not at all welcome,
and where the souls of those who have died in war and of those who
have committed suicide have separate villages, since they are not
permitted to visit the others, as they are feared by them ; that the
souls apart from hunting, fishing, and from being engaged in the
usual pursuits of the living, dance for their own amusement and for
the health of Atahe"'tsik, the weird Mistress of the Manes ; lastly,
that the souls of the decrepit and superannuated and of infants and
small children, not having the strength of body and limb requisite
to make the long and trying journey to the land of souls, remain in
the country where they have their own villages ; to these are at-
tributed the noises of the doors and flaps of their cabins and lodges
made by the ingress and egress of these inoffensive souls ; to these
likewise are attributed the voices heard of children hunting birds
and pursuing small game in the fields ; these souls, it is also claimed,
plant corn in season, using the abandoned fields of the living, raising
thereon oq-sken'-na o-ne"'-hcl\ " ghost-corn," commonly called squirrel
no yournal of A merica n Folk-L ore.
corn, Diccntra Cajiadensis. When villages with their stores and
caches of corn were burned, the people took great pains in gathering
>the parched corn into a heap in the middle of the bui:ned district to
be used by these feeble and harmless souls for food.
The phenomena of dreams, and possibly of memory, seem to
have led the Iroquoian philosophers to think that the intelligent and
reasonable soul or power in man possesses the ability to leave the
body and to return to it at will. This view represents it far more
independent and possessed of far more liberty than that usually
accorded the soul among civilized peoples. It separates itself,
according to this view, from the body at will, taking flight to make
excursions wherever it pleases without ever losing its bearings, con-
veying itself through the air over lakes, forests, and seas, and pene-
trating into the most inaccessible and barred places. In making
these great journeys, it is checked by nothing, for it is spirit and
superhuman. All this is reasonable and justifiable, for, say they,
does it not give us knowledge of things far distant and quite beyond
the reach of the body, which it could not do had it not in person
visited the objects and places represented to us in dreams and
visions .-' These spontaneous excursions of the soul are made, they
claim, for the purpose of obtaining something necessary for the wel-
fare of the body, and, as the body is only a unit in the community,
for the nation at large, as well. To show how intimately connected
with the life and welfare of the community the Iroquois statesmen
thought the lives of individuals to be may be gathered from the
following single instance. In the League Condolence Council, the
orator, speaking of the consequences to the commonwealth at large
the deaths of the different persons and orders of persons entailed,
says, " But, when the woman dies, a long line (or series) of persons
fall, and we are thus made very poor by it."
Whence the soul had this power of knowing and learning what
was necessary, and thus conducive, to the health and happiness of the
body, no very self-consistent explanation was attempted by the com-
mon people ; but among the ancients and the sage shamans of the
Iroquoian community it was a general opinion that these desires were
incited or superinduced by Tka-ro"-hya-wa'-ko^, the Sky-god and fast
friend of man, to add to the welfare and happiness of the human
race. It is, therefore, not remarkable or marvellous to find among
this people that the dream became the motive and occasion of elab-
orate ceremonial and other observances, the unq^uestioned and deter-
mining oracle in the most minute or most important civil matters as
well as in the most momentous afifairs of state and war. This of
course was a logical and necessary consequence of the doctrine that
the dream is a promulgating of a message of Tha-ro"-hj/a-wa'-ko^f
The Iroqtioia7i Concept of the Soul. 1 1 1
brought to the knowledge of man by the reasonable soul in the form
of an innate desire or in a dream. It is, therefore, not surprising to
find word-sentences such as the following, ka-te-rd'-swd's, " I dream
(as a habit)," but literally, " I affect myself with luck, fortune," and
passively,"! am affected with luck, fortune ; " dixid, wa-te-ni'-szao,
" it endows with luck, fortune, prosperity," which is a descriptive
appellation of a dream. The noun-stem in both these sentences is
o-tc-ra -Siva , "luck, fortune, prosperity, chance." These two sen-
tence-words show how intimately the welfare of the human race was
connected with- the phenomena of dreams, in the conceptions of the
Iroquoian people. Hence, it followed that the fulfilUng of the com-
mands and requirements of a dream became seriously the business
not only of the dreamer himself, but also of the entire tribe and
nation, because Tha-ro*'-hya-wa'-ko'^,\\.'\s repeated, was revered as
their supreme god and ancient of days, and as a god ever solicitous
for the welfare of man, and it would have been regarded as sacri-
lege not to obey his behests. The most important observance held
in honor of the dream-god, A-i'-ko"', was named Ka-n^'^-hwa-ro-ri^
literally, a driving or propelling of the brain, but meaning latterly, to
roar or mumble, commonly called the Feast of Dreams, held in mid-
winter and lasting five days. The god A-t'-ko"' was the messenger
of Tha-ro"-/i}'a<aa'-ko'', and it is he who announces to the reasonable
soul the commands of his master.
When once the dualism of the body and the psychic potence
became firmly established, it was consonant with savage reflection
to regard this union between the sensitive soul and the body as gen-
eral and persistent through all bodily change. And in due time the
association of ideas arising from this dualism coexistent in the body
would become so powerful and so firmly fixed that the sight of a
corpse, yea, even of a heap of human bones, would awaken at once
the idea of the sensitive soul which was known to have. been its
tenant during life. When once the idea that the sensitive soul
resided in the marrow of the bones, the most enduring portion of
the human body, became firmly fixed, it was not difficult to follow this
with the further doctrine that the brain, encased in the largest bony
structure of the skeleton, w^as the appointed seat and abiding-place
of the intelligent soul or spirit. The use of the war-club and the
battle-axe would soon decide for the savage mind that reason and
consciousness (mind) abide in the brain, since a blow on the head
from either arm drove from the unfortunate one all reason and con-
sciousness ; hence, it was also believed that the removal of the brains
from the head rendered the sensitive or animating soul stupid and
implacable and capable of committing excesses in the way of prey-
ing on the living. This view is recognized in the common Iro-
1 1 2 yotirnal of American Folk-Lore.
quoian tradition that on the way to the land of disembodied spirits
there dwells a person called " Head-opener," Ha-sko-td'-hrd-raks, who
makes it his business to take the brains from the dead, some say to
eat them, others, to keep them. Both these views had their advo-
cates, but the preservation of them is, perhaps, the more usually
adopted, according as it does with several traditions.
Since language, the product of continuous development and the
earliest of the arts of the human mind, can carry us back to periods
of time and thought to which no other kind of data and evidence
can bring us, it may be well to examine a few of the principal words
applied to their psychic powers by the Iroquois, thereby to learn if
possible what the Iroquoian philosophers conceived the soul or soul-
entity to be.
The first to be considered, and the one the most usually and spe-
cifically applied to the soul, is (fn or eridsa , or aiveriasd\ "the
soul; the heart; the mind considered as the seat of sentiment."
This term is evidently a derivative from the verb rnVz", " he intends,
thinks, desires." So that it may be seen at once that the heart or
soul was regarded as the agent or seat of desire, purpose, intention,
sentiment, of a longing for something. It was one of the cardinal
doctrines of Iroquoian philosophy that the desire or longing for
something and the knowledge of things come to the human under-
standing through two very different avenues, — the one that of expe-
rience, and the other that of intuition or spontaneous genesis in the
depths of the soul ; in other words, it was taught that in addition
to the desires and longings of the mind which are in a measure free
and voluntary, arising as they do from a previous knowledge of the
good or benefit derived from the object desired, and so suggested
thereby, the soul has other longings and desires which are innate,
hidden, spontaneous, intuitive, and' which emanate from its depths,
not through previous knowledge, but by an innate rapture of the
soul itself for objects it has in view. The soul makes these desired
objects known through the medium of dreams. If these desires
and longings for things intended for the welfare of the body are sat-
isfied, that is, if the things which the soul desires are furnished or
supplied to it, it is pleased and filled with contentment ; but on the
contrary if these longings are not heeded and no steps are taken to
provide it with the things it desires, it becomes provoked and indig-
nant, and not only does it not obtain for the body the benefits it
sought to gain for it, but also does it frequently revolt against the
body, causing it diverse diseases and affections, and even death
itself. This, in connection with what has been said with reference
to the excursive proclivities of the reasonable soul, will enable us to
see in what way the verb-stem -cH-ri, "to intend, think, desire," now
The Iroquoian Concept of the Said. 113
under consideration, became the basis of such terms as kyon-U-ri and
wa-kat-er-yovH -ta-re y " I know, know it," and " I know it, am aware of
it, have knowledge of it, am acquainted with it ;" it could come to
mean this only after it became the basis of a noun denoting " heart,
soul," for these verb-stems signify literally, " my heart or soul is
upon or present with it," hence, "I know it ;" zoak-cr'-yat, literally,
" a heart is in me," but meaning, " I am brave, courageous ; " o-ryon'-
ta, or o-rytii'-ta , for tva-er-yoh^-ta , is the name of the soul as the
agent or means of knowledge, the essence that acquires knowledge.
Another term applied to the operations of the psychic power,
especially the intellectual faculties, in man, is the word ka- ni-ko"' -rd\
which in modern speech means "the mind, the intellect." It is a
derivative from the verb-stem -V^z-/^^"-/^", "thinking, to think," which
appears to be a reflexive form of the verb -ko", "to see," with the
pluralitativc suffix -/^", denotive of the multiplicity of the act or
thing affected by it. If this identification be correct, as seems prob-
able, it would follow that the mind specifically was regarded as that
agency, that power of the soul, which could " see itself, take cogni-
zance of itself, know itself," hence, the faculty of consciousness.
It is used to signify the present thought, the thoughts which suc-
ceed one another, the habitual thought or cast of mind, and lastly,
the principle of thought, that is, the soul itself.
The word on-7io"'-kwat, in the modern acceptation of the term,
signifies " medicine," whether it be something used on account of
inherent virtue, or it be something used according to the arts of sor-
cery. In archaic usage it is found to be a name of the soul.
Moreover, like the word awerydsa , which has just been under con-
sideration, it also is connected with a verb denotive of longing or
desire by the soul. The verb in this instance is, in the third person
masculine singular, rd-qti'-no", and in archaic Huron and Onondaga,
hd-qti-iio"k, " he begs, craves it ; supplicates for it," etc. As a noun
it signifies the thing that is the agent of the begging, craving, or
desiring, as well as the object of the begging, craving, etc. The
agent of the craving was the soul, and the cause of the begging or
craving was the thing desired ; now, as the thing desired was sought
only for the welfare and health of the body, for the curing of its ills,
the soul from being regarded simply as the craver for things intended
to cure finally came to be regarded as the curer as well. From this
word ou-no"-kwd' ^ is derived on-no^'-kwa^-tcrd\ "medicine," i. e. the
substance that cures, that can cure. Thus, it is found that a verb
denoting simply " to beg, crave ; supplicate," has by a normal histori-
cal linguistic development come to mean, first, the soul, and then,
medicine or a curative agency, whether used from inherent virtue or
from some occult power superinduced by the arts of sorcery.
VOL. vin. — NO. 29. 8
114 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
These remarks may add some interest to the subject of the clas-
sification of diseases among the Iroquois. In their philosophy
diseases were divided into three categories : (i) those which are
natural and which may be cured by natural means ; (2) those which
are psychic, having their origin in the vindictiveness of the soul of
the patient, when it is provoked to rebel against the body by not
having supplied to it the object or objects it has desired for the cure
and welfare of the body, and which are remedied simply by provid-
ing the body betimes with the things desired for it by the soul ; and
(3) those which are artificial or caused by the occult arts of witch-
craft and sorcery working through spells and charms, and which are
cured by removing from the body these causes of disease. It is
only to those in the second category that the statements in this
paper are to be considered as pertinent.
Another term applied to the soul is iiq-skeh' -nc, " a spectre, phan-
tom, the ghost or manes of a dead or living body ; death itself."
Strictly speaking, this term is applicable to the sensitive soul only,
and not to the intelligent or reasonable soul. The Tuskaroras
apply it to the apparition of a sorcerer appearing under the guise of
his oidr'o"' or his tutelary eidolon, i. e. in what is commonly called
an assumed shape. The word ttq-skefi-nc is so old in use that it
cannot be analyzed into simpler elements ; but there is no doubt
that it is a form of the word tiq-sken-re of the rhotacist Iroquoian
dialects, meaning " bone." Thus, by this identification of the words
for soul and for bone, it is shown from the evidence of language,
confirmed as it is by common tradition, that the Iroquois regarded
the bones of the dead, the skeleton, as the final resting-place of the
sensitive or animating soul.
A derivative of this noun is the descriptive term uq-sken-ra'-ri,
literally, " burned bones," probably from the resemblance of old
bones to the white color of burned bones, but meaning "an ani-
mated skeleton," what is commonly called a ghost, having the power
to do and act, but ever exhibiting a malevolent and sinister disposi-
tion towards mankind, being epecially and greedily fond of human
flesh. This specifically carnivorous skeleton ghost or manes is
thought to be animated by the sensitive soul, which is regarded as
part and parcel of the body, and whose seat is in the marrow of the
bones. It is this class of ghost-souls that harassed the fears of
the Iroquois, for hunting-parties, it is said, were often made to fur-
nish victims to these insatiate carnivora.
It is a common belief that these skeleton ghosts dare not wade
through cold water, preventing them from crossing in this manner
fordable streams. This belief probably arose from the fact that
cold water in contact with the body for a reasonable time appears to
The Iroquoiaji Concept of the Soul. 115
affect the marrow of the bones rather than any other part of the
system. This knowledge, it is claimed, often enabled persons to
escape from these skeleton ghosts, by seeking shelter on an island
or on a rock surrounded by water.
Another term applied by the Iroquois to the soul is the word
oid'ro"\ This word embodied the primitive doctrine of metempsy-
chosis or the transmigration of souls, a doctrine which was evidently
on the wane when the Iroquois first came in contact with European
people, being displaced by that of a migration to the land of souls.
It was a belief quite current among the Iroquois that every spe-
cies of animals, birds, fish, and insects had in the spirit world a type
or model for that species, which was many times larger and more
perfect than any earthly member of that species, which was called
the ancient or old one of that race of beings. This prototype was
called the oid'ro"' of the species. This is confirmed by the analysis
of the term oid'ro"\ It is a derivative from the stem found in such a
sentence-word as yu-yd'r-e"y signifying, "it resembles it; it looks
like it." And the noun means "what is typified or copied; imitated
in form," etc. In modern usage, oid'ro"' is the name applied to the
fetish or symbol of the tutelar spirit or soul of every person.
Owing to the peculiar habits of the owl, the turtle-dove, and the
manifestation of extraordinary traits by other animals, some of these
creatures were regarded as the oid'ro'^' of sorcerers and witches,
whose chief occupation was the destruction of human life by means
of their occult arts. Hence it is that these birds and animals came
to be regarded as uncanny and of evil portent. A sorcerer when
hard-pressed could transform himself into his oid'ro"\ or its represen-
tative, i. c. the soul of the sorcerer is not human but that of the
ill-omened owl, or other object.
In confirmation of the doctrine that every species of things had a
prototype in the spirit world, the general Iroquoian term for flesh
may be cited. This word is oieroh'ta. It is a derivative of the
word now under discussion, namely, oid'ro"', meaning, as was found,
the type or copy, the soul, the self. The noun oieron'ta means the
substance of the soul or belonging to the soul, i. e. what is in the
form of the type soul.
In connection with this word oid'jv"', it may be interesting to know
that the expression ru-td'ra-ne'', " it duns, requires pay from, him," is
used in reference to the supposed necessity of making a feast to the
oid'ro"', as a tutelary or guardian spirit.
Thus, we have a very summary view of the Iroquoian concept of
the human soul. We have learned that the supposed excursive
faculty of the soul, and the striking fact that it departed from the
body at death, when loving eyes and anxious hearts watched the
1 1 6 yournal of A vterican Folk-Lore.
dissolution of all that was earthly of some dear one, have, as they
have other people, inspired the Iroquois with the belief that the
departing soul or spirit was taking up its journey ,:o some other
home.
In this watching with fear and hope beside the couch of dying
friends and kin we may find the occasion and birthplace of the idea
of immortality ; and, so long as love kisses the lips of death, so long
will the angel Hope hang the fadeless garland of immortality on the
tombs of our dead.
J. N. B. Hewitt.
Washingtox, D. C.
I
A Note on Ancient Mexican Folk-Lore. 117
A NOTE ON ANCIENT MEXICAN FOLK-LORE.i
Our knowledge of the superstitions, omens, and fabulous monsters
of ancient Mexican folk-lore is mostly derived from the writings of
Fray Bernardino de Sahagun. This gifted Franciscan friar, a na-
tive of Old Spain, and a graduate of the University of Salamanca,
went to Mexico in 1529, — a few years after the Conquest.
Having a natural tendency to investigation and research, and led
by the desire to obtain a thorough knowledge of the ancient super-
stitions of the Indians in order to detect all lingering trace of them
and root them out effectually, the Spanish monk carefully noted
every fact of the kind that he could draw out of the Indians them-
selves or that came under his notice. "For how," he exclaims,
"are we priests to preach against idolatrous practices, superstitious
observances, abuses and omens, if we are not acquainted with these ?
If we remain in ignorance of the roots of idolatrous rites, they can
be practised in our presence, and we are not able to understand them
and may even excuse them as some do, thinking they are merely
silly or childish observances."
It thus came about that Fray Bernardino collected much valuable
material and wrote some interesting chapters on native supersti-
tions. From these I have drawn the following data, giving as often
as possible literal translations of the quaint and simple narratives.
The friar relates that : " In former times, before the arrival of the
Spaniards, the natives of Mexico believed in many signs by which
they could foretell the future. It was considered an evil omen when
the cries of wild beasts or strange humming sounds were heard at
night, for these betokened misfortune and disaster, death or enslave-
ment, to some member of a household. When such sounds had
been heard it was customary to consult one of the soothsayers or
diviners called Tonalpouleque, who knew how to interpret these
omens. He consoled and cheered the person who consulted him in
the following manner, saying : —
" ' My poor little son, thou hast come to seek the reason of the
omen that has come to thee, and desirest to look into the mirror that
contains the explanation or elucidation of what alarms thee. Know
that this omen betokens adversity and hardship, and that thou wilt
have to encounter poverty and misery. It is not because I tell thee
this that thou art to believe it, but because such has been said and
written by our elders and forefathers.
" * Perhaps he by whom we live is angry with thee and does not
' Paper read at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society,
Washington, D. C, December 29, 1895.
1 1 8 your7ial of American Folk-Lore.
desire that thou shouldst continue to Hve. Await, however, with
courage what is about to befall thee, for so it is written in the books
that we use for interpreting omens to those to whom they befall. It
is not I who am causing thee terror or fear, but it is the Lord God
himself who has desired that this should happen to thee. And thou
art not to put blame upon the animal, because it is ignorant of what
it does and lacks reason and understanding. Unfortunate man !
thou must blame no one, for these unforeseen disasters belong to
the sign under which thou wast born, and it is only the verification
of the curse of thy sign of nativity. Take courage, for thou art
compelled to undergo the experience ! Take heart to bear it, and
meanwhile weep and do penance ! Take heed now of what I shall
tell thee to do in order to remedy thy miserable condition. Do pen-
ance and make preparations for the offering that thou art obliged to
make. Fetch paper and buy white incense and gum and the other
things that thou knowest to be necessary for this offering. When
thou hast provided all that is necessary, come to me on such and such
a day that is opportune for making the offering to the god of fire.
Come to me, for it is I who will arrange and distribute the papers
and the rest in the proper way and in the proper places. It is I also
who must go and set fire to them in thy dwelling.' "
The authenticity of the above discourse is unquestionable, and it
gives us a glimpse of ancient Mexican life that is full of human
interest. In order to complete the picture, I am tempted to trans-
late in full the fine and thoughtful harangue contained in a subse-
quent chapter of Sahagun's work.
This chapter tells of a bird named Oactli, or Oacton, that sang in
two different ways, according to which the omen was either good or
bad. When it sang the song of evil portent, travellers who heard it
bowed their heads and walked in silence and fear, for they knew that
some of them would fall ill, die speedily, or be taken prisoner by the
people to whose land they were going. If the travellers belonged to
the class of merchants they said to each other : " Some evil is going
to come to us : the rising of a river may carry us or our merchan-
dise away, or we may fall in the hands of robbers ; . . . perhaps we
may be eaten by wild beasts, or we may meet with hostilities." Where-
upon their chief, walking amongst them, began to cheer and console
them, and pronounce the following discourse as he walked along :
" Sons and' brothers : it is not proper that you should become sad
and frightened, for we all knew very well when we left our homes that
such calamities might befall us. We knew that we were about to offer
ourselves to death, and we saw the tears and lamentations of our rela-
tives who gave us to understand that they also thought it possible
that in some mountain or canon we might leave our bones, spill our
A Note 071 Ancient Mexican Folk-Lore. 1 19
blood, and sow our hairs. Now the omen has come to us, and it is
not proper that any one should be faint-hearted, as though he were a
timid, weak woman. Let us prepare to die like men. Let us pray
to our Lord God, and do not indulge in surmises, for if anything is to
happen to us we shall soon know it from actual experience. It will
be time for us to weep then : meanwhile think of our glory and fame,
and of what we owe to our superiors and predecessors, the noble and
estimable merchants from whom we descend. For we are not the
first, nor shall we be the last, to whom these misfortunes happen :
many before and many after us will find themselves in the same
position, therefore take courage, my sons, and be brave men."
In order to avert the impending disaster certain rites were, how-
ever, observed when they prepared to camp that night, wherever it
might happen to be. Uniting all their travellers' staffs, they tied
them in a bundle and called this the image of the god of the mer-
chants, Yacatecuhtli. In front of this bundle of staffs, they then
drew blood from their ears with great humility and reverence.
Piercing their tongues, they passed twigs of willow through them,
and offered these, covered with blood, to the bundle. This v/as in
token of their resolution to bear in patience any evil that their god
might inflict upon them. Having performed this act of submission,
they sought to dismiss the matter from their minds and to meet
their fate calmly, — only some, who were timid, continued to medi-
tate upon it in fear.
Besides the Oacton there were other birds whose songs foretold
misfortune.
The nocturnal screeching of an owl in the vicinity of a dwelling
betokened the approach of death or disaster to one or more of its
inmates, and this superstition lingers on in Mexico to the present
day. Indian women there are still stricken with terror, and trem-
ble, when a certain kind of bird alights on their huts and sings, and
they employ every means to scare it away, for husbands regard its
appearance as proof of their wives' infidelity.
A small owlet was named the messenger of the "lord of the land
of the dead," and it was supposed to spend its time flying to and fro
between both worlds. It announced coming death by screaming on
the roof and scratching with its claws. But the Mexicans had devised
two sentences containing words of abuse addressed to the owlet, one
formula for the use of men, the other for women, and by pronoun-
cing these death and disaster could be averted.
It was considered very unlucky when a weasel or a rabbit entered
one's house, and we are told that when a weasel crossed the path of
an Indian his hair actually stood on end, and he shook and even
fainted with fear, for it betokened speedy death.
120 Jowntal of A^ncricaii Folk-Lore.
A series of peculiar observances was performed when a certain in-
sect named Pitiaviztli entered a dwelling. This insect is curiously
described as resembling a spider in form, but being of the size of a
mouse. It was smooth and had no hairs on its thick body, and was
partly red and partly black or dark. Its entrance into a house was
a bad omen, but this was counteracted by the following ceremonies :
A cross directed to the four quarters was drawn on the floor, and the
insect was taken and placed in its centre. Spitting on it, the man
asked it the following question : " Why hast thou come } I want to
know, why hast thou come.-'" Then he watched to see in what
direction the insect would move. If it went to the north, he became
convinced that it was a sign that he was to die ; but if it took an-
other direction, he believed that some other misfortune, of minor
importance, was about to befall him. So he said to the insect : " Go
thy way, I do not care about thee," etc., and then he took it to a
cross-road and left it there. Some Indians treated it differently, and,
seizing it, first passed a hair through its body and attached it to a
stick, leaving it hanging until the next day. If it had then disap-
peared, they suspected that some harm was about to befall them.
But if it was still there they were consoled, and after spitting or
sprinkling some pulque on the insect, thus making it intoxicated,
they felt assured that the omen signified nothing.
A meeting with this same insect was not always unlucky, for
under certain circumstances it meant that he who saw it was about
to receive a present of something good to eat.
It does not strike one as particularly strange that it was considered
alarming and unlucky when a skunk entered a dwelling ; it was, how-
ever, thought a fatal omen only when the animal was a female and
brought forth her young in some hidden corner of the habitation.
It is curious, however, to learn that parents admonished their chil-
dren to close their lips tightly and never to expectorate with signs
of disgust when they smelled a skunk, however strong the odor
might be, for it was believed that if they did so their hair would
turn suddenly white.
When ants made a nest in a dwelling it was considered a sign
that some envious or malicious person had placed them there with
the evil purpose of thus bringing misfortune to the household.
The presence of a frog or of a mouse was accounted for in the same
way, and in such cases it was customary to consult the soothsayers
or diviners without delay and obtain charms from them that would
counteract the evil charm.
The ancient Mexicans believed in a series of strange apparitions
or phantasms that are enumerated and described by the Franciscan
friar. He relates that the Indians regarded these as mere illusions
A Note on Ancient Mexican Folk-Lore. 121
created by Tezcatlipoca, an imaginary personage whose name means
" smoking mirror," and who has been identified by some writers as
the moon or as a god of the night. Although their appearance was
an ill omen, brave men did not fear them, but boldly attacked and
seized them, and having them in their power extorted presents from
them, consisting of the thorny points of the agave leaves. These
magic gifts endowed their possessor with strength and bravery, and
insured his capturing as many prisoners as the phantom gave him
thorns.
Thus while the apparition of a phantasm betokened death and
misfortune to the timid, it offered the brave an opportunity for pro-
curing supernatural favors.
The strangest of all the phantasms described is, perhaps, the
Youaltepoztli, literally, "the night hatchet or axe." It manifested
itself by causing loud intermittent sounds resembling those pro-
duced by the blows of an axe in splitting wood. These ominous
sounds were audible at dead of night in the mountains, and in-
spired terror, for they were said to be illusions produced by Tez-
catlipoca in order to frighten and mock those who were out in the
dark. When a brave man heard them, instead of taking to flight,
he followed the sound of the blows, and as soon as he perceived a
semblance to a human figure he quickly ran towards it and seized it
firmly. But it was not easy to do so, for the phantom ran to and
fro for a long time. At last it pretended to be worn out and stood
still, waiting for its pursuer, who perceived that the spectre bore the
semblance of a man without a head. Its neck was like a trunk of a
tree that has been cut, and its chest was wide open and had at each
side what was like a small swinging door that opened and shut as
the phantom ran. When these doors closed and met they produced
the strange sounds like hollow blows.
Now if the man in pursuit was a brave warrior or priest, he looked
into the opening, and perceiving the heart of the phantom introduced
his hand and seized it as though he would tear it out. With this
in his grasp he demanded strength and bravery or riches, for it
was in the power of Tezcatlipoca to grant anything that was asked
for, although he did not dispense his favors equally.
The phantom responded to the demand by saying, "Brave and
courteous friend, release me, what dost thou wish } what dost thou
desire me to give thee .-• " The man replied, " I shall not release
thee, for I have captured thee." Whereupon the phantom offered
him one agave thorn, saying, " Here is a thorn, release me." But he
who grasped the phantom, if sufficiently brave, did not content him-
self with one, but only relinquished his hold when he had obtained
three or four of these gifts. These insured his capturing as many
122 yo7ir7ial of American Folk-Lore.
prisoners in war, and since military honors depended upon the tak-
ing of prisoners, the man thus secured for himself and gained from
the phantom future honors, riches, and the insignia of brave war-
riors.
Padre Sahagun also relates that some less courageous men simply
tore out the heart of the spectre without speaking to it, and then
fled at full speed, hiding and keeping the heart with great care and
wrapping and tying it up in cloths. On the following morning they
unfolded these and examined the contents. If they found auspi-
cious signs, such as one or two thorns or bird's down or cotton, they
knew that it meant good fortune and prosperity. If they found
charcoal or a piece of dirty rag it meant misery and bad luck.
When the phantasm of the night hatchet was heard by a coward,
who did not attempt to chase or follow it, he was filled with terror
at the evils that were about to befall him on account of the terrible
omen.
The malignant night spirit Tezcatlipoca sometimes assumed the
form of a skunk, and the odor of this animal was then attributed to
him. It also took the shape of a coyote, and stood in the pathway of
travellers in threatening attitudes in order to terrorize them. Some-
times it was seen at night under the form of a corpse prepared for
burial, that wailed and sobbed. If any one was brave enough to
approach this spectre and clutch at it, he would find himself grasp-
ing a piece of sod or earth.
Another nocturnal phantasm was a human skull that suddenly
leapt up to one's knee, and then followed behind, producing a hollow
sound as it bounded along. Sahagun relates that when an Indian
heard this awful sound he fled in terror, but it followed and ran
when he ran, and halted when he halted. If he attempted to seize
it, it sprang to one side and eluded him, so that at last, worn out
with fatigue and terror, he was obliged to abandon the chase and fly
to his house.
The apparition of a small female dwarf at night was a presage of
misfortune or death. This spectre is described as having long loose
hair to its waist and as waddling along like a duck. It also evaded
the pursuer and vanished and reappeared unexpectedly.
Finally, there were spectres without heads or feet that rolled
along the ground uttering moans like a person in agony. If these
were pursued and seized, they also bought their release by giving
agave thorns and favors to their courageous victor.
In reviewing these spectral apparitions, it is extremely interesting
to trace in ancient Mexican folk-lore the familiar idea that super-
natural forms could be vanquished and made to bend to the will of
any one daring enough to approach them without fear.
A Note on Aiicient Mexican Folk-Lorc. 123
I will now pass on to an account of some of the fabulous and
monstrous animals that were supposed to inhabit the depths of the
tropical forests, where they lay in wait for human prey. The most
strikingly strange and original of all of these is the small aquatic
monster to whom Sahagun in his eleventh book devotes the following
quaint chapter that I will translate in full : —
"There is an unheard-of animal in this country that lives in the
water and is called the Ahuizotl. Its size is that of a small dog ; its
hair is very slippery and short, it has small pointed ears, and its
body is black and smooth. It has hands and feet like a monkey,
and a long tail at the extremity of which there is what is like a
human hand. It lives in the deep sources of water, and when any
human being approaches the banks of the water in the depths of
which it lives, it seizes him with the hand at the end of its tail,
drags him under the water to the bottom of the pool. Then it
creates a tempest in the water, and this becomes agitated and forms
waves that break against the banks producing white foam. Then
many fishes and frogs ascend from the depths to the surface of the
water and create a great disturbance there. He who was thus
dragged down dies, and after a few days his body is cast up by the
waves, and is found to be without eyes, without teeth, and without
nails, for all these were taken from him by the Ahuizotl, The body
itself exhibits no wounds, but is all covered with bruises or livid
spots. No person dared to touch such a drowned body. The
priests were immediately informed of its presence, for they were the
only ones who were deemed worthy to touch it. They fetched it
and carried it on a litter with great reverence, and buried it in one
of the oratories called Ayauhcalco — literally house in or surrounded
by water. For it was said that the Tlalocs (or rain-gods) had sent
his soul to the terrestrial paradise. They adorned the litter with
mace-reeds, and it was preceded by musicians playing on flutes. If,
by chance, any layman tried to lift such a corpse from the water, he
was sure to drown also or to become a victim to gout.
It was believed that such a death occurred for one of two reasons :
either the deceased had been very good, and therefore the rain-gods
desired his company in the terrestrial paradise ; or he had, perchance,
certain precious stones in his possession. This would give offence
to the rain-gods, who do not wish that persons should possess pre-
cious stones, and for this reason they may have killed him in anger,
but nevertheless taken him to the terrestrial paradise. The rela-
tives of such a dead person found consolation in knowing that he
was with the gods in the said paradise, and that through him they
were to become rich and prosperous in this world. The surviving
relatives also had another superstition, and imagined that their
1 24 yournal of American Folk- Lore.
parent might pray that some of them should join him in the terres-
trial paradise. In the dread of also being drowned or killed by light-
ning, they avoided bathing as much as possible.
It was said that this monstrous animal resorted to an artiiice, in
order to capture men when a long time had elapsed without his hav-
ing taken any. He united a great number of fish and frogs, and
caused them to jump and move about the surface of the water close
to his hiding-place. Attracted by these, the covetous fishermen
approached and cast their nets. Then the Ahuizotl captured one of
them, drowned him and carried him to his subterranean watery cave.
This small monster also employed another stratagem for the same
purpose when he had not taken any human victim for a long time.
He placed himself at the edge of his pond, and began to weep and
cry like a child. The passer-by hearing this was deceived, and when
he approached the edge of the water he was seized by the hand at
the end of the tail, dragged down, and carried to the cave of the
Ahuizotl, who killed him there.
It was also said that whoever perceived this monster and was not
filled with consternation at the sight, and was not attacked by the
animal, was sure to die soon.
It is related that an old woman who went to fetch water once
caught such an animal, put it into her jug, covered this with her
petticoat, and carried it to show it to the chieftains of the village.
They told her that she had committed a sin in doing this, for the
animal was a subject and a friend of the rain-gods. She was then
ordered to carry it back to the place where she had found it."
The identification of this monster with some living animal whose
fear - inspiring and mysterious habits gave rise to these fabulous
accounts is a task to be referred. to zoologists. Owing to the fact
that one of Montezuma's predecessors bore the name of this animal,
there exist numerous pictures of it, employed to express the name
of the Mexican chieftain.
In these the Ahuizotl is usually represented as a smooth, rat-like
animal, with a long prehensile tail. It is invariably accompanied by
the conventional sign for water, but there is no trace of the fabulous
human hand at the end of the monster's tail in any picture known.
The most remarkable and interesting representation of the Ahuizotl
probably in. existence is its efifigy carved in stone belonging to the
Uhde Collection of Mexican Antiquities now in the Royal Ethnograph-
ical Museum at Berlin. It answers precisely to the above descrip-
tion of the size and appearance of the monster, and is represented
as crouching on a large smooth coil formed by its long thick tail.
The symbol for water is carved on its back and around the edge of
the square base on which the animal and its coil rests. There is no
A Note on Ancierit Mexican Folk-Loj'C. 125
sign of the hand, nor is the end of the tail visible. It is barely
possible that it was carved on the corner of the slab that is, unfor-
tunately, broken off. It seems more likely, however, that the
animal was supposed to conceal it while lying in wait and that the
sculptor intentionally avoided defining the length of the monstrous
tail.
I will now give a translation of a curious chapter on " A water
serpent that is very monstrous in its ferocious deeds."
"There is a serpent in this country that is called the Acoatl or
Tlilcoatl (literally, water snake or black snake). It lives in the water
or in the mire and is very long. Its girth is as much as a man's
arms can reach about. He has a great head at the back of which
are beardlike appendages like those of the barbel, a fresh-water
fish. It is shiny black, has blazing eyes and a bifurcated tail. It
lives in caverns and sources deep under the water, and eats fishes.
By means of its breath it has the power of sucking towards itself
from afar fishes, and even persons whom it drowns in the water and
then eats. In order to capture human beings, this serpent employs
a remarkable stratagem. Close to its watery abode it excavates a
small pool of about the size of a basin. Then it catches some large
fish, such as barbels, etc., in the deep caverns and carries them in its
mouth to the small pool. Before throwing them into it this monster
raises its head and looks about, then he returns to fetch more fish.
Some Indians who are bold take advantage of its absence, catch the
fish that are in the small pond, and run away with them. When the
serpent returns and sees what has happened it lifts itself erect upon
its tail and looks about in all directions. It can perceive the fugi-
tive even at a great distance, and can also scent his track. With the
rapidity of an arrow it darts after him, seeming to fly over the
grasses and bushes. Having reached him it twists itself tightly
about his neck and introduces the ends of its bifurcated tail into the
man's nostrils, or another opening of his body. Then it tightens
itself around the body of he who stole the fishes and kills him.
" If this man be, however, well advised, he looks about for a hol-
low tree close by before he ventures to take the fishes. On running
away he hides in this hollow, and the serpent winds itself around the
tree and tightens its coils so violently that it dies. Then the man
escapes.
"The serpent has also another method for killing those who pass
by its haunt. It comes out on the bank of the water and spits its
venom at the passer-by, who falls to the ground as though intoxi-
cated. Then the serpent sucks its victim towards it with a power-
ful breath, and, notwithstanding its convulsions, seizes it in its fangs,
drags it into the water, and devours it there."
126 yournal of A merican Folk-Lore.
Many who are present are undoubtedly familiar with the name
Ouetzalcoatl, the feathered or plumed serpent, as that of a mythical
personage of Mexican history. Others have probably seen some of
the stone effigies of a coiled serpent, covered with feathers, that
abound in collections of Mexican antiquities. Few will, however,
be aware that the existence of a plumed serpent was actually believed
in by the ancient Mexicans. Sahagun preserves the following de-
scription.
" There is another serpent that is named Quetzalcoatl, and it
abounds in the hot lands and province of Totonacapan (Guatemala).
It is of about the same medium size as a water-snake. It is called
Ouetzalcoatl because it grows feathers of the same kind as the pre-
cious tail-feathers of the Quetzal bird. His neck is covered with
small light green feathers {called tzinitzcan) and its breast is red.
His tail and rings are covered with blue feathers like those of the
Xiuhtototl. This serpent rarely appears and it is not known how it
sustains itself. When it appears, it is only to bite him who sees it,
and as its wound is mortal, he dies immediately. This serpent flies
when it wants to bite and it destroys itself in doing so, exhaling at
one time its venom and its own lif.e."
In reviewing the above description one is tempted to believe that
a long-tailed brilliant Quetzal bird, unexpectedly seen close to the
ground, may have given rise to the singular belief.
It may also be worth investigating whether this beautiful bird may
not occasionally fall prey to certain serpents and thus become con-
nected with the species. It certainly seems significant that the
Plumed Serpent is described as resembling the Quetzal bird, and as
inhabiting precisely the region where this abounds.
The following description of a fabulous serpent will be found
rather inexplicable : —
" There is another serpent called the Chimalcoatl " (or shield ser-
pent). " It is long and thick, and carries on its back, made of its own
flesh, what is like a brightly painted shield. This serpent rarely
appears, and those who see it consider it either a bad or a good omen.
Some think that it betokens death to those who see it, and others
say that it means that they are to be prosperous and brave in war-
fare."
Another serpent equally fanciful is the Xicalcoatl, or the serpent of
the jicara, or gourd chocolate cup such as is used for drinking, "There
are large and small serpents of this kind, and .they live in the water.
When they are fully grown, they develop naturally, on their backs,
gourd cups that are brightly painted with all kinds of colors and
patterns. When this serpent wishes to capture persons, it goes to
a place where it can be seen by passers-by and exhibits the painted
A Note on Ancient Mexican Folk- Lore. 127
cup above the water, upon which it seems to float, while it conceals
itself under the surface. Those who see it enter the water and try
to seize the cup, but little by little it floats away towards the deep
places, followed by the man. As soon as he reaches his depth, the
water becomes disturbed and waves are formed that drown him. It
is said that this serpent is black, but that its belly is variegated,"
A survival of this superstition exists in Mexico to the present
day, and children are warned against the seductions of painted
jicaras floating on the water. For it is said that they are placed
there by the maleficent fairy " Malinche " to lure people to certain
death.
I cannot withstand making a few more allusions to Sahagun's
voluminous chapter on serpents.
One of these was named the Ecacoatl or wdnd-serpent, a name the
derivation of which is explained as follows : when it goes anywhere
over a plain or over shrubbery, it erects itself on its tail and advances
like the wind. In passing it seems to create a thin current of cool
air.
Whilst the identification of the flying monsters may offer some
difficulties to naturalists, it is not so with the two-headed serpent
described by Sahagun, that M. Bemi Simeon designates as the cu-
rious Amphisboena, a kind of serpent that actually has its two
extremities so much alike that it appears to have a head at each end
and ability to move either way. The native description of this
harmless serpent, that is often found in nests of termites, where it
feeds on the young ants, is as follows : —
At each extremity it has a head, each of these with eyes, mouth,
teeth, and tongue. It advances in either direction, sometimes one
head guides it, sometimes the other. It is named the dreadful or
frightful serpent, and rarely appears, but there \Yere various ill
omens connected with it.
Another fabulous monster was the great Mazacoatl or deer-ser-
pent, that had rattles on its tail and what were like deer's antlers on
its head. It lived in precipitous mountains in caves, and never left
its abode, for it was able to draw towards it with its breath as many
rabbits, birds, deer, and persons as it required for its food.
A lengthy description is also given by Sahagun of certain ser-
pents that congregate in great numbers, and weave themselves into
a petate or mat. As they allow their heads to form a sort of outer
fringe to the mat, this could move about in all directions at will, as a
solid body. A quaint picture of such a living mat is given in the
Laurentian MSS.
Without having by any means exhausted the list of fabulous ser-
pents, I will now record some superstitions relating to the coyote.
128 yournal of A i^iericaii Folk- Lore.
It is described as " possessing diabolical powers. When it wishes
to kill it breathes on its victim first, and this suffices to infect and
terrorize it. Whenever any person deprives the coyote of its prey,
it notes this, awaits a favorable opportunity, and takes revenge by
killing his poultry or other domestic animals. If the offender hap-
pens not to possess such, the coyote waits until he undertakes a
journey, then places itself in his way, and barks at him as though it
would devour him, thus inspiring terror. Sometimes it calls to its
assistance several other coyotes, so as to terrorize the man more
effectually, and it does this by day as well as by night. On the other
hand, this animal also has excellent qualities and a grateful disposi-
tion."
Padre Sahagun gravely proceeds to relate that in his time the fol-
lowing incident occurred with a coyote, and that he deems it worthy
of note : —
A traveller was met on his path by one of these animals, who beck-
oned to him with its paw to approach it. Filled with surprise and fear,
the man did so, and perceived that a large serpent of the kind named
Cincoatl had entwined itself around the body of the animal and was
contracting its coils violently. When the traveller realized the situ-
ation he reflected, " Which of these two shall I rescue .'' " Having
determined to assist the coyote he took a stick, and wounding
the serpent, caused it to loosen its hold and fall to the ground,
whereupon both it and the coyote took to flight and disappeared
in the bushes. After a v/hile the coyote reappeared, carrying two
cocks in its snout, and laid these before the man, making him
a sign to take them. The animal then followed him to his house,
and, having learned its whereabouts, absented itself, and soon
returned with a hen. Two days later the grateful coyote presented
another cock to its benefactor, and here the story ends.
According to Padre Sahagun a singular trait was ascribed to the
Ocotochtli, identified by Padre Molina as the mountain cat or mar-
tin. It was believed that this animal devoted itself to the chase
merely in order to obtain food for other wild beasts. It hunted men,
deer, and other animals in the following fashion : concealing itself
behind a tree it awaited its prey, then sprang upon it, and killed it
instantly by passing its venomous tongue over the eyes of the victim.
As soon as the man or animal fell dead the ocotochtli covered the
body with moss, and, climbing a tree, uttered a cry that was heard
from afar. When the wild beasts, such as the mountain lions,
tigers, or ocelots, etc., heard this signal they understood that it was
an invitation to a meal, and hastened to the spot, where they drank
the blood and devoured the body of the victim. All this w^hile the
ocotochtli remained apart, watching the others eat. It abstained
A Note 071 Ancient Mexican Folk-Lore . 129
from touching the food until the others had finished, and contented
itself with what remained, out of consideration for the other animals.
For, being so extremely venomous, its tongue would poison the meat
and so cause the death of any other animal that might partake of it.
It is striking and curious that popular superstition should have
endowed a lower animal with such noble traits as self-denial, deli-
cate consideration, devotion to the interests of individuals of differ-
ent species to its own. The idea, in itself, reflects credit upon those
who developed, it and with this pleasing example of aboriginal
thought and imagination I will close this brief and incomplete pres-
entation of ancient Mexican folk-lore.
Zelia Nuttall.
VOL. VHI. — NO. 29. 9
1 30 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.
KWAPA FOLK-LORE.i
The Kwapa or Oiiapaw tribe of Indians are identical with the
Pacaha or Capaha who were met by De Soto when he discovered
the Mississippi River. After 1877, the greater part of the tribe
removed from their reservation in the northeastern corner of the
Indian Territory, and settled among the Osage tribe, in what is now
part of Oklahoma Territory. Since then, these Kwapa have been
called " Osage Ouapaws " by those remaining on the old reservation.
The present writer first saw the Kwapa when he was on the Osage
reservation, in January, 1883. In January, 1884, he visited the
Quapaw reservation in the northeastern corner of the Indian Terri-
tory, and remained there three weeks. During that time only a few
folk-lore notes were recorded, and these are now presented.
The Kwapa tell of a serpent called We-sa pa-ktcan-ka-ha", i. c. Ser-
pent with a head at each end. It is said to be about eighteen inches
in length, and it is very rarely seen. They spoke of a tiny species
of water tortoise, the kc ja"-ga, which no one is allowed to lift by
the tail lest there be a flood. With reference to the Great Dipper,
they say that the bowl represents a body in the grave ; the next
star is a person bringing food to the grave ; then comes a woman to
get the food, and behind her is a child crying for its mother. The
North Star is called the star that goes nowhere. The Aurora is
called Ma-xe ii-ia-sa"-ha'^, which may be translated. Upper world
which shines with a white light. The Milky Way is called the Road
of the Ghosts. A circle of stars with one in the centre is called
Girls dancing ; but it has not been identified. When the moon is
full, the Kwapa say that a man stands within it holding the head of
another man. This may be compared with the Dakota story of the
Boy Beloved and Bead Spitter, as recorded by the late Dr. S. R.
Riggs, in "Contributions to North American Ethnology," vol. ix. pp.
148, 149.
The Kwapa believe in the existence of dwarfs, whom they call
Pahi zkajika, Small ones with white hair, and Wakantake jika, Small
mysterious ones. They are not seen often. They tell also of a giant
woman, whose breasts, reaching to her waist, she throws over her
shoulders when she wishes to nurse the children whom she has
stolen. The Kwapa have persons named after the Ta"na" or Thunder
people, who make their abode in the upper world. They have among
their names for females, Teti na", which points to a belief that there
have been persons who could call the quadrupeds in a mysterious
1 Paper read at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society,
Washington, December 28, 1895.
Kwapa Folk- Lore. 131
manner, compelling them to approach within shooting distance of
the hunters. Mud-hens are called, Nitaje na"pc, or Fearing to see
Waves. There is a bird called Pitc tahka or Large Acorn : it is
larger than a humming-bird, the feathers on the body are of a blu-
ish color, those on the temples are dark, and on the middle of the
head are red dots. In the spring of the year this bird is said to cry,
" ya"qdca jite ! ya"qdcajite ! " i. e. " Red buds ! Red buds ! " The
members of the Elk gens cannot eat elk meat if it be so called, but
if they call it venison, they can eat it with impunity. I could not
learn of the existence of any other taboo among the Kwapa. While
endeavoring to obtain a full list of the personal names of the tribe,
I met with considerable difficulty on account of the reluctance of
the people to communicate to me the information which they re-
garded as the peculiar right of a class of men whom they called the
" Wapina".'' A zuapina" they defined as a nika qiiwe or mysterious
man, answering to the zoaka'^ man of the Dakota tribes.
KaJiike stcte (Tall Chief) or Lewis Angells, is a chief or kaJiike as
well as the principal zuapina" of the tribe. His subordinate icapina"
is one of the two Kwapa men known as Nanka tu or Green Back.
The latter made his home on the Ouapaw reservation, and I saw him
there this year. The former resides among the " Osage Ouapaws "
on the Osage reservation, about thirty miles from the Osage Agency,
Oklahoma Territory. Tall Chief, in his capacity of wapina", is obliged
to go back and forth every year to administer to the spiritual wants
of both divisions of the Kwapa nation. As chief wapina", Tall Chief
is the custodian of all the Kwapa personal names. Whenever a
person is adopted into the Kwapa nation, the presence of Tall Chief
is essential, for he alone can bestow the personal name.
When the life of a Kwapa is supposed to be in danger from illness,
he (or she) desires to abandon his (or her) personal, name. Appli-
cation is made to another member of the tribe, who goes to Tall
Chief, and from him purchases a new name which is given to the
patient. With the abandonment of the old name, it is supposed
that the sickness, too, is thrown off. On the reception of the new
name, the patient becomes related to the Kwapa who has purchased
the name from Tall Chief. Any Kwapa can change or abandon his
(or her) personal name four times ; but it is considered bad luck to
attempt such a thing for the fifth time. Tall Chief regulates mar-
riages. While I was on the Quapaw reservation in January, the
coming of Tall Chief was looked for every day. I was informed
that on his arrival he would perform the marriage ceremony for
some of the young people, without regarding their individual prefer-
ences.
y. Owen Dorsey.
1 3 2 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TUSAYAN MONSTERS.
There are many tales in Tusayan folk-lore regarding the heroic
deeds performed by two supernatural personages called the Twins,
in freeing the earth from monsters. Out of a large collection of
these stories,^ I have chosen a few which give an idea of the char-
acter of the deeds of these heroes, as a contribution to a study of
Tusayan mythology.
It seems that in the early days when the world was young, many
monsters most of whom v/ere hostile to man, roamed the earth or
infested the sky and particularly harassed the Hopi. These hostile
personages, like the Twins themselves, were of celestial origin, the
offspring of an earth goddess and a sky god, the universal father.
The Twins, guided by their mother, the Spider-Woman, had many
and strange adventures in delivering the world from these mon-
sters, and the stories of their deeds having been handed down from
the past, are still repeated by those acquainted with the legends
of the tribe.
Variants of these stories depart more or less from each other in
detail, betraying in many instances the influences of embellishment,
but as a means of discovering the Tusayan mythology they have a
great value on account of the aboriginal conceptions which they con-
tain. The Twins were parthenogenetically conceived by an earth
goddess, one by a ray of sunlight, and one by a jet of water.
Born at the same time, one, the son of light, was the little war-god
ordinarily called the Youth i^ the other was the son of the rain-
cloud, Echo.^ Most of the heroic deeds of which I shall speak were
performed by the Youth, whose worship still plays a significant part
in Hopi ceremonials.
HOW THE YOUTH PUNISHED MAN-EAGLE.
The ravages of Man-Eagle extended over the whole earth, afflict-
ing all people. He carried off their women and maids, and took
them to his home in the sky, where he was accustomed to sleep
with such as he wished, during four nights, and then devour them.
^ The members of the Hemenway Expedition in their study of Tusayan, made
many notes on the folk-lore of these Indians, and collected many legends bearing
on their mythology. This material has not yet been elaborated, but it is thought
that a comparative discussion of it will be an important contribution to Tusayan
cosmogony and mythology. In this most difficult field, as in other parts of the
Hopi work, I have been greatly indebted to the late Mr. A. M. Stephen, by whose
death American Ethnologj' lost a most enthusiastic student whose contribution*
are of greatest value.
^ Tiyo or Piiiikonhoya. 8 Palufihoya.
The Destruction of the Tusayan Monsters. 133
The Youth, while on his way to the San Francisco mountains, met
at the foothills the Pinon Maids, dressed in mantles of piiion bark
and grass. There likewise he found Spider-Woman and Mole.
After they had greeted him and bade him be seated, they inquired
where he was going. He replied that Man-Eagle had carried off his
bride, and that he sought to bring her back. " I will aid you," said
Spider-Woman, and told the Piiion Maids to gather piiion gum, wash
it, and make a garment in exact imitation of the flint arrow-head
armor which Man-Eagle is said to wear. The Pinon Maids bathed
themselves, gathered and washed the gum, and made the desired
garment for Spider-Woman, who gave it with charm flour to the
Youth. Then she changed herself into a spider, so small as to be
invisible, and perched on the Youth's right ear, that she might
whisper her advice. Mole led the way to the top of the mountains,
but the Piiion Maids remained behind. When they reached the
summit. Eagle swooped down ; they got on his back, and he soared
aloft with them until he was tired ; Hawk came close by, they were
transferred to his back, and he carried them still higher in the sky.
When he was weary. Gray Hawk took them and mounted the
heavens with them, until he could go no farther, and Red Hawk re-
ceived the burden ; thus for an immense distance upward they flew,
until the adventurers reached a passageway through which the
Youth, Spider-Woman, and Mole passed, and saw the white house in
which Man-Eagle lived.
Spider-Woman advised the Youth, before mounting the ladder
which led into this house, to pluck a handful of sumach berries and
give them to Lizard, who received them with thanks, chewed them,
and gave him back the cud. The ladder of the house had for each
rung a sharp stone like a knife, which would lacerate the hands and
feet of any one who attempted to climb it. The Youth rubbed these
sharp edges with the chewed berries and instantly they became
dull, and he was able to climb the ladder without cutting himself.
Upon entering the house of Man-Eagle, one of the first objects
which met his eye was the (fabulous) flint arrow-head garment
hanging on a peg in a recess, and he at once exchanged it for his
own, the imitation which the Pinon Maids had manufactured.
Glancing into another recess, he saw Man-Eagle and his lost wife.
He called out to her that he had come to rescue her from the mon-
ster, and she replied that she was glad, but that he could not do so
as no one ever left the place alive. Youth replied, " Have no fear ;
you will soon be mine again."
So powerful was Spider- Woman's charm that it prevented Man-
Eagle from hearing the conversation, but he soon awoke and put on
the imitation flint garment without detecting the fraud. He then
134 yotir)ia I of American Folk-Lorc.
for the first time became aware of the Youth's presence, and
demanded what he wished. " I have come to take my wife home"
responded the hero. Man-Eagle said, " We must gamble to decide
that, and you must abide the consequences, for if you lose I shall
slay you," to which the Youth agreed. Man-Eagle brought out a
huge pipe, larger than a man's head, and having filled it with tobacco
gave it to the hero, saying : " you must smoke this entirely out, and
if you become dizzy or nauseated, you lose." So the Youth lit the
pipe and smoked but exhaled nothing. He kept the pipe aglow and
swallowed all the smoke, and felt no ill effect, for he passed it
through his body into an underground passageway that Mole had
dug. Man-Eagle was amazed, and asked what had become of the
smoke. The Youth going to the door showed him great clouds of
dense smoke issuing from the four cardinal points, and the monster
saw that he had lost.
But Man-Eagle tried a second time with the hero. He brought
out two deer antlers, saying : " We will each choose one and he who
fails to break the one he has chosen loses." The antler which he
laid down on the northwest side was a real antler, but that on the
southeast was an imitation made of brittle wood. Spider- Woman
prompted the Youth to demand the first choice, but Man-Eagle re-
fused him that right. After the Youth had insisted four times,
Man-Eagle yielded, and the hero chose the brittle antler and tore its
prongs asunder, but Man-Eagle could not break the real antler, and
thus lost a second time.
Man-Eagle had two fine large pine-trees growing near his house,
and said to the hero, " You choose one of these trees and I will take
the other, and whoever plucks one up by the roots shall win." Now
Mole had burrowed under one of them, and had gnawed through all
its roots, cutting them off, and had run through his tunnel and was
sitting at its mouth, peering through the grass anxious to see Youth
win. The hero, with the help of his grandmother, chose the tree that
Mole had prepared, and plucked it up, and threw it over the cliff,
but Man-Eagle struggled with the other tree and could not move it,
so he was unhappy in his third defeat.
Then Man-Eagle spread a great supply of food on the floor and
said to Youth that he must eat all at one sitting. Tiyo (the Youth)
sat and ate all the meat, bread, and porridge, emptying one food basin
after another, and showed no sign of being satisfied before all was
consumed ; for Mole had again assisted him, and dug a large hole
below to receive it, and the Youth was a winner the fourth time.
Man-Eagle then made a great wood-pile and directed Tiyo to sit
upon it, saying he would ignite it, and that if the Youth were un-
harmed he would submit himself to the same test. The Youth took
The Destrtictio7i of the Ttisayan Mo7isters. 135
his allotted place, and Man-Eagle set fire to the pile of wood at the
four cardinal points, and it speedily was ablaze. The arrow-heads of
which the flint armor was made were coated with ice, which melted
so that water trickled down and prevented Youth from being burnt,
and all the wood-pile was consumed, leaving Tiyo unharmed.
The monster was filled with wonder, and grieved very much when
he saw Youth making another great pile of wood. Still, thinking
that he wore his fireproof suit, he mounted the wood-pile, which
Youth lit at the four cardinal points. The fuel blazed up, and as
soon as the fire- caught the imitation garment of gum, it ignited with
a flash and the monster was consumed. At the prompting of Spi-
der-Woman Tiyo approached the ashes, took the charm in his mouth
and spurted it over them, when suddenly a handsome man arose.
Then Spider-Woman said to him, " Will you refrain from killing
people, will you forsake your evil habits } " Man-Eagle assented
with a fervent promise, and the Youth rejoicing ran to his wife, em-
braced her and set free all the captive women wives of the Hopi and
other peoples, of whom there were many. Eagle and Hawk carried
them to the earth.^
HOW THE TWINS KILLED THE GIANT ELK.
Great Elk was one day lying down in a valley near Mount Taylor
(one of the San Francisco mountains), and the Twins went out
against him. Mole met them and said, " Do not encounter him, for
he is mighty, and may kill you ; wait here, and I will help you."
Mole then excavated four chambers in the earth, one below the
other, and made the Twins remain in the upper one. He dug a long
tunnel, and coming up under Elk, plucked a little soft hair from
over his heart, at which Elk turned his head and looked down, but
Mole said, " Be not angry, I only want a little soft down to make a
bed for my children." So Elk allowed him to continue the pluck-
ing. But Mole took away enough fur to leave the skin quite bare
over the heart. He returned to the Twins and told them what he
had done. Then each Twin threw his lightning, and wounded Elk,
who sprang to his feet, and charged them, but the Twins concealed
themselves in the upper chamber, and when Elk tried to gore them
his horns were not long enough; again he charged, and thrust his
horns downward, but the Twins had safely retreated to the second
chamber ; again he tried to reach them, but they were safe in the
third room. They retreated to the fourth chamber, and when Elk
made another attempt he fell dead. Kohone (Kona, Chipmunk)
^ My theory is that Kwataka (Man-Eagle, or High Sky Eagle) is the Hopi
equivalent of the Thunder Bird, a widely spread conception in North American
mythology'.
1 36 Journal of American Folk- Lore.
hurried to them, and after thanking the Twins said he had come to
show them how to cut up the monster's body, which with his sharp
> teeth he soon accomplished. One of the Twins thanked Chipmunk,
and stooping he dipped the tips of the first two fingers of his right
hand in Elk's blood, and, drawing them along the body of Chip-
munk, made on it the marks which he still bears.
HOW THE TWINS KILLED TCAVEYO.
One day the Twins went to a great pool near Mt. Taylor, and
soon Tcaveyo came there likewise : he stooped on his knees and
drank four times, emptying the pool. He then arose, and smelt the
Twins and threw his weapon at them, but one of the Twins sprang
in the air, and as the weapon passed under him he caught it in his
hand. Tcaveyo then flung his lightning at the hero, but one of the
Twins caught this as he had the weapon. The little war-god now
flung his weapon at Tcaveyo, but it glanced off his flint shirt.
Then the Youth threw the lightning, but it only staggered him.
After which they threw more lightning at Tcaveyo, which knocked
him down and killed him outright.
HOViT THE TWINS VISITED THE SUN.
The Twins lived with Spider-Woman, their mother, on the west
side of Mt. Taylor, and desired to see the home of their father.
Spider-Woman gave them as a charm a kind of meal, and directed
that when they met the guardians of the home of the Sun, to chew
a little and spurt it upon them.
The Twins journeyed far to the sunrise where the Sun's home is
entered through a canon in the sky. There Bear, Mountain Lion,
Snake, and " Canon Closing " keep watch. The sky is solid in this
place, and the walls of the entrance are constantly opening and
closing, and would crush any unauthorized person who attempted
passing through.
As the Twins approached the ever fierce watchers, the trail lay
along a narrow way ; they found it led them to a place on one side
of which was the face of a vertical cliff, and on the other a precipice
which sunk sheer to the Below (Underworld). An old man sat
there, with his back against the wall and his knees drawn up close
to his chin. . When they attempted to pass, the old man suddenly
thrust out his legs, trying to knock the passers over the cliff. But
they leaped back and saved themselves, and in reply to a protest the
old man said his legs were cramped and he simply extended them
for relief. Whereupon the hero remembered the charm which he
had for the southwest direction, and spurted it upon the old man
and forced the malignant old fellow to remain quite still with legs
drawn up, until the Twins had passed.
The Destruction of the Tusayan Monsters. 137
They then went on to the watchers, guardians of the entrance to
the Sun's house, whom they subdued in the same manner. They
also spurted the charm on the sides of the cliff, so that it ceased its
oscillation and remained open until they had passed.^
These dangers being past, they entered the Sun's house and were
greeted by the Sun's wife, who laid them on a bed of mats. Soon
Sun came home from his trip through the underworld, saying, " I
smell strange children here ; when men go away their wives receive
the embraces of strangers. Where are the children whom you
have } " So she brought the Twins to him, and he put them in a
flint oven and made a hot fire. After a while, when he opened the
door of the oven, the Twins capered out laughing and dancing about
his knees, and he knew that they were his sons.
y. Walter Feivkes.
^ The story of the oscillating sky is widespread in American Folk-Lore. The
Abanaki version was published by me in Jourti. Avier. Folk-Lore, Oct.-Dec.
1890. In the Passamaquoddy story {op. cit. p. 9) "two men " encountered it
when they sought the Thunder Bird. " These mountains drew back and forth and
then closed very quickly." " The first (man) passed through the cleft before it
closed, and the second one was caught."
138 yo2crnal of American Folk-Lore.
WHAT DO INDIANS MEAN TO DO WHEN THEY SING,
AND HOW FAR DO THEY SUCCEED?
I HAVE often been asked concerning the Omaha songs taken down
by Miss Fletcher, as well as concerning those and other songs which
I have transcribed and harmonized, whether any possible transcrip-
tion in our current notation could fairly represent Indian music.
There seems to be a widespread impression among those who have
heard Indians sing but have not studied their singing with care, that
there is a radical difference, not only in tone-quality but also in
interva:ls, ttetween their songs and our own. That Indian singing
sounds very different from ours is apparent to the most superficial
observer. Indeed, it is the differences which first strike one ; and
the less experience one has of Indian singing, the more do these
differences possess the imagination of the listener. The points of
contact between Indian music and ours do not readily reveal them-
selves except to him who takes the trouble to make the comparison
with the most joainstaking thoroughness. Even with the best of in-
tentions, the investigator must do his work under suitable conditions
if his work is to be fruitful of results, and he must learn by experi-
ence how to use rational methods. Given these conditions, I am pro-
foundly convinced that the unity of all music, primitive and civilized,
will become the most striking fact which will force itself on the
attention of the observer ; that it will certainly be found that the
Indian always intends to sing precisely the same harmonic intervals
which are the staple of our own music, and that all aberrations from
harmonic pitch are mere accidents, due for the most part to imperfect
training, or rather to the total lack of it. This is a belief which
has grown upon me during the whole of an experience now extend-
ing over a considerable number of years, during which I have taken
down a great many songs from the lips of uncivilized singers, Indian
and others, and have also studied a large number of phonographic
records taken by different persons from singers of different Indian
tribes.
It may be well, therefore, to give here somewhat in detail the
grounds of this conviction. In order to make these grounds intelli-
gible, it will.be necessary to give as clear an account as may be of
the methods of studying the music of untrained folk-singers which
have naturally developed themselves in my own experience and in
the experience of those with whom I have been associated. I have
found that the most satisfactory way, by far, of studying the songs
of our aborigines is to write them down from the singing of Indians,
not from phonographic records. There are at least two reasons for
What do hidians mean to do when they Sing. 1 39
this : one is that, assuming that the Indian sings his song exactly
as he intends to sing it, the phonograph must be manipulated with
the greatest care, or the record will still misrepresent him ; for the
slightest change in the rate of speed causes a corresponding varia-
tion in pitch. At best the phonograph represents the song some-
what imperfectly ; but records unskilfully taken are apt to misrepre-
sent it, sometimes to the point of caricature.
The other reason is that the Indian, like the white singer, occa-
sionally misses the interval he intends to sing, either because it is
above or below- his natural compass of voice, or for some other
reason. In such cases it is usually possible, when working with a
singer, to discover what he really means to sing ; whereas no posi-
tive correction of false or doubtful intervals is possible in transcrib-
ing from a phonographic record. The record must stand as it
actually is, whether the singer realizes his own intention perfectly
or not. But, for the reasons I have given, the best phonographic
record must now and then misrepresent the singer ; while imper-
fect records give anything but a true idea of Indian singing.
My own methods in dealing with Indian singers have been as fol-
lows : First, to listen to the singer attentively without trying to
note down what he sings. This gives me a good general idea of the
song. The next step is to note down the song phrase by phrase.
Then I sing with him, and afterwards by myself, asking him to cor-
rect any errors in my version, of course noting down carefully all
variations. My experience has been that every Indian singer, how-
ever good, varies more or less from the intervals which he really
intends to sing. The interval which is most often doubtful is the
third. Indians frequently sing a sort of third which is neither
major nor minor, but between the two. Yet I have always found,
on inquiry, that either a major or a minor third was intended. I
tested the matter in this way : An Indian would sing for me a song
embodying a chord, i. e. a tone with its third and fifth, but the third
might be so doubtful that I could not determine whether he intended
a major or a minor chord. Then I would sing the song after him,
giving the third which I suspected he was most likely to mean.
Usually he would pronounce it correct. Then \<e. would sing it
together, when he would invariably sing it true to pitch, not doubt-
fully as before. But sometimes, when I have sung alone a major or
minor third, the Indian would shake his head and pronounce it
wrong. Then I would sing it again, giving the other third ; where-
upon he would pronounce it correct and proceed to sing it with me,
true to pitch. I have never known an Indian stick to a "neutral"
third under this process of examination. He has always evidently
intended either a major or a minor third. And I have always found
1 40 Jouriial of A merican Folk-Lore.
the same true of every doubtful interval. There has never been
any serious difficulty in obtaining clear and decided evidence of his
intentions by the process of singing for and with him.
p-urther, I have found that Indians will vary from the pitch they
intend in different ways in the course of several repetitions of the
same song. They seem to intend to sing the song exactly alike every
time ; indeed, they are very particular in this respect ; but they do
not always succeed in doing so. I have heard an Indian sing a
major, a minor, and a neutral third in the same place in the same
song, in the course of several repetitions of it. If I had had only a
phonographic record of it, his intention would have been doubtful ;
but by singing with and for him, I have never had any difficulty in
finding out what he meant. He was always clear and decided as to
whether my singing was correct or not, and never failed to sing,
wJien he sang with me, the interval he had told me was correct.
The next step, when the opportunity offered, was to take the
Indian to a good piano and play the song for and with him ; first
without and afterwards with harmony. Here I have had the same
experience. The singer may use doubtful intervals by himself ; but
he will not tolerate false intervals on the piano. He is always clear
as to whether he wants a major or a minor third ; and he never fails
to sing the interval correctly when he sings with the piano, however
doubtful it may have been in his unaccompanied singing.
Further, I have not only often heard an Indian vary the intervals
diflferently in different repetitions of the same song, but different
singers aberrate differently in th esame song. Yet when they sang
together, they seemed to lean on each other and to try to make
their voices blend ; usually with the result of producing an interval
more unmistakable than either of them had jDroduced separately.
Miss Alice Fletcher, who has had a much more extended experience
than I have in this kind of field-work, has frequently met with facts
of the same sort, and so has Dr. Franz Boas. Miss Fletcher has
learned a song from an Indian who sang many intervals off pitch, has
noted it down carefully, marking the intervals which were sharped
or flatted by the singer with the utmost conscientiousness, and then
has been laughed at by other singers of the same tribe for singing
the song out of tune. She found that other Indians sang it in cor-
rect pitch, just as any white singer would have done ; while others
sang it out of tune, but differently from the first singer. She found,
also, that when several singers sang the same song together, they
invariably sang it truer to pitch, according to our standard of inter-
vals, than did most of the individual singers. She found, again, that
when she took the consensus of these different versions, which
always closely approximated our own standard of intervals, and sang
What do Indiajis mea^i to do "vjJien they Sing. 141
it for them, it was invariably pronounced correct by all. Her natural
conclusion was that the Indians meant to sing exactly such intervals
as we sing, but frequently failed to get them exact, just as our own
singers often fail in the same way, although perhaps less frequently.
Dr. Boas has found himself obliged to correct versions of songs
taken down from individual singers by the version heard from a
number singing together. The voices, he says, leaned on one an-
other, and the chorals were much truer to harmonic pitch than the
individual songs, as a rule.
These experiences of the three of us, the experiments being made
sometimes together, but much more often separately and many times
repeated, throw the greatest possible light on the true nature of the
aberrations from harmonic pitch in Indian singing. They show
conclusively that it is not safe to regard the performance of any
given singer as the true standard of Indian singing, even for that
particular Indian, still less for his whole tribe. One may record any
given song exactly as an Indian sang it, and still be very far from
understanding the real intention of the Indians. I think there is no
difierence of opinion between Miss Fletcher, Dr. Boas, and myself,
that the Indian invariably means to sing intervals in his songs corre-
sponding to our own chord intervals ; a conviction which has been
forced upon us by such experiences as I have here attempted to
describe. This conviction is the stronger because we all entered
upon the work of transcribing Indian songs with the expectation of
finding a different set of intervals from those embodied in our folk-
music.
After all, there is nothing strange about all this. Every musician
knows how frequently our own singers, even soloists of the very
highest training, fail to realize their own intentions in the matter of
pure intonation. The greatest singers will sometimes sing off pitch,
and it is nothing uncommon for a first-class chorus to flat a semi-
tone or even more before they get through an unaccompanied part
song, under unfavorable conditions. Our untrained singers at prayer-
meetings, camp-meetings, etc., are naturally still more prone to aber-
ations from correct pitch. Is it anything wonderful that the same
should be true in still greater degree of untrained savages .-' Why must
we assume that, although the very best of our own singers fail to
realize their own intentions, the untaught savage, with infinitely less
to guide his ear and voice than we have, always invariably realizes
his } What right have we to assume that every slightest aberration
from correct pitch is due, not to accident, but to deliberate intention
on his part } And that, consequently, the false intervals which he
sings constitute a different kind of scale from that which we have
developed } If there ever was the slightest color of excuse for such
142 y our7ial of American Folk-Lore.
an assumption, certainly I, for my part, am unable to find any reason
for holding any such opinion in the light of an experience which,
taking into account my own and that of my associates, has not been
slight. My own conviction is that the chord intervals which have
been developed by our own race are not artificial but natural ; that
they arc the same for all races of men because they are based on
the same correlation of psychical, physiological, and acoustic laws.
It seems clear to me, in the light of the experiences above referred
to, that to record and measure all the slight aberrations from har-
monic pitch given by any one singer and present the song thus modi-
fied as the true idea of his song would misrepresent it as much as it
would misrepresent some of our greatest songs to record them with
the sharpings and flattings of some of our own singers and insist on
that as the true version. It would be the easiest thing in the world
to caricature any of our own songs by such a process, without depart-
ing from the actual singing of great artists. But surely we have no
more right to caricature an Indian song than any other ; less, in
fact, for the injustice done thereby is far less easy to remedy. Our
business as investigators is to represent the Indian music fairly. Let
us note, by all means, the fact that the Indian very frequently sings
out of tune ; but to my mind it would be an unwarrantable misrep-
resentation of him to treat these aberrations as intentional. Every
particle of evidence I have been able to obtain appears to me to show
the very opposite.
yoJm Comfo7't Filhnore.
English Folk-Tales in Ajuerica. 14;
ENGLISH FOLK-TALES IN AMERICA.
THE THREE BROTHERS AND THE HAG.
The tale which follows is contributed by Prof. L. Conant of the
Polytechnic Institute, of Worcester, Mass., having been heard by
him while a schoolboy at Littleton, Mass., from one of his school-
mates, about the year 1827.
Once upon a time there were three brothers who lived together.
They were very poor. One day one of them said : I will go and try
to make my fortune. He went and travelled about for a long time.
Finally he reached a house in which an old woman lived. He asked,
" May I stay here over night } " She said, " Yes, come in." He en-
tered. She showed him to the room in which he was to rest and he
soon went to sleep. During the night he heard a noise. He arose
and crept softly to a chink through which he saw a light shining.
Then he saw the old crone sitting at a table and counting heaps of
money which she kept hidden in her house. He crept back to bed
and Hstened to the clinking of the money. Soon he heard the old
woman snoring, and when everything was quiet, he ran and searched
for the treasure. He found it and carried it away. While he was
running to get far away from the old woman, he came to a meeting-
house. The meeting-house said: "Sweep me," "No," said he, "I
cannot stay." He walked on and soon he came to a field which said :
" Weed me." " No," said he, " I have no time," and went on. Soon
he came to a well which said : " Clean me." " No," said he, " I can-
not stay." He went on. At noon he came to a field in which there
was a tree. He sat down under the tree and counted the money.
When the crone awoke and found both the treasure and the young
man whom she had allowed to sleep under her roof gone, she went
to pursue them. She passed the meeting-house and asked : —
Have you seen a boy
With a wig, with a wag,
With a long leather-bag,
Who stole all the money
Ever I had ?
The meeting-house replied: "You will find him in yonder field
under a tree counting his money. She went on and passed the field,
which she asked : —
Have you seen a boy
With a wig, with a wag,
With a long leather-bag,
Who stole all the money
Ever I had ?
144 Journal of Americaii Folk-Lorc.
The field replied : " You will find him in yonder field under a tree
counting his money." She went on and came to the well. She asked
the well : —
Have you seen a boy
With a wig, with a wag,
With a long leather-bag,
Who stole all the money
Ever I had ?
The well replied : " You will find him in yonder field under a tree
counting his money." She went on and finally reached the field.
There she found the boy asleep under the tree. She cut off his
head, took her treasures and carried them back home.
After some time the second boy said : " I will go and try to make
my fortune." (Follows the same story.)
After some time the third boy said : " I will go and try to make
my fortune." (The story is repeated.)
While he was running to get far away from the old woman he came
to a meeting-house. The meeting-house said : "Sweep me." It was
a large meeting-house, and he knew it would take a long time to
sweep it. Nevertheless, he stopped, and swept and cleaned it care-
fully. Then he went on. He came to a field which said: "Weed
me." It was a large field, and although he knew that it would take
him a long time to weed it, he stopped and weeded the whole field.
He went on and came to a well which said t " Clean me." Although
he was afraid that the old woman would overtake him, he stopped
and cleaned it thoroughly. He went on. At noon he came to a field
in which there was a tree. He sat down under the tree and counted
his money. When the crone awoke and found all her treasure and the
young man, whom she had allowed to sleep under her roof, gone, she
went to pursue him. She passed the meeting-house and asked : —
Have you seen a boy
With a wig, with a wag, etc.
The meeting-house did not reply, but threw stones at her and had
almost killed her. It was all she could do to get away. She came to
the field and asked : —
Have you seen z boy, etc.
But the field niade a cloud of dust and stones which drifted into
her face and almost blinded her. It was all she could do to get
away. She went on and came to the well. She asked : —
Have you seen, 3tc.
Then the water in the well began to rise and to overflow. It took
her down into the well, where she was drowned.
The boy went home with his treasure, and lived happily ever after.
The Game of Goose. 145
THE GAME OF GOOSE.^
The pictures placed for ornament and use,
The Twelve Good Rules, the Royal Game of Goose.
Goldsmith's Deserted Village.
The "Sociable Snake" played by children in Great Britain, the
" District Messenger Boy " in the United States, the " Schwarzer
Peter Spiel" in Germany, the "Jeu de I'armee Frangaise" in
France, the " Giro del Mondo " in Italy, and the " Paardentramspel "
in Holland, are modifications of the old game mentioned by the Brit-
ish poet above cited. These and similar variations embody the un-
derlying principle of the parent game, viz, : to reward good luck and
to punish bad luck, to reward by promotion or by a draft on the
common purse, to punish by degradation and by fines.
The typical game of Goose is arranged as follows : the variations
will be noted later. The game is played by two, three or more per-
sons and requires a special board, dice, counters, and one marker of
distinctive color for each player. The board is divided into 6'^ num-
ber spaces arranged in a spiral, the centre space being marked to
indicate the goal. The spaces are filled with pictures of common
objects, mostly without significance ; but beginning with No. 5 each
ninth space (5, 14, 23, 32, 41, 50, and 59) is occupied by the represen-
tation of a goose. Certain other spaces are filled with these objects:
No, 6 a bridge ; No. 12 another bridge ; No. 19 an inn ; No. 31 a well ;
No. 42 a maze ; No. 52 a prison ; No. 58 a death's head ; No, 63 a
goose in a lake.
The game proceeds thus : each player in turn throws dice and
places his marker on the space bearing a number equal to the sum
thrown ; on the successive rounds the markers are moved forward
and the player whose marker first reaches the goal wins the game.
But the player is liable to encounter helps and hindrances, since cer-
tain of the spaces bring him good luck and others bad luck. If the
dice-throw places his marker on the space occupied by a goose he
advances it double the amount of the throw ; at No. 6, the bridge, he
advances it to No. 12 ; when he reaches No. 19, the inn, he must
remain there until all the players have had two throws each ; if he fall
on No. 31, a well, he must pay a fine with the counters, and remain
there until freed by another player ; if he fall on No. 42, in the maze,
he pays a fine and retreats to No. 30 ; if he falls on No.52,the prison,
he must pay a fine and remain there until freed by another player ;
if he fall on No, 52, the death's head, he pays a fine and must begin
^ Paper read at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society,
Washington, D, C, Dec. 28, 1895.
VOL. VIIT. — NO. 29. 10
1 46 yournal of A mcrica^i Folk- Lore.
again at No. i. When one player meets another on the same space
he goes back to his place and pays a fine. When in the very first
throw a player gets a 6 and a 3, he advances to space No. 26 occupied
by two dice ; if the first throw be 5 and 4 he goes to No. S3, a space
also indicated by two dice. If a player approaching the goal passes
No. 6^, he counts back a number equal to the excess, and if this
brings him to a goose he counts back a number equal to twice his
throw.
In place of counters the directions suggest the use of nuts and
bonbons.
Such are the rules of this sirnple game, which enjoys a popularity
throughout Europe and America seemingly out of all proportion to
its merits, for adults find the game exceedingly dull. Variations in
the rules are numerous, the only limit being the fancy of the pub-
lisher. The boards vary greatly in size and in disposition of the
spaces ; the spaces are increased in number up to 100, they are
arranged in fanciful shapes, and they are occupied with pictures
in almost endless variety. Instead of dice the tee-to-tum is used in
England, and the spinning arrow in America. Even the games
which may be regarded as standard, present to the eye great diversity
of appearance, differing in artistic merit from the crudest black-and-»
white diagram on cheap, thin paper to the brightly illuminated and
skilfully designed pictorial chart mounted on stout cardboard.
The " Mansion of Happiness " will be remembered by many mem-
bers of the Folk-Lore Society as a game common in their youth ;
it is a modification of the old game of Goose adapted to ethical
teaching for the benefit, of young people. It was invented by Miss
Abbott, daughter of a Beverly clergyman, and was the first board-
game published in America. The following lines show its object : —
At this amusement each will find
A moral to improve the mind.
It gives to those their proper due
Who various paths of vice pursue,
And shows (while vice destruction brings)
'; That Good from every Virtue springs.
Be virtuous then and forward press
To gain the seat of Happiness.
The number of spaces is 60, when a dice-throw places the player
in the space marked " Idleness," he has to go back to " Poverty," and
in like manner " Pride " throws the player back to " Humility ; " in
short, every vice is punished by an appropriate penalty and virtue is
duly rewarded.
In France a game quite analogous to the Mansion of Happiness
is now current, called " Jeu moral et instructif."
The Game of Goose. 147
As intimated at the outset, the game in its various forms is widely
distributed in Europe, and during a recent sojourn on the continent
I made a collection of one hundred and thirty examples. In France
the game is called yetc de roie, in Germany Gansc-Spiely in Holland,
Ganzensptl, in Denmark, Gaasespil, in Sweden, Gasspclct, and in
Italy, Giiioco dclV oca, all being literal translations. In these countries
the boards are similar in design, the rules are similar even when
adapted to special variations, and the specific objects used for cer-
tain spaces are alike in kind. The wide circulation of the cheaply
printed boards is shown by the fact that on many the instructions
are printed in four languages. In Germany I found the greatest
variety, both as to style and ingenious modifications ; in France I
found the finest specimens of color printing ; in England the game
is comparatively rare ; in Italy the prints and paper are of the poor-
est quality.
The modifications of the game retain the principles of reward for
good luck and punishment for bad luck, and are adapted to attract
children of every grade of intelligence. Those who are fond of
travels, or horse-racing, or hunting, or railway experiences, or yacht-
ing, will find games to please them, and the patriotic child will de-
light in the " Flaggen-Spiel," or the "Jeude I'armde Frangaise,"
according to his nationality. Some of the modifications are ingen-
iously designed to impart instruction in an entertaining way ; such
are the historical games " Kaiser-Spiel," and the " Jeu historique de
la France ; " those who take interest in their own country will find
geographical games such as the "Grand jeu du pigeon voyageur,"
and the "giuoco istruttivo per I'insegnamento pratico della geo-
grafia elementare ; " the former taking players from town to town on
the map of France, and the latter doing the same for Italy. Even
ethical teaching may be imparted by the use of the " Mansion of
Happiness," or the "Jeu moral et instructif."
A highly ingenious adaptation is that by a firm in Holland cele-
brated for an article of household consumption ; the board is attrac-
tively printed, and the game serves as an excellent advertisement.
Annexed is a list of the games collected and exhibited at the
Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society held in Wash-
in orton City, December 28, 1894.
German ... 60 American 9
French • • • 37 Danish I
Dutch .... 12 Swedish 1
Italian ... 24
English ... 4 Total 148
1 48 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore,
GERMAN.
- [The numbers in parentheses denote the number of spaces in each game.]
Ganse-Spiel. (Six different styles.)
Neues Ganse-Spiel. (Five styles.)
Allerneuestes Ganse-Spiel. (Two styles.)
Neues Wettrennen-Spiel (33). Another style (61).
Neues deutsches Flaggen-Spiel (100).
Neues Reise-Spiel mit Hindernissen (70).
Neuestes Post- und Reise-Spiel (44).
Miiller- und Schornsteinfegergeselle auf der Wanderschafft (42).
Allerneuestes Lotterie-Spiel (55).
Kaiser-Spiel (30).
Neues Ganse-Spiel ; Fuchs du hast die Cans gestohlen (65).
Kriegs-Spiel (70).
Robinson-Spiel (34).
Schulze und Muller's Wettreise durch Afrika (48).
Blumen-Spiel.
Affen-Spiel (63).
Neues- A£Een-Spiel (63). Another style (54).
Neuestes Affen-Spiel (100). Another style (63).
Wer will schwarzer Peter werden (70).
Eisenbahn-spiel (70). Another style (36).
Neues Gliicks-Spiel (100).
Das Vogelschiessen (29).
Der Seefahrer (25).
Die Fuchsjagd.
Das Matrosen-Spiel (40). Neues Matrosen-Spiel (32).
Die Reise um die Welt (41).
Das Jagd-Spiel(4i).
Allerneuestes Wettrenn-Spiel (100).
Neues Eisenbahn- und Dampfchifffahrts-Spiel (36).
Luft-ballon-Spiel (35).
Touristen-Spiel (36).
Allerneuestes Kriegs-Spiel (4S)-
Das Turnier-Spiel.
Hanswurst Spiel (32).
Neues Schwarzer Peter-Spiel (70).
Neuestes Jagd-Spiel (35).
Jagd-Spiel (36).
Wolker-Spiel (25).
Neues Hintz- und Peter-Spiel (85).
Hasen-Spiel (63).
Neues Hasen-Spiel (73).
Die Sonntags-.Jager (63).
Pferdebahn-Spiel (36).
Die Menagerie (25).
Neues Bank-Spiel (100).
FRENCH.
Jeu de I'oie, renouvdld des Grecs. (Twelve styles.)
Le Tour du Monde (46).
Grand jeu du pigeon voyageur. (Map of France.)
The Ga7ne of Goose. 149
Grand jeu Franco-Russe (63).
Jeu de la chasse (50).
[Nameless], represents deep-sea fisheries.
Jeu du Juif-Errant (63). (Two styles.)
Jeu des myst^res de Paris (63).
Grand jeu du Sorcier (63).
Jeu des Rois de France {(^"h)- (Two styles.)
Jeu moral et instructif (63). (Two styles.)
Jeu des Nations (12).
Jeu de 1' armde Frangaise.
Jeu du conscrit (63).
Jeu de la marine (63).
Jeu du petit voyageur (63).
Jeu du chemin-de-fer (63).
Jeu du soldat (63).
Jeu militaire (63).
Jeu historique dela France militaire (63).
Jeu des courses de chevaux.
Grand jeu du pont terrible (52).
Grand jeu de I'amour (40).
DUTCH.
Post en Reisspel (36).
Wedrennen.
Spoonveg-Spel (36).
Riddertoomooi (36).
Roeiwedstrijd (36).
Robinson-Spel (30).
Belegerings-Spel (29).
Vossen-en Ganzenspel (50).
Luchtballonspel (39).
Paardentramspel (63).
Reis door Europa (36).
Regatta-Spel (36).
DANISH.
Allernyeste Gaasespil (100).
SWEDISH.
NyaGasspelet (100).
ITALIAN.
Giuoca deir oca. (Nine styles in colors and six in black and white (90).)
II nuovo giuoco dell' oca (90).
La lantema magica (73).
Giuoco istruttivo per I'insignamento pratico della Geografia elementare. (Map of
Italy.)
II Giro del mondo (80).
Giuoco del barone (77).
Giuoco Sport.
Giuoco deir amore e dell' imeneo (80).
La battaglia del '48.
Giuoco del Tramway.
ENGLISH.
The New Royal Game of Goose ; 63 spaces arranged on the body of a goose.
Tee-to-tum.
1 50 Jour^ial of America7i Folk-Lore.
Upidee, a race game (85).
Race game (100).
The Sociable Snake.
AMERICAN.
The Mansion of Happiness.
Life's Mishaps.
Lost in the Woods.
Innocents Abroad.
From the Log Cabin to the White House.
The Travellers' Map Game. To Chicago.
Round the World with Nelly Bly (73 days).
The District Messenger Boy.
The World's Fair Game.
The wide distribution of this game and the large number of vari-
ants constantly being produced attests its great popularity ; I have
observed that in those countries where the governments conduct
lotteries, and a spirit of gambhng is rife, the popularity is greatest,
and its cheap styles place it within reach of the poorest children.
Thus it takes the form of an education, leading children to become
familiar with the principles of the lottery and preparing them for
the higher methods so profitable to the Crown and the State,, but so
demoralizing to the people.
Henry Carrington Bolton,
Folk-Lore Scrap-Book. 151
FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.
Pigments used by Children in their Play. — From an interesting
article on childish sports with plants and flowers, entitled " Nature's Play-
things," by Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, of Cambridge, Mass., contained in the
"Evening Transcript," Boston, Mass., April 6, 1895, "^^ extract the follow-
ing paragraphs : —
"One of the most widely spread and most fascinating play-labors among
children is the making of inks or paints. The common pigweed {Chcnopo-
diuvi album) was very commonly used in our neighborhood to make a
feeble green liquid. I don't remember that we ever really used it or
attempted to use it, but I well recall gathering the leaves, tying up a hand-
ful of them at a time in a cloth and bruising them between two stones until
by moistening the whole and squeezing we could obtain a small quantity of
pale green juice. I have worked hours at a time at this pounding, squeez-
ing, straining, and bottling to secure a small vial of the ' ink,' and felt at
the end as if I had been successfully and usefully employed. I wonder if
with the laying aside of childish things we always leave off the manufacture
of pigweed ink ? Pokeberry juice made a much richer ink and with less
trouble, but on account of the reputed poisonous character of the empur-
pled fruit it was not very popular. Now and then some daring country
schoolboy or girl did cautiously secure enough pokeberry ink to paint on
the flj'-leaf of a schoolbook a much conventionalized raceme of berries that,
I fancy, was meant to picture the fruit from which the limner derived his
color. I never saw the design elsewhere or done otherwise than with the
juice pressed from the somewhat despised pokeberry. Children generally
are as fond of staining their hands and faces brown wath walnut juice as
were the charmingly natural young dwellers in ' A Boy's Town.' The
orange paint yielded by the roots of the bloodroot leads more boys to seek
the plant than do the fleeting flowers, white beyond the white of most blos-
soms. A boy fortunate enough to possess a piece of red ochre, commonly
known as keel, in my day a thing of almost priceless value in the schoolboy
market, could manage any decoration calling for red or orange without the
trouble of digging fresh bloodroot. He who had a bit of keel, however
small, in his pocket had a treasure. I don't know why it was such a rarity.
Any gravel bed was likely to supply the boy who sought the crude material,
and every farmer who kept a crayon of the bought article for marking his
sheep, for keeping tally at threshing time or for unexpected reckonings in
the barn, where a board or the side of the barn served for slate, might
easily have enriched his boys with a fragment of the coveted pigment."
Violet Fights. — Mrs. Bergen proceeds to give an account of this
pastime, which we have not before seen fully explained.
" What armies of blue violets are annually sacrificed by little people in
the ' violet-fights.' Two children provide themselves with a goodly pile of
these flowers, which they have purposely plucked with long stems, each
combatant holds his posy by the stem, the two spurs are interlocked, then
152 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.
the children simultaneously jerk the stems and off comes one or the other
violet head. Once in a great while the two heads fall, so evenly matched
in resistance are they. Usually, however, one conquers the other, the flow-
erless stem is replaced by a fresh one from the pile, and the flower battle
goes on. Occasionally a soldier is so valiant and successful, as to lay low
the heads of as many as a hundred or two of his enemies, but sooner or
later he too is numbered with the beautiful slain. I am glad to have
known of a few little girls who were too humane to take part in this ruth-
less play. The pastime is not only common among children throughout
the United States and Canada, but is a familiar childish amusement in
Japan, and a friend found that the same play was known to Indian children
in the summer encampment at York Beach, Maine. The little red children
say that the one whose violet conquers will be a great man. The Ononda-
gas have a name for violets which interpreted means ' two heads entan-
gled,' referring to the flower game."
Poppy Shows. — The following also is new, so far as we know. Al-
though one would imagine that these common sports would long ago have
been noted.
" A few strokes with pen and ink on the golden disk of an ox-ej'e daisy
with some snipping of the white ray flowers and out comes a baby or an
old lady, as you will, in white ruffled cap -with smooth strings.
" Children sometimes make boats out of peapods. The pod is split along
the midrib and held open by little sticks placed crosswise like thwarts.
The craft is then manned with boatmen each made from two peas, one for
the head and one for the body, held together by slender sticks, and with
other sticks serving as very stiff arms and legs,
" What pretty wreaths we made of the pink or white phlox (Lady Wash-
ington we called it) the scarlet honeysuckle, or other tubular fl.owers, and
pressed in our school-books. The dazzling blue larkspur blossoms were
also linked into circles and made bright splashes in geography or grammar.
" The experience of what little girls call a ' poppy show ' was not num-
bered among my own personal joys. A friend once gave me the following
account of these brilliant spectacles : ' I possessed two pieces of glass,
very nearly of a size, between which I used to place fallen poppy petals, in
lovely kaleidoscopic patterns. I had to hold the glasses together very
tightly not to spoil the pattern by letting them slip. When several little
girls had gathered their poppy shows together on a board we used to chant
when any one passed : —
Pinny, pinny, poppy show, >■
Give me a pin and I '11 let you know.
I don't know that any one ever accepted the enticing invitation. We varied
the show at other seasons with different flowers, whole geranium blossoms
or spiraea or apple-blossom petals, and many others, but we always called
them poppy shows and sung the same rhyme. Some girls carried their
poppy shows to school and passed them along under the desks. Other
children gave their display in their barns, and one girl I knew had a tent
Folk- Lore Scrap- Book. 153
in which her show was beautifully hidden from a pinless public. It was as
exciting as going to a play to lift the flap and gaze upon the revealed splen-
dors behind the screen.'
" ' Peep shows ' the English country children call these prim little floral
displays, or ' penny peep shows/ since a penny is the fee asked for a sight
of the small bouquets or baskets of flowers made from dissected blossoms
set under a piece of glass and shown off against a background of white
paper."'
Other childish practices which Mrs. Bergen has made the subject of
remark are whistling on grass-blades, making trombones of the prickly leaf-
stalks of the pumpkin, stringing horse-chestnuts or dogwood berries,
matching the striped blades of ribbon, blowing up into pouches the thick
leaves of the garden sedum, stringing dandelion stems and ox-eyed daisies.
NoMiNiES. — We continue citations from an article contained in the
"London Globe," April 28, 1890 [see p. 81].
Nature, in most of her aspects, is greeted with certain formulas. Aubrey,
in his " Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme " (i 686-1 687), says : —
Little children have a custome when it raines to sing or charme away the raine ;
thus they all join in a chorus and sing thus, viz. : " Raine, raine, goe away, come
againe a Saterday." I have a conceit that this childish custom is of great anti-
quity, yt it is derived from ye Gentiles.
The rhyme varies but little to-day, the most distinct variants being : —
Rain on the green grass, and rain on the tree.
And rain on the housetop, but not upon me.
The children of Morley, Cheshire, say : —
It rains, it rains, it patters i' th' docks,
Mobberley wenches are washing their smocks.
There are other local examples. In Oxfordshire, the rainbow is thus
spoken : —
Rainybow, rainybow, cock up your feather.
Please, God Almighty, send us good weather.
The lines beginning, "Snow, snow faster. Come again at Easter," are
familiar in our great towns now. Near Leeds the jingle goes : —
Snow, snow faster, Bull, bull faster,
Awd women picking geese, Sending feathers down to Leeds.
In the north of England this couplet is said during a thunderstorm : —
Rowley, Rowley, Rattleybags, Take the lasses and leave the lads.
Of general nominies the following are perhaps most worthy of remark : —
At Huddersfield when a boy sneezes any near companion says, " Say
your nominy." The sneezer then exclaims, " Bob Wood " (cloth, etc), and
touches the article he mentions, continuing : —
1 54 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore .
Julius Caesar made a law,
Augustus Caesar signed it,
That every one that made a sneeze,
Should run away and find it.
He then whistles, though some whistle before.
There are certain moral laws with regard to playtime, and these are
perpetuated in rhyme : —
Chiff-chaff, never change again
As long as the world stands. Amen.
— is a formula in Leicestershire and Shropshire solemnly ratifying an ex-
change of property. To give a present and desire its return is a heinous
offence : —
Give a thing, Seek a thing —
The old man's gold ring :
Lie butt, lie ben, Lie among the dead men.
The old man referred to is the devil, and he is supposed to be the lord of
the envious one, his actions, and the property. There are several ver-
sions : —
Give a thing and take again. And you shall ride in hell's wain,
or : —
Give a thing, and take a thing, A naughty man's plaything.
Cotegrave, in his " Dictionnaire of the French and English Tongues " (1632),
gives a version of the under verb Retirer^ and calls it a " triviall " proverb.
In the Midlands a solemn engagement between youngsters of like sex is
clinched thus. They link the little fingers of their right hands saying : —
Ring-finger, blue bell, Tell a lie, go to hell.
If either party fails to fulfil the promise, the little finger will divulge. To
annex the property of another at certain seasons seems to be quite in order
when prefaced by a formula. As example : —
Tops are in. Spin 'em agin —
gives a player safe conduct, so to speak, but
Tops are out, Smuggin' about,
is a hint to the player to guard his own, " smuggin' " meaning in the north-
ern counties legitimate dealing when games are out of season. To take
another's plaything is a recognized right, if
Number, number nine, this hoop 's (etc.) mine
be said, and the rights of property are considered to have been duly
observed if the toy be returned with the phrase : —
Number, number ten, take it back again.
The list could be extended here, and by a travelter, or through research ;
for the old scholars were very anxious to preserve these wild flowers of
native lore, as showing the color of local life, and giving forth the aroma of
primitive culture. No apology is needed, therefore, for their appearance
here.
Folk-Lore Scrap-Book. 155
Be bow bended, my story 's ended.
If you don't like it, you may mend it ;
A piece of pudden for telling a good un,
A piece of pie for telling a lie.
Editor's Note. — With regard to rhymes given on p. 83, it may be remarked
that the formula " Lucy Locket lost her pocket " is familiar in America, as
belonging to a childish game, but is not understood to refer to a flower.
In the rhyme " Snail, snail, come out of your hole," the word " snail " has
been substituted for the original " mole " the formula having once been
employed as part of a rite, originally of sacred processional character,
intended to expel field-mice. (See vol. v. p. 23.) The transition to a new
land has injuriously affected the original simplicity of these survivals, so
delightfully illustrating the close connection of man and nature ; but prob-
ably an interesting paper could be written on American childish formulas
by any one possessing the requisite patience and observation.
Courtship Formulas of Southern Negroes. — The " Southern Work-
man," Hampton, Va., for January, 1895, contains the following interesting
addition to our knowledge of these formulas, first noted in this Journal (vol.
vii. p. 147).
1. Dear lady, I come down on justice an' qualification to advocate de
law condemnin' de lady dat was never condemn befo' — not dat I'se gwine
to condemn you, but I can condemn many odders.
2. Kin' lady, went up on high gum an' came down on little Pe de,
where many goes but few knows.
Kin' lady, are yo' a standin' dove or a flyin' lark ? Would you decide
to trot in double harness, and will you give de mos excrutish pleasure
of rollin' de wheels of de axil, accordin' to your understandin' ? If not my
tracks will be col' an' my voice will not be heard aroun' your do ! I would
bury my tomahawks an' dwell upon de subtell of mos' any T.
• 4. Kin' lady, ef I was to go up between de heavens an' de yearth an drop
down a grain of wheat over ten acres of land an' plow it up wid a rooster
fedder, would you marry me ?
5. Good miss, ef dere was a beautiful bloom, how could you get it wid-
out reachin', sendin', walkin', or goin' at it ? (Answer : Get it by love.)
6. Kin' lady, s'pose you was to go 'long de road an' meet a pet rabbit,
would you take it home an' call it a pet o' yourn ?
7. Good lady, ef you was to come down de riber an' you saw a red stran'
o' thread, black o' white, which one would you chose to walk on ? (In the
answer, the color of the thread given is the color of the man she would
accept.)
8. Oh, good kin' lady, kin you go up 'twix' heaven an' de yarth an' bring
me a blue morena wid a needle an' thread in it ?
9. Kin' lady, since I have been trav'lin' up hill, valley, an' mountain, I
nebber seed a lady dat suit my fancy mo' so den you does. Nov/ is you a
towel dat had been spun, or a towel dat had been woven ? (Answer : If
spun, single.)
1 5 6 yournal of A merican Fo Ik-Lore.
10. Good lady, I was in a garden in my dream, an' I saw de lovelies'
table, an' on de table was a fine cake an' a glass of wine, an' a beautiful
lady was walkin' in de garden, and you were de lady. If you saw a peas
hull in de garden which one would you choose, one wid one pea in it or a
hull full of peas. (Answer : The hull with one pea is a single man, the hull
full of peas is a widower with children.)
11, Good lady, ef I was to give you a handkerchief to wash an' iron,
how would you do it widout water or iron ? (Answer : Iron it with love.)
The foregoing are from Miss Portia Smiley, Calhoun, Alabama ; those
which follow are added by members of the Folk-Lore Society in Hampton.
Are you a rag on the bush or a rag off the bush ? (Answer : If a rag on
the bush, free, if off, engaged.)
I saw three ships on the water, one full-rigged, one half-rigged, and one
with no rigging at all. Which would you rather be ? (Full rigged, married ;
half-rigged, engaged ; no rigging, single.)
Sometimes the girl wishes to find out her friend's intentions. If so, it
may be done without loss of dignity through the following circumlocu-
tion : —
" Suppose you was walkin' by de side o' de river an' dere was three ladies
in a boat, an' dat boat was overturned, which lady would you save, a tall
lady or a short lady or a middle-sided lady ? "
If the young man declares his desire to save a lady corresponding in
height to his questioner, she may rest assured that his intentions are seri-
ous. He may perhaps add the following tender avowal : —
" Dear miss, ef I was starvin' an' had jes one ginger-cake, I would give
you half, an' dat would be de bigges' half."
Should a girl find herself unable to understand the figurative speech of
her lover, she may say, " Sir, you are a huckleberry beyond my persimmon,"
and may thus retire in good form from a conversation in which her readi-
ness in repartee has not been equal to her suitor's skill in putting senti-
mental questions.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society. — The announcement
has been made that the third volume of the Memoirs would consist of a
collection of Current Superstitions, made by Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen. As
this volume, however, is not yet ready for the press, it will be replaced by a
collection of " Bahama Songs and Stories," made by Professor Charles L.
Edwards, of the University of Cincinnati. An interesting feature of this
volume will be the melodies of the songs, forty in number, written by Pro-
fessor Edwards, from recitations in the Bahamas. These melodies are
exceedingly characteristic, in many cases very beautiful, and a considerable
addition to our knowledge of negro folk-music in America. The relation
of this Bahama music to that of the Southern States of the Union, with
which it closely corresponds, presents interesting problems. The Bahamas
Notes a7td Queries. 157
were in part settled by American Tories, or Loyalists, who carried over
their slaves, and it may have been in this way that arose the resem-
blance observed in the countries between which at present little inter-
course exists. The volume will be provided with an Introduction and illus-
trations.
Superstitious Explanation of Patches of Warm Air. — Local strata
of warm air only a few yards in extent may often be noticed on a summer's
evening. According to May A. Waring, the negroes of South Carolina
believe that such a stratum " indicates the presence of a * sperrit.' " (Jour.
Am. Folk-Lore, vol. vii. p. 319.)
The change of temperature in this case is so striking that it would seem
quite a suitable subject for a folk-lore explanation, A slight search of
the literature has not, as yet, brought to light any parallels. A friend
tells me of an Irish coachman, living near Boston, who thinks that such a
stratum of air indicates the presence of the devil, or is in some way related
to his Satanic majesty, and always crosses himself, and neither breathes nor
speaks in passing through it.
George W. Moorehouse.
Superstition relating to the Color of Horses. — An early number
of the English " Folk-Lore Journal " reports the following superstition in
regard to the value of horses as current in Lanarkshire : —
If he has one white foot buy him,
If he has two you may try him,
If he has three look shy at him,
But if he has four go by him.
A variant of this rhyme I heard many times in childhood, and it was im-
pressed on my mind by an excellent horse which completely disapproved
the universal application of the test.
One white foot try him,
Two white feet buy him.
Three white feet deny him,
Four white feet and a white nose.
Take off his skin and throw him to the crows.
The transposition of " try " and " buy " is noticeable and may be an error
which has occurred in transmission from one generation to another.
Mr. Henry Phillips, Jr., reports the last lines of this rhyme in his " First
Contribution to the Folk-Lore of Philadelphia and Vicinity." (Proc. Am.
Philos. Soc, July to December, 1888.)
Four white feet and a white nose.
Throw him to the crows.
[See " Folk-Lore Journal " (London), vol. ii. p. 106, for variants from Scot-
land.]
George W> Moorehouse.
Cambridge, Mass.
158 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
Speech of Children. — Facts of speech development in children are
interesting and suggestive, whether we believe we can make out any actual
stages of correspondence to culture epochs or not. The important role
that Mr. Horatio Hale assigns to children in the origination of different
linguistic stocks shows the necessity for the philologist to consider and take
account of the facts. From the standpoint of the school, much is to be
hoped from a knowledge of the facts of early development as bearing on
and indicating the proper course for later treatment of reading, writing,
and all linguistic studies. The central position assigned the study of lan-
guage in nearly every curriculum makes it a cardinal problem for pedagogy.
But where are these facts ? Every father, mother or other person who
has the opportunity of daily observation of one or more young children is
able to collect such facts. By so doing and cooperating together we may
soon have a mass of material that will serve us as a basis for systematic
knowledge. The following points are suggested for observation : —
I, Note down as fully as possible from day to day all vocal sounds, ori-
ginal or acquired, made by the child. Note carefully such as are made
when the baby is pleased, uncomfortable, afraid, angry, or the like, but do
not neglect to note also, all vowels, consonants, or syllables, uttered as
mere play and without his attaching any meaning to them. These sounds
are exceedingly difficult to represent. Whenever you are in doubt as to
which of two letters to use to represent the sound, give both. Has such
babble much or little intonation, emphasis, or expression ? Illustrate and
describe it. Give any instances of sounds made in this way which the
child later loses the power to pronounce. When did the child first show
pleasure in music or singing t Does he make any attempt to imitate or
improvise ?
II, Describe the very beginning of his use of words. Give as many as
possible of his earliest expressions,
III, Put down as full as possible a vocabulary of the words he uses. Do
this at different times, say at intervals of four to six months while he is
learning to speak Always spell phonetically and mark vowels, and accent
to indicate the child's pronunciation. Add phrases illustrating the use of
the words. Be particular to get as many of the original words the child
invents as possible, and describe the circumstances of their use. Where
they have several meanings, give all of them, with illustrative phrases.
IV, Wherever two or more little children have been together much and
have formed a language of their own, give as complete account of the cir-
cumstances as you can, stating whether the children are precocious or
backward, imitative or originative in other ways, have good or bad memory
for words, have learned their mother tongue or not, and any other facts
bearing on the subject. Give as full a vocabulary of the language as you
can get, note as many of the expressions and conversations in it as you can
gather. Be careful not to suggest meanings to the children. Relate how
you learned their language and discovered the meanings they attached to
the words. If you can account for the derivation of any of the words,
please send such explanations. Reminiscent accounts of your own child-
Notes and Queries. 159
hood in which such language was used, together with your experience in
changing from it to English will be gratefully received.
V. Note all onomatopoetic words, together with explanations of their
origin.
VI. Describe all gestures made by the children in expressing themselves,
particularly such as they use to eke out their meagre vocabulary.
VII. Note all words or expressions illustrating mistakes or originalities
in grammar, such as "goed " for "went," " I want sheX.o come off of there,"
etc., illustrating the child's way of reasoning about declensions, inflection,
order of words, and syntax.
Always state age, sex, and nationality of the child, and describe in brief
his surroundings at home. Be as accurate and detailed as you can, and
describe only what you have yourself seen or heard at first hand. Add
any other points not mentioned above, if you choose. Do not let the child
know that he is being noted ; only his spontaneous doings are wanted,
since self-consciousness spoils the record as much as it does the child. Put
down the notes at the time of observation, or as soon after as possible.
The writer of this notice is engaged in the study of language, and wishes
to correlate results obtained from a study of diseases of the language
functions with information obtained along the above lines of observation
on children. Any reports of observations on any of, these points will there-
fore be sure to be made use of and acknowledgment of source of informa-
tion will be accorded in any publication of results.
Dr. Iferman T. Lukens.
Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Rhyme relating to a Scold. — The following doggerel was formerly
sung by a nurse to children in Virginia : —
Thimble's scolding wife lay dead,
Heigho ! says Thimble.
" My dearest duck is defunct in bed.
Death has cabbaged her. Oh she 's fled ! "
With a rowley powley gammon and spinage,
Heigho ! says Thimble.
Thimble buried his wife that night,
Heigho ! says Thimble.
" I grieve to sew up my heart's delight
With her diamond ring on her finger tight ! "
With a rowley powley gammon and spinage,
Heigho ! says Thimble.
To cut off her finger and steal the ring
Soon came the Sexton.
She sat up on end and gave him a fling.
Saying, " D — n you, you dog, you shall do no such thing."
With a rowley powley gammon and spinage,
Heigho ! says Thimble.
She stalked to the house and raised a great din.
Heigho ! says Thimble.
1 60 Jouriial of American Folk-Lore.
He looked from the casement and said with a grin,
" You are dead, dearest duck, and I can't let you in."
^ With a rowley powley gammon and spinage,
Heigho ! says Thimble.
Randolph Mcikkham.
Albemarle Co., Va.
LOCAL MEETINGS AND OTHER NOTICES.
Baltimore Branch. — April, 1S95. The meeting took place at the
house of Mrs. John D. Early, 711 Park Avenue. Dr. Wood, the President,
gave an account of the variants of Cinderella, with mention of the work of
Miss Cox. He called attention to variants not contained in the book, in
circulation among American negroes. Dr. Kirby Smith related a folk-tale
of the hare and the sun. The following are the officers of this Branch :
President, Dr. Henry Wood ; Vice-President, Miss Elizabeth T. King ;
Secretary, Miss Annie Weston Whitney ; Council, Dr. Henry M. Hurd,
Dr. Bloomfield, Dr. Kirby Smith, Mr. Zacharias, Mrs. Waller Bullock,
Miss Mary Worthington Milnor, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, Miss Mary W.
Minor.
Boston Branch. — February 15. The monthly meeting was held at
the house of Mrs. Everett Morss, 303 IMarlborough Street, Professor F. W.
Putnam presiding. After the record of the previous meeting had been
read and approved, the chief paper of the evening was presented by Miss
Ellen Chase of Brookline, on " S}Tian Charms, especially with reference to
the Evil Eye." Miss Chase's paper was the result of obser\'ations made
during a recent visit to Syria, and was illustrated with specimens of charms
and amulets collected in the course of travel. Mr. V. R. Gandhi of Bom-
bay made remarks in relation to philosophical ideas prevailing in India in
respect to this superstition. Several songs and ballads were also rendered
by guests of the Branch,
March 15. A public meeting was held in Steinert Hall, the President
in the chair. Professor Putnam introduced Mr, Frizzell, Director of the
Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va,, who gave an interesting account of the
studies in negro folk-lore undertaken by the Hampton Folk-Lore Society^
The paper of the evening was by Captain R. R. Moten, of the Hampton
School, on " Negro Folk-Songs," with musical illustrations by a quintette
of Hampton Students. After the conclusion of the paper, the subject of
negro music was discussed, remarks being made by Miss Charlotte Hawes,
Mrs. Emily Selinger, and Mr. Arthur Foote. The presentation of the
songs was greatly enjoyed.
April 19. The Boston Branch met at the house of Mrs. N. B. Allen,
477 Commonwealth Avenue. Mr. Dana Estes, Vice-President of the
Branch presiding. Miss Mary A. Owen of St. Joseph, Mo,, presented a
paper on the social condition and the ideas and customs of the Kickapoo
Indians now living in Nebraska,
Local Meetings and Other Notices. 1 6 1
Miss Owen brought a fine collection of wearing apparel and objects of
art made by these Indians, exhibiting a remarkable degree of skill in the
use of metals, beads, and textile fabrics. Miss Owen's paper contained a
great deal of new information in regard to this small and gradually expir-
ing tribe, especially as to the peculiar religious beliefs and practices which
have recently arisen among them.
Hdcti Leah Reed, Secretary.
Cambridge Branch. — February 5. The meeting was held at the house
of Miss Yerxa, 37 Lancaster Street. Mr. F. S. Arnold gave an account of
his experiences among Gypsies in the Eastern United States. The dialect
of American Gypsies, having lost its terminations, has taken on English
endings, and adopted many English words. The only numerals retained
are such as express our currency. Family relations are strong. As the
women generally support the family by fortune-telling, begging, and the
like, they have the first voice in family matters. This importance of woman
has given rise to the expression " Gypsy Queen." Romany folk-lore has
suffered so much from contact with civilization that it is now scarcely dif-
ferent from that of the more ignorant class of Americans. During winter
New England Gypsies go south, or take houses in towns. Traditional
English ballads, still sung, were read by Miss Hopkinson, and ballads and
old songs traditionally preserved were sung by Miss Decrow.
March 5. The meeting was held at the house of Miss Shaler, 25 Quincy
Street. Mad. Slgridr Magnusson of Cambridge, England, spoke on " The
Folk-Lore and Superstitions of Iceland."
Particularly mentioned was the belief that certain families are closely
followed by the family ghost ; the history of one of the latter, named Mori,
was described. Other ghosts have similar histories.
April (j. The meeting was at the house of Miss Child, 67 Kirkland
Street. Mr. W. W. Newell gave an address on " The Holy Grail." The
speaker devoted his remarks to an examination of the dififerent symbolic
interpretations which the legend had been made to bear ; of these he men-
tioned the modern treatment by Tennyson, and two" mediaeval forms of
the cycle, as connected with the names respectively of Perceval and of
Galahad. In his opinion the entire cycle was of literary origin, and rested
on no traditional roots going back before the twelfth century.
Montreal Branch. — The April meeting of the Montreal Branch of
the American Folk-Lore Society was held at the residence of Professor
Penhallow, 215 Milton Street. The Honorary President, Professor Pen-
hallow, occupied the chair.
The essayist of the evening, Mr. Watson Griffin, read a paper on " Mic-
mac Wonder-Men." Mr. Griffin stated that most of the Micmac legends
relate to the wonderful achievements of Wonder-Men endowed with super-
natural powers, of these the chief were Glooscap and Kitrpooseagunow,
he related several picturesque tales illustrating the powers and peculiarities
supposed to be possessed by these mar\'ellous beings. As the Micmacs
VOL. vin. — NO. 29. 1 1
1 6 2 journal of American Fotk-Lore.
are rapidly dying out, any information concerning their faiths and beliefs
is of genuine value.
^ After some discussion on Mr. Grififin's very excellent paper, Professor
Penhallow read a number of Japanese proverbs which he had collected
while residing in Japan. As some of them were read in Japanese, some
idea could be gained of the sound of the language, and the peculiar tone
used by the people in reading. The members were interested in find-
ing that in almost ever)' instance proverbs conveying exactly the same
meaning could be found in our own tongue- Professor Penhallow also
read a charming little Japanese-folk-tale, called " The ashes that made the
Trees bloom."
Professor Penhallow was appointed delegate to represent the Club at the
meeting of the Royal Society of Canada, to be held May 15.
After partaking of Mrs. Penhallow's hospitality the meeting adjourned.
Blanche L. Macdonell, Secretary.
New Orleans. — jfanuary, 1895. The Annual Meeting of the Louis-
iana Society was held at Tulane Hall, Professor Fortier presiding.
The President introduced the lecturer of the evening, Mr. R. G. Hali-
burton, Q. C, F. R. G. S., etc., who had chosen for his subject, " Vestiges
of a Primitive Calendar in our Festivals and Folk-Lore."
Mr. Haliburton, in the course of a few prefatory remarks, said that the
subject of festivals had been a lifelong study with him, and although he
had long since printed privately a monograph on the subject, he had not
published it, but much of it had been published by the ex-astronomer royal
for Scotland. Festivals and folk-lore, the lecturer said, tell a tale which
monuments cannot reveal, and are like geological fossils or records of the
early past of our race.
Here, referring to a chart which he had drawn upon the blackboard, the
lecturer explained it as follows : —
A/^ay
A and B represent the autumnal and vernal equinoxes and C and D the
summer and winter solstices. The four months designated occupy the
positions marked.
If the solar year had been the original year, the year would have begun
at one of the solstices or equinoxes, and if sun-worship had been the ori-
ginal worship, the day would have unquestionably begun at either sunrise
or sunset. Neither was the case, for the ancient years nearly always began
Local McciiniTs and Other Notices. 1 6
o
at one of the four months of Pebruary, May, August, or November, and the
beginning of the day was not marked by the sun.
We find that the great festivals of nations — savage and civilized — are
for the most part held at or near the beginning of May or November, or
in August or February — /. c. as far as possible from the solstices and
equinoxes. The Egyptians, the lecturer said, began their year in August ;
the Mexicans in February. The great feast of Isis of the Egyptians was
in November, and the lesser feast at or near May Day, and the Eleusinian
mysteries of the Greeks were held in February and August. The Per-
sians began the-ir year in November, and afterwards changed it to February.
In November they still hold a festival, the Nouruz (the New Year's day)
of the Magi. The lecturer gave other instances of these four divisions
being marked, especially amongst the Celts, who divided the year into two
seasons — summer and winter — Belteine (May Day) and Summer's End
(Hallow Eve). They had also their " Gule of August." Hence these times
so marked in calendars supply strong negative evidence that the primitive
year could not have been solar.
If the solar year was the primitive year, the day must have begun at sun-
rise or sunset ; but the day generally begins at twilight. Among all primi-
tive races their beginning the day at twilight, or at any rate not at sunrise
or sunset, is strong negative ground for assuming that the solar year is of
recent origin.
The Bible went further than the utmost research of the archaeologist in
declaring that " the evening and the morning were the first day." The
primitive day of the Polynesians began not with the setting of the sun, but
with starlight. This division remains to-day in primitive form in the folk-
lore of the Mohammedans and Oriental Jews.
While living in the Orient, Mr. Haliburton said he had a Jewish house-
maid, who was most rigorous in her observation of the Sabbath, and from
the time the first three stars appeared at the commencing of her Sabbath
until the appearance of three stars the following evening marked the close
of the day of rest, she would not light a lamp or kindle a fire.
It was singular that while a given month should differ so in character
in the varying latitudes of the earth, nearly all the people of all ages
should have fixed their feasts and begun their years by the same months.
Passing on to the Pleiades year, which was a progressive year, the lec-
turer asked how we can account for so many races, north and south of the
equator, holding feasts at similar times. The clew to this mystery, he said,
was supplied by the Pleiades year of savages. The Polynesians have two
equal divisions of the year — " the Pleiades above," for those stars are
above the horizon in the evening from Halloween to May, and " the Plei-
ades below," for those stars are invisible from May Day to November at
early evening.
Censorinus, an ancient astronomer, says that the origin of the year of
two seasons is lost in the midst of a profound antiquity. " Summer and
winter, seed-time and harvest," in the Mosaic narrative, point to this divi-
sion of the year.
164 yozirnal of American Folk-Lore.
The lecturer said that the movements of the Pleiades will explain the
dates of annual festivals. They disappear at May Day, and forty days
afterwards reappear on the eastern horizon at sunrise, and feasts were held
at these times. Our Lent was probably derived from the vernal period of
sadness of forty days, which is to be met with among the Blackfeet and
other tribes. The great feast of the Natchez and that of the Celts was at
May Day. The Pleiades culminate at midnight in November, and at sun-
set in February.
In regard to the connection of the constellation with early cults, the lec-
turer said that the Hottentot Bushmen believe that they are descended
from the Pleiades, and the same belief existed among the Kiowas. The
Great Kiowa can be seen in that constellation and some adjacent stars.
The Great Father of the Abipones is also in the Pleiades. When he dis-
appears they mourn him as dead, and when forty days later he reappears,
they rejoice and dance. This is a widespread belief. When the Pleiades
(in the Bull) disappear in the west, Scorpio is rising in the east. Hence
Ormuzd, in Persian lore, is slain by Ahriman. The bull is killed by the
scorpion. In Britain the beneficent bull is slain by the raven on the eve of
May Day. Scorpio was sometimes the eagle ; sometimes the raven ; some-
times the hare. " The Land of the Pleiades " of the Dyaks was a paradise
to which a mortal climbed and from thence brought the knowledge of the
arts of primitive life.
In conclusion, the lecturer said that when the solar year was introduced
everything in the early calendar was reversed. November had been " the
month of the Pleiades," but when the signs of the zodiac were introduced,
the month of Taurus was not when its stars were to be seen, but when
they were invisible, in May ; for the sun is in the sign then, and those stars
cannot be seen at night. Hence the most helpless confusion was wrought,
and the origin of mythology became a hopeless mystery.
The Pleiades rise one day later in nearly seventy-one years, or one de-
gree in seventy-two years, so that any attempt to definitely fix the dates of
the year of the Pleiades by the solar year is necessarily futile, for one is a
progressive year and the other fixed. He drew attention to the feast of
the Pleiades in Prescott's " Mexico," which took place in November, at
the midnight culmination of those stars, and was held at the end of every
fifty-two years period.
The Pleiades year, being connected with the moon, might be called " the
luni-sidereal year," or rather " the limi-Pleiades year."
As Mr. Haliburton sat down President Fortier asked him why it was
that the Natchez Indians called their chief the "Great Sun " if they were
not sun-worshippers. The answer was : " We call a great opera singer or
actress a * star.' Does it mean that we worship the stars? ' "
Mr. Haliburton in inclosing the above report, which is made up of
those of the " Times-Democrat " and the " Picayune " of New Orleans,
says : —
" In Dr. Fewkes' recent important paper on the ' New Fire Festival of the
Tusayan Indians,' which takes place in the middle of November, at the mid-
Local Meetings and Other Notices. 165
night culmination of the Pleiades, he says, ' It seems evident that not far
from midnight on the fourth day there was a secret ceremonial . . . during
the new fire ceremony. Attention is called to the peculiar importance
attached to the culmination of the Pleiades in determining the proper time
for beginning certain rites, especially the invocation of the six world-quar-
ter deities among the Tusayan Indians. I cannot explain its significance ;
and why, of all stellar objects, this minute cluster of stars of a low magni-
tude is more important than other stellar groups is not clear to me. Its
culmination is however often used to determine the proper time to begin a
sacred rite by night.'
" I subsequently drew^ his attention to the Year of the Pleiades, and to
my researches on the subject. In his ' author's edition ' of his paper he
added the following note : —
" ' Mr. R. G. Haliburton has collected many curious facts in relation to
the Pleiades, and their position in determining the time of the celebration
of primitive rites and ceremonies. Although I do not feel that I have a
broad enough knowledge of the subject to discuss his theory, it is certainly
a remarkable fact that this constellation plays such a prominent part in
Tusayan ceremony, especially in the determination of the time for certain
nocturnal rites which occur among those Indians.' "
New York Branch. — Wednesday, May 9. The meeting was held at
the Waldorf Hotel, the President in the chair. Dr. Washington Matthews,
U. S. A., gave the principal paper of the evening, relating to the songs used
in Navajo rite-myths. These were illustrated by the aid of the phono-
graph. Dr. J. H. McCormick, of Washington, related a selection of tales
and superstitions gathered among negroes in the vicinity of that city. The
meeting was largely attended. The officers of this Branch for the current
year are as follows : President, E. Francis Hyde ; Vice-President, George
Bird Grinnell; Treasurer and Secretary, William Burnet Tuthill ; Execu-
tive Committee, Mrs. Henry Draper, Mrs. Mary J. Field, Mrs. E. Francis
Hyde. In the course of the year, it is proposed to hold three meetings at
the Hotel Waldorf, and one at the Museum of Natural History. At the
meetings in the Hotel Waldorf, the members will be entertained after the
reading of the paper for the occasion.
Washington. — In February, arrangements were efifected for holding
three meetings, jointly conducted by the members of the Anthropological
Society of Washington, and of the Woman's Anthropological Society, in
which should be discussed subjects relating to folk-lore. The first of these
meetings was held on April g, the programme being as follows : Navajo
Myths, Dr. Washington Matthews ; Negro Folk - Stories, Mrs. Harriet
Lane Johnston ; Chinese Folk Maxims, Colonel Weston Flint. On April
23, were presented papers on Plant Lore, Mrs. Deamans ; Negro Voodoo-
ism and Witchcraft, by Dr. J. H. McCormick. The third of the meet-
ings was held on May 7, and included papers on Popular Superstitions,
Dr. W. J. Hoffman ; The Legends of the Dragon (Chinese), Mrs. E. P.
1 66 yottrnal of American Folk-Lore.
Cunningham. The meetings were considered successful, and were well
attended.
In Memorial. — Among recent losses to the cause of sound learning
are several which ought not to be passed over without mention in a journal
devoted to the collection and study of traditions.
Charles Candee Baldwin of Cleveland, Ohio^ at the time of his death
judge of the Circuit Court of Ohio, was one of those exceptional men who
make the centre of all worthy energies and ennobling influences in the
communities which are fortunate enough to possess them, and which are
elevated and dignified by their presence. Profession^ eminence, the ut-
most simplicity and unselfishness of character, an enthusiasm for intellec-
tual pursuits, a bonhomie and gentleness which won universal love, such
were the qualities, so rare in combination, which seemed to mark him out
as a personage who ought, one day, to belong to the whole United States,
and whose loss is the more bitter, the more do the fortunes of the Repub-
lic, imperilled by ignorance and demagogism, demand that higher order of
talent and virtue which his life illustrated. Judge Baldwin was one of the
founders of the Western Reserve Historical Society, and at the time of his
death its president. He was greatly interested in the American Folk-Lore
Society, and one of the pleasantest recollections of the writer of this notice
is of a visit to Cleveland, in which he presided at a meeting in its interest.
Robert Henry Lamborn, by profession a man of business, but by choice
also occupied in scientific and literary studies, is especially known through
his generosity to American libraries and museums. His friends cannot
say too much of the worthy qualities which made him a model of a high-
minded citizen.
In the last number was noticed the first volume of a work entitled " The
Night of the Gods," by John O'Neill of Faversham, England. The unex-
pected decease of the writer may prevent the completion of the book. The
abilities of Mr. O'Neill were devoted to the study of mythology and primi-
tive thought, a study to which his self-sacrificing labors were given.
W. W. N.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
BOOKS.
The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus,
translated by Oliver Elton ; with some considerations on Saxo's Sources,
Historical Methods, and Folk-Lore, by Frederick York Powell. Lon-
don : David Nutt, 1894. Pp. cxxviii, 435.
Mr. Elton's translation of Saxo is a welcome gift to all students of my-
thology and folk-lore. He has wisely confined himself to the first nine
books, which deal with the heathen age in Denmark, and which are a
treasure-house of traditions, manners and customs, myths and popular
Bibliographical Notes. 1 6 7
tales. The version is satisfactorily executed. The florid luxuriance of
Saxo's Latinity is as different as possible from the somewhat yV/V///^ style of
nineteenth century English, but Mr. Elton has happily resisted the tempta-
tion to archaize. The ponderous leisureliness of the Danish worthy has,
however, been successfully reproduced by the translator, who has, at the
same time, managed to avoid being positively clumsy.
The Introduction extends to almost one hundred and thirty pages. Mr.
Elton himself writes the chapters on Saxo's life, the literary history of his
work, etc. In these he summarizes the chief results of modern scholar-
ship in this domain, without attempting to contribute anything to the dis-
cussion. The chapters contributed by Mr. York Powell are those to which
the reader will turn with the most interest, and the student will oftenest
recur. These chapters are three in number : Section 7 (Folk-lore Index) ;
Section 8 (Saxo's Materials and Methods) ; Section 9 (Saxo's Mytholog}'),
The Folk-lore Index will be of permanent value. Under eleven headings,
— including, among others, Political Institutions, Customary Law, Social
Life and Manners, Supernatural Beings, Folk-Tales, — Mr. Powell digests
the material afforded by Saxo's first nine books, with many excellent notes
and comparisons of his own. "No attempt has been made," we are told,
" to supply full parallels from any save the most striking and obvious old
Scandinavian sources, the end being to classify material more than to
point out its significance of geographic distribution." Still, a good many
parallels are suggested, and, in general, the chapter performs more than it
promises.
It would be ungracious to examine microscopically a work of this kind,
which makes no pretension to exhaustiveness or finality. One is rather
inclined to accept gratefully what is offered, thankful that it is so much.
Yet, after all, the recognized scholarship of Mr. Powell and his eminent
position in the world of letters justify us in expecting a certain finish, even
m parerga of this kind, and in this finish the chapter is conspicuously lack-
ing. Many parallels are cited without references, allusion sometimes takes
the place of plain statement, and there is an exasperatingly casual air to
many of the notes. Here and there Mr. Powell is far too dogmatic. The
students of the " Corpus Poeticum Boreale " know how prone were both
editors of that valuable but eccentric work to state as unshakable fact
their own opinions on most points or their own theories on points before
undiscussed. This fault is discernible in the chapters before us, " Here-
mod slew his messmates in his wrath, and went forth alone into exile," says
Mr. Powell, referring to a well-known crux in Be'owulf. Perhaps so, but it
would have been better to suggest that the passage in question is a battle-
ground for opposing interpretations. In one particular Mr. Powell's chap-
ters are as exasperating as possible — in the form of proper names. The
" Corpus Poeticum " was bad enough in this regard, but the present work
is worse. Old Norse names appear in every conceivable garb. The only
discoverable principle seems to be, to change them from the forms they
have in Old Norse, There is not consistency. On one page we have
Hedhin and Hogne (p. xcvi,), on another Hedhin and Hogne (p. ciii.). Much
1 68 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
of the difficulty comes from the learned Spiekrci of anglicizing, which causes
one of the many difficulties of using the " Corpus Poeticum." It is hard
to'understand why Mr. Powell should persist in transforming Old Norse
names, for his practice with regard to Greek is precisely the opposite. He
writes Kirke, and even Odusseus (but Polytherses !).
The chapter on Saxo's materials and methods is in part based on the
investigations of Olrik, with whom, however, Mr. Powell does not in all
instances agree. Interesting is the contention that Saxo did not make
much use of Danish poems (p. c). The chapter on mythology is of some
importance, though too much under the spell of Rydberg's ingenious sys-
tematizing. Neither is so valuable to the student of folk-lore as section
7, but both deserve careful study.
G. L. Kittredge.
The Man who Married the Moon, and other Pueblo Indian Folk-
Stories. By Charles F. Lummis. New York : The Century Company,
1894. Pp. X, 239.
Five years' residence at the Tiwa pueblo of Isleta on the Rio Grande in
New Mexico brought the author in such intimate contact with the natives
that his knowledge of the Pueblos in general and of the Isleta tribe in par-
ticular is extensive. The fact that the author found it agreeable to live so
long among this people is a guaranty of his thorough appreciation of their
mode of thought and of his friendly sympathy for their welfare, through
which alone may successful work among a primitive people be accom-
plished.
Mr. Lummis relates in all thirty-three tales, introduced by a description
of these " brown story-tellers and their country." The tales are not only of
interest to the mythologist, but when carefully analyzed of much value to
the student of the early history and ethnology of this fascinating quarter
of the continent. For instance, a cursory examination of the work reveals
an account of the aboriginal marriage custom of the Isletaiios, and the form
of initiation into one of the sacred medicine orders, the ceremonial circuit
of east, north, west, and south, with their respective symbolic colors of
white, blue, yellow, and red, being observed. We also learn that Isleta is
one of two pueblos occupying to-day the site of three centuries and a half
ago ; that the men formerly did the weaving ; that arrow-heads and scalp-
ing-knives were invented by the horned toad, who also introduced irriga-
tion to mankind ; that Isleta boys must not smoke until they have taken
a scalp and have thus proven their manhood ; that Isleta is the centre of
the universe — a belief to which the Zuhis also adhere with reference to
their own domain ; that all hunters give the cacique a tenth of their game
for his support ; that nearly all animals known to the Tiwa have a ceremo-
nial and sacred name besides a common name ; that the houses and their
contents belong to the women, the fields and other outside property to the
men ; that the thunder is the sacred dance-rattle of the Tiwa gods, etc.
Many similarities to Zuni mythology are shown in the collection of tales.
Bibliographical Noies. 169
For example, in the Isleta Shee-p'ah-poon, or great " Black Lake of Tears,"
we recognize the Shipapulima of the Zuhis as well as the Cibobe or Sipap
of other Rio Grande villages. The Zufii Ahaiyuta and Matsailema are re-
called to mind by the Queres Od-yah-wee and Maiw-Sahv, the Hero Twins
of the Sun Father and Moon Mother, — characters which are indeed found
throughout Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo mythology. The She-wo-nah or
Storm King of the Queres reminds us of the godlike Shiwani of the Zunis,
and the " Corn Maidens " are common to both these peoples.
As already intimated, some of the tales are Queres, introduced into Isleta
a generation ago by a hundred and fifty villagers from Acoma and Laguna,
who were forced to abandon their own pueblos on account of the drought.
One at least is of Tusayan origin. Several are undoubtedly modern ;
among these are " Honest Big Ears," or why the burro strikes backward ;
" The man who would n't keep Sunday " (an Indian fairy tale with a Chris-
tian moral, the scene of the story being an ancient pueblo) ; " The First of
the Rattlesnakes," in which goats play a prominent part; "The Feathered
Barbers," in which scissors figure, etc., etc. Others bear evidence of great
antiquity, no indication of contact with white people appearing therein ;
while others again are apparently ancient tales with intrusive references to
goats, sheep, cheese, cats, wheat, and other relics of civilization. " The
Drowning of Pecos " bears every evidence of antiquity, yet the tale is
known to be only half a century old. It is therefore impossible in many
cases to determine where the ancient ends and the modern begins.
Witchcraft, of course, plays a prominent role in many of the tales.
Everything that is to the left belongs to the sorcerers ; thus we are told
that a witch, in playing hide-and-seek, hid under the left wing of a duck,
and that a wizard, being found guilty, was shot through the left side. One
whose eyes look red is regarded as a probable sorcerer, for witch-people
are supposed not to sleep at night. The antitype of the prayer-plume-
wand is the accursed stick of the witches, to which woodpecker feathers are
appended.
In " Doctor Field Manse " it is learned that no folk^tales are told after
the fourteenth of March, that is, between the Spring Medicine-making and
the Fall Medicine-making in October, lest the Rattlesnake, who is at this
season out of his hole, punish them for some slip of the tongue.
Every folk-lorist who would gain a knowledge of Pueblo mythology
should read this entertaining book.
F. W, Hodge.
The Madonna of St. Luke ; the Story of a Portrait. By [Mrs.] Hen-
rietta Irving Bolton. With an introductory letter by Daniel Hunt-
ington. Ten full-page illustrations. G. P. Putnam's Sons. New York,
1895. Pp- ^> ^27. i6mo.
This work is not properly a study in folk-lore, but it contains a treasury
of special information closely allied to it. The author has retold and an-
alyzed the legends of St. Luke as the painter of a portrait of the Virgin
Mary. The veteran artist of New York city, Mr. Daniel Huntington,
1 70 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
some time president of the National Academy, remarks in a prefatory note
tl^at the author has " grouped the various legends and set them in compact
order, clearly illustrating the true story without losing the poetry and sim-
ple Christian feeling which lend such grace and charm to the subject. She
has filled a gap in the history of Christian Art by tracing these legends
back to their source, in a spirit harmonizing with the graphic truth and
tenderness of St. Luke's narrative of the early life of the Holy Mary and
her Divine Child."
Of special folk-lore interest are the traditions relating to the founding of
the Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore, and the adventures of Azavedo and
his companions. The gracefully written book is illustrated by reproduc-
tions of the portrait painted by St. Luke, and of pictures by several old
masters who have delineated the Evangelist in the act of painting the
Virgin ; these include works by Jean de Mabuse, Benedetto Buonfigli,
Raphael, and Mignard. The little book is daintily bound in blue cloth.
NOTES ON PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
In a discussion of the Creation Legend of Samoa, originally offered as a
paper at a session of the " Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde," A. Bastian calls
attention to the mass of philosophic ideas contained in this legend, and the
manner in which the religious philosophy of civilized countries is paralleled
in Samoan conceptions. The material is supplied by the works of Turner,
Pratt, and the Royal Society of South Wales (1891) • it is gratifying to be
informed that an addition to Samoan printed literature is expected from
Dr. Stiibel, German consul-general. In order to the comprehension of
this mythology, it is most important to possess more extended texts, and
also, what now completely fails, a knowledge of Samoan ceremonial and
the relation of the myths to the rites.
A longer treatise by the same writer on the Mythology and Psychology
of Negroes in Guinea sets forth the same idea, that the most abtruse con-
ceptions of the most advanced philosophies are paralleled by the notions of
primitive races. Beside the works of Ellis and others, the writer refers to
a Report regarding religious views and usages of the Ewe contained in
Dankelmann's " Mittheilungen aus dem deutschen Schiitzgebiet," 1892, and
to the publications of Missionary Societies, like those of the Norddeutschen
Mission. Unfortunately the simple and necessary usage of a bibliography,
and of precise references, is not observed, the source of the several allu-
sions being imperfectly explained. The habit of the distinguished author,
of bringing the entire mental universe under contribution, and of continual
use of brackets, makes the treatise almost as difficult to follow as if the
matter consisted of algebraic problems.
Dr. Boas contributes to knowledge of the languages of the Pacific coast
a few Salishan texts, fragmentary versions of myths. These illustrate the
exceeding difficulty of getting a correct comprehension of aboriginal ideas,
as the interlinear version would itself be unintelligible without a free ren-
dering. The mythic material includes stories of the stealing of the sun,
Bibliographical Notes. 171
the burning of the earth by a son of the sun god, who undertakes to carry
the luminary in the place of his father, and is finally thrown down and
changed into a mink by Snx the sun. In the story of Wawalis, a bloody
tragedy, the hero, somewhat after the manner of a celebrated mediaeval
story, offers to his wife as food the head of her lover. The first of these
tales relates how lalit fools the Sneneiq (a demon whose child he has
killed) by professing sympathy, and is made a chief in consequence.
The paper on the Tusayan New Fire Ceremony, by Dr. J. Walter
Fevvkes, is one of those additions to knowledge which the writer is able to
make from the inexhaustible material. The view is set forth, that Tusayan
mythology and ritual has grown up by composition, and by incorporation
of many cults ; as each people joined the nucleus it brought its own pecul-
iar cults, and the retention of the names attached to these caused the same
earth goddess to possess many names. The ceremony at the present time
is not the only one in the year at which fire is lighted. The embers, being
looked on as sacred, are ceremonially disposed of. The rile contains ele-
ments of licentious amusement.
From the larger collection of Alice Bertha Gomme, already noticed in
this Journal, is taken a second series of Children's Singing Games, con-
taining eight of the games, and adapted to childish use.
Mr. Sidney Hartland's brief note concerning a rite now dying out at St.
Briavels traces its connection with the Godiva legend. It was until very
lately customary to bring to the church on Whitsunday afternoon baskets
of the stalest bread and hardest cheese cut up into small pieces the size of
dice. Immediately after the service the bread and cheese were scrambled
for in the church, and it was the custom to use them as pellets, the parson
coming in for a share as he left the pulpit. The custom was said to be for
the privilege of cutting and taking wood in Hudnolls, and this privilege was
affirmed to have been obtained of some Earl of Hereford, at the instance
of his lady, on the same terms that Lady Godiva obtained the privileges
for the citizens of Coventry. Mr. Hartland, by the aid of comparative
examination, finds it probable that the rite was a survival of an ancient
heathen ceremony, probably of an agricultural character, and peculiar to
women, in which the latter made procession in a state of nudity, as is still
the case in India and on the Gold Coast of Africa. He compares Greek
and Roman rites and legends.
The relation of the belief in another life to the idea of justice is dis-
cussed by L, Marillier, in a treatise full of learned comparisons and inter-
esting observations. By means of a long collection of examples, the writer
makes it appear that the primitive belief of the survival of the soul is
devoid of a moral character. In general, the well and ill behaved are sup-
posed to have the same destiny in the future life, while in the numerous
cases in which a difference of fate is assumed, this separation rests on dif-
ferences of wealth or birth or occupation, rather than on individual merit.
He remarks : " Assuredly, it would not be true to affirm that the manner
in which men treat each other has not, to the eyes of savage peoples, any
appreciable effect on the destiny of their souls in the other life ; but the
172 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.
examination of facts presently to be pointed out will show : (i) that when
any moral conception presides over the separation of souls into distinct
.residences, it is usually not unaccompanied by other conceptions ; (2) that
many actions which we consider as having moral worth (as for example,
deeds of valor) are for the savage only signs of superior vigor, or greater
spiritual force, that the words are to be taken somewhat in a physical and
material significance. Besides, it is sometimes difficult to determine exactly
what uncivilized races mean by the expressions good or bad, and that one
would be exposed to singular mistakes if he desired to preserve for these
words their moral significance." In some of the American myths respect-
ing the future state, the author is disposed to see a transformed image of
Christian conceptions. In considering the question of the origin of the
beliefs regarding the effect of present actions on future destiny, Mr. Ma-
rillier is inclined to assume the influence of a metaphysical rather than a
moral conception. The actions punished by deities are in the first instance
those which injure these deities ; thus the negligence of ritual observances
is for a long time considered as more severely punished than the most seri-
ous injuries done to one's neighbor. In the beginning, punishment of
crime is a private affair in the next world as in this, being left to the spirits
themselves ; as the authority of particular deities increases, and their func-
tions multiply, deities of the world of the dead come to be regarded as
judges who extend their authority over all human acts ; such at least is the
conception of this investigator. Mr. Marillier is charged with conducting
the studies on religions of uncivilized peoples in the French Ecole Pra-
tique des Hautes Etudes, Section des Sciences Religieuses. The list of the
courses of this governmental institution, appended to the treatise, shows
what a salutary effect the School, as we believe without peer in any coun-
try, must exercise on the development of the science of the history of reli-
gions.
P. Se'billot prints a series of brief notices on the legends and curiosities
of different trades. In the tw'o numbers before us, he treats of coiffeurs,
couturieres, dentellieres et modistes. The articles are illustrated from old
prints. With regard to the hair-dressers may be mentioned the general
habits of uncleanliness caused by the use of powder ; the custom of coun-
try hair-cutters of placing a wooden dish on the head of the customer, and
shearing as much as exceeded the limit of the circle, and the manner of
educating apprentices, at first by using a wooden head, and afterwards, by
shaving poor folk for nothing. In " Measure for Measure," Shakespeare
makes the Duke say (Act. v. Sc. i), —
Laws, for all faults ;
Rut faults so countenanced, that the strong statutes
Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop,
As much in mock as mark.
The writer observes, that this alludes to the custom, in England, of ex-
hibiting in a conspicuous position of the shop a rule forbidding certain
things, such as handling razors, speaking of cutting one's throat ; these
were common in Suffolk up to 1830. Among amusing signs used by bar-
Bibliographical Notes, 173
bers, a common one, going back two centuries, proclaimed : Demain on
rasera gratis, to-morrow shaving will be free. Regarding needle-women,
Mr. Se'billot observes that formerly, tailors possessed the sole right of
dressing men and women, and that this privilege is mentioned in their
statutes of 1660.
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
Bastian, a. Die samoanische Schopfungs-Sage und Anschliessendes
aus der Siidsee. Berlin : E. Felber, 1894. Pp. 50.
Bastian, A. Zur Mythologie und Psychologic der Nigritier in Guinea
mit Bezugnahme auf socialistische Elementargedanken. Mit einer Karte.
Berlin : Dietrich Reimer, 1894. Pp. 162.
Boas, F. Salishan Texts. (Proceedings American Philosophical Society,
1895. Pp. 31-48.)
Boas, F. Chinook Texts. Washington : Government Printing Office,
1894. Pp. 278.
Chatelain, H. Bantu Notes and vocabularies, No. i. The language
of the Bashi-lange and Ba-luba. Pp. 31.
Fewkes, J. Walter. The Tusayan New Fire Ceremony. (Proceedings
of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. xxvi. pp. 422-458.)
Fletcher, Robert. Anatomy and Art. The Annual Address read be-
fore the Philosophical Society of Washington, December 12, 1894. Wash-
ington : Judd & Detweiler, 1895. Pp. 24.
GoMME, Alice B. Children's Singing Games. Pictured in Black and
White by Winifred Smith. Second Series. New York : Macmillan & Co.
Pp. 71.
Haliburton, R. G. Survivals of Dwarf Races in the New World.
(Proceedings of the Amer. Assoc, for the Advancement of Science, 1894.)
Pp. 14.
Hartland, E. Sidney. The Whitsunday Rite at St. Briavels. (Transac-
tions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archeeological Society.) Pp. 12.
Hodge, F. W. List of the Publications of the Bureau of Ethnology,
with index to authors and subjects. Washington : Government Printing
Office, 1894. Pp. 25.
Krohn, Julius. Suomen suvun pakanallinen jumalanpalan velus :
Helsingfors, 1894. Pp. 193.
Marillier, L. La survivance de I'ame et I'ide'e de justice chez les
peuples non civilise's. Paris : Imprimerie Nationale, 1894. Pp. 60.
Sebillot, p. Le'gendes et curiosites des me'tiers. IV. Les coiffeurs.
V. Les couturi^res, dentelli^res et modistes. Paris : E. Flammarion. Pp.
l^, 32.
Starr, Frederick. Notes on Mexican archaeology. Chicago : Univ.
of Chicago Press, 1894.
Tooker, William Wallace. Discovery of Chaunis Temoatan, of 1586.
(Reprinted from the American Antiquarian, January, 1895.) Pp. 15.
1 74 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
JOURNALS.
[Note. In this department it is not intended to give a full bibliography of the period-
ical literature of the subject, nor even to include every article printed in the journals
cited, but only to furnish indications which may be of value to students of folk-lore.]
1. The American Anthropologist. (Washington.) Vol. VIII. No. i, Janu-
ary, 1895. Stone art in America. J. W. I'owell. — The Huacos of Chica Val-
ley, Peru. S.M.Scott. — Caste in India. J. H. Porter. — Micmac Customs
and Traditions. S. Hager. — The writings of Padre Andres de Olmos in
the languages of Mexico. J. C. Pilling. — Chinese origin of playing-cards. W.
H. Wilkinson. — Colonel Garrick Mallcry. R. Fletcher. — No. 2, April. Simi-
larities in Culture. O. T. Mason. — A comparison of Sia and Tusayan sn^ke
ceremonials. J. Walter Fewkes. — The first discovered city of Cibola. F.
W. Hodge. — Cliff ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. C. Mindeleff. —
Obituaries. — Book Notices. — Notes and News. — Bibliography of anthropo-
logic literature.
2. The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal. (Good Hope, 111.)
Comparison of the eftlgy-builders with the modern Indians. S. D. Peet. — No.
2, March. Hidery story of creation. J. Deans.
3. The Atlantic Monthly. (Bostoii.) April, 1895. Flower lore of children.
A. M. Earle.
4. Liberia. (Washington.) November, 1S94. African folk-tales. (Review of
the work of H. Chatelain.) H. R. Stetson.
5. Southern Workman and Hampton School Record. (Hampton, Va.)
December, 1894. Folk-lore and ethnology. Contributions from correspondents.
Vol. XXIV. No. I, 1895. Plantation Courtship. No. 2, February. Negro folk-
songs. No. 3, March. Folk medicine. Hag lore.
6. Science. (New York.) Anthropologic Notes. D. G. Brinton. — (A
series of notes.)
7. The Antiquary. (London.) No. 62, February, 1895. Further notes on Manx
folk-lore. A. W. MooRE. — No. 64, April. The death-dove and its congeners in
popular folk-lore. M. Peacock.
8. Polk-Lore. (London.) Vol. V. No. 4, December, 1894. "Tommy on the
Tub's grave." R. Weir Schultz. — Ghostly lights. M. J. Walhouse. — The
Irish Mirabilia in the Norse "Speculum Regale." KuNO Meyer. — Legends
from the Woodlarks, British New Guinea. A. C. Haddon. — Reviews. — Cor-
respondence. — Miscellanea. Scraps of folk-lore collected chiefly in Berkshire.
Hop-scotch at Simla. Folk-lore items from North Indian Notes and Queries.
Vol. VI. No. I, March, 1895. Notes on Beltane cakes. W. Gregor. — The
Rollright stones and their folk-lore. A. J. Evans. — Presidential address. E.
Clodd. — Some Corean customs and notions. T. Watters. — Reviews. — Cor-
respondence. — Folk-lore items from North Indian Notes and Queries. — Annual
Report, etc.
9. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. (London.) January, 1895. My-
thological studies in the Rigvedas. A. A. Macdonell.
10. Journal des Savants. (Paris.) January, 1895. De I'origine des cultes
arcadiens. (Continued in March.) G. Perrot. — February. Les sources du
roman de Renard. G. Paris.
11. Melusine. (Paris.) Vol. VII. No. 5, September, 1894. La blanche biche.
II. G. DoNCiEUX. — Le mariage en mai. P. le Blanc. — La fascination.
(Continued in Nos. 7, 8.) J. Tuchmann. — L'dtymologie populaire. H. Gaidoz.
— No. 6, November. Airs de danse de Morbihan. E. de Schoultz-Adaievsky.
— Chansons populaires de la Basse-Bretagne. E. Ernault. — No. 7, January.
Bibliographical Notes. 1 7 5
Un ancctre du Quatrieme Etat dans I'imagerie populaire. H. Gaidoz. — La
Grande Ourse, XII. : le Char Peugeot. S. Berger. — Saint Eloi. H. Gaidoz.
12. Revue Celtique. (Paris.) Vol. XVI. No. i, January, 1895. " Navan
Fort," appel^ en vieil irlandais Emain Macha. H. d'Arhois du Jubainville. —
The prose tales in the Rennes Dinsendchas. W. Stokes. — Le roi Loth des
romans de la Table Ronde. J. Loth.
13. Revue des Traditions Populairea. (Paris.) Vol. IX. No. 11, Novem-
ber, 1S94. Folk-lore annamite. G. Dl'MOUTIER. — No. 12, December. Contes
et traditions du Haut-Zambi^ze. (Continued in Vol. X. Nos. 1-3.) E. Jacot-
TET. — Vol. X. No. I, January, 1895. Ldgendes et superstitions del' Armenie.
(Continued in No. 4.) E. Lalayantz. — Proverbes poitevins. R. M. Lacuve.
— No. 2, FebruacT)-. Lk-bas sur ces grands champs, essai de litterature compar^e.
L. PiXEAU, — No 3, March. Contes arabes et orientaux. XI. Le roi et le
Dragon. G. Demoxbynes.
14. Bulletin de Folk-lore. (Li6ge.) Vol. IV. No. 5, January-March, 1895.
Ldgendes, I. Xhove et le roi des Sotays. Bovy. — La Mgende du grand saint
Nicholas. R. de Mares. — Flore populaire wallonne. J. Feller. — Contes.
E. MONSEUR.
15. "Wallonia. (Liege.) Vol. III. No. i, Januarj', 1895. Le trou en terre.
A. GiTTEE. — No. 2, February. Le tirage au sort. O. CoLSOX.
16. Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizioni Popolari. (Palermo.) Vol.
XIII. No. 4, 1894. Usi natalizi senesi. G. B. CoRSi. — Divinazioni e sortilegi
delle tribu di Nyassa nell' Africa Orientale. E. Regalia. — Antiche leggende
devote di Sicilia. F. Pulci. — Proverbi piemontesi. F. Seves. — II giuoco
turco della Girida a Smirne nel secolo XVIII. — Feste sarde sacre e profane. G.
FERR.A.RO. — Formulas portuguezas de juramentos, pragas e imprecacoes. A. T.
PiRES. — 6 novelle soprannumerie all Vetala pancavingati. D. V. Bettei. —
Contes de pretres et de moines recueillis en Haute Bretagne. P. Sebillot. —
Le dodici parole della Veritk. (Continued.) S. Prato.
17. La Calabria. (Monteleone.) Vol. VIII. No. 8, April, 1895. Novellina
greca di Rocca forte. — Raccolta di proverbi e sentenze geracesi. — Saggio di
nomi calabresi. — Proverbi albanesi di Falconara. — Canti sacri di Pizzoni.
18. Rivista delle Tradizioni Popolari Italiane. (Rome.) VoL II. No. 4,
1895. Tradizioni popolari di Nuoro. (Sardegna. Continued in No. 5.) G. Del-
EDDA. — Leggende. — Saggio sui canti popolari siciliani. G. Rametta-Garo-
faro. — Morti e moribondi nelle credenze del Logudora. (Sardegna.) G. Calvia
Secchi. — Usanze. — Motti e proverbi popolari. — Cibi tradizionali. No. 5,
April. Tradizioni popolari dell' Alto Polesine. P. Mazzuchi.
19. Am Urquell. (Ed. by F. S. Krauss, Vienna.) Vol. V. Nos. 9-10. Teufel-
namen. M. Hofler. — Der Selbstmord bei den Tschuktschen. A. Skryncki.
— Wie sich Volkmarchen verbreiten. (Continued in Nos. 11-12.) H. F. Feil-
BERG. — No. II, Kartenspiel und Losglaube aus Westpreussen. A. Treichel.
— No. 12. Songs of the Indian Ghost Dance. J. Mooney. — Der Mann im
Monde. H. Volksmaxn. — Vol. VI. No. i. Tiere im Glauben der Zigeuner.
Erzherzog Joseph. — Die Sterne im indogermanischen Seelenglauben. L.
SCHERMAN. — Zahlen, Messen, Wagen. P. Sartori. — Qualgeister im Volk-
glauben der Rumanen. (Continued in No. 2.) H. V. Wlislocki. — No. 2.
Das Kind in Glaube und Branch der Pommern. A. Hass. — Bienenzauber und
Bienenzucht. H. Theex-Soby.
20. Ethnologisches Notizblatt. Herausgegeben von der Direktion des Kon-
iglichen Museums fiir Volkerkunde in Berlin. No. i, 1894. Vorbemerkungen.
21. Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnographie. (Leyden.) Uber den Glau-
ben vom Jenseits und den Todtencultus der Tscheremissen. S. K. Kusnezow.
I 76 yotir7ial of A77ierlca7i Folk-Lorc.
22. Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in "Wien. (Vienna.)
Vol. XXIV. No. 6, 1S94. All.Lremeine Vcrsammlung unci Stiftungsfcst der
Deutschen Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Innsbruck vom 24-28 August,
1S94. Einige Resultate der moderner Elhnologie. Von Adrian. — Uber das
volktliiimliches Haus in den osterreichischen Alpen. G. Merixger. — Volks-
kundliche Rcisenotizen aus Osterreich. \V. Hein.
23. Mittheilungen der Schlesischen Gesellschaft fiir Volkskunde. (Bres-
lau. Edited by F. Vogt and O. Jiriczek.) Vol, I. No. i. Uber schlesische
Volksglauben. F. Vogt. — Slavische Niederschlage im Schlesischen Deutsch.
W. Nehring. — No. 3. Seelenglauben und Namengebung. O. Jiriczek. —
No. 4. Die Beziehungen des Brahmanismus zur indischen Volksreligion. A.
Hillebrandt. — No. 5. Die Festtage im Glauben und Brauch des schlesichen
Volkes. F. Vogt.
24. Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie. (Berlin.) Vol. XXVI. No. 6, 1894. Hoch-
zeitsgebrauche der unteren Volksklassen der Stadt-Araber und Fellahinin Aegj'p-
ten. Schweixfurth. — Fledermaus-Gott der Maya Stamme. E. Seler.
25. Zeitschrift des Vereins fiir Volkskunde. (Berlin.) Vol. V. No. i,
1895. iJber Krankheits-Beschworungen. M. Bartelo. — Schwanke und Schnur-
ren im islamischen Orient. M. Hartmann. — Abzahlreime aus den Bergis-
chen. O. Schell. — Zwei orientalische Episoden in Voltaires Zadig. G. Amal-
FIE. — Die Weber-Zenze. Eine Tiroler Dorffigur nach dem Leben. M.
Rehsexer. — Einige Beispiele von Hexen- und Aberglauben aus der Gegend vom
Arnstadt und Ilmenau in Thiiringer. RI. Leh.maxn-Filhes.
26. Zeitschrift fiir Vergleichende Litteraturgeschichte. (Weimar.) Vol.
VIII. Nos. 1-2, 1895. Die ossianische Heldenlieder. I. L. C. Sterx.
27. Nyare Bidrag till Kannedom om de svenska Landsmalen ock
svenskt Folklif. (Stockholm.) Vol. XIII. No. l, 1894. Lidmal. Ordsprak ock
talesatt, smarim, gator, aventyr, sagner, seder ock tankesatt. Upptecknade i
Frostviken av. K. H. Waltman. — Vol.11. (Appendix.) Barbro Bandrs Vis-
bok. — Par Brahes Visbok.
28. Cesky Lid. (Prague.) Vol. IV. No. i, 1894. (Titles given in transla-
tion.) Les mais dans les environs de Uhlirske Janovive. V. Esner. — Chan-
sons valaques des environs de Vsetin en Moravie. — J. Valek. — Sur les sorci-
ers k Kutna Hora en XVI. si^cle. J. Simek. — Fete des Rois a Vlastibor en
Boh^me. F. Vaxous. — No. 2. Domlaty, une fete de village dans les environs
de Boleslav. J. Konopas. — Comment doit-on dtudier le peuple et ses contes.
V. TiLLE. — Le parrain dans la tradition nationale. A. Dostal. — Bibliographic
folkloristique tcheque de 1892. F. Patek.
29. "Wisla. (Warsaw.) Vol. VIII, 1894. (Titles given in translation.) Contes
populaires polonais ayant des rapports avec les " Gesta Romanorum." J.
Bystron. — Chants du peuple silesien des environs de Teschen. I. S. Ciechax-
owsKi. — - Etres mythiques chez les Serbes lusaciens. A. Cerny. — Chants de
Noel notds a Wisla, village situd k la source de la vistule. B. Hoff. — Theatre
de marionettes k Radom. S. Jastrzebowski. — Noce lithuanienne aux envi-
rons de Wielona. A. Jushiewicz. — " Le roi Lear" en Pologne. J. Karlo-
wicz. — Rites de noce a Szotaydy. L. Lissowski. — La littdrature populaire. J.
Los. — Chansons populaires pendant le macquage du lin dans la Gallicie du sud-
ouest. W. Matlakowski. — La mort dans I'imagination'et dans les contes popu-
laires. K. IMatyas. — Les mendiants dans les environs de Sieradz. I. Piat-
kowska. — Costume des femmes de Blozwia Gorna. M. Ramultowa. — La
chevre de Noel. G. Zielinski. — Quelques prdjugds de berger. G. Zielixski.
— Congres international de folkloristes k Chicago. M. Zmigrodzki.
THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
Vol. VIII. — JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1895. — No. XXX.
SOxAIE CAUSES OF THE RETARDATION OF AFRICAN
PROGRESS.
No generation has ever witnessed such rapid and radical changes
in the cartography of a continent as ours has in that of Africa. No
less rapid and thorough is the modification taking place in the esti-
mate placed by the scientific world on the physical, intellectual, and
moral character and possibilities of the African negro, or Bantu-
negro race, which constitutes about three fourths of the whole Afri-
can population.
When I began my studies (which happened to be chiefly in the
German school), popular ethnologic opinion placed the negro race
at the bottom of the scale of human races and the Germanic at the
top. The negro was considered to be an imperfect human being,
the residue of an unsuccessful attempt of Nature at man-making, a
clog in the wheel of progressive evolution which Nature would have
to eliminate in order to make room for the Germanic race, in whom
alone she had realized her ideal of human kind.
I must confess that when I first went to Africa,' ten years ago, I
was myself so imbued with the prevailing prejudice that it was a
continual surprise to meet so many indications of the African negro's
similarity to our own white humanity. Not that I overlooked its
vices — which are human — or underrated its peculiar weaknesses,
but these I found to be traceable to the difference in religion,
knowledge, and environment rather than to constitutional inferiority.
To-day public opinion in Germany and elsewhere is largely
reversing its judgment. As Central Africa is no longer the arid and
torrid desert of the geographies of our fathers, so the African native
is no longer a fatally inferior being, doomed to eternal subjection, or
even extinction. No German acquainted with colonial affairs enter-
tains now any hope of the German race superseding the native
races of Africa, or even of the Germans maintaining their political
and commercial supremacy for more than a few generations.
1 78 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lorc.
The warlike Germans have learned to appreciate the military
abilities of the African negro. In the recent colonial wars, the
'German arms — fondly thought to be invincible — have been repeat-
edly defeated by bush-natives armicd with arrows and flint-locks,
while hired negro soldiers of the colonial troops have had to be
medalled, publicly praised, and raised in rank for heroic behavior on
the battlefield. Now, too, German authorities and scientific insti-
tutions, while not undervaluing the geographical information of
travellers, turn to the resident missionaries for reliable data on
African questions, and realize the importance of their cooperation in
the solution of the great social problems of the colonies.
In England, where since the days of Wilberforce the prejudice
has ceased to be as general as elsewhere, a marked change for the
better is also noticed in the way the government and the secular
press treat African affairs, and the motto " Africa for the African
and by the African " is gaining more and more favor.
The question which now arises is : How is it, that with such a
bright intellect, backed by such a hardy physique, the African negro
should have remained in such a low state of culture .-'
It is my object in this paper, not to demonstrate the causes of this
stagnation, but to give the result of my direct observations as to
some of these causes.
The statement of these causes will also show what obstacles are
to be removed or overcome before the African negro, as a race, can
enter an era of healthy, steady, and ever-expanding development.
Let me premise that my statements refer to the whole black or
negro race of Africa, including the Bantu, the Upper Guinea, and the
Sudan tribes, all of which constitute one family and race, the differ-
ences being chiefly tribal and, to sotne extent, linguistic.
As I see things after nine years of personal dealing with native
Africans, and a longer period of study, the principal visible causes
of the stagnation of African native civilization are these : i, seclu-
sion and climate ; 2, the lack of a system of writing ; 3, polygamy;
4, slavery ; 5, the fear of witchcraft. Of these hindrances the fear
of witchcraft is by far the most universal, the most pernicious, and
the most difficult to overcome.
I. Seclusion. As far as our knowledge goes, no race or nation
ever developed a great civilization entirely from its own native ele-
ments. Everywhere the golden age of a nation seems to have been
preceded by the importation of foreign ideas and due to the
ingrafting of these on a national stock. Moreover, the progressive
development of a civilization seems to be dependent upon the contin-
ued introduction of foreign elements, physical as well as intellectual
and moral.
Some Causes of the Retardation of African Progress. 179
Since the dawn of history, the bulk of Africa has never been in
direct and enduring intercourse with a life-giving civilization. No
doubt, all African arts show some remote contact with Egypt, and
it is probable that the Punas, settled on both sides of the Red Sea,
which is said to have received its name from them, had settlements
along the East Coast and built the towers of Zimbabye in Mashona-
land. But they seem to have been only temporary residents, buying
the produce of the country and mining for gold. On the north the
Sahara has ever been a barrier between Central Africa and the civ-
ilizations of the Mediterranean.
For four hundred years the West Coast has been visited by nom-
inal Christians, but man-stealing was the only real object of their
expeditions and it is no wonder that vice and crime should have
been the only things encouraged by their presence.
The negro nation of the Uaua, neighbors of the ancient Egyp-
tians, the Sudan tribes which have adopted Islam, and the tribes
of West and South Africa which have been under British and Por-
tuguese influence since the extinction of the ultramarine slave traf-
fic, have proved that the seeds of genuine civilization, dropped in
African negro soil, in due course of time yield satisfactory fruits.
Nor should we forget that, as necessity is the mother of inven-
tion, and as bountiful nature supplies the African with all his needs
without great exertion on his part, the lack of this great stimulus of
human activity and invention must have had a retarding influence
on his development.
2. TJie Lack of a Written Literature. For a long time it was
considered a fact that the African negroes had no native and tribal
literature, and it was assumed that they had none because they were
unable to produce them. Recent researches, however, have proved
that the unwritten literature of Africa compares favorably with that
of any other continent or race. The higher education of native Afri-
cans has also proved that, far from showing an absolute inferiority,
the negro is rather better gifted than the Germanic race in purely
literary ability. Africans, as a rule, are born elocutionists, linguists,
and musicians, but they are lacking in the logic, the depth of
thought and feeling so characteristic of the Germanic race. Why,
of all races, the negro should have failed to invent^ or adopt a sys-
tem of writing is a mystery. That they would have developed a
great native literature and a considerable native civilization, if the
thoughts and the inventions of their geniuses could have been accu-
mulated and transmitted to successive generations, will easily be ad-
mitted by those who have had fair dealings with unspoiled African
^ The original characters used in the Vey language are modern, and were sug-
gested to the Inventor by the Arabic.
I So Joiirnal of A merican Folk-L ore.
natives. One reason why a system of writing was never introduced,
or why, if ever it was, it never became general, is found in the fact
that a genius or innovator in Africa is almost sure to be accused of
witchcraft and to suffer death. We know how much religious
intolerance has done, and is yet doing in certain parts, to check
human progress. Incomparably more pernicious and effectual has
been the pagan intolerance engendered by the fear of witchcraft.
3. Polygamy. This social institution has from the remotest
times prevailed in every tribe of African negroes. I have never
heard of a single tribe practising monogamy as an institution. Nev-
ertheless, African folk-tales and conversation with uncivilized natives
show that the evils of the system are not ignored, and that the supe-
riority of monogamy is readily acknowledged, at least in theory. In
Africa as elsewhere, males and females are born in about equal num-
bers. Where polygamy is honored, every man who has the means
buys as many wives as he can. This implies that for every married
man there must be several involuntary bachelors. As it is also nat-
ural that the man can have only one favorite at a time, it follows
that the neglected wives and the bachelors will meet in some way or
other. Even where, as in some tribes, adultery is sure to be pun-
ished by death, the tendency to reestablish the balance of nature is
so strong that executions of guilty parties are rare occurrences.
This state of morals is accompanied by uncertain paternity and a
weakening of paternal and filial affection. These affections are
still more weakened by the fact that a man who has dozens of
children, many of whom he seldom sees, cannot love them equally,
and has to leave their education entirely to the mothers, with whose
secret lovers the children have often more sympathy than with
their putative father. Another result of this system is that a man
becomes selfish, and enjoys all he can of the present life without
troubling himself much with the future welfare of his numerous and
doubtful offspring.
4. Slavery. This social institution seems to be inseparable
from polygamy. Where woman is sought and paid for by the rich,
she becomes merchandise, and is sold sometimes in her childhood,
by those who have authority over her, without much regard for her
inclination. In most African tribes, children are the property of
their maternal uncles, who have the power to sell them almost as
they please. As there are no prisons or penitentiaries, all penalties
are reduced to that of death, or the payment of a fine. When a man
is unable to pay a debt or the fine imposed on his own crime, or
that of nephew or niece for whom he is responsible, he is seized and
sold into slavery, which is the African penal servitude. If he owns
nephews or nieces, he sells one or more of these in his own stead,
Some Causes of the Retardatioii of African Progress. i8i
and they rarely murmur. This is the main source of the native
slavery and slave trade ; and it is evident that edicts of European
governments are not sufficient to abolish the system. In case of
war, the vanquished are often made to pay the indemnity of war by
serving their conquerors, and these, being unable to keep so many
forced slaves in subjection, sell them to far-off tribes for what they
can fetch. Wherever slavery exists, the hard labor is performed by
the slaves (if the women be considered slaves), and labor becomes a
stigma instead .of an honor. That no great progress can be achieved,
where work and effort are despised and idleness is honored, is evi-
dent. In Loanda, the colored pupils of my paying school would
not even carry their own schoolbooks, because they had slave chil-
dren to do that, and they were afraid somebody might take them to
be slaves if they were seen doing anything usually done by slaves.
They also objected to my teaching slave boys, as that would stamp
study as a slavish occupation. Much of the laziness attributed to
African negroes is due to this feeling of caste. In some countries,
as the British Oil Rivers Protectorate, nearly all the free men are
wealthy merchants, while the mass of the population which do all
the labor are their slaves. As the commerce of the whites, not less
than the power of the ruling native aristocracy, depends on the
system of slave-labor, the latter is defended and secretly protected
even by those whose duty it is to work for its abolition.
5. Witchcraft. No one doubts that the material prosperity of a
people depends on their intellectual, moral, and social development,
and but few doubt that the intellectual, moral, and social state of a
people is the result and consequence of their religious convictions,
that is, of their personal relation to God and the spiritual world. In
theory, African mythology or religion is not so far from the truth as
is generally supposed. All African negroes, from- one end of the
field to the other, believe in a creator and controller of all things,
invisible, yet omnipresent and omnipotent. The fact that the name
of this supreme being recurs among the most distant tribes seems
to prove that the race had the idea and the name before its disper-
sion in hundreds of tribes and dialects. Being invisible, God is
never represented by an idol or believed to exist in any object or
place ; nor is he worshipped by any visible cult. In spirit and in
truth, however, God is worshipped by the African more than
most of us suspect. God's name passes frequently over the Afri-
can's lips, and never without a sense of profound reverence. In
trouble, God is sometimes invoked directly ; in joy he is praised ;
and the fullest dependence on him is constantly acknowledged.
But, as tradition goes, men have offended God, and he has become
indifferent to their weal or woe, leaving them alone in their strug-
1 8 2 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
glc with nature, beasts, fellow-men, and spirits. These spiritual
beings are said to fill the air and the earth. They are not limited
by matter, space, or time. They are neither absolutely good nor
bad, but have the same passions as men. They are clearly divided
into two classes : that of human spirits, that is, the shades, manes,
ghosts, or souls of deceased men, and that of natural spirits, or
genii. They intervene like clouds between man and his creator,
who is lost sight of in the constant dread of invisible and intangible
enemies. As the spirits can influence both natural elements and
men either for or against man, and as they can be propitiated by
gifts and enlisted one against another, it is to these inferior spirits
the African looks for preservation from harm and for success in his
undertakings, that is, for happiness. They speak to men in dreams
and visions, but most frequently through human media. These
media are generally called, in English, fetish-men, medicine-men,
doctors, or priests. Though forming a sort of secret society and
wielding great power individually, they have no hierarchic organiza-
tion, and exert, as a rule, no combined effort as a class. The fetish-
man or medium is not a witch. Consulting and enlisting spirits in
self-defence or for blessings is considered a duty, not a crime. But
the misuse of a spiritual influence for bringing harm, especially
sickness and death, on one's fellow-creatures is the most heinous
crime. It is almost invariably punished by death or banishment in
slavery. As everybody has dealings with the spirits, and the crim-
inal use of their influence cannot be detected by the senses, it is
public opinion which accuses a man of witchcraft and brings him to
the bar of the poison test, or divine ordeal, and the latter decides
whether the suspicion is correct or not. When a person dies, his or
her relations generally go to a diviner in order to find out who or what
caused the death of their relative ; for it is hardly ever believed that
a person has died of purely natural causes. Thus it devolves on the
diviner — who in the native mind and language is not confounded
with the healer or medicine-man — to point out the guilty party, and
he generally allows himself to be guided by a bribe, or personal
antipathy, but especially by public opinion. For the people are
prone to believe what they desire, and if the diviner fails to discover
their preferences, which often have not yet reached the point of
consciousness or open expression, he is declared to be a false pro-
phet, and another diviner is resorted to. It may be stated that for
every few persons who die a natural death some innocent person has
to fall a victim to the belief in witchcraft.
Amid all the carnage caused by this fatal belief, one is tempted
to overlook the fact that, in the absence of a better religion, it does
some good in preventing much oppression and crime. The weakest
Some Causes of the Retardation of African Progress. 183
slave may by witchcraft avenge himself on the most powerful tyrant,
and this checks many a passionate or powerful man. The moment
an African has offended another, the fear of the angry person's
revenge by witchcraft creeps into his bosom and often haunts him
day and night. The wisest course, then, is to avoid giving offence.
Woe to the chief himself if he arouses popular ill-will ; he may be
pointed out as the cause of any public or private misfortune, and his
office will not protect him if there is no popular favor to back it.
On the other hand, no serious progress is possible as long as this
belief and practice exists. Envy is as dangerous as revenge. If a
man in a tribe should attempt to introduce new ideas or customs —
unless he be a dreaded chief or a popular diviner believed to simply
voice the behest of some great spirit — he would probably arouse
some opposition, be accused of witchcraft at the first chance, and
perish. If a man shows any spark of genius, either by an invention
or more rational conceptions, his superior talents may be ascribed
to an enlisted spirit, envy or fear prepossess against him, and he may
pay with his life the crime of daring to know more than the others.
If a man accumulates wealth — that is, women, slaves, cattle, cloth,
powder, and guns, — his prosperity is attributed to the good luck
imparted by a spirit, and if he refuses to freely distribute his wealth
to his tribesmen, who cling to him like vampires, envy will start a
rumor, and when the diviner has to find out a witch, the prospect of
a banquet and the spoils may tempt him and the assembled people
to choose as a victim the man who dared to be richer than his neigh-
bors.
I know, at Loanda, a native of the Kisama who, as slave on a
plantation, was taught carpentry. Since his liberation this industry
has enabled him to buy six or seven good native houses and two
stone houses which he lets out to white people.- In spite of his
actual wealth, he goes about in ragged clothes, and endeavors, by
lies and lame excuses, to impress one with the idea that he is not so
rich as the people say. When asked for the reason of this strange
behavior, his answer was: "If I lived in grand style and dressed
well it would create envy, and the envious would bewitch me."
Meantime he invests part of his money in powerful charms, in order
to counteract the hostile spirits which his enemies may enlist
against him.
If a chief tries to rule independently of his headmen or the diviners,
or if he resists a popular conviction, one oracle after another may
declare him guilty of this or that calamity, and the frenzied people
may at any moment fall on him like wolves. ' Thus King Lewanika,
the powerful ruler of the Ba-rotse and a dozen subjected tribes, on
whose word depend the lives of thousands, saw not long ago some
184 Journal of American Folk-Lorc.
of the Mambunda diviners enter his royal court and there divine
that he, Lewanika, was the cause of the drought which afflicted his
people. But for the presence of the missionary Coillard, the furious
king might have there and then drowned the voices of the diviners
in their blood, or they might have felt strong enough to issue a
decree of the spirits against him and make a revolution. At all
events, the audacity of the diviners was a warning to the king.
From what precedes, it is evident that in order to regenerate
Africa and bring about the abolition of slavery and polygamy more
is required than decrees of European governments or the influence
of commerce and secular or industrial education. Especially with
regard to witchcraft does one feel the weakness of mere legislation
or material civilization, and the necessity of introducing in the place
of an erroneous and pernicious system those principles of Christian-
ity which have produced such blessed results in the moral, intellect-
ual, and material development in the leading nations of Europe and
America.
Heli Chatelain.
The Character of Chinese Folk-Tales. 1 85
THE CHARACTER OF CHINESE FOLK-TALES.
If we were to create a nation having the evolution of a distinct-
ive folk-lore as its main reason for being, we should make that
nation vast, that the wisdom of a multitude and the wit of some
inspired fool might combine in the production of each story. We
should make that nation old, so that during ages the work of natu-
ral selection could have gone on, and stories fit for human nature's
daily use might have proved their fitness by their survival. We
should isolate our nation, so that its lore should be indigenous, ex-
pressing the character of its folk, and true to the type of mind from
which it emanated. And we should have the masses in our nation
unlearned, because undisciplined intellect is the mother, the pre-
server, and the devotee of myth.
All these conditions are found perfect in a nation ready-made for
our study. China has four hundred millions of people, and has had
four thousand years of existence, in which it was shut off from the
rest of the world by boundless oceans, impassable mountains, terri-
ble deserts, and the rigid bars of its own gates. The stress and
struggle of life within it have been such as to develop a high order
of native acumen, while education has been so uncommon as to
make reading an exceptional accomplishment. It therefore consti-
tutes an ideal field for the folk-lorist, but only its borders have as
yet been explored.
The obstacles in the way of its exploration by a foreigner will
probably long remain such as they now are ; first, a diversity of for-
midable dialects, which must be mastered before anything so utterly
vernacular as are folk-stories can be well understood ; secondly, such
difference in customs that long explanations are often necessary to
an apprehending of the situations ; and thirdly, the inaccessibility
of the richest repositories of folk-lore, the inner apartments of the
household, the women's domicile.
Moreover, there is such disimilarity between oriental and occi-
dental modes of thought that the Aryan translator needs to undergo
a sort of atavism, reverting toward his remote Turanian forbears, be-
fore he can perceive the actual significance of their narratives. He
must indeed have learned to do what the Chinese themselves pre-
scribe, " Draw nutriment out of the same soil, and refreshment from
the same water-supply," before he can really assimilate or truly
reproduce their ideas. Even then, he whose training has always
demanded disbelief in the unproven will experience perpetual sur-
prise in his mental communings with those to whom such products
of the imagination as Will-o'-the-Wisp and the Man-in-the-Moon are
1 86 yournal of American Folk- Lore.
veritable personages. Absolute submergence of this intellectual
incompatibility is essential to the flow of those common human sym-
pathies which bring the best folk-stories into the current of conver-
sation. That being accomplished, many precious bits of jetsam
prove the kinship of the Mongolians with the rest of mankind. I
never felt so much at home in China as when in some hamlet that
foreign influence had never touched I watched the children playing
cat's-cradlc, forming on their little chrome-yellow fingers the very
shapes that my string used to take when I was a child in New York ;
or when they squatted on the ground and played jackstones, just as
do American boys. Even the aboriginal savages in their mountain
fastnesses seemed less alien, after I knew of their jocund dance
around the May-pole, in the manner of our Saxon forefathers.
When I began to gather the stories which have been lately printed
in "Chinese Nights' Entertainment," my object was solely that of
acquiring the colloquial speech of the Swatow Chinese. I soon found
that their stories were innumerable, and were singular revelations of
the native mind. Then when I got a clue to one, I managed to have
the teller repeat it to me alone, while I rapidly wrote it down in
romanized Chinese, preserving thus not only the sense but the sen-
tences. When I afterward decided to select some of these stories
for translation into English, only a small proportion of them were
available. Those based wholly on Mongolian usages could not be
transposed without demolishment. This becomes plain if we reverse
the process, and consider the difficulty in translating our beautiful
and beloved story of Cinderella into the language of a people who
never go to balls, nor dance ; or of setting the sweet old romance of
the Sleeping Beauty before those who deem it utterly improper for
a prince or any other man to admire any woman beside the one who
has been early provided for him by his orderly parents. Romantic
affection has no place in the Chinese scheme of life, and their folk-
lore is poverty-stricken in spirit because of this deficiency.
They have, however, other resources in abundance. To the mind
imbued from infancy with a belief in gods whose demoniacal spirits
can at will roam away from, or abide within, their wooden bodies, such
stories as the following have a living interest. This one was told to
me within a stone's-throw of just such a shrine as is mentioned, and
is about
AN UNLUCKY DEMON.
There was a fine large temple beside a much travelled road. The
idol in this temple received numerous offerings, and had an abund-
ance of food and clothing, with elegant equipage of every sort.
A hill rose behind the temple, and on the hilltop was a little
shrine where dwelt the idols called the White Mandarin and his
The Character of Chijiese Folk- Tales. i S 7
Wife. The goddess found much fault with her spouse because their
shrine was neglected. She averred that their ill condition resulted
from his stupidity, and she advised him to go to the prosperous god
at the foot of the hill, and learn from him the art of becoming rich.
Impelled by his wife's discontent, the poor demon went down the
hill to learn from his rich neighbor the secret of success. The
grand idol received him affably, and responded kindly to his inquir-
ies, saying, " I have a lasso which I throw over the heads of people,
and draw tightly as they pass by. Their heads then ache, they try
to remember where they were when their illness began, and they soon
return here bringing offerings with which to propitiate me. There-
upon I release them from the lasso, and then they become well, and
afterward bring more offerings, expressive of their gratitude to me
for their recovery. Thus I become famous, and have the reputation
of being powerful. Now, I will lend you my lasso, and you can so
use it as to become as wealthy as I."
The poor demon took the lasso with many expressions of grati-
tude, and returned to his abode. A lad, who was going out to gather
edible snails, soon passed the shrine, and the demon lassoed him.
His head thereupon began to ache so badly that he turned about and
went homeward, and the demon followed him, holding on to the
borrowed lasso, of which he dared not lose sight. The lad, having
arrived at home, told his mother that his head ached too severely to
permit his stooping down to gather snails, and she at once began
to berate him for being a lazy, unprofitable child, pretending illness
that he might avoid work. Growing angrier while she scolded, she
took a stick to beat the boy, and this so frightened the demon for
the safety of his lasso that he caught it away, and ran home with all
speed. As soon as the lasso was removed, the lad's head ceased to
ache, and no offerings were brought by either mother or son to the
shrine of the White Mandarin.
The poor demon was fearful that some injury to the lasso would
oblige him to make recompense for it to his powerful neighbor,
so he took it to its owner, and told him of the ill success in its use.
The great idol called him a dunce for lassoing such poor game as an
empty-handed snail-gatherer, and told him to keep the lasso a while
longer, and to try it upon some one who had an abundance of goods.
Soon after, the demon saw a man carrying a big load, and, think-
ing that he fulfilled the prescribed conditions, lassoed him in haste.
He was a bucket-mender, carrying an immense bundle of hoops, and
could not rightly be termed empty-handed. The man's head began
to ache, but, being poor, he felt that he could not stop work, and he
went on to the next village, where he sat down to ply his trade.
The demon drew his lasso tighter, and the man's head ached harder,
1 88 yournal of American Folk- Lore.
till he became angry, and seizing his hatchet he swung it around his
head, exclaiming, " Well, if my plaguey head is going to split, then
I '11 split it myself," Alarmed for the safety of the lasso, the demon
snatched it off and ran away. So the man got better and the shrine
got no offering.
Then the demon went again to his friend, and was derided for
having taken a poor laborer in his toils. He was told that he should
snare a rich man, who would be able to nurse his ailment, and to
make fine compensation for his cure. So the next time the demon
threw the lasso he ensnared a handsomely dressed traveller, and
followed him to his house, drawing the rope gradually tighter and
increasing the resulting headache. If the rich man had consulted
a soothsayer or a spirit-medium, as many persons do when ill, he
would have been advised to bear propitiatory offerings to the god
near whose shrine he was when the headache began. But he did
no such thing. He called a physician, who prescribed an infusion
of old camphor-wood. The rich man said that new camphor-wood
might easily be obtained, for there were plenty of chips at the idol-
makers' ; but old camphor-wood was difficult to get. " Oh," said one
of the farm-hands, who stood near, *' I know where you can get
some that is very old. There is an ancient idol in the little shrine
of the White IMandarin on the top of the hill behind the great tem-
ple. I will go and get the image to be chopped up and steeped for
you." The poor demon, hearing all this, and knowing that the old
wood referred to was his own body, loosened the lasso, and hurried
home. The aching head then got better, and the old camphor-wood
was not sought ; but the poor demon returned the lasso to his
neighbor, saying, " Here is your lasso ; you told me to snare a rich
man in it, and I did so ; the result was that I came near being my-
self destroyed."
I suppose that the preservation of this story among Chinese folk
is due to its moral, which is the same as in many other of their
tales, and is, that efficiency depends, not on the possession of power,
but on art in using it. Many Chinese folk-stories have a w^/// so
repulsive as to make their translation inexpedient. Others are sim-
ply and frankly sordid, as is the following : —
THE OBEDIENT PYTHON.
The young daughter of a woodman found in ^ mountain glen an
^%%, which she held in her hand till it hatched, and a little serpent
came out. She fed the snake and it became her fast friend and con-
stant playmate. Knowing that it would be killed if seen by her
parents, she never betrayed its existence, and always went alone to
The Character of Chinese Folk-Tales. 189
the grotto where it lived. While her mother was busy at the loom,
and her father away in the forest, she and her little companion took
their meals together, raced in the fields, climbed trees seeking fruit,
and were as merry as the summer day was long.
But the girl was suddenly betrothed to a man in the distant city,
and she knew she could neither carry the snake to her future home
nor find a habitation for it there. She told the snake all her trouble,
and the snake grew sad and moped, till she took leave of it to go to
her husband's house on her bridal day, when it turned toward the
mountains and sped out of sight.
Several years passed, and then the girl in her city home heard that
an enormous python was ravaging the hamlets round. Animals
and men came to their death in its coils, and its name was a terror
throughout the countryside. So frequent and terrible were its visita-
tions that the district magistrate offered a great reward to any one
who would destroy or drive it away. The placard announcing the
reward gave a minute description of the python, with all its spots
and marks, and the young woman recognized it as her former com-
rade. She sent notice to the magistrate that she would alone under-
take the expulsion of the python, and then she went to its lair in
the glen where it was hatched. The python welcomed her, listened
to her entreaties, evinced a desire that she might gain the promised
reward, took affectionate leave of her, went away into the depths of
the mountains, and was never heaid of more.
Of the countless animals appearing in Chinese folk-lore, possibly
the fox makes most frequent entrance, but in my own compilation I
omitted all fox-stories, because my friend Mr. Giles had published
so many of these in his " Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio."
Next after, if not oftener than the fox, the dragon prominently fig-
ures. One of the pictures everywhere exhibited in shops is that of
the wedding procession of the son of the Sea-Dragon-King. The
story, seriously believed by the folk, is that once in a great storm a
fisherman's boat was upset, and he sank safely to the bottom of the
sea, and there found himself in the midst of the festivities accompa-
nying the marriage of the son of the Eastern Dragon to the daugh-
ter of the Western Dragon. The fisherman, by making verses
appropriate to the occasion, proved his fitness for the place of an
honored guest in the palace, and was invited to stay and see the
marriage procession, and to partake of the wedding supper. He
afterward returned to upper land, and told his tale, which has been
handed down from ancient times. His stanzas introduce all known
denizens of the deep as participants in the affair: the little fish
scurrying about on errands, the turtles chanting ballads, the scallop
1 90 joJtr7ial of A merican Folk-Lore.
acting as go-between, and the oyster as staid mistress of ceremo-
nies.
A shorter narrative, manifestly suggested by the former one, is
adapted to inland hearers, and is called the " Marriage of the Carp."
It runs in this wise, the order of a human marriage procession
being kept by the animals.
thi o: lai sun p5, Come view the fields ; the sky is gray;
li-hu td chua bd. The carp brings home a wife to-day.
ho-sin pun tih-ti ; The horn is sounded by the fly,
sua^-mang khia chai-ki ; The minnow lifts the flag on high,
s6ng-hu khu khia seng ; The lizard holds the banyan twig;
he''-p6 khia kau-teng ; The crayfish brings the lanterns big,
liu-sio kng sin-nie, Mudfishes bear the sedan-chair,
he-ko tek lang-sie° ; Crabs fetch the boxes red and square ;
cui-k6i tk" po-to ; Frogs lug the bags in colors gay,
chang-hoi lai sie-ho. The snail kowtows in formal way.
A curious pathos is often manifest in Chinese folk-stories, but I
have to confess that the narrators usually appear to be unconscious
of it. To one who knows how dreary, oppressed, and homesick a
Chinese girl is during the first years of her married life, the pearl in
the following story is like the little green plant that grew in the
prison in " Picciola." It was told me by a charming young woman,
whom I might almost have believed to be its heroine, had she not
said she heard it from her grandmother, a native of a mountainous
farming district in the Kuangtung Province.
THE PEARL LANTERN.
A little girl, playing in the wood near her father's cottage, found
a small gray ^g^, which she kept and cared for. After a while a liz-
ard hatched out from it, and was reared by the child, who, fearing
harm from others to her pet, kept it concealed among the rocks. It
shared her food, and was her sole companion in her sports. It grew
large, rugged, and ugly, while she grew tall, fair, and winsome ; but
the two were close friends, and understood all each other's modes of
speech.
When the time came for the maiden to be wedded, her chief
trouble was in planning for its secret conveyance to her future home.
She knew that the loving, hideous creature, that she never dared
introduce into her mother's house, could have no welcome among
the strangers whom she must henceforth serve in the capacity of
daughter-in-law, and that she might not be able to find healthful lodg-
ing for her pet near her new domicile. She explained to the lizard all
the difficulties that she was powerless to avoid, told it her grief
should she be separated from it, and asked it whether it would go
The Character of Chinese Folk- Tales. 1 9 1
with her to an untried life, in unknown surroundings. Then the liz-
ard, at her invitation, curled itself into a little basket, which she
took with her in the sedan-chair that carried her to her husband's
house, and there she deposited it in a drain that offered the only
place of concealment near her abode. There she fed it daily from
her own portion, and talked to it in moments of leisure.
But her mother-in-law finally saw that she furtively pocketed bits
of food, watched to see what she did with them, and discovered her
feeding the lizard in its refuge. No appeal would induce the mother-
in-law to permit the reptile to be harbored about the house, and the
poor girl was obliged to tell it that its life was in danger unless it
fled. The lizard appeared to understand, and as she bent down to
stroke it, it shed a shining tear which became a pearl in her hand,
and then it turned away toward the distant woods and disappeared.
The pearl ever after shone with such brilliancy whenever she carried
it in her hand, that she never needed any other lamp after dark.
Adele M. Fielde.
192 y 02irnal of American Folk-Lore.
SUPERSTITIONS FROM CONNECTICUT.
When you hear frogs peep for the first time in the spring, make
a silent wish, and it will come to pass.
Put a ring on the finger of another person, saying, " I wish it on
until such a time," and if it be not removed before the expiration of
the period named, the wish will come to pass.
To comb the hair after dark is a sign of sickness.
Comb your hair after dark,
Come sorrow to your heart.
If one mends their clothes upon their back.
It is a sign their trouble will never come back.
The shape of that portion of the hog's intestine known as the
melt foretells the severity of the winter. When it is larger at one
end, that part of the Avinter is expected to be the coldest.
When one asks for more at table, while he has something on his
plate, it is a sign that some one is coming hungry.
W^hen company enter by one door and go out by another, it is a
sign that more company are coming.
If, while children are picking huckleberries, one picks from a bush
already in possession of another, they say that the trespasser will
spill his berries.
In buying a horse, —
One white foot buy him,
Two white feet try him,
Three white feet deny him,
Four white feet and a white nose,
Cut off his head and throw it to the crows.
To cure warts on the hands : throw a pin in the well, and wish
the warts on the hands of some one else.
Another cure : cut your finger nails and put them in the knot-
hole of a tree ; then stop up the hole, wishing the warts on to some
one else.
A third cure : rub a white bean on the wart, wrap it in paper, and
throw it on the road ; whoever picks it up will get the warts.
When a family move, it is a bad sign to move the cat.
Determine the age of a cow by the number of wrinkles on the
horns, counting one wrinkle for every year after, three.
If you want to be sick or want to be dead,
Eat an apple and go to bed.
Emma M. Backus,
Maliseet Legends. 193
MALISEET LEGENDS.
GLOOSCAP.
Gabe says, Glooscap is still living. He is going to last as
long as the world. They say that he is in the south end of the
world. There were seven Indians who went to see him. It took
them seven years to get to him. They saw him living with his
grandmother. They went there to get their wishes. One man
wanted long life. He gave them all their wishes, but he told ]iim
to come outside of his wigwam. He took him to a place and told
him to stand there. "Stand there," said he; "you will get your
wish." He was turned into a curly cedar, all limbs fit for no use,
so that nobody will ever cut him. Glooscap is doing nothing but
making arrowheads for a general war. He is not an old-looking
man. He appears to be about thirty years old. He renewed his
grandmother's youth four times. Where Glooscap is there is a
medicine-man too. This medicine-man is blind ; never opens his
eyes. He lies on one side for seven years ; then they turned him
over, and where he lay there were herbs growing, which were good
for medicine. The good of these different herbs was explained by
the medicine-man. Glooscap asked him what could he do in the
case of a general war. He said that when all were dead as far as
his eyes could see he would open them. After they had all got
their wishes, Glooscap asked them how long it had taken them to
come. They said, " Seven years."
"There is a shorter way," said Glooscap. He points out a course
to them and told them to take it. They did so and got home in four
days. Glooscap was very good, and they say that what was big and
dangerous, he reduced in size. The squirrel w^as once as big as
a lion. He brought him down to his present size, Glooscap met
the squirrel and asked him what he would do if he met a person.
He saw a stump and ran at it and tore it down with his teeth and
claws. Glooscap then put his hand on his back three times, and
thus made him as small as he now is. (This is a Chippeway story,
also.)
The bear ; Glooscap asked him what he would do ; when the bear
trotted off a short distance and looked over his shoulder as he does
now.
When Glooscap came out of the woods to the St. John River, he
found there was a dam at its mouth. Just where he came to the
river, between Boar's Head and Indian Town, he marked his own
face on the rock. You can see what looks like his curly hair. It
is on the east side of the river. He found the beaver very big and
VOL. vni. — NO. 30. 13
194 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
very dangerous. He killed the whole family, the old ones and the
young ones, so he broke the dam, and killed the beaver by spearing.
Looking up the river he saw a young beaver going up, so he threw
two stones up to the Tobique to frighten him back. These are the
Tobique Rocks. Where the dam stood, where the falls are, it
flowed back to Hampton Ferry, and above Frcdericton. There is
an island in Kennebccasis Bay, which was the beaver house. It is
called in Indian, " Oua-bcet-wo-sis " = beaver house. There is a hole
from the top of the island to the water. Glooscap's uncle, the
turtle, was taken by enemies. They considered what they should
do to kill him. First they proposed to burn him, but he walked
into the fire of his own accord. They saw that would not do, so
they proposed to cut his throat. But he took a knife and cut his
own, so they saw that would not do. At last, they proposed to
drown him, when he began . . . (Manuscript fails.)
Glooscap.
Glooscap was a spirit. He could do anything. He does not get
old, and is said to be living yet at the south end of the world. He
tried all of the animals, to find out which was a dangerous and
which a not dangerous animal. He called them all up to him, and
asked them what they would do when human beings came in the
world. They replied that they would run away. He asked the
bear what he would do. The bear looked over his shoulder and
walked off.
" That will do," said Glooscap.
The squirrel was then very big. Glooscap asked him what he
would do, whereat he ran at a stump furiously and tore it to pieces
with his teeth. Glooscap then reduced him to his present size.
A female otter married a spruce partridge. They had a son.
He wanted to find his father. His mother told him to go into the
woods and listen ; when he heard something like slow beating, that
was not his father, but when he heard quick, that was him. He
found him and stayed with him for a long time. Musquash
swapped tails with the beaver. Beaver, she married some dry land
animal, red-headed woodcock. One day they got quarrelling and
beaver left woodcock and swam away. Beaver built dam at the
place where the Falls of the St. John are. Glooscap came there one
day, saw the dam, watched till he saw the beaver, which was of
enormous size. The beaver house was in Kennebccasis Bay. He
thought they would do harm some day, so he broke his dam down.
Split Rock at the Falls was his handspike. All the Kennebccasis
Bay and Long Reach was the pond. He killed the two young ones
and old ones. After killing these, he looked for another. When
Maliseet Legends. 195
he saw one young one up at Numquash, heading up river, he then
took two rocks to throw above him to frighten him back. These
are what are now called Tobique Rocks, lie was frightened back
and he killed him. Below Boar's Head you sec, in the cliffs, a
man's head with curly hair. That was Glooscap's mark, after he
first came out to the St. John River to notice the beaver dam. It is
on the left-hand side going down, about half a mile below Boar's
Head. Glooscap killed a great moose below Machias. You can see
all the entrails of the moose in the rock. There is another place
between Manawagonish Island and Musquash. He there left his
sack and went off. When he got back he found a sable gnawing at
it. You can now see his pack with the little hole the sable made
in it. I have seen this on the cliff. We often, when I was a boy,
used to go down to Lepreau for cranberries. When we passed
Glooscap's face, we used to throw figs of tobacco in the water, in
order that we might have a calm time. We had great faith in this.
Glooscap had a large camp, as large as the city all about him.
The wild goose was his watcher. The loon and the wolf were his
dogs. He had all the animals, even to the toad. He made them
all believe they were human beings.
The eagle married the caribou and had son and daughter. The
turtle was Glooscap's uncle. Glooscap always told the turtle what
he was going to do. Then the turtle would tell the other animals
at the Council House. The turtle married one of the eagle's and
caribou's daughters. He had children. The turtle would always
do what Glooscap told him. One day he told his uncle, after he
was married, that he was going to have a feast for the whole camp.
Turtle asked what was to be done ; Glooscap said he was old enough
to know.
" Go down to the nearest long point and watch ; -first whale which
comes to the point, seize him and bring it up. Leave it opposite
your father's-in-law door." Turtle went down and caught the first
whale and put it on his shoulder and got up opposite his father's-
in-law door. He thought he would go a little farther, thinking that
it was in his power to do so.
But when he started on, the whale pressed him down so that he
could not move. The animals then notified Glooscap. He an-
swered- them, " There is no harm done. He will come out all
right." Then all the rest cut up the whale, chiefly that part which
was over the turtle. They got him out, when he began to stretch
his legs, complaining that he was sleepy and tired.
The turtle now thought he was so powerful that he could do any-
thing. He began then holding council independent of Glooscap.
They hold council day after day to kill Glooscap, so that the turtle
1 96 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
might have supreme command. All the other animals joined the
council, from the biggest animal down to the toad. One day
Glooscap turned himself into an old squaw. He got in at the door
at one side.
There was an old squaw in the shape of a porcupine; on the
opposite side another old squaw in the shape of a toad. When he
got in he asked the porcupine what was the council. The porcu-
pine said to Glooscap it was not worth while for him to know what
the council was about, so he put out his two fingers and seized the
porcupine's nose. He then, in a rage, passed over to the toad and
asked the same question. He answered the same. He took him
by the nose and went out. After he went out the porcupine looked
over at the toad and asked her, " Where is your nose .-• " The toad
looked at the porcupine then, and said, " Where is yours .'' " They
concluded from that that Glooscap must have been in. After they
got through with the council, the turtle ground his big knife and
went to Glooscap and said to him, " Nephew, I want to sleep with
you once more, the same as I did when you were a boy." Gloos-
cap said, "That is all right, uncle." So they went to bed. After
he found his uncle was asleep he got up and stabbed part of himself,
thinking it was Glooscap, calling out, " I have killed Glooscap,"
He, who had slipped to one side, called out, " Let me have a cut at
him ! " And so he ripped up the turtle with his knife.
After this, Glooscap told turtle he must go and get some rum.
He did so. When they all got quarrelling and fighting, the turtle
would fight all the rest. One animal told Glooscap, " the turtle will
kill us all." Glooscap said, " Help yourselves ! When he gets
troublesome give him a kick in his breast with your knee, that will
stop him."
They did so, and stunned him.
Then Glooscap called them all up and sent them back to their
own life as men and women. The wolf, his dog, went away howl-
ing, sorry to leave ; the loon the same. The turtle came to life ;
could not see any one anywhere. He got up and said, " I will go to
my natural life," and so took the water, and that was the end of him.
Glooscap had a brother. He was wicked. Glooscap and his bro-
ther were smart when they were born. They dug their way out
of their mother's side, who died. The youngest brother thought
that he could kill Glooscap, his older brother, and would do so if he
could. One day they were talking. The younger brother asked
Glooscap what would kill him. Glooscap thought he would not tell
him what would kill him, but told him something which would stun
him. So he told him the down of feathers. Glooscap asked his
younger brother what would kill him. To this the younger brother
answered truly, " poque-we-osque," the bulrush.
Ma Usee t Legends. 197
The younger brother gathered a large handful of down. At the
first opportunity he hit his brother with these and knocked him
down. Glooscap was only stunned for two days and two nights.
He then came to himself and gathered some bulrushes. He had a
large handful in his hand, of the tops of the bulrush. With these
he struck his brother, when not aware, and killed him. Glooscap
was afraid if he did not kill him he would own the whole land.
(Originally procured by Edward Jack, Fredericton, N. B.)
KULLOO AND GLOOSCAP.
At the time that Glooscap had a camp containing all of the ani-
mals who were married together, Kulloo was then governor. The
turtle, who was Glooscap' s uncle, was advised by Glooscap to marry
Kulloo's daughter. So Glooscap gave him his pix noggin, a purse
which was a whole fisher's skin. This the turtle hung to his side,
and when he came to Kulloo, he asked his daughter in marriage.
Kulloo, thinking from his pix noggin that he was Glooscap himself,
readily gave his consent. Nor did he discover his mistake until the
morning after the marriage. Kulloo himself was married to a cari-
bou. There was a youngster born who cried awfully, " Wa-wa-wa ;"
he cried all the time. The turtle then went to his nephew and told
him about this. Glooscap asked how the child cried, and he said,
" Wa, wa, wa ! " Glooscap said, " You are old enough to know what
a child wants. That child wants you to get him eggs, — Wah-uae."
" Where shall I get wah-uae .'' "
"Do you not recollect those rocky islands where we used to get
eggs.-* You must go there and get them." Turtle did not know
how to get there, and asked his nephew how. Glooscap said,
*' Don't you know our canoe .-• " showing him a long rock on the sea-
shore. " Get two of your sisters-in-law to go with you." He did
so, and the three went down to the shore and the turtle then put his
paw on the rock, and turned it over, and that canoe went without
steering or oars to the island, where all the gulls and other sea-fowls
laid their eggs. When they got back, they had the canoe chock
full of eggs. Then the whole camp had a great feast. After that
he told his uncle, "Why don't we have a great feast .^ " Turtle
said, " What will we get ? " Glooscap said to his uncle, " Don't you
know where we used to get whales, down by the long point .-' "
Glooscap said, "Take your harpoon, go down on the shore and wait
until a whale comes along, and harpoon him and lug him up."
He went down, harpooned a whale, and lugged him up to
camp. He said then, "You must not go a step farther than your
father-in-law Kulloo's door." He got square up to his father-in-law
Kulloo's door, but thought he would go a few steps farther ; but he
igS yournal of American Folk-Lorc.
went clown under the whale, not being able to carry him any far-
ther.
The rest of the animals told Glooscap, who told them, " Cut away,
never mind, he will be all right." So they cut the whale up. When
they came to the turtle, he stretched his legs out and said that he
was tired. Then Glooscap told his uncle he must have a fight
against some other nation. He then made his uncle the general
over all the forces. They went to war with an adjoining nation,
and the turtle was taken prisoner. The other nation had a great
council over the turtle and concluded to burn him. Soon as the tur-
tle heard this sentence he began to crawl into the middle of the fire.
They hauled him back, when they found he was not afraid of the
fire. They held another council. They settled down to this, that
his throat should be cut. When he heard this sentence, he got hold
of a knife and commenced to cut his own throat. They had hard
work to get the knife away from him. Then they had another
council. They thought they would drown him. There was a big
lake, surrounded by high cliffs near the camp. When he heard his
sentence he cried. They found out then that he was afraid of
water. They hauled him over to the lake. He dragged all the way
along and tried to hold on. With hard work, they got him to the
lake. When he got into the bottom of the water, he turned his
belly up and lay without moving so that he could be seen. Men
watched all day to see where he was. When it got dark they took
torches to see whether he was still there. Then, long after night,
the turtle thought he would escape. When he got near the outlet
he saw people with torches watching the outlet. Lucky it was for
him that the outlet was muddy ; so he stirred up the mud as much
as he could, and made the outlet so muddy that nothing could be
seen, so he lay still and allowed the current to float him down, so
that no ripple could be seen, and got clear to his own camp again.
(Originally procured by Edward Jack, Fredericton, N. B.)
LOX.
Very cute the way he gets his living with other animals. He
makes fools of them. The bear was too much for him to attack.
He met bear alongside of lake. They sat down and had conversa-
tion. Lox said", as they were sitting on the lake shore, as a great
white gull was flying, " Look at that bird ! How proud he is ! He
would not have been so white, if I had not made him so."
Bear thought he would like to be white, and asked Lox, who told
him he could make him white.
" If you do what I want, you will be white as snow."
"I want to be so," says Mouin. Lox went to work and made
Maliscet Legends. 1 99
strong hut. In the centre he dug a hole. He took rocks and put
in this hole. After he had done this, he made a fire on stones.
After wood was burnt out twice and rocks red hot, he put strong
roof on top of hut. He had a hole in the roof, down which he could
pour water on the hot rocks. Told Mouin he must go in, which he
did. When he got in, Lox closed door. Then Lox poured water on
stones, which made Mouin very hot. Mouin could not stand it and
asked to be let out. Lox let him out.
Lox said : " What a pity. You just begin to get white. Look at
the white spots on your breast." So he went in again. Lox closed
everything up tighter than ever. Mouin began to feel very bad and
asked to get out, but Lox would not let him. At last there was
no noise from Mouin. Then Lox open the door and found him
dead. . . .
Lox always had a boy with him. He depended always on this boy
for knowledge. Lox would always give this boy the most of the
game. They had a great feast over Mouin, until it was all done.
They then went on again. All of a sudden they came on to a big
lake, chock full of ducks and geese. He asked the boy what he
could do to get these birds. Boy said, " Make a great high bough
camp, and we '11 call them after it is made." Lox went down to the
lake and invited all the fowls to come and hear a pow-wow. So they
came, until the camp was full of birds. When he got them all in, he
told them that he was going to speak and every one must shut their
eyes, that if they opened them they would lose their eyes. They
did so. He said he would go round so that all might hear ; and
thus, as he walked around, he bit off the heads of such birds as he
came to. When he had bitten the heads off nearly all, the boy said
to a little bird [asic-sis], a sort of hell-diver, " Open your eyes, for
Lox will bite your head off." He said, "No."
"Well, then," he says, "just open one eye." He did. As soon
as he did, he screeched out. " Lox is killing us all ! " Everybody
then opened his eyes and saw how many were dead.
They then burst ofif the roof of the camp and flew out. Lox
scolded the boy, who denied it. The boy and Lox divided the fowls,
then picked them and opened them and then smoked them. When
they got dry they tried the oil out of them, and made birch-bark cos-
sues (ses-kidge = a wool), and put the oil in them. After that was
done the boy went down to the bank of the lake with his cossues.
There was a musquash swimming in front of him, and he asked
Ke-whis, would he be kind enough to cool his oil below the water.
Ke-whis did so, and the boy gave him a little ses-kidge for his own
use. Then he went up to camp. Lox said, " These are nice and
hard ; " and asked the boy how he did it. He told him. Then Lox
20O Jour^ial of American Folk-Lore.
went clown to the lake with his grease (Lox is very saucy; saucy
to everybody), and when he saw Ke-whis, he called him to Lox,
Ke-taag-a-naoloos = rough-tailed one. Ke-whis did not like Lox's
impertinence, but after some time he came ashore. Then Lox gave
him his cossue of ail. He took it out to cool and went down with it.
He came back. Oil only a little stiff, not hard like the other.
He said, " Lok-ke-taag-a-naaloos, go back with it." He did so, but
never returned. He had been instructed to do this by the boy.
Lox waited all that day and all night, but Ke-whis never came
back. Lox went all around the lake, looking for Ke-whis's hole.
He found it at last and began to dig. He did not dig very far till
he saw the Musquash's tail. Lox called out, " Dig away. I did not
think I should have so short a race with you." (He is always
saucy.) Then Ke-whis's tail disappeared, so Lox dug away as hard
as he could until he came up against the mountain. He called to
the boy to bring something to dig. This he did. Then they dug
away. At last Lox got tired and gave it up. Then Lox went on
with the boy until they came to another lake that was full of beavers.
They thought they v/ould make a spruce-bark canoe so as to get
beaver round the edge of the lake. There were lots of wild roses,
— Kigue-se-gall-ki-gua-nunsel (the flower which has buds after the
leaves fall).
(Here ends the manuscript. Originally procured by Edward
Jack, Fredericton, N. B.)
SHORT STORIES.
That it may appear how much the Indians were deluded or
under the influence of Satan, read, etc., " John Gyle's Capture on
the St. John River from 1689 to 1698." He says. Read the two
stories which were related and believed by the Indians ; the first of
a boy who was carried away by a large bird called a cullona, who
buildeth her nest on a high rock or mountain. A boy was hunting
with his bow and arrow at the foot of a rocky mountain, when the
cullona came diving through the air. Although he was eight or
ten years of age, she soared aloft and laid him in her nest, food for
her young. The boy lay still on his face, but observed two of the
young birds in the nest with him, having much fish and flesh to feed
upon. The old one, seeing they would not eat the boy, took him up
in her claws and returned him to the place from which she took
him. I have passed by the place in a canoe and the Indians have
said, " There is the nest of the great bird that carried away the boy."
Indeed, there seemed to be a great number of sticks, put together
like a nest, on the top of the mountain. At another time they
said, " There is the bird, but he is now as a boy to a giant to what
Maliseet Le^cjids. 201
i>
he was in former days." The bird which we saw was a large and
speckled one, like an eagle, though somewhat larger. (Note by
James Hannay, "Telegraph Press," St. John, N. B., 1875.)
The first white man who came to the country went up to an
Indian's wigwam, in front of which there stood a bench. The
white man took a seat on it, beside the Indian, who then moved
a little farther off to give him plenty of room. The white man
then took the place which he had left. This continued until the
Indian had to leave the bench, there being no room left for him.
There was once a very brave Indian. A lot of Mohawks came to
his wigwam when he was absent. Finding the Indian's squaw
there, they told her that she might choose the best looking man of
the party for her husband, if she would only tie her husband w^hen
he came home at night, and let them know. There was one very
good-looking young man in the party and so the squaw chose him.
When night came on the Indian came home. After supper, his
squaw asked him if he could be tied or fastened in any way so
that he could not move. Suspecting her, he said, "Yes." So she
got all the thongs she could and fastened his arms and feet. Then
going to the door, she called to the Indians. At this, her husband
sprang up, burst his bonds, and seizing his tomahawk, killed her
first, then all of the Mohawks.
The totem of the Maliseet is a musquash, Ke-whis-a-wask [musk-
rat-root (calamus)]. The Indians living on this part of the St. John
River (near Fredericton) at one time had a terrible disease come on
them. They died so fast that those who were left could not dig
graves quickly enough, but had to put them all together in one big
hole. At last, one of the Indians dreamed that a man came to him.
Now this Ke-whis-a-wask looked like a tall, thin man, all scored up
by joints just like what this root is. ' He told the Indian that his
name was Ke-whis-a-wask, and where he would find him. [This
was on the front of the Clements' farm, on the east side of the St.
John, a few miles above Fredericton.] They went to this place,
where there was a large spring, and, as he was directed, dug up Ke-
whis-a-wask, and steeped him in water, as he had directed, and gave
of the water to the Indians to drink. After drinking they grew
better and were soon all well.
THE MOHAWKS ON THE WAR-PATH.
Long before the white men took our country from us, said
Gabe, our worst enemies were the Mohawks. War parties of
these Indians used to portage from the St. Lawrence to the head of
the St. John, which they descended until they reached our settle-
ments. They attacked our villages in the darkest nights, when
202 yotLvnal of American Folk-Lore.
there was no moon, — burnt our camps, and tomahawked our wo-
men and children.
'Many, many moons ago, one of our braves went out in his canoe
and paddled up the river until he came to the mouth of the Amweh-
nec. (This you white faces call Muniac.) He was going to spear
some fish, and was paddling along, when he thought he could see in
the early morning a smoke arising from the river's bank, near where
the stream empties into the main river. Pushing his canoe ashore,
he carried it into the woods, where he hid it behind a fallen pine,
and then went through the forest until he came nearly opposite the
mouth of the Muniac. On arriving there, he saw, through a thick
clump of wild cherry (trees behind which he remained concealed),
a party of five hundred or six hundred Mohawks. They were even
then making their breakfast off the bodies of several dogs, whose
grinning skulls were lying on the shore, their white teeth glistening
in the morning sun.
He had seen enough ! So starting back cautiously as a fox and
silently as the night to where his canoe lay hid, he carried it hastily
to the shore, and in less than five minutes was paddling for dear
life for Aughpack, the head of the tide, as the Indian village at
Savage Island, near the mouth of the Keswick, was then called.
The day was just breaking as he glided past the Mactaquac and
shot down stream to the village, whose barking dogs gave notice of
his arrival. He was scarcely able to lift his canoe ashore, and on
entering the first hut, where a young squaw was broiling some sal-
mon's roes on the coals for her mother's breakfast, he was stunned
to hear that all the warriors except five had left the village and were
at Passamaquoddy, pollock fishing. There was no time to send for
them, and if anything was to be done to save the lives of the women
and children who had now gathered around him, and were shrieking
and sobbing bitterly at the terrible news which he related to them,
it must be done at once. Sitting down on the green grass beside
the mighty river, he addressed the five warriors as follows : " Bro-
thers, the savage Mohawks thirst for our blood ; they have had
their war-feast. I have seen the heads of the dogs which they have
eaten. Would you die to save our women and children .'' " Each of
the five, bowing his head, gave the Indian assent " A-Ha."
"Let us be off, then, to meet the swift feet!" So with three
canoes, two men in each, they ascended the river to the Muniac,
hugging the opposite shore as they neared their enemies, who were
still camped on the ground, where the warrior had first seen them.
A great storm threatened over the woods ; the saw-whet cried out
through the pines; but there was no other breath; and just before
dawn they lit a few fires in the woods so as to make it appear a
party of Maliseet braves were camping opposite.
Maliseet Legends. 203
After doing this, and so soon as day broke, they carried their
canoes through the woods, across the bend in the river, and placed
them in the river below, where the Mohawks could not find them.
They then poled boldly up stream in full view of their enemies (be-
ing beyond the reach of arrows), deliberately landed, and again took
their canoes on their shoulders and carried them across the point,
put them in the water, poled them up again, in the face of the Mo-
hawks, and thus the six men kept on describing a circle for three
days, showing two or three canoes always passing in front of the
Mohawks, who by this time had got very uneasy at all the warriors
the Maliseets were getting, and concluded now they were numerous
as the leaves of the trees.
Holding a council, the Mohawks decided that they would have a
pow-wow with the Maliseets, and an interpreter was sent in his
canoe to the middle of the river, demanding a parley with them.
The six who were lying in the woods, on hearing the request for a
parley, shoved in their canoes until they came within a short dis-
tance of the Mohawk canoe. An agreement was made that six of
the Maliseets should come over and arrange the preliminaries of a
lasting peace between the two nations.
So, early the next morning, the six warriors, painting themselves
with the red earth which is found in the neighborhood, and orna-
menting their heads with eagle's feathers, calmly paddled to the
Mohawk encampment. Here, after representing themselves as the
deputies of a Maliseet host of one thousand braves, they indignantly
told the Mohawks if they did not leave their river at once, this force
would cross over and take every scalp-lock in the band. After a
good deal of angry talk, an aged Mohawk, who had seen the snows
of ninety winters, arose and said, " Brethren, warriors, my sun is
nearly set. I look for rest and peace. I would, in quiet, seek the
happy hunting-grounds of our fathers. Grant me this favor, — bury
the hatchet, and I die content."
Rising as one man they all replied, "We will, we will ; let peace
be made." So, descending to the mouth of the Muniac, all of the
Mohawk warriors and the six delegates from the imaginary force on
the opposite side of the St. John ranged themselves close to the
stream, while one representative from the Mohawks and all from the
Maliseets dug a deep hole in the bed of the stream, in which they
buried a stone hatchet, covering it with one of the great bowlders
which the stream had brought down from the distant mountains.
There, said Gabe, it has remained ever since, undisturbed ; and
never since has a band of Mohawk warriors descended our river to
trouble our people."
The Mohawks, Gabe said, more than once attempted the
204 yournal of Ainerican Folk-Lore.
destruction of the Abenakis residing there (Old-Town, now Hart's
Island), and once in particular they would have been utterly
destroyed but for the wise foresight of an aged squaw who was
gifted with the spirit of prophecy. On a still summer evening, long
before the pale faces had invaded our country, said he, this
woman, with wild eyes and long, flowing gray hair, rushed into the
centre of the encampment, calling out in low tones, " There is
trouble ! There is trouble ! " In a short time she was surrounded
by braves, who asked what she meant. "You see We-jo-sis (Cur-
rie's Mountain) over there, do you not } Behind it is hidden a
great party of Mohawks, and they are only waiting for the night to
cover the earth, when they will attack you and kill you all, if you
are not ready for them." A great council .was immediately called,
and it was decided that action should be at once taken in the mat-
ter. In order to conceal their intentions from the Mohawks, they
concluded to have a big dance. While this was going on, the
braves slipped out one by one, leaving none but the old men and
women to keep it up. Before separating they had determined on a
particular sign by which they should know one another in the dark,
as they might be crawling through the long grass or arnong the
thick bushes, which surrounded the island, and he who could not
answer this sign was to be dispatched immediately and his gory
head thrown in among the dancers. The Mohawks, meanwhile, had,
as evening advanced, slowly and stealthily approached the Abena-
kis' village ; but will had been met by will, and before day dawned,
many a Mohawk's head had been thrown into the midst of the
dancers, with the whispered command, " Dance harder ! Dance
harder ! " until, exhausted and fainting, the dancers sank to the
ground. By morning all of the Mohawk braves had been slain.
The others, said Gabe, were as easily dispatched as you would
cut a chicken's head off or knock a lamb on the head. Some
three or four, with ears and noses cut off, were allowed to return
home in order to show the other Mohawks how they would be
treated, should they attempt the like again."
INDIAN NAMES.
Grand lake^Cutchiquispem ; cutchi = big, quispem = lake.
Schoodac = a place found out.
Huc-se-noggan-nuck = trapping-place. [Understood by Indians as
for eels. This is a place on the Schoodic]
Chamcook [should be Scom-cook] = fresh (clean) gravel.
On the Magaguadavic-Pes-ke-hagan = a branch.
Oromocto should be We-la-mooc-took = deep river. Cain's River,
Miramichi, is called Mich-ma-we-we-la-mooc-took = Micmac's Oro-
mocto.
Maliscet Legends. 205
Pocologan should be Pcck-c-l-agan = a place for stopping at ; a place
where one touches.
The Indian name for Lapreau is Wis-e-um-ke-wis = a gravelly river.
New River = Na-wam-quac-luck = the distant place.
Mispec (Micmac ■= IMispauk) (Abenaki = jMus-tsa-b6-ha) = a place
where the freshet has reached.
Ouaco = Pool-wa-ga-kick = place where big seals are (big as oxen).
Pool-waugh in Micmac means big seal.
Alanawagonish should be Ma-na-wagones-ek = the place for clams ;
es = clam, e sek = clams.
]\Ia-nes-dick = clam-ground. [A place somewhere on the Bay of
Fundy.]
Martin's Head = To-we-ga-nuck = place where channel has been cut
out.
Jack-snipe = Me-ne-mic-tus ; so named from his motion.
Milkish = a-mil-kesk = preserving (curing) ground, say for fish or
meat.
Anagance = We-ne-gou-seck = carrying-place.
Pattacake, on Kennebecasis, should be Pat-kick = bend an ox-bow
in steam.
Assckake=Pes-kes-kick = where marshy brook branches.
Otnabog (Micmac) Wet-ne-bogh = a breeze coming up.
Grimross = Ete-le-ne-lastick. Meaning lost; possibly, "There!
there ! "
Washademoac = Was-it-te-mo-ack = an altered channel, as if dredged
out.
Crow (bord) = ka-ka-goos.
Heron = Kos-que. Latter syllable pronounced as French "que."
In old days, about the 26th of July, the Indians would go to the
heronries, take the young, then very fat, try them- out, and smoke
for further use.
Jemseg = A-jim-seg = a place for picking up things; the picking-
up place for anything.
Maquapit = Ma-qua-pah = Red Lake.
The Indian Point, as it is called, between Grand and Maquapit
lakes, was a grand place for the Indians to resort to ; it means,
from its name, Pokesk, the narrows.
Rushagornish should be Ta-se-gua-nick, which means, "meeting
with main stream."
Wasis should be Te-se-gua-nick-sis.
Ma-ga-gua-davic = River of big eels.
Shogomoc = Ntse-og-a-mook= Muddy Lake. Pokiok = narrow.
Nash-waak=Na-wid-ge-wrik = River of big hills.
Taxis = Wagh-mut-cook = clear water brook.
2o6 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
•
Mactaquac = big river. Muct-a-quac.
Keswick = No-kiim-keclg-way = sandy river — a river of fine gravel.
No-kum means "flour" also.
Cleuristic (branch of the Nashwaak) == Kulloo-sis-sec. There was a
great eagle's nest opposite this on a high ridge. The stream was
named after this. The eagle was called Kiil-loo ; was very big.
This word means Kulloo's nest.
Penniac = Pan-we-ock = the level land brook.
We-n^-denock = name of Miramichi portage.
Napodoggan = brook to be followed, in getting to Miramichi Lake,
which is called Lestigochick quisiDcm.
Renous = Se-boo-sis = little brook.
Munquart = of-mut-qual-tick==the place of the bend.
Muniac = Am-we-neck.
Becaguimec = A-bec-agui-mec = coming down branch.
Meductic = Me-d6c-tic = landing place for portage. The portage-
road from the head of the rapids on Eel River is called by this name.
This was about five miles long. It came out to the Meductic Flat/
a short distance above where the Eel River joins the St. John.
Meduxnakic = Me-dox-ne-kick = rough, rocky mouth.
Eel River = Mata- wam-ki-tuck ; means there were rapids at the
mouth where it shoots into the main St. John.
Shichatehauk = Tse-cooti-hock = fiat at mouth.
Jocelyn Brook, on St. John, in Prince William or Dumfries, is
called, Good-e-wamkeag, Meaning unknown.
\Ve-j5-sis (Curry's Mountain, above Fredericton), meaning. Lit-
tle Mountain.
Na-we-jo-wauk (Nashwaak, English river runs among or between
mountains).
Blackbird = chuck-we-lusque, the "que" pronounced as in French.
This bird is so called on account of the noise which it makes.
Wejosis. Some old Indians call Wejosis, "po-te-wis-wc-jo-sis," or
Little Council Mountains, the word " po-te-wis " meaning "council."
This hill is so named because, in former years, the Mohawk warriors
always went there first to hold a council before attempting to attack
the Abenakis. At Nkarne-odan (Old-Town) " Hart's Island " now,
they would stop on this mountain days and days watching the Abe-
nakis.
^ " The next day we went up the eastern branch of Penobscot River many
leagues; carried overland to a large pond, and from one pond to another, till in a
few days we went down a river called iMedoctack, which vents itself into St.-
John's River. But before we came to the mouth of this river, we passed over a
long carrying-place to Medoctack fort, which stands on a bank of the St. John's
River." Jolin Gyle's Captivity, 1689.
Maliscct LcgC7ids. 207
Eque-pa-haak. The rising of the tide is called che-ko-pa-he. The
whole place was called Eque-pa-haak.
Nca-ni-odan is the same as Nkarne-odan (Old Town).
Munquart = ob-mut-qua-tuck. It means, "going from the river at
a sharp angle."
Micmac = Am-we-neck. Meaning lost. That was the place where
the last treaty was made with the Mohawks.
Salmon River, Tchi-min-pick.
Pes-koute-nabs-keck, about five miles below Fredericton, means
" fire rock " — "a rock same shape as fire."
Up-sag-anik is the fork stream and is a branch of \\'as-i-te-mo-ack.
There is a branch at the head of Washademoac Lake so called.
Nem-mutchi-psent-quac means " dead water ; " is on the right
side going up.
Menaic = me-naa-gan. Meaning lost ; a very old word.
Pes-ki-om-i-nec, clear water, means a branch. Miramichi.
Pes-ki-om-i-nasis = Burnt Hill. Miramichi.
Ta-boim-nital = Sisters ; means two outlets. Miramichi.
" The word Abenaki is derived from Abanki, ' Land of the East,' the
name which the Algonquins gave to the country of the Indians of Acadia.
. . . The tribe had several subdivisions. Among others there were the
Pentayosts or Penawobskets, who resided on the Penobscot ; the Eteman-
kiaks, ' those of the land of Snowshoe-skins,' who occupied the rivers St.
Croix and St. John, which territory the Abenakis called ' Etemanki *
because moose and caribou, from whose hides good snowshoes were made,
abounded there. The French called these people * Etchemins.' There
was, also, on the St. John, another division of the Abenakis called the
*Warastegoniaks,' who were subsequently called by the other Abenakis the
Mouskouasoaks, or Water-rats, either because, like these animals, they
lived on the banks of the river, or because they highly esteemed the musk-
rat as food, which they do at the present time, preferring its flesh beyond
that of any other. The females of this tribe, as well as of the Etchemins,
are now called Malecites. . . .
'' The names of the rivers of New Brunswick are also ]\Iicmac." (Edward
Jack, Fredericton.)
WORDS OF MONTAGNAIS INDIANS a feW.
Mingan = place for wolves.
MaSkuaro = heart of a bear. There is not much wood at this
place ; there is a pretty little bay ; a cape of stone ; a small island,
short like the heart of a bear.
Betshiamits. So named from the peculiar fish in the river.
Escoumines = a place where there are a great many cranberries.
Oreman (Romaine) = river of paintings. The rocks are of differ-
ent colors.
2oS Jojirnal of American Folk-Lorc.
Tadoussac = a place where the water is deep, where there is never
any ice.
Chikoutimi = place where deep water ends.
' Saguenay = ice pierced where the seals come.
Powder = peek-pook, from the noise it makes in exploding.
Matches they call ti-men, "it makes a noise," "something that
strikes."
Hammer="the striker;" the Indian word the same as above, so
far as I could learn. (A. R. T.)
Kekasga = a narrow passage, an island in the midst.
These Montagnais words are a few of which I had a chance
to find the meaning just before leaving Betshiamits last summer.
(A. R. T.)
Note. — The Maliseet or Saint John River Indians occupy several places on
that stream. One village, where Gabe, now a very old man, resides, is opposite the
city of Fredericton. Here they occupy a few small houses and have an Indian
school. This little village is only a mile from the mouth of the Nashwaak, where
formerly was a French fort, every trace of which has now disappeared. It was
at one time the residence of the governor of Acadia, and in its chapel a Te
Deiim was once sung in honor of the conclusion of one of the treaties of peace
made by Louis XIV. Gabe I have known for many years; he is honorable in all
his dealings, and I have found that the legends which he related to me include a
number known to the Chippeways of Odana, on the head of Lake Superior, visited
by me when engaged in exploring timber lands in that region.
Edward Jack.
Fredericton, N. B.
Onondaga Notes. 209
ONONDAGA NOTES.
I ATTENDED the Concluding ceremonies of the White Dog Feast at
Onondaga, N. Y., January 18, 1894, under the escort of Daniel La
Fort, head chief. We went to the council house, where about thirty
men and boys and a dozen females were assembled. All the men
wore their hats, and in the council house all had on their ordinary
attire. At the smaller house, sometimes' called the short house, to
distinguish it from the long house, John Green was gaudily feath-
ered and dressed, and Thomas Webster, keeper of the wampum,
wore a feather headdress. Both had some red paint on their faces.
The clans were divided as usual : the Wolf, Turtle, Beaver, and
Snipe in the long house ; the Bear, Deer, Hawk, and Eel in the
short house. La Fort spoke of two branches of the Turtles, the
sand and mud turtles, and some of the other clans have a like divi-
sion.
A little before noon La Fort arose, and began an address, to
which there were frequent responses of " Ne-a ! " He alone un-
covered his head, although most bowed. Perhaps half responded.
A gun was heard, and a messenger from the short house entered,
and asked guesses on a dream. He stood facing the men, and they
questioned him amid much merriment. A curious chant with re-
sponses followed this. A man arose to give another dream, and
there was some more quiet fun. He sat down, and a woman came
to him and whispered another dream in his ear. He rose and stated
this, with a little more fun, and the messenger took it to the other
house. A chant followed, with responses. Several boys were pres-
ent with guns and pistols, and some of these now went out and
fired them.
There were cries outside, and another messenger came. There
was another chant, some keeping up an accompaniment of " He !
He ! He ! " beating time with the feet, and ending with a long
drawn out " Wo-o-o-o-a-a-ah," with falling cadence. A short speech
and guesses at the dream followed, with more laughter, and the
same prolonged cry and falling cadence. This messenger retired,
with the boys, and there were again cries and firing without. An-
other messenger came, and this was several times repeated, while
we heard similar chants from the other house.
The council house stands nearly east and west with opposite
doors in the centre. The south door was opened, as a procession
started from the short house on the north side, chanting as it came.
It consisted of John Green and two men, the last of whom bore the
white basket, which now represents the dog. Fifty years ago two
VOL. VIII. — NO. 30. 14
2IO
yoiLvnal of American Folk-Lore.
white clogs were consumed on a pile of wood outside ; then there
was but one dog burned outdoors ; then this was dropped into the
stove ; and now a white basket takes its place. La Fort informed
'me that this happens because the sacred breed of dogs is extinct,
but others simply say that the present practice looks better.
In the council house two benches were placed across the house, in
front of the two stoves. On one of these, at the east or men's end,
sat La Fort and four others. Two women took the opposite one.
O
STOVt
WOMEN
BENCH
3 C
J L
o
STOVE
MEM
BENCH
These are called Ho-no-wi-yah Sa-na Ta-hen-yah-wah-ke, "the man
begging Tahenyahwahke for the people." John Green, the leader of
the procession, has a similar title, the petitions going to the deity
through him. The offerings of tobacco, etc., were placed on the
floor for a while between the two benches, as well as the basket rep-
resenting the dog. The three men marched around these, chant-
ing. As the leader came along, the man at the south end of the
bench stopped him, rising and placing his hand on his shoulder,
while saying a few words. This might be as of old, " Well, my
cousin, what would you think if I should give a dead dog to the
Great Spirit >. " " Well, my cousin, what would you think if I should
give the Great Spirit some tobacco?" and so through all the offer-
ings. Green responded, " Ne-ah-we-hah," and the procession moved
around again. The second man stopped him, as did the other men
and women at each successive circuit. They spoke for the people
to him, and he to the Great Spirit for them.
After this Green made quite a long address or prayer, intoned
and with responses. Part of the time all joined in the responses
and chant. Thomas Webster also made a similar address. The
accompaniment " He ! He ! " came in at intervals. The march
being resumed, the procession stopped before the north door for
another chant and response, and then passed out, bearing all the
offerings.
While they were gone, La Fort made another address, keeping
his hat on. In fact I was the only one there with, uncovered head,
my hat being convenient for making my notes in a quiet way. A
Oftondacra Notes. 211
i>
chant was heard from the other house, and the procession returned
thence, followed by all who were there, marching through the north
door, across the room, and out of the south door. The men in the
council house first followed and then the women, turning to the
east as they passed outside, past the east end, back to the east end
of the short house, along its north side and west end, and back
through the north door of the council house, around the eastern
stove. Three baskets were now carried, with a smaller basket or
bundle, and all decorated with ribbons. The march was slow and
solemn, and at the end all stood.
Thomas Webster was on the southeast of the stove, facing it,
with William Buck at his right hand. Green faced them, on the
northwe'st of the stove. Buck cried, " Kwe ! " three times, very
loudly and sharply, but with intervals. This is the ancient cry,
expressive of joy or sorrow, according to intonation. Then came a
chant by all. The stove door was opened, and two of the baskets
were put in. Webster made an intoned address, followed by a
chant, the stove was again opened, and the tobacco and other ofifer-
ings went into the fire. All stood around, chanting with bowed
heads. Green followed this with a prolonged " O-hone-o-o-o-o-
neu-eh ! " Still standing on the northwest, he chanted again, and
there was the usual response. All but the three leaders then sat
down, and there came the ancient " He ! He ! " with the tramp of
feet. Green marched around the stove once, keeping time with this.
William Buck then made an address, standing on the east side, with
a chant and response, marching around once chanting. The re-
sponse to this was " Wo-o-o-a-a-ah."
A chant, with the response " He ! " followed from one of those
sitting down, who came forward and marched a little way. Another
did the same, marching slowly, both having the same long response.
Webster again made an intoned address, standing on the southeast,
after which John Green slowly led the procession from the short
house back to it again. Soon the remaining women went out, and
then the men, and the great ceremony of the day was over. Dances
and songs were to follow on other days.
I have been particular in giving this account, partly that it may
be contrasted with the earlier observance, and partly because even
this will soon vanish. The original feast was simply the great
dream feast ; the white dog sacrifice was grafted upon this in recent
times, and has been the first to give way.
I was interested in the accompaniment to the songs and addresses
at the White Dog Feast, for it was easy to see that this had changed
little in three hundred years. It was the same recorded by the
Jesuits as used among the Hurons of Canada. In Bruyas' Mohawk
212 y our nal of American Folk-Lore.
dictionary, of two centuries since, it is mentioned: "Atonriajcn, to
make the h6, he, to the song of the warriors." Another is much
like this: "Atonront, to sing an air to which they respond by the
.hen, hen." It is quite impressive when many unite.
Some old Onondaga tunes survive, but the songs and dances are
now all Seneca, introduced with the new worship by Handsome
Lake. The words have little meaning in these.
O-whees-tah means money, and may be used for any ringing
metal ; and for the question, " What time is it } " the Onondagas say
" To-ne-u-whees-tah-a .? " How many times does it strike on your
money? They say, "Ta-cha," Come in; " Ne-ah-we-hah," Thank
you ; and I might add other phrases.
The female Keepers of the Faith are called " 0-nah-ta-hone-tah,"
and they are appointed at the annual dead feast. They are many,
and men hold the same office. They often have a company to
watch all night with the dead, and not a sad one either. The
O-kee-we is sung, and they also have a game at this time called
"gambling with the shoe." It goes by clans, and the visitors are di-
vided and placed in two rows on benches, facing each other. Three
shoes are placed between the rows at one end, and a small bell is
hid in one shoe. All then sing, and during this one of the players
places his hand in each shoe, leaving the bell in one. One of the
other side picks up a shoe, and if the bell is not in it it counts for
the opposing side ; if he finds it this counts for his party. Each
side tries in turn. The dead feast, ten days after death, is Ah-tya-
hak-hoon-sa, or "Dead Feast," and that resulting from dreams is
the same. O-kee-we is the annual dead feast. I was in a house
one day, with an Indian friend, when an old woman invited him to a
dead feast there. " But," I said, " she is not dead ; why does she
want a dead feast .-* " This was called for by a dream. The dead
had told her, in a dream, to hold this feast. It would help her.
Among diversions there is an Eagle dance, otherwise the " Strike
Stick Dance." Two men dance side by side in precisely the same
way. Each holds a long stick, with feathers spread out on each
side. They bend down, doubling one leg under the dancer, and
stretching the other out on one side. A cent is placed on the floor
and picked up with the mouth. Some one strikes on the floor with
a stick, and this gives it the name of Ga-na-gah-a. A dancer makes
a speech and presents tobacco.
One day I looked at some javelins, which a boy was using, and
which were made of colored sumac sticks, three to four feet long.
Poke-weed was used for color. The butt is held in the hand, and in
a match the trial is to see who can throw farthest. Similar darts
are used in throwing at a rolling hoop.
Onondaga Notes. 213
Lacrosse is still a favorite. In another ball game there are sta-
tions.
Pitcher. O X O Batter.
5 or 6 ft.
O O
Pole. Pole.
I 2
O 16 to 20 ft. O
Station. Station.
Either pole or stone. Pole or stone.
Party of Pitcher.
D
3
4
16 to 20 ft. O
Station. Station. n
Pole or stone. Pole or stone.
Two poles are placed five or six feet apart, and a few feet from
these the batter and pitcher take position. There is a mark for
each one, and another midway between them. The pitcher
tosses the ball so that it will curve down to the middle mark X, and
the batter may hit it then or on the rebound. If it does not pass
between the two poles he and his side are out. If all goes well he
gets between stations i and 2, which are stakes or stones 16 to 20
feet apart. Sometimes nearly all the batters are on this line. At a
good stroke they may run to stations 3 and 4, waiting there their
chance to get back home to i and 2. Catchers from the party of the
pitcher occupy scattered field stations a, much as in baseball, and
the rules for putting out are as usual. The best batter is reserved
for the last, as he may bring all home.
Foot-races are run with coats and shoes off, and when they wore
long hair a band kept it out of the eyes. It was " One, two, three ;
go ! " when a number started in line. Sometimes two racers held a
long stick, running gently abreast, and dropping this when it struck
a man between them at the starting-place.
They have adopted many games from the whites, as mumble the
peg, marbles, some games of ball, pull-away, and fox and geese in
the snow. Hide and seek and blindman's-buff are played, but no
games with songs. The game of hooking violets I have before
noticed. They count out one to ten merely, and the last one is
the witch. Various games begin with this. They may choose by
hands, catching a stick, and then successively holding it towards the
top. If but a little remains for the last one to hold by, the choice
remains with him if he can whirl the stick three times around his
head. Sometimes they spit on a chip, and the one who has the
214 journal of Amcrica7i Folk-Lore.
spit side uppermost is the leader. All may throw, and thus sides
are chosen without partiality. The lucky side is called Och-kii-ah,
"spit side."
> The familiar slinging or throwing sports were used, as thrusting a
stick into an apple and throwing it. Another is a little different
from what I used as a boy. A shingle is cut into a dart form with
a notch on one side near the point. A stick and string, like a long
and elastic whip, are used, with a knot in the end of the string.
This knot is placed in the notch, and the base of the dart in the
ground. With a crack of the whip the arrow flies high in the air,
often coming back like a boomerang.
Houses are now sometimes locked, but a broom across the door
tells that no one is at home quite as well.
The pagan Onondagas do not chastise their children by whip-
ping, supposing the Great Spirit will take away the child's soul if
they do. They frighten them, however, by saying a False Face, or
an owl, equivalent to a witch, will carry them away.
A man given to exaggeration they call Wah-twah-toont-t'kwah-ta-
hac, " Skipping stones on the water."
Abram Hill has always told me that he was an Oneida Snipe, and
is quite earnest in this, although this clan is not credited to the
Oneidas. He says they had no Snipes originally, but adopted them
from the Onondagas, two hundred or two hundred and fifty years
ago, adding that all the Oneida Snipes are in Wisconsin. I have
learned of none there, but such adoptions sometimes happened.
As early as 1815, Ephraim Webster related a simple stpry of Hia-
watha, resembling that given by Horatio Hale, but with much less
detail, and a change of the chief's name. This is the oldest pub-
lished form of the tale, the chief being 0-we-ko, according to the
recollection of the one to whom Webster told the story. Webster
probably gave the usual name.
There is a great variation in the same condoling songs and
speeches, on account of oral transmission. Daniel La Fort keeps his
uniform because they are written. Some think those who differ,
from them are ignorant, but the same man will seldom give the
same song in precisely the same words, if words they may be called.
John Buck's, in Canada, were by no means always the same, and the
changes of two or three hundred years must be great indeed.
At the Brooklyn meeting of the A. A. A. S., August, 1894, Mr.
Frank H. Cushing's paper on the influence of salt in savage life led
to an interesting discussion. It is well known that the Iroquois did
not originally use salt, a fact pointing to an interior origin. The
same thing was true of many Canadian tribes. All through the.
Jesuit Relations this fact appears. As late as 1654 the Onondagas
Onondaga Notes. 215
were afraid of their own salt springs, thinking them inhabited by an
evil demon. They would thus have no name for salt, unless one of
an unpleasant nature, and may have had none at all until that time.
This idea was brought out in the discussion, and I made it a subject
of inquiry on my return. The Onondagas now use salt freely, and
have no disagreeable ideas connected with it. They had no thought
of its name except as a name. I had to go farther back.
Zeisberger gives salt as otscJiikcta, and sour and bitter as otschi-
wagce. Among the Onondagas now ocJickdtaJi means merely salt,
but the latter part refers to tasting this. Some other dialects differ
but slightly. In Oneida it is tayuJicocJics, or bitter. The earlier lex-
icons do not help the matter. Schoolcraft gives otshewaga as sour,
and it is quite probable that the word for salt originally meant " It
tastes sour," or bitter.
As the early story of Hiawatha is contained in a somewhat rare
book, I may be doing a service by quoting it. It is in William Dun-
lap's history of New York, 1839, but was given him by Webster in
1815. Webster, it may be said, was an interpreter who left two fam-
ilies, one by his Indian wife, and one by his later white wife.
He said that the happy thought of union for defence originated with an
inferior chief of the Onondagas, who perceiving that although the five tribes
were alike in language, and had by cooperation conquered a great extent
of country, yet that they had frequent quarrels and no head, or great coun-
cil, to reconcile them \ and that while divided the western Indians attacked
and destroyed them ; seeing this, he conceived the bright idea of union,
and of a great council of the chiefs of the Five Nations ; this, he said, and
perhaps thought, came to him in a dream ; and it was afterwards considered
as coming from the Great Spirit. He proposed this plan in a council of
his tribe, but the principal chief opposed it. He was a great warrior, and
feared to lose his influence as head man of the Onondagas. This was a
selfish man. The younger chief, whom we will call Oweko, was silenced ;
but he determined in secret to attempt the great political work. This was
a man who loved the welfare of others. To make long journeys and be
absent for several days while hunting would cause no suspicion, because it
was common. He left home as if to hunt; by taking a circuitous path
through the woods, for all this great country was then a wilderness, he
made his way to the village or castle of the Mohawks. He consulted some
of the leaders of that tribe, and they received the scheme favorably ; he
visited the Oneidas, and gained the assent of their chief ; he then returned
home. After a time he made another pretended hunt, and another ; thus
by degrees visiting the Cayugas and Senecas, and gained the assent of all
to a great council to be held at Onondaga. With consummate art he then
gained over his own chief, by convincing him of the advantages of the con-
federacy, and agreeing that he should be considered as the author of the
plan. The great council met, and the chief of the Onondagas made use of
2i6 yotirnal of America^i Folk-Lore.
a figurative argument, taught him by Oweko, which was the same that we
read of in the fable, where a father teaches his sons the value of union, by
taking one stick from a bundle, and showing how feeble it was, and easily
broken, and that when bound together the bundle resisted his utmost
strength.
Sir William Johnson once used this illustration, and the Indians
were as interested as though they had never heard of it before.
There is one feature of J. V. H. Clark's story of Hiawatha, to which
he alluded in charging Schoolcraft with plagiarism. For efifect, he
introduced a jolly Onondaga whom he met, named Hoseenoke, as
rousing Hiawatha, and Schoolcraft took this with the rest.
According to tradition, the powerful Senecas were not anxious to
enter the league, but were told they should be the west door, and
through them all messages in that direction should come. If trivial
they might refuse it, but if of importance they would send runners
with it throughout the long house. The present story makes
chiefs of the other nations go with Hiawatha to the Cayugas and
Senecas. The earlier partly implies this, but Webster's story makes
him go alone.
I find the broad wooden spoon still occasionally in use among the
Onondagas, and when calling on an Indian friend one day, surprised
him at his meal. His spoon was as large as a wooden butter ladle,
and his bean soup disappeared with corresponding rapidity. Here
and there may also be seen the big succotash kettle out of doors,
well supplied with corn, beans, and fat pork, but most of the cooking
is done within.
W. M. Beatichamp.
Mohaiuk Notes. 2 1 7
MOHAWK NOTES.
Many years ago the New York Regents published the Mohawk
lexicon of Father Bruyas, compiled probably before the year 1700.
The edition is not without typographical errors, and contains some
obsolete French words, as might be expected. It is not a complete
lexicon, dealing only with radical words and their derivatives, while
the later student would be glad of many names of things animate
and inanimate. He will be struck, however, with the frequent allu-
sions to customs, some still existing, while some others have passed
away. This paper will briefly mention a few of these.
The name of the confederacy differs slightly in the dialects, and
has the significance of the whole, finished, or real cabin, which we
commonly, but rather arbitrarily render as the Long House. In
Mohawk this was Hotinnonsionni. The Onondagas usually term it
Konosione, but this comes from two words : Kanosa, a house or
cabin, and Onwe, real. The Relation of 1654 gives it a little differ-
ently : " From all time these five Iroquois nations have called them-
selves in the name of their language, which is Huron, Hotinnon-
chiendi, that is to say, the finished cabin, as if they were only one
family." In a note annexed to Montcalm's letter of April 24, 1757,
there is another variation : " The Five Nations, or Confederates,
or Iroquois, a species of league or association formed by five peo-
ples, which, Iroquois by origin, comprised only one single house,
which is called the Iroquois cabin, or the grand village." L. H.
Morgan says, " The Iroquois called themselves the Ho-de-no-sau-
nee, which signifies the people of the long house." He considered
the long house peculiar to the Iroquois, which it was not, but gives
the usual idea of five fires or families living under one roof. The
complete house remained unchanged. It formed the real cabin.
Any allies were but extraneous structures, such as we sometimes
add to the first design.
In each nation thus allied there w^ere from three to a dozen clans
distinguished by totems ; three of these clans only being common
to all the nations. This lexicon tells us that among the Mohawks
the Turtle family had nine voices, that is, so many votes in their
own Mohawk council. For while the Grand Iroquois Council had
at least fifty members, the national councils were much like our
state legislatures. As there were distinctions of rich and poor,
which varied, so there were distinctions of rank which changed but
little. There w^as an aristocracy, out of which came the chiefs, and
the members of this aristocracy were called Agoianders. The word
Atenrienentons meant to call together the Agoianders of each Mo-
/
2i8 Joiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
hawk town into one, to hold a council there. Women were of this
rank, as well as men. Either was entitled Gaiander, most excellent.
At the feasts some things were held in reserve, called Oskokwa, the
portion of the Agoianders. When these gave wampum to each other,
as befitted their rank, it was termed Garonkaratise. There was a
dance, also, called Gannisterohon, which these held, and in which
they gave porcelain or wampum to the spectators. It may be noted
that the French used the word porcelainc, for either shell, porcelain,
or glass beads.
Generally there were three villages of the Mohawks ; sometimes
more, but the land was more distinctly divided among the three
clans than in the other nations. Here only do we meet with the
appropriate name of the three lands of the Mohawks, though not the
distinctive name of each. The familiar Gannata, or village, appears,
which is the original of Canada. The initial letter is often modified
in all the dialects. In Onondago the word is Kanata.
The use of iron was a great acquisition for the Mohawks, and thus
they termed all Europeans Aseronni, makers of hatchets. Another
gain was theirs. Before the Dutch came, very few were the shell
beads of the Iroquois, and none had they of glass. Afterwards
these became abundant, but were still highly prized. Thus it was
that there was a name for him who was avaricious of glass beads.
But the true council wampum, Ondegorha, was still more precious,
redeeming slaves, atoning for bloodshed, and purchasing peace. Be-
tween equals it was necessary to make equal gifts of this. As they
cast it upon a corpse, the Oneidas said, " Raondigonra rogarewat,"
regretting the one dead. One word alludes to the placing of the
wampum belt on the forehead. Onniatsara was the porcelain which
the w^omen attached to the hair which fell down at the back of the
head. Gannonton was to cast the wampum for those dead. Then
the " canons de porcelaine," Enhrar, the long glass beads, are men-
tioned, which the missionaries gave the Indians for learning their
lessons well.
Althougti Golden asserts that the Five Nations had no slaves,
many are the allusions to them here and elsewhere, and even the bonds
with w^hich they were tied. The scaffold on which the prisoner was
tortured has a full description in the Relations, but here the account
is brief. Bark was gathered for it, and it was called Ennisera and
Askwa, with other terms for its use. Often came the ceremony
called Gannitenton, though most nations shared in this. It was the
beating on the cabins on the evening when they had burned or
killed a captive. Thus they hoped to drive his soul away and keep
themselves from harm. The Canadian Algonquins.did this with all
the dead. One word has a curious origin. The Mohawks used
Mohawk Notes. 2 1 9
Gaskennonton to express the journey to the land of souls, and
thence the deer was called Oskennonton, because it was so timid as
always to think itself dead, flying through the forests like a ghost.
Iroquois dances have greatly changed. Two centuries ago Twa-
tonwcsaon was the dance of the women, and this seems to have sur-
vived ; at least the women still have dances of their own. Atren
was the IMohawk dance of the ancients, or old and principal men.
This included singing. The dance of the Agoianders has been
mentioned, where they gave wampum to the spectators. Allied to
these were the many songs, but few of which are named in this lex-
icon. Gannonhouarori was to sing the death-song, or another, pro-
vided that one sings alone without any response. Most songs had
responses. Atonront was a song to which one responds by the
hen ! hen ! Atonriethon is to make the he ! he ! to the chant of
the warriors. This ancient response is still used with fine effect.
Gaonwajen was a kind of chant used when they made a feast of
dogs. This was not the White Dog feast, which is of later date as
regards this feature, and is a changed form of the Onnonhouarari,
or Dream Feast. Dreams were of the first importance, and Garous-
ton meant to invoke the Otkon, or demon, upon any dream which
one had. It was a maxim that the dream was the rule of life. An-
other response, Niohen, was made by the ancients as a token of
consent or approbation. This, essentially, is still retained.
Various significant cries were also in use. Kahenreton was to
make the cry for news, but this was not the cry itself. Atwendou-
tenyon was to make any cry about the village ; the public cry being
the usual way of announcing anything. There was a cry of vic-
tory, hardly differing from Tajesagaiont, where one makes the Kohe.
This has always been a modulated cry, expressive of many things,
and in one form, Koue, is thought to have been the last syllable of
the word Iroquois. It is still used at feasts, and in the announce-
ment of deaths; long drawn out in grief, and shortened in joy.
The newsbearer utters this alone as he passes through a village to
declare a chief's death.
The custom of smoking in councils was the origin of a word for
sitting close together, as they did in councils. From the words
Gatsista and Otsirc, or fire, came words signifying to hold or close
councils, by kindling or putting out the council fire. In this con-
nection • we have Ganniegarannie, to rub two pieces of wood be-
tween the hands to make fire. Fire had other uses. Onterita was
to burn the ground preparatory to sowing seed. Another word
meant to give a signal by the smoke of a fire made on purpose ; a
common practice in the West, but not so easily done in forest lands.
Pumpkins and corn were roasted in the fire. Sweating houses were
220 yoiinia I of American Folk-Lore.
used for divination, nor were these always of bark, but often kilns
of stones. Earthen kettles had not gone out of use. They were
the Ontakonwe, the real or original kettle. The Gannatsiarouton
-was the war kettle where the warriors sang. Ata was a small piece
of bark or wood, to serve as torches when they hunted pigeons in
the night.
Hunting and fishing usages have but slight prominence in this
lexicon. Pigeon roosts are a thing of the past, but the Kannhi was
a great rod with which the Mohawks struck down the pigeon nests,
and the night hunt of these had its own name. Atkatokwisaon was
to fish with a basket, and Ganniero to take little fishes with the same ;
perhaps by damming a stream around the basket, and driving the
fish in, as I have seen done. The different nations did not always
fish alike. Gagatotsienton is to draw up the fish, as the Mohawks
did with the herring. Gaihonhenton is to fish in the Oneida fash-
ion, chasing the fish. They placed stakes across a creek, so as to
form a pound, into which the fish were driven. Spears, arrows, and
clubs did the rest. Ganniat was to have nets. These were com-
monly used, being originally made of wild hemp, or Oskaro. Much
of the cordage used was of the inner bark of trees, or sinews of
animals. Slight allusions there are to domestic manufactures. Gan-
nakti is a bobbin or spindle, at the end of which is fixed a little
stick, which the children cause to run on the ice, Gasire is a cover-
ing by great hair, or Iroquois stuff ; perhaps merely fur. Mats have
many figurative meanings.
The Iroquois used corn meal in the form of sagamite, and the
ornamented stirring stick yet survives. The Asennonte was a
little sack attached to the woman's girdle, in which she placed the
corn to be planted, and the wooden hoe was still used. Generally
the Iroquois used the wooden pestle and mortar as they now do.
There was also a name for crushing the corn between two stones,
Karistiagon ; indeed more than one. This was a survival of the
most primitive mode. Garhatageha, or huckleberries, called bluets
by the French, were a favorite food.
Touatgenhogen, was to have the hair divided on the forehead, and
from this the women had one of their names. Onnigensa was the
hair of the women falling behind, and usually braided. For per-
sonal adornment red hair was put around the head or neck, Gan-
nonsen was to mark upon the body with the point of a needle, and
tattooing was often practised. Black Prince, the Onondaga chief,
thus intensified his dark complexion.
Atonriaron was to wet with medicinal water, which was spirted
over a person or thing bewitched. The only other reference to
magic rites is the Astawen, or the turtle-shell which the juggler
Mohawk Notes. 2 2 1
holds in his hands while singing, but mention is made of an animal
having the face of a man. A term for playing with fruit stones as
the women do, throwing them with the hand, seems different from
the ordinary peach stone game ; but another, much like it, means
to play with the dish, as in that game. Gannonrare is more definite,
referring to success in the game of all white or all black. But the
Mohawks loved other sports. There were words to denote sliding
on the ice, on a place marked out for this ; and even for sliding on a
bark or plank. Gahwengare was a dry stick used for a message,
such sticks having been used before they had wampum. Another
term denoted "the carrying of the bride into her husband's cabin.
Among the early Onondagas she only lodged there until children
were born, spending the day with her parents. Garhon was the
cradle, which still survives in a few instances. A long word tells
how it might fall, but not in the words of the nursery song.
Speaking of falls, the Iroquois word for a waterfall is Gaskonsage,
from Gaskonsa, a tooth, as though the perpendicular white sheet
reminded them of this. Few common nouns, however, appear.
It is quite probable that other early vocabularies may include
similar items of interest, but of less value. Zeisberger's Onondaga
dictionary is more properly Mohawk, and I find little in it to be
noted now. Another of early date, published by the late J. G.
Shea, and termed Onondaga by him, seems to include words from
all the dialects, notably the Cayuga. It has a list of the months, as
given by the Onondagas now, and in their present order but not
their proper position. This is easily seen, because the primitive
meanings of these words are now known.
W. M. Beauchamp.
222 younial of American Folk-Lorc.
THE COCKNEY AND HIS DIALECT.
I AM able to speak with some personal knowledge of this subject,
inasmuch as I am myself a Cockney, born within sound of Bow
Bells. My birthplace was within sight of that steep and wooded
hillside from which Whittington looked across the intervening
meadows upon the then compact city of London, and listened to
the peal, perhaps a triple-bob-major, that issued from the gray tower
of Saint Mary-le-beau in the Chepe.
Though similar sounds from Wren's ornate steeple are drowned
nowadays in the multi-compounded roar that rises from the street-
encovered space, yet London has spread its skirts to such an extent
that districts miles beyond Highgate Hill and Kilburn High-Street
are part and parcel of the great city, and their inhabitants can claim
co-designation as Cockneys with myself and 'Arry 'Awkins.
The term Cockney is an allusion to that fabled realm of mediaeval
rhyme : —
Fur in sea, bi west Spayne
Is a lond ihote Cockaigne, »
which by some fanciful connection with London's effeminacy and
luxuriousness came to be applied to its genuine citizens. It would
almost appear, from the locality assigned to the supposititious land,
that it must lie nearer to New York than to London.
Instances of the use of the title as a surname are extant, such as
"John Cokeney," to be seen in the Calendar of Inquisitiones Post-
mortem, " Richard Cokyn " in the Parliament Rolls, " William
Cockayne " in the Placitorum of Richard the First, and even " Rich-
ard de Cockayne," in the Hundred Rolls. A book of poems was
published in London, in 1658, by Sir Aston Cokain.
A dictionary generally defines the term as being one used by way
of contempt, and indicative of ignorance and effeminacy, perhaps
even of low character.
Doubtless, as such it has been and is to some extent still applied
by rural folks and by rival townsmen of the outer counties of Eng-
land. Yet the genuine Cockney of our own times to a great extent
belies such a signification of the title. I have lived with him,
worked alongside of him, and have learned to appreciate his geniality,
shrewd humor, briskness of conception and repartee, his blundering
good-nature and love of practical joking, in all of which I see the
traces of inherited peculiarities. The ruling characteristic of the
Londoner, which has influenced his personality and his language, is
a self-consciousness never entirely absent from him. And when I
speak of 'Arry in this connection, I refer equally to 'Arriet.
The Cochicy and his Dialed. 223
It is plain to be seen among the coarser classes of the genus as
they walk together in public, a yard apart, heads up, sacrificing their
tender aspirations to appearances.
A keen appreciation of ridicule goes hand in hand with this.
Next comes that sense of sarcasm and personal humor which is not
to be denied by mere inappropriateness of place or subject.
" Hi ! 'earse," cried a typical cabby to the driver of a funeral, "let
me parse, yor fare ain't in no bloomin' 'urry."
" Naa then, guinea-a-week," cries a bus driver to another in
trouble with the police, "garn 'ome an' learn to drive a pram."
Here an old London love of allegory peeps out, born in times past
of miracle-plays and much street-preaching, with a citizen's quick
intuition of even a friend's weak points.
The least peculiarity of dress, or extravagance of appearance in
his own or other classes suffices to draw forth the Cockney's fine
powers of allusion. Perhaps to this may be attributed some of the
commonplace character of London dress, the subdued demeanor of
its average peripatetic citizen.
A bishop might walk safely enough in Whitechapel, if his leggings
did not bleach under the withering references they would call forth.
We may call to mind in this connection the derisive ridicule with
which the Cockneys greeted the appearance of poor Hanway with
his first umbrella.
The Cockney dialect, which is, after all is said against it, the lan-
guage of the major portion of the great city's inhabitants, is, as I
hope to show you, not mere vulgarism but a traditional relic of cen-
turies standing.
There is no weaker point in poor 'Arry's armor than his speech,
which, go where he will, and say what he may, bewrayeth him. But
when this reproach is levelled at him, it would be easy for him to
remind his rebukers of the good historical reason- for his peculiar
pronunciation. His drawling ds are the exact traditional survival
of those of the gentlemanly fops of two hundred years agone, of the
curled and powdered fashionables of King Charles' court.
That which, in the mouth of Lord Sunderland and of his com-
peers, was the admiration of the well-dressed throng in the Mall at
St. James, has by that imitation which is at once the sincerest flat-
tery and a strong London instinct, survived the mirth and ridicule
of theatrical audiences, the sarcasm of littcrateuTs, and the vagaries
of time. " Ga arn inter the 'aarse," as a Cockney mother will say
to her children, is thus almost a classical pronunciation, with a war-
rant of age greater than much now strictly correct phraseology.
In that large class of words in which the o takes with a follow-
ing u the ^^ ow" sound, the drawling pronunciation becomes a
2 24 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
double a. To give this effective tone, the nostrils must be closed
or disused, and this leads to a supposition I have frequently thought
to be the natural cause both of the Londoner's drawl and his strug-
'gle with his //'s, for most Londoners suffer more or less from
catarrhal troubles. The effort needed under such a condition to
bring out the broad ozu sound is unnecessary with the aa in com-
mon use.
Time and modern education are working their changes in this
pronunciation. Perhaps better conditions of health and sanitation
have something to do with it. The drawling ow has extended to
the letter a, and '■^ Lady'' is now becoming " Lydy,'' and every one
who has heard the inimitable mimicry by Chevalier of the Cockney
coster, by none appreciated more than by the genuine article him-
self, has become familiar with the proper pronunciation of " Dyzy,"
whose lover became so near " cryzy " on the " biisikle made for two."
It is just probable that at a time when all ts, were written ys,
the same pronunciation may have been acceptable English.
I am just old enough to remember relics of Cockney difficulty
with the letter 7v, which Dickens rolled mirthfully out of the mouth
of Weller, Senior. "Bevare of Vidders, Samivcl," was good advice,
probably tendered nasally, or rather, un-nasally, to Samuel, without
raising in that hero's mind any idea of a peculiarity of speech.
This, again, was in all probability a difficulty caused by lack of effec-
tiveness on the part of the nostril, though the interchangeability of
the ^'and w was mutual, and in some sort still survives. My bench-
companion in my apprenticeship, who was a native of Southwark,
itself pronounced * Suthark,' when he was not engaged in whistling
like a veritable English blackbird, would sing the then favorite air,
" Goin' up to 'Ampstead in a Wan," till I had it by heart, pronunci-
ation and all ; one verse of it being so full of true Cockneyisms that
I shall not apologize for repeating it here. After sundry adventures
on the way to H ampstead Heath, the Singer and Liza
Got there in a wyle.
And she give me such a smyle
Wen ai ast er if she 'd lyke a Duniky ryde.
A duniky we 'd apiece,
Aar spirets did increase
As on we goes a trottin' side by side.
Wen summun threw a stone,
'It mine on the funny bone,
To kick and plunge Jeeroozalem began ;
I 'eld on for a wyle, then fell orf and smash.'d me tyle,
All threw goin' up to 'Ampstead in a Wan.
In these lines, besides the humor of the side reference to the
"moke's" origin in the holy city, several other essential Cockney-
The Cockney and his Dialect. 225
isms are evidenced : the loss of the //, and of the final g in
words ending in ng, also the interchangeability of v and iv, also
the separation of the harsh combination of n and k when in con-
tact, such as in donkey, monkey, still more curious when they end a
word as in dninik. A coster went to see Irving act in " The Mer-
chant of Venice." He came out early, as Portia bade Antonio bare
his bosom to the knife, realistically impressed, but disgusted, and
explaining, " blamed if he could stop to see chuniks er liesh cut aat
of a bloke's breast by the paand."
The loss of ^ in " ending " is by no means confined to 'Arry or
to the English" lower classes in general, and is too common a feature
of vulgar mispronunciation to need dissection before an American
audience. The wonder is, that with so universal a negligence, the
letter in such positions should have managed to survive at all.
But it is the unhappy slippery Ji which is of all other failings that
most commonly associated with Cockneyisms. While its neglect is
by no means confined to London, it is true that in its misuse the
Cockney is decidedly preeminent. He can so absolutely disregard
it whenever it is proper, and so laboriously lug it in where it is
absolutely unnecessary and improper, that he has few compeers out-
side of Middlesex and Surrey.
The Romans, who left characteristics in England not retained
elsewhere, such as that peculiarity of driving a horse to the left,
which is only to be seen in England and the city of Rome, might
have indelibly fixed their carelessness of aspiration upon the British
speech, yet from the fact that the language generally has grown up
full of aspirates, in spite of the equally patent fact that two thirds
of the population of England ignore and misplace them, they can
scarcely be credited with the result.
It is usual to poke fun at poor 'Arry on this account, and his sen-
sitiveness becomes very tender if he is asked to deal with such try-
ing sentences as, "'Ow the 'orses' 'oofs 'ammer the 'ard iron road."
Just how ancient this mispractice is I am unable to say. I cannot
think it to be much older than the drawl of Charles II. If more
ancient, many local names, which oral tradition has modified, would
have surely lost the aspirant, not to speak of others where //s would
have been unwarrantably added. Of such are the bus conductors'
cries daily to be heard at the Mansion House, "'Igh 'Oborn, 'Oborn,
'Oborn, 'Igh 'Ampstead, 'Olloway, 'Olloway,' Ammersmith," followed
by " Halbert ^All, Hoxford Street," and " 'Yde Park."
The English of Chaucer's time certainly could not have been very
weak in their //s, and a country song of Edward II. 's reign has a
line full of them : —
The hayward heteth us harm to habben of his.
VOL. VIII. — NO. 30. 15
226 journal of A fncrican Folk-Lore.
Later on, when Lydgatc wrote his " London Lackpcnny," his pen-
niless hero recites the cries at the street stalls of the Chepe, of
Candlewick, and of Cornhill, " Hot peascods, hot sheeps-feet, fine
'felt hats," and so forth, without loss of It's,, which in so precise a
description would scarce have failed to be recorded.
But if a Cockney is lacking in his grammatical use of aspirants,
his sensitiveness makes him so laboriously anxious to replace their
deficiency, that others appear in his remarks, when he is desirous of
looking well, or when his self-consciousness has reached a high pitch,
in the most extraordinary positions. Feeling the weakness to which
he is subject, he anticipates his failing and anxiously inserts aspi-
rants whenever he can, almost inevitably failing, however, to place
them where they should be, which is where custom and training
have taught him they do not exist.
"You '11 find," said our landlady to my wife, "it 's heasy to get
up the 'ill, 'aving the use of your 'usband's harm." Here, and
elsewhere, the unnecessary h is introduced only where a stress is
placed upon the word, as if some sense of its being a capital letter
were lingering in the mind. Thus a North London Railway porter
will call out the double station " 'Ighbry-and-Lslington," while he
could not avoid announcing a single name like Ealing as " Healing,"
or Acton as "Hacton."
When our cat was restless, our maid impressively announced her
opinion that it was suffering from " Hirritation of the hears," and I
have had to keep my countenance when the cook asked leave to go,
" Hacross to her Huncle's to fetch some Heggs." Such instances
could be multiplied to any extent, and it is really strange how easy
it is for such solecisms to become a habit with any one, with suffi-
cient practice.
Mr. Bardsley relates one curious instance with serious conse-
quences. A child was about to be baptized. The priest asked the
mother the child's name. " Robert," was the reply. "Any other
name.'*" he inquired. "Robert, h'only," she answered. "Robert
Honly, I baptize thee," etc., proceeded the clergyman, and so the
infant was perforce duly registered.
It would be impossible to complete the subject of Cockney phrase-
ology without reference to those semi-blasphemous and wholly vul-
gar expressions without which a Londoner's remarks on any subject
are seldom completed. The " universal adjective," as Walter Besant
has happily termed the inevitable "bloody," has been shown to have
a mediaeval origin in the common oath of "By'r'lady," or, as I think
to be a still nearer derivation, the " God's blood," or " God's body,"
familiar expletives of mediaeval times contracted to the familiar and
semi-humorous " S'blood," "Odds' bodkins," and "Odds' fish " of
the Elizabethan period.
The Cochiey and his Dialect. 227
The vulgarity of the modern form is due to its universally com-
mon use or misuse, interlarded as it is by every Cockney into every
remark, suitably or unsuitably, and even, as I have heard it, interpo-
lated for the sake of definite and precise emphasis, between two syl-
lables of a word, or used as a term of partially humorous endearment
by a shawl-enshrouded mother to an East End child.
Walking across Southwark Bridge last year, I heard behind me
an elderly workman addressing a younger instructively upon his
views of politics : —
"Them," said he, pointing to the Houses of Parliament and. the
West End generally, " them 's the fellers wot 's got all the
power in this country. If I 'ad my way, I 'd put every
mother's son of 'em under this river for a half 'our, and
next I 'd put every foreigner in the country after 'em, and
that 'ud give a Englishman a chance."
It will be evident that the use of the adjective is by no means sin-
ister, but, from its association in the same sentence with contrary
ideas, is purely emphatical, and surely no more reprehensive, even if
more vulgar, than the " Damn," derived from dame or dominus,
which has been most Englishmen's pet expletive since so early a
date that in the trial of Joan of Arc it was referred to as being char-
acteristic of the English.
In quaint spelling Boorde writes : " In all the worlde there is no
regyon nor countrie that doth use more swearynge then is used in
Englande, for a chylde that scarse can speake, a boy, a gyrle, a
wenche, now a dayes wyl swere as great oaths as an old knave and
an old drabbe."
I can scarcely blame the poor Cockney for his pet expression, nor
can I join altogether in the general society shudder of horror over
it. It has at least as old a warrant as other expletives, and fills some
gap in emphatical expressions of which the Londoner feels, but can-
not otherwise supply the need.
As with all other citizens of all great cities, the Londoner's dialect
runs to clipping of words, running of them together, and in these
ways shortening the flow of words necessary to high-pressure life.
The contractions of Holborn into Ho'bun, Highbury into Hy'bry,
Willesden into Wil'sd'n, can be counterparted by the marvellous
enunciations of the conductors on the New York railroads. The
process. may be almost as well studied in New York as in London ;
together with the ready adoption of slang expressions and word
twistings more or less apt. A good example is given in Chevalier's
"Mrs. 'Enr}-'Awkins," " De-ear Liza, d'ye-ear Liza," repeated to dis-
traction on recent Bank holidays. Of such matters the music hall
is the chief disseminant, bringing all districts into contact with the
same items.
228 yoiirnal of A mcrica n Folk- Lore.
The Cockney's conservatism is greater than one would think.
He entirely resents any attempts to dictate fashion to him, either in
language or manners or dress. He will wear blue corduroy if he
'likes, — it is the fashion; and 'Arriet shall stick to white ostrich
feathers and a purple hat, and when they return together from
'Ampstead she shall wear 'Arry's billy-cock while he is crowned
with hers, hind side before. And who shall compel him to change
his musical taste, since he can only play the concertina or the tin
whistle .'' He is enthusiastically musical at all times, and to stop
whistling in a London workshop is a hard task for a foreman. And
how he can whistle for a mate, or for 'Liza when she has gone off
in the dark with another young man ! That piercing whistle was
learnt when he was learning hop-scotch and the turning of " cart-
wheels " on the pavement ; its shrillness was an absolute necessity
in order to be heard above the noise of traffic.
So, too, his habits are not changed when in the country, and
nothing is more amusing than to witness him at the Ryehouse or at
Hampton Court in the green fields with his lady love.
A little Cockney boy went for his first Sunday-school outing.
"How did you like it.-*" he was asked. " Werry much," he replied,
" but I did n't get enough to drink. They giv me milk, but not aat
of a clean tin. They squeezed it aat of a naasty caa ; I seen 'em
done it myself."
'Arry and 'Arriet inhabit a vast city, so extended, that within the
bounds of their leisure they can see but little of other parts of it.
From much of its sources of interest they are cut off by distance or
ignorance. Their lives are spent chiefly in its sordid and most unin-
teresting portions, where dingy brick buildings in narrow streets
combine with the sooty smoke in shutting out clear sky and sun.
A tall tenement house of New York or Paris is less disadvanta-
geously constructed, for its height affords some chance of free air,
and the atmosphere is less poisoned, dull, and damp than that which
these poor folks breathe daily. Yet, when young, both 'Arry and
'Arriet retain th^ir spirits, and until the drink has taken its hold
upon them, or trouble and responsibility of their early families have
begun to weigh them down, there are no more cheerful inhabitants
of any great city in the world.
Bank holiday is a good time to see the real East End Cockneys
pour out from Aldgate and Shoreditch, bearing sometimes their pet
birds for a little sunshine and fresh air; or, better still, the 9th of
November, when they may be seen trailing in thousands westwards
to watch the Lord Mayor's show. The criticism of i-ts details, mim-
icry of its component parts, chaff of its footmen, and derision of its
functionaries, afford just that unceasing delight to the Cockney
The Cockney and his Dialect. 229
crowd which many have in my hearing wondered at in so tame and
somewhat childish a function. But mix in the crowd, and hear the
banter, the good-natured ridicule of the police, the practical jokes
played on them, the genuine admiration of the cavalrymen keeping
the road free, the hat pluckings and tossing to and fro, the rolling
of oranges, shying of peel, chucking of carrots, false alarms, and
heartless witticisms on each other, and you will agree in my esti-
mate of good points of the Cockney character, which, as I have
endeavored to show, peep out in his language, and make virtues out
of his grammatical lapses and self-conscious solecisms.
Reginald Pclhain Bolton.
230 Jouriial of American Folk-Lore.
THE LADY IN THE WEST.
(a ballad.)
There was a lady lived in the West,
Whose age was scarcely twenty,
And she had suitors of the best,
Both lords and squires plenty.
And she had suitors of the best,
Who daily waited upon her,
But her father's clerk she would adore,
Above those men of honor.
Her father unto her he did say,
" You fond and foolish creature.
To marry with your servant slave,
So mean of form and feature.
" So mean a portion shall you have,
If this is your proceeding,
To marry with your servant slave,
So mean of birth and breeding."
" It must be so, it shall be so.
Although I have offended,
For when I break a solemn vow,
Then let my life be ended."
There being a table in the room,
A pistol on it lying.
He instantly all in rage,
The very same let flying.
All at his youthful daughter's breast,
Who fell down dead before him,
The very last word she did express,
" I must and will adore him."
Sung in Massachusetts, before 1800.
Mrs. E. Allen, West Newton, Mass.
Fo Ik-Lore Study and Folk- Lore Societies. 231
FOLK-LORE STUDY AND FOLK-LORE SOCIETIES.
In a circular letter, intended to set forth the operations of the
American Folk-Lore Society, after pointing out that this Society
was organized in 18S8 for the collection and publication of the folk-
lore and mythology of the American continent, that it holds annual
meetings at which reports are received and papers read, that its
membership fee is three dollars per annum, and that its members
are entitled to receive its quarterly organ, the Journal of American
Folk-Lore, the' following statement is made respecting the material
which the Society undertakes to gather and examine : —
The work of the Society includes publication and research in regard to
the religious ceremonies, ethical conditions, mytholog}^ and oral literature
of Indian tribes ; collection of the traditions of stocks existing in a rela-
tively primitive state, and the collation of these with correct accounts of
survivals among civilized tribes ; gathering of the almost wholly unre-
corded usages and beliefs of Central and South American races ; the
comparison of aboriginal American material with European and Asiatic
conceptions, myths, and customs ; a study of survivals among American
negroes, including their traditional inheritance from Africa, and its modifi-
cation in this continent ; preservation of the abundant folk-lore of French
and Spanish regions of North America; record of the oral traditions of the
English-speaking population, and description of communities now or lately
existing under isolated conditions.
While it appears to me impossible for a scientific society, con-
cerned with the examination of oral tradition, to make a separation
between that of civilized and uncivilized communities, it is also true
that the name folk-lore was originally invented to denote the tradi-
tional inheritance of educated Europe. The various kinds of sur-
vivals included under the term, when taken in this narrower sense,
and with especial reference to English folk-lore, have been the sub-
ject of classification in an article by the writer, published in the
new edition of Johnson's Encyclopaedia (New York, 1894, article
" Folk-Lore "). The division proposed, which is to be accepted as
a sketch subject to improvement, is as follows (headings only are
given, the reader who desires further information being referred to
explanations contained in the paper mentioned) : —
I. Customs.
{a) Ceremonial (days of year, etc.).
{b) Worship.
{c) Social.
{d) Relating to human life.
{e) Industrial.
(/) Rights and obligations.
232 younial of American Folk-Lore.
{g) Games.
(//) Gesture.
II. Superstitions.
{a) Relating to mythic beings.
{b) Times and seasons.
{c) Relating to objects of nature.
(ii) Witchcraft and magic.
(<?) Divination.
(/■) Popular medicine.
(^) Amulets and charms.
(//) Personal.
(/) Physiological.
III. Popular Literature.
{a) Poetry (epics, ballads, carols, songs).
(1^) Prose (sagas, marchen, animal tales, legends, drolls, myths, exam-
ples).
{c) Minor Elements (rhymes, riddles, proverbs and sayings, phrases,
expressions).
In this schedule no reference is made to the philosophic side of
the study, or to the utility of the material in providing means for
tracing the course of mental history. It may be well to point out,
by examples, how the proper use of information, in itself apparently
unimportant, may serve to elucidate general theory.
Twelve years ago the writer's attention was called to a class of
amusements before almost unknown to him, to the singing gam.es,
played with rhymed words and accompanied by the dance, with
which little girls are still in the habit of amusing their leisure. The
collection of these plays gave results which could not have been
anticipated. It appeared that in virtue of a tradition dating from
colonial days, children in the New World still kept up the songs
which had been familiar in the Old World at the time of the settle-
ment, and had descended from a period far earlier ; it was shown
that in this respect, as in others, the influence of the English ele-
ment was all-important, foreign importations having a relatively
small influence ; it turned out that in virtue of the original impulse,
and also of continued intercommunication, children in New England
and in Old England were absolutely agreed even as to the words of
the rhymes which they have continued to dramatize. It was seen,
furthermore, that many of these histories or imitations were not
originally of childish origin, but only preserved by childish con-
servatism ; that they were the same love-dances which six centuries
before had been performed by knights and noble damsels in the
courts of western Europe. Beyond this inter.esting certainty, it
seemed probable that in many of these infantile sports remained
the last echoes of primitive ceremonial usage, of worship and of
myth. In certain cases it was evident that for many thousand years
Folk-Lore Study and Folk-Lore Societies. 233
oral tradition had maintained even the formulas of popular games.
The collection made in a country relatively new proved of value in
determining the general theory of tradition ; it seemed that these
rhymes were not confined to English-speaking peoples, but with
slight change were also European ; it was thus clear that the per-
sistency of oral tradition, under favorable circumstances, is not in-
compatible with a continued diffusion from country to country, and
translation from language to language.
Very recently Mr. Stewart Culin has brought his Asiatic studies
to bear on the same subject. In a collection of the games of Corea,
not yet printed, he has been able to show that the same correspond-
ence holds, and that between the amusements of the Pacific coast
of Asia and the Atlantic coast of Europe exists a close parallelism.
This identity will be found absolutely inexplicable on any theory of
spontaneous origination ; it will appear that there exists a culture
area, embracing Europe and Asia, in which from prehistoric times
has proceeded a continual interchange of ideas.
The illustration is given to show, in the case of a single and nar-
row department, a general principle ; for there is not one of the
sections above indicated which may not be of equal importance to
philosophical theory.
If in the field of English folk-lore the gleaning is but scanty, and
the opportunity for the collector limited, it must be remembered that
in the north French Canada, in the south Spanish Mexico, offer
regions where a rich oral tradition is still to be found. On the Rio
Grande, as set forth by Capt. John G. Bourke in a number of this
Journal, is still performed a miracle-play which will form the sub-
ject of a future memoir of this Society. The habitant of the Prov-
ince of Quebec, in his language and customs, offers a survival of
Old Prance still imperfectly examined. In the Southern States of
the Union the negro presents a great body of Ueliefs, tales, and
habits, rapidly giving way to the culture of the white race, to whom
he is becoming mentally assimilated. The true character of the
plantation negro, a mystery to his former masters, who viewed him
only from the outside, is to be found in his folk-lore. The interest-
ing music, which he has developed in his new home, hitherto imper-
fectly recorded and understood, offers a series of problems of the
utmost importance to the theory of the art, exhibiting as it does the
entire transition from speech to song. But enough has been said to
prove the extent of the vast field open to the student of American
folk-lore.
It is now necessary briefly to turn to the other great division of
the work of the Society, the record of the oral tradition of primitive
races.
234 Joiirnal of A^ncrican Folk-Lore.
Mention has been made of the lore of American negroes ; but for
its correct interpretation it is necessary to turn to Africa. In con-
sidering the mind of the African, however, we enter on a field as
X)bscure as it is curious. As is set forth by Mr. Chatelain, in the
present number of this Journal, the greater part, at least of primi-
tive Africa is now in the condition of incipient monotheism. The
native mind readily accepts the proposition that the world has been
created by a single divine power, but declines to suppose that this
intelligence concerns itself with anything so paltry and essentially
evil as the present society of man. The management of mundane
things, as the native thinks, is left to the care of the subordinate
spirits, by the invocation of which earthly prosperity may be insured.
In other words, the African has entered on a stage of culture famil-
iar in philosophies of antiquity, and to be found also among certain
tribes of American Indians. Few ethnologists, however, will believe
that such opinion represents anything but a recent mental condi-
tion. The really ancient belief and practice of the African is to be
sought in the observance rendered to minor spirits ; when his cere-
monial customs are adequately recorded, it will probably be discov-
ered that the opinion, maintained even to the present day, which
assigns to him nothing better than a vague fetishism (whatever that
word may be taken to mean), is unfounded, and that to the African,
as to all other uncivilized peoples, belongs a well-defined ritual and
at least the elements of a mythology. At present, however, in con-
sequence of the deficiency of proper observers, the calendar, cultus,
and imagination of the primitive African is a mystery ; Africa
needs students who will take some pains to familiarize themselves
with the languages as well as the country, and consent to commu-
nicate with natives otherwise than by means of the rifle.
Turning to American soil, we have before our eyes a remarkable
spectacle, in the remains of the Indian tribes, so rapidly altering
their condition and conceptions. Here, in the relics of a social
state, compared to which the oldest Pyramid is a thing of yesterday,
we perceive a ceremonial system, an oral literature, by the aid of
which we may obtain some idea of the origins from which developed
the societies of Egypt, Babylonia, Hellas, and Rome. An intelligent
consideration of these American races gives an impression of the
infinity of the mental universe, in the same manner as observation
of the starry .heavens conveys a sense of the infiniteness of the phy-
sical world. Europe, as a result of the vicissitudes of its experience,
presents us with but few stocks linguistically unconnected, such as
Aryan, Basque, Turk, and Finn ; but the territory of the United
States alone exhibits sixty of such independent divisions. Here,
for countless millenniums, these separate stocks, each containing its
Folk-Lore Study and Folk- Lore Societies. 235
score of nations, if the word might be employed to denote tribes
with distinct languages, must have warred and migrated, waxed and
waned, dwindled to a few individuals or totally disappeared. The
admixture of the traditions of these races with those of the con-
quering whites, the remains of their ceremonies, subject to gradual
alteration, present composite survivals, from which extensive record
and careful comparison may hereafter be able to infer the true char-
acter of aboriginal pre-Columbian lore. Meanwhile, the deficiency
of knowledge is the more annoying, inasmuch as it is to this conti-
nent that we should look in order to obtain a conception of the
course which would be taken by the human mind, if left free from
the influence of relatively recent civilization, which has affected the
most primitive communities of other continents.
Considering the novelty of the field, and the convenience of the
window by which is opened so desirable a glimpse into a remote
past, it might have been supposed that universities and learned
societies of America would eagerly have embraced the opportunity,
and done their best to atone for the ignorance of unenlightened
predecessors, to whom the speech of the red man was a senseless
jargon, and Indian worship diabolical impiety or degrading mum-
mery. One would have thought that institutions of learning would
have vied with one another in supporting inquiries so appropriate
for Americans ; in particular, one might have expected from the
large body of teachers occupied with Hellenic and Roman antiquity
at least a sympathetic interest in general archaeology, and in that
branch of archaeology which deals with their own land. On the
contrary, content with the isolation of their department, these stu-
dents, in the majority of cases, have proved unable to comprehend
the relation of their subject to archaeological theory. They have
failed to understand that the true scientific spirit must of necessity
concern itself with the entirety of human culture, and that too nar-
row attention to the productions of a single race is to forfeit that
spirit. Even the aesthetic interest -which belongs to the higher
developments of intelligence must suffer, unless these be regarded
with eyes sufficiently comprehensive to take in their horizon. For
example, Hellenic myth is comprehensible only in the light of infor-
mation obtainable by the examination of the belief of races which
still remain in a simple state of culture. "The Golden Bough" of
J. G. Frazer has been useful in furnishing the demonstration that
the day of comparative research has arrived, in which every scholar
who is worthy of the name will endeavor to obtain the broad view
which was not possible for his predecessors.
In no country, of recent years, have the results of the observation
of primitive folk-lore and mythology been so important and signifi-
236 jfoiiyjial of American Folk-Lorc.
cant as in the United States. The study of the living tradition of
Zuiii, Moki, and Navajo has contributed material so unexpected,
that it may be said never until this day has the Indian mind been
really comprehensible. The results of these inquiries have alto-
gether altered the theory of primitive ritual and belief; it may be
said that the discussions of primitive religion contained in general
works on the theory of religion have ceased to be of value ; an
entire reconstruction of the department will be necessary. But it
may also be affirmed that such correction is not yet possible, and
that from present information a true doctrine of primitive worship
cannot be obtained. These researches, insufficient to furnish means
for a history of the human heart, are adequate to show that such his-
tory cannot at present be attempted. The chief lesson, therefore,
is a demand for more light. The student whose natural inclination
is to collate is required to collect.
Within the limits of the United States, tribe after tribe, language
after language, remain almost uninvestigated ; in Central America,
the Mayas perhaps retain rites and conceptions which belonged to
their fathers before the advent of the European ; in South America,
a whole continent lies almost virgin to the explorer of primitive men-
tality ; in Africa and Australia, native ritual and myth are known in
great measure by the information of hasty and partially educated
observers.
In America, while in the highest degree commending the agencies
which, like the Bureau of Ethnology, are already engaged in pro-
moting the record of primitive life, it must be admitted that the
means at command are inadequate. Competent and able students
are passing away, and younger men are not arising to supply their
places. During 1895 the study of Indian linguistics has lost in
J. Owen Dorsey a mind of singular ability and noble character. It
is recognized that no living American is capable of taking up his
unfinished work. How different would have been the case, how
much more numerous the successors, had his department belonged
to the field of classical learning ! In spite of all explanations, it
cannot but be regarded as a discredit to American universities that
they offer so little encouragement to the pursuit of researches con-
nected with American antiquity.
It is in the hope of doing something in the way of atoning for
this deficiency, to awaken public attention and to supplement exist-
isting agencies, that the American Folk-Lore Society has been
organized and maintained.
It soon became apparent, that in spite of the urgency oi" the work
to be done, and notwithstanding the sympathetic interest of the
press, adequate support would not be obtained, unless the member-
Fo Ik-Lore Study and Folk- Lore Societies. 237
ship of the Society could be increased by some means more rapid
and direct than by the accession of individual students. In the
hope of awakening a more general interest, it was resolved to under-
take the establishment of local branches, which should be connected
with the general organization, while preserving their individual inde-
pendence. The first branch thus created was formed at Philadel-
phia in 1890 ; and this example has been followed by the formation
of branches at Boston, New York, Montreal, and elsewhere. Such
societies have accomplished a useful purpose in supporting the gen-
eral society and increasing its membership ; and it would no doubt
be possible to form a considerable number of similar organizations
if persons could be found sufficiently interested to give their time
and labor to the purpose.
If, in this manner, the membership of the American Folk-Lore
Society could be trebled, the additional means so obtained would
enable it to accomplish a most useful work in promoting anthrojDO-
logical record. The increase of energy resulting would give a
needed stimulus to the study of living tradition, and to all kindred
branches of research, not only in America but in all other conti-
nents. Such impulse might lead to the preser\'ation of material,
now on the point of perishing forever, and the securing of which
will be a boon to philosophy, for which all future centuries will be
grateful. In pointing out the possible utility of subordinate societies
in advancing this important cause, it is not intended to depreciate
their independent usefulness, but to indicate that by performing this
function alone they are accomplishing a sufficient work to justify
their existence.
That such societies should have a social as well as a scientific
side is a matter of course. The subjects presented for considera-
tion must be sufficiently wide, and treated in a manner sufficiently
interesting, to appeal to minds which have received no special train-
ing in this field. It is known to all men of science that meetings
of a rigidly scientific character, in which papers are presented, are
attended only by a handful of persons. A local folk-lore society can-
not be held to the same strict rules which would be observed in an
annual meeting, where a body of experts may be expected to be
present. But it is matter of experience, that the attention directed
to scientific subjects often gives the impulse which may induce
minds inclined in this direction to enter on the pursuit of a special
study, and may at least make the community acquainted with the
existence of such departments as archaeology and anthropology.
A local society, in a country composed of so many elements, has
only to attend to the composition of its own city, to find interesting
themes for research. How many nationalities, and in what propor-
238 yournal of Americaji Folk-Lore.
tions, enter into the life of the town ? Where do these immigrants
live, and in what manner ? What were their habits at home, and
with what rapidity do they become amalgamated with the American
>body politic ? What is their distinctive racial character ; what are
their peculiar ideas and traditions? The German, Irishman, and
French Canadian, the Bohemian and Russian, the Armenian and
Japanese, bring to our doors the spectacle of the whole civilized
and semi-civilized world, with all its rich developments of national
costume, customs, and superstitions, religions, philosophies, and
economical conditions; to study this extraordinary spectacle, to turn
from the world of books to that of life, will be the inclination of the
observer who is led to attend to the ethnography of the races with
which he is daily brought into contact.
It may seem, at first thought, that local history also may be
brought in ; but here care should be taken. No doubt, to a town
about to erect a monument in memorial of a battle it is of conse-
quence to know whether the contest was fought on one or another
side of a river ; no doubt the adventures of early explorers are inter-
esting to the inhabitants of the country they first traversed ; the
branching of early families is of importance to the clans which bear
their name ; but these branches of investigation, dealing with writ-
ten memorials, are the opposite of that which is concerned with the
unwritten word ; the narrow interests of a territory are apt to hide
the wide concerns of the races dealt with by ethnology.
It seems right, too, to emphasize the importance of making any
local society in fact as in name a branch of the general one. There
may be a temptation to obliterate this connection and to create a body
in which there is no such close connection, and which can therefore
dispense with the obligations of membership in the larger organiza-
tion ; but it is obvious that such omission will be likely to make the
lesser society simply a social club, existing only for amusement, and
productive of little genuine service. Every local society should at
least have a considerable list of members in the American Folk-Lore
Society, and its members should take and read the Journal in which
the proceedings of their own Branch will be recorded, and which will
give them some sense of the scope of the studies which they under-
take to pursue.
Meetings will usually be held monthly, and in private houses.
Too much must not be attempted ; but it would seem that there can
be few large places in which at least four such meetings might not
be held in a winter.
A pamphlet containing the rules of the various existing Folk-Lore
Societies, together with those of the American Folk-Lore Society,
its act of incorporation, and a partial list of papers printed in the
Folk-Lore Shidy and Folk-Lore Societies. 239
Journal of American Folk-Lore, will be furnished on application to
the Secretary of the American Folk-Lore Society.
For convenience, the by-laws of one of the Branches are here
printed : —
Article I. — Name. This organization shall be known as "The Amer-
ican FoLK-LoRE Society, Branch."
Article II. — Objects. The purposes of this Branch shall be, to pro-
mote the collection of American and other folk-lore ; to cultivate social
intercourse between persons interested in the subject ; and in general to
further, by every suitable means, the objects and purposes of The Amer-
ican Folk-Lore Society.
Article III. — ATcmbcrship. This Branch shall consist of members
who shall also be members of The American Folk-Lore Society, residing
in or near Boston, and of Associate Members belonging to the families of
members. The number of members and associates shall be limited to two
hundred.
Article IV. — Officers. The officers shall be. President ; Two Vice-
Presidents ; Secretary ; Treasurer ; Advisory Committee, consisting of six
members, four of whom shall be women, who shall, together with the offi-
cers already named, constitute the Council.
These officers shall be elected at an Annual Meeting held on the third
Friday in April, and shall serve for one year, or until their successors are
chosen.
At the March meeting shall be appointed a Nominating Committee of
three members, who shall, before the April meeting, have prepared, in the
form of a printed ballot, a list of officers to be voted on at that meeting.
Any member of the Branch may send in nominations ; if, for any office,
five nominations are received for any one name, the name of the person so
nominated shall be placed on the printed ballot, in addition to the name
proposed by the Committee.
Article V. — Duties. The President, or, in his absence, one of the
Vice-Presidents, shall preside at meetings of the Branchj and also at those
of the Council.
The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings, both of the Branch
and of the Council ; shall send out proper notices of meetings ; shall have
charge of the records of the Society ; shall furnish to the Secretary of the
General Society a monthly report of the proceedings of the Branch, and
shall communicate such report to the other Branches of the Society.
The Treasurer shall collect assessments, have charge of all moneys
received for the benefit of the Branch, and pay such bills as are approved
by the Council.
The .-Xdvisory Committee shall arrange the places of meetings. The
Council shall hold a meeting at least a week previous to each monthly
meeting of the Branch ; shall have charge of all affairs of the Branch,
including the election of members ; and shall determine the programme
for all meetings. The Council shall also have power to fill vacancies in
its body.
240 yoiwnal of American Folk-Lorc,
An Auditor shall be appointed at the meeting preceding the Annual
Meeting, whose duty shall be to examine the books and accounts of the
Branch, and report thereon at the Annual Meeting,
Aktici.e VI. — Admission of Mc7nhcrs. Every candidate for member-
ship shall be proposed in writing by some member of the Branch, and each
nomination shall state the residence and qualifications of the candidate ;
such nomination shall be reported to the Council for approval. A nega-
tive vote of two Councillors shall exclude a candidate.
Article VII. — Dues. The Branch may, by a vote of two thirds of the
members present at any annual meeting, levy an assessment of not exceed-
ing dollars per year for each member for the uses of the local Society.
Members paying ten dollars annually into the treasury of The American
Folk-Lore Society shall be exempt from all dues in this Branch.
Article VIII. — Meetings. Meetings of this Branch shall be held
monthly, from November to May, on the third Friday of each month.
Special meetings may be called by the Council at such other times as
they may determine. The date of any meeting, however, may be changed
by a vote of the Council on a written recommendation signed by the Presi-
dent and two Councillors.
Article IX. — Quorum. Fifteen members shall constitute a quorum
of the Branch, and five Councillors a quorum of the Council.
Article X. — Amendments. Amendments to these By-laws may be
made at any regular meeting, by a majority vote of members present and
voting. Such proposed amendment, however, shall have been sent in \vrit-
ing to each member, and shall lie on the table for at least one month prior
to action.
The following partial list of papers which have been presented at
meetings of Branches of the American Folk-Lore Society is given,
in order to exhibit the variety of topics which may come up for con-
sideration before local societies : —
" Evidences of Ancient Serpent-Worship in America." F. W.
Putnam.
" Omaha Ceremonial Pipes : their Symbolism and Use." Alice
C. Fletcher.
" Customs and Tales of the Central Eskimo." F. Boas.
"The Use of the Phonograph in the Study of the Folk-Lore of
American Indians." J. Walter Fewkes.
" The Snake-Dance of the Hopi (or Moki) Indians in Arizona."
J. Walter Fewkes.
"The Common Names of American Plants." Fanny D. Bergen.
"A Modern Oracle and its Revelations." H. Carringtox Bolton.
" The Literary Games of the Chinese." Stew^art Culix.
" The Character of the Chinese in America." ' Mary Chapman.
" Buddhist Fables." C.-J. Lanman.
" Chiefs and Chief-Making among the Wabanaki." Mrs. W. W.
Brown.
Folk-Lore Study and Folk-Lore Societies. 241
" Negro Sorcery." Mary A. Owen.
"The Portuguese Element in New England." Henry R. Lang.
"The Italian Theatre in Boston."
" Human Thysiognomy and Physical Characteristics in Folk-Lore."
A. F. Chamberlain.
" Negro Music." Charles L. Edwards.
" The Folk-Songs of American Negroes." Y . D. Banks.
" Myths of Algonkin Blackfeet." George Bird Grinnell,
"Early Folk-Lore Memories from a Farm in Pennsylvania." D.
G. Brinton.
" Folk-Songs of the Civil War." Alfred M. Williams.
" Babylonian Version of the Creation." David G. Lyon.
" Epitaphal Inscriptions." D. G. Penhallow,
" Hawaiian Folk-Lore." George P. Bradley,
" Development of the Story of Gellcrt, the Hound of Llewellyn
the Great." Edward Foster.
" The Kickapoo Indians in Nebraska." Mary A. Owen.
"The Fall of Hochelaga." Horatio Hale.
"The Shinto Religion of Japan." N. Kishimoto.
" Marriage Customs and Love Poetry in Japan." N. Kishimoto,
"Old English Ballads." F. J. Child.
" The Dispersion of Popular Tales." John Fiske.
" Bantu Folk-Lore." Heli Chatelain.
"The Mistletoe in Folk-Lore." Henry Mott.
" Old Time Marriage Customs in New England." Alice Morse
Earle.
" New England Witch Stories." George Lyman Kittredge,
" New England P"unerals." Pamela M. Cole.
" Gypsies in the United States." F. S. Arnold,
" Russian Folk-Songs." Isabel Hapgood.
" The Holy Grail." W, W. Newell.
" Cinderella." Henry Wood.
" The Folk-Lore and Superstitions of Modern Iceland." Sigridr
Magnusson.
In conclusion, may be cited the titles of certain articles which,
during the last five years, have appeared in the Journal of Amer-
ican Folk-Lore : —
"The Endemoniadas of Queretaro." H. C. Lea (1890.)
"Chinese Secret Societies in the United States." S. Culin.
"Cherokee Theory and Practice of Medicine." J. Mooney,
" The Gentile System of the Navajo Indians." W.Matthews.
" The Gentile System of Organization of the Apaches of Arizona."
J. G. Bourke.
"Gentile System of the Siletz Tribes." J. Owen Dorsey.
VOL. VIII. — NO. 30, 16
242 yoiirnal of A mcrica7i Folk-L ore.
" Apache Mythology." J. G. Bourke.
"Popular American Plant-Names." Mrs. F. D. Bergen.
" Folk-Lore of the Bones." D. G. Brinton.
' "The Natural History of Folk-Lore." O. T. Mason (1891).
" Hi-a-wat-ha." W. M. Beauchamp.
"Topics for the Collection of Folk-Lore." Mrs. F. D. Bergen
and W. W. Newell.
"Dissemination of Tales among Natives of North America," F.
Boas.
" The Indian Messiah." Alice C. Fletcher,
" Account of Northern Cheyenncs concerning the Messiah Super-
stition." G. B. Grinnell.
" Nat-Worship among the Burmese." L. Vossion.
" Street Games of Boys in Brooklyn, N. Y." S. Culin.
" The Portuguese Element in New England." H. R. Lang (1892).
" A Zuni Tale of the Under-World." F. H. Gushing.
" Folk-Custom. and Folk-Belief in North Carolina." N. C. Hoke.
"Arkansas Folk-Lore." O. Thanet.
" Reminiscences of Pennsylvania Folk-Lore," D. G. Brinton.
" The Ceremonial Circuit in Northeastern Arizona." J. W.
Fewkes.
" Haethuska Society of the Omaha Tribe." Alice C. Fletcher.
"Tusayan Initiation Ceremony." J. W. Fewkes.
" Doctrine of Souls among the Chinook Indians." F, Boas,
"The Miracle Play of the Rio Grande." J. G. Bourke,
" Scottish Myths from Ontario," C. A. Eraser.
" Pawnee Mythology." G. B. Grinnell.
" Items of Aino Folk-Lore." John Batchelor (1894).
" African Races." H. Chatelain.
" Retrospect of the Folk-Lore of the Columbian Exposition." S.
Culin.
" Songs of Sequence of the Navajos." W. Matthews,
" Notes on the Mountain Whites of the Alleghanies." J. Hamp-
DEN Porter.
"Theories of Diffusion of Folk-Tales." W. W. Newell (1895),
" Burial and Holiday Customs of the Irish Peasantry." F. D.
Bergen.
" The Folk-Foods of the Rio Grande Valley and of Northern
Mexico." J. G. Bourke.
" The Interpretation of Folk-Lore." J. W. Powell.
"The Iroquoian Concept of the Soul." J. K B. Hewitt.
" What do Indians mean to do when they sing, and how far do
they succeed .? " J. C. Fillmore.
W. W. Newell.
Memoirs of the Avierican Folk- Lore Society. 243
MEMOIRS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY,
VOL. III.
BAHAMA SONGS AND STORIES.
The third volume of the IMemoirs of the American Folk-Lore
Society, to be published about the time of the appearance of this
number of the Journal, is entitled " Bahama Songs and Stories, a
contribution to Folk-Lore by Charles L. Edwards, Ph. D., Professor
of Biology in the University of Cincinnati." (With Introduction,
Appendix, and Notes ; Music, and six Illustrations. Pp. in.)
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York, 1895.
Of the physical characteristics of the Bahamas it is likely that
the majority of the readers of this Journal have a very indefinite
conception. These include over three thousand islands, mostly of
small extent ; separated by small distances, they present an appear-
ance nearly uniform, having the aspect of low sand-bars, relieved by
the deep green of the vegetation. There is a main island, between
which and its surrounding " cays " lies a generally navigable chan-
nel, affording an excellent roadstead. The white population is in
part descended from families of American loyalists, who here took
refuge in the time of the Revolution, while in other cases the colo-
nists emigrated directly from Great Britain. These settlers have
grown in number by natural increase, and the result is a number
of communities closely related by intermarriage. At present there
is nearly a numerical equality between the white and colored popu-
lation ; but the excess of negroes is annually increasing. The writer
remarks that an idea of the appearance of a town on one of the " out
islands" can be obtained by imagining a seacoast town in North
Carolina transported to a small coral island.
The majority of the negroes are descended from imported Afri-
cans, and there are individuals who declare themselves to have been
born on that continent.
Piety is predominant, and the social life centres in the church.
The colored people, who are partially educated, are unusually inde-
pendent, and a remarkable degree of race equality prevails, churches
and schoob being occupied in common.
Folk-tales arc popular among the children, and are indeed pre-
served chiefly by their agency. "After the short twilight," the
little " Conchs " (native Bahamans) lie on the floor of the hut and
listen to one of the group "talk old stories." Professor Edwards
remarks that the isolation of the "out" islands from foreign influ-
ences and amusements have given good conditions for the devel-
opment of a peculiar folk-lore. The animal tales are generally of
244 yournal of American Folk-Lore .
African origin, the fairy stories European ; in some cases the latter
have been metamorphosed into the character of the former, as when
Jack the Giant-Killer has become " B' Jack and the Snake." In
like manner, the speech is an admixture of negro dialect, "Conch "
slang, and correct English. As an example may here be cited a
paragraph from the tale of "B' Rabby and B' Tar-Baby ; " a version
belonging to the Southern States is well-known through the stories
of Uncle Remus.
In this tale the animals, wishing to dig a well, ask the aid of
Brother Rabbit ; when the latter declines, they refuse to let him
have water. Rabbit, however, deceives the animals who are suc-
cessively appointed guardians of the well, challenging them to trials
of strength or skill, under cover of which he fills his bucket. The
elephant undertakes to catch the intruder; he makes a "tar-baby"
(apparently in the shape of a pretty girl) ; Rabbit is enamored of
the supposed maiden.
T>eygo7ie; hall on 'em in de pine yard. Day make one big tar-baby.
Dey stick 'im up to de vwell. B' Rabby come. 'E say, " Hun ! dey leave
my dear home to min' de vwell to-day." B' Rabby say, " Come, my dear,
le' me kiss you ! " Soon as 'e kiss 'er 'e lip stick fas'. B' Rabby say,
"Min' you better le' go;" 'e say, "You see dis biggy, biggy han' here;"
'e say, " 'f I slap you wid dat I kill you." Now vw'en B' Rabby fire, so, 'e
han' stick. B' Rabby say, " Min' you better le' go me ; " 'e say, " You see
dis biggy, biggy han' here ; 'f I slap you wid dat I kill you." Soon as B'
Rabby slap wid de hudder han', so, 'e stick. B' Rabby say, "You see dis
biggy? biggy foot here : my pa say, 'f I kick anybody wid my biggy, biggy
foot I kill 'em." Soon as 'e fire his foot, so, it stick. B' Rabby say, "Min'
you better le' go me." Goad / soon as 'e fire his foot, so, it stick. Now
B' Rabby jus' vwas hangin' ; hangin' on de Tar-baby.
The most interesting feature of this volume will generally be con-
sidered to consist in its collection of songs, of which forty are given,
with words and music. Of these melodies many are exceedingly
beautiful, and will be found a welcome addition to the limited
printed stock of genuine negro songs ; either directly or in the
guise of adaptations they are likely to attain popularity, and this
feature alone would make the work creditable both to the collector
and to the Society which issues the publication. In addition to
these pieces, a number of short melodies are noted in connection
with the songs to which they belong.
The interest attaching to negro music depends partly on its
melodic character, partly on the problem of its 'derivation. Up to
the present time, sufficient record has not been made to pronounce
on either of these questions. When the genuine negro music of
America is properly collected, it \\\\\ be found that it is to a certain
Memoirs of the A7nerican Folk-Lore Society. 245
degree spontaneous, arising out of the strong religious emotion, or
other feeUng, which gives birth to the expression ; every gradation
will be seen to exist, from simple speech onwards, and the whole
process of the growth of poetry and of melody will be illustrated in
negro folk-song. The denial of such spontaneity rests on ignorance.
It does not of course follow that the basis of the musical ideas is
absolutely independent of the European music with which negroes
have been brought in contact. It may very well be that it is this
music which has given birth to a reproduction in the negro mind.
It is, however, also quite possible that this process began in West
Africa, where for centuries the negro has been in contact with
European thought. To pronounce an opinion, with present infor-
mation would be to attempt the manufacture of bricks without straw.
With respect to an interesting custom Professor Edwards re-
marks : —
The strangest of all their customs is the service of song held on the
night when some friend is supposed to be dying. If the patient does not
die, they come again the next night, and between the disease and the
hymns the poor negro is pretty sure to succumb. The singers, men,
women, and children of all ages, sit about on the floor of the larger room
of the hut and stand outside at the doors and windows, while the invalid
lies upon the floor in the smaller room. Long into the night they sing
their most mournful hymns and " anthems," and only in the light of dawn
do those who are left as chief mourners silently disperse. The " anthem "
No. I (given below) is the most often repeated, and, with all the sad intona-
tion accented by tense emotion of the singers, it sounds in the distance as
though it might well be the death triumph of some old African chief !
Each one of the dusky group, as if by intuition, takes some part in the
melody, and the blending of all tone-colors in the soprano, tenor, alto, and
bass, without reference to the fixed laws of harmon}', makes such peculiarly
touching music as I have never heard elsewhere. As this song of consola-
tion accompanies the sighs of the dying one, it seems tO be taken up by
the mournful rustle of the palms, and to be lost only in the undertone of
murmur from the distant coral reef. It is all weird and intensely sad.
On the following page is cited the song employed in this service
held over the dead : —
246
yournal of A7nerican Folk-Lore.
I LOOKED O'ER YANDER.
i^
ssa
*:
^-=?
t-
i=f::ts
^1
I looked o'er yan- der ; what I see? Somebod- y 's dy - ing ev - 'ry day. 1
See bright an - gels stand- ing dere ;Somebod- y 's dy - ing ev - 'ry day. j
Chorus.
- -i-^^-^-i*— f" — ^-T-'^j — J r j^ ^. "
1 ^^ '^ I \
Ev - 'ry day,
pas - sin* a - vay, Ev - 'ry day, pas - sin' a - vay,
_^ — s 4^ — 1 [^ — 1 1
=i-j^H4-t^-^^E^ t4j^^_ Ij
Ev - 'ry day, pas -sin' a - vay ; Somebody 's dy - ing ev - 'ry day.
I looked o'er yander ; what I see "i
Somebody 's dying ev'ry day.
See bright angels standing dere,
Somebody 's dying ev'ry day. Cho.
Hell is deep, an' dark as 'spair,
Somebody 's dying ev'ry day.
Stop, O sinne' don' go dere,
Somebody 's dying ev'ry day. Cho.
Satin farred ^ 'is ball at me,
Somebody 's dying ev'ry day.
'Is ball had missed an' dropped in hell.
Somebody 's dying ev'ry day. Cho.
I looked on mi ban's ; mi ban's looked new,
Somebody's dying ev'ry day.
I looked on mi feet ; mi feet looked new,
Somebody 's dying ev'ry day. Cho.
1 Fired, threw.
The price of the volume, to members of the Society and libraries,
is ;^3.oo; to other persons, ^3.50.
Folk- Lore Scrap-Book. 247
FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.
The Aims of Anthropology. — From the Presidential Address of Dr.
D. G. Brinton, delivered before the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, August 29, we extract the following paragraphs : —
" Archaeology, however, is, after all, a dealing with dry bones, a series of
inferences from inanimate objects. The color and the warmth of life, it
never has. How can we divine the real meaning of the fragments and
ruins, the forgotten symbols and the perished gods, it shows us ?
" The means has been found ; and this, through a discovery little less
than marvellous,'the most pregnant of all that anthropology has yet offered,
not yet appreciated even by the learned. This discovery is that of the
psychical unity of man, the parallelism of his development everywhere and
in all time ; na)', more, the nigh absolute uniformity of his thoughts and
actions, his aims and methods, when in the same degree of development,
no matter where he is, or in what epoch living. Scarcely anything but his
geographical environment, using that term in its larger sense, seems to
modify the monotonous sameness of his creations.
" I shall refer more than once to this discovery ; for its full recognition
is the corner-stone of true anthropology. In this connection I refer to it
for its application to archaeology. It teaches us this, that when we find a
living nation of low culture, we are safe in taking its modes of thought and
feeling as analogous to those of extinct tribes whose remains show them to
have been in about the same stage of culture.
" This emphasizes the importance of a prolonged and profound investi-
gation of the few savage tribes who still exist ; for although none of them
is as rude or as brute-like as primitive man, they stand nearest his condi-
tion, and, moreover, so rapid is the extension of culture that probably not
one of them will remain untouched by its presence another score of years.
"Another discovery, also very recent, has enabled us to throw light on
the prehistoric or forgotten past. We have found that much of it, thought to
be long since dead, is still alive and in our midst, under forms easily enough
recognized when our attention is called to them. This- branch of anthro-
pology is known as Folk-lore. It investigates the stories, the superstitions,
the beliefs and customs, which prevail among the unlettered, the isolated,
and the young : for these are nothing else than survivals of the mythol-
ogies, the legal usages, and sacred rites of earlier generations. It is sur-
prising to observe how much of the past we have been able to reconstruct
from this humble and long-neglected material.
" This gleaning and gathering, this collecting and storing of facts about
man from all quarters of the world and all epochs of his existence, is the
first and indispensable aim of anthropologic science. It is pressing and
urgent, beyond all other aims, at this period of its existence as a science ;
for here more than elsewhere we feel the force of the Hippocratic warning,
that the time is short and the opportunity fleeting. Every day there perish
priceless relics of the past ; every year the languages, the habits, and the
248 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
modes of thought of the surviving tribes, which represent the earlier con-
dition of the whole species, are increasingly transformed and lost through
the extension of civilization. It devolves on the scholars of this genera-
tion to be up and doing in these fields of research, for those of the next
"will find man)^ a chance lost forever, of which we can avail ourselves.
" We have no right, indeed, to assume that there is anything universal
in humanity until we have proved it. But this has been done. Its demon-
stration is the last and greatest triumph of ethnology ; and it is so complete
as to be bewildering. It has been brought about by the careful study of
what are called ' ethnographic parallels,' that is, similarities or identities
of laws, games, customs, myths, arts, etc., in primitive tribes located far
asunder on the earth's surface. Able students, such as Bastian, Andree,
Post, Steinmetz, and others, have collected so many of these parallels,
often of seemingly the most artificial and capricious character, extending
into such minute and apparently accidental details, from tribes almost anti-
podal to each other on the globe, that Dr. Post does not hesitate to say :
' Such results leave no room for doubt that the psychical faculties of the
individual, as soon as they reach outward expression, fall under the control
of natural laws as fixed as those of inorganic nature.'
" As the endless variety of arts and events in the culture history of dif-
ferent tribes in different places, or of the same tribe at different epochs,
illustrates the variables in anthropologic science, so these independent
parallelisms prove beyond cavil the one and unvarying psychical nature of
man, guided by the same reason, swept by the same storms of passion
and emotion, directed by the same will toward the same goals, availing
itself of the same means when they are within reach, finding its pleasures
in the same actions, lulling its fears with the same sedatives,
" The anthropologist of to-day who, like a late distinguished scholar
among ourselves, v.'ould claim that because the rather complex social sys-
tem of the Iroquois had a close parallel among the Munda tribes of the
Punjab, therefore the ancestors of each must have come from a common
culture centre ; or who, like an eminent living English ethnologist, sees a
proof of Asiatic relations in American culture, because the Aztec game of
patolli is like the East Indian game of parchesi, — such an ethnologist, I
say, may have contributed ably to his science in the past, but he does not
know where it stands to-day. Its true position on this crucial question is
thus tersely and admirably stated by Dr. Steinmetz: 'The various customs,
institutions, thought, etc., of different peoples are to be regarded either as
the expressions of the different stadia of culture of our common humanity,
or as different reactions of that common humanity under varying condi-
tions and circumstances. The one does not exclude the other. Therefore
the concordance of two peoples in a custom, etc., should be explained by
borrowing or by derivation from a common source, only when there are
special, known, and controlling reasons indicating this ; and when these
are absent, the explanation should be either because' the two peoples are
on the same plane of culture, or because their surroundings are similar.'
*' This is true not only of the articles intended for use, to supply the
Folk- Lore Scrap-Book. 249
necessities of existence, as ^Yeapons and huts and boats — we might antici-
pate that they would be something similar, else they would not serve the
purpose everywhere in view ; but the analogies are, if anything, still more
close and striking when we come to compare pure products of the fancy,
creations of the imagination or the emotion, such as stories, myths, and
motives of decorative art.
" It has proved very difficult for the comparative mythologist or the folk-
lorist of the old school to learn that the same stories, for instance, of the
four rivers of Paradise, the fiood, the ark, and the patriarch who is saved
in it, arose independently in western Asia, in Mexico, and in South Amer-
ica, as well as in many intervening places, alike even in details, and yet
neither borrowed one from another, nor yet drawn from a common source.
But until he understands this, he has not caught up with the progress of
ethnologic science.
"So it is also with the motives of primitive art, be they symbolic or
merely decorative. How many volumes have been written, tracing the
migrations and connections of nations by the distribution of some art
motive, say the svastika, the meander, or the cross ! And how little of
value is left in all such speculations by the rigid analysis of primitive
arts that we see in such works as Dr. Grosse's 'Anfange der Kunst,' or
Dr. Haddon's attractive monograph on the ' Decorative Art of British
New Guinea,' published last year ! The latter sums up in these few and
decisive words the result of such researches pursued on strictly inductive
lines : ' The same processes operate on the art of decoration, whatever the
the subject, whatever the country, whenever the age.' This is equally true
of the myth and the folk-tale, of the symbol and the legend, of the religious
ritual and the musical scale."
The Sacred Pole of the Omaha Tribe. — From a report of a paper
read at the same meeting, by Miss Alice C. Fletcher, we copy the follow-
ing : —
" The sacred pole is of cottonwood, and bears marks of great age. Upon
its head was tied a large scalp, and about three feet from the head of the
pole is a piece of hide bound to it and covering a basket-work of twigs and
feathers, in which were found nine scalps, and which is said to represent
the body of a man. By the name given it, one would judge that the man
thus symbolized was both a provider and a protector of his people.
Besides the scalps, a pipe bowl of red catlinite, a stick used to clear it,
a bundle of sinew cord, red paint for the pole, and a curious brush were
found in the bundle. Those who visit the Peabody Museum will notice
upon the upper portion of the sacred pole something that looks like pieces
of bark;, but it is the dried paint that remains from the numerous anoint-
ings of the pole, which was a thank-offering for successful hunts, and a
prayer for future prosperity.
" According to the legend, the appointed time for the ceremony of
anointing the pole was in the moon or month when the buffalo bellow,
the latter part of July. Then a subdivision of the Honga gens, which had
250 j'ounial of American Folk-Lorc.
charge of the pole, called the seven principal chiefs, who formed the oli-
garchy, to the sacred tent, to transact the preliminary business. When
the council had agreed upon a day for the ceremony, the runners were sent
, out to search for a herd of buffalo ; and if one was found within four days,
it was accounted a sacred herd. Each chief also chose a man of valorous
exploits, who went from tent to tent selecting tent-poles, which were taken
to the vicinity of the sacred tent, set up and covered so as to form a semi-
circular lodge open towards the centre of the tribal circle. The sacred
pole was brought forward, the pipe belonging to it was smoked by the
occupants of the communal tent, and the bundle of reeds brought out.
Each chief, as he withdrew a reed, mentioned the name of a man who was
expected to furnish and send by the hands of his children the finest and
fattest piece of buffalo meat. Should he refuse to make this offering to
the pole, he would surely be struck by lightning, wounded in battle, or lose
a limb by a splinter running into his foot.
" Gathering the meat occupied three days, and on the morning of the
fourth day the meat was spread upon the ground before the pole. The
keeper of the pole and his wife then performed their rites, every new act
being accompanied by songs. After the meat was gathered up and laid
away, four images were made in grass and hair, and set before the pole,
which represented the enemies of the tribe. Then the warriors put on
their ornaments and eagle-feathered bonnets, getting their weapons in
order to simulate a battle before the pole. The warriors fired on the
images, and the chiefs wdthin the tent shot back in defiance of them.
Four times the charge was made before the images were captured and
treated as conquered. With this stirring drama the ceremonies came to
an end. On the following day a dance about a pole took place, after
which the camp broke up, and each hunted as he chose.
" The legend states that the finding of the pole occurred while a council
was in progress among the Cheyennes, Arickaras, Pawnees, and Omahas,
when terms of peace were being agreed upon and the rules of war and
hunting decided. When the council was finished, an old man told the
chiefs that his son had discovered a tree which stood burning in the night.
So the people agreed to run a race for the tree, and to attack it as though
it were an enemy. The young men stripped and painted themselves, put
on their ornaments, and set out for the tree ; which was cut down, taken
back by four warriors, and shaped till it was called a man, to whom offer-
ings and requests should be brought, and who, the legend says, answered
their prayers."
The Origin of Playing -Cards. — The "Springfield Republican,"
August 3d, contains an abstract of a paper of Mr. Stewart Culin on this
subject.
"Mr. Culin stated that playing-cards may be traced directly to the prac-
tical arrows, bearing cosmical or personal marks, used by primitive man.
The pack of cards in use to-day stands for the quiver of arrows with the
emblems of the world quarters. The most primitive playing-cards of
Folk-Lore Scrap-Book, 251
Asia, the htou-tjycn of Corea, still bear marks indicative of their origin.
These cards, which consist of narrow strips of oiled paper about eight
inches in length, are uniformly ornamented on the back by a heart-shaped
scroll, which is none other than a survival of the actual arrow feather.
There are eighty cards in the pack, divided into eight suits of ten cards
each. Each suit is numbered from one to nine, with numerals peculiar to
these cards, and which, like the device on the back, are derived from arrow
feathers. Mr. Gushing identified these arrow-card numerals as the cut
cock feathers of the arrows in some primitive quiver. The suit marks
of these cards correspond with the totemic emblems associated with the
world quarters among primitive people. In America cards failed to reach
the same stage as in Asia, but still exist, as in the gambling sticks of the
Haidah Indians, which are the shaftments of ceremonial arrows, carved
or painted with the emblems of the directions. The principal varieties of
Chinese playing-cards bear evidence of having passed through the stage
of the Corean htou-tjycn. Their actual suit marks are money emblems, but
at either end the cut arrow feathers survive as numbers or indexes. Like
the gambling sticks of the Haidahs, they are double-headed, so that our
modern double-headed markers for whist or euchre find a striking proto-
type in almost the earliest culture of which we have any knowledge.
"The playing-cards of Japan, the well-known hana-gamta, or 'flower
cards,' have a similar ancestry to those of China. One card in each of the
twelve suits, which are named after flowers corresponding with the twelve
months, retains a device called a tanzakti, with its appropriate number in
the series of months. This tanzaku was a strip of paper corresponding
with hiou-tjyoi, or primitive Corean card. The name of the Corean cards
is derived from the Chinese, and is almost identical with those of arrow,
and the evidence afforded by the cards themselves confirms the linguistic
indication. It has not been possible as yet to connect the playing-cards
of Europe with those of Asia, although the games played with them, and
their general characteristics, are practically identical. As there is no rea-
son to believe that the arrow-derived cards of Asia and America had a
common origin, as the growth of each may be traced, independently, so,
too, it is unnecessary to assume that European playing-cards were an
importation from Asia. From the general evidence afforded by the study
of games, it may safely be asserted, however, that they were not a direct
invention, and that they had a similar history to that of the cards I have
already described. The tradition of their original purpose, which was
sacred and divinitory, still hangs about them in their use as telling for-
tunes. This, it should be observed, was the primary object of both the
Corean htou-tjycn and the Haidah sticks. It may be inferred that the suit
marks of our cards originally referred to the four quarters of the world."
Negro Superstitions in South Carolina. — From an article on
negro superstitions in South Carolina, by Mary A. Waring, originally
printed in the " Atlanta Constitution," have already been cited paragraphs
252 yoiirnal of Avtcrican Folk-Lore.
on " ]\Iortuary Customs and Beliefs" (vol. vii. pp. 318, 319). From the
same paper we take the matter which follows : —
" A common superstition among the plantation negroes of the old rt^gime
»was that pigs had the gift of seeing wind, in the form of flames of fire.
" The old mammas will tell you that if any one steps over a child play-
ing on the floor 'its growth will be stunted.' A young infant must always
be carried upstairs before it is taken downstairs, else it will never succeed
in life. If it is already on the highest story, its head must be held just
inside the loft, as a substitute for the upward journey.
" The darkies used to say, speaking of crows, ' If he come, he no come ;
if he no come, he come ! ' meaning by this extraordinary saying that if
crows came the corn would not be allowed to grow, and if they did not
arrive the crops would be all right."
" A negro will never look at the new moon through the trees ; it is sure
to bring bad luck. Neither will he put on his left shoe first, as he would
then be unlucky all day. To kill a cat is sure to bring some dreadful mis-
fortune upon you, and they have the usual superstition that a black cat is a
witch. They must consider all sable pussies to be of the feminine per-
suasion. I have never heard one called a wizard.
"Their method employed to drive away 'sperrits that come knocking at
the front door or window " will certainly succeed, if the olfactories of the
spiritual visitants are constituted like those of human beings. The recipe
is as follows : Take some old shoes, put sulphur in them, then set fire to
the whole ; this will drive away the ' sperrits,' mosquitoes, and everything
else that has a nose."
Miss Waring mentions the superstition respecting the left hind foot of a
graveyard rabbit, and adds from the same informant: "Another of Ann's
injunctions is : * My dear missus, neber leab a half o' punkin in your kitchen,
'cause ghost will come get in 'im sure, an' he will stay in de kitchen, and
mek you have de worse luck bakin'.' "
NOTES AND QUERIES.
FoLK-LoRE OF Canadian Children. — The following notes of games
and rhymes of Canadian children may be of interest. The following count-
ing-out rhymes are given in the form in which the writer heard and used
them in the town of Peterborough, Ontario, some sixteen or seventeen
years ago : —
I. Oner}', twoery, ickery, Ann,
Fillisy, follisy, Nicholas, John,
Beaver, weaver, stingelum, steever,
0-u-t spells, " out."
II. Eeny, meeny, dipper}-, Dick,
Deelia, doUia, Dominick,
N^otcs and Queries.
253
H}'pa potcha dominolcha,
Tee, taw, tick.
III. One, two. Buckle my shoe;
Three, four, Knock at the door ;
Five, six, Pick up sticks ;
Seven, eight, Lay them straight ;
Nine, ten, A good fat hen ;
Eleven, twelve, Puss is in the well ;
Thirteen, fourteen. You 're a-courtin' ;
Fifteen, sixteen, Polly 's in the kitchen ;
Seventeen, eighteen. We 're a-waitin' ;
Nineteen, twenty, My belly's empty.
The first two differ in the third line from those recorded by Mr. Newell
(" Games and Songs," pp. 197, 19S), while the third is a more regular form
of that recorded by Mr. Eabcock, as current in Washington, D. C. (Amer.
Anlhrop. i. p. 272.)
The following singing games are recorded by a reporter of the Toronto
"Telegram," as being in practice on Dominion Day (July i) 1888 : —
" Favorite among the little children's plays seem to be the singing
games, some of which philologists have traced back to the days of the in-
fant-world, for your real true Conservative is a child.
" Here is a Catherine-wheel of little girls, and this is the song they
sing : —
Go round and round the valley.
Go round and round the valley.
Go round and round the valley,
For we are all so gay.
" Another popular singing game is : —
Here comes our king arriving
To my Nancy Taney Tisabyo ;
To my Nancy Taney Tee.
" Perhaps none of the children's melodies is prettier than this : —
-^— N-
A^^^ft^^A^^
zA^
^d^-•-
fe^
-V-N
-^iT-Ns-
m
KUTS IX MAY.
Here we come gath'ring nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May;
Here we come gathVing nuts in May
On a cold and frosty morning."
The first of these "ring-songs" differs from the same as recorded. by
Mr. Babcock (p. 255) merely by having/r;r in the third line, instead of as.
The second appears to be a variant of Mr. Babcock's : —
Here comes one duke a riding,
A riding, a riding.
254 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
Here comes one duke a riding,
Sir Ransom Tansom Tiddy Bo Teek.
The correspondences " arriving " = "a riding," " Ransom Tansom Tiddy
'Bo Teek" = " Nancy Taney Tisabyo," are worthy of note.
The game noted by Mr. Babcock as "Little Sally Waters," was practised
in Peterborough in 1880, but the more common form of the rhyme (still in
use in Toronto) is : —
Choose to the east, and choose to the west,
Choose the one that you love best.
If she 's [he 's] not here to take your part,
Choose the next one to your heart.
Of the ** Sally Waters " rhyme the writer remembers but two lines : —
Little Sally Waters sitting in the Sand or Sun]
Rise, Sally, rise, wipe the tears from your eyes.
The following version of " Green Gravel " was heard in Toronto in the
summer of 1S93 : —
Green Gravel, Green Gravel,
The grass grows so green,
The fairest of ladies
Is fit to be seen,
{Var. Is fit to be Queen.)
Dear , dear ,
Your true love is dead ;
He sent you a letter
To turn round your head.
This rhyme exhibits quite a variation in the third and fourth lines from
the form given by Mr. Newell (p. 71). At the same time and place a verr
sion of " Highery O Valerio " was obtained which rhymes thus : —
Highery O Valerio !
The farmer in his den,
The farmer in his den,
Highery O Valerio !
The farmer in his den.
The farmer takes his wife,
The farmer takes his wife,
Highery O Valerio !
The farmer takes his wife.
The wife takes the child.
The wife takes the child,
Highery O Valerio !
The wife takes the child.
The child takes the nurse,
The child takes the nurse.
Notes and Queries. 255
Highery O \'alcrio !
The child takes the nurse.
The nurse takes the dog,
The nurse takes the dog,
Highery O \'alerio !
The nurse takes the dog.
The dog takes the cat,
The dog takes the cat,
Highery O Valerio !
The dog takes the cat.
The cat takes the rat,
The cat takes the rat,
Highery O Valerio !
The cat takes the rat.
The rat takes the cheese.
The rat takes the cheese,
Highery O Valerio !
The rat takes the cheese.
The cheese stands still.
The cheese stands still,
Highery O Valerio!
The cheese stands still.
This is a curious variant of Mr. Newell's (p. 129) "The Farmer in the
Dell," of which the refrain is " Heigh ho 1 for Rowley O ! "
A. F. Chainbcrlain.
Worcester, Mass.
Variants of Counting-out Rhymes. — The following may be worth
printing as variations of familiar counting-out rhymes : —
1. Hana dana tina das,
Catta, pheela, phila, phas,
Hant pan, mister Dan,
Tiklum, taklum, twenty-one.
(County Cork, Ireland.)
2. Ena, deena, dinah, dust,
Caule, wheeler, wiler, wust,
Spit-spot, must be done,
Twiddle um, twoodlum, twenty-one,
O-U-T spells out.
(Roxbury, Mass.)
3. As I went under an apple-tree,
All the apples fell on me,
Make a pudding, make a pie,
Just you stand by.
(Bathurst, N. B.)
256
Journal of American Folk-Lore.
4. Onery, twoery, dickery, seven,
Haclow bone, crack a bone, tenery eleven,
Disco Mango, Merican Times,
Humble, bumble, two, nine.
5. Onery, twoery, ickery Ann,
Threcry, fourery, quick as you can,
0-U-T spells out.
(Providence, R. I.)
Alice Leon.
THE BALLAD OF BOLD DICKIE.
fi=?
^
N s N"
fe^
^3^a^s
-f^^
:1^
-N — PS — iv-
As I walked out one morning in May,
Just before the break of day,
I heard two brothers making their moan.
And 1 listened a while to what they did say.
(Chorus : repeat last two lines.)
"We have a brother in prison," said they ;
" Oh ! in prison lieth he.
If we had ten men just like ourselves.
The prisoner we should soon set free."
" Oh, no ! no ! " bold Dickie said he ;
" Oh, no ! no ! that never could be ;
For forty men is full little enough.
And I for to ride in tlieir companie."
" Ten to hold the horses in,
Ten to guard the city about,
And ten for to stand at the prison door,
And ten to fetch poor Archer out."
They mounted their horses, and so rode they, —
Who but they so merrilie.
They rode till they came to a broad river-side,
And there they alighted so manfuUie.
They mounted their horses, and so swam they, —
Who but they so manfullie.
They swam till they came to the other side,
And there they alighted so drippinglie.
They mounted their horses, and so rode they, —
Who but they so gallantlie.
a
Notes and Queries. 257
They rode till they came to that prison door,
And there they alighted so manfullie.
" Poor Archer ! poor Archer ! " bold Dickie says he ;
" Oh ! look you not so mournfuUie ;
For I 've forty men in my companie,
And I have come to set you free."
" Oh, no ! no ! no ! " poor Archer says he ;
" Oh, no ! no ! no ! that never can be ;
For I have forty weight of good Spanish iron
Betwixt my ankle and my knee."
Sold Dickie broke lock, bold Dickie broke key;
Bold Dickie broke everything he could see :
He took poor Archer under one arm,
And he carried him out so manfullie.
They mounted their horses, and so rode they, —
Who but they so merrilie.
They rode till they came to that broad river,
And there they alighted so manfullie.
" Bold Dickie ! bold Dickie ! " poor Archer says he ;
" Take my love home to my wife and children three ;
For my horse grows lame, he cannot swim,
And here I see that I must dee ! "
They shifted their horses, and so swam they, —
Who but they so daringlie.
They swam till they came to the other side,
And there they alighted so shiveringlie.
" Bold Dickie ! bold Dickie ! " poor Archer says he ;
" Look you yonder there and see ;
For the High Sheriff he is a-coming,
With an hundred men in his companie."
" Bold Dickie ! bold Dickie ! " High Sherififsays he,—
" You are the worst rascal that ever I see ;
Go bring me back the iron you stole.
And I will set the prisoner free ! "
" Oh, no ! no ! no ! " bold Dickie says he;
" Oh, no ! no ! no ! that never can be ;
For the iron will do to shoe the horses, —
The blacksmith rides in our companie."
" Bold Dickie ! bold Dickie ! " High Sheriff says he, —
" You are the worst scoundrel that I ever see."
" I thank you for nothing," bold Dickie says he, —
" And you are a big fool for following me ! "
Written from memory by jf. M. Watson of Clark's Island. Mass. Com-
municated by Miss Mary P. Frye.
VOL. VIII. — NO. 30. 17
258 Journal of A^ncrican Folk-Lore.
To the Editor of the journal of America?i Folk- Lore : —
I inclose a quotation pertaining to the wide-spread belief (since and
before the days of Romulus) in the occasional rearing of infants by wild
beasts. I give in full the title of the curious book.
I will add that I have lately met a lady who has lived in India, where she
met the prototype of the wolf-nursling mentioned by Rudyard Kipling.
She believed in the truth of the incident.
G. P. Bradley.
Mare Island, Cal.
" Evangelium Medici : seu Medicina Mystica ; De Suspensis Naturae
Legibus, sive de Miraculis; Reliquisque eV rots /3t/iAtots Memoratis, quas
Medicae indagini subjici possunt. Ubi perpendis prius Corporis Natura,
sano et morboso Corporis Humani Statu, nee non Motus Legibus, Rerum
Status super Naturam, pracipue qui Corpus Humanum et Animam spec-
tant, juxta Medicinx Principia explicantur. A Bernardo Connor, M. D.
e Regia Societate Londinensi, nee non e Regali Medicorum Londinensium
Collegio. Amstelardami, Apud Joannem Wolters, 1699."
Page 133 : " Cum nuper Anno 1694, Varsaviae in aula Johannis Sobi-
esci defuncti jam Regis Polonice aliquandiu versatus fuerim, in nemoribus
ad Lithuaniae et Russiae confinia sitis k venantibus Sylvicolis captus fuit
inter gregem ursorum juvenis Sylvaticus, decern circiter annos natus,
aspectu horridus, et pilis hirsutus ; qui neque rationis, neque loquelse, imo
neque vocis humanae usu gaudebat ; pedibus et manibus instar quadrupedis
incedebat : nihil cum homine commune habebat prater externam nudi cor-
poris figuram. Cum autem vultu saltem hominem imitaretur, lavacri
fonte fuit initiatus ; et k fratorum grege semotus, liumanEe societatis ipsum
primb taedere videbatur ; inquietus enim, anxius, et ad fugam propensus
erat, quasi in carcere se ipsum detineri crediderit ; donee, levatis contra
murum manibus, pedibus tandem stare, uti infantes vel catuli solent, edoc-
tus, et dapibus humanis paulatim assuefactus, post longum tempus cicu-
ratur ; et verba quaedam rauca et inhumana voce proferre incepit. Inter-
rogatus autem de Sylvestris vitae cursu non magis recordatus erat, quam
nos meminimus eorum, quae acta sunt, quando in incunabulis vagiorimus.
Rex ipse, Plurimi Senatores, et multi horum locorum fide digni indigenae,
mihi certo asseruerunt, et publica est et indubitata fama in tota Polonia
quod nonnunquam infantes ab ursis aluntur. Dicunt enim quod si infans
ante fores, vel prope sepem, vel in agro ab incautis parentibus relictus k
famelico urso in vicinia pascua sumente corriperetur, in frustula statim
discerptus devoratur ; si verb h. lactante ursa captatus fuerit, ad ursile vehi-
tur, et inter ursulos, tanquam inter, germanos fraterculos, materno quodam
amore porrectis uberibus nutritur ; et post aliquot annos a venantibus rus-
ticis aliquando capitur ; uti anno 1669, casus alter huic nostro similis con-
tigit, quem tunc temporis Varsaviag se vidisse mihi hie Londini jam asserit
Excellentissimus Vir Joannes Petrus van den Brande, Dominus de Clevers-
kerk ad Aulam nostram nunc Legatus Batavus. Quem casum fusius
describam in tractatu de Regimine Regni Polonia quem brevi in lucem sum
in vernaculo nostro sermone editurus."
Notes and Queries. 259
The Black String. — Mr. Edward W. Gilbert of New York city has
prepared at my request the following notes on the love-charm known as
the " Black String," and the extraordinary superstitions associated with it.
He obtained the information partly from the owner, " Andy M.," and
partly from conversations with the patriarchs of the now extinct *' Cork
Row," on Cherry Street, New York, a neighborhood where Gaelic was
spoken in every-day life.
" The Black String is a most powerful love-charm. It is composed of a
strip of the skin from the body of a man who has committed suicide for
love ; it must be ' peeled from the head to the heel and back without crack
or split,' and prepared for use by peculiar ceremonies which my inform-
ants steadfastly refused to disclose.
" Persons owning the Black String have the power of securing the love
of any one so long as they have the string in their possession. In order to
have the charm work, it must be obtained by theft : if it is given to you,
bought, or found, it wills till act as a charm, but will bring the owner all
kinds of ill luck. If the owner loses it he forfeits at the same moment the
power of compelling love from others. Any one who dies with the string
in his possession goes direct to perdition, and no power on earth or in
heaven can save him. The only way to escape this fate is to have the
thing stolen from you ; if it is bought, given, or lost, while the owner
loses the privileges conferred by the charm, he does not escape the pen-
alty conditional on ownership. As far as I understand it, unless the
charm is stolen, the property remains with the right owner, and the ill
luck pursuing the man who gets it by purchase, gift, or otherwise is due
to the fact that 'it wants to get back to its master.' It cannot be de-
stroyed, for it is believed that if any one owning was to destroy it, he
would die at the same time.
" The charm which I saw and handled," says Mr. Gilbert, " was covered
with red silk, much worn and stained ; it was in the form of a necklace,
that is, the ends joined, and was large enough to pass over a man's head,
when doubled. It was owned by a young man of Irish- American descent ;
his family were well-to-do, middle-class people, and he had received a pub-
lic school education, and, I think, had attended some college. He was
well read, and above the average intelligence. His faith in this thing was
strong, and seemed to be borne out by facts. Whether through the
charm or not, he certainly had an extraordinary and dangerous power of
fascination for most women. He told me that he got it from a woman
whom he met at Saratoga in 1879, who showed it to him and told him of
its properties, and from whom he stole it. She had got it from a racing
man. Before the death of Andy M. he was greatly troubled by his posses-
sion of the thing, believing as he did that he was lost forever if he died
owning it, and would have been glad if any of his friends would have se-
cured it ; but owing to the unpleasant penalty attached to it none of the
men he knew would make any effort to get it. One of his friends told a
woman of his acquaintance about it, and she got him to take her to see
the owner, and stole it from him ; I am told that it was stolen from her by
a well-known actress who had heard of it, and who has it now.
26o yoicrnal of American Folk-Lore.
" The owner of this love-charm believed in it implicitly ; at the same time
he wore also a scapular, an emblem of Christian faith. He kept the latter
on his person continually, and only removed it in his last illness, which
occurred in 1884."
H. Carrifij^ton Bolton.
LOCAL MEETINGS AND OTHER NOTICES.
Annual INIeeting. — Members of the American Folk-Lore Society are
reminded that the Annual Meeting for 1895 will be held at Philadelphia,
at the end of December. Particulars of the intended meeting, together
with a programme, will hereafter be furnished.
Baltimore. — Since the birth of the Baltimore Folk-Lore Society on
February 23, 1895, there have been seven meetings, at all of which great
interest has been manifested in the subject of folk-lore, its study and pres-
ervation. A president, vice-president, secretary, and a council of eight
have been elected.
Though still in its infancy, moving slowly but carefully and surely, that
the most satisfactory work may in the end be accomplished, the Society
has already been fortunate in securing valuable and interesting papers.
Twice have both Dr. Washington Matthews and Dr. J. H. McCormick, of
Washington, read papers ; the one on Navajo myths, the other on negro
tales and superstitions. Among other papers read at the different meet-
ings were the following : One by Miss Mary W. ]\Iinor, giving the origin
of Jack O' My Lantern, as told by the negroes in her father's kitchen ;
one by Mrs. Albert Soussa, giving a negro sermon on the text, " Hist de
window, Noah, an' let de dove come in," in the course of which Eve was
described as having "a good black skin." A conjure bag and its contents
were described by Miss Smith. Mr. John McLaren McBryde read a paper,
in which he gave, having taken it down phonetically, a negro debate on
" De Pen an' de Swode ;" also, in the same way, a play he had witnessed
in eastern Virginia among the negroes, representing the visit of the Queen
of Sheba to King Solomon. This showed a strong resemblance to the old
miracle-plays.
Another paper of interest was read by Dr. Milton S. Vail, of T5ky5, and
dealt with those Japanese superstitions particularly connected with the fox.
In connection with it, a folk-tale of the fox was given. Mrs. Thomas Hill
read a paper, giving an account of some religious rites practiced by the
Iroquois Indians at Rochester in 18 13, as described by an eye-witness.
The Society is indebted to Mrs. John D. Early, 711 Park Avenue, and
to Miss Etta Leigh, 18 East Franklin Street, for their courtesy in tendering
the use of their parlors for its meetings.
Annie Weston Whitney, Secretary.
Local Meetings and Other Notices. 261
Washington. — The notice of the three meetings jointly conducted
by members of the Anthropological Society of Washington and of the
Woman's Anthropological Society, contained in the last number of this
Journal (p. 165), was unhappily erroneous in several particulars. The fol-
lowing corrections are to be made in regard to papers offered, and names
of authors : —
First Meeting, April 9. " Reminiscences of the Plantation," by Miss
Elizabeth Bryant Johnston.
Second Meeting, April 23. " Plant-Lore," by Mrs. Marianna P. Seaman.
Tliird Meeting, May 7. " Legends of the Dragon (Chinese)," t)y Miss
Mercy S. Sinsabaugh ; " Bells and their Legends," by Mrs. Ellen Cunning-
ham.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. — The
Forty-fourth Annual Meeting was held in Springfield, Mass., August 28-
September 4. Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, the retiring president, being per-
sonally unable to attend, communicated an address on " The Aims of the
Science of Anthropology." From this address extracts have been printed
on preceding pages.
Some account may be given of papers offered in Section H (the section
of Anthropology), which were concerned with folk-lore. The address of
Frank H. Cushing, vice-president of the section, was entitled "The
Dynasty of the Arrow." Mr. Cushing described the manner in which, by
means of experiments beginning with boyhood, he had been able to demon-
strate the ease with which flint arrow-heads could be produced by a process
of flaking through edgewise strokes, the flint being trimmed with an imple-
ment of bone or horn. In this manner an obsidian arrow-point had been
made by him in less than two minutes. A corollary, to his mind, was that
paleolithic man could not long have existed in that primary status of art,
supposed to consist in rudely breaking stones by direct blows of other
stones. On the contrary, he must have speedily learned to do all sorts
of cutting, scraping, and scratching with the hard fragments, shells, and
bones. He must also have learned the advantage of arming a digging
stick with the stone blade thus obtained, and so developed the fore-shafted
spear ; afterwards, by adding a string to tie the knife, was developed a har-
poon. For convenience, a dart-flinger might be used ; hence he derived
the throwing-slat, which he had studied experimentally. From the spear-
flinger, again, was finally obtained the bow, the Zuni name of which means
a stringed slat. The bow and arrow being thus devised, took an impor-
tant part in culture, and hence in symbolism and rite. If a member of
the clan cast a ballot, this would be represented by an arrow ; and in
prayer the staff or arrow stands for the man. Plumed prayer-sticks he
thought essentially arrows. In divination, questions were decided and
auguries obtained by the hitting or missing of an arrow. In preparing for
a battle, the issue would be predicted by a mimic contest, in which the
contestants were divided into parties according to the cardinal directions.
He particularly described a Zuhi amusement, in which, out of the shaft
262 yournal of A merica n Folk- Lore.
of an arrow which had been used in battle, was made a set of staves,
employed in a divination game. From the basis of the arrow he would
explain chess, dice, and cards, and suggested that cuneiform writing also
might have the same foundation. He concluded : "Thus in this study of
the arrow I hope I have vindicated the claim of my opening paragraphs
on its antiquity, on its unequalled influence in the affairs of men ; an influ-
ence so great, that a less hasty story of its development from a mere
sharpened stick for digging the coarse substance of life from the ground,
to a message staff, setting forth its own record, and a plumed stylus for
revealing the secret thoughts of the human soul, would furnish an epitome
and analysis of the whole history of mankind."
Mr. Stewart Culin read a paper on " The Origin of Playing-Cards," of
which an account has been printed on another page. This paper gave part
of the results obtained by Mr. Culin in studies in which he has been asso-
ciated with Mr. Gushing, and which are to be included in his forthcoming
work on Corean games. He also gave a paper on " The Origin of Money
in China," finding a resemblance between the coin and the pierced disk of
jade which was the badge of the fifth rank of nobles.
Capt. John G. Bourke read a paper on "Some Arabic Survivals in the
Language and Folk Usages of the Rio Grande." This paper will appear
in the Journal of American Folk-Lore.
Miss Alice C. Fletcher described " The Sacred Pole of the Omaha
Tribe." This pole and the pack belonging to it were deposited, in 1888,
in the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, where articles belonging
to the sacred tent of war had already been placed ; an account of the
legend and ritual was obtained from the chief of the tribe, Joseph La
Flesche. Extracts from this paper have been printed above.
Mr. W. W. Tooker read a paper on " The Mystery of the Name Pamun-
key," making it appear that in the name, originally an Indian phrase mis-
understood by white ears, is contained a reference to the mysteries of the
tribe, as denoting a place where priestly ceremonies were performed.
Mr. R. G. Haliburton read a paper on " The Year of the Pleiades of
Prehistoric Star-Lore." In this article he set forth the claims of this con-
stellation to determining the year and the time of ancient festivals. [See
No. xxix. p. 162.]
Rev. W. M. Beauchamp described " An Iroquois Condolence " as con-
ducted at the present day. This paper will appear in a future number of
this Journal.
Professor Putnam read a letter from Mr. George Leith, setting forth the
existence of true Bushmen in the Transvaal, from whom it may still be
possible to obtain information as to language and customs.
Rev. S. D. Peet read abstracts of papers on "Village Life among the
Cliff-Dwellers," and on " The Different Races described by Early Discov-
erers and Explorers." These papers will appear in full in the " American
Antiquarian."
Miss Alice C. Fletcher, in a paper on " Indian Songs and Alusic," pointed
out that every important act and every ceremony have their characteristic
Local Meetings a7id Other Notices. 263
music, and that a collection of the songs would exemplify the emotional
life of the people. It is a mistake to suppose that songs are improvised;
on the contrar}', they are guarded with care, and sacred songs never heard
in public. New songs, however, arise from time to time. It has been
asserted that there exist no Indian love-songs ; this is an error. Songs
are sung in unison. Miss Fletcher described the result of her studies, pur-
sued in concert with Professor Fillmore, whose view of Indian music and
its relation to the usual scale has been explained by himself in articles
printed in this Journal.
Of certain other papers on the programme the titles are as follows : —
" A Vigil of the Gods," Washington Matthews.
" The Spider Goddess and the Demon Snare," F. H. Gushing.
"The Intiuence of Prehistoric Races on Early Galendars and Cults,
with Notes on Dwarf Survivals," R. G. Haliburton.
" The Palceolithic Cult, its Characteristic Variations and Tokens," S. D.
Feet.
" A Me'lange of Micmac Notes," S. Hager.
" The Cosmogonic Gods of the Iroquois," J, N. B. Hewitt.
" Kootenay Indian Personal Names," A. F. Chamberlain.
A paper which must not be passed over, although more immediately
connected with archaeology than with folk-lore, was that of Prof. F. W.
Putnam and C. C. Willoughby, entitled " Some Symbolic Carvings from
the Mounds of Ohio." This paper, as containing the results of the
study of years, and presenting conclusions of importance to students of
American aboriginal life, will attract general attention. Professor Putnam
controverted the familiar contention that the ancient earthworks of the
Ohio valley and southward are of comparatively recent origin, and assign-
able to immediate ancestors of the Indian race living in that region three
centuries ago. The incised art and symbolism of the older people of
the Ohio valley he presented in a series of drawings, and pointed out its
close resemblance to that of the carvings obtained in the southwest, and
even in Central America, while attention was called to remarkable corre-
spondences with the similar work of the Haidahs of the northwest coast.
The objects were arranged in three groups ; namely, the famous Cincin-
nati tablet found in 1841, the specimens from the Turner group explored
by Professor Putnam, and those from the Hopewell group, or, as named by
Squier and Davis, the Clark works. The incised figures at first failed to
exhibit any intelligible pattern, but on examination resolved themselves into
human and animal faces, curiously interwoven and combined with symbolic
designs. Thus, on a portion of a human female femur had been incised
intricate figures, made up of elaborate masks and combined headdresses,
among them the serpent and sun symbols, which appear also in copper
carvings from the same mound. A similar carving, with different designs,
on the arm-bone of a man, had been obtained from the Turner group : on
this are several conventionalized animal heads, interwoven and combined
in a curious manner ; and over each head are represented the symbolic
designs, circles, and ovals common to all the carvings. Here the lines are
264 yotirnal of Amcrica7i Folk- Lore.
cut with extraordinary skill and ingenuity, in such manner that parts of
one head form portions of another above and below, and on reversing the
figure still other heads are discernible. In a carving from the Hopewell
group, the principal designs are the conventionalized serpent and bear
totem represented by the five claws. Professor Putnam, in delivering the
paper, dwelt on the Cincinnati tablet, which he showed to be unquestion-
ably genuine, as the figures, in the light of the comiiarison now possible,
are partially intelligible, several being of the conventionalized serpent
form, identical with that found in other mounds of Ohio, and essentially
agreeing with the representation of the serpent head in the sculptures of
Central America, The modification of the plumed serpent in ancient art
was shown, from Ohio through the pueblo regions to Mexico and Central
America ; the peculiar representation of the eye was exhibited, this being
symbolic of the serpent itself. Several objects from the mounds are simply
these symbolic serpent eyes, and attention was called to the persistence of
this symbol from Ohio to Central America. While the art thus exhibited
corresponds to that of the short-headed peoples of the southwest, it is
totally distinct from anything existing among the long-headed tribes of the
north, and belongs to an essentially separate culture.
The paper could be rendered fully comprehensible only by means of
illustrations. The ethnologic conclusion drawn by Professor Putnam is,
that the race and culture of the southwest extended to the Ohio valley, but
was subsequently overwhelmed by the invasion of distinct race proceeding
eastward.
In discussion, Mr, F, G. Cushing identified an element of the carvings,
representing the five claws of the bear, with the bear symbol still in use in
Zuni.
John O'Neill, — In a previous number of this Journal mention has
been made of the death of this worthy student of folk-lore, by which a
devoted literary career has been suddenly broken off. Of Mr, O'Neill's
interesting work, " The Night of the Gods," only the first volume had been
printed ; but the author, a few days before his death, had completed the
second volume and the index. His widow being left without means for
publishing this additional part, a committee has been formed in England
for the purpose of such publication, the intention being to issue the two
volumes by private subscription. The committee appeal for assistance
to all persons interested in researches of this sort. It is the intention
to issue the two volumes to subscribers at £\ xds. cash, with order, or
£2 \2S. payable on publication, and to offer the second volume separately
to subscribers at £\ \s. cash, with order. The Hon. Secretary of the Com-
mittee is Edward Rowe, 241 Barry Road, Lordship Lane, Dulwich, S. E.,
London, England. It is to be hoped that the endeavor of the committee
will render possible the publication of an interesting work, of which the
first volume has been reviewed in this Journal. American subscribers may
forward their names through W, W. Newell, Cambridge, Mass,
THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
Vol. VIII. — OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1895. — No. XXXI.
THE ORAIBI FLUTE ALTAR.
The reader will find in the following pages a few notes on two of
the most instructive ceremonies of the Tusayan villages. Notwith-
standing the accumulation of facts in the last few years on the
ceremoniology of this interesting people, much still remains to be
discovered, and it is hoped that this article may be a valuable con-
tribution to the subject. The studies which have furnished the
material for these notes were made by me while in charge of an
expedition intrusted to my lead, by the Smithsonian Institution, to
explore the cliff-dwellings and other ruins of the southwestern ter-
ritories.
No Tusayan village has more persistently resisted efforts of eth-
nologists to penetrate into the secrets of its priests than Oraibi, and
as a result less is known of the ceremoniology of this pueblo than
of any other. This isolation has no doubt led to a survival at Oraibi
of the original ritual in a less modified form than in the other pueb-
los, while the comparatively large size of the place would lead us
to expect in it a much greater elaboration in celebrations of a reli-
gious nature.
At the present time the people of this pueblo are about equally
divided into two factions, one of which is friendly to the whites,
the other hostile. There is little doubt but that the numbers of the
former party are steadily increasing, and that in a few years the
ethnologist will be as readily and heartily received into the secret
ceremonies at Oraibi as he has been for several years in Walpi and
the other pueblos of the East Mesa. The harvest which awaits him
promises to be large, but it must be gathered immediately, for the
changes which are taking place year by year are very great.^
^ Every year, as I revisit Tusayan, I can easily note improvements and modifi-
cations for the better in the life of the people. In 1891, when I first saw Oraibi,
there was not a house in the plain below it, but now a day school, a mission, and
a cluster of Indian dwellings, with their red roofs, which are far from picturesque.
266 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
At the close of my archaeological field work for the Smithsonian
Institution at the Tusayan ruin Sikyatki, I visited Oraibi to obtain
comparative material for my report, more especially to examine a
collection of ancient pottery belonging to Mr. Voth,^ a missionary
at that pueblo. This visit gave me an opportunity incidentally to
enter the rooms of both the Cakwalenya and Macilenya, the blue
and the drab Flute societies, which were then engaged in their
secret rites.
As so little is known of Oraibi ceremoniology, it is w^ith pleasure
that I give at the end of this article a representation of the altar of
the Flute priests, copied from a sketch made by me on that visit.
The hurried nature of my examination rendered it impossible, much
as I had wished to do so,^ to study the Oraibi Flute ceremony ; but
as the Flute altar at this pueblo is one of the most elaborate and
instructive which I have ever seen, I feel justified in devoting a plate
and a few pages of description to it.
The most prominent figurine of the Oraibi Flute tiponi altar is a
representation of the god Cotokinuiiwa, Heart of all the Sky, or
Star god (2), which stands with outstretched arms before the rere-
dos, directly behind the Flute tiponi (i).
The height of this figure is nearly four feet. The image is of
wood, and painted in dull colors, having every appearance of an-
tiquity. One of the marked symbolic features of Cotokinunwa is
the conical head, which is well shown in the image ; but we miss
another almost universal symbol of this god, the equal-armed cross,
which as far as I know is wanting here, although found in the cross,
the so-called tokpela, of the Walpi Flute tiponi altar.
The neck is surrounded, by many shell and turquoise necklaces,
which hang over the shoulders, supporting a beautiful shell (hali-
otis) pendant.
The remarkable thing about the image is the great length of the
legs and the total absence of a body. These legs are straight, slightly
have been erected at the foot of the mesa, showing that the Oraibis are begin-
ning to leave their inaccessible pueblo habitation which was so necessary for
protection in old times. When the pueblo Indian is separated from his old
communal life his improvement from our standpoint is assured. It is to be hoped
his real improvement will be the result,
^ I wish here to express my indebtedness to this zealous ethnologist and mis-
sionary for numerous kindnesses during my hurried visit to Oraibi, Mr. Voth,
having made his home near Oraibi, wisely began his studies with the Hopi lan-
guage as a preliminary to his work among these people. As far as I know, he is
the only living white man who may be said to speak the Hopi language fluently,
"^ It must be borne in mind that ethnology was but a secondary object of my
work at Tusayan last summer. The primary purport was the collection of archae-
ological material, which so occupied my energy and time that I could devote but .
little attention to Tusayan ceremoniology.
The Oraibi Flute Altar. 267
divergent below, and have the lightning symbols depicted along
their whole length. No attempt is made to represent knees or feet,
but the arms are better carved than the lower extremities, having
elbows which are apparently jointed.
The prominence given to the Heart of the Sky god in the Oraibi
Flute altar adds interest to the suggestion that this deity is a for-
eign one in Hopi mythology, or due to Christian teachings. The
balance of evidence thus far gathered would seem to indicate that
it is a truly aboriginal conception, represented on altars either by
an image or symbols in all Tusayan pueblos where the Flute cer-
emony is performed.
The upright framework or reredos is formed of two vertical parts
united above by a crossbar, the whole when taken together having
the form of a head tablet of the Humis Katcina helmet. The ver-
tical portions are composed of conical bodies, each with flaring ends,
piled in rows one above the other. Fifteen vertical rows of these
objects, composed of four horizontal members on the right and three
on the left side, were counted. The upper or connecting portion of
the reredos was ornamented with six semicircular figures symbolic
of the rain-clouds, their colors red, yellow, and green, corresponding
to the world-quarters. The apical semicircle was both white and
black, the former inclosing the latter. Four zigzag figures repre-
senting lightnings were depicted extending from the symbolic fig-
ures of clouds, and there were representations of birds drawn on
the same crosspiece. At the four angles sprigs of some species of
grass were attached.
The floor in front of the upright frame was covered by a picture
(12) similar in symbolism to the reredos, but made on a sand or
meal bed, representing a cloud with parallel lines symbolic of falling
rain. Although outlined with a narrow band of black, and made on
sand or meal, the greater portion of the design was filled in with
grains of maize ^ of two colors, yellow on the right, blue on the left
side. The parallel lines representing rain falling from the .symbolic
rain-cloud on the floor extended on the ridge of sand (14) which sup-
ported the upright objects of the altar.
The Flute tiponi (i) stood on a small mound of sand in the semi-
circle back of the corn picture in front of the image of the Heart
of the Sky god. Between it and the ridge of sand (14) there was
a small earthen vessel of unknown significance. A wooden fig-
ure (3), much smaller than that of the Heart of the Sky god, stood
on each side of the uprights of the altar. Nothing distinctly sym-
bolic was observed depicted on these images, but their position was
^ We have here, in other words, a corn picture or maize mosaic, a novelty in my
studies of Tusayan altars.
268 Journal of America7i Folk- Lore.
the same relatively to the altar as in the Cipaulovi Flute (PI. II.). The
necks of these idols were profusely adorned with shell and turquoise
necklaces, and numberless cotton strings with attached feathers
hung about their waists. One of these idols is male, the other fe-
male, as in the Cipaulovi and Walpi Flute altars ; they are possibly
cultus heroes of the fraternity.
In front of each image there was a small mound of sand (4) cov-
ered with meal and corn pollen, from or near which was a rod with
brilliantly colored conical wooden objects called flowers. Similar
mounds, with the same objects inserted in them as pins in a cush-
ion, have been described in my account of the Flute altar of Cipau-
lovi.^
The bird effigies (7), instead of being six in number and arranged
in a row on the floor in front of the altar, as at Cipaulovi,^ were
grouped in two clusters, one on each side of the corn picture. Nine
of these were counted on the right, and several on the left-hand side
of the pofiya. They were rudely carved, of various sizes, and all
had short wooden pins for legs. The presence of bird effigies
appears to be an essential feature of the Tusayan Lelenti or Flute
altars in all the pueblos where these rites are observed.
Of the several objects between the uprights of the altar back of
the large image of the Star god, two round wooden bodies (5) are
conspicuous. These are almost identical with similar objects on the
altar of the Niman Katcina, and are said to be symbols of ears of
corn. The smaller sticks — of which there are several, all planted
in the same ridge of sand — were variously interpreted by different
informants.
There seems to be a unanimity of opinion that the two wooden
slats, one on each side of the legs of the large image, and which are
decorated with rain-cloud and falling rain symbols, are symbolic of
rain gods or Omowuh.
The significance of the objects (10) on the extreme right and left
of the corn picture is unknown to me. They resemble bags with
projecting rows of tubes, and differ from any ceremonial parapherna-
lia with which I am familiar.
^ In an article on the dolls of the Tusayan Indians I was unable to figure that
of the so-called Flute Katcina, which is one of the common forms of these figu-
rines. A distinguishing feature of the doll of this personage is the presence on
its head of wooden objects similar to those found in the small mounds above
mentioned. These objects are of different colors, but are always present on the
head of the doll. The mouth is triangular, the eyes rectangular and of two colors,
and a number of parallel lines connected at one end are painted obliquely across
each cheek. In the celebration of the Flute dance the actors wear sunflowers in
their hair, and these conical bodies may likewise be regarded as artificial flowers.
2 Jou)-. Amtr. Eth. and Arch. vol. ii. p. 116.
The Oraibi Fhite Altar. 269
Standards or Natci. — I have already in former publications called
attention to the fact that the two small sticks (natci) which are
placed in a conspicuous place on the roof, to indicate to the public
that the Flute organization of Cipaulovi and Walpi are engaged in
their rites, were tied to one of the ladder posts of the Flute chamber.^
A similar standard was also used at Oraibi, where it was tied to the
left-hand ladder-post in one, and to a vertical rod in the other, as a
ladder was not convenient. This standard resembles the prescribed
Flute paho in having a face cut on one of the component sticks.
Flute pahos also have an incised ferule about midway in their length,
but otherwise they resemble the Antelope paho.^ The larger stand-
ard, which corresponds to the awatanatci, a bow and arrows, with
horse-hair, of the Snake and Antelope kivas, stood on the floor in
the Oraibi Flute near the six directions' altar, on the opposite side
from the tiponi altar. It consisted of an upright rod about the size
of a broom-handle, set in a pedestal of wood, in which were also
stuck many similar but shorter sticks. At its point of insertion in
the pedestal a Flute paho was tied. The opposite extremity of this
natci bore feathers, skins, and red horse-hair, much the same as the
larger standard of the Flute societies of other pueblos. Side by
side with this larger natci at Oraibi there was an upright rod of
smaller size, set in a pedestal of clay, bearing at its top a fascis of
aspergills, with feathers projecting upwards. Each of the compo-
nent aspergills resembled one of those which were laid by the side
of the ear of corn at the end of the meal line in the six directions'
altar.
Six Directions' Altar. — This altar,^ a constant feature in all great
Tusayan ceremonials, differs in no essential respects from the same
at the East Mesa. It consisted of a central charm-liquid bowl
(nakiiyi tcakapta), radiating from which are six lines of prayer
meal drawn on a mound of sand. These lines correspond to the six
chief or cardinal world-quarters, northwest, southwest, southeast,
and northeast, above and below. At the extremities of these
lines were ears of maize, one at the end of each line of meal, by the
sides of which were aspergills as elsewhere described. The altar
was made in front of the tiponi altar, a little to the left side in the
Cakwaleiiya and within the inclosure formed by rows of feathers in
the Macilenya.
Ceremony at the Six Directions' Altar. — At the time we entered
^ The secret exercises of the Flute Society in all the Tusayan pueblos are per-
formed in a living room of the Flute family, and not in a kiva.
^ Jotir. Anter. Eth. and Arch. vol. iv. p. 27.
* The definitions of a tiponi altar and a six directions' altar were given in my
account of the Tusayan New Fire Ceremony. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1894.
270 your^ial of American Folk-Lore.
the room where the ponya was seen, the Flute priests were engaged
in rites about the six directions' altar. Eight men and four women
— the latter as spectators — were present. Four of the eight men
were chiefs and sat about the charm-liquid bowl, and four stood a
little one side accompanying the singers with their flutes. One of
these last mentioned performers stood apart from the remainder,
and was the only one who wore a ceremonial kilt. The priests
about the bowl squatted on the floor, with hair hanging down their
backs.
The songs were sung by the four chiefs about the charm liquid,
during which the Flute chief and two others beat time with paayas
or moisture rattles, curved sticks, to the crooks of which were tied
dangling shells that rattled against each other. The remaining
chief, who sat opposite the Flute chief, beat time with a feather
which ever and anon he dipped into the charm liquid and asperged
to the world-quarters in sinistral circuit. This man also performed
the part of pipe-lighter. The music w^as effective, and the flutes
sounded in harmony with the songs so loudly that they were heard
some distance from the room, where a considerable audience com-
posed of women, boys, and girls had gathered outside the room to
listen to the melodies.
The events which occurred during the rites about the charm-
liquid were identical with those which I have often mentioned in
Tusayan ceremonials of a similar nature on the East Mesa, and
consisted of —
1. Ceremonial smoke.
2. Prayers.
3. Songs with accompanying flutes.
a. Meal and pollen dropped into the liquid.
b. Tobacco smoke puffed into the liquid.
c. Whistling with the bird whistle.
d. Ears of corn dipped in sequence.
4. Prayers.
5. Ceremonial smoke.
Altar of the Macilenya or Drab Flute. — The chief of the other
Flute house at Oraibi belonged to the faction which is hostile to
white men, for which reason I was urged not to make notes or
sketches of their altar. Although my visit to them was of short
duration, I am able from memory to record a few facts about their
altar. The back wall of the room was painted white, on which a
short distance above the floor was depicted in black the well-known
symbols of the rain-clouds, surmounted by a triangular figure. On
each side of the rain-cloud symbol there was painted a vertical
black band, flaring at the top. Parallel with each of these was a
TJie Oraibi Flute Altar. 271
second line, also long and narrow, terminating above in a repre-
sentation of a feather.
The altar itself was rectangular in form, placed on the floor a
short distance from the middle of the room, and surrounded on three
sides, one of which was towards the painted wall, by a ridge of sand
in which long black eagle feathers stood upright. Inclosed by
these rows of feathers were the medicine bowls (nakiiyi tcakapta)
and ears of maize arranged in the form of a six directions' altar.
The three priests who were present gave me a quasi-cordial greeting,
without, however, expressing a desire to prolong my visit. I noticed
many familiar ceremonial objects about the room, but was urged to
hasten my departure by Mr. Voth, w-ho told me this was the first
time he had been permitted to enter the room or kiva of any of the
" hostiles " since he had been among them. On my return from
Oraibi to the East IMesa I camped the next evening under the ruin
of Payiipki, and learning that the Lelenti "was on" at Cipaulovi,
I could not resist inspecting the Cakwalenya altar at that pueblo,
especially as I had already been initiated into the Flute Society at
that place. Moreover, my observations on the Oraibi Leiitiponi altar
had whetted my desire to compare the two, after verifying my studies
of three years ago (1892). I found on inspection that it was unneces-
sary to make any important corrections in my account of the Flute
altar ; but although the standard of the Macilenya was in position on
the housetop at the south end of the town, it w^as not over the room
where I had previously seen the accompanying altar, and I found
that no priests of this division had gathered to perform the elaborate
rites which I had described. I was told that the altar was not made
this year, and by some of the priests that it would never be made
again. This astonished me, and if it is true, as I suspect, that the
Cipaulovi drab Flute has been given up, my description must always
remain the only account of a part of the ceremony which has been
abandoned in the last years — a more rapid extinction or modifica-
tion of Tusayan rites than I had expected has probably occurred.
The description which I have already given elsewhere of the
Cipaulovi Cakwalenya altar was found to be accurate,^ and may be
relied upon in comparative studies. But before we can go very far
in comparisons, we ought to have more data regarding the Flute
altars of Cunopavi and Miconinov' the other Tusayan pueblos
which still retain this ceremony.
^ The poverty of the Cipaulovi altar in paraphernalia may readily be explained
when attention is called to the fact that this pueblo is one of the smallest in
Tusayan. Oraibi, on the contrary, is the largest.
272 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
From a comparison of the plates ^ representing the Oraibi and
Cipaulovi Flute tiponi altars (Compare Pis. I. and II.) it will be seen
that in arrangement and detail the objects upon them differ consid-
erkbly, yet in general character they are the same. Incidentally the
divergence shows how much difference we may expect in the same
altars among peoples of different stock.
The plate (PI. II.) representing the Flute altar at Cipaulovi shows
that it is of simpler construction than that of the same fraternity at
Oraibi, but that they are strictly homologous in all parts.
The four wooden slats (T), cut in the form of serpents and colored
with the colors of the four world-quarters, represent the Heart of the
Sky god, of which they are symbolic. In the Walpi Flute altar we
have a corresponding symbol of the same deity in the horizontal
wooden cross (tokpcla), the emblem of the same god. As far as the
reredos of the Oraibi and Cipaulovi altars are concerned, we find the
omnipresent cloud symbols on each. The two figurines, the mounds
with inserted artificial flowers, are identical in the two, but in the
Cipaulovi altar the Flute birds are arranged in a row ; in the Oraibi
in two groups. While the Oraibi Flute chief had but one tiponi,
the Cipaulovi had two which he placed on his altar. There are two
unknown objects (10) on the Oraibi altar which are not found on
the Cipaulovi.
Although these two altars differ slightly in their accessories, their
likeness is close enough to show that they are derived from a com-
mon source, and are not independent evolutions. If we grant, as I
think we must, that the Flute altars in these two pueblos could not
have originated independently, we can pass to a comparison of such
similar altars as those of the Sia and Walpi Antelope-Snake priests
without fear of error. I venture to say the differences between the
Antelope-Snake altar at Sia and that at Walpi are even less than
those between the Oraibi and Walpi Flute altars. This resemblance
has led me to the belief that the Sia and Tusayan Antelope-Snake
altars have not originated independently, but show derivation, and I
have yet to see valid objections to the cogency of my resultant
reasoning.
1 For descriptions of the Cipaulovi altar see the following articles : —
"A Suggestion as to the Meaning of the Moki Snake Dance." Jourtial of
American Folk-Lore, vol. iv. No. xiii.
"A Study of Summer Ceremonials at Zuiii and Moqui Pueblos." Btdl. Essex
Inst. vol. xxii. Nos. 7, 8, 9.
"A Few Summer Ceremonials at the Tusayan Pueblos." Jo7ir. Amer. Eth.
and Arch. vol. ii. No. i. pp. 108-150. 1892.
" The Walpi Flute Observance ; A Study of Primitive Dramatization." ^,3;^^-
nal of American Folk-Lore, wol.wn.'i^o.-x.xvi. 1894.
The Oraibi Fhite Altar. 273
THE WALPI SNAKE DANCE OF 1 895.
The Snake Dance at Walpi is no longer a subject upon which a
casual visitor to the pueblos can add much to what is known, but
has passed into the range of scientific research, and we must look to
specialists for further advances in our knowledge of its intricacies.
In other words, a visit to the pueblos on the day of the dance can
hardly be expected to shed much new light on our knowledge of the
ceremony, for the obscure rites connected with it can be witnessed
only by the initiated, and initiation means an acquaintance of long
duration with the Indians.
While, therefore, the several published accounts of the 1895 dance
which have appeared in newspapers are valuable in calling public
attention to this interesting survival, very little has been added
by these articles to the knowledge which we have of this strange
ceremony. No white man except the author was permitted in 1895
to see the kiva rites, where most of the obscure parts of the ritual
are to be expected, with the exception of Mr. G. Sykes, who wit-
nessed the sixteen songs ceremony of the Antelopes.^
For reasons elsewhere stated, it was impossible for me to devote
much time to the study of the 1895 Snake observance, but I am able
in the following pages to notice certain modifications in the cere-
mony since 1893, due to the death of prominent Antelope priests,
and tO put on record one or two novel details of minor rites which
were but imperfectly known when my memoir was published.
Since the 1893 presentation of the Walpi Snake Dance two im-
portant members of the Antelope Society have died, — Nasyuiiweve^
and Hahawe, the latter, pipe-lighter and asperger. The place of the
former was filled by Katci, and that of the latter by Wikyatiwa.
Both of these men were already Antelope priests, and the duties of
the deceased were simply transferred to fellow-priests. The new
man, named Pontima, who took no part in the 1891 and 1893 observ-
ances, was given an important position, and participated in the for-
^ In 1891 both the Antelope and Snake priests were shado'ved by Mr. Stephen,
Mr. Owens, and myself for nine consecutive days and nights, and their chiefs,
were not out of our sight during all that time. We slept in or on the kivas, fol-
lowed the celebrants down breakneck trails at midniglit, and at the close of the
dance I for one was about exhausted pliysically. While I would gladly, if neces-
sar)-, gO' through the same experiences again, the possible results did not seem to
demand it in the present year.
^ Nasyuiiweve belonged to the Woods (fuel) people, and his totem was a picture
of the head of Masauwuh, the Fire god. Hahawe was the best singer of the Ante-
lopes, and sang for me the sixteen songs on phonographic cylinders which I now
have. He belonged to the Ala (Horn) people, and his totem was a picture of a
deer.
2 74 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.
mal smoke, when chiefs only were admitted, on the night before
Hoiiyi, speaker chief, made the formal announcement.^
Hahawe in the sixteen songs ceremony of 1891 and 1893, as I
have already shown, performed the offices of pipe-lighter and asperger
for a small boy who had not yet arrived at years to justify his under-
taking this duty. In taking Hahawe's place Wikyatiwa, as he dis-
tinctly informed me, did not perform these duties for himself and
had not become a smoker chief, but accepted the future task of the
same small boy. All other members of the Antelope Society were
alive, and performed their respective duties as outlined in my ac-
count of the Snake Dance. No chief of the Snake priests had died,
although one or two of the other members were no longer among
the living.
The Smoke Talk mid Annoujiccincnt? — The simple ceremonies
when Honyi, the speaker chief, is commissioned to announce the
Snake Dance, and his acts at that time, are briefly referred to in my
Snake Memoir, but this year I was able to obtain a few additional
details. The method of determining the date when the smoke talk
shall occur was not investigated, but it is said to be fixed upon by
the sun's position on the horizon, as I have elsewhere explained in
my account of the Tusayan ritual.
At about nine o'clock p. m. on August ist there assembled at the
old "^ Snake house (ancient home of the Snake people) the following
chiefs : —
Wiki, Tcubmonwi, Antelope chief ; Kopeli, Tcumonwi, Snake
chief ; Katci ; Supela, Kopeli's father ; Kakapti, sand chief and
courier ; Honyi, speaker chief ; and Pontima. Kwaa ought to have
attended, and was repeatedly asked for, but failed to appear.
The chiefs squatted about a basket tray of sacred meal near the
fireplace, Wiki sitting at the right of the same. The chiefs first
smoked ceremonially, during which terms of relationship were ex-
changed as the pipe was passed from one man to another. Wiki
^ Incidentally I learned that the present Snake chief, Kopeli, succeeded his
uncle, Natciwa, who was his mother's eldest brother. It will thus be seen that
the matriachal system of descent of chieftaincy prevailed in Kopeli's succession.
When Wiki dies his nephew, Honyi, will succeed him, showing that the same law
is in force in this priesthood.
2 The winter assembly of the Antelope-Snake Society is a subject about which
little is known, but would repay searching examination. I have a few notes, too
incomplete for publication, about it, but have never witnessed its celebration.
The winter assembly of the Flute, which has certain points in common with that
of the Antelope-Snake, I have elsewhere described.
8 Supela and his wife Saliko, senior members of the Snake family, had moved
from their ancestral home, but true to that conservatism which is everywhere
characteristic of Hopi ceremoniology, the smoke talk took place, not in the Snake
chief's present home, but in the old traditional maternal homestead.
The Oraibi Flute Altar. 275
then made several nakwakwoci, and deposited them on the meal in
the tray. After all had smoked they prayed in the following
sequence: Wiki, Kopeli, Katci, Pontima, and Honyi; as each one
prayed the others responded, antci, right, or amen.
At the close of this simple rite Wiki gave the prayer-strings
(nakwakwocis) to Honyi, instructing him to announce the Snake
Dance on the following morning at sunrise. The chiefs then left
the room. Having requested Honyi to arouse me when he made
the announcement, I laid down in my blanket on sheepskins which
he kindly brought me.
Long before dawn Honyi awakened me, and I found him standing
near by, with his tray of meal in one hand. He beckoned me to fol-
low, and we went without a word down the ladder, past the "antelope
rock," to the narrow place in the mesa where the trail enters Walpi.
There, as in many other places on the mesa, the trail has been worn
a few inches into the solid rock by the constant passers, and in that
groove Honyi extended a long string with feathers tied at the end,
sprinkling a line of meal over it. This is called the puhtabi or road-
way. We then continued eastward to the shrine midway between
Walpi and Sitcomovi, on the south side of the mesa, where there is
a trail which descends to the terrace below the pueblos. Just east
of this shrine, on the very edge of the cliff, facing the point of
sunrise, Honyi deposited a handful of meal, and on it laid a second
nakwakwoci, throwing a pinch of meal to the east and muttering
inaudible words. We then retraced our steps back to the house,
mounted to the roof, and in a little crypt at the northwest corner
Honyi placed more sacred meal and another string with attached
feather.
He then sat on the edge of the roof, muffled himself in his blan-
ket, for it was quite cold, and watched for the appearance of the sun.
As soon as the sun's disk appeared above the horizon, Honyi
dropped a handful of meal at his feet before him, placed a nakwa-
kwoci upon it, slowly rose, drew his blanket about him, and shouted
the announcement in a loud voice. Portions of the announcement
I could not get, but the purport was that the Snake-Antelope priests
would assemble and pray for rain, adding an invocation to the cloud
deities to send the welcome rain in obedience to their needs. The
intention of the words is not so much an announcement to the pub-
lic that the ceremony was to begin as to the gods of the six direc-
tions (nananivo monmowitu) that the people sorely needed rain, and
the chiefs were about to assemble to pray for it.^
^ The general character of the official announcement may be gathered by a
consultation of my article on the Walpi Flute Ceremony, where a free translation
is given of the crier's words at that time.
276 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
The altars of both Antelope and Snake men were the same as in
1891 and 1893, but with this addition. On my visit to the priests
in 1893 I presented the Antelope chief Wiki with a specimen of
Limnhis PolypJicvins, the horseshoe crab of the east coast of the
United States. This was pronounced to be the Wupopavikya, or
"The Giant Tadpole," and was deposited back of the Antelope
poiiya, with prayers. In the 1895 altar "The Giant Tadpole" was
placed in the same position and treated with the same reverence as
a fetish. A fragment of water-worn wood which I had likewise
given Wiki in 1893 was also deposited on the altar. With the ex-
ception of numerous mytelus shells which I had given Kopeli in
1893, the objects on the Snake altar were the same as in the two
preceding presentations of the Snake Dance. I added to Kopeli's
fetishes the shell of a large green turtle for his altar, and later ob-
servers may notice this powerful rain-bringer on subsequent Snake
altars. I also gave both Antelope and Snake priests numerous
haliotis shells, which were used in their personal adornment during
the public dance.
The Antelope paho, called the cakwapaho, was the same as in
1893, identical with my figure of it (p. 27) in the Snake memoir. I
noticed that the tiponi of the Snake chief this year (1895) had small
bluebird feathers tied to the extremities of the longer feathers, as
already pointed out as characteristic of the Snake whip and the
bundles of red feathers which the Snake priests wear on their
heads. The presence of bluebird feathers on the tiponi is not, I
believe, an innovation, but escaped our searching studies of two
years ago.^
The following ceremonials of the 1895 Snake Dance were wit-
nessed by me and found to be the same as in 1891 and 1893 : —
1. Sixteen songs and dramatization,^
2. Initiation ceremonials, in which the bear and puma were per-
sonified.
3. Preparation of the Snake charm liquid.
4. Snake washing.
To these may be added the Snake and Antelope foot-races, and
of course the Antelope and Snake Dances on the plaza.
During my conversations, in the kivas and outside, with the Snake
and Antelope priests, I have been told by several of them that por-
^ The two sticks which are tied together are exactly alike, and neither has a
facet cut on it in representation of a face.
2 During the singing of these songs, two of these implem.ents were used by Wi-
kyatiwa. While I had noticed the use of two whizzers by Hahawe in 1891 and
1893, I neglected to state that fact. Before use in the kiva and on the roof, one
end of these objects were dipped in the charm liquid, but on the plaza this pre-
liminary was not deemed necessary.
The Oraibi Fltite Altar. 277
tions of the Snake ceremonials still survive at Acoma, which would
not be surprising in view of the fact that we know from Espejo that
a similar dance was celebrated there in his time (1583). Repeated
questioning from those who have a knowledge of Acoma ritual has
failed, however, to give me any information of its survival there, but
I should not be surprised if future investigators reported its exist-
ence in a modified form.^
The public Snake Dance took place August 21 in 1891, August
14 in 1893, and August 18 in 1895 ; the limits of the dates in these
three performances were therefore seven days apart, from which we
learn that the time of its celebration varies somewhat in different
years. The remarkable thing is that the Sun priests can determine
so accurately the date to celebrate it, especially as they are wholly
ignorant of our calendars or almanacs. The public Snake Dance
at IMiconinovi took place in 1895, as in 1893, on the day before the
Walpi Snake Dance.
Of the dates of the Snake Dance prior to 1891 I can get little
reliable information. In 1881 it was seen by Bourke,^ and in 1887
and 1889 by Stephen, Messenger, and others.
Our camp on the day of the Snake hunt at the east was at Si-
kyatki, a prehistoric ruin three miles away, and all day long the
Snake priests hunted reptiles in that vicinity. We were then en-
gaged in packing our collections, but I was especially urged by
Kopeli not to work on the ruins or allow any one to stir out of
camp on that day ; the reason assigned being that any one who did
so would "swell up and burst." The Snake priests on this hunt
had their dinner at the spring Kanelba, sheep-water, and the Indian
boy who ordinarily brought our drinking water from this spring
could not be prevailed upon to visit it between sunrise and sunset.
The taboo of all work in the world-quarter where the Snake priests
are hunting is religiously observed by all Hopi and Tewa.
Notwithstanding I called Kopeli's attention to a hole in which, on
previous days, I had observed a rattlesnake, he would not dig it out
in my presence, so carefully do they preserve this one feature of
the ceremony, the capture of the reptile in the open. The number
of serpents taken in the several hunts in 1895 was larger than in
1 The rattlesnake was held in enough reverence at Sikyatki to lead some one
there to deposit its rattle in the grave of one of their number, as my excavations
last summer prove. Sikyatki was undoubtedly destroyed before the advent of
the Spaniards, from which it may be concluded that the rattlesnake was used as a
symbol at a very early date in Tusayan. A rattlesnake rattle, according to Mrs.
Stevenson, is placed on the altar of the Sia Snake Society.
- The account by Captain Bourke was the first adequate one which we have of
the Snake Dance, and from it dates a scientific interest in this ceremonial, as well
as a valuable knowledge of its character.
278 yo2ir7ial of American Folk-Lore.
either 1891 or 1893. It is impossible to do more than estimate the
exact number, but more than eighty were used this year. Not all
of these were rattlesnakes, but there were certainly fifty of these
venomous creatures. The rattlesnake is especially sought, and is
called "chief," because it is most efficacious in bringing rain.
My inquiries of Kopeli, "Why do you carry the snake in the
mouth?" elicited no satisfactory answer. "Because he is a rain-
bringer ; because he carries the rattle as we, when personating Ka-
tcinas, carry the rattle in our hands," he replied. He spoke of light-
ning as a rain-cloud snake. ^
The Public Sjiake Dance. — The exercises on the plaza, although
the same as in 1891 and 1893, showed some variation on account of
the deaths already recorded. The most important of these changes
were as follows : The part of the warrior (Kalektaka) was taken
by Wikyatiwa instead of Tawa, whose personation of the warrior
chief was rather undignified in 1893. The Kalektaka was the priest
who followed the line of Antelopes as they entered the plaza, and
who stood at the extreme left of the platoon while the reptiles were
being carried by the Snake priests. He bore the Antelope standard
(awatanatci), and the bow and quiver of the warrior, and likewise
twirled the whizzer at important times during the ceremony.
The bodies of the Snake priests were covered with a wash of
black pigment, and were not stained as red as Scott's painting of a
group of Snake priests in my memoir would lead one to believe.
When the snakes were borne about the plaza in the mouths of the
participants, the carriers were noticed to drop them always at a cer-
tain point, where they were captured by the gatherers. No attempt
was made to try to capture a reptile when he was coiled, but he was
coaxed to uncoil with the snake whips, and as soon as the rattlesnake
moved from the coiled posture he was quickly picked up by the
priests, who grasped the reptile by the neck. My attention was
called in the kiva, when the reptiles were free on the floor, to a rat-
tlesnake which was very sluggish in his movements. Two of the
priests were handling it, catching hold of the tail and trying to shake
the rattles. I thought the reptile was wounded, but was assured
that he was feeble from age. They called him a wiiktaka, or old man
snake, and notwithstanding repeated handling this sluggish reptile
did not coil, nor could the articulations of his rattles, of which he
had many, be made to emit any noise.
^ During my archjEological work this summer I came to know the Snake chief
better than ever before. He was with me during the whole of my investigations,
and I found him a trustworthy, honest, and, as he looks at 'things, a deeply reli-
gious man. In my many talks with him I have been impressed with his modesty,
gentleness, and courage, which have won the respect of his fellow Hopi, and this
feeling was shared by all the white men in my camp.
The Oraibi Flute Altar. 279
During the public Snake Dance the southern edge of the plaza
was lined, as on previous presentations, with rows of spectators, who
stood on the very edge. A step behind them was a sheer descent
of possibly a hundred feet. It has always been a surprise to me
that in the stirring events of the dance some one did not step back
and lose his balance, especially as the reptiles sometimes make
their way from their captors into this crowd. No accident has,
however, taken place here in the last three dances, although a snake
of considerable size in the 1895 celebration "took a header" over
this precipice.
In the short time in which I have worked in Tusayan I know
of two accidents which have happened to Indians falling from the
mesa. One was a Navajo who had visited the Alkiva in a night cer-
emony. When he emerged on the roof of the kiva, somewhat dazed,
he turned the wrong way, and stepped off the edge. He died where
he fell. In 1895, shortly before the Snake Dance, a child fell from
the mesa on the north side, opposite the court which leads to the
dance plaza, breaking his collar-bone, but not losing his life. At
the Q-^go. of the mesa where the accident occurred the members of
the family placed a small twig, to which was fastened nakwakwoci,
or strings with attached feathers. This was a votive or thank-offer-
ing possibly to some god. A similar offering of a propitiatory na-
ture was placed in the trenches of the cemetery of Sikyatki every
evening after work by the Indians. In this case it was an offering
to the dread god of death, Masauwuh, for disturbing the graves of
the defunct.!
Snake Priests bitten by Reptiles. — On each celebration of the
Snake Dance it is reported that several priests were bitten, and
some accounts have gone so far as to say "that men were seen
going about the plaza with snakes hanging by the fangs from their
cheeks." It is important to have these statements critically exam-
ined, for if true they are most important in the discussion of the
possible antidote. While I have personally never seen a priest bit-
ten, I endeavored this summer to specially watch for such a mishap,
and asked one or two of my friends to do the same. I had not the
misfortune to see any one bitten, but two cases were reported, one
of whom was an unknown, said to have been struck in the cheek ;
the other my friend, Supela, bitten in the back of the hand. After
the dance, when the priests were drinking the emetic, before they
had bathed, I went among them, and asked to see the one bitten in
the face. I could not find any one who had blood on his face or who
claimed to have been bitten there. Supela, however, showed me
^ The Hopi, like many other Indians, will not touch human bones, but showed
no serious objection to excavating in the ancient cemeteries.
28o yournal of American Folk-Lore.
blood on the back of one hand, and I asked him if he had been bit-
ten. He replied that he had, and I examined the wound. There
was certainly much blood upon it, and from the effusion of blood
there was no doubt that he was wounded. It is necessary, however,
to know, even supposing the wound was from a snake bite, that the
bite was that of a rattlesnake, as other non-venomous reptiles were
used. I asked Supela if he had been bitten by tcua (rattler), and he
said, Yes ! Here, then, we have a specific case : a man bitten, as
he said, and as my friends declared, by a rattlesnake, but that bite
bleeding profusely. While it would have been more conclusive to
me if I had seen the snake strike him, I must rest the evidence as
I have given it As far as I know, Supela's wound was not fatal, nor
did his hand swell up, as ordinarily happens a few hours after such
a mishap. As far as my examination of the question whether the
priests are ever bitten is concerned, I have to answer that Supela's
case affords strong, possibly conclusive, evidence that they some-
times are, and his statement that the wound was inflicted by a rat-
tlesnake is thus far in evidence.
Since the publication of my Snake memoir,^ several accounts of
the Snake Ceremony at Oraibi, by Mr. Politzer,^ have appeared, and
a description of the same at Cunopavi or Cipaulovi by Mr. R. H.
Baxter,^ none of which deal with kiva ceremonials.
From Mr. Politzer's account and his kodak photographs it would
seem that the presentation of the Snake Dance at Oraibi in 1894
was celebrated by a small number of priests. Relying on these evi-
dences, I was inclined to the belief that the Snake order is small in
that pueblo. From what I learned during my visit in 1895 it is
probable that many of the priests absented themselves on account
of the division of the pueblo into friendly and hostile parties. It is
claimed by Mr. Voth that the friendly party did not join their fellow-
priests, and that the order is large ; and it remains to be seen whether
in 1896, when the Snake drama at Oraibi is next presented, reconcil-
iation will be effected, or those who withdraw will set up an altar of
their own."*
1 "Snake Ceremonials at Walpi," Jour. Amer. Eth. and Arch. vol. iv.
2 "Snake Dance of the Moquis," A'ew York Herald, Nov. 11, 1894; " Mouth-
fuls of Rattlesnakes," Safi Francisco Examiner, Oct. 21, 1894; "The Moqui Ser-
pent Dance," St. Louis Republican, Nov. 7, 1894; "Among the Moquis," Boston
Daily Traveler, Nov. 7, 1894. In addition to these, some of which are more or
less garbled, Mr.' Politzer has sent me his MSS. of the Oraibi dance.
^ " The Moqui Snake Dance," Amer. Antiquarian, vol. xvii. No. 4, 1895. Mr.
Baxter's article is verj- vague and unsatisfactory.
* Possibly the present division of the pueblo will lead to rapid changes in the
ritual, and destruction of some of the ceremonials. It is to be hoped, from an
ethnological point of view, that immediate studies of Oraibi ceremoniology will be
made, for the use of future students of aboriginal American religions.
The Oraibi Flute Altar. 281
The attendance of white spectators at the 1895 dance at Walpi
was larger 1 than on either of the two previous presentations, and
many of the visitors came from a considerable distance. The fame
of the Snake Dance has spread far and wide, and the audiences
steadily increase with each successive performance. They are no
longer composed of persons from Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, and
neighboring army posts, but includes journalists, artists, public lec-
turers, and ethnologists from distant cities. Some of the newspa-
pers of New York and Chicago sent reporters to describe for their
readers the details of the dance, and several professional photogra-
phers^ were likewise present.
What will be the influence on the character of the presentation as
the numbers of white visitors increase .'* Thus far their presence
has not changed the religious intent and character of the dance, and
the priests have not allowed strangers to enter their kivas. Each
year, at the request of the chiefs, I have posted placards^ on the kiva
ladders, warning whites not to enter or intrude, and these warnings
have not been violated. The advent of so many visitors has been a
source of pecuniary profit to the Hopi, furnishing a limited market
for their pottery, baskets, dolls, rental of rooms, and services. It
has been a means of acquainting the Hopi with Americans, who visit
the pueblo in larger numbers at that time than in all the remaining
months of the year. These advantages seem to me to be lost sight
of by those zealous persons who would suppress it. The presence
of fifty or more Americans at each dance must have an influence
in familiarizing the two races with each other.* If these strange
rites were destroyed, a much smaller number of whites would visit
Walpi than at present, and if force were used to make them abandon
the dance, as some have suggested, a considerable number would
become hostile or at least suspicious of the whites, and nothing
would be given in its place to draw the biennial visitors, who leave
more or less money with them.
I have little to add to what I have already written in regard to the
* Fully seventy white persons witnessed the 1895 Snake Dance at Walpi.
* From most of the photographers who were present I obtained copies of their
work, and I also have several new kodak views of my own taking, but none of
them are satisfactory for reasons elsewhere assigned.
' The placards for the 1895 dance were beautifully illustrated by Mr. Sykes
with pictures of the Antelope and Snake sand paintings copied from my memoir.
The chiefs, however, would not allow these to be put up until the illustrations had
been cut out, so carefully do they strive to keep all that pertains to their altars
from the ken of the inquisitive.
^ Although the Snake Dance is but one of many great ceremonials of the Hopi,
probably it has done more to disseminate a knowledge of this interesting people
than anything else connected with them.
VOL. vin. — NO. 31. 19
2S2 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
meaning of the Snake Dance, and the explanation that it is a rain
ceremony is supported by later studies, I am inclined more and
more to believe that marked elements of sun-worship will be found
.to be present in this mysterious observance, as the association of
the serpent with sun-worship is a common feature in American reli-
gions ; it has been shrewdly suggested that it is a summer solstitial
ceremony highly modified.^ The date of its occurrence is somewhat
tardy for a solstice ceremony, but the whole Tusayan ritual has
more or less well-developed solar rites in its composition, and we can
hardly fail to find traces of it in this important observ^ance.
The most important general result of my studies of the 1895
Snake Dance is a verification of what I have elsewhere stated, that
the ceremony in successive presentations is performed in exactly the
same way, and no intentional modifications are introduced even when,
by the death of older members of the fraternities, new men succeed
those who have died. The differences in statement of fact which
we detect in the many accounts of the Snake Dance resolve them-
selves into poor or incomplete observ^ations on the part of those who
have written the articles, and not, as some would have us think, in
capricious changes in the ceremony itself. The discovery of the
permanency of the rite even in details gives the ethnologist new
hopes that the ancient character of the Snake Dance can be reason-
ably made out by a study of the presentation of the survivals at the
present day, and adds a greater certainty to speculations as to its
origin, built on the character of its present observance.
J. Walter Fewkes.
^ I do not, however, follow some other writers in calling the Pueblos "sun-wor-
shippers " more than "rain-worshippers" or "earth-worshippers." If any cult is
preeminent in the Tusayan region, it is the worship of the rain-cloud deities.
PL. I.
THE ()RAIB[ FI.UTE ALTAR
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
PLATE I.
Altar of one of the Oraibi Flute societies ; called the Lentiponi ponya
or Flute tiponi altar, from the fact that the most important object upon
it is the Flute tiponi.
I. Lentiponi. 2. Effigy of the god Cotokinumva, or Heart of all the
Sky. 3. Lentiyo or male cultus hero of the Flutes, whose complemental
female is on the other side of the ponya (altar). 4. Talactcomo or Pollen
Mound. 5. Symbolic ear of corn. 6. Rain-cloud symbols on a fiat piece
of wood. 7. The Flute birds. 8. A collection of artificial flowers (or
flutes), arranged as a plant. 9. Stick and amulet carried by the girls who
engage in the public ceremony. 10. Unknown object. 11. Half of the
corn painting, made of blue kernels of maize. 12. Complemental half of
the same, made of yellow kernels of maize. 13. Artificial flowers. 14. The
ridge of sand by which the altar objects are supported.
The rain-cloud semicircles shaded with vertical lines are colored red ;
those with horizontal, green ; and those with slanting, yellow. The field
upon which the zigzag lightning and black birds are depicted is a dingy
yellow, and none of the colors are very brilliant. The background of the
central figure is intensified to bring out more prominently the altar figures.
PLATE II.
Flute altar at Cipaulovi. i, Tiponis. 3. Lenya (flute) mana (maid).
4. Talac (talasi, corn pollen) tcomo (mound). 7. Row of six directions'
birds, bearing on their backs a long string, piihtabi (piihH, road), way of
blessings, which extends from a Flute paho, P, to the end of a broad pollen-
meal trail. T. Four talawipiki (lightning) symbols in the form of serpent
effigies hanging from the roof.
The symbolism of the five boards which form the upright of the altar is
obscure, but rain-clouds were evidently depicted upon them.
Pl. 11.
TIIK CIl'AULOVI FLUTE Al.TAR
Notes on the Folk-Lore of NewfouTidland, 285
NOTES ON THE FOLK-LORE OF NEWFOUNDLAND.
I HAD not the opportunity of collecting much of the folk-lore of
the people of Newfoundland, but from the manner in which they
have lived so long in a measure secluded from the outside world, I
am persuaded that it must be extensive and interesting. The only
part of it to which I directed my attention was their superstitions,
which as might be expected from their circumstances I found to be
varied and extensive. From various sources, but particularly from
Judge Bennett of Harbor Grace, I have obtained the following
examples.
L Luck. They believe in things lucky and unlucky. A woman
crossing a hunter's path on his setting out will sometimes be suffi-
cient to make him relinquish his expedition for that day. It is also
unlucky when going deer hunting to meet a red-haired man, or for a
hare to cross one's path. Above all, a mare-browed man, one whose
eyebrows meet and extend continuously across his forehead, is un-
lucky and is supposed to have the power of casting a spell upon a per-
son. Hence he is always dreaded in the community, and believes
as firmly as his neighbors in his power to cast a spell or cause ill
luck.
Walking under a ladder is considered very unlucky. In the out-
posts girls will climb the rockiest cliffs to avoid such a contingency.
On one occasion in St. John's where a ladder extended across the
sidewalk, of one hundred and twenty-seven girls who came along,
only six ventured under it, the rest going along the gutter in mud
ankle deep.
Meeting a tame pigeon is unlucky. If a single pigeon cross a
lady's pathway she may anticipate sorrow as near, but two together
is a sign of coming joy, three promise a wedding and four a birth.
The new moon is of special importance in this regard. One must
be careful to try and see it over the right shoulder, in which event
he will be lucky for the coming month. But if it first be seen over
the left it betokens ill luck and misfortune for the same period.
As with the superstitious generally, Friday is a very unlucky day.
Housekeepers will prefer paying a quarter's rent extra to going into
a house on that day. It is of course most unlucky to be married on
it. Wednesday is the day considered most favorable for the purpose.
II. Divination. As is common, also, with the superstitious, they
have many processes for learning the future. One is placing an tg^
in a tumbler on St. John's Day. The tumbler being half filled with
water, an ^gg is broken into it at early dawn, and it is placed in the
window, where it remains untouched till sundown. At that time
286 yotirnal of American Folk-Lore.
the broken egg is supposed to have assumed a special shape, in
which the ingenious maiden sees dimly outlined the form of her
future lord or some emblem of his calling.
,The following is said to be much in vogue in Trinity and Catalina
bays at Halloween. Shortly before midnight a pure white bowl is
procured, that has never been touched by any lips save those of a
new-born infant. If it is a woman whose fortune is to be tried (and
it generally is), the child must be a male. The bowl is filled with
water from a spring well, after which twenty-six pieces of white
paper about an inch square, on each of which must be written one
letter of the alphabet, are placed in the bowl with the letters turned
downward. These must be dropped in as the clock strikes mid-
night, or all will fail. All being ready, the maiden interested repeats
the lines, —
Kind fortune tell me where is he who my future lord shall be ;
From this bowl all that I claim is to know my lover's name.
The bowl is then securely locked away and must not be disturbed
till sunrise the following morning, when she is placed before it blind-
folded. She then picks out the same number of letters as there are
in her own name. After these are all out the bandage is removed
from her eyes, and the paper letters spread out before her. She
manages them so as to spell a man's name as best she can, with the
letters at her disposal. The name thus found will be that of her
future husband.
But the most powerful charm is a piece of printed paper called
"the letter of Jesus Christ." This, in addition to the well-known
letter of Lentulus to the Senate, contains many absurd superstitions,
such as the promise of safe delivery in child-bed and freedom from
bodily hurt to those who may possess a copy of it.
III. Charms. Practically, however, their superstition appears
more frequently in the charms by which they endeavor to avert or
cure various maladies. Thus a potato will be carried in the pocket to
cure rheumatism. This is not peculiar to Newfoundland, for I have
seen in the museum in Halifax a potato very much dried that had
been used for the same purpose. Sores are supposed to be healed
by the touch of certain persons. A clergyman told me of a recent
case in his congregation, of a man who having for some time had a
sore leg at length applied to a man possessed of such powers, who
having gone through incantations told him to apply some oatmeal
and vinegar. The patient declared that he got more good from this
man's performances than from all the doctors He had consulted.
Then the toothache is charmed away by muttering certain words,
while applying the finger to the spot, or by tying so many knots on
Notes on the Folk-Lore of Newfoundland. 287
a fishing line. But the most effectual cure for this is a written
charm inclosed and sealed up, the contents of which must be con-
cealed from the party afflicted, and worn round the neck. Judge
Bennett has favored me with the following copy of one of these.
I 've seed it written, a feller was sitten
On marvel (marble) stone and our Lord came by
And he said to him, what 's the matter with thee my man
And he said, got the toothache marster
And he saith follow me and thee shall have no more toothache.
Among the modes of cure adopted are the following: Hanging
earth-worms round the neck to cure intestinal worms ; passing a
child under a jackass for the cure of shingles (a child was lately
brought to St. John's for the purpose) ; applying the blood of a black
cat to cure a spavined horse ; writing an individual's name on the
forehead to cure nose-bleeding ; making a cross with spittle on the
shoe to drive away a cramp or sleepiness felt in that part of the foot.
If a fish-hook pierces the hand, it should be stuck three times into
wood, in the name of the Trinity, to prevent festering or other evil
consequences to the wound.
They believe, also, in witches and witchcraft, but I have received
no special illustration of their superstition in this respect.
IV. Ghosts. Every village, too, has its ghost story. Of these a
lady supplies me with the following : — ■
"An old fisherman told me of a locality which was formerly in-
habited by Frenchmen. There is a good beach for landing, but no
boat will remain tied on it. Fasten the painter as you will, ghostly
hands untie the knots again and again. (By the by, most of the
ghosts are supposed to be Frenchmen.) That old man has had
some other strange experiences. He saw a mermaid sitting on a
rock as plainly as he ever saw anything, and was within a couple of
boat's lengths of her when she dived to her crystal caves below and
was lost to sight.
" A headless man is the habitu^ of one of the stages at , and
one of the men at the house where I boarded met him one night.
His family told me that he got home nearly fainting, and that he
would not go out after dark for weeks after. This ghost, also, is a
Frenchman.
"The old lay-reader and former schoolmaster at must be
gifted with second sight, for his ' manifestations ' have been numer-
ous, and he really has had some wonderful experiences, if all he says
is true. Once he was walking to , and some distance in front of
him by the side of the road he saw a pile of firewood with a dog and
sled beside it. (I forget whether there was a man too.) As he got
near he could not help noticing how beautifully even the wood was
28S yournal of American Folk-Lore.
arranged, and wondered who had taken so much trouble. Presently
the wood, dog, and sled disappeared, and when he reached the spot
where they had been, there was not a mark on the snow.
. " An old Irish woman told me that once on her way to mass she
was overtaken by a man who walked some miles with her, and
entered the chapel. The curious part of the story is that the man
was invisible to every one save herself and the priest. It was only
when his reverence told her after service he had seen the ghost
beside her, that she discovered the nature of her companion.
"At Bonavista, somewhere down the Cape Shore, there is an im-
mense treasure, hidden long years ago by pirates. These pirates,
after concealing their booty, sailed away in search of further plunder,
leaving one of their number to guard the spot, first binding him by
a solemn oath to remain till they returned. Years passed away, the
unfortunate watchman shufifled off this mortal coil, and nothing but
his spirit was left to watch the place. His friends have doubtless
long ago departed this life also, and the ghost is so tired of his job
that he makes this splendid offer : If any one will go alone at mid-
night and shed blood at the spot (any animal will do to kill), that
ceremony releases him from his obligation, and the person perform-
ing the kindly office can have the treasure. One of the most intelli-
gent men in Bonavista told me that the story was told him by a
man to whom the late pirate had volunteered the information. No
one has yet been brave enough to venture."
One fact, however, is to be noted, whether for weal or woe, born
in the daytime you will never see ghosts.
V. Spells. They are firm believers in spells. Judge Bennett has
given the following account of a case of this kind.
" On landing at a cove I met skipper Kish at his doorstep, with
his right hand in a sling. After a cordial greeting, I inquired what
ailed his arm. He replied, ' Well, sir, last week I bought this 'ere
gun from Jan Leek, an gid him varty shilluns for un. Fish was
scace, so day afore yisday I thought I 'd go over the hills and try
un on a hare or partridge. I tooked her and the powder-harn and
shot-bag and starts up yander through the droke. You know the
little pond at the top of the hill. When I cumed in sigh' o' un, the
first thing I see is a loo' (loon) sitting about the middle uv un. "A
queer place for a loo' to be," says I, "for the pond is n't more'n sixty
yards across, and no trouble to get in gunshot o' he." I drawed
down to the tuckamores aside the pond and got twict thirty and
varty yards from un. I lets drive and the loo' dove. The gun
kicked pow'ful an' I loads her agen, a light load not more 'n six fin-
gers. The loo' comes up in the same place, and I loaded an fired
twenty-eight shots at un, and he dove every time. I had n't a grain
Notes on the Folk- Lore of Newfotindland, 289
of shot left. At the last shot the loo' disappeared, then I seed I 'd
been vuled (fooled),"
" ' What became of the loon,' said I.
" ' T wa' n't no loo' at all, sir.'
" ' What was it then ? '
" 'T was a spell on me and the gun, and I knowed then that that
blankety blank Jan Baker put it on.'
" ' Nonsense,' said I ' you should not believe such things.'
" ' Well, lookee here, sir,' opening his shirt, and showing his
shoulders as black as my hat, ' I 've vired too many guns not to
know I wouldn't be served Uke that if there war n't a spell on her.'
'• I replied, ' Oh, Kish, you are mistaken. She is an old army
musket warranted to kick like a mule.'
" * Mistaken, sir } I got proof, I got proof I 'm right. Shortly
after I cumed out to the harbor, Jan Baker, he cumed in from vish-
ing, and I says to un, " Skipper Jan, I thinks there 's a spell on my
gun." " Let me look at her," says he. I gid her to un, an' he looks
along the bar'l. " Yes," says he, " skipper Kish, there is a spell on
her ; I can see it. It looks just like a vish's float " (fish's air float
or air bladder). I ses, " Can't take it off, skipper Jan } " He says,
"No, I can't." "Well I can," says I, "fur I knows the blankety
blank that put it there."
" * So yistday marnin' when Jan Baker an' the rest went out vishen,
I gets a piece of paper and cuts out the shape uv a man's heart, an'
I writ Jan Baker's name on it and stuck it up on that picket, six
foot in front of the door. I puts a small charge in the gun and cuts
off a piece uv silver the size uv a shot, and puts it in with the shot.
I stood here in the doorway and vired ; and I hope that I may never
live another day, sir, if I 'm tellen ye a lie — every shot cumed fly-
ing back in the house among the crockery on the dresser, and rat-
tlin' on the floor. I looked at the paper heart. Not a shot had
passed through it, but I seed a small piece chipped out of the edge,
and I knowed the silver had done it, and the spell was off my gun.
" ' In the evenin' when Jan Baker cumed, he says, " Skipper Kish,
did it take the spell off your gun 1 " And I says, "Yes I did, skipper
Jan." And he says, " I knowed it, skipper Kish, fur when I was out
on the fishin' ground, I felt a drop of blood leave m.y heart, an' I
says to myself, skipper Kish is takin' the spell off his gun."
" ' Now, sir, did n't I tell that I had proof that 't wa' n't no loo' at
all, only a spell on my gun .-' ' "
The judge tells another good story illustrative of their superstition.
Being at one of the outposts, a woman came to him complaining that
some person had stolen a pair of blankets, which she had washed
and put out to dry, and wishing him to turn the key on the Bible to
290 yo7ir7ial of American Folk-Lore.
discover the thief. He refused, assuring her that he had no such
power. But as she continued to urge him, he proposed another plan.
He asked if she had a good crowing bird. She said, No, but her
neighbor, Mrs. had. She of course had a large iron pot. He
then directed her to summon all the men at home in the neighbor-
hood to come to the house at dark. This was done, the rooster was
caught and placed under the pot. When the men assembled the
lamp was extinguished, and they were sent outside. One man,
whom the judge suspected as the guilty party, protested strongly
against the proceeding, declaring his disbelief in any such idea as it
involved. However, they were required in turn to go in and touch
the pot, the understanding being that when the guilty should do so
the cock would crow. Each man went in and returned without the
expected sign, and the man who had protested against the proceed-
ing now appealed to the fact to show the folly of it. The judge,
however, called them into the house, and the lamp being relit he
remarked on the strangeness of the affair, and then called on all to
hold up their hands, when it was found that this man's hands were
clean, showing that he had never touched the pot at all. He at first
attempted to deny his guilt, but on being threatened with being
sent to jail he gave up his plunder.
The superstitions and stories above recorded are given only as ex-
amples of the extent of the field open to collectors in this Province.
George Patterson.
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
Straw. 291
STRAW.
When Noble the King of beasts pardons the Fox in Caxton's
Reynart (of 148 1) he does so with a formality of very ancient origin ;
primitive indeed, it would appear among mankind.
" The Kynge tokc up a strazo fro the ground, and pardoned and
forgaf the Foxe all the mysdedes and trespaccs of his father and of
him also." But there is in Caxton's version (which was made direct
from the Low German) an omission of much import. At least two
centuries earlier the Old I'rench Roman de Rc?iart (line 11. 179)
said he broke the straw and so pardoned them : " II ront le festu si
lor pardonc." This grace was granted for a false consideration.
The wily fox had held out to the covetous King the promise of
revealing to him his father's pretended treasure " of the moste
plente of silver and of golde ; " and when he had received his par-
don, and was thus " quyte of alle his enemyes," he in his turn trans-
ferred the treasure to his leonine majesty in this wise : " Thenne toke
the Fox up a strazc, and prof red it to the Kynge, and saide : ' My
moste dere lord, plese it you to receyve hiere the ryche tresoure
whiche Kynge Ermeryk haddc, for I gyne it unto you zvyth a fre
zvylle, and knozvleche it openly.' The Kynge reccyuid the strazv, and
threwe it meryly fro him with a ioyous visage, and thanked moche
the Foxe."
It is clear here that the form gone through — the taking up and
the giving and the acceptance of the straw — was symbolic of the
gift of something else ; that this form of act or deed accompanied
the form of words long before writings were or could be employed,
and that the picking up and holding out of the straw was a token
of " free will " and was publicly made to " acknowledge openly " the
gift conveyed, whether it were a pardon from the sovereign, or a
proffer of service from a vassal. Note, too, that an old formula sur-
vived into our own days on signing and sealing a legal document, of
saying, " I deliver this as my act and deed." Of course calling a
written paper or parchment a "deed" or an "act" is absurd and
unaccountable in itself, until the previous real act or deed is taken
into consideration.
The fact that these straws were taken up from the ground indi-
cates that the ground or floor of the audience hall was strewn with
straw or rushes, in accordance with general custom.
We can detect a remnant of these straw-contracts in Anderson's
" Cumberland Ballads," when a farm servant goes to hire himself
out at Carlisle (locally Carel, as Carlyle's name was pronounced Cairl
at home) : " At Carel I stuid wi a strae i my mouth." The straw
292 your7ial of American Folk-Lore.
may have earlier been so carried to have it ready for the hiring-bar-
gain ; then it would have become a mere signal. Horses offered for
sale have straw plaited into their manes. " She has a straw in her
ear," which seems to have been said in some places of a widow on
the lookout for " a better man " to mend her condition, and would
indicate another way of carrying the Carlisle straw. The poor writer
still puts his pen behind his ear or in his mouth as sordid habit
wills it.
On the other hand, a bargain was cancelled by breaking a straw, —
it broke the bond asunder, — as in the case of Reynart's pardon, and
as in the French and Norman feudal usage generally, where to break
a straw, rompre le fiftu or la paille, was a mode of signifying as be-
tween suzerain and vassal the renunciation of mutual service. The
vassal, for example, in such case, broke a straw publicly in his lord's
presence when he took back his homage. This act is related of
William the Norman, Count of Flanders, in an early Latin chronicle,
the expression being " exfestucare fidem," to withdraw fealty by a
straw; wh^rQ/esiuca, the origin of the French///?^, meant "a stalk."
Our expression "to break faith" with anyone ought to have this
custom for a starting-point. " For oaths are straws, men's faiths are
wafer-cakes," says Ancient Pistol. In the " Romance of Alexander"
(twelfth or thirteenth century) an Indian King Porus tells the con-
queror to go home, for the straw is broken : " Vat'en en ta contree,
rompus est li festus."
Moliere used the metaphor correctly, but came to grief over the
explanation of it in "Le Depit Amoureux" (iv. 4). Gros-Neu6
says to Marinette, in their lovers' quarrel : —
Pour couper tout chemin a nous rapatrier,
11 faut rompre la paille. Une paille rompue
Rend, entre gens d'honneur, une affaire conclue.
The business, indeed, was concluded in one sense ; it was broken off}
In the fourteenth novel of the " Heptam6ron " is a metaphorical
phrase which no one has explained, so far as I can discover. A
dame wants to bar the way to an unwelcome suitor, and the figura-
tive expression used is that she desired once for all to put the straw
before him, and stop him : " Elle lui voulut soudain mettre la paille
au devant et I'arrester." It really, as I believe, refers to what is now
the widespread European custom of stopping a path to cattle, sheep
grazers, or commoners by putting a stalk with a small wisp of straw
dangling from its top. The correct old name of this bunch of straw
was a braiidon or brand, and it denoted in the ancient legal customs
^ Might not the very expression " broken off " be a survival of this ancient
custom ?
Straw. 293
of all the northern half of France a seizure or arrest — just the
word used above — of the growing crop by the limbs of the law. It
was also employed when the feudal lord seized, as of right, the her-
itage of a dead vassal : of course this term braiidon for a wisp
explains itself as having meant originally a wisp used for fire-kin-
dling. Even the verb brandonticr meant to seize (legally).
Long before, it was with this s^vsxo. fcstiica, stalk, or straw, that the
Roman master or patronus touched the slave he desired to free on
the head or cheek. Then he took him by the hand, turned him
around himself, — an actual manumission, — and said, " I will this
man to be free." Here we must have something like the forerunner
of the tipstaff; just as in the straw broken when renouncing vassal-
ships, we may see the great chamberlain's wand or staff broken on
the death of a king — when he used to cry, " Le roi est mort ; viva
le roi ! "
[To show that it has not been out of sight, let it be just mentioned
here that the connection of the word and thing " stipulation " and
the' Latin stipidor, to bargain, with stipiila, a stalk, and stips, a gift,
has not been proven, although it looks such an absolute identity.]
Let us here just pose — but not answer — the question : how came
a straw to be used for the plighting of troth, and consequently for
its subsequent rupture ? And then let us pass on to another branch
of the subject.
I am fond of going to Japan for illustrations : its legends seem to
be so steadily disregarded by most mythologians. There a straw-
rope or sJiime is fastened across over the house-door or before
houses and temples at the New Year, the belief being that nothing
evil can pass such a slender barrier. It taboos a house to the spirit
of sickness. The full name of this tie was the shime-nawa or shut-
ting-rope, where the verb shiimi means "to shut" and nawu "to
twist." There is a legend that one of the early gods, Susa-no-Wo,
imparted the secret of a cholera-belt of twisted grass to a poor
cottier in return for a night's generous shelter. Such a rope or
straw twist was, in an eclipse-of-the-sun myth, stretched across the
mouth of the celestial cave, to shut off the sun-goddess from going
any farther into the cave, and so being lost to the world forever.
These most primitive of ropes are still religiously made of rice
plants, plucked up root and all, and the roots consequently stick out
from the twist here and there like tassels.
Such a rope is with great flower-festivities stretched every spring
and autumn (February and October) from the top of the rocky pre-
cipice of the goddess Izana Mi at Kinomoto down to the trunk of
a pine-tree below ; and the same taboo ropes are quite commonly
294 Journal of American Folk-Lo7'e.
stretched in a "magic " circle round sacred trees all over Japan. A
very unexpected parallel to this is met with in the folk-lore of
northern France, where L. de Eaecker has collected the belief that
"a tree tied round with a straw-rope will bear better fruit." In Da-
homey they put around the house a coarse rope of grass, tasselled
with big dead leaves, as a charm against fire. This notion of straw
taboo seems to be at the root of the widespread legal French cus-
tom of brandons already mentioned. In archaic Rome a subordi-
nate priest, the pontifex minor, at a certain part of the ceremonies of
the holy sacrifice, when ordered by the Pontifex, made twisted ropes
of straw {stramc7i). The name for these ropes, napurae, was so
extremely old that only one instance of it is (I believe) known in all
Latinity, and that was taken by the grammarian Festus from what
he called a Commentary on Sacred Matters. (It is a funny coinci-
dence that the oldest form of the above Japanese word is nap^ Let
us ask again, and again not wait for an answer : What can have been
the source of the sacredness of straw in these customs } The facile
answer that it was handy for twisting ropes with will not suffice.
The ropes in Japan are, so far as can be made certain, purely Jap-
anese, but in a Buddhist temple there — the chief one of a wholly
Japanese Buddhist sect — wisps of straw are sold at the gate to the
devout, who dip them in water and brush the idol with them. It
seems a native Japanese observance ; the priests of the order are
unable to explain it, and it is confined to the humblest classes. But
so general and popular is it that the idol is always kept wet. At
midnight on the fifteenth of the seventh month at the close of
the festival of the dead, a number of substantial straw boats laden
with offerings of food are launched from the head of the Nagasaki
harbor, and the departed spirits are then supposed to be returning
to their abode.
In County Down, near Belfast, boys go or used to go about on
New Year's day with small twists of straw which they threw into
houses and offered to passers-by, expecting something in return. In
Aberdeenshire at Christmas they gather what is called " Yule
Straw." Lightly twisted wisps of straw are burnt and flourished
about at midsummer in some parts of France. And on some an-
cient pagan festival — probably one of spring purification or clean-
ing — lighted wisps of straw were carried about, in the dusk and
dark of course. There was even a furious follow-my-leader kind of
chase called the "danse des brandons" or wisp-dance, in which the
people ran about the country on this and other feasts carrying these
blazing wisps. This pagan festival at length got anchored to the
first Sunday in Lent, still called in France Brandon Sunday. Here
undoubtedly we have an acceptable explanation of the term will-o'-
the-wisp.
Straw. 295
The ancient sacred books of China, the Li Ki and CJioiu Li, re-
cord that in the time of Confucius, and before, straw dummies or lay
figures of men were buried with the dead. These were substitutes
for the terrible earlier practice — which obtained both in China and
Japan — of burying retainers, servants, and concubines alive with
the deceased ruler, Confucius, in order that they might become
" followers of the dead."
Witch-fires must have been lit with wisps of straw, and that is the
only point that can be seen in what Prince Edward says of his own
mother, Queen Margaret, in Henry VI. (Part III. ii. 2, 144) : —
A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns,
To make this shameless callet know herself.
Nares said that such a wisp of straw was "applied as a mark of
opprobrium " to a scold, and showing one to any woman was thus a
grievous affront ; but this gloss has n't legs enough. It wants the
crackling of the fire to set it going. " It smells of the fagot " is
still the cheerful gibe applied to theology that is not quite orthodox.
It is a Japanese folk-custom for a slighted girl to make a rude
straw image to represent her faithless young man, and nail it up to
one of the sacred trees above mentioned, and so implore the help
or vengeance of the local god who approves of these men of straw
while condemning wooden dummies.
A closely similar practice to the early Chinese one is notorious
enough as to ancient Rome. There, every month of May, human
effigies made of rushes or straw were with great ceremonies by
priests and priestesses thrown into the Tiber from the Sublician
bridge. This was an undoubted commutation for previous human
sacrifices carried out in the same manner. In Burgundy straw-man-
ikins are still set fire to at the Carnival and thrown from a bridge
into the river. The expression, " a man of strawj" common enough
in French as " un homme de paille," must come from these once
sacred customs.
Caesar, to whom the Roman imitations must have been familiar,
wrote that the Gauls had immense images of osier-work in which
they inclosed living men, and burnt them sacrificially. The biggest
crimes and follies of men are religious. In Douai, until at least
1770, they promenaded a wicker giant in the month of June ; and in
Paris, down to 1789, they burnt a similar giant every third of July in
the Rue aux Ours.
In Swabia, on the Moselle, in Lorraine, and in Poitou, wheels
made of straw or else wrapped in straw were until recently burnt at
the summer solstice. These wheels were either symbols of the
revolution of the Universe, or of the Sun ; and as to the straw, it is
296 yo7irnal of American Folk-Lore.
easy to quote Shakespeare and say, " those that with haste will make
a mighty fire begin it with weak straws."
The terrible freebooting incendiaries of the twelfth and neighbor-
ing centuries in France were called /^/Z/tri- from the wisps or bottles
of straw, paillcy they carried about on their horses, ready to set fire
to the villages as they passed. The nickname taken by one of our
own mob-leaders in Wat Tyler's rising of 1381, Jack Straw, had of
course some similar ugly sanction. But this folk-name evidently
had yet another signification, for an ordinance of Henry VIII. as
late as 15 17 regulating Christmas mumming laid it down "that Jack
Straw and all his adherents should be henceforth utterly banisht,
and no more be used in this house," upon pain to forfeit for every
time ;^5, to be levied on every fellow happening to offend against
this rule. This Jack Straw must have been a merry Christmas
relative of the Jack-in-the-green of the merry month of May. We
find him still all alive O ! in this chorus : —
With my whim wham whaddle O !
Jack Straw straddle O !
Pretty boy bubble O !
Under a broom.
The merely fire-kindling explanation will not suffice for that wheel-
burning. We want, and must get at some sacred, supreme sanction
for all this. In the north of France (for another example), and in
Belgium, the people announce a death by putting in the front of
the house a cross trussed up of straw, and on the day of the funeral
the church is littered with straw. Rushes were of course also
used commonly in England for this purpose, as a quantity of local
rush -lore still proves. In . the common sayings, "Not worth a
straw," and " I don't care a straw," the word rush is frequently
heard instead of straw. Local vegetation always settles these ques-
tions without asking any ; and straw, rushes, and osiers are suffi-
ciently resemblant forms of sproutage turned too indifferently to
industrial uses in beehive, chair, mat, bag, budget, and basket. In
ancient Egypt, the roll of papyrus containing the Resurrection texts,
which was coffined with each mummy, was tied with a simple straw
cord.
When little Victor Hugo was four years old (1807) he travelled
with his father in Italy, and they used to hang a cross made of straw
out of the carriage-window, at sight of which the peasants would
sign themselves with the cross. Littre, however, explains the vul-
gar saying, "Croix de paille ! " — equivalent to our "Not if I know
it" — by the illicit nature of a cross of straw. If this be so, it
v/ould imply that a pre-Christian use of the straw in pagan ritual
had rendered straw impious for the purpose, and as for the Italian
Straw. 297
instance, we know that the number of pagan superstitions that still
live on among the folk there is unlimited.
But it is quite time to try and give some sort of answer to the ques-
tion above posited as to the origin of all this sacredness and custom-
ary use of straw ; and to pick up at last the straw that shall serve to
show us from what quarter the wind blew it. Else will the reader,
and justly, view much of this as mere catching at straws.
The holy sacrificial grass of Vedic Indian times was used as a cov-
ering for the altar and altar-place, and its Sanskrit name, barhij,
shows that it was pulled up by the roots — just as we have seen it
in Japan — for the verb barh meant "to pull out." The grass-plant
used was generally the Knsa {Poa cyiiosiiroides), but the name which
prevailed ritualistically was "the plucked-up " barhi^-. It was upon
this grass that the offerings were placed, and it was doubtless the
forerunner of the linen altar-cloth. On it, too, in innumerable sacred
hymns, the gods were supposed to descend and sit at the time of sac-
rifice. The barhij was deified ; and the word also came to be used
for the sacrifice itself. Of course, this grass was or soon became
dry, was straw in point of fact ; and now we begin to see how the
sacredness of straw arose.
The barhij-, having had its roots cut off, — which is a difference-
from the Japanese custom, — is spread on the altar or altar-place and
sprinkled with ghee, that is, liquid butter. There was in the ancient
sacred books a special priest told off for this duty, and called the
barhii--trimmer. Even one single tuft or darbJia of this grass — like
the turf in a lark's cage — is sufficient to form a homely little altar
for the formal sacrifice or thank-offering at the devout Hindu's meals.
The grass is also strewn over the floor of the chamber where wor-
ship is put up, just as we saw the church strewn with straw at funer-
als in northern France.
But the imagery and symbolism must be carried much farther.
The altar was so supremely holy and significant that in the Vedas
and Brahmanas it is not alone the essence and the omphalos of the
Earth, but is taken symbolically to be as vast as the Earth, to be
the Earth itself in fact. Of course it might be said, from the utili-
tarian point of view, that the grass was put on the altar and altar-
place merely as kindling-stuff for the burnt sacrifice ; but I believe
there is no authority for this view so far as Indian sacred literature
shows. But there is another view. In the Vedas the Firegod Agni
is said, when excited by the wind, to traverse the forests shearing
the hairs of the earth. This Indian idea is also native Japanese, the
word he meaning archaically and now, hair, fur, down, herbage,
growing rice, and trees. It is a very natural physical parallel, cog-
nate to another Vedic metaphor which calls the rain the dropping
VOL. vin. — NO. 31. 20
298 you7'iial of Americaji Folk-Lurc.
perspiration of the storm gods. Thus, placing the grass on the altar,
which (as above) stood for the Earth, completed its resemblance to
that earth, and this seems to give us its I'aison d'etre.
Thus it may be deduced that a straw from the altar would have
been a holy thing to pledge an oath or word of fealty on ; and it has
been shown elsewhere (" Night of the Gods ") that in patriarchal
times everywhere, the father of the family being also the priest, the
central domestic hearth was an omphalos and an altar, and thus the
holy straw could have been picked up readily in every house, which
is in relatively very late times, and when all the religious sanction
had gone out of it, what we have seen Reynart and the King both
doing. The connection of pardon, too, with a divine source and a
holy ceremony seems close enough, when we reflect upon all that is
familiar as to the subject in religions that admit of sin-jDardon. All
the other ritualistic employments of straw seem to admit of an anal-
ogous tracing back to its altar-holiness.
It is to be hoped that this theory is not too straw-colored ; it is
the best exposition of all the superstitions about straw which has
offered itself in the course of a lengthened investigation, but doubt-
less there are many antiquarians who would disagree, and quarrel
about a straw upon this (or any other) subject. If it be not of suffi-
cient interest to induce some to spurn less enviously at straws in
future, it is in any event better than passing time — and half crowns
— .at pulling straws out of a stack. Further this exponent saith
not ; it is the last straw.
John aNeilL
Selling by Faversham, England, 1895.
Fortune-Telling in America To-Day. 299
FORTUNE-TELLING IN AMERICA TO-DAY.i
A STUDY OF ADVERTISEMENTS.
That fortune-tellers, clairvoyants, and astrologers, so-called, should
succeed in earning a livelihood in this eminently practical country,
and in these enlightened days, is a matter of surprise to those who
fail to take into consideration the efforts which all classes of people
are now making to penetrate the supernatural. The intelligent and
cultivated become students of psychology, hypnotism, and psychical
phenomena, while the unlettered and credulous dabble in cheiro-
mancy, clairvoyance, and astrology. Still a third class of persons,
who can hardly be called intelligent and who would scornfully repu-
diate an accusation of ignorance, engage seriously in studying the
mysteries of the Kabbala, discourse learnedly on theosophy, and
investigate the phenomena of spiritualism.
Notwithstanding the high average of intelligence in these United
States, quite a number of fortune-tellers ply their trade with certain
success in most of our larger cities ; the daily press teems with the
advertisements of these charlatans, who style themselves " clairvoy-
ants," " spiritualists," and " test-mediums," but more commonly
"astrologers;" and under the latter heading their advertisements
are usually grouped by the editors who have in charge the make-up
of the papers. These announcements set forth their boasted powers
in extravagant terms, and a study of them gives us an insight into
the claims and business methods of their authors.
These advertisements used to be far more numerous in the daily
papers of our Eastern cities than at present, and their decrease in
number probably denotes increase in intelligence ; on the other hand,
San Francisco newspapers are especially rich in these curiosities
of literature, a fact indicating that superstition goes hand-in-hand
with the adventurous spirit of the rough characters who first settle
in newly-opened lands.
Here, as in Europe, women seem to succeed better than men in
the business of fortune-telling, for the advertisements of the " Ma-
dames " far outnumber those of the "Professors ; " indeed, clairvoy-
ance might be included in the list of occupations open to women.
Like their gypsy cousins, they are generally of a migratory disposi-
tion, not however conducting their wanderings in a house-wagon,
but moving from town to town by railway and steamboat. After
engaging for a few weeks a "parlor" in a suitable neighborhood,
not too expensively aristocratic and not too deep in the slums,
^ Read to the Baltimore Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society, December
12, 1895.
300 yotir7ial of American Folk-Lorc.
they announce their arrival in printer's ink, cither through the daily
press or by circulars which are distributed broadcast throughout the
place ; circulars are used chiefly in the smaller villages.
•Fortune-tellers are not all migratory, however, for some " Profes-
sors " find their business so steadily profitable that they boast of
having been many years established at a given address.
The more wealthy and aristocratic of these shrewd speculators in
human weakness are not content with two rooms in a lodging-house,
but reside in comparative afifluence in houses of fair dimensions ; the
successful also employ assistants, who, acting as doorkeepers and
acolytes, add dignity to the establishment, and aid in throwing a veil
of av/ful mystery over the presiding genius of the inner sanctum.
These latter-day, well-fed, richly-apparelled, comfortably-housed for-
tune-tellers present a great contrast to Pinch : —
A hungn', lean-faced villain,
A mere anatomy, a mountebank,
A thread-bare juggler, and a fortune-teller ;
A needy, hollow-eyed, sharp-looking wretch,
A living dead-man.
The well-to-do fortune-tellers are, however, few in number ; the
majority earn precarious livelihoods ; the times have changed since
astrologers secured the patronage of crowned heads ; there is no
Rudolph II. in the New World to support them at court in idle
luxury, nor are there opportunities to repeat the career of the
famous Mile. Lenormant who was so prominent a figure in the days
of Napoleon I.
Some of the less pretentious fortune-tellers add to their ordinary
business "magnetic healing," promise "wonderful cures," and ad-
vertise themselves as "medical clairvoyants;" one woman, with
unwonted thrift, offers to act as "a first-class manicure," and to sell
a " preparation for speedily restoring lost hair." Bodily presence is
by no means essential to success in the treatment of ailments by
these medical clairvoyants; one person offers "absent treatments
^5 per month, send stamp for diagnosis." Surely this ungrammatical
proposal infers the climax of credulity! but has the apparent merit
of economy. Some of the advertisers receive "ladies only " in their
parlors, and nearly all of them show favoritism to the gentler sex by
a lower charge, a common phrase being, "ladies, 50 cts. ; gents, j^i."
The fees demanded run from 25 cents to $2 and upwards, the
higher sums being proportioned to the superstitious faith and ap-
parent financial ability of clients, as ascertained during the inter-
views. For attention to correspondence, the usual charge seems to
be $2, which shows that clairvoyants find letter-writing more exhaust-
ing than the trance.
Fortune-Telling in Afuerica To-Day. 301
To attract the attention of the unlettered, and to mystify them,
certain high-sounding expressions are introduced into the printed
announcements : one male advertiser claims to be an " astral seer,"
another a " planet-reader ; " the women are " charm-workers," " gifted
with second sight ; " they act as " palmists," " gypsy life-readers,"
or "trance mediums." Some offer to give "clairvoyant sittings,"
"spiritual tests," and to form "developing circles."
A great variety of methods of divination is offered adapted to
please all tastes. You can visit an "astrologer," who will "cast
horoscopes," or a " card-reader," whose simple, time-honored meth-
ods are well known ; or you can consult in your emergency a " slate-
writer," whose clever sleight-of-hand will puzzle the most observant
unbeliever. If, however, you shrink from personal contact with the
"medium," it will be quite sufficient to send him (or her) by mail
"a sample of your handwriting," or "locks of hair, with stamps," to
obtain a revelation of your past life, with a prophecy as to your
future, and plenty of advice as to your conduct in love-affairs, all
quite as accurate and valuable as if received from the lips of the
great clairvoyant herself, and having the enormous advantage of
ready reference.
If none of these methods appeal to you, there are Professors who
will seek indications of the future with the aid of a " genuine Hindoo
talisman," or in "eggs," "crystals," "beryls," and "mirrors." Of
this latter phase of mental hallucination I have given some account
in "A Modern Oracle and its Prototypes." (Jour. Amer. Folk-Lore,
1S93.) Some offer to teach these and other methods of divination ;
a Chicago woman advertises "mediums properly developed." Be-
sides these glittering attractions, you can secure, for a consideration,
"magic charms," "love-tokens," and "talismans," though some of
the latter are far too precious to part with, since they endow the
possessor with the magical powers necessary to. conduct the busi-
ness.
Advice is offered on the greatest variety of topics, and promises
are made of "sure help," "healing troubles," "reuniting lovers,"
"removing bad habits," "restoring lost love by sympathy," "true
pictures of future wives and husbands," and of " lucky numbers "
for those who play policy and speculate in lotteries. A Chicago
clairvoyant advertises "race tips ; " a New Orleans advertiser offers
to "locate buried treasures." A most important item is the offer to
"give points in law and on all business transactions," thus making
expensive lawyers superfluous and assuring financial success. Add
to these enticing proposals the fact that the advertisers "guarantee
satisfaction," for "mistake [is] impossible" and "nothing [is] ex-
cepted" from their vision, and one really has to exert conscientious
302 yo7irnal of American Fo Ik-Lore.
self-control to keep away from these fortunate beings of magnificent
promises.
To add to the mystery which is supposed to surround the lives of
these gifted mortals, they claim to be of Egyptian ancestry, "gypsy
queens," "born with cauls," and the "seventh daughter of a sev-
enth daughter," a happy domestic accident supposed to confer mirac-
ulous powers upon the younger woman. And to still further excite
curiosity and to stimulate superstitious belief, the advertisers adopt
fanciful names, often indicative of foreign birth ; thus we find the
following startling and obviously fictitious combinations : " Madame
Exodius," " Yamcna, the Turkish Fortune-Tcller," " Madame Don,"
"Carmelos," "Augusta Lcola," "Madame Castella," and "Senti-
nella Guzhdo, the great Egyptian Prophetess," whose captivating
circular will be given entire later on. The men seem to scorn this
trickery, and generally use commonplace names, sometimes with the
prefix " Professor," a greatly abused privilege much practised by
charlatans in every walk of life. A Chicago " medium " uses the
name " Sir Russell Easton," a bold claim of knighthood.
The business hours of these hard-working people are generally
very long : " 9 to 9 " is a very common statement ; but others are
more specific, and announce "circles Mondays and Fridays, 8 p. m.,"
besides "sittings daily 10 to 2," hours which must sadly interfere
with sound digestion. One conscientious, or perhaps pleasure-loving
man advertises, "Sundays excepted." Mrs. Seal, of San Francisco,
offers "test circles on Wednesday evenings and developing circles
on Thursday evenings," which indicates that she has well-trained
spirits under perfect control.
This partial analysis of the ninety advertisements ^ and circulars I
have collected (the number could easily be increased tenfold), pre-
pares the way for the presentation of characteristic specimens.
The following from a paper published at Washington, D. C, is a
typical one, embracing many common features in a condensed form ;
it is classed under " Personals : " —
Prof. Clay, wonderful clairvoyant and medium, tells your life from cradle
to grave ; every hidden mystery revealed ; tells the business that will bring you
greatest success; in love affairs he never fails; unites separated; recovers
losses; causes speedy marriages ; removes evil influences ; foretells with a cer-
tainty all commercial and business transactions ; twelve years established
Ladies and gentlemen, 50 cents each. Hours 9 to 9; open Sunday.
This and all succeeding advertisements are transcribed verbatim,
and the names are not altered ; the addresses only are omitted as
unimportant.
1 From papers published in New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco,
New Orleans, and Atlanta.
Fortune-Tclli7ig in America To-Day. 303
Briefer, and therefore cheaper, are the five following from a San
Francisco journal : —
Great Clairvoyant : Mme. Stewart, from Boston ; the seventh daughter of the
seventh daughter ; has read cards since 1 1 years of age ; life revealed — past,
present, future ; ladies or gents, 50c. ; beautiful parlors.
Gypsy Queen ; Planet Reader ; life mystery revealed ; gives lucky num-
bers ; helps you with the lucky star ; she has a natural powerful gift.
Mrs. Ethel Gray, palmist, life reader, magnetic healer. 108 6th, parlors 1-2.
Mme. Porter, Card Reader. Ladies, 50c. ; gents, $1 ; palmistry and clair\'oy-
ant sittings, $1.50.
Mme. Le-nemar ; fortunes told by planet; predicted in 1874 passengers of
overdue steamer on island.
In the last advertisement cited indubitable proof is given of the
lady's prophetic ability ; the same idea has occurred to an astrolo-
ger of Kansas City, Mo., who quotes the language of a former
client : —
" Had I followed your advice given three years ago, I would have been happy
to-day." — S. E. Dobbs, Springtown, Tex. Thousands testify that I correctly
read the past and foretell the future ; send date of birth and 10 cents for a
sketch of your life. L. Thomson, astrologer, Kansas City, Mo.
Claims to supernatural power conferred by talismans are found in
the following : —
Augusta Leola, Fortune-Teller ; magic charms, love tokens, true picture of
future wife and husband ; teaches fortune-telling ; develops clairvoyance, slate-
writing, etc. : has the seven holy seals and the Palestine wonder charm ; fee,
%\ and upward.
The next is characteristic : —
Mme. Dr. Thomas, Scientific Revealer by eggs and cards ; tells entire life,
past, present, future ; consultations on all affairs, nothing excepted ; names
given good advice, sure help; restores lost love by sympathy; mistake impos-
sible ; fee %\ ; letter $2.
A New Orleans clairv'^oyant advertises thus : —
A wish obtained without voudouism; please call on Mme. Genevieve. A
wish obtained by mail.
A certain " Professor Walter," of San Francisco, is very lavish in
the use of printers' ink, the three principal papers of that city con-
taining on the same date long advertisements, one of which we copy
entire : —
Attention ! Professor Walter is in the city, at 303 Jones Street. Satisfac-
tion absolutely guaranteed. Health, wealth, and happiness by consulting the
professor. He is the greatest clairvoyant of the Nineteenth century. Don't
miss the opportunity to consult him, for there may be something in the future
which will be beneficial to you. Thousands of people have been made happy by
his aid and advice. The professor has been pronounced by all his patrons as
304 yotirnal of American Folk-Lore.
the most powerful clairvoyant and test medium of the age, being successful in
all cases where others have often failed. You will find the professor a perfect
gentleman and very honest in his business. He will be pleased to see all who
have a desire to consult him. The professor possesses powers of marvellous
character, unsurpassed by any so-called mediums or future readers. His suc-
cess in the past proves his superior ability to help you now. Interview him and
you will say that he is the greatest wonder of the age. The professor challenges
the world as a clairvoyant. He overcomes your enemies, removes family trou-
bles, restores lost affections, causes happy marriage with the one you love,
removes all influences, bad habits, gives correct information in lawsuits, divorces,
lost friends, etc. ; valuable advice to ladies and gentlemen on love, courtships
and marriages, and how to choose a wife or husband for future happiness ; what
business best adapted to, and where to go for success and speedy riches ; tells if
the one you love is true or false ; stock speculations a specialty. The professor
does not require to return to such a method as charms or such trash, and does
not wish to be classed with card readers, etc., but a life reader from the laws of
science, which is clairvoyancy and spiritual mediumshiiD. Those who have been
humbugged by false pretenders must not give up in despair, but consult the
Professor at once. You will find him reasonable in prices, and all business
strictly confidential. Office hours, 9 to 9. Sundays, 9 to 5.
This advertiser certaiiily does not suffer from modesty ; his pre-
tentious claims are probably found by experience to attract business
to himself, an expedient as old as Cagliostro. His bold effrontery
is equalled, however, by a man doing business in Chicago, whose
claim to knighthood I have mentioned : —
Sir Russell Easton is unquestionably the most successful medium before the
public. His power excites the wonder and the admiration of even the most
sceptical. He gives advice on business, speculation, courtship, marriage, divorce,
little lovers' quarrels, reunites the separated, and causes speedy and happy mar-
riage with the one of your choice. As a charm worker he has no equal. The
troubled and unfortunate should seek his aid and counsel. All persons unsuc-
cessful in business who seem lucky should call on Sir Russell Easton and start
aright. Young people contemplating marriage and those unhappily united
should call at once and obtain knowledge that is invaluable. Sir Russell Eas-
ton is so sure of his powers he guarantees his work as unfailing. All patrons
who visit his parlors take pleasure in recommending him as a medium of real
worth and rare merit. His readings are always satisfactory or fee refunded.
He excels in the following phases of mediumistic power : Reuniting the sepa-
rated, imparting magnetic power through psychic force, looking up heirships
and old estates, causing marriage with the one of your choice, adjusting lovers'
quarrels, overcoming your enemies, removing bad influences, looking up safe
and good paying investments on commission, giving sound and sensible advice
in lawsuits. Sir Russell Easton is consulted by letter from all portions of the
earth wherever the English language is spoken, and is the only medium capable
of giving assistance at a distance as well as by personal interviews. He is per-
manently located in parlor formerly occupied by Professor J. Jefferson. All
matters are strictly confidential and sacred. Letter containing stamp promptly
answered. Sittings for ladies, $1 ; gents, $2. Office hours from 9.30 a. m. to 8
p. m. Sundays, 10.30 a. m. to 5 p. m. Address Sir Russell Easton.
The large German population of New York city is appealed to
Fortune-Tellmg in America To-Day. 305
through German newspapers, which contain advertisements of Wahr-
sagerinen similar to those of their English-speaking rivals : —
3Me 3ufunft cntbiillt, unb Siatf) in alien Socl)cn, itranf[)citcn, Weocl>ift, iocimtb,
2icbc, '^'•rouMl, .<&>anMiuuicn fipu grciini unb gcinb, u. f. id. aJlr6. 3- Scl)aefLT,
bcriil;nitc ^^vropljctin, [address follows.]
The French residents of New York are also favored with similar
notices : —
CONSULTEZ L'AsTROLOGUE. Connaissez votre destinde, les anndes a venir
favorables ou contraires, chances de fortune, mariage, santd, etc. Envoyer un
dollar, date de naissance et sexe \ E. Archer . Faveur gratuite; les dames
a marier, qui en feront la demande, verront apparaitre le portrait magique de
leur futur dpoux sur une place blanche de leur horoscope, d'un dollar. Con-
sultations verbales I'apr^s midi et le soir. A titre d'essai et preuve de savoir
occulte ^ toute personne envoyant 25 cents, en argent, date de naissance, etc.,
il sera dit quelques particularitcs frappantes de sa vie, passde ou prdsente.
The probable income of these impostors can only be conjectured,
though some estimate may be formed of the value of the business in
Washington city if the following advertiser tells the truth : —
ISIme. Castella, Clairvoyant, who will shortly leave for San Francisco, desires
to sell her entire business and furnished house to clairvoyant ; guarantee $100 a
month can be made.
The circulars distributed by hand in small towns do not differ
essentially from the newspaper "ads.," but are generally longer, and
their form admits of display and heavy types. During a recent
sojourn in Lakewood, N. J., two circulars fell into my hands, which
are striking specimens of this literature. In one of these " Mrs. Dr.
Edwards " announces she will spend one week in Lakewood, place
and dates given, and then proceeds as follows : —
I\Irs. Dr. Edwards, the greatest and the most celebrated clairvoyant in the
world, and is known in this country from Maine to Mexico. She was born with
the wonderful gift of second sight, and with a veil. She is .the seventh daughter
of the seventh daughter. She reveals every mystery; tells you if the one you
love is true or false. She removes every grief, settles lovers' troubles, and
cau.ses speedy love marriages. She gives reliable information to gentlemen in
all business transactions, and informs them how to make profitable investments
and acquire speedy riches. She tells lucky lottery numbers. She has an Osiris
Egyptian Talisman, which is noted all the world over as a specific charm for
the unlucky. All who are in trouble or sick should call without delay. Ladies,
foc. to $1.00. Gentlemen, Si. 00. Office hours from 9 A. M. to 9 p. m.
The .second circular is most craftily worded, and well calculated to
attract believers in the supernatural.
The Great Egyptian Prophetess, Sentixella Guzhdo, whose astound-
ing revelations and miraculous cures have been agitating Europe and puzzling
the philosopliic minds of the age, is a lineal descendant of Zindello, king of one
of the most ancient tribes of Egypt. Her parents were born near Cairo, on
3o6 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
the Nile. Her father, Mrascha Guzhdo, was the seventh son, and her mother,
Feleschine Sikerivatil, the seventh daughter. Sentinella, their offspring,
from her infancy was looked upon as a prodigy. Being the seventh daughter
and born with a caul on her face, she was looked upon and held in the highest
» veneration by all who saw her.
She possesses rare gifts as a fortune-teller, removes spells, and cures diseases
by charms which have been carefully preserved in her tribe for generations
back. She makes a nominal charge merely to defray travelling expenses, her
only object being to benefit mankind. She tells the future as well as the past
in the life of all, from birth upwards. All disclosures strictly confidential. Ask
at House for Sentinella Guzhdo.
I can easily imagine that the innocent and unwary who trust
themselves to this accomplished Egyptian Prophetess, after being
fleeced by her, might be inclined to exclaim with Antony : —
[Cleopatra], like a right gypsy, hath at fast and loose,
Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.
Contrasting strangely with these pretentious circulars is the fol-
lowing advertisement, in which the candid disavowals are quite
refreshing. It is from Washington, D. C. : —
I am not a countess nor a gypsy queen ; am not a seventh daughter ; was not
born with a caul ; am not something new and just arrived, but am Mme. Fran-
cis, one of the oldest-established mediums, and am here to stay. Am not in-
dorsed by the clergy, but am indorsed by some of the most learned and influen-
tial people of our city and many others ; am here to help all those that are in
trouble. Life given from cradle to grave. Cards, 25 ; trances, 50. Hours, 9 to
9. Those that are in trouble call and be convinced.
In conclusion, the thought suggests itself, how can such charla-
tans flourish, and what class of persons contribute to their support .-*
Their patrons, I conjecture, can be grouped under two heads :
(i.) The superstitious who ignorantly believe that mankind has
power over the supernatural. In this class fall numbers of "silly
women, ever learning, never able to come to the truth." Probably
a large proportion of this credulous class are of foreign birth.
(2.) The curious non-believers in the pretensions of the fortune-tell-
ers, who visit them "just for the fun of the thing." Some of this
class would not openly admit a shadow of belief, yet will be more or
less influenced by the mystical and rhapsodical talk of the me-
dium ; their curiosity is excited, their hope of securing benefits
aroused, and the first visit is sure to be followed by others, feeling,
as they say, that "there must be something in it."
The sale of magic charms probably adds materially to the uncer-
tain income of these clever people, who live largely by their wits,
for the number of persons who wear charms of one kind or another
is surprisingly large. And yet not surprising, for the aristocratic
merchant who carries in his pocket a horse-chestnut as a safeguard
Fortune-Telling in America To-Day. 307
against rheumatism, and the fond mother who hangs on her infant's
neck an amber necklace to ward off the croup, arc giving counte-
nance in a genteel way to superstitions which in a grosser form they
condemn, when practised by those of a lower social position.
The wealthy and learned who have become victims to the craft of
the spiritualist may be alluded to, though this phase of superstition
does not properly fall within the scope of this study.
Another limited class of patrons are men who visit the advertis-
ers with a view of exposing fraud ; but such are often discomforted
by the ingenuity of the fortune-tellers, who through long experience
are prepared -for every emergency. Indeed, these disciples of Simon
Magus become very shrewd students of human nature, and learn to
judge very quickly the mental capacity of their clients, as well as
the probable length of their purses.
The daily press occasionally throws light on the question who
supports these knaves. A man having disappeared in Bangor,
Maine, his friends, after two weeks' fruitless search, consulted clair-
voyants, spiritualists, and a person having "second-sight," in hopes
of assistance, all of which was duly telegraphed to the Boston newspa-
pers (October, 1895). Not long ago certain detectives on the police
force of New York city persuaded the owner of lost property to
consult a clairvoyant, and to pay her a round sum for her services.
The New York papers of May 18, 1895, contain a remarkable story.
Two men from near Rochester, having been missing for several
days, the father of one of them, the Rev. Mr. Blank, drove ten
miles to the house of Mrs. H., a fortune-teller, to seek her advice.
Mrs. H. told the clergyman that the two victims had been murdered
by men with clubs. Ages ago King Saul consulted the Witch of
Endor with marked success, and perhaps the New York clergyman
found in that ancient chronicle justification for his folly.
Financially and socially, these people who live by preying on cre-
dulity born of ignorance have no standing in this world, and in the
next they are consigned by Dante to one of the lowest divisions
of the Inferno, "Malebolge;" the poet represents them as having
their heads turned around on their shoulders : —
See how he makes a bosom of his back ;
Because he wished to see too far before,
He looks behind, and backward takes his way.
Henry Carrington Bolton.
3o8 Journal of America7t Folk-Lore.
LITIZ.
.Eastern Pennsylvania possesses an old village, which the writer
regards with attachment founded on the unreasoning affection of
childhood. Then as now, one could not but feel that here abode
"sincerity, faith, and content," together with unchanging and won-
derful cleanliness and comfort, in each and every household. This
is Litiz, to-day spelled Lititz, one of three Moravian settlements,
whose earliest characteristic was the excellent boarding-schools
founded more than a century ago, and which still retain popu-
larity.
Long since, Bethlehem surpassed Nazareth and Litiz, and became
a prosperous town, in spite of the head-shakings of the other vil-
lages, more in sorrow than anger. Had not Litiz said, when thirty
years before it had been proposed to establish a new industry : "No,
indeed ! Look at Bethlehem, with its iron-works and other mills,
just ruined!" Accordingly, Litiz closed its eyes, and folded its
hands, again lulled to slumber by the babbling waters of "The
Spring," as it flowed through the town. The long straight linden-
lined street has hardly changed, saving that a beautiful memorial
chapel has been built close to the girls' boarding-school. The sun
shines on the same unbroken quiet, until at half past eleven the
church bell calls the village to dinner, while the same exquisite
cleanness is everywhere to be found.
When " Sister Polly Penry " returned from Lancaster, whither she
had gone to " learn a new stitch in embroidery " i^oide the archives),
the appearance of the village street was not very different from that
which twenty years ago met the eyes of her possible descendant, in
spite of the century which had elapsed. At the present time, the
shadow of the trolley is over the land, and when once within its
grasp, Litiz will soon be as " composite " as any other village.
The main street lies, not exactly east and west, but a little inclined
to that direction, curved northward at the western end, and there
imperceptibly merging into the high road which leads to Lancaster,
where once sat the American Congress.
The houses stood trimly in line on both sides of the one thorough-
fare, planted with lindens and weeping willows, with gardens on
either side, and ample pavements in front. In accordance with an
early law soon rescinded, most of the older stone houses have two
front doors, one provided with facing seats ; all, bv the same rule,
had upper floors, generally with steeply sloping roofs. None present
their gables to the street, as is the case in so many New England
villages, and while Litiz showed none of the small bleak frame
Litiz. 309
houses common in the former, neither did it offer any stately homes
on ample grounds such as belonged to many colonial houses.
Settled in 1755, by Germans from Bohemia and Switzerland, Litiz
received its name in the following year, from Count Zinzcndorf,
after a castle in Bohemia belonging to him. While surrounded by
farms on which has been spoken " Pennsylvania Dutch," the place
has never prominently possessed the dialect which aggressively crops
out in villages belonging to the adjoining counties of Berks and
Lebanon.^ It exhibits, also, that independence of opinion and action,
and that modest egotism, peculiar to towns whose main occupation
is teaching. If other places speak of it as "dead," why — "they
like it dead," — and that is "all there is to it."
You do not tJicrc find families who have turned the heritage of a
name into English currency, as Tschantz and Zimmerman ^ of adja-
cent towns appear as Johns and Carpenter. Rather would they
revert to ancestral spelling, as I hear of a Tschudy who has reverted
to Tschudi, after the shock of seeing that one of the branches which
settled "out west," in Ohio, having succumbed to the prejudices of
their neighbors (the West is ever labor-saving), now writes their fine
old name phonetically " Judy."
Here are the old-world-sounding names of Lichtcnthaler, Zitzman,
Bomberger, Brubaker, and the like ; and a story is told of a much-
loved bishop of their church, who in a neighboring city was having
a purchase sent to his address. The clerk stumbled somewhat over
the " De Schweinitz " and the bishop made some kindly comment
as to names not common. " Oh," responded the man, " we meet far
worse ; only yesterday we sent goods to a lady whose name went
something like this, C-z-t-s-c-h-e-r-s-c-h-k-y, and she called it " (with
irony) " Chersky." "Ah, yes," remarked the bishop airily, with a
twinkle in his eye, "my mother-in-law."
And here, too, is apparent the old German element, which makes
the stronger sex not a man, but the man. Until recently the men
sat on one side of the church, and women on the other (they still
do so at the sacrament of Communion) ; and in the graveyard they
rest apart. Even to-day in the one library, where books and maga-
zines may be read under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A., women
arc not permitted to share its privileges.
Nor is there much change in the manner of living. "The things
^ Although there is a certain " Moravian accent," the reverse of a " dying fall,"
the voice rising at the end of a question, and a gentle seesaw pervading the
monotonous level of longer sentences, not unlike the hymn tunes, yet it is not
nearly so marked as it was in my childhood.
^ Dr. Hoffman in a recent volume of this Journal translates the latter into
Cooper, which is, I think, a mistake.
3IO yournal of American Folk-Lore.
they are doing their fathers have clone." They \id^<i faJis-nacJiis on
FaJis-nacht Day, which is the "pancake-day" of England, Shrove
Tuesday, a fahs-nacht being a light puffy doughnut boiled in lard.
"One should be fed to the dog, for luck, and if you grease all the
iron implements with the fat left owqx :xitQr fa/is-nacht baking they
will never rust," say the old wives. On Washington's Birthday,
everybody has oysters for supper (I don't know why ; perhaps be-
cause " an oyster cannot tell a lie"). But this is a mere modern
innovation, and probably "just happens so," as lemonade reaches its
zenith of favor at Fourth of July festivities wherever held ; still it
might be cited as the beginning of the growth of a custom.
To be a visitor meant a continuous flow of hospitable good-will
and good things. To "kill a chicken and make a fuss," or "kill a
chicken and fry sausage," was the unwritten law of the land "when
company comes." Breakfast at six or seven o'clock was followed by
"the nine o'clock piece " dear to the washerwoman's soul, and dinner
at half past eleven trod closely on its heels. At three o'clock " ves-
pers " was spread, a meal of varied light breads, sweet cakes, and
preserves, and supper at five closed a gastronomically active day.
Fainting nature was further sustained until bedtime by crisp pret-
zels, and any other light refreshments which might come under the
head of wdiat we children called "handin's round," to say nothing of
the fine ale for which the place was once noted. Litiz pretzels com-
mercially still hold their own, but Litiz ale is no longer made. They
make, too, a pleasing variety of light breads better than elsewhere ;
such as sugar-cake, butier-siinnile, and stricclcrs. For the first, the
baker with the biggest thumb to make the cavities, filled with butter,
brown sugar, and cinnamon-, turned out the most successful speci-
mens, while the last-named was used for the Love-Feasts. And
such love-feasts. The Mothers' Fest;\\\Q. Fathers', the Sisters', the
Brothers', the Children's, even the widow^s were not so inconsolable
but their Fcst brought them some cheer, good cheer at least. (I
never heard of a widowers' Fcst, perhaps they required stronger con-
solation, or preferred to get it elsewhere.) They w^ere all alike, but
we delighted in the Children's Fest. How trim and neat the Sisters
looked in their fresh white frocks, and modest white lace caps with
bows of satin ribbon, perched on their glossy hair ! How daintily
these white-gloved dieners stepped along the church aisle two by
two, holding between them a capacious clothes-basket, kept for that
purpose, and dealt therefrom the delicious flat sugar and cinnamon
spread stricelers, as big as a tea-plate ! And foHowing them, six
strong brethren bearing each a tray of hot steaming coffee in mugs
(Moravian coffee !), rich with cream, perfection in sweetness, seem-
ing to us nectar and ambrosia, "sugar and spice and everything
nice " even when the dogstar raged.
Litiz. 311
How happily the children trilled the opening hymn, how cheer-
fully the choir took up the strain, whilst the children feasted in love,
and how huskily the j'/'rzV^/rr-muffled tones ascended in returning
thankful praise !
While the love-feasts were at one time open for all to partake, it
is now customary to issue tickets for the service, which strangers
may obtain without difficulty.
It was compulsory, besides building upon the street-line (that is,
without garden or ground other than a generous width of pavement
in front), to have two front doors and an upper story to every house.
The one I was most familiar with was among the oldest, and in 1805
the owner put up a brick house adjoining it with communicating
doors, and papered the new house with squares of eighteen inches, a
pattern bought in London. A large business in chip hat and bonnet
plaiting was carried on in the older stone house, the only one then
in existence in America, and with a trade extending to New Orleans.
As it declined somewhat, he thriftily used his materials to decorate
his new home, and in several rooms made a wainscoting three feet
in height, woven of brown and buff wood of a coarser fibre than the
bonnet chips, and looking not unlike fancy matting. It has now all
worn away, much to our regret, as the effect was exceedingly good.
In the garret of the old house are many large bins handsomely made
of dark polished walnut, in which was kept the grain raised for
family use. I wonder if there are other old houses elsewhere built
with such an arrangement. There too was the usual showing of tall
bandboxes and old sea chests ; seventeen of the latter we counted,
and one difference from the dusty spider-webbed garrets of story-
books was notable : I have spent long quiet afternoons therein, por-
ing over the woodcuts of old bibles and through forgotten books
in search of portraits, and emerged immaculate. The stone house
had a wonderful capacity for concentrating cold in- all seasons, and
I recall the whimsical remark of my hostess, that " if the weather
moderated she would show me the garret of the old house."
At a church wedding it was customary for bride, groom, and min-
ister to sit facing the congregation, after the ceremony, while the
bridesmaids and groomsmen served cake and wine, and the choir
sang. As long as the exclusive family life of church and town was
maintained, it was pos.sible to endure the ordeal ; but now that so
many outsiders are present, few are brave enough to literally face
the music and the curious gaze of alien eyes.
Easter with its procession to the graveyard hilltop to greet the
rising sun, Christmas with its amazing variety of cakes, and
pfutzs decorated with hundred-year-old Swiss toys, its Christmas
Eve church services, where each held a gay lighted taper as the final
312 yoiLvnal of American Folk-Lore.
hymn was sung, were the most popular festivals. Thanksgiving Day
was kept with scant ceremony, Lexington and Concord unhonored
and P^orefather's Day unsung ; but the glorious Fourth, with its
artistic illumination of the waters of "The Spring," its rival brass
bands and occasional governor, brought lads and lasses in numbers
that rivalled the Whit-Monday circus crowds in the county town.
At no time is the family life of the church more apparent than
when death comes. Everybody, old and young, attends the services
in the church. The body is never brought into the sacred edifice,
but waits in the little stone " corpse-house" alongside. The thrilling
music, of rich horn and trombone at the grave-side, make the last
rites very impressive. The horn, trombone, flute, violin, and oboe
are present on other occasions, at the daybreak Easter services, and
to announce a death from the tower of the church, when the air
played signifies the sex of the individual.
It used to be customary to spread very abundant tables for those
who came to a funeral, but now life is more hurried and railroads
shorten time and distance ; hundreds of pies, hecatombs of chickens,
caldrons of coffee, and whole cheeses were once provided.^ There
were always two things to be met with, raisin pie and funeral cake,
the latter a very dark, moist, and sad-looking gingerbread baked in
pie-plates, and rarely seen at any other time.
Until 1856, Litiz and The Church were synonymous ; since that
time, other denominations have come in. In outlying farms and
hamlets are found Dunkards, Mennonites (" Menneests "), and
Amish (" Ornish ") ; and while all are " plain people," it would be
difficult for outsiders to designate either sect from the dress, though
it varies with each. Schism has again come to even the Mennonites,
and I recently attended a wedding where the groom's mother, being
a New Mennonite, as distinct from, a Reformed Mennonite, and so
debarred from entering any church but her own, w^as thus prevented
from seeing her child married by Moravian ceremony, though the
bride's aunt, who was simply a Mennonite, and who wore an exactly
similar dress, was permitted to attend.
Charlotte C. Herr.
1 The abundant "fimeral-baked-meats " were really more characteristic o£ the
wealthy farmer than of the Moravians proper, and Moravian " funeral-cake " was
more properly called " crumb-cake."
A 71 Iroquois Condolence. 313
AN IROQUOIS CONDOLENCE.
It was customary for the Indians of New York and Canada to
revive their deceased warriors by having others take their names
and stations, and captives were often chosen for this purpose.
Among the Algonquins of Canada this involved the care of the
family of the dead, and the laying aside of the former name. If the
one who revived the memory of the departed took the office of a
chief, the nation met to confer authority on him in the most solemn
manner. Presents were made to him, and he made presents in
return. All might be done without calling on any others.
With the Iroquois of New York it was somewhat different. The
new chief had a new name, but it was an hereditary title, one which
had been borne by a line of chiefs before him, if he was now made
one of the fifty principal sachems who were successors of the first
council. He might retain his former name if he chose, and com-
monly did so. His duties being official, he had no care for the family
of his predecessor. Representing one of the Five Nations, he
neither gave nor received personal presents at the time. The nation
took care of these. It was the nation that mourned, — not the fam-
ily ; and with it mourned the brothers of its class. Grief incapaci-
tated it for public business until the new chief was raised. If the
bereavement came upon one of the Elder Brothers, the other Elder
Brothers mourned with it, and the Younger Brothers came to com-
fort them ; if the Younger Brothers mourned, the Elder Brothers
became the comforters. They called the council, they took charge
of the ceremonies, they instituted the new chief. As such, an
Oneida could not raise an Oneida chief, nor an Onondaga an Onon-
daga. This must be done, not only by another nation, but by one of
the opposite brotherhood. The Elder Brothers, arc the Mohawks,
Onondagas, and Senecas ; the Younger Brothers are the Cayugas
and Oneidas, with the Tuscaroras added now.
I propose to give a brief account of a condolence which I recently
witnessed, with its accompanying acts. A friend of mine, an old
Oneida principal chief, had died, and the customary message had
been sent out by the Onondagas, acting for the Elder Brothers.
Properly the place of assembly should have been at the Oneida
council-house, but they have none now in New York, and the Onon-
daga house and village were considered theirs for the occasion, that
being the place where Ga-no-gwen-u-ton died. In a similar way
some chiefs were lent. Rites and ceremonies seem natural to
organized society, and the most barbarous nations may be the most
punctilious. If the state of society continues much the same, the
VOL. vin. — NO. 31. 21
3 1 4 Journal of A vierican Folk-Lore.
rites may change little in hundreds of years, but internal progress or
outside contact may affect them greatly, not so much in leading fea-
tures as in minor details. The Iroquois condolence is thus like and
unlike what it was nearly three centuries ago. For strings of colored
sticks or quills, there is wampum ; for the meeting outside the town,
there is the gathering at a convenient distance from the council-
house ; the fire is kindled by the wayside still, but visitors and
mourners sit on benches or chairs, not upon the ground. For savage
dresses are substituted those of modern life ; and the council-house
is painted, has windows, stoves, and brick chimneys, to say nothing
of other conveniences. A young man who was to replace the dead
chief appeared in brand new store clothes, derby hat, and tan kid
gloves.
The earliest account we have of an Iroquois condolence is of one
held in 1670, after the Mohawks had lost several warriors in battle.
Father Pierron called it a ceremony of the dead, but it had nothing
to do with any burial, and he said he could not understand a word
of the songs. It lasted several hours, but was held outside of the
town, and had other features not found in the present ceremony.
The condolence now always includes the raising of the new chief.
In early days it did not. The separation of the mourning nations
from the others seems to have been always a feature. They had no
voice to speak, no voice in the council until the grave was covered,
and their tears wiped away. To use their own expression, their
council-fire was extinguished for the time. Usually, too, the condo-
lence took place at the village of the mourning nation, where they
awaited the comforting visit of their friends.
When chiefs of importance die, notice is sent to other nations,
always by one of the opposite brotherhood, who bears purple wam-
pum as his token of authority. This is arranged in a single string,
with the ends brought together, if it is a war chief ; three strings,
with the ends free, if it is a principal chief. Entering the village
and drawing near the chief's house, he cries Kwa ; once for a war
chief, three times for a principal chief. The same cry often
announces a death in the village where it occurs, something like our
old rural custom of the passing bell. To the call for a council of
condolence a small tally stick is attached, the notches on which
show the interval before the condolence occurs, a notch for a day.
The appointed time having come, the representatives of the
nations gather for the ceremony. In old times the condoling
brothers met at some distance from the town. When Sir William
Johnson condoled the death of Kaghswughtioni, or Red Head, the
Younger Brothers assembled a mile east of Onondaga, marching
thence towards the village, singing the condoling song containing
the names of the principal chiefs. In sight of the town they found
An Iroquois Co7idolence. 315
the mourning Onondagas, seated silently in a half moon across the
road, beside a fire. The address was made, and the condoling song
sung for another hour, when all marched forward to the town, the
song being continued as the procession moved on. The full cere-
mony then lasted two days, but no chief was raised, nor was any
installed when Conrad Weiser helped condole the death of Canassa-
tego, at Onondaga, six years before.
In all the historic instances which have come to my notice, and in
several of which I have personally known, the condoling brothers
have come from the east, wherever the ceremony was performed.
At this time there seemed no local reason for this, and geographi-
cally both the Senecas and Onondagas should have come to the
Oneidas from the west. They did not, however, and we passed by
the council-house, on our eastward way to the place of rendezvous.
This seemed noteworthy to me, and I made it the subject of inquiry,
but found it was not invariable. A few years before, the rendezvous
had been at Aunt Cynthia Farmer's, about a mile due north. Twice
afterwards it was near the public road, west of the council-house. It
was a matter of convenience, no significance being attached to it, as
I at first thought.
In this condolence the Onondagas and Senecas — no Mohawks
being present — met by the roadside at noon, sitting on the rocks
and fence in great good humor. They remained there until an
Oneida runner came to find their names and number, cutting a notch
on either side of a stick for each member of the two bands. This
stick he bore to the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, and the procession
soon moved forward, two and two, I falling into line with an Indian
friend. The leaders marched with bowed heads, singing the great
song containing the names of their ancient chiefs. Half way to the
council-house the Younger Brothers were ranged on the east side of
the wayside fire. There the songs were continued, addresses made,
and the invitation wampum returned. Nearly the whole ceremony
there was conducted by one Onondaga chief, speaking for each party
in turn. He walked to and fro, in meandering lines, occasionally
sitting down for a few moments on the one side or the other, as he
represented mourners or condolers. At last the mourners moved
fonvard, occupying the east end of the council-house. After a brief
interval the condoling chiefs followed, singing as they went, and
took the west end, all seating themselves except the Keeper of the
Wampum, who continued the condoling song as before.
For one hundred and fifty years we have explicit mention of this
song, by white men who heard it, as containing the names of the
renowned ancestors of the later Iroquois. It is little more than a
mere repetition of the names of the chiefs who formed the confeder-
acy, with general words of praise and mourning, and occasional per-
3 1 6 youriial of A nierican Folk-Lorc.
sonal peculiarities. This one helped to form the Great League ; that
one did the same ; they were brothers or cousins ; and the whole
song is of the simplest nature. None of the condoling songs are
given precisely alike by different persons, but this one has probably
changed least of all. The fact that there were always well known
chiefs bearing the names contained in the song secured this from
essential error, and thus we absolutely know who were those who
formed the great Iroquois League three hundred years ago, what
were their nations and their clans.
The prolonged sound of Hi-e-e-e, and Ha-e-e-e, dying out, was
conspicuous in this song, which was long enough to occupy the brief
march and half an hour's time in the council-house. It seems once
to have been much longer. The chief sat down, and another rose
and gave some orders. A cord was stretched from door to door
across the house, and on this three quilts were hung for a curtain.
A cane was laid across the benches of the Onondagas, and seven
small bunches of wampum were hung upon this. The Onondagas
faced each other, singing a solo and chorus, really fine but partly
funny. The solo had much of the prolonged cadence of the great
song of the names, and there was a little of this in the chorus,
which was partly " Hai ! hi-he-he-e-e-e, Wa-hah-ha-he. 0-ye!"with
an odd and abrupt termination of " 0-yes-o-dah-do-dah, 0-ye-e-e-e —
ye ! " As yet the mourners were hid from view.
The curtain was then removed, and the Keeper of the Wampum
began another long song. Others followed from La Fort, the wam-
pum being carried to the Oneidas, a bunch at a time, and hung on a
cane as before. The curtain was hung again, the Oneidas answer-
ing by proxy in the customary songs. The curtain was once more
removed, and with speeches and songs the wampum was returned.
Then the new chief was presented, his name announced, and his
duties described.
For these official charges wampum is used, the details of the con-
dolence varying. My deceased friend, Ga-haeh-da-seah, the Whirl-
wind, had a fine assortment of wampum, both official and private.
Most of it was purple, suitable for mourning councils, but he had
other appropriate strings. Ten long strings of white wampum em-
bodied the pure moral law. Six long strings, united at one end, rep-
resented the Six Nations. When laid on a table, the ends meeting,
these opened the council. Addresses were made to the nations on
their appropriate strings ; some had the name of the new chief ;
others mourned the old. The wampum belts do- not appear at a
condolence. It is also remarkable in this, that the turtle-shell rat-
tles are not there used. It is not a religious ceremony, but an instal-
lation, the new chief taking only the official name.
W. M. Beauchamp.
Record of A nierican Folk-Lore. 317
RECORD OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
K-LGO^Yiw^.—Arapaho. In "Am Ur-Oucll " (VI. Bd., S. 105-
107), Mr. James Mooney has an article, "The Origin of the Plei-
ades: an Arapaho Myth." The Arapaho, like the Cherokees and
the Kiowa, reckon the Pleiades as originally seven in number.
Their name for the group is Banikuth, "The Sitting Group." They
are considered to be six brothers and a sister, who were carried up
by the growth of a tree which they had climbed until they reached
the skies. At the end of the myth is the tag : " People must not
tell these stories in the daytime, or they will go blind."
Micinac. In the " American Anthropologist " (vol. viii. pp. 31-42),
Mr, S. Hager has an article on " Micmac Customs and Traditions."
Descriptions of the dice-game of zvoltcstoinkwon, of the choogichoo
yajik, or serpent-dance of the water-fairies, and of the culloo-bird,
are given.
Under the title " Fra i Micmac " ("Among the Micmacs "), Profes-
sor Mantegazza contributes to the " Archivio per 1' Antropologia,"
Florence (vol. xxiv. pp. 313-325), a lengthy recension of Dr. Rand's
volume reviewed in the Journal of American Folk-Lore (vol. vii.
p. 163).
Onomatology. Mr. W. W. Tooker has, during the year, published
several of his acute and discriminating analyses of Algonkian folk
and land names : " Some Indian Fishing-stations upon Long Island "
("Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac," 1895, pp. 54-57), a paper read
before the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
in August, 1894, in which more than two dozen Indian names are
carefully interpreted ; " The Name Chickahominy, its Origin and
Etymology" ("American Anthropologist," vol. viii. pp. 257-263).
In the same volume (p. 91) Dr. A. S. Gatschet discusses the ety-
mology of " Tecumseh's Name," which he derives from Shawnee
nila ni tkamdtlika, "I cross the path, or way (of an animate being)."
The name " belongs to a totem of one of the round-footed animals,
as that of the raccoon, jaguar, panther, or wild-cat, and not to the
hoofed ones, as the deer." This accounts for several of the free
translations or paraphrases of his name. In the "American Anti-
quarian" for January, 1895, Mr. Tooker has a paper on "The Dis-
covery of Chaunis Temoatan in 1586," which clears up a most diffi-
cult problem in Algonkian ethnography.
California. — In "Anthropologic," the Parisian anthropological
journal, M. L. Diguet has a "Note sur la pictographie de la Basse-
Californie" (vol. vi. pp. 160-175).
J
1 8 yoiirnal of A 7ncrican Folk-Lore.
Chinook. — The publication of the year is Dr. F. Boas' " Chinook
Texts " (Washington, Government Printing Office, 278 pp., 8°). This
volume, which is embellished with a portrait of Charles Cultec, from
whom the texts were obtained, covers a wide field of folk-lore : Ani-
mal myths (in which the Salmon, Raven, Gull, Coyote, Crane, Crow,
Skunk, Robin, Blue-jay, Panther, etc., figure) ; Tales, Customs, and
Beliefs about the Soul, Guardian Spirits, Pregnancy, Birth, Puberty,
Marriage, Death, Hunting, Whaling, Potlatch, War, etc. ; Histori-
cal Tales. The Texts are recorded in phonetic tran.scription, with
interlinear translation followed by a good rendering into ordinary
English.
Choctaw. — To the "American Antiquarian" (vol. xvii, p. 157)
Mr. H. S. Halbert contributes a note on " The Choctaw Robin Good-
fellow " — Bohpoli ("the thrower") or Kowi amikasJia (" the forest-
dweller ").
Haidah. — "The Hidery Story of Creation," by James Deans
("American Antiquarian," vol. xvii. pp. 61-67), is an interesting and
valuable contribution to the literature of the mythology of the north-
west coast. Creation, the obtaining of fresh water, the flood, are
the chief topics treated. The Hidery seem to have been good evo-
lutionists, and to have anticipated both the Greeks and Darwin,
to judge by Mr. Deans' outline of their theory of human develop-
ment. Another interesting essay by Mr. Deans finds place in the
same volume (pp. 208-213), — "-^ Little-Known Civilization," in
which the author treats of the sociology and mythology of the Hai-
dahs.
KooTENAY. — In the "American Antiquarian " (vol. xvii. pp. 68-
72), Dr. A. F. Chamberlain writes of the " Mythology and Folk-
Lore" of the Kootenay Indians of British Columbia, treating cos-
mogony, origin of sun and moon, clouds, men, animals. In the
beast-tales the Coyote is the chief figure. The thunder-bird, the
arrow-chain to the sky, and the origin of insects from the ashes of a
witch, are noteworthy incidents in Kootenay mythology.
Navaho. — In the "American Anthropologist " (vol. viii. pp. 223-
240), Mr. F. H. Hodge has an interesting paper on "The early Na-
vajo and Apache," and to the same number (pp. 287-294), Capt. J. G,
Bourke contributes some critical remarks on Mr. Hodge's paper, to
which the author briefly replies (pp. 294, 295).
Northwest Coast Tribes. — Throughout the year Dr. F. Boas
Record of American Folk-Lorc. 319
has continued, in the " Verhandlungen der BerHner Gcsellschaft fiir
Anthropologic " (Jahrg. xxvi-xxvii. 1894-1895), his studies of the folk-
tales of the Indians of the northwest coast, under the title, " Sagen
der Indiancr an der Nordwest-Kiiste Amerikas." The author's con-
tributions continue still the most valuable, accurate, and extensive
collection of myths from this region yet published.
Another myth from the northwest coast is given by Mr. G. C.
Teal ("American Antiquarian," vol. xvii. pp. 203-204), "The Soil
which made the Earth." This is the diving episode so familiar to
students of Algonkian mythology. Here the loon is the successful
diver, and is rewarded with the friendship of the man. When the
latter died, "the loon went off alone, and to this day has not ceased
to mourn for him."
The Tenth Report (B. A. A. S., Ipswich, 1895) o" the Northwest-
ern Tribes of Canada (pp. 71,8°) consists of Dr. Boas' " Fifth Report
on the Indians of British Columbia." Though mostly concerned
with physical anthropology and linguistics, the report contains socio-
logical and folk-lore notes, accounts of ceremonials, songs, etc., of
the Ts'Ets'a'ut (a Tinneh tribe on Portland Inlet) and the Niska,
who speak a dialect of Tsimshian. Very interesting is the creation
legend of the Ts'Ets'a'ut given at page 48,
Pueblos. — Tusayan. In the "American Anthropologist" (vol.
viii. pp. 118-141), Dr. J. W. Fewkes makes a detailed "Comparison
of Sia [Keresan] and Tusayan Snake Ceremonials." The author dis-
cusses the influence of Christian belief on the religious life of the
Pueblos Indians : " Christianity has exerted a great influence on most
of the eastern Pueblos, and this belief has profoundly modified the
religious life of the majority of the people," — earth-gods, sky-gods,
world-quartcr-gods, animals, supernatural beings, the tiponi altar,
ceremonies at the altar, invocation to the rain-gods of the six world-
quarters, ceremonies with living snakes. One of the conclusions at
which Dr. Fewkes arrives is, that " the original Tusayan cult has
kinship with that of the Keresan [to which Sia is said to belong],.
the oldest of the linguistic stocks of the Pueblos."
In the " Proceedings of the Boston Natural History Society "
(vol. xxvi. pp. 422-458), Dr. Fewkes has a valuable paper on "The
Tusayan New Fire Ceremony." The essay has been reprinted in
pamphlet form (37 pp., 8'^).
Walpi. Captain J. G. Bourke, in the "American Anthropologist"
(vol. viii. pp. 192-196), publishes some notes on "The Snake Cere-
monials at Walpi," in reference to Dr. J, W, Fewkes' study of the
Snake Dance of the Moquis.
320 yo7irnal of American Folk-Lore.
To the "American Antiquarian" (vol. xvii. pp. 205-207) Mr. R.
H. Baxter contributes an account (written in 1893) of the " Moqui
Snake Dance."
The " American Antiquarian " (vol. xvii. p. 160) has a note on
"Prints of the Human Hand in the Ruins of the Cliff-dwellings."
The fashion of making the impressions is as follows : " The left
hand would be held flat against the surface of the wall, and the
paint spattered on between the fingers and around the outside by
the other hand. Thus, when the left hand was removed, the outline
would be left upon the wall in more or less perfection."
In the "American Anthropologist" (vol. viii. pp. 142-152), Mr.
F. W. Hodge writes of " the first discovered city of Cibola," award-
ing that distinction to the village of Hawikuh.
Salishan. — In the " Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society" (vol. xxxiv. pp. 31-48), Dr. Boas publishes some " Salishan
Texts."
Yuma. — In the "American Anthropologist" (vol. viii. 264-267)
Mr. G. R. Putnam describes "A Yuma Cremation" as witnessed by
him in March, 1892.
General. — In his article on " Anthropomorphic Divinities," in
the "American Antiquarian" (vol. xvii. pp. 79-100), Rev. S. D.
Peet takes a general survey of anthropomorphism in the mytholo-
gies and religions of the North American Indians, giving special
attention to the Navajos. Another extended study of Dr. Peet,
" The Story of the Creation among the American Aborigines a
Proof of Prehistoric Contact" ("American Antiquarian," vol. xvii.
pp. 127-150), contains a mass of useful information gathered from
many sources.
In " Am Ur-Quell " (VI. Bd., s. 82-84), Dr. A. F. Chamberlain
continues his studies of " Nature and Natural Phenomena in the
Myths and Folk-Lore of the American Indians," treating of the
"Milky Way."
In " Sphinx " (the organ of the German Theosophical Society)
Dr. L. Kuhlenbeck, of Jena, treats of " Das Damonische der In-
dianer" (vol. xx. s. 295-300), and in the same volume is an article
by the same author on " Die ' Medizin ' des nordamerikanischen
Indianers " (vol. xx. s. 380-386). Schoolcraft is the chief source of
information. Dr. Kuhlenbeck contributes to vol. jcxi. the following
articles also : " Das Schamanentum des nordamerikanischen In-
dianers. Eine Ethnologische Studie" (vol. xxi. s. 35-40), — Krause
on the Thlinkits is here utilized ; " Das Modus Operandi des
Record of A merica n Folk- Lore. 3 2 1
indianischen Medizinmanns " (s. 144-145); "Catherine Ogee Wyan
Akwect Okwa, die Prophetin von Chegoimegon " (s. 146-151);
here again Schoolcraft is utilized. The last article tells the story of
the noted "medicine-woman" of the Odjibwas of Lake Superior.
Mexico AND Central America. — The most important publica-
tion of the year is Dr. D. G. Brinton's " Primer of Mayan Hiero-
glyphics " (Boston, 1895, 3-152 pp., 8°), in which are summarized the
investigations of American and foreign scholars, and which contains,
besides, many of the bright thoughts and original interpretations of
the author, whose contributions to the subject are so many and so
valuable.
P. J. J. Valentini publishes an " Analysis of the Pictorial Text
inscribed on Two Palenque Tablets " (Worcester, Mass., 24 pp., 8°),
being a reprint from Proc. Amer. Antiq. Soc, October, 1895.
To the "American Anthropologist" (vol. viii. pp. 205-222) Dr.
J. W. Fewkes contributes a plentifully illustrated article on " The
God ' D ' in the Codex Cortesianus."
Prof. Cyrus Thomas' paper, " Prehistoric Contact of Americans
with Oceanic Peoples," in the "American Antiquarian" (vol. xvii.
pp. lOi-iii), trenches upon very doubtful ground of myth-compari-
son and word-equation. It must be confessed that no connection
between Mayan and East Indian languages, culture, or mythology
has yet been made out satisfactorily. The third paper of Professor
Thomas (vol. xvii. pp. 191-203) does not strengthen his position.
Another path somewhat dangerous to tread is entered upon by R.
G. Haliburton in his essay on the " Survival of Dwarf Races in the
New World " (Proc. Am. Ass. Adv. Sci. vol. xliii. pp. 337-344).
South America. — During the year several articles upon Peru of
interest to the folk-lorist have appeared. Among these are the fol-
lowing : " The Huacos of Chira Valley, Peru " (" American Anthro-
pologist," vol. viii. pp. 8-22), by S. S. Scott, who, besides describing the
grave-technique of the old Peruvians, notes the fact that " At Cata-
caos, near Piura (the old San Miguel de Piura, the first permanent
city founded by the Christians in Peru), there exists to-day a very curi-
ous community of Indians, whose manners and customs differ greatly
from those of their Cholo neighbors ; " " Primitive Trephining in
Peru," by J. H. McCormick, in the "Journal of Practical Medicine,"
New York (vol. x. pp. 437-442) ; "The Character and Antiquity of
Peruvian Civilization " (reprinted from " Denison Quarterly," Gran-
ville, O., 10 pp., 8°).
Dr. Jacopo Danielli, in the " Archivio per 1' Antropologia e la
Etnologia" (vol. xxiv. pp. 105-115), publishes a "Contribute alio
32 2 . Jojirnal of American Folk-Lore.
Studio del Tatuaggio negli antichi Peruvian i." The study is based
on tiie collection of mummies preserved in the Jardin dcs Plantes,
Paris, and elsewhere, and is accompanied by four plates containing
f6rty-thrce figures of various tattoo marks.
The "American Antiquarian" (vol. xvii. pp. 167-170) contains
an article (a translation from the Spanish of Acosta) on " The Cal-
endar System of the Chibchas."
In the " List of the Tribes in the Valley of the Amazon," by
Clements R. Markham ("Journal of the Anthropological Institute,"
London, vol. xxiv, pp. 236-284), are included some items of folk-lore
and onomatology.
To the " Viaggi d' un artista nell' America meridionale. I Cadu-
vei (Mbaya o Guaycuru)," Rome, 1895, 339 pp.. Dr. C. A. Colini
contributes an interesting historico-ethnographic preface, while the
author himself, Guido Boggiano, a painter, gives his impressions de
voyage among these primitive people.
A. F. C.
Folk- Lore Scrap-Book.
FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.
Tree-Planting at Childbirth. — From " The Legend of Perseus," by
E. Sidney Hartland, elsewhere reviewed, we take the following para-
graphs : —
"On the island of Bali, in the East Indies, a cocoa palm is simply
planted. It is called the child's ' Life-plant,' and is believed to grow up
equally with him. \\'hen twins are born, in some Zulu tribes, the father
plants two euphorbia-trees near the door of the hut. Among the Mbengas
of Western Africa, when two babes are born on the same day, two trees of
the same kind are planted, and the people dance round them. The life of
each of the children is believed to be bound up with one of the trees ; and
if the tree dies, or is thrown down, they are sure that the child will die
soon. The life of a new-born child is united by some of the Papuans with
that of the tree by driving a pebble into the bark. , . . This is supposed to
give them complete mastery over the child's life ; if the tree is cut down,
the child will die. . . . According to the Babylonian Talmud it was a
Hebrew practice to plant a cedar at the birth of a boy, and a pine at the
birth of a girl. On the New Marquesas Islands a breadfruit-tree is set
apart for the use of every infant at its birth ; or, if the parents are too poor
to do this, a sapling is immediately planted. The fruit of the tree is taboo
to every one save the child ; even the parents dare not touch it. Among
several European nations it is, or has been up to recent times, the custom
to plant a tree at the birth of a child. When the poet Vergil was born, his
parents are said to have planted a poplar, in the hope that, as that tree
overtopped all the rest, their son's greatness would outstrip all others'.
Poplars are still set in the neighborhood of Turin when a girl is born ; and
they become in after years the maiden's dower. In Switzerland an apple-
tree is set for a boy, a pear or nut for a girl ; and it is believed that as the
young tree flourishes, so will the child. In Aargau, in particular, it was
the custom, not many years back, to plant a fruit-tree on the land of the
commune for every infant that was born ; and if a fatlier was enraged with
a son who was at a distance, and therefore out of his reach, he would go
to the field and cut down the tree planted at his son's birth. In Eng-
land we still hear sometimes of trees being planted at a birth. Count de
Gubernatis, I know not on what authority, asserts that there are families
in Russia, Germany, England, France, and Italy, whose practice is to plant
at the birth of a child a fruit-tree, which is loved and tended with special
care as the symbol of the child and of the child's fate. Only thirty years
ago it was the custom of the good folk of Liege to plant a tree in the
garden when a child was born ; a custom which, it seems, is still continued
in some parts of Belgium. In the province of Canton, in China, although
we are not informed that trees are planted on the like occasions, we seem
to have a relic of some such practice in the superstition requiring a child's
fortune to be told, in order to ascertain the particular idol or tree to which
he belongs. It is thought that a tree is planted in the spirit-world to
324 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
represent the life in this world, and that the child is as much the fruit of
the tree as it is that of the womb. It is difficult to see how such a thought
could have originated, unless it were connected with the planting of a tree
in this world when the babe was born.
Nor is it only at a birth that the life-token is planted. Among the
English-speaking population on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake,
when one of a family leaves home, a bit of live-for-ever is stuck in the
ground to indicate the fortune of the absent one. It will flourish if he
prosper ; otherwise it will wither or die. An Italian work, falsely attributed
to Cornelius Agrippa, gives the following prescription for divining the
health of a person not far distant : Gather onions on the eve of every
Christmas, and put them on an altar, and under every onion write the
name of one of the persons as to whom information is desired. When
planted, the onion that sprouts the first will clearly announce that the
person whose name it bears is well. In the northeast of Scotland, when
potatoes were dug for the first time in the season, a stem was put for each
member of the family, the father first, the mother next, and the rest in
order of age. Omens of the prosperity of the year were drawn from the
number and size of the potatoes growing from each stem. Every Roman
emperor solemnly planted on the Capitol a laurel, which was said to wither
when he was about to die. It was the custom, too, of a successful general
at his triumph to plant in a shrubbery set by Livia a laurel, which was
believed to fade away after his death.
A Pueblo Rabbit-Hunt. — Under the signature of " J. M. S.," a writer in
the "New York Evening Post," July 20, 1895, dating his letter from Albu-
querque, N. M., gives an account of a rabbit-hunt in New Mexico.
" The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico have an annual rabbit-hunt, which
is a great event with them. It takes place with the appearance of the new
moon in September. A sacred dance precedes the hunt, for with the
Pueblo Indian dancing is a form of worship as well as of amusement.
" The ceremonies of the annual rabbit drive are conducted by the
shamaji (medicine-man) of the village. Under his direction prayer-plumes
are planted around the village on the day preceding the hunt. These
' prayers ' are sticks, notched at one end, about a foot in length, with a
tuft of feathers tied on with a corn shred. Only feathers of the brightest
plumage are used, as those of the woodpecker, bluebird, or redbird.
Black feathers are considered to bring bad luck. The feathers of a black-
bird or of a raven are of ill omen, and if found in the possession of any one
he would be taken from the village and beaten to death as a witch. These
' prayers ' are planted at intervals of about fifty feet in every direction for
about a mile from the village. The distributors of them are first sprinkled
by the shamafi with sacred corn-meal. The ' prayers ' are first planted to
the east, and then to the north, south, and west ; and the myriads of plumes
seen on a plain give a picturesque appearance, something like a field of
vari-colored flowers, or a garden in bloom.
" In front of every Pueblo village, facing to the east, is a shrine — a four
Folk-Lore Scrap-Book. 325
or five-foot stone structure, with two chambers. The shrine is topped with
a smooth stone. Into these chambers and around the shrine are thrown
the skulls and bones of rabbits killed at the hunt. At the next annual
drive new bones are placed at the shrine. Each Indian engaging in the
hunt is supposed to take from the shrine a charm in the shape of a bone
of one of the rabbits, but in reality he has carved from stone a fetish
resembling that part of the rabbit which strikes his fancy. This is sup-
posed to give him luck in the drive. Bundles of prayer-plumes, inclosed
in sacred corn-husks, are placed in the shrine ; and when the ceremonial
of each Indian hunter taking his peculiar charm has ended, the shrine is
closed until the next annual drive.
" Each hunter places his charm around his neck, and then they all repair
to the estiifa (church) for their worship dance. The Indian believes that
this fetish gives him the cunning and swiftness that the rabbit possesses.
After all have squatted upon the floor, the shaman gives to each a sacred
cigarette, made of native tobacco, and rolled in corn-husk. All smoke in
silence. This is supposed to blind the red eyes of the rabbit, so that his
capture may be assured. When all have finished, the shaman grunts, and
then pitches a tune in which all join. Strangely there are no tenor or
soprano voices among the Pueblo Indians, and as every one sings in nearly
the same strain, their music is discordant — if it may be classed as music.
" About sundown, while the hunters are engaged in the preliminaries,
the alguacil (high sheriff of the village) goes through the narrow and
crooked streets shouting in a nasal tone that the hunt will take place the
next morning ; that the shaman will lead, that he has selected twenty
braves for the hunt, mentioning their names, and that the rabbit-hunt dance
will now begin — everybody must come. Whatever effect the cigarette
smoking and the sacred singing may have had in paralyzing the rabbits is
certainly dispelled by the discordant yells of this town crier.
" About dark the squaws build a fire near the door of the estufa, and
then return to their huts — women not being permitted to enter the sacred
estufa, nor witness the ceremonies. The medicine-man furnishes the spark
for the fire by briskly rubbing together two sticks. This is considered
sacred fire ; if furnished otherwise it would be a profanation, and, besides,
they would not kill any rabbits. The Pueblos believe that the sacred fire
rests in trees, and that it can be had only in this manner.
"At a signal from the shaman, which is a grunt, all rise and form in line
facing the east — the shainan at the head. He first sprinkles the floor
with corn-meal, and then the men file before him, each receiving a sprin-
kling. The line has now formed as a crescent, opening to the east. The
dance begins with a song, which is supposed to have the effect of so charm-
ing the rabbits that they cannot hear the approach of the hunter on the mor-
row. The dance is a slow^ promenade in single file ; with a hippety-hop
step, and the chanting is equally monotonous. Two men in front carry
concave gourds in their left hands, over which they draw a notched stick.
Those who have heard the raspings of a Chinese fiddle can have some idea
of this excruciating noise. The men are bare-footed and bare-legged,
o
26 yournal of America7i Folk-Lore.
wearing only a patchwork of rabbit-skin around the body, reaching from
the shoulders to the knees and loins. The breast is bare, with the excep-
tion of a coat of red paint, describing the figures of rabbits. During the
height of the music one of the dancers jumps into the middle of the room
with a ' Ho ! Ho ! ' He imitates the jumping of a rabbit, and the manner
in which that animal is to be killed the next day by the successful hunters.
This is received with many grunts of approval. The dance lasts till after
midnight, or ends with the endurance of the dancers.
"The next morning at sunrise the hunters meet in the estii/a, and after
each has smoked a sacred cigarette, they mount their ponies and form a
line facing to the east — the direction of the hunt. Each hunter has sev-
eral weapons like boomerangs tied to his saddle by buckskin thongs. A
grunt from the s/iamati, and they form into the shape of a crescent, open-
ing at the east. Another grunt, and there is a race to the point designated
— two, or three, or even ten miles distant. Over the broad mesas they
charge, hurling their boomerangs with almost unerring aim at the fleeing
rabbits ; now dismounting to bag their game, and off again with the speed
of the wind. They know the haunts of the animals, and divide into groups
to surround the likely fields, some routing up the rabbits, while others top-
ple them over with the boomerang.
"The hunt ends about sundown, when the hunters return to the village,
each carrying upon his pony the game that he has bagged, in a sack made
of rabbit-skins. Those who have not killed many have very little to say,
as usual with unlucky huntsmen. As they approach the village, singing
the song of the rabbit-hunt, fires are seen just without the gate and near the
shrine and the chanting of women is heard. They have gathered to wel-
come the return of the hunters, and are reechoing the song of the rabbit-
hunt. They meekly welcome the braves, and follow them to the cacique's
house, all singing. Each hunter presents to the cacique a choice rabbit, —
perhaps the largest of the catch, — and after serenading him they depart to
their respective huts, and each prepares his own family feast.
" So the annual rabbit-hunt is ended. The hunter eats the head of the
rabbit he has killed. This is supposed to give him power to kill others.
They roast the rabbits in adobe ovens, or stew them whole, with corn-meal,
in earthen jars. It is considered bad luck to eat a rabbit when fried.
" In the folk-lore of the Pueblo Indians is found a pretty legend of the
rabbit-hunt : There was a little maid who had no brother to hunt rabbits
for her, and as her widowed mother was too decrepit, she thought she
would try her own luck. When out one day the usual rain-storm blew up,
and she took refuge in the hollow of a tree. While waiting for the storm
to pass, a big demon, twenty feet high and about half that measure around
the girth, came to the tree and invited her out to supper — that is, she was
to be the supper. As he was about to crawl into the hollow of the tree
she threw to him her lunch, which he swallowed, basket. and all. Then she
handed out the few rabbits that she had killed, and he still cried for more.
She stripped off her garments, and he swallowed these. He now found
that he was so swollen that he could not enter the hollow. With his axe
Bibliographical Notes. 327
he began to enlarge the opening in the tree, and now the little njaid began
to cry and call for her mother. Three powerful spirits, who conveniently
happened to be near, heard the noise of the demon's axe, and hurried to the
spot. They conquered him in short order, held an autopsy on his frame,
and returned to the maiden her clothing and rabbits. As she could not
marry them all, she thanked them 'ever so much.' They escorted her
safely home, and she told the story to her anxious mother, who weaved it
into a song, and it has ever since lived in tradition, and been sung by the
braves at each recurring annual rabbit-hunt."
NOTES AND QUERIES.
A Nursery Yarn. — " Bets Remington and I was gals together, and
the only difference betwixt us two was, I was rich and she was poor. As I
sat spinning at my little wheel, I heard some one knock at the door. Come
in, Bets, says I ; and who should come but Bets. Why, Bets, says I,
What 's the news ? Well, she was going to get married. Well, says I, if
you 're going to get married, you '11 be wanting some things. So I went up
stairs and got a mattrass, and a couple of pair of pillowbeds, and two old
sheets, and brought 'em down, and says I, Here, Bets, and I went down
stairs, and I got a pound cake, and a plum cake, and a whole cheese. And
I got 'em before her, and she ate, and she ate, till I thought, my soul, she 'd
die. Then, said she, I must do as beggars do, eat and run. What's your
hurry. Bets ? says I. Can't you stay a little longer ? No, says she, it 's
a dark night, and a lone road. So she went out, and she got into a rang
horse, and a ranketty shay, and she went off singing,
' Friendship 's like a spider's web, aysily broken.' "
This is to be repeated with lips drawn over the teeth, as if they belonged
to an old woman ; the reciter may wear spectacles and cap. What a " rang "
horse is, I do not know. On repeating the words to a New England
woman, now living in Quincy, Illinois, she said : " Why, that 's what I used
to be told when I was a child. At the words, " ate, ate, ate," the hands
are raised in amazement.
Mrs. F. B. Knapp.
DuxBURV, Mass.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
BOOKS.
Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secre-
tary of the Smithsonian Institution. 1889-90. By J. W. Powell, Direc-
tor. Washington : Government Printing Office. 1894. Pp. xlvii, 553.
The assertion has often been made, in the pages of this Journal, that the
contributions recently made to the record of primitive tradition in America
3 2 8 yoiirnal of A merican Folk-Lore.
exceed in value those contributed by all other portions of the globe, and
that these are calculated so completely to revolutionize the theory of early
religion and mythology, that the doctrines of text-books are already out of
date, and that no valuable discussion can be offered on any related theme
without attention to their lessons. These remarks are enforced and justi-
fied, in an additional degree, by every passing year. The Twelfth Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology will go into the hands of all students of
myth ; in this place it is not possible, as it will not be necessary, to offer
anything more than a cursory indication of its contents.
The paper of Matilda Coxe Stevenson on "The Sia" (pp. 9-157) deals
with one of the pueblo peoples, by force converted to Christianity in 1692,
but which has retained its ancient beliefs and observances, giving only a
nominal attention to the ecclesiastical usages, which it duplicates with its
hereditary rites, the infant having received tribal consecration before the
priest confers baptism. A long and valuable section of the treatise is
occupied with the cosmogony, in the main obviously pre-Columbian,
although here and there exhibiting the influence of Christian suggestions.
Next are related the rain ceremonials, and other rites of the theurgic
societies. Two points we may mention : the sacred meal strewn in a line,
in order to form a road for the spirits, is supposed to attract them by its
use as their food ; the symbolical pouring of water into a sacred vessel to
produce rain. A selection is given of songs used in rites. An especially
interesting chapter is that on Childbirth ; here the value of a feminine
collector is evident. Especially will be remarked the obviously pre-
Columbian presentation of the four days old babe to the father Sun.
Mortuary customs and myths conclude the paper.
Mr. Lucien M. Turner's account of the " Ethnology of the Ungava
district" (Hudson's Bay Eskimo), (pp. 167-350), is mainly concerned with
physical characteristics, raiment, and culture, but includes sections on
religion, festivals, and folk-lore. The view is more external than that of
the paper before described, as the life is harder. Particularly may be
mentioned the statements regarding the doctrine of spirits (p. 273).
"A Study of Siouan Cults," by J. Owen Dorsey, cannot but cause a sigh
over the lamented writer, whose loss is so irreparable. Mr. Dorsey was
well aware how imperfect was the record of cult among certain tribes of
this family. It w^as his ambition to spend a year in the field, making for
the time being linguistic work secondary, and recording the ceremonials of
Osages and others. The study does not present, therefore, any finality.
Here will be found gathered with the author's usual exactness and con-
scientiousness, as much as at the time of writing was known concerning
Siouan worships.
W. W. N.
Chinook Texts. By Franz Boas. (Smithsonian Institution.) Washing-
ton : Government Printing Office. 1894. Pp.278. (With two portraits.)
This remarkable collection is the result of an effort of the distinguished.
editor to gather the remains of this Salishan language ; after long search
Bibliographical Notes. 329
he succeeded in discovering at Bay Center, Pacific County, Washington, a
single individual acquainted not only with the Chinook tongue, but also
with its legendary literature, and possessed of intelligence so remarkable,
as to be able to explain grammatical structure, and elucidate difficult
sentences. Hence were derived the remarkable tales contained in this
book. The fragment thus rescued from oblivion forces on our attention
the sense of hopeless loss, and casts into a clear relief the deficiencies of
scholarship.
The observations which occur to a reader of this lore are too manifold
to be here even indicated. The literal translation of the texts show the
difficulties in the way of the European, who tries to master a mode of
expression so remote ; they show how imperfect, how misleading, must
necessarily be the vague reports obtained through interpreters. They
explain clearly the reason why it is impossible that savage myths can have
much effect on the traditions of the civilized races with whom they may
chance to be in contact ; they prove the complexity of what we choose to
term primitive thought ; they demonstrate the fallacy of scholars who
imagine that what in the order of time comes early must needs be more
simple and comprehensible than mental developments which succeed.
While exhibiting a general resemblance to Old World myth, a similarity
which the unity of human nature might lead us to expect, they indicate
that any connection by way of transmission is remote, if indeed existent.
In this respect they make a contrast to the lore recorded of many Indian
tribes; this divergence strengthens the a priori likelihood that the parallel-
ism mentioned is, in large measure, at least, simply the result of recent
historical contact with Europeans. These stories give no support to the
theory that the operations of human fancy are so similar, that identity of
plot and phrase may reasonably be expected, without the implication of
any transference of thought ; on the contrary, they tend to illustrate the
likelihood of independent developments being essentially divergent. Such,
at least, are the impressions made by the perusal, modified by the consid-
eration that the fragment is only a small part of a tribal whole, and also
that the Chinook traditions must themselves be understood and accounted
for only in the presence of the body of tradition of contiguous races, of
which so little has hitherto been accessible. All these reflections go to
strengthen the impression of melancholy, which has already been empha-
sized.
The collection includes eighteen myths, a number of paragraphs descrip-
tive of belief and of custom, and two historical tales. If anything can
explode the stupid idea that mythology is of no consequence, that human
life can be studied without attention to human thought, that, to use a
shallow expression, what is to be considered is not what men say, but what
they do, it would be such a gleaning as that before us. As a proof may
be given the substance only of one of the tales. Blue-Jay, the especial
hero of these stories, the representative of intelligence and skill, is living
alone with his sister lo-f. The ghosts, however, buy lo-i for a wife, by
payment made to her family, and carry her away at night. Robin starts in
VOL. VIII. — NO. 31. 22
330 you7'iial of American Folk-Lore.
quest ; in vain he consults birds and trees, until at last he finds an object
which can direct him. By day he comes to the ghost town ; in general the
houses seem untenanted ; from a single one arises smoke. He enters, and
finds his sister ; the other habitations contain only bones, but his sister lets
him know that these are the ghosts. Darkness comes on, and the house
is full of people, who speak in whispers. These are the relations of his
brother-in-law. Blue-Jay goes fishing, and receives a guide ; his sister
charges him to converse only in whispers. Forgetting himself, he speaks
in a loud voice, and on a sudden it is a skeleton that is sitting in the stern
of the canoe. He catches a bough, of which the leaves turn to salmon ; it
is thus the ghosts fish. In the morning he goes to the beach, and sees the
canoes of the ghosts; they are moss-grown, and have holes. His acquaint-
ances of the night before are now skeletons ; at dark the ghosts revive, but
only while he refrains from loud remark. A whale is thrown up on the
shore ; he shouts, and this too turns to bones. Unable to refrain from
malicious pranks, in the daytime Blue-Jay unites the bones of different
persons, joining a child's skull to an old man's frame ; when the persons so
treated became animate, the consequences are disastrous. The ghosts get
tired of these practical jokes, and send Blue-Jay home. He will meet
prairie-fires (it appears that the home of the dead has flaming barriers).
His sister provides him with five buckets of water (five is the sacred
number in these tales), charging him on no account to exhaust his store.
Signs of flame appear in the red flowers which cover the first prairie.
Blue-Jay, beset by fire, does not observe his sister's warning ; the fifth
prairie blazes, and his water is gone ; he is destroyed and himself becomes
a ghost. His trail leads to the river (this Hades has a Styx) ; his sister
launches a canoe, and carries him over. Now all is changed in his eyes ;
the canoes he thought wasted and worthless seem pretty. On the other
side he sees dancing, and wishes to take part ; he tries to shout, and
remains voiceless ; the ghosts laugh at him, returning his former taunts.
Coming before the chief, he is reminded of his injuries ; he declares that
his sister speaks falsely. After five nights, he enters the dance ; his sister
forgets him for a moment (we must suppose that she has hitherto acted as
his protector). She looks again, and sees him dancing on his head (the
ghosts have taken the opportunity to avenge themselves). Now he has
died a second time ; he is really dead.
Tales of this class seem to contain internal evidence that they had
belonged to ritual, and are the remnant of an extensive tribal literature
and a lost tribal worship. Thus the experience, piety, superstition, fancy
of a race, the legacy of a thousand years, are represented by fables linger-
ing in the recollection of a single survivor !
The section entitled " Beliefs, customs, and tales " would furnish cita-
tions of the first importance, but our space allows no such reference.
W. IV. N.
Bibliograph ica I Notes. 3 3 1
Korean Games. With Notes on the corresponding Games of China and
Japan, By Stewart Culin, Director of the Museum of Archaeology and
Palceontology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. University of
Pennsylvania. 1895. Pp. xxxvi, 177.
The first thing that will strike the eye of every person who takes up this
book is the extreme beauty of execution. The ninety-eight games here
mentioned are illustrated by one hundred and thirty-five figures introduced
into the text, and by twenty-two plates. Of the latter about half are
colored, making not only a relief to the eye, but a pleasing exhibition of
costume. These illustrations are reproductions of Korean art, the sketches
being in part by an artist of Tokyo, in part from native books, and the
colored plates after drawings executed in 18S6 in Korea, at the instance
of an American lady. The beauty of the t}'pe and paper corresponds ; that
the work, which is issued to subscribers, has found welcome, we gather
from the fact that our copy is numbered 494.
The games here described are for the most part played with implements
of some sort, kites, windmills, lanterns, swings, fruit-seeds, dominoes, tab-
lets, chessmen, and the like. Others are games of motion and action, as
hopping, jumping, wrestling, hide-and-seek, blind-man's-buff, and so on.
Some of these are peculiarly Eastern, others universal. If any one will
read the paragraphs, or note the sketches, describing cat's-cradle, see-saw,
battledore and shuttlecock, blindman's-bufT, counting-out, jackstones, and
other sports, he will find it difficult to resist the natural conclusion that
the Oriental sports exhibit only a form of the same amusement practised in
Western Europe. One case exhibits a more doubtful problem. Mr. Culin
mentions the game of " Violet Fighting ; " this consists in interlocking
the stems of the flower ; the child whose flower survives the pull is victor.
The amusement is common in the United States, and Dr. Beauchamp has
pointed out that among Onondagas, in New York, it has given a name to
the violet.
Attention is called to primitive conditions of Korean life, calculated to
illuminate problems of origin ; thus the people are still divided into classes
determined by the four cardinal points and the middle.
In the Introduction is indicated a theory, that modern games are the
survival of arrow divination. This conclusion was the result of joint study
with Mr. F." W. Cushing ; unluckily, the latter has not been able to com-
plete the intended commentary to the games. The doctrine must therefore
be left as the statement of a hypothesis hereafter to be justified by wider
collection and detailed comparison. That cards have been employed for
fortune- telling is illustrated by certain modern games; and a curious
example has recently fallen under our notice. In a certain university,
previous to a football match, the students who were on their way to the
contest played in the cars a game of cards, in order to forecast the issue.
The two sides represented the combatants, and the several cards were
named in such a manner as to indicate the ball-plays. It was pointed out
as strange, that the result coincided with the issue of the struggle. Thus
the impulse which animated primitive custom is not extinct.
332 yo7ii^nal of A merican Folk-L ore.
The views of Mr, Culin and of Mr, Gushing have been noticed in the last
number of this Journal (pp. 250, 261), Leaving the general question for
future consideration, we must content ourselves with noting a single sug-
gestion of the volume before us, Mr. Culin (pp. 4-7) considers the " tilting
toy," with which children are familiar, made in the form of a grotesque
human figure, loaded at the base, and therefore returning to an erect posi-
tion, however it may be made to rock. In France this toy is made to
represent a Chinese mandarin, and is called "Le Poussat," in Germany
" Euctzenmann." In Japan it represents the idol Daruma. Mr. Culin
finds an etymology for the German word in the name Buddha, directly
apparent in the French term, "p'b sat," being a term applied in China to
Buddhistic idols. In the interesting volume will be found accounts of the
manner of playing Korean chess, backgammon, dominoes, and lotteries.
W. W. N.
The Legend of Perseus. A study of Tradition in Story, Custom, and
Belief: by Edwin Sidney Hartland, F. S, A. Vol. II. The Life-
Token. (Grimm Library, No. 3.) London, David Nutt. 1895. Pp.
viii, 445.
This work is not a special discussion of the Greek legend ; on the con-
trary, the latter serves as a point of departure, from which the author jour-
neys in order to examine the vast territory of myth and custom. The first
volume, already reviewed in this Journal (vol. vii. p. 329), dealt with "The
Supernatural Birth ; " the second is occupied with "The Life-token," that is
to say, the magical object, which in certain tales of the type under discus-
sion is made to indicate a conclusion in regard to the welfare or misfortune
of an absent friend. For example, a tree, by its blossoming or withering,
may give token of the condition of the person with whom its health is con-
nected. Examining this trait of the tales, Mr. Hartland shows that a
parallel custom is extensively prevalent ; passages of his chapter on this
subject will be found above printed, and will indicate the scope and method
of his book. Seeking a psychologic cause of such phenomena, the author
finds this in the theory of " sympathetic magic." In two chapters, he
examines the innumerable varieties of the belief that portions of a person's
body, his hair or excrements, his footprints, his garb, even his proper
name, must be kept from becoming common property, inasmuch as they
constitute means by which a witch may achieve his ruin. Popular imagina-
tion does not make a distinction between these appendages of personality,
even though removable, and that personality itself ; after separation, the
parts still participate in the being of the whole, share its diseases, and by
their own state affect the condition of the patient. Hence the superstition
preserved in America, as in European folk-lore, by which the hair must not
be abandoned to the chances of discovery by a foe ; hence the care taken
not to let anything connected with the individual be interred with the
dead, or with corrupted matter ; hence the concealment of the proper
name, the practice of changing appellations, the idea that injury done to
matter in the possession of the conjurer will occasion the destruction of
Bibliographical Notes. 333
the latter, the cures that depend on the Doctrine of Sympathy, as for
instance the remedial practice of making waste away something that has
touched a wart, in order that the latter may also disappear. Proceeding
to consider sacred wells and trees, Mr. Hartland inquires into the world-
wide practice which leaves at holy wells rags or bits of apparel ; here
analogy, he conceives, would lead to the supposition that originally entire
garments were offered ; yet the object is not the presentation of precious
objects in order to placate the power of the spring, for the offerings seem
never to have had value. The idea, thinks Mr. Hartland, is to bring into
connection the holy influence with the wearer of the gift, who remains
under its ageacy so long as the fragment waves from the tree. The same
method of reasoning may be applied to the thrusting of pins into images
or sacred trees ; here an explanation has been sought, either in the injury
done to the demon, who is thus under a threat which forces him to obey
the admonition, or else in the stimulation of his memory, inasmuch as he
is not likely to forget the suitor so long as a sharp point penetrates his
substance. Mr. Hartland favors a more general view. It may here be
remarked that this practice has a survival in the United States, and among
the most educated young women in the city of New York, so the reviewer
has been informed, pins found in the path are to be stuck in a tree for
luck ; the luck lasts as long as the pin remains. This is not merely an
amusement, but a very serious superstition, the non-observance of which
creates a degree of terror. Yet in this case there is no definite conscious-
ness of any reason for the usage. The other explanations mentioned are
quite in the line of primitive conceptions : one would like to get at the
notions in the mind of the savages who use the custom ; in this, as in other
cases, it is impossible to hope for a complete unravelling without additional
information. It is also to be observed that the mental states existing in
all stages, down to the expiring survival in civilized lands, are equally
worthy of record and examination, as indicating the continued evolution of
intellectual processes. The latter part of the volume is devoted to the
idea of kinship unit}', as appearing in totemic, funeral, and marriage rites.
Particularly to be noticed is the doctrine presented .with regard to the
couvade, or lying-in of the husband, as usual over a great part of the
world. That the custom should not be recorded among certain tribes pre-
sumed to be the lowest may be easily explicable from the absence of the
paternal relation ; yet in America it is not found that mother-right is a bar
to the habit. Rejecting the usual theory, that the husband's suffering is
supposed sympathetically to benefit the wife, Mr. Hartland seeks a new
explanation in the view that the object is to preserve the husband from
the numerous dangers to which he would be exposed in the violation of
complicated taboos, and which would react on the life of the child, who is
united with him by unity of blood, and consequently of fate. The sugges-
tion must be left for future decision.
The work of Mr. Hartland will be generally welcomed, as one of the
general treatises, all too few, in which the great underlying and human
conception of folk-lore are set forth. The perusal will give its readers a
334 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
lively sense of the narrowmindedness and insufficiency of old-fashioned
classical scholarship, which supposed that it was possible to comprehend
the ancient history of particular races without the slightest attention to that
human whole of which any single development is but a branch. Happily,
thanks to anthropologists and students of folk-lore, this misleading view,
promotive only of misconception and error fatal in proportion to self-suffi-
ciency, is slowly giving way to more reasonable conceptions. The work of
Mr. Hartland should be included in the purchasing list of every consid-
erable library.
W. W.N.
The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, to the Land of the Living.
An Old Irish Saga, now first edited, with Translation, Notes, and Glos-
sary, by KuNO Meyer. With an Essay upon the Irish Vision of the
Happy Underworld and the Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth ; by Alfred
NuTT. Section I. The Happy Underworld. (Grimm Library, Vol. IV.)
London : David Nutt. 1895. Pp. xvii, 331.
The Voyage of Bran belongs to the class of folk-tales of which America
has furnished a modernized example in the story of Rip Van Winkle.
W^hile Bran is walking in the neighborhood of his dun, he hears sweet
music, and falls asleep. On awakening, he finds beside him a silver apple-
branch, with white blossoms, also of silver. He enters his hall, and a
woman mysteriously enters, who in the presence of his people sings
stanzas setting forth the charms of a fairy land beyond the waves, free
from disease and death, and inhabited by women. Bran, accompanied by
thrice nine comrades, sails in quest of the Land of Women ; after a long
voyage, he reaches the island, and is drawn ashore by means of a ball of
thread held in the hand of the queen. He finds a house, with a number
of beds corresponding to the reckoning of his crew, and is served with
delightful food. Here he remains for a year ; after that time, one of the
company is taken with homesickness, and they resolve to return, but are
cautioned not to touch the soil of Ireland, On the Irish coast, they see
folk who ask their names ; Bran reveals himself ; the strangers do not
know him, but there is such a person mentioned in ancient histories.
Nechran, for whose sake the travellers had left the Land of Women, leaps
ashore, and immediately changes to ashes. Bran continues his wanderings.
This interesting narrative presents an old form of a widely diffused tale
in the many variants of which the hero, after visiting a fairy habitation, on
his return, finds his world altered, and discovers that he has been away
three hundred years ; the same time is given as the period of Bran's
absence (the translation does not retain this number). It is clear that the
theme is not peculiarly Celtic. As to the antiquity of the present version,
the editor is of opinion that the Voyage (a literary composition) of Bran
was written in the seventh century, a copy having beeri made in the tenth,
whence comes the printed form. Without pretending to offer any critical
opinion, it may be remarked that this conclusion cannot require in}plicit
acceptance ; it remains to be proved that verses like those contained in the
Bibliographical Notes. 335
tale could not have been written in the tenth century ; the character of the
rhyme seems to indicate a time much later than that given for the author-
ship. As to the lapse of time, the suggestion may be ventured that the
idea is derived from Psalms xc. 4 : " A thousand years in thy sight are but
as yesterday when it is past," (See also 2 Peter iii. 8.) At all events,
such is the idea embodied in the narration.
In the second part of the volume, Mr. Alfred Nutt, writing not as an
expert in Irish literature, but under the guidance of scholars such as H.
Zimmer, \V. Stokes, and others, undertakes to discuss the general subject
of the stories relating to an island Elysium. He recites parallel Irish
legends relating to the heroes Connla, Cuchulainn, and others, refers to
the accounts of the voyages of St. Brendan and of Maelduin, to Irish
visions of the Christian heaven, and considers the general relations of Irish
heathen and Christian literature. Two types of Irish fairy tales are
examined, in which the Side, or fairies, are declared to dwell in a blessed
isle, and where they are supposed to inhabit hills contiguous to human
dwellings. Finally, the writer offers some discussion of early Jewish,
Greek, Roman, Scandinavian, Iranian, and Hindu relations concerning
their respective Elysiums. He concludes by attempting to present a
chronological scheme for such literature. The essay, covering a wide ter-
ritory, will be found suggestive to students of m5-thology.
A word of protest may here be permitted, intended to apply, not so
much to the title of the present volume, as to the habit of students of
Celtic tongues and their literatures. The term Celtic stands on a level
with the term Arj-an. There are Celtic languages, as Aryan languages,
but it is not at all certain that there exist either Celtic or Ar}'an legends.
Let us talk of Irish, Welsh, and Bretons, but not of Celts. The condition
of Celtic studies is only retarded by such unwarranted generalization.
Let the eponymic Celt, who is obliged to father so many children dubious
or illegitimate, repose with Brute the Trojan, the eponymic founder of the
two Britains.
W. W.N.
JOURNALS.
1. The American Anthropologist. (Washington.) Vol. VIII. No. 3, July,
1895. The god "D" in the Codex Cortesianus. J. W. Fewkes. — The early
Navajo and Apache. F. W. Hodge. — The relation of sociologj^to anthropology.
L. F.Ward. — The name Chickahominy. W. W. Tooker. — A Yuma crema-
tion. G. R. Putnam.— Australian rock pictures. R. H. Matthews. — Some
principles of nomenclature. W.J. McGee. — Notes and News. The early Na-
vajo arid Apache. J. G. Bourke. Reply of Mr. Hodge. — Bibliography of
anthropologic literature. — No. 4, October. The arrow. F. H. Gushing. — =The
beginning of agriculture. W. J. McGee. — The Algonquian appellatives of the
Siouan tribes of Virginia. W. W. Tooker. — Upper Orinoco vocabularies. A.
Ernst. — Clay figures found in Guatemala. P. J. J. Valentini. — Obituary of
James W. Pilling. W. J. McGee. — Eibliography of anthropologic literature.
2. The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal. (Good Hope, 111.)
336 Jouriial of American Folk-Lore.
No. 3, May, 1S95. The Story of the Creation among American aborigines a
proof of historical contact. S. D. Peet. — The Choctaw Robin Goodfellow.
H. S. H ALBERT. — No. 4, July. Prehistoric contact of American with Oceanic or
Asiatic peoples. C. Thomas. — The Moqui Snake Dance. R. H. Baxter. — A
lihle known civilization. J. Deans. — No. 5, September. The sacred pole of
the Omaha tribe. A. C. Fletcher. — The mystery of the word Pamunkey, W.
W. TOOKEK.
3. The Archaeologist. (Columbus, O.) Vol. III. No. 8, 1895. The Bocoo-
tawanaukes, or the Fire Nation. (Concluded.) W. W. Tooker.
4. Comparative Religion Notes. (Chicago, III. ; by Frederick Starr ; pub-
lication of the University.) Second Series. 1895. Notes on current anthropo-
logical literature.
5. The Academy. (London.) September 14, 1895. The " De excidio Bri-
tanniae " ascribed to St. Gildas of Ruys. A. Anscomue. (See also September 28,
October 19, November 2.) — October 12. King Arthur in Gildas. E. W. B.
Nicholson. — November 2. The "Bloody Hand" at Mandelay; the rise of a
myth. R. C. Temple.
6. The Antiquary. (London.) No. dd, June, 1895. Further notes on Manx
folk-lore. A. W. Moore. (Continued in Nos. 67-71.) — Holy wells of Scotland.
R. C. Hope. — Traditions and customs relating to death and burial in Lincoln-
shire. F. Peacock.
7. Dialect Notes. (Norwood, Mass. ; published by the American Dialect Soci-
ety.) PartVIIL 1S95. In general. — The 1895 Circular (Reprint). — Word-lists.
Tennessee mountains. H. A. Edson; E. M. Fairchild. — British maritime
provinces. W. M. Tweedie. — Jerseyisms. Additions and corrections. F. B.
Lee ; W. J. Skillman. — General list A. Miscellaneous contributions. — Gen-
eral list B. Ithaca local circle. — Report of 1894 meeting. — Members, 1895.
8. Popular Science Monthly. (New York.) June, 1895. The Ceremonial
Circuit. Fanny D. Bergen. — November, 1895. Evolution in folk-lore. A. B.
Ellis.
9. Southern Workman and Hampton School Record. (Hampton, Va.)
Vol. XXIV. No. 2, November, 1895. Conjuring and conjure-doctors. A. M.
Bacon.
10. Folk-Lore. (London.) Vol. VL No. 2, June, 1895. Suffolk leechcraft.
W. W. Groome. — Taboos of commensality. A. E. Crawley. — Folk-lore
objects collected in Argjdeshire. R. C. Maclagan. — Traditions, customs, and
superstitions of the Lewis. M. MacPhail. — Notes from Syria. W. H. D. Rouse.
— Folk-lore from North Ceylon. J. P. Lewis. — Reviews. — Correspondence :
Tommy on the Tub's grave. Chained images. Clothed images. Superstition in
the Canons. St. John's Eve. A churchyard charm. Poem of Countess Kath-
leen. Village crosses. — Miscellanea. — Norfolk nursery rhyme. Charms. —
Lenten ceremony at Pylos, in Greece. Folk-lore items from North Indian
Notes and Queries. — Bibliography. — No. 3, September. The Sacred Marriage.
G. M. Godden. — Protest of a psycho-folklorist. A. Lang. — A reply to the fore-
going " protest." The President. — Shoe-throwing at weddings. J. E. Crom-
bie. — Reviews. — Correspondence. Ghostly lights. The Garhwal, an Indian
harvest ceremony.- Superstitions about teeth. Folk-lore objects from Argyleshire.
Traditions, customs, and superstitions of the Lewis. Charms. Threshold cus-
toms. — Miscellanea. Worcestershire superstitions. Folk-tales. Irish folk-tales.
Irish folk-lore relating to churches. Obituary : C. Ploix ; F. M. Luzell ; M. Dra-
gomanov. — Bibliography.
11. La Tradition. (Paris.) Vol. VIII.-IX. No. 84-85, March-April. Folk-
lore polesien. E. Jelenska. (Continued in No. 86.) — Les animaux qui nour-
Bibliograph ical Notes, 337
issent miraculeusement. Berenger-Feuai'D. — Les proverbes de Jacob Cats.
IX. E. OzENFANT. — Folklore polonais. M. de Zmigrodzki. (Continued in
No. 86.) — Superstitions de la Haute-Ecosse. R. Stiehel, — Le veyon. A. Fer-
RAUD. — No. 86-87, May-June. Des coupes de feu de la nuit de Noel. A. Git-
tee. — La poussiere du Saint. B^rexger-Fekaud. — Folklore du Luxem-
bourg beige. A. Harou.
12. Journal des Savants. (Paris.) May, 1S95. La croyance a rimmortalitd
de Tame chez les Grecs. H. Weil.
13. Melusine. (Paris.) Vol. VII. No. 9, May-June, 1895. P^pin-le-Bref,
Samson et ^Mithra. H. Gaidoz. — La fraternisation. X\'ll. T. VoLKOV. —
Chansons populaires de la Basse-Bretagne. LI. P. Laurent. — La fascination.
J. TucHMAXX. (Continued in No. 10.) — No. lo, July-August.) La prison du roi
Francois. G. Doncielx. — Airs de dance de i\Iorbihan. E. de Schoultz-
Adaievsky. — Le jeu des lignes verticales. C. du Pouet ; ^I. P. Fagot. —
L'dtymologie populaire et le folklore. H. Gaidoz. — No. 1 1, September-October.
Pourquoi Fevrier n'a que vingt-huit jours. H. Gaidoz. — Chansons populaires
de la Basse-Bretagne. LII.-LV. E. Ernault.
14. Revue Celtique. (Paris.) Vol. XVI. No. 3, July, 1895. La religion des
Galates. S. Reinach. — La sort chez les Remains et chez les celtes. J. Loth.
15. Revue des Traditions Populaires. (Paris.) Vol. X. No. 4, April. Les
metiers et les professions. LX. (Continued in Nos. 5-10.) — Le conte de Ramp-
sinite. A. Harou. — Rites et usages fundraires. XIX. Les abeilles en deuil.
G. DE Rialle. — Le Tabac. VII. R. Basset. — Notes sur Pile de Batz. IV.
Proverbes. G. Milix. — Le corps humain. A. DE CocK. — No. 5, May. Les
chansons populaires de PAnnam. P. d'Exjoy. — Coutumes de mariage. XXIV.,
XXV. F. Fertiault. — Pelerins et p^lerinages. XIX., XX. G. de Rialle.
— No. 6, June. La berg^re et le loup. T. de Puymaigre. — Le droit coutumier
des e'leveurs d'abeilles en Samogitie. V. Bugiel.. — Legendes et contes de I'ex-
treme Orient. XXXIV., XXXV. R. Basset. — Les villes englouties. CLI.
V. Yastrebov. — Traditions et usages picards vers 1840. L. Collot. — No. 7,
July. Contes du pays de Gaza (Soutlieast Africa). E. Jacottet. (Continued
in No. 10.) — Les montagnes. I. -VIII. A. Harou. — Folk-lore polonais. —
Th^ogonie et cosmographie du peuple ukrainien. M. de Zmigrodzki. — No. 8.
August. Contes arabes et orientaux. X. Putlibai Wadia. — Contes poitevins.
R.-M. Lacuve. — Nos. 9, 10. September-October. Quelques traditions et croy-
ances du Bas-Armagnac. A. de Lazarque. — Les empreintes merveilleuses.
LXXXII.-XCIX. R. Basset. — L'habillement des statues.- VI. L. MoRix.
16. Bulletin de Folk-lore. (Li^ge.) Vol. IV. No. 6, April-June, 1895. Contes
I. : L'os qui chante. — Analyse des variantes. (Continued.) A. de Cock and J.
Karlowicz. — IV. Contes IV : Les questions. — Contes V. : Les musiciens de
Breme. — Contes VII.: Les deus bossus et les nains. — Contes IX.: Le bon-
homme mis^re. — Coutumes. I.: Les noces (continued). A. Harou; E. Mox-
SEUR. — Bdotiana. H. C. Boclixville. — Etres merveilleus. II. Les change-
lins. — Revue des libres.
17. Ons Volksleben. (Brecht.) Vol. VII. No. 4, 1895. De Processien. A.
Harou and J. Corxelissex. — Volksgeloof in Klein-Brabant. — Volksgebruiken
en gewobnten in Noord-Brabant. P. N. Paxken. (Continued in Nos. 5,6. —
Het Manneken in de Maan. J. Cornelissen. (Continued in No. 5.) — lepers'che
sagen. A. Harou. — No. 5. Kabylische vertellingen. Fr. Peters. — Spotna-
men op steden en dorpen. J. F. Vixcx. — Kempische sagen. F. Zaxd. (Con-
tinued in Xo. 6.) — No. 6. Volksgebruiken in Klein-Brabant.
18. "Wallonia. (Li^ge.) Vol. III. No. 5. May, 1895. Risettes. I. Amu-
settes du Toucher. C. Colson. (Continued in No. 10.) — Les Nains. — No. 6,
33^ Journal of American Folk-Lo7'e.
June. Les amoureux. — No. S, August. Les marionettes. Tristan et Isault, a
LiC-ge. C. Demblo.x. La fete paroisiale. — No. 9, September. Notes d'ethno-
graphie sur Veviers au d^but de ce siecle. — Vieilles danses populaires au pays
de Chimay. — No. 10, October. Le beau laurier chantant, conte. — Le Toussaint
et le jour des rimes. — Ldgendes.
19. Revista delle Tradizioni Popolari Italiane. (Roma.) \'ol. II. No. 6,
Ma)', 1895. Tradizioni popolari di Nuoro (Sardegna). (Concluded.) G. De-
LEDDA. — Credenze e superstizioni medioevali. L. Callari. — Leggende. —
Canti popolari. — Credenzi e superstition! popolari. — Usi e costumi popolari. —
Giuochi popolari. (With this number concluded the publication of this review,
the Society of which it has been the organ having ceased to exist.)
20. Alemannia. (Bonn.) Vol. XXIII. No. i, 1895. Schabach und seine Be-
wohner. J.J. Hoff.manx. — Zur Tannhauserage. K. Ameksbach. — No. 2.
Bastloserreime aus d-r (iegend von Heidelberg. O. Heilig.
21. Altpreussische Mouatsschrift. (Konigsberg.) Vol. XXXII. No. ^-d,
1895. Volksthiimliche aus der Pflanzenwelt, besonders fiir Westpreussen. A.
Treichel.
22. Am TJr-Quell. (Edited by F. S. Krauss, Vienna.) Vol. VI. No. C67.
Menschenopfer in Serbian. F. S. Krauss. — Bienensegen und Bienenzauber. A.
Wiedemanx. — Qualgeister im Volksglauben der Rumanen. H. v. Wlislocki.
— Das Kind in Glaube und Brauch der Pommern. A. Haas. — Jiidendeutsche
Sprichworter aus Mahren, Bohmen, und Ungarn. E. Kulke. — Das oldenburger
Trinkhorn und das " Gluck von Edenhall." R. Sprenger.
23. Ethnologisches Notizblatt. (Herausgegeben vonder Direktiondes Konig-
lichen Museum fiir Volkerkunder in Berlin ; No. 2, 1895.) Notizen iiber Indisches.
— Der Weltbarg Meru mach einem japanischen Bilde. — Sammlung chinesische)
Volksgotter aus Amoy. — Anthropologisches Stiftungsfest. — Jahresberichte des
Ethnologischen Bureaus in Washington.
24. Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien. (Vienna.
Vol. XXV. No. I, 1895. Uber die Entwicklung der Indologie in Europa und
ihre Beziehungen zur allgemeinen Volkerkunde. L. v. Schroeder. — Die Lap-
penbaume im magyarischen Volksglauben. H. v. Wlislocki. — Literaturberichte.
— Sitzungsberichte. — Animismus im Jiidenthum. M. Haberlandt. — Fest-
Sitzung am 12 Februar 1895 zur Feier des fiinfundzwanzigjahrigen Bestehens.
F. V. Andr'ian-Werburg. — Nos. 2-3, Studien zur germanischen Volkskiinder,
III. Das Hausrath des oberdeutschen Hauses. R. IVIerixger. — Literaturbe-
richte.
25. Mittheilungen der schlesischen Gesellschaft fiir Volkskunde. (Bres-
lau: ed. by F. Vogt and O. Jiriczek.) Vol. I. No. i. Uber schlesischen Volks-
glauben. F. Vogt. — No. 2. Slavische Niederschlage im schlesischen Deutsch.
W. Nehrixg. — No. 3. Seelenglauben und Namengebung. O. Jiriczek. —
No. 4. Die Beziehungen des Brahmanismus zur indischen Volksreligion. A.
Hillebraxdt. — No. 5. Die Festtage im Glauben und Brauch des schlesischen
Volkes. (Continued in Vol. II. No. i.) — Vol. II. No. I, 1895. Orientalische
Einfliisse auf die deutsche Sprache. S. Frankel. — Schlesische Ostergebrauche-
P. DiTTRiCH. — No. 2. Einladen zum Stiftungsfeste. — Griechische Miirchen.
W. Kroll. — Streifziige durch die schlesischen Volkskunde. I. Drechsler. —
Der Tod im schlesischen Kinderliede und die Interjection hunne. F. Vogt.
26. Wiener Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Morgenlapdes. (Vienna.) Vol.
IX. No. 3, 1S95. Bemerkungen zu H. 01denberg"s Religion des Veda. (Con-
cluded.) L. V. Schroeder.
Members of the America fi Folk-Lore Society,
339
OFFICERS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY (1895).
President: Washington Matthews, Washington, D. C.
Second Vice President: John G. ^ourke, Fort Ethan Allen, Vt.
Council: Franz Boas, New York, N. Y. ; W. M. Beauchamp, Baldwinsvillc, N. Y. ;
Daniel G. Brinton, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Alexander F. Chamberlain, Worcester, Mass. ;
Mattoon M. Curtis, Cleveland, O. ; Alice C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C; George Bird
Grinnell, New York, N. V. ; Otis T. Mason, Washington, D. C. ; Gardner P. Sticknej',
Milwaukee, Wis. Councillors ex officio, as Presidents of Local Branches: II. Carrington
]?olton. New York, N. Y. ; Alfred C. Garrett, Cambridge, Mass. ; Frederic W. Putnam,
Cambridge, Mass. ; John Reade, Montreal, P. Q.
Permanent Secretary : William Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass.
Corresponding Secretary : J. Walter Fewkes, Boston, Mass.
Treasurer : John H. Hinton, New York, N. Y.
Qtrator : Stewart CuHn, Philadelphia, Pa.
MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
(for the year 1S95.)
HONORARY MEMBERS.
John Batchelor, Hakodate, Japan.
Daniel G. Brinton, Philadelphia, Pa.
Francisco Adolpho Coelho, Lisbon, Portu-
gal.
Henri Gaidoz, Paris, France.
George Laurence Gomme, London, England.
Francis J. Child, Cambridge, Mass.
James G. Frazer, Cambridge, Mass.
Angelo de Gubernatis, Rome, Italy.
Horatio Plale, Clinton, Ont.
Jean Karlowicz, Warsaw, Poland.
Friedrich S. Krauss, Vienna, Austria.
Karrle Krohn, Helsingors, Finland.
Giuseppe Pitre, Palermo, Sicily.
John W. Powell, Washington, D. C.
Paul Sebillot, Paris, France.
Edward B. Tylor, London, England.
LIFE MEMBERS.
William H. Beadleston, New York, N. Y.
Eugene F. Bliss, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Henry Carrington Bolton, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Henry Draper, New York, N. Y.
Willard Fiske, Florence, Italy.
Joseph E. Gillingham, Philadelphia, Pa.
John H. Hinton, New" York, N. Y.
Henry Charles Lea, Philadelphia, Pa.
William Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Mary A. Owen, St. Joseph, Mo.
ANNUAL MEMBERS.
Frank Abbott, M. D., New York, N. Y.
Hon. John Abercromby, Edinburgh, Scot-
land.
F. G. Adams, Topeka, Kans.
Mrs. Mar\' Newbury Adams, Dubuque, la.
Isaac Adler, New York, N. Y.
Miss Marion Boyd Allen, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. D. A. Andrews, Boston, Mass.
Charles A. Appleton, New York, N. Y.
Richard L. Ashhurst, Philadelphia, Pa.
Samuel P. Avery, New York, N. Y.
Miss Alice Mabel Bacon, Hampton, Va.
Mrs. Frances Newbury Eagley, Detroit,
Mich.
Mrs. Mary M. Barclay, Milwaukee, Wis.
Alfred C. Barnes, Brooklyn, N. Y.
J. Davis Barnett, Stratford, Ont.
C. T. Barney, New York, N. Y.
Miss H. T. Barney, New York, N. Y.
Newton Bateman, Galesburg, 111.
W. M. Beauchamp, Baldwinsvillc, N. Y.
Robert Bell, Ottawa, Ont.
340
y our tial of American Folk-Lore .
Miss Cora Agnes Benneson, Cambridge,
Mass.
Mrs. F"anny D. Bergen, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. Junius B. Bergen, Brooklyn, N. Y.
^Clarence J. Blake, Boston, Mass.
Francis Blake, Auburndale, Mass.
Frank E. Bliss, London, England.
William Dorr Boardman, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. W. D. Boardman, Boston, Mass.
Franz Boas, New York, N. Y.
K. D. \V. Boissevain, Montreal, P. Q.
Reginald Bolton, Pelhamville, N. Y.
Mrs. Henrietta Irving Bolton, New York,
N. Y.
John G. Bourke, Fort Ethan Allen, Vt.
Charles P. Bowditch, Boston, Mass.
George P. Bradley, Mare Island, Cal.
William Inglis Bradley, Sault Ste. Marie,
Ont.
Hermann Carl George Brandt, Clinton,
N.Y.
James R. Brevoort, Yonkers, N. Y.
\V. T. Brewster, Cambridge, Mass.
Martin Brimmer, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. G. Hunter Brown, Jr., Flushing, N. Y.
Mrs. Jeannie P. Brown, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. Mary V. A. Brown, Brookline, Mass.
Philip Greely Brown, Portland, Me.
Mrs. T. M. Brown, Springfield, Mass.
Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, Calais, Me.
Frank F. Browne, Boston, Mass.
Loys Brueyre, Paris, France.
Gustav Briihl, Cincinnati, O.
Edward S. Burgess, Washington, D, C.
Miss Mary Arthur Burnham, Philadelphia,
Pa.
A. E. Burton, Boston, Mass.
Hezekiah Butterworth, Boston, Mass.
John Caldwell, Edgewood Park, Pa.
A. Guyot Cameron, New Haven, Conn.
Miss Marie Campbell, Montreal, P. Q.
Mrs. Benjamin Carpenter, Chicago, 111.
Lucien Carr, Cambridge, Mass.
Thomas Carson, Brownville, Texas.
Mrs. J. B. Case, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. Julius Catlin, New York, N. Y.
Alexander Francis Chamberlain, Worcester,
Mass.
Montague Chamberlain, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Mary Chapman, Springfield, Mass.
Miss Ellen Chase, Brookline, Mass.
Walter G. Chase. Brookline, Mass.
Mrs. Charles G. Chase, Brookline, Mass.
Miss S. Marion Chase, Roxbury, Mass.
Addison Child, Childwold, N. Y.
Mrs. B. S. Church, New York, N. Y.
Clarence 11. Clark, Philadelphia, Pa.
Robert Clarke, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Richard Alsop Cleeman, Philadelphia, Pa.
Harry Ellsworth Clifford, Boston, Mass.
Edward Clodd, London, England,
Robert CoUyer, New York, N. Y.
A. L. Conger, Cambridge, Mass.
James W. Cook, Wentworth Place, Holly-
bush Hill, Snaresbrook, England.
George W. Cooke, Ea.st Lexington, Mass.
Mrs. David H. Coolidge, Boston, Mass,
Francis R. Cope, Philadelphia, Pa,
William Corner, San Antonio, Texas.
Charles F. Co.x, New York, N. Y.
Miss Marian Roalfe Cox, Kensington, Lon-
don, England.
Eckley B. Coxe, Drifton, Pa.
Thomas Frederick Crane, Ithaca, N. Y.
Miss Sarah H. Crocker, Boston, Mass,
Stewart Culin, Philadelphia, Pa.
Frederick Culver, New York, N, Y.
Mattoon Munroe Curtis, Cleveland, Ohio,
Frank H. Cushing, Washington, D. C.
Charles P. Daly, New York, N. Y.
Reginald A. Daly, Cambridge, Mass.
Charles P2. Dana, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. C. B. Davenport, Cambridge, Mass.
Thomas Davidson, Edinburgh, Scotland.
William Gilbert Davies, New York, N, Y.
Miss M. Davis, New York, N. Y.
E. C. Dawes, Cincinnati, Ohio,
Charles F. Dajmiond, New York, N. Y.
James Deans, Victoria, B. C.
Hiram Edmund Deats, Flemington, N. J.
Miss Gertrude Decrow, Boston, Mass,
Robert W. De Forest, New York, N. Y,
Mrs. E. A. De Wolf, St. Louis, Mo.
Epes S. Di.xwell, Cambridge, Mass.
George Amos Dorsey, Cambridge, Mass.
James Dougherty, Philadelphia, Pa.
Andrew E. Douglass, New York, N. Y.
Lorenzo Dow, New York, N. Y.
A. W. Drake, New York, N. Y,
Charles B. Dudley, Altoona, Pa.
D. M. Duggar, Cambridge, Mass.
John Durand, Paris, France.
R. T. Durrett, Louisville, Ky,
Mortimer Lamson Earle, New York, N. Y.
John L. Earll, Utica, N. Y.
Carl Edelheim, Philadelphia, Pa.
Miss E. B. Edes, New York, N. Y.
Charles L. Edwafds, Cincinnati, Ohio,
James W. Ellsworth, Chicago, 111.
L. H. Elwell,. Amherst, Mass.
Frank W. Ellwood, Rochester, N. Y.
Members of the American Folk-Lore Society. 341
Mrs. Ellen Russell Emerson, Boston, Mass.
Harold C. Ernst, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Dana Estes, Boston, Mass.
Thomas B. Everett, Boston, Mass.
H. F. Feilberg, Darum, Denmark.
Miss Bertha J. Fellows, Cambridge, Mass.
Merritt Lyndon Fernald, Cambridge, Mass.
J. Walter Fewkes, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Mary J. Field, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Dudley Field, New York, N. Y.
John Comfort Fillmore, Milwaukee, Wis.
Stuyvesant Fish, New York, N. Y.
Arthur E. Fish, New York, N. Y.
John Fiske, Cambridge, Mass.
Emma J. Fitz, Boston, Mass.
G. W. Fitz, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C.
Robert Fletcher, Washington, D. C.
Alcee Fortier, New Orleans, La.
J. W. Fradenburgh, D. D., Union City, Pa.
C. W. Frederickson, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Edward Fulton, Cambridge, Mass.
Robert W. Furnas, Brownville, Neb.
H. G. Gabel, Aurora, 111.
Alfred C. Garrett, Cambridge, Mass.
Albert S. Gatschet, Washington, D. C.
Miss E. Jane Gay, North Chelmsford, Mass.
Frank Butler Gay, Hartford, Conn.
Adolph Gerber, Richmond, Ind.
A. G Gerster, New York, N. Y.
Miss Emma Gibbs, Cambridge, Mass.
William W. Gibbs, Philadelphia, Pa.
Wolcott Gibbs, Newport, R. L
Miss Jeanie B. Gibson, New York, N. Y.
Richard W. Gilder, New York, N. Y.
Miss Gertrude M. Godden, Ridgefield,
Wimbledon, England.
Mrs. John C. Gray, Boston, Mass.
William W. Greenough, Boston, Mass.
Byron Griffin, Shelter Island Heights, Suf-
folk Co., N. Y.
Watson Griffin, Montreal, P. Q.
William Elliott Griffis, Ithaca, N. Y.
George Bird Grinnell, New York, N. Y.
Louis Grossman, Detroit, Mich.
Victor Guillou, Philadelphia, Pa.
Stansbury F. Hager, Digby, N. S.
Miss Caroline Patterson Hale, Philipsburgb,
Pa.
Allen Hamilton, Concord, N. H.
Andrew Holman Hamilton, Fort Wayne,
Ind.
Thomas B. Harned, Camden, N. J.
Mrs. John Harper, New York, N. Y.
-Mark W. Harrington, Washington, D. C.
Charles C. Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. John Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. William Howard Hart, Troy, N. Y.
Albert B. Hart, Cambridge, Mass.
E. Sidney Hartland, Gloucester, England.
Miss Louise P. Haskell, Cambridge, Ma.ss.
Henry Williamson Haynes, Boston, Mass.
Sylvanus Hayward, Globe Village, Mass.
Mrs. Esther Herrmann, New York, N. Y.
Milton L. Hersey, Montreal, P. Q.
Miss Caroline Maria Hewins, Hartford,
Conn.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Cambridge
Mass.
Don Gleason Hill, Dedham, Mass.
J. E. Hill, Montreal, P. Q.
Mrs. Thomas Hill, Baltimore, Md.
Henry L. Hobart, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. William Newell Hobart, Cincinnati,
Ohio.
F. Webb Hodge, Washington, D. C.
Richard Hodgson, Boston, Mass.
Robert Hoe, New York, N. Y.
Willis B. Holcombe, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Leslie Hopkinson, Cambridge, Mass.
Walter Hough, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. George Howe, New Orleans, La.
Mrs. Lucius Howe, Buffalo, N. Y.
Charles Francis Hubbard, Danville, Ky.
John E. Hudson, Boston, Mass.
Carl Hiilsen, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Thomas Y. Hunt, Salem, Mass.
B. S. Hurlbert, Cambridge, Mass.
Theodore D. Hurlbut, Brooklvn, N. Y.
Miss Harriet R. Hyatt, Cambridge, Mass.
Clarence M. Hyde, New York, N. Y.
E. Francis Hyde, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. E. F. Hyde, New York, N. Y.
Miss Elizabeth A. Hyde, Ne-.v York, N. Y.
Frederick E. Hyde, New York, N. Y.
Margaret R. Ingols, Cambridge, Mass.
Edward C. James, New York, N. Y.
George O. Jenkins, Boston, Mass.
Rev. Henry F. Jenks, Canton, Mass.
C. N. Johnson, Skowhegan, Me.
Miss Isabel L. Johnson, Boston, Mass.
William Preston Johnston, New Orleans, La.
S. H. Kanffmann, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. W. B. Kehew, Boston, Mass.
Frederick W. Kelly. Milwaukee, Wis.
Miss Mary Louise Kelly, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. Josephine M. Kendig, Philadelphia, Pa.
George G. Kennedy, Roxbury, Mass.
342
yoiivjial of American Folk-Lore.
James S. Kennedy, Chambersburg, Pa.
Miss Louise Kennedy, Concord, Mass.
Homer II. Kidder, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Hannah P. Kimball, Boston, Mass.
Landreth H. King, Dobbs Ferry, N. Y.
Albert Harlcigh Kirkham, Springfield, Mass.
George Lyman Kittredge, Cambridge, Mass.
Karl Knortz, Evansville, Ind.
Mrs. Mary Lyman Kobbe, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. H. \l. Kohlsaat, Chicago, 111.
H. E. Krehbiel, New York, N. Y?
George Frederick Kunz, New York, N. Y.
*W. H. Ladd, Boston, Mass.
A. A. Lambing, Wilkinsburg, Pa.
Henry E. Lang, New Haven, Conn.
Walter ^V. Law, Yonkers, N. Y.
George N. Lawrence, New York, N. Y.
Robert ^L Lawrence, Lexington, Mass.
Mrs. Mary E. Leach, Independence, Iowa.
Frank Willing Leach, Philadelphia, Pa.
Walter Learned, New London, Conn.
Miss Margaret C. Leavitt, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. William Le Brun, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. Mary Holland Lee, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. William Lee, Boston, Mass.
George Elliott Leighton, St. Louis, Mo.
Charles Godfrey Leland, Florence, Italy.
Charles McK. Leoser, Larchmont Manor,
N. Y.
Henry M. Lester, New York, N. Y.
Charles Letts, London, England.
Richard Vaughn Lewis, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. J. Dundas Lippincott, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. John P. Logan, Philadelphia, Pa.
Benjamin Lord, New York, N. Y.
Charles G. Loring, Boston, Mass.
Fernand Harvey Lungren, New York, N. Y.
Benjamin Smith Lyman, Philadelphia, Pa.
F. A. Lyman, Syracuse, N. Y.
Mrs. Thomas Mack, Boston, Mass.
Miss Elizabeth E. Manson, Cambridge,
Mass.
J. J. Mapel, Milwaukee, Wis.
J. Hunsley McCarthy, London, England.
Frederick H. J. McCormick, Whitehaven,
Cumberland, England.
R. W. McFarland, Oxford, Ohio.
Thomas McKellar, Philadelphia, Pa.
Kenneth McKenzie, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. John L. McNeil, Denver, Colo.
Henry Marquand, New York, N. Y.
Arthur R. Marsh, Cambridge, Mass.
Charles C. Marshall, New York, N. Y.
Artemus Martin, Washington, D. C.
Otis T. Mason, Washington, D. C.
Albert Matthews, Boston, Mass.
Washington Matthews, Washington, D. C.
Miss Francis H. Mead, Cambridge, Mass.
Edward Percival Merritt, Boston, Mass.
J. Meyer, New York, N. Y.
Miss Mary W. Milnor, Baltimore, Md.
Mary W. Minor, New York, N. Y.
Miss Mary Ann Mixter, Boston, Mass.
James Mooney, Washington, D. C.
C. H. Moore, Clinton, 111.
Elizabeth Huntington Moore, Cambridge,
Mass.
Thomas Ewing Moore, Weimar, Germany.
Miss Agnes Morgan, Osaka, Japan.
Miss J. Morris, New Orleans, La.
Mrs. Thomas J. Morris, Baltimore, Md.
Mrs. W. A. Morrison, Cambridge, Mass.
Edward S. Morse, Salem, Mass.
James L. Morgan, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Eugene H. Munday, Philadelphia, Pa.
Ezekiel W. Mundy, Syracuse, N. Y.
Grace Peckham Murray, New York, N. Y.
William Nelson, Patterson, N. J.
Kirk B. Newell, New York, N. Y.
Miss Laura Norcross, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. H. A. Oakley, New York, N. Y.
I). J. O'Connell, Rome, Italy.
Oswald Ottendorfcr, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. E. S. Page, Cleveland, Ohio.
Nathaniel Paine, Worcester, Mass.
Mrs. Mary Park, Elmira, N. Y.
Francis W. Parker, Chicago, 111.
T. D. Parker, Cambridge, Mass,
Miss Martha Parsons, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. C. Stuart Patterson, Philadelphia, Pa.
. J. W. Paul, Philadelphia, Pa.
Henry E. Pellew, Washington, D. C.
David P. Penhallow, Montreal, P. Q.
Mrs. Oilman H. Perkins, Rochester, N. Y.
Thomas Sargent Perry, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. George D. Phelps, New York, N. Y.
Bamett Phillips, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Perry B. Pierce, Washington, D. C.
James Mills Pierce, Cambridge, Mass.
James C. Pilling, Washington, D. C.
William Taggard Piper, Cambridge, Mass.
C. Augusta Pope, Boston, Mass.
Miss Emily F. Pope, Boston, Mass.
J. Sergeant Price, Philadelphia, Pa.
Miss Mary R. Prime, New York, N. Y.
E. D. Proctor, Framingham, Mass.
T. Mitchell Prudden, New York, N. Y.
W. H. Pulsifer, Newton Centre, Mass. .
Miss Lucia Pundy; New York, N. Y.
Members of the American Folk- Lore Society.
j4j
Frederick Ward Putnam, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. Frederick Ward Putnam, Cambridge,
Mass.
M. Taylor Pyne, New York, N. Y.
Penjamin J. Rand, Cambridge, Mass.
E. K. Rand, Cambridge, Mass.
A. L. Rawson, Paskack, N. J.
Miss Sarah E. Raymond, Charlestown, Mass.
John Reade, Montreal, P. Q.
Mrs. Caroline G. Reed, New York, N. Y.
Helen Leah Reed, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. Lizette W. Reese, Baltimore, Md.
Herbert M. Richards, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Caroline H. Richardson, Louisville,
Ky.
George ^L Richardson, Berkeley, Cal.
William L. Richardson, Boston, Mass.
E. Francis Riggs, Washington, D. C.
Robert Hudson Riley, Bensonhurst, L. L,
N. Y.
Craig D. Ritchie, Philadelphia, Pa.
D. A. Roberts, Milwaukee, Wis.
B. L. Robinson, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. B. L. Robinson, Cambridge, Mass.
F. N. Robinson, Cambridge, Mass.
Charles J. Ryder, New York, N. Y.
William IL Sage, Ithaca, N. Y.
Stephen Salisbury, Worcester, Mass.
Marshall H. Saville, New York, N. Y.
Miss Fanny M. Sa.xe, Montreal, P. Q.
Charles Schiiffer, Philadelphia, Pa.
Otto B. Schlutter, Hartford, Conn.
William Henry Schofield, Cambridge, Mass.
James P. Scott, Philadelphia, Pa.
J. Hilton Scribner, Yonkers, N. Y.
E. M. Scudder, New York, N. Y.
Horace E. Scudder, Cambridge, Mass.
F. Sessions, Gloucester, England.
Miss G. S. Shaler, Cambridge, Mass.
John K. Shaw, Baltimore, Md.
C. Bernard Shea, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mrs. Shelton, Montreal, P. Q.
Miss Blanche Shimmin, Boston, Mass.
William M. Singerly, Philadelphia, Pa.
Joseph F. Sinnott, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. Annie Trumbull Slosson, New York,
N. Y.
Miss G. Smith, New York, N. Y.
De Cost Smith, New York, N. Y.
E. Reuel Smith, New York, N. Y.
Herbert W. Smith, St Paul, Minn.
John Jewell Smith, New York, N. Y.
William Henry Smith, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Edward Stabler, Baltimore, Md.
Katherine Sheward Stanberry, Zanesville, O.
Frederick Starr, Chicago, III.
E. P. Steers, New York, N. Y.
John L. Stettinius, Cincinnati, Ohio.
B. B. Stevenson, Montreal, P. Q.
Mrs. Matilda C. Stevenson, Montreal, P. Q.
Gardner P. Stickncy, Milwaukee, Wis.
DeWitt Stillwell, Syracuse, N. Y.
R. ^L Stimson, Marietta, Ohio.
Mrs. Olivia E. P. Stokes, New York, N. Y.
Miss Elizabeth H. Storer, Cambridge, Mass.
George Alfred Stringle, Buffalo, N. Y.
Therdon Sutro, N. Y.
Brandreth Symonds, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. William H. Talbot, Boston, Mass.
William B. Tayler, Washington, D. C.
James Terry, New York, N. Y.
A. Blair Thaw, New York, N. Y.
Benjamin Thaw, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Henry Kendall Thaw, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mrs. William Thaw, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Miss Miriam Thayer, Cambridge, Mass.
Ronald Thomas, Columbia, Tenn.
F. F. Thompson, New York, N. Y.
Robert William Thompson, New York,
N. Y.
Miss Catherine C. Tileston, Milton, Mass.
Miss Margaret Tileston, Cambridge, Mass.
John S. Tilney, Orange, N. J.
Archibald Reed Tisdale, Boston, Mass.
William Wallace Tooker, Sag Harbor, N. Y.
M. Fannie°Torbert, Lambertville, N. Y.
John W. Townsend, Philadelphia, Pa.
Crawford Howell Toy, Cambridge, Mass.
H. Clay Trumbull, PhUadclphia, Pa.
James Hammond Trumbull, Hartford, Conn.
Thomas Tryon, New York, N. Y.
William Burnett Tuthill, New York, N. Y.
Henry H. Vail, New York, N. Y.
Lee J. Vance, Hoboken, N. J.
Ranieri Vilanova, New York, N. Y.
Charles Edwin Vredenburgh, Elizabeth,
town, Essex County, N. Y.
Alfred Waites, Worcester, Mass.
Miss Marian Walker, Cambridge, Mass.
Horace E. Warner, Washington. D. C.
Joseph B. Warner, Cambridge, Mass.
Samuel D. Warren, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. J. Gould Webb, New York, N. Y.
David Webster, New York, N. Y.
Arthur Weir, Montreal, P. Q.
Mrs. John Wells, New York, N. Y.
Gerald M. West, Worcester. Mass.
Henry T. West, Milwaukee, Wis.
Edward S. Wheeler, Philadelphia, Pa.
344 Jotirnal of A7ncrican Folk-Lore.
Horace Leslie Wheeler, Burlington, Vt. R. N. Wilson, MacLeod, Alberta, N. W.
Edward Wheelwright, Boston, Mass. Terr.
Mrs. C. A. Whitney, New York, N. V. Mrs. Casper Wister, Philadelphia, Pa.
Miss Annie Weston Whitney, Baltimore, Mrs. Ella L. Wolcott, KImira, N. Y.
Md. Richard Wood, Philadelphia, Pa.
Frederick P. Wilcox, Grand Rapids, Mich. Henry Wood, Baltimore, Md.
Alfred M. Williams, Providence, R. L Joseph Gurley Woodward, Hartford, Conn.
Talcott Williams, Philadelphia, Pa. A. K. Wright, London, England.
Henry J. Willing, Chicago, 111. J. F. Wright, Hartford, Conn.
Mrs. Henry J. Willing, Chicago, 111.
Mrs. Henry M. Wilmarth, Chicago, 111. Miss Sarah Yerxa, Cambridge, Mass.
James G. Wilson, Baltimore, Md.
James Grant Wilson, New Y'ork, N. Y. William Young, Philadelphia, Pa.
LIST OF LIBRARIES OR SOCIETIES, BEING MEMBERS OF THE
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, OR SUBSCRIBERS TO
THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE, IN THE YEAR
1895.
Amherst College Library, Amherst, Mass.
Athenaeum Library, Minneapolis, Minn.
Boston Athenasum, Boston, Mass.
Brooklyn Library, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Central Library, Syracuse, N. Y.
Chicago Literary Club, Chicago, 111.
Columbia College Library, New York, N. Y.
D. Abercrombie Library, Baltimore, Md.
Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass.
Free Public Library, San Francisco, Cal.
Free Public Library, Worcester, Mass.
Hackley Public Library, Muskegon, Mich.
Hartford Librarj' Association, Hartford, Conn.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.
Howard Memorial Library, New Orleans, La.
Iowa State Library, Des Moines, Iowa.
Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kans.
Library of Chicago University, Chicago, 111.
Library of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pa.
Library of Congress, U. S. A., Washington, D. C.
Library of Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Ont.
Library of Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Library of Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.
Libran,' of University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kans.
Long Island State Historical Society, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Massachusetts State Library, Boston, Mass.
-Mercantile Library, New York, N. Y.
Nebraska State Historical Society, Brownville, Neb.
Newberry Library, Chicago, 111.
New York State Library, Albany, N. Y.
Osterhout Free Library', Wilkes Barre, Pa.
Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Philadelphia Library, Philadelphia, Pa.
Members of the American Folk-Lore Society. 345
Public Library, Boston, Mass.
I'ublic Library, Cambridge, Mass.
Public Library, Chicago, 111.
Public Library, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Public Library, Dayton, Ohio.
Public Library, Detroit, Mich.
Public Library, Galesburg, 111.
Public Library, Los Angeles, Cal.
Public Library, Maiden, Mass.
Public Library, Milwaukee, Wis.
Public Library, Omaha, Neb.
Public Library, Indianapolis, Ind.
Public Library, Peoria, 111.
Public Library, Portland, Maine.
Public Library, Providence, R. I.
Public Library, Rockford, 111.
Public Library, Southbridge, Mass.
Public Library, St. Louis, Mo.
Public Library, St. Paul, Minn.
Public Library, Toronto, Ont.
Reynolds Library, Reynolds, N. Y.
Sacramento Free Library, Sacramento, Cal.
State Historical Library, Madison, Wis.
Union Club, Cleveland, Ohio.
University Library, Berkeley, Cal.
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kans.
Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wis.
Women's Anthropological Society, Washington, D. C.
Young Men's Christian Association of the City of New York, N. Y.
SUBSCRIBERS TO THE PUBLICATION FUND OF THE
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, 1895.
John Abercromby, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Isaac Adler, New York, N. Y.
Samuel P. Avery, Jr., New York, N. Y.
Miss Alice Mabel Bacon, Hampton, Va.
Mrs. Frances Newbury Bagley, Detroit,
Mich.
Mrs. Mary M. Barclay, Washington, D. C.
Eugene F. Bliss, Cincinnati, O.
Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Mass.
Charles P. Bowditch, Boston, Mass.
Daniel G. Brinton, Philadelphia, Pa.
Philip Greely Brown, Portland, Me.
John Caldwell, Edgewood Park, Pa.
Miss Mary Chapman, Cambridge, Mass.
Francis James Child, Cambridge, Mass.
Clarence H. Clark, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mattoon Munrce Curtis, Cleveland, O.
Charles P. Daly, New York, N. Y.
Charles F. Daymond, New York, N. Y.
Hiram Edmund Deals, Flemington, N. J.
VOL. VIII. — NO. 31. 23
Charles L. Edwards, Cincinnati, O.
James L. Ellsworth, Chicago, 111.
Stuyvesant Fish, New York, N. Y.
John Fiske, Cambridge, Mass.
Alcee Fortier, New Orleans, La.
Alfred C. Garrett, Cambridge, Mass.
Charles C. Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa.
E. Sidney Hartland, Gloucester, Eng.
Mrs. Esther Herrmann, New York, N. Y.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Cambridge,
Mass.
John H. Hinton, New York, N. Y.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Phila-
delohia. Pa.
Richard Hodgson, Boston, Mass.
Robert Hoe, New York, N. Y.
John E. Hudson, Boston, Mass.
Theodore D. Hurlbut, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Clarence M. Hyde, New York, N. Y.
E. Francis llyde, New York, N. Y.
346
journal of American Folk-Lore.
Frederick E. Hyde, New York, N. Y.
Edward C. James, New York, N. Y.
Miss Louise Kennedy, Concord, Mass.
Mrs. H. H. Kohlsaart, Chicago, 111.
Walter Learned, New London, Conn.
Charles McKay Leoser, Larchmont Manor,
N. Y.
Albert Matthews, Boston, Mass.
Washington Matthews, Washington, D. C.
J. Meyer, New York, N. Y.
Thomas Ewing Moore, Weimar, Germany.
Miss Agnes Morgan, Osaka, Japan.
William Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Laura Norcross, Boston, Mass.
Miss Mary A. Owen, St. Joseph, Mo.
Mrs. Oilman 11. Perkins, Rochester, N. Y.
George M. Richardson, Berkeley, Cal.
William L. Richardson, Boston, Mass.
Charles Schaffer, Philadelphia, Pa.
Otto B. .Schlatter, Hartford, Conn.
C. Bernard Shea. Pittsburgh, Pa.
Gardner P. Stickney, Milwaukee, Wis.
Brandrcth Symonds, New York, N. Y.
John S. Tilney, Orange, N. J.
Henry H. Vail, New York, N. Y.
Alfred M. Williams, Providence, R. L
Henry J. Willing, Chicago, 111.
Mrs. Henry J. Willing, Chicago, 111.
Worcester City Library, Worcester, Mass.
INDEX TO VOLUME VIII.
American Folk-Lore Society :
Annual Meeting, 1894, i ; officers, 339;
members, 339; libraries subscribing 344;
subscribers to Publication Fund, 346.
Animals in folk-loVe and myth :
Ahuizotl, 123; bear, 193, 19S ; beaver,
193; bee, 25; bird Oactli, 118; cat, 26,
252; cock, 25, 26, 290; coyote, 12S, 318;
cow, 23, 25 ; crow, 252 ; dog, 24 ; eagle,
132, 195; elk, 133; fox, 181 ; frog, 25, 192 ;
hare, 24 ; hen, 25 ; horse, 24, 192 ; lizard,
86, 133, 191; mountain cat, 112; mus-
quash, 199, 201; owl, 119; pigeon, 285 ;
pinaviztli (insect), 120; rabbit, 327; ser-
pent, 125, 127, 130, 189, 272, 277 ; skunk,
120; spider, 133; turtle, 195, 197; wasp,
26 ; wren, 24.
Backus, E., Weather-Signs from Connecti-
cut, 26.
Beauchamp, W. M., Iroquois Condolence :
Taking names of deceased warriors,
313; changes of rites, 314; earliest ac-
count of condolence, 314 ; modern cere-
mony, 315 ; wampum belts, 316.
Beauchamp, W. M., Mohawk Notes :
Mohawk vocabulary, 207 ; name of
confederacy, 217; clans, 217; villages,
218 ; use of iron, 218 ; slaves, 218 ; dances,
219; significant cries, 219 ; smoking, 219;
hunting and fishing usages, 220 ; house-
hold implements, 220 ; arrangement of
hair, 220 ; magic rites, 220.
Beauchamp, W. M., Onondaga Notes :
White Dog Feast, 209; tunes and
dances, 212; female keepers of faith, 212;
Eagle dance, 212; lacrosse, 213; games,
213; houses how closed, 214; treatment
of children, 214; condoling songs, 214;
salt, 214 ; early history of Hiawatha, 215;
spoon and kettle, 216.
Beings, Imaginary :
Demons, 1S6, 329 ; dwarfs, 130 ; fairies,
22,90 ; G]ooscap,i93; gods, 123, 266; Kul-
loo, 197 ; Man-Eagle, 132 ; monsters, 132 ;
Spider- Woman, 133; thunder bird, 318.
Bergen, F. D., Burial and Holiday Customs
and Beliefs of the Irish Peasantry :
Burial, 19; churchyards, 20; garments
of dead, 21 ; dead rise from graves at
night, 21 ; water superstitions, 21 ; chris-
tening cloth, 21 ; old wells, 21 ; New
Year's Eve, 23 ; Candlemas Day, 23 ; Ash
Wednesday, 23 ; St. Bridget's night, 23 ;
May Day, 23 ; hare-woman, 23 ; burial of
wren, 24 ; horse able to see spirits, 24 ;
cow, 25 ; frog, 25 ; bees and hens, 25 ;
cock, 25 ; mole, 25.
Bolton, H. C, Fortune-Telling in America
To-Day :
Fortune-telling as a profession, 279 ;
variety of methods adopted, 301 ; analysis
of advertisements, 302.
Bolton, H. C, The Game of Goose :
This game source of a great variety of
variations, 145 ; rules, 145 ; European ex-
amples of this class, 147.
Bolton, H. C, The Porta Magica, Rome :
Christina of Sweden, 73 ; alchemy and
chemistry in seventeenth century, 74 ;
gateway of villa, known as Porta Magica,
75; illustration, 76.
Bolton, R. P., The Cockney and his Dialect ;
Cockney, origin of term, 222 ; relic of
old dialect, 223 ; letter w, 224 ; letter //,
225 ; vulgarity of modern form, 227 ; con-
servatism, 228.
Books Reviewed :
Boas, F., Chinook Texts, 328 ; Bolton,
H. C, Madonna of.St. Luke, 169 ; Ijureau
of Ethnology, Twelfth Annual Report
(papers by Stevenson, M. C, The Sia;
Turner, L. M., Ethnology of Ungava Dis-
trict; Dorsey, J. O., Siouan Cults), 327;
Culin, S., Korean Games, 331 ; Earle, A.
M., Diary of Anna Green Winslow, 95;
Elton, E., Saxo Grammaticus (Introduc-
tion of F. Y. Powell), 166; Hartland, V..
S., Legend of Perseus, 332; Lummis, C.
F., Man who married the Moon, 168 ;
Mallery, G., Picture-Writing of American
Indians, 92 ; Meyer, K., Voyage of Bran
(with essay of A. Nutt, an Irish happy
Underworld), 334; Williams, A. M.,
Studies in Folk-Song and Popular Poetry,
94.
Bourke, J. G., The Folk-Foods of the Rio
Grande Valley and of Northern Mexico :
34^
Index.
Fruits introduced by Franciscan monks,
41; pifion and pecan indigenous, 43;
sapotes, 43 ; chirimoyas, 43 ; chilcoyote,
44 ; guava, 44 ; tuna, 44 ; mango, 45 ;
chie, 45; chile, 46; chilchipin, 46; ali-
cochis, 47 ; coyotillo, 47 ; coma, 47 ; gran-
jeno, 47 ; chapote, 48 ; mame, 48 ; Span-
ish bayonet, 48 ; manyo, 48 ; aguacate, 48 ;
acorns, 48; anacahuita, 48; frijole, 49;
guadalupan, 49 ; mescal, 49 ; tomato, 50 ;
biznaga, 50 ; mezquite, 50 ; guayacan, 50 ;
onion, 50 ; sauce, 51 ; tejocote, 51 ; grape,
51 ; socoyonostre, 51 ; maguey, 52; corn,
52 ; strawberries, 52 ; mangostin, 53 ; ci-
ruela, 53 ; plum, 53 ; cocoanut, 53 ; si-
cama, 53 ; Mexican cookery, 53 ; cakes
and candies, 56 ; street vending, 58 ; bev-
erages, 58 ; national feast m city of Mex-
ico, 60 ; street vending, 63 ; beggary, 66 ;
domestic cookery, 67 ; gardening, 69 ; col-
onization, 71.
Ceremonies and Customs :
Averting ill omens, 119; christening,
22; clothing, 19, 21 ; condolence, 313;
courtship, 106; marriage, 311; naming,
131; ordeal, 290; rain-making, 278; re-
lating to straw, 291.
Chamberlain, A. F., Record of American
Folk-Lore, 317.
Charms and spells, 259, 288.
Chatelain, H., Some Causes of the Retarda-
tion of African Progress :
P'ormer ethnologic views concerning
ranks of the negro, 177; change of opin-
ion, 177 ; five causes of stagnation, 178;
seclusion, 178; lack of written literature,
179; polygamy, 180; slavery, 180; witch-
craft, 18 [; fetish-man, 182; revenge by
accusation of witchcraft, 183 ; denuncia-
tion of chiefs who attempt independence,
183 ; necessity of moral influence to foster
progress, 184.
Dances and Feasts, Indian :
Iroquois, 107, 318; Omaha, 249; Onon-
daga, 209 ; Pueblo, 324 ; Tusayan, 265.
Days and Festivals, 23, 24, 162, 249.
Dialect, 27.
Dorsey, J. O., Kwapa Folk-I.ore :
Serpent, tortoise, stars, aurora, dwarfs,
giant woman, thunderers, 130; taboo, mys-
tery man, change of proper names, mar-
riages, 131.
English Folk-Tales in America :
The Three Brothers and the Hag, D.
Conant, 143.
Fewkes, J. W., The Destruction of the Tu-
sayan Monsters :
Parthenogenetic twins, Youth and
Echo, 132 ; tale of Youth and Man-eagle,
132; how the twins killed the Great Elk,
135; killed Tcaveyo, 136; visited the
Sun, 136.
Fewkes, J. W., The Oraibi Flute Altar :
Present state of village, 265 ; altar with
image of star-god, 266 ; sand-jDicture on
floor, 267 ; sand-mound with artificial
flowers, 268 ; standards, 269 ; six direc-
tions' altar, 270 ; ceremony at, 270; altar
of Drab Flute, 271 ; Walpi Snake Dance,
273; smoke talk, 274; ceremonials, 276;
public Snake Dance, 27S ; Snake priests
bitten by reptiles, 279; dance a rain cere-
mony, 2S2 ; explanation of plates, 283.
Fielde, A. M., The Character of Chinese
Folk-Tales :
Chinese conditions favorable to pres-
ervation of folk-lore, 185 ; difficulties of
translation, 185; Tale of an Unlucky De-
mon, 186; The Obedient Python, 188;
Son of the Sea-Dragon King, 189 ; The
Pearl Lantern, 190.
Fillmore, J. C, What do Indians mean to
do when they Sing, and how far do they
Succeed ?
Not impossible to represent Indian
music in our scale, 138 ; errors due to
phonographic variation, 139 ; to inaccu-
racy of singers, 139 ; methods adopted in
record, 139; not proper to record aberra-
tions, 142.
Folk-Lore Scrap-Book :
Nominies, 81, 153; Popular Formulas
in Massachusetts, 84 ; Pigments used by
Children in their Play, F. D. Bergen, 151 ;
Courtship Formulas of Southern Negroes,
155; The Aims of Anthropology, D. G.
Brinton, 247 ; The Sacred Pole of the
Omaha Tribe, A. C. Fletcher, 249 ; The
Origin of Playing-Cards, 250; Negro Su-
perstitions in South Carohna, 251 ; Tree-
Planting at Childbirth, 323 ; A Pueblo
Rabbit-Hunt, 324.
Formulas and Rhymes, 81, 84, 95, 152, 155,
159.255-
Games, 89, 145, 151, 214, 221, 250, 253,
33'-
Herr, C. C, Liflz:
Character of the Moravian town, 308 ;
conservatism, 308; festival usages, 3 jo;
weddings, 311 ; funeral ceremonies, 312;
present schism, 312.
Index.
349
V
Hewett, J. N. B., The Iroquoian Concept
of the Soul :
Origin of rites in concepts of psychic
phenomena, 107 ; belief in several souls,
108 ; state of soul after death, 109 ; soul
capable of leaving the body, no; dream
as affecting ceremonial, no ; terms ap-
plied to psychic powers, 112 ; belief in a
typical animal of each species, 115 ; owl
and turtle-dove fetishes of witches, 115.
In Memoriam (of J. Owen Dorsey), 79.
Indian Tribes :
In general, 92, 13S, 263; Apache, 49,
50, 52; Arickara, 250; Cheyenne, 250;
Huron, 211 ; Iroquois, 107, 220, 260, 263;
Kwapa, 130; Maliseet, 193 ; Micmac, 161,
263; Mohawk, 21 1, 217; Natchez, 164;
Omaha, 80, 249, 250, 260, 262 ; Onondaga,
209,215; Pawnee, 250; Pueblo, 264; Sali-
shan, 170; Seneca, 216; Tusayan, 132,
169, 171, 265 ; Zufii, 169, 261. (See also
Record of American Folk- Lore.)
Jack, E., Maliseet Legends :
Glooscap, living in south end of the
world, 193 ; reduced animals to present
size, 193 ; killed beaver, 194, 195 ; de-
prives porcupine of nose, 196 ; has
wicked brother, 196; Kulloo and Gloos-
cap, 197; Lox, 19S ; short stories, 200;
Mohawks on the warpath, 201 ; Indian
names, 204.
Journals, 174, 33S.
Lady in the West (a ballad), 23a
Local Meetings and Other Notices :
Meetings of branches : Baltimore, 90,
160, 260; Boston, 88, 160; Cambridge,
89, 161 ; Montreal, 90, 161 ; New Orleans,
162; New York, 89, 165; Washington,
165, 261 ; proposed testimonial to G. L.
Gomme, 91 ; C. C. Baldwin (in memo-
riam), 166; American Association for
the Advancement of Science, 261 ; John
O'Neill (in memoriam), 264.
Medicine, Popular, 85, 2S6.
Memoirs of the American FoUc-Lore So-
ciety :
Vol. II., Louisiana Folk-Tales, 72 ; Vol.
III., Bahama Songs and Stories, C. L.
Edwards, 156, 243.
Music noted, 246, 253, 256.
Mythology and Religion :
In general, 104 ; Kwapa, 130 ; Maliseet,
193; Onondaga, 209; Tusayan, 265.
Nature, Phenomena of :
Cardinal directions, 102, 135, 269 ;
cloud, 268; fire, 23, 296; lightning, 136;
Milky Way, 130; moon, 252; rain, 26,
123, 153, 267, 275; rainbow, 153; sky,
104, 136, 137 ; snow, 153; stars, 163, 269;
sun, 26, 135, 137, 275,
Newell, W. W., Folk-Lore Study and Folk-
Lore Societies:
Work of American Society, 231 ; ori-
ginal use of term folk-lore, 231 ; outline
of material covered by term, 231 ; games
of children, 232 ; French and Spanish-
American folk-lore, 233 ; American and
African negro lore, 234 ; American races,
234 ; deficiencies of record, 236 ; local
societies, 237; by-laws of branches, 239;
papers presented at meetings of branches,
240 ; titles of papers published in Journal,
241.
Notes on Publications Received :
Works of A. Bastian, F. Boas, E. S.
Hartland, L. Marillier, P. Sebillot, 172.
Notes and Queries :
Custom of wearing Gold Beads, W. W.
Newell, 85 ; Customs and Superstitions
of the Rio Grande, R. Peirce, C. G. Le-
land, W. Corner, 85 ; The Lode-Stone,
J. G. Bourke, 86 ; An Accumulative Lul-
laby, E. Chase, 86; Corrections in Vol.
VII., H. W. Haynes, 88 ; Superstitious
Explanation of Patches of Warm Air, Su-
perstition relating to the Color of Horses,
G. W. Moorehouse, 157 ; Speech of Chil-
dren, H. T. Lukens, 158 ; Rhyme relating
to a Scold, R. Meikleham, 159 ; Folk-
Lore of Canadian Children, A. F. Cham-
berlain, 252 ; Variants of Counting-Out
Rhymes, A. Leon, 255; Ballad of Bold
Dickie, 256; Infants reared by Wild
Beasts, G. P. Bradley, 258; The Black
String, H. C. Bolton, 259; A Nursery
Yam, 330.
Nuttall, D., A Note on Ancient Mexican
Folk-Lore :
B. de Sahagun, 117; his description of
soothsaying, 117; the bird Oactli, 118;
rites to avert ill luck, 119; owl, 119;
skunk, 120; ants, 120; apparitions, 120;
phantasmic axe, 121; night spirit, 122;
ahuizotl, 123; water serpent, 125; other
serpents, 126; coyote, 128; mountaincat,
128.
O'Neill, J., Straw :
Straw-contracts, 293 ; bargains cancelled
by breaking a straw, 291 ; Japanese straw-
350
Index.
ropes, 293 ; wisps of straw, 295 ; images
of straw, 295 ; phrase, " not worth a
rush," 296 ; grass used on altar to make
resemblance to the earth, 297 ; explana-
tion of practices noted, 298.
Paraphernalia of Worship :
Altar, 265; cakes, 310; dog, sacrificed,
210; feathers, 327 ; grass, 297 ; meal, 220,
275; sacred pole, 249; tobacco, 250, 329;
wampum, 314.
Patterson, G., Notes on the Dialect of the
People of Newfoundland :
Origin of population, 27 ; survival of
English words now obsolete, 27 ; words
used in peculiar senses, 34 ; words of un-
certain origin, 38 ; technical fishing terms,
39 ; phrases, 40.
Patterson, G., Notes on the Folk-Lore of
Newfoundland :
Luck, 285 ; divination, 285 ; charms,
286 ; ghosts, 2S7 ; hidden treasure, 288 ;
spells, 288 ; ordeal by cock crowing, 289.
Plantation Courtship, 106.
Plants in folk-lore and myth :
Bloodroot, 151; grass, 267, 293, 297;
maize, 270, 383, 327 ; poppy, 152; potato,
286 ; rushes, 296 ; trees, 294, 326 ; violets,
Powell, J. W., The Interpretation of Folk-
Lore :
Sources of five great human activities,
97 ; opinions embodied in tales, 98 ; unity
of human intellect, 99 ; loss of tribal
genealogies, loi ; borrowing chiefly after
evolution of written language, loi ; simi-
larity of folk-lore dependent on human
unity, 103 ; four stages of explaining phe-
nomena, 103.
Publications Received, 173.
Races and Localities :
Africa, 170, 177 ; Bahama, 243 ; Canada,
252; China, 185, 261; Connecticut, 26,
192 ; England, 8i, 153, 222 ; Gypsy, 161 ;
India, 297, 326; Ireland, 19; Japan, 250.
260, 293; Korea, 251, 331 ; Louisiana, 72;
Massachusetts, 84 ; Mexico, 41, 117; New-
foundland, 27, 285 ; New Mexico, 324 ;
Ohio, 263 ; Pennsylvania, 308 ; Rio
Grande, 41, 85; Rome, 73 ; South Caro-
lina, 251 ; Samoa, 170; Virginia, 106, 155,
159.
Salt, use of, 214.
Songs, 87, 95, 230, 243, 246, 253, 256.
Spirits and Ghosts, 21, 25, 107-116, 121, 122,
157, 182, 186, 210, 212, 219, 287, 2,'!,'}>-
Superstitions :
Bone, 114; color, 157, 327; death and
funeral, 20, 23, 69 ; egg, 285 ; gold beads,
85 ; hair, 192; ladder, 285 ; lodestone, 86;
luck, 285 ; mirror, 117 ; moon, 252 ; mov-
ing, 192 ; naming, 131 ; number, 104; po-
ker, 86 ; ring, 192 ; salt, 215 ; straw, 291 ;
urine, 85; warm air, 157; water, 21, 22;
weather, 26 ; wind, 252.
Tales and Legends, 143, 185, 193, 243.
Tales : Theory concerning diffusion of, 7,
103.
Witchcraft and Magic, 23, ^t^, 115, 160, 181,
252, 286, 328, 335.
THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE
VOLUME IX
€
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
^ubliieffjcti for €f)c ^Hmcrican fo\h-%ovt ^mttp hp
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 270, 271 STRAND
LEIPZIG: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ, QUERSTRASSE, 14
M DCCC XCVI
Copyright, 1896,
By The American Folk-Lore Society.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.
THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
Vol. IX.— JANUARY-MARCH, 1896. — No. XXXII.
THE GROWTH OF INDIAN MYTHOLOGIES.
A STUDY BASED UPON THE GROWTH OF THE MYTHOLOGIES OF THE
NORTH PACIFIC COAST.^
In a collection of Indian traditions recently published (" India-
nische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Kiiste Nordamerikas,"
Berlin, A. Asher & Co.), I have discussed the development of the
mythologies of the Indians of the North Pacific coast. I will, in
the following paper, briefly sum up the results at which I arrived in
my investigation, and try to formulate a number of principles which,
it seems to me, may be derived from it, and which, I believe, ought
to be observed in all work on mythologies and customs of prim-
itive people.
The region with which I deal, the North Pacific coast of our conti-
nent, is inhabited by people diverse in language but alike in culture.
The arts of the tribes of a large portion of the territory are so
uniform that it is almost impossible to discover the origin of even
the most specialized forms of their productions inside of a wide
expanse of territory. Acculturation of the variolas tribes has had
the effect that the plane and the character of the culture of most of
them is the same ; in consequence of this we find also that myths
have travelled from tribe to tribe, and that a large body of legends
belongs to many in common.
As we depart from the area where the peculiar culture of the North
Pacific coast has reached its highest development, a gradual change
in arts and customs takes place, and, together with it, we find a
gradual diminution in the number of myths which the distant tribe
has in common with the people of the North Pacific coast. At the
same time, a gradual change in the incidents and general character
of the legends takes place.
^ Paper read at the Seventh Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Soci-
ety, Philadelphia, December 27, 1895.
2 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
We can in this manner trace what we might call a dwindling down
of an elaborate cyclus of myths to mere adventures, or even to inci-
dents of adventures, and we can follow the process step by step.
.Wherever this distribution can be traced, we have a clear and un-
doubted example of the gradual dissemination of a myth over neigh-
boring tribes. The phenomena of distribution can be explained
only by the theory that the tales have been carried from one tribe
to its neighbors, and by the tribe which has newly acquired them in
turn to its own neighbors. It is not necessary that this dissemina-
tion should always follow one direction ; it may have proceeded
either way. In this manner a complex tale may dwindle down by
gradual dissemination, but also new elements may be embodied in it.
It may be well to give an example of this phenomenon. The most
popular tradition of the North Pacific coast is that of the raven.
Its most characteristic form is found among the Tlingit, Tsimshian,
and Haida. As we go southward, the connection between the
adventurers becomes looser and their number less. It appears that
the traditions are preserved quite fully as far south as the north end
of Vancouver Island. Farther south the number of tales which are
known to the Indians diminishes very much. At Newettee, near
the north point of Vancouver Island, thirteen tales out of a w^hole of
eighteen exist. The Comox have only eight, the Nootka six, and
the Coast Salish only three. Furthermore, the traditions are found
at Newettee in the same connection as farther north, while farther
south they are very much modified. The tale of the origin of day-
light, which was liberated by the raven, may serve as an instance.
He had taken the shape of the spike of a cedar, was swallowed by
the daughter of the owner of the daylight, and then born again ;
afterwards he broke the box in which the daylight was kept.
Among the Nootka, only the transformation into the spike of a
cedar, which is swallowed by a girl and then born again, remains.
Among the Coast Salish the more important passages survive, tell-
ing how the raven by a ruse compelled the owner of the daylight to
let it out of the box in which he kept it. The same story is found
as far south as Grey's Harbor in Washington. The adventure of
the pitch, which the raven kills by exposing it to the sunshine,
intending to use it for caulking his canoe, is found far south, but in
an entirely new connection, embodied in the tradition of the origin
of sun and moon.
But there are also certain adventures embodied in the raven myths
of the north which probably had their origin in other parts of Amer-
ica. Among these I mention the tale how tHe raven was invited
and reciprocated. The seal puts his hands near the fire, and grease
drips out of them into a dish which he gives to the raven. Then
The Growth of Indian Mythologies. 3
the latter tries to imitate him, but burns his hands, etc. This tale is
found, in one or the other form, all over North America, and there is
no proof that it originally belonged to the raven myth of Alaska.
For other examples I refer to my book.
I believe the proposition that dissemination has taken place among
neighboring tribes will not encounter any opposition. Starting from
this point, we will make the following considerations : —
If we have a full collection of the tales and myths of all the tribes
of a certain region, and then tabulate the number of incidents which
all the collections from each tribe have in common with any selected
tribe, the number of common incidents will be the larger the more
intimate the relation of the two tribes and the nearer they live
together. This is what we observe in a tabulation of the material
collected on the North Pacific coast. On the whole, the nearer the
people, the greater the number of common elements ; the farther
apart, the less the number.
But it is not the geographical location alone which influences
the distribution of tales. In some cases, numerous tales which are
common to a certain territory stop short at a certain point, and are
found beyond it in slight fragments only. These limits do not by
any means coincide with the linguistic divisions. An example of
this kind is the raven legend, to which I referred before. It is found
in substantially the same form from Alaska to northern Vancouver
Island; then it suddenly disappears almost entirely, and is not found
among the southern tribes of Kwakiutl lineage, nor on the west
coast of Vancouver Island, although the northern tribes, who speak
the Kwakiutl language, have it. Only fragments of these legends
have strayed farther south, and their number diminishes with increas-
ing distance. There must be a cause for such a remarkable break.
A statistical inquiry shows that the northern traditions are in close
contact with the tales of the tribes as far south as the central part
of Vancouver Island, where a tribe of Salish lineage is found ; but
farther they do not go. The closely allied tribes immediately south
do not possess them. Only one explanation of this fact is possible,
viz., lack of acculturation, which may be due either to a difference of
character, to continued hostilities, or to recent changes in the loca-
tion of the tribes, which has not allowed the slow process of accultur-
ation to exert its deep-going influence. I consider the last the most
probable cause. My reason for holding this opinion is that the
Bilxula, another Salish tribe, who have become separated from the
people speaking related languages and live in the far north, still
show in their mythologies the closest relations to the southern Sa-
lish tribes, with whom they have many more traits in common than
their neighbors to the north and to the south. If their removal were
4 younial of American Folk-Lore.
a very oia one, this similarity in mythologies would probably not have
persisted, but they would have been quite amalgamated by their
new neighbors.
' We may also extend our comparisons beyond the immediate neigh-
bors of the tribes under consideration by comparing the mythologies
of the tribes of the plateaus in the interior, and even of those farther
to the east with those of the coast. Unfortunately, the available
material from these regions is very scanty. Fairly good collections
exist from the Athapascan, from the tribes of Columbia River and
east of the mountains, from the Omaha, and from some Algonquin
tribes. When comparing the mythologies and traditions which
belong to far-distant regions, we find that the number of incidents
which they have in common is greater than might have been ex-
pected ; but some of those incidents are so general that we may
assume that they have no connection, and may have arisen inde-
pendently. There is, however, one very characteristic feature which
proves beyond cavil that this is not the sole cause of the similarity of
tales and incidents. We know that in the region under discussion
two important trade routes reached the Pacific coast, one along the
Columbia River, which connected the region inhabited by Shosho-
nean tribes with the coast and indirectly led to territories occu-
pied by Siouan and Algonquin tribes ; another one which led from
Athapascan territory to the country of the Bilxula. A trail of
minor importance led down Fraser River. A study of the traditions
shows that along these routes the points of contact of mytholo-
gies are strongest, and rapidly diminish with increasing distances
from these routes. On Columbia River, the points of contact are
with the Algonquin and Sioux; among the Bilxula they are with
the Athapascan. I believe this phenomenon cannot be explained
in any other way but that the myths followed the line of travel
of the tribes, and that there has been dissemination of tales all
over the continent. My tabulations include the Micmac of Nova
Scotia, the Eskimo of Greenland, the Ponca of the Mississippi
Basin, and the Athapascan of the Mackenzie River, and the results
give the clearest evidence of extensive borrowing.
The identity of a great many tales in geographically contiguous
areas have led me to the point of view of assuming that wherever a
greater similarity between two tales is found in North America, it
is more likely to be due to dissemination than to independent origin.
But without extending these theories beyond the clearly demon-
strated truths of transmission of tales between neighboring tribes,
we may reach some further conclusions. When we compare, for
instance, the legend of the culture hero of the Chinook and that of
the origin of the whole religious ceremonial of the Kwakiutl Indi-
The Growth of Indian Mythologies. 5
ans, we find a very far-reaching resemblance in certain parts of the
legends which make it certain that these parts are derived from the
same source. The grandmother of the divinity of the Chinook,
when a child, was carried away by a monster. Their child became
the mother of the culture hero, and by her help the monster was
slain. In a legend from Vancouver Island, a monster, the cannibal
spirit, carries away a girl, and is finally slain by her help. Their
child becomes later on the new cannibal spirit. There are certain
intermediate stages of these stories which prove their identity be-
yond doubt. The important point in this case is that the myths in
question are perhaps the most fundamental ones in the mythologies
of these two tribes. Nevertheless, they are not of native growth, but,
partly at least, borrowed. A great many other important legends
prove to be of foreign origin, being grafted upon mythologies of
various tribes. This being the case, I draw the conclusion that the
mythologies of the various tribes as we find them now are not
organic growths, but have gradually developed and obtained their
present form by accretion of foreign material. Much of this mate-
rial must have been adopted ready-made, and has been adapted and
changed in form according to the genius of the people who borrowed
it. The proofs of this process are so ample that there is no reason
to doubt the fact. We are, therefore, led to the conclusion that
from mythologies in their present form it is impossible to derive the
conclusion that they are mythological explanations of phenomena of
nature observed by the people to whom the myths belong, but that
many of them, at the place where we find them now, never had such
a meaning. If we acknowledge this conclusion as correct, we must
give up the attempts at off-hand explanation of myths as fanciful,
and we must admit that, also, explanations given by the Indians
themselves are often secondary, and do not reflect the true origin of
the myths.
I do not wish to be misunderstood in what I said. Certainly, the
phenomena of nature are at the bottom of numerous myths, else we
should not find sun, moon, clouds, thunder-storm, the sea and the
land play so important a part in all mythologies. What I maintain
is only that the specific myth cannot be simply interpreted as the
result of observation of natural phenomena. Its growth is much too
complex. In most cases, the present form has undergone material
change by disintegration and by accretion of foreign material, so that
the original underlying idea is, at best, much obscured.
Perhaps the objection might be raised to my argument that the
similarities of mythologies are not only due to borrowing, but also
to the fact that, under similar conditions which prevail in a limited
area, the human mind creates similar products. While there is a
6 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
certain truth in this argument so far as elementary forms of human
thought are concerned, it seems quite incredible that the same com-
plex theory should originate twice in a limited territory. The very
complexity of the tales and their gradual dwindling down to which
I have referred before, cannot possibly be explained by any other
method than by dissemination. Wherever geographical continuity
of the area of distribution of a complex ethnographical phenomenon
is found, the laws of probability exclude the theory that in this con-
tinuous area the complex phenomenon has arisen independently in
various places, but compel us to assume that in its present complex
form its distribution is due to dissemination, while its composing
elements may have originated here and there.
It may be well to dwell on the difference between that compara-
tive method which I have pursued in my inquiry and that applied
by many investigators of ethnographical phenomena. I have strictly
confined my comparisons to contiguous areas in which we know
intercourse to have taken place. I have shown that this area extends
from the Pacific coast to considerable distances. It is true that the
mythologies of the far east and the extreme northeast are not as
well connected with those of the Pacific coast by intermediate links
as they might be, and I consider it essential that a fuller amount of
material from intermediate points be collected in order that the
investigation which I have begun may be carried out in detail. But
a comparison of the fragmentary notes which we possess from inter-
mediate points proves that most of those tales which I have enumer-
ated as common to the east, to the north, and to the west, will be
found covering the whole area continuously. Starting from this
fact, we may be allowed to argue that those complex tales which
are now found only in isolated portions of our continent either are
actually continuous but have not been recorded from intermediate
points ; or that they have become extinct in intermediate territory ;
or, finally, that they were carried over certain areas accidentally,
without touching the intermediate field. This last phenomenon
may happen, although probably not to a very great extent. I
observed one example of this kind on the Pacific coast, where a tale
which has its home in Alaska is found only in one small group of
tribes on southern Vancouver Island, where, as can be proved, it has
been carried either by visitors or by slaves.
The fundamental condition, that all comparisons must be based on
material collected in contiguous areas, differentiates our method from
that of investigators like Pctitot and many others, who see a proof
of dissemination or even of blood relationship in each similarity that
is found between a certain tribe and any other tribe of the globe. It
is clear that the greater the number of tribes which are brought
The Growth of Indian Mythologies. 7
forward for the purposes of such comparisons, the greater also the
chance of finding similarities. It is impossible to derive from such
comparisons sound conclusions, however extensive the knowledge of
literature that the investigator may possess, for the very reason that
the complex phenomenon found in one particular region is compared
to fragmentary evidence from all over the world. By means of such
comparisons, we can expect to find resemblances which are founded
in the laws of the development of the human mind, but they can
never be proofs of transmission of customs or ideas.
In the Old World, wherever investigations on mythologies of
neighboring tribes have been made, the philological proof has been
considered the weightiest, i. e., when, together with the stories, the
names of the actors have been borrowed, this has been considered
the most satisfactory proof of borrowing. We cannot expect to find
such borrowing of names to prevail to a great extent in America.
Even in Asia, the borrowed names are often translated from one
language into the other, so that their phonetic resemblance is
entirely destroyed. The same phenomenon is observed in America.
In many cases, the heroes of myths are animals, whose names are
introduced in the myth. In other cases, names are translated, or so
much changed according to the phonetic laws of various languages,
that they can hardly be recognized. Cases of transmission of names
are, however, by no means rare. I will give only a few examples
from the North Pacific coast.
Almost all the names of the Bilxula mythology are borrowed from
the Kwakiutl language. A portion of the great religious ceremony
of the Kwakiutl has the name " tlokwala." This name, which is also
closely connected with a certain series of myths, has spread north-
ward and southward over a considerable distance. Southward we find
it as far as the Columbia River, while to the north it ceases with the
Tsimshian ; but still farther north another name" of a part of the
ceremonial of the Kwakiutl is substituted, viz., "nontlem." This
name, as designating the ceremonial, is found far into Alaska. But
these are exceptions ; on the whole, the custom of translating
names and of introducing names of animals excludes the application
of the linguistic method of investigating the borrowing of myths
and customs.
We will consider for a moment the method by which traditions
spread over contiguous areas, and I believe this consideration will
show clearly that the standpoint which I am taking, viz., that sim-
ilarity of traditions in a continuous area is always due to dissemi-
nation, not to independent origin, is correctly taken. I will exem-
plify this also by means of the traditions of the North Pacific coast,
more particularly by those of the Kwakiutl Indians.
8 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
It seems that the Kwakiutl at one time consisted of a number of
village communities. Numbers of these village communities com-
bined and formed tribes; then each village community formed a
"clan of the new tribe. Owing probably to the influence of the clan
system of the northern tribes, totems were adopted, and with these
totems came the necessity of acquiring a clan legend. The social
customs of the tribe are based entirely upon the division into clans,
and the ranking of each individual is the higher — at least to a cer-
tain extent — the more important the legend of his clan. This led
to a tendency of building up clan legends. Investigation shows
that there are two classes of clan legends : the first telling how the
ancestor of the clan came down from heaven, out of the earth, or
out of the ocean ; the second telling how he encountered certain
spirits and by their help became powerful. The latter class particu-
larly bear the clearest evidence of being of a recent origin ; they are
based entirely on the custom of the Indians of acquiring a guardian
spirit after long-continued fasting and bathing. The guardian spirit
thus acquired by the ancestor became hereditary, and is to a certain
extent the totem of the clan, — and there is no doubt that these
traditions, which rank now with the fundamental myths of the tribe,
are based on the actual fastings and acquisitions of guardian spirits
of ancestors of the present clans. If that is so, we must conclude
that the origin of the myth is identical with the origin of the hal-
lucination of the fasting Indian, and this is due to suggestion, the
material for which is furnished by the tales of other Indians, and
traditions referring to the spiritual world which the fasting Indian
may have heard. There is, therefore, in this case a very strong
psychological reason for involuntary borrowing from legends which
the individual may have heard, no matter from what source they
may have been derived. The incorporation in the mythology of
the tribe is due to the peculiar social organization which favors the
introduction of any myth of this character if it promises to enhance
the social position of the clan.
The same kind of suggestion which I mentioned here has evi-
dently moulded the beliefs in a future life. All myths describing the
future life set forth how a certain individual died, how his soul went
to the world of the ghosts, but returned for one reason or the other.
The experiences which the man told after his recovery are the basis
of the belief in a future life. Evidently, the visions of the sick per-
son are caused entirely by the tales which he had heard of the world
of the ghosts, and the general similarity of the character of this tale
along the Pacific coast proves that one vision was always suggested
by the other.
Furthermore, the customs of the tribe are such that by means of
The Growth of Indian Mythologies. 9
a marriage the young husband acquires the clan legends of his
wife, and the warrior who slays an enemy those of the person whom
he has slain. By this means a large number of traditions of the
neighboring tribes have been incorporated in the mythology of the
Kwakiutl.
The psychological reason for the borrowing of myths which do not
refer to clan legends, but to the heavenly orbs and to the phenomena
of nature, are not so easily found. There can be no doubt that the
impression made by the grandeur of nature upon the mind of primi-
tive man is the ultimate cause from which these myths spring, but,
nevertheless, the form in which we find these traditions is largely
influenced by borrowing. It is also due to its effects that in many
cases the ideas regarding the heavenly orbs are entirely inconsist-
ent. Thus the Newettee have the whole northern legend of the
raven liberating the sun, but, at the same time, the sun is considered
the father of the mink, and we find a tradition of the visit of the
mink in heaven, where he carries the sun in his father's place.
Other inconsistencies, as great as this one, are frequent. They are
an additional proof that one or the other of such tales which are also
found among neighboring tribes, — and there sometimes in a more
consistent form, — have been borrowed.
These considerations lead me to the following conclusion, upon
which I desire to lay stress. The analysis of one definite mythology
of North America shows that in it are embodied elements from all
over the continent, the greater number belonging to neighboring
districts, while many others belong to distant areas, or, in other
words, that dissemination of tales has taken place all over the conti-
nent. In most cases, we can discover the channels through which
the tale flowed, and we recognize that in each and every mythology of
North America we must e.xpect to find numerous foreign elements.
And this leads us to the conclusion that similarities of culture on our
continent are always more likely to be due to diffusion than to inde-
pendent development. When we turn to the Old World, we know
that there also diffusion has taken place through the whole area
from western Europe to the islands of Japan, and from Indonesia to
Siberia, and to northern and eastern Africa. In the light of the
similarities of inventions and of myths, we must even extend this
area along the North Pacific coast of America as far south as Colum-
bia River. These are facts that cannot be disputed.
If it is true that dissemination of cultural elements has taken
place in these vast areas, we must pause before accepting the sweep-
ing assertion that sameness of ethnical phenomena is always due to
the sameness of the working of the human mind, and I take clearly
and expressly issue with the view of those modern anthropologists
lo yotirnal of American Folk-Lore .
who go so far as to say that he who looks for acculturation as a
cause of similarity of culture has not grasped the true spirit of
anthropology.
In making this statement, I wish to make my position perfectly
clear. I am, of course, well aware that there are many phenomena
of social life seemingly based on the most peculiar and most intri-
cate reasoning, which we have good cause to believe have devel-
oped independently over and over again. There are others, particu-
larly such as are more closely connected with the emotional life of
man, which are undoubtedly due to the organization of the human
mind. Their domain is large and of high importance. Further-
more, the similarity of culture which may or may not be due to
acculturation gives rise to the same sort of ideas and sentiments
which will originate independently in different minds, modified to a
greater or less extent by the character of environment. Proof of
this are the ideas and inventions which even in our highly spe-
cialized civilization are " in the air " at certain periods, and are
pronounced independently by more than one individual, until they
combine in a flow which carries on the thought of man in a certain
direction. All this I know and grant.
But I do take the position that this enticing idea is apt to carry
us too far. Formerly, anthropologists saw acculturation or even
common descent wherever two similar phenomena were observed.
The discovery that this conclusion is erroneous, that many similari-
ties are due to the psychical laws underlying human development, has
carried us beyond its legitimate aim, and we start now with the pre-
sumption that all similarities are due to these causes, and that their
investigation is the legitimate field of anthropological research. I
believe this position is just as erroneous as the former one. We
must not accuse the investigator who suspects a connection between
American and Asiatic cultures as deficient in his understanding of
the true principles of anthropology. Nobody has proven that the
psychical view holds good in all cases. To the contrary, we know
many cases of diffusion of customs over enormous areas. The reac-
tion against the uncritical use of similarities for the purpose of prov-
ing relationship and historical connections is overreaching its aim.
Instead of demanding a critical examination of the causes of simi-
larities, we say now a priori, they are due to psychical causes, and
in this we err in method just as much as the old school did. If we
want to make progress on the desired line, we must insist upon crit-
ical methods, based not on generalities but on each individual case.
In many cases, the final decision will be in favor of independent ori-
gin ; in others in favor of dissemination. But I insist that nobody
has as yet proven where the limit between these two modes of origin
The Growth of Indian Mythologies. 1 1
lies, and not until this is done can a fruitful psychological analysis
take place. We do not even know if the critical examination may
not lead us to assume a persistence of cultural elements which were
diffused at the time when man first spread over the globe.
It will be necessary to define clearly what Bastian terms the ele-
mentary ideas, the existence of which we know to be universal, and
the origin of which is not accessible to ethnological methods. The
forms which these ideas take among primitive people of different
parts of the world, " die Volker-Gedanken," are due partly to the geo-
graphical environment and partly to the peculiar character of the
people, and to a large extent to their history. In order to understand
the growth of the peculiar psychical life of the people, the historical
growth of its customs must be investigated most closely, and the only
method by which the history can be investigated is by means of a
detailed comparison of the tribe w'ith its neighbors. This is the
method which I insist is necessary in order to make progress towards
the better understanding of the development of mankind. This
investigation will also lead us to inquire into the interesting psycho-
logical problems of acculturation, viz., what conditions govern the
selection of foreign material embodied in the culture of the people,
and the mutual transformation of the old culture and the newly
acquired material.
To sum up, I maintain that the whole question is decided only in
so far as we know that independent development as well as diffusion
have made each culture what it is. It is still sub jiidice in how far
these two causes contributed to its growth. The aspects from which
we may look at the problem have been admirably set forth by
Professor Otis T. IVIason in his address on similarities of culture.-
In order to investigate the psychical laws of the human mind which
we are seeing now indistinctly because our material is crude and
unsifted, we must treat the culture of primitive people by strict his-
torical methods. We must understand the process by which the
individual culture grew before we can undertake to lay down the
laws by which the culture of all mankind grew.
The end for which we are working is farther away than the
methods which are now in greatest favor seem to indicate, but it is
worth our struggles.
Franz Boas.
* American Anthropologist, 1895, p. loi.
1 2 Journal of America7i Folk-Lore.
LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND.
' In No. XXXI. (vol. viii., 1895, p. 334) attention was directed to
the idea, found in the tales of European and Asiatic countries, that
among supernatural beings time passes so rapidly that to a mortal
three centuries appear only as three days. The collection of myths
of the North Pacific coast, by Dr. Boas, supply several examples of a
similar conception as held by American aborigines. The stories
exhibiting the trait are not variants of a single narrative, although
more or less connected. To the Newettee belongs a legend which
has a certain resemblance to the Voyage of Bran (pp. 191, 192). A
young man who has harpooned a seal is drawn in his boat, together
with a cousin, a great distance westward, passing by many lands, and
encountering adventures, until he arrives at the home of a being
who gives him his daughter in marriage, and who restores to life the
deceased cousin, whose bones are brought up from the depths of the
sea ; the guest after a time feels a longing to return, and receives as
a present a chest containing skins which has the property of being
inexhaustible. When he reaches his native land the voyager finds
that the house is mouldy and his father aged ; in reality, the four
days are four years (it will be seen, however, that a longer time seems
implied in the condition of the dwelling). This version appears to
have imperfectly preserved the conception more clearly indicated in
variants of other tribes, setting forth that a wanderer has descended
to the bottom of the sea, there dwelt with a monstrous but wise
being, observed the dances and learned the charms which after his
return he practises, and of which his descendants continue to make
use ; thus among the Tsimschians, the dancers in a certain family
still array themselves in the marine decorations which their ancestor
is said to have brought up from the deep.
A Comox tale (p. ^y) containing the notion of the years taken for
days, but otherwise apparently different, is that of a father whose
daughter has been stolen, and who, going in quest, is informed by
the dead people that she has been ravished by a youth of the wolf
folk. Accordingly he resorts to the house of the wolves, where he
is well received as a kinsman, he sees a stag captured, and thence
he returns. So often as his posterity desire to take a stag, they
pray to the wolves, whom they name sons-in-law. Whether any
relation of derivation exists between the narratives of the New
World and of the Old may be left to future investigation.
W. W. N.
Angolan Customs . 13
ANGOLAN CUSTOMS.
One source of the lamentable confusion and contradiction which
bewilder the student of African affairs, when he begins to delve
into the material before him, is found in the fact that travellers, mis-
sionaries, and authors, but especially writers in newspapers, so often
neglect exactly to define the geographical boundaries of their state-
ments. What is true of one country, district, or town, of one race,
tribe, or individual, may be untrue of another. All statements made
in regard to Africa in general must be received with great caution,
and are of necessity very vague.
In this paper remarks on Tombo customs apply only to that place
(near Loanda, Angola) ; those concerning oaths, funerals, and drink-
ing apply to the whole district of Loanda, that is, Angola proper, and
would be found true, with slight modifications, in almost any nation
of the Province of Angola.
I. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.
Tombo is a place on the right bank of the Quanza River, at no
great distance from Loanda. The village is situated in the middle
of swamps and luxuriant tropical forests of mangrove and other
water-loving trees. The people are comparatively well-to-do, earn-
ing good wages as hewers of wood, and as boatmen. They provide
Loanda with fuel, timber, bamboo chairs, baskets, and mats. Owing
to their somewhat secluded position, they have preserved or devel-
oped customs which to some extent differ from those of their neigh-
bors.
They begin courting in childhood. A boy's sweetheart is called
his kaloka. This word is derived from the verb kii-loka, to swear, to
confirm by oath. Accordingly, by its etymology -the word corre-
sponds to synonyms in European languages, such as Verlobte in
Q^xvazx\, fiancde vl\.Yxq.xvz\\, proviessa sposa\x\ Italian. All the pres-
ents which a boy or lad makes to his kaloka, however insignificant,
are registered on a sheet of alniaqo paper. This is a strong, bluish,
ruled paper of foolscap size. The presents generally consist of
tobacco, of diainba, which is the wild hemp used as opium, and of
handkerchiefs.
The girl who has accepted the offerings of a youth cannot become
the wife of any other. In case he should die, or she should break
her vow and give herself to another person, the latter is obliged to
refund the injured party or his family the equivalent of the expense
incurred for the sake of the girl. The mere attempt to estrange a
girl's affection may be punished with a fine corresponding to the
amount expended in securing such affection.
14 y our 7ial of American Folk-Lore,
When a young man thinks that he has spent on his kaloka as
much as he can afford, and has no prospect of soon acquiring the
kilcmbu, that is to say the wedding-present expected by the parents
of his kaloka, and at the same time considers that the courtship has
lasted long enough, he may seize his kaloka and carry her away, by
day or by night, wherever he may happen to surprise her. The girl
may be carried off with her consent or without it. F'requently the
parents are in the secret ; but whether this be the case or not, they
show little concern about the elopement. If questioned by the
neighbors who notice the disappearance of the girl, they will quietly
respond : "A niti Juiku ; a inn Jiuku ; iiai ku ulo tieT That is : " She
was ravished; she was ravished; she has gone to her sweetheart."
Supposing that the young man has not at the time the means
wherewith to give the wedding-present, the parents can claim pay-
ment after the elopement. This kilcmbu, in Portuguese called Icm-
bavicnto, usually consists of several pieces of cotton cloth, a few
demijohns of wine or rum, and ten to twelve dollars in cash. When
the young man is too poor to pay the kilembu at once, he must go
to work and earn it.
If, after due allowance of time, he should fail to pay off the debt,
his wife has the right to seek or accept another husband ; but the
latter is bound to refund to the first husband all his disbursements
during the time of wooing, in addition to the kilembu claimed by
the parents. In such a case, the first husband has possessed his wife
without cost.
Supposing, further, that the second husband should in his turn fail
to fulfill his engagement to pay these two charges, but especially that
of the first husband, the latter can take back his wife. Then it will
be the second husband who will have enjoyed her society without
expense. Provided these rules are observed, the rival husbands can
live during and after these transactions in perfect harmony.
The Tombo people call an outsider, that is, any person who be-
longs to a different tribe or township, dibangcla, plural mabangela.
Such a stranger must pay a higher kilembu than a native, if he
undertakes to win the hand and heart of a native girl.
II. UPANDA AND UPALAMA (aDULTERY).
In forming an opinion as to the moral level of the African negro,
it is essential to distinguish between natives of the interior, who
have remained free from intercourse with Europeans, Asiatics, or
semi-civilized natives, and inhabitants of the coast belt or of large
settlements, who have been under the influence of civilization, other
than that of mission stations.
The impression left by a conscientious investigation in all larger
Artgolan Ciistoins, 15
sections of the continent occupied by the negro race is, that wher-
ever contact with secular civilization has exerted an influence on the
relations between the sexes, the change has, on the whole, been for
the worse. Wherever, on the contrary, the natives have remained
independent and free from civilizing influences, their moral level, as
regards social purity, is comparatively high ; at least strikingly
higher than in the semi-civilized state. If that level is found to be,
even at its best, far below the Christian standard, this inferiority is
in a large measure due to the institution of polygamy, and deplorable
tribal customs. Sometimes shocking deeds are committed with pure
intentions, or made compulsory by iniquitous customs, fashions, or
laws. As far as my experience goes, I have found the African
negroes to be as strict observers of their religious ceremonies and
tribal laws or customs as any other race ; but it must be confessed
that while the belief in witchcraft, the practice of polygamy, and the
institution of slavery prevail, there is no possibility of healthy devel-
opment and progress.
In Angola, the crimes of filicide, parricide, and matricide, for
instance, are practically unknown among the independent tribes, and
even in the semi-civilized settlements. This fact gives small support
to theorists who attribute such deeds, occurring in civilized coun-
tries, to atavism. Adultery and incest are much more frequent
among the semi-civilized than among the untutored natives. With
these, a man who covets his neighbor's wife would not, as the half-
civilized man does, seduce another man's wife in that man's house.
He will carry her off by ruse and force, and then pay the fine of
his crime, called npanda. (Adultery itself is termed Z^;/^^.) He is
so much afraid of the npalama, which is the influence of jealousy
on the health and affairs of a rival, that he does not dare to seat
himself in the place just vacated by his rival, nor would he have
the courage to lie down on his rival's bed. Even the corpse of a
defunct rival inspires such awe that the man who is conscious of
having, perhaps secretly, sinned against him, is in terror of entering
the house of mourning or of touching the coffin. Apalama, or rival,
must not visit the other, nor come in contact with him, lest he
should contract a disease as the result of the influence or emanation
of npalama. In order to protect themselves against this influence,
rivals obtain from the kimbanda, or medicine-man, a particular kind
of ponda, that is to say belt, or a stick, called miiixi tia jipaiilu^
which are believed to ward off the upalama. So great is the fear
of upalama, or jealousy, that a widow, having completed the term of
her widowhood, must be purified, that is bathed, and divested of her
jindornbay or mourning apparel, by a kimbanda, before a new hus-
band may with impunity make her his own.
1 6 Journal of A merican Folk- Lore.
III. OATHS AND ORDEALS.
In Ki-mbundu, which is the general language of Angola, kii-loka
means to swear. In Loanda and adjoining districts, when a native
doubts the truthfulness of an interlocutor's statement, or if the two
have a dispute, or akuata jipaia, they usually settle the matter by
the following dialogue : —
Mahitu (A lie).
Kidi viuene (Truth itself).
Lok' anji (Swear, please).
Ngaloko (I have sworn).
Xinge nmiiif (Insulting whom .'' i. e., if the statement be false).
( Xinge pai etti (Insulting my father).
< Xinge manii etu (Insulting my mother).
( Xinge pai etu a mungna (Insulting my godfather).
Ngaxikana (I accept).
It should be here remarked that while an Angolan may ignore or
pardon personal insult, he must and does deeply resent any insult or
offensive reference to his father, and still more to his mother.
The form of swearing just cited is supposed to settle a doubt as
to the truthfulness of an assertion. If, however, some one is accused
of a crime, he may, or must, vindicate himself by submitting to the
poison-test, which, in Ki-mbundu, is generally called mbnlungii. It
consists of a beverage prepared from the roots or bark of certain
trees, which the litigants are compelled to drink. He who vomits
{nasuinuka) is acquitted ; he who fails so to do is considered as guilty
{uabi). The practice of judicial ordeals endangering human life is
prohibited by the Portuguese laws of Angola, but it still prevails
wherever native chiefs rule, and even in the city of Loanda and its
neighborhood these tests are occasionally resorted to,
III. FUNERALS.
As soon as a man has breathed his last, the relatives and neigh-
bors who have gathered around the deathbed pierce the air with
lamentations and heartrending cries. With the parents and inti-
mate friends these wild expressions of grief are no doubt genuine,
but with others they are, if not entirely perfunctory, at least largely
superficial. The deafening noise is also supposed to drive away the
spirits. The mourning or tambi lasts one, two, three, or four weeks ;
as long as it continues, the wailing is resorted to at stated intervals.
It is the duty of acquaintances and friends to visit the mourning
family and join in the lament. Between the wailings, the assembled
guests may drink, dance, gamble, and be merry. These guests are
Angolan Customs. 17
entertained at the expense of the dead man's estate, and of his heirs.
The prospect of free food, drink, dancing, and orgies frequently
ending in gross immorality, attracts young and old ; and it is no
rare occurrence that the whole estate disappears in the cost of the
tambi.
Notwithstanding this, the natives of Loanda, even when nominally
Christian and partly educated, are so imbued with the conviction
that their condition in the other world will depend on the amount of
food and drink consumed in their tambi, that they will deny them-
selves many luxuries and comforts in order to leave behind a treas-
ure sufficient to defray the expenses of a memorable tambi feast.
In Loanda, one of the nearest relatives must remain for days and
weeks speechless and almost foodless, without light and almost with-
out air, in the bed vacated by the dead. The members of the differ-
ent inland tribes represented in the native town of Loanda form
societies Q3\\ed ji-bajidela or i-zomba (singular kizomba), which corre-
spond to our mutual benefit societies or lodges. At the death of
a member, the others come to honor his funeral, spending what is
found in the cash-box where the contributions of the members are
deposited.
In the cities, the dead of the well-to-do are buried in coffins, like
the whites ; in the interior, the corpse is wrapped in cloth and mats,
hung on a pole and so carried to the grave. The graves are dug in
open cemeteries, or along the paths ; in some villages, near the huts
or within these. The chiefs and kings are generally buried in sepa-
rate grounds, called jindavibu, situated in a grove, beside a river, or
at the foot of some mountain. Such graves are covered by a shed^
a mausoleum constructed of stones, or marked with trophies of the
hunt. Broken crockery, little flags, images of men or beasts, either
carved in wood or moulded in clay, are often found on the tombs,
not only of chiefs, but ordinary men.
v. DRINKING.
The fear of witchcraft is the constant incubus of the African's
life. He cannot even enjoy a glass of beer, wine, or rum with a
boon companion, unless he has first guarded himself against the
dreaded influence. If a native treat his friend, or offer a drink to a
stranger, he must take a gulp before passing the cup or glass to his
guest. This is called hi-katiila o aanga, that is removing the witch-
craft or the poison. The ceremony is to be repeated with every
glass.
Some natives are accused by backbiters of entertaining a particu-
lar respect for this custom, and of taking gulps so large as to con-
voL. IX. — NO. 32.
1 8 Jour^ial of American Folk-Lore.
vince their companions, beyond the shade of a doubt, that what is
left in the glass could not possibly be injurious.
The following story is told of a certain Ambaquista, or native of
Ambaca, who met a friend at Kifangondo, on the lower Bengo River,
and offered him a drink in the tavern of the place. Approaching
the bar, he asked the waiter to serve xoxoxolo for his friend and
xoloxold for himself.^ The barkeeper, who was in the secret, filled a
larger glass for the Ambaquista than for his friend, but even so, the
former was bound to " remove the poison " from the little glass of
the friend whom he had invited.
Here is another story : A Portuguese " chefe," on the banks of the
Quanza River, was sent by the government on a special commission
to a native chief of the Kisama tribe. As usual, the representative
of the European government appeared before his sable majesty with
a royal present consisting of numerous bottles and demijohns of
rum, gin, and low-grade whiskey. According to native custom the
Kisama monarch requested the ambassador of his most Christian
majesty to "remove the poison" from each bottle and demijohn.
Willy-nilly, the officer had to conform to the custom, and as a result
lost much of his dignity. In revenge, on the morrow, when the
Kisama chief presented him with numerous gourds of fermented
drinks, such as uahia, nziia, kitoio, and 7naliivu, the white man de-
sired his royal friend to reciprocate the favor, and thus both digni-
taries, instead of chasing away evil spirits, found themselves equally
bewitched.
Heli Chatelain.
^ Ku-xolola is an onomatopoetic verb meaning to run by drops.
Notes 071 the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 19
NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE PEOPLE OF
NEWFOUNDLAND.
At a meeting of the Montreal Branch of the American Folk-Lore
Society on the 21st of May, 1893, 1 had the honor of reading a paper
entitled " Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland,"
which afterward appeared in the Journal of American Folk-Lore.
This was no more than it claimed to be, some notes on what may be
called the folk-talk of the inhabitants of that island. It contained
merely such information as might be gathered in two short visits,
and was far from exhausting the subject. Since that time I have
been making further inquiries, with the result of obtaining such
additional information as will afford material for another paper.^
In order to understand what follows, it is necessary to keep in
view what I said at the commencement of my former paper as to the
origin of this people. They are mostly descended from immigrants
from Ireland or the west of England. In consequence, the present
generation generally speak with an Irish accent, and some words
will be found in use of Irish origin. Their coasts too having been
from a very early period frequented by fishermen of all nations, and
their trade bringing them in contact with people of other tongues,
we might expect foreign words to be introduced into their speech.
The accessions to their vocabulary from these sources, however, are
very few, and their language remains almost entirely English. Even
the peculiarities which strike a stranger are often survivals of old
forms, which are w^holly or partially obsolete elsewhere.
With these preliminary remarks, in considering the words since
collected, I shall follow the order formerly adopted. I therefore
notice : — "
I. Those which are genuinely English, but are now elsewhere
obsolete or only locally used.
An atomy or a natomy, a skeleton, applied to a person or creature
extremely emaciated. "Poor John is reduced to an atomy!' This is
a contraction of the word anatomy, perhaps from a mistake of per-
sons supposing the a or an to be the article. This use agrees with
* In these investigations, I must specially acknowledge the assistance received
from Judge Bennett of Harbor Grace, N. F., who has not only furnished me with
a number of words, but has carefully examined the whole list. I have also to
acknowledge my obligations to an article by the Rev. Dr. Pilot of St. Johns, pub-
lished in Christmas Bells, a paper issued in that city at Christmas. A few addi-
tional facts have been received from Mr. W. C. Earl of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company, and others. For most of the quotations I am indebted to the
Encyclopedic Dictionary.
20 Journal of A^ncricari Folk-Lore.
the original meaning of the word, which was not the act of dissect-
ing, but the object or body to be dissected, and hence as the flesh
was removed the skeleton. That word, however, then denoted a
dried body or mummy (Greek, skello, to dry).
Oh tell me, friar, tell me,
In what part of this vile anatomy
Doth my name lodge ? tell me that I may sack
The hateful mansion.
Shakespeare, Rovico aiid Jtiliet, iii. 3.
Oh that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth,
Then with a passion I would shake the world.
And rouse from sleep that fell anatomy
Which cannot hear a feeble lady's voice.
King yohn, iii. 4.
Hence it came to denote a person extremely emaciated.
They brought one Pinch, a hungry lean-faced villain,
A mere anatomy,
A living dead man.
Comedy of Errors, v. i.
He also uses the abridged form atomy in the same sense, which is
exactly the Newfoundland use of the word.
Thou starved bloodhound . . . thou atomy, thou.
2 Henry IV., v. 4-
The same word appears in Scotch.
They grew like atomies or skeletons." — Sermons affixed to Society's Contend-
ings, quoted in Jameson's Dictionar}'.
Clavy is used to denote a shelf over the mantelpiece. Wright,
Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, gives it as denot-
ing the mantelpiece itself, and thus it is still used in architecture.
Halliwell, Dictionary of Archaisms, gives clavcl, clavy, and clavel
piece with the same meaning, and clavel tack, which he supposes
means the shelf over the mantelpiece, the same as the clavy of the
Newfoundlanders. In French we have claveau, the centrepiece of
an arch.
Clean is universally used in the sense of completely, as frequently
in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures (Ps. Ixxvii. 8; 2 Pet. ii.
18, etc.) and as still in Scotch. "He is clean gone off his head."
"I am clean used up." The word clear is sometimes used in the
same sense.
Conkerbills, icicles formed on the eaves of houses and the noses
of animals. Halliwell gives it in the form oi ,co7ikabell, as Devon-
shire for an icicle.
Costive, CQ)^\S.y. " That' bridge is a r^j-^zV^ affair." I had at first
supposed this simply the mistake of an ignorant person, but in a tale
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 21
written in the Norfolk dialect I have seen costyve given in this
sense, and I am informed that it is used in the same way in other
counties of England.
Dodtrel, an old fool in his dotage, or indeed a silly person of any
age. It is usually spelled dotterel, and primarily denoted a bird, a
species of plover. From its assumed stupidity, it being alleged to
be so fond of imitation that it suffers itself to be caught while intent
on mimicking the actions of the fowler, the term came to denote a
silly fellow or a dupe.
Our dotterel then is caught.
He is, and just
As dotterels used to be ; the lady first
Advanced toward him, stretched forth her wing, and he
Met her with all expressions.
Old Couplet, iii.
Dout, a contraction of "do out," to extinguish, and donter, an
extinguisher, marked in the dictionaries as obsolete, but noted by
Halliwell as still used in various provincial dialects of England.
First, in the intellect it douts the light. — Sylvester,
The dram of base
Doth all the noblest substance dout.
Shakespeare, Hamlet, \. 4.
Newfoundlanders also express the same idea by the phrase, "make
out the light."
Broke. In my former paper I mentioned this word, without
being able to explain it properly. It denotes a sloping valley be-
tween two hills. When wood extends across it, it is called a droke
of wood. In Old Norse there is a noun drog, a streak, also a noun
drag, a soft slope or valley, which in another form, drog, is applied
to the watercourse down a valley. Similar is the word drock, in
Provincial English given by Halliwell as in Wiltshire a noun mean-
ing a watercourse, and in Gloucester a verb, to drain with under-
ground stone trenches.
Diinch cake or bread, unleavened bread, composed of flour mixed
with water and baked at once. So Wright and Halliwell give dimch-
diimpling as in Westmoreland denoting " a plain pudding made of
flour and water."
Flankers, sparks coming from a chimney, so Halliwell gives it as
meaning sparks of fire. In old English, when used as a verb, it
denotes to sparkle.
Who can bide ihe Jlanckermg flame
That still itselfe betrays.
Turbeville's Ovid, f. 83.
2 2 yournal of A mei'ica^i Folk-Lore.
The noun is generally ^f^z/z/^r ox flaitnke (D:in. Jlunkc) a spark.
FeWtJlaitftkes of fyr and flakes of soufre.
Early Eng. A Hit. Poems, " Cleanness," 953.
Gossip, originally Godsib, from God and sib, meaning kin or rela-
tionship by religious obligation, is still quite commonly used in New-
foundland to denote a godparent. Sib, which in old English and
Scotch denotes a relative by consanguinity, is used there exclusively
to denote relationship formed by sponsorship.
Groaning cake. When a birth is expected, a cake is prepared
called the groaniiig cake. Very soon after it occurs, with little re-
gard to the feelings or nerves of the mother, a feast is made, partic-
ularly for the elderly women, of whom all in the neighborhood are
present. This is called the ^'bide-in feast," and at it the "groaning
cake" is distributed, bearing the same relation to the occasion that
"bride cake" does to a marriage feast. This is in accordance with
old English practice and language, in which, according to Halliwell,
groaning denotes lying-in. Hence we have in Scotch groaning vialt,
drink provided for the occasion, and in old English groaning cheese,
groaning chair, and groaning cake. Judge Bennett supposes that the
name of the feast is only the present participle of bide, and means
staying or waiting.
G?ilch. In my former paper I gave gulch as used in a peculiar
sense on the Labrador coast, and among those frequenting it, but
stated that I did not find it used in Newfoundland in its old English
sense of to swallow. I have since learned that it is in use in this
sense at Spaniards Bay and probably at other places on the coast.
Gnrry, the offal of codfish, now obsolete, but by a euphuism repre-
sented in dictionaries as meaning "an alvine evacuation."
Hackle is used in two senses, and for two English words. The
one is to cut in small notches, as to "hackle" the edge of the door.
This is the same as the word to Jiack, defined "to cut irregularly,
to notch with an imperfect instrument or in an unskilful manner."
The other denotes the separating the coarse part of the flax from
the fine by passing it through the teeth of an instrument called in
Northumberland and Yorkshire a hackle, in Scotch a heckle. Hence
the word came to mean to handle roughly or to worry, particularly
by annoying questions. In Newfoundland hackle and cross hackle
are especially applied to the questioning of a witness by a lawyer,
when carried to a worrying degree. This is like the use of the word
in Scotland, to denote the questioning at election times of a candi-
date for the House of Commons.
Haps, to hasp or fasten a door. This was the original Anglo-
Saxon form hapse or haps. It is defined by Johnson as a noun, a
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 23
clasp folded over a staple and fastened on with a padlock, and as a
verb, to fasten in this manner. Wright gives it as Berkshire for to
fasten and Devonshire for the lower part of a half door. In New-
foundland it denotes to fasten in general.
Helve is the term universally used for an axe-handle, and as a verb
it expresses the furnishing it with a handle.
Killock, an old English word used to denote a small anchor, partly
of stone and partly of wood, still used by fishermen, but going out of
use in favor of iron grapnels.
Leaty, hungry, faint. This is the old English word tear or leer,
in German leer, signifying empty or hollow, having its kindred noun
lereness.
But at the first encounter downe he lay
The horse runs leere without the man.
Harrington's Ariosto, x.xxv. 64.
Liveyer. In my last paper I gave this word as peculiar to the
Labrador coast, denoting simply a resident, in contrast with those
visiting it for fishing or other purposes. I find now that it is used on
the coast of Newfoundland in the same sense. I learn also that for
lover they say loveycr, as is done in some English provincial dialects.
This, being from the Anglo-Saxon hifian, is nearer the original than
the common form.
Logy, heavy and dull in respect of motion. Anglo-Saxon liggan,
Dutch logge, a sluggard. In the United States the word is applied
to men or animals, as a logy preacher or a logy horse. In New-
foundland, in like manner, they will speak of a logy vessel, a slow
sailer, and in addition, when from want of wind a boat or vessel can-
not get ahead or can only proceed slowly, they will speak of having a
logy time.
Lnn, a calm. This word exists in Scotch and northern English
as loim. It also appears in Swedish as hign, pronounced Itingn, and
in old Icelandic as logn, pronounced loan.
Mundel, a stick with a flat end for stirring meal when boiling for
porridge. Wright gives it as used in Leicestershire as an instru-
ment for washing potatoes, and he and Halliwell both give it as
Northumberland, denoting a slice or stick used in making puddings.
In Old Norse there is a word judndiill, pronounced mundiill, which
means a handle, especially of a handmill, and the word is frequent
in modern Icelandic.
Nesh, tender and delicate, used to describe one who cannot stand
much cold or hard work. This is old English, but marked in the
dictionaries as obsolete except in the midland counties of England ;
Halliwell adds Northumberland,
He was to nesshe and she too harde. — Gower, C. A. V.
24 yourjial of American Folk-Lore.
It may be noted here that the people of Newfoundland use the
word tzvinly with almost the same meaning. It is undoubtedly
formed from twin like tzvinliiig, a diminutive, meaning a little twin,
given by Wright as twindlijig.
In my former article I mentioned mmch as used for lunch. I
may add here the word niuniy-bags, originally meaning a lunch-bag,
but now used in the general sense of a bag to carry all the articles
deemed necessary in travelling.
PaiienaiCy long-suffering. Wright gives it as used in Westmore-
land in the same sense.
Pcrney, an adverb meaning presently or directly, as when a ser-
vant told to go and do a thing might reply "I will pertuy." The
word I do not find in any dictionary to which I have access, but
from cognate words I believe that it has come down from the old
English. Related to it is the Latin adjective pernix, quick, nimble,
active, and the old English ^oxdi pernicious, signifying quick. Thus
Milton: —
Part incentive reed
Vxo\\d.Q pernicious with one touch of fire.
Paradise Lost, vi. 520.
Hence the noun pcrnicity, swiftness of motion which lingered longer.
"Endued with great swiftness or pernicity," Rayon the Creation,
1691.
Piddle or peddle is used to describe dealing in a small way, with-
out any reference to hawking or carrying goods round from house
to house for sale. This was the old meaning of the word.
Qitism, a quaint saying or conundrum. In Anglo-Saxon, from the
verb civethan, to say, comes cwiss, a saying. The Newfoundlanders
have also the word qtiisitise, to ask questions of one, but it seems to
be of different origin.
Roke or roak, smoke or vapor (Anglo-Saxon, reocan, to smoke),
the same as reek in old English and Scotch. Thus Shakespeare : —
Her face doth reek and smoke. — Venus and Adonis, 555.
Still used poetically.
Culloden shall reek with the blood of the brave. — Campbell.
I had supposed that the word ructions was Irish and a corruption
of insurrection. It is used in Newfoundland to denote noisy quar-
rellings. But Halliwell gives it as Westmoreland for an uproar,- so
that it is really old English.
Sewcll, in old English a scarecrow, especially in order to turn
deer. It generally consisted of feathers hung Up, which by their
fluttering scared those timid animals. The Red Indians of New-
foundland suspended from poles streamers of birch-bark for the same
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoiuidland. 25
purpose, and in old writings on Newfoundland I have seen the
word. But as the present generation do not follow the practice, it
is not now in general use.
Spell, from Anglo-Saxon spelian, means, in old English, as a verb,
to supply the place of another, or to take a turn of work with him,
and as a noun, the relief afforded by one taking the place of another
at work for a time. In a similar sense it is used in Newfoundland,
but there it is used specially to denote carrying on the back or
shoulders. " He has just spelled a load of wood out," meaning, he
has carried it on his back. It is also applied to distance : " How far
did you carry that load .-* " Answer, "Three shoulder spells," mean-
ing as far as one could carry without resting more than three times.
I may notice that the word turn is used to denote what a man can
carry. "He went into the country for a turn of wood," that is, as
much as he can carry on his back. The Standard Dictionary men-
tions it as having also this meaning locally in the United States.
Swinge, the same as singe, regarded as obsolete, but preserved in
various English provincial dialects, is the only form heard here. It
is an ancient, if not the original form of the word. Thus Spenser
says : —
The scorching flame sore sivi'ftg^ci all his face.
Till Tibs Eve, an old English expression, equivalent to the
" Greek Kalends," meaning never. The origin of the phrase is
disputed. The word Tib is said to have been a corruption of the
proper name Tabitha. If so, the name of that good woman has
been sadly profaned, for it came to signify a prostitute.
Every coistrel
That comes enquiring for his lib.
Shakespeare, Pericles.
But St. Tib is supposed by some to be a corruption of St. Ubes,
which again is said to be a corruption of Setubal. This, however,
gives no explanation of the meaning of the phrase, and there is
really no saint of the name. To me the natural explanation seems
to be, that from the utter unlikelihood of such a woman being can-
onized, persons would naturally refer to her festival as a time that
would never come.
The use of to, as meaning this, as in to-day, to-night, and to-mor-
row, is continued in to year 2svdi to once for at once.
I may also notice that they use the old form icn or on in the com-
position of words to denote the negative, where present usage has in
or ini, or changes the n or in to the letter following. Thus they say
unproper, or onproper, undecent, unlegal, etc.
Yaffle, an armful, applied especially to gathering up the fish which
26 yournal of Amej'ican Folk-Lore.
have been spread out to dry, a small yaffle denoting as many as can
be held in the two hands, and a large yaffle, expressing what a man
would encircle with his arms. The word is also used as a verb,
meaning to gather them up in this manner. The Standard Dic-
tionary gives it as used locally in the United States in this last
sense. But the Newfoundlanders do not limit it to this. They will
speak of a yaffle, e. g., of crannocks. Wright and Halliwell give it
as used in Cornwall as a noun denoting an armful.
Yany, early, wide awake, as a yarry man or a yarry woman.
Wright and Halliwell give this word spelled yary as Kentish, mean-
ing sharp, quick, ready. They, however, gwt yare as another word,
though almost if not quite identical in meaning. They are closely
related, appearing in Anglo-Saxon as gearu or gearo, and in kindred
languages in various forms. In old English j^r*? is used as an adjec-
tive meaning ready.
This Tereus let make his ships _yflr^. — Chaucer, Legend of Philomene.
It is applied to persons meaning ready, quick.
"&& yare in thy preparation. — Shakespeare, Tivelfth N'zght, iii. 4.
And as an adverb, meaning quickly.
Vare, yare, good Iris, quick. — Ibid., Anthony and Cleopatra, v. 9.
II. I have next to notice words still in general use, but used by
the Newfoundlanders in a peculiar sense, this being sometimes the
old or primary signification.
To many the most singular instance of this kind will be the use
of the term bachelor women. Yet, as in Newfoundland, it originally
denoted an unmarried person of either sex.
He would keep you
A bachelor still,
And keep you not alone without a husband
But in a sickness.
Ben Jonson.
Scarcely less strange may appear the application of the term bar-
ren both to males and females. In the distribution of poor relief a
complaint may be heard, " He is a barren man, and I have three chil-
dren." So the word seems to have been understood by the transla-
tors of King. James's version of the Bible, Deut. vii. 14: "There
shall not be male or female barren among you."
Boughten, applied to an article, is used to signify that it has not
been manufactured at home. The same use of the word was common
in New England,
Bridge, pronounced brudge, is the word commonly used to denote
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Nciijfoiindla7id. 27
a platform, though the latter word is known or coming into use, but
they generally pronounce \\. flat form.
Brief. A curious use of the word brief is to describe a disease
which quickly proves fatal, "The diphtheria was ver}' brief there,"
that is, it quickly ran its course ; the person soon died of it.
In several dictionaries (Standard, Halliwell, Webster, etc.) this
word is given as meaning "rife, common, prevalent," and is repre-
sented as specially applied to epidemic diseases. They also refer to
Shakespeare as authority without giving quotations. Bartlett repre-
sents it as much used in this sense by the uneducated in the interior
of New England and Virginia. Murray, in the New English Dic-
tionary, gives the same meaning, but doubtingly, for he adds, " The
origin of this sense is not clear. The Shakespearean quotation is
generally cited as an example, but is by no means certain." I
presume to think that the assigning this meaning is altogether a
mistake. By no rule of language can brief be made to mean rife.
We see at once, however, the expressiveness of the word as applied
in the Newfoundland sense to an epidemic as making short work of
its victims. I must regard this, therefore, as the original meaning of
the word in this application. At the same time we can see how the
mistake may have arisen. An epidemic disease so malignant as to
prove fatal quickly could scarcely but become prevalent where
introduced, and its prevalence being on the minds of men, they would
be apt to attach such a meaning to the description of its working,
as brief, and then use the word in that sense.
Similar to this is the use of the word late, applied to a woman
lately married. " The late Mrs. Prince visited us," meaning the
lady who had recently become Mrs. Prince.
Chastise is used not as particularly meaning to punish either corpo-
rally or otherwise, but to train for good. A father will ask the per-
son to whom he is intrusting his son to chastise him well, meaning
merely bring him up in a good way. But the more limited signifi-
cation is coming into use.
Child. In my former paper I mentioned the use of the word child
to denote a female child. In two instances I have since heard of its
being used in this sense some years ago in Nova Scotia. The one
was by an old man originally from the United States, who used
Shakespeare's inquiry, " a boy or a child." Again, in a town settled
by New Englanders, I am informed by one brought up in it, that
when he was a boy some forty years ago, it was a favorite piece of
badinage with young people to address a young husband on the
birth of his first-born, " Is it a boy or a child } " They did not know
the meaning of the phrase, but used it in the way of jeering at his
simplicity, as if he had not yet been able to decide the question.
28 yournal of A merica n Folk-L ore.
This is an example of the manner in which words or phrases, after
losing their original meaning, still continue to be used and receive a
different sense.
' Draft or draught, in old English and still in the Provinces, means
a team of horses or oxen, and also that drawn by them, a load. As
the Newfoundlanders generally had no teams, they have come to
use it to denote a load for two men to carry, hence two quintals of
codfish.
Dredge, pronounced in Newfoundland drudge, is used to denote
the sprinkling of salt over herring when caught, and mixing them
together to preserve them in the mean time. It is the same word
that is used in cookery to denote sprinkling flour on meat, for which
we still have the dredging box. Skeat (Etym. Dictionary) gives a
general meaning to sprinkle, as in sowing dreg or dredge, mixed corn,
oats, and barley.
In connection with this they have the dredge barrow, pronounced
drudge barrozv, a barrow with handles and a trough to hold salt, for
carrying the fish from the boat to the splitting table.
Driver is the old English word for a four-cornered fore and aft
sail attached to the mizzenmast of a vessel, now usually known as
the spanker. It is now used in Newfoundland to denote a small sail
at the stern of their fishing punts or boats. The rig, I am informed,
was common among the fishermen of England and Jersey.
Duckies. Twilight is expressed as "between the duckies," an
expression which seems closely to resemble the Hebrew phrase
" between the two evenings." So duckish, meaning dark or gloomy,
which Wright and Halliwell give as Devonshire for twilight. We
may add here that the break of day is expressed as the crack d the
daanin.
Lolly. This word I have formerly mentioned as used by New-
foundlanders, as by the people on the northern coast of America, and
by Arctic explorers, to denote ice broken up into small pieces, nearly
the same as described in my last paper as called by the former swish
or sisJi ice. They have, however, another use of the word, so far as
I know, peculiar to themselves, that is, to express a calm. In this
respect it seems related to the word lull. Indeed, Judge Bennett
thinks that it should be written lully.
Lot, the same as allot, to forecast some future event. Wright and
Halliwell give it as Westmoreland for imagine, and the Standard
Dictionary represents it as used in the United States as meaning
to count upon, to pleasantly anticipate. The. word low, which I
deem a contraction of allow, is used in virtually the same sense. " I
low the wind will be to the eastward before morning." The word
allow is used in some parts of Nova Scotia as meaning intention or
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfoundland. 29
opinion. " I allow to go to town to-morrow." The Standard Dic-
tionary represents it as colloquially used in this sense in the United
States, particularly in the Southern States.
Main is used as an adverb, meaning very, exceedingly. A New-
foundlander will say, " I am main sorry," that is, exceedingly sorry.
This use of the word still appears in various provincial dialects of
England. The word fair is also used in much the same way.
Nippers, half mitts or half gloves used to protect the fingers in
hauling the cod-lines.
The word ordain is in common use, and is applied to matters in
ordinary business of life. Thus a man will say, " I ordained that
piece of wood for an axe helve." This seems to be the retention of
its original use, before it came to be set apart for the more solemn
objects to which it is now applied. Similar to this is its use in Dev-
onshire, according to Wright and Halliwell, as meaning to order or
to intend.
The word proper \s in very common use to describe a handsome,
well-built man. This is old English usage, as in Heb. xi. 23 : " He
was ^proper child." So in Scotch —
Still my delight is vi\ih proper young men. — Burns, yoHy Beggars.
Resolute is used in the sense of resolved. " I am resolute to go
up the bay next week," meaning simply that I have made up my
mind to that step. This was the original meaning of the word, but
the transition was easy to its expressing a spirit of determination,
boldness, or firmness.
The word ridiculous is used to describe unfair or shameful treat-
ment without any idea of the ludicrous. " I have been served most
ridiculous by the poor commissioner," was the statement of a man
who wished to express in strong terms his sense of the usage he had
received. Halliwell says that in some counties -of England it is
used to denote something very indecent and improper. Thus, a
violent attack on a woman's chastity is called very ridiculous beha-
vior, and an ill-conducted house may be described as a very ridicu-
lous one.
Smoochin, hair-oil, or pomade. A young man from abroad, com-
mencing as clerk in an establishment at one of the outposts, was
puzzled by an order for a "pen'orth of smoochin." The verb
smooch. \'s> also used as equivalent to smutch, to blacken or defile.
We may hear such expressions as, " His clothes are smooched with
soot," or, "The paper is smooched with ink." But it is also used to
express the application of any substance as by smearing, without any
reference to blackening. Thus one might say, "■ Her hair was all
smooched with oil."
30 yournal of America7i Folk-Lore.
The term trader is limited to a person visiting a place to trade, in
contrast with the resident merchant.
The mistress of a household disturbed in the midst of her house-
tleaning will describe herself as all in an uproar. The word now
denotes noisy tumult. But it originally meant simply confusion or
excitement.
His eye . . .
Unto a greater uproar, tempts his veins.
Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 427.
Halliwell gives it as in Westmoreland meaning confusion or disor-
der, and so a Newfoundland lady uses it. But she has quite a vocab-
ulary to express the same thing. She has her choice among such
phrases as, all ifi a rceraw, all in a Jloption, or all in a rookery. The
last word, however, is given by Wright and Halliwell as in the south
of England denoting a disturbance or scolding.
The word lueatJier, beside the usual nautical uses to signify to sail
to windward of, and to bear up under and come through, as a storm,
is used to signify foul weather, or storm and tempest according to
an old meaning, now marked as obsolete, or only used in poetry.
Thus Dryden, —
What gusts of weather from that darkening cloud
My thoughts portend.
I have observed also that some words are used in the same sense
as in Scotch. This is seen in the use of the preposition into for ///.
" There is nothing into the man," or as the Scotch would say, " intill
him." So aneist, meaning near or nearest. Then the verb vex is
used to denote sorrow or grief rather than worry. " I am vexeel for
that poor man," a Newfoundlander or a Scotchman might say,
though I judge that it expresses grief arising to such a degree as
deeply to disturb the mind. It is used in the same sense by Shake-
speare, —
A sight to vex the father's soul withal. — Titles Androniciis, v. i.
In one passage of the Authorized Version of the Bible (Isa. Ixiii.
10), it is used to translate a Hebrew word everywhere else rendered
grieve. So the words fine and finely, to mean very much or very
good. " We enjoyed ourselves/;/^." " How are you to-day t " " Oh,
Vm finer " He is doing/;/^/j/," This usage could not have been
acquired by intercourse with the Scotch, as there are very few such
on the island out of St. John's. The last two words are from the
Latin, and came into old English through the. French, from which
the use must have been separately derived.
HI. I will now notice a number of words and phrases of a mis-
cellaneous character that have been introduced in various ways, or
Notes on the Dialect of the People of Newfotindland. 31
have arisen among the people through the circumstances of their
Hves.
I have already mentioned that though a large proportion of the
population are of Irish descent, so as to affect the accent of the
present generation, yet their dialect draws few words from this
source. There are, however, a few such. Thus we can scarcely
mistake the origin of the use of the term entirely at the end of a
sentence to give force to it. Then path, pronounced with the hard
Irish ///, was applied to a road or even the streets of a town. Not
long ago one might hear in St. Johns of the "lower /«/-//" or the
" upper pat-hy So the use of the term, gaffer, a contraction oi gra li-
fer, itself a corruption of grandfather, as applied to children only,
must have been derived from Ireland, in some parts of which it is
common. From that quarter also came, if I mistake not, the use of
the term boys in addressing men. It is used indeed to some extent
elsewhere. English commanders 
